Rainbow hadn't ever run at full werewolf speed in daylight hours before, and the stares were plenty reason not to do so again, if she could help it.
If she could help it.
Tracking down Lyra's scent did prove challenging, but not impossibly so. She leapt over a few fences--which, apparently, Lyra had done as well--dodged traffic despite several angry protests, and eventually found herself a little outside town. Not fully in the woods yet, but still with an unusual excess of trees nearby.
The last fence around the building Lyra had gone into was very tall, and electric. Rainbow did not fancy her odds of jumping it, but, thankfully, Lyra had left the gate open.
Rainbow skidded across the asphalt to slow down to a walk, then hopped up the steps to an open door. The door itself was very large, and thick, and clearly designed, like the rest of the building, to survive.
Whoever had built it had been worrying about something a lot bigger than a werewolf.
"Lyra?" Rainbow called out, ignoring any doubts about whether or not she was allowed in here.
"Go away," Lyra shouted from a room to the side. Rainbow stalked over, eyeing the security camera that trailed to watch her. She gave it a friendly wave, then stepped inside the room Lyra was in.
Lyra was at the back, hiding as best she could behind several crates of canned goods, sobbing uncontrollably into her knees.
Rainbow took the moment to pick up the gun she'd left on the crate in front of her, quickly and efficiently removing the ammo. She picked up the bullet, eyeing it, before sitting down next to Lyra.
"You should go, before I hurt you, too," Lyra muttered.
"I'm sorry, Lyra," Rainbow said. "I--I've been trying to help you. But--I think I made things worse."
"No, you didn't," Lyra said, looking up. "You showed me everything I've been doing wrong, and I-I--I just ignored it! I completely ignored all the help, because I said I was fine, but I'm not fine!" She choked, sobbing. "I'm not fine. You...you handled this all without the help I have, and I...I can't even manage a day without hurting people. And P-Pinkie...she didn't deserve that. She--"
"You're managing way better than I did," Rainbow said quietly.
Lyra shook her head. "You never hurt anyone."
"I hurt myself."
Lyra stared at her, confused.
Rainbow lifted up the bullet, above her head, staring up at it. "If Princess Twilight hadn't come back when she did, and...I hadn't made up with Applejack, and the gang..." She gave a sad smile, reaching over and dropping the bullet into Lyra's hands. Lyra hissed, dropping the silver bullet to the side and staring at it before shooting a look at Rainbow. "I wouldn't be here today, Lyra. You...you're stronger than me. I'm sorry that I made you feel like you were handling this that badly. I...I have a little shack, that I go to, and I change in there. But...for the first year...I insisted...that I'd use the chains to bind myself. Silver chains, tying me to the ground. I hurt myself, Lyra. A lot. And...I sent some of that hurt at other people. I said...some horrible things to my parents about it all. Hell, there's good reason Spitfire's never tried reconnecting with me, after all this time." She reached an arm over Lyra's shoulder, pulling her tight into a hug. "I still keep the silver bullets on hand, but...I don't feel like I need them. Because...I have friends. And so do you. I'm...I'm sorry that I've been such a bad one."
"Don't say that! You've been a great friend!" Lyra threw her arms around her.
Rainbow Dash laughed. "You're so kind," she whispered. "You'll heal easily, in time, Lyra."
"How long?"
Rainbow laughed again. "I'll tell you when I find out," she answered. "You should be honest with your friends, Lyra. Tell them why you're hurting. They're worried about you."
Lyra looked away. "They shouldn't want anything to do with me."
"Excuse me?" Rainbow glared at her. "You are Lyra Heartstrings. You are kind, and funny, you are quirky, adorable...and most importantly, their friend. My friend, too." She reached over and poked Lyra in the chest with the gun. "Don't insult them by saying they wouldn't want anything to do with you.
"But--I hurt Pinkie! Badly!"
"How many things do you think could pry me from Pinkie's side right now?" Rainbow growled. "She told me to quit being a dumbass and go help you."
"She--she did?"
"That doesn't sound like someone who wants nothing to do with you, does it?"
Lyra sniffed. "I--"
"How about you come with me to visit her?" Rainbow asked. "Say you're sorry, and...see that she still accepts you as a friend."
Lyra sniffed again. "Okay."
Rainbow stood up, then reached out a hand to her. Lyra hesitated, then took it, letting Rainbow help her to her feet.
Lyra looked over, then frowned. "Where's my gun?"
Rainbow handed it back to her. Lyra frowned, then looked back to the silver bullets on the ground. "Really?"
"Hey, I know you didn't have that at school," Rainbow pointed out. "And...I entertained similar thoughts, for a time."
"That's not it, I just--picked it up on reflex. Bon-Bon and I both have guns stored here. It's...an agency safehouse."
"That explains one or two things," Rainbow said. She looked out of the room, then gave a smile and another wave to the security camera. "Do you know who mans the cameras?"
"Um--no?"
"Well, let's hope they didn't send a hit squad after me," Rainbow said. "I--hell, I'm technically trespassing on government property right now."
"Get help."
Rainbow turned and glared at her.
Lyra smiled. "You shouldn't swear," she said casually.
Rainbow grinned back at her. "Come on, Lyra. Let's get out of here."
Neither of them had a car, nor were they willing to risk another run at werewolf speeds in broad daylight. Rainbow's phone beeped while they were back into town, and she stopped to check the message.
SunShim: Pinkie's okay, at Canterlot General Care, room 42. She's sleeping rn, doctor says she'll be fine. Also, this.
What followed was a link, and Rainbow, with a sigh, opened it up.
The video showed Snips goofing off while, presumably, Snails recorded, before, right past them, a rainbow blur that their low-end camera couldn't really even catch rushed past them, causing the recording to falter and stare after the retreating blur.
RainDash: u can't rlly even tell that's me
SunShim: Dash, I'm still trying to figure out what's going on. No one seems to know, and you just bolted across the city at obviously supernatural speeds--and yes, with that hair, everyone knows its you. Especially after you flew off your handle about the stupid betting pool--which I kind of owe you an apology for. I actually even had a bet on there, I assumed you knew.
"The boss is gonna kill me," Lyra muttered as Rainbow sent back an, "All's good" and a thumbs-up. "Oh, God, this is gonna reflect poorly on Bon-Bon. Dammit, I'm so stupid."
Rainbow Dash flicked her forehead. "Get help," she said.
"Okay, I see how that's annoying," she admitted. "Still, Bonnie's the one who vouched for me. And I just caused a level three info leak."
"Well, bright side," Rainbow said. "Pinkie's fine." Her phone beeped.
SunShim: Trixie's asking if you're a werewolf, and I don't have a response for her. She doesn't look like she's buying that I can't hear her, either... 😅
Rainbow sighed. "Yeah, that makes about as much sense as anything, at this point."
Lyra took a deep breath. "Let's head over there quickly, okay?"
Rainbow nodded. "We've gotta see about cleaning this up."
At a somewhat unrealistic speed, Rainbow Dash and Lyra arrived at Canterlot General Care. Lyra was panting somewhat, while Rainbow Dash tried her best to pretend she was tired.
"Quit...being so...good at everything," Lyra gasped.
"Miss Dash."
Rainbow turned, and smiled. "Miss Redheart," she said. "Pinkie's--"
"Fine, but sleeping. She'll be doing a lot of that." She grimaced. "Hopefully. Anyway, I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on the injury itself? I'm not a hundred percent certain about most of these reports I've gotten."
"Um--you know the--uh--" Rainbow waved at her face, letting her eyes turn briefly gold. "That thing?"
Redheart frowned, but nodded.
Rainbow thumbed over at Lyra. "Recent."
Lyra stared at her. "Rainbow, does--does she know?"
"About lycanthropy? Yes. Here." Redheart handed her a card. "I've learned a few things while doctoring Miss Dash, and I'd be happy to--"
"Miss Redheart, um, I think she already has a doctor. Right?"
Lyra nodded. "In fact, um, here is my number, call me sometime and I'll set you up with the doctors at the agency. You're due for financial compensation, actually, for your efforts." She smiled.
Redheart blinked, took the card, then nodded. "Your friends are in the other room," she said, gesturing. "They...needed a private space for their discussion."
"Oh, dear," Rainbow muttered. "Come on, Lyra."
Trixie was standing just outside, waiting for them.
"How?" was all Rainbow Dash asked.
"You remember that betting pool?"
"You're not serious," Rainbow said.
"So, um, a certain former bully find out about it, and uh, asked to see it. She stared at it for about thirty seconds before she laughed, and placed fifteen on you being a werewolf. Said it made as much sense as anything else, and I'm pretty sure she's long forgotten about it at this point..."
Rainbow shook her head. "Nah, she just apologized to me about it," Rainbow said. "Though this technically means she's about a hundred bucks richer than she used to be."
"If I hadn't closed down the betting pool."
"That means I cost her a hundred bucks, so the two of us are even," Rainbow said. "Anyway, let's get this done."
Rainbow stepped into the room--which seemed to be a storage room of some kind that Redheart had generously let five annoyed teenage girls borrow.
Bon-Bon and the Rainbooms were all standing around, doing a great deal of not talking to each other. Most of their attention was focused on Bon-Bon, who was stoically regarding them, despite several glares.
"Hi, guys," Rainbow said, causing several of the Rainbooms to jump. Sunset, notably, didn't, and kept her eyes trained in a cold glare on Bon-Bon.
"What'd I miss?" Rainbow said with a grin.
"A series of unfortunate events," Rarity muttered.
"A bunch of people bein' downright morons," Applejack snorted. "Bon-Bon was here at the hospital before any of us, and we tried askin' her what happened, an' she just said..."
"That it wasn't her place to talk about it, which I, for one, think that privacy matters," Rarity said loudly.
"Pinkie is in the hospital," Fluttershy said slowly. "She has two broken ribs, Rarity."
Rarity didn't seem to have an immediate response to that.
"Regardless, Sunset began pressin' her," Applejack continued, "an' she said...that she wouldn't tell Sunset, whether or not it was her place to tell."
"Can you really blame me, for not trusting you with secrets that aren't even mine to share?" Bon-Bon hissed.
"At this point? Kinda," Sunset growled. "Something hurt my friend, Bon-Bon, I don't think it's gonna stop itself and you know what it even is. You are, right now, directly standing between us and [i[saving the day. Think about that a moment."
"It's being handled," Bon-Bon growled back.
"By who?" Sunset demanded.
"Um, me," Rainbow said, stepping closer to Sunset. She put a hand on Sunset's shoulder, adding, "There's a little bit to unpack here, Sunset."
Sunset turned, and then glared at Rainbow Dash, tears slowly falling down her face. "Like the fact that she's been lying to me? That she said all was forgiven?" She turned back to Bon-Bon. "After the Battle of the Bands, you said we were even. Right?"
Bon-Bon opened her mouth to retort, but Lyra put a hand on her shoulder. Bon-Bon turned to look into her eyes, then her shoulders sagged, and she looked away. "Yeah," she said quietly.
"Bon-Bon's trying to protect me," Lyra said quietly. "Because...here recently, she failed. I was...attacked, and...became a werewolf."
She let it hang in the air for a moment, then took a deep breath. "So, despite what she said, it's...it's not about you, Sunset. It's about me."
There was a moment of silence. Sunset shrugged off Rainbow's hand, stepping over to Bon-Bon.
Bon-Bon looked up, an apology dying on her lips. Sunset stared into her face a moment, then smiled. She wrapped her arms around Bon-Bon, hugging her tightly. "Are we good?" she asked quietly. "Answer...truthfully, please. I...won't be mad if you say no. Promise."
"We're good. Mostly." Bon-Bon hugged her back. "Just...old trauma, y'know?"
Sunset laughed, then let go. She turned to Lyra, hesitated, then turned to Rainbow Dash. "So, um. The situation's handled?"
Rainbow Dash turned a lazy eye over to Lyra, raising a questioning eyebrow.
Lyra blushed as most of the room turned to her. "Well, uh. Mostly? I think. I need to...spend a little time to myself. And...work this out."
"You might not have to," Sunset said. "I've been talking to Princess Twilight, and...she said that Princess Luna might be able to undo the change."
Lyra gaped. "Like, make me human again?"
Sunset nodded. "She did mention that she wanted to see you, Rainbow, because she's pretty sure that time spent as a werewolf would impact her chances of being able to, uh, uncurse you."
"Pass."
Sunset spun, staring at her. "What?"
"Well, if I do that, then you lose your chance at being a werewolf," Rainbow said. "I still don't see why'd you'd want to, but if Princess Luna can just turn you back, then you'll have the freedom to change your mind. And it doesn't sound like I'd be able to get changed back anyway."
"No! You can't miss out on this opportunity just for me! I insist, you at least have to come with to talk to her!"
"Fine," Rainbow agreed. "Now, if that's all dealt with--"
"One more moment, Dash," Applejack said. "Earlier, you mentioned in that text the government agents that you couldn't name, right?"
"That...would be us," Bon-Bon admitted. Rainbow felt an instant relief, not wanting to break Bon-Bon's trust, nor lie to her friends. "We work for a branch of the government specializing in keeping citizens safe from magic. This...mess..." She reached up, scratching her head. "It's gonna be bad, but I'll at least have the advantage of telling them I'll be the first recorded agent to go to Equestria, right? They've been trying to figure out what that place is for years."
"Oh, sure," Trixie burst out. "Secret government agents, too." She threw her hands up. "You know, someone should make a movie of this. Ratings gold, I'd say. Werewolves, drama, secret shadowy government branch, other worlds, and let's not forget--" She gestured to Lyra and Bon-Bon. "Lesbians. You'd make millions."
"I forgot she was here," Rainbow admitted. "Whoops."
"Don't worry, Trixie knows how to keep a secret," she said, miming the action of locking her lips.
Bon-Bon did not look like she'd sleep without worry.