Chapter 11: Perspective
When the sun came up from beyond the horizon, it pierced through the window and had landed gently onto Aden's face. It felt warm This was a very familiar feeling. He would wake up everyday in his bed and prepare to take on the day. But when he sat up and opened his eyes, all he saw was the green paint of the hospital's walls. Aden sighed, looking down to sheets below. He missed his home, he missed his friends, he missed Rainbow Dash.
This reminded him of the time that Rainbow had to stay in the hospital, but this time there was nothing to help quench his thirst for entertainment. Rainbow was right, this place is pretty boring when you have nothing to do, Aden thought.
He then looked out the window, setting his sights on the clear, blue sky above. The desire to take flight and spread his wings was almost unbearable, but at the same time it was natural, especially when grounded. The window had been left opened ajar from yesterday, sending small gusts of wind to Aden. Just the feeling of fresh air was enough make him miss the outside world.
By closing his eyes, he embraced this moment, feeling the wind rush past him. Aden relished in the coolness of the wind, and helped him relax more in the small room. After a brief moment, he heard the door click. And from behind it, was his assigned nurse: Guardian Angel.
She entered the room with a smile and approached the bed. "Hey Aden, how are you holding up?"
At least she's here to keep me company. Aden thought. "I'm doing fine thanks to you."
Angel smiled at the remark as she set down a glass of water. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she saw Aden looking out the window. Ever since he woke up, she noticed that he had been acting a bit strange and it worried her.
"Is something bothering you, Aden? You've been looking out that window ever since waking up," Angel said, turning towards him.
Aden let out a deep sigh and then looked to the outside world once again. "I guess you could say that I just miss my friends," Aden said softly. "I just want to see if she's okay."
The room remained still, nothing but the wind flowing through the room. Angel then moved in a little closer and looked to him in concern. "You're still worried about Rainbow Dash, aren't you?"
Aden hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly.
Angel then took seat next to the bed and gave him a comforting smile. "You seem to miss this Rainbow Dash girl a lot, would like to talk about her?"
Her words seemed to make him shift from his depressed state, his ears perking up as soon she spoke. "Sure, but where should I start?"
***
As Twilight walked into the hospital, the pony at the front counter gave her smile, and used his horn to grab a pen. "Ah miss Twilight, you're here to see Aden again, correct?"
Twilight responded with a small nod.
"Well, you know where his room is, you can go right ahead," he said pointing towards the direction of her room.
Twilight then began to walk to Aden's room. She wanted to deliver some cards that the others made for him. She finally made it to the floor that Aden's room was located, and walked up to the door. She was about to use her magic to open turn the knob, but the sound of voices filled her ears.
As she pressed an ear against the door, she heard a voice, it was Aden's! But there was another voice, apparently there was somepony else in there with him. So she listened closely to hear the conversation.
"Did you know that the first time that I met Rainbow, we started arguing about who name was weirder, we went on for what seemed like hours. Oh, and there was this other time when we pranked Applejack at the farm. We took a bunch of barrels filled with apples and hid them, her expression was priceless," Aden said wiping a tear from his eye.
"And when she woke up next morning, we put them back, and she was so confused, she though that she was going insane." Aden said, reciting memories as if they happened yesterday. All the while, Angel was clutching at her side as she laughed at Aden's ridiculous stories.
Angel took some time to recover from her laughter and tried to control her breathing. "These stories are ridiculous! I think you two would make a great couple."
Twilight's eyes widened, now this was getting interesting.
"Yeah, I know. She's a great mare, and an even better friend. I actually plan to tell her that I like her when I get out of here," Aden said sheepishly.
Now this was really interesting. She leaned even closer to hear the muffled sounds of voices.
"You really plan to tell her once you get out of here," Angel asked, a surprised look plastered on her face.
Aden could only nod in response.
"Well you're not getting out today. You remember what happened when you tried to get up before the first day you awoke, don't you?" she said playfully.
He really tried that? Twilight questioned herself.
Aden rolled his eyes at her remark. "I understand. She's just somepony that changed my life entirely," he paused, looking out the window to see rainbow stretching across the sky. "And she's just as beautiful and colorful as the rainbows that I see in the sky."
Both Twilight and Angel were taken aback by the simultaneously squeaked, "That's adorable!"
After recovering from the sheer cuteness, Angel gazed over to the clock and noticed that it was time for her to leave.
"Well, I hope it works out between you two." And with that, Angel began walking out of the room.
Twilight heard her hoof steps and bolted down the hallway as quietly as she could. As she exited the hospital she stopped to think to herself. After pacing outside of the hospital for a minute or so, she had devised a plan.
"Rainbow, looks like I'll be seeing you tomorrow cause there's some things you've gotta know."
***
Rainbow Dash shifted in her sleep, causing the covers to become messy. She lifted her eyelids to see her bed, and sat up. It had been at least six days ever since she had awoken at the hospital. Rainbow heard of her injuries, luckily when she got hit with by the lightning bolt, it had only nipped her on her wing. And if it had been a direct hit, that wing would've been gone. When Aden took the impact from their crash, she had taken minimal damage.
For some reason, her heart felt heavier than usual, and it bothered her. Aden's injuries happened because of her, and she felt terrible. How could she not take the blame? If only she had done something before, all of this could've been prevented. But that was only just weight she carried, there was more. The thing that just killed her the most was Aden's recovery. Would he be perfectly fine, or will he never be able to fly again? There were so many possibilities, but there could be only one outcome. And the only thing that she could do was wait.
But no matter what she thought, she had to wait for the final results. So Rainbow Dash, along with everypony else, had to live on until they got some clarification about his condition.
She arose from the soft confines of her bed, and headed out the door and flew straight to Ponyville. Ever since she was released form the hospital, just about everypony that sees her would ask if she's okay. It was nice of them to ask, but although it was annoying, she did feel a little disturbed about this whole thing. The one pony that she might possibly be in love with just risked his life trying to save her, and he his condition is unknown. Overall, It wasn't really the best thing to think about.
Despite the mental war raging in her mind, she continued onward towards her destination: Golden Oaks Library. Twilight had invited her over to chat since she wasn't busy, and Spike ran off to help Rarity with some. She approached the door, and paused right in front of it. Rainbow knocked softly on the door, awaiting for the purple unicorn to answer. And in few seconds, the door opened.
"Oh, hey Rainbow Dash! I didn't think that you'd actually knock on the door, usually you'd just barge in," Twilight exclaimed jokingly.
"At least it's better than crashing through your window, right?" They shared a brief moment of laughter before entering through the door and into the guest room.
As they walked into the unused room Twilight held the door for Rainbow. "I don't use this room a lot, but it does has its uses," she said.
"I never even knew that this room existed, but still, what did you wanna talk about?" Rainbow asked, looking back to her friend.
Twilight looked around nervously for a brief second. "Why don't we sit down first, then we can talk," she said, gesturing towards the couch.
They both took their seat on the soft cushions of the sofa, and not a word was said. A few seconds passed by before Rainbow shifted on the seat.
"So what'd you wanna talk, Twi?" Rainbow said breaking the silence that filled the room.
"I just wanted to know something," she replied back.
Rainbow leaned in just a tiny bit closer to Twilight, indicating that she was all ears. The purple mare looked her straight in the eye, and let the words fall out of her mouth.
"Are you bothered about the whole incident with Aden?"
It seemed that she had struck a chord, for Rainbow remained completely silent in her seat. "Why are you even asking me this question?" Rainbow said, her face turned away from Twilight.
"Um, I just wanted-"
"To know if I'm doing okay? Does it look like I'm okay, Twilight?" Rainbow screamed, turning to her friend with tears cascading down her face.
Twilight was taken aback by the anger in her voice. But at the same it was filled with... sorrow. "Rainbow..." she tried to comfort her but Rainbow continued to speak
"I'm scared Twilight, I don't know what's going to happen. Aden's gonna hate me after all this," she said, her tears dropping to the floor below. "I'm afraid that my friendship with Aden's over, along with any chance of romance. What if he never liked me from the start?"
Twilight looked to her in worry. Never had she seen Rainbow react so abruptly, and Twilight knew that she was in pain. "Don't think like that, Rainbow," she paused, placing a hoof onto her shoulder. "If he risked his own life to save you, then he must think of you as something more."
Rainbow smiled at her words, causing her crying coming to a stop. Twilight then gave a small grin, removing her hoof from Rainbow's shoulder. "Let me tell you something," Twilight said, gesturing for her to come closer. Rainbow obliged, leaning closer to hear her friend. "I heard Aden in his room yesterday, and he said some things. He was talking to somepony about something, specifically you."
Twilight looked out the window. "He was telling them how you two knew each other, and just about everything you've ever done together. By the way that he was rambling, he misses you a lot, Rainbow." She looked towards her again, smiling. "I also heard that the first thing he did when he woke up was to try to look for you. The way I see it, he's liked you for a long time."
"Your a good friend, you know that?" Rainbow said softly, still wiping the tears off of her face.
"It's what friends do." Twilight responded.
Once again the room was filled with silence, and after a few minutes, all was still. The sat there for moment, letting time pass them by. Then a loud banging noise came from the front door. Whoever it was, they continued to bang on the door. Twilight stood from her seat and walked towards it. She swung it open, only to be greeted by a rather tire looking Applejack and Fluttershy.
They looked around the room for their rainbow haired friend, and seconds later, she had entered the room.
"Oh there you are, Rainbow! We've been looking all over Ponyville for you." Fluttershy said while breathing heavily.
What could this super important thing have to do with me? Rainbow thought. "Why were you looking for me?"
Flutters by raised her hoof to speak, but then lowered it back to the ground. Applejack cleared her throat, and began to speak. Applejack seemed to be hiding something, and Rainbow could've sworn that Fluttershy had just suppressed a smile.
What the buck was going on?
"Its time, Rainbow," she said smoothly, tipping her stetson.
"Time for what?" Rainbow asked in confusion, but as soon as asked, it all became clear.
"Aden's finally checking out, Rainbow," Applejack paused. "He's getting out in about two hours from now."
Rainbow stood still with no response. She seemed to be in shock, but the grin on her face said otherwise. "You guys go on without me, there's something I've gotta do," Rainbow said firmly as she walked out of the door.
"But don't you want to see Aden?" Twilight asked, concern evident in her voice.
Rainbow stopped suddenly, then turned to her with a small grin "Just tell him to meet me, he'll know where to find me," she said, taking off into air. Twilight gave a nod to the others, and they were off to see Aden. As Rainbow took to the skies, she looked towards Ponyville hospital. She was determined to make sure that this last encounter was worth all of the years of doubt.
"Aden, I'm gonna fix this once and for all," Rainbow Dash stated, flying towards the one place where she would set things right. She knew that this would be the last encounter.