Twilight paced back and forth through her spacious den, her eyes huge in worry and anticipation. The bags under her eyes seemed to be getting larger and darker with each passing minute. It was now early afternoon and she hadn't had a second to shut her eyes. She couldn't sit still. The gears turned in her mind at a million rotations per minute. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" She exclaimed for the hundredth time in the past several hours.
A concerned Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches at the bottom of the staircase, holding the same blank stare toward Twilight's bedroom door that she had held since she arrived with a doctor pony. Her fur beneath her eyes was soaked with the tears that had been slowly running down her cheeks the entire time. She made no noise. She did not speak. She did not move. She most assuredly did not respond when Spike came out of the kitchen with peanutbutter crackers. She stared solemnly at the door. She could only imagine the kind of turmoil Trixie was going through behind that door, a turmoil that she, Rainbow Dash, had caused. All her pride was gone at that moment. She had gone too far with this. She could have KILLED somepony! The tears ran down her cheeks faster, a couple hitting the floor with a soft pitter patter before running down between the cracks in the wood.
Spike, who had been plunged into a state of confusion from the moment Twilight ran downstairs from her bedroom hours previously, stared at the pair of ponies from the kitchen doorway. "Twilight?" He called out, concern coloring his features, "Do you want some food? You haven't eaten all day!"
"How could I eat at a time like this?" She responded incredulously, momentarily pausing her pacing to stare at the baby dragon. "How could you eat at a time like this?"
"Well," he responded whimsically, "I might not be able to if I knew what was going on!" His voice raised a bit with the last couple words. "The first I saw of you this morning, you were running from your room looking frantic. Next thing I know, Rainbow busts in with a doctor, and the guy runs upstairs and locks the bedroom door without a single word!" He set the crackers down, and threw up his arms in frustration. "Ugh," he groaned, "The only thing you've told me was not to enter the bedroom!"
Twilight stared on a couple seconds before releasing an exasperated sigh and continuing to pace. The purple dragon groaned and walked to the door. As he swung it open he called, "I'm going to play with Button Mash!" No sooner had he slammed the door in a tantrum than the bedroom door slowly creaked open. Rainbow's ears perked up and her eyes grew wider. Moving for the first time in hours, she wiped the tears from her eyes. Twilight galloped up to the stairs to stand next to where her colorful companion sat.
Above them, a brown unicorn stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind him. He wore a white lab coat and white saddle bags with a red cross on each of them. His mane was black with specks of gray, some of which were not there before his most recent endeavor. He used his magic to pull up a white handkerchief and use it to wipe sweat from his brow. He let out a tired, "Phwew!"
Rainbow used this as her queue and flew like lightning up the stairs. Her muzzle just inches from the doctor's as she hovered. "Well? Is she gonna' be ok? What happened in there? What's gonna' happen?" She barraged the doctor with questions.
He just pushed her out of the way gently with a hoof as he passed her. He walked slowly down the stairs. "Calm yourself, Ms. Dash. I need a glass of water. We can discuss this at the table." Rainbow blew past him and, without asking, zipped into the kitchen to prepare a glass of water for the stallion as he and Twilight took their seats around the table in the living/dining room area. When she came back, she had a glass of water and the aforementioned tray of crackers. She sat them on the table and took a seat.
The doctor ate a cracker, politely chewing slowly, and used a sip of water to help wash the dry snack down. He sighed and began, "Your friend took quite a beating! She had three broken ribs, a punctured lung, pneumothorax, a broken orbital and bruised kidneys!" He paused to take another sip from his glass. "For some reason, it seems to me that she hadn't eaten much in the past several weeks either. The mare's lucky to be alive." He looked the two over, shock evident in their expression. "Whomever commited this atrocity should be banished to Celestia's dungeon to rot for the rest of their miserable lives!" His hoof struck the table, causing it to shake a bit.
Rainbow's head sunk low. Before he could notice, Twilight spoke up, "It doesn't matter who did it," She held Rainbow's hoof for support, "It matters that she's ok now. Thank you Doctor. I'm sure you're tired now, so you may take your leave." She showed the doctor to the door and levitated a good amount of bits into his saddle bags before closing the door behind him. She began to make her way up the stairs. Rainbow followed her closely, but was stopped by the alicorn.
"No Rainbow," She told her friend sadly, "Now's not the time."
"But I want to-" The rainbow pegasus began to protest, but was cut off by Twilight.
"You'll have your chance, but not now," She sighed. "Trixie is going to be under duress. Seeing you after what happened is just going to elevate her stress levels. She needs to recover first." She put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "You have to see that this is the best thing for her right now."
Rainbow nodded her head, her eyes glued to the floor. Her wings drooped at her sides. She walked back down the stairs and left the library. Twilight frowned a bit and continued the climb up the stairs. She entered the room to see a cleaned up, but heavily bandaged blue mare in her bed. She sighed and sat down in a wooden chair the doctor had pulled from her vanity to use next to the bed. The noise seemed to stir Trixie and she opened her eyes. She smiled weakly at the alicorn and quietly rasped, "Hello Sparkle."