//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: For Whom The Belle Tolls // by Darksonickiller //------------------------------// For Whom The Belle Tolls Chapter 6 Applejack sat herself down in a rather hard couch in the corner. The apologies she wished to make would have to wait, she had no intention of breaking down in front of Rarity. Just saying sorry for such a tragedy would be hard enough without having her there. The white unicorn took her place beside Rainbow, holding her hoof. Despite her excuse to the doctor, Applejack knew Rarity wouldn’t be sleeping either way. The farm pony was exhausted, but she had little intention of letting her eyes close. If she wasn’t going to talk to her friends, the least she could do was stay up with them. She wondered if any of the girls would sleep tonight. She doubted it. “Are you in pain? Do you need us to do anything for you?” Rarity asked, her calm demeanor beginning to waver with the room so void. “Well, I’m still hurting a little, but there’s no amount of painkillers that could fix that. I can tough this out, don’t worry. I’m glad you two are here though, it sucks sleeping alone in the hospital.” Both ponies turned to Applejack, Rainbow smiling, and Rarity still unsure. Applejack slid her hat off and smiled back. “No problem. I’m gonna owe you a lot of favors after this.” She kept her voice steady, with a bit of a fight. Rarity winced, but the pegasus waved her good hoof dismissively. “Applejack, its fine. Everything turned out alright, don’t beat yourself up.” She couldn’t bring herself to respond. The sound of Rainbow’s heartbeat monitor rang in her ears. “I know you would have done the same thing if I’d been under that wall.” Applejack was a humble pony, but even then she had to admit, had the roles been reversed, she would have done the same thing as Rainbow in a heartbeat. The thought didn’t do much to make her feel better, but she managed to conjure up a little courage. “Rainbow, Ah… Ah’m really sorry about all this. Really sorry.” It was a weak apology. She promised to give her a better one later, but for what little it was worth, Rainbow simply smiled and nodded. Applejack stayed rather silent after that, sitting in her chair, listening to the two ponies talk. With all the horror past her, she allowed herself a moment to reflect on what she’d heard earlier. Rarity loved Rainbow Dash. The revelation hardly shocked her, but she couldn’t figure out how she felt about it. She was proud that she was right all along. She was annoyed with Rarity for being so angry when she asked, and for lying to her face on the trail so any months ago. She was disappointed the pony she’d admired for so long was in love with one of her best friends. But the feelings could hardly register in her mind. She was tired, scared, confused and guilty. There was too much to handle, so some things would have to be put away in her mind, to think about at a less turbulent time. Rainbow’s heartbeat monitor continued to sound at a regular pace. Rainbow and Rarity talked for hours, thankfully not too focussed on the subject of her injury. Applejack felt guilty enough. She felt bad for making the effort to stay, only to sit back in a chair silently, saying nothing to her broken friend, but she supposed with Rarity at her side, the pegasus would be just fine. She thought about the way the unicorn kept looking at her. The farm pony wished she could tell how she was feeling. Did she forgive her? Did she hate her for nearly killing the pony she loved? However she felt, Applejack wouldn’t blame her for it. Rainbow’s face began to grow visibly more tired, she had been up for nearly two days, with life threatening injuries to boot. She would need some rest soon. And the Applejack would be alone, locked in a room with Rarity as her only company. She could only hope the unicorn was too angry to speak to her. And sure enough after two and a half hours of nonstop talking Rainbow yawned. “Alright, I should probably get some shut eye.” “Ok, Rainbow.” Rarity said sweetly, rubbing a hoof through Rainbow’s mane, before planting a kiss on her cheek. “Have a good sleep.” “Love you too.” Rainbow said, already sounding as though she were merely mumbling in her sleep. Before a minute had passed, the sound of Rainbow’s snoreing filled the room, a welcome break from the constant noise of the heartbeat monitor. But Applejack knew she shouldn’t complain. Each little beep was another beat of her friend’s heart, another few seconds, she could feel assured that she hadn’t murdered the blue mare. As soon as she knew she was asleep, Applejack felt a tension she hadn’t noticed leave her body, and she heard Rarity let out a long sigh. She sat at Rainbow’s bedside for a few minutes, their hooves still pressed tightly together. Applejack’s eye kept floating between the unicorn and the chair that sat beside her own. Rarity stood up on her hooves, and came to sit down beside Applejack. Then she looked at her. Applejack only held eye contact for a few moments before looking back to the pegasus, but she could feel Rarity’s eyes burning a hole in the side of her head. She looked back to Rarity, still staring, still completely unreadable. Applejack knew if she wanted relief from the tormant of Rarity’s ambiguous stare she would have to make the first move. “Why are you looking at me Rarity?” She whispered simply. The unicorn blinked her big blue eyes a few times. Applejack sighed. “Rarity, when Ah apologised, Ah meant every word of it. Ah’ve got no shortage of guilt right now so Ah’d really appreciate it if you could just say something to me. Good bad, Ah don’t care, but I just need to know what you’re thinkin’ while you stare at me like Ah got two heads.” “I know you feel guilty. I know that seeing her lying there in such a state tears you apart, just as it does me. But I also know that she wouldn’t be there at all if it hadn’t been for you.” Applejack could accept that. “The truth is, I’m not quite sure how I feel.” She rested an alabaster hoof on her shoulder. “But I don’t hate you. I’m not angry, it was an accident, I know that too. I think the day’s events have left us all confused on how to feel. But I’m glad Rainbow is breathing, and I’m glad that I can still call you my friend.” Applejack felt a combination of relief and displeasure so strong it nearly drove her to tears again. She was happy beyond words that Rarity didn’t hate her, but it didn’t feel right. She didn’t deserve forgiveness, she deserved the hatred of her friend. Rarity let her head incline slowly until her head was resting on Applejack’s shoulder, and she wrapped her forelegs around her body. “I can guess how you’re feeling.” The unicorn said eventually. “Ah really doubt that.” “Applejack, is there anypony who knows you better than I?” She asked. The question brought a rueful smile to her lips. “Ah suppose not.” “You feel guilty, you’re heart aches to know she lies there because of you. Don’t worry, once she gets up, she’ll tell to chin up and let bygones be bygones. You hurt her, but you love her. As do I, even if a little differently. I assume you are also angry with me. After all that was said today, you think me a liar.” Applejack didn’t have a polite response in mind, so she kept her mouth shut. “Applejack, I’m sorry I defended our secret so vigorously, but you don’t know the whole story. And I assure you that I was not lying.” Applejack turned her head, confused. “Rarity, I’m sick of playing this game with you. Maybe for once could you just straight up tell me what you’re tryin’ to say.” The white unicorn opened her mouth, but immediately closed it again. Her left ear twitched. The farm pony wore a look of confusion for a moment before realizing Rarity was listening. Listening to Rainbow’s heartbeat monitor. Her snoring had stopped. “It’s different.” She whispered. The noises signalling each beat of their friend’s heart were few and far between. Applejack lunged from her chair towards the button, but she hardly made it half way before a blue aura coated it and she heard a click as Rarity did it for her. The unicorn stood up from her own seat and galloped to the sleeping pony. “Rainbow?” She called, gently trying to stir the pony into consciousness. She didn’t stir. Neither pony wanted to touch the mare in her state, so they waited impatiently for the doctor. In fifteen seconds he burst through the door, two nurses trailing behind him. “What’s the problem?” He asked in a serious tone. “Her heartbeat has gotten weaker and she won’t wake up.” Rarity said frantically. The doctor inspected the monitor for less than a second. “You two will have to wait outside.” He said, not even turning to speak to Rarity or Applejack. Nurse Redheart trotted up to the two mares and ushered them out the door. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine, but we’ll have to run some tests just to be certain.” Neither pony resisted being pushed out the door, whatever the doctor needed they were happy to do. But as their hoofsteps echoed in the empty hallways, and nurse Redheart shut the door to the room where their friend lay in a horrible state, Applejack caught the doctors words just as the door clicked shut behind them. “Name: Rainbow Dashery Belle….” The farm pony turned to Rarity again. The unicorn heard it too, and looked down to the floor. Applejack wanted to ask so badly, to know why the hell Rainbow had just been referred to as Belle. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t get on her case while their friends condition remained a mystery. Applejack tried to reach up and touch her hat, before realizing she’d left it in the room. The two mare’s sat in the dark hallway, silent for minutes. Finally, Rarity let out a long sigh knowing exactly what AJ badly wanted to ask. “She’s my sister Applejack. Rainbow Dash is my twin sister.”