//------------------------------// // Apologies // Story: The Great and Powerful Who? // by Quick Wit -Littlepip- //------------------------------// The Hay Burger grew ever bigger as the six ponies neared the restaurant. “Tell me again why you chose this place?” Rarity asked, obviously unimpressed with its outward appearance. “A few years before I moved to Ponyville, I visited Manehattan with the princess. When I went out into the city to explore, I found this neat little restaurant with some of the nicest ponies I’ve ever met,” she explained, fondly recalling her time there. Her memories were cut short, however, by a familiar sight. “Hey! That’s the big meanie weenie who bumped into you at the hospital!” Pinkie stated, frowning through the window towards the filthy, blue mare. “Wait a second. Isn’t that Trixie?” At that, all the ponies quickly looked through the front window. Sure enough, standing in the center of the room, was Trixie. “Full of nice ponies?” Rainbow Dash spat. “Yeah right! I should go in there and give her a piece of my mind!” “It looks as though she’s had it rough since we last saw her,” Rarity added, clearly disgusted with her current appearance. “She’s probably had to live on the streets. With the reputation she has, I wouldn’t let her stay with me.” “Well serves her right. She’s nothin’ but trouble,” Applejack said, her words laced with venom. “Girls!” Twilight stated in shock. “Nopony deserves that, not even Trixie. Besides, I told you she apo—Hey! Rainbow, get back here!” Before she even had time to finish, Rainbow Dash had already barged through the door. “Hey Trixie!” Rainbow yelled, rushing towards the showmare. As soon as Trixie turned around, Rainbow Dash hit her with as much force as she could. At that moment, the atmosphere in the room changed. Before Rainbow had time to continue, she was thrown to the ground by two mares who had previously been sitting in the corner. Quickly getting to her hooves, she stared at them in anger. “Don’t even think about it,” one of them said, shooting a murderous look at Rainbow Dash. When Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, the door behind her opened once again. “Rainbow Dash! What do you think you’re doing?” Twilight yelled, pulling her hot-headed friend back. The occupants could do nothing but stare in shock. Standing before them was one of Equestria’s princesses. “Y-You,” Trixie sputtered, staring at Twilight. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and smirked, happy to have gotten Trixie’s attention. As she opened her eyes again, however, she noticed something unusual. Trixie wasn’t staring at Twilight with recognition, or jealousy, or even spite. Instead, her eyes were filled with absolute terror; the kind of terror you see from a pony who’s seconds away from death. “T-Trixie? Are you… Are you okay?” Twilight asked, growing nervous about the situation. At that moment, Trixie began to sob. “P-Please! L-Let this be a dream!” Trixie cried out, backing towards the far corner of the room, covering her face with her hooves. “Please, Celestia! Wake me from this nightmare!” she screamed, grabbing her head in pain, memories of her dream returning. Rushing forward, Constellation grabbed Trixie, pulled her into a hug, and shot Rainbow Dash a furious glare. “What did you do to her?” she demanded. “I-I was just…” Rainbow, at a loss for words, rushed out of the restaurant. Fluttershy shot an apologetic look towards Constellation and went after her friend. By this time, Trixie had grown silent, falling into an unconscious state. “Come on, Stella. We need to get her back to the hospital,” Dipper suggested. “Back to the hospital?” Twilight asked in surprise. Suddenly reminded of the alicorn princess standing before them, the occupants of the room bowed. “P-Princess, forgive me for being rude, but we need to go. Now,” Constellation said, looking more confident than she felt. “Of course. I understand completely,” Twilight said, smiling gently and turning to address one of the other ponies in the room. “So… what did you mean ‘back to the hospital’? I saw her walk out of it earlier. Has she been visiting it a lot recently?” she asked, a little bit concerned for the showmare. “Visiting? No, my dear. She’s been living there for nearly two months now,” said the old voice of Miss Felinisity. “She’s only been awake the last couple of weeks, though.” Twilight and her friends stared in shock. Whatever answer they were expecting, that wasn’t it. “If I may ask, whatever happened?” Rarity spoke up, looking at the sleeping showmare. “She was attacked. Nearly killed. Put in a coma for a month. As if that wasn’t punishment enough for this poor mare. The mare you’re looking at isn’t Trixie. But a weak and scared shell. Amnesia can be tough on the mind…” Pinkie gasped in shock, putting a hoof over her mouth. Applejack looked down at the showmare who wronged her in the past. “Ah can’t pretend to like her, but nopony deserves somethin’ like that.” She said, looking at Trixie with pity. Rarity nodded her head in agreement. “Personally, I think she had it coming.” She said, earning a glare from the injured mares friends. “She didn’t deserve it of course.” Rarity added. “It’s just, with her reputation combined with her attitude. She wasn’t exactly the best company.” “I’d have agree’d with you two months ago. But now I can’t help but like her.” Dipper said, petting Trixie’s ruined mane. “She’s so nice to everypony.” Mr. Hay added, walking forward. “She’s always complimenting everypony else, putting others above her.” Applejack and Rarity shared unbelieving looks. Twilight gently picked Trixie up in her magic, turning towards the door. “Well let’s get her back to the hospital, make sure she’s okay.”                                        ………………………………………… Rainbow Dash looked out over Manehattan, laying on a cloud high above the ground. “I only hit her once, it wasn’t even that hard! So why did she freak out like that. And why does it bother me so much?” Rainbow thought, shoving her face into the cloud with a grown. “Dashie?” Fluttershy asked, looking at her friend with concern. “Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash sat up, turning towards her friend. “I don’t know why that happened! I hit her yeah, but I was just angry at seeing her again! Especially after the last time we saw her…” The pegasus said, looking at her friend with sad eyes. “I get where you’re coming from Rainbow Dash. But running into a crowded restaurant, and punching a pony, doesn’t exactly make her look like the bad pony. She looked like she was having a rough time in the first place, so perhaps that punch did more harm than intended.” Fluttershy said, looking at her friend with a soft, supportive smile. “I think you should go apologize to her.” Rainbow simply stared at fluttershy. “How? She’d probably not want me anywhere near her.” She said, stepping off the cloud, beginning to float slowly to the ground. “Just say it. Walk straight up to her and apologize.” Fluttershy said, flying next to her rainbow maned friend. “ Whether she accepts or not is up to her. But you still have to play your part.” “It seems so much easier after hearing it from you. I sat there, thinking of the best way I could do it. But nothing seemed right.” Rainbow Dash said, giving a grateful smile towards her shy friend. “Sometimes, it takes a friend to help make a choice.” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Thanks Fluttershy. Come on, let’s g- Hey! Everypony is going into the hospital!” Rainbow Dash said, watching her friends enter the hospital, carrying Trixie. Rainbow stared in fear, afraid she had hurt Trixie worse than she thought. “Q-Quick! Let’s go!” Without waiting, Rainbow Dash rushed towards her friends. “Rainbow Dash! Wait up!” Fluttershy quickened her pace, watching a Rainbow Dash rushed into the hospital.  As Fluttershy landed, she rushed through the doors.                                       ………………………………………….. “What do you mean I can’t see her?! I just need to apologize!” Rainbow yelled, glaring at Constellation. “When?! After you hit her some more?! I don’t think so!” Constellation yelled back, returning Rainbow Dash’s glare. “Please girls! There’s no need to fight! Let’s all just calm down.” Twilight said in annoyance, stepping between the two angry mares. “Aw come on Twi, we’re in a hospital. Ain’t no reason to worry.” Applejack added, watching the scene with a large grin. “Not helping Applejack!” Twilight yelled, shooting a glare at her friend. “WILL YOU PONIES SHUT UP?!” Nurse Flitter screamed, eye twitching with annoyance. Behind her Twinkle was rolling on the floor, laughing at her friends outburst. “Trixie’s awake. She said she doesn’t care if she has visitors. You can go see her now. Except for you princess.” “What? Why?” “Well when she asked who was here to see her. I mentioned you, which seemed to bother her greatly. She said she didn’t care who came in, as long as it wasn’t the purple one.” Flitter added, shrugging her shoulders. “She should stay too.” Constellation added, pointing her hoof towards Rainbow Dash. “As if! I’m going to apologize. Whether you like it or not.” And with that, Rainbow Dash rushed towards Trixie’s room. “Let’s give her a couple minutes.” Fluttershy chimed in, earning a look from the starry couple. “She needs to apologize. And it will be easier without everypony around.” “I really don’t like her,” Constellation said, looking at her husband, who simply chuckled.                                         ……………………….. “Trixie? Are you here?” Asked the the pegasus, slowly opening the door. As she looked at the bed, she saw the dirty mare sitting up, nervously looking at her lap. At the sound of her name, she looked up. “Y-You… You were the one who hit me.” Trixie stated, looking fearfully towards Rainbow Dash. “I-I’m sorry, for whatever it is I did to you. If you need to finish it. Please do it quickly.” She added, closing her eyes, readying herself for the familiar feel of pain. Rainbow could only stare at surprise. “You’re sorry?! After what I did?!” She asked, eyes widening. “I’m sorry Trixie, for hitting you, and for causing the little freak out you had in the restaurant.” “S-Sorry? Really?” Trixie could only stare at Rainbow, praying she was being serious. “Yeah, really,” Dash said, smiling sheepishly at Trixie. “Perhaps I misjudged you. And maybe we can start over. Pretend Ponyville never happened.” she added, putting her hoof out. “P-Ponyville? You live there?” Trixie asked, ignoring the outstretched hoof, surprised at hearing of the place her friends were moving to. “Um. Yeah? What, did you lose your memory or something?” Rainbow Dash asked jokingly. Dash’s hoof quickly fell as she looked at Trixie’s sad face. “Insecure? Dirty? Living in the hospital? Acting really weird?” Realization quickly entered Dash’s eyes. “Dear Celestia! I didn’t just hit an unsuspecting mare! I hit an unsuspecting mare with absolutely no clue!”  Looking at Trixie, she couldn’t help but feel worse than before. “I-I’m sorry Trixie…”