//------------------------------// // Rainbow Dash 12 // Story: Unwell // by HazamaBrony //------------------------------// “How bad?” I asked. “Well, I don’t know—“ Doctor Hooves said, but that wasn’t good enough. “HOW BAD!?” I roared, all of my anger boiling to the surface at once. The doctor flinched away from me, and Celestia put a hoof on my back. “Rainbow, please, calm yourself. Doctor Hooves in not at fault here.” “But… but…” I said, deflating. “This is all so messed up. Twilight didn’t do anything wrong, and now she might be… might be… I don’t know. It’s just so messed up.” Dang it, I wasn’t going to cry. “Doctor. How bad might it be?” Celestia asked calmly. Doctor Hooves just shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. There have been minor incidents of ponies developing A.C.M.S. like symptoms after exposure to too much magic, but Twilight is one of a kind. Like all ponies with A.C.M.S., her brain is ill-equipped to handle how much magic she has. Add to that the fact that she was off her magic suppressors, and that the magic had no place to go because of the magic suppression stone… I don’t think we will know till she wakes up.” “Is there anything we can do in the meantime?” Celestia asked. “I could order some scans of her brain in the meantime, but they would do that anyways, and I don’t think it will tell us much. Our scans just aren’t developed enough for detecting subtle changes.” “Thank you, doctor. Might I ask what you plan to do now?” Celestia said. The doctor sighed. “I think I’m going to head back to my office and close up for the night. I’ll figure out what to do tomorrow.” “In that case, thank you for everything you have done. I will make sure that the state compensates you for any disruptions to your business that this has caused.” Doctor Hooves looked taken back at that statement. “That won’t be needed, Your Highness. I—“ “Please take it, Doctor. It would put my mind at ease,” Celestia said, sounding oddly pleading. “I… very well. I’ll submit my bill to the crown tomorrow. Goodnight,” Doctor Hooves said, then slowly made his way back into town. Celestia watched him until he rounded a corner and disappeared from view. “I believe that he is blaming himself just as much as you blame yourself, Rainbow.” “He shouldn’t,” I said tiredly. “It’s all my fault. I should have been more attentive to how Twilight was acting during when she was sick. I should have been faster in finding her. Heck, I should have been the one to tackle her. I’m a black belt, I would have been able to hold her without hurting her.” “Do not go down that path, Rainbow. Worrying about what might have been can prepare you for the future, but holding on to the blame needlessly can tear a pony apart. Trust me, I know,” Celestia said with a glance at the rising moon. “Right,” I said, only half believing her. “So, what do we do now?” “I, personally, am going to wait for the pony that actually does deserve the blame for this. I would like to know precisely what was going through her mind when she attempted to ruin my disciple’s life. What would you like to do?” “I… I don’t know…” I admitted. “Twilight still won’t wake up for a while, even if the doctors are done working on her leg. And even then, I don’t know if they would even let me in to see her.” Celestia tilted her head a little. “Why wouldn’t they?” “I’m not her family, so…” The princess smiled a little. “If I recall correctly, they let your friends in to see you when you broke your wing.” I shrugged a little. It was a good point. “Rainbow, don’t be so quick to jump to the worst case scenario. It rarely helps,” Celestia said, looking me in the eyes. “I guess. It just seems like a day for worse case scenarios.” “Not really. As badly as the day went, it could have been much worse,” Celestia said. “Worse!? How could it be worse!?” I yelled, angry again. “Um… I mean… could you explain, Your Highness?” I added, remembering who I was speaking to. “For starters, we should be thankful that the withdrawal from Twilight’s medications didn’t cause any significant side effects. From what I understand, she was feeling under the weather for a while, but compared to what might have happened, that was a blessing.” “What do you mean, what might have happened?” Celestia frowned. “I mean that she could have developed any one of a number of skin disorders, some that would lead to long lasting damage and severe infections down the road. And that was only for one medication. With three…” I swallowed the lump that had appeared in my throat. “Got it. Could have been much worse.” “And even after that, we were lucky. She didn’t suddenly believe that one of the multitude of poisonous plants in the Everfree was mare’s root, she was found quickly, she only tried to run away from the guards instead of fighting then… all in all, we were tremendously lucky.” “It sure doesn’t feel like that,” I said bitterly. Celestia sighed. “I know. But for now, let us just be thankful that she is alive. Isn’t that enough?” “I guess. Anyways, I think I’ll stick around and see what Blood Work has to say for herself. I can go to Twilight’s side afterwards,” I said. “I understand. Be warned though, if she doesn’t want to see you, you may not get to hear what she has to say in person.” “Really? Well that sucks, cause I have some questions for her.” “I know you do, and I believe that I can get you in the same room as her without bending the rules. If worse comes to worse, I could just invoke my right as the princess to allow you to confront her. I would prefer not to, however. I dislike circumventing the law like that,” the Princess said. “Got it,” I said. “I guess that will have to do.” “Now, Rainbow, shall we enter the station? It is getting slightly cold out here, and we may have a bit of a wait before the guard arrest Blood Work.” I nodded, and the Princess and I turned and entered the station. An hour later, I was pacing back and forth in the reception area of the guard station. The guards still had not found Blood Work, and I was getting impatient. The Princess, on the other hoof, had immediately gone to a corner of the room, and settled down on her barrel, closed her eyes, and not moved since we had entered the room. I would have sworn she had fallen asleep, but her ears twitched at ever sound. I think she was just meditating. Finally, my patience wore thin. “That’s it,” I said, “I’ll talk to Blood Work some other time. I’m going to see Twilight.” “Please wait, just a little, Rainbow,” Celestia said, without even opening her eyes. “I believe that the guards should be returning very shortly.” “How do you know?” I asked, but the words had barely left my lips when the door of the room flew open, and Captain Stone Wall trotted in. “We got her,” he said. “It took us a bit to find where she lived, but she surrendered peacefully. She’s waiting in the interrogation room. Do you want us to ask her anything in particular?” “No, Captain. In fact, I don’t want you to ask her anything at all. As I said, I will be interrogating her personally,” Celestia replied, getting to her hooves. Stone Wall looked taken back by this. “Are… are you sure?” “Yes,” Celestia said calmly, walking out of the room. “Wait here, Rainbow. If everything goes to plan, then you should be needed shortly.” “Okay,” I said, unsure of what else to say. The Captain gave me one last look, then hurried out of the room. I guess there wasn’t anything else to do but wait. I sighed. It felt like I had spent entire days waiting at that point, but I hadn’t even been half a day since everything went to Tartarus. I settled down into one of the waiting couches in the room, and tried to do my best impression of the Princess: calm and collected. It was about two minutes before I was up and pacing the room again. Finally, after about thirty minutes that felt like thirty days, Stone Wall came back into the room. “Blood Work has asked to see you,” he said. “Blood Work asked to see me. Not Celestia?” I asked, confused. “That’s right. Now follow me. I’ll take you to the interrogation room,” Stone Wall said, and I scrambled to follow him. The interrogation room was drab and grey, with just a table, a lamp and two chairs in it. There was a mirror taking up most of one of the walls, and I assumed that was where the guards would be watching from. “And she finally shows up!” Blood Work sneered as I entered the room. She had her glasses on, but she was missing her vest and her hair was a little messed up. “I get dragged out of bed by the guards, and it’s all because of you! I invoke my right to confront my accuser as given to me in the Equestrian constitution!” she said triumphantly. Her back was to Celestia, so she couldn’t see the smile that flickered across the large mare’s face. “That’s not technically how the law works,” Celestia said, her face serious again. “But now that Rainbow is here, she said she has some questions for you. Would you be opposed to answering them?” Blood Work spun and glared at Celestia. “But you said that—“ “All I said was that several ponies, Rainbow Dash included, were accusing you of tampering with Twilight Sparkle’s medications. Then I reminded you of the law. You were the one that demanded to be able to confront Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said, and she sounded just the tiniest bit smug. “In any case, she is here now, and would like to ask you a few things.” “Well then, I invoke my right to remain silent,” Blood Work announced triumphantly. “Very well. Guards, please note that the subject has become uncooperative when asked to answer questions. That will surely come up at her trial,” Celestia said, turning as if to leave. “What? Fine! I’ll answer some stupid questions!” Blood Work shouted, spinning to face me. “So, what does the idiot want to know?” Behind her back, Celestia smiled again. “Well,” I said, gathering my thoughts, “I guess the first thing I want to know is… did you really do it? Did you tamper with her medications?” Blood Work rolled her eyes at me. “Of course I did.” “W—What?” I almost shouted, taken back. I had expected her to deny it. “I, unlike you, am not an idiot. The guards have enough evidence to convict me, so it’s in my best interest to cooperate. And I am cooperating, see?” she asked, glaring at Celestia. “And so you are,” Celestia replied, her face a blank mask. “Well, I also want to know if you actually sabotaged Twilight’s research,” I said, turning Blood Work’s attention back to me. “Why would I do that?” she asked. “All I had to do was swap out her meds then play the waiting game. I know enough about pharmaceuticals to know that that combination of meds was only for really serious things. I had just hoped that she would have made a fool of herself in front of the judges, but from what I can gather, it went even better than that.” “But, then, why?” I asked. “Why swap the meds at all? Twilight never hurt you, and—“ “Never hurt me!?” Blood Work shouted. “That little nutcase hurt me worse than any other pony in Equestria! Until I met her, I was always the best at everything! Then Miss Crazypants comes prancing into the picture, and starts upstaging me at every turn! She must have been cheating! Nopony is smarter than me!” “Cheating?” I asked, dumbfounded at her outburst and accusation. “You got wax in your ears or something? I just told you, nopony is smarter than me, so for her to win so many competitions, she must have cheated. Heck, her family is rich, I bet they just bribed some ponies.” “Twilight would never—“ I began, but I was swiftly cut off. “Spare me the whole ‘my marefriend would never’ routine. She couldn’t have beat me in anything fairly and you know it!” “What do you mean, that I should know it?” Blood Work sneered at me again. “Oh, so she didn’t tell you? And I guess you’re too much of a simpleton to figure out after what happened today.” “Quit stalling and tell me!” I demanded. The unicorn’s grin widened. “Twilight’s crazy. And I mean certifiable. Everything that happened today? That’s just because I switched her meds with ones that do nothing. That’s just how she really is, without any meds to prop her sanity up!” “If you mean about her A.C.M.S., I already knew about it,” I said, my teeth grinding. Blood Work looked taken back for a second. “You knew? And you still wanted to sleep with her?” she asked, sounding incredulous I was so angry I could taste bile in my throat. A second later, Blood Work’s stupid smile returned. “Oh, I get it.” “Get what!?” I snapped, wanting to be done with her already. “I mean, it’s obvious,” she said, her grin growing ever wider. “So tell me, was the sex really that good?” “W—What!?” “Tell me, is it true? That the crazy ones make for the best fucks?” Blood Work asked. Silence fell over the room. I was dimly aware of Celestia making a face like she had smelled something unpleasant, before what Blood Work had said sunk in. “YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!” I roared, launching myself at Blood Work. My hoof slammed into the side of her face once, twice, three times before I felt the familiar sensation of magic envelop my body and pulled me off her. I hovered, suspended by Celestia’s gentle but firm magic, panting in anger. After a second or two, the guards burst into the room. “Hold her,” Celestia commanded, floating me over to the guards, who immediately restrained me. “Do not put her in a cell yet, however.” Blood Work groaned from where she had fallen to the floor. She got up slowly, shaking a little, then spat on the floor. I was pleased to see a glimmer of white amongst the red on the floor. After a moment, Stone Wall entered the room. He looked a little shocked at the scene before him, but he quickly regained his composure. “Princess, may I speak with you?” he asked. “It’s about Twilight’s condition.” “You can tell me now,” Celestia said. “N—Now? In front of these civilians?” “Yes,” Celestia said simply. “O…okay…” Stone Wall said, before visibly gathering himself. “Twilight’s leg was successfully splinted, and brain scans showed no detectable damage. All in all, it is likely she will make a full recovery in time.” Blood Work frowned, and Celestia smiled. “Very good. And I assume she will change hospitals to one more suited to her condition?” Celestia said. “Yes, her doctor recommended that she be transferred to Canterlot Mental Hospital in a day.” “Very good,” Celestia said again. “Now, there is the matter of punishment… for Rainbow.” “What!?” I shouted, disbelieving. How could she do this to me? “For assaulting a suspect in guard custody, I sentence you to…” Celestia paused, and Blood Work started smiling like a madmare. Seriously, after everything that happened, Celestia was going to punish me? I was just about to tell her to stuff her tiara where the sun don’t shine when she spoke again. “… one month of community service at Canterlot Mental Hospital, starting in one week.” This time, it was Blood Work who shouted “What!?” as I started to grin. “I believe,” Celestia continued, “that there will be a pony there that may benefit from her presence. Of course, she will be reimbursed for time away from her job, seeing as how she was provoked.” Blood Work was visibly seething now. “Are you sure, Princess? We don’t normally reimburse for time away from a job…” Stone Wall said. “I am invoking my right as High Princess of Equestria, declaring that this punishment fits the crime,” Celestia said in a tone that booked no argument. “Now then,” she continued, “there is the matter of what to be done with Blood Works research. I believe that it may be related to this crime, and as such am ordering the guard to seize it.” “What!? You can’t!” Blood Work protested. “Furthermore, we will need a pony smart enough to understand what Blood Work was doing. As such, they will need to be smarter that Blood Work. Can you think of any examples, Rainbow?” Ah. I saw where she was going with this. “Maybe Twilight, once she recovers?” I said. Celestia nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. Very well, guards, release Rainbow. She has already been judged and sentenced. As for Blood Work, take her to a cell. The courts will see to her.” The guards saluted, and pulled Blood Work out of the room as she was yelling profanities at the Princess. That left Celestia and me alone in the interrogation room. It was silent for a few seconds, before I spoke. “You know,” I said, casually, “I would have expected you to be faster than that.” “Faster than what?” the Princess asked. “When I attacked Blood Work. You were faster than that when I jumped to go help Twilight.” “Maybe I was just caught by surprise. Nopony is as fast as you, Rainbow,” Celestia said with a smile. I snorted. And I was king of the sea ponies. I got serious again almost instantly. “So, what now?” I asked. Celestia sighed. “Now we do all we can to help Twilight recover. I suggest you go check on Twilight, then go home and get a good night’s sleep. I wager you will want to be by her side even before you start your community service.” I nodded, and turn to leave the room. “One more thing, Rainbow,” Celestia said. I turned and looked at her. “Thank you for caring about her,” Celestia said simply. I nodded, then made my way out of the guard station.