//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Hoof Covers Bruise 
// by Arwhale 
//------------------------------//

The girl's chest rose and fell in the softest rhythm. 

Rainbow Dash sat to the side, propped against the wall nearest to Scootaloo's bed. While her little sister slept, Rainbow's eyes were wide open. 

An hour had passed. Spent beyond her limits, Scootaloo had finally fallen unconscious, dead to the world if only for a short while. And now, Rainbow Dash had nothing left to do but sit, watch, and think. Given everything she had done, she should have been exhausted, too. But she wasn't. 

She was angry.

Not angry at Scootaloo, no. Not even angry at herself. But taking in the sight of her sister lying there, battered and feverish, she could feel a fire stirring in her chest that made the veins in her head and neck throb. It was the kind of anger that made her want to crush a boulder in her own bare hooves. The unfairness of it all... 

But for the first time since she'd seen Scootaloo that night, there was something else she noticed. Something that kept all of the rage at bay. 

Peace. It was tentative, and it was fearful. But if only for a moment, Scootaloo was at peace. 

With a careful step, Rainbow inched forward. Scootaloo remained oblivious. The breath wheezed out of her, but she slept nonetheless.

Minutes later, Rainbow Dash lay on the floor beside the bed. 

Asleep.