//------------------------------// // 3 - Falling Further Than Before // Story: All Good Things // by ModMCdl //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash winced slightly as Twilight's magic flowed over her wings, feeling as though it was burning slightly. "Twi," she whimpered. "What are you doing? It burns." Her wings twitched as the offending sensation continued. Twilight's voice came back to her, filled with concentration as she tightened her grip on the wing. "Stop moving then around, it's supposed to burn. I'm lightly cauterizing the ripped areas of flesh where your primaries used to be." The pegasus's face scrunched up in confusion and pain at the response. "You're... categorizing what?" she asked, a small wince escaping her. The lavender mare behind a Dash sighed, and the burning sensation left Rainbow's wings. "Done," she said, pulling back away from her pegasus friend. Rainbow lifted a wing around herself to look at it, a brief glimmer of pain displayed across her face for only a second. Twilight realized that had she blinked, she would've missed it, but she did notice it. The wing itself did not look nearly as terrible as it had an hour ago, yet it was still scarred and missing most of its feathers. And the few feathers that were there were all ruffled and askew. Where the wounds had been bleeding previously, large, patchy and callous scabs sealed the flesh, still warm to the touch, and the blue fur around them singed. Eventually, the pain became too much for Rainbow to bear, and she had to clasp her wing back to its original position, a hiss of pain escaping as she did so. Twilight noticed this, and a wave of guilt and sadness washed over her. She had caused this. Her recent inability to control her temper had caused her dear friend to destroy what she loved most, her flight. Twilight was a monster. Suddenly, the words just slipped out of her mouth, "I still think they're beautiful, Rainbow." Then she leaned forward to give her hurting friend a hug. Dash stiffened slightly, before relaxing into her friend's hold. And it did not slip past her that Twilight had used the word "still." Rainbow Dash had not forgotten the original reason as to why she was at Twilight’s home to begin with. The crash into the tree had of course not been intentional, but had been caused because of why she was coming to Twilight’s house. Extreme nervousness and emotion had built up inside her to the point where it was nearly impossible to think without her thoughts drifting to it. So, she had flown off to Twilight’s treehouse in such a rush, an unintentional sonic rainboom and crash were the products of it. The truth was, Dash had a crush on Twilight. Not some weak little fling, but a die-hard, heartbreaking attraction that made it painful to even look or be with her. And now she was an alicorn. Adding wings to the unicorn’s body had only made her more beautiful in the eyes of Rainbow Dash. But it also caused a realization to occur in the pegasus’s mind. Things were rapidly changing for both her and Twilight. Pretty soon, the opportunity she had wanted for the longest time would be lost, and she would have no other pony to blame but herself. So, she had gone to Twilight’s to tell her about her feelings, and to hopefully snag this opportunity before it was gone. But instead, she had tried to commit suicide in order to escape her own problems. A faux solution that only ended up deepening the problem, and creating even more. Dash was scared. She was incredibly scared. Never before had she ever even thought about harming or killing herself, and the reality of how close she had come scared her. It terrified her, even. Never before had this ever happened. “And never again,” the pegasus silently vowed to herself. “What was that?” Rainbow’s eyes shot up from its gaze at the floor, the inquiry by her lavender friend startling her. “Nothing!” she instantly replied, not wanting to worry her friend even more. Twilight just stared back at her confused, and slightly concerned. Dash’s face had turned extremely dark for a few moments. She was used to her prismatic friend having a much more cheerful and happy nature, and this deviation worried her. Undoubtedly, it was her actions that dropped her into this state, but she couldn’t change that. The only thing she could do was try and change that for the better. “Come on, Dash,” she said, parting from her friend. “It’s almost six, let’s get something to eat.” She led Dash out of her bedroom, and went downstairs to her kitchen to prepare a meal for the both of them. --- The meal of daisy sandwiches and soggy, reheated hay fries sat untouched on both of the ponies’ plates. Five minutes had passed, and both of them did not feel the least bit hungry. Instead, they just sat there, staring at their plate, not knowing what to talk about. Eventually, Twilight coughed awkwardly and nodded her head slightly. "Well, I guess neither of us were all that hungry," joked Twilight, finally breaking the silence that had formerly plagued the air. "I'll just clean up these dishes." The alicorn then proceeded to use her magic an levitate the dishes over to the sink so she could wash them. "I guess not," replied Dash, her tone unreadable. She just sat there, staring at her half-empty glass of water. She watched as Twilight washed the dishes, vigorously scrubbing the now-crusted remnants of a meal off the plate. "Oh, its really no problem, Dash" replied Twilight as she continued cleaning. "I don't mind." The pegasus laughed awkwardly. "Maybe I shoulda' killed myself a bit faster, eh? Save you all this work," Rainbow continued to laugh. The sound of a plate shattering cut off the prismatic mare's laughter with a crash. Rainbow watched as pure rage boiled up in Twilight as she turned to glare at the now-frightened pegasus. What she had said was now finally coming back to her ears, and she instantly regretted even opening her mouth. Twilight knew she was about to loose her temper again, but she couldn't care less. The cocky mare's statement was still ringing in her ears. This "friend" of hers was going to get an earful, promises or not. "How dare you," began the Princess, her voice crisp, and seething with anger. "How dare you wish to take your life away from those who love you. From your friends your family. Me. What the hay makes you think you have the right to make that decision?" The furious alicorn advanced across the kitchen towards the cyan mare, her voice rising all the way. Dash visibly shrunk back from her in what could easily be described as fear. "You know, maybe you are stupid," said Twilight. Some rational part of her mind tried to warn her, tried to make her stop. Vainly tried to let her know that she was about to, for the second time today, cross the border into darkness. But she refused to listen. The anger swirled around her in a great torrent, akin to a raging firestorm. Great plumes of fury rose up to consume the last of the rational thought, destroyed any last logical thought that tried to escape the cage of her mind. And the fires continued to burn. "You must be stupid, because no pony with any range of intelligence would insult another with such personal disregard." Rainbow managed to shrink back even further from the glowering alicorn. "You stupid, pathetic, poor excuse for a pony," Twilight continued without mercy. "If you want to be dead so much, maybe you should let some other pony do it for you." She glared down at the pegasus, now only inches away from her face. "I'd certainly be happy to oblige." It was then that Twilight realized her close proximity to Rainbow, and just how close their lips were to touching. She froze, a blush slowly blooming across her face. Everything she had just said, suddenly came rushing back to her, and her last words echoed in her mind. "I'd certainly be happy to oblige." Her ears folded down towards her head, and she opened her mouth to utter an apology. "I'm so sorry Dash, I-" And then Twilight was thrown backward with great force, collapsing onto her back as Dash blew past her. She heard the door to the library slam shut, the force causing a frame to fall of the wall somewhere, the sound of shattered glass echoing through the now silent and empty tree. Twilight sat up, ruffling her wings, as she had crushed them when she fell back. The princess groaned, rubbing the sore appendages, as she weakly stood. However, her concern quickly focused back to Rainbow Dash, and everything that had just taken place. She slowly raised a hoof to her mouth. "Sweet Celestia, what have I done..." She began to cry softly, relaxing into a puddle of emotional turmoil, releasing everything she had left, and letting the world take it away. Why had she become like this? Never before had she had problems with managing her anger and emotions. Twilight growled, and banged her hoof into the floor. "It's these stupid wings!" She pulled one around her, and glared at it. "Nothing like this was bothering me until I grew these stupid wings!" The alicorn tugged at the feathers, tearing a few free, and cried out in agony. Shaking, she looked down at the damaged area, blood starting to seep through the fur. Suddenly, the image of Rainbow's wing, featherless and bloody, replaced her own in her hoof. Twilight cried out, releasing her wing and scrambling backwards. Trying to calm her heart, she pushed a hoof into her breast, trying to soothe herself. "Her wings are like that because of me," she whispered, tears still leaking down her face. "Because I got angry at her, and insulted her, and..." she drifted off, a horrifying realization coming to her. Rainbow's reaction to her last outburst ended with her almost killing herself. Now, Twilight had ripped into her again, this time saying she should be killed. With her eyes lighting up in horror, Twilight rushed out of her house, taking off into the now darkened sky. "I'm coming Rainbow, please be alright!" she cried into the night. "Please!" Twilight was flying as fast as she could, and before she knew it, Rainbow's cloud house was approaching. Fast. Quickly raising her hooves up to shield her head, she unceremoniously crashed through the cloud wall, right into Rainbow Dash's living room. "Dash!" she cried. "Are you here! I'm sorry!" The lavender alicorn frantically searched the house, looking in every room, every closet. But Dash was nowhere to be found. After double checking and making sure she hadn't missed anything, Twilight left the house, and began to search all of Ponyville, screaming her friend's name all the while. The princess searched place after place, exploring every cloud, alley, and tree. However, as the night passed on, and no trace of the cyan pegasus came up, a horrifying feeling of dismay found it's way into Twilight's heart. She entered her home, and collapsed onto her bed, sobs racking her entire body. Her wings were sore, and her head hurt, yet her search had still turned up fruitless. Longing for any sort of comfort, Twilight clutched a pillow her her chest, and sobbed. There was nothing she could do but wait for the inevitable news of Rainbow Dash's death in the morning...