Chapter X: Amends
Chapter X: Amends
It didn't take long for you and Applejack to clean up and freshen the place to burn the evidence of the existence of sex having ever happened. About ten minutes later, Twilight and the others had returned with a couple of boxes of pizza; one with plain cheese, and one topped with daffodils.
Dinner officially made.
Of course, your excitement for pizza didn't really make its way into conversation as the eight of you began to chow down. Other than the occasional 'please pass the cutter' or 'pass the pepper', it was relatively quiet at the table that stood near the window, with nothing but constant chewing of dough and cheese to fill the silence.
In all honesty, this had to be the most quiet you've ever heard. Sure, you could count the four days you were cooped up in your home, but even then, you could still hear life happening outside. But here, it was very quiet, which came to be more shocking to you, considering how many ponies lived here compared to Ponyville, not to mention you were in a hotel, with possibly hundreds of ponies. Perhaps it was because you were further away from them? But even then, that wouldn't make sense. You'd be bound to hear at least one pony make noises outside or behind these walls.
But you were so focused on hearing voices so distant, you didn't even hear Twilight's close voice until she yelled your name, to which it knocked you out of your trance. At this point, everyone was looking like you like you were dumb. Of course, Rainbow was the only one who did think you were dumb.
"Sorry, what?" you say as a first response.
"I said, can you please pass the hot sauce?"
For a second, you looked at her confused, but when you realize what she was talking about, you quickly shook your head and mentally slapped yourself in stupidity.
"Oh, sure. Sure, here you go, sorry," you say somewhat quickly as you hoof her the hot sauce.
You never seemed to understand why she liked hot sauce to begin with. From what Pinkie told you about the time she first came to Ponyville, Twilight practically drenched herself in cold water upon accidentally drinking hot sauce. Perhaps she got used to it over time? You never really knew.
However, the whole awkwardness didn't end after you gave Twilight the sauce. This sparked a conversation of concern.
Again with the concern? Really?
"Darling, are you feeling alright?" Rarity asked with a caring voice. "You're not allergic to pizza or anything, are you?"
Wait, what? Allergic to pizza? Really?
Shaking your head to object her question, you explain your thoughts in a shorter, but vocal way.
"Have you guys noticed that it's much more quieter here than in Ponyville? Like, aren't there ten million ponies living in this city? So, how exactly is this city much more quieter than a town of three hundred?" You lift a hoof, shaking it slightly in effectiveness for your statement. "I mean, yeah, it was loud earlier when we were helping Lilly, but... I don't know, it just sounds so... eerie now. Is it just me? I think it's just me."
Rarity and the others looked at each other with uncertainty, while Rainbow completely ignored them, having been enveloped in the newest edition of Daring Do. Of course, it wasn't the edition you planned to give her for her birthday, as that edition wouldn't be out for another four months.
But just looking at the cover made you remember the gift almost immediately. You were always wondering when you were going to just give her the gifts as an apology, but just the way she was acting made you reconsider sometimes. Make her wait for the book. Make her miss the Wonderbolts Show.
But that would have just been hurtful, no matter what.
However, back to your thoughts, the others decided to let your words pass by, unable to come up with a response to it, and just keep eating, looking up at you every once in a while with a bit of concern. Rainbow, as always, showed signs of not-caring, but you yourself didn't care at the moment.
Once everypony got back to eating, you took the time to really look at the scene in front of you.
The table you had been sitting at was rounded, in a circle shape, with a total of eight chairs, one for each of you. Two boxes of pizza and extra plates sat about on the table. A candle sat in the center of the table, illuminating the short area. Of course, there was risk of the candle falling and setting either a box or the table on fire, but Rarity made sure it was safe and secure.
Meaning, she moved everything away from the candle, not made sure the candle wouldn't fall or trip. Something was bound to happen, but honestly, at this point, you didn't really care all that much.
"And... you're thinking about this stuff now? Out of nowhere?" Rainbow questioned after several moments of silence.
"Well... yeah, why not? I mean, you can hear it too, can't you?"
"Pfft... you really are a weirdo," she says before taking another bite into a slice of pizza.
"Rainbow," Twilight scolds her quietly, but enough for the rest to hear. Regardless, the pegasus didn't seem to acknowledge Twilight's glare as she continued eating her food.
You groaned quietly. "Can I ask you something? Why exactly do you dislike me so much?"
"Darling, don't-" Rarity begins, but you politely cut her off.
"Don't worry, I just want an honest answer. Not the same answer we got last week. I want the truth." Rainbow looks up at you, her nostrils flaring faintly with frustration.
At this point, she stops chewing her food and is now looking right at you, her eyes like daggers piercing into yours. It doesn't scare you, but it was honestly unsettling. Very slowly, Dash put her book down onto the table, quite close to the candle, dangerously close, in your opinion.
"...I really hate you."
Your eyes darted left and right slowly.
"... Okay... that doesn't answer my question. You mind actually giving me something better?"
"You guys, don't do this right now, please," Twilight interjects with a concerning voice, "this is supposed to be a fun trip, remember?"
"Well, it would have been fun if he hadn't come along!" Rainbow slightly raises her voice and turns to Twilight. "You know, every single day, I have to put up being around him! All day, every day, when I want to hang out with just you guys, he's there following you! Because he knows I'm coming along! Meanwhile, he's always tripping over things and destroying Celestia-knows-what, and me and the other pegasi have to clean up his mess—"
"What, you think I do that on purpose?" you respond in an annoyed tone.
"Yeah, I do! This happens all the time, and I'm stuck fixing your crap! And then you think that I don't care, and you contin-no, no, no...try to flirt with me, like it's gonna make it all go away! And then there's the stupid letters and poems and that you keep sending me every other month because you think it's gonna make you win me over! Well, guess what? It doesn't work like in fairy-tales!"
When Rainbow stops talking, she breathes silently but somewhat heavily, trying to regain her breath. For a second, she closes her eyes, but when she opens them, she continues to talk.
"You always keep saying that you care about me. But I always keep asking, all by myself... Do you think I give a buck about you?"
For a moment, you open your mouth as if to say something, but no words could form, so you close it again, snorting quietly.
"Because I don't. Ever since you came into Ponyville, you have been nothing... but complete... trouble. Even Derpy has caused less problems than you, and that is saying something!"
You softly stomped a hoof on the table.
"Oh, you're one to talk. So you're saying I'm the one that sabotaged the Weather Factory to keep my pet from going into hibernation? Something that happens to animals literally every winter? Yeah, real genius of me, I gotta say. But hey, I guess I got some competition if you're also causing trouble so ponies would look to you as a savior."
"Well, at least I didn't burn down somepony's house and ruin their life!"
You grit your teeth as she recalled that moment.
"At least I'm not the one that tripped over a bale of hay and nearly burned down my best friend's barn! At least I'm not the one who tried helping Lyra Heartstrings with groceries and almost got her run over by a wagon! And hey, at least I'm not the pony that nearly burned down an entire town on my birthday!"
Your heart was beating quick in your chest, and nothing you could do would slow it down. Applejack and Twilight looked upon you with worry, as if you were going to suddenly drop dead from a heart attack.
"Here's a bucking favor for you. You wanna show how much you love me? You wanna prove to the world that you care about all of us?! Walk out that door and don't come back! EVER!"
Silence roared over the table. Everyone stared at Rainbow Dash like they had just seen a ghost standing in front of them. You could tell by their expressions that they could not believe what she had just said. And neither could you.
You looked at Dash, then back to the table. Closing your eyes, you felt the fabric and sighed.
"You know what? I'm out of here."
That alone seemed to change her expression. Her eyebrow raised only a smidgen, and the look of anger and frustration faded only slightly, but you don't know if it was ever showing concern. You never really took the time to look at her face, and honestly, you didn't really want to.
Getting up from the table, you apologized to the others and started for the door. Twilight called out your name and yelled, "Wait!" but for the first time since you met her, you didn't listen to her. You kept on walking.
The door opened with ease, but unlike the common story hero, you didn't look back to the others. As the door shut behind, you walked away, and you didn't come back.
3rd Person POV
As the stallion walked out of the room without saying a single word or goodbye, Spike almost immediately chased after him, perhaps trying to stop him or get him to come back. Twilight told the little dragon to come back, but he said, even promised, that he'd be back in a second. Like the stallion, Spike walked out the door.
Now the only breathing souls that remained within the hotel room were the six mares themselves, all of them---excluding Rainbow Dash---having looks of shock or sadness on their face, especially Twilight's.
Rainbow, on the other hoof, while she didn't look 'proud' of her words, she couldn't care less about the stallion leaving the way he did. As she had done prior, she picked up her book, continued reading, and ate another slice of pizza, as if the event never happened to begin with, or like it was simply nothing.
Other than her chewing or turning the pages of her book, it was very quiet in the room, the silence quite chilling to the others. But their eventual cold stares at Rainbow made it somewhat a little bit----warmer.
Twilight, however, continued to look at the door, as if the stallion and Spike would walk back in at any moment. Forget it happened, talk about it, anything. She just wanted them to come back in.
But after a minute of silence, the door never opened.
And so what was left of her concern faded away, and what replaced it was anger and frustration towards the rainbow maned mare.
In the near dead silence, she asked a question, in a tone that was rather cold, colder than any tone she ever had.
"What----the hell---is wrong with you?"
This was able to catch Rainbow's attention, and at the second she looked at the mare, Rainbow looked at her too. Dash did seem to have a pint of concern in her eyes, but it was most commonly overshadowed with a look and emotion that said, 'do I care?'
With a tone of carelessness and slight confidence, she replied to Twilight:
"He wanted an explanation," she said with a shrug of her shoulders, "so I gave him one."
Twilight, while she was common about her behavior for the past week, still found herself dumbfounded and shocked at her 'friend's' negative behavior towards the stallion. She knew well, damn well even, that he didn't intend for what happened to happen, and yet Rainbow treats him like a terrorist and a freak.
And it was at this point---
She's had it.
With a fit of anger, Twilight grabbed Rainbow's book with an aura, and with a sling, shot it across the room. It slammed into the wall nearest to the door with a loud thud, falling to the ground a second later.
Rainbow almost immediately noticed this and tried to say something, but before a word came out, Twilight shut her up with a zipper spell. She tried muffling with frustrated eyes, but Twilight told her to stop, and she did.
Even the others were somewhat surprised or shocked at Twilight's sudden change in attitude. Rarity might even had smiled only a little at some point. Maybe in a way to silently and stealthily commend her?
But Twilight's tone in her voice was anything but positve.
"I---have had enough---of your attitude."
Rainbow was trying to say something, as if she had forgotten about the zipper around her mouth, but nonetheless, Twilight told her to stop talking. Rainbow wasn't hesitant in listening, and she looked at the velvet princess intently with---not exactly scared eyes, but eyes that showed she wasn't going to play around anymore.
So Twilight continued.
"I have put up with your attitude---for a week now. And I've watched you ridicule him...yell at him---talk about him behind his back...and you think I wasn't going to do anything about it?"
Rainbow couldn't exactly answer that question, as if she couldn't really give a proper answer. She couldn't nod 'yes', because that would be lying, and she couldn't say 'no', because that would also be lying. So her best answer for now was no answer.
With her frustrated eyes still locked onto Rainbow, Twilight was able, with an aura, to successfully lock the door shut, and once it was properly locked, she looked deeper into Rainbow's eyes and said to her:
"We---you....me...and all of us---are going to have a long...long talk about your actions....and until you spill the truth...you are not leaving this room...understand?"
Rainbow, not wanting to anger her friend any further, nodded a few times, though not fearfully, to assure her that she was compliant.
"Good."
Gently, Twilight slowly removed her zipper spell, and Rainbow's mouth was once again free to open and close to its pleasure. But she wasn't ready to object to anything or to argue. She was ready, like she promised, to talk and discuss.
But of what exactly? What truth, really?
The discussion was to begin after the pizza was put away in the fridge and the candle was put out. One could only have imagined that Rainbow would burn her book by how close it sat to it, but luckly, it was better for it to be dented from hitting the wall than be scorched by a flame.
Once the pizza was stored away and the candle was thrown out, each of the girls gathered one chair from the table and placed them together in the center of the room, in the shape of a circle. Only two seats were left at the table.
When the girls were all properly in their seats, Twilight decided at the last minute to write a letter to Spike, telling him to stay with the stallion and not come back to the hotel for a bit. With a flash of her horn, the scroll dissipated, sent away towards Spike. Rainbow asked for a moment what she was sending Spike, and Twilight only said to her that it's best if it was just 'girl-talk' for a while.
After thirty seconds had passed, a scroll appeared in front of Twilight in a green flame. Upon opening it, she looked at Spike's response.
Can do. We're at the Vanilla Sky. I'll do my best to stall him until you're good.
~Spike
Twilight sent a letter thanking him, and once that was sent, she turned her attention towards Rainbow, a serious face once more plastered on. Rainbow, while not scared, shifted somewhat uncomfortably in her seat, but did her best to keep her composure.
"Let's get started then---shall we?"
The girls all sat in their seats intently, waiting for questions to be asked and answers to be said. While Pinkie Pie had a concerned look on her face, it did nothing to flatten that hairstyle of hers, surprisingly.
Even Fluttershy found herself intrigued and eager to hear what would be asked. It could be anything: Cheesy, mature, idiotic, whatever. Anything that would get some answers was more than acceptable.
So after a few short, quiet moments, Twilight asked the first question.
"How long---exactly---have you been talking about him like this?"
Rainbow wasn't hesitant to respond, but was hesitant in thought, answering in her smug ways.
"A couple months?"
But the way she said it made seem almost immediately unbelievable, and Twilight knew it. The unicorn looked at Rainbow with distrusted and annoyed eyes, in a way to pry the truth of the question out of the mare.
Rainbow already began to feel uncomfortable in her seat, so she let out another answer in hopes of Twilight easing down.
"A few months?"
No change.
"...A year?"
No change.
At this point, Rainbow was somewhat afraid of the stare; sure, it was never as bad as Fluttershy's stare, no doubt, but it was enough to make anyone cower in fear, especially when said stare came from a royal princess.
Not wanting to anger her friend any further, she truthfully answered Twilight.
"...I've been doing it since---sigh--- two months after he got here."
With that answer, Twilight's face seemed to ease a bit, to Rainbow's relief, and her comfort slowly returned; but for her, unfortunately, the 'interrogation' was not over.
With another question in mind, Twilight asked:
"Did you actually see what happened at the party?"
Rainbow, looking at Twilight with somewhat confusion, replied:
"Duh. He was right in front of me. He tripped and threw the present---my present---onto one of those lamp thingies. He set a whole row of tables on fire, Twilight! A house!"
With a slit of frustration, Rainbow crossed her forelegs and looked at her with disappointed eyes.
"If you're trying to make me feel sorry for him," she pointed a hoof in a random direction behind her, "you should really be feeling sorry for the ponies whose house burned down because of him!"
Twilight put up a hoof to pause Rainbow from talking any further.
"For your information," Twilight began, "he tripped and it flew out of his hooves. Do you think he would do that on purpose? Destroy someone's house, someone who he probably never even knew?"
"Yes!" Rainbow barked, laying her hooves out in front of her.
The others looked at her, confused and utterly baffled, only to watch Rainbow shake her head and say:
"I mean no! I mean----"
Rainbow shook her head again, but eventually gave up in trying to say anything proper; she crossed her hooves again and looked away.
"Never mind. If you're trying to make me feel sorry for him, forget it. He's not the one who had their house burned down."
"Ugh," Rarity piped in, "You really are a piece of work, you know that?"
"Says you," Rainbow butted back, "Remember the time at the Boutique? Last month?"
For a good couple of seconds, Rarity had no idea what Rainbow was talking about. But when the thought came to her, she backed up slightly.
And like a record, it played in her mind.
1 Month Ago
Rarity's POV
Today was going to be the biggest day for me. Sapphire Shores, THE Sapphire Shores, issued a whole set of dresses from me! She wanted them to be delivered to her within three days time, and she wanted ME to make them!
I could hardly believe it. I could hardly even control my surprise. However, I knew that I had to do it.
No...I wanted to do it.
The only unfortunate part was that today, the others were busy doing what they usually had to do. Pinkie had to deliver a whole shipment of cupcakes to a store in Richmane, Applejack had to buck a whole orchard before the week's end, Twilight had important issues up in Canterlot, Fluttershy was busy taking care of Sweetie Drop's sick dog, and Rainbow Dash was on weather duty, so surely, she couldn't assist me.
And of course, Spike was with Twilight too.
Sure, I may be one of the most experienced fashion designers in possibly all of Equestria, but even then, a lady needs any help she could get. It makes me wish I knew more ponies here in town, and those that I do live elsewhere.
For a moment, I was at an impasse, and was even ready to cancel her offer.
But of course, I remembered I had one other pony who could be willing to help me.
Him.
Of course, I never mean it in a bad way. It's just that we never hang out as often as I do with the others. Sometimes, he's at home or off for a walk or fly, and so every once in a while, I'm able to see him.
We see each other so very rarely that I even forget his name sometimes. I usually call him 'Darling' to avoid any embarrassment.
But maybe today---he could help me out a bit.
So with a quick telephone call, I invite him over, and within a couple of minutes, he's knocking at my front door. I invite him in, remind him to clean his hooves off---if dirty, of course---and tell him exactly what I need him to do.
His jobs were simple; I wanted him to stand still for measuring, help me when I needed a certain tool or object, and properly insert certain decorations where they needed to go: Diamonds, rubies, the common fashion matter.
"Sure," he says with a slight grin, "I can do that."
It had to have been noon when we began working, and nearly midnight by the time we stopped. This was our schedule for the next couple of days. Once we were close to finished on the second day, the floor was scattered with all sorts of materials. Anypony could hurt themselves if they weren't careful.
The last few minutes of the day had us adding the finishing touches to the final dress. We were both heavily exhausted, but we were determined to finish it up so we could call it a day and a night.
So with a somewhat drowsy voice, I asked him, "Darling, could you get that boxx of diamonds for me, please?"
With a drowsy nod, he headed over to the nearby table and grabbed a medum sized box of small diamonds. He asked if it was the one, to which I nodded to assure him.
Almost sluggishly, he began to carry the box over to me, all while trying to avoid the mess on the floor. And even while tired, he still was able to make it almost all the way.
But alas, it was bound to fail.
Not by exhaustion, but with things in the wrong places at the wrong time, his hoof made contact with a box of fabrics.
And as he tumbled down, diamonds flew into the air, shrieks of surprise filled the room---
---and hard-worked dresses were ripped.
Rarity, looking guilty, continued to talk while the others listened.
"I yelled at him---cursed him---I even threw something at him...I can't remember what it was, but---"
"Ah guess that explains that scar on his forehead, then," Applejack added.
Rarity blushed slightly not only in embarrassment, but guilt too. After a couple of seconds, she continued.
"I kicked him out of my house---we didn't talk for days. I spent so much time remaking those dresses, and every time, I kept thinking back to then, and every time, I nearly ripped them too---that's how angry I was.
"I finished the dresses a day late of schedule. I even told Sapphire Shores over the phone the reason so, and she seemed to understand my frustration and anger."
"You see?" Rainbow butted in. "I'm not the only one he managed to piss off!"
"Rainbow!" Twilight said.
"It's alright, darling," Rarity said to Twilight with a positive, yet somewhat forced grin. "Sapphire Shores seemed to know about how angry I truely was at him. I felt as if I would never forgive him after that. But then she gave me some advice."
"What did she say?" Fluttershy asked.
And for a few seconds, Rarity sat there, looking somewhat down at the floor, as if trying to remember what Sapphire had said to her.
"Never let anger and conflict blockade the path of true friendship."
After that, it was silent again for a moment or two. As soon as Rarity noticed none of them were going to speak up, she continued.
"So after the dresses were delivered and her and I talked, I went to his house. I told him I was sorry for my behavior, and that I understood if he had any anger towards me."
"Did he?" Applejack asked.
With a nod, Rarity replied, "No. He wasn't mad at me at all. In fact, he even hugged me after I apologized. I did still feel terrible about the... er...gash on his forehead, but he insisted that it wasn't all that bad. But he kept saying that it was his fault—"
"Which it was," another butt-in from Rainbow.
"—but it was also my fault too. I mean, I never really did clean up that room, even after several days of working in there. Even now, it's still quite a mess—so, really, it's both our faults." With a turn of her head, she looked towards Rainbow, her tone turning serious. "And unlike you, Rainbow Dash, I forgave him."
Rainbow waved a hoof in the air. "Yeah, but that wasn't as bad as what he did a week ago! Don't you get that?"
"It doesn't matter what he did, accident or not," Twilight added with a concerned tone to her voice. Rainbow looked towards her with a look of slight annoyance. "You need to stop this idiotic behavior. You need to forgive him. Now."
For a few seemingly long seconds, Rainbow stared at her friend, not coldly, but with frustration and annoyance. That's all she was just doing to Twilight. Staring.
"Screw. Him. I am not forgiving that moron. And if he decides to run away tonight... pfft. Good riddance."
And, as it had been expected from a statement such as that, there came gasps of shock, surprise, and sadness all in one bundle. Rarity seemed to have a more frustrated and angry tone to her gasp among the others, who seemed to look at Rainbow with concern and their own depression.
There was nothing but silence, and only silence, to fill the silence.
But when five seconds turned to six, Twilight eyed her friend.
"Rainbow Dash... what happened to you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"This," Twilight leaned towards her, "This whole week. Your behavior, your actions... your words... This isn't you."
With a shake of her head, Rainbow said, "Please. This has always been me."
"N-No it hasn't," Fluttershy spoke up for the first time in a while, but her tone of voice was shaky and sad, and tears seemed to be ready to come down her face. One would have expected, just from Fluttershy alone, that Rainbow would be lighter with her behavior or at least think of what she was doing at the moment.
But it was the opposite. She seemed to simply sigh or grunt and look back towards Twilight, but only for a moment, before looking down towards the floor, a hoof on her chin, in a bored manner.
"Things were perfectly fine until he existed."
In Twilight's mind, she was even sadder than before. She, at this point, had no other options. Not even 'rehabilitating' her seeemed to do any good, only worse.
She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. Right now, she was out of options.
However, as she seemed ready to give up on ever helping her friend, one last option came to mind. On any other occasion, she would think of it as cruel or hurtful to her friends. She would never want to do anything to invade their privacy or bring up the past.
But it was right here, right now, that she had no other choice.
With a small sigh and a glow of her horn, Twilight looked to Rainbow with apologetic eyes, and with a calm, clear, but depressed tone, she spoke to Rainbow.
"... I'm so sorry about this, Rainbow."
That seemed to get the mare's attention, but only for a second. "Sorry for what?"
And before Rainbow knew it, she was entrapped in a glow of lavender magic. Her mind went blank, her vision trailed forward, seeming to stare off into the distance. She was practically asleep while still awake. While the others seemed to wonder what Twilight was doing to Rainbow, Twilight herself knew exactly what she was doing.
She was watching Rainbow's life go by.
The spell, one very rarely used by those of high authority, was capable of visualizing the life of an entire pony, griffon, or dragon in the short time span of ten seconds. While some users of the spell have seen the other's memories pass by in a time-lapse form, others have reported experiencing the visions as if it was their own life, like they were living a whole other life.
But luckily for Twilight, the former was her case.
She was able to watch Rainbow's entire life go by, from the moment she was born to right here in the hotel. For her, as she had more experience with the spell than others, she was able to view her life in only five seconds, using the remaining five to take a second look into Rainbow's childhood, as it had sped by far too quickly.
For the first couple of seconds of the viewing, the memories were normal, simple, and overall, boastful. Rainbow, as a young filly, was still the same cheerful, boasting, over-the-top confident pony everyone in town usually knew her as, so for a couple of seconds, the memories were cheerful and kind to Twilight.
And then they were gone, and she saw... and then she felt... and then she heard.
And then the spell came to an end, and with it, Rainbow was free of her magical binds.
Her body was free to move at will, her vision no longer was distant, her wings were free to flex as they could.
But then... her eyes... They began to water in merely a couple of seconds.
The other girls, still unaware of what had happened, were wondering why Rainbow's eyes began to tear up, yet they never asked why they did. They just watched what happened.
Quietly.
A few seconds of silence passed, but Rainbow quickly found herself staring directly at Twilight, who was staring right back at her in a depressed manner, more depressed than she had been before. There were no words to be exchanged for the moment, only stares of...a number of emotions, going back and forth and back and forth.
But soon enough, Rainbow was able to open her mouth, but her voice, no longer full of annoyance or arrogance, was now somewhat ragged and shaky.
"D-Did... D-Did you j-just...?"
Twilight couldn't nod or say 'yes'. In fact, she couldn't seem to do anything much, really, nothing but stare. And stare and stare. But soon enough, she too opened her mouth, and with it, hers was broken.
"Rainbow... I-I'm so... so sorry, I didn't... I didn't know-"
And with a blind fury, Rainbow screamed.
"Shut up! SHUT UP! SHUT! UP!"
In her anger, Rainbow flung to stand on her hind hooves, and the chair she sat on shot a few feet backwards, causing it to crack.
The mare's outburst provoked surprise, shock and fear into the others. Fluttershy was on the very brink of tears, scared nearly to death. Even Pinkie was near the same state. Applejack was in more shock than fear, though the fear seemed to be more visible. Rarity's state of frustration was quickly replaced with shock, as well.
But Twilight? She was scared.
She had never seen Rainbow this angry before, not even during the party. Sure, that itself was the first time she saw her most angry, but this time, it was different. It frightened her.
And she didn't know what to do about it. So the only thing she did was nothing.
For what must have been ten, maybe fifteen seconds, the room was silent. Rainbow Dash continued to stand on her hind hooves, staring at Twilight with a look of fury the likes of which Twilight had never seen. But at the same time, as this bursting look on her face persisted, tears seemed to slowly fall down Rainbow's face. Twilight could only watch it happen slowly.
And then, as she seemed to expect, the anger in Rainbow's eyes began to fade, slowly then quickly, until those looks faded to nothing, and all that was left was sadness.
All they could do was watch this sudden, but slow transformation of emotion.
And then the reality came loose.
Rainbow Dash—a loyal, boastful, arrogant mare, who wasn't afraid of anything she couldn't handle—broke down.
With a scream, she began to cry. And as she cried, when her lungs were out of air, she would suck in more and continue to cry, loud and hard. Her body shook with each burst, her crying became ragged, and her face quickly became damp and drenched with salty tears, which flowed down her cheeks like rivers.
And what did her friends do as she sat in the middle and let it out? They just watched.
But they watched not because they didn't want to do anything, but it was because they didn't know what to do. Each and every one of them had no idea how to handle it. They were mostly still shocked or scared from her outburst just moments before.
But unlike their same thoughts, Twilight was absolutely guilty. She had never felt so much shame and guilt in her entire life. She never meant for this to happen. She never meant to make her friend cry. She only wanted to help her, not make it worse than it already was.
As she stared at Rainbow as she bawled in anguish, she realized that this was the first time that she had ever seen Rainbow cry since Tank was forced to hibernate. This wasn't some playful act or form of pretense.
The tears, the emotions, they were real. They were true.
They were her.
Calmly, Twilight got up from her seat and sat down in the circle on the floor, until Rainbow was directly facing her, though the mare didn't really seem to notice her presence all that much. She just continued to cry and cry, and it never seemed to end.
But Twilight hoped that this would work, and even if it didn't, it still needed to be done.
As soon as she was close enough, within arm's reach of Rainbow, she opened her forelegs wide, and gently and carefully, she wrapped them around the mare.
And she hesitated.
But not more than a moment later, Rainbow wrapped her own forelegs around Twilight, pulling her in close and holding her tightly, and continued to cry loudly and hard, but soon enough, she buried her face into Twilight's shoulder.
"I-I'm sorrry-eee-hee-hee-ee...! I'm sor-hee-e-ehee-hee-eee...!"
Her apologies were choked up and ragged, troubled from her cries, but Twilight understood completely. The princess tried to gently shush Rainbow, try to calm her down a bit, even slightly. Rainbow was sure to have disturbed a good number of ponies around, but honestly, she didn't care.
"Sshhh...." Twilight whispered, in hopes of dimming Rainbow's sadness.
Eventually, Rainbow resorted to crying in Twilight's shoulder again, and this did good in muffling her cries, but Twilight's shoulder quickly became damp and drenched in tears.
But Twilight didn't care. She just cared for her friend.
And so for what must have been merely fifteen minutes that felt like an hour, the hotel room was filled with the sounds of muffled crying, constant sorries, and the gentle hums of song.
Rainbow's cries dimmed into nothing but small whimpers, but it wasn't until another five minutes on top of that before she stopped crying altogether. Her friends soon enough came to her after the first five minutes had gone by and began to comfort her as well.
But eventually, when her tears ceased to fall any longer, she grabbed her chair, sat down---but was careful not to put too much pressure on it---and her and the others sat all down in a circle.
And she told them everything, the whole truth. No more lies, no more secrets.
No more of it.
She revealed to them the exact reason she had been treating their friend so poorly for so long, and talked about him without him ever having known. The truth didn't take very long to tell, not more than five or so minutes. But to them, those five minutes felt like five hours. Every bit of detail that Rainbow told was high in word. She was definitely not holding back on anything she was saying.
And while, at first, her truth was kind and---positive---as she got into further details, primarily her...childhood...the others began to look at her with their own tone of depression, guilt, and sorrow. Even Fluttershy broke down into tears as she listened, regardless of her trying to be strong throughout it.
By the time her story ended, Rainbow herself was trying to hold back her tears, and unlike Fluttershy, she seemed to be more successful, though a tear did manage to slip down her cheek, only for her to wipe it away.
After a couple of minutes of silence and continuous comfort, Twilight asked Rainbow if she was ready.
It didn't take her long to realize what Twilight was talking about.
For a second, she was really beginning to think if she was truly ready to do it, especially after what happened not only tonight, but this whole week.
Did she really think it was going to work?
A part of her was saying that it would never work.
But the better part of her, the promising part of her, said that it would work out. Maybe not at first, but surely, it would work out. It would get better.
It will get better.
But no matter what, she couldn't seem to be ready to talk to him through a phone. It wouldn't seem believable, even through her mouth. She wanted him to believe that she was sorry, because she was. And a phone call would never be able to cut it.
She needed him to see it.
So instead of calling him at the Vanilla Sky, she simply decided to write a letter to Spike and have him read it. Grabbing a quill and dipping it in a small jar of cyan ink, she grabbed a parchment letter and began to write.
Hey, Spike. It's Rainbow. Listen, can you guys come back to the hotel? I need to...tell you guys something, especially him. It's time I apologized. For real this time.
-Rainbow Dash
With a swift roll of the parchment letter, Twilight engulfed it in her aura, and with a -poof!-, it was gone.
And now came the wait for the return letter. Rainbow hoped they would believe her. But even with that hope, she didn't believe that-
-poof!-
Never mind.
The return letter appeared directly in front of her within a minute of hers, rolled up and ready for her to read. Unraveling it, she read the contents of it.
But the message---it wasn't from Spike.
It was from him.
I'm sorry too. I was honestly being kind of a dick about the whole thing. I shouldn't have walked out. It was childish of me, and I'm sorry about that. We're on our way back right now. Maybe after this, we can start fresh. I'll try not to be a screw-up this time around.
The letter finished with his signature. She had to admit, she did feel guilty about the last sentence of his, but there was no reason to spark a conversation over parchment paper. That would be a time for when they got back.
Once she finished reading the letter, she seemed to feel confident, determined---hell, even happy again too.
While she did feel that this was going---maybe a bit too fast, especially with how quick she decided to think things over, faster than usual was better than not at all, and that was honestly what mattered for the moment.
And so, now that what she needed done was done---
The only thing left to do was wait---wait for them to get back, and it will all be talked over, and hopefully, things would turn around.
The closet Vanilla Sky to the hotel was only five blocks away. At a regular pace, it should take them no more than ten minutes, max, to get back to the hotel.
That was ten minutes of waiting.
Ten minutes of patience.
While Rainbow was known to be part of the impatient type---in fact, she loathed patience altogether---this was something she had to be willing to wait for. This was something she needed to wait for.
Ten minutes never killed anyone, right?
So she figured, as it usually does, ten minutes would zip by like a breeze. Leaning back in her chair, she tried to think of something, anything, to make time go by.
The first thing that came to her mind was the next Daring Do book. Already, she could feel herself getting excited in anticipation for it. She had already finished reading the most recent one, The Spore of Unilateralis. That scene near the middle of the book was the most intense thing she had ever read, and she absolutely loved it.
Up until Twilight threw her book across the room, she had decided to read it again as if she was reading it for the first time. Of course, it was impossible to mimic it, but nonetheless, she was still excited.
There were only four more months left until she was able to read the next one, and she could hardly wait for it. She just didn't wish it took so long.
But then again, Daring does have a lot of things on her hooves, no doubt.
But on the bright side, at least they get to hang out every once in a while.
For a good minute, her mind was solely focused on just that book. But the thought itself seemed to make her drowsy, and she could feel her eyelids grow heavy. They did manage to close, but only for a moment.
But when they opened, Rainbow's environment changed only slightly, a few minutes seeming to have passed in what felt like seconds.
The others had found other ways to make the time go by faster. Pinkie and Rarity resorted to playing games of Tic-Tac-Toe. Even after a couple of minutes, Pinkie nonetheless was able to beat Rarity 15-2. Even while Rainbow expected it, she was nonetheless always surprised.
Fluttershy had laid down on her bed, head on her hooves, and looked towards the wall on the opposite side of the room. She wasn't sad, she was mostly just bored. Eventually, she did take out a catalog of animal food and care products. Typical of her, really.
Applejack was sitting up in her own bed, her own face seeming to trail off into a plane of thought. Rainbow could only guess at the number of things Applejack could have been thinking about. She could have been thinking about her family, how the business was doing so far, or even this whole week so far, and how---
---how tough she made it.
Rainbow felt honestly guilty for it. It wasn't that she was intentionally trying to make everyone else miserable, even him. Even now, she doesn't really seem to understand why she did what she did.
But then again, she wasn't the only one who's done stupid things in their life.
Nonetheless, she regretted what she had done.
Now all that was left was to hopefully tie loose ends---in six minutes.
Looking towards the window, Rainbow noticed that Twilight was standing right at it, seeming to look down towards the streets below, hopefully trying to catch a glimpse of the two when the two would return.
After a couple of moments, Rainbow made up her mind and decided to do the same.
It was better than falling asleep in an uncomfortable chair.
Getting up from the chair, Rainbow slowly made her way towards the window. When she got to it, she noticed that Twilight looked slightly towards her left, towards her. She didn't look directly at her, but she did notice Rainbow's presence. A faint smile appeared on Twilight's face, but moments later, it faded away.
For those near ten seconds---other than the sounds of the others quietly having fun, or the sounds of a ticking clock above them---it was very silent between the two of them. The only sound that ever came out of them was breathing, and even that was quiet.
But soon enough, one of them would break the silence.
"Are you nervous?" Twilight asked.
And for a couple of moments, Rainbow pondered over if she wanted to lie to Twilight and say that she wasn't, that she was confident, positive, and determined to make things right.
But there was a paradox when it came to that kind of lie.
How the situation was thought of was cheesy.
And she wasn't all that confident as she had been minutes ago.
Seconds passed before Rainbow gave her friend her honest answer.
"...Yeah," she said, nodding simultaneously.
Once more, silence rang between the two mares, Rainbow having assumed that was the end of the small conversation.
But then Twilight gave another response.
"...Me too."
It somewhat surprised Rainbow, but she didn't bother to ask anymore of it, so she let it go.
Rainbow continued to look out the window, though not down at the streets, but rather, at the view of the Grand Park. If she turned her head slightly, she would have a good view of the city's skyline. Out of the hundreds of buildings that stood tall and proud, the Equestrian Empire Tower was the one that stood out the most, what with being the tallest building in the city.
She could remember just a few days ago, when they all went to that building and saw the city from above. At the time, it was boring to her. But thinking back to it now, it wasn't exactly all that bad.
But she wasn't in the best of moods that day, so that was likely the reason why she didn't like it as much as she did now.
She hoped that if things here go well, her and him could go back up there.
As friends, this time around.
Ten minutes went by without fault.
Then fifteen minutes came rolling by.
For the second time on this trip, Rainbow looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It read 9:23 PM.
Twenty minutes had passed at this point.
It didn't take long for Rainbow and the others to realize that something was off.
They should have been back by now.
At first, they thought it wasn't all that much of a problem. Maybe they just stopped for a bathroom break halfway, or maybe there was a sale of free doughnut milkshakes at Blazin' and Glazin' and they couldn't resist, and honestly, Twilight chuckled a bit at the thought of Spike scarfing down free milkshakes. He never could resist them.
For a good couple of minutes, they continued to make assumptions and giggle at the thoughts.
But by the time it was nearly 9:30---the telephone on the stand next to the bed rang.
At first, they assumed someone had been calling the wrong number. But Twilight assumed it had been them. Maybe they were out of parchment paper and couldn't write a letter?
Regardless, Twilight walked over to the phone and picked it up.
Unknowing how to greet the other caller, she simply said:
"This is Princess Twilight Sparkle."
It was a silly greeting, but it was better than nothing.
But almost instantly, and to her relief, it was Spike talking on the other line.
But when the first words came out of his mouth, Twilight knew---
---Something was wrong.
"Twilight---...---sniffle---...something...something's-"
"Spike? What's wrong?" Twilight quickly asked as she noticed his feared and somber tone.
"S-Something happened, Twilight. I was so scared...! I was so scared, I didn't know what to do! I didn't-"
"Spike-Spike, just calm down. Where are you?" At this point, Twilight's voice was full of concern, and it peaked the others' interests, but Twilight's tone alone managed to worry them a bit.
Without hesitation, but with sniffles in between, Spike gave Twilight the address.
"Manehattan General Hospital, 53rd Sonata Avenue. Please get here quickly, Twilight. I'm so scared."
"Just stay there, okay? We're on our way."
With a quick slam of the phone on its hook, Twilight immediately turned towards the door, unlocking it with her magic.
Her actions quickly peaked up a question in Rainbow.
"Twilight, what's going on?" she asked.
"I don't know," Twilight quickly said with a turn of her head, "But something's wrong. We need to go now."
Her response wasn't something they took lightly.
Without hesitating, the others immediately prepared themselves and began to follow Twilight, who seemed to wonder why they were so far away from the Vanilla Sky.
And why they were at a hospital.
But her pondering only brought further worry---
---And she didn't like it one bit.
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Ha-dayum. I'm guessing there suddenly comes a "be careful what you wish for" moment? The anticipation is killing me! :P
Great story. keep up the good work!
P.S. FIRST!
6194145 You read through the chapter already? That was fast. O-O
AAGH! The suspense is deadly!
This is turning out great! Keep up the great work!
man ive been refreshing this page every 30 minutes since i got up waiting for this chapter. shit is going down, and the anticipation is killing me!! this story is golden. i haven't been so hype about a story in months!
6194160. Damn cliffhangers...
He tripped woth a rock and a taxi overan him
Two words:
Oh..
Shit..
You son of a-
ginchusblogspace.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/nope-nope-nope.gif
Darn you! You left us on quite the cliff hanger there, I really want to see what happens, must have more chapters!
Dude, this is Turing out to be one of the most intricate and thoughtout fics I've ever read!
By the way, I really hope the character doesn't die. I think I might have a heart attack.
Brilliant story!
Well im guessing that criminal fella who "has never hurt anypony" got out again, much suspense, wow.
6194361 Sorry, that's an old author's note. You can likely expect the chapter tomorrow or Monday. :)
6194316 WHY U SPOIL STORY! D:
But that would be funny if I decided to make a parody of this story. lol
Yep, I knew it.
Now I'm thinking what was going through the people of Pizza Bear watching the outbursts, they be like
And let me guess, Applejack is pregnant with his baby, isn't she?
Man you are killing meh wit hthis cliffhangers...
Damn you and your delicious writing, UGGGGGGGGGGGGGH, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
My heart was just repaire, now its breaking down again... gawddamn it...
I still don't know what happened to make Rainbow hate on him/me...
consarn it.
Nice job! and congrats on the feature! :D
I bet that thief did something but instead stealing, he accidentally injury me badly. He runs away from what he thought of murdering me and Spike got help. Or I try to commit suicide but Spike somewhat saves me, but I still very injury.
Not another cliffhanger! And even if this is gonna be out tomorrow, I CAN'T HANDLE IT! This is getting real good! Well done, my dear sir!
Seeing what is stated in the description plus what happened in this chapter I think I know what's going to happen. SPOILERS He gon die Buuuut that's just speculation
Also, I NEED THE NEXT CHAPTER NOW! THE ANTICIPATION IS KILLING ME!
HOLy! THIS IS ESCALATING! LOVE IT!!!!
Why was rainbow so mad?
Do we get to hear more about what Twilight saw in Dash's head that made her so upset?
6194781 Not for the rest of this story, no. But you will in the sequel. :)
6194442 You will soon see. ;)
6194855 Cool
6194855
Considering that I expect that this story will go on for a while, that Is not a very helpful things to say.
...
Write faster.
Let me guess. Im in the hospital becuase that guy got out of jail?
6195167 There are only four chapters of this story left to publish. When it is fully published, work on the sequel will begin.
I have absolutely no idea how many chapters the sequel will have, but when everyone has the full story, then I'll reveal more information about said sequel. :)
I demand a new chapter tommorow!
But hey, alteast RD got what she wanted, for him to never come back.
holy shet this got me actually 0_O
This is so good.
6195497
Whoa sequal??!! Mind blown and ready to read, I definitely am and genuinely worried what happens to our protagonist atleast I got that feeling in my gut, on to the next chapter then sence its already up!
I want to wait until the rest of the story is posted, but I don't know if I can!
This is seriously really, really good. Even though I'm pretty sure of what happens now, I can't wait to see it for myself! 
Throne, so many feels!
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. WHAT IF HE DEVELOPED SPONTANEOUS EBOLA CANCER AND HAD A STROKE BECAUSE OF IT?!?!
Twilight throwing a book?!
It can't be!
What the hell happened?
Okay, so can any of you guys find the The Last of Us reference? Because even though I'm the author, I completely forgot what it was. It's been like 4 years. Halp.