Broken Rainbows

by AstonMartinLover

Fallen Heroes

Chapter 6: Fallen Heroes

Applejack cautiously led Scootaloo into the hospital room.

"Now be brave sugar cube. She looks a bit...off."

Scootaloo gasped. There lay her hero. Motionless on the hospital bed. A ventilator over her muzzle, feeding her much needed oxygen. Her eyes were closed.

"D-Dash?" She stammered. "Are you okay? Are you still in there?"

Of course there was no answer. Rainbow was deep in the coma now. Scootaloo felt the sudden seriousness of everything crushing her. She needed to alleviate the pressure.

"Well...she always loved sleeping. She sure can catch up on her beauty sleep now, huh AJ?" She turned, giggling at her tasteless joke. Applejack gave her a concerned look.

Her giggling turned into sobbing. She put her head in her hooves.

"She told me to stay close. She told me not to leave her AJ." Scootaloo stamped her hoof into the floor. "It's my fault..."

"It's not your fault Scoots. It was hers. She chose to fly up there. She chose to take on the queen." She hugged Scootaloo tightly. "Oh please. Forgive her for her mistake. Bring her back to us." She said to nopony in particular.

Thunderspark came into the room next. He breathed heavily. Applejack tried to manage a smile as they passed, but it fell flat.

The last few years being friends with Dash had been pleasant. Of course, he knew it hadn't always been that way.

But watching her lying still here, he was reminded of his colt days. When they attended flight camp together.

He had bullied her so badly. For fun. Just to enjoy her angry, thickheaded reaction. And then when she got her cutie mark, she became so confident in herself. And Sparky just HAD to cut her down to size.

He sighed. "I don't deserve to be your friend RD. I was...so horrible to you. And I know I already apologized. But...that was years ago. You deserve another one."

He leaned down and stroked her mane. "I'm sorry Dashie."

Scootaloo had to excuse herself from the room, the tears taking her out of her comfort zone.

Thunderspark looked down at Rainbow's normally very expressive face. He sighed.

"Dash...I don't like admitting something like this. I've always...wanted to be the go-to pegasus during times like this." He tousled Rainbow's mane. "But I can see now, this is your department."

He looked into the expressionless face of the pegasus. "Dash, if you're in there, we need you. More than we ever thought we would. You and your element...no screw the element. We don't need the element of loyalty. We just need YOU Dash."

There was only a slight twitch in response.

"People always say you...you're so self obsessed. That you're a narcissist. Heck, I've accused you of that a couple times. But you come through when we need you, that's for sure. You're probably the most reliable pony in Ponyville."

He thought a moment, then laughed. "Don't go telling AJ I said that." He looked out in the hallway at Applejack comforting Scootaloo.

Suddenly Rainbow's eyes snapped open. Her pupils dilated madly. She looked up at him with those giant pinks. She could barely speak.

"S-Sparky? W-why...why can't...I move? Why...can't I move sparky?"

Her eyes filled with tears. Applejack and Scootaloo rushed into the room. Scootaloo jumped up next to the bed.

"Rainbow Dash! Stay with me! Please!"

"S..qir..." She muttered as her eyes closed again. Doctors monitoring her life signs came rushing into the room. They quickly attached a breathing tube.

"Alright. Breathe RD, breathe." Applejack commanded.

Her heart rate stabilized. The others looked at each other shocked.

"What did she say?" Applejack asked.

Thunderspark thought it over for a moment. "I think she said...squirt."

Scootaloo smiled cheerfully. "She's still in there."

Thunderspark patted her on the back. "Of course she is kiddo."

Thunderspark went to go find some food in the rather small Ponyville Hospital. Scootaloo tagged along.

"So what do you think?" Scootaloo asked.

Thunderspark frowned. "About what?"

Scootaloo's eyes were pleading. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Thunderspark sighed. "I don't know."

"Well...I mean, c'mon. You've known her forever. Can't you make some kind of...guess?"

Thunderspark looked down at her, breathing heavily. He was feeling angry. "You want me to guess? What, should I flip a coin? Heads she walks again, tails she's a vegetable forever?"

Scootaloo's ears flattened. "I'm just wondering...will she ever fly again?"

"Do I look like a doctor?!" Thunderspark shouted. "I DON'T KNOW!"

"I'm not asking if you know, I'm just asking you to guess!" Scootaloo shouted back.

Thunderspark breathed a panicked breath. "Okay look. I know what you're doing. You want me to give you good news. So you can feel better. To say this is just some other normal injury. It's not. She's never been hurt this bad before! Yeah, she's broken her wing a couple times, but this is different! So stop asking stupid questions that only a four year old would ask!"

Scootaloo sniffled. She paused for a moment, absorbing the gravity of his words. "I know. I know she's never been hurt this bad before."

Thunderspark eased up. "Hey, come on now. I didn't mean to..."

The young pegasus collapsed. Thunderspark reached down to grab her before she hit the floor.

She was sobbing now. She put her head into Thunderspark's shoulder and let the tears flow.

"I want her to come back, so much Sparky." Scootaloo stammered.

Thunderspark nodded. "I know sweetheart. We all want her back. We all gotta be strong now."

Scootaloo looked into his eyes. "Is there any way she could come back? Just...humor me, please."

Thunderspark sighed. "The Rainbow Dash I grew up with, would not let something like this beat her."

Scootaloo nodded. This would have to do. "Thanks sparky."

Thunderspark patted the pegasus on the head. "No problem kiddo. I can wait for food. Let's go check on her."

As they came back in, little had changed. Rainbow lay still, her body rising and falling on the whims of her breathing machine.

Thunderspark had to look away. It was simply too much for him. To see such a great figure, such a hero, bedridden, paralyzed. It was just too much.

He stormed out of the room. He had never been one to handle sorrow. He tended to ignore it. So now, sorrow turned to anger. Anger turned to rage.

Twilight ran up along side him. "What's the hurry Sparky?"

Thunderspark turned to her, the rage flowing from his eyes in the form of tears.

"I'm going to make things right." He snarled. He extended his dagger like wings.

Twilight grabbed onto them. "Hold on! Where are you going?"

"Revenge Twi. Chrysalis went too far. We can't let this pass."

He turned to take off. Twilight grabbed his other wing. "Hold on! Are you serious? That's insane! She'll kill you!"

"Maybe. But she can't be allowed to get away with this." Thunderspark insisted.

"I know how you feel. Okay? Just stay for a second." She released Thunderspark's wings. He folded them back in.

"I know. You're angry. You want to hurt them for what they did. But revenge won't make her walk again. Or fly again. We just have to..."

"Have to what? Just take it? I'm not doing that Twilight. I'm gonna stand up and show her that not all of Equestria is under her hoof. Friendship can only solve so much."

He extended his wings again.

"Thunderspark."

His ears went back. "Yes?"

"If Rainbow Dash couldn't beat her, what makes you think you can?"

Thunderspark turned his head. He opened his mouth to respond. But he could think of nothing to say. He cleared his throat, then took off for the Everfree Forest.

Fluttershy came to visit the hospital later that night. She brought food. Scootaloo was sleeping on the floor next to the bed. She had refused to leave her hero's side.

"Scootaloo, come on, wake up."

Scootaloo's eyes fluttered open. She looked up. Fluttershy had a bag of fruit.

"I thought you might be hungry." Fluttershy explained.

Scootaloo nodded, digging in to long awaited food. She was starving.

Over twenty hours sitting here. Without food. Watching over her big sister.

"Thanks Fluttershy." She turned to Rainbow Dash. "So are you a doctor?"

Fluttershy frowned. "Well...not really. I mean...I'm sort of a doctor for animals. Why?"

Scootaloo looked at Rainbow's steadily breathing form. "What do YOU think her chances are?"

Fluttershy sighed. "She's always been a fighter. Unlike me. So I mean...she could pull through."

Her words were not very encouraging. Scootaloo looked at her sadly.

"I mean...she WILL pull through. Promise." Fluttershy said, managing a smile.

Scootaloo smiled, then yawned. Less than a minute later she was asleep again.

Fluttershy reached deep into her saddlebag. There was one more thing she knew to bring.

"It'll be right here when you get back."

She gently lay the element of loyalty on Rainbow's bedside table. She turned to leave, but paused.

She trotted next to her unconscious friend. Her mind drifted back to that day, almost twenty years ago.

At flight camp.

"Do you remember, Rainbow Dash? All those years ago? Those bullies...they were just so mean. And so persistent. And I couldn't do anything about them. I just couldn't. I felt so helpless. I've never really told anypony but..." She took a deep breath. The pressure of talking to a comatose pegasus was getting to her.

"I did think about ending it all a couple times. Just...jump off a cloud and...fold up my wings and just let gravity take me. I only thought about it a couple times. I wanted to leave. Just fly, far far away, so I'd never have to deal with those mean bullies again. I was so lonely" Her voice cracked a little. "But then you showed up. And you showed me I didn't have to stand alone." She managed a teary smile.

"And you never had to. You could've just kept right on flying. Just minding your own business. But you...you stopped to help me. And you talked down those bullies...and you made me smile again. And you told me it was okay to be afraid. And you told me, if I ever needed help I could come to you. I'll never forget that."

She leaned over and kissed Rainbow on the forehead. "And I'll be right here when you wake up, okay?"

Luna grimaced as sparks flew from her horn. She was exhausted from a day full of work. And now, at midnight, she had finally arrived back at the palace to raise the moon.

She knew the next day would be littered with complaints from astronomers and the nocturnals, about the lateness of the moon's rise.

But she cared not. She turned and stormed off towards her room. The sounds of mighty hooves hitting stone echoed behind her. Celestia.

"Luna? Where are you going?" Celestia asked.

"To bed. Where else would I be going sister?"

"Hold on a moment. We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about." Luna snapped. She felt a hoof clamp down on her flowing tail. She turned.

"Really?" Such a childish move from the great ruler of Equestria.

Celestia nodded. "Luna, you've been crying."

Luna felt her face. There were tears running down her muzzle. She levitated a handkerchief with her horn and wiped them away.

"No I haven't."

Celestia rolled her eyes. "I understand you're upset. But this is not how to go about..."

"What do you mean? I'm not allowed to shed a royal tear?"

"Luna just hear me out." Celestia said gently. "We are immortals. Both of us. We may very well live forever. And you will watch many, many ponies die. I already have."

Luna arched an eyebrow. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying...just...be careful forming emotional bonds. I know you and Rainbow Dash were very close. I'm just saying...it would be best to keep your distance."

Luna managed a dry chuckle. "With all due respect sister, that's a load of manure."

Celestia frowned. "Elaborate."

"You've always been a bit of a hypocrite Tia. I have only one question to ask you. If that was Twilight Sparkle, broken, and lying on her deathbed, would we be having this conversation?"

Celestia opened her mouth to answer. But all that came out was nonsensical stammering.

Luna smirked. "Wow. My big sister. At a loss for words. Now you understand. I can't keep my distance. She's been nothing less than a little sister to me these past few years. Please...please understand that." Tears came back to her eyes.

Celestia took a deep breath, then nodded. She reached out and gave her little sister a hug. "I understand Luna. I apologize for my...ignorance. We'll do everything in our power to fix her."

Thunderspark zoomed over the treetops, scanning the ground for the Changeling encampment.

They wouldn't have just left. Chrysalis had not gotten her revenge. She wouldn't just pick up and leave. She'd fall back into the forest and reorganize.

Thunderspark was driven, not by rational thought, but by pure, untamed anger.

"C'mon cheese legs. Where are you hiding?"

There was smoke in the air. A fire. Changelings. Their natural environment was very hot. Dry, boiling climate. Equestria was frigid by comparison. They would need a fire to stay comfortable.

Thunderspark zipped down towards the smoke, his eyes riveted in determination upon it.

There they were. Gathered around it, chanting something. Thunderspark shuddered.

These things were insane. Chanting into a fire. He could see the queen now. She was considerably larger than any of her soldiers. She stood close to the fire, fully absorbing it's warmth.

Subtlety was not the objective here. The objective was to send a message. Thunderspark put down his head and crashed into the changelings, creating a domino effect. They were sent crashing to the ground.

Thunderspark jabbed her hoof in the direction of the queen. "You. We have something to settle."

Chrysalis pointed to herself. "Me? Why, what would you want with me?"

The changelings cackled at the queens attempt at innocence.

"You hurt a friend of mine. I'm here to take you down." Thunderspark growled.

Chrysalis got to her hooves. "Are you prepared to die pegasus?"

"Not planning on it." Thunderspark replied.

Chrysalis smirked. "You are arrogant. Like the rainbow one. Such a crippling weakness."

"Her name was...is Rainbow Dash." Thunderspark snarled. "And you're not too humble yourself."

Chrysalis batted her eyes seductively. "Do you wish to kill me pegasus?"

Thunderspark's eyebrows lowered, the rage out in the open now.

"Very much."

Chrysalis chuckled. "Very well. Let's make it quick."

Thunderspark charged. Chrysalis prepared to counter. But sparky was rested. He was quick. He landed a punch on her jaw.

She was knocked back. He punched her again. Now she was serious. She roared in anger and punched him in the face, sending him flying.

He skidded to a stop, inches from the fire. He shuddered. Not a good death.

Chrysalis charged this time. Thunderspark was rammed towards the ground. He could feel his ribs crack. He got up swinging again. This time he landed a hit, a hard punch to the stomach. He followed it with a buck to the ribs.

Chrysalis was knocked back. She was angry. And he had hit her hard.

Thunderspark started towards her. He was prepared for the killing blow.

Suddenly, the changelings charged. They jumped on top of him, their punches and kicks raining down on him. He grimaced as he felt each jarring blow.

It was torture. He tried to stay standing in the cloud of pain. Every kick broke a bone. Every punch formed a bruise. He became grateful when his body numbed itself.

He felt his back legs break. That was all he could take. He collapsed to the ground.

Only now did the changelings stop. They pinned him to the ground.

Chrysalis strode happily over to him. "Is this how you pictured your revenge?"

Thunderspark could barely speak now. Blood streamed from his wounds, and down his muzzle.

"Y-You can't win Chrysalis." He muttered.

"I already have." She hissed. "Your pathetic nation is right where I want it. And my revenge on Twilight is almost complete."

Thunderspark laughed.

"You find something amusing pony?" The great changeling asked.

Thunderspark looked up at her. "I'm imagining your expression...when...you lose."

"I will not lose."

"The elements of harmony will unite again. Not even my death will change that."

Chrysalis frowned. "If I recall correctly, I killed the element of loyalty today. It seems your pathetic elements will be unable to stop me."

The pegasus looked up at her and smirked. "She's not dead yet. She'll be back. The power of friendship will prevail."

"What a lovely sentiment." Chrysalis said, smiling. "Now, I have one final proposition for you. Join me. Be my spy. I can fix you. Return to Equestria and use your ideal place at Celestia's right hoof to tell me vital information. You will be much rewarded once I take power. Or you may die a rather unpleasant death."

Thunderspark responded by closing his eyes.

"I ask that my soul be consigned to Celestia, and that she may transport me safely to the next world, I wish peace upon my friends and family..."

"As you wish." Chrysalis sneered. She angled her jagged horn, then drove it into the pegasi's chest.

Thunderspark's whole body jolted. His eyes widened as he desperately tried to breathe. Blood was flooding his lungs. He watched his life flash before his eyes, his days as a colt, his adventures of five years ago, fighting Discord. Then he stopped twitching and lay still.

Chrysalis removed the horn from his chest, then took a cloth and wiped away the blood.

"We must send them a message. Cut off his tail. Send it to Celestia. Dispose of the rest."

She watched them drag his body away.

"This revenge is a dirty business. Alright everyone, back to work on the weapon."

Comments

[Vilcor88]

The Weapon? Hmm I dont like the sound of that

[Lelouch Vi Britania]

You jerk, killing him off like that, bad form!

[RDash]

Great chapter!!

[Autumn Jade]

Oh my, so intense! LUV IT!!

[Jonny Bench]

Would have been great if he flew in there shouting "alluh akbar!"