• Published 5th Jan 2012
  • 7,959 Views, 231 Comments

Deeper Than Friendship - JustaninnocentPony



Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's friendship is slowly reaching a new level, but will it work?

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Wounds

Chapter 9
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“Oof!” Twilight grunted when the hoof angrily met her cheek, sending her to the ground below with a hard ‘thud’. Her face stung like a mother-bucker, a bright red mark on her right cheek from where she had been hit. Her head felt worse than it had when she had awoken from the explosion; and oh, was it painful. It felt as if someone had spent the whole day using her skull as a drum-set. She shakily rose to her hooves, turning her head to the side and spitting out blood before turning again to face Rainbow Dash. Rainbow’s face showed an expression of only pure hatred and anger. She usually was always loyal to her friends and attempted to keep it that way; never once having crossed the line before. But this wasn’t her fault; Twilight had brought this upon herself. This was her fault, and she was going to get it, big time.

Twilight wiped the blood from her lip, growling a bit at the rainbow-maned pony in front of her. Rainbow stared right back at her, growling lowly and readying herself to strike again. Another hoof quickly met Twilight’s face, sending her to the ground at break-neck speed. This time, she didn’t bother to stand back up as her head lay on the ground, sound painfully ringing through her ears. She pushed herself up off the earthy floor, sitting on her flank and looking up at Rainbow. Rainbow angrily growled lower and more anger filled this time than before. Her hoof once again made contact with Twilight’s face, relentlessly sending her to the ground below. Twilight spat out blood on the floor, one side of her face was red and bruised; the other didn’t fair much better, having been stained by dirt and mud for the third time now. It would most likely take hours of bathing to cleanse it, but Twilight didn’t care; this was necessary punishment. She had betrayed them, all of her friends, and she deserved her consequences. Thus, she would take them without protest.

Rainbow briskly walked up to Twilight’s body, forcefully picking her up off the ground and throwing her onto her back. Twilight winced as she slid backwards, the hard ground and rough rock grinding up against her back. Rainbow Dash quickly ran up to her, jumping in the air and cocking out her foreleg. When she landed her knee impacted on Twilight’s stomach, causing the mare to loose her breath with an agonizing grunt. Rainbow hastily rolled off the mare’s body and pulled herself to her hooves, preparing for another hit.

All the while, Fluttershy watched in fear as her lover mercilessly beat up one of her closest friends. She covered her eyes with her hooves, curiously giving herself a small window to view the carnage through as Rainbow’s hoof forcefully came down on Twilight’s face. Fluttershy squeaked at this and covered her eyes once more. She didn’t know if she should speak up or not. Yes, what Twilight did was awful and she did deserve punishment of some sort. But… what was senselessly beating her going to help?

Twilight rose as much as she could, sharply coughing before spitting out more blood. She was close to passing out as this point, having already been exhausted and wounded beforehoof. Twilight sat up once more, stoically looking up at an enraged Rainbow Dash who was preparing for yet another blow. Another hoof struck her cheek, and another, and Twilight didn’t lift a hoof to fight back. If this was the first step in regaining her friend’s trust, then so be it. She didn’t bother rising this time, all of her remaining strength having been depleted. She lay there, barely conscious on the ground, her face a bloody and bruised mess.

A mixture of emotions ran wild through Fluttershy’s mind. She didn’t know whether to feel angry herself, sad, betrayed, disturbed, or really anything else. She obviously had to do something, and the sooner the better. If Rainbow Dash kept beating down on Twilight like this she’d loose consciousness in no time. And Fluttershy had read enough medical books to know that ponies are never supposed to fall asleep when they have a concussion.

Twilight slowly lifted herself off of the ground, attempting to maintain her balance. She could not recall a single time in her life where she had felt worse than she did now. She was slowly fading in and out of consciousness, her face would probably look unrecognizable to anypony she knew, and she was pretty sure her lunch would unpleasantly be coming up at any moment now. At this rate, Rainbow Dash would send her to the hospital in a hoof-basket. When she was able to stand on her hooves again, she gave another straight look to the rainbow maned pony. She had to be strong for this, even though she was getting more beat up than she ever had in her life it was necessary… hopefully. Honestly, Twilight had absolutely no idea what she could do to regain her friend’s love and trust after Rainbow would surely spill her secret. Maybe she could do something in time before Rainbow could though… If she could work out some sort of arrangement or agreement with her and Fluttershy to keep this between them; maybe then… not all would be lost.

Twilight’s train of thought was rudely interrupted as she was harshly kicked in the gut, causing her to nearly keel over right then and there. She couldn’t hold it anymore, no matter how hard she tried. She reluctantly leaned towards the ground and opened her mouth. She barfed fresh chunks of barf mixed with blood over the grass below. This caused Rainbow Dash to finally stop her onslaught. She slowly backed up, still keeping a cruel stare fixed on the sick pony. Twilight continued to vomit, much to her discomfort. She had always hated this feeling, it felt like her whole stomach was churning and would burst at any minute if given the time to.

That was it; at this point Fluttershy had had enough. No matter what Twilight did, this was a punishment nopony deserved to go through. It sickened Fluttershy to she anypony be hurt so belligerently by another one. She stood up and ran forward, jumping in the air and spreading out her wings as she soared and gracefully landed in front of Rainbow. She put herself into a protective stance, her wings spread out as far as they could go as she stared the sky-blue Pegasus straight in the eye. Rainbow Dash flinched a bit, looking Fluttershy back in the eye and waiting for some sort of response.

“Stop this Dashie! You can’t just sit here and senselessly beat Twilight up; it’s doing no good to anypony, especially me!” Fluttershy yelled, leaning forward to meet eye to eye with Rainbow Dash.

“What?! You want me to stop?! Did you hear what I head Fluttershy, or am I going crazy? She led your only bunnies besides Angel out here into the cold and desolate forest and probably got them killed! She also let you wonder on your own and blamed it on me! How do you expect me to react?! By sitting back and doing nothing as I’m told my marefriend nearly died?!” Rainbow Dash retorted, anger rising in her voice as her wings spread out as well. Now Fluttershy was the one flinching; she never did any good in arguments or fights, given her timid nature. The level of assertiveness she had already shown was surprising enough. Regardless, she took a deep breath and readied herself to argue back.

“What is beating her going to do?! She’s already weak enough! Look, I understand your anger and I do agree that it’s well-placed but… You aren’t any better than her if you just sit here and hurt her like this!” Fluttershy’s voice was a mix of calm and anger as she pointed a hoof towards the mess on the ground that was their friend.

“Why are you even defending her Fluttershy?! She nearly killed you! You could have died! Are you understanding the severity of this at all?!” Rainbow argued, her anger continuing to build. She just couldn’t understand why Fluttershy didn’t share her feelings. She of all ponies should have been the maddest! Fluttershy sighed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before opening them and giving a pleading look at Rainbow. Rainbow didn’t know what it was, but those eyes seemed to pierce straight into her soul. With a tight and a nuzzle of her neck she sighed and held the shy pony close to her. Fluttershy did have a point; beating Twilight wasn’t going to do anything but make her look just as bad. It was moments like these that served to increase the already bulging love Rainbow felt for Fluttershy. Not only was she a perfect marefriend, but somehow, she knew how to keep Rainbow in check and reason with her like nopony else could. It was like having somepony who understood her but at the same time knew how to make her see the light of a situation. After a long hug, the two departed and looked back to the beaten and bruised Twilight, who was now lying on the floor, puke and blood stains not far from her head. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash winced at the sight; she needed to be treated, soon. Her injuries weren’t bad enough to warrant medical attention, but she would definitely need some stitches.

“Come on… let’s get her home” Rainbow Dash said calmly, slowly walking over to Twilight. Twilight’s sight and hearing had been fading in and out; all she had managed to catch was that Fluttershy and Rainbow had some sort of argument and it had been resolved. But now she saw that same rainbow maned pony marching up to her again. ‘Oh no… not again…’ she thought as her mind began to go into overdrive to protect her. She sloppily rose to her hooves, beginning to back up in a wavy and criss-cross pattern resembling that of a pony that had had one too many bottles of Zasparilla. It only took a few more steps and a collision with a tree to send her to the ground again in searing pain. Fluttershy, noticing this, came up in front of Rainbow and held out her hoof, stopping the Pegasus in her tracks.

“Let me handle this…” Fluttershy said sweetly. Rainbow nodded in agreement as Fluttershy began a slow and gentle walk to Twilight, making herself seem as unthreatening as possible, something that came to her naturally. Rainbow understood why Fluttershy had wanted to take over. She imagined she must’ve scared Twilight stiff with the beating she had given her.

Pfft, still a well deserved lesson all the same

Rainbow Dash backed up and watched from the side as Fluttershy softly nudged Twilight. A still barely conscious Twilight lifted her head, looking at the pony approaching her with confused eyes. Was sweet and kind Fluttershy going to have a shot at her now; kick her until she’s nothing more than a pile of mush and gore? But no, Twilight was pleasantly surprised when Fluttershy helped her up and propped her up. Soon after, Rainbow came over and took her other foreleg. The two began to carry Twilight away from the blast zone and towards the exit of the forest. Twilight was confused as her head bobbed up and down from motion.

“But… But I thought you guys h-hated me after what I d-did…” Twilight stammered out in between sobs of physical and mental pain. Rainbow Dash stopped walking for a moment, causing Fluttershy to jerk to a stop with her as she casted a guilty stare towards the yellow mare. Fluttershy lightly nodded at her with understanding eyes; she took a deep breath and looked up as much as she could to Twilight.

“Twilight… I’m sorry for hurting you… I let my emotions take charge and it was uncalled for.” Rainbow said apologetically, Fluttershy silently gesturing for her to say more “And… I don’t hate you. I… I may not forgive you for what you’ve done just yet… but I don’t hate you.” Rainbow finished, sounding uncertain of her words. Twilight smiled lightly, resting more of her weight on the two ponies who took it without complaint. She closed her eyes as her last seconds of consciousness came in and out of reach until she had fallen peacefully asleep.

***

BANG!

“Aw horsefeathers!”

Twilight awoke upon a loud cluttering that echoed through the walls of the room she found herself in. When she rose up to rub her eyes she found herself in a strange environment. Not only was she not in the forest, but she had found herself somepony’s bedroom. There was a light bedcover clumsily draped over her and several pillows behind her head, meant to keep it elevated. There were several wooden beams that stood out against the lavender ceiling and not far to her left was an open window that allowed Luna’s bright moon to shine through into the bedroom, providing a mediocre light source. The floor, similar to the beams that ran across the ceiling, was also wooden, but of a grey shade, unlike the ceiling.

After awhile, her restless eyes adjusted to the dark environment. She had never seen the room before, but the color scheme certainly looked familiar. Suddenly, out of nowhere amidst the loud cluttering voices could be heard.

“Rainbow Dash! What in Equestria are you doing?” The first voice demanded

“I…um… I accidentally tipped over some plates.” The second voice, who Twilight assumed belonged to Rainbow Dash, responded innocently. Twilight then heard some banter she couldn’t interrupt, but payed it no mind as she slipped back into her covers, nuzzling herself into a comfortable position on the bed. At the least, she now knew who’s how she had found herself in and that was a relief. Although it came as no surprise to her; after all, Fluttershy’s house was the closest to the Everfree forest. It made sense to take her there to quickly treat her injuries with the surplus of medical supplies Fluttershy had stored. Twilight groaned lightly, recalling the events previous to her arrival in the shy pony’s home. Her whole body was still an aching mess, but at least she had been cleaned, treated, and had had her wounds properly dressed along with her gash sewn together neatly. She didn’t know how or why, but Fluttershy seemed to have as much of a freaky knowledge about medical things as she did sewing and dress-making.

Twilight attempted to rest back and let the aches of her body painfully and slowly fade away so she could fall asleep again. Regardless of what had just happened to her, she needed her rest before she could be of well mind to deal with it. But even that small feat seemed to be impossible, the noise of banter and ponies walking around becoming too much for her to bear. After awhile, she had had enough and pulled the covers off in one quick motion, afterwards jumping onto the floor. She winced a bit in pain upon the sudden shock jolting up through her, particularly her injured foreleg.

Slowly but surely, she made her way down the stairs; one hoof a time, step by step. Her legs were threatening to give out from under her however, making the medial trip seem like a nightmare to overcome. Eventually she reached the foot of the stares and swung the door open, walking through into the brightly lit room. Her eyes shut close and she instinctively raised a hoof in front of them in defense of the light the streamed into her vision.

Out of nowhere, a pair of hooves whisked her into a tight hug, throwing her already unbalanced senses off the charts. Her eyes adjusted to an elated Pinkie Pie looking her straight in the eye with a smile so large Twilight couldn’t help but give a light one back through the confusion.

“Twilight you’re okay! Oh my gosh, I was so worried when Fluttershy called and I rushed over here but you were in bed and wouldn’t respond so I got super-duper worried and when I’m super-duper worried I bake pastries and sweets so I went into the kitchen and baked you a big cake with Rainbow Dash! But then you were still asleep and the cake was getting cold so we ate it. Well, more me than anypony else really but there’s still some left for you to eat. But, you’re okay! And that’s all that matters!” Pinkie Pie blurted out, clearly not choosing her words before speaking. Twilight readjusted her hearing and shook her head feverishly, trying to comprehend what she had just been told. On the table off to the side of the room rested a nearly fully eaten cake, save for two slices. There were crumbs spread all about near the table and furniture where Pinkie had carelessly left them. Twilight ignored this and turned her attention back to the matter at hoof.

“What? Um… oh yeah, um… thanks Pinkie.” Twilight said drowsily, lightly pushing the over-excited pink pony out of her way as she slowly walked forward into the living room of Fluttershy’s home.

Fluttershy was resting on the throw pillow, holding Angel in her hooves and calmly brushing him as he slept. Rainbow Dash was sitting close beside her, the two nearly touching bodies. Applejack and Rarity were sitting on the couch near the window and Pinkie Pie was busy (literally) bouncing off of the walls. But the others, apart from Fluttershy (And Pinkie Pie who was too distracted to even pay attention) didn’t seem too happy to see her. Most of the ponies in the room wore a silent look of disgust and disappointment. Nopony, except Pinkie, had even greeted her yet. An awkward silence enveloped the room as she looked from pony to pony, each as displeased as the last. Seconds turned into minutes which seem to last hours and then days. Nopony made a noise; they all just stared at her. Fear entered Twilight’s heart once more, distracting her from everything else. As if getting her flank handed to her by a powerful Pegasus wasn’t bad enough, now she had to deal with the disappointment of her friends who must have surely heard of her actions by now. Meaning being thrown out of the group, put into exile, was still a viable option to them. Twilight’s heart was racing at a mile a minute, and she was barely standing as it was. She was so covered in bandages she swore she could’ve passed for a mummy if the room was dark enough.

“Twilight…” Applejack started with a tone in her voice that told the purple mare that they’d be in for a long and drawn out conversation “We wanna talk to you about what you went and did…”

Oh No’ Twilight thought as she heard the words. She wasn’t ready for this yet, she didn’t have time to prepare excuses or explanations. If she couldn’t even form a decent argument how could she keep her friends? Panic was at its boiling point in the mare and it only festered when Rarity began to speak.

“We knew you were worried Twilight. But really, I never expected you of all ponies to do such a… a… dastardly thing!” Rarity said, her voice filled with emotion. All four ponies sitting down, including Fluttershy, nodded their heads in agreement. Twilight was sweating now, and the sound of her beating chest blocked all else. Panic took over every other sense and emotion in her body as her horn began to glow brightly. Moments later, a loud bang erupted along with a flash of light and she was gone, only leaving behind a scorch mark where she had been standing.