Tragedy

"It IS you!" the pony shouted. "OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH! When I got that letter I thought it was a sick prank!" The pony came up and wrapped her hooves around Twilight. Twilight looked at her face and there was no mistaking it up close, it was her. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash, is it really you? I don't believe it!" Twilight's eyes started to tear up again.

"It's me all right, the one and only," Rainbow grinned a wide smile at Twilight, but it wasn't fooling Twilight or Applejack. Twilight looked at Dash's body and was shocked to see two giant scars where her wings used to be.

"Rainbow, what... happened to you? Your wings..." Twilight started to weep softly. Rainbow Dash took a seat next to them and leaned back in the chair.

"Oh, this? Oh right, yeah. It is kind of a cool story, it happened when I saved these two fillies from..." She suddenly just noticed Applejack's figure sitting across from her, not having seen before because of the initial shock of seeing Twilight. "OH MAN, APPLEJACK, YOU GOT HUGE!" Applejack's eyes fixed on Rainbow Dash and their gaze locked to each other.

"Hello to you too, Rainbow Crap. Still runnin' off yer mouth Ah see."

Rainbow Dash smiled. "And I see you've been using yours to eat your entire stock of apples." Rainbow Dash laughed while Applejack cricked her neck.

Twilight placed her head between them both. "It's good to see you both still have a, um, 'friendly' rivalry between you." Twilight's eyes pleaded with Applejack not to get violent. Applejack gritted her teeth and slowly backed off. "Rainbow, it's so good to see you! I don't know how to apologize for not contacting you so..."

Rainbow Dash interrupted her before she could finish, "Aw, FORGET IT! I know all about what happened. Spitfire told me everything about your battle, about the coma and Zecora. I would have came to see you myself but um..." Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head and blushed slightly embarrassed. "I'm kinda, well, banned from coming within 5 miles of Canterlot. HAHA, it's actually kind of a funny story, really..." She gave a nervous laugh.

"Are you drunk, you loud-mouthed filly?" Applejack erupted, giving Rainbow Dash a searing gaze. Rainbow Dash looked to Twilight then back to Applejack.

"Looks like that's YOUR job, Crapplejack," she retorted.

"Right, THAT'S IT!" Applejack shouted as she bolted up, looking for a fight.

Twilight stood up between them both. "Please, you two, I... I just wanted us to get together because we were friends once. Just please stop it," she begged as she exchanged pleading glances with Raindow and Applejack.

Applejack slammed her hoof down on the table. "Fine, I'll let it fly fer you this once, Twi. Ah'm goin outside to cool down a bit. I hope fer yer sake, Rainbow, you smarten up while Ah'm gone." She stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Twilight gave a sigh of relief as she couldn't help but gaze back at Rainbow Dash's wings again. "Rainbow, you said you were saving fillies?"

Rainbow snapped back when Twilight mentioned her name. "Did I? I mean, yeah. I was saving these fillies when I had to make a split decision that was daring and dangerous! I knew I could be hurt trying it but this little filly she had fallen off a -"

"Filly? I thought you said 'fillies'?" Twilight stated.

Rainbow Dash paused for a second. "Uh, well, there were two, but I had to make a decision to save one or the other, you see, so-"

Twilight gave her a puzzled look. "But you said you saved both."

Rainbow Dash began to sweat and look around the bar nervously. "Uh, well, I... uh... WHAT IS THIS? WHY ARE YOU DOUBTING ME?!"

Twilight reeled back at the sudden outburst. "I'm not doubting you Rainbow, it's just..."

Rainbow Dash grimaced, her eyes welling up with tears. "..."

She winced a little, but Twilight couldn't hear what she had said over the tavern's noise. "Um...Rainbow?" Twilight went up to Rainbow, putting a hoof on her shoulder, trying to reassure her.

"I... I LOST THEM IN A STUPID RACE SHOWING OFF IN FRONT OF THE WONDERBOLTS, OKAY!? HAPPY NOW?!" Rainbow blurted out. Twilight wasn't sure what to say, as she drew herself closer to Rainbow Dash. "It was just a stupid race, I'm so pathetic..." Rainbow paused to try and compose herself before continuing, but found it difficult. "I lost the one thing I loved doing because of my stupid arrogance." Rainbow Dash sobbed a little, as Twilight started to began to feel guilty for bringing it up.

"Oh Dash, I'm so sorry, what happened? If you want to talk about it, but you don't have..." Twilight couldn't finish asking, but Rainbow managed to let out a small laugh.

"Sure, why not? After all, I just love the attention, remember?"

Twilight shook her head gently. "That's not what I meant -" She could feel her tears starting up again, but Rainbow cut her off.

"I know, I know." Rainbow let out a sigh, "Well, okay, here we go. My incredible story of stupidity..."

"Just so you know, Twi, I'm the reason the Wonderbolts decided to disband too. All because of this stupid race. And it kind of involves you too, but not directly. Anyway, after we all had split up and gone our separate ways, I went back to training to take my mind off things. Although the Princess was gone, the Wonderbolts were planning to do a show every year in honor of her. And I loved the Princess as much as anypony, so I pestered them to let me train with them. At first they were skeptical, but I totally impressed them enough to get them to put me on a sort of 'trial basis'. They were some of the best times I ever had, and it was just after you had won the battle that we learned you were alive and so I suggested we throw a show in honor of your victory. They agreed and the let me plan and co-ordinate it. Cue the Canterlot Arches.

"The plan was for us to fly in and out of them all during the show. We practiced a lot for days, and it it was good, but I said we needed to go faster to make it more impressive. Looking back, what I think I really meant was for ME to look more impressive. So, I brought it up, but Spitfire said it would be too dangerous to go any faster. I kinda... called her chicken, and said she didn't want to do it because she couldn't do it at my speed. So I challenged her to a race to see who could clear all the arches quicker. She accepted, despite the others telling us not to. And then the day came. I don't remember too much. I know we were neck and neck until the last few arches. I remember her saying that the last arch is too small and that it'd be impossible to clear. And I remember my best line ever 'HA! NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU'RE ME!' and when I woke up in hospital a week later... my wings..." Raindow Dash took a moment, turning her head around to look at the scars again.

"Apparently, I had tried to fly on through the small gap; I guess I had misjudged it. The impact broke my left wing instantly, then, I'm told, I managed to crash into the memorial garden for the Princess and completely wrecked it, tearing my right wing in the process. The docs couldn't save either of them. Meanwhile, Spitfire had quit the 'Bolts due to her feeling guilty in going along with the race. I was distraught. I couldn't fly anymore and everyone was going to hate me. I was just going to end it all, but Luna came to me and made me a deal. She was willing to keep the accident a secret for me because of my past service, on the condition I never enter Canterlot again. I agreed, but I still couldn't fly, so what was I supposed to do? So, I went on a journey, just wandering, but it turns out I'm still pretty fast on the ground, so I got a job as a courier. Kinda funny, as it turns out, one of the letters I was given to deliver was addressed to me. They told me this is where you would be meeting Applejack so..." Her voice trailed off.

"Rainbow... I don't know what to say. I mean, I want to chew you out for being so reckless but, you poor thing..." Twilight's voice faded as she hugged Rainbow Dash tighter.

"Thanks Twi. I guess I had to get it off my chest eventually, and you know, it feels a little better."

Rainbow gave a long sigh just as Applejack leaned over onto the table. "You ain't gonna believe this, Twilight, but yer day just keeps gettin' better an' better," she said, a half-smile on her face.

Twilight was worried. "Oh dear, what now?" she asked nervously.

"Best you come on outside and take a look-see for yerself. You too, Dash." She beckoned them as she made her way back outside. Rainbow Dash and Twilight looked at each other, giving each other a nervous look as they made their way to the front of the tavern.

Outside, there stood a beautiful carriage covered almost entirely in gems and jewels being pulled by two stallions and inside the carriage, a silhouette of a well-dressed pony was sitting at the window. Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked in amazement, while Applejack didn't care so much as a stallion walked up to the 3 of them. "Ahem, her ladyship received a letter from a miss 'Twilight Sparkle' which I presume is one of you as your angry country friend agreed to fetch you."

Twilight gulped. "I... I'm Twilight Sparkle, sir." The Stallion approached the door of the carriage and whispered something that Twilight couldn't make out.

The stallion turned back to the other ponies. "Her ladyship has agreed to meet with you, but she will not leave the carriage. You may enter." He opened the door and Twilight peered inside to see a beautifuly-designed dress and her eyes followed it to the figure's face.

"R... Rarity?" Twilight asked nervously.