Fear of Failure

The silence is deadly as Twilight waits outside, the room filled with black padded wooden chairs, the lack of occupants disturbing Twilight’s mind. She couldn’t quite handle the silence, that cyan rainbow maned pegasus clearly being the only thing on her mind.

“She just didn’t tell any of us about this…” Twilight whispers to herself, her head lowering slightly, her eyes gazing upon the tiled floor pattern of the hospital waiting room. How the white tiles lay in a uniform pattern gives Twilight a sense of hope, knowing that Rainbow Dash will be okay.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle?” a feminine tone announces to her right.

Twilight looks at the direction of the voice, hearing that dreadful title in front of her name making her slightly cringe. “Yes?” Twilight responds, putting her facade on that Celestia taught her at the castle, her eyes full of pretend happiness, her mouth casually smiling brightly upon the pony that she is looking at.

Unfortunately, the facade doesn’t work with medical employees, the white mare with her pink cap upon her head sighs at Twilight’s reaction. “Princess, you don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” Twilight says in reply, a slight tinge of nervousness appearing in her voice.

“I know you’re nervous,” the mare begins. “I’ve seen several patients with that same expression, and I know you too well, Twilight.” The mare begins walking down the hall to the left of her, causing Twilight to get up from her seat, her eyes full of concern as she catches up to the nurse.

“Everypony who walks through here knows they have a slight chance that they’ll never leave this place alive,” the nurse says calmly, causing Twilight ears to perk up. The lavender alicorn looks over at her, getting a better look at the mare. Her white coat, her red medical cross for a cutie mark, the pink mane hidden just barely underneath her small pink medical apparel; the mare was an absolute perfect example of an ordinary nurse. However, Twilight had a gut feeling she knew this mare, her eyes gazing upon the mare’s focused sight.

“Twilight.”

“Hmm?”

“We’re here,” the nurse says, pointing towards the room to Twilight’s right. “You can go in,” she begins before smirking slightly. “Or you can stare at me for the rest of the day.”

Twilight sheepishly smiles, her light red blush kissing her lavender cheeks. “I’m sorry, nurse.”

The white mare sighs. “I can’t believe you don’t remember me, Twilight.”

“Wait,” Twilight whispers, her eyes widen by the sudden realization. “You’re Redheart!”

The now identified nurse smiles. “Glad you remembered.” Redheart looks at the door in front of them and says, “Now go and see your friend, she’s waiting for you.”

With that, Redheart motions for Twilight to enter the room. Twilight smiles and nods, turning her attention to the brown door. She sighs and opens the door, her aura clutching the knob and turning it until the lock disengages.

As the alicorn enters the room, she gasps.

On the floor lies her friend…

...shaking and crying.

“Rainbow!” she says, approaching Rainbows position and lying beside her, nuzzling her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“N-n-no,” the cyan pegasus stutters out. The nurse behind her also bends down to Dash’s level, causing the cyan pegasus to scream. “Stay away!”

Twilight sighs and wraps her wings around the shaking pegasus. “Redheart, do you have any idea why my friend is acting like this?”

Redheart sighs. “I’m not too sure, all I know is that Dash is definitely suffering from something,” she states, backing away from Rainbow. The white mare looks at Twilight and says, “I’ll go get her doctor.”

The nurse exits the room, her hooves rapidly clip-clopping away from the area.

Rainbow Dash sighs and snuggles into Twilight’s fur, her tears matting the lavender alicorn. “Twilight,” Rainbow whispers, her voice wavering. “Y-you promised you’ll stay beside me.”

Twilight nuzzles into her neck. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, but I’m here now.”

“Can…” Rainbow says, unable to complete her thought.

Come on Rainbow, you can do this.

“Do what?” Twilight responds, her violet eyes gazing at Rainbow.

Just tell her! You’re not weak if you do!

Rainbow gives into her thoughts as she inhales deeply, her voice shaking as she nervously asks, “Can you please s-stay here when the doctor comes?”

“Of course,” Twilight says without hesitation. “I’m not going to leave my friend here alone.”

Rainbow smiles and leans her body onto Twilight, the warmth soothing her panicked heart. “Thank you…”

The silence is clear as the two mares accompany each other. After a few seconds, Twilight looks over at Rainbow and asks, “So what did they do to your foreleg?”

Rainbow smiles and shows Twilight the damage. “It’s wrapped up snug in these bandages.”

The once open wound now covered by its white wrapped prison, the wound no longer showing its glory.

“Did they say anything about it?”

“Well,” Rainbow begins, looking away immediately. “They said it was a deep claw mark…”

“How deep?”

“Deep enough to almost cut my veins…”

Twilight’s mouth forms a small “o” at the statement.

“Yeah…” Rainbow awkwardly says and lets out a long drawn out sigh.

Twilight snuggles into Rainbow more and sighs with her, dropping the subject at that point.

A few moments later, a random thought appears in Rainbow’s head.

“Hey, Twilight?”

Twilight lets out a low hum in response.

“What was that book you had in your mouth?”

Twilight’s eyes widen. “I can’t believe I forgot the book!” she cries out in despair.

“I noticed that,” Rainbow says quietly, nuzzling into her chest. “But I’m glad you didn’t grab it.”

Twilight raises an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“Because this is so much better than reading,” Rainbow replies, giggling slightly as she nuzzles the tuft of fur on her lavender chest.

Twilight nuzzles Rainbow back and closes her eyes. “Yeah, much better.”

“Hello, Rainbow Dash, how are you…”

The two mares cuddling on the floor look up at the voice who entered their vicinity. A tall brown stallion with a clipboard in hoof looks down at them, his eyes wide and his mouth wide open, the drawbridge ready for anypony to cross.

“Am I interrupting anything?” The stallion asks, recovering from the shock of the two mares on the floor by snapping his jaw back in place and shaking his head rapidly to cleanse his brain.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight, on the other hoof, with both apparent blushes on their faces, quickly shuffle away from each other, leaving a proper distance between the two. The two look at each other with terrified looks on their faces, both attempting to signal to the other party to say something to the poor previously-shocked stallion.

Finally, Rainbow Dash musters up enough courage, her pride showing well as she looks back at the doctor. “No, sir.”

The doctor laughs, his guaffing heard all the way down the hall, the sound of his low, hearty laughter bouncing off every wall and object. “Just call me Doctor Life.”

Did he just do…

Rainbow facehooves, the pun of the day causing her to smack her forehead in response. The doctor sees this and moves to her side. “Don’t hit yourself, I know it was a pun and a half, but hurting yourself any more may cause issues.”

Well if you didn’t have a pun for a name, I would stop.

Twilight sighs and moves towards the doctor, carefully spreading her wing out by his outstretched hoof. “Doctor Life, please, she’s been upset since this morning,” Twilight states calmly. “I don’t think you want to upset her more.”

The doctor looks over at Twilight and sighs. “I guess you’re right,” he says in defeat.

Thank you, Twilight.

“Anyway, let’s check your charts, shall we?” He picks himself up from the ground, trots over to the end of Rainbow’s bed, carefully picks up her charts and hums, scratching his somewhat odd amount of stubble at the end of his muzzle with his free forehoof.

It felt like hours to Rainbow Dash, the stallion rubbing back and forth over his muzzle as his eyes glide across the papers on his board, his brow slanted, his eyes zeroing in on the words.

This guy is weird.

Twilight, on the other hoof, couldn’t stop but admire the stallion, his dedication to reading the chart thoroughly with such an intense glare made her smile dumbly at his direction.

Rainbow snaps herself out of her trance and turns her attention to Twilight. Upon seeing her dreamy smile, she attempts to not laugh and lightly taps Twilight on her cheek, causing the alicorn mare to sputter out random words.

“Ugh. Happy. Sad. Trees.”

This sent her over the edge, her small chuckles turning into full blown laughs as Twilight looks at Rainbow, her cheeks appearing tinted a light red.

This causes the doctor to leave the chart for a moment to observe the scene, causing Twilight to become flushed, the light red shifting into the red on an apple from Sweet Apple Acres.

The doctor sighs and turns his attention to the chart, picking it up with his hoof, and slowly bending down to the mare’s level to tell them the news.

In seconds, Rainbow looks into the eyes of Doctor Life, his blue orbs peering into her magenta ones. “So what are the results?”

“You’re…”

A small crackle emits from Rainbow Dash’s left.

No…

“...going…” the doctor of life slightly growls.

Oh my…

“...to…”

Another crackle sounds off to Rainbow’s right.

Run.

Rainbow simply pushes Twilight’s wings away and bolts out the room, much to the chagrin of her former friend and doctor, the two disturbing growls of the stallion and mare behind her shaking Rainbow to the core.

“Die…” A voice to her left says as she flies down the hallway, dodging nurses and patients alike.

“Move!” Rainbow repeatedly shouts as she steers herself away from harms way, taking a sharp left to exit the hospital. As she turns the corner, she stops to a grinding halt, realizing something is missing. The exit to the hospital is gone, replaced by a large long hallway similar to the one she just left.

But I entered through this very pathway!

Rainbow Dash ears perk up, the sounds of growling coming from behind her.

“Rainbow!” a familiar feminine voice cries out, her voice raspy and cold. “Come back!”

“No!” Rainbow shouts impulsively, turning around to face her fears.

Only it was much, much worse.

It front of her lies several dead corpses of the ones she passed by, the blood of many staining the white tile that once brought many comfort and hope. The blood of innocence now covers it, the limbs of many slashed and dispersed among the other bodies. Caps, apparel, destroyed medical equipment, and many other items strewn about, some covered in blood while others lay bare, the red substance not splattered upon them.

Oh my Celestia...

As Rainbow begins to view the utter devastation, she decides to investigate, knowing her exit lies elsewhere. Slowly opening her wings, she begins to flutter towards the main desk. Rainbow cranes her neck, looking down the very hallway she currently resides in, the same results down both directions. Dead bodies, limbs hanging from the ceiling, blood splattered on the walls…

...and the sounds of a simple cry of a young filly coming from a room far down the hall to her left.

Who the hay is that?

“Hello?” Rainbow Dash says aloud, her voice rather shaky as it echoes down the hall.

As she continues fluttering towards the crying, she begins to think to herself.

I don’t hear the noises anymore, but I know I’m still dreaming…

Without thought she flutters, her magenta orbs glazing over the dead bodies, their eyes shut tightly, their deaths looking grim.

“H-hello?” Rainbow says once again, her voice now weak, wavering at sheer thought of speaking.

The cries suddenly shift, the sound becoming faint as she realizes the cry wasn’t as close as she thought.

What?

Rainbow approaches the end of the hall and cranes her neck around the corner. She is still paranoid by the thought of these two demonic versions of her friend and doctor roaming the hospital grounds. She does not want to encounter them, they would certainly get her killed. Death is not one of the things on her list of things to do, and Rainbow hopes it never will be, even in her own realm.

Seeing that nopony is there, she turns the corner and continues her journey. The amount of corpses are equivalent, some without heads, others without eyes. The carnage is truly sickening, the grumbles in Rainbow’s stomach agreeing with her thought.

Rainbow shakes her head. She can’t have the thought of death on her mind, she needs to focus.

You’re much stronger! You keep your head up high, even if failure is in sight! You have so much confidence!

The passing thought zooms on past her, the idea of being confident soaring inside her. She can do this, she just needs to believe in herself.

With the much needed boost, Rainbow Dash flutters down the hall, still cautious of her surroundings. She looks around as she moves, her ears perked up, attempting to hear the noises of the young filly.

“Ah!” the voice shouts, the sound coming from the hallway to her left.

Rainbow sighs and cranes her neck around the corner, only to slip back behind the corner at the sight she sees.

For a split second, she sees a nurse walk out of a room adjacent to the room where the cries of the young filly are.

Only this nurse did not look like a normal pony nurse.

She has white forelegs, black hind legs, a pink body with a cyan heart for a cutie mark, her neck is white as well, her pink mane laying to her left, and a pink blood-smeared cap on top of her head. She couldn’t see much else because the nurse was turned away from her, but judging by the swift glance Rainbow took, she definitely isn’t normal.

She peeks around the corner again and takes the opportunity to go into the room, the filly crying still sounding from the room.

Slowly and silently fluttering along, she sees the door to the room suddenly shuts loudly.

“Who’s there?” a voice from across the hall announces groggily.

Buck!

Rainbow Dash dashes back to her corner and whips herself onto the wall, breathing heavily from the sudden encounter. “I know you’re here somewhere!” the voice shouts again, the sound of clip-clopping coming towards her direction. With no choice left, Rainbow makes a drastic move and goes into one of the rooms and silently closes the door shut, the lock clicking in place.

“I heard that!” the voice shouts, the sound of hooves rapidly leaving the area.

“What did she hear?” a voice behind her says quietly.

Rainbow’s heart stops at the sound of the voice behind her.

“Scootaloo?”

Rainbow turns around and sees Scootaloo, her eyes wide at the appearance of her idol.

“Rainbow? What are you doing here?” the orange filly questions, her greyish purple orbs full of concern.

“I could ask you the same thing…” Rainbow mutters, approaching the side of her little sister’s bed. “Are you in this dream with me?”

“Dream?” Scootaloo asks, raising an eyebrow. “You mean you and I have been dreaming together?”

She is able to connect the dots that quickly?

Rainbow nods, her eyes glistening with tears. “It’s a nightmare outside that door, a mutated nurse was outside there looking for me.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widen. “Well if this is a dream, why can’t you and I both wake up?”

She can’t…

“I don’t know,” Rainbow begins, looking down at the bed that Scootaloo is in, the white covers concealing Scootaloo’s body. “Scootaloo can you lift the covers off, please?”

“Why?”

“Just do it,” Rainbow demands, trying not to sound harsh. “It’s important.”

Scootaloo groans. “Okay.” With a swift kick from her hind leg, the covers fly off, revealing Scootaloos normal body. Nothing seems wrong with it, except for one small thing.

Or rather, one large, curvy thing.

“Scootaloo?”

“Yeah, Dash?”

“When did you get that mark?”

Scootaloo gazes over to her right foreleg, a long, curvy claw mark covering her entire leg. “It’s been there since this morning,” Scootaloo states emotionlessly.

Rainbow raises an eyebrow. “When this morning?”

Scootaloo’s muzzle scrunches up, her left forehoof rubbing her chin. “Probably around two o’clock.”

“Really?”

Scootaloo nods.

When we both wake up, we need to meet up.

“Then when we wake up, you need to meet me.”

“Why?”

Rainbow sighs and shows her her foreleg. “I have one too, mines just bandaged up.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widen. “So you and I were at a campsite…”

“...together?” Rainbow finishes her sister’s question.

Scootaloo silently nods, a single tear gently sliding down her dark orange tinted cheek.

Rainbow sighs and wraps her right foreleg around Scootaloo, causing the little filly to look up Rainbow. “Don’t cry, we’ll figure this out,” Rainbow says, gently rubbing Scootaloo’s neck with her leg. “Okay?” Rainbow nuzzles the filly’s cheek, causing Scootaloo to nuzzle her back.

“Yeah…” Scootaloo says back. “I hope so…”

The two stay there, reveling in each other’s comfort.

“Where did that mare go?” a male voice growls out in frustration. “Even that good for nothing dull colored pony wouldn’t be able to find her!”

Rainbow pulls away from Scootaloo, causing Scoots to panic.

“Rain—”

Rainbow moves her hoof to her mouth and whispers a drawn out “Shhhh” in her sister’s ear. She turns away from the bed and slowly moves towards the door, putting her ear against the wooden entrance, the only thing that covers her from the enemy outside.

“Shut up you sexually frustrated stallion!” a feminine voice bellows. “You’re going to blow our cover.”

Cover?

“I could say the same for you, Miss Smart Cookie,” the stallion replies back in a suave tone. “Besides, she’s not around here, we’ve checked this hallway already.”

“Let’s check the next one,” the mare says angrily.

A loud smack across the back causes the stallion to laugh heartily as the sounds of hooves begin to leave the area.

Rainbow turns her head away from the door and looking at Scootaloo with utter fear. “We need to get out of here.”

“R-rainbow?”

Ignoring Scootaloo’s comment, she asks her sister, “Can you walk, Scoots?”

A slight grimace appears on Scootaloo’s face, a bead of sweat slowly sliding down from her forehead. “I… I can.” She lands on all four hooves, her hooves landing on the carpet beside her.

“Good,” Rainbow says, a slight twinge of pain coursing through her as well. “Let’s move.”

The filly nods as she slowly clip-clops her way over to Rainbow’s side while the cyan pegasus carefully cracks open the door, revealing the blood splattered hallway she once left from.

Rainbow checks both directions, craning her neck out to see the same blood stained, body ridden, gorefest in the hall. “It’s clear,” she mouths off to Scootaloo. “Stay by me.”

Scootaloo nods. “I won’t leave you this time.”

Fast learner…

Rainbow smiles at her, before turning back to the hallway of death. “Let’s move.”

Rainbow creeps out of the room, her hooves gently colliding against the tile floor. She takes a left, knowing that going right would do her and Scootaloo no good. The orange pegasus follows close behind, checking her backside to make sure nopony was behind them. As they take another left turn, Rainbow stops, her eyes wide in shock. Scootaloo raises an eyebrow and appears beside Rainbow.

When the hay did this get here?

“Scoots…”

“Yeah?”

“Why is the exit right down this hall?”

Scootaloo looks at Rainbow. “Rainbow, this hospital has had this exit here for ages.”

“Am I the only one who has never been notified of this?” Rainbow asks in disbelief. “I’ve been here more times than any other pegasi, and I’m just realizing this now?”

Scoots giggles quietly. “I guess I know more than you now…”

“Guess so,” Rainbow grumbles to herself in annoyance.

As they continue to walk down the hall, they notice the thing that separates them from freedom is a long corridor to their left. Rainbow turns around and says, “One corridor, I’ll check, okay?” She taps her hoof to the ground. “You stay here.”

“Alright,” Scoots replies, leaning up against the white wall. Rainbow nods and turns her attention to the corridor, leaning herself against the wall to her left. As she reaches the corridor, she takes a deep breath, and cranes her neck around the corner.

“Death…”

Oh no…

Rainbow ducks, the claw missing her by a hair. She turns around and runs back to Scootaloo, yelling, “Run!”

Scootaloo nods and follows in right behind her, the two running down the hall, stepping on bodies of ponies of all colors. “Quick! Scoots!”

“What?”

“Right!” Rainbow says, suddenly shifting to her right and into a room.

The filly copies her exact move, sliding right into the room. The two lay silent, huddling in the corner of the room they landed in. Above them lies several cleaning supplies: mops, buckets, soap bottles, containers of sponges, and several tools.

Why the hay are these in here?

Rainbow looks to her left to see Scootaloo, apparently wondering the same thing as she, her eyes looking at the objects above. “Hey, squirt.”

Scootaloos turns her attention to Rainbow. “Yeah?”

“Remember what I said,” she whispers quietly. “Meet me when you wake up.”

The orange filly sighs, dragging her right foreleg over Rainbow’s left foreleg. “I know.”

The two lie there awaiting their demise.

The silence is deadly…

“Death…”

And then, the claws sliced through the equipment, coming upon the two hiding occupants.

__________________________________

“Rainbow, Scootaloo?” A voice says from afar, the sounds causing Rainbow to stir awake, her eyes snapping open in an instant. The rainbow maned mare looks down at the filly beside her, her eyes closed tightly. “Scootaloo!”

The orange filly shakes as she opens her eyes. “Rainbow!” she says with tears in her eyes.

The two hug, tears flowing down their cheeks. “But, how?” They ask each other in unison.

A lavender hoof pushes the medical equipment aside, causing the two to flinch. “Are you two done exploring the hospital?”

“Huh?” Rainbow asks, her muzzle scrunched up.

What?

“Rainbow…” The owner of said hoof sighs, lighting a nearby candle in her purple aura to get a better look at the two. “Oh my Celestia!”

Rainbow raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“Doctor Life!” Twilight shrieks in terror, her eyes wide and her mouth dropping to the floor.

Doctor Life cranes his neck to see his patient huddling with his other patient in the janitor’s closet. The brown stallion  gasps as well, the sight too much even for the doctor to fathom.

“Get out of that closet, now!” he bellows.

What is the matter with them?

“R-rainbow?”

“W-what?”

“Why are they shouting and screaming?”

“I d-don’t know, Scoots,” Rainbow says in trepidation, the looks on the doctor and Twilight were not so appealing to either of them. The two get up from their secure positions and exit the room.

As they exit the dimly lit room and into the light, the two who fought through so much look at each other fully.

Blood oozes out of their chests as a new, long, curvy claw mark adorns their bodies. Rainbow gasps, while Scootaloo looks at Rainbow, tears still cascading down her cheeks. “Rainbow…”

Rainbow looks at her sister and nuzzles her neck. “Scoots…”

“You two, we are going to move you to Canterlot Medical Center, asap!” Doctor Life says with defiantly, his hoof stomping on the tile floor. “This is nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

“I can take it from here, Doctor,” Twilight says, causing the doctor to snap his gaze to her. “I know Celestia personally, she’ll help me out.”

“How?” Doctor Life says.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle ring any bells?” Twilight says, rolling her eyes. “Look, you don’t need to worry about this, Doc—”

“Just call me Destined Life.”

“Destined Life,” Twilight says, her right brow twitching. “These two are in good hooves.”

Destined Life shrugs and says, “Alright, if you say so…”

His name is even more of a pun now…

Twilight nudges Rainbow, causing her train of thought to derail only seconds after she left the station.  “Let’s leave, I’ll write a letter to Celestia when we get back to the library.”

The two siblings look at each other before nodding. “This hospital stinks anyway,” Rainbow says, glaring at Doctor Life, who is still in shock, his eyes wide.

Scootaloo giggles and wipes her cheeks clean with her left forehoof. “You said it, sister.”

The duo trot out of the correct hospital doors, not having to worry about tripping over a dead body of some sort. “Scoots, don’t you like it when there isn’t blood on the floor?”

Scootaloo nods. “They need a new janitor to clean up their messes because the last one was terrible." She gently smiles as Rainbow Dash chuckles heartily at her sarcastic comment. "If that happens again I don’t know what they’ll do.”

Twilight stares at them in awe. “Why are you two joking around?” she yells, jumping in front of them with her wings flared. “You two are bleeding like civs!”

The two look down at each other’s chests, the mentioning of their bleeding not apparent to them, the claw marks adorning their chest not bleeding anymore. “Um, Twilight, are you sure you’re not seeing things? It’s not like it’s flowing out like a waterfall…”

Scootaloo looks up at Rainbow and says, “She’s right, Twilight.”

Twilight growls, “We’re going to the library now,” Twilight pauses and glares at Rainbow. “And you do not backsass me when you’re like this.”

“Okay!” Rainbow says, waving her hooves in front of Twilight’s face. “Let’s go.”

“No,” Twilight says as she  grasps Rainbow’s right foreleg with one hoof, while grasping Scootaloo with the other. “Now.” Without a moment to spare, the trio teleport away, a purple aura whisking them to the destination of the caster’s choice...