Rainbows, Relationships, & Revenge

There was a whole plethora of emotions running through the Mane 6 after receiving the letter. Fear, nervousness, happiness, excitement, and so on. None of them knew what to expect. On one hoof, theyre that much closer to catching Rainbow Dash's attacker. But on the other hoof, the attacker is still out there and could strike at any moment.

After what seemed like an eternity, the six ponies plus one dragon arrive at Ponyville General Hospital, bursting through the doors to see Officer Thunder Hoof standing at the far corner of the lobby, his face as stoic and emotionless as ever. Twilight and her friends walk up to the stallion as she smiles and nods.

"Hello again, Officer. How are you today?" She asks with a soft smile.

Even through his soft smile, Thunder Hoof can only let out a gruff sigh and shake his head.

"Same shit, different pile im afraid. Come with me, girls. I think its best we discuss this somewhere a little more private..." He says before walking through the double doors and making his way down the hall, causing the others to follow close by.

After a short walk the girls find themselves in the cafeteria of the hospital, where it seems not a soul can be seen, safe for the few guards posted at the exits. Officer Thunder Hoof and the girls seat themselves at a nearby table before the stallion lays down a manilla folder.

"Officer...we got your letter. Is it true? Do you know who attacked Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asks, her forehooves planted on the table in anticipation.

Officer Thunder Hoof raises a hoof in the air and motions for the alicorn to sit down, making her blush as she slowly sinks back to her seat.

"We're not sure yet. But were getting closer. Ive brought pieces of evidence here with me to see what you can make of them, Princess."

"Twilight is fine."

"Alright, Twilight. What do you think?"

Thunder Hoof removes multiple bags of different materials out of the folder, as well as a couple of photographs taken at the scene of the attack, and places them in front of the alicorn. Upon a glance at the first bag, Twilights eyes widen in realization.

"Is that what i think it is?"

Thunder Hoof nods with a confident grin, sitting back in his seat and crossing his hooves. Inside the first bag was a grainy sky blue powder that almost looked like colored sugar. There wasnt a lot of it. But it was enough to cover the bottom of the bag as Twilight levitated it in her magic.

"M-Magic residue? This stuff is nearly impossible to gather after the first hour of being discharged! Thats the whole reason why not even unicorn scientists know a lot about it or its effects and properties!"

"We found the stuff stuck to the brush line. The same place where we took these pictures..."

Thunder Hoof points at the photos spread out over the table. One of them was a shot of hoof prints found in the brush. The second picture was a closer shot of the same picture, with some of the details being circled in red. The third picture was the brush line itself. First glance revealed nothing out of the ordinary. But upon a closer look, it showed that some of the vegetation had been layed flat, signifying that the culprit had hidden in the bushes at the time of the attack.

An ambush.

"Rainbow Dash was ambushed. Its as if the attacker KNEW Rainbow Dash would be there..."

Officer Thunder Hoof nods and pushes forward another bag toward the Princess, this time the bag is full of fur.

Twilight opens the bag and looks at the stallion. "May I?" She asks, to which he gives her a simple nod.

Twilight removes the fur from the bag and studies it intently, staying silent as she enters 'Observer Mode'. After a short while of silence, she looks back up and asks.

"Have you ran an identification spell on the sample?"

Officer Thunder Hoof nods and rubs his face in irritation.

"Four times. Each one turned up negative. Whoever attacked Rainbow Dash made it a point that they did NOT want to be found. The only bit of evidence we have to go off of that could give them away is their hoofprints and magic residue once we get somepony that knows what to look for with it. Until then were at a crossroads..." he says with a shrug.

"Damn it..." Rainbow Dash curses, smacking her hoof on the table top.

"Its alright, Dash. They'll find 'em. Either they will or we will. And if we do, it aint gonna be pretty."

"I know AJ...im just frustrated were no closer to finding them than we were before!"

"You have my word Miss Dash. I will find them and i WILL bring them down. If its the last thing I ever do you will have answers!"

"Thanks..."

"Well...thats all I had for you girls today. Youre free to go. Be safe and watch your backs. You never know when theyll strike again."

"Thank you Officer. We will keep an eye out." Twilight says with a nod.

And with that, the Mane Six exit the cafeteria and head back toward the exit. But before they can make it, Doctor Trotter catches them.

"Oh! Hey! Rainbow Dash! Im glad i ran into ya. Youre not due to come back for another week. But since you're here we can perform an X-Ray and see how youre healing. Sound good?"

"Yeah, okay." The pegasus responds with a nod.

"Great! Lets go get it done and we'll have you back out shortly." He says with a smile.

The girls silently follow Doctor Trotter to the nearest X-Ray room and starts messing with a series of buttons and switches.

"Alright Rainbow Dash, if you could go over to the machine and lay on your back for me, wings spread..."

Rainbow Dash nods and walks up to the bed of the machine, climbing on top of it before nodding to Applejack. The earth pony smiles before walking over to her and unraveling her injured wing, and helping her stretch it out comfortably so she can lay back.

"Hows that, Sugarcube?"

"Perfect. Thanks AJ."

"Anytime sweetheart..."

"Alright Rainbow. Ready?" Trotter asks.

"As I'll ever be..."

Twilight and the others go into a separate room with Doctor Trotter before he nods and clicks a button to a remote, taking a few quick pictures of Rainbows skeletal structure.

"Mhm...mmmhm...okaaaay aaaand done! Alright, Miss Dash, roll onto your side for me, keep your wings outstretched."

Rainbow rolls her eyes and rolls onto her left side, keeping her wing stretched out so the doctor can take more pictures.

"Good! Now the other side, please."

Rainbow nods and slowly rolls onto her other side, cringing as slight pain hits her injured wing. But eventually she makes it onto her other side just long enough for Doctor Trotter to take the remaining pictures he needs.

"Alright Rainbow! We got 'em. You can sit up now. Ill go get these processed and we'll take a look."

With that, Doctor Trotter grabs the printed photos and walks out of thee room to have them processed, leaving the Mane Six to themselves.

"Oooh I cant wait to see how good youre healing! Its just so exciting!!" Pinkie Pie says with...barely contained excitement.

"Im curious to see the results as well, Darling. But please do keep your voice down. Were at a hospital, not a squealing match."

"Yeah well. Progress or not, I still cant fly..."

"You will Rainbow. Give it time. You just about lost your life. You can go a month or two without flying."

"Easy for you to say, Egghead. You didnt grow up as a pegasus."

"Just give it time, Rainbow."

"Merf..."

Finally after forty five minutes of waiting, and one death by boredom for Rainbow Dash later, Doctor Trotter finally comes back in with the newly developed pictures.

"Alright' lets have a look here..." he says before slapping the pictures on the light board.

"So by the looks of it you had a severe fracture in your Humerus, however when you took whatever hard hit you took to your wing, everything from your Ulna to your Alula was almost crushed beyond repair. But luckily we have some of the best doctors in Equestria here, so they were able to piece you back together. Everything seems to be healing fine. Now your neck, while the buildup of calcium around the fracture in your neck is slightly concerning, it shouldnt have any lasting effects until further down the line, so that looks good. No we just need to take a look at the ol' ticker. Sit up straight for me." He says as he brings the stethoscope out.

Rainbow Dash nods and sits up as straight as she can. Doctor Trotter places the evilly cold stethoscope to the middle of her breast.

"Deep breath in please."

Rainbow takes in a deep breath and holds it for a second before letting it out. Doctor Trotter places the stethoscope on the right side.

"Breathe in..."

Rainbow Dash breathes in once again, letting it back put after a moment. Doctor Trotter places the stethoscope on the left side.

"Breathe in."

"Rainbow once again takes a deep breath in and holds it for a moment before letting it out through her mouth.

"Alright. Your heart could use a little more work. Its stil recovering from the trauma so id take it easy for a while. But other than that everything sounds good!"

"So we can go?" Rainbow asks.

"You may go."

"Yes! See ya!" Says the speedster before she takes off running out the door, only to accidentally tumble into a nurse.

"O-Oops...hehe...sorry..."

AJ can only firmly plant her hoof to her face as she shakes her head.

"And ah gotta go home with that...Celestia help me..."

And with that, the Mane Six exit the hospital and split up, each pony going their separate ways after sharing their goodbyes, to head toward their respective homes.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were walking side by side in silence as they walked. For once, Rainbow didnt have anything that needed to be said. It was a long twenty minutes before the silence was broken.

"Hey AJ?"

"Yeah Rainbow?"

"T-Thank you...for everything. You didnt have to take me in but you did anyway. So thank you..."

AJ simply smiles back and turns her attention toward her destination.

"Dont mention it, Rainbow. Dont mention it...."