When The Sky Falls

When The Sky Falls

Part II - Crash Landing

The day of the incident.

Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and cracked her neck. "You ready, Twi?"

"Sure Rainbow Dash. Just gimme a second to work up the spell."

"Oh this is gonna be so awesome!" The cyan pegasus squeed with delight. "Best. Birthday. Ever!" she declared and raised a triumphant hoof.

The purple unicorn smiled as her friend did a loop-de-loop, momentarily losing her focus. "Only if it works. This is a highly volatile spell, Rainbow. It could go wrong-" she started.

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. "Yeah, yeah. You won't screw it up, Twilight. You're like the me of magic. You don't - nah... you can't make mistakes when it comes to that stuff. You're just too cool. For an egghead that is," she chuckled and landed next to her friend.

Twilight Sparkle blushed and focused more on the spell again. "Really, Rainbow, I'm just a regular old unicorn. Everypony makes mistakes. Remember when you crashed a few months ago? When you discovered you love reading?"

"I do not love reading!" Dash protested. "I just really, really like it is all. And that crash was a fluke. The sun was in my eyes," she muttered and turned away, feeling a blush on her blue cheeks start to spread.

"Uh huh. So what if the sun got in my eyes while I was doing this spell?" Twilight teased.

Dash furrowed her brow as she shot up into the air and placed several clouds in strategic locations, just so they had enough light to see, but not enough to blind Twilight. "There. Happy now?"

"I suppose. But you didn't have to do that, you know?"

"And you're not a regular old unicorn," she heard her friend whisper as she flicked some of her rainbow coloured mane away.

The 'egghead' laughed it off and sparked her horn. "OK, based on what I've read, this spell should amplify the way you move by-"

"Twenty percent?" Dash cut in eagerly.

"Well, yeah. Just about. More like twenty point five, five, five-"

"Yeah I get it Twi. So how is it dangerous?" the brazen pegasus asked as she dropped, and began to do push-ups with her wings, cracking them at regular intervals and occasionally using only one.

"Hmph," Twilight snorted and looked at the book again. "Once you start you may find it hard to stop. Take it easy, Dash, we don't know how this spell will work after all. I don't want you to get hurt," she said quietly and gazed into the magenta eyes of her fillyfriend.

The pegasus in question winced. "Aww, don't look at me like that Twi. Nothin' bad's gonna happen. You just watch." She inclined her head forwards for an encouraging nuzzle and smiled. "Now c'mon. I'm just dying to go twenty percent faster than usual. Beam me up, Twilight!" she commanded and spread her wings.

Twilight giggled softly and flared her horn up. "OK. Here goes..."

She fired a magenta beam of energy at her friend, who lit up like a Hearth's Warming Eve tree.

"Twi-i-i-i-l-l-l-i-i-ight!" she cried and took a step forwards.

Twilight yelped and ceased firing the beam.

Dash lay panting on the ground with a few magenta sparks flying around her body.

"Rainbow! Are you OK?!" the purple friend screamed and rushed to her aid.

The pegasus coughed and opened her eyes. The world seemed to move so fast. "I'mfineTwilightseeItoldyounothingwasgonnahappenwelllgottagowishmeluckgettingfasterWOOOOO!" she said, in the space of roughly three seconds and zoomed into the air.

Twilight blinked and watched the smoke trail laden with her magic shoot off into the sky. "Uh... oh..." she murmured as she watched the distant speck of her friend perform hundreds of tricks in a few seconds. "Well, she is faster," she said, thoroughly impressed with her own spell. "I guess it worked."

"WAAAAAAHHHHHHOOOOOO!" Dash cried as she zoomed past, promptly knocking her friend over with the force of the wind.

The unicorn yelped as she tumbled over, and received a face full of mud, once more, from her fillyfriend. "Ugh... Rainbow..." she jokingly growled.

The pegasus curved around in mid-air and waved to her fillyfriend. "HeyTwilightwatchthis!" she said.

Twilight got up and nodded. "Oh, I'm watching Rainbow Dash. Just try not to... to..." she watched in open mouthed horror as Rainbow shot up further into the sky and began to descend. Rapidly. "Oh no, no, no, Rainbow! If you do that you won't be able to stop!" she yelled up.

The comet of Rainbow Dash didn't hear her as she sped towards the ground. With this much speed, I'll be able to make a sonic rainboom easily! she excitedly thought as she felt the G-Force wrench her lips apart. Tears streamed from her eyes as the wind forced itself into her and she felt the sound barrier beneath her. C'mon... c'mooon... She closed her eyes and faced away from the rising ground.

Then she felt something wrong. She straightened her wings, trying to pull out. Her heart pounded with the intensity and the sudden rush of air. Oh no. Twilight was right. No, no, no, no, no. "TWI-I-I-ILIGHT! I C-CAN'T STOP!" she screamed, still with her eyes shut.

She heard the unicorn below scream in response as she opened one eye and stared into the face of her fillyfriend, and the sudden green of the grass,  and then...

*CRACK*

Twilight froze up in horror as she heard the sound and her friend skidded to a halt, some ten feet away from where she'd made contact with the earth. "R-Rainbow?" she croaked. Her throat was coarse and dry as she stumbled forwards. "Rainb-bow D-Dash?"

Silence. Save for the birds in the trees and the cold wind that tore through her mane.

"Rainbow!" she screamed and charged forwards towards the broken body of her pegasus. "Oh Rainbow! I told you it wasn't safe!"

She heard voices behind her. She turned and saw a small crowd had gathered, coming to watch the legendary sonic rainboom performer as she showed off. A few of them ran over, offering assistance and words of comfort.

"Get help! Somepony! Anypony! get help! Call an ambulance!" she yelled at them as she huddled over the body of her friend. "Rainbow Dash... don't you leave me... don't you dare..." she whispered and cradled her head in sobbing hooves.

Blood trickled out around them, forming a small pool on the damp grass.

The clouds overhead rumbled with annoyance and splashed out a single drop of rain onto her nose.

Twilight hunched over her friend and heard faint sirens approaching. "Rainbow..." she whispered and brushed the rainbow mane back. "Please be OK."

~~~

Applejack petted her friend on the back with a worried frown. The scene didn't look pretty. They hoisted Rainbow Dash's body onto the stretcher.

Twilight shivered. "It's my fault..." she murmured.

"Shhh," the cow-pony murmured and brought her into a hug. "Ya'll didn't know this would happen, Twilight. Neither of you did. And with Dash bein' so headstrong, ah'm sure she'll be fine. She always is." She glanced up at their other friends with sad eyes.

Rarity nodded and hugged the crying form of Fluttershy. "Yes. I'm sure she'll be fine, Twilight. Applejack is right; Rainbow Dash always pulls through when she crashes. You mustn't beat yourself up over this, dear."

"But I knew it would happen. I knew and didn't do anything. If she's dead, it's because of me. BECAUSE OF ME!" she screamed, making them all jump. She hung her head and leant against Applejack as she wept.

Pinkie frowned and raised her chin. "Hey now, don't say things like that, Twilight. Dashie will be alright. Look: Here comes the doctor to tell you she'll be alright." She pointed over to a dark orange stallion trotting over to them with a pained expression.

"I'm... afraid you aren't going to like the news," he said, avoiding their eyes.

Twilight wailed and buried herself in Applejack's shoulder. Fluttershy wailed just as loudly and threw her hooves around her pink, comforting friend.

They all gaped.

"You mean.. she's..." Rarity whispered with fear ridden eyes.

The doctor glanced up. "Oh no, she's just really badly hurt. Really badly hurt. There's a high chance she may not live. Now the bad news-"

"That was the good news?!" AJ yelled in his face. Rarity and Pinkie paled as they tried to hold Applejack back. "What in tarnation is the bad news then?!" she roared as she sat back down and nuzzled her crying friend gently, glaring at the doctor.

The doctor cleared his throat. "I'm afraid that there's a very high chance of your friend never flying again."

They all gaped with horrified expressions.

Twilight looked up with red, puffy eyes. "You mean... she's grounded... for life?" she whispered.

"She could be. Her wings are severely broken in several places. It could take months of medication and therapy for her to fully heal. It could even take years. I'm sorry." He turned away with sad eyes and kicked the ground. "I take it she meant a lot to you?"

They all nodded solemnly.

"Twilight and her... they were close," Applejack explained.

He nodded. "Then I'm sorry there's nothing more we can do." He trotted away and began to talk amongst his peers, all of them shaking their heads sadly.

"...Poor girl..."

"Someponies can't handle their own speed sometimes. It's awful when this happens..."

"I'm more worried about her than the patient. She looks like Tartarus."

"Indeed...."

Twilight blocked them out as she slowly got up and pulled away from her friends. She staggered forwards on shaking legs. Rarity caught her just before she hit the ground. "Applejack, help me."

The orange mare nodded and held her friend up too, draping a hoof around her neck, so the unicorn in question was walking on two legs, with each front hoof draped around her assistant's necks.

They hobbled over towards the ambulance, where they saw their broken friend.

"I'm... fine... girls..." Twilight whispered.

They sighed and released heir holds of her.

She sunk to the ground and held a hoof over her friend's body. She hesitated and retracted it. "I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash..." she whispered.

Applejack winced and glanced at Rarity. The ivory mare winced back and turned away. "We'd better give her some privacy, Applejack. It's for the best," she said quietly.

AJ reluctantly agreed and also turned away, giving Twilight one last reassuring pat on the back.

Twilight sniffled and stared at the closed eyes of her fillyfriend. "I'm so... so sorry... I... I..." She broke down in tears again as she turned away and pawed at the moist ground beneath her hooves.

I did this. This is my fault.

I'm a monster... I hurt my friend - my fillyfriend!

I'm a monster... a monster who deserves no friends...

Who deserves no more magic...

She looked up and wiped some tears away. "My magic did this," she mumbled. "My magic hurt one of my best friends, and the only pony I will ever love... I don't... want... magic anymore..."

She let a hoof hover above her friend's body for a few moments, before limply dropping to one side as she stood up and slumped away.

Her friends watched her go and quietly and slowly followed her, all fearing for her life. Who knew what she might do right now?

"We've got ta convince her that it wasn't her fault," Applejack whispered.

"But it wasn't, AJ," Pinkie said as she hobbled along, with one hoof around Fluttershy. "If it was anypony's fault, it was Dashie's."

They froze as Twilight disapparated and reapparated in front of the pink mare.

"How dare you say that!" she growled, clearly on the verge of a severe mental breakdown. Her eyes spoke wonders to them. Red and bloodshot, and blazing with fury and disgust, partly at herself, and partly at the mare who suggesed it was anypony's fault besides her own.

Pinkie winced. "I didn't mean it like that, Twilight. But she does go a bit fast-"

"Pinkie, just... stop talkin'," Applejack snapped and placed a hoof on her purple friend's shoulder. "Listen, Twi, she didn't mean it, nopony's ta blame-"

"Get off me!" Twilight suddenly shouted and backed away, eyes completely changing to those of a scared kitten: Big and wide and swimming with tears. "Get away! I might hurt one of you next!"

Uh oh, thought Applejack. This isn't good. "Twilight, you can't blame yerself. It was nopony's fault, Dash was jus' goin' a bit fast, is all. Come on now, let's all go and get something ta eat. We can talk about this later, if ya'll want-"

"Get away!" Twilight blurted out, making them all flinch and hop backwards one step. "No... no... I'lll leave... I'll - I'll run away, where I can't hurt anypony..." she mumbled, more to herself than her friends, who, upon hearing her words, started forwards with worried faces.

"Oh no, you are not running away on us, Twilight!" Rarity scolded and grabbed her hoof. "Come o- OOF!" she cried as she was flung backwards.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie gaped while Fluttershy froze up and stared ahead with unblinking eyes.

Twilight gazed after Rarity, then snapped herself back to reality with a horrified expression. "Oh... oh no... what... what have I done?"