Guilt

by Fatdog12300

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Derpy Hooves, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rainbow Dash
Length: 6029

Rainbow Dash fails to help her friend Ditzy and is plagued by guilt.

After a traumatic accident caused major damage to Rainbow Dash's friend Ditzy, Rainbow suffers from extreme guilt, feeling that she could have prevented it. As the stress mounts, the guilt causes Rainbow Dash's life to fall apart around her.

Published 2012-11-14 13:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-14 13:00:01 UTC

Chapter 1

“Come on Dashie, we’ll be late!” The young gray mare practically bounced as she approached the stadium. All around stretched an endless sea of clouds. The large building that the two ponies were approaching was the only sign of civilization. As Rainbow Dash gazed up its massive side, she felt an odd feeling of loneliness, even though her friend Ditzy was with her. Trying to rid herself of the feeling, she turned her attention to her friend.

Ditzy had been an avid Wonderbolts fan all her life. She would talk constantly about how she planned to one day become a good enough flier to join them, and inevitably this would lead to her trying to convince Rainbow Dash to see one of their shows. Today, she had finally achieved that goal, and that was where the two were headed. Ditzy’s face was brimming with excitement as they approached the large doors that led to where the performance would soon begin.

Stepping through the doors, Rainbow Dash glanced around the stadium. There was a large open area in the middle filled with intricate sets of obstacles. Clouds stretched endlessly on either side as seating for eager spectators. Ditzy had brought them to the stadium early to get a good seat, so there were no other ponies there; again, Rainbow felt an odd loneliness, as though she were the only one who would be there with Ditzy.

“You’ll love this Dashie. They’re amazing. They’re fast, they’re fearless, they have the best tricks. I think after this you’ll probably feel just like I do about them.” Ditzy was talking quickly and constantly, not hiding her excitement at all. She didn’t break her stream of words until Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“This had better be worth it Ditzy” The cyan pony’s voice carried a hint of disinterest, but she trusted her friend. The only reason she hadn’t agreed to view a show before was because she had been busy whenever Ditzy asked, but she always felt guilty when she saw her friend’s disappointed look. “I could be napping right now.”

“Oh, trust me, it will be. You’ll remember this day for the rest of your life.”

Rainbow Dash awoke in a cold sweat. The room around her was dark, and looking out the window she could see that it was still late at night. She’d had the same dream for several nights, and it was keeping her from sleeping. The dreams also made her think of that day, which she never liked to do.

Seeing an opportunity, she decided she would check on Ditzy. After the accident, Ditzy needed to be watched constantly, lest she hurt herself, so Rainbow had decided that they would live together. She thought that maybe helping Ditzy would clear her conscience, but it had only served to make things worse.

Rainbow walked slowly through the halls of her house. Her dream weighed heavily on her mind. She knew that there was nothing that she could have done, but that didn’t keep her from feeling guilty. As she reached Ditzy’s door, she took a deep breath and quietly stepped inside.

Walking over to Ditzy’s bed, Rainbow looked her over carefully. Her friend appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Rainbow placed a hoof softly on her shoulder; at the same time, a tear escaped her eye and landed on the bed.

“Is that you Rainbow Dash?” The sudden stirring made Rainbow jump backwards. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah Ditzy, everything’s fine. I’m just checking on you.” Rainbow quickly wiped her eyes before Ditzy’s eyes could adjust to the darkness.

“Hey Rainbow Dash, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, anything. What’s bothering you?”

“Why do you still call me Ditzy all the time? Everyone else calls me Derpy.”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just not used to it. If you want me to, though, I’ll try. Now try and get some sleep, you have to get up early in the morning.” Rainbow turned and walked quickly out, trying to hide the tears welling up in her eyes.

Falling onto her bed, Rainbow softly cried into her pillow until she fell asleep again.

Rainbow Dash was mesmerized. Streaks of color flew in every direction, followed by trails of clouds. The Wonderbolts were flying in every direction, expertly weaving around obstacles and past each other. All around her towered rows of clouds, each seating hundreds of ponies. Rainbow Dash could feel each pony’s presence, as if everypony were silently condemning her. Rainbow wanted to leave the stadium, but she knew she had to stay there for Ditzy.

Cheers rang out all throughout the packed stadium, the loudest of which seemed to come from Ditzy. Rainbow had never noticed just how excited her friend would get over the Wonderbolts. She knew of Ditzy’s dream to one day join them, but she had always assumed it was just a phase. Now, seeing her friend on the edge of her seat, nearly leaping up every time a particularly elaborate or dangerous stunt was performed, Rainbow could tell that her dream would last forever.

With all of the excitement in front of her, as well as the other thoughts plaguing her mind, Rainbow hardly paid attention to her friend at her side. At one point, she glanced quickly to her side, and barely saw as the tragedy unfolded.

The first thing Rainbow noticed was that Ditzy was no longer where she should be. She had leapt from her seat, apparently cheering, and Rainbow Dash had looked over just in time to see her friend’s head collide with a solid support holding the clouds above them. Rainbow Dash leapt out to catch Ditzy, but was too slow, and Ditzy disappeared below the clouds.

Rainbow leapt from the cloud and flew down after Ditzy. As she broke the cloud cover, she saw the vast expanse of the ground before her, with Ditzy already merely a speck to her. Rainbow pushed herself harder, but she was inexperienced, and the gap between the two was slow to close. As Rainbow picked up speed, the world around her began to dissolve, and her vision tunneled. Soon, all she could see was Ditzy in a vast expanse of darkness, falling away from her. Rainbow forced herself to fly faster, despite rebellion from her body. She knew she could fly faster. She had done so before, when she got her cutie mark. She flew faster than anyone ever has, and that was only a race; surely she could do it to save her friend.

Rainbow pushed herself harder than ever before, but she was being held back. Invisible hands hidden by the darkness grabbed her from everywhere. As she struggled, desperate to break their grip, she saw Ditzy fall away, darkness quickly swallowing her friend.

When Rainbow Dash woke up again her bedroom was flooded with light. Her blanket had been flung onto the floor, and her bed had been ravaged during the night. She stood up and walked over to the window; outside were hordes of bustling pegasi going to work in the early morning sun. Rainbow paid them no attention, distracted by the dream she had just awoken from. As she made her bed, the events of that day slowly replayed in her head. The noise of ponies whispering all around her as she stood over Ditzy’s body plagued her even to this day. Not a moment would go by that she wouldn’t feel guilty; if she had just flown faster, or reacted sooner, maybe things would have been different. Yet even with the constant guilt, never before had a dream gone on for that long. Rainbow Dash was finding it difficult to overcome it. Her mind was replaying the moments after the dream.

It wasn’t long after Rainbow lost sight of Ditzy that she reached the ground. She was able to quickly find where her friend had landed. There had been a large pool of blood around Ditzy, and moving closer, Rainbow could see everything that had happened to her. Time had since made the image much more sickening; her limbs were twisted and broken, and she was clearly unconscious, perhaps even dead. Looking close, Rainbow noticed that the fall had even dislodged one of Ditzy’s eyes.

The doctors had told Rainbow Dash that Ditzy may never wake from the coma she had fallen into, and if she did she would likely have suffered mental trauma and have severe memory loss. When she finally did wake up, Rainbow’s nightmares came true, and she had blamed herself ever since. She had vowed to do whatever she could to make up for her mistake. She took care of Ditzy, made sure she didn’t hurt herself, and even took up Ditzy’s no longer existent dream of joining the Wonderbolts. Yet none of this could ease her suffering; Rainbow had taken Ditzy’s life from her, and nothing she ever did would amount to as much.

As Rainbow was about to leave her room she realized she had been crying. She wiped her eyes quickly and walked out, going into the kitchen. When she got there she was surprised to see that Ditzy was already awake. Rainbow tried to keep her voice clear as she spoke. “Good morning Ditzy. How did you sleep?”

“Good morning Rainbow Dash! I slept well. Hey Rainbow Dash, I was wondering if we could go out together somewhere today? Can we please?” Ditzy was clearly excited about the idea of a day out. She was grinning widely and hovering slightly off the ground.

Rainbow’s heart was broken. Seeing her old friend like this, she hated that she had to work today. She loved seeing Ditzy this happy, but it seemed that all she ever responded with was disappointment. “I’m sorry Ditzy.” She tried to sound as reassuring as possible as she broke the news. “I have to work today, so I can’t, but some other day we will.”

“Come on Rainbow Dash! Can’t you please do something? You work all the time.”

“No Ditzy. I need to work, otherwise I’ll be fired.”

“You always do this! Whenever I ask you for something you say you have to work! Don’t you care about me anymore? Or do you like to see me feel bad?” Ditzy was furious, flying into Rainbow Dash’s face with tears in her eyes.

“Of course I care about you Ditzy. You’re the most important thing in my life, and I’d never want to see you get hurt. I promise, we’ll go do something on my next day off.”

“It’s Derpy. My name is Derpy.” With this Ditzy turned and began to head back to her room, still visibly upset.

“Of... of course. Whatever you want... Derpy” Rainbow Dash could feel herself crying, and she felt like she might throw up. She knew that everything Ditzy had said was true. She worked constantly, trying to make enough money to support both Ditzy and herself, so she never had time to spend with her friend. She told herself she still cared about Ditzy, but did she really? If she cared, would she have let her stay alone so much? Would she have let her hit the ground?

Washing her face, Rainbow pushed these thoughts from her mind. Of course she cared, she did everything she could for her friend. The problem is that sometimes her best isn’t good enough.

These thoughts persisted all day as Rainbow worked, and when she came home it was late. Ditzy was already asleep in her bedroom, so Rainbow went to her own room to try to fall asleep herself. As she lay in her bed, her mind filled with thoughts of the fear and guilt she had felt while Ditzy was hospitalized. She was worried that her friend wouldn’t make it, and she knew she would never be able to forgive herself if that happened. These memories persisted as her eyelids closed and she drifted off to sleep.

Rainbow Dash looked around her. She was in the hospital, and Ditzy was lying in the bed, tubes and wires attached to her entire body. The rest of the beds were empty, and seemed to stretch on endlessly in both directions. Doctor Somnus, a stallion Rainbow knew all too well, was standing before her. He was a dark colored pony with a sleek red mane, and he was talking to her about Ditzy.

“How did she even fall out of the stadium?” Doctor Somnus was affixing Rainbow with a cold stare.

“I... I don’t know. I wasn’t looking at her.” Rainbow Dash’s voice was rife with worry, and Somnus was making her feel even worse.

“Why not? Isn’t she your friend? Were you ignoring her?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Oh really? Because if you had been paying more attention, you could have reacted faster. You could have caught her. You could have even prevented the entire thing.”

“I reacted as fast as I could. I don’t know what happened. I... I tried to catch her! I flew as fast as I could!”

“I don’t believe that at all. I’m sure you could have pushed yourself harder. Obviously you just didn’t want to exert yourself.”

Rainbow Dash could feel herself growing smaller with every word from the doctor, and she knew it was all true. Eventually she had to look straight up just to see him; she was sure he couldn’t hear her as she spoke. “I... I do care for her though. I do.”

“No you don’t Rainbow Dash! You didn’t try at all to save Derpy. You took her life away from her. You might as well have just pushed her off that ledge yourself.” With this, Doctor Somnus raised his hoof and lowered it onto Rainbow Dash, smothering her in darkness.

Rainbow hit the floor with a painful thud. She had been thrashing about in her sleep and fell off her bed. She now lay on the ground in a daze, trying to collect her thoughts. Her ears were ringing, and her leg was twisted around the wrong way. Her entire body hurt, but the dream that had woken her up was distracting her from the pain. Lying on the ground, not attempting to move at all, she replayed the harrowing experience countless times. Each time it became more vivid, more tangible and more painful, until it was more of a memory than a dream.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash pulled herself together and started to collect herself off the floor. As she did so, she realized her leg was much worse than she had realized; she couldn’t put any weight on it without doubling over in pain. Looking around, she saw that her room was a mess from the night before. She had bucked her blanket clear across the room and hit a lamp with it; the light fixture now lay shattered on the floor. The blanket was draped over the table the lamp had been on, and the table was leaning against the wall. On the floor where Rainbow had landed she could see a small amount of blood and a shard from the lamp; looking down, she saw a large gash on her leg. Distressed about the state of her room, Rainbow started to clean, but the pain in her leg quickly forced her to stop. Instead, she left her room as it was and flew slowly towards the front door of her house.

As Rainbow Dash drifted lazily towards the doctor’s office, she began letting her mind wander. Her thoughts passed several subjects, but eventually lingered on how little sleep she had been getting. The nightmares would often wake her up far too early, and she was never able to get back to sleep easily. She needed a good night’s sleep badly.

Suddenly, Rainbow felt extremely dizzy. Looking down, the swirling landmass below her was far lower than she anticipated. She needed to do something to clear her head of the dizziness, and fast. Maybe if she closed her eyes, just for a second...

Rainbow shielded her eyes against the sea of white around her. Letting her eyes adjust as she examined her surroundings, she noticed that she was outside the stadium where the wonderbolts were about to put one of the largest shows they’d ever done. Looking to her side, Rainbow saw that she was accompanied by a much younger version of herself. Confused, she reached towards the doppelganger, only to recoil in shock when a gray hoof extended in front of her.

“Come on Derpy, let’s go. I don’t want this to take all day.” The duplicate barely gave Rainbow a glance as she sped by, flying faster than Rainbow had ever seen someone fly, and entered the stadium, letting the large door slam shut behind her.

As Rainbow entered the stadium, her younger self was waiting for her and hit her hard on the shoulder. “Come on, Derpy, why are you so slow? I wanna get out of here.” She flew up to a seat, and Rainbow followed slowly and sat near the edge.

“Let’s go, let’s go! My grandma is faster than these bozos! I’m getting bored of sitting here.”

“Come on Dashie. It won’t take long, and you’ll probably like them.” Rainbow was pleading with her twin, trying to quell her rage.

Just then, the Wonderbolts flew out and began their show. It was an amazing spectacle, with the pegasi blurring past in every direction. Rainbow was at the edge of her seat, enthralled by the show. All around her the crowd cheered, louder than anything Rainbow had ever heard. Yet still she could hear talking from behind her.

“Yawn. This is boring. I need to do something. Oh! I know, what if there was another pegasus flying through the air?” Rainbow looked back just in time to see that she was about to be tackled. She was hit hard and flew off the seat in the grip of her assailant.

Rainbow flailed, trying to free herself, but it was no use. She was pinned, and the younger Rainbow was much stronger than she was. To either side of her were more young Rainbow Dashes, beating her mercilessly. Rainbow could feel her life slipping away from her. Just as the group was about to hit the ground, the other Rainbows flew off, flinging her to her doom.

When Rainbow woke she could barely see. Her eyes were cloudy, and she couldn’t move. Trying to determine where she was, she looked around. There were blurry shapes moving about all around her. She could tell they were talking, but their voices were muffled, and her ears were ringing. As Rainbow Dash struggled against her constraints, someone walked up to her and laid a gentle hoof on her forehead. The mysterious pony then wiped her eyes, and Rainbow could see that it was a young nurse. The nurse had a clean white coat with a long, golden mane, and was wearing the standard uniform for nurses.

“So you’re finally awake.” The nurse’s voice was firm yet soothing. “You shouldn’t struggle against the restraints. We had to put you in them, you were thrashing around so much in your sleep you kept pulling out the equipment.”

“Where... What’s goin on? Let me go! I need to get to the hospital!”

“Calm down. That’s where you are. Your friend Derpy found you passed out on the ground and brought you in. You’re very lucky to have such a good friend, if she wasn’t there you could have been permanently injured.” The nurse expertly removed Rainbow’s binds as she talked. “Now you be careful not to move around too much. The doctor will be in soon to explain your injuries.”

With that, the nurse left Rainbow Dash alone with her thoughts. The recent events were a blur in her mind. She could remember leaving her house in search of medical help, but after that she knew only snippets. What she could remember was intertwined with the dream she had just experienced. As far as she could tell, it hadn’t been her that just fell from the sky, but Derpy.

“Oh Rainbow Dash! I hear you’re awake.” The smooth male voice that interrupted Rainbow’s thoughts seemed oddly oppressive. Rainbow thought she had heard it before, but couldn’t remember a time or place.

Rainbow Dash recoiled in shock as the pony that owned the voice came into view. Before her stood a slender black coated pony with a bright red mane; a pony who had plagued Rainbow’s dreams for years. He didn’t seem to have aged at all since she had rushed Derpy into the hospital. Seeing him again, after so much time, was nearly enough to bring Rainbow to tears. As he approached, she backed up as far as she could without tearing out all the medical equipment attached to her.

“So, sleepyhead, how are you feeling? You took quite a nasty fall. Almost as bad as the incident all those years ago.”

“I don’t feel good. What happened?” Rainbow’s voice was trembling noticeably.

“Well, as far as I can tell you passed out from blood loss midflight. What were you doing flying so high with such a bad injury on your leg? Weren’t you thinking?”

“I was thinking, I just lost track of how high I was. How bad was the fall? Can I leave? I don’t want to be here longer than I have to be.”

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but it might be a while. You broke your leg, a wing and several ribs. I can’t let you be up and about. Although, considering the height of the fall, I say you’re very lucky. We’ve all seen what a fall like that can do to somepony.”

“I’m stuck here? But... I can’t be stuck here! Can’t you please let me go?”

“No, Rainbow Dash. I apologize, but it looks like you and I are going to be seeing a lot of each other. Now, I have to go tend to other patients, but your friends are likely to visit soon.”

As Doctor Somnus left, Rainbow slumped down onto the bed. Unsure of what to do next, she began dejectedly pawing at the sheets and waiting for somepony else to arrive.

As Rainbow sat in her bed, she began to notice odd things happening about her. Strange figures lurked in the shadows, the size of the room seemed to change when she wasn’t looking, and there were faint murmurs all the time outside her door. At one point she clearly heard somepony come into her room, but when she looked she was alone. She tried to press the call button to ask the nurse what it was, but the button didn’t seem to work.

After pressing the button what seemed like a hundred times, Rainbow finally heard the door open. She sighed in relief and looked over, but her breath caught when she saw the door wide open with nopony there. She glanced quickly around her, but there was no trace of the nurse. “A-anypony there?” Her voice shook as she asked the question.

The only response was the faint whisper of the wind.

Slowly, she rose out of her bed, careful not to put any weight on her injured leg. She walked over to the open door and looked out, but saw nopony. The hallway stretched on endlessly in both directions, and shadows danced along the walls. Rainbow walked in one direction, desperate to find somepony else. As she walked, the hallway darkened slightly around her and took on a reddish tint. After about ten minutes, she glanced behind her and saw a shadow quickly duck out of view. She increased her pace, but the oppressive darkness behind her quickened in kind. She broke out into a sprint, but quickly put too much pressure on her injured leg and collapsed in pain.

“Rainbow Dash!?” The voice seemed to come from nowhere.

“Who’s there? What do you want?”

“Wake up Rainbow Dash, please!”

Suddenly, there was a blinding light that forced Rainbow to close her eyes tightly. When she opened them, she was on the floor in her hospital room, the medical equipment scattered on the floor around her and Fluttershy standing in front of her. A nurse was busying herself picking up the medical supplies that had fallen over.

“F-Fluttershy? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, thank goodness you’re ok. Here, let me help you back into bed.” Fluttershy flew quickly over and picked Rainbow up, placing her gingerly back in her bed. “Are you hurt at all? You looked awful when I came in.”

“Well, besides the broken bones, I think I’m fine. Why are you here in the first place?”

“I rushed over as soon as I heard you were here. What were you doing, flying around with such a bad injury? You’re lucky you didn’t get hurt worse.”

“Don’t worry about me so much. I’m fine.”

“Clearly you aren’t fine. The nurse told me you thrash around in your sleep, and you recoil every time someone comes close to you. I can tell something’s wrong.”

“I just haven’t been sleeping well. There’s a lot on my mind. I’d rather not talk about it.” Rainbow didn’t want to drive her friend away, but she couldn’t bear to explain the guilt that had plagued her for so long.

Fluttershy wouldn’t leave it be. She flew over and laid a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “I’m worried about you Rainbow Dash. I barely see you anymore, and when I do you seem distant. And now this? What’s going on?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it Fluttershy. I don’t get what you even think is odd about my behavior. I’m the same as I’ve always been.” Rainbow could see that Fluttershy didn’t believe her. She knew that if she didn’t stop it, Fluttershy wouldn’t take long to get pushy. Panicking, she smacked Fluttershy’s hoof away from her. “Why don’t you just get out of here? You’re not helping me get better by prodding me about stupid things.”

Fluttershy flew back in shock, then ran out, tears streaming from her eyes. Rainbow wanted to call out to her, but couldn’t bring herself to. She knew it would only lead to more problems. Instead she got as comfortable as she could and examined the room.

The nurse had finished cleaning up the medical supplies and left some time earlier. There was nothing else of note in her room, and once more she was alone with her thoughts.

Rainbow hadn’t expected Fluttershy to react so harshly to her problems. It wasn’t true that she had been a shutin recently. She went out all the time. Fluttershy must have just not noticed her and overreacted. If Fluttershy couldn’t handle Rainbow’s trouble sleeping, what would her other friends think? It was almost certainly nothing good. She had to keep them from finding out, lest she lose their friendship forever.

Suddenly she heard a scream from somewhere else in the hospital. She looked around, but she couldn’t tell what was happening from her room. Unable to get up due to the medical equipment, she pressed the call button, hoping it would work. Before long, Doctor Somnus walked into her room.

“Is something the matter Rainbow Dash? You look flustered.” Somnus was cool and calm, completely oblivious to whatever was happening.

“What do you mean is something the matter? Didn’t you hear that scream? What was that?”

“Scream? I didn’t hear a scream. I assure you Rainbow Dash, if somepony had screamed we would have taken swift action.”

“I know I heard a scream. There was no way you could have not heard it! It was the loudest scream I’ve ever heard!”

“You’re probably just tired Rainbow. Maybe you should rest. I’ll have a nurse check on you periodically to see if you’re asleep. After earlier, we can’t trust you to sleep restfully, so we’ll have to strap you down after you fall asleep to keep you from doing any more damage to yourself.”

“What? I don’t want you to tie me down, especially after hearing that scream! How am I supposed to trust you if you say you didn’t hear it?”

“Rainbow Dash, you’re just being paranoid. Get a good night’s sleep and recover a bit and your mind will clear right up.” With this, the doctor left the room.

It was obvious that something was happening, and Rainbow aimed to find out what. But first she needed to get more information out of Doctor Somnus. He was the one who was in the middle of everything, and if she wanted information, he was the pony who could give it to her. To get to him, she’d need to learn more about him, and she could do that by going through the nurses. All she had to do was wait until the nurse came to check on her, and she could question her to get all the information she needed.

She heard more faint screams as she waited, but she knew calling the doctor wouldn’t bring any help. Instead she waited, and before long her patience paid off when the nurse came in. She was carrying a set of straps across her back.

“Hello dear. I was under the impression you would be asleep. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to need to strap you down for when you do fall asleep.”

“Wait, can I ask you some things first?” Rainbow could stop the straps later, but she needed answers, and she needed them now.

“What’s the matter?”

“Did you hear a scream earlier? I know I heard it, but the doctor insisted I was just tired.”

“That’s odd. Well, I’m sure if he said it was in your head it probably was. Now, you really need to sleep. Let me strap you down. It’s for your own safety.”

“Wait, can you please not strap me down? I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“No Rainbow Dash. We tried keeping you unsecured, and you nearly hurt yourself even worse. If I have to, I’ll strap you down by force.” The nurse advanced on Rainbow, holding the strap menacingly.

“Stop! You can’t do this!” Rainbow tried to flee, but the medical equipment attached to her kept her from moving. She tried to scream for help, but no noise came out. A pitch black magic emanated from the nurse’s horn and enveloped Rainbow, preventing her from moving at all. Panicking, Rainbow pushed with all her strength and violently burst from the magic. In her bout of strength, Rainbow flew off her bed and knocked over a tray containing needles and scalpels. The instruments flew off with surprising force and embedded themselves within the nurse, who fell over onto the ground, the light fading from her eyes.

Rainbow paid the fallen nurse little attention, realizing that she needed to get out of the hospital. She jumped down from her bed and ran, the pain in her leg intense but not stopping her. As she ran down the hallway, the walls around her took on a blood red tint and filled with large gashes. The hallway stretched on endlessly, with few doors on either side, until eventually she saw a large door open in front of her.

When Rainbow reached the door her heart sank; Doctor Somnus loomed in front of her, blocking her path. Rainbow lowered her head, planning to knock him over, but he in turn raised his hoof and brought it hard across her face when she reached him. The impact knocked Rainbow onto her side, and she looked up at the approaching tyrant. He reached her slowly, and raised his hoof up, lowering it forcefully onto her broken wing and crushing it. Rainbow cried out in pain as Somnus took out a needle and injected her with an unknown liquid.

“There. Now you should be able to sleep more easily. I’ll get a nurse to return you to your bed.” As Rainbow’s eyes closed, the doctor’s face broke into a wide, maniacal grin.

The light was blinding as Rainbow opened her eyes. Before her stood Doctor Somnus and two nurses, and Rainbow was strapped tightly to her bed. Her vision was blurred, and she was unsure where she was, but she knew she had to get out.

“Let me go!” Rainbow screamed as she struggled against the binds that held her, adrenaline blotting out the pain from her injuries. “You can’t do this to me!”

“Rainbow Dash, calm down. You’re in good hands here. Plus, you don’t want to be seen so upset in front of your friend, do you?” Somnus’ voice echoed in Rainbow’s head as she saw Fluttershy walk slowly in.

“Rainbow Dash, what’s gotten into you?” Fluttershy’s voice was calm and caring. “Can’t you see they’re trying to help you?”

“No! It’s all fake! Can’t you see it Fluttershy?” Rainbow was desperate to get her friend’s help. “Please, get me out of here!”

“You know she can’t do that Rainbow Dash.” Somnus interrupted coldly and carelessly. “You’re here until you’re better, whether you want to be or not.”

“You’ll never let me leave unless I get out myself!” With this, Rainbow pushed with all her strength, breaking the straps and leaping from the bed. She quickly flew out the window, away from the mad doctor.

“Oh no! You have to do something!” Fluttershy sounded desperate.

“Let her go. She’ll be back before too long.”

The words rang in Rainbow’s head. She knew they were true, she could never escape. In a last ditch effort, Rainbow flew straight up as fast as she could. She quickly gained altitude, and the low oxygen combined with her own fatigue made her dizzy. Her vision tunneled, but she pressed on. She knew she had to do this. The only way she would get out of that hospital was if she couldn’t go back. As her vision faded, Rainbow thought of her life, and her friends. She thought of all she had done, and hoped she could be forgiven for the turmoil she had caused everyone around her. She especially wished for Der... Ditzy’s well being. With this final thought, miles above the ground, she passed out.

Rainbow Dash felt extremely stiff as she woke up. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was in a pristine, white hospital room. To her side was Doctor Somnus, yet his normally red mane had streaks of gray, and his eyes looked weary and gentle.

“Doctor... Somnus? Where am I?” Rainbow’s voice was hoarse, and she had trouble speaking.

“Quiet now Rainbow, it’ll be hard for you to speak or move. You’re probably very confused so let me explain. You were suffering from extreme hallucinations, and eventually you had an especially terrible episode and nearly got yourself killed. You slipped into a coma, and through advances in medical sciences, we’ve been able to lead you and many like you to a full-” Somnus was cut off by a sharp, happy voice at the end of the room.

“Dashie! You’re awake!” Ditzy’s voice was crisp, yet sounded significantly older than the last time it had been so clear. The gray mare flew quickly over to Rainbow and hugged her tightly. She had bags under her eyes, and was clearly exhausted.

Doctor Somnus cleared his throat. “As I was saying, you and many others, like Ditzy here, have led a full recovery. Everything should be back to normal now, and you’re free to leave as soon as you feel able. Ditzy can escort you out. She’s watched over you every day since you came in.”

Rainbow slowly got up, and promptly fell over onto Ditzy, still unable to support her own weight. “Sorry. You’ll have to help me walk out.” With the help of her old friend, Rainbow left the hospital to head back home. As she walked out the door, she thought back on everything she had been through. In the back of her head, she could still hear Doctor Somnus casually speaking as she flew out the window.

“Let her go. She’ll be back before too long.”