Blue

Rainbow Dash jolted awake. She did not open her eyes, however; the numbing pain she felt warned her that she was seriously injured this time. Forget about the aching hooves, the stinging chest, the pain in her wings would have been enough by itself. Surrounded by a stern cast, it immediately brought out the urge in Rainbow to scratch it, but she knew all too well that it is not possible. This was not her first time in a hospital, but it could race for the 'worst awakening' part already. She tried to remember the circumstances to her crashing—laying in a hospital bed automatically brings the premise of crashing believable—but was distracted by a small trickle of sweat slowly rolling down her muzzle. She raised a hoof to wipe it—that is, if she could. Something hard stopped her movement halfway. She opened her eyes, and stared at her hoof in disbelief. She was clad in chains. Like a criminal. Panic swept through her mind.

"Nonononono! This can't be real! This can't be happening!"

She realised that she yelled out loud, when an orange shadow, one she didn't notice so far, has moved from the corner of the room. The pegasus immediately recognised Applejack, and let out a sigh of relief as she drew closer.

"Boy, am I glad to see you! I was worried for a second—"

She could not continue, because she felt a sharp pain, as Applejack simply kicked her in the face. Fear grasped her, panic really kicked in, and she could only try to squirm her way out of the farmer's hooves, to no avail. The chains served their purpose perfectly, helding her tight. As if the continous beating wasn't enough, AJ let out a primal roar, one that chilled Rainbow to the bone, more than the confusion she felt for having her best friend hit her. It was a scream of rage and pain, over the borders of communication; it only served to relieve some of the orange pony's stress. Fortunately for Rainbow, the noise caused two guards to enter, and try to remove AJ from the room. For a fleeting moment, it seemed to Rainbow that she would shake them down like fleas, but in the end she lost the upper hand. Before she was completely overwhelmed, she leaned in as close as she could to the cyan pegasus, and simply bit her hoof. Rainbow let out a sharp cry of fear and pain; able to withhold her feelings of utter confusion back. The guards removed AJ, but a familiar figure entered the room. She nodded to the guardsponies, and they took the now quietly sobbing farmer with them. The newcomer, a lavender unicorn, turned to Rainbow, silently eyeing her.

"Twilight!" the blue mare cried, "What the hay is happening here?"

Twilight didn't reply. She lit up her horn, and levitated a newspaper from Celestia knows where, and held it in front of Rainbow. Her mind refused to produce sane thoughts as she saw the headlines.

MASS MURDER BY A CYAN CATASTROPHE!

"WHAT?!" Rainbow could not believe her eyes. She started reading the paragraph.

Yesterday, a sad tragedy unfolded in the peaceful town of Ponyville. During a charity show by our beloved Wonderbolts, a shameless, brutal killer has struck. Rainbow Dash, who became the newest addition to the team four years ago, also noted as being the 'Element of Loyalty', crashed into the audience during her performance. Not any part, fillies and gentlecolts, our little murderer aimed right for the hope of our future, the younglings of Ponyville. Witness testimonies give a clear picture of the horrible events.

When the alleged 'Element' reached the peak of her flight, she turned to the ground, diving headfirst towards the unsuspecting audience, which even cheered at her, expecting a last-minute stunt to be pulled off, not unlikely from the daredevil pegasus. Only two brave mares realised she was going in for the kill.

One of them was the heroic teacher, Cheerilee; in a heroic leap, she pushed most of the fillies surrounding her out of the harm's way; but that resulted in her being in the worst place imaginable: the place which Rainbow Dash targeted.

The other brave pony, Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, personal protegé of Princess Celestia, had arrived to the scene when the madmare crashed into the ground. She created a shield around the crash site, from which strangely erupted a cascade of rainbows. They were like an explosion created by a hundred unicorns, she explained to us, created when the pegasus crashed with the ground at full speed, killing the teacher instantly. Five fillies also died, and three were taken to the hospital, gravely injured.

An interview with the captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire revealed that the speed achieved by the rainbow coloured catastrophe was only possible if she didn't even think of turning the other way, concentrating every fiber of her being into flying. The Wonderbolts took all responsibility for letting Rainbow Dash in their ranks, and now await the Princess' judgement.

Interview with the Royal Guard....

Twilight dropped the newspaper. Rainbow's head throbbed, threatening to explode. She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Who...?" she whispered, barely containing her voice. Twilight's voice was cold.

"Cheerilee. Silver Spoon. Archer. Twist." The unicorn's every word was like a stab to the heart for Rainbow. "Scootaloo."

"Oh no," thought Rainbow, "that must mean..."

"Applebloom." Twilight finished mercilessly.

The pegasus could not keep herself together anymore. She burst out in tears.

"Ahand the ohother threhee?" she sobbed.

"Diamond Tiara. Dinky Doo. Sweetie Belle."

Rainbow felt completely heartbroken. Her best friends view her as a criminal, and accuse her of killing fillies she was friends with for years. This can not be true, she would never do something so horrible! But the pain was here, and her friends seemed dead serious—did she really do it? Did she commit a crime, and now she can't remember the slightest about it? With every question her brain threatened to snap, giving in to this insanity.

Before she noticed, Twilight was already leaving. Rainbow wanted to tell her to stay, to hug her, to reassure her that it wasn't her—but she could not speak a word. As if noticing her predicament, Twilight turned back in the door.

"You know, I also talked to Spitfire. She told me that they noticed your strange flight pattern too, and immediately tried to catch you. They failed, of course. Because of your prized speed," she spat. "Congratulations, Rainbow Dash. You are the fastest flyer in Equestria."