Hey guys, sorry for going off schedule I've been busy with finals and my computer just loves screwing with me. Anyway, enjoy!
"Hey, where is Sonic?"
Everypony in the stands quieted down at they question. All eyes were glued to the finish line, waiting for the blue hedgehog to show. When moments turned seconds, then to minutes, they started to realize that something was wrong. If Rainbow had indeed won Sonic would have at least been a close second.
Rainbow Dash slowly hovered down to the floor, worry clear as day on her face. Worry that turned to guilt when Twilight trotted over to her and asked the question that drove a nail into Rainbow's heart.
"Rainbow Dash, did you see what happened to Sonic?"
"I uh..." was all Dash could say at the moment. Shuffling her hooves and avoiding eye contact as a filly in trouble would.
It was only then that Twilight was able to see the shame on Rainbow's face. One that she saw much too often on the crusaders when they went on one of their 'adventures'. It didn't take long for her to piece together the puzzle.
Giving her a suspicious eye Twilight asked "Rainbow, what did you do?"
"I-I wasn't thinking straight" Rainbow stuttered
"What did you do?" Twilight asked again, sounding more stern
"I just wanted to slow him down an-"
"Rainbow Dash! What. Did. You. Do!" Twilight finally snapped
Rainbow gave Twilight a surprised look at her outburst, but eventually sighed and looked down at the ground ashamed.
"We were going through Ghastly Gorge..."
They had taken this path many times. Some for racing and others just for the heck of it. But today was different.
While it completely ached Sonic on the inside to once again be slowing down for the sake of someone else, he felt that he had to.
"First Mario now this" he sighed "Keep it together Sonic. Just let her win once and this whole thing can be put behind us"
Sonic looked ahead and became worried. He would need a strong jump to land on the next rock. And at the speed they were going he knew he wasn't going to make it. The lack of sleep was obviously making Rainbow go a lot slower and he would need more momentum than their current speed. Sonic bit his lip and weighed his options
'She wouldn't mind if I sped up a little'
Rainbow did mind, a lot. In one of the rare times she looked to see where her opponent was, her fire of rage only grew stronger when she saw Sonic starting to pass her.
"We don't associate ourselves with second place"
"Yes! I just said that I needed someone fast!"
"the true fastest, awesomest , most spectacular person in all of Equestria. Sonic the hedgehog!"
"I could take up running like Sonic"
Those words echoed in Rainbow's mind. Blocking out all her thoughts and acting as fire wood to the already large flames.
'No. Not this time!' Rainbow thought. She was not going to lose. She was the best and nopony, or hedgehog, was going to take that away from her again.
She needed a way to slow him down. Rainbow then remembered race she had when she was deciding on a pet. And the unfortunate accident that lead her to choosing Tank. And while the remaining part of her conscious screamed at her on how that was a bad idea, the words that caused her to snap were louder.
'He can handle it'
That thought being all Rainbow needed to do what she did next.
It only took one rock to not only cause an avalanche, but to knock Sonic out of the air. But Rainbow didn't notice or, for the moment, care. Her eyes just stayed to the road before her while her ears listened to the sound of collapsing rock.
"And that's what happened" Rainbow concluded
Twilight just stood shocked before Rainbow, still trying to register her story. When Twilight finally did collect her thoughts Rainbow flinched as she started yelling.
"You cheated! Rainbow how could you!"
"It was only to slow him down! I didn't know! I thought he could handle a few rocks!" Rainbow reasoned. A reasoning that sounded so good a few minutes ago, but was no longer holding its weight.
"And you didn't even bother to make sure he was okay?!"
That, Rainbow didn't have an excuse for. She simply hung her head low and replied "I didn't look back. I was too concerned with winning"
Twilight was about to lecture/yell at Rainbow about her actions. But she quickly used the calming method Cadence taught her as the others ran up to them.
"What's going on Twilight?" Applejack asked first
"Is Sonic okay?" Amy followed
Twilight turned to them and explained the situation. Then, in a princess like manner, she said "We are going to find Sonic."
The other nodded and Twilight looked at Rainbow, who had been quiet for once.
"And Rainbow is going to show us"
Even though that was the last place Rainbow wanted to be, she didn't object.
Rainbow's mind told her to leave but her wings didn't listen. Going as fast as possible in order to get back to the place where she last saw him. Tagging along had been Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Twilight. Tails mostly being there to carry Amy and Knuckles since they would be needed for the worse case scenario. Rainbow honestly couldn't care less who was there or not. All she was concerned about was if her friend was okay. Dogging past all the dangerous obstacles they eventually found where Rainbow claimed to have seen Sonic last. And what they found shocked them all.
It was a lot more than a few rocks, even more than the time she had to face it.
"We'll never find Sonic" Amy said, her words stabbing Rainbow's side
"We'll see about that. Tails" Knuckles said, winking at his fox friend who nodded with a smile
Passing Amy to Twilight, Tails did a mid air flip and launched Knuckles at the rock slide. Knuckles collided fist first and annihilated several layers of the rock to mere pebbles. And though they weren't able to see much though the thick cloud of dust taking its time to fade. What Knuckles called back gave them some reassurance
"I found him!"
Rainbow had never been so happy to just here three words. She, along with the others, flew in close to see their friend once more. But when dust cleared, and she saw the state her friend was in, pure horror petrified her face. And while the others only wanted to get closer to help, Rainbow's heart could bear no more and she flew as far away as possible from the scene. Tears falling from her still horror struck face.
The weather couldn't have been more perfect for the cyan Pegasus sobbing in her dark house. When yesterdays drizzle 'mysteriously' didn't happen the weather team was lucky to have had it rescheduled to today. Making it dark and gloomy, a perfect match for Rainbow's current feelings. She laid on her bed mostly made of tears at this point. What she had done repeatedly playing in her head as if to taunt her. Her pet tortoise Tank eventually heard her cries and made his way over to her, nudging her lovingly. Rainbow only pushed him away.
"No Tank, I don't deserve your comfort. Or anypony's..."
That didn't stop Tank from climbing onto her bed and snuggling next to her. Rainbow couldn't help but smile a little as she gave up and accepted her pet's attempt at comfort. Hugging him close she continued to cry.
"How could I have been so stupid Tank? And now, Sonic may never want to speak to me again. If he's even able too" Rainbow said as the worst played out in her mind
Images of her friend being forever crippled, or worse, haunted her. Further driving in the nail of the fact that it was all her fault.
If Dash had any anger left in her she would have punched herself in the face. How could she have been so blind? Had she really gotten so caught up in getting a stupid title that she would risk the life someone so important to her?
Yes.
And because of her actions, she had lost the best racing partner she ever had.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow looked up at the voice from inside her house. That very voice, recognized as Twilight's, was soon joined by others.
"Are you home?"
"Where are you?"
"And why is it so dark in he-WOAH!"
*CRASH*
After wincing at the sound of glass breaking, Rainbow did her best to muffle her sobs. Stay as quiet as possible and pretend she didn't exist. But her uncontrollable sniffles easily gave her away in the quiet house. Allowing the others to find her with little effort. Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack entered the room. Applejack and Twilight sharing faces of stern disappointment, while Pinkie had her usual smile.
Rainbow didn't even try to make contact as she asked her first question
"Is Sonic alright?" She asked lowly
"He's fine. He's in the hospital, but he's fine" Twilight answered
That immediately lifted a weight off Rainbow's shoulders. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Rainbow to smile in her mind. But there was still the other question that kept her uneased.
"Did you tell anypony what happened?" Rainbow asked, already expecting the answer
She imagined nopony ever even wanting to look in her direction again. Forever labeled as the pony who nearly killed her close friend just to win a race.
"No"
Rainbow looked up in surprise at Twilight, who still kept a stern face.
"Wha?"
"We told everypony that weathering, combined with the wind force of your speed, caused the avalanche"
"Yeah at first they didn't believe it" Pinkie added
"But they came around when I backed it up" Applejack followed
Rainbow was now officially shocked "But why would you lie for my sake? Especially you AJ!"
"Because it's what Sonic would have wanted"
Rainbow lost eye contact at Twilights words. Hugging Tank closer she collapsed back onto her bed. A little more sympathetic for her Pegasus friend, Twilight walked over to the side of the bed and gently put a hoof on Rainbow's back. But even the loving gesture didn't help Rainbow's mood.
"What? No speech on friendship? No telling me how dumb I've been and how I should make things better?" Rainbow asked semi-harshly
"No" Twilight said once again before following with "I think it should be you and Sonic who should have that conversation"
Rainbow became quiet for a moment, curling into more of a ball.
"I can't" she said softly
"Why not?" Twilight asked
"Because I don't know if he'd even want to talk to me"
"Yeah!" Pinkie said, budding in "I mean after you nearly crushed him to death and left him to die just to win a race. Most likely crippling him and being responsible for taking away his passion and, practically, very existence. He'd probably never want to even look at you again! Completely destroying any chance of rebuilding the bond you had. And forever knowing that the grudge your former friend has for you was completely and entirely your fault!"
That only made Rainbow start crying again, even harder than before. Applejack and Twilight glared at Pinkie, Applejack doing what Twilight was thinking and smacking the pink pony at the back of the head.
"Ah told y'all we should have brought Fluttershy" Applejack commented
"And I told you that I needed Pinkie to make my point" Twilight said back
Twilight turned back to Rainbow, who still refused to face them.
"Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were both having similar problems with Knuckles and Amy. And yet they were able to overcome them because they are close friends. Right girls?"
Applejack nodded, taking off her hat and holding it to her chest "All we needed was to talk things out and our friendship was sweeter than a fresh apple straight off the tree"
"Yup! And now me and Amy get to have an extra special baking party!" Pinkie cheered
Twilight smiled at them and looked back at Rainbow as she continued "And I guarantee that if you and Sonic just have a moment to talk things out, your bond will be as strong as ever"
"And if it isn't" Rainbow asked, still not convinced
"Then the first step to rebuilding it would be just to talk"
Rainbow finally turned to her friends, and Applejack took the chance and walked closer to the bed
"Sugarcube, the doctor said that we can go visit Sonic in two days. And we agreed that you should be the first to see him"
Instead of turning back over or coming out with another reason why not, Rainbow sat up and sighed. Her friends were once again right. And if her and Sonic's relationship wasn't going to be restored, than she might as well get to work on rebuilding it.
"Okay, I'll do it"