Rainbow loathed the hospital, especially in this case. She hated being there whether it was for a failed stunt, or to visit a friend. Either way seeing the sign on the front of the building just made her want to run the other direction. But she knew she couldn't, she had to do this. Taking a deep breath she pushed the door opened and walked inside. There she was greeted by its distinct smell and the nurse ponies as busy as ever. Making her way to the desk and to the grey earth pony she did her best to form the sentence she wanted, only to choked out her words when they finally came out.

"I'm here to see Sonic the Hedgehog"

The earth pony wasted no time and looked up Sonic's name "Oh Sonic. The rock slide victim"

Rainbow winced 'Sure kick me in the face why don't you'

Still, she hung on to the hope that Sonic was still unconscious and that she would not have to have the conversation she dreaded. She could just stay by his side until the others arrived and they could try again any time not today.

"Oh and you're in luck! He just woke up a few minutes ago"

Rainbow now believed Celestia was screwing her as she cursed under her breath. But still, it kind of felt relieving to get it out of the way.

"Room 240" The earth pony instructed, pointing a hoof in the right direction

Rainbow didn't say another word and just walked in the direction pointed out to her. When she finally was able to find Sonic's room her hooves felt as if they were stuck to the floor. It took all her willpower to get herself inside the room, and even more to keep herself inside when she saw more bandage than fur on her friend.

Sonic's legs and right arm were in blue colored casts, his left arm getting off easy with some bandaging for the cuts and bruises. The rest of him; his chest, head, left ear, and cheek weren't too bad and were given standard bandages. Never the less it was hard for Rainbow to look at him as he stared blankly out his open window.

Swallowing the lump in her throat and approaching the bedside Rainbow finally called "Sonic?"

Sonic slowly turned to her and tilted his head, confusion in his eyes.

"Who's Sonic?" he asked

Rainbow once again fell under Medusa's curse at his words.

"W-what?" She asked back, hoping she heard wrong

"You said the name Sonic, who is he?"

Sonic looked around and saw that we wasn't sharing a room.

"Is that me? Is that my name?" He asked when he finally looked back at her

Fresh tears fell down Rainbow's face, her legs giving out on her causing her to collapse onto the floor.

"No. No! This is all my fault!" Rainbow screamed

"Dash calm down I'm only kidding!" Sonic shouted over her

Rainbow looked up in shock at the confused, but still awkward smiling Sonic.

"And here I thought you liked pranks" he continued

When Rainbow finally registered the fact she had been pranked, she became a conflicting mix of relief and anger. She raised her hoof to punch his shoulder but only amounted to one Fluttershy would give to a defenseless vase.

"Ow" Sonic said even though it didn't hurt

"Don't do that to me! Do you know how upset I've been for the last few days!?" Rainbow shouted at him

"I wouldn't know I was unconscious for the last few days"

Rainbow looked down in shame once more and resumed her place on the ground. Sonic sighed at his friend on the floor.

"Dash"

Rainbow looked at Sonic to see him patting the side of his bed. Taking the hint she climbed up and sat down with her hooves under her. Once she was comfortable the two just sat there quietly for what felt like an eternity, their eyes looking at everything but each other. The clock was the only thing adding sound to the room until Rainbow broke the silence

"So...How's it been?"

"Painful" Sonic replied honestly

Rainbow looked away briefly, but looked back at what Sonic said next

"And strange"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow "Strange?"

"Yeah well I'm not sure what kind of pain killers they gave because I've been hearing colors. And I was looking out the window because I thought I saw Princess Luna wearing a banana costume"

Rainbow snorted and did her best to hide her smile with her hoof. "Princess Luna?" she asked, trying not to laugh

"I know, I was expecting Celestia!"

Rainbow finally cracked and started laughing, Sonic soon joining her. When they were finally able to get a hold of themselves Sonic's smile dropped. Leading him to start the conversation Rainbow was hoping to avoid.

"Okay Dash, what happened?" he asked simply

"What do you mean what happened?" Rainbow asked back, a part of her finding it ridiculous that that was the first question

"Everything was cool with us until the first race, which shouldn't even be called the first because we've raced a billion times before that" Sonic explained

"Well this time it's different!" Rainbow argued

"How? Because of a stupid title?"

"It's not stupid!" Rainbow snapped.

When she realized what she just did Rainbow did as Fluttershy would and hid behind her mane before explaining.

"Ever since that first race everypony has been treating me like I'm second place. I lost my fan club, nopony wants to rely on me, and...I even feel like I'm second best"

"Dash. Can I fly?"

Now that question just confused Rainbow. And judging by the look on Sonic's face he was serious.

"Sonic how hard did that rock hit you?"

"Just answer my question"

"No...?"

"There! I'm the fastest on the ground but you still rule the sky. We are on two different levels that we can call our own"

Rainbow never thought of it that way. She would never be able to beat Sonic on foot. And she knew for a fact that Sonic wouldn't even come close to beating her in the sky. And that partly made her feel better knowing that her passion was still, indeed, hers.

"And even thought we were on two different playing fields" Sonic continued "We still raced for one reason and for one reason only. Do you know what?"

Rainbow searched her memory for the answer. Smile inducing laughter and playfulness immediately entered her mind, making it the easiest question she ever answered.

"For fun"

"Yeah for fun. You are one of the few people who are fast enough to give me a good time. Heck I only agreed to the race for the title because I thought it would be fun"

Rainbow smiled a little at his words. But her smile quickly disappeared when she saw Sonic's smile lower into a frown.

"But then you changed. You changed from the cocky Pegasus I was happy to call a friend to some...some blind jerk who just wanted three words under her belt"

The memories of her behavior since the first race replayed in Rainbow's mind. Adding a fresh coat of shame to the wall that was once her pride.

"You're right, I was a jerk. I should have just accepted my defeat but...I guess my pride turned me into something else."

Rainbow buried herself into her hooves "I messed up. I'm the worst pony in Equestria!"

"Dash. Stop it"

Rainbow looked up surprised at Sonic. Who was glaring at not her, but her word choice.

"But I am!" Rainbow insisted "If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be here!"

"All you did was kick a rock" Sonic said slowly, trying to convey his point "Did you know this would happen?"

"What? No! I thought only a few rocks would fall. And you would have been able to dodge it"

"See? You didn't know, you made a mistake, quit kicking yourself for it"

Sonic could still see the guilt that made up Rainbow's face. He sighed and quickly thought of a new approach to this. When he thought of one he raised Rainbow's head so that they made eye contact.

"We all make mistakes Dash"

"None as bad as mine" Rainbow mumbled

"Many worse than yours!" Sonic shouted, causing Rainbow to flinch

"Dash I doomed the planet like twice, got Tails turned into a robot, and released a giant Gia monster because I got too cocky!"

Rainbow blinked, those were definitely worse.

"But you don't see my mistakes taking over my life. And you shouldn't let yours do the same. So what if I'm in the hospital! So what if I can't run for awhile! It was a mistake and it's behind us. How bout instead of focusing on how I got here, we focus on my recovery"

Rainbow said nothing, her mane falling over her eyes.

"How?"

"How what?"

"How are just able to put things behind you. After the way I treated you, what I did to you. You should be angry at me! You should have the biggest grudge against the pony who put you in a hospital! And yet here you are smiling, laughing, talking to the very reason you can't walk right now! How are you just able to throw that fact over your shoulder?!"

It was Sonic's turn to look down and sigh, but only for a moment as he soon replied with...

"Dash, I could have easily been super fumed at you for what you did. And, admittedly, I was when I first woke up. But then I remembered who Rainbow Dash is. She is arrogant, she does things without thinking, she way too often has her head in the clouds"

"Gee, thanks" Rainbow said lowly

"But she is also my caring friend. And didn't Twilight once preach on how when friends make mistakes they should learn from them, and grow stronger from it"

Rainbow did remember that. And while at first Rainbow thought it was another one of Twilight's friendship rambles, she now saw the full weight of it.

"And what really brings it home is the fact that you're here right now without someone or somepony dragging you against your will. That alone shows me that this mistake is worth putting behind me"

Rainbow looked away but smiled once more. Her smile being contagious and causing Sonic to do the same.

"And besides, staying in the past just slows you down"

Rainbow looked back up at Sonic with pleading eyes "So. Can you ever forgive me for the way I acted?"

Sonic thought about it for a second before answering "On two conditions. One, when I am back on my feet we have one more race. Only this time we just have fun like we always have. And whoever wins, wins and we just drop the subject and have everything go back to normal"

Rainbow nodded as he talked. Completely agreeing with wanting this to just go away and have everything the way it was.

"Okay. What's the other condition?"

Instead of immediately answering Sonic motioned for Rainbow to come closer. When she did he whispered in her ear.

"When the others come, you pretend I have amnesia"

Rainbow looked at her friend who was giving her a sneaky smile. She returned smiled, chuckled, and hugged him as best she could without hurting him.

"I'm still surprised that you're so forgiving of me" Rainbow admitted

"Hey I just wanted to see the old Rainbow Dash again. And I sure as hay ain't gonna lose her to being stubborn"

Rainbow laughed and Sonic did his best to return the hug. They shared a moment but quickly pulled away at the sound of the others talking as they drew near. They winked at each other, Sonic putting on his best confused face with Rainbow doing the same with a sad one.

The others walked in to see Rainbow 'crying' into her hooves while Sonic just starred at her confused. That was an immediate red flag for them.

"Rainbow?" Twilight asked

Rainbow looked up with her pre-bloodshot eyes and walked over to them.

"Is something wrong darling?" Rarity asked next

"Sonic he...he" Rainbow then collapsed on the ground "He has amnesia!" she finally yelled before 'crying' once more

"He doesn't know who I am, who you are, not even who he is!"

Everyone gasped dramatically and looked to Sonic, who was still giving the same look from when they first walked in.

"Is she okay? And who are you all?"

That earned another gasp from the others.

"Oh dear" Fluttershy commented

"Sonic no" Amy commented as well

"You really don't remember Sonic?" Tails asked, afraid of the answer

Sonic tilted his head and pointed to himself "I'm Sonic right?"

That was the only answer they needed for them all to be frozen in shock. Rainbow looked up at their faces and she, along with Sonic, finally broke and started to laugh. The others expressions turned from shock to confused as Rainbow flew over and continued her hysterics along with Sonic.

"Did you see the looks on their faces? Priceless! Oh I wish I had my camera!"

"Yeah who would fall for something so cliché?"

"Oh don't you say that, you fell for it too!"

Just like with Rainbow it took the others some time before they realized what was happening. And while everyone was angry that they had pulled such a mean prank. They couldn't help but smile as they watched the two laugh their heads off together. Something they haven't seen in awhile, and were glad to witness.

We're almost done guys!