//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Rainbow's Choice // by Metaphor //------------------------------// Invigorated, refreshed, confident…all words that could describe Rainbow as she strode purposefully down the main street of Ponyville. Her mind was now fully made up, her earlier doubts and regrets long forgotten and a new sense of resolution filling her mind. Everypony had been quick to judge her, quick to lay their troubles on her, quick to try and manipulate her! She wasn’t going to allow it, this was her life and she was going to do exactly what she wanted to. Carousel Boutique came into view as she rounded a corner, the sun glinting off the pristinely kept building. It might not be home but right now she didn’t care; right now all she wanted was a quiet spot to take a nap and forget all of her troubles. “Rarity? You here?” she announced loudly as she pushed open the front door. A shrill cry of shock sounded from behind a nearby screen before a rather annoyed looking Rarity poked her head out from behind it. Whilst the shock of Rainbow’s call had annoyed her this didn’t last long and her face quickly fell. For a brief second panic crossed her face before she managed to collect herself. “Oh, hello Rainbow dear…I uh…wasn’t expecting you back until later…” she said slowly, her voice betraying her best attempts to remain calm as it stuttered her words. Rainbow narrowed her gaze, “Rarity? What’s going on?” “Why whatever do you mean dear?” replied Rarity with a slight chuckle, her eyes casting a momentary glance at the screen she had stepped out from. Rainbow wasn’t buying it, something was going on. She stepped towards Rarity, making her way towards the screen before Rarity stepped up to block her path. “So, what can I do for you darling? Hungry? I could make you some daisy sandwiches if you like.” Rainbow frowned at the white unicorn, “Seriously? That’s the best you can come up with? Think I’ll just take a quick peek behind…” Without missing a beat she gave a quick flap of her wings, the force enough to launch her clean over the unicorn and landing her next to the screen. “…this screen first.” Rarity didn’t even have time to object as Rainbow poked her head around the screen however in the same time frame Rainbow wished she hadn’t. A purple alicorn sat patiently on her haunches on a small raised platform. Pieces of fabric along with needles, thread and pin lay neatly stacked to one side of the platform along with numerous different outfits arranged carefully on a rack behind her. The alicorn herself was wearing a long pink and gold dress, her outfit looking a little unfinished judging by the various pins and clips that held some of it in place. She held her head high, her eyes closed as she breathed in and out at a regular almost military like pace. Slowly she lowered her head, her eyes opening slowly as her gaze levelled on the Pegasus. “Hello Rainbow,” she said softly. “…oh, hi Twilight…” replied Rainbow, her voice harbouring a hint of annoyance that she could feel building inside her. “Rarity, why don’t you take a break for a while, I’m sure Rainbow here will have some choice words to say to me in a moment,” announced Twilight, her words sounding like a question but her tone portraying a sense of stern commandment. “Oh…yes of course!” replied Rarity, the unicorn giving a small nervous chuckle as she made her way towards a door at the back of the boutique, “If you need me I’ll be right here of course.” Twilight slowly returned her gaze to Rainbow, the Pegasus having never even shifted her gaze at all. As the sound of the door closing drifted through the boutique Rainbow felt herself snap. “Choice words?” she questioned, “Choice words?! Darn bucking hayseeds I have some choice words for you!” Rainbow snorted loudly, the rage she had felt the day before raising its head once again as she glared daggers at the alicorn. “How dare you sit there and act all calm! I thought we were friends Twilight!” she started, her voice rising in volume with every word she spoke, “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through for the last few weeks?! I’ve had my whole world flipped upside down and I don’t even know how it happened! And here you are playing judge, jury and prosecution on what I’ve decided to do! What give you the right to do that?!” Rainbow snorted again as she paused for a moment in her anger. Twilight didn’t speak or make any movements of her own, she just looked back at the Pegasus with a perfect poker face. This seemingly only served to aggravate the Pegasus further. “I’ve stuck by you guys through every problem and situation you’ve faced! Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra! And just when I needed you guys the most you slap me across the face. Oh you don’t approve! Rarity thinks I’m just a spec of dirt making a big mistake, Applejack sounds like she pretty much wants me to have kids for her, Pinkie just wants to throw another party, Scootaloo hates me and you…! You…just sit there with your high and mighty princessness and look down on me!” Twilight blinked, still not reply but listening intently as the Pegasus continued on. “At least Fluttershy understand me! I knew I could always count on her, not like you bunch of ‘friends’.” Rainbow lifted her front hooves, making invisible quotation mark motions with them before returning them to the ground. She glared at Twilight, the lack of any reaction only adding fuel to her internal fire as her rage continued to burn out of control. “In fact I don’t know why I’m wasting my time talking to you! I’m going to head over to Fluttershy’s cottage and stay there instead. You stuck up unicorns give me a headache!” Rainbow turned to leave but stopped almost immediately. Behind her a single sound filled the air, a brief momentary giggle. It was the type you might give when you found something amusing but didn’t want to offend, unfortunately it had just that effect. Rainbow spun like a mad bull, her teeth grinding together as she caught the last of Twilight’s smile fade from her face. “What the hay is so bucking funny?!” she screamed. Twilight didn’t respond immediately, instead choosing to take a moment to inhale a breath and steady her mind as Cadence had shown her how to do. “I see you spoke to Fluttershy then,” she said softly, no hint of rage or hatred in her voice, “Tell me something Rainbow, did she actually agree with your decision or is that what you decided to hear?” “What?!” “Fluttershy came to see me last night. She had been crying since she left the hospital, do you want to know why she was so upset?” asked Twilight although the question was entirely rhetorical, “She was so confused and upset. She kept talking about how she felt bad for running out of the hospital, about how nervous she was that you thought she was a bad friend…but mostly about how bad she felt about herself for thinking of you as a bad pony.” “W-what?” interrupted Rainbow, the Pegasus momentarily stunned out of her anger by Twilight words, “A bad pony? But she said she understands my decision.” “Yes she does, Fluttershy might be a quiet timid creature but she’s seen more life than you care to give her credit for,” replied Twilight, “She’s been taking care of animals for most of her life. In that time she’s seen the cycle of life and death repeated more times than we can count. She’s treated illnesses, fixed injuries and soothed distress but most of all she’s seen how fragile life can be and how precious it is. She knows that our time is short and that we have to do all we can to fulfil our destinies but she also knows that we cannot abandon life as if it was nothing. So tell me Rainbow, Fluttershy may understand your decision but did you actually ask her if she agrees with it or not?” Now it was Rainbow’s turn to be silent. Twilight’s words rattled back and forth in her mind like a pea in a drum. She thought back to her earlier conversation with Fluttershy, trying desperately to find something in the yellow pegasus’ words that would confirm what she thought. Nothing appeared, yes she had said she understood her decision but she had not once said she agreed with it. Was it true? Did Fluttershy think she was a bad pony because of what she was planning on doing? “No!” cried Rainbow, her earlier rage surfacing once more, “You…you’re just twisting her words! Fluttershy is my friend! She wouldn’t think I was a bad pony! She…she…you! You’re just turning everypony against me! You just want to see me fail! You’ve always hated my confidence! Just like that time you all made me look bad by playing that Mare-Do-Well character!” Rainbow was starting to shake, her mind racing as she tried to make some sense of her situation. All her friends were against her! She was all alone! They just wanted to see her suffer! “Do you think I wanted to become a Princess?” The question cut through Rainbow’s thoughts like a hot knife through butter. She looked back at Twilight, the previously steady and calm looking alicorn suddenly seeming like a little lost filly. “W-what…?” replied Rainbow in a murmur. “Do you think I wanted to become a Princess?” Twilight repeated the question but it still made no sense. Rainbow remained silent, Twilight giving a small sigh as she looked away. “Let me tell you a story Rainbow,” she began, her face becoming saddened slightly, “Once there was a young unicorn filly. She was always amazed by magic and lived in awe at the amazing wonders of the world around her. One day she was given the chance to add to that wonder and become the student of a pony she respected more than anything in the world. Her life was perfect! She had friends she could count on and cared about. She had the perfect life studying and learning. Sure she had to overcome incredible obstacles but her friends and knowledge always allowed her to pull through. Then one day something happened that would change her life forever. She had no idea at the time what was ahead of her and no way of knowing that what was to come could never be changed back. In that moment her life was flipped upside down. Everything she thought she knew felt alien to her and despite her wealth of knowledge she felt completely alone and unprepared for what was to come.” Twilight paused as she raised a hoof to wipe away a single tear that had formed in her eye. Rainbow meanwhile just listened in silence, her mind already piecing together what Twilight was talking about. “And yet her friends stuck by her despite the sudden change in her life. Despite the unknown road she began to feel confident in her new life…but was it what she had really wanted? If she had been given the choice would she have chosen the same path as the one she was on now? Do you think I wanted to become a princess?” Twilight looked directly at Rainbow, her gaze hard and stern. Rainbow remained silent, her mind unable to form the words she wanted to say. “When Celestia chose me to be her student did she have this planned all along? Was she merely crafting me into the perfect image to fit this new status? I trusted her with all my heart and, although that trust remains, a part of me resents what has happened. I have never said this to anypony else Rainbow but…if I could choose, if I could go back and alter the past…I would!” Rainbow felt as if she had been hit by the Friendship Express. Had she heard Twilight right? Apparently her inner thoughts were not so inner as Twilight smiled slightly and gave a light chuckle. “I can see on your face that you can’t believe it. To be honest I can’t myself sometimes. Being a princess is an amazing thing. I get to do so much good and make so many ponies happy but…at the same time am I truly happy? I sometimes find myself wishing I could go back to how life was when I was just a simple librarian and I could spend my time reading and enjoying time with my friends. And yet that life is gone now and here I sit with my new one.” Twilight ran a hoof along the edge of the dress she was wearing sighing softly as she did. “You have a very important choice to make Rainbow, more so than you, me or any pony else can appreciate. I know it is hard to think about but remember one thing. Some things in life happen and we cannot change them but sometimes life will give us the choice as to how our life will pan out. I never got that choice Rainbow, you do. Don’t throw it away in a fit of rage and sorrow. What you decide to do is going to shape the rest of your life and you will look back at this moment with either pride or disgrace. I’m not trying to tell you what to do but try to consider every possibility instead of getting hung up on one choice alone.” Twilight sighed again, her expression softening completely as she smiled broadly at the Pegasus, “And remember one thing Rainbow, even when we disagree with you we’re still you’re friend and nothing will ever change that.”