//------------------------------// // Does one stand higher than the other? // Story: Can they work it out? // by Dashie Auditore //------------------------------// There had been a silence for nearly six minutes upon Luna and Dash retreating to the Princess's chambers. Rainbow could piece together why from the alicorn's expression. Calm, attentive, anticipating. She was waiting for the cyan mare to recall the last couple of days to her, and though Rainbow understood why and how much Luna could help by talking with her, to recall the memories was to recall the pain they caused. The loneliness from the towns abandonment of her for Mare-Do-Well, the revelation that it was her friends that were behind it all, and the shear forced guilt and hurt that came from them standing on their "moral high ground" proclaiming to the gods above that it was Dash's fault entirely. To recover from such pain often required something like this, a point of talking it out with someone else, but she didn't want to. From Rainbow's silence Luna knew all she needed to know, and decided to help. "Rainbow Dash, I would like to make an offer to you." She said calmly on the other side of the small table with tea pot and cups on it. "An offer?" "I understand fully that retelling the events from start to finish is never fun, nor does it provide any closure, it only serves to remind us of things we wished we could forget or take back. So I'll make an offer to you, if you do not wish to tell me, then allow me to peer into your mind. Using my magic, I can view the memories through my own eyes. Watch you and your friends across the week or less of events and deduce for myself where I shall stand." "You can do that? How? "Yes, it's quite simple really. To perform such a spell, I will need to induce you into a sleep like state, from there, you will dream. I shall use my magic to focus your mind on the events in question, and you shall dream them with me as witness. However, it would be a lie to say that this couldn't be seen as an invasion of privacy. So I must ask you to trust me, and understand what it is I am going to do, and that I shall only look at the recollection of those days and nothing more." Rainbow was sort of shocked to hear such a spell could be performed, but at the same time, Dash felt like this might end badly for her. Even she could admit she got ahead of herself, REALLY ahead of herself, so maybe Luna will perform the spell and come back saying that Rainbow stepped way over the line and that she deserved it, to which would bring her down lower and feeling even more irritated and saddened that no pony else supports her side. But the same could end up being said about her friends. From the gentle gaze of her eyes though, Dash felt at ease a little. That Luna would be unbiased in her opinion of the memories. And that she would speak objectively as a friend if anyone was over reacting, or over the line, and the comforting look seemed to assure her that even if Dash was entirely to blame, Luna would comfort and help her through the struggle. "Okay...uh...should I lie down somewhere?" *** "Rainbow? Rainbow?" Fluttershy knocked weakly on the door while the others stood far underneath. The lights were all out and it seemed that no pony was there, which was unfortunate. Because on a weekend, this was the five's best chance at finding their friend unless they at some point knew about other commitments she had. So with Dash no where to be seen from the boutique to her home, made them a bit curious. "She might be out and about somewhere. Perhaps she went and saw Scootaloo at the tree house?" Rarity offered the idea. "Yeah, all three o' them crusaders are out on the farm. She might've stopped there." Applejack added, already starting that way since there was no reason to stick around. "If not, maybe we'll see her flyin' around er somethin'." Not to far behind came the rest of the group. "Hey...so uh...what should we say to her?" "What do you mean Applejack?" Twilight walked closely behind the farmer. It was apparent that she was still not fully coming to the fact that they did the right thing. "Is jus'...I don't know..." "Applejack, why do you still think we stepped over the line?" "Ah get why we did what we did, ah ain't about to stand here and say talkin' to her might've fixed everything. I'm just sayin' we didn't even try. Ah still think we should've tried, even if it was worthless. That mare's surprised us before." With a small sigh Twilight could see that unless Rainbow looked them all in the eyes and said "It's okay girls it's fine", that Applejack just wouldn't let go the idea they should have spoken to her. However Twilight wouldn't lie that she didn't understand the orange pony's point of view. Dash's ego was no hard kept secret, and as Rarity put it earlier, it easily avoids things when it gets bigger, but Applejack was also true saying that though it could have been a worthless endeavor, it still could have been done. "Twilight! Twilight!" Came a distant voice. Everyone stopped and looked over to see the small and unforgettable Spike rushing his little legs off over towards them, only to arrive panting heavily. "Twilight...I've got...a letter....for you....from...hold on a second..." As her assistant caught his breath, Twilight took the letter from his hand and opened it up, to which her eyes widened as she saw who it was. "Princess Luna? She wants me to come to Canterlot and speak to her privately within the next few hours." A private conversation like this didn't seem to worry the others, but on any occasion where it was merely Luna wanting to chat with Twilight about her studies or anything, she gave the unicorn a planned meet up date that was later down the way. Not so abrupt with little explanation. "Okay, I'll head to Canterlot and see what it is that Princess Luna wishes to speak with me about, I'll catch you girls later." Before they had even said their goodbyes, Twilight teleported herself to the library momentarily to make sure she was looking her best before making the quick rush to the train station to get a ticket, since she hadn't learned how to teleport that distance. *** Rainbow Dash was slowly heading back towards Ponyville. Her visit with Luna was as long as it needed to be, and there had been much back and forth. Ultimately though it gave Dash more than she had before, a second opinion from her side of things, but one wasn't enough. As she reached the edge of her town, she turned right and flew towards the Everfree forest. Along the way she saw something that stung her, a hat. A hat with the Mare-Do-Well image on it, worn by a filly playing in the park. Even though Twilight and the others explained themselves to the mayor and Ponyville, the sight of that hat still hurt. It reminded her of when Scootaloo, her biggest fan, switched sides. Turned her back on her, but she couldn't blame the kid. Someone out shined Rainbow Dash, someone else took Rainbow's thunder, someone else swooped in and took the respect and recognition from Dash and stomped it into the dirt, and that someone else ended up being five mares she thought she knew well. Well enough to not do something like this, but she was mistaken, but after he talk with Luna, she now asked herself if she was misjudging them and being to harsh. Luna had made a case though that she was not over reacting, to a degree. To have one pony do these things to you all in the name of "friendship" was heartbreaking enough, but five? Five teaming up across several days to outshine her on purpose? Five ponies who didn't even bother walking up and saying "Hey Rainbow Dash, you're acting like a hot head, tone it down. It's great you're being seen as the town hero, but you need to be humble and restrained. Do it because it's the right thing, don't do it for the glory"? That was too much, but...was it enough? Was it enough to turn her back on them? Leave them all behind and even risk the safety of Equestria? Not being an Element and the possible lack of defense from the Elements was only a side effect, but an unfortunately forced one if she did in fact leave. But it wouldn't be her choice, it would only be because she could no longer feel loyal to them, trust them, or feel like they're still her friends. The cottage hidden in the Everfree Forest was her last stop, minus one more she would have to decide if she would go to. Luna had told her that she would speak with Twilight about the ordeal after she left, and she would tell her about the same last stop. So until then, Rainbow would have to make her mind as to whether she'd attend that meeting of the minds. Though it was an odd choice, Zecora always had wishful thinking and advice. So maybe some of that could be rubbed her way. *** Twilight was escorted passed many halls and doors until coming to a dark colored "moon and night" themed door. Entering it, she was left alone only to the mare that lived within. A tall dark mare, who was looking down at the pony she had invited, for understandable reasons to her, but not to the unicorn. "Princess? Is something wrong?" Twilight asked as Luna's face showed signs of disappointment. "Yes, there is. Earlier I had spoken with an upset Rainbow Dash. Who told me and showed me what it was you and your friends did as the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well." Twilight's heart about exploded. Applejack was right, Rainbow wasn't alright, and they had gone over the line. Or did they? She came back to herself a little bit and really thought about it. "She was troubled, she was hurt, and she needed enlightening. I gave her answers and questions she needed to ask herself. However, I have asked you here so that the full truth may be revealed." "Full truth?" "As I said, Rainbow Dash had showed me what had happened, through a spell I know that allows me to see past memories of a ponies life. From them, I made the argument that she endangered ponies lives, acting with selfish means and no haste to help others. Between her arrogance and her boasting of her abilities, I told her she was over reacting. However, I wish to do the same to you also, as Rainbow's mind only allowed me to see what SHE saw, so she did not see you and the others plan, she did not see you and the others execute this plan, and she did not FEEL the same emotions you did as this went on. All of these I wish to objectively learn, for I have my own theory on you all, and you are the one who will give it validity." The unicorn felt saddened now, to realize that they had hurt their friend, that was a feeling she hoped to have never felt, but at the same time as Luna brought it up, Twilight didn't feel as surprised. As if she already had the seeds of doubt to herself and their actions, even before Applejack's doubting words. "Of course Princess Luna, anything that might help. I never meant for it to hurt Rainbow as you say it has." "Noble intentions do not always bring desired results. Understandable and unfortunate this all has been. I hope to aid you all however I can. I shall perform the same spell on you as I did with Rainbow. You shall fall into a sleep like state and from their I shall venture into your mind and see what I can learn. Do you trust me, Twilight, to do so?" "I do Princess." *** Twilight later awoke upon Luna's bed, feeling drowsy and awake fully at the same time. Luna was waiting near the bed, her adventure into her mind over, and now the unicorn would learn the result. Hesitant, though, she was hoping that this would lend some helpful advice to pull their friendship back from the abyss it seemed to be aim towards. "My theory has been validated, thanks to you, Twilight." She said with a serious look, though not unpleasant, it wasn't gentle either. "What theory, Princess?" "That both of you are wrong." She raised herself up and began to slowly walk around the bed. "Neither one of you has a moral high ground. You five and Rainbow Dash both went too far. Though of you all, it sounds that she is the only one who is over reacting to what this may end up causing. She asked me what would happen if she felt she could no longer be loyal to you five, and what it meant as her role as an Element, and whether she could be replaced. Should she have doubts of her loyalty? Perhaps, but to that extent is a stretch I felt. Rainbow became very arrogant and became irritating in her confidence as it lent itself to her failures as the town hero, as well as leading to more harm nearly being done, such as the hot air balloon instance where she took to signing autographs first before saving the rider. Or when she caused other incidents to just to be the hero and show off. She did deserve some if not much of the back lash as a result and it's understandable just how far it had gotten to her. However, you five fair no better. You upstaged your friend, took support from her, bragged secretly in front of her, and just how long did you intend to keep it going? You got your own parade in honor of you, and had that not shoved Rainbow over the edge, it seemed you would have been prepared to let it go further, or perhaps you planned to unveil yourselves at the parade? Still, this was over the course of several days, several days in which you could have simply stepped in by yourselves without costumes. The hot air balloon incident for example. Rainbow made it worse, so you could have stepped in and saved it, to which you could have scolded Dash a little to remind her to be more humble and focus on being heroic and to help ponies in danger rather than sign autographs. At that moment, the town would have praised you, to which, in fact, would have been the perfect moment to demonstrate a humble attitude and to help her accept humility. Instead, five ponies she thought friends, masquerade as a hero to show her how to be humble and to accept some humility, by never once demonstrating it? Disappearing as soon as you arrived? And only when the entire town is in attendance of the parade, you hold yourself before them, without saying a word? You do not bring the entire escapade to an end? You have no reason to feel as you did. Proud, accomplished, feeling that you did as asked by my sister and learned more of Friendship. And neither should Dash, she should not feel the betrayal and pain caused by you five's motives and actions. I have shown you two just how wrong both of you are, but I am not the one who can help you any further. It is up to you, all six of you, to work things out and decide if you can work passed the issues. If you wish to try and regain your friend's trust, I asked Rainbow Dash to consider meeting you at a small diner down the road tomorrow afternoon, I would ask the same of you and the other elements. You all are to blame, all six, but I'll tell you what I told her, it'll take more than outside opinions to resolve this. You, ALL OF YOU, must talk about it, pony to pony." "I will...we will...I think we all had a little doubt...I am not trying to ease the blame. It was our fault, and we'll make it right, at the very least, she'll know we're sorry." Twilight said with a couple of tears. To which Luna's hoof came to a gentle rest on her shoulder. "Remember though, you are both to blame for the ordeal. If you blame only yourselves, only half the blame is dealt with. But head my words carefully, this does not give you leave to put all the blame on Rainbow. You ALL must own up to the actions you have each done, only then can this be worked at and helped." Twilight gave a solid nod. She needed to go get the others and hope that Rainbow hadn't given up on them enough that she wouldn't show up at the meeting, and even if she did, Sparkle was willing to hunt the pegasus to the ends of the earth if it meant she'd know that they were sorry. Swearing on it in her heart, she bowed, and made her way quickly back to Ponyville.