Scent of Roses

by Winston

Part 4

Scent of Roses

Part 4

At dawn, when faint pale blue light started showing in the dark hotel room's windows, Rainbow Dash woke from fitful sleep. Vague dreams, only half-remembered, swam distantly through her mind, while she laid there awake but not moving. They weren't nightmares, not terribly bad - but not good either. She couldn't recall much but she still felt the general sense of anxiety and sadness they invoked. It clung to her mood.

She sat up slowly, sore from sleeping on the carpeted floor. Her neck was stiff from the makeshift pillow of her saddlebags. There was a chill in her skin, permeating through to her muscles. Not really a surprise, considering that the blanket she'd been sharing with Fluttershy was now mostly covering the yellow pegasus, who had apparently turned at some point in her sleep and pulled it all over onto herself.

Dash wasn't upset about that, though. Hard to really control moving in your sleep. Better that Fluttershy be comfortable, anyway, she thought.

Besides, she knew she wasn't going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon. It wasn't like her to be the first awake - the solid crack of noon was normally closer to her taste than dawn was - but there was just something about the glow of light growing in the windows mixed with the dreams that haunted her in the night. She was too awake, too on edge. She did briefly ponder how Applejack and Rarity, laying with their backs towards each other, were successfully managing to equitably share a blanket, but just ended up shrugging. There were more important things to consider...

Like what she was going to have to use this last day for. She'd thought about it long into last night, slept on it (such as she could), and woken up with it still there, at the forefront, still knowing it. Apprehension over it felt like it was twisting her gut, making her stomach upset.

She closed her eyes and shook her hanging head. Her mane was a disorderly mess, like it always was right when she woke up. It would straighten itself out in the course of things, though. She could only hope that her other challenges today would prove likewise.

She knew what she had to do...

But how? How was anypony supposed to do this?

"... Candy canes..." Pinkie mumbled, almost imperceptibly, as if in response to Dash's thoughts. She was smiling in her sleep, and rolled just a little under the blanket she somehow had to herself.

"Sugar's your answer for everything, Pinky." Rainbow Dash whispered, extremely quietly to nopony, glancing with somewhat bloodshot eyes at the pink mare. "And it's not gonna help this time."

Maybe that wasn't totally true. In spite of how she felt, Rainbow Dash was admittedly amused. Her mood couldn't help but lighten as comical visions of candy canes somehow rendering assistance in all of life's little problems filtered into her mind. Falling back onto that helped her make it through the quiet waiting until the next pony awoke.

After a while, with the light in the windows still bluish and dim but slowly getting a little brighter by gradual shades, Applejack slowly opened her eyes and slowly yawned, then carefully pushed the blanket off of herself, trying not to disturb Rarity. She gingerly stood up and stretched. When she looked around and saw Rainbow Dash already awake, surprise momentarily flashed across her face.

Rainbow Dash decided to mess with her a little, so she smirked at Applejack, an expression of smug pride in a challenge conquered. What? Thought I couldn't wake up as early as you? She conveyed, without words. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to do that. Partly it was old habit, that was just how the two of them interacted so much of the time. But she half consciously suspected, to herself, that the bigger part was more to keep up that appearance of still being the old Dash they knew, not let anypony else see insecurity and uncertainty. It wasn't really a good answer, but she wasn't sure how exactly to stop herself.

Applejack just grinned back and shook her head, rolling her eyes. Sugarcube, y'all will turn anything into a contest, won't ya? Rainbow Dash could practically hear her saying.

One by one, the rest of them woke at their own paces. There was no rush. The room grew brighter and the sun was fully up and shining by the time they were all awake and moving.

Twilight Sparkle used the small coffee machine provided in the room to brew a pot of fresh coffee. She and Applejack each drank a cup, joined enthusiastically by Gilda, who said she hadn't had real coffee in a long time out in the Griffin kingdom, and, indeed, savored it slowly in small sips while it cooled. Rainbow Dash decided against any herself, with her stomach still not feeling particularly good. She was already edgy, anyway, it would just give her the shakes. Once the coffee was gone, Fluttershy used to machine to make plain hot water and brewed tea with it, which she and Rarity drank. Pinkie Pie also had some, though hers was so heavily infused with sweeteners it might have been hard to really taste any of the tea part of it anymore.

After morning drinks were done with, the ponies and Gilda began cleaning up the room. The blankets and pillows were thrown back onto the two beds. The ponies' saddlebags were repacked and gotten ready for travel once again. Anything that was moved was carefully put back into position. One last careful visual sweep of the room, and they went to the front desk to check out. With nothing broken or damaged, they got their entire security deposit back (a point that Twilight took a particular pride in), and divided the bits back up among themselves.

After they left the hotel, they were standing outside, in the front lawn, near the road, debating leisurely in the morning sun. Opinions were divided on how to pass their time until 7pm when the train would leave. Rainbow Dash listened to the others discussing their ideas for how to spend the day, getting anxious, not exactly sure of how she should throw an announcement about her own plans that she'd been silently harboring since she'd woken up that morning into the discussion. But she knew she couldn't let them go on too long without telling them.

The others wouldn't like it, maybe, but it wasn't going to get any easier by waiting to spring it. Best to just bite the bullet and get it out of the way. She waited for a quiet lull in conversation.

"Guys, I have to go back to the camp." She said simply, once her opening came. All the others in the group turned to look at her.

"You what?" Applejack asked, as if she hadn't heard right.

"I have to go back to the old camp again." Rainbow Dash repeated.

"Now why in the tarnation would you do that?" Applejack asked, looking irritated, taking a step closer to Rainbow Dash. "Aintcha already done enough to yourself on this trip?"

"Look, I don't expect you to understand." Rainbow Dash said back. "And I'm not gonna ask any of you to come with me, that's not what I'm saying. You guys stay here, do what you want. You should try and have some fun in town. But I have to go."

"And who says I'm gonna let ya?" Applejack stared down Rainbow Dash.

"Who says you can stop me?" Rainbow Dash shot back, meeting Applejack's stare.

Applejack started closing in on Rainbow Dash. "I'll show ya who's gonna - " She began to threaten.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and crouched down slightly, springy on her legs, ready to launch into flight or take on a brawl. Gilda, watching what was happening, quickly stepped in next to Dash, also in a fighting posture, getting ready to back up her pegasus friend.

Twilight Sparkle's eyes widened and her brow furrowed with anger. "Girls!" She burst in between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "Hold it! This isn't the way to solve anything!" Her voice was loud and urgent with assumed authority, intervening to command control of the deteriorating situation.

They all froze, Dash and Gilda on one side, Applejack on the other, and Twilight in the middle of them all, looking back and forth.

"Come on!" Twilight admonished them. "As much as I know you two love bickering with each other, we're in a strange town and it's too early in the morning for this 'who's-the-alpha-mare' nonsense!"

The silence was tense. The two sides stared at each other, each waiting to see if the other would move - each waiting to react in the blink of an eye.

Twilight's point couldn't really be denied, Rainbow Dash had to admit, and she began to feel a strange sense of unsettlement. Reality check time... Things were out of hoof. What was she doing, she found herself wondering, about to come to blows with a good friend practically at the drop of a hat? Sudden regret came over her. Slowly, she relaxed her wings, letting them drop. and straightened her legs, standing upright. Applejack also relaxed, no longer set to advance. An unspoken truce was formed, visibly bringing relief to all involved as some of their tension melted away.

Another few nervous seconds, and the stare-down finally broke. Applejack looked down at the ground and dug a forehoof at the dust, looking like she suddenly felt foolish. "Aww, dang it..." She mumbled. "I'm sorry, Dash... Guess I'm just gettin' scared, after what I saw yesterday. I just... Don't want ya to hurt yourself all over again, that's all... What kinda friend would I be if I let ya?"

"I know, A.J." Rainbow Dash said. "And I appreciate you looking out for me. But I'm not trying to hurt myself more. I gotta do this so I can try to stop hurting."

"Now that don't make any sense!" Applejack protested.

"I said I don't expect you to understand." Rainbow Dash said. A coldness in her own voice surprised her... It worried her.

"Then help me understand!" Applejack cried out with an edge of frustration starting in her voice. "Stop keepin' it inside and talk to me! We were doin' good last night, weren't we?"

Quiet settled over the two of them for a few more seconds. A cutting smart remark flashed through Dash's mind, seemingly out of nowhere, involuntarily, but she stifled it as she fought her impulse to stay on the defensive. She knew Applejack was right. Last night's openness was something they all needed, and still did. She hated that she kept unconsciously trying to fall back on the tough fascade, like always. It was so dumb... It would be a blatant mask, and a harmful regression. They'd know she was keeping them out. This was only going to hurt everypony.

No! No more of this!

Time to drop the act and just tell the truth. She sensed that the future closeness of her friendships with all of them might depend on it... Right here... Right now.

Especially with Applejack. After the way she'd reached out, after all she'd done, Rainbow Dash knew she owed her at least that much. She made herself look the orange and blonde pony in the eyes... Those pretty green eyes, looking back, trying to fathom her friend.

There was a moment's pause. "I didn't finish yesterday." Rainbow Dash finally said softly.

"Didn't finish what?" Applejack asked skeptically. "Kickin' trees?"

The sarcasm bit a little, but Rainbow Dash shrugged it off. "No. What I've been waiting five years to finish... What I finally have a chance to finish now." She responded. "Look, I don't... I'm sorry, I don't really know how to explain why, I just know I gotta go try and do it... Something I gotta get over with for good. Either come with, or just let me go alone. But don't try to stop me. I have to. Please. Help me out here, Applejack."

Rainbow Dash's eyes were no longer hostile or combative, as they had been before. They were asking for cooperation, instead.

Applejack looked back into those eyes, and she couldn't seem to resist them. Her own face changed from frustration to full of concern. "Alright, Dash." She finally relented. "If that's the way it's gotta be... I'll go with ya. Fer the record, I still think this is a bad idea... But at least if I go with ya I can keep an eye on ya."

"I think we'll all go with, if that's okay with Rainbow." Twilight Sparkle said. "Right, girls?" She looked around at the group. Quietly, every one of the rest of the ponies nodded yes. Rainbow also nodded her agreement.

With that decision made, Twilight took initiative and led the way. They walked as a group to the road and started out.

Most of the long walk was in silence.

---

At the end of the long road, the ponies found themselves facing the same place they had the day before.

The white roses were still resting there, on the side of the stone, where Rainbow Dash had left them yesterday. Just like yesterday, they were pristine, unspoiled, and still carried their sweet scent, gently and faintly wreathing their surroundings in it.

As before, Rainbow Dash approached that white stone and stood by herself in front of it, the rest of the ponies waiting patiently at a distance.

She stood there for a long time without doing anything, trying to just feel all the things roiling around inside of her... Trying to figure out how to do this.

She knew where she wanted to go... But there was no exactly definable path. Knowing where it had to end was one thing, but trying to get there, trying to get all the important things in between, was evasive. Grasp one, the rest would slip away. By the time one part was concrete, other things she had solidified before danced away back into abstraction, still there but intangible.

It frustrated her. She was doing something wrong.

Maybe...

Maybe she was just trying too hard to use the wrong tool. Planning wasn't really her strong suit, she knew.

Maybe it wasn't her head she should be using for this.

Maybe it was her heart.

That was where this really dwelled, after all.

Realizing that the conscious effort wasn't really going to get it any more right or perfect than going off the cuff, she finally had to simply trust, hope, that all of it... Or enough of the essential spirit of it... Would come out on its own as she went.

So she stopped thinking and just started.

"Hey Ally." She spoke. "Yeah, I'm back. I'm back because there's still more things to say... I, uhh... I've gotta get them out, while I'm still here, in Jennetstown. Hope you don't mind being pestered so much." She smiled, just slightly. "Well... What I have to say is that, ummm... It's about, you know, the way that this... You being gone... The effect it's had on me. The effect it's still having. It's still hard because I have to admit it... I keep holding on."

She said nothing for a long time.

"I just... Keep... Holding on." She finally continued, slowly, at barely a whisper. "And I've been trying to let go... Of everything that happened, back in the war... But this is the one thing I haven't... Yet..."

Her lip shook, and she cleared her throat, swallowed heavily.

"I've been holding on to you for all these years." Rainbow Dash said. "Holding on because... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for what happened... I know you didn't blame me but I'm still sorry. I know that's kinda dumb but I can't help it."

She paused, staring thoughtfully at the stone.

"It's the not knowing." She finally said. "All these years later, it hurts that I still don't really know if there was anything I could have done - if there was something I should have done differently, if I could have helped you more, if I could have just been there for you more. I keep wondering if I could have saved you somehow. Time is supposed to heal all wounds, but it doesn't always work that way. It's made some parts of what I've been through easier as I've worked at accepting it, and I've been mostly alright for a long time now, but there's one thing I couldn't get over... What happened to you. I was angry, and it hurt... It hurt so much. It still does. All this time I've always wanted you back, more than anything. I guess I always will, in a way, and that's normal for a good friend. But it's the thing I haven't been fair with myself about. I keep beating myself up about it, 'cause I guess... I felt like if I let go it'd be admitting defeat by letting myself lose something I just wasn't ready to give up. Partly I was scared that letting you go would mean letting you fade away into forgottenness, even though I know that's not true. Partly I also kept holding on because I'm still so afraid of it being my fault. I've felt so guilty for so long. I wanted to fight it so hard, to... I don't know... Somehow make it right, find some kind of justice, or something. Anything to make it complete, fill in these unanswered questions, reclaim some part of you on my own terms in my own mind. But I know the truth. I always have. I just didn't want to look at it and say it out loud. But I'm finally ready because I know it has to be said. I know that it's not gonna happen. I know that I'll never have those answers, and that I can't get you back. There's nothing I can do. You're gone, and I know it, and there's nothing anypony can do about that." Rainbow Dash said.

She took a deep breath, and sighed. "I'm finally trying to let myself be ready now because when I think about it, I remember how you were, and I know that you wouldn't want this, the way I've been to myself. You wouldn't want me to keep hanging on to something pointless, hurting for no reason. That's never how you were. We watched each other's backs, 'cause we were the same like that. You wanted to protect me just as much as I wanted to protect you. It's just... You were there for me, every day, whenever I needed you, for those three years. So I felt like I owed it to you to hold on, to fight for you. I tried... 'Cause that's what I felt like I had to do. But I guess, like my friends tell me, I can't always be the one to carry everything all the time, no matter how much I want to do that... I know you'd want me to just say it and let it go, because if it was me, and you were the one still alive, I'd want that for you, too."

"So..." Rainbow Dash choked on her words. "... This is... So hard... But I have to..."

Rainbow Dash's jaw quivered and her throat felt tight. She struggled, finally forcing herself to speak.

"Goodbye, Alabaster."

The words brought a welling of tears out with them. They felt like pulling a barbed spine from her own flesh - relief at having it out, mixed with sharp new bursts of pain, another fresh trickle of blood, at every tug it took to extract it. The last few were undoubtedly some of the worst, the most agonizing. But it had to go. After years of letting it sit there, afraid to touch it for fear of that pain... Now or never. Time to give it those last couple quick pulls.

Almost done.

She bowed her head down, lowering it until her forehead was resting on the surface of the rounded memorial stone. As she cried, her tears fell, wetting the surface, leaving long streaks as they slowly rolled down.

"I'll never forget you, I promise." She whispered. "And I love you..."

"I always will..."

"But it's time... To finally say..."

Her head rested on the stone, still, perfectly still, eyes closed.

A gentle breeze blew, barely waving the long blades of grass.

"... Goodbye."

There was not a move, not a sound, not even a sound of breath, from any of the ponies or the griffin watching.

After a long moment of quiet, there was a sharp inhalation as Rainbow Dash breathed deep, her shoulders rising and chest expanding, then an exhalation, shoulders falling, chest deflating.

She finally lifted her head, the wet trails of tears still down her cheeks, and looked off into the distance.

It was done.

She got up and slowly walked away from the stone, to join the other ponies once again.

One by one, saying nothing, they hugged her, briefly, tears forming in each of their own eyes as they did so. Gilda hugged her last of all, a little longer than the others. "I'm sorry about her, Dash." She said softly in Rainbow Dash's ear as they embraced. Gently, she ran one hand through Rainbow Dash's mane in a comforting way. "I'm sorry." Rainbow Dash was slightly surprised, but grateful, at the warmth. For as gruff as the griffin could be, she had her moments sometimes... And it was a moment she could desparately use right now.

After the round of hugs was over, the ponies and Gilda stood around for a little while, glancing at the stone briefly now and then. Somehow, it didn't feel like time to leave yet, but there wasn't much to say to each other.

They all milled around uncertainly, until Applejack broke from the group and approached the white stone.

She walked up to it slowly. As she stood in front of it, she reached up and took her hat off, pinning it against the front of her chest with a forelimb. She looked a little lost for words, at first, but found some after a moment's consideration. "Hey there... Miss Alabaster..." She began. "I know we never met and I ain't the best with words, but, uh... I thought that while I'm here, I oughta say... I appreciate everything ya done for us... All of us... And especially for Rainbow Dash. A good friend ain't easy to find, and it sounds like you were a good one to Rainbow, out here, where things were toughest. Wish ya were still with us. World could use more ponies like you. G'bye." She turned, and walked away back to the group, putting her hat back on.

As Applejack returned, Twilight Sparkle began walking to the stone.

"Hello." She said. "We never met either... And I guess we won't now, since it's too late, and I'm sorry about that... But I kinda feel like we have, in a way, because ever since Rainbow Dash first told me about you, I've felt like you're something pretty special. I know you meant a lot to her. I know what it's like when you're in a situation where you don't have a lot of - or any - friends. Even if what happened in the end had to hurt, I think you being out here with her before that might have made all the difference. I know that you helped her make it home to us. We owe you a lot for that. I don't know how to ever repay it, other than to just say, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I wish things had turned out better. I'm sorry. Goodbye, Alabaster Storm."

Twilight walked away, and Rarity took her place.

"I'm not sure just what to say." Rarity spoke sadly. "But I feel as if I should at least try to say something. I don't know anything about the dreadfulness of going to fight a war. But... What I do know is true is that me not knowing is thanks to brave ponies such as yourself who do. Ponies like you are heroes. You've made Equestria safe for a modest little dressmaker and her shop, at least. It may not be much but it means the world to me. Thank you for that. And thank you for being a friend to our Rainbow Dash. Goodbye."

Rarity looked at the stone wistfully, for a few seconds, and walked away.

Pinkie Pie came forward to take a turn.

"Hi." She said, a little subdued from her usual effervescent self. "I just wanna say we woulda been friends, 'cause I can make friends with anypony. But one of my especially good best friends is Rainbow Dash. You knew her, too, so we were already like... Second cousin friends, or something. And friends look out for each other. I know that you looked out for Rainbow Dash, and she looked out for you. I'd like to get to do that too. I might not be able to do it in the same way, exactly, but I know that I can throw you a totally rockin' party someday. It's not the same as what you two had, but it's what I'm good at. It'll be great - no, better than great. Epic. Ponyville's party of the year. I Pinkie Pie Promise that. I'm just..." She sniffed down forming tears, working to keep herself together. "I'm just sorry you can't be there in person... Bye bye..."

Pinkie Pie trotted away, hanging her head a little, eyes watering heavily.

Fluttershy slowly, ponderingly, walked over.

"Hello, um... Miss Storm..." She said haltingly. "Your story was very sad, and I'm so sorry about that. Rainbow Dash is my oldest friend. I've known her all my life. She's always protected me when other ponies were being bad to me or whenever I've needed help. I know that she'll always... Defend my honor... That's what she calls it... So I know how important having somepony like that is, when you're a pony like me who's not very strong and not very brave. From what Rainbow Dash tells us I think it sounds like you were like that... Like her. Thank you so much for protecting all the rest of us. I'm sorry you're gone... Goodbye..."

A few tears were running down Fluttershy's cheeks as she turned and walked away. She reached up with one forehoof and wiped them away.

Hesitantly, looking uncertain, Gilda walked up to the stone last.

"Dude, I don't really know what to say." She muttered, after some head-shaking. "I'm not sure how I still feel myself about this whole war, so it ain't easy for me, you know? Bad things happened. I've spent five years trying to make up for the bad things I did. But I think you were only trying to do what you really thought was right. I couldn't ever hold that against you, not now. 'Sides... Griffins act all proud and we have rough manners and whatever sometimes, but... We respect a good fighter, or we're supposed to, anyway, whether it's a friend or an enemy. And if you fought next to Dash... Well... I guess you had to be pretty awesome."

Gilda looked at the stone with a strange expression for a few seconds. She reached up and put her right hand on it, talons clacking very gently upon its hard surface, and spoke quietly, something none of the ponies could understand - a couple sentences in the Griffin language - and then was silent.

"Well, Ally Storm... Goodbye." She finally concluded, taking her hand off the stone.

Gilda walked away to rejoin the group of ponies.

She left, and that white stone with its little bouquet of alabaster roses was alone again, silent again... At rest... At peace, there in the green grass under a blue sky.

That was the sense of it that Rainbow Dash had in her mind, looking at it now, she discovered.

Peaceful.

Finally... Eternally peaceful.

It felt strange, a little surprising, to see it that way. It felt... Settled... Empty, somehow... Like the distress and fear it had radiated were gone out of it. It felt like a book that had been left open to an anxiously unfinished last page for a long time was finally read to the final word and the cover closed, ready to go back to the shelf. She searched herself, and found that there was no sense of good or bad, no more commotion, only what felt like a vast, borderless calm... And relief. The spine was out. Maybe the hole it left behind wasn't all done, yet... Maybe it was still sore, still oozing blood, a little... But maybe now it could really heal on its own.

"So... Everypony get it all said? We done here?" Applejack asked. She looked around at the rest of the ponies.

"I am." Rainbow Dash answered her. "It's all out. I'm done."

"Ya sure? I don't wanna rush ya. Sure you don't want any more time to think?"

"Nah." Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Thinking about it... About her... I've done enough of that in the last five years. It's all been thought about so many times I'm sick of it. I'm ready to just be done for a while. I'm ready to let it rest now."

"Ya don't know how glad I am to hear that, Rainbow." Applejack sounded relieved. "So what's everypony say we get a start on heading back?"

Twilight Sparkle turned away from the group and walked towards the edge of the land, the sudden drop to the rest of the meadow beyond. "Actually, if it's alright, I'd kind of like to go get a look at the field down there." She stood at the cleft, looking down into the lower ground below. "I'd be interested to see if there's anything left of the old army camp."

"Didn't Rainbow say yesterday there were more graves and such down there?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, I did." Rainbow Dash nodded. "And there are. It's not a pretty place, Twilight. You don't really wanna go down there."

"It may not be the most pleasant place, but when am I ever going to be here again?" Twilight asked. "I can handle it... And I really think this is something I should look at for myself while I can." She turned back toward the ledge, looking out again on the field beyond, staring out at it while the tall grass gently rippled in the breeze, gold and green.

After a few seconds, Rainbow Dash walked over to Twilight, and joined her, standing there side by side at the edge. "Well... If you're going, I'm going with you." She said.

The rest of the ponies looked at her briefly with surprise, then glanced around at each other, with looks conveying worry.

"No!" Applejack said firmly. "Not a chance, Rainbow! Ya been through enough for now!"

"Yeah, well, she can't go alone!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We're in the middle of nowhere at the very edge of the Equestrian borders. It's not safe to just go wander around by yourself."

"Then why were you sayin' you were gonna come out here alone this morning?" Applejack asked critically.

"That's different!" Rainbow Dash said. "I'm familiar with the whole area. I've got the training and experience to protect myself. And in case you hadn't gotten the memo, I've got a set of wings I'm pretty freakin' fast on."

"Well, then, fine. If it's so dangerous for us slow-poke ponies to go it alone, I'll go with her instead." Applejack volunteered. "So you can stay here, Speedy McGee."

"And how do you plan on getting down that cleft, smartypony?" Rainbow Dash questioned her, looking at the sharp drop. It was much too far to just jump down unassisted without being injured, maybe even killed, by the fall.

Applejack was silenced for a moment, pondering the deadly height, then snorted in frustration at being foiled.

"Just what I thought." Rainbow Dash said, a touch smugly. "And trying to find a walking path down'll take forever. Couldn't even tell you where to start looking. Road's gone now. Sorry, but it's gonna have to be somepony who flies or goes poof with their horn."

"Ugh..." Applejack was frustrated. "Fine! Fluttershy, then. She's got wings."

"I... Guess I do..." Fluttershy said, weakly, looking around nervously.

"Oh, that's a good one, Applejack." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. "Yeah, let's send the weakest possible flier with the weakest possible voice. That'll be useful if something goes wrong!"

"Hey...!" Fluttershy started, indignantly. "Now just a minute, you... You..." She faded off ineffectually. She tried to rebut, but appeared lost in the consideration that it was technically true - she was the weakest flier there, and she did have the weakest voice.

"Rainbow! That was mean!" Twilight Sparkle looked angry by now at the argument unfolding. "Seriously, what is it with you two butting heads today? Now you're trampling poor Fluttershy in the process! This is really turning into a problem!"

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash turned to face Twilight Sparkle, with the same stubborn glare on their faces. "I'm trying to look out for my friend!" They both exclaimed, at exactly the same instant, an unrehearsed harmony of complete coincidence.

A brief split second of shock overtook both their faces as they turned to look at each other in surprise, then for another split second, they stared at each other in dead silence.

Rainbow Dash acted first. "Jinx!" She quickly blurted out, and briefly stuck out her tongue at Applejack with smug smile.

Applejack responded in a low, growling voice. "Aww, take yer jinx an'..."

"Enough!" Twilight Sparkle proclaimed in frustration. "Look, I can't ask anypony to go with me. I'm willing to assume the risk, I'll go by myself. I just have to see this. Just wait for me up here until I get back, okay? That's all. No more arguing."

"Yeah... No, Twilight." Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I'm not letting you go alone. Sorry. It's just not safe."

"Hey, look..." Gilda spoke up. "Maybe A.J.'s right, Dash. We all got our limits, you know? And you've been pushing yours just to come here. I know you, Dash... I know you wanna act tough but we both know this hasn't been easy for you. So I'll do it. I got wings and and a roar and you know I know how to use 'em. I'll go with Twilight down into the camp if it'll make you feel better to know someone's with her."

"I know you're a good flier but you still don't know the area like I do, G." Rainbow Dash said. "And the worst part is over for me. Really, dude, I got this." A light of new determination was shining in Dash's eyes.

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus still had a hurt look on her face. "Fluttershy... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it... I was just getting caught up in the moment. I'm serious. I know you've got it in you to help all of us when it's important, 'cause you've done it before. I never shoulda said what I did." Dash said. Fluttershy didn't immediately reply, but she did hold her head up a little higher and shook her hair back, not hiding so much behind it anymore.

"And Applejack..." She turned to her earth pony friend. "You trusted me to come this far. I did alright. I'm still okay, aren't I? Just trust me enough to believe it when I tell you I know that I'll be alright down there, too. Okay? Are we good?"

Applejack snorted. "We're not good 'till I know you're outta the woods, Rainbow. But..." She sighed. "The truth is, I know I ain't really got much right to stop ya, and Twilight's right, we shouldn't be arguin' the way we are. Just make it quick, would ya?"

"Alright." Rainbow Dash nodded. "You got it, A.J."

"Ya hear that, Twilight?" Applejack addressed the purple pony. "Quick."

"Yes, Applejack." Twilight sounded annoyed. "I hear you just fine."

With that, Twilight turned and studied the ground at the bottom of the cleft, choosing a level spot. She closed her eyes and concentrated momentarily, her horn glowed with a brilliant purple aura and she disappeared with a *pop*, instantaneously reappearing down below.

Rainbow Dash took off from the edge of the cleft and glided down to join Twilight. She landed, and the two of them started walking side by side through the tall wild grass, off towards where the any lingering remains of the old encampment might be found.

---

"While I am glad for the company, and it was chivalrous of you, you know I don't need a foalsitter." Twilight Sparkle commented, eyes focused on the ground ahead of her as she walked slowly through the field, taking in the details left in the ground. She was walking alongside the ruts still imprinted into the dirt from the path that large siege machines, catapaults and trebuchets of incredible size, used to be pulled along.

"I'm fully aware, Twi." Rainbow Dash replied. "I'm not here to foalsit. I'm here to watch your back."

Twilight paused her stride and looked up at Rainbow Dash. "You really don't feel safe here, do you?" She asked with concern. "Applejack is right, you shouldn't be out here."

"I know it's probably fine." Rainbow Dash said. "I know nothing should really happen. Place has been abandoned for years, why would anything or anyone be out here? But I still can't shake the feeling somehow. I don't know what's wrong..." She shook her head. "Just leftover stress, I guess. I'll get over it. I'm fine, Twi. And you really shouldn't be alone, just in case."

"If you say so." Twilight's eyes lingered on Rainbow Dash, worried, before they went back to the ground, resuming her investigation.

After a while, Twilight Sparkle drifted off the line of wheelruts and into other sections of the pathless field. Walking around through the thick grass, she and Rainbow Dash gradually came to an area in which the ground was studded intermittently with square-carved rocks poking up from the ground, hard to see sometimes because they were nearly invisible where the lush grasscover was thickest. Rainbow Dash tried not to look at them too closely. She already knew exactly what they were.

Twilight Sparkle picked her way through them, briefly examining each one she passed close to. She had no visible reaction, though she was careful with her steps and tried respectfully not to step on or inadvertently kick any as she moved among them.

She passed by one after another, giving each a quick glance and moving on, until one in particular seemed like it snagged her. She gave it the same glance as the rest, at first, but then stopped in the middle of her next stride and did a double take. She kept staring longer than usual at it. Her eyes scanned back and forth over it several times, as if there was some difficulty in comprehending what they were conveying.

Twilight Sparkle's face fell. "I know this unicorn." She said flatly.

"Hmm?" Rainbow Dash walked up and looked down at what Twilight was reading.

It was small, a low slab in a rectangular shape, of brownish stone flecked and marbled in black. The top was flat. The text on it was carved with skilled precision, but very simple, straight to the point.

Moondancer of Canterlot

A cutie mark was carved below the name.

"I... I know this unicorn." Twilight said again, a chilled note in her voice.

"Are you sure?" Rainbow Dash asked. "... Could be a coincidence..."

"No." Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "What are the odds of the same name and the same cutie mark, and coming from the same town? I knew her in Canterlot, when I lived there as Celestia's student. She was another student at the palace, under a different instructor. She... She invited me and the other students to parties sometimes. I don't even know how many of her invitations I just ignored. She always said she was going to get try to get a commission as an officer in the unicorn corps with the army. But I left before I ever heard what happened with that. I ignored her invitations. I wasn't really a friend. I never was back then. I ignored her... I studied so much that I just ignored her..."

The look of pain on Twilight Sparkle's face made Rainbow Dash hurt inside.

Her heart sank.

This, she thought... This, right here. This is exactly what she was afraid of, for her friends. This is what she'd wanted more than anything to prevent... This kind of personal shock, personal affliction by the residue of the war. She couldn't have predicted what it would be, specifically, but what was happening now hit the nail of her fears on the head.

It was her fault for letting this happen. She suddenly felt weak... And she felt ashamed... Because Twilight wouldn't be here right now, finding out this way, if it wasn't for her.

She was supposed to be their shield, but she couldn't do it this time. She couldn't protect her friend.

She wasn't strong enough, not here.

Not here.

Now do you finally understand why I wanted to come to Jennetstown alone? She thought sadly. Seen enough to get it yet, Twilight?

She didn't say it out loud. An 'I told you so' was no comfort - more like a callous slap in the face - to somepony in distress... So she tried to choose her next words carefully. She hoped fervently that they would help. If she couldn't stop the blow, she had to at least try to soften the sting.

"It's done and you can't change it, Twi." She said softly, brushing up gently against Twilight Sparkle, shoulder to shoulder. "But you're a different pony now, so let it go."

Twilight didn't say anything, she just kept staring at the gravestone, reading it over and over again, studying every irregularity, every chip, every mark, every grain and crystal, anguished disbelief all over her expression.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash said, more forcefully. Twilight turned her head to look at Dash, and Dash was worried by the blankness in her eyes. "You hear me?"

Twilight slowly nodded yes in acknowledgement.

"C'mon, Twilight." Rainbow Dash nudged her, just a tiny bit. "Time to walk away."

Twilight said nothing, but she followed Rainbow Dash's lead, turning aside from the gravestone and taking a few steps in the opposite direction. When they'd opened up some distance, Twilight Sparkle stopped and sat down. Her face had a haunted look on it. She stared down at her forehooves. Rainbow Dash turned and stood in front of her, and saw that she was shaking, just slightly, in the forelegs, the kind of shaking left in a pony in the aftermath of a powerful shock or fright. Her eyes were glazed, not really looking at anything in particular as they stared downward. She sat there for a while longer, not saying anything.

"Seen enough?" Rainbow Dash asked, after she gave Twilight some time.

"Yes. More than I wanted." Twilight nodded.

"Wanna get going?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah." Twilight smiled weakly at Rainbow Dash. "Yeah. Getting back to town would be nice. I... Uhh... I could use a drink."

"Alright. C'mon, then." Rainbow Dash nodded back. Maybe that actually wasn't a half bad idea, she thought... Maybe she could use one herself, too... And she had something in mind almost immediately, coming up out of the depths of her past memories of here. "I think I know a place. We'll see if it's still open. Can't imagine it wouldn't be."

Comments

[dashybrony2012]

Wow I didn't see Moondancer comin