“Bang, bang go the coffin nails,
Like a breath exhaled, then gone forever,
Seems like just yesterday,
How did I miss the red flags raised?
Think back to the days we laughed,
We braved these bitter storms together.
Brought to his knees he cried,
But on his feet he died…”
Rainbow Dash was sitting on Fluttershy’s bed, vaguely aware of the soft aroma of flowers that always seemed to appear in any place the yellow filly spent large amounts of time.
Also sitting on the bed was her mp3 player. For once, the volume was at a sane level. She didn’t feel in the mood for loud music at the moment.
“Dashie?”
Rainbow didn’t move and when she spoke her voice was flat. “Where did you go?”
There was no reply but, after a moment, Rainbow felt a wing draped around her shoulders. “I needed to talk to Cherry.”
“You did what?”
“Just listen for a minute, would you? I had good reason and there’s something you need to hear, if not from her than from me.”
And so Rainbow listened patiently as Fluttershy repeated everything Cherry had told her. When she was finished, Rainbow spoke. “That doesn’t change anything. I don’t care what her motivation was. She betrayed me to save her own skin and friends don’t do that.”
“But she cared for you, she still cares, she tracked you down just to apologise, surely all that counts for something?”
“…No…”
“Will you at least talk to her?”
“No.”
Fluttershy lay a gentle hoof on a cyan cheek, turned Rainbow's face and looked in to her eyes. “Wrong answer, try again.”
“No.”
“Keep trying.”
Unable to look in to those beautiful teal orbs any longer, Rainbow turned away and said, “Fine, I’ll talk to her. But it won’t change anything.”
“Good, go on, then.”
The pale pink filly was easy to find. Her tears seemed to have dried for now. Rainbow landed quietly behind her and walked over, dumping herself down beside Cherry.
“She talked you in to coming?”
Rainbow gave a half laugh. “Eyes like that, she could persuade me to chop off my wings.”
“I’m sorry, Dash. I know how much I hurt you and I won’t ask you to forgive me. I just wanted you to know why I did what I did.”
“You don’t.”
Cherry turned to her looking confused. “I don’t what?”
“Know how much you hurt me. You don’t now and you never will.”
Cherry’s eyes filled with tears again but she didn’t allow them to fall. “What are you doing here?”
Instead of answering, Rainbow just sighed and removed one of her earpieces and put it in one pink ear.
“Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive, is what makes us who we are…”
The two sat for a while in silence. It was quite a time before Cherry finally spoke. “I’ll transfer to a different school. I don’t want to hurt you any more.”
“That would be best.”
Cherry couldn’t stop the tear that leaked from the corner of her eye.
“Goodbye Cherry. I hope you have a good life.” Rainbow stood up and began to walk away.
“Rainbow, wait!”
Rainbow paused.
“I know I said I wouldn’t ask, but I just have to. Please, please, can you forgive me?”
Rainbow teetered, grappling with herself but she had made up her mind. It was for the best and she knew it. “No.” There was no venom in the word, no scorn, just an answer. Her tone suggested Cherry had asked simply if she would like more sugar in her tea. For some reason, this tone hurt more than any shout would have.
Without saying another word, Rainbow flew off, leaving the pink filly to continue her crying in peace.
It was several minutes before Cherry noticed the uncomfortable feeling in her left wing. She stretched it out to examine the source of the discomfort. There, tucked in among her feathers, was a small folded piece of paper. She plucked it out and unfolded it. On the note were three words written in in an orange-gold ink “I forgive you.”
Cherry did leave the school the next day. She hadn’t really settled in and she certainly hadn’t made any friends. So there was no one to see her off when she flew away with her saddlebags bulging. Nearly no one, standing just behind a tree, a certain cyan filly stood and watched, her face impassive.
“It’s for the best.” Those words were the mortar in the wall that was holding her tears in check. Rainbow knew that Cherry would be ok and at least they had found some kind of resolution. While she was by no means happy that Cherry had turned up, she could at least respect her desire to make things right and, who knew, maybe one day they would meet again on different terms.
She liked that thought. She hoped they would, someday. She watched the pink spot vanish in to the distance and smiled a little.
She wasn’t surprised when she felt a hoof on her back. “I’m glad you two sorted things out.”
“Hmm…”
The two stood in contented silence, watching the horizon as the sun set. After a time, they turned and, without a word, walked back to their dorm.
Wow, a day off school and I release two chapters in one day. Sorry this one is kinda short but I just felt like there needed to be a break between this and the next chapter. Disclaimers: The first song was "Make It Stop" by Rise Against and the second was "Survive" also by Rise Against. This chapter was partially inspired by a fanfiction called "Make It Stop" by TheRealBonBon. This is an amazing story and I highly recommend checking it out. Sorry I broke my promise that this would be a happy chapter... (Also, I'm not sure if I should ad an OC tag. thoughts?) (And a great big thanks to nightmare4213 for recommending I change the song where RD and Cherry are talking to "Survive.")
I won't lie, I feel a little bit sad that she's gone. It's a little bit sad it ended this way, but, I think it's true. It really is for the best. They've managed to part on better terms and now just need to be away from one another. At least now, hey, in the future, they can meet again under different circumstances. And by then, the years will have gone by, they would have all grown, things would be a lot better. I think that's something to think about.
1466847 Hmm, this sounds like the framework for a sequel to me...
1466862 You know what, I think it does!
Hmmm, I get the feeling that Some Nights by Fun. would make for a good song for this fic, and I don't know why.
"Swing Life Away" and now "Make It Stop". Two of their best songs and you put them in a story, you are amazing. But I do not think that "Make It Stop" worked well for this but still it was a nice try. Maybe "Survive" would have worked better?
1467419 *looks it up song on youtube* I think I see what you mean actually.
1467433 I did wonder about that bit actually. Do you mean the first bit of it where Dash was listening to it by herself didn't work, the bit where she played it to Cherry, or both? I'll probably redo it tomorrow...
(Having now listened to the song you're totally right! I'mma go change that now. Thanks for the recontamination. )
1467436
1467467 That's a rather sad song though... is this story really that sad...? *Facehoof* of course it is, I haven't published the final chapter yet...
1467478
Things happen, song could be used to start a sad that ends happy unless that's not where you're going. I dunno, I'm not the author.
1467500 By tomorrow everyone will know exactly where I've been going...
1467556
YAY!
1467443
Well no problem at. Just trying to to help because you been using rise against song which is amazing.
And thank you for the big thanks at the end of the chapter.
At least this is a change from the norm. In most, stories, not just fanfiction, when the ex (she's not really an ex but whatever) leaves, it's because they ended up either with a physical or verbal beatdown. Here, at least they're on good terms. Now I need to go read the final chapter.
But first:
Rainbow should be capitalized. And I think there should be a comma after reply. So, There was no reply, but after a moment without a comma after moment, or There was no reply, but after a moment, with a comma after both reply and moment. Or I suppose that could be kept the way it is. But you should probably capitalize Rainbow.
Don't think pink has to be capitalized, since it's just a colour and not her actual name.
Consider a comma. So, “Just listen for a minute, would you?
I think this could use a comma, too. “Fine, I’ll talk to her.
To the finale! AWAY!
Jfc, I had those exact songs playing just now...I seriously need to get a life.