Without thoughts of cheer, or happiness, or love, the planes of a pony's subconscious can become a dark and foreboding place. A mental prison where motivation and drive are locked away in chains, and the screams for help are subdued by cruel laughter and tears. Rainbow crumbled to the cavern floor with a whimper, ignoring the tears that ran down her fuzzy cyan cheeks as they splashed to the rocky surface beneath her. Chrysalis' horn continued to glow, the green becoming more vivid. The craggy walls were illuminated in the process, and dark shadows spread across the floor like wildfire. Rainbow just shut her eyes and waited for the inevitable, her wings locked to her side and her hooves trembling.
Chrysalis fired a magic bolt at the small pegasus, which darted across the room like a hungry pack of wolves honing in for the kill. As they came within a metre of Dash, a sudden magenta shield seemed to form around her and the bolt dissipated into shards that fell like fading embers to the ground. Rainbow tentatively opened her eyes once more, a gasp escaping her parched lips as she lay witness to the protective layer around her.
"What?" Chrysalis blinked, a low snarl forming in her throat as she tried to charge up another bolt. "You'll pay for that you worm!" She fired bolt after bolt, but the shield refused to yield, and Rainbow got herself to her hooves. Her limbs felt weak and frail, but she hid her pain behind a mask of sly grins and a mischievous gaze. "Why won't you die already?!" The changeling queen screamed, her attacks losing focus in her rage.
"That's enough!"
The voice was small, and Chrysalis held off her attacks for a brief moment as she looked around. Into the glow returned Twilight, with a hesitant Rarity and a number of Unicorn guards. Her horn sparked with a purple fire, and Chrysalis' rage turned for the worst.
"How dare you come and attempt to save this welp!" Chrysalis launched an attack directly at Twilight. Twilight screamed as she dodged out of the way, with three guards taking her position and bringing up an arcane wall to block the threats.
As Twilight lost focus, the shield around Rainbow broke and she launched herself at the changeling beside Chrysalis, using her wings to propel them both forwards. With a grunt, she slammed him against the cavern wall, throwing punches at him like a cornered, crazed cat. Within a few seconds, she was carrying him across the room again in blind fury. Rainbow's eyes seemed to flicker a menacing red. Her brow remained permanently furrowed. She threw the changeling to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Twilight stumbled to her hooves with the help of Rarity, and she stood with the unicorn guards behind the wall. "Just as planned, get the spell ready." She said to them in a calm tone, taking deep breaths as she eyed up Chrysalis. Rows of horns lit up simultaneously, like rainbows in the darkness. "And...now!" Twilight yelled. The arcane defences dropped, and in its wake, the group fired a concentrated beam at Chrysalis. It hit her straight in her thick black shell, and she reeled back in surprise. A silent moment of respite followed the blast, the weak pants of all those involved filling the air. The changeling queen tried to get up again, but her hooves seemed to fall out from beneath her each time she tried. Her black eyes darted back and forth between all of the ponies in her sight.
"You...you will all pay. One day. But not..." Chrysalis scrunched her muzzle in pain as she spoke. "...not today." Her horn had a faded glow that she wrapped herself and her accomplice in, before teleporting out of the cavern. All that was left was dimming green specks of magic hanging in the air, and a small pool of black blood where the changeling had lay after Rainbow's attack. Rainbow herself lay on the floor with her wings spread out, panting. Sweat perpetrated her fur.
"Rainbow? Are you alright?" Twilight spoke up, carefully approaching her friend.
"Mmrf...yeah. I guess." A sigh formed in Rainbow's throat. "Kinda alright. Even though I feel like my heart's been tossed around a blender or something."
"Rainbow..." Twilight sat down next to her, slowly running her hoof along her back like a mother comforting her foal. "I don't really know what to tell you right now, nor do I have any experience in doing so. But you need to keep strong for me right now, okay?" A soft smile spread across her lips. "We can deal with all this mess once we get back to Ponyville. Applejack still needs some serious time to recover."
"Recover?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow, lifting her head up from the floor.
"...She's been stuck in that cocoon for months. Maybe even years. Even she doesn't know." Twilight helped Rainbow up, illuminating the immediate area so they could find their way out. "It's understandably scary for her at the moment."
Rainbow's heart almost froze over. Y-Years? Her thoughts turned to mush. "So that means..."
"I'm sorry, Rainbow."
Rainbow couldn't even keep her head up as they walked out of the cave, conflicted in a myriad of feelings and emotions. Twilight could only pity her winged friend, keeping a hoof wrapped around her as they walked out. Outside in the clearing, the sun's warm light was almost blinding after so long in a lightless hole. Rainbow blinked repeatedly, trying to wash off the effects. In front of her, the unicorn guards muttered amongst one another to the right, while she could make out the huddle of Rarity, Applejack, a confused Pinkie Pie and an even more bewildered Fluttershy. Rarity was the first to spot Rainbow and Twilight emerge, trotting over to them in a hurry.
"Rainbow, I..." Rarity's lip trembled as she tried to speak. "I came to apologise. What- what I said was wrong of me, and very improper, and you're such a wonderful friend, and you've always been so respective of my interests that I...I'm babbling on like an old mare." She let out a nervous giggle, flicking her mane out of her vision. "I'm just so sorry, Rainbow. I must have come across, like...like..."
"A bit of a bitch?" Rainbow chuckled in a weak voice.
"Well uh, in less eloquent terms, yes." Rarity admitted.
"I'm just glad we're all back together. We can go back to Ponyville and just...chill a bit, y'know? I'm all out of awesome right now." Rainbow continued, nudging Rarity with a hoof, prompting a smile from the unicorn. "We cool?"
"Yeah, we cool."
"If it wasn't for Rarity, I don't know if we would have been able to stop that changeling queen." Twilight perked up, shifting up alongside Rainbow. "She went back out the forest and ended up rounding up all the unicorn guards here to try and help clear out the forest. I guess the hooves of fate were in our corner today fortunately. But something tells me that queen is none too happy. I need to study up on my Equestrian creatures clearly..."
"Perhaps, you know, you can leave the studying until after some rest, Twi?" Rainbow spread her wings, ascending into a light hover as she threw a smirk at Twilight. "I, uh...I have a lot to think and talk about anyway." Her eyes gradually shifted over to Applejack, who was in the middle of a very intense conversation with Fluttershy. Fluttershy spotted her gaze and matched it, some embarassment in her calm eyes before she put her attention back on Applejack. "Yeah...definitely a lot to talk about." Rainbow sighed.
The journey back was an arduous one. The guards were quick to dissipate, returning home or simply teleporting away once they were certain it was safe. The six elements kept close together as they trotted back to the Manehattan train station. But there was no conversation, only silence. Words danced on the tip of Rainbow's tongue but she didn't know what to say, or who to. The silence persisted as a train came steaming in, and six pairs of hooves clambered onto it. Rainbow couldn't take her eyes off of Applejack but...it didn't feel the same. This Applejack had no idea of the very same feelings Rainbow had gushed about, those feelings that came out with each touch, each hug...each kiss.
Applejack smiled as she peered out of the train window, fleeting countryside views and vivid landscapes rushing by. A smile that had nothing to do with Rainbow. The pegasus was alone again.