//------------------------------// // Rainbow Dash // Story: Reconciliations // by Soufriere //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer sat on her navy blue sofa, Old Charley, in her apartment’s tiny living area, feet propped up on the giant wooden cable spool she stole from behind some business for use as a table, waiting for the knock on the door. As the only television she had was antenna and nothing even remotely decent was on, she decided to pass the time by engaging in some deep breathing exercises Rarity (prone to hyperventilating) had taught her, in preparation for this afternoon. The knock never came. Instead, Rainbow Dash burst into the apartment without so much as a warning, startling Sunset. The girl had clearly come straight from soccer practice, as sweat was still visible on her sky-blue skin, plus she was wearing her gym clothes and had her hair tied back in a ponytail. I seriously need to remember to lock that door, Sunset thought. Rainbow Dash plopped down on the couch next to Sunset, who did her best to hide her shock at Dash’s lack of decorum behind a friendly nod. For at least a minute, the two stared at each other in silence, the quiet broken only by the muffled sound of traffic outside the window on the far side of the room. Rainbow Dash’s own expression slowly shifted from confusion to annoyance before she finally spoke. “So… what?” Dash asked. “What?” Sunset replied, not getting it. “Rarity told me to come here. So I did. I even cut out of practice early. Now I’m here and you’re not saying anything.” “I’m sorry,” said Sunset, drooping her head. “Well, you should be,” snipped Rainbow Dash, not really looking at Sunset. “I may not be a working girl like Applejack or Rarity, but I still have things I gotta do. This is my only real free time this week and—” Then she noticed Sunset looking at her like a puppy that had been kicked in the face, mouth slightly open as her lower lip quivered. “Hey now,” Rainbow Dash said, trying to salvage the situation. “You don’t need to give me that face, okay?” Sunset nodded, trying to re-neutralize her expression. “Sorry. I’m… not usually this off.” “Yeah, seriously. What is up with you?” asked Dash, in her characteristic lack of tact. “I noticed a few days ago that I hadn’t seen you in, like, a long time, and Rarity said it was because you were ‘sick’. You don’t look sick, but you’re not acting like the Sunset I know.” “I’m not,” Sunset confirmed, morosely. “I mean, where’s the girl that ran CHS with an iron fist for three years, turned into a crazy monster, and blew up half the school?” “She’s dead… I hope,” said Sunset quietly, her voice breaking. “Uh-huh,” Rainbow Dash said breezily, not listening or really looking at Sunset. “I mean, I guess I can’t blame you for not wanting to show your face at school with all the stuff you did. You were kind of a… what’s wrong?” Sunset was hunched over, her hands grabbing either side of her head, fingers intertwined with her two-toned hair. Her breathing had become erratic as she allowed her composure to break, crying softly. A look of utter panic flashed across Rainbow Dash’s face as she looked around the room in vain hope of rescue. Finding none, she instead tried to recall her friends’ empathy lessons. If there was a time to use them, this was it. She leaned in to Sunset, her right arm draped on the back of the couch for stabilization. “Oh, crap. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry. Seriously.” Sunset turned to look at her with slightly-red eyes. “No. I-it’s fine,” she said, though her semi-fetal position and breaking tone made clear it was not. “It’s just how you are. I expected it to go like this.” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash huh’d. After a deep intake of breath, Sunset continued. “Dash, I know I didn’t do much to you during my reign of terror (ugh), but… I still did so many horrible things the last few years. You don’t need to remind me.” Rainbow Dash cocked her head. “But it just comes up naturally sometimes. That’s why I always say ‘no offense’, y’know?” Sunset sighed, shaking her head as she placed a hand on that spot in between her eyebrows. “I know. But it does hurt. I have to live with the guilt of what I’ve done for the rest of my life. Not just here, but everything I did back in Equestria too. I’m trying to show everyone that my past is not today; relitigating it isn’t exactly helpful.” “What?” Dash asked, clearly confused by the big word. Sunset spoke slowly as her brain worked double-time to craft a story her visitor could understand. “Imagine for a second that you… were playing… soccer as a kid…” “I did,” Dash interrupted. “That doesn’t shock me,” Sunset continued. “Anyway, in one of your peewee matches, it just rained the night before, so the field is wet. The coach still makes you all go out there. You have a good strike goal or whatever – sorry, I don’t sports – lined up. You run to kick the ball… and your cleats don’t do their job and you slip on the grass. You fall on your rear in front of dozens of people.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Heh-heh. That sounds embarrassing. And… not too far off from what really happened. Were you at that game?” “I’m not finished,” said Sunset. “So you fall, but your foot is still straight out. Your teammate is standing right there and takes your foot to the face. She falls to the ground, hand over her mouth, blood seeping between her fingers. You broke her nose and knocked out some of her front teeth. They take her to the hospital in an ambulance.” “I don’t think I like where this story is going,” Dash said with a frown. “The next day, everyone at school knows what you did, or they think they do; you know how kids love to exaggerate. Anyway, you learn that you basically disfigured that girl – she’ll have to have false teeth and get a nose job when she’s older to fix your little accident. From then on, your classmates remind you every chance they get about how you messed up a girl forever. They laugh at you, give you a nickname like… face-rearranger. Even as you go into junior high and then high school, your classmates who knew you at the time tell everyone they can what you did. So no one you meet has the chance to get to know you on your own terms. No matter what you do, no one will ever let you forget. Ever,” Sunset concluded. “That’s… awful,” said Dash, shivering at the thought. “That’s my life. The difference of course is that most of what I did was on purpose, so I’ve been willing to accept punishment. But the point is the same, and so is the wish: to move on from the past without other people constantly weighing me down with its baggage,” explained Sunset. Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow, trying to think about what Sunset said. “So… you want people to stop telling you what a bad person you ar— uh, were?” Sunset wished she had a sheet of star-shaped stickers so she could mockingly affix one to Dash’s face. “No. I want you to stop doing that. Let me prove myself as a friend. I want to know I’ll have someone to turn to if I’m ever in this dark place again.” “I, uh, still don’t really get it,” Dash admitted, scratching her head, which was beginning to hurt from all the thinking. “Dash,” Sunset began, slowly and gently, “Not every ‘hurt’ or ‘sick’ is something you can see. A broken leg hurts, but it’s easy to fix. A broken mind is harder because you can’t see it, so it takes a lot longer to heal. I’ve learned that life will get to a point where you can’t go it alone. Twilight told me friends can be your rock. Rarity proved her right. But there’s no point in being friends with her if the rest of you hate me.” Rainbow Dash looked at Sunset as if she had spontaneously sprouted a second head. “We don’t hate you. I mean, I don’t hate you. Yeah, you were a big jerk to us, but that was then. Twilight said we should give you a chance. And any friend of hers deserves it. So I figure, why not? If you go crazy again I’ll just kick your butt!” Dash ended her spiel with a wink and a smile. Sunset sat on the couch, stunned into silence, until out of her came a sound she had not heard from herself in a long time – laughter. Not just a chuckle like with Rarity’s bad jokes. It was creaky and unsure, but unmistakable. Instinctively, she placed her fingers above the bridge of her nose. “Uh… you okay? Did I, like, break you or something?” Dash asked, her hands hovering over Sunset as if she were some sapient household appliance. Eventually, Sunset calmed down enough to respond. “No, no. Just… you. Ohh, I’d been dreading having to talk with you but… I think now I ‘get’ you a little better.” “Heh. Don’t know what there is to ‘get’. I’m awesome. That’s all anyone needs to know.” “You keep telling yourself that,” Sunset said. She was about to continue, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash’s cell phone beeping. “Call?” Rainbow Dash looked at her phone. “No. Alarm. I gotta get going. It’s my turn to go buy stuff for eats with the team and I don’t wanna be late!” She hopped up and backed towards the door. “So… see you at school tomorrow?” Sunset shook her head. “No, not tomorrow. But soon. I promise.” “Cool,” Dash said as she turned to exit. “It’ll be awesome to have you back.” And with that, she was gone. Sunset closed the door. She turned to head for the kitchen to warm up some barely-edible leftovers, but doubled back to engage the deadbolt and security chain, shaking her head at her own silliness afterwards as she definitively made her way to her waiting food.