//------------------------------// // Dismay and Distrust // Story: Little Choices // by Skijarama //------------------------------// When Rainbow Dash awoke, it was with a sharp hiss of pain. Her eyes screwed shut on reflex as incredible pain erupted all across her left side, especially around the joint where her wing connected with her back. Rainbow managed to crack her eyes open just a sliver, the world blurred and unfocused as another spasm of pain rocked her system. She felt a hoof on her back when she tried to stand, holding her in place. “Rainbow, try not to move,” a voice said firmly, the owner of the hoof. It was a voice that almost instantly calmed Rainbow’s nearly panicking mind, allowing her to slowly lower herself back to the ground with deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, the world came back into focus. Twilight was lowering herself down onto her belly by Rainbow’s side, eyeing her with concern and another emotion that Rainbow couldn’t quite place. “You hurt your wing coming down. It’s dislocated.” “Twi… ugh… what happened?” Rainbow muttered, shaking her head a little to clear the fog away. She took a moment to take in their surroundings. “And why are we in the woods?” Twilight sighed and looked around, biting her lip uneasily. “You… I…” she sucked in a breath through her teeth, closing her eyes. “Rainbow… you attacked her.” Rainbow blinked. “I… Twilight, are you okay?” she asked gingerly, reaching a hoof out to Twilight. “No, I am not okay!” Twilight snapped, swatting Rainbow’s hoof away with her own. “What the hay were you thinking?! Why did you do that?! That was the OPPOSITE of keeping a low profile!” Rainbow wilted under the lavender mare’s ire, shrinking into the dirt and looking away. “Twilight… Twilight, I-” “Just-” Twilight hissed harshly, lifting a hoof before screwing her eyes shut and taking a long, deep breath. “Just… just don’t right now. The others are going to be back soon.” Rainbow shifted slightly, afraid to look at Twilight. For a minute she remained completely still, looking at a root sticking up out of the soil as if it were the only thing that existed. Finally, she managed to muster some courage and spoke again. “How long was I out?” “Almost twenty-four hours,” Twilight replied grimly, setting her hoof down and shifting so that her back was resting against the nearest tree. “You got bruised up pretty bad from your fall…” “Twenty four hours…” Rainbow breathed, trying to stand, but thinking better of it from the harsh glare Twilight shot her way. She carefully settled back down before her ears stood up on end. “Wait, where’s Starlight?! What happened after I passed out?!” Twilight looked at Rainbow incredulously. It was during this long stare that Rainbow saw the darker coloration on the unicorn’s muzzle. She remembered how she had driven her elbow into Twilight’s face and wilted even more. Still, Twilight answered. “Starlight ran away. I pulled the rest of us out of the train with a teleportation spell to make sure you were okay. We haven’t tried moving you very far because of that wing of yours. We could only manage this little forest here before deciding it would be better to wait for you to wake up. We didn’t want to risk hurting you even more…” Twilight said before looking away. “...even if some of us really would like to.” “Twilight…” Rainbow whispered, tears coming to her eyes. “She awake?” the voice of Applejack called, drawing Rainbow and Twilight’s attention. The farm pony was the first to rejoin them, followed shortly by Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen and Spike was hiding behind Rarity’s legs. All of the ponies had their saddlebags filled with what looked like various items found in these woods; wood, leaves, fruits and grapes, etcetera. Applejack looked on at Rainbow with a hard frown. “Ah see she is.” Rainbow looked away. “...Where’s Fluttershy?” Twilight asked curiously, getting back to her hooves. Applejack gestured with her head back into the woods. “Talkin’ to some of the local critters. Figures we might have more luck gettin’ the help we need with Rainbow Dash if they know of any towns or villages nearby,” she said before sitting down and letting her saddlebags slide off of her back. “We got some food, and Rares thinks she can make some fancy tent or somethin’ out of the leaves she found.” “I don’t think I can, I know I can,” Rarity corrected with a huff before looking to Rainbow and cringing. “Uh… are you feeling okay, Darling? You took quite the beating coming down.” Rainbow closed her eyes. “...No,” she said weakly, curling up slightly. Pinkie’s eyes turned sad. She let her own saddlebags drop to the forest floor before trotting carefully up to Rainbow’s side. “Hey, it’s all gonna be fine, Dashie, okay?” she tried, patting Rainbow on the head. “Once we get that boo-boo on your wing patched up we can go home, throw a party and eat candy. You can work with the weather teams and-” “Pinkie,” Rainbow grunted, lightly shoving Pinkie’s hoof out of her mane. “Just… just leave me alone, okay? All of you just… leave me alone…” she pushed herself to her hooves and began to drag herself away from the others. “Rainbow?” Applejack called after her weakly, then went quiet when Rainbow found a tree a dozen yards away or so and slumped behind it, just hiding away. Applejack turned to Twilight, helpless. “What are we supposed to do, Y'all? Ah’m drawin’ blanks here.” Rarity looked at Twilight almost accusingly. “What did you say to the poor dear, Twilight?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Twilight didn’t answer, looking away. The others shuffled uneasily, each one wearing different expressions, none of them good. It was Spike that broke the silence. “Twilight, why don’t you go try to cheer her up?” Twilight sighed. “No, that’s not a good idea, Spike,” she said, touching a hoof to her bruised nose and wincing in discomfort. “I’m… not happy with her right now. If I go to her, I know I’m going to say something that’s only going to make this worse.” “But she won’t listen to any of us, Twily,” Pinkie added, downcast. “You two really click… if anypony can put that smile back on her face, it’s you!” Twilight let herself slump back to the tree, covering her face with her hooves. “That’s the problem, Pinkie. We… we’re close… imagine how painful it’d be for her if I lost my temper and went off on her? Especially right now?” she groaned and let her hooves fall limply to her sides before looking up at the sunlight piercing through the trees. “...I don’t want to be responsible for that kind of pain, you girls.” “So what are we gonna do?” Applejack ground her teeth together and stomped a hoof in frustration. “We jus’ gonna let her mope over there, all alone? Isn’t bein’ alone what she’s most afraid of?” Twilight sighed heavily and looked at Applejack. “You think I want to let her be alone like that?! Of course, I don’t! I want to make her feel better as much as any of you, but there’s nothing I can do right now!” her voice had increased in volume before she stopped and took a deep breath. With a grunt, she got to her hooves and started trotting. “I need to clear my head… I’m going for a walk.” “Don’t go too far,” Rarity offered softly with an understanding nod. “We don’t know what kinds of creatures lurk out here.” “I’ll be fine,” Twilight said before venturing past their little clearing and into the woods. The trees were beautiful, their green leaves dancing to and fro in a soft breeze. Their movements created a soft rustling sound, allowing Twilight’s mind to gradually relax. The forest floor was mostly dirt, grass and old scraps of wood or leaves that had long since blended together. It was calming, and the fresh air was nice, too. Twilight wasn’t sure how long she had been going when she found a small stream weaving it’s way between the trees. After testing the water on her hoof and with her tongue, Twilight determined that the water was mostly safe to drink and lowered her head into the stream, greedily letting water pour down her throat. Once she was satisfied, she lifted her head from the water with a relieved gasp. That gasp turned into a surprised yelp when she saw Starlight Glimmer standing on the other side of the river, looking back at her with exhausted, fearful eyes. For a long moment, the two stared at each other. Starlight took a step back, looking like she was about ready to run. “W-wait!” Twilight called after her, lifting a hoof. Starlight stopped, though she flinched from the volume of Twilight’s voice. She looked away, her once-curly mane now hung limp, messy and unkempt. There were puffy bags under her eyes, which were bloodshot and unfocused. Her body was smeared in places with dirt and mud that she hadn’t had a chance to wash out yet. She bit her lip, her ears going flat before looking up at Twilight. “...Why are you following me?” she croaked out in a weak voice. Twilight lowered her hoof and slowly sat down, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. “I…” she tried, but her breath caught in her throat. She took a deep breath. “Starlight, before I can answer that, I have to know something…” Starlight also sat down, absently reaching a hoof down into the water. “What?” “Are you… planning on going back in time?” Twilight finally asked, biting the bullet. Starlight’s ears stood upright and she looked at Twilight incredulously. “Wha… what?” “I’ll take that as a no,” Twilight sighed with a small amount of relief. She believed Starlight. “Okay… the reason we’re following you is that… well… you, or, well, a different version of you, went back in time and changed the course of history.” Starlight sat upright, scrutinizing Twilight skeptically. “...What kind of sick joke are you playing here?” she seethed out. “I’m not lying,” Twilight replied firmly before looking away. “...You know how Rainbow Dash is an orphan, right? How she was adopted by Princess Celestia at a young age?” Starlight nodded slowly but said nothing. “...Before history was changed… Rainbow still had her birth parents,” Twilight continued somberly, remembering several times when Rainbow had talked about them, usually struggling to hold in her emotions when she did. “But when history changed, she lost them… and your own future self was one of the two ponies who came back in time. The other one was my future self, trying to stop you…” Twilight touched a hoof to her chest, her ears falling flat. “...Evidently… I failed.” “You… you can’t be serious,” Starlight scoffed, though she didn’t at all sound sure of what she was saying. “You’re saying I went back and rewrote history?! How does that even work?” “I don’t know all the details. All I know for sure is what caused the change,” Twilight continued before setting her hoof down. “Rainbow Dash saw us. She wasn’t supposed to see our future selves, but she did, and everything changed as a result.” “From something so small?” Starlight asked quietly, her voice losing its intensity as her ears fell again. “Even the tiniest of changes can snowball into something much larger,” Twilight acknowledged solemnly. “It doesn’t help that it was in Cloudsdale. Unicorns aren’t exactly commonplace there.” Starlight conceded the point with a small nod. “I guess…” For a moment, the two were silent. Twilight sighed before speaking again. “Rainbow was afraid you’d do it again.” “Change time?” Starlight chuckled humorlessly, looking at her reflection in the stream. “Me? I can barely start a conversation with another pony most days.” Twilight’s first instinct was to point out Starlight’s natural ability with magic, as was evidenced by her reaction time back on the train, but decided against it. “We didn’t know that then,” she said instead. “We didn’t know who you were, really. Only that you came back once before and that Rainbow lost her parents as a result… she didn’t want to risk things getting worse. The plan, originally, was just to make sure you weren’t a threat from a distance and then go home.” Starlight looked up at Twilight. “...I don’t know what to say,” she muttered after several seconds of silence. “It’s okay,” Twilight offered up a small smile. “Now we know. We can leave you alone, now.” Starlight slowly stood up. “You mean I, uh, won’t get in trouble? For, you know, blasting her like that?” she asked shakily. Twilight also stood up and gave a small nod. “You were defending yourself, Starlight. I imagine Princess Celestia isn’t going to be too upset with you,” her smile faded as she thought of the princess in question. “...no, most of her anger over all of this is probably going to be at Rainbow and the rest of us… we weren’t technically supposed to go looking for you at all.” “Oh…” Starlight blinked, then shuffled back a little. “Well… alright. I don’t really know how much of what you said I believe, but good luck. ...bye.” she turned her back and broke into a brisk gallop, moving deeper into the forest and soon out of Twilight’s line of sight. “...Goodbye, Starlight."