//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Fall of A Rainbow // by ShadowSprint //------------------------------// The Carousel Boutique stood with all of its magnificence and sophistication.Behind those doors was arguably one of the hardest working ponies in Ponyville. Rarity, known for working hours on end, nights, and weekends on her dresses, refused to stop until each thread had been sewn to perfection.Twilight admired Rarity’s dedication to her work, and her talent for releasing the inner beauty in any-pony that’d give her the time of day. And yet, as welcoming a pony as Rarity was, Twilight somehow found herself reluctant to enter. What had happened here that upset Pinkie Pie so much?It pained Twilight just thinking about it. But what if Rarity was suffering over the same thing? Twilight took in a deep breath and pushed her way into the boutique.Inside she could hear one of the sewing machines humming away at some fabric.Rarity’s hoof could also be heard, tapping away at the pedal on the machine.Twilight would have immediately gone searching for Rarity, but she’d gotten too distracted with what sat on the first floor workroom.All of Rarity’s things, her dress form mannequins, movable screens, and even the small display stage had all been shoved aside. The center of the room lay open, with a pedestal hold a long wooden box.A box long enough to hold a pony. The blood drained from Twilight’s face as she slowly approached the box. She could feel her heart pounding, her eyes moistening with fresh tears.A sigh of relief escaped her lips when Twilight tilted her head and seeing the box from a different angle, realized it had no bottom.Still, it was a grim reminder of who they’d be burying tomorrow. Climbing the stairs, Twilight knocked on Rarity’s room and her friend soon emerged. “Twilight, it’s just you.” Rarity said, an air of disappointment to her face, but quickly recovering, she invited the pony into her bedroom. “I’m so glad you’re here. I was afraid you wouldn’t stop.”Giving her friend a soft smile, Rarity hugged Twilight and asked, “How are you holding up?” Twilight leaned into the hug a bit, relaxing. “I’m doing okay. It’s hard on everyone I’m sure. What about you?” And looking around, Twilight noticed several black outfits on hangers, and a big piece of black material hung at her sewing machine in the corner. “You’ve been . . . working?” Pulling away, Rarity wiped her eyes dry. “It’s all I could do to keep myself under control,” she admitted. “I just never thought I’d be preparing for something like this . . . not for a long time anyways.”Her body trembled a bit as Rarity suddenly felt the need to move.Sitting around, doing nothing at a time like this; she just couldn’t handle it.Her hooves needed to be busy, so she stepped away from Twilight and went back to her machine, clipping off the loose threads and went about inspecting her work. Twilight watched as Rarity fumbled over the cloth, her body shaking a bit as she worked.“What are you working on?” Rarity stopped, and setting the scissors down, she hugged the blanket against her fur. Her eyes moist with tears as she said softly, “A blanket. Something to cover Rainbow Dash’s coffin.”Rarity glanced down at the blanket, quickly grabbing a tissue and drying her eyes, not wanting to ruin any of her hard work. “Would you like to see?” When Twilight agreed, Rarity led her friend down to the first floor, back to the center of the room where the wooden box was laid out.“I only just got this thing setup . . . such a pain” Rarity whispered to herself, referring to the box. Stretching out the blanket, she laid it over the box. The black blanket covered the box, hanging evenly on both sides. A silver outline of Rainbow Dash’s cutie-mark took center stage on the blanket, covering the majority of the coffin’s lid.Around the edges of the blanket, Rarity had woven rainbows spiraling to clouds in each of the four corners. “Rarity, it’s so beautiful” Twilight whispered, walking around the coffin, admiring her friend’s work. “I want to sew some jewels onto the cutie-mark in the center. Really make her shine.” And walking over to Twilight’s side, Rarity stepped back and admired her work, saying, “I want her to go out in the best of style. It’s what she would have wanted.”Rarity let the blanket rest for only a moment before shaking her head and pulling it off. “But, it’s not done. I only started it this morning, and I’ve got a long ways to go.” Rarity tossed the blanket over her back as she started to make her way back up the stairs. Twilight moved to follow when Rarity stopped. She turned and stared into the eyes of her friend. Twilight could see Rarity wanting to cry, wanting to just let it out, but she was above that.Rarity composed herself and instead let her gaze fall to the floor. “Twilight, can I ask you something?” “Sure Rarity.” “When this is all over . . . I was kind of thinking that” and Rarity had to look away for a moment, blinking out the tears. When she looked back, her face was flushed and she asked, “After the funeral, would you hang this up in the Castle of Friendship? I mean, I’d like it . . . as a memorial of sorts.” Twilight smiled lovingly back at her friend. She reached up, and careful not to dirty the blanket, Twilight hugged her friend. “I’d be deeply honored to Rarity. She’ll always be with us that way.” “Thank you” was Rarity’s only reply, as she turned back to the stairs. Twilight followed her up the stairs. She thought Rarity would just go back to sewing the blanket, but instead, her friend shelfed the work-in-progress and instead stepped over to a rack of black dresses, and pulled one off. “Have you been getting any sleep?” Twilight asked, knowing just how long all this must have taken. Rarity shook her head, “No, but to be honest Twilight, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep until after it’s over.” Giving the black clothes to Twilight, Rarity said, “Here, try this on. I want to make sure it fits.” Glancing at the funeral garments, Twilight nodded and carefully slipped into them. The black dress softly hugged her hoofs and clung to her hips.It wasn’t anything like Rarity’s other dresses. Just plain, a bit of lace around the edges, but otherwise very basic.The only other thing that came with it was a black veil.Once Twilight had the dress on, Rarity went to work touching up the seams, the hemming, and doing a spot check on the different corners. For a while, Twilight watched as Rarity would grab a needle and tighten up a cuff here, loosen a seam there.She worked flawlessly as always, stepping away momentarily to look over her work and then jumping back in.Not knowing what to talk about, Twilight remembered what she’d been told by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Wondering if Rarity was avoiding the topic, Twilight considered remaining silent. But if something had indeed happened, then she wanted to know about. “So, was this what Pinkie Pie had stopped here for?” Rarity stopped what she was doing.Her body froze, if just for a second and she answered shortly, “yes, yes she was,” and quickly went back to work. Something had happened. Carefully, Twilight inquired, “Did something happen while she was here?Mrs. Cake said something seemed to upset her after stopping by.” Rarity cursed when the needle slipped against her magic and pricked her hoof.Setting it to the side, she let out a sigh, clearly caught. “I’m sorry Twilight. I didn’t want to bring this up. I really didn’t.” and feeling Twilight’s concerned gaze, Rarity let out a soft gasp and explained, “Pinkie Pie was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time I’m afraid.” “What do you mean?” “Well, Fluttershy was here when Pinkie came. And while we both tried to comfort Fluttershy, because she’s just so devastated about all of this, but . . . then Applejack showed up.”Rarity moistened her lips, her mouth dry as she remembered this morning’s events.She could see the confusion in Twilight’s eyes. It just tore at her heart to have to say any of this, but Twilight deserved to know. “Twilight . . . I think Applejack blames Fluttershy for Rainbow Dash’s death.” The look on Twilight’s face was enough. It was a look that Rarity had wanted to avoid seeing. That of disbelief, shock, and fear.The drooping of her mouth and her eyes falling to the floor, Rarity knew that feeling. She had had the same one as well.“She was very upset. And when she saw Fluttershy, she was downright rude to her.Oh Twilight, I’m really worried about Fluttershy.She’s taking this so much harder than any other pony.” Twilight didn’t know what to say. Truth be told, she hadn’t known what to expect when she asked what might have upset Pinkie Pie. But this? This just wasn’t supposed to happen with her friends. After everything they’d been through, something like this should’ve been impossible. “Could you tell me what happened?” Twilight finally asked. Taking a deep breath, Rarity nodded. She abandoned her work as she took a seat next to Twilight and began, “I was just getting started on the blanket for Dash’s coffin when Fluttershy showed up.She was so quiet. Would barely speak a word. And of course I didn’t know what to say to her.Once she got her clothes on, I started my work. And that’s when Pinkie Pie arrived . . .” Rarity worked on straightening out the sleeves for Fluttershy’s black dress.Somehow, she had managed to sew them uneven just enough for her to notice.Rarity went to work, silently sending the needle in and out of the material.If she didn’t know better, she would have thought Fluttershy was one of her mannequins.“How’s Angel doing?” Rarity asked, hoping she’d get her friend’s mind off of what had happened. “She’s fine, thank you.” Fluttershy whispered, her voice so soft, Rarity almost didn’t hear it.She glanced up from her work to find the pony’s head hung low, her beautiful mane grazing the floor and covering her face. “Fluttershy dear, you simply have to cheer up.” Rarity said, “This is hard on all of us, but we can get through it. Together.”Fluttershy merely nodded. Rarity was about to resume her meticulous work when she heard hoof-steps below.She didn’t bother to escort her new visitor and instead just hollered from her room, “I’m upstairs,” as she worked.There was too much to do to be cavorting around with every-pony that walked through her doors.Besides, she couldn’t leave Fluttershy alone like this. Rarity was about to call out again at her visitor when Pinkie Pie suddenly stepped into the room.Rarity stopped long enough to see Pinkie standing in her doorway. “Good morning Pinkie Pie. How are you?”Pinkie slowly walked into the room, her hair missing the lively puffiness that it always had. Her tail dragged behind her as she entered. “Oh, I’m doing okay.” Pinkie responded, attempting to sound cheerful, but devoid of her energetic spirit.“Hi Fluttershy” Pinkie Pie said cautiously, letting a warm smile spread over her face. Fluttershy picked her head up just a bit as she blinked, gazing into Pinkie Pie’s eyes. “Hello Pinkie Pie,” she whispered, “it’s nice to see you.”Pinkie Pie, not losing a beat, walked over to Fluttershy, and embraced her.Well, Pinkie hugged the pony as much as she could without disturbing Rarity or her clothes. “You don’t look very good? Are you alright?” Pinkie asked. And Rarity couldn’t help but smile as she worked.Even in times like these, Pinkie was there for her friends, no matter what. “I’m doing . . . not too good,” Fluttershy admitted, and Pinkie only hugged her tighter. Rarity just let them be as she worked, watching as Fluttershy even smiled a bit at the hug.It’s something she’d been needing ever since it happened.Rarity could have kicked herself for not being able to cheer up Fluttershy on her own. “How about you?” Fluttershy asked. “Better . . . now that I get to see you and Rarity.” Pinkie Pie smiled, a true and more sincere smile. Chuckling to herself, Rarity stood up and trotted over to her shelf. Grabbing a dress, she hated to make Pinkie put it on, but duty called. “If you’re doing so good, you can make yourself useful and try this on.” Rarity said, tossing it over Pinkie Pie’s head.The stunt tossed a small, very small and quiet chuckle from Fluttershy.That was good enough though for Rarity.Just something to raise her friend’s spirits, she knew how delicate of a pony that Fluttershy could be.She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to actually be there; when Rainbow Dash died. Pinkie chuckled a bit as she pulled the clothes on over her body.The black material withered away some of the light-hearted fun they’d just had. For it was a grim reminder of the funeral ahead.The final farewell to one of their dearest friends, and neither Rarity, nor her friends were quite ready for that. “Well, I think the sleeves are at least straight” Rarity said, inspecting the dress. “But this seam, I’ll have to touch it up.” She eventually finished, noticing one of the back seams had some needle holes showing.Sure no other pony would ever notice, but it still wasn’t leaving without being fixed.Rarity held herself to a high standard, and she intended to keep it that way.Making herself useful, she began stitching up the seam as Fluttershy undressed. “You can just use the hanger Fluttershy. Take it with you when you go.” Fluttershy nodded.She was heading for the steps when another set of hooves could suddenly be heard from downstairs.Again, Rarity hollered down, “Up here darling!” Applejack soon stepped into the room, glancing from Pinkie Pie to Rarity.She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain at seeing Fluttershy.Applejack tried to ignore her as she trotted into the room. “So . . .” she began a bit nervously, “how ya’ll doing?” Fluttershy, having noticed Applejack’s pained expression just from seeing her, remained silent. Pinkie released a kind smile and answered, “We’re doing okay . . . but, you know . . .” and her voice trailed off as she glanced back to see how Rarity’s work was coming along. When Rarity heard AJ, she poked her head up and asked, “What about you?” Applejack kicked her hoof at a scrap piece of cloth on the floor, slapping it only a couple inches as she sighed. “I don’t know. Could be better I suppose.” Finishing her stitch work, Rarity stepped back and set the needle aside.Stepping over to Applejack, Rarity, said, “Rainbow Dash’s death has been hard on all of us.It’s something no pony would have thought to happen.” Applejack winced her eyes shut and shook her head. “No,” she whispered.“It shouldn’t have happened though.We shouldn’t be standing round here doing this,” Applejack retorted. “I just can’t believe it!”Applejack’s voice raising, the anger at her friend’s death boiled inside of her. Rarity stepped back, a bit unnerved by Applejack’s frustration.Calming herself down, she calmly said, “I think we can all agree to that.” Turning to her set of dresses, Rarity started pushing through the different gowns to figure out which one was Applejack’s.“No pony ever thought she would leave us like this.” But Applejack just couldn’t calm down.She bit her lip, almost shaking in anger.She could feel the stares of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy on her.She couldn’t help it though.None of this, none of it, should be real. Exasperated by it all, Applejack turned on Fluttershy and accusingly asked, “Why didn’t you catch her?” Fluttershy stood dumfounded by the question.She trembled with fear as the question that’d she been asking herself over and over ever since it happened, had been demanded by one of her friends.She could feel herself shrinking as she briefly glanced up, meeting Applejack’s piercing gaze. The others had been too shocked by the question to react. “I-I don’t know . . . I tried to catch her.” Fluttershy’s lips quivered as her voice fell quiet. “I was flying as fast as I could,” her words nothing more than a whisper as she felt like every syllable was nothing more than an excuse. “You did everything you could,” Rarity assured, stepping over to Fluttershy and placing a hoof around her.She noticed Pinkie Pie stunned to silence, but unfortunately could do nothing to help the pink pony. “And we are all very proud of that.” Rarity finished, glaring at Applejack, hoping she’d get the message. “But, it wasn’t enough. There . . . there wasn’t any of your critter friends around to help? Nothing else you could’ve done?”Applejack’s breathing started to get heavy. Her anger boiling over as she pounded her hoof against the floor, just shaking her head. “You couldn’t have sped up or called for help or, or something?!” Her eyes wide open, Fluttershy’s trembling figure cowered under Applejack’s harsh words. Her rising voice scaring Fluttershy as she backed up away from her friends. Unable to take her eyes off of them, she started to panic, jumbling her words and stuttering as she spoke, “I-I’m s-so sorry . . . I tried so hard.” Tears streaming down her face as she could see Rainbow Dash falling through the clouds. The image that had burned into her head, replayed over and over, even keeping her up all night. “I was trying to wake her up, trying to catch up to her. But,” and Fluttershy sniffled as she stared down at her hooves, “I couldn’t go fast enough.” Her voice barely audible. Unable to take any more of this, Rarity stepped out between Applejack and Fluttershy. “I think this has gone on quite long enough Applejack. Tossing blame around isn’t going to bring Rainbow Dash back!” And feeling herself getting worked up, Rarity said, “Everything is going to be alright. We just need to . . .” “Alright?” Applejack cut her off, “Rarity, one of our friends is dead. We’re getting ready to bury her. That doesn’t sound alright to me! None of this is alright!”Applejack stepped right up to Rarity, their noses almost touching. Her eyes glazed with tears, Applejack searched her friend’s eyes. “We let Rainbow Dash down, when she needed us most.” Applejack shot a glance at Fluttershy then back to Rarity and said, “What kind of pony can’t even help her friends when they’re in need?” Rarity stood her ground, not budging from the spot. But with not anything to say back, she could only stand in silence. She fought to keep herself from crying.Her body shaking, having never seen Applejack so upset before.It frightened her, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see a terrified Pinkie Pie as well. Pinkie had curled up, shivering as she covered her ears, eyes winced shut as she just waited for it all to stop. Then a whisper from behind distracted Rarity, causing her to turn around.It was that of Fluttershy. Her friend’s broken figure, slumped mouth and despairing eyes, Fluttershy sat defeated.What little composure she had coming into the Carousel Boutique was gone.“She’s right.” Fluttershy breathed, “It’s all my fault.I let every-pony down.I let Rainbow Dash down.”She stared up at Rarity, starting to cry, her sobs breaking Rarity’s heart as Fluttershy’s chest heaved between cries. “I’m so very sorry.I . . . I . . .” and Fluttershy glanced over to Applejack, her heart broken in half as she said, “W-What have I done . . .” and almost tripping over herself, Fluttershy fled from the room. The beating of her hoofs disappeared down the stairs and out the door. Rarity had no more of a chance to call after Fluttershy when in a burst of pent up energy, Pinkie Pie suddenly got up and announced, “I-I gotta be going to!” and she took off as well. The black funeral dress still clung to her body as the sound of the door down stairs slammed a second time.Then, it was just her and Applejack. Fuming, Rarity turned on her friend and yelled, “Now just what in Equestria was all of that about?! I understand you’re upset! We all are!To say those things and accuse her of such . . . of such rubbish, I just cannot fathom what you must have been thinking!” Applejack just shook her head. “You don’t understand Rarity.” Her shoulders slumped down as she stared at the funeral dress Rarity had pulled out for her. “When a friend’s in danger like that, you give everything you’ve got to save them! You throw yourself at it with everything you’ve got, because that friend is all you’ve got. To try and live without them . . . you can’t fail.” And looking up to Rarity, Applejack softly said, “That’s why I can’t understand it. How could she have failed us, failed Rainbow Dash like that? She should have been able to do something.” “Like what Applejack? If you had been Fluttershy, what would you have done?” Picking up her dress, Applejack tossed it onto her back and said, “I’d have saved her.” And turning around, Applejack moved to leave. She stopped at the door and without looking at Rarity, she said, “I’m sorry Rarity, I . . . Thanks for the dress.” And she slowly left the boutique, leaving Rarity alone. Twilight watched as Rarity sat silenced next to her.The story had been so much to take for Twilight, she just didn’t know what to do. “Rarity, I’m so sorry.” Twilight said, not knowing what else to say.“I never would have thought . . .” “None of us did dear.” Rarity finished for her.Rarity stood up and walked back to her blanket.“After they left, I’d tried to go find Fluttershy, but she’s not at her cottage. And I have no idea where to start looking.” “I think we better give her some time alone,” Twilight suggested, and glancing over her funeral dress, she asked, “Are we all finished here?” And with Rarity nodding, Twilight removed the dress, and said, “If it’s alright, I’ll pick this up on my way back from Canterlot.” “Oh, did Princess Celestia finally figure out how to get your magic back?” Rarity asked, relieved to have the discussion shift away from Rainbow Dash. She needed something else to focus her attention on as she started up her sewing machine.“It’s about time if you ask me. You’re just not the same without your cutie-mark.” Twilight smiled as she glanced back at her empty hips. “It’s been very different without my cutie-mark.” And with the room falling into an awkward silence, Twilight finally said, “Well, I better take off. I want to make it to Canterlot and back as quickly as possible.” Rarity nodded in understanding. “I’ll stop at Sweet Apple Acres before going. Check up on Applejack for you.” Rarity smiled at hearing this, relaxing a bit as she looked into Twilight’s eyes. “Thank you Twilight,” were the only words she needed to say.Giving her friend a farewell, Twilight stepped out of Rarity’s boutique and moved towards Sweet Apple Acres. As Twilight trotted towards the farm, she worried about Applejack, worried about Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.Applejack had always been so close with Rainbow Dash, so in a way, this reaction wasn’t terribly surprising. But the way in which she treated Fluttershy, that wasn’t Applejack.With Pinkie Pie, she had Mr. and Mrs. Cake to help look after her. But Fluttershy, Twilight worried the most about her.Apart from the animals she cared for, Fluttershy lived alone. A sudden urge sprang upon Twilight to talk with her friend and her steady trot quickly evolved into a full gallop.Seeing the farm peaking over the horizon, Twilight galloped harder into the farm.Her hooves carried her swiftly straight up to the barn, where she almost collided with Apple Bloom. “Twilight!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, “What are you doing here?” Heaving for breath as her the long run had sapped her strength, Twilight said, “Hey Apple Bloom. I was hoping to chat with your sister.” Apple Bloom, looking out into the fields, and said softly, “she’s out there.She’s been so very distant since, since Dashie died.”Apple Bloom fell to silence. Twilight nuzzled her face against the small filly and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll chat with her. Everything will be okay. And you, make sure you take care of yourself.” And making sure to leave Apple Bloom with a smile, Twilight trotted off to chat with her friend. Trotting around the trees, it didn’t take much for Twilight to locate her friend.The sound of Applejack’s bucking and her frustrated mumblings made locating her a piece of cake.She slowly walked up to Applejack, noticing a large wagon filled with buckets. Some of the buckets overflowed with apples, while others rested empty, waiting for use. “Hey Twilight,” Applejack said, taking notice of her friend, though the tone of her voice wasn’t very welcoming. More like, she sounded a bit annoyed. Taking another swing at the tree, she watched as the apples poured out from the branches like water from a faucet, filling her buckets. “What are you doing here,” Applejack asked as she scooped up the buckets and carried them to the wagon. “H-Hey Applejack. I just came to see how you were doing.” Twilight wanted to keep the conversation polite.While Applejack’s behavior at Rarity’s was inexcusable, that didn’t mean her feelings should get ignored.She lost a friend too. Noticing Applejack fitting into the harness on the wagon, Twilight hurried to catch up as Applejack moved towards the next tree. “Why are you out picking apples?” She asked casually, “don’t you normally wait a week or so before that?” Applejack’s head turned towards the sky, gazing up into the cloudy blue heavens. “I want ta get a head start before the rain.Some of these trees are planted in mud holes when it comes to the rain.” “Rain?” and looking up to the sky, Twilight couldn’t figure out at all what AJ meant. “It doesn’t look like rain to me.” And she stopped when Applejack halted and got out of the cart to kick down more apples. “Well trust me. It’ll rain tomorrow. I know it will.” She said before setting the buckets down and starting to buck the tree.Twilight noticed how hard Applejack was kicking at the tree, and was worried that she might splinter or crack the trunk. Bark already was getting flung with each violent kick. But she could not bring herself to say it. Before Twilight could ask her friend about the rain, Applejack answered the question for her. “It’s part of the funeral tradition.”Applejack stopped, head slumping between her shoulders. “After the funeral is over, the Pegasus fly in with black as night storm clouds, and let the skies cry for the buried pony.” Twilight was stunned into silence. She’d never been to a funeral in Ponyville before, so she didn’t know.And it suddenly hit her that Applejack had been to one.While Applejack rarely spoke of it, Twilight was aware that long before she had met any of her friends, Applejack’s parents had passed away.She felt ashamed for not thinking of it before.She wondered if Rarity even knew about it.Applejack wasn’t one to dwell on such things with others. “You’re here about what happened at Rarity’s aren’t you?” Applejack asked, her voice hollow as she moved to the next tree. Twilight nodded her head. “Yes, I am.Rarity was quite upset by what happened and . . .” Twilight glanced up to Applejack and said, “But, you can’t blame Fluttershy. If it wasn’t for Lord Chaosis, none of this would have happened.” Applejack kicked hard at the tree. When none of the apples fell, she cursed under breath and gave it another buck of a kick. Stopping to catch her breath, she said, “I know that Twilight. Of course I know that.But, I can’t let go of this feeling that, if it was any other pony, she’d still be here.” And Applejack stomped her hooves against the tree with all of her strength, bringing down all of the apples perfectly into her buckets.Then turning back to Twilight, she explained, “It’s just that Fluttershy, she’s afraid of her own shadow.And she can hardly speak a peep in her own defense much less . . .” Applejack just shook her head into silence, and picking up the buckets, carried them back to her wagon and grabbed a few more. “I know what you’re saying Applejack, but you have to give Fluttershy more credit than that. She’s done some amazing things since becoming friends with us.Besides, even if she couldn’t save Rainbow Dash, she was still there when it happened.I can’t imagine what it must be like for her right now.” Applejack stayed quite as she worked, listening to Twilight.She continued to buck down apples, replace her buckets and do it again.Her anger had dissipated some, but she still found difficulty in letting it go. “Twilight,” Applejack finally said, “I know what you’re saying but . . . it’s just that she failed us. And a pony doesn’t forget a thing like that.” “But it’s not her fault . . .” Twilight began again, but was suddenly interrupted. “I know that Twilight,” Applejack said, her voice rising in frustration, “You already said that.I know I shouldn’t blame her, but I just can’t help but be angry with her.” Applejack’s weariness had started to set in as she turned away from Twilight and said, “Now please, I have a lot of work to do before tomorrow.” Twilight, nodding in understanding, turned to leave when Applejack suddenly called her name.She turned, and saw Applejack, staring back at her.Her friend’s gaze hurt, eyes watering and brow furrowed, “Twilight, I’m sorry . . . I lost a good friend yesterday. And, I just can’t believe she’s gone.” Twilight smiled kindly and said, “I know Applejack. We all did.” And with that, Twilight left for Canterlot. Stepping out into the throne room with Princess Celestia, Twilight was relieved to finally have her cutie-mark back. “How are you feeling Twilight?” asked Princess Celestia. “Honestly, I’m tired,” Twilight answered, and it wasn’t so much from the return of her magic, but more exhaustion just from the stress of the day. Applejack frightened her the most with how she regarded Fluttershy over Dash’s death. But then, who even knew where Fluttershy was?And Pinkie Pie, well Twilight was just glad Mr. and Mrs. Cake could help take care of her.Rarity was really the only pony keeping things in control. “Well perhaps you should stay here and get some rest,” Celestia suggested. “Thanks Princess Celestia, but I really should be heading back. My friends . . . I should be there for them.” “How are they taking it?” Celestia asked, concern spread over her face.She’d seen many a loss in the centuries she’d spent as Princess.But never, had she thought a pony so close to her heart and so young, would be lost like this. “Not good. I’m scared because, I’m not sure how many of them will remain friends.” Twilight shivered at the thought, already feeling the cold nip of loneliness settling in. Standing from her place, Princess Celestia walked over to Twilight, her mane and tail flowing behind her, like one of Rarity’s dresses.Elegance in every step as she joined her loyal student and said, “I know how you feel Twilight. Unfortunately, your friends will need to deal with this themselves.” Her voice grave as she lowered her head to Twilight’s eye level. “This is a lesson in friendship I’ve hoped you would not have to face, not for a long time.And to experience it now, nothing will ever be the same for you or your friends again.” Twilight nodded and said, “I understand.” Celestia again offered Twilight a room in the castle to stay and rest in.But Twilight refused her.She simply couldn’t stay away any longer.The pain in her heart was just too much to bear and as she stepped out of the throne room, once the door was closed and Twilight was alone, she allowed herself to cry.She cried for Rainbow Dash, but also for her friends.There was a fair chance that she may never speak to some of them again after this. Why couldn’t Celestia have an answer? With Celestia’s word fresh in her head, Twilight drifted out of the castle, her wings slowly beating against her sides, just enough to carry her out of Canterlot.Flying over Ponyville, she watched the liveliness of half a dozen ponies.Twilight considered checking up on Pinkie Pie, or even searching for Fluttershy, but she was too tired.She needed rest.Stopping off at Rarity’s, she picked up her funeral dress, and with hardly a goodbye, Twilight returned home. Collpasing onto her bed, Twilight hid herself under the covers and cried herself to sleep.