//------------------------------// // Trust // Story: Little Consequences // by Skijarama //------------------------------// It didn't take Rainbow and Starlight very long to find Twilight and Spike a little deeper into the library. The two of them had both managed to find several sheets of blank parchment as well, making for a total of eight sheets. Enough to reach out to four cities, each with a copy of the Dragonfire spell. With these number figured out, Rainbow insisted that they get to work as soon as possible. While they searched for writing tools, however, Twilight started giving the two of them skeptical glances rather frequently. Every time her eyes met Rainbow’s, the pegasus looked away as if in shame, usually moving to put some more distance between herself at Twilight. After a short few minutes of searching, though, they managed to find some very antique writing quills and inkwells, still full of ink and ready for use in a soundproof study room in a secluded part of the library. They took these supplies to a nice spot on the second floor, overlooking where the rest of their friends were still looking for history books. Rainbow sat down in a chair next to a short round table, letting out a relieved sigh while Twilight and Spike set down the ink, quills and parchment. Starlight, who had tailed behind them a bit, looked on from a short distance before clearing her throat. “Ahem, ah, I think my job is done here. I’m going to go help the others down there, okay?” she said simply, gesturing over the rail. “Okay. Let us know if you find anything,” Twilight answered simply with a friendly smile. Starlight hadn’t even waited for a response, starting for the downward stairs at a brisk canter, leaving Twilight, Spike and Rainbow Dash alone. Twilight’s eyes narrowed very slightly and she turned to look over her shoulder at the pegasus in question. “So… how did your talk go?” she asked leadingly, turning fully to face Rainbow. She gave a dismissive grunt while unrolling one of the sheets of parchment. “It went badly,” she stated simply without tearing her eyes from the page. Spike glanced at Twilight, then back to Rainbow before speaking up. “Uh, how badly are we talking, here?” he pressed, coming up to Rainbow side and sitting down on the edge of the table. He looked at her with worry and curiosity, noticing how tense she looked. “Can this conversation wait?” Rainbow asked sharply, picking up the quill and shooting Spike a hard look. “We’ve got more important things to worry about then the drama between me and Starlight.” “Maybe, but it’s still a big deal,” Twilight countered with a disapproving grimace. “Just give us the highlights. We can go more in depth later, okay?” Rainbow snorted, sighed and relented. She put the quill down and flopped back into the chair. “Ugh! Okay, fine. In short, I tried to ask about her past or something, she asked me why I wanted to know, I told her about the problems I told you about at the palace, and then she…” she paused for a moment, her brow furrowing. With an exasperated groan, she leaned forward and let her face fall into her hooves, propping them up by her elbows on the table. She didn’t speak again. Twilight and Spike shared an uneasy glance before Spike gestured for her to say something. Twilight nodded and began to inch forward. “Rainbow?” her voice breached the newfound silence, making Rainbow’s ears twitch. She felt Twilight’s hoof on her back, and her voice came again, gentle this time. “What’s wrong? What happened?” Rainbow lifted her face and looked into Twilight’s eyes, which were very close to her own. She then lowered her gaze and leaned closer to the other mare. Taking the hint, Twilight wrapped both of her forelegs around Rainbow, giving her a gentle squeeze. Taking comfort in the contact, Rainbow managed to find her words. “...She came up with a theory about that, and… I’m worried that she might be right.” “Theory?” Spike asked, quietly nudging the writing supplies to one side before walking closer on top of the table, his clawed feet clicking against the hard surface. “What kind of theory?” “She thinks that my anger towards her is caused by a spell of some kind,” Rainbow managed to say, closing her eyes and thinking back. “And thinking about it, it just makes so much sense…” “A spell that compels you to act hostile and aggressive towards Starlight…?” Twilight asked thoughtfully, leaning back a little bit and tilting her head. “But… who could have-” “Discord,” Rainbow interrupted her simply, looking down and over at Spike. She noticed how the two of them were giving her questioning looks, so she elaborated. “He’s the only one it could have been. I mean… when he took my personality and flipped it on its head… one of the only things I can remember from that whole time was... just the most incredible anger I’ve ever felt. Anger towards Starlight. But, also…” Rainbow leaned closer to Twilight again, prompting the other mare to hold her tighter. Rainbow shuddered and closed her eyes. “...Even worse was how scared I felt. I was afraid of what she might do if I didn’t find her. All of these feelings started when he confronted me in the Canterlot labyrinth. If Starlight’s right, then… he left something in me, even after you used the memory spell to put me back to normal.” “That would explain a lot,” Twilight mused, gently patting Rainbow on the shoulder and slipping back a bit. “Between how you went from confident and self-assured to terrified of Starlight basically overnight, how severely you reacted to just seeing her in Manehattan for the first time, how you were quick to discard Applejack, Rarity and I’s opinions on Starlight as soon as something came along that cast a tiny amount of doubt on our analysis...” she listed off, her ears drooping with each item she went over. “And what happened on the train…” Rainbow muttered, nodding along and closing her eyes. She felt her blood run cold as she remembered that entire incident, and the consequences of her actions. She felt her eyes moistening up when she recalled the bruise she had put on Twilight’s face… “Rainbow, it’s okay, that’s in the past,” Twilight offered gently, tightening her hold on Rainbow significantly and nuzzling her on top of the head. “It’s in the past and we already forgave you for it.” “I know…” Rainbow managed to reply before opening her eyes. She sniffled weakly and wiped a foreleg over them to clear away a few tears that were threatening to form. “But if I really am under a spell, then how long until I can’t resist the urges anymore? How long before I lose control and lash out at her again? How long before I repeat my mistake? And what if we can’t fix it next time?!” With her voice rising in volume, she shifted back slightly to be eye-to-eye with Twilight, revealing the desperation that had creeped into her face. “We won’t let it come to that,” Spike assured with a toothy smile, putting a claw on Rainbow’s shoulder. “And neither will our friends downstairs.” Rainbow managed a weak chuckle at that. “Heh, I know… thanks, Spike. But, if I’m being perfectly honest,” she looked at Twilight with a shimmer of despair. “I don’t know if there’s anything you can do about it.” Twilight’s brow furrowed slightly. She looked away for a moment, catching her lip in her teeth before tentatively speaking her thoughts. “Well… what if we tried a counter spell?” Rainbow’s ears instantly folded flat against her head in response. “Yeah, Starlight already offered to do that, and… I said no.” “...What if I made that offer?” Twilight ventured carefully, drawing an alarmed glance from Spike and a curious one of Rainbow. She opted to keep speaking. “Rainbow, if this aggression of yours comes from a spell, we need to get rid of it.” “I know, I know, but…” Rainbow very gently nudged Twilight back, breaking the embrace so she could lean fully back in the chair and sigh heavily. “You know how badly I react to magic... “ “I do…” Twilight gave a grim nod, her own ears folding back. “But the way I see it, we can either try to undo the spell, and set off your flashbacks… or leave it alone, and watch you go through a similar experience to the one you went through on the train. And if we can’t stop your attack, then just like you said, if might be even worse next time,” she set her jaw and hardened her expression with resolve. “I don’t know about you, but I would do almost anything to keep you from going through all of that again. It was…” her eyes lost their intensity, and she looked down at the floor. “...It was hard for me, too, knowing that all of the pain you had to go through was partially my fault.” Rainbow shifted in her seat, leveling a hard look at Twilight. “No, no it wasn’t, Twilight. It was all on me. I’m the one who made the mistake, I’m the one who attacked Starlight, and I am the one who doubted you,” she stated firmly, causing Twilight to look back up at her in surprise. “So don’t you dare take any of the blame for what was my mistake.” “Does it really matter whose fault it was?” Spike asked sharply while stepping around to put himself between the two. “I mean, it’s all in the past now, and we have a way to make sure it doesn’t happen again, right?” Twilight shifted slightly, looking a little taken aback by Spike’s input. Rainbow stared into the back of his head for a moment before sighing heavily and leaning back even more into the chair. “You’re right, Spike… it doesn’t matter. And we do have a solution…” she muttered with resignation before looking into Twilight’s eyes. “Okay, Twilight… I trust you… once we’ve gotten back in touch with Equestria, we can see about getting rid of this spell?” Twilight nodded reluctantly before stepping forward, making Spike sidestep a few paces. She wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow in another hug while nuzzling into her shoulder, a gesture that Rainbow dash was only all too happy to return. As the two of them sat their hugging each other, Twilight felt the shakes permeating Rainbow’s body. With a what she hopes was an assuring smile, Twilight leaned back and flashed lightly ruffled Rainbow’s mane with a hoof, earning a grunt from the pegasus. “Hey, you don’t need to be scared, Rainbow. You know that I would never do anything to hurt you, right?” Twilight asked in a quiet whisper. Rainbow lightly nudged Twilight’s hoof out of her mane, causing it to fall and rest on her shoulder. “Yeah, I know,” she replied, managing to weakly return Twilight’s smile. “That’s why I’m letting you do this.” Rainbow then pulled Twilight back into the hug. The two of them were content to just sit there and share the embrace for a little while with Spike awkwardly standing off to one side. He crossed his arms and began to tap his foot against the table impatiently, like he was waiting for something to happen. Eventually, Twilight withdrew from the embrace to arrange the writing supplies. She didn’t get very far, and squeaked in surprise when Rainbow pulled her in one more time, even tighter this time. Still, Twilight didn’t fight it, and resumed returning the hug. She chuckled weakly after another few seconds. “You know, if we want to get in touch with Equestria, you kind of have to let me go first.” “Twilight, just shut up for a minute and let me hug you,” was Rainbow’s only response, burying her face into Twilight’s shoulder and tightening the embrace. For her part, the bookish mare just gave her eyes another roll and let Rainbow have her hug. “Oh, alright. It’s not like I can say ‘no’ to you, can I?” “Heh. nah,” Rainbow said, her voice muffled by Twilight’s shoulder fur. From the side, Spike rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated groan. “Oh for Celestia’s sake, would you two just kiss already!” he snapped, throwing his arms wide. “SPIKE!” Twilight shrieked, quickly scrambling out of Rainbow’s embrace and blushing furiously. Rainbow, now blushing as well, lowered her hooves and shot a very irked glare in the baby dragon’s direction. “What?” he asked innocently with a shrug. “I’m just saying what everypony else is thinking.” “Spike,” Rainbow said slowly, lifting a hoof to rest on the table. “How about I loudly announce that you and Rarity should kiss when you’re mooching up to her?” Spike started blushing furiously and clasped his claws behind his back while taking a few steps away from Rainbow Dash. A lopsided grin appeared on his face and a very weak, nervous laugh slipped out from between his teeth. “Oh, uh… point taken,” he shakily admitted. “It better be. Now get off the table, we have writing to do,” Rainbow retorted while making a ‘shoo’ gesture with her hooves. Spike sagged a little and hopped off of the table, looking a little dejected. With an aggravated snort coming out of her nostrils, Rainbow turned to look at Twilight. The mare in question had a hoof on her chest and was looking at everything but Rainbow Dash. She had her lower lip caught in her teeth and her eyes were shimmering with uncertainty. She noticed Rainbow looking a moment later and let out a small sigh. “I’m sorry about that, Rainbow. That was… a bad way for me to react to that.” “Hey, don’t sweat it, Twi… I know you’re still trying to figure things out for yourself,” Rainbow replied softly before looking down at the paper and sighing. “...Let’s just get to work, eh?” “R-right,” Twilight replied quietly before trotting up to Rainbow’s side. She pulled a sheet of parchment over with her magic, as well as one of the quills. She hovered the tip over the paper for a moment, her face scrunching up. “Okay, you write down your message, I’ll write a copy of the Dragonfire spell. That sound good?” “Yeah,” Rainbow nodded while pulling a sheet of parchment and a quill towards her as well. “Let’s do it. We’ll want to contact Manehattan first. I’m sure AJ and Rarity will wanna know how their families are doing, plus it has the biggest population of any city in Equestria. It needs to take Priority. We’ll also want to contact Cloudsdale. We might need the weather factory.” “Good idea.” With that decided, the two set to work writing down what they needed to in silence. Only rarely would they hear their friends talking to each other, their voices drifting up from the lower floors. In this quiet environment, even with something as tedious as this, Rainbow was able to find some degree of comfort and relaxation. Every time she looked to her left at Twilight, she found the source of that comfort.