//------------------------------// // End 1 // Story: The Hag, the heroes, and a few other things // by Amaranthine Thought //------------------------------// I’m not really sure how long we were like that. But, in the end, Rose needed to be in her own home, resting, and I had things to finish. I got up, and both Rose and Pinkie took that as their own cue to pull themselves together and get up, Pinkie helping Rose to stand. I had barely said, “Stuff to do.” before Pinkie startled, recalling. “Rainbow!” she yelped, looking to me. I only nodded, smiling, and she beamed once more. “I know.” I told her, “Not to mention all the rest of it. Time to fix it all.” Though Rose had, at first, seemed somewhat confused at Rainbow’s mention, my mention of things to fix got her to recall, and I paused, seeing her face shift. First to sadness, and then that belief. “Grandmother,” she said, “I need your help.” “…What’s wrong?” I asked, staring at her, both worried that she would ask for aid, and stunned at the certainty she had in me. “Honest is…” she paused, and frowned, looking down and sighing before looking back, her belief then cut with regret. “I drove Honest away.” I saw it instantly. Rose, discovering Honest a changeling, and though I didn’t know the details, I knew her reaction to that sudden discovery. “…I’ll find him.” I told her softly, and she nodded. Then, Pinkie bounding around us, uncontrollable energy pulsing out from her, we left, Pinkie only hesitating long enough to aid Rose and I up those stairs before simply vanishing ahead. Rose chuckled at the Pinkie shaped dust cloud while it lasted and I grinned a touch, the both of us going at far more normal speeds. Being alone, and Pinkie gone, I glanced at Rose, wondering. Out of them all, it was Rose who… knew. As I glanced, she looked as well, and she saw my expression, and tilted her head just a little in thought. “Grandmother?” she asked, and I looked away, snorting as I debated asking or not. “…What are you thinking about?” “…Do you remember?” I asked her. It took a moment, but I saw her recall. And she, for her own reasons, didn’t respond past a brief nod, her eyes somewhat distant. I sighed, and I think she somehow knew. “You’re not her.” Rose said, moving closer to me. I glanced at her, and she added, “You're Hag, my grandmother, and the savior of all those…” she paused then, trying and failing to find the word. “People.” I told her, and she nodded. “All those people.” she finished. “I was born her.” I countered. “That doesn’t matter.” Rose said, “What matters is that you escaped from that darkness. You broke the bonds holding you and now you’re free.” I paused at her particular choice of words, though I gave my best to not give any indication of how close she actually was to the truth. “You saved me so many times, and you saved all those others. I fought Em… her, and it was you who saved me.” “It was you who saved me.” I muttered, though Rose was slowly wearing away my distresses over that past event. “I would have died in myself if you hadn’t ripped me out of it. With my own memories too.” Rose only smiled. “You’re my precious grandmother. When I fought, I knew it wasn't you, and when I reached for you, I knew you would hear me, and that you would come and heal me. And you did. Just like how I knew you would.” I chuckled. “The things you see…” I murmured, amazed at her ability of perception. “But Rose?” “Yes grandmother?” “I’d appreciate it if you never told a soul about what happened then. Or about humans, or anything, alright?” “I wasn't going to.” I paused, and Rose smiled at me again. “I knew you wouldn’t want me to.” she explained simply, and I let that pass without comment. Maybe she just knew me well enough to guess that. Maybe she saw what I wanted then. Maybe she just saw and knew everything around her and simply put up some fake mask of ignorance. I don’t know; really, I didn’t actually want to know. It was Rose; that was part of what made her so special. We made it to the edge just as dusk was starting, night swift approaching. We both paused, hearing the confused yells fast approaching, and I, more used to it, only sighed, spotting Pinkie coming toward us. Rainbow atop her back, yelling in confusion, in what was in all likelihood her sleeping robe. Rose gaped. “Pinkie, put me down!” Rainbow yelled as Pinkie hurried to us, skidding to a halt. “What the hay do you think you’re-“ “Rainbow.” I interrupted, smiling already. Rainbow froze, and looked at me. She blinked, got off of Pinkie’s back, rubbed at her eyes, and then stared at me. As she did so, I took note of her state. She was healthy, outside of her wings, which she had bound up tightly. Even through the cloth, I could tell their injury, but even then, I could feel it: They were ready to fly once more, and just needed a little portion of life. “…Hag?” Rainbow whispered so softly I barely heard her. I gave her a gentle smile and nodded, happy to see her again. “I’m back.” I whispered to her. A few more moments passed, Pinkie and Rose smiling as they watched, Rainbow still staring. I expected her to jump me like Pinkie had, but she didn’t. Her face scrunched up, and she sat down. All at once, tears leaked from her eyes, though she kept them open and looking at me. Stunned, I went to her, and as I reached to hold her, she reached to grab onto me, her grip somewhere between strong and weak. As she pressed her head into me, she whispered, “I thought you died.” I sighed, holding her. I… her reaction had shocked me, badly. I had no idea how much Rainbow might be affected by my ‘death’ until right then. “Rainbow… I’m back now.” “I know.” she whispered, pulling herself together and looking back into my eyes. “It’s just… Hard.” She wiped at her eyes and gave a faint laugh. “…I… I had thought I lost you Granny, and,” she murmured, before suddenly pausing. She turned bright red suddenly, and swiftly added, “I meant Hag! I just got confused right then, Scoots talks about you and I just, kinda…” I only smiled at her as she trailed off, awkward and embarrassed, but unable to deny her own feelings. “If you want to, you can call me Granny, Rainbow.” I told her. “You’ve earned that.” She seemed caught between smiling and nodding and rejecting the idea in some protection of her pride. “However, I have something to do. Something I wasn't able to when I should have.” Rainbow paused, and asked me, “What is it?” before realizing. All at once, her eyes widened and a sparkle came to her eyes that was not unlike the one I saw sparkle in Pinkie’s own when she caught me. I nodded. “Let me see your wings Rainbow.” She actually trembled in eagerness as she turned and near ripped the bandages from them, weakly trying to extend them. They were weak, but not diseased. Simply uncared for, and crippled. Rose winced a little at the sight, but I grinned more. Her wings were fighting to be whole, only stopped by a tiny failure in her life. Even a little healing would see them recover in time, but I owed her much more than a long recovery. I called to the Everfree, and though it eagerly threw life at me, I still made sure to ask it properly. Then, green mist swirling around my hoof, I reached out and gently touched Rainbow’s wing as they watched. The mist flew from me and curled around the wings before being gently absorbed. Rainbow gave a faint shudder and groaned, her wings flapping. Then they grew up, strength rushing back into them. In seconds, they stood tall, proud, and made anew, and Rainbow gently flapped them as she shuddered from the sensations flooding her. I had barley opened my mouth before she sudden shot upwards in a powerful stoke, and screamed her joy as she went up. Pinkie stared up and laughed as she looped in the air wildly, both me and Rose startled by her sudden action and yell. I shook it off, and yelled up, “Rainbow, be careful!” not from her newly healed wings, but more the idea of her flying like some maddened bird in the dark sky. She laughed, but slowed her flight and landed in front of me. And once more, she darted forward and seized me in a hug, her wings folding around me before I could respond. Then she backed off as suddenly as she came, beaming herself, her wings still outstretched and shifting around. “That. Was. AWESOME!” she yelled. “That felt so… It was…” she shuddered at the memory and looked to me with a certain hope. “Can you..?” she asked, and I knew what she meant. To be specific, healing a crippled limb, particularly one used often, came with certain side effects. The strength returning with life is… I’ve heard one man describe it as ‘a taste of paradise’. Many have told me that there is no greater sensation that having something so weak and feeble to suddenly be restored again. To answer her question, that being if I could give her the same sensation again, I shook my head, to her mild disappointment. “It only happens the once Rainbow. Just be a little careful with them; they still need a bit of time to remember everything.” “I’ve,” she began in what sounded like a boast before she cut herself off. A second passed where she seemed unsure and hesitant before she nodded firmly. “You know what I need.” she said. “I’ll be careful.” I gave her a faint look at that. “…You’re not going to not listen and do it anyway?” I asked her, Rainbow having never reacted well to me telling her to not do something before. “Nope.” she said simply. “I’m not.” “…Rainbow?” I asked, trying to understand what she was doing. I suspected, but I also kept on thinking that it was Rainbow. And Rainbow wouldn’t react like she was reacting. She almost gently reached forward to hug me again, nuzzling me with some affection. “You mean way too much to me for me to do that now.” she whispered to me, softly enough that only I heard her. “Thank you…Granny.” I sighed and hugged her back, which is when she then decided to stop acting like that and wiggled out of my grip before I could truly grip her, making me stumble a little. “So.” she said as if she hadn’t just caused me to stumble nor left me in a state of confusion over her behavior. “You’ve been gone a while.” I shook myself and stared at her. Then I frowned. “Rainbow, explain yourself.” “What?” she asked rather defensively, not actually looking me in the eye. “I’m just happy you’re back Hag.” “You just,” “I just thanked you!” she interrupted, blushing faintly. “Nothing else!” I gave her a look, and she looked back. Seeing the mild plea in her eyes wasn't hard. I huffed. “…Pick one Rainbow.” I muttered, understanding her then. Caught between the tough act and her emotions, she rocked between them, unable to actually tolerate her emotions when not actually emotional. And then the other side of her that actually was soft and gentle which she hid and denied existed. Rainbow didn’t respond, and after a moment, I sighed, breaking the silence. “It’s getting late. Rose needs to get back to her own home, and I’m going with her. Pinkie, I expect to be able to sleep through the night, so don’t go and scream about my being back all over town, alright?” Pinkie nodded once. A short while later, and Pinkie and Rainbow were off on their own way as I got Rose settled in her own home. Once she was in her bed, she fell asleep more or less instantly. I, on the other hoof, had a hard time of it. First, I wasn't that tired, so I didn’t get to sleep right away. Then I kept thinking of what I was going to do next, which only encourage me to think of everything I wanted to do. There were a fair few, and part of them were things I had to do. For example: freeing Discord. Which meant I would have to find him, and finding him would likely need me to talk to the bearers. Simple enough. However. Celestia had stoned him, and thus, she would likely need to be asked before they would let me free him. Which meant I would have to talk with her. The angry sun goddess. The one that hated me, and I knew she hated me even if I wasn't entirely aware of why. Nothing nice to think about. I kept seeing me walking up to her, opening my mouth, her glaring, and me bursting into flames. “Grandmother?” I looked, and saw Rose looking at me, her eyes half lidded, tired. She pushed herself up slightly, and groaned. “What’s wrong?” “Just thinking.” I told her, sighing. Rose watched me for a moment or two. Then she didn’t say anything, and simply moved closer, so she could nuzzle into my side and grab hold of me. I watched her sigh and relax once more, me in her grip. Then I smiled, and relaxed with her. Not really sure if I was taking strength from her, or being strong because of her, but my fears faded. I had things I had to do. And nothing would stop me from finishing them.