//------------------------------// // Chapter Five; Paradise Eternal // Story: I'll Bring You Home // by Kodeake //------------------------------// I’ll Bring You Home Chapter Five; Paradise Eternal “She’s absorbing all the magic Tirek stole, but her body can’t handle it and the magic from four alicorns. If she keeps it up-” Discord was cut off as their bubbles popped, unceremoniously dumping them on the ground. Rainbow Dash caught herself quickly, rushing over to Twilight and holding the alicorn upright. “Twi? Twilight? Can you hear me?” Her cries died down gradually as she was surrounded by her friends, and when Twilight opened her eyes they were glowing a blinding white. “I’m sorry girls,” she whispered, her voice weak. “It was the only way.” With a pulse of magic a rainbow coloured beam shot from her horn straight into the sky, a ring flying out from it and washing over the land. Ponies all over Equestria found their cutie marks returned to them in an instant. Twilight went slack in Rainbow’s hooves, her breathing shallow and her coat visibly singed and smouldering from the massive amount of magic that had been forced through her. “T-Twilight?” Spike ventured hesitantly, holding her hoof in his claw. She smiled down at him, tousling his spines. “I’m glad you’re safe.” She closed her eyes, and one final beam of magic arced out of her horn before her breathing stopped entirely. “Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, shaking the alicorn desperately, not even registering her cutie mark reappearing. “C’mon Twi, you gotta get up. You gotta-” she was cut off as, in a blinding flash of light, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence appeared around them. “Tirek,” Celestia’s low growl chilled the air around them, her gaze hardened on the centaur as he lay on the ground, skinny and frail. She stopped as her gaze fell on the alicorn in Rainbow’s hooves. “Princess! It’s Twilight, she-” Rarity’s cry was silenced not by a voice but by what she saw. Celestia’s mane, ordinarly flowing in a calm, ethereal wind, looked more akin to pastel rainbow flames, whipping wildly around her head. Again, the princess spoke. “Tirek.” The once chilling tone became a raging inferno. Her horn glowed a deep, angry red like the flames of the sun itself. “Your crimes here today have proven you unworthy of even the deepest depths of Tartarus.” “No!” Tireks’ voice was as weak as he looked, struggling to his hooves and looking pleadingly at the draconequus wearing his brother’s gift. “Discord! Help me, get us out of here!” Discord ignored his begging, watching from a few steps behind as the gathered mares surrounded Twilight. Cadence was with them in an instant, Luna standing next to her sister. “I hereby find you, Tirek, guilty of regicide,” Celestia’s voice boomed through the scorched and smouldering field. The grass beneath her hooves was set aflame. “The penalty for which shall be eternal imprisonment in the flames of the sun. This verdict shall be carried out immediately.” “Discord! I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! I-” his pitiful plea was silenced as a beam of magic smashed into him, and he seemed to disintegrate from the sheer force of it. The blast only grew more powerful as time passed, the sound of it drowning out Celestia’s scream of rage to all but herself. When she finally relented there was nothing left of the centaur but another smoking patch scarring the landscape. Luna placed a hoof on her sister shoulder, feeling the heaving of the elder’s chest. They shared a look, and slowly Celestia’s mane returned to normal as they turned to the circle of ponies, most too distracted to have paid attention to Tirek’s fate. “P-princess…” Pinkie Pie spoke hesitantly, looking up. “You can help her, right? You can save her. She’s going to be okay!” Luna looked to Cadance, who shook her head. She bowed slightly. “I’m truly sorry, Twilight is-” “No…” Rainbow Dash hadn’t moved a muscle. She just sat there, numb to the world as she stared down at that peaceful smile, a stark contrast to the patches of burned fur and dirtied coat. “Please no… you can’t. Twilight can’t be…” “Twilight Sparkle has died.” Celestia’s voice was a heartbroken whisper. Tears fell onto Twilight’s face, and Rainbow didn’t even notice as they dripped from the end of her muzzle. “You can’t be dead, Twi… I… I haven’t told you…” her voice dropped to near inaudible muttering. “I never told you…” Rainbow Dash jolted awake, her eyes snapping open. She stared up at a non descript stone ceiling, something soft beneath her and something warm covering her. She blinked, noticing the dull, throbbing ache that seemed to pulse over her entire body. “You’re awake.” The pegasus turned to the soft-spoken voice, her eyes falling on a familiar mare next to her. She gasped. “Commander Hurricane, I-” Hurricane held up a hoof, silencing her with ease. “I haven’t been a commander in a long, long time. Just Gale is fine.” “G-gale?” She flashed a smile. “It’s what my friends call me. Hey-” Hurricane reached out and put an end to Rainbow’s feeble attempt to crawl out of bed. “-easy. Relax; you’re in no shape to be moving around yet; you’ve been out for a while. You took one heck of a beating in the arena.” “M-my bags,” Rainbow insisted, looking around the room. It was small, made of carved stone with little else in it besides her bed and the chair Gale sat in. A small window above her head allowed a shimmering stream of light in. “I need my bags, I- I need to get going.” “They’re right here,” Gale assured, lifting them up from the floor and showing them to the pegasus. “You necklace, too; Cronus gave it all to me to hold on to. But I’m not letting you out of that bed until your body is ready.” Seeing the purple star hooked onto the clasp of her bags, Rainbow allowed herself to relax back into the bed despite her desire to look for Twilight. “What happened? Where am I?” She asked. “You’re still in the coliseum. I’m not much of a medic but I did what I could for your wounds. As for what happened, you passed out; your injuries were pretty severe by the end of it, and you’d lost a lot of blood. I-” Rainbow shook her head. “I know. I want to know what happened with our fight. I lost.” “Ah…” Gale reclined in her chair, looking to the ceiling. “Well, technically both my wings touched the ground, so you got the point and won. But…” she gave a sideways glance to the mare in the bed. “That’s not really what you wanted to know.” Sighing, Hurricane shook her head. “I wasn’t just your opponent for the final round, I was the judge; it was my decision whether or not you were deemed worthy of Elysium..” “I lost,” Rainbow repeated, frowning up at the legendary commander. “You beat me fair and square.” Hurricane chuckled. “Yeah, I did. I won, and I still thought you belonged here in Elysium. You got a problem with that?” Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, but shut it with an audible click when Gale shot her a look. The commander nodded approvingly. “I didn’t think so.” A moment of silence passed, and eventually Rainbow Dash asked; “Why?” Seeming to debate the question, Hurricane ran a hoof through her short mane. “Why?” She echoed curiously, as though asking herself the same question. “Because… well, I can tell you it wasn’t out of pity, if that’s what you’re thinking. Honestly, I can’t quite put a hoof on it myself. Maybe it was because even after all the previous trials, how injured and exhausted you were, you still put up one heck of a fight. But I suppose…” Hurricane trailed off, watching the other mare out of the corner of her eye. “I know what it’s like, to risk everything for the pony you love.” Rainbow visibly blushed, recalling her outburst in the arena. Gale noticed and laughed. “Relax, kid; it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. This girl of yours has got to be one heck of a mare.” “Heh, you have no idea. Twilight’s...” She felt herself smile. “Twilight’s incredible. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” “Try me. I’ll bet you mine’s better.” Shaking her head, Rainbow gave the other pegasus a challenging smirk. “I don’t think you know what you’re getting into.” Hurricane chuckled. “Kid, my mare’s one of the best mages the unicorn tribe ever produced. Personal aid to Princess Platinum. One of the three who defeated the Windegos.” “You’re kidding…” Rainbow trailed off, though rather than in awe she had to force herself to stop from bursting out laughing. “You dated Clover the Clever?” Flashing a victorious grin, Gale nodded. “Not just dated; I married Clover. Who’s this Twilight, again?” Rainbow couldn’t resist a few giggles slipping out as she said; “Oh, you know; just the wielder of the Element of magic, who fought - and defeated - the literal god of chaos. And a Changeling Queen more powerful than Celestia. And a bunch of other thousand-year-old enemies. Oh, and did I mention she’s the only unicorn to become an alicorn by discovering an entirely new type of magic?” The look of Commander Hurricane’s face was priceless. “Well…” Gale stuttered over her words for a second, puffing out her chest. “I guess you did alright for yourself. So, were you two married yet, or…?” She let her question hang in the air, and watched as Rainbow’s face fell from an infuriatingly smug smirk to a pensive frown. “Actually…” she sighed, suddenly becoming aware of her situation again. Laying in bed, bandaged and broken. Useless. “I… I never told her. How I felt about her, I mean.” Rainbow fiddled with her hooves under the sheet, trying her best to glare at her past self. “There was always a reason not to, y’know? We had to do this thing, or the fact that she was always doing her Princess stuff and I was always with the Wonderbolts. It just… I always told myself it wouldn’t have worked out. And we were great friends already, and I was okay with that. “A-and then…” she felt the tears coming again, but didn’t try to stop them. “And then she died, because of me, and I… I knew I had to bring her back.” Hurricane nodded, slowly. “You know, as soon as I saw you, I felt like I knew you. I know why, now: You remind me of my daughter. There was this stallion she had the biggest crush on. They’d been friends since they were kids, but I saw the way she pined after him. One day, I asked her why she didn’t do anything about it; they’d have made a great pair, and he had always been there for her when she needed him. But she just smiled at me, and explained how he’d come to her talking about his feelings - for another mare. “It broke her, inside.” Gale looked off into the distance, memories playing out before her eyes. “Still, she wouldn’t tell him how she felt. Well, eventually he gathers the nerve and asks this mare out, and she says yes, and years go by and suddenly it’s their wedding day. My daughter came to me crying the day they announced it. She’d never even thought about dating anypony else. He was the one for her. She was sure of it. She thought if they were meant to be together, they’d end up together. Somehow. “The day comes, and we all go and my daughter has this look on her face all day - the same look I used to get, when I was young. I knew what it meant; she was about to do something stupid. They’re going through the ceremony, and that part comes up; you know the one. They ask if there are any objections, and what does my daughter do?” Rainbow gave a hopeful smile. “Tell him how she feels?” “I wish,” Gale shook her head slowly. “I kept nudging her, trying to get her to say something. But no; she just sat there and watched, and when it was over she stood around congratulating them and laughing with them. I watched my daughter die inside that day, and I couldn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t until a few years later I learned what she’d done, why she’d had that look. “It turned out, just before their wedding, my daughter had confessed everything to the stallion. He told her he’d fawned over her, too, for a long time, but that he eventually accepted she wasn’t interested and moved on. He said he still loved her, but that he loved his wife more, now, and that he couldn’t leave her.” Hurricane’s vision returned to the present, and she focused on Rainbow Dash. “I tell you this story because I see my daughter in you; you’d rather give up your own happiness for somepony else before you try and pursue it for yourself. Don’t make her mistake; I want you to promise me something, right now. In return for letting you win that match.” He eyes were full of a fire that left no room for negotiation. “When you find Twilight in this place, you don’t hesitate another second; you tell her how you feel. How you’ve always felt. No excuses, no matter what. Got it?” “It’s not that easy,” Rainbow muttered dejectedly. “I can’t just-” “Why not?” Rainbow looked at the older mare like she’d grown a second head. “W-what? You can’t be suggesting I just-” “I’m suggesting you just walk up to her and tell her you love her. Yes.” Hurricane shrugged. “Why not? What do you have to lose? You’ve literally travelled through hell for this mare. It’s clear you love her, and if you really are anything like my daughter, I can guarantee she likes you too.” “How can you be so sure?” Rainbow snorted. “She’s… amazing. Smart and kind and everything I’m not.” Hurricane sighed, rubbing the bridge of her muzzle. “I swear, you’re worse than my daughter. Fine, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll do everything I can to help you find her if you make that promise.” Hesitating, Rainbow chewed her lip. “In my bags - left side - there’s a compass. Can you get it for me?” “Compass?” Hurricane asked, arching an eyebrow even as she complied. She pulled out the small box and passed it over. “Why?” Rainbow flipped it open, and the needle spun. Once… twice… three times. A feeling of dread shrouded her as it did slow rotations at a steady pace. It didn’t stop like it usually did. “W-what? No! It… it can’t be broken! Why…” “What’s wrong?” “It… it must be broken… when I crossed the bridge?” Rainbow stared as the needle spun, wracking her memory for when it could have broken. It had been working fine until she’d crossed the bridge, but she hadn’t checked it since then. Hurricane frowned, watching as the mare’s breathing grew faster. “Hey, it’s just a compass, what’s so important about it?” “It’s not just a compass. It’s the Dragon King’s Compass.” Rainbow’s head snapped up to see Cronus, leaning against the stone entrance. Still in sunglasses. “Did you do something to it?” The gryphon shrugged. “I never touched it. You’re the one that’s broken. Or, rather, your heart. Surely you know of the limits of the compass?” For a moment, Rainbow was confused, but then Luna’s words came rushing back to her; “for it to work there can be no doubt in your mind, no turmoil in your heart over what it is you want.” “Are you saying I don’t know what I want?” Her tone was accusatory. “I’ve never thought about anything but getting Twilight back.” Cronus shook his head. “And I found you so interesting. You disappoint me, little mare. No, who you want hasn’t changed in the least. But what do you want, hmm? Something has changed about your heart’s desire, and the compass can no longer point you in the right direction when not even you know what you truly want.” “What I want?” Rainbow echoed, looking back to the compass. It seemed to only spin faster. “I know what I want…” “Sure you do, that’s why the compass is still working.” He chuckled at the glare she shot him. “You are a train, barreling towards its destination without any breaks. But what happens when you run out of track, hmm? Now, as entertaining as this has been, it’s about time you stop taking up a perfectly good room in my coliseum. Eternal Paradise awaits you.” Hurricane spoke up, rising from her chair. “She needs rest right now; those trials almost killed her.” Cronus exaggerated a roll of his eyes from behind his tinted lenses. “She knew what she was getting into. Besides; she’s fine. Stand up, Rainbow Dash.” Looking between the two of them, Rainbow shrugged, more than ready to get out of bed. She jumped to her hooves, surprising herself by just how fine she felt. It was like the trials had been days ago rather than just a few hours. Dull aches and pains still reminded her of injuries but they were little more than after-images. “What-” “You’re fine,” Cronus said with an exasperated tone. “Come on; it’s my job to guide worthy souls to Elysium.” Hurricane stopped her before she could follow him out of the room, looking her over with an increasingly surprised expression. “That’s… not possible. It should have taken you almost a week to recover enough to be on your hooves. How…” she trailed off, and Rainbow Dash shrugged, more than happy to be out of bed as she threw her bags over her back and her necklace one more came to rest against her chest. “No idea. Maybe it has something to do with being closer to the magic pancake thing, or whatever.” She offered, wasting no time in hurrying out the door. A glance was spared at the compass, now held in her wing, but still it refused to point her where she needed to go. “Magic… pancake?” Hurricane asked the empty room, scratching her head in confusion. With a shake of her head she shelved the question for later and soon joined the other two in the curved stone hallway outside the small room. Rainbow stared down at her hooves, her brow creased even as the stale stone corridor lead back into the arena. Thoughts swirled in her head in an endless loop of questions. Every now and then she glanced at the compass in her wing, watched it spin, the resumed her inward gaze. She only looked up when she realized she was about to walk into Cronus. The gryphon shot her an unreadable look, before motioning in front of him. He’d lead them out of the coliseum, into the grassy field around it, and right back to the bridge Rainbow Dash had crossed from the underworld. However, before she could ask, Cronus gave a little smirk and with a snap of his talon the fog parted from the bridge, and Rainbow could see clear across to the other side. It wasn’t the Underworld; it looked… well, it looked like eternal paradise. It was a field, much the same as the one the coliseum stood in, but the grass seemed to be more vibrant and it was filled with purple flowers so bright they seemed to glow. The sky was the richest blue she’d ever seen and golden sunlight warmed her face. “Weclome, Rainbow Dash, to the Elysian Fields.” Cronus announced, motioning her forward with a wing. Rainbow complied hesitantly, noticing even the bridge seemed different from last time; it wasn’t rotting, and didn’t sway at all. The winds that once rushed up from the river below no longer blew, and the wooden boards didn’t make a noise as she crossed. Hurricane followed behind her, and she glanced back just in time to see Cronus give her a wave. “I wish you luck, little mare. We’ll meet again when your time comes.” With that curious farewell he snapped his claw and the fog closed around the bridge once more, obscuring his little island from view. With no other options, Rainbow pushed forward until her hooves touched land, and she felt the grass brush against her coat. There had been grass around the arena, sure, but here… it was different. Softer. The ground was warm, the sun bright and high above, a gentle wind taking the edge off the heat. Hurricane took note of the mare’s look. “Yeah, I had about the same reaction when I first got here. At first it’s not all that different from the mortal realm, but it’s just a little bit better, y’know?” Shaking herself out of her stupor at Hurricane’s words, Rainbow quickly looked to her compass. Still spinning. “Stupid thing.” She cursed under her breath, angrily throwing it back into her bag. “Right, so, where do we start looking? I mean, she’s an alicorn; can’t be that hard to find her, right?” “Excuse me?” Gale raised an eyebrow, crossing her forelegs. “I didn’t say I’d just help you. I asked for something in return, and you haven’t done it.” Rainbow grumbled. “Fine. I… I promise.” Hurricane didn’t seem satisfied, rolling a hoof in the air, motioning for her to continue. She sighed. “Fine. I promise; as soon as we find Twilight, I’ll tell her… how I feel…” Rainbow’s voice dropped towards the end, but it was still audible, and Gale seemed to mull it over. “Alright, that’ll do for now, but I’ll be holding you to that. As for where we start looking, Elysium is a big place - almost as big as Equestria. I haven’t heard of a newcomer for quite a while, and news like that tends to travel. Especially if anyone noticed an alicorn walking around. So, wherever she is, she’s likely been there since she died.” “Aaaand… how do we find her?” Hurricane shrugged. “You’re the one who knew her; you tell me. This is eternal paradise; there’s something here for everyone. What is it this mare loved more than anything when she was alive? If she could spend eternity somewhere, where would it be?” Humming in thought, Rainbow rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Somewhere Twilight would want to be forever?” “Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow jolted awake at the shrill cry, jumping to her hooves and ready to take flight at a moment’s notice. It took her a second to realize where she was and why she was being yelled at. For one, she was in the library, and despite definitely remembering it being late afternoon, out the windows she could only see darkened sky. As for why she was being yelled at… “Heh… sorry, Twilight…” she trailed off sheepishly, watching as the book she had been reading was daintily levitated into the air, a noticeable pool of drool soaking into the pages. “Guess I feel asleep.” Twilight shot her a deadpan look, though it quickly melted into disgusted horror as saliva dripped from the book. “I noticed. Honestly, Rainbow, how many times do I have to clean your - ugh - drool, off of my books?” Too embarrassed to defend herself, Rainbow just scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. “Sorry…” she muttered, feeling a distinct heat in her cheeks. With a flash of magic most of the offending liquid was cleared off, and the wet pages were carefully separated before the book, too, was teleported out of sight. “It’s… fine…” Twilight said in a way that made it quite clear it was anything but. “C’mon, Twi; it’s just a book,” Rainbow grumbled. “It’s just a book,” Twilight repeated mockingly. “It’s more than just a book! It’s… it’s information! Knowledge! It’s everything!” A single eyebrow was raised. “It’s Daring Do. You’ve read it, like, a bajillion times.” Twilight’s glare could freeze a fire. “It’s important! Books are important, Rainbow Dash. Sure, it might not be a textbook on advanced mathematics, but it’s just as important. It’s a portion of our culture, it’s a story many hold dear. It’s…” she trailed off, muzzle scrunching before her eyes lit up. “It’s like your trophies!” “My trophies?” She nodded rapidly. “Think about it like this; why do you keep your trophies? Why do you display them?” Rainbow was definitely following this comparison, but having just drooled all over one of Twilight’s books, she figured going along with it was the least she could do. “Because… I’m awesome?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Okay, yes, but it’s more than that, right? I mean; everypony knows you’re ‘awesome’-” she made a show of making air quotes, and Rainbow had to bite her tongue to keep from objecting “-and you know you earned them. So why do you still keep them? Isn’t the achievement alone enough?” “I mean I guess, but-” “But you display them anyway. Because they’re important, right? It doesn’t matter how many times you see them, or how much you think about how awesome you are, they’re a part of who you are. You’re proud of them, proud of your achievements, right? “Well, think of books like that; they’re some of their authors greatest achievements. They contain the stories and knowledge of ponies all over Equestria. Just like your trophies are a physical representation of you victories. Books are a way for ponies to live after they pass away, too. All books are important; they pass on the memories and imagination of the ponies who came before us. Just like the Wonderbolts Hall of Fame. They preserve a legacy for future generations.” Rainbow frowned, rubbing her chin. “Yeah… I can kinda see what you’re saying I guess. But I mean-” “And how would you feel if I, say, dropped and dented one of your trophies?” Suddenly feeling that this analogy was about to bite her in the flank, Rainbow cringed. “Not great?” Twilight just gave her a pointed look, and she guiltily rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry, Twilight…” “It’s alright, Rainbow,” Twilight said, this time genuinely. “Just…. Try not to fall asleep on my books again?” Rainbow Dash chuckled. Of course; there was only one place Twilight would want to spend an eternity. “Got a library?”