//------------------------------//
// i. reunion 
// Story: Don't Let Go 
// by cierragp 
//------------------------------//

The night in Canterlot was cold and the suit that I had been instructed to wear covered up the worst of the bruising. Anything else I had plenty of excuse for. 

Looking at my reflection in the window, the silhouette of tall, lanky boy walked past, unaffected. I flinched, and he did too. 

Soon plenty of people commented that I was cold and not particularly friendly, but in my defense, it was just that any contact equaled the kind of pain that lingers long after contact. 

"Rainbow Blaze!" A high girl's voice rang. "I haven't seen you in ages!" She hugged me, and I tried not to wince. Looking at her dark blue hair and green eyes, I tried to place where I might've met her before...she looked much too like Soarin...Soarin's sister? Carina Skies? 

I scanned the crowd, and for a moment, seeing him numbed all the pain as he smiled and walked over. 

"Soarin! This is Rainbow Blaze." The girl jumped from me to him and him to me. From the way he scrutinized me, I would guess that he was seeing to my suitability as his future brother in law.

"Nice to meet you." I smiled, careful to avoid the dimples. The rest of the evening we spent discussing sport, from riding, to shooting, to basketball. It was easy to simply throw one's head back and laugh, and I found myself doing it despite the pain it caused. 

Soon, we spent all the free time we had together, sneaking drinks, galloping across the fields, or just sitting down with a chessboard and spending a day just staring at each piece, or just talking about everything and nothing in particular. 

Every time I met one more of his friends, he would always wrap an arm around his shoulder and declare that I was his best bro. Those times tempted me into leaning against his shoulder, but I could do none of that sort. Instead, I brought up my fist to meet his. 

We could only be friends. 

"My sister likes you." He said once. 

"I do not like her." I replied. 

"Don't hurt her." The glare that he offered was enough to make most recoil. 

"I will not, but pretending to love her will hurt more. I will not offer a single hint that I might even have the slightest crush on her." I promised. 

He seemed to contemplate my words. "Very well. You and I seem to be the same person in different bodies."

Maybe I fell into a trap of liking him too quickly and too much, but despite the occasional display of arrogance and his rebellious nature, I found respect and care with him. It was too much to ask for from my mother. 

One of those days, somewhere around my seventeenth birthday, we were all drunk. Carina was somewhere else, puking out her guts while I tried not to get overly drunk, especially when it reminded me more of the binding on my chest. I was still worried that if I got too drunk, I might reveal something or anything that would probably warrant some more punishment. 

"Damn." Soarin muttered. "Why is it that you are a boy? You would be prettier than any other had you been a girl." He laughed. "Wave Chill told me yesterday that he was scared of seeing you because now he does not know whether to be straight or gay."

"He could be both." I scoffed. But I was elated at the prospect. I was pretty? I never really noticed, not when the lie that my appearance is has become painful to look at. 

I felt his arm around my shoulders as he started muttering. "Every birthday, we can spend together."

Yes. I'd like that. 

The next day it felt as if nothing had happened. It was back to the same cycle of beatings and punishments amongst school, but something had changed for me. 

I had a day to look forward to.