//------------------------------// // Chapter 124 – Can You Remember? // Story: Infinity Era // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// 124 Upstate New York New Avengers Facility, Interrogation Room 2:32 p.m. “This is so stupid,” Rainbow Dash groaned as she leaned back against her chair, the legs balancing on two instead of four. Twilight’s lips curled into a bemused frown. Surrounding them was a room cloaked in shadows, the lone lamplight above their heads enlightening the table that separated them and the chairs they sat upon. The world outside of their bubble, their conversation, was irrelevant. Everything outside the room they were in was completely shut away as Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were the only living inhabitants in the interrogation room. Hardly used to being alone with each other, the Avengers situated the room so either mare could be standing on equal ground, neither one of them feeling like they were interrogating the other. No windows in the room. The door was locked, sealed tight, keeping them from escaping. Neither mare would have been fully willing to escape either way. The only reason they chose to stay together in the interrogation room was because Sunset Shimmer and the Avengers convinced them of it, Steve being particularly supportive of Sunset’s decision. He made it clear that Twilight and Rainbow had some things to sort out between them, and he joined the many others who stood outside that door and waited for them. They could tell every last one of them were listening in to their conversation even if the Avengers didn’t want to admit it, which alone wasn’t comforting. Unfortunately, they didn’t really have a choice to leave. Not until whatever was troubling them was situated. Whatever that was still remained as a pestering thought on Twilight’s mind, even as Rainbow declared, “Like, what did she even mean that we had something to work out? All we need to do is get the Quantum Tunnel working and we’re good to go! All we’re doing in here is wasting time!” “Well, Sunset won’t let us go until we’ve figured it out,” Twilight sighed, hoof falling from her chin to slap against the table. Her eyes traced it. “Got no help from Steve or Tony… or anyone else, really. They didn’t object.” Rainbow snorted, crossing her forelegs and turning away to the camera gazing down to them. “They seemed pretty on board.” As her eyes shifted upwards, Twilight, too, saw the camera’s eyes centered on the table and the two mares sitting on opposite ends, facing one another. Her lips tightened to that, rising a curious brow before both deflated. Twilight sighed once more, leaning forward and laying both hooves on the table and stating, “We’re in here for a reason, Rainbow.” “And what would that be?” Dash replied, shifting her head back to the Alicorn. Twilight’s consciousness centered to the heart of the equation, the root of their troubles and looking even deeper than that. Turning to that side of her, Twilight recalled just what Sunset Shimmer witnessed while her geode’s magic infused with Twilight and Rainbow, each mare witnessing a conjoined flash of memories. All painful. All of which needed to be seen. Reaching that conclusion, Twilight shook her head and raised both hooves to her mouth, eyes falling below Rainbow’s line of sight. “Even when we both don’t want to admit it… I’m pretty sure we both saw what Sunset saw,” Twilight explained softly. It took a few seconds for Rainbow to recall those memories, the reason as to why they were held against their will in an interrogation room to begin with. Once she found that reasoning, Rainbow just scoffed. “Why would that be an issue? We forgave each other, Twi. There’s nothing left. No grudge, no…” Only she couldn’t finish that statement. All of her words simply failed her when Twilight lifted her eyes and connected with hers. It was as clear as could be. No humor and all reality. No deceit and all truth. No weakness and all pain. Twilight Sparkle expressed every inch of that with her facial features alone, from every quivering lip and eyelid to the shaking breaths and spoken tongue. Especially when she shook her head. “You can’t honestly sit there and tell me that now,” she whispered, voice in agonizing torment. Dash’s expression crumbled after that, the stoic virtue practically caving in on itself when Rainbow’s own strength was turned against her, her own words being nothing but that against the cold, hard truth between them. Beaten and broken down, Rainbow Dash turned away, shutting her eyes as she took in several cautious breaths to steady herself. She closed her eyes, only one visible through her manecut. The other burned, but she didn’t show that. What she did show was something much more impactful. “Everything you’ve done for our country… I can’t… hold a grudge against you,” Rainbow admitted, turning back and seeing her red eyes join Twilight’s. Listening as Twilight’s words trumped Dash’s own for that impact. “Who said it was only you?” Twilight whispered. Nothing for several minutes on end. No retort, no rebuttal, nothing for Rainbow Dash to utilize promptly and presently to support herself and her failing barriers. Knowing those barriers held no ground to rise upon due to her inability to understand her own mindset. She and Twilight helped to rebuild Equestria, Twilight doing more work than Rainbow could have possibly imagined. While rebuilding the military was no easy feat, Twilight had it far worse. She had to run the nation from the ground up, reconstruct Canterlot, hold stable relations with failing economic and social bonds between Earth and Equus. How could Rainbow ever hold a grudge against somepony so selfless? It was just as easy for Twilight to do the same. Both ponies knew what they had done, both mere months prior and even years to the point where they could hear their own heartbeats in their ears. The room was deathly silent, the subtle, shaking breaths from both mares filling the air. In that silence, they thought only of each other, wondering how that grudge, that wound could still be evident after all the years they spent working together, living together, rebuilding their home together… It went far deeper than either realized, both mares slowly coming to that conclusion but neither fully willing to embrace and act upon it. Neither one of them had the strength to look to it and the trouble that lied between them. “Can you remember…” So… she didn’t. Rainbow Dash lifted her eyes to the arising voice in the room, belonging to the only other beating heart. And Twilight Sparkle sat in her chair, appearing so utterly small that Rainbow almost couldn’t even reassemble the same figurehead that belonged to the ruler of Equestria. Instead, it was replaced by a shaking, terrified, utterly broken mare. Each and every syllable was painful for her, yet warm at the same time, ignoring what was meant to be said and focusing only on what came to her mind, what came to her heart… She recited everything that pumped within it. “… when you and Applejack raced each other in that Iron Pony competition? The Running of the Leaves… both of you so hotheaded and enthusiastic to take home the medal?” It was certainly an odd memory to bring forth, so odd in fact that Rainbow Dash broke away from her heated and conflicting thoughts to focus only on it. On that simple, happy memory. Her forelegs remained crossed, her hardened barrier still barely standing. Yet there was a crack, a breach, something that earned Twilight’s rising hope and filled it with warmth when she heard Rainbow chuckle. “Only for you to swoop in and beat us both?” Rainbow weakly laughed, shaking her head and staring to the floor. “Yeah… Yeah, that was something.” Twilight did not know as to why she brought up that old memory. It held no meaning to their current situation, no plausible connection to help forge their friendship into what it once was. The only reason Twilight could find as to why she even mentioned it… was that it reminded her of simpler times. Easier times, back when all they had to worry about in Ponyville were mere athletic feuds and overdo library books. Things changed. Things became darker, colder, pushing each mare away from each other as the real world dragged them with it. She just needed something to remind her of where she started, of what still brought her some semblance of happiness. And she wasn’t alone. Rainbow breathed in slowly, refusing to turn from where she stared and simply speaking her mind. The first thing that came to it. “Can you remember… when you said you got a warning from your future self? Turned all of Ponyville into fear-induced lunatics trying to prevent this great catastrophe that was never real?” Twilight was relieved to see Rainbow sharing some similar, warming memories. Not everything was forgotten. A smile crept its way onto Twilight’s lips. “A shame time travel isn’t that easy,” Twilight giggled, shaking her head and looking aside. “But yeah… that was pretty embarrassing.” It didn’t stop. They didn’t stop. “Remember when we went to the Crystal Empire trying to impress the Equestria Games Inspector… only for her to just be some random pony on vacation?” Rainbow mentioned, smirking on her end to see Twilight groan to that. Twilight laid a hoof over her face, failing to conceal her smile as she shook her head. “Gosh, I don’t even wanna remember that. That was sooo bad.” They laughed. It was comforting, a little pep to their hearts that both ponies desperately needed. Though it was only felt between them, the sudden adjustment to their conversation, attitudes, and emotions as a whole made a world of a difference around them. The dreary gray in the room was thankfully being filled with resounding color and warmth just from their laughter alone, the smiles of two friends finally burning bright enough to light a nation. “Remember when we got sucked into that comic book?” Twilight recalled between laughter. “Became superheroes… like Steve, Tony, Thor…?” Rainbow breathed a chuckle and nodded, eyes slowly closing. “Aw, yeah… That was so awesome.” Twilight’s pushed on after a moment of silence between the two, stating softly, “Remember when I helped you study for that Wonderbolt Reserve test?” She shook her head to that, and Twilight’s smile nearly shattered. However, it was rejuvenated when Dash slowly grew a smile in return. “Never would’ve gotten into the Wonderbolts without your help,” Rainbow said, lifting her eyes and seeing Twilight smile once more. Their grins uniting, Rainbow’s widening. “Remember when the girls and I spruced up your old castle?” That statement alone got a breath of release from the Alicorn, a heavy weight of woe laced around Twilight’s following moans. “You made it feel like a home,” she weakly stated, Rainbow’s smile slowly falling when she realized that she was crying. Twilight rubbed at her eye with the tip of her hoof, sniffling softly. “Remember when… you and I helped run that Wonderbolt Academy camp? We both had different ways of teaching… ways of learning… but we still helped them. Together, we still worked it out. For those upcoming Wonderbolts… for everypony that day.” She nodded. “Another friendship problem down…” Rainbow led. “Only a million to go,” Twilight finished, the two giggling in unison. Her eyes fell following the quiet, letting that rising warmth fill the room for what it was worth and keep them entrapped in it for the time being. Helpful and pleasant memories were always welcome to cleanse the sickness of reality and uncertainty of the future. It only reminded Twilight of what awaited them, of what needed to be brought forth and accomplished if they had any hope of pursing that future. “Can you remember when we first went to Earth?” Twilight asked. Rainbow was dead silent. Twilight did not find comfort in that following silence, unlike previously. She was bringing forth a topic neither one had a particular fondness with, but it was something that needed to be discussed. Perfectly winding it in with their happy memories in order for them to ease into it more willingly. She continued. “I don’t think I had ever been more excited in my entire life. Sure, we met some aliens just a year before that, fought in a war for the fate of our very existence, and now we’re ambassadors going to make the peace. Could’ve been Celestia, Luna… anypony else, but it wasn’t. It was us. Our world put us there because they trusted us.” From the corner of her vision, Twilight could see Rainbow’s reaction to that. The growing frown, the unease from the Alicorn’s words. The Pegasus eventually closed her eyes and harshly breathed through her nostrils. But Twilight did not stop. She couldn’t now. “They trusted us because we represented that peace, that bond… that unification for friendship unlike anything or anyone else on our world.” Rainbow shook her head and scoffed, “Yeah, maybe they were wrong.” When she didn’t respond at first, it earned Rainbow’s attention. It earned her eyes to turn accordingly and face the Alicorn once again. And once again, she was dead silent, especially to the words that left her. “I think we were,” Twilight declared. She hopped off her chair and continued, even more profound than before. “All this time ignoring it, pushing it under the rug and keeping it locked away like it never even existed. That’s not how friendship works. That’s why the Elements denied us. That’s why we lost that day five years ago. Not because we were tired, uncertain, or all of us weren’t connected to them… it was just us.” Rainbow Dash’s lips quivered as Twilight finished that statement. The space between them was severed, broken as Twilight Sparkle made that jump and landed it. Her hoof rose and pressed against her chest, just over her Arc Reactor and even deeper than that. “Just you and me, Rainbow.” “We forgave each other, though,” Rainbow choked, those hurtful cries making her voice strained, uneven, joining the tears starting to build up in her eyes. “I forgave you for where you stood that day.” She approached the other side of the table. Every last barrier they had built between each other all came down in a thunderous chorus once Twilight found that connection, ignored the fear and faced the problem. She laid her hoof on Rainbow’s. “I don’t think either of us were being completely honest with each other, Rainbow,” Twilight boldly preached, assuring Rainbow Dash with a calm and strengthening smile. “So, let’s start now.” A single tear fell down Rainbow’s left eye. “For everything I’ve done… for where I stood that day… for ignoring who I was, hurting my friends, hurting you… and trying to think it was anything else but us…” she began, stopping shortly to contain her own ragged breathing. Twilight began to visibly cry, joining Rainbow in that regard, but she didn’t care. She tightened her hoof over Rainbow’s and opened her heart. Fully. “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. I’m so, so sorry. Friends should never have to fight one another over something so trivial as a misunderstanding. I’m sure if we had known that day… then maybe it could have ended differently. Maybe… trillions of lives would still be alive today. But they’re not. They can be, though. We can bring them all back, but only if we’re willing to forgive each other and ourselves. We need to right this wrong. We need to convince ourselves that we lost because we’re broken… and only together can we mend one another. To tell you the truth… I’ve never felt freer of that guilt than I do now. So… all that’s left is… just this.” Her hoof tightened against Rainbow’s, shivering ever so slightly. “Can you forgive me?” There it was, laid out fully and holding nothing back. She displayed her heart, her pain, every ounce of her emotional weight to her best friend and there was nothing of a response. None that she could see. All there could be was that shattered expression from the Pegasus, breathing in every second of Twilight’s full apology. No walls. No deceit. Every last syllable of the pure, authentic truth. And that was enough. “Only if you can forgive me… for all the dumb shit I’ve pulled off,” Rainbow exclaimed after a moment of struggle from her end. Twilight gasped out a chuckle, smiling wide through the tears leaking from her eyes. Rainbow continued, fought through every second of her own tears. “For standing against my friends for what they believed… for actually having the audacity to hurt them and you… but most of all… for acting like nothing happened. For acting like… everything happened for some other reason than this. For believing I forgave you.” Twilight pulled her hoof away. She did so because Rainbow Dash hopped off her seat and met her best friend on equal grounds. “And I’m sorry because of that,” she finished with a painful croak. There was nothing held back any longer. They cried, solidifying their reformed friendship with a tearful hug. Under that lamplight, within the contained walls of the interrogation room of the New Avengers Facility, two souls finally found peace with themselves. With one another. After seven years of doubt, regret, grief, guilt, sleepless nights and tireless days… it was finally over. Their fight had ended and both stood together in the midst of the bloody and beaten battlefield shared between themselves. They stood together in peace. Even as they broke apart, it was in peace, their hearts, their souls… finally finding ease with each other. It showed through the teary smiles and comforting gazes shared between both. “You ready to do this?” the Element of Magic asked. Rainbow sniffled and rubbed her nose with a foreleg, nodding fiercely through the tear-stained eyes and expression, the confident and cocky smile burning through it all. “Now more than ever,” the Element of Loyalty responded. They exited the interrogation room, pretty much everyone outside waiting for them. Like shining beacons within the darkness, like lighthouses within the storm, they were met with an overwhelming sense of shared understanding and hope. From Rarity and the bunch that followed her, especially Sunset. They had seen everything they needed to from the cameras. They heard every second of that heartfelt apology each mare expressed. They saw their friendship finally rekindled. And all they could do was join them in that rekindling, each and every last mare sharing in a group hug. Even Maud. Even Tempest. Even Twilight and Rainbow hugging one another within the bunch. The crowd of Avengers surrounding them all smiled contently because of that. Amongst the crowd, Steve Rogers witnessed every second of their bond being reunited once again. Even as they came out of the room, all Steve could do was smile to that, knowing fully that they were finally ready to face the impossible as a team. Rainbow was finally ready… and his smile slowly fell because of that. Steve knowing that what came next was always going to be the hardest.