Although initially running fast, A.J got tired very fast to the point of falling to the ground. Big Mac gasped.
“A.J!”
He and Sugar Belle rushed to help her. But A.J elevated her hoof.
“No, I´m fine. I´m fine.” she said.
However, when she tried to get on four legs, she fell immediately to the ground. She tried again but failed once more.
“I don´t understand! I could run perfectly. Why can´t I get up now?”
“Maybe an adrenaline rush that lasted for a few minutes?” Autumn Blaze suggested while shrugging.
“Take it easy.” Sugar Belle put a hoof on her shoulder. “You´ve been stripped from all your magic. You can´t expect your muscles to work the way they used.”
“I agree with our future sister in law!” Granny Smith put her foreleg around Sugar Belle. “Your muscles are in worse state than mine.”
“Bu- But maybe it´s what Autumn Blaze said! All I need is an adrenaline rush!” Applejack said with a nervous smile.
Her family and friends looked at each other, sceptical that what was she needed.
“Are you sure you want to go on cousin?” Braeburn asked while raising an eyebrow.
“Of course. I´m fine!” Applejack lied while trying to get up and failing again.
“Fine is not the word I´d apply to this situation.” Troubleshoes said.
“Well I might not have my magic and look exhausted but I´m sure that I can keep on running.”
Everypony and kirin raised an eyebrow with a serious expression on their face.
“Ok. I might not be able to run. But surely Big Mac can carry me. Right brother?”
Big Mac felt uneasy with that idea.
“Well I guess I could but-”
“See? He said yes. Now, put me on your back, so we can carry on with our journey, ok?”
“I´m not doing that, A. J!” he replied angry. “You´re not ok. You need rest.”
“I don´t need rest. I am fine.” she emphasized.
“Applejack. There are dangerous creatures on the loose. What if you bump into one?” Bon Bon told her. “You can´t defend yourself in that state. You´ll probably get eaten.”
Applejack looked nervously from side to side. She violently shook her head.
“That´s not gonna happen! Grogar called them all so there´s no need to worry about dangerous creatures.”
Suddenly, the bushes started to shake. In just a second, Applejack´s entire family, Bon Bon and the kirins got ready to defend Applejack. Luckily, the mysterious creatures behind the bushes were ponies. And not just anypony, but the Pie family!
Both families gasped when they saw each other. The Pie family sighed relieved and smiled, even Maud Pie and Mudbriar. The Apple family also had happy faces. Well, except Applejack, who was nervously biting her lip.
“Oh no...” she muttered.
Like her family, she was happy to see that Pinkie´s family was ok. But at the same time, it was painful. She didn´t know if they knew her daughter was dead. She didn´t want to be the one to give such terrible news, neither she wanted to remember.
They Pie family ran to the Apple Family, who gladly returned the hug.
“I´m happy to see you´re ok.” Granny Smith told them.
“The same goes for thee.” Cloudy Quartz answered.
“How did you get here? Or better question, how is it that you´re not in the farm?” Big Mac asked.
“We were at some caverns, trying to get gemstones for Princess Twilight, and out of nowhere it began to snow so much that we had to take refuge inside. That was until we saw a bunch of diamond dogs!” Limestone Pie explained.
Every creature gasped. Well, except Autumn Blaze, who excitedly put her hooves on her cheeks. Her pupils dilatated.
“Did you say dogs?”
“But how did you escape from them?” Sugar Belle asked curious.
“Technically, they helped us escape.” Mudbriar clarified. “A pony escapes when they are facing a danger, but the diamond dogs were not a threat. Rather, they were of help.”
“Really?” Granny Smith asked in awe.
“Yup.” Marble Pie replied.
“Hmm…. Interesting…” Bon Bon scratched her chin while smirking.
“It turned out they were running from an underground monster. So, thinking on what Pinkie and her friends would do, we offered to help them, if they helped us to build a tunnel faster.” Maud Pie added.
At that moment, the Pie family noticed A.J´s presence.
“Applejack!” Igneous Rock exclaimed. He hugged her. “Thou are safe!”
They looked around, hoping to see Pinkie.
“Where is Pinkamena?” he asked worried.
Applejack looked away nervously.
“Well… she´s not here.”
“But technically, where is she?” Mudbriar insisted.
Applejack´s dreaded moment had finally come. The moment she had to inform the unfair loss of a family member. Just by remembering how they took her away brought her chills. It was too much pain to remember.
But she couldn´t afford time on tears. The more they spoke, the more Apple Bloom was dangerous. So, she decided to carry on what she was doing: lying.
“I… I have no idea. We… had to separate.”
Applejack prayed that they didn´t ask the reason why, and for her luck, they didn´t.
“So… she´s still out there?” Marble Pie asked shyly.
“Yeah! And you know one way to find out? Looking for her! And now that we´re going to keep looking for her, we´ll pass by the school to save Apple Bloom.” Applejack crept forwards, but her family stopped her.
“Let me through.” Applejack demanded angrily.
Big Mac, Sugar Belle, Granny Smith and Braeburn shook their heads.
“No, Applejack.” Braeburn lamented.
“Let me go through please!” Applejack´s command turned into a desperate begging. She was at the brink of tears.
“Applejack, don´t you see it? You can barely walk. There´s no way you can keep going on like this. We´re taking you home.” Big Mac put her on her back.
“No! Let go of me!” Applejack tried to hit her brother, yet her thuds were too soft, due to having no energy. “What about Apple Bloom? She´s in danger!”
“I´ll accompany your family while your closest ones take care of you.” Troubleshoes offered himself.
Applejack shook her head.
“No, no. You don´t understand. I have to go!”
“Applejack please…” Sugar Belle begged her.
“No `Applejack please´! I must go.”
“Applejack stop it!” Granny Smith ordered her angrily. “Stop lying to yourself! You´re clearly not well! If you go on, you´ll get yourself killed!” Do you want us to lose you? After we lost your ma and pa?”
Applejack gasped. That was the last straw. She panted as tears formed in her eyes. And finally, she revealed her true feelings.
“Well at least I would die in noble cause like them! I can´t lose Apple Bloom like I lost all my friends!”
Suddenly, she realized her mistake and covered her mouth. The Pie family stayed shocked. Maud even fell to the ground.
“Is- Is Pinkamena?” Cloud Quartz couldn´t finish her sentence. The pain and shock wouldn´t let her. She and her family broke in tears.
“You lied to us about our sister´s death?! How could you?!” Limestone yelled at Applejack hurt.
Applejack gave out a yell of pain before breaking down into tears. Big Mac and Granny Smith hugged her.
Though still angry, the Pie family felt bad for Applejack. Not only did Pinkie die, all her friends did! That was too much to handle.
“It´s ok, we´re here now.” Granny Smith told Applejack as she and Big Mac stroked her.
Applejack yelled and sobbed hard on their chests.
“Finally, she said yes.” Big Mac said as he poured some apple juice in a cup. “She always has to be at an extreme for her to accept help.
Sugar Belle was reflexing about what just had happened.
“Big Mac… Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What happened to your parents?”
Big Mac sighed before answering.
“You´re a part of the Apple family. And so, you deserve to know. I´ll tell you while we go to the barn.”
Sugar Belle nodded. They took another bottle of apple juice and the cup before going out. Once they were outside, Big Mac started his story.
“When we were little, Applejack and I used to have strolls with him. We would venture into many places. One day, we were going to cross a suspension bridge. Applejack used to have a doll with which she played often. That day was windy. Accidentally, Applejack let go of the doll, and it landed on the bridge. A. J ran to get it, but the bridge was unstable, and it broke. Applejack held on to the rope, yelling for help. Our parents immediately aided her, Ma holding one of the trunks in which the bridge´s ropes were tied into and Pa went to get Applejack. Everything was going well, but there came a moment where a rope got loose. Ma got it with her mouth, but she slipped off….”
Sugar Belle gasped quietly.
“Luckily, before that happened, Pa handed Applejack to me. And maybe that´s why she´s so reluctant to get help. Because she fears something will happen to us.”
“Wow… Poor Applejack.”
“Took her some time to figure out that I didn´t hate her for what happened. But I guess that the workaholic aspect didn´t go away.”
The two ponies got to the barn. Inside there was the whole Apple and Pie family, Bon Bon, Troubleshoes and the kirins were taking care of Applejack. Big Mac handed the cup to Granny Smith.
“Thank you.” she told Big Mac. Then, she handed to Applejack. Ok. Now tell everything that happened.” Granny Smith ordered as
The earth pony had a blanket on. It felt nice to be back on her barn, but she would have liked to return in other circumstances. Right now, everypony and kirin were waiting for her story. First, she drank some juice. Then, she breathed in and out.
“Alright. Y´all deserve to know the truth.” she said to the Pie family. “I don´t know if you´re aware of who´s truly behind all these attacks.” she said to every creature.
“We already know it´s Grogar.” Bon Bon answered quickly.
“I guess you heard the changelings…” Applejack said a bit surprised.
“No no. As soon as I saw many monsters together, I already knew it was Grogar. You see, back when I was forming at the Canterlot Anti-Monster Agency, we studied Grogar reign very closely. Only a phenomenon like that could happen if that ram was around.”
“Well, it seemed that Grogar reunited the three villains so he could take back the throne. He showed to us later than the other villains. We wanted to help the princesses and Discord, but we had no choice but to go away. And now that I think about it, you were with me in Canterlot.” she said to Big Mac. “How did you get here?”
“As soon as I saw the three villains coming, my first impulse was to run back to the farm.” he replied.
“He was in the same state as you, but as soon as he got here, we took care of him and he rested. And now he´s back in his perfect shape.” Sugar Belle kissed Big Mac´s cheek.
Applejack shook her head.
“But that´s the thing. Rest won´t give me back my strength. Because I have no magic left.”
The Pie family widened their eyes in shock.
“You what?” Limestone Blaze asked.
“When we ran away from Grogar, we agreed on using Grogar´s bell against him after we deal with Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow.” she chuckled sadly. “It was Pinkie´s idea in fact.”
The Pie family gave sad smiles.
“But the thing is that the villains had it first. We had a battle to take it away, and Spike and Flurry managed to get it. However, when Grogar came they teleported to the Crystal Empire. It seemed like the perfect plan and the moment the problem would be solved…” Applejack sniffed. “But that was the moment it all went down.” her voice broke.
She started sobbing and crying.
“Sorry.” she apologized.
Braeburn dried her tears with a tissue.
“Don´t worry. You are doing great.” he said to reassure her.
“We lost the battle against them. That´s when they absorbed our magic with the bell. And then, Grogar came in. He took it back.” her voice started to tremble. “Took Twilight.” she sniffed. “And killed her.”
The Pie family gasped sadly.
“Afterwards, we were locked. We were grieving Twilight´s death, but at least we hugged together. But Grogar ordered every guard to take us away and execute us in different places.”
The gaze she gave to the Pie family was full of pain.
“He told us that the first to die would be Pinkie.”
The Pie family hugged each other tightly.
“I´m so sorry.” she said so rependant. “I know I should have told you right away, but-” she sobbed. “I have gone through so much pain and I didn´t want to remember it again. If you don´t want to forgive me that´s fine.”
For Applejack´s surprise, Maud hugged her.
“Thank you for telling us the truth.” she shedded a tear.
The Pie family joined the hug. Applejack cried with them.
The other creatures inside the barn were in silence. They already knew what happened but to hear every detail was rough.
“Wow… I thought that my life was full of unfortunate events but this…” Troubleshoes huffed. “This is a whole new level!”
Granny Smith reached Applejack´s hoof.
“Why didn´t you tell us?” Marble Pie asked.
Applejack sniffed.
“I guess because I was lying to myself. I thought that if I told myself that everything was fine with me or that none of what happened earlier was true, I would be able to go ahead to save Apple Bloom.”
“But Applejack… In order to advance you´ve got to accept the truth. You know that better than all of us.” Granny Smith said.
“I know… but right now, the truth is too painful. I can´t handle it. And for that I feel guilty. How does the bearer of the Element of Honesty tell such lies?”
“Sometimes you need help to accept the truth.” Sugar Belle said. “Everypony. Bearing the Element of Honesty is no exception. You are still a pony.”
“I am kirin who usually speaks her mind and much like you, my friend, I´m also honest.” Autumn Blaze put her hoof around her. “But when I chose my voice over living with the other kirins, I told myself lies! You saw my `friends´ back then!”
“Besides, this is not the first time you do this...” Big Mac put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
Applejack put her head on his shoulder. She sighed.
“I know…”
“Accepting Ma´s and Pa´s deaths was a tough process for you. But you overcame it and accepted it, remember?”
Applejack stared at Big Mac.
“It might seem rough, but if you accepted the truth during such a rough process, I´m sure you will again.”
Applejack took her hat off and stared at it.
“Pa and Ma may not be here physically with me. But they´re still in my heart. I guess the same could go for them. That means I´m not alone.” she realized. “I might not know how, but I know that my life has to carry on even if I can´t see, hear or touch them. But they´re with me. Their souls will help to overcome this. They have and always will.”
Applejack hugged her hat against her chest. Even though she was crying, she smiled peacefully, as she finally accepted the truth.
Suddenly, light appeared around her. Scared at first, she tried to get up to run away but was still too weak to do so. But after feeling its warmth, she knew it was something safe and comforting, making the peaceful smile return. A brief flash blinded every creature for a few seconds. After it was gone, Applejack blinked slowly.
“What in tarnation was that?” Granny Smith asked confused.
“I have no idea. It appeared out of nowhere almost ass if it was an act of…”
Applejack widened her eyes at the realization. Could it be what she thought it was? Was even that possible? There was only one way to find out.
She rushed outside the barn.
“Applejack! Come back!” Granny Smith ignored her.
But Applejack didn´t listen to her. Everypony followed her, except for Big Mac, Sugar Belle, Autumn Blaze and Bon Bon.
“Did she- Did she just run?” Bon Bon asked shocked.
“Indeed she did.” Sugar Belle replied, equally as surprised.
“It´s either another adrenaline rush or that apple juice of yours makes miracles.” Autumn Blaze pointed at the glass. “I want to try it!”
Sugar Belle hit softly her hoof.
“I don´t know. But there´s only one way to find out.” Big Mac said before rushing out the barn to follow his sister, the other three following behind.
Applejack arrived at a tree in a matter of seconds. She left the bucket next to her. At first she was scared. What if it wasn´t what she thought it was and it was only an illusion of hers? But there was no time for doubting. Right now, what she needed were answers.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Granny Smith.
“Applejack!”
She turned around to her family.
“When in tarnation will you accept that you need to rest?!”
“Grandma. Did you just see what I just did?” Applejack calmly asked her.
“Yeah! Everypony did. You rushed….” the whole Apple family´s eyes widened at the realization. “Out.”
“I couldn´t do that a few seconds ago. And I don´t think this is another adrenaline rush. I feel well, grandma. I feel energetic. Almost as if I could buck that tree!”
Applejack bucked the tree with all her strength, making all the apples on the tree fall into the bucket. Applejack sighed happily.
“I can´t believe it.” Applejack´s eyes filled with tears. “My magic has returned. My magic has returned!”
Granny Smith sniffed.
“This is a miracle.”
“I´m so happy for you A.J.”
“Yup.” Big Mac agreed while drying out a tear.
Applejack hugged Granny Smith, Big Mac and Sugar Belle with all her strength. Autumn Blaze approached them.
“Can I join?” she asked with a big smile.
Applejack shook her hoof towards herself as an invitation to join the hug. She jumped right into it.
“Now I can really go out for Apple Bloom.” she stated while undoing the hug. “How tired are y´all feeling?”
Her family started shaking her head from side to side, indicating that they were in fact, a little exhausted.
“Alright. I´ll wait a little more.”
“You don´t have to. I´ll go with you.” Big Mac put his hoof on her shoulder.
“Me too.” Sugar Belle stepped forward.
“I still have to check if there are monsters left in Ponyville so… I suppose that a little visit wouldn´t be a bad thing.” Bon Bon said with a sly smile.
“Count me and the kirins in!” Autumn Blaze hugged two kirins, which made them a little uncomfortable.
“We want to come too.” Maud said in name of Mudbriar, Limestone Pie and Marble.
Applejack smiled sweetly at them. Then, she and Big Mac walked towards Granny Smith.
“I guess I have to say goodbye for now.”
Granny Smith caressed her cheek.
“We´ll see each other again, don´t worry.”
Applejack sniffed while holding her grandma´s hoof.
“Take care of each other, ok?” Big Mac told her.
“We´re the Apple Family, of course we´ll take care of each other!”
The two siblings smiled and hugged Granny Smith tightly. After some seconds, they let go, and ventured into Ponyville.
“Let´s go.” Applejack ordered to every creature that was coming with her.
They nodded and followed her behind.
The trip for Rainbow Dash, Greta, Gabby, Soarin and Lyra to safety wasn´t as easy. Unlike Rarity and Applejack, they had to fly. And right now, it was almost impossible. There were clouds and snow everywhere making it impossible to be certain if you were going through the right direction. Fortunately, they managed to arrive to their destiny.
Rainbow smiled when she found out what the secret hideout was. It was the Wonderbolt Academia! Oh, that place was like her second home. All the memories and things she learnt there…
They landed safely in front of the changing rooms. Soarin opened the door. To Rainbow´s surprise, there were many ponies inside.
“Alright everpony we´re back.” he told everypony inside.
“We did it! We brought her back!” Gabby exclaimed while showing Rainbow to all of them.
Everypony approached her. Though excited to see her, they were respectful enough on leaving her some space. Well… except for a certain colt and mare.
“RAINBOOOOW!” they yelled in chorus.
Rainbow´s heart warmed when she saw those two pegasi.
“Mom, dad…” she whispered happily, relieved to see her family ok.
Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles threw themselves over her daughter making her fall to the ground.
“I´m so glad to see you´re alive!” Windy Whistles said in happy tears.
Hothoof kissed his daughter´s mane repeatedly, crying of joy.
“Me too.” she hugged both her parents.
“By the way, we´re so sorry for what happened to your friend Twilight.” Hothoof told her with empathy in his voice as he stroked his daughter´s mane.
Rainbow looked surprised at her parents. Then, she sighed.
“So you know…”
“Yeah. The wonderbolts overheard changelings talking as they evacuated.” Greta explained.
“But they didn´t hear about your other friends. Do you know anything about them?” Windy Whistles asked her daughter.
Rainbow hugged her knees.
“I don´t want to talk about it.”
Both her parents looked at each other, not so sure what to do next. They realized that there was a newcomer apart from Rainbow.
“Oh! I don´t remember seeing you here.” Hothoof told Lyra.
Lyra blushed.
“Well, that´s because I wasn´t here.”
“Then how did you get here?”
“Oh boy…” Lyra puffed. “Pretty long and strange story. I was preparing for Twilight´s coronation with my dearest Bon Bon until all the chaos ensued thanks to Grogar´s monsters arriving to Ponyville. They began attacking all our houses and some took ponies for lunch.”
Everypony gasped. Gabby and Greta widened their eyes.
“But don´t worry, nopony got hurt.”
They sighed in relief.
“But I was taken by a bugbear. You see, Bon Bon told me that bugbears took their preys to their caves so they could eat us later.”
Rainbow thought about Applejack. Their friendship kind of reminded her of Bon Bon´s and Lyra´s. And their friendship evolved into something more. If only she and A.J had had the chance.
“Anyway, I was being flown away to the unknown, until suddenly, it changed direction! I guess he heard Grogar´s bell, I don´t know. But at least it gave the amazing wonderbolts to save me!” Lyra put her foreleg around Soarin.
“Now that we´re talking about it. How did you get here? I thought you were in Cloudsdale.” Rainbow asked her parents.
“As fast as we saw all the chaos sprouting, Spitfire commanded us to go to Cloudsdale and evacuate all the ponies we could.” Soarin explained. “Unfortunately, there came a point in which was impossible to reach Cloudsdale.”
“But luckily, the ones who know you are safe here!” Gabby replied cheerful.
Rainbow widened her eyes.
“You mean…”
“Excuse me.” a male voice said.
Rainbow sighed in relief. She never heard that voice before so it wasn´t them. She wouldn´t have to recall the awful experience she went through. But things would change once she knew who the ponies who wanted to talk to her were.
“Wow, it´s such an honour to meet you.” a light coat female pegasus said.
“Who are you?”
“Scootaloo´s family!” an earth pony said cheerfully.
Rainbow widened her eyes.
“It´s ok. We´re not here to talk about where´s Scootaloo. We know she was in the School of Friendship with her friends.” Snap Shutter said somewhat sadly.
“But we wanted to thank you for inspiring our daughter.” Mane Allgood put her hoof on her chest. “She couldn´t stop talking about you when we came to visit her! You´ve taught her so much throughout the years. And for that we´re grateful.”
“Her self-esteem rose to the top thanks to you!” Aunt Lofty exclaimed.
“That´s why we wanted to talk to you. To thank you for everything you´ve done for her.” Aunt Holiday told her.
But Rainbow didn´t think the same. She felt awful about herself. She was always there to protect Scootaloo, but now, thanks to Grogar and the villains, she couldn´t. However, it also felt good to finally meet Scootalo´s family, which brought her a small smile on her face. A smile that wouldn´t last when she heard the familiar voice she feared to hear.
“Rainbow….” a masculine voice said in a teasing tone.
Raimbow gasped.
“Oh no…”
Zephyr Breeze made way for his parents between the crowd to approach Rainbow. The mare looked away nervously.
“No, no. Don´t worry. I won´t try to flirt with you this time.” Zephyr told her. “This isn´t the best time for that. Sorry, I was just trying to maintain hopeful during this awful time.”
Rainbow smiled sadly at him.
“Thank you.”
“So… Is Fluttershy…” Mr Shy asked worried, stuttering in the process.
Rainbow whimpered from the guilt she felt.
“I´m so sorry.”
Mrs Shy cried on her husband´s shoulder. Zephyr patted his parents´ backs to comfort them.
“Fluttershy was like a sister to me.” Rainbow began to cry. “Although opposites, she cared for me and loved me unconditionally. That was her biggest quality. She loved everypony, no matter what. But let me tell you: Of the six of us, Fluttershy was the bravest. None of us confronted Grogar the way she did.”
Mrs Shy sniffed.
“That was the greatest thing about her. She might seem like a meek pony, but deep down she was the bravest pony.”
Rainbow was going to hug the Shy family, but she was interrupted by the door opening. The rest of the wonderbolts, the griffons and the pirates came back. Soarin ran to greet them.
“So, how did it go?” he asked them.
Gilda victoriously bumped her fist against her open claw.
“We managed to kick their butts.”
Every creature cheered.
“But at the cost of my wing.” Spitfire pointed at her broken wing.
“Don´t worry. That will get cured easily if we bandage it.” Mr Shy said. “Could I know where you keep them?”
“But a wing takes time to recover! And we can´t waste time for that to happen.”
“Yeah!” Grandpa Gruff agreed. “That ram is responsible for the creation of Arismapi, the creature responsible for the fall of our kingdom!”
“You´re planning on going to Canterlot?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah.” Soarin replied. “But with Spitfire´s wing being broken we might have a problem.”
Rainbow´s guilt transformed into frustration, which showed through a hoof stamp and a growl.
“It´s not fair!” she yelled in tears.
Immediately, her family, Fluttershy´s and Scootaloo´s went to her aid.
“Honey what´s wrong?” Wind Whistles asked.
“What´s wrong? What´s wrong?! Everything´s wrong!”
The ponies took a few steps back, somewhat hurt by Rainbow´s reaction.
“See? I´ve just yelled at you.” she said repentant. “I am just the worst pony ever.” she said between sobs.
Captain Celaeno and her pirates came intervened.
“Whoah, whoah. What are you talking about? You´re the most awesome pony ever!” Celaeno told her.
“No, I´m not. I´ve been a disloyal friend.”
“Why do you say that?” Soarin asked concerned.
“Because… If I had been more agile or- or less clumsy and hadn´t fallen into that mud, or- I don´t know! All I know is that I´m a terrible friend because I didn´t accomplish my most important mission: protecting my friends.” she sobbed. “I haven´t been there for Scootaloo either.” she looked at Scootaloo´s family.
All who were listening to Rainbow gave her empathetic looks.
“For that I want to redeem myself, but I can´t! If I had my magic, I would be able to help in anything! I´d be able to go with you to stop Grogar, I´d be able to look for Scootaloo and her friends… I feel so helpless.”
Spitfire walked towards her and sat in front of her.
“Dash listen to me. Sometimes a leader fails. It´s normal. For example, I did many mistakes when I was a commander. Does that make me a bad commander?”
“No.”
“Then why do you think you´re a bad friend?” Mrs Shy asked.
“Rainbow. Even though they aren´t here anymore, you are still willing to do anything for them. Isn´t that what loyalty is about?” Gilda asked her.
Rainbow looked down.
“But I can´t do anything for them.”
“Maybe you can´t fight, but there are other things you can do for them!” Gabby exclaimed. “For example, you can help us with things you´ve observed on Grogar!”
“What do you want me to tell you? He´s invincible!”
“I remember that you were good at observing things while flying.” Vapor Trail said.
“Just try to make memory. Was there something that made Grogar uncomfortable?” Sky Stinger added.
Rainbow bit her lip.
“I´m not sure. Pretty much all the moments they encountered, Grogar was super confident and intimidating.”
“Just start by the beginning. It helps.” Aunt Lofty advised her with a comforting smile.
“I´ll try…”
She went back to the first moment they saw him. She got chills only by remembering his menacing look. But she also remembered something that caught her attention, and ironically, it included Fluttershy. She remembered that Grogar did get intimated by Fluttershy´s stare, and his bells stopped glowing.
“Grogar´s magic is fueled by fear. So I guess that us not being afraid of him is his biggest fear, because he knows that if we all unite, we won´t be afraid of him.” Rainbow analysed.
“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Greta commented.
“But even if we weren´t afraid of him, something that is very very difficult, it wouldn´t be enough to defeat Grogar.”
“That might be true. But I´m pretty sure that we won´t be the only ones rebelling.” Celaeno said. “You and your friends inspired many creatures around the world. Some of them will fight. It happened before with the Storm King it can happen again. And if you tell what the secret is….”
“I guess so.” Rainbow said somewhat unsure but getting a little more confident.
“This is very important information. See? By doing a small act such as telling something to us, you´re being loyal to your friends.” Hothoof wiped his daughters tears.
“And to our Scootaloo.” Snap Shutter commented.
Rainbow smiled in tears. It might have not been the usual way for her, but she helped. She did a small act of loyalty. Now, instead of guilt, she felt some inner peace. Yes, she was still sad and hurt, but those feelings were less intense.
Without realizing it, light surrounded her. Every creature took a few steps back, observing the flash of light in awe. Once it disappeared Rainbow opened her eyes.
“Thank you guys I feel much better.”
Then, she noticed that her body didn´t ache anymore. Her body wanted to move and fly. She felt her usual high energy.
“You´re welcome.” Soarin said a bit unsettled by what happened, much like every creature else.
“No, no, seriously. I feel much much better.” Rainbow said somewhat scared.
To make sure that it wasn´t a dream, Rainbow got in four legs. Then, she opened her wings and flapped them. Afterwards jumped from the floor, her wings maintained her on the air. She started laughing in pure joy.
“I can fly! I can fly!” She said while flying around the room.
Every creature cheered her. Well, except Spitfire.
“Dash.” she called her.
“Oh my goodness, I never missed so much flying in my entire life!” Rainbow said to herself.
“Dash!” she repeated.
This time Rainbow stopped.
“You´re in a dressing room. You´ve just healed miraculously, don´t get yourself hurt again.”
“Oh, sorry.” Rainbow scratched the back of her neck while landing.
“Listen to me, I have something important to tell you. As you know, I can´t carry out my mission due to my wing. So, I want you to lead the wonderbolts to free Equestria.”
Rainbow´s pupils dilatated. A huge smile formed in her face, as well as tears. Her first reaction was to hug her.
“Thank you! Thank you! I won´t let you down!” she exclaimed while jumping.
But once she realized her mistake, she quickly corrected.
“Oh, I mean.” she said while she separated from Spitfire. She put her hoof on her forehead as a sign of respect.
Spitfire smiled and hugged her, which surprised every wonderbolt.
“So how does the plan go?” she asked Spitfire.
“We´ll explain you along the way.” Fleetfoot said. “Come on! We have a leader to defeat!”
“Good. We´ll carry you on our boat if you´d like.” Celaeno offered.
“Thank you, but I´m using these babies.” Rainbow looked at her wings with pride.
“But maybe I could use it. Mine don´t work like they used to before!” Grandpa Gruff complained.
That phrase took out a chuckle from the griffons.
“Well, considering that I can´t fly, I could use that too.” Lyra agreed.
“So, we go now?” Soarin asked.
Rainbow nodded, but before continuing, she looked back at her parents, Fluttershy´s and Scootaloo´s families. She hugged them.
“Thank you.” she whispered.
Everypony smiled gladly.
“Wow, you should do that more often, Rainbow.” Zephyr Breeze raised an eyebrow.
“Uh… Nope.” Rainbow replied dryly. “But for helping me today, you somewhat earned my respect.”
Zephyr rolled his eyes playfully.
“Sounds good.”
Rainbow reunited with the wonderbolts, griffons, pirates, and Lyra.
“Come on. Let´s show that ram who´s boss!” she told them.
“YEAH!” they agreed.
“But first, let´s check the School of Friendship. You know, to check if Scootaloo is there.” she hid her hooves while blushing and looking away.
Her companions shrugged with a chill smile, accepting the task.
“Whatever you say. Commander.” Soarin winked an eye.
Rainbow smiled. Before leaving they waved everypony goodbye. Likewise, the other ponies did the same.
Hothoof and Windy Whistles put their heads against each other´s shoulders.
“I´m so proud of my daughter.” Hothoof said.
“Me too.” Windy Whistled agreed after sighing happily.