//------------------------------// // A Cursed Blessing // Story: Chains Of Gold // by Dawn Leaper //------------------------------// And will not, then, the immortal armies scorn, The world's poor, routed leavings? or will they, Who fail'd under the heat of this life's day, Support the fervour of the Heavenly morn? It was raining the day Rainbow Dash had died. Heavy, thunderous and relentless, it had been a torrential downpour, as if the Heavens themselves were lamenting at the loss of one of Equestria's Greats. A tall, purple alicorn stood outside the Canterlot City Square Hospital, intimidating in stature and regal in nature, shoulders drooped as if carrying an unbearable load. Her long, glimmering navy mane, that usually danced, buoyant and floating on some ethereal breeze, was flat, and limp, and drenched in the rain. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the revolving doors. The bustling and beeping of the medical environment was a soft replacement for the clattering roar of rain outside. "Excuse me," she stopped a passing nurse, who looked shocked that a mare of such prestige would seek her guidance, "do you know where the Skies' room is?" The nurse's face fell slightly. "Yes, of course," she murmured sympathetically. "First floor, second door to your right, the Lady Bliss ward... I..." The nurse hesitated as if she was going to say something else. The alicorn lifted her gaze, eyes glimmering with liquid. "Yes?" The nurse shook her head quickly as she trotted off. "Uh, nevermind." Whispers and hushed exclamations followed the mare through the hospital, and the alicorn was vaguely aware of a couple of her private guards trailing astutely behind. Princess Twilight Sparkle halted outside the Lady Bliss ward. The sign, once bronze and lustre, was now faded and dull. She pushed the door open with a hesitant breath. The Skies and their children sat on various different seats around the room. Dawn Leaper, their youngest, had tears running down her cheeks as she wept quietly in the corner, comforted by her husband, Air Brusher. And rough, tough Prism Dart, who was like his mother in so many ways, and whom she hadn't seen shed a tear since he was eleven, had his hooves covering his face as his brother, Sun Sweeper, who had red eyes of his own, patted his back gently as they both to tried to get their father to acknowledge them. Soarin sat in the middle of the room, staring blankly into space, as if still reeling from shell-shock. His eyes were rimmed red and in his hoof he clutched a ring, simple and golden, with an elegant diamond that caught the light and refracted it in a spectral shine around the room. The bed next to him was empty. Twilight's heart sank as her eyes grew hot. She had felt Dash go, she had felt the last of the original Elemental magic fade with her last friend. And yet, seeing the devastation her best friend had left behind brought back feelings so bittersweet in nature, Twilight thought she was going to give in there and then. She hadn't been able to bear to watch the last of her friends go. Hadn't been able to bear to watch the light fade out her eyes, couldn't bear to witness her last breath, like she had witnessed Pinkie's, and Fluttershy's, and Rarity's, and Applejack's. She wished she could flee the numbness that followed each of their deaths, wished she could spend the rest of her days in peace, studying, reading, watch from afar the beautiful Flurry Heart grow into the sovereign she was destined to be. But she couldn't. She had to maintain her composure. With Celestia, Luna and Cadence ascended, Flurry and her were all Equestria had left. Twilight had built herself a reputation as the people's princess. They loved her, and she appreciated their trust. And yet... there was a painful emotion, a guilty emotion, building up inside her, hot and regretful. If only she had been brave enough to say goodbye. "I... I'm sorry, Soarin," Twilight muttered, her hoof hovering in the air near his shoulder blades, not knowing quite what to do. "You're no stranger to grief. It's the only way to heal. It's the price we pay for love." Twilight breathed out, her breath shaky. All she could think about was the image of Flash in her mind. His laugh, the exact hue of his blue eyes, the tone of his voice. The softness of his wings. His funeral. She had already payed the price. "You weren't there." A soft whisper came from beside her. Twilight blinked and looked down. Soarin, who had been previously ghostly and silent, had spoken hoarsely. "Pardon?" She murmured, as Prism and Sunny lifted up their heads. "She died. She's gone. And you weren't there to say goodbye." Soarin repeated, but this time it was a soft, angry hiss. Twilight flinched, opened her mouth, blinking in shock. Dawn Leaper opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it quietly. "I..." "You could have done something, should have done something, you could have stopped it happening-" Soarin started, his voice shaking, the same blank look in his eyes. "Soarin, please, you-" "I don't understand," he reiterated, this time meeting her gaze with hazy green eyes, "were you being cowardly? Why. Weren't. You. THERE." "Soarin!" Twilight nearly shouted, calm, shaky, but authoritive. "It was not my place to stop it happening." Something inside Soarin seemed to shatter, his eyes widening as if he had just awoken from a nightmare. He met her gaze with a piercingly heartbroken stare and tears began to run freely down his already-stained cheeks. And what made it even worse was that she was being a coward. She had run from the one thing she had dreaded most over the past year. And by Celestia, did she regret it. "Sorry..." he mumbled, collapsing his face in his hooves, "I'm sorry... I don't... I..." Twilight smiled sadly. "It's alright," she hushed him, her heart twinging with grief, "I miss her too." "Why..." Soarin moaned, wrapping himself in his wings, "does it hurt so much?" "You and Dash..." Twilight started, in an attempt to placate him, as her eyes grew unfocused and watery, "had something really, truly special. I... I can't explain it. Even Cadance can't explain it, and she's the goddamn Princess of Love. It was like... like Fausti herself made you two to fit together." Soarin said nothing in reply, just curled up tighter. She let him be engulfed by his children, all three of whom had manes just as vibrant as Dash's had been, and left the room as the Skies family dissolved into a heap of grief, hot tears and murmured comfort. She had tried, but the scene was too melancholic to stand. The only way to bear grief was to grieve. Twilight's eyes shone with tears as her horn lit up in a soft purple glow, gleaming in the dark corridor like a star, bright and lonely in the way only things that lived forever were. Immortality was a gift and a curse. Like chains of gold that bound her to this life, and she dared not to sever it out of fear of what dwelt beneath the fall. But love... love isn't mortal or immortal. It just is. Rainbow Dash had no fear, and in that way, she was the bravest of them all.