My Brave Pony: The Heart of the World

by Scipio Smith


Deserving

Deserving

Twilight’s hoof-prints lay in the sand, running away from the camp, marking a trail to follow all the way to where she stood, alone, bathed in moonlight, looking up at the stars.
Rainbow Dash had followed that hoof-print trail after her, not scuffing over it but rather walking beside it – walking, not flying, a rarity for her, but it felt less… she couldn’t put it into words, but it kind of felt less like she was trying to sneak up on Twilight even though she kind of was. Anyway, she’d followed Twilight on foot, not scuffing out the prints she followed but walking beside them.
She wasn’t far away from Twilight now, but Twilight didn’t know that she was there. She was just looking up at the stars, as though she hadn’t got a care in the world, as though the zebra warrior’s story hadn’t told them that there were bandits about in this part of the world, as though this was as safe as Equestria – as safe as Ponyville!
It was night now, and the moon was up, and the uncomfortable heat of the day had turned into a cool of night that was almost pleasant, if a little too chilly for Rainbow’s liking.
Perhaps she was just never satisfied, she thought, as she watched Twilight. Of course, if she wanted to warm herself up she could head back to the camp where Spike had lit a fire and everypony else – and Spike, who had felt the heat a little less than any of them but was feeling the chill a little more – was warming themselves around it. Pinkie had even found some marshmallows in her mane – Rainbow had long since given up trying to work out how she did that – and everypony was toasting them, except Ace who was prowling around on guard.
Rainbow could have joined them, if she’d wanted to. Except that if she’d done that then Ace would have come out here to drag Twilight back to camp and the nice warm fire, because she was getting pretty antsy about Twi being out here all be herself.
Rainbow understood that, Celestia knew that she understood that, she was kind of worried about Twilight being out here herself, but she thought that Twilight might take it better if a friend came to bring her back. Rainbow liked Ace, even if she did tell the same stories over and over again, but she wasn’t one of Twilight’s friends, at least not in the way that Rainbow was, or any of the others.
Princess Celestia might have sent Ace, but Twilight was their responsibility first and foremost.
Except that right now Rainbow wasn’t bringing Twilight back. She was standing behind her, watching as the moonlight fell on Twilight Sparkle as if it was a spotlight just for her. It washed over her, and in the moonlight which made her coat look more a shade of blue than lavender, Rainbow couldn’t help but be struck by how beautiful she-
No, no, she couldn’t think like that. She couldn’t let herself think like that. She…
She found it hard not to think like that when it was right in front of her.
Stop looking so cute, Twilight!
Cute, beautiful, lovely… but sad at the same time. As Rainbow approached – actually talking to Twilight would get her mind off of how she felt just looking at Twilight, she hoped – she could see better the forlorn look on Twilight’s face as she stared up at the stars, the way her eyes seemed not far from tears.
“None of us should wander alone,” Rainbow said, her voice soft, so as not to startle Twilight even while getting her attention. “You least of all.”
Twilight looked at her. “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to worry you, it’s just-“
“This is rough country, Twilight,” Rainbow reminded her. “You heard what Hamilcar said, right? When Sunset went out here they got hit by bandits every which way.”
“I remember,” Twilight said mildly. “But we’ve not seen any sign of them.”
“There were those two creepy guys watching us,” Rainbow pointed.
“We don’t know they were bandits.”
“I can’t imagine who else would be out here,” Rainbow replied.
“Us?” Twilight said.
Rainbow was silent for a moment. “Well, yeah, okay, but…” she sat down. “So, what are you doing out here anyway.”
Twilight smiled for a moment, although the smile quickly faded from her face. “I didn’t want to distract anypony by my…”
“Stargazing?” Rainbow guessed.
“Not really,” Twilight guessed. “I was… I was hoping to see a shooting star.”
Rainbow grinned. “You could really use a wish right now, huh?”
Twilight chuckled. “Something like that, I guess.” She paused. “If I had a wish,” she said. “I would be at the Heart of the World right now, and we could get the answers that I came here for, and then go straight home.”
Rainbow nodded. “I think we’d all wish for the same thing,” she said.
“Would you?” Twilight asked. “Would you?”
“Of course I would,” Rainbow said. “What else would I wish for?”
“That we were all back home Ponyville,” Twilight suggested.
“If I wished for that we’d just have to come out here again,” Rainbow pointed. “We’ve already been through that once, I don’t want a repeat.” She waited a moment. “Admit it, you’d keep trying until you made it, wouldn’t you?”
Twilight sat down beside her, shuffling a little closer to Rainbow Dash across the sand. “I need answers,” she said. “I can’t just give up. I… I owe him not to give up.”
“You owe him,” Rainbow murmured. “But that’s not why you’re here, is it?”
Twilight looked down at the sands beneath their hooves, but said nothing.
Rainbow gnawed on her lip for a moment. “You never said that you loved him before,” she murmured.
“I didn’t… it wouldn’t have been my first choice of conversation topic, but…” Twilight trailed off. “Once we got onto the subject…”
Rainbow felt an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, like something that she’d eaten had gone down the wrong way. “Do you love him?”
In the moonlight, it was easier to see the blush on Twilight’s cheeks. “We were about to kiss,” she whispered.
“Before he killed someone,” Rainbow pointed out.
Twilight winced. “Yeah,” she admitted. “Before that. But that was… he didn’t… he was sorry.”
“That didn’t do much for the poor guy he burned to ashes, did it?”
“That ‘poor guy’ attacked me,” Twilight reminded Rainbow. “Lightning saved my life.”
“You weren’t exactly grateful at first,” Rainbow pointed out.
“I know,” Twilight admitted. “And I don’t… I’m not glorifying what he did, to see the Fire of Heaven in action was… pretty horrifying. But that’s not who Lightning is?”
“Isn’t it?” Rainbow demanded. “He’s a warrior, Twilight!”
“So is Ace, and my brother for that matter,” Twilight declared.
“It’s not the same thing,” Rainbow insisted.
“Why not?”
“Because we don’t fight wars!”
“Maybe that just makes us lucky,” Twilight said. “Not morally superior.”
Rainbow locked eyes with Twilight, her magenta orbs staring into Twilight’s eyes of lavender. “He doesn’t deserve you,” she said, her voice hoarse and gruff and quiet.
Twilight took a moment to reply. Her voice, too, was soft and quiet. “I think that’s for me to decide, don’t you?”
Rainbow held Twilight’s gaze for a moment before she looked away. “Sure,” she admitted. “Sure it is, I don’t… I’m not… I’m just saying… okay, I think he’s no good for you. I think he doesn’t deserve you. I think that you’re too good for him, you’re… you’re Twilight Sparkle!” There was a lot else that she could have said, about what it meant that she was Twilight Sparkle: brave Twilight, sweet Twilight, ready to try anything Twilight, smart Twilight, too smart for her own good Twilight, Twilight who could panic at the smallest stupidest thing, Twilight who always had a plan when things got serious; wise Twilight, giver of good advice Twilight, terrible at taking good advice Twilight; Twilight who needed Rainbow’s help when the going got tough; cute Twilight, pretty Twilight, lovely Twilight, beautiful Twilight, Twilight with those gorgeous eyes, Twilight with that amazing laugh, Twilight with that voice that Rainbow could listen to all day and always made her smile.
She didn’t – couldn’t – say any of that because, well… because Twilight wouldn’t listen to anything else that she had to say, and Rainbow needed her to listen because that wasn’t why she was saying all of this. Rainbow was saying all of this because…
“I’m worried, Twi,” Rainbow said, her voice softening after she had almost barked out her distaste for Lightning Dawn. “I… I’m glad nopony else was around to hear me say that.” She grinned.
Twilight chuckled. “You’re secret’s safe with me.”
Rainbow laughed. “I know. I could tell you anything.” She paused. “I’m not afraid of what might happen to me,” she added. “I’m Rainbow Danger Dash, after all.” She flapped her wings a couple of times. “But I… I’m scared of-“
“Of what might happen to the others?” Twilight guessed.
“And to you,” Rainbow added. “What was in that old story that you found-“
“It wasn’t a story,” Twilight corrected her. “It was an account written by Queen-“
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” Rainbow interrupted. “The point is… she went that last part of the way alone.”
Twilight drew in a breath. “I’ve been thinking about that too.”
“Twilight,” Rainbow hissed. “You can’t!”
“What if I have to?” Twilight asked. “What if Dido was right, what if there’s no other choice?”
“There’s always a choice!” Rainbow cried. “You could… you could turn around, and walk away.”
“You know that I can’t do that,” Twilight said.
“You can,” Rainbow insisted. “And I think you would. If Pinkie was hurt, or Rarity, or anypony, you’d turn back, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes,” Twilight said, and didn’t hesitate. Rainbow was glad of that. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if Twilight had hesitated, even for a moment. Well, she would have been very disappointed in Twilight Sparkle, but apart from that she didn’t know what she would have done. “Of course, if we had to turn back because somepony needed help, or because somepony might… I don’t want anything to happen to any of you. It… when I think that I asked you to come with me on this… I try not to worry, I try to tell myself that you all agreed to come and that I should respect your choices, but…”
Rainbow got up, and took a step closer to her. Then another step, embracing Twilight with one hoof, feeling the tremble in her body as Twilight rested her face on Rainbow’s shoulder.
“If we hadn’t come,” Rainbow whispered. “You’d have tried this trip alone, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes,” Twilight replied, and once more there was no hesitation.
“And that’s why we agreed to come,” Rainbow told her. “And that’s why I don’t want you to leave us behind, in fact it’s more than that,” she withdrew, pulling away from Twilight. “I want you to promise me, Twi, that you won’t leave us behind.”
Twilight’s eyes were wide. “I don’t-“
“Promise me, Twilight,” Rainbow insisted. “I’m serious.”
“So am I,” Twilight replied. “What if I have to? Dido thought-“
“That might be superstition for all you know,” Rainbow said.
“But what if it isn’t?”
“What if I don’t want to be stuck waiting at the bottom of some mountain, watching you climb up and wondering if that’s the last I’ll ever see of you?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight was silent for a moment. “What if I can’t promise?” she asked.
Rainbow didn’t reply. She hadn’t thought… or rather she had thought, she had thought that Twilight would… she should have seen this coming. Twilight had something pushing her on, she had to keep going, this was… this mattered to her as much as anything had ever mattered to her in her life.
She couldn’t promise to turn away, any more than Rainbow could promise to give up on becoming a Wonderbolt.
She hated it, but she couldn’t say she didn’t understand. And so she forced herself to smile thinly. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not your fault-“
“I shouldn’t have asked you to do something like that, it was wrong of me,” Rainbow said. “I… I’ve said what I had to say and I… I get it. I might not like it, but I get it. He meant a lot to you, and I don’t have the right to tell you that you have to give up on him like that, him or Krysta. I don’t… I’m sorry.”
Twilight bowed her head, her eyes closing for a moment before she looked back up at Rainbow with a smile. “Thank you,” she whispered. She started to reach for Rainbow, but seemed to think better of it, and drew back her hoof. She scuffed at the sand beneath her hooves. “I… I should probably go back now.”
“You go on ahead,” Rainbow told her. “I’ll catch up.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “I’m not sure if-“
“I’ll be right behind you,” Rainbow promised.
Twilight hesitated, but then nodded. “Okay. But right behind me.”
Rainbow smiled, and hoped it actually looked like a smile and not a grimace. “Right behind you.”
Twilight accepted that, and said nothing else to her, she just turned away and started to follow her hoof-prints back towards the safety of the camp and the others.
Rainbow watched her go, her retreating form still bathed in moonlight as if the moon itself was following her.
Only when Twilight had gotten a little way off did Rainbow feel free to start stamping her hooves in frustration.
Lightning Dawn! Rainbow… Rainbow had never liked the guy, not since he dropped out of the sky and practically the first thing he did was to insult Applejack, just because she was a farmpony. And no, his excuse didn’t help, just because a farmer beat him up once didn’t give him cause to go around insulting Applejack like that. Applejack would have been in her rights to give him a kick on the nose too, and the only reason she hadn’t was that she was a nice, decent pony.
She did not like Lightning Dawn, and nothing that he had done had changed Rainbow’s mind about that. He was a soldier, he was a killer, he killed people with his spear, or with his magic that even Twilight had found horrifying – and it had been bad enough hearing her describe what it did to that other pony – and he put other ponies in danger as well. Twilight seemed to have forgotten this, or maybe it just suited her to forget about this, but it had been pretty clear to Rainbow Dash at least that Twilight had only been attacked – and badly too, her face had been all kinds of messed up when they got into the hospital – because Lightning Dawn had been there. Somepony had gone after him, for some reason, and Twilight had gotten in the way.
Lightning Dawn was dangerous. He was all different kinds of dangerous. He was dangerous in himself, because danger was what he did – and not the fun kind of danger, not thrills, not daring, just danger; the kind of danger that got people hurt, because hurting people was his thing. He was dangerous because he had enemies, and those enemies were willing to hurt other ponies who got in their way to get to Lightning Dawn.
And he was dangerous because of what Twilight was willing to do for him. For the sake of Lightning Dawn – okay, and Krysta – she was willing to come to a place like this, a place where nothing grew and they had no food but what they could scavenge for themselves, a place that wanted them dead, a place where the thing that they were looking for might actually want them dead if they didn’t follow a set of rules that included ‘you need to ditch all of your friends for the last bit of the way up here’. There were bandits and sandstorms and you might not find water and they’d already been imprisoned by a dragon for crying out loud! And Twilight… Twilight still wanted to press on. For Lightning Dawn.
Rainbow Dash was not a coward. Danger was her middle name, and she would have gladly laid down her life for Twilight if she had to, but for Lightning Dawn? For Lightning Dawn?!
Their lives were all at risk for Lightning Dawn? There was a chance that Pinkie Pie or Rarity might get hurt, that Applejack might not come home to Apple Bloom and Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy was at risk for Lightning Dawn?
For Lightning Dawn. Why? Why did he deserve so much, why did he deserve Twilight, why did he deserve all the lengths that she was willing to go for them and how far she was willing to drag them with her?
Rainbow closed her eyes. That… that was unfair. Twilight wasn’t their boss, she wasn’t their commanding officer, she wasn’t leading them anyplace except because she inspired them to follow her.
“Twilight does not command you to stay,” the voice that came from behind her was soft, and sinuous. “You stay because you would not be parted from her. Because you love her.”
A shiver ran down Rainbow’s spine. She turned around. Behind her stood a pony who might have been an earth pony, a unicorn or a pegasus; you couldn’t tell which just like you couldn’t see her face, you couldn’t tell what colour her eyes were, you could barely tell if she was a mare or a stallion.
Everything was hidden behind a dark cloak.
Rainbow had never met this pony before, but she had heard enough to guess who she was.
“Raven,” she growled, baring her teeth.
“Guilty,” Raven murmured. “Although not necessarily as charged.”
Rainbow bent her legs, ready to pounce. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t-“
“I need your help,” Raven said.
Rainbow stopped. “You… my help? My help?! You tried to kill Pinkie, you-“
“That was… a mistake,” Raven conceded. “Although it all worked out in the end-“
Rainbow growled wordlessly.
“But a mistake, all the same,” Raven added quickly. “I… I was desperate. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I only knew that I had to act if I was to…”
Rainbow waited for her to continue. “What?”
“I don’t think it matters, do you?” Raven asked. “I could give you my reasons and you wouldn’t forgive me for what I did to Pinkie.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Rainbow grunted. “But you came to me, so you must have something to say.”
“A fair point,” Raven allowed. “As I said, I need your help.”
“How about you give me a reason why I shouldn’t kick your flank, first?”
“I am not your enemy,” Raven declared. “I am not Twilight’s enemy, I am not Pinkie’s enemy, I am… I am your best friend here.”
“I doubt that.”
“Alright, do you want to know?” Raven demanded. “Do you want to know why I infected Pinkie with the Shard of Darkness, do you want to know why I’m here: to stop Lightning Dawn. He is not what you think he is. He is not what Twilight thinks he is and this… this isn’t going to go the way she wants it to.”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Lightning Dawn is trouble,” Raven said. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”
“You haven’t exactly been nice to have around yourself,” Rainbow muttered.
“I do what I must,” Raven said. “Lightning… Twilight needed to know that Lightning wasn’t… you cannot go to the Heart of the World.”
“Why not? Because she’ll find Lightning if she does?”
“She’ll find so much more than Lightning Dawn, do you think he’s the only one out there?” Raven demanded. “He is the vanguard of an invasion! He is… if Twilight opens up Equestria to the wider galaxy, if she opens that door then there will be no closing it. None.”
“Then tell her that instead of attacking Pinkie and having a dragon lock us up and-“
“Twilight wouldn’t believe me!”
“What makes you think I will?” Rainbow asked.
“Because you know,” Raven said softly. “You know how dangerous he is. You know how he’s put Twilight at risk, put Pinkie at risk-“
“You did that,” Rainbow pointed out.
“I wouldn’t have, if Lightning Dawn hadn’t been there,” Raven insisted. “I need your help, Rainbow Dash. I need you. Twilight needs you.”
Rainbow hesitated. She didn’t trust Raven, not one bit, but… what she was saying… it made some sense. Lightning was dangerous, Twilight was in danger because of her connection to him, and if she didn’t give it up… when Raven said that this wasn’t going to end well it… it made sense, you know?
She was the only one who saw it. Rarity and Fluttershy thought it was romantic, Pinkie was grateful for Lightning saving Twilight, Applejack… Applejack was too nice for her own good, too go-along-to-get-along, to inclined to see the good in other folks to get what bad news Lightning was. Spike was too closed to Krysta. None of them got it. None of them understood. None of them saw.
Rainbow saw. Rainbow understood. And it seemed that Raven understood too and so, so maybe… maybe Rainbow ought to hear her out, in spite of what she’d done.
“What do you want me to do?” Rainbow asked. “I’ve already tried to talk Twilight out of this-“
“But she is beyond the point of talking, I know,” Raven murmured. “No, what I want is… something else.”
“What?” Rainbow demanded.
“I have friends, waiting nearby,” Raven whispered. “All you have to do is lead Twilight and the others to a certain place, where my friends are waiting-“
“You want me to lead Twilight and the others into an ambush?”
“They will be detained, not harmed,” Raven said. “I swear to you, I mean you no harm. They will be detained, and then sent home back to Equestria. Don’t you want to go home, Rainbow Dash? Don’t you want to be back in Ponyville, don’t you want to go camping with Scootaloo, don’t you want to be able to spend time with the others without worrying about them?”
“Yeah, because they’re so going to want to hang out with me after I sell them out,” Rainbow muttered.
“Why should they know?” Raven asked. “I have no intention of telling them. I can have you taken prisoner along with the rest. It’s not like I’m asking you to stand by my side and cacklingly explain how you betrayed your friends.”
“But you’re still asking me to betray my friends,” Rainbow pointed out.
“I’m asking you to do what is best for them,” Raven said. “I’m asking you to do what you know in your heart to be right.” She paused. “Have we had the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well yet?”
“Yet?”
“Have you had the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well?” Raven repeated, her tone sharpening.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said cautiously. “How did you?”
“Then you know that there is more to friendship than giving your friends what they want,” Raven insisted. “Twilight and the others didn’t give you what they wanted, they connived together at your humiliation because they decided that it was what you needed, even if it wasn’t what you wanted. I’m asking you to do the same, to give Twilight what she needs, even if it isn’t what she wanted.”
Rainbow hesitated. It was… it was… tempting. Raven was right, sometimes part of being a friend was to do the right thing even if it wasn’t what they wanted. Like with what Twilight and the others had done to her over the Mare-Do-Well business: at the time she’d felt humiliated, betrayed even, but it was what she’d needed to stop the swelling of her head, to pop her out of control ego.
This wasn’t what Twilight wanted. Twilight wanted to keep going, Twilight wanted to find the Heart of the World, Twilight wanted to put herself in danger for the sake of Lightning Dawn. So maybe it was Rainbow’s job, as her friend, as her loyal friend, to… to…
To betray her? To crush her dreams? To decide what was best for her?
To do what… to do what Rainbow had hated when Twilight and the others did for her.
And this… this would be so much worse.
This would be something… maybe Twilight wouldn’t find out, but that didn’t mean that Rainbow would be able to forgive herself.
“You’re asking me to trust you over Twilight?” Rainbow demanded. “Get lost!”
“Twilight is making a mistake-“
“Then maybe she is!” Rainbow yelled. “And if she is then we’ll face the consequences, together! Just like we faced Discord, and Nightmare Moon-“
“This isn’t going to be like those other times-“
“I don’t care,” Rainbow snarled. “We’ll face it together just the same. Because we’re friends. Because Twilight is my friend. Because I trust her. And because she trusts me and that… Celestia help me I’m going to live up to that trust in me even if I have to follow her into Tartarus to do it!”
Raven was silent for a moment. “I… I see,” she murmured. “It appears that I have underestimated you, Rainbow Dash.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow growled. “You did.”
A sigh escaped from under Raven’s hood and cloak. “Of course… you realise that I can’t let you go.”
Rainbow hesitated. “Your friends… they’re nearby, aren’t they?”
Raven’s voice was almost sad. “Very much so, yes.”
Rainbow nodded slowly. Then a smirk appeared on her face. “Thanks for telling me that, Raven.”
“Wh-“ Raven began, her voice turning into a grunt of pain as Rainbow socked her. Rainbow’s forehoove shot out, striking into the darkness beneath her hood, sending her staggering back and sideways.
And as she staggered, Rainbow took off. Her cyan wings spread out as she leapt up, into the night sky, a rainbow streak trailing behind her as she flew, her wings flapping desperately, carrying her faster and faster back to camp.
“TWILIGHT!” she yelled. “Everypony, we gotta go!”