//------------------------------// // Hello Rainbow Road // Story: Centaurworld’s Shining // by Twinkletail //------------------------------// If Shining Armor’s sister could see him now, she would probably have some words for him about how he was treating this opportunity. Twilight would primarily be concerned about the safety of Cadance and Flurry Heart like Shining was, of course. They were her family too, after all. But at the same time, he was currently running away from not only the opportunity to learn about a new race of creatures and a completely new land, but also abandoning those same new creatures when they were actively trying to befriend him. The chance to grow relations with a race previously undiscovered by ponykind was right up Twilight’s alley. He liked to believe, however, that making sure her family was safe would take precedence, much like how it was for him. Half of Shining expected the bridge that he ran across to ask him to tread a little more lightly. It would have been quite in line with everything else he’d been seeing in this Centaurworld so far. Everything about this world was just so bizarre, and this was coming from somepony who was used to the kinds of wild things that happened back in Equestria. Shining gritted his teeth as he ran down the only road he saw. This road actually would have fit in well back home, what with its rainbow pattern. Shining wasn’t concerned about that though. He was more concerned with the fact that this road seemed to lead right out of this colorful meadow and into the forest. Despite not knowing what lie beyond the meadow, he was perfectly willing to chance it if it meant he could maybe find a way back home. With a determined huff, he ran into the forest. Or at least he would have, had he not slammed into a magical force field just before the forest entrance. Shining let out a groan as he watched the force field ripple, expanding in a dome over the entire meadow before fading from sight once more. He liked to think himself an expert on the topic of magical force fields, and he had to admit through his consternation that one of such a size was pretty incredible. This fact would only make it that much more incredible when he managed to bust through it. Had he stopped to ponder things, Shining would have likely realized that the idea of physically breaking through a magical force field was preposterous. Luckily for him, it only took about five or six more attempts at brute forcing it for cooler, nearly-concussed heads to prevail. Finally being forced to admit defeat, the frustrated Shining trudged back up the road. The sun was starting to set by this point, which made finding the centaurs’ campfire that much easier. Shining took a deep breath before he poked his head through the bushes to observe the group. These centaurs had to know something about the dome that surrounded the meadow. They lived here, after all. He was pretty sure that if he lived inside of a magical dome, he would know at least a thing or two about it, and why wouldn’t that apply to them as well? If he was going to get out of this place, maybe befriending the group was in his best interest after all. They did seem like a mostly friendly sort. Well, Ched had called him dumb, but even that could be forgiven. From the way he was currently frolicking with the rest of the group, there was probably some good in there somewhere. “Ahem…” Shining cleared his throat. Instantly, the frivolity stopped, and all eyes were on him. Wammawink looked especially perturbed, although one could also make an argument for Glendale, who seemed poised to eat a giant stack of pancakes off of Wammawink’s fork before the distraction. “Well, well, well,” Wammawink said, shaking her head and staring daggers at Shining. “Look who came crawling back. Maybe we should share our gigglecakes.” This elicited a pathetic whimper from Glendale, and Wammawink let out a sigh before moving the fork in her direction. Within moments, Glendale had devoured the entire stack, face now covered in syrup. “I wasn’t looking for gigglecakes,” Shinjng stated, stepping out of the bush and walking up to the group. “But thank you. I was wondering if you all knew anything about this dome that’s covering your meadow?” “Oh, yes!” Durpleton exclaimed, nodding enthusiastically. “There’s a dome, and it’s covering the meadow!” A gentle breeze blew past. “Yes…thank you for that,” Shining said flatly. “So how do I get out of said said dome?” The rest of the group looked at each other uncomfortably before Wammawink once again took the lead. “You can’t get out of the dome,” Wammawink told him, before raising a hand. A soft pink aura surrounded her hand as she stretched her fingers. “Without magic.” Shining raised a brow as he watched the magic pulsate around Wammawink’s hand. So there was magic in this world? That just made things all the more strange. “How are you doing that?” Shining asked, narrowing his eyes. “My magic isn’t working.” “Is it Centaurworld magic?” Wammawink asked smugly. “Considering I’d never heard of Centaurworld before your song a little while ago?” Shining asked. “No.” “Hm, what a shame,” Wammawink said with a grin. “Centaurworld magic is very strong, you see.” “Really?” Shining asked. “What can it do?” “What can it do?” Wammawink repeated incredulously. Then she held her hands up and began to snap. “…What are you doing?” Shining asked, uncertainty in his voice and eliciting a smirk from the pink one. “Why tell you what it can do,” Wammawink said, as the others began to snap in unison. “When we can sing to you about the magic with our nightly magic song?” Yeah, she and Pinkie Pie would probably get along very well. “I don’t really have time for-“ Shining began, but it was too late. Everything had been set in motion, and there was simply no stopping this song. Shining was used to a number of different versions of magic. Every unicorn seemed to have their own slight twist on the concept of magic that made it uniquely theirs. As he dodged swinging manes, avoided being tangled up in stretchy necks, and had his head caressed by a pair of prehensile eyes, he had to concede that Centaurworld magic was way, way different from Equestria’s magic. When he found himself frozen in place, one of Wammawink’s hooves cocked like a weapon in his face, he finally managed to speak up. “Okay, I get it,” Shining said, staring the hoof down. “Tiny versions of yourself from your hoof…?” The question was quickly answered as the loaded hoof fired off, and sure enough, a tiny version of Wammawink smacked Shining in the face before flopping to the ground. The dumbfounded Shining stared down at the facsimile, a look of shock on his face. As it turned out, the amount of shock on the tiny version of Wammawink’s face was even greater. “Wh…what is this?” tiny Wammawink said, hands rapidly running over her own body as if attempting to come to terms with its existence. “Why was I made?” A scream of guttural terror followed as the mini-clone took off into the bushes. “Where did that go?!” Shining asked, a panic in his voice. “We never know,” came the responses of Glendale, Zulius, Durpleton, and Ched. In unison, the four fired tiny versions of themselves to the ground, each of which shrieked in abject horror before bolting off as well. Shining, for his part, was absolutely gobsmacked as he stared into the smiling faces of the five. This was, without a doubt, the strangest magic he’d ever come across. Twilight would surely want to hear all about it, but he honestly wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about it ever again once he got home. “This…is what you do every night?” Shining asked, suddenly acutely aware of how wobbly his legs weren’t. “Every day and every night~!” Wammawink confirmed. “We sing our songs, we practice our magic, we practice our magic inspired by songs we sing while we do our magic…” “Right, right,” Shining said, cutting her off. “And…you know, not to talk down on it or anything, but the only magic you all can do are, like…Portal Tummy, and Handsome For Eight Seconds?” “And I can shoot tiny versions of myself from my hoof!” Durpleton quickly added. Shining tried to interject, but was met with a tiny Durpleton to the face for his troubles. “Uh-huh,” Shining muttered. “Well…maybe I can just do it? I might not have my magic, but barriers were my specialty back home, and I still have…” Then Shining paled. “The artifact!” Shining shouted, finally realizing that it was no longer around his neck. Despite still not knowing what it was or where it came from, he knew that he had to keep it with him and away from Sombra, but now it was missing and he had no idea when it had even vanished. “Where is it?” The group stared at him. All except for Wammawink, who was now giving one of her friends a side-eye. “Glendale?” Wammawink said, holding a hand out to her. Glendale’s eyes widened, and then she hung her head in shame. “Well…okay, but I don’t really want to,” Glendale said. Then she rose to her hind legs, spreading her forelegs out. A magic portal burst into existence on her belly, and she reached into it, pulling the artifact out and placing it in Wammawink’s hand. “Sorry,” Glendale said sheepishly. “It’s just that…stealing that which does not belong to me makes me feel so alive.” Shining made a conscious decision not to unpack this. It honestly wasn’t any weirder than anything else he’d encountered here thus far. “You’ll have to excuse my herd,” Wammawink told Shining as she placed the artifact back around his neck. “They’re…well, let’s just say they’re Pinkie Pie times five, whatever that means.” “You’re a herd??” Shining asked. His eyes darted back and forth between the five. He’d heard of some ponies forming herds back home, but he never would have guessed… “Of course!” Wammawink confirmed. “Our herd may look different, but we take care of each other. Because that’s what families do!” Families. Okay, being a herd clearly had a different meaning here. “Don’t you know what that’s like?” Wammawink asked. The question hit Shining like a brick, or maybe like another tiny version of one of the herd to his face. The question seemed like it was meant in earnest, but it still shook him. He was already spending too much time here. “I do,” Shining sighed. “And that’s why I need your help to get back to my family.” “Only a centaur shaman can help you with that!” Glendale offered, ignoring the disapproving look that Wammawink was giving her. “They’re the most powerful…most magical beings in all of Centaurworld! Ohh, just uttering the word shaman makes me feel an anxiety unlike any I’ve ever felt before!” Shining’s eyes lit up. Which was much different from what Glendale’s eyes were doing, which could better be described as “growing to about five times their normal size.” “That’s great!” Shining said, nodding resolutely. “Then let’s go talk to a shaman!” “There are no shamans in Centaur Valley,” Wammawink stated, arms crossed. “Okay…” Shining responded. “I’m not seeing the problem here. Just help me leave the valley. Please.” The others gasped. Glendale shrieked as her eyes grew once more, this time to such a degree that they lifted her off of the ground entirely. Shining didn’t question this. He knew better by this point. “What’s wrong with that?” Shining asked, starting to pace back and forth in frustration. “What’s out there anyway?” “Well, I mean the Rainbow Road leads all the way around Centaurworld!” Durpleton offered, looking quite proud to be helpful. “Uh…we don’t know…we don’t really know what’s out there. But it’s more than what’s in this valley!” Wammawink’s glare was now aimed squarely at Durpleton, but it didn’t stay there long. “And there are five centaur shamans that live in different corners of the world!” Zulius added. Unlike the others, he didn’t ignore and/or not notice Wammawink’s disapproving look, opting instead to laugh. “What? You know me. The fact that you don’t want me to tell him these things makes me want to tell him even more!” Shining couldn’t help a smirk. The sass on that one was oddly charming. “Ugh…listen,” Wammawink groaned. “Our herd is very happy here. It’s fun! It’s magical! But most importantly: it’s safe.” Shining thought this over. As the parent of a little filly, he could appreciate the value of safety. Wammawink clearly cared strongly for her little ramshackle family, and he could very easily relate. If anything terrible happened to his family, it would tear him apart. At the same time, wrapping them up in bubble wrap, or a magical dome in this case, didn’t seem like the right answer. “I get that,” Shining told her. “I really do. But I mean…safety is important, but it’s also important to let those you care about make their own choices too.” He could see from the look on Wammawink’s face that he wasn’t reaching her just yet, so he continued. “If you stop them from having these new experiences because you don’t think they’re safe, then they’ll never learn how to handle things themselves.” Seeing that Wammawink wasn’t allowing herself to be swayed, Shining turned his attention to the others. “And hey…aren’t you bored just staying here? Don’t you want to see what’s out there for yourselves?” Zulius and Glendale cast side-eyes at each other, while Durpleton tilted his head curiously, almost making Ched fall off. Seeing that things were moving in a direction that she didn’t like, Wammawink swooped back in. “Of course not!” Wammawink insisted, smiling nervously. “They love it here! We love it here, right? We love doing the same magic every day and every night! Don’t we?” She looked to her herd for support, but was met with half-hearted murmurs. “But how can you go and sing songs about how great Centaurworld is when you just sit here in one place all the time?” Shining asked. He honestly didn’t mean it in an insulting manner, but based on the glare from Wammawink and the gasps from the others, he had hit a nerve. Shining typically wasn’t the type to antagonize those who didn’t deserve it, and he didn’t think Wammawink deserved it. But the longer he stayed here, the more chance there was of his family being in danger. With the stakes that high…maybe a little light antagonizing was just what the doctor ordered. “I’m right, aren’t I?” Shining asked, allowing himself a smirk. “Your herd is bored out of their centaur minds.” The daggers that Wammawink was currently staring at Shining could cut glass. Shining was quite used to this manner of death stare from Twilight when he would tease her, and thus remained unfazed. “Say that again,” Wammawink dared him. Unfortunately for her, Shining was more than willing to take that date. “You’ve trapped yourselves here because it’s nice and safe,” Shining continued. “When secretly, you’re bored!” He stomped his hoof for emphasis. “You’re stuck, and you’re bored, but it doesn’t have to be that way! Don’t you guys want to see the world?” “Yeah!” Glendale and Ched agreed. “Feel the…feel the wind in your manes?” Shining continued. “Yeah!” Durpleton and Zulius concurred, although the latter seemed mildly concerned about his mane getting ruined. “Feel the adrenaline rush as you deflect a horde of shadow soldiers from your doorstep?!” Shining shouted, his enthusiasm getting the better of him. The others seemed less interested, muttering with uncertainty. Except for Durpleton, who gave a resounding “Yeah!!!” Even with his limited time around Durpleton, Shining was fairly certain he had no idea what he was agreeing to. Maybe he had to reel it in a bit. “Don’t you want to see what’s out there?” Shining asked. “Beyond the barrier?” The herd was now squarely behind him, giving their energetic approvals. All except for Wammawink. She crossed her arms, trying to keep her air of anger, but now Shining could notice just a bit of fear behind that. Regardless, he had to push on. He nearly had them. Shining took a deep breath as he looked out towards the Rainbow Road. He didn’t know exactly what waited for him out there, but it didn’t matter to him. If that was the way he needed to go to get home, then nothing would stop him. He could hear Cadance’s voice in his head. He could picture Flurry’s face, calm and peaceful as he and Cadance sang to her. He would get back to them. Shining looked back to the herd, taking another breath. The herd, obviously very used to the idea of breaking into musical numbers, caught the hint instantly, and stared with rapt attention. Not wasting another moment, Shining began to sing. The wind blew through Shining’s mane as he galloped along the rainbow road, rapidly approaching the edge of the valley where he knew the barrier to be. He glanced back as he sang, looking over the herd. He had just about everyone on his side, except for their leader. A part of him felt guilty for leading them away from Wammawink’s side. The group clearly loved each other deeply, and setting them against each other was not something he wanted. As he broke into a reprise of his and Cadance’s song for Flurry, he hoped beyond hope that Wammawink would see things his way. Shining felt Glendale’s hand rest on his side as the rest of the herd joined hands and sang along with him. He could see the barrier start to ripple, the surface tension beginning to weaken. Still, though, it wouldn’t fade. One piece was missing. And then, just like that, as he reached the climax of the song, Shining felt another hand on his side. He looked up to meet Wammawink’s eyes. There was still a clear bit of uncertainty behind her stare, but then it was replaced with a determined look, a small smile, and a resolute nod. Her other hand raised into the air, pulsing with magical energy. With a powerful burst of magic, the force field opened up, and the first thing standing between Shining and his family faded to nothingness. The group of six looked at each other, then took off down the road, together into the unknown.