//------------------------------// // Loyalty // Story: Zinnias // by Serinity Southerland //------------------------------// “How can I believe anything you said was ever true? How can I believe that you really are our friend? You promised me that you’d stay in Ponyville and that we were the best friends you had in Equestria! Best friends don’t lie to each other like that! Some best friend you are!” Her words rang painfully in my ears as I lay in bed, tracing the checkered pattern on the comforter with a hoof. No matter how many times I traced the same red cotton square, the image of Rainbow’s angry, betrayed face kept coming back, searing itself into my mind. Telling the truth was the right thing to do, but was it worth shattering her trust like that; Like throwing a wine glass against the wall? Why did it hurt so much? Another pang of remorse came sending shivers down my spine, driving me to shift in bed. The light flooding into the room from Celestia’s sun was painful to my dry and bloodshot eyes, reminding me that it’d been nearly a whole day since I told my friends who I really was, or slept. I shut my eyes against the light and sighed as I remembered the words the Princess said. “You were right, Princess. They were more tolerant than I thought they’d be. All but one.”  I tucked my unkempt head under the blankets and tried to let my mental exhaustion carry me to sleep, but somepony had other plans. Rap-tap-tap “Applejack must be trying to check on me again,” I groaned. Rap-tap-tap-tap “Wait, that’s coming from my window. Did AJ pull out a ladder or something?” I said to myself as curiosity started to set in. I knew I’d been cooped up in my room for a whole day and refused food, but isn’t climbing through the window a bit much? “I know you're awake in there! Don’t make me break the window! AJ already gave me the go ahead, and you know I will!” A familiar raspy voice asserted from the other side.  “Rainbow Dash?” I barely had time to peek over the edge of my warm cocoon when a rainbow colored smudge rammed the window with enough force to shake the room. “Why is she here? I thought she would never want to see me again…” I wondered, unsure if I should go to her. Part of me was too ashamed to want to face her, and the other was afraid I’d open the window to an angry pegasus looking for a victim.  Against my better judgment, I dragged myself out of bed and made my way to the window. If nothing else I’d apologize again for lying, in between getting pummeled. I deserved that much. I steeled myself as I unlatched the window and lifted it fully expecting a flurry of words or hooves but after a few moments of awkward silence, nothing came. Instead, my irate ex-friend hovered just outside the window with her forelegs crossed and gave me a smoldering glare. “Well?” She said, as she glowered at me. “I-I’m sorry. Rainbow, I’m really sorry! I should have told everypony sooner, but I wa-” “You’re late.” She interrupted curtly.  “Wha?”  “You were supposed to meet me in the park for training this morning. It’s past noon. You’re late.”  “I’m sorry. I just… I didn’t think you’d want to see me again after yesterday…” I quietly responded, casting my eyes to the floor. “I didn’t. I also didn’t come for an apology. But I did say I’d teach you how to fly and to help you train,” She said, turning to look towards the edge of the orchard near town. “Meet me at the park in thirty minutes. Training starts as soon as you get there.”  Before I could say another word, she blasted off towards town and within seconds was gone from view. Thirty minutes didn’t leave me much time to dally, so I threw a towel and some water into my saddlebags and started trotting. I wasn’t sure if this was Rainbow Dash giving me a second chance or her just keeping up her obligations, but either way I was excruciatingly nervous. I made it to the park a little early and found Rainbow already finishing her warm ups without me. She glanced my way but didn’t say anything until I dropped my saddlebags by a nearby bench and shyly approached.  “Start with your usual routine. Stretches and warm-ups, followed by twenty laps around the park. How are those wings?” She said, focusing on something else. “Dr. Horse told me I should be ok to fly by next week.” I whimpered. Rainbow sighed heavily and shook her head. “That’s what you get for being careless. Since you can’t practice flying, you’re doing double your normal sets today. I expect to see some hustle out there, you got that?”  “Y-yes, Rainbow.” I mumbled, feeling chilled by her prickly attitude. She reminded me more of a drill sergeant than a coach, and her total change in attitude towards me, although feeling warranted, made me feel awful. “I can’t hear you!” Rainbow shouted loudly, causing some ponies in the distance to perk up and look our way.  I winced and shouted back awkwardly, “Sir, yes sir!” I immediately dropped to the ground and started the routine Rainbow had made for me while she started her own. At first I hated every moment and wished I was still back in my bed, hiding away from the world. Being near Rainbow Dash only made me feel miserable about hiding myself from her for so long. I’m not sure when it happened, but my thoughts of wallowing in self-pity and loathing were consumed by counting off the various numbers of sets and reps we went through. I could almost feel that stress being swept away by the sweat pouring from my brow and back as I raced around the park and squeezed out the strength to push myself harder for Dash’s sake. Rainbow Dash seemed in a better mood too, or at least a more focused one. She had caught my eye a few times during our extra long routine, seemingly putting in way more effort than she normally did. She had actually broken a sweat when doing laps, and was panting by the time she finished her flight training. Her face was flushed, and I could almost see a small smile touching the edges of her lips and eyes as she checked her times. A smile that seemed to stick even after I caught her checking to see if I was still following through with my own tasks.  Of course, I was never going to be able to finish double my regular workload and I collapsed next to the park bench long before my last set. I lay there, gasping for air as my muscles ached but my mind was in a much better place than before, and I wasn’t alone long before a rush of wind from Rainbow Dash landing beside me sent shivers across my sweat soaked skin and coat.  Several moments passed as we both panted in silence before I heard Rainbow hit the grass beside me. I looked over to see her lying on her back and staring up at the sky like I had been just moments before. I watched as her chest heaved deeply as she caught her breath and her magenta eyes danced as she glanced from cloud to cloud, then to me.  “Hey,” She said between slowing breaths, “I’m pretty awesome at a lot of stuff, but I’m not so great at what I’m about to do, so try to bear with me for a sec.” I gave her a weak nod in acknowledgement and she turned her eyes to the sky again taking a final deep breath, regaining her rhythm while I continued to pant. “Twilight and Rarity came by my place yesterday and gave me an earful. I know you were just trying to do the right thing by telling us the truth, but I was just…” She sighed through her gritted teeth and took a moment to collect her thoughts, “Twilight told me what you told her about your home. That ponies there are afraid of things they don’t understand and that it took a lot for you to overcome your fears and ask for help. “And Rarity wouldn’t let me hear the end of how hard you’ve been working with AJ, or how good you are with the Crusaders, or how you went out of your way for First Base like I wasn’t there to see it for myself. She told me to think about how it must have felt for you to have worked as hard as you have, only to feel like you were risking it all to tell us the truth. They’re right, you didn’t deserve being yelled at, but you did break my trust! “You lied to everypony, for like, over a month. You pretended to be one of us, and I even called you my friend. What I said to you yesterday, that `friends don’t lie to each other like that;’ I still stand by what I said. Friends shouldn’t lie to each other, but friends also shouldn’t yell at each other and judge them before they have a chance to explain themselves either.” My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat as she continued, “I was really upset that you didn’t tell us sooner. I mean, I get that you were probably scared at first when you woke up in the middle of the Everfree and you weren’t even you anymore. That must have been super weird. To be honest, if I were in your place, I’m not sure what I would have done. I wouldn’t have been scared though! Pfft, “ she waved a hoof dismissively, “But I also probably wouldn’t have been as quick to trust either. “But the fact is that you did trust us, right? I mean, you said it yourself! You said that you had no better friends in all of Equestria! If we’re your friends, you can tell us stuff! I might not understand everything you’re going through, or understand all that weird magic portal interdimenta-whatever you call it stuff that Twilight was talking about, but I know that friends should always be there for each other. I guess we’re both kinda bad at that, huh? “I mean, I’m supposed to represent the Element of Loyalty for Pete’s sake! How can I call myself a good friend if I yelled at you for doing the right thing and then left you when you needed me the most?” Rainbow said, starting to waver in her conviction. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry." She jumped as I reached out and touched her shoulder with a hoof, and shook my head. “We’re both pretty crummy friends, huh,” I offered as I managed to get my breathing back under control, “But we are still friends, right?”  “Only if you want to be. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to though, seeing as I basically chewed your head off yesterday,” She said with a wince. “Hey, we’ve both made some pretty dumb mistakes. I promise that I’ll always tell you the truth from now on, about everything,” I crossed my heart and stuffed a hoof in my left eye. “You better keep that promise! I won’t be the only one after you if you don't, ya know,” She said with a grin and began to repeat the same gesture, “I promise to not get mad at you and fly off the handle like that again. Friends?” “Yup!” I said, weakly getting into a sitting position and offering her a hug. She narrowed her eyes at me and looked around the park to make sure nopony was watching us before she returned it quickly and cleared her throat.  “Well, now that all the sappy stuff is out of the way. How about we go grab a bite to eat. All that exercise has me craving a hayburger and some hay fries!” She said, quickly standing up and shaking a few loose blades of grass from her wings. “Wanna go check out that new place in town?”