//------------------------------// // Rainbow's Secret // Story: A Variant Issue // by Sandvich Brony //------------------------------// ---------------{]Chapter 7: Rainbow[}--------------- "... Meet Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo pronounced proudly. Jace's mind was now in a panic mode. Luckily, his now erratic thoughts didn't correlate through to his body. Though his thinking was now moving at a breakneck pace In an attempt to slow his thinking, Jace gave Rainbow a once-over. Then, after he finished, he looked her over a second time, then a third. There was definitely a big difference from her show self and herself here. Some differences being her shortened tail and her cutie mark having changed. It was now a paint brush with an arching rainbow as a paint trail. But the biggest tell? Rainbow Dash was showing all signs of fear. The rainbow he knew would never be scared (or at least not show it for nearly this long). The silence that had filled the room didn't last too long after, due to Scootaloo's shouting. "Well somepony say something!" She was looking from face to face with a look of disaproval on her own. Deciding to try and be the braver one, Jace said the first words. "Nice place you got here," He commented. "Well, it isn't that much compared to other places." She responded. 'Rainbow humbling herself? Either I got lucky, or something extremely serious happened that I don't know about.' Jace thought about what he should say next. "What is it exactly that you do here?" "In short, I'm an inventor." She stated. "You're an inventor?" Jace questioned. "Part time," was her quick response, "Do you wan't an example?" All Jace could do was nod. "Well, one I discovered rather than made was a wire made from a metal that heats up as the surrounding temperature gets colder. I wrapped it around a wing, and found that it lets the wearer fly at high altitudes without a wing freezing." "That is actually pretty ingenuitive." Jace commented with a small smile. "If you want to see how it works in action, you should meet my friend Fluttershy. She's usually somewhere up ab-" "Sorry to interrupt, but I've already met her," Jace said abruptly. "Oh, my mistake." She responded. Then she started walking around him. She had a face that said pure focus on her head. "How long have you been wearing these?" She asked. "Uh, about three days." Rainbow's expression turned to one of shock, then to one of disgust. "Three days!?" "About three," Jace quickly reacted. "It could be more. It could be less." "I don't care how long it was! These are in no condition to be worn any longer." "I don't have anything to change in to." He defended, gesturing to his body. "Your point?" She deadpanned. Jace sighed. "In the society I come from, people are naturally born with a strong sense of propriety. Not to mention, I don't have a coat of fur to keep myself warm." Her expression softened at this explanation. "Oh, well I could just make some for you." "You make clothing for me?" He asked. "I guess I'm okay with that. Seeing as I actually have money, how much would it be?" "No need to pay. Consider it a gift." "Well, since you insisted, thank you for your generosity." Jace said with a slight bow. "It's nothing honestly. Just another gift from the element of generosity." She smiled. 'Say what?' Jace thought questioned in his mind. "Would you mind undressing for me?" Rainbow asked as politely as possible. Jace nearly jumped. "Can I what!?" "Well I need you measurements somehow." "Could you get them by measuring my clothes?" She put a hoof to her chin in thought. "I think so." "Would you have a dressing room then?" He questioned. She pointed towards a door with a hoof and Jace stepped inside the small room. Surprisingly enough, he found that it was just like any other dressing room at any store. There was a single bench and a few hooks for hanged items, as well as a mirror. Locking the door behind him, Jace took off his shirt and pants. he then slid both through a small space under the door. After the loss of his only pieces of warmth, he felt a slight chill. He huddled in a corner on the bench and waited for Rainbow Dash's return. In a short time, he heard hoofsteps outside the door. "So, what did you think of her?" a recognizable voice asked. "Scootaloo? Aww jeez, we completely ignored you." "It's okay. I left not too long after you two got more into it." She answered. "Oh, well if its okay with you. Anyways, what have you been doing lately?" Jace asked trying to start a conversation. "Eh, the usual. Hang out with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Try and get our cutie marks. Fail and find some other way to get them." "I'm going to guess this has become routine for you now." "Yeah, pretty much." "Hmm, have you thought of breaking out of it?" "Well, yeah. But I don't know how." He could almost see her pouting face. "Well, lucky for you, I know how." There was a sound of hooves hitting the floor outside the door. Apparently, she had sat down. "Really?" "Yeah, yeah. Okay, sometimes when I feel the need to get out of a system, I decide to do something spontaneous." "Really? That's it?" Her tone showed she was slightly irritated with this. "Yup. Sometimes all we need is a little something different, even spontaneous in our lives. It really can help." A moment of silence caused Jace to wonder if Scootaloo was still out there. A gasp outside told him different. "Flashmob!" "Wait, what?" "I can't believe I never thought of that yet! I have to go tell Applebloom and Sweetie Belle about this later." "Um, that wasn't w-" "Thank you so much. I got to find out how to plan this." "Okay Scootaloo, you've had your fun." Rainbow was heard through the door. "Now can I get these back to him?" A scuffling of hooves was heard outside the room and the pants and shirt were slid back under the door. Jace quickly dressed and opened the door. "I don't know what you said to her, but she seems pretty exited. Also, expect them to be ready within a week." She announced. "Again, thanks for doing this for me." Jace said. "It's nothing. Though before you go, I have a question for you." Rainbow added. "Okay, what is it?" Jace asked. She shifted her wing and put her hoof under it. Something fell out from under her wing and she showed it to him. "What is this?" She demanded, key chain dangling. Jace started feeling his pockets and found his house key was missing. 'I really need to check my pockets' "Uh, my house key." Jace said trying to make it sound obvious. "I can see that," Rainbow replied quickly, "What I want to know is what this is." She maneuvered her wing in such a way that she pointed at the key chain attached to the key. "That looks kind of painful." He said under his breath. He realized she was looking at him strangely. "Oh, right. Um, can I get some time to think about it?" he asked. "Sorry, but no." She deadpanned. Jace sighed, "Scootaloo, could you leave the room please." "But wh-" "Just do it please. And stay out of earshot. I don't want you to hear this." With regret, she obliged. Jace turned back to face the situation head on. "Seeing as there's no way out of this, I'm going to explain this to you as delicately as possible. That okay with you?" She nodded. "Okay, think of a fiction book you've read. Got one?" Another nod. "Now, imagine that that book actually did happen, though it was in a world beyond her own." "Okay," was her response. "Okay, here's where I get a reaction. Imagine you somehow made it to that other world." The shock on her face was almost as bad as Jaces guilt. "It's not just you, it also includes your friends and their younger sisters." "How does that make any sense!?" She shouted. "I don't know. The worst part, that's not all." he added. "There's more!?" "Yeah, and you should probably sit for this." Rainbow sat her haunches down on the floor. She seemed tense in preparing herself for what was to come. "The life you and your friends live now, isn't the one you live in the story I've seen." Rainbow actually seemed disappointed at this. "Really? That's it?" She asked, still seated. "Yup. Though the real surprise is that from what I've gathered, it was something you did that led you all here." "What decision?" She demanded, jumping to her hooves "You were young. It was during the race to defend Fluttershy's honor." Rainbow thought for a moment, and then her face lit up with understanding. "The sonic rainboom." She said. "Yes that w-. Wait a minute, I never mentioned that." "You didn't." She responded. "But he did." Rainbow Dash immediately dropped into a defensive position. "Why are you here, and why are you working for Discord?" She demanded "Whoa, whoa, easy. If you think I'm working for him, don't you think I would be in Canterlot trying to free him?" Her face softened a bit as she eased back to a standing position. "You have a point. Okay, I'll trust you for now." "Thank you. Now what's this about Discord and the rainboom?" Her story was relatively short. During the Discord debacle, he explained to Rainbow that Celestia struck a deal and allowed him to change one thing. That change was a loose nail, causing a horseshoe to fall. That horseshoe cause Rainbow to look down and see Fluttershy falling to what was assumed to be imminent death. In order to show what would have happened, Discord showed her the race the way it was aired and then explained what would have happened to her friends. "...And until now, I didn't know if it was actually truth." She ended. "Wow," Jace said deep in thought, "Have you told anyone about this?" "No, no one else knows." "Soon, your friends will though." Jace said under his breath. "What?" Rainbow asked. "Oh, I already promised Rarity I would tell her everything when the time is right." He explained. "You did what!?" She asked. "You heard me," Jace answered. "And sadly, I intend to keep that promise. I don't think I have to ask this, but can we keep this whole conversation a secret?" "You don't have to ask me twice." Was her concise response. "Thank you." He looked out a window and saw stars staring back at him. "Wow it's late. I've got to go." He started getting up and moving towards the door. "Wait, where are you going?" "Sweet Apple Acres. The apples are letting me lodge with them for now." Jace responded. "I'll be back later for the clothes." And with that, he was out the door and off into the night. The trip back to the farm wasn't to eventful. The moon was shining bright enough to cast a visible shadow. Eventually, the farm was visible on the road. The orchard looked beautiful with the night sky for a backdrop. On a high note, he walked up to the farmhouse door. Unsurprisingly, he found the front door locked. Undeterred, he searched for a key. It was found in a matter of minutes under the seat cushion of the rocking chair on the deck. Now inside he crept across the floor and sneaked into his temporary room. Once situated, he shed his shirt and crawled into the bed. Sleep did not come easily that night. The knowledge that rainbow knew about the other timeline made him uneasy. Once he did get to sleep, however, pleasant dreams swept him away through the night.