//------------------------------// // Relief // Story: Whatever It Takes, I Love You // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// 6. Releif Rainbow walked along a river of sand. The world was contained within a ball of glass, tapering to a point that the river flowed to endlessly. As she walked along, the world within the glass seemed to get smaller, but it was only that she grew bigger. As she walked, memories of old times passed through the air. She walked past the shadows of her first Wonderbolt show, meeting Spitfire for the first time. She walked past the shadows that poured forth from the unopened door, when she had her encounter with the stallion called Slick Shades. She walked past her first Sonic Rainboom, her mother's illness, moving to Ponyville, meeting her friends... She paused as she stumbled across her first meeting with Scootaloo, reaching out to brush that purple mane, only to have the mists of time waver and the memory fade to the past. She passed the offer of induction into the Wonderbolts...which she had turned down. She walked past the decision she'd made to adopt Scootaloo, and paused to watch the moment when Scootaloo had seen the Certificate, and thrown herself into Rainbow's loving embrace. Rainbow hesitated in that moment, letting it fill her with joy, before she walked down the sandy river speckled with her tears. The sand flowed faster now as it raced towards the tappered point of the glass bulb. Beyond, she could see another bulb on the other side, linked to the one she was in, and braced in a wooden frame. She squeezed herself through the tiny gap along with the sand, wincing as she heard the snap as her wings were crushed. At that moment, the glass bulbs vanished and the river of sand flowed forward into an incredibly large pair of trousers. Entering the waistband, the sand divided to flow down each leg, with a bit pooling at the divide. Down the left leg of the trousers, Rainbow spied a cloud mansion in her colors, with the Wonderbolts insignia in front of the door. The manor was well appointed, everything one would want out of a cloud house...but there was only the one bed. Down the right leg, the sand flowed to a simple wooden house, the home of an Earth Pony. It was simple and quiet, very unassuming, the home of one who was content to simply live. Inside the furniture was sparse, a couple of couches, a table...and two beds, one large one small. A small filly the color of the sunset slept fitfully in the smaller bed. Without hesitation, Rainbow set off down the right leg, and the trousers faded into mists as the river of sand became Ponyville's main street. She walked right up to the house - situated equadistant between Sugarcube Corner and the Post Office - and pushed the door open. As the crackle of the fireplace filled her ears, Rainbow walked up to the smaller bed, reaching out to touch Scootaloo. "You are here sooner than I expected," Princess Luna said from the couch by the fireplace, watching Rainbow. Rainbow looked over to her. "Kinda figured this was a dream," she said with a smile. "It was a bit heavy with the metaphors. ...why are you surprised? You obviously knew the choice I would make...have made." Luna nodded. "I had thought there might be more hesitation." Rainbow glanced down at Scootaloo as she tossed and turned. "When we were first sent after the Elements of Harmony, there was a broken rope bridge we had to cross. When I flew across to repair it, I was confronted by a group that called themselves the Shadowbolts. They offered me the fame and glory that had always been my dream when I wanted to be a Wonderbolt...but they said I had to leave my friends behind, choose between my friends or my dreams." Luna nodded sadly. "That was I, whilst I was still Nightmare Moon. I am sorry I did that to you and your friends." Rainbow shrugged. "It's no big. It taught me something important about myself. No matter what, when it's a choice between my friends or my dreams, I choose my friends, always. Family's no different." Rainbow nuzzled Scootaloo as she tossed and turned. "I'd think, if I was dreaming Scootaloo, she'd be sleeping peacefully...or bouncing around wanting to play." Luna smiled sadly. "Her sleep is fitful because her sleep is fitful." Rainbow blinked. "That was either very zen or very obscure. Scoot could probably figure it out, but I'm not exactly a brainiac." Luna chuckled. "When two ponies share a strong emotional connection, their dreams can become linked. In this case, Scootaloo sleeps right now, but her sleep is fitful, as she does not sleep well, her dream tormented by the decision you have made." Luna ignored Rainbow's wince. "As such, she manifests in your dream in a fitful slumber." Rainbow looked down at Scootaloo. "Then...do you think she'll hear me? If I do something to ease her sleep?" Luna shrugged. "She might...if your heart is strong enough to reach hers." Rainbow nodded. She smiled down at Scootaloo, stroking her mane softly, and began to sing. "La la lu, la la lu, Oh my little Star Sweeper I'll sweep the stardust for you." Luna put a hoof to her mouth. She knew this melody. As Scootaloo's movements quieted, Rainbow continued to sing. "La la lu, la la lu, Little soft, fluffy sleeper Here comes a pink cloud for you." Rainbow touched her hoof to the bed, and bed and blankets turned into one of Discord's cotton candy clouds, with Scootaloo gently nestled within it. As Scootaloo's nose twitched, she shoved some of the cloud into her mouth, eating it with a quiet 'nom nom' noise. Luna struggled to hold back a squeal at how cute it was. "La la lu, la la lu, Little wandering angel, Fold up your wings, Close your eyes." Scootaloo's movement slowly stilled as she drifted into peaceful doze, a quiet, "Sis..." her last vocalization. "La la lu, la la lu And may love be your keeper La la lu, la la lu, la la lu." As she finished singing, Rainbow leaned down and planted a soft kiss on Scootaloo's forehead, eliciting a happy sound from the dozing filly. "There now," Rainbow said quietly, "little star sweeper, dream on." Turning, she saw Luna struggling to hold back tears. "Luna? Is something wrong?" "Rainbow...where did you learn that melody?" Rainbow shrugged. "It's the lulaby my mom always sang to me. Why?" Luna shook her ehad. "It's nothing, really. I'm just...pleased to see the melody has lasted for so long. It...it was the song my mother sang to me whilst I was in the cradle. I haven't heard it for such a very long time..." Rainbow walked over without thinking, and gently nuzzled Luna to comfort her as her dreamworld slowly went white. -------------- Twilight entered Rainbow's hospital room quietly, not wanting to disturb the two sleepers. Rainbow had fallen asleep shortly after making her decision to remove her wings. Scootaloo had been allowed in to see her on the condition she didn't wake her, and now slept fitfully, curled up against the bed with her head by Rainbow's hoof. Twilight carefully set the large book down on a nearby table as she stared at the framework that supported Rainbow's damaged wings. She opened the book to the pages she'd need for the spell and gulped as she once more realized the enormity of the task she was attempting. Spike stepped in behind her, carrying a small bottle in one claw. "Twilight," he whispered, "are you sure you know what you're doing? Can you really pull this off?" "To be perfectly honest, Spike...I have no idea. In all honesty, I probably CAN'T pull this off. But that won't stop me from trying. Just do two things for me. Make sure nothing disturbs my concentration...and when I'm finished make sure I drink that potion. I won't want to, since the stuff smells and tastes vile, but I'll have to." Spike nodded as he held up the bottle, the liquid within glowing green. "Understood." Nodding, Twilight read the formulae in the book and began to concentrate, trying to force her magic down to a single point. This wasn't like other spells she'd worked, which involved making her magic flow along a given pattern. Here, she had to compress her magic - all of it - down to a single point until she triggered a thaumic fusion reaction, creating the tiniest spark of the unique magical energy that powered this spell. That spark would then flow and expand, powering the entire spell...but if she lost focus before the spark was created, the entire thing would blow up in her face. As Scootaloo began to toss and turn, Twilight struggled to mantain her focus...and then Rainbow's hoof moved to touch Scootaloo's cheek, and even in her sleep Rainbow began to sing. As Twilight heard the song, she gained new focus, and forced her magic tighter and tighter, smaller and smaller. Finally, at the utter most edge of her consciousness, she heard the sound like a set of claws snapping, and the single spark formed...the spark of periculum. As her vision faded to white, she slumped over the large chest that appeared before her. ------------- Rainbow blinked her eyes slowly as she woke up. She turned to examine her surroundings, the pain of her body and wings seeming a faint memory. A voice reached her ears. "Come on, Twilight. You need to drink this, you told me to make sure you did." That was Spike. Rainbow turned, and saw Spike leaning over Twilight, trying to force ehr to drink a vile looking green potion. He eventually managed it by holding her nose closed and then putting it to her mouth when she opened it to breathe. The potion drunk, Twilight coughed for a time, then opened her eyes to grin at Rainbow. "It worked," she gasped out. "What worked?" Rainbow asked, getting to her hooves. She paused, realizing she could stand up. Glancing over her shoulders, she saw the framework swinging freely, empty. "W-where are my wings?" Twilight laughed more. "The doc said your wings had to be immobilized for a month to heal up proper." She tapped the chest. "He never said they had to be attatched to you during that time." Rainbow looked closer at the chest. On the front were a few strange designs and guages, one which read "2%" and another, a timer which counted down from "30:23:59.27", and an image that looked like her broken wings. Other than that, the entire design looked so vamiliar. "Is that-?" Twilight nodded. "Uh huh. Same spell...with a few tweaks." Rainbow laughed. "Who ever thought we'd be grateful to that bastard, huh?" Their laughter roused Scootaloo, who stared from the chest to the two adult mares in confusion before turning to Spike. "What did I miss?" she asked in confusion. ----------------- "Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned a lesson about family. I know Applejack told you that family was the first group of friends you had, but for me it's a little bit different. My friends BECAME my family, and have been there for me whenever I needed them. Today, however, Twilight showed just how far family will go for its own. Using a spell she found in an ancient tome, she recreated the chest Discord put my wings in when he played his game with us in the hedge maze. Using the spell, she put my wings into the chest just like Discord did. Now, my wings will slowly heal inside the chest no matter what I'm doing with the rest of my body. When they are fully healed, the chest will open at my touch and I'll have my wings back. I had thought, given how horribly my wings were injured, I would have to choose between ever flying again or keeping Scootaloo. Now, thanks to Twilight, I won't have to. I'll keep you updated on how this goes. For now, I gotta calm down a bouncing filly who's gonna get her ehad stuck in another ceiling if she's not careful, and this one's not cloud! Your loyal subject, Rainbow Dash." Celestia folded up the letter once more as she walked through the statue garden. She had read it several times, and it had led her to only one conclusion...one she had to check. This was why she had come here alone. Staring at the statue she had approached, she flinched. Her suspicions were confirmed. When she spoke, however, her voice was calm. "You block with your lion paw, Discord." Discord's statue lowered the eagle talon. "I knew I'd missed something," he replied calmly. "So what did you want to talk about, Celestia? Since you came like this, I assume talk is what you're after?" Celestia steeled herself. "Did you teach Twilight the spell to take Rainbow's wings?" "Of course I did, Celestia. Unlike some ponies, I clean up my own messes." Celestia blinked. "It was you! You're the one who turned that storm into a level 5!" "Of course I did. I was teaching you a lesson." "What is that supposed to mean?" "Just this, Celestia." Discord floated up to be eye to eye with her. "The Elements of Harmony were never placed in mortal grasp for a reason. When next you examine the Elements, I'll wager bits to beans that at least one of those baubels will be completely powerless." "What have you done, Discord?" "Moi? I haven't done anything Celestia. This is your doing. Because you put the Elements in the hooves of mortals, they are becoming the living vessels of their power. Rainbow was the first to form the full bond and absorb its power when she pushed her own life aside to adopt Scootaloo. This was proven when she chose to give up her wings rather than risk losing her, failing her, breaking her promise to her." Discord chuckled. "I don't know how many of the others have forged that full strength bond yet, taking the entirety of the Elements' power into themselves. However, you should probably check." Celestia glowered at him. "You say this like it is a bad thing that Harmony's power has come to life." "OF COURSE IT'S A BAD THING!" Discord shouted suddenly. "What do you think will happen to your precious Harmony if one of the Elements living vessels dies?" Celestia stepped back, shocked. She steeled herself. "If you seek to harm any of them, I swear to-" She was interrupted as Discord cracked up laughing. "HARM THEM? Why in Chaos' name would I want to harm them? It would be as bad for me if one of them died as it would be for you!" Celestia stared in confusion. "What are you talking about?" "It's the reason the power of Harmony was placed in the gems in the first place, with Chaos bound to an immortal. The balance between the two forces is what allows life - of any sort - to survive in a magically energized environment like Equestria. THAT'S your real job, Celestia...mantaining that balance. And that's where you dropped the ball by letting those six deal with Nightmare Moon, leaving them to clean up your mess." "But what else could I-" Celestia shook herself. "Why should I listen to you? You've been my enemy since days of-" "Enemy shmenemy, Celestia. We represented opposite forces...but enemies is far too strong. I may be Chaos, but I know full well how important the Balance is...as my first act when I became the Vessel of CHaos was to create the Elements of Harmony." With that last statement, Discord vanished from view, leaving only the statue in it's original configuration and a confused and frightened Celestia behind.