//------------------------------// // You Explain It // Story: Breaking The Norm // by The Wizard of Words //------------------------------// You land on the stone path with your hooves already galloping, your wings having become too tired to carry you any further. Your legs haven’t done anything but hang beneath you the entire day, though. You could gallop for hours on them. Fortunately, though, you know where you have to go, and it isn’t further than a few minutes away. However, flying in the air with only clouds as obstacles is a lot different than running over cobblestone streets. Now you have to worry about what street to turn down, what buildings to look out for, and of course, other ponies walking in your way. You prefer flying for that reason. No obstacles, nothing in your way, freedom. If only you still felt free while flying. But that’s why you’re here. You can fix that now. You have a plan, a good plan, maybe even a great plan. It took you all day to think of it, but now that you have it, there’s no way you won’t go through with it. You turn a corner and start galloping down the new street, ignoring the curious eyes of the ponies around you. They won’t recognize you and you don’t know them, so it doesn’t matter, at least not to you. Your eyes look upwards, just enough to make sure you still are on the right path. You smile as you see your goal fast approaching. You take another turn, then another, your legs starting to feel weak with fatigue. You may have flown most of the day, but that doesn’t mean you can run as far as your wings can take you. That doesn’t matter to you now though. Your goal is so close. It’s been within eyesight since you’ve landed, and it’s only grown closer with every gait your legs complete. One part of you is excited that you’re so close to your goal, to being able to really begin your plan. Another part, however, feels just as nervous as you do excited. But you know how to ignore that part of you. It’s like the moment before the whistle at a race, that last hundred meters before you reach the finish line. You may be nervous, but your excitement usually wins out. Usually. Your body comes to a halt as you stop galloping for a moment, letting your head hang beneath your legs as you work to catch your breath. The flying, the running, and the stress of thinking; it hasn’t been a relaxing day for you, no matter how you wanted it to start. You raise your head as you see your goal in front of you, the destination you had flown and ran for. Even with the breath leaving your lungs in heavy gasps, you can’t help but let your confident smile take hold of your lips. This is Canterlot Castle, home to Princess Luna, the one and only pony who can help you. You swallow on a ball of saliva collecting in your throat, taking in a greedy breath of air just after you do. You may not be as shallow as Rarity when it comes to looks, but even you know that walking into Canterlot Castle after all of the running and flying you had done would earn more than just a twist from a pony's head. But then… you don’t have time to wait. You definitely aren’t going back home to try and freshen up, and it doesn’t take a mind like Twilight’s to know that most of the stores around Canterlot are closed now, at least any stores that would help you look better. You let out a sigh as her name goes through your mind. Even as a passive comparison, her name still haunts you. No, you have to do this. If looking less than your best in front of the princess is your punishment, then you can handle it. Your hooves walk up the stone steps into the castle, already aware of the lunar guards giving you passing glances as your trot by. One part of you tells you that they are just doing their job, keeping track of every pony that walks by. The other is whispering into your ear that they are judging you like they would the cover of a book. You snort in the air, dismissing the idea. Memories guide you towards the main hall, where you know Celestia and Luna both have their courts. You don’t know if she’s available; Luna that is, but you do know that it’s the best place to start. You can easily explain trying to see the princess during her court. You’d have a much harder time trying to tell a guard pony why you’re sneaking into private chambers for the same reason. Awkward wouldn’t be able to describe the absurdity of that kind of situation. Before you know it, you see the great doors for the grand hall just in front of you. They’re open all the way, or at least far enough for you to be able to see inside the further you approach. There are two more lunar guard ponies outside, each one easily towering over you and watching you with trained eyes. You ignore them as you keep moving, expecting to see a line soon. The princess is a princess, and from what you has heard, gaining a lot of popularity among the ponies in Equestria. It makes sense that she would have a line of ponies waiting to speak to her, especially during her court. Who wouldn’t want to see the pony that could give them guaranteed good dreams? That’s why you stop momentarily in shock when you walk in front of the doorway. You have the clearest view of the hall, darkened with the night, but still lit just enough by the moon outside. It’s captivating, in a haunting sort of way, the way the moonlight is able to make the stained glance dance in a way you couldn’t see before. The colors shimmering with faded light, almost as if they were being reflected against a pool of water. You can see literally every window in the hall with the greatest of ease. That’s because you’re one of only a few ponies in the hall. There’s no line in front of you, no line or throngs of waiting ponies. There’s just you, walking very slowly down the carpeted hall, the lunar guards watching you as you approach, and a very conspicuous alicorn sitting on the stone throne at the end of the hall. Princess Luna, Guardian of the Night. You can’t actually see her, at least not most of her, not with her nose hovering above some notes that are being held in front of her. Even from the impressive distance the hall stretches, you can see more than just a few parchments of paper hanging around her dark form, hung in the air with the familiar aura of magic. A quill is waving around her, presumably wet with ink as it moves across the papers. It’s hard to tell how long you stand there, just watching her work. On one hoof, you know that this is what the princesses must do when they are beyond the public eye, working on things you would fall asleep trying to understand, working on them more efficiently than you even dare to comprehend. On the other hoof, it is literally impossible for you to look at her and not think of another talented mare who works to late hours on things that would fly even above your head. It’s because your head was in the clouds that you fail to realize Princess Luna had looked up from her documents, diverting her attention to you. “Rainbow Dash.” Princess Luna addresses you with something you recognize as controlled surprise. You give your own small, but genuine, jump of surprise as she says your name. You only know what to call it because you’ve seen Twilight pull it off too many times before. Like when she first met you, or when the Elements were first used, or when you insulted her by admitting you’d rather lie than admit fault. The admission burns in your throat. “Hello your highness.” You’re glad your voice doesn’t waver as you speak. That wouldn’t be the best way to start a conversation with the princess, especially not one you’re going to be asking a favor from. “How’re ya doin?” Your grin feels fake, but you only hope the princess doesn’t know you well enough to see that. “I am… distracting myself,” she speaks to you as if it were a confession. Your smile rises from a façade to a genuine twist of your lips. It relieves some of the pressure on you as it does. “But with you here, I feel the better question would be to ask why you are here. May you tell me?” That’s right, your idea, the idea to fix your mistake. It’s hard for you not to laugh. You knew you would have to explain yourself to her when you got here. You knew that during the flight here, maybe even before your wings actually gave you flight. There’s no way the princess would even think to grant a request to you without reason. She would need to know what happened, why it happened, and then, maybe, how she could help. Now you have to answer two questions. How are you going to explain to Princess Luna, and how are you going to ask Princess Luna for help? “Ms. Rainbow?” You hear the princess call again. You shake your head lightly, clearing your thoughts. You need to focus, to be focused. Just like Twilight. “Yeah, sorry your highness,” you say as quickly as you can, making sure your eyes are on the dark alicorn above you. It’s impossible to miss the critical eye she uses to watch you with. “Sorry, just distracted myself.” “You have flown into my court, without any warning or message of arrival, pass all of the current members of court awaiting a meeting with me, and then…” You watch one of Princess Luna’s brows raise as she continues to speak, “Distract yourself with stray thoughts while trying to address me?” You feel your throat clench in anxiety. “No!” You shout, legs spreading as you do so, wings twitching with the sudden exclamation. Your pink eyes look frantically as the night guards mimic your sudden preparedness, their spears lowering slightly. Princess Luna’s gaze didn’t soften in the slightest. “No,” you repeat again, relaxing your body as best you can. Your wings fold firmly into place as you stand to your tallest, no longer crouched close to the ground. The guards have yet to relax as well. “No, actually… I came to ask you for some help.” “Help?” Luna repeats, her other brow rising to give another one of those faces of controlled shock. It must be a Canterlot thing, you surmise, because Rarity is proof enough that not all unicorns can hide their surprise. “What kind of aid are you requesting?” The question doesn’t so much catch you off guard as it does leave you searching for the right words. The problem and solution are as clear to you as the blue of the day’s sky. Or, to respect the princess you’re addressing, as clear as the stars on a cloudless night. However, you’ve also made it more than clear today that you don’t have the greatest of strengths with saying the right thing. Maybe that’s where you can start. “I… made a mistake with Twilight,” you begin, making sure you have the princess’s attention. She doesn’t look any more distracted than just a few seconds ago. “When I was flying this morning, like right at the end of your night, last night, I decided to try out a Sonic Rainboom over Ponyville. I thought it would be a great way to start the morning, you know, gets you active.” “It is my understanding that you must be active in order to move.” The clarification of what you had said leaves you in a rut, wondering how to continue. Of the many problems you thought you would have talking to the Princess, clarifying your own words wasn’t one of them. You should have listened to Twilight better when she told you about how Luna spoke. You should have listened to her better about a lot of things. “Well, yeah, but I kinda meant more like… motivation, or getting ready for the day.” You can see the question churning in Luna’s mind, ready to slip past her lips. It’s not so much as you don’t have time for it to happen as you just don’t want it to. Explaining modern English to a millennia old pony was not high on your list of things to do. “Anyways, what’s important is what happened after I did it.” “Then… what did occur?” Luna asks you the leading question. One part of you, enthralled with stories of Daring Do, realizes that you have the princess’s attention. Not just as some speaker in her court, but as another pony, speaking to her about something she wants to know. The other side of you, however, the dominating one, realizes that even though you aren’t being timed, time is of the essence. “You see, when I do a Rainboom, like I did during the wedding, it creates a really powerful shockwave, or that’s what Twilight calls it. Normally, it doesn’t really matter, doing it high up an all.” You feel one of your forelegs rubbing down the other, nervously scratching at the skin beneath your cyan fur. What comes next probably won’t make the princess jump to help you. Still, if there is one lesson you get out of this, something to write back to Celestia for later, it’s to never lie to your friends. “When I did this one, I did it right over Twilight’s library. I… kind of wrecked it.” You close your eyes for a bit longer than a blink, expecting a small gasp of surprise maybe a growl of disappointment. It wouldn’t have been that far off to hear a bark of laughter either. Instead though, all you hear is silence, a pregnant pause that had grown since you had admitted your mistake. Your eyes open again, looking up at the princess, now thinking that you’d see a set of furrowed eyes glaring at you with tight lips. Again though, you are mistaken, as Luna just looks back at you, eyes no shorter than before and lip no tighter than when she had spoken. If anything, she appeared more relaxed. “I’m confused.” Princess Luna admits to you as easily as you can admit you’re fast. “Are these not matters that can be settled with words of an apology? I was under the distinct impression that your circle of friends were the very embodiment of true friendship, complete with all of its difficulties.” “Yeah, you’re right on about that.” You graciously agree. The hoof that was rubbing down your leg is now scratching at the back of your lowered head. The small ball of dread inside of you hasn’t left yet. You know it won’t until Luna realizes just how big of a mistake you made. You can only hope and pray to her sister that she’ll understand. “See, I only found out that I… wrecked Twi’s place when she called me out on it. When she did… I…” The hoof on your head slowly moved over your face, pulling at the fur over your head. “I kind of insulted her.” Now Luna is giving you a look of shock. You did know it was coming. “Why in the name of my moon would you insult Twilight Sparkle?” At least she didn’t sound mad at you. Shocked, needless to say, but certainly not angry. That was a plus. “Did she begin this banter of accusations?” “Not… really,” you begin, unsure of just what the princess means. “See, she called me out for doing my Sonic Rainboom too close to her home, but I made up a bunch of excuses for how it could have been something else that shook her home until every book on her shelves fell off.” “I cannot fathom a long list.” You had to laugh at that. “Yeah, but… one of the reasons I said was-“ You swallow on a ball in your throat. If it’s this hard to tell the princess what you did, how did you possibly think you’d be able to apologize to Twilight? “I said it could have been her messing up another experiment. I… oh Tartarus, I even said that she does that a lot.” “Oh my.” Just hearing the princess speak about your own actions with a tone of surprise is enough to make you feel like you’re back there. You’re not in Canterlot Castle, you’re in Ponyville, in front of the library, with a shocked Twilight Sparkle staring at you with a face of hardly concealed pain. Her lips quiver, eyes stray, and then she whispers those damning words. “I… can understand the… difficulty this could bring.” You bit back the sudden urge to laugh at her comment. You’re not on the highest of terms with her right now, and mocking her statement wouldn’t help anything. Still, there was more to tell. “Well it gets worse,” you begin, knowing full well just how bad it gets. “After I basically threw that insult at her, I basically spent the next few hours just walking around her house trying to think of what to say, cause believe me, just sorry wouldn’t have cut it.” “I may be behind in knowledge that is deemed common for all ponies, but that speaks to me as proof of your devotion to fix your… mistake.” You don’t miss the way her voice wavers, just before she calls your accident a mistake. It’s hard for you to ignore it, but you do, mostly because you have something else to focus on. How you made it worse. “That’s because after she opened her door, I just about admitted right to her face that I would rather lie to her to save face than just admit I was wrong.” Your head is shaking as you speak. You don’t know why. “She told me to leave then. That she needed to be alone. I… I couldn’t tell her no.” Princess Luna is quiet above you, and you instantly begin to believe it’s because she’s judging you. Judging your actions, your character, your loyalty to your friends, judging everything about you that makes you you. “Rainbow Dash,” Princess Luna spoke in that commanding voice you hadn’t heard since Nightmare Night. Granted, you’re still standing, so you know she’s holding something back. “Your concern for your friend is genuine and deep. Though you have wronged with your actions, you meant no malice by what you had done. The very fact that you seek aid from a princess in correcting your errors is proof enough that you feel remorse for what has been done.” You can’t miss the smile that spreads across the alicorn’s lips. You just can’t. “Therefore, I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can.” You release a cheer inside your head, flexing your legs as hard as you can to resist the urge to jump with joy. That wouldn’t be cool. “Now, come with me.” Her words bring you back to reality in a moment. “Huh?”