//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: A day you won’t forget // Story: Rainbow in the Dark // by Sayer //------------------------------// Edited and revised by kalash93. Thanks for everything, pal! Chapter 8: A day you won’t forget We were dumbstruck. Rainbow was the first one to break the silence. “Twilight? What are you doing back in Ponyville? I thought you were in Canterlot, learning how to be a princess!” Twilight’s elegant dress bounced with every step she took, coming down the stairs until she finally reached the ground floor. “Yes, I was taking lessons from Princess Celestia, until the other day, when I received an urgent letter from Spike seeking my help.” Rainbow interrupted her. “Why’d he send it?” “Well, he told me that it was all Brownie’s idea,” the alicorn replied as she flashed a smile at me while Rainbow Dash stared daggers. I tried to escape her rage. “He said something about sending a letter, and I replied ‘yeah, try it and see what happens’. I never thought she would really come back from Canterlot.” I was a dead stallion. Twilight continued talking, managing to divert Rainbow’s anger for a brief moment. “The letter explained to me that there was a friendship problem between you two, so I quickly returned and devised a plan to get you two back together and repair your friendship.” “Good luck with that,” Rainbow scoffed as she headed towards the exit. “I don’t want to be anywhere near this liar.” The cyan pony quickly opened the door and exited through, just to bounce back inside against an invisible wall, landing in an undignified heap on the floor. “What the-” She tried to exit again, but to no avail. She took flight and hurled herself through the door. “Whoa!” She crashed again. “Hey, what gives?” “I’m sorry to have come to such extremes, but understand that this was necessary. I know Rainbow Dash probably wouldn’t take it too well, so had to plan a few steps ahead.” A small giggle escaped from her lips. “But of course, that wasn’t very hard when the pony in question is Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow sat fuming, unable to decide whom she was angrier at. “So… when are you going to let us out?” I asked, fearing the answer. Twilight took a deep breath and gave both of us a hard look. “This isn’t going to be easy, but I want to help you to overcome your problems and fix your friendship, so until then you’ll stay in the library, however long it takes; be it a few hours or even days.” Great, I knew it. Rainbow’s eyes grew and then narrowed. "What? You mean I'm stuck here with him?" She gestured over to me and shook her head vigorously. Twilight smirked and sighed. “Well, if you want to leave, you know what you have to do.” A white glow surrounded her body, culminating in a blinding light, forcing us to close our eyes. When I regained my vision, I only saw an empty spot where Twilight had been a second ago. I slowly turned my head, afraid of what awaited me at the other end of the room. I loudly gulped as soon as I saw the look in Rainbow’s eyes. Rainbow Dash wore such a cold, furious, mirthless glare that for a moment, it felt as if the room had turned into a giant freezer. She approached me with an unflinching walk and staring straight into my soul. I leaned back. “Uhm… Did I say already that I didn’t know this would happen?” I quickly backed away from her until I came to a halt against the wall. Cornered between the sword and the wall, what an irony... “Happy?” She demanded, pressing her hoof against my chest. “We're trapped unless I forgive you, but we know that's not going to happen for a long time.” With her threat finished, she left my side, going back to the other side of the room. I feared for my life, terrified that the moment I blinked she would kill me or maybe do something even worse. I sat there just staring at her. We spent what felt like an eternity in silence; I was too afraid of awakening her rage, and she was too angry to talk to me. Thus our paths slammed into a roadblock. At first I decided to stand still, avoiding any kind of eye contact with her, but without being able to do anything, I started to become bored, so I opted to read something to pass the time. I gazed upon the shelves, muttering to myself the diverse and often bizarre titles imprinted onto the books spines. “Magic Potions and Other Cooking Recipes, To Serve Pony, Magic 101, Humans: Myth or Truth?, Super Naturals, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Little Ponies, Big Plans, From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon-Keeper's Guide. Wraithstorm, The Balled of Kves and Atriy, Afghneighn Breakdown…” I wouldn’t be surprised if nopony but Twilight ever read them, owing to her catholic diet of literature. I turned my head to check the other side of the room, watching how Rainbow Dash was still trying to make a crack in the magic shield, again and again and again. “You should stop doing that, Rainbow. At this rate you’ll crack your head open before you make it through.” She slowly turned her head around, staring at me with a death glare that sent chills all over my body. “At least I’m trying. What about your books? Did you find a way out, or are you just wasting time?" I knew she would say something like that. I sighed and made my best effort to talk sense. “Look, I want to get out as much as you do, but you heard her. Unless we overcome our problems, we’re going to spend a long time together.” “I’d rather be trapped with Gilda.” Those words made it feel as if my entire body crumbled to pieces. “Do what you want; I’m going to escape.” I left her alone as she continued to clash against the magic field, suffering as my soul was torn apart from my body. If I ever had a chance to like her, I just received confirmation that I blew it. I quickly opted to leave her alone and returned to my old spot, curled up like an abandoned puppy in the middle of the street as I waited for this nightmare to end. Hours went by, and our interactions were kept to a minimum. We didn’t say a single word to each other, killing time by reading the few books I had within reach. I didn’t dare to cross the invisible line that divided the room in two, fearing retaliation. I didn’t dare to turn away her, as I couldn’t shake off the mental image of Rainbow backstabbing me. That was an absurd idea, but then again, I’d never seen her so angry before. Before I realized it, the sun was being replaced by the moon, and we hadn’t made any progress at all. Rainbow dash silently stared through the window, like a bird trapped inside a cage, longing to roam the blue skies again. My stomach’s roar destroyed the silent barrier between us, echoing through the empty rooms. Her ears quickly perked and she quickly turned her head towards me, and for a moment there I swear she had a worried expression painted on her face, but upon a closer look, she was still just as angry as before. “So… Sorry.” I stuttered. “I’ll cook us something for diner…” “What makes you think I’m hungry?” And just to contradict the rainbow pony, her stomach loudly denied this claim. Perfect timing. She blinked and admitted, “Okay, I may be a little hungry.” And Discord was only slightly mischievous. “I’ll see what’s left in the kitchen that’s still edible,” I replied while heading towards our only source of food. In front of me stood a fridge, a kitchen sink, a lot of cupboards and cabinets and gem pattern curtains covering the only window. I didn’t need to be Sherclop Hooves to guess that Spike was probably the only one who did all the cooking. The only foods I found were a few fresh vegetables and half empty bottles of oil and vinegar; the cupboards only contained gems; rupees, sapphires, garnets, and such. Unless we wanted to break our teeth trying to eat the gems, our only options were a simple salad, probably left there intentionally. I placed the ingredients over the worktop along with a glass bowl, a knife and a cutting board. I washed the vegetables in the sink and proceeded to extract the lettuce leaves one after another and left them inside the bowl. As if on cue, Rainbow Dash entered the kitchen, sporting an annoyed look on her face. “What’s taking you so long?” She asked before taking a closer look. “A salad? That’s taking you so long?” “I’m trying to cook it right. How do you want it, then? Quick and awful, or slow and tasty?” “I want it fast and tasty, of course. Outta the way; I’ll show you how it’s done!” She shoved me out of the kitchen, claiming the place for herself. If I was afraid that she could use a book as a projectile, then the fact that she now had her pick of sharp knives terrified me. After a few minutes, she came back holding a plate with the now-finished salad. I entered the kitchen as soon as she left, but to my surprise, there wasn’t a single leaf or a tomato slice to be found anywhere. “Err, Rainbow? Where’s my part of the salad?” I asked her. “Oh, sorry. Since you always lie, when you said you were hungry I thought you meant you didn’t want to eat.” Great, just what I needed. ”Yeah, I guess I deserve some punishment for what I did. It’s not like I was hungry or anything.” Why am I acting like Fluttershy? I allowed her to eat her salad alone as I borrowed the last Daring Do book to read it silently, taking advantage that Rainbow can’t read and eat at the same time to get some precious moments to myself. I immersed in the lecture, watching as the world around me faded as I teleported to the Canterlot University as professor Do started a new class after returning from Nightmare’s Moon temple and surviving yet another encounter against Krastos the Gluemaker, the evil monster who joined Ahuizotl in his crusade against the famous explorer. “And that’s how the old Mareians build their pyramids,” Daring Do explained as she returned to her teacher’s chair. The springs inside the cushion groaned under the pressure. ”Any other questions?” “I do have one, Professor Do,” a voice called from the classroom door where an earth pony stood, resting his body against the doorframe. The entire class was quickly filled with whispers and murmurs from the curious students, wanting to know who this pony was, and what kind of business he had with their teacher. This mysterious pony had been gifted with an uninteresting color palette consisting of a brown mane, a pair of emerald eyes covered behind his glasses, and a cream coat. The stallion was wearing an old black t-shirt riddled with what appeared to be bullet holes combined with light blue old jeans full of tears and dirt stopping at the height of his knees. A small dog tag rested atop his chest, hanging from a metallic chain that went unnoticed by everypony in the room except one certain mare who had gifted it to him years ago. The stallion stopped the student’s conversations on their tracks. “Why do you still waste your time teaching a group of students who stopped paying attention as soon as they entered this classroom? From what I’ve seen, about half of them were talking, six were drawing you as a chicken with an explorer hat, and the rest were too busy reading comic books.” The teacher took her goggles out, placing them carefully on her desk. “Do I need to remind you that you repeated a few years in school, while all of these ponies passed with perfect grades? You’re not the perfect example of a good student!” “There’s a very long list of ponies that never finished high school and are currently multi millionaires, but there’s no time for that. I’m here for you, Daring. Could we go to another place to have a private conversation between adults?” Daring Do quickly stood up and threw herself at the mysterious pony, stopping only a few inches away from his face. “In case you haven’t noticed, Bones, I’m having a class of Equestria History before the start of the Princesses reign, one of the most important subjects of this year. Besides, I’m not in the mood of talking with someone like you, so just crawl back into the hole you came from and disappear from my life! ” The entire class sat spellbound with perhaps a little bit of fear. Bones stood there as if he didn’t acknowledge her presence or her saliva splashing against his face. “Daring, I’m sorry to say this, but…” He swiftly took his glasses out and cleaned them with his shirt, quickly placing them again on top of his nose. “He came back.” The mustard pony simply chuckled at those words. “They sent you because Ahuizotl came back again? Please, I kick his ass five times a week. Don’t they have anything better to do than waste everypony’s time and resources sending you to my class because he’s back again?” She quickly turned her back at him and headed back to her desk. “I only hope I don’t have to see your face again for the rest of my life…” “Magpie,” he replied. That word managed to stop Daring Do on her tracks, a word she never expected to gear again in a long time, not since they had separated. “I’m not here because of Ahuizotl, but because of Krastos…” Krastos. That name always sent chills down her spine, quickly followed by those horrible screams from the tape recorder she found in a cabin in the Everfree Forest. Even years later, she was still haunted by it. “That’s impossible…” she muttered, turning back at him. “He’s dead! I saw it with my own eyes! That monster died like his victims!” “Then, if he’s really dead, how can you explain this?” Bones took an envelope from one of his pockets and handed it to the mustard pegasus. “These photographs were taken the other day from the jail cell where Tottentäkher was locked. Maximum security, guards in front of the cell 24/7, and security so tight that not even Princess Celestia could get through without being spotted. His corpse, or whatever was left of him, was found a few days ago. The modus operandi matches that of Krastos, and since you’re the only pony to have survived an encounter with him, they want you on this mission.” Daring Do opened the envelope and extracted a group of photographs from inside. Images from the cabin quickly flashed in front of her eyes, forcing her to hide the photographs inside the envelope and return it to Bones. “Yes, it’s definitely him… But why are you here, then?” Bones took the envelope again before delivering a reply. “They wanted to have the mare that killed Krastos, and the only stallion to have ever matching Daring Do to form a tag team and discover the truth.” “Really?” she replied. “Well, then you can go and tell them to shove it up their-” Bones interrupted her. “Yeah, they knew you would probably reply something like that, so they asked me to tell you that you would be suspended of employment and salary unless you joined the investigation.” “WHAT?!” Daring Do exclaimed. “They can’t do this to me!” “I’m afraid that they already did it. So, unless you want to keep wasting your time, I’d suggest that you pack your things. There’s a train waiting for us at the station, at eight o’clock. Don’t be late, or else you will have to pay a ticket for the next one.” The earth pony left the classroom and disappeared behind the door, leaving Daring to ponder what to do next. In the span of half an hour, the stallion that broke her heart had come back, one of her old enemies had been killed by another enemy presumed dead, and now she had to form a team with Bones to try and solve this mystery, or else she would be fired from the university. Suddenly, I was pulled from my reverie as I felt warm breath coming down my neck. I slowly turned my head around, expecting Rainbow to be angry because I was reading the last Daring Do book before she could; instead, I was greeted by a rainbow colored pony holding a small plate of salad. “Yes, did you want something…?” She seemed to doubt before coming up with an answer. “Well, uhm… Since you helped cook, I guess you can have some.” Wait, what? Who are you and what have you done with Rainbow Dash? “Uhm… Thank you, Rainbow.” I felt myself smiling. “On one condition,” she replied. She was beginning to scare me. “You wash the dishes.” I knew there was a catch. “Okay…” I wasn’t sure if she was finally forgiving me or what, but I wasn’t going to reject her kindness. I took a small bite, paranoid that she had tampered with it in some way just to punish me, but to my surprise, the salad tasted even better than I had expected. A torrent of flavor quickly invaded my mouth, asking for more until I finished everything in the blink of an eye. I’m surprised it tasted so good, let alone not being poisoned. The next hours were relatively less uncomfortable, although I could still feel some tension in the air. The night finally casted its spell upon us, and so we headed to the bedroom and hoped the next day we would be able to escape from this wooden prison. But to our surprise, the bedroom only contained Twilight’s bed and Spike’s basket. I turned to Rainbow. “Uhm… It is just me, or is there only one bed?” I was almost hopeful that this was real. “That egghead knew this would happen!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. I chuckled. “Five to one that she wanted us to share the bed.” Rainbow did not share my humor, instead crossing her forelegs. “Well, that’s not happening.” Before I realized what was going on, she was already wrapped up in a cocoon of blankets. “And where am I supposed to sleep?” I asked her, dejected. “You can use Spike’s basket,” she replied as she tossed a small basket at me. Having caught it, I saw that there was a pillow and a blanket in it. I shot back, “You’re kidding, right?” My face quickly morphed into an expression of disbelief. “I mean, I can barely get two hooves inside this basket. How am I supposed to sleep inside this thing?” “Come on, it’s not that hard. Just do like Samus Maran and turn into a morphball,” she replied, flashing the biggest grin I had ever seen in my entire life. “Yeah, thanks for the offer.” What’s next? Turtle food for breakfast? “I’ll be sleeping on the couch. Well, if there’s still a couch inside this giant tree…” I started down the stairs when Dash’s voice called me from Twilight’s bed. “You’re a real pushover, you know that?” I turned around, and to my surprise, the sheet was only covering her side of the bed, with Rainbow Dash facing away. “We can share the bed, but if you try any funny business, I’ll kill you.” “I’ll keep that in mind…” I replied as I lay down on the bed, covering my body under the sheet. As soon as I placed my head against the pillow, my fatigue and sleepiness quickly vanished into thin air, replaced by both nervousness and excitement over sleeping in the same bed as Rainbow Dash. I looked through the window at the thousands of fireflies flying over the dark mantle of Princess Luna, remembering my life in Hollow Shades as a little foal, but especially of a beautiful night years ago. I chanced to whisper, “Rainbow? Are you still awake?” She mumbled something I couldn’t understand before coming with a decipherable reply. “What do you want? I’m trying to sleep.” “Sorry to interrupt you, but… There was something I’ve been meaning to tell you since I arrived in Ponyville.” I made myself comfortable, resting my head against the wall. “I once read a book about old Equestrian legends, and one chapter mentioned a natural phenomenon that’s considered a paradox of nature named ‘Shaanyu Burana’ in the old language.” “Are you going to say something, or are you just practicing your Equestrian?” “Alright, alright, I’ll be brief,” I replied. “The reason I wanted to tell you is because ‘Shaanyu Burana’ translates to ‘Rainbow in the dark’, or as we say in Hollow Shades, ‘Arco iris en la oscuridad’. It’s often considered a legend since it’s impossible to see a rainbow in the middle of the night. The old equestrians usually considered this phenomenon as an omen of good luck and prestigious fortune for whoever witnessed one.” “Do you know that rainbows can appear at night too, right?” She turned her head around with an annoyed look on her face. “The only difference is that their full spectrum of colors can’t be perceived. I studied four years at the weather school, and this is the most basic stuff I had to learn.” “Really?” The more you know… “Well, I don’t think you will believe what I’m going to say, but I once witnessed a fully colored rainbow with all six colors in the middle of the night, back in Hollow Shades. That rainbow was the greatest thing I had never seen in my entire life…” I turned slightly to my side, looking straight at her magenta eyes. “This is the first time I told anypony this, and I know it may sound stupid, but I think that maybe that rainbow was an omen that one day I would meet you, and… And I-” I loudly gulped as I choked on my own words. She looked at me skeptically. Rainbow Dash said, “So you think some ancient words from thousands of years ago and the fact that you saw a rainbow at night makes you think about me?” I shook my head and replied, “Well, yes… When I discovered there was a famous pony called Rainbow Dash, I always believed it was you who caused the rainbow that night.” I looked at the starry sky, with the moon staring at us like a giant unblinking eye. “But of course, that’s just silly, right? Maybe I’m just a lonely pony seeking a connection where there’s nothing because he want to apologize to the mare of his dreams...” I shifted my gaze back towards Rainbow Dash, who now had a more friendly, or at least a less hostile expression. “So, if I got it right, you got a crush on me because I remind you of that rainbow you once saw looking through your bedroom’s window because there’s an ancient expression about how a rainbow in the dark is a good omen because it’s a natural paradox?” “Yes, I guess it could be summarized like that…” I replied, lying down on the bad again before covering my head under the sheets. “But sorry for wasting your time. When Twilight releases us from her magic field, I’ll return back home to try and repair some of the damage I have done to you…” Her voice called me softly from behind. “Brownie… That’s the sweetest thing somepony ever said.” I quickly turned around, unsure if what she said was real or part of my sadistic imagination. “Wait, what? Really? So you never had a coltfriend?” She nodded with a sheepish smile. “I always thought somepony as famous as you would have been in a few relationships…” “A few, but nothing too serious and they didn’t last very long; mostly, some fun here and there. Well, there are ponies who would do anything to date me, but they’re just a bunch of idiots trying to take advantage of my fame. And I don’t know why, but there’s something different about you, something I can’t really explain…” My ears perked upon hearing those words. “You’re… You’re serious? I mean, what are the odds the great Rainbow Dash could have a crush on a loser like me? I don’t have anything special or interesting. I’m the most ordinary pony you could find in all Equestria.” “Look, Brownie, love isn’t always about being attracted to somepony’s color palette, his talent or whether or not he’s famous. What I really look on a pony is their personality, their loyalty and their honesty; I know you lied out of fear, to continue being my friend, but Gilda did the same thing too; she lied to me, bullied my friends behind my back…” She paused a moment as a sigh escaped from her lips before looking into my eyes. “But unlike her, you owned up to your mistakes. I may have been just a teensy bit too hard on you, and I’m letting you have a second chance.” She held my hoof softly before moving closer to me. “Thank you, Rainbow. I promise you that I will never hurt you again.” Overcome with emotion, I threw my legs around her before I was suddenly pushed away. “Don’t get ahead of yourself! I only said I’d forgive you. In what language does that translate to ‘I’m your marefriend’?” Great, I just screwed everything. Again. “Uhm, I… Sorry, I guess I misunderstood you…” I replied, rubbing my hoof against my neck. Her frown quickly returned to its original position. “Look, there’s a chance I may be able to forgive you, but that’s only if you play your cards right. I’ll tell my friends that we’re cool, just to avoid problems.” It didn’t take a genius to know what she meant by that. I felt the impulse to smile. “Sounds good to me. Anypony else in your position probably wouldn’t give me a second chance. Well, I think we should go to bed already and wait for tomorrow so Twilight can release us.” I rested my head against the pillow before closing my eyes, ready to enter the land of dreams. “Good night, Rainbow.” “Good night, Brownie.” The next day we woke up with a letter from Twilight, congratulating us on being able to fix our friendship. I silently thanked her for deciding to help us out. I spent the next few days doing my hardest to earn Rainbow Dash’s forgiveness by spending all my free time with her. From sunrise to late afternoon, I stood by her side and pushed my drawing skills to the limit so I could gift her my best works to prove how much she meant for me. Although the rest of her friends were still reluctant to forgive, Rainbow Dash managed to convince them that I still deserved a second chance, and she would be the jury and the judge during my “parole”. I’m not going to lie; this was a hard and arduous task to accomplish, but I would descend to the depths of Tartarus if it was the only way I could earn her forgiveness. It took weeks, but my efforts seemed to pay off when Rainbow Dash asked me to meet her at the field where she always practiced her stunts. When I asked her if she was finally going to forgive me, all she said was, “Just meet me there”. My entire body was trembling like a giant piece of jelly and my heart was beating like a rabbit. The day was gloriously sunny, with flowers in bloom and not a single cloud in the sky. The placidity did nothing to calm my nerves. I felt like the stallion who had to pick between two doors, with a mare behind one and a tiger behind the other. When I arrived at my destination, she was nowhere to be found, and I started to worry, thinking that I was late and she’d already left. I was about to go when a voice called from above. “Glad you could make it.” The rainbow pegasus pony flapped her wings, slowing her fall with a smooth maneuver before taking a seat beside me. “So, I suppose you want to know my final answer?” Here it was! I could barely keep myself from exploding in agonizing suspense as I stuttered, “Ye-Yes!” This was the absolute final obstacle, and it was everything or nothing; either I won it all or I lost everything. “You know, we’ve been through so many things together… We’ve become very close, and I think that we’re no longer just friends.” I jumped for joy. Now I prayed to Celestia that she doesn’t trap me in the ‘brother’ zone. “I’ve met other stallions in the past, but they can’t compare to you, Brownie.” She flashed a smile at me, so sweet and beautiful that my heart melted in that instant. She stood there, as she was expecting me to say something. I was shaking with anticipation. I was filled with excitement that maybe she'd say yes, but at the same time, I was filled with dread that she'd reject me. "What's the matter, Brownie? Feeling nervous?" "Yeah," I said with some difficulty. Rainbow gave me an unreadable look. "Chill out. Don't you trust me?" That stung. I nodded. "Then relax." “So…” I slowly gulped. “Do you want to be my-“ Rainbow Dash interrupted my speech, pinning me against the soft grass in the blink of an eye. The spread wings fused with the sky above as the tip of our noses came in contact; I could see myself reflected on her magenta eyes as she spoke the best words of my life. “Shut up and kiss me.” She pressed down and for the first time, I felt another’s warmth meet mine. THE END Special thanks to kalash93 for being my editor since chapter 1 and helping me to improve so much writing this story. You're the greatest editor I ever had!