Rage
The words bounced and echoed through Twilight’s head. Every word, every syllable brought yet more tears to the unicorn’s eyes as she gazed down at the pegasus in the bed. The once strong, athletic mare was now a frail husk of her former self. Vibrant mane dimmed to ghosts of what they used to be, light cyan coat faded to an off-grey colour. Her bright, sparkling magenta eyes were now lifeless and hollow. But still, even now, she smiled.
“D-don’t say that!” Twilight protested weakly, gripping her lover’s hoof tighter. Rainbows hoof flexed weakly in her grip.
“But it’s true; I’m dying. There’s nothing either of us can do,” Rainbow said calmly, her voice rough and wheezy.
“That doesn’t mean we should give up!” Twilight yelled, holding Rainbow’s hoof like it was her last hope to live. And in many ways it was. Even though she knew what Rainbow said was true, she still argued, she still fought. She wasn’t even thirty yet! Why should she have to die? Just because some inoperable tumour had shown up didn’t mean anything! Just because the chemotherapy didn’t work didn’t mean that nothing would.
“Why should we fight something when we can’t win?” Rainbow asked plainly, staring blankly at the unicorn beside her.
“Because we might win. Like Discord. Like Nightmare Moon. Like Sombra, even Chrysalis we fought. We fought when anypony else would have given up. And we will fight now.” Twilight stated firmly, her face contorted in determination.
“It’s not gonna work, Twi,” came Rainbow’s breathless reply, her small smile replaced by a frown.
“You can’t give up, Rainbow!” Twilight insisted, pleading with eyes that Rainbow refused to meet.
“I already have, Twi,” she sighed, letting her head fall back to her pillow, her shallow breathing suddenly interrupted by a coughing fit, the distinct coppery taste of blood filling her mouth.
When she regained control of her lungs, Twilight was gone. Before Rainbow could even call for her, Twilight was back with a pop and a flash of light. Tears were streaming down her face as she took her place in the chair next to Rainbow’s bed, a book floating in her magic.
“What’s that?” Rainbow asked, motioning toward the book with a limp leg.
“Something I want you to hear,” Twilight said simply, cracking open the cover and flipping swiftly through the pages. She found her page and held the book steady, clearing her throat and beginning to read.
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Twilight’s voice cracked throughout the lines of the poem, and still she continuity, never once stopping to regain composure or to dry her tears.
“Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.”
A sob broke its way out of Twilight’s lungs as she finished another stanza. She cleared her throat, struggling to keep speaking as she continued.
“Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Rainbow stared at the unicorn beside her, her mind hanging off every word spoken.
“Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.”
Twilight glanced briefly up from her book, looking for some kind of reaction from the pegasus she was reading too. Still, Rainbow’s face remained stoic and unreadable, so she continued.
“Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
The words danced and played in Rainbow’s head. How could such a beautiful poem be about something so… grim?
“And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
As the last word was spoken, Twilight dropped the book to the floor and broke out sobbing, grabbing Rainbow’s hoof back in her own and squeezing. Rainbow herself remained still, letting her mind slowly churn over the words of the poem.
-_-_-_-
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Twilight finished closing the book and wiping the tears from her eyes. Every day for the past two weeks she had read that poem to Rainbow, hoping that it could somehow get through to her. Somehow convince not to accept the death hey both knew was coming.
She set the book down on the table beside the bed, the light sound of snoring emanating from the bed. Twilight smiled lightly, reaching a hoof out and gently stroking Rainbow’s mane, the Pegasus murmuring in her sleep at the contact.
As Twilight started to stand from her chair, she felt Rainbow’s hoof grab her own, holding her still.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Twilight apologized, sitting back down in the chair now that Rainbow as awake.
“Don’t worry, I wanted to tell you something anyway,” Rainbow paused, taking a deep, wheezing breath before continuing.
“I don’t want to die.” She whispered, opening her bleary eyes and looking to the unicorn before her.
Twilight smiled weakly. “None of us do.”
“No, I mean… I don’t accept it; I’m gonna keep fighting.” Rainbow smiled, giving Twilight’s hoof a gentle squeeze. “For you.”
Twilight’s smile widened.
-_-_-_-
A lavender unicorn trotted up the hill towards the hospital like she did everyday. Nothing about that day was particularly interesting. The sun rose like normal, the birds chirped like normal, the wind blew like normal. By all accounts, it was a normal day.
Twilight frowned as she stepped thought he doors into he hospital. She was tired of seeing this place. She didn’t know how many times she had walked in or out of those doors, but she was sick of it; walking in those doors only ever meant one thing.
“Miss Sparkle?” Somepony asked. Twilight turned to the unknown pony, revealing him to be a brown stallion in a lab coat. A doctor. More specifically the doctor assigned to Rainbow. Her frown deepened with worry.
“That’s me,” She said, walking a little closer to him.
“It’s about Rainbow Dash, she-”
Immediately Twilight broke down. She didn’t need to hear the rest to know what had happened. Already she knew Rainbow was dead. She collapsed back onto her haunches, struggling to regain enough composure to continue talking to the doctor. She felt a hoof gently rest on her shoulder. She lifted her head, her eyes meting with the doctor’s.
“Twilight, she’s not dead!” He insisted, giving her shoulder a tight squeeze.
“W-what? Then what happened?” Twilight asked, her tears halted by confusion.
“We don’t know for sure, but the cancer is… well, gone. We don’t really know what happened, but according to her latest scan, she’s cancer-free. Our best guess is that the chemo had a delayed effect on the cancer, which does happen from time to time.”
Twilight had stopped listening after ‘gone’. He previous tears of grief replaced b those of happiness.
“Can I see her?” She asked enthusiastically, grinning through her joyful tears at the doctor.
“Of course, she just got finished with a few more tests,” he said, smiling kindly as he motioned for her to go ahead. She shot off, galloping down the hall to Rainbow’s room.
“RAINBOW!” She cried as she burst through the door, finding the pegasus in her bed. Already she looked healthier. Her coat was now more blue then it was gray, her mane and tail her beginning to return to their natural rainbow colours and her once dime, dead eyes now shone with life and excitement.
“Twi! Twilight! I’m cured!” Rainbow shouted, leaping out of her bed and tackling the unicorn in a forceful hug, Twilight happily returning the gesture.
“I know, Rainbow.” Twilight sighed, hugging Rainbow tightly and crying into her shoulder. “I know.”
“Hey, why are you crying?” Rainbow asked curiously, more then a little worried.
“I’m just so happy. I… I thought I was going to lose you.” Twilight sobbed harder into Rainbow’s shoulder as the pent up fear of months came pouring out.
“Hey, you aren’t gonna get rid of me that easily,” Rainbow boasted, her usual bravado back in full force. “The Doc’ says I need to stay under observation for a few more days then I’ll be able to go home. It’ll take me a while to fully recover, but he says I should be fine.”
“That’s great, Rainbow,” Twilight said, pulling her face away from Rainbow’s shoulder and smiling brightly at the mare herself. Something behind them caught her eye. She craned her neck, looking around Rainbow to the table beside the bed; on top was her poetry book.
“Do not go gentle into that good night…” Twilight muttered, smiling at the book.
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Both Twilight and Rainbow said in unison, smiling at each other. Together they leaned forward, their lips meeting in a gentle, yet passionate kiss.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.