Chapter 5
A cloud erupted as a streak of rainbow light tore through it. The streak of light barreled from one cloud to another, blasting them into tatters of mist. Far above the green pastures west of Ponyville, pegasi lounged on puffy white bleachers, watching as the light shot through a series of rings. Then it curved sharply around a flagpole—too sharply, as it clipped the pole and knocked it askew on its cloudstone base—to zigzag through an obstacle course of dark storm clouds, dodging bolts of lightning. The audience collectively winced as the streak overshot the last storm cloud and careened off outside the track before peeling back, losing precious momentum on its way to the goal line. A checkered banner was strung between two clouds, and on one of them a white-maned mare waited, staring down at a stopwatch.
Now that it had slowed down, the streak resolved into a goggled Rainbow Dash, her mane streaming behind her like a colorful flag and her hooves stretched out in front of her. Rushing air flattened her ears against her skull as she wrung the last remaining drops of effort from her wings.
“Time!” The white-maned mare shouted. Rainbow set her wings and glided in circles to burn off speed before heading back. My heart’s barely pounding. She lifted her wings to flex them, feeling only the faintest soreness, while beside her a pair of young mares her age were already panting. It will never stop being amazing how much more athletic I am than before. Old me would have probably crapped out halfway.
Landing on the finishing cloud, she stepped up to the mare, Flitter, she glanced over her shoulder to a clipboard held in one hoof. Rainbow had no idea who Flitter was, who she had been, or even if she had been a resident of Ponyville at all before this point, but it was easy to become jaded to such things after awhile. Would have liked her a lot back then. Reminds me of Fluttershy, all smooth curves and gentle disposition.
“Hold your horses, Rainbow.” Flitter shoulder checked the snoop back, tallying figures up in one of the columns. “That’s one-point-four over your last time, but you’re still a full ten seconds behind last week’s practice.”
Nearby, Cloudchaser groaned. “Still three seconds on me.” All lithe muscle and wild hair, she reminded Rainbow Dash a lot of her new self. A sporty model suited for all weather, as Rainbow’s father might have put it. The old man always did have a bit of a roaming eye. I was never that bad, was I? Is this some sort of cosmic punishment for trying to play the field? Of course, that would imply being a mare is somehow a punishment, and I’m definitely not the kind of stallion who thinks like that.
“She’s just distracted,” Flitter said, glancing at the ponies who—as Rainbow had recently discovered—were Wonderbolts trainees like Rainbow herself. “She still leaves all of us in her contrail.”
Thunderlane flexed his own powerful wings. “That’s our Rainbow Dash.” Of them all, he was the only friend who carried over from Rainbow’s previous life. Though not nearly as close as Big Macintosh had been, they were still pretty close. Despite the fact that Rainbow had been avoiding him and others over the past few days, he didn’t seem to be very resentful when he looked down at her. “Even when she’s not on her game she’s one hundred percent lightning. Just gotta tighten it up a bit.”
“Don’t forget thirty percent cool and twenty percent awesome.” Rainbow allowed herself to strut a little as she sauntered over to a cooler to find a drink. Praise was yet another thing that she found herself having to get used to. The mare known as Rainbow Dash wasn’t just a local hero—which was another heady thing all by itself—she was popular, often in ways that baffled her. She tilted a bottle of water up.
“That’s a hundred and fifty percent,” Flitter muttered.
Thunderlane rubbed his chin, and then grinned broadly. “So add fifty percent gorgeous.”
Rainbow Dash sputtered, managing to spray herself with the contents of the bottle. Thunderlane’s appreciative gaze lingered on her as she tried to mop herself with a towel. Her cheeks burned and her limbs seized up. Okay, wow. Please tell me I was never that bad. The unbidden thought of dating Thunderlane sent shivers down her spine. Disgusting shivers, too. That’s what they are. I definitely wouldn’t want to kiss him, even if he is tall, and really muscled. I mean, it’s not like he isn’t handsome, but he’s not a big stallion or anything. She glanced at his hooves, imagining charcoal legs wrapping about her and drawing her close. Her eyes glazed over. I should chuck this bottle at his head. Then he’ll splash me with rainwater, then we’ll fight a little and meet under the stormcloud...
“That’s two hundred percent,” Cloudchaser said. She grabbed the cooler and upended it over Thunderlane’s head. Bottles bounced off his head before slipping through the cloud, while ice and freezing water soaked him at once.
“Gah!” he squealed and danced away, shivering as he lifted his wings protectively. “I was just teasing!”
“Ponyfeathers,” Cloudchaser spat. “You’re just looking for an easy rebound.”
Flitter glowered, moving between Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash.
Reddening further still, Rainbow Dash started forward. “Uh, girls, I really don’t—”
Thunderlane shook himself, his spray making a little rainbow against the sunlight, and pushed his head forward pugnaciously. “Oh, come on, Cloudchaser! We’re friends, you and me and Dash! You know I’m not like that. Is it a crime to call a mare cute now?”
Cloudchaser thrust her head forward, butting her forehead against his. “Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean it isn’t creepy to—”
Cloud Kicker, a weather mare who had been a cousin before the changeover—What was my old name? Cloud something? Something Cloud?—swooped in between them, pushing at Cloudchaser, while an enormous stallion whose name Rainbow didn’t catch simply tugged at Thunderlane’s tail and hauled him back several feet. “Knock it off!” Cloud Kicker pushed Cloudchaser back. “I think you may need a soak, too, Cloudchaser.”
Rainbow tried to push around Flitter. “Look, ladies, I’m not that offended—well, okay, maybe a little, but—”
Flitter grabbed Rainbow about the neck with a surprising amount of force for such a little mare as she glared at Thunderlane. “Yeah, see? You hurt her feelings. She’s still stinging after Big Mac left her in the dumps.”
“Gak! Wait, no, I was the one who—”
Thunderlane grimaced, looking down. “Yeah.” He scuffed the clouds with a hoof. “I’m sorry, Dash. I was a jerk.”
“No problem.” Rainbow wheezed. “Flitter, air.”
“Oh! Sorry.” Flitter backed off, grinning sheepishly.
After rubbing her neck, Rainbow flapped over to Thunderlane and cuffed the back of his head. “There. Now we’re even.”
“Ow.” Thunderlane patted the resulting bump, giving her a mock glare before smiling ruefully. “Yeah, well, you sure you’re okay? You have been acting kinda funny lately.”
It was at that point that Rainbow realized that she was standing very close to Thunderlane indeed, with their noses almost touching. She looked deep into his eyes, taking in his features.
Oh. Wow. He is cute.
She seized up again, eyes widening. Her legs tensed up.
Oblivious to her distress, Thunderlane chuckled, glancing over to the others. “And, hey, everypony knows that I’m destined to be with Cloudchas—not the face!” He dove off the side of the cloud as Cloudchaser leapt forward, and then she swooped off after him.
Flitter rolled her eyes, walking over to Rainbow’s side and prodding her with a wing. “Are you okay?”
Rainbow turned her face and stared into Flitter’s eyes. This must be what it’s like for somepony with amnesia. You’re surrounded by all of these ponies who know who you are and care about you, but for all you can tell they’re just a bunch of strangers. Stranger or no, it was hard to resist throwing herself into the other mare’s embrace and sobbing out the truth: that she very much wasn’t all right.
Proving far more attentive to Rainbow’s moods than Thunderlane had been, Flitter wrapped her wing around Rainbow’s back. “I’m sorry. You don’t want to talk about it, do you?”
Rainbow shook her head. It wasn’t that her throat was tight—she simply didn’t trust herself enough to speak right then. Worse was that she still felt stiff and strangely warm. She felt like a teenager all over again. Oh yeah, that’s what I need, a flashback to the days when the wrong thought meant a whole afternoon of discomfort. Am I just not used to what it means to be… turned on like this? Eugh!
She immediately scrubbed her brain of those associations. As far as she was concerned, the cure for being unused to feminine arousal was worse than the disease.
“We could just hang out.” Flitter gestured into the distance, as the other pegasi started to disperse from the makeshift training course. “Blow off some steam. A leisurely flight might do you some good—I haven’t seen you napping or taking it easy like you used to.”
“I haven’t?” Rainbow frowned. It was true that she had not really relaxed much in the days since the change. She more-or-less worked herself to exhaustion and then collapsed on her bed.
Flitter nudged her with a smile. “How about it? I know you don’t like the spa, but we could chill at a pool or something.”
“Maybe she should be practicing instead?” Cloud Kicker frowned, glancing over at a huge stallion who was sizing the track up again.
Rainbow eyed him as well. Yeah, there’s such a thing as too big. Big Mac is pretty much the limit there. All that power and stamina and— She coughed. Agh! Stop thinking things like that! Out, out evil thoughts about stallions!
“If she’s overstressed, she might just—” Flitter blinked at Rainbow. “Why are you hitting your forehead?”
“Oh, uh.” Rainbow lowered her hoof, reddening.
“Ye-e-ah.” Cloud Kicker narrowed her eyes. “Maybe you do need a break.”
Rainbow winced. “Sorry, girls. It’s just… well, you know, I’m still kind of freaking out over the whole Wonderbolts thing, you know?”
The other two mares glanced between one another. “You?” Flitter raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think anypony in years has been as qualified as you, Dashie.”
“You certainly never let us forget it,” mumbled Cloud Kicker.
“Uh...” Rainbow broke out in cold sweat, “Yeah, well, of course I knew I was a shoe-in. I’m totally awesome. It’s just that it’s been a dream of mine for so long it’s kind of scary that it’s coming true.”
Not knowing how she was supposed to act was one of the worst parts of this. Dropping the word “awesome” at random didn’t seem to be helping as much as she might have liked.
Once again the two exchanged glances. Quickly, Rainbow added, “And I’m still feeling kinda broken up about the whole bad date thing. Actually, why don’t I meet up with you girls later? I’m expecting a letter from Celestia soon, and I don’t want to miss it. It’s really important.”
“Well… okay.” Flitter gave Rainbow a pat. “I’ll come by later tonight.”
“There’s this party later tonight. Golden Harvest is hosting a sort of music festival at her barn,” Cloud Kicker said. “I know Cloudchaser was going.”
Rainbow’s ears perked up at once. “I’ll be there!” Of course, Vinyl Scratch!
“Great!” Flitter spread her wings. “Meet us around sundown?”
“Count on it.” Rainbow nodded as she flared her own wings, rising rapidly into the sky. She beat her way back towards her cloud home. This day was already starting to look up, even if she did still feel peculiarly tense. Perhaps she could blow some steam off before telling Scootaloo the good news.
* * *
The very first thing she did on arriving back home was to tear through her deliveries. She shuffled through the pile of bills, notices, magazines, and other junk that had accumulated in her mailbox over the last several days. Little desiring to sift through Rainbow’s life until now, she had procrastinated and allowed them to pile up until they overflowed.
Some of the pieces troubled her in a way she couldn’t quite put her hoof on. They were addressed to her from Cloudsdale, and bore the names of ponies she didn’t know, but looking at them she felt a strange little twinge in her gut that had nothing to do with her general sense of malaise and agitation. It didn’t take her much imagination to decide that they were probably from the family that she had now. She put those aside on the kitchen table. A tortoise—I remember you used to belong to Fluttershy. Well, you’re certainly welcome here—bumped up against her legs and she gave him an absent-minded rub on the head as she continued.
A letter from Spitfire very nearly made her forget everything else entirely, were it not for the urgency of her purpose. She could only skim it before becoming light-headed, but the phrases “join us at our winter training camp” and “looking forward to seeing you break new records” stood out as if they had been lit up.
Kinda funny, really, how things change. You could have dangled the Wonderbolts in front of me as a colt and I would have followed you anywhere.
Rainbow frowned at it for a few moments more before putting it down. If things don’t work out quite the way I expect, well… it would be nice to have something…
Banishing those thoughts from her mind, she stacked the magazines near the letters and tossed the bills and notices like salad, hoping she had simply missed another letter. What would a letter from the Princess look like, anyway? Probably a really nice sheet of fine cotton or silk paper, or maybe a scroll…
A careful, minute sortment of the remaining mail proved that nothing of the sort had come.
Sighing, Rainbow Dash gave Tank another rub and slunk upstairs to her room, flopping down on the bed. The cloud-stuff rippled, adjusting to her weight as she squirmed along the sheets to hug her pillow. She didn’t cry—she felt far too empty to cry right then.
No, she admonished herself. Didn’t Fluttershy mention something about Twilight’s dragon sending and receiving messages from Celestia? Maybe Twilight’s coming with the news right now!
Setting her hooves under her, she prepared to leave, but then thought better of it. If she left now, she might cross paths with Twilight and not see her, or whoever was asked to bring the letter. Better just to remain here for now and hope. Twilight said Celestia would respond by today. Have to trust her—she’s Rainbow’s friend, after all. I guess that makes her close to my friend.
As Rainbow settled back down again, she heard a crinkling under the pillow. Frowning, she shifted the cloud-stuff pillow aside and saw the top of a magazine, its cover partially creased. Oh, hey, there you are, Sports Weekly.
Rainbow glanced around, as if expecting somepony to be hiding in the room with her. Remembering that she was in a house with pets, she hopped over to the door and nudged it shut. “What can it hurt, right?” she muttered as she started back to the bed.
She stared down at the pillow, nibbling her lower lip.
“I’m stressed out. Nopony’s around. It’s my body, too, there’s no harm in… you know. It’s not like it’s all that unusual.” She shifted her hooves back and forth. “Young mares have urges, too. Perfectly natural.”
But I don’t remember being attracted to mares. Flitter was practically cuddling me and I only felt…
Reaching forward, she pulled the magazine out from under the pillow, and stared in horror.
Instead of a mare, a toned stallion stood on the cover. He was a green pegasus, splashing enthusiastically in the ocean.
Oh, no. Oh no no no.
She flipped through it with a sort of numb terror. Page after page of raw, virile males stared back at her, ranging from svelte racers and swimmers to powerfully built hoofball players to enormous bodybuilders and wrestlers.
“It’s not fair!” Rainbow pushed the magazine down on her pillow, darting away. Her heart was pounding like she’d just flown a mile, and her skin felt clammy. “No, no, no, absolutely not!”
She peeked at the page that was open. It was a charcoal pegasus, one who resembled Thunderlane in a passing way, albeit with a pure white mane. She remembered earlier today, before the time trials, racing the other Wonderbolts trainees as a group before leaving him in her wake, shaking her rear at him tauntingly and racing on.
No wonder he felt like he could take a shot at the end. She blinked. I… no, I definitely wasn’t teasing him, I’m not a tease!
Yet… all of those mixed signals I kept giving Big Mac… No!
She closed her eyes, but all that came to mind was her taunting Thunderlane, shaking her tail in his face. She imagined taunting him the whole way, teasing him, working him into a froth until he finally tackled her from the sky.
And then… and then...
Sweat poured down Rainbow’s face as she craned her neck around again, looking at the shadows and windows of her room. Tremblingly, she flipped back to the beginning of the magazine and settled down on her bed. She squirmed her hind quarters—that tension had returned in spades, a strange, throbbing warmth building.
“Just… just going to blow off some steam. No harm done.” Her eyes flicked past each one, absorbing their features. Tall. Strong. Fast. She found herself reading their blurbs and interviews, picturing how they must be, until the words blurred and she could only focus on the images. She shifted on her bed, her breath catching. She glanced up towards her bathroom door.
A hoof knocked on her front door, echoing up from below. Rainbow yelped, tilting off her bed and landing on her back.
Staring up at the ceiling, she groaned. “It’s so unfair.”
Rainbow pushed up on her stiff and uncooperative legs and trotted down the stairs, glaring the whole way. She turned the lock, then reared up on her hind legs and came down on the door, hard.
“Yes?” Rainbow growled as the door flew open.
Fluttershy squeaked and dug into the cloud, burying herself in an instant and leaving only her pink tail behind.
Rainbow sighed, rubbing her face. She reached down with her teeth and pulled her friend up like she was a trembling turnip. “Sorry, Flutters. Bad mood. What’s up?”
Pulling herself back together, Fluttershy let out a breath she had been holding. “Oh, Dashie. I’m sorry if I startled you…”
“It’s okay.” Rainbow waved a hoof. “How’re you doing?”
“Great!” Fluttershy perked up, her eyes lighting. “I was just at Twilight’s and she asked me to bring you something.”
Rainbow brightened as well, her ears turning forward intently. “Yeah?” She kept herself from dancing nervously by sheer force of will.
Fluttershy opened up one of her saddlebags with a wing and reached in to pull a scroll out. Hardly waiting for Fluttershy to clear the scroll from her bag, Rainbow snatched it in her teeth and tore the seal open on the spot. She unfurled the scroll.
My Dearest Rainbow blah blah blah…
Rainbow squinted, reading the last few lines aloud in a rush. “...and I see no reason why I should not approve your adoption credentials immediately! With Sincere Admiration, Princess Celestia.”
“Gosh!” Fluttershy caught Rainbow in a hug. “That’s great news!”
It was as if all of her frustration had melted away. Rainbow caught Fluttershy around the middle and danced with her on the front step. “I’m getting my little sister back!”
Fluttershy blinked. “Back…?”
“I mean, I’m getting a little sister!”
“I’m so happy for you. Are you going to—” Fluttershy yelped as a streak of rainbow light shot past her, blowing her mane and tail about like a twister. By the time she turned to look, Rainbow Dash was no more than a vanishing speck.
* * *
A chocolate filly carefully balanced a block atop another at the table in the orphanage’s play room. Her delicate teeth slid back, and the pyramid remained. It was a marvel of toy engineering—over two hundred precisely arranged blocks of various shapes and sizes. Three-fifths of a griffin coliseum, an accurate—albeit blocky—replica of the one depicted in the travelogue she had propped open beside her.
Just as she selected her next piece, however, the table quaked. Lightly, at first, and then more fiercely. She watched agape, helpless as cracks spread between her construction material.
Rainbow Dash blasted into the room through an open window. The table jumped as she landed, and the filly let out a plaintive moan as the whole structure launched with it.
Acting without thinking, Rainbow snatched a large, hardbound coloring book from a nearby shelf and, quick as lightning, caught it under the coliseum. She followed its arc up and gently eased it back down so that it landed with hardly a jolt. One delicate spur fell off, and the whole of it was somewhat rattled, but it was largely intact when she stepped back.
“Nice building, kid. Try glue next time.” Rainbow grinned down at her. “Hey, where can I find Scootaloo’s room?”
The filly stared slack-jawed for a moment before shaking her head to clear it. “Down the hall, third on the left.” She pointed out the door, then reached into a box and pulled out a jar of glue. Her eyes lit up, and her haunches began to shimmer, some image forming on each side. “But, wait, Scoots is—”
Rainbow shot off down the hallway. She took the third door and pushed it open, flaring her wings proudly. “Scootaloo! I’ve come to take… you… home...?”
The last syllable echoed around an empty room. The bed in the corner was neatly made—definitely not Scootaloo’s work—and the shelves were bare. The only thing left was a wooden Rainbow Dash carving that stood sad and broken on the windowsill.
Mere moments later, the front office’s door crashed open. Rainbow Dash stood there, legs spread aggressively as she stared down the receptionist.
The older mare sighed, lifting a hoof. “Rainbow Dash, no need to tell me why you’re here—”
“Where is she?”
“Or go right ahead.” She sighed again and shuffled the papers on her desk. “Scootaloo was adopted early this morning.”
“What—! But—!” Rainbow Dash stared at her. Her ardor cooled, though her heart was still pounding as she walked to the desk. “But… I thought the paperwork for that could take a long time. There have to be visits and stuff. You implied I was the only one.”
“We discussed that last time. You know you weren’t the only interested party. Don’t you remember?” The receptionist quirked a brow at her.
Rainbow opened her mouth to respond and then paused. There was something odd about the woman’s shadow, and when she tilted her head just so, she could see that the shadow cast from the window was larger than it should have been. The head was tilted at the wrong angle for the light—looking right at Rainbow Dash.
No.
She couldn’t help herself. The room blurred in her vision.
Vaguely, she was aware of the other mare helping her down onto a cushion. “There, there. It will be all right. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, but I’m sure Scootaloo will forgive you. The couple is very nice, and they have a wonderful home—she’s in very good hooves.”
Rainbow lowered her face into her hooves and cried quietly. The receptionist left her alone at that point. Rainbow liked it a lot better that way.
For a long time, the only sound she heard was the scratching of the receptionist’s pen on parchment. She herself made very little sound, and even her mind was very nearly empty. She didn’t want to think, remember, or speculate at all. Any glimmer of Scootaloo was more painful than she could bear.
Eventually, though, she heard hoofsteps. Somepony else had come into the office. Rainbow was prepared to ignore them until she felt a heavy hoof come to rest on her back. She lifted her face to find the broad red face of Big Macintosh.
Rainbow sniffled, rubbing at her face, though she made no headway in clearing the tears. “How did you…?”
“Passin’ by. Lady here thought you needed a helpin’ hoof.” He nodded his head towards the receptionist.
“Big Mac… Scoot, she’s…” Rainbow moaned softly as another wave of grief stole over her. She pulled up against Big Mac, sobbing into his shoulder. “It’s not fair. Everything… ev-everything keeps getting taken and I don’t know what…”
Big Mac said nothing. He was a rock for her to storm against, which was precisely what she needed just then. Rainbow clung to her friend, shaking.
When her tears abated, Big Mac helped her to stand and led her outside while she kept her gaze fixed on the earth. Rainbow hardly paid attention as they walked out of town towards Sweet Apple Acres. They stopped in a grove of trees not far from the farm, and Rainbow glanced up to see that somepony had constructed a crude gazebo out of the trees growing here at some point in the past, using planks across a small grove of trees. She turned to look up at Big Mac, meeting his gaze. The emptiness in her stomach gaped wider, a terrible sense of loneliness threatening to swallow her up.
There was no pony in her life now. No parents to support her. No Scootaloo for her to care for. No Fluttershy to share a life with. Even Big Macintosh had been changed, a best friend turned into something else. He wanted something more than a friend. Something more...
“Well…” Big Macintosh looked away and shuffled his hooves. “I’ve gotta get home, you take care now. If you need anythin’ you just come holleri—mmph!” Rainbow caught him about the neck and kissed him soundly. His eyes bulged, and speaking became understandably difficult.
It was like kissing a statue. Big Macintosh’s body was as tense and unyielding as the earth underneath his hooves. Her innards burned with a guttering flame composed of frustration, fear, pain, and arousal that twisted up inside her. Rainbow pressed herself forward regardless, shutting her eyes as her still-damp face pushed against his, seeking a spark of passion that felt just out of reach. One hoof tangled in his mane while the other held onto his neck.
Finally, after several long moments of silence, she pulled back, jerking as if his lips had been electrified. What am I doing? Oh, stars, what am I doing?
She trembled as she watched him stand there and stare. Searching inwardly, she tried to piece together her feelings, but they might as well have been shards of razor-sharp glass—cutting her to ribbons whenever she tried to pick them up and look at them. The aching loneliness still demanded filling.
Big Mac’s brows furrowed and his eyes searched her face. “Why…? I mean… I thought we were done, I thought...” He moved towards her with a hesitant step, his hoof reaching for her side.
“I-I…” Rainbow’s eyes watered. Tears dribbled down her cheeks. To lean forward into his embrace would be so easy, all she had to do was stand still and let him touch her again and everything would be all right.
With quick steps, she danced back before his hoof reached her. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
His hoof lowered as a plaintive note entered his voice. “Rainbow, please. We can talk about this. I… I can see you’re...”
“No, no!” Rainbow’s lip quivered as she backpedaled, rebelling against the magnetic pull drawing them together. “Big Mac, I… I don’t know what I… you and me, we were supposed to be… I’ve gotta go!”
Launching herself into the sky, Rainbow fled.
The air felt ten times heavier than it should have been. The urge to circle back and beg him to take her back weighed her down. She wasn’t sure where she was going, and she didn’t honestly care. If she returned, if she allowed him to touch her, she would be unmade. She would melt into his embrace and do anything he asked of her. We could be together and I wouldn’t… I could have somepony…
Her concentration faltered and her hoof caught a tree branch. Tumbling over and over, she barely pulled up in time to avoid plowing directly into the earth. She alighted on the top of the offending tree and stared back the way she had come.
Celestia help me, I want to, manly pride be damned. Rainbow rubbed her head. And then I went and freaked him out. If I thought I’d confused him before… “Agh! I am a tease!”
A mare passing along the road looked up at the shout, blinking at her. Rainbow coughed and hopped over to another tree nearby, with wide branches and a spreading canopy that shaded her.
I’m not all alone, though, am I? There’s Vinyl, and then there’s…
She frowned and gazed up towards the sun. It was still early.
“Well, I just killed my appetite, anyway. Might as well do something productive.”
With that, she set herself down on the branch and laid her head down between her forelegs. Despite her agitation, sleep came quickly, drawing her down into darkness.
* * *
Rainbow found herself on a tree rising above the twilit clouds. Moonlight apples dangled among petals of starlight. She smoothed her mane and glanced around.
Firefly sat on one of the branches above and chewed into one of the silver apples. “Why so down, Dashie?”
Touching her face, Rainbow felt the wetness there. She sighed. “You know why.”
“Yeah.” Firefly nodded. “But you wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t want to talk about it. You haven’t visited me at all lately.”
Rainbow winced. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to waste your time.”
“Time doesn’t work for me the same way it does for you. Space and time are related, you know.”
“They are?”
“Apparently.” Firefly shrugged. “Don’t ask me to explain it, Twilight’s the egghead, not me.”
“Oh.” Rainbow lowered her gaze. “I never really thought about it, but I’ve kind of stolen your friends, haven’t I?”
“I think you’d need to use them for it to count as stealing.” Firefly walked down towards her. “Avoiding them probably isn’t doing you any favors.”
“They aren’t my friends, though. Every time I see them, they’re all smiling and laughing over things I’ve never even heard of.” Rainbow moved aside to give Firefly room to sit next to her. “I’m the one mare out.”
“Even Fluttershy and Applejack?” asked Firefly. “They already were your friends.”
Rainbow sighed. “Yeah… but they don’t know me. They don’t know the real me.”
“Meh. Who really knows anypony, when you get right down to it?” Firefly shrugged. “You’ve noticed it yourself. No pony knows the truth about anypony else. Not even I do, and I’ve been here a while.”
“I’m starting to see the appeal, really,” Rainbow muttered. “Changing anything you want. You can undo mistakes or make things work out in ways that aren’t totally humiliating.”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Firefly laughed. “Just rewind the film and start over again. Maybe change the characters around.” She grinned, chuffing Rainbow. “You know how I said my older sister became my little sister?”
“And got a twin.”
“It’s a little sad, but when I first found out I kind of hoped the twin was my little brother. He was a complete pain and they were the sweetest little girls.” Firefly rolled her eyes. “But, no, he’s still around today, making life miserable for them.”
Rainbow chuckled weakly.
Firefly bumped her shoulder. “Yeah, sorry. I know what happened to Scootaloo is eating you. It’s also not what you came for.”
“It’s okay.” Rainbow shook her head. “I… I kind of came to see you.”
“Aww, it’s a girl’s night out.” Firefly perked up. “Wait! I know what this is missing. You just had a bad breakup, so—” She pulled up some of the cloud stuff and then shaped it into a bucket. Pulling the mist aside, she revealed a tub of cookie dough ice cream. “Voilà!”
“Ugh.” Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, after forcing yourself on a stallion, you’ve forfeited all rights to claiming you hate mare stuff, sister.” Firefly grinned and poked her with a spoon. “Dig in.”
“It’s not like that.” Rainbow grumbled and took the spoon. “And we broke up a couple days ago, anyway.”
“You’re a bad girlfriend and a tease.” Firefly dug in herself after Rainbow took the first bite. “Also, he’s so totally not over you.”
“I know. On all counts.” Rainbow sighed. “I feel like a bad record, I keep letting Them drive me into a corner and I react in the same stupid, panicky way.”
Firefly gave her back a rub. “You and me are similar people. We let our emotions run us, sometimes right into the ground.”
“It’s all fake, though. They’re just shoving us around!” Rainbow said.
“I don’t see how that’s any less real, though.” Firefly flicked her ghostly tail. “Scootaloo’s still your sister and you want Big Mac to nuzzle you into oblivion.”
“Hey! I do not!”
“Oh? Thunderlane, then.” Firefly grinned toothily.
Rainbow glared. She stuck a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and chewed it angrily.
“Mmhmm. Thought so.” Firefly laughed.
“Yeah, yeah. I just want someone to…” Rainbow sniffed. “To be there for me, you know? I want to feel… like I exist.” Her head jerked up and she looked at Firefly. “I’m sorry, that was really insensitive.”
Firefly smiled ruefully. “It’s okay. You’re dealing with enough crap that you don’t need to worry about me. Really? I kind of think you need to cut loose a little more. You’re kind of tightly wound.”
“I’m just worried I’m going to lose who I am. I’ve already lost my name… what happens if… if I did go out with somepony? Will I lose everything else about me, too? I’ll just become Rainbow Dash for real and forget about Them and the door and everything.” Rainbow scrubbed at her face. “I can’t risk that.”
“No,” Firefly agreed, “you can’t. This isn’t the end of Their meddling, though. They have Their plan, still, and as long as you're not conforming to it They’re going to pay more attention and intervene more directly.” She leaned against Rainbow’s side. “You’ve got a delicate balance to keep, and I can’t really help you. I worry that Vinyl’s already been lost, sometimes—you’ll find out tonight.”
“I’ll try to hold strong,” Rainbow murmured, encircling Firefly with a leg. Rainbow Dash knew that she was likely the only contact Firefly had with the world—it made the sort of loneliness she felt pale by comparison. That Rainbow was living a shadowy facsimile of the other mare’s life put it into stark contrast thanks to a helping dosage of guilt. “You know, I’m almost wondering if my resisting is making things harder for me, sometimes. It’s like whenever I try to hold on to some portion of my old life, it snaps right back into my face.”
“I’m not sure you’re wrong. Don’t ask me to explain, though.” Firefly stuck her tongue out. “Egghead stuff.”
“Wish I could tell Twilight.” Rainbow ground her teeth.
Firefly shuddered. “Didn’t work out for me. I can still remember how it happened, too. I’d gone into the library looking for her, but when I found she was gone and tried to leave, the door just led right back into the library. All of the windows and doors were the same way, until the space got smaller and smaller and smaller… Then I was gone, too. They closed around me and just...”
Rainbow tightened her embrace, resting her head on Firefly’s. Though the other mare was ethereal, she felt real enough. Firefly trembled faintly, her cool crumbling.
“I don’t want to vanish, Rainbow.” Firefly’s voice was a whisper. “When you’re not around, I’m a shadow. I miss the smell of grass, I miss the feeling of air under my wings. Sometimes I forget what it’s like to have a body.”
Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut and held Firefly more tightly. “I won’t let that happen.”
The still silence of the twilight realm fell about them. Wrapped in their own warm pocket of closeness, Rainbow’s tension drained off. The knot of frustration and confused arousal remained in her gut, but there was something new there.
“No more rebounding?” Firefly smiled up at her and reached up to wipe Rainbow’s cheeks with a tissue made of clouds.
“Can’t promise that. I’ll hang on, though. I have you.” Rainbow gave her another squeeze. “I’ll be your wings.”
Firefly rolled her eyes. “Were you this sappy as a stallion?”
“Hey!” Rainbow knocked her shoulder. “Fluttershy loved that kinda talk.”
“She’s a sap.” Firefly giggled. “But it’s totally sweet. You can be a hero, Rainbow. Take it from me.”
“Ponies sure seem to think I am… Oh!” Rainbow’s ears perked up. “Do you have any idea what kind of pony I am supposed to be?” She glanced around at the strangely lit landscape. “You seem to be more connected than I am, here.”
“Oh, hey!” Firefly blinked. “I... might be able to do that. But not right now, I would have to hop around and collect memories first. That would help you blend in a lot better, at least.”
“All right. In the meantime, I need to get to Vinyl.” Rainbow extracted herself and hopped off the branch to the clouds below. Frowning, she looked around. “Uh… how do I wake up? I kinda just did it without thinking last time.”
“Over here,” Firefly called from behind her.
When Rainbow turned, Firefly was standing on two hooves with a frying pan clutched in her forelegs. Before Rainbow could reach, Firefly clocked her in the face, sending her into oblivion.
* * *
Cloudchaser gave Rainbow Dash a narrow-eyed look. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Ahead of them, lights flooded from a barn on a hill, lighting up the clouds overhead. Throbbing music pulsed across fields of carrots from great boxy speakers jutting out of the top floor.
Rainbow rubbed her face again. “Are you sure there’s nothing there?” She flapped her wings to pull up beside her and Flitter as they neared.
“For the fifth time, no.” Cloudchaser rolled her eyes.
Rainbow grumbled. Firefly’s sense of humor was going to kill her one day—illusionary frying pan or no, it still stung like a real one.
“Come on, girls, lighten up.” Flitter beamed. She shifted her wings, making sure to display the reflective tape she’d adhered to them, each one flashing as a spotlight shone on her. Rainbow had, naturally, declined to adorn her own wings when offered a bundle. The last thing I want is to be tearing tape off my feathers, thank you. Mares are ridiculous. “Some dancing, a few drinks, maybe a cute stallion or two—you’ll forget all about your troubles.”
“I could definitely use two out of three of those.” Dipping her wings, Cloudchaser dove through one of the beams of light, her wings glittering. Rainbow Dash and Flitter tucked up their own wings and dove after her. The three of them darted through an open window near the top, flaring to a stop over the dance floor. Having arrived fashionably late, they found the party already in full swing, with ponies dancing across a color-shifting floor while stage lights pirouetted.
Immediately, Rainbow started looking around for Vinyl Scratch. It wasn’t hard to spot her—she was turning tables on an elevated recording booth. Both forehooves were manipulating records while her magic spun the lights. Well, no getting her attention now. No pony can stand on stage forever, though, she’ll need a break sometime.
She landed with Flitter and Cloudchaser near a hastily erected bar where Golden Harvest popped open a barrel of dark, foaming ale. She froze when she saw Applejack topping off bowls of salt next to her, but Applejack only waved and grinned when she saw her. Thank Celestia, Big Macintosh didn’t tell her.
She winced at that thought. He’s probably hurting more than ever now. Great friend I am.
“Hey, Dash!” Applejack slid a frothing mug across the counter, sending it flying off the side.
Rainbow caught it with a neat gesture. As she had with the coliseum earlier, she hopped into the air and caught the liquid before it could splash. “Okay, that is one cool benefit of being me.”
“Sounds like we’ve got our old Rainbow Dash back.” Applejack passed a mug each to Dash’s companions. “Y’all girls look great. You do somethin’ different with your mane, Cloudchaser?”
Cloudchaser ran a hoof back through her wild hair, making dyed tips sparkle. “Just a little luminescent dye.” She grinned.
“Are you pegasus lot coordinatin’?” Applejack leaned against the counter. “I’ve seen five now with the tape on the wings. Y’all are makin’ us non-flyers look boring by comparison.”
Cloudchaser nodded, her grin turning smug. “Me and the other mares were talking after we wrapped the weather up. Rainbow here chickened out, though.”
“Hey!” Rainbow pointed a wing at her. “I’m not looking for a stallion right now, thank you very much, and I stand out pretty well on my own.”
“True enough.” Applejack laughed. “Are you sure your mother didn’t drink raw rainbow juice when she was having you? Maybe spread zap apple jam on her toast every mornin’?”
“Uh.” Rainbow frowned. “Can that happen?”
The others laughed and took deep drinks, and Rainbow shrugged and downed her own with them. The ale settled in her stomach and sent tendrils of warmth down her limbs.
“Do you know when Vinyl up there is taking a break, Applejack?” Rainbow put her mug down on the counter, waving a hoof over it to refuse a refill. “I thought there were going to be some live bands, too.”
“Maybe an hour or two? I dunno, I’m just tendin’ bar tonight.” Applejack pointed across the dance floor. “Rarity probably knows. She invited one of the bands in. I protested, figurin’ she was bringing in one of those frilly classical musicians, but she says they’re a pretty popular group out in Manehattan.”
“Wouldn’t remember.” Rainbow glanced over to where Rarity was dancing with a sleek unicorn stallion. “I’ll go talk to her, then, thanks.”
Starting over, she paused as she saw a cloaked pony shamble up to the bar with her hood held low over her face. A deep, scratchy voice issued forth. “I’ll take an extra large mug.”
“Gosh.” Golden Harvest blinked. “Are you all right? You sound awful.”
“Just need something to wet ou—my whistle.” There was a shuffling and a pair of bits flew out the hood to land on the counter.
Golden Harvest frowned, but reached back to the barrels behind her.
Rainbow sighed, glancing down. The cloaked “pony” had different colored fore and hindlegs, as she had expected—two orange and two green. Walking over, she caught the cloak in her teeth and yanked, revealing Sweetie Belle standing atop Scootaloo’s back, with Apple Bloom holding up Scootaloo’s hindlegs. “You know,” she said, spitting the cloak out, “I’ve seen lamer disguises, but not many.”
Applejack banged her hooves on the counter. “Apple Bloom! Tarnation, just what do you think you’re doin’?”
“The fuzz!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Cheese it!”
Applejack leapt over the counter and tackled Apple Bloom before she could get three steps while Sweetie Belle ran right into a chair in the dark and fell over, dazed. Rainbow Dash declined to catch Scootaloo as she darted by, but a golden aura caught her and yanked her off the ground anyway.
A feminine voice barked, “Young lady! Didn’t I tell you to stay home?”
Rainbow stared as a mint green unicorn pushed through the crowd. Lyra? No, it can’t be, can it…?
“You and your friends promised you’d stay at the house while we were out!” Lyra stamped a hoof, glaring down at Scootaloo as she floated her closer.
Scootaloo drooped, her ears laying back. “I’m sorry, Lyra—I mean, mom. It’s just, you know… we really wanted to see the big party!”
“That and get a nip of hooch, seems like.” Applejack fixed Apple Bloom with a fierce glower.
“Are you okay?” Flitter asked Sweetie Belle as she helped her up.
“Ah’m okay, I can see the stars just fine from here,” Sweetie Belle slurred.
Rainbow Dash waved her hooves. “Wait, wait, what? Lyra, you adopted Scootaloo?”
“I sure did! I’ve always wanted a foal.” Lyra paused. “I mean, not always always, I didn’t want one when I was a filly, but as long as I can remember. So pretty much always.”
Rainbow Dash frowned. Unlike Flitter, Lyra was a pony she had actually known, and the Lyra she knew wasn’t exactly her idea of an upstanding mother figure. She was a nice pony and all, but… “Didn’t you tell me once that you didn’t like the thought of being tied down?”
“Well, yeah.” Lyra frowned. “I mean, that’s different. This is a kid.”
Rainbow’s brows knit. “I’m not sure I see how, but I didn’t think you’d have time to be a single mother with a performance schedule.”
At that, the others all started at Rainbow Dash. An icy touch slid down her spine.
“Scootaloo!” a stallion’s voice bellowed, and then Thunderlane dropped down next to them. “What are you doing here? What did you do to the babysitter?”
“Uh, hi dad!” Scootaloo grinned sheepishly. “We… didn’t… not tie her up in the pantry?”
“Wow, really?” Lyra asked. “How did you manage that?” There was a flicker across her face and she amended. “But that was very bad. Very, very bad. You’re in so much trouble when we get back. Right, honey?”
Rainbow frowned, looking at the two of them. Was it my imagination or did she hesitate on that “honey”?
Thunderlane nodded. “Yes… dear.” Nope, no imagination that time. “I could take her home; you don’t have to miss out on the party. I know you know the DJ.”
“Aww, thanks!” Lyra beamed, and then a shadow crossed her face again and she shook her head. “But, no, we should go together. As a family.” She stepped forward and they rubbed noses. The stiff, uncomfortable way they nuzzled made Rainbow’s hair stand on end.
It was hard to tell in the wild lighting, but she could see both of their shadows were unnaturally deep and elongated. The shadows of the newlyweds were kissing passionately while their hosts unwillingly embraced.
As they walked away, Rainbow Dash steadied herself against the bar. Her stomach threatened to heave out its meager contents. Those sick… how could They…? She shut her eyes, breathing deeply until her rattled nerves settled.
It must have been sometime between the races earlier today and my going to the orphanage. What about Thunderlane’s Wonderbolts dreams? What about Lyra’s personal choice and freedom?
With each iteration of Their manipulations, her own problems were rapidly diminishing in importance. It was humbling—and more than a little terrifying. Before she could really think too deeply on the implications, however, she heard a shift in the music. Glancing up, she saw Vinyl Scratch stepping down from the turntables.
Just as she started her way, though, she bumped into something tall and dark. She jumped, and found Thunderlane looking down at her, frowning. “Hey, Dash.”
“Uh… Thunderlane, hey.” She straightened. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to say…” He rubbed his mane, glancing away. Somewhere over his shoulder, Vinyl passed through a rear entrance. “Look, I know you’ve been really close to Scootaloo...”
Rainbow frowned.
He breathed a heavy sigh. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea for you to see her for a while.”
“What?”
Thunderlane lifted a hoof, stopping just short of touching her. “Just for a while! She’s really broken up over what happened, and Lyra and I are trying to make her more comfortable. It’s a rough time, getting used to a new family.”
Red leaked into Rainbow Dash’s vision, and it wasn’t a trick of the lighting. She stamped her hooves and set herself against him, her wings spreading. “I don’t think you can tell me to go anywhere.”
Thunderlane’s face clouded. His own wings fluttered, though he kept them at his side. “Scootaloo is my daughter, now. I’m trying to do my best for her, and I’m not telling you to stay away forever. The least you can do is respect my decisions for her and give her some space.”
“What is wrong with you?” Rainbow growled. “I thought I knew you, Thunderlane. We were bro—I mean, friends. I’m not letting you keep Scootaloo away from me. She’s my sister.”
“I know, I know. Look, maybe you could…” Though it was hard to see on his dark features, Rainbow thought she saw a shadow cross his eyes. His stance firmed and his wings spread, slightly. “No, I don’t think you should see Scootaloo.”
Past him, an earth pony stallion went through the door Vinyl had departed from.
Mosh Pit.
Rainbow’s eyes flickered from Thunderlane to the door. Her face softened. “Just a pawn,” she muttered.
“What?” Thunderlane cupped his ears forward. He shook his head and snorted. “Never mind. If you don’t want to be reasonable about this we do—”
“I’m sorry.”
“Well, in that case, I’m going to have to—” Thunderlane blinked. “Wait, what?”
Rainbow Dash lowered her head. Unwilling to look up, she spoke to his hooves. “I’m sorry. You can take all the time with Scoots that you need.”
Thunderlane looked at a loss. He shifted back and forth, not seeming to know whether they were still fighting or not.
“I’ve got to go.” Rainbow flapped her wings and rose into the air. “Take care of her for me.” She darted past him and flew out into the night.
* * *
It doesn’t hurt as much as before, Rainbow lied to herself as she searched outside. It didn’t take her as long as she might have thought to find Vinyl. One of the wagons parked outside the barn had an altered side that could be propped open into a stage, and the prominent mounts for speakers confirmed it as hers.
All They wanted was to use her against me, to keep me distracted so They could finish the job.
Alighting on the grass nearby, she paused and cupped her ears forward. Two ponies were talking inside—one a stallion’s rumble, the other low, but feminine. She might almost describe the latter as smoky. Just as she put a hoof on the lowest step, though, there was another sound.
Pressing her ear to the door, she listened more closely. Vinyl’s wagon was apparently at least a little soundproofed—even this close, she couldn’t make out what they were saying, but Mosh Pit was talking in a lower, insistent voice. Vinyl answered, a tremulous note entering her tone.
Something fell and crashed into the floor of the wagon, but neither seemed to notice.
What in the world…? Rainbow frowned as she considered the sound, then she froze. Her mind flatlined.
Raising both hooves, she banged on the door.
There was a loud thump from inside and Vinyl squeaked. Fearing they might hope she’d give up, Rainbow used the door like a drum set. Evidently unimpressed by her solo, Mosh Pit threw the door open and glared. His eyes lit with recognition and then narrowed in anger. “Just what in the blazes do you think you’re doing? This is a private wagon!”
He tried to grab her and toss her away, but he was no Big Macintosh, so Rainbow Dash simply twisted his forelegs off her and pushed him back. “I’m here to talk to Vinyl. Beat it, pal.”
There was a flash of blue light and she ducked as a blue bolt sizzled the air where her head had been a moment before.
“Rainbow Dash! This isn’t your damned business,” Vinyl said from a small cot wedged between the wall and a rack of electronics. Her mane and tail were mussed and her sunglasses were nowhere to be found. She also held herself rather stiffly, though there was nothing hesitant about the way she was aiming her horn. It glowed with an intense cobalt blue, another bolt waiting to fire.
“Yeah, no.” Rainbow Dash stepped in. Mosh Pit tried to set himself against her, but she simply shoved and he slid back. “We need to talk, now.”
“You’re not my mother, Rainbow Dash, I can see who I like.” Vinyl growled. “Even if you were, it’s my life.”
“That is so wrong you have no idea.” Rainbow turned her attention to Mosh Pit and scraped a hoof. “All right, so, you going to leave the easy way or the hard way?”
Mosh Pit looked between the interloper and his girlfriend. Evidently deciding that he didn’t want to back down in front of his girlfriend, he turned towards Rainbow Dash and leapt at her. He was dismissed by the simple expedient of stepping aside, allowing him to fly out the door, which she kicked shut and locked behind him.
A powerful force pushed against her, but she reached forward and smacked Vinyl’s horn. The unicorn yelped and the blue aura fell away.
“Listen to me, Vinyl! This isn’t who you are!” Rainbow said, pinning the squirming unicorn. “You’re letting Them get to you!”
“You’re crazy! Get off!” Vinyl managed to squirm a hoof free and booted Rainbow in the face, which knocked stars into her vision. She made a break for the door, but Rainbow Dash grabbed her tail in her teeth and yanked her feet out from under her.
They tussled for a while until Rainbow managed to sit on top of her and pin her forelegs to either side. “Your name wasn’t always Vinyl Scratch, you were a stallion until a week ago. I was, too, until They got to both of us and screwed with our lives.”
Vinyl’s struggles weakened and she stared at Rainbow. “I… no, you’re crazy.”
“You’ve had dreams, haven’t you?” Rainbow met her gaze. “About being different, about a pink pegasus named Firefly?”
Panting, Vinyl laid her head back. “N-no, I… they’re just dreams, stupid dreams. I’m a mare, I love Mosh Pit. We’re going to be together. I-I…” Her two-toned mane spread around her like a fan on the floor and she started to whimper softly.
“It’s not true. It’s just lies pushed on you to make you behave,” Rainbow murmured. Every word made Vinyl flinch—it felt as if she was hitting her. “You don’t love him, they’ve just made you think you do.”
There was a coughing noise. Rainbow tilted her ears forward, and realized to her horror that Vinyl Scratch was crying. Vinyl’s chest shook as she tried and failed to keep it in, tears leaking out of her closed eyes.
“Dash, I…” Her breaths came in short gasps. “Oh Celestia, I let him… he, me, we…”
Uh oh. Rainbow bit her lip. She looked down at Vinyl sobbing, lifting her hooves. The other mare curled up. How are you supposed to deal with situations like this? Where’s a tub of ice cream when you need it?
Awkwardly, she laid a hoof against Vinyl’s side. “It’s… it’s gonna be okay. We can get through this.”
Vinyl Scratch immediately latched on to Rainbow to bury her face in the other’s chest. Mosh Pit banged on the door, but Vinyl’s shout of “Get lost!” led to the sound of hooves shuffling and then galloping away.
“You know the worst part?” Vinyl whispered as they held one another there in the dark. “It felt so right.”
“Yeah… yeah I know.” Rainbow exhaled. “Do you need a minute?”
Vinyl nodded. “Yes, but… don’t go. I don’t trust myself on my own right now. Just, uh… step outside?”
“All right.” Rainbow set her down gently before going to the door. She unlatched it and let in the night air. Sitting on top of the wagon, she watched the lit barn. Golden Harvest came by with a concerned look—doubtless, Mosh Pit had told somepony, maybe many ponies—but Vinyl spoke to her in a low voice and she went away with a hesitant glance back.
“You can come down now, Dash,” Vinyl called after a few more minutes.
When Rainbow stepped back in, the room had been cleaned and swept, and Vinyl herself had brushed and washed. Her mane was back into its artfully wild style and her glasses concealed the red puffiness. Rainbow Dash wasn’t exactly sure how she had managed to clean up in such a tiny wagon, but unicorns were funny like that.
“So, I had a talk with Firefly.” Rainbow went to sit on a small stool in front of a table built into one wall and put a hoof down by a pair of disassembled speakers. She had no intent of bringing up the earlier incident—she rather suspected that Vinyl appreciated that. It’s way too easy to imagine myself in her position.
Laying on the bed, Vinyl nodded. “Me, too, but… I’ve kinda been ignoring her. Last night she was yelling at me to pay attention and I blew her off.”
“Well, we’ll see her again soon.” Rainbow frowned. “I guess you haven’t found anything either, then, if you’ve been busy.”
Vinyl scratched her chin. “Not exactly.”
Rainbow’s ears perked. “Huh?”
“Until I got, uh… distracted… I was searching around town for anything odd. I’ve been keeping track of Their activities as best I can—you ever notice how sometimes you see strange shadows or hear whispers in the dark?”
“Uh… yeah.” Rainbow coughed. “I’ve kinda been dealing with personal problems and They crop up now and then to irritate me.”
“Once you start paying attention, everything changes. We kinda guessed that, sure, but you don’t know how deep it goes.” Vinyl shook her head. “Everything from the placement of streets down to the color of wallpaper and how many sprinkles are on a cupcake.”
Rainbow scrunched her face up. “You’re joking.”
“I think it’s like… a knock-on effect or something. When they change one thing others change nearby.” She waved a hoof in a circle. “It’s a vicious cycle. If they move a street, they have to move doors and street vendors, and then things aren’t quite right so they have to change the street again. You see that in magic, sometimes—that’s why advanced transformation is something most unicorns can’t do. If you don’t account for absolutely everything it gets completely messed up.”
“Uh,” Rainbow asked, slowly, “is that like how if you make a featherbrained change in the weather in one valley, you can accidentally make a tornado in the next valley?”
“Sure.”
“I’m not sure how that helps us, though.” Rainbow frowned, turning the speaker over in her forehooves. “We need to find the Door Firefly mentioned.”
“That’s the thing.” Vinyl leapt to her feet, an excited flush gracing her features. “What did she tell us about the Door?”
“That they…” Rainbow’s fidgeting paused. “That they can’t change it.”
Vinyl grinned. “Exactly. If everything changes but the Door—”
“—then the Door is the one thing that doesn’t change.” Rainbow met her gaze, a thread of hope working its way through her perpetual haze of frustration. “It’s like ripples in a pond. We need to find the one place in the world where ripples from Their manipulations don’t touch.”
Then Rainbow paused, knitting her brows.
“How the heck do we do that?”
* * * * * * *