//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: A rainbows burden // by tyion //------------------------------// Immediately Dash ran in between the princess and Fluttershy "Don't you dare to touch her!" Dash admonished "I have to do this, Rainbow Dash. Its not like I have a choice" Celestia said as she slowly approached Fluttershy. "What is happening?" Fluttershy asked, but no answer was given "No, no, no, no" Dash thought "She can't take her away from me! She has no right to do that!" "She won't feel any pain, I promise" "I don't care! I can't take it, I nearly lost her once. I can't go through that again! The hell! I didn't even tell her how much she means to me." "What?" the timid pegasus asked, confused about what was going on. Dash turned around, her wet eyes met with those from Fluttershy. "I love you Fluttershy! I should've told you earlier but I was too scared!" She turned back around to the princess. "What was that?" Fluttershy thought. "Dash loves me?" "Please, I beg you, not threatening you," Dash fell on her knees and her voice cracked "Don't take her away from me." "I'm sorry," were the only words the princess said before her horn started to glow; a single tear escaped her emotionless expression. "NO!" Dash screamed, before her eyes got blended by a flashing light. When she was able to open them again, she saw princess Luna standing in front of her. The moon goddess turned around to face Fluttershy, who was watching in awe. Her horn started to glow for a second before Fluttershy vanished. “Where is Fluttershy?” Dash asked. “She is safe, for now. You go find a way to stop this madness.” “Sister, you know I have no choice. Equestria’s well being comes first.” “I know that. But I simply cannot watch you let a pony, who has done so much for us, die.” Luna tried to reason with her big sister. While the two royal sisters were arguing, Dash burst off towards Ponyville. Celestia watched her pass by, but did no effort in trying to stop her. She let out a sigh; she just wanted to get this horrible act behind her. As if she didn't knew how cruel she is acting, but it was all for the welfare of Equestria. ==== In the meantime Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack were present at the library, trying to comfort Twilight. The purple unicorn did not say a single word since Celestia left; she was too shocked about what had happened. Her own mentor, her Idol tried to kill one of her friends. She was torn between her loyalties; should she try to stop Celestia, who was like a mother to her? It was all so confusing. Suddenly there was a crashing noise to be heard. Dash slowly got up on her hooves and wiped away the dust which she had gathered with her landing. “Darling, what happened? Where is Fluttershy?” Rarity asked as soon as her eyes saw the rainbow maned pegasus. “Luna helped me to hide her. She is safe for now, but Celestia is dead serious about removing the spell we casted on her. We have to do something,” Dash explained to the group with an ambitious voice. “But what can we do?” Applejack wondered. Several seconds passed in total silence; everypony was thinking for an solution. “Well we could use the Elements,” Rarity suggested. “Are ya outta yer mind? Using the Elements against the princess herself?” Applejack couldn’t believe what she just heard. “Yep, we should” Pinkie agreed, after not being able to think of any other possibility. “I think Rarity is right, Applejack. The princess will not rest until she annulled every effect the spell had. Its either her or Fluttershy” Dash also approved of Rarity’s idea. “You guys sure are crazy, but for Fluttershy I’d do about anythin,” Applejack conceded. Everypony turned around to Twilight to see what she thinks about using the Elements. They all knew that the princess and her were really close since Twilight was a filly, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “Twilight?” Applejack called out, but the unicorn did not respond. Twilight was too confused to say anything; everything happened so fast that she still needed to process what was actually going on. "Twilight?" Rarity tried this time, the purple unicorn looked up to face her. "What do you think we should do?" the white unicorn asked; she somehow felt that the Elements were the only way out of this, but would Twilight use them against her own teacher? "I don't know. I simply don't" Twilight admitted; for the first time she was absolutely clueless. Usually she would just look up in a book what she should do or write a letter to the princess. But now she had to make a decision on her own. "You think you are able to use the Elements against...?" Dash inquired, but before she could finish her sentence Twilight’s answer interrupted her. "I don’t know! That’s what I told you... I have to save Fluttershy but... but..." Twilight’s stomach twisted when she just thought about the idea of using the Elements against the princess. "You have to decide fast!" Dash stated. "DASH!" Rarity admonished her before continuing. "I know that time is running out, but for the time being Fluttershy is safe. Let Twilight decide for herself what she will do. Come along everypony, leave her alone," Rarity commanded. "But..." Dash tried to reason with Rarity. The pegasus was growing more impatient by the minute; they had to act immediately or it might be too late for Fluttershy. "No but!" Dash wanted to protest, but she saw how serious the white unicorn was and obeyed. Once they all were outside Pinkie suggested to get their Elements while they were waiting for Twilight to decide. Everypony agreed and trotted home to get their necklaces. Twilight was now alone; without a single sound which could be heard, she had all the concentration she needed present. She desperately tried to resolve her inner struggle; from a logical point of view everything was clear: The princess is far more important for Equestria then her friend. Still, she couldn’t even bear to think of letting any of her friends die. She was torn between her loyalties. Would she betray them if she isn’t agreeing to use the Elements against Celestia? Would Celestia ever forgive her if she did? Twilight couldn’t answer any of the questions which flew around in her head. She stood up, moving to her desk she picked up a scroll and a quill, beginning to write. "Dear princess Cele-" She stopped right there, dropping both the quill and the scroll "What are you doing Twilight?" she thought. "You cant even think straight anymore, can you?" Indeed she could not, not right now. Her head was in immense pain from all the thinking; she just wanted to go to sleep and forget about everything. She smirked when she thought about how everything will be alright again if she wakes up now. Closing her eyes for a moment and breathing in... "Seems like its not a dream." She concluded. While Twilight was still lost in the depths of her mind, Celestia materialized right in front of her. "Twilight, where is the Element of Kindness" she asked with a forcing voice. The purple unicorn slowly turned around; she wasn’t surprised to see the princess; she somehow felt it that she is going to drop by any second. "I don’t know. I don’t know everything that is going on right now" Twilight sobbed out. "Are you lying to me?" Celestia asked, this time in an entirely different voice, it was warm and understanding. "No," Twilight simply replied, washing away the nearly formed tears, she continued. "Please, princess, don't harm her. You can hold me responsible if any unsuspected event may occur," Twilight pleaded. "My dear Twilight, this is not about who is responsible and who isn't. After eons of leadership I learned to do what is the best for Equestria as a whole, without regarding any subjective feelings." "But..." Twilight tried to argue with her. "I understand if you hate me now Twilight, but keep in mind that I would never do anything to harm you or your friends in anyway if there are other solutions, but this situation does simply not offer any other resolution." A couple of seconds passed in silence before Luna appeared with a loud crashing noise, together with Fluttershy. The noise Luna made in doing so was heard by Twilight’s friends, they all rushed inside, everyone of them wearing her necklace. "What happened?" Applejack asked as she was inspecting the room. "I couldn’t hide Fluttershy’s presence any longer from my sister, so I figured the best way to go is here, but it seems like my sister was a step ahead of me," Luna explained. "Could we stop this hide and seek game ?" Celestia merely said as she approached the unconscious pegasus. "Twilight!" Dash called upon the purple unicorn Twilight was on her knees now, she had to decide what to do, NOW! "I cant decide, I cant decide," she kept repeating this in her head, not being able to think straight anymore. She opened her eyes and glimpsed Rarity’s and Dash’s faces, which were full of despair. It was like every single one of her friends is pressuring her to take action. Without being aware of it, Twilight’s horn started to glow, and her Element got levitated out of the shelve, slowly approaching her head. "Stop it, Stop it , Stop it, I don’t want this," Twilight thought, but her horn didn’t stop glowing. The crown was now placed on her head, a surge of magic was sent through her. She felt how more and more energy was flowing inside of her horn. Trying everything to disrupt the process, Twilight found herself immovable, not wanting to believe what is happening right now. The necklaces of Applejack, Dash, Rarity and Pinkie also started to glow now. Luna observed the room around her and realized what was going on. "What, NO STOP IT!" she screamed Celestia simply stood in the middle of the room, not moving. She knew what was going on and what is going to happen, but she did no effort in disrupting it. The princess turned her head around, looking into Twilight’s eyes, which were now filled with an white, bright light. "This is what you want?" Celestia said under her breath, not awaiting any kind of response from her student. Twilight looked to the princess, who just smiled at her. Why was she smiling? She must know what is happening. Why doesn’t she stop me? Somepony please... stop me Twilight was barely conscious, everything seemed to surreal to her. The Elements were now finished channeling. Despite only five being present, they still had immense energy inside them. A rainbow colored beam manifested above them. A couple of seconds later the blast shot straight towards Celestia. The princess however did not even try to dodge it. She simply looked at her beloved student, her eyes indicated the great pain she felt inside of her heart. Nevertheless, somehow she also was happy. Seeing her student grow up to a mare who is ready to stand up against her own mentor for the sake of her friends. It was rather ironic, the friends Twilight made because of Celestia’s task now took her student away from her. She couldn’t help but smile when she thought about it. The spell slowly entwined her. She felt her hooves get heavier before not being able to sense them at all. This feeling slowly crawled up her flank, her stomach and her neck at last. A tear escaped her eyes before she was fully turned into stone. The room was in a silence; no one dared to break it. The tension in the air pressed to hard on everypony. Luna made the first move, she was approaching her sister with hesitant steps. She bowed down in front of the petrified body of Celestia, a grimace of guilt on her face. "I didnt want this" she whispered to nopony in particular. She looked around the room everyone was frozen where they stood, not being able to believe what they have just done. Twilight however did not want to believe it. She held her hooves before her eyes to negate her vision, being too afraid of what she might see. "This cant be, it must be just a dream, if I open my eyes everything will be back to normal again!" Twilight persuaded herself. She slowly moved her hooves away from her left, then right eye, hesitating a second before opening them. The sight was not what she was awaiting. It was not a dream; her teachers body was laying on the ground, not moving. The truth hit Twilight hard; her stomach started to twist and her head was starting to hurt. Her body was trembling frantically. She looked at her own hooves with disgust; it was HER who set all this in motion. The thought of this evoked an immense amount of pain in her chest. It was like her heart was trying to break out of her chest. "How could I... She always took care of me... Why...". The purple unicorn was not understanding a thing; thousands of questions were drifting through her mind. The pain she was experienced increased every second. It became unbearable. She had to get it out somehow. First she tried to cry it out, but she was not fast enough. Then she tried to scream it out, but she was not loud enough. Twilight ended up hoping that her malady will cause her to fall unconscious sooner or later. Her friends did not know what they could do to reduce the agony of the unicorn. Everyone of them was thinking what they could do right now for their friend. Pinkie was the first one to move. She was trotting towards Twilight with silent steps. Upon standing in front of her, she wrapped her hooves around her, tapping her back gently. "Let it all out, Twi," Pinkie said; unlike usually, her voice was not loud and joyous, it was calm and understanding. Twilight looked at the pink pony who was holding her for a second before she couldn’t hold it any longer. She cried as much as she could, trying to wash her conscious clear. Her other friends did the same as Pinkie, they all surrounded Twilight, trying to comfort her as much as they could. Twilight felt how some of her pain was disappearing once she realized that all her friends were here for her. It was a warm and tingling feeling which slowly spread across her heart, starting to make her feel better. Several minutes passed where only Twilight’s sobbing was to be heard, then she stopped. The unicorn was still sad, but the pain as bearable now. Having her friends around her helped to make her accept the reality. Trotting was to be heard again, and they all wondered from whom it came. Turning their heads around, they gazed at the moon goddess, who was now standing in front of her sisters petrified body. "Princess, we are so very sorry that we had to do this," Rarity apologized, the guilt clearly resounding in her voice. "Save your breath" Luna responded, trying to maintain a regal voice, yet it still had a sad tone within it. "You cant change the past; crying about it wont get us very far," she added towards Twilight. Before any more words could be exchanged Luna’s horn started to glow in a dim light and teleported both her and her sister away. They were staying in the library until late in the night, without a single word between them being dropped, just enjoying being close to each other. Even Dash didn't say anything or move; the usually active and impatient pegasus had too much to think about. It wasn't too long until Twilight fell asleep first, one after another following. Surprisingly even Pinkie was not the last one to be up; it was in fact Rarity. The unicorn detached herself gently from the ponies laying around her, and trotted towards Fluttershy, who was peacefully sleeping. She picked up a blanket from the couch next to her and covered her with it, before returning to her friends and slowly descending into her dreams. Dash was the first one to wake up. She was still tired when she got up on her hooves, but didn’t feel like going back to sleep again. Not being able to tell whether it was morning or still night, because the sun did not rise since yesterday. With silent steps she approached to the couch where Fluttershy was sleeping, being careful to wake none of her friends. Once arrived Dash sat down next to her, watching her sleep ever so peaceful. In her mind she was recapping what happened over the course of the week, first this strange poison, then that crazy spell and now they had to stand up against the sun goddess herself, everything just so she can survive. Rainbow Dash let out a sigh at this before muttering to herself "Totally worth it" with a smirk. The sound of this was loud enough to wake the pegasus who was sleeping next to her. Fluttershy opened up her eyelids, looking a little dizzy when she observed the room around her, seeing the cyan pegasus sitting behind her. "Fluttershy? You are awake? How are you feeling?" Dash bombarded her with questions, still maintaining a hushed voice. "Uhm.... I feel fine," Fluttershy replied with her usual silent voice. Dash couldn’t help but smile upon hearing it again; it sounded so sweet that she just wanted to hug the pegasus next to her. "Dash?" "Yes Fluttershy?" "Did you mean what you said back then in the cave?" Fluttershy asked with a timid voice, instantly regretting what she said. "What do you mean?" Dash replied, obviously being clueless of what she meant. "Well, uhm... you said that you kinda... like me" she stammered Dash thought about this for second before remembering what she said in the cave. She took a deep breath. "I guess I did..." she answered in a barely audible voice. After those words were said she avoided Fluttershy’s gaze at all costs. She was thinking about flying away right now, being too afraid of getting rejected. A couple of seconds passed in silence, where none of the two pegasi said or moved. Dash couldn’t take it any longer. She finally wanted to know if Fluttershy feels the same way about her. She turned around to ask her when the yellow pegasus jumped on to her, wrapping her hooves around. "Oh Dash, I’m so happy! I thought you hated me!" Fluttershy could barely contain her joy right now. She couldn't believe that she wasn't dreaming Dash was surprised at first but found herself returning the hug. "I could never hate you" she whispered. "I love you, too Dash"