A strike of lightning goes off on an otherwise cloudless day, the stormy clouds gathered over one location, that location was right over the graveyard. A giggle is heard from the woods, but after noticing no reaction the jokesters reveal themselves. “aww c'mon rainbow dash, you didn't even flinch!” they call out to the rainbow maned pegasus sitting in the center. She looks back, her face was dripping wet, she shot daggers with her eyes. Seeing the liquid on her face they laugh, “did the rain get'cha?” yelled one of the offenders. His companion stops his laughter as he looks at the clouds, “um... there was no rain... w-we should go.” he stutters cowering from the malice of the pegasi's stare.
The one offender then see's the stare, he starts backing away in fear, he saw that it was in fact not the rain, but tears that had drenched her face. He looks around him, he puts the puzzle pieces together; he and his accomplice retreat and the cyan pegasus returns her gaze to the array of tombs stationed in front of her currently. The tears return just before the clouds release the rain, it was overdue. She hated and thanked the rain at the same time, 'at least now no one can see me cry...' she thinks to herself. She stares at the tombs, they were that of her friends, looking at each tomb in turn she inspects their engravings, looking at the stars she counts all 42 points, she thinks back to 11 months ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~ 11 Months Earlier ~~~~~~~~~~~
the town was gathered in the town square, mayor mare spoke after everyone had settled. “As most of you know, a terrible tragedy has befallen us. The element users have fallen.” At this she stumbled, she now saw the pegasus in the front row, “spare one.” She added, this earned her a glare from a certain rainbow maned pegasus. She continued her speech regardless of any and all death glare’s, “we have discovered the deceased ponies last will and testament’s, only Twilights has been requested as public. The wake to honor the deceased shall follow.” Mayor mare adjusted her tie and glasses and read the will out loud.
“this is the last will and testament of twilight sparkle. This shall be public knowledge, as I have something to say to all of you. I came to this town without knowing the magic of friendship, and then you all graciously showed me what it is. The magic is not a separate part of friendship, it is friendship. There is honesty; the truth is a powerful thing. There is kindness and generosity; an act of kindness and generosity can make someone’s day. There is laughter; it can destroy fear and incite joy into your life. There is loyalty; the will to help and always be there for your friends, especially when in our darkest times. These are the driving energies for the magic of friendship, without you all I would not have gotten where I did. Through you I learned many things, I learned that even when things seem worst your friends will always be there to help and defend you. I learned that friendship will persevere through the thick and thin and continue fighting. For the friendship that brings us together will always triumph. I learned that in all of your life, no matter if you have all the money or power in the world, if you are without friendship you will be lost. So remember to be kind and generous, to laugh, and to be honest and loyal. For as long as you do this the magic of friendship will live on in the hearts of every one of you. Do not mourn the death, but celebrate the life, be happy and remember the good times, stick close to those hurting. I do not have much to give, but I leave the library to spike, in hopes that he can learn and grow to be the intelligent and caring dragon I expect him to be. I leave the elements to princess Celestia, my dear teacher, so they may never be lost. May her light guide them to the next fortunate souls to learn of the magic it strengthens. To my closest of friends I leave my worldly possessions, so they can look upon them and remember that I loved them as my own family. Finally I give the entirety of my fortune to charity, in hopes that I give life to some pony in my death. Thank you all for the wondrous time I spent here and giving me the greatest gift I could never repay. Now I bid my farewell, and I can honestly say, that thanks to each and every one of you, through all our adventures together, through all the challenges we faced, through all the lessons I learned, that I became the luckiest mare ever, and that I lived how I’d always dreamed. I can rest happily.” Mayor mare concluded.
Every-pony stood silent, they all solemnly wept, all but one. She stood up and walked over to a tree, she proceeded to buck it with all her might. A giant crack broke across it, every-pony stared as she single hoofedly brought the tree crashing down on the second buck. She walked back to the proceedings, every-pony watched with scared eyes. Rainbow seethed with anger, this anger was not directed at any-pony but herself. It was her fault, she had been the reason they all died, now she lived having to deal with the blood on her hooves. She looked down at her hooves, they were in fact bleeding, they only proved her point further. She simply hung her head down and walked away, she didn’t have the dignity or energy to even flap a single wing.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Present ~~~~~~~~~~~
That had been the day the wake was held; the others had wills, but rainbow wasn’t a major part in most. She hadn’t been very social afterward, but she had been keeping up with everything else. That is, up until a month ago when she gave up on her responsibilities completely; she had been more alone, but everyone was clueless to how she was acting. “course they don’t care, I wasn’t even there for the death, I abandoned them. They’re obviously ignoring me.” She muttered under her breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 Months Ago ~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow shuddered shaking the tear out of her eye; she had gotten over the death, but they still deserved a tear out of respect. She was still sad over their death, but it had all been so long ago, she hardly even remembered the details. She looked at the tombs; carved in was the names and marks of her parents, she still missed them. Even after all these years she still yearned to hear their voices and be able to respond, even if for a second.
Rainbow heard a gallop approach and turned to see a grey stallion approach, she knew him as Great Scott. At first she thought he was here to hit on her again and was about to tell him to buck off, but then he stumbled to her feet. She scrambled to get up, “Dash!” he shouted at her, “what?” she spat venomously, he flinched at the malice in her voice. He continued, “come quick! Something terrible has happened!” he screamed, “can’t you see I’m busy? Go pester someone else with your petty problems you insufferable prick!” she coldly turned her back towards him. He promptly ignored her malice, “but your friends-“ he started, “I’M BUSY.” She shot him daggers. He backed away in fear, “dead.” Was all he was able to say in response.
Rainbow almost didn’t hear it, but one of her ears swiveled to hear, she acknowledged it, “what?” she questioned. Her voice was still icy as she glanced back at him, he took that as an invitation to speak, “dead, they’re all dead” he replied with as much strength as he could. His voice had been trembling, both from fear and sorrow, “they were brought in to Ponyville, there were no survivors…” if he said anything past that, she didn’t hear him, she was flying towards the town at top speeds.
She arrived to see the streets empty, she zipped around and finally saw them. Every-pony was gathered around the town hall, there was no time for manners; she flew through the group of ponies and pushed them out of the way, tears streaming down her face, leaving stains as they were dried by the rushing air. She arrived where she had meant to, she stopped and looked at the heap of bodies before her.
The ponies she had pushed started to insult her, but then they saw the offender and stood silent. Some stared in shock; a sole filly ran up to her and gave her a crying hug. “i thought you were gone too! They couldn't find you... where were you?” wept a distressed Scootaloo. Her friends family's had seen rainbow dash and had moved closer to mourn together. “the graveyard” the cyan pegasus deadpanned, this earned a shocked glance from the apples, cakes, and belles. Scootaloo just looked confused, but before she could ask, a gasp was let out by Mrs. Cake, “goodness...” she exclaimed, she rushed in to comfort the pegasus.
Everyone looked at Mrs. Cake, she whispered something to her husband and he pulled in the other mourning parents. “that's awful...” exclaimed Mrs. Belle, her husband just looked from Mr. Cake to Rainbow Dash, his face was calculating as if trying to process the information. “can't be...” exclaimed Granny Smith, Big Mac simply looked at Rainbow sadly. “both of them? Same day? Today?” there was a simple nod from Mr. Cake as he answered Mr. Belles question. “to lose your closest friends the same day as the anniversary of a similar fate having befallen your very own parents, your family.” Mrs. Belle exclaimed, all of them went over to comfort the weeping blue pegasus.
The cutie mark crusaders looked at rainbow dash, they all wore puzzled looks. “why is she so special, we're all hurting, at least she's alive.” exclaimed sweetie belle in sour discontent, her eyes were still glistening from her previous weeping. “least none o' her family died.” exclaimed Applebloom, but at this Big Mac turned, looking at them. He looked down to a still pouting Applebloom and whispered into her ear, her eyes grew wide. Her looked turned from pouting to regret-filled, “oh... ah'm sorry, ah didn't know.” Said the now downcast filly, Big Mac moved back to the ponies still hugging the pegasus. “what is it?” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle ask in unison, Applebloom looked at them, “i-it’s her parents…” she muttered, for a second she pauses, “today was the anniversary of their deaths…” she deadpans. The two filly’s look at her incredulously, they all turn to look at rainbow dash, “oh…” exclaims Sweetie Belle. They all walk to join the group, the hugging was over, they all looked at Rainbow Dash.
They all offer her comforting words, they see if she’s OK, “I’m fine.” Rainbow sighs, she turns to leave and just fly’s out the door. Every-pony watches quietly as she exits, once outside rainbow fly’s home. Once Rainbow was standing at her door Rainbow Dash breaks down, she lets the tears come to her freely. The tears streamed out and the pegasus choked on her sobs, she screamed through the tears two words and nothing more, “WHY ME?!” she cried hysterically, unfortunately her answer never came.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Present ~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow sat there solemnly sulking for several more seconds till she was interrupted again. Turning she saw a smiling mare approaching, seeing the smile she sneered, but when the mare got closer it wasn’t the type of smile she thought. Rainbow watched the mare walk up next to her and take a sidelong glance at the tombs, looking close at the mares eyes showed the smile was one she hadn’t seen in years. The cyan pegasus felt something deep down, her vision flashed while looking at the mare, it felt like something opened up inside, whatever it was surfaced itself to Rainbow Dash.
~~~~~~~~~~~ 11 Years Ago ~~~~~~~~~~~
“yeah! Go dash!” yelled a voice, Dash looked back and flashed a smirk. Looking back towards the ground Dash gave a yelp as it was coming towards here at an alarming rate, she was going faster than she ever had before. She had meant to go fast, but hadn't meant for this much speed, “look out!” yelled the same voice that complimented her a moment earlier. She wasn't listening, or rather she didn't hear, she was much too busy freaking out, but she managed to pull up, just barely nicking the floor. She wasn't in the clear yet, actually she wasn't in the clear at all, she had zoomed out of the clearing and into the forest. She weaved in between the trees the best she could, but she wasn't agile enough and a stray branch knocked her into a oncoming tree, she plummeted forward with a multitude of branches raking her coat.
Eventually she hit the trunk of a tree and it stopped her forward motion enough to begin her descent, her shoulder hit with a loud thud against the tree. Plummeting towards the ground she was just barely conscious as she skidded to a stop against the ground. Looking up she saw her friend running through the woods calling her name, “Rainbow Dash!” the filly shouted in an attempt at locating here, “here.” Rainbow called out with all the force that she could muster. There was a scrambling of hooves as her friend reached her, there was some indiscernible yelling and another figure appeared over her. Rainbow couldn't see who it was as she felt her mind slip into unconsciousness.
Rainbow awoke with a tart, she was on some-ponies back, looking over to see the face dash saw some details, but the pony was unfamiliar to her. He had a brown mane and coat, there was nothing especially great about him in particular, an hourglass cutie mark adorned his flank. She started to rise with a startled jump, but immediately laid back down, pain spread from her right fore-hoof up. “be calm, we'll get you home soon.” said her rescuer, rainbow looked back and saw her filly friend trying to keep pace.
They all came to a stop at her house, the moment the door opened Rainbow's mother looked shocked, Rainbow was rushed inside and set in the tub gently. The mysterious stallion departed as her mom dismissed him, she proceeded to clean up her wounds, there were several scratches, but the main focus was a cut in her right fore-hoof. Rainbow was listening to her mothers lecturing but not really paying attention, her wound was not massive or deep, but it still required a bandage. After her hoof was taken care of her mother set about cleaning the rest of her coat, the warm water rinsed out the stray twigs and the filly watched the dirt sink down the drain.
There was a stab of pain in her wings as her mother splayed it out, she vocalized her pain and her mother proceeded to clean it gently. After it was clean her mother held the wing gingerly in one hoof and searched for signs of damage with another hoof, “it looks like you sprained your wing, you won't be able to fly for a while, but it looks like it'll be fine. Don't worry, it'll heal up nicely and you'll be back to the sky's in no time at all.” her mother announced. Once all the cleaning was done being clean Rainbow got out of the tub, her mother dried her off, she was careful around the wing and right fore-hoof.
Then the rainbow maned filly was led to the living room and given a blanket. Dash settled on the couch, the fire in the fireplace warmed her fur, her mother came back after a while with two glasses. “here you go.” her mother said handing her a glass of sweet lemonade, it felt good as it cooled her throat. Looking up at her mom rainbow saw her smiling, it was a warm and loving smile, the smile of a motherly figure, the smile her mom always gave. It always made her happy, leaning forward Rainbow hugged her mother, nuzzling her muzzle into her mom's shoulder Rainbow thanked her. Her mom held her close, her mother proceeded to stroke the filly's rainbow mane, it was comforting to the filly.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Present ~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow opened her eyes to see a silver coat, she felt tears dripping down her face. There was a hoof gently stroking her mane, despite the sadness Rainbow felt something she almost never thought she would feel on a day like this, she almost felt happy. Looking up she saw the mare she had been hugging and crying into, it was the mysterious mare from before. Pulling away Rainbow Dash felt heat rise up into her cheeks in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, I don't kno-” she started, her apology was abruptly cut off, “it's OK Rainbow Dash, I understand.” the mare replied calmly. Rainbow looked at the smiling mare, it was the exact same smile her mom had been known to give to her when she was feeling under the weather, it always worked n comforting her.
“w-who are you?” the pegasus finally asked, but the reply was simple, “Starlet Mint” the pony answered. “I came to wish my condolences.” stated the mare as she bowed to dash a little, this confused Dash for several minutes before figuring out what she was referring to, “t-thank you.” she finally replied. After a while Rainbow looked at her, 'do I know her' thought the cyan pegasus. She thought back, she wondered if her friends might have known this particular unicorn. “no, none of you knew me personally, I’m a simple traveler.” Rainbow just nodded, then it dawned on her, 'I didn't ask any of that' she thought looking at the pony. The unicorn gawked at what Dash had not said, “sorry, I have a terrible habit of answering those. Please don't go, I just wish to help.” stated the unicorn, she had turned away from the headstones to look at Dash.
“h-help?” dash questioned in her dazed stupor, she looked incredulously at this unicorn. “yes help. Help you. Help with the pain.” the unicorn answered, moving forward the mare now stood directly in front of the cyan pegasus. Rainbow looked deep into this mares eye's, there was something about this pony that was different, she just couldn't put her hoof on it. The words finally sunk in as Rainbow's face contorted in emotional distress, “it's OK.” said the mare in front of her. 'no, it's not, I wasn't there for them. I was being selfish, I ditched them for my own petty problems. I should have been there but I wasn't' rainbow thought as she silently nodded.
“oh Rainbow, it's OK to feel how you do; most people would, but you should know that it's not your fault. You couldn't have predicted their fate, you weren't being selfish. You were emotionally unstable, you probably would tear yourself up if you had been there.” stated the mysterious mare attempting to comfort the pegasus. “how do you do that?” asked the rainbow maned pegasus, “do what?” the silver pony asked in return, she was still standing close to the distressed mare in comfort. “stay so calm, so resolved in the face of sadness. You've seen all that pain, all that sadness, and hold your own pain and sadness, yet your still taking the time to help everypony else. Such selfless work, you help without any help in return, how do you do it?” the cyan pegasus held her gaze low, she waited for an answer.
It was now the unicorn's turn to look at her in surprise, but after the initial shock the unicorns smile returned, “because I know that no matter how hard it gets I can get over it. I'm not going to wall myself in, lying would get me nowhere, especially to myself. I’m not going to be cold, I’d rather help others, no one can get past it themselves, I can help them get past the rough spots, help them be happy. I stay loyal to my job and it helps me in return. I'm not alone and neither are you. We've both seen horrible things, felt horrible, but we don't have to do it alone, know that right now I am here for you. But when, not if but when, I leave, it's not because I don't care, but because I know your doing well, your strong and independent, you'll get through this. There will be others in need, and I must go to them. But for now, I can be your crutch, and when I leave I’ll be here for you, just in a different way.” she replied, rainbow had looked up and seen the sincerity in her eyes. Leaning forward Rainbow looked straight at the unicorn, “thank you” the pegasus said contentedly. “your welcome, but if I may ask, How did you know?” asked the unicorn, she was now holding the pegasus gently.
“your eyes, I could see it in your eyes.” replied the cyan pegasus, her head was nuzzled into the unicorns shoulder, her gaze was at the tombstones. The unicorn nodded gently, more to herself than anyone else, they stayed like that for several minutes. After a while Rainbow Dash sat up, a smile was now visibly running across her face, “thank you, but I think I have some amending to do.” the pegasus said, “your welcome, now go find your friends, they need you. May our paths cross again, hopefully in higher spirits.” the unicorn said with her signature sincere smile. The pegasus turned around, but she turned back a brief moment, she flashed a cocky smile to the unicorn before she zipped away. The unicorn watched her fly off, before leaving she glanced at the tombstones one last time.
~~~~~~~~~~~ 15 minutes later ~~~~~~~~~~~
Dash burst into Sugarcube Corner, everyone jumped as the door slammed open, looking over to it they saw the cyan figure rushing towards the kitchen. She zipped in and pulled the two Cakes in for a hug, “eep!” shrieked Mrs. Cake, “I’m sorry I wasn't here to help, but I’m here now. Sorry it took so long to come around!” she released them and flashed them a smile before darting out. They paused for a while to process what just happened, after they figured it out a smile spread across their faces.
Dash Flew through the sky towards Sweet Apple Acres, she arrived with a slamming of wood against wood as the door flew open. She got frenzied looks from every-pony, every-pony being Big Mac and Granny Smith. She ran around and hugged them each in turn, she repeated her apology with the same vigor she had used in Sugarcube Corner. She then rushed out towards the clubhouse, 'Applebloom and the others must be at the clubhouse, Spike too, if what I heard about Spike staying with the apples when he isn't looking after the library is true.' she thought to herself, she burst into the sky in the direction of the clubhouse.
She flew into the clubhouse with a crash, looking around she saw the filly's and a purple dragon huddled together in fear. She dashed over to them and hugged them, their initial fear had now turned to confusion, “what's this about?” asked a startled Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo just looked at Rainbow in surprise before deciding that as long as they were all being soft she would just accept it, she proceeded to nuzzle rainbow. Rainbow felt the affection from Scootaloo and realized some-pony had noticed and cared about her absence. She gave the same apology she has repeated thrice now and released her grip, she felt so full of energy still.
Looking around she found out what she felt the need for, she zoomed up, straight up, she rose higher and higher till her ascension was slowing significantly. She had reached the peak of her flight and stalled for a second, she then turned her muzzle towards the ground and dove towards it. She was gaining speed at a tremendous rate, she felt the energy building up in her. The sound barrier started resisting and she felt it bend around her, the energy that had built up in her speed then released in a tremendous sonic rainboom, she rocketed up and across the sky and over the town.
She stopped back at the crusader's club house after the quick fly-by over the town. She stopped floating outside the window, the crusader's gasped at the sight, they had not seen it before in all of rainbows acrobatics but it was in plain sight now. “where did you get that?!” spike blurted, rainbow just gave him a blank stare; oblivious to the object they were referring to she asked, “what?” at this the dragon stared in astonishment before pointing out the jewelry, “the element of loyalty!” he exclaimed. Rainbow looked down and sure enough, there was the element of loyalty shining bright, it was very obviously glowing with power.
“I didn't even know it was there.” she replied calmly, she felt a familiar tug in the back of her mind. Looking at the element she gave a surprised look, “well, it looks like I got business to take care of, be back soon!” she exclaimed to the filly's and stunned dragon. There was a bright flash and then all of a sudden rainbow wasn't there anymore, she had just disappeared into thin air. They all looked in terror, and then looked at each-other with the same amount of surprise, finally Applebloom spoke up, “what just happened?” she asked timidly, no one answered her.
Rainbow looked around where she was, but she saw nothing, just an infinite expanse of darkness. Getting to her feet she felt a familiar feeling on her hooves, it was that of fresh grass, it felt cool and freshly watered. Sighing at the feel of the ground she looks behind her, there was the unicorn from before, a smile started to form on rainbows face. Upon further inspection rainbow see's several more very familiar faces, this made her smile grow wider, it almost hurt. She zoomed towards the silver unicorn and pulled her into a tight hug, the familiar stroke of hooves on her mane was felt while Rainbow embraced the mare, “welcome to void space.”