//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: New Under The Sun // Story: Ends of the Spectrum // by SpinelStride //------------------------------// Captain Lyra Heartstrings sat quietly in the guards’ break room. For all the excitement, she was in her still place. She’d just watched a completely unknown mare, who wasn’t even an Equestrian, or at least not a local Equestrian, effortlessly demolish and then outright torment one of the Bearers of the Elements, right in front of Princess Celestia - and face not the slightest punishment. What’s more, she’d seen Fluttershy, volatile, intense, demanding Fluttershy… break down and cry. Lyra left the herd years ago. She thought she’d moved beyond them. Things were done, words were said, that could never be taken back. But seeing Fluttershy there, weak, asking for help… that destroyed her stillness all over again. The opposite way from before. Living with Fluttershy’s rage before had been making Lyra’s temper flare up to match, making her casting ragged and overly aggressive. They’d had so many shouting matches. And then one of those ended in… well, that was really where it all went off a cliff. Where she knew she’d gone too far and had to leave before she became somepony she didn’t want to be. But when Rarity held Fluttershy there, promising to help her get better, to finally learn to control herself, Lyra knew she’d failed her herd. She should’ve been stronger, back then. Made Fluttershy get that help before things went so bad. But she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do it. There was also the matter of the other Fluttershy. Talking like an Apple, wearing AJ’s hat, those muscles like Lyra’d never seen on a pegasus, forcing the matter, jamming her Fluttershy’s face into her problems… … Well, Lyra’d lost her own Fluttershy. She wasn’t going to go after some other version of her. No matter how hot. She closed her eyes and tried to let it go. To let it all go. Again. “Lyra?” came a soft voice. And all that stillness went away. Her. One hoof in a cast, face bruised, gap-toothed. “I know you never want to see me again. I just want to say I’m sorry. For everything. I’m signed up with a therapist and some anger-management classes, and… I hope it helps. I’m sorry I never did it before.” Fluttershy’s head was hanging. She didn’t look defeated, though, or despairing. She was repenting. Finally. And all of Lyra’s stillness failed her again. Yellow and pink blurred as tears came to her eyes, and she moved forward. It didn’t work out before, Lyra, why would you think it’s going to work now? Don’t do this, Lyra, stop, now… She put her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and banished that voice to the darkness. “Sometimes we have to fall to move forward,” she said. *** The train ride back to Ponyville was dramatically less tense than the ride to Canterlot. Rarity and Fluttershy stayed behind. Canterlot was their home now, and their stallion’s business couldn’t simply close up and move. Lyra stayed with them. Princess Celestia sent a decree with the guards appointing another pony, a stallion named Solid Stalwart, as the local captain while Lyra dealt with ‘personal matters.’ Rainbow Dash spent the time talking with one of the guards, an earth pony stallion by the name of Rotten Apple. He swore he’d reformed from a mis-spent youth, and had moved to Ponyville’s guard contingent some time ago, so he had all the local history. “So y’all have a Trixie of yer own?” he drawled. “She’s a bad ‘un. Spent a week bein’ made to do things Ah ain’t all that proud of while she had Ponyville in her power.” “It’s the Alicorn Amulet,” Dash said sadly. “She’s not such a bad mare, herself. Proud, yes, and ambitious. But the Amulet had a corrupting curse on it. In our world, I was able to remove the curse, and then our Trixie became one of the greatest performers ever. Her shows are amazing. She uses enough gadgets and trickery that even I’m never entirely sure which bits are magic and which bits are faked.” “She’s had that thing a long time,” Rotten Apple said. “If’n there was any good in her, it’s long since snuffed out by now. After the Princesses fought her off, she swore she’d be back. Did a number on the Diamond Dog kingdom, an’ spent a while warring with the dragons. They beat her pretty hard, an’ it’s been a while since anypony’s heard of her poppin’ up. Afraid the dragons’ll track her down’s my guess.” “I’d still like to help her if I can,” said Rainbow Dash, and looked out the window. “Your Equestria needs all the wonder it can get.” Rotten Apple sighed. “Ah wish Ah could argue that. Listen… y’all got a Twilight Sparkle. It’s… real strange to me, seein’ her, well, sober. So fulla life. So excited. The Twilight Sparkle I know, she’s always been one unhappy filly. Drinks every drop she can get just to make herself not notice her headaches. She can pick th’ whole Acres in five minutes, an’ that’s the only time she ever really seems all that happy. She does what she can with th’ plantin’ an’ so on, but it’s pickin’ she does best. But a farm takes more than the harvest. With just her and Mac there, th’ place ain’t done so well. Had to send Big Mac’s little sister off to her cousin in Appleloosa when Granny passed.” “What about Applejack?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Well… she’s been gone a while herself. Ain’t nopony ever thought for a minute about havin’ Apple Bloom live with her. Always bouncin’ around, singin’ silly songs, tryin’ to have a hoedown all day long, she just ain’t the responsible type. Dodge Junction, Ah hear.” “And we saw what became of my counterpart,” said Rainbow Dash. “I think I know how to get her on her hooves again, though. Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Rotten Apple shook his head. “Ain’t nobody seen Miss Pinkamena in ages. Still in that cottage, if it ain’t been swallowed up by the Everfree yet. Funny stuff happens down that way, an’ not all of it looks like stuff Discord’d do.” Rainbow Dash turned to stare. “Nopony has checked in on her for years?” she asked incredulously. “Does nopony… I mean… that is absolutely…” Finally, she just shook her head and looked out the window again. “We’ll see what’s happened to her, too.” *** Captain Twilight Sparkle trotted along the road to Sweet Apple Acres. This version of Ponyville was freakin’ depressing. The clouds alone were half-flanked, and just from looking Twilight could see how they let stuff coming out of the Everfree mess up the forecasts, and didn’t try to fix a thing about it. She snorted. She hadn’t been a weatherpony for a long time, but when she ran Ponyville’s weather team, they were the best in Equestria - and it was the same ponies, they just didn’t care here. But the thunderstorm on the forecast looked to be pretty close to on schedule, which would do for her needs. “One thing at a time, Twilight,” she muttered to herself. Not everything was doing badly. Golden Harvest’s carrot farm was bigger and looked more prosperous than in her Ponyville. Then again, that added size came from land that hosted apple trees in Twilight’s universe. She couldn’t blame the neighbors for doing their best. At least it meant they were still trying. The sign had been taken down, and there were wheel ruts in the road. One of the fenceposts had a new sign on it: “Suppliers to Equestria-Famous Flim & Flam Cider!” Twilight gagged. Okay, sure, once they’d got their Super-Speedy Cider Squeezy 7000 working properly, it turned out pretty good cider, and they’d bargained down to a fair price on apples eventually. As long as they got audited regularly and hard, they were okay. But still, their stuff just didn’t compare to the real Sweet Apple Acres hoof-made special stuff. And in this world, she was willing to bet they hadn’t exactly spent the time and money on upgrading from the old 6000 model and its quality-control issues. Captain Twilight trotted up to the farmhouse door. The whole house was pretty badly in need of paint and some new clapboards. Her hoof rapped on the door. After some shuffling noises from inside, it opened. A halfway familiar purple face stared out at her, eyes bleary, and Twilight could feel the magic built up in her head from four feet away. “Twilight Sparkle? I’m Captain Twilight Sparkle. And I’m here to make you awesome.” The purple mare inside did not respond with appropriate enthusiasm. She rolled her eyes and pushed the door open. “So y’all’re one of them weirdos Rainbow Dash was gushin’ about,” she muttered. “Great. Ah got another me runnin’ around t’ show ever’pony what Ah done wrong this time. C’mon in, then. Let’s hear it.” The clouds began to unleash their payload, first scattered drops, then a rapid escalation into a proper shower, then a real downpour. Captain Twilight shook her head. “Indoors isn’t where you need to be,” she said. “Or me. You’ve gotta be in your farm, and I’ve gotta be in the storm. In our elements.” The farmer grunted, then shoved her way outside. She was more muscled than Captain Twilight, but her movements were limp and unsteady. “Fine. Let’s see what-all crazy magic tricks y’all got in mind.” Then she slumped against the porch railing. “This here’s far enough. Yew wanna go sit in th’ rain, yew go right ahead.” Twilight rolled her eyes. Ugh, this was her? Maybe Fluttershy’s way would be the best solution after all. But… nah. This her was awesome too. She just didn’t know it yet. And she couldn’t punch such an awesome face. “Nuh-uh. We’re going right out into those trees.” And a loop of purple magic formed a halter on the farmer’s face and pulled, forcing her to walk unsteadily down the steps after the Wonderbolt. “Ah dunno what good y’all think you’re gonna do,” slurred the purple farmer as the Captain of the Wonderbolts forced her to keep walking out into the rain. “Ah came t’ Sweet Apple Acres on account of Ah couldn’t ride herd on mah horn in th’ first place, an’ Ah’m sloshed as… as… as a slosh!” And she began chortling loudly. “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Captain Twilight gritted through her teeth. “And you seem about as desperate as any pony can be. Seriously, how the hay did I end up as a pony as lame as you?” “Guess some of us jes’ didn’t get all them lucky breaks,” the farmer snorted. “Jes’... jes’ broke stuff.” And just like that her fit of laughter was gone into her customary inebriated gloom. “Yeah, well, time to make your own luck,” Captain Twilight declared, and shoved her counterpart over, dropping her on her side. “Starting now.” Her horn began to glow, and tri-colored trails of electricity danced amidst the magical display. Twilight Sparkle had never been too fond of watching other unicorns doing magic. It just reminded her of how little control she had, how dangerous she was. The only time she ever felt like she had any control over her magic was when she was picking the trees clean, and that took just a few minutes every year. But this was a virtuoso display. There was no uneven pulse to that magical glow, no throb of effort; more mana was being expended just in containing the incipient spell than most unicorns could muster in the first place. And the world became light. When she could see again, her headache was back, pounding worse than ever behind her eyes, her tail felt like it was standing out straight, and she was more sober than she’d been since the day she first fell into a mug of cider and never climbed out. “Yew shot me with a bolt of lightning?” she screamed at her duplicate. “Yew brought me out here for stupid pegasus pranks?” “Not a chance of that, sister,” Captain Twilight said smugly. “That wasn’t even the warmup. That was just the sign-in. If we’re going to do this, you had to burn off that alcohol.” Twilight Sparkle lunged at Captain Twilight, swinging a hoof furiously toward the Wonderbolt’s side, letting out another scream, fueled by the pain in her head. She didn’t even see Captain Twilight move. The next thing Twilight Sparkle knew, she was face-down in the dirt with a hoof on her horn and some serious pains in her forelegs. “And that wasn’t the warmup either,” Captain Twilight said. “That was the warning. Yeah, I know your head hurts, I can feel your buildup from here. Just do something with it, for crying out loud! And I know what you’re gonna say, you don’t know how to do anything but pick apples. Fine. Now you’re going to learn something more. You’re going to learn to dance.” Twilight Sparkle yanked back, hauling her face out of the dirt. Captain Twilight let her go. “Dance? What the buck are you on about?” she snarled. “Ah can dance jes’ fine! It never did me no good!” Captain Twilight’s smile was bright as a bolt of lightning went by overhead. “You never danced with the lightning before. Watch. Learn. Hold your applause.” And she danced. Her horn glowed, a challenge to the storm. The storm responded. Three bolts at once lanced downward at her, directly at that glowing beacon. She whirled to the side - and caught them, holding the lines of power arcing up from her horn to the sky, curling down around her in the crackling, twisting outline of her body. Her hooves never touched the ground; tiny dark clouds formed with every step, lifting her slowly higher. First just a few inches from the ground, then to the height of the treetops. Twilight Sparkle could only gape. Now she understood why this other version of her had a lightning bolt on her flank. She’d taken that same overpowered horn and she’d done the impossible with it. She was holding lightning in place, making it hers. She was creating pegasus magic with every movement of her body, gracefully translating her own massive power into forms only the most talented unicorns could dare to dream of. She was awesome. Not in the sense that Twilight Sparkle wanted to applaud. In the sense that she was rapt, bound in a sense of awe that even Princess Celestia herself could not have inspired. That up there, that was… her. That was her potential. Maybe she’d lost time. Maybe she’d messed things up. But that was her in the sky, laughing amidst her own thunder and commanding more, and more, and more of the storm to give itself to her. Twilight Sparkle wasn’t ever going to dance like that. She wasn’t going to take her hooves off of Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe it wasn’t the place it used to be. Maybe they just grew apples for Flim and Flam’s cider operation these days. Maybe Big Mac was the only Apple left on his ancestral farm. Maybe she was only an Apple by herding. But she wasn’t going to let it go. Not even to dance with the lightning. She dug her hooves into the ground. It… felt strange. The pounding in her head was worse than she’d ever felt it, but watching that other Twilight, it felt… ready, somehow. She knew her hooves weren’t sinking down, but she could feel her magic flowing through her, pushing her senses into the dirt as though she was plunging into a puddle of dry mud. She felt the roots. She felt the trees. She felt the barn and the house and the well and even Big Mac. She was here. She belonged here. She belonged to here. Sweet Apple Acres lifted her head. The purple pony above nodded to her, and spun in the air - and all that lightning she had gathered lanced in a single bolt down to the waiting unicorn. Sweet Apple Acres let out a wild whoop, and never before had she felt so alive, so right, as when that cry of “YEEEEEEE-HAW!” poured from her throat. The lightning hit her horn, and she grabbed it like a charging buffalo, and she spun it in the air, forming it into a lasso, and she threw it. Thunder roared around her as she sent all that power down through her hooves and into her soil, spreading it into her roots and her trunks and her branches and her leaves and her apples. She saw every tree on herself light up in the night, steam flashing from her apples as they glowed. She felt the headache vanish. She felt a surge on her flanks. She saw the pony overhead whooping and applauding her, spinning herself in circles in midair on cloud-skates, twirling another stroke of lightning as a pennant for her. And then… then the power settled, rested itself in the trees, and Sweet Apple Acres let herself reduce. She let herself be the pony she was at her core, not try to be everything all at once any longer than she was supposed to be. Twilight Sparkle dropped back to her side, her muscles feeling rubbery, her limbs feeling boneless. Not a trace of headache remained. In the light of the glowing trees, she saw her double swoop down and pluck an apple from a branch. It was red, gleaming in the darkness, glittering on the skin. Captain Twilight took a bite, and electricity danced along her lips. “I think you just invented Twilight Sparkers,” she said, grinning. “Awesome display. I knew you had it in you.” Twilight Sparkle gave her a weak smile, then closed her eyes. She’d never felt so… right. Never so satiated even when Big Mac did his best in her deepest heat. Never so calm even right after harvest time. Never so… so… herself. Captain Twilight patted her on the flank. “Nice touch here, too,” she said. Twilight Sparkle didn’t open her eyes to look. “Same apples, just a little more… sparkly.” And the Wonderbolt chuckled, and magically lifted her drained doppelganger onto her back, to get her back home, out of the rain. *** Rainbow Dash sat nervously in her boutique. Factory, really. She still clung to the name ‘Boutique’ in her heart, but it had been a long time since the primary focus of the building had been anything but making fabric for Equestria’s celebrated designer, Suri Polomare. That other Rainbow Dash was slowly walking around the interior, looking at everything. Finally, the other her turned to look her in the eyes. “Let’s make this a little less confusing,” the standing pegasus said. “Would you rather be Rainbow, or Dash?” “Whichever you prefer,” she said meekly. Just looking at this other version of herself made her want to hand over everything to her, let her do it all properly. A mare like that wouldn’t have let her career be usurped. Wouldn’t have let all her friends fall apart. Wouldn’t have failed at everything. That other her… she deserved everything. “Hay,” said the other, and put a hoof on her shoulder. “I’ll be Rainbow, and you be Dash, then, all right? I’m here to help. Don’t cry.” Dash lifted a hoof to her cheek. Oh. So she was crying. “I’m sorry,” she started. “I’ve made a mess of everything, I’ve made it all just the worst possible thing...” Two arms pulled her into a hug, and soft wings curled around Dash’s body. She hadn’t felt the hug of another pegasus since Fluttershy left for Canterlot… and Fluttershy was rarely one for hugs, anyhow. A raspy voice sang into her ear. She hadn’t heard that song since Dad stopped having to sing her to sleep at night. A song Dad had made up for her. The winds will never be too strong, to keep me far from you, because in your heart is where I’ll be when troubles trouble you. You’re stronger than you ever knew, you’ll fly above the rest, and when you’re tired look for me and I will help you rest. They’ll call your name out, Rainbow Dash, and you’ll fly far from me, but no matter where you go you’re always close to me. Dash held herself against Rainbow while the tears fell. Years of frustration, of despair and fear, the only things she’d never share with any other pony… but this wasn’t another pony. This was her. Her body shook in wracking spasms as she cried silently, and Rainbow held her. Just being against her felt like having a friend she’d been waiting for all her life. A friend so close she could share anything, even the doubts she’d kept secret from the friends who’d fought Nightmare Moon with her, who’d defeated Discord. Finally, the tears stopped, and she whispered, “I needed that.” Rainbow’s wings stroked against her neck. Not as a lover, but a sister, being there for her. “Are you ready to move on?” she asked softly. “For a very long time,” Dash said. Just having cried like that made her feel some tinge of her old self again. She’d been carrying a thundercloud for a long time, and it finally rained itself out. She remembered, for the first time in years, the surge of hope she’d had on the way to Manehattan that fateful day. That belief that she was going to make it, that she was going to be Equestria’s foremost fashion designer, that she’d be able to help all her friends get everything they needed… “Then we’ll begin where it all started,” Rainbow said, and let her go. “Do you remember the rainboom?” Dash sighed softly in memory. “Yes, darling. It was the most beautiful thing I ever created. And then when we went to the Best Young Fliers show, and I did it again for the first time in years… oh, it was gorgeous.” “Remember how that felt, then,” Rainbow said, and flexed her wings to the sides. “Remember the feel of the air and the magic along your feathers. Close your eyes and think of it.” Dash closed her eyes. Yes, she remembered. The rainboom was one of the few things she’d ever done that no one could take away from her. No one but herself, at least. The air had felt so thick, so strong, but she’d had such strength herself, then. She pushed at it, demanded that it yield to her. And then it had given way, and she had been in a place beyond flight. “Good,” said Rainbow quietly. “Concentrate on that feeling. Feel it at the tips of your feathers. Remember it. Remember how it felt. Remember it so strongly that you can feel it now.” Dash kept her eyes screwed shut. Her wings had cut through the air for her, pushed more air than could possibly have been there. She always remembered the wind in her face, the strain in her cheeks… but there was a surge in her wings. A tingle at her wingtips, too. Energy all through her body. She concentrated on that feeling. When she was just breaking through. The snap of the air as she broke it. “That’s right,” said Rainbow. “Now. Hold that feeling. But now you aren’t pushing the air with it. Push something else with it. Like this.” And Dash felt another tingle in her feathers, like her own but stronger, more nimble. She felt her scissors in her feathers, but they were on the table across the room… “Open your eyes,” said Rainbow. Dash did. And then her eyes went wide. In a shimmering scintilla of rainbow hues, her scissors were floating in midair. “Congratulations, Rainbow Dash,” said Rainbow proudly. “Let’s see Suri Polomare do that.” “Oh, my,” said Dash softly. She shifted her wing, just slightly, and watched the scissors move. Then she opened and closed them. Then flicked another feather, and a spool of thread rose into the air. She uncoiled a thread and snipped it with the scissors. “Oh, my, indeed…” Her mouth opened. Inspiration boiled, fizzed, popped, whirled in her head as the possibilities opened up in front of her. She turned, bucked the door open, and darted up into the storm, ignoring the rain that soaked her always-unmanageable mane to her head, ignoring the lightning that passed so near her she could feel the heat. She grabbed a section of cloud, tore it away, and dove back to her Boutique. “I-DEEEEEE-AAAA!” she sang out gleefully - and set to work. *** Across town, at the edge of the Everfree Forest, the party pony and the fashionista stood next to the fallen mailbox post, looking in some dismay at the dilapidated shack they knew as their friend Applejack’s neatly-kept cottage. “Discord’s not much at home repair, is he?” offered Rares, her traditional bounce subdued, but her mane still wildly frizzed. “I suppose one couldn’t expect it of him, darling,” said Pinkie dubiously. “Still, I do hope my local self is in a teeny bit better condition than her home.” They advanced; the door was still on both hinges, but barely. The interior was dark and smelled of, to put it delicately, long-departed animal guests who had never been properly cleaned up after. The only light in the place was coming in through grimy windows, illuminating the kitchen table. A pink pony with a long, straight mane was slumped in a chair at the end of the table. Discord was sitting at the other end. A half-rotted bag of kibble sitting in one of the other seats was saying, “You see, Pinkamena? Here come your other visitors now! All your little animal friends are sure to be coming any time now!” It was hardly as vibrant as their own Discord’s antics tended to be when visiting Applejack’s cottage; neither Pinkie nor Rares were put off by the talking bag. Discord leaned forward. His voice was barely more than a whisper. “Please, Pinkamena. They’re here for you. Give them a smile. Nod your head. Say something. Please, Pinkamena, it’s been so long…” “Discord?” asked Pinkie hesitantly. He winced. “... I’m sorry, I’m really out of practice. I never would have thought that making a friend would mean… opening myself up quite so much. You sound so much like her. It hurts.” “She’s still here, darling,” said Pinkie, stepping forward to give him a tight hug. “You’ve been taking care of her all this time, haven’t you? That’s wonderfully generous of you.” He pulled her tightly against him. She could feel two separate mismatched heartbeats thudding in her ear. “I never thought I would so badly want something for someone else,” he said. Pinkie couldn’t breathe to respond, but she did her best to reply with her hug. Rares patted Madame Le Kibble on the back. “You’ve been trying really hard, haven’t you, Madame?” she asked. The bag sighed. “Oh, Miss Rarity, Miss Pinkamena took it so very badly when her friends stopped coming by. I’ve told her and told her and told her it was because of that terrible mess in the Everfree Forest, not her at all, but she simply can’t believe it.” Rares tried tugging Pinkamena’s mouth into a smile. Then quickly let it go. “Erm… Maaaybe we should start by taking her for a visit to Colgate for a cleaning?” she suggested, and swallowed. “I don’t think she’s been brushing her teeth. For a long time.” Discord looked blankly at her. “Do ponies really do that? I never quite got the point.” Rares shook her head. “This one’s gonna be a real big job. C’mon, Discord, let Pinkie breathe and let’s get Pinkamena here into town for a checkup. She’s in bad shape.” “WHUUUUUUUUUUUUUH,” gasped Pinkie, when Discord relaxed his grip. *** In the morning, a package arrived at Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia’s faithful student, brighter-eyed and more energetic than the courtiers had seen her in years, brought it in personally, a neatly-wrapped box simply saying, “To Princess Celestia, from Rainbow Dash” with the pegasus’ three-gems mark on the tag. Princess Celestia opened it herself, and pulled out the contents. A magnificent cape spilled into view, light as air, cool as rain. Flashes from within lit the hem, and the surface seemed to undulate like Celestia’s own mane. The tag simply showed three diamonds and the words “100% Cloudsilk.” “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” the princess said without thinking, and set off a revolution in fashion overnight. *** Orange and black hooves trod the floor of the Everfree forest. Skeletal wings with rotting feathers bounced with every step. “Yes, yes, these will do,” a voice hissed. “The ponies will scream for me. The two screamed on Father’s day. Now all will scream. Scream, ponies, scream! The night pony weakens and we grow.” Thorny black vines began to erupt from the ground. *** Princess Luna woke only long enough to scribble a note and leave it atop herself, before returning to the realm of dream. It read: Sister, the moon is yours until I wake. The sun’s wrath may yet be needed. Hesitate not to use it if I fall.