//------------------------------// // Breaking Point // Story: Equine Fall // by ModMCdl //------------------------------// --- The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering. -Ben Okri --- Breaking Point The Bad Lands The royal guards were completely stunned. One second, their Princess was in the dig hole, and the next, she was gone. Discord however, walked up out of the pit on some invisible staircase, with Spike close behind. A unicorn member snagged the dragon in his magic and pulled him away from the offending symbol of chaos, and lowered his spear at him. "Oh please! You think you can stop the very catalyst of disharmony with a spear?" The draconequus eyed the royal guards wearily. "I know Twilight is much smarter than that..." He snapped his claw, and the spear turned into a snake, quickly slithering out of the guard's hooves. He then proceeded to jump back with a startled yelp. Discord then turned himself into a snake, and slithered in between the hooves of the barricade to a very disoriented Spike. "Hello there, Spike! You trust me, don't you?" He transformed back into a miniature version of himself, and wrapped one arm around the teenage dragon. "I-I guess... you did help Twilight after all!" Discord smiled. It was nice to have friends, even as strange as that concept may be. "That's great, Spike! Now come along, there are things to be done! Fates to be written! Destinies to be forged!" He grew back into his full size, and with a snap of his fingers, the purple dragon was gone. "As for you fellows," he said, turning to the Royal Guards. "You can kiss my-" Discord then vanished as well, leaving in his place a very confused donkey. --- Location Unknown One Week Later Finding food had been easy. Scattered in the area around them were a multitude of berry bushes and grass patches that could easily sustain two mares for at least a few weeks, if not months. The two didn't even know how long they would be in this place. However, they had both agreed that it would be wise to settle down in this area, closer to where they had teleported from, in case anypony else managed to make it through. Wherever they were, it was a strange place. The clouds seemed to move without any assistance from the pegasi, and the sun an moon rose and set on their own. Granted, it was a welcome change from the eternal crepuscular landscape of Equestria, but it was still disconcerting. Twilight had constructed a small lean-to out of sticks large enough to fit the two ponies comfortably, with a little room to spare. That's where they had spent the last few night sleeping, but other than that, they hardly spent any time in it. Rainbow would normally go out and collect food, and Twilight would fly out, mapping out the surrounding area. The plan was to learn as much about this place in as little time possible, not knowing exactly how long they would be here, or if when they left, ever return. Rainbow had told Twilight soon after arriving that she had, for some unknown reason, lost her ability to fly. The alicorn had completely lost it, and cried into the pegasus's embrace, not knowing whether she was trying to comfort herself or Dash. Either way, they had both felt better afterwards, even though the athlete mare said she had gotten over the fact years ago. But that wasn't all that was strange. Rainbow had been acting weirdly ever since they had made the lean-to. When Twilight asked her about it, Rainbow had tried to pass it off as just being concerned about where they were and if they would ever see Equestria again. Twilight saw through the lie easily. It was clear that the "strange" thing about Rainbow was not an effect of worry or concern. That didn't cause ponies to blush when they were in close proximity to each other. Anyways, whatever it was, Twilight didn't pressure Rainbow into answering, even if she had suspicions. Today, Twilight returned to the campsite just as Rainbow was walking out of the woods with her makeshift basket full of sweet blue and purple berries. "Hey Twi," said the cyan pegasus. "Find anything?" Twilight just shook her head; her answer being the same for the past three days since they started their routine. Rainbow just shrugged, and went to go deposit the berries in the makeshift home, while Twilight went to go get the fire started, as it was beginning to get dark. "Rainbow!" she called out. "Can you get the fire starter?" While Twilight's horn may not have been able to conduct magic freely, it was still able to focus magic. Rainbow came out and handed the broken cusp over to the lavender mare, and watched solemnly as a few tears trickled down the alicorn's muzzle. Twilight lifted the horn up to her forehead, and lightly tapped the broken base to its partner, and a shower of purple sparks rained out and onto the pile of dried wood, igniting it. "Thank you, Rainbow." She handed her horn back to the prismatic mare. After a brief interlude to deposit the item back in the lean-to, Rainbow came back out side and wrapped a comforting hoof around the now-sullen mare. No matter how many times she thought about it, Twilight could just not cope with the fact that her horn was gone, most likely forever. The only time an alicorn's horn grew back was during the second Equestrian War. Celestia's horn had been broken off by the evil Adolf Hoofler some two thousand years ago, when he had started rounding up unicorns and earth ponies, declaring that the pegasi were the "master race." Celestia had defeated him by grasping the tan pegasus, still without her horn, and shooting him into the sun. Somehow, an eternal link was created between the two enemies. This caused Celestia to have an uncanny ability to control the sun; and it was also the first time a pony's cutie mark had ever changed. Celestia's had turned from a yellow star to a blazing sun. Somewhere in the process, her horn had also regenerated, along with a pair of wings. She had become the first alicorn. Since then, every other unicorn whose horn had been separated either died on the spot, or soon after. Twilight had little hope. "But Twilight, you're alive! That's rare, right?" Rainbow had tried to cheer her up. It had helped somewhat, and it fueled the small fraction of hope that the alicorn had. Besides, a horn only served as a focus point for magic, she could still harness the ability without it, but it would take years if not decades of practice. Hoofler had Celestia imprisoned for 4 long years before she was able to use magic again to defeat him. Then again, in this forest, Twilight seemingly had all the time in the world... And yet there was still the uncertainty of it all. Twilight had eventually decided that if she tried to live life without the prospect of getting her horn back, then if the opportunity arose that she could, it would feel all the much better. So the pair had just decided to try and forget about it, yet even then a few tears couldn't help but be shed at the sight of the disembodied cusp. Rainbow Dash went back into the lean-to and brought out some berries, and put them onto a slightly curved rock that Dash had found whilst searching, and began to mash them with a rounder stone from the small creek nearby. This "jam" had been the breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the two, being much more pleasurable to eat the paste than to crunch through the harder skin surrounding the meat of the fruit. "Hey, Twi?" asked Rainbow. "Yes, Rainbow?" The cyan pegasus visibly gulped, then collected herself. "I wanted to ask you... something." The alicorn looked up at this, intrigued. "Ask away," she said, then giggled. "I'm pretty much an open book out here!" Dash forcibly smiled at that comment, then lost it as she opened her mouth to ask her question. "Would you- do you..." A small blush was growing on her face. "Twilight, would you like to be my..." The lavender mare leaned forward, her expression giving away that she was desperately hanging on to every single word the anxious pegasus spoke. "...would you like to be my, um, helper tomorrow? When I go out looking. It's kinda' lonely all by myself, especially since I can't fly and all." The alicorn visibly deflated. "Sure Rainbow." After the pair finished their dinner, the two stared into the campfire, the night air chilling around them. Twilight was holding a stick over the cackling flames, watching as it slowly burnt away. 'I wish I had a marshmallow...' Rainbow was sitting on the opposite side, staring at Twilight. The former princess had noticed it, but she didn't give a hint. She just passed it off as Dash daydreaming or something. About her? 'No,' she thought. 'She doesn't like me like that...' She forcibly shook her head. But what had happened earlier? Tearing her eyes away from the fire, she looked over at the cyan mare, who very quickly looked away, with a light blush on her cheeks. Twilight cocked an ear. "Dash?" The pegasus looked back to her companion. "Y-yea Twi?" she said, clearly still skittish about whatever that was. "Are you alright?" the lavender alicorn asked, concerned. The pegasus was acting very strangely, especially considering to her lack of brashness. But then again, she did just loose her ability to fly... and had also been alone for six years... "Of course I am!" Rainbow defended. "Why wouldn't I be?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You've been acting strange today, and actually yesterday too." She leaned a little closer to the fire, and in turn, the nervous mare across from her. "What's wrong?" "Nothing!" cried the pegasus. Twilight shrunk back, hurt. All she was trying to do was help. Rainbow looked up and saw the hurt in Twilight's purple eyes. And she realized that she was the one responsible. The emotional shield crumbled around her, and she visibly became solemn and almost... were those tears? "Rainbow?" Twilight asked again, quickly rushing to her friend's side when she heard an audible sniffle. "Please tell me what's wrong," she said softly. "If we're gonna' get through this, we need to help each other." Rainbow looked up at Twilight, their muzzles centimeters apart. Then, without any warning, the cyan mare suddenly closed the gap and kissed Twilight with a passion that the lavender mare hadn't even imagined possible. But as soon as Twilight began to melt into the kiss, Rainbow pulled away, panicking. "I- I'm... sor- I gotta' go..." The light blue pegasus turned tail and ran into the two's makeshift home, pulling the curtain of vines over the entrance hastily, ripping a few off. Twilight just sat there, her eyes wide, and her heart soaring. Rainbow Dash did love her, she was just scared of admitting it. But how do I approach her... But the lavender mare was experiencing conflicting emotions. First of all, she was ecstatic that Rainbow liked her, but then she also realized that if she jumped in, she could possibly scare her away. Then there was also the notion that Rainbow Dash had acted in a spur the moment fashion, and really didn't mean the kiss. Too many thoughts were plaguing the alicorn's mind at once, and she began to get a headache. "Okay, Twilight, think. What would be the best way to approach this..." Then a thought occurred to her. 'I could ask her to talk about it! Then she could answer, and I could base my next actions around her answer!' Twilight got to work formulating an extremely complex plan with so many variables, she doubted that even she would remember everything. --- Rainbow Dash lay on her mat of pine needles for the past hour, silently sobbing. How could she have been so stupid? Now she has to live with a pony who most likely hates her. Dash had seen Twilight's face. It was surprised, and showed no sign of pleasure about the kiss. How could she have been so stupid! Now Twilight hated her. And Dash was forced to live with her for eternity. 'What if she eats me when we run out of food? All she has to do is stab me with her horn!' Rainbow pushed those thoughts out of her mind. Even if Twilight hated her, she was pretty sure that the alicorn wouldn't do THAT. While still deep in her moping, the vines behind her rustled, and she felt the presence of another pony behind her. Said pony lay down on the other pine bed next to Rainbow, and then there was silence. Dash tried her hardest to hold in her sobs, yet her body still shook occasionally. The fact that Twilight was ignoring her only confirmed her fears. 'She hates me...' "Dash?" a small voice rose up from behind her. "Are you okay?" Rainbow just lay there, afraid of whatever this was. 'Why does she care?' She tried to tell Twilight to go away, but instead, a light whimper came out. "Do you want to talk about it?" 'Preferably not, but you're not gonna' give me a choice, are you?' The cyan mare's sobs only worsened when she attempted to choke out a "No." Suddenly, there were lavender hooves wrapping themselves around the distraught mare, and pulling her over onto the other mat. She lay curled up against Twilight's stomach, with her head in the crook of the alicorn's neck. Rainbow felt a warm, moist breath against her ear as Twilight rested her head above Rainbow's, the purple muzzle settling in the prismatic flow of colors. "It's okay Dash," a voice whispered in her ear. "I'm not mad at you." She felt a hoof gently stroke the rainbow mane cascading over the pair, felt as it traveled down her back, then back up to rest in between her ears. Gradually, this action soothed her, calming her down, and stopping the flow of tears. Eventually, all that could be heard was Twilight's soft cooing. "I'm s- sorry Twilight." It took the lavender mare a moment to comprehend the unnecessary apology. Then, she realized what had to be said. All memories of her plan were forgotten, and Twilight just spoke freely. "You don't need to hide yourself around me. I love you too, just the way you are. As a matter of fact, I love you even more when you're like this; soft and gentle and caring. You can open yourself up to me. Nopony else is watching, just let yourself be who you really are." Twilight smiled into Rainbow's mane, and squeezed her tighter as the mare began to cry again. "Rainbow, it's okay," Twilight assured her. "All that matters now is that we're here, now, and that we're finally together. It doesn't matter how we got here, or where we started. All that matters is us, in this moment, right now." Rainbow finally seemed to relax, and let the soft lavender coat absorb her. It just felt so right. The two ponies cuddled there, in that embrace. Twilight couldn't help but be slightly surprised. Whenever she imagined this, it was always Rainbow holding her, Rainbow being the pillar of strength, comforting Twilight, not the other way around. And yet here they were. How the times have changed. "Why?" The question was spoken so softly, Twilight wasn't even sure she had heard it. She was only assured when the question was repeated, louder and with more vigor. "Why?" "Why, what?" Twilight answered into Rainbow's ear, her lips brushing against it, causing the cyan mare to shiver. "Why are you doing this?" Twilight pulled her head back, and let go of Dash. She didn't want her to do this? But she had kissed her... and, and... "B-because, I t-thought-" Twilight began, but was cut off by the now seemingly angry pegasus. "Just go," she said plainly. "I don't want to get my hopes up." The lavender alicorn's ears folded down over her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "R-rainbow..." She reached out a hoof to the prismatic mare. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE TWILIGHT!" Not being able to bear it any longer, Twilight got up and ran out of the makeshift home, and into the surrounding woods. Right as the last bit of sun dipped over the horizon. Rainbow Dash rushed out after her, about to cry out her name and say she was sorry, but the mare was nowhere in sight. "Twilight!" she called, desperately hoping she hadn't gone far. No answer came, and the pegasus sat there, watching and waiting as her only companion for six years slipped from her grasp. Did she love her? Maybe. She screamed in frustration. Why was this so difficult? She felt happy, safe, when Twilight had held her, so why did she go an ruin it. Fear. The answer to the problem sought it's way into her mind, and she realized with no hint of doubt whatsoever that it was the answer to her problem. Rainbow had built an image around herself out of fear of being rejected. This same fear caused her to react the way someone would react with no emotion. So naturally, when Twilight said she loved her, Rainbow felt the fear of loosing her, and she automatically made a decision to never loose her; by ignoring the fact that she was there. "TWILIGHT!" Rainbow cried again, the tears forming now. She had to fix this, she had to make this right... But the question that now assaulted her mind was one that brought more fear to the mare than she had ever felt before. Could she? --- Twilight ran, not knowing where she was going, only knowing that she didn't care, and that her love didn't either. Her heart fell out of her in pieces, leaving a trail of tears as she crashed through the underbrush. Branches whipped at her face, but she didn't care. She just ran away from it all, heeding Rainbow's demands. 'At least this way, I can make her happy...' She wasn't paying any attention to where she was going, and crashed headfirst into a tree. Her body yanked around it with a yelp, and rolled, coming to a stop at the edge of a very tall cliff. Twilight randomly thanked the tree, for had she not crashed into it, she would have galloped straight off the precipice. However, her head hurt again. Off in the distance, she could have sworn she heard somepony call her name, but she was in too much pain to acknowledge it. 'I'm sorry Rainbow. I should have waited. Maybe then we could still be friends...' Slowly, the Princess of Equestria slipped away from the world, and ceased moving as a trickle of blood found its way down from her mane...