//------------------------------// // Begins and Ends With a Rainbow // Story: Ynanhluutr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash wandered onto a noticeably barren part of the college grounds. The bulk of the students and teachers had gathered in the heart of the campus, where most of the commotion had centralized. Far away from the murmuring gasps and feats of magic and flight, the lone pegasus found a single apple tree planted along the edge of the lawn. Here—in the blissful shade—she plopped down, folding her legs beneath her. With a dull breath, she faced east, her face tense and sullen. Eventually, the weight of the Loyalty Element got to her—as it always did—and she hung her head, burning holes in the green earth below. It was with quiet, ghostly grace that Twilight Sparkle approached her. Without a word, she slumped down to her hooves, her eyes lingering patiently on Rainbow's face the entire time. She exhaled. She waited. She watched Rainbow Dash in silence, seated across form her like a lavender reflection. Rainbow Dash fumed and fumed, but slowly those angry breaths began thinning out, growing more and more fragile. Tiny squeaks escaped her nostrils, and soon the hard lines in her muzzle dissolved altogether. For a moment, Rainbow appeared to be fighting it, her ears twitching in tiny foalish spasms before—at last—folding back as her entire face took on a liquid expression. Ever so slowly, like an infant taking her first breath, she tilted her face up. She fought her way through a pained grimace, and once her eyes had finally locked on the phantom's, she murmured: “… … …Twilight?” Twilight Sparkle's lips pursed. Rainbow gulped a dry lump down her throat. She spoke again, her voice cracking harder this time: “Twilight... is... is it really you?” Twilight stared back at her. With soft grace, she smiled. “Yes, Rainbow. It's really me.” She produced something half-resembling a giggle, then shrugged her shoulders. “How could it not be me?” “But... but you were... gone,” Rainbow exhaled. “Rainbow, I was—” Twilight's voice broke off, as did her gaze. She spotted thin, foamy glimpses of an ocean beyond the apple tree's branches. “… … …I was battling Discord... or about to. Your Element was there, but you weren't. But... but somehow I knew it would bring you back.” She shuddered. “It would bring everything back. My friends... their personalities... their... th-their...” Her words trailed off. Rainbow's face twisted with anguish. “You were gone... gone for so long. How could you possibly be here now?” “I... I don't know, Rainbow. I was...” Twilight scanned the western horizon once more, shuddering. “I was in Ponyville... the chaotic Ponyville. We casted the spell, and then... then I-I fell asleep. Or... Or I began dreaming. I mean, dreams never start before sleep, do they? It... it had to have been Discord. He sent me... somewhere. It was dark... and yet it was bright as well. I... remember feeling scared. And yet... safe... I felt... safe as well.” She took a deep breath, and calmed herself just enough to smile at the pegasus. “You want to know why?” Rainbow simply gawked at her. “Because you were there. You're always there, Rainbow. Someway. Somehow. Even when it doesn't feel like anypony else is around, I... I just know it. You're always right there to have our backs.” Rainbow sniffled. “I left you.” Her eyes instantly watered. “I left you all.” “No... No, Rainbow, it was a trick.” “I... abandoned—” “Discord did it to you!” Twilight exclaimed. “He did it to all of us! Even the other girls! You didn't see it because... well... because...” “Grnnghh...” Rainbow hung her head again, clenching it between two savage hooves. “This is stupid. Stupid. The Grand Choke. That's all it is. That's all it ever is.” “Rainbow... I'm...” Twilight grimaced. “I'm real! You've gotta—” “I should have never left Belle and Pilate... Roarke...” Rainbow snarled, teeth gritting. “I should have just died in Val Roa!” She slammed her hoof into the ground, ripping up a clump of grass and dirt. “What in Luna's name am I even doing here?!” As the pegasus seethed and seethed, Twilight Sparkle look on. At last, she spoke in a quiet tone: “Because you had slammed me into the mud.” Rainbow stopped gripping her skull in time to look up, ears teary. “Wh-what...?” “A lazy, silly pegasus,” Twilight Sparkle mused. “Practicing for the Wonderbolts. She had a job to clear the sky of clouds, but... was taking her sweet time with it. And yet—when she slammed me into the mud—she immediately tried to help me. Granted... hmmm... she was very goofy and awkward about it. But beyond the chuckles, beyond the laughter, beyond the coy winks and dashing smirks... I knew... that she would forever be there to pick me back up again. Because nopony else in the history of Equestria was ever that loyal... or ever would be again.” Twilight gestured. “I know this pony. She sits before me. And we are in a strange... frightening... yet exciting place. And I can only guess that she has a reason to be here. And... and I want to know that reason... because after all that she's taught me about friendship, I can only imagine she's here because there stands to be a reason to protect it... and to protect us.” Rainbow blinked. Twilight leaned forward with a smile. “You're my friend, Rainbow Dash. Our friendship is real... and I'm real too. Now... please... won't you talk to me?” As the unicorn waited, Rainbow stared back at her. Her muzzle quivered and her eyes brimmed with tears. “I... I d-don't... deserve...” She gulped hard. “What, Rainbow?” Twilight asked quietly. She leaned her head to the side. “What don't you deserve?” “This...” Rainbow whimpered. “This chance...” She sniffled, shook, and finally caved. “...to say that I love you... that I love each and every one of y-you...” Her lungs heaved, and her body with it. “I love you girls so much. I-I've always loved you. With everything I do... with every mile that I've flown.” She clenched her eyes shut, tossing her head back and forth. “I'm so stupid! Always so stupid! I should have said it before. Should have told you all before... b-before...” She buried her muzzle into her forelimbs, wailing. “I love you... I love you I love you I l-love you...” Twilight's face grew long. “Rainbow... I...” she reached a hoof forward, only for it to slide through Rainbow's upper body like a specter. She winced. A shaky breath rose in the back of her throat, and all she could do was scoot forward until her muzzle was just a few ghostly inches from Rainbow's sobbing figure. “Rainbow, I don't know what's happened... or what you've gone through... but... but just listen to me. Listen to me and know. I'm here, Rainbow Dash. I'm alive and I'm well and I'm here for you. And... whatever you think you might be going through right now... we're going to go through it together. Okay?” Rainbow's body shook. She emitted an unpronounceable sob. “You don't have to be alone anymore,” Twilight said. “It's... it's going to be alright. I'm here, Rainbow. I'm here...” For the briefest moment, Rainbow's muzzle curved, then melted once again as she sobbed pitiably into her forelimbs. She curled over into a little ball, overwrought with bittersweet spasms. Twilight crawled over, curving her body around Rainbow like a mother might tend to her foal, even if all she could do was wait out the storm.