//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: An Artist's Work // Story: A Rainbow of a Different Color // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Chapter 21: An Artist’s Work Dawn’s quill danced over parchment in smooth, swirling strokes, leaving dark lines of ink in the canyons it scratched through the paper. All up and down the page, the smooth lines stitched themselves together into beautiful and flowing cursive script, neither fighting with itself for space nor penned at an inefficient distance from each other. The words were neat and orderly, seemingly in contrast with how the mare herself thought and spoke. Orange eyes danced back and forth between many similar sheets of paper covering a large table. Unlike her penmareship, Dawn’s workstation was a disastrous mess, with notes spread everywhere without rhyme or reason. Still, the mare’s eyes knew where to look for the information they sought, and her quill continued to scribble away even as she looked elsewhere—at least until she heard a quiet snapping sound and turned to see her now-ruined quill tearing its way through her notes. “No, no, no,” Dawn muttered, setting the quill aside and inspecting the damage done to her notes. A thick ink smear ruined several words, followed by sharp lines where the broken quill had dug into the paper. Frowning, Dawn tore the page out of her notebook and set it aside, then picked the quill up and incinerated it with a burst of magic. The ashes went into a dustpan, and she secured a new quill from across the room. With the torn-out piece of paper before her, she began to transcribe her notes into the new page in the notebook, this time with extra care not to damage the new quill or spill ink anywhere. A tingling sensation built under the base of Dawn’s horn, and she slowly and deliberately set her quill aside. After several seconds of quiet, she took hold of the curtains at the front windows and drew them shut, bathing the interior of the room with darkness. In the quiet and shadow she waited for the intruder who’d tripped her wards to go away. To her dismay, the sensation under her horn only built in intensity, until the pony—whoever they were—knocked on the door. The sudden noise made Dawn flinch, and she dared not even breathe as the pony knocked three times. The silence that followed only began to twist Dawn’s guts, winding them up like a coiled spring. Her jaw clenched, and she felt like the walls beginning to close in around her. Her hind leg nervously tapped against the floor. More knocking, followed by a voice. “Hello? Is anypony home?” Dawn’s eyes narrowed and she stared at her notes for something to anchor her eyes while her mind worked. Stallion. Middle aged, probably forty-two or forty-three. Recently sick, perhaps nine days ago. Suffers mild allergies, specifically tree pollen. Definitely not somepony she knew, and definitely not her friends, considering he’d tripped the security wards. Not wanting to deal with the intruder, Dawn drew faint light to the tip of her horn and continued to work. Knock knock knock. “Dawn?” Dawn’s horn lit up with bright energy and the quill in her magical grip disintegrated. Panting, she slowly turned around and looked at the door behind her. The stranger wasn’t just some lost hiker or birdwatcher. They’d come specifically for her, and they must’ve known she was inside by their fervent knocking. She looked around the room, and her horn flashed as she reset it to the ‘clean’ state. Notebooks, scrolls, ink wells, and all sorts of random items suddenly returned to their proper places on shelves, in drawers, and across tables. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Dawn anxiously plodded towards the door. Her eyes gravitated toward the top of the doorframe, where a pair of sharp, silver knives rested, just barely out of sight. With a deep breath, she mustered all the courage she could find, hung the sharpest frown she could manage on her face, and opened the door. Her fiery oranges eyes immediately analyzed every facet of the surprised stallion in front of her. Vermillion coat, blue eyes, white mane and tail. Horn—unicorn. Forty-four, by the weathering in his horn and the grayness patterning the hair around his muzzle. Dawn mentally kicked herself. She was getting less accurate. The stallion fidgeted under Dawn’s scrutinizing glare. “Uh… Miss Dawn?” he began. Dawn’s eyes immediately locked on to his and her frown deepened, yet still she refused to say a word. Coughing into his hoof, the stallion managed an uneasy smile. “How are you?” “Speak,” Dawn commanded, not budging an inch, and most certainly not letting her guard down. “What are you here for?” Simply hearing Dawn say anything seemed to loosen up the pony’s nerves. His shoulders relaxed, and Dawn got a dreadful feeling in her gut that he was about to try to be buddy-buddy with her. His horn came to life, making Dawn recoil like a wary cat, and a rolled-up piece of parchment came out of his saddlebags. “The paper got your submission a few days ago, and we’ve been trying to track you down since. You’re… remarkably elusive, to say the least.” Dawn’s eyebrows somehow found enough purchase on her skull to inch even further south. “Submission?” The stallion blinked. “Oh, but I’m sure you remember!” he said, laughing. “You submitted this lovely picture of a family of robins to the paper.” Dawn snatched the scroll in her magic and unfurled it, eyes scanning over the image. “We were all very impressed to say the least. We were wondering if you’d be willing to draw more?” Rolling up the parchment, Dawn tossed it on a table near the door. Her eyes looked into the distance somewhere over the stallion’s head and she scowled. “Hawk.” The door slammed shut in the stallion’s face and a bright flash pierced the curtains. The stallion recoiled and held a hoof to his face as a shockwave of pressure blasted dirt and dust out from under the door. He hesitated a moment, then gently tapped on the door. “Uh… Miss Dawn? Are you there?” Again he tapped, and again he got nothing. Frowning, he crossed his forelimbs and sat in front of the door. “Can I at least get the picture back?!” ----- Rainbow Dash stood among the open grasses covering mile after mile behind Hawk’s house. The blades rustled and shimmered as the winds swept up one hill and down another, making the whole expanse seem like a brilliant emerald ocean. For as far as the eye could see, the brilliant expanse covered every hill and gully, until finally the grass turned into forest to the north, or farmland to the west and south. Talons tightened their grip on Rainbow’s outstretched wing. Perched atop the strong blue limb, a merlin falcon pointed its curious head into the wind and ruffled its brown feathers. At Rainbow’s glance, it angled its head, then let out a shrill trilling sound before going back to preening its feathers. On the crest of one of the largest hills, Rainbow came to a stop. The breeze, now more like a constant wind blowing in from the west, pulled loose strands of her mane; the sensation was akin to flying. Turning in place, she watched Hawk Tail climb the hill after here. “This good?” “Yeah,” Hawk said, making his way to Rainbow’s side. Like Rainbow, he had a raptor perched on his wing, which made small little noises to itself. Hawk squinted and looked around, surveying the terrain, before nodding. “Yeah, this will work.” “Cool. I can’t wait,” Rainbow said. She looked toward the merlin perched on her wing, and the raptor leaned forward to grab a bit of Rainbow’s mane in its beak. The colorful mare giggled as the bird attempted to preen her hair. Grinning, Rainbow gently pulled her mane away and began to scratch the bird behind the back of its head. “So what’s first?” “Well, do you remember the tune I taught you before we came up here?” Hawk asked. “Uh… go over it one more time,” Rainbow said, a sheepish smile adorning her muzzle. Shaking his head, Hawk looked at his raptor and let out a two tone whistle, the first lower in pitch than the second, and ending with two quick notes. The raptor screeched in response, extended its wings, and launched off of Hawk’s wing, swiftly gaining altitude and beginning to fly in circles around the pair of pegasi. Hawk nodded to Rainbow, and Rainbow swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to her merlin. The raptor watched her curiously as Rainbow pursed her lips and attempted to mimic Hawk’s whistle. The notes came out shaking and flat, and the merlin turned its head sideways at Rainbow. “Give it another go,” Hawk said, walking up next to Rainbow and brushing wings with her left wing, now naked of the sling it’d worn for the last two weeks. “Isabella’s a smart merlin, she’ll figure it out.” “Yeah, but I’m not the one with a cutie mark for this,” Rainbow said. Turning back to Isabella, she looked the merlin in the eye and whistled again, doing her best to imitate the tune. The merlin turned her head, fidgeted with her wings, then gently opened them with a soft, inquisitive screech. Hawk smiled and nudged Rainbow in the ribs. “See? She’s listening.” “She better be listening,” Rainbow grumbled. She took a deep breath, then shaped her lips and whistled again. This time, the response was immediate. With a trilling call, Isabella spread her wings and kicked off of Rainbow’s wing, climbing higher and higher until she began to circle with the other raptor high above the hilltop. Rainbow laughed and jumped up and down. “She did it!” she exclaimed. Her eyes followed the bird as it spun lazy circles overhead, occasionally making its distinctive screech. Excited, she turned to Hawk and wrapped her forelegs around his chest and shoulders, pressing her cheek into his. “That’s so awesome!” “Well she’s your bird now; I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Hawk said, nuzzling Rainbow. “You’re gonna take care of her, right?” Rainbow shut her eyes and leaned against Hawk. “Of course I am,” she said. “What do you take me for? A filly?” Hawk chuckled and tilted Rainbow’s head back. “The beautiful mare who stole my heart—and my breakfast this morning, too.” “You weren’t eating it!” Rainbow exclaimed. “The eggs were getting cold!” “I was saving it for later!” Hawk said, rolling his eyes. “You shoulda said something!” “Yeah, well, I want it back.” “Back?” Rainbow asked, smirking. “How am I supposed to give it—!” Hawk tackling her and locking his lips with hers prevented her from finishing her question. His hooves pinned the small mare to the ground while his tongue assaulted her mouth, even as she feebly struggled against him. She managed to push him away just enough to laugh, breathe, and shout “Stop!” before he pressed his muzzle to hers again. The couple tumbled across the grasses, but ultimately came to a stop with Rainbow lying on top. She pulled her head back and stuck her tongue out. “Ha, this time I’m on top!” she said, winking. “We all win occasionally,” Hawk said, smiling up at her. Rainbow returned the smirk, and slowly lowered her head until they could embrace in a tender kiss. Rainbow moaned and fluttered her wings, and began to tighten her hind legs around Hawk’s midsection. A brilliant flash of light and an accompanying pop made the two ponies jump and tumble away from each other. Dawn appeared in a ring of charred grass just a few feet away, and she looked left and right before her eyes locked on Hawk. With a glare that could cut through steel, the unicorn stomped over to Hawk as he tried to scramble to his hooves. “Dawn?” Hawk sputtered. “What are you doing here? What’s with the grand entr—hrck!” Vibrant, orange magic wrapped around Hawk’s throat and lifted him into the air. As he struggled with the intangible force holding him aloft, Dawn pointed a hoof at him. “The picture,” she grunted. “You gave it to the paper.” “Ack… so?” Hawk said, still struggling to break free. “I just thought they’d like to see it!” “They decided to send somepony to my home,” Dawn said, frowning. “When I was working, too. Interrupted important research. Rainbow’s curse, among other things. Talked to me about drawing more.” “And… you’re nearly strangling me… because somepony talked to you?” Dawn’s eyes narrowed. Without any warning, the magic around Hawk’s neck disappeared, causing the stallion to gasp and fall to the ground. Groaning, he sat upright and rubbed his head, shooting Dawn an annoyed glance. “Well. When you put it that way.” Dawn rubbed one hoof with another and looked back towards the forest. “Still. Unappreciative that you’d go behind my back like this. Not very thoughtful.” Rainbow Dash, who’d been nervously watching from the side, galloped over to Hawk as the stallion rubbed his neck. “I was just hoping you’d… you know…” “Go back to River’s Reach?” Dawn finished, raising an eyebrow. “Well… in a word, yeah.” Dawn wrinkled her nose like she’d tasted something foul. “No,” she said, this time looking at the town in the distance. “Not my place. Not anymore. Happy in the forest. Not bothered. Not disturbed. Not… hated.” She looked around her as if she was looking for something more. “Understand the gesture. Maybe not appreciate, but understand.” Her hoof pawed at the ground as an uneasy silence settled between the three ponies. Eventually, Dawn drew a sharp breath through her nostrils and nodded at Hawk. “Please refrain from such attempts in the future. Thank you.” Hawk blinked. “Dawn…” he said, reaching a hoof towards the mare, but in a brilliant flash of orange energy, she was already gone. The two pegasi watched the grasses ripple and flutter from the shockwave of Dawn’s teleportation spell. Apart from the scorched runic symbols in the ground, it was almost as if nopony had ever been there to begin with. Hawk Tail broke the silence first with an exasperated shake of his head. “That went well.” Grunting, he stood up and dusted himself off before offering a hoof for Rainbow to do the same. His eyes darted to the skies, where he saw the two falcons continuing to spin circles overhead. “At least Dawn’s teleportation spell didn’t scare them off.” “Yeah, just what was that about, anyway?” Rainbow asked, cocking her head to the side. “She seemed pretty peeved.” Hawk sighed and looked in the direction of Dawn’s home. “A week or so ago, whenever it was, I went to talk to her about… well, you,” he said, making Rainbow raise an eyebrow. “She gave me some advice and whatnot, but that’s not really important. She was drawing a picture of a robin and her family, and it was really good. Really great detail and everything. So when I left, I took the picture and gave it to the local paper.” He shrugged. “I hoped if ponies saw something Dawn made, saw how beautiful it was, that maybe they’d remember her and want to seek her out. Be her friends and everything, you know, finally start to get her welcomed back into the community. I… hope I didn’t just make things worse for her.” Rainbow thought about that for a moment, but smirked and shook her head. “Nah. You heard what she said, right? Some pony came to her house asking if she’d draw more?” “Yeah,” Hawk Tail said. “So?” Rainbow stretched her limbs and cracked her neck. “I think I’m gonna have a talk with Dawn.” Hawk shrugged and moved to follow her. “You think that’ll help? What’ll we—” “I,” Rainbow said, cutting Hawk off. She turned back to Hawk and placed her hoof on his shoulder. “Dawn probably doesn’t want to talk about it with you anymore. She might actually strangle you this time.” The stallion opened his mouth to respond, thought better of it, then shook his head. “If you think that’ll be better.” He trotted up to Rainbow and the two of them kissed. “I’ll get the falcons home. We can train you later.” “Me?” Rainbow asked, placing a hoof on her chest. “Don’t you mean them?” “Isabella already knows all the commands,” Hawk said, running a hoof through Rainbow’s mane. “You’re the one who needs to learn them.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and nudged Hawk’s forelimb away. “Yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll be back in a bit.” “Take care not to get eaten by a bear on the way,” Hawk said, winking at Rainbow. “I heard it’s a really bad way to go.” “Yeah, and try not to get any more bird crap on your coat,” Rainbow retorted. She patted her coltfriend on the cheek and turned around, trotting off in the direction of Dawn’s house while Hawk quickly looked himself over for any telltale white spots on his brown coat. Finding none, the stallion frowned at Rainbow and raised his voice. “Hey! Not funny!” “That’s what you think!” Rainbow shouted over the winds as she descended the hill, ultimately ducking beneath the grasses and disappearing from sight. ----- The towering oaks and pines of the forest didn’t let much light touch the forest floor, leaving only a diffuse, ambient glow to permeate their branches and allow Rainbow to see. The calling of birds, the chattering of squirrels, and the seemingly infinite rows of trees made Rainbow feel like she was on another world, completely isolated from ponykind. Strangely, the deep, dense forest pricked the hollows of her mind, trying to fish something out of the depths of memories that’d been stolen from her. Dawn’s ramshackle tree home was almost hard to find at a distance; if Rainbow hadn’t been there a few times already, she would’ve spent another hour or two looking for it. As she finally approached the deceivingly dilapidated structure, Rainbow mused that that was exactly what Dawn had intended. She took the steps two at a time and knocked on the door. The tattered curtains in the windows were drawn, but Rainbow knew better. “Come on, Dawn, open up!” she shouted, knocking with more gusto. “I know you’re in there!” The door slid away from her outstretched hoof, replaced by Dawn’s vexed expression. Her orange eyes locked on Rainbow and held the mare down like an animal trapped in a cage. “Yes?” “Can I come in?” Rainbow asked, gesturing inside. Dawn’s eyes narrowed at Rainbow, and the pegasus could only guess what thoughts were pinballing off the inside of her head. Rainbow’s wings fidgeted by her sides while the awkward silence dragged on and on, until finally, with a twitch of her lip, Dawn turned away from the door and swished her tail, leaving it open behind her. Rainbow let out a sigh of relief and followed the mare inside, shutting the door as she entered. The interior of Dawn’s home was, as usual, a mess. Dawn, however, didn’t give Rainbow any time to think on that. She marched to her workstation, pulled the chair out with her magic, whirled it to face Rainbow, and sat down.  Her brow furrowed and she rested her hooves on her knees. “Assume you’re here about the paper; speak.” Rainbow fidgeted, looking around the room, and Dawn gestured to a chair by the far wall. Grabbing the backrest with her teeth, Rainbow dragged it across the floor and placed it in front of Dawn. She grunted as she sat down and leaned back, then asked a simple question: “Why?” Dawn’s nostrils flared. “Rejecting the paper pony’s offer?,” she asked. At Rainbow’s nod, she shrugged and began flipping through the pages of her notebook. “Not interested. Not comfortable. Not for me.” “Yeah, but—” “Have had this discussion with you before,” Dawn interrupted, slapping her notebook shut and tossing it aside. “Doubtless Hawk has explained to you many times as well. Haven’t changed since then. Won’t be changing any time soon. Why bother? Why press me? Force into doing something I don’t want?” “It’s… not that,” Rainbow said, but she faltered under Dawn’s steely glare. “If not that, then what?” The unicorn shifted in her seat and rested a foreleg on the table. “Difference lost on me. Elaborate.” “I… I… Look,” Rainbow said, leaning forward on her seat. “I don’t really know how else to put it. Hawk’s worried about you, all of our friends are worried about you, and hay, even I’m worried about you, and I’ve known you the least!” “Point being?” Rainbow threw her hooves in the air. “Haven’t you been out here long enough? Hiding from everypony just because you’re afraid of what they might think of you?” Dawn’s eyes narrowed and her lip twitched, revealing the barest hint of teeth. “Don’t know me. Don’t dare to insinuate—” “Dawn,” Rainbow said, forcefully cutting the mare off. “Nopony blames you for what happened. I didn’t have to be in town all that long to figure that out! So that’s not an excuse to just never see another pony again and just hide inside the forest, reliant on others to bring you what you need from town!” “Not reliant!” Dawn shouted, hopping off of her chair and marching towards Rainbow. “Not helpless! Not some foal!” “You wouldn’t even remember to get food if Hawk didn’t bring some to you every Sunday,” Rainbow said, staring the mare down. “And whenever you need something from town, you ask one of us to go get it for you. We’re your friends, not an express delivery service!” Dawn’s usually sharp tongue failed her, and after sweeping through a slew of emotive expressions, the mare finally turned away. Her eyes fell to her work, and she absent-mindedly spun a sheet of paper across the table with her magic. “Don’t know what it’s like,” she murmured. “Alone. Afraid. Guilty. Hurts.” “Boohoo, sister,” Rainbow said, but even under the reprimending tone, she tenderly placed her hoof on Dawn’s. “I’m twenty-something years old and I don’t remember twenty of those years. Trust me when I say I’ve got an idea of what it’s like.” She smiled, even though Dawn didn’t return the gesture. “Try me.” The unicorn sighed and pressed her hooves to her face, using the table to support her weight. “Killed him,” she whispered. “He was my father. Not biologically, but the closest thing I ever had. Don’t remember my parents. Always been on my own. Passed from family to family like an unwanted puppy. He cared. The only one.” The orange mare shuddered and withdrew inside herself. Glistening streaks adorned her muzzle, and that more than anything startled Rainbow. Dawn, of all the ponies she knew, was the last pony she thought she’d see cry. Biting her lip, she shuffled over to Dawn’s side and wrapped a wing around the mare’s shoulders in a comforting hug. Dawn heaved and shuddered at the contact, but didn’t try to push it away. “Can’t go back,” she murmured. “Too many painful memories. Rather stay here. Rather be alone.” As Dawn’s body wracked with sobs under Rainbow’s wing, the pegasus realized something. Where her amnesia had stolen her life from her, a mare who remembered too little, Dawn was the opposite. Her brilliant intellect and amazing mind cursed her as the mare who remembered too much. Doubtless the pain of abandonment time after time after time as she was pushed from one unwilling family to the next still seemed fresh in her mind even after all these years, and the one thing that had buried it, at least for a time, she’d accidentally killed. Rainbow could hardly imagine the pain that Dawn must have silently suffered through every day. But maybe they weren’t so different after all. “I’d… rather remember everything, the good stuff and the bad, then lose it all,” Rainbow said. “But, you know, that’s kinda where I’m at. It’s not like I had any choice in the matter, but I did have a choice in what came after that.” She rubbed Dawn’s back in slow, even strokes as the unicorn’s emotional well bled itself dry. “I was afraid. I didn’t remember anything or anypony. I didn’t know who I was. I could’ve hidden in my bedroom forever, too afraid to leave the only safe place I knew at the time, but I didn’t. Hawk helped draw me out, and then you helped me remember who I was. When I needed it most… ponies who I’d later call my friends helped me out. And look how far I’ve come now.” Rainbow drew her wing back and helped Dawn sit up. While the orange unicorn wiped the last tears from her eyes and muzzle, Rainbow beamed at her. “I want to help you, Dawn, because I’m your friend. You helped me once; let me return the favor.” Dawn sniffled, shivered, then finally nodded. “I… Don’t know what to say.” “How about ‘yes,’” Rainbow said. “‘Yes, Rainbow. Help me.’” The unicorn took a deep breath, opened her mouth to say something, but stopped before she cut utter a syllable. She frowned at her muzzle, then at Rainbow, and raised an eyebrow. “Awfully melodramatic.” Rainbow groaned and slapped her forehead. “Way to kill the moment, Dawn.” “Expected different?” Dawn said, a teasing glint through her puffy eyelids. “Celestia, I swear,” Rainbow grumbled. She shook her head, sighed, and trotted towards the door, with Dawn timidly following not too far behind. “Come on, let’s go find Hawk."