With a Heavy Heart

by Krypqe

Young Tender Hearts Beat Fast

Rainbow was dozing, her mind drifting through the library’s musky essence.
She’d been laid there for a while now, waiting on Twilight’s call, but she’d
heard a distinct lack of sound from her friend, just the constant of the
distant flow of water was audible.

Even though Twilight was a quiet pony, at times, especially when in the
library, Rainbow had to admit it was odd that she’d said nothing to her or even made a noise since leaving.
Maybe she was a quiet drunk?
Hopefully not, Rainbow thought. She couldn’t stand silence, it made her jumpy. Not that her friends would know that.
However, that wasn’t completely correct, really. It wasn’t the absence of audio that made her jumpy. It was what lies within silence.
Anyway, Rainbow was fine, for now. The sound of the trickling water was tiding her over.

If Twilight didn’t talk?
‘Well, that’d be troubling,’ Rainbow thought; although she’d weighed up the
silence with the presence of a friend, and all of a sudden, well, it
just didn’t seem as bad.

She’d experienced it once before, on that cold, stormy night.

A massive clap of thunder had caught her off guard, in the ambient
soundscape that had surrounded her, and she’d dropped to the ground,
fearful.
Then that filly had rescued her, taken her in, and just sat with her. Neither of the ponies said anything, it wasn’t needed.
Just to be together.
Two ponies as one.
Only somepony special could make her feel safe like that.

Of course, Rainbow had still told her not to tell anypony about the fear she’d experienced that night.
It just wasn’t cool.

Rainbow could feel another ‘wave’ of warmth gearing to flush across her face,
so, to distract herself, she decided to see what Twilight was up to;
She’d been taking her time, after all.
As soon as she rolled over to stand, Rainbow’s wings eased back out into an arc. She
chose to ignore them, she didn’t really care. Yet still, Rainbow felt
embarrassed, as her thoughts turned to Twilight once more.

As Rainbow clopped sluggishly through the library, she wasn’t fazed at all
by the once sinister manufactured shapes of the books. Much more so was
Rainbow worried about a sound, coming from the bathroom. A sound other
than the flow of water; the sound of a quietly crying filly, morose.
She hadn’t heard the sobs at first, but as Rainbow neared the door, each
sob became more pronounced, a spike of noise amongst the listlessness of
the library.

“Oh Rainbow…”

Rainbow Dash froze, a mane’s breadth from the door separating Twilight and herself.

“I can’t believe I’d do such a thing…”

Twilight sounded pained, it was layered within every word of her voice. Not even
the barrier of the door could take the chilling edge off of the words,
for Rainbow. She felt each word hit her ears, laden with despair.

“I just-“

Twilight broke into tears.

Rainbow was finding it hard to cope with Twilight’s emotions. Each sob was worse than the last, making Rainbow feel uneasy.
She’d not heard much of what Twilight had been lamenting about, but it was clear that she was the source.

“I’m so sorry…”

It was too much. Rainbow had to go in. She couldn’t bear hearing her friend like this.

Rainbow brought her hoof up to the door, and tapped it, quietly, yet firmly.
Regardless, the taps echoed around the library, accentuating their
presence.

“Twilight, I’m coming in.” Rainbow sounded uncertain.

“Wait, Rainbow. Just give me a-“

Rainbow pushed the door open, regardless. A plume of vapour hit her, filling
her lungs with warm, moist air, and clouding her vision.

“Second,” Twilight finished.

Twilight was slumped upon the floor, head in hooves. Her purple, starkly against
the black of the tiles made for a powerful contrast.

It was almost as Twilight was alone.

The tiles were streaked with indefinite misty lines, once drawn in by hoof and tear.
“Twilight?”

Rainbow tried to remain sounding calm, yet her concern for Twilight wavered through into her voice.

Twilight looked down, shielding her face from Rainbow with her hoof.

“Y-yeah?”

Twilight’s voice was as quiet and as light as the vapour that hung in the air, but without the stifling heat.

Rainbow slowly clopped around Twilight’s place on the floor, making a move
towards the seemingly hap-hazard plumbing leading to the large, old
bathtub of the library.
She cranked the faucet closed, with a screeching creak that sliced through
the mist, breaking the tension, whilst simultaneously reinforcing it’s
intensity.

“You alright?”

At least she sounded more confident this time, Rainbow thought to her self, albeit a tad quizzical.

“Well, I’m just a bit…” Twilight exhaled, but her huff was interjected by a spike of sorrow. “You know?”

Rainbow faced Twilight once more, although she didn’t return the gesture.

Rainbow thought, for a moment. She thought about how Twilight was definitely not just a bit ‘You know,’ and how Twilight had cried to herself, for some reason regarding herself.
If only she could remember what it was that had made Twilight feel so morose.
Rainbow knew it was to do with her, or something she’d done.
However, that somehow made it worse, as it had clearly rubbed off onto Twilight,
but she herself, well, she hadn’t the foggiest idea as to what she’d
done.

It didn’t help that Rainbow wasn’t terribly well versed within the art of emotions. It
was probably down to the fact that she’d never experienced anything
like this before; she’d been far too busy racing around to think about
such embarrassing things.

Nevertheless, Rainbow was sure she could fix this; after all, she was the best young
flier, so she could be the best at emotions, too, surely?
This should be easy.

Rainbow picked her hoof up and eased it silently towards Twilight, reaching
through the vapour. She brought her hoof up to Twilight’s chin, and
brought her eyes up to her own.
Twilight snapped her eyes shut, but didn’t resist Rainbow’s soft, reassuring touch.

Rainbow noticed the red streaks upon Twilight’s horn, jolting her memory. This
was probably what had her down; she must have been feeling guilty. Guilty for something Rainbow wasn’t even worried about.
It was just a small gash, nothing more.
Twilight was overreacting, probably partially due to the alcohol she’d consumed,
but also probably partly to do with her obsessive, delicate
personality. She’d been known to snap when under tension before.

“Twilight…, Open your eyes.”

*****

Twilight slowly brought her eyelids apart.
Only by a crack, at first, but then widening, looking up to Rainbow’s tentative, attemptedly reassuring smile.

“Twi’, I know you’re feeling a bit shaken…, but let’s not get all tearful, eh?”

Twilight continued to study Rainbow’s face, moving on from her smile.
She was a pretty pony, really, but Rainbow would probably deny the notion.
Then again, if she’d tried to make an effort on fabricating any sort of ‘look’, then it would probably fall down.

“Okay.”

It was just the way she hung herself so nonchalantly, without a care in the world.
Even with her wound…
Twilight felt sadness well up inside her.
Even with that unsightly gash upon Rainbow’s forehead, she looked good. In
fact, it somewhat enhanced her tomboyish beauty. But she’d just shrug it
off, she’d say; ‘Oh that? It’s just a scratch, no big deal!’

Oh, but Rainbow, it is a big deal, Twilight thought. You need to think about yourself, too, instead of trying to please everyone.

“Twilight, maybe you should get in the bath, to-“Rainbow faltered, momentarily. “-To calm down, you seem a bit…”

Twilight nodded her head, but still managed to make it look morose, albeit
unintentionally and slowly raised herself off the tiles.

She left uncertain hoofprints upon the floor, fading away, barely there.

“But Rainbow, I ran the bath for you. I can’t just usurp you of that pleasure, I’d feel bad…”

Rainbow smiled, more certainly than the last time.

“Twi’, you’re too kind. But you need this more than me, I think.”

The last couple of words seemed to peter out, back to uncertainty.
Twilight thought it odd, hearing Rainbow Dash so tentative. She was
usually so brash, so cocky. To hear her like this… It didn’t seem right.

“Well, why don’t we share?”

Rainbow’s face flushed out in red.

But not like that dark, accusatory crimson upon her forehead.
A jolly red, pale.
The kind of red you’d associate with friends, and happiness. It made Twilight smile.

“What, get in the bath? Together?”

Rainbow’s wings started to rise, slowly.

“Yes, why not? It’s big enough, and it would be practical; we wouldn’t have
to run another, once one of us had finished, and well, I’d like to help
clean up your wound…”

Twilight liked this idea, it’d be quality time with Rainbow. She could use it to
get to know her better, after all, they were friends, but the more
Twilight thought about it, the more she realised how little she knew
about Rainbow Dash: The fastest flier in all of Equestria!
She ought to have a couple of interesting stories to tell her.

“Okay, if you’re sure...”

Rainbow sounded very flustered, all of a sudden. What’d got into her? Maybe it
was just the alcohol, warping her emotions slightly.

Twilight clopped towards the bathtub, hauled herself into the warm water, and
melted in bliss. She let out a calming sigh, and stretched her legs,
relieving tension.

Twilight looked into Rainbow’s eyes, and then to her forehead, to the wound.

Against the blush of Rainbow’s cheeks, it didn’t look quite as bad anymore.

*****

“Come on Rainbow, get in!”

Rainbow halted for a moment, and then put her fore-hooves on the side of the
bath. She looked into the water; although blurred, she could see
Twilight’s legs.

This wasn’t a good idea, Rainbow thought to herself. She should just have
said no, but she didn’t want to put Twilight down. She’d only just come
up, as well, she’d be delicate, and Rainbow didn’t want to shatter her
again. I mean, look what Twilight’d done just by sitting on the floor by
herself.

But Rainbow couldn’t help but have inappropriate thoughts. Thoughts like that.

“Uh, Rainbow, you should probably close your wings first?”

Damn things, always popping up uninvited. She was trying to be a friend. Twilight was vulnerable, melancholic, and yet Rainbow’s body had other ideas. She just wanted to help!

“Yeah, Twi’, I already got it.”

Rainbow tested the water with her hoof, it was an amiable temperature. The kind
of warmth you’d get that makes you just want to sleep, forever.

Rainbow faltered once more, looking down at the seemingly impenetrable water’s
surface, even thought her hoof was touching it, not even ten seconds
ago.

She would try to be a good friend, even if she had to hang her own feelings.

No, Rainbow wouldn’t try.

She’d be the best friend there could be.

Forcing herself, she took the plunge.

Comments

[cherryfeather101]

While the story itself, so far, is excellent, I wish it were a bit easier to read. The way you put the sentences made them confusing, and a bit difficult. But otherwise, its good so far

[Kyrria101]

I agree with Cherry Feather about the sentences being a bit haywire (see what I did there, hay LOL) but the story is still amazing sooooooooooooo KEEP UP THE AWESOMETASTIC WORK!!!