12. Listen
-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-
I walked up the hill to Rainbow Dash’s house as grey clouds began to roll over across the sky. Pinkie had been texting Rainbow and told me that Whiplash wasn’t around so now was the time to do this. Rarity was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill. She wanted to come with me for emotional support, and also be there just in case things got bad between Rainbow and I, but this conversation between Rainbow and I needed to be just between us without any interference.
Rainbow, standing on the gravelly driveway outside her house, wasn’t happy to see me walking up the hill.
“What are you doing here?” She said coldly, arms crossed and looking down at me.
“We need to talk.” I said, adjusting my glasses and trying to look brave.
“Hey, you cut your hair.” Rainbow said suddenly.
“Uh, yeah.” I’d almost forgotten that I did that and felt the empty space behind my ears where hair used to be, and started feeling self-conscious.
“It looks really cute.” Rainbow said. Then she looked away and started blushing. “I mean, it looks cool. You’re c… uh, you look, it looks good. It’s a good look. You did… you’re good. With the hair I mean, it looks fine. And good. Or whatever.” Rainbow started coughing as a transparent method to distract from her nervous rambling.
“Thanks. I ran my hand through what was left of my hair and I was starting to blush myself. I took a quick deep breath to re-center myself and remember why I came here. Then I just started talking, and talking so fast that I didn’t have time to question the things I was saying, otherwise I was going to second guess and overthink everything until the truth of what I had to say was gone.
“You can’t stay here anymore, Rainbow. You can’t stay with Whiplash.” Rainbow growled and rolled her eyes then glared at me irritably, but I kept at it. “You deserve better! You deserve to live in a house that isn’t falling apart! You deserve to have food in your stomach every day! You deserve to be surrounded by friends who care about you! You deserve to be with someone who treats you like you’re a champion! Because you are! You deserve so much better than what Whiplash can give you… so please, come back to us. All of your friends are waiting for you.”
“Twilight…” Rainbow sighed, pounding her forehead.
“Have a duel with me.” I said, interrupting Rainbow’s retort.
“What?” Rainbow said confusedly.
“Duel me.” I repeated. “And if I win… agree to move in with me and Rarity.”
“Twilight, you can’t…” Rainbow grimaced and pinched the bridge of her nose but then something dawned on her and her demeanor completely changed. She became softer, her voice trembling ever so slightly. “Rarity? She’s back from Canterlot?”
“Yeah, you didn’t know?” I asked in mild surprise. “She and Applejack got back the other day, they’re still settling back into Fillydelphia.”
“They’re back for real?” Rainbow asked, a quiver of excitement just barely detectible in her voice. “Like, they’re staying?”
“Seems like it.” I said. “And they both want you to come back to our group too.”
“Applejack doesn’t.” Rainbow scoffed, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t think that’s true.” I said. “I know you guys used to get into a lot of arguments, but she’s changed. You have too! And I think that you and I, and you and Applejack, can set aside our stupid conflicts from four years ago and start a new chapter in our lives. Walk down these new paths of ours together. So what do you say, Rainbow? Duel?”
“Twilight, you can’t solve every problem you have with card games.” Rainbow said in annoyance.
“Well, when all you have is a hammer…” I said with an anxious smile and a light shrug. “Besides, wouldn’t you do the same thing in my shoes?”
Rainbow just stared blankly at me, trying not to admit that I was right.
“Fine.” She groaned. “But if I win, you have to leave your deck here with me.”
“What?! Why?!” I said defensively, holding my deck to my chest.
“Because something needs to be at stake for you too!” Rainbow snapped. “If I say ‘oh and if I win don’t talk to me again’ you’ll just ignore it whenever it suits you! Whenever you feel like you’ve got some new kernel of wisdom that’ll suddenly change my mind and make me leave my girlfriend! So if I win, I’m taking your deck.”
I looked at my cards and felt a pang of dread in my stomach. It was an easy decision, but one that was painful to make.
“It’s a deal.” I said, loading my deck into my Duel Disk.
“Then let’s end this.” Rainbow said, doing the same thing.
DUEL!
Twilight Sparkle vs. Rainbow Dash!
I needed to get through to Rainbow Dash in this duel. If my words weren’t going to convince her, maybe I could do it with… I don’t know, pure conviction or something. Plus, now my deck was on the line so I really needed to win this duel. And aside from all that, it would just be really embarrassing to lose after that whole speech I gave Rainbow.
I drew my opening hand. Invocation, Spellbook of Secrets, Fool of Prophecy, Charioteer of Prophecy, and High Priestess of Prohecy. I groaned quietly, hoping Rainbow couldn’t hear me or see the look of consternation on my face. I kept drawing really bad opening hands lately.
Oh well, since I could only use two of these cards, I may as well make the most of them!
“I play Spellbook of Secrets!” I looked through my deck for a card to retrieve. I needed new cards in my hand, so I thought maybe Spellbook of Rudra? But then, that would require me to leave my field empty since I didn’t have any other Spellbook cards, and that would pretty much be a death sentence. Then I remembered I had an even better draw engine in my deck, at least for the long term. “I choose to put The Grand Spellbook Tower in my hand!” I said proudly, then placing the card on the field.
Rainbow and I were surrounded by quaint, vintage houses on all sides as I played my Field Spell, but the real star of this show was the giant silver tower academy the rose from the ground to touch the sky beside the field. Its magical powers allowed me to recycle Spellbook cards from my graveyard at the start of my turn, putting them back into the deck in order to draw a second card that turn. It wouldn’t take long for that ability to start raking in advantage for me, even with my sub-par opening selection.
“Now I summon Fool of Prophecy!” I said. The Fool was a messy-purple-haired lazy slacker of a mage with baggy green pants and a matching shirt, and with a yellow robe draped across his back and a twig in his mouth like he thought he was cool. “His ability allows me to put one Spellbook from my deck into the graveyard, so I’ll choose Power.” I wanted to build up my stockpile of Spellbooks in the graveyard so I could use the Tower’s Effect as many times as possible. “Now I end my turn.”
“That’s it?” Rainbow scoffed. She had been oddly quiet during my turn, not throwing out any quips while I made my moves. I didn’t like it. “After all that buildup, you’ve got a Field Spell and a 1600 ATK monster?”
“I’m thinking long term here!” I said defensively.
“There isn’t going to be a long term, Twilight!” Rainbow growled. “I ain’t messing around! I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Megaraptor!”
I had a bad feeling as soon as I saw the steel blue dinosaur jet as Rainbow’s first move. Megaraptor’s Effect only worked in tandem with her other Phantom cards, so playing it first was an odd choice. But like Rainbow said, she wasn’t about to mess around, she had a plan and it wasn’t going to be good for me.
“Next I’ll lay two cards face-down, and I’ll activate Foolish Burial!” Rainbow said. “This lets me put one monster from my deck into my graveyard.”
“…O-Lion.” My voice was weak with dread.
“How’d you guess?” Rainbow sneered. “And when O-Lion’s sent to the graveyard, he summons a Mecha Phantom Token, and whenever a token is summoned, Megaraptor summons one too! Now I can drop one of these two tokens to activate Megaraptor’s ability, which lets me add Mecha Phantom Beast Warbluran to my hand!”
“And now with O-Lion’s effect…” I sighed and put a hand on my forehead. I saw exactly where Rainbow’s strategy was heading and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it.
“I banish O-Lion from the graveyard in order to summon Warbluran!” Rainbow said, a pale green spacecraft in the shape of a smol birb gracing Rainbow’s field. “And since I control one Mecha Phantom Token, Megaraptor’s Level is increased to 7, which means I can Tune my Level 1 Warbluran to my Level 7 Megaraptor in order to Synchro Summon!”
Time almost seemed to slow down as I watched Rainbow’s monsters disappear for her Synchro Summon, Megaraptor dissipating into seven stars and hovering in the sky in a circle while Warbluran became pure white energy and shot through the circle, creating a dazzling clear portal. I couldn’t even bring myself to believe it until I saw her monster with my own eyes, and even then it was pretty hard to swallow.
“Scorching Scarlet Dragon! Envoy of my power and avatar of my very soul!” Rainbow declared, raising her fist and I almost swore I saw flames licking the ground around her feet. “Appear now and burn everything down! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend!”
Rainbow’s ace monster. A muscular, bipedal black dragon with a serpentine tail, great leathery wings, vicious claws and a roaring maw with three intimidating demon horns on his head, his entire body covered in ancient red runes.
“Red Archfiend’s Effect.” Rainbow growled coldly, staring daggers right into my heart. “He can annihilate every other attack mode monster on the field.” The dragon’s markings glowed red and a powerful aura began emanating from it. it spread its wings and a burning red light shone through the whole field, making me cringe and shattering my Fool to shards. “Now attack directly!”
The Red Dragon roared and flew up into the sky, surpassing the height of my Tower and inhaling deeply before shooting a massive crimson fireball directly at me that quickly overwhelmed me as it closed in and covered me in holographic flames, causing me to scream bloody murder as my Life was reduced to 1000. On turn TWO.
I fell to my knees and started breathing heavy. My vision was getting blurry as tears formed in my eyes. It was turn two and Rainbow already had her ace monster on the field and reduced my Life Points to a pitiful 1000. I had no idea how to come back from that, especially with the meager hand that I had.
Breathe.
I heard her voice in my head.
“Breathe.” I whispered to myself, heeding the instruction and breathing deeply… in through the nose… and out through the mouth.
I took some deep breaths and looked at my hand again. It was my turn now so I needed to make a comeback. Using my Grand Spellbook Tower’s Effect I was able to return a Spellbook to the deck from the graveyard and draw an extra card, so now I had five cards in my hand. The two cards I drew were Chocolate Magician Girl and Drowning Mirror Force. I could work with these.
“I’ll set one card face-down, and summon Chocolate Magician Girl!” I could only describe Chocolate Magician Girl as a cute anime witch in blue stripper clothing, with bat wings on her back and a killer sassy smile. “Her Effect lets me discard one Spellcaster from my hand in order to draw a new card!” I discarded the High Priestess of Prophecy, a move I hoped would come in handy later.
This was it. The moment of truth. While I could hope to defend myself next turn with my trap card, what I really needed was for this draw to give me something I could use. Something really good. I drew the card and hesitated to look at it, but I got a good feeling in my gut. Then I saw what it was.
Aleister the Invoker.
I smiled brightly and said “I activate Invocation!” Rainbow’s eyes widened in shock. She couldn’t believe I drew into such a great card either. “By discarding Aleister the Invoker from my hand and banishing the Mecha Phantom Beast Megaraptor from your graveyard, I can Fusion Summon! Hit the field, Invoked Raidjin!”
A red circle appeared on the line between Rainbow’s field and my own and red lightning began to shower down upon it. From above Aleister, the nerdy white-and-green-robed mage, descended gracefully. From below Megaraptor was dragged in mystical chains, struggling for freedom that could not be earned. Aleister touched the chains with his index finger and they broke apart then put his hand on Megaraptor’s steel nose, calming the beast.
The circle began to glow as the two creatures were struck by the red lightning, becoming a swirling vortex on green energy that started brewing out of control into a mighty tornado! From this cyclone jumped an armored soldier, his body made entirely of electrical energy that was contained within his majestic silver armor! He carried a sword that could cut storms! Invoked Raidjin!
“Your Archfiend can’t hold a candle to this, Rainbow Dash!” I said nervously. Rainbow didn’t react to me stealing her monster this time so I was starting to get worried about her. To her, trash talking was half the game. The fact that she was ready to end it so soon and she hasn’t made a snarky comeback even once had me seriously on edge. “Raidjin’s effect allows me to flip your monster into face-down defense mode! Now Raidjin can attack it and destroy it!”
Raidjin’s ATK was 2200 and while Red Dragon’s ATK was 3000, its DEF was only 2000, making it a prime target for my soldier’s ability. The warrior sliced his sword swiftly enough to cause a gust of wind to charge at the Red Dragon Archfiend, forcing it to heel and be flipped into face-down defense mode. Then my knight leapt at the creature, falling downward onto it and piercing its heart with his mighty blade, an electrical storm crackling out of the dragon’s wound and consuming it.
“Don’t start getting a big head just because you killed my dragon, Twilight.” Rainbow scoffed. “I have way more tricks up my sleeve.”
“If you say so.” I said with a forced smile. Rainbow didn’t seem to be enjoying this duel. I needed to change that. I needed her to remember our last duel and how much fun it was. I couldn’t convince her to come back to us if all she was feeling was anger and resentment. “Now then, Chocolate Magician Girl will attack you directly!”
Choco Girl did a little dance with her magic wand, summoning a stream of water and then throwing it at Rainbow, the water becoming shards of ice in midair, but the attack was stopped by a rainbow-colored phantasm of Megaraptor.
“You used…” I grumbled, recognizing the combo Rainbow pulled.
“Aerial Recharge and Draw Muscle.” Rainbow said smugly, drawing a card. “One summons a Phantom Token, the other makes that token invincible for the turn and draws me a free card.”
“Right then…” I sighed irritably. As important as it was for Rainbow to enjoy this duel, it was also important that I win. Killing Rainbow’s Dragon was a good start but it was annoying that I couldn’t do any damage. Oh well, at least Rainbow’s field was empty now since she had to sacrifice her token to keep up Aerial Recharge’s maintenance cost. “It’s your turn.”
“Like I said, Twilight…” Rainbow smiled wickedly. “It’s too early to be celebrating. I activate Return of the Dragon Lords!”
“Oh! That’s… that’s really bad for me!” I cringed worriedly. Return of the Dragon Lords did one thing: revived a high level Dragon from the graveyard. It wasn’t hard to guess why Rainbow put it in her deck or what she was about to use it for.
“Be reborn! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend!” Rainbow screamed as her dragon returned to the field in a blaze of destruction, roaring at my creatures that paled in comparison to it.
“Take this! Raidjin’s Effect activates, putting your monster harmlessly in defense mode again!” I said proudly. Raidjin threw another gust of wind from his blade that covered the Red Dragon and flipped into defense mode again. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to work, I thought Rainbow was going to pull some combo or something, but nope! Good for me.
“That’s fine with me.” Rainbow shrugged. “First I’ll activate… Void Expansion!”
A mysterious gate with eight colored stones on its face hovered in the sky above Rainbow. The bright yet cloudy sky we dueled under was covered up by a thick grey fog and all the little houses surrounding us from my own Field Spell were hidden by a wall of blue flame which now encroached around the entire field.
“Now I’ll summon Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf!” Rainbow said as she summoned her black and white dog-copter, a colorful illusory version of the same beast following it into battle. “By sacrificing the token it created, Tetherwolf’s ATK raises from 1700 to 2500 for this turn, making it just strong enough to run over your Raidjin!”
Tetherwolf had two laser cannons attached to it by steel cords and the creature readied those cannons to fire at Raidjin, absorbing the phantom version of itself into the cannons and blasting rainbow laser bullets at my silver soldier, eradicating him and reducing my Life to 700.
“Rainbow, do you remember how much fun our last duel was?” I said.
“Yeah, because I wanted that one to be fun.” Rainbow said in frustration. “I wanted to have a fun duel with you one last time, and then I wanted to move on from all this. But this? This is just a chore.”
“But why, Rainbow?” I asked desperately, tears starting to fall down my face. “Why do you keep turning your back on me? On our friends? Why do you keep choosing Whiplash?”
“You act like I have some kind of real choice in the matter, Twilight!” Rainbow yelled back. “I told you that I made a commitment! I’m loyal to my friends and I keep my promises!”
“Then why did you turn your back on us?” Saying that… was a mistake.
“You guys turned your backs on ME!” Rainbow snapped. “When I found out how badly I needed to win that tournament four years ago, where were you guys? When me and Whiplash went into debt and I needed to find some way to pay it off, where were you guys? I thought you guys would have my back, I thought that together we could come up with some way to save Whiplash, but all I got were ultimatums. ‘Choose Whiplash or choose us’, that’s what everybody said! Nobody ever thought about how I might be feeling, nobody ever considered why saving Whiplash was important to me, all anyone said was ‘oh Whiplash is such a jerk you should leave her’ like that was something I could just do. Now it’s four years later and all I’m getting are lectures! Screw that! Get bent, Twilight! If you were really interested in helping me, instead of just making yourself feel better or soothing your own guilt, maybe you could freaking LISTEN!”
Rainbow started panting, her hands clenching into fists so hard I swore she was going to draw blood on her hands. I was speechless. I felt completely torn up… that kind of embarrassment where you feel naked even when you’re fully clothed.
“I… I’m sorry, Rainbow.” I said tearfully, not knowing what else to say. “I’m sorry. Four years ago I was… not in a good place. I don’t honestly know what I could have done differently, and I can’t speak for any of the others.”
“Good apology, Twilight.” Rainbow said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I’m not done!” I snapped, but then cleared my throat to remind myself to stay calm. “What’s done is done, but none of that excuses my behavior now. I’m still acting like I’m 100% right, like you’re just ‘misguided’ or ‘confused’ and that if you just saw things my way that you’d agree that I’m right and everything would be okay.” I mean, that is what I honestly thought, but still… “I haven’t even considered that you may really have thought all this stuff through and that you’re truly doing what you believe is the right thing. And for that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that we weren’t there for you when you needed us. I’m sorry that no matter how I try, I can’t seem to figure out how to break through to you… no, that’s not… that’s still the same stupid thinking that got me into this mess. I just… ugh…”
“Just take your turn, Twilight.” Rainbow said coldly. “I have to summon and tribute a token to keep Aerial Recharge around, but now it’s your turn.”
“Right.” I was on the verge of tears again but I was so tired of crying. After returning a Spellbook from my graveyard to the deck, the Tower allowed me to draw a second card for this turn, but that was the last Spellbook in my graveyard so if I couldn’t play any Spellbooks this turn I couldn’t use its Effect next turn.
The cards I drew were Strength of Prophecy and Spellbook of the Master. I discarded Strength with Chocolate Magician Girl’s Effect and drew Spellbook of Eternity. I couldn’t use Master because I had no Spellbooks in the graveyard to copy, and I couldn’t use Eternity since I had no banished Spellbooks.
“I change Chocolate Magician Girl into defense mode…” I said hesitantly. “And I’ll end my turn.”
“My turn.” Rainbow said. After Rainbow drew her card a small vial of black liquid appeared on her side of the field next to her Tetherwolf and face-down Archfiend. Void Expansion’s ability allowed Rainbow to summon a token like that every turn. “First thing’s first, I’ll use Pot of Desires.”
“So you can draw two cards…” I said. “… but you lose the top ten cards of your deck first.”
“No risk no reward, right?” Rainbow sneered. “Now I’ll summon Mecha Phantom Beast Coltwing!”
Coltwing looked like a first-class passenger plane but with helicopter rotors on either wing and an extended head section that reached out of the nose of the plane that looked like a birdy.
“I use Aerial Recharge to summon a new Phantom Token.” Rainbow said, the token being her fifth monster on the field, not that it was about to matter. “Now by sacrificing the Phantom and Infernoid tokens on my side of the field,” Rainbow said, pointing at my face-down card “Coltwing can destroy and banish one card on the field!”
The rotor blades on Coltwing’s wings began spinning wildly, the inky jar and phantasmal version of Coltwing being absorbed into the blades and transformed into green energy then shot out at my face-down card like a missile, destroying it.
And just like that my Drowning Mirror Force, my one hope for defending myself, was gone. Between Tetherwolf, Coltwing and Rainbow’s Dragon my field was going to get decimated this turn. I only had one meager hope left with my Chocolate Magician Girl…
“Now I flip my Hot Red Dragon Archfiend back into attack mode!” Rainbow said. Thankfully my Choco Girl was in defense mode otherwise Rainbow’s Dragon could kill it with its Effect, but no such luck for Rainbow this turn! “Coltwing attacks your Chocolate Magician Girl!”
“I activate her Effect!” I said, a little disappointed that Rainbow remembered what the Effect was and chose Coltwing as her first attacker. While Choco Girl being in defense saved her from Red Dragon, her 1000 DEF made her an easy target for the 1600 ATK Coltwing. “When my Magician Girl is targeted for an attack, I can revive a Spellcaster in my graveyard and make them the attack target instead! And not only that, but the attacking monster’s ATK is cut in half! So be reborn, High Priestess of Prophecy!”
A stream of water surrounded my Chocolate Magician Girl and out of it came my wild-pink-maned white coat magician, my High Priestess of Prophecy! Her calming effect on my nerves as she came to the field would only be temporary so I relished it while she was here. Coltwing’s rotors spun out of control and it launched them at the Priestess, who simply grabbed them out of the air and threw them back at Coltwing, piercing its armor and causing it to explode, reducing Rainbow’s Life to 2200.
“Next, Tetherwolf will continue the attack on Chocolate Magician Girl!” With Choco Girl’s Effect already activated once this turn there was nothing to defend her from the barrage of bullets unleashed by Tetherwolf, so she was destroyed. “And now, last but not least, Hot Red Dragon Archfiend! Kill Twilight’s High Priestess!”
The Red Dragon stormed toward my Priestess and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground as she struggled against him to no avail. Her wailing scream as the dragon burnt her to ash, and reduced my Life to 200, haunted me as it resounded in my mind. No matter how many times it happened I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t devastated to see my High Priestess get destroyed.
“Next up I’ll use Iron Call.” Rainbow said flippantly. “This allows me to revive Coltwing from the graveyard, but his effect doesn’t work and I have to destroy him at the end of my turn. But, I can sacrifice him to keep Aerial Recharge on the field instead, so I’ll do that and end my turn.”
I wanted to say something to Rainbow but the knots in my stomach prevented me from focusing enough to make coherent words. I needed to make a comeback this turn or else this duel was effectively over.
“My turn!” I whimpered. The card I drew was Charioteer of Prophecy… not good enough to make a comeback, but I wasn’t about to give up! “I activate Spellbook of Rudra, and I’ll sacrifice…” My heart jumped up into my throat as I announced the sacrifice, but it needed to be done. “…my Tower to do it!”
It was heartbreaking to sacrifice the Tower, watching it crumble into dust as the village houses around us were swallowed up by the dismal blue flames of Rainbow’s Field, the once great Tower no longer providing a small glint of hope against the cold gray sky that Void Expansion produced. But still… Rudra could be a life saver for me if I could just draw two Spellbook cards. Any two Spellbook cards.
I couldn’t believe my eyes as I looked at my drawn cards, Spellbook of Power and Spellbook of Rudra!
“I summon the Charioteer of Prophecy!” I said joyfully as a blonde man in green robes and a teal cape, riding a stunning white horse, appeared before me. “His Effect allows me to discard the Spellbook of Rudra in my hand to put High Priestess back in my hand, and now her Effect! By revealing the three Spellbook cards in my hand, Eternity, Master and Power, I can summon her to the field!”
In a storm of paper and rays of white light, my High Priestess descended from the sky, confidently taking her place on the field as my vanguard against Rainbow’s forces. It was good to see her again.
“Now I’ll use her Effect!” I said. Her Effect required me to banish one of my Spellbooks, either in the hand or in the graveyard, but which one I banished could have consequences… especially since my Spellbook of Eternity could just return whichever one to my hand to use again. I could return my Tower, but I wanted to keep my Spellbooks in the graveyard at this point so High Priestess could use them. Maybe Master? But what would be the point of that? Rudra? I couldn’t use it again this turn, but maybe next…
“C’mon, Twilight. Pick a card.” Rainbow said agitatedly.
“Uh, right! I’ll banish Spellbook of Eternity!” I couldn’t think what to do and was starting to seriously overthink so I just needed to narrow my options. I had a feeling I would regret that decision later though. “Now High Priestess can destroy your Red Dragon Archfiend!”
My High Priestess took the white book of Eternity in her hands, absorbing the power from it into a sphere of white energy as the pages crumbled to dust between her fingers. She held the sphere against Red Dragon Archfiend and fired it, the energy exploding into a ball of white flame and enveloped him, but once the flames passed he was completely unharmed!
“Not so fast!” Rainbow said. “I banish Return of the Dragon Lords from my graveyard, and that protects one Dragon-type monster I control from destruction once this turn!”
“Fair enough.” I smiled roughly. “Then I guess I’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way! I activate Spellbook of Power! This raises my High Priestess’ ATK to 3500, allowing her to stomp your Red Dragon!”
High Priestess was bathed in the mystical red glow of the Spellbook of Power, turning the energy into a sword which she held aloft, jumping into the air and cleaving Red Dragon Archfiend down the center, cutting it in twain and destroying it, reducing Rainbow’s Life to 1700.
“When a monster buffed by Spellbook of Power destroys another opponent’s monster,” I said “I can add another Spellbook to my hand! I choose… Spellbook of the Master!” My head was such a mess that I literally just picked the first Spellbook I saw, not even remembering that I already held a copy of Master in my hand. “Now then, Charioteer! Attack Rainbow’s Tetherwolf!”
Charioteer stormed across the field on his mighty steed, brandishing his magical sword and slicing through Tetherwolf with its 1800 ATK and reducing Rainbow’s Life to 1600. Because Rainbow activated her Aerial Recharge before the battle, Tetherwolf survived the attack.
Looking at my hand, I now had two Spellbook of the Master cards in it. Probably one too many. Why did I put another one in my hand when I already had one?! One more boneheaded mistake like that and this duel was over, but I wasn’t exactly playing at my best in this game. I was so distracted by Rainbow’s anger and my own guilt. I needed to step up my game if I really wanted to win this, to get through to Rainbow and to keep my deck.
“I activate Spellbook of the Master!” I said. “By revealing the other Spellbook of the Master in my hand I can copy the Spellbook of Rudra in my graveyard, sending Charioteer of Prophecy to the graveyard to draw two cards.”
The pink Spellbook of Rudra fell into the hands of the Charioteer who silently nodded as the tendrils absorbed him and his horse into the book which disappeared thereafter.
I couldn’t risk a monster as weak as Charioteer staying on the field, not with only 200 Life left. The two cards his sacrifice enabled me to draw were Dark Renewal and Foolish Burial Goods, a Spell card that would let me put one of my Spellbooks in the graveyard, which was an effect that I didn’t want to use since I needed to actually draw one of my Spellbooks.
“I set one card face-down and end my turn!” I said. Rainbow sacrificed a token to keep Aerial Recharge, leaving her Tetherwolf as her only monster on the field and no cards in her hand.
At the start of her turn, the inky black Infernoid Token appeared on Rainbow’s side of the field.
“I’m gonna tribute my Infernoid Token to power up my Tetherwolf!” Rainbow said, her monster’s ATK becoming 2500 again. “Now I’ll use Aerial Recharge!” As Rainbow’s Phantom Token was summoned, it was suddenly swallowed up, along with my High Priestess, by an ornate coffin, which opened to reveal Prophecy Destroyer in their stead, my grinning devil’s face mocking Rainbow’s disrupted strategy.
“Sorry, Rainbow.” I said with a coy smile. “Dark Renewal lets me sacrifice your token and my Priestess to summon Prophecy Destroyer from the deck! And with no Phantom Token, Tetherwolf doesn’t get to remain invincible, plus you have to choose between him and Aerial Recharge.” Not only that, but she couldn’t just attack Destroyer with Tetherwolf to kill them both because Destroyer could just revive himself. I felt pretty proud of myself, and for the first time in this duel I was pulling ahead!
Rainbow growled under her breath and looked at the only card in her hand. “I’ll play a monster in defense mode… and sacrifice Tetherwolf.”
“I summon Chocolate Magician Girl!” I said happily as my cute little anime stripper witch hit the field anew. What a perfect card to draw into. With Rainbow summoning new tokens every turn with Aerial Recharge and Void Expansion I needed another monster to keep up, and Choco’s effect allowed her to stay safe and not be unceremoniously killed. “Choco will attack your face-down monster!”
“I activate Aerial Recharge and summon a Phantom Token!” Rainbow said.
“Then…” I pondered for a second. When a monster was summoned during a battle, it caused a Replay which allowed me to change my attack target. If Rainbow was willing to summon her token now, instead of at the end of her turn so she could keep Recharge on the field, then her face-down monster must have been a Mecha Phantom and she was planning on using the token to keep it alive. In that case… “Chocolate Magician Girl will attack the Phantom Token!”
Choco Girl’s water-to-ice attack tore through the illusory Tetherwolf Rainbow summoned easily. After all, the Phantom Tokens didn’t have any DEF.
“Now Prophecy Destroyer will attack your face-down monster!” The fiery devil dragged his sword behind him, slowly speeding up into a running blitz and slicing through the mysterious defender as he passed by it.
“The monster you destroyed was my Hamstrat,” Rainbow explained “and when he’s flipped face-up, he summons two Phantom Tokens!” Two rainbow colored phantasms of a passenger jet with a hamster’s face appeared on Rainbow’s field. There was a lot Rainbow could do with two tokens, even if they were all she had on the field.
“Hm… fair enough.” I started biting my nails. Even with no cards in hand Rainbow’s field looked good. There were a lot of cards she could draw into that could help her turn this around, and I already lost a duel this week to an incredible topdeck, something that I did not want to make a pattern out of. “I end my turn.” Rainbow sacrificed one of the tokens for Aerial Recharge.
Rainbow drew her card and a weary smile appeared on her face as another inky jar appeared to replace the sacrificed Phantom Token. “This is perfect. I summon Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion!”
O-Lion. That card was a nightmare to deal with in our last duel. Despite only being a small bronze satellite with a lion’s face, and I was starting to lean towards ‘cute’ by the way, he was a real troublemaker for me!
“Now with Aerial Recharge, I summon another Phantom Token!” Rainbow said, summoning another hologram of O-Lion. “And I’ll Tune my Level 2 O-Lion with my two Level 3 Phantom Tokens to Synchro Summon! Bright shining light… avatar of my heart… spread your glittering wings and protect my forces from evil! Fly! Stardust Spark Dragon!”
I was awestruck by Rainbow’s monster. A slender white dragon with beautiful feathery wings whose entire body glittered like gemstones and offered a radiant aura of protection across Rainbow’s field.
“You still have it.” I said in amazement. Stardust Spark Dragon was a card that I gave to Rainbow many years ago. I remembered giving it to her as a gift because I thought she needed some new tricks other than Red Dragon Archfiend. We were still kids then and I got so giddy whenever she played it… and here it was, so many years and a friendship-ruining fight later… still in her deck and by her side. “You’re still… you’re using it!” I said tearfully.
“Yeah… I am.” Rainbow said distantly, staring at the ground and kicking some gravel. “We had a lot of good times, Twilight. I still treasure our friendship… the memory of it anyway.”
“We can make new memories, Rainbow.” I pleaded. “We can pick up where we left off…”
“It’s too late for that, Twilight!” Rainbow snapped.
“Rainbow, tell me honestly that you don’t want to be friends anymore!” I dug my feet into the ground and stared sharply at Rainbow, even making eye contact… very briefly. “Can you really say to my face, and honestly believe in your heart, that we can’t be friends?! You know, deep down somewhere you know, that you miss what we had…”
“Of course I miss it!” Rainbow yelled as tears formed in her eyes. “Of course I miss what we had! But that’s the past, Twilight! You can’t just sweep everything that’s happened under the rug and pretend like it didn’t exist! We both hurt each other, Twilight, I know this. I know I haven’t been a saint, or even close to it! But what’s done is done, like you said, and there’s no turning back from it.”
“Rainbow…” I shook my head sadly. “You’re right. You leaving, choosing Whiplash over us… it hurt me. It hurt me really badly. It was the last straw on a pile of weights and anvils that were waiting for any opportunity to come crashing down on me. I still haven’t recovered from the downward spiral of it all… but to be honest that spiral started way more than four years ago. You leaving just gave me something I could focus all of my pain and anger into. I’ve hated you for four years, thinking about how selfish you are and how your decision hurt all of our friends and how stupid it was and all this other nonsense… but none of that matters… none of it was even real. Just a bunch of smoke and mirrors so that I didn’t have to face why I was really angry, why I was really spiraling. It’s not your fault that I’m still in pain Rainbow, and I forgive the hurt that you did cause me. I just want my friend back.”
“Twilight…” Rainbow started to break down crying but she inhaled sharply and went back to staring daggers. “This duel isn’t over yet. Stardust Spark Dragon attacks Prophecy Destroyer! Their ATK is both 2500, but once per turn Stardust Spark Dragon can protect a monster on my field from being destroyed and he’ll use that effect on himself!”
Stardust Dragon zoomed toward Prophecy Destroyer and lifted it off the ground before it could react, taking it into the air before spinning wildly and crashing toward the ground, protecting itself with an armor of light as the two creatures crashed, the impact eliminating my Destroyer.
“I know you’re gonna want to revive your Prophecy Destroyer, Twilight.” Rainbow said. “So I’ll nip that in the bud with D.D. Crow!” I cringed. By discarding the Crow, Rainbow could banish one monster from my graveyard, so that was the last I was going to see of Destroyer. “Your move, Twilight.” Rainbow sacrificed her last Phantom Token, the one summoned by O-Lion when it went to the graveyard, to keep Aerial Recharge.
“Okay, I can do this…” I whispered to myself as I drew my card. Amores of Prophecy, a monster with 1000 ATK whose Effect I couldn’t use. Completely useless right now. I discarded it with Chocolate Magician Girl’s Effect… and drew Stoic of Prophecy, a monster which 300 ATK and an ability I couldn’t use. This. Is actually. WORSE!
“I activate Foolish Burial Goods!” With this card I sent Galaxy Cyclone to the graveyard. I have no idea how I forgot about this combo! I swore this duel was going to be the death of me. Next turn I could use my Cyclone to destroy either Rainbow’s Aerial Recharge or her Void Expansion! But for now… “I switch Chocolate to defense mode, and end my turn.” No point in summoning another monster, if Rainbow was going to attack something I wanted it to be Chocolate Magician Girl so that I could revive High Priestess.
Rainbow summoned another Infernoid Token, giving her two of them alongside her Dragon. “I set one card face-down.” Rainbow said. “And that’ll be that. I’m not falling into that Magician Girl trap, Twilight.”
“Fine by me.” I sighed wearily. This duel was draining me and I needed it to be over soon. My eyes widened in shock and happiness as I drew the card that could indeed end this for me! “I activate Invocation!” I declared, Rainbow gritting her teeth. “I discarded Aleister to the graveyard last time I played this card, which means I can fuse him from there! I’ll also use the Chocolate Magician Girl in my graveyard to summon… Invoked Cocytus!”
The red circle appeared on my field as Aleister and the second Magician Girl rose from the ground inside it, clutching each other in a tender embrace as the red lightning rained down, striking them both and turning them into water energy that swirled inside the circle until it froze over, a wicked dragon made from ice slowly forming from that frozen energy and roaring at Rainbow’s Stardust Dragon.
“Next I’ll activate Invocation’s second Effect!” I returned Invocation to the deck to put Aleister back in my hand, then summoned him back on the field.
“I activate Torrential Tribute!” Rainbow shouted triumphantly as a deluge of water ripped through the field and crushed every single monster on it except for the two dragons. “When a monster’s summoned, I can use this card to wipe out all the monsters on the field! Naturally, my Stardust Spark is saved by his own Effect…”
“…and my Cocytus is saved by his.” I said. Cocytus just couldn’t be destroyed by card Effects at all, that was kind of his thing.
“But what now, Twilight?” Rainbow asked smugly. “With your monster’s 1800 ATK and 2900 DEF neither of our monsters can beat each other!”
“That’s fine.” I said with a serene smile. “Even though Aleister was destroyed, his Effect to search out Invocation can still activate… and I’ll use Invocation to fuse Cocytus and Raidjin!”
“WHAT?!” Rainbow exclaimed.
Raidjin jumped out of the red circle into the air, his body pounded by the red lightning and torn asunder as Cocytus shrieked in excitement as it too was disintegrated by the magical energy, turning them both into rainbow colored magic that swirled around to form my ultimate beast.
A monster that defies description… a holy guardian that watches over all with glittering wings and the eyes of an entire world… Invoked Elysium!
My monster descended on the battlefield in all its glory, its glittering body completely outmatching Rainbow’s dragon.
“Elysium attacks Stardust Spark Dragon!” I said. “Since your dragon already used its Effect this turn, you can’t use it again to save it!” Elysium shined with a holy radiance that wiped Stardust Spark Dragon away and reduced Rainbow’s Life to 900. “Before I end my turn, Rainbow, I’ll activate Galaxy Cyclone. By banishing it from the graveyard I can destroy your Aerial Recharge.”
“That’s fine, I can activate it one last time before it goes!” Rainbow said, summoning a phantom visage of O-Lion.
“It’s your turn, Rainbow.” I sighed. “Make it a good one.”
Rainbow looked at the card she drew and laughed. “I summon Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion!”
“Are you kidding?!” I exclaimed in disbelief and frustration as the little satellite beast hit the field. Here I am just praying for a decent card, like I dunno, any Spellbook, and Rainbow topdecks a THIRD O-Lion!?
“This is your only chance to stop me, Twilight!” Rainbow laughed. “Use Elysium’s Effect now or you won’t get the chance!”
Rainbow’s field contained one Level 2 Tuner, a Level 3 Phantom token and two Level 1 Infernoid Tokens. I could wipe them all out with Elysium’s Effect but that would leave my field empty. No, I was going to call Rainbow’s bluff. After all, I could use Elysium’s Effect in an emergency to counter one of her Effects!
“Go for it, Rainbow!” I said confidently.
“I’m Tuning my Level 2 O-Lion with my Level 3 Phantom Token and my two Level 1 Infernoid Tokens… Synchro Summon! Harbinger of disaster! Ill omen that ruins weak hearts! Burn this hideous world to cinders! Black Rose Dragon!”
Rainbow’s monster was a serpentine black dragon with massive wings, covered head to toe in rose petals. It roared as it appeared and the petals began to fly off its body, a storm of them enveloping the field and engulfing in flame.
“When Black Rose Dragon is summoned, it can destroy all cards on the field!” Rainbow said.
“I activate Elysium’s ability!” I yelled. “By banishing it I can banish all of your monsters as well!”
Elysium sang its hallowed song as Black Rose screeched and the fire roared around them. Time slowed down and everything became white for a second and when I opened my eyes the two monsters were just gone.
“Your turn, Twilight.” Rainbow smiled, and it melted my heart a little bit. “Let’s see if you can end this.”
“We’ll see…” I inhaled nervously. “I need to summon a monster with 900 ATK or more…”
“Can you?” Rainbow asked with a confident smile.
I drew my card. It was a Spell card. Not even a Spellbook Spell either. Just a Spell card… which meant my only monster was… “I summon Stoic of Prophecy…” I said gloomily. But then I looked at the field again and I looked at Rainbow. Determination filled my heart and I pointed right at Rainbow Dash as I made my declaration. “Rainbow Dash! This card represents my stubbornness and determination! It represents my unbending will and desire to see us reunited! With this card, I’ll defeat you!”
Stoic of Prophecy attacked Rainbow directly, reducing her Life to 600.
“It’s your turn, Rainbow Dash!” I said.
Rainbow drew her card and her eyes widened. She looked at me and paused, then looked back at the card. I had a bad feeling but Rainbow simply shrugged and ended her turn.
“I got nothing.” She said.
“Then it’s my turn.” I took a deep breath and drew a card… it was Spellbook of Life. I couldn’t hold back my excitement as I realized my victory. “I activate Spellbook of Life! By revealing the Spellbook of the Master in my hand and banishing the Aleister the Invoker in my graveyard, I can revive… High Priestess of Prophecy!”
The spirit of Aleister appeared on the field holding a bright purple spell book. He held it in the air and it glowed with purple energy, turning his ghostly form the same color. The book and his spirit fused together and the energy took the form of my High Priestess of Prophecy!
“Good job, Twilight.” Rainbow said with a smile. “You pulled it off.”
“I sure did!” I said gleefully. “Now I’ll activate my High Priestess’ Effect! By banishing the Spellbook of the Master in my hand, I can destroy Void Expansion!”
I was so sick of this gloomy Field Spell so I smiled as my Priestess clasped her hands together in prayer and a black energy spread outward from her and covered the entire field. The blackness shattered into shards of glass, falling to the ground and returning our surroundings to a bright cloudy day in Rainbow’s gravelly driveway. What a relief.
“High Priestess! Attack directly!” I declared. My beautiful Priestess jumped into the air and the clouds gathered behind her, filling her with electrical energy and flowing through her, allowing her to release a charged bolt of lightning directly at Rainbow Dash, reducing her Life to 0.
A moment of silence passed between Rainbow and I, broken up by a clap of thunder and the pitter patter of rain starting to fall.
“So what now?” I asked.
“A deal’s a deal.” Rainbow shrugged. “If you still want me to… I’ll move in with you and Rarity.”
“What?! Really? Why, what changed your mind?” I said, trying to reign in my excitement.
“This duel sucked.” Rainbow said, making my shoulders slump in disappointment. “Way worse than our last one. If that last duel represents us as friends, and this one represents us as… I dunno, whatever we’re becoming… then forget that. I liked that other duel better.”
“You miss me.” I said coyly.
Rainbow got silent and started looking up at the clouds. I couldn’t help but do the same thing and wonder what she was thinking.
****
-RAINBOW DASH-
I was thinking about Whiplash. Five years we’d been together, and for what? Every second I spent with her was miserable. It didn’t start that way, she started out being so cool and affirming, always telling me I was great and that I was a champion and that I could do great things and propping up how cool I was. She came into my life at a time when I really needed to hear those things and she gave me exactly what I wanted.
Until she didn’t.
I couldn’t pretend I didn’t notice. I mean, I could, I’d been doing it for four years, but I couldn’t anymore. I knew that Whiplash took out an enormous loan and forced me into that tournament to repay it. I don’t know if she really expected me to win, but it doesn’t matter. She was screwing around with me and using me… and for what again? Why did I stay so long?
Because I couldn’t admit I was wrong.
Everybody warned me about Whiplash, everybody told me she was bad news, but I refused to listen. She told me what I wanted to hear and propped me up in a way no one else did. Plus she’s like, super hot. She made me feel good, but then every once in a while she’d let some comment slip, notice some flaw of mine or make some coy comment that ripped through my self-esteem. Like clockwork, all the time. And I pretended not to notice because I couldn’t admit that everyone else was right and I was wrong, I couldn’t admit to anyone why I needed someone like Whiplash in my life… I couldn’t admit how pathetic I was.
But now everybody could see it. I was broke, starving, living in a house that was falling apart all the while Whiplash wasn’t even pretending to compliment me anymore, just reminding me constantly of how I screwed up and how I kept screwing up to make me feel guilty about what she did, playing on my sense of loyalty and commitment to keep me trapped.
Screw her.
“I’m sorry, Twilight.” I said distantly, tears filling my eyes as I looked up at the cloudy skies. I couldn’t help but start laughing through the tears as I realized what I needed to say. “You were right all along… and I’m sorry I was too bullheaded to see it.”
“So… what changed your mind?” Twilight asked.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about our duel at the airplane graveyard.” I said. “Every day since then I’ve thought about it…”
“Rainbow it was two days ago.” Twilight said flatly.
“Right, well, it’s felt like a lot longer.” I stammered, blushing nervously. I started pacing around the gravel driveway and kicking up stones and stuff. Last time I was gonna get the chance probably. “Point is… man that duel was good. Laughing with you, having fun… I miss it so much…” I started tearing up and did that little whimper you do when you’re about to cry but I clenched my fists and demanded of myself that I didn’t cry. This was already humiliating enough as it is! “I keep pushing you guys away, keep insisting that I know what I’m doing, but you keep saying you want me back. Even Pinkie and Fluttershy, I know they’re just waiting on me because they don’t want to push me like you do.”
“Rarity and Applejack have been nothing but supportive of my efforts to reach out to you.” Twilight said.
“Applejack… Rarity…” Welp, couldn’t hold back the crying after all. Other than Twilight, those two inspired the strongest emotions in me of our gang, for entirely different reasons. “I’m sorry I’ve been acting like a freaking idiot, Twilight.”
“You haven’t been, Rainbow.” Twilight shook her head. “Like I said before, I understand why you made the decisions you did.”
“Maybe…” I groaned loudly and dug my nails into my forehead. “I wanted so badly for somebody to see things my way, to tell me I was doing the right thing even though I knew that I wasn’t. But I got so focused on the path I was on that I couldn’t admit that it might be wrong, I just had to keep digging in until I eventually forced it to become the right decision… how stupid is that?”
“I… I can relate.” Twilight said tensely.
“I can’t keep digging my own grave, Twilight.” I said coldly before getting mad again and kicking a big pile of gravel out of the driveway, watching it splatter all over the road beside the house and some of it tumble down the hill. “I can’t keep denying what I really feel… and what I really feel is that I miss you guys, I even kinda miss Applejack… I miss you guys so badly. So yeah, please let me move in with you and Rarity, and for heaven’s sake please get me something to eat!” At this point my dignity was completely shot so I just went the extra mile and got down on my hands and knees, bowing flat against the ground toward Twilight.
Twilight didn’t say anything for a moment, but then she got on her knees as well and copied my bow. As I sat up feeling confused, she looked at me with a big smile and tears in her eyes before jumping at me and embracing me in a tackle hug, knocking me on my back.
“Of course, Rainbow!” She said joyfully. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Oh, and Twilight…” I said, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. “I forgive you too.”
“I’m glad…” Twilight said softly with a smile. She got comfy on top of me, resting her head against my shoulder… it actually felt kinda nice. But then we both remembered our crippling intimacy issues and she couldn’t have gotten off of me faster. As she helped me up off the ground she said “Oh hey, what card was this anyway?” I was still holding the last card in my hand this whole time and Twilight snatched it right out of my hand. “You were looking at it pretty intensely before you didn’t play it!”
“Uh, it’s nothing!” I grabbed the card back as quick as I could but Twilight saw it before I did. “Like I said… I didn’t have anything.”
Twilight stared blankly at me, her eyes wide open. I shifted around nervously and said “Anyway… I’m gonna go grab my things.”
“Yeah…” Twilight said distantly. She smiled at me and said “Good game, Rainbow.”
“Good game Twilight.” I said to her as I ran up the porch to the front door. “And hey… thanks.”
“You’re welcome Rainbow…” Twilight said, smiling brightly. “And thank you.”
The last card in my hand that I drew… was Return of the Dragon Lords.
****
At the bottom of the hill to my old house stood a familiar face. Dark skin maned with purple hair, covered in part by a sick burgundy headscarf, stunning blue eyes and a fashion sense sharp enough to cut diamond… Rarity.
“Uh, Rarity!” I said as me and Twilight approached her. I was not expecting to see her so soon after making amends with Twilight.
“Oh Rainbow Dash!” She said happily, a gleam in her eyes. “It’s been positively ages! You look… well, I suppose ‘dashing’ would be too on the nose.”
“I’ll take dashing.” I said with a bright smile. Rarity hadn’t changed, but in a good way I mean.
“Did Twilight offer the proposition?” Rarity put her pinky finger against her lips.
“Yep! And she accepted it!” Twilight beamed, putting an arm around me. “She’s moving in!”
“That’s marvelous!” Rarity said, clasping her hands and showing her beautiful smile. “We’ll have to have one of those sexy sister pajama parties we talked about to celebrate!”
“I am in love with that idea,” Twilight said “but would you be comfortable with it, Rainbow?”
“Uh, seeing Rarity in her pajamas?” I laughed nervously. “Yeah, I think I can handle that.” YES DEFINITELY.
“I don’t know, Rainbow Dash…” Rarity said with a coy smirk. “I might dazzle you too hard and put you into a fabulosity coma!”
“Pretty sure that’s not a real thing.” I said with a chuckle.
“I guess we’ll see later tonight!” Rarity said, flicking her bangs. “But until then… let’s go home, you two.”
“Yeah…” I said. “…and let’s eat.”
****
-FLUTTERSHY-
Controlled breathing… it’s going to be okay.
Those were the words that I kept repeating to myself, kept reminding myself, as I walked into my home… my brother’s home. It was time to tell him that I was moving out. I wasn’t even in the door yet and I was already on the verge of tears. I looked back to the road and saw Pinkie Pie and Applejack supporting me, giving me smiles and thumbs-up, and I knew that I had the courage inside me to do this, and I knew it was the right thing to do.
Controlled breathing. It’s going to be okay.
“Heeeey, where’ve you been sis?” Zephyr said, sprawled out on the couch in front of the TV, the living room covered in discarded pizza boxes that were only illuminated by the light of the television. “I saved you some pizza!” He pointed over to a stack of closed pizza boxes, far too many for me to eat on my own but I smiled at the gesture.
“Thank you.” I said cheerfully. Despite all my aggravation with him, I was going to miss him. He was still my brother after all. I needed to remind myself that just because I was moving out didn’t mean that I couldn’t see him anymore. “Zephyr, I need to tell you something.” I needed to do this, and it needed to be quick. I couldn’t stand a long, drawn-out conversation.
“What’s the matter, Flutters?” Zephyr asked concernedly, sitting upright on the couch.
“I…” Take a deep breath in… through the mouth, and out… through the nose. Wait, no that’s backwards. At any rate… “I need to move out!” I said, immediately following it with some sad whimpers as tears formed in my eyes.
“W-what?” Zephyr said, looking at me like a lost puppy. “Move out? B-but why? We have good times here, right?”
I couldn’t stop myself from crying but I tried to hold it together enough to speak clearly. It was hard not to break down into hysterical sobbing though. Admitting the truth to Zephyr, admitting it to myself… it was excruciating.
“No Zephyr, you have good times here.” I said firmly, finding a brief moment of clarity through all the tears. “I run around after you, taking care of you and cleaning up your messes. The only times we have fun together is when we leave the house and I don’t have to babysit you all the time.”
Zephyr didn’t say anything but I could tell how he felt. He was heartbroken, he had no idea I felt this way. How could he? I wouldn’t even let myself know that this was how I felt. But it was, and I was entitled to my feelings, and so I needed to speak up, say my truth… and I needed to leave.
“I love you, Zephyr.” I whimpered. “But we’re terrible for each other. Living with me, you’ll never learn how to take care of yourself, or be motivated to follow the dreams that I know are in your heart. And living with you, I’ll never be able to live my own life, become my own person, stand on my own two feet and find the strength that I need to find to support my friends and follow my own dreams. So I’m sorry, but I need to leave.”
Zephyr still said nothing. He looked at me for a few moments, then at the TV, then down at the floor, his arms hanging limply across his knees on the couch. He stood up and walked over to me, giving me a firm hug, which I reciprocated gladly. Then we both started sobbing uncontrollably.
“I love you, Fluttershy!” Zephyr said through the sobs.
“I love you too, Zephyr!” I said similarly.
“I wish you didn’t have to go!” Zephyr wept.
“I do too!” I snuffled.
“But I know you have to!” Zephyr said clearly and wiped the tears out of his eyes. He grabbed my shoulders and looked me deep in the eyes as tears ran down both of our faces. “I know you gotta become the awesome, strong, cool pony that I always see you as. And if you believe that you can’t do that here… then you gotta go… but I’m gonna miss you so much!” Zephyr dragged me back into the hug and sobbed again and I hugged him back.
I thought Zephyr was going to be mad. I thought he was going to try and guilt me into staying with him, I even practiced a whole bunch of other speeches just in case. This was better though. Even with all his flaws, I couldn’t ask for a better brother.
“I gotta go, Zephyr.” I said with a tearful smile.
“Here, take these.” Zephyr handed me a stack of pizza boxes, my arms nearly crumpling under the weight of all of them. “Take these to your new housewarming party, share ‘em with your friends. And don’t you worry about me any! I’ll find my own happiness! And by that I mean I have a lot of money and can sit on the couch eating pizza all day.”
“Zephyr… please…” I said, my breath short from trying to hold all the pizzas. I put them down for a second so I could talk. “Please… you have so many dreams that you want to follow… please don’t waste all your time watching TV and eating pizza.”
“Relax, Flutters.” Zephyr scoffed and batted his hand at me. “I can also go over to my friends’ places and play video games.”
“Zeph-” I was about to give him a whole big speech about how he needed to stand on his own two feet, but I’d already given that speech to him. Several times. I was not responsible for Zephyr Breeze. “I love you, Zephyr.” I said with a caring and hopeful smile. I honestly did have faith in him that he would be able to figure himself out. And with that, I turned around and headed out the door.
“Wait, Flutters!” Zephyr called out to me and I turned back to look at him one last time. “I love you too.” I smiled at Zephyr and walked out the door.
Pinkie Pie and Applejack were waiting for me outside, Pinkie rushing to hug me as soon as she saw me and wiping tears from my cheeks.
“Y’did the right thing, sugar cube.” Applejack said, patting me on the shoulder.
“Thank you.” I sniffled. “I know you’re right… also, can you go in there and grab the stack of pizzas?”
“Yeah. I can do that.” Applejack said with a laugh.
“Pizza party!” Pinkie screamed in excitement, raising her hands in the air. I couldn’t help but laugh. I had the best friends in the whole world. With them by my side I knew that I was going to be okay.
****
-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-
Rainbow, Rarity and I sat around my living room table, discarded pizza boxes thrown neatly in the trash. Rarity was wearing her nightgown and I was in my pajamas, and even Rainbow had gotten into the spirit of things and was in her underwear… which was pretty hot to be honest.
We were all laughing about silly, random nonsense and making big plans for the future.
“Well you guys,” Rainbow yawned, stretching her buff arms over her head “it’s been real, but I think it’s time I hit the hay. I haven’t slept in a bed that doesn’t have a bunch of like, metal springs and stuff sticking out of it in years, so I’m gonna go sleep for like sixteen hours.”
“The guest room is right down that way, down the hall.” I said, pointing to the hall in question. “Goodnight Rainbow. And thanks again for coming back with us.”
“Alright Twilight, don’t lay it on too thick.” Rainbow said teasingly and I stuck my tongue out in response which made her laugh. “Goodnight you guys!”
“Goodnight Rainbow!” Rarity and I said, roughly in unison.
“So… what do you think?” I asked Rarity, lounging in my chair and throwing my legs over one of the arms.
“About what?” Rarity asked, sipping from her mug of tea. The mug said something cute on it.
“About Rainbow living here.” I fidgeted my fingers about nervously. “Do you think it’s gonna be okay? I’m worried it won’t work out and all this will be for nothing…”
“Twilight, with as hard as you’ve worked to regain Rainbow Dash’s trust, and with as willing as you’ve been to try and make concessions and to improve your own ability to step outside yourself and listen to her and all these things… yes, I think it’s going to work out.” Rarity chuckled heartily, and that made me breathe a sigh of relief.
“And if we get into fights over inconsequential nonsense, you’re here to break it up!” I said cheerfully.
“Ah yes, because if there’s one person who would never get into a fight over inconsequential nonsense, it would be Rarity.” Rarity said jokingly, making me laugh. “It’s been four years since Rainbow Dash left. None of us are the same people we were back then.”
“I know.” I sighed, partly out of nostalgia and partly from weariness. “The work doesn’t end here, does it? This isn’t a case where I can rest on my laurels and be like ‘oh I did it!’ and pretend like everything’s going be sunshine and happiness forever now, is it?”
“No.” Rarity shook her head. “We all have damages, we all have broken edges, and they’re inevitably going to rub up against each other. But that’s okay! We’re friends. We listen to each other, we respect one another, we apologize and forgive, we move on together. It won’t always be easy, but we’ve got each other, and it will be okay.”
“Good…” I yawned and started having trouble keeping my eyes open. “I’m glad.”
“As for you…” Rarity stood up and walked over to the chair I was slowly falling asleep in. She picked me up, much to my shock, and I wrapped my arms around her to stay balanced, looking in her stunning blue eyes. “You’ve had quite the eventful few days, and you deserve to rest. Leave all the hard work and stuff to me for right now, and you take some well-deserved time to relax.”
“Thank you, Rarity.” I said closing my eyes and resting my head on Rarity’s shoulder.
“Twilight Sparkle…” Rarity’s soft voice was the last thing I heard as I drifted off to sleep. “You’ve done an excellent job.”
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8474077
Thank ye kindly! It's the first story I've ever finished and honestly I'm really proud of it!
That said, the criticism of the resolution (or lack thereof) for Rainbow's arc with her gf is totally fair. Even I admit it feels a bit like a cop-out... mainly because it is.
Writing about an abusive romantic relationship was pretty out of my comfort zone, and I totally admit I just got cold feet. I couldn't think of a way to resolve the plotline that was both believable and respectful, so I got a little panicky and I dropped the ball on it.
Something to keep in mind for my next story, as well as for a potential sequel.
As for the lack of proper Whiplash appearances, that's also a fair criticism but that one was a conscious choice on my part. The story isn't really about Rainbow's relationship with Whiplash so much as it's about the effect that relationship has on her choices and her other relationships.
It was important for the audience to see Whiplash in person at least once so they knew what kind of person she really was instead of just hearing it from Twilight's biased perspective, and I felt the one scene she was in captured everything we needed to know about her so it wasn't necessary to see her again.
Again, totally fair to disagree with me, but that was my thought process.
And I'll just quickly say about Fluttershy's scene that it's a fave of mine cuz it actually surprised me. I thought it was gonna be much more antagonistic but it ended up being very soft and sweet, and that's neat.
Anyhoo, sorry for rambling a tad but talking about the creative process is almost more fun than the process itself sometimes, plus it's good to articulate stuff so it's clear in my head.
Thank you very much for reading my fic and for all your nice comments, and I'm very glad you enjoyed it!
8860261
Why thank you so much! There may be alot of dislikes but all the actual feedback I've gotten has been very nice, which I'm really thankful for tbh!