Rainbow's End

by Bronyxy

4 Return to Civilisation

Rainbow Dash was starting to feel stronger with each passing day. Her wing still hurt like crazy, but there was no doubting the swift action of binding it to her body was taking a lot of the weight off the wing muscles. The old stallion was as irascible as ever, but for all of his rough exterior had shown great care in her treatment. He fed her regularly and moaned incessantly about the imposition of his house guest. At first, she had felt cowed by him but after a while she came to accept it is just being his way, a stallion who had been on his own for too long. Still, the brief glimpse of the picture on the mantelpiece intrigued her; she wanted to ask, but it was one subject that was clearly off limits.

“Look, you’ve been very kind and all” she began “But can I contact my friends please; they’ll be worried where I am.”
He giggled wheezily, catching his breath “Now, how exactly do yuh intend on doin’ that young’un? Yuh can’t walk nowhere ‘cus of the snowdrifts and I’ve got a better chance of flying than you have right now; so yer stuck.”

“What about other callers, you know, like the mail pony or neighbours?”
“What callers? I seem to get on pretty fine by myself thank you. And there ain’t no neighbours till yuh get to Rockville; ‘cept for gophers and racoons and such like. Nope, yer stuck, good and proper till the snow dies back a bit. I’ll be lookin' to move yuh on when that happens anyhow. Get my peace back again.”

Frustrating as it was, Rainbow would just have to accept that as his final answer. She looked out the window; there was no sign of a let up for a while yet.
“My name’s Rainbow Dash; I never caught your name” she prompted, trying to make conversation.
“That’s ‘cus I never gave it you” he replied.

***

As days rolled by, Canterlot began preparing for the funeral. Usually, pegasi funerals were closed affairs for pegasi only, so a special ceremony had to be devised that allowed the pegasi to share some of their most closely guarded traditions within the framework of a high-profile State funeral. As a proud warrior race, the traditional pegasus ceremony involved cremating the body of the deceased on a pyre where everypony could see and pay their respects. This was difficult on two counts; firstly, the spectacle could be too gruesome for those not brought up within pegasi traditions and secondly there was no body to display on the pyre.

In the end, the organisers decided on a full-sized gold coffin containing some of the most personal mementoes of her life that would be borne through Canterlot and placed on a pyre for ritual cremation. As the pyre was to be lit, the Wonderbolts would perform a specially choreographed display as a mark of their respect, guiding her spirit into the sky from where her soul could make safe passage to its final resting place beyond the clouds.

All those who knew and loved Rainbow the most were still having a hard time coming to terms with her loss, but all accepted that she had been lost to them doing something very brave, if not a little foolhardy, for the sole purpose of protecting Ponyville. Ultimately, there could be no finer epitaph for the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty; sacrificing herself for the good of others, whether they had been pegasi, unicorns or earth ponies.

***

Celestia issued a Royal Decree for weather ponies to cut back on the traditional winter weather while preparations were put in place for the final farewell to the greatest pegasus in living memory, and in response, the sun shone through a calm winter sky. This still wasn’t enough to lift the mood of sadness that pervaded what was supposed to be a celebration of Rainbow’s life, and all knew that the feeling of depression could not begin to be lifted until they had all finally said their last goodbyes.

The uncharacteristic change in the weather was also noticed by two ponies in a cottage out the back of beyond.
“Well young ‘un, looks like I won’t have to put up with all yer whinin’ too much longer” the old stallion grouched “Snow’s meltin’ back like its Winter Wrap Up already. Can’t say I’ve ever seen it quite like this. It’s got to be because of you I reckon, somepony’s answered my prayers and decided to let me get you out of my mane.”
He had no idea how close to the truth he was.

Rainbow didn’t take any offence at his words; she had grown used to him as a companion, one who had found his need for tact disappeared through lack of companionship. She actually felt quite sorry for him, because he had shown himself to be a very kind and decent pony, and wanted more than ever to find out about the mare in the picture and help him remake their friendship, however deep that may have been.

After a few more days of unseasonal warmth, the old stallion took a look outside and declared that they should be able to make it to Rockville, and the train station that would take her back to where she had come from. She looked straight at him as he made this announcement and saw a few tears start to well up in his eyes at the prospect of her departing, but covered it with his customary rudeness.

Thanks to his kindness, she had regained her strength and her bruising had gone down, all that remained wrong being her inability to fly. She was keen to get back to her friends, but also wanted to take him with her on the journey, so they could talk a little more and maybe introduce him to some other company. With this in mind, she decided to make out she was weaker than she was, just to make sure he stayed with her.

They set off on a path that peeped out here and there from under the melting snow, the landscape being a patchwork of snowy islands among a sea of grass and rocks. He had travelled this route for decades as his only lifeline to civilisation and knew the way hoofstep by hoofstep. Today however, he felt an unexpected heaviness as each step took him closer to the departure of his impromptu house guest. Whilst he revelled in his isolation, he had found something within the cyan mare that had reawakened his desire for company, albeit strictly on his own terms. In fact, if he were caught on an unguarded moment, he may have even said how much he had enjoyed having her around, and secretly how he didn’t really want to see her leave.

They got into Rockville without incident, camaraderie being exchanged more by eloquent silences than by words.
“Look I’m really sorry” said Rainbow “But I didn’t have my purse on me when I crashed by your cottage. Could you loan me the train fare?”
“Always on the scrounge; that’s you young ‘un” he grouched back, but she noticed that he pulled out his purse quickly enough.
“That walk tired me out more than I thought” she lied “I don’t suppose you could see your way clear to coming with me?”
“Yuh don’t stop, do you young ‘un?” he grumped “I didn’t save my money all these years just to blow it all on the likes of some careless weather pony.”
In spite of his abrupt tone, he was as quick as a flash to go to the ticket office and buy two tickets for Ponyville.

The couple got a few odd glances on the journey, some ponies looking at her, then back to their newspapers, then back again. Even the old stallion started to become aware of something happening and it made him uncomfortable.
“What is it with everypony today? Has it always been like this and I just forgot?”
In response Rainbow leaned round to somepony who was showing an unusual amount of interest in her.
“Hi” she greeted “Can I take a look at your paper when you’ve finished?”
She was dumbly passed the paper by return and stared at the headline EQUESTRIA SAYS FINAL FAREWELL TO FALLEN HERO RAINBOW DASH. Her eyes grew wide in surprise and her mouth fell open.
“Nice tribute cosplay” said the pony who had given her the newspaper “Best I’ve seen.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” she replied, “I am Rainbow Dash!”
“You’ve even got the voice right too. Like wow! You must have studied her really hard to get that good.”

Rainbow’s ego swelled, only to be interrupted by her chaperone.
“What’s this all about young ‘un?” he enquired, mystified.
She turned back and showed him the paper. It bore her picture and a special edition pull out telling her life story.
“That’s me!” she said proudly.
“Says here your funeral’s today.”
“What?” she exclaimed.
“In Canterlot.”
“Whoa! I’ve so got to get there to let them know I’m not dead!”
“Typical” he moaned “Just when I think I’m getting’ rid of yuh, yuh spring yer funeral on me and expect me to pay for more tickets.”
“Well, er, yes, actually” she said blushing red and rubbing the back of her neck with her forehoof.