Magic, Heart, and Soul

by SvenFoxx

The Soul of Loyalty

Twilight stepped forward and held a hoof out to Rainbow Dash. It passed through the rainbow maned pony’s shoulder. Like she wasn’t there. Like an illusion.

… Like a hallucination.

“You’re not real,” Twilight stated, frowning. She then shook her head. “No, that’s not it. Everyone else clearly sees you, even if you have no physical substance. But… I can’t think of a way that this is possible unless you aren’t real,” she mumbled to herself

Rainbow smirked at her. “On the nose, egghead.”

Twilight blinked. “Eh?” she asked.

Celestia stepped up. “I concur with my student. You are clearly real enough to respond to us, even if we cannot physically interact with you. More than that, I can feel the Element of Loyalty around your neck.” She closed her eyes. “My sister once bore it. I know it’s magic anywhere.” She looked at Rainbow. “What is going on?”

Rainbow sat down and sighed again. “The only reason, the only reason, I exist at this exact moment is because Loyalty anchored my… well, not my soul, but I guess my essence... to it. Even then, it realizes the imbalance my existence causes and will eventually let me go. I’m sorry girls… but I’m dead.”

Fluttershy flew threw Rainbow Dash in a second attempt to tackle her, only to land on the hard floor and start sobbing. She smacked the floor with her hoof. “No! No! It’s not possible!” she cried.

Rainbow Dash laid down next to her in an effort to comfort her. “You can already feel it, Flutters. It’s coming back,” she said with a soft smile. “I just wish it never needed to be taken away. That’s the only thing about me that I regret. That I shattered you.”

“No!” Fluttershy cried, swinging her hood around. Rainbow didn’t even twitch as it passed through her head. “You’re too strong! Nothing can stop you! Nothing can beat you!” she wailed angrily.

“I’m not perfect Fluttershy, no matter how much you may have wanted me to be.”

“Nohoho…” Fluttershy let her head fall, sobbing all the harder. “It’s not… It’s not…”

Rainbow Dash stood up and turned to face the rest of her friends and the Princess. “The pony you know as Rainbow Dash never existed,” she said with a serious expression. “She was never born, never raised, and never knew the love of a family.” She smiled at Fluttershy. “But she did have a home. She may not have had a family, but she had the love of a friend, and the adoration of a sister in all but name.” She sighed, hesitating, before deciding to just bite the feather.

“Rainbow Dash is the first friend Fluttershy ever made… her very first imaginary friend.”

Jaws dropped. Key among them was Twilight, who’s mind had ground to a screeching halt as she tried to process that statement.

“But… then… how...?” Rarity tried to asked, also incredibly confused.

“I was born for the sole purpose to be Fluttershy’s friend, to be there for her, comfort her, and protect her from the cruelty of a world that couldn’t accept how different she was,” Rainbow Dash told. “And I think I did a fine job, thank you very much.” She smiled proudly. “My impact on Fluttershy was so great, so… well, impacting... that she stopped seeing me as imaginary at some point, and started to believe I was real. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, she knew I was fake, but she chose to see me as real… as her Guardian Angel. With that choice and dedication to me, she gave me everything I needed to be real… everything but a soul and body.”

Rainbow snickered, pointing a hoof at Twilight. “Then little miss Starswirl the Bearded 2.0 over there happened.”

It took a moment, but Celestia gasped in realization. “The exam day!” she exclaimed.

Twilight’s ears flipped down and she hunched down, a familiar guilt crushing her heart. She shivered, remembering the horror she felt when she was told she was responsible for the destruction of an entire city. A cloud city that was easily rebuilt, yes, but a city nonetheless. It was a miracle that there were no fatalities, but there were plenty of casualties. A lot of injured ponies that took a lot of time to recover. Most forgave her, but some… some had decried her as a natural disaster in the making, and should have her magic sealed.

The Smarty-Pants incident had refueled that fire in those ponies, though it seemed to finally be receding lately.

She had created Rainbow Dash? She latched onto that line of thought, pulling her away from her dark thoughts. “Wait… my magic created you?” she asked. Rainbow Dash nodded. “But… how? I can’t even begin to think how a spell would do that, let alone wildly out of control magic.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well, I don’t have all the answers, but I do know a few things.” she raised a hoof. “My body wasn’t actually a flesh and blood body. It was made of magic bound to my will. To be honest, I probably could have done similar things as Changelings if I had ever wanted to.” She shrugged again. “It could hold up to some pretty severe trauma, but it had a debilitating flaw.”

“Magic…” Celestia said. “You said your body was made of wild magic. That means all it would take is a just a little magic to start unravelling your body like a knitted blanket. Enough exposure…”

“And I vanish, like I did against Chrysalis’ spell,” Rainbow Dash confirmed. “And let me tell you, staying alive after Twilight came to town got a lot harder. The only reason the Elements of Harmony didn’t kill me when we used them, surrounded by that much potent magic, is because of their nature. Trixie made a spirited attempt. Discord damn near did kill me with his Discordification trick. The Changeling battle outside nearly got me a few times.” She then laughed. “And then… after all that… it was love, of all things, that finally got me.” she shook her head, smiling. “I don’t know why I find that so hilarious, but I do.”

“Rainbow Dash…”

Rainbow and the others turned to Cadence and Shining Armor. They both looked incredibly sad. “Rainbow…” Cadence stepped forward. “I… We’re so sorry…”

Rainbow Dash held up a hoof. “Nope. No apologies,” she said intently. “I hold nothing against you.”

“But… but if it wasn’t for our spell…” Shining Armor tried to argue.

“Canterlot would be the location of Chrysalis’ new hive, and likely the foothold she used to take over Equestria.” She looked at Fluttershy with a smile. “More than that, Fluttershy would have been nothing more than a battery to them for the rest of her life.” She shook her head firmly. “No. If my death means Fluttershy is free, I’ll happily do it all over again a million more times.”

“Is there anything…?” Twilight asked. “Surely we can restore you?”

Rainbow Dash sagged a little with a sad frown. “No… Remember what I said I lacked to be real? You gave me a body Twilight… but where do you think my soul came from?” She looked at Fluttershy. “When Fluttershy was falling to the ground that day, she so desperately wanted me to save her, needed me so badly, that the power of that Hope broke off a shard of her soul to make me.” She placed a hoof on her chest. “That’s why Fluttershy flew off the handle earlier. The piece of her soul that was in me was returned to her… bringing with it the ability to once again fully experience emotions. She was channeling me, subconsciously, as she knocked that bug around.”

She leaned down and tried to nuzzle her friend’s cheek. “And when you had the chance to kill her… you stopped. For as horrible as she is, killing Chrysalis would have stained your soul. I can’t bear the thought of seeing such a shiny soul like yours marred like that. I’m so proud of you.”

“But…” Twilight shook her head, and a familiar glint entered her eyes. “But… There has to be something! Some way we can save you!” Her horn lit up. “I have to try!”

“Twilight,” Rainbow Dash was suddenly in Twilight’s face. She wasn’t angry, just smiling. “It’s okay.”

Tears came to Twilight as her horn petered out. “But…”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, Twilight.” She motioned towards Fluttershy. “The entire point of my existence was to provide Fluttershy with a friend.” She smiled beautifically. “Now she has four brilliant mares, and a drake, to do that job for me.” She turned around. “Fluttershy doesn’t need me anymore. She has you to guide her…” she looked at Rarity. “Rarity to provide for her…” she looked at Applejack. “Applejack to keep her on the straight and narrow…” She looked at Pinkie Pie. “And Pinkie to make her smile.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head with a smile. “I can die happy, knowing she has friends like you to be there for her,” she said, turning to her friends and showing that her body was beginning to fade away, becoming transparent.

“NO!!!” Fluttershy yelled. “Please! Don’t go! Please don’t go!” she cried out.

Rainbow Dash knelt down to her. “But I’m not leaving.” she pointed at Fluttershy’s heart. “A piece of me is right here. When you miss me, just remember that little sliver of rainbow is there in your soul. Remember that it’s me, comforting you even if I’m not physically here.”

Fluttershy nodded shakilly, but still sobbed.

Rainbow stood again, and it was now getting hard to see her. “Take the Element of Loyalty to Spike when I’m gone. It chose him as it’s new bearer, and I think the little guy is perfect for the job.”

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy managed to bring herself to look at Rainbow. Then, as her final act in life…

Rainbow Dash smiled encouragingly.

Yeah, she knew that was the best way to go.

The Element of Loyalty clattered to the ground, surrounded by the soft cries of its previous bearer’s friends as they mourned.

Author's Note:

Holy crap... that ending had me crying a little.

I could make one more chapter, depicting how the Mane 6 move on without Rainbow in their lives anymore... but I won't. This ending is perfect, and I don't want to mar it with something I have no idea how I'll do.

So this is it. Magic, Heart, and Soul is done.

Comments

[Comickook]

(sniff) Excellent ending. Downright beautiful stuff. Rainbow turning out to be an imaginary friend for Fluttershy given life by wild magic is a rather unexpected detail and the others' reactions to that info in Rainbow's final moments were, well, appropriately bittersweet, but still truly moving.

On another note, I guess this would technically be the first multi-part story that you actually finished (you finished a one-shot before, but that WAS a one-shot).

[badninja]

Damn, just damn. Submit this to Equestria Daily I think they may like it.