Rejection
Rainbow and Twilight remained embraced like that for a long, long time before they finally broke away from one another. Neither of them said anything, simply staring into each other’s eyes, occasionally kissing or hugging and just basking in the fact that Twilight finally had her memories back.
It was a strange thing, looking back on the last two years. Twilight couldn’t help but wince internally as she recounted to herself everything she had done, thought and said. She couldn’t blame herself for a lot of it, but at the same time, so much of it had just been wrong. Worse than that was the shame she felt when she considered how she had transformed into Midnight.
Eventually, Twilight’s ears drooped, the elation of the moment finally starting to take a backseat as everything else caught up with her. Slowly, she pulled out of her embrace with Rainbow, unable to look into her eyes. “Rainbow… I’m so, so sorry for what I did to you,” she choked out, her chest trembling against her will.
“Huh?”
“Everything I said,” Twilight went on, screwing her eyes shut with shame and guilt. “When you told me why you hid my death from me. I… I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I just… I d-didn’t know how to take it, and all of that confusion and shock just… I-it made something go wrong inside me. I d-don’t know how to describe it, b-but… it just… it j-just kept growing and growing, and I couldn’t stop it. Before I knew what was happening, it just… it… it swallowed me whole, and all I could see was red.”
Rainbow blinked, confused. It wasn’t long before she apparently remembered everything Twilight was talking about, as her own ears drooped. “Oh… right… Midnight. The memories…” she muttered quietly, looking down as well.
Twilight shook her head and grasped Rainbow’s shoulders. “I am so sorry, Rainbow. I don’t… I can’t… If I hadn’t stumbled my way here, then you… then I…” she couldn’t keep going, the idea of spending any more time as that hate-filled mockery of herself sending a chill down her spine. Especially the idea of hiding out in an evil forest, searching desperately to find some way to rip memories out of her head and put them back where they belonged.
After a moment, Rainbow’s expression hardened. She reached out with a hoof, gently lifting Twilight’s chin so they were eye to eye again. “Hey… cut that out,” she said in a whisper before smiling. “It’s okay. You had a right to be upset-”
“Not like that!” Twilight protested, pulling her head back. “A little hurt, maybe. Perhaps even a little angry, but… but… not like that!” she shook her head wildly, sending her mane flying back and forth. “I shouldn’t have acted like that! I know how badly you were hurting when I left. I had that memory in my head! I felt it!”
Rainbow’s expression hardened even more. “Hey!” she called, grabbing Twilight by the shoulders and shaking her. “That’s enough!”
Twilight blinked, taken off guard by this. “Wha… h-huh?”
Rainbow sighed, her shoulders slumping. “...Yes, it hurt. And maybe you shouldn’t have reacted that way. I dunno… But…” she looked into Twilight’s eyes, slowly starting to smile again. “You made things right. You gave all of those memories back as soon as you could once you realized you were wrong.”
Twilight looked away, wanting to accept that reasoning, but just not finding it in herself to do so. “I know, but… that doesn’t change the fact that I let it happen to begin with,” she countered, sniffling. “I hurt you so much when I stormed out like that. I was being an idiot… you didn’t deserve any of what I did to you.”
Rainbow sighed and looked down. “...If you really feel that way, then I guess all you can do is start trying to make up for it, huh?”
Twilight nodded, a lump forming in her throat. “Y-yeah… I guess so…”
The two fell silent after that, and Twilight’s mind wandered back to Celestia and Luna. She shuddered uncomfortably as she remembered how they had looked at her. Would she have to make up for her mistakes from a dungeon cell? Cringing at the thought, Twilight leaned forward to rest her head on Rainbow’s shoulder, her eyes wandering over to the tree.
She could have sworn it was looking back at her. The Elements she borrowed had already been pulled back into their sockets, she noted. The Tree must have collected them while she was on the floor.
Slowly, Twilight withdrew from the embrace and rose to her hooves. Sluggishly, she dragged herself over to it, and she could hear Rainbow trotting along behind her.
“So, you used this thing to get my memories back, I’m guessing?” Rainbow asked in a low voice after a moment.
Twilight nodded. “Yes. I combined the Elements of Magic and Loyalty with my failsafe spell,” she explained with a small smile. “You know, the one that can reverse any magical changes made to a creature or object, as long as my power exceeds that of the change?”
Rainbow nodded along slowly. “Yeah, I remember.”
Twilight nodded at the Tree. “It wouldn’t have worked if I had just used it on me or you. The failsafe spell is designed to counter other magic users, not the one using it. Plus, since I had used up a lot of my power to… steal memories…” she shuddered guiltily, her ears drooping. “A-and protect myself from a blast from Princess Luna…”
“Woah Woah, hold up a sec,” Rainbow cut her off with a raised hoof and a stunned look. “Aunt Luna tried to blast you?! Like, with magic?!”
Twilight winced, then nodded. “Y-yeah… she was trying to incapacitate me.”
Rainbow lowered her hoof, her expression becoming one of abject offense.
Twilight took advantage of her lack of words to keep going. “A-anyway, the point is, I didn’t have enough power to reverse my own magic anyway. But with the Elements acting as a sort of, uh, proxy, something to stand in for me, I was able to have the memories I stole returned to their rightful owners!”
“And you got turned back into you, too,” Rainbow noted with a raised eyebrow and a thankful smile.
Twilight chuckled shortly before taking a step forward. “Yeah… it was close, though. The Tree almost killed me when I first got here… I had to beg it to let me save you before it let me have the Elements.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, her wings unfurling slightly at her sides. “Woah, what?! It attacked you?!”
“Well, I’m not sure if ‘literally draining the life force from my body’ technically counts as an attack, seeing as it was in self-defense…” she paused when she saw that Rainbow was not in the mood for technicalities. Giggling sheepishly, she rubbed the back of her head. “Er, yes. Put simply, it attacked me.”
Rainbow eyed the tree skeptically before taking a step back. “Well… as long as it doesn’t try that again,” she said with a warning tone. “I am not letting anything take you away from me. Not again.”
Twilight frowned, not entirely sure how she felt about Rainbow not-so-subtly threatening the Tree of Harmony to its face, but decided not to press the matter for now. Instead, she focused on the tree and took another step forward, reaching a hoof out to touch the trunk.
She never made contact. Her hoof passed through an invisible wall of some kind, and she immediately jerked back with a cry of alarm as a painful shock coursed through her body. Rainbow was at her side in an instant, worry on her face. “Twi?! You okay?!”
“Y-yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Twilight dismissed her before looking up at the Tree again. It almost seemed to be glaring at her. Somehow, she knew what was happening… and it made her heart shrivel with fear. “The tree… the Elements. I think… I think they’re rejecting me…” she choked out.
“Rejecting you?” Rainbow asked in surprise.
“...For turning into Midnight,” Twilight said, lowering her head with shame. “For hurting so many ponies…”
Before Rainbow could offer up any kind of response, a pulse of light came from the Tree. Twilight and Rainbow both stepped back, the ground starting to rumble and shake. Their eyes were drawn to the element of Magic at the core of the trunk. It flashed several times before a line of pearly white light snaked its way down. It passed over the cutie marks of Celestia and Luna, making both of them flash briefly before the light followed along one of the roots and disappeared beneath the soil.
Then, the ground split open, and Twilight and Rainbow jumped back in alarm. A blue pedestal of crystal topped with the closed petals of some kind of large, pink flower, pushed up through the dirt until it was around shoulder height. It came to a stop and held still for several seconds. Then, with a shimmer, the petals opened out, revealing a six-sided, vaguely diamond-shaped box made of the same material as the tree itself. On each of the six sides was a keyhole, each one with a moderately different shape.
Everything fell silent after that. Twilight and Rainbow stared in wide-eyed confusion at the chest for several seconds before one of them dared to speak up.
“Uh… you wanna run that by me again?” Rainbow asked, glancing up at the tree.
Before any further discussion could be had, a deafening voice came from outside of the cave, causing the two mares inside to all but jump out of their skins and shaking some small pebbles loose from the ceiling. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE! REVEAL YOURSELF THIS INSTANT!”
“That would be Luna,” Rainbow said after a moment, no small amount of anxiety in her voice.
Twilight gulped heavily, realizing that her judgment was about to be upon her. Steeling herself to accept whatever punishment the princesses would deem fair, she turned around to face the mouth of the cave.
A moment later, Celestia and Luna came into view, landing at the mouth of the cave with serious expressions on their faces.
The moment Celestia caught sight of Rainbow dash, however, all of that intensity was replaced with shock. “Rainbow Dash…?” she asked quietly.
Rainbow took that as her cue, slowly moving forwards and putting herself in front of Twilight. “Hey, mom…” she called out. “I, uh… I know why you’re here, and- WOAH!”
Whatever Rainbow had been about to say was cut off when Celestia suddenly flashed into reality directly in front of her and pulled her into a crushing embrace. The alicorn buried her face in Rainbow’s mane, sighing in relief. “Oh, my little filly… I was so worried about you,” she choked out, slowly rocking back and forth.
Rainbow was quiet for a moment before hesitantly returning the embrace. “I’m okay, mom,” she said after a second. “It’s alright. Twilight gave back everything she stole.”
“We know,” Luna said as she came up to Celestia’s side, her gaze affixed onto the alicorn in question.
Twilight immediately dipped into the lowest bow she could, making herself as small and pitiful as she could before the royal sisters. “I… I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I accept full responsibility for everything that happened, and I am ready for whatever punishment you think is fair.”
“Wha-?! Twilight!” Rainbow exclaimed, quickly squirming out of Celestia’s grip and moving to stand protectively over Twilight. “Hey, stop that! You’re not being punished!”
“Oh, yes she is,” Luna countered without missing a beat.
Rainbow looked back at her, her ears drooping. “B-but… but she gave back-”
“Twilight Sparkle’s decision to go back on her actions and return the memories she stole does not absolve her of stealing them in the first place,” Luna cut Rainbow off with a hard glare. “She must face punishment for her actions.”
“It’s okay, Rainbow,” Twilight said softly, glancing up at the pegasus and offering her a small smile. “It’s okay. Just let them do what they have to…”
“No way!” Rainbow snapped back, flaring out her wings. “Guys, Twilight’s already hurting enough as it is! And the Elements of Harmony are rejecting her! She’s got enough to deal with, and she just got her memories back-”
“Wait,” Celestia suddenly cut Rainbow off mid-rant, her eyes wide. She stared down at Twilight, then at the Tree. “Did you just say that the Elements are… rejecting her?”
Rainbow blinked, her wings slowly folding back up at her sides. “Y-yeah. She tried to touch the tree just before you guys showed up, and it zapped her.”
Celestia was quiet for a few seconds, the intensity in her eyes fading ever so slightly. She took a few steps forward to study the Tree better. After a moment, she closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes… you speak the truth. I can feel it…”
“As can I,” Luna aknowledged with a nod. “The Tree is refusing to lend you its power, Twilight Sparkle. Fitting, given that it did much the same to me when I became Nightmare Moon.”
There were several seconds of silence before Celestia’s gaze drifted away from the tree to settle on the chest. She frowned. “And what of this chest? Where did it come from?”
“It emerged from the ground just after the Tree, er, ‘zapped’ me,” Twilight answered, shifting on the ground and slowly rising to sit on her haunches, hoping that would be permissible. “I don’t know what it is, though…”
“Yeah, I’m clueless,” Rainbow agreed, giving the chest a look herself before shrugging. “Any ideas, mom?”
Celestia hummed in thought for a second, her eyes moving from the tree to the chest and then to Twilight. Eventually, she seemed to gain some understanding and nodded. “I believe so, yes… Six Elements, six keys…” she mused, before facing Twilight directly. “I cannot claim to know what is inside, but what I do know, Twilight, is that the task of opening this chest, and regaining the use of your Element of Harmony, falls to you.”
“But… but how?” Twilight asked in concern, looking up at Celestia uneasily. “I don’t even know where to begin…”
“You had best begin finding out then, Twilight,” Luna cut in firmly. “For I believe your punishment was decided before we arrived.”
Rainbow turned to her adoptive aunt in surprise, a hopeful look on her face. “Really? You mean it?!” she asked, her wings fanning out in excitement.
Celestia stepped over to stand by Luna’s side. “She is correct. The Tree of Harmony has decided your punishment… one that affects us all,” she stated, her words making it clear the severity of the situation. “For without your ability to come here and use the Elements should another crisis come our way, we will be left without one of our most important means of defense.”
Twilight flinched as if struck, then bowed her head low. “I understand.”
Celestia nodded, then spread her wings and lifted her head high. “Then it is decided. Twilight Sparkle, for your actions over the course of last night, you are hereby sentenced with the task of opening this chest and regaining the power of your Element of Harmony. You are not to abandon this task until it is complete, no matter what.”
“Furthermore,” Luna added in, mirroring her own sister’s stance. “Until your task is complete, you are banished from setting hoof in the city of Canterlot. The ponies there will not be welcoming to you after your actions, and so you shall not be welcomed without explicit permission from either myself or my sister.”
“What about me?” Rainbow asked while lifting a hoof. “Can’t I give her permission?”
“Any permission you would grant would need to be verified by either Luna or myself,” Celestia clarified solemnly. “As with any other decisions you make.”
Luna nodded her agreement before glaring down at Twilight. “Do you understand your task, Twilight Sparkle?” she asked sternly.
Twilight kept her head low. “I do, your Highness. I swear, I won’t let you down,” she promised, struggling to maintain her composure. She was equal parts relieved that her punishment was so relatively painless and saddened by her banishment from the city of her birth.
“Good,” Celestia said, before folding up her wings. “Rainbow Dash, I expect you to keep an eye on her and let us know how she is doing. And I expect you to be honest about it. Do you understand me?”
Rainbow looked down solemnly. “Yes, mom…”
The cavern fell quiet for a moment before Celestia nodded and turned away. “Then let us depart this place. I believe your friends in Ponyville will be eager to see you, and I must make an announcement to my little ponies in Canterlot,” she said, her tone becoming far more relaxed. She paused at the mouth of the cave and looked back at Twilight with a small smile. “Your memories are truly restored?”
Twilight hesitated for a second before nodding. “Yes, Princess.”
Celestia’s smile grew. “...Then go in peace, my faithful student.”
In a flash of light, Celestia disappeared, leaving Luna, Rainbow, and Twilight all alone in that cave.
Rainbow coughed awkwardly into her hoof. “So, uh… are we going home, now?”
“In a moment,” Luna said, turning to face Twilight again. “Rainbow Dash, would you mind leaving Twilight and I alone for a moment? I wish to speak with her in private.”
Twilight stiffened, remembering in no uncertain terms how Luna felt about her. She looked away, knowing that the princess in front of her was no doubt even more hostile than before. But it was deserved now, wasn’t it?
Rainbow hesitated for several seconds. “Aunt Luna… are you-”
“Worry not, my niece,” Luna said in reassurance. “What I have to say is not born out of contempt. Nevertheless, it must be said in privacy.”
Rainbow looked back and forth between them for several seconds before nodding. “Okay… I’ll be right outside,” she relented softly.
As Rainbow took her leave, Luna stared down at Twilight with an unreadable look. “When you fell, what did you call yourself?”
Twilight shuddered. “...Midnight. Midnight Sparkle.”
The two were quiet for some time before, at last, Luna looked down and sighed. “...Forgive me, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight blinked. “...huh?”
Luna turned to look up at the Tree, her eyes narrowing with thought and regret. “Ever since you were brought back to life by my sister, I have held you in cold contempt out of fear of what you might do to Rainbow Dash. I was afraid that, with the lessons you had forgotten, you could easily hurt her again, as you had after she attacked Starlight Glimmer.”
The alicorn looked down, heaving a heavy sigh. “...But, I now realize, I was so blinded by my fear of what you might do that I did not see the depths of my own hypocrisy. I feared that you might harm Rainbow needlessly as you did back then, and in so doing, I hurt you in much the same way… And I can only imagine that any insecurities born from that cruelty contributed to your fall. As the pony who was the first to experience such a transformation, you have my deepest sympathies and my most humble apology.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped for a second, completely floored by what she was hearing. She was quick to clamp her jaw shut and look away. “No… you were right to be skeptical of me. I did hurt rainbow, just like you were afraid of.”
“Perhaps, but I cannot shake the feeling that my own animosity contributed to that,” Luna went on, glancing sideways at Twilight. “You were scared and confused when we first met after you lost your memories. A mind as empty as yours was extremely susceptible to outside influences, intentional or not. Treating you the way I did, especially so early, can only have left a negative mark. A mark you carried for the last two years…”
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She closed it and gave a slow nod.
Luna continued. “Furthermore, I must commend you on being able to shirk your dark side as you did. Not even I was capable of such a feat.”
“It was the Tree,” Twilight deflected. “It changed me back.”
“It restored you to your truest self, yes,” Luna aknowledged with a slow nod. “But it was you who made the decision to give back what you had stolen, despite still existing as Midnight Sparkle. It took no small amount of willpower to commit to such a course of action, and for that, you have my respect.”
Twilight heard Luna stepped closer, and looked up to see the lunar princess staring down at her with a far more serious expression.
“That being said, I must warn you… Midnight Sparkle is not gone.”
Twilight blinked. “Huh?”
Luna closed her eyes and turned away. “You have imbibed in your shadow now. I know how good it must have felt to have every restraint, every limitation, every barrier you have ever had being lifted at once. No matter what pain was feeding your actions, you couldn’t have felt more alive and euphoric. It is a sense of unparalleled freedom to succumb, to let the shadow whisk you away, to allow your darkest self to take over… Is that not so?”
Twilight closed her eyes ashamedly. “It’s true… you’re right. It did feel good.”
Luna turned to face her again. “And so you will hunger for it,” she went on. “Thirst for it. Every fiber of your being may end up screaming at you to let your shadow claim you again, to give in to those darkest instincts and desires we all seal away. It may even manifest in the form of Midnight’s voice whispering in your ear, egging you on, taunting you, encouraging you to take her back. No matter what happens, Twilight Sparkle, you must never heed her words. One and all they are lies and deceptions, meant to do nothing more than draw you back into the nightmare. Do you understand me?”
Twilight felt a knot tying itself into her heart. She gave a hesitant nod of her head. The thought of struggling with Midnight, or maybe even turning back into her, was enough to send chills down her spine. “Y-yes. I understand…”
Luna eyed her intently for several seconds before nodding, seemingly satisfied. “Very well… then I shall let you be on your way,” she said, before turning and heading for the exit to the cave. “I will be watching, Twilight Sparkle. Do not doubt it for even a moment… and do not let me down.”
In a burst of blue light, Luna disappeared from view, leaving Twilight on her own. Swallowing heavily, she picked herself up and stepped out of the cave, casting a furtive glance back at the Tree of Harmony, and the chest it had presented to her.
Rainbow was leaning against the side of the plateau when Twilight emerged and was quick to come up to her side once she saw her. “Hey! What did Luna need to talk to you about?” she asked hopefully.
Twilight thought if over for a second before shaking her head. “I’ll tell you later. Right now, I just really want to go home and get some sleep…” she said before smiling over at her oldest friend. “And get caught up on some lost time…”
Rainbow smiled and leaned into Twilight’s side, grabbing onto one of her hooves. “Heh… that sounds good to me,” she whispered, stealing a quick kiss.
And so, together, Twilight and Rainbow unfurled their wings and took flight, heading back to Ponyville, holding onto each other’s hooves as they went.
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This was a good chapter. I really like how this is going.
Hmmmmm, should be interesting to see how Midnight contributed going forward.
Dangerous people indulge their shadow; safe people deny their shadow
The most dangerous people deny that they have a shadow. Never trust anyone who claims to know what's best for you.
Once again, this was a great chapter with excellent set-up for the next story. Indeed, the Elements rejecting Twilight for what she pulled and making her having to earn her Element back definitely makes sense for a punishment and, at least Twilight is being responsible enough to acknowledge this.
Anyway, wonderful work on the exchanges, characterizations and, as aforementioned, future story set-up in all the right places.
Now, on to the final chapter.
I didn't see that coming, with the box. Nice way to keep this timeline from diverging from canon too far. Now I'm just wondering how Twilight's going to get her key, without Discord. Maybe Luna takes his role? Or Starlight?
Also, I noticed a couple minor typos. One instance of uncapitalized Rainbow, and one ''our highness,'' where you dropped the y.
And one last--two-part--question. Does Celestia have Daybreaker whispering in her ear, after facing Chrysalis, and if so, has Luna warned her about it?
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She did, for a time, although the whispers have since stopped. We saw an instance of this back in Consequences, in the moments following Twilight's death.
Rejected by the Elements, huh? A fair punishment. Was worried the chapter title would refer to one of Twilight's relationships being rejected.
Alright. Luna finally talks some sense!
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Indeed. That was my initial worry, as well.
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So basically the tree has found a way to restore "the order" aka "the status quo". Solving the box's puzzle was what elevated From "a princess" to "Princess of Friendship" in normal timeline and it's the same here. Of course the goal maybe the same, but it'll be fun to see how the quest differs.
Then it would have been Little Memories 2: Forgetting Boogaloo.
Gonna be brutally honest... As much as I get the reasons behind her bitterness, I'm a little tired of Luna's harshness directed solely at Twilight and tendency to be a hypocrite. Not of the writing mind you, just towards the character.
And yet seconds later...
Yes. Good apology. : )
I smell gun powder. Has anyone seen Chekhov?
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Last I hear, he was at the shooting range with his Gunman.
Hmm, you know, Luna, Twilight was remarkably tame as a fallen alicorn once she got what she wanted. Would it really be so bad for her to just stay in a fallen state with all the rad powers it grants?
So, like, you hurt a literal rainbow?
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This comment does not deserve the dislike it received; it deserves to be in a museum.
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upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ed/Nobel_Prize.png
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I think that the safest people are those who can mediate between the light and the shadow. Compromise and cooperation rather than indulging and possession. There are two sides to every coin after all. If there is such a thing as a Fallen Alicorn, could there be such a thing as an "Ascended" Alicorn?
Thank god. At least it wasn't a banishment from Equestria, just Canterlot. Which still leaves 99% of Equestria to walk around. Though the media is gonna be another story, unless Celestia puts a lid on it.