27 - The Rift
The journey to the open field had felt far longer in Rainbow’s mind than it actually was. Even with the small entertainment factor afforded by the impromptu ‘race’ with her native counterpart, her mind could not stop fidgeting. What if they showed up too late, and the rifts closed for good? How long would it take for Twilight to find a way to send her home if they failed here today? How would her friends take it?
More than once she had to slow down for just a second to calm herself down with deep breaths. Despite this, she somehow managed to keep pace with her other-self. Either the native Rainbow was just slower than her, or the pegasus was willingly slowing down to match her. A silent sign of support, maybe? Trying to make her feel less powerless by giving her the win?
A touching sentiment and it did make Rainbow feel a little better. But only a little.
By the time they finally arrived at the open field, Rainbow’s lungs felt as if they were on fire, as did the bases of her wings. The sun was just starting to rise in the distance, and she became keenly aware of just how long she had been awake at this point.
‘First thing I’ma do when I get home: NAP,’ she decided with finality.
“Rainbow! I think this is the place!” Twilight’s voice shouted at her from the chariot behind her. “Set us down! We need to start looking!”
“Gotcha!” Rainbow called back, beginning her descent. As their altitude dropped, she looked out over the field again. A bewildered frown spread across her face. It was strange. Something about this place felt oddly familiar to her.
It was jarring when her hooves finally met the ground. She stumbled once or twice as she bled momentum before drawing to a complete stop. She sluggishly unhooked herself from her harness and glanced back at the changelings that had been assigned to help her. She winced with sympathy when she saw just how exhausted they were.
“Eheh… sorry, guys?” she apologized weakly.
“If I ever have to fly again,” one of them mumbled, flopping tiredly to the ground in a heaving heap. “It will be too soon.”
“We have to fly back after this,” the commanding officer remarked.
There was a resounding groan, the native counterpart to Rainbow Dash shooting them an apologetic smile.
“Hey, least it was a draw? I mean, I’d normally take that as a loss, but against myself, I don’t mind-”
“Not the time, Rainbow!” Twilight shouted out as she shot out of her carriage with enough urgent speed that the door almost came off of its hinges. She came to a landing on the roof as the others all piled out, her studious eyes scanning for something amidst the clouds. “I think I… Yes, up there! See it?”
All eyes turned up to where she was looking. Rainbow’s keen eyes picked it out immediately, her heart dropping a few inches into her guts at the sight. It was just like what they had seen in the Dream Realm; a rippling tear in the fabric of reality, crackling with orange energy. To her surprise, several other rifts, far smaller in scale, were scattered around it. She counted at least six of them.
“It would seem we have found our quarry,” Luna remarked as she exited her carriage.
“Of all the insane dealings of you and yours, my daughter, this by far supersedes any and all expectations,” Chrysalis deadpanned, though seemed in slight awe at the wound in reality. “You punctured a hole in the universe. I’m proud in a way.”
“Other me!” Twilight defended irritably. “And not on purpose!”
Rainbow hummed, looking around at the fields again. With a quiet huff, she unfurled her wings and kicked back into the air, heading for the Rift. Without the weight of the carriage to slow her down, she ascended quickly and easily. As she climbed into the sky again, it finally clicked with her where she was.
“...Of course,” she mumbled quietly, her ears drooping as a wave of nostalgia washed over her. “Of course it’s this place…”
“Rainbow, wait!” Twilight shouted out, following the pegasus up into the clouds with her gossamer wings buzzing frantically.
She landed on a cloud a short distance from where Rainbow Dash hovered, taking a moment to study the rift from her closer position. There almost seemed to be a night sky on the other side, and other images too were barely visible from the smaller wounds, but what they contained was not yet clear.
The mare then glanced back towards the ground, Luna’s horn alight as she presumably cast cloud walking spells on her friends. Once that was done, she lifted those who could not fly in a levitation spell and ascended up towards them. Chrysalis followed along too, Twilight then turning from them and focusing back on the otherworldly pony ahead of her.
Rainbow wasn’t looking at the rift anymore. She slowly rotated in place, taking in the silhouettes of the distant mountains, the specific landmarks in the landscape beneath her, and even the way the air felt against her coat. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a quiet sigh before turning to Twilight. “...This is where it happened.”
She turned back to the rift, and somehow, she knew that this was exactly where she had been. This exact spot. “...This is where I was when I saw you and Starlight… Where I did the Rainboom... When my future changed.”
Twilight frowned. “But that was in Cloudsdale, wasn’t it? You said…”
Twilight’s eyes lit up in realization, her mouth forming into an ‘o’ shape as she cursed herself for not seeing it sooner. It seemed so obvious now that she really thought about it, because the day that started it all, the smallest event that snowballed into HUGE consequences, was in Cloudsdale.
Cloudsdale. The mobile city of the pegasi that roamed across the skies.
And it had been here that day, so many years prior.
“Judging by the smell of astonishment, I’m guessing you realized something at the last minute,” Chrysalis spoke out as the others caught up, the Element Bearers being deposited on another cloud. “But astonishment is something you can ill afford, unless, Rainbow Dash, you don’t want to return to the ball and chain.”
“Oh, enough of that!” Twilight shot back. “Luna, how’s the rift looking?”
Luna hummed, her eyes closing as she elected to probe its existence in the Dream Realm before approaching it with her physical form for safety’s sake. After a few moments, she opened them up again, glancing towards the others with a relieved but severe expression.
“Barely stable, and just for the moment. We likely have minutes, though how many I cannot say. Definitely under an hour before its collapse is total, and I cannot say whether it will simply disappear the moment we intervene.”
“What’s with the other ones?” Native Rainbow inquired, gesturing at the six smaller rifts with a bewildered frown. “I don’t remember the last one we saw having all that goin’ on.”
“Didn’t y’all say this was the point of the big kaboom and all?” Applejack asked.
“So maybe the big kaboom went BANG and BOOM and then there were more BANGABOOMS!” Pinkie ‘helpfully’ added.
Rainbow frowned. “...Anypony wanna translate that into ponish and not caffeinated gerbil speak?” she asked, calling back to something her world’s Spike had once said.
“If I must,” Chrysalis remarked, tilting her head in thought. “If the divergence point is here, then it’s likely the source of the ‘time boom’ as well. The change occurred here, it is the starting point and thus the most volatile. And as the starting point, perhaps it produced ‘shrapnel’ that made smaller cuts in the fabric of other worlds alongside the larger one to our own.”
Twilight was beaming. “That’s… actually brilliantly put! Much like any explosion, the most damage is done by the detonation, but shrapnel and debris can cause secondary carnage. So, following that logic, these smaller rifts might lead to other worlds close to our own universe, but not so close as our two adjacent realities to be caught in the primary tear!”
“Um, yes… How obvious…” Rarity muttered, her head clearly hurting.
“I don’t like explosions…” Fluttershy whispered, shrinking back. “They scare the animals… and me…”
Rainbow frowned, her eyes drifting from one rift to the next. “Other worlds caught up in the blast zone, huh? Go figure,” she muttered before focusing on the big one. The image on the other side was still hazy, to say the least. But as she looked, it occurred to her it was slowly starting to come into focus. The vague appearance of a night sky shifter and rippled, before a perfect reflection of the very grasslands she was over now faded into view, also bathed in the morning light.
And as her own world faded back into view, so too did those in the smaller rifts become visible. Rainbow’s eyes widened in surprise. In the first, she saw a mare with icy blue fur and a long red mane, dressed in a tattered blue cloak staring back at her with wide amethyst coloured eyes while a small filly with teal fur hid under her. In another, she saw a freshly hatched changeling grub crawling along a smooth stone floor in what looked like a gloomy basement. In yet another, she saw Minuette as a little filly, before she even had her cutie mark, sitting alone in her room and staring up at an ornate mirror. She looked like she was talking to it, oddly enough.
“Rainbow…?” Twilight called out as she flew up directly next to the pegasus, her eyes trailing along the images the mare was studying before looking towards the remaining tears yet unobserved. “...And I didn’t even bring my notebook…”
The fourth rift contained a vast snow-filled wasteland, possibly the Frozen North, a tall mass of shadow seemingly studying the wound as it swirled aimlessly and… almost sadly. The next, meanwhile, showed a wasteland of another sort; a desolate desert surrounding a crater with a single cave entrance, an array of graves sitting before the dark abyss that told a tale of tragedy as a single zebra mare stood before them with her head hung low in mourning.
And then the final one showed a far softer sight, a foal’s bedroom in a Cloudsdale home with the said foal observing the opening with wide-eyed curiosity. The blue filly with the brown mane crept towards it while trying to poke the rift, seemingly finding no success. She frowned and seemed to utter something beginning with a ‘b’.
Rainbow blinked several times as the odd sights. Then, she gave them all a sheepish wave, a crooked grin on her face. “Uh… sorry? Don’t mind us?” she said weakly, though somehow she had the feeling her words did not reach them.
And then there was movement in the large rift. Focusing there yet again, her heart skipped a beat as her Twilight and friends came into view, guided by Celestia and Luna.
She acted on impulse, her wings flaring out. “Twilight! Aunt Luna!” she cried, throwing herself forward with her hooves outstretched.
Bonk.
“OW!”
Rainbow fell back a few feet, having collided with an invisible but completely solid barrier. A cold sweat had broken out under her coat the second she touched it, and a small amount of adrenaline had filled her veins. ‘Magic. That was a magic wall.’
“Rainbow!” her Twilight’s voice called out, muffled as if on the other side of a window. Rainbow shook her head and looked up to see the alicorn looking back at her, standing up on her hind legs and pressing her hooves against the wall. “Are you okay?!”
“That looked like it smarted a little,” Applejack pointed out on the other side, adjusting her hat.
“Looked fun to me,” Pinkie noted.
“Everything is fun to you,” came Rarity’s quip.
“So?”
Fluttershy didn’t say anything, merely coming up to Twilight’s side and placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
“The barrier is magical,” Aunt Luna noted with a grimace. “Try not to touch it, my niece. It’s already unstable enough, and we cannot afford to let you go into a flashback just now.”
Rainbow gave a shaky nod, drifting back a few feet. “R-right… are you guys alright?”
“As well as can be,” Celestia added, craning her neck down and giving Rainbow a reassuring smile. “We will have you home soon. Just hold on a little longer, Rainbow.”
“Rainbow!” Princess Twilight caught up to the pegasus, her eyes then locking onto the large alabaster alicorn before her with surprise. “P-Princess Celestia!”
Celestia’s eyes locked onto the changeling princess. She blinked and shifted back momentarily in alarm before regaining her composure and putting on a smile. “Ah, yes. You must be your world’s version of Twilight Sparkle, are you not?”
“Um, yes! At least, last I checked,” she replied with an awkward chuckle. “Oh gosh, that was a terrible joke I’m sorry!”
Celestia gave a good-natured laugh. “You’re fine,” she assured before her expression softened into something more meaningful. “I’ve heard of how you’ve taken care of my daughter ever since she arrived in your world, and of how far you’ve gone to help her get home. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for all you’ve done for my family.”
“I… It’s nothing…” she muttered awkwardly, seemingly as intimidated by this Celestia as her own, even when there was little reason to be.
“Yeah, buggo here is always on point,” native Rainbow remarked as the others pulled up to them, the Elements Bearers from the changeling side watching on curiously from their cloud as they caught sight of themselves on the other side. “And super awkward because your, like, her ‘other’ other mother for us.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Other… other? As in, third?” she asked in bewilderment.
“But there is only one that is true, so don’t you forget that,” Chrysalis remarked as she hovered into their field of view for the first time, speaking as one would to defend their territory.
A visible wave of tension washed over the gathered ponies on the other side of the rift. Several of them took steps back with frightened or hostile expressions, while Celestia immediately flared her wings defensively. A second passed before she slowly furled them up at her sides. “What is the meaning of this?”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, and she quickly put herself in between her mother and Chrysalis. “Woah, woah, hey, easy with the fire eyes, mom!” she called, waving her hooves placatingly. “This Chrysalis isn’t like the one back home! Trust me, she’s uh…” she glanced back at Chrysalis uneasily. The raised eyebrow the queen gave her in response set her at ease, and she gave Celestia a reassuring smile. “She’s cool. Kind of a jerk, but cool.”
“High praise. From an interloper,” Chrysalis responded with a smirk of endearment.
The wave of tension swiftly became a wave of confusion.
Then Applejack frowned. “Who are ya and what did ya do with our Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow sighed and slapped a hoof to her face. “It’s me, AJ. Look, it’s long and complicated. Just trust me when I say she’s on our side, okay?”
There was another pause before Celestia nodded slowly. “Very well… if you are indeed the mother of Twilight in your world, then I assume you have been involved in helping her get back. If that is so, then I suppose I owe you my thanks as well, don’t I?”
“Truth be told, my daughter deserves much of the thanks. Persistent in friendship as she is,” Chrysalis admitted. “I merely guarded over them, and… ‘ensured’ your child didn’t sufficiently harm herself during those first hours.”
“She panicked and ran around like a headless chicken,” Spike deadpanned. “Then Chrysalis knocked her out with a sleep spell.”
“You deserved it at the time,” Chrysalis informed Rainbow.
“Yeah yeah, maybe I did,” Rainbow rolled her eyes before glaring at Spike. “And you can shut your drake mouth.”
Spike gave an evil little chuckle.
Aunt Luna cut in carefully. “As much as I hate to interrupt the moment, it might be best if we hold off on further gratitude until my niece is home safe. The rift is not stable. We must begin as soon as possible if this is to work.”
The native Luna nodded in agreement. “Indeed. It is fortunate that Rainbow Dash’s blunder a moment ago had no effect. Standing here as idly as we are, it remains stable. But if we don’t attempt the transition soon…”
Celestia hesitated for a second before giving a reluctant nod. “I understand,” she relented. She turned back to Rainbow. “Just a little longer, Rainbow…”
Rainbow offered a nod of her own. “R-right… uh…” she bit down on her lip, her ears drooping.
“Rainbow, please move aside,” Native Luna commanded gently. “You’re in the way.”
“One sec,” Rainbow said back to her before turning back to the rift. She took a deep breath and drifted up until she was right in front of it. She lifted a hoof toward Twilight, as if to reach out to her, but thought better of it. She licked her lips and put on a small smile. “Hey, so, uh… if this doesn’t work, and I get stuck here…”
“It will work,” Twilight tried to cut her off. “It has to…”
Rainbow lifted her hoof and narrowed her eyes, silencing the alicorn. “...If this doesn’t work, and I get stuck here, I just want you to know… know how much I really l-love you, alright?” she finally managed to force out, briefly stumbling on the ‘l’ word. “With everything I got.”
She then looked up to Luna and Celestia. “Same goes for you, two…”
Celestia smiled. “Of course, Rainbow. We love you, too.”
Luna gave a nod of her own. “Ever and always, my niece.”
Rainbow stared at them all for a second, then backed away. Her eyes never once left Twilight as she went. “...Kay, go for it. Let’s do this thing,” she said once she was by native Luna’s side.
The Princess nodded, locking eyes with her counterpart. “Ensure to keep half a mind on the Dream Realm to better monitor the rift’s stability, our combined magics should probe the wound and pry it open as best we can.”
Aunt Luna nodded and spread her stance. “Understood…” she said, briefly closing her eyes as her horn lit with magic.
Everypony looked on as the two Lunas set to work, their horns growing brighter and brighter. The rift trembled and shook, emitting a low rumbling sound at their touch, like a feral animal about to pounce.
“The bridge will be small,” Aunt Luna noted on her side, her voice strained. “But it should suffice for our needs…”
“Very well…” Both of their horns glowed brighter still, all eyes glancing around nervously as the portal flickered and spat orange ethereal embers. “Let us guide the way home…”
Seconds passed as the rumbling continued, the wound crying out as two identical auras probed it from parallel sides of the cosmos, the shimmering blue magic sweeping across the invisible barrier before coalescing in the middle and starting to gently tug at it…
And then, in an instant, the surrounding smaller portals all shut.
And the rift began to shrink with a sound like thunder.
Rainbow’s eyes widened, her heart skipping a beat. It looked like the rift was trying to collapse on itself! “H-hey! What’s happening?!” she shouted, her ears folding back.
“The rift…!” Princess Twilight shouted out. “It’s collapsing!”
“What?! No, Princess Luna, you gotta stop it!” native Rainbow called out to her version of the alicorn.
“We’re… trying…!”
Both blue alicorns grimaced as sweat formed on their brows, their bodies shuddering under the magical strain as they diverted all their efforts from opening the gateway to simply maintaining its existence.
“It ain’t working’!” both Applejacks from either side called out.
“Guh! It is taking all our power just to hold it where it is!” Aunt Luna shouted, screwing her eyes shut.
“Dangit, dangit, dangit!” Rainbow babbled, starting to panic, her eyes glued onto her friends on the other side of the rift. “What do we do?!”
She wanted to help, somehow. She wanted to jump in and so something, anything. But just like always, it seemed, when it really mattered most, she was utterly powerless to help the ponies she cared about. Powerless to even lift a hoof in support. This was far beyond her in every way…
The portal shuddered and groaned as reality itself seemed intent on forcing its will onto them, the orange flames around the rift flaring up and forcing the onlookers to shield their eyes. The early morning sky tinted and became an unnatural orange-red as if to say that they were meddling far past what was acceptable.
Princess Twilight refused to accept that decision.
“Twilight!” the changeling called out as she shot forward towards the barrier, stopping before it. “We have to be able to do something! You have your Elements of Harmony, can you do anything your end!?”
The alicorn’s eyes focused onto her changeling counterpart. She swallowed heavily, her eyes and a hoof drifting up to her crown. “I… I don’t know!” she admitted shakily. “I haven’t used them before, not like this! I don’t even know where to start!”
“And without Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy added, her hoof curling around her necklace, a despairing grimace on her face. “Oh, dear…”
“Please, you must try something. For her…” the changeling pressed.
Alicorn Twilight hesitated for a second, before taking a step back and swallowing heavily. “O-okay, uh… I’ll try,” she said weakly before closing her eyes and igniting her horn with magic.
“Girls! It’s going to squish!” Pinkie Pie, though nopony was entirely certain which one, screamed out in warning as the wound starting to finally heal itself.
Rainbow’s heart all but stopped in her chest. That was it, then. It was over, wasn’t it?
“No, I refuse to be dictated by something as flimsy as this! If that is fate, then fate can begone!” Chrysalis barked out, jumping back onto a cloud next to Luna with her putrid green magic bursting to life on her horn. A stream of magic shot forth with a passion, merging with and assisting that of Princess Luna. “She shall be free of this, and I refuse to fail on this day when I have not failed on any other!”
At the same time, Celestia stepped up to Aunt Luna’s side, her horn glowing brightly with magic and similarly lending power to her side. “I’m not losing my daughter!” she shouted in defiance, the world around her growing noticeably brighter. “Not like this! I WILL have her home!”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, and a small spark of hope ignited in her chest as the rift began to spread open again, trembling under its own weight.
Aunt Luna grimaced. “Guh! It is not enough!” she shouted out through clenched teeth.
“Then it requires a lady’s touch!” the native Rarity close by to Chrysalis announced, her own horn lighting and joining the mix, though she was instantly assaulted far more by the strain than the royals around her. Much was the same on the other side, her counterpart following suit. “Agh, do hurry, darling! This is… deeply uncomfortable!”
Celestia, who had scrunched her eyes shut in concentration, peeled one open to stare imploringly at those on the other side. “Please!” she cried out. “Any of you with the ability, help us! Anything you can spare!”
Native Luna nodded at the amnesiac alicorn and her friends. “Same for you! Any of you who can use magic, lend us your aid! Help us get your friend back home to you!”
Without hesitation, the alicorn version of Twilight stepped forward, her horn flaring with magic. “Right!” she acknowledged before screwing her eyes shut and channelling magic into the slowly expanding rift.
“Drones!” Princess Twilight called out over the hive. “Magic. NOW!”
“Now! Tiredness is not an excuse, do it you fools!” Chrysalis added the weight of her voice to that of her daughter’s.
“Y-yes, your Majesty! Your Highness!”
There was a noticeable buzzing added alongside the growing roar and crackling of the rift as the changelings, tired as they were, pushed forth and added their auras to the growing mix around the unstable gateway. It was expanding faster with every layer of magic added, and yet its struggle still provided no opportunity to pierce the barrier that prevented Rainbow’s escape.
“Can we do something…?” the Fluttershy behind Princess Twilight Sparkle asked in alarm.
“You don’t have magic in the same form we do,” the royal changeling noted in frustration. “No, I won’t let it go like this!”
And so she too lit her horn, her lavender aura reaching out and joining in the mix. The plethora of colours swarmed in a blinding fashion, struggling against forces far beyond their full understanding in their attempts to defy the very fabric of the universe. It seemed a futile task, the whole weight of the universe, a power far beyond their own that they were barely affecting. Even combined, how could they hope to match it?
And then the two lavender auras in the sea of mana found each other.
And at that moment, it was like they could feel each other. Two Twilight Sparkles. Two minds. But then, it was almost like it was a single entity, their thoughts, feelings and emotions entangled and blurred. Their lives became one, their identities became one.
As did their memories.
“What in tarnation?” The Applejack next to Aunt Luna, yelped when her Element of Harmony began to glow around her neck. “Uh, Anypony else gettin’ this?!”
“I am!” Pinkie chimed in, touching her hoof to her own. “Twilight, I thought you didn’t know how to use these?”
Neither Twilight answered. They shared a shout of effort, pulling more power from the bonds they had with the friends beside them. On both sides of the rift, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony began to glow, each one corresponding with their own element as wafts of magical energy emerged from their hides and wafted towards the portal. The Elements, drawing from the strength of the Bearers of two worlds, created a wave of rainbow that melded with the other auras and wrenched the rift wide open.
And then, with a deafening shatter and a spray of tiny particles, a hole that was barely the width of a sewing needle appeared in the barrier. A beam of near blinding light emerged from it, filling the air with an otherworldly, aetherial ringing sound.
Aunt Luna’s eyes snapped open. “THERE! An opening!”
“Get… moving… interloper!” Chrysalis managed to force out through clenched teeth. “This is your farewell, move!”
Rainbow turned back to her, her eyes wide. “Wha- I can’t fit through that!”
“No, but I can!” Princess Twilight shouted as she cut her magic stream, the portal immediately giving a loud groan. With the connection between the two Twilights cut, the power of the Elements of Harmony started to flicker. “Grab on!”
Rainbow barely even had a chance to register the command. She turned to the changeling princess just in time for her to grab Rainbow by the hoof. There was a flash of light, and for a moment, Rainbow’s world went dark.
A rush of cold passed through her veins as green flames erupted around her. Her eyes flew wide open, and just like that, she was back in the Empire, the face of Chrysalis looming at her from the embers. But not the one she’d come to know, no this was different, she felt different in every fibre of her being. The Queen’s lips peeled back into a bloodthirsty grin, and her tongue rolled across them hungrily.
Suddenly, there was a flicker, and the green flames vanished, replaced with a swirling mass of mismatched colours and blinding light. The face of Queen Chrysalis melted away, replaced with the sadly smiling face of Princess Twilight, her reptilian eyes glistening with tears.
Time seemed to stop. Just for a moment. But it was a moment in eternity. Their eyes were locked together, Rainbow’s fear morphing into surprise and confusion at the sight. A tear fell, shimmering in the light of everyone’s efforts as a small, sad smile graced the changeling's lips.
“...Goodbye, Rainbow,” she whispered.
“Hold on, what-” Rainbow went to protest, reaching out.
Twilight disappeared in a flash of light, and Rainbow realized that she was back on her side of the rift. She watched as the changeling reappeared on the other side just as the narrow hole between their worlds sealed shut.
Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “Twilight! WAIT!” she cried out, reaching out with a hoof.
There was a thunderous crack, and all at once, the rift snapped shut. It was like someone flicked a switch. The storm of colour and light and magic winked out all at once, and the blinding light was replaced with the mild glow of sunrise.
She sat there, completely dumbstruck by what just transpired. Her hoof remained in place, reaching out for a mare that was no longer there. With a trembling sigh, Rainbow let the hoof drop down to land on the cloud she was now sitting on. “...Goodbye,” she whispered, looking down. “And thank you… for everything…”
“...Rainbow?” a voice asked from behind her. Slowly, Rainbow turned to look and came face to face with her friends and family, all gathered together and looking on with a mixture of boundless relief and concern. It had been Twilight who spoke. She took a tentative step forward. “Are… are you okay?”
Rainbow stared at her for a few seconds, her wings drooping. She struggled to find words for a few seconds before smiling. She stiffly rose to her hooves and stumbled into a hog against the alicorn, burying her face into her shoulder. “...Y-yeah… Yeah, I’m okay,” she mumbled.
She felt Twilight returning the gesture. The others shortly joined them, enveloping her in an all-encompassing blanket of warmth, affection, and relief. The familiar sensation of being held by the ponies she loved most did wonders to chase away the shock and whiplash of what just happened, easing her sore, stiff muscles into relaxing.
“You’re back,” Twilight whispered, squeezing her a little closer. “You’re home…”
Rainbow pulled back to look into her eyes, those two purple orbs she had fallen in love with. Her heart fluttered softly in her chest, and a small, tender smile crept across her lips.
“Yeah… I’m home.”
And so a newfound bond between a changeling and a pony, both scarred and haunted in their own ways, comes to an abrupt end.
Fun fact: the strong relationship Rainbow and bug!Twilight ended up having wasn't originally planned. Twilight was always going to have the slight impression that Rainbow was put off by her species, but then the unplanned nightmare sequence happened some chapters back and a subplot was formed, Twilight suffering a massive PTSD attack and them then bonding over their pain. It was a bond beyond friendship, though stopped short of romance for many highly obvious reasons (never mind the Princess likes dudes).
But just as quickly as it was formed, it is gone. Such is life. 
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Great chapter!
By all of the Elements glowing, Princess Rainbow’s glowed as well despite not having the necklace with her? Could be from within her if yes.
now that this is over we can get back to harmony among the stars
I enjoyed the little wings refrence
Nice work
Translation, I am a little chubbier than the time I came through.
Bravo bravo fantastic amazing a marvelous job
A nice chapter indeed.
This chapter is of a very traditional structure. It is quite effective, though.
Looking forward to the concluding chapters.
You guys did a great job, again.
Ah, I see we're at the "authors promoting their other stories" part of the multiverse. Hello there, Scarlet, and hello, Beebee.
10228081
Which 'fics do they each belong to?
Nice! Rainbow is finally back home where she belongs. Guess that means there should only be one or two chapters left now.
10228652
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- Drama
- Slice of Life
A small foal is found in Cloudsdale, but Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles know nothing of the humanity within.Uhhh... Did Twilight just use a form of thaumic osmosis to spread a Changeling shapeshifting spell to Rainbow’s body?
This cannon or AU?
Funniest line in the chapter.
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Er, no? She teleported them across. Rainbow just had one of her PTSD flashbacks mid port.
10232480
...I still like my answer better, even if yours is more plausible.
10232641
More plausible because that's what happened.
For one, thats not how changeling shapeshifting works in Change. Two, how would that help cross a dimensional rift?
10232710
Changeling can alter their mass(Presumably by drawing energy from, or depositing mass as energy in their magic stores), so it’s not unreasonable to think that they could shrink to a size small enough to enter the crack.
10232801
Again, that's not how shapeshifting works in change. Most can only turn into a creature of equivalent size and shape to them more or less. Ponies and griffon and such. Only the most skilled can turn into things like rocks.
Its explained during the series, and Twilight even told Rainbow this earlier during this fic.
Your theory on how their mass alters is sound enough. But getting it down smaller to the size of a quill point would be... strenuous. Beyond what any known changeling can do. It burnt out Twilight just teleporting there and back.
10233278
Very well, I’ll accept the your canonicity on this topic.
Though I do think that a larger storage container for magic, either a thaumic crystal or a runed metal container (like a pocket watch) would make more difficult transformations easier.
awesome chapter's
Can you tell me what stories these descriptions are from?
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- MLP: FiM
- Dark
- Adventure
- Drama
Following the return of the Crystal Empire, Twilight begins some intensive research into the history of the Empire and its late king. What she finds changes everything she knows about herself.- MLP: FiM
- Fallout
- Romance
- Dark
- Adventure
It has been nearly two hundred years since the megaspells rained fire down on the world, reducing it to a tainted wasteland. And ever since that day, the changelings have never been sighted in the wasteland...- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Drama
- Slice of Life
A small foal is found in Cloudsdale, but Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles know nothing of the humanity within.Hehe, the call-outs were fun.
We were wondering if they would try the inefficient "make the hole big enough to physically shove through" or use the much more efficient "streaming teleport" method. We hold that the reason the mirror portal doesn't require such gracious expenditure of energy is because it's streaming the traveler fucking through a subatomic stream, hence the weird stretching and kaleidoscope experience.