• Published 4th Nov 2019
  • 10,164 Views, 646 Comments

Little Changes - tom117z



When a Rainbow Dash from another world crash lands near the Badlands Hive, Princess Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Queen Chrysalis, works to find a way to send her home.

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28 - Little Changes

It was a strange feeling for Rainbow Dash. She had spent a not-insignificant amount of time in that other world, and for the entire time she had been constantly assaulted by a haunting feeling of ‘wrongness.’ She had known, instinctually, that she did not belong there. It had been almost as if her body was being rejected, or that it was rejecting everything around it. She had been dealing with that harrowing sensation for so long that it had almost faded from her mind entirely. Just white noise, like a wind in the forest.

Now that feeling was gone. Rainbow Dash was home, and her mind and soul had started to relax with recognition. But with that familiarity, that sense of belonging, there was now an unwelcome sense of emptiness.

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.

That moment played out in her mind over and over again the whole way back to Ponyville. It had all been so sudden. She had barely had a chance to properly think about what was happening at the moment, and it wasn’t until it was too late that she realized what had happened.

Once everypony had ensured she was alright, the time had come to take her home. Celestia had insisted on carrying Rainbow the whole way back to Ponyville, not that the pegasus minded. The furry cushion of her adoptive mother’s back had worked as a wonderful bed, nostalgiac memories of simpler days soothing her mind enough for her to get some much-needed rest.

The journey home was longer than she would have liked. It was already well past noon before Ponyville finally came into view. It was a welcome sight, and Rainbow couldn’t have been happier for it. As the homely cottages passed by beneath her, she finally felt the stress in her mind start to ease and abate.

“It would seem this is where we are to part ways,” Luna addressed from one side, pulling along the carriage that housed those of the group that were incapable of flight. “I will deposit your friends in the marketplace so they may find their way home.”

Rainbow turned and nodded over at her. “Kay… Thanks, Aunt Luna.”

Luna stared at her for a moment, her brow furrowing in concern. “Are you sure you do not want us to remain with you for a while? We have both been incredibly worried about you…”

“Tomorrow, maybe,” Rainbow answered, lifting her head drowsily from Celestia’s back. “But right now, I just wanna go home and get some rest. It’s been a long few days…”

Luna hummed but otherwise offered up no answer. She pulled away and soon disappeared into the streets in the distance.

The remaining three ponies fell into total silence until, at long last, the Golden Oaks Library came into view. Rainbow’s eyes glued onto the old tree that had served as her home for the last year, a small smile creeping onto her face. Celestia slowed herself down and began into a gentle descent, alighting on the ground just in front of the building. Spike was waiting in front of the entrance, his claws tapping together over his chest.

Rainbow sluggishly slid off of Celestia’s back, her hooves touching down on the ground of her own world for the first time since the storm took her away. She sighed with relief.

“Will you be alright for now?” Celestia asked in a gentle whisper, craning her neck down. “And are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay,” Rainbow replied with a half-hearted roll of her eyes. “I get that you’re worried, but come on. The storm’s gone, I’m home, and you guys are staying in town for a few days. If I’m not okay for whatever reason, Spike’ll ping ya and you can come sort things out in a flash.”

Celestia eyed her daughter for a few moments. Then, a tender smile spread on her face. “Oh… how I have missed you,” she muttered before pulling Rainbow into a gentle hug, one the pegasus gladly returned. “My little girl…”

“Yeah yeah,” Rainbow mumbled into her mother’s chest fur. “I missed you, too… Just don’t go pulling out any onions, alright?”

Celestia hummed in amusement, nuzzling Rainbow on the mane. “Not in public, at any rate…”

“I will punch you.”

“And I will go see Twilight Velvet and see if she still has those photos of you with Twilight laying around.”

“I’ll be good.”

Celestia giggled at that. She pulled away and smiled down at Rainbow for a few seconds. “Rest assured, we will not be far. If you need us, you need only ask,” she assured Rainbow again.

Rainbow nodded. “I gotcha. Now go on…”

Celestia slowly and reluctantly rose to her hooves. She offered a tender smile as she backed away. “...Welcome home, Rainbow,” she said quietly. Her wings unfurled from her sides, and with a great flap, she launched into the air, soon disappearing in the direction of the marketplace to rendezvous with Luna.

Rainbow watched her go until she was out of sight, then turned back to the Library. Twilight had taken up a position next to Spike, a hoof on his shoulder to hold him back for the moment. It wasn’t until Rainbow nodded at her that she released her hold on the baby dragon, and he broke into a mad sprint for Rainbow.

She braced herself and caught him as he threw himself against her in a tackle hug. “Oh my gosh, Rainbow! You had us all scared half to death!” he blubbered into her chest fur, shuddering.

Rainbow hugged him back with one hoof, her ears drooping. “Heh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to…” she said apologetically. “But uh… hey, I’m home now, right?”

Spike pouted up into her face, and it was only then that she realized he must have been having a really hard time sleeping lately. He balled his claws up into a fist and lightly beat it against her chest a few times. “You are never sleeping in the clouds again!” he told her adamantly. “Ever!”

Rainbow blinked a few times before giving him a small smile and ruffling his head. “Deal. No more sleeping in the sky. I’ll just bring them inside.”

Spike pouted indignantly at her. “That’s not funny!”

“It’s kinda funny,” Rainbow dismissed him gently before quietly nudging him off of her and starting for the entrance. She locked gazes with Twilight, briefly pausing on the way in. Her mind wandered back to the changeling princess, and her heart twisted in her chest. It hadn’t even been a day, and already she was missing her…

'Heh… bet she’d be flattered to hear that,' Rainbow thought before making her way inside.

The familiar sensations of the Golden Oaks interior assaulted her senses, and all at once, it felt as if her muscles were melting. She took in a deep breath, held it in her lungs, and then let it out. “Ahh… good to be home,” she mumbled before dragging herself over to the nearest chair and throwing herself into it with all of the accumulative grace of a drunken giraffe on roller skates.

She stayed there for a time, closing the world around her out of her mind and just relaxing. Spike and Twilight followed her in. They spoke to each other in whispers for a few seconds before Spike waddled out. Twilight took the opportunity to walk over and take a seat in the chair next to Rainbows.

Rainbow opened an eye. Twilight was fidgeting in place, her ears partially lowered and her eyes boring into the cushion beneath her with hesitation. She licked her lips and spoke in a timid whisper. “So… are you gonna be alright? I know we all keep asking you that, but, uh… you looked pretty sad, uh, other me brought you over.”

Rainbow hummed, opened her other eye and looking up at the ceiling. “...Honestly? I dunno. It’s been pretty crazy… And… I’m gonna miss her.”

Twilight tilted her head. “I mean… she’s me, so…”

Rainbow shook her head. “No, not quite. She’s a lot like you, yeah, but she’s also really different. And not just because she’s a changeling,” she countered, sitting upright. “See, she went through a lot before I ever met her. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned over here, it’s that our experiences can and will change us, for better and for worse.”

Twilight grimaced at that, looking away. “Right…”

Rainbow briefly winced guiltily at the prod into Twilight’s amnesia but was quick to push on. “S-so, she’s like you, yeah, but she isn’t you. She was… somethin’ else. And she was definitely a great friend… I...” she sighed and closed her eyes, slumping in her seat. “...I just wish I had gotten a chance to say goodbye to her, ya know? It all happened so fast, and I never got the chance to say anything I wanted to say to her…”

Twilight nodded quietly at that. “I see…”

A few minutes passed in silence. Rainbow took the chance to just breathe and relax. After all of the flying and the chaos, she could feel herself starting to doze off. However, sleep would prove elusive when Spike came back into the room and set something down on the hoofrest of her chair. She cracked open an eye and caught sight of a plate bearing a freshly made pasta and potato sandwich with sourdough bread waiting for her.

“Oh… huh. Thanks, Spike,” she said, giving the drake a small smile.

He grinned at her, exposing a fang. His grin then faltered, his eyes widening. “Wait. Rainbow, where’s your hairband?!” he asked, his claws reaching out a little.

Rainbow blinked. “Huh?” she asked, lifting a hoof to the hair draped over her shoulder. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that her hair was still loose and unbound. “...She never gave it back…” she whispered.

Spike and Twilight shared a look. “Uh… who?” Twilight asked quietly.

Rainbow let her hoof fall and gave off a small sigh of remembrance. “...Chrysalis.”

Spike visibly paled. “Wha… C-chrysalis?” he echoed, his voice shaking somewhat. “As in the big evil changeling queen who, uh… gave you that?” he pointed at her scar.

Rainbow looked down at her hoof. She gave off a small snort of amusement as she thought back on everything that had happened in that first couple of days. “Huh… ya know? At first, I thought so. But no… turns out this Chrysalis was nothing at all like the one we fought here.”

Spike tilted his head. “I’m… confused.”

Rainbow chuckled. She idly picked up the sandwich and took a bite. Once she swallowed, she flashed him a small, knowing smile. “Oh, so was I. A lot of stuff happened over there.”

Twilight leaned forward with a hopeful look on her face. “So… why don’t you tell us about it?” she asked, a small spark of scholarly interest in her eyes. “I’d like to know everything that happened if you’re willing to share.”

Rainbow smiled at her for a few seconds. There it was. That was one of the many faces Twilight had worn over the years that had made the pegasus fall so helplessly in love with the silly egghead. She took another bite from her sandwich before clearing her throat. After all, how could she say no to that face?

“Well, when the storm first hit me,” she began, her mind wandering back and reliving everything that had happened up until now. “I was scared and confused. I had no idea what was going on or where to go or what to do. The winds were throwing me in every direction, and these massive bolts of magic were blasting all over the place, threatening to swallow me whole at every turn.”

“Sounds scary…” Spike muttered, shuddering at the idea.

“Oh, it was,” Rainbow agreed. “And believe me, I was scared. For a minute there, I thought I was gonna die.”

Her eyes fell on Twilight. Her lips pulled up into a small smile, her heart fluttering in her chest. What she said next, she said slowly and deliberately. “I was terrified. And in all of the noise and chaos and light, all I could think about… was how much I wanted Twilight to be there, to pull me out of the fire like she had so many times before.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at that.

Rainbow locked onto that and continued in a whisper. “...And she did.”