The Colors of a Rainbow
Wind tore at Rainbow Dash’s mane and tossed it about in a wild frenzy, each hair a tiny stinger against her ears and neck. Her eyes watered in the cold rush—a thin stream of tears ran back from the corner of each. The pressure on her face made it feel like she was pushing a refrigerator uphill with her snout. All of it was getting worse.
And she loved every second of it.
But not fast enough. Rainbow flapped harder, squinting into the airy blast as her tail corkscrewed around in her slipstream. Still not fast enough. But getting there…
This was it. That familiar sensation. Warmth building on her muzzle, the trickle of tears freezing in place, clouds of water vapor forming around her shoulders and wings. Each wingstroke brought fresh protests from her muscles, but she pressed on, knowing she’d almost pushed through the worst of it. In front of her eyes, distorted light danced and flashed from one color to the next. Rainbow fought to keep her body from wobbling in the harsh turbulence, then finally…
Time slowed. The roar, like ocean waves in her ears, stopped; she could hear her own soft breath, suddenly calmed from her labored panting. And her body stretched out like a rubber band. Forever. She could stay like this forever.
The first time, so long ago, she hadn’t even intended to make a Rainboom. It just… happened. But once she’d done it, she knew she could, and… Well, doubt had never entered into it. Not that it would have anyway, for somepony as awesome as Dash. It all felt, well, natural now.
Then the rubber band snapped.
Resistance dropped away, and she surged forward, one hoof extended in front of her. Rings of color fanned out in her wake, spread across the sky, and a low rumble swept over the crowd below. Rainbow could hear their gasps each time she rocketed back and forth, leaving bright, layered bands for all to see. Flashbulbs ignited, reporters scribbled away on their notepads, and a muscular white stallion screamed, “Yeah!”
That applause! She lived for it! After a couple more victory laps, Rainbow managed to tame her grin. She settled into a slow glide and headed toward Canterlot Castle’s largest courtyard, where a small space had opened up in the middle of her audience. A gentle touchdown in the clearing, and she trotted past all the gaping faces, autograph-seekers leaning over the velvet ropes, starstruck guards who probably thought hanging around with Princess Celestia was a big deal…
And then, finally, she approached the couple that had otherwise commanded everypony’s attention. At least until Rainbow had taken to the sky.
Rainbow gave Cadance a friendly elbow to the ribs. “How was that, Princess? Awesome, huh?” She folded her wings neatly and put her full effort into holding them steady. A star had to make it look effortless. It wouldn’t do to have all these bigwigs see her shaking.
Cadance leaned forward and hugged her, but froze for a moment when Rainbow barely trembled. Her mouth hanging open a little, Cadance pulled back and searched Rainbow’s eyes. As well as she could, Rainbow held still, but somehow the Princess knew her too well—she wore that kind of smile that said she most certainly hadn’t noticed a thing.
With a tight squeeze, Cadance whispered in her ear, “Thank you. That was a wonderful wedding gift.” Patting Rainbow on the shoulder, she motioned toward the French doors leading into the ballroom. “Open bar’s in there. You look like you could use a cider.”
Rainbow smiled and rubbed a hoof on the back of her neck. So the Princess knew her really too well. “That does sound good.” She took a step toward the promise of some much-needed instant strength, but Shining Armor blocked her path.
“Don’t think you’re getting away without a hug from me, too,” he said. Hooking a foreleg around her neck, he beamed at her. “It means a lot that you were willing to do this for us. This is the first wedding in centuries to have a Sonic Rainboom, if you believe the legends.”
“Heh. Well, I’m not gonna turn down a request from a princess.” She hugged him back, then beat a hasty retreat for the bar. “Good luck with that marriage thing, you two,” she called back. Halfway to the door, she managed to intercept a server carrying a tray of full glasses and saved herself the trouble of going all the way inside. She didn’t even bother looking for a place to sit—just tilted back a long pull and drained half the glass before coming up for air.
“Good show, Rainbow Dash!” Her eyes came into focus again, and she looked up to see Fancy Pants smiling at her. “How do you do? I have the name right, I trust? I remember you from my little garden party.”
“Uh… yeah,” Rainbow said, wiping the foam off her upper lip with the back of her hoof. “Glad you enjoyed the Rainboom. I like somepony who can appreciate a good light show.”
“Oh, no doubt. No doubt. You could be the next big thing.” He leaned in close and shielded his words with a hoof. “Frankly, I love to see you stirring the pot a bit, so to speak. Much like your friend, Rarity. Show these stuffed-shirt types that the big city isn’t the only source for what’s new and exciting, hm?”
“Uh… sure. Yeah!” Rainbow replied, her nodding intensifying as his meaning gradually registered.
“I say, what impresses me the most about the true masters of their craft is how innate they make it seem”—Dash grinned and shrugged off the clearly minor effort involved—“but of course, the rest of us will never really know if that’s the case.”
“Well, it’s kinda easy and kinda not. Y’see—”
Fancy Pants held up a hoof and peered across the crowd, where an officious-looking pony beckoned toward him. “My apologies, madam. Unfortunately, moving in these social circles—” he traced a few imaginary ones in the air for her and wrinkled his nose at them “—means just that: moving. Frequently. I regret that I can’t be as attentive a conversationalist as I should, but I’d wager I haven’t heard the last from you.”
“Of course not! I’m always working on bigger and better things,” she replied before emptying her glass and setting it on a vacant table.
“Good! I shall have to see more of these… Sonic Rainbooms. Exquisite. But I must take my leave. Not farewell, though—au revoir,” said Fancy Pants, bowing his head and waggling his moustache.
“Um… Oh reservoir to you, too.” Rainbow waved good-bye, a vague smile on her face. It only grew on her way to join her friends—more praise floated out from the crowd. All at once, though, jumbled up. She wished they’d take turns, space it out so she could let it all sink in.
“Way to go, Rainbow Dash!”
“Spot on, young lady! Spot on!”
“Very expressive—reminiscent of a Manedrian.”
She didn’t know any of those ponies, but that didn’t matter. An admirer was an admirer. One familiar scratchy voice in particular caught her attention, though.
“Nice going, kid. You’re making quite a name for yourself.”
Rainbow gave a friendly nod in reply, but when she reached her friends’ table, her jaw dropped. “Omygosh omygosh! Did you guys hear that? Spitfire congratulated me!” She plopped onto her haunches and sank below the tabletop with a squeak.
“That’s great, sugarcube!” Applejack said. She reached under the table to give Rainbow’s shoulder a playful jostle.
“Yeah! Everypony wants to see more!” A spark ignited in her eyes, and Rainbow stood back up to scan the crowd. “Hey!” she shouted. “I practice those on Wednesdays over in Ponyville, if anypony wants to come watch!” A few cheers rang out, including another “yeah!” from across the square.
“Hold on, sugarcube. You practice over Sweet Apple Acres, right?” Applejack asked. Rainbow nodded and raised an eyebrow. “S’pose somepony were to charge admission to your rehearsals…”
A familiar boom rang out over Sweet Apple Acres as yet another rippled pattern of color floated along with the clouds. Rainbow Dash pulled up before the crowd and hovered in front of her creation with her forelegs crossed and her chest puffed out. It was the perfect photo opportunity. Except she couldn’t hear many of the characteristic snapping noises. In fact, quite a few of the onlookers exchanged glances and shook their heads at each other. She turned around to see the display in the sky behind her. No problems there. She compared the hues to other ones around the field: Trees of green, red roses, too. Skies of blue, clouds of white. All colors sharp, nice pattern, high above the horizon…
Rainbow squinted down at Applejack and let her eyes ask the unspoken question. Applejack nudged her hat upward a bit, scratched her head, and shrugged. Rainbow flew down to confer with her business partner, but as soon as she’d moved, a whole volley of clicks sounded. “Must be a lighting thing,” Rainbow said as she looked around for anything that may have obstructed the sun from making her Rainboom brilliant, but the sky was clear.
Once more, she struck a pose beside the colorful display, but heard only one more camera, from the edge of the crowd. The assembled ponies muttered among themselves, then started breaking up and heading back to their coaches for the return trip to Canterlot. Only the one who had snapped that last photo kept watching: Scootaloo.
“Hey, Scoot!” Rainbow called on her way down. Her grin returned at the sight of that filly’s sparkling eyes and buzzing wings. “You can see me anytime. Why’d you pay to get in?”
Scootaloo flung her forelegs around Rainbow’s neck and giggled. “Applejack lets me in for free. I wanna see you all the time!”
“Free, huh? She must really like you,” Rainbow said with a chuckle of her own, her ears pricking toward her little friend.
“Quickly now, quickly! Before it goes avay! Ve must have… ze photo!”
Rainbow turned abruptly at the commotion—Photo Finish waded against the crowd’s flow and pushed her way free of the sea of ponies. She ran up to Rainbow and looked her over.
“Ve need you… a bit to ze right,” Photo Finish said, giving a rapid nod.
Rainbow sidled over a few steps, reared up, pointed a hoof to the sky, and donned a winning smile. “Is this good?”
“Hm? Yes, yes. You vere standing on ze spot I need.” Photo Finish shouldered past her and set up a tripod where Rainbow had been standing. She cast an anxious glance toward the sky, where the shimmering spectacle had begun to fade, then toward an assistant, who kept his eyes trained on a light meter. The assistant shook his head. Photo Finish gritted her teeth and wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead as the rainbows above became a bit paler.
Rainbow’s hind legs burned, but she held her pose. It didn’t look like the camera would get a very good angle of her, but but she dared not peek—she had to stay in form, trust the professionals.
At long last, the assistant nodded, and the camera clicked.
“Ah! Ze magics!” Exhaling sharply, Photo Finish folded up her tripod, paused to give Rainbow a quick look from head to hoof and back again, then motioned to her crew. “Ve go!”
Rainbow slumped her shoulders and stared after her. That was it? And now that she could have a look around, she was sure they’d never pointed the camera at her.
An audience as big as ever had shown up today, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t help letting her mind wander. She stood up on top of the barn roof, situated in the center of a perfect trio of Rainbooms, and in her usual spot, Scootaloo took another picture and jotted a few notes down in her scrapbook.
Rainbow didn’t replay the feeling in her mind, envision the crowd’s excited faces, or feel the usual tingle shoot through her nerves. To be honest, she only felt… tired. Her eyebrows drew together, and she sighed.
“Miss, could you please move?” called a well-dressed mare from below. “You’re blocking my view.”
Rainbow dropped to all fours and trudged to the end of the barn, where she would be out of the way. She held her ears flat and flopped down, her legs dangling along the roof’s slope. At this rate, she could probably go ahead and leave for home.
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
Rainbow’s ears perked back up at the new voice rising above the jumbled conversations. Her wings popping up inquisitively, Rainbow stood and searched for the source. She scanned the onlookers—it wouldn’t take long to find somepony actually looking at her. And Scootaloo didn’t count.
“Would you mind coming down here for a moment? I would love to use you as a model,” Hoity Toity said, his hooves clasped together.
Despite a few glaring examples to the contrary—Fluttershy’s runway career and Rarity’s first Gala fashion show came to mind—any publicity was good publicity. But with all those instances being clothing-related, it didn’t bode well.
She glided down to a landing beside him and wrinkled her brow. “Um… What kinda stuff are we talking about here? Like wearing your designs? That’s not really my scene.”
Waving a dismissive hoof, he chuckled. “Oh, there are other ponies to handle that. I need you for your wonderful colors.”
“Oh… Well, I guess that’s okay,” Rainbow said. She might get her name up in lights and wouldn’t have to do any actual modeling, so… win-win. She cracked a smile. “What do I do?”
“Splendid! You just stand there.” Hoity Toity held up some fabric samples to her mane and hemmed and hawed at length about each one. He quickly found a red and an orange, but it took him three tries to match the yellow, and now he’d gone through at least two dozen greens without settling on one. In the time he needed to pick out those simple colors, Rainbow could have listened to Twilight explain the nitrogen cycle, or Fluttershy stutter her way through the answers to three personal questions, or Applejack list all the apple products known to ponykind.
Rainbow blinked and scratched her head when Hoity Toity scrawled a few final notations on his pad and started packing his gear. That had seemed a fairly painless process. On to the next step, then.
“So… what now?” Rainbow turned to follow him. “Do you need me to stop by your studio? Wherever it is…”
“No, no. All I need is the color. It’s going to be just fabulous for my new spring collection next year.” His smug little grin made her jaw clench. “It’s just much easier this way than trying to hold my swatches up to the sky.”
“Oh. So you’re done with me?” she grumbled, scowling after him. But he had already left. She kicked at the dirt and plodded toward the barn, but she’d only made it a few paces before an orange streak nearly bowled her over.
“Was that really Hoity Toity?” Scootaloo hissed.
“Yeah, kid. I guess.” Rainbow waved a hoof in the direction he’d gone. “How do you even know who that is?”
“Sometimes when I’m playing with Sweetie Belle at Carousel Boutique, Rarity talks about him,” Scootaloo said with a giggle. “Rarity can do his voice real good.”
“Heh. Well, he just wanted to talk fashion a bit.” Dash rolled her eyes and waited for Scootaloo to do one of her patented mock gagging scenes, but the filly kept hopping around.
“Rainbow Dash! You’re gonna inspire a whole fashion line! You really are the coolest!” Scootaloo shouted.
Rainbow’s shoulders slouched. Getting excited because some upper-crust pony said so—Rainbow could excuse it, though. A filly wouldn’t know better, but that didn’t make it any easier to take. “Well… not exactly,” she said, halfheartedly returning Scootaloo’s hug. “These folks—” she jutted her chin toward the dust clouds amid the retreating carriages “—are more interested in the Rainboom, not who makes it.”
“But Dash!” Scootaloo’s grin faded and her ears drooped.
“It’s alright, Scoot. Don’t sweat it.” Rainbow patted Scootaloo’s head, then pushed her way out of the hug. At least the girl thought she had her heart in the right place, which was more than she could say for the rest. That had to count for something. “Don’t sweat it,” Rainbow repeated as she spread her wings and took off at a lazy pace for home.
Ten minutes late, but Rainbow Dash didn’t care. She was still a few miles off from her practice area, but instead of rushing to make up time with a direct route, she zigzagged through the apple groves. All those ponies could wait a bit. They’d still get their Rainbooms.
When she finally arrived, she found the place deserted. No carriages full of high-class spectators, no flanks in the bleachers, nopony telling her to get out of the way so they could see the pretty colors. Fifteen minutes behind schedule. That was it. And they’d already left? They couldn’t be considerate enough to wait for her when she ran late? Or when she deliberately wasted time—
Maybe they had a point. Rainbow came to a landing in front of the seats and blinked hard. She glanced around again as if the scenery might have changed in that brief moment. Her ears drooped, and her heart dragged her toward the ground like a lead weight. On her haunches, Rainbow stared at the empty stands until she heard soft hoofsteps behind her.
“Hey, sugarcube!” Applejack said, and Rainbow could hear the raised eyebrow and squint in her voice. Then a pat on the shoulder. “What’re you doin’ here? Didn’t feel like enjoyin’ the show?”
“Show? I… What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked, her voice dull as she continued staring at the nonexistent crowd.
“You didn’t get an invite?” Applejack didn’t wait for an answer. She rummaged around in her saddlebag and pulled out a postcard. “See here? Rainboom art show, it says. I figured you’d be the main attraction.” Giving her friend an encouraging smile, Applejack wrapped a foreleg around Rainbow’s neck and tugged at her to follow.
Rainbow dug her hooves into the dirt a bit to offer some token resistance. She couldn’t just give in and go along, or… or Applejack would win, or something. “Oh. No… I haven’t checked my mail today.”
Nodding smartly, Applejack flashed a toothy grin and dragged Rainbow toward the road. “No problem. Says here that I can bring a guest. That’d be you. C’mon! You don’t wanna see what you’ve inspired ponies to do?”
“I dunno.” Dash kept fighting Applejack’s steady pull. She figured she could out-stubborn an Apple today, but she didn’t relish putting it to the test. “Not sure I wanna do anything with art.”
“Shucks, Dash. I’m goin’.” Applejack poked a hoof at her own chest. “You ain’t gonna be the one raisin’ eyebrows at bein’ out o’ place, sugarcube.”
“I… guess it wouldn’t hurt. I’ll probably be in most of the pictures anyway. Maybe sign some autographs.” An increasingly rare smile forced its way across Rainbow’s face. “Sure.”
“Good. Let’s mosey along ’fore the crowd gets too thick,” Applejack said with a sharp nod. She headed off toward town at a quick pace without looking back.
Rainbow trotted behind Applejack down the dirt road to town. She imagined a growing ring of ponies around her, all wanting her to sign the paintings and photographs they’d bought. Sure, those stuffy Canterlot types hadn’t wanted her in their pictures, but even so, they always liked the artist’s name scratched across it somewhere. That gave it value. And if they wanted an autograph from an artist who’d only made a copy of what Rainbow had done, they’d want the original that much more, right?
She wore a genuine grin by the time they’d reached the main square, where rows of racks and easels stood, displaying a wide variety of artistic creations. Rainbow split off from Applejack—maybe this would turn out alright. Maybe she didn’t need that safety in numbers thing after all.
She took a few cautious steps down the first aisle of photographs. Each hung from hooks in a piece of white pegboard, and a number sported prize ribbons of various colors. A large blue one that proclaimed a first-place result caught her eye, and she stooped down to have a look. On the left, the afternoon sun shone through the center of a rainboom—“Bright blessed day,” the caption said—and likewise on the right, with the full moon illuminating the inner fringe of another, and the words: “Dark sacred night.”
“That’s kinda cool,” Rainbow mumbled. She puffed out her chest, flared her wings halfway, and pointed at the moonlit one. “Oh,” she said to the mare who had walked up beside her, “I remember that day. It was three weeks ago—my only evening show. I didn’t even move out of the way. You can see me right beside the—”
Taking a moment to squint at the picture, Rainbow let her shoulders slump. “Oh… Looks like I got airbrushed out,” she said, barely above a whisper.
“You were in the audience?” the mare replied. “That must have been something. I wish I could have attended.” She leaned in to have a closer look of her own. “Wow, that’s a wonderful job of it. I can’t believe the photographer managed to airbrush out all those ponies.”
Rainbow’s mouth worked in silence. “I started that,” she finally coughed up, reaching for the photos as if they were a lifeline.
“Oh, who’s to say?” the mare answered with a playful bat of her hoof. “A lot of ponies picked up on that fad right away, and who could know which pony did it first. Me?” She chuckled and held the same hoof to her chest. “Yes, I guess I’m a bit of a latecomer. It took a little while for news to travel all the way to Vanhoover.”
“You came… that far? Just for this?” Rainbow’s smile struggled back to the surface.
“Sure! One has to move quickly to catch these things before they flame out. Ride the wave, so to speak.” She gave a very practiced chuckle and flicked a foreleg—which Rainbow finally noticed had a bracelet with a very large, very sparkly sapphire on it.
“I do so love to get out here into the more rustic areas too, and get in touch with the simple folk.” The mare leaned in and lowered her voice. “You should try the cider while you’re here. I hear it’s—” she cast a wary glance left and right across the crowd “—unfiltered!”
“Yeah, it’s good,” Rainbow said. Where had Applejack gone? “It tastes… good.”
“I like your dye job, by the way,” the mare continued. “Did you get an advance look at Hoity Toity’s spring designs or something?”
“No, it’s… Never mind.” Rainbow hung her head, let out a long breath, and trudged around to the next aisle. Paintings lined both sides, and the first one on her right drew her attention with its flecked and splattered mix of colors on a white background. Another large prize ribbon hung next to it, red this time.
The longer she stared at it, the more one corner of her mouth curled up. It had the same colors, but was certainly a different way of looking at a Rainboom. In fact, it kind of had both rain and boom about it, in an unexpected sense. Now, this she could get to liking.
“Amazing vision, isn’t it?” said a voice beside her. Rainbow turned to see a bearded stallion, his lips pursed as he examined the painting. “It really takes an artistic mind to come up with something so bold.” He puffed out his lower lip and gave a pretentious little nod.
“I… sure.” Rainbow shrugged, and even as she stayed facing the stallion, her eyes wandered back to the splashes of color. “I guess I never thought about looking at it another way. Kinda—” she fought to dredge up something from a dusty corner of her mind “—de-con…”
His eyes slowly shifted toward hers.
“…tam-in,” she tried.
He shook his head faintly. “Deconstruct—”
“Yeah! Deconstructed!” Rainbow supplied, her nose held high, as was required for proper pronunciation of artsy words, at least as far as she understood it. A soft chuckle next to her brought it right back down. “I did that! That was me!” she said, jabbing a hoof toward the canvas.
He levitated a pair of glasses up to his face and examined the loopy signature in the lower corner. “No, this is a Jackson Paddock. I don’t know whom you think you’re trying to impress by passing yourself off as him.” He knit his brow and clicked his tongue. “He’s not even a pegasus.”
“No, I—” She sighed and shuffled her hooves down the aisle. “Not like you recognized it. You had to look at the signature,” she muttered to nopony.
At the far end, Rainbow stopped and raised an eyebrow at an odd pattern of dots. It looked a bit like a Rainboom, but it was hard to make out. She cocked her head to the side and held a hoof to her chin.
“Try backing up,” suggested the portly mare that had ambled over. She wore the same kind of grin that Rainbow always saw on Cheerilee. “Go ahead.”
Rainbow did so, and with each step, more and more of the points blended together into a familiar set of multicolored stripes. She let out a small gasp. “Hey, that’s a neat effect!”
The mare’s grin widened, and Rainbow noticed a smaller version of the painting in her saddlebag. Some kind of souvenir, she guessed. “Hey, I’ll autograph that for you, if you want,” Rainbow offered. She’d almost forgotten—she’d convinced herself to come mainly for that reason. Beaming, she pointed a hoof at the full-size original. “I made that, you know.”
“Hmmph! You don’t even know how to view an impressionist work, and you expect me to think you’re the Reinoir?” She chuckled and shook her head as she watched Rainbow slink away.
Where in Equestria had Applejack gone?
Rainbow didn’t know whether to scream or bury her head in one of the azalea bushes. Instead, she made her way out of the crowd and settled for a quiet, out-of-the-way bench. Maybe she’d do better grabbing a nap—no clouds in the sky. And without her pillow, the trees were too uncomfortable. She propped her chin on a hoof and waited.
A few minutes later, a small voice sounded beside her. “Rainbow? You okay?” Scootaloo said, gazing up into Rainbow’s eyes. “The show’s great! Why aren’t you having fun?”
“Oh. Yeah, I’m fine, Scoot,” Rainbow replied. She gave Scootaloo’s mane a little tousle. “It’s just… all these uppity Canterlot types love the Rainboom, but won’t give me the time of day. A little recognition would be nice.”
Scootaloo clambered up on the bench and beamed. How could she stay so cheerful all the time? “But all your friends like you!”
“I know. But I’m not trying to impress them, y’know?” Rainbow shrugged and looked at the ground. “It’s different with them.”
“I think you’re awesome, Dash,” Scootaloo said, her face scrunched up.
“I appreciate the thought, kid, but you probably just like the Rainboom, too.” Scootaloo slumped her shoulders, fiddled with her hooves, and seemed a little smaller. Fighting down the renewed urge to scream, Rainbow exhaled sharply. “Look, I don’t blame you—of course a filly would get caught up in all that.”
“No, Dash, I—”
“Not now, Scoot.” Rainbow reached over to pat her on the shoulder, but Scootaloo slipped away and ran off. Rainbow’s mouth hung open as she watched her go.
And then she spotted Applejack’s hat floating through the sea of attendees and heading her way. Now she showed up? Where was she when Rainbow needed a friend? Well, Scootaloo had kept her company, at least a little, but she was different. She didn’t get it.
Applejack fixed her gaze down the road as she neared the bench. When she finally sat, she angled her head after Scootaloo. “What’s with her?”
“I dunno. I just told her I didn’t blame her for buying into the hype of all this.” Rainbow swept a hoof around at the market square.
Applejack pursed her lips and regarded Rainbow through half-lidded eyes. “She was just tryin’ to help, sugarcube,” she said. “She ain’t as clueless as the rest o’ these folk.”
“How’d you know?” Rainbow wrinkled her brow. “You heard me talking art?”
“I got bits and pieces bouncin’ through the crowd. Enough to know what’s goin’ on.” She pulled the front of her hat down a little lower. “But you got Scootaloo figured wrong. You were kinda hard on her.”
“What’d I say…?”
“Give her a bit o’ credit,” Applejack replied, leaning forward and into Rainbow’s view. “I’m around their clubhouse enough to hear ’em chattin’. She really does think the world o’ you. And I do mean you. Not that,” she added, flicking a hoof at row after row of Rainbooms.
Rainbow let her ears droop as she looked over at Applejack. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t sort out what to say. She sure had screwed that up. If her chest felt any heavier, she’d probably go crashing right through the bench’s boards.
“Maybe,” Applejack said, “you’d better go talk to her. Might do both o’ you a bit o’ good.”
Nodding slowly, Rainbow gave a grim smile before stumbling after Scootaloo. Her brain still buzzed, and she probably shouldn’t try any thinking of her own right now—just do what Applejack said. She did recognize which way Scootaloo had gone, though: toward Sweet Apple Acres.
Rainbow spread her wings and took flight. She shot over houses, streams, dirt roads, and finally apple orchards. But at the last minute, she stopped short, landed, and trotted around back of the barn. Scootaloo hadn’t shown up yet—no doubt she was going to the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse. Even though Rainbow hadn’t spotted her on the way here, she couldn’t have gotten to the farm so quickly. And what would Rainbow say to her anyway? She needed to think, and maybe even get it right this time.
After half an hour spent slouching on a hay bale against the wall, with nothing more to show for it than “I’m sorry,” she walked across the field to the clubhouse and climbed the ramp. She paused on the front porch and pressed her ear to the door—she heard a soft rustling inside, but no voices. Sucking in a deep breath, she quietly swung the door open and stepped inside. Scootaloo sat huddled over a table and scribbled away at a sheet of paper.
“Hi, Scoot…”
Scootaloo’s eyes shot wide open, and she hid the page with her forelegs. “No! It’s not ready yet!”
“What’s not—?” Glancing down over Scootaloo’s shoulder, Rainbow held a hoof to her mouth. She could see enough of it—enough to know how much of a jerk she’d been to Scootaloo. “Oh…”
Scootaloo reluctantly uncovered her picture: a drawing of Rainbow Dash, her coat already filled in with the sky-blue crayon stub that lay on the desktop. “I’M SORRY” was scrawled in black across the top, and an array of hues colored Rainbow’s tail and a series of Rainboom rings. But something felt wrong. It looked off somehow…
“Scoot, how’d you pick those colors?” Rainbow asked as she knit her brow. She poked at the crayons scattered across the table. Just the standard set of common colors, but most of the labels had fallen off.
Her eyes wandered back to her own likeness on the tabletop. The yellow and blue stripes in her tail were right, but there was a dark green where the purple should have been, tan in place of the orange, brown for the red, and gray for green.
“I usually just grab whatever the other girls use,” Scootaloo finally answered, rolling her eyes up at Rainbow as if she were about to endure a lecture. “But they’re not here. I… I had to guess.”
“Scootaloo, you…” Rainbow ran a hoof down her muzzle. “You’re… colorblind?”
Scootaloo drew her eyebrows together and hung her head, but didn’t answer.
Stupid. Rainbow had been so, so stupid. That filly had never cared about the colors. She couldn’t. And even if she did see them right, it wouldn’t have mattered to her. Her littlest fan, and yet the most adult.
Rainbow would have smacked herself in the head if she thought it’d do any good. “The Rainbooms don’t look all awesome and colorful to you?”
Scootaloo shook her head faintly. “I like them ’cause you make ’em. You’re the only pony who can.” She slumped forward onto the desk. “That’s why they’re cool. Because they’re yours.”
Rainbow froze for several minutes while everything clicked into place, then wrinkled her nose to fight off the tingle that threatened to become a sniffle. She wrapped a wing around Scootaloo and closed her eyes. Somepony who couldn’t see a Rainboom in its full splendor, yet loved it all the same. “I’m sorry, Scootaloo. I sold you short, and I should have learned by now not to assume you’re like most other ponies.”
Struggling for a reply, Scootaloo merely blushed. She ran a hoof across Rainbow’s feathers. At last, she squeaked, “I just wanted to be cool, like you. But I can’t see your Rainboom right. I never will.”
“You…” Rainbow choked on her words, swallowed hard, and forced them out again. “You see it better than anypony else.” What a wonderful world she’d had all along, right here.
Rainbow sniffled and covered it with a completely unintentional cough. She straightened up and forced some steadiness into her voice. “You’re pretty cool yourself, y’know?” Rainbow sat on her haunches and reached for a blank sheet of paper. “I wasn’t fair to you. Here—let me help you with the crayons, and then I’ll take you for a flight. Okay?”
Scootaloo blinked away her tears and nodded vigorously as she broke into a wide grin. “Thanks, Dash. But what are you gonna do about your shows?”
“Those are so cancelled,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes upward. “I don’t need those ponies to give me empty praise. That never lasts. I’ve got my best little buddy right here. Who’d ever need more than that?”
Closing her eyes, Scootaloo leaned in to nuzzle Rainbow’s neck, but she pulled back, her face falling. “What’re you gonna tell Applejack? She was making good money.”
Rainbow shot a blank glance at the wall for a moment and imagined a slow burn deep in Applejack’s eyes. Wilting in front of that stare that could rival Fluttershy’s when it involved business—she sure wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. “Let’s finish this ‘I’m sorry’ note. I think I’m gonna need it.”
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- CoolStoryBrony · 3.8k words · 161 2 · 2.5k views
- Pascoite · 6.1k words · 214 3 · 3.8k views
- 2006midnight · 1.1k words · 42 0 · 1k views
- Nineveh · 3.8k words · 32 2 · 1.3k views
- Yip · 8.4k words · 131 3 · 2.1k views
- pjabrony · 4.2k words · 259 10 · 4.7k views
- The Princess Rarity · 4.3k words · 507 21 · 8.6k views
- RazgrizS57 · 4.7k words · 143 10 · 3.1k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.286 seconds
Total duration
1,008 users online
8,081 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Great story. The idea of Scootaloo being colorblind was nice too.
i was half expecting for her right then and now perform a rainboom
Oh my.
That was...
FEELS.
*dead*
What a
!
A nice little story, one I could see as an actual episode.
Colorblind Scootaloo. Genius! First time I came across this idea.
Something like that would work beautifully in the show.
This was a great little read, and a really interesting concept, one that I'm pretty sure is unprecedented. Also enjoyed the numerous feels-laden precision kicks for my heartstrings.
Kudos to you, sah!
well, they do say that rainbows come after the rain... but it's a terrible day for rain
dang i had this good analytical nitpick and funny side comment that got all ruined by my emotion statement/response/what have you, and now its ru.. rui.. RUINED
(totally my intentional comment being ruined here *sniff* yeah...)
When I first saw the title, I thought it was Wuten's Colors of a Rainbow.
Lovely.
I don't think Applejack will mind Dash cancelling her shows. I think Applejack figured out how Dash was feeling about it all.
...I think Applejack will understand.
That was really well characterized! Quite enjoyed it.
Awesome! :3
... Wow, just wow! I love it! It was all so in character it's as if its an episode of the show, at least! You might have even got it better than they do. I could envision that so clearly, you wouldn't believe. An excellent story about my favorite pony. You made my Thanksgiving, man!
Excellently done.
well that was cute
This had a really adorable ending! I thought it was really nice.
The "Wonderful World" references were a little distracting after coming up more than once, though. Nice idea, but not very subtle.
Loved this. Really shows that Dash needs Scootaloo as much as Scootaloo needs her. It's something that could really work in the show. Plus it always makes me happy to see stories involving these two get featured.
Thanks for writing this. Really made my day. 
I really cant figure out why I love this fic.
What is it?
Oh, now I remember!
Character Development.
Why don't we have a "Feels" tag? We really, really need one, especially for this story. And the colorblind Scootaloo was an idea I'd never seen before. It makes perfect sense, though. Great job!
Now please excuse me as I go cry from the feels.
I never thought of Scoots being colorblind. That was really clever.
Amazing story. 
A great Rainbow Dash/Scootaloo story you've created.
I just... wow. At first I thought I knew what this was going to be about. I thought it was just going to be Rainbow Dash languishing in the sides while nopony cared about here, but then you take scootaloo, whom we all know is rainbow dash's one real fan, and... you make her colorblind. That is just so simultaneously heartbreaking and moving I really don't know what to say.
I'm just going to go cry now.
Oh than god she's color blind. I wouldn't wish color sight on any pony with such an atrocious color scheme!
I know what's it like to start a fad and no one ever give the credit.
There was this one time I was firin' mah lazar, and the next day Shoop Da Whoop was everywhere.
But never one word of recognition to me. Not even from the guy I vaporized.
Original, well written and fresh. Love it, love it, love it.
How the Rainboom was becoming viewed as merely an object was interesting. Liked the touch of Scootaloo being colorblind, I didn't actually see that one coming until the crayons part.
Excellent story!
DJRD
Wow. Just, wow.
Great. Now that I read that ending I'm going to tear up. Just super.
Wow, that colorblind twist was a really good one. I'll certainly remember that concept.
I am sorry Rainbow, but I took precautions in case of this event.
Applejack brought out a piece of paper with RD's hoof-print.
You remember this, Rainbow?
Yeah, so?
Well, this little document means you are going to be doing those rainbooms for the next three years.
And if I don't?
It will be hard to join the wonderbolts from inside a cell.
Hm. That was well written, but I'm not too fond of how you chose to conclude.
You have all this build-up to Rainbow Dash being ignored by the Canterlot snobs as they admire her work but disregard her, and then you just kind of discard it because "Scootaloo is color blind so have some feels everyone!"
The Scootalove is nice, and it's a good way to drive Dash, but I feel like you concluded this without giving the main plot any kind of satisfying resolution.
You got my appetite all worked up and then just kind of left me hungry, here.
3567438
I guess I'm not sure what your appetite was worked up for, then. Dash came to the realization that she didn't need the fame and came to a true appreciation of her relationship with Scootaloo. The colorblindness was just a spur to get her to realize that the dazzling colors had no effect on Scoots, so she really had the attitude Dash needed. Thus, Dash's internal struggle with her desire for validation is resolved. That's character growth. If you didn't like it, I can't argue with that, but I can argue that it was present.
3560144 Twist? Don't you mean Scootaloo?
3571698 i see what you did there.
It's interesting to compare this to your earlier fics. When authors reach this level of quality in their later fics, their earlier fics usually have serious issues with things that are easily noticed, but relatively few issues with things that are harder to notice. Your early fics here have good grammar, good sentence structures, good plotting, and decent characterization, but comparatively subtle issues with things like pacing and emotional development. Typically, authors who're so obviously great at the surface-level parts of writing become arrogant and fail to develop further. You must be incredibly humble to have recognized your weaknesses and continued to improve as a writer.
3683689
I appreciate the vote of confidence, but to be honest, I haven't always been humble. It's people like you that take me to task whether I've asked for it or not that have hammered things through my thick skull. Plus knowing which ones of those aren't worth listening to, but that's another matter. Really, I still struggle with pacing. I luck into it more than give it conscious thought.
Reviewing for others works wonders, too. It's so much easier to see problems in others' writing, and then you get insight into your own.
Wow, this was so beautiful
I really enjoyed that. Keep up the good work!
That was great.
Absolutely wonderful story. Short but to the point with a great moral to the story. Great ending. 7/10 Would read again.
Dawww I loved that ending
3567470 ok lets see if i can get my thoughts out without insulting people and if i do that's not what i intended,
first off, I'd like to say I liked this and the ending with Scoots is nice, but like Autumn Wind I think something should have happened with the canterlot/artists group. Yeah they shouldn't have just cut Dash out like that, but I don't think Rainbow should have tried to take credit for the artwork. It'd would be like if Hasbro tried to take credit for this story saying its their characters, but its your story they just inspired it. As for the photos....... yeah that didn't sit well with me, if the photographers had paid her and asked her to try line up the sun and moon for those photos then that'd be different, but if Dash arranged to line the Rainboom up with them then it kinda just feels like their stealing from her......yeah I don't know how all that copyrights and plagiarism laws and such works......but still it felt wrong
3552472
I think you mean "lovely".
4473000
Huh. I interpreted that as "I made the Rainboom", but she was unclear, and they thought she meant the painting. Then she didn't try to clarify.
5313380 You are correct, sir.
5313380 yeah I guess the painting thing was more of a misunderstanding than anything else.
Nothing quite like piling another issue onto Scootaloo. :D
11049337
Hah! Well. I'm colorblind, and sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on things as a result, I thought the relationship dynamic between these two would be an interesting place to introduce that, since being colorful and showy is integral to Dash's persona.
11049552
Oho! I had forgotten that! :O So the colors mentioned in the description of her drawing are true to life?