The End of the Rainbow

by JTH

Chapter 14

Rainbow Dash said her goodbyes to all her friends. She was preparing to return to Canterlot with the Princesses per their request. The others wanted to go with her, but Dash told them the important thing to do now was to prepare every pony for potential trouble. If Raindoom was to return, ponies would need to evacuate to safety; and the more the ponies were prepared, the quicker and easier innocent ponies would be out of harm's way.

Once all was agreed upon, Rainbow Dash bolted away with her traditional elegant rainbow streak on a direct course back to Canterlot. It eased them that her colorful streak had returned to it's beautiful form, they could only hope it would remain that way for good. Luna and Celestia gathered themselves to follow the mare to the castle, but before they left The Princess of the Day turned to the present company, particularly Twilight.

"We will keep her safe..." Celestia decreed to the ponies before her. "...You have our word."

With that, The Royals spanned their wings and flew off to follow the rainbow mare. The remaining Mane Six and CMCs could only observe the three separate streaks of light, dark, and rainbowed respectfully off in the distant horizon until they soon disappeared from sight. Twilight turned to the others give further instructions.

"Everypony head back to Ponyville and prepare everyone like Rainbow asked. I have to make a trip to someplace and talk to someone. I'll be back to Ponyville as quick as I can..."

The others hastefully began to head back to Ponyville, but as Princess Twilight began to fly off, somepony stopped her.

"Princess Twilight? Wait!"

Twilight stopped right before preparing to lift off, when she turned around to see the young CMC pegasus behind her with a look of uncertainty. "What is it Scootaloo?" The Princesses asked the filly.

"Tw-Twilight?" She began, hesitant to speak up. But she knew the Princess needed to hurry, and if it helped her friend she knew she had to allow to go quickly. "I-I was wondering...if I could go...with you. With Rainbow Dash gone, I-I don't have anywhere to go." The frown on Scootaloo's face made it hard to say no to, and Scootaloo had helped Twilight find Rainbow Dash in the first place; so Twilight felt she owed it to her to return the act in kindness.

"Of course you can Scootaloo. So hop up, we need to hurry on." Scootaloo galloped over and jumped onto Twilight's back, holding on in a position that allowed Twilight to spread her wings. Of course, it was also the closest thing Scootaloo could currently come to flying too, so a double bonus to the filly. Once Scoot was secure, Twilight filled her in on what was about to happen. "We're going to see an old friend. So hold on tight Scootaloo...we're going to Everfree!"

***

Upon a speedy flight, Princess Twilight along with Scootaloo had arrived to the entrance of the Everfree Forest, and although Scootaloo was aware of Twilight's intentions, she wasn't sure why those were said intentions.

"So...who exactly are we meeting in Everfree Forest Twilight?" Scootaloo asked the Princess with a bit of shiver, in both her body and voice.

"We're here to see Zecora..." Twilight answered. "Dash told me that she came here after leaving Canterlot a few days ago and Zecora helped her. I'd like to know everything that happened though."

"But didn't Rainbow Dash tell you everything?" Scootaloo questioned back in curiousness. Getting a snappy response back from The Princess of Friendship. "Does she ever?" The quick rebuttal couldn't be challenged from the filly, so the young one took it in stride. Scootaloo hopped off Twilight's back and grabbed a hold of her hoof. After telling Scootaloo to hold on tight, Twilight began to teleport them directly to Zecora's location.

Scootaloo closed her eyes waiting for the blinding flash of light that would emit during the teleportation. But after about twenty seconds, Scootaloo reopened her eyes and realized that they hadn't gone anywhere, still in the same position they were. And upon looking up to her friend, Scootaloo realized the problem.

Twilight's horn was garnering a pinkish purple glow, but if was as if Twilight was struggling to cast the spell to teleport, moaning and gritting in pain trying to get her magic to power further. After the struggle continued, Scoot intervened. "Twilight, is everything alright? Why haven't we teleported yet?"

"Oh no..." Twilight gasped out, as it turned out to be what she feared. "I must have gave too much of my magic to the Princesses. I don't have enough to complete advanced spells anymore!"

"Don't worry Twilight." Scootaloo comforted her friend. "You did what you had to do to help everypony." She began to walk towards the Everfree's entrance. "Besides, it's not like we don't know where to go. We can just hoof it from here."

Twilight smiled at the filly's spirit, even if she didn't really understand the real meaning of Twilight being unable to perform the spell. Twilight grabbed a hold of Scoot and began to fly into the heart of the forest.

Within a few minutes they reached the hut of Zecora's. Scootaloo hurried over to the front door and gave three bangs, calling out the zebra's name to hurry for it was an urgent matter.

The zebra soon opened the door, being befuddled at the sight of a small filly and The Princess of Friendship at her doorstep at this time of night. The Princess then spoke...

"Zecora...we need your help!"

Twilight's plea confused Zecora, who placed a hoof under her chin in unsureness...

***

While Scootaloo sat distracted staring at the bubbling green vat in Zecora's cauldron, Princess Twilight took the opportunity to converse with the zebra of the recent events. And while Rainbow Dash seemed very adamant of the story she spoke, Twilight seemed certain that Zecora may shed some more light on what actually happened that day.

"Your friend was very weak, it was not hard to tell." Zecora spoke while pouring a hot drink for herself and Twilight. "I brought her back here, she was clearly not well."

The response was expected, but still didn't make Twilight feel any better on the matter.

"I knew Dash wasn't letting on how hurt she was before." Twilight begrudgingly confirmed her initial suspicions. But Scootaloo knew there was more to the story, Twilight even admitted so, so something was still unexplained.

"But, you said Rainbow Dash was fine when you talked to her Twilight..." Scootaloo responded looking to the Princess, then she turned to Zecora to follow up. "How did she get better so fast?"

Zecora walked over to one of her sacks where she kept her herbs and ingredients she obtained during her morning rounds of the forest that fateful day. "I gave her a remedy, a boiled berry vat. She drank it and then...was healed, just like that." She finished with a snap of her hoof, even though for a pony or zebra snapping a hoof would seem impossible.

"Rainbow did say something about you giving her some "berry juice"..." Twilight brought up making air parentheses with each of her hooves. So at least that part of Dash's story held up. "...I never realized Everfree Berry Juice resulted in such rapid healing."

"They never have before, I must say it is strange." Zecora began, making Twilight confused. "To what caused an instantaneous change..."

Both the adults began to ponder deep in thought, while little Scootaloo could only look back and forth to each of the two, hoping that one would speak soon. Both Twilight and Zecora learned something...though they weren't exactly sure what it meant. After a long pause of silence, Scootaloo came up with an idea. "Well, why doesn't Zecora just make some more of the juice for us to try some, to see if whatever happened happens again..."

Twilight was actually impressed by the filly's suggestion and smiled to her. "That's a good idea Scootaloo. Zecora, do you have anymore Everfree Berries to make another batch of juice?"

A nod came from the zebra to then turned to her herb sack and ruffled out a dozen or so more berries she had collected on the day's trek. She would go to work right away to making another bowl of the healing remedy, to see if they could find a similarity to connect the dots on this mystery.

***

Rainbow Dash had returned to the Canterlot Castle with Celestia and Luna. The inside was dark with very little light luminating, barely enough to see your hoof in front of your face. The company had entered the guest quarters, the same room that Rainbow had stayed within before, making her somewhat familiar with it's inside. Before The Princesses spoke of their plan to the pegasus, they stated that they wished to say something beforehoof; curious, Rainbow Dash obliged. No sooner from Dash's acknowledgement, both Celestia and Luna gave a bowing stance before her, making the pegasi's mouth open in confusion.

"We would like to offer our sincerest apologies for our statements and actions to yourself the last time you were here Rainbow Dash..." Celestia humbly put, and Luna continued on.

"Myself included..." Princess Luna followed. "I of all ponies witnessed first hoof of what you went through in your dreams. And I gave my word that my sister and I would help you in any way we could..." She sighed before completing her final remarks, or perhaps final regrets. "And despite your endless courage and bravery to protect and defend the ponies of Equestria, we failed to live up to our word. We hope you can forgive us for our error of judgment..."

Rainbow Dash was taken aback by the Princesses' staggering remarks, to be apologized to by royalty was certainly not something you woke up to each morning expecting to have happen. How do you react when two of the most powerful ponies in Equestria are basically groveling before your hooves? No pressure right...

"I...Of course I forgive you..." A choked up Dash stated, but cleared it from head, greater matters were at hoof. "But we can't focus on the past. And I don't think you asked me to come here to just apologize."

Princess Luna and Celestia truly admired her courage. It was a level of loyalty that could never be done justice. The two royals gave a nod of approval to the young one's words and began to explain their plan.

"As you're aware, Raindoom has been able to use the magic of my sister to enter the Dream Realm." Celestia stated, which received a "Tell me about it..." gesture in response from the pegasus. But this was marely a lead in. "But we believe we may be able to use this to our advantage."

The statement was indeed intriguing to Rainbow Dash. The potential for any form of tactical advantage was important, yet Dash was confused with how the Dream Realm played into this plan. Luna continued to speak of the idea.

"Like myself," Luna began. "Entering the Dream Realm means that Raindoom's physical form is within the realm of sleep."

Then the light bulb went off in Dash's head. "Wait...you mean?" A nod was given to Rainbow, it appeared they knew what each other were getting at.

"If combated, Raindoom could be defeated and destroyed within the Realm, keeping everypony in the Waking World safe." Luna finished, but Celestia added on even more information.

"Plus within it, your capabilities are only limited by your imagination." Celestia followed up. "Anything you wish to do, you can do within the Dream Realm."

Rainbow Dash took in the idea and liked what she heard. So much so that she didn't want to stall in putting the idea into action. But The Princesses felt it necessary to remind Rainbow that even the giant upside of the idea did come with it's share of setbacks.

"But be aware that this plan will not come without risk to yourself as well." Celestia warned the pegasus, as Luna finished the stern warning.

"My sister and I will attempt to link ourselves into your dream to assist you in combating Raindoom. But the amount of magic will be massively draining. Magic that we do not have much to spare." Luna stated while looking up to her still illuminating horn as they spoke. "If my magic becomes too weak, the link will break and we will all be drawn back into The Waking World. Meaning this will likely be the only opportunity we have to stop Raindoom."

"But I don't understand..." Rainbow Dash questioned. "If the link breaks, why would we all be brought back? Wouldn't I still be asleep?"

It was a logical question, but Luna had the answer to it. "In this instance, no." Began the reply, and after a slight pause she explained why. "In order to directly link us into your dream...I will need to magically induce you to sleep myself."

"That seems...a bit extreme." The rainbow pegasus exclaimed with a face that looked like she had consumed a dozen lemons prior.

"You are not wrong I'm afraid." Luna responded once more. "But The Dream Realm is a massive space, and yourself slumbering with thousands of other ponies would make it impossible to locate you in time. And with the amount of magic I will be exhausting, time is the one thing we will not have in our favor."

Rainbow Dash pondered it for a moment, but knew this was a decision that needed to be decided quickly. After a brief thought, she looked to the Princesses with determination. "Tell me what I have to do..."

***

After some time, Zecora boiled the berry brew to the perfect temperature and consistency. She proceeded to take a wide-bottom bottle and slowly filled it half way with the darkish red liquid. Carefully holding it in a hoof, Zecora walked over to Princess Twilight to give her instructions. "The juice is ready for you to try, to see if it's healing will amplify."

Twilight at first considered using her magic to float the bottle over, but reconsidered in an attempt to reserve any magic she had. She simply grabbed the juice from Zecora and slowly took a gentle sip. The taste was quite delightful for her first Everfree Berry Juice experience, the positive gesture made Scootaloo want to try some as well which was granted; besides having multiple ponies try the remedy would only help in finding the truth faster. As Twilight, Scootaloo also loved the taste, it was almost a shame she needed to focus on how she felt moving forward.

"Okay, I guess now we just wait for the healing properties to buck in." Twilight explained to the young filly next to her. "It should work relatively quickly."

(ONE HOUR LATER)

Scootaloo at this point was now lying on her stomach, her eyes half open trying everything to keep them open. "Ughh...does that juice heal you of boredom? Cause I don't think it's working..." Scoot said giving a yawn before and after her statement, plopping her head on the floor, barely able to stay awake.

Scootaloo wasn't the only one to be underwhelmed by the results. Twilight pondered in thought while Zecora held the juice once more, with still more inside if they felt another test was needed or wanted, but Twilight seemed unwilling to be disappointed once more. "I don't understand, it doesn't feel like it did anything. Much less as fast as it healed Rainbow Dash..." Rubbing her hoof hard on forehead, thinking deeply. "There has to be something we haven't thought of..."

The more Twilight thought, the more question marks formed. They were just getting nowhere for answers. By this point, Scootaloo had dozed off to sleep and Twilight tucked her into the bed Zecora had for the time, meanwhile the adults continued to think of something. Princess Twilight asked Zecora if she could recall everything that happened once Rainbow took the remedy, every little detail could help. Every motion, every sentence, even any odd sequence could be helpful. They both sat down and Zecora began to retell the encounter, in hope they could gather something...anything important from it.

***

Rainbow Dash laid her back on the pillows and bed that had been prepared for her by Princess Luna. Her body began to tingle and shake from the nervousness, looking above her seeing Luna and Celestia preparing the next step of the plan.

"You must calm yourself my friend..." Luna informed the pegasus, gently placing a hoof on her forehead, applying hardly any pressure, but the sense of importance in the matter. "It will make this much easier to induce your slumber."

Dash closed her eyes and began taking deep, but regular breathes. Trying to bring her adrenaline and heartrate down. Since joining the Wonderbolts, Rainbow had learned of methods of remaining calm in high anxiety situations, and it was time to put them to use. After about a minute, Dash slowly calmed herself to Luna's satisfaction, for it would make the next step far easier to achieve.

Luna proceeded to stand over Rainbow lying self, as Princess Celestia was also alongside. Luna's horn began to glow brighter than it had been, which made the pegasus believe that the process was about to begin...

"I want you to concentrate on the light." Luna instructed. "Once I am certain you have entered the Dream Realm, I will attempt to connect my sister and I into your dream."

Rainbow gave a slow nod of encouragement, followed by a last gulp to swallow any of the nervousness she had. Luna began to closely move her glowing horn of dream magic to Dash's head, while Rainbow continued to hear the echo of Luna's voice...

"Concentrate on the light..."

The echoes became more broken and softer each time she heard them.

"Concentrate"

The light became bright to the point where it made Dash want to wince and shut her eyes, but she had to continue to focus. Before long, the light glowed so much it was all Rainbow could see. A plain white light. She wasn't even sure this point if her eyes were even open or not. Suddenly, Rainbow heard what she could only describe as a long loud swishing sound, like the waves of the ocean crashing to the shoreline.

And then, without further warning, the white light turned all black...and Rainbow Dash fell asleep.

Comments

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

11246481
Possibly you are thinking of Estee's story The Pot Of Gold At The End Of (The) Rainbow.

A short crackfic, it's complete.