Mother, I'm Home
Rainbow Dash always hated funerals.
Funerals were probably the only thing that could ever get her to cry. A funeral meant that a pony was locked away from the rest of the world. Never again could they try new things. Never again could they reach for the stars.
This funeral hurt more than most.
She always attended this funeral. Every year without hesitation, she was there. She would join the other ponies in gathering next to Canterlot’s roads, and watch as the nameless palanquin carting an empty coffin was hauled from one side of the city to the other, with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company. Every year she would watch alone, wondering how many ponies noticed the never-aging mare who attended the funeral every year. Probably not a single one.
But this year was different.
“There’s the palanquin…” Twilight mumbled.
Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all turned to look at the palanquin. It had just rounded a bend, exposing itself to Rainbow and her friends. For such a small thing it certainly had a huge presence. A presence felt only by her.
Rainbow watched the palanquin gradually move closer. With each step closer more and more ponies bowed their heads in respect to the deceased princess. With each step Rainbow felt her guilt grow more and more.
I can do this… I can do this… Come on, Aurora. You can do this.
Now came their turn to bow. Rainbow began, but her legs were stuck. She tried again, but still, no response. Rainbow would not - could not bow to her own lie.
The pressure coming from the palanquin was immense. It squeezed at Rainbow’s very soul. Tears began to leak out of her eyes, and her lungs felt like they were glued shut.
She had to leave, now.
Rainbow quickly withdrew from the sidelines, scampering back down walkway after walkway. A path all too familiar to her. It wasn’t long before she came to a familiar clearing, empty, save for a pond.
It’s always the same, every year.
Rainbow shook her head. No, it wasn’t the same. This time she abandoned her friends as well as everypony else that mattered. But at least she had friends this time around, so maybe there was progress. Rainbow glared down at her reflection.
Weren’t friends supposed to make difficult things easier?
“Rainbow?”
She almost expected to see a filly standing where her friend was when she lifted her head.
“Hey, Twilight.”
Twilight, a deep look of concern on her face walked over to Rainbow and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Is something wrong?”
Rainbow sighed. She wanted to say no. Really, she did. She wanted to say no and take off back to Ponyville. But she couldn’t lie. Not to her friend.
“Yeah.”
Twilight’s look of concern grew. “Is this bringing up painful memories? If you want I can teleport us back to Ponyville -.”
“Thanks, Twi. But no thanks.” Rainbow turned her attention back to the lake. “I suppose it is bringing up stuff though.”
‘Stuff’... that’s one way to put it.
“Oh… did you want to…?”
Rainbow shook her head.
“Alright.”
Wordlessly, Rainbow lied down in front of the pond, her eyes never leaving her reflection. Twilight lied down to match her.
Rainbow looked over her friend. It was impossible to suppress the smile on her face when she realized how far Twilight had come. From unicorn filly to alicorn princess, she was almost entirely unrecognizable, but her pure-hearted nature hadn’t budged an inch.
“I met somepony here once.” Twilight said, breaking the silence.
“Really?”
Twilight nodded. “It’s funny. When I saw you slip away from the parade and found you here, it was like I was experiencing it all over again.”
Rainbow ignored the lump forming in her throat. “Oh yeah?” She knew where this was heading.
Twilight gave Rainbow a smile. “Uh-huh. She was by this pond, just like you. She had her own problems too.”
“What was she like?”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “She… was an alicorn.” Twilight must’ve been expecting a snort from Rainbow, because she gave her a concerned look after her silence. “She was trying to figure out if she should return to her mother or stay hiding to keep the public happy.” Twilight gave a small chuckle. “She never told me what she was the alicorn of, so I looked it up. Imagine my surprise to figure out she was the alicorn of war, and Princess Celestia’s daughter on top of it.”
Rainbow glanced back at the water. “So what’d you say?”
Her demeanor must be seriously worrying Twilight. With no energy left for quips or teasing, she must be acting like a completely different pony.
“Well, I told her that she should go back to her mom. Her mother’s love is more important than ponies being wrong.”
“Do you still think that?”
“Of course!” Twilight said. A fire ignited in her eyes. “Now more than ever! With enemies like Tirek and Discord a few times, having another alicorn would make ponies happier as opposed to scared!”
Rainbow stared wide-eyed at her friend. I never thought of it that way...
“Also, I can only imagine how Luna is feeling.” Twilight said, visibly deflating. Her eyes began to glisten with tears. “Coming back after a thousand years… only to learn that her niece is gone. I can’t imagine how hard today is for her. I just wish that Princess Aurora had listened to me years ago.” Twilight shook her head. “But I was a filly at the time, so I guess it makes sense.”
Rainbow closed her eyes and looked away. There was no way she would be able to hold back her tears of guilt. Not with everything Twilight had said. Rainbow had caused all of this grief, acting like a foal because of a poorly thought through idea that she convinced herself was right, and punished not only herself, but others who cared about her, over what she thought she deserved for making such a stupid decision.
No, she couldn’t hide any longer. Twilight was making that perfectly clear.
Rainbow got up and walked to the edge of the clearing. She could feel Twilight’s eyes boring into her as she drunk in possibly the deeping breath she’d ever taken, before slowly exhaling. Now was the time for truth.
“You’ve grown into a fine young mare, Twilight.”
There. She’d started. She couldn’t stop now, even if she tried. She turned around to look at her friend, who understandably looked confused.
“What are you talking about, Rainb-?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Rainbow?” She finished.
Rainbow closed her eyes. Undoubtedly, Twilight had just considered the truth. This was all too familiar to her after all. All Rainbow had to do was provide confirmation.
“You’ve never wavered from your ideals. Even all those years ago, when we met here for the first time you still held the same beliefs you do now.” Rainbow opened her eyes again, releasing a tear, but she never took her eyes off Twilight. “And now you’re an alicorn. I’m grateful that we got to meet again.”
Twilight opened her mouth, and slowly shut it again. Wordlessly, she got up and made her way over to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow suppressed a shiver as she gazed into Twilight’s hardened eyes. Once Twilight got close enough, she wrapped a hoof around Rainbow, and pulled her into a hug.
“You’re… not mad?” Rainbow braved.
“I’m a lot of things at the minute, Rainbow.” Twilight said. Rainbow could hear the coldness in her voice. “But none of those are what you need right now.”
Rainbow sighed. I shouldn’t be surprised she’s mad. She could guess at a few of Twilight’s emotions. Betrayed, angry, hurt… probably a few more too. But, her kindness is more than I deserve. It wasn’t long after that she began to cry.
Rainbow wasn’t sure how long she and Twilight had spent at the clearing, but over time she felt Twilight’s stiff, robotic hug slowly relax into a more genuine one. Eventually Rainbow felt her other hoof wrap around her as she continued to release years worth of guilt into the ether, and as the weight on her soul lifted, over time her sobs began to die down into whimpers. From whimpers to sniffles, and from sniffles to nothing. Eventually, Twilight let go of her, and Rainbow gave her friend a smile.
“Thanks, Twi.” Rainbow found her smile too heavy to keep up. “Twi, I’m so, so sorry I-” Twilight’s hoof shot up to cut Rainbow off.
“I know.” She said. “But if you want to prove that to me, there’s something you need to do.”
Rainbow took a deep breath. “What is it?”
“I want you to go to Princess Celestia and Luna right now, and come out of hiding.” Twilight’s look softened. “You know it’s for the best, Rainbow, and I’m disappointed that you haven’t already.”
Disappointment was an understatement and they both knew it. Nevertheless, Rainbow nodded.
“I will, Twi.”
Twilight gave Rainbow a smile. “Good. The girls and I will meet you on the train.”
Rainbow nodded as she took off. Soaring off to Canterlot’s castle, despite the turmoil of emotions dwelling within her, Rainbow couldn’t help but smile.
She’d taken the first step. She could only go up from here.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Princess Celestia considered the empty throne room to be both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side she didn’t have to deal with ponies spouting their woes to her today, which made for a nice respite from her daily headaches.
On the negative side, there was nopony around to distract her from her thoughts.
“‘Tis a lonely atmosphere, sister.” Well, almost nopony. “I’m surprised you are holding up so well.”
Celestia let out a heavy sigh. “Believe me, Luna. I’m not holding up as well as you’d think.”
Truthfully, she was more concerned about her sister. This was Luna’s first funeral for her niece. To say Luna was distraught when she learned of Aurora’s passing was an understatement. Luna hadn’t come out of her room - even to raise the moon - for weeks, until Celestia had to drag her out by force.
In some ways, Luna was closer with Aurora than she ever was.
“How are you holding up, Lulu?”
Luna tensed. “I am fine.” She said. “I always worried that this day would come, given her talent.” She failed to suppress a tear. “I just wish that it never arrived.”
“Pardon me, your Majesties.” A guard said, marching into the room. “You have a visitor.”
“Please let them know that we are not receiving visitors today.” Celestia said half-heartedly. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let them in, If not for a little distraction.
“Your Majesties… it’s the Element of Loyalty.”
“Rainbow Dash?” Luna asked. She glanced at Celestia, who nodded back. “Send her in.”
The guard nodded. Moments later, the throne room doors opened to reveal Rainbow Dash, sporting a nervous look on her face.
“Hello, Rainbow Dash.” Celestia said. Her voice was robotic. She couldn’t muster any emotion. Not today. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
To her surprise, Rainbow looked on the verge of tears. She gritted her teeth and looked away from the two alicorns.
“... I’m sorry, Mom.”
If Luna shot her a confused look, Celestia didn’t see it as her eyes were fixed on Rainbow Dash. Her body began to shine brightly, obscuring her features entirely. When the light dimmed, Celestia couldn’t stop her hooves flying to her mouth as she and Luna let out a gasp each, and Celestia whispered the following name.
“Aurora?”
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- RB_ · 1.8k words · 115 14 · 1.3k views
- Apple Bottoms · 10k words · 182 2 · 1.6k views
- JimmySlimmy · 1000 words · 107 1 · 1.3k views
- Supernova08 · 10k words · 195 8 · 3.7k views
- INeedSleep · 4.9k words · 190 0 · 2.4k views
- Big Whoops · 2.6k words · 28 3 · 1.1k views
- crystaltunes · 17k words · 64 2 · 1.5k views
- Mockingbirb · 1.7k words · 36 10 · 1.1k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.139 seconds
Total duration
705 users online
709,290 hits today, 2,156,967 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.®
Really nice and touching. Not many fics explore the issues other immortals might have living in Equestria
Quite a few levels of awkwardness here, even setting aside the assumptions of how many days since Luna was released until the resolution of Tirek--there's still all the f-'d up timelines with Starlight Glimmer messing up a certain filly's flight and family history... "Rainbow" has got quite some 'splainin' to do. Good thing this is an AU, otherwise...
OTOH, I would like to hear how all that was pulled off.
Well, that was certainly a potent story. Raises a few questions regarding the Rainboom story, among other things...but I could easily see this fitting into canon. Well done.
Well now, that was a fun little read. Easy enough to see where it was going, and sadly, I would have loved at least a chapter longer, to show them coming together, but I know how it feels to end on the emotional high note, both as writer and reader, and it does that well. Good pacing throughout, and I do love that 'Aurora' speaks with a completely different tone, using words the other one would never have thought to use in her life, a good breaking with herself to become someone knew. Curious how the Element works here, considering the trait vs what she did, though an equal consideration is that she's here at all, rather than having hidden away to avoid the pain completely. Fun times, would love to read more in this AU.
Wait, WHAT?
This was pretty good, all things considered. RD being the daughter of Celestia isn't anything new, but I don't think I've come across regret about hiding who she really is in this manner yet.
Not bad... As someone said there is a LOT that has to change to get this working as if there is no kid Rainbow Dash you don't have the Sonic Rainboom and without that...
I liked this a lot, but there is one thing that sadly nags at me. An issue with the narrative situation so to speak.
Twilight likely still became Celestia's pupil in this timeline, and apparently looked up the alicorn she met as a filly and learned it was Aurora. Celestia's daughter.
So... how and why did she say nothing to Celestia? It doesn't really fit. I figure Twilight would have told Celestia. "So yeah I met your daughter when I was a filly. She's out there somewhere." I can see maybe wanting Aurora to do it herself, and maybe not want to hurt Celestia more by telling her Aurora is alive but refuses to come see her, but both are a bit of a stretch.
Very nice story, but this plot hole bothers me.
I really liked this! It was short and to the point, but also was written very consistently.
Sure there is a plothole or two, but it's still a very good story! Definitely favoriting
I'd love to see this story continued someday.
This is such a fun idea! Great read!
10968996
Not really. Her RD form is smaller than her alicorn form. Who is to say how small she can get? And I can see the Sonic Rainboom though being an accident at the time as she gets too focused on defending Fluttershy's honor and unleashed a little too much alicorn-level power.
10969984
Windy Whistle and Bow Hothoof where do they come from?
And it is overly complex to set up being a blank flank filly, do the sonic rainboom by mistake, fake the cutie mark... etc... It get pretty contrived if Rainbow Dash has ALWAYS been Aurora... [and lets not talk about the boneheadedness of her being there for Nightmare Moon return.]
Aurora being RD is a WHOLE can of Fridge Logic that doesn't really get solved. Nice story but it's a "don't think about it too much"
10970018
Aurora has reinvented herself for over a thousand years now, in a society that developed birth certificates and other records. I can see her developing close (possibly magically coerced) confidants who are willing to help her out and be her parents. (Or a pair of changlings she rescued from banishment/an abusive queen to serve the role.) And I imagine "How did you get your cutie mark" to be such a common conversational icebreaker that it's just easier to stage that event for her long-term identities.
But then I see such things as a challenge to explain and turn into a longer story. I don't expect to see that happen here, although I would really like one more chapter to see more of how this plays out with Celestia and Luna. Hugs, explanations, groundings for life, etc.
Woah, I really enjoyed this story.
This was definitely a great story and I honestly hope for a sequel. I know it’s supposed to be one of those one time short stories, but I feel like so much more could be added.
Deeping is not the best choice of words right there. Deepest is what I think you were going for.
10970150
Well.. yes... but then HER cutie mark is a sham... and it does NOT have the relationship with the others and so the Element of Loyalty is reflecting that falsehood? And if that is her REAL cutie mark why would Celestia not notice it? As I said there are a LOT of fridge logic moment. Aurora being Rainbow Dash is quite a weak point.
We need more of this one
Nice story. I wouldnt have used the pony you did but nice story.
Very fun and thoughtful au. While I would like to see more, this as a stand alone is also really excellent. ^_^
Wow, quite an interesting world you've presented here. I've gotta say that this was definitely a nice read, and a glimpse into a world ripe with potential if written the right way. I found myself absentmindedly brainstorming ideas to get around some of the plot holes (primarily the Sonic Rainboom) near the end, and I can definitely see this working.
I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing for some sort of sequel to this, or even a prequel to dive into the whole Rainboom. But I can at the very least say that this is a very nice story, that hit quite a few nice notes along the way. Just enough information to leave readers theorizing, but not enough to leave them with a whole picture.
Good job Femikol, good job indeed...
At this point, I thought Twilight was going to say "Cool, Alicorn buddy!" but then I realized she is not Pinkie.
Wonderful. Extremely wonderful as is.
Twilight found Celestia's long lost daughter, who Celestia holds a funeral for every year, and never TOLD her?
Twilight really has come a long way to being the princess of friendship.
Oh, this was sweet and tragic. Kudos to you, sire
We honestly need more stuff like this. Smooth and clear.
This is story-gold.
Also, I wonder what special abilities Rainbow/Aurora has as the Alicorn of War, kind of like how Celestia and Luna have natural control over the sun and moon.
10976968
A tactical mastermind and a brilliant military strategist, perhaps? She probably has a well-built body and a gifted combat magic user. She could also be very agile, adaptable and versatile. All are useful traits of a pony related to war and fighting.
Whoa, I really wonder what a third chapter would looks like. Just to have the whole reaction of the princesses. Very touching and strong writing
Everyone is probably very glad it was Twilight that formed that initial emotional bond in her childhood. Had it been Pinkie Pie, the reveal would've been Aurora bursting out of her casket with fireworks and confetti and that wouldn't have done anyone any good.
wow three years since I read this last? You know sometimes when I look back on old stuff I read when i was younger, I assume it will be bad because i had shit taste back then. Not the case for this one, this fic is still amazing and solidly one of my two favourite takes on this concept
I'm almost a little mad at how damn good this fic is cause how am suppose to find anything that is even remotely this good anywhere!?!?!?