A Bluebird's Song

by Ardensfax

The Shadows We Cast

A Bluebird’s Song

~~~
You fuse my broken bones
Back together again
Lift the weight of the world
From my shoulders again
~~~

The Shadows We Cast

Rainbow Dash was gazing expectantly at Twilight, waiting for her to begin. She knew that she could not delay any longer; she owed Dash the truth about this.

“Rainbow, you know that Celestia told me that her guards had arrested Sunset’s leaders.” She took a breath, making herself keep going. “I didn’t tell you the whole story. Not in front of Fluttershy. The leaders… there are three of them; we expect that one of them is the unicorn who broke into your house.”

Dash grinned at this, pleased that her tormentor would be taken to task for his actions, then her smile faded, and she looked a little worried. “What about the others? You seem really worried, Twi’… It’s not anypony I know, is it?”

“Not directly,” admitted Twilight, pawing at the rug awkwardly with a hoof. She decided to get to the point. “Rainbow, did you ever see your mother again, after she left?” She saw the shocked widening of Dash’s eyes, and hastily clarified. “It’s not her, don’t worry about that. It’s just important that I know.”

Dash shook her head, looking relieved and, for some reason, almost disappointed. “Nah, I never saw her again.” She swallowed, her voice low. “Ya know my Dad was jealous of me. Well, eventually he started takin’ it out on her, too. I dunno exactly what happened, I was too young to really get the picture at the time, but she left a note one day, on the counter in the kitchen.” Dash paused for a moment, blinking. “We never saw her again, either of us. I gotta admit, as soon as I was old enough to really understand, I hated her for a while. I thought she was selfish, leavin’ me alone with a violent bastard like him. I didn’t know why she didn’t just take me with her.”

Twilight put a gentle hoof on Dash’s shoulder. “You don’t need to tell me all of this, if it’s hurting you,” she said, gently. All she needed to know was that Dash had not seen her mother again, she did not want to see the pegasus causing herself pain on her behalf again.

Dash almost impulsively gripped the hoof between both of her own, holding on, as if she did not want to lose the unicorn. “It’s okay, Twi’,” she said, “I wanna tell ya this stuff, I’d like to know I’ve shared it with somepony.” She suddenly looked a little shamefaced. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, “I guess I shouldn’t be puttin’ all this onto ya, it can’t be nice for you to hear.”

Leaning forwards, Twilight looked Dash firmly in the eye. “Whatever you need to tell me, I’ll listen to you,” she said, with a tone of finality. “I said I’d always be here for you. I promised you that, and I still promise you.”

Dash smiled, weakly, gratitude for Twilight’s solidarity shining clearly in her eyes. She continued, her voice a little stronger. “There’s not much more to tell, really. I guess, in the end, I just accepted that she’d had her reasons, that maybe she couldn’t have taken me for some reason. I never knew for sure. But…” Dash looked a little confusedly at Twilight. “Why do you need to know? You said about Sunset, what does Sunset have to do with her?”

Twilight sighed. She was reeling a little from the story of how Dash’s mother had left. She had known the gist, but never realized that the pegasus was so young when it had happened. She too felt a hot spike of anger at Rainbow Shine for abandoning her daughter to the mercy of the father that Dash had never named. “Quite a lot, unfortunately,” Twilight said, sadly, forcing herself to push away her sympathy until later. “You see, shortly after she left your father, Princess Celestia believes that she had a second filly, your half-sister, probably with a unicorn that she met while she was with your father. They named the foal Cloudshine, and she grew up with a deep-seated hatred for pegasi after the way that her mother was betrayed by the pegasus she was with. We do not know who the father was, but we presume that he was of an anti-pegasus leaning as well, sending Cloudshine further down that road. She would probably be about two years younger than you.”

She felt Dash gently release her hoof, perhaps in shock, and she paused, not wanting to look directly at Dash, who must surely have guessed where this was going by this time. She stared at the rug beneath her, hating to be the bearer of more bad news.

“I’m so sorry, Rainbow, but she’s one of the three leaders that the guards arrested.”

Preparing for the worst, Twilight steeled herself and looked back up at Dash, with no idea of what to expect. Whatever she had imagined, however, she was not prepared for the fury burning in the pegasus’s face. She could not help but recoil a little at the expression. “How dare she?” Dash whispered, then her voice rose angrily, and she stood, pacing from one side of the room to the other. “If I see her, I’ll make her bucking well regret what she’s done!” she exclaimed, the sudden shout echoing from the walls, making Twilight jump.

Twilight stood hurriedly, desperate to calm Dash down. She had not wanted this, not for a moment. “Rainbow!” she cried out, cantering across the room and gripping the pegasus’s shoulder.

Dash turned away, her voice low and dangerous. “If I see her…” she repeated.

Twilight dropped her voice, trying to sound reassuring. She moved in front of Dash, looking into her eyes. “Rainbow, she’s in prison now. You don’t need to take revenge, you just need to trust Celestia. She understands justice, she won’t let you down.”

“What?” A little of the anger faded from Dash’s eyes, replaced with confusion. Then, she seemed to understand something, let out a sharp bark of laughter. “You think I’m talking about Cloudshine?” She shook her head, a deep-set fire burning in her eyes that Twilight had only ever seen her reserve for her father. “I’m talking about my mother. Can’t you see how much damage she’s done?”

“Your mother?” echoed Twilight.

Dash laughed again, the sound grim and humourless. “Well, I guess I know why she left me now. She had another stallion, she just needed a reason to get away. I tried so hard to think she was noble. I tried so hard to think that maybe, just maybe, I meant something to her. She could have taken me with her, but I was baggage, so she left me behind.”

“You can’t know that,” exclaimed Twilight, feeling the tears in the eyes of the pegasus before her forming, echoed, in her own eyes.

“You’re right, but tell me, Twilight,” snorted Dash, “why else would a mother abandon her foal like that? Would she have done that if she cared?” With a shake of the head, Dash went on, blind with anger. “Even if that wasn’t the reason, look at what she went on to do!”

Her voice suddenly fell, choked with tears. “She had a second chance, Twi’,” she whispered, looking the unicorn in the eyes, then moving forwards, as if compelled, to bury her face in Twilight’s mane. “She had a second chance, a chance to get it right with Cloudshine, and what did she do? Her and this guy she shacked up with… they took a foal and turned her into a monster.” By her final words, there was no sign of the bitter laughter or cold cynicism. Her sadness and disappointment were simple and undisguised.

Twilight could not speak. She could only hold the sobbing pegasus close, waves of guilt crashing over her as she knew that she had been the bearer of this news. Warm tears fell, soaking into her neck and mane, and she embraced Dash as tightly as she dared. What else could she have done? Dash would have had to know sooner or later. There was nothing that she could do.

“I- I’m gonna find her, Twi’,” Dash choked out into the unicorn’s mane.

“Rainbow, remember what you said about revenge,” Twilight said, softly stroking her mane in soothing motions. “You know how bitter you become if you make revenge your goal. Don’t let that happen again.”

“I don’t wanna find her to get revenge,” whispered Dash. “The day I find her, I’m gonna make her apologize to me. Then, I’m gonna drag her down into Canterlot dungeons, right up to Cloudshine’s cell, and she’s gonna apologize to her as well.”

Twilight said nothing, knowing that there was nothing she could realistically say, instead falling to tenderly nuzzling Dash’s face, kissing away her tears until her cheeks were dry, and her breathing began to return to normal.

“Don’t leave me, Twilight,” Dash whispered, almost pleadingly.

“I never will,” replied Twilight. As the breathing of the pony she loved ceased to be ragged and sharp, she held her close. Through what seemed like an eternity of echoing, spiraling silence, they held each other in stillness.

“…I never will.”

*

“What a day…” Fluttershy sighed with relief as she put her head around the archway leading to the kitchen, to see that Angel had finally fallen asleep, despite his blocked nose. Rarity had left shortly after her confession, despite Fluttershy’s offer of a cup of tea. She had seemed almost relieved, as if she had resigned herself to rejection, and was simply glad to be able to air her feelings.

In truth, Fluttershy did not quite know what to think. It was only now, after the rest of the day had been spent chasing around attending to Angel’s illness, that she had a chance to go back over the details of Rarity’s admission. If she was honest with herself, Fluttershy was not entirely surprised. In the past, she had often caught Rarity looking at her, her eyes almost wistful, or perhaps longing. At the time, she had always passed these off as a misreading of expression of her own part, rather than anything more significant on Rarity’s. She could have had no idea that she was hurting the other mare so deeply.

A hastily-constructed sandwich in her hooves, the canary pegasus collapsed onto the sofa with a sigh, taking an absent-minded bite, her head still spinning. Suddenly, Rarity’s obvious distraction at the spa made a lot more sense. Indeed, Fluttershy wondered momentarily if she had been stupid not to have cottoned on to Rarity’s feelings herself. She had led a fairly sheltered life, but did not consider herself entirely oblivious. The thought that she might have been so blind was a frightening one.

She took another bite, glancing across the room to ensure that the demanding rabbit was still soundly asleep, and seeing to her relief that he was. She could have sworn that a small snoring sound escaped him, but she may have been mistaken.

What do you think about this? Really? A small voice in the back of her mind demanded a more concrete answer. What are you going to do, now you know?

This was a reasonable question. After all, if a pony that she barely knew decided to openly declare love for her, she knew that she would be incapable of functioning socially around them. The knowledge that a pony in her presence felt that way about her would render her into a nervous wreck, under normal circumstances. She was shy enough as it was.

However, the fact that it was Rarity changed things a little. She was still embarrassed at the thought, and more than a little guilty and upset that she had not given Rarity the answer she wanted, but she felt that she could at least be around Rarity without utterly seizing up. Doubtless their spa visits would continue much as normal. She expected that this was because she and Rarity already shared so much, and were already very open and comfortable with one another. She felt the same way around Dash. The two of them were the two ponies that Fluttershy could truly come out of herself when around, and speak candidly without her customary shyness.

Did you like it?

Fluttershy flushed a little; she could not stop the question from entering her head, and once it had gained entry it filled her thoughts.

I was flattered, I guess. It’s nice to know somepony at least notices me enough to feel that way.

It was not what the question had really been asking, and she knew it.

When you gave her an answer, you didn’t say you couldn’t feel that way about a mare. You just said that you never had before. There’s a big difference, you know that perfectly well.

Fluttershy let out a small squeak, trying to justify her own words to herself. She took another bite, mostly for self-distraction, but to no avail. She was a perceptive mare, and found it difficult to stop herself from pursuing a thought once she had started after it.

I told her no!

No, you didn’t. You told her ‘not yet’. Be honest, it wasn’t a refusal. You were just trying to buy time, because you’re scared. If Rarity had been a stallion, you’d have come up with some other reason. You were just lucky she wasn’t, so you could play the ‘not interested in mares’ card.

I’m not interested in mares!

Then why didn’t you say that?

“Ugh!” Fluttershy let out a frustrated little snort, rolling over onto her back and staring at the ceiling. Perceptive she may be, but decisive she was not. She knew better than most the blindness that fear can cause. She could not trust herself, and so she fell once again to searching herself, searching for answers as disparate as snowflakes whirling in a sandstorm.

One day, Fluttershy, you’re going to need to start being honest with youself.

*

“It always meant so much…”

Twilight looked up from her book, to see Dash standing in front of her. The pegasus had gone upstairs a few hours ago, once she had felt able to separate herself from her lover, in order to have a chance to think without distraction.

Twilight had not heard her descending the stairs. Dash was gazing sadly down at her mother’s locket, held loosely in her hooves by the chain. The door hung ajar, and Rainbow Shine’s face swung, pendulum-steady, from side to side. She held it out to Twilight. “Take it. I don’t want it.” The unicorn’s eyes widened, and she shook her head.

“I can’t, Rainbow. It’s yours, it means a lot to you.”

“She doesn’t mean anything to me,” replied Dash, her voice low. “She was always a stranger, I just never realized. I made excuses for her that I should never have made.” Still she held out the necklace.

“Look,” Twilight walked across to Dash, her eyes downcast. “I know it hurts now. I’m not going to pretend to know how you feel; nothing like this has ever happened to me, so I can’t possibly know. But it’s going to get better. Keep it, because someday you’ll want it again.”

Dash snorted, quietly. “I’m not gonna keep this around for her sake.”

“Then don’t keep it for her,” Twilight said, softly. “Keep it for Fluttershy. Remember what she did for you?” Gently, she took Dash’s hoof between both of hers, and pushed the locket back towards the pegasus. “If you like, keep it for me. If it hadn’t been for that locket, we might never have met.”

After a moment of stillness, Dash nodded. Haltingly, she slipped the chain around her neck, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “You’re right,” she admitted. “Maybe I’ve got something to thank her for, after all.”

Moving almost nervously, she took a half-step forwards and kissed Twilight, her lips hesitant and tender. The unicorn returned the kiss warmly, glad that, for the moment at least, Dash did not seem likely to do anything rash. The pegasus lay down on the rug, gently pulling Twilight down with her.

“I love you so much, Twi’. Ya know that, right?”

“I know, Rainbow. I love you too.” She pulled the pegasus in for another brief kiss, then laughed quietly. “I must’ve done something really worthwhile in a previous life to deserve this.”

Dash winked at her, her eyes inches from Twilight’s own. “Don’t the crazy unicorns and bouts of depression kinda offset the good points, though?”

“Not for a second.”

They instinctually pulled each other closer. Twilight tangled her hooves imprecisely around Dash’s body, and she felt their lips meeting again. This time, they did not break apart. Their eyes were open, and Twilight felt herself falling into her Dash’s calm, magenta eyes, as their tongues danced a lover’s dance. Dash’s teeth bit down gently on her lower lip, the sudden sharp sensation almost painfully sweet. Twilight felt a low moan escape her, but she could not hear it. All sound was silence, and all the world might as well have fallen and faded away. For once in her life, she felt no fear, and no doubt.

She was safe here. She would always be safe here.

Comments

[Yobikir]

Bravo.
No seriously BRAVO.
I have had many ways how this could go in my head and you went on a route i didn't even remotely though of. And to top it all of i like it. Belive me when i say You rock.

[Bumpymist]

This has to be one of the best fanfictions that I've read so far. Keep up the great work!

[Phantom5niper]

Damn this was a great part

[Fulgor Ignis]

Congrats my dear author, your fic is now long enough to enjoy alcohol.

Great chapter and Bravo to you fine sir (or madam).

[ajaysallthat]

I SEE A CONFRONTATION IN THE FUTURE...
AND YELLING, LOTS OF YELLING!
YELLING AND YELLING

[Roker999]

I'm lovin' it! you have to pay close attention to your commas. and apostrophes. Other than that, I enjoyed it!

[Ardensfax]

Thanks a lot to everyone for the support!

231430 SO MUCH YELLING.

232013 Thanks for pointing that out. I know that the odd gramatical derp happens throughout the story, and I plan on going over the whole thing soon and scouring it for grammatical issues.

For the record, to anyone who's noticed this problem, I know that Pegasus and Unicorn shouldn't actually be capitalized because they're not proper nouns. The main reason that I've continued capitalizing them is because it was about Chapter 10 before I noticed the issue. Going back and changing every instance of the words would be virtually impossible, so I carried on doing what I'd been doing already for the sake of continuity. Next story won't have that problem.

[Sedgewick]

Still great as always. Love this story, thumbs up for sure.

[Clouded Mind]

I regret not finding this story sooner, but at the same time I'm not(had more chapters to read). This is one my my favorite stories I have read on Fimfiction. I enjoyed each chapter and now that I'm caught up...well. Waiting for new chapters is gonna suck. Looking forward to them though.

[James Rye]

Oh gods, i sense death flad. DONTWANTTHAT!!!

[Therizzen]

Random--and most likely totally off--guess time!

Rainbow's mom is dead~

Yep, that thought was nagging at me while I read this, just had to lay it out. And what is this, you're continuing to disgruntle poor Fluttershy Anyway, I have say, I love how you have all these little subplots and mini story arcs littered in this, I cannot be bored while reading this

[GoneZombie]

Gosh I favorited this story 10 chapters ago and it's still getting better! But I need to go to bed! But it's so good! But I'm not even half way through! ANGST!

[Spectrum 117]

"When you gave her an answer, you didn’t say you couldn’t feel that way about a mare. You just said that you never had before. There’s a big difference, you know that perfectly well."
Oh you sneaky little bastard! LOL! You would make even FLUTTERSHY bend that way, even though she didn't want it! HAAAA HAHAHA!
I'm sorry to have thought that she wouldn't turn. Now I KNOW she will. Damn it! You sneaky, magnificent GENIUS!

[DjPonpheonix]

yay! omg I was missing the DAwwww moments till this chapter. I loved the sneaky incoherent approach to fluttershy's possible change of heart..... I was sure that she didn't swing that way at all, but wow nice plot twist. very very sneaky! anyhow I so need to head to bed but i want to include a video before I call it a night:(no idea why) caution what you are about to see may shock you! ***actually its just a real good dance club song with an awesome pony DJ concept.

[SolidFire]

This was a pretty great chapter. I an only imagine how Dash would feel after hearing that kind of news.

[TheHappyBrony313]

Awwwww....
Too bad that ads are always trying to hook me up wit ukrainian girls.

[TheHappyBrony313]

Awwwww....
Too bad that ads are always trying to hook me up wit ukrainian girls.

[Commander Darklight]

god dam it i have that impending senses of doom again i know somebody going to die i just know it

[Drakshaa]

I'm not sure how i fell about rarishy in this context. You did such a good job of writing a situation of unrequited love but not rejection that i sort of wish it could continue.

However i am sure that my objections will disappear when i read your portrayal of their romance. If they dont get together then well my bad.

Please don't squeeze applepie in here though.

[Commander Darklight]

i commented once I'll comment again

Foreshadowing is foreshadowing ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhwwwwwwwwwwww
youchew.net/wiki/images/e/ed/R16066_MLP_Applejack_Spooky.gif

[Tiki_the_Cat]

“…I never will.”

Oh boy. Why do I feel as though this is a set-up for something?