Rain Shine's Silent Heart

by LucidTech

A Mute Astute Meet Cute

The Great Hall of Canterlot was full of voices for the first time in living memory. That is to say, living memory for the more mortal among the races. Indeed, though it had been ages and ages prior, there were still some among those gathered who had been alive for the last such event, and there were even some who had been present for it.

In fact, it had been the nigh immortal Celestia who had done most of the organizing those thousand years ago. As such the aeon of division between them all was obvious in hindsight, following the lunar banishment and withdrawal of Celestia from the public eye the races had started to drift apart. This wedge driving them apart was not one of anger or spite, instead it was a slow apathetic process that eroded relations like water running down stone. This was not too surprising, the bonds between the races that stretched over the vast metaphorical gap of cultural differences were like a bridge and, like a bridge, needed steady careful maintenance to remain standing.

However, a new bridge of friendship had been built by the Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, reaching hooves of genuine aid to all they saw. As a result the hall was now filled with more than it ever could’ve claimed in its run of meetings one thousand years ago. All manner of creatures who lived within the borders of Equestria and many who lived without had come, gathered amongst each other. The milling crowd was not unlike some work of abstract art as beings of all different shapes and shades had sent ambassadors, delegations, leaders, assistants, politicians, and more. Each one eager to represent their community in the largest political meeting to have ever occurred. Eager, indeed, to meet the other varied communities that filled the world beyond their borders.

Celestia, representing the united three races of ponies, stood nearer the focal point of the room as was allowed for those representing the hosting community. Slightly out of place was her sister Luna, who the thestrals had chosen as their representative despite her not being one of the secretive bat ponies herself. All around the room, similar leaders of import could be spotted. Ember, representing the dragons. Thorax, the changelings. Queen Nova of the hippogriffs had even made the trip.

The room was practically pulsating with the presence of these titans, these figures of myth who had saved countries, built empires, carved the world to their wills, beings who had put the forces of nature to shame, some who had even conquered death! It was among these god-like entities that Rain Shine stood, representing her comparatively insignificant community of Kirin. Her assistant, the far more outgoing Autumn Blaze, fidgeted with anxiety and excitement. The younger kirin striking a stark contrast to Rain Shine herself who remained stoic, unmoving, silent. She had taken precautions to be sure of that.

Rain Shine had no demands to make nor deals to broker and thus had opted to use this occasion to learn about the other races, allowing her gaze to drift freely across the various mingling representatives: The loud discussion between the Yak and the Buffalo; the ornate eye-catching diorama belonging to the Breezie delegation, hoping not to be forgotten because of their size; The griffons who had managed to sequester themselves into a lonely corner of the room, making some wonder why they had even bothered to come in the first place.

“Such strange creatures joined in this hall,
Intimidating forces to us so small.”

Were it not for the aforementioned precautions that Rain Shine had taken before coming to this summit, the sudden voice at her flank likely would’ve caused a jolt, a flinch, a sign of weakness. As it stood, however, she merely turned a slow, solemn gaze to the speaker. There she found a zebra, Rain Shine could not quite remember her name but her briefing with Autumn Blaze had informed her that the zebra ambassador was one of the few zebras to call Equestria her home and thus, when an ambassador was to be selected, had been an obvious choice for the position. Luckily, the name would be swiftly provided.

“Oh Zecora!” Autumn Blaze all but burst with excitement as she finally found an outlet for her energy. “It’s so nice to see a familiar face! How are the Apple family doing?”

Zercora’s gaze lingered for an extended moment on Rain Shine, as if looking for something. After a moment she turned her head, then her eyes, to Autumn Blaze. Offering a smile in recognition.

“The apple family is shining bright,
Seeds long sown are now all right,
Applebloom visits to learn some brews,
But the coming harvest is bigger news.
Their family is healthy; the trees on time,
But the crops must drop before the rime.”

“I’m happy to hear it!” Autumn Blaze said without missing a beat, though it took Rain Shine a breath of time to fully understand Zecora’s rhyming speech. “I haven’t seen Applejack in AGES. I need to catch up with her! Letters are fine and all but sometimes you just gotta go and actually talk face to face, you know?”

Zecora nodded affirmatively before turning her eyes to lock once more onto Rain Shine’s listless gaze.

“I know indeed this emotion you feel,
To talk with them and know they’re real,
Which brings me now to why I came,
Though I admit it's not quite the same.
I spotted this kirin, a leader no doubt,
And could not help but wonder what she was about.”

Rain Shine felt, distantly, that she might find the rhyming endearing or even romantic in other circumstances. Zecora, for her part, only offered a kind smile while trying to read the expression on the impassive kirin.

Autumn Blaze quickly stepped into the silent lull while the two representatives tried to read each other’s faces. Luckily, she had not even come close to running out of enthusiasm and energy. “Oh Rain Shine is great! She’s very subdued and uh…” Autumn Blaze searched for helpful words. “Anchory!” She said, failing to find any. “That’s why she’s such a good leader, she makes sure we don’t get carried away with any crazy ideas.”

Zecora looked once more in Rain Shine’s eyes, seemingly unconvinced.

“If that’s so I commend her resolve,
For even a rock might break and dissolve,
In the tides of a crowd that tosses and roils,
An unflinching leader that impassively toils,
Yet in the face of these faces she’s impossibly sure,
Such that none but a liar could deny her allure.”

The last line caused mild surprise from Autumn Blaze and once again Rain Shine felt that distant stirring that didn’t quite reach her heart, again also she looked back with the selfsame placid unshaken gaze.

When Zecora frowned, apparently not receiving the reaction she was hoping for, Autumn Blaze offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry Zecora, she’s like a mountain, this one.” As if to demonstrate she gave an extremely unconvincing laugh as she rested a hoof on one of Rain Shine’s legs. A silence stretched after her words.

“But uh,” Autumn said, quickly taking her hoof away as Rain Shine gave her a look. “Did you wanna talk about anything more official? I’d be happy to do some of those politics that I keep hearing about.” The sentence was punctuated by a hesitant smile.

“I did have a matter that I wanted to ask,
A personal one, without need for a mask.
I heard tell from dear Fluttershy, who talks of your home,
That the plants there won’t grow in my dirt or my loam.
I wanted to visit, as a friend among friends,
And see what your flora might helpfully lend.
Not as ambassador, I stress now once more,
As a zebra, just zebra, to seek your plant’s lore.”

Autumn Blaze gasped excitedly. “Oh we’d love to have you over Zecora!” The young kirin said, all but jumping with joy. “I could talk to our herbalist and then they could help you with the local plants and then you could tell us about the plants where you’re from or maybe help us with some new brews with what we already have. Oh it would be so great! It’d be one of those um…” Autumn paused her stream of consciousness to dig for the word she’d heard in the briefing. “Oh yeah! A cultural exchange!”

Zecora nodded once, smiling as well.

“I am happy to hear it, I’ll give you a shout
To arrange for my visit, by mail don’t doubt.”

Zecora nodded, this time with finality, and threw a distinct glance one last time to Rain Shine before letting her hooves carry her off into the buzzing room.

“Bye Zecora! I’ll keep an eye out for your letter!” Autumn practically shouted after the departing zebra. “Ooooh, this is so exciting! This is way more than I thought we’d accomplish from our first diplomatic meeting!”

Rain Shine nodded once in assent before looking after Zecora and felt once more that distant tugging in her chest. Later, after some tea, she would worry and fret about the oncoming visit. But later there would also be plenty of time to come to terms with it. She was grateful, once again, for her foresight regarding this meeting. Who knows how she might’ve acted if she hadn’t taken the steps she had to remove any chance for some truly terrible possible outcomes.

Yet, as Rain Shine looked to Autumn Blaze she didn’t see happiness. Instead the young kirin was biting her lip in what Rain Shine could only assume was worry.

Comments

[Rego]

Yes! A rhyming Zecora! As a fellow Zecora couplet enjoyer, I commend the effort. Nice start and I'm intrigued, especially with your more straightforward take on her and pairing with the ever-silent Rain Shine.

[Frazikar]

Why do I feel that Rain's silent treatment is 'River' induced??

[Thyrrnatf]

11586295
I think you might be right 🤔🤔

Great short story