And He Silently Painted A Rainbow

by WritingSpirit

First Day: It Was Supposed To Be Snowball Day!

Hearth's Warming Eve.

The celebration of the unity of Equestria, brightly lit under the sparkling string of lights hung from every window and the wreaths on every door, topped with a layer of fine snow over the roofs and window sills, with colorful ornaments hung onto every branch of every tree and fires warming every stallion and mare in the household, be it young or old. Of course, the twelve days to the Winter Wrap Up was expected as well, with most of the ponies awaiting for the much-anticipated fireworks show at the very end, to signal the passing of another year and pave way for one more with new opportunities.

The sunlight of the first sunrise dappled through her window as Rainbow Dash, curled up under a blanket of carefully woven clouds, let out a long, tired yawn. She stretched her hooves and wings, her eyes still half-closed with one hoof already raised to rub it sleepily, as she faced the welcoming rays of the morning sun. Her magenta pupils lit up immediately at the clear, winter skies outside, populated with the grace of falling snow. Tank just raised his head from his shell, cocking his head to the side as his owner rose from her bed, giggling softly.

"GOOD MORNING, PONYVILLE!!"

Corresponding her name, she dashed towards the front door, snatching a red scarf and unintentionally throwing her pet tortoise off the bed, leaving him spinning like a top on his shell. Her wings flared in its cyan splendor the moment she zoomed out of the front door, welcoming the first day.

Tuesday. Snowball fights with Scootaloo day!

"Then, tomorrow is sledding with Applejack..." she listed verbally her many forthcoming plans from her mental schedule, floating down towards a dirt lane that snakes over a few hills to the rural streets of Ponyville. It was especially busy at this time of the year, with the eagerness to buy gifts other than for birthdays quadrupling in only one day.

"Thursday would be reading books with Twilight, Friday would be ice-skating with Pinkie and Saturday would be... training for the Wonderbolts!"

She sighed a prolonged sigh at that exact date. The time for her to brush up her skills. The moment for her to shine!

Perfect timing too, she thought to herself, knowing that Scootaloo would have the spare time to watch her and learn a few things about flying. She had seen the filly lightly hovering about the town about for a few minutes, her wings fluffing eagerly at the filly for her progress and, even more so, her determination.

But first - she told herself with an uncontrollable chatter of her teeth - she has a snowball battle to join!

With only a second to spare (and a confident flick of her wings), she sped along the dirt path, tossing about copious amounts of snow around her. Each bend she met, she swerved effortlessly with ease. Each tree that stood diligently, raising the thin blanket of snow with their branches, she knocked it off with a swat of her flashy tail, scattering the flock of birds resting within. The refreshing sight of Ponyville quickly grew into the horizon, her heart thumping rapidly against the walls of her chest as she neared the town. Already the streets were decorated for the occasion, with ponies all around the streets eagerly searching for the perfect gift to wrap.

"Now let's see..." she muttered softly, scanning at all the buildings around her. "Scootaloo's house is around..."

*UNF*

Rainbow plummeted backwards onto the ground, seeing a bunch of Spitfires circling over her as she rubbed her sore head, her blurry, boggled vision trying to render the yellow blot standing in front of her. She grunted from the pain: by Celestia's mane, that was one sore bump! She wanted to curse and slur at whoever it was, though a meek, reticent voice stopped her short:

"Um... a-are you alright, Rainbow?"

"Fluttershy..." she murmured, trying her best not to groan at her friend, the reserved mare wearing a green scarf with a matching winter beanie. The yellow pegasus let out a small, pacified cough, brushing the two green pom poms that dangle from her headgear to the side with her pupils flitting around in its sockets. "You really need to be careful!"

"Oh! Um... sorry..."

The cyan pegasus's vision soon cleared, just in time as her friend picked out a small paintbrush from one of the many assortments in her shopping bag, letting out an opulent sigh. It's hilt was covered in a plate of silver, carved with ornate swirls of lines; the likes of this decoration she had only seen in the palace of Canterlot itself. "At least this is safe..."

Rainbow just stared at the object, her head tilted to the side with her brows furrowed. The moment she realized what it was, she let out a humiliating squawk, before clamping her mouth, trying her best to suppress a snort. "Fluttershy?" she called, though not before muffling a loud guffaw. "You know that paintbrushes aren't - pfftt- squirrels, right?"

"Oh, this?" she replied, holding the paintbrush up. "It's a Hearth's Warming gift, actually. The nurses asked me to give it to one of the... um... patients at the hospital. But some of the animals told me that one of the bears were having a little... backache. I don't really know what to do! With a pony so fragile that he might have a heart attack just from watching a butterfly, then there's a bear that might go onto the rampage if he doesn't have his massage... oh, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I...!"

The cyan pegasus just groaned as her friend's voice droned on, smacking her forehead. If Fluttershy keeps hyperventilating like that, she's going to have to take care of her the moment she faints onto the floor. "Fluttershy," she cried, gripping her jitterbugging, rambling friend by the shoulders, shunning her to silence immediately. Her eyes were already warping into slits, her teeth rattling like a pair of rowdy maracas.

"Stop."

She stopped.

"Breathe."

The yellow mare gulped in a huge breath of air, before letting it all out in a white puff of cold fog.

"Th-Thank you..." she muttered sheepishly.

"Alright. If it would help you..." Rainbow held her breath: she couldn't believe she was going to do this. "Since I don't know anything about... bear massaging, I'll help you with the paintbrush, 'kay?"

"R-Really? Oh... but..."

"But what?" she asked, crossing her hooves. "Am I that scary for that little friend of yours?"

"It's not that! But... um..." Fluttershy gulped a little, her wings fluttering clumsily as she whimpered: "But he's so...... frail..."

Rainbow smacked her forehead again. If anypony was frail, she told herself, it had to be Fluttershy. "I'll be... gentle with him. After all, he is a stallion, and I'm pretty sure he must have some guts within him, right?"

"Um... y-you don't understand..."

The cyan pegasus stopped (for once) before she could dart away, instead hovering back down to her friend. "What else is there, Flutters?" she asked, her brows grooving downwards. "It's just giving him a paintbrush right? No big deal!"

"There's something else about him." Fluttershy held back a squeak, prancing to her friend's side. "Come... I-I'll show you..."

The two began their walk down the winter promenade, passing by the many familiar buildings around Ponyville, all prepped up for the ongoing celebration of Hearth's Warming Eve. Murals of Santa Hooves and his nine reindeer were decorated on the walls (there were still some speculations on why the pony needs the nine reindeer for, since the celebrated holiday figure was a pegasus himself) with some of the foals already imitating them by sledding around the streets. Rainbow bit her lip at the sight of a few jubilant fillies constructing a snowpony, which reminded her of Scootaloo. If she finds out that she won't make it to their annual snowball fight... she would really need her earmuffs when that filly starts firing complaints at her.

"About the patient..." Fluttershy's voice broke into her thoughts. "He's not really.... you know... social?"

"Not social?" The cyan pegasus placed a few bits onto one of the many booths on the street; in return the vendor passed her a cup of hot chocolate, the wafting aroma appealing her taste buds. "So you're saying he's not talkative, is he?"

"He refuses to talk," she clarified, twitching her ears to brush some snow off. "Even to me! I don't really know why, but Nurse Redheart did say he's not used to talking to other ponies..."

"Well, he must talk somehow, right?" Rainbow flipped open the plastic lid, taking a small, nourishing sip at the cup's warm contents, before continuing their journey. "I mean, how old is he?"

"Around our age."

"Then he must've learnt how to speak at some point of his life," she exclaimed, scratching her frazzled mane. "How did they even know he wants this paintbrush if he didn't even speak?"

"Well, Nurse Redheart told me he doesn't talk much because... he's sp-special..." Fluttershy's answer earned her a confused look from the cyan mare, before she sighed herself. "I'm n-not really sure what she was saying too..."

"And you're sure you've seen this pony before?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh yes, once or twice," she answered. "I've seen some of his paintings before. They're quite amazing really."

The cyan pegasus just raised her eyebrow for a slight moment of skepticism, before shaking her head, instead continuing the path towards the hospital. Sure enough, the stately, humble building of Ponyville Hospital soon came into their view, the white sign with its finely painted cross standing amidst a bushel of leaves and flowers, all blanketed under a fine layer of snow. The green doors standing beneath its timber frames welcomed them inside, though Rainbow Dash was the only one that stepped inside, turning back to her friend.

"He's in Room 024" she explained hurriedly. "Um... c-can you take care of him until I come back... if you don't mind? The bear massage might take awhile and... w-well.."

"What?!" Rainbow widened her eyes almost immediately as her friend cringed. She wanted to protest; that was not how she was planning to spend the first day of Hearth's Warming! She was supposed to be out having awesome snowball battles and waging a war against Commander Scootaloo, not take care of some random stranger who doesn't like to talk! Ultimately, she sighed heftily. Who am I kidding, she told herself. It's Fluttershy we're talking about. "Okay, j-Just... make it quick!"

"Oh, thank you so much, Rainbow!" she mewled happily. "I'll be back to take over once we're done."

"You better," Rainbow snarled under her breath as Fluttershy meekly galloped away down the swiveling path, leaving her standing at the doorway. She sighed again, still wondering how the morning came to this, before stepping into the building.

Ponyville Hospital was pristine and elegant; no doubt the ponies here did follow the rules, judging from the 'No Smoking' and 'No Littering' signs, among the rest, that were stamped over the display shelves. The counter was occupied by none other than Nurse Redheart herself, who was busily writing notes in a few files. Rainbow hastily trotted towards the counter, her eye catching a glimpse of the newest addition to the hospital: security cameras. Twilight did inform her it was added soon after her notorious attempt of breaking in to steal the 'Daring Do' book all those months ago, the thought of it making her blush. "Nurse Redheart?" she called the moment she reached the counter, prompting the other mare to look up.

"Miss Dash!" she cried out impulsively. "What brings you to the hospital today? Surely you're not injured or anything, are you?"

"Injured? Nah!" The cyan pegasus then placed the elaborately decorated paintbrush onto the table, oblivious to Nurse Redheart's sparkling eyes and her gaping mouth. "Fluttershy got into a little hay of a problem, so I thought I could help her with this errand of hers."

"The Hearth's Warming gift!" the nurse exclaimed abruptly. "Oh, Mr. Bleach would be so happy to see this!"

"Bleach?" she asked with a tilt of her head and a gurgle of her stomach. If there was anything that she would harbor a grudge against, it would be that white, disgusting liquid. "Is... is that his name?"

"His full name is Taciturn. Taciturn Bleach." The word only struck her head like a hammer, the pegasus trying to understand what does it mean or, better yet, how to even pronounce it. Nurse Redheart seemed to have noticed her confusion, as she repeating the word slowly: "It's Taciturn. As in tear-see-turn, get it?"

"Okay, okay!" Rainbow replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof. She didn't need to remember his name that badly; it was just only for one day! "Whatever. I'm just here to drop this paintbrush off and accompany him for a moment until Fluttershy finished her animal massaging thing."

"Alright then," she said, pointing to the stairs. "Second door on the right."

Rainbow gave her a thankful nod, though the stare that Nurse Redheart gave was full of skepticism, as if she was going to do something horrifying to this... Tase... Tacer...

"Ugh..." she groaned silently to herself. "How the heck do you pronounce this guy's name...?"

It wasn't long before she reached the pale turquoise door, holding up the silvery label that stated the number of the room; the one she had been looking for. With a small cough, she knocked onto the door.

"Hey!" she called out. "I'm coming in!"

As soon as the door swung open, however, she was met with a queer sight. The room was huge, with only one bed at the side of the room, tinted a slight orange due to the closed curtains filtering the light from the windows. The walls weren't its usual pure white; it was filled with assortments of elaborate murals and paintings, the colorful, vivid sight of which made the pegasus look in awe. There was a sound of slight, quirky humming filling the air, captivating her attention immediately at the sole patient of the room, who was facing an easel. Much like his name, he was a pure white pegasus, from his hooves to the hair of his mane. The only color she could find was the tinted tips of the seven folds of his wings, all representing the colors of a rainbow.

Rainbow watched as he delicately stroked the paper with one of the paintbrushes, drawing a sort of articulate design at the corner of the white surface. His Cutie Mark was clearer now: a silvery tin bucket with leaking white paint. He never seemed to notice her presence in the room, the stallion obviously too absorbed in his painting to bother. She cleared her throat, yet it never seemed to attract his attention. With a sigh, the cyan mare trotted towards him, tapping him on the shoulder and calling his name:

"Mr. Bleach?"

The stallion suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream, forcing Rainbow to plug her ears as he darted to the bed, hiding underneath the blanket with shivering fright. She could not believe it! Just one tap like that and he had to scream! What does he think he is, trying to kill her ears with something such as that?

"Hey, Bleachface," she hissed, trying her best to pull the blanket away from him, to no avail. "Hello~? I'm a friend! It's okay to come out, ya know."

The response she obtained was only a small, disheartening whimper, which only irritated her even more. How could this guy (if he is even a guy) be possibly around their age? If he's that terrified of other ponies even, she could only wonder how he could've survived the modern world.

"Hey, dude?" she tried again, nudging his chattering shoulder. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything, alright? I'm here to give you your Hearth's Warming gift. Don't you want it?"

That seemed to have worked, as Taciturn started to peek out from beneath the sheets, despite still avoiding her gaze. He hesitantly crept towards her, his curiosity piqued with his hooves strangely swaying left to right.

"N... N-Name..?" he forced out the question, still looking at the floor.

"Name?" she repeated, her full attention jerked back. "Why, I am the awesome Rainbow Dash, of course! Haven't you heard of me before?"

The stallion just shook his head plaintively, making her smack her forehead. "Seriously," she questioned as she passed him the intricately decorated gift that Fluttershy had prepared for him whilst trying her best to meet his gaze, in which he kept avoiding. "You're sure that you lived in Ponyville your whole life?"

Again, he quietly shook his head, prompting her to ask: "Then where are you from?"

Taciturn opened his mouth, as if he was trying to speak, though nothing came out. His head suddenly shifted towards the neat row of various assortments on the ground, enticing the cyan mare with curiosity.

"What is it?" she asked. "Whatcha trying to say?"

His none-swaying hoof just pointed at the row of items, though Rainbow still couldn't figure out what he was insisting her to get. After all, it could be anything on the floor, right?

"What is that you want?" she tried again. "Can't you just tell me?"

The stallion just pointed firmly at the orderly mess, still refusing to meet her gaze.

"Why, aren't you a little stubborn pony!" she scowled, crossing her hooves. "If you use your mouth and just tell me, it would be much easier, wouldn't it?"

He just shook his head, shirking back onto his bed. The sight only annoyed Rainbow even more, though she heaved the raging steam-boiled temper of hers back into the cooling lake of patience, instead eliciting a sigh as she said: "Because of where we are, I'll go easy on ya this time. So what is it that you want again?"

Taciturn hesitantly stepped down from his bed instead, the stallion picking up a paintbrush and palette from the row of objects, much to the cyan mare's vexation. Dipping the brush onto the splotch of red paint, Rainbow just sat back onto his bed, watching as he began to paint the first stroke. Time passed slowly and, for the mare, languidly, her half-lidded eyes settled upon the white pegasus drawing random lines onto the parchment. Every stroke seemed random and pointless to her, though not before he started connecting them.

She started to rise from the bed, her disinterest slowly turning to amazement as he joined every single strand of red paint. It wasn't long before she stood by his side, utterly captivated by the drawing it had become.

"This..." she muttered, completely speechless as Taciturn grinned widely. "This is Canterlot..."

The stallion nodded, his eyes glued to his own creation with a hasty sigh. He suddenly clasped her hoof, much to Rainbow's surprise, and placed it onto the dead center of the paper. It took a moment for her to realize what he meant, the mare turning to him and speaking her conclusion out loud:

"You're from Canterlot..."

Another nod, though not before his gaze jumped away once again, unable to meet the mare's eyes. It didn't matter when her gaze was being drawn by the painting he had made; she was still amazed at the clarity and quality of the drawing, made up of only lines of red paint. It accurately depicted each curve and swirl of the original structure, even going so far as to show the patterns that each and every building possesses in its architecture.

"So that's what Fluttershy meant about your paintings..." she mused. "They're kinda cool, you know."

Taciturn just remained silent, though she could see he was trying to talk.

"Well, I'm guessing you're not used to compliments like this, eh?" the mare continued, giving him a playful nudge. "You'll need to have some guts. A pegasus is born with guts of steel, so I'm sure your inner pegasus might have the key to help you up, don't it?"

Silence.

"Quite a persistent one too, I guess." With a sigh, she stood up from the bed, heading towards the door. "Well, it's been nice... uh... talking to ya, chump. Maybe we'll meet somewhere along the line again!"

There was a slight mutter from Taciturn, before he finally spoke a single word:

"Maybe..."

"Knew you'll be able to talk!" she proclaimed with a wink. "Well, gotta scoot for some lunch!"

Without another glance back, she stepped out of the room, leaving him to stare at her departure. Rainbow let out a sigh of relief: at least that went well. When's Fluttershy coming back, she asked herself. It had since been an hour after she arrived at the hospital. Her bear massaging must've been done by then, wouldn't it?

"Miss Dash!"

Nurse Redheart's voice stopped her before she could head to the stairs, the cyan pegasus turning back immediately to see the nurse galloping up to her.

"What is it, Nurse Redheart?" she asked the other mare. "Something urgent for me?"

"A bit," she replied, pushing her hat back up. "Fluttershy has something to say to you."

With that, Nurse Redheart leaned close to the pegasus's ear, whispering the message that the yellow mare had prepared for her. Rainbow's eyes widened as the message was being conveyed, the shout that she had suppressed earlier breaking from the confines of her patience, up the convulsing walls of her throat and out of her roaring mouth before Nurse Redheart could clamp her hoof over it.

"WHAT?!"

Comments

[canonkiller]

I like this. Please continue so a more informative comment can be given.

[RadBunny]

Despite not having a snowball fight yet...

This chapter pleases Scootalloo

tracking!

[Qubicle]

Please continue! I like the flow of teh story.

[Rainbow87dash]

This
I like this More

(couldnt find the picture)

[Rainbow87dash]

12 days of christmas, ain't that a little late?
Tomorrow is Christmas

The twelve days of Christmas are the 12 days leading up to Christmas
Or is it after

Ok ignore the top half of this comment

[WritingSpirit]

1849113
Lol.

I clearly remembered the first day being on 25th December (Went to Wikipedia to make sure of it).
Had to post it a day early coz the second chapter had been in the works a week ago, and I've just finished it yesterday. I'm already finishing the third as I'm typing this.

Don't think I can end this on the 12th day though

[Rainbow87dash]

1849130 yeah it's very unlikely

[Kirakina]

Is he autistic?

[CharThePegasus]

So far, this story is actually quite beautiful. However I bet RD is gonna go pinkie crazy

[Tide Hunter]

Just realized I never finished reading this, so I'm rereading it.

[WritingSpirit]

8629909
Cools! Lemme know how it goes!

Have to reformat it though.