Having been blindsided by Rarity's possible survival, Rainbow and Twilight wonder how to best track their former friend down, while Applejack tries her best to help Fluttershy through a chapter of her life she thought she had closed.
Having been blindsided by Rarity's possible survival, Rainbow and Twilight wonder how to best get to the bottom of this mystery, while trying to figure out why this revelation was kept from them. Meanwhile, Applejack tries her best to help Fluttershy through a chapter of her life she thought she had closed.
Twilight sat in stunned silence, staring at the pile of sand on the library floor. So many emotions churned inside, that not a single one was able make it to the surface.
Rainbow's inner turmoil, on the other hoof, had made it to the surface, having journeyed from her stomach and exited via her mouth as she retched in the bathroom. Two minutes later, the toilet flushed, and a sleep-deprived Rainbow came back out to the main room.
"Why? Why wouldn't they tell us? Why would they hide something like this from us?" Rainbow asked.
"We... We don't know for sure that she's alive." Twilight said, with no certainty whatsoever.
"Then explain why Celestia gave me a sealed urn of sand!" Rainbow yelled in return, making Twilight flinch.
"Sorry, Twi. I'm just trying to make sense of this."
"No, it's alright. I don't know how to feel about this either."
If Twilight was completely honest with herself, she had considered Rarity dead ever since she had nearly bashed her skull in more than a year ago. She figured that if she ever woke up, that she would spend the rest of her life in prison. When Rainbow came back that night, apparently killing her in a dream, Twilight had considered that situation finished.
Clearly this was not the case.
The possibility of Rarity being alive isn't what chilled her to the bone; it was that it was being hidden from them. Worse than that, they had been reasonably convinced that she was dead, even with the absence of a body. Every time Twilight tried to believe Celestia had a good reason for this deception, the sand and empty urn on the floor shattered her every argument, reminding her of what Rarity had done. She had turned Rainbow and Fluttershy into nothing more than sex slaves, and the rest of them into willing participants.
The possibilities angered her, even though Rainbow had convinced Celestia to re-enroll her in school. Her inner analytic egghead kicked in. She had to know why. Did her parents know? Did Sweetie Belle know?
"Rainbow... How do we tell the others?"
Rainbow looked at her, unsure of how to reply at first.
"Do we tell them at all?"
"We have to tell them. If we don't, we'd be going down the same path as Celestia and Luna."
"What we have to do is find out where she is."
"And where do you propose we start? We have to get together as a group and talk about this."
Rainbow rubbed her forehead with the tip of her hoof, relenting with a sigh.
"Fine. If that's what you really think we should do, fine. But right now, I need some sleep. I doubt it's gonna come very easily..." Rainbow muttered as she walked up the stairs to the bedroom. Twilight took a deep breath, wondering how she was going to collect herself. She magically took hold of the urn, and returned the sand to it, twisting it closed and setting it on the center table. She heard Rainbow get into bed. As badly as she wanted to write a letter to Celestia demanding answers, her gut told her that it wasn't going to do any good.
Rainbow found herself standing in a medium-sized closet. There was a wooden table with a screen on it, connected to a tape player. The screen was on, white with noise. There were two doors that lead out of this room; one in the front left corner, and one on the right wall. She walked towards the door in the corner, and opened it. She would have been afraid, but she had a good feeling she knew where she was, and she had long grown accustomed to visiting this place in her sleep. Walking through the doorway, she stood at the top of the stairs to Rarity's basement. Some of the lights overhead hummed to life, illuminating the left half of the room, and what she saw startled her. Her eyes widened at the cage against the left wall, looking at herself sitting inside it, staring at the floor, collar around her neck.
Seeing this hastened her trip down the stairs. She trotted up to the cage, and found it securely locked. There were no other items in the room to attempt to open it, and the Rainbow inside hadn't even acknowledged her presence yet.
"Hey, hey are you alright?" She asked her other self.
After waiting several seconds with no reply, the second set of lights came on, illuminating the right half of the room.
"That's something you're going to have to figure out now, isn't it?"
The voice sounded familiar. Rainbow turned to see a blue and white dapple pegasus sitting on the other side of the basement, adjacent to the cage. It was the pony she had met in Mustang Springs.
"Noctilucent?"
The ponies faded away, and the cobblestone walls of the basement crumbled to reveal the library, with the late morning sunshine coming through the balcony window. Looking at the clock on the wall, Rainbow discovered she hadn't even been asleep for two hours. Giving in to the fact that she was just going to have to have a tired day and crash hard tonight, she flipped the covers off of her and got up, wondering why her latest dream had ended abruptly.
Heart rate. Brain waves. Blood pressure.
Life Line had been an orderly in Canterlot Hospital for three years, and for the past one, he had a task added to his otherwise menial routine. Go into room 315 at 4:00 in the morning and record the heart rate, brain waves, and blood pressure of the comatose patient that resided within.
'Barely a patient. Prisoner is more like it.' he thought as he walked past the two royal guards, a solar unicorn, and lunar pegasus, also commonly referred to as a 'bat-pony', standing silently on either side of the doorway to 315.
Heart rate. Brain waves. Blood pressure.
The guards had become more than accustomed to his presence; he had only been in here over 300 times. Room 315 had been royally designated a high security zone. No one without clearance passed the guard, be it the small number of doctors, nurses, and orderlies - at least one of each was here 24 hours a day, ready to respond to whatever came up.
'In case she ever wakes up, I suppose.' Life Line mused. No doubt the two guards were the closest means of communication with Celestia and Luna, as well. They'd want to know as well. He knew who this unicorn was, and what she had done. Quite frankly, he wondered why they hadn't buried her alive, or whoever had beaten her to a pulp hadn't finished the job. He picked up the clipboard on the rack just inside the door and approached the bed with the motionless white unicorn. Walking around to the right side to the life support machines, he took the data down on the clipboard as he had done countless times before.
Heart rate. Brain waves. Blood pressure.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard the heart monitor begin to beep a bit faster. 'That's new,' he thought, going back to the readouts, seeing that her heart rate had increased to 42, up from the usual low 30's. It continued to climb, and his eyes were drawn to the spiking brainwaves. All four of his hooves nearly came off the ground when the unicorn behind him shrieked in terror, causing his heart to nearly burst out of his chest. This had immediately caught the attention of the two guards outside, who came in to investigate.
"What's going on?" the Solar Guard shouted over the screams.
The patient began to flail wildly on the bed, and thinking quickly, the night guard fastened the bed restraints onto her hooves, limiting her movements, but still she thrashed, screaming, seemingly in pain.
Life Line tore his gaze away from the bed and looked back to the monitors.
The night guard hit the call button for a doctor. The unicorn's horn lit up with the next scream, nearly blinding the three occupants as magical energy chaotically erupted from her horn in lances of light and magic. The lights and machines in the room began to flicker, and sparking orbs of light bounced harmlessly onto the bed and floor, eventually fizzing out. The unicorn was shaking quite violently now, but the restraints kept her from doing any serious harm to herself.
The next surge of magic came, shoving the other three occupants against the wall. The two unicorn guard futilely attempted to overcome her magic, as the force of her seizure was now starting to push the machinery away from the bed. She arched her back with one final cry, and the wheeled cart upon which the brainwave monitor rested tipped over, sending the equipment crashing to the floor.
Even if he was able to move away from the wall, Life Line wasn't sure if he could, due to the fear that had overcome him. He could do nothing more than stare at the seizing unicorn as her horn became a blinding beacon of magic. A minute passed. Another. Finally at nearly two and a half minutes, the unicorn went limp and motionless, and the magic emanating from her horn faded. Slowly, Life Line got to his hooves, and cautiously approached the bed. As the machines surrounding the bed had all been shorted out and probably damaged beyond reasonable repair, the only thing he could do was slowly lean down and put an ear to her chest. He listened for several moments before coming back up, turning to the two guards, who were now on their hooves.
"She's alive," he announced to them.
The solar and lunar guards exchanged glances briefly.
"Get a doctor," the solar instructed Life Line. As the young orderly made his way out of the room to do as he was told, the lunar guard followed, turning back to his partner.
For as insistent as Twilight was on getting everypony together to talk about this revelation, she now looked as nervous as Rainbow. She had once again set out tea for everyone on the center table in the library. She remembered the last time they had all been here several weeks ago. She asked Celestia to bring them all back to confront them. Then she did the last thing any of them expected. She kept the guards and bars away, and slowly rebuilt the friendships that had been shattered.
They were both hoping that this wasn't going to collapse everything that had been done so far.
Twilight had tucked the golden urn into her saddlebags, which sat next to her chair.
"You still think this is the best way to go about this?" Rainbow asked her, taking her seat next to her.
Time ran out for Twilight to mull on that as the library door opened, making the way for Pinkie, AJ, and Fluttershy to enter.
"Hey you two, how have you been?" Applejack asked.
"Rainbow looks like she's seen better days." Pinkie observed.
"Twilight, you don't look too well either. You look like you've seen a ghost." Fluttershy commented, as they all took their seats. Fluttershy immediately began enjoying her tea, finding it refreshing after a long day.
"So what's this about?" Applejack asked. Twilight shuffled uneasily in her seat, scanning her portion of the table around her teacup.
"Twilight, knowing you, you're looking for the right words, some way to ease into this. You're not going to be able to do it with this. So just show them." Rainbow told her. She didn't want Twilight to go into egghead mode and dance around this. She wanted to get down to business. She felt uncomfortable enough as it was.
Twilight glanced at Rainbow, then her horn lit. The flap on her saddlebag opened, and up came the golden canister, held in Twilight's magic. The eyes of Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy widened.
"We... Buried that. What are you doing with it?" Pinkie asked.
With a look of sadness, unsure of what their reactions were going to be, Twilight concentrated, and the lid of the canister twisted off.
When Fluttershy saw the sand pour out onto the table, her teacup dropped from her hooves, falling from the table and the contents spilling onto the wood. Catching the attention of the other four, her pupils contracted slightly, and she let out a gasp quieter than a whisper.
"What are you saying? She's alive?"
Rainbow cleared her throat.
"We don't know for sure yet, but we think so."
"You-you-you think so? Meaning you don't know for sure." Fluttershy stuttered, getting up from her seat, tears pricking her eyes. Rainbow wasn't sure how to react to this.
"No, we don't..."
"Do you know where she is?" Fluttershy asked in quick succession. Again, Rainbow shook her head.
"So knowing full well what she did to all of us, you thought you'd just get us together and tell us this with just an urn and some sand and without any plan about how to go about finding her???"
"Fluttershy, just calm down a little..." Appejack told her in as comforting a voice as she could.
Tears falling from her face, Fluttershy took one last look at the pile of sand, then turned for the door, galloping out into the evening.
"Fluttershy!" Applejack called after her, to no avail. After waiting several moments, she turned back to the table, where the other three still sat.
"I'm gonna go after her guys, she shouldn't be alone right now. Just... Just try and figure this out, alright?"
Rainbow and Twilight nodded, and Applejack left for the west side of town.
"I knew this wasn't your best idea..." Rainbow groaned at Twilight.
"I thought everypony should know." Twilight objected.
"Under different circumstances, maybe. We're digging up a piece of Fluttershy's past that she wants to keep buried."
Twilight fell silent. Rainbow was right, there was probably a better way to go about this, and she had been impatient.
"What are you gonna do?" Pinkie asked, the only other one still at the table. Rainbow shook her head in reply.
"I have no idea. I'm going on two hours of sleep, and I can barely think straight."
"Whatever we do, we'll be sure to come up with something a bit more concrete before we get everypony together again, and that's if Fluttershy wants to be a part of this at all. I certainly can't blame her if she didn't."
Rainbow swirled her tea a bit, then downed it in one gulp.
"Well, there was our shortest meetup of all time."
Applejack galloped down the road of the west outskirts of Ponyville, coming up to Fluttershy's cottage, a stone's throw away from the Everfree Forest as the sun dipped below the treeline. She slowly walked up the front path to the door, finding it unlocked. She stepped inside, and took a quick look around, finding nopony on the ground floor. Going upstairs, she heard weeping coming from Fluttershy's room.
"Fluttershy?" She asked, announcing her presence. She tapped the door, and it opened with a creak. Fluttershy was curled up on her bed, crying. Applejack walked in silently, coming up to her bed, placing her front hooves on it.
"Fluttershy, that wasn't like you. You pretty much blew up in Rainbow's face just because she wanted us to know what she found out. Now look, I know... I know what she did to you..."
"No. No you don't, Applejack." Fluttershy began, rolling over and facing her, trying to sniffle away her tears. "You don't know what she did to me. You only saw what all of you did when we were down in the basement. I just... I just don't know if I'm prepared to face her again... Because that's what's going to happen if we pursue this."
Fluttershy rolled back over, curling up, her back to Applejack. The farmer got an idea, and quickly got off the bed and went to the closet. Moments later, Fluttershy felt a rope drape across her body, and she rolled back, only to have Applejack climb onto her, rope in her hooves.
"Now listen here," Applejack began, tightly wrapping the rope around the pegasus' forelegs. "We're gonna approach this together. We're gonna go through this together, and we're gonna come out of this together. You know why? Because you are everything in Equestria to me, and I'm not going to let anything, and I mean anything, happen to you. Is that clear?"
Fluttershy was amazed how Applejack's authoritative voice immediately began to set her mind at ease. Her submissive mindset took comfort in somepony else being in complete control. She slowly nodded as Applejack tightened the rope.
"Good."
Applejack finished the tight biding off with a knot, and started kissing and sucking on Fluttershy's barrel, eliciting soft gasps from the pegasus. Teasing her for only a few moments, Applejack grabbed more rope, and bent her back legs up, and began tying them together, and then tied them to her front legs, effectively restraining her in a basic hogtie. With that done, AJ removed her hat, and slid her head in between her thighs, teasing her nipples with light flicks of the tip of her tongue.
"Ah! Oh... Oh, Applejack..." Fluttershy gasped, her lust and hesitation battling in her head. Applejack inched lower to her marehood, then looked up from between her legs, and waited for Fluttershy to subtly nod through her breaths, giving final permission.
The farmer rolled her over onto her stomach, and brushed her tail aside, getting a complete view of her moist marehood. She began with gentle kisses, just below her plothole, slowly working her way to her clit, getting whimpers of pleasure from the yellow pegasus. She squirmed, and AJ countered this by getting a firm hold on the back of her torso, keeping her still.
Fluttershy's mind flooded with desire. It had been so long since she had been touched like this. Applejack was firm, but so gentle. She tried to lean back into her kisses, but her grip was absolute.
"Does my Flutters want more?" Applejack asked, finally placing a kiss on her clit, getting a short cry from her marefriend. Finally, she stuck out her tongue, and gave a deep long lick up her slit, even going as far to stick the tip into her plot as she began a rimjob. That got her dripping as she buried her face into her pillow, moaning in pleasure. She had never felt anything like that before. Her back half began to quake as Applejack returned to her dripping marehood, and began to lick deeper and suck. Hearing Fluttershy's muffled cries as she struggled against the ropes.
"Now, come for me." The farmer ordered.
The command was all too easy for Fluttershy to follow when Applejack gave a long vigorous suckle on her clit. Having someone else in control of her body was too much to hold back, and before she knew it, she spilled into Applejack's waiting mouth. She kept licking, kept sucking, trapping Fluttershy in her climax for a full minute, until she was a panting mess on the bed. The disappointing amount of time until the build up was worth how long Applejack had kept her on the peak. Licking her lips, she rolled Fluttershy onto her side, and climbed up next to her.
"Trust me, sweetheart. It's gonna be fine, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
She snuggled up to the hogtied Fluttershy, and wrapped her legs around her.
"If you ever need to get anything off your chest about what happened to you in the past, I'm always here, alright?"
Princess Luna walked through the hall of Canterlot Hospital's Intensive Care Unit, lunar pegasi on each side of her. She knew this day would come, and she had suspected that it would be quite close, with how Rainbow had just returned to Ponyville after being in exile for the past year. But now there was an unforeseen complication to deal with, as she had been informed of on the way here.
She approached room 315, and a doctor in a white lab coat was waiting for her, and greeted her with a bow.
"Your majesty."
"Doctor, what's the situation?"
"She awoke suddenly one hour ago. Her seizure was so severe, I don't understand how her mind is even functioning. She should be completely brain dead. But instead, all of her vitals returned to normal, and amnesia set in."
"Amnesia? Her memory is gone?"
"Completely. She doesn't know who she is, where she's at, or what she did. She's drifted in and out of sleep for the past 45 minutes, seemingly having nightmares."
Luna gave a nod.
"Thank you, doctor, I'll take it from here." Luna said, going in to room 315, leaving the doctor to check up on the still stunned orderly, Life Line.
Luna cleared the entryway, coming into view of the bed, where the unicorn still lay, now with replacement machines. She had a medical magic inhibitor wrapped around her horn, to prevent a repeat incident. There were faded scars on her face, where doctors had performed reconstructive surgery on her skull in the first days of the coma after her beating. Rarity, hearing the new visitor, opened her eyes, looking at her uncertainly, not saying a word.
"Do you know who I am?" Luna asked plainly.
"No," she replied, shaking her head.
"Do you know your name? Do you know where you are?"
The unicorn's gaze averted, as she looked internally for answers to the questions. Again, she shook her head.
"No. I don't know my name. I'm in a hospital, obviously. What's happened to me?" She asked, her voice timid and afraid.
"We are trying to figure that out. I am Luna, Princess of the Night and Dreams. You are in Canterlot Hospital, where you have been in a comatose state for the past year."
Luna approached the bed, horn glowing. She noticed the heart monitor begin to beep a bit faster.
"Do not be afraid." The Princess said, to no degree of reassurance.
"What are you going to do?"
"Put you to sleep. I will accompany you into your mind, to try and see what has happened."
Luna's eyes started to glow along with her horn. Rarity's eyelids began to feel heavy, and she was soon fast asleep.
Luna stood beside an uncertain Rarity in a sea of black. Doors were scattered around them, closed in their frames, but seemingly leading to nowhere. The frames weren't built into a wall, the doors were just... There.
Luna saw the figure of a pony off in the distance, pacing near one of the doors. She began towards the figure at a short canter, allowing the shorter unicorn to keep up.
When they got closer, Luna noticed the pony was featureless; a plain gray equine with no mane, eyes, or other discernible features. When they got to within ten feet, the pony noticed Rarity, and began to step back, causing the pair to halt. After three steps, the mysterious figure turned completely around and galloped through the closest door, vanishing.
Luna saw another gray pony off to the left, and began silently walking towards it. When they got close enough, this one turned, looked at Rarity, and took a rather aggressive stance. It dug at the ground twice with it's left front hoof, and charged. It leaped at Rarity with a silent cry. Rarity fell to the 'ground' cowering. It crashed into her, and evaporated into nothing, leaving the unicorn shaking on the floor, unharmed, although it took her several moments to realize this. She uncovered her eyes, and Luna helped her to her hooves.
"Wh-what happened? Why are they angry at me? Why are they afraid of me? What did I do...?" She asked fearfully.
Princess Luna, with all her years of wisdom, did not have the heart to answer her. The doors and other wandering blank ponies began to sink into the black, until all that surrounded the pair was an infinite expanse of nothing.
"Your highness."
Princess Luna heard the voice distantly echo in her mind. Rarity didn't hear it, and the princess knew that someone was trying to get her attention back in the hospital room.
Rarity's hospital bed faded into view as Luna exited from the dreamscape. Rarity also started to awaken.
"Wait here. I'll be back to check on you in awhile." She told the unicorn.
Luna turned back to the doorway, where the Lunar pegasus was standing.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Your sister is here, your highness. She's waiting for you at reception."
Luna gave a nod and thanked the guard at his post. She walked down the hallway and turned a corner, coming out to reception. Celestia was waiting with a pair of Solar guards at her sides.
"Sister." Luna greeted.
"Luna. She's awake?"
"Yes."
"So your plan worked."
"Not entirely, sister. There has been a complication."
Celestia dismissed the two guards, and they walked down the hall where they had a degree of privacy.
"What kind of complication?" Celestia asked, her volume much lower, that so only Luna could hear her.
"Rainbow Dash's presence was enough to jolt her mind awake, but I didn't anticipate her actions in the dreamscape."
"Explain."
"Rainbow mutilated her, sister. I'll spare you the details, but it caused her brain to seize up so badly that the doctors can't explain why she's not brain dead. But her memories are gone."
"Gone? Amnesia?"
"Entirely. I have seen her mind. It is a sea of black and doors to nowhere, save for a few featureless ponies who are either furious at her or scared to death of her."
"But other than that, she's stable?"
Luna nodded.
"Yes, she is no longer considered to be in critical condition."
"Then I believe we can proceed with prosecution."
This statement made Luna hesitate in her response.
"Sister... Do you believe that to be the best choice?"
"What other choice is there?"
"She has no idea what she has done, or who she is. The dilemma here is whether to punish the body or the mind. In a sense, the pony who committed those crimes is gone."
"Rainbow Dash is back in Ponyville with Twilight. I know for certain that she's going to start wondering about the others as well. We are meeting with her, the mayor, and the prosecutor in a few hours. What do you want us to tell them?"
Luna considered her response carefully.
"Depending on how you look at it; the truth. Tell them Rarity is dead."
'I wonder when we're gonna sleep together again...'
Twilight complained to herself as she rode the midnight train up to Canterlot. First Rainbow had gone on a 24-hour journey to Mustang Springs, and now here she was, taking a late night train up to Canterlot. She had brought along a book to read, an activity that the few other ponies that sparsely populated the car had also done, either in the form of a book or a newspaper.
While they had only been apart two nights, it felt much longer than that. But they both felt that this mystery was more pressing than sleeping in the same bed.
Twilight figured that the next only possible step was the hospital. Rarity had been kept there for a year, under constant guard. She had made up her mind to go when there wasn't going to be a lot of others, and take a look at her death certificate, to see if anything seemed off about it. She had no idea what would be on it that would point them in the right direction, but it was the only thing she could think of.
The journey up the mountain was darker more than anything. It was a cloudy night, so the moonlight didn't help illuminate her view from the window seat, with nothing accompanying the motion except for the click-clack of the tracks. When she found it easier to lean up into her book, she knew that the tracks had stopped climbing, and that the conductor would be through to announce their final arrival at Canterlot.
Her ticket was checked, and less than five minutes later, the whistle blew, and the hiss of the brakes informed her that they had arrived at the platform. The total of six ponies exited the train, and went on their separate ways.
Built into the mountainside on a river, Canterlot was quite often deceiving in it's size. Only when you were there, could somepony truly behold the city's size. So many homes and shops occupied the alleyways, with a small amount of paths, hills and gardens separating the castle gates from the rest of the rather sophisticated city. Depending on the size of your bit bag, it had everything you could want or need. The city's main attraction was of course the castle. History students were often surprised that the castle was actually one of the newer extensions of Canterlot. Shortly after overthrowing Discord, Celestia and Luna ruled from their older castle in the Everfree Forest. Celestia only moved to Canterlot after Luna had been banished, their brief battle destroying much of the older castle's architecture.
As familiar as she was with the castle, and the School for Gifted Unicorns that neighbored it, Twilight was going nowhere near it. Her destination, Canterlot Hospital, was nowhere near the castle, and was closer to the center of the city.
After the brief night of excitement when Rarity had awoken, Life Line's professional life quickly returned to the nightly bore. As he worked through the 400 hallway with a mop bucket, one of the receptionists walked up to him.
"Hey Life Line, doesn't look like you're too busy, I need you to go grab something."
'No, I'm not busy at all. It's not like I have five more hallways to do after this, so I am at your beck and call.' Life Line was keen on keeping his sarcastic side in check when on the job.
"What can I do for you?" He asked, setting the mop back in the water, giving the receptionist his full, although struggling attention.
"Twilight Sparkle wants to confirm a death certificate of Rarity, the unicorn that seized up and died in 315 two months ago. If you could get that and bring it up to Reception, that'd be great. Thanks."
What made the night shift bearable was the staff he conversed with were grateful at the very least. And- wait, what?
"As in, former Princess Twilight Sparkle?"
"Yeah, so like, go and get it so she can be on her way."
Now tonight had gotten interesting. With a nod, he quickly turned and made his way to the filing area. It was a series of several rooms, each one with a different set of files. He entered the one that had copies of death certificates. He grumbled, as he was certain that this search was going to take forever, because he was going to be looking for something that wasn't there. I mean he saw Luna and her-
His eyes widened as he quickly became confused. There it was.
Rarity U. Belle
He quick checked the date and time, and he knew that something was amiss. Maybe Twilight knew something.
With certificate in hoof, he went back out to reception, where the disgraced former Princess was sitting in the waiting area.
"Twilight?" He called to get her attention. The only one in the waiting room, she got up and came up to him at the counter. He slid the certificate across to her side of the counter so she could get a good look at it. She skimmed the information, and she let out an exasperated sigh.
"I'm guessing that makes as much sense to you as it did me." Life Line offered.
"What do you mean?"
Life Line gave her a quizzical look.
"I mean she didn't die that night. I was there. I saw her wake up. I saw her leave with Princess Luna the very next night."
Twilight's eyes widened, and Life Line quickly assumed he was getting his hooves into something that he probably shouldn't be.
"I'm guessing you didn't know that."
Twilight slid the certificate back to him.
"I had my suspicions. Do you know where they were headed?"
Life Line shook his head.
"No. Once the Princesses arrived that night, the hospital staff sort of took a back seat to everything. I wasn't allowed back in that room after she woke up. Up until then I was in there every night recording her heart rate and brain waves. All I know is that after she woke up, she had complete amnesia. She had no idea who she was or what she had done."
"So that was it? They just left?"
Life Line nodded.
"Yeah. Things went back to normal after that. I didn't think anything of it. I knew who she was and what she did, I assumed she was going to trial or something."
"Well, thanks for your help."
"Anytime."
Life Line returned the certificate to it's file folder before resuming his mopping, while Twilight galloped out of the hospital and taking to the sky, not bothering to wait for a train in the morning.
After the meeting with her sister, Ponyville's Mayor Mare, the prosecutor, and a mentally questionable Rainbow Dash, Luna had retired to the castle for a good day's sleep, knowing full well she had to be waiting in Ponyville later that night, for Rainbow's decision, where she was currently waiting outside the Mayor's office with her sister, the moon high in the sky.
"What do you think she will decide?" Princess Luna asked her sister.
"I don't know, sister. These six friends had the strongest bond I had ever seen. That bond was shattered, but perhaps she is trying to hold onto some semblance of what they once had."
"In a situation such as this, would judicial punishment do any good? For friendships this strong to have been destroyed, is that not punishment enough?" Luna asked.
"That is for her to decide."
Even with how quiet the Ponyville night was, the two royal sisters almost did not notice the approaching airborne Pegasus, as she glided down, and landed in front of them with a flutter of her wings. The two alicorns looked down at her expectantly, awaiting her answer.
"Gather them up. I want them in the library by morning."
Celestia nodded, and stepped forward.
"That isn't necessary. If you want, we can take them straight to Canterlot Courts to formally charge them."
"I'm not charging them. With anything." Rainbow said, with an air of finality.
Celestia and Luna carefully eyed Rainbow, trying their best to hide their surprise. She still had the look of instability she had in the meeting that morning.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Celestia asked.
"You wanted my decision by midnight. You have it. Now are you going to help me bring them back together or not?"
Immediately, Celestia knew what Rainbow was going to try to do. Undo the damage that had been done; try to heal the friendship. She wasn't instantly confident of her ability to do so, but all of them had surprised her in the past.
"I can have them here at ten o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Thanks. I'll be ready."
With that, Rainbow took to the night sky, flying back towards the library, quickly disappearing in the darkness.
Luna was quite surprised.
"I'm not sure I understand. She... She was so angry in the dreamscape. How can she let it go so quickly?"
"I don't think she has. Not yet at least. Maybe she has to see them all to find out if letting go of this is possible."
"I'm glad you're the one talking to Swiften." Luna said.
"What about your plan, sister? If she is willing to try and forgive them, what are you going to do?"
"Proceed according to my plan. I'm ready to move her. I am confident that if Rainbow is to succeed with her endeavor, the five of them can heal better with her out of the picture."
"I just hope you know what you're doing."
The two royal siblings took flight to Canterlot. As Celestia angled towards the castle, Luna flew towards the hospital. Upon arriving, she passed reception without question, and made her way to the intensive care unit. Stepping up to room 315, she acknowledged the guards.
"Gentlecolts, you are relieved of duty. You may return to the barracks and await further orders."
With each saluting the princess, they immediately left their posts, headed for the exits, and Luna headed inside.
She looked at the silent, sleeping unicorn, now without nearly as many wires and tubes running from her body to the machinery around the bed. Her horn lighting up briefly, a short stack of papers materialized in the air. These consisted of a forged death certificate, as well as all the paperwork for another pony. A pony, up until six hours ago, did not officially exist.
Rarity stirred under her covers, and her eyes fluttered open.
"Princess?" She greeted.
"Are you ready to go? Your new life awaits."
"Go? Go where?"
"I've got you a job and a small apartment in Manehattan. I'll be accompanying you there, making sure you get settled in."
Rarity looked to the doorway, and noticed the absence of the guards.
"Your majesty... What did I do? Those featureless ponies in my dreams haven't gone away, and their behavior hasn't changed. Up until now, those guards were always there. They never left until the next shift arrived. Why am I being guarded? Who did I hurt?"
Luna approached the bed.
"That doesn't matter anymore, my subject. What matters now is the chance and opportunity you now have. An opportunity to make a new identity for yourself, to discover who you are all over again. As soon as you like, you can get something to eat, and then we can be on our way."
"I'm supposed to just go with you into this new life you've made for me? You haven't even told me my own name."
Luna paused a moment, looking at the death certificate for Rarity, as well as the birth certificate and other necessary paperwork for the new pony.
"Your name is Charity."
As she was still a novice at flying, it took Twilight considerably longer than the train ride to return to Ponyville. But it was still worth not getting a room for the night and waiting until morning. It was four o'clock when she got back to the library. She landed as quietly as she could on the balcony, and opened the door with a creak,which was loud enough to wake the normally heavy-sleeping pegasus in her bed.
"Didn't wait for the train?" Rainbow asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.
"This was faster."
"So what did you find out?"
Twilight sat on her bed next to Rainbow.
"She's alive. An orderly showed me the death certificate. Nearly everything had been signed by Princess Luna, dated for the same night you came back and had that nightmare. But he claims he saw Luna and Rarity leave the night after she woke up from the coma."
"Did he say where?"
Twilight shook her head.
"He didn't know. They left with minimal interaction with the staff."
Rainbow let out a sigh.
"So where does that leave us?"
Twilight turned to her with a look of disappointment.
"With the growing belief that she's out there somewhere, but no way to prove it, and no way to find out where Luna took her."
Rainbow's mind started to entice her to more sleep, as she had seen Twilight off just four hours earlier. She slipped underneath the covers, snuggling into Twilight, for once, having the cooler head.
"We'll figure something out."
With that, she wrapped her arms around her marefriend, and let the dreamscape take her once more.
She found herself in the basement again, already at the bottom of the stairs. The setting was the same. The broken Rainbow sat in the cage on the left, and Noctilucent sat on the right. Rainbow stepped forward, in the middle.
"So what do you guys want?"
"This is about figuring out what you want." Noctilucent told her.
"I don't... I don't know what I want." Rainbow admitted.
"Yes you do," the Rainbow in the cage finally said, turning to her, stepping closer to the bars. "It's about a choice you have to make."
"And you have to make sure it's the right one." Noctilucent finished.
Rainbow took a closer look at the two occupants of her dream, and her concern grew when she noticed little details that were off. Broken Rainbow's cutie mark was entirely gray-scale, and Noctilucent's candle no longer had a flame.
"Hey, what happened to your cutie marks?" she asked.
"There you go again, asking questions to the ponies in your own head." Noctilucent chastised.
"So what choice am I supposed to make?" Rainbow asked.
"The right choice. Tracking down that bitch that got a Get Out Of Jail Free card." Broken Rainbow said, her front hooves on the bars.
"She doesn't even know who she is anymore, or what she did."
"Yes, my mistake. That absolutely vindicates what she did to you."
"The legal statutory limit passed, there's nothing I can do."
Broken Rainbow leered at her.
"Not all punishment is behind bars."
Noctilucent stepped forward.
"Rainbow, you can forgive her just like you forgave the others. The past is in the past. Let it go."
"Bold words, coming from a non-entity," the slave Rainbow sneered.
"Bolder words, coming from a sex slave in a cage." Noctilucent shot right back without a moment's hesitation.
"You forgave the others because you were all victims of her. All she's gotten is a few hits on the head and a free hospital room for a year. Now Luna's given her a second chance that she did nothing to earn. Twilight gave her what was coming to her. Now you need your revenge."
"How would I even go about finding her? If she doesn't remember what she did to me, it's useless!"
"You know what to do. Deep down, you know how to solve this. You just need to find it, and then do it."
"Revenge will solve nothing, Rainbow, and you know that." Noctilucent advised.
"It solves everything!"
Rainbow stepped back, her wings flaring.
"Shut up shut up! Both of you just shut up!!!"
"Rainbow, wake up!"
Rainbow Dash bolted up in bed with a gasp, shivering.
Before Twilight could comfort her marefriend over another nightmare, something caught her eye, and she gasped. Rainbow looked over to her, and saw she was staring down at her flank. She too looked down. Her eyes widened and throat tightened at what she saw.
Her cutie mark had changed.
What had always been a white cumulus cloud with a curved rainbow lightning bolt was now a darker thunderhead, with rain partially obscuring the rainbow.
"Wh-what???" Rainbow said fearfully. She looked up at Twilight with frightened, tear-filled eyes.
"I thought you'd be the one to come to with this, because you solved Apple Bloom's cutie pox."
"For the cutie pox I did have a cure, But this is beyond me, of that I am sure. To cutie pox this simply cannot compare, What Rainbow has is inner despair. Cutie marks are magic, this much is true, The conflict inside makes her unsure what to do."
Twilight turned to Rainbow, who was standing next to her in Zecora's hut in the Everfree Forest.
"Conflict inside...? Rainbow, what's wrong?"
Rainbow remained silent, unsure of how to tell her. Twilight wasn't about to accept this.
"The mark of who you are has changed before our eyes, and you don't want to tell me why? If you're hurting inside, I want to help you."
"You want to help me hurt Rarity? After what you already did to her? Because that's the problem, Twilight. I don't know if I can let this go. If I find her... I don't know what I'm going to do. Amnesia or not. She has not paid for what she did. All of you scattered. The damage done to our friendships was punishment enough for you. But we still don't know why she took such pleasure in it, why after everything fell apart and I was long gone, why she still came to the library and dared to fight you for Fluttershy."
So that's what had Rainbow so confused. But it was to such a degree that her cutie mark was being altered? It was quite appropriate at the very least; from what Rainbow just told her, she had a storm of conflict brewing inside her.
"Rainbow, if you found her, she's not going to have any idea who you are. How are you going to solve that?"
"I'm still working on that part."
"Rainbow Dash, a decision you must make. Your mental health is what's at stake. But whatever it is you decide to do, Just make sure to be true to you."
"Zecora's right. There is magic behind the cutie mark. Depending on what you decide to do, your cutie mark may end up changing permanently. But know this..." Twilight paused, coming up and putting a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder.
"No matter what you decide, I will support it. Even after that insanity in the library, I still wished her dead for a decent amount of time. So I can certainly understand your anger."
Rainbow nodded.
"Thanks anyway, Zecora." She said, turning to the door.
Twilight likewise gave Zecora her gratitude, and joined Rainbow outside her hut.
"So now what do we do?" Twilight asked her.
Rainbow thought for a moment, and then came up with her next plan.
"There's only one I can think of talking to that might know... And wouldn't mind going around the Princesses. I'll be back. Meet you at the library!"
With that, Rainbow took off into the sky, leaving Twilight to make the return walk to Ponyville alone.
Fluttershy was just about to begin feeding her animals their midday meals when there was a frantic knock on her front door. She set down her current bag of feed and went to answer it.
"Hi there, Rainbow. Oh goodness! What's happened to your cutie mark?"
"Don't worry about it. Listen, I'd like to talk to Discord. Is he here?"
Rainbow heard the air pop behind her accompanying a flash.
"No, but I'm here." He announced, now standing directly behind the cyan pegasus.
"I meant here in the general area."
"Oh, well you simply must be more specific. I love what you've done with your cutie mark, by the way."
"Whatever, I need to talk to you, alone."
"Now, what would you have to talk to me about that our little Fluttershy couldn't hear?"
"I'm not in the mood for games."
Fluttershy stepped in, wanting to diffuse any potential meltdowns.
"I'm sure Rainbow has something important to talk to you about, and I want to respect her privacy."
"If you insist, Fluttershy. We still on for our tea party later?"
"Wouldn't miss it. Applejack's coming too."
With another snap of his eagle claw, he and Rainbow vanished from Fluttershy's front walk. A moment later, they rematerialized in the branches of Golden Oaks Library.
"Now, what can I do for you, Rainbow? No doubt it has to do with your cutie mark there. You always did have a lot of pride in your butt tattoo." Discord asked, snapping his bear claw, and began snacking on the pages of a book that had warped from one of the shelves below.
"Rarity. I want to know where she is. I figured you would know."
"Why? Didn't you bury her a couple weeks ago?"
"Are you in on this too?"
"I haven't the faintest clue what you mean. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to what you're talking about."
"Rarity is alive. She woke from her coma the night I came back. She's amnesiac, and Luna took her somewhere, and I want to know where."
"And I can't imagine why you'd want to know that. Have you still not gotten over your little three-day getaway? Care to share any details you want to get off your chest?"
Rainbow had already had enough.
"I'm not sure. Maybe instead you'd like some details on what she did to Fluttershy."
Rainbow had done the impossible, and struck a draconequus nerve, as evidenced by his lack of sudden, witty, trolling reply.
"What, wouldn't that just make fine conversation over tea? Or maybe now you know that I'm not fucking around. Rarity. Now."
Discord's silence lasted all of three seconds.
"Oh fine. If you really mean business, I'll give you what you want, but I'll only give it to you my way. You remember my way, don't you?"
With that, Discord left his branch, and started snaking through the branches around Rainbow.
"If you want to pull the purple mane out of the hat, then the golden noose can help you with that."
There was another flash, and he was gone, leaving Rainbow in the treetop.
"Purple mane out of the hat...? Golden noose?"
Rainbow sat in the tree, pondering Discord's riddle, knowing that it couldn't be taken literally, quite like when he was first released from stone. They had all believed the 'twists and turns' he referred to was the castle garden labyrinth. In a way it was, but it was only to distract them from the true location.
She flew down from the tree, and walked into the library.
"Hey Twilight!" she called out.
"Feeling any better, hun?" Twilight asked, coming downstairs from reading a book.
"I've got a riddle. Compliments of Discord. It's where Rarity is."
"Are you sure he's just not trying to screw with you?"
"I think I persuaded him to play fair."
"Alright, what is it?"
"If you want to pull the purple mane out of the hat, then the golden noose can help you with that."
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, pondering Discord's words.
"Purple mane out of the hat... Purple mane out of the hat... Odd way of describing a hat... Goes on the head, the mane in the hat..."
Rainbow facehoofed.
"Manehattan..." They groaned simultaneously.
"So if that's where she is, what about the 'golden noose'?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow's eyes widened, and the light bulb turned on above her head.
'Deep down, you know how to solve this. You just need to find it, and then do it.'
"That's it!" She exclaimed, and ran down to the basement.
"What's it?" Twilight asked, galloping after her. By the time she got to the stairs, Rainbow was already in her chest, digging through it. When she was halfway down, Rainbow came up with her item of choice, and moved too fast for Twilight to catch a glimpse of it.
"Be right back!" she said, wings spread, zooming past Twilight back up the stairs.
"What are you doing?" The alicorn called, running after her. She caught the last bit of Rainbow's tail leaving the front door, and got outside just in time to see her bolting across the sky to the west. Knowing that she had absolutely no chance of catching her, flying was still faster than her full gallop, so she did her best to follow the fading rainbow trail over the Everfree Forest, finally coming to a stop at the Castle of the Two Sisters.
There was a stone stairway going down into the chasm around the castle. She cautiously made her way down, as the very last remnants of a rainbow came down here.
"Rainbow? Rainbow??" She called. She kept looking around until she came to a cave in the inner wall of the chasm. Slowly stepping towards it, she saw Rainbow come out, with a shimmering gold item in her hoof. She ran towards her marefriend, who was staring determinedly at the object.
"I said I'd be right back." Rainbow told her as Twilight came to a stop. Her eyes widened at what her marefriend held.
The Element of Generosity.
Twilight recalled that during the investigation over a year ago, she went to check on the Elements, and the gems were no longer set in the gold necklace bands. She peered into the cave, and saw a shimmering tree. The six most prominent branches had their Elements on the very tips. All but one.
The diamond.
"What are you going to do?" She cautiously asked the cyan pegasus, who had not taken her eyes off of the necklace that now had the amethyst gem reset in the piece of jewelry.
Rainbow's hooves clacked on the marble flooring of the shopping center in downtown Manehattan. With Twilight at her side, they slowly made their way through the main concourse, eying the various shops.
Rarity was somewhere here. Of this they were certain.
The moment they stepped off the train onto the platform, the Element of Generosity started to slowly pulse with light from within the gem. As they made their way deeper into downtown, the pulse had slowly started to speed up. Quickly concluding that the pulse was most likely reacting to Rarity's proximity, they now found themselves in the Manehattan Shopping Plaza, and headed in whatever direction that made it go faster.
Twilight was unsure how to feel. She promised Rainbow her support in whatever she decided, which was why she had accompanied Rainbow here. Her demeanor hadn't been the same since her cutie mark had been altered. Whatever conflict was happening inside, she was afraid that the darker half, the half that was hellbent on vengeance, was winning.
She knew exactly what Rainbow was planning; the exact same method of memory recovery that had worked after she recited Starswirl's unfinished spell.
Despite how badly she wanted to talk Rainbow out of this, to stop opposing the clandestine efforts of the rulers of Equestria, she couldn't. It wouldn't be fair. Through the months of drinking, the months of recovery, and the weeks of healing friendships... Twilight could not yet consider forgiving Rarity. She came the closest she ever had to at her funeral, but her vengeful feelings and hatred were dug up right alongside the golden urn. It had taken her long enough to forgive herself. Rarity was another story entirely, and if she couldn't muster up forgiveness, she certainly wasn't going to implore Rainbow to do so.
Passing the food court, they came to the southeast corner of the mall. Rainbow looked down at the Element of Generosity, which was at a strobe pace by now, as they stood thirty feet from the entrance to a mane styling salon.
"I think this is the place, Twilight."
Suddenly, a small orb of light appeared halfway between them and the salon. Beams erupted out of it, and the orb exploded in a flash of light, and Princess Luna and Princess Celestia materialized.
"Not another step." Luna decreed, standing between Rainbow and the entrance to the store.
Rainbow and Twilight stood around the library table with their other three friends. Spike sat up on the stairs.
"Are you sure? That's where she is?" Applejack asked.
"We won't be absolutely sure until we're there. But I'm going. With this, Luna can't use the amnesia to hide her away. So should we go get five tickets?"
Silence fell over the table for several moments while they contemplated going to Manehattan with Rainbow.
"No."
Rainbow looked over to the source of the first answer.
Fluttershy.
"Are you sure?" Rainbow asked her.
"I'm not going. I'm moving past it. You go, and do whatever you need to. I won't think of you any differently. Your cutie mark changing is proof that you need to figure this out."
Applejack put her leg around her.
"I'm not going either. I'll stay here with Fluttershy. Twilight supports whatever decision you make, so I'm going to support Fluttershy in hers."
Rainbow nodded, then turned to Pinkie.
"What about you Pinkie?"
Pinkie looked at her, and slowly shook her head.
"This crisis you have is changing you, Rainbow. I'm sorry you feel the way you do about Rarity, but I can't imagine it. She didn't do to us what she did to you. I'm... I'm sorry. I can't go with you. Please don't be angry."
Rainbow sighed.
"I'm not angry. In fact, I envy that. I wish I could figure out how to just let this go... But I can't."
"Out of my way. I've come too far to not see this through." Rainbow demanded to the monarch in her path.
"I can't let you do this, Rainbow."
"It's not about what you want. I can't let her get away with what she did."
Luna didn't move.
"Do you even realize what you're becoming? What are you going to do? Go in there and mutilate her again? Once in your sleep wasn't enough?"
"She has to face justice for what she did to me. You brought her here like some witness protection program... Like she's innocent!"
"Her mind is innocent."
"Because of you."
"No, because of you. You mutilated her in her dream."
"You put me there!"
"Because you were the only way to wake her up."
Rainbow took several steps forward.
"So you wait for me to come back after a year of wandering in loneliness, you drop me into a dream to wake her up so she can go to trial, and then you whisk her away when it doesn't go according to plan. Then the two of you lied to us about it."
"Because you can't take vengeance on an innocent mind."
Rainbow held up the rapidly flashing Necklace of Generosity.
"With this, it won't be innocent. The truth will be restored."
"Regardless, doing this will take away an innocent life."
"I'm going in there."
"No, you're not."
Rainbow stepped directly up to the Princess of the Night.
"Then I hope you have another identity ready, your majesty, because the Rainbow Dash standing right here will love to see you try and stop her."
The pegasus and alicorn stared each other down silently, their snouts only centimeters apart, neither giving an inch.
"Let her go in, Luna."
The voice came from Celestia, standing off to Luna's left, and the three ponies present turned to look at her.
"What?" Luna asked incredulously. "But sister-"
"Your plan had flaws from the start. You took Rarity from the hospital in the view of staff. You convinced me to give them an urn full of sand to bury. Lastly, you sent Rainbow down to Mustang Springs to visit one of your Suicide Solutions program members, thinking he wouldn't divulge your stance on preserving all equine life, no matter their crimes. She exploited each one of these flaws. If you believe you did the right thing, believe that this was truly the path to take, then let her go in and see for herself."
Luna continued staring at her older sister in disbelief. Twilight began to step forward.
"I'm sorry, Twilight. If Rainbow goes in, she goes in alone. The choice is hers."
Twilight stopped in her tracks, and looked to Rainbow. The pegasus glanced at her, then back to Luna. The alicorn sighed in defeat, looking her in the eyes.
"Consider everything you've been through, and how this one choice will affect you in the days, weeks, and years to come."
With that, Luna slowly and reluctantly stepped aside.
Rainbow dropped the Necklace of Generosity into her saddlebag and walked into the salon. There were various bottles of shampoos, conditioners, and mane treatment solutions on numerous shelves near the front desk. The majority of the shop were chairs, counters full of combs and scissors, and the back wall were chairs with full mane-drying domes above them.
"Hello, and welcome to Downtown Salon. What can I do for you?"
The front receptionist was a light brown earth pony. She had a stunning mane cut, no doubt to advertise the services the business offered.
"Yeah, just a mane cut and comb, please."
"Alrighty... Let's see. Business has been slow today, we've only got the one stylist, and she's rather new. Right this way."
The receptionist led Rainbow to the closest chair, and sat her down.
"Charity, customer!"
Rainbow slowed her breathing as she set her saddlebags down and turned her head to the back of the store, where a white unicorn came out of the room in back. Her throat tightened.
It was her.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she watched her quickly wash her hooves and come up to where she was sitting. Her mane was styled differently, it was less curled, and looked far more like Fluttershy's mane style. She could also tell where she had facial reconstruction done. But what disturbed her most was the way she looked.
Gone was the look of the Rarity from a year ago; the cruel sadistic mistress who put her through three days of hell. In her place was a kind smile that was eager to please another paying customer.
"Hello there, dear. Just a trim and styling?" She asked, getting her comb and scissors ready.
"Uh... Yeah, that should do." Rainbow answered, as Rarity lit her horn and rotated the barber's chair around.
"We don't usually get a lot of pegasi in here. Especially those with airborne occupations; not really concerned with their manes if they're flying around on a daily basis. But I must say yours is quite beautiful, even unkempt."
"Thanks," she said as Rarity slowly reclined the chair back until Rainbow's neck was resting in the mane-washing sink. She took a magical grip on the spray hose, and began to dampen Rainbow's mane.
As the lukewarm water ran down her mane, Rainbow fought back flashbacks of being restrained in the ice-cold shower. She took in a sudden breath, causing Rarity some concern.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah... Yeah, I just don't really get my mane done at all." Rainbow said, closing her eyes, trying her best to remain calm.
"I see. What's the occasion?" She asked, as she ran color-safe shampoo through her hair.
"Vacation."
"Ah. Well I'm glad you stopped in. Manehattan is such a lovely city. I hope you see and do everything you've come for. Where are you from?"
"Ponyville."
"Oh I've always wondered what it'd be like to live in a rustic area like that. I'm told Equestria's central valleys are simply beautiful."
"What about you? Been in town long?"
"No, actually. I just moved here."
"Where are you from?"
Rarity gave out a nervous chuckle as she finished washing her mane.
"Actually dear, this is going to sound crazy. I don't know where I'm from."
"Really? Why not?"
"Because I awoke from a coma just over a month ago. Princess Luna told me I had been comatose for a year. I don't know anything about who I was or what I did for a living. It's a bit strange, having that much of a blank spot."
"So you don't feel like you've just been alive for just a month?"
"No, I suppose not. Just feels like one long blackout. Luna has been nothing but kind though. She got me settled in my apartment, got me this job... She cares deeply for all her subjects."
"Did she ever tell you how you came to be in that coma?"
Rarity began to rinse out the shampoo with the spray nozzle. Rainbow was prepared this time.
"No. She said the investigation turned up nothing but inconclusiveness. I'm sure you can tell that I've had surgery; I apparently took quite the thrashing on the head."
The rinsing finished, Rarity did a quick conditioning, another rinse, and brought the back of the chair up, returning Rainbow to a sitting position.
"It's funny... I feel like I've known you for years..." Rarity mused as she grabbed the scissors and comb, and began gently brushing Rainbow's mane.
"You do, huh?" Rainbow said, fighting once more to keep her emotions in check. It wasn't time yet...
"Think nothing of it, dear. I've learned pretty quickly not to trust my sense of deja vu when 20 years of memories just up and leave."
Rarity took a short length of Rainbow's red and orange bangs, and cut. Rainbow avoided jumping and gasping at the very last second, as memories of her wings getting clipped accompanied the sound of Rarity's scissors. She slowly let out the last breath she took.
"So no memories of your past? No theories on why you were attacked?"
"No memories whatsoever, I'm afraid. I have only one theory: I did something very wrong."
Rainbow's heart skipped a beat.
"What makes you say that?"
"My dreams at night. They're almost always the same. An endless black expanse with blank, faceless ponies. Every single one of them either run away in fear, or attack me in a rage. It makes me afraid that whatever I did, I ended up hurting somepony."
"How... How do you deal with that?" Rainbow said, putting more effort into keeping her voice from quivering.
"At first, I didn't know how. I was heartbroken at the possibility that there was somepony out there suffering because of something I might have done to them, and there was no way of me finding out. There was no way of me helping, or apologizing, or atoning for whatever pain I may have caused them. And then... One morning, I woke up, and just decided to... Stop worrying. It wasn't going to do me any good. I just started believing that if there is anypony out there that I hurt, that they're okay. Luna told me that I had to have woken up for a reason."
There was one more slice of the scissors, and she ran the comb through a final time before spinning Rainbow around to give her a look in the mirror.
Her mane was... Fantastic. The wash made her colors even more vibrant, comb made it look neater, and it was the perfect blend of an organized trim, and wind-blown style.
"Wow..."
"I didn't want to do anything too extravagant. From the looks of your cutie mark, I'd say you're a weather pony that deals with rain and thunderstorms. I don't want you paying for one of our more expensive styles if it just goes to waste because of your job." Rarity said, going around to the front counter, prompting Rainbow to grab her saddlebags and go up front to pay.
"Alright dear, that will be 20 bits." Charity said, ringing up Rainbow's total on the register.
Rainbow set her saddlebags down, and opened the left flap. She saw her bag of bits sitting next to the Necklace of Generosity. As she reached in, she hesitated. Her heart pounded against her chest as the tip of her hoof brushed against the purple diamond-shaped gem.
'Just do it. This is what you came here for. Do it!'
"Something the matter, dear?"
Charity's concern grew as the pegasus looked up at her, tears falling from her eyes. She was quick to wipe them away, sniffling.
"No... No. It's just... Your story. I've hurt ponies too. And... And I don't know if they're all okay, either."
Rainbow's hoof came out of the bag, with her bag of bits.
"Well sweetheart, we all make mistakes, and we can't correct every single one of them. Sometimes you just have to believe. Believe and hope that everything will be okay."
Rainbow sniffled again, nodding. Her hoof quivering, she took a 25 bit coin out of her bag and slid it across the counter.
"Keep the change. Tip."
Charity opened the cash drawer, dropped the coin in, and took a 5 bit piece for herself.
"Much appreciated. Go and have a lovely day. Be strong."
Rainbow refastened her saddlebags to her midsection, and turned to leave. Upon exiting through the doors, there stood Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, all wondering what had transpired.
"Well...?" Twilight asked, her voice full of uncertainty.
Tears still pricking her eyelids, Rainbow reached into her saddlebag again, grabbed the Necklace of Generosity, and tossed it on the marble floor at Luna's hooves. Without a word, she walked to Twilight, and kept going, prompting the purple pony to follow her, likewise without saying anything to the Princesses.
Luna finally looked up from the necklace at her hooves, and watched as Rainbow and Twilight walked away from them towards the exit.
"Sister..." She began to say to the white alicorn at her side.
"Did you expect her to say anything? No matter how she changes, I suspect she'll always have a little bit of pride. With everything that you've done, I think that was just her way of saying that you were probably right. Probably. She just can't bring herself to actually say it."
Luna picked up the necklace, then looked down the concourse, seeing that Twilight and Rainbow were already out of sight. She had to wonder to herself, what exactly she was expecting to happen. They had always managed to surprise her when she least expected it.
It wasn't the first time she wanted a new setting.
She stood in Rarity's basement once more. Noctilucent was nowhere to be seen, but Broken Rainbow still sat in the cage, collar around her neck, as she stared condescendingly at the pony who was free to roam the room.
With a tired sigh, Rainbow walked up to the cage, as Broken Rainbow's glare continued to burn into her.
"Coward. You should be in here, not me." She spat.
"You know, for once, I'm glad I know that I'm dreaming."
"And why is that?"
"So I can do this."
Rainbow lunged forward, reaching through the bars and took Broken Rainbow by the collar in a stranglehold. She pulled her with such unnatural force that the bars of the cage bent and broke, freeing her from entrapment. Not letting go just yet, Rainbow charged the adjacent wall, and slammed her against the wall, crumbling the cobblestone.
"Now you listen and listen good, you stupid, stubborn, desperate slut. You need to start being grateful for what you have. Rarity had a hand in creating you, but so did all of our other friends. Don't you dare say that we can forgive them and not her. It's gonna take awhile, a long while to come to terms with her being out there after what she did, but we're making the best of it. We convinced Twilight to help us... Help us nurture this side of us, and you need to be happy because of that."
Broken Rainbow simply stared at her, drawing in heavy breaths due to being ripped from her cage. Rainbow dropped her to the concrete floor.
"Let me put it to you this way... Stop worrying about your past Mistress, and start worrying about your current one." She said, walking away, heading for the stairs.
"Easier said than done." Broken Rainbow called after her.
Halfway up, Rainbow's next step caused the entire staircase to splinter out from under her, and the entire basement vanished into a sea of black.
"Rainbow!"
Rainbow's eyes shot open, and she quickly sat up in bed, Twilight next to her.
"What? What's easier said than done?" Twilight asked, leading Rainbow to the fact that she had been talking in her sleep. Earlier that day, they had taken the very next train south from Manehattan immediately after leaving the shopping center. They got back to Ponyville at midnight, and had immediately gone to bed upon getting home.
Taking several deep breaths, Rainbow removed the covers a bit more, looking at her flank, and confirming that the thunderstorm was still there, obscuring the rainbow bolt. Seeing this made her take in a shuddering breath, and burst into tears.
"Why... Why hasn't it changed?" She sobbed frustratingly, while Twilight rubbed her back, and pulled her into a hug.
"I mean, what the fuck was I supposed to do? The way I hesitated in the salon, I just knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Was I really supposed to tell that sweet pony, 'Sorry, but you used to be a sadistic bitch that nearly ruined five lives'? Is that really what the Element of Loyalty would have done?" She cried.
"No," Twilight consoled her. "I believe you came to your senses and did the right thing. I'm going to do everything I can to help you. We're going to figure this out."
Charity sat in front of her dresser mirror in her small Manehattan apartment, fresh out of her morning shower. She slowly and thoughtfully ran a brush through her drying mane, with butterflies in her stomach. Something had happened last night, and she was confident that Luna would be around to check up on her. She had been by almost nightly in the last three nights, just making sure she was doing alright. She couldn't help but feel that Luna was protecting her from something. From what, she wasn't sure, but she certainly didn't think the the co-ruler of Equestria would be spending this much time with her without a good reason.
"Sleep well?" A gentle voice asked behind her. Charity saw Luna in the mirror, in front of her open window. It was still early enough that the sun had not come up yet; she liked getting ready early before the city started bustling.
"It's funny you should ask, your majesty. I had a dream last night."
"Another nightmare?" Luna asked, her starry mane beginning to reflect the very first rays of the dawn sky.
"At first, I thought so. It started like all the others did; that sea of black, with the doors to nowhere, and the gray, anonymous ponies."
"As you spend more time with others, they'll start to go away, my subject."
"They already have. All the ponies were gray and featureless, except one. A cyan pegasus mare. With a rainbow mane. She charged and ran like all the others, but she wasn't blank. She came into the salon yesterday for a mane treatment."
"So your customers are beginning to fill your memory. This is good."
"No... Not quite. This mare recognized me. I could see it in her eyes."
"Now Charity, I'm sure that she was-"
"I lost my memory, Princess. Not my intelligence. She talked to me as if we had known each other for years. Her voice was so familiar, even as it began to get shaky. She even cried, and now I can't help but think that she's one of the ponies that I hurt."
"Who is to say that you hurt somepony?"
"She shivered when I touched her. Her lips trembled as I combed her mane. She was terrified of me. I saw you outside with her after she left. I saw her toss that necklace down at your feet. I want to know what that is. She came to do something, and she decided not to."
"Charity, we have been over this."
"Yes, we have, and I'm tired of your little routine. You've constantly beaten around the bush when I've asked you about my past. You know more than you're letting on. I want the truth."
Luna carefully studied Charity's features as she glared up at her.
"You do not know what you are asking."
"That poor, beautiful mare was crying because of me. Because of something I did to her. I want to know how that necklace is connected to my past. I want to know what she was planning on doing. No more games."
Luna stood silently for several moments. Her horn glowed, there was a flash of light, and then the golden necklace was floating beside her in her magical grasp.
"This is the Element of Generosity, one of the six fabled Elements of Harmony. It belonged to you. One of their most recent uses was to restore your cutie marks, destinies, and memories when an incorrect spell scrambled them. It was her intent to use it again to restore your memory. Maybe because she cannot bring herself to exact vengeance on you when you don't remember what you did."
"Then use it. That is the key to my past."
"Charity, you committed a very serious, sickening crime. One of Rainbow's friends beat you so severely in retribution that it put you into that coma for a year. I will give you one last chance to walk away from this."
"This has gone far enough already, and we both know it. Whatever I did, I am ready to face it, and the consequences."
"Consequences? They will not be judicial, I can tell you that much. Enough time passed while you were in your coma that the statutory limit was exceeded. We can no longer charge you with any wrongdoing. However, depending on what this necklace does, and on your psychological state when it is finished, make no mistake, I will take the law into my own hooves."
Rarity took a two steps forward, fiery determination burning in her eyes.
Twilight and Spike stood together in the kitchen, putting lunch together. They were trying their hooves and claws at homemade hay burgers, and so far, it was turning out halfway decently. Spike shaped and sealed the hay patties, and then prepared and cut the buns and toppings while Twilight cooked the patties on the griddle.
The library had fallen into a somber mood the past day. Rainbow had become a bit depressed when her cutie mark had not reverted back to its original form upon returning from Manehattan. She didn't understand why, and honestly, Twilight didn't either. Her marefriend had explained her dreams the past few days; of her 'broken' self in the cage, and the far more reasonable Noctilucent both in the basement, and how even though she felt like she had put the former in her place, her cutie mark still showed that she was conflicted inside.
"Say, Spike... I've noticed that you've never really talked about how you feel about all this. About what Rarity did, and what Rainbow chose to do. I know you had feelings for her, so if you ever want to talk..."
"Sometimes I wonder why I had feelings for her. I mean, most of the time she just treated it like some silly crush, like it was never going to evolve into anything more. I know inter-species relationships aren't that common, but... I just wanted to be taken a little more seriously."
Twilight thought about it, and couldn't blame Spike for his feelings. Based on his experience with the dragon migration, he had firmly planted himself in pony society, so it would seem obvious that if he wanted to find romance, that it would be a pony. For all her studying ability, she didn't know much about dragon physiology because ponies had done next to no research on them. But she did know that dragons didn't age as fast physically as ponies. As long as Spike kept his greed in check, he would be a 'baby' dragon for quite some time.
"Just give it time, Spike. You'll find someone who'll reciprocate your feelings. But I am a bit curious; what did you do in the year that you were gone?"
"Princess Celestia sent me a letter a few days after I had left, to see if I was okay. After wandering for a bit, I started to write back, admitting it was starting to get lonely out there. So she said it'd be convenient to have an errand dragon that could communicate by fire transportation, so I did odd jobs across Equestria. Then, a few weeks ago, I got another letter telling me how Rainbow had brought you all back, and how Rainbow wanted to repair your life as much as she could. So back I came."
Rainbow came downstairs, having gotten a whiff of the smells emanating from the kitchen. She was about to ask what smelled so good when there was a knock at the door.
"Who could that be?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, I'm not sure. Maybe... A library patron?"
"Right, Spike. No one comes in here. Like, ever. I'm beginning to wonder if there's another library in this town that I don't know about." Twilight mumbled as the three of them went to the door. Twilight pulled the door open, and gasped as she laid eyes on the white unicorn that she last saw bleeding on this very floor.
Rarity shivered, lips trembling, and before anypony could say anything, she took in a deep breath and collapsed to the ground in uncontrollable sobs.
Princess Luna stood in the middle of Charity's apartment as the sun came up above the skyline of downtown Manehattan. As a mare who left her entire life behind, she had very little to nothing in terms of personal belongings. The apartment was furnished with the basics; fridge, bed, couch, dining table, and the light fixtures in the ceiling. Her gaze then fell to the white unicorn, currently motionless in the center of the room.
The white unicorn awoke with a gasp, nearly inhaling some of the puddle of vomit that she had passed out in. She leaned up, taking deep breaths, and put a hoof to her neck, feeling the golden necklace strapped around it.
The moment it had latched around her neck, it had all come back in a flash. The first date, the first try at bondage, the safe word, the lack of a safe word, the abuse, Rainbow's broken promises, and finally, the plan. It was such a shock that she threw up and passed out at the same time. She let out such a blood-curdling scream while the memories returned that Luna had to quickly cast a sound barrier around the apartment.
"Oh gods... I did those things..." Rarity sobbed.
"Two counts of kidnapping, two counts of sexual assault, and two counts of torture. That's what we were going to charge you with."
Rarity sat up, then promptly ran to the kitchen sink, where she vomited again, continuing to cry. Her horn lit up as she started the faucet. She put a washcloth under the stream, and as her breathing calmed, she began to clean her face of the puke she had passed out in.
"What about the others?" She asked, shuddering, taking a drink of water from the faucet.
"They were to be charged as accessories to your crimes."
"E-Even Fluttershy?"
"Though Twilight claimed she was innocent, Fluttershy insisted that she was the one who convinced Rainbow to 'go along' with your plan."
"Are they okay? Where are they being held?"
"They aren't being held anywhere. No charges were ever filed."
"What?"
"Rainbow left Ponyville with the tape. When she came back, if she still had it, she never came forward with it. She specifically told my sister that she wasn't going to press any charges."
Rarity took a deep breath, turning back to the Princess.
"So they're all okay?"
Luna paused a moment before answering.
"As okay as they can be after all of this."
Rarity came out of the kitchen space back out to the living room, which began to reek of vomit.
"You... You brought me here. You were going to let me get away with this. Why?"
"Your mind was gone."
"Ignorance is no excuse."
"I didn't believe it would be right, to imprison you when you remembered nothing about your crime or your identity, especially when Rainbow strove to forgive those who did remember."
Rarity's eyes widened.
"Rainbow... She forgave them for what we did?"
"Somehow."
The unicorn let out an exasperated sigh.
"Oh thank goodness..."
Luna eyed Rarity carefully.
"You seem awfully... Remorseful. I wonder what knocked your sense back into you."
Rarity thought back, shuddering at the sickening deeds she had committed.
"Twilight... When Twilight protected Fluttershy from me. I don't understand why she didn't kill me..."
"According to her statement, the Fire Ruby she was attacking you with rebounded off your horn. and struck hers. With how much magic was coursing through it, it was enough to knock her unconscious."
"I was down in that basement for so long... I lost track of time. I never got hungry, never got tired, and then... Rainbow showed up... And gave me exactly what I deserved."
"That was my doing. Her presence was the only thing that could jar your mind enough that you would awaken. I was not anticipating the amnesia."
"But then you brought me here."
"Because if you did not know what you did, or even who you were, any punishment would have been cruel."
"As cruel as I was..."
Luna said nothing to this, unsure if she should agree or not.
"So what now?" Rarity asked.
"That's the question, isn't it?"
Rarity searched deep inside, and an idea was born.
"I need to go see them."
"What?"
"I have to see them, tell them I'm sorry, and know that they are okay."
"You have no right to see them, I have told you they are okay, and that should be good enough for you."
"I'm sorry. It's not. Besides, Rainbow is not okay. Charity is still in here. I know she came here to confront me. I saw her cutie mark. She needs help."
"Not your help."
"I have not been punished for what I did. I'll put my fate entirely in their hooves. They have to know how and why everything happened. Your majesty, when you were banished for one thousand years, were there no ponies... No friends that you hurt that you regret not being able to make reparations with?"
Luna remained standing where she was, unconvinced.
"Princess, please... I beg you... Let me do this."
Twilight sat at the table with a cup of tea, uncertainty having taken over her mind. Next to her sat her Rainbow, whom she found it difficult to get a read on, as they both sat and looked at the trembling unicorn sitting across from them, eyes red and throat sore from the bawling she had been doing.
From the moment she collapsed into a sobbing fit, fighting through their stupor, Spike and Rainbow helped her up and into the library while Twilight just stood there, stunned. Then when Rainbow saw the Necklace of Generosity around her neck, she also took a turn towards flabbergasted. They stayed functional enough to sit her down at the table, while Spike went to make them tea.
She had come with nothing, no personal items of any kind. Atop her horn, was a gold magic limiter, with the royal insignia, letting ponies know that the wearer's magic was being negated by decree of royalty.
"So Luna gave you the necklace?" Twilight asked quietly, sensing Rarity had calmed down enough to speak, or so she hoped. Sniffling, the unicorn nodded. Twilight glanced at Rainbow, who she still couldn't get a good read on, and she had yet to speak.
"What's with the limiter?" Spike asked, sitting beside Twilight at the table. Rarity took a breath before replying.
"It... It was the only way Luna would let me come here this quickly."
Her voice was soft, hoarse, and filled with sadness.
"So... Why are you here?" Twilight asked her.
Rarity, hooves shivering, took a sip of her tea, not truly ready to accept even this small token of hospitality.
"To see if there's anything I can do to make amends..." Rarity said. Her gaze slowly went from Twilight over to Rainbow, who was still staring silently.
"R-Rainbow...? Is... Is there anything... Anything at all that I can do?"
Rainbow's lips trembled, and when she slowly blinked, tears began to trickle down her cheeks. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.
"When I came back, I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know who would be here. I wasn't aware of any statutory limit, any investigation that took place, or anything. I just came here to the library to see if Twilight was still here, and here she was. I was just taking it one hour at a time. I don't know, if Luna hadn't put me in there, would I have tried to include......"
Rainbow looked down at her tea, taking a few shuddering breaths. Twilight put her front leg around her shoulder, comforting her as best she could. The pegasus looked back up at Rarity, fresh tears streaming down her face.
"Why?" She asked, her voice cracking as she started to cry. "Why did you think that was acceptable at all? Why would you ever consider doing that to those you love?"
Rainbow failed to keep it together, but had asked the questions that had been burning in everypony's mind. Seeing this made Rarity's waterworks continue as well. She swallowed, and took another drink of tea to do her best to try and soothe her throat. The emotional pain had become so severe that it had crossed into physical hurt. It had been this way all the way down here on the train from Manehattan, and it was now getting worse. She winced as her heart ached.
"It... It was intoxicating. Having power over Fluttershy like that... I can't even describe the high that I got from it. I just wanted more, and more... It was never enough, there was no satisfying that hunger. I know now that something was wrong... very wrong up here," Rarity explained, putting a hoof to her head. "It had to have been, for me to come after her like some predator and threaten Twilight with a similar fate. But when she fought back... The head injuries she gave me... That must have knocked something back into place, because I'm sickened that I even considered any of it."
"There's nothing wrong with BDSM," Twilight began, "But to you it was something else entirely. It was a power trip. You didn't just threaten me in the library, you threatened all of us after the start of Project Mistress Do Well, that if we ever undermined your methods again, that we'd join her. How? How did all of us go along with it so blindly? Did you do something to us?"
Rarity nodded again, swallowing hard.
"It was an empathy transferal spell. I took the euphoric high that I got from being a dom, and I magically placed it in all of you. It had to be weak enough to be subtle and unnoticeable, so it would've worn off after a few days."
"It had already worn off. Pinkie Pie quit after she saw the injuries on Fluttershy. Applejack said she wasn't coming back after you insulted her race." Twilight's voice rose in volume and anger. "If I hadn't come back that night-" she began to get up from her seat, but Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder, silently reminding her to keep calm. She then turned back to Rarity.
"You had no intention of letting me go. Fluttershy pretended to lead an otherwise normal life because she was so firmly under your hoof. But you caged me up like some animal, complete with the reminder of the dream you had taken away."
More tears fell from the unicorn's eyes.
"I'm so, so sorry." She cried, voice shaking. "I came here to put my fate entirely in your hooves. Whatever you need to do or I need to do to put your mind at ease and fix your cutie mark... Tell me what I can do."
Rainbow stood defiantly.
"Nothing."
With that, she galloped to the front door and left the library. Rarity laid her head on the table and silently wept, unsure of what to do.
"Maybe she just needs a little bit of time." Spike said.
"Her plan was to use the Element to restore your memories. What she was planning on doing then... I'm not sure. I don't think she ever thought that far ahead. But she couldn't bring herself to do it."
"Twilight... Thank you. Thank you for fighting back against me all that time ago."
"Don't thank me," Twilight stated flatly. "If I had done what I wanted to, you wouldn't be here right now. I seriously don't know what to do right now. I can't approach this the way I usually do. The last time I approached something analytically with you, I took pages of notes about the torture of one of my best friends. The only reason I'm tolerating you here right now is because I believe that somehow, you are the answer to Rainbow's cutie mark crisis."
All the mental preparation in Equestria did no good to soften the blow of how unwelcome she felt right now.
"I'll do whatever I can, and then I'll do whatever or go wherever you girls want."
Twilight didn't respond to this, having half a mind to tell her to get out right now and never come back.
And the other half was thinking about agreeing. But Rainbow's conflict within hadn't been solved yet, and that came first.
"Twilight... How's Fluttershy?"
Twilight swallowed, preparing herself to tell Rarity about her former marefriend.
"She's been doing alright. She's... She's with Applejack now."
Rarity managed a small sliver of a smile at this news.
"Do you think... I could see her?" She softly asked.
"I'm not sure if..." Twilight began to say, slowly shaking her head.
"I have to tell her how sorry I am."
"In case you haven't noticed, there's not too many here who are concerned with how sorry you are."
Rarity nodded in agreement.
"Was it the same when she first came back?"
Twilight's eyes widened at the epiphany. Yes, it was very similar the night Rainbow came back. She had apologized over and over, and Rainbow wasn't really in any mood to hear it. She really, really hated to admit it, but at the very least, Fluttershy should at least know that Rarity wanted to make amends. She gave out an exasperated sigh.
Twilight was finding it harder and harder to put one hoof in front of the other as she made her way up Fluttershy's front walk. Rarity was back waiting by the turn off of the main road, waiting to see if this was going to be okay.
She came into the perimeter of the fence that wrapped around the front door, and knocked. A few moments, later, she was greeted by Fluttershy, with Applejack sitting nearby at the table, drinking to be what looked like herbal tea.
"Hi Twilight. How's your day going?"
"Um... Interesting to say the least. Listen, Fluttershy, there's something I have to tell you. Rainbow didn't restore Rarity's memories when we went to Manehattan. But she found out what she was going to do, and Luna gave her the Element of Generosity, and it restored them. She's very, very remorseful over what she did."
"Wh-what do you mean she's remorseful? What are you saying?"
Twilight took a deep breath.
"She's here. She wants to know if she can speak to you."
That was all it took for Applejack, who had been listening in. She got up from her seat at the table and came up to the two ponies.
"Oh yeah? She wants to talk, does she? I'll talk."
The farmer nudged her way past Twilight and walked out to the front walk, seeing Rarity at the corner.
"Applejack..." Twilight called, to no avail.
Rarity saw the farmer approach her, and began to walk up to meet her. AJ's trot was much more aggressive than her small steps.
"You've got some nerve coming back here. What in Celestia's name makes you think I'm going to let you anywhere near her?"
"I came back to see if there's anything I can do to make amends for those horrors. I only want to talk with her. Applejack, please. If there's anything you need to say or do, that's why I'm here."
Applejack glanced back at Fluttershy at the door, then back to Rarity.
"Fine."
She started to turn back, then came back around, hoof up in the air, and connected with Rarity's left cheek in a full-on blow. Rarity fell to the ground with a grunt, her face landing in the dirt.
Twilight and Fluttershy gasped when they saw what was happening down on the path, and began making their way down to the duo.
"Fluttershy is my marefriend, and I don't want you to have anything to do with her. What, sound a little too familiar?" Applejack mocked as Rarity cringed at her words.
"It should be her choice." She said as she got to her feet, dirt smeared on the right side of her face. Applejack saw the two of them making their way down.
"I'm not the one you have to worry about." Applejack said, taking a few steps back.
There was a flash of light, and Discord materialized where Applejack had been standing.
"Oh, now this is going to be quite the show. I hope you enjoy."
With a snap of his bear claw, eight tentacles erupted out of the ground around Rarity and immediately began restraining her. Coiling around her midsection and legs, they lifted her off the ground, and began teasing her loins and brushing against her lips, but not yet penetrating her.
"Now, my dear Fluttershy, do you mind describing what this witch put you through so I might return the favor and give her a taste of her own medicine?"
Fluttershy fought through her stupor of taking in Discord's actions enough to speak.
"E-enough."
"Oh come now, this is your turn to have a little fun. Now please, where should I start? Or would you prefer all three entrances at once?"
"Enough! Put her down, Discord."
"You honestly don't want any payback?"
Fluttershy looked up at Rarity, at her frightened, uncertain gaze.
"And sink down to what she did? Put. Her. Down."
The lord of chaos realized that this was definitely a command. With a disappointed sigh, he snapped his claws again, and the tentacles vanished, dropping her ten feet to the dirt. He and Applejack walked back up to the front door as the pegasus slowly walked up to the unicorn, but didn't let her out of their sight.
Rarity shakily got to her hooves, processing what had almost happened to her. Her gaze came up from the ground to meet Fluttershy's, who was standing right in front of her.
"You wanted to see me, here I am." Fluttershy said plainly.
The unicorn's lips trembled, and ten seconds passed before she was barely able to get out "I'm sorry," at a volume lower than a whisper, such that Fluttershy barely heard her, but understood what she said. She just stood there blankly, wondering what to do with those two words. Nearly half a minute passed in suspense before she softly nodded.
"Okay." She whispered back, still nodding.
Saying nothing more, she turned back to the house and began walking away.
"Fluttershy...?" Rarity asked, not really knowing what she was expecting.
"I'm sorry, I don't have anything else. I've moved on." Fluttershy offered, glancing back at her for only a moment. Afterward, she continued towards her front door, where the earth pony and draconequus were waiting. She did not look back again.
Rarity stood there a moment, and then slowly turned back to where Twilight was waiting at the dirt road, who saw the bruise that began to form on her cheek.
"I really don't know what you were expecting." She told her, with a smidgen of sympathy now present in her voice. Rarity bit her lip for a moment, then looked up at her.
"I really don't know anymore either."
They began to walk back to Ponyville together as the sun began it's early afternoon trek through the second half of the sky. Breakfast having happened hours ago, they stopped by Twilight's favorite hay burger restaurant and got two meals to go, and ate in near silence under a tree across the river from town.
"Was there anypony else you wanted to try and see?" She asked.
Rarity nodded.
"Actually, there is."
Rarity stood in front of one of the houses that adorned Ponyville's lakefront. She glanced back at Twilight, who was standing watching at the street corner about 100 feet away. She offered to go to the door for her, but Rarity had decided this was something she wanted to do herself.
Step by step, she made her way up the front walk, and knocked on the front door. Moments later, a stallion with a straw hat opened the door.
"H-hi, dad." Rarity stammered, barely able to look her father in the eyes.
The white unicorn stallion, Magnum, stared at Rarity with a look of surprise. Nothing but silence passed between the two for several moments, until he finally spoke.
"What are you doing here?"
This wasn't the greeting Rarity was expecting. She shuffled her front left hoof uncomfortably.
"I... I was wondering if I could see Sweetie Belle..."
"Keep wondering." Magnum flatly told her.
Rarity was very surprised by her father's words. It was almost as if...
"You knew? You knew what Princess Luna did?"
"She swore us to secrecy, but yes, we were the only two Luna told about your amnesia, which I'm assuming is no longer present."
Rarity nodded.
"I never gave you another thought after that. You got a new identity. You hurt your friends in such a disgusting way, and Luna got you off scot-free."
"That's why I'm here, father. To see if there's anything I can do to make up for the things I did."
"And how's that going so far?" Magnum sneered.
Rarity's gaze lowered to the doormat, shaking her head.
"I figured. Judging by the way your face looks, I'd say they want nothing to do with you or your attempts at reparation, and neither do I. You're dead to me."
"Father, please. Just let me see my sister."
"I only have one daughter, and you are not seeing her. Get off my property."
With that, the door was slammed in her face, and Rarity made a great struggle to keep the lump in her throat from erupting as she turned and walked back down the path. Twilight was waiting at the street corner, and she correctly judged that things had not gone well. Together, they began the walk back to the library.
"I... I think I made a mistake in coming back here. I didn't want to take Luna at her word. I wanted to see for myself how you were all recovering. I was astounded when she told me that Rainbow had brought you all back together... Offering a second chance at friendship. I... I just..."
"You were hoping she'd offer it to you, too?" Twilight said.
"I'm hoping I can do whatever I can to help her."
"Like we helped her a year ago?"
Twilight realized these words may have been a bit too harsh.
"Sorry. Her words. I don't know what to tell you, Rarity. All we can do is wait for her to get back, and see what she says."
They came up to the giant tree that was Golden Oaks Library, and walked through the front door. They found Rainbow Dash sitting in front of the fireplace, who turned to greet them, and they were astounded at what they saw.
"Your cutie mark's fixed!" Twilight exclaimed happily. Indeed, Rainbow's cutie mark had been restored to the bright white cloud and rainbow-colored lightning bolt. Rarity gave a faint smile, but was still feeling down, having accomplished almost nothing of what she wanted to do here. It had just brought more pain.
"I'm happy for you, Rainbow." She offered.
Rainbow's eyes went from Twilight to Rarity, not losing any of their determination.
It took Rarity several moments to take a step towards the stairs, which Rainbow had already ascended. Rarity slowly followed, with Twilight behind her. They saw her already out on the balcony, watching as the sun gave way to the moon and stars. She crossed the bedroom, and slowly opened the door. Rainbow motioned to Twilight, letting her know to stay inside. Rarity slowly came out on the balcony, closing the door behind her. She took a seat a few paces away from Rainbow, and waited for the mare to speak.
Rainbow took a deep breath, and looked Rarity in the eyes.
"What I said this morning still stands. There's nothing you can do for me, and there's nothing I want from you. I'm sorry. I can't forgive what you did, especially now that we know how you manipulated the others."
Rarity's gaze fell to the floor, and she slowly nodded.
"I understand. So... Your cutie mark fixed when you made a decision on what to do?"
"My cutie mark was altered because I was conflicted over what to do with you, but it wasn't about picking a side. It was about taking those sides and making them fit together. I never was the best at jigsaw puzzles, so it took me the better part of the day to figure it out."
"What did you figure out?"
"The good that came from what you did. Over my year in exile, I took a very close look at the kind of mare I had become, the kind of friend I had become. Regardless of what your true intentions were, and regardless of what you did to the others, their hearts were still intent on helping me, so I feel better about rebuilding my friendships with them. But I can't with you."
Again, Rarity nodded.
"And... Your plan brought me and Twilight together... Eventually. We discovered our feelings for each other, and all of you created a very different side to me, a side I'm learning to live with. But you can't stay here. It's just not possible. Not just because of me, but because of all of us."
Rarity shuffled her hooves on the wooden floor.
"So... What will you do with me?"
"Did you hear what I just said? I don't want anything from you, and I don't want to do anything to you. I'm putting it behind me."
"It's only fitting. I don't care if I can't stay, send me somewhere then. Anywhere. It's your choice."
Rainbow became frustrated, but kept it beneath the surface, and gave it some momentary thought.
"Your job in Manehattan. Charity's job. Do you like it? Do you enjoy the customers?"
Rarity silently nodded.
"Then go back. I know that's probably not what you wanted to get out of your trip here, but it is what it is. Go back to Charity's life. It's best if Rarity stays dead to this town. That's the way it has to be."
Rainbow was right. It wasn't what Rarity was expecting. She had come to realize that she had no idea what she was expecting. Probably to be strung up and beaten by a lynch mob of five. But they hadn't. She had gained nothing more than a bruise on the cheek for her time here, and her former friends were now going to rest a little easier knowing that she had been behind their desires to treat Rainbow Dash in the way they had down there. Maybe that was enough.
It would have to be.
"So that's it?"
"That's it."
Rarity swallowed, and shuffled her hooves again, slowly turning back towards the door.
"I... I suppose if I hurry, I can catch the last train out of town tonight..."
Rainbow said nothing, merely giving a soft nod. She opened the door with a hoof, returned inside, passing Twilight without a word, and descended the stairs. Rainbow returned inside in time to hear the front door close. She came up to Twilight and slowly embraced her, taking a deep breath.
It was over.
They stood there silently holding each other for a couple minutes, then decided to climb into bed. They had just shut the lights off before there was a knock at the door.
"Did she forget something?"
Rarity waited on the nearly deserted train platform as the moon began to rise over the night sky.
There had been no hugs. No tearful goodbyes. No promises to write. They had all dismissed her, and were willing to let her return up to Manehattan so they could continue to heal... And forget. Even if it wasn't the same to her, maybe they believe she had gotten her punishment, or they just didn't care anymore. At the very least, Rainbow had set her mind straight.
"Leaving without saying goodbye?"
Rarity turned, and saw a very familiar face come up onto the boarding platform.
"Sweetie Belle..." She greeted, tears immediately pricking her eyelids.
The filly unicorn came up to her sister, and looked up at her with a soft smile.
"I was hoping to catch you at the library, but Twilight told me you had already gone."
"You can't be here. If dad finds out-"
"He still thinks I can't hear him from one room away. Listen... Even if what you did is so horrible that no one here can forgive you... It doesn't change the fact that you regret what you did and that you're sorry. Dad can shut you out if he wants, but that doesn't change the fact that you're my big sister."
Rarity could not stop the tears from falling down her cheeks.
"These things I did... You were just two floors away, and it'll be several years before you realize just how horrible my crimes were."
"Then I'll take the years in between to miss you. Will... Will you at least write? You have to have some interesting stories from up in Manehattan, right?"
Rarity sniffled, as the train whistle blew, and the conductor passed.
"Eastbound to Manehattan, all aboard!"
She pulled her sister into a tight hug.
"You got it, little sis. I'll send them to Twilight so there's no more drama at home."
"I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too. Keep working towards that cutie mark. I know you'll get it eventually. I love you, Sweetie Belle."
With that, Rarity boarded the train seconds before the doors closed, and it began pulling away from the dock, leaving Sweetie Belle alone on the platform.
Rainbow moved through the streets of Mustang Springs at a slow trot, as the setting sun gave way to the magnificent desert night sky. At last, the setting had changed. She was relaxed even in sleep. For once, it wasn't the basement.
"About time you got here." An all-too-familiar voice said.
Rainbow looked at her destination, up to the hot springs that this place was known for. None of them were occupied, save for one, where four ponies were chest deep in the hot spring, waiting for her.
Noctilucent. Broken Rainbow. Mistress and Submissive Twilight. All these facets of her mind finally at peace with each other.
"So I take it we're all good now?" Rainbow asked, slowly getting into the hot water. There were smiles all around.
She stretched, and let out a deep breath as she let the steam relax her mind.
But only until she started to think of what she and Twilight could do in the bathtub.
