> All Good Things > by ModMCdl > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1 - Beginning of The End > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The morning in Ponyville shined with the radiance of a brand new day. Everything was calm and peaceful, the only ruckus being the ponies trotting about, heading off to wherever they needed to be for the day. Everything in the quaint little town was seemingly off to a good start. Seemingly. The entire tree shook with an irrepressible vigor. Followed by the dull thumping sound of a body hitting the ground. Shortly thereafter, the library door opened, and a cyan mare tentatively poked her head into the tree. "Heh, sorry about that Twilight," said Rainbow Dash. "Again," she added as an afterthought. The newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle turned away from her desk, now chaotic with papers flown everywhere, her eye twitching and an angry gaze directed at the pegasus. "Again?" she asked. "AGAIN?!" She got up and started stomping angrily towards her rainbow friend. "Rainbow! This is the seventh time in four days that you've crashed into my library!" Dash giggled nervously. "Is it?" she asked, knowing the answer, but feeling it safer to just ask the question. Twilight nodded vigorously at the pegasus. "Yes! And you know what? I'm tired of it!" cried the Alicorn, waving her hooves about her in an effort to emphasise her point. The cyan mare just stared at Twilight as the alicorn ranted about something about common courtesy and taking responsibility for her actions. In all of Applejack's honesty, she really wasn't paying much attention. After all, there was a very distracting ranting alicorn in front of her. Suddenly, it appeared as if Twilight was finishing up her monologue. The pegasus rubbed the back of her head apologetically. "Sorry, Twi," she said again. "Want me to help you clean this up?" She gestured to the now disorganized pile of papers and books situated at the Alicorn's hooves. "No Rainbow!" said Twilight, exasperated. "I got it." The conversation seemed to be over. Dash turned, about to head back out when Twilight added one last statement. "Why don't you go learn to fly straight? That would make good use of your time!" Those words hurt Rainbow. She slunk backwards her back legs unknowingly traveling up the first few steps of the staircase leading up to Twilight's room. "I- I can fly," she defended weakly. The lavender alicorn huffed in annoyance, "Obviously not that well! I mean, what Wonderbolt crashes into a giant tree multiple times a day!?" It was at this point that Twilight began to realize that she was taking it a bit too far, the obvious clues being Dash's tears now lightly flowing down her face, and the fact that Twilight was slowly backing her friend up the stairs. But something in her brain wanted to continue, to let all of her stress and anger out on the pegasus. "Maybe that's why you're not a Wonderbolt!" she continued mercilessly. "If a pegasus can't even fly around a tree, how could she ever be suitable for the Wonderbolts?" At this point the alicorn was practically spitting in the cyan mare's face. "No wonder all those colts made fun of you... Rainbow Crash!" That was the last straw for Rainbow. Now sobbing uncontrollably, she rocketed up the stairs, making sure not to use her wings, and locked herself in Twilight's bedroom. The alicorn herself stormed off into the kitchen. Twilight paced around the kitchen, her brain both chastising her for making her friend cry, and fighting back with the furious attempt to solve the problem at hand. One of the main things that bothered the lavender mare was that she had never been that harsh to anypony in her memory. Not even Spike, and she ordered him around quite a bit. However, ever since her ascension to Alicorn-ism, Twilight was experiencing high tempers and very short patience in most things. She had tacked it all up as just stress at the time, but with this new dilemma she had just created, she couldn't help but feel that it was a bigger problem than she was letting on. Whatever this was that was going on, it was a big problem. She looked around, ready to call Spike over to send a letter. Then she remembered that Spike was with the Cutie Mark Crusaders for whatever stunt they were trying to pull this time. She would have to wait until the little dragon got back she guessed. Another hour passed, Twilight doing nothing but pacing in the kitchen, not getting anything done. If she wanted to be completely honest with herself, she would admit that she was a little scared to go up and confront her friend. The lavender Alicorn could not help but believe that their strong friendship was forever ruined by this event. She knew that Rainbow was still up there; Twilight could hear a few bumps and creaks. And she also knew that she would eventually have to talk to her. Twilight really wanted to apologize. She had an aching pain that she wanted to relieve in her heart. But she was scared. Scared that Dash wouldn't be her friend. Scared that forever she had destroyed one of her only friend's dreams. Reluctantly, the Alicorn headed out of her kitchen and slowly trotted to the stairs. The mare began to climb them slowly, trying to stall as much as possible. However, after a while, Twilight finally reached the door to her bedroom. Sighing deeply, her magic illuminated the handle, and slowly cracked open the door. "Rainbow?" she called, hesitancy flooding her voice. The first thing Twilight noticed were the feathers. Pale, cyan feathers coated the floor, some of the quills still coated in fresh blood. They were everywhere. The second thing she noticed was that her dresser was open, and it looked similar to that of a town that had been wrecked by a twister. Items of clothing were strewn about randomly, whole drawers torn out. The final thing Twilight noticed, and the most alarming was in the center of her room. All of her scarves were tied together to form a length of rope, formulated into a noose. And standing on a chair, reaching up to slide her head in, was Rainbow Dash. "RAINBOW!" cried the alicorn. She leaped across the room, wrapping her forelegs around Dash, pulling her away from the noose, and tackling her to the floor. "Oh my gosh!" She pulled away from the mare, who was sobbing underneath her. It was then that she saw the real carnage of her bullying. Rainbow Dash's wings, her beautiful wings, were now bony, sticks of flesh, nearly devoid of feathers. As if to mock the mare, there were only one or two bent and broken ones that remained. "Rainbow... your wings..." Twilight gasped, tears now beginning to come to her eyes. "I did this... didn't I, Rainbow," she said, drawing her broken friend close to her. "I- I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash!" The two lay like that for hours. Then, finally, Rainbow weakly brought up a leg and wrapped around Twilight. "It's- it's okay, Twi... it wasn't just you." The prismatic mare sighed. "It wasn't just you." > 2 - As Far as Pony Eye Could See... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The two ponies finally separated from their embrace, with Rainbow Dash quickly wiping her eyes clear of any tears. Twilight did the same, letting out a small sniffle to attempt to end the flow. Taking a deep breath, the lavender alicorn tried to calm the shivers running along her spine. No doubt, the memory of seeing her dear friend, cyan feathers strewn everywhere, about to hang herself, would stay burned into her brain for eternity, the fresh wound much more potent in the days to come. "C-come on, Dash," she said, trying to rid her head of the thought. "Let's get you to the hospital." At the mention of the word "hospital," the pegasus looked up to Twilight with desperate eyes. A begging tone in her voice, Rainbow quickly tried to dissuade Twilight from the thought. "No! Please just let me stay here, I don't want to go out like this!" Her magenta eyes began to tear up again, and she looked away from Twilight, her gaze instead focusing on the feather-strewn floor beside her. "Nopony can see me like this..." Although the alicorn's heart broke at the sight, she tried to stay focused on what was best for her friend. "Rainbow, I don't know what to tell you," began Twilight. "But your... your wings, you have to go to the hospital." The broken mare before her just choked back a sob, not wanting to know what ponies would think about her. What they would say about her. Twilight's heart shattered to pieces as she gazed down upon the pitiful mess that was Rainbow Dash. She had already caused her friend so much pain; and now, she was suggesting that she parade Ponyville's "awesomest mare" through the streets, with her wings clipped, and dignity destroyed. Unable to even walk without assistance. To put on a morbid show for everypony. To cause the poor mare even more pain than she already had. "You- you can use your magic to heal me!" said Rainbow, perking up suddenly. The sudden outburst broke Twilight from her stupor, and she thought for a minute. With a sigh, she conceded. "Fine, Rainbow," said Twilight. "No hospital." She looked into Dash's beautiful, cerise eyes. "But I can't just use my magic to fix your wings." The cyan pegasus's face fell. "I can clean up the cuts and seal the wounds, but the feathers will have to grow back on their own," explained Twilight before the pegasus lost all shreds of hope she still had. Rainbow nodded understandably. She watched as Twilight said that she'd be right back, and watched her leave, waiting for the alicorn to be out of earshot before letting several hisses of pain to escape her mouth. --- Twilight entered her bathroom, silent tears slipping down her muzzle. She just couldn't get the knowledge that she's caused her best friend to attempt suicide. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she reached for the medicine cabinet, when she suddenly realized something. Something important. She couldn't take a deep breath. She couldn't breathe. Gasping for air, Twilight clutched at the sink, trying to hold herself up. She knocked over a glass, causing it to shatter as it hit upon the tile floor. The lavender mare watched the shards of glass fly apart as if in slow motion, as her vision went out of focus, before rushing back in. She fell to the floor, startled chokes escaping her as she struggled to once again breathe. Rainbow hurriedly poked her head into the bathroom doorway curiously. "You okay in here? I heard some glass- TWI!" The cyan mare rushed to her friend's side, looking her over Worridly. Twilight gasped, clutching for her friend. Finding her hoof, she held it as tight as she could as the world slipped away around her. "Twilight! Twi, please answer me! Twilight..." --- The heavy smog omnipresent over Canterlot darkened the sky with its perverse pollution. It flowed over the city like a living ceiling, an evil blanket, shielding it from the nicer things of the world. The light of the sun barely penetrated its girth, creating an eerie, dull light that drenched the city. The only building left in the city that remained above the smog was the royal palace, a tall, magnificent angel among the fallen. Twilight Sparkle sat in her favorite window in the palace. It was a grand arch, and it overlooked the city at the perfect angle, allowing most of dystopian landscape to be visible through the thick fog. It had been Twilight's favorite spot since she had moved into the castle, and thus, she had decided to build her library around it, in this room. And what a library it was. Thousands of books, from Equestria and beyond, their covers spanning the entirety of the world. Topics ranging from Astrophysics to Zebra Lifestyles. And it was just one iota of the collection that she had spanned over the past hundred years. It was approaching nightfall, and the now elderly alicorn reluctantly got up from her comfortable seat, placing the book she was reading, Chasing Rainbows, back onto its respective spot in the bookcase. Proceeding down the steps to the main floor of the library, and its respective atrium of sorts, Twilight paused to approach a large, crystal obelisk in the center of the room. Placing a gentle kiss on the side of its reflective, smooth surface, the lavender mare murmured as quiet, "Good night, my love." She turned away from the monument, and headed for her chambers to sleep. The block of crystal was a masterpiece. Intricately carved into a pillar reaching up towards the ceiling of the room, it's nearly invisible surface refracted light around the room, and thus, was the only needed source of light for the room. It was only just visible enough to avoid walking into it, and the only main definer around the base was a opulent, golden plaque, reading: RAINBOW DASH Wonderbolt, Element of Loyalty, Loving Wife And above the inscription, encased immortally in the crystal, was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, her wings spread wide and bold, and a cocky smile immortalized on her face. --- Twilight Sparkle's eyes fluttered open, and she was instantly aware of a foreign presence around her lips. Heaves of moist, minty air was forced into her mouth, simulating her own breathing. Closed pale blue eyes were right in front of her, squeezed tightly shut in concentration, and exertion. Rainbow Dash's makeshift CPR caused Twilight to cough weakly, and then begin to full-out choke, as her lungs took over control. The cyan mare over her pulled back quickly, looking over her face with panic, and helping her up. "Don't your dare ever do that again, Twilight Sparkle!" cried Rainbow as she buried her face in the alicorn's breast. Twilight could only sit there silently as Rainbow Dash sobbed and held her... what had just happened to her? And what had she seen? She gazed over the pegasus before her, and could not shake the image of her body encased in crystal, lifeless and the cold touch of the stone... > 3 - Falling Further Than Before > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash winced slightly as Twilight's magic flowed over her wings, feeling as though it was burning slightly. "Twi," she whimpered. "What are you doing? It burns." Her wings twitched as the offending sensation continued. Twilight's voice came back to her, filled with concentration as she tightened her grip on the wing. "Stop moving then around, it's supposed to burn. I'm lightly cauterizing the ripped areas of flesh where your primaries used to be." The pegasus's face scrunched up in confusion and pain at the response. "You're... categorizing what?" she asked, a small wince escaping her. The lavender mare behind a Dash sighed, and the burning sensation left Rainbow's wings. "Done," she said, pulling back away from her pegasus friend. Rainbow lifted a wing around herself to look at it, a brief glimmer of pain displayed across her face for only a second. Twilight realized that had she blinked, she would've missed it, but she did notice it. The wing itself did not look nearly as terrible as it had an hour ago, yet it was still scarred and missing most of its feathers. And the few feathers that were there were all ruffled and askew. Where the wounds had been bleeding previously, large, patchy and callous scabs sealed the flesh, still warm to the touch, and the blue fur around them singed. Eventually, the pain became too much for Rainbow to bear, and she had to clasp her wing back to its original position, a hiss of pain escaping as she did so. Twilight noticed this, and a wave of guilt and sadness washed over her. She had caused this. Her recent inability to control her temper had caused her dear friend to destroy what she loved most, her flight. Twilight was a monster. Suddenly, the words just slipped out of her mouth, "I still think they're beautiful, Rainbow." Then she leaned forward to give her hurting friend a hug. Dash stiffened slightly, before relaxing into her friend's hold. And it did not slip past her that Twilight had used the word "still." Rainbow Dash had not forgotten the original reason as to why she was at Twilight’s home to begin with. The crash into the tree had of course not been intentional, but had been caused because of why she was coming to Twilight’s house. Extreme nervousness and emotion had built up inside her to the point where it was nearly impossible to think without her thoughts drifting to it. So, she had flown off to Twilight’s treehouse in such a rush, an unintentional sonic rainboom and crash were the products of it. The truth was, Dash had a crush on Twilight. Not some weak little fling, but a die-hard, heartbreaking attraction that made it painful to even look or be with her. And now she was an alicorn. Adding wings to the unicorn’s body had only made her more beautiful in the eyes of Rainbow Dash. But it also caused a realization to occur in the pegasus’s mind. Things were rapidly changing for both her and Twilight. Pretty soon, the opportunity she had wanted for the longest time would be lost, and she would have no other pony to blame but herself. So, she had gone to Twilight’s to tell her about her feelings, and to hopefully snag this opportunity before it was gone. But instead, she had tried to commit suicide in order to escape her own problems. A faux solution that only ended up deepening the problem, and creating even more. Dash was scared. She was incredibly scared. Never before had she ever even thought about harming or killing herself, and the reality of how close she had come scared her. It terrified her, even. Never before had this ever happened. “And never again,” the pegasus silently vowed to herself. “What was that?” Rainbow’s eyes shot up from its gaze at the floor, the inquiry by her lavender friend startling her. “Nothing!” she instantly replied, not wanting to worry her friend even more. Twilight just stared back at her confused, and slightly concerned. Dash’s face had turned extremely dark for a few moments. She was used to her prismatic friend having a much more cheerful and happy nature, and this deviation worried her. Undoubtedly, it was her actions that dropped her into this state, but she couldn’t change that. The only thing she could do was try and change that for the better. “Come on, Dash,” she said, parting from her friend. “It’s almost six, let’s get something to eat.” She led Dash out of her bedroom, and went downstairs to her kitchen to prepare a meal for the both of them. --- The meal of daisy sandwiches and soggy, reheated hay fries sat untouched on both of the ponies’ plates. Five minutes had passed, and both of them did not feel the least bit hungry. Instead, they just sat there, staring at their plate, not knowing what to talk about. Eventually, Twilight coughed awkwardly and nodded her head slightly. "Well, I guess neither of us were all that hungry," joked Twilight, finally breaking the silence that had formerly plagued the air. "I'll just clean up these dishes." The alicorn then proceeded to use her magic an levitate the dishes over to the sink so she could wash them. "I guess not," replied Dash, her tone unreadable. She just sat there, staring at her half-empty glass of water. She watched as Twilight washed the dishes, vigorously scrubbing the now-crusted remnants of a meal off the plate. "Oh, its really no problem, Dash" replied Twilight as she continued cleaning. "I don't mind." The pegasus laughed awkwardly. "Maybe I shoulda' killed myself a bit faster, eh? Save you all this work," Rainbow continued to laugh. The sound of a plate shattering cut off the prismatic mare's laughter with a crash. Rainbow watched as pure rage boiled up in Twilight as she turned to glare at the now-frightened pegasus. What she had said was now finally coming back to her ears, and she instantly regretted even opening her mouth. Twilight knew she was about to loose her temper again, but she couldn't care less. The cocky mare's statement was still ringing in her ears. This "friend" of hers was going to get an earful, promises or not. "How dare you," began the Princess, her voice crisp, and seething with anger. "How dare you wish to take your life away from those who love you. From your friends your family. Me. What the hay makes you think you have the right to make that decision?" The furious alicorn advanced across the kitchen towards the cyan mare, her voice rising all the way. Dash visibly shrunk back from her in what could easily be described as fear. "You know, maybe you are stupid," said Twilight. Some rational part of her mind tried to warn her, tried to make her stop. Vainly tried to let her know that she was about to, for the second time today, cross the border into darkness. But she refused to listen. The anger swirled around her in a great torrent, akin to a raging firestorm. Great plumes of fury rose up to consume the last of the rational thought, destroyed any last logical thought that tried to escape the cage of her mind. And the fires continued to burn. "You must be stupid, because no pony with any range of intelligence would insult another with such personal disregard." Rainbow managed to shrink back even further from the glowering alicorn. "You stupid, pathetic, poor excuse for a pony," Twilight continued without mercy. "If you want to be dead so much, maybe you should let some other pony do it for you." She glared down at the pegasus, now only inches away from her face. "I'd certainly be happy to oblige." It was then that Twilight realized her close proximity to Rainbow, and just how close their lips were to touching. She froze, a blush slowly blooming across her face. Everything she had just said, suddenly came rushing back to her, and her last words echoed in her mind. "I'd certainly be happy to oblige." Her ears folded down towards her head, and she opened her mouth to utter an apology. "I'm so sorry Dash, I-" And then Twilight was thrown backward with great force, collapsing onto her back as Dash blew past her. She heard the door to the library slam shut, the force causing a frame to fall of the wall somewhere, the sound of shattered glass echoing through the now silent and empty tree. Twilight sat up, ruffling her wings, as she had crushed them when she fell back. The princess groaned, rubbing the sore appendages, as she weakly stood. However, her concern quickly focused back to Rainbow Dash, and everything that had just taken place. She slowly raised a hoof to her mouth. "Sweet Celestia, what have I done..." She began to cry softly, relaxing into a puddle of emotional turmoil, releasing everything she had left, and letting the world take it away. Why had she become like this? Never before had she had problems with managing her anger and emotions. Twilight growled, and banged her hoof into the floor. "It's these stupid wings!" She pulled one around her, and glared at it. "Nothing like this was bothering me until I grew these stupid wings!" The alicorn tugged at the feathers, tearing a few free, and cried out in agony. Shaking, she looked down at the damaged area, blood starting to seep through the fur. Suddenly, the image of Rainbow's wing, featherless and bloody, replaced her own in her hoof. Twilight cried out, releasing her wing and scrambling backwards. Trying to calm her heart, she pushed a hoof into her breast, trying to soothe herself. "Her wings are like that because of me," she whispered, tears still leaking down her face. "Because I got angry at her, and insulted her, and..." she drifted off, a horrifying realization coming to her. Rainbow's reaction to her last outburst ended with her almost killing herself. Now, Twilight had ripped into her again, this time saying she should be killed. With her eyes lighting up in horror, Twilight rushed out of her house, taking off into the now darkened sky. "I'm coming Rainbow, please be alright!" she cried into the night. "Please!" Twilight was flying as fast as she could, and before she knew it, Rainbow's cloud house was approaching. Fast. Quickly raising her hooves up to shield her head, she unceremoniously crashed through the cloud wall, right into Rainbow Dash's living room. "Dash!" she cried. "Are you here! I'm sorry!" The lavender alicorn frantically searched the house, looking in every room, every closet. But Dash was nowhere to be found. After double checking and making sure she hadn't missed anything, Twilight left the house, and began to search all of Ponyville, screaming her friend's name all the while. The princess searched place after place, exploring every cloud, alley, and tree. However, as the night passed on, and no trace of the cyan pegasus came up, a horrifying feeling of dismay found it's way into Twilight's heart. She entered her home, and collapsed onto her bed, sobs racking her entire body. Her wings were sore, and her head hurt, yet her search had still turned up fruitless. Longing for any sort of comfort, Twilight clutched a pillow her her chest, and sobbed. There was nothing she could do but wait for the inevitable news of Rainbow Dash's death in the morning...