Rainbow meets a talented, autistic patient, and has to spend the 12 Days of Hearth's Warming acting as her guardian after a slight 'misunderstanding', at least in her opinion.
Hearth's Warming Eve was one of the many holidays where Rainbow Dash would've appreciated, with sledding alongside the rest of the Mane Six and her usual snowball fights with Scootaloo. Instead she was stuck with nursing a pony who had, much to her dismay, a few problems of his own.
Through the twelve days towards the Winter Wrap Up, however, the pony, inaptly named Taciturn Bleach, began to inspire her, only by his rare and drastic talent; one that she had found out perplexed most, if not, all of the ponies around, including her.
After all, not all rainbows have to be colorful to be perfect.
The celebration of the unity of Equestria, brightly lit under the sparkling string of lights hung from every window and the wreaths on every door, topped with a layer of fine snow over the roofs and window sills, with colorful ornaments hung onto every branch of every tree and fires warming every stallion and mare in the household, be it young or old. Of course, the twelve days to the Winter Wrap Up was expected as well, with most of the ponies awaiting for the much-anticipated fireworks show at the very end, to signal the passing of another year and pave way for one more with new opportunities.
The sunlight of the first sunrise dappled through her window as Rainbow Dash, curled up under a blanket of carefully woven clouds, let out a long, tired yawn. She stretched her hooves and wings, her eyes still half-closed with one hoof already raised to rub it sleepily, as she faced the welcoming rays of the morning sun. Her magenta pupils lit up immediately at the clear, winter skies outside, populated with the grace of falling snow. Tank just raised his head from his shell, cocking his head to the side as his owner rose from her bed, giggling softly.
"GOOD MORNING, PONYVILLE!!"
Corresponding her name, she dashed towards the front door, snatching a red scarf and unintentionally throwing her pet tortoise off the bed, leaving him spinning like a top on his shell. Her wings flared in its cyan splendor the moment she zoomed out of the front door, welcoming the first day.
Tuesday. Snowball fights with Scootaloo day!
"Then, tomorrow is sledding with Applejack..." she listed verbally her many forthcoming plans from her mental schedule, floating down towards a dirt lane that snakes over a few hills to the rural streets of Ponyville. It was especially busy at this time of the year, with the eagerness to buy gifts other than for birthdays quadrupling in only one day.
"Thursday would be reading books with Twilight, Friday would be ice-skating with Pinkie and Saturday would be... training for the Wonderbolts!"
She sighed a prolonged sigh at that exact date. The time for her to brush up her skills. The moment for her to shine!
Perfect timing too, she thought to herself, knowing that Scootaloo would have the spare time to watch her and learn a few things about flying. She had seen the filly lightly hovering about the town about for a few minutes, her wings fluffing eagerly at the filly for her progress and, even more so, her determination.
But first - she told herself with an uncontrollable chatter of her teeth - she has a snowball battle to join!
With only a second to spare (and a confident flick of her wings), she sped along the dirt path, tossing about copious amounts of snow around her. Each bend she met, she swerved effortlessly with ease. Each tree that stood diligently, raising the thin blanket of snow with their branches, she knocked it off with a swat of her flashy tail, scattering the flock of birds resting within. The refreshing sight of Ponyville quickly grew into the horizon, her heart thumping rapidly against the walls of her chest as she neared the town. Already the streets were decorated for the occasion, with ponies all around the streets eagerly searching for the perfect gift to wrap.
"Now let's see..." she muttered softly, scanning at all the buildings around her. "Scootaloo's house is around..."
*UNF*
Rainbow plummeted backwards onto the ground, seeing a bunch of Spitfires circling over her as she rubbed her sore head, her blurry, boggled vision trying to render the yellow blot standing in front of her. She grunted from the pain: by Celestia's mane, that was one sore bump! She wanted to curse and slur at whoever it was, though a meek, reticent voice stopped her short:
"Um... a-are you alright, Rainbow?"
"Fluttershy..." she murmured, trying her best not to groan at her friend, the reserved mare wearing a green scarf with a matching winter beanie. The yellow pegasus let out a small, pacified cough, brushing the two green pom poms that dangle from her headgear to the side with her pupils flitting around in its sockets. "You really need to be careful!"
"Oh! Um... sorry..."
The cyan pegasus's vision soon cleared, just in time as her friend picked out a small paintbrush from one of the many assortments in her shopping bag, letting out an opulent sigh. It's hilt was covered in a plate of silver, carved with ornate swirls of lines; the likes of this decoration she had only seen in the palace of Canterlot itself. "At least this is safe..."
Rainbow just stared at the object, her head tilted to the side with her brows furrowed. The moment she realized what it was, she let out a humiliating squawk, before clamping her mouth, trying her best to suppress a snort. "Fluttershy?" she called, though not before muffling a loud guffaw. "You know that paintbrushes aren't - pfftt- squirrels, right?"
"Oh, this?" she replied, holding the paintbrush up. "It's a Hearth's Warming gift, actually. The nurses asked me to give it to one of the... um... patients at the hospital. But some of the animals told me that one of the bears were having a little... backache. I don't really know what to do! With a pony so fragile that he might have a heart attack just from watching a butterfly, then there's a bear that might go onto the rampage if he doesn't have his massage... oh, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I...!"
The cyan pegasus just groaned as her friend's voice droned on, smacking her forehead. If Fluttershy keeps hyperventilating like that, she's going to have to take care of her the moment she faints onto the floor. "Fluttershy," she cried, gripping her jitterbugging, rambling friend by the shoulders, shunning her to silence immediately. Her eyes were already warping into slits, her teeth rattling like a pair of rowdy maracas.
"Stop."
She stopped.
"Breathe."
The yellow mare gulped in a huge breath of air, before letting it all out in a white puff of cold fog.
"Th-Thank you..." she muttered sheepishly.
"Alright. If it would help you..." Rainbow held her breath: she couldn't believe she was going to do this. "Since I don't know anything about... bear massaging, I'll help you with the paintbrush, 'kay?"
"R-Really? Oh... but..."
"But what?" she asked, crossing her hooves. "Am I that scary for that little friend of yours?"
"It's not that! But... um..." Fluttershy gulped a little, her wings fluttering clumsily as she whimpered: "But he's so...... frail..."
Rainbow smacked her forehead again. If anypony was frail, she told herself, it had to be Fluttershy. "I'll be... gentle with him. After all, he is a stallion, and I'm pretty sure he must have some guts within him, right?"
"Um... y-you don't understand..."
The cyan pegasus stopped (for once) before she could dart away, instead hovering back down to her friend. "What else is there, Flutters?" she asked, her brows grooving downwards. "It's just giving him a paintbrush right? No big deal!"
"There's something else about him." Fluttershy held back a squeak, prancing to her friend's side. "Come... I-I'll show you..."
The two began their walk down the winter promenade, passing by the many familiar buildings around Ponyville, all prepped up for the ongoing celebration of Hearth's Warming Eve. Murals of Santa Hooves and his nine reindeer were decorated on the walls (there were still some speculations on why the pony needs the nine reindeer for, since the celebrated holiday figure was a pegasus himself) with some of the foals already imitating them by sledding around the streets. Rainbow bit her lip at the sight of a few jubilant fillies constructing a snowpony, which reminded her of Scootaloo. If she finds out that she won't make it to their annual snowball fight... she would really need her earmuffs when that filly starts firing complaints at her.
"About the patient..." Fluttershy's voice broke into her thoughts. "He's not really.... you know... social?"
"Not social?" The cyan pegasus placed a few bits onto one of the many booths on the street; in return the vendor passed her a cup of hot chocolate, the wafting aroma appealing her taste buds. "So you're saying he's not talkative, is he?"
"He refuses to talk," she clarified, twitching her ears to brush some snow off. "Even to me! I don't really know why, but Nurse Redheart did say he's not used to talking to other ponies..."
"Well, he must talk somehow, right?" Rainbow flipped open the plastic lid, taking a small, nourishing sip at the cup's warm contents, before continuing their journey. "I mean, how old is he?"
"Around our age."
"Then he must've learnt how to speak at some point of his life," she exclaimed, scratching her frazzled mane. "How did they even know he wants this paintbrush if he didn't even speak?"
"Well, Nurse Redheart told me he doesn't talk much because... he's sp-special..." Fluttershy's answer earned her a confused look from the cyan mare, before she sighed herself. "I'm n-not really sure what she was saying too..."
"And you're sure you've seen this pony before?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh yes, once or twice," she answered. "I've seen some of his paintings before. They're quite amazing really."
The cyan pegasus just raised her eyebrow for a slight moment of skepticism, before shaking her head, instead continuing the path towards the hospital. Sure enough, the stately, humble building of Ponyville Hospital soon came into their view, the white sign with its finely painted cross standing amidst a bushel of leaves and flowers, all blanketed under a fine layer of snow. The green doors standing beneath its timber frames welcomed them inside, though Rainbow Dash was the only one that stepped inside, turning back to her friend.
"He's in Room 024" she explained hurriedly. "Um... c-can you take care of him until I come back... if you don't mind? The bear massage might take awhile and... w-well.."
"What?!" Rainbow widened her eyes almost immediately as her friend cringed. She wanted to protest; that was not how she was planning to spend the first day of Hearth's Warming! She was supposed to be out having awesome snowball battles and waging a war against Commander Scootaloo, not take care of some random stranger who doesn't like to talk! Ultimately, she sighed heftily. Who am I kidding, she told herself. It's Fluttershy we're talking about. "Okay, j-Just... make it quick!"
"Oh, thank you so much, Rainbow!" she mewled happily. "I'll be back to take over once we're done."
"You better," Rainbow snarled under her breath as Fluttershy meekly galloped away down the swiveling path, leaving her standing at the doorway. She sighed again, still wondering how the morning came to this, before stepping into the building.
Ponyville Hospital was pristine and elegant; no doubt the ponies here did follow the rules, judging from the 'No Smoking' and 'No Littering' signs, among the rest, that were stamped over the display shelves. The counter was occupied by none other than Nurse Redheart herself, who was busily writing notes in a few files. Rainbow hastily trotted towards the counter, her eye catching a glimpse of the newest addition to the hospital: security cameras. Twilight did inform her it was added soon after her notorious attempt of breaking in to steal the 'Daring Do' book all those months ago, the thought of it making her blush. "Nurse Redheart?" she called the moment she reached the counter, prompting the other mare to look up.
"Miss Dash!" she cried out impulsively. "What brings you to the hospital today? Surely you're not injured or anything, are you?"
"Injured? Nah!" The cyan pegasus then placed the elaborately decorated paintbrush onto the table, oblivious to Nurse Redheart's sparkling eyes and her gaping mouth. "Fluttershy got into a little hay of a problem, so I thought I could help her with this errand of hers."
"The Hearth's Warming gift!" the nurse exclaimed abruptly. "Oh, Mr. Bleach would be so happy to see this!"
"Bleach?" she asked with a tilt of her head and a gurgle of her stomach. If there was anything that she would harbor a grudge against, it would be that white, disgusting liquid. "Is... is that his name?"
"His full name is Taciturn. Taciturn Bleach." The word only struck her head like a hammer, the pegasus trying to understand what does it mean or, better yet, how to even pronounce it. Nurse Redheart seemed to have noticed her confusion, as she repeating the word slowly: "It's Taciturn. As in tear-see-turn, get it?"
"Okay, okay!" Rainbow replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof. She didn't need to remember his name that badly; it was just only for one day! "Whatever. I'm just here to drop this paintbrush off and accompany him for a moment until Fluttershy finished her animal massaging thing."
"Alright then," she said, pointing to the stairs. "Second door on the right."
Rainbow gave her a thankful nod, though the stare that Nurse Redheart gave was full of skepticism, as if she was going to do something horrifying to this... Tase... Tacer...
"Ugh..." she groaned silently to herself. "How the heck do you pronounce this guy's name...?"
It wasn't long before she reached the pale turquoise door, holding up the silvery label that stated the number of the room; the one she had been looking for. With a small cough, she knocked onto the door.
"Hey!" she called out. "I'm coming in!"
As soon as the door swung open, however, she was met with a queer sight. The room was huge, with only one bed at the side of the room, tinted a slight orange due to the closed curtains filtering the light from the windows. The walls weren't its usual pure white; it was filled with assortments of elaborate murals and paintings, the colorful, vivid sight of which made the pegasus look in awe. There was a sound of slight, quirky humming filling the air, captivating her attention immediately at the sole patient of the room, who was facing an easel. Much like his name, he was a pure white pegasus, from his hooves to the hair of his mane. The only color she could find was the tinted tips of the seven folds of his wings, all representing the colors of a rainbow.
Rainbow watched as he delicately stroked the paper with one of the paintbrushes, drawing a sort of articulate design at the corner of the white surface. His Cutie Mark was clearer now: a silvery tin bucket with leaking white paint. He never seemed to notice her presence in the room, the stallion obviously too absorbed in his painting to bother. She cleared her throat, yet it never seemed to attract his attention. With a sigh, the cyan mare trotted towards him, tapping him on the shoulder and calling his name:
"Mr. Bleach?"
The stallion suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream, forcing Rainbow to plug her ears as he darted to the bed, hiding underneath the blanket with shivering fright. She could not believe it! Just one tap like that and he had to scream! What does he think he is, trying to kill her ears with something such as that?
"Hey, Bleachface," she hissed, trying her best to pull the blanket away from him, to no avail. "Hello~? I'm a friend! It's okay to come out, ya know."
The response she obtained was only a small, disheartening whimper, which only irritated her even more. How could this guy (if he is even a guy) be possibly around their age? If he's that terrified of other ponies even, she could only wonder how he could've survived the modern world.
"Hey, dude?" she tried again, nudging his chattering shoulder. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything, alright? I'm here to give you your Hearth's Warming gift. Don't you want it?"
That seemed to have worked, as Taciturn started to peek out from beneath the sheets, despite still avoiding her gaze. He hesitantly crept towards her, his curiosity piqued with his hooves strangely swaying left to right.
"N... N-Name..?" he forced out the question, still looking at the floor.
"Name?" she repeated, her full attention jerked back. "Why, I am the awesome Rainbow Dash, of course! Haven't you heard of me before?"
The stallion just shook his head plaintively, making her smack her forehead. "Seriously," she questioned as she passed him the intricately decorated gift that Fluttershy had prepared for him whilst trying her best to meet his gaze, in which he kept avoiding. "You're sure that you lived in Ponyville your whole life?"
Again, he quietly shook his head, prompting her to ask: "Then where are you from?"
Taciturn opened his mouth, as if he was trying to speak, though nothing came out. His head suddenly shifted towards the neat row of various assortments on the ground, enticing the cyan mare with curiosity.
"What is it?" she asked. "Whatcha trying to say?"
His none-swaying hoof just pointed at the row of items, though Rainbow still couldn't figure out what he was insisting her to get. After all, it could be anything on the floor, right?
"What is that you want?" she tried again. "Can't you just tell me?"
The stallion just pointed firmly at the orderly mess, still refusing to meet her gaze.
"Why, aren't you a little stubborn pony!" she scowled, crossing her hooves. "If you use your mouth and just tell me, it would be much easier, wouldn't it?"
He just shook his head, shirking back onto his bed. The sight only annoyed Rainbow even more, though she heaved the raging steam-boiled temper of hers back into the cooling lake of patience, instead eliciting a sigh as she said: "Because of where we are, I'll go easy on ya this time. So what is it that you want again?"
Taciturn hesitantly stepped down from his bed instead, the stallion picking up a paintbrush and palette from the row of objects, much to the cyan mare's vexation. Dipping the brush onto the splotch of red paint, Rainbow just sat back onto his bed, watching as he began to paint the first stroke. Time passed slowly and, for the mare, languidly, her half-lidded eyes settled upon the white pegasus drawing random lines onto the parchment. Every stroke seemed random and pointless to her, though not before he started connecting them.
She started to rise from the bed, her disinterest slowly turning to amazement as he joined every single strand of red paint. It wasn't long before she stood by his side, utterly captivated by the drawing it had become.
"This..." she muttered, completely speechless as Taciturn grinned widely. "This is Canterlot..."
The stallion nodded, his eyes glued to his own creation with a hasty sigh. He suddenly clasped her hoof, much to Rainbow's surprise, and placed it onto the dead center of the paper. It took a moment for her to realize what he meant, the mare turning to him and speaking her conclusion out loud:
"You're from Canterlot..."
Another nod, though not before his gaze jumped away once again, unable to meet the mare's eyes. It didn't matter when her gaze was being drawn by the painting he had made; she was still amazed at the clarity and quality of the drawing, made up of only lines of red paint. It accurately depicted each curve and swirl of the original structure, even going so far as to show the patterns that each and every building possesses in its architecture.
"So that's what Fluttershy meant about your paintings..." she mused. "They're kinda cool, you know."
Taciturn just remained silent, though she could see he was trying to talk.
"Well, I'm guessing you're not used to compliments like this, eh?" the mare continued, giving him a playful nudge. "You'll need to have some guts. A pegasus is born with guts of steel, so I'm sure your inner pegasus might have the key to help you up, don't it?"
Silence.
"Quite a persistent one too, I guess." With a sigh, she stood up from the bed, heading towards the door. "Well, it's been nice... uh... talking to ya, chump. Maybe we'll meet somewhere along the line again!"
There was a slight mutter from Taciturn, before he finally spoke a single word:
"Maybe..."
"Knew you'll be able to talk!" she proclaimed with a wink. "Well, gotta scoot for some lunch!"
Without another glance back, she stepped out of the room, leaving him to stare at her departure. Rainbow let out a sigh of relief: at least that went well. When's Fluttershy coming back, she asked herself. It had since been an hour after she arrived at the hospital. Her bear massaging must've been done by then, wouldn't it?
"Miss Dash!"
Nurse Redheart's voice stopped her before she could head to the stairs, the cyan pegasus turning back immediately to see the nurse galloping up to her.
"What is it, Nurse Redheart?" she asked the other mare. "Something urgent for me?"
"A bit," she replied, pushing her hat back up. "Fluttershy has something to say to you."
With that, Nurse Redheart leaned close to the pegasus's ear, whispering the message that the yellow mare had prepared for her. Rainbow's eyes widened as the message was being conveyed, the shout that she had suppressed earlier breaking from the confines of her patience, up the convulsing walls of her throat and out of her roaring mouth before Nurse Redheart could clamp her hoof over it.
"...and I've waited for four hours, Rainbow! Four! Hours! I was rolling around in the awesome snow fort I built, looking at the sky to see if you were coming, and suddenly everypony says they're going home!"
"Yeah... about that..." Rainbow began, but was interrupted by the filly's loud, languid groan.
"And everypony was asking me if you're coming! Like how in Equestria would I know? I'm sure you have a good reason that you broke a promise for coming to her number one fan's snowball battle, don't you?"
Scootaloo tapped her hooves insistently, staring at her idol as the cyan mare fumbled with her words, trying her best to smile. The filly's face was contorted with the black veil of disappointment; one which Rainbow herself had feared.
"Look," the pegasus began, cursing herself for forgetting to bring her earmuffs to brace herself against the filly's tirade; one that she was glad it was finally over.
"Fluttershy had a little mess to clear up, and I was trying to help, okay? She told me she would take over the moment she finishes her side, but she never came back."
"Well, what's so important about that?" the filly asked again, her wings humming like a bee as she hovered to Rainbow's side.
"I'm sure it's nothing big, right?"
"I have to take care of a pony in the hospital." Rainbow answered, chuckling as Scootaloo's eyes widened as if it was the fervor of having her Cutie Mark for the first time.
"I know right," she muttered, shaking her head.
"How can a pegasus like me take care of a patient when she has so much better things to do, like training for the Wonderbolts, for example?"
"Well... is the pony that you were taking care of... fun?"
"Fun? Puh-lease!" she scoffed.
"Fun is the last thing that the pony would ever dream of having!"
"But he must have some sort of a hobby, doesn't he Rainbow Dash? Doesn't he?
The filly's curiosity was almost overwhelming, she thought to herself; she was practically begging for an answer, seeing how her eyes were sparkling with the need of her reply.
"Well..." Rainbow began.
"He does have an interesting hobby..."
"Really? Tell me, tell me, tell me!!"
"Okay, okay, squirt! Geez...." the cyan mare exclaimed, letting out a terse laugh.
"He has a talent in painting. In fact, I've seen him paint a few pictures when I was taking care of him. To be honest, I'm a little impressed by it, probably because you don't realize it was a painting until he finishes it."
"So he has a special way of painting, eh?"
Scootaloo suddenly stopped to ponder, murmuring in deep thought, before clicking her hooves.
"You have a special way of flying too! That means you two must be perfect for each other!!"
"Hey now, don't get the wrong idea, kid," Rainbow broke in as the filly giggled with glee, frenziedly and rhythmically hopping about the snow cloak of the meadow at her biased conclusion.
"After all, I have to take care of him only for a day. It's not like I'll be there every single time of his life or something."
"Sure~!" the filly replied sarcastically, earning a raised eyebrow from her idol.
"Who knows? One day, he might help you paint your tail!"
"Alright, come here you-!"
Scootaloo laughed loudly, her scarf tossing wildly about down the snowy fields as Rainbow zoomed after her. Her determination to catch the little filly grew once she blew a raspberry in front of her face, the older mare letting out a snort of laughter as well.
"You can't get me, Rainbow!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
Oh, now she wants to challenge her! She smiled to herself: everypony know's what happens when somepony challenges her.
"You wanna do this your way, huh?" she shouted back, speeding towards the filly.
"Not on my watch!"
The filly screamed with delight as she finally felt Rainbow's weight on top of her, the two rolling down the yuletide slopes of the hill before smashing into a snow pile, popping out of it with the fluffs of white trapped in their manes.
Scootaloo immediately rattled her head free of snow, before pouncing onto the cyan mare, the two of them tossing each other about in the snow. Their laughs echoed throughout the nearly empty plains, though it wasn't long until another voice joined in their fun.
"What are ya guys laughin' about?"
"Apple Bloom!"
The orange filly immediately yanked her friend down into the snow, the two of them now rolling around the plains as Rainbow helped herself up, gazing down with an entertained expression before they finally stopped, erupting into a fit of jovial giggles.
"Whatcha doing here, AB?" Scootaloo asked with an excited flutter of her wings.
"Are you here to see Rainbow do some of her awesome tricks?"
"Nada, Scoots," Apple Bloom replied, turning to the other pegasus as she spoke:
"M'ah sister said that you and her have t'a talk. Ah dunno what it is about, but she did mention somethin' about-"
"Sledding!!" was the only thing Rainbow had as a reply, her look of distress and shock showing as the two fillies exchanged confused stares among each other, before the cyan mare zoomed off without another word.
Apple Bloom's frantic protests fell onto deaf ears, as Rainbow Dash had already sped off, leaving an air-sawed rift around the rime and frost covering the range around Sweet Apple Acres as she neared the doctrinal family barn.
Speeding past the door, her eyes contorted into the size of needle heads once she spotted the glazing wood and the whitewashed boards of the seats, the sheer glimpse of it forcing her wings to veer around. Her magenta eyes soon spotted the mare, who could only let out a "Whoa Nelly!" and duck the moment the pegasus started to gyrate through the air like a drill, before plunging into a mound of hay.
The blackness and ticklish sensation of straw tips at her skin immediately shifted away the moment Rainbow felt herself being hoisted into the air, before being plumped onto a haystack. Her foolish grin met the irk twitching of her friend's ears and the querulous pair of crossed hooves, the brim of her signature hat shining like the tip of a razor blade.
"Uh..." she muttered ruefully.
"Sorry...?"
"Ah'd reckon AB called ya here?" her friend asked, wandering back to the sled. In her hoof held a tattered, sooty kerchief, its use recognized only when Applejack started to wipe the glossy wood of the vehicle with it, polishing its surface free of the unwanted pilgrims of dust.
"Yeah, she did," the cyan mare replied, pattering excitedly on her hooves like a hysterical canine.
"So which hill are we going? Are we going to that tall one just over the farm? Or that one with the crazily long drop that some ponies say that you can feel your eyes fly off your face?"
"Well, RD," Applejack began, stopping only when she caught her friend's last sentence.
"Seriously?" she quipped, her face turning a slight shade of lime green, before shaking her head, "anyways, about sleddin', we ain't goin' no hill."
"Great! That place sounds great! So where is this... 'No Hill'? Is it somewhere close?"
"Ya more rustled than Winona when Ol' Macintosh forgot ta fill her dog bowl again!"
With a dismissive shake of her head, the farm mare toss the rag onto the wooden seats of the sled, leaning against it with her hooves crossed.
"Ah'm sorry 'bout this, RD, but when Ah said we ain't goin' no hill, it oughta meant we ain't goin' nowhere, pardner."
"WHAT?!"
Rainbow leaped into the air, her wings stiffening immediately and vehemently as the words replayed in her head. She gritted her teeth, her breaths turning short and exasperated as she tried to fix the different pieces of the puzzle together.
"What do you mean?" she blurted out with a crestfallen rasp. "You cancelled the sledding? But I thought we were going to ride down the hills like... how do you say it? Screaming like hillbillies on a bunch of hoohah?"
"Sledding ain't an option, RD. Not anymore," the orange mare declared with a dutiful look.
"Somethin' came up with Fluttersh'ah and you. Ah'm sure ya know the rest, don'tcha?"
Fluttershy. The one mare that she wanted to interrogate.
"What does she want?" Rainbow groaned appallingly, though her friend could only give a shrug.
"Beats me, though she did mention somethin'. A tad bit about some special pony..."
No. Bucking. Way.
Rainbow's face scrunched up into the darkest, most horrendous frown that the farmer had ever seen from her. Her head was practically banshee-screaming at her, her wings trembling to just take off and leave her friend in shower of hay. The only consequence she could've gotten from that was a black eye and a sore flank, but at least that was only minor stuff: she had been through worse before.
To explode her head over some random stranger that doesn't even have the guts to open his mouth and speak, much less even look her in the eye... that would've killed her brain on the spot. And she is not going to risk it again!
"Forget it!" she snapped at Applejack with a dismissive shrug.
"Just tell Fluttershy I'm busy today."
"With what?" her friend shot back, her eyebrow raised.
"The only reason Ah have ta cancel sledding is 'cause ya have to do whatever Fluttersh'ah wants you ta do! So ya tryin' ta tell me that ya have other plans instead of sleddin' around the hills?"
"But, Applejack-"
"Trust me, sugarcube, when Ah say Ah know somepony backin' down when Ah see one."
Her friend just looked away, being the stubborn mare she was. Applejack sighed, placing her hoof onto her shoulder as she spoke carefully: "Ah know ya want some excit'ment fer the week, but sometimes ya have to understand when somepony needs yer help, RD, and Fluttersh'ah really needs a little helpin' hoof right now."
"Don't get me wrong, AJ. I want to help! I tried!" Rainbow professed, her shoulders slumping.
"It's just...... I can't. I really can't."
"Well, what's so hard about helpin' her?" the farmer pony asked, guiding her out of the barn whilst she wrapped a green scarf around her neck.
"Ya can explain it to me on the way ta the hospital."
And, with a defeated sigh, she did. The pegasus told her everything that happened yesterday: how she met Tessa... Tazer... the patient, in the hospital after Fluttershy asked her to help out with the paintbrush, how he painted things for nine hours, all the while with her watching when she could've waged war with Scootaloo in their snow forts.
Her friend listened observantly at every phrase she said throughout their journey, wandering down the snow-covered path. The pristine structure of Ponyville Hospital soon rose from the horizon of snow, the two mares stopping at the front door.
"So, this er...... Tallahassee pony," Applejack began whilst peeling her scarf off.
"Ya mentioned he's special, huh? Whadaya mean by that?"
"I'm not really sure. Fluttershy said Nurse Redheart was the one that called him a special pony."
Hesitantly, Rainbow pushed the doors wide open, the two stepping in the welcoming warmth just in time to see a bunch of nurses scurrying hurriedly towards the stairs, their agitated expressions only enticing each mare's curiosity.
"What in tarnation's goin' on here?" her friend asked.
The pegasus could only shrug, her gaze glued at the hurrying bunch of pale-colored mares. It sometimes made her wonder why only these kind of mares were chosen as nurses, though she shook the thought off immediately.
The group ran up the stairs, prompting the two of them to follow as well. As they reached the first floor, the sounds of shouting and arguing rang around the corridors, with the loudest being a high-pitched wail screeching through their ears. Their eyes met the yapping nurses and shouts of a few doctors, before Applejack spotted a familiar face among the torrent of white.
"Fluttersh'ah!" she called out, waving her hoof in the air. The butter-colored pegasus instantly turned at that, her expression worn out and her breathing aggravated. Her mane was frazzled and tangled, the sweat that ran down her troubled cheeks only displaying the amount of pressure she was under.
"What happen to ya, sugarcube?" Applejack asked once she flitted over. "Ya look more wrangled than Granny Smith when she's dealin' with them Flim Flam Brothers!"
"He... he's so..."
Fluttershy scrunched her cheeks up, turning it into a flurry of red with her hooves clenched and her wings ruffled up. Her friends braced as she gasped in loudly, breathlessly and, as usual, softly wailing out one word:
"Stubborn...!"
"Well, ya no need to be worked up from that, Flutters," the farmpony replied.
"Stubborn ponies need a minute er two to understand. Just give that pony some time!"
"But I tried! I tried to be patient! I tried to be... to be...... everything...!"
"See what I mean, AJ?" Rainbow scoffed, earning a disgruntled look from her friend.
"Even Fluttershy can lose her head talking to this guy."
"But he would listen to me before that!" the yellow mare justified, harshly yanking at her pink mane.
"I... I can't... I just......!"
Fluttershy's eye started to twitch, her ears drooping dejectedly and, to her friends, dangerously. Applejack immediately trotted towards her side, her concern evident as she guided the trembling mare towards the stairs, before turning back towards Rainbow.
"Ah'll help Fluttershy let out some steam before she goes... you know... all beers and skittles. In the meantime..." she stopped for a moment, shooting the cyan mare a sharp, persuading stare, "ya have to help them doctors and nurses out with that pony of yours."
"He's NOT my pony."
"Suit yerself, pardner," was her response, before she and Fluttershy descended back into the lobby, leaving their friend to listen to the dispute of the voices from the patient's room.
With a hefty sigh, Rainbow trotted towards her undesired destination, stepping through the open door. To her surprise, the usually mild-mannered doctors and nurses were squabbling against each other on their varying and, safe to say, medical methods of anesthetics and sleeping pills, yet their objective was the very same: to coax the now quivering Taciturn at the corner of his bed to have his daily injection.
That was his name, her mind clicked. Taciturn Bleach!
"Hello?" she called out to one of the doctors, though he was too busy fussing with another of the nurses to care. She tried again with a few of the nurses, before shaking her head with defeat. Obviously, the lot of them had not followed the always-important 'Keep Quiet' rule of the hospital.
"Tassee?" she chirped his name or, at least, part of his name. It never seemed to matter, as the stallion turned to her immediately, though his gaze immediately deflected after that.
"Remember me? The awesome Rainbow Dash?"
There was a gradual nod. That was a good start, she told herself.
"Ya know, you really need to get your guts up," she continued, attempting to nudge him in the shoulder. He seemed to know she was going to do that, as he suddenly leaned away before the tip of her hoof could even touch him.
"Wow..." Rainbow muttered, loud enough for him to hear.
"You also really need to solve your social issues."
Pondering for a moment, it wasn't long before her hooves finally snapped together with a plan. Hastily, she dug into the drawers, digging through all the variety of papers and craft tools stashed inside, before her eyes lit up with delight.
She pulled it out, waving an ornate paintbrush: the very same one that she had gave him yesterday, over him. His eyes started to glint like a voracious dog sighting a piece of meat, though he pretty much crept forward reluctantly instead of lunging straight towards her, much to her relief.
The sight of Taciturn trotting slowly towards Rainbow Dash, lulled by the sight of his gift, immediately captivated the remainder of the squabbling ponies in the room. They could only look in awe as their patient grasped the paintbrush gently, stroking its silky bristles as he stared into blank space. The smile that eventually grew on his lips soon after could only be met by the dropping jaws of the hospital staff, yet it was only a while before Nurse Redheart stepped forward, holding a syringe in her hoof.
"Rainbow," she called to the cyan mare, who turned in slight surprise.
"I need you to help Mr. Bleach relax. It will only be a moment."
Rainbow gave her an understanding nod, before kneeling down to the reserved colt with a grin as the nurse edged towards his other side, guiding the side of his hoof up to the tip of the syringe.
"This might sting a little," the cyan mare assured. Surprisingly, he only let out a quiet, muffled yelp instead of the expected yell as the needle penetrated his skin, the fluids that it contained rushing into his system.
"Thank you, Miss Dash," Nurse Redheart said with a friendly grin, withdrawing the syringe.
"Aw," the pegasus said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "No biggie, Nurse Redheart. Just helping you guys out of a ditch, that's all."
"Miss Dash, is it?"
Rainbow turned at the other voice, watching as one of the doctors went up to her. She had never seen his face in the hospital before, what with his elegantly stern expression and his surprisingly waxen, grayish-bluish curtained mane. Unlike the rest, he flaunted elegantly in the doctor's coat that he had wore over his azure coat, despite him being oblivious to it.
The gleaming, golden tag that was clipped on his suit pocket caught her eye, the mare silently muttering out its ordered words in her head:
Lead Psychiatrist Canterlot Royal Hospital Dr. T. Martingale
"I'm the supervising doctor for our patient, Taciturn Bleach," he explained.
"It's urgent that I discuss a matter with you concerning you and him."
"M-Me?" she stammered, directing her hoof towards herself.
"And... him?"
The doctor gave a nod, humbly ushering her towards the door.
"We'll continue in the office. Now, if you may..."
Rainbow blinked for a moment, before stepping out of the room, following a stranger whom she only knew of his name and profession, down the sterile passages of the hospital. She wouldn't have done it and instead brushed him off if not for his serious expression and his slightly demanding and convincing tone.
She could feel Taciturn watching her leave, which was confirmed the moment she peered behind her shoulder. For once, his black pupils finally stared back at her, though it immediately diverted away.
Concerning she and Taciturn, the doctor said. The thought of it was a little dissatisfying to her and, by Celestia's bridle, she hoped it would be something worthwhile.
She never expected what had happened next.
"So you're saying he moved to Ponyville... so he could have a better place to stay?"
"Canterlot is too congested for a frail pony such as him," Doctor Martingale explained.
"I have requested the Princess's thoughts upon this, and she had recommended Ponyville. She mentioned of the openness of both the environment and the townsfolk, as well as its short distance from Canterlot, just in case the patient falls into anything severe."
Rainbow nodded understandably at that.
"Though," she quickly replied, "I don't get it. Why bring me into this?"
The doctor gave her a small smile, though there was a sense of amusement behind it.
"Taciturn requires exposure to the outside world, which is impossible due to his nature. It's necessary for patients with such conditions to understand that there's more to the world than just their own selves. He's been making remarkably good progress ever since he was diagnosed with autism, though it had never significantly improved until... well... now."
The mare wanted to ask about autism, though the last words of his sentence stopped her halfway.
"Wait," she began, her face starting to turn white.
"What do you mean 'until now'?"
"It seems, for some reason, our patient had established a connection with you, Miss Dash."
Rainbow's jaw dropped the moment he said that.
"Wh... no... wait.... hold it! Me?"
"For some reason, Taciturn has taken a keen interest in you. I could say it for myself, having been his doctor ever since he was five, and I had never seen him so interactive with other ponies before."
Interactive? She questioned the use of that word. You call silently painting interactive, she wanted to yell at him.
"So what are you suggesting?" she retorted, "that he and I should hang out more often? That he and I should do some paintings all over Ponyville?"
"That's where the problem lies."
With a cough (a 'better safe than sorry before you get murdered' cough, she assumed), Doctor Martingale rustled through his files, before pulling a document out, spreading across the worktable as he spoke:
"I understand your personality, Miss Dash. You're one of the mares always seeking for adrenaline, for a world of action and adventure. Whatever Taciturn saw in you, I'm blind to it, but if it's the only solution to treat his condition..."
"What do you mean?" she asked, her heart steadily sinking to the floor.
"Whatcha gonna do?"
A long sigh came after, before he gave one request; the very one that made her turn whiter than the snow-covered fields outside:
"Would you be Taciturn's guardian?"
"G-g-g... guardian...? Guardian? GUARDIAN?!!"
Rainbow's wings flared up at the incredulous question, her rage palpable once she slammed both of her hooves onto the wooden table, the brutal display knocking over a cup of pens and pencils across the floor.
"Who do you think I am, doctor?" she hissed at the other pony, "I am the Rainbow Dash! I'm preparing for the Wonderbolts, not sticking as a guardian to some... weird creep!"
"I understand this is abrupt," Doctor Martingale tried to calm her down.
"But you must see it from his perspective. It can help him in his development!"
"No, doctor!" Rainbow snarled back.
"But please...! He's a sick pony in need of dire attention! Whatever connection he had with you might be important for his future, Miss Dash!"
"For the third time, doctor, it's a no! N and an O! Got it?"
The pegasus crossed her hooves defiantly, plumping back onto the office chair. With that, Doctor Martingale could only sigh with frustration, brushing his frazzled mane back to its original appearance.
"It's hard for me to say this, Miss Dash," he tried again, the very words forcing out another sigh from her.
"But it's for the sake of Taciturn. I know it will be hard, and I know it sounds ridiculous, but he can learn better from ponies he can connect with than with those he never wanted to talk to. Plus, he might bring something magical into your life. I would know, seeing that I've nursed him for the past seventeen years."
Rainbow glanced back up again, wrenching her snout up at the stallion's pleading face. The last sentence of his caught her attention, and it was true: Taciturn can do some very amazing things. Alright, maybe just a few.
"Please..." he added. Were his eyes watering, she asked herself in surprise and merriment. There's no way this stallion would try to resort to groveling to solve the job. She had heard other ponies groveling beneath her hooves before, and if there's one thing she hates along with bleach, it's all these sobs and wails.
She sighed at the decisions laid out before her. A: she dropped it off with a loud, mocking 'Forget It' into the doctor's face, and will zone out any requests to return, which will earn her a title for being the biggest meanie in Equestria, or B: she becomes the patient's guardian, have him move in and probably waste the rest of her life watching him paint.
Oh, why did she have to go through this irritating pain? It was always Twilight who would select the better option, and it's all because of the egghead's judgment. Giving out a deep sigh, she quickly made the more promising choice, at least, in her opinion.
"Here's hoping you won't get screwed, Dash," she muttered to herself.
Rainbow groaned for the zillionth time at the papers in her hoof, having forgotten how to pronounce the stallion's name midway in her reading. She wanted to laugh at herself for not knowing on how to say his name when she assigned herself to be his guardian yesterday.
That's right. The athletic, fast-flying daredevil had signed up to be the bleached colt's guardian the day before, though she told his supervising doctor she did it only to change his personality and help him with his social issues and whatsoever. Plus, it might be interesting to see him pai-
Wait, she caught her wandering thoughts. What the heck was she thinking?
"Snap out of it," she hissed at herself, rubbing her forehead harshly with both hooves whilst clenching her eyes shut, trying to divert her mind towards her plans for today.
She had planned to stop by at the library for a reading session with Twilight, despite having her new colt to babysit. Twilight might know what made him... 'special'... from other ponies, seeing how her egghead friend knows about everything, or at least that's how she sees it.
A group of nurses soon descended from the stairs, with them their extremely reclusive patient: the one she had been waiting for. Doctor Martingale was right beside the pale pegasus, softly muttering a few relieving sentences, though Rainbow could make it out once they reached the bottom.
"... follow what she says and you'll be fine. Look who's adopting you!"
Adopting? Does he have a bad choice of words or what?
The cyan mare rose from her seat with an unsure wave of her hoof, yet her tranquil patient's blank gaze remained dead straight towards the floor, not even bothering to get a glimpse of his future guardian.
"Here are his daily meds," the doctor said, handing her a plastic bag of bottles before passing her a box.
"And here are his art tools and paintings, all inside."
"Got it," she answered with a salute, placing them to the side as she turned towards Taciturn, who shirked behind Doctor Martingale.
"Hey, Tassee," she called out to him.
"I'm your new guardian. Rainbow Dash, remember?"
"R-Rainbow..." he replied blankly, staring into whatever void he was picturing.
"Okay...... so Doctor Martingale, how long do you think I have to take care of him?"
"I'll check his progress after a week," the doctor answered readily.
"We'll see how things go with him then. If there's any sign of improvement, it will be easily noticed."
"Alright, I guess."
With that, Rainbow quickly placed the box into the plastic bag, her other hoof guiding the withdrawn pony towards the hospital doors, trying to force out the best smile that she could muster.
"Come on, Tassee," she called with constrained delight.
"We have a lot of things to catch up on today! First things first, I'm gonna bring you to visit one of my friends! Her name is Twilight Sparkle, and she's an egghead, and I mean ostrich-sized egghead..."
Doctor Martingale's dimpled grin reached the sides of his ears, watching them step out of the hospital.
"Those two will get along just fine, Tenderhoof Martingale..." he whispered a promise to himself.
"Just you wait and see."
Rainbow Dash had never felt more awkward in her life.
There she was, in the middle of Ponyville, waving the ornate paintbrush towards its owner, who reluctantly crawled - and he literally crawled - across the snow, his ink-like pupils fixated onto the bristled object like it was a pouch of a thousand diamonds. His infatuation made him growl, the stallion wanting to just scream at any moment.
The worst part wasn't that he was doing it: it was that every single pony in town was watching her baiting Taciturn with a small paintbrush towards the door of Golden Oaks Library. The mare could hear their muffled chuckles from beneath their covered mouths, which only fueled to her frustration.
"What are you looking at, chumps?" she scowled at a group of ponies with a glare, prompting them to huddle away with their infuriating giggles. Seriously, if they keep this up...
The candle-adorned wooden entrance of Twilight's studious home soon came into view, much to her relief. She has no idea just how much longer she could tolerate any more of enticing the pale stallion, much less look good doing it. Unwrapping her scarf from around her neck (and Taciturn's own black, woolly one; the pony was completely oblivious to anything the moment he had his paintbrush) she gave the door a quick knock, ignoring the humiliating stares of everypony around her.
Sure enough, her friend's door opened, the violet mare immediately grinning at the sight of her friend.
"Glad you could come, Rainbow," she hastily spoke, offering her and Taciturn to step inside.
"Heard about your, um... guardianship..."
"AJ told you about it, huh?" the cyan mare asked, to which Twilight gave an affirmative nod.
"His doctor," she began her explanation, "thought that I could help this fellow here with his condition. It was supposed to be Fluttershy's job, but, well, I guess she can't take it either."
"Really?"
Twilight suddenly beckoned her to come closer, whispering in her ear.
"You mentioned 'either'. Does that mean that you... that you might burst any second or so... at him?"
"I'm trying to keep my cool," she hissed, out of earshot from their subject pony, who was toying around with his black scarf, his wings flapping eagerly.
"Plus, there's something I wanna ask you about him."
"Anything," her scholarly friend replied cheerfully.
"Spike finished arranging the books before he and Rarity went gem-hunting, so you can ask however long you like!"
"Great! Number one..."
Rainbow quickly pushed Taciturn forward (which he never responded; both mares thought he should shriek by now), passing him his coveted gift: the ornate paintbrush, as Twilight watched him fondling it like a newborn foal, a creepy smile edging up to the sides of his lips.
"Nurse Redheart said he's a special pony," the pegasus continued.
"What does that mean, actually?"
"Seeing his actions... and his strange behavior..."
Twilight's horn lit up a pale purple, the cloud of sparkling magic reciprocal to it shrouding a row of books, before piling them towards her. She quickly leafed through the many pages of each and every hardcover she had brought, and it wasn't long before her face lit up immediately.
"I have your answer, Rainbow!" she exclaimed with a grin of pride.
"Really? So you know how he's special, right?"
Twilight gave a confirmatory nod, handing the book towards her friend. It wasn't necessary to read it (she wouldn't understand any of the elaborated terms on it anyway) as the violet mare gave the answer:
"He's an autistic savant."
"A what?" she stopped Twilight before she could continue.
"What did you say he was again?"
"An autistic savant. Your friend is an autistic savant."
"He's an artistic servant?"
Rainbow pondered at the words, carefully thinking through what she had registered. Unbeknownst to her, Twilight had smacked her own forehead, though it was only the beginning.
"I get the artistic part, seeing how he's a painter and all," the pegasus began, much to her friend's frustration, "but I don't get the servant part. Is he like some sort of butler for Princess Celestia or a pony rescued from Queen Chrysalis or King Sombra or something, 'cause I don't really see how he's a servant."
"No, Rainbow! Autistic savant!"
Twilight hovered the book back towards her, reading the text out loud:
"Autism. A disorder of neural development. A pony diagnosed with autism displays impaired social interaction and communication, as well as a strict, orderly routine and repetitive behavior. Only one in ten autistic ponies are recorded to have savant skills, some even far better than others."
"Savant skills?" Rainbow emphasized on those two words, wearing a befuddled expression.
"What is that exactly?"
"Savant syndrome, basically: when somepony with such conditions displays exceptional skills beyond those of a normal pony in a particular category or field. Despite their setbacks, the capabilities that they can display are purely amazing, with most of them having an extremely good memory."
"So you're saying that he remembers nearly everything?" the cyan mare asked.
"Like, literally everything?"
"I guess so," was Twilight's answer, trotting towards Taciturn, who was still fondling his paintbrush.
"Do you have any paper and paint?" she asked his guardian, to which she received it from. Spreading it out in front of the colt, she reached for his hooves to guide it towards the palette she had settled, though he suddenly let out a loud shrill of fear.
The violet mare immediately yelped in surprise, jumping back with her ears on her hooves. Rainbow muffled a laugh at that, before she confidently spoke:
"Lemme try, Twi. I am his guardian, after all."
With that, she quickly strode to Taciturn's side, slowly reaching out of her hoof as both her and Twilight held their breath, letting out a relieved sigh once her hoof touched his pale ones, his paintbrush still fiddling within. Slowly but surely, she guided his hoof towards the palette, dabbing the paintbrush onto a spot of yellowish paint.
Rainbow gently let go of his hoof, watching as he started to paint a few lines on the parchment. The cyan mare smiled once she finished her end of the job, before feeling a tap on her shoulder.
"How did you do it?" Twilight asked, interested in her answer.
"These kind of ponies don't let random strangers touch them, much less go close to them at all!"
"I dunno, actually," she replied adamantly with a shrug.
"His doctor said that he saw... something in me. I dunno what it was but it seems Tassee feels more comfortable around me than other ponies. That's why he asked me to be his guardian in the first place, which ruined my schedule basically for the last two days-"
"D-Dash," Taciturn suddenly spoke, leaving them to look in confusion. It was only after he repeated it that the cyan pegasus understood he was calling her.
"What is it, Tassee?" she asked hesitantly, to which he pointed at the palette.
"You want another color, huh?" she guessed, striking the bulls-eye immediately as the stallion gave a meek nod. With a hefty sigh, she quickly lifted the palette towards him, watching his black eyes scan the muddled paints all over, before dipping onto a fresh spot of pink.
"He does seem to trust you," Twilight said, her eyes sparkling with fickle delight at her friend's sudden compassion.
"You know," she added, "they say autistic ponies are the answer to the universe. Some ponies say that without these kind of prodigies, we would still be running about the plains mindlessly without any knowledge of magic, weather or even farming."
"I'm just hoping that he wouldn't interfere with my plans for tomorrow. Ice-skating with Pinkie isn't what he would wanna do. The Pinkie part, I mean."
Both mares gave a soft chuckle, before glancing ahead at Taciturn, who seemed to be finishing on the painting. It wasn't long before he suddenly placed the paintbrush down, smiling blankly at the drawing before him.
"Well..." Twilight began, trying to give a smile to the seemingly elated colt, at least, in his own silent way.
"This looks..." she tried to force out a word. Any word, basically.
"Interesting..."
"Interesting?" Rainbow blurted out, her rasping tone making Taciturn cower.
"This is plain ridiculous!! That doesn't even look like anything at all!"
"Rainbow-"
"Just look at it, Twilight!" she continued yelling, ignoring his friend's attempts to call her as the lavender unicorn herself trotted towards the side of the paper, raising it from the corner.
"I don't get it! He could paint better yesterday! For Celestia's sake, he painted the whole darn city of Canterlot!"
"Rainbow!" her friend shouted, finally cutting in to her fierce rambling.
"Could you just calm down for a minute? You're scaring Taciturn here!"
Rainbow blinked a few times, before turning towards the stallion, her heart sinking the moment she saw him shivering with fear behind a stacked pile of books.
"Plus," her friend added, "his painting is an illusion: an anamorphic painting, to be exact. You have to see it at a specific angle to see the complete painting. Here..."
The cyan pegasus slowly strode towards the raised corner of the paper in Twilight's hoof, taking over as she viewed it from there. Her eyes soon lit up with a sparkle, her mouth opening in a silent gasp.
Sure enough, there was a painting. What was a bunch of pink, white, green and yellow blotches on the canvas with charcoal lines had become something she had never expected: it was Fluttershy sniffing at a daisy flower!
"I..." she stammered in amazement. "I can't believe it..."
"And that means you owe somepony an apology, don't you Rainbow?" Twilight said sternly, crossing her hooves whilst beckoning her rueful friend to step forward.
"Go on!" she ordered. "Apologize to him!"
"All right, all right! Fine!"
With a begrudging sigh, Rainbow stepped towards the quivering Taciturn, her scrunched lips pressuring out a fake smile and her hooves reaching out to his.
"I'm sorry, okay Tassee?" she said, faking a whimper. Despite never bothering to look into her gaze, he gave a meager nod, rising from his hiding spot immediately.
Twilight just rolled her eyes, trotting back to her books.
"You're lucky he trusts you, Rainbow," she spoke sharply, her horn lighting up once more as she quickly arranged the tower of books that the colt had stacked to make his hiding spot back into their respective shelves.
"If he screams again, I'll have to buck you out of my house."
"Hehe, yeah..." her friend replied. None of them would want to hear his banshee scream again.
"I'm just wondering though. How did he paint this? I mean, Fluttershy's not around or anything, and the way he transformed it..."
"Maybe he saw Fluttershy smelling at a flower while she was taking care of him before."
Twilight gazed back at the amorphous painting, still intrigued at the complexity and the intricacy of it.
"He has a good memory, after all. I'm not sure how he changed the painting though. Maybe it's just something with his nervous system and how he pictures things from what his sensory neurons receive from the environment, but that wouldn't make sense because his other paintings seemed normal, so it might be the way that the nerve cells are particularly organized and altered from other normal ponies..."
Rainbow started to zone out the moment the scholarly unicorn began her verbal pondering, trying her best to suppress a loud groan down her throat. Instead, she let out a polite cough, snapping Twilight out of her intellectual chatter.
"You done yet?" she asked, to which her friend replied with a sheepish grin:
"Sorry about that. It's just... it's pretty interesting to see how he works."
"I'm sure it is," the cyan mare replied sarcastically, giving her friend a snicker as Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Well, I gotta go. Have to help this fellow here settle down."
"Alright then," her friend said, opening the door for her and Taciturn.
"Try not to blow up into his face or anything!"
"Ha-ha, Twilight," Rainbow spoke coldly with a smug grin, her friend responding with a soft giggle. "Very funny. Best joke of Equestria award. Whatever."
Gathering her things or, more accurately, Taciturn's things, she guided the melancholic colt towards the door and into the snow, helping him wrap the scarf around his neck again.
"Thanks for your help, Twi," she quickly said, rolling up his new painting.
"No problem, Rainbow," she cheerfully responded.
"If something comes up, lemme know."
The cyan mare gave a nod and a last wave to her friend, within her heart hoping that nothing would 'come up', as Twilight phrased it. She had enough problems of her own with Taciturn (such as her recent, slight misunderstanding) and if there were any more, she wouldn't want to hear the end of it.
"Alright, Tassee," she called to him. He was more respondent than before their visit to the library by giving her a glance, which was good: she didn't plan on baiting him again with his paintbrush.
"Let's go home."
"Easy now, Tassee. Slowly..."
Taciturn merely whimpered with fear, his wings glued together with his hooves clinging tightly onto Rainbow's back, the mare only able to shake her head with a sympathetic smile. The entrance to her house was just a few feet away from the ground, which would be fine for a pegasus, yet his teeth were chattering like a snake rattler.
Even Fluttershy could do better than that, she said to herself. She had always seen her butter-colored friend as the dainty pegasus, though this fellow set the record straight for that title.
It was sunset by the time Rainbow finally reached her home, having stopped by at the marketplace to pick up some food for dinner. Every vendor she stopped to greet had asked her about Taciturn being in her guardianship and such, though she assured them it was fine.
It's queer, really. Only a few ponies knew of her guardianship, and suddenly the news and gossip was spreading about like a Horstralian bushfire. It reminded her of the time when three innocent-looking fillies started a Gabby Gums column a year ago, the thought of it making her shudder every time she passed by the spa.
Gently, she landed onto the puff of her porch, pulling him back just as he was about to wander into the fluid spectrum spewing out from the crevices in her cloud-house.
"Woah there, Tassee," she quipped, opening her door while Taciturn's gaze was glued to the rainbow streams and waterfalls flowing from her home, his eyes sparkling in a trance-like state.
"You really have a thing for rainbows, don't you?"
It took her a while to get the mesmerized patient into her house. She quickly unwrapped his scarf, as well as her own, and hung them on a mist-like coat rack, before settling his belongings onto the table. The colt crept towards what was supposed to be her couch, kicking at its fluffy surface whilst muttering inaudibly under his breath.
"Hungry, bud?" Rainbow asked. As usual, there wasn't any response from him.
With a shrug, she trotted to the other inhabitant in her house, wearing a wide smile.
"Hey, Tank!" she nudged the tortoise, who delightfully climbed out of his green shell. She smiled as he munched onto a piece of lettuce she had bought from the market earlier, her pet eagerly chomping onto it as she declared:
"We got a new guest in our house today!"
Her pet just craned his neck up as his owner plopped Taciturn in front of him, the both of them exchanging blank stares. Taciturn knelt down onto all fours in a bout of curiosity, perching like a feline as he gazed at the creature.
"I knew you guys would be perfect for each other!" Rainbow exclaimed out of awkwardness, the presence of both pony and tortoise reminded her of the fact that she has not one, but two buddies to take care of.
"So..." her voice trailed off, her hoof reaching for his plastic bag and picking out a bottle.
"Is this the one you have to take before sleeping?"
Taciturn shook his head no, not even bothering to spare a glance.
"Okay..." she replied, taking out another bottle.
"How about this one?"
Again, no. It was the same for the next bottle. And the next bottle. And the one after that.
"What about this?" she asked the colt, who was still staring at the tortoise and not the brownish glass bottle in her hoof. Much to her relief, he nodded eagerly, rising from his position as he pranced to the mare's side.
Rainbow held her breath as Taciturn placed the pill on his tongue, immediately chugging down a mug of water soon afterwards. At least he doesn't choke on his meds, she thought to herself. The colt soon resumed his spectacle between him and Tank, leaving their caretaker to shake her head, her signature mane tossed all over the place.
"Gotta get some sleep, Tassee-" she stopped to let out a languid yawn, stretching her hooves and wings before slouching back down, hovering herself towards the bedroom after telling him:
Rainbow had been waiting forever in her life for this day to happen. Amidst the cheering crowd (and her jubilant group of friends) in the stands, the perpetual, psychedelic hail of confetti and her racing heart, she chattered with glee at the group of pegasi standing before her, with their renowned leader raising her golden hooves.
"You are officially part of..."
"Ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh..." her head chanted like a mantra, her hooves quivering just to snatch the grand prize from the pegasus before her: a pair of aviator goggles and the Wonderbolts' official flight suit.
Come on, Spitfire, she wanted to scream. Just say it already!!
"The Wonderbolts!!"
With that, the crowd erupted into a fiesta of cheers as Rainbow's heart stopped the moment she held the suit, her eyes sparkling like they were polished amethysts.
"Ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh...!" she said it aloud, before raising it up to the sky, showing every single pony present in the stadium; in return their cheers grew ever louder, bursting through the overwhelming blue of the skies around.
The reverberation of voices suddenly shook the clouds, or at least, so as she thought. The cheers suddenly turned to gasps of anxiety as the whole stadium wobbled tumultuously. Everyone started screaming, the ponies scattering around the stands and the arena itself.
"Earthquake!!" some of them screamed, which was pretty ridiculous by the fact that they were in Cloudsdale. Rainbow scurried around for a moment, before bumping into someone's shoulder and falling onto the floor.
"My suit!" she exclaimed, the garments having been tossed into the air. She reached her hooves out for it, her breathing slowed as it fell towards her.
"Rainbow!"
The otherworldly voice silenced the cacophony played out in the frantic scene, which slowly and strangely twirled and faded into white. "Rainbow!" it called again with an echo, before she felt something shaking her hoof.
"Rainbow!"
"Huh, what?" the mare muttered hazily, rubbing her tired eyes as she rose from her cloud bed, kicking her nimbus blanket away into a puff of wisp.
Her magenta pupils, surprisingly, met the black ones of Taciturn Bleach, who was perched at the very end of her bed with a beatific smile on his face. The mare sighed cordially at her sight, forcing out a grin.
"Hey there, Tassee," she said, trying her best to brush her bedhead. "You're an early bird today."
Taciturn nodded eagerly, which made her blink for a moment: what happened to the sophisticated, silent and unsocial patient she was taking care of yesterday? Where did he get all this energy suddenly?
He tugged insistently at her hooves, before scurrying out of the room. With a sigh, Rainbow got up while petting her sleeping tortoise's shell, following the overexcited colt out the door.
"What is it you want me to-"
Her sentence was left hanging once her jaw dropped at the canvas that Taciturn held in his hoof. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before, at least from beyond the borders of what the colt hadn't displayed from his imagination yet.
It was her pet tortoise, Tank, munching on a Christmas wreath. There was a woolen Santa Hat placed onto the tortoise's head, complete with a bangle of golden bells on his right hind leg.
The best part? It was completely formed out of dots.
The moment she grew closer, so did her amazement and her realization. She marveled at the minuscule circles covering every shade and line, only wondering how long it took for him to finish this.
"Wow, Tassee... I just..." she couldn't put it into words, and that's saying something, being able to render the usually proud pegasus speechless.
"Pointillism," the colt murmured cheerfully, though his guardian was too amazed to bother.
Rainbow started to smile the more she looked at the heartwarming painting, getting closer and closer... wait. Was she doing what she think she's doing?
"It's good! Good!" the mare suddenly laughed with a haughty wave of her hoof. Taciturn slumped his shoulders down at that, though he did glance up to her once Rainbow continued happily:
"Come on, Tassee! We have to meet one of my other friends today!"
With that, she reached for her satchel, stuffing her quadruple ice skates (Spitfire limited edition!) inside. Handing Taciturn his black scarf, the two of them headed out of the door and into another fine morning of Hearth's Warming and, Rainbow wished, a day where the colt wouldn't mess up her programs.
His most recent painting was a little too captivating, besides that it showed her favorite pet. The way he executed it was what amazed her, and she would've blurted out to him on how good he was.
But she was Rainbow Dash! She wouldn't just give an exaggerating compliment like that! After all, the only reason that he was talented was that he had the syndrome. If he didn't have it, he wouldn't be the artist he was now. Plus, her job was to help him get his guts up and act like any normal pony. To change him to a better colt!
She rid herself of those thoughts, pushing those problems later. Right now, she had a friend to visit.
And, hopefully not too much, a colt to entertain.
The journey to the frozen lake outside of Ponyville was a slightly long one on hoof and, despite the both of them having wings, Taciturn persisted on walking due to his presumed fear of heights, much to his guardian's displeasure. Rainbow had read up a little on anger management (Keeping Calm For Dummies, the book was titled; a 'Hearth's Warming Eve gift' from Twilight) herself, and had been trying to keep her cool after their slight disagreement through a few blundering breathing exercises.
The colt himself was glancing around, probably finding what he could draw from the wintry environment around him. He doesn't seem to mind trampling through the chilled woods, prancing around the snow with finesse that only Rarity would've mustered with her fashion.
Time and time again, he would start humming a small Christmas tune. It started with a small medley of 'O Little Town of Bridlehem' and 'Winter Wonderland', though she didn't bother to figure out the rest.
There were instances that he would stop to collect a few raspberries and blueberries and place them in his pouch. Rainbow had no idea why he would need that for, though her questions were pushed to the very end of her mind the moment the bushes parted into a clearing.
The gleaming surface of the frost lake was a refreshing sight for Rainbow, who flipped her satchel open in preparation for the activity to come. She glanced around the snowy banks, before smiling wide as she hollered:
"Hey, Pinkie Pie!! Over here!"
There was a loud, audible gasp from her pink friend, who raced towards the pegasus and gave her a tight, choking hug, squealing with delight. Rainbow's cheek started to turn a darker shade of blue as Pinkie hopped about with 'yay's of delight, still hugging her friend firmly.
"I knew you'll come! I knew you'll come!" she screeched, oblivious to her friend's attempts to gasp for air.
"You Pinkie Promised a week ago that you'll come, and you kept it! I was a little worried that you wouldn't make it because you took about fifteen minutes and forty-eight point three four six five eight seconds longer than last year! Oh, by the way, I counted with my hooves. So I spent the time thinking of things to do if you didn't come, like maybe helping the Cakes for their Hearth's Warming pudding sale, or maybe buy Gummy some new alligator treats because there's only five million and a hundred and eighty-eight and a half crumbs left because I used the can to make maracas for Pound and Pumpkin's birthday..."
"P-Pinkie!" Rainbow managed to choke out weakly, though that didn't stop the mare.
"... or maybe even finding out this new celebration in a parallel dimension! Ooh~! ooh~! I even have it's name! The, um... ponies? They call it Christmas there! It's like Hearth's Warming Eve, although everything looks like them! Even Santa Hooves look like them, and he even has his white beard! They even have-"
The sudden pin-drop silence was followed by a thud as the cyan mare fell onto the snow, gasping for air after being freed from the clutches of her friend. The other mare's eyes were focused instead onto Taciturn, who scurried into the bushes the moment his black eyes met her bubbly blue ones.
Rainbow got up, shaking the snow off her mane. It was then that Pinkie knelt close to her ear, whispering:
"Is that...... hi-him?"
"Him?" the pegasus repeated, slightly baffled.
"What do you mean 'him'?"
"You know! Him! The..." her whisper became a hiss, "Special One!"
"You mean Tarser... Tosser... darn it!" she rasped, eventually sticking to his given nickname.
"Tassee? Yeah, that's him. And what's up with that weird title? The... um... 'Special One'?"
"Ponies have been talking about him ever since they saw you and him together yesterday!"
Pinkie energetically bounced around her baffled friend, the rainbow-maned pegasus stopping to think as her friend continued:
"They kept calling him the 'Special One' like he's Princess Celestia, but that's pretty silly! If he's such a royal pony, then why not call him 'Your Highness' or 'Your Majesty' or 'Your Holiness' or even pickle-weird things such as 'Your Sugarness' or-"
"I get it, Pinkie!" Rainbow snapped in before she could continue.
"He's just somepony I have to take care of for the time being. No biggie."
"Can I talk to him?"
"What?" the cyan mare spoke up in surprise, a little too late however.
Pinkie suddenly launched herself towards Taciturn before Rainbow could stop her, her surprise attack sending the colt screeching and wallowing towards the lake, his guardian watching in horror the moment he did so.
"Tassee! Wait!"
Once his hooves touched the smooth surface of ice, Taciturn slipped and fell onto his back, sliding across the ice and smashing into a pile of snow. Both mares quickly rushed to his side , heaving the dazed colt up from the snow with Rainbow checking him frantically for any bruises or wounds.
She let out a sigh of relief soon after, turning to Pinkie with a stringent glare.
"He's not comfortable with strangers, Pinkie," she scowled. "He needs to get used to you first."
"Aw..." the pink mare responded, hunching her shoulders.
"Can I talk to him now?"
Rainbow let out a small sigh, turning to the whimpering Taciturn below her hooves, trying her best to smile.
"It's okay, bud," she assured, lifting him up. "She's my friend! She wouldn't hurt a fly!"
"Yeah!" the pink mare instantly added.
"Well, except for the time one flew into the oven and I baked it. It was by accident, of course! I had to make a new batch of cupcakes after I found its wings melted over-"
"That's enough disgusting stories for now, right Pinkie?" the cyan mare cut in, giving her friend a warning of a nudge.
"Now, how about you introduce yourselves? Maybe you can ask him a few questions after that."
Pinkie gave an exuberant nod, sticking her hoof out.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!"
There wasn't any sort of response: the colt was too busy hiding behind his guardian in fear of this new stranger.
"His name is uh... Taciturn! Taciturn Bleach!" Rainbow answered for him, her stomach gurgling once again at the mention of the pony's last name.
"What questions have you got for him?"
"Easy ones, of course!" the pink mare proclaimed, wearing an excited smile.
She suddenly raced off, before returning with two pebbles: one big, one small. The other two ponies could stare at each other in complete bewilderment, leaving Pinkie to explain:
"I'll ask him some two-answers-only questions! If he prefers the first choice, he can tell me by placing his hoof onto the small rock," she demonstrated for Taciturn to see, "and if he prefers the second choice, he can do the same for the bigger rock. What do you say?"
"Well, that sounds pretty neat."
Rainbow turned to the colt, beckoning him forward as she said: "What do you say, Tassee? Wanna give this a shot?"
There was a moment of brief hesitance, before he finally stepped forward with wavering confidence, bracing himself as Pinkie asked her first question:
"Do you like Hearth's Warming? Yes or no?"
The two mares watched as he reluctantly raised his hoof, placing it onto the small pebble of a stone.
"Alright, Tassee," the pink mare continued with a cheerful grin.
"Next question. What kind of milkshake do you prefer? Strawberry, or chocolate?"
Taciturn chose the big rock, making Pinkie squeal with glee.
"Now I know what milkshake I can make for you! My special creamy chocolate frappe! The most scrumptious, most sugary milkshake in all of Equestria!"
Pinkie gave a wide grin as her friend pondered over the pronunciation of such, though she quickly turned to Taciturn once he made his choice, saying it aloud:
Rainbow kept on wondering for the next few minutes, though she stopped after that, shaking her head.
"What am I doing..." she cursed at herself, quickly grabbing the ice skates from her satchel.
"Come on, Pinkie!" the mare yelled to her friend," Let's go ice-skating already!"
"Ooh, goodie, goodie, goodie~!!" the pink mare squealed happily, picking her pink ones up on the ground. The two friends settled onto the snow, putting on their ice skates as Taciturn watch them from afar, kicking the snow around his hooves aimlessly. Rainbow slid onto the ice first, flawlessly gliding towards the other side of the lake.
"Wait for me!" Pinkie exclaimed, swiveling about the ice jubilantly towards her friend. The two laughed for a brief moment, before resuming their skating, their blades carving about the frozen surface of the lake.
The pink mare suddenly jumped, twirling about the air in a graceful arabesque, landing perfectly onto the ground. Rainbow glided to her friend's side, propelling herself with her wings whilst carving through the ice, though she quickly noticed Taciturn at the edges of the bank.
What was he doing, she asked herself, gliding to his side. She raised an eyebrow the moment she saw him tossing the various berries that he had collected from their journey here across the snow, stopping only once he sighted his guardian trudging into the snow.
"Whatcha doing, Tassee?" she asked, to which he turned away. It was a little surprising and, for Rainbow, a little bit degrading, having been trusted by him all this time.
"Come on, Tassee," the cyan mare beckoned again. This time, Pinkie skated to her side, slightly concerned for her friend's patient as well.
"What's he doing?" the party pony asked, her answer being a shrug from her friend.
Taciturn suddenly pointed at Rainbow or, more accurately, at the ice skates on her hooves, making the two mares look at each other in surprise. Pinkie stopped to wonder for a moment, though the answer quickly struck her like a snowball.
"He wants to use your ice skates!"
"Wait, what?"
Rainbow just blinked at Taciturn, then at Pinkie, who could only tilt her head with uncertainty. She looked down at the precious ice skates on her hooves, before blowing her mane to the side, stammering:
"F-fine! Just this once, Tassee."
The colt was never more happier than she had ever seen once she handed her the four ice skates. He strapped the back ones first, though it seemed he had other plans for the pair on the front.
Without hesitation, he suddenly, much to his guardian's horror, squashed the berries with the blades of the ice skates, the juices painting all over the metal blades, the skates and the snow around. Rainbow's jaw hung agape once he did that, stunned after Taciturn finished, who was humming quietly with delight as he trotted merrily towards the frozen lake.
"D-did he..." the cyan mare began to stammer, "did h-he just di-did what I think he d-did?"
"Umm...... Dashie?" her friend called out worriedly, watching her starting to simmer into the snow.
"Y-you can have mine! I mean, it's just ice skates, r-right?"
"Those are the Spitfire Limited Wonderbolt Ice Skates!!" Rainbow yelled, seething with rage.
"They're not just ice skates, Pinkie! They're special ones! I saved up a gallon of bits trying to get those in for Canterlot just so I could use it, not him!!. Now look what he's done!"
The mares glanced at the colt, who was skating freely with a jubilant grin, unaware of his guardian's fuming state. Rainbow began to buckle her hooves with a whinny of hate, though not before Pinkie pulled her back suddenly.
"Wait!" her friend screeched, the cyan pegasus sporting a confused look.
"Look what he's doing!"
And, with a humph of irritation, Rainbow did. She crossed her hooves in an act of defiant resentfulness, scrutinizing the weird, sudden sharp turns that the colt was doing.
Her rage soon calmed into amazement (once again) as the juices beneath the blades were carved along with the ice, streaking his paths a purplish red. There were a few times that he stopped to replenish the juices, before continuing where he left off, leaving both mares in awe.
He concluded by grabbing a few pails of already-mushed blueberries, taking off the skates and returning it to its owner. With that, he skid back to the lake before anypony could stop him, though he landed perfectly onto his intended spot, now pouring and spreading the blueberry mix around a few, carved-out ovals.
The remainder raspberry mix was used soon after, the colt pouring it all out at the very side, before spreading it evenly across the ice. Carefully, Taciturn quickly slid back to Rainbow and Pinkie's side, beckoning his guardian to fly.
The rainbow-maned pegasus did so immediately, flapping up towards the sky and landing onto a passing cloud. She let out a silent gasp the moment she glimpsed at the lake below, unable to fathom the possibility of such a creation.
Carved by the blades of ice was a portrait of Pinkie Pie giving a wink, complete with her singular open eye painted with blueberries and her mane the mixture of raspberries. The outline was a purplish hue of the two fruits mashed together, carved deep into the fissures by the blades of her own roller skates.
"I can't believe it...!" Pinkie's voice suddenly spoke up, Rainbow turning in surprise to see her friend floating up with three balloons on her back. The sight of such a painting had rendered her friend speechless, though it was soon before she started speaking:
"That's me! In the ice! This is so, so wonderful!"
With a chuckle, Rainbow guided her friend back down to the ground, the pink mare instantly racing towards Taciturn and giving him a huge, choking hug.
Taciturn could only let out a squeak of help, leaving Rainbow to just shake her head at Pinkie's overenthusiastic behavior. The pink mare suddenly raced towards the other mare, her cotton candy tail wagging with anticipation as she asked:
"Can we take a picture of it? Can we, can we, CAN WE?!"
"Relax, Pinkie," the rainbow-maned mare croaked out a reply, clamping her ears shut. She quickly grabbed a camera from her satchel and zoomed up into the air, leaving her patient and her party-crazy friend to watch.
"Alright, guys!!" she shouted back, raising the camera as Pinkie skidded towards the center of the ice lake with a delighted grin, yanking Taciturn along as well.
"One... two... three!"
"Toffee!!"
The journey home was full of laughter with Pinkie around.
It was already dusk by the time they left the frozen lake, having skated almost every stretch of its frosted crust. They have left the section with Pinkie's portrait untouched, though both Rainbow and Pinkie knew it will disappear by the next snowfall.
Taciturn was more livelier than ever, even wanting to walk beside her guardian when he would usually hide behind her. There were a few times where he would suddenly talk, which only encouraged the party pony's excitement even more. Along the way, Rainbow brushed off the few splotches of juices and shredded skins of berries on the blades of her ice skates, all the while laughing heartily at Pinkie's randomness and her ample stash of jokes.
It wasn't long before the two friends had to part ways, saying their warm goodbyes. Rainbow shook her head with a smile as she watched her friend hopping cheerfully back towards Ponyville, in her mouth a few photos of her portrait.
The pink mare had told them she wanted to show the Cakes and Gummy, even wanting to reveal Taciturn's method of drawing it. She knew it wasn't long before the whole of Ponyville would know of Taciturn's creation, starting with the rest of her friends.
Speaking of Taciturn, Rainbow turned to the patient, who was grooming the sides of his pale wings. She nudged him on the shoulder, giving a small chuckle as she said:
"You really outdone yourself today, Tassee."
The colt just looked around the forest, before the two continued their path back to their cloud home. The cyan mare let out a small whistle on the way, before feeling something brush her mane.
"Wh-what are you doing?" she questioned, biting her lip once she felt Taciturn's hoof through the strands of her colorful mane. She felt a lump sinking down her throat and her gut being dragged across the floor, though everything stopped once she looked into his black eyes.
There was an infinite swirl of darkness in there. A whirlpool of jet-black oblivion. It sucked her in like an ink-splattered tornado, grasping at her by the throat with claws of despair. Of lost hope.
She suddenly fell backwards into a few snow-covered bushels, her breathing stilled the moment she saw Taciturn standing over her, a look of worry on his face. "Rainbow?" he muttered softly.
"I... I'm fine," she said dismissively.
"Come on, Tassee. We're almost there."
The patient eagerly followed behind, leaving Rainbow to think of what had happened just now.
She knew Taciturn has a thing for rainbows, but that was a little too much for her. Why was he acting so creepy all of the sudden? Or was it just her? There was something lurching in her heart, though it immediately dissipated, the thoughts of such being pushed to the edges of her mind.
"You have to be brave, Rainbow," her inner voice whispered, her hooves clenching with steadfast determination as she reminded herself of her duty.
"You're his guardian, and your job is to help him."
"Uh-huh! And then Rainbow was like 'hey, those are my skates!' and he was like," Pinkie changed her expression into a deadpan frown, "and he just skated around like whee, whee, WHEE~!"
The rest of her friends laughed once she fell from her seat with a thud, still snorting with laughter on the floor. Rainbow just shook her head at the exuberant randomness of her friend, kicking back to the edge of her seat as the pink mare passed to them the photos both her and her athletic pegasus friend had taken yesterday.
They were in Sugarcube Corner, celebrating a small 'Ice Portrait Party' or something, Rainbow couldn't remember exactly what it was called. She had left early at dawn to pick up some food for her and Taciturn, and had stopped by Sugarcube Corner to pick up a few muffins as a dessert. Surprisingly, all of her friends were gathered at the table in the store, the sight prompting her to join them as well.
"Look at it. Just. Look. At. It!" she screeched happily. Each and every one of them: Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity, marveled at the sight, with the latter unicorn being the first to comment:
"That's absolutely wonderful, darling. He must be somepony unique indeed!"
Rarity giggled with glee, her hooves quivering with excitement as she sipped on her chamomile tea, continuing:
"I am most certainly delighted to have a chance to meet him, of course, if Rainbow Dash would let me."
"Well, good luck with that, Rarity," Twilight replied with a small chuckle.
"He's not the most sociable pony you would ever meet in your lifetime. Ever."
"But he sure is good with paintin'," Applejack chortled, chugging down the remainder of her milkshake. The crude act made Rarity wrinkle her snout in disgust, though she soon turned to Rainbow, eager to know more about the new pony.
"After all," the farmpony added, "it's not only Rainbow who met 'im before. Ain't that right, Fluttersh'ah?"
"Oh! Um..." the butter-colored pegasus stuttered.
"It was only for a few times. I don't really see him after... well... Rainbow became his guardian."
"So, tell me, Rainbow," Rarity began, edging closer to the cyan mare.
"How is he like? Does he have delectable tastes? Does he have a rather... covetous appetite? I'm pretty sure he doesn't need all of this food, right darling?"
"I'm just stocking up, that's all," she replied, placing the box of muffins to the side. Rainbow knew that everypony else would be around the marketplace getting some food by tomorrow and, knowing Taciturn and his total abhorrence with crowds (she guessed), it would be more sensible for her to prepare everything for him instead of bringing him there tomorrow and let him shriek for the world to hear.
"As for his tastes... they're quite simple, really. He's pretty happy with Fluttershy's gift, by the way."
"Hear that, Fluttersh'ah?" Applejack spoke, nudging the pegasus.
"He likes yer gift! And ya keep tellin' me he doesn't like it."
"Um... tell him I said thank you... if you don't mind..."
"No prob, Flutters," she said with a wink.
"Maybe we'll stop by and meet you again. You should see his painting of you."
"I already told her and everypony else here about it before you came." Twilight cut in, her horn glimmering a pale violet as she lifted her own cup of tea.
"That," she added, "and your slightly rude outburst when you first saw it."
Rainbow's ears drooped the moment her scholarly friend said that, feeling the depressing weight of guilt pulling her heart down. It was a misunderstanding, she wanted to blurt out, though she knew it would come with a negative response from the unicorn once she did.
"She was angry with the ice skates too!" Pinkie Pie added. Oh no, here we go again.
"When he suddenly squished all the berries with it, Dashie became steaming red! As in exploding strawberries red! I really thought she was going to melt the lake!"
"You lost your temper again?" the lavender mare quipped, all eyes turning to the now sheepish Rainbow Dash.
"You know you can't do this every single time. I mean, what if he suddenly just breaks down and runs away? What are you going to tell the doctors then?"
"I'm trying to keep my cool. I've said it already."
With a sigh, Rainbow drank the remainder of her chocolate milkshake, brushing her disheveled mane to the side. Her laid-back actions were only met with skepticism not only from Twilight, but from Applejack as well.
"Plus," she added, "I've been reading your present, Twi. I just need some time to get used to it, that's all."
"If you say so..." Twilight's voice trailed off, the lavender mare finishing her drink.
"Just don't try anything brash. You'll never know what might happen."
"I'm sure she would listen!" Pinkie quickly cut in with a diffident laugh.
"Won'tcha Dashie?"
Rainbow could feel the pressure of all five pairs of eyes staring back at her, awaiting for a correct decision from her. She restrained a gulp down her throat, her responsibility as Taciturn's guardian starting to look a hundred times harder than before once they were involved.
Despite that, there was no way she would ditch Tassee behind; she's the Element of Loyalty, for Celestia's sake! She was given a job, and she will do her duty until the very end. With a sigh, she gave a short, simple answer:
"I'll try."
"And that's the last plate, Tassee!"
Rainbow wiped the dripping sweat off her head, having trotting to and fro between rooms to serve the ever-tolerant Taciturn at the table, who just stared blankly at the salad of carrots and apples before him. Gradually, the colt started to munch on his food, his guardian already gobbling up her share of breakfast/lunch until there was nothing left.
It was about noon when Rainbow finally reached home. The colt had slept in, being worn out from all the ice-skating he did yesterday, though he was standing at the edges of the doorstep once she returned. His face beamed the moment he spotted her in the horizon, the sight of which also making the mare smile as well. Surprisingly, he never touched his art tools yet, and she would know if he did; it would usually be arranged in a neat row across the floor if he ever did use it.
Taciturn soon finished his meal, giving into his hunger as he hurriedly yet elegantly ate the rest of his salad. With a soft, plaintive whimper, he quickly trotted towards his guardian's side, the mare studying a few scrawled notes she held in a black logbook.
"Guess what, Tassee?" Rainbow said, perking his interest whilst she handed him his scarf.
"We're going to the field today! You're gonna watch me do a few tricks for the Wonderbolt tryouts I'm going for later. Plus, you're gonna meet one of my fans! Ain't that great?"
The colt nodded enthusiastically, which made her smile at his simplicity and docility. He was becoming a little more sociable than last time, she thought to herself, her chest puffing up with pride. That, plus the fact that Scootaloo was eager to meet him as well, settled her conclusion that there will be nothing to worry about. Hopefully.
Turning to Taciturn, Rainbow's breathing stopped the moment his black eyes stared back into hers, the mare immediately turning away. Her hooves started to tremble, which only beckoned the colt closer, worried for her well-being.
"I... I-I'm fine! Perfectly fine!" she stammered. "Just a little excited to test out a few moves, that's all!"
With that, he gave a jubilant, relieved grin, happily prancing out the door and leaving her to calm down. Why is she feeling jumpy all of the sudden? He's harmless, Rainbow Dash. There's nothing wrong, Rainbow Dash, she consoled herself, not long before following after her patient, sighing warmly as she saw him being mesmerized by the rainbow liquid spewing out from her house again.
"Come on, buddy!" she snapped him from his daze.
"We'll walk there, if that's what you like."
Of course, Taciturn gave another silent, earnest nod. It was becoming more of a trademark of his, seeing his cheerful expression and his symbiotic spirit that came along with it. There were times where Rainbow would wonder how he would cope with days such as this, when she would take off in the skies and leave him on the ground.
At least he won't be alone this time, she said to herself.
The walk was draggy: Rainbow usually sees any sort of ground movement as draggy anyway. Despite her opinions as such, Taciturn was happily traipsing down the road, looking around for anything in the winter plains.
Occasionally, a few animals would cross their paths; there was a family of hares searching for a new burrow, and a few birds chirping in the branches of the trees. Even in the glades, there would be one or two butterflies around the bushes, patiently waiting for the flowers to bloom in the eve of springtime.
"Seems he's going to remember all of this," Rainbow surmised, seeing his eyes darting at every possible sight to see. Their destination soon unfolded in the horizon, the liberal space and chilly breeze of the winter eliciting a quelling, foggy sigh from her mouth. The sight of a certain orange filly buzzing around impatiently added to her contentment, prompting to gallop down the hillside.
"Hey, squirt!" she cried out, waving her hoof while Taciturn scurried from behind. There was a loud gasp, before Scootaloo instantly rushed to her, giving her idol a tight hug.
"I thought you wouldn't make it again!" the filly cried.
"And miss out a few training sessions with my number one fan?" she exclaimed.
"Hah! Like that would ever happen!"
"Hey! You brought him along!"
Scootaloo hurriedly whirled past her idol, glancing up at Taciturn with an excited giggle. The colt could only stare blankly down at the filly, his wings fluttering uneasily once she crept closer to him. Her purple eyes suddenly sparkled, before she turned back to Rainbow Dash with a devious grin.
"Did you do something to his wings?" she asked teasingly, referring to the tinted tips of his seven feathery folds. Rainbow just rolled her eyes while the filly giggled, before she buckled her hooves.
"Alright, Scoots," she said, stretching her back and wings.
"We're gonna do some warm-ups first. A few small exercises, some laps around the skies, then it's off for some flight training for you. What do you say?"
"What about him?" Scootaloo asked whilst doing a few push-ups, beckoning her head towards Taciturn, who was punching holes in the snow.
"Can he come along?"
"To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure."
Rainbow wanted to walk away and continue their exercises, though Scootaloo suddenly scrunched her face up and stopping her in her tracks, the sight making her face pale immediately.
Not the Celestia-damned puppy dog face! She wanted to scream at the filly, more at herself for her emotions screeching and prying at the very walls of her heart. She won't give in! She's not Rarity! She. Won't. Give. In!
"Of course he can come!" she suddenly blurted out, making the filly jump jubilantly with glee as if she had triumphantly earned her Cutie Mark. So much for not giving in...
"I have to ask him first. He's not really a natural when it comes to flying however."
With a slightly dejected sigh, Rainbow trotted towards Taciturn, trying her best to smile.
"Tassee," she called out, earning his attention almost immediately.
"Wanna come fly with us? I'll promise you'll be safe!"
Another happy nod. The cyan pegasus could only shake her head sympathetically as the colt raced over to her side; if he only knew he was that easygoing when she had first met him.
Rainbow turned back to Scootaloo, who was already stretching and getting ready for their flight. Her head, however, was worrying over Taciturn's perception of flying and how she was going to cope with carrying him on the back. Sure, it would be an extra exercise, but the weight she had to carry, despite being surprisingly light, would mean a higher chance of crashing. Knowing him, he would probably cling onto her before crashing instead of flying away, which will endanger both of their lives as well. She can't risk training for the tryouts knowing something like that would happen.
There's only one solution. Something that will help all of them together.
"Scoots!" she called to the filly, plopping her and Taciturn together.
"This is how it's gonna work. Each of you guys will learn how to fly. I would help you guys, and you guys will help each other to fly as well. Does that sound good?"
"So I have to help an older pony to fly?" Scootaloo rephrased, quivering with excitement when Rainbow nodded.
"Alright! I'm game with that! Wait 'till Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hears about this! Maybe I can even get a new Cutie Mark from it!"
"Okay, let's start from the basics."
With that, Rainbow trotted towards their front, looking at her two attentive students. Scootaloo gave a salute like a loyal private to her captain, though Taciturn just stared at her every movements, already uncertain of his choice.
"First, you guys have to picture yourselves in the sky," she said, unfurling her own wings.
"Feel the wind. Know where each and every single cloud is at."
Scootaloo held back a giggle. "You're saying it like those pilots in the movies!" she exclaimed.
"That's because those words are usually true," her idol responded tactically, ruffling her wings in preparation for the flight to come as she continued:
"Take a deep breath," she stopped and did as she said, "spread your wings to your fullest and let yourself go. You gotta feel where every single tip of your feather moves and keep your cool. Then, you just..."
Rainbow suddenly leaped into the air, her students watching in amazement as she soared into the air, letting her wings take her through the pellucid daylight of the sky. Her tail lashed out a streak of rainbow, temporarily marking her trail as she zoomed past many of the clouds around her, laughing out of liberation and freedom.
The wintry, frosty air ran down her lungs, empowering her with a satisfying chill of energy. It soaked down to the very bottoms of her hooves, prompting her to raise up the speed before diving back down to the ground, landing with a near-silent crunch into the snow.
"Wow!!" Scootaloo exclaimed, her watery eyes marveling at the other mare.
"So you just have to imagine, right? To prepare for the inevitable and stuff like that, right?"
"That's the spirit, squirt!" she nudged the filly, the two laughing at each other.
Rainbow turned to her other, more reluctant student with a sinking feeling of doubt and concern, the colt generally staring at the ground with his breathing a shiver. She wasn't sure if it was from the cold, though there was a sense of qualm behind it. An aura of trepidation.
"You wanna try it out, Tassee?" she offered. There wasn't a response from him, which only seemed to disturb her.
Scootaloo was already flitting across the field, trying her best to do more than a buzzing hover above the ground. Her concentration into flying was fully-fledged; the same which she hope could be said for Taciturn.
"You know I can't leave you here alone," Rainbow said with a sigh, though the stallion merely huddled away.
"J-just tell me what's wrong! Maybe I could, well... change things a little!"
Again, he never responded, yet this time he glanced around the sky, his wings twitching noticeably.
Wait! That spark! Rainbow held her breath, knowing there was no mistake: it was the very same one lighting up his pupils! She had seen it in herself before, in front of her mirror sometimes when she yearned the fast-paced fuel of adrenaline, when she yearned the everlasting expanse of freedom.
When she yearned for the prowess of flight. The salvation that every pegasus will always have.
"So you wanna fly, don'tcha?" Rainbow asked, to which she finally received a nod. The hesitance was still there, proving her theories: that Taciturn wanted to fly, no doubt, but there was fear. It reminded her of her paranoia when she was entering the Best Young Flyer's Competition, the thought of it making her smile.
"Well, there's always a first for everything, Tassee," she chirped, sitting down with her back facing him.
Taciturn's black pupils widened, stepping backwards into the snow.
"D-Dash?" he muttered with uncertainty, realizing what his guardian was beckoning him to do.
"Come on! Just climb onto my back!" she ushered.
"I promise there's nothing to worry about, okay?"
Slowly, he crept forward, his shivering hooves clinging onto her back. Rainbow could feel his feathery weight settling comfortably on top of her, his grip on her shoulders anything but loose. His wings were anxiously flapping about, displaying his vain attempts at containing his distress.
"Just hang on tight, Tassee," she consoled; in response he gave a short whimper, forcing out a small, consoling chuckle once she kicked back her hooves.
"Here... we... GO!!"
Taciturn wailed loudly the moment they took off into the skies, soaring speedily past every single cloud in their way. His screaming grew louder once she took a sharp turn and a nose dive, his face paling a lighter shade of white like it was a roller-coaster ride.
Rainbow laughed a little, gliding through the lower levels of the air and close to the plains beneath her. She could already feel the blades of grass tingling at her skin, though not before hearing another familiar voice.
"Wait for me!!" Scootaloo yelled, galloping through the green.
"I wanna have a turn too! I wanna have a turn too!"
"Well then! Heads up, squirt!"
With that, Rainbow suddenly picked the filly up from the ground, catching her in her hooves like a pelican would do the same for fish. Scootaloo could only gasped in awe at the scenery, even more at her idol, though it was quickly reduced into a fit of giggles. Taciturn was still quivering behind her back, but he wouldn't be for long, however; it was time for Rainbow to display her own form of art.
The cyan mare ruffled her wings a little, before she suddenly lifted herself and her two passengers into the air. She sped past the rays of light and broke through a fragile wall of clouds, before slowly letting the air rush through her feathers, her wings far apart as they glided through the air.
"Look at that!" Scootaloo exclaimed from her hooves, pointing happily into the distance the town of Ponyville, surrounded by pastures and trees. In the distance was the regal city of Canterlot, ever elegant like a blooming daisy in the horizon, complete with its sprinkling waterfall streaming powerfully down the steep mountain. The heavenly rays of sunlight erupted into beams of rays, effortlessly captivating the eyes of the three pegasi viewing the breathtaking scenery.
Taciturn's head rose from behind Rainbow's back, his mouth steadily opening at the dazzling scene of nature all around him. Peering behind her shoulder, his guardian watched warmly as he started to smile, the mare beginning to do the same at her accomplishment.
"You like it, Tassee?" she asked, to which he gave an exuberant nod.
"Someday, when you'll be able to fly," Rainbow began, "you're gonna see this every day of your life. And when that day comes, you don't need to climb onto my back anymore."
Another nod, though it was hesitant. She herself felt something tingle within her chest, unsure whether it was the fickle spark of excitement, or another one of disappointment. It felt like the latter: there was a bittersweet tinge of emotion tugging at her heart.
"Just remember I'm your guardian, Tassee," she added, trying to lighten things up.
"I'm here to protect and help you. It's my job."
Black.
There wasn't a sound, nor a feeling. There was only the morbid tides of black. The monstrosity clawed at the very ends of her tail, trying to pull her back into its jaws; to drown her in its own despair.
Rainbow desperately struggled to pull free, her wings trapped by the sticky substance of black. Her eyes stung once she was consumed by it, as was her mind. Her hooves kicked and jerked about, though it was no use. With the last of her energy, she screamed the only word she could think of in her right mind, before sinking into the solitary cold.
"Tassee!!"
A loud gasp erupted through the roof of her own mouth as Rainbow jolted awake with a shock, her panting receding once she realized she was in the comfort of her own home. Cold sweat ran down her joints, tingling her skin with a disheartening sense of fear.
She wiped her eyes, lifting herself up from her bed as she trotted outside the room, trying to rid the nightmarish thoughts out of her head. Her mane was disheveled, with stray strands of her spectrum hair sticking out from its usually striped ocean, only showing the fatigue and anxiety she was under.
"Rainbow?"
"Tassee!" she exclaimed with a gasp, spotting the pale stallion perched at her balcony.
"You scared me for a moment."
Taciturn said nothing, instead resuming his viewing of the night sky outside.
Princess Luna did a great job tonight: the full moon glowed a heavenly dim light in its nocturnal splendor, enveloping all those below in a sea of dark blue. The stars that were hung around in wasn't a disappointment either, twinkling brightly and jubilantly across the black sky.
Black. Rainbow shuddered once she thought of that.
"You getting some sleep, buddy?" she asked Taciturn, settling beside the colt.
"Tomorrow might be a big day for you."
There was an inaudible murmur from him, leaving his guardian to shake her head.
"Well, you better rest up, you know," she said with a yawn, eventually giving in to her fatigue.
"You'll never know when you might nee-"
Rainbow let out another long and loud yawn, heading back to her bedroom and plopping back onto the bed, pushing the thoughts of Taciturn's well being back to her head. Her eyes fluttered once in a while, before finally closing shut, tossing her back into the discomforting sensation of sleep.
The colt merely gave her tired guardian one last glance, before gazing back at the night sky.
Rainbow hurried across her living room, gathering the various assortments of treats she had bought from the market yesterday and shoveling them all into a picnic basket whose rattan handle was decorated with a holly berry for the festive occasion. The audience watching her frantic actions consists of Tank, who was munching on a cabbage leaf, and Taciturn himself, who had already gathered some of his art things.
Oh, why did she have to oversleep today! She was supposed to have a picnic with all of her friends nearby Fluttershy's cottage, and they've even asked for her patient to tag along. Embarrassingly, the patient got ready before his guardian, seeing how the colt was waiting for her on the floor, on his right a satchel of his crafting materials.
"Scarves! Don't forget our scarves!" she hollered, reaching for the woolen wrappings hanging on the coat rack. She quickly tossed them onto the picnic basket, her mind clicking frantically like a lighter wanting to burn out any more items from the figments of her crinkling mental list.
"Anything else," Rainbow mumbled frantically to herself. "Come on! Come on! Come on!"
"Juice," Taciturn suddenly spoke, reigniting the flame of her memory.
"Juice! Ha! Of course!" she exclaimed, grabbing a carton of apple juice from the table.
"Thanks, Tassee! Now, what else am I missing...? I'm sure that's everything accounted for..."
"Turtle?"
"It's tortoise, actually." Rainbow corrected her patient, placing the juice into the picnic basket. Speaking of tortoise, Tank had already climbed up onto the top of Taciturn's wraith-like white mane with a cabbage leaf still in his mouth, the two wearing mirroring grins as they glanced at each other.
"Looks like you two are best buds already!" she said, picking up the basket.
"Come on already! We have to go!"
Soon enough, the trio started their journey, as usual, by hoof, down the same bending path through the thickets of bushes under the warm rays of the morning. Trudging through the snow, Rainbow sighed as Taciturn whistled another tune once more; this time it was 'Frosty the Snowpony'.
The cobblestone paths of Ponyville soon overlapped from the dirt roads, the two ponies trotting into the presence of the many ponies around town. There came the stares, then the soft murmurs as the ponies spotted both pegasi trotting across the town.
Taciturn started to cringe closer to his guardian at the sudden attention he was getting. Rainbow herself could understand his predicament; every stare was intimidating and pressuring her as well. Even Tank had slinked back into his shell, looking like a curvy green hat standing on the top of the colt's white mane.
"He's the one..." some murmured. "He made Pinkie's portrait," others said. Rainbow wasn't surprised that everypony knew, but the way they were approaching them was unnerving: it seemed like something out of those zombie horror flicks she had seen with Pinkie a few times before.
"Back off!" she suddenly rasped, waving her hoof grudgingly at a few ponies that were too close to comfort. If anything, their undesired attention was a little too much for her patient to bear. Rainbow held his shivering hoof tighter, trying to comfort him while they tried to fight through the growing crowd.
"Can't you see he doesn't want see any of you guys?" she yelled, flaring her wings up.
"Come anymore closer, and I'll make sure you will get hurt!"
Ignorance was what they possessed. Pure blunt ignorance.
Despite her warnings, the ponies started to swarm like parasprites, trying to get as close to the colt as possible and shooting a multitude of random questions at him, with simple ones such as 'what is your name?', to those that are just plain weird, such as 'did you fall into a vat of bleach?'. Either way, Rainbow pushed herself through the crowd, pulling Taciturn along as they waded through the treacherous ocean of ponies.
"Tassee!" she yelped, his tight grip onto his hoof severing suddenly, losing him to the crowd and falling onto the floor with a small yelp of pain. Immediately she tried to fight back, suppressing a gasp once she saw him cringing on the floor like a lost filly, encircled by the relentless ponies around him. Dropping the picnic basket, she clenched her hooves immediately; she couldn't take it anymore! She just couldn't!
"GET OFF OF HIM!!" she screamed, shunning the crowd immediately. The only sound remaining was Taciturn sobbing in his hooves, the crowd parting way for his enraged guardian to step forward.
She could feel her eyes water a little, prompting her to wipe it off before any of them can leak. How can these ponies; the ones she had known throughout her life in Ponyville, be so heartless suddenly? They and their bucking curiosity...
"L-let's go, Tassee," the mare consoled him, lifting him up to his hooves. Tank was still shuddering in his shell, to which she quickly placed onto the picnic basket. Without bothering to glance back, Rainbow left in her huff, guiding the quivering colt away from the bunch of surprised stares of the ponies behind them.
She soon breathed a sigh of relief the moment they stepped out of the other side of Ponyville, stopping to rest for a moment. Settling the picnic basket and Tank down, Rainbow soon turned to Taciturn, dabbing the tears off his eyes with one of the picnic napkins.
"D-did any of those ponies hurt you?" the cyan mare asked, to which Taciturn shook his head.
"Good," she hissed, wrinkling her snout back at the town. "If anypony does that, they're gonna wish they would have the chance to move out of town."
Taciturn suddenly took the napkin from her hooves, catching his guardian by surprise. He raised it towards her eyes, leaving her stunned as he wiped the remainder of tears from her eyes, giving her a sad smile once he finished his spontaneous job.
"Th-thanks, Tassee, I... um..." Rainbow stammered, feeling the nerves on her cheeks tingling. Was she actually blushing? She wanted to curse her emotions for that, kicking them away while she hurriedly picking up the picnic basket.
"Oh, gee! Look at the time! We have to go!"
The colt gave a meager nod, and the two soon ventured down the snow-covered road again, pushing their hellish ordeal to the very back of her head.
Rainbow wondered about his actions soon after that. Yes, his expression was deadpan, and there wasn't a trace of concern or worry on his face, but the way he gently dabbed the napkin on her cheek... she shook it off immediately. There were better things to attend to at the moment, such as the fact that they were incredulously late for their rendezvous.
"Come on, Tassee!" she whistled, beckoning the slightly traumatized colt forward.
"There's a few more of my friends you haven't met yet!"
"What do you mean? When did this happen?"
"Just before we got here," Rainbow answered Twilight's question, tending to her slightly bruised hoof she had sustained during her encumbering struggle back in town; the exact one she was talking to them about.
"They were swarming all over him like he's some fresh batch of hay. I mean, seriously! Does the ponies even care of what happens when he gets hurt?"
"Yer did what ya have to do, RD," Applejack piped in, munching on a lettuce sandwich.
"Ah can't imagine what would happen to that young fellow if yer not there to protect 'im."
"I am his guardian, after all," the pegasus remarked, crossing her hooves.
"It's just... he doesn't like attention, but his paintings were calling the shots for him."
The three discussing mares soon turned to Taciturn, who was watching blankly Rarity making a few clothes for his entertainment (at least, it looked like he was entertained; they would never know from his lack of expression). Spike was sitting right beside him, though they knew he was eyeballing more at the designer than the designs she was concocting right before them.
"And you just frill the collars a little... that's right..." they could hear her mutter, teaching the bleached colt to do so as she guided his hooves slowly across the fabric with her own. Rainbow could feel her jaw clench at the sight, her teeth gritting against each other, before Twilight suddenly let out a loud cough.
"Somepony's a little jealous~!"
"I'm not jealous!" Rainbow protested, forcing out short laughs from both Twilight and Applejack.
"I'm... a little concerned that he might explode from fright! Yes! That's it!"
"Suit yerself, RD," the orange mare said, chugging down a mug of cider.
"By the way, where's Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy? They were s'posed to be here a minute ago!"
She was right. When Rainbow and Taciturn arrived, both of their friends were nowhere to be seen (which was a little relieving by the fact that they weren't actually the latest). Tank had already fallen sleep in his shell, worn out from waiting for extra food to arrive. Twilight had presumed that they might just be finishing their errands, but as of now, she wasn't so sure.
"I'm sure Pinkie and Fluttershy would come any minute," the violet mare declared.
"Just give them a little bit of time! They'll arrive soon enough."
"Charming gathering, is it not, Taciturn?" Rarity asked the colt, who was wandering back to his guardian's side, turning back only to give a small, melancholic nod.
"A brilliantly modest pony with a flair in the arts. I can't imagine how much admirers that Taciturn would have if he ever reaches the spotlight!"
"Spotlight? Never!"
Rainbow passed Taciturn one of his favorite muffins, the colt eyeing it carefully at every single corner before munching slowly onto it. The cyan pegasus pursed her lips at Rarity's slight expression of surprise, knowing full well of the consequences of such an action to a frail pony like him.
"Tassee here nearly died of a heart attack just now!" his guardian continued.
"If those journalists keep swarming around him, I don't think he'll be able to make it out alive."
"But if he keeps drawing," Spike pondered, "he'll have to get attention, doesn't he? And since his drawings are magnificent, wouldn't that be even more attention that he can get?"
"I can't just force him to stop drawing, can I?" Rainbow said, helping Taciturn wipe a few crumbs off his mouth.
"Drawing is his talent, and it's what makes him special from everypony else."
The rest could only nod in agreement at that. They couldn't stop him from painting for good just because he has to be safe; it's a risk that they have to take.
"We just have to show his paintings in a way that everypony could appreciate and that he wouldn't be frightened by it at the same time," Twilight concluded, stopping to think.
"There might be something that could benefit both sides..."
"Twilight! Applejack!"
Everypony turned at the familiar, high-pitched screech of a voice, letting out sighs of relief as they sighted Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy galloping down the yuletide slopes, collapsing on the floor as they gasped for the soothing presence of air. Their manes were in shambles, as was their picnic basket; Spike had opened it to meet the sight of squashed crumbs in a puree of mixed icing.
"Where have you guys been?" Rainbow asked quizzically with Taciturn cowering behind her, the colt slightly startled by their surprise arrival. It was Fluttershy that spoke up first, talking beneath her heavy panting:
"We were... getting cupcakes..."
"And?" Rarity asked with concern, helping the butter mare brush her pink mane.
"What happened after that, darling?"
"There was a crowd of ponies!" Pinkie continued her friend's sentence.
"They were squeezing us like we're a bunch of marshmallows! They kept on asking me about Tassee's portrait- oh hey, Tassee! I didn't see you there!"
Taciturn merely whimpered, though Rainbow quickly rasped:
"Just get to the point, Pinkie. They asked about that ice-skate thing, and...?"
"They kept on pestering me and Fluttershy about it! I never, never, never never ever, EVER, told anything about Tassee to those crazy ponies. I mean, look what they done to the cupcakes! They ruined it! They just trampled over the picnic basket like it was nothing, and it's now just a puddle of mushy-mush!"
Pinkie suddenly bawled on the floor, prompting Twilight to quickly hand her a cloth. Spike tried to stick his claws into the basket, proving the pink mare's point as he quickly pulled out, flinging his arm about to rid of the sticky icing trapped between his scales.
"Would ya know anythin' about these darn ponies, Rarity," Applejack asked, to which the white unicorn answered:
"They're probably the art critics and journalists from the Canterlot Art Society. For example..."
Rarity reached into her satchel, placing onto the snow a small stack of magazines. She took the top one first, flipping to the side before reading a column aloud:
"L'art Mondial: we're always seeking for the best and the creative in the aspiring world of design. If there's one thing I know about the press of Canterlot, they're ambitious and covetous, and they would even betray their friends to get a story."
"That's not what's concerning me at the moment," Twilight disputed, placing the magazines aside.
"I don't think ponies can just see the painting from Canterlot, can they? That leaves me to the sole conclusion on why the press would know of this: there's a snitch in Ponyville."
Her theory met with gasps from each of them, especially from Rainbow. Who would resort to such insensitive measures just for Taciturn to receive unwanted attention? She wanted to strangle whichever callous pony that would do this to the colt. Her cheeks turned a beet red, her tail lashing around fiercely like a raucous snake.
"Just call them to pack their bags and leave!" she scowled, crossing her hooves.
"Then kick that stupid pony's flank out of town! Ask the Princess to send him or her to the moon or something!"
"I'm afraid we can't," Rarity spoke up, shuffling her magazines to the side.
"If anything, these kinds of ponies are the most obstinate of ponies one would ever meet. It would take us nearly forever to get them out of town."
"Plus," Twilight added,"we don't know who our snitch is. Whoever that mystery pony is, he or she really craves for attention. We have to dig deep a little."
"Well, I'm gonna find out who that would be!" Rainbow declared, stomping her hoof onto the snow.
"If this pony thinks that he can mess with me and Tassee like that, then bring it on!"
"I'm with you, Dashie!"
Pinkie hopped to the cyan mare's side, adopting a karate stance before shooting a flurry of jabs and hooks, the rest of her friends giggling at her actions.
"Whoever messes with Dashie and Tasse has to mess with me!"
"Ah'm with ya too, pardner," Applejack voiced out, tipping her hat.
"This pony deserves a lil' lesson for his tomfoolery."
"I'll help too! That is... if you don't mind..."
Fluttershy gave a meek smile towards Taciturn, who was already starting to paint something on the canvas.
"And of course, I'll help out through my area of expertise, and that is the irresponsibility of the media."
Rarity flicked her mane flamboyantly to the side, strutting forward as she continued:
"And as for this uncouth pony, I will see to it that he or she will held responsible for such despicable acts."
"I'm in as well," Twilight proclaimed, giving a supportive nod.
"And Spike would be helping out! Won't you, Spike?"
"You bet!"
Taciturn suddenly flipped his canvas around, smiling gleefully at the amazed looks of all six ponies (and one dragon) standing before him, their eyes glued to his recently finished painting.
It was all of them together, inclusive of him, jumping for joy in the field they were standing in. What baffled them wasn't the painting itself; it was ordinary compared to the rest of his works. It was the short time that he required to paint it, accomplishing every small detail from every strand of hair on their manes to the way their eyes glittered in the sunlight.
"Celestia..." the mares all gasped, gathering in awe at Taciturn's painting. The colt soon started to twirl his paintbrush around in the snow, dabbing the white plains in a few splotches of colors.
"How in Equestria did he do it?" Applejack asked Rainbow, who could only give a shrug, smiling proudly at her patient.
"It's Tassee we're talking about."
"He really is a sleepy fellow, ain't he?"
Taciturn nodded at Rainbow's remark about Tank, who was still asleep even as they were venturing back to their home. Surprisingly and fortunately, there wasn't a single swarm of journalists once they passed through Ponyville again, and soon enough they've emerged unscathed.
The sky was burning a mellow mixture of gold and yellow overhead, the Princesses doing their work as the sun slowly settled in the bask of the horizon, with a minuscule glimpse of the moon rising from its cracks. Snow had started falling once they reached the outskirts, coating everything on the earth under a thin coat of white.
That was a little strange, Rainbow thought to herself. Being responsible of the weather patrol in Ponyville, she wasn't notified of any snowfall from Cloudsdale. Maybe they messed up the schedule again.
Her home soon stood out in the sky, the sight pleasing their tired hooves. As if it was some routine, the cyan pegasus soon flapped her wings, with Taciturn and the sleeping Tank hitching a ride onto her back, their respective scarves fluttering about in the sunset. The colt wrapped his hooves firmly around the picnic basket and his art materials, letting out a quiet sigh as they neared the airborne structure.
"We're finally home," Rainbow declared, her and her patient stepping through the door. Placing the picnic basket onto the table, she got into her room, placing her pet onto the bed before she started stretching her wings and hooves.
Letting out a small yawn, she stepped into a grayish room, her hooves planting firmly on the dark clouds as she gave a powerful, staggering kick; in response a volley of droplets fired from above, drenching her and soaking her mane downwards before she trotted back into her bedroom.
She hummed a small, instinctive tune, reaching for a towel as she wiped herself dry, though her mane still hung low with a trace of dampness. Tossing it onto the rack, Rainbow plopped herself onto her bed, closing her eyes shut to drift herself off into the calm realm of sleep.
Except... she couldn't.
She tossed and turned about the confines of her bed, even squashing her head underneath her pillow a few times, other than the fact that it was freakishly cold, thanks to her small shower. With a loud groan, Rainbow swung her blanket to the side, rising from the bed and heading straight out of her bedroom.
The mare stopped once she saw Taciturn perched on the couch, blankly staring at the wall, or whatever his imagination was perceiving at the moment. Her hooves slowly crept up to him, before she quietly settled next to him, unsure of what to do.
"H-Hey, Tassee," she mumbled, the colt still staring at the wall. Well that went perfectly well, Rainbow, she scowled to herself, smacking her forehead quietly for not being able to muster up her courage.
"You can't sleep too, huh buddy?" she asked, this time receiving a nod, though his gaze was still fixed onto the wall. With a sigh, she huddled towards the colt, giving him a small nudge; one which he avoided easily.
"Don't worry, Tassee," Rainbow spoke softly, referring to the discussion with her friends about Taciturn's recently attained attention. Of course he had heard everything, and Rainbow figured he was pondering over it.
"My friends are here to help," she added. "You'll be fine."
The blanched colt just looked down, furrowing his brows. His guardian just gave a small sigh, before she rested her head onto the couch and closing her eyes. Her mind was desiring to sleep, but her body stubbornly went against it, the predicament only frustrating her.
"Sleep," Taciturn suddenly muttered, to her surprise.
"I'm trying too, Tassee," Rainbow replied with a shiver in her voice, contracting her wings together.
"Maybe it's the shower I had or something. I don't know..."
"Cold?" he mumbled, turning to his guardian.
"Yeah..." she gave a nod.
"Cold..."
Taciturn studied her for a while, his crossing black eyes a little unnerving to the cyan mare. He tilted his head a few times, the encroaching colt a little too close in her private border.
"Uhh... Tassee?" she quipped, her words meeting his blunt ignorance.
Suddenly, he flipped his wings open, dropping Rainbow's jaw as it fan out to its full extent. The white feathers that he shed underneath them seemed to glow in the darkness, with each end tinted a color of the rainbow.
"W-wow..." was all Rainbow could stammer, marveling at the splendor of his colossal pair of wings. It was larger than an average pegasus's, able to envelop another pony within its interior, which only proved his method of aiding her in her situation.
With that, Taciturn guided his wings around Rainbow's smaller pair, the mare shuddering the moment she felt a tingle of his feathers on the tip of her skin. The overwhelming warmth that swept over her was welcoming, and any doubts of his actions were quelled as Rainbow closed her eyes, appreciating the soothing feeling around her.
It felt so perfect. Lying on a fluffy couch, with the large wings blanketing her in a sack of warmth, shielding her from any of the cold. The colt's wings were fine and smooth, reminding the cyan mare of something... something like...
An angel.
"Th-thanks, Tassee," she stammered, unable to contain her blush. It didn't matter however, as Taciturn was already sleeping, silently snoring while her guardian gave him a content smile, nuzzling his mane.
She soon settled her head down as well, slowly closing her eyes before she too drifted into sleep, her blush still intact, albeit fading. With that, she gave him a small whisper; one that made a grin creep up from the edge of the colt's lips.
Rainbow could feel the soft tips of feathers tickling her skin, immediately stirring from her sleep. She purred underneath her breath, murmuring softly before opening her heavy eyelids to see Taciturn staring ahead, before he suddenly rose from the couch, leaving the mare behind.
"Mmm...... Tassee?" she mumbled with a small yawn, ruffling her wings a little at the protest of his departure. She stopped to watch as the colt marched towards the window, perching like an eagle on its roost with a gander at the silvery plains glittering in the first rays of daylight.
"Whatcha doing, buddy?" Rainbow asked, marching up to the colt. Taciturn just raised his hoof, pointing at a distant building standing in the outskirts of town.
It was none other than Ponyville Hospital, the place where they had first met. The sight of it reminded her of her checkup with Doctor Martingale, who was planning to check his progress, as he had mentioned when Rainbow obtained guardianship of Taciturn. After all, it's been a week since they've met, and the doctor expected an improvement of behavior from the colt.
"Dash?" he muttered, curious at his guardian's pondering.
"We have to visit the doctor, remember?" the sky-blue mare said.
"He wants to see if you got better already. Wouldn't it be great to know that?"
Taciturn just turned away, blankly staring at the floor again. Rainbow could only sigh at the degenerate response she received from him, shaking her head before heading into her bedroom.
"Tassee, Tassee..." she mumbled, then let out a chuckle as the colt ruffled his wings, reminding her of the large appendages he was possessing. They were large for an average pegasus like him; if he was not the reclusive painter he was, he could be a well-equipped performer for the Wonderbolt flight shows. It didn't seem large when he tucked them in however, and she could only question how the feathers can actually fold in.
Then there was the problem with the press. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy didn't say exactly how many groups of journalists are awaiting for Taciturn's presence, but she knew it was anything but small.
Of course, she could not forget about the snitch. It could be anypony in town, and she had already had her suspicions rooted on the higher society ponies in town, namely Filthy Rich and his family and friends. If anything, they were the largest group of black sheep in the whole of town, always up in some shady dealings with the rest of Equestria. At least, that's how she would see it as.
Maybe he or she will show themselves somehow. Twilight did mention she, along with the rest of her friends, were planning to dig deep into the situation, all the while trying to satisfy the conflicting sides of the town's craving for Taciturn's paintings, and of the colt's abhorrence with attention.
"If there was only some way..." her voice trailed off, thinking through the situation. Maybe Rarity's magazines might contain an answer; they were all about Taciturn's area of expertise, after all.
"Come on, Tassee!" she called her patient, heading out of the door with the colt hurriedly following behind, climbing onto his back. Rainbow would never understand why he was so lightweight, and probably never bothered to, she thought to herself, for it meant a lesser burden to carry on her back, literally.
Drifting down to the ground, Taciturn stepped off his guardian's back, staring at the path ahead them. Rainbow ruffled the colt's mane, eliciting a small giggle once he snorted and harrumphed a little, stepping backwards and exhibiting his displeasure.
"Seriously, though," she began, trotting down the path.
"Thanks... for what you did last night. You slept before I could say it."
The colt just beamed with a wide smile, eagerly trotting back to her side. Rainbow grinned back at him, a little happy in her heart that he was here. No doubt the colt felt the same, judging from the way he was happily outgoing around her.
"Do..." she stammered. She had been planning to ask him the question for a while now, and the answer she was yearning for had kept bugging her head.
"Do you trust me?"
The colt just looked up at her, giving a small, cheery nod.
Rainbow smiled at that, pushing her thoughts of insecurity away. She wasn't so sure after staring into Taciturn's eyes for the first time a few days ago, and was a little relieved that the colt wasn't suspecting her of anything in any way. The weight on her drooping shoulders suddenly felt lighter, ridding any misunderstanding thoughts that she had harbored against the pony that she was guarding.
"Well," she began, the two pegasi trotting forward. "You trusted me all this time, didn'tcha?"
"I guess it's time for me to do the same in return."
"Well, I can tell your guardianship has certainly improved his sociability."
Rainbow beamed proudly at Doctor Martingale's words, giving a wink towards the slightly uncertain Taciturn, who was sitting like a feline on top of a small bed, his white tail swinging about constantly.
"I must say, he has made a considerably astounding amount of progress in the last few days I have seen of him," Doctor Martingale remarked, flipping through the papers attached onto his clipboard. Trotting towards the colt, he gave his papers a few more checks, before settling it onto his worktable.
"You've really done a good job tending to him, Miss Dash."
"No biggie!" she replied, heading towards Taciturn's side.
"Got any advice for me, doc?"
"There is one," the doctor replied, his eyebrows drooping.
"I've heard of his recent... breakthrough, I shall put it, with the Canterlot press lately."
"We never were involved with it."
Rainbow's quick answer made him look in surprise, her stern, darkening expression and clenched hooves justifying the graveness of her response. She gazed at Taciturn, who was glancing around out of boredom perhaps, before lowering her voice to a mere whisper.
"He never asked for any of this to happen, and I certainly never did! Don't blame it on me, doc, and at none of my friends either. He just wanted to paint a portrait for Pinkie Pie and everypony else suddenly just noticed it and suddenly every single pony in town knew about it. Then suddenly all these problems step in and the press and the stuff about only her ice portrait was already spreading around Canterlot-"
"I've seen it, I've seen it," Doctor Martingale said passively, trying to calm her down.
"It's pretty much all over the news in town lately. In fact, I heard Sugarcube Corner was barred by your friend this morning from any more visitors."
The cyan mare could only shake her head in disapproval at the sound of that: how long were they going to pester her friend only to get the answer? If there was only some way that they could stop this madness...
"I'm trying not to expose Tassee's identity to them," she stated clearly. Instead of an affirmative nod, however, the doctor suddenly gave an amused chuckle.
"What?" she asked, not understanding the joke, if there was any.
"Nothing. Just that you gave him a nickname, that's all."
"For a good reason, y'know," Rainbow huffed, crossing her hooves.
"I still can't get his full name right. Something like Teesee... Taysee..."
"Taciturn."
"Whatever," she shot back, waving her hoof conceitedly.
"Plus, it's kinda has a ring to it. I'm not really sure what it was, but he didn't mind anyway, so it's okay."
"Oh?" Doctor Martingale started to grin coyly, raising his eyebrows in mock surprise.
"And suddenly you seemed to care a lot about him," he teased, the words making Rainbow scrunch her face up in the most annoyed, most disgusted look she could ever give.
"What happened to the brash, denying pegasus that I've met five days ago? The one that never wanted to babysit Taciturn in the first place, hmm?"
"I said I would take care of him only for him to improve!" she yelled, the sight of it making the doctor laugh quietly under his breath with fond amusement. Who does he think he is, making false assumptions like that.
"I'm his guardian, and it's my duty to protect him. That doesn't mean I actually care for him, you know? Yeah, sure, he has something exceptional, but this is seriously a little too far fetched for me. I wouldn't actually be that close to him, would I? It's not that I like him or anything of that sort."
"Mares like you kept saying things like that the whole time," he professed, pouring himself a drink. The reply only made Rainbow's snout crinkle even more with dilute irritation, the doctor nearly bursting out into a fit of laughs once her face reddened like a boiler ready to explode, before she quickly marched off, her head held high.
"C-come on, Tassee!" she ordered with a stammer, the colt curiously looking at the cyan mare before trotting up to her side, curious on their next destination.
"Let's get outta here!"
And so, both guardian and patient did, stepping out of Ponyville Hospital without another glance back; at least, from Rainbow's perspective. Taciturn did stop to look back a few times, though the mare's suddenly forceful tone pulled him away from it, fearfully trotting to her side.
The tense feeling in her shoulders relaxed once the hospital was out of their view, the flurrying heat in her head dying down as she extinguished it all out in a foggy sigh. The mare then wrapped her scarf back around, before tending to Taciturn's contrasting black one, ruffling the insides to prevent it from choking him.
"Your doctor really is a playful guy, huh?" she remarked whilst doing so, though there was no reply.
"Well," Rainbow continued, unfazed by his lack of response.
"I think he sticks his nose a little too far in between, like some ponies who don't understand whatever the hay it is you're going through. Ponies like that are just going to get themselves in trouble anyway."
"R-R... R-Rainbow...?" Taciturn whimpered suddenly, though his guardian still continued her rambling.
"And then they'll start blaming at us, trying to blackmail us and stuff. I mean, what's up with these kinds of ponies anyway? They're the ones that got themselves into their mess and they put the blame onto us, I mean, seriously, sometimes ponies need to respect another pony's priva-"
Her eyes was suddenly assaulted by a brief flash of white, followed by the familiar click of a camera. Rainbow staggered and zigzagged about the road, bumping into Taciturn as her blurry vision tried to focus itself back, her shock rising immediately at the sight of the swarming ponies around them.
"Miss Dash! Miss Dash!" the barrage of voices assaulted her, followed by the endless snapping noises of the camera lenses. She stumbled backwards onto the floor, with Taciturn cowering with fear underneath her, her face grimacing a raging black at all the ponies around her.
How in the hay did the press knew they were here? More importantly, how did they know that she was his guardian, and not the various ponies around town? That wretched, Celestia-be-darned snitch!
"Get away from me!" she yelled, shoving through the crowd with the quivering Taciturn clinging onto her back. Her raspy voice only enticed more attempts on interviewing her, which was starting to crack into her head.
She tried to fly into the air, but, much to her disbelief, a few ponies yanked her down by the tail, the searing pain from such a harsh tug throwing her into a fit of rage.
"What the hay do you think you're doing, you jerk?!" she yelled into the face of one reporter. Surprisingly enough, the pony remained his cool, raising his mic towards her as he asked:
"How were you able to cope with the meaningless behavioral patterns that Mr. Bleach is believed to have displayed?"
Meaningless? She couldn't believe her ears. Meaningless?
"I got something to say to you, and to the rest of you as well," she scowled, the reporters silenced as they braced for her sentence; one they were not hoping for.
"JUST LEAVE US ALONE!! I'm not going to answer any of your dumb questions, and I never will! N-E-V-E-R! Zip, zilch nada! Now get the hay out of my way!!"
Despite that, the reporters persevered, forcing even more questions onto her. Taciturn was already beginning to wail at the back, the sounds of his pained situation snapping the fraying strings of her tolerance. She couldn't believe it how ridiculously stubborn they were, her head screaming at her to take action.
And she did: as a wall of ponies started to pile up in front of her, Rainbow clenched her hooves, before pushing them away from her, trying to force a path through.
She never knew the consequences of such an action.
Suddenly, something whacked against her cheek. Something hard. A stone-cold blow from the side. She didn't know if it was on purpose or by accident; all that she knew is that one minute she was glaring at every angle, the next she fell backwards onto the floor, throwing Taciturn off as well.
Small tears started to leak out from her eye, and Rainbow could only stare in shock at the numerous amount of flashes around her. Time languidly slowed in her suffering, her only viable option being is to sniffle lightly on the snow.
At least, for the time being.
The fluttering flip of wings soon captivated her attention, as Taciturn suddenly stood over her, his wings flared up defiantly at every pony surrounding them. He growled menacingly whilst shielding his guardian (a bit strange, on that part), his jet black eyes squinting glaringly at each pony that stood in their way.
"Rainbow!" a voice called out, the cyan mare recognizing it to be Twilight's. The unicorn eased her way through the crowd, kneeling down to her friend and gasping the moment she saw the blue-black bruise slapped onto the side of her cheek.
"What in Equestria..."
"Get away from her!" Pinkie's voice shrilled, with the trademark party cannon of hers swinging about every single one that dared stepped closer towards them. Her concern for Rainbow Dash was evident the moment she asked Twilight:
"Is she hurt?"
"Begone!!" Rarity snarled, galloping up to them with the ponies right behind her consisting of her younger sister, Scootaloo, Fluttershy, Spike and the Apple Family. The reporters immediately huddled away at that, leaving Rainbow to recuperate with the rest of her friends.
Taciturn shed his wings back in, whimpering at his guardian's small bruise. The mare forced out a pained smile, brushing her mane aside while Fluttershy tended to her stinging injury.
"It's alright, Tassee," she muttered.
"I'm fine. Nopony could hurt this pony."
"Nopony at all..."
"D-Dash?"
"Thanks, Tassee," Rainbow chirped, receiving a cup of warm chocolate from Taciturn. She took a sip of it, the nourishing, sugary contents of it bathing her in a pool of warmth immediately, the mare letting out a breathless 'aah' of satisfaction.
"That really hit the spot."
Settling the cup onto the table, she soon reached for her ice pack again, placing it back onto her new bruise. She yelped a little once the freezing cold touched the tips of her damaged skin, though it was reduced to hissing at the stinging pain that came after that.
Her friends were all shocked on what had just happened this afternoon, with the still sensible part of the town in a slight uproar at the prospect of such an event. Twilight had already begun pressing charges against the reporters, even writing a letter to Princess Celestia and her brother, Shining Armor, about what had happened. The rest of her friends could only give a few phrases of good luck and such to Rainbow, unable to think of a way to help their friend.
"Just a darn bruise..." she acknowledged, feeling a small sting again. The more she thinks about it, however, the more her heart starts to wretch up a little at her recent ordeal. Whoever that hit her must pay, she swore to herself, though she was advised to rest and let it heal before she could do anything brash again.
"You had worse before. Just a teensy...... weensy...... bruise..."
She wanted to ask herself why. Why she couldn't force herself to accept that it was just another injury? It could've even been accidental, she thought to herself, and yet the thoughts still lingered. That, and her patient's sudden boost of heroism, leaving her all the more curious about what the colt can not do instead.
Taciturn had helped her out in a few things around her house, such as making a warm chocolate for her. Despite the wraith-like colt being the cause of this injury in the first place, she knew he was never at fault from the very start. He was too frail and too naive of the world to ever do such a thing, and that there's only one darn pony to blame.
"Snitches," she scoffed, wiping a tear off her- wait. A tear?
Rainbow frantically rubbed her hoof onto the clouds, closing her eyes shut as she whisper a few words of encouragement. "You're a strong pony, Rainbow Dash," she muttered repetitively to herself, clenching her hooves as if she was in some sort of prayer.
"Rainbow Dash?" Taciturn called for her, curious at her actions. The light sniffle that the mare elicited suddenly only brought her closer to her out of curiosity, reaching out his pale hoof to help his guardian wipe a small tear off her cheeks.
"I'm s-sorry..." Rainbow bawled out suddenly, the tears steadily trickling down her cheeks.
"Those reporters... they could've hurt you, and I was suppose to be your guardian and protect you... but... b-but instead... look at me!"
She gritted her teeth, the pressure from the existence of that bruise straining within her gut. The tears that dripped started to overflow from her eyelids, though she hid her face into the couch before Taciturn had a chance to see her cry.
"D-don't, Tassee..." Rainbow protested once the colt proceeded to nuzzle her at her cheek, his wings wrapping around her own pair.
"Happy..." Taciturn said bluntly, the mare forcing out a small smile instead, trying to rid herself of negative thoughts and satisfy her own patient as she sniffled and wiped her tears of sadness away.
"Yeah, I guess I am happy..." she responded, blinking her slightly watery eyes while leaning against his shoulder.
"So, did you paint anything today? I know everything's a little sudden, but..."
The colt's beaming face had already shown the answer, and he quickly took out a roll of paper from beneath his hooves, passing it for his guardian to see.
Slowly, Rainbow unfurled the canvas, quietly gasping once she saw the astounding, perplexedly distorted array of black and white lines on the paper. She tilted her head a little to the side, trying to picture whatever monochromatic painting he was holding within.
"What is it? I don't really get it," she admitted.
With a disgruntled sigh (a first sign of annoyance from the colt) he held the painting up like a television in his hooves, beckoning Rainbow to look at its dead center. He gradually stepped backwards and away from the cyan mare, whose puzzled, questioning looks starting to change into one of pure delight.
"No... no way...!" she murmured. Made up from the zebra doodle of lines, from afar, was the picture of a long, elegant hallway, comparable to those in the palace of Canterlot. At the sides of the walls were ornate frames adorning every part of the corridor, the royal sight stopping her breath almost immediately.
"That's a pretty cool place!" she remarked, giving him a cheerful grin.
"It's almost as if you want to... want to..."
Rainbow's face lit up immediately. That's it! That's the one!
"Celestia, you're a genius, Tassee!!" she declared at the top of the lungs, giving him a tight hug. Without even bothering to grab her scarf, she quickly zoom out of the door, leaving Taciturn to just stare at her rainbow path she was creating, muttering with a confused tilt of his head:
Taciturn just stared at the floor, guiding his own hooves through a few bales of hay and the thick trunks of apple trees as he followed the overly-excited Rainbow Dash down the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. The mare herself was chattering with exultant delight, guiding her patient down through the various ups and downs of the hillside path and approaching their destination at the end of the road: the Apple family's historic barn.
Rainbow had planned another urgent gathering with her friends. She had already briefed Twilight about it last night, explaining everything of her brilliantly fabricated plan to the bookish mare; a plan that will definitely satisfy the colt behind her and the ponies wanting to see his paintings, as well as the darn press. Of course the violet mare agreed: who wouldn't agree to such a perfect plan as that?
"Now," she muttered with anticipation, "we just have to tell the rest of them..."
The colt just stared blankly at his guardian, unaware on what her plans were. Rainbow never told him anything about it yet, and he complained by tugging her hoof every once in a while during their journey, eager to know more.
"I'll tell you when we reach the barn, Tassee," the mare assured him with a sigh.
"The rest of my friends are waiting to hear the plan too, y'know."
The large wooden doors of the red barn soon came into view. Without hesitation, Rainbow glanced around the fields, giving the door three firm knocks, pausing for a moment before giving another soft one. The loud click of a wooden latch resounded from inside, the door opening suddenly to allow her and Taciturn to step into the darkness.
"Glad yer finally make it, RD," Applejack's voice invited them inside, beckoning them into the circle. Sitting with her was Rarity, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh, in the center of them the only source of light; an antique oil lamp.
"Where's Twilight, Pinkie and Spike?" Rainbow asked, settling her and Taciturn down onto the hay-covered floor.
"They're bringing the issue of your injury to the city council," Rarity answered plainly.
"I wouldn't bother doing it, however. Those ponies are so... so air-headed... that they wouldn't even care if the end of the world is happening. You know who I'm talking about, I assume."
"Yeah..." the cyan mare's voice trailed off. Most of Ponyville's city council consists of the most money-minded ponies in town, such as Filthy Rich and Mayor Mare, among others. There were a few sensible members, such as Granny Smith (being one of the original founders of Ponyville, she had to be part of it) and its youngest member, Twilight herself, though she knew that wasn't enough to solve the matter.
"Enough of yesterday." she quickly uttered, trying not to think about it.
"I'm sure you guys know why we're here, right?"
"Eeyup," came Big Mac's reply. Fluttershy justified it by her very own question:
"Twilight said you have a plan...?"
"Yep, and it's the perfect one."
With that, she edged closer to the center of the group, her hooves gesturing about as she laid her plans out:
"So, the ponies and the press are dying to see the paintings that Tassee drew, right? But Tassee here can't handle the attention that he would be getting, right?"
"We know, we know," Applejack shouted with impatience, making the pegasus raise an eyebrow.
"Carry on already. Ah don't wanna be 'ere listenin' to things Ah already know."
"Rarity," Rainbow called her friend, the unicorn nodding immediately at the 'signal' as she reached behind, passing to the mare one of her art magazines she had brought during their last picnic. Everyone looked at her as she flipped through the pages, except for Taciturn, who had found something better to do; repetitively knocking at one of the wooden supports of the barn, not bothering to listen his guardian's ingenious plan.
"Just a sec..." she muttered, leafing through every page, before finally stumbling upon the one she desired.
"Aha! This is the one."
"The L'art Mondial Gallery of the Fine Arts?" Rarity questioned, looking at the header of the page.
"To display the greatest, most creative of what the art society can bring to all of ponykind in one location. You meant to say that your plan was..."
"Exactly," the athletic pegasus declared proudly, hovering in midair.
"We build up an art gallery somewhere in town that displays Tassee's paintings! Frame up all his previous works and put it on the walls. That way, all of Ponyville and the press would get to see his paintings, and he doesn't have to be there in the first place."
"Umm... excuse me, Rainbow... if you don't mind me asking..."
Fluttershy's meek voice, despite being nearly silent, caught her friend's attention immediately, the butter-colored pegasus popping her question:
"What about the reporters...?"
"Twilight and I are still thinking about that part. So... y'know..."
Rainbow pattered her hooves with excitement. "What do you think?" she asked her friends and, of course, the pony of the limelight. Taciturn just blinked twice, before kicking the hay beneath his hooves again; now that was slightly disappointing.
"It's a little far-fetched..." Rarity began, letting out a sigh.
"But I'll do my best. I'll begin searching for the finest venues around town this instant!"
"Count me in, RD," Applejack exclaimed, tipping her hat before giving her friend a nudge.
"Ah know Apple Bloom would be glad ta help. Ol' Macintosh would help out too, won'tcha?"
"Eeyup."
"And I'll help too, if you don't mind..." Fluttershy spoke.
"Alright! That's the spirit!"
Rainbow turned to the one remaining pony in the barn that haven't gave an answer yet; the one that was staring straight at her with his brows furrowed in an expression of dissatisfaction. She could only imagine what he was planning in his head, unsure of what to do.
His eyes seemed to warp the longer she waited, her vision suddenly dissolving into a swirling funnel of black, washing down into the oblivion like a sink. Her mouth started to creak open once she felt the choking feeling around the back of her throat again, though there was something else this time.
Water. It was definitely water.
She wanted to cough and splutter it out, yet her body wasn't responding to her frantic attempts of distress. Instead, the vice grip around her neck tightened, her vision reduced into a scintillating world of black. Everything was clawing and scratching at her, her skin wrapped around as she sank deeper and deeper into the abyss...
"Rainbow!" Applejack's voice snapped her out of her nightmarish reverie, the dazed mare blinking as she glanced around, before back at Taciturn. He was smiling, before glancing down onto the floor again, returning to his realm of imagination.
"He said yes." the farmpony continued.
"Well, not literally, but ya know what Ah mean."
"That's great," Rainbow replied half-heartedly, staring uneasily at the colt, who was glancing up at the ceiling of the barn, waiting patiently for their impending departure.
She can't understand what happened. Hadn't she got over this yesterday by talking about trust? Why was she suddenly assaulted by these horrific thoughts lately?
"Well," the mare continued, shaking her thoughts away. She had a plan to assemble.
"What are waiting for?"
"What do you mean we need a warrant?"
Twilight couldn't believe her ears, staring at the stern, azure pupils of Filthy Rich, the tense aura enveloping around them from the stringent manner he was displaying. Everypony else in the town hall could only hold their breath at the two, bracing themselves for any argument that seemed to be starting.
"You don't understand," the violet mare spoke first, wanting to scream and pull his mane out.
"One of my friends got hurt by these reporters, and they have been parading through the streets like they own this town! Even Pinkie here was never involved in anything, and yet they still tried to interview her!"
"I understand your concern, Miss Sparkle," the stallion said gruffly.
"But you have to understand that the Mayor and the city council has agreed on the terms that the press can ask questions, providing that they have a registered license."
"And no ethics of any sort?" she shot back.
"They has gone too far, Mr. Rich! They can't even show proper manners and they came barging in and spewing out random questions that nopony wants to answer!"
"Yeah!!" Pinkie added, wrinkling her snout with cold hatred.
"I spent hours trying to kick every single of those nagging meanies out of Sugarcube Corner! The Cakes and I couldn't finish all of our orders on time, all because of those annoying jerks!"
"I'm certain we can figure something out," Mayor Mare stepped into the conversation.
"But until then, any and all of their actions are deemed harmless until further decisions can be made-"
"HARMLESS?!!"
Pinkie's loud screech nearly snapped their eardrums, the pink mare stomping her hooves harshly onto the table with a loud thud, letting out a harrumph of anger while gritting her teeth.
"They've hurt Dashie, for Celestia's sake!! They've hurt my friend, and you say that they're HARMLESS?!!"
"Calm down, Pinkie!" Twilight hastily said, pulling the pink mare back to prevent her friend for lunging at the mayor and strangling her. She gave a grimacing stare at the council standing before her, scowling accusingly:
"If you want to continue with all these problems, then fine! Go ahead! All I want is to know exactly what happened, and if it was by accident or on purpose, and you keep saying you want a stupid warrant!"
"I'm afraid it's the rules of law and order, Miss Sparkle," Filthy Rich replied bluntly.
"I'm sure you would know of those rules. Without a warrant, you can't just go and investigate to your heart's delight."
"What about the approval of the Captain of Her Majesty's Royal Guard?"
The familiar voice made every single pony to turn towards the main doors of the town hall, their eyes widening in surprise and disbelief at the figure standing at the doorway. Twilight gave a loud gasp at the stallion adorning the glorifying armor before her, removing his helmet before giving her a wave.
"Hey, Twily!" he exclaimed.
"Shining!" her voice burst out, galloping to give her older brother a tight hug.
"What brings you here? Where's Cadance?"
"Princess Celestia had gotten your letter about your friend. She told me you would do something like this and... well... thought it was necessary for you to have some backup."
Shining marched into the building and towards the rest of the ponies, his head turned to the violet unicorn that was marching right beside him while continuing his answer:
"As for Cadance, she's going to come down here tomorrow, along with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Something about dealing with those who crossed the line."
"Wait," Mayor Mare cut in, her jaw starting to tremble with her ears drooping.
"All three pr-pr-princesses are coming to Ponyville? T-tomorrow?"
"Yes, and unfortunately, they're not in the brightest of moods once they have heard of the incident with my sister's friend here. I overheard some of you mentioning about allowing them to continue their acts?"
The stallion raised an eyebrow as the council ponies started to wear apologetic looks on their faces, before he turned back to his sister, trying his best to look serious. Twilight started to giggle at his attempts to do so, forcing out a smile from him as he asked:
"By the way, where is your friend anyway?"
"Right here!"
Rainbow trotted in with a proud smile on her face, guiding Taciturn alongside her with the rest of her friends following close behind, all wearing confident grins. She gave Shining a small, reassuring nod once he noticed the faint mark of her bruise on her face, before turning to Twilight.
"You told them about the plan yet?"
"Not yet," the scholarly mare admitted sheepishly.
"Couldn't get a chance to. We were too busy arguing at each other to care."
"Never mind 'bout that," the cyan mare replied, glancing at her friend's brother.
"Come to think of it, I've figured something out. Something that can fix the problem with the press wanting all these interviews from Tassee."
"Really?" Twilight asked skeptically, to which Rainbow gave a nod.
With that, both mares marched up to the presence of the Mayor and the city council, with the cyan pegasus being the first to speak up:
"You probably might be wondering why I'm here. Well, I came here to tell you just that. I'm the legal guardian of Mr. Bleach," her stomach gurgled again, "and I'm here to speak for him of the fact that my friends and I are proposing an idea; one that will satisfy the three sides: the ponies of Ponyville, the press from other towns and, of course, my fellow buddy Tassee here."
"What are you suggesting, Miss Dash?" Filthy Rich asked, her words piquing the businesspony's interest.
"Rarity," Rainbow called her friend again, the white unicorn huffing in a slight stint of irritation before pulling out the exact same magazine from earlier, passing it to the mare to reenact the demonstration of their plan once more.
She turned to Taciturn, who gave an eager nod, prompting her to continue. With a sigh, she cleared her throat, her inner voice groaning:
"Here we go again..."
"Can you believe it? I can't believe it either!"
Rainbow Dash was laughing on the whole journey back to her house at their new triumph, with Taciturn happily grinning along with her. She brushed her mane to the side and, along with it, the thin layer of snow over it. Cloudsdale still hasn't sent notifications on the unscheduled snowfall, and she would've asked around about it if not for what she was planning to do tonight, and that was to prepare for the coming day. Her proposal of an art gallery was met with affirmative nods from every council member back in town hall, permitting her and her friends to do so, starting from tomorrow.
The colt just blankly stared at her as she giggled with glee suddenly, leaving him all the more bewildered at the abruptly weird behavior of his guardian. Rainbow seemed to have noticed him, faking out a cough while she tried to control the overwhelming sensation of victory within her head, though she couldn't resist fluttering briefly into the air for joy once in a while. It feels great to win, she thought to herself and, being the competitive athlete she was, there was nothing better than this.
"Who knew that having Twilight as a friend could sometimes be so awesome~!" Rainbow cheerfully spoke, remembering of Shining Armor's powerful presence in the room. He did solve their problem between Taciturn and the press just by being there; it was the best spontaneous plan she had ever concocted.
According to the plan, Taciturn would stay in a room along with her, with Shining and his group of ponies standing guard and making sure everything is running smoothly. Only one interviewee can enter the room; the rest has to form a line if they want to get their questions answered.
Genius, Rainbow said to herself, puffing her chest proudly. Pure genius.
"Everypony's gonna love your paintings," she said to Taciturn, stopping once they were below the cyan mare's cloud house. Once again, the colt hitched a ride on his guardian's back, flying up to the building in a routine that both ponies were getting accustomed to under the golden sky of dusk.
"Finally," the mare murmured under her breath once her hooves touched the insides of her home, kneeling down to allow Taciturn to climb off. She gave a colt a small nudge; one that made him harrumph in displeasure at its suddenness, before heading off into her bedroom.
"Hiya, Tank," she greeted her tortoise, handing him a small piece of lettuce. Tank chomped and munched happily at his owner's present, looking at her with a wrinkly wide smile while she let herself fall onto her bed.
With a long sigh, she ran through the various things that had happened today. The plan was settled, the problems were dealt with, and now the ponies of the city council were expecting results. Good results, to say the least.
Rainbow rose from her bed, heading out to the living room to pack up a few of Taciturn's art materials, just in case if any of the ponies suddenly demanded for any live draw sessions or demonstrations of some sort. She knew Scootaloo would want to see something such as that; that squirt did mention a few times that she had always wanted to see him draw.
Unsurprisingly, Taciturn was using them again, his set of art tools arranged like a train while he used his ornate paintbrush; the same one that Rainbow had given to him the day they had first met.
Rainbow's heart crept with nostalgia: has it really only been eight days? With a smug grin, she sat beside the reserved colt, watching with a calm smile as he drew various strokes onto the canvas, with any emotion leaking from his lips brewed into the concentration of finishing the painting before him.
"Hey, Tassee?" the mare chirped his name, stopping him in his work immediately. With that, she placed a small Santa cap onto his head, the colt just blinking before it dropped over his eyes, the sight making Rainbow giggle.
"I bought this for you in the market," she explained as Taciturn took it off, looking at the festive headgear with a murmur of curiosity. He suddenly handed it to her, making her stop to look in pure bewilderment.
"R-Rainbow."
"What?" she asked. The colt nudged his hoof a little, wearing a pleading look.
"You want me to try it on?"
Taciturn nodded happily the moment she got his message. She wanted to say no and forget about it, probably even throw the cap back to the vendor she had brought if from, but of course, she wouldn't dare to find out what would happen to herself later on.
With a sigh, Rainbow plopped the cap up onto her rainbow mane, smiling once he started to sway jubilantly about while he was sitting on the floor. She suddenly gave him a wink, before the pair burst out in a slight fit of laughter, rolling about the floor with their bodies convulsing rapidly.
It wasn't long before they died down, leaving them to lie on the floor to gaze at the puffy ceiling above them. Rainbow still held her smile, passing the cap back to her patient as she asked:
"Do you like it?"
There was a nod, with Taciturn reaching his hooves out like an eager foal wanting to be hugged by its mother. The fuzzy feeling of its furry exterior made his smile ever wider, hugging it tightly with a loud squeal of delight; one that she had never heard from the colt before.
She glanced down at his unfinished work, pursing her lips at the possible cleaning up she had to do later. The ghostly colt was too busy enjoying his new cap to continued his painting; it wasn't long before he placed it onto Rainbow's mane again, catching his guardian by surprise.
"What the hayyyyyy-!!"
Rainbow Dash suddenly felt herself being yanked forward, the soothing feeling of warmth suddenly enveloping the whole of her body as Taciturn gave her a thankful hug, his wings wrapped around her. The mare just widened her eyes in bafflement at the sudden embrace, her cheeks blushing a deep red once she realized what was happening.
Her eyes darted down to Taciturn's face buried in her chest, the colt wearing a beaming, cheery smile. Her wings ruffled a little, before he finally let go, wearing a bright smile while the mare tried to process what had just happened.
"Um... thanks for the hug, Tassee? I g-guess...?" she stammered, trying to find her words to say.
"That's uh...... very nice of you! Yes! Very nice to give me a hug and such..."
Taciturn trotted back, turning to her once to give her a happy smile. Something tingled her heart once she saw that beaming face of his; something that made her lips just curl despite whatever problems she thinks she's having. Rainbow didn't know what it was, but it felt comfortable... and so right...
Blinking once more, she watched as Tassee resumed his painting again, now wearing the Santa cap on his head. The ornate gift that she had bestowed to him waded through the gloppy puddles of paint, before he carefully used the tip of the bristles to carve out a portion of the painting. Rainbow soon patted him on the back, letting out a small yawn while she headed back into her bedroom.
"Goodnight, Tassee," she muttered, closing the door. Taciturn stopped to turn once she shut the door, before smiling happily, with a tint of pale scarlet reaching down the tips of her cheeks whilst muttering out what he could recall from memory, the thought of it only stopping to grin with realization at the wall.
Rainbow Dash nodded at Scootaloo's comment, the orange filly mesmerized by every articulate stroke that Taciturn produced on the canvas, her captivated expression reminding the cyan pegasus of the first time she had seen him back in the hospital. She smiled proudly at the patient, who was touching up the final portions of his painting, still wearing his Santa cap on top of his head.
They were in the Carousel Boutique, along with Applejack, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, anxiously waiting for Rarity's return from her trip to find a suitable place for their upcoming gallery. Taciturn had already finished five paintings to add to his collections ready for display tomorrow during their wait, only making them wonder if he would ever be depleted of any of his creativity and ideas.
"There goes number six..." Applejack muttered once the colt placed his brush down onto the table, before he proceeded to place it next to the window to dry. It was a little different from the rest of his paintings, consisting of retro-like circles filling the background and vectored, chromatic shapes flourishing from the corner, bursting out like a fountain in a panorama of colors. Despite that, it was amazing all the same to them.
Taciturn beamed with satisfaction at his creation, before settling back down onto the boutique floor, having sated his desire to paint. Rainbow gave a chuckle and teasingly ruffled his mane, the colt harrumphing almost immediately.
"Got tired, huh?" the cyan mare asked the blanched pegasus, who was staring at the door.
"Don't worry, bud. She'll come back with some good news. I hope."
Taciturn whimpered in response, his impatience already starting to shine through. He wasn't the first though; the anticipation was already getting to each of their heads while he was still painting. Apple Bloom was the first to crack, letting out a loud groan.
"When is she comin' back?"
"I'm already here~!" cried Rarity in a singsong voice, stepping through the doorway. Everypony's faces lit up once they saw her dance flamboyantly into her own boutique, settling right beside Sweetie Belle whilst wearing a beatific grin.
"We have our venue!"
The rest of them (except, of course, Taciturn) started to murmur with delight at the news, all rising up to the edges of their hooves once the fashion designer placed down a few photographs of the interior and exterior of their intended location, her friends taking a look while she explained:
"It's a two-storey manor around the outskirts of town, just across the marketplace. The width of it is adequate for a two floor gallery, and there will be a solitary room for the interview on the bottom floor, as planned."
"However," Rarity added, "it's in a state of disrepair, I'm afraid. The upper floor is on the verge of collapse, and there are putrid holes everywhere! The walls are just plain filthy and, for Celestia's sake...... the dust all around it..."
She suddenly sneezed, her horn glowing a pale blue to pull out a tissue as the rest laughed at her dilemma.
"But we can fix it, can we?" Sweetie Belle asked, gazing at her older sister with uncertainty.
"Are you kidding me?" Rainbow rasped confidently, crossing her hooves with her head held high, "Of course we can! We just have to tidy it up! It'll be easy with everypony's help!"
Flapping her wings, the sound catching Taciturn's attention immediately, she headed towards the door with an intrepid grin, peering back at her shoulder to shout:
"Come on!"
"We got a house to renovate!"
The excited murmurs and chatters from the crowd that stood before her was stunningly huge, as Rainbow Dash looked down at the residents of Ponyville from the podium she was standing on, unable to comprehend how many of the townsfolk had agreed to help out.
Taciturn was roosting right beside her, trying his best not to let out a loud scream once he saw the numerous amounts of ponies standing before him. The cyan mare assured him they were all here to help, however, and that was the only thing he needed to hear from his guardian.
"Hey, guys!!" Rainbow exclaimed into her microphone, the crowd responding with a loud, jubilant wave of cheers. She had never felt more excited about something such as this in her whole life.
"How are you all doing today?"
Another loud cheer, with many of them flailing their hooves vigorously about. The mare laughed at the sight of all the laughter and joy in around her, before she asked what's considered more important for the rest of her now. She turned to Twilight, who was also on the stage, giving her a nod; in response the violet mare beckoned her hoof to proceed.
"Now," she began, "I'm sure all of you guys know what we're here for, right?"
The crowd gave their nods. Without further ado, Rainbow pointed her hoof to the looming, derelict structure standing on top of a hill behind her: the very same one that they were planning to renovate.
"That," she yelled earnestly, "is the big boy! The one that we're gonna build back up before anything can break it down! You came here to see Tassee's gallery, but that will never happen unless we get this show on the road!"
"Come on, everypony!" she yelled, leading them up the hill.
"Twilight," she called to her lavender friend, who was responsible for organizing the renovation, just like she was responsible for organizing everything else in town.
"Your call now!"
"Alright," she began, clearing her throat while she announced from the list she unfurled in her hooves.
"Applejack, get Daisy, Cherry Berry, Bon Bon, Lyra, Pokey, Caramel and your family to deal with the bottom floor. Fluttershy and Rarity, the both of you are in charge of decorating along with Octavia, Vinyl, Pokey, Sea Swirl, Raindrops, Twinkleshine and the other unicorns or Earth Ponies not in charge with rebuilding the lower floors. Pinkie, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle & Scootaloo, all of you are in charge of refreshments for everyone with the Cakes, and Rainbow..."
"Fix the upper floor and roof with Cloud Kicker, Cloudchaser, Flitter, Thunderlane, Blossomforth and the rest of the pegasi!" the cyan mare exclaimed, giving her friend a salute.
"Got it!"
And so, every single pony set off to do their given jobs, with Rainbow heading towards the roof along, leading a group of pegasi following right behind her, all of them carrying sacks on their backs and toolboxes in their hooves. She smiled excitedly once she gazed down at the focus of the task, hovering herself down onto the cracking slate surface. Mimicking her motions, the rest of the pegasi did the same, awaiting for any orders from their assigned leader.
"Let's get fixing!" she cheered, swinging a hammer in her hooves as she settled onto the first gaping hole in the roof, slotting in a few slate tiles she picked from her sack. With that settled, Rainbow started hammering away, prompting the rest of them to do the same.
Soon enough, the sounds of construction filled the air, blaring into a cacophony of pounding hammers, cranking wrenches and, of course, the cheerful chatter of ponies everywhere. It wasn't long before Rainbow had to check up on Taciturn, who was probably watching the going-ons downstairs.
When she finally saw him, he was doing just that, though his glance constantly flickers between the busy scene and the easel on his lap and paintbrush in his hooves. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were huddling underneath his wings like he was a big, plushy teddy-bear, watching with wide smiles on their faces.
"Hey, guys!" she called out to them, earning their attention.
"You alright, Tassee?"
Taciturn gave a cheery nod, resuming his painting. The sight was heartwarming to her; it's not an everyday sight to see three of the most active fillies she had ever met quietly staring and admiring his work. What was more unusual was that he doesn't seem to mind their presence at all, only making her wonder if he got over a little bit of his reserved nature.
"Whatcha drawing, buddy?" she asked in a bout of curiosity, to which he turned his canvas over, revealing the painting of the three alicorn princesses: Celestia, Luna and Cadence, standing regally from one of the balconies of the palace and looking down at the city below them, shining brightly under an unfinished, mellow, golden sky of evening.
"It's like that Hearth's Warming Carol!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed happily.
"Which one?" Apple Bloom asked.
"There's so many carols Ah'm not sure exactly which one ya talking 'bout."
"You know! We Three Princesses Of Equestria Are!"
Breathing in loudly, the filly unicorn strode to the center of the room, stealing the attention of every working pony there. All eyes were upon her, opening her mouth as she started singing:
We three Princesses of Equestria are! Bearing gifts, we traverse afar; Field and fountain, moor and mountain Following yonder star.
O Star of wonder, star of night! Star with royal beauty bright; Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy Perfect Light.
Born a Princess on Canterlot's plain; Magic I bring to crown Her again. Princess forever, ceasing never, Over us all to reign.
O Star of wonder, star of night! Star with royal beauty bright; Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy Perfect Light...
As if on cue, there was a small knock on the door, prompting Twilight to gallop towards the door and opening it, her face lighting up in surprise at the three ponies standing there.
"Princess Luna!" she exclaimed gleefully, allowing the cerulean alicorn to step inside, the princess of the night giving the lavender unicorn a warm smile. The ponies inside gave their bows once she entered the house, her head held high. Shining soon stepped in next, giving his younger sister a smile, and right beside him was none other than...
"Cadance!"
"Hey, Twilight!" her sister-in-law replied joyfully, giving her a tight hug before glancing around at the construction happening around her, slightly intrigued by their work.
"Look at what you guys are doing to this place!"
"It's for the special pony everypony's talking about. This way."
Twilight beckoned the two princesses and her brother forward at the direction of Rainbow, who gave them a welcoming, jubilant wave, with Taciturn refusing to glance up at them despite his guardian's attempts to coax him.
"Princess Luna, Shining and Cadance, this is Taciturn Bleach."
"I've heard," Princess Luna spoke with a solemn expression, gazing down at the shivering colt, who was gripping forcefully onto the Santa cap with his gaze still glued towards the floor.
"Celestia and I had been planning to meet him once we're here."
"Speaking of Princess Celestia," Rainbow asked, "where is she?"
"She's at the Town Hall right now," Shining answered with a stern tone, revealing the graveness of their mood.
"She's currently having an audience with the press and your uh... snitch. It's better we don't mention the details. As for the snitch, the pony will be remained anonymous, so as to prevent any trouble; in which case we hope you would understand."
The rest had no choice but to agree, judging from Princess Luna's darkening grimace, already making her feared expression more intimidating that it was. Cadance suddenly cleared his throat, before asking Twilight:
"So... what's with the musical?"
The lavender unicorn was startled at what she meant, until she saw the working ponies singing along with their job around them, shaking her head at Sweetie Belle; the ringleader behind their spontaneous ploy.
"They got a little carried away, maybe," she muttered, a little amused at the sight.
"At least they're still doing their job. The building's gonna be finished in no time!"
Frankincense to offer have I, Incense owns a Princess nigh; Prayer and praising, all ponies raising Worship Her, Celestia most high
O Star of wonder, star of night! Star with royal beauty bright; Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy Perfect Light.
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume. Breathes of life of gathering gloom; Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, Sealed in the stone-cold tomb.
O Star of wonder, star of night! Star with royal beauty bright; Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy Perfect Light.
Glorious now behold Her arise, Of the sun, the moon and the stars at night. Hail Equestria, Hail Equestria Earth to heav'n replies
O Star of wonder, star of night! Star with royal beauty bright; Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy Perfect Light.
Another knock on the door soon sounded, prompting Twilight to gallop back again.
"Princess Celestia!" she called the pony's name, letting her teacher in. Immediately, the singing stopped, with everypony giving a prestigious bow, their voices echoing out 'Your Majesty' at her benevolent presence.
"Please, my little ponies," she ushered with a grin, her mane sparkling brightly.
"Continue your singing."
And of course, everypony did; at once, the sound of music and singing filling the air again, keeping the brief tenseness of the atmosphere at bay. The alabaster alicorn immediately trotted towards Taciturn, giving him a serene smile despite his aversion to her gaze.
"Taciturn Bleach," her voice murmured softly and consolingly, kneeling down onto her slender hooves while her sparkling mane danced around the cold air, her lips edging into a smile.
"I'm a friend."
"Rainbow," was his mere response, turning instead to the said mare. Rainbow Dash stepped forward at that, giving the alicorn a bow, before tending to the colt. She could feel Princess Celestia looking at her bruise, her taut gaze starting to make her shoulders tense, her ears drooping slightly.
She suddenly felt Taciturn's hoof reaching out to her, gasping silently once she felt it on her bruised cheek despite the colt himself staring blankly ahead the floor. He started to smile, the sight prompting Rainbow to do the same as well.
"He trusts you more than me," the princess said, the statement making the cyan mare turn in surprise.
"Justice has been served, Rainbow Dash. The both of you will be safer now."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," the mare replied, with Princess Celestia giving an understanding nod.
She quickly turned back to Taciturn, nudging him at the shoulder while the three princesses and the rest of her friends watched quietly at a distance, huddling away slowly to leave them alone with warm smiles on their faces.
"You hear that, Tassee?" she muttered, the two exchanging happy smiles. Rainbow could feel her eyes water a little, though she didn't bother to wipe them off; it felt better this way.
"No one's gonna bother you anymore."
"You're safe now..."
"Almost there... almost there...!"
Rainbow couldn't blame Pinkie's hyperactivity on the transpiring events that were unfolding. No mistake, it was an exciting one, and one that every pony in her vicinity was expecting. Even the three princesses were gazing at the night sky, mentally counting the time in their heads.
She peered at the back of her shoulder, smiling triumphantly at the finished structure of the art gallery, which was completed only half an hour ago. Now, they were all huddled in the snow, awaiting the very celebration that was coming to all of them.
The children were all asleep already, too tired from their contribution to the renovation (especially Sweetie Belle, whose throat was slightly sore from five rounds of singing during their whole project). Taciturn had also fallen asleep already with his art tools at the side, leaning onto Rainbow's shoulder with a light snore, the sight only tingling his guardian's heart.
A small cough made her turn, immediately facing with, much to her dismay, the three alicorns that had came to visit. She settled her patient slowly onto the mat they were sitting on, before quietly trotting towards the group, unable to look at their frowns.
"Does it hurt?" Princess Luna asked first.
"Not so much now," she softly muttered her reply.
"Thanks, I guess..."
"Taciturn Bleach would say the same," Princess Celestia spoke, giving a small nod.
"He trusts you as you trust him. He adopts your mannerisms and shows them in his own way. You are the only key that could connect him to the rest of us."
"Wh-wh... what're you saying?"
"He sees you as a special pony, Rainbow Dash."
Princess Cadance gave a smile; an encouraging and soothing smile that lightened her mood by a little. Just a little, yet it was fulfilling already. In return, the cyan pegasus gave her own smile, turning to her patient.
"Just as you see him, don't you?"
"If you mean guardian to patient, yeah..." she said with a shrug.
"But I'm not really that into him! He's just somepony that makes me happy."
"Don't lie to yourself, my little pony."
Princess Celestia's words caught her off guard, though there wasn't a hint of anger or frustration within it; there was only a forgiving tone, a good-natured one. She furrowed her brows as well, trying to give her message clearly.
"Taciturn Bleach trusts you more than he trusts the three princesses of Equestria. Some call him special and talented. Some call him degenerate and worthless, but I myself call him the future."
"The future...?"
"What he sees in you is what he trusts, and he, being such a wondrous pony of surprises, he knows what he sees, and he wants to show you what he sees. The question is, are you going to open your heart to him?"
"I-I..." Rainbow stammered, unable to give a smooth response.
"I just... I don't know... he's..."
"I see fear," Princess Luna's dark tone suddenly spoke, shunning her immediately, the mare gulping loudly while she step back on the mat, being careful not to trip over the sleeping colt.
"It came in black. It tried to seize you. To steal you away. To rip the innocence that you see in Taciturn and form an enemy you never wanted."
"Look, I appreciate all the advice," Rainbow began, smoothing her mane.
"But I can't really do much to alter the future or something, right? I'm just a pony! You... you guys are alicorns! You know what to do, when to do it!"
"And yet we are all but ponies."
The three of them soon stepped away, with their leader giving a small, languid nod, leaving Rainbow to look on in bafflement, unsure of what the triumvirate had just said.
With a shrug, she quickly sat back down beside Taciturn, brushing the ruffled mane of the colt to the side with a warm smile. The crowd around her started counting down loudly, though she never bothered to gaze up at the night sky; her attention was more onto the sleeping colt that she was assigned to take care of.
"Ten...! Nine...! Eight...!"
"Tassee..." she muttered, picking up his cap and his ornate paintbrush from his hooves. The colt stirred a moment, whimpering with disappointment once the items left his hooves, which flailed about in a blind attempt to get them back, before settling back in the solitude of sleep once more.
Her hooves gripped on a small mug of cider, forcefully chugging it down while her cheeks and jaw squirmed at the bitter taste. Taciturn suddenly gave a light snore, pushing out a giggle from her immediately, the mare nearly choking on her drink as she did so.
"Seven...! Six...! Five...!"
"Trust..." Rainbow murmured, placing the cap onto Taciturn's head while she absentmindedly stroked his mane, the colt stirring about before letting out a smile, voicing out his comfort.
He's the future, she thought to herself, remembering Princess Celestia's words from their recent conversation. A future... to what? A solution? A boost in the art industry? Some password for releasing a few nuclear warheads to destroy the remaining Changeling nests? She groaned at the last one: for Celestia's sake, she couldn't think straight.
"Four...! Three...! Two...! One...!"
Whatever it was, Rainbow promised an oath to be his guardian, and he's not going to break it, no matter whatever future or legacy he has been carrying. Like they had said, he trusted her with his life, and she did the best she can to help out. Look at the gallery behind your sore flank, she wanted to yell at a mirror.
"Happy New Year, Tassee..." she murmured with a grin, pushing the thoughts away. It didn't matter when Taciturn's around; all it matters is that he's safe, and that he would finally have what he wanted.
The fireworks started exploding over her head, filling the sky in a sparkling array of lights. It was a majestic sight, with the ponies around her letting out 'ooh's and 'ahh's of delight at the spectacle; one she only stopped to look at for one mere second, being disturbed by the questions she was pondering in her head.
He would finally have what he wanted. That doesn't sound right. She doesn't know his intentions, and he doesn't usually tell them the way that everypony else would. Rainbow sighed, asking him even though he was already in his deep sleep, the mare a little frustrated to know the answer to that one question:
Rainbow suddenly jolted up from her bed, panting heavily whilst her hooves clenched tighter on the sheets of his bed, her back tingling from the cold sweat running down it. Realizing where she was, she let out a long sigh, before flipping her blanket over, with one hoof reaching up to rustle her mane to the side.
She unfurled her wings, feeling the wintry air rushing through her feathers. Rubbing her eyes, the mare headed outside and onto the balcony, breathing in the fresh air of morning and, with that, the start of a new year. A new day. And, oh, what a day it was going to be.
"Rainbow," a voice uttered, prompting her to turn around with a soft smile at the other pony.
"Morning, Tassee," she muttered, letting out a small yawn.
"Ready for the gallery yet?"
The white pegasus nodded, though he suddenly tugged her hoof excitedly and insistently, earning a look of surprise from his guardian. He started to snort and whinny, his actions making Rainbow chuckle.
"Okay, okay... geez..." she said, pulled by the out of her bedroom by the colt.
"I just woke up, y'know."
Taciturn released the grip on her hoof once they were in the living room, scurrying to the couch with a joyous grin as he raised something that Rainbow blinked twice in surprise to, letting out a gasp of amazement.
It was a black tuxedo, fashioned out of the sleekest fabric she had ever seen, complete with buttoned collars, two small slits at the back to slip his wings in, and a white dandelion flower dangling below the chest pocket. In it was a small slip of paper, beckoning Rainbow's curiosity to pull it from the pocket and unfold it.
"My dearest Rainbow Dash," she read it aloud.
"This is a gift I have prepared for Taciturn for today's special occasion. I hope it finds you well, and that he finds it specially adequate for his debut. Yours will be ready along with the rest of ours. I can't wait to see the both of you there, darling. Love, Rarity."
"Wow," was all that she could say, looking at the elegantly furnished tuxedo that was in Taciturn's hooves, the colt looking at it with an inquiring look on his face. She helped him brush any specks of dust that dared dwindled on its black surface, glancing up to the owner of such a fine suit.
"Well, go on!" she exclaimed eagerly. "Try it on!"
And, with a small humph of displeasure, Taciturn went into her bedroom to change, prompting Rainbow to settle onto the couch, sighing between amusement and pity at the colt's new present, before her thoughts settled onto what they had been planning since yesterday.
The gallery was scheduled to open as soon as both of them touched down onto the front doors, and the whole town couldn't wait to see them cut the ribbon or whatever they had to do for the opening of the new building. They had already framed the paintings inside, and were all ready for display, which only fueled the anticipation rushing up to her head.
"R-Rainbow..." the colt's voice muttered, catching her rapt attention.
Her jaw dropped in awe at Taciturn, who was glancing at the floor in his contrasting, glazing tuxedo, a little uncertain at his appearance. His wings were wide open in a saintlike display, his mane brushed to the right side, covering a part of his bashful face, which was already starting to blush.
"Y-you look..." she stammered, feeling her own cheeks tint pink, "h-handsome..."
Wait! Did she just said it out loud? In front of him? Take it back, Rainbow Dash. Take back what you said, you dummy, her inner voice screamed at herself. Oh, for Celestia's be-darned sake...
With no other choice, she gave a light cough. "Figuratively sp-speaking of course," the mare added sheepishly, "Don't get any funny ideas, you got that, Tassee?"
Taciturn just beamed with a nod, before placing the Santa cap on the top of his head, making Rainbow giggle.
"You're gonna wear that everywhere you go, huh?" she asked teasingly, taking it off and placing it onto the bed.
"You can wear that later. We have to get going before-"
Her voice stopped once she saw a bunch of rolled papers sitting on the couch, piquing her curiosity almost immediately as her eye caught a portion of its colored surface. She wandered to her couch, reaching out with the intent of discovering the secrets within, though not before Taciturn suddenly snatched it away, the colt giving a small, hostile growl.
"What is it?" she asked in bewilderment at his suddenly aggressive behavior, before chuckling in realization.
"It's a secret, isn't it? Something you don't want anypony to see in the gallery, huh?"
Taciturn gave a reluctant nod, settling the group of paintings back down on the couch.
"Even you would have a secret stash," Rainbow remarked, shaking her head while passing him his scarf. His affectionate smile returned almost immediately once she did so, tucking his wings back in.
"Come on, Tassee," she called, opening the door and inviting him outside.
"We don't wanna be late for the opening!"
"I declare the Gallery Of White..."
Rainbow held her breath once Mayor Mare said those words, guiding Taciturn slowly towards the large ribbon, noticing his sweat crawling down his forehead with his eyes staring fearfully at the giant scissors in his hooves, his tuxedo already starting to dampen from his anxiety. Slowly but surely, she helped him lift his hooves up with her own, before the blades are positioned, waiting along with the crowd for the three words to be uttered out.
"Come on, come on, come on, come on...!" she muttered under her breath, suppressing her impatience once every slow second passed by, before the moment came.
"Open for business!!"
Rainbow then brought Taciturn's hooves together, the slicing sound of stainless steel onto the red fabric of the ribbon cuing the cheers from everypony in Ponyville and beyond. Every single pony, be it Earth pony, unicorn, pegasus or alicorn (which there were only three present), soon swarmed into the realm of Taciturn Bleach, marveling at the figments of his vivid imagination.
Many of his previous paintings were hanging in gleaming frames on the whitewashed walls; namely the ones of Canterlot, the dotted painting of Tank and, of course, the photos of the ice portrait of Pinkie Pie; the one that propelled him to fame in the first place. There were some new ones that Rainbow had never seen before, such as one of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo building a snowpony (she realized it was made up of swirls once she got a closer look), Rarity and Twilight having a small game of chess and Applejack and herself sledding down a steep hill.
Pure irony, she thought to herself about the last one. Pure, coincidental, irony. Without further ado, she brought Taciturn into what was supposed to be the pantry if it weren't for their renovation, settling him down onto a luxurious chair while she poured two glasses of water for them, placing it onto the glass table that stood before them. Shining had originally planned to place a few guards along with her, just in case anything sparks up suddenly, though she had requested not to; it only adds to the tenseness of the situation.
Soon enough, Rainbow spotted a few prestigious ponies, to whom Rarity would've known by name, trotting and examining the various paintings around them carefully, giving remarks and gestures to one another that the cyan mare wished she understood, knowing how the colt she was taking care of will respond to criticism.
Their first pair of interviewers soon arrived, donning on their vests their identity cards, the shield logo pasted on them telling Rainbow of their origins; one which she raised her eyebrow at.
"L'art Mondial..." she murmured its name out. She couldn't believe it: even the most powerful of art societies had come down here to take a look at Taciturn's creations, probably debating even the possibility of such a drastically rare form of the talent! Slowly, they shut the door, having been notified of the scrupulous rules that were set around here by Twilight's brother and the three Princesses themselves and not wanting to risk any banishment to the moon, or worse.
"It's okay, Tassee," Rainbow muttered once Taciturn elicited a whimper at the sight of the two strangers before him, already starting to back away if not for the mare's gentle yet firm grip on his hoof.
"They're just gonna ask you some questions, and I'll make sure they won't lay a single hoof on you."
That was enough to assure him, the same words escorting him back onto his seat before they resumed what they considered really important (at least, for the reporters) after Rainbow herself settled onto a chair as well. One by one, their list of questions were uttered out, the reporters asking things about inspiration, creativity, stuff around the lines that Rainbow wouldn't understand if not for Taciturn's input to her, and her resulting output to them. Their voices echoed around the soundproof room, leaving all those waiting outside to cringe with anticipation as their turn came.
Soon after they left came the next pair. And another. And one more after that. It wasn't long before both of them grew tired of the endless raid of questions; soon enough both of them stood up from their respective seats, heading out into the bustling crowd of visitors to get something for lunch.
The fact that it was already midday was a little surprising for her: there seemed to be no significant reduction of guests at all. Everypony she passed gave a welcoming greeting to her and to Taciturn, his brief exposure to his admirers of the day starting to lull him out of his reticent shell.
"Ya hungry, buddy?" she asked, in which he gave a nod. He could probably contend in Equestria's Record for the most nods in one day or such, she thought to herself, seeing how that's nearly his response for everything.
"Boy, I thought you two would never come!!"
Rainbow laughed at Pinkie's statement once they reached the food bar, giving her friend a hoof bump. She settled Taciturn on the stool while the party mare poured for them two chocolate frappes, topped with a colored, paper parasol on top of the brown creamy mountain and a pink straw jutting out, bending down low like a coconut tree
"So how's the interview?" Pinkie asked, hungrily gobbling up a blueberry muffin.
"Is it fun?"
"Not. At. All," Rainbow replied in a sarcastic, deadpanned tone, before the two mares burst out in laughter.
"In fact, it's a little too boring for my taste."
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly, her face lighting up with recognition.
"Twilight wanted me to remind you about Tassee's live drawing session later! It's coming up in about a minute or so!"
"Right...!" the cyan pegasus hissed, smacking her forehead.
How can she forget about this? Every single pony must've been dying from their patience to see this colt paint. It's no wonder that all of these ponies stayed behind: they wouldn't want to miss a special opportunity to catch him flourishing in his glory of a talent for all of them to see.
"I'll get down to it in a sec," she continued dismissively, finishing the last of her dessert.
"I just need to do a couple more stuff. Get this fellow ready and we'll start."
"Right! Ooh~! Wait!"
Rainbow sighed, turning around again to see Pinkie shoving a box into her hooves, cutting her off before she could start speaking. The pink mare wore a bubbly grin of pure excitement, enlarging by the minute as fast as her friend's eyes widened at the sight, knowing that there's only one thing it could be.
"We all have one! Go on!" she screeched happily, her friend only able to give a vindicating cough.
"Open it! Open it!"
"I... think I know what's inside."
The cyan pegasus shook the box, hearing the tussled ruffling of cloth, confirming her beliefs of its origins. Taciturn just looked on, perplexed as the mare kept glancing about nervously, uncertain of what to do.
"Pinkie," she called out hesitantly, pushing the colt towards her.
"Wh-why not take Tassee to the session now? You know, the two of you together, amazing everypony here......? I'll... I'll catch up w-with you guys... um... later..."
"No biggie, Dashie!" Pinkie cried with a salute, guiding Taciturn towards a stool in the center of the audience forming in the room. He kept looking back yearningly at Rainbow, who was swerving through the crowd and back into the interviewing room, wondering what could be disturbing the usually confident pegasus pony that he called his guardian.
Rainbow would've blurted out to him as well, if she wanted to lose her dignity, her mind told her. She shut the door with her stare glued to the box, unable to understand what to do with it. Of all the occasions in the world, Rarity, she wanted to curse. Of all the occasions....
Reluctantly, she lifted the lid from the cardboard box, holding her breath once she saw the folded, white garment that was laid neatly inside, the mare raising it up to let gravity unfurl it, the resulting sight only making her blink.
It was a white gown, the sequins on the waist-ribbon sparkling like dewdrops on a plain of woven gossamer in the crack of morning. Its velvety surface swirled alluringly once she turned it around, the frilled skirt tossed in an invisible ocean at her movements. She could never imagine having a dress this fashionable in her household, much less putting it on, which seemed to be the case now.
Her cheeks reddened as she slipped her hooves into the glossy interior, straining to fit through its slightly suffocating collars, before her head emerged at last with a pop, her shoulders straining around to get used to the formal attire.
"Where's the darn mirror..." she hissed, glancing around the room before finding a tall one standing at the corner. She wanted to gasp at herself once she saw her detestable reflection; in her opinion, it seemed that she looked too royal. Too vain.
Too... too girly...
The door opened suddenly, with Rainbow suppressing a yelp of surprise once she saw Taciturn slowly stepping inside, having finished his short art session and escaping from the taut demands of autographs and frenzied voices into the safety of the silent room, guarded by the stallions of the princesses' royal guards. The moment his black eyes landed onto her, they widened almost immediately, before darting away nervously, making his guardian chuckle.
"I know, right," she muttered whilst shaking her head, stretching her hooves in an attempt to get accustomed to the tight gown she was wearing, glancing awkwardly onto the floor.
"This isn't right for me... At all..."
"Rainbow..." the colt murmured, creeping closer towards his guardian with a hearty smile.
"Pretty..."
"Wha...?" Rainbow cried suddenly, her cheeks turning a faint scarlet once she felt him nuzzle his cheek, the mare too stunned to be able to give a plausible response.
"Alright, Tassee..." she nervously spoke after a brief minute of silence, "that's a little too much patient-to-guardian thankfulness."
Despite that, his black eyes suddenly locked fiercely onto her magenta pupils, freezing her on the spot once his face came closer. She wanted to step back, but her body never listened, only increasing her frustration at doing so. Slowly, Taciturn advanced closer and closer to his guardian, his cheeks turning a bright pink as he stared longingly into her.
"Dashie..." he muttered softly, leaning closer to the mare.
"Wh-what..." she stammered hesitantly, "what are you doi-"
Her response to his suddenly strange behavior was silenced as their lips met with a jolt, with Rainbow only able to widen her eyes once she saw what he was doing. She squirmed and cringed uncomfortably on the spot, inadvertently protesting and wanting to free herself from her kiss; one that her hooves flailed recklessly about to get away from.
Her breathing slowed to a standstill as time passed, her eyelids turning heavy and, in the end, closing as the mare started to feel it; the flame within her gut. Their interlocked lips threshed against one another, tinging her heart with that of passion and pleasure. Her cheeks blushed furiously the longer they moved on, Rainbow reaching her hoof up to caress a side of the colt's ghostly face; in response, Taciturn ran through her hoof through the spectrum ocean of her mane.
"Tasee..." she moaned in their kiss, feeling everything around her. The sensations danced like lights once their lips descended deeper, fueling their lust with raw, pure pleasure that razed through their heads, clearing out any wisps of problems and difficulties away.
It felt so right... it felt so... so... perfect. She wanted him, she needed him. She.. she l-lo... she lo-lov...
Something snapped the thread suddenly, shock forcing her eyes open like a crowbar and shattering into the fine moment. Rainbow suddenly pushed herself away from him, carelessly tumbling back before tripping over, tumbling onto the wooden floor with a loud yelp of pain.
Taciturn quickly knelt down to the mare, who was grunting forcibly as she clutched her hoof tightly, cussing inaudibly from underneath her breath. He reached out his hooves to lift her up, though the mare suddenly pushed them away, catching him by surprise.
"Don't touch me," Rainbow hissed grudgingly at him, shunning the colt to silence immediately.
"Stupid... stupid... look what you've done, Rainbow..."
"Dashie?"
"Don't call me that!!" she screamed into his horrified face, pushing him away.
Rainbow tried to brush her frazzled mane down, wanting to return it back to its original state, though Taciturn tried to step in to help again, making her harrumph in displeasure. She jerked his hoof away once it got close to her, the repetitive attempts at doing so drilling into her head.
"So you wanna help now, huh Tassee?" she scolded sternly, retching her face up into a twisted expression of pure rage, devoid of any pitiful mercy for the other pony.
"So you think just because I'm your guardian, that means you have to go all lovey-dovey, right?"
"I never asked for any of this!!" she yelled, forcing him back to the wall with growing fear, unable to understand whatever that was happening.
"I spent my life guarding you, and that's my job. That's how we remain. Nothing more from there. But no! You just had to cross the line. You just... you... you just had to!"
"R-Rainbow...?" Taciturn whimpered fearfully, cringing towards a corner with tears falling from his eyes.
"You think all this time that guarding you was just plain fun? You think all this time that having you in my house was a worthwhile experience? You think that I would agree to be your guardian because I... y-you...l-love me? And I would just... l-love... l-lo-loved y-you back? That I'll let you wrap your wings around me while we sit down on a cloud waiting for the next sunrise together? Well, think again, Bleachface!!"
Rainbow wiped a small tear from her eye, marching across the room and towards the window, the colors of sunset illuminating her indignant face. She slid it open with a loud bang, the sound jolting the cowering Taciturn in his desolate position. Gazing down at the cringing colt in the corner, she wanted to scream at him even more, but she couldn't find any more words for him, her heart sinking once she heard the faint sounds of sniffling from underneath his mane.
"Just... j-just go back to Canterlot..." the mare stammered coldly, turning away from him, unable to meet his teary gaze.
Her decision was made; one she had feared to let out ever since she took care of him; one she promised herself never to say to the colt right before her.
"I don't want to be your guardian anymore."
And with that, she sped out through the window and into the darkening sky, her tears flying about in the wind along with the snow and her dress fluttering about. Rainbow cried and sniffled once she left the vicinity of the building, heading straight for the one place that she wanted to hide: home.
Her airborne house came into view, the mare zooming through the door and slamming it shut (with a puff, due to the fact that it's a cloud by itself). She started sobbing, stopping only to wriggle herself out from her dress, before she tossed herself onto the bed, crying loudly with her face buried in the sheets.
Tank crept to his owner's side, tilting his head in bewilderment at the sudden return and the depressing state of the mare. He gazed down with his black, beady eyes, unsure of how to comfort her.
"L-leave me alo-lone..." she whimpered in her plaintive sobbing, having detected his presence. He remained silently still, though she suddenly glanced up, her tear-strewn face warping and contorting into the darkest, most aggressive glare she could ever muster.
"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!!"
The loud, bellowing shout was enough to send him scurrying quickly away from her wrath, before Rainbow resumed her despaired wailing and sobbing, muffled by the puffy clouds she was lying upon.
How did it come to this, her mind forced out from the millions of questions tunneling through her. Why did this happen? What made everything fall apart? She couldn't figure out the answer beneath her drowning ocean of tears, still trying to fight back those that remained in her eyes. Her hoof reached around instinctively,stopping once she felt the unmistakable fluffiness of cotton. Without hesitation, Rainbow yanked it towards her, her trembling breath stopping and her eyes widening once she realized what it was: the Santa cap that she gave to Taciturn a few days ago as a present.
"Ta-Tassee..." she whimpered, hugging herself and the cap tighter in her broken, solitary state, crying herself to sleep.
None of the ponies in town had heard from Rainbow Dash since yesterday evening.
It was afternoon when the cyan mare finally woke up, rising from her bed slowly with fresh tears still lingering within her bloodshot eyes. Her lips were straight without any trace of emotion; all of them had been washed away in her ravaging state of despair. With a grunt of pain, she lifted herself up, pushing away the dampened cap on her chest and limping out of the solace of her bedroom where she had hidden since the events of last night.
Her eyes glanced around at the cupboards once she was outside, picking out the white container of some salve from the miscellanous of items she had stored inside. Sniffling lightly, she gritted her teeth as she settled herself on the couch, popping the lid open with a trembling sigh.
"Darn it..." she hissed, rubbing the cream onto her searing, sprained hoof she had sustained from her fall after her... she shrugged it off. Now's not a good time to think about it, Rainbow. Now's not a good time. You're a strong mare. Don't let it get you down... just... don't... think... about...
Her hollow cavity of her heart started to sink, her breath shivering as the familiar sensations of the past flashed back into her: the happy smile on his face... the grateful hug... the soft, soothing feeling of his powerful wings around her...
The... kiss...
"Tassee..." Rainbow whimpered his name softly, feeling the tears tingling down her face again. Tank crept to his owner's side, glancing helplessly once she started to cry, curling up her hooves and burying her head within them. She let herself fall to the side, wanting to lay her tired head onto the couch.
Her eyes sparkled with tears as she glanced at the door, just waiting, wanting for it to open and see the colt step inside again. "Please come back..." she prayed silently, yearning to see his face once more. She would've hugged him, cry in his chest and let out a thousand apologies, along with a confession: that she doesn't want their relationship to be constrained to mere guardian and patient; that she had missed him for the whole night in her restless sleep, the whole time staring at the Santa cap that he left behind.
That she wanted him more than she could ever have thought of...
"I love you..."
Rainbow broke down again, stung by the deepest of regrets. She was a wretch to scream at him like that, she thought to herself amid her loud sobbing. She was an idiot to leave him alone. And when he returned his feelings... she just... she just...
Her shivering breath stilled, her eyes catching a neat train of items in the corner of the room. Out of curiosity, she limped towards it, dragging her sprained hoof along the floor, gasping quietly once she saw what it was.
They were Taciturn's paintbrushes, arranged in a zigzag-like pattern. It acted like a borderline crossing, encircling a few rolls of paper: the secret stash of paintings that the colt refused to show to anypony. Even to her.
"He's gone now, Rainbow... he can't do anything about it..." she muttered assuringly to herself, taking the canvas and limping back to the comfort of her couch, not wanting to strain her hooves any longer. With that done, Rainbow let out a sigh, unfurling the rolled up painting within her hooves.
Her eyes immediately widened, her jaw dropping as she saw a painting of herself smiling back at her, her mane flourishing underneath a painted sunset. It looked enchanting... she looked enchanting, more than she could ever see herself to be. Her surprise grew once she saw a small, white heart at the bottom right corner
The rest of his stash all depicted her as well, with the same heart drawn onto in the various stills of the situations she was in: there was one where she was soaring through an euphoric sky with a wide grin on her face, and another where she was sleeping silently on her bed (she shuddered at the thought on how the painter got that one), but the most captivating of all was of her wearing Taciturn's Santa cap and giving a cheerful wink, her mind recalling on how that came to be.
"I bought this for you in the market."
"R-Rainbow."
"What? You want me to try it on?"
Rainbow chuckled at her recollection, though it quickly disappeared soon after, leaving her to swallow up her despair. The paintings of her once cheerful self stared back at her, as if mocking her in her current situation from the past.
"If I only knew..." she muttered, staring at the various artwork around her.
"That you were in love with me before all this time..."
Tank suddenly nudged his owner's shoulder, stopping her in her pondering. The mare blinked in surprise once she saw what the tortoise was biting in his mouth: a small piece of paper, its size minuscule compared to the giant artwork surrounding her.
She unfurled it open to see another painting of her hugging another pony: the creator of this artwork as well, adding yet another fascinating piece to his collection. Her heart lingered with hopeful yearning once he saw his whitewashed, beaming face again, aching with one desire, her hooves clenching tighter.
"That does it!" Rainbow declared, settling the small painting alongside its colossal counterparts.
"I'm going into town to find Tassee and get him back!" she exclaimed her plans aloud, her pet smiling at her returning determination; the one thing that made her special from the many ponies in town.
"Even if he doesn't love me anymore. Even if everypony would laugh their flanks off at me..."
"I'm his guardian, and if anypony wants to stop him from what he wants, I like to see them try!!"
"What do you mean he disappeared?!"
"I was going to ask you the same question, Rainbow!"
Rainbow could only look in shock at all five of her friends, unable to understand the news that Twilight had just gave her. She returned to the gallery to expect the colt to be there waiting for her, but all she met was the confusion and bewilderment erupting all around, with many asking where the painter was ever since their disappearance last night.
"I thought the both of you went home early or something!" the lavender mare continued.
"Everypony kept asking around to know where the two of you have gone, then suddenly you show up the day after, and now you're saying he's not with you at all?"
"Look, Twilight. You won't understand-"
"Whadaya mean, RD?" Applejack interrupted before she could continue, eyeing her friend.
"Last Ah heard from ya was the night b'fore. Ya can't just disappear like that when everypony around 'ere was wantin' to see ol' Tassee work his magic."
"Plus, it was utterly rude," Rarity added.
"I wouldn't leave our guests unattended, especially when they came to see his exhibition. I understand that Taciturn's a pony that's easily abhorred by crowds, but it would be unfair to others to just snatch him away, would it not?"
"Can you just let me talk for a sec?"
Her friends immediately stopped their chattering once she said that, allowing the mare to clear her throat. Her head whirled through the endless outcomes that could come out from this, knowing that there will be not a single chance that she would get away with this.
"I..." she began, relieving herself with a sigh before moving on, "I d-did something stupid. Something awful-"
"Ooh, ooh! Lemme guess! Um... bungee jumping down a staircase! Err... water-skiing on the fountain of Canterlot! Destroying the moon! Um... uh... Burning Twilight's library-!"
"Stop it, Pinkie Pie!" she yelled, shaking her head at her friend.
"Tassee... he did something. Something... and I blew up over his face from it..."
"What?" Twilight started, unable to believe what she had just heard.
"You screamed at him?"
"I didn't mean to! I didn't want to! I just... I can't..."
Rainbow's head suddenly started spinning, the mare stumbling towards the ground suddenly and making her five friends gasp with Applejack and Fluttershy catching her just in time before she hit the floor. Neither of them could ever imagine seeing their usually confident and proud friend being broken to such an extent, especially when she started to cry, cowering on the floor with her whole body trembling in ravaging depression.
"All h-he wanted was for somepony to love him back!!" she screamed, more at herself than at her friends.
"All he wanted was me! ME!! The stupidest, MOST DISGUSTING MARE in the WORLD!!"
"Don't say that!" Applejack protested, trying to console her sobbing friend.
"Ya din' know that he loves ya. Ya din' know he was tryin' to show ya-"
"WE KISSED, APPLEJACK!!"
The rest was shunned to silence at the words of her deafening voice, rendering all of them speechless at what the sobbing pegasus had just shouted out in a fit of rage. Her heart tingled with the darkening clouds of guilt, her tone softening immediately as she continued stammering:
"We k-kissed... we ki-kissed...... then... then I don't know... I just... lost it......"
"Why would you lose it?" Twilight asked, unable to understand the recent turn of events.
"The both of you kissed, right? The both of you liked how it went and whatever, right? Then what went wrong?"
"I freaked out..." was the small reply that Rainbow could muster, though her friends beckoned to explain, knowing that it was something more than just 'freaking out', and she did so hesitantly:
"I fell in love with him, yet... a part of me said it was a bad thing. That I had to be stuck with him my whole life and give up any hopes of freedom. That I would be chained to him and just... can't break free thanks to... him."
"But... I'm sorry to interrupt, but... if you don't mind me asking..." Fluttershy finally spoke, asking her friend a question:
"Wouldn't it be great for you that he would be with you? Since you loved him so much, you would be happy with him, wouldn't you?"
"What's the use of talking about it, now that he's gone...?"
Rainbow just wiped her tears away, letting out a quivering sigh while her friends huddled around her, trying the best to comfort her. She stared down at the ground, wanting for some miracle to just happen: to whisk her away from this nightmare and find Taciturn sleeping peacefully right next to her.
She gazed at the white blur outside the window, the harsh weather pelting against the glass pane. The pegasi in Clousdale notified her of the snow machine going out of control lately, causing a giant, harsh blizzard across Ponyville and throughout the stretches of Equestria. All the ponies from Canterlot (including the Princesses themselves) had to stay here for the time being until the machine can be fixed, and her friends were holed up in the gallery to brave through the snowstorm, though the cyan mare herself couldn't care less about a broken snow machine right now.
"Pray that he would be safe..." she muttered.
"Just... pray..."
"Twily!" a voice called out suddenly, snapping them from their reverie as the said mare's older brother galloped up to her. He blinked in surprise once his eyes spotted Rainbow alongside the violet mare, his lips curling into a smile.
"Well, that's one pony down, I guess?"
"Huh?" the cyan pegasus uttered in bewilderment.
"What do you mean?"
"When I found out the both of you were gone, Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadance and I asked Shining to send out some guards to search for the both of you."
Twilight then turned back to her brother, asking him frantically:
"What is it?"
"The guards have spotted somepony that matched Taciturn's description."
"Tassee?"
Rainbow suddenly sped up to him, grabbing him by his shoulders before any of her friends could stop her. Her magenta eyes widened once the news sank into her head, her heart prancing over a beat at the thought of the news. Taciturn's still around, her inner voice exclaimed in disbelief. She still has a chance!
Then, realization struck her, glancing out at the roaring snow outside. If Taciturn's out there, wouldn't that mean...?
"Where is he, Shining? Where is he, where is he, WHERE IS HE, CELESTIA DAMN IT?!"
"Cr-crossing the western fields...!" Shining stuttered, startled by the pegasus's brash behavior. In a split second, she pushed him aside, galloping towards an open window and readying her wings, letting out a whinny of delight.
Rainbow slid the window open, letting the roaring snow in as the fierce winds tossed her mane about, with snow thrown along its forceful gale of air and into the gallery, forcing her to shield her eyes from the cold pellets of frost. There seemed to be an endless field of white beyond her; with everything being obscured by the snow, she could only imagine how to navigate through all those without falling down.
Though it didn't matter right now.
"Rainbow!! Wait!" Twilight screamed, halting her desperate friend before she could take off.
"You can't just go out there!"
"Twilight, I-!"
"What if we lose you?" she cried above the howling winds, throwing her friend into a state of decision; one that the cyan mare had hated ever since she was born.
"We can't risk you out there, Rainbow! It's too dangerous!"
"Don't you see, Twilight?"
Rainbow stomped her hoof defiantly, proving her rebellion against her friend's words. All of them: Twilight, Shining, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy could only stare in disbelief as she turned to face the raging storm outside, her wings fanning open as she said:
"I screwed up! I screwed it all up! I don't want to see him out there when I can get him back, Twilight! He needs me...!"
"And... I need him..."
"RAINBOW!!" her friends screamed before they can pull her back, as the cyan mare zoomed out of the window and into the fusillade of snow, ravaging her with both its force and frost. She squinted through the blinding white, trying to see through the curtain to where she was going, and hopefully to be able to see the colt from here.
She swerved to the left once she saw the obscured silhouette of Canterlot in the distance and, with a grunt of annoyance, she took a sharp u-turn back to the direction where her house would be. Fighting against the monstrosity, Rainbow held her breath as her wings battled through the raging tides of white, only hoping for Taciturn to be safe.
"Hang on, Tassee..." she muttered beneath the hellish roar of the blizzard.
"Dashie's coming for you..."
Currents of snow swirled around the pitch black darkness as Rainbow Dash drilled a turbulent passage through the bowels of the freezing gales, the mare looking down at the ever-shifting landscape of white below her while she traveled in the darkness of the night.
It was a long time since she had took off, the blizzard blazing even more powerfully as her wings fluttered frantically through the cold, her eyes scanning at every possible thing she could see in her field of vision. That colt might be anywhere, she thought to herself, unable to break through the whipping curtain of snow.
"He has to be here... he has to be here..." she muttered, hovering slowly to the ground. Perhaps she could get a better look if she was down on the ground, she thought to herself. It'll save up a lot of strength from her frantic flapping of her wings anyway.
Hovering down to the coated plains, her hooves crunching in the snow, she trudged through the desolate snowstorm, her teeth chattering at the deep-freezing temperatures that surrounded her, her body shivering from the sight. It wasn't long before the puff of snow sank down like a cliff, with any step beyond that would be a slip on the smooth surface of ice.
She was at the lake, Rainbow thought to herself, reminding her of the last time they came here. The mare crossed her eyes and shielding from any threatening assaults of snow, gazing ahead at any shadowy figures standing out from the blur of white.
Her breath stopped once she saw the body of a pony perched on the middle of the lake, her suspicions confirmed once she got a glimpse of his face. She nearly jumped with ecstasy at the sight of his white figure and his large wings wrapped around him in a makeshift blanket, nearly camouflaging in the backdrop of raging snow.
"Tassee!!" she called out, earning his attention immediately. His black eyes just stared into her, though he didn't budge. His mouth was straight as a ruler, devoid of any sort of emotion on his face once he spotted her.
"Tassee, it's me!" Rainbow tried again, limping down onto the frozen lake. "It's your guardian!"
There wasn't a response. She limped closer, desperately wanting to apologize to him and sort everything out, her only setback being her sprained hoof, and a large setback it was.
"Tassee! Come on!" she beckoned him over, wishing that she had brought his ornate paintbrush. Despite that, the colt did not move, staring unnervingly right into her, the cyan pegasus trying to ignore whatever intimidating stare he was giving.
"Can't you listen to me? We have to g-"
The ice below her hooves suddenly shattered apart, the mare plunging into the freezing recesses of the lake immediately. Her eyes widened with fear, her hooves flailing frantically about with bubbles rapidly rushing out of her mouth while she gave a choking cough. Rainbow tried to kick herself up, though the searing pain in her sprained hoof only made her howl in pain, the water gushing into her mouth as she sank deeper and deeper into the darkness.
Her heart pumped anxiously, the mare trying to reach for the glittering surface of her escape route. The cold strangled her, tying her down in her agonizing struggle for life. Her desperate hooves turned numb, starting to slow in their movements in her losing battle against her situation, which gradually ceased once she felt the life seeping out of her. The water gushed into her throat, her head starting to spin as her eyelids became half-lidded, her mouth leaking out a few bubbles as her vision started to fade away...
The last thing she saw was the empty, seemingly infinite blackness of the abyss below her; the same swirl of oblivion that she had seen in the deep trenches of Taciturn's black pupils. She let herself go: her thoughts, her feelings, her dreams as she was drawn deeper into Death's black tides, lulling into an eternal sleep.
Her ears twitched suddenly, detecting the gurgle of something, or somepony, jumping into the lake. She suddenly felt a hoof around her, her eyes detecting the faint image of white feathers as she felt herself being hoisted to the sky.
Was it... an angel...?
With a loud splash, Rainbow soon emerged from the darkness, coughing and wheezing the water from out her throat. Droplets of water dripped from her mane and colt as she weakly turned to her savior, feeling his soaked wings tenderly grasping around her body, covering her in a coat of warmth.
"T-Ta-Tassee..." her mouth chattered, glancing at the smiling colt, who was shivering feverishly as well.
"I'm so h-happy to see you again..."
The colt gave an agreeing nod, before they glanced into the snow with one, single, refreshing thought in each of their heads: it was time to go home.
Rainbow couldn't walk, thanks to her injury, though Taciturn obliged by carrying her on his back instead, the colt fighting through the blizzard as he marched through the blinding snow. She gripped onto his wings tightly, which was convulsing and flapping violently from the freezing temperatures around him, trying her best to warm him up as well.
Together, they trudged through the white hell, the colossal blizzard never receding as time passes by languidly. Everything was covered in the blinds of snow, with the pair only able to guess where they were going, or at least that's what she thought.
"You kn-know the way, Tas-Tassee?" Rainbow asked, to which she received a weak, trembling nod. Of course he knew the way, she thought to herself: he has a bloody wicked memory, for Celestia's sake! Slowly but surely, they climbed up the side of a hill, battling through the wrath of winter, before the mare's eyes lit up in the horizon.
"P-Ponyville..." she muttered, seeing a halo of lights inviting them. The shadowy shape of thatched houses and buildings soon came into view, once they got closer, only confirming her deductions.
She couldn't believe it! They made it! They actually made it...!
Taciturn suddenly fell forward, the mare letting out grunts as she tumbled down the hill, with the colt following right behind. She opened her eyes once the ordeal was over, now looking into the colt's eyes as she did so, his shivering, foggy breath becoming shallower and shallower by the second, complying along with her own.
"T-Tassee...?" she called him, the colt just staring back at her. With that, she reached out her hoof, gripping tightly onto Taciturn's own cold ones.
"Are... are y-you scared...?"
He could only give a feverish nod, to which she replied weakly.
"Just remember I'm here, T-Tassee... I'm your guardian, and will always be your g-guardian, okay...? Be brave now, T-Tassee... be br-brave..."
"Dashie..." was all that he could respond, his eyes watering for hope, before he slowly closed them.
Rainbow tried not to tear up as much as she tried not to give in to the cold, her grip on his hooves even tighter while she felt her heart being torn apart. Her breath a shiver, she edged closer to him, giving him a small peck on his cheek and a nuzzle in his mane, hugging him tightly around with her hooves in his wings, whispering softly:
"I love you too, Tassee..."
With that, she too closed her eyes, letting herself drift in the sensations of the blurring lines of dreams and reality. Of course, she took a peek at his face once more, before hesitantly closing them again, her shivering lips edging into a smile.
They were together. Finally together. There's was nothing more she could want. Even if they were freezing up in the snow, even if they were losing their battle to the wintry cold...
Both guardian and patient were together, and there was nothing more they could ever want from each other.
She heard them. She heard them all in the darkest hour.
Echoes in the dark of white, calling out to her... reaching out for her in when her body struggled between the bonds of life and death, scratching desperately at the very walls of her dying conscious closing in onto her.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to shout to them: the dancing wisps of light in the obscured horizon. They had never been so far away from her before, and yet they only grew further... and further...
Was she moving, she thought to herself, questioning the feeling of the world shifting around her, and to where? Into the trenches of death itself? Is that where she was destined to go? To the next world beyond her plane of thought?
Fighting is pointless, something jabbed her with those words. You can't turn back, it continued. You can't go from where you came. Give up your struggle.
One word popped in her head. One familiar name.
"T-Tassee..."
"She's waking up!"
"H-huh...?" Rainbow murmured, stirring her eyes about at the bubbly voice of excitement that responded to her.
She voiced her surprise with a gasp as she saw the delighted faces of the five of her friends sitting around her, finding herself under the maroon sheets of a hospital bed. Her three hooves were completely bandaged up, with the exception of the left one on her front pair, leaving her unable to stand. Her wings were wrapped up as well, probably sustained from the fall she had while rolling down the hill.
The cyan mare suddenly felt her friends pulling her into a tight group hug, all of them laughing with relief. She couldn't believe that she was alive herself, blinking and rubbing her eyes a few times to confirm it.
"See?" Pinkie squealed gleefully and triumphantly, hopping around the room.
"I told you she would wake up! I knew it! I knew it! I knew-"
"Shhh......!!" Nurse Redheart hissed, popping her head into the room.
"Miss Pie! This is a hospital!"
There was a brief moment of awkward silence once the nurse left, before Rainbow turned to her friends, wishing this wasn't a dream. She rose from the covers of her bed, gazing around the room she was in with an alleviated smile on her face. There were only two possible ways that this was happening: either she was found by some ponies or she's actually dead. She sure hope it wasn't the latter.
Her worries were gone as she noticed Twilight limping towards her, the lavender mare giving a sheepish laugh once she furrowed her brows. Fluttershy's wings were messed a little as well, and Applejack had a small but noticeable bruise on the side of her body.
"You guys... c-came to save me?" she asked, unable to believe her own words.
"Sure betcha, sugarcube," Applejack answered with a warm grin.
"Ya don't think we just gonna leave ya in the cold now, huh pardner?"
"Why, it would be simply unthinkable!" Rarity's voice stepped in.
"To leave a friend dying in such a desolate place when you have an opportune time to save her... I would wallow in my bed all night with remorse at such a heartless act!"
"Then there's those meanies!! Those Timberwolves!!"
Rainbow stopped to look in shock once Pinkie said that, though her hyperactive friend didn't bother to notice it, continuing whilst her hooves clashed against each other, the lower hoof receiving the mock punch from her upper one.
"They tried to get to you, but we showed them who's boss!"
"Eeyup!" Applejack added. "Thanks to Fluttershy here."
Being the modestly humble mare she was, Fluttershy started to blush, shaking her hooves dismissively.
"Oh... it was nothing much..." the butter-colored pegasus said softly, letting out a smile.
"But how did you guys know where I was?" Rainbow asked, still puzzled.
"I could be anywhere in the snow! There's no way you would know where I am in the blizzard."
"Exactly," Twilight answered.
"I knew you would fly out of the window if you heard any news of Tassee being outside, so I placed a trace spell on you, to make sure. And boy, was I right. Then we ran into those creatures and... well... things got a little ugly. For the Timberwolves, I mean."
"No kidding," the cyan mare laughed. Then she stopped, her eyes widening immediately, her friends glancing at each other uneasily once she did so. Her vexation was driven to the top of her head once she remembered about her patient, her desperation to know his condition forcing out a stammer; one that the quintuple of the mares before her couldn't give a suitable answer.
"Wh-where's Tassee...?"
"How... how did this..."
The fresh tears in her eyes weren't enough to display the shock claiming her body at the sight that laid before her, the mare unable to grasp onto her cracking emotions when she glanced upwards at the bed, her body confined to a wheelchair due to the condition of her hooves. Nurse Redheart had guided her to this room and left her with none other than Doctor Martingale himself to look after their unconscious patient.
Taciturn was on the bed, trapped within an entanglement of wires attached onto his body. On his face was an oxygen mask; one she had only seen before on ponies that were stricken with coma. She wheeled her closer towards him, stopping beside the slow, rhythmic beeps of the monitor, clutching hopefully onto his hooves.
"How is he, doctor?"
Doctor Martingale's face was grayer than the receding clouds outside, flipping through the various printed notes he held in his hoof. There was a slow, languid sigh, placing the mare in a sense of dread.
"Tassee will make it, wouldn't he?" she asked, fearing at the answer.
"Doctor...?"
"I... I'm not sure..."
"What d-do you mean...?"
Rainbow's eyes welled up with tears once he gave his response. There was no way that he would...
"What do you mean?" she asked again, her shivering voice more firm. "He will be fine! I made it out of the snowstorm, doctor. Wouldn't he be able too as well?"
"You managed to escape because you're athletic."
With a sigh, the doctor settled down onto a stool, rubbing his temple with one of his hooves, trying to strain out the pressure of the situation he was under.
"Taciturn had spent his whole life in the seclusive environment of hospitals ever since he was young. He has no exposure to any exercising or working out of any sort, Miss Dash. Plus, you broke three of your hooves and fractured your wings; you barely managed to survive yourself."
"So what?" she yelled defiantly.
"You're just gonna watch him go? You're just gonna LET HIM DIE?!!"
"I tried the best I can!" the doctor shouted back, groaning distressingly as he guzzled down the small glass of beer he had prepared, the burning sensation in his throat forcing out his grief in the form of tears.
"I couldn't save him... it was too late..."
"His brain stopped functioning a minute before you arrive," he further explained, earning a look of disbelief from the other pony. Her tears started to drip onto the floor once he said that as he poured himself another glass, wanting to get this over as soon as possible.
"He's now on life support. The most I can give him is twenty minutes tops. If he doesn't wake by then... I'm sorry..."
"I d-don't understand...!" Rainbow stammered, her voice trembling.
"You can't just... he might... wake up! There must be another way.... THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY!!"
"It's the only way now." the doctor replied solemnly, placing a hoof onto the despairing mare's shoulder.
"Taciturn tried his best to fight, Miss Dash. To fight for his life back. To fight for another chance with you."
Rainbow turned in surprise at that, with Doctor Martingale letting out a chuckle.
"I knew he was in love with you ever since you took him in as his personal guardian. He was mesmerized by you ever since he met you, and was willing to do anything to get you. Even in his special complications, Taciturn understands love like every other pony."
"They said that the color of white is the union of all seven colors of the rainbow."
With a small sigh, the doctor rose from his seat, settling his glass of beer down onto the table. He gave a hearty chuckle at his own words and the look on the mare's face
"Now, I myself don't know much about physics," he remarked, "but I know that Taciturn fell in love with you not just because he likes rainbows, but because he sees you as the mare he wants to be with. And right now, he's suffering, Miss Dash. You might not see it, but inside he's fighting a losing battle and there's only one way to save him."
Rainbow just whimpered, clutching tighter on Taciturn's hooves, before she feverishly said:
"I understand......"
"Alright," came the reply as Doctor Martingale stepped towards the door.
"I'll give you some time alone with him," he said, quietly closing the door behind him, leaving only her and her patient in the room.
She let out a shivering sigh, her tears dripping onto the sheets of his bed while she edged closer to him, forcing out a breaking smile with her hoof brushing the side of his face.
"Hey Tassee..." she muttered.
There wasn't a response, hearing only his breathing amplified by the mask clamped over his mouth.
"It's me..." she tried again, gripping his hooves tighter.
"It's D-Dashie... remember...?"
Taciturn laid there still, having submerged in the black halcyon of unconsciousness. Rainbow could feel his pulse through his hooves; it was slow and faint, but at least it was still there.
"If you could just hear me..." she began. She felt like a novice doing this, her wall of confidence starting to crumble, drilled under by the torturing emotion of despair. Her head hung low, she clenched her eyes shut, trying to trap any falling tears that dared to leak out from her tear ducts.
"I... ever since I met you..." she began. That was a good start, she told herself.
"I thought you were a special pony. You h-have an incredible talent in drawing, you see things that many ponies don't normally see in their lives, and when I became your guardian, I was amazed at the things that you can do... that many ponies can't do..."
"Of course, along the way I helped out a little: letting you meet my friends, buying you gifts. stuff like that, but in the end, you helped yourself more than I could ever think of."
"I was foolish!" she spat suddenly, clenching tighter at his sheets as her heart wrenched up again, stinging her with regret and grief. She sniffled and hiccuped onto her tears, feeling an endless waterfall trickling down her face before she tried in vain to wipe them off.
"I called you a 'Bleachface', Tassee! I mocked you for your painting of Fluttershy! I shouted at you for using my ice-skates! Heck, I even pushed you away when I knew I was in love with you! That's right! I WAS IN LOVE WITH YOU WHEN I SCREAMED AT YOU!! AND WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
There wasn't an answer from him, though Rainbow responded to her own question in his place.
"You did nothing," she murmured soberly, trembling in her wheelchair, her head facing down with her eyes closed, shielded from view by her mane hanging low over them.
"You still stuck by me. You still smiled at me. You still saved me in the lake when I've could've drowned to my death inside. And now, look what happened... look where it all lead up to......"
"I... I will never call myself a worthy guardian..."
Sure enough, she broke down, burying her face into the sheets of his bed and dampening them with her remorse. It seemed to last for years, even though it only lasted for a short moment. Rainbow screamed everything she could think of at herself in that time frame, her voice muffled by the mattress of the bed.
"I'm s-sorry......" she whimpered, her tear-strewn eyes gazing at the colt.
"I'm sorry it c-came to this... but if you c-could just w-wake up..."
The sun was shining outside now, the pegasi having solved their problem with the snow machine. The rays of light that came from it pierced through the windows, tinging the room in a blazing bright orange that reminded her of the sunset.
"W-wake up..." she muttered, her voice shivering. Without hesitation, she lifted the oxygen mask from his snout, her tears dripping along his body as she did so. Rainbow gazed down at his peaceful face, crying out softly:
"I love you, Tassee..."
She plunged her lips into his own, clutching his hooves tighter as if it was for dear life. The euphoric sensations started to bloom within her heart, the blood swiveling up her veins and throughout her body with pure delight. She pressed her injured body against his, softly landing onto his chest as she continued the kiss, pinning him down onto the bed.
There was nothing more she wanted in her ravaging depression than to feel him once more, and she would be lying if she said she never enjoyed it. The fiery kiss burned with more pain (emotionally) than pleasure, forcing out even more whimpers once she finally broke it, stumbling back into her wheelchair and crying at herself in disgust.
"Are you ready?"
Doctor Martingale's voice caught her by surprise, with Rainbow jolting her head up with taut attention. She wiped any remainder of her tears lingering in her eyes, letting out a small cough. She turned back to the colt one last time, clenching her hooves firmly at her stirring decision and whirling back to the doctor, voicing it out in a stammer:
"Y-yes.."
Reluctantly, the doctor trotted up to the beeping monitor, the two ponies holding their breath as he flipped the switch. Immediately, the machinery beside them whirred and droned, the lights flashing about in protest, before dying down, leaving Rainbow to stare at the colt.
Doctor Martingale stepped out of the room, leaving the two pegasi inside for a moment of privacy once more. Rainbow cherished this moment; she forcibly stood up, ignoring the staggering pain stinging from within her hooves as she limped towards Taciturn, brushing his mane to the side.
"H-here..." she muttered quietly, placing on his chest his Santa cap.
"Th-thank you, Tassee... for everything..."
Rainbow leaned closer once more, giving another kiss on his forehead. She turned towards the door, wanting to step outside back to her friends and leave her agonizing remorse in the room, though she was stopped instantly by the near-silent sound of rustling feathers.
The mare immediately whirled around her jaw hanging open in disbelief once she saw the colt shuffling about in his sleep. His heavy eyelids strained to open, before his jet-black pupils stared hazily back at her. She crept closer towards him, the white pegasus only able to look in bafflement as he uttered one word out: a word she had never been happier to hear in her entire life.
"D-Dashie...?"
"Just over the hills...! Yep! That's the place!"
It's been five hours since Taciturn Bleach awoke from his slumber, with his guardian crying out in ecstatic delight and hugging him tightly the moment he did so, despite her impaired state. Soon enough, the ponies in the hospital, including the rest of Rainbow's friends, knew about his miraculous recovery, and all of them could never believe what Rainbow Dash had told the rest of the ponies of the fact that he was alive; one she would remember it for the world.
The white pegasus pushed Rainbow on the wheelchair, the two reaching the side of a hill not far from the hospital. It was harder than normal to get here, what with the overexcited ponies all wanting to talk and babble about him. Strangely enough to Rainbow, he proceeded finely along the hallways as they were heading outside, never cringing from any of the ponies in town as he used to.
Rainbow's state required her to be attended to at all times, with the athletic pegasus requiring a guardian of her own to take care of her while she has to recover from her serious injuries and, later on, undergo physical therapy. Of course, it was up to the mare to decide who she wants, and - she thought to herself - she couldn't have picked a better pony.
Their positions were switched now, her guardian pushing her up the green, sloping pastures on the hillside. The rest of Ponyville had dealt with the Winter Wrap Up in their absence, with all the white snow that once coated the land disappeared from sight. She missed it a little, seeing how it was the season that she met Taciturn for the first time and, knowing him, he would've wanted it to snow again as well.
The two finally settled onto the hill, gazing into the western horizon and into the colored sky, hued with shades of red, orange, gold and yellow. Rainbow sighed in relaxation as she felt a light breeze picked up, tossing her mane about while she closed her eyes, before feeling Taciturn's hooves on both of her shoulders.
"Tassee..." she muttered his name, feeling safe underneath his watch. The colt fanned out his wings, cheerfully smiling when he felt the swiftness of air gliding in between his feathers. Both of them admired the soothing, relaxing scenery and, of course, the presence of each other, overwhelming them in a basket of loving warmth.
Taciturn suddenly picked out from behind his canvas, preparing the tools to paint as he sat right next to Rainbow, picturing the scenery that was laid out before him. The mare watched heartily as he started painting a few strokes of orange onto the canvas, his other hoof busy clutching onto Rainbow's bandaged own.
"Whatcha painting, Tassee...?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. Taciturn just smiled cheerfully, beckoning his head at the unfolding scene that was right before him, lulling him in a sense of inspiration.
Rainbow smiled silently once he clicked his tongue, his hooves working quickly on the canvas. Every articulate stroke and every combining line amazed her, even though she had seen it countless of times before. She stared at his careful weaving of his brush, giving the colt an obliging pat on the back.
Twelve days since she had met Taciturn Bleach, the ghostly pegasus that she never thought she loved. Twelve days since he had met Rainbow Dash, the brutally brash pegasus that he fell for in first sight. Their fates were joined, as was their hearts, all because of a single, intricate paintbrush: the very same one that he was using. Her heart lingered with nostalgia, she stole a kiss from his cheek, making her giggle as he whinnied, expressing his displeasure at her sudden interruption.
When he finally stopped, Rainbow could only gasp in amazement at his resulting creation: the fully fabricated oil-painting of the golden scenery that gleamed through the skies. She wanted to applaud and congratulate him once again for another work well done, though the look on Taciturn's face was anything but satisfactory.
"What's wrong?" she asked the colt, his black eyes furrowed at the painting. His face lit up after a minute of pondering, quickly scurrying about and dipping his paintbrush into a pot of red, drawing on the canvas a streak of that very color.
After that came another line, the mare looking uneasily as he drew them onto the canvas. He stopped to smile once Rainbow realized what it was: the unmistakable seven arcs of the rainbow, zooming across from one side to another. He started at the fourth, green arc by the time she figured out what it was, placing her head playfully onto his shoulder once the bristles of his brush dragged across the canvas.
"Tassee..." she murmured into his ear, giving him a hug.
"Th-thanks... for being here with me..."
"You're the best Hearth's Warming gift I ever had."
The colt beamed with pride, his face filled with mirth and merriment at the mare of his dreams. With that, the two gave each other a short, quick kiss, before he settled back onto his canvas, with Rainbow beckoning him to paint once more.
And he silently painted a rainbow across the sky, his sky, with fickle delight, huddling closer to the mare that would've made the chromatic path if it weren't for her injury. Rainbow didn't mind though; she crept closer to Taciturn, staring affectionately at him and his creation. There was nothing better than this, she thought to herself.
A new year of new opportunities for the mare; one that both Taciturn and Rainbow now share.
"Let's go that way, Tassee!" she said delightfully, literally bouncing in her seat, to which he gave the shortest, sweetest response that only he can pull off to warm Rainbow's heart, and will do the same for the many years to come:
"And doth the last snow of winter hath been swept to the past, as twas the spirit of Hearth's Warming as ponies resumed their daily lives after twelve days of merriment and laughter. Here we see the princess step out from her abode..."
The speakers of the small television crackled with the consistency of white noise, the radio-like voice stopping briefly only for the cheering depicted in the colorless, blotted show of Princess Celestia's welcome of spring. Slowly the curtains parted, and her respected visage was met by the thousands of ponies present.
It was nearly seventy years ago when it happened, kept as just another decomposing roll of film; another disappearing memory, though it had been since two years that he had ever saw a snippet of the documentary. He weakly reached around for the remote, clattering about his half-eaten plate of food whilst his back strained and his dry throat wheezed loudly with a croak, though another set of hooves reached it before he did, the pony giving him a weak smile.
"You shouldn't be straining your muscles, sir."
The stallion merely let out a grunt of disapproval, which escalated into a coughing fit, prompting the other pony: his trusty butler, to pour him a glass of water, to which he accepted eagerly.
Age had been twisting him and, mostly, his physical health. His black mane and tail had now became as ashen-white as his body, his white hooves were limp and lifeless, and even his pupils had became a degenerate white, for he was diagnosed with cataracts, along with stage-three lymphosarcoma: a cancer forming in his lymph nodes, as his private doctor had phrased it.
Blind, crippled, and on the verge of death. Disturbingly fitting.
"Close the blasted thing," he managed to croak. The sudden halt of cheering was enough proof of his ever-faithful butler's position. Like his master, his mane and tail were already pale with age, though his coat was a light shade of brown, with the ridges of wrinkles on his face only a little lesser than the multitude of them filling up his master's own. It was as it was so, for the butler was exactly nineteen years younger than his master, who was a whopping ninety-seven years old.
"H-hand me..." he croaked suddenly, reaching around from the confines of his red, antique sofa. His butler, despite ripe with age, was quick-witted to know what the older pony wants, and soon returned from the pantry with a newspaper.
"Do you want me to read it out for you, sir?"
"As always," came the soft reply, along with a name. His name.
"Fidus."
Clearing his throat, Fidus, as he was called, flipped through the ruffled pages of yesterday's newspaper, slightly soaked from the wintry weather that once filled the land. There were many prominent stories in the news these days, some that would even fascinate the butler himself, but his master was picky, and was never the sort to favor anypony else's words instead of his own. As eccentric as the mansion he built, it seems.
"Explorer traverses the Ghastly Gorge... Cloudsdale snow machine found disrupted..." the butler scanned through the headlines and reading them aloud. There was nothing suitable that would sate his master's plane of interest; the last captivating story he had for him was almost four months ago, and at that time his master wasn't even blind!
"Opening of the anticipated Gallery of White..."
Fidus's breath stopped the moment he saw the picture that came with it. In the center of the picture and, no doubt, the attention, was a mare, bright blue with her mane a chromatic scheme of colors, blazing bright underneath the winter sun. Her hooves were gripping another pony's, which seemed to be the direct opposite of her, what with his blanched skin and black mane, though it was his presence that struck him like a bell, the pony's name being pulled out from the tip of his head like a dagger.
"S-Sir?" he began nervously at the older pony shuffling in his sofa out of discomfort.
"You might want to hear this..."
"What is it?" his master scowled.
"Speak up! My ears aren't the sharp bastards they were!"
Slowly, Fidus read out every single line of the article before him, scrolling down the wall of the passage with his voice quivering past every word, which became more evident as he got closer to the end. The scornful frown that the other pony wore started to soften as time progresses, turning almost into a sad expression once the butler finished.
Glancing up at his master's blank expression, he could feel something - he wasn't sure what - overwhelming the veins of his heart. The news was hard for him and especially his master to sink in; it was very personal to him, after all.
"Should I call him back?"
"No," was the stern, deadpanned answer.
"He can only come back when the time is right. You know when."
"Yes," his butler answered, albeit reluctantly.
Settling the newspaper to the side with a bow, Fidus excused himself, shuffling slowly out of the room whilst carrying away the tray of plates into the kitchen. His master, however, reached around for the newspaper, satisfied only when his hoof landed on the crumpled, wrinkled surface of it.
Mustering his energy, he weakly pulled the paper towards him, his instincts guiding him as his hoof scanned through the black row of letters and past the borders of the picture, stopping only when it reached the unsure smile of Taciturn Bleach. A smile soon crept on the old pony's lips, fondling and caressing the pony as if he was really there.
"Taciturn..." he muttered weakly.
"You did well, T-Taciturn Bleach... you did well..."
