Each Minute felt like hours as Rainbow Dash remained hidden inside her cardboard box, listening to the noise around her.
As she crouched in her cardboard hideout, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but reflect on her situation. She was in just that quick. The master of all traits and her awesomeness knows no bounds.
At least that is what she hoped. Why couldn't she have the same level of confidence in the next thing she needed to do?
The tension was higher than ever as Rainbow Dash's daring infiltration set the stage for a final, epic showdown between Rainbow Dash and the greatest challenge yet... apologizing while begging for more help!
"How do I go about it?" Rainbow Dash asked the dreaded of all questions. Her not-as-awesome past self gave that task to a future version of herself to come up with how to go about it.
Time flow and the future Rainbow Dash became the present Rainbow Dash, which is her. Cursed that slacking rainbow mane procrastinated mare for putting her in this rock and hard place!
But she was determined to make things right. Rainbow Dash knew she had messed up, and it was time to commit to her non-existent plan. She will see it though whether it will go well or not.
Looking at the door with the recognizable sparkle cutie mark sign. The same one on the saddlebag she was carrying. Rainbow Dash knew that she couldn't stay hidden forever. The anticipation was higher than ever, and the time had come to face the music. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the cardboard box aside and stepped into the open.
"Ack!" And gets tackled by a pink fluffball with giant armor hooves hammered onto her barrel, knocking winds out of her lungs. Rainbow Dash was now pinned down to the ground by this new assailant.
Her mind quickly caught up and what's on the forefront of it is the current situation. Oh, how messed up she was now. There was a guard inside!? Horsefeather! Rainbow Dash thought as she worked her brain for a solution.
The rainbow mane pegasus tried and failed. She is in a compromised position and has no leverage. It didn’t help that the one who pushed her down also seemed to have the strength of an athlete too.
Rainbow Dash realized she could not see the pony's face as her eyes were blinded by the bright azure coming from where her attacker's head should be. Rainbow Dash felt her body tingling at each and every pulse of light that happened.
Her attacker was a unicorn and was casting an unknown voodoo spell on her body! Her heart raced and her blood pumping. Fear and shock filled her mind as Rainbow Dash adjusted her vision downward, always from the light source, and focused on the pony in front of her.
The giantess of a mare with a pink coat and sharp horn, glaring directly at her eyes directly. Behind the pink mare were wings of the same color extended to their fullest and feathers fluffed out in aggression. She was wearing a set of expensive-looking regalia, petrel, and hoof guards. An alicorn with an outfit like that of royalty.
..She is a princess, isn't she?
"Oh buck" Rainbow Dash muttered weakly in despair. She truly wondered why her luck was so low today. Who was this Twilight Sparkle? Why did this mare have another alicorn princess hanging around with her?
Ignoring the rainbow mane pegasus, the pink alicorn talks to herself as she continues to inspect Rainbow Dash with her spell. "No false digestive track... No repeat pattern in bone’s microfractures..."
The alicorn relaxed her grip at the revelation, only to widen her eyes in horror as she came across another particular detail. "Magic of equivalent exchange..." The pink mare sputtered like she couldn't believe herself. "Synchronized casting with the help of earth pony and pegasus magic... oh Celestia..."
Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind the door as the sound of galloping got louder. "Cadance! Who are you...." The lavender mare's eyes wide as her gaze met Rainbow Dash's deep pink irises.
The pegasus felt relieved as armored hooves were relieved from her barrel. Rainbow quickly got herself back up on all four, shaking the last of the dizziness out of her head to regain her bearing.
Rainbow noticed that they were no longer alone. They are now accompanied by the two inhabitants of the library. A bipedal purple lizard with green eyes was looking at her tensely.
And the target of her apology, Twilight Sparkle. The lavender unicorn looked at her in shock and fear. Her tail tugged under her barrel and her mouth tried and failed to construct a proper sentence. "Miss but.... w-what about hospital.." The only thing that held the mare together was the affectionate nuzzling from the pink alicorn it seemed.
Two alicorns then a lizard-thing. Seriously, who is this mare? A feeling of awe welled up inside Rainbow Dash as she observed the scene in front of her. Maybe she can recommend me to the Wonderbolts Rainbow Dash quickly snapped herself out of her daydreaming.
No, this is not about me. Rainbow Dash chided herself.
She is a mare with a mission, and she will do it the only way she knows of.
With a resolute expression, Rainbow Dash called out to the lavender unicorn. "Twilight Sparkle, I am sorry."
Twilight Sparkle sat in front of her room, her gaze fixed on the mare, her eyes dulled by the weight of her action of yesterday. Only the warm embrace of her ex-foalsister keeps her going.
On the other side stood a pegasus, The mare she had offended, who miraculously stood there without wounds. Twilight wondered why was she here. How did she get in? Why wasn't she hurt?
Of course, Twilight Sparkle will not start hyperventing. She is a grown mare and she will act like one.
Let's ignore it for now!
Trying to suppress her emotional turmoil, the lavender unicorn forcefully commands her brain into overdrive. Twilight inspected the vicinity with all her senses and worked her brain to analyze the situation at hoof.
Surveying her surroundings, Twilight Sparkle noticed a linger of magic in the air with the same scent as her ex-foalsister. The subtle trembles of anxiety and fear show on Cadance's body as she inspects the pegasus making Twilight feel ills. Something is very wrong here.
It didn't take a genius to come to the conclusion of the reason why. A spell was cast, and the end result shook her ex-foalsister to the core.
A spell that didn't alter anything and cast upon another pony? Likely some kind of scanning spell.
The pegasus also carried a saddlebag, her saddlebag. Why? Spike told her that Nightmare Moon borrow-
Twilight was snapped out of her trance at the calling of her name. "Twilight Sparkle, I am sorry." And the owner of that raspy voice was the rainbow mane pegasus herself.
"W-what?" Her train of thought came to a halt, and Twilight sputtered out in shock.
Cadance is thankful for her etiquette training. The pink alicorn quickly got herself under control. Suppressing her urge to run around like a headless chicken and scream in bloody horror.
The deeds were done and questions are to be left for later. The pink alicorn princess is already confident that she knows what has transpired anyway.
Who in the right mind would use that kind of magic on themselves!? Alicorn or not.
For now, something more important is unfolding. More important than the usage of banned magic, the sharp gaze of her companion confirmed her decision.
The princess of love and the baby dragon watched on, their hearts heavy at the sight of distressed Twilight.
Both of them knew this was something the lavender unicorn had to see this thought, and this was the perfect opportunity as rainbow mane pegasus herself didn't seem to come with a malicious intention to harm Twilight.
But still, Cadance thought, Twilight was never a sociable pony and didn't handle this level of stress well. The kind of emotions, the vibes that the rainbow mane gave off... might have already done emotional damage by feeding into Twilight's guilt too much.
Rainbow Dash's wings drooped, and her eyes were filled with remorse. "Miss..em… Twilight," she began, her voice trembling, "I... I can't believe I let my-myself be controlled by my impulses and emotions. Uncooly lashed out at another pony like a mindless rabid dog. To let my anger... and my pride... drive me to attack you like that." Rainbow Dash shifts her wings. "I thought you were a bad guy, but I was so wrong."
Twilight's eyes wide opened in surprise "How could you say that, miss!?" She shouts frantically as she walks toward the rainbow mare. "How could you blame yourself for being hurt by me?" The lavender unicorn slowly lost her vigor as her ears flopped back down. “It’s me who’s in the wrong. I assaulted you… you should be angry at me.”
"...No" The pegasus whispered out.
Twilight Sparkle's ears swirl to the source of the sound. It took her a moment before she registered the meaning of that word and looked like she was going to retort, but Rainbow Dash continued before she got a chance.
"I am the one who started it. I am the one who provoked you first and going to punch you at high speed-" the passionate response of the rainbow mane pegasus got cut off by The lavender unicorn's interjection. "You are just defending yourself!"
And yet, Twilight's gaze was heavy with guilt as she lowered her head, looking at her forehooves. "B-but still! Even if it was you who started it. I should have been more careful with my magic." she admitted, her voice quivering with regret. The unicorn continues. "I never intended to hurt anyone so badly. I should have used a spell that was meant to incapacitate, not... not something like the vector reflector spell.”
Twilight shuddered and took a breather before continuing. “T-That spell was designed with the intention to cripple a magic beast." She closed her eyes, imagining another possibility that the disastrous first impression could have gone.
A moment of silence reigns in as Twilight Sparkle loses in her own mind. Thinking of not what happened, but what could have been. And it’s definitely not pretty. Not at all.
The princess of love observes closely and sees if she should interrupted or not. Her neural expression nearly scrunched up in conflict and concern for her little Twilight, yet her bodily posture is that of an experienced warrior ready to strike.
No one hurt her Twilight. No one.
Her horn was ready to light up if the worst came to pass. The Pegasus’ intention already convinced her logical mind but her protectiveness for the soon-to-be little sister demanded otherwise.
The young drake with much less social experience fares worse than his ex-foalsitter, shifting awkwardly at this tense silence, helplessly watching as this unwelcome quietness continues to unfold.
Rainbow Dash, to her credit, ignored the sudden hostile posture from the pink alicorn and tried to start the conversation back up.
But unfortunately, wordsmithing was not one of her strengths.
Taking the blame for herself by assuring another pony they did nothing wrong and convincing that pony to forget about a problem… especially one with her as the epicenter of the said problem.
This is too hard!
“Oh, ponyfeather…” The pegasus muttered out. She wondered why this mare was so dead set on blaming herself like that. Did her ancestors come from the apple family? Should she- “Not now.” Rainbow Dash brought herself back out of her musing. Now is not the time for that.
Thinking of a possible solution. If her awesome self didn’t have the first-hoof experience. Maybe she could borrow inspiration from other ponies instead?
The mare who liked to turn everypony's frown upside down, Pinkie Pie would throw a party. Rainbow Dash shook her head. Even without taking the logistics of throwing a party into account, it’s still a bad idea for such an introverted mare. Her bet was that the lavender unicorn would react as badly as Fluttershy…
Fluttershy’s arsenal methods might work, but none of them were designed for a pony. The mare was too shy to test on anything other than wild animals. No guarantee any of them would work on ponies.
Rainbow Dash’s though ran wild. From her parents to the flight school, her brain combed through memory after memory, trying to find anything out of her current social predicament. Then her train of thought came to a screeching halt as she recalled one of the recent events. The one that was directly connected to what she’s currently facing.
Nightmare Moon would let the action itself do the talking.
“I can’t believe it” Rainbow Dash muttered out. The rainbow mane Pegasus couldn’t believe there would be a time she would not only feel guilty for the supposedly monster of the Nightmare Night but use her as an example.
Such a ridiculous situation that the yesterday Rainbow Dash would laugh at, she could hear it now. A loud and clear amusem*nt of her naive past. ”Me emulating the action of the Nightmare Night’s boogie mare? Ptff ”
But now that she met the mare of the moon herself… “Not awesome at all” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and cursed her biased past self with disdain. Her world turned upside down today and she would make it right.
Finally coming to the conclusion, Rainbow Dash took one step after another, and slowly walked toward Twilight, as the unicorn's ears heard the sound of hoof steps getting louder and looked up. “W-what are you doing miss?” She shrunk her body down on herself.
To her credit, Twilight kept her horn under control and didn't react defensively. Not even a spark of magic growth can be seen.
The Rainbow mane pegasus continued her progress, keeping going until she came to a stop at the lavender unicorn’s side. Her gazes met the unicorn before losing contact. As Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes in fear.
The young drake feared for the worst and decided to intervene but was stopped by the pink wing of the alicorn princess. Cadance only looked at him in the eyes and shook her head, a subtle knowing smile spread across her muzzle. The relaxation of her body from the previous tense state told Spike all he needed to know.
Slowly, Rainbow Dash extended a wing towards Twilight Sparkle’s back. She gently lowers her feather appendages to touch the lavender fur. Twilight flinched at the contact, but soon her tense body gave away and relaxed as she recognized this familiar feeling of comfort.
Just like when my family did to comfort me…
The lavender unicorn moaned softly as she felt the pegasus' gentle petting of her back slowly melt the stiffness of her body away.
There are many occasions when someone would gently rub her back.
Countless times when she felt vulnerable and scared, her big brother stayed with her late at night. Tending her kindly, petting her down until fell to slumber.
When she did something wrong and started hyperventilating, to Twilight's shame, the princess herself would stroke her back until she calmed down. Soothing her with a motherly tone.
And Cadance...
Twilight's breath came to a hitch as she remembered a particular scene in her past that uprooted her very understanding of the world, her relationship with her family.
The faithful day that took always her innocence.
The moment when the greatest lies in her life were unfolded.
