Mistress Do Well: Fractured Elements
by milesprower06

Reconciliation

After one of the most emotional days of her life, it was finally time to wind down for the night. Twilight ascended the stairs going up from the main floor of the library to her bedroom, and knew exactly where to find Rainbow - on the balcony. She crossed her room, and stepped out into the air of the young night.

The difference of Rainbow's appearance between yesterday and today was night and day. An impossible weight had been lifted from her as they had cried holding each other in that group hug, and it showed. It wasn't the friend she remembered from more than a year ago, and probably never would be...something told her that pony would never fully return...but the reason for Rainbow's return was finally clear.

"They're all coming back. Pinkie explained the situation to Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and was re-hired at Sugar Cube Corner. Fluttershy's moving back into her cabin with Opal, and Applejack should be back to the farm from Dodge Junction with her personal stuff in a day or so. Her family is eager to put her back to work."

"Good to hear. We're not going to have any trouble from Mayor Mare, are we?" Rainbow asked, looking up at the clear night sky. Twilight came and sat next to her.

"I don't think so, at least not at first. I think she's too occupied with trying to keep that special prosecutor from going nuts."

Rainbow cracked a smile when she heard that. Out of everything today, Twilight loved seeing Rainbow smile again, even if it was still for ever-so brief moments.

"What about Spike?" Rainbow asked her. Twilight shook her head.

"I...I still don't know what I'd say to him. I nearly beat his crush to death with the jewel he gave to her as a gift."

"Yeah, but he knows the circumstances."

"Yes, he does, and he left anyway. I'm not sure what to say to him. He's the only one of us that wasn't directly involved in any of this. He's not going to be as easy to convince."

"Well, when you decide to, I suppose you could ask Celestia to send him a letter. That's pretty much the only guaranteed way that he'd get it."

"Yeah, I suppose. I'm still not sure yet. I would have to think long and hard over that letter."

"I know you probably haven't kept in touch with a whole lot of ponies around town, but...is Scootaloo still around? I figure I owe her quite a few flying lessons."

"She's still around, yeah."

"I didn't even think about Sweetie Belle. How has she taken all of this?"

"Her and her parents have tried their best to distance themselves from what Rarity did. They're still in town. I think Sweetie Belle's being home-schooled now."

"What about your crown?" Rainbow asked, glancing at her. Twilight shook her head.

"I'll never ask for it back, and I don't think I'd accept it even if it was offered. What we did to you...regardless of the how or why...it was a serious lapse of judgement. I will never be worthy of that level of responsibility again."

Rainbow didn't reply to that, and just offered a single nod.

"Rainbow, listen...I've been meaning to ask you something, something that's been on my mind for the past year."

Rainbow took a breath.

"Us." She answered. Twilight slowly nodded.

"I remember what you told me in your letter...but after everything that's happened...can there be an 'us'? Is it even a possibility?"

Twilight was still reeling from Rainbow's unfathomable act of mercy that morning, but at last, the question was out of her mind and now out in the open. It could be dealt with.

"I...honestly don't know, Twilight." Rainbow said, looking over to her friend on the balcony. Twilight couldn't hide the frustration from her facial expression.

"You've...you've offered each and every one of us your forgiveness, when it's the absolute last thing we deserve. I know from this morning that you don't necessarily want to give it to us, but I get the feeling you're right; the only way through this is with each other's help. You are truly the only one of us that's worthy of wielding an Element of Harmony anymore. Your loyalty to us has impossibly endured, even though none of us deserve it. I love you. I love you, Rainbow Dash, and if your love doesn't come with that forgiveness, I'm not sure my heart will be able to accept it..."

"What do you want me to say, Twilight? It's not something I can decide overnight. My heart wanted to hate you, my body ached for you, and my mind did not forget that you were the one who got me out of there. They need some time to align with each other. I can't promise you anything. This is just something we're going to have to take one day at a time, alright?"

Twilight nodded. She wasn't going to be able to rush this, no matter how badly she wanted to. This wasn't going to be the fairy tale ending she wanted. Rainbow turned to her.

"By the way, thank you. That's something I never did. I never thanked you for getting me out of there. No matter what you did or how long you waited, you woke up, and did the right thing. So no matter how I feel about it, you deserve my gratitude at the very least. So...thank you."

Rainbow reached up to her head, and took out her cutie mark earring from her left ear. She stared down at it for a moment. She came forward, dropped the earring onto the balcony, and hugged her tightly, and Twilight returned the embrace. They held each other tightly for several moments.

Just as she began to pull away, Rainbow softly kissed Twilight on her right cheek, causing the alicorn's heart to skip a beat, and her face to blush when they separated.

"One day at a time, Twi." Rainbow reminded her, offering her another brief smile.

Twilight returned the smile, nodding.

"One day at a time."

Author's Notes:

Edit: Now continued further. Keep reading!

Original:
Well, there you have it. Thanks for reading!

Gotta mention some awesome people here. Skeeter The Lurker and bats for their help and pre-reading. Kaidan for giving his blessing to this alternate ending. ColbaltBlaze93 and Ashfire, likewise for pre-reading.

Special thanks go out to those so enamored by this tale that they successfully broke my resolve, and thus my release schedule. Were it not for you folks, this would've have been delayed until Season 4.