Bifrost
Chapter 13: Vol. II - Ch. 13: Some Kind of Harmony
Previous Chapter-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-
It had been three weeks since Team Destiny and Team Rainboom had left Baltimare, and while it was nice to get a brief reprieve from the rollercoaster of emotional turmoil and traumatizing violence, the second round of Bifrost’s preliminaries were already starting.
I was sitting in a Fillydelphia hotel lobby going over my planned speech in my mind for the fiftieth time while Rainbow Dash sat across the table from me, inspecting the white ribbon I placed in front of her, which was identical to the one she showed me.
“So I guess we’re not just beating you guys up and taking yours,” Rainbow said jokingly.
“Nope,” I chuckled, thinking to myself that I certainly hoped she was joking. “I suppose the climactic showdown between Team Destiny and Team Rainboom will have to wait.”
The white ribbons were given to us by the tournament officials once the second preliminaries officially started. Seventy-two teams made it to the second preliminary round and half of them were given a white ribbon and the other half a black ribbon. The thirty-six teams that managed to collect both colors of ribbon by the end of one month would move on to the final preliminaries.
To collect the ribbons you had to take them from other teams, and there was no way of knowing which teams had which ribbons, and to make matters worse… there was no official battlefield. As long as we stayed in Fillydelphia we could be attacked by an enemy team at any time.
Hence why Rainbow and I had our little war meeting in the crowded Fillydelphia hotel lobby. The bustling atmosphere wasn’t exactly good for concentration but the likeliness of being attacked by another team with so many civilians around was pretty low. Not zero percent, mind, but pretty low.
“Considering that there’s no point to us fighting each other,” I said slyly, drawing on my rehearsed speech as I placed my ribbon back in my saddlebags, “I was going to suggest that we team up. The six of us versus the other teams of three will put us at an advantage.”
“Us? Team up?” Rainbow laughed and leaned back in her chair, tipping it off its front legs before slamming back down onto the floor with a loud CLACK that made me grit my teeth. Still giggling, she looked at the annoyed and decidedly unamused expression on my face, “Oh, you’re serious. Let me laugh even harder then!”
“Rainbow, be reasonable,” I groaned, Rainbow arching an eyebrow at me with a smug grin on her face. “Our two teams have spent nearly every day of the last three weeks together. You and Rarity are the only members of our groups that don’t get along, even Applejack has warmed up to you!”
“Sure, but what’s in it for me?” Rainbow said huffily, crossing her forelegs over her chest and it took all of my inner strength to not roll my eyes, “I mean, of course you guys wanna team up, your team is pretty weak. My team’s super strong so I’m not sure teaming up with you guys benefits us.”
“What about the companionship? The comradery? The chance to do something nice for your friends?”
“Yeah, but seriously though. What’s in it for me?” Rainbow asked.
I groaned and nearly slammed my head on the table but I stopped myself and smirked, realizing that Rainbow had just given me an in.
“Nothing, Rainbow,” I said with a pronounced shrug. “You’re right, you really don’t stand to benefit from our two teams working together,” I hopped onto the ground and began to trot away. “If you don’t want to, I can’t force you. I just hope Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are on the same page you’re on.”
“Hold on, I didn’t say I didn’t want to,” Rainbow said as she flew ahead of me and landed on the ground in front of me. “I just, y’know, wanted you to sweeten the deal for me a little bit!”
“Oh yeah?” I said with a grin. “What’s in it for me?”
“What’s in it for—” Rainbow sputtered, “I thought you wanted our help!”
“I do,” I nodded, stifling a giggle. “Mostly for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy’s sakes, because I enjoy their company. And I enjoy yours too, when you’re not being a jerk.”
Rainbow scrunched up her face at that comment and looked like she was about to speak, but she held her tongue.
“The thing is though,” I cleared my throat and gave Rainbow a dazzling smile, “my team doesn’t need your help. I could probably beat the three of you myself if I really stretched myself to my limits.”
“Oh, you think so?” Rainbow sneered, hovering in the air in front of me and pushing her forehead confrontationally against mine.
I backed up a few steps and said casually, “Maybe. I honestly don’t know or care, since I have no real interest in fighting you,” I shrugged, and bit my tongue to keep from laughing at the radiant blush on Rainbow’s cheeks. I took a deep breath and spoke sternly for a moment, “My point is, I don’t need you and I’m not going to let you extort me.”
Rainbow stuttered and glanced around before slowly placing herself back on the ground.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
That really took me aback and my eyes widened in surprise.
“That was all just posturing,” she said, “it’s something I’m trying to get over, but you know what they say about old habits,” Rainbow sighed and shook her entire body like she was trying to dry herself off. “Look, I really do want to team up with you guys, but can I ask a small favor in return?”
“What is it?” I said curiously, cautiously eager to hear Rainbow’s request.
“Just…” Rainbow nervously scraped a hoof across the ground and her cheeks were turning red again, “Help me smooth things over with Rarity? Maybe put in a good word for me? I want her to see that… that I’m not the same jerk I was when I was a teenager.”
“Well Rainbow,” I said tepidly, my whole body shuddering at the prospect of trying to convince Rarity to give Rainbow another chance, “I’ll see what I can do, but if you want her to believe you’re not the same jerk you used to be, you need to stop acting like the jerk you used to be.”
I saw a torrent of emotions flash through Rainbow’s pink eyes in barely more than a second. Anger, fear, sadness, anger again before settling on begrudging acceptance.
“That’s…” she let out a pained, whispery groan. “Yeah, okay. That’s fair. So… for now, then…” Rainbow extended her hoof in front of me and I could see the anxiety resonating in her eyes. She had a pained smile on her face like she was trying to be cool… but I could tell this wasn’t easy for her. “Partners?”
I smiled and raised my own hoof, bumping it against Rainbow’s. “Partners.”
Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief, although she would never admit that’s what it was.
****
-RARITY-
I stretched my legs and yawned as I awoke, drawing the curtains to greet the morning sun… or the afternoon sun as the case may be. I shook myself awake and poured myself a cup of hot tea from the complimentary tea and coffee maker in our hotel room.
Three weeks. Three weeks since the end of the first preliminaries for Team Destiny… since my battle with Starlight Glimmer.
While I was truly grateful from the bottom of my heart to my companions for taking care of me as I recovered from that disastrous fight, and no one thought any less of me despite my humiliating defeat, the scars from that battle were still fresh in my mind.
I needed to become stronger.
I had been training my magic in the three weeks since we came to Fillydelphia with Twilight’s help, but as it turns out the school I am most comfortable with is divination, which is not terribly well-suited for combat. Go figure.
I was getting quite good at detecting far away objects and people however, and could send telepathic messages back and forth with Twilight via linking up with her own divination, so I was making progress and getting more skilled with my magic… it’s just that progress wasn’t making me any better in a fight.
I heard a dainty tap at the door as I finished my tea and pranced over to look who it was. Peering through the peephole on the door I saw Pinkie Pie squishing her eyeball against the door, the sight of her adorable face oddly deformed by the perspective of the peephole making me giggle.
I opened the door, causing Pinkie who was leaning against it to fall into my room, and said rather musically, “Good afternoon, Pinkie Pie. What can I do for you?”
“Well,” Pinkie sprung up to her feet in an instant and bore a huge smile on her face, “Fluttershy and Applejack are hanging out by themselves again, and Twilight and Rainbow went to do like some kinda strategy pow-wow, so I was thinking you and me could hang out!”
“That’s a splendid idea, Pinkie Pie!” I said cheerfully and batted a hoof at her, which she gleefully mirrored. In the three weeks since leaving Fillydelphia our teams had been more or less inseparable, and I had become quite fond of Pinkie Pie’s company.
I suddenly heard my stomach growling and Pinkie giggled, “I think we should start with some breakfast!”
“Lead the way, darling,” I chuckled bashfully.
****
-FLUTTERSHY-
Applejack and I were sitting at a little table outdoors, eating candied apples together. My legs were a little bit sore because Applejack insisted on taking me everywhere in town to get the perfect candied apples, because apparently she’s very picky about them and wanted me to only have the best ones. And honestly, it was extremely sweet and cute of her.
When our two teams first got to Fillydelphia, I was really nervous around Applejack because… well, to be totally frank… because I had a crush on her. But I managed to work up the confidence to ask her out on, like… ‘sort-of’ dates.
Just sneaking in time to spend together wherever I could; offering to go with her if she needed to get something or volunteering to spar with her… little things that I could do to spend time with her that wouldn’t look super suspicious… I know that’s silly but I was really self-conscious about my crush.
But it paid off! Today Applejack asked me to go someplace with her! She wanted to get candy apples and how could I refuse? She was just too sweet for my heart to handle!
“What d’ya think, sugarcube?” Applejack said kindly as she took a big crunching bite out of her apple, continuing to speak with her mouth full, “Pretty good, right?”
“It’s very good,” I squeaked, my voice remaining really low and soft because I was nervous… but I couldn’t help but smile around her. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” Applejack chuckled and playfully nudged my foreleg. “I love stuff like this… takin’ somethin’ as simple as an apple and addin’ all this creativity to it… it’s inspirin’.”
“I know what you mean,” I said with a little nod.
“So hey, how’re you holdin’ up?” Applejack asked. “With Bifrost I mean. I can’t imagine that all this fightin’ is really yer thing usually.”
“It isn’t,” I chuckled and shook my head. “Is it that obvious?”
Applejack laughed back and took another bite of her apple. “I mean, yer handlin’ yerself real well, to be honest. But you seem like way too much of a sweetheart to be someone who gets into a lot of fights.”
Applejack suddenly started choking on an apple piece which took me by surprise and made my heart nearly jump into my throat, but before I could react she pounded herself on the chest and stammered, “A-and by ‘sweetheart’ I don’t mean like—uh, I mean…” I laughed really hard at Applejack choking on a compliment of all things and she just sighed, “You know what I mean.”
“I think so,” I was smiling like a doofus as I looked at Applejack sitting next to me. She looked over at me and smiled back and I couldn’t help but blush and cover my face with my wing, making her laugh.
“Y’alright, sugarcube?” She said cheerfully, gently tapping my wing.
“I-I am,” I nodded, still smiling like a big idiot. I carefully put down my wing to see Applejack’s smile and my own smile got even bigger, which made me feel really self-conscious and stupid so I took an enormous bite out of my candy apple and just went CRONCH CRONCH CRONCH, Applejack’s jaw hanging open as she watched my hideous display of awful manners.
“It’s good,” I said with my mouth full of apple and a bashful smile on my face. Applejack laughed and playfully pushed me and that got me laughing too.
When Applejack asked me to get apples with her I had almost been ready to jump out of my skin I was so nervous. But actually being with her, something about her smile, her laugh… made me feel totally comfortable.
I felt… safe… with her. And as a trans girl who grew up in an abusive household and has really awful anxiety problems and also occasional night terrors, the feeling of actual, comfortable safety was something totally unfamiliar to me.
It was nice…
I looked at Applejack as she laughed and wore a soft smile on my face. Thank you, Applejack. Even if this feeling of safety disappeared after this one moment, I would always be grateful to her for allowing me to feel it.
****
-RARITY-
Pinkie Pie and I shared a delightful meal and even more delightful conversation with each other at a quaint little eatery just a few blocks outside our hotel. It felt like time just soared by because before I knew it, the two of us were merrily trotting along the streets of Fillydelphia, idly engaging each other in banter until we suddenly grinded to a halt at the sight of two familiar ponies.
“Oh, hey you guys,” Twilight said with a smile, her eyes nervously darting between me and the blue pegasus standing beside her.
“Hello to you too!” Pinkie shouted enthusiastically and immediately smothered Twilight and Rainbow Dash in a big hug, and I couldn’t help but laugh at my sister’s expression of pained confusion. You’d think she would be used to Pinkie’s lack of boundaries by now, but I was afraid poor Twilight would never become used to being hugged so warmly.
“How did your strategy meeting go, you two?” I asked calmly, my eyes briefly hovering over Rainbow before quickly fixing on Twilight.
Rainbow and I hadn’t spoken much… or really at all, in the three weeks that our teams had been together but for Twilight and Pinkie’s sakes I tried to ignore our antagonistic relationship for the time being.
It wasn’t easy.
“Well you’re off the hook for now,” Rainbow scoffed, tilting her head at me, “so there’s that. Destiny and Rainboom both have white ribbons, so there’s no point in taking yours.”
“Yeah, that was definitely the major point of our conversation, Rainbow,” Twilight let out an ever beleaguered sigh.
Always trying to be the responsible one, Twilight.
Twilight composed herself and smiled at me, “It actually went rather well. Rainbow and I have come up with a few strategies that we think will allow our two teams to work together to acquire the black ribbons we both need without too much hassle.”
“Try not to get in the way,” Rainbow added gruffly, pointing her hoof at me.
A cold winter wind blew across the street corner where the four of us stood as my eye twitched trying to ignore that comment. Pinkie chuckled nervously and Twilight just irritably cleared her throat.
“As I was saying—“
“I’m just saying because you can’t fight,” Rainbow interjected.
Another gust of freezing wind blew through our group. It was a rather eerie omen, although I suppose it was to be rather expected from February weather.
“Umm, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie laughed incredibly loudly and awkwardly. “Could you not—“
“It’s quite alright, Pinkie Pie,” I said with a furiously calm smile, “I’m rather used to Rainbow Dash’s antagonism at this point.”
Twilight raised her hoof, “Can I just—“
“It’s not my fault you’re the weak link, Rarity,” Rainbow stomped a hoof forward as she interrupted Twilight, causing my dear sister to groan in frustration.
“Rainbow, can you shut up for like two seconds?” Twilight snapped at Rainbow Dash, who simply scoffed, scraping a hoof across the ground while Pinkie just shook her head vigorously.
“You wanna make something out of it, Twilight?” Rainbow grumbled irritably, Twilight clearly not expecting Rainbow to turn her antagonism toward her and recoiling away from the pegasus.
I was about to speak, unable to just stand by while my hated rival acted so uncouth to my sister, but Pinkie Pie was faster.
“Rainbow, what’s gotten into you?” Pinkie asked concernedly, gently reaching out a hoof to touch Rainbow’s cheek but getting brushed off by the angry mare instead. “This isn’t like you.”
“Actually, it’s quite like her,” I said with confidence, raising my posture so as to look down at the frustrating pegasus.
“Whatever.”
Rainbow sneered and leapt into the sky, flying off at high speed.
“What was that all about?!” Pinkie said in distress, stomping her hooves on the ground. “It’s not like her to get that worked up over… over nothing!”
“I have no idea,” Twilight said dismally, placing a hoof upon her brow and shaking her head. “She was fine earlier, while we were talking. I don’t know what got into her all of a sudden.”
“Indeed, it’s a mystery,” I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes, knowing very well that it was my presence that set her off, and that Twilight’s plan for our two teams to work together could not succeed if Rainbow was going to be quite so bitchy about me being around her. “I need to talk with her alone.”
“But she flew away,” Pinkie pointed out. “How’re you gonna find her?”
“Please, Pinkie Pie,” I chuckled as a pale blue light shone around my horn, “I haven’t spent the last three weeks resting on my laurels now.”
“Good luck, Rarity,” Twilight said anxiously.
“Be good to each other!” Pinkie called out desperately as I galloped away. “Please!”
“I will do what I can!” I shouted back before turning my attention fully to casting the spell.
Rainbow Dash was not one to hide her presence well, so detecting her magical signature even at her speed was no trouble at all. The problem would be actually catching up to her, but I figured she had to land eventually.
****
-PINKIE PIE-
“So what, exactly, is Rainbow’s problem?” Twilight asked frustratedly as we walked away together from, y’know, that whole disastrous thing that just happened. “You know her better than anypony else.”
“Yeah, I do,” I whined and bit my lip, not sure what I could say that would both be honest and paint Rainbow in a sympathetic light. “Rainbow just has these mood swings sometimes. Like she’ll be totally fine for a while and then something will tick her off and she’ll go into a frenzy over it.”
Twilight arched an eyebrow and I felt a panic alarm going off in my head. I didn’t want Twilight to be like everyone else and tell me how bad she thought Rainbow was and how I’d be better off without her and how mean and angry and stupid and jerky Rainbow is like they knew anything at all about how hard she works and how much she’s gone through!
“I-it’s not that big a deal!” I said desperately, trying to nervously laugh off my anxiety and hoping it didn’t sound as forced to Twilight as it did to me.
“That sounds like a pretty big deal, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said matter-of-factly, and it was hard to argue with her when she sounded so sure, but… but… she couldn’t be right! She just didn’t know Rainbow like I did!
“Well, I mean, I’m sorta the same way,” I said with a forced smile. “I’m usually super happy and fun and excited,” I bounced up and down to illustrate my point, “until I’m just suddenly not.” I let my hair droop down around my face and slumped onto the ground to further get my point across before blowing into my hoof and poofing my hair back up to its normal poofiness.
“That sounds rough. I’m sorry, Pinkie,” Twilight said softly. “For both of you.”
I breathed a mental sigh of relief at hearing her say that second part and couldn’t help but smile at her.
“Thank you, Twilight,” I said sincerely.
It was funny. Nopony had ever really said that to me before about the mood swings thing, usually it was just a huge bother to everyone. But Twilight was actually really nice about it… how weird.
“I know it’s a lot to manage for everyone else,” I said, tracing my hoof in a circle on the ground, “never knowing like which ‘version’ of me or Rainbow that you’re gonna get… but it’s a lot for us too and…”
I began to mist up a little but I bit my lip and violently shook my head around, Twilight staring at me in bewilderment and taking a couple cautious steps back. “I know it’s a lot, and I know that we’re a burden sometimes… but it’s just the way we are. And I’m sorry about that.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Pinkie,” Twilight said, my eyes meeting hers for a fraction of a second before I had to blink the tears out of mine and Twilight looked away bashfully.
“And I don’t know if this makes you feel any better,” Twilight continued, “but I understand what you mean, to some degree. I get super wrapped up in things, and I don’t always know what the right thing to say is. People used to tell me all the time that I was weird or a dork or I talked too much or too little or that it was annoying the way I rambled all the time… until I just stopped talking to people altogether.”
There was a brief pause as Twilight sighed, but she shook her head and continued with a smile. I just wanted to reach out and hug her and tell her everything was gonna be okay, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her or anything.
“I still get nervous about really stupid stuff,” Twilight’s voice cracked as her eyes appeared really honed in on the concrete under her hooves, “and I get really obsessive over stuff no one else cares about…”
Twilight chuckled nervously and blushed, tracing a hoof across her cheek and looking at literally anything other than me. She couldn’t have known, especially without seeing that my eyes were fixed right on her, that she had my total attention.
“I guess what my point is…” Twilight cleared her throat and looked at me for one fraction of a second, but when I instinctively smiled at her she darted her eyes away again, “is that I understand how it feels to be a burden. And you’re not a burden to me.
“You and Rainbow both…” Twilight smiled and finally managed to look at me with one eye closed and her cheeks turning bright red, even as I stared back into her open eye with a bright smile. “I believe in you guys, and I enjoy hanging out with you… and I understand, to some extent, the demons you both face. And it would be my honor to help you fight those demons anyway I can.”
“Twilight…” I said tearfully, trying to fight back against what I knew would be a huge waterworks display. I nuzzled my head against Twilight’s and gave her a big hug which she reciprocated gently, holding onto her like some flotsam in the middle of the ocean. “Thank you.”
I sniffled and blubbered as the tears started really coming now. I was blushing and crying and felt like such a silly, stupid pony… but then I looked into Twilight’s eyes, and she looked so cool… I smiled at her and said, “Now let’s go get some candy apples!”
“You read my mind!” Twilight laughed, her eyes lighting up like that was the best idea she’d ever heard and I’ll be darned to heck if it wasn’t the cutest thing I’d ever seen.
****
-APPLEJACK-
I told Fluttershy I needed to use the bathroom and so I headed that way, but the truth was I just needed a sec to catch my thoughts. I hadn’t noticed it until today, but in the three weeks since we came to Fillydelphia I’d been spendin’ a lot of time with Fluttershy. An errand here, a trainin’ exercise there, for some reason we just kept findin’ reasons to spend time together.
And I didn’t want to admit it, but before I knew it I’d fallen for her.
I asked her out for candy apples cuz I wanted to test that theory, but also cuz I wanted to be in my own element and impress her with my knowledge, I guess… and apples were like the one thing I knew inside and out, candied or otherwise.
But yeah, the butterflies in my stomach as we walked around town together, as we ate apples and talked about this and that… they didn’t lie. I was smitten with this girl. And that really bites.
I didn’t have the first clue how to be a good girlfriend and that was even workin’ under the assumption that Fluttershy felt the same way for me, and let’s face it, I ain’t exactly a catch.
It was pretty bad. I was losin’ my mind in a public bathroom, starin’ deadeyed into the mirror as a mom and her little daughter were watchin’ me warily. I tried to laugh it off to them as I left the bathroom but I think that just made me more suspicious… oh well, I guess it didn’t matter.
I stumbled out of the bathroom like a zombie and sighed drearily. I had no idea what to do about these feelin’s of mine, and tellin’ Fluttershy about ‘em was straight-up out of the question, but I was the worst at hidin’ stuff or lyin’ so it wouldn’t be too long ‘fore someone put two and two together and realized I had a crush on her.
And then what? Other than the embarrassment and humiliation and public ridicule, obviously.
Everyone would laugh if they knew I had a crush on Fluttershy. She was way out of my league and anypony could see it. But I couldn’t just do that thing where I pretend I’m not interested in her to get her to leave me alone. Partly cuz I didn’t want to, but also cuz I wouldn’t be any good at it, but especially cuz the most important thing to me was that I didn’t hurt her feelings.
Ugh, this sucks.
I wasn’t payin’ much mind to where I was walkin’ and I bumped into somethin’ tough that hurt my nose a little bit. I stumbled back and realized it was a person.
“Oh, uh, sorry ‘bout that,” I said awkwardly and bowed my head. “I wasn’t watchin’ where I was goin’. My bad.”
I looked up at the guy I’d bumped into and noticed right away that he wasn’t no pony. He was an enormous wall of muscle covered in dark blue fur, two giant silver horns on his head. My eyes widened in surprise for a sec but I blinked quickly to hide my shock; didn’t wanna be rude again after all. But I’d never seen a minotaur before in my life.
“YOU, little pony!” The man jumped onto a nearby bench and pointed dramatically at me, doin’ a series of weird flexes and poses as I stared at him warily. “You have bumped into the indomitable IRON WILL!! Now you will pay the price!”
“I said I was sorry,” I said irritably, archin’ an eyebrow at the weirdo. This guy’s manners left a little somethin’ to be desired and I wasn’t really in the mood to be heckled by a stranger.
“Ah,” he said awkwardly, twiddlin’ his fingers together like a flustered kid. “Well, that was the price, so… I guess it’s fine. Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
“O-oh, it’s okay,” I chuckled nervously. Maybe his manners were fine after all? He was weird regardless.
“Just one question…” Iron Will said, flexing his arms as he touched a finger to his chin ponderously. “Would you, by any chance, orange pony with an apple Cutie Mark and a cowboy hat… be…” the minotaur jumped into the air and did a flip midair, landin’ right behind me. I spun around quickly to face him, sensin’ the danger he suddenly posed, “APPLEJACK!!!”
“I am,” I said grimly, tracin’ the edge of my hat. “What’s it to ya?”
“THE MIGHTY IRON WILL!!!” the man flexed again, which was startin’ to become a little too routine and my eyes just kinda glazed over while I waited for him to finish, “HAS SEEN your battles in the first preliminaries! AND I HAVE DECIDED…” the man slammed his fists together and the force of it sent a shockwave through the area around him, knockin’ over a trashcan and upsettin’ the food cart worker behind him, not to mention sending a chill through my body, “THE MIGHTY IRON WILL shall test himself against your strength!!!”
“Welp, can’t say I’m surprised,” I rolled my eyes and jumped back to get some distance, before scrapin’ a hoof across the concrete.
I looked behind Iron Will at the food cart guy, worried that if a battle broke out here his cart would get damaged, but a violet barrier appeared in front of it, surroundin’ the area around Iron Will and myself for a few feet.
It was a natural safety measure to make sure collateral damage in this tournament stays as low as possible, but it still took me aback for a sec to see it in person for the first time.
“Brace yerself, Iron Will,” I said with a confident grin.
“THE MIGHTY IRON WILL IS ALWAYS BRACED FOR BATTLE!!” he said with another flex. I couldn’t help but laugh at his antics. He definitely had style, couldn’t fault him on that. And a battle like this could be pretty fun… in fact, could be just the thing I needed to get my mind off of Fluttershy.
****
-FLUTTERSHY-
While I was sitting on the bench waiting for Applejack to come back I wondered… when she came back, would I tell her how I feel about her? Could I tell her? No, I couldn’t. I was just too weak.
Besides, she wouldn’t want to be with someone like me. Someone who’s so shy and nervous all the time, who isn’t very pretty or strong and can’t talk very much and has so many problems… no, Applejack would never settle for someone as pathetic as me… and I didn’t deserve to be with someone as strong and beautiful and kind and caring as Applejack…
“These are really good!” Pinkie’s voice snapped me out of my depression and anxiety spiral and I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t have been happier to hear her voice. “Hey, Fluttershy!” she said as she and Twilight spotted me. I waved at them with a smile and they walked over to me, smiling in return.
“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked before taking a chomp out of the caramel apple she held aloft in front of her. “Where’s Applejack? Isn’t she with you today?”
“Oh, yes,” I nodded bashfully. “She went to use the bathroom…” I tapped my hooves together nervously and muttered, “…although she has been gone a while… you don’t think she abandoned me, do you?!” I said nervously, tears filling my pathetic eyes.
“No way!” Pinkie stomped her foot on the ground, shocking me. “Applejack would never do something like that!”
“I agree,” Twilight said ponderously, and hearing the two of them say that did put me at ease… at least for a moment. “But if Applejack should’ve returned by now-” Twilight groaned “-we can’t rule out the possibility that she was attacked by an enemy team.”
Pinkie and I turned our eyes to Twilight in alarm. She wasn’t wrong of course but that was a terrible thing to think about…
“Good thinking,” a gruff male’s voice suddenly cut into our conversation out of nowhere, making me squeak in surprise, “Twilight Sporkle!”
The man guffawed with this bizarre snorting laugh that was, well to be honest, really obnoxious.
“Sporkle?” Twilight said confusedly, arching an eyebrow as she turned around to look for the source of the annoying voice. “Is that supposed to be an insult?”
“Yeah, sporks are awesome!” Pinkie said angrily, stomping her hooves and facing the man with her game-face on. “Everypony knows it!”
“Well I’m no pony!” the man said confidently and stepped towards us, and I looked up to see him. He stood on two legs and had red scales all over his body, a reptilian tail and yellow leathery wings. He was a dragon!
“Oh, well sporks are really cool!” Pinkie said casually while I emotionally shut down and cowered behind Twilight. “You should try ‘em sometime!”
“Guh, whatever, Pinkie…” the man stuttered and tapped his chin. You could almost see the lightbulb appear over his head as he raised his finger with a smile and pointed at Pinkie, “Stinkie Pie!”
“What are you, four?” Twilight scoffed and stepped forward, although I was still cowering, sliding underneath the bench while Pinkie and Twilight stood in front of it between me and the dragon.
“Hehe… Stinkie Pie…” Pinkie giggled. Twilight glanced at her with confusion and annoyance and Pinkie just shrugged and smiled at her.
“So who are you, then?” Twilight asked bemusedly.
“My name’s Garble!” the dragon pounded his chest and then pointed at Twilight and Pinkie. “I saw you guys in the first preliminaries so I know you’re way too weak to beat me! You’re goin’ down!”
Nothing could have made me more upset than having to a fight a dragon. I couldn’t help but start quietly weeping underneath the bench as I hid my face behind my wings, causing Twilight to turn around and look down at me.
“Pinkie, could you handle this guy for a sec?” Twilight groaned.
“Oooon it!” Pinkie said musically with a salute before launching herself into the dragon, sending them both flying away as the dragon let out a loud, pained grunt.
Twilight got down on the ground and lowered her head to look at me, and I peeked through my feathers to see her giving me a kind smile. “What’s wrong, Fluttershy? Are you nervous about fighting?”
“N-no…” I said tearfully, still cowering behind my wings. “Not about fighting…”
“Are you worried about Applejack?” Twilight asked and I shook my head. She tapped her chin for a moment before asking, “So what’s the matter? I’m happy to help you through it, but I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can help.”
“I’m really afraid…” I said, bursting into wheezy sobs and feeling totally pathetic, “…of dragons.”
****
-RAINBOW DASH-
I wasn’t flying around for too long before I perched on the roof of some random office building or something. I was so ticked off, my mind just kept rerunning that scene in my mind of running into Rarity on the street corner.
Rarity and I had barely spoken two words to each other for the last three weeks and in that entire time I spent a lot of my spare energy rehearsing what I would say to her once I finally had the chance to talk to her. I wanted to apologize again and tell her that I really wanted to make things right between us but I already said that so I… wanted to apologize again?
I never quite figured out what I wanted to say but it didn’t matter because everything in my brain got flushed down the toilet as soon as I saw her and I started acting like a two-year-old boy pulling a girl’s hair in the sandbox because he likes her but doesn’t understand how ‘feelings’ or ‘normal interaction’ works.
I felt sick and wanted to frickin’ crucify myself.
“There you are, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity’s voice took me by surprise and I lurched forward, nearly losing my balance and falling off the roof.
“How did you find me?” I asked perplexedly, whipping my head around to see Rarity panting as she sat down on the other side of the roof.
“I haven’t been brushing up on my divination for nothing, Dash,” Rarity said coldly and wiped her brow, and I just sighed bitterly and looked at the ground below. This conversation didn’t look to be going in the direction of the reconciliation I was after either.
“What do you want?” I clicked my tongue in frustration.
“What do I want?” Rarity said agitatedly, walking closer to me as I watched her from my peripheral vision. “Honestly, I’m not even sure I can answer that myself.”
“Then what are you doing here?” I said coldly.
“I…” Rarity groaned and sat beside me on the roof. “I take it Twilight asked you about the partnering up plan already? What did you say, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I said sure,” I shrugged. “I’m not as strong as I wanna be. So if I have to lean on others while I collect the strength I need… then whatever.”
“I see…” Rarity groaned as she arched her back before letting out a tired sigh. “In that case, I suppose we’ll need to put our grudges behind us for a time. At least for the sake of our friends.”
“I thought you weren’t interested in putting aside your grudge?” I sneered, and even I couldn’t believe I had the gall to say that to her after how I’d acted.
“I’m not, but…” Rarity hopped off of the concrete railing we were sitting on and I turned around to face her, “I care about my friends, and I want our teams to be able to function together with some kind of harmony. If that means I need to bury my grudge for a time, then I will attempt to do so,” she looked me dead in the eye and without even blinking, coldly asked, “Can you do the same?”
I said nothing. Just looked away.
“Rainbow…” Rarity’s voice was soft and cold but clear and overwhelming, like the sound of a waterfall falling into a clean pond in the middle of winter. She grabbed my attention and I found myself staring into her deep blue eyes. “I’m not sure you understand how badly you hurt me. No amount of words or empty promises can fix the damage you’ve done… I’m not sure anything ever can.”
“I…” I stuttered, tapping my hoof against the concrete. That was a lot to take in, but at least she was being honest with me… maybe I could be honest in return… just for once.
But what could I even say other than ‘I’m sorry’?
“Ugh, you two should get a room if you’re going to be sentimental like this. BARF,” a gruff and irritable woman’s voice stopped me from shoving my entire foot into my mouth I’m sure, and I looked up irritably to see who it was. I recognized the voice and the griffon that it belonged to.
“Long time no see, Gilda,” I said bemusedly.
“Not long enough,” Gilda sneered.