Dash trotted along the paths leading from Ponyville, moving with a pace that would terrify those who knew her. She watched her path with an empty gaze, watching with only the smallest of attention as the stone roads of the town turned into gravel before finally fading into dirt and dust. Beaten paths and neglected streets that no pony cared to maintain.

They led away from the warm atmosphere just behind her, away from the delicious treats, cheering foals, and even fond memories. She knew better than most where the dirt path led to, knowing as well as she did flying.

Dash sighed, letting her head hang. She took a deep breath in, letting the cool air of winter chill her lungs. Her hooves moved as if on their own path, moving only because they already knew where to go.

“I’m flattered Rainbow, honest.” The purple mare replied to the still pegasus. It was clear that her smile was just as forced as the cheer in her voice. “But I’m not interested in you that way. You’re a good friend, a great friend, but that’s it.”

“Are… are you sure?” Dash wanted to buck herself with how pathetic the words sounded falling from her muzzle. There were easily a hundred and one other things that would have been better to say, but she couldn’t think of a single one.

“Yes,” Twilight spoke again, trotting towards the pegasus. “I’m sorry, Dash, but I’m not interested in mares. I never have been.” Dash shook her head back and forth.

“Can’t we at least try… something?” Her mind was already racing for an answer for the question she knew would be coming soon.

“Like what?” Twilight asked as easily as she could, keeping a tentative distance between the two. There wasn’t a reason in her mind that told her to stay away from Dash, only the instinct that raising the hopes of the pegasus was a very bad idea.

Rainbow, however, was flying through her own mind for an answer to the simple question. Something she wanted to do with Twilight, something that Twilight would enjoy doing, something that if they both enjoyed together, would give her a chance for this to work. She had to make it work, even if for just a little while. It had taken her too long to build up the courage for this.

“How… How about a date?” Dash tried to lift her voice up as she spoke, putting on the bravest smile she could manage. She couldn’t lift her hooves off the ground without them shaking in the air. The question only made Twilight bite her lip, suddenly making a stray bit of paper on a far desk extremely eye-catching.

“Dash…” her voice sagged as she spoke, in tune with her slowly drooping head. “This isn’t something that can just change with some discussion.”

“Why not?” The pegasus shot back, almost instantly regretting the bite her voice had. “I mean, why can’t we at least talk about it. I-It’s not like we’re gonna be hurting anything if we just try.” She took a step towards Twilight. Twilight took one back. Dash’s breath caught in her throat.

“Rainbow…” The words came off dejectedly, Twilight looking away from her. Dash clenched her teeth, fighting back tears.

“C’mon Twilight, please.” Dash’s mind continued to race, thinking of anything that could possibly help her now. Squeezing her eyes, swallowing on air, she continued. “Just one date, a-and if you don’t like it, then… then I’ll never bring this up again. I promise.”

The only sound that echoed through the library was the ticking of Twilight’s clock, chipping away at the tension like a small chisel against a mountain’s side. Rainbow kept her eyes shut, too afraid to look anywhere in the room. She kept her ears perked to their highest, listening intently for the sound of Twilight’s voice. The air seemed to grow colder the longer she waited, fur standing on end and legs shaking with her hooves. One part of her told her to sit down, the other screaming that if she did, there was no way she’d have the strength to get back up.

“One date?” The questioning words were spoken on a hushed breath, but to Dash, they might as well have been shouted into her ears. She opened her eyes quickly, gazing at Twilight with a hopeful expression, the unicorn turning from the gaze, bashfully raising a hoof to her chest.

“Y-Yeah!” The pegasus stuttered out, excitement flooding her voice. “One time, that’s it.”

“And if I still say no, we’ll still be friends, right?” Dash took a minute to process that.

She couldn’t afford to rush this. It wasn’t training, work, or anything else that she could afford to fix later. This was, literally now, a once in a lifetime opportunity. She needed to pull an egghead and focus. Taking a deep breath, calming her jittery nerves, she responded.

“No matter what you choose, I’ll always be your friend Twilight.” The cold from the room slowly seeped deeper into Dash, balling in her gut. Somehow, it made her imagine something terrible. It forced her to move her eyes from the mare.

“Dash?” Twilight questioned caringly, trotting closer to the quivering pegasus. When the cyan mare looked up, she took another breath. This time, it was for strength.

“Will… will you still see me the same… if you say no?” She bit her lip just shy of drawing blood, fear holding her worse than a manticore’s paw. “I-I mean, will you even want to be around me. Some stupid fillyfooler that likes you?” Between the tension the question created and the shivers her body was making, Dash found it almost impossible to breathe. She shut her eyes, waiting for the unicorn to respond to her.

But nothing came.

Just more silence, more emptiness that was haunting her worse than waiting for this moment. It was worse than even summoning up the courage to ask Twilight out. This… this was it. This was why she was better off just swallowing her feelings, to just go on laughing and flying away from everything. All it took was one mistake to break everything. It happened with Gilda in Flight School and now it was happening again with Twilight.

Dash could see it now. The unicorn was probably staring down at her, realizing that no matter what she did, the pegasus would stay a fillyfooler, one that liked her no less. Visits would become less frequent, conversations would become shorter. Eventually, it would just be easier to avoid her altogether. Tears were beginning to creep out of her lids.

Why hadn’t Twilight said anything yet? Was she thinking of how to let her down gently? Was she thinking of a good way to say avoiding one another would be best? Dash kept her eyes shut and head to the ground. She ignored the part of her telling her to stand, it was much easier to sit. It was always easier to cry when you’re on the ground.

Dash held her hooves over her head, shutting her eyes in a vain attempt to hold in her slowly leaking tears. Any second now, it would happen. Twilight would gently tell her that she’d never think twice about Dash being a fillyfooler, that it couldn’t hurt their established friendship. But there would be hesitance, bite, reluctance, and any other synonym the egghead could come up with for lying. Any second now, that’s when the venomous words would come. Dash held in a breath, hoping it wouldn’t turn into a cry when Twilight started talking.

That’s when she felt the hoof wrap around her neck.

The breath of air she feared was let out in a gasp. Dash moved her hooves from her eyes, looking blurry to her side. She saw the misted form of Twilight, visible just barely through her contained tears. The smile on her face was unmistakable. She knew that smile anywhere, because Dash loved that smile.

“Rainbow Dash, there is nothing you can say, do, or be that would even come close to convincing me that we should ever stop being friends.” The unicorn pulled her in closer for a hug. The pegasus dumbly accepted it, her hoof reaching up to wrap around the unicorn’s back. The cold air in the room turned into a heat from the sun.

There was no hesitance in Twilight’s words, no pause, no patience, and absolutely no reluctance. Plus, she was holding Dash, hugging her close like she had dozens of times before, like a friend she wanted to have for a lifetime. Rainbow had only felt this happy once before.

“Th-thanks Twi’.” Dash spoke with all the strength she had. “But, I promise, I-I’m gonna give you a date you’ll never forget!” She promised to the mare next to her, making sure to enjoy every fiber of them that was in contact. The unicorn giggled into her side, lightly shaking her head.

“I’m looking forward to it Dash. Show me your best.”

Dash just caught herself from falling over. Her trot ceased as her four legs flexed on the ground, regaining her balance before she started to move again. Pink eyes glanced at a root poking out from beneath the ground, taunting her silently. She moved on down the familiar path.

A long sigh left her lips as the familiar shapes of trees began to enter her vision, frayed from lack of care and burdened with little water. It was nothing she hadn’t seen before, nothing she hadn’t seen a hundred times before. Still, they weren’t a comforting sight. They only meant she was coming closer to her goal.

Her rainbow mane hung over her eyes as she returned her gaze to the ground, counting the beats of her hooves, reminding herself just how close she was. The sky above remained just as dull and gray, waiting for a pegasus to kick the water out of them. The idea danced in her mind of doing just that when she reached her destination, but she let it slide away. She’d be too tired to do that, before or after she was done.

Dash focused her gaze as she heard the scraping of dirt turn to the dull thud of stone. The familiar cracks under her hooves told her exactly where she was. Her trot came to a still, head still hung low. Her neck twisted, letting her gaze fall to her side, looking for the next landmark she needed to find. Her pink eyes landed on a long black gate, the corner of which she had just passed. The bars were tall, though nothing she couldn’t jump over, let alone fly. The spikes at the top were dulled with weather and time, now no sharper than her own tired mind.

She sighed dejectedly.

With a breath of air, Dash continued her trot forwards. Her eyes followed the gate, watching absently as the familiar features of the black iron bars passed her by. The rusted black turning gray in parts, missing in others, or lying on the ground as forgotten messes. It didn’t take a clever mind to see just how long it had been since these bars were tended to, at least longer than the trees she saw before.

It didn’t matter to her at least, not really. Why would it? She didn’t live here, no matter what her friends would say. No matter how often she visited, that’s all it ever was, visiting. She lived somewhere else, not here. There was no one here who would care, no matter what her family would say. They were just there, important at one point in time, but now, no longer a thing that belonged to this world. If she could, she imagined she would have let out a small laugh. It was hard to tell if she was describing the bars or describing herself.

Her carriage bent as her path veered, seeing the familiar break in the fence she needed to pass through. The iron fence ended at a gate, standing twice as tall as the fence did at its highest. The bars of the gate arced higher than the fence, even the sections that were standing to their tallest. The swinging metal of the gate appeared far more cared for than any one section of the fence before it, though it was hardly a contest to do so. The metal bars could have been waxed once a year and they still would have appeared far more cared for than the metal spikes that were surrendering to rust and decay. With another barely contained sigh, Dash walked through the metal bars, entering the land scarcely hidden by the metal.

The objects within the pathetic excuse for a fence were both familiar and haunting, as they would be to any pony who saw them. They never invited company, and certainly didn’t give an aura of warmth. Every last object that stood within the decaying black fence was as cold and bleak as the moon of Luna’s night.

Dash walked the path down between them, letting her eyes gaze over them. There wasn’t a need for a detailed look, already too familiar with the ones she would see and having less than no desire to see any more. She was only looking for one of them, and until she found that one, there wasn’t a need to stop, or see anything new.

Chink!

Rainbow let her gaze turn to her side, looking out over a collection of the cold objects towards the sound. It wasn’t a familiar sound, but it also wasn’t anything she’d never heard before. Pink eyes fell on a gray object, moving with as much pace as she did between the many objects. It held a long wooden object in the gap of its teeth, a sharp metal end one side and a blunt handle on the other. The smallest and faintest of smiles graced her lips.

“Hey Dampe,” Rainbow spoke with a cheer as forced as her visit. “How are ya doin’?”

The gray pony stopped briefly, looking over his shoulder towards the voice that called for him. When his eyes landed on Dash, he turned to her, setting his shovel on the ground. He was aged, at least twice as old as the pegasus, but he looked strong enough to run a country mile before breaking a sweat. His neck cracked with a grunt of pain as he stood to his tallest, trotting carefully to Dash. Beneath the white beard across his features, he wore a pleasant smile that held warmth almost undeserving of the place he worked.

“I’m doing well as one can be on a day like today, Mrs. Dash. And I must say, it is good to see a friendly face.” He spoke kindly to her, his voice thick with age and wisdom, but not resting or wavering in pitch. “Tending the yards is important work, and I would never feel right with myself if I neglected these ponies for even a day.” Dash turned her eyes from the stallion, gazing at one of the many objects within the yard.

It was tall and gray, carved and etched with smooth lines and elegant curves. It rose as high as her chest, but doubtlessly weighed as much as she did. Granite was a heck of a material. She hadn’t seen this one before though. It wasn’t on her usual path. She looked away before she could read what was on it. Another pony would cry at the words, lay over the cold stone and weep without care for what was left in the world. Dash had to save her tears for later. She didn’t know this object, she’d never seen it before.

“It’s the anniversary, isn’t it?” The voice of Dampe drew Dash’s vision, staring at the old stallion with an empty gaze. To the pony that watched her, it was as if her mind was still deciding on what look to wear. He spoke on regardless. “If I remember correctly, it was two years ago now, two weeks since your last visit.” His smile was as warm as he could make it beneath a beard of white and with a collection of cold stone and statues. “It’s been well cared for, I promise.”

Dash nodded towards him, forcing a smile to her lips. She doubted he believed it, though he smiled in return regardless.

“Oh, before I forget, do watch yourself. I’ve been getting the feeling that more than just ponies are walking through these plots nowadays. Do take care of yourself Rainbow.” Without waiting for a farewell, Dampe picked his shovel back up, twisting it carefully to avoid the mare he conversed with.

Chink!

The shovel sang quickly as it hit one of the granite stones lightly. There was no damage done, but it didn’t stop the older pony from analyzing the object he hit, glazy eyes looking over the object as carefully as he could. Dash trotted away with a pace no faster than before.

She found her path again easily enough, familiar with the rest of the objects she had trotted by before. No matter how many times she came here, she knew they would never change, not easily at least. The gates would continue to corrode away, the trees wither the longer they went without water. The clouds would be gray on some days then black as night on others. Everything about this place would change except for the stones, statues, and everything else she walked by in here.

Dash twisted down another path, walking slower this time than before. Her pink eyes were looking at one object now, knowing where it was well. There was no longer any need to scan the rest of the stones or look for a familiar statue. As soon as she made that turn, she knew where the object would be. Trotting closer, she eventually came to a still, sitting on her haunches as she looked at it.

It was no different than before, no different than any other time she had seen it. Still stuck in the ground, still gray as the clouds, and still etched with more care than Dash had given any other object in her life.

Water slowly clouded her eyes.

“I-I’m sorry, yer what now?” Applejack’s confusion was shared among the small group of friends. “An’ fer how long?” Her green eyes were transfixed on the two ponies in front of her, two mares in front of her, the couple in front of her.

“We’re dating, seeing one another, trying to grow the romantic feelings we have for one another through constant contact and shared experiences.” Twilight spoke back, unabashedly pushing her coat against Dash’s as she did so. The look on her face was little different than when she was preparing for a test. Confident, but thinking of everything she could to prevent a mistake from happening. “And we’re close to our three month anniversary.”

“Oh Darling!” Rarity cheered for them, trotting towards the two with a glow about her mane and shine in her eyes. “I am so thrilled for you both!” The white mare swept the two into a hug, unabashed at the contact and closeness she created. “You two complement each other so well, with your looks, your talents, your minds, and not to mention your personalities. Oh, I simply feel dreadful for not noticing earlier.”

“Same here!” Before Dash or Twilight could object, they felt their ambitious pink friend assault them from behind, effectively trapping them. “How am I supposed to throw you two a congratulations party if you two are hiding this from me? Now I have to throw a super-duper-Pinkie special party to make up for three months of lost time!” Somehow, beyond the logic of the couple, for every word Pinkie spoke, her embrace grew that much stronger.

“We get it, we get it!” Dash cried in mock defeat. “Air, breathe, let go, now, please?” The muscled hug around her left quickly, letting the pegasus stretch her lungs. She heard Twilight do much the same next to her.

“Hee hee, oops, sorry about that.” Pinkie apologized bashfully, eyes shut with a large smile as her hoof scratched at her curly mane. “I’m just so excited for you two! This is some of the biggest and bestest news I’ve ever heard!” The earth pony eagerly bounced around them, mane bobbing with her head as her infamous smile grew brighter with every word. It was hard for the ponies around her to contain their own splitting lips

“Oh, I’m happy for you two as well.” A timid voice earned the attention of the newly announced pair, watching them with an equally faint smile. “It is just so sudden, but I am really happy. Oh yes, it’s wonderful.” Dash had to admit. Hearing those words from her oldest friend made it hard for even Pinkie to compete with the smile that was near splitting her face. She felt any unease she began with slowly seep away at the excitement of her friends. That only left one more.

“Applejack?” Rainbow spoke as a question, looking to her farm pony friend. All eyes turned to the Stetson wearing mare, who bit her lip as she looked away from the eyes. Dash felt a weight collect in her gut. She watched Applejack swallowing something, taking in a slow breath of air, then turning back to the group.

“Listen, Ah… Ah gosh darnin’ it! Ah don’t know wha’ ta say!” Her hoof hit the floor with her raising voice. Her foreleg trembled as she put all her weight into it. Pinkie stopped bouncing as she watched her friend, Rarity losing her smile, Fluttershy hid behind her mane, and Twilight brushing closer to Dash. The pegasus draped a wing over her. It was as reflexive to her now as breathing.

“Darling,” Rarity began. “Is there something wrong?” The unicorn started a slow trot towards her friend, who kept her head bowed to the ground. Her hat hid everything. “You wouldn’t happen to be… against this?”

“‘Course Ah’m ‘gainst it!” The sudden shout forced Rarity to stop, also earning a shiver from Twilight. Dash held her close as she felt the lead inside of her gain weight. “No, but… Ah’m not against ya’ll. I love ya like family.” Her green looked at the pair, the lavender unicorn and cyan pegasus. It was impossible to miss the tears cornering in her eyes. “It’s just… Ah don’t know. This ain’t anything Ah ever though’ would happen.”

“Applejack.” Twilight whispered the name next to Dash, but she didn’t move forwards. None of her friends did.

“Ya gotta understand. This…” She motioned with a hoof towards the pair. Dash raised a hoof to hold Twilight closer. The unicorn accepted the embrace great fully, letting her head fall to the warm underfur of the pegasus. The orange pony let out a curt sigh as she looked away. Determination shown through her tears when she looked back.

“Ya’ll know I’m one fer tradition, always have been. Catchin’ up ta the times ain’t high on my list of things to do. Mah entire family is built around it. Mares and stallions fallin’ in love, make more of them foals ta run around an’ help out. Two stallions… er two mares…” Dash found it increasingly more difficult to hold back a growl building in her throat. It didn’t help that Twilight was gripping her hoof with a force she didn’t think the unicorn capable of.

“So what?” Dash spat. “You’re going to stop being our friend? Run away to your apple trees and pretend like this never happened?” Applejack opened her mouth to respond, but Dash didn’t give her a chance. This wasn’t like when she was a foal. She had a mare to protect now. “That’s exactly why I was so afraid of telling you guys, all of you. Do you know how long it took me just to ask Twilight out for the first time?” She felt the unicorn in question stiffen in her embrace. Dash held her all the harder. “The answer? Weeks. It took me weeks to finally grab the courage, because I was so afraid that she would do what you are doing right now!”

Dash pointed an accusing wing at Applejack, who recoiled like she was struck.

“You’re acting like a spoiled brat Applejack.” Dash accused, snarling at her friend. “I care about Twilight, a lot, and no amount of tradition is gonna stop that.” A hard breath of air left her as she finished her tangent, believing for all the world that her pink eyes had gone red with fury. “Can you accept that, or… are we no longer friends?”

The gasp was as sharp as a sword, and it came from all sides. Rarity put her hooves to her mouth as the air left her, eyes darting between the newly revealed couple and awe-struck earth pony. Pinkie was backing away from them, unable to decide if she should speak or stay quiet. Fluttershy was hiding behind every part of her body she could, fruitlessly subduing the tears that came from her. Dash couldn’t see Twilight while she was glaring at Applejack, but the shivering sensation beneath her was all the reminder she needed.

Applejack, however, stared at her with wide eyes and trembling lips. The tears that were so close to falling from her before started to trail down her cheeks now, nothing moving to quell or stop their flow. Her breath was audible and slow, shaking with no less intensity as her eyes. Her teeth gnashed together, turning her trembling lips into a fierce scowl. The look carried as much sorrow as it did rage with the tears in her eyes. Slowly, Applejack lowered her head, hiding her features beneath her hat. Only the sound of her breathing kept the silence at bay.

For every second that passed, Rainbow Dash gripped Twilight tighter, fearful that at any moment, something might happen. She couldn’t tell what, she didn’t want to imagine what, but the cold feeling of lead inside of her kept that primal terror inside of her. Something was going to break, but she had no idea what.

“No…”

The weak word would have passed right over Dash if the room was so silent.

“No.” It came again, the cowpony shaking her head as her voice grew louder. She rose to look at the pair, looking at Dash and Twilight. Gone was the scowl of anger. In its place was an open lipped grimace of terror.

“Ah don’t want tha’.” Applejack spoke again. “Ah, I love ya girls. All ya’ll. I-I could never turn mah back on any of ya.” She swallowed on tears before looking Dash right in the eyes. “There ain’t nothin’ that’s gonna change that.”

She was hugging the pair before anypony else knew what happened. The tears had yet to stop falling from her eyes, but the strength of her embrace lacked no strength. She grasped the pegasus as close as she could, giving the unicorn no quarter. Pinkie Pie jumped in behind her, layering the group with her own embrace. Rarity and Fluttershy were close behind. They were all crying.

Every pony in the embrace of friends wept and cried as they hugged one another, giving all their strength to the mare they touched, hiding nothing in what they felt. Wings from the pegasi, magic from the unicorns, and all the strength the earth ponies had.

Dash felt every pound of lead inside of her dissipate into nothing as she melted into the accepting embrace, her marefriend just beside her. The tears from her were no less hidden than from any other friend that held them. Rainbow leaned in close nuzzling the weeping mare with as tender a touch as she could. The returning pressure was warm and inviting, eager to mingle their fur.

“Twilight?” The shaking voice made them freeze.

Six pairs of eyes looked to the far side of the room, seeing Spike peeking out from the doorway. He looked small and fragile as he looked from behind the wooden door, showing only what he needed to observe the scene. The small amount he showed gave off as much fear as Applejack had only moments ago. The silence returned and with a vengeance.

This time, however, Pinkie Pie asked a question only she could think of.

“Oh! Did Spiky just come out of the closet, too?”

The room exploded into laughter.

Rainbow wept bitterly over the stone, clenching her eyes in pain and sorrow. There was no longer any rage, no hatred or wrath. All she felt now was what she had felt for the past two years. It had only grown worse in the last two weeks. Visiting may help, but it never went away. Ever.

Her hoof rose weakly from the ground, pushing against her eyes. She felt the cool breeze of the yard against her now wet fur, chilling the pegasus. She didn’t care though, not really. Labored breaths came from her lungs, futile attempts to quell herself. She shook where she sat, body ready to fall over and lie down in front of the stone.

Her cloudy pink eyes looked at it again, the thing she had walked miles to see, never once flying to visit, always trotting across the ground. She never wanted to fly to this place, not when she started and not even now. Flying was what freed Dash, it was what made her feel alive. No matter how she felt, flying always brought a smile to her face. She didn’t want to smile here. Smiling would mean she was happy, ready to move on, ready to begin her life again, but she wasn’t. No closer now than she was all those years ago.

The stone hadn’t changed, it never would. It was still cold, still gray, still alone, and still unmoving. Dash wished she felt like that. Instead, all she had was cold and alone. She wasn’t gray like the clouds above, she wasn’t a statue like anything ever made before. She was still alive, still breathing, and still mourning for the pony buried beneath her.

Rainbow leaned forward where she sat, stopping only when the top of her head pushed against the hard granite. It was uncomfortable, freezing with the chill in the air, worsened only by the tears she still let fall past her eyes. But she was silent, not a sound uttered from his lips beyond dry breaths of air.

The pegasus lifted a wing from her side, letting it run across the stone block in front of her. It chilled her sensitive nerves, matting down the feathers she had once prided herself in caring for. She didn’t care now, about how cold the stone was against her or how unkempt her wings appeared. None of it really mattered anymore.

Dash pushed back lightly, letting her eyes fall onto the stone again, different only with the streaks of water running in tandem down the smooth stone. They fell into the small carvings that were etched over the surface, carefully chiseled with time and patience. It was the only thing about the stone that appeared different from the rest.

It had no grand statue, no plot of land far from the others. It was in line with the rest, kept care of like the rest. There was only one detail about this slab of granite that separated it from the rest of the many stones throughout the yard. It wasn’t the stone it was made out of, the age of the rock, or anything else that could be chalked up to value.

All she cared about was the text written across the stone.

“I still can’t believe this is happening.” The voice next to Dash spoke in a hushed whisper. The pegasus turned her attention to the mare that had looked up to her as a filly. The orange coat of the pony was hidden beneath a well-fitted tux, courtesy of her fashion mindful friend, but the purple mane atop her head was far more groomed than on nearly any other day.

“Believe it Scoots.” Dash spoke back in her own quite voice. “You’re gonna have to or I just might stop believing myself.” The pegasus reached down and pulled on the ends of her own suit, adjusting the cuffs and folds till it looked perfect in her eyes. She let out a low sigh. Any other day and she would have just thrown the constricting fabric right off.

This, however, was not any other day.

“Yeah, but… I mean c’mon Dash!” Scootaloo spoke eagerly again. The mare in question watched as the eager pony’s eyes switched from Dash to the doorway at the far end of the hall, then back again. “Any second that door’s gonna open and… and I don’t know, I just know it’s gonna be awesome.” Rainbow had a hard time not smiling at the enthusiasm.

“I am glad you are eager Scootaloo.” The royal voice spoke from behind them both. But turned upwards to see both a familiar and breath-taking sight. “But try and contain yourself until the ceremony begins. I’m sure my faithful student has spent a great deal of time ensuring that this goes according to plan.”

“Especially after the last wedding we had here, right princess?” Dash asked jokingly towards the monarch, sporting her favorite grin as she did so. Celestia smiled in return, regalia shining from the light of the tinted windows. Dash ignored the laughing from Scootaloo from behind her.

“That very well may be one of the largest reasons for her caution on this day, though I cannot say it’s what bears all the blame. After all, she is the only student I have ever had who wished to create a problem in order to solve it.” Now Dash joined in with Scootaloo’s laughter. The princess only gave a wider smile at the words.

“Yeah, you’re right about that.” The prismatic maned mare spoke in return. Slowly though, her bright smile grew more subdued, falling into a thinner line, still pulled upwards in happiness. “But I couldn’t think of a thing about her I’d want to change.”

“And I doubt she can for you, Rainbow Dash.” The alabaster alicorn encouraged. “It would be a lie for me to say you two were the most likely couple to have formed over these years, for an equal as many reasons, but it is hard for me to think of even one against your union now.”

“Well I’m happy about that.” Dash admitted as she put her hoof behind her head, scratching at her mane carefully. It was bundled up per Rarity’s design, and messing with it now may send the mare in question into a fit. Her pink eyes looked behind Scootaloo, looking at the features of her friends, or those that were there.

Applejack and Fluttershy were right there, both dollied up in a way not far different from her own. It was an odd kind of fun, watching Applejack scratch around her side for her hat, making sure the familiar piece of fabric was still there. Fluttershy, however was more put back by her lack of mane. It was tied up in a bun, hanging off of her side that would make most stallions weak in the knees. Trouble was, the canary pegasus was already shaking for them. Hiding a smile, Dash turned her attention to across from her.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie stood eagerly next to one another. It wasn’t hard to tell that Pinkie was in a very similar situation to Applejack, wanting to do something but not being able to. Give her one second and she’d probably be bouncing across the room in glee. Rarity however, was pinpoint focused on one solitary detail. The door at the far end of the hall. It was hard to tell if she had even blinked in the past few minutes. Taking a bet, Dash would have said she didn’t.

“So what are you thinking about Dash?” The question distracted the prismatic mare, diverting her attention back to Scootaloo beside her. “Are you imagining what Twilight’s going to look like? Already entertaining some fantasies of yours?” The blush of red was painfully obvious against Dash’s blue coat.

“W-Whoa there.” She spoke in a quiet voice, doing her best not to shout. “Save that kind of talk for later. I’m already nervous enough to jump right out of this suit.” Scootaloo only smiled all the brighter at the words. She opened her mouth to retort.

But was silenced as music began to play.

All eyes turned to the large door at the far end of the hall, already glowing an ethereal blue. The hinges on the door moaned into life as the heavy implements swung inwards. Every pony rose to their hooves, preparing for the grand entrance. A small pegasus filly, a coat of white and mane of yellow, floated inwards, dropping petal flowers as she did. The eager smile on her face was not only unmistakable but instantly contagious to any who weren’t already grinning. But just behind her, slowly trotting in with a pace slow and deliberate, was a sight that took Dash’s breath away.

Twilight Sparkle, the Bride-to-Be.

Her gown glistened in the light of the hall, sparkling with every flutter of the fabric. It pulled across the ground like a cloud in the sky, effortless and free. For every trot of the hooves hidden beneath the train and skirt, the silky fabric would ripple, and a rainbow made of auroras would glisten across it. There was literally no other word for the dress other than what it was. Beautiful. But if the gown and fabric were beautiful, then the mare wearing it was nothing shy of heavenly.

Twilight’s mane was pulled and curled, hanging around her face in a way that framed her like a portrait, a professional piece of art that the unicorns of Canterlot would pay millions of bits to have. Her lips were glistened with shine, fur cleaned to perfection, and horn more defined than even the princess’s own. But the one detail no pony could miss were her eyes. Her beautiful, shining, heavenly, nearly prismatic eyes.

They almost appeared to be glowing without light, shining with a force Dash couldn’t even imagine. They didn’t just pierce the ponies that looked at her, they allured them. Twilight’s eyes drew attention like Discord drew disharmony, like the land drew water. But what caught the attention of Dash the most were the what they were focused on. They didn’t sway to any member of the crowd. They didn’t turn to look at her family, her friends, or anyone else. The only thing the eyes were focused on, was her.

All Twilight watched was Dash.

Dash was crying again, but she had never felt happier.

Twilight trotted up next to her, standing to her tallest. It was easy to see she wasn’t far from crying as well. When they stood side by side, looking at one another, it didn’t matter where they were. It didn’t matter that all their friends were around them. It didn’t even matter what was about to happen. They were together. They were happy. That made their lives complete.

“Friends and family,” Princess Celestia’s voice called out over the crowd, earning the, albeit reluctant, attention of the two mares. “We are gathered here today to witness the union of one Twilight Sparkle and one Rainbow Dash. These two mare have come together to form a union with one another, to be bound to one another for the rest of their time.” The monarch’s eyes lowered from the crowd, looking down to the two mares just beneath her. “Do the Brides-to-Be have any words to say?”

Dash looked over at Twilight expecting her to pull out a list from that, rather distractingly, gorgeous gown. Instead, she looked back the pegasus, never losing the smile that could have stopped the orbit of the sun. Any words Dash could have said withered and died in her throat at the sight. At least she knew they died happy. Looking back to her teacher, Twilight spoke her response.

“No, I think we’ve already covered that.” It was impossible for Dash not the grin with pride at the mare. The look of shock that overtook Celestia was gone as quickly as it had come. Her smile was back, brighter than ever, though still hardly a comparison to the one Twilight wore.

“Then we begin.” Her wings flared outwards, showing all the power the Princess of the Sun possessed. If asked aloud, Dash would have still sworn that Twilight looked more stunning, more ravishing, and more beautiful.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia spoke to her student first. “Do you take Rainbow Dash to be your lawfully wedded wife, to remain vigilant by her side and supportive through your years?” With misty eyes, the unicorn responded.

“I do.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Celestia spoke to the mare. “Do you take Twilight Sparkle to be your lawfully wedded wife, to stay with her through sickness and pain, to remain true to her for the rest of your days?” The pegasus didn’t even have to think.

“I do.”

“Then by the powers vested in me, I know pronounce you wedded for life.” Her wings flexed inwards. Looking down at the mares with a near mischievous smile, Celestia finished. “You may now kiss your bride.”

Twilight and Rainbow met with a chorus of cheers and tears.

Their life was just beginning.

Dash’s hoof weakly traced the etched words, letting it fall and rise over the careful mares of the stone. She traced the symbol on the stone the same way she traced the real thing. It felt so long since she was last able to do just that. It was so long ago.

“Cherished by many.” She whispered with a voice as pathetic as her touch, forceless and vain. “Sacred to a few.” A glower came across her lips as she nearly spat the rest.

“No matter how short your life, the magic you made never left me.” Dash grit her teeth as she corrected the quote. She felt her teeth nearly cracking under the pressure. The magic she felt near the mare symbolized on stone was nothing like what she felt now. That magic, that feeling, that was real. That was warm, inviting, paradise.

This… This was a curse.

There was no other way to describe the terrible sensation of waking alone at night and crying because there was no mare next to you, weeping alone in a home made for three as you kept to it by yourself, living off of the pity of others and memories long past. That was not the magic her wife had left behind. That was not what she would have wanted.

She… Twilight… Twilight would have wanted Dash to fly across the skies forever. To live like tomorrow was another life altogether, like every day was not just fresh and new, but wide and immense. That was the mare she wanted to remember. A pony that lived to do more every day, never satisfied with what was done until it was perfect. The mishaps, the insanity, the problems, they always led to her doing some great and grand finale that Rainbow never was able to forget.

“I love you.” The pegasus whispered to the wind, letting the ignorance that came with the pain envelope her. It made living easier, the blanket that kept her from the unknown. It was thick, heavy, and before all else, nearly impenetrable.

But it hurt, and it never stop hurting.

The tears continued to flow.

Dash let herself, forced herself, to read the words again and again. She could explain every part of the stone’s cruel message. Cherishing those who have touched your life, keeping those closest to you as sacred as the crown, never forgetting that that we aren’t invincible at any time in our lives, but always remembering that friendship, love, and magic will never fade.

“It never does fade.” Rainbow squeezed at with the tears of her clenched eyes. Her hoof pushed away the offending liquids. “It just changes into something more painful.”

It wouldn’t be the first time in her life a blessing was turned into a curse.

Twilight was sobbing into Dash’s coat, clutching her with all the force the unicorn had in her. Her tender voice was being ripped to shreds as she shouted into the pegasus’s cyan fur, apathetic to those around her. Dash held her with just as much force, trembling nearly in tune with her wife. While the unicorn cried and screamed, the pegasus held back her desire to mourn. There were questions that needed asking.

“H-How?” Her voice spat on stuttering breath. It’s all the kept her from screaming it instead. A stallion in a white coat stood a fair pace away from the two, wearing an expression Dash would have bucked from his face at any other time in her life. She couldn’t now though, not while Twilight needed her. He let out a low sigh, unheard beneath the unicorn’s muffled screams.

“These things are impossible to explain.” He cryptically spoke. Dash took it as she saw it. Mocking words. He spoke on regardless. “There are several choice and theorized reasons for the increased division in dying cells, mostly revolving around their inability to produce energy without performing parasite like characteristics to the cells closest to them. The best meta-”

“Shut up!” This time, Dash couldn’t suppress her scream. Twilight’s own grew in volume. The stallion jumped slightly at the voice, but quickly regained the stone cold composure he had before. He let in a slow breath of air.

“I’m sorry.” He spoke without inflection. “I realize this must be hard for both of you-”

“You have no bucking idea.” Dash hissed through her grit teeth. The stallion ignored her as he went on.

“But it is important that you understand just how little we comprehend about these things. The most we can do is counteract them with procedures and chemical compounds that force the cells to cease their division. However, it’s no less dangerous than the disease itself.”

“Then what’s the… the…” She couldn’t say. She just couldn’t. Dash’s mind was too focused on the mare in her hooves, still mourning painfully about the unjustness of it all. The pegasus let her hooves gently caress the mane of the lavender mare, rubbing circles on her back as she did so. It was hard to tell if the helped or hurt Twilight.

“I can come back later.” Those were the first wise words the stallion had said since he entered the room. Dash nodded towards him before returning her focus to Twilight. Without another word, he left, shutting the door as he did so.

The room was everything but silent after he left. Twilight continued to cling to the pegasus in her hooves, burying her doubtlessly tear-stained face into the underbelly of the mare. The cool water that mattered Dash’s fur was countered only by the hot air of her cries and screams, muffled through cyan coat. Her hooves trembled in their hold, their strength leaving them with every heaving breath she gave.

And still Rainbow held her, grasping her wife with a hold she wished would make this all go away.

Slowly the tears subsided, agonizing slowly her cries diminished into pants. But the hold never broke between them. Twilight continued to grip Dash close, comforted even in the slightest amount by the contact the two had. The pegasus continued to rub her comforting motions through the mare’s mane and back. It was all that she could do now.

“T-Thhh-this…” Twilight slipped out weakly, slurring the word horribly, “I-II-It…. I… I.”

“Shh…” Dash whispered into ear, flattened against her head. “It’s okay, I’m here.” She felt the hooves wrapped around her pull tighter, a hiccup coming from Twilight’s lips. “It’s… It’s going to be alright. We’ll get this taken care of, like we always do. Right?” The unicorn rubbed her head left and right against the soft fur of Dash.

“No…” Twilight weakly spoke. “No we can’t.” The admittance was nearly as damning as the news itself.

“Don’t say that!” The pegasus spoke back harshly, gripping the mare tighter. “Don’t talk like that! We’ve been through this before! We’ve… We’ve done the impossible like a dozen times! This isn’t any different.”

“It’s completely different.” It was impossible to miss the darkness in her voice. It made Dash shiver. “All that was… It’s all because of that. The magic, the mayhem. You heard the doctor.”

“He said that it’s impossible to know the reason.” Dash argued back. For every harsh word she said, her muscles flexed that much harder. “A-And they have treatments! I’m sure if we talk to the princess, w-we can even cure it!”

“Magic’s what caused this Rainbow.” The words were spat like venom from a wound. “Being exposed to more magic than any average pony in her lifetime. Exponential increase in my magic pools since birth, harnessing the Elements of Harmony half a dozen times, not to mention all those other artifacts, cursed by Discord, Sombra, and just about every other terror from the past.” The unicorn grit her teeth in anger. “Not even my natural resistance to magic was enough to endure that much magical input. Mutation was a natural side effect.”

“There’s nothing natural or normal about this Twilight!” Dash finally did the thing she never thought she’d do.

She pushed Twilight away.

The shock on the unicorn’s face was as clear as the pain. Lips trembling beneath wet cheeks and sunken eyes, wide and unbelieving at what had happened. Dash buried her own misery at the moment, let her anger have a run.

“You don’t know that’s what did it! The doctor doesn’t know and neither do you! It’s unfair, a-and stupid, but we can fix it. We always do. I know we can. I KNOW we can.” The pegasus started to hyperventilate. Her breaths quick and frantic, eyes gaining mist by the second. “This… This just can’t be happening!”

“Rainbow…” The pegasus paid the name no mind.

“You said it yourself. We’ve beaten monsters big enough to scare Celestia. Why the BUCK should we have to worry about this! Cancer! That doesn’t make any sense! Why not Trixie?! Why not me?! Why… Why…” The wall of strength the pegasus had been standing on crumbled. Her legs gave out, her voice following soon after. The tears followed suit.

She collapsed as a heap on the floor, bawling into her hooves like a lost foal, crying for something to help her, to make this right. If there wasn’t a way to fix this, then there wouldn’t be any harmony, there wouldn’t be any kind of justice. There’s no way a mare like Twilight could be sick with something like that. There were a hundred and five million other ponies who deserved it above her.

So why her? Why the one pony that she loved, why the pony that everyone else loved, why the pony that no one hated? It didn’t make any sense, and Dash cried for it. She cried and screamed at the thing that made no sense, but still slowly took from her the one thing she held most dear.

Rainbow was only faintly aware of the hooves that were slowly wrapping around her, pulling her into a fierce hug that she returned without thought. Nothing was fair about this, and it never would be.

“Shh…” Twilight cooed gently, running her hoof through Dash’s mane. “You’re right. We’ll find a way to get through this. I know we will.” There wasn’t a word in there that Dash believed, but she held onto every one of them like a lifeline.

“H-How… How long do you think…you…” The sentence couldn’t be finished, her tears demanding too much attention. It was impossible to ignore the tears she shed or the tears she felt collecting over her head.

Holding one another close, the two ponies mourned.

“Two months, three weeks, four days, and five hours.” Dash spoke the time she had memorized, if only bitterly so. “And that was four years after we married. Never even made it to five.” The attempt at a joke was as cold as the stone in front of her.

Her head fell against the stone again, thankful the dull pain and chill it brought. It distracted her for even a moment. Dash let her body breath ragged breaths, no longer in the mood to care about what happened to her. All she cared about was where she was, or more importantly, who was near. For every pony else that tried, none of them came close to making her feel how she felt now. Just the thought of those ponies brought back the painful memories of when they broke the news. It was, by all literal and literary means, the exact opposite of when they announced their engagement.

There were tears from every pony, as there always were. Her family took it the hardest by far, Shining and Cadance nearly as frantic as Dash was. The couple had spent weeks away from the Crystal Kingdom, begging Celestia and Luna to do anything in their power to make it right, to fix this horrible mistake of fate. But the alicorn sisters were as troubled and powerless to the news as the young princess and captain. Luna hid her tears in her night. Celestia had nowhere to hide hers. Twilight spent many days with the mighty monarch, enjoying activities the two had done when she still lived in the halls of Canterlot. Twilight could count every tear she shed.

Her mother and father were impossible to console. Their last born child sick with something so severe, and not even the power of royalty was able to able to reverse it. For every day she spent with Celestia, Twilight spent two with her parents. Dash was with her for every one. When Twilight’s mother held her daughter close, it was the father that Dash fell into with heavy tears. And with Twilight would reach a breaking point, her father would pull her close, leaving the wife and mother to mourn against one another.

Then came her friends, the ponies who had been closest to her for nearly the last decade of her life. Pinkie Pie wept every time they saw her, never having the energy to throw parties. Every time she laid her eyes on Twilight, her demeanor would turn cold and her outlook bleak. It was like watching some pony dangle a reminder, right over her nose, that some things couldn’t get better.

Rarity drowned herself in work, designing blankets, gowns, dresses, hats, and everything else she could name for Twilight. Every one of them was gorgeous and breathtaking, even by Dash’s standards, but they were all equally depressing. They carried an air of mourning, of tears shed over them as they were woven and tied together. Twilight found blood in one of the stitchings.

Fluttershy was the one pony aside from Dash that tried to tend to Twilight’s every need. She treated the sick unicorn like one of her pets, offering to make her meals, laying her down for bed, reading her stories… followed by crying alone and away from her every night.

Applejack… was impossible. It may have very well been the one time she refused to work, just to spend more time with Twilight. She tried her best to talk about things that she knew the mare would enjoy, but often found herself falling into conversations where she played more the listener than the speaker. They always ended with Applejack brushing away tears before making an excuse to leave. Dash and Twilight could never think of a good reason for her to stay.

Spike was by far the worst of all, second only to Dash herself. He must have read every book the library had, in Ponyville and Canterlot, looking for a cure. It was also the one time in Dash’s memory that Twilight told someone to stop reading. The moment she did, he broke. He cried into her, beat his little claws against her, and begged her to not die. For all the strength he had, for all the cleverness Twilight gave him, he was still just a baby. Worse… he was a baby about to lose his mother.

The worst part of all? Twilight got worse.

Dash did away with the memories then. She was already crying enough.

That was when she heard breathing behind her.

She got up on her hooves, shaking as she did so. There was somepony behind her, most likely watching her. A flare of rage over came her at the thought. She turned as quickly as she could on her hooves, flaring her wings to look as intimidating as possible. She was ready to screech, to scream, to even pound them into submission, but all that left as her pink eyes landed on the intruder.

Breath left her soon after.

“T-Tt-Tw-Twilight?”

“Rainbow?” Twilight asked her wife gently, careful not to use too much strength. Her head lolled sideways as she spoke, careful as to not force her muscles to take any more strain than they had to. The pegasus behind her looked down at her, slowing the chair she pushed.

“Yeah Twi’? Is something wrong?” Dash carefully stopped the chair, locking the wheels as she trotted to Twilight’s front. Her lavender coat was pale, far lighter than it ever had been before. Her legs were thinner, doubtlessly weaker, and her features little different. But she still smiled at Rainbow, as if there wasn’t a thing wrong in the world.

“No,” she answered honestly, softly. “I just wanted to ask you a question.” Dash picked herself up, putting on a smile she knew Twilight would enjoy.

“Fire away then.” Twilight looked down briefly, playing with the blanket lain over her rear legs. It was custom made, or so Rarity had told her. She had no reason to doubt the mare, as the blanket felt as warm and soft as it looked. It kept her warm on cold days like today. Looking back up to Rainbow, she asked her question.

“What do you think happens when we die?”

Dash’s smile fell in an instant.

“I don’t know.” The mare muttered, forcing her eyes to look elsewhere. She felt something hard settling in her gut. It was incredibly uncomfortable. She trotted back around the chair, avoiding the gaze of the sickly unicorn as she did so. “You shouldn’t be thinking about that kind of stuff anyways.”

“Why not?” Dash did all that she could to ignore the cheerfulness in the mare’s voice. “I really can’t think of a better time to think of questions like this.” Twilight shook for a brief moment as the locks over her chair’s wheels were undone, allowing it to roll once more by the command of Rainbow forehooves along the chair’s handle bars, she began to walk forward again.

“Because it’s stupid.” Dash concluded simply, hiding the bite she knew her words would have. So instead, she bit her lip. It was better if she felt a bit of pain if it meant she could keep Twilight happy. That was easily the best option.

“That’s not what I think.” Twilight spoke on. Dash knew she was smiling, especially when the lavender mare leaned her head back in the chair, looking into the night sky above. She always did love to admire Luna’s work, always so much more detailed than any night Celestia had cast. “In fact, it’s rather fun to think about.”

“There isn’t anything fun about it.” The pegasus was finding it harder and harder, ways to tell Twilight to stop talking without out telling her to shut up. That would hurt her if she did. She’d rather break a pinion off that risk that.

“But just think of it Dash.” The unicorn went on. She raised her hoof into the air, letting it wave gently as if caught in a breeze. “The one unknown that no pony can test, that science can neither prove nor disprove. Too impossible to be called logical, but too well-conceived to be deemed against reality.” She sighed a slow sigh, eyes never leaving the sparkling sky above. Dash swallowed a ball that had been collecting in her throat. It didn’t go away.

“So…” Dash began, searching for a question she could ask. There were a billion then million then maybe another thousand and one possibilities, but only one kept repeating itself in her mind. She hid a sigh under her breath as she let her lips form the cursed words.

“What do you think happens?” Silence.

There weren’t even crickets out to break the vacuum of sound that fell between the two. The brightness of the stars couldn’t produce a sound, and the wheels on Twilight’s chair were too well cared for, too properly maintained, to make anything more than a small rumble as they rolled across the stone of the town’s pathways.

Dash mulled over the idea that she had asked the wrong question. It wouldn’t be the first time she had screwed up while trying to do some good. That would, of course, mean that she had hurt Twilight. If there was a judge or jury, she would have plead guilty and asked for the death penalty.

“I think it’s where everything I could ever want is.” The voice of Twilight struck Dash immediately. It wasn’t just happy, or cheerful. It was… dreamy, blissful even. It sounded like she had fallen asleep in her chair again, narrating a dream she watching with a smile over her lips. This was good. No… this was perfect. Dash hated what they were taking about, what it meant and what it was, but if it made her happy, made Twilight happy, she could accept that.

“Like what?” She prompted, carefully rolling the chair around a turn. They weren’t far from home. “Are you missing something here?”

“No silly,” Twilight spoke back with a playful bite. It made Dash smile. “Things that ponies can only dream of, things that magic can’t make happen, or time won’t let us have.”

“You’re cryptic when you’re happy.” Dash bit back with her own comment. A soft laugh reached her ears because of it. Her smile grew broader as her chest felt lighter.

“Sorry,” Twilight apologized, “I guess if I had to be specific, I’d be able to do things without any effort. Like being able to fly without using my air balloon, reading books without having to worry about wasting the day, or maybe even being able to watch a starry night even as the sun comes up.”

“You’re a dreamer Twilight.” Dash replied honestly before giving a small grunt as she pushed. Twilight’s wheelchair had caught on an edge. It was freed with little effort. The unicorn pulled the blanket on her lap closer. “Those first two do sound pretty awesome, but that last one sounds like a… a… aw, crap I forget the word for it.”

“Oxymoron.” The unicorn replied automatically.

“Yeah, that!” Dash’s enthusiastic voice cheered. Her hoof hit the bars of the wheelchair, shaking it.

Twilight squeaked in fright. It only took a blink of an eye before Dash stopped the chair.

The silence was back, this time with the faint background of nightly activities coming from the homes of ponies around them. Dash bit her lip, thinking of something to say. She saw Twilight in the chair, hooves gripping the blanket with all the strength she had in her. It wouldn’t have been enough to lift a book. The urge to smack herself rose within the pegasus.

“I-I’m sorry.” The pegasus spoke earnestly, waiting with baited breath for Twilight to respond. But she didn’t hear anything. Instead, she saw Twilight’s hoof motioning her to come around, moving back and forth in the air. Dash jumped over the chair and mare, landing just in front of her in a flash. Twilight looked back at her.

She wore that gorgeous smile. The smile that Dash always wanted, the one that she worked hard every day to keep. She still had it now. It brought a smile back to her own features. Leaning in, she placed a soft kiss on Twilight’s lips. She couldn’t be strong or chaste with it. That could bruise the mare now. But it would take something more than magical to tell her she couldn’t kiss her wife anymore.

When she pulled back, Twilight was still smiling, even brighter if that was possible. Without another word, Dash went back to the chair, pushing on it again.

“You never told me what you think happens.” Twilight reminded Rainbow, speaking with an already slowing heartbeat. The pegasus had to smile as she saw the fatigue slowly work over the mare. Leaning over the chair, she placed a kiss between Twilight’s ears before leaning down and whispering into one of them.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Twilight was smiling at her now. That same beautiful heavenly smile. She was standing at her tallest with the same mane, the same coat, the same... everything. There wasn’t anything different about her at all. Nothing… except for one critical, vital thing.

She wasn’t sick.

“Y-Yyy-oooo….” Dash backpedaled from where she stood, impacting the stone behind her quickly. The cool granite across her back and wings was left unfelt as her vision was filled with the mare in front of her. “N-Noo… No no no no no no.” Her breathing quickly became erratic, frenzied, but above all else, terrified.

“What’s wrong Rainbow Dash?” The pegasus heartbeat only beat faster. That was Twilight’s voice. That was Twilight speaking. That wasn’t possible. “Aren’t you happy to see me?

Dash was rendered speechless. Her hooves beat the ground furiously, pushing her harder and harder against the stone behind her. She only began to shiver the closer Twilight came, trotting slowly, carefully, to her. The unicorn never dropped her smile.

“Am I too alien to you now?” Twilight asked again, smirking as she spoke. “Am I something you wish to forget? Was I wrong to cheat death for you?” The retreating pegasus froze.

Those were not the words she was expecting. Actually, she didn’t know what to expect. There was Twilight in front of her, standing in front of Dash, standing in front of her own grave, smiling like she had just woken from a pleasant dream. There was no malice in her voice, no fear or hatred, but… there was nothing else. Just… just her voice. That was it.

That was enough.

“A-Are… Aaa-re you real?” The question fell and stuttered from Dash’s lips, unable to think of a better way to say it. Still, she didn’t move, pressed hard against the stone that marked the resting place of her wife, the same mare standing in front of her very much alive. Twilight only smiled all the wider

“Of course I am Rainbow Dash.” The mare spoke as she trotted ever closer. Soon she stood just above the pegasus, no less than a hoof’s distance away. “I told you before I passed on, I love you. But you weren’t there when I left, so I had to come find you. Do you think anywhere I went would be heaven without you?”

Dash choked on her tears.

She threw herself into the mare’s waiting hooves.

She screamed, she yelled, she cried, and she shrieked. Dash let go of every pain she had been holding in for the past two years, letting go of everything that had haunted her. The memories, the emotions, the feelings, it was all being let out in this one embrace, within the hug of the mare she loved.

Twilight spoke nothing as she held the weeping pegasus in her hooves, gently stroking the disheveled mane of Dash. She sat on her haunches as Dash let everything go, holding her close through every moment. The soft breathing of the unicorn was a haven for the distraught pegasus, grabbing at it greedily.

“Shh… It’s all alright Rainbow Dash.” Twilight soothed the sobbing mare, holding her close with her hooves. “I’m here. I’ll always be here, just so long as you continue to love me.” The pegasus swallowed through her tears and sobs.

“Y-Yeah! Yes!” She shouted over the unicorn’s shoulder. “I’ll… I’ll love you. I’ll always love you. Forever. You said that, and… aa-and I feel the same.”

If there was ever one term that Rainbow hated hearing, more than failure and definitely more than loser, it was death. For almost an entire year, that was all that she heard other ponies talk about. Questions, worries, concerns, everything dancing around that one word they didn’t want to say in front of her, or more specifically, in front of Twilight.

Nothing ever got easier, not after they knew what was coming. Everything became precious because the end was closer than they ever could have wished for it to be.

That was why she found it so hard not to be mad at Twilight right now.

“Don’t call it that.” Dash whispered with venom. Her eyes were on the hoof in her hands, once a vibrant and distinct lavender coat now as gray as the moon without a sun. A low beep echoed behind her. It faded from her mind as she focused on the fragile limb in her own hooves, careful with every stroke she made across the fur not to break it.

“That’s what it is Rainbow.” A mare spoke to her, a mare that she had fallen in love with and was now forced to live on without. The voice sounded so cheerful, so happy, but still so weak. It didn’t do anything but anger the pegasus further.

“No, it’s not.” She bit back. “It’s just a bed, a hospital bed. It’s a cotton bed that the princesses paid for and you’re lying in. That’s it, there’s nothing special about it.” Dash watched the hoof she was caressing tighten mid-stroke, attempting to wrap itself around the pegasus’s own appendage. She let the limb curl around her.

“On the surface, you’re right.” The voice admitted, losing none of the cheer and gaining no strength. “That’s all this is really. When I’m out of it, some pony else will use it, and the pony after that, and after that. But to me, it is something else.”

“I don’t care what you think it is.” Dash spoke resolutely. She carefully held the pale purple hoof in her grasp, letting her other hoof glide up to hold it, embracing the weak appendage with all the care a mother would give her foal. “This… It’s just… nothing to worry about… it’s still too soon.” She sucked in a breath of air. It was getting hard to breathe.

“Rainbow, look at me.” She didn’t want to. She really didn’t want to. Whatever she saw, Dash knew she would hate it. It would be a horrible reminder, it would be everything she hated about the past months of her life, their life given form. But she knew she had to. Her breath shook as she took in a slow breath of air, letting her eyes trail up the pale coated leg, resting only when she saw the mare connected to it.

The tears started to fall.

Twilight was looking at her through a mask. The dark alluring mane she had for so long was all but gone, taken from her through the treatments that were supposed to help her, but in the end, probably just killed her. Her face was sunken in, bones nearly visible against the delicate coat that hung from her, just as pale and gray as the hoof Dash held. Twilight was letting her head rest on a pillow, careful to let her head twist to see Dash. But despite all the pain Dash saw, there was one place she saw none of the pain, of the sorrow, of anything bad.

Twilight’s eyes.

Dash saw nothing but peace, acceptance, but most importantly, love. They were glowing like the first time Dash had taken her on a date, like the first night when the kissed, like the day they were married, like the day they became one, like every good moment in their lives was put into that one moment, and Twilight was giving everything to her.

Dash choked on her tears.

“Shh.” Twilight comforted her partner, hoof weakly rising to touch the pegasus’s cheek. Dash caught her hoof as it touched her, realizing that she must have let it go. She held it against her as the tears fell from her eyes, clenching with the pain. Twilight spoke on.

“It’s alright Rainbow. I’ve had a long time to accept this.” Dash wasn’t able to argue with her, throat clenched too tight and hooves gripping too desperately to the hoof Twilight had placed on her. She held the delicate hoof like the divine object she knew it to be. “I’ve done so much Rainbow, we both have. How many times have we saved the world? How many times have we done the impossible, seen things that little fillies tell stories about wanting to experience.” Dash knew Twilight was smiling, looking at memories that were passing before her eyes. It only made the tears fall faster.

“I-It… ssst-tilll…” The words slipped, cracked, and fell from Dash’s lips. She couldn’t speak, too engrossed with the fading warmth from the hoof pressed against her cheek. A light gasp came from her as she felt it pulling away. Her misted eyes watched as the pale limb fell back onto the bed by the mare it belonged too, resting like the rest of her body. As reluctantly as before, Dash looked back to Twilight again, looking at those eyes that held more happiness than she thought they ever could.

“Do you know what my dream was Rainbow?” The question was nothing the pegasus expected. Her mouth opened and closed as she flew for an answer, searching every memory she ever had of Twilight. She could find nothing, nothing except… that…

That small thing she put at the forefront of her mind with every task she did. That goal that seemed impossibly simple, but was bent in every direction imaginable. From helping friends and family to learning more about the world. If there was ever any one thing Dash could say Twilight was, it was that.

“Live a full life…”

Dash weakly mumbled, her throat too tight to speak any louder. For every breath she took, the tears came stronger. For every moment she tried to hold her breath, her throat clenched harder. Twilight smiled at her, gaunt lips slowly pulling up against her sunken cheeks.

“Yes.” The word felt like poison to Dash, earning a cough of pain and tears. She felt another hoof lay itself over the she held. She looked back down, seeing both of Twilight’s fore hooves, holding her own. She couldn’t look past her fetlocks, too afraid of the sight of needles in her knees, wires sticking and prodding to her fragile and delicate skin. It wasn’t fair.

“Why?” Dash muttered the question she had thought ever since this horrible nightmare became more and more of a reality. “Why would you th-think of that now?”

“When else can I think of it?” Rainbow almost gasped at the words. From anyone else, the pegasus would have decked them, hard. From the mare who spoke them, Dash only felt the lead in her gut turn to steel. “After all, this is my death bed.” Now the pegasus was crying again.

She didn’t scream or moan, together they had done enough because of this. But the tears never stopped coming. There was always some small thing that would set them off, things either of them could have brushed off before, but now crushed them worse than an Ursa Major’s paw. This was one of those things.

“I-I told you…” Dash muttered weakly, staring at the hoof she held and the hoof that held her. “Don’t call it that…”

“There’s nothing else for me to call it.”

“Call it just a bed.”

“Tell you what,” Twilight spoke back honestly. “If I make it to tomorrow, I’ll call it a bed then, deal?” Dash grit her teeth till her muscles shook.

“Stop it Twilight!” It took her a moment to realize what she had just done. She screamed, yelled, even shouted.

Dash had just shouted at Twilight.

“I-I,” her voice shook with wide eyes, tears never ceasing. Twilight watched her silently, breathing through the tube wrapped around her muzzle. “I didn’t mean- I- No, just…”

“It’s alright Dash.” Twilight spoke kindly, rubbing her hoof over the pegasus own. It soothed her immediately. “I understand. It’s alright.”

“Then… how are you… so okay with this?” There was silence again, broken only by the machines that continued to work beyond the focus of either mare. Twilight sighed, leaning back in her bed. Her hoof slipped off of Dash, leaving just the one the pegasus held like a holy relic, worshiping the fading warmth.

“Because I’ve had time.” Her voice listed easily, her peaceful gaze moving from Dash and towards the window. The sun was setting.

It was a beautiful display of lavender, orange, and blue. Three colors that could be seen in very few other places within nature. They mingled across the sky, swimming within one another as the sun continued to descend below the horizon. The lavender darkened, slowly turning into the black of night, taking the fading orange and blue with it. Twilight smiled as the sight filled her gaze.

She always did love sunsets.

“It’s because I have something dear to me. Something that will stay with me forever.” Her gaze slowly turned back to Dash, who had yet to look away from her. The pegasus’s mane was disheveled and messy, more so than usual. Pain tended to do that to ponies.

“What is that?” Dash asked, hoping against hope that she could have that item too. Twilight smiled sweetly in return. Her eyes were heavy though. She had to shut them.

“It’s something you gave me Dash.” Her words were a whisper. It was getting harder to breath. Why was it so hard to breathe all of the sudden? It didn’t matter entirely though. She was just tired.

“What… what did I give you?” The pegasus let all her fears fill her voice, sounding like the scared filly she once was. Twilight let her smile bleed across her face. It was always good practice to smile while you slept.

“You loved me Rainbow.” Twilight spoke honestly. “You loved me even before I loved you. What else could I ever ask from you when you gave me that?” The pegasus couldn’t speak. Her mouth was too dry, throat too thick. It was already hard to see Twilight though the tears.

“And I’ll love you forever.”

The darkness had never felt so warm before.

“I-I knew you couldn’t really be dead.” Dash whispered through her tears, holding the mare as close as she could. Twilight snuggled back in the embrace, never losing the smile that hung like a picture on a wall. “Y-You’re too strong, too awesome… too… t-too cool for being dead.” She nuzzled her head against the unicorn’s neck savoring every ounce of warmth that passed between them.

“As long as you love me Rainbow Dash, I will never leave.” Twilight whispered carefully into the cyan mare, letting her hooves stroke the fur of the pegasus lovingly. “I don’t want to be anywhere else than with you, as long as I love you. Do you still love me?

“Yes!” Rainbow nearly screamed. It was like asking of Luna valued her night. “Yes! I-I’ll love you now and forever. There’s… there’s nothing else for me to care about other than you. As long as you’re here… with me… I’ll… I…”

“Are you alright Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked with a touch of concern to her voice. “Are you tired, fatigued?”

“Y… Yeah…” The pegasus responded slowly, fighting to keep her eyes awake. She needed to see Twilight, she needed to make sure she was still there. If she closed her eyes, she might lose her. Dash couldn’t let that happen, not again.

“Then rest, I’ll be here.” Twilight’s comforting voice spoke again, rubbing her hoof over the mare’s features, drifting over the brow of her eyes. The pegasus weakly fought her sleep still.

“B-But-”

“It’s alright Rainbow Dash.” She spoke again. “I won’t leave you again. I promise. I have no reason to ever leave, not as long as you love me.” The smile only grew over the pegasus as sleep continued to consume her.

“Al… Alright.” She admitted weakly, already falling into a comfortable embrace along the unicorn’s side. It was warmer than any blanket or bed she had ever slept on.

“I love you Twilight. I’ll love you forever.”

The unicorn mare smiled back as the pegasus fell into a blissful sleep. Her smile grew toothy and her horn crooked. As the breath of Dash grew rhythmic and constant, her coat turned black and her hooves hollow.

Chrysalis, dark and imposing, kept her hold on the sleeping mare in her hooves. Rainbow Dash held that smile the Queen of the Changelings had seen too rarely in her life. Love was common and expansive throughout the lands of Equestria, but true love, requited love, eternal love, was a rare and valuable dish to her. It was the sweetest ambrosia that her sense could ever taste, and the most luxurious of odors that she would ever absorb.

But it was also the most powerful emotion she could ever feast upon. And, with this mare, the feast may very well never end. She let her holed hoof run over the prismatic mane of the pegasus, watching her smile grow with the contact, still absorbed in the illusion she wished to believe in. The Changeling was unable, and unwilling, to suppress her smile.

“Ah, my sweet young Rainbow Dash,” Chrysalis whispered lovingly to the pony. “Mares like you are my favorite ones of all. So willing to fall into an illusion of those you’ve love and lost, so young as to believe there is no more meaning for you.” She nuzzled the pegasus, breathing in deep the heavenly aroma of love.

“Yes, my precious Rainbow Dash, you’re love will keep me alive forever.”

Rainbow Dash smiled in her dreams, happily nuzzling Twilight. She was in paradise.

Author's Notes:

I wonder if it ever gets cold in the afterlife? I’m sure not going to heaven when I die for writing this.

Like I said before, and I’m saying again right now, all of my stories have at least some tangential connection with my real life. This? My grandmother passed away recently. Obviously she was nothing like a wife to me (Thank Christ), but she was like a mother. The last scene with Rainbow and Twilight is as close to plagiarism of real life as I’ll ever get.

I’ll level though, the ending with Chrysalis might feel out of place, but I did try to set it up with a few details throughout the chapter, but I have a problem of either being too subtle or too in your face. I gotta work on that. But thinking again, if I was Chrysalis, I couldn’t imagine a more prime target. It would be a like fat otaku at some anime convention not jumping at the chance to get his limited edition cover art box for Gurren Lagann signed by Kamina himself. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, that’s right.

Hardcore Mode: I guess this is becoming a thing for me now. Anyways, unless you’re immune the track already, try this.

So with this, I declare to take all your good feels and trample on them until you too are crying.