Chapters Rainbow Dash loved nothing more than flying.
In fact, flying was the one thing that kept her going. Her friends were often busy, and that meant that she had a lot more free time than she thought she did. Life seemed to have a set routine for her: wake up, go to work from 8-4, and sleep. Eating was necessary every now and again, and she managed to squeeze it in to her "busy" schedule. Life had become an endless rut, and nothing exciting was happening in her life. Excitement was something that she longed for, and was something that helped her be who she was. Something was missing, and that's all she knew.
She used to be pleasantly pestered by her number one fan Scootaloo, but even she managed to find other things to occupy her time with. She was doing well in school, and after Rainbow Dash agreed to be her honorary sister, she took that role seriously. Many nights she would invite the filly over, only to make sure that she did her homework and had someone to help her with general things in life that no one seemed to help her with - questions about being a girl, struggles she needed answers for, among other things. Lately, however, Scoots has been over at AppleJack's more often than not, crusading and helping out Apple Bloom with the farm chores. She sure was proud of her little sister and the pony she was growing into - but she still missed her.
Today was like any other. There she was, lounging on the cloud that she dubbed her nap cloud for the day. She stretched her limbs, fluttered her wings, adjusted her tail to act as a secondary pillow for her lower body, and was about to settle down for a good two hour nap. Then, just as she was about to drift off, she heard something peculiar. She heard humming coming down from underneath her cloud. Normally hearing humming wasn't so weird, since everyone in Ponyville seemed to keep in good spirits more than half the time. This humming sounded different though. It wasn't from a pony. It sounded much deeper, and very foreign to her.
She peaked over the edge of her napping cloud, and what she saw next she would never forget for her whole life. There, below where she was, a human being walked through the meadow. She had to rub her eyes and close her mouth for it hung agape; only to fall slack again as her eyes followed this person through the tall grass. Well, it was tall to the ponies. On a human, it went only up to the knees.
He was not what she had expected him to look like. He had long, dark hair reaching down to his upper back. He was a dark man, with his skin looking as tan as the saddle Granny Smith had in her broom closet. He was not as tall as she had imagined a human to be, either. See, in Equestria, humans were usually thought to be somewhat of a myth, seeing as how sightings were so rare. The last human encounter happened over 500 years ago according to pony time, and none had occurred since. This particular human appeared to be roughly around 6 feet tall, but lacking a few inches. He was quite stocky, as someone in a trade profession would be. Though his body structure could have been slightly intimidating, he had a kind face to him; looking nothing like the horror stories Rainbow had heard in urban legends. Ponies had been taught to fear humans, because they were known for enslaving ponies to serve their agricultural purposes, (a position Rainbow knew A.J. would not mind). Other rumors circulated about how the humans would remove the unicorn horn off of the unicorn ponies, and clip the wings of the pegasi. However, contrary to all of the rumors and stories, this particular human was different. He wore no shining impenetrable armor, drew no sword of desolation, and had no scowl of horror across his face. What he did have was a smile stretching from ear to ear, robes made of what looked like to be the whitest sheet of linen she had ever seen held together by a simple rope belt, and oddly enough no shoes on his feet. She couldn't get close enough for a good look, but she could have sworn there was something odd about his hands; but she figured she would blow it off for now. Her next objective: get in closer without being noticed.
She implemented her awesome agility as she jumped from cloud to cloud, trying as hard as she could to not be noticed by this oddly peaceful human. There were a few times where she almost lost her balance and had to lean the opposite direction to prevent herself from falling flat on the ground. However, she quickly recovered.
She was looking at him with such a studious face, that Twilight probably would have awarded her a PhD just for trying. She almost felt ashamed of herself for jumping had turned sloppy as she hopped from cloud to cloud as she tried to follow this man. She was not keeping in tact with her usual graceful form - but for now, practicality out weighted looks. She noticed he stopped to study a flower, so she figured she would try to stop too."Try" was the key word here; for she wanted to stop, but the combination of velocity that she had built up from jumping so fast and the slickness of the cloud kept her going longer than she wanted to.
So, she lost her hoofing on the cloud she was on.
Despite her efforts to open her wings and give herself a softer landing, she toppled head-first onto the ground, slowly getting up and lightly shaking her head and yet again trying to recover. However, her moment of painful bliss was interrupted whenever a large shadow cast over the sun that was gracing her, and she looked up;
It was him.
She sat frozen in place, not knowing what to do. Words tried to escape her, but to no avail - she simply sat there, eyes bulging from terror and shock, mouth agape, and her soul waiting for what could have very well been her death for all she knew. However, what happened next would burn in her memory for the rest of her life-
He extended his hand out to her, and laughed.
He had a laugh that seemed to shake the very ground around them. It was contagious, too. So contagious in fact, that after about ten seconds of listening to it, she started to grin. Then, sheepishly, she allowed a few of her own silly chuckles to escape. She had no idea what it was, but something about this man had suddenly captivated her.
However, her mind snapped back in place as she remembered where exactly she was and what her situation was. She returned to her paranoid state she looked up and saw he extended a hand out to her, and quickly retracted in instinctive fear. However, he never even flinched, as he patiently awaited for her to put her hoof in his hand. She cautiously extended her foreleg, and he pulled her back onto all fours. She finally saw what she had thought was off about his hands - they had holes in them. Perfect round circles in the wrists just below the palms. She stared curiously at them, but she was distracted by the feeling of hands brushing her coat, getting all of the loose dirt off. He even brushed his fingers through her mane, getting rid of the clumps of dirt that littered her gorgeous rainbow. He smiled warmly at her, and she smiled shyly back.
"Um...uh...thank you. I..I wasn't uh....yeah...I uh...", was all she could manage to say to him. He smiled gently as she continued to stammer on for another two minutes or so, before he finally spoke in that deep, but soothing voice:
"You needn't say anything. I've been expecting you, Rainbow Dash."
Author's Note
Well, here it is: the first chapter. I intend to make this a beautiful story about those who struggle with ruts in life, and to give God the good name He so deserves. There's so much evil in the world, I'm here to try and brighten it up. Constructive criticism and courteous comments are also welcome. Again, I'm not trying to push/force anything on anyone; I'm simply presenting. I might go back and edit a few things here and there, as I am continuously trying to improve my writing, so just a little bit of a heads-up as far as that goes. Thank you all, and may Jesus Christ's love fill your souls.
The Walk
Rainbow Dash just stood there in shock. “How – how did you know my name?!”
The man replied, “I know many things, Rainbow. But for now, let’s just say that I’ve been around for quite a long time."
Rainbow recoiled, "How long have you been around here for? I've never seen you, and to my knowledge, neither has anypony else."
Jesus replied, "I've always existed in the realm of eternity."
Wow. She tried to not laugh, she really did. She could have gotten a medal for trying. However, when her lip started to hurt her so bad from biting down on it, she laughed perhaps the hardest she ever has. She thought that he was absolutely crazy. He was only a man, right? How in the world could he be around for....well, forever? Yet, he didn’t act like he was kidding. Instead, he chose to sit down in the grass, looking up at her now. As if he knew what she was thinking, he asked, “Anything else you’d like to know?” He said it with a light chuckle to signify that he meant no harm with the remark, as he could tell that she was growing more uncomfortable by the minute.
“Yeeeaaaahhhhh, well, I think I’m going to go and…well, do something else. Look, it was nice running into you and all, and you seem nice, but you're crazy. I have some stuff I need to do; I’m a busy pony you know.” She said this with her false pride and knew she was lying, but she figured he didn’t.
He brushed some stray grass off his knees and straightened up his posture. He spoke up, “Ah, yes. You’re a very busy pony, napping every day for hours on end. After that, you were probably going to go and re-read a "Daring Do" book, right?” He put his arms around his knees and looked at her as she searched for an answer.
She took a few steps back and went from laughing at him for being crazy to being seriously concerned. She looked back and forth as thoughts raced through her mind as fast as she could fly, Okay, now I’m getting seriously freaked out; how in the world does he know all of this?! Is he stalking me?? That’s impossible! I live on a cloud. Humans can’t walk on clouds! Or can they? Ugh I need some migraine medicine… "Okay, seriously, what's your deal? What are you doing here, and how do you know so much about me?"
Sensing the growing tension in the air, he spoke again. “Rainbow, would you like to walk with me? It’s very beautiful through here, and if I remember correctly there’s a gorgeous lake nearby. I was planning on visiting it and enjoying the scenery, if you’d like to come along.”
She looked up suddenly, “Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute. You’ve…been here before?” she asked quizzically as she raised an eyebrow.
He nodded, “I’ve been here more times than you think.”
She shrugged and looked at the ground, searching her mind for a valid reason not to go along with him. “I don’t know…I’m more of a flyer myself. I mean, I’ll walk if I’m going through town or something, but I just always thought walking was too slow. Why walk slowly when you can zoom through the air?”
He looked into her eyes, seeing the anxiety slowly building. “Sometimes, slowing down is necessary to see things for what they really are. Now, let’s get going. I hear that the water shines just right this time of day! Plus, there’s a certain large-mouth bass that’s been eluding me for weeks. I’m going to try and catch that little sneak today. Come, walk with me.” With that, he jumped up to his feet and started to walk. When he noticed she wasn’t at his side, he turned around and gestured kindly for her to walk alongside him.
This was all so weird for Rainbow. All she wanted to do was to nap on a cloud, and go back home and read. That's all. Was that too much to ask? Yep, apparently it was. She thought about what her friends would do in this situation. Applejack would probably be fine with it, with her southern manners and all. Rarity would probably be insisting on dragging this poor guy back to her shop so she could accessorize his rope belt, (probably adding a bunch of sequins to it). Fluttershy would probably be the most scared of the group, but then most likely find something in common with him and invite him back for tea or something. Twilight...well, she'd probably want to study the heck out of him and ask a whole bunch of egghead questions.
Rainbow still didn't know how she felt. She felt odd, that's for sure. However, she didn’t know why, but she grew more intrigued by this man. She considered the facts of the situation: not once has he threatened her. He honestly seemed like a nice guy, just going for a stroll through the land. So, with those two facts as justification enough, she decided to go with him. With a curious and still somewhat conflicted heart and a gradual comforting warmth engulfing her body, she went along.
As they walked, she noticed that he was slow. Why did he have to be sooo slow? She was aching to just spread her wings and leave this guy in the dust, and mentally laughed at the fact that Tank could probably beat him in a race. But something inside her held her back; and quite strongly at that. She ended the silence and asked a question.
“Hey, I don’t think I ever got your name. Mine’s...oh yeah. Well, since you apparently know me already, what’s your name?”
He looked at her and said, “I have many names. But for now, just call me Jesus.”
“Jesus? That’s…simple. Well, at least it’s easy to remember.” She chuckled a little, looking around for a sound distraction to kill the awkwardness hanging in the air. She looked to her right where he was standing and saw that same menacing hole in his hand. She got stuck staring for a few seconds, not able to look away. It was only when she saw him look back down at her that she looked away in shame, afraid that she had been rude for staring at the injury.
“I’m sorry, I…I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just, well, sorry for being rude, but what’s that hole all about?” She mentally kicked herself for the unintentional roughness of her words.
He looked down at the ground and smiled softly, yet seeming serious at the same time. “These scars are a constant reminder for the price that I paid.”
She raised an eyebrow, “What kind of price? Seems pretty heavy if you have holes in your hands.” She tried to repair the harshness she felt she had created, but he seemed to overlook it as he went on to explain.
“Yes. You’re aware of the human race. You have heard the stories that have been told about them, about how they are an evil breed seeking harm and destruction. Correct?”
“Yeah, but what does that have to do with-“
He put his hand up to stop her, as he hadn't finished saying what needed to be said. “I knew the hearts of men were black. However, they disobeyed my command and rebelled against me. Seeing how evil they were, I tried many things to get them to turn back.”
She felt even more confused than ever, narrowing her eyes as she tried her best to make sense of this. “Wait, you said they rebelled against you…are you an important person or something?”
Jesus chuckled a little and nodded with a brief raise of his eyebrows, “ Eh, you could definitely say that. All I wanted was my creation to love me as much as I love them.”
It was Rainbow Dash’s turn to stop him, “Wait – your creation?”
“Yes; I created the human race. You see, Rainbow Dash – I am God.”
She stopped walking. He kept on for a few steps before noticing she was frozen in place. He looked back at her and she just stared at him open mouthed and eyes popped wide open. She couldn’t believe it. God? It wasn't as if she didn't know about the humans' concept of religion, she remembered hearing about it from all the rumors and stories. For a while, Twilight even tried to teach Rainbow about the cultures of humans, because curiosity had gotten the better of her. After all, they might have been myths to the ponies, but that doesn’t mean that assumptions weren’t made about them and that they weren't fascinating creatures. Like any other myths or folktales, they had their own ideas of gods and goddesses. Rainbow even remembered something about how some humans believed in a single God above all, but soon tuned out because of Twilight’s tendency to be an egghead. However, what she didn’t expect was there to be an actual God. And now this strange man named Jesus was claiming to be just that – the God above all others. What in Equestria was happening?
“So…you said something about a ‘price being paid’. What was the price for, and how did you pay the price?”
“Well, to make a very long story short, I paid the price for the sins of humanity. I was nailed to a tree and left to die.”
Her heart stopped, and she suddenly felt sobs building up in her, not only from what he had said, but how he said it. She shook the shock from her system at the sudden change in tone and tried to clarify, “Wait, if you were left to die, then how are you alive?”
He responded, “I was raised to life by the power of God.”
She paused, and then added, “Um…Wait a minute, I thought you said you were God?”
“You’re correct. There are actually three of us, but we’re one person.” He smirked, knowing this revelation always caused confusion. He looked back at her and sure enough her face was scrunched in a humorous way trying to make sense of all of this.
He ran his fingers through his beard for a moment thinking of the easiest way to describe this odd situation to this particular pony.
“Okay, I have something that may help you. See, there are actually three of us. There’s me, the Father, and the Holy Ghost. That makes up what’s called the Holy Trinity; yet we’re all one being.”
Again, she seemed nothing less that completely and utterly lost.
He took notice of this and explained further. “Now, I want you to think of an egg; a simple chicken’s egg. Following so far?”
She nodded her head slowly, trying to digest the odd request.
He continued, “Good. Now, there’s three parts to an egg: the shell, the yolk, and the egg white. No part of the egg can exist naturally without the other. Right?”
She nodded more fervently this time, seeming to know where he might possibly be going with this analogy.
“Now, take that egg and apply it to myself. I am God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in one being, but three separate persons. Without the other, I cannot exist – and like the egg, we exist in perfect harmony with one another. Does that help you understand any?”
And there went all hope. She seemed lost in thought, to the point to where she was starting to drool a little. The only part that really stuck out to her was when he mentioned harmony, what with the familiarity with the Elements of Harmony. At best, she figured it was something along those lines. Still, this didn't stop her from beating her brain against the walls of her skull in futile attempts to try and figure out just what he was meaning by all of this.
“Rainbow Dash, is something wrong?” Jesus asked in a humorous tone, biting his lip in an effort to hold back his chuckles. He knew this conversation always went over so well...and the face she made was priceless; if only he had a camera.
She snapped back to reality, “No, no-nothing. Nothing’s wrong.” Jesus figured to leave well enough alone for now and continued on his walk. After all, he just revealed that he is God – the almighty three-in-one speech included. That’s enough for her to chew on for the time being.
Rainbow Dash sighed, thinking about how all of her friends seemed to be busy with their own lives. Her mind flashed between scenes of her and Apple Jack racing in the woods, her and Scootaloo training to get her off the ground and into the air, and just enjoying time with her friends in general. She missed everyone so badly. She looked back to him. He had an expression of concern on his face, waiting patiently for her to tell him when, and if she was ready.
She took a deep breath, and prepared to open up. She had this built up inside of her for a while, and for the first time in a long time someone was actually there to listen – even if it was a human being who claimed to be God. She started, “Well, it just seems like life is…I don’t know. Standing still, I guess, and I'm just flying past it. I just figured that all the adventures would go on forever, ya know? But I’m finding out that that’s not really the case. All of my friends seem to be so busy lately, I feel left out or something. It’s like they don’t even have time to say hello anymore. Rarity is busy with her fashion business, Apple Jack has her farm, Twilight has been hitting her books more than usual… heck, even Fluttershy has been in and out of Ponyville lately on nature trips and different things of that sort. I was going to see what Pinkie was up to later today, but earlier when I went by on my break, I saw that she was so busy baking cakes and planning for another party that I just couldn’t bring myself to disturb her. I felt like I would have been intruding or something. Even my little surrogate sister seems too busy for me lately. She’s always helping Apple Jack’s sister with the farm. Which, I mean, isn’t a bad thing; I’m proud she’s thinking of others… I just wish she’d think of me every now and again, ya know?”
He just stood there, listening. Not once did he interrupt, nor did he try and give his opinion. He just took it all in as the cyan pegasus poured out a little of the pent up frustration she had stored up in her. After she seemed to be finished, he calmly laid his hand on her head, re-assuring her that he was there for her despite how she felt about him. For the first time in a while, she felt important to someone, even if they were different from her in every way imaginable. After pondering this for a few moments, she continued walking with this gentle person who was somehow also God. The egg speech was still hurting her brain a little, but she figured she would get it someday. Maybe she’ll ask Twilight later – she’s bound to have a book about it or something.
There’s a funny thing about pegasi ponies. They have the ability to fly, control weather patterns, and even to walk on clouds. However, that’s the extent of their magic: flying and cloud walking. If you asked a pegasus to walk on water, they would laugh at you and say that it is impossible – which was true. So, whenever Rainbow Dash felt the bottom of her hooves feel wet and cold, she instinctively looked down to see the cause of the disturbance. She looked down and saw nothing but deep, dark water.
The same deep, dark water she was standing on as if it were solid ground.
She gasped once, twice, and a loud third time, only to hear Jesus happily exclaim,“Hey, we’re here! I guess we made better time than I thought, eh?”
Rainbow promptly screamed out of shock and fell beneath the water.
Jesus just laughed and extended his hand out again.
This was going to be a fun afternoon.
Author's Note
Okay, here it is! The next Chapter! Huge thanks to my friend Vicki for helping me edit, I really appreciate it. I'm not exactly sure how long this story will be, or when I'll update it. I'm just updating as the inspiration keeps coming, so Lord knows when that'll be - I just happened to have the next chapter in my head last night. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this addition to the story, and I'll update as soon as I can. God bless!
The Break
Rainbow Dash sputtered and coughed as Jesus lifted her out of the cool water. She re-gained her hoofing on the smooth water of the lake, still struggling to gain her balance. Jesus was still chuckling a little bit as he gave her some space to shake off, “You know, my friend Peter once had a similar experience.”
She looked up and stared him down through her soaking wet bangs and retorted, “Oh yeah? Well, give him my regards,” as she spat the last of the water out of her mouth.
Jesus just shook his head and exhaled, taking in the scenery. Equestria was such a beautiful universe to visit, and he really did love these ponies. Sure they had their own sets of problems like every other living being created, but hey - that’s just how it goes. He had been in this part of the universe for only a short while so far, but was amazed at what went on in this little world since he last visited. He saw the clouds, and how the pegasi ponies did such a fine job managing the weather. He saw the flowers and other vegetation being well-maintained by the earth ponies, and how the unicorns used their magic to heal those who needed it and aid in technological advancements. While in his own world of thinking, he suddenly felt a hoof nudge at his leg, and looked down. Rainbow was shivering from falling in the lake, and had possessed one of the most pitiful looks he had ever seen. He glanced briefly at his surroundings and saw a nice bank off to the east a little bit, and felt that that would be a good place to go warm up and talk for a while longer. “Rainbow, how would you like to go and sit with me for a while? It’ll give you a chance to dry off, and we can chat some more for a while in peace."
She just stood there with utter confusion written on her face; she really did not know what to make of him. First he interrupts my nap, takes me for a trippy walk on water only to end in me getting soaked and now he wants to sit down and talk? What is up with this dude?! Ugh!
She wrestled with her thoughts, but for some reason curiosity was the part of her getting the hardest training session of all. She did talk and open up to him earlier, and that hadn’t been so bad. “Well, he’s a good listener, I’ll give him that.” That, and she also took notice to the concerned tone in his voice, and figured she’d been this far- might as well go a little further. “Sure, that sounds fine. Only, do we have to walk? I mean, not that that wasn’t cool and all, I just really prefer to fl-hey!” She then gasped out of surprise as Jesus picked her up in his arms, as he figured she had more than her fair share of walking on water for the day. She was taken aback at first, but then found comfort in the hands that carried her. She felt a tinge strange that the man who was also God would take the time and effort to carry a pony like her to safety. He walked slowly and cautiously as to make sure that the stroll to the bank was without incident, and pleasant for the both of them. Well, strange as I feel, this does feel a LITTLE relaxing. Just a little, though.
Once their small trek along the lake’s surface came to an end, he gently laid her down in the soft green grass next to the bank and sat down next to her, fiddling with some rocks he found on the ground. He found a stick to make a fishing rod out of, and went back to his rocks. She studied him for a little bit, noticing the serious expression on his face as he studied each rock; as if he were looking for one in particular. She decided to speak up as the sun’s rays basked against her brilliant rainbow mane and cyan coat, slowly drying it up and spreading warmth to her form.
“So, why exactly are you here ? I mean, I know that you said you come here to check on things, but…why here? Why did you run into me, of all ponies? What are you here to check on? You could have been miles away, but you just so happened to be walking under the very cloud I was planning to nap on. So…what gives?” She noticed how many questions she asked at once, but stood her ground like the proud pegasus she was.
He looked up at her, and back down at the rock in his hands, serious expression still upon his face as he ran his pointer finger over the smooth surface. “I’ve heard you, Rainbow. I’ve heard your thoughts, and the desires of your heart. I know how lonely you’ve become. And I have been waiting for the perfect time to come and speak with you face to face. I didn’t come here just to check up on things – I came to check up on you.”
"What do you mean, 'check up on me?' I'm perfectly fine on my own. I have great friends, and an awesome job. I don't need anyone's 'help'." She felt her voice betray her though, as it cracked slightly at the last word.
He looked up at her once more, eyes full of compassion, "Is that the case? Is that really how you truly, honestly feel? It can be hard sometimes to admit when you need someone, especially if it's something as seemingly simple as a shoulder to cry on. Pride can do that - it can fog up the eyes of the soul, blinding it to what it truly needs. Tell me, Rainbow: when you say that you don't need anyone, is that you speaking? Or, is it your pride? Is it your heart's desire to fix things on your own, or is it simply a facade you use to show others that you're strong?"
Rainbow felt…odd. For the first time in a long time, she felt a sense of genuine humility strike her even if it was completely off-guard. She always thought that she had it all together, that she was always the tough one in charge of her own life. She felt that no one but her friends would ever truly be there for her, and that she had to be the one to hold herself together when they weren’t there. However, finding out that there was someone out there so much bigger than her, and finding out that they would take the time out of their life to check up on…her? No, this had to be a joke. This had to be one of Twilight’s experiments gone wrong or something.
Although…the tone in his voice showed that he meant what he said, and that he was genuinely concerned. She felt her heart melt a little more as she looked at him in his eyes. He had a look of innocence that she had never seen before in anyone; and when he looked at her, it was as if he looked directly at her soul. He saw right past the wall she had taken so long to construct. She couldn’t help but feel a small lump in her throat as she gazed into God’s eyes, and felt her pride that she was so adamant about slowly begin to drift from her grasp as she chose to test the waters even further. “So…how come if you knew about me feeling these things and struggling for a while, that you waited to talk to me? I mean, I could have appreciated someone coming along sooner than this, ya know!” She didn’t mean to be so loud at the last part, but she really couldn’t help herself at this point.
His expression softened a bit at hearing this, knowing full well how waiting for an answer to a prayer can go. He then decided to try to speak to her in a way that was not only familiar to him, but might help her too. “Rainbow, I want you to look at the berries in this bush.” He pointed at a blueberry bush just above them on the bank. She looked, and glanced back at him waiting for a response. “Now, when do you suppose the best time to pick them is?”
She scoffed and responded, “Well duh, whenever they’re ripe. You can’t pick them too early, because then they’ll be bitter and gross. But you can’t wait too long to pick them, because then they get mushy and not be the same as when they’re ripe. Anyone knows that you have to wait until they are just right before you…” she trailed off and her eyes opened wider with realization as the meaning of the example he used hit her like a ton of bricks. He wasn’t stringing her along for a ride. He was just waiting until she was ready.
He was waiting until her heart was ripe.
She looked up, the beginnings of tears formed in her eyes, “You…you knew exactly when I’d need this, didn’t you? You knew all along how much I just wanted someone to listen. But…but how?” She didn’t feel freaked out anymore; her defenses were now lower than they had been all day. She felt her emotions starting to stir inside of her. A single tear rolled down her cheek in betrayal. She looked away, trying to hide her emotions and somehow maintain whatever dignity she felt she was losing. However, he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided her face upwards to look him in the eyes as he spoke once again:
“I know how it feels to feel like you’re all alone. I know how it feels to feel betrayed by those you love. However, know this and take comfort from it: I’ve known you your whole life, Rainbow Dash. I've known you before you were born. I was there when you were birthed, and I knew the plans I had for you. I saw you grow and mature into the wonderful mare you are now. I know all your heart's desires, and every good and bad thing you've ever done. I know all the mistakes you've made, and all the mistakes you will make. But know this; I love you. I love you with an everlasting love that nobody - nopony else could ever measure up to. I will never leave you, nor forsake you. I will be there whenever your world seems like it's falling apart. I will pick you up when you fall down. And whenever you need someone, you can always, always call on me. No matter what has happened or will happen in life; you always have had, and always will have a friend in me.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The man whom she met little over two hours ago had suddenly come to mean so much. He seemed so serene when he talked, so…pure. He had not one bad fiber in his being, no ulterior motives; just someone who sincerely loved. She looked up at him, her eyes so blurred from tears that she wasn’t able to see. She blinked, the lump in her throat getting harder to ignore. Her nose started to sting, and a sob escaped her.
A tearful Rainbow Dash fell into Jesus’ embrace, finally letting go of what held her down.
Meanwhile, on a path by a certain lake bank, young Scootaloo was buzzing away on her scooter, taking in the day and thankful to finally catch a break from Diamond Tiara and her nonsense bullying. She was just enjoying the day, onward to another crusaders meeting when she thought she heard crying somewhere. She slowed down to focus on the noise, and heard what she thought was Rainbow Dash’s voice. She stopped and got off her scooter gingerly as to not immediately alert Rainbow to her presence. When she followed the sound of Rainbow’s voice to the bank, she froze upon seeing a strange looking creature hugging her and did what any filly her age would have done.
She screamed.
Author's Note
Hey guys, sorry about the long wait! College was crazy, but I’m done for the summer :D Aside from my part time job I’ll hopefully be getting, I’ll be trying to work more on this story, and maybe do some other projects as well! As always, feel free to drop a comment and/or P.M. me with stuff about this, and God bless!
The Miracle
Rainbow Dash looked up at the sudden noise, as did Jesus. She was still sniffling and wiping some of the stray tears away as she got up to go and confront Scootaloo. “Scoots, what are you doing here?”
Scootaloo ran to where Jesus and Rainbow Dash were sitting, “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash! I thought I heard you, and saw this thing with its weird looking hooves around you! Is it hurting you! It's hurting you, isn't it? Get back from Rainbow Dash!” She charged at Jesus, intent on making sure he knew who was boss in this situation. However, between her tiny stature and adorable admiration for Rainbow Dash, every time she hit Jesus with her little filly hooves, it only got him to smile.
Rainbow was laughing a little to herself as she tried to calm down her adoptive little sister, “Relax, squirt. He wasn’t hurting me; in fact, just the opposite.”
She halted her little assault on Jesus and looked up at Rainbow in confusion, “Wait, it’s a ‘he’? Wha-whatever. Anyways, you were crying, and I saw him holding you! He’s so much bigger than you, you could have been killed! How do we know he’s not a life-sucking alien or something?!”
“Scoots, seriously, calm down. I promise he’s not dangerous – would I lie to you?”
Scootaloo looked up at the sky like she was remembering something, “Well, there was that one time you were supposed to come to give me flying lessons, but you said you forgot. Then there was that other time you-“
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Alright! I get it. But, trust me when I say this is the real deal. He’s not an alien, he’s a human. He’s actually kind of nice, once you get talking to him. Just ask him yourself. And try not to be as rude as you were before? I mean, you did kinda start going crazy hitting his arm.”
Scoots looked down shamefully, “Heh…yeah. Sorry about that, mister…what’s your name?”
Jesus looked down and smiled at her, “My name is Jesus.”
“Huh. That’s a weird name.”
Rainbow face-hoofed, “Squirt! Seriously!”
“What? I mean, you just don’t seem to hear it around Ponyville.”
“Ugh…” Rainbow rubbed her temples like she was getting a headache. “Sorry about her, she’s…just a filly.”
Scootaloo shot a glare at Rainbow, “Hey!”
Jesus chuckled, “Don’t worry, Rainbow. I have a lot of experience with children of all different types and backgrounds. She can’t scare me off that easily.”
Scootaloo was curious about the man now, seeing as how he wasn’t trying to suck out her brain like she initially thought he would. “So, where did you come from?”
Jesus drummed his fingers on his chin in a brief moment of thought, “Well, honestly that’s a very complicated question to answer for someone as young as yourself. But, for the sake of simplicity and honesty, I’ll just say that I came from there.” He pointed at the sky.
Scootaloo was puzzled. “So, are you part pegasus?”
Rainbow let out a snort as she tried to suppress her laughter as Jesus took a moment himself to re-collect his thoughts, and stifle a chuckle himself. “No. I’m fully human, as well as fully God.”
“What’s a ‘God’?”
It was Rainbow’s turn. She wanted to impress Scootaloo with her knowledge of things unknown to pony kind, “Don’t worry, Jesus. I got this one.”
Not at all surprised at her boldness, Jesus threw his hands in the air and sat back and let Rainbow Dash try her best at explaining exactly what and who Jesus was. “You see, squirt, he’s a man who has three chicken eggs. And, since you can’t have one part of the egg without the other, he wanted to take a walk to show others that he’s the true egg.” She looked back at Jesus who was a bright shade of red trying to hold back his belly-laughs. “Did I do good, or did I do good?” She wore that ever-confident grin that she was famous for.
However, the sound of Jesus laughing hysterically caused her to open one of her eyes, and she saw him lying on his back. He was clenching his sides from laughter as he spoke up, “That- that just made my day. Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” He wiped a tear away as he re-gained his composure.
A little offended, Rainbow retorted, “Hey! I did my best, alright?! It wasn’t exactly any clearer when you explained it, ya know.”
Jesus took a final deep breath as he got back to himself again. “I truly appreciate what you did, Rainbow. However, I think it might be just a tad bit easier on everyone’s mind if perhaps I simply showed her who I was.”
Rainbow was skeptical, “You’re not gonna make her walk on water like you did with me, are you? I’m still mad at you for that.”
He chuckled again at the memory. “No, no. I won’t do that. Scootaloo, would you mind coming over here, please?”
Scootaloo was ever weary at the request. She looked back nervously at Rainbow Dash, who smiled a warm smile and nodded in approval at what Jesus was asking. Filled with anxiety, nervousness, and fear of the unknown, Scootaloo walked gingerly over to where Jesus sat. “O-okay. Now what?”
Not saying a word, Jesus carefully picked Scootaloo up in his arms as she squirmed, “Hey! Put me down!”
Rainbow spoke up though, “Scoots, it’s okay; I promise, you can trust him.”
She looked back at Jesus who had taken to gently running his hand on one of her wings. “You have beautiful wings, Scootaloo.”
Scootaloo retored, “Psh. Yeah, right. They don’t even work properly.” She sighed heavily. “But, thanks for the compliment, I suppose.”
He ran his fingers through his beard in thought, “Hmm, well, maybe we can fix that.”
Scootaloo chuckled at this absurd thought, “Well, good luck with that. I’ve been to every doctor in Ponyville, Canterlot, and Rainbow Dash even took me up to Cloudsdale one day. They all said the same thing. Stunted growth this, never be able to get off the ground that; you know, the works…” She trailed off as she sadly remembered all of those disheartening doctor’s visits, thinking about the things they said. Her mind then drifted back to how many times she tried to fly, only to be met with painful disappointment.
Jesus would have none of that, though. “Well, let’s just see what we can do, shall we?”
A small light started to glow from where Jesus' hands were resting on Scootaloo's wings. Then, all of the sudden, a blinding light appeared all around Scootaloo and Jesus. Rainbow Dash had to shield her eyes from the light, as did Scootaloo. It lasted only for a few brief seconds though, as when Rainbow Dash got done rubbing her eyes, she looked back at Scootaloo.
Her jaw dropped to the ground.
Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash’s sudden change in mood. “What? Is there something wrong?” She was beginning to get a little worried.
“Nothing’s wrong, Scoots! In fact, something’s right!” Rainbow started to bounce up and down where she stood. “Just take a look at your wings!”
“What? They’re just the same old wings, nothing spec-“ She trailed off though as she looked on her back.
On her back were indeed her same wings.
Except now they were in perfect working condition.
Jesus gently placed Scootaloo on the ground as she stood in shock and awe at the miracle she had just taken part in. He smiled a big toothy smile at her, “Well, aren’t you going to give them a try?”
She tried to flap her wings, and expected the same timeless disappointing result like every other time she tried to fly. However, thanks to the endless practice sessions Rainbow Dash had given her, and her no longer impaired wings, she actually managed to get quite a few feet off the ground, and hovered in place.
Rainbow Dash took flight as well, and hugged Scootaloo when she got to her level. “I always knew you could do it, Scoots. I’m so happy for you!”
Once a few tears had been shed from Scootaloo because of sheer joy, she touched down on the ground and walked over to Jesus, “Thank you. Thank you so much. I…I really don’t know what to say. How can I ever repay you?”
He placed a hand on her shoulder. “A 'thank you' is all that’s necessary. However, I would like to see you go out and live your life to its fullest potential. Is that okay with you?”
“Deal!” She ran up and hugged Jesus, then flew over to where Rainbow Dash was standing. “So, more training later on?”
Rainbow tapped her chin in thought, “Hmm…well, it’s getting kind of late, but how about tomorrow right after you get done with school for sure?”
“Awesome! I have to get back to Applebloom’s anyway; I have a little surprise for her and Sweetie Bell.” With that, she gave a confident flap of her wings as she flew over to her scooter. “See you guys later! By Jesus, it was nice meeting you!”
Jesus waved to her, “Goodbye Scootaloo! I’ll see you again someday, don’t worry!”
Scootaloo then took off with her scooter and helmet in hoof as she flew to Sweet Apple Acres for the first time.
Rainbow smiled at Jesus, “You…I had no idea you could…just wow.”
Jesus smiled back at her, and then looked at the sky. His smiling disposition seemed to falter, however.
Rainbow took notice, “Is something wrong?”
He closed his eyes and shook his head, “No, nothing’s wrong. However, we should probably get going. There’s one more thing I wish to discuss with you.”
Rainbow grew a little anxious at his words, “Okay…you’re kind of starting to worry me here. What’s going on?”
He let out a deep breath and smiled a sad smile to her, “My time grows short.”
Author's Note
Well, here's the next-to-last chapter. The way this story progressed, I figured I'd make it a short and sweet kind of deal. I hope you all enjoyed it so far, and one more's coming!
As always, may God bless all of you! :)
The Goodbye
Jesus started to walk away, but Rainbow Dash caught up to him. “Wait, what do you mean?!”
He kept his eyes ahead and responded, “I mean just that – my time grows short. I need to get back to my Father.”
Rainbow Dash ran in front of him, “No. You can’t leave!” It started to get cloudier outside, and Rainbow heard thunder starting to rumble.Dammit, not now, guys! But when she looked to the sky, there were no weather pegasi to be found. That was...odd. She looked back to Jesus, who was waiting for her to finish. “Look, you can’t leave just yet. I have so many more questions! We JUST MET this afternoon, and now you’re gonna bail on me? That’s not even fair!”
Jesus felt bad for her, as he knew this would be the hardest part of the day. This wasn't the first time he had to say goodbye to good friends, even if it was only for a short time. “Rainbow Dash, I still have something to tell-“ He was cut off by her again.
“No! No more stories! No more analogies! You haven’t even met my friends yet! Do you know how much of a talk you and Twilight could have?” She started to feel tears form in her eyes, “And what about Fluttershy?! And Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, and Applejack, and dammit, WHAT ABOUT ME?!”
Thunder clapped, and rain started to fall heavily.
He looked not so much angry, but stern. He bent down, and took a deep breath. He wiped the few tears from her eyes as she gazed into his. For the second time that day, she looked into the eyes of a man; a human. A human who was also God. Someone who showed her love that she had not felt for quite some time. She saw stern emotions behind those eyes of his, but as he re-collected himself, she found that his expression dropped slightly.
He took a deep breath, letting it out through his nose and spoke up in a firm, loving tone. “I know how much it hurts to say goodbye. Believe me. But you desire me, and I commend you so much for that. That’s a huge step in the right direction. You truly are one noble mare, Rainbow Dash. And I’m proud of you. But I still must get back to my Father. There are responsibilities that I have that cannot be ignored."
She felt a small smile creep on her face, but it quickly vanished as she had more on her mind. “But, what about what we talked about today? I mean, you really helped me out a bunch. What am I supposed to do now that you’re going back to wherever it is you came from? I mean, I have my friends, but…you’re different. I mean, what you did for me...for Scootaloo..." She felt her heart drop and flutter at the same time when she thought about her little surrogate sister waiting to finally fly with her because of the miracle that Jesus performed. "Will I ever even get to see you again?"
He smiled, “Of course you’ll see me. You’ll see me in more ways than you could ever know.”
“How do I know that for sure?”
“Rainbow Dash -“ He started as he sat down “-I’m always, always with you. Even when you don’t feel like I'm actually there, I am.”
She sat down as well, “How will I know? What do I do when I want to talk to you?”
“Trust me, you will know. And it's not that hard, you just talk”.
“What? But, how can you hear me if you’re up there, and I’m down here? I mean, I can fly pretty high, but even I can’t get to where you are.”
He looked at her and smiled at such an innocent question. “Whenever you need me – you just talk to me. You have my solemn word that I will hear every single syllable of what you have to say. You don’t even need to speak – I’ll hear your heart. And don't worry about not being able to get up to where I am. I'll always meet you in the middle."
That was it. She lost her composure, falling into his arms once more. He too shed a tear, knowing how much she would change from this. He saw everything in her future - her good times, her bad times, and the times that she'll share with others - and with Him.
Once they both had their moment together, the rain that had slowed to a stop, and the clouds began to part. Jesus looked up to the hole in the sky, and smiled. He looked back to Rainbow Dash, "I have to go now, for my Father is expecting me. It was a pleasure, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow Dash smiled, seeing how he glowed in the heavenly light. "No, it was my pleasure. So...I'll talk to you later today, then?"
Jesus chuckled and smiled back at her with his parting words, "That would be totally awesome."
Rainbow laughed as he used some of her vernacular, appreciating how he seemed to know just what to say to her. He looked up, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, and without warning, the light got brighter. And, as soon as it came, it was gone - and so was he.
Rainbow Dash looked around in the now empty meadow where she first met Jesus. She looked at the sky, which now was clear as it was when she began her day - but noticed something that wasn't there to begin with. There was a beautiful double rainbow reaching across the entire sky; one end to the other. She stared in awe at its beauty and how it was so pronounced and bold in the sky. She looked down at her hooves, smiling and closing her eyes. Suddenly, she heard talking in the distance. She looked behind her to see Twilight, Apple Jack, and all the others from her group walking towards her. Twilight spoke up, "Rainbow Dash! We were looking all over town for you today. Scootaloo came by and told us that something strange had happened, are you okay? And speaking of Scootaloo, have you seen her wings? How did they get so large so quickly?"
Rainbow Dash smirked her famous cocky grin, "I have a lot to tell you girls. C'mon, let's go to Sugar Cube Corner. It's a long, awesome story."
Author's Note
What an incredible honor it was to write that story. I hope you all enjoyed it, and my prayer through all of this has been, and still is, that it would give God glory.
I never tried to be pushy with this story. I don't want to come across as preachy/in-your-face about anything. The reason I wrote this story was to try and show people that God isn't a God who's far away, but is Someone of love and kindness; always and forever trying to lead us to Himself, to teach us how to love Him and each other, for we are all each other's neighbors.
I may or may not be posting an epilogue to this, just a little heads-up. I'll put it as complete for now, but I'll come back later and add to it if I feel led to. Thank you all again so much, and feel free to check out my other stories. As always, may God bless you.
