The Time When Gray Became the Eighth Color
The desire of one may abandon the others, but the stones always have holes.
Right when I opened my sleepy eyes I knew something was different. The setting around me was a medium lighted room, with tiles on the ceiling and smooth looking walls. Everything was just so bright compared to the time when I passed out, yet the light bulbs didn’t seem to brighten much either. I did not know why in Equestria I was here, nor how I got here, but judging by my grievous wounds, and that no one else is in this room, nopony carried me here. I came to the conclusion I was teleported here instead.
“Why?” Was the stubborn question colliding into me, what was the answer to solve it? Just thinking about it hurts my head.
I then shifted my attention on elsewhere. I tried to use the teleportation spell, but the magic does not seem to penetrate through the dark atmosphere. I turned my head to the windows on my left that seemed to show the outside world. There was a glowing ball of an ideal spherical object: I soon realized it was the sun itself.
The sun without warmth...
The sun without the brightness...
The sun without normality...
This is the sun... without... Princess Celestia?
Sensing the unreality, my skin jumped like shockwaves, until, I realized. This aura is rather dense, and I feel… safe but dull. I have experienced this feeling before when Discord's actions resulted in the discoloring of me, or when Starlight Glimmer stripped away my cutie mark, turning me into a complete failure and colorless. However, this was completely new, for I am still myself, I still have my talent and uniqueness. It's just that everything else is all black and gray, the lightest color was still a shade of light gray. The visualization does not meet the expectation of my feelings; some cold place like this definitely should be alleged and wary of, but then again, this gray was so... controversial. From what my vision and heart are telling me, than in this case, the world I'm in must be neutral... and if so, then the world is at its normal order, perfectly balanced on both sides between harmony and disharmony.
Then... why do I see this balance in a whole fresh perspective? Knowing that I have to deal with my new ordeal, I got off my bed. The wound was still there from the time when my friends and I fought off the ancient beasts that tried to invade Las Pegasus. Not only did I have to exert a huge amount of alicorn magic, but I was fatally struck all over by the claws of those violent ancient beasts. My friends were injured too, but not as much as what I had been forced to endure. When death thought it had a new meal, it was the one and only fastest Pegasus of Equestria, Rainbow Dash, who soared through the air and saved me from what fate should had said about my end.
I stepped a hoof out of the bedroom door, and to my left and right was a dark and moderately wide hallway. I was first reluctant to take another step, but like I came to realize about this place earlier, there was nothing to fear. I chose the right side, for it also means the "right" way in my direction. Solid, parallel, black lines squared around all over the hall, there were also few pictures hung up on the walls, though I tended to ignore them to maintain my intention. I trotted around using my magic, noting that even though I did fail to use my magic earlier, it seemed the reason was because it was directed towards the negative space itself, and if I'm only using it to sense nearby objects and movements, then it's possible to detect any unique and suspicious subjects. There were quite some objects that seemed familiar, but I cannot recall them right now...
Until...
I quickened my speed and followed where my horn led me to. I finally reached the living room, and by the curtains I noticed something different. I swooshed them open as quickly as I could, equal parts afraid and curious to what I would find. There, behind the curtains, she stood. The mare who should've been filled with seven colors.
Rainbow Dash... The loyal and trustworthy friend... I...
I don't believe this... The blue mare was standing there by the balcony, eyes down on the shadowy concrete, her mouth was a frown of surrender and her whole form just seemed to give off the feeling of one who had lost a great battle. Her mane was hanging hard onto the ground as well. She then turned around setting her eyes on mine, and only greeted me in the least energetic way possible. I walked up to her and began questioning her motives and why she was here in this apartment. She only responded with the fact that her errors dragged her down from Cloudsdale, she no longer deserves to live there.
Simply emotionless.
I looked up into the sky. It was awfully quiet and soundless. No Pegasi soaring nor clouds to adjust the scene. Then I realized: the rest of our friends... they are not here. I felt so darn empty and irritated, the only thought going through my mind at the time was simply “what is wrong with this place?”.
Upset and crazed by this chaos, I began to panic, whenever something new and unfamiliar comes up when I wasn't prepared: especially like this, I panic and sweat. It even worsens the situation when I see Rainbow Dash... mo... she's gray... all gray now... depressingly gray and ready to take off, but even her posture when she's about to take off seems wrong. It reminds me of when she was corrupted by Discord: she did not care about anything and only wanted to mind her own business. The action she's communicating, and her color, can be easily read. I can only rely on her to help the two of us escape this empty world, therefore I held Rainbow Dash with my hooves and forced her to remain from flying, all the while demanding she tell me everything she did while I was absent.
Her tail swung up suddenly, she began laughing, then hysterically laughing. She just kept on laughing this over and over again like a mare possessed. I did not know what to do, until I detected her sarcasm from her hysteria, and thus I took this chance to question her.
"What happened to your Wonderbolt dream?"
The shot was loud, it was clear, and everything began to turn against my opposition. Rainbow Dash stopped laughing, stared into me, and began to cry. For the first time, the cries from her were absolutely silent and soundless, yet these cries were far worse than the other ones. It was then I knew, ponies like her are uncontrollable, they are just too much of a burden to even handle themselves. They always like to be the best, and therefore pushing themselves to the maximum limit, not caring for anything else. They aren't very levelheaded when facing something that they never had faced before. Already she had been this out of character for the tenth time ever since I met her, and probably countless before I arrived to Ponyville. She said nothing still, so I decided to use a new spell I learned called the memory spell. Now I can recall what Rainbow Dash has gone through while I was in my coma.
It was then I began to suffer her sorrow... The howls of a gray wolf has finally been unleashed...
While I was in my coma after fatally hurt by those ancient beasts, everypony went back to their daily routine: Applejack farming with her family, Rarity running her business, Pinkie Pie partying and keeping the town smiling, Fluttershy living with her animal friends, and finally Rainbow Dash; the most ambitious of them all, was practicing and training for the Wonderbolts.
Rainbow thought she was finally eligible to participate to become a Wonderbolt until one day, in the Wonderbolt’s Academy, she had to pass this extreme obstacle course, under the given time of one minute, and to go around it without any scars or injuries, only pure perfection. Rainbow Dash practiced hard for this, and her motivation was completely prominent to every Pegasus and even the Wonderbolts, but despite this, her loyalty to her teammates had revolved the karma to bite back on her: many Pegasi were losing to their blue lead pony, the jealousy of inferiority pushed them to work together to make Rainbow pay for her selflessness. The few Pegasi who actually caught up with her, disrupted her flying and made her fall into the hungry obstacles and traps, despite managing to survive them, Rainbow was all down and suppressed by her once so called, friends. Not only that, her wounds prevented her from passing the test. Her teammates all sneered at her for being such a failure. Rainbow's anger reached a saturation point, nopony witnessed the dirty unjust done by the traitors, the Wonderbolts walked up to her limp body, and told her that she should leave before mocking their reputation. Betrayed and humiliated, Rainbow Dash slowly walked away, in the most disappointed way possible, head hung low and mane covering her eyes, the sunny day was not bright at all, and it did not beam on her, for she felt cold and lost.
Our friends, after hearing the bad news, all hugged Rainbow Dash when she arrived back to Ponyville. Sobbing and sniffing. Pinkie Pie was the most over reactive out of them all, she screamed and ran everywhere around the town. Rarity poked Rainbow with her horn, to comfort her a bit, even if it did not work. Applejack can only take her hat off, put it to her chest, and close her eyes. Then of course, there is Fluttershy, hugging Rainbow in her grasp, crying with her until she cannot cry anymore...
Rainbow Dash paused, which made me glare at her with the hottest humidity ever, and I continued.
"Is that all you know...? What happened to our friends?" I got held of her even tighter.
She heard me, she heard it dead and crystal clear, her hoof rubbed in a small circle, not even feeling the slightest pain of being choked. Despite my power, it was not helpful to have the opponent not care about it. I took my eyes off her and continued the spell.
Rainbow Dash after weeks thought it was time to finally let go of her mistakes, and start all over. Despite a determined and clever move to reach success, our friends did not recommend her to do it, but her determination to succeed was always above everything else. It was just retrying right? Rainbow can always get up and try again. She never had the drop of worry that her failures will remain with her, she can beat it to the finish line.
Nor will her failures rain onto her friends...
Already, Rainbow Dash danced in the clouds, performing her awesome agility stunts, like it was surely nothing to be afraid of. Then, when it happened, Discord wanted to plan some mischievous prank, and seized Rainbow's time as an opportunity. Snapping his paw, the last cloud Rainbow wanted to dash through hardened, her head bonked at the rock cloud, and even worse, the cloud was filled with lightning, and sent Rainbow crashing into a fairly grown oak tree. Her wings and hooves were all tangled up with the branches,
"Then... Then it happened..." Rainbow said, and I was all ears ready to explore the worst.
Though the tree was heavily struck, it was still holding on by few roots or so… an ultimately vain attempt keep itself from falling. Ignorantly, Rainbow Dash struggled as much as she could to get out of this mess, however, instead of freeing herself, the results did not change at all. The tree instead, was the one to take in Rainbow's place. Meanwhile, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were walking with each other, chatting about what they should bake for their family, for it was Family Appreciation Day again. Once the bulb goes on in Pinkie's head, the bulb shuts back down once the oak tree fell over, crushing them.
So quiet.
So quiet.
So quiet...
Rainbow Dash woke up, and found her wings completely broken, her hooves were bleeding tremendously, she saw her friend's bodies, filled with scratches and unmovable scars. Rainbow had to shut her eyes from seeing all this absurdity.
Rainbow Dash wept and wept and wept for the loss of our friends, and while I was absent, I wish I was absent from hearing this. The laughing friends that honestly made us happy, have now vanished... May their spirits never go away. Rainbow punched her front hooves onto the ground and banged her skull onto the railing over and over again, until the bones crack and shatter, until she bleeds again, the misery and woe contained inside was trying to be released.
"What do you think you are doing, Featherbrain!?" I yelled at her and held her even harder with my magic. Despite her having done something completely stupid and selfish, I did not want any more of my friends to get hurt, especially not in front of me.
"What you have left is all that matters! So please, stop hurting yourself over what cannot be changed." I can only reluctantly tell her, I held back my tears, it's like Applejack's endurance has transported itself to me, I did not cry... but on the inside... I was broken...
Rarity and Fluttershy forgave Rainbow Dash's careless actions, Discord apologized too, and his face was actually regretful and sad for once. In punishment for killing two of the elements, Discord was banished until when the time he was ready to be released again. Even after being forgiven, our three friends were never the same. They talked less, the happiness and laughter were gone now, they kept secrets from one another... Rainbow Dash was just completely devastated by the fact that it was her, she was the one who made the tree fall, she was the one who truly demolished her friends, not when Lightning Dust created that tornado with her and destroyed our hot air balloon care package. The rest of the Apple family at Sweet Apple Acres refused to listen to Rainbow's pleading apology on the death of Applejack, and told her that they do not want to see a single hair from her, ever. Mr and Mrs. Cake's tears for Pinkie soon affected the whole town, and then the news spread all over Equestria; nopony believed that it was Discord who indirectly committed the crime, but they instead pointed their hooves on Rainbow Dash. She now was considered a serial criminal who would do anything to fulfill her own thirst, even when the horizon crosses her friends. Princess Celestia, despite believing in Rainbow's innocence, was heavily protested by the words of the citizens, frustrated and worried that this was a sign of disharmony, she reluctantly banished Rainbow to another dimension, where the world was gray and spiritless world.
"You... You mean this lifeless place?" I took few steps back, "Why... Did I do something wrong as well?"
Rainbow Dash ignored my panicking, it was then I realized that she did not know, nor did she care to know. My horn glowed to obtain some more information out of her.
Rainbow Dash, despite being locked away in another endless cell of the city, she refused to acknowledge that she cannot become a Wonderbolt. Flying and training, her muscles began to tick, her wings from all the injuries could flap no more, her hooves weren't steady. She crashed from buildings to buildings, cut by pieces and pieces of windows and glass shards. Nevertheless, she tried again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again...
I stopped the spell. That was all I needed to know. I slapped her.
The impact was forceful enough to make Rainbow Dash come out of her senses, I could not believe this was happening to my very own best friend.
"Why are you doing this?! What happened to your loyalty to yourself?!"
"Pfft, my loyalty?" Rainbow replied, finally losing her annoyance with my emotional interrogations, "You mean when I was not given any either? And what happened to YOUR magic? Aren't you a princess, a princess of FRIENDSHIP? Aren't you supposed to leave already and get the hell out of my damn face?!"
I stopped, almost manipulated by her reckless foul mouth. I turned my back towards Rainbow, shutted my eyes slowly, and let out a loud sigh.
"Yes, you're right, I am the Princess of Friendship, and I do possess magic, but even if I can leave, I'm not going to leave you behind!"
"Ha! Gimme a break! Why not just leave me alone?! IS THAT SO DAMN HARD FOR A STUPID EGGHEAD LIKE YOU?!"
"Why you little bast..." I paused and quickly breathed to calm my mind, this fool standing in front of me does not have any single clue on how to save herself. Rainbow then turned her head away, looking out to the gray concrete and glass buildings, not one pony was there in this soulless, empty world.
I looked back into the dark living room, and by now I'm sure that it will not be scary anymore. I bit my lips, I wanted to cry, but the downcast kept me in the middle, smothered from any feelings at all, just enough melancholy to depress me until I crumble. Friendship does not work here at all, that's the major issue. How will the Princess of Friendship solve a problem that has nothing to do with friendship? Making Rainbow go back to loyalty would not only not work, but she would still hold her ambitions that can soon damage her pride once again. I studied the color of this dimension, everything looks negative and tedious, as if the solution must be as well...
Suddenly, I heard a flap, then another one, and another one. Rainbow Dash is taking off! No, I'm worried about you! I don't know what I can do without you... What is my purpose being here...? I can ask millions and gazillions more questions, but overthinking sometimes kills my brain cells, I can only watch her blast off with maximum speed; something I can't even catch with my magic. Maybe I was wrong, maybe Rainbow needed a little personal and private space, to recollect her pieces and refresh her own mind. Maybe I should do that too. I may have overreacted a bit, Rainbow Dash is perfectly capable of keeping herself alive and strong, she is one of the best athletes in all of Equestria after all… but then I'm going to be alone, and it does not feel right when I just leave my friend and myself divided between this thick and smothering fog. My heart is beating rather slowly despite all the worries and stress I'm going through just analyzing my actions and predicting my future. Why does it matter anyways if I am left in pain for a little while? Why does it even matter if I stay here or not? I can just tolerate this, I can deal with it, there is nothing else to do here, just wait until I die...
This "Pinkie" process has gone on only two seconds or so in my head, and everything became even more clear: Rainbow Dash's wings, they were bent and almost unstable, as an alicorn myself, I had been suffering through crashing while learning to fly properly, other Pegasi pointed hooves at me, it hurts... on the inside and outside... but what hurts right now is that my friend can no longer actively control her wings... that she cannot fly anymore.
Oh no.
Rainbow no longer is her physical self anymore.
......
And that idiot is still struggling to actually fly! It must've been her determination while trying to fly here, and all her injuries soon caught up to her, she's not capable of becoming the best anymore... how did this happen...how in the wide world of Equestria did this happen?
...
...
...
I let out a large sigh. I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but I have no other choice.
"Rainbow..." I turned around back to her and began, "What you have done to yourself and our friends, you must "give it all up"."
She quickly turned around, stared into my eyes with her mouth half open, as if I was a maniac.
"You... You did not just say..."
"I said GIVE UP!" I repeated myself, this time more stern and sympathetic enough to cut her deep. Slowly and reluctantly, she reached behind her back, and took out a capsule, and quickly without me figuring out what it is, took a pill out of it. She was holding a Darvon in her gray hoof.
No! Not Darvon! Where did she even get such a dangerous pill?! What's she thinking?!
Right when she dropped it into her mouth, I used the time freezing spell to restrict her movements and the pill from being swallowed, the heavy toll in return however was of me using too much of my magic. I told myself that this spell will only be used in emergency cases, and that I don't guarantee my own survival after using it. Nevertheless, I rushed to her and grabbed the pill out of the air, but unfortunately the spell can only last for so long. Without hesitation or due, Rainbow pounced on me and start rapidly striking me worse than she ever has before. I shook her off, but she then took a bunch more after I accidentally repelled her back to the capsule's location. She started to fill her mouth with all of them. Leaving me with no other choice, I fired a deadly beam at her. Blasting the pills away from her, destroying them. While at the same time however, my good friend fell out of the apartment, ready to die at any moment.
Despite taking more damage than I have, Rainbow Dash's athletic body has proved to be only a few scratches and far less bloody than mine. Even so, her fate relies upon me right now. I rushed out to her, quickly using my clumsy flying and using my last bit of magic, I managed to teleport both of us back. She wasn't happy though, hitting the balcony floor and trying to shove me away. She is wailing like a little schoolfilly. The guilt must have torn her heart all over the place. I can see Rainbow's tears bursting out, she was that depressed wasn't she? We all went through those times, but for somepony like her this isn't a brief experience, depression kills.
"Where in Equestria did you even get such a hazardous drug? What were you thinking?!" I questioned her with force, still clinging on to her like a little filly myself.
"I... since that incident happened, I became depressed, and my friends don't trust me anymore. Those who once looked up to me don't appreciate who I am anymore. If nopony wants me in their life anymore, then I guess I have no purpose to live." She began drawing imaginary shapes on the balcony floor. After a little bit she continued in a voice that showed how truly broken a pony she has become.
"S-so, I bought Darvon, and got it just in case I feel like I'm ready. I'm not really sure if anypony still misses me, and that whether they would feel hurt if they found out that I'm gone."
"Rainbow Dash. I never knew you were in such pain. You tried so hard to keep yourself alive for others, even though most don't want to see you anymore, not even... our friends..." I let go of her, tears could not stop flowing for the death of my friends, and the cracking shell Rainbow was having, her loss of everything: wings, friends, pride, dream, almost everything she could've wanted. She then broke the silence in two as she suddenly screamed out at me.
"WHY DID YOU SAVE ME?! I WAS DOING WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO! GIVE UP RIGHT?!"
I panted heavily, the burden was life taking for me, blood turned black as I coughed words out
"But that does not mean... that you must give yourself up. Look at you! You already are bruised and beaten EVERYWHERE! If you keep this on, not only will you kill yourself, but how will the rest of our friends live happily if another is gone?!" I coughed out more blood, but I ignored it, for I care about my friend's life more than mine. "Wake up! Please wake up Rainbow! KNOW WHEN TO QUIT AND ABANDON YOUR DREAMS!! START OVER!"
Silence returned. Rainbow's face was now down flat on the solid balcony, her whole body followed along too. I wiped my blood away, as it finally stopped. I can read her actions like a foal's guide to ABC's. She stopped her crying, and was deep in thought now, but she just does not want me to see her as an egghead, because that's what she called me all the time. Pretty soon, I had discovered why I was sent here as well. I believed that Celestia truly wanted Rainbow Dash to come back, but reformed and recovered, and she knew that I was the one who can help her... I put my hooves against my forehead and bent my head down, why couldn't I see this earlier? She started sobbing again, I can't help but give myself a smile.
"Twi...Twilight?" Rainbow finally got back up, disgusted that she had to go through all of this "deep thinking" process to snap out of her funk. "I'm... So... Sorry..."
I smiled and cast a Rainbow colored shield to surround us both, however, the color was not only just red to violet, there was a new character joining in.
Gray.
"Wha... Why is there a shade of gray in a Rainbow?" Rainbow Dash was confounded, but I can only sadly answer.
"That is your new color joining you now. Despite now realizing the moral to give up and quit... You learned this the hard way, and I'm sorry, but now this is the pain you have to carry from now on: Everything you had gained from your dream, will be lost..."
"I... Twilight... I should be sorry..." Rainbow sniffed, but shook her head in disgust after she realizes that she was about to cry. "After everything I have done, it was selfish and rash. It was right of me to give up everything I had, I don't think it even mattered anymore. Now it's too late though, I don't think anypony wants me back."
I rushed up to the pathetic Pegasus and hugged her into my grasp like Fluttershy did when Rainbow was down. She was frozen, she did not know what to do, nor what was actually going on. All she saw though, was the grayness fading away, replaced by a new blank sheet of shining light from my horn. As it increases its area, Rainbow can only hug me back and pray for the best.
I can do nothing either but smile, and simply tell her,
"We'll see about that, my little pony."
