Not a day goes by that I don’t remember that sound. That horrid, tearing, wrenching, shrieking sound that pulled the town of Autumn Peak back into reality. So wretched, so mind-numbingly immersive was that sound… I’m honestly not sure that the word “sound” quite describes it. It assaulted every sense and threatened to send me careening backwards through the shopping center and out into the desert, never to be seen again.

Although, perhaps that is the natural drama queen in me.

In all honesty, the feeling which nearly whisked me away was something like… contentment. It was warm. It wrapped me up and held me safely-- the first time I had felt safe in as long as I could remember.

That first time, I don’t even remember hauling myself back to the motel. I suppose I was sent there by the very force of Twilight’s magic sweeping through Autumn Peak.

I do remember the dream I had. Then, and every night since:

It starts in darkness. Not a scary darkness. Not the total, crushing, suffocating darkness dreams so often have. No, this darkness was as warm and friendly as the sunlight, as comforting and cozy as the moonlight.

There are always these swirling patches of not-quite-darkness, where I can almost make something else out. The rolling green of a cemetery here. The winding black of an old road there. The proud, stoic outline of the butte just out of sight.

As I try to get my bearings in the darkness, she sneaks up on me.

“I didn’t mean to.”

I jump, and spin to face her.

And there she stands. Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Some Other Things we Can’t Quite Name, in all her glory. She seems ashamed, almost. Her face fallen, eyes cast downward. “I didn’t mean to put it… there. I was still figuring out my powers. Autumn Peak felt like the kind of place that time would never touch… or maybe I just thought that time shouldn’t be allowed to touch it. That it should stay in between.”

“In between worlds? Frozen forever?” I would ask, knowing the answer.

“Yes. And, one year from now, you’ll leave Autumn Peak,” she explains. “You’ll tell Rainbow Dash and I about everything that happened, everything that went wrong. And I’ll send Rainbow there, too. As many times as it takes. You know the rest.”

“That’s all it was?” I ask. “Just a fluke? Not a scheme, or… or destiny, or fate, or anything at all?”

Here, Twilight smiles softly, blushing a little. “Maybe it’s not the answer you were hoping for. I’m still the little filly who botches spells and makes mistakes. I hoped I would have outgrown it by now.”

“We all make mistakes. And I… I forgive you,” I reply.

“That’s big of you,” Twilight says. “I’m not sure I deserve it.”

“Don’t you dare, Twilight. Of course you do,” I scold, but only playfully.

Twilight only laughs a tired laugh in response.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Why do I remember it all? If it happened somewhere else.”

“I let you remember. Just like I let Rainbow Dash remember.”

And I remember the sound. The air tears open, and light and sound and life pour through it. Everything that happened in the past year is reset in just a few seconds… Which included--

“I’m waiting for you, Rarity!”

I look around, watching for movement in the darkness. “Rainbow?”

And then I’m back on the floor of the shopping center, watching Blue Moon and Nightwhisper turn to dust, watching plants grow in reverse and being blinded by the light of Twilight’s power.

Rainbow grabbed my hoof and held it there, looking at me in desperation through puffy, tearful eyes. “Don’t forget, okay?”

“R-Rainbow, I could nev--”

“Don’t forget me,” she said, firmer this time. Not a judgement or a plea. A prayer, A wish. “I’m waiting for you!”

Called out. Called through time, and space, and eternity.

And I’d wake up from the dream. Just like that, every morning, for a year.

It’s not as bad as it sounds. After the first few, it became a steady and predictable occurrence. Almost comforting, with the predictability of a very good alarm clock.

Of course, due to the mysterious nature of time and space, I wouldn’t see Rainbow Dash or Twilight for the entire year. I wouldn’t be able to tell anypony what happened in Autumn Peak yet because, if I did, things would change, and I wasn’t sure how.

It’s not my job to decide who gets what, and when. In fact, I suppose that’s Twilight’s job.

And she would decide soon enough. But I wouldn’t let the thought disturb my morning routine.

I awoke in a motel room, just as I had every other morning. The sun was no longer a sickly yellow, but a strong, bright gold as it shone through the curtains and onto my face.

The questions I wished I had asked rolled back and forth inside my brain, even crossing my tongue expectantly a time or two, before I could finally shake off the dream. Having the same conversation over and over isn’t at all productive. I should be keeping a list of questions to ask Twilight when I finally see her.

I took a long, deep breath; the air smelled like orange juice with a pinch of sugar. Like freshly sharpened pencils, like gently washed linens, like roses just cut from the garden and placed in a crystal vase. Celestial smells, I thought of them. Finished smells. Smells that meant we had made it through the night, through the dawn, into the certain day.

But there were undertones of plain, black tea, and sage, and sand. Little in-between smells that I had grown to associate with Twilight. A lingering memory of her time here.

Perhaps it was all in my head, though. It was hard not to think about these things anymore.

I rolled out of bed and moved to the bathroom. After flicking on the light, I took a moment to admire the progress on my mane. I had decided to leave it short, though not out of need. It was just different. I felt as if I should be a little different now.

I was still learning to care for it. My ever-so-particular routine was disrupted by the change. No longer the same amount of shampoo or conditioner, no longer the same spread or the same technique. Just another thing to learn about myself. I was getting there.

A long, hot shower woke me up entirely. I liked to sing in the shower now. Another thing that changed, I suppose. Always a Rara song. Rara songs always reminded me of my friends from home.

As I dried my mane, I stood in the door between the bathroom and everything else. I had packed last night. Just one suitcase, sitting expectantly at the foot of the bed.

And it shall have to expect for some time, I thought. I wasn’t leaving just yet. No need to rush it.

I left the motel room and turned to lock the door.

“Morning, Rarity!”

“Oh!” I nearly dropped my ring of keys, and pawed at my now rapidly beating heart with one hoof.

Behind me was Inky Pier, the large and bumbling stallion who owned the motel.

I let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Goodness! Don’t sneak up on me like that, Ink!”

He laughed--part nervous, part hearty--and stroked his beard with one hoof. “Sorry, Miss. Wasn’t tryin’ ta scare ya.”

I shook my head. “It’s forgotten.” I steadied my breathing and finished locking the door.

Ink rocked slightly on his hooves, watching me fumble with the keys. “Still checking out today?” He asked, sensing the unbearable awkwardness of the encounter.

I nodded, turned to look at him with a friendly smile. “That’s right! I’m moving back home.”

“Dunno what we did to deserve somepony nice as you, Rarity.” Ink returned my smile, his eyes warm and thankful.

“Oh, stop it!” I gave him a playful shove and giggled. “I’m only this nice to ponies who earn it, believe me.”

Ink shrugged. “Still… we’ll miss you around here.”

“Thank you, Inky. Really,” I said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get to breakfast at the diner. Rumor has it that Moss was planning an absolute feast down there. Would you like to come?”

Ink shook his head. “Can’t. We have some checkouts this morning I’ll need to keep an eye on. See you soon?”

“Of course. See you soon.”

I waved to Ink as he departed and turned to face the desert.

It was not at all like it was before, whenever and wherever that was. The rolling dunes of loose and shifting sand had been cleared or packed down for through traffic. It was a town, now-- a real, working town. Even as I stood here, early in the morning, I could see ponies on their way to work. A little gaggle of mares in matching aprons moved towards the diner. An autocarriage pulled up to a pump at the gas station. In the distance, I could make out some very large trucks backing up to the shopping center, no doubt filled with all manner of goods and wares to fill the empty storefronts.

It was amazing how much could change in such a short time.

The diner was a short walk on these good paths. The smell of coffee and pancakes and scrambled eggs reached me even before the sound of the kitchen did.

“Rarity!”

My ears pricked, trying to find the source of the sound.

Just a moment later, the door of the diner flew open, and Moss’s grinning face poked out. “Rarity! Come on, breakfast is ready!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m coming, Moss!”

I broke into a canter and greeted Moss with a hug that was nearly a tackle. Her mane ticked my neck as she snuggled into my shoulder.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving today! I’m gonna miss you so much!” She exclaimed. With the way her cheek was pressed into the side of my neck, it was a miracle I could hear her at all.

I pulled her off me and held her at arm’s length. “Now, you won’t have to miss me if you visit like you promised, right?”

She laughed, though I think it was a little more cry than laugh. “I know, I know--”

“Well, then, swear it again!” I demanded, striking a fabulous and self-featuring pose right in front of her on the diner’s porch. “If I’m worth one swear, I’m worth two, aren’t I?”

Moss straightened up, closed her eyes, and raised one hoof in the air. “I, Mossy Bridge, do solemnly swear to visit my dear friend Rarity as often as my work schedule permits, with each visit lasting at least the length of one seasonal shopping trip.”

I did my best to suppress my mischievous giggles, though they escaped anyway.

“Oh, what now?” Moss rolled her eyes and flashed a coy smile.

“I’m sorry, it’s just… Well, it’s funnier than I remembered!”

“Hey!” Moss stamped her hoof. “I’m making an awful lot of allowances, here! When does Rarity swear to visit me, hm?”

I lifted my snout in the air, cleared my throat as haughtily as I could manage, and raised my right hoof. “I, Rarity, Element of Generosity, do solemnly swear to allow my dear friend Moss to visit me in--”

Moss jabbed me in the ribs. “Hey, now!”

This time a snort snuck out with my laughter.

Moss tossed her head, though her very short and frizzy mane did not move with it. “Well, all I can say is you’d best get your butt in here and eat this damn breakfast I made you, or I might just get some ideas about ‘allowing’ myself to eat it instead.”

I gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Moss pushed the door open and held it there for me. “Do you really wanna take that chance?”

I began to walk past her into the restaurant, but she snuck a peak at me and happened to catch my eye. As anypony knows, eye contact in scenarios such as these can quickly send one into hysterics.

Moss and I settled for a shared giggle and trotted inside.

If it smelled good from the outside, it smelled heavenly from the inside.

Moss lead me to a booth by the front, one with a great view of the sunrise over the distant dunes, though I could hardly focus with the myriad of smells pulling me in every direction. Pancakes with maple syrup from one end of the building, hot and starchy potatoes from another, eggs fried in butter wafting from the kitchen… even the little cups of fruit salad seemed so fragrant that I could feel saliva rolling about in my mouth.

“Now, you just tell me what you want and I’ll bring it,” Moss aid as she ushered me into my seat. “Heck, you can have one bite of everything on the menu! I’ve got it all hot and ready in the back.”

I giggled. “Goodness, I feel like a little spoiled filly! Oh… could you bring me a plate of those pancakes? They smell just wonderful.”

Moss nodded and smiled brightly. “One stack a’ hotcakes, comin’ up!”

She disappeared, and I was left to stare out the window again.

The gas station was across the way. A part of me still felt the rope around my neck, or heard the buzzing of the great unknown closing in on me as I looked at the pumps. But even now, just a year later, it was something I could seemingly shake off. Nothing more than a dim and blurry shadow of unpleasantness that I could choose to step out of and be okay.

I had a fracture in my mind, and I had patched it wonderfully. But that didn’t mean the fracture had never existed. It would be easy to break again, if I wasn’t careful.

“Hotcakes!” Moss shouted, interrupting my thoughts.

She placed a plate in front of me, and, goodness, if I thought the smell was intoxicating…

“Oh, Moss, they’re just beautiful!” I exclaimed. Round, golden-brown, steaming away, topped with the most perfect scoop of home-churned butter I’d ever seen. “I almost feel bad eating them!”

Moss gave a humble chuckle. “It’s nothin’, really.” She turned to leave.

I grabbed the strap of her apron with my magic. “Oh, Moss, won’t you sit with me? On my last day?”

“Of course! I just need a plate of my own,” she said, nabbing a plate off a nearby stand and setting it down across from me. “You think I’m not sittin’ with you on your last day? You must not know me at all!”

I chuckled. “Silly me.”

Moss and I dug into our breakfasts, settling that top layer of primal hunger in silence before allowing ourselves the opportunity to chat.

“So… Rarity.”

“Mm?”

“Can I ask you a question?” Moss asked, her tone serious and businesslike.

I swallowed, nodded. “Of course, dear, what is it?”

Moss sighed. “Well, it’s just… Okay. I know you love the diner. I know you love the diner in ways I can’t quite comprehend, to be frank. But I’ve been thinking: I need to change the name.”

I cocked my head. “What’s wrong with ‘Big Joe’s?’ I thought you liked Big Joe.”

“Of course I like Big Joe! I like him plenty. But he’s gone now, and I can’t help but think that I need to… to give this place a more personal touch. Something that’s mine,” Moss said. She held a hoof over her heart and smiled. “Only problem is I can’t think of another name. ‘Mossy Diner’ ain’t exactly appetizing--”

“Well, neither is ‘Big Joe’s,’ if you ask me,” I added.

Moss giggled. “I ‘spose that’s true. I guess I was just wonderin’ if you had any ideas.”

I had an idea. I had an idea immediately. But I had to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal. I couldn’t possibly explain the depth and nuance of meaning behind the name of the diner I had known. “Well… What would you think of ‘Open Doors Diner?’”

Moss furrowed her eyebrows. “That’s… interesting.”

I quickly shrugged it off. “It’s nothing. Just an idea.”

Moss shook her head. “No, no. I like it, Rares. In fact, I think it might be just the thing. Kinda… warm and welcoming, isn’t it?”

I smiled, feeling a well of tears rise in my chest. “My thoughts exactly.”

“Open Doors, it is!” Moss pounded her hoof on the table emphatically. “Guess I’d better order some new neon, huh? Say!”

I swallowed quickly “Yes, dear?”

“While I’m at it, what would you say to some blue neon diamonds over the pie case?” Moss gestured to an otherwise empty bit of wall behind the breakfast bar. “It’s needed something. Might be the perfect place to keep a bit of you around.”

I sniffled, waving a hoof in front of my face to dry the hints of tears in my eyes. “Moss, stop it! You’re going to make me cry!”

“Good! I’ve already spent the morning cryin’, you’re not escaping this without a few tears,” Moss said with her own teary smirk. “Better get it in fast, too-- just when is it you’re leaving?”

I sighed. “Well, if I did my math right… around 10:30?”

Moss furrowed her brows. “Does it usually take you a lot of math to plan your trips?”

I chuckled. “Oh, it’s not that-- an old friend of mine is coming to pick me up. I’m not certain how long it will take her to get here, exactly.”

Moss gasped. “Is she another Element-Bearers? Gosh, and I didn’t even do my hair or--”

I held up a hoof to stop her. “Rainbow Dash can’t tell the difference, anyway.”

Moss put both hooves on the table and hoisted herself up to nearly a head taller than myself. “Rainbow Dash is coming here?! The Wonderbolt?!” Her eyes were wide, and filled with something between fear and awe.

“I’ve talked about her hundreds of times, Moss! Why would you be nervous now?”

“Well, that was just talk!” Moss insisted. “I didn’t know she was coming here-- do you think she’ll want to eat here? Oh, Celestia, I’m not ready…” She flopped back down into the booth, with hissed under her weight. Her head lolled back to gaze up at the ceiling.

“Mossy, darling, if I thought you needed warning I would have given it to you!” I reached across the table and put a reassuring hoof on hers. She tilted her head forward to glare at me in consternation. “It’s really nothing. Please trust me.”

Moss whimpered.

“Please?” I asked, pressing into her hoof a bit. “I’m sure she’ll love your food, dear!”

Moss grumbled something.

“Pardon?”

A deep sigh. “What’s her favorite?”

I laughed. “Asking Rainbow Dash her favorite food is like asking Luna’s favorite star!” I laughed some more, then settled myself. “Although, now that you mention it, she isn’t big on pie.”

Moss turned to look over the massive feast she had prepared for the two of us, including a few breakfast pies made of egg and tomato. “Well… I guess there’s enough…”

“There’s enough food here for a small army, Moss! Of course there’s enough for my friend.”

“Well…” Moss tapped her hooves repeatedly on the tabletop. “Fine, fine. Just let me get some more potatoes out here, okay? Does she like potatoes?”

“She--”

“Blue!” Moss was already up, shouting for her now-employee. “Blue, help me bring out some more potatoes!”

I sighed and settled back into the booth. Seeing Blue Moon was… well, it was indescribable. It couldn’t possibly make me angry, that wasn’t fair-- she hadn’t done the things that had made me angry in the first place. But I couldn’t exactly be her friend, either. Even knowing that she was capable of the things she had done was enough to turn our relationship sour.

Blue sensed this, I think. She knew I disliked her, at the very least. And maybe it wasn’t fair. But, then, maybe it was.

Blue Moon came out of the swinging double door which lead to the kitchen holding a tray of fried potato hash. She was wearing an apron, her mane pulled back in a tight bun. A little less hostile, but certainly not friendly like everypony else here.

“Hello, Blue,” I said.

“Rarity.”

I swallowed, paused. “I’m… Well, I’m leaving today.”

Blue was not looking at me, just arranging trays on the nearby tables. “So I heard.”

“Hm.” I nodded to myself. “Well, I just--”

“I’m sorry.”

I was so taken aback that it took me a moment to gather a response. “Excuse me?”

Blue sighed, turned to face me with a flick of her head. “Look, don’t make me say it again. I don’t even know why I wanna tell you that so bad, but I couldn’t let you leave without saying so.”

“That you’re sorry?”

“Yep.”

“What makes you think that you owe me an apology?” I asked.

That lingering image of a dark hood draped around Blue’s shoulders intensified for an instant. Her tired eyes, her nervous looks. The way she set her jaw before she lied.

“I’d tell you if I knew,” Blue said, very matter-of-factly for a pony in her circumstances. “Swear to the sisters, I would. But I just get this feeling that I… I did something I oughta be sorry for.”

I considered telling her, I really did. I wanted to. Wanted to tell her of the horrible things she had done, wanted to run her out of town just like Nightwhisper (or, rather, Jet Fuel, as I had discovered his given name to be) and his gang of brutes. I wanted to make her live with the knowledge of what she had done, because that’s what I was living with.

But… I couldn’t give her that.

“Sorry, dear, I’ve absolutely no idea what it could be,” I said. “You seem like a fine pony to me.”

“Yeah, well…” Blue shrugged. “It was more for me than for you, anyway.”

And, just like that, she breezed back into the kitchen.

I wouldn’t see Blue Moon ever again.

Moss came back out, bearing more potatoes. “This look like enough?” She asked between pants.

I giggled, a little snort sneaking out. “I already told you, it’s plenty!”

“Well, it’ll have to be! Rainbow Dash will be here any minute, after all,” Moss said, glancing up at the clock.

“Any minute?!” It was my turn to stand up in the booth. Moss was right-- just five minutes to 10:30. “Goodness, I slept later than I thought! I-I’ve got to go, I’ve got to meet her!”

I leapt out of my seat and darted towards the door. The little bell tinkled over my head as I blew through at lightning speed-- speeds that might make even Rainbow Dash jealous.

“Hurry back!” Moss called after me.

But I was gone. As quickly as I was out the door, thoughts of the diner were behind me.

Rainbow Dash. She was coming here, would be here any minute, any second! I could finally tell her all the things I hadn’t had the time for. I could finally be back with her, over our silly fights and past the endless nightmare of the empty desert.

I tore over the sand with the skill and grace of a cat. The butte came closer and closer as I did, memories flashing through my mind like photos in a slideshow.

The way Rainbow had appeared in that shopping center, when I saw it on the edge of the Everfree Forest in a dream. The countless times we had woken up inside, holding each other tightly out of fear and desperation. Our time there as prisoners, our time there as refugees.

The way the light had shone through Rainbow’s feathers like stained glass, had ringed her head like a halo.

She had been an angel, sent to me by the God of this realm.

And, with that, she was sent to me again.

I could hear the familiar explosive sound--oh, how had I not heard it before?--of Twilight’s teleportation magic echoing through the shopping center as I galloped toward it with everything I had. Shouts followed; cries of confused and terrified construction works, who yelled safety warnings and barked instructions at the visitor.

“Outta my way! She’s waiting for me!”

I didn’t have the breath to gasp. “Rainbow!”

Another familiar sound as Rainbow Dash shot through the air and out of the building, a rainbow streak of light trailing just behind her.

She froze just outside the doors. The remaining power of her flight kicked up a whole cloud of sand and ruffled her mane and tail.

She looked at me for a moment, not sure what to do or say.

I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Rainbow Dash!”

“Rarity!” she screamed back without a moment’s hesitation.

She wound up and rocketed towards me with the power of full-sized airship. I was knocked to the ground and backwards several meters through the sand. As much as I would have hated that just a few short years ago, I was laughing all the while.

“You’re here!” Rainbow was saying, over and over, as she burrowed into my neck. “Great Celestia, you’re here! You’re here, you’re fucking here!”

Laughter turned to tears as I returned Rainbow’s hug. “You told me to wait! You told me to wait, and I waited for you!”

Rainbow pulled away to look at me, and I gazed into her wide eyes. Wide and clear, without a trace of haziness.

The tears that spilled onto my chest as she looked down at me were clear, too. “You waited… for me?” Not really a question, but a statement of utter disbelief. “And you remember?”

I nodded and sniffled. “I remember.” I reached up and stroked her cheek with one hoof. The fur there was so soft, marred only by the tracks of her relieved tears.

Rainbow stared at me, her eyes tracing every curve of my face with the urgency of a foal scanning her notes before a quiz. All familiar, but ephemeral. Like it could go away in the blink of an eye and none would be the wiser.

I reached up with my other hoof and cradled her other cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’m here.”

Rainbow drew my right hoof away from her face and moved it to her chest. There, she pressed her own hoof against mine, as if trying to imprint the shape of my sole into her fur would keep me there more permanently.

I giggled. The way she looked at me with a longing that had finally been fulfilled… it made a fire grow in my chest.

She released my hoof. I let it fall into the sand. With my other, I traced backwards, admiring the new style of Rainbow’s mane. “You let it grow out,” I said. It no longer looked like Wonderbolt cut, not like a mini Spitfire. It was her own again.

“You kept yours short,” Rainbow said, handling one curl very delicately.

“I like it,” we said together.

Her hoof followed the curve of my head down to my jaw and tilted my chin upwards ever so slightly. There was something different in her eyes, now.

Before I could figure out what it was, she lowered her head and kissed me.

I kissed her back.

We would have stayed there forever, I think, had our emotions not gotten the better of us. We both started to laugh, or maybe cry, or maybe both, and our kiss was broken.

Rainbow rolled over and flopped into the sand beside me, still laugh-crying. She reached one hoof around my barrel and drew me into an embrace, her face buried in the fluff on my chest. We laughed and cried together, holding each other all the while, until Rainbow finally managed words.

“I love you, Rarity. I love you so fucking much. I’ve waited so long to tell you that, years and years and--”

“Hush, darling.” I stroked her mane gently. “I know. I love you too.”

It wasn’t silence. There was the sound of the construction, which hadn’t halted. There was the sound of the wind, which hadn’t stopped blowing. There was the sound of our shaking breaths as we tried to stop crying and laughing and whatever else we were doing.

But it shouldn’t have stopped. As much as I wanted it to.

Things can’t stay the same forever.

The shifting sands which had once held me back now cradled me so gently.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading Threshold!

I'd like to thank my sister, cinnaomntoastcronch, for being my biggest fan and helping me out with this project.

I'd also like to thank sevenofeleven, a dedicated pre-reader who has helped me out every step of the way.

And, of course, I'd never have had the energy to finish this gigantic undertaking without the support of my regular readers! SuperSonicGoldenKirinGod, Yellow Gate, Schattendrache, Chapter 13, Howff, and cosmicbiscuit! Your comments and support mean the world to me.

This may be a little cheesy, but I'd like to finish with this:

Let's say sunshine for everyone
But as far as I can remember
We've been migratory animals
Living under changing weather

Someday we will foresee obstacles
Through the blizzard, through the blizzard
Today we will sell our uniform
Live together, live together

-Syd Matter, Obstacles

Thanks, everyone! Hope to see you all again soon.