The Devil You Know

Twilight trotted slowly through a gloomy courtyard with Rainbow Dash trailing behind her, the red moon lighting their path. Periodically, she would levitate out the map they had been provided with to try and get an idea of where they were going. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash proved to be adept at navigation, and they were pressing steadily towards their goal.

The sounds of battle were gone now, replaced with an eerie silence that permeated the ruins. That meant one thing: Everypony was gone.

Meadow Grass, Brummbar, Pinkamena, and now Shining Armour.

Twilight fought back a sob that was behind every breath she took. It felt like a piece of herself had been ripped away, leaving a terrible emptiness in her heart. Her brother had always been there for her, always with that dependable strength she had relied upon, and it had been taken from her. She just wanted to curl into a ball and cry until the pain subsided, or to simply wait for the Umbra to find her and end it.

She blinked her tears away and took a deep breath.

No.

Too many ponies had died for her sake already. Shining had given his life to ensure that she could continue their mission. Rainbow Dash was right. She couldn’t let his sacrifice be for nothing.

She looked towards Rainbow Dash, who had taken the lead and was cautiously checking the path ahead. As much as the pegasus talked of being strong, Twilight knew that Shining’s death had hit her hard. She could hear her sniffing periodically, wiping her eyes and looking away every time Twilight looked at her.

The castle grounds were a maze of ruined passageways and courtyards, which made navigation difficult. All showed signs of destruction that could not be attributed to simple time or weather. Craters pockmarked the area around the keep, and blackened gouges had been torn into the earth.

“Look at this place!” Twilight commented as they passed by another crater field. “This must have been where the goddesses fought!”

Rainbow glanced over to the deep craters full of reeds and stinking water. “Yeah, fascinating.”

“Imagine it! Our whole history will have to be rewritten!” Twilight continued. “I have a feeling I’m going to be busy when I get back.”

Rainbow snorted. “How can you talk about that meaningless shit at a time like this?” She kicked a stone into the water and muttered to herself.

Twilight spun, feeling her anger rise like a hot wave. “What do you expect me to talk about? That we’re stuck, alone, in this horrible place, hunted by Celestia knows what? That we…” Her voice wavered. “That we left my brother to be torn apart by those monsters!”

Rainbow’s mouth worked wordlessly and she looked away, her ears pinned back.

“I-I’m sorry,” Twilight said, looking down with a tiny sob. “Everything has just gone crazy and I, I need something… something to focus on or I’m going to lose my mind.”

Rainbow let out a sigh. “Okay, pick a topic, just keep it down; they’re probably still out there somewhere.”

“Tell me about you and Shining.”

Rainbow blinked and gave her a scowl, “That’s what you want to talk about?”

Twilight looked away. “I feel like tonight has shown me a side of Shining that I never dared believe existed until now.” She let out a sigh. “It’s pretty clear that he kept things from me to protect me. But I have so many questions I’ll never get answers to now.” She looked to Rainbow Dash, “You knew that Shining. I want to know about him, the real Shining.”

She placed a hoof on the mare’s shoulder, “Please, Rainbow.”

Rainbow eyed her carefully, then taking a breath, she began. “The first time I met your brother was during the fall of Cloudsdale. The Umbra were everywhere. There was panic and my parents…” She winced and rubbed her foreleg. “T-they were gone. I was just a filly, all alone.”

Rainbow wiped her eyes. “That was when he found me. Celestia had sent the army to evacuate the city and here was this unicorn, walking around on the clouds like it was nothing!”

A smile graced her face, perhaps the first real smile Twilight had seen on the pegasus. “I’d never heard of non-pegasi walking on clouds. I thought he was some kind of hero you hear about in the story books.”

Her cheeks flushed at Twilight’s little chuckle. “Hey, I was young, okay? You want to hear this or not?”

“I’m sorry. Please continue.”

“He looked after me, made sure I was sent to one of the better orphanages in Canterlot, supported me no matter how many times I messed up.” Her wings twitched and she looked away. “Without him, I’d have ended up just another whore down in Canterbridge. Because of him, I became a guardsmare.”

Her eyes shined with pride, her chest puffing up at the mention of it. “I gave my all because of him. I would have done anything for him.” She let out a snort. “In the end, I did do everything for him.”

She looked away, her wings bristling.

Twilight felt a sense of foreboding. “What happened?”

“What do you think? We got drunk one night, one thing led to another, and we screwed each other senseless,” she said, chuckling darkly. “I thought he loved me as much as I loved him.” She closed her eyes and wiped away fresh tears.

“Y-you’re lying, Shining wouldn’t…” Twilight stammered.

His heart belonged to Cadence, though! Twilight had no experience when it came to romance or relationships, but she knew love when she saw it. Every time he talked about that mare, he went all dreamy eyed. The thought of him with another mare was just impossible.

“You wanted to know, right?” Rainbow said, tears running freely now. “Funny thing was, I was happy for a time because I felt he needed me. But he was just stringing me along because he felt sorry for me! He didn’t love me, he pitied me!”

Twilight reeled from the revelation. She wanted to dismiss it as ravings of a mare in pain, yet Rainbow had no reason to lie to her.

Rainbow closed her eyes. “In the end, I was just a dirty little secret that everypony knew about: Shining’s little whore.”

“Rainbow…”

She straightened. “Don’t. Don’t you dare look at me like that. The last thing I need is pity from the likes of you.”

Twilight bristled at the barbs in her words. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rainbow let out a bitter laugh, “Oh come on! You and your perfect little quiet life in that cage Shining had built for you. Don’t think I didn’t know about all the strings he pulled for his dropout little sister. Oh, he spoke the world of you, but you were another burden for him. Just like me.”

“You’re wrong…”

“Whatever, don’t believe me if you want. I don’t care,” she snorted, looking up. “Let’s get moving. We’ve wasted enough time already.”

“I’m not a burden,” Twilight said firmly.

“Yeah? Then prove it…” Rainbow’s voice trailed off, her ears pinning back and her pupils narrowing to pin pricks as she stared towards something off to the side.

“Rainbow, what is it?”

“Twilight, we have to run right now,” Rainbow said, her voice a terrified whisper as a low growl echoed through the courtyard.

“Wait. Did they—”

“Run!!”