Seven Shades of Rainbow

Seven Shades of Rainbow

By Damocles23

Chapter Five: Pegasi with a Broken Heart

“So…I just spent the rest of the night shoving some other existential crisis in my mouth while crying…”

“Oh…” Twilight lowers her gaze toward her balcony’s floor. She doesn’t even have the hint of a blush, but I can still tell she’s embarrassed. Well, she told me tell me everything, after all! I still can’t because we aren’t exactly alone.

“Wow…Fastest breakup in the history ever! No offense…” utters the lilac pegasus idly resting on a nearby cloud hovering just beside mine and sipping from her glass at regular intervals.

“We haven’t broken up, Cloudchaser…” I say her name as slowly as possible to calm my nerves and avoid doing something awful like making her eat that cloud. “We have just…just…”

“I’m waiting here…” Never before I wanted to punch somepony just for the sound of her shrill, mocking tone. I’m not even trying to come up with a snappy answer.

“We have dented up! Yes…Dented up…”

“If you say so, RD…”

“Yes, CC. Thank you for the contribution.” I take another sip, trying to mask the grumbling noise I always make when I’m mad at somepony.

“Well, I guess it’s better that way!” Twilight breaks the awkward silence that almost led to violence. “We need less glue to fix it!” She puts on the goofiest smile she has ever mustered. And considering the one she pulled off the time she tried to get me into Daring Do at the hospital that’s saying something.

“Ah! That’s a nice one, Twilight!”A voice is heard right beside Cloudchaser.

A voice that is the harbinger of misery, destruction and tragedy. My tragedies. The cause of all the pain and humiliation I had to endure…

Thunderlane!

You may now scream if you want to.

“Can I still ask exactly what is he doing here?” He still has the nerve to talk to me like an equal after making me burn the cake.

Actually I know why he’s there: apparently, Twilight likes to hold therapy session for everypony who has problems for any kind, but especially for friends. She said that I’ve inspired her after that time she couldn’t find a lesson to write about for the Princess…even though she was the one that went cuckoo at the end of the day. At least her scribbling on the notebook, the bun made with her mane and the glasses made her look like a therapist.

“You know, Dash….” he starts, “if you want my two bits about it…”

“No, I don’t want to hear it!”

Both of the girls glare at me while the bane of my life just cowers in his personal cloud. “Would you please leave poor Thunderlane alone?” says Cloudchaser before giving herself a little kick with her wings and move her cloud towards Thunderlane’s to comfort him by patting his back with her hooves. Twilight looks…distressed to say the least. Her enthusiasm at the thought of helping us has completely evaporated and she looks as down as ever.

“Are you okay, Twi?” I ask. “If you don’t want to…”

“No, no, no….” she pours some more iced tea in my glass and hers.“It’s just that I’m surprised, that’s all! I mean, these things under my roof…”

“Yeah, it’s a bit weird. Does this mean I can still be mean to Thunderlane?”

“NO!” Cloudchaser and Twilight both scream at me. “Just what’s your problem with him?”

“He knows! Alright, alright…But, you know, Twi? After all, you are the one that brought us together as friends! You just took it the next step!”

Once again, as I can gather by Twilight’s annoyed look and angry sigh, she’s not impressed by my sense of humor…neither are my ‘therapy group mates’. Cloudchaser has finally given up and she’s snorting prickly laughter after prickly laughter while the bane of my life is simply staring embarrassed. Pinkie would have found it hilarious…Then I remember something: the last thing I should’ve said that Twilight aptly named The last thing you should have said.

Twilight doesn’t fail to notice the resurfacing of this thought upsetting me, so she pats my shoulder as a friendly gesture.
Oh, Twilight…I swear I’m not gonna laugh so loud when I’m reading with you anymore…Well, not that much.

“Are you alright…?”

“No. I just remembered that I’m a real jerk…I’m not your friend? Really?”I gulp down the whole glass in anger.

“Well, that was a very poor choice of words…”

“Don’t pretty that up, Twi. I was awful…”

“Yes, you were,” says Cloudchaser. ” I don’t know Pinkie very well but she didn’t deserve that!”

Thunderlane just shakes his head in disapproval. Great, now I have to say that Thunderlane is right about something…

“Well, you had good intentions. Even if you could have phrased it in a much better way! What were you thinking?”

“I wanted to say that I care, dammit! Those things had changed and I cared for her more than I cared as friend! I wanted to know, I needed to know and I thought she had to tell me about whoever was her coltfriend! I mean, how could she be with me if she still freaks out at thought of him?Oh, Celestia, it sounds even dumber now that I’m saying it!”

Twilight just nods, showing once again that sometimes, with intelligence doesn’t always come empathy. Which I don’t deserve, but that’s beside the point.

“I still can remember those eyes…Those pretty blue eyes shouldn’t look so crushed…”

“And to think she’s so sweet. She fell in love with you with such a simple reason!”She looks positively delighted after saying that. Twilight always was very supportive of relationships between the five of us. It makes sense since, like I said before, we wouldn’t know each other if it wasn’t for her. When Rarity and AJ announced they were together she was the one begging Pinkie to have a party for them.

Of course, nopony mentioned that she had to be the one to console poor Spike…

“Yeah…” a weak chuckle escapes me, mostly at the memory of her cute hooves almost pulling my mane out in the bath. “ I made her life better, even if involuntarily, and she fell in love with me…Of course, I had to ruin everything…” I gesture to her for another glass of tea. I kind of wish for some cider but I’ll better stay away from any form of alcohol lest I’m going to hurt Twilight’s feelings, too. And Rarity isn’t too crazy about me, lately.

“I envy you RD, you know that?” Cloudchaser gives a melancholic look at her, now empty glass while I and the others lean toward her, looking confused. “Well, I can say that you’ve been lucky…” She circles the border of the glass with a hoof and looks in it. “Your Pinkie jumped on you the first chance she got…which makes sense considering she said she had that crush for you for such a long time! Instead, my crush is probably getting smooched by my own sister!”

“Really? Who is he? Or she?” asks Twilight.“You mentioned to have this problem but you didn’tsay much about it.”

“Oh, I thought it was obvious! Wasn’t that obvious?” She turns toward Thunderlane who just shrugs. “It’s Snowflake…” her voice is just barely a whisper but it’s enough for all of us to get it.

I spit my drink on Thunderlane at the surprise, “SNOWFLAKE?! But he…He is….Who…What?!”

“Well, that’s the whole reason I wanted to talk with Twilight here. And despite your objections, he’s a very handsome, kind and wonderful stallion altogether. Of course, just when I was going to make the first step and just ask him out like a reasonable pony…he goes for my sister, instead. Please tell me you have something stronger than this, Twilight…”

“That would mean avoiding the problem and you know it…”

“I wish I could avoid them. Whenever I see them together they’re always smooching and saying things like ‘Smoochy-Doopy-Pie’ or something…”

You know, at this point I usually go on a funny tangent about how I don’t understand the appeal of Snowflake or that I can’t understand why he shouldn’t have a long lasting and fulfilling relationship with anypony he fancies, but not this time. I’m tired of that joke…

This time I really don’t have the urge to try and jinx it. I think that I did it before when I was just a lonely, grumpy pegasus with a broken heart. But now I’m alone again, with the little difference that finally I know very well how happy you can be when you find your special somepony.It lasted only shortly but I enjoyed every minute of it….I don’t have the heart to do that anymore. I hope those two are happy together…Like me and Pinkie couldn’t…

“Ok, CC. First of all, I have to say that I feel for you. I know how much it sucks, something like that…well, you had it worse, it was your sister and all but you know what? I know it hurts and I’m not saying you should get over so easily but…who knows maybe there’s somepony out there that holds those feeling for you…Maybe he’s right around the corner…”

Stock answer.

I’m really bad at cheering ponies up but I honestly believe that everypony has another chance, after all. Except for me, that is…

“Maybe he’s somepony that you always had by your side….” Thunderlane rises his head from the clouds, looking more dignified and confident than he ever did. I can see in his eyes the same determination I had inside me before this whole mess happened. From the way he’s looking at Cloudchaser, I have to say, even if obvious, she’s the source of that determination, that strength…

For once in my life, I have to root for him. He deserves some happiness, he deserves love, even if he never fully cleans up…

“But where could I find somepony like that?!” Cloudchaser doesn’t even look at him, extinguishing that fire he had before, causing poor Thunderlane to cower once again on his cozy cirrus. “It’s not that I can find awesome stallions like Snowflake at every corner or…ppff…I don’t know right beside me?”

I wink at Twilight, like I’m trying to say: “Should I tell her?”

Twilight just shakes her head, eyes closed, basically answering: “Are you kidding? They should figure it out for themselves or the therapy would be all for naught!”

I couldn’t figure such oddly specific reaction unless it happened more times than it should…Twilight is not one for a hooves on approach. Fortunately I’m a completely different pony…

A tortured, resigned smile appears on poor Thunderlane’s face. For a second, I feel pity for the poor guy. I think that Karma is punishing him for a change. Even if he is smiling, he looks absolutely crushed.I can actually see any hope and everything that is good and pure abandoning him, leaving just the broken shell of a pony who, according to my stupendous intuition, actually thought to have a chance.

But you know what, Karma?

I think I’m going to give to you, as Lyra calls it, the finger.

I have no idea what that means and where she heard it, but it fits perfectly. The mare is strange but she really knows her way around words.

Nopony deserves to suffer for love. Not even if it’s Thunderlane.
I’ll have to take care of that later…

Why? Because I’m the hero. That’s why. At least, I want to make somepony happy. Even if it’s Thunderlane.

A long, awkward silence follows after Thunderlane’s botched attempt of a confession, until Twilight finally speaks with a vaguely vacant look.“I think the whole premise is flawed…”

“If you want to tell me that I bucked up, I know. I could write a book about bucking it up this badly. In fact, I already have a title: Don’t be like Rainbow Dash!”

“You know, it’s kind of an effective title…”

“Thanks. I’m working on it after part five of How to Waste My Efforts.”

“I would buy it. Anyway, I think things haven’t changed much between you two.”

“Maybe you missed the part when Pinkie and I did…”

“I know that, but listen; do you think you would care for her so much, that you would be so crushed for having hurt her…after just one night of you-know-what?”

“Well, no…I mean if I didn't know her it would still be terrible, but I know Pinkie, I’ve known her for so long and even though clearly I wasn’t expecting that, I wasn’t thinking about her that way until…that. Boy, I’ve said the word that so many times it lost any meaning…”

“That’s right, Rainbow! You’ve cared for her as a friend for so long! Why should it change?”

“Are you saying we should just stay friends? Thanks for nothing, Twi!”

“Nonononono!”She waves her hoof in front of her, “What I’m trying to say that we are such good friends before that that we are all willing to forgive each other! Like keeping embarrassing secrets and not be a jerk about it? Would you like it if I bothered you all the time for some embarrassing secrets of mine? Of course not, but at least you’d forgive me…maybe!”

“Of course I would! And for embarrassing secrets you mean, like, exactly who do you have a crush on?” I try to not snicker, but the corners of my mouth just won’t obey me.

“Yeah! Like that! Nice try by the way…”

“It was worth a shot. But, embarrassing secrets aside, you’re right. I love her, Twi! She’s my friend and I love her so much! But, what should I do? I just ruined the chance to stay with my best friend and surely something more…I know it’s sudden, but I wanted to propose to her. I wanted her to live with me, don’t ask me how! We’d have found a way! Nothing has stopped her and it wouldn’t have stopped me and I love her so much and…”

I can’t stop the words flowing from my mouth. I feel completely helpless. I’m so honest with myself that it hurts. It’s just ranting, but is so genuine…so heart-rending to me…It just comes out of nowhere! It’s just surreal that I’m standing there confessing all of this to friend and two ponies that I barely know but…

It feels right.

“I don’t want to hurt her feelings again. It’s not that I can just hope she’ll always forgive me everytime I screw up!”

She puts a hoof under her chin. “Mmmm…The logical thing would be just waiting that things just follow their course…but you never do the logical thing!”

“And now it’s not the right time to start!”

“You love her, you just said that nothing would stop you or her and you’re still there moping? It’s just a misstep!”

Cloudchaser finally intervenes after being silent after the whole exchange. She almost sounds enthusiastic, like she has solved a riddle. “For Celestia’s sake, it was just a misstep! Do you know what a misstep is?! You’ve been together for just a couple of days! Do you really think it’s the moment for you to give up right now?”

Twilight stares with her eyes wide open. “Thank you, Cloudchaser. I-I really couldn’t have said it in a better way. Just like she said, Rainbow! This is an opportunity to start over! Think Rainbow, what was the spark? That special thing that made her fall in love with you and only you can give her?”

Twilight’s words pierce right through my brain like a thunderbolt. My pupils widen and a bright light flashes right before my eyes…I’m looking directly at the Sun, so I move my head a little to the left to avoid being blinded by my own stupor.

Light is the whole crux of the plan, though, not just a white light, but several lights of different colors. Those colors…My colors…

Leave the past behind you and focus on the present we have.

That Pinkie and I want to have…

But we really need something from the past. Something that she never forgot and always will be welcome in her heart. The one thing from the past on which she built her feelings for me and I’ll always remember fondly, too. The thing that made me what I am…The thing that made her who she is…

For once in my life I know exactly what to do.

I lift myself from the cloud and I stand there, filled with pride and spurred by my newly-awakened indomitable spirit.

“Twilight…I’m going back to her!”

“Then go, Rainbow! Go and be hap-“ A loud crash is heard from inside the library.“Agh! Seriously? Now of all moments? Let me check…” Before going back in she points a hoof at me.“You! Good Luck!” Then she point at Cloudchaser and Thunderlane. “You two! Wait for me. The session isn’t over yet!”

After she’s run back inside I take off from my cloud with a sharp flap of my wings and before leaving, I give a little kick to the cloud Thunderlane is resting on, pushing it aside and gluing it together to Cloudchaser’s. The inertia makes him tumble and fall on top of her. He blushes and lets out a laugh that is both nervous and relieved. She looks timorous but not bothered much, letting her hoof to caress his chest.

Like I said before, hooves on approach. Always works. They surely think so...

“Just a word of advice: if it’s a filly, ‘Dash’is a good name!” I immediately take my leave and take off at full speed leaving behind the library,the two lovebirds and the village, arriving without paying any care to my surroundings, just like a reflex, on the summit of a hill.

This is it.

My favorite hill from which I can see all of Ponyville up here. It’s a good place to start as any other…

I don’t know if it’s going to have the same value of the first one, now that I’m capable of making them on command, but I hope it’ll be enough for her.

I’m not so deluded to think my plan is going to be flawless, that me and her will sit on this very hill to watch the sunset the very next day as a happy couple. That everything will be okay and we’ll never have any squabble again, but for her it’s worth a try. Maybe this is the only thing I could give her that is worth something and I have no guarantee is going to be enough, but it’s always worth a try if I want at least to show my face to her again.

Start again, said Twilight. This is a new start, all right. The wind starts to blow in my face and the sky is as clear as it could be.

The stage is set and I think only of my love.