Dust & Rainbows

~One Year Ago~

Sunlight streams into my eyes, and I clench them shut hard as pain lances into my brain.

“Ow, wha-!”

I lick my lips, my tongue feels thick and cottony, and my head is pounding with a drumbeat tattoo that slowly fades into a background thrum of dull fog.

Everything smells… familiar.

I rub at my eyes with the heels of my palms, trying to dig the pain out, and slowly I feel the weird sensitivity start to fade. Just as I start to breathe normally again, a quiet cursing beside me tells me I’m not alone.

“Dusty?” I force one eye open and see Lightning Dust mirroring what I’d just done, rubbing at her eyes and swearing.

“Yeah, I’m here, what…” she blinks furiously for a few seconds, the squints and looks around. “Where-?”

“Welcome back, ladies.”

That voice.

My breath catches in my chest like I’d just swallowed a fish hook, and slowly I raise my head to look forward, straining to see past the dazzling sunlight.

Wheels… and a chair… and…

“Sunset?”

Shit.

She looks different. Taller maybe? A little older? The hunched posture is gone from her shoulders that she’d had for so long after she’d lost her ability to walk in the accident, and now she looks…

“Don’t try to do too much yet,” she has that cocky smirk on that she’s always worn so well, one that a small part of me was afraid I’d destroyed. “You technically haven’t used your eyes in about a year.”

Her words take a moment to settle in my gut.

A year?

“A year?!”

Lightning says what I’m thinking, and I can see her turquoise complexion pale as she stares at the wheelchair-bound redhead in disbelief.

“One year, two weeks, and four days,” Sunset says solemnly. “Not a bad recovery time to be honest, all things considered.”

The memories came back in a rush.

Zee.

Twilight… no, Midnight Sparkle.

The battle in front of the school, and then everything going black as Midnight crushed our wills beneath her own, and then the strangest feeling of displacement. I remembered the fight, though, and all the people I hurt, all the damage I inflicted on the city with my reckless speed, and I remember…

“You did this! You made me do this! Why couldn’t you just back down?! WHY?!”

I… I remember…

“You’ve gone too far, Twilight!”

“Rainbow, Lightning, breathe!” Sunset’s voice was a distant thing, so far away I can barely hear it. All I can hear is her voice in my ears… in my head!

“DO IT!”

“Oh fuck,” I grip my head as my whole world tilts and spins.

I had tried to kill Sunset Shimmer.

I remember Zee pulling me into the sky as Lightning Dust blinded the new Elements of Harmony with an army of clones. I remember Zee throwing me into the air and then angling myself down, wrapping myself in my accelerating magic, and then…

…and then hammering through their defense to give Midnight her first shot…

…and Zee her final one.

I crumple onto the warm concrete and spill my guts, literally, vomiting out what little is in my stomach and dry-heaving the rest of the way through the spasms. Lightning is there a second later, heaving and coughing around a mouthful of bile and mucus.

“Well that coulda gone better.”

The voice came from behind me, as a hand gripped my collar and hoisted me back up to sitting.

“Not surprising, though,” Sunset’s voice replies softly. “Rainbow? I’m gonna need you and Lightning to take a few deep breaths, savvy? Just breathe and try not to think too hard for a bit, you’re readjusting to being awake and it’s gonna be rough.”

“W-What…” I start to speak, then spit as I taste the remains in my mouth, then wipe my lips with my sleeve and try again. “What happened? The Battle… Storm… Twilight and Zee?”

I force myself to look up at the girl who, once, had been my friend. The girl who I had betrayed, and then sided against with a gang lord, and then, if my memories were to be believed, tried to kill.

Sunset did look a little older, but she did say that a full year and change had passed. Seconds later she was joined by another figure stepping into my vision, this one even more familiar.

“Gil…”

Tall, broad, hawk-nosed, and fierce. Gilda Grimfeather was, if anything, even more imposing now than she had been back at the battle. Her frame was fuller and stronger, her face had lost some of the lean and narrow angles and settled into a more mature beauty.

And, as always, that short, snow-white hair of hers hung loose and ragged over predator eyes of gold and flint.

“Welcome back, dumbass,” Gilda’s voice was sharp, but not exactly unkind, just… cold. She looks me up and down before turning back to Sunset. “Hey, Sunshine, I thought you said them goin’ over there was gonna fix’em?”

“I said it would fix the mental scarring from the slave-spell,” Sunset’s replies uneasily. “This… well, I’m pretty sure that was just a good old fashioned panic attack.”

Panic?

I’ve never had panic attacks in my life.

“Huh, yeah, guess that tracks,” Gilda sighs and turns back to me, shaking her head. “I wanna say I feel sorry for ya, Dashie, but…”

“I know,” I say, my voice hoarse and raw. “I wouldn’t feel sorry for me either.”

“She was being controlled, Gil,” Sunset cut in, but Gilda just shook her head.

“Not the whole time she wasn’t,” Gilda shot back without turning away from me. “Ain’t that right, Rainbutt? You coulda backed out before you got too deep, savvy? But you didn’t! Shit, you finally go ride-or-die and the hill you planted your fuckin’ flag on was that one?!”

I lower my head. I can’t argue, I can’t say a damn thing because Gilda is right. I knew it was going pear-shaped, I’d seen it happening, slowly but surely. I’d known Storm King was bad news from the moment I met him but I’d chosen to ignore my gut instincts and just…

“Gilda, c’mon,” Sunset says softly. “You’re being too harsh… they just got back.”

Gilda curses quietly under her breath and turns her back on me, stalking away clenching and unclenching her hands. Her attempts at keeping calm last all of about five seconds before-

“What the fuck, Sunflower!?” Gilda turns on her heel and jabs a finger in mine and Lightning’s direction. “They tried t’kill you! Not me, not the rest of us… YOU!”

“GILDA!” Sunset’s raised voice cuts sharply through her girlfriend’s tirade, shocking Gilda silent as Sunset turned on her chair’s axis to meet that golden gaze evenly. “Take five and cool off.”

I can hear the clockwork clicking of Gilda’s false arm, the sound of her limb tensing and flexing beneath plates of magical metal. Even Storm King hadn’t been able to figure how they had replaced her arm so quickly, or even what it was made of, but I knew enough to wager it had come from the other side of the portal.

“I’ll be fine, Gil,” Sunset’s voice was soft again as she rolled forward, reached out, and took Gilda’s hand. Her real one. “I love you, Gilda Grimfeather, but let me handle this, okay?”

Another soft curse issues from Gilda, but she nods, then takes a knee in front of Sunset. For a moment I have this crazy image of a knight kneeling in front of a princess, and I realise it’s because of the look in Gilda’s eyes.

Absolute devotion.

Total loyalty.

And pure love.

Gilda takes Sunset’s hand and pulls it in so she can press her lips to amber knuckles, then nods, puts her forehead against Sunset’s hand, then gets up and stalks away.

“Kinda makes sense how we lost now,” Lightning finally speaks up, and I look over at her in surprise, and she grimaces. “Sorry, didn’t mean for that to sound like… I mean, I’m glad we lost, like, that’s obviously a positive, but I get it now.”

“How do you mean?” Sunset looks curious as she turns on her axis again to look at us again. “The Elements?”

“Nah,” Lightning shakes her head, then looks thoughtful for a moment before amending, “okay, yeah, but like… more than that, I get why the Elements worked, because that shit you got with Gilda?” She nods towards the retreating figure of Sunset’s girlfriend. “That’s some real goddamn magic, right there.”

“The magic of friendship’s a helluva thing,” Sunset says wryly, and Lightning lets out a wan little chuckle before frowning and sitting back against the stone steps we’ve been squatting on.

I frown, then turn my head and look back behind us for the first time.

Sure enough, the statue of the Wondercolt is towering above us in all its rearing glory. The pedestal is polished, and everything is exactly the way I remember it from, apparently, a year ago.

Except for…

“What the hell happened to the school?”

It’s bigger than I remember. A lot bigger.

All the damage that had been done to it during the battle in front of it was repaired, all the broken windows and the shattered masonry were replaced. There were whole extra wings built alongside it now, and the walls had supporting pillars, balconies, and open bay windows to let in the streaming sunlight.

The place looked more like a temple than a school.

“You missed a lot, Dash,” Sunset says, gesturing around us. “A year’s worth, because of what happened.”

I hang my head, guilt welling up inside my gut as I grimace.

“And it wasn’t just you,” Sunset continues, “you dragged-”

“Woah, hold up!” Lightning gets shakily to her feet and moves between Sunset and I, fixing the former with an angry glare. “Look, we fucked up, I own that, alright? But don’t talk about me like I didn’t make the same fuckin’ mistake, okay? Dash didn’t ‘drag’ me anywhere! I made that decision myself, got it Wheels?”

Sunset and I both sit back in surprise at Lightning’s sudden outburst, and I’m about to say something when she wobbles dangerously on her feet.

In an instant I’m at her side, my arm around her waist as I pull her arm over my shoulders and prop her up long enough to pull her back to the steps of the pedestal and lower her down to sit next to me. The whole time, Sunset just watches us, her cyan eyes sharp and critical as Lightning’s head lolls weakly against my shoulder, and her hand slips into mine.

“Not your fault, Rainbabe,” Lightning mutters dazedly. “I ain’t some fucking damsel dragged along in your wake, alright? I chased you into hell on my own two feet.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Sunset says quietly.

“You shouldn’t’ve had t’chase me there, Dusty,” I say, my throat tight with shame and anger. “It was still my fault.”

“I don’t care,” Lightning replies in a low, even tone as she raises her head to look me in the eyes. “I’ve been in love with you for four fucking years, Rainbow Dash… so where you go? I go.”

Sunset sighs and leans back in her chair, eyeing the both of us critically.

“Ride or die, huh?” Sunset says, then sighs again. “Whatever, anyway I’m here because Twilight, Princess Twilight that is, alerted me that your treatment was finished…” she looked at me first, “your dad knows your coming home, he’s been worried,” then she turns to Lightning, “same with your grandmother, and don’t worry, me and the girls have been looking after her.”

I see weight fall from Lightning’s shoulders at Sunset’s words.

“Thanks…” Lightning wipes at her eyes, and her palms come away damp. “I was really worried I’d… fuck, thanks Sunset.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Now what?” I ask, looking around. “Can’t exactly pick up where I left off, right?”

“Yes and no,” Sunset replies, then gestures behind her. “You’re not just looking at Canterlot High… you’re looking at something brand new.”

I stand, shaky and weak, and Lightning stands with me.

“On the surface, it’s still the high school,” Sunset explains. “But beneath that, it’s become something else… Bastion Academy is what we call it, the first Arcane Academy in the world.”

“Hot damn,” Lightning stares at the school with new eyes.

“So when you said ‘yes and no’,” I began carefully, “you were saying…”

“Yeah, you probably still have your magic,” Sunset sounds less than thrilled at the prospect and I don’t blame her. “You should spend some time here… maybe learn a few things.”

“Doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Lightning says, looking back at me with a careful smile. “Whadya think, Rainbabe?”

“I… I dunno,” I admit slowly, then turn back to Sunset with a frown. “Would you trust me with magic training?”

“No,” Sunset says flatly, and Lightning and I both wince. “But that’s personal… objectively, I’m pretty sure you’ve learned your lesson, but personally?” Sunset sighs again and leans back in her chair. “Shit, personally I don’t know if I’ll ever trust you again, Rainbow Dash.”

The wind goes out of me at her words, but I don’t try to refute them.

“You made a lot of bad calls,” Sunset says in a tight voice, “you dragged a lot of good people into danger, almost got Score killed… all because of your reckless pride.”

“If it’s so bad why are you even bothering giving her a chance?!” Lightning snaps. “Why even try?!”

“Because I told you,” Sunset snarls the words out, “it’s personal, it’s not logical, and it’s not fair!” Then she deflated a little. “And because she hasn’t done anything I’m not guilty of too.”

Silence fills the sunny afternoon as I stare at Sunset in surprise, and whatever it was that Lightning had intended to say was apparently stalling out on her tongue.

“I’ve had a year to get some perspective, okay?” Sunset says as she fiddles with the divided-sun emblem at her throat. “I think the reason I was so harsh with you back then was because I could see you making every single mistake I’d made.”

“Pretty sure I did worse, actually,” I admit.

“Pretty sure you did too,” Sunset agrees. “Because unlike me, you took other people down with you,” I nod, and Lightning takes my hand and squeezes. “I don’t trust you, Dash, because I don’t want you to hurt the people I love… again.”

“Fair enough,” I say softly.

“But you have a place at Bastion if you want it,” Sunset replies, “and you do still have friends.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“Speaking of which…” Sunset trails off as she pulls out her phone and glances down at it, then grimaces and shakes her head. “I’m taking off, she and I still don’t have much nice to say to one another.”

“She?” I ask, standing back up as Sunset pulled on her gloves and took a grip on her wheels. “Sunset what’re you talking about?”

“You’ll see,” Sunset says, then starts to turn away.

Before she leaves, she looks over her shoulder and meets my eyes. In them, I can see sorrow, regret, guilt… all things that are probably neatly mirrored in mine. Once upon a time, we’d been friends, and in a short span of time I’d managed to destroy all of that progress.

“Welcome home, Rainbow Dash,” Sunset says quietly before turning away and setting off after Gilda.

“You okay, Dash?” Lightning is at my side, her hand finding mine again, and I turn to pull her close and bury my face against her shoulder.

She holds me, rubbing my back and I hug her tight and shudder, waves of emotion rolling over me.

We’re still standing there when the sound of a loud, old motor pulls up at the drop-off roundabout of the school. A door, heavy and creaky with age, opens, then slams shut, and a familiarly accented voice cuts through the air.

“Aye up, Dash, Dust.”

The voice is harsh, cocksure, and thickly Braytish.

I jerk back from Lightning and step back from her, and she does the same, both of us looking up at the same time towards the street where a welcome sight is moving towards us.

Grizelda Grimfeather smiles at us, her expression pulled to the side by the burn scars covering the left half of her body and turning the grin into something like a sneer. Her right hand grips the handle of an ornate cane that she’s leaning heavily on, but her other arm is wide open.

“C’mon then, mates,” Zee crows, “giz uz a hug!”

I laugh, I can’t help it. I run to her and wrap her in my arms, and Lightning is there a moment later, and we engulf Zee in a tight hug. Zee shifts her weight, leaning against us as she wraps her arms around the both us and hugs us back just as hard.

“Mates,” Zee’s voice is choked with happy tears, “S’damn good t’see ye again, luvs… damn good.”

All three of us laugh and cry at the same time, leaning against one another. I think a big part of me was afraid that I had lost Zee and Twilight too, that they had gone somewhere I couldn’t chase them down.

“Y’look good, Zee,” I croak, and Zee just laughs raspily.

“Tha’s a bloody lie, innit?” She pulls back with a dry smile. “BUt you? Aye, both’a ye are lookin’ damn good, mates.”

“Definitely felt better though,” Lightning adds as she steps back, and Zee goes back to leaning on her cane. “What happened to you?”

“Rough landin’,” Zee’s smile gets even more arid. “Them bastard gauntlets tore m’body apart, aye? But I ain’t dead yet, luvs, not for a good long while.”

As she says it though, I watch a small trickle of blood leak from the corner of her mouth, and suddenly Zee was overcome with a fit of coughing and hacking. Tiny splatters of crimson dust the concrete beneath her, but before I react, another figure moves between us.

One in a long robe tied tight around a thin frame with a veil of pale grey draped over her face. Her hands go around Zee, one at her back, and another at her chest over her heart.

“Hey what’re you-?” I start, but she ignores me, and words spill from her lips.

The words aren’t any language I know, but as she speaks a faint light surrounds her hands that’s almost the same color as her veil.

Pale grey.

And Zee’s coughing fit subsides. Slowly but surely, she begins to relax as the robed figure takes out a cloth, licks it, and begins cleaning away the rust-red stains around her mouth and on her hand.

“Soz, mates,” Zee rasps, “ain’t as hale as I used t’be.”

“Shit,” Lightning swore softly, “what the hell was that?”

The robed figure turns to us then, and pulls the hood down, and shoulder-length locks of mulberry spill out around her still-veiled face. I finally recognise her, despite not being able to fully see her features.

“Sunny Flare,” I mutter, “that’s you, isn’t it?”

“It is,” her voice is a lot more subdued than I remember. She always sounded a lot more unhinged, back then… back when she was always dogging after Twilight. “Welcome back, Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, you’ve missed a lot this last year.”

“She’s right, mates,” Zee says solemnly, then nods back to her E-type, its engine still rumbling contentedly by the roundabout. “Get in… we’ll fill ye in on the way.”

“The way where?” I ask as we start towards the car.

“To Twilight,” Sunny says softly.