Like a Rainbow in the Dark
Authors note:
This short story is what happens when you combine ponies,
this song,
and
this song
after an evening of "philosophical discussion". I shamelessly ripped... erm... I mean I took "artistic liberties" with some of the lyrics and incorporated them into the story.
Alcohol may or may not have been involved, but regardless enjoy it for what it is.
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“Hello darkness, my old friend...” A solemn voice spoke into the endless void before it.
There was no reply, nor was one expected, and even if there had been it would never have been heard. In this place, physicality is transcended into the ethereal realm in a plane that exists between the world we know and what lays beyond. Where the mind clings to those things which are familiar in the face of the unknown and interprets the infinite into a known quantity.
Some may call it a lucid dream, or something akin to limbo. The veil between the conscious and unconscious mind where measurements of space and time hold little value and truth is absolute. Where the value of a soul is measured and judgment is passed, not by that of a benevolent entity, but rather the verdict is decreed at the discretion of the judged. One's true self.
“I've come to talk with you again.” The voice reached out again, echoing in the wells of eternity as the figure to whom the voice belonged plummeted into the great chasm. A prismatic streak against a midnight canvas, like the paint stroke of an artist cascaded down, further descending into the realm of silence. Unaware of the direction traveled, for direction is a concept that holds no meaning in a place which has no use for it, the vessel came to rest beneath the halo of a street lamp.
“We welcome you Rainbow Dash,” the darkness finally spoke, not with words that could be heard but felt and innately known, within the foundations of her mind and the whole of her body. Rainbow flared her wings, her feathers tingled as the metaphysical presence reverberated through her.
“We have been waiting for you. It's been a long time... little rainbow in the dark.”
“Who are you? You're not suppose to be here...” She hesitated before continuing. “Where is she, and what do you mean you've been waiting for me?” Rainbow's hesitant question penetrated the nothingness with more curiosity than concern before the silence spoke again.
“You seek truth, you seek us, knowingly or not.”
“What the hay is that suppose to mean? What truth? Who do you think you are?” she asked crinkling her nose in confusion and withdrawing from the edge of the darkness where tendrils of shadow licked at the faint light.
“Do your demons... do they ever let you go? For we are you, and you are the whole of us. We would not exist if you were not troubled.”
A tingle crept up Dash's spine causing her to shudder as an ominous feeling began to chill her blood. Her mind made a feeble attempt to comprehend the meaning behind the words with no voice before her frustration turned to anger, masking the panic and uncertainty she felt bubbling under the surface.
“Do you practice being this cryptic? Sheesh, If you've got something to say, say it. Just hurry up and tell me why you're here,” she snorted, flaring her nostrils as she squinted, trying to peer into the black curtain searching for something that wasn't there.
“We are the question, only you hold the truth to answer them.”
“This is a complete waste of time,” she muttered under her breath before lashing back out at the silence, “I've about had it with you and you're lame riddles! Now tell me where she is!”
“She is here with us, she has always been here...”
“What? Let me see her!”
“You cannot.”
“You're Lying! What did you do to her?” Dash's tone grew desperate, her chest heaved as she began to hyperventilate. The hollow voice inside her head held no emotion or regard as the acidic silence ate at her mind, driving her into madness.
Her fur pricked up as she felt the magic dancing in the solitary light, blowing through her mane and delicately ruffling her feathers as the void before her began to ripple.
“We have done nothing. We are merely the keepers, for it was you who sent her unto us. It was you who abandoned her and kept her away Rainbow Dash.”
Dash faltered, grasping at the threads of the reality that were unraveling before her. “I would never do that! I... I don't understand...”
The darkness around her began to pulse rhythmically as the ripples grew, shimmering in a sickening oily black from the lonely lamp that hung in the air. Her perception of space shrank as the oily pit converged from all directions, threatening to suffocate her before crashing down and washing her away further into the dark.
There was no resistance from the blue pegasus, her prismatic mane buffeting her cheeks as she drifted listlessly, helpless in the riptide of the midnight waters.
“What has brought you here Rainbow Dash?”
“I... I don't know.”
“It is fruitless to lie to us, or do you not recall that we are cut of the same cloth? We are the manifestation of your failings... an amalgam of your worst fears and doubts.”
“And what do you expect from me? What am I suppose to do?” She asked as she attempted to regain her composure.
“Set us free.”
The current of darkness that carried her finally ebbed coming to a stop, allowing her to stand on her own, once again under the dim glow of a single pale yellow light. A sigh escaped her lips as she sunk to her haunches before answering.
“How?”
“You deceive yourself, forsaking who you truly are and through the guise of feigned confidence you deceive those around you. You foster your fears and doubts, shroud them in darkness rather than confront them. That is what has brought you to us.”
“I didn't come here for you!”
“Yet we are here by your doing. Do you truly believe yourself capable of being loyal to those in need when you are so paralyzed by your own fears and abandon who you are?”
“I would never abandon my friends! I don't want to let them down. It's just... when I think about failing I...” she trailed off as she sunk to the floor in a puddle of misery and self pity.
Confusion gripped Rainbow as she tried to comprehend the emotions flooding her senses. First the heat of anger rushed to her cheeks only to be replaced by fear and worry, wrapping icy talons around her heart and wrenching her stomach in knots. Dizziness swamped the fearless pegasus' head but with it also came a clarity as she realized what the answer she had been looking for was. The silent voice echoed through the faculties of her mind and for the first time it rang with a soothing warmth that cleansed her of her turmoil.
“The truth within you is absolute, yet even now you hesitate.”
“I get it. I'm afraid. I'm afraid of failing...” Rainbow said meekly as she allowed her wings and head to droop. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath before continuing. “I'm scared of letting other ponies down, of giving up or disappointing the ponies that depend on me. I'm scared that I'll never make my hopes and dreams come true.”
Dash began to choke on the lump forming in her throat, her pride trying to prevent her from finishing her confession. Willing herself to continue she lifted her head and with a hard swallow spoke into the silence. “I pretend nothing bothers me but the truth is, my insecurities eat me alive and I try and hide it by trying to act cool. I turn into a jerk trying to prove to myself that I'm not afraid, trying to be what everypony else thinks I should be, and that's not who I really am”
There was no response from the black infinitum. The pregnant silence that screamed in Rainbow's head only grew louder with each second, dissolving her sanity as her anger rose into her throat once more. She defiantly rose to all fours as the silence failed to respond.
“I was afraid alright! I've always been afraid! Is that what you want to hear? I'm still afraid...” Rainbow cried looking up into the abyss before letting her head sink into her chest.
“Ra-Rainbow Dash?” a wavering voice called out to her in a familiar, gentle, and innocent tone. Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open at the realization, transfixed on a little blue filly with a ruffled rainbow mane and glassy rose colored eyes. The young filly's body trembled and her lips quivered as she spoke.
“Please, don't leave me alone again... Please don't leave me with them...”
The younger and still untainted reflection of Rainbow Dash couldn't hold back any longer and the tears streamed from her eyes, staining the fur on her cheeks as she began to sob uncontrollably. Dash could only manage to watch dumbly for a moment as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Regaining her senses, she finally willed herself to move to comfort the filly, embracing her like a mother would a child.
“I'm sorry... I'll never leave you ever again... I'll never leave you a rainbow in the dark.”
Embracing each other not a word was said, not a noise made, nor a noise heard. Wiping the tears from the filly's eyes Rainbow Dash had reached out and touched the sound of silence.
