29

Return

When the war started, Equestria barely had a standing army of a few hundred in the form of the Royal Guard in Canterlot. Within a week, volunteers from all over the country strengthened the army to several thousand. Now, with the war finally over, all except those occupying Griffonstone during reconstruction were allowed to leave on the superclouds. They became a lot more joyous in their westward migrations, turning what had been platforms for war a mere week prior into cheerful ferries. Rainbow was surprised at how little the distance was between Griffonstone and Canterlot truly was without a war in the way.

On the second day's dusk, the ponies' capitol was on the horizon. It had been mostly cleaned up since the attack. Few buildings still bore black scars, and even then, they could just as easily pass as shadows. Celestia's tower still stood, stark white against the mountain and night sky. Others on board were filled with rapture at the renovation, but Rainbow looked earthward and searched for Ponyville. As Thunderhead cleared the Everfree, she finally saw what she had left behind so long ago.

"Oh, no." She sat on the cloud's edge, slowly shaking her head. "They hit here too?"

Soarin' sat down beside her, scanning the ground. After a few moments, he pointed downwards. "Look. Over by the fountain." Practically all of Ponyville had gathered around the fountain in town square, some holding giant banners, others flags.

"Well," Soarin' said quietly, nudging Rainbow with a smile, "don't let me hold you back from a hero's welcome." She looked down and pawed the cloud. His smile faded, and he laid a wing on her back. "You alright?" She said nothing. He looked at Ponyville. "I'm sure your friends are okay."

"I know they're okay," she said quietly.

"Is it the argument?" he asked.

She winced. "No. It's something else." She looked at him, her eyes glistening. "What's gonna happen now with the Wonderbolts?"

He sighed. "Dash, I think—"

"What do we do?" Her voice wavered. "What can we do? It's just us now, Soarin'. I-I mean, we d-don't even know if the cadets are alive. Do we hold tryouts? Should we hold tryouts?" Her eyes started to water. "H-how are we supposed to do this, the t-two of us? What're we gonna do, Soarin'? W-what do we—"

Soarin' kissed her cheek, and she stopped with a small gasp. Blushing, she looked at Soarin', who smiled and laughed nervously. "Sorry, Dash. I wanna talk too."

A tear escaped her eye. "I-I'm sorry. It's just..." She looked down, feeling stupid.

"No, no," he said soothingly, holding her closer. "Don't be sorry." She sniffed and leaned against his side, closing her eyes. Her head against his soft chest, she listened to his steady heart and tried to sync her breathing with his. They sat in silence for a while, and she smiled slightly. She felt warm. She felt safe.

Soarin' finally spoke, his voice sincere. "I know what you mean. I've been wondering about all that too, but…" He sighed. "Let's worry about the Wonderbolts later. Alright? Let's just be done for a little while. You need to rest. We both do. We'll figure it all out later. And when we do, whatever we end up doing with the Wonderbolts, however we end up doing it, we'll be together. Okay?"

Rainbow sniffed and nodded slowly. "Okay." She hugged him tightly. "I love you, Soarin'," she whispered.

He smiled. "I love you too, Dash."

Rainbow flew a ways off, hiding herself from the town's gaze. She watched as other pegasi returned to their families. She could hear cheers and laughter, even from high in the air. Spotting a cloud, she landed, taking in the scene. Everypony was happy. They were home.

Rainbow looked for her friends—a pink blur zipping around everywhere, a purple dot prepping a speech—but she couldn't see them. As she searched, she saw a different side to the gathering. Ponies began leaving, some alone, others in families, heads down, comforting and holding one another. She was taken aback, an empty feeling in her stomach. They didn't know what happened to their loved ones? She glanced around again for her friends. Why weren't they here? Where were they?

Immediately, Rainbow thought of the castle. She got her bearings and began to fly over to Twilight's. After going around some low hanging clouds, she saw it too had been bombarded; although, the gigantic hole in the side of the castle looked odd to her. It wasn't clean enough. Half of it looked like it had regrown somehow, jagged purple and magenta spikes growing into the center. She looked up and saw the entirety of the top gone. She spied the gigantic spire laying flat on the ground next to a deep hole in the ground. She flew down towards the doors, but found they were locked. Remembering the hole in the wall, she flew back up and inside, feeling a bit stupid.

Through the hole, she descended into the library, or what was left of it. Papers and books were strewn all over the floor. Many of the shelves looked as though they had shattered as well, but Rainbow couldn't see any shards on the floor. A pile of books laid next to the doors leading to the rest of the castle. "Poor Twilight," Rainbow said to herself. "Probably went insane." She walked to the doors, careful not to disturb the contents on the floor.

She was met with complete darkness in the hallway. "Twilight? Spike? Starlight?" Each time she called, only a small echo replied. Leaving the door open to let some light shine through, she started flying slowly down the hallway. She checked a dozen empty rooms and flew down a flight of stairs, all the while calling her friends' names. She searched the entirety of the next floor, finding nothing. She found more stairs and moved to the next floor down, and again couldn't find anypony. A bit frustrated, she finally decided to fly all the way to the bottom, skipping a couple of floors. Seeing the giant crystal doors to the Map room again for the first time in so long, she ran excitedly to them and practically kicked them open.

An empty table welcomed her. She groaned. "Where the hell are they? Did they skip town or something?" Not knowing what else to do, she frowned and walked over to the circular table, the doors slowly closing behind her. The tiny representation of Equestria was still there, but something felt off. Looking closer, she saw most of the cities had changed in some way to reflect their real-life counterparts.

Parts of Canterlot were still blackened. Half of Ponyville looked like broken matchsticks. Most of Manehattan, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia were flattened into bits of glass. Griffonstone had changed too, its gigantic tree bearing the scars of the last weeks of the war. Towns in the south of Equestria had grown considerably. Appleloosa and Dodge Junction were hardly recognizable now, with new homes expanding outwards, and other small towns had popped up near them and over towards the west. Looking at the cities in the western coast of Equestria, she noticed they were unchanged, almost as if they never were involved in a war. She looked to the Frozen North, and, her heart dropping, the Crystal Empire was truly gone.

Rainbow glanced at her chair on the other side of the table and walked to it. A layer of dust greeted her. She wiped it clean with her wing, making a thin grey cloud in the air. She sat and stared at the map again. Where were the others? Why weren't they there to greet everypony? Did they just forget? She couldn't believe they would forget something as big as a homecoming. But if they didn't forget, why didn't they show up? Were they busy? Asleep? Could they just be away? She scoffed in spite of herself. All of them at the same time? But what else could it be? More and more questions nagged at her for a few minutes as she idly sat and waited. None of it made sense to her.

She looked up at the corner of the room and saw the fateful window was still open. A pang of guilt shot through her. "What am I even doing here?" she muttered. She wiped a stray tear and shakily stood to leave. She no sooner touched the door when she saw dim lights glow on the wall. She looked back at the table and saw all of the others' cutie marks appear, one by one, around Twilight's castle. With a yelp of excitement, she half flew, half ran back to the table. She waited for her mark to appear too, but it was absent.

"Well," Rainbow said to herself, "I guess they will be here. Hopefully." She looked at the castle on the map again and mulled over again how she had last seen them. She had yelled at Twilight, and pretty much all of them. She had left, not with a goodbye, but with 'finally.' She glanced back at the window. They might not have forgiven her. Maybe that's why they didn't show up. They probably didn't want anything to do with her. She rested her head on the table. She didn't blame them if that was the case. Maybe they were actually glad she left and hoped she had—

She shook her head. No. No, they would never wish she had died. Not in a million years. Right? She rested her head in her hooves, muttering to herself.

Muffled sounds hit Rainbow's ears. She looked up at the doors. "That was fast," she said quietly to herself. "Where the hell were they?" She quietly flew over and pressed an ear against the door. Her heart leapt in her chest as she heard hoofsteps. They came closer and closer, finally stopping just short of the door when someone else yelled.

"Twilight, hold on!" It was Rarity. Rainbow heard her run towards the door and stop.

"You were called too?" Twilight asked.

"Mhmm."

"I wonder if anypony else was," Twilight said. There was a pause for a moment, and she sighed. "Do you think this is... weird, that we're being called again?"

"I get what your saying," said Rarity. "The last time anyone was called was... you know. This all feels a bit off now." There was silence for a moment. Then, Rarity said, "I wish Rainbow were here."

"I still feel terrible about it all," Twilight said. "What kind of friend was I? I told her to leave. I told her to go die."

"Oh, don't curse yourself over it, dear," said Rarity. "We all sort of let her run away. Or, at least, we didn't do much to stop her."

"But none of you yelled at her. I wish I could take it all back, tell her I'm sorry."

"Twilight, it's in the past. Rainbow probably forgot about it all once she won a few battles, and, wherever she is now, I don't think she cares."

"Yeah," Twilight said bitterly, "well, I just hope she took some of those bastards down with her."

"Twilight!" Rarity said, aghast.

"What, Rarity?!" Twilight snapped back. "They killed her!"

"Not that. I couldn't care less about those savages. I know what you mean, but I'm shocked you wanted her to kill."

Twilight growled and stamped her hoof on the floor. "Damn it, I didn't mean it like that, Rarity." She huffed. "I just don't want her to have died in vain, like she didn't help. Celestia knows she wanted to more than anypony."

"We won the war," Rarity said quietly. "That's not in vain."

"I hope she knows that," Twilight mused. "I'm still pissed at what they pulled back there, going around with those dog tags and saying that Rainbow's isn't there along with the others." Her voice broke somewhat as it raised. "We just wanted her dog tags! Just her tags! That's it! Was that too much to ask? We just wanted something to remember her by! It's bad enough already that we couldn't..." She tapered off and sniffed. "… couldn't give her a proper burial." After a small moment, Twilight started to cry. Rarity offered words of comfort, but the two still remained outside the doors, leaving Rainbow to her thoughts.

She sat on her haunches, completely nonplussed. They thought she was dead? She thought about the implications her supposed death had. If they thought she died, they wouldn't have been there to greet her. They also said they missed her. She suddenly felt happy, the happiest she'd felt in weeks. They cared, they cared! She wasn't hated or neglected or forgotten. A warm feeling spread from her heart. She stifled laughter she couldn't help. They cared! They were still her friends! On the verge of tears, she was about to burst into the hallway but stopped herself inches from the door.

They wouldn't recognize her. Her mane and coat were still dyed black and grey, as was her cutie mark. She sat back down, somewhat defeated. How could she convince them she was really her? They might think she's a changeling, or somepony who broke in, or somepony with a twisted sense of humor. She guessed she could just answer questions about her own life or theirs prove herself. Maybe she could just preform a sonic rainboom. Yeah, that sounded good. She got up and began to fly outside the one window when she had another thought. It was going on one in the morning. She'd wake up everypony from here to Canterlot with a rainboom. Getting frustrated now, she landed and began to pace the room.

She didn't know exactly what she was trying to avoid, anyway. They were going to question her and freak out regardless. So, why not just knock on the door and see what happened? She was almost afraid to. She knew they weren't angry with her, but she didn't know how exactly they'd react either. Well, she thought, there was no use sitting and thinking about it. She crept over to the doors, took a deep breath, and nudged them open.

Rarity and Twilight turned to look at her, startled that the doors suddenly opened. Twilight was shakily getting up, now wearing a worried look on her face. Their cutie marks were glowing. Rainbow was only halfway out of the room when she realized she didn't think this through enough. Twilight took a few steps toward her, staring into Rainbow's eyes.

"Now who are you?" Rarity said. "Why were you in there?"

Twilight's eyes widened, her pupils shrinking. She took a half step backwards. She continued to stare at Rainbow, taking short breaths, looking all over her, at her eyes, her face, her mane. Rarity looked from Twilight to Rainbow, both worried and confused as to what was going on. Rainbow folded back her ears and awkwardly started to walk backwards back into the room.

"Rainbow?" Twilight finally said, whispering quietly so Rarity didn't hear. Rainbow stopped, and Twilight took another step forward. "Is... is that you?" Rainbow stood still for a moment, then simply nodded. Twilight's knees shook. "Y-you're alive?" Rainbow smiled and took a step forward. Twilight's eyes teared up again, and she ran and hugged Rainbow. "I'm so sorry Rainbow!" she gasped. "Luna said you were alive, but... Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry—"

"You're sorry?" Rainbow chuckled in spite of herself. "I'm the one who—"

"Excuse me!" Rarity yelled. "What—"

"Rarity," Twilight said, turning around. "It's Rainbow!"

"That's not Rainbow!" Rarity yelled. "That mare's grey!"

"No, Rarity! It really is Rainbow!"

Rarity took a step away from Twilight. "N-now what are you playing at?" She teared up and shook her head. "Rainbow's dead, and t-that mare, that ghastly mare, looks nothing like her." She pointed at Rainbow with a quivering hoof. "And you! What the hell do you think you're doing here?!"

"Rarity," Rainbow said, louder this time. Rarity retracted her hoof and stood still, her eyes now wide like Twilight's were. Rainbow smiled weakly. "It's me."

"But..." Twilight looked at Rainbow, her voice quieter. "How?"

Rainbow gasped softly. She felt a familiar something on her flank now. Glancing behind her, she saw her cutie mark shining through the ashen dye. She walked over to the lit patch of the hallway, revealing her glowing cutie mark, and the two gasped. Nopony spoke for a while, the two staring at Rainbow in wonder. Rainbow awkwardly walked back into the room, and the two silently followed.

Rarity caught up and looked over Rainbow. "Now why in Equestria did you dye your mane and coat? We hardly recognized you!"

Rainbow slowed a bit, the memory prominently making itself known in her mind. "Well..." The others looked at her curiously, and she stumbled in her thoughts. "It was, uh..." She looked down. "It was something me and Soarin' did... after the ambush." The other two quieted and slowed. "It was our way to kind of... grieve a-and… honor them, I guess. I dunno." Her heart hurt. She didn't want to talk much more about it, so she started to quiet her voice. "We replaced our armor too, retired the blue and gold, got grey and black..." She started mumbling, not looking at either of them.

Twilight shuffled awkwardly. "I didn't know that it... Rainbow, you didn't have to share that. I didn't know it had to do with..." She sighed.

"I think what Twilight's trying to say is," Rarity offered, "we didn't mean to put you in that sort of position, darling. We don't want you to feel pressured to tell us anything. Also," she grinned sheepishly, "terribly sorry for calling you ghastly."

Rainbow looked up and gave another weak smile. "You're fine. Anyway, how did you two recognize me? I thought I'd have to answer a bunch of questions about myself or something."

"Well," Twilight said, "it was your eyes. And your voice. For me, at least." Rarity nodded. Twilight looked at Rainbow's face closer. "You might be grey, but your eyes—" She flinched. "Oh my gosh, Rainbow! What happened?"

"Huh? What about—oh." She closed her eyes and put a hoof up to her face, feeling the ridges. "It was just a... uh..." The two looked as though they had asked another soft subject, and Rainbow sighed. "Later."

Twilight peered at the Map. "Oh. It's all of us again." She looked at Rainbow. "I guess because of you."

Rarity huffed softly. "Well, we're going to be here until tomorrow."

"Why's that?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh," Rarity said. "Well, the others are out of town. Applejack and Applebloom went to Appleloosa to be with their family after Ponyville was bombarded."

Rainbow titled her head. "But what about Granny Smith and Big Mac? Did they... in the bombardment?" Rarity nodded solemnly, and Rainbow sighed. "Damn. Poor Applejack."

"As for Fluttershy," Twilight picked up, "she said that she was going to go to Cloudsdale to meet her folks so they could welcome her brother home."

Another terrible memory surfaced in Rainbow's mind. "Zephyr?" The two picked up on Rainbow's tone, and they looked at her with worry. Rainbow's ears fell. "Zephyr's dead."

Rarity put a hoof over her mouth and gasped softly. "That's horrible."

"Twilight," Rainbow said, "why didn't anypony know anything about this sort of stuff? I saw families at the fountain walking home, grieving. That's not right."

Twilight sighed. "I never knew anything about that. Hell, I doubt Luna did. All she had were numbers to work with. No one wrote down individual names—the Wonderbolts were the exception. I guess sending individual condolences just wasn't a priority of the air force."

"Where's Pinkie, then?" Rainbow asked wearily.

Twilight looked down, her eyes closed. Rarity cleared her throat. "We haven't heard from her in months. When you and the other Wonderbolts were reported dead, she..." Rarity glanced at Twilight. "She just... left."

"She blames me for your death," Twilight said, her head still down. "Me. Alone. She said if I had only kept you here, you wouldn't have died." Twilight took a shaky breath. "She ran off after saying that—I don't know where she went. But, what she said, it... it stuck with me. At that moment, I stopped blaming you and blamed myself. I thought your death was on my hooves, like I wasn't a good enough friend to you. I regretted every day what I said to you when you left." She looked up at Rainbow, her eyes watering. "I'm so sorry. Sorry for not being patient with you, and not being a good friend, a-and—"

"Twilight," Rainbow said, "enough. I don't blame you one bit. You were doing what you though was right, and so was I. But, if anything, I should be the one apologizing. I called you all cowards for listening to the Map—"

"And rightfully so!" Twilight interjected. Rainbow was taken aback, and Twilight quieted herself and explained. "By the time the Map allowed us to leave, there was nothing to be done; we could only deal with the aftermath. We were just fine staying here, but you were the only one brave enough to stand up to us and go to Canterlot. And, from what Luna told me, you were the one who found her, saved her. That's something we couldn't do sitting here with the Map. Without you, we would be down to just one princess."

Twilight smiled through silent tears and hugged Rainbow. "I'm just so glad you're okay," she said. Rarity joined the hug, also tearing up. Rainbow smiled, her heart rising from its sunken depths.