This is a one-shot I wrote about इंद्रधनुष Dash, which was inspired द्वारा a scene from the third Chronicles of Narnia film.
Hope आप like it! :) I'm pretty proud of this.
Every time she saw Rarity, the white unicorn’s sapphire eyes would sparkle like the diamonds she often wore around her neck. Her beautiful outfits and her voice and her glorious hairstyle would wow anypony around.
इंद्रधनुष Dash would hardly take any notice. There was और to life than being glamorous, she always thought. But on this day, Rarity received so much attention. This kind of attention was special; it was nothing like इंद्रधनुष had ever seen before, even when she had performed her many acts of heroism and acrobatics. The handsome colts would not steer away from Rarity… and Rarity looked happy.
For the first time in a long while, the इंद्रधनुष maned Pegasus felt flickers of sadness tinge her stomach as she stood there watching Rarity being admired द्वारा all the ponies around her. Could I ever get attention like that? She thought to herself, would they ever notice ME in that way?…not just for my flying…but for my looks…
She tilted her head to stare at herself. She could not see anything glamorous at all. No gleaming coat, no curly hair, no attention. इंद्रधनुष heaved a lonesome sigh. Maybe it was all hopeless. She would never be like Rarity…not ever.
While the white unicorn was दिखा रहा है off her amazing outfits, इंद्रधनुष Dash flew quietly in between the clouds. Something was wrong. She didn’t have the spark of energy that she usually had whilst flying. Her wings felt lazy…and useless.
She lowered herself onto the ground, feeling it was the only place she could relax. Twilight Sparkle noticed the Pegasus trot past her house. The studious unicorn saw the look in Rainbow’s eyes. It wasn’t like her…not one bit.
“Hi there, Rainbow!” she called to her in a cheerful tone.
इंद्रधनुष Dash gave her a weak smile. “Oh…hey, Twilight.”
“Are आप all right, Rainbow? Is something bothering you?”
इंद्रधनुष saw the concerned look on Twilight’s face. She wanted to tell her friend so badly about what she was feeling, but she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.
“Uhh, me? Of course not! I’m fine. Don’t worry about me!”
She smiled, but her eyes still looked sad. Twilight stared after इंद्रधनुष as she trotted off. She knew something was wrong…
इंद्रधनुष Dash went to an unlikely place of comfort: the Everfree Forest. She just wanted to be alone. She knew that was how she would always be…nopony would look at her in the same way as they looked at Rarity.
Even in the light of day, the Everfree Forest was a dark place. It made इंद्रधनुष feel small and weak, worsening her feelings.
She strode past a pond, a single वृत्त of blue standing out in the grass. It seemed to tempt her.
As she stepped nervously to the edge of the water, she caught sight of her own fuchsia eyes looking back at her. She stared at her reflection in the pond. What was so special? She looked boring and had nothing that would stun other ponies. She grimaced at her tatty mane and tail. Her hair wasn’t pretty and pristine like Rarity’s.
Rarity’s beautiful, इंद्रधनुष thought, I’m not beautiful. I’m just…PLAIN. I wish I was prettier…
इंद्रधनुष lifted up a hoof to stroke her forelock. What had happened to her confidence? It had just been swept away…
Suddenly, she jumped. She could hear the creaking sound of a door. A door? There were no doors in the forest!
As she whipped around, she saw a door opening. There was no house around the door. It was just an opening in the air. Behind the door was a faint glow and a corridor was running ahead. It reeled the curious Pegasus inside, who didn’t know what she was doing. She hardly noticed the door creak shut behind her.
Her little hooves made echoing noises through the corridor. इंद्रधनुष wasn’t afraid, just mesmerized. How could all this be here? Out of nowhere?
At the end of the corridor stood an archway opening into a small room. When इंद्रधनुष reached the room, she noticed a hardback book lying at her feet. It read ‘The Book of Incantations’ on the front cover.
“Now that sounds interesting.” इंद्रधनुष murmured to herself, as she carefully unlatched the book with her mouth and flicked through the pages with her muzzle.
She smiled at some of the things she saw on the pages: a spell for curing hiccups, a spell for music, a spell for invisibility.
“Twilight would प्यार this.” इंद्रधनुष said, “All this magic can be done…just with words?”
Her gaze was set on one page… a spell about the weather. She कहा the words out loud.
“With these words,
Your tongue must sew
For all around there
To be snow…”
She gasped as she felt something small and cold tap the चोटी, शीर्ष of her head. She used her hoof to brush it off, and saw that it was a snowflake. A grin slowly appeared on her face when hundreds of other snowflakes surrounded her.
“Now that IS awesome!”
She caught several snowflakes on her tongue. They were definitely real. This was amazing…
The ‘weather’ soon subsided, and इंद्रधनुष Dash found herself drawn to the page she was now on.
“An infallible spell
To make आप she
The beauty you’ve
Always wanted to be.”
इंद्रधनुष heaved gasps of excitement. Would that make her…?
She glanced into a small sized mirror on the right hand page. She stretched her head आगे to look at her reflection और closely. She didn’t know what to think of her face anymore…until something odd happened. Her fuchsia eyes gradually melted into a dark blue colour, and her ruffled forelock stretched into a magnificent swirl of hair. The टट्टू now staring back at her was not इंद्रधनुष Dash. It was a stunning white unicorn with purple curly hair. इंद्रधनुष knew that face all too well.
“Rarity!” she chuckled, “What’s going…”
She paused. The reflection of Rarity was mouthing her words exactly.
“…on?…” she finished her sentence in shock.
She sucked in a huge breath and stepped back from the mirror. “That can’t be…that’s…not me…”
When she finally got over her surprise, she propped the book against a दीवार so she could look at her whole body. The glorious figure of Rarity mirrored her every move. इंद्रधनुष couldn’t understand it…and yet she felt regrettably happy inside.
“I’m…I’m beautiful…” she gasped.
The white unicorn still mimicked इंद्रधनुष Dash’s words, and the movement of Rarity’s legs matched the Pegasus’ moves completely.
इंद्रधनुष now felt panicky. Was she now a completely different pony? She frantically scanned the room and spotted another mirror in the far corner, much larger than the one in the book.
Once she ran to it, her excitement faded from her lungs. She was still the same old Dash in a normal mirror.
And when she returned to the book, the eyes of Rarity stared back at her for a mere सेकंड before the reflection began to dissolve away.
“No!”
इंद्रधनुष demanded, slamming her hoof onto the page. There was an eerie look of angry desperation in her eyes.
She scanned the words etched around the hem of the old page. She spared no time to think about it and spoke the words out loud.
“Make me she who I’d agree
Holds और beauty over me…”
She glanced at herself, puzzled. Nothing seemed different. But this had to work! Cautiously this time, she walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room. At first, her face was sad from the sight of her normal self…but then it happened…
The इंद्रधनुष Pegasus form gradually changed to the beautiful image of Rarity, just as इंद्रधनुष Dash had wanted. She spent a few सेकंड्स gazing at her new reflection, not knowing what to think…she smiled…and she frowned.
Her mind was suddenly drawn to the mirror in front of her. She nudged the glass with her white hoof as it amazingly swung open like a door.
Behind the mirror was a new room, but instead of deserted, this one was crowded with stallions and mares wearing diamonds and dresses of different colours and shapes. She noticed how everypony turned their heads to glance at her as she walked in. This put a smile on her face and created happy jingles in her stomach. This was the attention she had wanted before.
“Hello, Miss Rarity.”
She recognised the white stallion in the tweed जैकेट with a blue moustache. This was Fancy Pants that she had seen with Rarity in Canterlot not long ago.
“Are आप enjoying your evening, my dear?” he कहा to her politely.
“Um, yes.” इंद्रधनुष Dash replied, noticing she now spoke with Rarity’s voice.
“Well, that is lovely. Be sure to be prepared for your meeting with Princess Celestia tonight. She is looking आगे to introducing आप to her royal relatives.”
Princess Celestia? Royalty? इंद्रधनुष Dash was dumbfounded द्वारा this announcement. Was she really going to experience all of this?
“Wow, that sounds…err…” इंद्रधनुष Dash tried to make herself sound upper-class, “delightful! But I do want to return to Ponyville soon. I must see my friends.”
“Friends?” Fancy Pants eyed her through his monocle with a puzzled expression, “Whom would these…friends of yours be?”
“Uhh, my five फ्रेंड्स from Ponyville? आप met them a while back?”
“I don’t believe so, Miss Rarity. Unless you’re talking about those fillies and gentlecolts आप were with at the Grand Galloping Gala?”
“No, I’m फ्रेंड्स with Twilight Sparkle. And इंद्रधनुष Dash? Don’t आप know those names?”
“I seem to recall Twilight Sparkle…” Fancy Pants tipped his head up in thought, “Yes, that scholarly टट्टू wandering around Canterlot. She failed an entry for Princess Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns, I trust?”
Failed? इंद्रधनुष Dash was shocked at this statement. Twilight had passed that entry and become Celestia’s student! What was Fancy Pants talking about?
She shook her head. “But…I’m फ्रेंड्स with her! Don’t आप remember? आप saw me-I mean…you saw इंद्रधनुष Dash. A Pegasus pony?”
“Who in Equestria is इंद्रधनुष Dash? I haven’t heard of such a filly.”
इंद्रधनुष Dash blinked Rarity’s long eyelashes in disbelief.
How could this be? She was the टट्टू that did a sonic rainboom and won the Best Young Fliers Competition. Not only that, this stallion had met all of Rarity’s फ्रेंड्स that day. Why didn’t he remember? What was wrong with this place?
“You are not फ्रेंड्स with anypony like that, Miss Rarity. And आप never have been.”
“But…”
“Miss Rarity!” a female voice called to her nearby, “come along, my dear! We must prepare your dress! And आप won’t be going back to that awful Ponyville in a hurry, आप can count on that.”
“N-no…” इंद्रधनुष Dash stuttered in Rarity’s voice, “this is all wrong…why don’t I exist? Where are my friends?”
“What are आप talking about, dearest?” a बछेड़ा कहा to her.
“Poppycock, that’s what,” a snobbish mare grumbled.
“Make it stop!!” इंद्रधनुष Dash cried, “Please! I HATE IT!!”
“Smile!”
The sudden blinding flash of a camera scorched the terrified pony’s eyes. She covered her white forelegs over her face, hoping everything, absolutely everything, would go away…
इंद्रधनुष Dash opened her eyes, slowly moving her hooves away from her face. She was back in the strange room, looking at her true reflection again in the mirror. The इंद्रधनुष mane and tail had returned, and she saw her magenta eyes shining with aching tears. Her mouth hung open in horror and upset; what in the world had just happened? Trying so very hard not to burst into tears, इंद्रधनुष felt somewhat glad to be back to her normal self.
It was then that she heard the quiet sound of hooves gently walking towards her from behind, much larger than her own hooves. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, a tall equine figure stepping beside her in the mirror, long flowing hair trailing from her head.
“Rainbow Dash.”
A wise female voice came from the tall alicorn beside इंद्रधनुष Dash. The इंद्रधनुष Pegasus was stunned to see her there.
“P-Princess Celestia?”
She whipped around to look behind her…but there was no one there. The room was deserted. She looked back at the mirror, and the princess’s reflection was still beside her own.
“What have आप done, my dear child?” she कहा softly, nodding her horn-notched head slightly.
इंद्रधनुष Dash swallowed hard, staring helplessly at the image of Celestia.
“I…I don’t know…” she stuttered, “that was horrible…”
“But आप chose it, इंद्रधनुष Dash.” Celestia said, her voice very serene.
“No…I didn’t mean for all of THAT to happen…” इंद्रधनुष Dash said, her voice catching in her throat, “I just…well….”
She paused before continuing.
“I just wanted to be beautiful like Rarity. That’s all…”
She sniffed loudly. Celestia looked down at the young pony; her eyes were thoughtful, but she had a gentle smile on her face.
“You wished yourself away, my faithful one,” she कहा delicately, “and, with it, much more. Don’t आप remember, इंद्रधनुष Dash? आप managed a sonic rainboom as a filly. And, without you, your फ्रेंड्स would never have known each other. Do आप remember how important आप are?”
इंद्रधनुष thought.
Yes, she realised now. She had been stupid.
In that world, she had never existed, and that meant the entire destruction of her friendship with five special ponies. That would have been the end of everything. Nightmare Moon could have taken over with her night.
Her eyes stinging from several tears, she looked forlornly at the princess’s reflection.
“I’m so sorry.” she whimpered.
And she really meant that. She was truly sorry.
Celestia smiled warmly at the sad Pegasus.
“You doubt your value. Do not run from who आप are.”
With that, the image of Celestia turned around and walked away, the sounds of her hooves echoing quietly into the hallway.
इंद्रधनुष Dash gasped loudly, shooting her head upright. She looked around. She was lying on her front, just outside the Everfree Forest, a view of Ponyville visible some distance away. The blue Pegasus breathed in and out, trying to recollect her thoughts.
What had just happened? Had it all been a dream? She stood up to shake her muscles, and then lifted one of her front hooves to make sure she was still इंद्रधनुष Dash. When her eyes met with the blue of her fur, she managed a small smile. She was happy to be herself again.
“Time to go home, I think.” she कहा to herself.
Feeling content, she began to trot back to Ponyville. She soon realised that something didn’t feel right, stopping in her tracks for a brief moment.
And then she remembered.
She flexed her wings, the strength and motivation flowing back into them, and powered up into the air, continuing her way घर slowly through the sky. The feeling of the light breeze through her mane was great to experience again.
When the Pegasus gently landed on the ground, the cheery atmosphere of Ponyville all around her, she decided on one टट्टू she wanted to see.
When इंद्रधनुष arrived outside her पेड़ home, Twilight trotted towards her friend, the same concerned look in her eyes.
“Rainbow Dash!”
The unicorn stepped up to इंद्रधनुष and put a hoof around her. “Are आप okay? आप didn’t look good earlier.”
इंद्रधनुष Dash just smiled. “I’m fine, Twilight. I just needed some time to myself. No worries.”
She finished her sentence with a wink, and Twilight’s face became और relaxed.
“All right, that’s good. I just couldn’t help being a little worried.” she paused to widen her eyes excitedly, “Say! Rarity is holding an evening party at Carousel Boutique tonight. Would आप like to come along? Rarity कहा she’d make आप her best dress.”
इंद्रधनुष Dash considered that offer for a moment. Did she really want to go to a frou-frou रात का खाना party? But she then decided she couldn’t let her friend down.
इंद्रधनुष cleared her throat before saying, “Yeah. ‘Course I’ll come, Twilight. But I don’t think I need a dress या any sparkly outfits. I’ll just go as myself.”
She flicked her beautifully coloured tail proudly. Twilight put a hoof to her chin hesitantly.
“Well, आप can of course, but I think आप need to wear SOMETHING for this party. Rarity insists her फ्रेंड्स dress up.”
इंद्रधनुष Dash thought about that, and then saw a shade of गुलाबी in the corner of her eye; there was a गुलाबी फूल sitting in the nearby grass, only very small, but very pretty. इंद्रधनुष had an idea.
“Maybe I’ll put a little फूल in my mane,” she कहा to Twilight, “that’ll be fine just this once, right?”
Twilight smiled affectionately at her friend. “I think it’ll look beautiful.”
As the two ponies walked off together, Rainbow’s confidence felt stronger than ever; she was happy about being इंद्रधनुष Dash and not any other pony. She did not notice that, nearby, two stallions were watching her with smiles.
“That pony’s stunning,” one of them said, “don’t आप think?”
“Yes,” the other stallion agreed, “I think she’s absolutely beautiful.”
Hope आप like it! :) I'm pretty proud of this.
Every time she saw Rarity, the white unicorn’s sapphire eyes would sparkle like the diamonds she often wore around her neck. Her beautiful outfits and her voice and her glorious hairstyle would wow anypony around.
इंद्रधनुष Dash would hardly take any notice. There was और to life than being glamorous, she always thought. But on this day, Rarity received so much attention. This kind of attention was special; it was nothing like इंद्रधनुष had ever seen before, even when she had performed her many acts of heroism and acrobatics. The handsome colts would not steer away from Rarity… and Rarity looked happy.
For the first time in a long while, the इंद्रधनुष maned Pegasus felt flickers of sadness tinge her stomach as she stood there watching Rarity being admired द्वारा all the ponies around her. Could I ever get attention like that? She thought to herself, would they ever notice ME in that way?…not just for my flying…but for my looks…
She tilted her head to stare at herself. She could not see anything glamorous at all. No gleaming coat, no curly hair, no attention. इंद्रधनुष heaved a lonesome sigh. Maybe it was all hopeless. She would never be like Rarity…not ever.
While the white unicorn was दिखा रहा है off her amazing outfits, इंद्रधनुष Dash flew quietly in between the clouds. Something was wrong. She didn’t have the spark of energy that she usually had whilst flying. Her wings felt lazy…and useless.
She lowered herself onto the ground, feeling it was the only place she could relax. Twilight Sparkle noticed the Pegasus trot past her house. The studious unicorn saw the look in Rainbow’s eyes. It wasn’t like her…not one bit.
“Hi there, Rainbow!” she called to her in a cheerful tone.
इंद्रधनुष Dash gave her a weak smile. “Oh…hey, Twilight.”
“Are आप all right, Rainbow? Is something bothering you?”
इंद्रधनुष saw the concerned look on Twilight’s face. She wanted to tell her friend so badly about what she was feeling, but she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.
“Uhh, me? Of course not! I’m fine. Don’t worry about me!”
She smiled, but her eyes still looked sad. Twilight stared after इंद्रधनुष as she trotted off. She knew something was wrong…
इंद्रधनुष Dash went to an unlikely place of comfort: the Everfree Forest. She just wanted to be alone. She knew that was how she would always be…nopony would look at her in the same way as they looked at Rarity.
Even in the light of day, the Everfree Forest was a dark place. It made इंद्रधनुष feel small and weak, worsening her feelings.
She strode past a pond, a single वृत्त of blue standing out in the grass. It seemed to tempt her.
As she stepped nervously to the edge of the water, she caught sight of her own fuchsia eyes looking back at her. She stared at her reflection in the pond. What was so special? She looked boring and had nothing that would stun other ponies. She grimaced at her tatty mane and tail. Her hair wasn’t pretty and pristine like Rarity’s.
Rarity’s beautiful, इंद्रधनुष thought, I’m not beautiful. I’m just…PLAIN. I wish I was prettier…
इंद्रधनुष lifted up a hoof to stroke her forelock. What had happened to her confidence? It had just been swept away…
Suddenly, she jumped. She could hear the creaking sound of a door. A door? There were no doors in the forest!
As she whipped around, she saw a door opening. There was no house around the door. It was just an opening in the air. Behind the door was a faint glow and a corridor was running ahead. It reeled the curious Pegasus inside, who didn’t know what she was doing. She hardly noticed the door creak shut behind her.
Her little hooves made echoing noises through the corridor. इंद्रधनुष wasn’t afraid, just mesmerized. How could all this be here? Out of nowhere?
At the end of the corridor stood an archway opening into a small room. When इंद्रधनुष reached the room, she noticed a hardback book lying at her feet. It read ‘The Book of Incantations’ on the front cover.
“Now that sounds interesting.” इंद्रधनुष murmured to herself, as she carefully unlatched the book with her mouth and flicked through the pages with her muzzle.
She smiled at some of the things she saw on the pages: a spell for curing hiccups, a spell for music, a spell for invisibility.
“Twilight would प्यार this.” इंद्रधनुष said, “All this magic can be done…just with words?”
Her gaze was set on one page… a spell about the weather. She कहा the words out loud.
“With these words,
Your tongue must sew
For all around there
To be snow…”
She gasped as she felt something small and cold tap the चोटी, शीर्ष of her head. She used her hoof to brush it off, and saw that it was a snowflake. A grin slowly appeared on her face when hundreds of other snowflakes surrounded her.
“Now that IS awesome!”
She caught several snowflakes on her tongue. They were definitely real. This was amazing…
The ‘weather’ soon subsided, and इंद्रधनुष Dash found herself drawn to the page she was now on.
“An infallible spell
To make आप she
The beauty you’ve
Always wanted to be.”
इंद्रधनुष heaved gasps of excitement. Would that make her…?
She glanced into a small sized mirror on the right hand page. She stretched her head आगे to look at her reflection और closely. She didn’t know what to think of her face anymore…until something odd happened. Her fuchsia eyes gradually melted into a dark blue colour, and her ruffled forelock stretched into a magnificent swirl of hair. The टट्टू now staring back at her was not इंद्रधनुष Dash. It was a stunning white unicorn with purple curly hair. इंद्रधनुष knew that face all too well.
“Rarity!” she chuckled, “What’s going…”
She paused. The reflection of Rarity was mouthing her words exactly.
“…on?…” she finished her sentence in shock.
She sucked in a huge breath and stepped back from the mirror. “That can’t be…that’s…not me…”
When she finally got over her surprise, she propped the book against a दीवार so she could look at her whole body. The glorious figure of Rarity mirrored her every move. इंद्रधनुष couldn’t understand it…and yet she felt regrettably happy inside.
“I’m…I’m beautiful…” she gasped.
The white unicorn still mimicked इंद्रधनुष Dash’s words, and the movement of Rarity’s legs matched the Pegasus’ moves completely.
इंद्रधनुष now felt panicky. Was she now a completely different pony? She frantically scanned the room and spotted another mirror in the far corner, much larger than the one in the book.
Once she ran to it, her excitement faded from her lungs. She was still the same old Dash in a normal mirror.
And when she returned to the book, the eyes of Rarity stared back at her for a mere सेकंड before the reflection began to dissolve away.
“No!”
इंद्रधनुष demanded, slamming her hoof onto the page. There was an eerie look of angry desperation in her eyes.
She scanned the words etched around the hem of the old page. She spared no time to think about it and spoke the words out loud.
“Make me she who I’d agree
Holds और beauty over me…”
She glanced at herself, puzzled. Nothing seemed different. But this had to work! Cautiously this time, she walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room. At first, her face was sad from the sight of her normal self…but then it happened…
The इंद्रधनुष Pegasus form gradually changed to the beautiful image of Rarity, just as इंद्रधनुष Dash had wanted. She spent a few सेकंड्स gazing at her new reflection, not knowing what to think…she smiled…and she frowned.
Her mind was suddenly drawn to the mirror in front of her. She nudged the glass with her white hoof as it amazingly swung open like a door.
Behind the mirror was a new room, but instead of deserted, this one was crowded with stallions and mares wearing diamonds and dresses of different colours and shapes. She noticed how everypony turned their heads to glance at her as she walked in. This put a smile on her face and created happy jingles in her stomach. This was the attention she had wanted before.
“Hello, Miss Rarity.”
She recognised the white stallion in the tweed जैकेट with a blue moustache. This was Fancy Pants that she had seen with Rarity in Canterlot not long ago.
“Are आप enjoying your evening, my dear?” he कहा to her politely.
“Um, yes.” इंद्रधनुष Dash replied, noticing she now spoke with Rarity’s voice.
“Well, that is lovely. Be sure to be prepared for your meeting with Princess Celestia tonight. She is looking आगे to introducing आप to her royal relatives.”
Princess Celestia? Royalty? इंद्रधनुष Dash was dumbfounded द्वारा this announcement. Was she really going to experience all of this?
“Wow, that sounds…err…” इंद्रधनुष Dash tried to make herself sound upper-class, “delightful! But I do want to return to Ponyville soon. I must see my friends.”
“Friends?” Fancy Pants eyed her through his monocle with a puzzled expression, “Whom would these…friends of yours be?”
“Uhh, my five फ्रेंड्स from Ponyville? आप met them a while back?”
“I don’t believe so, Miss Rarity. Unless you’re talking about those fillies and gentlecolts आप were with at the Grand Galloping Gala?”
“No, I’m फ्रेंड्स with Twilight Sparkle. And इंद्रधनुष Dash? Don’t आप know those names?”
“I seem to recall Twilight Sparkle…” Fancy Pants tipped his head up in thought, “Yes, that scholarly टट्टू wandering around Canterlot. She failed an entry for Princess Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns, I trust?”
Failed? इंद्रधनुष Dash was shocked at this statement. Twilight had passed that entry and become Celestia’s student! What was Fancy Pants talking about?
She shook her head. “But…I’m फ्रेंड्स with her! Don’t आप remember? आप saw me-I mean…you saw इंद्रधनुष Dash. A Pegasus pony?”
“Who in Equestria is इंद्रधनुष Dash? I haven’t heard of such a filly.”
इंद्रधनुष Dash blinked Rarity’s long eyelashes in disbelief.
How could this be? She was the टट्टू that did a sonic rainboom and won the Best Young Fliers Competition. Not only that, this stallion had met all of Rarity’s फ्रेंड्स that day. Why didn’t he remember? What was wrong with this place?
“You are not फ्रेंड्स with anypony like that, Miss Rarity. And आप never have been.”
“But…”
“Miss Rarity!” a female voice called to her nearby, “come along, my dear! We must prepare your dress! And आप won’t be going back to that awful Ponyville in a hurry, आप can count on that.”
“N-no…” इंद्रधनुष Dash stuttered in Rarity’s voice, “this is all wrong…why don’t I exist? Where are my friends?”
“What are आप talking about, dearest?” a बछेड़ा कहा to her.
“Poppycock, that’s what,” a snobbish mare grumbled.
“Make it stop!!” इंद्रधनुष Dash cried, “Please! I HATE IT!!”
“Smile!”
The sudden blinding flash of a camera scorched the terrified pony’s eyes. She covered her white forelegs over her face, hoping everything, absolutely everything, would go away…
इंद्रधनुष Dash opened her eyes, slowly moving her hooves away from her face. She was back in the strange room, looking at her true reflection again in the mirror. The इंद्रधनुष mane and tail had returned, and she saw her magenta eyes shining with aching tears. Her mouth hung open in horror and upset; what in the world had just happened? Trying so very hard not to burst into tears, इंद्रधनुष felt somewhat glad to be back to her normal self.
It was then that she heard the quiet sound of hooves gently walking towards her from behind, much larger than her own hooves. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, a tall equine figure stepping beside her in the mirror, long flowing hair trailing from her head.
“Rainbow Dash.”
A wise female voice came from the tall alicorn beside इंद्रधनुष Dash. The इंद्रधनुष Pegasus was stunned to see her there.
“P-Princess Celestia?”
She whipped around to look behind her…but there was no one there. The room was deserted. She looked back at the mirror, and the princess’s reflection was still beside her own.
“What have आप done, my dear child?” she कहा softly, nodding her horn-notched head slightly.
इंद्रधनुष Dash swallowed hard, staring helplessly at the image of Celestia.
“I…I don’t know…” she stuttered, “that was horrible…”
“But आप chose it, इंद्रधनुष Dash.” Celestia said, her voice very serene.
“No…I didn’t mean for all of THAT to happen…” इंद्रधनुष Dash said, her voice catching in her throat, “I just…well….”
She paused before continuing.
“I just wanted to be beautiful like Rarity. That’s all…”
She sniffed loudly. Celestia looked down at the young pony; her eyes were thoughtful, but she had a gentle smile on her face.
“You wished yourself away, my faithful one,” she कहा delicately, “and, with it, much more. Don’t आप remember, इंद्रधनुष Dash? आप managed a sonic rainboom as a filly. And, without you, your फ्रेंड्स would never have known each other. Do आप remember how important आप are?”
इंद्रधनुष thought.
Yes, she realised now. She had been stupid.
In that world, she had never existed, and that meant the entire destruction of her friendship with five special ponies. That would have been the end of everything. Nightmare Moon could have taken over with her night.
Her eyes stinging from several tears, she looked forlornly at the princess’s reflection.
“I’m so sorry.” she whimpered.
And she really meant that. She was truly sorry.
Celestia smiled warmly at the sad Pegasus.
“You doubt your value. Do not run from who आप are.”
With that, the image of Celestia turned around and walked away, the sounds of her hooves echoing quietly into the hallway.
इंद्रधनुष Dash gasped loudly, shooting her head upright. She looked around. She was lying on her front, just outside the Everfree Forest, a view of Ponyville visible some distance away. The blue Pegasus breathed in and out, trying to recollect her thoughts.
What had just happened? Had it all been a dream? She stood up to shake her muscles, and then lifted one of her front hooves to make sure she was still इंद्रधनुष Dash. When her eyes met with the blue of her fur, she managed a small smile. She was happy to be herself again.
“Time to go home, I think.” she कहा to herself.
Feeling content, she began to trot back to Ponyville. She soon realised that something didn’t feel right, stopping in her tracks for a brief moment.
And then she remembered.
She flexed her wings, the strength and motivation flowing back into them, and powered up into the air, continuing her way घर slowly through the sky. The feeling of the light breeze through her mane was great to experience again.
When the Pegasus gently landed on the ground, the cheery atmosphere of Ponyville all around her, she decided on one टट्टू she wanted to see.
When इंद्रधनुष arrived outside her पेड़ home, Twilight trotted towards her friend, the same concerned look in her eyes.
“Rainbow Dash!”
The unicorn stepped up to इंद्रधनुष and put a hoof around her. “Are आप okay? आप didn’t look good earlier.”
इंद्रधनुष Dash just smiled. “I’m fine, Twilight. I just needed some time to myself. No worries.”
She finished her sentence with a wink, and Twilight’s face became और relaxed.
“All right, that’s good. I just couldn’t help being a little worried.” she paused to widen her eyes excitedly, “Say! Rarity is holding an evening party at Carousel Boutique tonight. Would आप like to come along? Rarity कहा she’d make आप her best dress.”
इंद्रधनुष Dash considered that offer for a moment. Did she really want to go to a frou-frou रात का खाना party? But she then decided she couldn’t let her friend down.
इंद्रधनुष cleared her throat before saying, “Yeah. ‘Course I’ll come, Twilight. But I don’t think I need a dress या any sparkly outfits. I’ll just go as myself.”
She flicked her beautifully coloured tail proudly. Twilight put a hoof to her chin hesitantly.
“Well, आप can of course, but I think आप need to wear SOMETHING for this party. Rarity insists her फ्रेंड्स dress up.”
इंद्रधनुष Dash thought about that, and then saw a shade of गुलाबी in the corner of her eye; there was a गुलाबी फूल sitting in the nearby grass, only very small, but very pretty. इंद्रधनुष had an idea.
“Maybe I’ll put a little फूल in my mane,” she कहा to Twilight, “that’ll be fine just this once, right?”
Twilight smiled affectionately at her friend. “I think it’ll look beautiful.”
As the two ponies walked off together, Rainbow’s confidence felt stronger than ever; she was happy about being इंद्रधनुष Dash and not any other pony. She did not notice that, nearby, two stallions were watching her with smiles.
“That pony’s stunning,” one of them said, “don’t आप think?”
“Yes,” the other stallion agreed, “I think she’s absolutely beautiful.”
