The Mare who knew too much

by Cynical

Reunion - Loyalty

Reunion - Loyalty

I walked into Ponyville Cemetery as the dusk came down around me, thankful for the respite from the heat of the sun that it brought. That being said though, there's something about a graveyard in the evening that just sets your nerves on edge, no matter if it's brightly lit or otherwise. Must be the décor. One thing that I had noticed now was that I had absolutely no idea where I was buried, whether I was in a coffin or a tomb, in Ponyville or Canterlot.
I hoped it was Ponyville.
 
It was hard to hold onto that hope though as I wandered around and between the gravestones, marking a number of bodies of which none of them bore my name. I slowly walked from left to right amongst the dead, not one of them shared my name although I did find a much weathered stone bearing the inscription, Midnight Sparkle. I resolved to ask my parents about it if I got the chance.
 
If I ever got the chance…
I doubted that things would ever be exactly the same again, that my friends would always look at me in a different light than before. I wondered whether my parents would even recognise me as I was now. I may not have changed physically, but being on the moon had done more to me than simply age me… I suspected that I had lost what remained of my innocence against the world, that good ponies would be rewarded and the bad punished. Gone was the pony that once thought that, now I remained.
 
And I had reached the end of the line, no more gravestones past that point. Save for the tombs that is, reserved for only the noblest of ponies and the bravest of all. My cynical side took great pains in questioning who decided what bravery was.
 
Yet I still took a wander down between the rows of tombs. It brought back memories, a decade past, when I once walked down these same rows, between Bright Star and Last Loyal. When I walked down the paths guarded by Gleaming Hope and Final Defence and Resilience. Thinking of how these brave ponies had stood up for what they believed in, protected all others above themselves and never backing down. How brave ponies like Sharp Wit and Cunning Wit, brothers, had once brought down a kingdom at war with Equestria with their namesakes. And how Twilight Sparkle and Starswirl the Bearded had defended Equestria on a number of occasions.
 
I walked to the next tomb, belonging to New Design, an inventor of many things, before I realised what I'd just read. I backtracked to where I'd seen the name, finding the tomb opposite one of my greatest role models.
 
It is an odd feeling, when you stand over what once was your life, to me it felt as if someone had just walked over my grave… current situation withstanding, and inscribed the words onto a golden plaque, still gleaming:
 

 
It almost brought a tear to my eye. I wondered who had chosen out the lines that went on my grave, the former had the ring of my brother about it, it had become one of his favourite quotes from the guards training manual long ago… a different time and a different place. The latter was more interesting; maybe it referred to One as in Equestria as a whole, or maybe just a single pony. I'd ask Rarity or someone when I arrived at the library tomorrow. For now, I had work to do.
 
I paused a moment before I charged up my horn. Did it count as graverobbing if it was your own grave you were robbing? I doubted that the law could give any good advice here in any case, not that I was going to go and inform them of my activities. Either way, it didn't matter here, now. For now was when I let loose my magic and dissolved the stone into particles to be borne away on the still air, it was after all just a rearrangement. Beyond the stone cover, there lay a dark hole, paved with marble and with an icy breeze which wafted up from within.
I drew in the air through my nose, smelling the chilly air, dry and uninviting.
 
I entered my tomb.
 
--
 
Cold, dark, dry.
The tomb was all three of these, two of which I could do something about. I lit my horn, wrapping a simple cover of magic around myself to insulate me against the cold while my horn flared and cast a glow around the room I was in. An antechamber for the moment with a door at the other end.
I hastened through.
 
This chamber was bigger than the one before, the ceiling twice as high as the room as ornate as it could be with several pillars rising from the floor to hold the roof as high as it did. Ornate carvings covered every wall, each depicting something I'd done, and the two paintings that I knew and one that I didn't, all occupied the space.
 
From left to right, there was a carving with me and the other five elements of harmony, all focussing our attentions upon Nightmare Moon. The central mural showed the six of us again, this time against what could only be Discord. The final one was new; I suspected that it was of the queen of the Changelings and the part that I had to play in that particular event.
 
But the prize was in the centre of the room, a simple coffin of mahogany wood, inlaid with marble and ivory decals, all of which convened into the centre of the coffin where a six-pointed star, amethyst, was surrounded by the stars which made up my cutie mark. It was the work of a master craftpony, to see such a simple coffin which was crafted so beautifully that it made opening it, a hit to looks and styles everywhere. It was what had to be done though, and the resounding crack that my horn caused, echoed that sentiment. And amongst the bones and flesh that must have remained of the stand in, there lay a tiara of gleaming gold and with a star of deep purples and light pinks.
 
There was no dust upon the crown as I lifted it up and saw not a mote of dust anywhere. Almost vainly, I lifted the tiara up to my head, as if to check that it still fit me, lowering it onto my head as I reconnected with the element of magic again, it had never left me really. It was enough to cause me to let go of the magic that I held to keep the darkness and cold at bay though, forcing me to dispel both or risk my magic losing control in this enclosed space. But it was not darkness that greeted me when the spells were removed.
 
It was a shining light, bright as the stars above, coming from the corner of the room.
It belonged to a necklace of gold and ruby, fastened around a cyan neck with a rainbow mane.
It was worn by Rainbow Dash, half-starved and freezing, lying on the floor of my tomb.
It still had the ruby red colour from a decade past, and it reflected in the rose eyes of the pony watching me now.

Neither of us moved, we both regarded each other by the eyes we stared into, staying like that for an amount of time that passed like an instant yet lasted hours. She was the first one to break the silence.
"You're alive."

It wasn't a question, it was simply a statement, and she didn't try to argue the fact, just accepting it. It was something I liked about Rainbow, she didn't beat around the bush like other ponies, she got straight to the matter at hoof.
Maybe if it was another time, a different place, things could have been different…
No. That wasn't a path I wanted to follow for the moment. I simply replied to her.
"And you are stupid."
I didn't raise my voice, that would have just sent the wrong signals, I simply stated the fact and continued with the facts.

"You're starving, frozen and tired. Just how long have you been down here Rainbow, and why?"
I think I saw something go out of her, and the little strength she seemed to have possessed seconds before dissipated into the air.
"A week, I think. I stopped keeping count after the fifth time I slept." Her voice was weak, strained and wavering. If I was who I was ten years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to go down to her aid, to help her somehow. It seemed my stronger heart had other plans.
"And the why?"

She coughed against the floor, unable to move with her own strength it seemed, yet she still answered.
"Why do you think?" A rasping cough.
"Oh wait, you never knew, did you?" Her dry chuckle almost grating against my ears, begging me to at least give her some water.
"You never knew what I truly thought about you. You never knew that I loved you." And that was where she stopped talking again, laying her head against her hooves, her raspy breath clearly audible now as she fought to draw breath into her lungs.

The next thing that Rainbow saw was me above her, holding some water I'd conjured, pure as crystal, and the antidote for Dash at the moment. I lowered the sphere of water over to her mouth, allowing her to drink deeply from it, which she did happily, whether or not it was her body forcing her to drink the vital liquid, or because she wanted to continue living, I didn't know. After letting her slurp noisily at the water for a bit, I drifted it away from her mouth, allowing her to breath and stating.
"That doesn't explain why you're here now."

She laughed again, her voice slightly less a coherent crackle, and sounding more and more like a voice that Twilight could almost remember.
"You don't get it, do you? I never gave up on you Twi, I never really believed that you were gone for good. I knew that if there was one mare who would be able to outdo Death, it would be you. I suppose I stayed loyal to you, that's why my element here is still alive and kicking I think. I never gave up waiting for you."

"So you waited in my tomb this week, what have you done for the last ten years?" This caused Rainbow to smile a weary smile with fiery eyes.
"I travelled across Equestria, looking for a way to help you come back. I looked for a way to bring you back. I travelled from here to Manehatten, looking for something to do with science. I didn't find it. I went to the zebras to look for something religious, but found nothing. I went to Canterlot to find something magical, where there was no solution. I've travelled the world for you Twi, to look for a cure to death."

Maybe some emotion flickered in me for an instant, maybe I felt honoured that somepony would go to such lengths to save me, and maybe none of that happened and I replied "So why here, why now?"

"Because I promised myself that I would never let you go alone again, I intended to keep that promise, no matter what."

The silence returned again, not really an awkward one, just one where no-pony had anything else to fill it with. I had deduced what Rainbow meant easily enough, not that I liked it, but I still understood it. It seemed to fuel some part of me that I hadn't even realised was running on empty. Loyalty indeed. There was at least one good thought going through my mind though, 'I had found all five of my estranged friends.'

I just had to get them to talk to one another now.