Merciless Part 4

Merciless - Part 4

"It Will Rain"

A continuation of the original "Merciless" series by Railrugs

Twilight relaxed on her bed looking up at the ceiling and thought about Golden Harvest's words and how they calmed her down about how it is okay to be in a relationship with another mare (in this case, Rainbow Dash). She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her friends (well, former friends) Apple Jack and Rarity would be so mean and disapproving of their relationship. What was so wrong about a mare loving another mare? Was it just as wrong for a colt to love another colt? What if Apple Jack was right and how their relationship was "disgusting" and how it was "unladylike" of them to love each other, according to Rarity? Would they tell everypony in Ponyville about their relationship? What would it do to their reputations? Tears quietly filled her eyes as the possibility that AJ and Rarity would not be friends with her and Rainbow Dash anymore. All of them had been friends since Twilight came to Ponyville and they have been through thick and thin together and she had learned so many lessons from them and now their friendships would be undone by the fact that she loved Rainbow Dash. She blinked and tears rolled down the side of her eyes and into the soft, pink pillow. Could this be the end of their friendship?

"There we go!" Fluttershy said as she patched up the last of Rainbow's wounds she received from her altercation with Apple Jack. "Now, just go easy for a little while until those wounds heal up, okay?"

The cyan pony moved her front hooves a little bit to get used to the bandages which hindered her movements somewhat. She couldn't run as fast as she used to, but she did have most of her mobility. Some of her face was filled with medical tape which almost made her like a mummified pony.

"Thanks Fluttershy. You're really a good friend." Rainbow replied to the gentle and kind hearted yellow pony with a slight smile on her face. "I really appreciate it."

"Anytime at all" she replied quietly.  

"Well, I better head for home and rest for a while. See you soon!" the Pegasus pony said as she stepped outside and closed the cottage door. Rainbow then took to the skies and headed for her home in Cloudsdale. She felt the warm breeze all over her body as her wings fluttered in the air. After flying for some time, she immediately felt something was wrong with Twilight. She closed her eyes and a vision of Twilight crying came into her mind. Why would Dash envision Twilight crying at some random moment? It felt weird and random. Just the thought of Twilight suffering made Dash begin to tear up. "Oh Celestia, why are you crying Twilight?" she thought to herself as she couldn't imagine her lover in pain. "That's it, I need to talk to someone else about our love and see if I can get advice." She wiped her eyes of her tears and made a detour to see a good friend of hers. Maybe she would have some friendly advice…

Twilight sat up in her bed and took a picture of Rainbow Dash from her bed stand and looked at it; it was a picture of Dash giving the biggest smile in it. Twilight always imagined that this smile was meant for her; even though they weren't officially "dating" when the picture was taken a couple of weeks ago. She clasped it tightly and held it close to her heart. "I love you so much Dash…" she quietly said as tears spilled from her eyes and onto the picture. "No matter what anypony thinks, I'll always love you." She took a couple of long, deep breaths and tried to calm herself down, somewhat. Suddenly, she heard the door creak open slightly. "Spike, I thought I told you to…" she said assuming it was the baby dragon, but to her surprise, it was Applebloom and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"What could they be doing here?" she thought to herself as she put the picture next to her bed. "Hi girls, did Spike let you in?"

"Yeah, he did." Applebloom responded. "He said you were upstairs getting some rest." Twilight closed her eyes tightly for a brief moment as Spike would let somepony into her room without at least giving her a heads up or something. But there was no time for that now; she wanted to know why the CMCs were here in the first place.

"So what brings you three here?" Twilight asked the confused bunch of fillies.

"Well, we're confused on something and don't know what to think." Sweetie Bell said with a confused tone of voice.

"What are you confused about?"

Scootaloo stepped forward and said to the violet pony, "Twilight, we're kind of torn here. Apple Jack tells us that love should between a stallion and a mare; not two mares or two stallions."

"Yeah, and my sister says that it's 'not ladylike' for two mares to love each other." Sweetie Belle interjected.

"Mah sister also says that you're filling our heads with 'nonsense n' stuff.' What are we supposed to think?" Applebloom said, quoting her older sister's words.

Twilight took a deep breath and thought about how to explain love to the three
young fillies. Especially the love Rainbow Dash and she shared. She couldn't believe that Apple Jack would think that she was poisoning their minds with "nonsense" or Rarity would think that it was "unladylike" for her and Dash to share their love. The violet pony got down from her bed and sat with the fillies. "Well, you see girls… not all love is equal. Sometimes, certain mares and certain stallions have feelings towards the same gender as themselves. Most of the time, they can't seem to explain it, but it just happens that they see another pony that they think is beautiful and they want to have a relationship with them."

"Just like you and Rainbow Dash." Sweetie Bell interjected.

"Yeah, like that." Twilight continued. "But sometimes, some ponies think that this kind of love is 'odd' and 'non-traditional'. Often, the couple is labeled as outcasts and their love is frowned upon. It may sadden the couple, but it only makes their love for each other stronger and they won't let those negative viewpoints affect them."

"But why do some ponies not accept this kind of love?" Applebloom pondered.

"Oh dear Celestia, this going to be a long discussion." Twilight thought to herself as she tried to answer Applebloom's question and any other questions the Crusaders might ask.


Rainbow Dash touched down gently on the pavement and began to knock on the door of her friend's house a couple of times and waited for a response. She began to hum to herself as a couple of seconds past yielding no response. She needed to get this feeling off of her chest and wanted to get rid of this image of a sad Twilight that flooded her mind. From inside, a deadbolt was unlocked and the doorknob began to turn, opening the door. The pony on the other side of the door was a white unicorn mare with two shades of fluorescent blue (one darker, one lighter) mane and tail with purple glasses. "Hey, hey Rainbow Dash!" the unicorn said as she began to hug the cyan colored Pegasus pony. It was Rainbow's friend Vinyl Scratch, or her stage name DJ-PON3. They have known each other for some time ever since they met at a prestigious nightclub in Pensacolta a couple of years ago.

"Hey Vinyl!" Rainbow responded, ending the embrace. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course Dash!" Vinyl exclaimed, welcoming her into her house. "My house is your house right?"

"Yeah, I remember that" Dash responded as Vinyl closed and locked the door.
"Where did you get all of those bandages, Dash? Did you get into a fight or something?" Vinyl asked her friend.

"Well, it's a long story. I'll tell you in a bit."

"Ok. Hey, do you want something to drink?" the white pony said as the both of them headed for the kitchen. "I got soda, ginger ale, Marecardi rum, and a whole lot of other stuff."

"Uh, I'll take soda please."

"Sure thing!" Vinyl said as she took two sodas from the fridge and placed one of them next to Dash. The both of them cracked open their refreshments and took a first big gulp of the sugary liquid.

"So Dash, how'd you get those wounds?" the white unicorn asked, flicking her mane to the side. "What happened?"

Dash took a sip of her soda and set in on the table. "Well you see Vinyl; I had an altercation with Apple Jack…"

Vinyl took a hard gulp as she heard Dash say that she had something with Apple Jack. "Sorry Dash, but Apple Jack? Aren't all of you friends or something, ever since Twilight came into Ponyville?"

"Yeah, it was AJ. Anyway, I went to apologize to her for a comment I made about her, but things got out of hoof. The both of us got into a brutal skirmish as she punched me mercilessly until Big Macintosh pulled her off and I was able to escape. I then flew to Fluttershy's house to get some bandages and some TLC. And well, here I am."

The white pony took a gulp of her soda and said with shock in her voice, "Wow Dash! That's something! What was the altercation about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, that was the point I originally came to you for. You see Vinyl; I have been seeing somepony…"

"Oooohhhh! Who is it? Who is it?" Vinyl asked eagerly.

"I'm getting to it." Dash paused briefly as she finished her sugary refreshment. "It's another mare… and some friends of ours cannot accept our relationship together."

"So… Who's the mare?"

Dash looked down with her eyes closed as she said her lover's name. "It's… Twilight Sparkle."

An awkward silence filled the room that lasted for a couple of seconds as Rainbow admitted to her best friend she was in love with Twilight Sparkle. Would she still be her friend? Will she react like Apple Jack or Rarity? Would Vinyl look at Rainbow differently from now on?

The white pony put down her now empty soda can on the table and said in a serious tone of voice with a straight face, "Rainbow, that's not cute…"

"Oh, I knew it! I knew you wouldn't understand…" Rainbow said sadly, hanging her head; assuming the worst. She was like Rarity and AJ! Vinyl was Rainbow's friend! How could she betray her over the issue of love?

"…It's ADORABLE!!!" the white mare let out with a squee. She was thrilled for her friend to find somepony that she loved.

"Really, Vinyl? You think me loving another mare is adorable?" Rainbow responded with some confusion in her voice. Rainbow definitely did not expect her kind of reaction. At first, she sounded like she didn't accept their love; but when Vinyl said their love was "adorable", that lifted her spirits a bit. "We're still friends right?"

Vinyl then scoffed. "Are you kidding?!?! We'll ALWAYS be friends, no matter what! I'm proud of you Rainbow!!" She then went over to her friend and gave her a big hug.

Rainbow embraced her friend and said, "Thanks Vinyl. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome! Is everypony, besides Apple Jack, happy for you?"

Dash let go of the embrace and continued, "Well, no unfortunately."

"Hmm?" Vinyl questioned, raising an eyebrow behind her purple glasses. "Who else wouldn't accept the fact that Twilight and you are a couple?"

Dash let out a deep breath and said with a heavy voice. "Rarity…"

Vinyl cleaned out her ears with her hooves and asked, "I'm sorry Rainbow, but did
I hear 'Rarity?'"

"Yeah, you did." Rainbow confirmed. "She gave me an earful; to add insult to injury."

"No doubt; she's a drama queen after all!" Vinyl said with a slight laugh.

Dash let out a slight chuckle; agreeing with her friend. "She is. Twi and I are trying to understand this love as well. But you know what, I don't care what they think! Twilight and I love each other very much and two negative opinions are not going to tear us apart." Rainbow said those words with pride as she defended their love and they were not going to be torn apart by petty remarks about them.

"Oh yes sister! No matter what, somepony will complain about something in this world that is out of the ordinary and claim it is not right." Vinyl said. "My feeling about this is that love is love is love. If you love somepony, whether it is another mare or another colt, then I call it love, no matter what anypony says." All of a sudden, the both of them began to hear a loud rumble of thunder. The white pony then looked out the window and saw dark clouds gathering in the sky. "Hmm, looks like we're about to have a hell of a thunderstorm."

"Huh, I thought that a thunderstorm wasn't planned until tomorrow. They must have moved the schedule up." Rainbow thought as she remembered what the forecast originally was according to the Pegasi weather ponies in Cloudsdale. "I'm going to stop at Twilight's for a bit. Thanks for hearing me out Vinyl." Rainbow started to head for the front door where she unlocked it and started to step out of Vinyl's house. "You're welcome Dash; best of luck with you and Twi. I'm proud of you both."

"Thanks Vy. See ya around!"

Vinyl nodded her head and closed the door behind Dash using her unicorn magic. Rainbow Dash then readied her wings for flight and took off and headed for Twilight's tree house. "I hope I can make it to Twilight's before this storm gets really bad."


"….So you see girls, that is why some ponies have feelings towards the same sex and that some ponies cannot accept this kind of love. I hope you understood all of that." Twilight said, concluding her explanation to the Crusaders about same pony love and how some will not accept it. She hoped she didn't confuse them with her knowledge of love that she had read in countless books on the subject.

"Ah, I see everything clearly now." Scootaloo acknowledged the violet unicorn.

"So do I." Sweetie Belle and Applebloom said simultaneously.

"Thanks Twilight for clearing things up with us!" all of them said in unison with smiles on their faces.

"You're welcome girls, anytime." Twilight replied with a smile.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang downstairs that came from the front door. "Huh, I wonder who that is. Spike wouldn't kick the doors open like that. He would…" Twilight wondered as she put her ear to the door to see who it was downstairs. "Uh Apple Jack, you didn't need to…" she heard Spike trying to speak to AJ. "Not now Spike! Ah'm looking for mah sister and her friends; they're in a heap of trouble. Alright, were all y'all Crusaders?!" her angry voice growled. Twilight's eyes expanded to twice their size. "Who is it Twilight?" Sweetie Belle asked nervously.

"Oh horsefeathers! It's Apple Jack, looking for you three!" Twilight whispered to the frightened fillies. Quick! Hide behind my bed. I'll deal with Apple Jack. Go, now!" The three frightened fillies immediately hid behind her bed without question. There was the sound of heavy hoofsteps coming towards Twilight's room. "Oh dear Celestia, here we go." Twilight backed away from the door and braced for the worst. A couple of seconds later, her door swung open by a hard bucking with the orange earth pony's hind hooves. A glare of evil from the earth pony's face stared at the unicorn's nervous face. "Twilight, where are they?!"

"Where are who?" Twilight lied, even though she knew who Apple Jack was looking for.

"Don't play dumb with me ya hypocritical, sorry excuse for a unicorn that fills mah sister n' her friends' heads with lies n' such!" AJ yelled at Twilight. Twilight's mouth dropped like a lead weight and tears began to fill her eyes as she heard the harshest insult given to her for the day. "APPLEBLOOM! WHERE ARE YOU N' YOUR FRIENDS?!" her voice screamed calling out for her younger sister and the rest of the Crusaders. The nervous, scared little fillies slowly came from behind Twilight's bed. "We're… we're over here sis." Applebloom's voice quietly said.

"There y'all are!" The earth pony exclaimed as the fillies came to her with their heads down, in fear of getting yelled at. "What did Ah tell ya about going to Twilight or Rainbow Dash and asking for answers about this same love issue?!"

"Well, you said…" Sweetie Belle began to say in a low tone of voice.

"What did ah say to y'all?!" Apple Jack said, trying to force the unicorn filly to finish her sentence.

"…not to go to them for advice; no matter what" the filly finished her sentence after being cut off.

"That's right… and what was the Apple family's tradition, Applebloom?

"That… love is reserved between a mare and a stallion" the earth filly said in a defeated voice.

"Good, Ah have taught y'all well." Apple Jack bragged to the quivering Twilight; still trying to recover from AJ's initial insult.

"Now what just a minute, Apple Jack!" Scootaloo raised her voice to Applebloom's older sister. "You've got this all wrong here!"

Apple Jack widened her eyes as the Pegasus filly talked back to her. "What… did… ya… say… Scootaloo!?" Her voice became tense, with anger built into it.

"I think you have this all wrong!" Scootaloo started her rant. "From what Twilight has told us, it doesn't matter if a mare loves another mare or if a stallion loves another stallion, love is love. Yes, some ponies may have negative thoughts on same sex relationships and only think love should be between a stallion and a mare; but from Twilight has told us, it doesn't matter to others. If they love each other, so be it. Also, so what if some ponies have negative thoughts of two mares or two stallions being together; it only strengthens their love for each other! Those ponies who can't accept a same sex relationship needs to open their eyes to the changing world around them; it is a different world than what they were raised in."

Twilight slightly turned her head towards Scootaloo and gave her a slight smile and a nod, even though her eyes were glassy with tears. The young filly simply smiled back at her.  Apple Jack's eyes squinted at everyone in the room and wondered what just happened. "Ah… ah thought Ah trained y'all well in the teachings of love and whatnot. It seems that this… this hypocrite here has filled your simple little minds with lies n' nonsense!"

"But Apple Jack, Twilight has taught…" Scootaloo started to say.

"Scoot, Ah recommend you shut your mouth if you want to escape this with a mild scoldin' from me!" AJ said angrily at the orange filly. Admitting defeat, Scootaloo lowered her head and answered, "Okay…"

"Come on all, y'all are in for a scoldin', especially you Sweetie Belle, I just wonder what Rarity has to say about this!" The scared fillies immediately complied with Apple Jack and started to head down the stairs. She then pressed her nose against Twilight's and looked into her glassy eyes, showing no remorse. "Twi, don't even THINK about seeing mah sister or her friends again for a long, long, time! You have filled their little heads with horseradish! As of now, we are no longer friends! That goes for Rainbow Dash too!" She pressed her nose harder into Twilight's; forcing her head up slightly. "If you even so much SEE mah sister or her friends while Ah'm around them, so help me Celestia, you will regret it! Goodbye…" She started to make her way towards the door and she slammed it which slightly startled Twilight, but didn't make her move an inch from her spot where Apple Jack scolded her beyond her wildest imaginations. How could she call her a "hypocrate" to them? Why did their friendship have to come to an end over this? Why this? Why?! After realizing what had happened to her, with her tear filled eyes, she immediately drowned her head into her soft pillow and screamed her lungs out as tears began cascading from her eyes. A loud rumble of thunder filled the room followed immediately by the sound of a heavy downpour. "Oh Celestia!!" the tearful, violet unicorn cried out in a loud voice. "What have I done?!"

Rainbow Dash touched down at Twilight's tree house and immediately ran inside to escape the heavy rain through the open door. She shook herself off and dried herself off. "Hey, hey, hey!" a voice cried out as Dash dried herself. The cyan mare looked around and saw that Spike was near her. "Oops, sorry about that Spike!" Rainbow apologized to the baby dragon.

"Uh, no problem, Rainbow" the dragon said as he shook himself dry; this time away from the Pegasus pony. "So what brings you here?"

"I'm here to see Twilight. Where is she?"

"I think she's up in her room where she got quite a scolding from Apple Jack. I wouldn't go up there if I were you though; she said she didn't want to be disturbed. But she might need somepony to console her after AJ's scolding, which sounded harsh if you ask me."

"Thanks Spike!" Rainbow said as she darted up the stairs and towards Twilight's room. "Damn it Apple Jack! Why did you take your anger out on poor Twilight?! You should have taken you anger out on me! She had nothing to do with this. Hold on Twilight, I'm coming!" She reached the top of the stairs where Twilight's door had some cracks in it. She tried to open the door, but it was stuck. She pushed harder, but it barely budged. Dash finally backed up a bit and hit the door with a tremendous amount of force which finally opened the stubborn door.

She looked for Twilight and saw she was face down on her bed crying and screaming her lungs out into her pillow. She went over to console her marefriend. "Twi Twi? What's the matter?" Rainbow tried to place a hoof on Twilight, but it was pushed away.

"Twi, it's me Rainbow! It's okay, it's okay!" She lifted the unicorn's head from her pillow and rested her head on her shoulder where she calmed down a little bit where the crying was reduced to a couple of quivers. She lifted Twilight's head up and looked her in the eyes. "Hi, Twi, Twi…" she called her by her nickname.

"H… Hi Rainbow…" Twilight answered timidly with a couple of quivers. "W…What happened to you Rainbow?"

"I got into an altercation with Apple Jack which got out of hoof. But that's beside the point, what happened, Twi? What did Apple Jack do to you? Just gather yourself for a couple of seconds and then tell me."

The violet unicorn took a couple of deep breathes and explained. "Well, Applebloom and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders came over and asked for advice about same pony love. So, I explained it to them until Apple Jack barged in and rounded them up." Twilight's voice began to crack up again as her eyes began to water. "And then, AJ s… said that I… I… was filling their m… minds with nonsense." At this point, Twilight finally broke down and began to cry profusely. "Oh Rainbow! What have I done!?"

Rainbow embraced the troubled violet unicorn and began to rock with her gently, trying to calm her down. She couldn't believe that Apple Jack would say such things to her defenseless marefriend. At one point, Dash's eyes began to tear up. But Dash tried to hold her emotions back because she always felt "weak" if anyone saw her crying in public. It was no use. Her tears began to spill from her eyes and roll down her soft cyan cheeks.

Twilight wiped her eyes with her hoof and looked at Dash's face with her eyes closed with tears spilling from them. She also heard her quivering as well. "Dashie, are you crying?" She never saw Dash cry before… ever. Twi did however see Dash get watery eyed once, but she denied it saying that she got something in her eye even though she was lying.

Dash opened her eyes and replied, "Yeah Twi, I am. I finally admit it."

Twilight let out a chuckle. "I knew it. But it's okay to cry, Dash. It's a good way to relieve your emotions."

"I know it is, but I feel weak and pathetic if I do. I always have to come up with an excuse to justify water eyes or whatever. But this time…" Her voice began to crack. "…this time… I… I… c…can't." A new wave of tears rolled down Dash's face as she finished her sentence.

This time, Twilight hugged the Pegasus pony to comfort; returning the favor Dash did earlier. She nuzzled her marefriend's neck and let out a breath with grazed Dash's wing. "You know Dash, I really appreciate the fact that you came to see me after what AJ did to me. I don't know what I would do without you." A tear began to roll down Twilight's cheek. "Because, there would be no sunlight, if I lose you Dashie. There would be no clear skies if I lose you, Dashie. Just like the clouds, my eyes will do the same if you fly away. Every day it would rain." She was quoting a song from Bruno Mares called "It Will Rain." Even though she was an "egghead," as Dash called her, she liked to listen to the radio every so often to keep her concentrated in her studies. This song came up one time and it was stuck in her head ever since. Twilight figured this song would be appropriate to calm Dash down right now.

Dash pulled away from the hug and said with tears still in her eyes with her hooves around her lover's neck with a smile, "Oh Twi Twi, I love you!"

"I love you too, Dashie." Twilight replied with tears in her eyes along with a smile.

The both of them closed their eyes and began to move their heads closer for a kiss. But just before their lips touched, Spike interrupted their moment together. "TWILIGHT! RAINBOW DASH!!"

Twilight then snapped a look back at Spike and shouted, "SPIKE! Can't you see we're in the middle of something!?"

"Sorry Twilight. But something is wrong."

"This better be worth it."

The baby dragon took a couple of deep breaths and began. "Apple Jack…"

"Screw Apple Jack!" Dash exclaimed, after what she did to Twilight.

"Let me finish." Spike continuing his last statement before being interrupted by Rainbow Dash. "Apple Jack's main barn is on fire and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are trapped inside it after lightning struck it. The strike set a beam on fire separating AJ from the CMC's! She's asking for any help from anyone."

"Oh my!" Twilight gasped. "I just… talked to them. We should go and help them."

"But it's at Apple Jack's place Twilight!" Rainbow pointed out. "Remember what she did to you."

"Yes I know, but we have to put aside our differences for now and help Applebloom and the other Crusaders. I know, you don't like it as much as I don't like it; but we have no choice Dash. Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Dash took a deep breath and said with a sigh, "Alright, let's go. Let's go rescue the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

Twilight put Spike on her back as the both of them galloped down the stairs and into the pouring rain towards Sweet Apple Acres. Even though Rainbow Dash and Twilight were going to the property of somepony who earlier accused Twilight of messing with the Crusaders' heads with lies, they wanted to help out the trapped fillies and maybe change Apple Jack's and possibly Rarity's mind on same pony love. It wouldn't be an easy task, but they needed to do what they needed to do.