//-------------------------------------------------------// Never Let Go -by Fly Away- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// { one } //-------------------------------------------------------// { one } Never Let Go A Story By: Fly Away “Rainbow... have you ever thought about the future?” Twilight asked, looking up at the beautiful velvet night sky. “Like… seeing into the future? Or what will happen?” Rainbow responded, turning to face Twilight Sparkle. Her marefriend’s eyes shone under the starlight. “No, I mean… our future.” The purple alicorn inched closer to Dash. Rainbow wrapped her arms around her protectively. “Well, wherever we are, I’ll always be behind you. I’ll keep you safe. That much I can see.” She said, gently kissing Twilight’s nose. Twilight giggled, and nuzzled deeper into Rainbow’s grasp. “I love you, Dashie.” Twilight said, looking up into the Pegasus’ eyes. “I love you too, Twi.” Just before their lips met, the scene faded into white. The sounds of crickets chirping and Twilight’s steady breathing were replaced with a voice, yelling; “Rainbow, Rainbow…” “Twi?” I murmured, still half asleep. “Twi, I’m here…” “No, silly!” A voice said. “It’s Pinkie Pie!” I opened my eyes to find a mess of pink hair and Pinkie’s wide smile in my face. “Aaaargh!” I cried, scooting back so that I touched the headboard of my bed. Well, I should really say Twilight’s bed. I slept in the Library last night, again. But Twilight was never there. She was in Canterlot, fulfilling her Princess duties. “How did you get in here?! And why are you here anyway?” “Silly, don’t you remember?” Pinkie squeaked. “We were all going to meet at Sugarcube Corner to go to Rarity’s to get measured for our new dresses for Twilight’s wedding! But you weren't ready so I told Applejack and Fluttershy that I’d check here. Fluttershy’s at your cloud-house and Applejack’s just waiting for us.” I let out a groan at the mention of Twilight’s wedding. Rolling over, I put the pillow over my head. “Pinkie, I’m not going.” I snapped, breathing in the smell of the sheets. They still smelled faintly of my Twilight. “C’mon, Rainbow Dash, pleeeeeease?” It’ll be so much fun! Twilight said she’s so excited to see everyone and you gotta look nice…” “Fine.” I said, rolling out of bed. Pinkie cheered, and proceeded to drag me out the door. I squirmed out of her grasp, spread my wings, and flew towards Sugarcube Corner. “Rainbow! You’re here!” Applejack cried as she saw me fly over the town plaza. I pasted on a fake smile, flew downwards, and landed next to her friend. “She was in the libraaaaaaaaaary!” Pinkie said, bouncing towards A.J. and Fluttershy. Applejack shot me a worried glance. I looked away, and trotted towards Pinkie. “Shouldn’t we be going over to Rarity’s?” I asked, quickly changing the subject. “Oh, yeah, right!” Pinkie cried, as if she had forgotten, and suddenly started galloping towards Carousel Boutique. “Uh, Rainbow? Can I talk to ya?” Applejack asked me just as we arrived at Rarity’s. “Sure, A.J.” I said, turning around to face her. “I’m ready to talk!” A.J. eyed the other ponies, and then leaned in and whispered to me; “I mean alone.” “Oh!” I said, stepping off the path and under a tree. “This good?” The earth pony nodded and stepped over next to me. “Rainbow… I know you miss Twilight- we all do- but don’t you think it’s time to let go? She’s gettin’ married for Celestia’s sake!” “Let go?” I snapped, suddenly furious at the world. “Let go?! You want me to just forget about what she did to me? We had everything- everything two ponies in love could have ever wanted, but she just... she… I…” I buried my head in my hooves and burst into tears. “It’s okay, Rainbow. There, there.” The filly said, stroking my mane. I pushed myself away from her. Only Twi ever touched my mane. “It’s not okay, Applejack, and I don’t think it ever will be. But I’ll try my best to hide my feelings for her at the wedding, okay?” I said, sniffling and wiping away the tears from my eyes. This was totally undeniably, unquestionably, un-Rainbowish. I had to step up my game. I couldn’t let the other ponies know that anything was wrong; it would ruin the awesomeness of my ego. Applejack nodded. I stood up, brushed off my mane, and looked up at the cloudless blue sky. “Ready for some medieval torture?” I asked, thinking of Rarity wrapping her measuring tape around every visible limb. Applejack laughed and playfully nudged me. “There’s the old Dash.” I grinned, and opened the door for her. “After you.” ~ //-------------------------------------------------------// { two } //-------------------------------------------------------// { two } "Oww, Rarity! Not so tight! You'll ruin my wings!" I snapped as Rarity wound yet another tape measure around my torso. "Nonsense, Rainbow, dear, your wings are fine. And I do say that your dress will look just lovely with your eyes!" Rarity sang, proceeding to pull the rope- err, tape measure- as tight as she could around me. I gagged, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. "And don't forget that you all are coming back here next Thursday for mane-cuts and pedicures! We all must look our best for all the lovely single stallions- I mean, because we are Twilight's bridesmaids, of course!" I sighed and blew at a stray hair from my mane out of my eyes. Rarity was such a romantic, and it really annoyed the heck out of me. I'd never been one for romance after Twi... left. No, I reminded myself. Don't get sappy here. You're the Awesome-tastic Rainbow Dash, flying extraordinaire, remember? You can't afford to ruin your reputation... "Rainbow? Rainbow?! You can get off the pedestal now," Rarity yelled, waving her hoof in front of my face. "Oh!" I squeaked, jumping down. "Yeah. Right. I knew that. Just lookin' around at all your... uh, cool fabric?" Applejack and Pinkie Pie held in snickers as Rarity's eyes lit up. "Oh, Rainbow, I never thought of your as someone who was interested in designing! You should really stop by sometime next week once the boutique is closed- I could give you some sewing lessons!" The room burst into uproarious laughter. My cheeks burned, and my ears drooped. I slowly made my way to the door as Rarity pouted. "What? What did I say?" Before anyone could stop me, I galloped out the Boutique's front door and took off into the skies of Ponyville. Flying to my cloud home, I shook the embarrassment away. "Everyone has their moments, Dash," I reminded myself. I flew into the window of my luxurious Cloud-home and sat down on my bed. I noticed a book on my nightstand; one of the many Daring Do's. Grateful for the distraction, I picked it up and opened it to the first chapter. "Man," I said, reminiscing. "This is just like that time when I was stuck in the Hospital. And Twilight brought me that book..." Don't think about that. Just read. I told myself. "Alright; Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone... As Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky. But her crash landing in the jungle had injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days. Few days... it might as well be a few months, or a few years! ...No!" I cried, having an epiphany and slamming the book down. "I can't do this any more. No more getting lost in my thoughts; no more missing Twi! No more distractions!" I jumped up onto my back hooves. "I'm going to fly to Canterlot by myself, and get back my girl! Yeah! YEAH! No matter what it takes, I'll get her to realize that I'm the one she needs to be with, not that silly old Prince Blueblood! Operation TwiDash is now in the planning stage!" ~ Author's Note Hi everyone, I just want to thank you all so much for reading my first MLP fanfiction. I promise, it WILL get better! I'm still getting used to writing in first person past-tense. c: Again, thanks so much for reading and stay tuned for future updates! //-------------------------------------------------------// { three } //-------------------------------------------------------// { three } "Dear Princess Celestia," the purple alicorn began. A small baby dragon began scribbling the words down on a piece of parchment as she spoke. "Falling in love doesn't have to mean going on an adventure to find your Prince Charming. You don't need to have love at first sight with someone to know that they are the pony for you. Sometimes, your other half might be there the whole time and you might not even know it." At this, she nuzzled the aqua-blue pegasus beside her. "They could even end up being one of your best friends." Other half, other half, other half... The words haunted me throughout the day as I organized the preparations for my wedding. Lately I'd been having dreams- well, they were actually flashbacks I had in my sleep- about my old marefriend, Rainbow Dash. Everything was going pretty smoothly until it was time for me to return to Canterlot and be the princess I was supposed to be. But Rainbow just couldn't accept the fact that I had to leave. All she ever though about was herself, her future. Not what I was meant to do, not where I was going to be. Suddenly a pair of hooves covered my eyes, distracting me from my thoughts. "Blueblood," I said, giggling and shaking his hooves off me. "I know it's you." My fiancé laughed and nuzzled me. "I was just in the kitchens testing out the cakes." I giggled again and pointed to some blue icing at the corner of his mouth. "I can tell!" Blueblood licked it away and smiled. "Mmmm- blueberry!" We both collapsed into laughter. But instead of laughing at Blueblood, I quickly remembered the birthday party that Rainbow had organized for me a few years ago... with blueberry icing on the cake. My laughing quickly turned to crying, and suddenly my prince's lips crashed into mine. He put so much fire and passion into the kiss and that made me love him even more. His tongue pushed at my teeth, begging for entry. I accepted, and our tongues battled for dominance. When we finally broke apart, he pulled me into him, and whispered in my ear; "I love you." "I love you, too, Blueblood." We leaned into each other again, and shared another kiss. This one was more tender and loving. Suddenly, an old memory resurfaced. "I love you, too, Dashie..." My eyes widened, and I broke the kiss. "What is it?" Blueblood asked, worried. "I- it's nothing. I just forgot... to tell the gardener what color lilies we wanted in the bouquet!" He laughed and blew me a kiss as I trotted away. My heart broke as I looked back at him- so innocent, so loving. I hated lying to him. I wasn't really going to the gardener's- I'd had the bouquet organized since the minute I said 'yes' to his proposal, and he should have known that. I was going to the library for some research. I used my horn to quickly open the door as I arrived at the Library. Canterlot's royal librarian, Ink Bottle, greeted me with a smile. "Hello, Princess," she said, bowing as I entered. "You don't have to call me Princess, Ink," I said, smiling tenderly at the librarian. "You've known me since I was Princess Celestia's student!" "Nonsense," she quipped. "You're royalty now. You deserve to be addressed with your proper title. Now, is there anything I can get you, Princess?" I sighed, but looked around the library and told her what I was looking for. "Do you have any books on love?" She grinned and pointed to one section. "If you're looking for romance novels, they're over there. I never knew you to be a romantic, Princess Twilight!" "No, that's not what I was looking for. I was hoping for a book about... research on love?" Ink Bottle sighed and pointed towards the Star Swirl the Bearded Archive. "If you look on the third bookcase from the left, it's the faded red book on the eighth shelf. No one's touched that book in years!" "Perfect. Thanks, Ink Bottle!" I said, grinning. I trotted into the monstrous room that all of Star Swirl the Bearded and other philosopher's works were kept. I quickly retrieved the book with a spell, and cracked it open to the first chapter. I coughed as a cloud of dust blew out and surrounded my face. I fanned it away with my hooves, and began to read. I had to figure out why I kept having flashbacks of all the time I spent with Rainbow Dash. "For years, nopony has been able to solve thy mystery of thine emotion, love. Love is like a ghost..." I flipped farther into the book. "...What causes thy mare to love thy stallion? What causes mares to love each other? What causes stallions to love each other?" After hours of reading, I slammed the book down. "This isn't helping! Star Swirl the Bearded has only been asking questions! You can't understand love, you have to feel it!" I summoned a romance novel over with another spell. "Let's see... ah, Pride and Prejudice..." By the time I finished the book, I was in tears. "That was so sweet.... when Elizabeth had that dream about Darcy... it's so obvious that they were meant to be! She missed him!" Suddenly, I had an epiphany. "Oh, no, no, no..." I groaned, flopping onto my back. I could not be missing Rainbow Dash. I could not be wanting her back. Or could I? Is it possible to love two ponies at once? Author's Note Thanks for the 6 likes, but what's up with the 4 dislikes? :/ I didn't think my story was that bad... Chapter 4 coming soon. ^.^ Also, the thing about the dream from Pride and Prejudice was made up. Elizabeth and Darcy are real characters from that novel, though. //-------------------------------------------------------// Author's Note //-------------------------------------------------------// Author's Note Hey guys, it's me. I'm really sorry for not updating the story in a few days (well, almost a week). I've been doing a ton of stuff with family from out of town and I went to ANOTHER family reunion (we hosted one and then traveled to another) and just got back late last night. I haven't really had any time at all to be able to update. BUT, I've started typing Chapter Four and that should be up sometime today or tomorrow. ^.^ Thank you guys so much for all the views and likes! You guys are great. <3