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              From Everypony's Point of View               
                     -by Death_Brony-                      
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             Rainbow Dash- Friendship is Magic             
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Rainbow Dash- Friendship is Magic
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Author's Note
Sorry about that bad first chapter everypony. But, I finally got a proof-reader, so maybe that will make it about 20% cooler?  One can only hope, right? Thanks moon_rocky (http://www.fimfiction.net/user/moon_rocky). And not only did I get a proof-reader, but I also now have a critic so that I know what to improve on. Thank you again SugarPesticide (http://www.fimfiction.net/user/SugarPesticide). Hope this chapter is better than the last.
End Author's Note
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Rainbow Dash looked up at the clock on her wall. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon.
  She hadn't gotten up from bed since yesterday. Hell, she hadn't even gone to sleep last night. She was far too tired to fall asleep, and the fact that yesterday had turned from the best day ever to the worst possible day of her life didn't help her thoughts much either.
  If what Fluttershy had said was true, then..... No. She didn't even want to think about it. There was no way it could be true. She would never forget about her friends.... Would she?
  Her head started to pulse lightly again from her growing migraine. She was just thinking too hard. Or maybe she had been crying too much. It didn't really matter. What did matter was the fact that what Fluttershy had said might be true. Fleetfoot left. Who was to say Rainbow Dash wouldn't?
And what about the other thing she said... A few fresh tears fell down her muzzle and onto her now-soaked pillow. Why would she tell me now, when she claims that I would forget about her?
  She shut her eyes and shoved her face into her pillow as she began to cry again. It wasn't like her to cry. Nothing had ever made her cry! So why now? Was it because she knew that now she could never join the Wonderbolts, simply out of fear? Or was it because she knew that now, more than ever, she loved Fluttershy, and couldn't bear to live without her.
  No. She was just confused. Maybe if she went to go see Ditzy, she would feel better. Ditzy always knew how to make Rainbow happy. She didn't know why, but there was just something about that mare that always made her smile. Maybe it was her positive attitude?
  Well, whatever it was, she needed closure, and Ditzy Doo would be the perfect pony to talk to at a time like this, when the world Rainbow had always known had been flipped upside-down.
  Rainbow groggily got out of bed and walked over to her bed-side mirror. She was a mess! She had small bags under her eyes, her mane was a total disaster, and her coat was covered in sweat and tears.
  Normally, she would have taken a shower before going anywhere, but this wasn't a normal situation, now was it?
  So, instead of cleaning up and making herself presentable, she simply walked right out the door looking like she was homeless. At least she lived at the very edge of town, so nopony would see her. Not that she particularly cared.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  About ten minutes later, she made it to Ditzy's house, which was just below the outskirts of Cloudsdale. Her house was in a small clearing totally devoid of trees (for Ditzy's safety), which really made it stand out.
  Rainbow landed softly on the front porch and nearly bumped into the front door. Her eyesight was still a bit groggy.
  She rapped the door a few times with her front hoof and waited for an answer. There was nothing but silence for a moment, so Rainbow decided to turn back and go home. Maybe Ditzy was at work?
  But just as she got up to leave, there was a loud thud, and she guessed that Ditzy had just ran into the door because of her bad depth-perception. Rainbow Dash chuckled lightly as the door opened to a very cheerful looking Ditzy. Again, Rainbow wondered how she was always so happy.
  Almost a second later, her face went from giddy to horrified. "Rainbow Dash? Is that you?" Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed her and brought her into her home. "What happened?"
  Rainbow just sat there for a moment before hugging her friend and crying on her shoulder. "It's just horrible Ditzy! I did a horrible thing. My life is ruined," she said between sobs.
  Ditzy, caught much by surprise, stroked her sloppy mane and cooed lightly, "Sshh, it's okay Rainbow. Why don't you tell me all about it? I'll go make some muffins and you can tell me what's bothering you. How does that sound?"
  Rainbow, now crying heavily, simply nodded and walked over to the kitchen table. After a short moment of silence, she told Ditzy everything; about the contest, her short meeting with the Wonderbolts, and even explained in stunning detail her talk with Fluttershy.
  Ditzy, after finishing with the muffins, had sat quietly during the whole ordeal. Her expression remained mostly blank and it was hard to tell what she was thinking.
  When Rainbow was finished telling her story, Ditzy put a hoof on her shoulder and said, "You didn't do anything wrong, Rainbow. You're just going through denial. On one hoof, you want to fulfill your dream and join the Wonderbolts. But on the other hoof, you don't want to leave your friends behind. Now, in my opinion, you really shouldn't be getting so emotional about the whole thing."
  "But-" Rainbow started, slightly disagreeing with her.
  But Ditzy cut her off, saying, "No buts Rainbow. Now tell me, what do you think about Fluttershy confessing her love to you then running off to hide in her cottage?" Ditzy knew what she was doing, and she knew exactly what Rainbow was thinking. She had dealt with this type of situation before.
  "Well..." Rainbow started. "I think it's totally unfair! You can't just tell somepony you love them then totally shut them off. It's just not right! In fact, I should go down to her cottage right now and tell her so!"
  "No Rainbow, you shouldn't. I've dealt with this before, and I know for a fact that you need to leave her be. She needs to think about what she has said, and what she will say when she finally comes out of her cottage. The only reason I brought it up is because I know you Rainbow Dash, and I knew you would want to confront her. But I'm telling you right now, it would be best for you to leave her alone until she confronts you."
  Ditzy stood up and walked into her living-room, beckoning for Rainbow to follow her. She did, but only because she wanted the mare's advice. At least, that's what she told herself.
  When she caught up with Ditzy, she said, "So what should I do to get all this off my mind?"
  Ditzy simply pointed a hoof at her front door and said softly, "You need to go home and think about what you should do next that doesn't involve the Wonderbolts or Fluttershy. Do something productive. After you take a bath, that is." She chuckled at the last part so that Rainbow would know she was being friendly.
  She put her hoof down and smiled at the cyan pegasus. "And I would avoid Rarity if I were you."
  Now that was funny. Rainbow surprised herself when she burst out laughing. "Alright Ditzy. I'll keep that in mind. Say hello to Dinky for me." With that said, she walked out the door and flew steadily towards her home in Cloudsdale.
Like I said, she thought. That mare really knows how to lighten the mood.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Over the course of the next few days, Rainbow managed to keep her thoughts away from the day of the Wonderbolts try-outs. It had been a bit difficult the first few days, but she finally found a way to keep her mind distracted; she decided to read the last two books of her favorite series, Daring Doo.
  She was in the middle of a very intense scene in the book when there was a light tapping at her door. She ignored it at first.  Maybe it was the wind?
  She grumbled angrily when there was another knock, louder this time, and she put her book down before walking to the door, yelling quite angrily, "I'm busy in here! This had better be important!"
  Rainbow Dash opened the door and was surprised to see Ditzy Doo standing there with a silly grin on her face. "Hiya Rainbow Dash!"
  "Oh, hey Ditzy. What are you doing here? I thought you said Dinky was staying home from school today."
  "Oh, she is, but she can manage on her own while I'm at work. I have a letter for you!" She rummaged through her bags until she finally found the one addressed to Rainbow Dash. It was a simple dark blue envelope.
  "Wait, is that what I think it is?" Rainbow asked excitedly. It had finally come! The letter from the Wonderbolts!
  "It sure is!" said Ditzy, confirming her thoughts. She handed it to Rainbow Dash and added, "I wonder what it says?"
  Rainbow wasted no time and opened the letter, reading over it quickly. She squealed and showed the letter to Ditzy.
  It was fairly simple. It read: Congratulations Rainbow Dash, you are the victor of the Wonderbolts Try-outs and are hereby declared as an official member. Meet us at the club on Harley St. at precisely 5:30 tomorrow. Signed, The Wonderbolts
  Ditzy looked wide-eyed at Rainbow. "You did it, Rainbow! You're an official member of the Wonderbolts now! You should go down to Ponyville and tell all your friends!"
  When Ditzy said that, Rainbow immediately went from excited to miserable. How could she confront her friends now, after ignoring them for the past week? Most of all Fluttershy, who would be the least happy to even see Rainbow Dash, much less learn that she had been accepted into the Wonderbolts!
  A few moments later, Ditzy realized her change in attitude and remembered what had transpired between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "Oh! Um.... I mean.... Maybe you should finally go talk to them? You haven't seen them in about a week, anyways. It's about time Fluttershy got the nerve to confront you too."
  When Rainbow Dash didn't reply, Ditzy simply put a hoof on her shoulder and smiled. "It's gonna be alright Rainbow. Anyways, I've got a bunch of letters and stuff to deliver, so I'll see you later, okay?"
  Rainbow just sat there while Ditzy left. What should I do? she thought warily. How would they react? Would they get mad and yell at me like Fluttershy?
  No. She knew they wouldn't. They were all much better at controlling their tempers then Fluttershy was. No offense to the yellow pegasus, of course.
  Plus, they would be happy for her if she told them. None of them would think what Fluttershy had thought... right? Rainbow certainly hoped so.
  She simply sat there with her door still open, contemplating what to do next. So far, she could only come up with two possible conclusions: she either told them the news, and left them forever, or she could just go straight for the Wonderbolts and save herself the hardship of emotionally scarring her friends.
  But neither of the two outcomes seemed to give any kind of sanctuary or peace-of-mind. They both seemed cruel and downright dim-witted.
  So what was she going to do?
No! she suddenly thought. I will NOT let this get the better of me! I will simply go down to Ponyville and tell everypony the... er.... good news.
  Without a second thought, she flew outside and down towards Ponyville, all the while thinking of what she would say.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  It had almost been an hour since Rainbow Dash had left Cloudsdale and told Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie to meet her at Ponyville's library. She didn't bother with Fluttershy because she still hadn't left her cottage, and Rainbow Dash didn't feel like disturbing her.
  "Uuuugh, what's taking everypony so long?" Rainbow Dash complained while pacing back and forth.
  Twilight Sparkle looked down at her from the second floor. "Maybe they're just busy. They should be here any minute. Why is it so important anyways?"
  "I can't tell you until everypony is here. All I can say is that it's reeeaaally important. In fact, it's so important that you can't tell anypony after I do tell you unless I say so. You gotta Pinkie promise."
  Twilight thought she was being just a bit too extreme, but she reluctantly agreed to secrecy. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
  Just then Pinkie Pie came seemingly out of nowhere and said, rather quickly, "Did I just hear someone making a Pinkie promise? Without my supervision?! Rainbow Dash! Do you have any idea how many things could go wrong if you make Pinkie promises without Pinkie Pie?! You could have put all of EQUESTRIA in danger! Lucky for you, I arrived just in time! No need to thank me, faithful citizens!"
  She concluded with a huge grin on her face, but frowned when she saw that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were both looking at her like she was crazy. "What?"
  Rainbow was the first to recover from the confusion that was Pinkie Pie. "O-oh nothing, Pinkie. It's just that none of what you are saying is either true or logical."
  Pinkie just sat there looking at her with a dumb expression on her face. "What does that mean?"
  Rainbow Dash face-hoofed and groaned, "Never mind Pinkie. Let's just sit here quietly until everypony else gets here."
  "Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie sat on her haunches and stared up and out a window in the library.
  It was another ten minutes -ten awkward minutes- before anypony else arrived. Rarity walked in rather snootily, giving a little 'humph' when she walked past Rainbow Dash. She was still a bit angry with her for not helping with her orders like she had promised.
  Rainbow Dash realized that and put a hoof to the back of her neck uneasily. "Um... Hey Rarity."
  Rarity simply nodded in her direction. Very curtly, Rainbow might say. Then again, she couldn't really blame her for being mad. It was kind of her fault.
  "Um... I just wanted to....  apologize.... for not keeping my promise. I really am sorry Rarity. Can't we just put that behind us? I had a minor setback after the try-outs and had to be alone for a while. You understand that, don't you?"
  Rarity thought it over for a bit then sighed, "Oh, fine. I guess it wasn't that bad without you. I did somehow manage to get all of my orders done in time, so there was really no harm done. What is it that made you need some alone time? You always seem to love attention."
  "Oh. That. Maybe I'll tell you after I tell everypony the more important news. Does that sound fair?"
  "I suppose so, dear."
  In truth, Rainbow Dash really didn't want to tell anypony what had happened between her and Fluttershy that day. Other than Ditzy, that is. She didn't really want to think about it at all. Then again, secrets are never good, and she would feel guilty if she didn't tell her friends. Maybe she would tell them.
  Her thoughts were interrupted when a particular muscular orange mare walked into the library somewhat noisily.
  "Well, howdy everypony! I guess this here news must be real important fer ya ta invite everypony over, RD." She looked around the library and noticed somepony missing. "Where's Fluttershy? I haven't seen 'er in a few days."
  Rarity looked up thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, neither have I. I haven't seen the poor dear since the Wonderbolts try-outs. I hope that nothing bad happened to her. We all know poor Fluttershy can't handle too much stress"
  Admittedly, that really ticked Rainbow Dash off. Sure, Fluttershy was a bit shy, and maybe she did get scared pretty easily, but she could take as much stress as anypony. She wasn't as weak and fragile as most ponies made her out to be. So, naturally, she protected her friend's honor.
  "Fluttershy can take just as much 'stress' as any of us! If there's anypony that can't take stress, it's you Rarity. Always being so melodramatic. Me and Fluttershy had a little argument after the try-outs the other day, and that's why she's been avoiding everypony. I know she might have taken it a bit too far, but who can blame her?! I made a horrible mistake, and I.... I...." Rainbow realized then that she was crying. She hadn't meant to take it that far. Everypony was just staring at her like she had said something wrong. Even Pinkie.
  But Rainbow Dash didn't care. She didn't care if they all judged her, if they all thought she had been exaggerating. She just needed to tell somepony before it made her insane. "... I love her..."
  Just then there was a small gasp near the door. Everypony looked up and sure enough, just like a cliche moment in a romantic movie, there was Fluttershy, standing at the door with a shocked expression on her face.
  She had come to the library because her bunny, Angel, had told her that Rainbow had some important news that she needed to tell everypony, and Fluttershy had thought that she had been in her cottage long enough, so she had come to hear that news. But she had not expected this. She had thought that Rainbow Dash would hate her for the words she said and the things she did. Apparently, she had been wrong. She had spent the last week crying in her cottage because she thought that Rainbow would never want to see her again. Well, that was a week wasted.
  But that didn't matter at the moment. All that mattered to Fluttershy was that she had just heard the love of her life say that she loved her. It made her head spin and a stray tear fell down her cheek.
  "R-Rainbow Dash.... Is that true...?" She had trouble making out the words, as her windpipe was closed up.
  Rainbow Dash just sat there, dumbstruck. She couldn't say anything. How could she? She had made a horrible mistake. It took her a while to say anything, and when she did, it was near silent. "Of.... of course it's true.... I wouldn't have said it otherwise... I've always loved you, Fluttershy. I was just always afraid to say it... I guess I'm not always as confident as I seem. And... I understand if you hate me. What I did was selfish and-"
  She was cut off when Fluttershy jumped up and hugged her. That caught her off guard and she fell, Fluttershy collapsing on top of her, her arms nearly squishing her. Rainbow Dash was amazed with the shy pony's strength.
  "I could never hate you! You never did anything wrong. You were just following your dream. It was me that was selfish. I wanted you all to myself and I didn't want to see you go. I thought you would hate me. I... I love you, Rainbow Dash."
  "I love you too, Fluttershy..." Without a second thought, Rainbow kissed Fluttershy. She had no idea what she was doing, and quite frankly, she didn't care. She just wanted Fluttershy to know how much she loved her.
  Fluttershy was reluctant at first, but then she leaned into the kiss, relishing the moment.
  Then Rainbow Dash remembered the others in the room. She quickly got up, much to the disliking of Fluttershy, and looked awkwardly at her friends, blushing madly. "Um... er.... sorry. That must have been.... a bit awkward for you guys."
  Fluttershy, understanding why Rainbow Dash had gotten up, got up as well and hid her face in her bangs, her face a light shade of pink.
  Everypony just stared at them. Spike looked like the bottom half of his jaw had dislodged itself from his skull.
  Twilight was the first to recover. She closed Spike's jaw with a hoof and cleared her throat. "Well, that was... sweet. I'm happy the two of you, erm... settled your disagreement? Anyways, Rainbow Dash, didn't you come here to tell us something important?"
  "I did? Oh yea, that's right! ...Um... Pinkie Pie? Are you okay?"
  Everypony looked at Pinkie, who was just sitting there with a blank expression on her face. Her eyes were fixed on some point in space, and she didn't seem to hear Rainbow Dash.
  Applejack looked a bit concerned and waved a hoof in front of her face. "Are ya'll all right, Pinkie? Hullo? Can ya hear me, sugarcube?"
  Pinkie snapped out of her delusional state and immediately jumped into the air, screaming at the top of her lungs, "OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH!!! I just HAVE to throw a party for the two of you! It's gotta be big! No! It's gotta be HUGE!! I need to start making plans. I'll see you guys in the next chapter, bye!!" Without waiting for a reply, she zoomed out of the library at top speed, heading straight for Sugarcube Corner.
  Applejack just stared at the now open door. "Okay then... Well, that was different. Even fer Pinkie Pie. Ah can only hope she doesn't throw a party too big. Anyhow, RD, you wanna go ahead an' tell us this news before somethin' else strange happens?"
  "Uh, sure..." Rainbow said, a bit concerned for Pinkie's mental health. "Well, I guess I'll just skip to the chase. I got a letter from the Wonderbolts earlier saying that I won the try-outs and that I am now an official member. Just thought I'd tell you guys before anypony else knew."
  Everypony except Fluttershy jumped with joy and congratulated Rainbow Dash; however, she quickly cut them off, saying, "Wait, wait. Before you get all excited, I have something to say. Fluttershy said something the other day that really grabbed my attention, and now I can't deny it. She told me-"
  "No, no, Rainbow Dash, you don't have to tell them what I said," whispered Fluttershy weakly. She really didn't want anypony to know how rude she had been.
  "Fluttershy, I need to tell them, because you and I both know it's true." She looked at the three remaining ponies and the baby dragon and said, "Fluttershy told me that when I joined the Wonderbolts, the fame would go to my head and I would soon forget about the lot of you. And like I said, I can't help but to agree with her."
  The room was silent for a moment. Then Rarity stomped a hoof on the ground and said, "Fluttershy! That is such a rude thing to say! How could you just crush Rainbow Dash's dreams like that? She would never do such a thing."
  Fluttershy just glanced towards the floor and looked like she was on the verge of tears. But before she could say anything, Rainbow Dash walked over to Rarity and put a hoof to her chest.
  "You really need to stop putting her down like that," she said coldly. "And didn't you hear me? I said she was right, and you know damn well that it's true."
  She then walked back over to Fluttershy and put a comforting wing on her shoulder. "Look, you all know how I am. I admit that I can be a bit ornery at times, and I do let things rush to my head. So, just think. How would I handle being a member of the Wonderbolts, the most famous flying group in all of Equestria? You all know me better than anypony else. I would let the fame go to my head, and I would bask in it. Hell, I would probably be worse than Fleetfoot. You guys remember her before she joined the Wonderbolts, right? She was just like me, just not as bad."
  Rarity looked a bit confused. "So, you came all this way just to tell us that you're leaving? What about poor Fluttershy? The poor dear would be heartbroken!"
  "And that's why I've made a decision. Also, I didn't come here to tell you I'm leaving. I came here to tell you all about the letter. I didn't know what I was going to do until I got here. But now I see what I want to do. No, what I need to do." She took a deep breath and smiled slightly. "I'm going to reject the Wonderbolt's offer."
  The whole room was filled with the cries of Rarity, Applejack, and even Twilight, a moment after she said that last sentence.
  "But this is your dream, Rainbow Dash!" cried Rarity. "This is what you've been looking up to your whole life! How could you just throw it away?"
  Applejack, the loudest of the three, yelled, "Come now, sugarcube, isn't that a bit extreme? Ah know that we're important to ya'll, but we couldn't just let ya throw your dreams away just like that!"
  "I agree, Rainbow Dash, you shouldn't give away your dreams just for us. This could be your only chance to get into the Wonderbolts!" said Twilight Sparkle, not as loud as Applejack or Rarity.
  "Girls, girls! Calm down! I have a perfectly good reason for not joining the Wonderbolts."
  "And that is?" the three asked in unison.
  "Well, it's simple really. Friendship is magic. And without it, I would become miserable. I mean sure, being a Wonderbolt would be totally awesome and all, but with no real friends, my life would be dull. You all have taught me different things about life, and I never want to give that away. That's why I'm rejecting the Wonderbolt's offer. Because I have wonderful friends like you who make my life great. Most of all Fluttershy, who has been there since the beginning." She gently nuzzled Fluttershy's neck and kissed her cheek softly. Fluttershy simply blushed and leaned into her.
  Twilight smiled warmly and said gently, "Well then, if that's what you want, then we won't stop you. I don't know what we would do without you and your stick-to-itiveness." She glanced at her clock and added, "It's getting a bit late, and this whole meeting has made me quite tired. We can celebrate and tell Pinkie tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going to get some rest, and I suggest you all do the same. Goodnight ladies. Come on Spike, time for bed."
  Spike relentlessly got up and grumbled something unintelligible and climbed up the stairs, quietly pursued by Twilight Sparkle, who indeed did look rather tired.
  "I agree," said Rainbow. "I do need some rest after all this."
  With that said, they all walked out of the library, each wishing one another a good night's rest. Everypony went straight to their homes and slept; everypony, that is, except Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
  "Well, I'm glad you made your choice Rainbow Dash, and I'm glad you decided to stay." Fluttershy bashfully leaned against Rainbow Dash, savoring the sweet smell of her mane.
  Rainbow placed her head atop Fluttershy's and said quietly, "Me too. I don't know how I could live without you." She kissed the top of her head gently, blushing just a bit. "So, what now?"
  "How about we go get some sleep like the others? It's been a long day, don't you think?"
  "Yea... Yea, it has."
  They both flew over to Fluttershy's cottage just at the edge of the Everfree Forest and snuggled contently with each other in her large bed, both feeling quite tired all of a sudden. But just before Rainbow Dash was wrapped in the comfort of sleep, she said quietly, "Goodnight Fluttershy. Thank you for being there for me, and thank you for starting another great chapter in my life."
  As they slept, all of Equestria seemed to be quiet and content with the day prior. Maybe it was Luna's moon, lighting up the dark sky and giving a message of peace, or maybe it was just chance. Either way, anypony would agree that it was as peaceful a night as ever, and that another great chapter had ended where a new one began.

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             Fluttershy- Rainbows and Muffins              
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Fluttershy- Rainbows and Muffins
  It was probably around 7 in the morning when Fluttershy first awoke from her peaceful slumber. She didn't get up, or even move for that matter, for fear of waking the cyan pegasus lying next to her. She simply opened her eyes and gazed at her, looking amazingly relaxed in her sleep, considering the events that had occurred last night.
  Rainbow Dash had a very content smile tugging at her lips, her breathing soft and serene as her chest rose and fell rhythmically with her heartbeat. Fluttershy placed a careful ear over her chest, rejoicing in the loud bass that was her steady heartbeat. She lie like that for what seemed like hours, and when she looked up at the clock on her bedside table, she was right. It was nearly twelve!
  Fluttershy chuckled lightly. I should probably wake her up. Fluttershy sat up slowly and nudged Rainbow's shoulder gently, whispering. "Time to wake up, Rainbow Dash. Come on, get up."
  Rainbow simply turned over and muttered something that Fluttershy guessed was supposed to be "I don't wanna," but it somehow came out sounding like, "Marijuana."
  Fluttershy's face went red as she tried to stifle a laugh; the attempt was short-lived and she almost fell on top of Rainbow Dash as she guffawed loudly.
  "Wha's sho funny?" Rainbow asked tiredly as she sat up, Fluttershy's laugh fully rousing her from her sleep.
  "Oh... I-it's nothing," Fluttershy managed to say between laughs. She wiped a tear from her eyes with a hoof. "Would you like some breakfast?"
  "I guess. I don't normally eat breakfast." This was a sad truth. Rainbow Dash normally didn't wake up until around 3 on weekends, so she always went straight to lunch.
  "Alright then. What would you like? I have all sorts of things I could cook for you. I can make a great marrow stew.... That is, if you'd like that."
  "I honestly don't care what you make. You're about as great a cook as anypony, if not better then most. I'm just glad to be here, with you."
  That last part made Fluttershy smile. She wasn't sure why she had insisted on Rainbow coming to her cottage last night, but she was glad she had. "You should go take a shower while I make breakfast."
  "Aw, come on," Rainbow grumbled. "Why can't I just take one later?"
  "Now Rainbow Dash, being clean is very important. And so long as you're with me, you will keep clean and proper."
  Rainbow visibly gagged at the thought of being proper. She didn't object against being clean and all, but come on, proper just wasn't something that described her. At all. But, if it kept Fluttershy happy she would certainly try.
  "Alright then. I'll see you in about half an hour then. I always take long showers."
  "See you then," Fluttershy said in a singsong voice as she walked towards her large kitchen. She began getting all the ingredients ready for the stew when there was a large crash that came from what sounded like her bathroom.
  "What in Equestria?" She walked calmly towards the noise and was surprised to see Rainbow Dash lying on the floor, soaking wet, with her hooves somehow tied to her rainbow mane, making her look quite ridiculous. Her struggling only seemed to make it worse.
  After a short moment, she realized that Fluttershy was standing there staring at her with an absolutely flabbergasted look on her face. "Um... Hi." She threw on a cheesy smile, blushing brightly as she comprehended how absurd she must look.
  "What...? How...?" was all Fluttershy could manage to say. The shower was running and there was water all over the tiled floor. Fluttershy could see how Rainbow could have fallen, but how did she manage to get her hooves tangled in her mane? That was probably the strangest (and funniest) thing about this whole predicament.
  She walked up to the tangled mess that was Rainbow Dash and helped her get her hooves detached from her mane. She then stood up, still looking quite flustered. "Heh... Well, that was... fun. Ugh, I bet I looked ridiculous."
  "Just a bit," said Fluttershy, still finding the situation odd. "You still haven't explained exactly how that even happened..."
  "Oh," Rainbow Dash said as she blushed lightly. "Well... I was kinda brushing my mane and the brush got tangled into it, so I got into the shower to wet it so that the brush would come out more easily. But then when I tried to get it out, my front left hoof got tangled in as well, and then I got my right hoof stuck trying to get it out. I don't brush my mane much, so it gets very knotted," she added when Futtershy gave her another strange look. "And I'm not that good at balancing on my back legs, so I slipped and fell. That's when you came in."
  When she was done speaking, her face was almost completely deprived of it's usual cyan blue, being replaced by a light red color as the blood rushed to her face. Fluttershy chuckled. "I never knew you were so... clumsy."
  "I am not clumsy! I'm just... not well coordinated."
  "You do realize that means the same thing, right?" She giggled again when Rainbow was at a loss for words. "Well, I'm going to go and finish making breakfast. You get back in the shower, and try not to fall again, you silly filly."
  "I am not a filly."
  "You sure do act like one." Fluttershy said as she walked back towards her kitchen. She didn't know why, but she seemed to be a lot more confident in what she said when talking to Rainbow. She didn't stutter as much, she didn't pause between words, and she said things she normally wouldn't say when in a crowd. Maybe that was just the power of love; it made you a lot more confident.
  She thought about this until she got to the kitchen, where she started making breakfast for her and her lover. She grabbed a slightly small marrow and chopped it into small pieces, throwing it in a pot, along with a diced onion, some olive oil, cinnamon, chili powder, lemon juice, toasted cumin seeds, four cloves of crushed garlic, four large chopped tomatoes, some pinto beans, a bit of water, and some salt and pepper for some flavor. Instead of cooking the marrow then adding the spices, she decided to cook them all together. She had found that that added a bit of extra flavor.
  Fluttershy covered the pot and put it on the stove to cook for about an hour. She then sat at her dinner table and stared out at the sky through a window. Today was supposed to be another bright and virtually cloudless day. An almost perfect day- no. It was a perfect day. Celestia's sun was shining, and the mare of her dreams was with her to enjoy the day with her. What more could she ask for?
  She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't notice when Rainbow Dash entered the kitchen about twenty minutes later, even when she sat at the table right across from her. "Um... Fluttershy?"
  "Hmm?" she said absentmindedly. She wasn't really paying attention, and barely heard Rainbow Dash.
  "Whatcha thinkin' about?" she asked, a bit annoyed when Fluttershy didn't respond. "Hello? Equestria to Fluttershy! Come in, Fluttershy."
  She still didn't answer. She was too busy day-dreaming about the future; what would happen if her and Rainbow's relationship lasted, which she hoped it would. Fluttershy was almost certain it would. Then again, what would happen if it didn't? She didn't want to think about that at the moment, seeing as they had just gotten together. She was then snapped back to reality as Rainbow Dash took her by the shoulders and shook her violently.
  "Jeez, it's about time you snapped out of it. I was starting to get worried."
  "Huh? Why would you be worried?"
  "Oh I don't know, probably because you were just totally out of it for an hour."
  Fluttershy gasped, "Has it really been an hour?!" She looked back at her stew, but there was still thirty-two minutes left on the timer.
  "Of course not, I was only exaggerating. Why were you so out of it just now?"
  "Oh, I was just.... thinking. Is it really such a bad thing to just sit and think?"
  "It is when you space out like that. What were you thinking about, anyways?"
  "Nothing really," Fluttershy lied. For some reason she didn't want to tell the cyan pony her thoughts; whether it was from embarrassment or insecurity, she wasn't sure.
  Rainbow Dash looked at her with a skeptical look. "Come on Fluttershy, I know you better than that. And you know you can't lie to me. Even if you do, I know how to get my way... Especially with you." She added a wink to that last part, making Fluttershy somewhat uneasy.
  "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not lying.... I am ashamed that you would think that." Fluttershy tried her hardest to keep her voice as level as possible. Her voice shook a little when she lied. She really hated forging the truth, and she wasn't sure why she was at the moment.
  Rainbow stuck out her bottom lip and pouted slightly, "Aw, pwease Fwuttershy? You know you can tell me anything. What's so important you can't tell Wainbow Dash? Don't you wove me?" When she was finished speaking, she had let a small tear run down her face, making it that much worse for Fluttershy. She really hated when Rainbow Dash did that, and it almost always worked. She just couldn't resist that cute little face.
  And try and try as she did, in the end, she couldn't. "Oh, of course I love you Rainbow Dash! And I know I can tell you anything, but.... I don't know. I know I'm being insecure, but still...."
  Rainbow Dash popped right back to her normal mood, knowing she had already won this little affair. "Okay then, why not tell me?" she said with affectionate smile.
  Fluttershy sighed inwardly and said in an annoyed whisper, "Fine. Since it's so important to you." She paused and looked Rainbow in her soft red eyes. She could stare at those eyes all day if given the opportunity. "I was just thinking about us... and the future. Nothing really extreme. Just... wondering if we'll last."
  "Really? That's it?" Rainbow was looking at her with a dull expression on her face.
  "Well.... Yea... I told you it was nothing, didn't I? I just-"
  She stopped abruptly when she was wrapped in a tight embrace. She looked down at Rainbow Dash with a bit of a shocked expression. She was even more appalled when she saw the tears at the corners of her closed eyes and the enormous grin on her face.
  "R-Rainbow Dash? Are you okay?"
  "Of course I'm okay, you idiot," she said between tears. "Did I ever tell you how much of an idiot you are? 'Cause you're a really big idiot."
  "Gee, thanks...," said Fluttershy, quite put down by her spiteful words.
  Then Rainbow looked up at her and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "I will always love you, Fluttershy. I mean, sure, we may have our ups and downs in the future, but either way, this relationship will last as long as we both live. I can guarantee you that."
  Those were probably the sweetest words that had ever come out of the daredevil pony's mouth. Fluttershy could feel tears coming on as she wrapped her hooves around the cyan pegasus, nuzzling her neck slightly. "That.... that's good. I never want this to end. I love you too much." She looked into her lovers eyes for a split second before kissing her deeply, pushing a bit forcefully.
  Not missing a beat, Rainbow Dash pushed back with just as much force, sliding her tongue along Fluttershy's gums. They both nearly broke the chair Fluttershy was sitting in when their wings snapped back from their bodies and they both fell to the floor, still tangled in each others arms. It was a perfect moment...
  That is, it was perfect until the timer on the stove went off, nearly scaring them both to death. Rainbow Dash jumped into the air, screaming like a school filly, while Fluttershy jumped onto her table, nearly knocking it over.
  When Fluttershy scoped out the source of the noise, she relaxed and walked towards the stove, turning it off. "Breakfast is ready," she said in that singsong voice of hers. She stifled a laugh when Rainbow Dash immediately dropped to the floor, trying her best to make it look like the timer hadn't scared her, failing miserably, and instead almost falling on her side as she landed on the hardwood floor.
  "Hey! What are you laughing at? It scared you just as much as it scared me."
  "That's... not what I'm laughing at," Fluttershy said between giggles.
  "Then what's so funny?" Rainbow asked, slightly confused.
  "Oh, just the way you try to avoid looking scared, only to make yourself look absolutely ridiculous."
  "Whatever," said Rainbow Dash, blushing slightly. "Let's just eat and forget about it."
  Fluttershy was already getting two bowls out. She poured a bit of stew into each, carefully balancing one on top of her head and one in her teeth as she brought them over to the table, where Rainbow was already seated. She placed one in front of her and the other in a seat across from her, where she herself sat. She carefully picked a spoon up in the crook of her calf, blowing lightly on the still hot stew before gulping it down; it was quite delicious, even by her standards.
  Then she noticed Rainbow staring at her food with her face crinkled in a disgusted manner. "It smells funny," she said when she noticed Fluttershy looking at her.
  Fluttershy simply sighed, "It really isn't that bad. Try it; I promise you'll like it."
  Rainbow was reluctant at first, but after a minute, she took a sip of the stew, and the look on her face was priceless. At first, she looked like she had taken a bite out of heaven. About a half second later, her face got red and she almost choked. "It's hot!!"
  The entire table was almost knocked over (again) as Fluttershy doubled over in laughter. And the one and only thing Fluttershy hated about Rainbow Dash was that she always managed to make her laugh- not the kind of laugh anypony else got out of her, but her actual laugh, which was extremely loud and obnoxious.
  "It's not that funny." Rainbow said stubbornly. She was attempting to hide her blush with a hoof, but was sure she was failing at it.
   "Yes... Yes it.... is!" Fluttershy could barely speak as she laughed. It was slowly getting harder and harder to breathe.
  "Whatever. You have anything planned for today?"
  Fluttershy didn't answer immediately; she was still laughing violently. A couple minutes later, she finally managed to stop and say, "No, I don't have anything planned for today. How about you?"
  "Not really. I thought I would go over and see Ditzy later, considering she's off work today. She would be really excited to know that you and I are together now."
  "Oh? And why is that?"
  "Me and her talked a lot while you were hiding out in your cottage. We should go see her later... Oh, and Fluttershy?"
  "What?"
  "You have a wonderful laugh." Rainbow smiled when Fluttershy hid her face behind her bangs. She could be really cute sometimes. Rainbow was glad to have her to herself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  About three hours later they had arrived at the small clearing where Ditzy's small house resided. They walked side by side up to the door, which was slightly ajar. Rainbow knocked a few times, pushing the door further open. What they saw was a bit surprising; not totally unexpected, yet strange all the same.
  There on her living room floor among an ocean of muffins was Ditzy Doo, literally swimming in them and eating them all three at a time.
Damn, thought Fluttershy. I know Derpy loves muffins, but this? This is just... obsession.
  When Ditzy didn't seem to notice them, Rainbow Dash cleared her throat loudly. "Uh... Ditzy?"
  Ditzy immediately looked up with a shocked expression on her face. "Rainbow Dash?! Oh, um.... I wasn't expecting any company today, so I ordered a bunch of muffins, which is why there's so many, and... Yea... Wait, why was my door open? I coulda sworn I locked it."
  "It was open when we got here."
  Ditzy just shrugged. "Oh well. Wait, did you just say 'we'?" Her vision was slightly blocked by the door, which wasn't fully open. Along with her already bad vision, she couldn't really see anypony with Rainbow Dash. Just a slight yellow color. Wait. Did that mean...?
  Her thoughts were confirmed as Fluttershy walked through the doorway and around a few muffins. Ditzy got up to greet her, saying excitedly, "Oh, hey Fluttershy! So, I guess you finally decided to come out of your cottage, huh? Rainbow told me the whole story about what happened between you two," she added when Fluttershy gave her an odd look.
  Then she looked back at Rainbow Dash with an appalled expression. "You TOLD her?!"
  Rainbow took a step back, afraid of getting slapped. She was still afraid of the shy pony's strength after that little ordeal. "Um... Well, yea. Look, I'm sorry, I just really needed somepony to talk to after that. And Ditzy was the best pony for the job. She's really good at helping ponies with emotional problems."
  Fluttershy just sighed. "It doesn't matter. We shouldn't dwell on the past anyways." She lifted a hoof towards Ditzy. "So, how have you been these days Derpy? I haven't seen you in a while."
  Before Ditzy was able to reply, Rainbow Dash cut in and said calmly, "Her name is Ditzy. Not Derpy. You know she hates that name."
  Ditzy coughed quietly. "Rainbow Dash, it's fine. I really don't care what ponies call me."
  "But it's not fine! You know that nickname is meant as an insult!"
  "Rainbow, I didn't mean it as an insult," said Fluttershy quietly. "I'm just used to calling her by that name... I'm sorry."
  "Alright... Just try not to use it again, okay?" Rainbow would never admit it, but the real reason she hated Ditzy's nickname was because she was the only pony in Ponyville that knew her before the accident. The accident that messed up her vision and scarred her for life, creating that awful name... Derpy.
  "Anyways, I've been doing fantastic, Fluttershy," said Ditzy, as if the conversation had never happened. "Although I am interested to know what happened yesterday after I gave you that letter, Rainbow Dash. Especially because Fluttershy is here."
  "Well, why don't we discuss it, then?"
  "Okay. Why don't you two sit on the couch while I clean up all these muffins?"
  "You don't want any help?" asked Fluttershy. That was just like her. Always offering a hoof to anyone in need. It was the thing that Rainbow loved most about her.
  "Naw, I'm fine. Make yourselves at home." She smiled and went to work at cleaning the muffin mess.
  The two mares walked to the couch, dodging muffins the entire way. It was still amazing how many of them Ditzy had managed to fit in her small living room. Once they made it to the couch, they both plopped down lazily. Both of them were quite tired after the walk to Ditzy's house. Yes, you read that right, they had decided to walk instead of fly. They had done so so as to enjoy their time together.
  After a few minutes, the muffins had been cleared. As to where they had been moved to was a mystery. But either way, Fluttershy and Rainbow were just glad they were gone.
  "So," said Ditzy as she sat next to Rainbow Dash, who was now laying down and using Fluttershy as a pillow. "Tell me everything."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  After Fluttershy and Rainbow had retold the story of the day prior with little disruptions from the gray pegasus mare, they were exhausted. Neither of them had thought that telling something so short could be so tiring, or that it would take so long to tell.
  As they finished their last sentence, Ditzy sat there with a single tear threatening to fall. She had the widest grin on her face. "That's just... beautiful. I told you everything would be fine in the end, didn't I Rainbow Dash?" she asked with a knowing smile on her face.
  Rainbow thought back to the ordeal with Ditzy about a week before. She couldn't remember her saying anything of the like. "Actually... No, I don't think you did. You told me how to deal with it, but you never really said anything about how it would conclude."
  "Are you sure?" asked Ditzy, fairly sure she had. She knew her memory could be a bit faulty at times, but she was sure of what she had and hadn't said.
  "Either you did and I forgot, or you never said it. Why are we even talking about this? It doesn't matter."
  Ditzy's childish grin came back. "You're right. I'm so glad you two are together! I mean sure, your relationship really boosted at an unnatural rate, but I guess it was all in the heat of the moment. The good thing is that you're both happy. Like my friend Rose says, seeing a friend happy is the most blissful thing that will ever happen in my life."
  Fluttershy looked at Ditzy with a confused look on her face. "Who's Rose? I've never heard of her."
  "Oh, I wouldn't expect you to know her. She doesn't come to Equestria much." The other two mares looked at her with a concerned look. "I know I sound crazy, but I didn't believe her at first either. See, she comes from an alternate universe. She visits every now and then."
  Rainbow looked the most concerned, knowing how bad Ditzy's memory could get. Maybe is wasn't crazy for her to be hallucinating? "Um... Ditzy, are you sure that this Rose is... well, real?"
  Now it was Ditzy's turn to look at her like she was crazy. "Of course she's real! I'm not crazy, Rainbow. I can tell fact from fiction, and Rose is definitely real. Maybe I could prove it to you the next time she comes to visit."
  "Alright then. Would you mind describing her?" Rainbow asked, still a bit concerned for the gray pegasi's mental health.
  "Her full name is Rose Klavierspieler. Her coat is kind of a dark pink color, and her mane and tail is purple with a red strip down the middle. She wears black shades, and her eyes are dark purple. Her cutie mark is a bass cleft next to a treble cleft. She wears a bunch of bracelets, and she's an alicorn. Oh yea, and she plays as a DJ a lot when she's here, and she owns a house near the outskirts of Ponyville, fairly close to were my house is. It's actually just down the road."
  Fluttershy looked quite flustered. "An alicorn? But I thought-" She stopped immediately when she had a small memory of when she was younger.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  It was another Friday night with nothing to do, and a teenage Fluttershy was reading the paper, looking through the Important Events column, looking for anything exciting to do. She had secretly grown a taste for clubs over the past few months, and glanced to see who was playing at what clubs that night.
  She saw many names she had heard plenty of: Vinyl Scratch and Neon Lights, now going by the name W1SH, being two of her favorites. She wasn't in the mood for anything too heavy, so she looked at the bottom of the list, where the least popular ponies were listed.
  There was one name that caught her eye: TH-0-RN. She had never heard that name before. She read the description next to the name, which read: Looks like there's a new pony in town! Rose, going by the name TH-0-RN, is a young alicorn mare (That's right! An alicorn!), who likes to mix her performances up. Instead of playing heavy bass and dubtrot like everypony else, she throws a bit of orchestral music into the mix, making it quite exciting. Go and see her tonight at Constantine's in Ponyville around 9:30. Trust me, you won't want to miss it!
An alicorn? I thought Celestia was the only alicorn left in all of Equestria! Fluttershy thought, finding the article quite strange. Maybe she would go see this new pony; orchestral music mixed with techno? That didn't sound half bad.
  She looked up at her clock, seeing that it was almost 7:20. It was an hour-and-a-half fly to Constantine's, but hey, it might just be worth it. She thought about it for a while and decided to go.
  She found her long black hoodie and put it on, hiding her mane and face. After all, she really didn't want anypony knowing about her secret habit. Thus it being called 'secret'. She had already dyed her tail green, which she always did before going out on the weekend, so that nopony would recognized her.
  Fluttershy was out the door at 7:40. There were a couple of extra bits in her pockets if she decided to have a drink or two. She didn't really enjoy alcohol, but she did like a nice wine.
  The trip to the medium-sized bar wasn't all that eventful, but she was glad to relieve her wings when she got there at 9:25. When Fluttershy walked inside, she saw that the DJ had already set everything up and was getting ready to play.
  She decided to buy a bottle of wine (something she liked about Constantine's) and sat at a small table in the very corner of the room where the performance was being held. During the small time where the DJ pony was getting everything ready, Fluttershy observed the small alicorn (for she really was an alicorn). What she found odd, though, was that she was the same size as the average pony. Every alicorn she had ever read about in history had been said to be extremely tall. Even Princess Celestia was a very statuesque.
  Her thoughts were interrupted as the pony known as TH-0-RN screamed into the mic with a deep voice, "HELLO PONYVILLE!!" There was an expectant scream by the many ponies gathered around. After the noise had died down, the DJ pony continued. "I'm a bit new at this, so try not to throw any bottles at me if you don't like what you hear."
  Without further adieu, she threw a vinyl on the turntables and turned the bass up to the max. It started out with just the sound of a violin, but developed a throbbing bass (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqB1MbXSeGk&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LLhTWpQTAQUhcAc6B7OenYrw) a few seconds later. The tempo sped up for a second, then it went right back to a fast-pitched violin. TH-0-Rn was nodding her head slightly with the beat, as was everypony else in the bar.
  The bass throbbing in her ears, along with the beat being etched into her very soul, Fluttershy was very impressed by the style and perfection this supposedly new DJ had. She almost went deaf when at the end of the song, everything but the bass was extinguished, pounding her eardrums to oblivion.
  Fluttershy sat there for hours, drinking fine wine whilst having her eardrums raped by the amazing music TH-0-RN kept playing. At about midnight, TH-0-RN decided it was about time to quit, and Fluttershy had to agree, seeing that she had finished the entire bottle of wine, which wasn't enough to make her drunk, but she was just the slightest bit tipsy, and could barely hear anything.
  As she walked back home, she couldn't help but think that that was the absolute best performance she had ever been to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  "Fluttershy? Hello? Oh great, she's out of it again," she heard Rainbow Dash as she gained focus to the real world. "This is the second time this has happened today."
  Fluttershy blinked, catching both Rainbow and Ditzy off guard. "I know that mare! I saw her perform once when I was younger. Her stage name wouldn't happen to be TH-0-RN would it?"
  "Um... I think so," said Ditzy. "How would you know? I thought you hated loud music?"
  "Well..." Fluttershy blushed heavily. "I might have been a bit of a fan a few years back."
  Rainbow laughed at this. "You used to be a fan of techno? Ha! I can't even imagine you, sitting at a bar, enjoying a drink while listening to heavy bass."
  "I do not drink. I may have had my fair share of wine, but I am no alcoholic like you, Rainbow Dash."
  Now it was her turn to blush. "Aw, whatever. So, this 'Rose' character is real. So what? That still doesn't explain the whole 'alternate reality' thing, Ditzy."
  "Like I said, you'll have to talk to her about it the next time she visits."
  "And when, pray tell, would that be?"
  "Hmm..." Ditzy put a hoof to her chin in thought. "I think she's visiting sometime next week, but I can't be sure..."
  Rainbow stretched and yawned loudly, "Alright then, I guess we'll see you next week. It's getting a bit late. I think it's about time me and Fluttershy went home."
  "What... Are you two living together already?" Ditzy said in an almost mocking tone.
  This made Fluttershy's eyes go wide and her entire face turned a shade of light red. "What?! No! We are not living together! Rainbow is just... staying with me... for a couple of days..."
  The Rainbow surprised both Ditzy and Fluttershy when she looked at Fluttershy with mock sadness. "We're not... living together? But I thought... I thought you loved me."
  "Honestly Rainbow, would you please stop doing that? Let's just go before you say something that makes me slap you," Fluttershy snapped, and Rainbow shot up with an apologetic expression on her face. "That's what I thought."
  She looked back at Ditzy and smiled. "Thank you for having us, Ditzy. We'll see you next week."
  Ditzy smiled back broadly. "Okay. It was nice having you. See ya!"
  The two pegasi walked out of the small house and took to the skies, arguing calmly along the way. Today had been nice in Fluttershy's opinion, but was still a bit uneventful. Maybe they would do something more... exciting tomorrow.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note
  Hope you guys like the story so far! Just in case any of you were wondering, yes, Rose Klavierspieler (or TH-0-RN) is my OC, as well as my avatar. Also, if you missed the link for the song she was playing, here it is again. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqB1MbXSeGk&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LLhTWpQTAQUhcAc6B7OenYrw) It's a great song, you all should listen to it.
  I can't help thinking this chapter doesn't make sense. Please tell me it did. Seriously. Comment and tell me whether you think this chapter was okay.
End Author's Note
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Pinkie Pie lurked between the contours of the chapters. "Sorry I lied everypony! I told you guys I would be in this chapter, but Ja- I mean, Death_Brony, forgot to write me in here. So, I shall turn up in the next chapter instead! See ya then!"
  She then crawled away to the next chapter, eagerly awaiting the few readers of this fic.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                Fluttershy- Pinkie's Party                 
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Fluttershy- Pinkie's Party
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Pinkie Pie sat at the very edge of the Everfree Forest, impatiently waiting for a certain pony to arrive for a very important conversation. She had been waiting for almost an hour when a dark pink alicorn walked up to her from inside of the eerie forest.
  Pinkie stomped angrily towards her, saying quietly, "It's about damn time you got here! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting here?"
  Rose simply stood there panting. "Jeez, I'm sorry. It's not that easy traveling between dimensions, you know. I had to go back and forth between Earth and Equestria six times before I got the right year. Anyways, I only have a couple of hours here, and I wanted to go see Trixie after this, so make it quick."
  Pinkie nearly gagged. "I still don't see why you like Trixie so much. That pony has a serious stick up her rump."
  "She really isn't that bad once you get to know her. You shouldn't be so quick to judge, either."
  "Whatever, this isn't what we're here to discuss. We're here to talk about your writing skills and your schedule."
  Rose shook her head roughly, trying to get her thoughts in order. She then sat down in front of Pinkie, ready for what she had to say. "Right, sorry. So, what is it specifically that you wanted to talk about?"
  Pinkie sat down as well, and skipped right to the point. "You suck. Writing fan fictions isn't your talent. You should be more focused on your music and art. So why go through all this trouble just to write this ridiculous fan fiction?!"
  Rose had to admit that what Pinkie had said took quite a toll on her pride. She knew she was bad, but was she really that horrible?
  She jumped when Pinkie yelled, "And don't do that! Writing yourself as a female pony alone is weird, you don't have to go and write in third person; you sound like Trixie when you do that."
  Rose simply shook her head. "Just ignore that, you wouldn't really understand it. Plus, the readers don't know that me and the one writing this fic are the same person in different dimensions... Well, I suppose they do now..." She waved at the readers.
  Pinkie looked up and reread the conversation. "Okay, I got a bit mean just then. And that's not at all what I wanted to say... Stop messing with my dialogue. You're a potentially great author, you just need to spend more time writing, and you need to pace yourself. Stop rushing. You just wrote twelve chapters in two minutes. Also, you need a bit more action, man! Where's all the action?!"
  "Oh, trust me, there'll be plenty of action in this chapter."
  "And why is that?"
  Rose smirked and winked slyly at Pinkie. "'Cause you're gonna throw a party."
  Pinkie was confused by this. "But... I always throw parties. What's gonna be so special about this one?"
  "Oh you'll see... You'll all see!" The purple-and-red maned alicorn began laughing maniacally. She was stopped mid-laugh when Pinkie shoved a hoof to her mouth.
  "Don't do that; it's creepy. Now get out of here and quit talking to yourself; besides, you aren't even supposed to be in Equestria until next week."
  "I know. I just really wanted to see Trixie. I haven't seen her in a while."
  The pink party pony simply glared in her direction. "It's been four days."
  Rose just shrugged. "Too long in my opinion. Anyways, I'll see you later, it's time to get this chapter started!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  It was around three in the afternoon, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had been doing nothing in particular that day. That is, haging spent the last hour and a half looking for Pinkie Pie, who had requested their audience. She hadn't been at Sugarcube Corner, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake didn't seem to know where she was either. They had looked all over Ponyville and hadn't seen Pinkie anywhere.
  The weirdest thing though, was that they hadn't seen any of their other friends either. Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Spike had all mysteriously disappeared with Pinkie, as well as Ditzy, Lyra, Bon-Bon, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, and about half of Ponyville.
  Fluttershy shuddered and whispered quietly, "Why are so many ponies gone all of a sudden? Ponyville is so... empty."
  "I'm not sure...," said Rainbow solemnly. "It makes me think that Pinkie is up to something..." Just then there was a load moan that came from a nearby bush. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy jumped up and screamed, grabbing onto one another, scared out of their minds.
  They were both confused when Pinkie walked out of the bush, which was nearly half her size. It was a wonder how that pony did such things; then again, neither of the pegasus mares wanted to know. She looked quite upset, which was rare for Pinkie Pie.
  "You guys weren't supposed to know yet! How did you figure it out? It was planned so well!"
  Rainbow was the first to recover from the initial shock. "Um... What are you talking about? What are you planning, Pinkie?"
  Pinkie popped into her normal mood immediately, beaming at the both of them. "Oh, nothing. Just glad you haven't figured it out yet. I have a very special pony organizing it perfectly! I'll see you two later, then!" With that said, she hopped back into the bush.
  "Oh no you don't!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she darted towards the bush. But she was too late. When she got to the bush, she yanked it out of the ground and wasn't surprised when Pinkie was gone. "What the fuck?!"
  Fluttershy gasped, "Rainbow! You shouldn't use that kind of language! At least be a bit civil and use the term 'buck' instead."
  The rainbow-maned mare scoffed at the idea. "Why should I? Besides, if I used the word buck, doesn't that make Applejack's job sound a bit...unsophisticated?"
  The flush on Fluttershy's face as she gasped nearly made Rainbow fall over in laughter. "Oh, my... I guess you're right..."
  After she was done laughing, Rainbow sat in thought. "Now, what do you suppose Pinkie meant? She's obviously planning something, but what? Hmm... So many possibilities..."
  "Oh yes, it's so difficult," said Fluttershy sarcastically. "What ever could she be planning?"
  "I just said that." said Rainbow annoyingly, completely oblivious to the sarcasm in Fluttershy's voice.
  "I was being sarcastic," she said blandly in response. "She's obviously planning a party, Rainbow, dear. What else would she possibly be arranging?"
  "I... um... This is Pinkie Pie we're talking about here!" she said quickly in an attempt to save her pride. "There's no telling what she could be planning. But I suppose it would most likely be a party. Good observation, Fluttershy!"
  She simply chuckled and hugged Rainbow Dash. "You can be really cute sometimes, you know that?"
  "Heh... I guess," Rainbow said as she returned the embrace. She broke it a moment later and added, "Now, let's see if we can't find anything out about this party."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Throughout the remainder of the hour, the two pegasi had flew all over Ponyville- twice. They had asked everypony they had seen if they knew anything about Pinkie and her whereabouts; none of them had known. Whether that was the truth or not, Rainbow couldn't care less. On the other hoof, Fluttershy was mostly just being dragged along. She didn't care about what Pinkie was planning. She just wanted some quality time with Rainbow Dash, which she was most definitely not getting.
  "Honestly Rainbow, we aren't going to find anything. Why do you insist on finding anything out about Pinkie and her antics, anyways? We should just enjoy the day. Think about it, without Pinkie Pie around, Ponyville is much more peaceful. We should enjoy each other's company while we can."
  "I... But..," Rainbow Dash tried desperately to think of a reason to continue her search. Then again... A day alone with Fluttershy didn't sound too bad... "Oh, fine." She dragged Fluttershy over to lone cloud and sat there. "What did you have in mind?"
  Fluttershy lay her head on Rainbow's shoulder and closed her eyes. "Nothing really. I honestly didn't think you would listen to me. But since you did, why don't we just sit here and watch the clouds? That's always nice." She looked up at Rainbow Dash and wasn't surprised to see the disgust in her eyes.
  "Come on Fluttershy, have you even met me? You know I'm not into that mushy stuff. It's just way too... uneventful." She then made the mistake of looking back at Fluttershy, who was looking up at her with those puppy-dog eyes of hers. Rainbow quickly looked away. "Come on now Fluttershy, please don't do that."
  "Don't do what?" Fluttershy said with a hint of whining. "I just want to sit here and snuggle with my beautiful, kind, loving marefriend while watching the clouds as they fly by. Is that really so bad?" She smirked when Rainbow shut her eyes and brought her hooves to her temple. Gotcha.
  Rainbow simply sighed and put her hooves down with a very upset look on her face. "Fine... I'll watch the clouds with you..." Fluttershy bounced up and into a happy mood. Then she had an idea. "Under one condition," she said with a smirk, and Fluttershy looked at her with a weary expression.
  "Oh? And what would that be?" Rainbow leaned over and whispered in Fluttershy's ear. When she was finished with what she had to say, Fluttershy gasped. "Rainbow Dash! How could you even think of something so... vile? We've only been together for two days!"
  "What? It's not that bad. Sure, it would be weird if we weren't dating, but we are, so-" Rainbow was cut short when Fluttershy slapped her. She really wasn't expecting that. And sweet Celestia it hurt! It surprised her even more when Fluttershy hugged her and started apologizing.
  "Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry Rainbow! I didn't mean to hit you that hard! You can just be so infantile sometimes...." Then she thought about it for a second. "But I'll tell you what..," she said with a slightly enticing voice. She looked at Rainbow with a seductive gleam in her eyes. "I'll consider it if you behave."
  Rainbow rubbed her cheek where she had been hit. It took a second for her to comprehend that last part. She blushed heavily and snickered. Aaaw, yea. she thought. "Okay."
  "Good." Fluttershy lay on her back and stared up at the scarcely moving clouds. She then patted the space to her left. Rainbow lay down beside her and Fluttershy immediately wrapped a hoof around her shoulders and pulled her closer, then lightly nuzzled her maw. "Aren't they simply divine? ...Rainbow?" she asked when she didn't get a reply, and wasn't surprised to see Rainbow napping.
That pony really is something... she thought. She leaned down and kissed the cyan mare on the forehead. She then looked back up at the clouds, Rainbow in her hooves. This truly was a great moment. But, like all of her moments, it just had to be interrupted.
  "Hiya!" said a certain pink pony as her head popped out of the top of the cloud, making Fluttershy jump up and scream, waking Rainbow Dash.
  "Wha...? Come on Pinkie, why you gotta always pop up at the worst possible moment? I was enjoying my nap..."
  "Hehe, sorry," she said as her head appeared for a second again. She fell back down to her trampoline and jumped right back up. "It's just that.... Remember that.... party I mentioned earlier?"
  Fluttershy had flown back down and Rainbow had a hoof around her shoulder.  "Well, you never actually said it was a party, but yea, we remember." Fluttershy nodded in agreement as Pinkie's head continuously popped over and under the cloud.
  "Weeeell.... Just so you.... know, the party is.... ready, and we... really need you two to.... come, because, you know... it wouldn't be a.... party without the.... main guests!"
  Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie with an irritated look and flew with Fluttershy down to the ground. "Ugh... Alright, fine." She looked at Fluttershy, who seemed mildly upset. "What's up with you?"
  Fluttershy simply looked down at the ground and mumbled, "I was having a good time..." She looked up at Rainbow with an angry gleam in her eyes. "I told you we shouldn't have spent all that time searching for Pinkie..."
  Before Rainbow could reply, Pinkie cut in and said, "Aw, come on Fluttershy, it's not that bad! I bet you'll have a BUNCH of fun at my party! Come on, let's go!" She grabbed the two pegasi by their shoulders and dragged them along towards the Everfree Forest.
  "Where exactly is this party, Pinkie? Please, oh please tell me it isn't in the Everfree Forest..." Fluttershy's eyes went wide and her pupils became as small as a pin-head. She became even more despaired when Pinkie replied.
  "Of course it is, silly! Oh, don't be so scared Fluttershy. I put a LOT of planning into this party. I knew you were scared of the Everfree Forest, but I honestly couldn't find anywhere else big enough to throw the party! We could have thrown it at Canterlot Castle, but that would have cost us a lot, so we had to scrap that idea, but then we couldn't find anywhere in the Everfree Forest with a big enough clearing to actually have the party, so we had to get permission to clear a BUNCH of trees, then we had to have a bunch of ponies clear out all the creepy stuff, and-"
  She was cut off when Rainbow shoved her hoof in the pink earth pony's mouth. "Pinkie! We get it! How big is this party anyways...?" She said, becoming a bit concerned. Pinkie was known for her particularly big parties, but none had ever been big enough to actually have been moved outside.
  "Oh, it's pretty big," she said simply. "But I'm not gonna say anything about it, 'cause that'd ruin the surprise!" She put on her ridiculously huge grin and walked ahead of the pegasi couple. After another minute of walking- with the exception of Fluttershy, who was crawling along beside Rainbow Dash- Pinkie Pie turned around and said, "Alright, we're almost there, so I need you two to close your eyes."  When they did as told, Pinkie grabbed their front hooves and directed them forward for another whole minute.
  When she let go of their hooves, she leaned towards them and whispered, "Keep your eyes closed," then ran off, leaving Fluttershy and Rainbow baffled. There was a slight scuffling sound, then silence. It stayed like that for what seemed like hours, but was in reality only ten seconds. Then, out of nowhere, there was the sound of vinyl on metal as none other than Vinyl Scratch put a record on the track and hit play.
  Both Fluttershy's and Rainbow's eyes flew open when there was a terribly loud bass drop, followed by a bombardment of sound. Around them was maybe half an acre of clearing where a part of the Everfree Forest had been cut down. There were literally hundreds of ponies all around them, most of which were residents of Ponyville. In the middle of the clearing was a huge stage, which was where Vinyl currently had her DJ equipment set up. Almost everypony had their hooves to their ears and were looking up angrily at the DJ.
  "Sorry!" yelled DJ-PON3 as she cut the track. "Wrong record... Here we go." She replaced the current record with another, and pressed the play button on her turntables. There was the sound of orchestral music with a slight techno backdrop.
  Pinkie Pie shook her head and looked back at the terrified couple. "Umm... Surprise?" She was quiet when everypony in the clearing suddenly screamed, "CONGRATULATIONS RAINBOW DASH AND FLUTTERSHY!!" When they all died down, Pinkie smiled and said, "This is one heck of a party, huh? I threw it to celebrate your newfound relationship!"
  Rainbow, like always, was the first to recover from her stupor. "Wha... Why... is it so... big? You could have just thrown us a normal party!"
  Pinkie Pie, being Pinkie, simply giggled. "Well, that wouldn't have been any fun! Plus, you two are my best friends! No offense, you three," she said to Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity. "And to top it all off, I had a bunch of bits to spend! You see, I've been saving up bits for a couple of months, and I made a bet with these three," she pointed to the other Elements of Harmony, "a while ago about you two getting together, and I got three hundred bits from each of them, so I had A LOT to spend. So, I decided to spend it all on a party for you two." She smiled and hugged the couple, quickly joined by the other three.
  Fluttershy, who was in the very middle of the group hug, started to cry, surprising everypony. Lyra, who had been one of the few other ponies that had joined in the hug, immediately looked up and said with despair in her voice, "Oh my! Everypony, get off of them! Fluttershy is crying!"
  Without waiting for a reply, she quickly threw everypony off the couple and walked up to Fluttershy. "Are you okay? Why are you crying? You should be happy!" She smiled a huge smile and patted Fluttershy on the head. "See? Happy!"
  Fluttershy didn't respond tight away. She cried a little longer then looked up at Lyra with a slight smile on her frail lips, tears still falling freely. "Oh silly Lyra, I am happy. I didn't know so many ponies cared about me." She walked past Lyra and threw her hooves around Pinkie Pie. "Oh Pinkie, you have no idea how much this means to me and Rainbow. But really, you didn't have to spend so much for an event such as this."
  "Oh, but I did! It made me so happy that the two of you were happy, so I had to make you even happier by throwing a party!" She hopped away towards the stage, where she stood next to DJ-PON3. Fluttershy smiled and walked over to Rainbow.
  "Come on now, let's enjoy the party." She looked up at Rarity as she walked towards her and Rainbow Dash with tears in her eyes.
  "Oh my, it seams that I cannot stop crying. I'm just so happy for the two of you. I just wanted to wish the two of you a happy future before I wander off towards the bar." Rainbow's eyes went wide.
  "There's a bar?!" she almost yelled. She blushed heavily and hid her face in her hooves when she realized how desperate she had sounded. Rarity simply chuckled.
  "Of course, dear. They don't have anything heavily alcoholic, though. Just some fine wine and brandy. Anyways, I'll just be off now. I promised a few ponies that I would explain to them how to properly stitch a dress. Ta-ta!" She turned and walked away, leaving the two surrounded by ponies.
  One of them, a pony by the name of Carrot Top, walked up to them and said, "You two should really walk around. A lot of ponies really want to congratulate the two of you. Oh, that reminds me! Congratulations!" She smiled warmly and took a small box out of her saddle bags and gave it to Rainbow. "Here, I got this for the two of you." She winked then walked off.
  They both looked down then at each other. Then Rainbow spoke up. "Maybe we should open this later..." She proceeded to put the box in the saddle bags that she didn't recall having. "What the- Where did I get these saddle bags from?"
  Fluttershy looked at them with a confused look. "I... I'm not sure..." She looked up as Pinkie popped up again.
  "Oh, don't worry about that. If anything weird happens, it's just the author fixing a silly mistake." She then disappeared into the crowd then back onto the stage.
   The two just shook their heads and ignored the saddle bags. They walked through the dense crowd, many of them congratulating them. A surprising amount of the ponies offered them small gifts. Wow, thought Fluttershy. This is crazy. Surely ponies don't usually get this kind of treatment when they find their very special somepony.
  Despite the constant comments, they soon arrived at what seemed to be a large snack bar. There were many salads and small delicacies; but more than anything, there were sweets. Many, many sweets. There was cake, cupcakes, cookies, and thousands of other sugar-filled delights. Rainbow stood with her mouth open wide. Fluttershy chuckled and grabbed a rainbow-colored cupcake then offered it to Rainbow. "Cupcake?"
  The rainbow-maned pegasus greedily took it and ate it in one bite. She then blushed and looked at Fluttershy innocently. "Heh... Sorry. You know how much I love cupcakes."
  Fluttershy merely chuckled. She saw a smudge of cupcake frosting on Rainbow's cheek and snickered. She leaned towards Rainbow and licked the frosting from her cheek, making Rainbow blush like crazy.
  "Wh-what did you do that for?" she asked, trying to hide her blush, which was a bit difficult for her, considering how short her mane was.
  Fluttershy winked at Rainbow and whispered in her ear, "You had some frosting on your cheek." This made Rainbow feel absolutely ridiculous; why, she didn't really know. She looked up as Twilight walked towards them.
  "Hey girls! Enjoying the party?"
  "Why yes, we are, Twilight. I especially like the music choice. Not too loud, just the way I like it."
  "Oh, that's what you think!" said Rainbow Dash. "DJ-PON3 gets pretty damn loud most of the time. This really isn't her style. But that doesn't change the fact that she's the best DJ out there! Oh... Sorry Fluttershy..." she added when Fluttershy glared at her for interrupting.
  "Well, Twilight, like I said before somepony rudely interrupted... The party is simply wonderful. There are so many nice ponies here. How about you? Are you enjoying the party?"
  "Oh yes, but I'm afraid I have to leave early. Apparently Spike got into some trouble back home. I'm really sorry I couldn't stay."
  "Oh, it's alright," Fluttershy said with a smile. "I understand. What kind of trouble has Spike gotten into this time?"
  This really caught Twilight off guard. She hadn't come up with a story for why Spike was in trouble. "Oh, um... He... We got another shipment of books today and he needs some help because... The names of the books aren't in English... Yea, that's right!" She smiled when Rainbow gave her an odd look. "Well, um... See you later girls! Enjoy the rest of the party!" She eagerly walked away before either of them could say anything.
  "Well then," said Rainbow with a confused look on her face. "That was weird."
  "Oh, you know that pony is always busy with something. Now, let's enjoy this party." She kissed Rainbow on the cheek and they walked away from the snack bar.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Twilight Sparkle sighed and walked slowly away from the large (yet quiet) party. She couldn't stand to be there for another moment. She was happy for her friends, but... a small part of her died when she thought of the two being together. She was sure that it was her heart.
  She had always wanted to be loved by another pony. And seeing two ponies in love broke her heart. Nopony had ever loved Twilight like that. Except.... No! You can't think about him. It's been seven years, almost to the day. You can't start thinking about him now...
  When she got to the library that was her home about ten minutes later, she almost broke down crying. She literally crawled up the stairs and started crying uncontrollably halfway up. Spike, being the sweet dragon he was, immediately found her and tried to comfort her.
  "Twilight! What's wrong? Why are you home so early? I thought you were at Pinkie's party."
  "I... I was," Twilight said between sobs. "I-I just... had t-to come home..." She finally made it to her bed- with the help of Spike- and shoved her face into her pillow.
  "Come on Twilight, tell me what's wrong." Spike already had tears in his eyes. Seeing Twilight like this always made Spike sad. It seemed to happen so often these days.
  "I... I s-started th-thinking about him again... I c-couldn't help it... It's just that... I-it's almost been seven years... I've been alone for s-seven years, Spike! Nopony w-will ever love me!"
  Spike gently stroked her mane, trying his hardest to make her feel better, to no avail. "Th-that's not true Twilight. You haven't b-been alone... You have me and the girls. Isn't that enough to m-make you h-happy?"
  Twilight looked up at him and shook her head. "Can I... just be alone for a while, Spike? I need to th-think..."
  "Okay..." Spike hopped off the bed and walked back downstairs.
  Twilight watched him go, then shoved her face back into her pillow. She couldn't get that one pony's name out of her head.
Carpe Diem... I will always love you...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note
  First thing's first, Carpe Diem is Serttok's (http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Serttok) OC, and I have his permission to use him in this story. Thought I'd get that out of the way.
  Also, I have a new proof-reader, not that it's really important. Hope you guys are liking the story so far! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter.
End Author's Note
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

//-------------------------------------------------------//
              Twilight Sparkle- Seize the Day              
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Twilight Sparkle- Seize the Day
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note
  WARNING: This chapter is filled with drama. Even more than the previous chapters.
  Okay... This is the moment of truth. (Not really. I just like making things sound dramatic.) But yea, sorry for the late chapter. I've been way too busy with way too many things.
And I hate to disappoint the few readers of this fic, but this will be one of my last chapters for a while. After the next one, I'm putting the story on hiatus until a later date. But don't be distraught! I'm going to be writing another, more understandable fic in the place of this one.
  Sorry if that disappoints you.
End Author's Note
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Twilight Sparkle woke to a bright ray of sunshine glaring at her through the window. Oh, great, she thought. Such great weather on such a horrible day...
  She rolled over in her bed and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, mulling over what had happened the night prior. Why had she let her feelings get the better of her? Who knows how much it must have hurt Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's feelings when she left the party so early. She just couldn't get that one thought out of her head...
It's been seven years to the day... Seven years since I drove him off... Seven years since-
  "GAAH!!"
  Twilight nearly had a heart attack. She screamed and looked to were the noise had come from, and surely enough, there was Spike hanging in mid-air, surrounded by books. The thing that surprised her most was that the baby dragon, along with the debris, was surrounded by her own magical aura.
  "Oh, um... Sorry Spike," she said as she released him from his magical prison. "I kinda wasn't paying any attention..." She noticed that her voice sounded very frail and weak, and her throat was raw. It was as if she had been screaming for hours- Oh wait.... She had been.
  Still being in a rather moody state, the small mare turned accusingly towards Spike. "What are you doing up here anyways? I thought I told you to leave me alone." She realized a mere second later how harsh she must have sounded.
  "O-oh... I'm sorry, Twilight... I just... You seemed so sad, and I... I..." Before either of them knew it, he had tears in his eyes. They rolled silently down his cheeks where they rested on his chin, until the weight became too much and they succumbed to the magic of gravity.
  Before the first tear could hit the ground, Twilight had Spike wrapped in a tight embrace. "Oh, I'm so sorry Spike! I didn't mean it like that, I swear. I just..." She pulled away from the hug to look him in the eyes. "It's been seven years today... Seven years since-"
  Spike quickly put a paw to her muzzle, silencing her. "No. Don't start. I know what today is, and you know what I think?" He waited a moment for a reply, and when he didn't get one, continued with his small speech. "I think that today, you need to forget about Him. Don't even think about Him. You need to go out with the girls and have some girl time. I'll stay here and look after the library. You got that?"
  Twilight was speechless. Never had the small purple-and-green dragon been so serious. She felt the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, and soon enough, she found herself beaming. Who would have thought that Spike, a baby dragon, could be so good at cheering ponies up? Maybe hanging out with the girls wouldn't be such a bad idea, after all? It would get her mind off of- No! You heard Spike. No thinking about Him.
  "Okay, Spike," Twilight said as she pulled Spike into another embrace. "I'll do that."
  "One more thing before you go, though." Spike said as Twilight began packing her saddlebags.
  "What's that?" Spike pointed towards a mirror and Twilight nearly jumped back when she saw the terrifying mare that stared back at her. She looked absolutely hideous! Her mane was absolutely ghastly,and she had bags under her eyes, which were still red from her crying all hours of the night. "Oh..."
  "Yea... You should probably take a bath before you go anywhere," Spike deadpanned.
  Twilight chuckled and jokingly cuffed him on his shoulder. "I never would have thought." She went to the WC to take a hot shower. Maybe that would help wash away the rest of her doubts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Spike watched as Twilight walked away. He knew she would be in the shower for a good twenty minutes or so. Maybe he would tidy up a bit before she left. He decided to at least pick up all of the books that Twilight had gotten everywhere in her magical spur.
  After about ten minutes of picking books up and putting them in their proper places, Spike was exhausted. It wasn't fun picking up ten pound books and climbing up a ladder to put them away. And he was only halfway done! Oh well. This was his job after all, and if it made Twilight happy, it made him happy.
  He continued doing so for a few minutes. Then he decided to pack Twilight's saddlebags for her. She walked out of the bathroom, her mane and tail still not completely dry, a few minutes later. That wouldn't be a problem once she walked outside, though. It was a very hot day, and surely the water would transform into sweat.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  "Oh, thank you so much for cleaning up, Spike. And you even packed my bags for me! You really are the world's number one assistant," she added with a wink as she put her saddlebags on.
  "Just doin' my job," Spike said with a small smile.
  "Well, I'm gonna go and see what the girls are up to. See you later, Spike." She walked down the stairs to the larger library below. Just before she walked out the door, she looked back at Spike as he was slowly descending to the bottom floor. "Hey, Spike?"
  "Yea, Twilight?"
  "I love you," she said softly, but just loud enough for him to hear.
  Spike looked a bit surprised for half a second, then smiled and said, "I love you too, Twilight. Now go have fun."
  The purple mare smiled and walked outside, closing the door lightly behind her. She had literally only taken a few steps before she almost ran into a minty green unicorn. "Oh, I'm sorry ma'am."
  Lyra Heartstrings looked over at Twilight and smiled warmly. "Oh, it's alright Twilight. How are you? I didn't see you at the party last night; which was awesome, by the way!"
  Twilight smiled back at her, saying, "Oh, I um... had to leave early. Been really busy lately."
  Lyra could tell that the purple mare was lying, but she decided not to push the matter. If Twilight didn't want to tell her, then that was that. "Oh, I understand. Bon-Bon couldn't make it last night either. She's far too exhausted these days."
  "Oh? Why's that?"  Twilight immediately regretted asking. Lyra gasped and stared at her wide-eyed for a moment.
  "You don't know?! I could have sworn we told you. Even if we didn't, somepony else must have said something about it! It's been nearly four months! How in Equestria do you not know?!" When Twilight just stood there looking dumbfounded, Lyra calmed down a bit and sat down, trying to think of the best way to break the news. After a short moment of awkwardness on Twilight's part, Lyra looked up and smiled. "Bon-Bon is pregnant."
  There was another short moment of silence. Then Twilight asked simply, "How?"
  The minty green mare tapped her horn. "Magically induced." She chuckled when Twilight's face flushed at the knowledge. It wouldn't surprise Lyra if Twilight was confused by the information; after all, magically produced foals weren't very common, but it wasn't totally unheard of. She doubted it was ever researched, though.
  After yet another awkward silence, Twilight said, "Well, that's... different, I suppose. I do think I've read about that somewhere." She looked up at Lyra and put a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm very happy for the two of you. I do hope the foal is born healthy. Do you know what the sex is yet, or when it's supposed to be born?"
  Lyra shook her head. "No, we don't know if it's a colt or a filly yet. But we do know that it's estimated to be born sometime in mid-September."
  "Well, that's wonderful. I can't wait until then. In the meantime, I have to go find Applejack. I have something to discuss with her. I'll see you later, Lyra. Tell Bon-Bon I said hi." Twilight turned tail and walked towards the middle of town.
  "Alright, I will. Have a good day Twi!"
  Twilight had a smile on her face as she trotted away. I can't believe Lyra and Bon-Bon are having a foal! Those two really do make a great couple. There it was again. That pang of depression that overrun her when she thought of true love. She quickly pushed the thought out of her head. Today was supposed to be a good day.
  Before she knew it, she was at the Ponyville town square, dubbed the name Ponysquare. There were always so many ponies here. This wasn't her desired location, however. She quickly cut through the crowd of ponies and turned onto a dirt road that led to Sweet Apple Acres.
  She remember the first time she had traveled down this road. That seemed like such a long time ago. Now that Twilight thought about it, it had been a long time. While she was thinking about the past and the events that had transpired over the years, she arrived at the Apple family farm, right smack in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres. She walked up to the front door and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders in front of a table with a blender and what seemed to be hundreds of ingredients.
  Twilight walked up to them and said gleefully, "Hello my little ponies! What are you girls up to?"
  It was Sweetie Belle that answered. "Trying to get our cutie marks, of course!"
  Scootaloo looked up and said, "Yea! We're going to get our inventing cutie marks!"
  "Didn't you girls try that already?"
  Apple Bloom threw something into the blender then looked up at Twilight. "Yes, we did. But this time, we're gonna invent a new type'a food."
  "And what type of food would that be?"
  She chuckled when the three fillies looked at each other and said in unison,  "We don't know."
  Just then Applejack walked around the corner, sweat covering her brow and dripping down her forehead. "Well, howdy there Twi. What're y'all doin' over here so early?"
  "Oh, hi AJ. I just came over to... um... discuss a few things with you, if you get my meaning."
  Applejack looked at Twilight with a baffled look on her face. "What thangs?" She mulled over it for a second. Wasn't there something she needed to talk to Twilight about? If there was, she couldn't remember for the life of her.
  "You know what I'm talking about. Come on, we can talk about it in the house... Alone." she added when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle eagerly looked up. "This is a personal matter girls. We need to speak privately."
  "Awww..." Apple Bloom had a defeated expression on her face. "But-"
  "No buts, missy," said Applejack. "You heard 'er. Y'all just work on gettin' your cutie marks er whatever." She began walking towards the door to the farm. When she and Twilight had arrived in the kitchen, she turned around and asked, "Um... Wha' was it we needed to talk about again?"
  "You don't remember?" Twilight said with a bewildered expression. "Applejack, you told me this was important! How could you forget something so important?!"
  Then it hit Applejack why Twilight was here. "Oh! For the love'a Celestia, how could I 'ave forgotten?" She facehooved. "Ah really need your opinion... Although ah might not 'ave told you ev'rythang."
  Twilight looked up quickly. "Wait... What do you mean? What didn't you tell me?"
  "Weeeeell... Ah told ya ah was havin' problems with managin' the farm, right?" When Twilight nodded, she went on. "Well, it's a bit more complicated then that..."
  "What do you mean by that?" Twilight thought she knew where this was going. If Applejack was saying what she thought she was saying, then that meant...
  "Ah'm thinkin' about quitin' the farm altogether... It's not that there's too much work er anythang, ah jus'... think ah could do so much more with mah life... Ah know ah've said this all before, but this time, ah really mean it.... But... Ah don't know how ah'm gonna break it to the fam'ly..."
  Twilight just stood there, not knowing what to say. Was the farm pony being serious? Was she really going to throw her entire life's work away like it was nothing? "But Applejack... This is your life! It's what you've been doing since you were a filly! How could you possibly want to throw it all away?"
  "Well, think about it, Twi... Wha' kind of a life is this? Buckin' apples, sellin' apples, makin' apple cider... It's just so... dull... Ah'm not sure if ah can carry on like this any longer... Ah'm honestly not sure how ah managed to get this far... Please help me, Twilight... Ah jus' don't know what to think anymore..." She hung her head and stared at the ground with a defeated expression on her face.
  Twilight walked around and stood next to Applejack, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Just then there was a loud, but slightly muffled bang. She decided to ignore it. "Look, AJ... I don't know what drove you to think like this, but it's your decision. You, and only you, decide what happens next. Not me. But if you really want my opinion, I say that you give it a little more thought. Okay?"
  After a short while, Applejack looked up with a small smile on her lips. "Okay, Twi. Ah'll do that. Thank'ee kindly." She stood up and shook her head, shaking the tension and indecision from her mind. "Ah'll think abou' that later. We should go find the gals and have a good time together. What'ya say to that?"
  "I couldn't agree more. Come on. We'll bring the Crusaders with us." Twilight walked out of the kitchen with Applejack in tow. They walked outside and looked to where the three little fillies were. What they saw didn't entirely shock them, although it did outrage Applejack just a bit.
  Ingredients were everywhere, the table the fillies had been working on was flipped over, and there was a mesh of gooey mess all over the place. As the two mares walked out, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom all looked up and said with high pitched voices, "We're so sorry! We can explain!"
  Applejack stepped forward and said with a surprisingly calm demeanor, "Well then, ya'll better get to explainin'." There it was again. A sound that wasn't quite an explosion, yet was just as loud all the same. Everypony looked up and saw what looked like a rainbow expanding in a circle. A blast of cold air met them, followed by a slight echo of the sonic rainboom.
  Scootaloo looked back at Applejack. "That's all the explanation we need."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  "Lemme try another one. I know I could make them even cooler!" Rainbow Dash had been practicing her sonic rainbooms for the past hour. She was trying to find a way to make them bigger and better. But Fluttershy continuously put the idea down.
  "Oh Rainbow ,you're going to end up hurting yourself," Fluttershy said calmly. "Your rainbooms are amazing as is. Trying to make them better is just going to wear you out. Just look at you! You're practically exhausted."
  Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were all in the field where Rainbow usually practiced. Rainbow, if you don't already know, was practicing her sonic rainbooms, trying to make them even cooler than they already were. Fluttershy was there to supervise (and to spend some time with her marefriend), and Rarity and Pinkie Pie were just there to pass the time.
  "Alright, alright. Let me try one more, though." Before Fluttershy could say anything, Rainbow kissed her on the cheek and flew up and into the great blue yonder. Once she got to the point where the air was a bit thin, she began her descent. She slowly built up her speed, going faster and faster with each passing second. The winged mare pushed harder, and with one last act of force, there was a tremendous explosion of sound, followed by an amazingly bright rainbow. Rainbow's speed doubled - no - tripled, and she broke off in a random direction to avoid hitting the ground. She did a sort of loopdy-loop before touching down next to Fluttershy.
  "Woohoo! That was AWESOME Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie threw her hooves into the air in a sort of hoof pump. "Don't you think sonic rainbooms are just so super fantastic?" she began, talking to nopony in particular.  "I know they are!  Remember the time when we were all at the Cloudsdale flying competition, and Twilight gave Rarity gorgeous wings, but then she flew too close to the sun and started falling, then the Wonderbolts chased after her but were too slow but then you did your sonic rainboom and rescued Rarity and the Wonderbolts?  Ooh! And also the time you were telling the story of how you got your cutie mark?  You were racing some mean guys to protect Fluttershy's honor!" At this, Fluttershy blushed. " And that's when all of our friends got their cutie marks because of your sonic rainboom!  I remember when I got mine, I was working on a rock farm with my family and-."
  "Hush now, darling, we get it," Rarity interrupted. She then turned to Rainbow Dash. "That was simply marvelous, darling. Truly a thing of beauty."
  The cyan pegasus mare huffed, "Yea, it was cool and all, but just the same as all the others." Her mood was quickly lightened when Fluttershy gave her a nuzzle and a hug.
  "I think they were wonderful, my dear."
  Just then Twilight, Applejack, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders showed up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Twilight was the first of the group to say anything. "Well, well, practicing your sonic rainbooms, I see."
  "Yup!" Rainbow Dash replied. "Just seeing if I can make them any cooler."
  Before Twilight could reply, Scootaloo ran up to Rainbow and said, "We could hear them all the way from Sweet Apple Acres! They're so cool! Rainbow Dash, you're the coolest flyer in all of Equestria!"
  Rainbow put a somewhat smug smile on her face. "See Fluttershy? I told you I was the best. I even have my own fans."
  "Oh?" Fluttershy looked Rainbow in the eyes. "I still think Fleetfoot is better... in more ways than one." When she said that, every mare in the group gasped and their faces turned a bright red, especially Rainbow Dash's. The fillies, not quite understanding the situation, just stood there.
  Sweetie Belle walked up to her sister and said quietly, "I don't get it. What does she mean?"
  Rarity quickly shushed her. "You'll understand when you get older, Sweetie."
  Applejack finally broke the tension after a short while. "Um... S'Dash, are y'all gonna keep on practicin', or did we show up too late?"
  "Weeeell.... I don't know. I'm pretty worn out." Fluttershy gave her a look that said 'I told you so', but Rainbow tried to ignore it. "Maybe later."
  All three of the Crusaders let out a huge  "Aaawww!" and put on their best pleading faces. Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash, mock tears in her eyes, and asked, "Can't you just do one more? Pleeeaaase?"
  Rainbow thought about it for a moment then sighed in defeat. "All right, all right. I'll do one more. But only one."
  All at once, the three little fillies cheered as loud as they could.
  "Hey Twilight, you got a spell in that egghead of yours that could give me a bit of a boost?"
  Ignoring the sly comment, Twilight thought about it for a moment. "Well, I could cast a rejuvenation spell. It'll give you a bit of energy and will improve your speed and agility tremendously, which could help you make your rainbooms 'cooler'."
  Without giving it a single thought, Rainbow reluctantly agreed. "Sure, why not?"
  "Alrighty then. Give me a second to concentrate." Twilight bent her head close to the ground and closed her eyes. A rejuvenation spell required a lot of concentration, and anything that could go wrong was very probable to go wrong. Twilight called upon her inner strength and concentrated all her power to her horn, making the proper incantations in her mind that would set off the spell she wanted. She picked her head up and touched her horn to Rainbow's head.
  Right before Twilight was able to cast the spell, there was a bloodcurdling scream and a blast of energy hit her, negating her spell. "What in Equestria?" Everypony in the small group looked towards the sound of the scream and saw a ghostly white stallion with a white mane and tail and blood red eyes.
  The stallion rushed to the group, stopping in front of Twilight. "Twilight! Oh Twilight, thank Luna I made it in time!" He was cut off by a series of rough coughing.
  Twilight couldn't say anything. She felt every emotion all at once. Anger, confusion, regret, happiness... love... All she could do was stare at the albino stallion.
  "What in tarnation is goin' on 'round here?" asked a very confused Applejack, standing protectively in front of her sister.
  "Listen, I know this may look weird," the stallion began speaking  through heavy panting, "and I know you may be overwhelmed by confusion, but I can explain everything."
  Twilight's knees began to shake and she almost collapsed. She was on the verge of tears. "C...Carpe? Is that you?"
  "Yes, Twilight, I'm back. Could you please do me a favor? I think I need a hospital..." Almost on cue, the stallion fainted from exhaustion.
  There was a deathly silence afterwords. Twilight stared at Carpe Diem's unconscious body and muttered, "Seven years... It's been seven years... I can't believe it..." Before she knew it, there were tears flowing down her cheeks. "You heard him! We need to get him to a hospital!" Before she could say anything more, she collapsed, losing consciousness.
  There was nothing but a vast and never-ending darkness after that. Please Carpe... Please be okay...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note
  So, so, so sorry that this chapter took so long! Hope you're satisfied with what I did there, Josh. You have no idea how hard it is intertwining two stories! This chapter required a lot of thought.
  If you don't know where I'm getting Carpe, or what story this is from, then go read Ponygeddon (http://www.fimfiction.net/story/12978/Ponygeddon) now! It's an amazing story.
  GAH!! This chapter is filled with so many memes and references! See if you can find them all.
  Now, go read Ponygeddon and wait eagerly for my next chapter.
End Author's Note
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        Rainbow Dash- The Wonderbolts are in Town!         
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Rainbow Dash- The Wonderbolts are in Town!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note
Keep in mind while reading this that this is my first fic and I don't have a proof-reader either, so constructive criticism or any advice is appreciated. Also, this first chapter might be a little bit rushed and not as good as it should be. I had to write it a second time because my computer decided to shut off in the middle of me writing it the first time and I hadn't saved it, so I had to write it all over again. So I apologize ahead of time if the first chapter isn't any good. Enjoy.
End Author's Note
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  It was another wonderful day in Cloudsdale; Celestia's sun was shining, the weather perfect (thanks to the weather patrol), and a cyan pony with a rainbow mane and tail was snoozing lightly on a stray cloud above the main plaza in Cloudsdale.
  That is, it was perfect until a certain gray-coated mailmare flew right into Rainbow Dash. She was startled and barely had time to open her wings and land lightly on the soft, silk-like cloud that was the structure of Cloudsdale.
  "Oh, I'm so sorry Rainbow," said Ditzy Doo as she landed clumsily in front of her, "I didn't see you there! Honest!"
  Rainbow ruffled the feathers on her wings and said, "It's okay Derp- I mean Ditzy. I needed to get up anyways. Today's the big day!" She always tried to avoid using Ditzy's derogatory nickname. Not because it hurt her, but because it just felt wrong calling her 'Derpy' because she had a lazy eye and was very clumsy.
  Ditzy caught the hurried exchange and chuckled lightly. "Well that's good. What's so important that it has you excited?"
  Rainbow gasped and stared at Ditzy wide-eyed. "You don't know?! The Wonderbolts are throwing a huge event this afternoon! They're having a contest to see if anypony has what it takes to be recruited! And I plan to win!" As if to show how fast she was, she circled around Ditzy ten times in less than a second, then jumped over her and landed right in front of her, staring right into her eyes with her meanest game face.
  "I'm sure you'll win Rainbow Dash! In the meantime, I'm a bit late for a delivery, so I'll see you later!" She hopped up into the air and flew clumsily away, almost running into another pegasus.
  Rainbow chuckled as she watched her friend fly away. I wonder how she can be so confident, she thought, Oh well. I guess that is a good thing considering all she's been through. Anyways, I should probably go see Twilight and the others to see if they can come watch me try out for the Wonderbolts! Twilight can do her cloud-walking spell so they'll all be able to come!
  With that thought in mind, she flew past stands an buildings to the end of Cloudsdale, where she dived down towards Ponyville, where all of her best friends lived.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
   "Aaaaaw, are you sure you can't come??" Rainbow was in Ponyville's library with her six best friends Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike. After she had announced her plans for the day, Rarity had said she couldn't come due to orders she had to fill.
  "Come now my darling, surely you could manage without me," said Rarity as she looked sadly at her friend, "I just have too many orders to fill, and I simply cannot postpone them any longer if I am to get full compensation! You know how bad the economy is these days. I need the extra bits to take care of Sweetie Belle and myself, as well as manage the boutique."
  "But you have to come! I can't do my best knowing that not all my friends are there! Can't Sweetie Belle help you or something?"
  "No, Sweetie Belle has school today, silly. I'm not going to have her skip classes just to help her sister make dresses. Very important dresses at that. I truly am sorry, darling."
  "But-"
  "Girls! Enough!" yelled Twilight, whom had been silent during the exchange. Once the two had died down, she said calmly, "Rarity, surely the dresses aren't that important."
  "But they are, Twilight! And like I said, I need the extra bits," said Rarity quite angrily.
  "Well then, can't you spare an hour or two to watch Rainbow perform? You could leave right after she's finished so that you don't lose too much time."
  Rarity sighed loudly and sat on her haunches to think. After a few minutes, she said quietly, "Alright, if it's that important to you Rainbow Dash, I'll go; however-"
  Rainbow jumped up and hugged her tightly. "Ooooh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll make sure that it's worth your time!"
  Rarity quickly threw her off and glared at her slightly. "I was not finished! I said I will come. But only if you help me fill out my orders when all is said and done." She smirked slightly, knowing that Rainbow would never agree to such terms.
  Rainbow Dash moaned loudly and thought about it for a moment. "Fine," she said grumpily, surprising everyone in the room besides Pinkie, whom was chasing her shadow, "I'll do it. But only if you come!"
  Applejack, who had been silent as well, said, "Wow, Ah didn't know this was so important to ya, sugarcube. Are ya'll really that desperate for us all to be there?"
  "I am not desperate Applejack. I just really want my friends to be there when I get recruited into the Wonderbolts."
  "When does this little fiasco start anyhow?"
  She gasped and glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh no! It starts in an hour!" She grabbed Fluttershy, much to her surprise, and as she burst through the door with Fluttershy just behind her, she yelled, "I'll meet you guys there before it starts!"
  Twilight smiled then looked at everypony else. "Well, we should probably get there before she does. Knowing Rainbow Dash, she'd probably freak out if we weren't there when she started. Are you girls ready?"
  "Hey!" said Spike, quite angrily, "I am not a girl."
  Twilight chuckled slightly. "Sorry Spike. Is everypony ready?"
  When she got a yes from everypony, she shut her eyes tight and focused on casting the spell that allowed then to walk on clouds. It was a simple spell, but it used up a lot of energy, and it didn't help that she was casting on four other ponies and a dragon, as well as her.
  Her horn lit up and they were all covered in a purple aura of magic. After she was finished casting the spell, she opened her eyes and quivered slightly as her energy was drained. "Alright, let's all get outside and into Pinkie's hot-air balloon."
  "Okie dokie lokie!" said Pinkie Pie, but other than that, nopony else said anything, and they all hopped into the hot-air balloon and were on there way to Cloudsdale Stadium.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  Fluttershy watched as Rainbow Dash frantically rummaged through her house to try and find the perfect thing to wear to the Wonderbolts try-outs. "Um... Rainbow Dash? You really don't have to, um, wear anything special. It's really not that big of a deal, you know."
  Rainbow was making too much noise too hear Fluttershy's quiet remark. She was too busy looking for the perfect outfit. "Maybe I should wear a dress that compliments my mane? No, a dress would slow me down. Maybe I should wear a collar to make me look more sophisticated? No, sophisticated people are boring. Maybe I should wear a hat? No, no, no!!" She finally confronted Fluttershy, pouting slightly, "What do you think?"
  Fluttershy looked down at Rainbow and smiled. "Rainbow, it's really not that important. If you ask me, I think you should just go as is." She dropped her head down when Rainbow Dash looked at her with an astounded look on her face. "That is, if it's okay with you..."
  Rainbow looked up at the small clock on her wall and flew towards her door, opening it with so much force it nearly flew off it's hinges. "It doesn't matter! We're running out of time! Come on!" With that, she flew speedily out the door.
  She looked behind her at Fluttershy, who was following very slowly. Too slowly, in her opinion. She flew back to her oldest friend and looked at her, wide-eyed. "How can you be so slow?! We're gonna be late!"
  Fluttershy simply looked her in the eyes and said, "Well, the stadium is right next to your house, and, um, we still have about half an hour until we're late."
  "But the Wonderbolts won't be impressed unless I'm early!" Without waiting for her to reply, she flew at top speed towards the stadium, leaving Fluttershy behind.
  Fluttershy smiled after her. "Oh Rainbow Dash, we really are going to miss you when you leave." Fluttershy knew full well what would happen if Rainbow Dash was accepted into the Wonderbolts. She would start hanging out with them and would barely have time for her friends in Ponyville, or in Cloudsdale for that matter. Then the fame would go to her head and she'd completely forget about them. At least, that's what happened to her old friend Fleetfoot, another pony in the Wonderbolts.
  She smiled at the thought of her old friend, then noticed that she had made it to the stadium. She met up with her other friends right at the front, and waited patiently until the try-outs begun.
  Rainbow Dash, however, wasn't so calm. She hurried to the front of the stadium where she was supposed to sign up to enter the contest. She found the stallion that was handling the papers and flew towards him.
  "Why hello there," said the stallion, whom Rainbow noticed was High Winds of the Wonderbolts, "Are you here to enter the Wonderbolt Try-Outs?"
  She simply nodded and signed her name on the papers, then was given her number, seven, her lucky number. She was relieved to have gotten her lucky number. It had done wonders for her in the past. She placed the number on her flank, just next to her cutie mark, then was lead to the room where the contestants waited to be called out.
  She was quite surprised when she entered the room. There were only five other competitors! That amazed her, mostly because the Wonderbolts were so famous. Then again, it was a good thing as well. Now there weren't so many ponies that could possibly outshine her! There were two particular pegasi that caught her eye. A plump, brown stallion, and a light yellow mare with a beautiful pink mane. Ha! That big brown stallion won't stand a chance against me! I mean, just look at him! he's so... well, fat. And that mare over there? She's sweating like crazy! She's probably not cut out to be a Wonderbolt anyways.
  Then she thought back to the Best Young Flyer competition. A lot of those ponies didn't seem fit to beat her either, but many of them came close. I guess I shouldn't be so quick to judge, she thought. Oh well. At least the other three looked like worthy opponents.
  There was a loud screech that made Rainbow and two other ponies nearly jump out of their skin, then a deep stallion's voice came over the intercom. "Contestant number twenty-three, please step out into the stadium. It's your time to shine!"
  A large, mean looking green stallion got up and walked out of the room, leaving the rest sitting there in silence. Nopony really felt like talking to complete strangers.
  The rules of the contest were a bit strange. Or at least one of the rules, in Rainbow's opinion. It stated that all contestants that were not called upon were required to stay in the room until called upon. She just found that a bit odd.
I wonder why they want to keep us in the dark until we actually get out there, she thought. Maybe they just want to surprise us? Eh, it doesn't matter. I'll win no matter what kind of contest this is!
   She sat on one of the three couches in the lobby next to a very young-looking teal mare with a green mane and tail. She looked rather nervous, but tried to make it look otherwise. A bit too hard, Rainbow thought.
  "Hi! My name is Rainbow Dash." She extended a hoof towards the mare and smiled slightly, so as to look friendly.
  The mare looked at her a bit shocked and shook her hoof. "My name is April Showers. You can call me April." She smiled a bit nervously and added, "I recognize you from the Best Young Flyer competition. Why be so nice to your opponents?"
  Rainbow kept up her friendly smile and said, "Well, 'cause you looked a little nervous, and that means that you won't give it your all, and if you don't give it your all, you won't be much of a challenge. And if you aren't much of a challenge, I'll be sure to win. And you wouldn't want that, would you?"
  April looked at her with a shocked expression. "Well, of course not! And you shouldn't be so confident in yourself. You never know when someone might outshine you." She added a little smirk to that last part, which really ticked off Rainbow Dash. Who was she to mock her, the fastest pegasus in all Equestria?
  "Well then, may the best pegasus win!"
  "Agreed."
  After that, nopony else said a word until they were called upon to go into the stadium.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
  The good part of an hour had passed, and two more ponies had gone out to perform. Rainbow Dash was growing quite bored when the stallion on the intercom finally said, "Contestant number seven, please step out into the stadium. It's your time to shine." It was getting quite annoying hearing him say almost the same thing over and over again, but at least it was the last time she would hear him say it.
  She got up from the couch she had been sitting on and stretched her hooves, then walked out the door with an air of confidence. She was gonna win this easy!
  When she walked out the door into the actual stadium, she couldn't believe her eyes. Literally. She thought she was seeing things. There's no way this is what they want me to do to prove myself to the Wonderbolts! A foal could do this in their sleep!
  Right in front of her was a simple course meant for foals. It started with a semi-small course with a few sharp turns, then went straight into a fairly large, yet simple-looking maze. The very last part of the course was a series of small hoops set up at various heights and angles.
Oh well. Can't really compla-
  Before she could finish her thought, she was interrupted by the very loud voice of a mare, whom seemed to be the announcer, saying, "And now for our next contestant, number seven, Rainbow Dash!"
  There was a deafening roar as the surprisingly large crowd cheered, and Rainbow could see her friends in the front row at the front of the stadium. She waved at them, and they waved back eagerly.
  "Well, looks like she already has quite a few fans. Then again, that is expected from the winner of this years' Best Young Flyer competition!" Another load roar from the crowd. "Well, Rainbow Dash, I can already tell what you're thinking! 'This should be simple! A foal could finish this in a heartbeat!' Am I right? Well, you could never be more wrong! This course, although simple in design, is full of tricks meant to slow you down. Let's just see how fast you can manage to finish. I got one last question for you Rainbow Dash, and that is, are you ready?!"
  Just as the announcer said those last words, there was a bright flash behind her and a huge dragon came up behind her, forcing her into the course.
  After the first turn, she risked a quick glance backwards and saw that the dragon was now gone. Phew, she thought. At least I won't have to deal with that thing during the whole thing.
  While she was thinking, she nearly ran straight into a wall on the second turn. Not given enough time to think, she tucked her wings in and dived under it instead of flying over it, then flapped her wings twice and was back to her normal speed in no time.
  The announcer said something, but she wasn't listening. She was in the zone. Nothing could distract her when she was in the zone.
  After a few undisturbed turns, she made it to the straight-away towards the maze entrance. But just as she picked up speed, a small portion of the left cloud-wall suddenly detached itself from the rest and nearly squished her against the opposite wall.
Whoa! That was too close! I should really be more careful on this course. The announcer continued to scream out to the crowd.
  She arrived at the entrance to the maze and thought lazily, Well this should be easy. The walls are made of clouds. I can just fly right through them! But she thought better of it a moment later, knowing it wouldn't be that easy.
  She flew close to the nearest cloud-wall and looked at it with a critical eye. She noticed a second later that the walls were surrounded by a white aura of magic, making them as hard as a block of steel. Ha! I knew it!
  She then took an immediate right, then kept going towards what she thought would be the end.
  But, like everything else on this course, it had a bit of a twist to it. It seemed like the maze had a certain enchantment on it that made Rainbow turn back and go the same way she had just come without her realizing it. But after a few minutes, she figured out when to trust her senses and when not to.
    Eventually, she made it to the end. That's when she really got ticked off; just as she reached the exit to the horribly confusing maze, it suddenly closed itself up, becoming nothing but a cloud-wall.
  "Aw, come on!" Rainbow yelled in frustration. She nearly turned the other way to find another exit when she noticed something peculiar about the used-to-be-exit; it wasn't surrounded by that mysterious aura! Which meant only one thing.
  She prayed to Celestia she wasn't making a mistake and flew straight towards the wall where the exit used to be. She then sighed in relief as she escaped successfully.
  The announcer was still shouting almost incoherently. That is, Rainbow couldn't understand what she was saying because she was still in the zone.
  The final part of the course now stood in front of her. Now all she had to do was fly through the small hoops without contact while avoiding any traps set upon them.
Alright. Let's do this!
  She sped forward at half her fastest speed, which was still incredibly fast, and flew through the first two hoops in ten seconds flat (which was impressive, considering they were set about 110 meters apart). She expected something to happen, but nothing did.
  She then flew through the third hoop with no contact, but again, nothing. An idea then came to her head.
That's it! They set up traps in the first two parts of the course to make me think there would be more at the last part! Then they left it alone to mess with my head. By now she had already passed through another hoop successfully. Well, you can't trick me that easily! She then sped forward at top speed, leaving a rainbow trail behind her.
  Rainbow dashed through four more hoops, then finally faced the final hoop.
This is it! I'm almost at the end!
  Just then there was another blinding flash, and the dragon from earlier appeared magically in front of her, scaring the buck out of her.
  She did a barrel-roll in mid-air, barely escaping the dragon's snapping jaws. What was she going to do? How was she going to get past this humongous thing?!
  None of her tactics seemed to work. She tried going around it, over it, and even tried to confuse it. But the dragon simply mocked every move she made, keeping her away from the final hoop.
  "How in Equestria am I supposed to get past this thing," she thought out loud. She pondered her possibilities and had a sudden idea. "I'm not sure if this will work, but it's worth a try!"
  She flew up and over the dragon, and again it mocked her moves. But this time, she would get past! She was certain of it.
  To everypony's surprise, and much to the dragon's surprise, Rainbow Dash formed a magnificent rainbow. Then she did something that surprised everypony even further. She flew below the rainbow and formed another one, making a double rainbow. And it was one of the most beautiful rainbows ever seen in the history of Equestria!
  The dragon stared, dumbfounded, at the double rainbow. Rainbow Dash saw this as an opening and flew straight for the last hoop, speeding through it and landing on the stadium's backstage entrance, right where she had started.
  The dragon then magically disappeared the same way it had came, and the crowd went absolutely ballistic.
  The announcer said something again, but this time, Rainbow listened. "Wow! Quite a stunning performance Miss Dash! Now, make your way back out of the stadium, and you will be contacted within the next week! Onto the next competitor!"
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  Rainbow Dash proudly walked out to the Cloudsdale Stadium's entrance, being greeted many times on her way, and was even asked to sign an autograph! That last part made her smile; she knew she was good, but she didn't expect to have fans yet!
  What surprised her more than anything was when she actually made it out of the stadium. Right before her eyes stood all eleven of the Wonderbolts! She nearly fainted.
  She could name each and every one of them. There was Spitfire, Soarin', Surprise, Fleetfoot, Blaze, Fire Streak, High Winds, Lightning Streak, Misty, Rapidfire, and Wave Chill, all wearing the trademark Wonderbolts outfit.
  "Y-you're the Wonderbolts! Wh-what do you want?"
  Soarin', the leader of the group, said calmly, "To congratulate you on your performance, of course. That was simply amazing! Even by my standards. Your reaction time, speed, and creativity might just get you a spot on the Wonderbolts."
  Rainbow gasped loudly and grinned at the thought. Her, a Wonderbolt? It was only her life-long dream!
  Her thoughts were cut short when Spitfire said with a chuckle, "Don't get too cocky, now. Just because you're good and have most of our approval, that doesn't mean that you will become the next Wonderbolt. Remember, there are still two ponies that haven't done the course yet, and three more that already have. You'll never know if you're the best until you get word."
  She then walked up to Rainbow Dash and put a hoof on her shoulder. "But expect to hear from us in about a week. Best wishes to you, Rainbow Dash. Fly steady."
  After that, they all flew back into the stadium to watch the last two contestants. Rainbow still couldn't believe that she had just talked to the Wonderbolts... again! Now she was positive that she had won!
   A few seconds later, somepony cleared their throat somewhere to the left of her and she turned to see her friends standing there beaming at her.
  "That was a simply fantastic display, darling!" said Rarity. "I am rather glad that you convinced me to come see this little event. Glad to know I didn't miss out on anything."
  Pinkie Pie just stood there with her jaw looking like it had been dislocated for a second before saying all in one breathe, "That was awesome! My favorite part was the double rainbow thingy. That part made me smile because it reminded me of how I got my cutie mark, which made me think of my parents. Come to think of it, I haven't seen them in a while. Do you think I should go visit them? I think I should. Oh well, maybe we'll find out if I do in a later chapter!"
  Everypony just looked at her like she was crazy. Nopony bothered to ask about what she had just said; it was Pinkie Pie, after all.
  Applejack was the next to appraise Rainbow's performance. "Tha' was a mighty fine job you done out there RD. Ya'll'll win that spot in the Wonderbolts fer sure!"
  Rainbow stood there blushing brightly. "Aw shucks, thanks you guys. We should probably get back to Ponyville. I did promise to help you with your orders, Rarity."
  "Well, I say, you really do keep loyal to your promises, don't you darling?"
  "Of course I do! I am the Element of Loyalty, aren't I?"
  Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity all stepped into Pinkie's hot-air balloon and were off towards Ponyville while Rainbow and Fluttershy simply flew down.
  "So, what did you think of the contest, Fluttershy?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Wasn't it awesome?"
  Fluttershy smiled and looked at Rainbow. "It was, um, very stunning, Rainbow. I'm sure you won."
  Although she was smiling, Rainbow could see that something was bothering Fluttershy. "What's the matter Fluttershy?" she asked, hoping to get an answer from the shy mare.
  She simply looked back at her and said, "Oh, nothing important." She knew that wouldn't fool Rainbow Dash, but she had to try anyways.
  Again, Rainbow saw through the small lie and landed on a large cloud, instructing Fluttershy to do the same. Once she landed softly in front of her, she began talking quietly and calmly.
  "Now Fluttershy, I've known you for quite a long time. Longer than anypony else other than my family. And I can tell when you're bothered by something. I can see that you're bothered by something right now, and I can see that you don't want to tell me. I'm not going to force you to tell me, but I'm not going to leave you alone about it either, because I don't like it when my friends aren't happy."
  Fluttershy simply held her head down, looking at Rainbow Dash through a small gap in her mane. She liked it when Rainbow showed her compassionate  side, but didn't like to bother her with her problems.
  Rainbow sighed and brought a hoof to Fluttershy's chin, pulling her head up to eye-level so she could look her straight in the eyes. She didn't like it when her head was down like that. It made her feel like Fluttershy was afraid of her.
  Her voice got a bit stern, but she still held some composure as she said calmly, "Look me in the eyes when I talk to you Fluttershy. I hate it when you don't. You have truly beautiful eyes Fluttershy, and nopony knows that because you always keep them hidden. Now please... Tell me what's bothering you."
  A few tears welled up in Fluttershy's eyes as she said, "I just don't want to lose you Rainbow Dash. Nopony does. And don't say that you won't leave. Because that's exactly what Fleetfoot said before she left."
  "Come on Fluttershy, please don't cry. I'm not like Fleetfoot. I'm not gonna-" Her speech was cut short as Fluttershy slapped her across the face... hard. She didn't know Fluttershy even had that much strength in her.
  "I wasn't finished dammit! You really need to learn to stop interrupting others when they talk." Tears were now flowing quietly down her face. "I know you Rainbow Dash, more than anypony else. And I know that the fame will go to your head, just like Fleetfoot!"
  She was screaming at this point. Rainbow Dash just sat there quietly and put a hoof to where she had been slapped, listening to everything Fluttershy had to say.
  "The fame will go to your head, and you'll forget all about us! Just ask Fleetfoot. She forgot about me when she joined the Wonderbolts. We.... No, I loved her. And she claimed to love me too. But she never did. She gave me up for the Wonderbolts, without so much as a second glance!"
  All of this came as a shock for Rainbow Dash. She had barely known Fleetfoot before she joined the Wonderbolts, let alone that Fluttershy had loved her. She wondered why she was telling her all of this.
  "I loved her, and she left... And you know what, Rainbow Dash? I LOVE YOU!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, which again surprised Rainbow Dash. She didn't know she could be so assertive. "I love you.... And I don't want you to leave. I couldn't live knowing that the second pony I've ever fallen in love with went to join the Wonderbolts, just like the first. I just thought I'd let you know that before you left. I'll be in my cottage for the next couple of days. Please tell everypony to leave me alone until I come back out."
  And with that, she flew away, leaving a teary-eyed Rainbow Dash behind. She didn't even have the strength to reply. She just sat there, on the top of a lonely cloud, replaying the scene over and over again in her head.
  She couldn't deny that she too had always loved Fluttershy, but she didn't even have the wits to think about it at that moment.
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  A few hours later, Rainbow finally found the strength to get up. Instead of flying down to Ponyville to help Rarity as she had promised, she simply flew up to her house at the edge of Cloudsdale.
  When she got there, she lied down on her bed and cried for the rest of the night.
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Author's Note
Wow. That was intense. Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. It took me five hours to write the re-read for mistakes. But that isn't important. I hope to hear all of your opinions, and if nopony likes my story, I'm gonna keep writing it anyways. Expect to see the next chapter soon.
End Author's Note
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