A Blaze of Glory

Dash ran through the halls. She was in the top three candidates for the Wonderbolts . She had one last thing to do, just an easy race. No tricks no obstacles, just raw speed. Dash could do speed, she was speed. There was nothing that she did better. If that was the last contest, then she was the going to be the youngest Wonderbolt in history by almost a year.

She barreled around a corner, bouncing off the wall and continuing down the hallway. Fluttershy had been sick all day, so she had seen Dash do some of the coolest tricks ever, she had even made the legendary Sonic Rainboom. That was one myth completely busted. Dash was on a high so far above the clouds she zipped over that she was only slightly amazed to not be seeing… well seeing something.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy come on.” Dash hammered on the door, trying to wake her friend. There was the sound of shuffling and a soft squeak of surprise, and the sound of something heavy and soft thudding to the floor. Then the only sound was the pounding of Rainbow’s heart, a beat the only intensified as she glanced at the nearby clock. “Please come on Fluttershy! I’m in the top three, and there’s just a race left. Please come? It would mean so much for you to be there. I have to be back there in five minutes, and that’s just long enough for you to get there with me and find a seat. But we’d have to go now.”

Rainbow paused, and heard a sound. It was a soft whimpering sound, like that of an animal in agony. The sound was abruptly cut off, and its duration and volume were so low that Rainbow must have imagined them. “I can’t Rainbow Dash. I’m sorry, I’m just so, so sick.” The stuffy words were punctuated by the loud sniffing as the pegasus tried to clear her nose. “You go on, go be a Wonderbolt. You can do it. I believe in you.”

“Thanks ‘Shy, that means a lot… a whole lot. I… you know I’m not good with the talking stuff, and the… Well I just wanted to say something. I, I love you Fluttershy. I- Oh horsefeathers! I need to go before I’m disqualified, but we’ll… we’ll talk later okay?”

The mare sped down the halls once more, leaving her marefriend, the love of her life, in a room. Fluttershy wasn’t sick though, at least not until she heard Rainbow’s words. After the cyan pegasus had said them, then she had been sick. It broke her heart to hear Rainbow say such beautiful things about her, when Fluttershy did nothing to deserve them. Rainbow was the perfect mare, strong, fast, athletic and fun. She was smart too, in her own, very unique, way. She deserved to become a Wonderbolt, by Celestia, Rainbow deserved to become Captain of the Wonderbolts ten times over.

And that mare, that glorious, perfect mare, loved her. Her, Fluttershy. A mare who could barely lap the beginners track once. Fluttershy.Fluttershy who couldn’t even speak up in a crowd, much less impress, befriend, and mingle with on as Rainbow did. Fluttershy Rainbow who said she loved her, an imperfect mare for the best pony she had ever met or even heard of. Fluttershy. Rainbow, who loved a mare who was dirty, was filthy. A mare so weak that she couldn’t even call for help.

“Fluttershy can hardly fly.” The yellow mare whispered, tears flowing freely now. Tears for the cruelty of others, tears for her weakness. But most of all, tears because she was hurting Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy loved Dash, she had known that from the night the two of them had spent in the Arena. She was hopelessly, helplessly, completely in love with the confident young pony. But how could she live with herself knowing that she was hurting that same mare? She was slowing Rainbow down, forcing the pony into less practice and more lessons, just to keep Fluttershy from flunking out of the school. If Dash had been able to practice like she should, without the annoying interference of a mare who couldn’t even fly.

Fluttershy packed her last bag, filled mostly with mementos of her time there, almost all of them either things Dash had given her, or her favorite painting, one she had done of the snoozing athlete. In the portrait, her head rested on her forehooves, lilted slightly to the side. Her mouth was open, and only the barest hint of a tongue hung out. Fluttershy had licked that tongue in way of greeting after she had finished, waking up her beloved.

The pain in her chest redoubled as she stared at the painting, and she leaned down to brush her lips softly against the canvas. Then she stood, tears still flowing, and walked over to her desk.

The party took hours to end. It was the last Derby of the season, and the Wonderbolts meant it quite literally when they said that they were not walking anywhere the next day. Rainbow had lost count of the number of shots of various fluids she had consumed, some of a rather interesting name and dubious coloring.

“Heya sweetheart, how’s about you and me go into the back for a little?” A stallion slurred, wrapping an leg around her shoulders. He held a mug of some green liquid in the other, and took a long swig, the powerful muscles of his throat working to convey their burden. The stallion was red, with a green apple cutie mark, and he was huge. He was also obviously so drunk he could barely stand.

A bark of laughter came from Dash’s mouth, and echoed around the crowded taproom. Almost every pony in the town seemed to be stuffed shoulder to shoulder in the little pub, there was even a small purple dragon riding on a unicorns back, drink in hand despite his obvious lack of legal drinking age. A belch and a jet of fire shot from his mouth, lighting the alcohol in his mug like a torch. A small scroll bobbed in the fire, apparently unharmed by the searing heat. The unicorn grinned, and magicked the note over to her, and read it. As she did, a smile grew wider and wider on her face, and at the end of the note, she let out a fillyish squeal, and tore out of the pub.

A small orange mare, with another apple Cutie Mark, walked over and muscled the stallion away. “Sorry ‘bout that, he’s a might tipsy.” The mare, his sister, called over the back of the red stallion. She then turned her head to the pony beside her and began to chastise him. “Macintosh! What would Cheerilee think to see you going off and”

The pair moved off, once more lost to sight and sound in the crowd. There was a sudden hush, spreading from the entrance of the pub to the bar, leaping from pony to pony like an STD at an orgy. Silence filled the room, but from her barstool, Rainbow still couldn’t see the newcomer.

“You should all be most ashamed of yourselves. I will not allow my little ponies to behave in such a manner.” Oh, bloody hell. The long white horn and golden crown appeared over the stunned crowd as the Princess of Equestria stepped carefully into the pub. “It is a shame, a true failing. This is a party held in the honor of the Wonderbolts, and this is how you spend it? Bartender!”

At the call, the little earth pony bartender stepped forward, shuffling his hooves in nervous tension. “Is this how you treat royalty?” One imperious brow arched over the purple eye, and the little gray pony before her let out a mumble half choked in panic. “I have attended many parties held for the Wonderbolts and this is by far the most,” a sneer appeared “inappropriate. These ponies are still standing, at least one should be under a table by now.” The sneer fell apart, and a wide, and only slightly mischievous, grin replaced it.

Her eyes twinkled in the dim light, either with amusement at the joke, or in lust for the warm mug of cider that the blushing bartender gave to her. Lifting it to her lips, she tilted her head back and drank. And she kept drinking. With an explosive gasp, she inhaled, lowering the empty mug to the table. “Another!”

The night became a haze after that, as the Princess kept ordering drinks for the entire pub. On the sixth or tenth mug, Rainbow slowed down, turning to watch the Princess begin a drinking contest. She drank every competitor under the table, watching as the bets go higher and higher. Rainbow got up after the ninth stallion, the red from earlier in the evening, rushed for the door. She sat, slamming her own mug on the table. “My turn.”

“Oh my, one of the Wonderbolts. Think you can beat me kid?” And the contest began. Almost ten minutes later it ended as Rainbow admitted defeat to the Princess. Rainbow stumbled away from the table, grinning happily. Then she saw her beloved.

She made a very wide, loopy line to the mare, stumbling over her feet as she went. Stumbling over her hooves, she still managed to sneak up on the poor mare, and positioned herself. Extending a wing, she drew a feather lightly along the flank of the mare.

She whipped around, and was met by the soft lips and warm breath of Rainbow, pressing against her own in simple longing. Vaguely, Rainbow though that Spitfire felt different somehow, softer but still so very familiar. Then, out of nowhere, a hoof slammed into her cheek, sending her back, falling over her legs and landing in a heap on the ground.

Fluttershy stood rock still, eyes wide and pupils almost nonexistent. She looked at Rainbow, still lying on the floor where the little yellow pegasus had sent her. She closed her eyes, both to savor the memory of the kiss, and to keep the tears it brought with it.