Won't Let it Bring Me Down

Won't Let it Bring Me Down

By: Crystal Heart

Chapter 1: Flashbacks and Memories

It was a normal day.

Rainbow Dash was lazing around on a cloud, neglecting her weather team duties...

As usual.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" a raspy voice came from beneath her. Dash jolted up, and peeked over the cloud. She instantly smiled upon seeing the new arrival.

"Hey, squirt!" she welcomed, flying down to the soft grass below. Scootaloo smiled up at her, as she ruffled her mane roughly. Dash gave her a small smile. "So what's up?"

"Well, me and the crusaders were trying to look for another pony to help out today.... and I saw you on that cloud up there. I just decided to see what you were doing. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are both still over there!" Scootaloo exclaimed. Dash looked a little away from her, to see Scootaloo's friends staring at the duo. Dash chuckled.

"Hehe... well, you better go on over to them! It looks like they want to talk to you!" she said. Scootaloo shrugged.

"Well, if you'd like, I can stay with you!" she said hopefully. Dash chuckled.

"Nah. It's cool. Besides, my parents are coming over tonight for dinner. I need to get my house ready for them. You game?" she said, bending low, and stretching her wings out, getting ready to take off. Scootaloo's smile faltered, before turning wide again.

"Yeah! I'll see you around, then, Rainbow!" she said, before sauntering off towards her friends. Dash sighed, as she watched the three fillies reunite, and go off to play. She missed the times when everything was alright. She missed her freedom.

Until that day.

Rainbow Dash still remembered it, clear as the southern skies. The day when her life changed forever. It happened almost three years ago, when she was eighteen years old.

It was the day when her mother gave her the big news.

She remembered Firefly's face, when she told her about the arrangement. She still remembered her giant grin that was forever plastered upon her light pink muzzle. She remembered her own reaction to the news once she was told who it was.

That day, all those years ago, Rainbow Dash was told that she was to have an arranged marriage with one of the colts she hated the most from flight school.

She was told she was going to have an arranged marriage with Hoops.

Hoops was an old family friend to the Dash family. When Rainbow Blaze, Dash's father, heard that his old best friend Basket was going to have a colt, he instantly arranged a marriage between the to-be born child, and his own. Rainbow Dash.

Blaze sent Dash to school with him, to go and play outside with him, just to make her feel safe around him, once he uttered out the news many years later.

But of course, that plan backfired.

Hoops had turned out to be a bully. He picked on just about anypony in the school alongside his best friend Dumbbell. Especially Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash had grown to deeply dislike the orange colt. Although she never knew about the marriage. Perhaps if she had, she would have tried a little harder with him.

But alas, that was not the case.

The doorbell rang, making a faint tick ring out throughout the house. Dash rushed to the front door, and opened it wide with a small smile, as her eyes set upon her parents.

"Rainbow Dash! So great to see you, again!" Firefly exclaimed, pulling her daughter in for a hug. Blaze did the same.

"Hey, Dash. How have you been?" he asked. Rainbow Dash smiled, and nodded towards both of the older ponies.

"I've been great, Dad. Come on in!" she said, leading them into the house. Firefly and Blaze scurried in after her, locking the door behind them, as their daughter led them inside her cloud house.

The three settled down in their seats at the dining table, and stared at the food that was set before them. There were different kinds of hayburgers, salads, and a variety of fruit juices. Firefly's jaw dropped.

"Wow, Dash! Didn't know you could cook!" she said. Dash grinned.

"I can't! I bought all this from Carrot Top!" she said. Blaze shot his daughter a playful glare, and took a sandwich into his plate.

"Why didn't I realize that sooner?" Firefly mumbled under her breath as she did the same.

The three ate in silence for most of the dinner, Dash picking at her food, lost in her own thoughts. Mostly about the marriage.

The date hadn't been decided yet, but it was going to be held sometime after her twenty-second birthday. Which was only a few months away from now.  Dash gulped, as she gave her parents a fearful glance, something that didn't go unnoticed.

"Rainbow? Are you alright?" Firefly asked, putting a hoof on her shoulder. Dash instantly brightened up, and nodded with a fake smile. She tried to wash the worry away from her face, but miserably failed.

"Yeah, Mom! I'm fine!" she exclaimed, a little too happily. Firefly raised her eyebrows, and shook her head.

"Dash... what's going on?" she asked. Dash put her fork down, and bit her lip, looking away.

"May I be excused?" she asked, getting up from her seat, and running up the stairs quickly. Firefly and Blaze looked at each other with worried looks.

"What do you think's got her so worked up?" Blaze asked his wife. Firefly shook her head.

"I'm not sure... but we're going to find out."

Rainbow Dash ran up into her room, flailing onto her bed, and wrapping the sheets around her timid body. She shivered, as cool air from the open window hit her coat.

She closed her eyes, and let a few tears escape them slowly.

She tried. She tried so hard to stop herself.

She tried to stop herself from getting to attached to a stallion... she had tried with her life. But it was proven impossible.

Memories from that day started to flood back to her. The day when everything had changed.

FLASHBACK

"Betcha can't catch me, Soarin!" Rainbow Dash yelled out to the baby blue stallion below her. Soarin cast her a large smirk, and nodded.

"Oh... you are so on!" he said, taking off from the ground, and beating his wings fast to try and catch up with the cyan mare.

The two had decided to train together after the Wonderbolts show in Canterlot. Soarin had simply invited her to hang out. Dash fangirled a little, before accepting his invitation.

And now they were racing.

Soarin beat his wings hard, easily catching up with Dash, who looked over to him, and grinned.

"Ready for me to actually try?" she asked. Soarin playfully glared at her, and nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" he exclaimed, before flying faster and faster. Dash, from behind him, only smirked, flipping a few times, twisting her wings, and pushing off from a condensed air cloud that had just popped up behind her out of nowhere.

Soarin gaped as he watched the mare zoom past him with no restraint. She looked so peaceful, in her rightful home; the sky. Soarin inspected her form, and realized what she was doing to be going to fast at such a calm approach.

"Ahh... you're going to play it tough, huh, Rainbow Dash? Well then... time to play tough..." he grumbled underneath his breath, before flying faster. He twisted his wings forward, ruffling his feathers out, and pushing off from the air behind him. With no air cloud.

This of course, slowed him down a little, but he managed to catch up with Rainbow, who was busy staring at him with a surprised expression.

"What do you think, Rainbow Dash? Or are you too speechless to say anything?" he asked her snarkily. She shrugged while still flying at high speeds, and quickly turned, colliding with him, as he steered them over to a nearby cloud.

The two landed with a soft plop, and looked at each other, not daring to say anything. They noticed how they were sitting, with a straight forward attitude, and burst out laughing in response, relaxing their joints, and laying side by side on the cloud.

"So, I won, right?" Soarin asked. Dash gaped at him.

"What? No way! That was totally me! I won!" she exclaimed, before they both laughed a little more. Soarin wheezed, as he began to speak, still laughing inwardly to himself.

"You do realize we never actually set a finish line, right?" he asked her. Dash's eyes widened in realization, as she chuckled.

"Oh... oops. But I bet if we did, I would have totally won fair and square!" she exclaimed. Soarin shook his head softly, and leaned back in his invisible cloud chair.

"I really doubt that..." he mumbled, just loud enough for Dash to hear him. Rainbow gasped, as she flipper herself, landing right onto him. She leaned in, so that their noses were touching, and narrowed her eyes into a sweet glare.

"Do you wanna go?" she asked menacingly. Soarin's eyes widened, as he tried to wiggle free from her. But Dash didn't give in. She pounded onto his hooves, not letting him escape her grasp.

"Uhh.... no?" he said uncertainly. Dash nodded.

"Good choice," she said, before letting go of him, and plopping onto his chest. She rolled off of him, and laid back down besides his baby blue body. Soarinn chuckled.

"Oh good... I would hate to make a wrong one!" he said childishly. Dash grinned, before lifting herself off the fluffy cloud.

"I better get going. I told my friends I would meet up with them after the show. They must be worried sick about me..." she said. Soarn frowned.

"Awe..." he groaned. "Well, this was definitely a fun experience. I'll see you tomorrow, right?" he asked her. Dash grinned, and nodded, mentally breaking.

"Yeah. For sure. Bye, Soarin," she said, waving to him, and she flew away. Away from him.

END FLASHBACK

She didn't go back to him.

She left him.

She couldn't go back to him. If she did... who knows what could have happened!

She couldn't get attached to him. She was going to get married soon...

"Rainbow Dash, what's going on?" Blaze asked as he entered his daughter's room. Dash quickly wiped her tears away, and plastered a fake smile onto her face.

"O-O-Oh h-hey d-d-dad!" she said, still a little chokey after crying. Blaze and Firefly both frowned. Firefly walked up to the bed, and sat down besides her daughter.

"Were you... crying?" she asked with a tone that indicated surprise. Dash bit her lip, and looked away, not giving an answer.

"Uh... maybe?" she said nervously. Firefly gasped, and pulled her daughter in for a hug.

"Dashie! Are you alright? Why were you crying?" she asked. Dash shot a glare up at her mother.

"You know I don't like being called Dashie," she said. Firefly shrugged, and tightened her grip around the cyan mare. Dash sighed, and snuggled into her mother's arms.

"Dash... I'm being serious! What happened?" she asked. Dash inched away from her, and turned to her father.

"Promise you won't get mad?" she asked. Her parents nodded. Dash sighed. "I really don't want to do this arranged marriage thing," she said quietly.

Blaze and Firefly both stopped dead in their tracks.

"What?" Blaze mumbled.

"I don't want to get married to Hoops," Dash said. "He's awful..."

"Nonsense! I've met Hoops, and he's a very nice colt! He's perfect for you!" Blaze insisted, sitting down besides his daughter. Dash shook her head.

It was true, Hoops was one of the stallions who acted one way around ponies his age, and another around adults. Dash knew there wasn't anything she could do about convincing her father just yet, as he was just like she was. So she just decided to let it go.

"Whatever. Are you two sleeping over?" she asked, getting up. Firefly and Blaze looked at each other, having a private conversation with their eyes, and nodded.

"Yeah. I think that'll be best," Firefly said, getting up to help Dash with the preparations.