Chapter One: The Eyes of an Angel
“Dash, it’s four in the morning. Why do we have to go now?” You ask groggily, annoyed that Rainbow Dash knocked on your door just to wake you up. Looking at your clock, it said “Mo – 4:05 – AM”. Four AM on a Monday, of all days. It sat on your end table, along with your wallet of bits, a lamp, and a picture of your family.
“Yeah c’mon! I wanna show you something really cool! I’ve been up all night; I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited!” She exclaims, in a voice too loud for your preference. “You’ll love it!”
You sighed. “Fine. Hang on a sec.”
You get up out of bed, and stretch your wings and legs, earning a satisfying *pop* from them. You walk to the door, the clouds of you and Dash’s modified cloud-home cushy under your feet. A while after you and Dash had met and become best friends, you both added a wing to her cloud home above Ponyville, and arranged it so you could move in. Being roommates with her wasn’t so bad, but it had its issues. For starters, you only had one bathroom. That was an issue after a long day. But other than that, it was pretty good; you had a place to stay, and lived with your best friend. But something else was there. You felt that wasn’t all there was, but…
“Yeah what’s up?” you asked, opening the door.
“Check it out check it out check it out!” She yells, shoving a piece of paper in your face. “I got an audition with the Wonderbolts!” She said. She squealed like a fan girl about to see a new season of some kind of colt band.
“Wow, holy crap, that’s amazing Dash!” You said, “Looks like your life dream has a good chance of working out!”
“I know! I can’t wait! They told me at around eight tonight to show up Wednesday, but you were asleep then, so I waited!”
“Until four?” You ask, scratching your head. You failed to see the logic in this.
“Well there’s that, and there’s something else I want to show you.” She drags you outside, to the roof. “Look.”
There, not an inch from the horizon was the beginning of a beautiful sunrise over the Everfree Forest. The sky met the sun with such glory it set the view on fire in a tint of red. The sun radiated pink, as the red mixed with the blue. Needless to say, it was the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen in your life.
damned watermark...
“Oh my Luna, that’s amazing.” You gape, still shocked by it. “Thanks for getting me up to see this.”
“Ah, it was nothing.” She says. “Now c’mon, we gotta go practice. I want to be in top shape tomorrow for the Wonderbolts.” She flies off towards a clearing that everyone had left unused for her to practice, known as Sonic Field.
After the long day of practicing, you manage to get her to go to sleep. She tried to say that she felt fine, but you know when she’s tired. She was practically falling asleep walking upstairs anyway.
“Now c’mon, Dash,” You tell her, “You want to be in top shape tomorrow, right? Being in top condition means that you can’t pass out of exhaustion during your audition.” You explain. “Remember Rarity? Her wings evaporated or something and she just plummeted. That’s what’ll happen if you don’t sleep right now.” You remembered how you can make her bend a bit to your will a little bit by using your mother’s old stare down technique, similar to Fluttershy’s infamous ‘Stare’.
“I hate it when you two do that.” She says, annoyed. “Yeah yeah I’m going.”
“Heh.” You smirk, “If I hear you walking around I’m going to lock your door or something. I don’t know, Dash. Just sleep.”
“Yeah yeah…”
---~ The Next Day, After the Audition ~---
You’re sitting at home, reading a book, (Celestia knows why, you hate reading.) when you hear the door open.
“Hey Dash! How’d it go?” You ask, expecting good results.
No response.
“Rainbow?” You ask. You get up and look to the foyer, and see her slumped down on the floor, using the door as a backrest, sobbing. Her face was stained with tears, and her eyes were red and puffy. You’ve never seen her like this before.
“They didn’t let me in.” She said. You could feel that in yourself too. Joining the Wonderbolts was her life’s aspiration; much like yours was to see every major city in Equestria.
“Oh my Celes- Dash, I’m so sorry.” You told her.
“I don’t even see why!” She shouted, breaking the initial semi-peace. “I mean, I fly so great, I put them to shame! I’d like to see one of them pull off a damned Rainboom!”
“Dash-” You begin. You take her in and just hold her, letting her sob freely into your shoulder.
“I just- I just can’t.” She breaks away from you, and walks towards the door. “I’m going for a fly. Alone.”
You let her go.
After about an hour, you decide to check on her. Knowing Rainbow Dash, she’d likely still be gone. You look in her room, and you see the Wonderbolts posters in shreds on the floor. You sigh sadly at them, and pick them up. You’d have to get rid of these later.
“You just had to not let her in, didn’t you?” You ask the posters, melancholically, and put them in the trash.
You lock the front door, grab your key, and head out. You’re on a mission to find Dash, and that’s what you’re going to do. You figure it’d be best to ask around Ponyville.
The first pony you see is Twilight Sparkle.
“Hey Twi,” You greet her,
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Dash got denied by the ‘Bolts, and she flew off somewhere, you see her anywhere?”
“She got de- Oh my. No, I haven’t, but if you see her, give her a hug for me?” She asked of you. You exchanged farewells and flew off, looking for Applejack next.
“Thank ya! Come again!” Applejack says to a customer, “Howdy there! What c’n Ah do for ya?” She asks you,
“Seen Dash anywhere?” You ask, you’re on a timeframe.
“Yeah Ah have, last I saw her she was flying towards Whitetail Wood, why?”
“She got denied by the ‘Bolts.” You tell her. This was the second time today.
“She did? Well ain’t that just the darndest thing. Give her some consolin’ from me, will ya?”
“Sure thing, AJ. Can I have two apples, by the way?” You begin to get your wallet
“Sure thing. On the house, for two friends in need. And c’n I ask ya somethin’?” she asks,
“Thanks, and shoot.”
“Why are you goin’ after Rainbow like this?”
“Why do you think? I want to make sure she’s okay.” You say, not understanding.
“That’s not all. I c’n tell when somepony’s not telling the truth or the whole truth.”
“No, no. That’s all.” You say.
“Right. So who’d y’all ask again?”
“Only you and Twilight.” You say.
“And she just left, all sad and whatnot?”
“Yep.”
“And how long have ya loved her?”
“A while, AJ, a whil- BUCK! I hate when you do that!” You yell, turning crimson, embarrassed she knows.
“Thought that y’all weren’t being wholly truthful.” She says, satisfied.
“I’m gonna get you for this, one day.”
“Sticks an’ stones, pardner.”
“Yeah. So how’d you figure it out?”
“Body language, the way y’all talked about her, and how y’all want to find her so badly.” She said, “Plus, Ah’m pretty good with honesty.”
“Tch. I’ve noticed.”
“Here’s a word of advice- just tell ‘er when it feels right. That’s all y’all need to know.
“Thanks AJ, and do me a favor?”
“What’s that, Sugarcube?”
“Cut that truth stuff out.” You fly off, towards Whitetail Wood.
In the twilight of the day, the sun hangs over the autumn leaves and trees beautifully. You figure she’d be in a cloud nearby. Sure enough, there she is, not 100 feet from you. You glide over, your wings lazily flapping. Her mane was frazzled, and her face was still stained. Her eyes still puffy too.
You land next to her, “Hey.” You greet her.
“Hey.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.” She was giving you the one word answer treatment.
“Still upset?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, I guess I’ll eat both these apples, then.” You look up a bit, turning your eyes to get a glimpse of what she does,
“…I want one.” She reaches up, and takes one out of your hoof. She never was Ms. Subtle.
“Certainly not one for asking, I see,” You say smugly. “Past the one word answers?”
“Yeah. Can we talk?”
“We’re already talking, but sure. What’s on your mind?”
“The whole Wonderbolts thing. It was my life’s dream and all, but there was another reason I did it…” She says, looking down a bit.
“Oh? And what’s that?” You ask her
“I was…” She stammers a bit. “Trying to impress you.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah it is… Sounds stupid, I know.”
“Rainbow Spectrum Dash.” You use her full name, “You do not need to impress me by joining the Wonderbolts. You’re already better, so not much can anymore. What I’m trying to say is that you impress me enough by being you. Watching your stunts, it’s unbelievable.”
“You mean it?” she asks.
“Hay yeah. Applejack and Twi’ both send this.” You bring her into a hug.
“Thanks, I think. You know I’ve been doing some thinking…”
“Did you hurt yourself?” She punches you. “Deserved…”
“No, smarty, but I realized something… Important…” She says
“And what is that?”
“Why I do it. All the flying, tricks, and all that.”
You look into her eyes. They’re shining magenta in the sunset
“And why’s that?” You turn your head quizzically.
“To escape a thought, and hopeful reality.”
“Hopeful reality? Generally escaping something means it’s a bad thing.”
“Well I can’t just up and do what it is I want to do now, can I?”
“Was it to join the ‘Bolts?”
“No. It was to tell somepony the truth.”
“Who would that be?” You ask. You know that she means you, and you hope that she means what you think she means, but you don’t reveal that yet.
“You, genius. You’re terrible at taking hints, especially in board games. Guess Whooves is the worst.”
“Yeah yeah, what do you want to tell me?”
“I wanted to tell you…” You look at her intently, head turned again, “That I do all this to impress you because… I like you.”
Yes! Yes! Yes!
“Well of course you do, Dash, we’re best friends. Have been for years, hello, remember that?”
“No, idiot- Like I said you suck at hints. I mean I like you. You know, love?”
YES! YES! YES! DISCORD BUCKING YES!
“You probably think I’m nuts, right?” She looks down, sad.
“Rainbow, you’re the best Pegasus I know. You’re my best friend, and the best flier in Equestria, and hay, we share a house. Listen to me. You are not nuts. Know why?”
“Why?”
“Well I know you can take a hint. Figure out what I mean when I give you this.”
“W-”
You interrupt her by immediately pressing your lips to hers. Her eyes widen in surprise, but then she melts into your kiss, sighing contentedly. Her lips had the faint taste of berries to them.
“Oh. I see.”
“Yeah, I feel the same way.”
“Well then, let me return the favor.”
She brings you into another kiss. This one longer, because you both were expecting it.
“I love you.” You say
“I love you too.”
“Let’s get back to the house, alright? It’s almost nightfall.”
Sure enough, Luna was beginning to raise the moon, and you had to get back. You look into each other’s eyes. You look into the eyes of an angel. And now, she was your angel.
“Come on, it’s getting cold.” You say
“Coming.” She says
---~ You and Rainbow Dash’s Cloud House, about 20 minutes later ~---
“So how long have you felt…”
“In love with you?” she asks “Remember that time we were just goofing around and we crashed?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, when you landed on top of me, and we locked eyes, I just felt something. You?”
“About a week before I moved in, I was watching you fly and was just… Enticed.”
“What?”
“Amazed.”
“Oh, stop talking like Twi’, you’re not an egghead.”
“Says you. Anyway, I’m going to go to bed now, night Rainbow.”
“Night. See you in the morning.”
You nod, then go upstairs. You sit in bed thinking.
I did it, you think, looking to the white ceiling of your room, I finally got Dash. Heh... If someone had told me a week ago I'd be in this scenario, I'd've called them a liar. Now look at me. I've got one of the best marefriends in existence. And all because the Bolts didn't let her in.... I suppose I should thank them somehow... If only it were possible... You doze off, dreaming of the eyes of an angel; your angel.
A/N: Well that took longer than it should’ve. I spent a good 2 hours on that. I got the title idea from the sad as fuck Animal Shelter commercial, the storyline with the ‘Bolts from the cover image, and the idea just came to me. Hope you enjoyed it. For those following The Power of a Little Kindness, the next chapter has not been started yet. It feels like this was practice, for when Power is done, and I write a possibly more serious fic. I have a few ideas down, too. The next Power will be soon. Thanks for reading everyponybody.
Did I really write that? I may be a brony, but goddamn.
