Soul Markby niightearChaptersChapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Chapter 2A bright light shone on my flank as I lied on the ground, next to the animals. Three pink butterflies. My wings flew up, seemingly instinctively. This confused me, until I realized why. On the inside of my left wing was a grayscale tricolored lightning bolt coming out from a cloud. My soulmate's cutie mark. "If you would, please help me up to Cloudsdale?" It didn't take long for some of the bigger birds to help, carrying me up with their talons. I landed safely on a cloud away from the rest of the ponies, leaving any awkward situations out of the question. So much was going through my head. The race. The fall. The animals. The rainbow explosion. My cutie mark. My soul mark. And the adrenaline rush I suddenly had. Once I arrived at the flight camp, everypony was surrounding her. I approached, asking one of my friends what was happening. "Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark!" If I was drinking something, I would've spit it out. The cyan pegasus smiled as she saw me. "Oh, hey 'shy!" "Hi..." "Do you want to see?!" She lifted up her wings, revealing two things. 1) Her cutie mark, which looked exactly like my soul mark, except colored. 2) Her soul mark, identical to my cutie mark, except grayscale. "Um... that's... cool..." Heartbreak. That's what I felt. Why? She was already dating somepony. Well, somegriff. Gilda. If it wasn't for that, I'd be fine. I wasn't fine. But when she asked if I was, I said one simple sentence. "I'm fine..." And she said one simple word. "Okay!" Chapter 3She and Gilda seemed to grow closer. Did she not realize the gray mark clearly printed on her wing, identical to my cutie mark? Did Gilda not notice? Did nopony notice my heartbroken expression? The answer to all of these? Yes. Nopony noticed, nopony knew what happened when I'd sneak out of the bunkers in the middle of the night. Slip to the bathroom. And there was where I'd pull out a razor - intended so any colts could shave - and cut. I'd quickly bandage the wounds. And sneak back, not letting anypony see. And then cry. This repeated for so long... I was starting to feel woozy almost daily, unable to focus on flight practice. I'd almost fallen down a few times, but my animal friends helped me. They cared. And whenever I saw her and Gilda do almost anything, I'd feel even worse, as if my heart was getting torn out of my body. They teamed up for partner activities. They flew together during freetime. They ate together at lunchtime. While I was just in the bathroom, alone in a stall with a razor and maybe one of my animal friends. And then, one day, it was too much. I forgot to bandage up the wounds, and trotted back to the bunkers. The doctor said that if I had just bandaged them up, nopony would know. And then, I lost my balance. I fell. Fear coursed through my veins. I might never get to see her again! But as I reached a peace, one thought was in my mind. At least she and Gilda will be happy. And then, I heard a bellow in a familiar voice. I could make out my name. In her voice. Chapter 4How long had she been in there for? It felt like hours. Only a few creatures were there - me, Gilda, her parents, Derpy, and a couple others I didn't recognize. The doctor came out after hours of waiting. "I'm sorry..." Everything stopped. Why did I feel like this? I had Gilda, and sure, she was my best friend, but still... "Especially for you, Miss Dash." Everything started moving again for a brief second as I looked up at him. "Her soul mark... was your cutie mark..." She's my soulmate... She was my soulmate. Everything was obvious to me, all at once. She had done it because of me. Not because of the bullies, not because of anything like that... Because of me. It was my fault. I was so stupid... If I had just paid attention... "Dash?" I looked at Gilda. "We should..." I simply nodded, my ears still ringing and my blood rushing in my head. Then I started to cry. I only said two words, over and over again. "I'm sorry..." Black. That's it. Light had filtered through several hours ago, but now, it was just black. Was this death? It was nice... Thinking time... Oh, Rainbow Dash... If I had just been more assertive... I heard hoofsteps. "Excuse me, Doctor Horse?" My mom. "Yes, Mrs. Shy?" "May her soulmate visit?" I presumed he nodded, as my mother murmured a simple, "Thank you..." Hoofsteps. Silence. More hoofsteps. I heard something be pulled over and placed by my bed, as I heard a whisper. "Hey Flutters..." It made my heart flutter, hearing her voice. "I know you're gone and probably can't hear me, but..." There was a pause. "I'm sorry, okay?" "It's my fault you did this... I realize now..." "I was just going to get something to eat real quick when I saw you falling..." "I flew down to save you..." "The blood..." "I'm so sorry..." Light filtered through my vision, and I heard a voice. Not her, not my mom, not anypony I knew. But a voice. "It's not your time, young one." The blackness narrowly faded, as I heard Rainbow Dash sob. "I'm sorry..." I placed my hoof gently on Dash's. "Flutters-" "It's okay..." "You almost died..." "I'm here now Dashie... isn't that what matters?" Rainbow cried at the nickname, as I paused. Dash leaned in, as I knew this was right. We kissed. My wings rocketed up, as did Dash's, as I saw them. Our soul marks. In color. Love is truly beautiful, isn't it? Chapter 1I was only ten years old when I met her. She was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, and I didn't think much of her. We became friends relatively quickly, and I remember that faithful day. The race. The Rainboom. My heartbreak. Those colts were yet again bullying me, calling me Klutzershy and saying that I shouldn't even be in Cloudsdale. When she showed up. "Leave her alone!" Those words stayed in my mind, although I didn't know why at the time. They were so insignificant, I thought. Just a friend being nice to me. It'd be in an hour's time when I found out why they were significant. A race. That's what happened. I was standing on the cloud, ready to tell them to go, when they sped off, flying right past me at speeds I had never known possible. I was awestruck. For a second, until I felt my balance falter, and fell to the ground. I was terrified. Would I ever see Rainbow Dash again? Why was that the only thing on my mind? She was just my friend. Friend... Friend is just a simple word, just six letters. But for some strange reason, I longed to be able to add four letters to that word and refer to the pegasus as that. The butterflies that caught me, the squirrels and birds that ran and flew around, they were all unbeknownst to me. Well, the birds weren't. The colors were beautiful. The blue water, the red birds, the brown, white and gray bunnies, the yellow bees, everything. It was beautiful... And all reminded me of her. And then I heard a loud boom. I looked up, gasping as I saw a rainbow. It reminded me even more of her, and I longed to get back up there to at least make sure she was okay... But the animals were important for now.
Chapter 2A bright light shone on my flank as I lied on the ground, next to the animals. Three pink butterflies. My wings flew up, seemingly instinctively. This confused me, until I realized why. On the inside of my left wing was a grayscale tricolored lightning bolt coming out from a cloud. My soulmate's cutie mark. "If you would, please help me up to Cloudsdale?" It didn't take long for some of the bigger birds to help, carrying me up with their talons. I landed safely on a cloud away from the rest of the ponies, leaving any awkward situations out of the question. So much was going through my head. The race. The fall. The animals. The rainbow explosion. My cutie mark. My soul mark. And the adrenaline rush I suddenly had. Once I arrived at the flight camp, everypony was surrounding her. I approached, asking one of my friends what was happening. "Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark!" If I was drinking something, I would've spit it out. The cyan pegasus smiled as she saw me. "Oh, hey 'shy!" "Hi..." "Do you want to see?!" She lifted up her wings, revealing two things. 1) Her cutie mark, which looked exactly like my soul mark, except colored. 2) Her soul mark, identical to my cutie mark, except grayscale. "Um... that's... cool..." Heartbreak. That's what I felt. Why? She was already dating somepony. Well, somegriff. Gilda. If it wasn't for that, I'd be fine. I wasn't fine. But when she asked if I was, I said one simple sentence. "I'm fine..." And she said one simple word. "Okay!"
Chapter 3She and Gilda seemed to grow closer. Did she not realize the gray mark clearly printed on her wing, identical to my cutie mark? Did Gilda not notice? Did nopony notice my heartbroken expression? The answer to all of these? Yes. Nopony noticed, nopony knew what happened when I'd sneak out of the bunkers in the middle of the night. Slip to the bathroom. And there was where I'd pull out a razor - intended so any colts could shave - and cut. I'd quickly bandage the wounds. And sneak back, not letting anypony see. And then cry. This repeated for so long... I was starting to feel woozy almost daily, unable to focus on flight practice. I'd almost fallen down a few times, but my animal friends helped me. They cared. And whenever I saw her and Gilda do almost anything, I'd feel even worse, as if my heart was getting torn out of my body. They teamed up for partner activities. They flew together during freetime. They ate together at lunchtime. While I was just in the bathroom, alone in a stall with a razor and maybe one of my animal friends. And then, one day, it was too much. I forgot to bandage up the wounds, and trotted back to the bunkers. The doctor said that if I had just bandaged them up, nopony would know. And then, I lost my balance. I fell. Fear coursed through my veins. I might never get to see her again! But as I reached a peace, one thought was in my mind. At least she and Gilda will be happy. And then, I heard a bellow in a familiar voice. I could make out my name. In her voice.
Chapter 4How long had she been in there for? It felt like hours. Only a few creatures were there - me, Gilda, her parents, Derpy, and a couple others I didn't recognize. The doctor came out after hours of waiting. "I'm sorry..." Everything stopped. Why did I feel like this? I had Gilda, and sure, she was my best friend, but still... "Especially for you, Miss Dash." Everything started moving again for a brief second as I looked up at him. "Her soul mark... was your cutie mark..." She's my soulmate... She was my soulmate. Everything was obvious to me, all at once. She had done it because of me. Not because of the bullies, not because of anything like that... Because of me. It was my fault. I was so stupid... If I had just paid attention... "Dash?" I looked at Gilda. "We should..." I simply nodded, my ears still ringing and my blood rushing in my head. Then I started to cry. I only said two words, over and over again. "I'm sorry..." Black. That's it. Light had filtered through several hours ago, but now, it was just black. Was this death? It was nice... Thinking time... Oh, Rainbow Dash... If I had just been more assertive... I heard hoofsteps. "Excuse me, Doctor Horse?" My mom. "Yes, Mrs. Shy?" "May her soulmate visit?" I presumed he nodded, as my mother murmured a simple, "Thank you..." Hoofsteps. Silence. More hoofsteps. I heard something be pulled over and placed by my bed, as I heard a whisper. "Hey Flutters..." It made my heart flutter, hearing her voice. "I know you're gone and probably can't hear me, but..." There was a pause. "I'm sorry, okay?" "It's my fault you did this... I realize now..." "I was just going to get something to eat real quick when I saw you falling..." "I flew down to save you..." "The blood..." "I'm so sorry..." Light filtered through my vision, and I heard a voice. Not her, not my mom, not anypony I knew. But a voice. "It's not your time, young one." The blackness narrowly faded, as I heard Rainbow Dash sob. "I'm sorry..." I placed my hoof gently on Dash's. "Flutters-" "It's okay..." "You almost died..." "I'm here now Dashie... isn't that what matters?" Rainbow cried at the nickname, as I paused. Dash leaned in, as I knew this was right. We kissed. My wings rocketed up, as did Dash's, as I saw them. Our soul marks. In color. Love is truly beautiful, isn't it?
Chapter 1I was only ten years old when I met her. She was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, and I didn't think much of her. We became friends relatively quickly, and I remember that faithful day. The race. The Rainboom. My heartbreak. Those colts were yet again bullying me, calling me Klutzershy and saying that I shouldn't even be in Cloudsdale. When she showed up. "Leave her alone!" Those words stayed in my mind, although I didn't know why at the time. They were so insignificant, I thought. Just a friend being nice to me. It'd be in an hour's time when I found out why they were significant. A race. That's what happened. I was standing on the cloud, ready to tell them to go, when they sped off, flying right past me at speeds I had never known possible. I was awestruck. For a second, until I felt my balance falter, and fell to the ground. I was terrified. Would I ever see Rainbow Dash again? Why was that the only thing on my mind? She was just my friend. Friend... Friend is just a simple word, just six letters. But for some strange reason, I longed to be able to add four letters to that word and refer to the pegasus as that. The butterflies that caught me, the squirrels and birds that ran and flew around, they were all unbeknownst to me. Well, the birds weren't. The colors were beautiful. The blue water, the red birds, the brown, white and gray bunnies, the yellow bees, everything. It was beautiful... And all reminded me of her. And then I heard a loud boom. I looked up, gasping as I saw a rainbow. It reminded me even more of her, and I longed to get back up there to at least make sure she was okay... But the animals were important for now.
