Twilight/Soarin -- Sad/Tragic/Romance
When the love of her life dies, when the obstacles of living each day become crippling, Twilight must find what burns inside of her that makes life worth living.
"You were incredible last night!" Twilight's playful tone came ringing out over the sounds of the shower. The curtain hung open, there was no real reason to close it. "You left me absolutely exhausted, how do you always have so much energy?" She teased at him.
Soarin bathed in the steam of the room; he sat, soaking wet across from the shower as the humidity made the sweat stream down his muzzle. "Well, you know, training my entire life as one of the Wonderbolts might've given me a little extra stamina." He let out with a chuckle. The memories still danced vividly in their minds.
Twilight ran her hoof across Soarin's matted down chest, still fresh with sweat. Her head gently nestled beneath his chin and his hoof wrapped across her waist; she softly rose and fell with each of his pants as she lay on top of him, drifting into sleep to his rhythmic breathing--
"You know, there's more than enough room for two in here." Twilight smiled, whipping her tail coaxingly.
Soarin blushed slightly, he hadn't realized he had been staring at her. Yet he couldn't help a smile erupt across his face.
He grinned innocently, looking up at her imploringly. The cool tile floor he sat upon was oh-so refreshing; his eyes nearly begged her not to make him get up.
She ignored his pleas; her hoof leaned against the wall as her eyebrows raised, "Well, I'm waiting."
Water percolated across her neck, glistening like oil as it ran down her figure; Soarin's eyes traced it downward across her sleek curves. The smoulder deep inside his body flared once more, sending a shiver across his spine.
He shifted his balance off his flank until he stood on all fours, still crouching low. His eyes never left her.
Twilight pulled her shoulders back, exposing more of her front. "Oh?"
Soarin laughed and bounded into the shower, sliding the curtain closed behind them.
. . .
"Sweetie Belle honestly, you've been in there all morning!"
Knocking clearly garnered no response the first time; Rarity opened the bathroom door in a plume of mist. Irritated didn't even begin to cover it.
"Sweetie Belle, no little filly your age can possibly need to be in the shower for twenty minutes!"
A masculine voice drifted over the shower curtain, "Wait, what? Twi, did she just call you 'Sweetie Belle'?"
Rarity nearly dropped dead of a heart attack. "What?!" Her voice augmented thick in her royal accent. She tore open the curtain, nearly ripping it from its rings; There was the familiar face of Twilight, the vaguely familiar one of Soarin's; his forehooves were wrapped tight around Twilight's stomach. There was a shared moment of screams.
"Honestly you two!" Rarity whipped the curtain closed, "You really didn't have the patience to make it back to Twilight's house last night?" She didn't wait for either of them to answer before trotting back through the fogged expanse of her bathroom. An answer in such a monumentally awkward situation would've been a priceless commodity. Twilight and Soarin settled on half grinning to each other at the priceless moment they had just put Rarity through.
"Soarin, do please make it rather quick; Twilight has a dinner engagement with her friends this evening that we would like her to attend!" Rarity pleaded one last time before finally shutting the bathroom door. "Umm, Twilight? Which bed did you sleep in last night?"
"The... big one." She shrunk like Fluttershy on the last words, praying that Rarity wouldn't have asked.
"Twiliiight, I just had those sheets washed!" The door sounded with a hollow thud.
The only sound that followed was the torrential downpour from the shower tap.
Twilight turned and wrapped her hooves behind Soarin, "Well, let's hurry up and finish what you started..." Her burning whisper brushed across his face. She smiled and laughed, closing her eyes.
"Sooo are we gunna go get Twilight now?" Pinkie Pie bounced as Rarity made her way down the stairs.
"Oh, no my dear." Rarity nonchalantly cast her a glance before sprawling across the couch.
Pinkie's head cocked in confusion. "Huh?"
"It's quite alright, she's already made her arrival."
. . .
"You were up there for quite some time! I do hope that Soarin went easy on you." Rarity shot a sarcastic remark at the purple mare that appeared in the living room.
Twilight's ears tapered down a bit beside her damp mane, "Hey, don't look at me like that, I was busy getting ready. Besides, need I ask why your bathtub can fit a small elephant?"
Rarity couldn't help but let out a humph at her retaliation. "Touché. Needless to say, we sho--"
"Hey Rarity," Soarin emerged from the doorway, "you have any Pony-ade to drink? I left all my electrolytes with Twilight last night; and this morning." He beckoned a wink toward Twilight.
"Electrolytes? Why did he leave those with you Twilight?" Pinkie Pie perked up. Soarin snickered as he turned back to the kitchen.
Twilight hit Rarity like a truck with a look of desperation.
"Right then! Pinkie Pie we should wait outside for Soarin to walk Twilight out." Should was a massive understatement. The option to protest never even presented itself as Rarity dragged Pinkie out the front door with a yelp.
Soarin returned, wielding a bottle.
"You know," Twilight lulled in a whisper, "our dinner reservation isn't for over an hour. We could go flying, if you want."
His wings furrowed excitedly. He slid a hoof around her mane, gently pulling her in.
She closed her eyes, anticipating his touch. His lips were found, the sensitivity sending feral shivers quaking through her body.
He broke contact briefly, retreating solely to part his lips. Twilight's blood quickened on his next advancement; he surged across her flares, running his tongue deep between them, but not separating them. He was beckoning.
He gracefully breached her seal, welcomed warmly. Her breath surged out in a burning sigh; he accepted the gift, exhuming her wind until she let out a faint whimper. He returned with his tongue; interlacing with her own as they wrestled, playfully, in the muscular ballet.
They exchanged their love that burned inside them for nearly two years. The day they met, the day Rainbow Dash introduced all the members of the Wonderbolts team to her friends; Soarin had noticed Twilight, she knew he noticed her, yet she nearly let him go. Common sense told her they would never work out, that their lives were too different; stories she read told her it was just a fantasy, that her dream would only belong in one of her books. Yet her heart ached from the constant imprisonment of everything she stood for. It finally broke free.
Soarin withdrew his lips, breathing heavily.
Her eyes opened as she smiled, "I'll take that as a 'yes'." She leaned in close and gave one last peck to his lips. "Mmm, electrolytes do taste good."
He smirked as he leaned in, giving a tender lick to the tip of her horn; she shivered severely, sending a rush of oxytocin deep within her veins. "How would you know?"
. . .
"Hey Rarity, before we leave I'm going to spend more time with Soarin, I promise he'll have me back in time for dinner."
"Three times, in less than a day?! Honestly, girl, you have more endurance than Applejack."
"I've had, practice," Twilight gave Soarin a nudge with her shoulder as they trotted down Rarity's porch. "but we're not doing thaaat, we're going flying!"
Soarin pulled his helmet over his face and knelt down; Twilight straddled over his back and embraced his neck tightly. His wings unfurled to full breadth, rotating slowly as he stretched them out from the long night resting on them
"Ready?" He eagerly whispered over his shoulder.
"Ready."
Engulfing the air his wings thrust downward, billowing plumes of leaves and debris across the dirt. They rose, near vertical; Twilight embraced his neck tight against her chest.
"Have fun you two!" The muffled holler of Pinkie Pie reached their ears; Twilight looked back one last time at the ever-fading pink and white figures below.
. . .
The prior noises of the city yielded a perfect serenity; the wind, gently whistling past Twilight's ears was the only sound that came.
Still they climbed, ever higher. The sun was touching low to the horizon, cradled amongst the mountains and blanketed by pewter clouds; the sky was set on fire.
The brightest stars had pierced the heavens; so close, yet just out of grasp as the two mares scraped the skies.
This was the thrill, this was the sensation; why Soarin grew so anxious whenever he was grounded for too long; why he had always taken Twilight up with him, to share with her the splendor of flying and revel in its beauty. Together.
Still they climbed, until the very clouds themselves seemed miles below. To hold tight to such a graceful and powerful pegasus, the one she loved, Twilight could think of nothing else she wanted in this life. She was always pushing him to the limits, encouraging him over the top; he was her prodigy. Twilight's company never slowed him down in the slightest. Nor had he ever limited her abilities, or ever would.
"Soar," a tear slid it's way out Twilight's eye, tumbling into the streams of air.
"Yeah?" he panted, looking back over his shoulder, smiling immensely.
She spoke between sniffles, just over a whisper, "We're, we're gunna have a little... foal... together." Tears blinded her between blinks; tears of unmitigated joy, and she never wanted them to stop. "I love you Soarin." She gently squeezed his collar, burying her face in his silken mane. She breathed in deeply, the clean smell of air welling through his mane; she lightly kissed him on the neck.
"That's... those are the most, beautiful words I've ever heard," He stuttered; words utterly failed to describe the exhilaration that churned from his heart, but he tried to make due. "I love you too, Twilight."
. . .
The sun had died down to a burning ember; the blanket of night erupted into showers of light.
Twilight lay relaxed across Soarin's back, filling her body into his refined arches. Her head lay against his neck, smoothly bobbing between his wingbeats; she gazed to the silhouettes of the mountains pressing against a rising moon on their right; as she lay her head to the left, the warm glows of life seeped into the expanse of Equestria unto every horizon. She yawned deeply, then spoke in a low whisper.
"Hey, we should head back down, I don't want to be late." She stroked her hooves into his mane.
"Alright... hey, I want to show you something."
"What's that?"
He panted more, trickling a smile across him mouth, "A Double Rainboom."
She had only heard that term vaguely, several years ago when Rainbow Dash was trying to describe the 5 Legendary Feats of Flying. Or was it 7?
She laughed some, "Soarin, what are you talking about, that's not even possible. Rainbow Dash even tried to show me. It's a myth."
She grasped at more of the fleeting memories of Rainbow Dash's announcing voice.
The Double Rainboom; only said to have been done thrice in the existence of Equestria, due to the profound complexity of the maneuver. Two mares are necessary for the feat, and they must reach the velocity twice that of a single Sonic Rainboom; the final necessity to complete the task is forever unknown however, for no pony has ever lived to recount their success. Twilight, hop on my back...
"We're gunna do it." Soarin huffed over his shoulder. "We're gunna make a Double Rainboom." The smile never leaving his face.
"Soarin, you can't be serious." She smiled along with him, rolling her eyes. She knew he was being foalish, but honestly hoped he would still ignore her doubts, even if it was a myth; the feeling of the air soaring past her coat in one of his dives was ecstatic, and butterflies flocked in her stomach as she imagined it. She instinctually clung tighter to his body.
He sensed her anticipation; his cheeks burned as they attempted to smile harder. "Hold on!"
The command was hardly necessary, Twilight had ridden with him so many times before.
His wings tipped back as he dove headlong into the void of air. The speed they immediately garnered was profound; the chilling wind contouring its way over Twilight's tense muscles, strapped snug to Soarin's back. She filled her body deep with the air and shuddered.
Even as they teetered near terminal velocity, the expanse several miles below them seemed never to draw any closer. "We're going to make it." Soarin spoke with a new found passion.
His wings withdrew; he began pounding, headlong into the world before them. Twilight had never gone this fast before; her heart raced, adrenaline scattered across her body; she worshiped every second of it.
She barely noticed as they broke the first barrier, the pressure wave failed to consume them as they thundered beyond. Only the glimmers of color engulfing the skies had caught her attention. Soarin had broken it as if it were nothing.
He is going to do it...
The surge of the first barrier careened them onward with unparalleled power. Soarin deftly embraced the surge, amplifying it through his rhythmic wingbeats. They were still well above the cloudline, en route towards a gap between the fleshy billows.
"I, I can feel it!" Soarin was yelling, bursting with his enthusiasm.
His mane whipped furiously into Twilight's face; she ran a hoof along it, pinning it down as she tucked her head along Soarin's neck. "Do it."
The same hot voice whispered its way into his ear, sending goosebumps across his body. His wings furrowed one final time; drawing all his will he hammered furiously, nudging them beyond.
. . .
The air around them ignited. Twilight's eyes erupted; Two rings, miles long, painted the skies in a furious blaze of the purest color.
"Soarin you did it! You did it love!"
He hadn't answered, yet remained silent for nearly a minute.
She pressed her head tight against his back as they tore through the edge of a cloud.
We're not stopping
"S-Soarin, you should slow down now, we're going way too fast... Soarin please, this is terrifying!"
His voice finally came; he laughed, but it seemed more than forced. "No, this is fun!"
"Soarin no it's not, I'm too scared for this!"
There was another long pause before he spoke, solemnly. "Then tell me you love me."
"Soarin, I love you, now please, slow down!"
"...I want you to hug me."
Twilight squeezed furiously around his collar for what seemed like forever.
Not this game again
"...Twilight, take off my helmet."
"W-what, why-- ?"
"Just please, it's really bothering me."
Holding herself with one hoof, she reached forward to undo the straps across his head; the helmet slowly slid off. Twilight looked into his face.
"Thanks, that feels a lot better." He chuckled, smiling, but his eyes were glimmering.
This wasn't a game
A lump forced its way into her throat. "Soarin, w-why are you cr-- ?"
"--Shh shh shh, hey it's alright!" He smiled weakly, turning his head slightly so she couldn't see his eyes, "...Put on my helmet."
"What... ?" She was sniffling.
"So you don't lose it." He laughed again, gently. "Do you have it on?"
She fiddled with the straps for a moment, her hooves slightly shaking. "Y-yeah, it's on."
"Now hug me."
She brought her arms around his neck slowly, brushing them through his lush fur until they were wrapped tight. She buried her face deep into the side of his neck, nuzzling him tenderly. His head turned in her direction, a tear trailed from his eyelid; it glistened white, reflecting the stunning moon behind them. It broke off into the streams of wind and glinted across Twilight's cold nose. Yet he still smiled at the feeling of Twilight holding him tight.
"Soarin, wh-- "
"Close your eyes."
She sighed heavily and squeezed her burning eyes shut, hiding her face within his mane.
"Alright, we're going to count to three. When we reach three, I want you to squeeze your arms around me as hard as you can and hold your breath, ok?"
This time she couldn't hold back a sob, "Soarin... please tell m-- "
"Do you trust me?"
She sniffed hard, whimpering as she exhaled.
He whispered, soothingly. "Do you trust me, Twilight?"
"I trust you."
"Alright. I'll start... One..."
She added her voice to his.
"...Two... "
"...Three" Twilight spoke on her own. She embraced his neck with force, shoving her face into his mane; she drew in a gasp of air and held it fast. She felt the wings of Soarin wrap behind her and seal her tight against his body. She heard his final words.
"I love you, Twilight."
His body surged into her chest in sudden impact; She thought they hit concrete.
Water erupted across every surface in a whipping flood. The body she embraced crimpled within her arms. Pain screamed from her chest.
Their descent slowed, their bodies adjusted to the buoyancy. Silence ensued.
She clung to Soarin, waiting for his movements, yet he lay motionless in her arms. She pinned him to her chest and pounded with her hoofs toward the surface, fighting desperately against the pain of every shell-shocked joint.
They were submerged deep; her lungs ached as she swam for the sifting lights above, following the flurry of bubbles.
She broke free from the water, choking down air painfully. "Soarin!" She gasped, wincing at her chest. He bobbed as the waves flowed around them. He wasn't breathing. His head hung awkwardly; the joints were mangled. She gingerly lay his head across her shoulder as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Someone was screaming. Muffled at first by the distance, then erupted clearly as two flying figures breached the clearing of trees encompassing the lake in the distance.
"We're coming Twilight, hold on!" Rainbow Dash screamed hoarsely, chased by Fluttershy.
Twilight's breathing was thin, the world was darkening around her. She leaned back weakly, floating Soarin's fragile body across hers as she wrapped him in her hooves. She took one final look into the beauty of the dimming stars before resting her head over his shoulder, closing her eyes into the darkness that consumed her.
____________________
"Dear Princess Celestia... this letter will not come to you about friendship. I discovered something, last night, that will be forever engrained into who I am.
"I awoke in the hospital this morning, under the comforting care of Nurse Redheart and all of my friends. I have pressure fractures to my spine, a shattered collarbone, and several broken ribs.
"Rainbow Dash spent the better part of the day explaining to me what it means to break the mach 2 barrier, or the Double Rainboom; we discovered together why I am one of the only ponies to have survived; when the barrier is breached, there is no going back. My injuries are only something small to have taken away from this.
"I had the chance to see Soarin. There will be no funeral; he's forever alone right now, locked away without me. In the impact he was sent into a coma... He fractured his spine... he's paralyzed."
She choked on the last words. She forced herself to breathe, in risk of weeping if she tried to continue.
"He realized what had happened when he broke the barrier; he knew he couldn't stop. Yet he told me everything was fine, he kept me calm. He had me tell him that I loved him, and had me squeeze him tight so that he could feel my embrace one last time. I now understand why he made me put his helmet on, so that I may have a chance to live, even if it meant he wouldn't.
"He sacrificed his entire being to save me... " Her tears ran like rivers; looking down, she rubbed a hoof across her stomach. "... to save us..."
Her gaze floated out across her balcony; to the howling woods of the Everfree as robbons of wind careened their way through the branches. Where the trees struggled toward timberline, dark earthen blues of the mountain range tore through the dark green blankets, dusted with permafrost. The edges cut the soft bellies of clouds, and a dying sun set infinitely beyond.
"The day will come, when I can find a way to fix all of this; I will find a way to give Soarin his life back. All of my days, every waking hour I will hunt for an answer. I will do it for Soarin, I will do it for our daughter.
"Your ever-faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
Apple/Dash -- Romance/Sad
Sometimes, even the strongest of us just need to be held a little at night.
"How could you have been so stupid?!"
More tears of anguish flooded from her eyes as she realized she had no real way to answer; her question was only rhetorical. Night had already fallen upon the cloud castle, but the curtains were violently torn shut to hide herself within. Rainbow Dash brutally returned her stare in the mirror.
"How can you just stand there staring at me? Huh? . . . Say something! . . . Bucking say something!"
She was leaned over, her hoofs pressing against the cold ivory walls on opposite sides of her spitting image. She screamed uncontrollably between the sobs, making no attempts to control herself; she was locked in a furious battle, with her own reflection. Her back rocked from the heavy panting, leaving rings of fog across the mirror. She saw the tears seep from her eyes and glisten across them like glass whenever she blinked. They caught a crimson fire from her irises as they trickled and fell to the floor, fervently burning, nearly through the granite itself.
Rounding the corner, there was the final ring...
She couldn't stomach watching herself cry. With one final scream her eyes slammed shut as a hoof withdrew from the wall and hammered into the glass. The shards exploded in a metallic resonance, combing the air in thin incisions and brushing along her fur. The reflection had lost the war; yet her own thoughts now became a casualty.
Her wings beat rampantly against the mounting fatigue, yet she forced her way through it; the single hoop was all that stood between her and acceptance... her final chance to make it to the Wonderbolts...
She slowly opened her eyes, dropping heavy tears in a pattering amongst the shards on the floor. The ground dimly came to focus through the muddled mixture as she brought herself down off the wall, finding the cold stone below. Her breathing had calmed, yet with every exhale she shook violently, whimpering loudly into the empty castle. She ambled clumsily toward the staircase leading up to her bedroom; every step demanding all what little remained of her composure.
She tried to cast off the aching that came screaming from her wings; it would be impossible to stop, she couldn't, not now. With one final thrust she hurled her body toward the opening, yet her wing hadn't closed fast enough. The limp feathers slid over the bar, until the cartilage solidly ricocheted off the metal, twisting her body in the sudden shift in momentum, and she was sent falling...
The weight of her thoughts pulled her harder into the stairs, until she finally collapsed to her knees in a heap before she could reach the top. What once remained of her strength had all but burned out, leaving her in a pathetic ball on the steps, her head gently bobbing in the deep sobs.
She closed her eyes, pressing her hot stomach into the floor and buried her face within her hooves. The stairs seemed even more solid and chilling in response; even they didn't want to accept her.
She cried for what seemed like hours. She wailed into the howling castle until she sung hoarse; her tears pooled to the steps until the wellspring in her eyes had long dried out, and she cried some more. She was helpless to consider anything else; crying was all that could save her from her thoughts. The sobs eventually faded into trembling, and her chest burned furiously with each unsteady breath. She whispered into her arms, "W-why... why couldn't you do it, Dash."
The visions came to her mind again; the nightmare tape that she rewound over and over again. She sought deliverance, something that the solitude of her home would never offer. She crept down the steps and onto the foyer, perking her ears to the moans of wind through the rafters; they were beckoning to her.
She followed the faint glimmer of the window until she pressed her way within the curtains. The breeze wound its way across her body in the cotton and glass cocoon as she gazed out across the humming flickers of light below. The chilling air stung her eyes, and she wrapped her hooves across her body to hold its familiar embrace running through her coat. The cool breath was refreshing against her stomach, and was gladly welcomed as it ran goosebumps down her back. She shuddered once more as her eyes closed, a new thought forming in her mind; the idea of a fly sounded thrilling right now.
She stepped her way through the windowsill, making no gesture back into the darkness that would surely have consumed her. The gust that furrowed into her wings shot endorphins through her veins. For the first time all day, a smile crept across her mouth, cracking through the salt plastered to her cheeks. The primal instinct embraced her, and she dove, headlong into the oceans of terrain below.
A pain shot out from her wing, from the impact of earlier in the day. She glided smoothly, pumping her wings gingerly to open up the sore muscles. Directly beneath her, the once glistening meadows by day now drifted like a sea of oil in the night; silver streaks reflected from the surface where the moonlight seeped through the gaps in the clouds and caught the leathery blades of grass. Rainbow Dash banked hard before plunging into the milky surface, catching a clean gust beneath her wings and glided over the fields.
Where she wound between the slopes, the dark hills subsided against a glass lake. She caught eyes with herself and descended slowly into her reflection, until her hoof hissed across the icy water. The clouds erupted from behind her, forcing her focus back on the Wonderbolts competition. She sighed deeply, no longer feeling anger, yet something continued to nudge at her belly. Turning to the skies, she inspected the clouds with curiosity, they remained untouched after the day of stagnant weather. She eyed the familiar arches and tunnels; the course was, in fact, still entirely intact.
Her wings naturally contoured over the plumes of a thermal updraft. Garnering height rapidly, she arched around the tremendous body of a cumulonimbus. She surfaced through a narrow gap and hovered, gazing down at the plump pewter ruffles of a thousand clouds; she was at the start. The memories returned.
Three!... Two!... One!...
She thundered her wings, sending her into the first opening which quickly siphoned into a narrow tunnel. The delicate light of moon had difficulty penetrating through the thick depths of cloud, and total darkness grasped her into the abyss. Even the ensuing blindness couldn't restrain her; the reminiscence of the course was engrained into her head.
Dip right... Hard bank left...
She flowed through the tunnels with pristine ease, suddenly diving hard into the emerging starlight. The packs of cloud became much looser, blotting the course in a thick obstacle she interlaced herself within. Her eyes stared fixedly at the immense column at the end of the pack; rounding the corner, there was the final ring. She tore to the finish, wincing her eyes shut.
The limp feathers slid over the bar...
The hoop passed with a swish of air.
She slowed to a hover, opening her eyes to what she barely could comprehend. She batted her wings steadily a few more times, focusing the every motion; the race was finished, without so much a hint of fatigue. She blushed ferociously, turning her back in wake of the obstacle course as she gazed out to the glimmering horizon. Her eyes drifted to the pressing silhouette of Cloudsdale, miles away, and her eyes became muddled over.
"You see that!... " She screamed into the night that stared so solemnly back at her. "You bucking see that Wonderbolts!... Huh?!"
Rage blinded her as she plummeted from the skies, fervently shredding the wisps of precipitation. She found a cluster of clouds and graced low to the surface. She stomped into the billows with the inherent gift of the pegasi, turning the white plumes to black.
They shrieked at the earth below, cracking arches of lightning, igniting the somber fields of grey in bursts of flame; while simultaneously drenching the fires in the torrential downpour. She leaped the gap across the many growing thunderheads, darkening their hearts. The many weeks of clear skies would have to be postponed for the next decade.
Her legs drew weary from the late hours of night, and she slowed, trotting to the edge of the storm-front. She sank to her knees, burying her body in the soft, sinister darkness, and screamed.
A voice was carried faintly over the howling winds. Rainbow Dash lifted her head from the pooling necropolis; somepony was yelling, no, screaming -- and it wasn't her.
"Rai-- Dash!" The holler came muffled over the rolling borders of cloud.
Rainbow Dash pulled herself to the edge and peered over; she hadn't realized she had founded the tempest over the fields of Sweet Apple Acres. Several trees stood charred and crippled, rocking viciously. Applejack stood between them, hundreds of feet below, bracing herself against the unrelenting gales; her hat was nowhere to be found. "Rainbow Dash what're y'all doin'!" She frantically wailed, "Stop this!"
The voice of the cyan mare came cracked and broken from above, "My life is over!"
"Rainbow Dash come down here!... We need ta talk!" Applejack pleaded desperately as another gust threatened to carry her away, sweeping her violently across the dirt, "Please!"
Rainbow Dash shuddered heavily in a sigh before climbing the sloping edge, and dropped gracelessly to the ground below. Without her touch, in the few seconds of her absence, the clouds seemed to shiver in response, dimming slightly in their ferocity. Yet the storm surged on.
She touched down close to Applejack, avoiding her eyes.
"Rainbow Dash, it's alright- "
"No! No it's not!" She shook her head violently, wincing her eyes shut and leaning back. "That was my last chance -- my last chance!... I have nothing now." She sank in her last words, stifling a whisper between the sobs. She clung to the silence that followed.
Please... say you want me
Applejack tried to catch her longing eyes with Rainbow Dash as she spoke, soothingly, "Y'all don't need 'em, Dash."
"Yeah, then what do I have now?!" She retaliated, distancing herself within the wall she was building around her heart.
You have me, Rainbow Dash...
"Well... " Applejack stuttered for words to say, "Your friends are always here for ya."
Rainbow Dash sniffed hard, never giving in. "I know." Her words came with a tinge of bitter at such an obvious answer.
I want you to be there for me
The long silence tore at their hearts; the storm was slowly subsiding into a mellow flurry through the trees. The dirt was practically becoming famous.
Applejack finally looked up, "Hey, Dash?"
She ran a hoof across her eyes, "Yeah?"
"Y-y'all can stay in the barn, if ya want... "
Rainbow Dash's heart lurched from her chest as she longed to hear those words; yet the wall rose ever higher, and then she killed herself. "Thanks Applejack. I think... I think I'll be fine." She threw on a feeble smile that was more than forced as the unrelenting guilt ripped holes through her stomach.
Applejack sank, defeated. "Oh... Alrighty then."
They embraced each other awkwardly, hugging tightly, yet masking the true feelings that picked away at their conscious.
Applejack longingly watched the cyan mare slip from her hooves and slowly turn to unfurl her wings. Her lips tremored; she gave one last effort. "I'll leave it unlocked, in case ya change your mind... "
Dash stopped, returning the gaze longingly for a moment. Her mouth hung open, yet whispered only silence. She turned sharply and took to the skies, forcing herself to break from the moment they shared. A single tear shed its way down her cheek. The wall withheld, and a single thought remained.
Why can't I... ?
____________________
Applejack tried to force herself to sleep for hours; yet she found herself outside, staring into the unmasked ocean of stars above, not a cloud in sight. Anxiety nipped at her as she ran a hoof down the crimson stain of the barn door, praying for what may lay beyond. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. The vibrant colors of a mane surged through her head and she gingerly pressed the door open, shedding the faint light onto the musty dirt floor of the barn. She slowly opened her eyes, peering through the dusty expanse at what she anticipated. The lowly mounds of several hay stacks sluggishly came to focus; there were the wooden pillars, the empty troughs, and the lonesomeness she halfheartedly knew was already awaiting her. Shed breathed out in a sigh as her eyes sank to the floor. She slowly backed out into the night once more, creaking the door shut in a hollow thud.
____________________
Rainbow Dash lifted her head from the hay; she had been drifting into sleep. She rolled to her stomach, straw clinging to her mane, as she craned her neck to peer down from the rafters. A yawn erupted from her mouth, and she blinked away more of the darkness to gaze yearningly into the shadows below. She held her breath in the hours that seemed to pass in a lowly chorus of chirping from the summer symphony outside. She thought she had woken from the closing of the barn door.
"Applejack?" She whispered.
Yet the barn lay barren; a graven wind shuddered its way through the decaying edifice. She shifted to her back once more shaking, as a deep breath filled her lungs in a sigh, wrapping herself within her wings.
It was only the wind
