//-------------------------------------------------------// Tides -by EliSka- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Close //-------------------------------------------------------// Close Tides Rainbow Dash couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. How? Why? Why now? Nothing but question swirled through her head as she flew over the city of Canterlot at a very high pace. Not that a fast flying Rainbow Dash was anything out of the ordinary, but it seemed, to the few ponies that actually looked at the sky on this bright sunny day, that she flew even a bit faster than usual. She increased in speed once more, heading directly to the location that, hopefully, held all of her answers. In less than a minute she arrived at the large cloud mansion, just outside of Canterlots main district. An impressive feat, which would have left any lesser pegasus more than just a bit out of breath. But Rainbow had no time to be out of breath. Gathering hers, she knocked on the thick, solid and door-shaped part of the villa, while with a loud, and just as much concerned, voice asking: "Spitfire? Are you there? Can I come in, please? I really want to talk to you." She heard noises on the inside. It sounded like someone dropped a cup, some shuffling and then, thirty seconds later, a slightly ruffled Spitfire opened the door, facing Rainbow Dash. Spitfire seemed to come fresh out of the shower and her hair was still down and wet. It looked awesome on her. Like liquid fire running down her neck. Rainbow wished she would keep it like that, but Spitfire always said it got in the way while flying. "Hi." Was all that Spitfire seemed to bring out. "Very uncharacteristic of her." thought Dash, but she didn't say anything. "Would you, um, like to come in?" asked Spitfire and stepped out of the way so Rainbow Dash could pass her. Dash just nodded, and walked into the big lobby of the villa. She had to admit she was a bit intimidated by the sheer size of the room. Even after one year with the Wonderbolts, she still wasn't used to fancy big houses and great luxury. And she noticed she stood in Spitfire's house for the first time in her life. She almost let out a loud "squee" when she remembered the real reason she came here in the first place. "Is it true?" She asked, her voice dropping to a gentle, sad tone. "You left the Wonderbolts?" Spitfire sighed. "Yes. I told Feather Quill I would resign from my post as captain of the Wonderbolts, and quit my position within the bolts." Rainbow Dash was greatly disturbed by the lack of emotion in her idols voice. "But why?" The question came out more pleadingly than Dash had intended. "You’ve been with the Wonderbolts for only four years! Only 3 of them as their captain. How can you already think about leaving?” Dash couldn’t think of a single reason to give up on this position. Spitfire turned her head away from Dash and looked out of one of the large framed windows at the evening sky. “I just couldn’t do it anymore. I just wasn’t cut out for the job.” She stated simply, shrugging. “Stop lying to me! You were the best captain the Wonderbolts had in centuries! Celestia told me so herself! And if that were really the reason you wanted to quit you could just have stepped down from the position! Why did you quit?” Das was furious. Not only did Spitfire leave only one short year after Dash had finally joined the Wonderbolts, now she even lied to her about it! Spitfire now looked at the floor. She seemed hurt and had a guilty, pleading shimmer in her eyes as she finally raised her head up to face Dash. Dash stopped dead in her rage. She couldn’t help, but stare at those mesmerizing eyes. “They look like ambers in the setting sun.” shot through her head. “Why do you leave now? The Wonderbolts are more popular then they have ever been. You leave with the tide…” Rainbow looked deep into Spitfires eyes. “and I can’t stop you leaving. I can see it in your eyes.” Rainbow sighed deep. “I just want to know why.” “I… you… I can’t… you wouldn’t understand…” stuttered Spitfire sadly. “Try me.” Rainbow dared her, confident that she could take whatever Spitfire threw at her. A spark of determination glom in Spitfire’s eyes and Dash felt like she looked at her for the first time for real today. Spitfire took a deep breath. “I fell in love.” She blurted out. “I…” she stopped again, to calm herself. “I just couldn’t focus on work anymore. I had… other thoughts occupying my mind.” Dash felt her heart flutter and shatter at the same time. “But Spitfire, that’s nothing to be ashamed of, right?” She managed to say. She had promised to help her friend through this… even if that meant to cut short on her own happiness. “I don’t know… I don’t think this pony will ever feel the same way about me…” Spitfire said, tears in her eyes. “Ah come on! You’re Spitfire! The most awesome daredevil and queen of the skies! A confidence and awesomeness second only to me!” Dash felt her chest tighten with every word she said, but her loyalty to her friend kept her going. “You can’t tell me you can’t muster the courage to ask this pony out?” “I… yes.” Spitfire looked back at her cloud carpet. “Really? You can’t be serious?” the silence from Spitfire indicated that she was indeed, serious. “You’re Spitfire for Luna’s sake! I’m sure everypony would give you a shot!” A tag of jealousy joined the pain in Rainbow’s chest, which, by now, felt like it was about to burst from tightness. Just who could make the great Spitfire so uncomfortable? It had to be a very important pony. “Well? Aren’t you gonna tell me? Who’s the lucky” (lucky indeed) “stallion?” Spitfire still looked at the floor. A slight shake of her head was the only answer Rainbow got. “Come on Spitty.” She had only heard Soarin call her that once, but she hoped for the occasion it was ok. “You can tell me. I’ll make sure you’ll be happy together with him before the end of the month!” She promised. Spitfire finally lifted her head. She was crying. Hard. “You” One word. Three letters. Time froze. So did Rainbow Dash. The information went through Rainbow’s system and turned her faster to stone than the elements ever did with Discord. Dash just stood there for one or two eternities. Probably five seconds. Spitfire just looked at her. Her eyes told Dash that all she hoped now was that Dash didn’t hate her. Then Spitfire got swooped of her hooves by a cannonball out of colorful hair, cyan blue fur, feathers and tears. When Spitfire regained a bit of control over her senses, she was lying on the floor of her house and held a hugging, crying and stuttering mess in her fore-hooves. She would have complained, but it was just what she had always wished for the past almost two and a half years. Instead of saying anything, she just pulled the fuzzy blue pegasus tighter in, and pressed her sobbing face into her warm, inviting chest. They just lay there. For what seemed like forever. But once the tears stopped, Dash pulled out of the embrace, and sat on her own haunches to face Spitfire. Spitfire sat up too, locking her gaze with the prismatic pegasus again. “All my worries have been futile, I take it?” Tears still shimmered in her eyes. But Dash thought they had a different shimmer than the tears of sadness had had before. In answer, Rainbow Dash just leaned closer, and placed her lips on Spitfire’s. Spitfire quickly closed her eyes to the sensation, and leaned in on her part. They joined in a long, passionate kiss. Both seemingly wanted to put all the feelings they had for the other in that one immeasurable moment. After a while, they broke the kiss at the same time. Dash slowly opened her eyes, softly took in a breath of air, looked at the mare she now loved and admired from afar for more than four years. “This. is. AWESOME!” was all she thought. Author's notes: In case you didn't read it: Whoever guesses where my inspiration came from is awesome. :P Credits where credits are due: the pic comes from the depths of the internet. Didn't find out from who it is, sorry, but all credit goes to that person. MLP:FIM is a trademark by Hasbro and all rights belong to them and Lauren Faust. the story was a thing that just shot through my mind and I had to write it down, hope you enjoyed it. This is a oneshot, but I'm still full of ideas. If I get a positive feedback, I might carry it on. oh btw, I'm sure you noticed, but in case you didn't: English isn't my mothertongue and I have no proofreader so go easy on me :) -Eli //-------------------------------------------------------// Devote //-------------------------------------------------------// Devote Tides Ch.2 Fade Dash woke up with the first rays of sunlight through the large framed window. She groaned loudly and opened her eyes just to look at the cloud ceiling. She closed her lids again, cursing inwardly. Again. She had dreamed of her again. Dreaming of Spitfire had become a regular occurrence for the prismatic pegasus, and she wasn’t even sad about it. She loved these dreams. At least they were together in them. But Dash knew that would never happen. Though, looking at it, this dream had been different, but then again, Spitfire leaving the Wonderbolts? Likely story, mind. Likely story. The only problem was: dreaming about her idol, friend and love ate her up inside. Dash turned to the side to shake off these thoughts and opened her magenta eyes again. Only to look into a pair of large, sparkling amber gems. “Sleep well?” Spitfire asked, a smug and serene grin on her face. “Spitfire?” Dash asked groggily. “Oh great, I’m still dreaming.” She pouted. Spitfire just scooted closer and pulled Dash in a tight, content hug, before placing her lips on Dashes. “You know, I thought the same thing when I woke up today.” Spitfire whispered when she pulled out of the kiss. “You mean that all happened? The confession? The kiss?” Dash asked, still not sure if this wasn’t a very cruel trick of her mind. “I wouldn’t be here right now if it didn’t, would I?” Spitfire said deadpan. The smug grin never leaving her face. Dash decided that she didn’t actually care if this was a dream or not. She could regret it when- If she woke up. Right now, all that mattered was the sun colored mare in front of her. She pulled Spitfire into another hug, resting her head on her chest and listening to the soft beating of her beloved’s heart. Content and in peace with life and the world in this very moment, Dash closed her eyes again and dozed off. When she opened them again, Spitfire was gone. Rainbow’s first thought was that it really just had been a dream and she shoot up, looking around in the bedroom fanatically. It wasn’t hers. That was all she needed for confirmation. She flopped back into the pillows and looked back up at the cloud ceiling. Right now, time could stop. She wouldn’t mind. Or so she thought, but her stomach proved her otherwise with a loud grumble. She crawled out of the princess sized bed and stepped on her hooves. As she stepped out of the bedroom, the smell of breakfast with coffee waved into her nostrils. Following her nose lead her to the stairs to the villa’s lower floor. As she stumbled down the flight of stairs and into the kitchen, the only pony she wanted to see right now turned around from the stove and smiled at her. “Do you want your pancakes with maple or chocolate syrup?” she asked. The simple question brought tears to Rainbow’s eyes. She shook herself out of her entranced stupor and walked closer to Spitfire. Nuzzling her marefriend (she could call her that, right?) she whispered “You make me the happiest mare in Equestria, do you know that?” into her ear, which flicked cutely at Rainbow’s breath. “Because I have maple and chocolate syrup?” Spitfire asked jokingly, but her breath had become a tad quicker too, at the proximity to the prismatic mare. “Well, there is that.” Dash replied, just as playful. “But you’re just overall perfect.” She said, losing herself once again in Spitfire’s seemingly boundless eyes. Eyes really were the mirror to the soul. She only found love, care and happiness in Spitfire’s and she hoped, the yellow mare would find the same in hers. Dash let out a very sappy and un-Dash like sigh and closed the gap between their muzzles. Both pegasi soon lost themselves in a long and very passionate kiss. Their “epic make out session”, as Dash would later describe it, was interrupted quite rudely by the smell of a burning pancake from the stove. Spitfire immediately, but just as reluctantly, pulled out of the kiss and turned to her now ruined pancake. Without giving it much thought, she threw it in the trash. A burnt pancake was a fair price, for what she had gotten instead. Rainbow was a bit angry at the pancake, but it had gotten what it deserved, so she didn’t say anything. Instead she just walked over to Spitfire’s breakfast table. It was one of these fancy Japonyse ones, where you sat on the floor on cushions at a very low table with your back legs under some kind of warm blanket. The cyan pegasus liked it on the spot. She had never understood why ponies sat on chairs anyways. It didn’t seem natural. After getting comfortable, she watched the other mare in the open kitchen part of the house. Spitfire’s flank had more spring to it then she had ever seen. And she had watched it a lot. Her wings started to itch and, slowly, against Dashes will, rose up a bit. She had to put a lot of effort into pulling the slightly stiff appendages back in. As she went on watching the fiery tail of her favorite mare swinging back and forth, certain more indecent thoughts entered her mind. She chose to push them away for now. They hadn’t done anything last night but cuddle and kiss, they would get to the better part when the time was right. Right now, something else bothered Rainbow Dash more than anything. When Spitfire joined her at the table 2 minutes later, gracefully balancing two big plates of pancakes, chocolate and maple syrup on her wings, Dash looked at her sternly. She waited until Spitfire had put the plates and syrup down, and had placed herself opposite of Dash at the quadratic table. Spitfire had wanted to sit next to Dash and snuggle some more, but the look in Dash’s eyes told her she wanted to talk. “Do you still want to leave the Wonderolts?” Dash asked. Spitfire failed to read the emotions in her lover’s face. The yellow mare looked away. “Would you still like me, if I weren’t a Wonderbolt anymore?” Spitfire asked shyly, with genuine fear in her voice. Dash grabbed Spitfire’s hoof firmly with her own. “Spitfire, I would still love you if you suddenly turned into an earthpony.” She said, putting emphasis into the word love. “I will accept your decision, whatever it is and I will stand by you. All I would like to know is why.” Spitfire was incredibly relieved and moved by these words. “I love you too.” Was all she brought out while suppressing the urge to burst into happy tears. Dash just smiled. After Spitfire had gathered herself and cleared her throat, she spoke again. “I don’t really know why I want to leave the Bolts.” She said sighing. “Some things have lost their meaning.” “Why would you want to leave the Wonderbolts now? We are at the highest point of our popularity ever! And I’m sure I have mentioned before that you are the best captain we could wish for.” “Dash how many different Wonderbolt shows have you seen so far?” Spitfire asked. “The ones you preformed yourself included.” Dash thought for a while, then she answered: “About ten shows. Two when with my dad when I was little, and…” she looked away embarrassed. “And every new show since you joined…” she mumbled, barely audible. Spitfire had heard her anyways. The gesture almost moved her to tears again and she looked into the magenta orbs that made up Dashes eyes with a loving smile. “I’m sorry.” She said. “It’s ok… wait, what are you sorry for?” Rainbow looked at her quizzically. “I can only imagine what it must have been like to have these feelings pent up for such a long time… I only had to struggle with them for a year and you have seen what it had done to me…” She looked to the floor sadly. Rainbow Dash trotted around the table, moved a hoof under Spitfire’s chin, lifted her head up, so their eyes met again and pulled her into another loving kiss. “It’s alright. It doesn’t matter anymore, as long as I get to be with you, I don’t care how long I have to wait.” They nuzzled against each other, no more words needed. 5 minutes later, Spitfire broke the silence. “Anyways” she shook her head to get back on track with her train of thought. “So you have visited 2 shows a year, right?” Dash nodded. “Well, and that’s all there is to the Wonderbolts. We practice only a new show every half a year, and then perform that show for some time. Over and over again. Sure, every new show is exciting, but after the third or fourth performance it gets dull.” “Yeah, I noticed that… I actually prefer freedom when flying, but what is some free flying when I got to spend time with you?” Dash nuzzled Spitfire again. Spitfire was surprised that Dash seemed to have the exact same opinion on flying as she had. “I trained extra hard to become captain, so I could change some things in the team, but even as the captain, I don’t have much to say in terms of organization. I always got the answer “It’s tradition, you can’t change that, you can’t change this.” I think I just gave up.” “I understand.” Dash said, this time pulling her longtime crush into a hug. “I guess I’m gonna leave the team too then.” The yellow Pegasus pulled out of the hug to give the rainbow mare a shocked look. “What?! No! You don’t have to leave just because of me!” “Spitfire I joined the Wonderbolts just because of you. Without you, I don’t have much reason to stay. And I honestly don’t care. I mean, the Wonderbolts are still cool, but my actual goal had never been to reach them. I just wanted to reach you.” Spitfire was once again stunned by the compassion and devotion she got from the rainbow-maned young mare. She held Dash in her front hooves, Dashes head pressed against her chest as she stroke her mane. Every stroke went through a different color. Even though it was very sappy, the usually ‘too cool for this’ Pegasus seemed to enjoy it, as she started purring like a kitten. “Dash?” “Hrmmm?” “Do you want to fly with me?” Eli’s notes: Yeah, I think I’m happy with it as it is now. Hope you enjoyed reading, the next chapter will be up when I’m done writing it (duh). Anyways, don’t expect me to be this fast with every chapter. As much as I love writing this Dashfire fic, I rarely find time for it, this week just has been good to me. The table they are sitting one is a kotatsu if you haven't figured it out yourself :) If any of you wonder how a guy can write something like this... well, i'm a hopeless romanic Anyways, did still nopony guess what inspired me to write this? Tip: the difference in knowing and not knowing is only minimal (or “god how I love to be cryptic”).