Madness

Chapter 1: Some Things Are Too Good

“Study the past if you would define the future.” -Confucius

Fluttershy spent nearly two hours pacing around her house, reeling from the dream. Most of it was gone, but what to say that what she did remember frightened her would be the understatement of a lifetime. There was fire, the Library destroyed, skeletons in the street.

All because of her.

“Oh, what does it mean?” she wondered out loud. “Why did I have that awful dream?”

It’s okay dear. It was only a dream. Who says this has to pass? All you really need to do is look past it.

Fluttershy shrieked; those voices…they sounded so familiar. But from where did she remember them? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t put her hoof on it. Best to just let it go and not worry. She would remember in due time, and figure out how to best deal with it. For now, however, she decided to indulge her curiosity.

‘Who are you?’

We’re your friends, Fluttershy.

‘But why are you here now?’

That’s simple: you are distressed, and we’re here to help you get through it.

‘But that dream I had last night! It was awful! There was fire, and I was standing in something wet…I think it was blood!!’

There, there. Easy, dearie: it’s okay. Like we said, it was only a dream. Just think about things that make you happy.

‘Li-like what?’

How about your animals? We have seen how happy they make you. Think about tending to a sick baby bird, watching it fly back up to its nest. Picture when Angel is sleeping, when he’s most peaceful.

Fluttershy did imagine this. Immediately, she felt better, and her heart slowed down. She found out that talking to these ponies, whatever they were, helped ease a great deal of her anxiety. They helped her through most of her fears, and although she still felt them, they were somewhat suppressed. It felt good to have somepony to talk to.

It was nice to have somepony who cared.

Rainbow Dash woke up late, as usual. The sun shone through her window, blinding her. As she looked around her room, three things stuck out.

On the wall immediately to her left, there was a poster she got at her very first Wonderbolts show. She had hung it there when she first moved into the house, and it reminded her of her dreams…not to mention the ego boost it gave her when she remembered that none of the Wonderbolts could perform a Sonic Rainboom.

To her right, there was a window. It was small, but still gave her a view of the distant city of Cloudsdale. She liked looking there; it comforted her to know that, if she couldn’t live there anymore, she could still see it.

Right next to her, however, was the most important object in the room to her: a picture of the Apple family. She thought of them as extended family, and considering the amount of time she spent on Sweet Apple Acres, she was basically one of their kin. But she was more interested in one pony in the picture: the pony she was in love with.

Rainbow looked at Big Mac’s soft smile, his perfect eyes, and his beautiful red coat. Every time she visited Sweet Apple Acres, she would try to work up the courage to ask him out, but never could. She knew that if she didn’t, it would never happen; Mac was too timid, too much like Fluttershy.

Fluttershy…

Rainbow shook her head. Why did she still feel so guilty about her best friend? That was a long time ago, and they had both moved past it…maybe. Truth be told, neither of them had ever brought it up; Rainbow had moved on, so she just assumed that Flutters had, too.

“Keep your head in the clouds, girl.”

She said this every time she felt her emotions getting the best of her. It always helps for some reason…perhaps just a reminder to be looser.

Rainbow decided to get ready for the weather job that day. It was supposed to rain hard for a few hours, and organizing that many rain clouds took a while. Most likely, the others had already begun organizing the clouds, but as the team manager, she had to be there for at least the parts leading up to the storm itself.

After slowly getting out of bed, she went to open the window. The reward was a blast of cold air that served as a reminder that winter was on its way. So it was going to be one of those days. Pegasi may have been used to colder air, but that didn’t mean they liked it.

This was Rainbow’s way of dealing with that annoyance. Opening the windows on colder days got her used to the chill before actually going out in it. After years of this practice, the weather was always bearable if not enjoyable. Not that any of that mattered. As long as flying was involved, she never found the temperature of any consequence.

When the house cooled down enough to be inequine*, the cyan pegasus decided it was time to eat. There was never much at home, so trips to the town market were common for her. She left, not bothering to lock up; if anypony wanted to get in, all that was needed was to walk through the wa—hey, clouds aren’t perfect, all right?

Rainbow Dash set off for Ponyville. Even though it wasn’t a long flight, there were always to make it fun. Pegasi belonged in the air; for them, flying was easier than breathing. The feeling of wind running through wings was incomparable, and the thought of being grounded for any length of time was enough to make anypony sick.

After about ten minutes of loops and, yes, a Sonic Rainboom just to wake up the town, Rainbow landed in Ponyville’s main street. She walked up to the apple stand, run today by Applejack.

“Well howdy, Rainbow,” called the earth pony. “How’re y’all doin’ today?”

“Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Just here for some breakfast before I go over to help out with the weather team.”

“Aw, shoot! That big storm’s today?!”

Rainbow was taken aback by this outburst; she had warned the Apple family about today a week ago. “Um, yeah it’s today. No need to take it out on me.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry ‘bout that, Rainbow. Ah jus’ need to get home early and get some stuff into the barn is all.”

“Yeah, you go do that, I guess. I’m just gonna sleep through the storm myself.”

“An’ I suppose yer tryna ta shock me? Since when is it a surprise that the great Rainbow Dash wants to sleep?”

They shared a laugh at this; it was true that Rainbow would sleep through just about anything.

“Hey, at least I’m getting my job done here,” she retorted. “I don’t see you bucking any apples!”

A smug look crossed Applejack’s face. “Yer lookin’ at the apples ah bucked this morning, sugarcube.”
“And that’s supposed to impress me? I’m pretty sure I can buck more apples than you in an hour!”

Applejack shook her head, smiling. Was Rainbow seriously trying this one again? Had she completely forgotten the last time they had gone against each other bucking apples?

“If ya wanna get…um, what’s the word? Humiliated, again, be mah guest! I’ll gladly take you on.”

“Oh, it’s on!”

They performed their traditional routine—spitting on their own hooves then bumping each other’s—to make the challenge official. With that, Rainbow bought three apples and went over to a table to eat them. She was distracted by a sudden flash of yellow off to her right. Was that…no, she was probably still asleep. It was early, after all.

[crunch]

A nervous feeling began to creep up her spine. What was it that had appeared just then?

[Crunch]

The apple felt heavier with every bite. A shadow began creeping up the street.

[Crunch]

What was that noise? Was somepony trying to sneak around? Because they were doing a pretty poor job of it.

[CRUNCH]

Rainbow wheeled around, only to look down and see a small, white rabbit staring up at her, chewing on a carrot.

It figures that I’d be afraid of something so pointless and boring. The tiny thing just continued looking at her, as if it disapproved somehow of her face. Honestly, this was starting to get weird.

“Angel! How many times do I have to tell you that it’s not polite to stare?”

The soft voice came from Fluttershy, and Rainbow immediately realized that she must have been the yellow flash a few minutes before.

She was just chasing, um, Angel. That makes sense, I guess.

As Fluttershy reached the pair and picked up the rabbit, she looked at Rainbow nervously.

“I’m so sorry. He wasn’t bothering you, was he?”

Rainbow hesitated a moment too long. “Uh, no. He…um, she…I mean…”

“He.”

“Yeah! He was just, you know, being obnoxious or something. Either way, it was cool enough. It’s as if he’s, like, smart.”

“Oh yes,” said Fluttershy, nodding approvingly. “He’s very smart. He can even talk…you know, in his own way.”

“Really? That’s awesome! Why didn’t you let him have a chance at being my pet?”

The timid pegasus paused for a minute. “He’s, um, pretty attached to me, actually. Moving away would just traumatize him, and I can’t let that happen. I hope you understand.”

“What? Oh, that’s fine! Well, I need to go. Weather stuff, you know. Nice chatting, Flutters. We should do this again soon.”

The canary pegasus perked up at the last sentence. Was Rainbow Dash really asking her on a date? Or was it just a friendly thing? Either way, I should just go ahead and ask. I may never get another chance like this.

“Oh, yes! Can we have lunch today? I mean, if that’s okay, of course.”

That was weird. She seemed a bit too excited to be in a conversation; normally, the idea of talking to anypony for a length of time just terrified the poor thing.

“Yeah, that sounds cool.”

As Rainbow flew away, Fluttershy could only stare up and say the words she had wanted to just then, but hadn’t been able to.

“I love you, Rainbow.”

Overall, the morning had been uneventful for the canary yellow pegasus until Ponyville. She had decided to follow Rainbow Dash when a streak of light had whisked overhead a few minutes after the animals had been fed. This day would be more exciting, perhaps, than she originally thought.

While lightly trotting along the road toward Ponyville, a small flash of white hopped ahead of the mare. Angel had escaped yet again! Fluttershy tried to not get frustrated with the bunny, but he almost seemed to enjoy causing her distress. There were more than a few migraines that could be traced directly to the little white demon now speeding down the dirt path.

Fluttershy knew trying to catch Angel was a futile effort until they got into town, where she might be able to corner him. Thus, the half-hearted chase began, complete with a Scooby Doo-style montage…that gradually got slower and slower.

“Wait, Angel. Please stop,” she pleaded. “I mean, if that would be okay, that is.”

The rabbit looked back and laughed at how slow his mom was going. Did she really expect to catch him like that? As a matter of fact, no she didn’t, but that wasn’t knowledge Angel had access to at the time. So, in response to Fluttershy’s pleas, he turned around and hopped straight into Ponyville. His caretaker leaped into the air and flew…face first into Ponyville’s welcome sign. The world went dark, and the hopping continued.

She woke up a few minutes later, still dazed from the collision, and saw tiny paw prints in the dirt leading toward Main Street. It took a few minutes for colors to become clear and the haze to be gone from sight. With that, Fluttershy “galloped” into town, taking care not to hit anypony**.

After what seemed like an hour of searching, there he was! He looked content enough chewing on a carrot right behind Rai—Rainbow Dash? What was she doing sitting at a café in Ponyville? She always spent her mornings sleeping!

Eventually, the cyan pegasus caught on and looked back at Angel, who stared her down like a hawk eyeing a meerkat in the Zebrican deserts. Fluttershy had to intervene.

“Angel…”

Author's Note: I'm baaaaaaack!!!!!! I've missed all of you, and I couldn't be happier to be publishing this chapter!!! Trying to find the time to write sure makes you miss it! I know there may be some humor in this chapter--might be some in the future too--but I'm not tagging this for 'Comedy.' Trust me, you'll see why. The asterisks throughout the chapter are explained below, and please note that I really had to hold in the sarcasm for this chapter. Thanks as always for reading and feel free to PM me with any suggestions!!!!

Asterisks:
*Inequine: My version of "inhumane"
**I like to think of Fluttershy's gallop as what the others would consider a brisk trot.