A Mile High in the Summer Sky
"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy's voice was as loud as she could make it as she looked for her friend in the rainbow-maned Pegasus pony's cloud-home - but she was nowhere to be found! "...Rainbow? Oh dear!" She flumped onto a cloud and sighed. "Where are you? You promised you'd come and make a rainstorm for me! Oh, now what will happen to the poor little tadpoles?"
After weeks of cloud-free summer weather, the pools in Froggy Bottom Swamp were almost completely dried up - and the eggs that the poor little frogs who lived there had laid had just hatched! Oh, what was she going to do without Rainbow's help? She didn't know anything about changing the weather!
Maybe she'd just wait here a little while and if Rainbow didn't come back she'd go and start collecting all the tadpoles to move them somewhere safe. Oh, that would take all day! But she'd have no other choice - the rest of the Weather Squad were in Apple-oosa dealing with a violent tornado that was threatening the apple orchards and the buffalos' hunting grounds there, and Dash was the only Pegasus pony left in reserve in Ponyville.
Suddenly Fluttershy heard a shout from somewhere above her. "Dash? Daaaaasssh?!"
"Eep!" It was the voice of a mare that Fluttershy didn't recognise! Whoever could it be? She slipped behind one of the pillars of cloud and hid, waiting for the unknown pony to appear.
"Dash?" The voice was closer now. It was a pretty, boyish voice which didn't sound like it could belong to a bad pony, so Fluttershy felt brave enough to poke her head out from behind the pillar and looked for its owner.
Suddenly a Pegasus pony swooped in from above and landed not far from where Fluttershy was hiding and she gasped when she realised she did recognise her after all! It was Spitfire - a member of the Wonderbolts! Fluttershy had seen her from a distance at the Great Galloping Gala but she'd heard more about her from Rainbow - how she'd been asked to "hang" with Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts, but the crushing crowd of their admirers and the numerous photo ops they had been dragged away to had kept them apart. Maybe she was looking for Rainbow so she could make up for the lost opportunity? Oh, she'd better tell her that she was having a hard time finding Rainbow as well!
But Fluttershy felt suddenly timid - Spitfire was just so strikingly beautiful! With her shock of an orange mane like a living flame, her yellow coat the same colour as Celestia's sun, her wide, thick-lashed eyes and her long legs... oh, and the silver-blue Wonderbolts uniform she was wearing was like a second skin, highlighting rather than hiding her exquisitely toned body. But then Fluttershy saw the frown on her face and the look of desperation in her eyes and she knew something must be wrong, so the pink-maned Pegasus swallowed nervously and stepped out from behind the pillar.
"Oh!" said Spitfire, turning to her in surprise. "I didn't realised anypony was at home!" She walked forward and offered Fluttershy her hoof. "The name's Spitfire - and you are...?"
Fluttershy blushed. "Uh, I'm... Fluttershy...."
Spitfire smiled reassuringly. "I'm sorry... Flutter-?"
"Fluttershy!" It came out in a desperate rush, for the pink maned Pegasus was afraid that if she didn't force it out she'd clam up completely and be unable to get anything out! And she'd be mortified if she couldn't talk to this gorgeous mare!
"Oh, Fluttershy is it?" Spitfire smiled brightly at her. "Pleased to meet you. I think I saw you at the Gala?"
Fluttershy nodded, and her blush deepened. She hoped that Spitfire didn't remember what she'd been doing at the time! She certainly hadn't been her usual self that night...
But Spitfire gave no indication of associating this shy, timid Fluttershy with the tornado of frustrated rage that had burst into the Great Hall, and she continued "So you're a friend of Rainbow Dash's?"
"Oh yes," Fluttershy replied, nodding.
Spitfire hesitated for a moment, but then she asked "Are you her... girlfriend?"
Fluttershy began to nod again, but then she opened her mouth in surprise and shook her head. "Oh, no. I mean, I'm a friend of hers who's a girl, but I'm not her..." She gulped. "...girlfriend."
Spitfire seemed relieved. "Oh good," she said - and then she suddenly seemed to see Fluttershy for the first time and cried out "Oh wait! I knew I remembered you from somewhere!" The flame-maned Pegasus looked Fluttershy up and down in obvious admiration. "You're that model everypony was talking about! But I thought your name was Flooter-shy?"
"Oh, it's Flutter-shy actually," Fluttershy replied. "It's just that Photo Finish -"
But Spitfire interrupted her. "Are you still modelling?" she asked with sudden heat. "It's just that I haven't seen you in any magazines lately and..."
"Oh, no," replied the pink-maned Pegasus. "I'm... no longer modelling. It was far too stressful."
"So what are you doing now?" A shy smile had appeared on Spitfire's face. "Acting? Sarsaparilla spokes-pony?"
Fluttershy laughed - but it came out as more a happy squeak than a real laugh. "Oh no! I just look after the animals in Ponyville and..."
"Wait!" Spitfire cried, her eyes lighting up all of a sudden. "You're an animal expert?! Oh thank Celestia! I can't believe of all the dumb luck..."
Fluttershy's ear went back and she blushed. "Um... I'm not really an expert, but I do love all kinds of fauna and..."
"Do you know anything about birds?" The desperation she'd seen earlier had returned to Spitfire's face.
"Birds? Of... of course!" she replied.
"Great! You've got to help me!" Spitfire grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders. "Me and Soarin - he's another member of the Wonderbolts..."
"Y-yes, I kno..."
" - well, we were in Canterlot practising some pretty gnarly new moves we've been working on - Lots of low-altitude, knock-the-top-hats-off-em kinda stuff! - when we had an accident." Her face flashed with guilt. "We kind of came down too fast over the Royal Gardens -"
Fluttershy blinked, suddenly remembering her own indiscretion in the Royal Gardens.
Spitfire continued "- and we... well, crashed into the huge aviary there and tore a hole in it." The flame-maned mare snorted in annoyance. "It was Soarin who smashed into it, actually. I warned that big lump that pigging out on pie would kill his balance! Anyway, a whole bunch of birds escaped. We managed to catch almost all of them, but one of them escaped. It was kind of a... special bird."
"Special?"
"Well, I can't remember exactly what they call it," explained Spitfire. "But it's a small bird, real white, like a dove but with a pretty gnarly crest shaped like a thunderbolt and..."
"Oh, that's an Electrokeet!" said Fluttershy in excitement. "Oh, I so wanted to see one when I went to the Great Galloping Gala - but I... I never got the opportunity." She blushed again, mortified by the memory.
Spitfire blinked. "Well, name fits - it's lightning fast! We've been chasing it all morning. Soarin thought he saw it fly off towards Hoofington and went to look for it there, but then I found it hanging around Dragon Mountain. But I can't catch it alone - it's much too fast! And Soarin wasn't really being doing much good, so that's why I came to find Rainbow Dash. With her help I was sure we'd be able to catch the vanilla-frosting thing!" She sighed. "Oh, Fluttershy - you have to help me! When I couldn't find Dash anywhere I was about ready to give up."
Fluttershy's heart leaped. This... this beautiful mare wanted her help? But... the poor little frogs! "Well, I... I'd love to help but I... I have a job to do. You see, the frogs in Froggy Bottom Bog..."
Spitfire stared at her. "What? Oh, I promise I'll help you with that after we catch the bird! What do you need done?"
"Um... I was looking for Rainbow Dash to help me make a thunderstorm to fill up the marsh-ponds where all the little tadpoles are..." Fluttershy began.
"Easy! Consider it already done!" Spitfire was already dragging Fluttershy to the edge of the cloud, unfurling her wings. "I used to moonlight as a weather squaddie when I was still trying to get my big break with the 'Bolts. I'll knock up a totally awesome storm for you as soon as we get that bird."
"Oh, but..." Fluttershy looked down over the edge. It had already taken all her courage to fly up as high as Dash's house! "I'm afraid I'm.... not a very good flier."
"But, you're a Pegasus pony!"
"Well, yes... but I prefer to live on the ground near my little animal friends."
Spitfire wasn't really listening. "I guess you'll just have to ride on my back." Her eyes appraised Fluttershy's body in a moment. "Well, you couldn't weigh more than 90 pounds. No problem! Hop on!"
Spitfire backed herself up against Fluttershy, eliciting a surprised squeak from the pink-maned Pegasus when her rump brushed up against her chest. But Fluttershy shook her head clear and bashfully lifted her forelegs onto Spitfire's shoulders and clambered up until her haunches were resting on her rump. The flame-maned pony looked back at her rider. "Comfortable?"
Fluttershy's face was beet-red, but she managed a tiny squeak in the affirmative.
"Then let's fly!"
**********************************************
Even carrying Fluttershy, Spitfire was astoundingly fast - the pink-maned Pegasus pony thought she might even be as fast as Rainbow Dash! - and after leaping off the edge of the cloud they were speeding over Ponyville in what felt like mere moments.
As Fluttershy hung on for dear life, Spitfire's wings swept back and forth through the air at an amazing rate, and soon Dragon Mountain loomed up before them. Spitfire slowed to a hover and she turned back to Fluttershy. "Last time I saw the little guy he was right around here. But I think I've lost him..."
Fluttershy looked around. Even in summer, Dragon Mountain had snow on its summit, and they were high enough up that the summer sun's heat was cut by the coldness of the air. "I think I know where he might be," she said. She pointed with a hoof up at the cloud-covered summit still high above them. "Can we go to the top?"
Spitfire grinned. "Your wish is my command!"
And then they were off again, flying straight up at a dizzying speed. Fluttershy's heart was beating a million miles an hour in her chest and as she clung to Spitfire's back she realised she could feel the gorgeous toning of the flame-maned Pegasus mare's body underneath her smooth uniform. They rippled with every beat of her wings, and Fluttershy's cheeks turned a deep red - she could feel it all along her body. And - oh! She'd never realised that flying could be exciting rather than just frightening! On the few occasions Dash had taken her flying in a similar way, as a joke mostly, they'd flown so fast and so erratically that Fluttershy had spent most of the time with her eyes jammed shut, her heart bursting in terror from the dives, spins and rolls that Dash insisted on doing to show off. But Spitfire, though just as fast, seemed far more responsible - and Fluttershy gasped at the realisation that she was having FUN!
But now they were near the summit, and around them were the grey clouds that hung over the mountain all year round - the magnetic stone of the great peak had the habit of drawing errant wisps of cloud that the Weather Squad missed to it - and they circled about, ripe with static electricity.
"Look!" said Fluttershy. "There he is!"
In the centre of the clouds a tiny white shape could just barely be made out, zipping in quick bursts back and forth - and everywhere it went, cloud lightning bristled and crackled about it.
"That's him alright!" cried Spitfire in triumph. She looked back at Fluttershy in admiration. "You're amazing! How'd you know he'd be here?"
"Oh," replied Fluttershy. "Well, actually it was nothing. I mean, I just remembered that Electrokeets love thunderstorms - they attract lightning to themselves and build up the charge they need to fly as fast as they do..."
"Well, from the look of things his battery's almost full - and he was already fast!" Spitfire groaned. "Now what am I going to do?"
"I... I have an idea. If that's ok with you," said Fluttershy.
"OK?" Spitfire was overjoyed. "It's more that OK! You've already proven yourself invaluable!" She grinned at Fluttershy, and the pink-maned Pegasus felt like she was in the centre of an exploding meteor. "Brains as well as beauty - it's a winning combination. And I'm totally into winning!" She winked, and Fluttershy felt her heart flutter.
"Oh, I... Thank you," squeaked Fluttershy, unable to look at the beautiful mare's admiring gaze any longer.
"So what's the plan, 'Shy?" asked Spitfire.
She'd called her 'Shy! "I..." The pink-maned Pegasus was still blushing. "...I have a kind of special power... ponies call it 'The Stare'."
"The Stare?" Spitfire whistled. "Sounds pretty gnarly!"
"It's... well, thank you. It can hypnotise animals - but I need to be able to look in their eyes for a while for it to work," Fluttershy explained.
Spitfire brought a hoof to her chin. "That may be a bit of a problem - but it's my problem to solve. You've already done your bit." Suddenly she had an idea. "I know what to do! But you'll have to hang on..."
And with that Spitfire burst forward, and Fluttershy yelped in surprise at her rapid acceleration. They were almost right beside the Electrokeet before it realised it was being chased, but when it spotted them it zipped away at an almost unbelievable speed. Even with Spitfire giving it her all, the little bird was rapidly becoming a dwindling white speck in the distance.
"Well, that's just peachy!" Spitfire shouted over the whine of the wind rushing past them. "Are you hanging on tight back there, 'Shy?"
Fluttershy knew she couldn't make herself heard over the wind, so she nodded, her chin digging into Spitfire's withers.
"Well, hang on twice as hard! I've gotta kick things up a notch!"
And with that her wings became an orange blur as she redoubled her efforts, and Fluttershy hung on for dear life. Such incredible speed! And yet, with Spitfire carrying her she still felt safe and secure, and... something else. Another emotion she'd never felt before. A little like fear, but more like... excitement? Was this what they called exhilaration? Was this what Rainbow Dash felt when she flew at those astounding speeds? Fluttershy rubbed her muzzle against Spitfire's mane, smelling the sharp scent of her skin and of her perspiration, and she closed her eyes.
The pursuit of the Electrokeet flew by like a blur. At first they were flying up, coursing through the great open blue expanse of the summer sky and Fluttershy all but lost her bearings of what was up and what was down - everything before her was just an eternity of blue! But soon the little bird realised that it couldn't shake them by gaining altitude, and it changed tack, dropping like a stone suddenly and plummeting straight back down towards the earth and Spitfire, turning on a dime, dove straight after it, and Fluttershy screamed - but it was a cry of joy.
"Vanilla-frosting bird should try out for the Wonderbolts with a trick like that!" Spitfire shouted over the whistling of the tunnel of air they were carving out in their descent. But Fluttershy's extra weight was proving a help rather than a hindrance now as they reached even greater speeds and began to catch up with the darting and spiralling Electrokeet.
Now it wasn't a great blue sky that filled Fluttershy's world, but the patchwork quilt of the earth's surface spiralling up at them. The small farms around Ponyville were a miniature checkerboard, with the town itself a scattering of little yellow rectangles like lemon sprinkles on the top of a cupcake. And what started off as tiny details were growing larger shatteringly fast, and Fluttershy thought she might faint from the speed and the dizzying tornado of shapes and colours as Spitfire followed the corkscrewing descent of the Electrokeet - but then the tiny bird suddenly turned at a right angle and started flying horizontally, and Fluttershy felt her stomach turn over as the world flipped 45 degrees the next instant when Spitfire changed course to follow it.
And now all Fluttershy could see was the canopy of the Whitetail Woods, and as they flew it was as if they were zipping across a great emerald sea. They swept over the tree tops, the leaves dislodged by the wind-wake they were generating spraying up around them - and the Electrokeet was not far ahead of them, its little body coursing with electricity as it strove to outfly them!
"Just... a... little...more!" groaned Spitfire. Her mane was slick with sweat and now her scent was overpoweringly strong, and Fluttershy felt herself melting away inside. Was it the mare's rich smell, the heat emanating up from her body in waves, the exhilaration of the chase - or was it a mixture of all three things that was making her feel this way?
Suddenly their quarry rose up and then dived straight down, disappearing under the canopy.
"Tricky little devil!" Spitfire shouted. "Well, two can play at that game!" And Fluttershy gasped as they flew up suddenly and then dove in after it.
Ahead of them the Electrokeet was dodging trees and branches with apparent effortlessness - but Spitfire refused to give up and followed right behind, dodging the larger branches and smashing though the smaller ones, and as she did Fluttershy yelped and drove her face down closer against the flame-maned pony's coat to avoid catching anything in her face - but her beautiful pink mane, flowing behind her like a pennant, was soon festooned with twigs and leaves.
But dodging in and out of the branches proved to be just as exhausting for the little Electrokeet, and Fluttershy noticed now that it was sparking less and less often - its charge was running out! And now the distance between them was rapidly closing.
Then Spitfire crashed through a particularly bushy branch, and Fluttershy closed her eyes in response to the leaves and twigs that exploded around them and kept them closed. But moments later she heard Spitfire shout "'Shy! Now!" and she forced her eyes open to see that they had cleared the woods and were now flying over the open fields just south of Ponyville. The Electrokeet was no longer in front of them - it was right beside them! Spitfire had caught up and they were now drawing alongside him, and Fluttershy knew it was now or never. She looked towards the little lightning-crested bird and gazed at it until it turned its head to look at her - and then she activated The Stare.
Straight away the Electrokeet tried to break her gaze and pull away - but Fluttershy's eyes grew larger, her pupils blacker, and she held it fast and sapped its will. The little bird's eyes began to glaze over and as they turned cloudy it slowed down even more - and Spitfire masterfully matched its sporadic deceleration with all the skill of an expert aerobatic flier, so that the pink-maned Pegasus's gaze was never broken.
Now they were flying at a steady pace and the fields beneath them were no longer a blur, but with the roar of the wind slackening off Fluttershy could now hear Spitfire panting, and even in mid-Stare she was aware of the flame-maned Pegasus's sides heaving with her laboured breathing. But the Electrokeet slowed to a complete stop just in time, and Fluttershy darted forward and caught its tail-feathers in her mouth before it fell out of the air like a stone.
With Fluttershy carrying the now motionless and hypnotised bird, Spitfire maintained a relaxed speed - relaxed at least compared to the blistering speeds she had just recently achieved, but still blindingly fast for the land-based Pegasus pony on her back. They veered away from Ponyville towards Canterlot, and it was not long until they were flying low over the foothills of the mountains. Fluttershy looked down and watched as her shadow, joined to that of Spitfire's , leaped up at them as they crossed rocky hilltops and then receded from them again as they flew over valleys until at last the mighty mount of Canterlot Castle itself rose up before them.
Fluttershy was relieved when Spitfire dropped her on a hilltop just outside the mighty city and took the now harmless Electrokeet in her own mouth and flew to the Castle. She would have been mortified if any of the citizens had recognised her as the berserk mare who had caused so much trouble at the Great Galloping Gala!
But Spitfire didn't return for some time, and the longer Fluttershy waited for her, the more desperate she became. Had something happened to the flame-maned Pegasus? Had the guards arrested her for bird-knapping? Was she even now being escorted below to the dungeons deep within the castle? Or... or had she forgotten all about her offer to help Fluttershy with the frogs of Froggy Bottom Bog? At that horrible thought, Fluttershy's knees began to shake and she felt like she was going to faint - but then there was a bright yellow flash in the sky just above the castle, and as it grew bigger it remained lit by the blinding rays of Celestia's sun until at last Fluttershy could make out the silver-blue uniform of the Wonderbolts and the red-orange mane and tail that flew behind it like the sparkling wake of a falling star. She gasped, her heart leaping in her chest at the sight, and that meltiness she had felt before came flooding back and threatened to make the insides of her bones boil away.
As Spitfire flew closer, Fluttershy shouted to her, jumping up and down waving a hoof, a beaming smile on her face, and soon the flame-maned Pegasus streaked overhead and then doubled back in an amazing loop de loop, landing only a few feet away from her.
"That was amazing! You're... amazing!" Fluttershy said breathlessly as Spitfire trotted towards her, a huge grin on her face.
"Aw, that was nothin' at all," laughed Spitfire. "The Wonderbolts do that sort of thing five times before breakfast!" Then she moved in close to Fluttershy and put her neck over the pink-maned Pegasus's in a pony-hug and whispered in her ear. Now that Stare of yours - that's amazing!"
Spitfire's mane was sopping wet with sweat - her whole body was! - and the clean, strong scent of her coat and her perspiration made Fluttershy shiver. The meltiness became so intense that Fluttershy's eyes crinkled up and she blushed crimson, and if she hadn't bitten her lip, she thought she might have cried out in pleasure.
The flame-maned Pegasus pony, noticing that Fluttershy wasn't going to break the hug, pulled away at last and looked at her with a shy smile of her own. "Hey - we should get over to the swamp and help out your little froggy friends!" she said.
"Eep!" Fluttershy's face, which had been wearing a soppy and blissful smile, was suddenly transformed by shock. "Those poor frogs!" Without a further word, she trotted behind Spitfire and climbed onto her back. She was taken by surprise by Fluttershy's sudden forwardness, but with a bemused chuckle she helped her get comfortable and soon they were aloft again, the mountains dwindling far behind them.
Moments later they were flying straight over the little thatched-roofs of Ponyville and soon they arrived at Froggy Bottom Bog. It did look dry! The once-great marshland had been reduced to a scattering of small pools, around which the little green inhabitants were jostling for room. At the appearance of the Pegasus ponies, their little white eyes looked up at them imploringly, and Fluttershy's heart came close to breaking.
"Oh, I'm so sorry my little amphibian friends!" she apologised. "But don't you worry - my beautiful new friend Spitfire will help you out very soon!"
Spitfire had blinked at the word "beautiful", but when Fluttershy turned to her she smiled knowingly at her and asked "Have you ever made a thunderstorm before, 'Shy?" Fluttershy shook her head and Spitfire chuckled. "Then you're in for a treat!" And without further ado she flew straight up into the sky at top speed.
Once again they were a mile up in the wide expanse of summer sky, and Spitfire said "Find me some stray little clouds, 'Shy!"
Fluttershy looked about the blueness that surrounded them. Oh, there was one! Oh, and another! And two more over there! She pointed out the little fluffy cotton-balls floating here and there, and Spitfire flew over to them as soon as she spotted them. And then grabbing, pushing and pulling she dragged them one by one back over to Froggy Bottom Bog and piled them up. Soon the cloud pile coalesced together into a miniature thunderhead, and it turned black, gravid with rain, and little lightning bolts flashed about inside it.
"And now comes the fun part!" Spitfire flew above the little storm and dropped Fluttershy off on top of it and landed beside her. And then, taking both of the pink-maned Pegasus's fore-hooves in her own she jumped up and down on the cloud like it was a trampoline - and Fluttershy was soon joining in, laughing and blushing, her eyes sparkling in joy.
And with each jump, rain spilled out of the cloud in short, sharp torrents - and below them the dried-out marsh was soon being filled with fresh rain water and the frogs themselves began to hop about, croaking loudly in joy.
"Oh thank you, thank you!" gushed Fluttershy as the air was filled with the noise of falling rain and the happy croaking filled the air. "Oh, how wonderful! The little tadpoles will be OK!"
Spitfire ran a fore-hoof through her mane. "Aw, it was the least I could do. I mean, you totally saved my butt, 'Shy..."
But Fluttershy wasn't listening. In her joy she leaped on the flame-maned Pegasus mare and threw her forelegs around her neck and kissed her, hard.
To begin with, Spitfire kissed her back - but then something changed and she pulled away.
"I'm...so sorry, Spitfire," whispered Fluttershy, dropping her gaze and blushing. "I... I got carried away."
"Aw, don't worry about it..." Spitfire said, staring away towards the distant horizon.
The flame-maned Pegasus pony's voice sounded so flat that Fluttershy knew something was wrong, and she looked up at Spitfire's face. It was troubled as well. "Oh, Spitfire. What's the matter? You look so sad all of a sudden!"
"Uh, I'm like totally flattered, Shy," Spitfire began. "I mean...you're beautiful - so beautiful, actually, it makes me hurt to look at you. But..."
"But...?" Fluttershy's heart fell.
Spitfire was frowning. "I'd usually be totally into that... into you, I mean, but I... I kinda have a crush on somepony else."
Fluttershy's whole body went suddenly cold. Her chest felt tight, like somepony was squeezing it, and her hooves started to sweat while a chill travelled down her spine. "Who... who is it?" She knew the answer, but she still had to hear it.
Spitfire closed her eyes. "Uh, I guess you already know. I mean... we met at the Gala and we got separated, and I was..."
"Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy. "Just say her name." Her words were so soft that Spitfire almost couldn't hear them, but beneath the softness there was an edge to her tone, like the far-off rumbling of thunder, something felt rather than heard. And although the pink-maned Pegasus's eyes had started to fill with tears, they had narrowed as well.
Spitfire took a step back. "Uh. Yeah, it's like you said. Rainbow Dash and I... uh..."
"Why... why do you like her?" whispered Fluttershy. "What has she ever done for you?"
Spitfire looked at her sheepishly. "Uh, she... she saved Soarin's apple pie from falling on the ground..."
"An... apple.... pie?" Fluttershy's voice was steadily rising, and it was now at the level of an ordinary pony's speaking voice.
"Hey, it wasn't that exactly, 'Shy. It was..."
"Fluttershy. My name is Fluttershy," Fluttershy voice was a whisper again, but one full of menace.
Spitfire gulped. "It's just that... I mean, you're beautiful and all and we had a great time together but... what I'm trying to say is that you're... you're just not my type."
Fluttershy took a step towards her. "And who is your type?"
"Ah... you know. I mean, Dash is so... well, athletic and... well, so totally... cool."
Fluttershy was grinding her teeth together. Rainbow Dash. She'd heard it before. So many times before! Oh, Dash is so cool! So fast, so fun-loving, so totally awesome! Fluttershy was sick of it. Just because she was softly spoken and kind and cared about others' feelings, she was ignored - ignored that is until somepony needed her help. Even her friends did it. 'You have to help us get rid of the dragon, Fluttershy! Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy!' 'Please model my hat for me, Fluttershy! It would mean so much to me!' It was endless. And now she'd met somepony she liked - and she liked Rainbow Dash!
"Cool!?" Fluttershy was shouting now. "COOL!?"
"Sh...Fluttershy! C..calm down!" Spitfire begged her. "I'm sorry if I led you on, but..."
"You led me ON?" Fluttershy's voice was almost a shriek.
Spitfire was horrified by the sudden change in the pink-maned Pegasus pony. "Look... I think I should go, Fluttershy. You're... you're starting to scare me!"
"You're scared? Of me?" Fluttershy snorted. "Of tiny, little, kind-hearted, soft-spoken, scared-of-her-own-shadow Fluttershy?" She laughed grimly. "Nopony is ever scared of me! Nopony cares about me! Nopony even notices me! And nopony has ever loved me!" Her blue eyes were impossibly large now, and they gleamed with steadily intensifying rage.
Spitfire's own eyes had gone wide as well - but in abject terror. She turned in a panic to fly away, but Fluttershy was too fast for her. In a heartbeat the pink-maned Pegasus had leapt on her, her weight knocking Spitfire down onto her back, and as she struggled to right herself, Fluttershy was on top of her, pinning her hooves to the soft, spongy cloud-top, her wild blue eyes glaring into Spitfire's glistening orange ones.
"Oh, nopony wants to love me!" hissed Fluttershy. "But YOU'RE going to love me, Spitfire. Oh yes, YOU'RE going to love me because I'm going to MAKE. YOU.LOVE. ME!!" And with that she brought her face close to the terrified Pegasus pony's and kissed her on the mouth - forcefully, angrily, hungrily - and she struggled, but Fluttershy in her rage was unstoppable. Her tongue speared into Spitfire's mouth and throat, and the flame-maned mare was hit by a sudden surge of emotion - shock first of all, and then fear and panic as she struggled for air. But beneath them all was a thick layer of pleasure - a completely unexpected submissive pleasure that she had never felt before. Spitfire had always been the aggressor, the dominant one in her one-sided relationships - if that's what you could call her quick and easy encounters with pretty little fillies in towns all across Equestria, Wonderbolts fans who were all too easy for her to seduce. A mouthful of sarsaparilla, a few compliments, an almost-accidental touch and a smouldering glance in her changing-room after a show would turn even the most self-controlled pony into putty in her hooves. Whether they were schoolfillies who giggled as she licked them from blushing ear to flicking tail, or austere unicorn mares whose husbands were waiting outside for them to 'get an autograph' while she was peppering their necks with bites and kisses and they were squeezing her closer to their shivering bodies - they all loved her. But she would never stick around long enough for things to get deep or complicated - truth was, Spitfire got bored of her partners quickly and definitively.
Now she was squirming and gasping for air as this slim little pink-maned Pegasus held her down and ravished her, forcing her tongue down her throat.
But then Spitfire stopped fighting for a moment - maybe she had become too tired from the fight, or perhaps she just wanted to see what would happen if she ceased to struggle. And when she went limp that hidden layer of pleasure surged up all at once, spiking and tearing into the centre of her being as if all the control she had spent so many decades developing, the control she relied upon in her aerobatic manoeuvres and in the rest of her life, was being cut into pieces and scattered into the air.
Fluttershy had broken away from the kiss, but not before biting at Spitfire's lips and making her yelp in pain - but pain for the flame-maned Pegasus in this strange, overturned universe was now being sublimated into the most exquisite pleasure.
Fluttershy wasn't talking anymore - she seemed beyond the capabilities of speech, the fury swelling through her like waves of white fire. She wasn't berserk, but coldly controlled by her overarching rage and everything she did was a rarefied extension of that raw emotion.
"Flutter... Fluttershy! Oh!" Spitfire moaned - for the pink-maned Pegasus had started to bite at her Wonderbolts' uniform at the neck, tearing at it... and moments later a seam tore away and Fluttershy, triumphant, her blue eyes afire, grasped the frayed edge of the silver-blue material between her teeth and jerked her head violently back and forth. In a moment the rip had torn its way open all along the side of Spitfire's body, revealing her bright yellow coat glistening naked underneath.
"No! No...oh! Oh!" Spitfire's frightened yelps were more like ecstatic groans now. "No! No Fluttershy... I'm...my body's all sweaty. I... I stink!"
But Fluttershy didn't stop. Her kisses and bites had changed to long licks all along Spitfire's exposed coat, and when she reached the spots under the flame-maned mare's legs she suckled and nipped until the capillaries burst, and Spitfire was driven wild by the insane mixture of wet pleasure and fiery pain.
Spitfire gasped. "Oh no... no....oh, no! Stop... stop!" The blood was rushing hot beneath her coat as it was lacerated by Fluttershy's lips and tongue, and as the pink-maned Pegasus' mouth came back up towards her face, a trail of livid bruises were left behind.
"Love me!" hissed Fluttershy in her ear as she bit her way along its edge with sharp nips, and down along the flame-maned Pegasus's cheek and throat. "LOVE ME!!"
"I... oh Celestia!" cried Spitfire, breathless.
Fluttershy returned to tearing her Wonderbolts' uniform off - what little was left after her first assault was hanging around Spitfire's waist like a skirt - but not for long as Fluttershy pushed her onto her stomach and grabbing the material in her mouth she skinned it off like peeling a banana, revealing Spitfire's muscular rump and long, toned legs, and leaving her shivering and panting in the open air. Then Fluttershy flipped Spitfire over onto her back, and leapt on top of her again, her knees forcing her haunches to splay. But Spitfire no longer had any desire to escape. She stared at her attacker, her eyes soft and submissive, and she threw her forelegs around Fluttershy's neck and drew her biting mouth down towards her.
"Oh Celestia, Fluttershy!" Spitfire cried in ecstasy. "Love me. LOVE ME! LOVE ME TILL I BLEED!"
***************************************
"So, have you heard the latest gossip?" Rarity asked Twilight in a conspiratorial whisper as they sipped tea at an outside table at the Clover Leaf Cafe.
The unicorn pony leaned across the table. "No, I haven't - but I'd love to hear it!"
"Can you guess who's been seen flying hoof-in-hoof with a CERTAIN drop-dead gorgeous flame-maned member of the Wonderbolts?" asked Rarity. "Well, can you my dear?"
Twilight snorted. "Rainbow Dash." She sighed. "And here I was thinking that you'd stumbled upon something genuinely juicy!" She took another sip of tea.
"No!" hissed Rarity. "Not Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy!"
Twilight's eyes bugged out and she sprayed tea across the table. "Fluttershy?" she spluttered. "Our Fluttershy?"
Rarity nodded.
"The Pegasus pony Fluttershy?" continued Twilight in disbelief. "Scared of her own shadow, falls on her side when she's alarmed..."
"Yes, yes my dear!" Rarity chuckled. "Oh, I knew it would surprise you!"
"But I thought Dash and she..." Twilight began, but she was interrupted by a voice from above them.
"Well, you thought wrong, Twilight!" It was Rainbow Dash! In the sky above the cafe there was a little white cloud, and her face, wearing a look of total disdain, popped over the side of it. "Why would somepony as cool as me want to be seen with a dweeb like Spitfire?" She shook her head. "I mean, so she's into the shy, retiring type? Good for her! That's all well and good for some ponies, but me?" She smirked. "I like my ponies fast, furious and on fire!"
Suddenly a second voice came from the centre of the cloud. It was a stallion's voice, and it sounded sleepy. "Who're you talking to, Dashie? I'm tryin' to sleep off that pie over here!" And then his face appeared next to Dash's. It was Soarin, Spitfire's fellow Wonderbolt.
"Oh hi girls!" he said, looking down and yawning hugely.
Rarity had just taken a sip of tea, and when Soarin's face appeared it was her turn to spray it across the table. Twilight just stared up at the two Pegasus ponies, her mouth hanging open.
Dash laughed. "What's the matter, girls? Jealous?" And then she grabbed Soarin and kissed him deeply, the stallion going limp in her forelegs, and when she broke the kiss he stayed limp, his head hanging back on his neck and a dopey expression on his face.
But then Dash pulled him back onto the cloud out of sight, and soon after giggling and chuckling could be heard from the two of them.
Twilight stared at Rarity. "But... but... but I thought that Soarin and AJ..!"
"Ah don' wanna talk about it!" Out of nowhere Applejack slumped down at their table. The earth pony's hair had been done up in pretty braids and she was wearing lipstick and eye-shadow.
"Wha'?" Applejack demanded, annoyed. "Ain' you two never seen a pony don' up to look her best?" But then she sighed deeply. "Ain't never been a stallion until now could resist my apple pie..."
Suddenly the waiter appeared, as if on cue to defuse the uncomfortable situation. "Can I get you anything, madam?" he asked, raising a single quizzical eyebrow.
Applejack lifted her head up from the table. "Ah'll have a shooter of yer strongest alkyhol with a chaser of yer SECOND strongest alkyhol," she said.
"Very good," said the waiter, disappearing back into the cafe.
"My oh my! What in Equestria is going ON at the moment?" demanded Rarity. "It's as if somepony were having a joke at our expense!" She shook her head.
"Whoever it is," muttered Applejack, her head slumping back onto the table. "Ah sure hope they're proud o' themselves!"
"Well, anyway - I'm sure there's some reasonable explanation," said Twilight, turning back to her tea.
******************************
Deep within Canterlot Castle, in a room that only Celestia herself was ever permitted to enter, the Princess of Equestria was sitting at a low table, deep in thought. She was looking down with an inscrutable half-smile at the chequered board that lay before her, a number of little chess-pieces resembling ponies scattered upon its surface. She hummed cheerfully as she surveyed two pieces that looked just like Fluttershy and Spitfire lying next to each other, then turned her attention to the ones of Dash and Soarin nearby.
"That went so much better than expected!" Celestia brought a fore-hoof to her mouth and giggled like a school filly. "Oh, so many crack ships, so little time!" she laughed. "But whoever should I pick next?" She looked about at the dozens of other pieces in the box near her and her gaze strayed towards that of a red-coated stallion. "Oh, but of course!" With a flash of purple telekinetic magic she placed him upright on the board. "But now - who to match you with?" And then, as a smile like a dagger slid onto her face, her eyes were drawn inexorably towards another game-piece, a miniature representation of a tiny, purple-scaled dragon.....
THE END.............?
