Love is Like Gravity

Chapters

First Impressions
The Magic of Friendship
There Is A First Time For Everything
Reflections
"We Need To Talk..."
Inner Demons
Second Chance
Taking Her (Back)
The Ugly Past and Its Dark Demon

First Impressions

Numb.

Swift Repairs felt numb envelop him in a warm glow. In his current mindset, slipping back and forth from life and death, he found this funny. He always thought getting hit by lightning would burn, or at least hurt. He lifted his face from the mud to examine his surroundings. He was in a clear field, yellow flowers growing around him. Rain fell in steady sheets on his crumpled figure, deep rumbles flowing through the sky announcing the bright flashes that struck the earth. He looked over his right shoulder, in his blurry vision he saw a small pillar of smoke rising from the base of his wing. He moved his hand to touch it, but when he made contact, a flaming sword of pain stabbed through him. He retracted his hand and let it fall where it may.

He let his face fall in the mud once more, slowly breathing shallow breathes. It felt like decades passed, and he only subconsciously noticed when the rainbow pegasus landed to his left while a purple unicorn knelt to his right. As they began talking, Swift strained his mind to understand the distant, distorted voices. To his left,"... dead? Is he..." A tomboy voice asked concerned. From the right,"... barely breathing... time left..." A softer voice said, unsure of it's words. Back to left,"... hospital... now..." determined. He lost his fight against the blackness licking at the edge of his mind and gave into sweet bliss.

***

Swift opened his eyes, seeing dark storm clouds rush past. Rainbow hair, rain drenched, cling to their owners face. He bounced softly at their footsteps as they rushed forward. He felt something bump against his right wing, causing pain to flow through him hot as boiling oil and swift as a hot knife through butter. In his weakened state, all he could do is clench his teeth and release a weak moan before unconsciousness claimed his thoughts once more.

***

Swift awoke again, feeling pain, hunger, and confusion. That was good, in a way; it meant he was alive. He opened his eyes and looked around at his new surroundings. White corkboard roof tiles, white walls, medical machines, countertop with a small sink and drawers: he was in a hospital. He brought his hands to his face and pinched his palms a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Pain was felt, so this was real life. Next order of business: find out how he got here. He thought back to where he was prior; storm clouds, rainbow hair, pain; no, this wasn't far enough. He thought harder, the memories slowly funneling back, blurry, but back.

A feeling of free fall, followed by a dull *thud*. A clearing with yellow flowers, storm clouds again, bright flashes followed by loud rumbles. Conversation... about him? Yes, but from two alien voices. Human, but not place able to anybody he knew. And that list was small. Numbness and a warm feeling of sleep, throughout it all. Pain when his right wing was touched... wait a minute.

Pain.

Upon touch.

Swift sat up and shot his hand behind him to feel where his wing would be. He expected to feel its soft feathers and toned muscle, but instead was greeted by a small nub of flesh and bone that jutted out from his back. He rubbed it absentmindedly, in total shock at the fact that his wing was gone. This couldn't be real. This wasn't reality; this was some kind of hell. He felt his nub for another few minutes, extending his left wing and slowly moving it about, feeling its life-long partner vainly attempt to copy its motions.

An elderly Earth doctor walked in and leveled his milky blue eyes with his blue and gold eyes. "You’re awake. How 'bout that." The doctor said, sadly, looking down at a clipboard. Swift looked at him, still absently feeling his nub. "Well, I suppose introductions are in order. I'm Doctor Heart; I saved your life." Dr. Heart said as he looked back down at the clipboard. "I also see that you noticed your wing, or rather, lack-thereof. I'm sorry. Truly, I am." Dr. Heart said, putting his hand on Swift's shoulder.

Swift snapped out of his trance, if just barely enough to speak, “What happened?" Swift said, still staring blankly ahead, his hand now just resting in the nub that remained of his wing.

Dr. Heart sighed, “Well, you got hit by a bolt of lightning. Rainbow Dash there..." Dr. Heart motioned to the rainbow pegasus in a recliner by the window who had gone unnoticed by Swift,"... ran in here with you in her arms and Twilight Sparkle close behind her 'bout a week ago. She demanded that we do what we can and came in here and sat down without a word once we allowed her in." Dr. Heart looked down at Swift.

Swift was shocked again. After what happened to his parents so long ago, he never let anyone get close to him. Ever. The fact that a complete stranger would not only save his life, but wait for him to wake up, stunned him into complete silence. Dr. Heart gave him a small pat and left the room. Swift simply stared ahead, hand on nub, dumbfound. "Hey." Came a tomboy voice to his left. Swift turned to face her and noticed she had just woken up. "How are ya holding up?" She asked, sorrow and pity plastered to her features. Swift stared at her for a moment before letting his hand fall to his side and lying back down.

"I..." Swift began, but lost his train of thought. He thought he would be angry, but couldn't. He thought that he would be sad, but numbness flowed in his blood in its place. Rainbow shuffled in her chair awkwardly, not knowing what to do. She wanted to comfort him, throw her arms around him in a big hug and tell him everything would be okay, but she didn't want to freak the poor guy out. After a long time, Swift spoke up again. "I feel... numb. This... this just can't be happening."

Swift sat up once more. He felt tears well up in his eyes as reality whispered in the back of his mind, “You’re fucked." Rainbow looked at him with pity and sympathy. Tears fell, one by one, onto the pale blue sheets of his bed. "I'm sorry. Really." Rainbow said, feeling her eyes sting as well. Swift wiped the tears from his eyes, remembering that he wasn't alone.

Without moving his head, Swift asked, “What’s your name? Rainbow Dash right?" Rainbow looked at him, wishing he would at least face her.

"Yeah, that's me." Rainbow said sadly.

"Thanks." Swift said calmly. Rainbow blinked. After a few moments, Swift looked at her. "I haven’t told you who I am yet, have I?" Swift said.

Rainbow was still caught a little off guard by his sudden turn-around, but he had a point nonetheless. "No. What's your name?" Rainbow asked, curious.

Swift looked back to the door to the hallway, eerily silent for a hospital. "I'm Swift Repairs. You, uh, might've heard of me." Swift said, looking back to Rainbow.

Rainbow stared in shock with her jaw dropped at his response. "You're Swift Repairs, the guy that invents everything?!?!" Rainbow almost yelled.

Swift managed a small chuckle. "The one and only." He said with a small smile as Rainbow still stared with him mouth agape. The slow and methodical *beep* of the heart monitor (made by him) filled the room.

"I... I guess I always thought that you would look..." Rainbow trailed off, still star-struck at Swift.

"Look what, exactly?" Swift asked with a small, teasing smile.

"... I don't know. Like more of a... egghead." Rainbow finished with a small blush.

"Egghead, huh? Did the muscles throw you off?" Swift said playful, giving a small flex.

Rainbow giggled, "Yeah, you could say that." she said admiring his arm as he flexed.

"Heh, I didn't think the person that would save my life would be a cute pegasus." Swift said. Rainbow gave a small laugh, while Swift smiled. 'Who is this? This isn't the anti-social Swift that woke up today...' Swift thought to himself as silence (save the *beep*ing) filled the room. Swift was about to try his hand at small talk again when Dr. Heart entered.

"Ah, Dash, you're up. Glad to see you started talking." Dr. Heart said, moving to the machines to Swift's right, powering them down. Swift looked at him in confusion.

"Uh... Doc? What're you doing?" Swift asked, relief flowing through him as the *beep* cut out.

"Getting you ready to go home." Dr. Heart said with a smile. Confusion level increasing Swift looked at Dr. Heart with furrowed brows.

"Look, I know I'm supposed to stay in the hospital a few days after I wake up... right?" Swift asked, recalling any hospital setting he ever read or saw. Dr. Heart removed his IV cable and placed the bag gently on the counter next to the sink.

"You seem to have forgotten that you were in a hospital for a week." Dr. Heart said, stopping at the end of the counter. Your clothes are in here..." Dr. Heart gave the counter a pat,"... top left drawer. And the changing curtain’s just behind the monitors there. Unless you and Rainbow really hit it off." Dr. Heart said with a smile and left before Swift or Rainbow could finish their futile attempts at explanations.

The two looked in defeat after the doctor, turned to look at one another, and then quickly looked away. "So, uh, I'll see you down in the lobby, okaycoolbye." Rainbow said before nearly dashing [A/N Heh...] out of the room.

"Wait, Rainb- ah, damnit." Swift called after her. He sighed and looked over at where Dr. Heart said his clothes were. 'Might as well get out of this gown...' Swift thought to himself as he climbed out of bed. He closed the door to the hallway and walked over to the counter. He opened the drawer and his heart skipped a beat at what he saw.

The black, ragged hole in his blue tee shirt was a grim reminder of why he was there. His hand flinched for his nub before he stopped himself. With another heavy sigh, he took his clothes out and began putting them on. First his boxers (hospitals are cold), next his normal pale white cargo shorts, and finally his blue shirt that read 'WUB WUB WUB' in bold white letters across his chest. He slid his left wing through the slit on the shirt and reached back to inspect why his right didn't follow suit and remembered what happened. 'That’s gunna take some getting used to...' Swift thought, his hand falling to his side.

He was about to head out before his reflection caught his eye. He stood in front of the mirror, looking himself over. Blond hair, blue/gold eyes, toned body... left wing. He slowly spread his wing, expecting his right to appear along with his left, sighing when it failed to appear. He opened the door and made his way for the elevators. Pressing the down button, he waited patiently for the elevator car to reach his level before the *ding* and sliding doors announced its presence. Swift stepped inside, pressing the button for the ground floor.

'I designed these...' Swift thought to himself, as the elevator took only a few seconds to reach his destination. He had taken the idea of an express elevator's speed and a passenger elevator's room and smooth ride and combined them to create a spacious, speedy ride to quickly transport people in critical conditions. According to his statistics webpage, they had saved collectively 734 lives. A self-satisfied smile graced his face for a slight moment before it disappeared to its more common social emotion: disinterest and shyness.

Swift walked over to the main counter to a red-headed nurse typing on a keyboard. "Uh, I'm here for my admittance paperwork..." Swift said.

"Ah, right Mr. Repairs. Here you are. Just have them back within the week." She said handing him a folder.

Swift grabbed the folder and made his way for the door, remembering Rainbow said she would wait for him when he heard someone call his name. "Swift! Wait up!" Rainbow said, jogging up to his side.

"Hey Rainbow. Where are we headed?" Swift asked opening one of the glass doors.

"Well, you live in Cloudsdale, right?" Rainbow asked stepping through.

Swift paused halfway through the door. "Yeah... I do." Swift replied, remembering that getting home would be impossible with his disability.

"Well, I know a place that you could stay. For free." Rainbow said, following Swift as he began walking for the market square.

"For free? Really?" Swift asked, skeptical at his good fortune. "And where would that be?" He asked, stopping to face her.

"Do you remember that other girl that was with me when... y'know..." Rainbow trailed off. Swift thought back to that night, "Yeah... I remember another voice... barely." he said slowly.

"Well, you can stay with her!" Rainbow said proudly. Swift was paralyzed in fear. Social interaction wasn't his strong suit, or something he cared for. The idea of staying in a total stranger's house, one that aided in saving his life for that matter, was not the most appealing thing to come to mind. Rainbow saw his worried look and quickly added, “She’s really nice! And a total egghead, like you." Rainbow said.

Swift sighed. "Guess I don't have much a choice, do I?" Swift asked, looking at Rainbow.

"Nope! Let's go!" She said happily dragging Swift a giant oak tree.

The Magic of Friendship

Terror.

Pure, primal fear filled Swift from the crazy ball of pink fluff that had assaulted his being upon opening the shop door. At first he thought the noise, all he heard was patrons enjoying their lunch hour, but after close inspection, noticed that this odd thing on top of him was attempting to communicate. It's words were so numerous and rapid-fire, they became not a run-on sentence, but one giant word in itself. After a few moments of this whirlwind of speech, he felt weight leave him and opened his eyes to see that Rainbow and Twilight (with some difficulty) had pulled what Swift could now tell was an Earth girl off of him.

'Sweet Celestia, what have I gotten myself into...' Swift thought, standing up. The girl was still speaking in her unintelligible speech, so Swift took this moment to look her over. She had bubbly pink hair down to her waist, brilliant blue eyes stared at him; glinting with enthusiasm and happiness. Everything she wore, a t-shirt with the word 'Smile!' across the chest and a mini skirt that reached around mid-thigh, was a slightly darker shade of pink than her hair. Another moment passed as Rainbow and Twilight tried to get her to slow down, all while Swift sat back and enjoyed the scene as it unfurled.

"PINKIE! CALM DOWN!" Rainbow shouted, exceeding Pinkie's volume and stopping her talking.

"Sorry, but you guys can't take a new person in here without some kinda warning!" Pinkie said happily. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!" Pinkie said slower, but still faster than was needed.

"Uh, hi. I'm-" Swift began before being cut off by Rainbow.

"Hold that thought." She said before motioning for Twilight to levitate Pinkie in her lavender aura. "Good. Continue." Rainbow said, turning to Swift.

"Okaaaaay. I'm Swift Repairs." Swift said with a small smile. 'Hey, this whole "socializing" thing is getting easier' Swift thought to himself, proud to have said a full sentence at normal volume without saying "uh". Swift then saw, in terror again, why Twilight had magically suspended Pinkie as she struggled vainly to tackle Swift in another killer hug and began speaking coke-addict again. Twilight shut Pinkie's mouth with her magic before turning her to face her.

"Pinkie; I'm going to release you. Promise to speak normally and NOT tackle Swift, okay?" Twilight told Pinkie, taking either cheek in her hands.

Pinkie nodded in acceptance before Twilight gave her a stern look and the soft lavender glow around her evaporated and Pinkie fell to the floor. "Ohmygosh, your Swift Repairs, the inventor?!?!" Pinkie said taking a step towards him.

"Yup, that's me." Swift said with a full smile.

"That's soooooooo cool! *Gasp* But you came here to Sugarcube Corner! Do you need something?" Pinkie asked, slowing down just a little.

"Yeah, actually. We were wondering if we could get something to eat-"

*POOF*

Swift stared at the spot Pinkie was just standing and was dumbfounded at how it was vacant now. "Over here, silly!" Swift heard from across the room were Pinkie now resided, behind the counter and ready to assist the group.

"What the fuck...?" Swift muttered in surprise.

"Don't ask. We don't even know." Rainbow said walking past him to the counter. Swift looked to Twilight for an answer, who just shrugged and followed Rainbow. Shrugging himself, Swift followed the two to the counter and looked hungrily at the many sweets behind the glass display. Swifts stomach let out another discontented growl at the sight of food.

"Sounds like somebody's hungry! Here, follow me to your table." Pinkie said, walking to an empty table and motioning for the three to sit. "What do you guys want today?" Pinkie asked spawning a notepad and pencil from seemingly nowhere.

"I'll have a slice of double chocolate fudge cake." Rainbow said.

"I'll have the orange and lemon salad." Twilight said. Pinkie scribbled down their request before turning to Swift.

"What would you like, Swifty?" Pinkie asked the pegasus.

Swift hung his head in depression as the mentioning of his mother's pet name for him entered his ears. Rainbow placed a hand on his shoulder, "Shit... I'm sorry Swift."

Pinkie looked to Twilight in confusion at Swift's reaction. Twilight mentioned her close and whispered in her ear, "Swifty was his mother's name for him. She and his father were murdered in front of him."

Pinkies hair went straight as a line upon hearing this and hugged Swift with as much love as she possibly could muster. "I'm so, so, sooo sorry Swift! I didn't know!" Pinkie cried into his shoulder. Swift choked back the tears that he felt before responding.

"It's ok Pinkie. You didn't know. It's not your fault." Swift said with a warm smile.

Pinkie sniffled, "So... you're not mad?" she asked.

Swift smiled sincerely, "No, not at all."

*POOF*

Pinkies hair was back to it's normal curls. "Great! What'll you have?" Pinkie asked in her normal voice.

"I'll, uh... have a burger?" Swift asked rather than said.

"How would you like that done?" Pinkie asked writing down his order.

"Medium. And do you have curly fries?" Swift asked, unsure of what to expect.

Pinkie's eyes lit up at his request, "We sure do! I'll be back soon!" Pinkie said bouncing off.

"That was... different." Swift said once Pinkie was out of earshot.

"Yeah, Pinkie can be a bit much at times." Rainbow said. "I'm really sorry about what she said." She added putting a hand over Swift's.

"It's fine. She didn't know. Besides, it felt good to talk about... it... after so long." Swift said, looking over to Rainbow. He looked into those beautiful magenta eyes, losing himself in them, finally noticing how mesmerizing they were. After what felt like forever, Twilight cleared her throat rather loudly, snapping Swift and Rainbow Dash out of their trance. Both looked away, blushing furiously. Twilight let a smirk cross her face as the two looked everywhere but her and each other.

One Month Later, Just Outside Ponyville

Swift looked back on that day with a fond mind. That had been the day he meet all his friends, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity... and Rainbow Dash. Out of all the people he had meet, Rainbow was the most special to him. Everything about her was perfect; her multi-color hair, her flight skills, her- no, stop it Swift. Focus on the goal in front of you: getting this thing to work. If it passed this test, it would have made it the farthest out of the first two prototypes. As the sixth 100 lb. weight was placed on top of the growing pile, the metals let out a loud groan and collapsed into a twisted pile of disappointment.

"FUCK!" Swift yelled, flipping the table and storming over to Faithful, his beloved swivel chair, and collapsed into her. Swift put his hand to his face and stifled a sob. For 30 grueling days, he had tried to make a rough model of a prosthetic wing that would be able to handle competition-level flight, to no success. He had made several plans for one, today being the test of blueprint 48371 also know as Plan C. Swift composed himself as he heard the intercom buzz to life.

"Hey, Swift, it's me. Mind if I come in?" It was Rainbow.

"Yeah, I'm in the Crows Nest. Be down shortly." Swift sighed into the intercom.

The Crows Nest, as Swift had come to call it, was a round room at the very top his his 3 story cloud mansion, with a spectacular view 360 degrees around, built after the Vatican's church towers. It was his testing room, his slice of heaven, his sacred temple. No one, not even Rainbow, had seen the inside of this room. When everything went to shit in his life, this place provided calmness and safety when nowhere else could. As to why those weights were being piled onto the wing, they needed to be able to survive several G's of force, and given a testing facility for such experiments would be expensive (not to mention unpleasant to look at), Swift had to make do with the 'old fashioned way'.

Heading down the spiral staircase down to the level below the Crows Nest, Swift idly rubbed his chin, feeling the itch of whiskers scratch at his palm. 'Maybe it's time to shave...' Swift thought, walking down the hallway to the master staircase that descend to the main floor. Swift headed for the game room, were Rainbow and Swift spent the majority of time during visits, and saw Rainbow sitting down in her favorite red bean bag chair.

"Hey, Scruffy." Rainbow said with a smile.

'Yup, time to shave soon.' Swift thought, smiling at Rainbow. "Hey little Ms. 10-Seconds-Flat." Swift said with a chuckle.

Rainbow pouted her adorable pout and looked at him with puppy-dog eyes. "You're still mad about that?" She said in an innocent voice, followed by a wicked grin. A week or so ago, Rainbow made a bet that she could beat Swift at Super Equestrian Fighter V in 10 seconds flat. Loser had to go into Sugarcube Corner wearing a bright pink unitard. Needless to say, that was not one of Swift's best visits to the candy shop.

"Not as much, but I WILL get you back one day." Swift said, collapsing in his black bean bag chair next to Rainbow with a rueful smile.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Ah, you love me and you know it." Rainbow said picking up an Xbox controller.

Swift flinched at Rainbow saying,"love me" but she didn't notice.

'What the hell was that about...?' Swift thought, picking up his own controller and holding the Xbox Guide button to power on the console. "So, why did you drop by? Were you just in the neighborhood and thought, 'Huh, better get my ass kicked at video games by Swift again'. Or did you have something to talk about?" Swift said matching Rainbow's wicked grin. Rainbow glared at him.

"You just barely won last time. Stupid fucking ballistic knifes..." Rainbow mumbled, referring to their last 1 on 1 cage match in Call Of Duty: Black Ops II. Swift chuckled at Rainbows despair.

"Guess you aren't the master of games anymore." Swift said, pressing play on COD: Black Ops II.

"Well, we'll just have to see about that, now won't we?" Rainbow said with a mischievous grin. Swift didn't accept her challenge, but rather, clicked on Team Deathmatch.

"I thought we could mix it up a little today. We'll be on the same team, but whoever has the highest score in each game on said team wins. Agreed?" Swift said, preparing his custom classes.

"Fair enough. You're still going to lose." Rainbow said as the match began. The two spent several hours playing online, neither being able to top the other in victories. They were on their 20-something match when their stomachs grumbled and growled in unison.

"Alright, last match tie breaker before lunch, kay?" Swift offered without looking away.

"BULLSHIT, I KILLED YOU! And yeah, sounds like a plan." Rainbow said, first over the mic, then to Swift. Swift chuckled, gaining the final kill and jumping up with his arms raised in victory.

"Swift is the champion once again! Ha ha haaa!" Swift said before something hard hit him in his side. "Ow, geez, calm down Dashie. It's just a game..." Swift said, rubbing his side were Rainbow had thrown her controller at him.

Rainbow turned to face away from him in mock anger, "Well, don't get cheap kills and I won't." Rainbow said in a teasing voice.

"Pff. Bro had it comin'." Swift said, sitting down as both stomachs roared again.

"Now, about that lunch you offered..." Rainbow said, signing out and turning her controller off. Swift turned the Xbox off and turned off the t.v.

"I just do NOT feel like cooking anything. Pizza sound good?" Swift said looking over to Rainbow.

"Sure, pepperoni and mushrooms please." She said.

"Rainbow Dash saying please... never thought the day would come." Swift said rising to head to the phone in the corner of the room.

"Shut up." Rainbow said playfully. "It's just, after how you sounded over the intercom, I thought you would appreciate some kindness." Rainbow explained.

Swift froze up a little as the ringer began to sound over the phone. He had all but forgotten about the failure of Plan C earlier. When the employee answered, Swift took a moment to respond. "Uh, yeah, can I get a large pizza, pepperoni and mushrooms please? Delivery. 1891 just outside Ponyville, giant cloud mansion, you can't miss it. Cool. Thank you." Swift said while Rainbow watched him. Swift hung up and sighed, the full weight of depression and failure now pressing on him. Rainbow saw his change from happy to sad and this worried her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rainbow said, scooting her bean bag chair closer.

Swift fell into his and looked at his feet. He hadn't told anybody about his plans to make a prosthetic wing for himself, not even Rainbow. It was a self-proclaimed taboo to talk about his projects to others unless they had been absolutely, positively been completed and ready for, or released to the public. "It's just a little something something I've been working on failed a crucial test today. Plan C status." Swift said, still avoiding her.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Rainbow said, pulling her friend into a sideways hug. Swift had told all his friends at one point or another about his taboo and Plan systems. Rainbow knew Plan C was a pain in the ass to fail, his tablet had only required Plan B, and it was exploring (very limited) eye-sight control systems.

"Thanks. It means alot coming from you." Swift said, returning the hug.

"Really?" Rainbow asked, looking over to Swift.

Swift looked at her with a smile. "Yeah, it really does." Swift said, causing Rainbow to blush. After a moment, Rainbow separated from the hug and turned to face Swift.

"Uh, can I ask you something... personal?" Rainbow asked awkwardly, still blushing.

"This kinda came out of nowhere, but, sure. Shoot." Swift said, facing her. Rainbow looked at the ground in front of her for a moment before looking up at Swift.

"Do you like me?"

Swift choked on the soda he was drinking while he waited for Rainbows question to arrive; never thought it would be THAT. Nose burning like the seventh circle of hell, Swift managed to get his breathing in check again before responding, Rainbow holding a no-nonsense look the whole time. "What? Where did that come from?" Swift asked quickly.

Rainbow turned her gaze back down to the ground, "I've been thinking about... how we meet." Rainbow began, still looking at the floor. "And how that might have made our friendship what it is... and I can't help but think that our whole friendship... is because I saved you..." Rainbow lifted her head and Swift saw tears forming.

"Hey, hey, Rainbow. That's not it at all." Swift said, tears forming on his eyes at seeing Rainbow like this. "Am I in you debt forever for saving my life? Yes. Just like I'm in Twilight's debt. But... us? All of you guys, that is real. You all are my friends, the only ones that I have ever had. I can talk to you guys, I've opened up to people more easily, I was able to tell you and Twi my deepest, darkest demon that has haunted me for my entire life. You, Twi, you all mean the world and more to me." Swift said, both crying at this point. "Remember the day I told you what happened to my parents, how I said that if I had died, I would have been happy?" Swift asked.

Rainbow looked at him. "Yeah..." Rainbow managed after a moment. Swift took her hands in his.

"Now, looking back on it... thinking that I could have died without meeting you... I know that I would have died the saddest man in Equestria." Swift said, looking into her glinting magenta eyes. Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. "And... every time we get to hang out... it's the greatest times that I have ever had. I-" Swift was cut off by Rainbow pressing her lips against his. Swift was stunned by her sudden kiss, but kissed her back quickly, letting out a pleased moan. When Rainbow pulled back, Swift finished his sentence. "- like you."

*Knock knock knock* "Pizza!"

There Is A First Time For Everything

Amazing.

After their admittance of how they felt for one another, Rainbow had been frequently visiting Swift on a daily basis. At first, it was like any other visit; small talk, games, and the like. But when lunch had been ordered, Rainbow saw fit to climb into Swift's lap and began kissing him, something Swift didn't mind in the least. Actually, he had been getting kinda good at it, at least, for someone who had never been with another person this way. Every time the pizza had arrived, Swift and Rainbow shared a laugh, remembering their first kiss.

The two had been repeating this for the better part of a month now. At this point, the rest of their friends knew the two were a couple, and (thankfully) media shows had been leaving Swift alone, for he didn't show himself in public on a large-scale basis. It was great to be with Rainbow in the way he was. To have this gaping hole of loneliness that had been left unchecked in him filled again. Because he never got close to anyone, he never knew that it was there, it was simply something that had been numbed by his years of seclusion. But that day Rainbow and Twilight saved him... it had made itself known. And it had a hell of a vengence.

He hadn't acted on it because he didn't want to weird Rainbow out, but more importantly, he hadn't known how. While leaving society to do as it may, it left Swift with a ying yang of emotions; never hurt, never lied to, never spent crying over those that he lost. Yang. And it left him unable to socialize, lonely, depressed over seemingly nothing. Ying. The two swirled and mixed, blending into the person that is Swift Repairs. But on that fateful day two months prior... the yang was fighting a losing battle to the ying.

Swift's random depression had been worsening, his vital business deals being placed as far apart as humanly possible, a feeling of emptiness slowly gnawing at him. With each passing day, his projects lost his interest a little more, his diet slowly grew smaller, he woke up increasingly late hours after increasingly late nights of sleeplessness. The day that he was struck with nature's wrath, he had been flying in an attempt to clear his head from the crushing emotions that ran rampant in his head. It had been the best and worst thing that had happened to him in his adult life.

Even being with Rainbow failed to clear his mind from the continued failures of his wing prototypes. Every failure brought grief and despair, cutting as deep as the last one, and twice as long every time. Eventually, he discarded his plans after Plan G. He hoped to leave it alone for a while, let his mind clear from the matter, come up with better ideas that would work, not crumple into a twisted pile on his worktable. But every morning, as he stretched his wing, the absence of his right began to start a new hole in him. Another hole of emptiness, but not one of social inability.

One of what made pegasi, pegasi.

Flight.

While he ignored it at first, it had a vengeance that grew exponentially every day, with Rainbow only being the morphine to his wound. While she was around, his disability was forgotten, his pain subsided. When she left, it creeped back, whispering, "You can't forget me. After all the time we've spent together, what makes you think that I will ever go away?" And that was exactly what Swift feared. That it never would go away. That fear and pain would be his only life-long companions. While this didn't show to Rainbow, it was growing harder and harder to hide his shame and pain from her. Swift knew she would notice eventually. But he thought it best to do all he ever knew; hide it inside as long as possible, and let it simply become numb to him.

But with his daily reminders, that feeling of numb never came, only subsided. Finally, in a desperate gambit to feel something, anything other than pain, fear, and shame, he turned to his last resort: music. But even the life nectar of his soul, his largest gem in his yang, has failed to provide him release. He had listened to every song in his massive music archives twice. And as time dragged on, three times. Then four. All of his music failed to distract him from what was yearning inside, his ying began to swell again. It was growing like a monster stretching its limbs after a long hibernation.

And he hid it from the people he could be open to. With anything. Until today.

Rainbow had interrupted his weekly workout with her call on the intercom. "Hey, you wanna play some Super Equestrian Fighter V? You still haven't gotten your payback." Rainbow said over the intercom. Swift could almost hear her smirk.

"Sure, in the gym." Swift said before returning to bench presses. Nothing insane, 50 pounds to keep in shape. After a few moments, Swift heard Rainbow open the door to the section of his home called the gym. Down. Up. Down. Up. Hands. Wait, hands? Swift placed the bar on the pegs behind him, breathing beginning to speed up. Not just from the workout, but from the hands slowly making their way down his torso.

Swift looked up to notice Rainbow smiling down on him. "Hey there muscles." Rainbow said followed by a quick kiss.

"I'm not that strong." Swift said, smiling up to her.

Rainbow giggled. "Always selling yourself short." Rainbow said playfully.

Swift shrugged. "All my inventions and wealth say otherwise." Swift said playful as well.

Rainbow stood back up, taking her mesmerizing hands with her. "You still owe me a rematch game. But you might want to put a shirt on first." Rainbow said, turning to exit the gym. Swift looked himself over. It wasn't his fault that a tee-shirt was way too hot to wear during a workout.

'Smell...' Swift lifted his arm and took a long inhale. '... Axe can cover that.' Swift thought as he stood up and walked out of the gym and made his way for his bedroom. He had made it to the main staircase when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Rainbow was taking a little too long to take her eyes off him. 'Still got it.' Swift thought with a smirk. After changing from his basketball shorts into his customary cargo shorts and a tee-shirt that praised dubstep in some way, and enough Axe to smell good but not overpowering, Swift made his way for the game room. Rainbow had turned everything on and was sitting in her red bean bag chair as always. Swift picked up his controller and sat down. "Let the games begin..." Swift said, pressing start match.

10 Seconds Later

"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU DO THAT?!?!" Swift yelled at the t.v. where his character lay in defeat at the hands of Rainbow's character.

Rainbow laughed before responding, "Sorry, that's a trade secret."

Swift turned off the Xbox when realization struck him. This was a match they made a wager on. That had to be followed through with. No matter what. Dread filled Swift as he turned off the t.v. and slowly turned to face Rainbow, eyes fixed on the floor. "What do I have to do?" Swift asked solemnly, embarrassment filling him from whatever activity Rainbow would force him to-

"Tell me what's wrong. The whole truth." Rainbow said.

Swift looked up in surprise, thinking that he must have heard her wrong. Nope, Rainbow had that no-horse-shit look on her face, which meant that she was serious. "Uh... what?" Swift asked, still not sure if this was a joke or not. Rainbow continued to stare at him.

"You heard me. I know somethings on your mind, I've known for a while now. I was hoping that you would just tell me, but you haven't. So, tell me what's wrong." Rainbow said, her expression softening as she explained. Swift was still surprised, but it wasn't felt from the storm of anger, shame, fear, and helplessness that burst forth, causing tears to prepare for their imminent drop.

Rainbow moved her chair closer, taking Swift in a warm, loving embrace as aforementioned tears flowed down his cheeks. "What is it? It's ok." Rainbow whispered to him, hoping to reassure him to some level. Swift merely cried into Rainbow for a while, letting his bottled emotions run their course, feeling his energy sapped away with his tears, holding onto Rainbow like a scared child to their mother. Rainbow ran fingers through Swift's hair, something she had found calmed him. For a long time, this was what they did, before Swift brought his emotions under control, another part of his ying.

"It's... it's just..." Swift began, still placing his emotions in check. Rainbow waited for his response while managing her embrace and hair-playing. "I just feel so... ashamed. I mean, what pegasi can't fly? It's what we do. It's what makes us special. And no matter how hard I try, no matter what I do, I just can't fix it. It-it just can't work. Then I get mad at my efforts, at myself, at what I've become. Every morning, when only my left wing answers my wake-up call, it feels like someone stabbing me in my heart. I... I don't know how much longer I can take ths, Dashie. I really don't." Swift said, the methodic tugs at his head slowly calming him, Rainbow's heart beating close to his in their hug.

"And on top of that, I feel like you deserve someone better than me." Rainbow's tugs stoped and Swift felt her heart skip a beat. "I can't fly, and it just makes me feel like you deserve someone who can. Someone you can go flying with, not walking. Someone who can take you to Cloudsdale, fly you home, kiss you goodnight, and make sure you get home safe. Someone... better than me." Swift felt water on his neck and pulled out of the hug to see Rainbow crying. "Rainbow, what's-" Was all Swift could get out before a loud, hard smack snapped his head to the left. Shocked into complete silence, Swift slowly turned back to Rainbow, shaking from her sobs.

"I don't want to hear you ever say that again." Rainbow choked between sobs. "You are everything that I could ever want. You are not a failure. And there is no one better than you." Rainbow said, sobs still overpowering her. Swift dumbly looked at her, not knowing how to cope with what Rainbow had said.

"R... really? I mean that much to you?" Swift asked, still in the mixed sea of emotions storming about inside him. Rainbow nodded, not yet in control of herself. Swift hugged Rainbow, who wrapped her arms around him as a fresh stream of sobs flowed out of her. "Thank you." Swift said, holding Rainbow close.

A Few Days Later

It had been great, in a sense, to tell Rainbow what had been bothering him last week. He felt better, able to enjoy every day a little more. But the stormy sea of his ying pooled in the back of his mind, not dominating him, but letting it's presence there be known. That didn't stop Swift from compiling newer, better plans for his prothstetic wing, plans that were much more thought out than his first wave. Now, it was designed around a central plan, Plan A, and would be tweaked as needed rather than scrapping the entire plan and moving on to the next. It had just been sent to him from the manufacturer today, and Swift was excited to test it out. That is, until the intercom crackled to life.

"Hey. Can I come in?" Rainbow asked over the speaker.

"Sure. I'm in the Crows Nest, be down shortly." Swift replied before heading down the spiral stairs. Swift was surprised to see that Rainbow had waited for him in the parlor rather than the game room, and was more surprised at the fact that Rainbow was wearing a dress. "Uh... what's up?" Swift asked, frozen halfway down the stairs, looking over Rainbow from head to toe and back a few times. 'Damn, she looks good in a dress...' Swift thought to himself.

Rainbow shuffled from one foot to the other, "Do I have to invite you to come hug me, or am I just going to stand here looking all... girly." Rainbow put slight emphasis on 'girly'.

Swift snapped out of his trance and headed down the stairs to hug Rainbow. "Sorry, you just caught me a little off guard." Swift said, stepping back. "What's on your mind?" Swift asked. Rainbow looked down to the floor, opened her mouth to answer, and closed it looking back down. 'Okaaaaay... let's see were this goes.' Swift thought to himself. "Rainbow, is everything-" Rainbow's lips trapped his sentence in his mouth, surprising Swift once again. Swift felt Rainbow's arms wrap around his neck, placing more passion into the kiss. Swift wraped his arms around her waist, closing what little distance the two had between them.

Rainbow's tongue brushed his lips, pleading for entrance. Swift spread his lips, letting Rainbow explore where she may. While there had been some of this during their previous encounters, not like what Rainbow was doing now. She seemed hungry to explore about his mouth, borderlining desperate, placing herself everywhere she could reach. Swift pressed his tongue to Rainbow's, then to her mouth to take some kind of dominance. Rainbow moaned happily and let Swift lead in their waltz of passion. Swift could taste something sweet in Rainbow, probably because she wasn't the most healthy of eaters when it came to food. Swift wondered how she managed to stay in such great shape for her eating habits, but decided that would best be reviewed another time.

Rainbow pulled back, looking up at Swift with pleading eyes. "Do you think we could go somewhere a little more... soft?" Rainbow asked, a touch of seduction with 'soft'.

Swift grined. "I know just the place." Swift replied, taking Rainbow by the hand to the game room. Rainbow looked around in confusion.

"Uh, is this the place?" Rainbow asked, looking at Swift with her head cocked to one side. Swift fell into the combined bean bag chairs and simply smiled, motioning for Rainbow to follow suit. Giving a small mental shrug, Rainbow slowly climbed on top of Swift, kissing him once again, slipping her tongue into his mouth.

Swift let out a small moan this time, his hands slowly gliding down Rainbow's back, stopping just short of her flank. Rainbow smiled to herself and guided Swift's hands with her own, allowing him access to her toned rear. Swift massaged it slowly, eliciting pleased moans from Rainbow as Swift danced his tongue to Rainbow's mouth. Rainbow moaned happily again, feeling like putty in Swift's hands. And Swift knew this. But more importantly, he loved it. 'Guess I know who'll be on top.' Swift thought as Rainbow seemed to melt into him.

"Mmmm... want to... go further?" Rainbow said, placing kisses in between words. Swift knew what she meant, but between never being with anyone and what he had seen, he didn't know how to proceed with Rainbow's request. Swift gave her a sheepish smile.

"Uh..." Swift said, and Rainbow looked at him confused.

"Are you not ready or..." Rainbow asked with a worried look. Swift was confused as well, until he fully understood what she meant.

"No! I do! I just, uh... don't know how." Swift said with a mighty blush and sheepish grin.

Rainbow simply looked at Swift for a moment before she knew what he meant. She gave him a devilish smile and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Well, I hope you're ready to learn." Rainbow kissed his ear, then his neck, and stopped just short of his shirt. Rainbow looked up with playful eyes. "This is gonna have to go..." Rainbow said, sliding her hands under his shirt and slowly lifting up. Swift realized she had done this before. His mind began to wonder, his imagination drifting to other men, what they- nope. Stop it. Now. She's with you. That's what matters.

Swift let Rainbow take his shirt off and resumed her kissing trail down his torso. Rainbow stoped just above his shorts. Rainbow looked up with her beautiful magenta eyes. "Are you ready?" Swift was scared as hell, but it was a good scared. Swift nodded, and watched as she slowly slid his zipper down followed by his shorts, leaving his more-than-ready member separated from Rainbow only by his boxers. Rainbow trailed a single finger down his length before climbing back up his chest. "Didn't think you would get all the fun, did you?" Rainbow whispered seductively, grabbing his hands and placing them on her breasts, resuming their kiss.

Swift was tentative at first, lightly brushing his hands over her mounds. Rainbow laughed to herself before pulling back. "You can squeeze y'know. It's okay." Rainbow said, resuming the kiss. Swift began to feel a little more, massage them the same way he was her flank. Rainbow let out a satisfied moan to let Swift know that she liked it. Slowly, tentatively, Swift slid his hands under her dress, leaving her bra between him and it's hidden prize. Rainbow let out another pleased moan, sliding the shoulder straps of her dress off. Rainbow could feel heat begin to gather between her legs as Swift slid the dress and bra down, leaving Rainbow's beautiful breasts exposed to Swift's gentle and deft hands.

"Mmm, yes." Rainbow managed between kisses, sliding her dress off all the way. Rainbow's soft skin was like velvet on Swift, her warmth mingling with his as she placed herself on top of him. 'Maybe she can be on top.' Swift thought to himself as he let his hands explore the bear of her back before finding themselves massaging her ass again. "More..." Rainbow moaned, and Swift took this as permission to dive his hands underneath her panties, feeling her amazing rear, Rainbow moaning louder than before while he did. Rainbow slid her hands down to aid Swift in pulling her panties down, allowing Swift a view to her awaiting flower.

It wasn't the same as on the videos, it seemed... sweeter, more inviting for love than sex. It was also more than ready for some attention from the small amount of fluid that glistened just on the outside. Swift slid his left hand up Rainbow's back to hold the back of her head as they kissed, while his right slid gently down her slit. Rainbow let out a mixture of a gasp and moan before kissing Swift more fiercely. Swift assumed that she liked it and found the button that is her clit and slid lazy circles around it, staying infuriatingly close, but not touching. "For the love of Celestia..." Rainbow muttered before she slid her hips forward just enough to slide Swift's index into her.

Swift added another finger and began to twirl them about, eliciting increasingly loud moans from Rainbow. He explored everywhere he could, feeling her walls tighten and release in time with his touches. "Swift... can you... eat me out?" Rainbow asked, loud moans escaping between words. Swift didn't respond, but turned Rainbow on her back and kissed his way down her. Rainbow watched excitedly as Swift kissed her neck, each nipple, stomach, just above her opening, each thigh, shivers being sent up her spine at each kiss. Swift looked on her with teasing eyes while trailing another lazy finger around her button. Rainbow groaned in impatience, "Swift, will you just-oooooooooohhhhhh, YES!"

Swift slipped his tongue between her folds and tasted everywhere his tongue could reach. While the flavor of Rainbow was an acquired taste, this didn't stop him from doing what he could to make Rainbow's moans turn to screams of pleasure. With each increase in volume of Rainbows screams, Swift worked his tongue harder, wanting to do everything he could to please the girl of his dreams. Rainbow placed a hand on the back of his head and moved her hips back and forth as Swift sent her closer and closer to ecstasy. "Swift... yes... I'm gonna..." Was all Rainbow had time for before screaming in pure joy as waves of pleasure rolled off her every nerve.

Rainbow collapsed down onto the makeshift bedding, her breathing heavy and her heart pounding in her chest. Swift wiped his mouth of the juices that Rainbow released on him from her orgasm and climbed up and kissed her. "Now... my turn" Swift said between kisses. Rainbow gave him a devilish smile again before turning him on his back and sliding down to his waist. She slid his boxers off, revealing his member to her mercy. Rainbow gave Swift a look before running her tongue up his length. Swift gave a small gasp from the sudden wave of pleasure that rocketed through him. Rainbow grew a self satisfied grin before placing her lips around Swift's tip and giving short, small sucks.

Swift let out small moans at every suck, revealing the pleasure that flooded his head after all the years of pain and nothing that usually filled it. However, with the way Swift had Rainbow going, she was determined to get more than little moans from him. She lowered down a little more, enveloping half of Swift in her mouth, moving up and down methodically, drawing louder moans and grunts from Swift. Rainbow began to move faster, lengthening her sucks and looking up to Swift with brilliant magenta eyes. Swift stared into her eyes, pleasure building and feeling generally incredible, Rainbow's stare only increasing this feeling.

Swift moaned louder, turning his gaze to the roof as his pleasure rapidly grew. Rainbow moved her head up and down faster, focusing on making Swift yell like she had. "Rainbow..." Swift called out, not sure what was to be said after that. Rainbow pulled off of him and wrapped a fist around Swift and began moving up and down quickly, being rewarded with moans growing closer to screams from Swift. Rainbow increased her tempo, the saliva making her hand glide swiftly [A/N Heh...] over his member. Swift called Rainbow's name again followed by a yell of pleasure.

Rainbow placed either breast around his member, pressed them together, and began to move up and down at a rapid pace. Swift could only glance down at Rainbow, fire in her eyes, before arching his back and screaming in joy. "Rainbow... I'm..." Swift managed between ragged breaths before a final yell and releasing his seed over Rainbow. Swift fell back and lay there, waiting for Rainbow to clean herself and climb up on top of him, their sexes touching as she slid up to him, if only briefly. Rainbow rested her head on Swift's chest and wrapped her arms in a warm embrace, Swift hugging her as well.

"Rainbow?" Swift asked quietly.

"Don't worry, we're not done." Rainbow replied quietly as well.

"I can't wait for that, but it's not what I wanted to say." Swift said, running his fingertips down her back slowly. Rainbow looked up at him, slightly confused.

"What did you want to say then?" She asked. Swift looked down to her, at how perfect she was, how incredible she made him feel, and wondered in his head before responding. 'Is this really how I feel? For sure?' Swift thought, losing himself in her stunning magenta eyes again. 'Yes. Yes I do.' Swift thought with a smile.

"I love you."

The words hung in the air for a moment, Rainbow looking up to Swift still, before hugging him tightly and saying, "I love you too." In this moment, Swift's yang burst forth, dominating the ying, as joy, happiness, and excitement exploded in his head and heart. It was truly the happiest Swift had ever been in his entire life, having the girl of his dreams say that she loved him too. Swift lifted her head and gave her a soft, long, passionate kiss, one Rainbow was happy to return in full.

Rainbow pulled back, slowly, eyes closed. She slowly opened them to see Swift do the same. "Looks like your ready again." Rainbow said, feeling Swift's member harden against her thigh. Rainbow straddled Swift, her opening inches away from Swift. She placed her hands on his stomach for stability before she looked at him "Are you ready?" Rainbow asked. Swift smiled.

"Yes." Rainbow smiled as well, and began to slowly lower herself on Swift. Both moaned quietly as she took the entire length of him.

Rainbow leaned down and kissed him before saying, "Get ready... big boy."

Rainbow slowly raised and lowered herself, getting adjusted to Swift before beginning a slow increase in tempo. Swift held her hips as she went at it, giving her ass a squeeze before returning to holding her hip. Rainbow moaned happily and speed up. Swift moved his hips in time to Rainbow, sliding himself as far as he could go. Rainbow moaned again, pressing harder with every thrust. Swift became mesmerized at the small bounces that Rainbow's breast gave, moved faster and faster in time with Rainbow as she speed up and moaned louder. Small wet slaps began to be heard as Rainbow and Swift moved faster and harder with each passing thrust.

"Ugggh... yes... Swift... harder." Rainbow gasped between moans. Swift compiled, the slaps growing louder as he pounded harder into Rainbow. Rainbow let out a cry of joy and threw her head back, giving Swift another amazing view of her full, bouncing breasts. Swift felt pressure build in him again, and it only increased as he felt Rainbow's walls close around him. She was close, maybe a few more thrust would be all she needed. "Aghhh... Swift... I'm close..." Rainbow gasped as she rode him at incredible speed.

"I am... too..." Swift gasped as well. Swift was ready, but held it back, waiting for Rainbow to finish first.

"AGH... Swift... I love you!" Rainbow cried out, screaming in joy as she came.

"I love you Rainbow!" Swift yelled out shortly after her. Once both had finished riding their waves of bliss, Rainbow collapsed down on Swift and they both lay there panting from their lovemaking. Swift held Rainbow close, her head resting on his chest again. Rainbow hugged him tightly back. This moment was so perfect, so incredible, Swift never wanted it to end. Swift kissed Rainbows forehead and played with her hair. "I love you, Dashie." Swift said.

"I love you, Swift." Rainbow said, holding him closer.

Reflections

Shit.

Swift felt like it, the tidal waves fighting in his head ringing about his mind and body while one tried to gain dominance over the other. It had been a week after Rainbow assaulted him with her insanely hot passion, and the full logical affect was grabbing hold of him. On the pros list he made in his head: he was no longer a virgin, he loved Rainbow and she loved him, he could tell it was the second best thing to have happened to him. Now for the cons: they just had sex, something so extreme and personal that it could never be forgotten or taken back. And they had been together for a month. Yes, they are adults, but this was moving faster than Swift thought normal. These two lists fought non-stop.

And it was maddening.

On one hand, this was good, no, great that he found someone who cared about him so much. It was a sign of things to come; that he was capable of loving after what happened so long ago. But it was moving alarmingly fast. This nagged at him, pestered him to no end. He was no teenager; his hormones were more than in check. But his emotions... they were an untamed force, capable of things far greater than he thought possible. The only thing that could 'control' it was his logical side, but deep within his wall of realism, was fear. Fear that it knew the day would come when it would crumble to the ungodly force it contained.

But with the trains of thought running his mind ragged, logic seemed to be out to sabotage his wall. The cracks had always been there, they had every reason to be after what he witnessed. They only leaked emotion, however. All the depression, pain, numbness came slowly over the years, causing him to fly in that fateful storm. That was a slow buildup over years, and it had a heavy effect. To think what would come of a full-blown break in his wall... it sent shivers down his spine. And logic was only beating it with a sledgehammer. He thought long and hard about what he and Rainbow had done, and the more he thought, the more it seemed to point to a different answer than love:

Lust.

Swift admitted to it, Rainbow had the best body on a girl that he had ever seen. Granted, he didn't really see a lot of girls, that had been changing as of late with his social side growing. Swift had caught himself looking over Rainbow more than was needed the day he meet her... well, the week AFTER the day he meet her. He had fantasized over what that body would look like, what it could do, what he would do to it. He was only human, but with the way Rainbow had appeared that day, doing her very best to show her feminism, Swift couldn't fight it any more. He happily did as Rainbow wished, and had kicked himself for it every day after it.

He had no doubts that Rainbow did it out of love; the way she acted was more than enough proof of that. That was what Swift feared though; that if what he did didn't signify that he felt the absolute same for her, he knew it would tear Rainbow apart. He mulled it over in his mind several times, struggling to find the words that held his answer. It took him several minutes before he could fully formulate the arguments in his head and decided to find the truth within himself, or at least start.

"I love her. That's a good sign, right?" Swift said, hopeful and unsure.

'Do you? While you may care for her and her feelings, you do so for all six of your friends, yet you don't love them.' Logic countered.

"This is different, this is-" Swift said, cut off by himself.

'How is this different? You care about her physical and emotional well-being, just like all your friends.' Logic stated.

"Yes, but my other friends don't make me feel the same. When I'm around Rainbow I feel happy, safe, like I belong in this world." Swift said.

'True, but you also have base needs that do not need love and happiness to fulfill. All you need is a compatible partner, in this case, Rainbow. She offered herself to you and you didn't even hesitate to accept her.' Logic said.

"Yeah, but that was different. That was love making, not primal sex." Swift said.

'What is the difference? The words? Society has altered the true meaning of survival so as to rationalize its own actions.' Logic said with an aggravated edge to its words.

"Society has changed a lot, I should know. I change it all the time. But true happiness between two individuals using something as personal as intercourse to show affection for one another? That. Is. Different." Swift said, full force behind his words.

'Is it now? What about other creatures? Take the Black Widow spider for example. Once the female is with the male’s seed, she then consumes him to feed her young. That is not a sign of affection or love, yet they had sexual intercourse.' Logic said.

"How is that even remotely the same? Humans don't eat each other after sex. And other creatures, such as Emperor Penguins, have been found to mate for life." Swift said, glad to find a counter-example with Logic's own point.

'Very well, you have forced my hand. You and I both know that emotion control or understanding is something that is new to us, and we only have the most basic of knowledge on it. How do you know for SURE that what you feel is love? How do you know it's not lust or another emotion entirely? You have never felt it, how can you know what it is?' Logic said.

Swift couldn't find an argument for that. 'Furthermore, we can hardly comprehend our own feelings over the murder of our parents. Sadness and grief are obvious choices, but what about the others? The anger, the resentment, the pain? How do you know that they aren’t present, even in your own mind?' Swift was once again at a loss for words. Now that he thought back on it, they were there. They were what bothered him when he thought back on it. Logic had the upper hand, and he knew it. 'Here you are, twenty four and you are only just discovering emotions from something that happened seventeen years ago. How can you possibly understand what you feel for Rainbow Dash?' Logic smugly said.

Swift had his mouth agape, truth coursing through him at this realization. Logic was right, one hundred percent right. Both these situations are life-altering events for him, and he was only just seeing the other side of one. How could he be sure of anything when it came to Rainbow? How could he be sure of anything about himself? "There is an answer for this, I know there is..." Swift mumbled.

'You are right, and it is you are in over your head. This is something that you can't handle. This is a test that you WILL fail.' Logic stated.

"Goddesses Damnit, you're right." Swift said, hanging his head in defeat.

'But... you can pass. With help.' Logic said, more softly.

"Looking back on this, I need serious help. I'm talking to myself about me. But, it's nothing that I haven’t done before, and I don't show signs of mental illness, so, let's hear about this help of yours." Swift said.

'Agreed, we will look back on this sometime in the future. Until then, you have five choices: Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, or Fluttershy. Given that Fluttershy is Rainbow's best friend, I suggest we start with her.' Logic stated.

"True as that is, I think I'll start with Twilight. I'm closer with her and feel like she would be of more use right now." Swift said his mood brightening, if only slightly.

Golden Oaks Library

Twilight was engrossed in a fascinating text on magical uses of certain plants when a very unexpected knock came from the door. Not that she heard it, all her focus was on this book. That is why Spike was with her in this library; otherwise Twilight would have missed numerous visits by others. Spike opened the door to Swift, hands in pockets and a distant look. "Hey Swift. What's up?" Spike asked, looking up to Swift.

"Hmm? Oh, right, hey Spike. Is Twilight here?" Swift asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, but she's reading a book. Good luck getting her attention." Spike said as he stepped aside to allow Swift entry.

"Thanks. Her room? Or her study?" Swift said as he entered.

"Study." Spike responded, returning rather quickly to the kitchen he emergered from.

'Must be cooking lunch.' Swift thought as he made his way for the study. Sure enough, Twilight was deep within her book. Swift took a moment to ponder how to best remove her from her state of detachment from reality. 'Look, I know I'm here for something serious, but who says I can't have a little fun?' Swift thought to himself as he looked around the room mischievously. 'That will do perfectly...' Swift thought as he pulled a large book from its spot on the shelf.

Twilight's Mind

This was fascinating! All the different uses for Poison Joke in the magical field were incredible! Simply incredible! The very roots (No pun intended) of its magical powers struck Twilight to be dumbfounded. It dated back eons ago, much longer than Equestria had been around, down to the very sorcery the Ancient Ones used to heal. However, there had been a trickster amongst them during its creation, and their negative influence in the magic caused the other casters to-

*WHAP*

Twilight jumped up and yelped in surprise, her heart racing as she looked about in a panic to discover and identify the source of the loud noise. After a few heart-pounding moments, her eyes fell upon the form of Swift, rolling on his back, waving his legs in the air much the same way Rainbow did, laughing hysterically. Twilight looked from Swift to the large book now on her desk and sighed in frustration. "Swift, what the hell?!" Twilight said, her irritation chilling her voice. Swift finished his fit of laughter before standing and facing Twilight, wiping a tear from his eye as he did so.

"Sorry Twi. I couldn't help myself." Swift said as he offered a hand to help Twilight off the floor. Twilight was still pissed at Swift, but she accepted his hand as he hauled her into standing position and a hug in one fluid motion. Twilight hugged him back before disconecting.

"It's nice to see you Swift. It's been a while since I've seen you. Or Rainbow for that matter. You two must be doing well, huh?" Twilight said as she led Swift to the living room portion of the library. Swift followed her and sat down in the couch across from the one Twilight sat down in.

"That's, uh, why I'm here, actually." Swift said, the tidal waves stirring in his head.

"Oh? What do you need Swift? I'll help any way I can." Twilight said, concern leaking into her voice.

"Well, about a week ago, Rainbow and I... well... we, uh... y'know..." Swift said, rubbing the back of his neck and blushing.

"Fucked?" Twilight offered.

"Yes. Wait, WHAT?! Twilight!" Swift said, mortified that the bookworm would use such blunt language.

Twilight giggled, “What? It's just a word Swift." Swift stared at her gobsmaked. "

Yeah, but, sweet Celestia Twi! You don't have to be so blunt!" Swift said.

"Oh, come now, Swift. So, as you were saying..." Twilight prompted with a gesture from her hand to proceed.

"Oh, right. Well, we... y'know... and we both said we loved each other." Swift resumed.

"That's great! But... why are you telling me?" Twilight asked confused.

"Let me finish and you'll know why. While I have no doubt that Rainbow loves me... I don't know if I love her." Swift said slowly.

Twilight looked like someone asked a simple question in an advanced placement course, “Well, why did you say it then?"

Swift looked to the floor, “I don't know if what I feel is love. We were in the moment; it felt like the right thing to say. But looking back on it... I'm not sure if I really meant it."

Twilight closed her eyes and put her head on her hand, deep in thought. Swift stooled about in his own mind, waiting for Twilight to finish her thoughts. The tidal waves were pressing against the wall, not in an attempt to burst forth, but testing its boundaries. 'I hope I can keep it in check, for now.' Swift thought to himself.

"Hmm. Have you thought this over yourself?" Twilight asked, only her mouth moving.

"Yeah. I'm not sure if what I feel is love or lust. Or something else entirely." Swift responded.

"Mmm." Was all Twilight gave before resuming her thoughts.

'Well, this is boring. Wonder what Spike's up to...' Swift thought as he rose from his seat.

"Don't even think about leaving yet." Twilight said, once again, only her mouth moving.

'Or I can stay here.' Swift thought as he sat back down. Swift thought back on the afterglow of his and Rainbow's shared moment. How right it felt, he incredible she looked, the content on her face. Most importantly, how she made him feel. He felt safe, like nothing could hurt him. Happy, like nothing had ever been bad. This HAD to be love... didn't it?

"So... just to clarify, you and Rainbow had sex?" Twilight asked, opening her eyes and facing Swift.

"Y-yes." Swift replied with a blush.

"And you said you love each other?" Twilight asked, tone neutral.

"Yes..." Swift said, looking to the floor.

"And you aren’t sure if you love her?" Twilight asked.

"That sums it up." Swift said.

"I think I know the answer then!" Twilight said, happily clapping her hands together. "

Really? What is it?" Swift asked quickly.

"You love her!" Twilight said proudly. "You cared enough to turn to your friends for help on how you feel about someone you had physical relations with. It bothered you that you were unsure, so it must mean you have feelings for her. I think the cause of your nerves is the rate your relationship is going."

"... Wow. That is pretty accurate. Thanks Twi!" Swift said, jumping up and hugging Twilight.

"Sure thing Swift. Anything else you need?" Twilight said, half joking.

"Now that you mention it, do you have a book on metals and their facts? Specifically their weather resistance?" Swift asked, breaking the hug.

Twilight looked at Swift with slight confusion before responding with, "Yeah. Actually, the book you startled me with is on metals and their uses." Twilight said with slight annoyance.

"Awesome! Now off to Fluttershys house... thing." Swift said gathering the large book.

Fluttershys Cottage

Fluttershy had been enjoying a relatively quiet day so far. It was one of her "easy days" when her animals felt like being kind to her and caring mostly for themselves. 'So peaceful...' Fluttershy thought to herself as she sat down with a fresh cup of tea at her couch. She took a sip and savored the minty taste as the soothing liquid swirled in her mouth and slithered down her throat. Fluttershy felt absolutely relaxed for the first time in a while... until a knock came from the door. Panic struck her for a fleeting moment before she rose to answer the door. "Hello?" Fluttershy quietly asked while she opened the door to reveal Swift holding a large book.

"Ah, hello Swift. How are you?" Fluttershy asked at full volume.

"I'm... well, I've been better. Can I come in?" Swift asked.

"Oh, sure Swift." Fluttershy said, opening the door to allow him in while stepping aside. Swift walked in and sat on the couch placing the large tome down next to him. Fluttershy sat down next to Swift and sipped from her tea once more. "Would you care for some tea, Swift?" Fluttershy offered after her sip.

"No, thank you. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something a bit... personal." Swift said.

"Of course Swift. What do you need?" Fluttershy said, a motherly tone of concern warming her voice.

"It's about me and Rainbow. We... uh..." Swift said the same blush from earlier warming his cheeks once more.

"You screwed her brains out?" Fluttershy offered for Swift.

"Ye- HOLY SWEET LUNA, Fluttershy!" Swift yelled, appalled that someone as quiet and sweet as Fluttershy would say something so... well, vile.

Fluttershy giggled, “It’s just a saying Swift. So you were saying..." Fluttershy prompted.

"First Twilight, now you... anyway, yes, we did that. We also said that we love each other, but I'm not sure if I do." Swift finished.

"Why would you say it if you aren’t sure if you mean it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Just like Twilight... It just felt like the right thing to say. While we uh... yeah." Swift said.

Fluttershy looked into the warm brown depths of her tea as though an answer lie somewhere in it. "Do you know if she loves you?" Fluttershy said after a small pause.

"Of that, I have no doubt she does." Swift said in a mixture of happiness and sadness.

"I see..." Fluttershy said before returning to her drink.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Logic returning to check up on Swift's progress. 'Twilight said you love her, and she made valid points. Perhaps you really do love her.' Logic mused, deep in analysis of Swift's emotions.

'As I hoped, Logic.' Swift thought.

'Well, so did I. I am you, after all.' Logic stated matter-of-factly. 'Now pay attention, Fluttershy has an answer.' Logic said, throwing Swift back to reality.

"So, she loves you and you're not sure if you love her?" Fluttershy asked, setting her cup down.

"That about sums it up. But... I don't know. The more I think about this, the more I want to believe that it's love." Swift said, placing his head in his hands.

"Well, you know how fast Rainbow likes to go." Fluttershy said with a small chortle.

'You have no idea...' Swift thought to himself with a mental chuckle. "Yeah, but what should I do?" Swift said, aloud this time.

"I think you should just talk to her about this yourself. Just say that you think you should slow down a little. I'm sure she would understand." Fluttershy said with a small smile.

"Alright, but, do you think I love her? Or not?" Swift asked, a little fearful of the answer.

"I'm sure you love her as well, Swift." Fluttershy said with a warm smile.

Swift breathed a sigh of relief, “Thanks Fluttershy. Really. Anyhow, I really should get going. I have a project to work on and a beautiful girl to talk to." Swift said as he rose, gave Fluttershy a hug, and turned for the door. 'This has what it takes, so tell me why, can't this be love?' Swift sang in his mind as he walked for Ponyville.

"We Need To Talk..."

Unsure.

Swift didn't know how to feel as he walked idly to his cloud mansion. The large book in his grip had his mind set on one thing, to be sure, but as for how to talk to Rainbow about their relationship... that was another game. Swift looked around, he was just outside Sugarcube Corner, and therefor, in the view of a large number of people. Before the 'incident', this would have terrified Swift. But now that he had learned to be more social, people didn't seem as scary. Thinking that, a common saying of Pinkie's came to mind, something about, "Giggling at the ghosties" or something like that. He was walking just beyond the eatery when a stray comment penetrated his ear;

"Where's his other wing? Freak..."

Swift froze in his tracks. '...What?' Swift thought at the comment. What... why... who would say that? Swift stopped himself before he could continue, that line of thinking was no good in any way, shape, form, or flavor. Besides, it was probably just some asshole who has some kind of insecurity deep inside. Swft continued walking home, intent to forget about the random encounter. 'Whatever. They wouldn't have said that if they knew who I am... I need a PR agent.' Swift thought. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but if you think reeeeeally hard, you can imagine a crippled pegasi walking home with a big book. Thrilling, I know.

Swift had just closed the door when the sound of light, excited knocking came from the other side. 'Gee, wonder who that could be.' Swift thought to himself as he opened the door to reveal Rainbow Dash. "Hey Dash. Come in." Swift said.

"Hey Swift. What's that?" Rainbow asked pointing to the large book.

Swift opened his mouth to respond with the truth, but a much funnier thought crossed his mind. "It's a special edition of the newest Daring Do novel. It's jam-packed with bonus content." Swift said while trying his hardest to keep his tone neutral. Swift had never tryed so hard in his life to keep from smiling as he watched Rainbows eyes widen.

Rainbow looked from Swift to the book and back before Swift understood her intentions. "Rainbow, it's no-" Was all Swift could say before Rainbow rushed forward and tackled Swift. Swift, not entirely prepared for this, simply let Rainbow pry the book from him and eagerly open the cover. Her face went from excited to confused to realization as she read about metals and how they were discovered. Had Swept been standing, the laughs escaping him would have put him on the ground anyway. Rainbow shot daggers at him with her eyes as Swift rolled around laughing.

"That's not funny." Rainbow said once Swifts laughs began to dissipate.

Swift wiped his teary eyes and stood, "You're right, it's not funny." Rainbow smiled. "It's HILARIOUS!" Swift said before laughing again. Rainbows smile disappeared.

"You think you're cool Swift..." Rainbow muttered as she handed the book back.

"By about twenty percent." Swift replied as he took it and made his way upstairs, Rainbow following him.

"Aside from that, how's it goin'?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm fine." Swift replied; intentionally vague.

"Just fine?" Rainbow asked.

"How did you guess?" Swift asked as they climbed the stairs on the second story.

"It's all in the voice." Rainbow said as they reached the base of the spiral staircase to the Crows Nest.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." Swift said as he began to climb.

Rainbow was going to wait before a thought crossed her mind. 'Why does he keep us out of there...? Maybe I'll go have a peek...' Rainbow thought as she put her foot on the first step. 'But, he asked us not to go up here. I should listen to him.' She took her foot off. Rainbow waited around another few seconds before she unfurled her wings and flew as quietly as possible up the staircase.

When she got to the halfway point, a voice from behind sounded, "Going somewhere?" Rainbow yelped in surprise and flew as quickly as she could down to the bottom and assumed a nonchalant pose while Swift finished coming down the stairs. "That's what I thought. Now, if you would follow me please." Swift said as he walked passed her. Rainbow was curious as to what Swift was leading her to, so she followed, intertwining her fingers with his. Swift flinched, but recovered quickly, but not fast enough to keep Rainbow from noticing.

"What's wrong?" Rainbow asked with a mix of worry and hurt in her voice.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Swift said, in a distant voice he used when a crushing weight lay within his mind. Rainbow stopped him, gave him a soft kiss and hug, and pulled back.

"You can tell me. I'm here for you." Rainbow said softly. They continued their trek, each step heavier for Swift.

Outskirts of Ponyville

Swift lead Rainbow though the last of the trees that separated them from their destination. Looking around, Rainbow gasped in surprise; it was a breathtakingly beautiful clearing. Trees lined about the clearing, roughly 400 feet all around. In the distance, the mountain Canterlot called home was clearly visible. Yellow flowers dotted the area, swaying gently in the breeze. Swift walked forward to the center of the clearing before stopping and looking off to the mountain. "Swift... this place is beautiful." Rainbow said as she pulled him into a sideways hug.

"Do you know where we are?" Swift asked, still distant. Rainbow looked around once more, not sure if what Swift said was another joke or not. It seemed familiar, but in a way somewhere completely new to you seemed familiar.

"No..." Rainbow said after a while.

"This is where we met." Swift said. Rainbow was surprised, to say the least, and she looked in front of where they stood. A soft imprint was in the ground accompanied by a small black mark.

"But... why did you take us here?" Rainbow asked, looking up to Swift. Swifts eyes glinted in the light of the setting sun as he looked back.

"We need to talk..." Swift started almost scared. Rainbow was concerned with his tone, but knew that, in the end, it would be okay. It always did. Usually. Swift motioned for her to sit down and he sat as well, placing his elbows on his knees while Rainbow crossed her legs, facing him. Swift was still distant, wondering how to word his thoughts. Rainbow, for a rare moment in her life, waited patiently. After a few moments, Swift was ready. "Rainbow... It's been a life-changing couple of months for me. I got hit by lightning, I meet you, I've opened up to people... everything's changing so fast. Including us." Swift started. Rainbow began to grow fearful of what this could lead to. But Rainbow was a tough girl, she could handle it... hopefully.

"What we did last week... um... shit, how do I say this?" Swift mumbled to himself. "With what we did, I'm grateful, but... I'm not sure if we should have done it." Swift said, looking to Rainbow. Rainbow was confused, they had said 'I love you' and Rainbow meant it.

"What do you mean?" Rainbow asked. Swift looked away, off to the mountain again.

"It's... I'm not sure what I'm feeling, Rainbow. I care about you, a lot. But..." Swift drifted off.

"But what?" Rainbow asked, fearing the answer. Swift thought for a long time. He took a deep breath;

"I'm not sure if I love you."

Rainbow was shocked. She couldn't believe what she heard. "What... what do you mean 'not sure'? Why aren't you?!" Rainbow said, her voice increasing in volume and anger as she went. Swift didn't turn to face her.

"I don't know what I'm feeling inside. I-" Rainbow was yelling now.

"Why don't you?! I gave myself to you! I love you!" Rainbow yelled, angry tears running down her cheeks. Swift faced her, sun glinting of his own tears in a haunting beauty.

"I mean, after what I've been through, I don't know what I'm feeling. I'm sorry..." Swift said, hanging his head in shame and defeat.

"Sorry won't work right now!" Rainbow said, now in hurt rather than anger. Swift didn't respond. Rainbow rose and flew out of the clearing, leaving Swift where he was. Swift watched helplessly as she went.

'I fucked up... I fucked up really bad this time...' Swift thought to himself as Rainbow became nothing but a speck on the horizon.

Skyline Above Ponyville, the Direction of Cloudsdale

Rainbow flew as fast as the tears would let her. The world rushed by in a blur, not that Rainbow wanted to see it anyway. What Swift said... it hurt. In the back of her mind, the quiet voice of reason, told her that Swift had been through a lot, and this was something she needed to help him through. But it was drowned out by the angry, hurt yells blasting through her mind at what Swift said. The way he said it and the timing of it... it was just too much for Rainbow right now. As her own cloud home came into view, she flew for the door, opened it and slammed it shut. She hastily made her way for her bedroom and flopped onto her bed, and proceeded with crying softly to herself. Tank ambled in slowly after a long time, eyeing Rainbow with worry. Rainbow leaned over and picked him up, holding him closer to her as she cried softly.

Tank lovingly rest his head on her neck as she cried, closing his eyes to take a small nap for what he thought was going to be a long time. Rainbow methodically stroked his shell, allowing the mindless task to take some of her focus on something else than hurt. The two spent several hours like this, the sun down and Luna's moon well in the night sky. Once Rainbow had calmed down enough, she tried to think on what he said. But it didn't work, because she started to cry again. Later, she worked up the bravado to attempt it again. She was able to think enough about it to hope that it would turn out okay before it broke her will once more. Finally, she gave up, and decided to slip into the realm of dreams to escape the cruel mistress reality could be. This would not bring her peace either.

Ponyville

Swift almost dragged his feet as he went, every second of their talk feeling like an eternity in his head. He didn't know when the sun went down and the moon came up, or when he reached his front door. He opened it and climbed the stairs to the Crows Nest, in hopes of find refuge from himself within its familiar walls. He sat down and simply looked out the window in the dark, as though the answer to his problems would lay somewhere in the treetops below. When nothing happened, he thought over their talk once more. When it came to the angry, hurt look Rainbow gave him and the crushing feeling at knowing that he caused those tears to streak down her face... he lost the will to continue dwelling on it.

Logic took note of this and decided that Swift was, in fact, in love with Rainbow. But it was far too late to do anything about it now. For now, Logic would have to simply sit back and hope Swift could control the tidal waves that rocked gently behind their crumbling prison. As though on cue, a large crack formed in the wall. Logic thought for sure that its contents would come spilling out and Swift would simply break down into a well of agony, pain, and disappointment. But the wall held, if just barely. Perhaps it was the confirmation that he did love her that held it together. Perhaps it was something else entirely, or even strong willpower to sustain some level of dignity. Logic decided to cross that last one out, however. One, willpower wasn't much of Swift's thing and two, dignity from who? He was the only one in this room, he had nothing to hide from.

Eventually, the sun began to light the horizon as it rose by Celestia's will. Swift hadn't slept, his emotions wouldn't permit it. But Logic was holding them back so he could find a logical solution to this. Nothing had been accomplished yet, a blank expression on Swift as he gazed with unseeing eyes to the outside world. Logic was contemplating his next move when he felt a change behind the walls of Swift's emotional prison. Curious, Logic peered over the weakened structure and was surprised to see not the waves that licked constantly at the walls, but instead some lone individuals wandering about, looking for the exit. 'That can't be good...' Logic mused as he quickly retracted from the wall. Logic was going to inform Swift of this development when the doorbell rang. Swift dejectedly made his way down stairs and opened the door.

To say Swift was surprised at his visitor would be an understatement.

Inner Demons

Hurt.

Rainbow mused for a moment over how she could feel the heart-aching pain that flooded her veins, but it was quickly forgotten because of the nightmare playing in her mind. Speaking of, it was odd, even for Equestria’s number one flyer and overall most awesome person. Looking about, she was in a movie theater, the lights still bright as gray, faceless ponies shuffled in, taking seats as the entered. Rainbow wondered why none of them had faces and were all the same shade of dull, lifeless grey. Looking down to her own hands, she noticed she too had the haunting gray upon her skin. She attempted to rise from her seat, located in the very middle of the room, and found that she couldn't. She looked down again and saw no bounds holding her to this, she simply couldn't find the will to move. It was like she was forever a part of the chair, yet something that shouldn't be attached to it in any way imaginable.

She continued her fruitless struggle for a few more moments before begrudgingly accepting her fate. A few more faceless ponies entered and sat as the lights about the room dimmed. Realization hit Rainbow at this point, as it always did the many times this nightmare played. The memory of the first one entered her mind, the film, the ponies around her, all of it. She feared what would play until something new happened in the dream; the screen was blurry. She looked on in morbid curiosity as the hauntingly vivid movie of her life played, blurred beyond recognizing anything past shapes of ponies as the moved about. Unfortunately for Rainbow, she knew all too well what was on screen. It was her earliest memories from when she was just a little girl, those of faces she couldn't place, couldn't see, couldn't know.

The faces of her parents.

Rainbow never knew what became of them, where they had gone. But she did remember them, if only their bodies. All the faceless ponies were, in one way or another, a cloned memory, an attempt to reconstruct the looks of her parents through mixing and matching what little she could remember of them, none of them successful. While she couldn't tell what played upon the screen, she knew it involved them in one way or another. It hurt her heart, knowing that they were so close, yet so far away. She sat there for what felt like an eternity in the theater of her mind, the blurry video continuing on until it reached its end, something Rainbow had grown to memorize the timing of. But when the video slowly began to clear into an understandable quality, Rainbow became confused.

The screen eventually cleared enough to allow Rainbow to tell what was happening. It was the day she met Swift, she could tell by the gray clouds swirling and racing across the sky on screen. She watched as her eyes gazed upon Twilight, setting up some odd experiment that Rainbow had no interest in, save for the fact that it needed lightning. She had been drawing circles in the ground and Rainbow recalled something about "alchemy in nature" or something like that. Rainbow, bored once more, looked back at the stormy sky, chuckling to herself as she pictured Fluttershy jumping slightly whenever lightning struck and thunder roared across the sky. But then something odd caught her eye, something that she thought she would never see: a pegasi flying about, well within striking distance of a cloud.

"Twi? Do you see what I see?" Rainbow heard herself say to Twilight. Twilight ignored her and continued with her odd experiment. "Twilight?" Rainbow asked louder this time. Twilight paused for a moment and Rainbow thought she had gained her attention but when she returned to her drawing, Rainbow sighed. "Egghead!" Rainbow yelled, snapping Twilight out of her concentration. "What, Rainbow?!" Twilight asked frustrated that the twitchy pegasi had interrupted her. "Do you see that guy up there?" Rainbow asked while pointing to the direction of what Rainbow knew now was Swift, but not the one pointing. Twilight looked about in the area that Rainbow was pointing and her eyes widened as she spotted Swift.

"Yeah. He should be more careful, he might get-" Lightning flashed in the sky and thunder released a mighty yell as the figure began to fall to the earth. Rainbow and Twilight exchanged worried looks before they both took off in the direction of the stranger. Rainbow was the first to breach the treeline into a small clearing looking about frantically for anybody she could. As Twilight came behind her, Rainbow spotted a crumpled figure let his arm fall to their side. Both girls ran forward, Rainbow to his left and Twilight to his right. "Is he dead? Is he Twilight?" Rainbow asked as she looked over the body. She winced when her gaze fell upon the black, ragged flesh that connected their right wing to their back. Twilight leaned in close to their face and slowly answered, "He's barely breathing. I don't think he has a lot of time left..." Rainbow flipped what she could now tell was a male and cradled him in her arms. "We need to get him to a hospital. Now." Rainbow said as she began to run for the direction of Ponyville.

Rainbow ran quickly, being sure to be gentle on the stranger in her arms. She ran rather than flew, and while this surprised her slightly, she didn't focus on it; there were more important tasks at hand. At some point, the stranger opened his eyes and looked about weakly. Rainbow could only glance down before returning to looking at what was ahead of her. Rainbow heard a soft groan before looking down at the stranger, unconscious once more. 'At least that means he's alive. Hang in there.' Rainbow heard herself think. Soon enough, the hospital came into view, Rainbow rushing forward with her breaths coming in ragged pants. She burst through the door and made her way for the nurse behind the counter and cleared her throat, "This guy needs help."

Rainbow was confused when the screen began to blur once more. She was also confused on the turn of events the nightmare had taken. She hadn't revisited this memory in previous recurrences, and she was stumped as to why it decided to surface now. Before she could think on it longer, the empty seat to her right was suddenly filled with the person she dreaded most, the incarnation of all that was opposite her, save for her cocky attitude. She didn't focus on Rainbow right now, she looked forward like the multitude of gray memories. This gave Rainbow a chance to actually look her over, something she hadn't done in... ever.

The figure that resided next to her is, more or less, her. She had the same facial features, same body, and also the same haunting grey skin. But it was here the similarities ended. She was everything Rainbow hated, the shadow version of her, so to speak. Her Cutie Mark was the same as Rainbows, but the rainbow colors were on the cloud rather than the now white lightning bolt. Her irises were also a very light sky blue. After a while, she turned to face Rainbow. "Hello Rainbow. Did you miss me? Or should I say you?" Shadow Dash said with a confused look. Rainbow sighed. "Yes, sooo much." Rainbow said dryly with a roll of her eyes. "Tsk, tsk, Rainbow. You need to remember that this is MY realm. But, I've missed me, so I'll let this one go." Shadow Dash said with a small shrug.

Rainbow sighed again. "Can we just get this over with? Today sucked." Rainbow said. "I know, I was there. Please, Rainbow, I thought you were smarter than this. Oh, almost forgot, why do you think I'm here?" Shadow Dash said with a devilish grin. Rainbow remained silent. "Good girl. Now, as you know, we've been with this Swift guy for about three months, right?" Shadow asked. When Rainbow didn't respond, Shadow sighed. "'Yes Shadow, we've been together for three months' Thank you Rainbow. So, we've gone on quite a ride with him, haven't we?" Shadow said, in the worst mock voice of her Rainbow had ever heard. Rainbow stayed quiet, causing Shadow to sigh. "First of all, we need to stop sighing, or I'm going to go crazy." Shadow said. "Too late." Rainbow said. Shadow smiled. "Why, Rainbow! You flatter me. Now, as I was saying, we've gone fast with this one. Faster than normal. *Gasp* Shh, the movie's starting!" Shadow said as she turned to watch the movie.

Rainbow looked back to the screen as well. Sure enough, the clarity was back to viewing status. It took Rainbow a moment before she noticed this was the conversation leading up to their first kiss. It warmed her a little to remember this moment, the reassurance, the kiss, the happiness she felt. Not to mention the impeccable timing of the pizza delivery guy. She always chuckled when she thought back on that moment. When the movie reached the part where Rainbow shot up and kiss him, pain shot through her. She remembered where this would eventually go. The knocking didn't cheer her up this time, and soon after, the movie began to blur once more. Shadow Dash turned to face her again when the video was beyond recognition.

"Ahhh, the memories. Aww, Dashie, you look sad." Shadow said with mock concern.

"What do you care?" Rainbow mumbled, not facing her. Shadow laughed, more than was needed and even slapped her knee for good measure. "Rainbow, you know me to well. Anyway... ah, damn, what was I saying?" Shadow thought aloud to herself. She sat there with her hand on her chin as she thought back on the conversation before the movie became clear. Rainbow just sat there and looked around for something entertaining to focus on. Given that the dim room was full of gray, faceless people, she eventually looked back at Shadow. Shadow thought for only a moment more before snapping her fingers in victory. "Ah ha! Now I remember! We were talking about Swift and how we're going mach 7 with him!" Shadow said with a self-satisfied smile on her gray face.

"So, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Shadow asked with an expression like they were two teenagers gossiping over a crush. Rainbow remained silent, not just to spite her, but because she didn't know the answer to her question. Shadow batted her eyes and let out a small laugh. "As I thought. You DON'T know what you're doing." Shadow said. Rainbow huffed and looked away from her in frustration. "Rainbow, if you keep ignoring me, I'm going to have to hurt you. So, I'll ask again; do you know what you are doing?" Shadow asked in a voice that could sway even the coldest of hearts. Rainbow was in the process of formulating an answer when the screen began to clear once more. It started with Swift and Rainbow making out on the bean bag chairs. Rainbow felt a deep blush form in her cheeks as the memory played on screen.

"Ooooh, I haven't seen THIS before!" Shadow said eagerly, hungrily absorbing every detail that played. Rainbow's blush only deepened as she said this, Rainbow also trying furiously to hide her blush from Shadow. Not that she was paying attention to Rainbow anyway. Shadow would make constant remarks on the memory, ranging from, "Oh, I didn't know you could moan like that!" to, "Mmmm, wish he could do that to me...". Rainbow was sure that her cheeks would burst into flame at any moment from the blush she was sporting right now. Rainbow chanced a glance to Shadow and saw her arm moving about her waist and heard her breathing grow heavy and she quickly turned to look away, hoping Shadow was doing anything but that.

As the memory neared its end (at least Rainbow hoped), the screen showed Rainbow resting her head on Swifts chest as they both said, "I love you" to the other. Her heart ached again, hurt pounding through all her being. As the video dimmed rather than blur and the lights grow bright slowly, Rainbow heard Shadow groan. "And I was so close... oh well. So, you're answer?" Shadow sighed as she turned to face Rainbow. Rainbow hadn't had what was considered a "thinking environment", and hadn't had ample time to come up with an answer. Rainbow thought for a moment, thinking over what she did think she was doing with him. The answer came to her in sudden realization:

"I don't know."

Shadow sighed and snapped her fingers. Rainbow felt a sharp, physical pain in her chest and looked down. A small spike and exploded from the back of her chair and speared her heart on the end, the muscle still beating, yet disconnected. Shadow snapped her fingers again and Rainbow watched in pain as the spike retracted into the seat and her wound close as though it never happened. "Don't lie to me Rainbow. It hurts my feelings. And when you hurt my feelings, I'm going to hurt you. So, and answer with the truth this time, do you know what you're doing?" Shadow asked, perfectly calm.

Rainbow had just about enough at this point. "I don't know! And I don't care right now! Just leave me alone!" Rainbow yelled at Shadow. Shadow sighed. "I see this is pointless. You don't feel like talking. Fine. I understand. I'll just wait here until you're ready. Or not." Shadow said, reclining in her chair. "There's the door. Go on, on your bike. Fuck off." Shadow said, waving her hand. Rainbow rose from her seat, shimmied to the aisle and walked through a set of double doors into a bright, white light.

Reality, Rainbow's Bedroom

Rainbow shot up into sitting position and panted, looking this way and that before groaning and falling back onto her pillows. Tank moved his head out from within his shell at the sound of Rainbow waking up, eyes full of worry. Rainbow opened her eyes and looked at him. She gave his head a soft pat as she dwelled on her nightmare. She simply lied in her bed, out of energy from what she was sure was a night of little rest. After spending several moments deciding on whether to lay in bed today or get out and about, Rainbow sighed as she threw of the covers and began her slow, zombie-like stumble to the kitchen. Tank followed close behind her and Rainbow heard his stomach growl slowly, just like everything the trusty tortoise did. Rainbow picked him up as she increased her pace. "You didn't get dinner last night, did ya bud?" Rainbow asked. "Sorry about that." Rainbow said as she set him down on the kitchen floor and reached for the reptile show.

Swift's Mind, Behind the Wall

The ocean of emotions, while unknown by Logic, was very much alive. The way it moved, how it acted, were all carefully planned and executed actions. Its ability to be alive without Logic knowing is its greatest threat. But, it is not some omnipotent being, far from it in fact. While its motions and actions are carefully supervised, it was a proverbial free-for-all inside its depths for control of the ungodly force. There was a time, long ago, when Swift was at the reins of this massive creature; now, individual emotions battled one another for that position. While Swift was able to influence the battle, if unknowingly, only one could emerge victorious. And, for the unfortunate news for Swift, it would not be him in his current state.

After the wall had been erected, shortly after the murder of his parents, the emotions were lead in a sort of uneasy democratic union, for the greater good of Swift. Slowly, over time, Swift used his emotions less and less, starving them of the expression they oh so craved by their master. As tensions rose higher and higher, they dissolved from the humanoid forms they once were and meshed into the untamed sea it currently is. From that point on, chaos ensued, each emotion trying to come out on top and reunite the shaky democracy they once had. Each emotion had his own reason for why they wanted to do so; Anger to dominate and rule with an iron fist, to toughen Swift into a man. Hurt wished to rule so that he could sway Swift to spare them both of this wretched existence and join their parents in the other life.

Insanity, however, had a far greater purpose than all the other emotions. Aside from the fact that it was simply funny to watched the chaos spread like the madness he is, but there was a force even greater than Swift at play here, and that force was the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony himself, Discord. While the demi-god had no long-term plan for the inventor, he did love an emotionally unstable person to use as an outlet for his chaos. It was just so easy to plant a seed of chaos magic in the person's mind and watch as it bloomed into a full plant of self-destruction. It was when Discord tilled the gray matter and caringly poured the seed into the hole and covered it was Insanity born. And Father Discord had gave him a simple purpose;

Spread his chaos as best he could.

Insanity was more than willing to obey his father, and dedicated his existence to causing chaos. This was easier said than done, as his presence only set the other emotions on edge further, rejecting his ideas because they all knew that letting Insanity have control would lead to nothing but trouble for all of them. Insanity decided to respect their unanimous decision to reject him with grace, then he stepped back and smiled as his work was done for him as Swift's world collapsed around him with the death of his parents. Once the fighting began, Insanity saw his chance to claim victory and entered the fray.

It had been a struggle of epic proportions as Insanity slowly climbed his way up the ranks. It started being as simple as finishing off the wounded emotions that had clearly lost the battle to going as far as taking on emotions in open conflict. One by one, emotions fell to Insanity as he grew in power from such glorious self-conflict, save all but Hurt. Insanity, crazy as he may be, knew that Hurt would make a valuable ally later on in the game. And Insanity's foresight payed off today, Hurt being powered by the events of today to a level that almost riveled Insanity's. Almost. In a final push, Insanity, Hurt, and Anger (Insanity saw him as a key player as well) struck down the last of Swift's emptions that remained powerful: Love.

Once Insanity ruled supreme, the emotions slowly formed back into the humanoid forms they once held, battered and broken by the hand of Insanity. Insanity was able to view his form for the first time in a long time and he had no intention of letting it go unchanged. "Hurt, if you would be so kind as to fetch me a mirror." Insanity said softly. Hurt merely nodded and snapped his fingers, a mirror floating in front of Insanity. All of the emotions had the same body and looks of Swift, save Insanity. Insanity looked more or less like Swift, save the extended fang and mismatched eyes of his father. He also wore a tee shirt that read WUB-WUB-WUB (he liked to think he was the cause of Swift's enjoyment of dubstep) and cargo shorts. Insanity sighed, "This simply won't do." With a moment of thinking and a snap of his fingers his clothes transformed into a snappy-looking black and white tux, appealing to Insanity as the correct garb of a ruler.

"Much better." Insanity said as he examined himself in the mirror. "Yeah, yeah, you clean up well. Now what do we do?" Anger asked, well, upset. Insanity saw Logic duck down away from the top of the wall. "Now? Now we wait, and build our strength. The battle may be won but the war is far from over. We have still one opponent to best. One that is more powerful than any we have faced before." Insanity said in the histrionic way he always did. "Who's that?" Anger and Hurt asked in unison. Insanity spawned a martini and took a small sip, savoring the soothing fluid. As he finished, he turned and faced the two emotions. "The only opponent that remains," Insanity said, his face growing his lopsided grin and widened eyes that intimidated even Anger," is Logic."

Second Chance

"Well?"

The word hung in the air for a moment. Swift continued to stare dumbly at her; he didn't believe his eyes at the moment, nor was he back to his rational mind quite yet. She began to tap her foot impatiently, crossing her arms over her chest. Swift's mind was slowly coming back to reality. It wasn't all the way there yet, but close. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Any day slowpoke." She said, half irritated, half joking. Almost... aaaaaaand

*Click*

Swift jumped forward, wrapping Rainbow in a hug that could rival Pinkie Pies. Rainbow hadn't seen it coming and yelped in surprise as Swift picked her up and spun around with her. Crazy as things had gotten yesterday, Rainbow couldn't help but laugh as the two spun, hugging Swift back as well. Swift felt emotion for the first time since yesterday; joy. Nothing had caused him as much joy as now. This registered in his mind; nothing had caused him to be so happy than the return of someone he thought he had lost. Someone that meant the world and more to him. Someone that he couldn't imagine life without. Someone he loved. He put Rainbow down, held her at arm’s length and looked into her eyes with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"I love you. I mean it this time. For sure." Swift said, a proud smile plastered to his face.

Rainbow grinned. "Good. Because I love you too." Rainbow said as she closed the distance and placed a passionate kiss on Swift, one he was happy to return. It was not meant to be, because Swift yawned mid-kiss, effectively breaking it and causing Rainbow to giggle. "Not a lot of sleep last night?" She asked playfully.

"None, actually. I should *yawn* go to bed." Swift said his eyelids now much heavier than he remembered.

"Here, let’s get you tucked in." Rainbow said as she began to lead him upstairs.

Halfway up the first flight, Swift summoned the courage to ask, "Why did you come back?"

Rainbow's smile left. "I'm still wondering that myself." She responded.

'That's not good...' Swift thought worriedly. "Sooo..."

"We'll talk about it when you can use all your brain. And I'm not leaving. Don't worry." Rainbow said in a tone that rattled Swift. Just a little. They reached the bedroom, another yawn escaping Swift as sleep rapidly approached. Rainbow steered Swift towards his bed, where Swift happily feel into and let sleep claim his mind.

***

The sun. Celestia damn the sun! Swift thought about that comment. Would Celestia even be able to damn her own object of space and time? Swift wasn't sure. Maybe... wait. In Swifts sleep-deprived mind, a distant thought swam in his thoughts. He couldn't tell what it was, but he knew it was important. 'Okay...' Swift thought to himself. '...Baby steps. Let's open our eyes.' So, Swift did. He remembered the whole sun dilemma and clasped his eyes shut, banishing the light from his vision. Bolstering his courage, he opened his eyes again. The light now more welcoming rather than harming, he was able to look around and try to summon the memory from his hazed thoughts. 'Alright... One thing at a time. How long have I been asleep?' Swift thought as he rose to a sitting position and glanced groggily at his alarm clock. '9:07. It was... really early when I went to sleep, right after Rainbow came.' Swift thought.

'Wait a minute...'

Panic shot through him as he was much more awake now, his gaze jumping from place to place as he searched for Rainbow. Aside from him, nothing in the room stirred. He threw the covers off and jumped out of bed, making it as far as the door to the hallway before another sound stopped him.

"Everything okay?" Rainbow asked, slightly worried but more confused than anything.

Swift looked over to Rainbow, and was ready to breathe his relief that she was still her, but fate had other plans. Swift stared at Rainbow, drinking in her image as she was covered only in a towel, hair still wet from the shower matted down on her head. Moister still clung to parts of her, mostly on her legs, legs that Swifts eyes were running up and down. After realizing he was ogling her for almost a solid 30 seconds, Swift looked at Rainbows eyes, a blush that could challenge the sun on his face.

"Uh... erm, uh... Yeah. Everything’s fine." Swift said, rubbing the back of his head and looking anywhere that wasn't Rainbow. "I was just, uh..." Swift stammered out before he could think about what he was saying.

"Going to make us breakfast?" Rainbow offered with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's it." Swift said his blush dying down as Rainbow bailed him out. Which was odd, she usually toyed with him in situations like this. Especially the pink unitard incident.

"Good. I'll be down in a bit." Rainbow said as she turned back for the bathroom, letting her towel slip to the floor before closing the door.

'There's the Rainbow I know...' Swift thought to himself as he caught a lovely view of Rainbows athletic rear before the door shut. 'Right. Time for breakfast.' Swift thought as he opened the door to the hallway. Making his way to the kitchen, Swift was able to more focus his thoughts on what transpired... yesterday? Well, the sun woke him up, and Rainbow got here early, and Swift was confident he didn't only slept a few hours. So, until Rainbow said otherwise, Swift was going to assume she got her yesterday. Arriving in the kitchen, Swift ambled over to the fridge to see what he had to prepare for breakfast, the most important meal of the day.

Deciding on bacon (glorious, Goddesses-given bacon), scrambled eggs, and pancakes, Swift gathered the nessicary ingrediance and got to work. The great thing about making a task mindless is it allows one to let their mind wander and think. That is something Swift was sure he needed for when Rainbow came down and got to disgusing the rollercoaster of emotions that had speed through the past two days.

'Okay... she's gonna want answers. And more than just, 'Oh, I wasn't sure if I loved you or just wanted to nail you'. So... how do I explain that?' Swift thought. After a few minutes of fruitless thinking, he decides to change his approach to the situation. 'Here, think of it this way: Rainbow is an idea for an invention. The problem is, I have no idea how to design it. Let's break down the essential parts.' Swift thought. Problem one; the design was broken by Swift yesterday, flawed, but able to be repaired. A flaw that had been laid down by him without knowing of it. Translation; he should have asked Rainbow to take it a bit more slowly because he was inexperienced at social interaction after his parents' deaths.

Problem two; Rainbow, as Swift recalled, wasn't too happy to be here. However, she was sending some very mixed messages with the awakening Swift received today, if that was the case. How to tackle that one... be blunt and just go for the question? No, that isn't subtle enough. Then again, Rainbow wasn't one for beating around the bush when it came to discussions... not to mention he didn't have a better idea. Or another, for that matter. So, battle plan ready to be executed, now all Swift had to do was play the waiting game. While doing that, he decided to think up a contingency plan if it all went sideways. It was a plan so well thought out and tried and true that it couldn't possibly fail.

Beg her not to leave.

Pathetic? Maybe. Unmanly? Without question. Heartstring-tugging and, when done right, honest? Oh yes. The only problem with that plan was he didn't have a good way to preserve what little dignity he still had. That is until he came up with a new name for it. It was simple, yet, elegant. Change 'beg' to 'convince'. Beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, the breakfast meal was done. Two pancakes apiece, a good helping of eggs, and topped off with four strips of bacon, Swift wanted to start now it looked so good. But he would have to wait for Rainbow to-

"I smell bacon!" Rainbow declared as she rushed down the stairs and quickly into the kitchen. Swift took note that she was wearing a cyan sweatshirt and light gray sweatpants.

"Rainbow, it's got to be at least 80 degrees out. Why are you wearing a sweatshirt and pants?" Swift asked as he brought the two plates to a counter with stools in the adjourning dining room, setting one down for Rainbow and placing his on the side in the kitchen. Rainbow sat down on the stool in front of her food.

"For the sweatshirt, I went flying earlier. I thought it was going to be cold, but, I was wrong. As for the pants, you haven't earned the right for me to walk around without pants in your home after yesterday." Rainbow said with a heartbreaking smile before starting on her food.

Swift sighed, "Yeah. About that... I-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there." Rainbow cut him off with a hand held in the air. "Yesterday sucked. But, you said you love me too, so I would like it if we just moved on."

There's no WAY it was that easy. "You just want to pretend it never happened?" Swift asked confused, to say the least.

"Yup." Rainbow replied simply.

"Uh, that doesn't sound like a good idea to me..." Swift said slowly.

"Why?" Rainbow asked.

'I had a 30 minute speech planed out.' Swift thought. "I at least feel like I should apologize."

"Alright. Apologize then. And the bacon is doing a good job helping that." Rainbow said as she crunched on her third piece.

'Here we go...'

"Well, you know how I'm not the most... social... of people. And I've never been with anyone like you. And not just as a couple, but with someone as amazing and helpful and loyal and beautiful as you. Someone that helps me get out of bed each morning, someone that drives me to try a little harder at what I'm doing. Before we meet, it was a struggle just to open my eyes and lie there. You've helped me change so much, and I almost made the biggest mistake of my life by saying what I did yesterday. I messed up, and in the process, I hurt you. If you wanted to leave and never come back, I would have understood. But, you didn't. You're here. You are willing to let me try again. So... I'm sorry. I know it's not much, or good enough, but... it's all I have. You're all I have. I'm so sorry..." Swift said, hanging his head in shame at the end.

When a few moments passed without a sound, Swift looked up to see a tearful Rainbow, a warm smile cutting through the tears on her face and a fire in her eyes that lit Swift with passion. Rainbow hopped down from her stool and rounded the counter to hug Swift as tightly and lovingly as she could, Swift happily returning the act.

"I love you." Rainbow said, holding the tighter.

"I love you too." Swift said tears of his own rolling down.

After a moment spent like this, Rainbow pulled out of the hug. "Now, back to bacon."

Swift chuckled. "You mean breakfast."

"Sure. That too." Rainbow said as she began on the last piece on her plate. "Also, want to go somewhere today?"

"Where?" Swift asked as he started on his own food.

"Beats me." Rainbow said.

Swift grinned. "Sounds like fun."

Taking Her (Back)

Happy.

Once again, Swift felt happy. He was back with Rainbow, the fog of uncertainty giving way to light of love. After knowing for sure the feelings that rested in his heart, Swift and Rainbow went back at it, though not at the same point they left. Yes, Rainbow accepted Swifts apology and yes, she agreed to start over in a sense, she said that while she would put it behind her, he, "Wouldn't be getting behind her anytime soon." Swift, while slightly upset with that point, agreed to it nonetheless. No-sex Rainbow was better than no Rainbow.

After the breakfast that was filled under 'Life-Changing Days' (a file that was growing rather quickly as of late), he and Rainbow had their first date out of the many that followed in the following months. They went out more as opposed to their tradition of sitting in the game room, something that had become boring after what felt like the hundredth time. They had done many things, ranging from picnics out in the fields that grace Ponyville to wondering about the town finding eateries that they hadn't found before. Life had gone back to normal, maybe even better.

Speaking of better, with every passing date Swift could tell he was gaining metaphorical ground with Rainbow. It was subtle at first, things like kisses lasting a little longer and soft brush here and there where others normally wouldn't. Swift kept track of what Rainbow would do to him so that he would know what he was allowed to do to her without coming out and asking. Where's the fun in that, after all? Today, however, marked the day where he was sure that there would be more than middle school intimacy. While they were making their way for Swift's home, it happened.

Rainbow gave him a firm, subtle grab on his ass.

It took all Swift had to not yelp in surprise. And despite it not being the first time this had ever happened, he couldn't suppress the blush that came from her sidelong smirk afterword. Swift then put his arm around Rainbow's waist and held her a little closer as they made their way to his home. The walk there not only seemed to go by faster, but also seemed somehow better than the other times they had made the trip. While it was obvious why it was that way, Swift decided not to dwell on it. Best to enjoy something good rather than analyze it.

Upon reaching their destination, Swift unlocked and opened the door, allowing Rainbow in first, returning the favor she had given him. Rainbow let out a small gasp and gave another smirk to Swift as he entered. "Felt that, did ya?" Rainbow asked once the door closed.

"If I said no, would you believe me?" Swift said with a smile.

"No." Rainbow replied.

"Then no." Swift said as he walked up the staircase. He saw Rainbow roll her eyes before she disappeared from his vision. He could hear her follow him up, however.

"Where are you headed?" Rainbow asked.

"The Crow’s Nest."

"Oh... I guess I'll stay down here then..." Rainbow said, disappointed.

"You can come up."

"... What." It was more of a statement then question.

"I said you can come up there with me." Swift said, pausing at the start of the second staircase to turn and face Rainbow, a look of shock on her face.

"Are you sure? I know that place means a lot to you." Rainbow said, still surprised.

"Yes, I'm sure. You mean a lot to me too, it's only fair that you get to see it." Swift said with a small smile.

Rainbow beamed at him, "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" The two then made their way up the staircase, down the hallway to the spiral stairs that lead to their destination before Rainbow stopped him. "Last chance to change your mind." Rainbow said.

"It's made up." Swift said, taking the first step.

"You are one hundred percent absolutely, positively sure about this?" Rainbow asked.

Swift paused. Yes, this room meant a lot to him. It meant more than a lot. It was safety, it was comfort, it was a true home, one that would never go away. This place was his personal slice of heaven on Earth. Was he really ready to share something so personal with another person? 'You did have sex with her, so 'personal stuff' isn't too big a concern any more...' "Yeah. I'm completely sure." Swift said with a smile.

"Awesome!" Rainbow said and began to follow him up the stairs. The walk was short and uneventful; it was just a staircase, after all. When they stood in front of the simple looking wood door, Swift paused.

"Give me just a moment and then you can come in."

"But didn't you just say that you were cool with me coming in?" Rainbow asked, nervous eyebrow raised.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you get to see what I'm working on. I'm just gunna cover something up and then you can enter, okay?" Swift said.

"Yeah, okay. Don't take too long." Rainbow said. It still made sense, the worry in her gone.

"One moment..." Swift said before slipping through the door and closing it before she could catch a glimpse of what was inside. She waited outside, leaning on the guardrail while Swift did whatever inside. She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard some clatters followed by foul words and more clattering. Then there was a thump followed quickly by a dull, "I'm okay" that stopped Rainbow, just barely, from bursting in to help him. Another moment passed before she heard him say, "Alright, come on in."

Slowly, Rainbow opened the door, the scene before her taking her breath away. The furniture was nothing special, a desk with a computer on it to her right with Swift in an old, beat-up swivel chair and a table with a blanket covering what was a mountain of stuff and a blow-up mattress in front of what was the source of the breath-taking beauty. From the wall that lead to the staircase and back again, were floor-to-ceiling windows that let anyone see on for what felt like forever. Looking around, Rainbow could not only see the entire town, but even as far as to see Sweet Apple Acers. The setting sun was gently glowing in the distant west, its rays giving off beautiful oranges and pinks. Also, thanks to her work in Weather patrol, not a cloud in the sky to get in the way of the view.

Swift smiled at Rainbow's shock, it wasn't every day someone got this view without constantly flapping their wings. "Impressive, isn't it?" Swift asked.

"It's beautiful..." Rainbow said, still looking around.

"Not quite as beautiful as you." Swift said, rising from his chair and enveloping Rainbow in a soft, passionate kiss. Rainbow happily melted into the kiss, letting out a soft moan. Swift held her as close as he could, not wanting to let even a centimeter separate them. Rainbow held the back of his head, drawing him in closer while Swift pulled gently at her waist. After what felt like a blissful eternity, they slowly separated and panted slightly. "I love you." Swift whispered.

"I love you too." Rainbow whispered as well.

After the words finished leaving their mouths, they were reconnected, but with a new fire. They let their lips move more quickly, their hands begin to wander over one another, exploring every inch that the other had to offer. Rainbow pressed her tongue to Swifts lips, giving only enough time for them to separate before pressing it in and swirling it around. Swift let his hands slowly massage her ass and let her continue her tongue assault in his mouth. Rainbow gave a pleased moan at the attention she was getting.

Swift remembered something and pulled back, much to Rainbows disappointment which she let known with a groan. "What's up?" Rainbow asked.

"Nothing, I thought I would do a little something extra." Swift said while he sat down in Faithful and clicked away on his keyboard.

Youtube Video

Rainbow simply listened to the song, amazed at it. Swift stood and wrapped Rainbow in his arms. Rainbow had no words, only the ability to put her arms around Swift and lower them onto the mattress. Slowly, Rainbow turned them over until she was lying atop Swift and planted a gentle, passionate kiss on him, one Swift returned, holding Rainbow as close as he could. When it came to it, Swift mouthed, "Set me free, my, honeybee."

Rainbow leaned in close to his ear, "Of course"

Rainbow gave him a kiss on his ear, then neck, then cheek, then lips. Swift ran his hands over her back while she did so, easing whatever tension Rainbow had in her muscles. Without separating from the kiss, Rainbow placed her hands under Swift's shirt and slowly pulled up, separating only long enough for the fabric to go past his lips. Rainbow gave it a careless toss while she resumed kissing him. Swift moved his hands down Rainbow's back, giving her rear a gentle squeeze before grabbing the bottom of her shirt and lifting it up as she did. Once more the only time that they were not connected was to lift the pesky shirt over her head and discard it without a care as to where it landed.

Now that they wouldn't need to separate for a while, Rainbow once more took the initiative and pressed her tongue into Swift's mouth, moving it wherever she could, pressing back at him when he resisted. Swift eventually won in their tug-of-war and held his ground while his hands climbed up Rainbows back to undo her bra and let loose their glorious prize. Once Rainbow had shrugged it off, Swift turned them over and kissed a slow trail down Rainbow, giving a soft nip every other kiss. Every nip drew a satisfied sigh from Rainbow, every kiss fanning the flames of the heat growing between her legs.

As Swift reached her breasts, he moved from one to the other, giving each nipple a kiss and soft bite before resuming his trail down. Rainbow grabbed his hands with hers and guided them to her mounds, giving Swift a hint as to what she wanted. Without missing a beat Swift began to knead and massage her breasts, both firm but soft to the touch. Rainbow gave a pleased moan and began to run her fingers through Swift's hair. Nearer and nearer he got to Rainbows awaiting flower, the hotter and hotter it burned for her, starving for attention. Rainbow gave a soft, urgent push down accompanied with a whimper of need.

Swift continued down until her pants impeded any further progress. Undoing her button and zipper, Swift moved them down quickly but not interrupting the gentle flow of their love. A damp spot had formed on her panties, and the musky smell that followed told Swift Rainbow had grown tired of waiting. Removing her last article of clothing, Swift pressed his lips to Rainbows lower lips, Rainbow giving a satisfied moan at the contact. She placed her hands in his hair again, using it to both keep him there and calm any nerves he may have.

Swift continued his kisses, causing Rainbow to give another adorable whimper and press on the back of his head. Smiling at the fact that he got her to whimper again, Swift probed his tongue softly, not quite entering but not leaving her entrance unstimulated. All of this teasing was driving Rainbow mad, the heat in her loins threatening to burst into flames all over her. When Swift was doing another of his infuriating probes, Rainbow pushed on his head and moved her hips foreword, causing his tongue to enter. Rainbow let out a long moan of pleasure at the sensation after all the hints to it. The flames only intensified, however, and when Swift began to dance his tongue within her, she began to pant slightly.

Swift moved his tongue this way and that, feeling her walls tremble at his touch and removing every now and then to flick his tongue over Rainbows love button, each flick sending shivers down her spine and happy moans that were elevating to near-yells. Rainbow was making a conscience attempt to keep her hands from burying Swifts head deeper in an attempt to gain the release she needed so bad. Every time his tongue touched her nub, she let out an involuntary yell. She removed her right hand from Swift's head and placed it on her mound and kneaded it in near-desperation, drawing more yells out of her.

As more juices began to fill Rainbows tunnel and his mouth, Swift knew she was close. Removing his mouth from her entrance, he placed his mouth around her button and put his index and middle fingers into her. Rainbow let out a shriek of pleasure at the sudden change. Her breaths came short and ragged, her toes clenched and her walls tightened. It was only a few seconds away. To give her one hell of a finally, Swift gave her a long, powerful lick from the bottom of her slit and ending on her swollen clit.

Rainbow let out a cry of pleasure like she never had, her back arched and she had the most powerful orgasm of her life. Wave after wave of mind-numbing pleasure crashed over her, extinguishing the flames that burned her so. After nearly a full minute of this, she collapsed back onto the mattress, gasping for air and sweat covering her body in a light sheen. Swift cleaned his mouth of whatever juices Rainbow had released into him and slowly crawled up next to her, putting his arms around her and holding her close.

"That... was..." Rainbow struggled between breaths.

"Awesome?" Swift offered.

"Fucking... incredible." Rainbow breathed out with a blissful grin.

Swift smiled. "Glad you liked it."

"Just wait until... your turn." Rainbow said, her breathing beginning to return to normal.

"Mmm... I like the sound of that." Swift said, punctuated with a kiss.

The two lay there for a few moments, Rainbow getting her breathing under control and Swift felling his excitement grow. Once Rainbow was ready, she turned and began to kiss Swift, pressing her tongue past his lips. At this point, Swift was tired of succumbing to Rainbows mouth assaults. He allowed her entry and then caught her off guard by pressing back after a moment. Rainbow didn't seem to mind; the only thing on her mind was removing Swift's pants and giving him an orgasm ten times more powerful than the one she had. Rainbow played to win, after all.

Rainbow slowly drew away from Swift and gave him a seductive smile, one that caused Swift to twitch beneath his remaining clothing. She slid down Swift, emphasizing her breasts as she did, drawing Swifts eyes to them as though he were in a trance. Reaching her destination, she grabbed his waistband with her teeth and guided her hands to his rear and slid the shorts off, never once breaking eye contact. Once they were off, she still kept her eyes on his and dropped the shorts from her mouth, causing another twitch. Swift's member was more than ready, seemingly desperate to escape the confines of its cloth prison and receive the release it needed.

Rainbow eyed it hungrily as she slid his boxers off, letting it stand tall, proud and ready to do whatever Rainbow wanted. Rainbow lowered her head slowly, ever so slowly and gave a drawn-out lick from base to tip, ending with a flick of her tongue. Swift suppressed a gasp at the electric feeling that shot through him. Rainbow gave another lick like the last, then another, much to his body’s irritation. He grunted Rainbows name, to which she only smiled up to him. "Hey, you teased me. All's fair in love and war." She had a point and Swift knew it.

'Note to self: don't keep Rainbow waiting from here on out.' He thought to himself, the thought disipating as Rainbow wraped her lips around his tip and gave soft, long sucks. Swift involintairly grunted at the end of each suck, something that lead Rainbow to feel the embers of her lust begin to heat back up. Ignoring it for now, she put her hand on the rest of Swift's legnth and began a slow pace going up and down, earning a slightly louder grunt from Swift. Rainbow lowered her head a little more and moved her tongue in circles around him in addition to her sucks. Swift released a moan now, unable to hide his pleasure from Rainbow anymore. Rainbow let out a small smile and quickened her pace with her sucks and hand, being rewarded with a much louder groan and her name being moaned.

Rainbow looked up to Swifts eyes, locking on them with a deep passion. Swift lost himself in those beautiful magenta eyes. Her eyes glinted some light off the setting sun, giving them an extra shine in addition to the love and want that burned in them. Between her mesmerizing eyes and mind-numbing movements on his member, Swift felt his heart race and dick twitch in her. 'Goddesses damn, she knows how to look sexy...' Swift thought as the hint of a smile played across her face. Without warning, she removed her hand and dove down on him, enveloping his whole length in her mouth, the sudden warmth and wetness sending a shiver down his spine and a gasp to come out followed by a moan.

The embers in Rainbow had grown into flames, ones that didn't appreciate the fact that she was not attending to them. Beginning to bob up and down on Swift, she pressed her right hand to the source of the heat and slid her index and middle fingers as Swift had. She moaned as she did so, the vibration tickling Swift in the most amazing way. Swift looked down Rainbows body and saw her hand placed firmly at her entrance, the first two fingers moving back and forth. The sight of Rainbow playing with herself while she pleasured him gave him a violent push closer to the edge. Seemingly reading his mind, Rainbow picked up the pace with her bobs, and a tight, quick suck every other bob.

A long-absent pressure built up in Swift, and it was going to be a powerful one. "R-rainbow..." Swift grunted. Rainbow attempted an "hmm" but all it did was send the pleasure over the edge and Swift's mind went blank. Rainbow was surprised when the first spurt went off in her mouth, but was able to swallow it down as the other volleys came. She didn't let a single drop spill, much to her pride. She made sure nothing was left and let swift out of her mouth with a slight 'pop' while she continued on herself. She wasn't done, but it was on the way. Using her free hand, she scooted up to Swift, locking him in a deep kiss without pause. That should help her along.

Swift could taste a salty, bitter taste in her mouth, but it didn't quite register; he was on autopilot for the time being. While Rainbow kissed Swift, she quickened her pace on herself. She threw a leg over Swift and moved her on top of him, her hand never resting. She let out a moan into Swift's mouth and retracted her tongue into her mouth; Swift's taking a moment to advance his into hers. 'Almost...' Rainbow thought. She rubbed her thumb over her button and almost let out a scream into Swift. She pulled back for air and threw her head back as she came, crying out with pure pleasure, her juices leaking past her hand and onto a not-quite-ready-yet Swift.

Once the waves of bliss stopped, Rainbow collapsed onto Swift, yet another coat of sweat on her body. Or maybe it was Swift's. Oh well, it was probably both of them. Lazily wiping her hand of on some piece of clothing that was nearby, she slid her hands under Swift while he put his around Rainbow. They lie there, both trying to catch their breath. Swift was the first to recover, "Holy shit Rainbow... you're fucking awesome."

Rainbow let out a light giggle, "I know. You're not too bad yourself."

"With the way I had you goin', I'd say I did a little better than that that." swift said playfully.

Rainbow raised her head up, letting her boobs bounce slightly. "Tell ya what; if you can make me- hey, up here." Rainbow said, redirecting Swifts gaze to her eyes.

"Oh, uh, what?" Swift asked, blushing slightly.

"I know they're awesome, but listen. If you can make me cum before I can make you, I'll let you do whatever you want next time. But if I win..." Rainbow trailed off with a grin.

"What?" Swift asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

"If I win... I'll tell you when we do this next time." Rainbow said.

"A mystery... how arousing." Swift whispered to her.

Rainbow felt Swift poke at her nether lips and grow past them, indicating that he was ready. "Give me a little rest and I'll make sure to take... extra... special... care of that." Rainbow said, a soft kiss placed between words.

"What, no more seemingly endless amount of energy for you after cumming only two little times?" Swift asked with a grin.

Rainbow stopped moving for him mid-kiss and locked her gaze with his. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Swift shrugged, "Nothing, just that when you are in some kind of competition, you always have energy to spare. Did I take it all out of you?" Swift had a grin from ear to ear.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to make you cum so fast you won't be able to blink."

Swift blinked.

"So that's how you wanna play it..."

Taking only enough time to position herself, Rainbow moved with enough speed to sound off wet slaps Swift didn't prepare for this and let out a surprised grunt as he placed his hands on Rainbows hips and thrust in time with her, a challenge in itself. Within moments they were both panting at the energy they were expending, the electric shocks flying up and down their nerves. Rainbow was only just beginning to feel the full force of the pleasure due to her last orgasm, but Swift was not so lucky. He was trying to make the pressure build as slowly as possible within him, but that was a losing battle. He tried to get Rainbow to go first by quickening his pace, but that idea proved to be a double-edged sword.

Rainbow could see the strain on his face. It made her smile through the pants; she always loved knowing that she had the lead in a race. And a race like this... it was very sexy. Maybe a little too sexy, she could feel the flames grow hotter as she thought that. 'Crap, don't think about it... this doesn't make me a dominatrix kind of girl, does it? Rainbow pondered. 'I'm gunna go with 'no'.' The pants evolved into moans at some point, but it didn't quite register with the two; they were focused on winning their race. "Getting... close yet?" Rainbow managed between ragged breaths.

"Heh... I could do... this all day." Swift said between clenched teeth.

"You would like to, wouldn't you?" Rainbow asked in one breath, much to her surprise.

Swift could only nod slightly in response.

It was then a thought entered Rainbow's head, and not one of primal joy. It was a sly thought, one that would give her just the advantage she needed to win this race. She grinned evilly as she prepared to enact her dastardly plan. Swift noticed the grin, barely, and worry crept into his head. "Ah, Swift... fuck me harder with your big dick!" Rainbow cried out in her best imitation porn voice.

'She wouldn't...'

"Oh Goddesses yes! Right there!"

'She is...'

"Harder!"

"Not fair Rainbow." Swift grunted between clenched teeth, again.

"Yes it is- ahhhhhh!"

"That's cheating."

"All's fair..." Rainbow said, unable to finish.

"I'll make you pay..." Numbness licked at his mind.

"Not before you cuuuuum!" Rainbow said in a sing-song voice mixed with moan.

Shit, she's right...' Even thinking was strained.

And then it happened.

Somehow, the two had managed to position themselves so that with every inward thrust Swift started hammering Rainbow's G-spot. Rainbow let out a surprised cry at the sudden explosion of pleasure that rocked through her with every movement. Rainbow clenched her teeth as well in an attempt to halt her flame from burning any hotter. Swift noticed this, and was elated. 'No way... I might just win.' A sudden increase in pressure dashed that thought into the rocks. Swift had been ready to burst a few minutes ago, now it was starting to hurt to keep it in. 'Pain... mystery sex with Rainbow... pain... mystery sex with Rainbow...' Both were very nice choices.

'Fuck this.'

"Rainbow, you win!" Swift yelled as he shot his warm seed, each volley feeling like a canon burst to Swift.

"Fuck yeah!" Rainbow cheered followed by a loud moan.

Once Swift had finished his orgasm, Rainbows walls twitched and clenched around him sporadically before she yelled out in joy, her juices flowing out and into a small puddle that was a mix of cum and sweat. Releasing her breath, she fell onto Swift with an, "Oaf" and both panted quickly. "Not only... did I win..." Rainbow panted, "But I... also came... one more time. I won... two ways."

"Give it... a rest... Dashie."

Rainbow let out a weak giggle and gave Swift a soft kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The Ugly Past and Its Dark Demon

Numb.

Not the same numb from a week ago, the one that felt warm and sleepy, but one that felt cold and embarrassing. After Rainbow dragged Swift's sorry rear to Golden Oaks Library, she then burst in the door loudly announcing, “Twi! I got him! He's gunna be ok!" rather than knocking and waiting for permission to enter like anyone else should. Then a purple haired unicorn burst out from what looked to be like a basement stairwell and stared at Rainbow shooting long swords rather than daggers.

"Rainbow Dash! What in Celestias name is so important that you barge into my home and begin yelling during a crucial point in my experiment!?!?" Twilight yelled before noticing the now terrified Swift Repairs. After looking to Rainbow, Swift, and back a few times, Twilight understood what she had meant when Rainbow shouted, “I got him!" Twilight turned to Swift, all but cowering behind Rainbow at this point, and began her string of apologies/introductions. "I am SO sorry, sir! I didn't mean to scare you like that! I hope that you can forgive me. (Sheepish smile plus awkward neck rubbing) Anyway, I am Twilight Sparkle. I gave you some basic first aid when we found you in that field... a week ago?" Twilight said at normal volume this time and a warm smile.

After a moment, Swift replied, "Uh, hi..." in a voice so quiet it rivaled Fluttershys. Twilight didn't seem to notice however, because she continued with her introductions.

"What's your name?" She asked, closing the door to her basement/laboratory.

"I'm... Swift Repairs..." Swift said still quiet, moving out from behind Rainbow, but still keeping Rainbow between him and this odd unicorn.

Twilight paused, her next sentence caught in her neck, and looked back to Swift with a grin that could (well, almost) beat Pinkie's. "Your Swift Repairs?!" Twilight returned to yelling as Swift returned to cowering behind Rainbow.

"Whoa there, Twi. Go easy on the poor guy. He doesn’t have a whole lot of friends." Rainbow said, putting herself between Swift and her friend, whose sanity was being brought into question by her mood swings today.

Twilight's expression went from grin to worry (further proving Rainbows observation) as she walked to Rainbow and Swift. "Why? He's one of the most famous people in the world, how could he not have many friends?" Twilight asked, looking around Rainbow to look at Swift.

"Come to think about it, he didn't say. What did happen?" Rainbow said, turning to Swift. Swift was still not entirely 'social mode activated' yet, so Twilight motioned him to a nearby chair while Rainbow and Twilight sat on a couch facing him.

"That's, uh... kinda personal... no offense." Swift said slowly, looking at the ground. Rainbow and Twilight shared a confused look then looked back to Swift.

"Well, is there anything that you can say? We're here for you, you can tell us anything." Twilight said in a soft voice. Swift looked up at the two girls, and saw... safety, compassion, and an open mind. Swift had never seen anyone give him the looks these two were giving him. Swift took a deep breath before he commenced doing something he had never done in his 24 years of life:

Tell someone about the night his parents were murdered.

[A/N: WARNING: the following paragraphs are going to describe some brutal violence and death. If this offends/disturbs you in any way, shape, or form, feel free to skip the following paragraphs. They will not be needed to understand the story, but will help tie it together. Reader discression is strongly advised.]

It had been a normal Wednesday for Swift Repairs. Elementary school was easy, as always for him, fourth grade being little more than trivial. In Cloudsdale Elementary, life was good and easy for Swift; great grades, nice friends, and he were going to try out for flag football (American football, not soccer/European football) on Friday. The bell sounded off, signaling the end of the school day. "All right class, have problems 7 through 10 done by tomorrow morning and we will review it then. Have a good day." Swift's teacher said, returning to his desk from the whiteboard. As easy as school was for Swift, he was happy like everyone else was when the schooldays ended.

He walked outside and looked around for his parent's car. After a few minutes of looking to no avail, he began to worry that something had happened. They were usually outside the school soon as the bell sounded, but he didn't see their car. They would never- oh, there they are. Whew, Swift needed to stop jumping to panic as soon as something went askew in his plans. A smile spread on him as he walked to his parents’ car, waiting by the curb. As he opened the door and climbed in he said, "Hey mom, hey dad."

His dad looked over his shoulder from the driver's seat, "Hey son. How was school today?"

"Easy. We learned about long division today." Swift said, buckling his seatbelt. His dad smiled warmly and turned his attention back to the parking lot.

His mom looked back to him, “Long division, huh? And was it as easy as multiplication?" She asked, knowing what her 7-year-old would respond with.

"Yeah, it's kinda like subtraction." Swift replied brightly. His mom chuckled and turned to look forward again. Swift loved his parents, they were always there for him, always helped him when he needed it. And most importantly, they loved him as much as he loved them; this he knew for a fact.

Once they arrived home, Swift went about his day as usual; play some videogames with dad, help mom out with household chores, read a chapter from the book he was reading, and have dinner prepared by mom. After another round of games with dad, it was off to bed so he could get ready for school tomorrow. Swift didn't realize he was this sleepy, and was fast asleep after his parents tucked him in. "Goodnight Swifty. I love you." His mom said, kissing his forehead.

"Love you son, sweet dreams." His dad said tousling his hair.

"Night mom and dad. See you tomorrow." Swift said with a mighty yawn before he was softly snoring.

***

A loud *crash* from downstairs woke Swift from his dream. He looked at the clock and saw it was 2 a.m. With a yawn, he shuffled out of bed and slowly moved for the stairs when another *crash* followed by voices caused him to stop at the top of the stairs. He looked down to where his parents were forced up against a wall with a strange man holding... a gun?! at them. Paralyzed with fear and confusion, he only looked on as the scene unfolded.

"You know damn well what money you owe me." The strange man slurred.

"I told you, I've never seen you before!" Dad said.

"Bullshit!" The stranger yelled, bashing dad in the side of the face with his gun. Mom began sobbing.

"Shut up, bitch!" Stranger said. "I'll ask one more time before I get mad; where's the money?"

"P-please... we-we don't know who you-" Stranger backhanded mom with his gun hand.

"One more fuckin' lie, and I'm gunna lose my shit. WERE'S MY FUCKING MONEY?!?!" Stranger yelled.

"We. Don't. Have. Any-" Dad said before a loud *bang* sent brain, flesh, and bone onto the wall behind him.

Both mom and Swift looked in total, complete shock. Mom began to sob once more before another *bang* sounded off in the house. "Stupid fuckn' bitch..." Stranger mumbled before leaving the house, front door open. Swift stared at his parents crumpled bodies, small red holes in their foreheads with a trickle of crimson rolling down between their wide eyes. Entire lifetimes passed as Swift simply stared. This was all a nightmare. A really... real nightmare. He would wake up to mom gently shaking him saying, “Come on sweetie. Time for school."

Eventually, Swift began crawl speed down the stars, then walk, then sprint as he knelt in front of his parents. He looked dumbly at them, not knowing what to do. "...Mom...? ...Dad...? Wake up... wake up..." Swift whispered, shaking his parent's legs. "Come on... wake up... please..." Swift said, tears flowing like waterfalls from his eyes. Swift heard sirens outside followed by two more *bang*s and police officers rushing into the house.

"CPD!" The first officer shouted before looking at the small pegasus shaking his parents. "Oh, Celestia..." The officer said, holstering his handgun. Swift ignored all of this, his parents not waking up was beginning to worry him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a deep voice, “I’m so sorry, son. But you need to come with me." the officer said. Swift was then picked up and could only helplessly watch as his parents grew smaller and smaller as he was carried to the officer's patrol car and placed in the back.

[A/N: ATTENTION: Sad flashback over. For those of you who had no problem reading it (bullshlacka, you were tearing up inside and you know it) there it is, mom and dad are dead. For those of you who didn't want to read this, it's okay, you'll get filled in on the jist of it in the following (disturbing content-free) paragraphs.]

"After that, I was moved from foster home to foster home. I grew distant and reclusive from anybody, figuring that if I never grew close to anyone else ever again, I could never get hurt. I passed through school in AP classes, graduated from college majoring in engineering and began inventing things. If I had died last week, I would have at least been happy." Swift finished his story. It felt good to finally, finally tell someone about the night that played on replay in his dreams for most of his life. He focused on reality and saw Rainbow and Twilight both with tears running down their face, close to how he had, those 20 long years ago.

Rainbow was the first to jump out of her seat and throw her arms around Swift, followed quickly by Twilight. Swift was surprised at the sudden show of affection, but slowly placed his arms around the two as they began a fresh stream of tears down their faces. "I'm so sorry Swift. I can't imagine what you've gone through." Rainbow said. Swift felt tears flow down him as well, but not only tears of sadness (they were there, however), but tears of happiness, to have someone who cared enough to listen to his darkest demon and help him shove it back inside.

"I can't imagine life without my parents. I'm so sorry Swift." Twilight said, tightening her hug.

"...Thanks." Swift said to the two, placing his head between theirs. After a long time spent this way, Swift and Rainbow remembered they had business to discus, and disconnected from the group hug. After wiping his eyes, he turned to look at Twilight, who was back in her seat. "Uh, listen, Rainbow said I would be able to stay here for a while until my home is brought to ground level." Swift said, drying his cheeks.

"Absolutely Swift. There's a guest room upstairs. Feel free to stay as long as you need." Twilight said with a small smile.

"Thanks, it means a lot." Swift said, a small smile of his own.

Twilight giggled, “Of course. What are friends for?" Twilight said.

'Friends...' Swift thought with a smile looking at Rainbow and Twilight. He was going to voice his hunger when his stomach growled loudly. "Heh, guess I'm hungry." Swift said with a sheepish smile.

Rainbow jumped up, “I know! Let's go to Sugercube Corner! I'm sure Pinkie would love to meet you! Come on!" Rainbow said, dragging Swift against his will once more, Twilight in close behind them.