I
Bet
you're
flying inside
By Damocles23
Dear Pinkie Pie,
First of all, I already know that you’re reading this letter even though I said to wait a couple of days to open it, but that’s okay. I know you probably ripped the envelope off the moment I bolted through the door. If not, well, I’m sorry I doubted you and I hope the words of your Dashie will cheer you up a little while I’m not here with you.
That’s the whole purpose of the letter, after all: To keep you some company and make my words reach you wherever I am, to know that my heart is yours forever and that, whatever happens in the wide world of Equestria, your favorite Wonderbolt loves you and always will. A full year has passed from that fateful night and whatever changes we still might have to endure, whatever adventure we still got to live, I’m yours and this will never change.
Also, I think you’re probably reading this in my voice which never hurts, right? Voice cracks and all, to whisper sweet nothings in your adorable ears.
Having to learn to wake up so early has its advantages: At least you’re still the first thing I see when I wake up and the last when I go to sleep and losing a few hours of sleep for this privilege it’s worth it.
You know that I’m not that good with words unless I have some time to prepare myself, so believe me when I say I thought a lot about this letter and, after all, my favorite party pony doesn't deserve any less than all the content of my heart. You did the same for me...
I know that my job doesn’t keeps us together like we would like to, but my this is my dream coming true and my biggest fan’s (No, not Scootaloo. I’m talking about you, silly!) as well.
I still remember your hugs from that day I’ve got accepted in the Wonderbolts Academy whenever I hurt my ribs or I just miss cuddling with you in one lonely night. Nopony can say that you haven’t made me stronger at least in this sense: not even the air currents of the fiercest storm can rival to your party powered hugs!
I still can’t imagine what it would’ve been like without your warm smile and your sincere support of me, what could’ve gave me the spark to go on in my seemingly Quitrotic goal, after sacrificing so much.
Don’t look for the dictionary: it means something really hard to achieve, coming from a very old (but awesome) novel. Blame Twilight: she must’ ve bit me and now I’m turning into an were-egghead or something. I’ll tell you next full moon.
In those days that seem long gone and I was totally unaware of your feelings for me, I felt in my gut that my stubbornness wasn’t the only thing that kept me going, despite it being a driving force of my charming character.
Maybe it was you all along. Having somepony that believed in me, that cheered for me, that with tears in her eyes said that I could really do it and was ready to help me get back up when I fell or even willing to fail alongside me...just, made me grateful of having you.
And then, one magic day, without the featherhead that you love realizing it, something flashed before my eyes. Days of a little pink pony that considered it enough to just see me perform in perfect silence and cheering me up whenever I needed it and I said to myself:
“Do it for Pinkie, too!”
My wings brought me higher than ever and my body felt lighter than the air, all of that just to not see you disappointed in me. I was so fast, so graceful that I thought I wasn’t even a mere pegasus anymore, but a beautiful and terrible force of nature, unbound by any limit but the sky above me.
Speed, power, awesomeness like Equestria never saw before...Until I was brought back to reality by the image of you and me, hoof in hoof in the hour of triumph, and your adoring blue eyes that showed me it was all worth it.
I felt your weight on my back and the two of us flew toward the horizon just like in those sappy movies, changing that something that was between us into something else, sweeter and more beautiful than before.
That day, the coolest mare in Equestria had the most ferocious blush in the history of ever and decided to not let anypony notice and just to bask in her latest success, while hiding behind a solitary cloud conveniently placed to not let somepony see her cheeks.
You always were that comfy cloud after a long day of work that I was lucky enough to find and I could rest upon it whenever I felt tired or weak, even for a brief moment. That brief moment of solace was all that I needed, but there never was anything “brief” about you.
You’re the pony that will love me until Celestia’s Sun goes out and the Stars fall from the sky and I love in return.
Maybe, after a lifetime of boasting and showing off like a cheap plastic Trixie, I was a little too overconfident of it.
Nopony assured me that what you held for me was deeper than friendship and that maybe your kindness and your enthusiasm could be just wasted for somepony with a head so thick as mine to not appreciate it like the gift it was, throwing in only snarky remarks and eye rollings in response to your unique personality.
Maybe even that beautiful thing inside you that wanted everypony’s happiness could run out because of one last, stupid moment of sarcasm from my part.
But you never left my side.
Ever.
Which says a lot about me and underestimating ponies, isn’t it? In understanding you, in loving you as much as I do I feel like I’ve really grown...and you just needed a dash of pink instead of six colors to share your smile with me.
The days at the Wonderbolt academy were fun and all, I was growing both as an athlete and a leader and I pushed my skills to the limit more than I could ever have done alone, but I had this nagging feeling that it wasn’t enough. That my goal was so close to my grasp, but still not close enough to touch it with my hooves.
I didn’t think of giving up, no, especially when I was so close to success, but my motivation began to falter a little even though this was the dream of my young life...
...Until Soarin and Spitfire come to me and tell me that some crazy pink friend of mine, my biggest fan, constantly pestered them to give me a chance, a final chance to be the Wonderbolt I was destined to be. I still shiver, imagining to what extent my favorite party pony drove them crazy enough to give me that opportunity, among all the other cadets..
The awesomest of the cadets, but still a cadet, right?.
That day, I could honestly see a faint shade of bright pink in my wings and the polychromatic trail I left at my back, because you helped me conquer the skies I wanted to soar, clad in that gold and blue uniform. You had a place in my world and that wouldn't have ever changed.
I didn’t mind having you around as my friend before. I loved it, actually, but after that fateful visit, I knew I owed you something more than simple friendship. I knew that even though the sky was mine, I couldn’t lose sight of the earth under my hooves and the beautiful, little flower that smiled for me from below, happy of just seeing little old me succeed and be happy, just grateful to have a place at my side and calling me friend and Wonderbolt.
I love calling you like that, you know? Ever since that first night we spent together...
Not only is a reminder of the happiest day of my life, but just like a flower, you add color and wonder to the simple and sometimes boring blue of my world.
Your silly jokes and your smile are the only things that I need...Besides food and water, of course. I’m still a growing pony, remember?
Speaking of food, I still remember that picnic I invited you to, as a gift for everything you did for me. First time I wanted to throw a party for you for a change and I couldn’t even decide the place or the hour! I still got to learn.
I was so frustrated for my indecision that I decided to fly all over Ponyville to clear my mind, relax and to gather some ideas until I pass by my favorite place in all of Equestria. A special place to me that I could make special for you as well.
I still remember the first time I left Cloudsdale with my dad and, believe it or not, your favorite pony was actually scared of a place that looked so “groundy” and un-bouncy, just like many pegasus fillies called it back then. Something that looked like a giant rock covered of mud on which anypony could walk on apropos of nothing and not just fall through.
My dad didn’t listen to any reason (read: my whining), simply saying that I should’ve learned to fly from off the ground for once and chose a place that looked both safe and high enough for little me to start. Even though your Dashie was really being a pain, he just gave me a pat on the head, saying that his daughter could certainly do something so simple.
I love my dad because he was the first pony that said the magic words “You can do it” to me. Maybe you remind me a little of him for that simple reason, even though his sense of humor still needs some work.
Nevertheless, my little wings flapped as usual, that mean, green piece of rock didn’t seem so close and scary and my tiny hooves could fiddle in the air again and for the first time a pony smiled at me, filled with humongous pride, looking from below. Just like a little pink pony would do a few years later on that same piece of green rock and call me “Her Sun” for the joy I could bring to her.
Of course, we shouldn’t tell Princess Celestia about this little nickname, even though she’s nice enough to not be bothered, but, you, know, I want to play careful with Royalty. Hope you understand. We still got an “Egghead Privilege” with Twilight, though, so I guess we can work this out.
That’s why that place became so important to me and why I chose it for us, as well. When you mentioned in your letter that moment I felt a little guilty. Actually, a lot guilty...
I couldn’t know about your feelings long ago, but...I started to know mine a little.
Suddenly, the thought of settling down on the earth, with a nice and gentle mare at my side, my best friend that never stopped believing in me, didn’t seem that farfetched of a new and simpler dream...after I joined the Wonderbolts, of course.
I bet you’re aware of the irony of the fact that you thought I was out of your reach because I was finally made a Wonderbolt, while you thought the same of you for the exact same reason!
What better way to show you how much I cared for you, than finally make you see that all of your encouragement, all the passion you’ve shown in supporting me and being my friend till the very end, than making you see that it was all worth it?
To make my dream become “our” dream?
Again, sorry If I didn't tell you before...It was so difficult to finally convey the right words and I just hope you’ll react with your usual, gentle smile at the ramblings of a pegasus that screws up more things than the average pony, especially when something it's so important to me.
More than anypony else, I wanted you at my side the day I was finally made a Wonderbolt and I still think with sadness in my heart of that empty place between Rarity and Fluttershy and how the girls would occasionally glance at that awful void, wondering where in the world the soul of any party could be.
My moment of triumph felt so incomplete without you. Rainbow Dash felt incomplete without you.
You, that more than anypony else wanted to see me succeed, weren’t there.
I’m sorry for not having told you this before, but the only thing that went trough my mind wasn’t the fact that my dream just came true and all my friends and family were with me, but I just wanted to know where was the pony that made this all possible and had any right right to be there at my side.
Alone under the stadium's bleachers, you were ready, but too afraid to run into my embrace, tears of joy crossing your smile...and I was ready to finally return it, to have you at my side forever. I was expecting from you a spectacular and totally insane entrance, maybe riding a maybe-not-so-willing-pegasus, like you always wanted to try and fall into my lap with a silly parachute, covering the Princesses in streamers maybe, and we would’ve been together forever, Wonderbolt and Baker!
Then, I found your letter on my pillow that evening and my world became depressing grey rather than blue and pink...
You told me everything I wanted to hear, everything that your beautiful heart held for this daredevil of a pegasus, words that anypony would do anything to hear, words that I would have done anything to hear from you and you deserved to be told back...
...Only that the price of this knowledge was losing you and I couldn’t do anything about it.
Of course, I had to try, at least. I never gave up for my dreams and I surely wouldn’t have done so with the most important pony of my life. It was my turn to stand at your side to let you know how awesome you are and I couldn’t fail or quit.
Not without telling you that every ounce of your love made me so happy to touch the sky without the wings was more than welcome in my heart. Not without telling you that I was ready, no, desperate to return that love. Not without giving us a chance to be together and for you to know that I would never have abandoned you like that, instead yearning to live the rest of my days with the pony of my dreams.
I couldn’t let a sentiment so pure as yours to be wasted like that, not if your blue angel hadn’t something to say about it.
What hurt me the most is that freakishly low opinion of yourself you revealed and I never suspected.
If it was true that I made you stronger, that I gave you the will to try even harder bring happiness to everypony, I had to be the hero one last time for your sake. I was always proud of you and all the good you’ve done for the five of us and all of Ponyville. If I brought the Sun to the village every day, you brought it in everypony’s hearts.
It was my duty to remind you of that every day, to not rob all of Equestria of one of its most precious treasures: you! I could never let a moment of weakness to ruin your life and all the wonderful things you did.
I didn’t want to be without you...
What would have happened If I was just a minute too late? What would have I done without your smile? Frankly, I don’t want to think about it: it’s just too bleak to ponder about it and I just want to remember you wrapped in my wings and sharing our first kiss while the steam of the train that was supposed to take you away from me enveloped us...and we got almost trampled by the crowd coming out of the train right after that, but that moment was too wonderful to be ruined by any kind of public transportation.
The only thing that matters is that each of us “got her girl”, as the heroes of our personal little epics and I think, even if unintentionally, we did some good. Rarity finally noticed that little Spike’s affection for her was a serious thing and started considering it as such, promptly inspired by a pink and a blue pony that almost lost each other, fearing the same could happen to them.
About time, really!
Rarity, bless her soul for being such a hopeless romantic, never lets the little guy alone to this very day, even when he has to accompany Princess Twilight doing her Princess-y stuff as her faithful assistant, insisting that that it’s normal for the proper wives of diplomats to accompany their husbands even to the other side of the world. Not that the two are married, but one day, if Spike is not the one to make the first move, Rare will, jumping on her knight in purple scales.I'm betting on the latter, of course. She just needs the right moment and, bam! The knot is tied.
I bet you and her agree on this point, isn’t it? I wouldn’t have it any other way and without one chubby pink pony to hold in my tight embrace every night, it just wouldn’t be the same.
Still talking about you, silly! Don’t get jealous.
I love you Pinkie Pie and in there isn’t a day I thank the wings of my back for helping me reach you before it was too late and for having you in my life, wherever I go.
You showed me that the simple power of a smile can turn the world upside down, or just somepony’s frown upside down and that there isn’t much of a difference because, in the end, one more smile is all that matters.
Even if you can’t fly, I’ll always be back on the ground for my beautiful flower and the smile that changed my life for the better, the smile that lets me know that everything is alright.
How could go on and on telling you how wonderful you are, how even the simplest thing about you makes me tremble with joy, that you’re not simple comic relief, but the one thing that reminds me of how much good we can do and still exists in this world...
Dammit, I’m tearing up just thinking about that, so forgive me if the ink is a bit muddled. I think I’ll have to cut it right there because I think there is one last thing I have to tell you, the only thing I didn’t have to think about it too hard.
The one thing I can say to you without words.
Look outside. Wherever we are and whenever you do, you’ll know that I will never leave you. And that’s a Pinkie Promise.
Your Dashie.
The pink pony hugged the letter like a beloved treasure to her chest and cried tears of joy, like any other time her love showed her how wonderfully their life turned out to be, and dashed toward her window, almost tripping on a now useless dictionary.
Her curly, pink head wondered of what surprise Rainbow Dash could have prepared for her, of the countless ones she has already made since the Wonderbolts tour started and Pinkie’s fillyfriend had to leave for training, even so early in the morning.
Nothing could prepare the party pony for what expected her, up in the skies of Manehattan: A bright, gigantic heart drawn in the night sky by a trail of light made of the six colors she loved more than anything else, so bright to almost dissolve the darkness around it and anticipate Celestia’s Sun light.
Her Sun as woken up the Big Apple much earlier than the normal one. With perfect timing, Rainbow Dash knew that the pink pony couldn't resist reading the letter immediately and did this awesome stunt for her, just before Rainbow's training started. She wondered with a smile how somepony as strict as Spitfire would react, even because of a fellow Wonderbolt.
“I love you, Dashie.”, she whispered to herself, even if the pegasus of her dreams couldn't hear her. Until a crazy idea, a totally Pinkie Pie suggestion flashed trough her mind the moment she spotted across the sky, right at the center of the heart of light, a tiny blue dot. Of the same blue that tinted her dreams of love and that she could spot even miles away.
“I love you, Dashie!”, she repeated screaming, echoing her way all the way to the other side of the town and the blue dot answered, immediately darting sideways and drawing a small arrow piercing the giant heart in response. “And don’t you forget it...”, Pinkie added with a much calmer tone, while another small tear of happiness crossed her cheek.
Wherever they were, the pink pony knew that as long she could see something this wonderful, she would be home.
