• Published 5th Dec 2011
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Flying High, Falling Hard - Soundslikeponies



Twilight, Dash, and Spitfire have a trainwreck of a relationship.

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Chapter 19: Out Comes the Start of it All

Out Comes the Start of it All

Flying High, Falling Hard by soundslikeponies

Dash didn't catch a wink of sleep the night before. It wasn't her sleeping arrangement. The couch she was on was comfortable, even more so than her own bed. Still, the areas under her eyes felt as though somepony had attached weights to them. Staying up until it was past midnight hadn't been so bad—after all Dash had been to quite a few parties. But by the time the sun had started to come up, the lack of sleep had begun to kick in.

Hearing hoofsteps above and behind her, Dash jolted up on the couch. She snapped her head up and looked at Twilight’s bedroom door, the mare walking out as she did so.

Twilight turned to Dash, a small smile tugging at her lips. "You didn't get any sleep either?" Twilight said, walking to the open kitchen area and pouring herself a glass of water.

"Not a wink," Dash replied, watching the unicorn take a sip of her drink. She could see the beginning of dark lines under Twilight’s eyes, even with her coat causing them to blend in. No doubt hers were more pronounced than Twilight’s.

Twilight took a large gulp of water. Dash kept stealing glances at Twilight, staring at the couch cushion whenever Twilight caught her looking. Twilight floated a book from the shelf and sat down at a table and began reading it, the only sound in the library the occasional rustle of paper when she turned a page.

Dash watched her carefully, wishing she could know what was going on in her head. Twilight’s face was a blank slate, her eyes tired and lifeless as she darted back and forth across the pages. Abruptly, they froze, and Twilight snapped the book shut, bringing Dash out of her thoughts. Standing, she went back into the kitchen, leaving Dash alone.

Letting out a long yawn, Dash got off the couch. She shifted a bit of weight onto her injured leg, testing its recovery as she gave a sidelong glance towards the door.

Both of them were tired. Neither of them could manage more than a few words to the other, and Dash needed some time to think before trying to talk to Twilight again.

"I know you didn't exactly want me here in the first place," Dash said, scratching the back of her head and glancing out the window. "And I've got work soon, so I should probably just leave."

“Oh...” Twilight walked back into the main room and stared down at her hooves. “Y-yeah you probably should.”

Dash limped out the door. If she had looked back she would have seen the look of longing in Twilight's eyes.


Twilight watched the library door close, her lips quivering.
What am I even doing anymore? She sighed, walking up to the door and resting her head against it. Dash would probably be better off with Spitfire... but I can't help that I still want to be with her.

She turned from the door, pulling a book from the shelf and opening it, her eyes flickering through the pages boringly. She stopped at a random page, staring at it with a frown. Sighing, she set the book back on the shelf and studied the grains in the wood floor. Words seemed dull and monotonous, almost lifeless in the wake of everything. Everything seemed to be made of dull gray hues without Dash around to breathe color into things.

The image of Spitfire on top of Dash with their snouts inches apart flashed through her head every time she thought about Dash. The way Spitfire had stared down at Dash passionately, and Dash had looked back at her in awe with a small blush on her cheeks. Twilight had only looked for a moment before bolting out the door back into the rain. She still didn't know what had happened after she left. She was afraid to ask.

She needed to leave the library. Rarity’s seemed the most logical place to go, Rarity seeming to always know how to lift someone up.

Twilight stepped out of the library and into the fresh air and sunshine, feeling a little bit better. Putting on a half-hearted smile, she walked down the street towards Carousel Boutique. The morning crowd of ponies bustling through the streets were cheerfully heading off to work, and for a moment Twilight pretended she was somepony else. Somepony who didn't have so many problems. Somepony whose life was simple.

Arriving at the boutique, Twilight snapped out of her day dream. Suddenly, as she remembered it was a blatant lie, the smile on her face felt revolting. She Knocked on Rarity's door twice, and waited for her to answer it.

"Why, yes?" Rarity's voice carried a greeting tone as she opened the door. "Oh it's just you Twilight—not that I'm not happy to see you, of course! It's just been a slow day for a change." Rarity turned, leaving the door open as an invitation for Twilight to follow her. "It's this time of year that the fashion business is at its quietest, you see. Business doesn't come back into full swing until Hearts and Hooves Day."

The two of them sat down at the dining table in her kitchen, Rarity absentmindedly using her magic to prepare a kettle of tea for them as she ranted about the spring fashion line up she had planned. Twilight nodded during the pauses while looking out the window, her mind drifting to Dash and wondering if she would be alright at work with her injured leg.

"But enough of me rambling on, how have things been with you and Dash?" Rarity brought the kettle over to the table, a small wisp of steam coming from its spout as the tea steeped.

"Funny you should mention that..." Twilight said with a nervous laugh. "I think we broke up."

Rarity gasped, placing both hooves over her heart.

"You two broke up?" Rarity asked with a high disbelieving pitch. "What happened? You two seemed so good together!" Rarity paused, blinking as she went back over what Twilight said in her mind. "Wait, what do you mean by you think you broke up?"

"I... I don't know. It's complicated." Twilight put her chin down on the table, sulking.

"Well, know that whatever happens, your friends will stand by you." Rarity smiled warmly, and her words caused Twilight to smile a little bit. The fashion designer always seem to know just what to say.

A pair of teacups and saucers flew from the cupboards, surrounded by the opal glow of Rarity's magic. She lifted the kettle and poured the tea into each cup, placing one in front of Twilight on a saucer.

"It's a wonderful chamomile tea imported from Manehatten. I’m sure it will lessen your worrying some." Rarity took a dainty sip of the tea and let out a satisfied sigh.

Twilight took a sip of the tea. And Rarity was right; it was very good tea.


Dash trudged to the weather center, keeping her injured hoof raised off the ground and walking on her other three.

The weather center came into sight, and she could see Ditzy Doo looking at her in the distance with her head tilted to the side. Dash continued to walk as the blonde pegasus flew over to meet her.

"Hey Dash, why're you—woah!" Ditzy cut off what she was going to say, spotting the shadow under her eyes, and a large bruise on the leg she was holding off the ground. "Did something happen to you?"

"Yeah..." Dash said, trying to think of how to explain it. "I was flying out in that storm last night and it slammed me into a tree."

"What were you doing flying out in that storm last night?" Ditzy landed on the ground, falling in step next to Dash. "You're a better flier than me and everything, but isn't that dangerous?"

"I was chasing after Twilight. She ran away after..." Dash trailed off, wincing and averting her eyes.

"After what?" Ditzy asked, going back to hovering around Dash.

"It's... it's complicated."

Ditzy gave her a puzzled look, but seemed to accept her answer.

"Your friend came by looking for you by the way," Ditzy said, landing and cantering in through the weather center doorway, Dash following behind her.

"Wait, who?" Dash asked, as Ditzy held the door open for her.

"Hey, Dash."

Dash stopped in the doorway and turned to see Spitfire walking up to her. Spitfire’s ears were pointed back, and her eyes kept falling down and to the side.

Dash’s features hardened at the sight of the Wonderbolt. "What are you doing here?"

Spitfire flinched, but swallowed the lump in her throat and faced Dash. "Listen, I know you don't want to see me right now, but I want to try and make things better between us. I just want to know if there's anything at all I can do to make it up to you. What I did to you and Twilight was selfish and cruel. If nothing else I just want to be able to fly with you again."

Dash remained unmoved, her bitter glare unwavering. "Some things in life are a one way road Spitfire."

Ditzy watched the exchange with growing confusion and curiosity, still holding the door open for Dash, who stood in the way of it. Dash gave an over-the-shoulder glance at her, and stepped inside so she could let go of the door.

"You should have thought about whether or not you wanted to go down that road in the first place." Dash stomped the ground with her raised hoof for emphasis, wincing when a hot streak of pain shot up it. She let out a grunt, feeling stupid for forgetting about her injured leg. Rounding on Spitfire once more, she turned her anger back at her. "You have no idea how angry I am at you."

"I think I have some idea—"

"No! No you don't! Take whatever notion you have of how angry I am, and make it like... at least twice as angry! That's how angry I am!"

Spitfire winced, taking a step back from Dash—who looked like she was on the verge of charging her.

"Well, there has to be something I could—"

"No Spitfire, just leave." Dash cut her off, not wanting to hear her speak.

Spitfire hung her head low, and walked out the door, glancing back at Dash, who watched her go with a glare.

Ditzy watched the door close behind Spitfire with a frown. “That was a bit harsh...”

"Yeah? Well, she deserves it!" Dash turned away from the door and walked further into the building. For a change, she was looking forward to working. She was keen to focus on anything other than the mess that had been going on around her lately.

"So..." Ditzy trailed off, following Dash past the reception area. "It's complicated?"

"It's complicated," Dash responded.


"Oh my, that certainly is complicated!" Rarity reached out a hoof to comfort Twilight.

Once she had started telling Rarity her story, she had fully melted down and buried her head in her hooves as she cried her eyes out.

"And I just bolted out the door!" Twilight cried out in between sobs.

Rarity made small stroking motions up and down Twilight's forehoof. Twilight eventually managed to get her tears under control, and brought her head up off the table. She looked at Rarity, puffy-eyed with a small, but grateful, smile.

"Sorry I got a bit dramatic there." Twilight glanced down at the table cloth, spotting the dark, wet spot where she had been crying. "And sorry about getting the table wet."

"Oh, think nothing of either of those things my dear. Everypony has drama in their life at sometime or another."

Twilight sniffled a little, still recovering. She was slightly embarrassed about the way she had broken down in front of Rarity, but the other unicorn had taken it in stride, something she was grateful for.

"I went back to the library after that." Twilight looked at her nearly empty tea cup, the remains of the tea leaves still sitting in it. "Dash actually followed me through that storm again to the library."

"She did?" Rarity asked with a bit of surprise. "Well, if there's one trait about Dash that could be considered admirable it would be her persistence."

"She banged on the door—and initially I didn't answer. But she banged on the door again and threatened to wait all outside all night again if I didn’t open it." Twilight picked up the tea cup with her magic, deciding to sip the few drops of chamomile that was left, even if it was cold.

"Again?" Rarity asked.

"That's another story, one I'd rather not get into right now." Twilight said, setting the now even emptier teacup down on its saucer.

"Fair enough." Without missing a beat, she continued to ask, "So you let her in?"

"Yeah. Things were pretty awkward between us. She tried to explain things, but I felt angry at the time, and I cut her off before she could really say anything." Twilight absently poked the wet spot where she had been crying, feeling the damp cloth. "After that she stopped trying, and we barely spoke to each other."

"Well, you certainly should have at least given her a chance to explain herself. There may have been more to it than you realize."

"I know, I know. I wasn't thinking clearly at the time," Twilight said, letting out a sigh. "This morning she left. I originally wanted her to, but the way she did seemed like she was... giving up on me." Twilight felt her eyes getting watery again, the words had been painful to say. "I don't want her to give up on me."

"I'm sure she won't. As I said before, if there is one thing to be admired about her, it's her persistence." Rarity gave her a confident look, her chin held high. "I'm certain she hasn't given up."

Twilight wiped away the beginning of a tear, smiling, and hoping Rarity was right.


"So you just gave up and went to work?" Ditzy asked, pushing a storm cloud out of the way. The entire weather crew was out, working to clear up the storm from last night.

"I didn't give up!" Dash claimed indignantly. "I just wasn't getting anywhere, so I think we both needed time to cool off."

"But from the way you left it, don't you think she might be disappointed you stopped trying?" Ditzy asked, looking at Dash over her shoulder. She accidentally pushed the storm cloud into another one while looking away, the collision causing a bolt of electricity to shoot out and zap her.

Dash looked over her shoulder at the sound, seeing Ditzy with a singed mane and coat. "You should be more careful, Derpy," Dash said, calling Ditzy by her nickname she’d gotten from all the clumsy mistakes she always made.

Ditzy gave an innocent smile, laughing nervously and holding her hooves behind her back sheepishly. "Sorry," Ditzy apologized, pulling the cloud back and moving it around the other one.

"So you really think she wants me to keep trying?" Dash let out a frustrated groan. "Why does it seem like everypony else knows so much more about relationships than me!?"

"Well, that misunderstanding when you broke up with her—"

"I didn't break up with her!"

"When she thought you broke up with her, was pretty bad," Ditzy continued, trying to keep both eyes focused on the cloud she was moving. One of them kept wanting to drift away to glance back at Dash, and she had to keep it in check.

"Well I've never heard of anypony breaking up with somepony that way, how was I supposed to know?" Dash continued to move a cloud around, having to push it with her head instead of her injured leg. "So do you have any ideas on what I should do?"

Ditzy stopped pushing her cloud, turning about. "You could write her what you want to say. If she won't listen to it, you still might be able to get it across if you send her a letter," she suggested, her hooves crossed, with one on her chin as she hovered in the sky.

"Pass. I'm bad at writing stuff like that out, and my writing is just bad in general." Dash gave her cloud another headbutt as she spoke.

"How about sending her flowers with a really simple note then?"

"Pass. It's just not my style."

"How about standing outside her window, singing her a song?"

Dash turned to look at Ditzy, giving her a flat and unamused look. "Definitely a pass."

"Well, I tried," Ditzy said, turning back to her cloud. She gave it another push, as Dash watched over her shoulder at her moving it.

"Derpy..."

"What?"

"You're moving it the wrong way," Dash said, pointing with a hoof to where all the other storm clouds had been moved to.

"Oh."


Spitfire had spotted Twilight walking through town as she left the weather center to go home. She had followed the mare, who was oddly enough smiling, to a fashion boutique. While following the mare's trail, she stuck to the sky. Nopony ever looked up to see if they were being followed for some reason, and it was the perfect place to stay out of sight, despite being in plain sight of everyone.

She watched a white unicorn with a violet mane—one that must have been laboriously fussed over to get it in such a beautiful state—answer the door. The two unicorns disappeared inside, and the door closed behind them.

Spitfire stared at the closed door for a while, wondering why she had decided to follow Twilight in the first place. She lay down on the grass lawn in front of the shop, staring at the door and puzzling what to do. Twilight seemed to be holding up alright despite the way she had seen her and Dash last night. Spitfire rolled over on the grass, wondering what she was even doing in front of the shop, as she listened to the sound of birds chirping.

Something else caught her ear though when she listened closely. It was very faint, but it sounded almost like—

Crying?

Spitfire got up, looking at the fashion store it seemed to be coming from. She flew around to the side of the house, glancing in the windows to see if she could spot anything. She paused on the opposite side of where the front door was, spotting the two unicorns sitting at a kitchen table.

Twilight was crying.

Any previous thoughts that the mare had been fine were dashed. It was clear now that she was just putting up a front out in public. The crying was much louder from where she was now, and she felt a sickening feeling of regret in her stomach from watching Twilight cry.

In that moment it became clear to Spitfire what she had to do.