I have always been alone in this forest. I have always feasted in this forest. I call this forest home and those ponies that travel through it are my prey. I devour all those who fear me, all who come to face me. They fear me for I am Fear incarnate. But now...I have met one who does not fear...and I am unsure of what do with her...

Image by the very awesome thewraithofwolf

For my first 100 followers.

It is said that nothing in life is free, and when your life lacks any foreseeable end, the most precious things come at the highest of costs.

Is it worth it?

Is love worth pain so great that it sinks into madness? Is it worth insanity so intense that it gives way to evil? Is it worth malevolence so destructive that it aims to annihilate an entire civilization?

The answer is hidden like a Rainbow in the dark.

Something is definitively up around here. Applejack and Fluttershy have been spending a lot of time together without the rest of the gang. Well, Rainbow Dash is on to them! In fact, she is sure this is the no-good friend-stealing Applejack's doing, and she will not stand for this - whatever this is.

Also, Rainbow Dash wears a corn hat.

Just weeks before an open audition for the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash finds herself unable to fly after a failed stunt leaves her injured. Left in the care of her friend Fluttershy, she worries that her dream of joining the Wonderbolts may have been crushed. As the days go on, however, she finds new feelings emerging for the pegasus aiding her recovery.

Holding in emotions is never good. Keep them buried for too long, and eventually they burst out at the wrong time. Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash have a secret they have been hiding from their friends, specifically from a certain shy, animal-loving pegasus mare. They've finally decided to come clean, but neither of them counted on the other revealing the truth, much less at the same time.

Now Fluttershy is stuck with an impossible choice between her two best friends. Can she choose one without risking her friendship with the other?

"Sex" tag due to innuendo and suggestive material. No actual sex happens in this story.

Author's Note: Many, many thanks to Steel Resolve and Karrakaz for pre-reading and letting me know when I screw up. Now with new cover art, courtesy of johnhilist over at deviantart.

There was only one explanation. For all of it. All of the strange, erratic behavior. Her irrational fear of the sun. Her nocturnal habits of locking herself in in the dark and closing all the blinds. Wearing her sunglasses everywhere, even inside! It was time to invest in some silver, garlic, and a wooden stake.

Not all scars are visible. Fluttershy was the object of countless jokes and taunts aimed at her aerial ineptitude and her close relationship with Rainbow Dash during flight school. Even now, years removed from the fillyhood traumas of her past, Ponyville's resident animal expert feels the effects. She tried to build walls to keep all of the memories at bay, but now those walls are a little too close for comfort.

Every rising star must eventually fall. Rainbow Dash is locked in a struggle against her own past, and with the help of Twilight is about to make a discovery that will change the way she flies forever. But what will she lose in the process?

Massive thanks to Furor1 and Nyuuchandiannepie for the ridiculously awesome artwork, you should really check them out on DeviantArt if you've not already.

Dedicated to Donald Campbell and his Bluebird, for chasing his horizons for no other reason than the fact that they were there. Also to Steve Hogarth and Marillion for writing Out Of This World, the song that inspired this story.

The day Applejack ran straight for froggy bottom bog was a day Fluttershy can never forget. She had already been entertaining feelings for Applejack by then, but that pretty much sealed the deal. Applejack can't imagine such a delicate pony as Fluttershy ever paying a workhorse like herself any attention. Still, there's always the chance. So, who will admit their feelings first?

Vinyl and Octavia has recently moved to Vinyl's old hometown of Ponyville for a change of pace.
What the pair didn't count on was the appearence of a certain pink pony who drags up bad memories from a certain gala for the grey earth pony. Luckily those memories won't stay with her for that long.

May 4th 2013:
Grammar and general edits of Chapter 1 and 2 by Raffoo

New art thanks to Kill Joy