//------------------------------// // Obvious // Story: Dash Tries to Win Your Heart // by Flutterpriest //------------------------------// You see it. Her cloud home. What was the bright white and rainbow colored home of Rainbow Dash had a darker grey hue in the late moonlight. It was almost as if it were a storm cloud, ready to rain at any moment, but for now, bottling up its contents. You slow your pace and try to catch your breath. It's late. You know that. The lights are off and she's asleep. You know that. But you have to try. You have to try something. Anything. You walk up to her home and stare at it up in the sky, wishing you would be able to sprout wings and fly up to her home and beg for her to let you in. Plead for her to let you say something... anything. You have to do something. And, well, you haven't had a plan up till now. Why start? You just do what feels right. "RAINBOW!" you yell out into the night sky. But there is no response. The house only continues to hover in air. The crickets continue to chirp. An empty feeling surges to the bottom of your stomach. What if she's asleep? What if she's not home? What if she just hates your guts for reappearing on her doorstep after everything you've done to her. "DASH!" you call again. Maybe you should stop. Maybe this is just making matters worse. You should handle this like a smart, rational individual, and not like some over dramatic movie. "Rainbow Dash!" you scream out to the cloud in the sky. "I'm an absolute idiot!" The world is silent. The crickets stop chirping. A light breeze rustles the grass under your feet. You begin to feel as if this isn't going to work. "I'm a big dumb idiot that... Couldn't figure out the signs!" you continue to scream out. "When I'm with you, I feel strong. I feel powerful! Like I could take on the whole of Equestria if you asked! And we would do it together and be this world's newest heroes! When I'm with you, everything just feels right!" You feel your voice strain and you clear your throat. You listen for a moment. The house remains still, the only sound in the air being the one that the ground makes around you. You look up to the moon, grasping for something to say. "For some reason, I just got into my mind that you didn't think of me that way! And I gave up! But, if you really want me to go, I don't know what I'm going to do without you! And not as a friend!" You pause, staring up into the sky. "I love you, Rainbow 'Impulsive' Dash! And I feel terrible it took me so long to realize it!" You sniff, trying to hold back tears. The feelings surge through your chest and you feel that familiar pain from home. Heartache. You shiver in the night air, clutching to the scarf she made for you. The world feels as if it closes in around you. You fall to your knees, staring at the sky, tears running down your face and dropping onto the scarf that you hold. You taste a faint copper on the back of your tongue and your voice feels raw as you breathe the chilly night air. You try to muster your voice to say something to her home, but nothing seems right. All of your thoughts and feelings are caught in your throat, wadded like a knot. Suffocating you. Say something, god dammit. "I LOVE YOU!" you scream out, feeling your throat tear. Then your hands fall limply to your sides. The home does not answer you. A light does not turn on. A breeze rustles the grass under you. You sniff back another set of tears. You lost her. She's gone. You try to build up hope that... maybe she's just asleep. Maybe she's just not here. But, a worse feeling is clinging to you. She's given up on you. And she doesn't want to put herself on that emotional roller coaster again. It makes sense. She's a strong pony. She knows better than to settle for someone like you. She's protecting herself from getting hurt. No. This is right. This is what should happen. This is what you deserve. This isn't some sappy rom-com where everything gets to magically turn out right. This is real. This is what really happens when you hurt someone else. Or, somepony else. You bring your hands to your eyes and wipe away the moisture that's there. "So that's it?" you whisper to yourself. "This is how it ends?" The gaping hole in your chest burns around the edges. You place a hand on the ground and push yourself to your feet. You feel unsteady, as if the very foundation you stood upon were ripped from under your feet. There's nothing left to say. You look up to the cloud and stare for a long, hard moment. "So, I guess this is it. Damn it," you murmur to yourself. "I just... I just hope. I hope she finds somepony that makes her happy." Taking one step away, you keep your eyes locked on the cloud for a moment longer. Then nod towards it, as if you were saying goodbye to your best friend. Then you turn, and walk away from-. No. You don't walk away. You remain frozen in place. Because, when you turn, you find a sight that you did not expect. A sight that not only warms you to the core, but breaks you even further than you were before. Rainbow Dash stands on the path, a bag from a 24-hour convenience store draped over her wing, with her eyes focused on you. Her frame is illuminated in the moonlight. Around her hoof is a rainbow bracelet. The one you gave her for Christmas together. She has a red matching scarf around her neck, just like the one she gave you for Christmas. And her eyes are overflowing with tears as she remains rooted in place. A wave of sudden questions and realizations overtakes you in a very short amount of time. The scarf must have been a set she made for the two of you. For if, well. The two of you got together. She must wear that bracelet all the time, or at least cherish it. And... how long had she been standing there? You take a step forward. "How much did you-" "Everything," she says, her voice cracking. "Every word." Rainbow fights back sniffles as she moves forward towards you. You start with a few steps too. Then she breaks into a trot, tossing away the two new tubs of fresh ice cream in her bag. You break into a jog. Then she sprints, her wings expand and she leaps into the air. Her hooves wrap themselves around you and she tackles you to the ground, clutching tightly to you. You wrap your arms around her and hold her tightly as she shakes against your body. She pushes herself up and looks you in the eye, the moon behind her face as she looks down at you, wearing the widest smile in the world, tears dripping down her face and onto yours. "Rainbow, I love-" "Shut up," she says, and pushes her lips to yours. You close your eyes and tangle your fingers in her mane, using your other arm to pull her in closely. She expands her wings and wraps them around your body, if only to hold you even tighter. You feel her tongue push into your mouth, and you don't fight it. Your tongue dances with hers as you begin to feel warm. That hole in your chest seems to be filled now. Or rather, it's as if the hole were never there at all. With this pony, pressing herself to you, and clutching to you tightly, you feel as if everything is as it should be. She breaks away from the kiss and rests her forehead against yours, looking into your eyes, but refuses to let go. "I love you too, stupid," she says gently. "I deserve that," you softly reply. "Yeah, you do." You pull her close to your face once more and plant another kiss on her lips. "Does that do anything to make up for it?" you ask. Rainbow giggles lightly before rubbing her nose against yours. "Heh, maybe after a few hundred more, I'll consider it," she whispers. "Then I better get started." You bring your lips to hers and press your tongue into her mouth. While the cold night air freezes your skin, but you don't seem to mind. As the natural order seems to have fallen back into place. And everything seems to be right. Dash abruptly breaks away. "If you ever call me bro again, I will end you," she says flatly. You stare up at her blankly. "Got it. The word is banned. Never again." "Good," she says. "Now then. Where were we?" She pushes herself back into the kiss, as the crickets begin to chirp again. The world begins to feel like a wonderful place once more. And as the sun rose, the two of you simply lied in each others embrace, knowing that when the two of you would wake up, it wouldn't be due to alcohol that you were together. And, that it wouldn't have been some sort of amazing dream. No, this was real, and the two of you would be able to wake up next to each other, truly at home.