By Blood or Choice

by Krickis

1 – What Matters Most

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Nothing mattered. Nothing except speed. Everything else just faded to the background, letting Rainbow Dash push herself harder and harder.

Cheers, wind, other ponies. None of it mattered. None of it even existed in Dash’s world. Just speed. Keep going. Faster. Faster.

Two laps to go. Everything blurred in her vision, and yet, she could see perfectly. Any other pony might have a harder time, but not Dash. The world at these speeds was as natural to her as if she was standing still.

Her body practically moved on its own, always seeking out the best course for her to take. Even on autopilot, Dash could fly circles around any of the other racers.

One lap to go. Were any of the others even in the race anymore? Dash didn’t know. Not like it mattered. None of them had passed her, and that’s all that mattered. That, and speed. Dash wasn’t racing the others, she was racing herself. The only one who could give her any real challenge.

And then it was over. She skidded to a halt, kicking up bits of cloud as she did. “Time?”

“Five minutes twenty-eight seconds,” a stallion said. “Impressive.”

Impressive? Yeah right. “I can do better.”

“Yes, you can.” A light red hoof patted her shoulder, so she looked into the face of the stallion it was attached to. Gale Force had a black mane and mustache, both of which had flecks of grey in them. “Don’t sweat it, though. It’s just practice and it’s a good time.”

Despite his words, Dash still bowed her head. “I’ll do better in the real race.”

Gale Force chuckled. “You know, it’s still the best time of the day.”

“Doesn’t matter. I can do better. I will do better.”

“I know, Dash.” He looked back at the other racers, the fastest of which were coming close to finishing. “Go get yourself a drink and take five. We’re running some drills after, and I don’t want you overdoing it.”

“You got it, Coach!” Dash showed him a confident grin, but when she walked away, all she felt was defeated. True, nopony had beaten her time. Nopony except herself. No matter how hard she pushed herself, no matter how much she put into each and every race and drill, she couldn’t match her old times.

A few months ago, she could have done that track in four minutes, easy. Now it was over five? What had happened to her? Ever since that race a few months ago, everything changed. She’d pulled off a sonic rainboom, she’d earned her cutie mark; how the heck was she not getting faster!?

There was only one thing she could think of, but there wasn’t anything she could do about that. Not that she hadn’t tried. There was one thing about that day that wasn’t awesome. In fact, it was nothing short of horrific. That was the last day she’d ever seen Fluttershy.

But no matter how much she searched, Dash couldn’t find any trace of her. No one answered when she tried to check at Fluttershy’s house, no one at school had seen her, she was never at their usual hangouts. There was no trace of her at all, and worst of all, no one else seemed to care.

Dash took a seat on the bleachers and lazily looked over the other racers. Maybe she could go around Cloudsdale again after training was over. Not like she was going to be missed if she came home late.

“Hello, stranger,” a soft voice said from behind her.

Dash wheeled around to see a yellow filly smiling at her. “Fluttershy!?”

Fluttershy giggled. “It’s nice to see you too, Dash.”

Dash had to shake her head to try and clear the confusion, which didn’t really work too well. It didn’t matter, Fluttershy was here just when Dash needed her to be! A grin spread across her lips. “Where the buck have you been?”

Fluttershy climbed down the bleacher to be on the same level as Dash and gave her a hug. Dash quickly glanced towards the others to make sure nopony was watching before hugging her back.

“I live in Ponyville now,” Fluttershy said as she pulled away from Dash. “It’s, uhm… it’s a long story.”

“Ponyville?” Dash cocked her head to the side. “But your dad was home when I went to check on you. Didn’t tell me where you were, just said to get lost…”

It seemed that now it was Fluttershy’s turn to check for others. “Can we, uhm, can we go somewhere more private? I’ll tell you, it’s just…”

Dash nodded. “Yeah, of course. Can you come back at five? I’ll be done with practice and we can hang.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy’s eyes fell to the ground. “I have to get back before then. I have a job now.”

Dash couldn’t decide if it was cool Fluttershy was working or lame that it meant she couldn’t hang out. She ran through her options quickly and decided catching up with Fluttershy would help her racing more than practicing would at this point. “Hold on, I’ll see what I can do.”

She flew back to Gale Force, who was busy timing a colt. She waited patiently, knowing better to interrupt him when he was getting someone’s time.

“Five minutes, forty-two seconds,” Gale Force said as the colt came to a stop. “Great job, Windfall.”

“Thanks, Coach.” The dark green colt grinned as if he had come in first place. Windfall was consistently the runner up for all of Dash’s records, and he was cocky that he’d soon be passing her. To be fair, he was getting closer, but he still didn’t have a hope in Tartarus of actually passing her.

Gale Force noticed Dash. “Ready for more?”

“Actually…” She scratched her neck as she decided on her excuse. “My cousin just got into town, and she’s leaving in a few hours.”

Dash looked towards Fluttershy. She had disappeared while they were still in a different class, so even if Gale Force had seen her around, he shouldn’t know who she was exactly. Dash just had to hope that none of the ponies who did would blow her cover.

“And you want to ditch practice.” Gale Force frowned, but Dash knew he was just putting on a show. He liked to look serious, but he was really soft at heart.

Of course, that just made Dash feel guilty that she might be doing something to let him down. “I’ll come by early tomorrow. By the time you get here, I’ll have been running drills for an hour and be ready for more!”

Gale Force grinned. “You bet your flank you will! Go ahead, but be careful. Windfall’s catching up to you, and he’s getting faster every day.”

Dash turned to the overconfident colt. “Yeah, catching up to me in his dreams. I’ve got this.”

“Nah, that top spot is mine,” Windfall said as he caught his breath. “And if you’re gonna be here early tomorrow, you can bet I’ll be here too!”

Gale Force chuckled. “That’s what I like to hear. Now go on, we’ll see you tomorrow, Dash.”

“Later!” Dash turned tail and kicked off, making a show of kicking up a cloud in Windfall’s direction as she went. She was still grinning when she landed next to Fluttershy. “Let’s go, I made time.”

Dash led them out of the course, and they made their way downtown. Along the way, she talked about the progress she was making in her flying, which Fluttershy seemed to enjoy. For her part, Dash was just glad to have her best friend back.

The two of them did make for an odd pair, but they had been inseparable as fillies. It was a little hard to place why; they didn’t exactly share a lot of interests with one another. Still, Dash always liked having Fluttershy around.

Things changed a little when they became teenagers and Dash started to get a little more serious about her flying. But even so, they still met up regularly. At least right up until Fluttershy disappeared to… Ponyville, was it?

But that was over now, and Fluttershy was back. All that was left to do was catch up for the lost time.

It only took a few minutes to get downtown. It would’ve gone by faster, but Fluttershy insisted on walking everywhere she went, for some reason. Some things just never changed.

There was no question about their final destination. As soon as they got downtown, they made a beeline for their favorite ice cream shop. And to Dash’s surprise, Fluttershy paid for them both.

“I can’t believe the old man actually let you get a job,” Dash said as they took their seats. She had a hot fudge sundae, while Fluttershy had gotten herself a strawberry milkshake.

But instead of drinking it, Fluttershy just stared at her milkshake. “He, uhm, he didn’t exactly let me…”

Dash took a bite of her sundae. “What do you mean?”

Fluttershy looked around them before leaning closer. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course.” Dash scooted closer as well. “What’s up?”

Fluttershy leaned across the table as much as she could while staying in her seat. Her voice was even quieter than usual when she spoke. “I ran away from home.”

“No way.” Dash couldn’t keep a grin from slowly creeping across her face. “That’s bucking awesome!”

Fluttershy blushed and leaned back again, finally starting to drink her milkshake.

“So I guess that’s why I haven’t been able to find you. You had me worr– I mean, er, I was kinda wondering what happened.”

“I’m sorry…”

“No, don’t be. Glad you finally got away from him.”

Fluttershy kept sipping on her milkshake, but her frown was still apparent.

Dash took a bite of her sundae while she figured out how to backpedal the conversation. It wasn’t hard, since she had so many questions about what Fluttershy had been up to. “So when did all this happen, anyway?”

“It was the day you raced against those colts that were picking on me.”

“Seriously? Jeez, that was a heck of a day then.” Rainbow wanted to launch into her own story about what had happened on that day, but she held her tongue.

“Yeah. I, uhm…” Fluttershy looked ashamed. “Well, I fell. All the way to the ground.”

It was easy to see what the problem was. Even a weak flyer should be able to correct a fall before hitting solid ground. But it sounded like things worked out in the end, so Dash decided not to press it. “So you’re living alone now?”

That got Fluttershy to smile again. “Uh huh. I found all these animals, and the mayor gave me a job looking after them. I have my own house, and… he’s nowhere around.”

“About damn time.” So much for keeping the conversation off him. Fluttershy’s father, Stormy Skies. One of the worst ponies Rainbow had ever met, to say the least. But if Dash was going to have to work to keep the conversation away from him, she was okay with that. “So what’s it like living on the ground? Pretty weird, I bet.”

“Oh no, it’s nice.” Fluttershy explained about the differences between the ground and Cloudsdale, and then used that to segue into an explanation of the different animals she worked with. Dash couldn’t really see the appeal of either the ground or the animals, but they were both important to Fluttershy, so she listened anyway.

That conversation got them through the rest of their ice cream, so they returned their dishes and made their way out of the shop. “So what’s the plan?” Dash asked.

“Oh, I don’t really have one,” Fluttershy said. “I really just wanted to see you.”

Dash snickered. “A little gay, but I guess it’s okay since it’s you.”

Fluttershy frowned. “It’s not gay to want to see my friend.”

“Yeah, but the way you said it was.”

Fluttershy turned away from her. “I should get back. I have to get up early to check on the animals.”

“What? Come on, it’s barely afternoon. You can stay for a little while, can’t you?”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that wouldn’t be too gay?”

Dash laughed. “Alright alright, you got me. But seriously, I have this awesome new trick that no one else can do! You gotta let me show you!”

One thing Dash could always count on was that Fluttershy just couldn’t stay mad at her. Although she clearly tried to fight it, a wary smile still found its way to her lips. “Okay, but let’s go somewhere we have more room.”

Dash agreed and led them to the town’s outskirts, where they found a desolate field of clouds perfect for practicing in. She hadn’t quite managed to actually do the sonic rainboom a second time yet, but now she had Fluttershy watching her. She would do it. She had to.

But whether she had to or not, it seemed she couldn’t. An hour later the only thing she’d actually managed to do was make herself like like a foal.

After more crashes and failed attempts than she wanted to count, Fluttershy eventually reasoned with her. “I.. don’t think it’s working, Dashie…”

Dash wished Fluttershy wouldn’t call her that, especially when she was already frustrated with how things were going. At least no one was around to hear it. Dash flew down to talk to her. “Sorry, practice must have really taken it out of me today.”

Fluttershy smiled encouragingly. “It’s okay. You can show me next time.”

Dash frowned. She knew what was coming. “You gotta go, huh?”

“Uhm, yeah…” Fluttershy looked down towards the ground. “But I’ll come and visit soon. And maybe you can come see me sometime?”

Dash followed her gaze and wondered if that was the direction Ponyville was in. “Yeah, for sure! But… maybe after the race, though. I’ve got to keep working on my A-game until then.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. I know you can do it, and I’ll be there when you win!”

While there had never been any doubt, Dash still managed to feel more confident that she would do just that than she had in months. “Thanks, Shy. I’ll see you later.”

Dash lifted a hoof to wave to Fluttershy, who seemed to misunderstand as she took a step forward. After an awkward moment, she stepped back and waved as well. “Right. Bye.”

She took off, gliding downwards towards where she had been looking a few moments before. Dash watched her as she went, trying in vain to imagine what the ground must be like.

Once she could no longer see Fluttershy, Dash left. She made her way to her house, with thoughts of Fluttershy and her new life occupying her the whole way. She thought about how cool it would be to live on her own.

Living on the ground didn’t sound so great, but the rest would make up for that. No parents to tell her what to do, no worries, staying up as late as she wanted, eating whatever she wanted to. That must be the life.

Maybe she’d see what it was like secondhoof when she visited Fluttershy. She didn’t know when that would be, but she was sure she’d get around to it sometime. Then she could see what the ground was all about at the same time she got to see how Fluttershy lived all on her own.

As she approached her house, it became clear nopony was home; she could see from the yard that the lights were off. Still, she tried calling for her parents as she walked inside. “Mom? Dad? I’m home.”

No answer. She turned on the lights as she moved through the house, going from the living room to the kitchen. She checked the fridge for a note – they were supposed to leave a note when they were working late.

Unsurprisingly, there was no note. Her parents had been working late almost every night for months, and they rarely remembered to leave a note. Like most afternoons, there was hardly any sign that anyone besides Dash lived in the house.

She sighed and opened the fridge, pulling out some ingredients for a sandwich. She was tired of making sandwiches and just as tired of eating them, but that wouldn’t stop her from doing both anyway.

She carried the plate to her room, which was already full of dirty dishes. She ate in silence and collapsed, unsure what to do with the rest of her evening.

Parents were the worst. Who needed them? She did alright for herself.

This was the life.