//------------------------------// // Impact // Story: New Perspective // by Arbiter Balemead //------------------------------// When the day feels like it should be awesome, but it ends up like every other day, how do you describe it? It was dull, but noticeable? No. Exciting even though I was bored? Nah... How about this: My day sucked, but it was worth it. That sounds about right... My day was just a big pile of crap from my peers, just like the rest of the week, the only difference being that I had something to look forward to today: the movie, and the look on Shy's face when she finds out about the surprise me and Blaze have planned. I gritted my teeth through first hour just to see her face really. That's what got me through gym was her soft face smiling at me. We were playing one of those games P.E. teachers make up to pass the time before and between real units, and it was an impact sport. As you would figure, the jerks, bullies, goons, and other kids Flash called his friends picked on me all hour, but I didn't care much, 'cause whenever the coach would yank them off me, I'd look up and she'd be smiling at me. Totally worth it. The next three hours weren't too bad... You know, if you got past the sex jokes, the mockery, and the all-around douche baggery (polite term) of my peers. On the bright side, my teachers did their best to keep them from going too far, like they had with that picture... After that it was just a matter of making the most of lunch and study hall. Not really that easy, considering that it was just me and Fluttershy. Silver and G were in In-School Suspension for that fight. On the bright side; so was Flash. I grinned at the thought as me and Fluttershy snuggled in the corner of the cafeteria with our backs turned to the world. Lastly was my lit class. The teacher was right when she said we might enjoy some of the things she had planned for the week. I really liked it when she called out those jerks today when they tried to make a wingboner joke about lunch. Yeah, I was aware my wings were stiff when we were cuddling, but I don't care. I got a kick outta it when Mrs. Paria caught the kid, and went on to literally drag him, by the ear, out of the classroom and sent him to the principal's office. Dear Celestia, that was funny... To me, at least. When I looked around, all the other kids were shamefully, and quietly, working. My grin faded instantly and I went back to work. After that, it was movie time. And surprise time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow steered us toward the theater, seeing as I had no clue where it was. I followed her, wondering where Blaze was. He would probably meet us there, I guess. We flew around town for a while, until we got deeper in and we landed to walk. The theater was in sight and Rainbow picked up her pace slightly, which I matched without really caring. I don't know why she would want to rush, but I was fine getting to the theater just a moment sooner. Once we were in, Rainbow asked for two tickets to the a romantic comedy that'd just come out. Something with a unicorn and her earth pony stallion... I looked around, wondering why she was only ordering two tickets, as well as where Trailblazer was. "He's not gonna be here." Rainbow said while I was looking around. When I quirked an eyebrow at her, she decided to elaborate. "Blaze decided not to show up, so it would just be you and me. He said there was this one mare that his buddy wanted to introduce him to, and he could just meet her tonight instead." "So... It's just you and me?" I asked slowly. "No better way to do it." Rainbow said, grinning brightly at me. I couldn't hold back my smile as I wrapped her in a hug. "Yay!" I cheered quietly. The movie was kind of funny, and REALLY cheesy. I guess that was the humor of it, though. I don't really remember much of the story, though, because I was a tiny bit distracted most the movie by Rainbow. She uhm... she wasn't as interested in the movie as she was in me... *ahem* We left the theater and started walking through the streets to get back to the dorms before it got too late. We decided to take the long way and walked through town. She led me through ally ways and back streets as if she had a map in her head. We joked and played along the way, cheeks warm and red, as we walked along. I was sure we were lost, but that would be solved in an instant by lifting off, so I wasn't worried. We kept walking along until Rainbow suddenly stopped. I looked at her, her face suddenly stony and cold, then followed her gaze to a set of three colts standing down the ally from us. Only one of them was facing us, but he smirked and tapped the familiar orange one in the middle on the shoulder. "Hey, Flash. Look 'oo it ish." He slurred. The middle one turned to look, and smirked at us. " 'ey! It'sh Rainbow Crash, and..." He looked at me and I could see the gears in his head moving far too slowly to remember the pet insult he used instead of my name. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh Celestia, I can smell the liquor on their breath from here. This is gonna get ugly fast. "And... uh- and y-you... thing!" He said finally, putting on a face like he had successfully insulted her. What was sad was that his two buddies started snickering like it was a good insult. Bucking booze... "Look, Flash, you're obviously drunk. So please just leave us alone." I requested peaceably. As I said this, the one on the left took a swig of his, then passed the bottle to Flash and he took a swig too. He put the bottle down and looked at Shy in a way that made me want to punch him in the face. The kind of look that could only lead to one thing. "I got a betteh idea. 'ow about you an' me an' de boys have some 'fun'." He said with a smirk. Celestia, I couldn't tell you how much I hated him right now. I could hear Fluttershy's sharp intake of breath at his proposition, so I stepped in front of her defensively. "Buck off, Flash." I growled. He and his buddies laughed raucously at me. I stepped forward warningly and Flash took a flimsy step so our faces were inches apart. His breath was ragged and heavy, and the smell made me sick. "Buck. Off. Now." I repeated lowly. He smirked cockily. "And what if Ah don'?" "Want to find out?" I muttered. "Ooo. Ish the wittwe dyke making a thweat?" He mocked. I resisted the urge to hit him right there, but I managed it and stayed quiet for a moment, simply glaring at him. Unlike on the first day, though, he was drunk and stupider than usual. He didn't really think his next move through. "Aww. Now the dyke can' fink of anythin' witty?" His smirk grew to an immensely punchable state, so I went for it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow's hoof made contact with his face and then all Tartarus broke loose. He jerked back, and then his buddies lunged at her, then she whirled around and bucked one in the chest. The other colt slammed into her, and she spun about and slammed him into a wall. He slid to the ground and tried to grab at her hooves. He got a hold of them and held on for a second before the other one managed to grab her arms and control her thrashing. I had a brief second to wonder where Flash was before my question was answered. I felt a heavy arm wrap around me, then felt warm breath on my cheek. Warm, moist, and disgusting breath... " 'ey there sweetie." Flash slurred in my ear. I grimaced in disgust and fear as he started 'feeling me' and he made his intents clear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I struggled and thrashed against the two goons, but it was pointless. The one that had my legs pinned was beginning to put his weight on them, which was straining my bones against their sockets. That hurt a lot, trust me. Then the other guy started punching me where ever he could: the face, chest, sides, thighs and calves... I could feel a warm wetness making its way down my face, and the pain on my body told me there would be some bruising. I gritted my teeth through the pain for a second before managing to have one coherent thought: Where's Flash? I looked over at Fluttershy, and saw the guy trying to fondle her. Drunken buckhead was trying to touch Shy. That does it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tears were beginning to streak down my face as I realized there was nothing I could do about his advances, but I heard some more struggling from Dash, and watched as she suddenly broke a hoof free and bucked one guy in the face. She then flared a wing into the other guys face, then when he let go, she gave him a back-hoof in the face. Both guys didn't really move after that, probably out cold. Everything after that happened within the next five or six seconds: Rainbow tackled Flash, then punched him in the face again. She slammed him into a wall and then let him slide down to the floor, also unconscious, then she quickly lifted me off the ground and flew away as fast as she could. I felt her falter and started flapping my own wings. She let me fly myself, so I grabbed her hoof and led her over to a nearby cloud. We landed gently and Rainbow immediately collapsed. There was blood running down her face, and bruises and sores beginning to form on her sides, face, and legs. The tears began to return to my eyes when I saw her heaving for breath and wincing with every one taken. I laid down next to her, wrapping a wing around her gingerly, so as to not hurt her more. She closed her eyes a drew a few more ragged breaths. Leaning against me, she winced again at a slight movement of one of her legs. "Rainbow... W-we need to get you to a hospital." For a moment she looked like she was about to argue, but as she went to rise on her shoulder she winced again and squeaked out a suppressed groan of pain. "O-okay..." She said through gritted teeth. I helped her up, trying not to pay close attention to her wincing and groaning from the pain. It looks like she had been ignoring the pain earlier, because she could barely fly straight without my help. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ohhhhh.... Ouch. My back leg has got to be broken or sprained or something. My wing hurts where it bent against that guys face, and I think my head is still bleeding. I'm beginning to get dizzy, and I think I'm bleeding from a few places on my back and sides. I looked over at Fluttershy and she had some blood on her, but I'm pretty sure it's not hers. Aside from that, I can feel some bruises forming all over... Ouch. Again... Flutters, thank Celestia, seemed to be keeping her cool, and led me towards the nearest hospital she could see. Within a few minutes we were barging into the emergency room. I landed and my leg gave out, causing me to tumble to the ground. Not long later my vision got annoyingly blurry and everything started fading. Personally, I would've never chosen the cold, hard tile floor of the emergency room for a nap, but I didn't really get to choose right now. I lurched forward and the floor came up to meet me, but I never hit it; somepony's gentle hooves caught me, and I looked up into worried, but warm cyan eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Her eyes slid shut with a shuttering breath, and the nurses put her on a gurney and wheeled her away. I tried to follow, but a nurse put a hoof on my shoulder and gently held me back. She guided me over to a set of chairs and had me sit down. So I sat. And sat.... And. Sat. I nodded off after a few minutes of waiting, but I woke up suddenly when a doctor came to get me. "You brought in Miss Rainbow?" He asked. I nodded slowly. "Right. I have a few questions. Firstly, she is okay, but she hasn't come to yet, just so you know..." I let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding, then nodded my understanding. "... I could smell alcohol while I was working on her. Was she dri-" "No! N-never. We would never drink... W-we were attacked by some of our peers from school. Th-they were drunk, a-and tried to make... 'advances'..." I stuttered out. He gave me a sympathetic look, then turned towards, gesturing for me to follow. "Yes, I was about to ask how she was injured. Lastly, do you have any means by which we can contact her parents?" I nodded as we stopped next to a door, and wrote down a phone number on his clipboard, then glanced at the door. "This is her room." He confirmed my suspicions. "Uhm... Can I see her?" I asked. "Oh, of course." He opened the door then stepped aside. I walked in and found Rainbow laying on a bed, asleep, with one of her hind legs in a cast. Aside from that, she had a few bandage around her head and wing, along with a few more on her side and flank. "She's suffered from some bruising and a few cuts. The major concerns were her sprained ankle and a crack along her wing bone. Whatever she did in that fight, it was damaging to her, probably more so than whoever she was fighting. But don't worry, she'll be fine within a few days. Just remember that she can't walk on her ankle, and the wing will be fine by the time we let her go." The doctor said from the doorway. "Th-thank you." I said over my shoulder. He smiled politely and closed the door gently. I walked over to the bed and sat in a chair next to it, gently holding her hoof and watching her breath quietly and rhythmically. After a few minutes, her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she looked over at me with a tired smirk. "Hey, Shy. What'd I miss?" She muttered. She attempted to get up, but I held her down gently. She quirked an eyebrow at me, and rested back against her pillow. She looked down at her leg, resting in its cast, and the glanced at her outstretched wing in its bandage, then back at me. "I'm gonna be fine, right?" She asked as her smile faded. "Just fine." I said, smiling brightly. Her smile came right back, and I couldn't help myself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She leaned in towards me and pressed her lips against mine. I returned the kiss kindly, waiting just a moment before I felt her tongue press against my lips. I opened them eagerly and our tongues entered into some kind of wrestling match. We stayed in that passionate kiss for a while, and I felt her hoof stroking my neck while I brought an arm up and hooked it around her neck. This was... definitely the most Amazingly. Awesomely. Fantastically. Spectacular moment of my life. I could feel ripples of tingling warmth going all over my body. I didn't want this to end. Not ever. But it did. I heard the door swing open, causing me and Shy to jerk away in surprise. We both looked at the door, finding a very confused-looking, light orange mare and an equally confused dark blue stallion staring at us. "M-mom? Dad... U-uhm..." "What did we just walk in on?" Dad asked. I could feel the heat in my cheeks threatening to mess up the thermostat, and when Fluttershy glanced at me, I could see her cheeks were just as hot. "I-I uhm..." I never even thought about this. I know my parents like Shy and all, but they'd never approve of me and Fluttershy. It never really crossed my mind that I'd have to tell them some day. "U-uh... You know Shy..." "Yes. We do." Mom said sternly. "Just not like this." My eyes fell from her face and I looked at the window on the opposite side of the room. Outside, I could see some foals playing around in the clouds above their houses. "Fluttershy, dear, would you mind?" Dad asked politely. I looked over again, confused. Why would they want her to leave? Fluttershy glanced at me, and I replied with a shrug. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "U-Uh... Okay..." I answered slowly, getting up and heading towards the door. I walked past Mrs. Sunset and Mr. Wind Seeker. They didn't really look at me as I walked by; they just stared at Rainbow. I closed the door gently and listened closely from the hall. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I could hear the contempt in their voices. I could hear Rainbow's voice rise indignantly, and I heard the words "she's special" from her. My cheeks heated for a second, but then I heard her mother say something quickly. This lasted a minute or two, then the door opened slowly and Sunset walked out, immediately followed by Wind Seeker. He barely glanced at me before the two of them walked down the hall. I walked back into the room, and found a very upset Rainbow lying in the bed. "Wh-what happe-" "They aren't happy. They don't want to hear anything about us living together, going out, being together, getting married, or anything. In other words, until I'm straight again, they're cutting off contact with me." She said bitterly. "Oh..." I sat next to the bed, wrapping an arm around her neck in what I hoped was a comforting hug. She rested her head against me, and I heard a soft sniffle escape her. "Th-they don't want us to be together. At all! I mean... I didn't think th- *sniff* they'd be mad about it, just shocked..." She said, failing to force back tears. "Shhh... It's okay..." I cooed gently. "We still have each other." "Y-yeah..." She agreed, looking up at me. She gave me a quick, but passionate kiss. "Yeah, and that wont change." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The hospital held onto me until almost eleven at night, 'cause the doctor was saying I couldn't fly yet. When he finally let me go, he said that I should be careful and fly slow for a while, or I might make that crack in my wing bone bigger. We went straight back to the dorms, and directly to Shy's room. We even skipped the stairs and went in through the window 'cause I didn't want to take the stairs with my ankle. Once we were there, I hovered over to her bed. " 'kay, so doc says I'd have to fly slow for a while to avoid hurting my wing, and tricks are off limits till the cast is off 'cause whiplash and stuff..." I said as I laid down. For a second she didn't say anything, but before I could wonder why, I felt her crawl into bed beside me. "It's okay." She said. "I can slow down for you." She smiled brightly at me, and I returned the smile. My eyes started to drift downwards, so I kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks..." And with that, I drifted off.