//------------------------------// // The Lovers That Never Were (Part 1) // Story: Of Parties and Rainbows // by Donnys Boy //------------------------------// “The Lovers That Never Were (Part 1)” It wasn’t so much that Rainbow Dash was bothered by the other fillies calling her names. It was more that Dash knew that what they were saying was actually true. Pervert. Unnatural. Freak. Fillyfooler. They didn’t know, of course--they were all young, and none of them yet dated, so the taunts and barbs were thrown at Dash merely because of her rough voice and tomboyish ways--but Dash knew, and that was enough. A kind older mare, one of the teachers at flight school, told her that things would get better as she grew older. That things would change. Would get easier. That older mare had meant well, but she’d been wrong. Dead wrong. --- It was at night, as she laid her head down on soft fluffy clouds, that Rainbow tended most to remember. Try as hard as she could to forget, the memories refused to remain at bay and came marching in like grim little soldiers from the past. --- Gilda’s wing wrapped around her shoulders, warm and intimate, and Rainbow had to suppress a shudder of pleasure at the touch. The griffon was whispering right in her ear, and Gilda’s breath felt hot and moist against her fur. “Why don’t we blow this joint?” The voice was low, coaxing. “Just forget all this Junior Fliers nonsense and hit the skies, just you and me …” Rainbow could feel her head start swimming. Everything felt very claustrophobic. She struggled to maintain her concentration, to maintain control. “Just you and me, Dash. Whaddaya say?” Rainbow kissed her. For just a moment, one beautiful perfect moment, it was everything she’d always wanted. Gilda tasted like salt and air and maybe fish, and Dash felt drunk with happiness at the delicious feel of her very best friend’s mouth against her own. “What is the matter with you?” But then Gilda was shoving her away with both arms, and the griffon’s eyes revealed stormy darkness and betrayal. “Get off of me!” Dash swallowed and shrank back. She felt suddenly cold, so very, very cold. “I … I thought …” “Well, you thought wrong!” --- At night, Rainbow Dash worked very hard to forget. But during the day, she took great care to remember the lessons she’d learned--even as she tried not to remember the specific events associated with those lessons. --- “I ain’t no fillyfooler!” Rainbow Dash instantly regretted that she’d ever started this particular conversation. Her wings dropped down to her sides, sagging heavily as though each one weighed a ton. “Did Rarity put you up to this?” The other mare’s bright green eyes flashed with anger. “I have told that unicorn, just ‘cause I ain’t all that fussy with my mane and don’t mind gettin’ a bit muddy, that don’t mean that I--” “It wasn’t Rarity,” Dash muttered. “Then who in tarnation was it?” “It wasn’t anypony!” Rainbow felt her lips draw back, leaving her teeth exposed and gleaming in a snarl. “It was just a question. Okay? I was just wonderin’, that’s all.” Applejack seemed to calm down a bit, thankfully, but she still pawed at the ground restlessly. After a moment, she spoke again. “Well, RD, why are ya askin’ something like that anyways? Kinda rude, if ya ask me.” The pegasus stared into her friend’s expectant eyes. The anger that had been in those eyes just moments ago was mostly dissipated now, but they still sparkled brightly in the sun. Sparkled with fire, with strength, with life. Little flecks of gold swirled in the green depths, making Applejack’s eyes--her whole entire face, actually--look as though they were glowing. Dash felt her chest constrict, in a pain so pure it was almost joy and in a joy so pure it was almost pain, and she had to look away. “No reason, really,” the pegasus lied, staring out at the rows upon rows of apple trees. “No reason at all.” --- The nights were long. Sometimes it was worse when she couldn’t sleep and laid awake all through the hours, thinking, remembering, hurting. Sometimes it was worse when she could sleep, and she would dream of soft feathers and warm fur and an aching need that never, ever went entirely away. --- “Rainbow Dash!” Before Dash even had time to react, Pinkie Pie was right there, touching noses with her, leaning in close enough that the pegasus could feel the warmth of the other pony’s fur. Close enough that she could almost taste Pinkie’s breath. An old, nearly-extinguished fire leapt back to roaring life within her, and Dash’s heart began hammering in her chest. Too close. Much, much too close. Too close, too close, too close-- “Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow grabbed a hold on all of the sudden heat coursing through her body and channelled it into angrily screaming her friend’s name. Anger was good; anger was safe. “What is the matter with you? Get off of me!” Unceremoniously she shoved the other mare away--and perhaps a bit more roughly than was strictly necessary. Just a bit. Pinkie just grinned back at her and, with a carefree shrug, allowed herself to be pushed back to a distance that was more friendly to boundaries of personal space. Rainbow Dash relaxed, ever so slightly, once Pinkie’s breath no longer fell across her face, soft and sweet. But the familiar, tight feeling in her chest didn’t go away. --- That night, for the first time, she dreamt of towers of cakes and multi-colored balloons and of bubbly giggles that ended in snorts. She dreamt of eyes as wide and as blue as the sea. --- “You’re not as annoying as I thought.” That had been the first mistake. Admitting any sort of positive emotion towards Pinkie was an error of first order. A crack in the shield, a chink in the armor. “You wanna hang out?” That had been the second mistake and an even graver one than the first. But Pinkie’s eyes had been so happy and so hopeful, and her laughs had been so infectious, and her smile was as bright and as warm as Celestia’s sun … but, still, it was a mistake. They spent all day together, playing and pranking and giggling like maniacs, until finally the moon slipped up above the horizon as the sky turned dark. Rainbow Dash couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun in a single day. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so happy and at ease in another pony’s company. In anyone’s company, really. It was all a terrible, terrible mistake. --- Author’s Notes: The title of this story is taken from Paul McCartney’s song, “The Lovers That Never Were,” from his 1993 album, Off the Ground.