//------------------------------// // Why won't you look at me!! // Story: Just Keep Smiling // by Serenity Grace //------------------------------// Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas, this headcanon and the plot itself! “Tch, are you really thinking of visiting Dash up at the Wonderbolt camp?” Gilda snarled in pure irritation, watching the pink haired girl glance down in front of her. She was about to head off to see her old friend (who she had just recently made up with), to congratulate her on becoming a Wonderbolt trainee… When she ran across her favorite little play thing, and who she liked to think of as “Dash’s personal stalker”. “I…I just wanted to go see how she was doing….o-our friend Pinkie Pie wanted to…to ask if she had gotten her letters, b-but doesn’t want to go up there herself. S-So, I offered to, s-since I have the wings for it…” “You mean that you’re using that annoying loser’s dilemma to go see your old crush? Please, like Dash really wants to see YOU.” Fluttershy looked up, eyes widened with a flash of insult going through her teal orbs, causing Gilda to smirk. Gods, she enjoyed it when she made this little thing angry… “S-She is not a loser! A-And of course D-Dash wants to see me. W-We’re friends…” The winged girl whispered, averting her gaze from the taller other. They were friends, yes…but did she truly trust Rainbow Dash any longer? That night when she ran away from Cloudsdale without even saying goodbye was still a harsh and clear memory for Fluttershy, something that she couldn’t help but remember, even when things seemed to be patched up between them. The conniving Griffon all but grinned at the younger girl, slowly walking up to her and grasping her chin, leaning closer to her trembling face while lidding a pair of striking sun orbed eyes. “How can you be friends with someone you don’t trust one bit, or someone who doesn’t respect you?” she purred, using a stray thumb to brush it across Fluttershy’s soft cheek. The cream colored winged girl’s eyes only escalated in width. “…D-Doesn’t…respect me…?” “HEY.” The sudden third voice caused both girls to turn abruptly toward its source, revealing a cocky looking Pegasus female, her short golden hair swept up with equally gold eyes narrowed dangerous at the taller between the two of them. She wore a simple teal t-shirt (a little lighter then Fluttershy’s eye color) and a pair of baggy pants that only Wonderbolt trainees would wear. A smirk slowly stretched across her face, a mocking one that seemed to already piss Gilda off by the way she was looking at the newcomer. “What the hell do YOU want?” The Griffon snarled, pushing Fluttershy away from her grasp and causing the long haired girl to squeak. The smirk only increased on the other’s face. “You do realize how lame it is to bully innocent girls, right? Actually, it’s more then lame…it’s kind of disgusting,” the cocky Pegasus countered back, taking a step closer. “Tch, shows what you know…we were just talking,” Gilda snapped back, only causing the other to snicker. “Oh, sorry…then was I interrupting an abusive lover’s spat? Yeah, I should REALLY mind my own business then.” Fluttershy’s eyes were wide; this girl was almost as cocky and teasing as Rainbow Dash. In fact, she was more then that. Dash would only defend her out right, no questions asked. This girl seemed to just have a grand time making fun of the infuriated Griffon, knowing exactly what words to use. “U-Um, we’re not…” Fluttershy started to eep out before she heard Gilda snarl, cursing a few foreign words under her breath. “I don’t have time for this…if you want to actually visit Dash, m’not gonna stop you. But believe me, she wants NOTHING to do with someone as weak as you,” The taller girl muttered to the other, before stretching her large, eagle-like wings and shooting up into the clear blue sky. After watching for a moment longer, Fluttershy heard the Rainbow Dash Clone speak once more. “Heh, Griffons act all big and tough, but most of them are cowards, like your girlfriend there,” she stated with a laugh, walking towards the trembling pink haired girl. “You okay?” “Y-Yes, thank you….but um, that’s not my girlfriend…” she stuttered in reply, causing the other to blink. “No kidding? The way you guys looked so physically close, I was sure something like that was going on, even though she’s obviously hurting you.” “S-She isn’t hurting me…” “Yeah, and everyone wears big and baggy sweaters like that during the spring. Sounds legit…” Fluttershy blushed in a slight shame, and the other’s eyes softened a bit. “…Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be Fluttershy, right? That Pegasus who prefers to live on the ground?” The pink haired girl’s ears perked up at that. “O-Oh, um…y-yes! T-That would be me….” “Yeah, Dash would sometimes mention you…the name’s Lightning Dust, by the way.” “O-Oh, hello….w-wait,” Fluttershy’s eyes blinked in realization, “Aren’t you that Pegasus who…?” Lightning automatically stopped her, an embarrassed look on her face. “Was the biggest jackass to ever arrive in Cloudsdale? The one and only, want my autograph?” The pink haired girl couldn’t help but smile at that, causing the other to grin. “Heh, you’re cute when you laugh. So, you ready?” “R-Ready for what?” “To go up to Cloudsdale! You wanna go see Dash, right? I’m sure she’ll wanna see you, since you guys are so tight.” “O-Oh, but aren’t you guys….?” “Eh, we’re sort of cool now, a bit of tension but what can you do? Anyway, wanna go or not?” she shrugged towards Fluttershy, who glanced down for a moment before nodding her head. “Y-Yes, let’s go…” ….. “Hey, Dash!! You better show me your new tricks tonight, bro!” Gilda laughed, jabbing her multi colored friend in the ribs, causing a boastful grin to come from the short of the two. “Heck yeah, dude! You’re gonna love these rad moves I’ve been learning, we finally got to the good stuff of training! Isn’t that right, team!?” Rainbow Dash yelled towards the rest of her trainee squad, who cheered and clanked glasses filled with various drinks in response. She smirked at the reaction and leaned back against the Mess Hall Bar table, blowing some hair away from her eyes. “Gotta tell ya though, there were a few recruits here…I don’t even know how they managed to get let in!” “Yeah!? Do tell, man,” The taller Griffon grinned, slamming her cup back on the bar counter, a non verbal (or polite) way of asking for more. The already fired up Pegasus only grinned once more. “Yeah, there’s like a HUGE amount of recruits that barely know how to fly straight. Heck, there was one girl who couldn’t even lift herself through the training hoops. She managed to hit the rim and fell right back down on the starting cloud!” A roar of laughter escalated from the large number of Pegasi and one lone Griffon, encouraging Dash to continue on her badmouthing streak. “Yeah, it was freaking hilarious! Or this other recruit who was strapped to that wheel for a Speed Exercise…they barely turned it on when he started crying! I thought he was going to wet his pants!” “Wooooow, bro. Then there’s a lot of losers around here, huh? Maybe they should just stay on the ground, where it’s safer!” Griffon snickered, and Dash smirked. “Yeah, right…if that’s the case, then they’ll probably still be a danger to themselves…by tripping on their own shadow!” An increased volume of laughter echoed through the small building, all aside from one particular Pegasus near the entrance, along with her companion who glanced at the other in a concerned fashion. The girl’s hand gripped into a fist as Dash carried on, and soon enough began to walk through the crowd, pushing past them to head to one specific target. “I swear, I really wonder how some of these weaklings are even to be called a Pegasus, I—“ Before Dash could finish, a loud ‘SMACK’ was heard through out the now silent room, the multi colored haired girl’s head snapping to the right as a small hand pulled back from slapping her cheek. Her rose colored irises were widened in surprise, and they only increased when a familiar voice slipped through her ears: “IS THAT WHAT YOU REALLY THINK OF ME!?” Fluttershy yelled, her quiet tone nearly completely gone. Her full voice was being used, her anger too great for her to keep down. “…S-Shy-“ “DON’T CALL ME THAT! Y-You…You don’t DESERVE to call me that!! I-Is that what you really thought of me, this whole time!? Like those Pegasi, I couldn’t make it through those hoops! I wouldn’t be able to handle that Speed Exercise. I-I live on the ground and have probably tripped on my own shadow more then twice!!” Fluttershy couldn’t hold back from screaming at her oldest friend, her hurt evident in her eyes, “You said you didn’t care that I wasn’t athletic, that I wasn’t like other Pegasi! Was that all just a lie!?” The pink haired girl glanced down; her long strands covering her now tear stained face. “All I ever wanted…was for you to look at me, not at what I could be….but to just look at ME.” And with that, the girl turned around and practically bolted from the Mess Hall, pushing past Lightning Dust who narrowed her eyes at her fellow recruit for a moment before walking after her new acquaintance. Rainbow Dash could only stare after her friend as she ran off and out of sight, a look of heavy guilt slowly creeping through her face. Gilda, however… Looked like this was the best night of her life, a grin on her lips. “I told you, my little toy...maybe you’ll listen more often now.” … “Hey…look, Dash was a jerk but I’m sure she was just being led on by those guys. I mean, I’m a bigger ass then she and that Gilda character combined, I would have probably said the same thing-…wait, that’s not a good thing to say, is it?” Lightning rubbed the back of her head as Fluttershy sadly smiled in her direction, soon glancing down at her hand, the one that only just recently slapped her best friend across the face for the horrid things she was saying. “I guess…my instincts were right after all…” she muttered softly, the other glancing up. “Huh?” Fluttershy only smiled a little more, trying to hold back another round of tears as she turned towards her new friend. “My instincts told me not to trust someone who had betrayed you once before, because they would always do it to you again. I didn’t listen…when they were right all along.” “Hey, don’t talk like that…” But Fluttershy didn’t answer her, slowly stretching out her wings and preparing to take the long flight back to her cottage, her sanctuary away from all the pain she had to go through. “All I wanted…was for her to see who I am, not what I am not…I just wanted her to look at me.” -end-