//------------------------------// // Never Again // Story: Wings of My Heart // by Jaida857 //------------------------------// She was about to do something she would regret. She was just so sick of it. Everypony thought they could get away with it. Everypony thought they could do what they wanted because they would never be told not to. Every single time it had happened before had driven her crazy, and she had finally snapped. She was going to end it. She was never going to let it happen again. It was going to end, and it was going to end now. --------------------------- It had all started earlier that day. The sun rose just like any other morning, warming the previously cool air and bringing all of the little creatures out of their nests. Birds sang as they flew through the sky, announcing the arrival of day to anyone who had yet to wake up. As usual, Fluttershy was up bright and early, getting ready to feed all of her little friends before going into town to do some shopping. She was running low on Angel's favorite lettuce, and she did not want to have to deal with that ever again. This was how most Saturday mornings started. She would wake up, feed the animals, have a quick breakfast of hay and some flowers, and then make her way to town to get her groceries. Afterwards, she would have some time to meet her friends and talk and laugh and have fun. Before she could have time for herself though, she would need to get the food back home, in case Angel got extra hungry. Grabbing her bag and putting it over her back, Fluttershy set off to town. She didn't know why, but she was feeling very happy that morning, happier than usual. Maybe that meant she was going to have a great day! A few of her little squirrel friends followed her to the edge of town before scampering back towards her cottage. The birds that flew overhead called a greeting to their favorite pegasus, lifting her spirits even further. When she finally arrived to the market, she was humming happily and couldn't wait to get things done. Her shopping went fine, and apart from being cut in front of in line at least half a dozen times as usual, everything went smoothly. It wasn't until after, when she was checking over her list to make sure she had everything, that something went wrong. She had the list up in front of her face while she was walking, and so she couldn't see anything in front of her. She was just walking along, minding her own business, when she unexpectedly ran into something, or someone, and went tumbling to the ground, her groceries spilling everywhere. She was momentarily stunned, and when she finally came to her senses, she saw that she had run into another mare, who's groceries had also spilled, and who looked extremely put out. "Oh, I'm so very sorry," Fluttershy squeaked, scrambling to her hooves to try and help gather the mares groceries. "Sorry?" the mare repeated, getting to her hooves more slowly. "You're sorry? Oh, because that makes it all better, doesn't it?!" Fluttershy was busy trying to pick up the fallen produce, and so she didn't see when the mare kicked her. She only felt the contact and fell heavily to the ground, her side stinging where she had been kicked. She was about as surprised as she was hurt and frightened. While she had been bullied countless times before, she had never ever been kicked. Her eyes filled with tears, and this only served to worsen the bullying. "What, you're going to cry?" the mare taunted her. "So you really are just a baby?" The commotion was drawing a small crowd of ponies, but none of them stepped in to help. No one ever stepped into help, because it was Fluttershy, and she got pushed around enough that no one bothered to do anything about it. The yellow pegasus looked around desperately for one of her friends, who were the only ones ever to stand up for her, but none of them were in sight. "I... I was just," Fluttershy said quietly, standing up and backing away slowly. She found that her voice was failing her and she ended up just squeaking again. "You were just what?" the mare shouted, walking closer, forcing Fluttershy to back up even further. "Just being a klutz like you always are? I don't see why you even bother coming out of that cottage of yours. You should just stay there so you don't embarrass yourself anymore." "But I..." Fluttershy tried to say, but it came out as yet another squeak. The crowd of ponies watching continued to stay silent as she was pushed back even further. She let out a quiet whimper, and the mare shot out a hoof and Fluttershy fell to the ground once again. She closed her eyes as the mare raised a hoof, but before the impact could come, she heard a familiar voice nearby. "HEY!" Rainbow shouted from high above, swooping down and landing between the mare and Fluttershy. "What do you think you're doing to her?!" "What's this, her bodyguard?" the mare taunted again, although her voice had lost a little of its confidence. She knew as well as any pony that Rainbow Dash could be dangerous, but she couldn't back down now. "No, this is her friend," Rainbow said firmly, taking a step forward and forcing the mare back. "You think you can push Fluttershy around just because everypony else does? You think it makes you any better to bully someone who won't stand up to you? You think you can hurt her just because you weren't watching where you were going? Well NOPONY is allowed to hurt Fluttershy." "What, do you have a crush on her?" the mare asked, smiling when she realized she had won some points back. Rainbow hesitated. She hadn't expected that comeback. The ponies watching started whispering amongst themselves. If she denied it, it wouldn't help either of them. There was really only one thing she could say to that, and it also happened to be the truth. "Maybe I do," Rainbow told her, loud enough for everypony to hear. There was a collective gasp from all those assembled, including Fluttershy, who had gotten back to her hooves and was watching her friend defend her. Rainbow glanced back at her, giving her a small smile, which was returned, much to her delight. But it wasn't over yet. She turned back to the mare and continued to force her backwards. "Maybe I do," she repeated. "But that has nothing to do with this. Either way, Fluttershy is my friend, and I'm never going to let anyone hurt her again. I'll let you off easy this time, but if you ever touch her again, you'll be sorry. Got it?" Without waiting for a reply, Rainbow turned around and walked back to Fluttershy, who still had tears in her eyes. The blue pegasus grabbed her hoof and lifted off into the sky. She was about to fly them both away, but she happened to be close enough to hear the last remark the mare whispered to Fluttershy. "Just wait until your girlfriend isn't here to protect you," she whispered. That's it. She moved so fast that the mare didn't have time to react. Rainbow tackled her to the ground and had her pinned within seconds. She lifted her front hoof up, her eyes filled with fury. "You crossed the line one to many times," she shouted, but before she could throw the punch she heard a soft voice behind her, causing her to hesitate. "Please don't Rainbow." Without lowering her hoof, Rainbow turned her head around to Fluttershy. She was looking at her with a mixture of admiration and terror. Although she had heard stories, she had never seen Rainbow in a real fight, and the thought of her friend getting hurt to defend her was more than she could bare. "You heard what she said," Rainbow said softly in reply, her composure slowly breaking under that pleading blue gaze. "I can't let anything happen to you Fluttershy. You're too important." "It'll be fine," Fluttershy promised, walking slowly over to her friend. "You won't let me get hurt, right? Just please don't do this. You're better than this." There was complete silence for the next few seconds, and then Rainbow sighed. She stood up and allowed the mare to get up as well, who instantly ran off. Rainbow didn't pay attention to her anymore. Her eyes were only for Fluttershy, who she had loved for so long and yet never told her. One look into her eyes was enough to show that she felt the same way. "I love you Fluttershy," Rainbow whispered, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks at her confession. It was extremely rare for her to show her more sensitive side, and yet it came so much easier around Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus felt her heart beat faster at her friends words, because all it had taken was a few simple words for her to accept that she felt the same. "And I love you Rainbow Dash," she said simply, a shy smile lighting up her face. Those words made Rainbow's heart soar to unimaginable heights. She had been scared- yes, scared- to confess her feelings in fear that Fluttershy wouldn't love her back, and that it would ruin their friendship. She would rather have her as a friend than not at all, and so she never said anything for all those years she had loved the shy pony. They were so lost in each others eyes that it took the two pegasi a while to notice the crowd that was still hovering around. When they did notice, they saw that the two of them were being looked at with expressions of scorn, contempt, disgust, and even pity. Why pity? "What?" Rainbow demanded, putting her hoof around Fluttershy's shoulder without any shame. "Do any of you have a problem with this?" None of the ponies gathered could find anything bad to say about it. Regardless of their expressions, every one of them had to admit it was pretty sweet what had just happened, what with Rainbow leaping in to defend the pony she loved. Most of them simply dispersed without a word, but one brave, young mare stepped forward to say something, ignoring her friends calling her to come back. "I'm happy for you two," she said, offering the new couple a smile. "I think what you did was really great." "Thanks kid," Rainbow thanked her in surprise. The young mare nodded once before running over to her friends. Rainbow and Fluttershy watched her run off, and then the blue pegasus turned to her marefriend. "You want me to walk you home?" she offered, and then added, "and, possibly, stay the night?" Fluttershy blushed, but nodded in response. She would be glad to have another pony with her, in case she got scared in the night, but she would have been glad to have Rainbow with her anyways. This was looking to be the start of a beautiful relationship.