//------------------------------// // Change of Perspective -part 2 // Story: Wings of My Heart // by Jaida857 //------------------------------// The feel of wind on her face, her mane whipping out behind her in a rainbow-colored streak. Darting through clouds without hesitation, around trees and rooftops, feeling the all too familiar rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Rainbow wasn't going to be late, but she never turned down an opportunity to let herself go and just fly. She had less and less free time lately, even more so in the last week, not that she minded the alternative in the least. It felt good to forget everything and let her natural flying instincts take over. But of course, as much as she would have liked to keep soaring like that for much longer, she reluctantly slowed down as she was nearing the market and flared out her wings, coming to a gentle and perfect landing. Allowing herself a quick smile of pride, she dusted herself off and began the short walk to the spot she was supposed to meet Torch. With the sun shining, the sky almost completely void of clouds and the melody of birds singing in the background, the day was looking to be a very beautiful one. All around her Rainbow saw ponies laughing and smiling, and not once did she see any ill expressions. As she was nearing the meeting place, she heard her name being called from behind much like the previous day. "Hey Rainbow Dash!" Torch called from up in the sky. Rainbow turned around and spotted him, spreading her wings out to fly up and meet him. "Sup Torch?" she greeted him as she came up to his level. "Been up to anything awesome?" "Not since I saw you yesterday," he joked, causing them both to laugh. "So what do you want to do?" Rainbow inquired. "Your call." "Could we just fly for a bit?" he asked. "You know, do some tricks and maybe race?" "Race? You want to race me? One..." Torch realized what she was getting at and smiled, flexing his wings in anticipation. "Two three go!" In an instant Rainbow took off in a multicolored blur, leaving Torch blinking in surprise. He quickly gathered his wits and sped off after her, watching in awe at her effortless graceful movements, her perfect positioning, how her muscles clenched before she put on a burst of speed. This is going to be even better than I thought! ------------------- Hours later the pegasus duo flew back in over town, each silently gliding to a stop above the market. They were both laughing as they had just completed yet another race, Rainbow once again maintaining the lead the entire time. They were getting a little carried away until she noticed the time and realized she needed to get back to Fluttershy soon, so she had suggested one last race back to town. "Rainbow Dash, I have to say I'm seriously impressed," Torch complimented her as they both swooped down to the ground. "I've never seen a pegasus with your mad skills, not even on the Wonderbolts!" "Yeah, I guess I really am the best," Rainbow agreed, her usual ego coming out. "But thanks." "No problem. So I guess you have to go now?" "Yeah, but we should definitely hang out again sometime," she offered giving her tired wings a good stretch. "I don't have a lot of friends that like flying so fast." "Well, maybe next time we could do something other than flying..." Torch suggested carefully, hoping she would get the message. "Like what?" she just asked, so Torch sighed and elaborated. "Like, maybe go to get something to eat? Find a nice restaurant and get to know each other a little better?" "You mean, like... like a date?" Rainbow asked in disbelief, legitimately shocked by his words. "Yeah, a date," he answered, shrugging to make it seem like no big deal. "So what do you say?" "Well, I, uh..." she trailed off, trying to find the best way to tell him and deciding on being completely honest. "I'm actually seeing someone at the moment." "Oh," Torch said in shock; he hadn't been expecting that. "So I guess it wouldn't really work out." "No, it wouldn't," she agreed. "Sorry about that." "Hey, no worries. So who's the lucky colt? What's his name?" "Her," Rainbow corrected instantly, seeing his eyebrows raise as he understood. "Her?" he repeated, making sure he understood her correctly. "Yeah, it's a mare," she confirmed, feeling a little awkward that he was making a big deal out of it. "Oh, so you're a fillyfooler," he said, and Rainbow instantly stiffened. She let out a slow breath, reminding herself that he meant no harm by it. "I don't like that word," she said through her teeth, trying to keep her expression casual for his sake. "Oh, I'm sorry," Torch apologized at once. "So who is she?" "Her name's Fluttershy. She's also a pegasus, one I've known since I was just a filly. We've been friends for years." "Well I'd love to meet her sometime," he suggested, "maybe we could all hang out and fly." "Oh she's not much of a flier," Rainbow clarified, smiling at Torch's confused expression. "I know, a pegasus that doesn't like flying isn't that common. She just prefers to stay near the ground. She really loves taking care of animals too." "Sounds like she's really something," Torch said in a quiet voice, accepting he wouldn't be able to get through to her the simple way. "I guess you shouldn't keep her waiting." "Oh shoot, I have to go!" Rainbow exclaimed, lifting a few inches into the air. "Sorry to leave you like this, but I promised I'd be back before dark." "But we can still hang out again, right?" Torch pressed, breathing a sigh of relief when she nodded. "See you later!" Rainbow called as she sped off in the direction of home, or Fluttershy's cottage to be exact. As soon as she was out of sight, Torch frowned and kicked the ground in annoyance. "And here I thought we could do this the easy way," he mumbled, turning around and walking slowly away. ---------------------- "What're you thinking about right now Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked sleepily, shifting her position in bed to better accommodate her tired wings. "You," Fluttershy replied in a near whisper, her voice sounding like she was on the very edge of unconsciousness. The blue pegasus chuckled quietly, watching the light reflect off her marefriend's face as it poured through the window. It was a full moon that night; it lit up the entire room with a strange yet mystical aura. In that moment, Rainbow seriously wanted to kiss her. I mean she wanted to really kiss her, not just a little peck on the cheek, but a real, passionate, full lip-lock, picture perfect kiss. It was more than just a passing thought, it was a full-blown burning desire trying to break out of her. The wait was agonizing. Rainbow wanted her now. As selfish as she knew it sounded, she wanted to take things further, even just a little bit to relieve her of the tension. But she wouldn't. At least not that night, when Fluttershy was lying there so innocent, so defenseless, so vulnerable. She refused to take advantage of her like that, no matter how far she planned on taking it someday. Rainbow knew how it would go; she would wait until Fluttershy could be given a chance to react, to say no. She would wait until the shy pegasus was fully conscious, and not hovering on the edge of sleep. It wouldn't be fair to her to try anything then, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt Fluttershy in any way. Letting out a quiet sigh, Rainbow inched her body to closer to the other pegasus, carefully wrapping her hooves around her almost-sleeping figure. She had to smile at the contented sigh that resulted, growing even wider as Fluttershy snuggled into her. "You know, maybe this isn't so bad after all," Rainbow mumbled, her eyes drifting shut as sleep finally took her. -------------------- A few days later... "I swear I'm going to beat you this time Rainbow Dash!" Torch shouted from far behind the rainbow streak he was chasing. "You can't win every time!" "Says who?" Rainbow called back, her eyes narrowing in concentration as she put on an extra burst of speed, blowing clean through a cloud in her path. The white remnants went flying in every direction, blinding the colt momentarily as he struggled to catch up. Every single race they had in the last few days had resulted in Rainbow shooting across their finish line while he came shamefully soaring in behind her. It wasn't much of a surprise; she had been crowned the best young flier in Equestria by Celestia herself. On that particular day, as usual, she was the first to reach their destination and soared gracefully to the ground, landing in a small cloud of dust and waiting for Torch to reach her. Within a few seconds he landed next to her, shaking his head. "You really are something," he complimented her, stopping next to where she was waiting. "I'm a little tired from all that flying; why don't we just walk for a bit?" "Sounds good to me," Rainbow shrugged, tucking her wings into her side and walking alongside Torch through the town. She assumed they would stick to the main path, but to her surprise he turned onto a back street, one that rarely anypony took. "It's just a bit loud around here," he explained as she slowly followed him into the back alley. She had flown over these streets plenty of times, but had never actually walked through them as she had never had the need. "So I hear you were at the Royal Wedding in Canterlot?" Torch asked, trying to make casual conversation. "You bet I was! I got to do a sonic rainboom in front of everyone!" she replied pridefully. The conversation went on like this for the next few minutes, Rainbow more than happy to talk about her accomplishments, until they turned a corner and found they had hit a dead end. "I guess it's pretty easy to get lost back here," she shrugged, getting ready to take off to find their way back to town. "Wait!" Torch said quickly before she could lift into the air. "There's no hurry. Why don't we just hang around here?" "Why do you want to hang here?" she asked in confusion, tucking her wings back into her side. "You know, it's not so busy here," he explained slowly, taking a few steps towards her. "We have more... privacy." While he was talking, Torch took it upon himself to continue walking closer to Rainbow, slowly backing her into the corner. "What are you talking about Torch?" she demanded, determined to hold her ground as she refused to take another step back. "I think you know. You may not look it, but I think you're a smart mare." Rainbow did in fact have an idea what he was getting at, but she didn't want to admit it to herself. The last time this had happened... she didn't even want to think about it. "I told you, I'm seeing someone right now," she said firmly, her expression turning into a hostile glare. "So I'm gonna have to say no thanks." "Pity," Torch said simply, before taking another step forward and forcing Rainbow against the wall. "And here I thought this was going to be easy." "I'm warning you, you'd better-" she began, but was cut off when Torch pinned her against the wall with a hoof, knocking her breath out. "Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I don't really care which, because either way this is happening and there's nothing you can do about it." Rainbow put up one last struggle, attempting to throw him off balance and fly away, but he didn't let go of the hold he had on her, instead pushing her even harder into the wall. Damn he's strong, she thought. Stronger than he let on. "I suggest you make this easy for yourself," he said, his face now mere inches from hers. Rainbow had literally frozen now; the memories flooding back to her were too much. Sneaking over to that colt's room, trying to slip out, being thrown into a table and pinned to the floor... the words he used were almost exactly the same. "What, this isn't what you wanted Rainbow Dash? Leading everypony on like this? Well don't blame me for throwing yourself out there. Whether you like it or not you brought this on yourself." Her breath was coming heavy and uneven as the reality of the situation set in. There was just one thing she needed to know. "Why are you doing this?" she rasped, her limbs refusing to move as she wanted. "When I found out I was moving here, I figured I should get to know what kind of ponies I'd find," he explained, his grip as strong as ever. "A friend of mine told me about a certain mare with a rainbow colored mane, said she could give anyone an easy night of fun. I didn't realize you'd become so difficult. My buddies from Cloudsdale will never believe me." "You're from Cloudsdale?" she gasped, her eye widening as she understood what he would have been told. There was a reason she rarely went back there to visit... "Where else would I have heard about you? But enough of that; time to cut to the chase. I suggest you stay quiet to make it easier." "Hey! Leave her alone!" The angry shouting surprised both of them, but Torch's grip didn't loosen one bit. He turned his head ever so slightly, blocking Rainbow's view even further. "Stay out of this," he barked at the newcomer, his eyes still glued to his target. Rainbow managed to peek her head around him, and the pegasus standing in the alley was enough to lift her spirits into the sky. "Fluttershy!" she cried, earning her a slap from an increasingly annoyed Torch. "Shut up," he muttered, finally turning his head enough to look at her. "So you're Fluttershy?" he scoffed, getting a good look at the yellow pegasus. "Well it doesn't matter; this doesn't concern you. Why don't you run along and go play with your little animals." "I'm not going anywhere until you let her go," Fluttershy said firmly, silently walking up behind him. "Oh? And what are you going to do about it?" he demanded, feeling a tap on his shoulder a second later. He let out an annoyed sigh and turned completely around, never taking his hoof off Rainbow, seeing Fluttershy standing right behind him. When he saw her though, she didn't look like he expected. Her eyes were wide and blazing, seeming to petrify him where he stood. Had he known her better, he would have realized he was being fixed with her infamous stare. "I said, leave her alone!" Fluttershy shouted in absolute rage, seeming to tower above the now cowering Torch. "I'm not about to let some big dumb meanie hurt my Rainbow Dash. Now I want you to let her go, and then leave Ponyville and never come back. Understand?" Unable to do anything else, Torch nodded quickly, finally letting Rainbow go and stepping away from the both of them. He continued to back away until Fluttershy finally calmed down, the fire receding from her eyes to their usual blueish green. He paused for a moment, trying to keep what little dignity he had left before retreating. "She's not worth it anyways," he called back at them. "I don't know why I even bothered with her." With that, he flared his wings out beside him, quickly taking off into the air and disappearing from sight over the building next to them. Instantly Fluttershy turned to Rainbow, who was still breathing heavily and staring ahead. In a second her legs gave out and she would have fallen to the ground had Fluttershy not been there to catch her. The shy pegasus held her lover in her lap, gently stroking her mane as Rainbow tried to control her shaking. "Shhhh, it's alright," Fluttershy cooed, carefully sitting down on the ground and hugging Rainbow closer. "He's gone, he's not going to hurt you. I'm right here." Rainbow let out a quiet laugh that ended up sounding like a sob, and for a moment she let her pride go and allowed herself to be comforted by the mare she loved so much. Fluttershy simply held her close and whispered comforting words to calm her down. After a few minutes Rainbow had calmed down considerably, and she finally stood up and wiped her stray tears away, turning her head to the side in embarrassment. "Alright, enough of that," she mumbled before turning back to Fluttershy and smiling. "Thanks. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up." "Anything for my Dashie," she giggled, causing them both to smile and laugh. "Why don't we get out of here?" Rainbow suggested, wanting to get as far away from that place as possible. She was about to spread her wings out when she heard Fluttershy disagree. "Ummm, I actually... I, uh," she trailed off, her gaze flickering down. "What's up 'Shy?" Rainbow asked, her eyes searching her marefriend's face. "I just, ummm, wanted to..." she stuttered, unsure of how to go about it. Rainbow sighed quietly. "Fluttershy, whatever you want to say, go ahead and spit it ou-" In all honesty, it wasn't Rainbow's first kiss, not even close. There had been times in the past when another pegasus had wanted to take it much further. None of them even compared to what she was feeling in that moment. Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut and just kissed her, totally unsure of what she was supposed to do but following her instincts. Rainbow stood there in shock for a moment before she finally regained control of her body and eagerly kissed her back. It wasn't exactly the picture perfect kiss she had imagined, but everything sought to make it the most unforgettable. It was a good thirty seconds before they both reluctantly pulled away from each other, both of them breathing a little heavier than before. Fluttershy's cheeks were painted a deep red, almost mirroring Rainbow's. For a moment neither of them spoke, Fluttershy staring at the ground in an attempt to hide her fierce blushing, and Rainbow unable to take her eyes off the others beautiful face. "...wow," was all Rainbow could say when she found her voice. A small smile found it's way to Fluttershy's face, and she finally brought her gaze up to meet her lovers. "I love you so much Rainbow Dash," she said in a near whisper. "I couldn't imagine ever letting anything happen to you." "I love you too 'Shy," Rainbow replied quietly, pulling Fluttershy into an embrace and sneaking another quick kiss. "Thank you."