//------------------------------// // ...is just scared? // Story: The Fire in Her Eyes // by P0nies //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash stepped back from her doorstep, letting a heavy sigh escape her lungs. She walked towards the window, gazing out into the endless abyss that lay beyond the horizon. The sky was always there, no matter when or what happened. It was the one thing that Dash could always count on in life. She needed someone to count on, not just something such as the sky. It was there as an emotional barrier between her and her friends for the most part since Rainbow would normally soar across the sky whether she was sad or angry, happy or nervous. It helped her cope with almost everything she had felt. When she was flying, she started to gradually think of Fluttershy more and more. Flying couldn't solve all of her problems or fill the hole in her heart. She knew that, but she just didn't know when the day to find the one to fill the void of love. All she ever wanted to be loved, but since Flight School she had never wanted to open her heart to any other pony. Something deep within her sub-conscious told her to stray from any such thing that may call for that, and that was why she always seemed uncaring for any of the 'mushy' joys on life. But to her, they weren't joy or happiness, but rather a deep resonating feeling of regret and heartbreak. Rainbow Dash shook her head to clear her mind and looked towards the floor, a tear forming up in her eyes. She didn't know what to do, or even what she was really feeling. All she knew was nothing. She didn't have the faintest idea on how why she felt the way she did. The feeling plagued her mind and shook her body; she was scared. She kicked a hole in the cloud layer that was her floor and dropped straight through it. She found herself hovering far above the lake that lay below. The water slightly sparkled as the small waves crossed its surface. Rainbow Dash jetted towards the lake, a hoof ahead of her leading the way as she gained speed. Her wings beat at a consistent rhythm that slowly grew faster as her body gained velocity. The wings attached to her body started to ache with a mild pain, but she continued to push on. From the corner of her eyes, a mixture of tears and watery eyes made a small stream down the side of her face. The eyes that shone of loyalty and love became clenched shut as she neared the lake below her. 'I don't want to hurt you... You deserve much better than me. I... just don't know anymore. I wish you knew that... I am scared. Scared to hurt you and leave you alone.' A mach cone began to form around her front hoof as she came closer to breaking the sound barrier and making another sonic Rainboom. That wasn't what she was after with the speed. She was in a game to end it, speed bringing her utter demise. The cone began to conform around her body, closing in tighter. Her body knew she was on the brink of a sonic Rainboom, and her instinct to go just that much faster kicked in. She opened her eyes at the last moment, her mind racing in thought as another wave of tears flowed off of her cheeks. In the final moment before the impact, her mind raced through the memories of her and Fluttershy, and how much fun they had in their years as friends. It was never that she had felt alone with Fluttershy at her side. She had always had that sweet mare there to care for her; and she never realized that Fluttershy felt the same way that Dash had. She loved her. She truly loved her for who she was, not for being the fastest flier, or even an awesome pony. She loved her for who she really was. A small stream of rainbow formed behind her as she reached optimum velocity, achieving the sonic Rainboom just before impacting the water. Her body launched into the surface, instantly becoming as hard as rock from the immense amount of speed she had collected. A plume of water shot up straight into the sky, while her body got tossed across the surface of the water as if it was a skipping stone. The lake had practically emptied from the water Rainbow Dash had sent up into the sky, but it came crashing down on top of her, with just as much force as the impact. She had felt bones break and shatter as she skipped across the surface of the water, but none of that mattered anymore. All that she was thinking about now was how she had let her best friend down. How could she have been so selfish to pull such a stunt to take her own life when another pony cared for her so much? She had let everyone down that she had loved. How could I have done this... she thought. I have everything anypony could want, and even more. I am leaving them all with nothing. Nothing on where I went. Not a valid reason, but how selfish I was. And now I am sinking to the bottom of a lake. I really so not deserve to be loved... The pain from her sustained injuries became intolerable as she sank deeper into the lake. Water began to trickle into her mouth as she lost all connection with reality. Her eyes began to roll back into her head. Before her eyelids shut, she saw something, or somepony coming straight towards her. The pony had a yellow colored mane, and the coat seemed to be a gray color. There wasn't any way to be sure if it was really a pony or not; she could have been easily hallucinating it. She didn't care whether it was a pony or not; and she let her eyes close. 'I'm so sorry Fluttershy...' she mumbled as the last of the air in her lungs bubbled to the surface. Rainbow's mind came back to its senses, expecting some sort of searing hot pain to plague across her body. That feeling never came, however. She slowly opened her eyes, only to be looking into a vast expanse of pure black. There was no color where she was except for her own bright rainbow mane and cyan coat. She lifted her head slightly, looking over her body expecting it to be covered in bandages. But where she expected bandages, there was none. There was just simply nothing here, not even another pony. It was almost as if she was floating in limbo. Signals flowed through her nerves down to her legs, telling them to move. She wanted to move. But she couldn't, it was just like she was paralyzed. She realized now that she didn't have feeling in any of her extremities besides her head. Rainbow started to panic as she came to a realization that she may actually be dead and that she may have actually left Fluttershy and all of her friends. 'Rainbow...' a soft voice called out behind her. 'Rainbow...' it called out again. She knew the voice. It was very familiar, the eloquence of the voice ringing through her mind as she tried to place the pony to whom it belonged. It was almost as if it was caring for her, as if it loved her and was actually glad to see her. 'Fluttershy?' Rainbow asked as she rotated her head to look in the direction from where the voice had came. 'Yes,' Fluttershy said with a smile on her face. 'Now you can go, just as you had wanted. You can leave the world and everything behind.' Fluttershy walked up to Rainbow Dash's immobile body, gently brushing over her back with a hoof. Dash hadn't expected to feel anything, but where the hoof had gone, there was a warm tingling sensation. Fluttershy slid her hooves under Rainbow's body, lifting her body afloat with the power of her own wings. 'Its OK now, Rainbow. Its all over.' 'NO! I don't want it to be over anymore!' she cried, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. 'I want to stay now!' 'You already knew you wanted to go, so now I will help you.' A heavenly light broke the darkness ahead, filling it with a warm glow. 'Don't be afraid now, this won't hurt.' Fluttershy started to slowly approach the light up ahead, Rainbow laying limp and crying frantically in her hooves. She looked up towards Fluttershy, hoping that she wouldn't take her into the light. She had wanted to go before, but now it was different. Something inside of her had clicked and now she just wanted to live. She wanted to live, and be with her. 'Please... don't take me into the light. I don't want to die! I know that now. Just please believe me!' she asked Fluttershy, but she continued to fly forward with a straight face. 'Please! I don't know what I wanted, I was just scared. I didn't know what to do. I want to live. I want to! I don't know what I would do if I lost you... Just please Fluttershy. I love you.' She stopped in dead in the air, her wings being the only thing that was moving. Fluttershy's face kept the same expression, and the light had become so close that the warmth coming from it was almost uncomfortable. 'Do you really love me, Rainbow Dash?' she asked, looking towards her with an antagonizing glare. Rainbow Dash let out a heavy sigh. 'Yes, I do. I'm sorry for what I did. I was just... scared. 'Then you can go back, Rainbow Dash, but it is always best to face that in which you fear, rather than run from it.' Fluttershy dropped her hooves, letting Dash fall into the endless abyss. She began to fall faster as she tried to call to Fluttershy, but her voice was mute. She still had no control over her body, so it flipped in a rag-doll style through the air, before impacting a wet surface below her. Her mind blackened as she lost connection with the dream. Rainbow cracked open her eyes, her body searing in a white hot pain. She could feel herself moving somewhere and water splashing over her muzzle. She was moving somewhere even though she couldn't actually move her legs. She felt the sand passing by her body, slightly massaging her bruised and broken body. She cracked her eyes open to the point where her vision was blurred. She couldn't muster up much energy to do much, or even blink. Through the pain that seared her body and the water that was in her lungs, she knew she was lucky to be alive. If it wasn't for whoever had come into the water to save her, she surely wouldn't have been here. Through the her blurred vision, she had a moment of clarity to see the cutie mark of who had saved her before blacking out once again. The flank of bubbles swam in the dark and dreams of unconsciousness.