Hummingbird Heartbeat

by bats

I

I

Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof to knock. The action was an old one, well-worn and automatic; she had knocked on this door countless times in her life. She paused, her hoof stopping inches from the surface, and she studied the faint swirl of wood grain hidden under a coat of red paint. The paint was bright and fresh; as fresh as the rest of the cottage, which was always alive with song emanating from all the birdhouses and the buzzing of insects in the sod roof.

Rainbow knew why the door’s paint was so bright. She had repainted it herself some three weeks before, bending down to dip the brush into the can, and slopping off the excess to keep from dribbling any drops on the ground. She had repainted it slowly and neatly, sweeping the bristles around the brass handles and hinges, until the door shone.

It was one of the most careful acts she had performed in recent memory, repainting Fluttershy’s door.

Her raised hoof drifted forward and she pressed against the door with a touch too gentle to make a sound. She felt the paint, thick and even, sliding her hoof along the surface. Her leg drifted lower until she found it.

And there it was, hidden by the thick coat, but permanently stamped in the wood. A hoofprint. The contours of the horseshoe held such familiarity: sleek and narrow with streamlined bolts to hold it in place, pressed into the hard plank in an imprinted copy.

Rainbow Dash was not always careful with her money, but she saved up for shoes. The few she had purchased when her wallet was slim threw off her flying. The mark in the wood was hers, when she bucked the door nearly off its hinges again. Her kick had torn up the old paint.

That’s why she had been so careful in repainting the door; not only as an unspoken apology to Fluttershy, but as a half-thought-out symbol of starting fresh. Again, she was starting over with Fluttershy; the wound of the kick delivered in anger not gone, but covered up in a layer of paint, hidden away from where anypony could see unless they knew where to look.

And here she was again.

Rainbow closed her eyes and a sigh escaped her muzzle. She leaned her forehead against the door and stood in silence.

Three weeks and they were on a break. Again.

“Fluttershy,” she whispered into the wood, “I still love you.”

Rainbow stepped away from the door, her brow drawn together with sadness and worry. She backed up in retreat, turned, and fled into the sky on her powerful wings. In a blink, Ponyville proper was underneath her, the townsfolk milling about the market, smiling and laughing. She turned and flew across downtown. The glittering liquid rainbowfalls surrounding her house grew in clarity at her approach, and she flew in through her bedroom window. She landed on the raised platform around her bed and fell into pacing, the smoothed cloudstuff springing beneath her hooves.

“Keep it together, Dash,” she told herself. “This has to happen. You can’t keep doing this.”

A frown marred her face as she wandered to her dresser. She slid the dog-eared stack of Daring Dos aside and lifted the framed picture in her hooves.

There they all were. Her and all her friends at the park, smiling for the camera after a picnic. When she squinted, she could see the sweat matting her coat in places; having landed after an impromptu series of stunts for the portrait. She probably stank like a beast at the time, but that didn’t stop Fluttershy.

It was funny looking at it. Her wing spread across Fluttershy’s back to press their withers together, smiles on both of their faces, more at each other than the camera. On the other side of Rarity and Pinkie Pie stood Twilight and Applejack, smiling directly at the camera and not looking at each other, their bodies separated by a comfortable foot of space.

‘So funny how everything changes,’ she thought, running her hoof over the image of her friends. The time blurred the weeks between the photo and when Applejack had marched up to the library with her mane combed and her hooves washed, knocked boldly, and announced to Twilight that she had ‘come a-courtin’.’ In Rainbow’s recollection, it might as well have happened the day after that picnic.

Rainbow Dash had been in the room to check out a new Do, but Applejack didn’t pause in embarrassment for a second. Rainbow thought she might have been able to roast a marshmallow on Twilight’s face, but her friend had said yes anyway. That had been over two years previous, before Twilight had become a princess.

If the photo had been taken that day, an extra set of wings wouldn’t have been the only difference. Rainbow could see it in her mind as clearly as if it were real: her and Fluttershy an awkward foot or two apart, either pointedly not looking at each other or a gaze met from only the corners of their eyes, while on the other side of Rarity and Pinkie, Twilight’s wing held Applejack close.

Her friends falling in love reminded Rainbow of a pair of trees she had seen in the Everfree. Somehow, through a strange trick of the sunlight, their trunks had bent towards each other over the countless years they’d grown, until they pressed together and twisted around one another. A sense of age and timelessness radiated from their enmeshed trunks; the trees were one instead of two, and as slowly as it happened, it seemed it had always been that way.

“Lucky stiffs,” she muttered, smirking at the picture. Twilight and Applejack had become the new constant in everypony’s lives as they grew closer together, two trees entwining their trunks into a single life.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash’s relationship was more like a tree knocked over in a stampede.

Rainbow sighed and set the photo back down. She ran a hoof through her mane and resumed pacing. Her wings twitched at her sides and her mind reeled, going down old paths in an endless loop, one she couldn’t break out of. Thinking was never her strongest point; Rainbow Dash, mare of action, did things. Thinking in circles had become far too common for her, though.

She scoffed and flew back out of the window. Flying always helped; the reprieve from stillness, coupled with wind in her mane and feathers, transformed her. She truly lived in the sky, soaring from spirals to loops, somersaults to hairpin turns, going faster, racing herself, racing to beat everypony who ever lived.

Despite the freedom of the air, Rainbow’s mind spiraled faster, down a tunnel leading backwards.

It had started with a race, too.

Rainbow Dash beat her wings past the point of burning, her eyes locked on the final cloud ring, so close to the ground, so close to her, with Hoops ahead and closing the distance. She grit her teeth in a wild grin; Hoops didn’t stand a chance.

Sending her challenger away in a spinout, Rainbow felt the world tighten around her, the air compressing in front of her hooves, her wings shaking and threatening to hurl her off course to join Hoops. All at once, the air parted.

A thunderclap shook the sky as she went through the ring and rocketed up. The air was smooth again and she was flying faster than she ever thought possible. She glanced over her shoulder and a smile stretched across her entire face. Whatever had happened, Rainbow Dash had won, hooves down. She tore through the checkered finish line with a rainbow trailing behind her.

She landed on a cloud in a strut, and was immediately swarmed by ponies: classmates, teachers, and random pegasi that had flocked to the site. The small cloud had enough hoof space for less than a third of them.

“Was that you, kid?”

“I’ve never seen anything like that before!”

“I thought it was a myth!”

“What’s your name? The Cloudsdale Chronicle will want to hear about this.”

“I never thought I’d see—”

“To imagine it could be real—”

“A filly really performed—”

“A Sonic Rainboom,” they chanted in sync.

A hush fell over the horde of ponies, squashed together in a circle around her. She brushed her messy mane away from her eyes, still panting from the exertion of the race. She blinked while looking around the crowd. “A what?”

“A Sonic Rainboom!” they called. A filly in Rainbow’s class, Sweet Pop, bounced forward. “I read about it in a book once! It’s a pegasus legend nopony’s ever seen before!”

“Reading? Barf.”

“But it’s true!” a stallion exclaimed, nodding in excitement. “It’s never been seen before and thought to be impossible! Everypony everywhere will know your name—err, what is your name?”

She puffed out her chest. “Rainbow Dash!” The crowd leapt back a foot and grabbed the cloud by the edges. They lifted and Rainbow gasped in surprise as she was flung off her hooves.

“Three cheers for Rainbow Dash! Hip-hip!”

Rainbow bounced on the cloud only to be flung up a second time.

“Hooray!”

“Hip-hip!”

Rainbow landed again and started giggling. They tossed her back upwards.

“Hooray!”

“Hip-hip!”

“Hooray!”

Rainbow could totally get used to this.

Laughing as she landed on the puffy cloud, she climbed back to standing and glanced around at the faces beaming at her. A shock of bright color caught her eye and she looked over her shoulder.

“No…way…” she gasped. Her eyes lit up and a painful grin stretched across her face. “I got my cutie mark!” She leapt off the cloud and somersaulted in the air, her fatigue forgotten. She whipped around searching out the familiar face of her best friend. Fluttershy was probably too timid to approach with such a large group of ponies around, but they had been Blank Flank Friends for years. Forget the cheers over the Sonic Whatever, she needed to celebrate with Fluttershy.

A frown cut through her elation. Every which way she turned, she couldn’t catch coat nor mane of her friend. Most everypony was right in front of her, with Hoops and Dumb-Bell slinking off in the distance. Her brow creased. “Has…has anypony seen Fluttershy?”

“That scaredy-filly?” Pinkie Feather scoffed. Rainbow glared daggers and snorted, making Pinkie back up a pace with her eyes wide. “I-I mean, no, not since she started the race.”

Rainbow’s frown deepened and she took off from the group, heading back towards the starting mark. Fluttershy was nowhere to be found as she looked, pulling apart larger clouds and peeking under shadowy ones, searching her timid friend’s go-to hiding spots. Rainbow darted down and her breath caught in her throat.

The starting flag lay half-embedded in a small puff of cloud, well below the racetrack.

“She…she fell?” Rainbow’s eyes widened until they stung. “No! Fluttershy!” she screamed, her voice echoing across the sky. She beat her aching wings and blazed downwards, away from the white and blue world she had always known.

“You have to be okay,” she whispered into the wind fleeing around her. “You have to be.” She shut her eyes and specks of water blew away from her cheeks.

Levelling out, she landed on the grass and stumbled. Ground was so hard compared to clouds. She hopped a few times, bewildered at the sensation, then whipped her head around the unfamiliar landscape. So many obstacles impeded her vision and she wished she was back in the sky: clouds were easier to scan. Her heart thumped in her chest as she wandered in panicked circles through the trees. “Fluttershy!” she screamed again, desperation flooding her voice. “Fluttershy, answer me!”

Tears dribbled down her cheeks as she ran faster. “Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay…”

The soft voice made her skid to a halt. “Rainbow?”

Relief crashed against her like a gale, dropping her to her belly. She forced herself back to standing, her whole body shaking, and rushed towards the call at a full gallop. “Fluttershy!” Her voice hitched and wavered. “Are you hurt? Where are you?”

The trees parted and she found her friend, surrounded by several types of animals she’d never seen before. At her wild approach, they fled back into the woods, and Fluttershy raised a hoof after them, some form of protest dying on her lips. Rainbow tackled her to the ground before she could say anything.

“Fluttershy! You’re safe! Oh, thank Celestia…” She hugged Fluttershy tight, drawing a squeak, and nuzzled her friend’s neck, leaving a smear of frightened and relieved tears across Fluttershy’s coat. “You fell, and I didn’t notice! I’m so sorry, I could’ve lost you! Y-you’re my b-best friend, and I c-could’ve lost you!”

Rainbow sniffled, pressing Fluttershy to the ground. Her friend, despite being older and taller, always felt so fragile. She had a hummingbird heartbeat and she trembled to the touch, and her breaths were always shallow and rapid. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Rainbow whispered.

Fluttershy got her wits about her and hugged her friend back. “Everything’s okay,” she told Rainbow. “I’m okay; a group of butterflies caught me.”

“Thank Celestia.” A ragged breath shook Rainbow’s body. Without a thought passing through her head, she turned in the embrace and kissed Fluttershy’s cheek.

Rainbow sprung away as if struck, her whole face turning red to match her messy bangs. She stared awestruck as Fluttershy sat up and touched the spot she’d kissed with a hoof. “R-Rainbow?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“I-I’m sorry, I was just so—” Rainbow whimpered and looked around wildly. She wanted a cloud to bury herself in, but the foreign world of the ground was covered in plants and hard stuff. She thought about flying away, and even opened her wings before a gentle hoof caught her cheek. She turned back.

Fluttershy brushed her swooping bangs away from her face so she could see Rainbow with both eyes. “You…like me?”

Rainbow couldn’t read Fluttershy’s expression as her friend edged closer, mesmerized by wide eyes in which she could see her own reflection. Rainbow looked frightened, and her cheeks were matted with dirt from her tears: more like a lost kitten than a pony. She didn’t look cool at all. She looked like how she felt. A fool. A foolish little filly bawling her eyes out over a friend. A friend older than her by a year, who was too shy to talk to anypony the same age, but talked to her for some unfathomable reason. Her best and only real friend. She whimpered again.

“Like…like-me, like me?”

Rainbow’s throat didn’t want to respond. Numbly, she gave a nod and looked away, shutting her eyes. That same soft hoof drew her back. She kept her eyes stubbornly shut, not wanting to see the look of shock and fear in Fluttershy’s face; she’d seen that look enough, her sweet and quiet friend’s features distorted by every bully, every cruel jest. She didn’t want to be responsible for that same look; not then, not ever.

Rainbow felt tiny, humid puffs of breath on her muzzle. She opened her eyes despite her better judgment.

Fluttershy sat a bare inch away from Rainbow. Her nervous expression held both shock and fear, but not the same as Rainbow expected. Rainbow held her breath as Fluttershy leaned in and kissed her on the tip of the snout.

Rainbow blinked, completely dumbfounded.

“I…I thought I was the only pony who liked other fillies,” Fluttershy whispered. “I never thought you’d ever like me back.” She leaned away and let her mane fall over her blush-tinged face.

Rainbow’s slack jaw closed and her lips turned up in a face-splitting smile, wider than when she won the race, wider than the one she got from all the cheers over her Sonar Whosawhatsits. She leapt at Fluttershy and hugged the trembling filly again, nuzzling cheek to cheek. Fluttershy squeaked and giggled, and it was music to her ears. She started laughing, too.

“Oh, Fluttershy, this is awesome!” she chimed, her voice cracking. “I’ve wanted—but we can now! Fluttershy, will you go out with me?”

Fluttershy sat back from the crushing hug and smiled at Rainbow: a sweet smile that made Rainbow’s heart race. “I’d…I’d like that.”

Rainbow leapt into the air and pumped a hoof. “Oh, man! I can’t wait to get back home; I’m gonna be the best girlfriend ever, just you watch! C’mon, let’s go!”

Fluttershy’s smile fell as her gaze turned skyward, back to the clouds off in the distance. “…Home?” She looked around the clearing. Her animal friends had edged back and watched the two of them solemnly from the trees. “Rainbow…I’m not going back.”

Rainbow’s wings froze and she landed hard. “Wh-what? What do you mean you’re not going back?”

“This is where I’m supposed to be.” Her voice came out soft, but there was a strength of conviction in it Rainbow wasn’t sure she ever heard from Fluttershy. “I’m supposed to be on the ground, with these animals. It’s my destiny…see—” Fluttershy stood up and turned, revealing the three pink butterflies on her flank. “—I got my cutie mark.”

A wave of giddiness overtook Rainbow and she grinned again. “I got mine, too! From the race!” She turned to show off the colorful lightning bolt flashing down her gaskin. “It’s what I’m supposed to do! I was born to be…in the…air.”

The smile slid off her face as she turned back to Fluttershy. A great distance grew between them in the solitary foot of space, and Rainbow’s heart thumped painfully. “What…where are you gonna go?”

“There’s a little town not too far from here,” she answered, looking away. “It’s called Ponyville. I have a cousin who lives there, if I’m remembering right.” She turned back to Rainbow and their eyes met.

“So…” Rainbow shuffled her hooves. “What about…going out?”

Fluttershy looked back up at the clouds and a little smile graced her face. “It’s…really not that far from Cloudsdale, is it?”

Rainbow looked up, and then back around the trees. “It’s…really not.” She smirked. “Nopony really comes down here ever, but I can fly it in a second!” She puffed out her chest for a moment, then pawed at the ground, her tone growing sheepish. “So…you still wanna be my special somepony?”

Fluttershy stepped forward and nuzzled her cheek. She squealed, and then coughed to cover up the totally uncool noise. Clearing her throat, she put on a challenging grin. “Alright! So…send me a letter when you’ve got a place? And we’ll…like…go do stuff?”

Fluttershy giggled and nodded. “It’ll be a little hard, but we can make it work, can’t we?”

“Totally!” Rainbow hesitated for a second, then stepped forward and kissed Fluttershy’s cheek again. She jumped into the air and started the ascent back to the racetrack, turning and calling over her shoulder, “You can count on me! I won’t mess up and hurt you. I promise.”

Comments

[BrackMadar]

“You can count on me! I won’t mess up and hurt you. I promise.”

oh Rainbow i´m afraid that is a promise that should never be done

[world1245]

First chapter and I'm already feelin' the feels. This is the point where I love and hate you Bats.

[DarkSonicTrail]

SO CUTE CHAOSDAMNIT *rage quit*

[journcy]

That was the most perfect TwiJack thing I think I've ever read.
This is FlutterDash.
Bats pls

[Man StuffX]

this is amazing best one yet