The Marriage of Heaven and Earth

by RoyalBardofCanterlot

Letters

Sometimes Fluttershy worried she was a bad pony. Sure, she had dedicated her life to the care of animals and always treated everyone she met with kindness. Still, there was one pony she worried she might not be a very good friend to.

Pinkie Pie.

Now, she enjoyed Pinkie’s parties (who didn’t?) and they often shared tea together. Sometimes she could be a bit loud and scare her animals, but Fluttershy tolerated that. Pinkie was a good friend who made everypony she met happy. But, there was something about her Fluttershy just flat out couldn’t stand. Pinkie Pie, you see, had stolen Rainbow Dash from her. Of course, Fluttershy had no real claim over Rainbow Dash. Her feeling of jealousy was utterly irrational. But Dash was her first friend. Dash had defended her from childhood bullies. They had once flown together through the clouds, snuggled on cloudbanks. It was all innocent friendship, but sometimes Fluttershy wondered if it could have been something more. That had never happened though and now Fluttershy was involved in a secret romance with Big Mac. Of course, she and Dash still hung out. But Dash didn’t hang out with her nearly as much as she hung out with Pinkie. Pinkie, after all, was Dash’s marefriend. When Pinkie and Dash had announced that Fluttershy had had to leave the room on the pretense of going to the bathroom. Those utterly irrational jealous thoughts had nearly caused her to lash out.

'What in the world could you see in her, Dash? She never takes anything seriously! She’ll only hurt you in the end!' Fluttershy had wanted to scream at her rainbow-maned friend. Instead, she had kept her peace. Two weeks ago, both Pinkie and Dash had disappeared. Dash had sent her a letter explaining the fight she’d had with Pinkie. She had decided to spend some time practicing her flying on the famed Megan’s Hill Ridge of Dream Valley. Pinkie had come on home to Ponyville today and been asking around for Dash. Nopony knew where she was.

Nopony except Fluttershy.

“N-no. I-I don’t know where she is. I haven’t seen her.” Fluttershy stuttered as she wilted under Pinkie’s sad gaze. Pinkie was standing at the door to her place.

“Are you sure? Do you know where she could be?”

Beads of sweat broke out on the pegasus’s forehead beneath the relentless, blue gaze. “Sh-she told me not to tell you, I’m sorry.”

Pinkie’s face fell.

“Please forgive me.” Fluttershy whimpered, lowering her head. Her pink mane fell across her face.

Pinkie sighed. Fluttershy had never seen her so down. Her mane hung limp and straight. Her eyes were red with crying.

“If…if I gave you a letter would you give it to her?” Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy nodded. Then she embraced her. Pinkie rested her head on her stomach.

“I love her. I love her so much. I just want a second chance with her.”

Fluttershy held her.

'If you love her, why’d you hurt her? Do you have any idea how devastated she is? Do you have any idea how much you mean to her? If you ever hurt her again…I’ll be very disappointed in you!'

She said none of this. She only stroked the party pony’s mane till she stopped crying.

“Pinkie, would you like some tea?” Fluttershy asked, sweetly smiling. “I have some wonderful chamomile. It’s calming.”

Pinkie wiped her eyes. “That sounds nice. But I need to write that letter.”

“I have some paper and a quill.”

Pinkie followed after Fluttershy. Fluttershy put on some paper while Pinkie rested on the couch. A squirrel jumped on her lap and she stroked its head. It chittered happily.

“Aw, he likes you.” Fluttershy cooed. Pinkie smiled. The yellow pegasus found a quill and a paper and handed it to Pinkie. Pinkie popped the quill in her mouth and began to write. Fluttershy went to attend to her tea.

Pinkie stared at the words she’d written. She wasn’t sure they made sense. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted to write.

'Dear Dashie,

I forgive you. Please forgive me for not listening when you tried to explain things. I just want to hold you again. I just want to see you again. I want to watch you do tricks just for me. Every time I look to the sky I remember your beautiful fur, running my hooves through it. Please come back home, Dashie. I miss you.'

“Fluttershy? Do you have an envelope?”

“Somewhere around here.” Fluttershy answered, trotting into the room with some tea. “You can put it on the counter. I’ll send it.” She hoofed Pinkie the tea then sat down on the chair with her own tea.

…

A few days later, Dash was gliding over the hills. It had been a peaceful and relaxing week. She was bored out of her skull. The ponies of Dream Valley were among the friendliest she’d ever met. In fact, they were a bit too friendly. She had gone out drinking the night before. She still remembered the strong, earth pony stallion she’d met. She corkscrewed several times before she snapped her wings shut and let herself fall towards the ground. Just as she was a few feet from hitting the hill, she spread her wings and soared over it. She landed in the valley to the cheer of an audience that had gathered to watch her stunts. She felt the warm glow that always came from applause and took a bow. Then she returned to the sky. She flew from the hills and found a cloud to rest on. The stallion she’d met had been cute, there was no doubt about it. He was a chestnut brown pegasus with strong wings. Everything about him looked strong. She had fantasized about wrapping herself up in his wings. They had sat drinking together before stumbling to a motel room. He had gone to kiss her, but then she had pushed away.

“What’s wrong? I thought you wanted this.” He’d said.

“I thought I did.” When he’d gone to kiss her all she’d been able to think about was the sugary taste of Pinkie’s lips. All she’d been able to think about was Pinkie. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this!”

Then she’d ran from him, leaving him baffled. Dash laid back on the cloud. This wasn’t like her. She’d had lots of break-ups and most of the time was able to move on from them. Pinkie had unceremoniously dumped her. Why couldn’t she move on? Why couldn’t she stop thinking about her? And most pathetically of all, why had she kept Pinkie’s blanket? She rolled over and decided to take a nap. She drifted into a light sleep. When she awoke she felt a sudden urge to go to the post office. She’d opened a post box here so she could send and get letters from Fluttershy, the only friend she’d contacted. She’d been trying to work out her feelings, but her mind was still confused. She left the cloud and flew into town. She could feel it, the subtle resonance that told her a fellow Element Bearer was trying to contact her. It was faint and she was surprised she could still feel it.

After all, she had rejected her Element. She trotted to her P.O. Box and opened it. There was a scroll inside.

“Pinkie?” She whispered as she took it in her hooves. The memories all flooded back to her. Shared laughter on long love-filled nights. Days they spent planning and pulling pranks. The scent of her, sweet yet somehow earthy. She held the letter in her hooves, then thought about crumpling it up.

'You want to see me again? I hurt you Pinkie. I betrayed you, betrayed the very thing I’m supposed to be.'

She held the letter uncertain as to what to do with it. Maybe she should write back? She flew from the cloud and headed back to town. She searched the market and found a quill and piece of paper. Then she glided back to the hotel room she was staying at. Ten minutes later she had a quill hovering over a parchment and absolutely nothing would come to mind. Finally she wrote something.

'Pinkie, I’m a stupid jerk. I hurt you and I’m sorry. I betrayed my Element when I let Gilda kiss me. I’m not worthy of you. Please, let me go.'

Her stupid eyes mutinied and tears fell on the paper. She then put it in an envelope and headed to the post office.

…

It was the next day that Pinkie received the letter. She read over it and then went to her room to write a letter of her own.

'Dashie, I forgive you. Everypony makes mistakes. There was this one time I ate a bunch of cupcakes and Mr. Cake docked my pay for eating the merchandise. It’s happened a lot actually. Nopony’s perfect, including me. Please come back home.'

She then raced down to send the letter. Derpy was flying by and took it for her. She got Dash’s letter back the next day.

'I’m the Element of LOYALTY and I cheated on my marefriend. That’s a little worse than eating cupcakes.'

Pinkie shook her head after she read that, got another parchment and began to write.

'What do you want me to do, Dashie? Shout at you? Beat you up? I forgive you, okay? I’m the Element of Laughter, but sometimes I get sad. We’re not our elements. And Gilda told me what happened. She’s a good friend. It wasn’t your fault.'

…

Dash sat in her room reading the letter Pinkie had sent her. She set it down, sipped some cider and got a new piece of parchment. She began to write.

'Gilda is kind of a crappy friend. I don’t feel like I’m a good marefriend. A good marefriend wouldn’t have let another mare kiss her.' She then headed to the post office to send it.

Reading and sending letters to each other became a daily ritual.

'Hey Dashie.' Pinkie’s letter began. 'Applejack came by here today. So did Twilight. They miss you. We all miss you. I want to watch you fly again, I want to hear your voice. I want to be wrapped in your wings. They always made me feel safe cause I knew they belonged to a fearless warrior who would protect me from anything.'

…

'I’ll come back soon I promise.' Dash’s letter responded. 'I guess I’m working things out in my head. What do you do if you lose connection to an Element? I feel like I have. How can I be Loyalty if I betrayed you? I’ve lost part of myself and I don’t know where to find it again. You say it wasn’t my fault, but I could have pushed her away. Part of me thinks I enjoyed it. I’m sorry.'

...

'It’s a kiss, Silly. Of course you enjoyed it. Doesn’t mean you wanted it. And I asked Twilight. You *can’t* lose a connection to an Element. It’s part of you. It always will be.'

…

'If that’s true, Pinkie, why do I feel this way? I can’t deal with it. I don’t know what to do. I hate feelings sometimes.'

...

'Sounds like you need somepony whose special talent is making others happy? Somepony like me? I bet Tank misses you! Hey, where is Tank? Did you bring him with you? Gummy misses their tea dates.'

…

'As if. I took Tank with me. He was nestled in my saddle bag. I guess I’m just afraid to hurt you again. I love you Pinkie. I’d never want to hurt you, but I have. What if I hurt you again?'

…

'Remember that time I woke you up in the middle of the night even though I knew you needed to get up early? Remember all the times I’ve been annoying and hurt you without meaning to? We’ve gotten through so much together. I want to make you smile again.'

…

'We have gotten through a lot haven’t we? You remember when we fought Nightmare Moon (how could you not?) and we all got spooked by those crazy trees, but you laughed at them? I thought there’s an awesome mare. I think that’s when I started falling in love with you.'

…

'We’ve been through so much more than that, silly! There was Discord and the Changelings. There was that time I went crazy and Twilight went a little loopy too. Then there was that nasty King Sombra. We saved an Empire together, remember? We can get through this too. As long as we do it together!'

…

'I don’t know if I could have gone through it all without you at my side. I mean I love Twi and AJ and Fluttershy and even Rarity like they were my sisters, but you have always meant something more to me. Your laughter carried me through it all. I want to hear your laughter again. I’ll be coming home soon.'

…

Dash soared over the Bellephron Mountains and over the Flutter Valley Republic. Below her the lush, emerald valleys and still woods spread out before her, between them little towns and valleys nestled in the shadow of the great hills. She was far from Ponyville, but she would keep flying till she reached her beloved. The hills gave way to the Great Grass Sea, the plains that the Dream Valley Ponies had walked during the Blizzard. Flags fluttering in the breeze, emblazoned with the sun and moon, told Dash she was approaching her homeland. She wanted to fly till she got to her, till she could wrap the party pony up in her wings. Still, her wings were straining against the cold air and her breaths were coming in short bursts. She went into a controlled fall and landed by a well. She grabbed a bucket, dipped it in the well and drank deeply. She sat to rest for a few moments before taking to the sky again, this time letting her wings catch a thermal that carried her in the direction of Ponyville. She passed by her cloudhouse briefly to leave Tank. Then she landed at Ponyville’s outskirts and was suddenly knocked over by a pink blur.

“Pinkie, what the…?”

Pinkie buried her muzzle into Dash’s neck.

Dash instinctively covered her in her wings. Pinkie’s sweet scent filled Dash. She had not realized how much she missed that scent. Pinkie wrapped her hooves around her. Dash could feel Pinkie’s tears soaking her fur.

“I-I r-really missed you!” Pinkie cried, tightening her embrace. “I went back home and I thought I could forget, but I couldn’t! I couldn’t forget you! I couldn’t make myself stop loving you!”

“I couldn’t either.” Dash admitting, running a hoof through her cotton candy-like mane. For a while they just held each other. Neither wanted to let the other go so they didn’t, not until the sun sank to its resting place beneath the western horizon. And even then they walked so close that their fur brushed together.

“So, how did you know that I was coming?”

“Pinkie sense.”

“Ah. Pinkie…there’s something we need to talk about. I get why seeing me kiss Gilda upset you, but why didn’t you let me explain? Why did you immediately assume I’d betrayed you? And this isn’t the first time. Remember that birthday party where you thought we’d all abandoned you?”

Pinkie was silent and Dash was afraid she’d said something wrong.

“I’ve been abandoned before. Every marefriend-or coltfriend-before you has left me.”

“Pinkie, I swear to you by Poseidon, Celestia and Luna I will never abandon you.” She said as she wrapped a hoof around her.

“Never?”

“Never.”

Pinkie moved away from Dash and began rummaging in her saddlebag. She pulled out a box and opened. A diamond ring sparkled in the starlight.

“Prove it.” Pinkie challenged. “Marry me.”

Dash’s jaw worked up and down. “Pinkie we just got back together. Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.” Pinkie said, more serious than Dash had ever heard her.

“This could be a terrible idea.”

“And that’s stopped us since when?”

Dash laughed, the first time she’d really laughed in weeks. “Alright, Pinkie. Yes.”

Pinkie whooped loudly and jumped into the air before tackle-hugging the pegasus. Unfortunately the ring flew into the air. Dash raised her wing and the ring slipped onto a feather. Then Pinkie’s lips met hers and she lost herself in the taste of sugar.

Comments

[dream1990]

5912545 okay

[NightHawk114]

Nice sweet chapter

[VioletPony]

Awww!~ Yay!