A Rainbow Swiftly Lost

by Ferlathin

Chapter I - An unknown admirer

Diary entry #1 – Diary, really?

...

Dear diary...

"How do I do this? Am I really supposed to... What if... Bah." he muttered to himself. His mother had given him a diary on his birthday, for some reason she thought it'd help him. However, having a diary was not really considered the best way of becoming a cool stallion. If anypony finds out about this, I'm doomed. He thought to himself. His mother had always cared for him and loved him very much so if she said it was good, it probably was. He cast his prejudices away and continued to scribble down what he thought would be appropriate in a diary. As he did that he desperately tried to understand why a diary would be so good. He did not understand.

I'm Samuel ... He briefly sighed before writing his last name.

Swift. I'm Samuel Swift. I live in Cloudsdale with my mother and father. They work at the weather factory, so they're not home much. I've gotten used to being alone in our house, it gives me time to think. I like thinking, it's much easier than actually doing something. Now now, dear diary, it might sound that I'm awfully lazy, and I am, but I'm not chubby. Let me tell you about myself. I'm a beige pony with black mane and tail. I'm a little bit above average pony height, for my age, and I'm rather strong. At least considering that I'm not really working out. But being strong physically doesn't make you strong in mind. More on that later.

As Samuel felt that tears were coming he blinked them away and decided to end his first entry right there.

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Diary entry #2 – The shyest pony around

Dear diary,

Did I ever tell you that I haven't got many friends? I guess I didn't. When I say "haven't got many friends" I mean pretty much none. Not many days did pass without me being bullied in school. It could be because of my lack of flying skills (I wasn't very fast, a bit behind the other colts), sometimes they just decided to mock my black haircut. Other times it was just generic bullying, pushing me around, stealing my things such as my backpack and so on.

It was morning and maybe an hour left until school started. I decided to take a walk. I liked to do that since I escaped the daily chores at home and it got me time to think. The weather was splendid as usual. Even though the sun had not been up for long it was quite warm. The soft breeze made me feel refreshed, something I knew I needed for another day in school. I had been trotting around different parts of Cloudsdale for quite a while when I saw a small yellow filly lying in front of me on a cloud. She was upset, whimpering and sobbing.

"Hey there! What's wrong?" I said. The filly winced as I spoke, but did not reply. She just covered her face with her hooves. "What has happened? I'm not going to hurt you! Please say something!" I said. She remained silent. I sighed and thought about how I could possibly reach the little filly and tell it I meant no harm. My mind recalled something my mother used to do when I was sad. She used to sing for me. I can't really say I was an amazing singer, but I just had to give it a try.

A lonesome pony, walking about
He did see another, she was filled with doubt
He tried to reassure her, but she just wouldn't see
His warm intentions, washed away like debris

He wished that there was something, he could say, or do
He whispered to her softly, "I know what it's like, to be you"
"I'm also being bullied, every day, every week"
He then raised his hoof and, dried a tear from her cheek

As I dried her tear she looked up, for the first time since I saw her. I tried to give her my friendliest smile and it seemed to work. She stood up, still sobbing a bit. "Are you okay?" I said. She suddenly lunged herself at me and started to cry. "There there, things will be alright. What's your name?" I said, soothingly.

"F-f-fluttershy..." she said in between sobs.

"Fluttershy, that's a beautiful name. Tell me what happened, Fluttershy!" I said kindly.

"T-they took m-my l-l-lunch..." she said.

"Well... If you want... You could have my lunch!" I said selflessly.

"R-really?" she said, giving me the happiest look I had seen in a long time.

"Yes really." I said and patted her mane. I realized I had not introduced myself. "Ah, where's my manners. I'm Samuel Swift. You can call me Sam if you want!" I said politely.

"Hi Sam, and thank you!" she said sincerely. "Let's go to school so that we don't miss our first class."

And we went to school, together. Both happy that we had found a friend.

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Diary entry #3 – Beautiful

Dear diary,

Today something interesting happened. I saw somepony. Somepony really beautiful. It all happened during flight practice class. I usually fly alone, since I'm not as good a flyer yet as everypony else. I had just flown past the first three clouds when I heard a whimper. I slowly began to hoover towards the sound. I hid behind a cloud and cautiously hoovered just high enough to see what was going on. What I saw was terrible. I recognized where the whimper came from. A small yellow filly with pink hair, Fluttershy. She was currently being bullied by two colts both of them very much bigger than her. I had gotten used to being bullied, but Fluttershy, the poor thing, didn't take it so well.

"How's your flying skill today, Cluttershy?" one of them said in a non-friendly tone. He continued, "Fallen off any clouds lately? Hahaha."

"It's not everyday a pegasus is falling off a cloud in Cloudsdale needing to get rescued by a city guard... ... oh wait. It is! BWAHAHAAHA..." the second one said.

Tears were now streaming down the little filly's face. I had a hard time holding my own back too. I wanted to interfere. But just as I leaned back to push off I felt a hoof in front of my muzzle and another around my neck.

"Don't even think about it, oh no, you're so not interrupting our little fun." somepony said from behind. I struggled to get loose, but my attempts were futile. I couldn't interfere, I could just watch my friend.

Just then I saw them trying to push the terrified filly off the cloud and with little effort, they did. She fell, desperately waving her hooves around. They just laughed. Then suddenly, it happened. A blue filly flew past me and towards Fluttershy. She caught Fluttershy mid air and sat her down safely on a cloud nearby. She then turned towards the bullies.

"How dare you!" she shouted furiously. "Pick on someone your own size!"

And even though the bullies were slightly bigger than her, and despite the fact that they were two colts and she only one filly, they slowly backed away. The firm grip around my neck loosened quickly, as the third colt who had held me also backed off and escaped to his two friends below. I didn't know who the blue filly was. She was stunningly beautiful. And so self confident. She quickly flew back to Fluttershy, who was still lying on the cloud, shaking.

"Are you alright, there? Name's Dash, Rainbow Dash. Nopony should ever have to be bullied like that." Fluttershy answered only by nodding. Dash continued, "Let's get you home. Class is soon over!"

Her mane fit her name perfectly since it was rainbow colored. Rainbow Dash. I'd never forget her.

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Diary entry #4 – Lunch

Dear diary,

I talked to Fluttershy today. She told me about what happened. I was surprised since she was usually a shy, low-profile pony who didn't share much of her personal life. Something had obviously happened. I liked the change, and she said that she felt a lot better. We sat together during lunch. I didn't dare to mention that I saw the whole thing. Rainbow Dash sat on the other side of the school canteen with the other "cool" ponies. I glanced more than once in her direction, but she was busy telling the ponies at her table about her latest trick. At least I thought she was, since she made big gestures in the air.

One time I drifted away a little too long looking at Dashie, yes I called her Dashie. Only in my mind though, I wouldn't dream of doing it for real.

I slowly got drawn out of my dreams as Fluttershy whispered in her usual voice, "Are you even listening to me?" she looked at me, followed my gaze and finally noticed what I was looking at. "Ah, you know Dashie too? She's the one who rescued me when... you know..." she said and her voice dropped.

I did indeed know. I nodded dreamingly. As I realized she knew what I was looking at I snapped out of it. Fluttershy whimpered at my sudden movement. "I... Ehh. Wait. No! Umm... Sorry." My cheeks turned red, or so I think, since I didn't really see it.

Fluttershy realized what was going on. "You... You like her?"

I was speechless. I did my best to cover up. "I... It's not... Well. ..." I tried to wave my hooves in the air in a gesture to help me. It didn't really help. I slowly turned my head down, while blushing again and rested my forehead on the table. "Yes... I guess I do." I sighed, somewhat in relief.

"That's sooooooo cute!" Fluttershy said gladly. "Let's go tell her right away!" she started to trot away towards Rainbow.

"NOOOO!" I almost shouted, putting a hoof on her shoulder, then realizing that pretty much everypony in the canteen had stopped eating and were looking at me. WHY... Why did I do that? I thought to myself and galloped out with my cheeks red as the sun at sunset.

As I got home after school I couldn't stop thinking about what happened in the canteen. I'm such a mess! I thought to myself while doing the daily chores that had to be done in the house. I had gotten used to do them, as I mentioned earlier, my parents weren't home much. I finished cleaning the living room and went upstairs to my own room. It greeted me with its usual untidiness. My room was the only one I didn't have to clean. Books were lying here and there, and toys and stuff. Not much were on the walls, just a few posters I had made of beautiful photos. Cloud forms, birds and other things I had found beautiful. The sweet thing about living on a cloud is that you can pretty much change its shape or form to just the way you want it. However today I didn't feel like reshaping my room. I just laid down on my bed. So much had happened to day. I tried to gather my thoughts.

I must have been lying there for an hour or so. I heard my parents outside and went down to greet them. As usual it was time for dinner and as usual I helped my mother make it. As me and my mother finished cooking I laid the table and we sat down to eat.

"How was school today, Samuel?" my father asked with his deep and calm voice.

"It was just fine..." I replied, as usual.

After dinner I helped my mother to do the dishes. When we were finished it was getting late and I went up to my room.

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Samuel sat down at his desk and scribbled down the last few words of his fourth entry, describing what he had experienced today. He recalled what his mother once said,

"That's what you write in a diary. Your thoughts, experiences, dreams and special events. You don't have to write every day, but occasionally, when something interesting happens that you might want to read about in the future. Maybe to remind you of something that you might otherwise forget."

As he looked out the window he realized how late it was. He saw how the moon clearly shone its faint white light. It was all very beautiful, but he knew he could not look at it for long. A colt like him needs sleep to regain his strength. He went to bed, peaceful at mind and soon he fell asleep.

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Diary entry #5 – Meeting Dashie

Dear diary,

It's been awhile since I wrote something here. My life has not changed much since my last entry. I'm still getting bullied, and my self confidence isn't really sky high. I can gladly say that Fluttershy has been bullied quite a bit less since 'the encounter' with Rainbow Dash (Who still is super cute!). Well. What's special about today then, you ask as a diary should be asking, craving the knowledge of events and pretty much anything that's going on in the owner's life.

Err. It's like I'm TALKING to the diary. This can't be good. Is this normal? Samuel put down his pencil and bit his lip as he was thinking. Well. It can't be that bad... Who cares. I NEED to write this down! He eagerly took up the pencil and continued.

Fluttershy had been on me about talking to Dashie, I just couldn't make myself to do it. Why in Equestria would she want to talk to a pegasus like me!? I'm lacking confidence, being bullied, and I'm not even close to as good at flying as she is. Nopony is though. But that's not the case.

"You need to tell her eventually, Sam." Fluttershy said. We were sharing table during lunch once again.

"But..." I tried to start an excuse, but she interrupted me.

"Well, if you never talk to her, you'll never get to know her!" Fluttershy said kindly.

"You're right. As usual." I gave up. She was always right. So kind and caring. She was really one of the best friends one could possibly imagine.

She continued, "I can introduce you if you want. I sometimes hang out with Dashie in the afternoons, she's usually practicing a new trick or something. Should be good for breaking the ice!"

"Fair enough." I said reluctantly.

Later that day, after school, me and Fluttershy went up to the old race track. It was abandoned so there were lots of space and it wasn't many other pegasi around.

"Dashie doesn't like being seen when practicing." Fluttershy said. "It's not cool to be seen failing a trick. ... There she is!" she raised one of her forehooves, waved and shouted. "Hi Dashie!"

Rainbow Dash interrupted her trick and flew down to the two pegasi. "Hi Fluttershy, who's your friend?" she said.

"I'm Samuel Swift, but you can call me Sam." I said politely, raising a hoof as a greeting gesture.

"Nice to meet ya, Swifty!" Dashie replied, hastily patting me on my shoulder, completely ignoring my hoof.

"Well. I've got a lot of practice to do... so..." Rainbow Dash was scraping her hoof on the cloud. I knew exactly what she wanted to say, but then Fluttershy spoke up.

"I know I know. Can't we watch, as I usually do? Sam here is very honest and I'm sure he won't tell anypony about your practicing here." as she said my name she gave me one of those looks, 'I'm putting myself on the line here, Sam, you BETTER not ...'.

"I won't tell a soul, really!" I said, raising a hoof to my chest as an honest gesture. Dashie leaned in close and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Are you really sure about that..." She emphasized the word really.

I couldn't help myself as I looked into those big dark pink eyes. I let out a tiny "Beautiful!" and quickly lowered my head and said "Yes, of course."

"What's that you said?" she asked. Fluttershy, who obviously heard me, was smiling with all of her face, trying to hold back a giggle.

"It... It was nothing. I won't tell anypony. You should get started, you've wasted enough time already!" I said.

"Oh... Well yeah. I guess you're right." *Fwooooosh* she took off.

"Well hello there, Mr. Charming." Fluttershy said teasingly.

"Hey!" I replied and nudged her and we giggled together.

It was indeed an interesting evening. I was sitting there beside Fluttershy, my best friend, watching the filly I liked the most in the world doing awesome tricks. She almost did all of her tricks without missing a single thing, so when she actually did miss we were sure to point it out. But in a friendly way, like teasing. It was all very fun.

Eventually the evening came to an end and the three of us had to head home. We passed by Fluttershy's place first.

As we waved goodbye to Fluttershy Rainbow Dash said, "So. Where do you live?" I described the way to my place as well as I could. I was a little lost. I had not been at Fluttershy's place, so it was a bit confusing. Dash continued. "Oh, so you're the one who lives there, I've been wondering who lives there for some time now. Come on, my place is practically on the way!"

Curious about why she had wondered who that was living in our house, I followed the blue pegasus. I did however not ask, since I was still slightly nervous, just being around her. She didn't notice a thing though.

"So. How come I've never seen you around before?" she asked.

"I.. err.. ... Let's say I'm just not the most attention seeking pony." I replied.

She stopped, and looked straight at me, "Oh, so you're saying that I'm attention seeking, eh!" she said with a serious expression on her face.

"What... eh.. I didn't.. No?" I fumbled with the words.

"Haha, chill out Swifty. I'm just messing with you!" she said with a wink.

"Ah, eheheh... I knew that." I said while smiling sheepishly.

Somehow we managed to get to her house quite quickly even though I had wished for the trip to take forever.

"Well, here's where I live!" Dashie said.

"Whooa, you live in THIS house all by yourself!?" I said without thinking.

"Who told you that I live alone!?" she replied.

"Eeh... Fluttershy told me, I think. Why is that anyways?" I said curiously.

"Well... " Dashie's voice had gone from her normal happy and teasingly tone to a quite sad one. Her eyes also told me that it was a little bit too early for such a question. "... I've got much to do. Maybe I'll see you next week?" she said.

"Sure... And sorry, I should not have said that." I said.

"No biggie Swifty, you couldn't have known." she said with a faint smile.

I waved goodbye as she walked towards her place, which by the way was looking really awesome. At first look I thought there was nothing special about it, just a normal house. But as I looked closer there were loads of small clouds that were connected. It all looked really cool.

I bit my lip as I started to walk home. Bad Samuel, bad! You shouldn't have said that. I thought as I was walking. When I got home I went straight to bed, it wasn't that late, but I needed some time alone. To think. I had actually met and spoken to Rainbow Dash. She was indeed awesome, and I... Was not. I knew that something had to be done, and I knew that I really wanted to meet her again.

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Diary entry #6 – New class

Dear diary,

Last week we finished flight practice class, and since that's the only class me and Rainbow Dash has together I realized that I wouldn't be seeing much of her anymore. Unless... And here's the magic, dear diary! I applied for the 'Advanced flying techniques' class, and... I got in! Yay! I've already heard from Fluttershy that Dashie also got in, hardly surprising concidering how much she practices. She's so awesome. My flying has been going better and better since my last entry and I think I'm quite good at flying now. I'm not as good as Dashie obviously, but I think I'm better than the average pegasus.

The first class was today and I was quite excited. As I first got there I counted the pegasi, seven colts, including me, and only three fillies. We started off with some warm up speed races. Dashie excelled by reaching the goal first, every time. My performance were at best mediocre, with a fourth place as best placement.

After the 'warm up' I was feeling slightly ill since I was pushing myself to my limits. I simply had to stop and catch my breath. While I was in this moment of weakness, Rainbow Dash landed beside me. She was looking beautiful as always, and with her slightly confused look I just found her really cute.

"What's up, Swifty?" she said and as she noticed my rather heavy breathing she continued, "Lost your stamina already? You know, that was just the warm up!"

I coughed and said, "It's fine. I... " I coughed again "... just swallowed a fly."

My rather bad lie seemed to have worked as she said, "Hmm, okay. So, you ready to go?"

"Of course. After you." I bowed and pointed my hoof in the direction we were going.

"Always." she replied with a smile and took off.

The rest of the class went by without any special events occuring. We had some loop training, agility training, acceleration training and some 'own practice'. The latter was pretty much 'create your own trick'. I had some thoughts on what kind of move I wanted to create, but I didn't really show any of it. I guess I was a bit like Dashie on that point. Not wanting anypony to see me fail. Dashie on the other hand seemed quite busy during 'own practice'. I saw her flying around, very fast, though I could not see what she actually was trying to do. As the class ended I couldn't help but sitting down on a cloud just outside the training area. I sighed somewhat in relief.

"Finally..." I noticed Rainbow Dash coming, so I waved. She came and sat down next to me.

"Whoa. You look totally beat up, Swifty." she said.

I chuckled, "Well, miss Dash, everypony can't have as much endurance as you." I said it in such a way I knew it would irritate her.

"Hey! You can call me Rainbow." she said. I looked at her in admiration, she didn't even look tired. Her breathing was possibly just a tiny bit heavier than usual. "What?" she said.

"Oh, nothing." I replied.

Later that day me, Fluttershy and 'Rainbow' were walking home together. When we had left Fluttershy at her place I took the courage to ask. "What was it you were trying to do, on the 'own practice' time at class?" I asked curiously.

Rainbow blushed slightly, "Oh that, well. I've heard of this awesome trick that I really want to make. It's a legend, and only very few pegasi can actually pull it off." she said. It was obvious that she didn't want to go into detail just yet.

"That sounds pretty amazing." I said.

"Mmhmm." she nodded.

"Anyways. I should probably head home before my parents start looking for me..." I said, reluctantly.

"Do it. Sweet to hang out with ya, Swifty! Remember to start doing some workout so you can avoid getting embarrassed during class." she said with a sincere smile, but not without her usual teasing touch.

My cheeks got redder than tomatoes, but I swallowed my pride and said, "I'll be sure to do that, miss Dash." we both giggled. "See you tomorrow, Rainbow!" I said and waved as I left.

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Diary entry #7 – Hard practice

Dear diary,

I just could not get rid of her words. "Remember to start doing some workout..." Somewhere deep inside me I felt an urge to do it. Ever since that day, that first day of 'Advanced flying techniques' class my wings had practically begged me to work out more. I started lightly, just some push ups every morning before school, and it felt great. My body rewarded me with feeling stronger both mentally and physically. I bought myself another diary, a training diary where I put down all kinds of things that came into my mind while I was working out. Anything from how many push ups that seemed to be best for me, considering how much sore muscles I got afterwards and to how I best could maintain a good physical condition.

It had now been three weeks since we started 'Advanced flying techniques' class. Both me and Rainbow had gotten quite into it. I had gotten better at flying and during the warm up speed races I was now always second place, behind Dashie. One time she must have missed something really bad, as I was really close to flying past her just meters before the goal, but she managed to keep her first place. We pushed each other to our limits each time, and I was glad to see that I was not the only one of us being exhausted anymore.

We, me and Rainbow, still continued with what had become our training passes in the afternoons after school. Fluttershy usually hung out, watching us, cheering as good as she could. This particular day however, she was not around. She said that she had something to do, and hurried home.

"Bye Fluttershy! See you tomorrow." I said. Both me and Rainbow waved as the tiny yellow filly fluttered away. After some warm up, I sat down and scribbled some of my thought down in to my training diary.

Rainbow saw me sitting down and flew down to me. "Hey, why are you sitting here! Ain't going to get better by just sitting on a cloud all day!" she said, friendly but somewhat impatiently. Just as she always was. "Oh, what's that you're writing?" she noticed my diary.

"Oh this. It's what I'd like to call a training diary!" I said.

Rainbow snickered, "Haha. You're such a stud."

I ignored her teasing and continued, "It's good for my training. I can easily track how much I should work out, when I should take breaks, and what my current limits are."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, "Really? Just from writing it down, in a... a diary? It was almost as if she dreaded even saying 'diary', something that she obviously considered 'not cool'.

"Yeah. And it's very inspirational, makes you want to beat your old records and stuff. I like it a lot. You should try it too!" I said, smiling.

"Me!? Diary!? You WISH!" she said, seemingly half terrified by the thought alone.

I chuckled. "Now now, if miss Dash can't bring herself to do such a thing, may I suggest that maybe I can do it for her?" I said with my usual Dash-teasing 'way-too-formal' tone. I continued, "You want to get better, right?"

"Yeah... I guess I do." she made small circles with her hoof on the ground. "Would you really do that for me?" she asked.

Would I? I would do ANYTHING for you Dash! I thought to myself, before saying, "Yes of course! I'd be honored to help you out!"

The day after that I bought yet another diary from the bookstore in Cloudsdale.

Samuel started to think out loud. "Maybe... Maybe 'journal' is a better word for it... Hmm. Yeah, that sounds a lot better, I might just go with that instead. Now, where was I? Right." he continued to describe the day's event in his diary, which was from now on called journal.

I bought a journal from the bookstore after school and trotted happily towards our training area. Rainbow was already there, 'waiting' while taking a nap. Needeth I to tell you this, dear journal, she was looking gorgeous as she lied there, so peaceful. I mentally slapped myself to get out of it and poked her shoulder.

"Hey there sleepyhead. You good to go?" she jumped up.

"What! Who! Uuh. Hi... I must have fallen asleep!" she said.

"It can happen to the best of pegasi." I said with a smile.

"So... How do we do this? This whole diary thing..." she said nervously.

"I've decided to call it journal instead. I figured you'd find that more..." I paused dramatically. "... fitting. It'll be fine. Just think of it as an interview after we've done some work out. Any great athlete needs to be able to handle herself in an interview anyways, so might as well start that kind of training too."

We started off with some races, just to get ourselves warm. "You're getting better!" Rainbow said.

"Really?" I answered.

"Yeah. You're getting much closer to me now than before." she said.

Yeah, I haven't been this close to anypony ever. I thought happily to myself.

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Samuel had a hard time keeping the tears back. He sat opposite to his parents in the wagon. The wagon that was taking him away from Cloudsdale. Millions of pictures appeared in the little colt's mind. I can't let my parents see. ... He struggled.

"Where did I put my diar.. er, journal?" he asked his mother.

"Well, it's in your backpack. It should be over here... Ah, there it is!" she found his backpack in a jiffy and gave it to him.

"Thanks, mom" Samuel said with a tired sigh.

"Is everything alright, dear?" she said with her usual caring voice.

"Yes, I'm fine. ... Just a bit tired, it's so early you know." he answered. She accepted his reply and smiled as she saw him pull out the journal and start writing yet another entry.

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Journal entry #8 – Summer Flight Camp

Dear journal,

I just have to write this down. It's now been maybe one and a half months since my last entry. Everything had gone on fine, trainings and keeping journals updated for me and Rainbow. Why could it not just continue like that!?

It happened the day before yesterday, after a quite intense training with Rainbow. We both were rather exhausted, lying on a cloud close to where we usually practice. Since our little 'interviews' I felt like I had gotten quite close to Rainbow, and she made bigger improvements as well. I think she approved of how everything 'worked out'.

As we were lying there, I remembered that my mother used to give me a massage when I was sore, or tense somewhere. I recalled it being very relaxing. My mother had taught me how to do it, so that I could give her a massage every now and then when she got home from a particularly hard day at work. I can't really say why I had not remembered this before, but it probably had something to do with that I could not really dream of giving Rainbow Dash a massage.

"Aah. That was a great workout!" Rainbow said.

"Heh, yeah. Great indeed." I replied. "Would you like a massage?" I continued.

"A 'massage', what's that?" Rainbow asked with a confused look.

"Don't you know what a massage is? Really? Hmm. My mother used to give it to me, when I was tense or when my muscles were sore. It feels wonderful, I assure you." I said.

"Sure, why not! What do I do?" she asked.

"Just lay down, and enjoy." I said, she did so and I started to give her the first massage of her life. I started by really gently kneading her shoulders and neck.

"So what's the point of thi..." she interrupted herself exclaiming, "By Celestia, that feels great!"

I couldn't do other than smile and blush slightly. She likes it. I'm giving Rainbow Dash a massage and she likes it! I thought to myself. I continued for maybe about two minutes and then it happened. Her whole body just stiffened. I looked at Rainbows rather terrified facial expression. I followed her gaze and froze too.

Usually, everypony has this one incident that they refer to when saying "Well, this sure was bad, but not as bad as ..." This was that incident. I sense that your curious journal nature wants to know desperately what was so bad, why I did freeze.

Both me and Rainbow Dash were looking at the three colts. The same three colts that I recognized as 'the bullies'. They stood there with their jaws dropped, staring at us. I realized what Rainbow were thinking as I stood there, half bent over her giving her a massage. I literally flew up from my position, but it was too late. The damage had been done. The three colts were laughing so much so they almost started to cry.

"Rainbow Crash cuddles with her new best friend." one of them said.

"You got the picture, right? I want this moment immortalized." the second one said.

"And I thought she was cool, even though she was a just a filly. Now I know, and soon will everypony, that she cares more about relationships than anything else." the third one said as they left.

"Eheheh. It can't be that bad. I mean, summer flight camp ends tomorrow...." I said with the most sheepish smile I've ever had.

"You..." She stood there silent for a short while, clearly thinking about how to express her anger. She finally continued, "You. Planned. This." she pronounced each word slowly and with such a bitterness that it felt like the blood in my veins froze.

"I... I wouldn't dream of it. It was not my intention. I-i... I s-swear!" I stuttered partially while trying my best to keep my voice steady.

"What happened here, can never be undone. I'll be marked as a loser forever." she said and I noticed a few tears coming from her eye.

"But... " I tried again, still did not really work.

"It's too late. Didn't you hear, they got a picture." yet again she took a brief moment to let her words sink in, before she continued. "I'm going home, don't you dare speak to me again... ever." she emphasized the words home, dare and ever. She took off.

This was too much for me. I felt like I wanted to cease to exist. I, Samuel Swift, had upset Rainbow Dash, and as she said it herself 'possibly marked her a loser forever.' I sunk down in to the cloud. Sobbing. What else could I do. I had just possibly broken my friendship with the filly of my life. I started to walk home. After each heavy step I took I wondered if I could wake up. This was too much to be true. It had to be a nightmare. Alas I did not wake up, for it was all real.

The following morning it was hard to get up. I didn't do my usual work out. I didn't take a walk before school. It was the last day, 'hopefully' things would be forgotten tomorrow. Really. Who did I try to fool. I trotted slowly with my head low, ears hanging. Those in charge of summer flight camp had arranged this final day to be an outdoor day with different 'fun' activities. I write 'fun' for I did not really think that anything could possibly be fun again, ever.

I received a few odd looks, as I walked by other ponies. I'm not sure if it was all in my mind, but I think I saw ponies point at me, and whisper to each other. A bit further ahead I saw a large crowd of ponies, I wondered what was going on. I walked closer. As I got close enough I saw that it was a race. It was between Rainbow Dash and two of the colts I still refer to as 'the bullies'. Rainbow Dash was looking more resolute than usual. I tried to find Fluttershy in the crowd, but it was hard, since I was so short, compared to the fully grown pegasi that had gathered to watch the scene. Eventually I figured out that I could fly up, to get a better overview. I found Fluttershy. She was standing on a cloud, in front of the racers, holding a racing flag in her mouth.

Suddenly the crowd went silent as Fluttershy raised the racing flag. As if on a given signal she quickly lowered it, and the racers were off. The crowd cheered and I couldn't help but look at Rainbow Dash as she immediately took the lead. I watched her as she continued towards the first checkpoint. I turned my eyes back towards Fluttershy, or where she was standing before. She was not there anymore. I quickly flew down and asked the ponies in the front line if they had seen where she had gone. Everypony pretty much ignored me. They were just cheering as the race went on.

She must have fallen down! It took a few seconds for me to realize what I actually thought had happened. She must have fallen down. Everyone is busy watching the race. Nopony had noticed! FLY SAMUEL, FLY! I realized that time was of the essence and I immediately flew down towards what I only had heard stories about, the ground. I flew faster than I have ever flown but I could not see Fluttershy anywhere. As I had flown halfway to the ground I heard a huge *BOOOOOOM*, I stopped for a second and looked up. What I was looking at was amazing, I saw a huge rainbow appear way up there, around Cloudsdale. I knew right away that it was no ordinary rainbow. She pulled it off... She actually pulled it off! I remember thinking before diving further down towards the ground.

A moment later I saw the green ground appear before me. I desperately looked for the tiny yellow filly. After a minute I found her, I immediately shouted, "Fluttershy!" and flew down towards her. "Fluttershy! Are you okay? I thought you were dead for a while there!" I hugged small yellow friend, who winced at my way too quick landing.

"Oh I would have been, if it wasn't for that huge explosion that scared all these butterflies." she sounded more confident than ever and continued. "And look, I got my cutie mark! Apparently I can talk to all these creatures in a way nopony else can!"

I sighed in relief. "So you're okay?"

"Never been better!" she said and smiled.

"Are you ready to go back up?" I said, kindly.

"I don't want to! I've finally found out what I'm good at, and now you want to take me away from them?" she gestured at the various animals that had gathered around us.

"But, it's the last day! And what would your parents say if you never got back! And where would you live?" I asked her and continued. "Even if you leave them now, it's not forever, you could return here, where you obviously belong, when you've spoken to your parents!" I said once again kindly.

"You... You're right." she said and turned to the animals, "Don't worry little ones, I will come back soon!" The animals looked only slightly reassured after her comment.

"Will you be able to fly up there?" I asked Fluttershy.

"Um... You.. You know I'm not the best flyer..." she said.

"Would you like me to carry you?" I asked politely.

"Would you?!"

"Sure, no problem." I said.

Fluttershy was actually a lot lighter than I expected. Getting back to Cloudsdale was no problem. I sat Fluttershy down as we got back up and we continued towards the racing area. As we got there I saw that Rainbow Dash had won the race. No surprise there. I thought to myself. She actually managed to do a sonic rainboom.

Fluttershy who had not yet seen Rainbow had decided to thank her 'hero' for saving her. She trotted in front of me, her cheeks blushing, she leaned in and kissed me on my cheek while whispering, "Thank you, Sam. I'll never forget you." taken quite by surprise, I can now in retrospect say that I'll never forget that moment either.

Normally I would not have minded getting a kiss on the cheek as thanks from my best friend, but as I received it I realized what actually happened. What was wrong with me. How could I have such an infinite amount of bad luck?

Rainbow Dash was looking my way, she had raised one of her hooves in a greeting and were smiling but as she saw me receive a kiss from Fluttershy her hoof stopped it's motion. The smile on her face quickly disappeared into a surprised look and I could swear I saw a tear in her eye. She quickly turned and walked away.

I shouted desperately, "Rainbow... Wait!" as I tried to fly after Rainbow my parents appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and pulled me down. "Let me go!" I said angrily.

"What's this we've been hearing! Have you been flying down to the ground!? All by yourself?! What did you think?!" my father said sternly.

"What if you would have gotten hurt? You would have been unable to fly back up!" my mother added.

I tried to answer. "But my friend Fluttershy fell down, I just had to..."

"You didn't 'have to' anything, son! Why did you not call on the city guard?!" my father replied.

"I.. But." I felt that I could not hold my tears back any longer, but I still tried one last time. "I... I h-have to talk to R-rainbow D-dash!" I said in between sobs.

"That, my young colt, is out of the question. You're going straight home. Don't forget to pack your bags, we're leaving tomorrow."

"L-l-leaving!?" I said, realizing that this nightmare could just not get any worse.

"Yes. Don't tell me you've forgotten that already. We told you that after summer flight camp we were moving to Canterlot." my father said.

With my heart, once again, broken and tears in my eyes I were forced home. I did not sleep at all that night. I couldn't.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Samuel had now written the last words of his eighth entry. Rainbow Dash's last words still echoed in his mind, "Don't you dare speak to me again... ever." that in addition to the look on her face as she saw him being kissed. It all got too much. He started, yet again, to cry silently. Her mother noticed it immediately and switched places so that she sat down beside him.

"There there, what's wrong, my favourite little colt?" she said soothingly, while patting his mane.

"T-there's this filly. I ... I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her. I possibly marked her as uncool for the rest of her life. And I liked her so much." he pushed himself close to his mother's safe embrace.

She shushed him and said, "I'm sure that you'll find somepony special in Canterlot too."

"I don't want 'somepony'. I want her. She's... Awesome..." he said.

Instead of replying, Mrs Swift started to sing a song for her young colt. The soothing sound of her voice soon made him forget all his troubles and he fell asleep.

Hush now

Hush now, my friend
It's time to be silent
You will soon, be sleeping

Hush now, again
Your worries leaves you
And there'll be, no, more weeping

The world will go on, the tears will dry
And you'll be fine, my friend

You'll find, again, the sweetest of friends
And they'll all, help your heart, to mend

Hush now, my friend
It's time to be silent
'Cause you, will soon, be sleeping

Hush now, again
Listen to my words
They'll keep you from weeping

You're about to grow up, and your life will be filled
With both sadness and joy, and love

And you'll live on the ground, lots of ponies around
No more thoughts of the one, above

Hush now, my friend
Soon you'll wake up,
And you'll see everything's okay

Hush now, my friend
It's time, to let go
There will be, yet another day

Hush now again
Hush now, my friend
...

Comments

[d3z194]

AWESOME. I need the next chapter man, seriously.

[Aregularreader]

O___O. That was amazing.
Make more, chapters PLEASE!
That was great man, just great. Some of the best reads I have read here. 5/5

[FireFlash13231]

i get first thumbs up! this was so awesome cant wait for moar

[OverClockedWoliver]

i1173.photobucket.com/albums/r581/zavard45/59660af7.jpg

[Zoom zoom]

ah come on guys. it's good enough to continue but it's also a decent stand alone. goes with that entire sad thing. Sometimes life just goes on and you never get to see them again. Heck I'm only guessing more is coming because he didn't have a diary entry about Rainbow doing well at the best young fliers int he news or something and moving on.

[Ferlathin]

Hi there everypony!

I feel the need to comment. Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you all seem to like it. I was quite nervous before releasing it since it's not only the first pony-fic that I've released, but the first story thing I've ever released.

Obviously if there's something that you feel is missing, or is plain out bad feel free to comment about it. However please do try to keep the feedback constructive.

Regarding a second chapter. The thought of making it a one chapter wonder crossed my mind, but.as the story itself suggests (incomplete) there will be more chapters to follow. I'll do my best to get part 2 out asap. I might lock myself up this weekend, just to write write write. But as of now, part 2 is not finished.

[nicholascagefanatic]

The great cage demands more if u do ge will send a box of cookies to u

[Ferlathin]

Feel free to add a comment on why you would downrate it. If you do. So that I know what I can do better until next time.

Thanks in advance! o/