Flash: Rebirth

by FlutterTank

The Warmest of Welcomes

Chapter 4
The Warmest of Welcomes

As Flash and Rainbow Dash flew back to Sugarcube Corner, they talked about their flying techniques. Rainbow Dash's favorite tricks and Flash's use of wind elements to reduce flight fatigue were their favorite topics. Time passed quickly and it was late afternoon by the time they reached the confections shop. Flash, having learned well from his mother during the short time she'd been with him, was a gentlecolt and held the door open for Rainbow Dash. She slipped into the building as quickly as possible and as Flash turned to shut the door behind him, all the lights inside went out. The little light Flash had was from the sun filtering through the windows, which had been covered with black tissue paper.

"Hello?" Flash called out. He was a little nervous; you had to admit this whole series of events was rather strange. Flash's mind started to race as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and he became aware of his surroundings.

What's going on? Why are the windows blocked out? What happened to Rainbow Dash? What was that noise? Did somebody just laugh? Something just moved! What was that? What's up with that shadow? Why is it getting closer? Oh Celestia, I'm gonna die! That's what they did! They welcomed me and made me feel safe and comfortable and seduced me with their temptress fillies. They made me feel at home so that when the time was just right, they could lure me into and empty house and kill me! They'll strap me down and rip off my wings and cut off my legs and cut me to pieces! Oh Celestia, please help me! I don't wanna die! They're getting closer! I'm surrounded! They're coming in for the kill! Oh my-

"SURPRISE!" The light flashed on as the deathly, lurking shadows became happy faces, full of warmth and love. Flash was frantic and scared. His heart was racing as if he'd just flown a 5 mile dash. His eyes darted all over the place: at the smiling ponies, all looking at him, at the streamers, balloons, and big banner reading "WELCOME TO PONYVILLE," and at the large buffet table, decked out with all kinds of confectionery delights: Cupcakes, Ice cream, Donuts, Muffins, along with all of Flash's favorite foods like Horseshoe Fly Pie, lemon squares, and coconut-caramel cookies. And, of course, there was a huge, three tier, blue and yellow cake with lightning bolts patterned on the sides.

It finally clicked in Flash's head, and just as steadily as this potential crime scene became a festivity, his gaping mouth and frightful expression turned into a wide, delighted grin and an expression of gratitude in the highest degree. As the six ponies he'd met that day stepped towards him from the crowd, their shapes ran like liquid, fusing the pink, blue, white, purple, yellow, and orange together. The beautiful, swirling color pallet dripped from Flash's eyes and ran down his face, restoring the image of the six greatest friends he'd ever had.

"Well," Pinkie Pie said, excited and bobbing up and down as usual, "do you like it?"

Flash had tried very hard to contain his emotions today. He didn't want others to get the impression that he was soft. But in the company of such kind, caring ponies who had gone through so much trouble to make him feel welcome, his composure broke.

"I-I," he stammered, pointlessly trying to hold back tears, "I love it! It's the best thing anypony's ever done for me!" As they came closer, he pulled them in for a group hug. His heart warmed with the beating of theirs and the seven friends all seemed to be in harmony.

Later, the party was in full swing. Everypony was having a great time; at least, almost everypony. Rainbow Dash was requesting her favorite song to the DJ. Spike and Pinkie Pie were dancing center-floor, the former with a lampshade on his head, making him all the more adorable. Applejack was blindly swinging at a piñata, the stick clamped in her teeth, just missing the heads of spectating ponies. Rarity, meanwhile, was trying to suppress her laughter at Applejack's foolish display. Twilight was striking up conversation with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, a group of three young fillies who hadn't yet earned their cutie marks and were trying very hard to do so.

But they weren't the ones Flash was concerned about. They were all enjoying themselves and having a great time. What Flash had noticed was the stunning, pink-haired pony sitting in a corner, head in her hooves a longing expression on her face. Something about her reminded him of himself at flight school, sitting alone, watching everypony else having fun, holding hands, giving hugs.

A spark suddenly ignited Flash's heart. He suddenly felt that just looking at Fluttershy would make him melt. He swallowed the butterflies that were rising into his chest and walked over to the DJ.

"Can I make a request?" he asked, shouting over the massive bass beat pumping from the speakers all over the room.

"Sure thing, dude," she said, "Whadya have in mind?"

"Something slow and soft."

"Trying to impress a filly, huh?" she asked ever so knowingly.

"Am I that obvious?" he said, a little embarrassed.

"Nah, dude. Just make your move. I've got your back."

"Thanks, so much," Flash said, ever grateful.

"No prob."

As Flash strolled over to where Fluttershy was standing, the song started, a slow, easy ballad. Flash's heart started pounding; he was heating up and his hooves were getting sweaty. When he got over to her, he calmed himself and said, "You don't look like you're having much fun."

She looked up at him with her tender, passionate eyes, and it was all Flash could do to keep from screaming at the agony she was causing him.

"I've never really liked parties, to be honest. But I don't mean I don't want to be here. It would be rude to not show up to a party you were invited to. I didn't mean to upset you-" the look on Flash's face obviously showed he wasn't angry at her, so she cut off. Instead, he swallowed his fear and asked her,

"Would you like to dance?"

She seemed a little surprised by his offer, but soon seemed to curl up tighter into the corner, pressing against the walls. She looked at the ground and gave a small whimper, her cheeks flushing rosy red. Flash's composure was starting to crumble. He couldn't take much more of this torture without doing something he'd regret. This filly just didn't play fair.

Mustering up all of his dignity into one final sentence, he put on his best, handsome, comforting face and said, "C'mon, it'll be fun."

It was a blind shot in the dark. He didn't know what he would do if she refused, but he prayed to all the Alicorns in the golden stable-in-the-sky that she said,

"Okay."

Elation. That was probably the best way to describe how he felt. He held her hoof as they walked out on the floor. That alone was huge to him. He was finally one of the many pegasi he had seen at recess.

They rested their heads on the others neck and slowly shifted back and forth, swaying to music. Her neck was soft and warm and her glorious mane was silky smooth and smelled of berries. Annoyed by the silence, Flash started the conversation.

"So, how long have you lived in Ponyville?"

"Oh, I've been here quite a while," she responded. "When I was a little filly, I was a very weak flyer. I got knocked off a cloud by Rainbow Dash, on accident, of course. But as I fell to the ground, a huge cluster of butterflies caught me. I'd never seen the ground before then, but it was so beautiful with all its flora and fauna, I just couldn't bear to leave. So, the Apple family helped me build my cottage on and unused remnant of their farm, and I've been there ever since."

She seemed much less shy talking about this. She was actually very passionate and proud of her history. After all, it was what made her, her.

Flash went along with it and told Fluttershy about his childhood. "Something like that happened to me before. Back in Fillydelphia, we lived near the coast, so we obviously did a lot of flying over the ocean. The air patterns are a lot different there. There are lots of unstable currents that test your skills and separate the greats from the average. One day, we were diving into the water to see who could go down the farthest. As you can tell, we were ridiculously stupid back then," Fluttershy gave a small giggle and Flash couldn't help but blush a bit. "I had everyone beat by a long shot because of all the speed training I did in my free time. But, I went so far down, I got swept up by a current. I was helpless there. I'd never learned how to swim well, just enough to get to the surface and take off. It was terrifying down there. I couldn't breathe and there was nothing I could do about it."

Fluttershy was intent. He had her attention and it felt good. He looked into her eyes and felt his heart skip as usual, but he could swear he saw something in her eyes, a twinkle or something, and Flash couldn't help but think they both felt the same.

He continued with his story. "So I'm being flipped and spun around and I don't know which way is up and I'm slowly being pulled down. Then, when everything was starting to get fuzzy and dark, a dolphin came up underneath me and pushed me up to the top. It saved my life, and ever since then, I've never had a thing against any animal and I've always done my best to be helpful to them.

"That sounds amazing!" she said excitedly, then after a short pause, "You know," she stopped again for a second, as if she was unsure what to say, "if you wanted to," she was looking at the ground again, her ears flopped down, "you could maybe come over tomorrow and help me with the animals?" She turned away quickly, afraid of his answer and hiding her intense blush.

"Absolutely!" Flash exclaimed, exuberant at the idea of spending a day with her. "I'd love to. I'll come over first thing tomorrow."

At that moment, the DJ announced, "Alrighty guys and gals. It's time for me to pack up and head home. Thanks for having me!" after a short applause, she packed up her things and walked out, followed by several other ponies. After a short time, the only ponies left were Flash and his six new friends.

"Thank you so much for the party, you guys. It really meant a lot to me."

"The party's not over yet, silly!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping excitedly. "You still have to get your present!"

"What present?" Flash asked. They'd given him food, clothes, and an amazing welcoming party. What more could they possibly give him?

"Only Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy can show you," Pinkie responded, "I hope you like it though."

"Here," Rainbow Dash told him, handing him a blindfold, "put this on."

He put the blindfold on and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy guided him out of Sugarcube Corner and up into the cool night sky.

The present obviously had to be airborne if only the two pegasus ponies could show him, but only made it harder to guess. What could they possibly give him that would be airborne?

Eventually, he heard Rainbow Dash's voice say, "We're here." He felt Fluttershy's warm, soft hooves on his neck as she gently pushed the blindfold off his face. As he looked around, he got very confused. All he saw was a modest cloud house floating openly in the sky. There was no present, and he couldn't pretend he saw it so, afraid he would offend, he asked,

"Where's the present?"

Rainbow Dash gave out a loud, obnoxious laugh. "Do you have cloud in your eyes or something?" she teased. "It's right in front of you!"

"All I see is the house," he said. "There's no present."

"The house is the present, you silly filly," Fluttershy answered, suppressing laughter.

Flash didn't know how to respond. He hovered there, mouth agape, his eyes filling with emotions for the second time that day. He looked back at the two pegasi who had helped in making him this wonderful gift. He bolted to the blue one, her eyes full of compassion and kindness, and held her tightly, his tears only slightly wetting her mane in their embrace.

Flash looked over at Fluttershy. Although she smiled, her eyes turned away, unsure if they wanted so much attention, even if it was only from one pony. This didn't deter Flash in the slightest, though. Instead, it only enticed him further to let his instincts and passion take control. He sprung over to the beautiful pegasus, her mane and coat shining, like her eyes, in the pale moonlight. He took her head in his hooves and quickly pressed his lips to hers.

His eyes closed and he felt her lips, taught and cringing, against his. He began to worry, as his excitement faded, if he had done something insanely foalish. But as his kiss died and he began to awkwardly pull away, he felt her lips soften and she began to pull him closer to her. Her front hooves slid up his sides and found their place, wrapped around his neck. Flash relaxed and slowly slid his hooves down to her neck. The two hovered there for quite some time, locked together in love and passion. Flash was euphoric. Nothing could possibly upset him, now. His heart fluttered and melted in his chest, gleefully in love. When he pulled away from the kiss, Flash saw those lovely, sea-blue eyes looking into his. Fluttershy's cheeks were a fiery red, but her expression was content and loving.

The two looked over, still locked in embrace, and noticed Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. She most likely left to give the new couple some privacy. Flash reminded himself to apologize the next day for not saying goodbye. Fluttershy turned back to him and spoke, while awkwardly pulling her hooves away from his neck.

"I guess I should get going," she said with a little regret in her voice, "It's getting late."

Flash felt a little disappointed, but understood they had to sleep at some point. "I'll stop by tomorrow, then," he said, remembering her offer from earlier that evening.

"Okay," she responded. And with that, she gracefully glided into the night.

Comments

[SureFreeD]

Gah! Too fast for a kiss dude! What the hell?!

[See ScriptScrolls]

D'AAAAAWWWWWWWWWW

[-Brutus]

54257 this.