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First Day2,865 words
Holding Out3,053 words
Things Start2,749 words
The Shift3,344 words
Mysteries3,062 words
Momentum2,861 words
Velocity3,198 words
Impact3,335 words
Recovery3,397 words
Poetry2,658 words
Before The Night...1,121 words
...And the Morning After433 words
Acceptance2,415 words
Moving In {Part I}2,027 words

Recovery

Fluttershy stepped out of the hospital room obediently of my parents. I waited for the door to close, then braced myself for the torrent of anger and disappointment that would surely come from mom and dad. The door closed gently and dad was the first to speak.

"How long has this been going on?" He asked.

"A-about a week..." I answered.

"Only a week? And she's sticking her tongue down your throat?" He asked. My cheeks heated, but I still glared at him.

"She wasn-"

"And I suppose you think she's 'the one', right?" Dad said in a mocking voice.

"I er- ye-" Again, they interrupted me.

"Of course she does. But it wont last, dear. She'll be back to normal after the break-up." Mom spoke up. 'Break-up'?! I don't even want to think about that.

"Mom, I don't think we'll brea-"

"Of course you will. Eventually, you'll realize what you're doing, then go right back to colts." I gawked at her. It was like they thought this was some kind of mistake they thought I was too stupid to catch on to. "Sadly, this will probably ruin that wonderful friendship the two of you had." She said 'had' as though it was gone, burnt, and buried. Like we'd never see it again.

It hit me like a train, the way they just thought this was a moment of childish stupidity. Like they thought there was nothing special between me and Fluttershy. They even went so far as to just say it now.

"Trust me, honey, I almost decided to go for a mare when I was your age, but I made the right choice and didn't. There is nothing special about... this." I'd had it. I wasn't just gonna listen to this crap.

"But she IS special." I said, loud and indignant, officially pissed off with my own parents. I tried to sit up, but the pain in my ankle stopped me. I clenched my jaw against the pain, and mom got all condescending on me.

"Don't hurt yourself over something so pointless." I glared at her, hating the fact that they just kept belittling my feelings. "Please, Rainbow, would you please try to see this the way we do?" So I thought about it.

"Alright." I said through gritted teeth. "Here's what I see: From your perspective, I'm a parent insulting my kid's feelings and trying to blow it off as having her best interest at heart. What I get from this is that you want your perfect child and don't care what your child wants to be."

Mom and dad looked shocked. They were quiet for a moment, and I thought I'd gotten through to them. But I should've known better.

"I don't want to hear any more of this." Dad said. "I don't want to hear anything about living together or marria-" I stopped trying to hear him at that point, but I still heard him numbly. I paid no attention as they listed off all they things they wanted none of, but I still caught the gist, and it wasn't a happy one.

"... and until you finally let a gentlecolt take care of you the way a mare never will, I will not hear anything from you." There was a moment of hesitation, as if they expected their threats to change my mind.

"Screw you, too." I spat. With that, they turned and left.

I hate it when I dream about bad memories. I lifted my head up to look at Shy, who was still asleep. I got up around her, trying not to disturb her, and gritting my teeth to not scream in pain from my ankle. I hovered in the air next to her bed for a moment, trying to decide if I should let her sleep, or take her to breakfast somewhere.

I tried to make up my mind while walking in circles in the room, trying to learn how to limp least painfully with this cast on.

I decided to let her sleep when I noticed a piece of paper on her desk. I don't know what about it caught my eye, but I couldn't resist the urge to take a peak at it. It looked like some kind of half-finished poem.

The Crack

There is a crack in the wa-

I heard Fluttershy stir and stepped away from her desk, not wanting to be caught reading her personal stuff. She looked at me a little groggily, smiling gently after a second.

"Good morning." She said. I smiled back and limped over to the bed to give her a kiss on the forehead.

"Mornin'." I replied. "Hey, it's Saturday, so we've got all day. You wanna head to Ponyville or something?" Her eyes practically sparkled at the idea.

"Oh yes! When can we go?" She asked excitedly.

"Right now would be great." I answered with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About an hour later we were arriving at Ponyville, flying in and landing near the orchard. I lead the way to the farmhouse, hoping to show Applejack something that I had in my saddlebag. Rainbow hadn't seen me pack it, and I wasn't sure what she'd think of it. It really wasn't her kind of thing, but then again, I hadn't expected Applejack to care for it either, but she did.

We ran into her brother, Big Macintosh, on the way there. He directed us to the barn, where he said Applejack was working, so we headed over there. We found her stacking hay bales in a large pile against a wall. When she heard the barn door swing shut, she turned to look at us curiously. When she recognized us in the dim light of the barn, her face broke into a warm grin.

"Well, howdy! Ya came back!" Rainbow put on a grin, which faltered while she limped forward. Applejack's broad smile faded as Rainbow leaned against me for support. "What happened to ya, RD?" She asked.

"Eh... nothing. I just- ow!" She tried to stand up again. She hadn't been adjusting well to not using her hind legs. Most ponies don't, from what the doctor told me, but luckily it was just sprained, so it'd get better soon. That didn't stop the concerned look on my face from breaking out.

"We got... attacked yesterday." I answered Applejack while helping Rainbow over to a comfortable place to sit.

" 'Scuse me? Sweet little Fluttershy and 'er best friend were attacked? Whatfer?" Applejack asked, helping me let Rainbow into her seat gently. Once she was sitting, she took a heavy breath, and let her eyes droop shut.

"I just... need a...nap..." She said softly as she fell asleep. I resisted the urge to kiss her cheek because Applejack had no idea about us. I must've looked so worried right now, because Applejack was giving me an odd look. Like she knew how worried I was.

"Y'alright, sweetie?" She asked.

"Y-yes. It's just... We... we were attacked by some kids from our school last night..."

"Why?" Her voice was full of concern. I don't know why I wont tell her. I'm not even sure why we didn't tell her last week. She's a great friend, and I'm sure we'll be friends for a long time, but I wasn't sure why I didn't want her to kno-

Sudden memories of the judgmental stares and the abusive words of my peers, all as results of learning about me and Rainbow being together. That's why I didn't want to tell her; I didn't want her, one of my only friends, to ridicule me too.

I looked at her again. She was an honest pony. She's never lied to me before, and I doubt if she ever will.

"C-can you keep a secret?" I asked quietly.

"If it's important to ya, then ta the grave." She said earnestly. I looked her in her emerald eyes. They showed complete concern and curiosity. I sighed heavily, readying myself for her reaction.

"M-me and Rainbow are u-uhm... t-togeth-" My voice quieted against my will and faltered before I could finish.

"What was that? Ah didn't quite catch that." She leaned in closer. My cheeks heated as I tried again.

"W-we're d-dating...." I mumbled quickly. She looked at me blankly for a moment, probably trying to put together the quiet pieces of what she'd heard. After a moment or two, her face shown with recognition.

"Oh..." She sat up straight, looking at Rainbow again, but with this odd look in her eyes; like she was looking at her for the first time again. She suddenly looked back at me. "Wait... she got beat up over that?"

"Yes... The colts were drunk, and they were...'forward' with me..." I said, trying to be subtle.

"Now what kinda trash heap would make advances on ya in front'a yur marefriend?" Applejack asked. I hid behind my mane at her apparent rage.

"I-I shouldn't have said anything..." I mumbled. Her face suddenly softened.

"Nah, Ah'm the one that should be sorry... T'aint mah place ta be mad." She sighed heavily with thought. We both got quiet for a while. A thought suddenly struck me...

"W-wait... You're okay with..." I gestured with a hoof between me and Rainbow. "...us?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't Ah be?" She said matter-of-factly. I simply gawked at her, not quite sure how to answer that. Rainbow stirred in her sleep, moaning softly as her bad leg twitched from a moment of pain. I watched her for a moment, then looked up at Applejack meaningfully. She glanced at Rainbow's cast, then back to me. "Oh..."

*sniff* I scooted closer to Rainbow as she stirred in her sleep. Her head made contact with my shoulder and she rested it there, sighing contentedly. "Sh-she's been exhausted since the attack, a-and I'm not sure how long she'll make it."

"Whatya mean?" I started stroking Rainbow's arm gently.

"H-her parents walked in on us... kissing in the hospital room. They w-weren't happy with her. They've cut her off 'Until she's straight again'." *sniff* My eyes are beginning to sting. I should really try to change the subject.

"Aw, Sugarcube..." She looked like she was thinking hard for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What 'bout yur parents?" Rainbow stirred in her sleep, again, but this time her face contorted in worry. I kept stroking her arm gently, hoping to calm her down.

"No, I haven't told them yet, but I haven't gotten a chance to, yet." I answered. Rainbow began to make fearful sounds in her sleep. She turned her head towards me and then her eyes flew open suddenly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing I saw was Fluttershy's concerned face, then I tackled her a hug.

"Oh, thank Celestia!" I said before immediately plant a messy kiss on her cheek. I heard chuckling off to my left, and realized it wasn't just me and Shy in here.

I looked over and saw AJ smiling broadly at us. I got kinda confused 'cause she wasn't confused about the kiss or the... close nature of our hug.

"Rainbow, what's wrong?" Fluttershy asked, and I looked back down at her.

"Er- I- Uhm..." The truth was... I'd had a bad dream. Real tough of me, right? I sat down in front of Shy, giving her a chance to sit back up. "Eh-heh...*cough* I uhm... I had a dream that uhm... That I hadn't gotten to Flash in time yesterday..." She looked confused for a second, then her eyes widened, and I guess she figured out what I meant. I mean, if I hadn't broken free of those jerks then Flash would've.... 'had his way'.

"Oh..." She said quietly.

"*cough* Ah've been a bad host. Ah should go get ya two somethin' ta eat." Applejack offered.

"Y-yeah... thanks AJ." I answered. She got up and walked out of the barn quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow looked kind of pale, but I doubt I wasn't a little pale myself. I mean, the thought of what would've happened if she hadn't broken free of Flash's goons.... I don't want to think about it, because it's bringing up horrible images in my head.

"Look. I don't wanna think about this, okay? It's bad enough that we did get attacked, but the idea that you could've gotten-" She stopped short of the word neither of us wanted to hear. She took a deep breath. "I mean, I almost didn't stop Flash. Could you imagine if I hadn't?"

"B-but you did..."

"I know, I know, but if I hadn't... I don't wanna think about it." She looked like she couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Th-then let's stop talking about it, okay?" I said, gently pulling her into a soft hug after she nodded. When I released her from the hug, she scooted over next to me, and we cuddled for a while.

"I take it you told AJ about us?" She asked after a moment.

"Y-yes... That's okay, right?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah... Yeah, if you trust her, then I don't see any reason why she shouldn't know..." She didn't sound so certain about it, but I'll think I'll just take this for what it is, and ask her first next time. She wrapped a wing around me tenderly, giving a squeeze, making me feel a little better about it.

Applejack walked back in with a tray of apple pies on her back and a bottle of apple juice in her mouth. She set the tray down on a hay bundle and pulled some plastic cups out of her saddlebags. She poured juice in the cups and handed one to each of us, then grabbed one herself and took a sip.

"How ya feelin', RD?" She asked.

"I'm good. Thanks for asking." Rainbow answered.

"Alrighty then. What brought the two of ya here ta me in the first place?" She asked, clapping her hooves together.

"I-it's just a social visit." I answered.

"Ah. Alright. Where were you headed ta next?"

I looked over at Rainbow. "Did you want to head over to the animal shelter, like last week?" She glanced at her cast.

"Sure... If there's any animals that don't need to knock me down like the pu-er- dogs did." She said.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure we'll find you something." I said with a giggle.

The dogs didn't knock her over this time. They have some kind of sixth sense that tells them that she's hurt and they should be careful. So she sat down tenderly, trying not to hurt her leg, and started rubbing their bellies. I giggled and sat down next to her, immediately being attacked by most the puppies.

We laughed and played with them for the next ten or so minutes, then left the animal shelter to find a place to eat. I led the way to a shop I'd seen a few weeks, but had never had a reason to go to until now. It was this sweet shop decorated to look like it was made of candy.

We walked inside and were greeted by two things: The first was the smell of delicious sugary treats, and the second was a bouncy pink filly that looked a little younger than me. She put on a big grin and trotted right up to us.

"Hi!"

"Uhm..." I glanced at Rainbow a little confused.

"Uh... hey?" She replied.

"Oh! Are you new in town?" She asked excitedly.

"No, we're just visiting."

"Oh..." She stopped bouncing, frowning a little sadly. She perked up suddenly and smiled at us. "Oh well! Can I get you anything?"

"Pinkie! You don't work here, you just live here." A yellow earth pony stallion in a baker's hat and apron said from behind the cash register. He smiled at us apologetically. "Sorry, we're letting her live in the upstairs apartment for now. I don't know where she's from, and she wont tell us, so we're letting her stay here because she insists it's the only good place for her to live."

"Not to mention it's convenient to the plot..." Pinkie mumbled.

"Pinkie, what does that even mean?"

"Not allowed to explain! Just leave it at that!" She bounced over to a staircase, turned to wink at us, then went up the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hay?!" I quirked an eyebrow at the baker.

"I'm sorry. She's an odd filly. What can I get you? After that... 'display' it'll be on the house."

We ordered some sweets and sat at a table while he prepared them for us. We chattered quietly about all kinds of stuff that I didn't even remember when the baker brought us our treats.

"Can I get you anything else?" We shook our heads politely. "Alright then. Enjoy." He turned to leave but stopped suddenly. "Oh! I'm Carrot Cake, by the way."

"I'm Rainbow Dash, and this is Fluttershy." I poked her gently with my elbow. He smiled warmly at us.

"Nice to meet you." His eyes landed on our food. "Oh! Enjoy, please." And with that he trotted off.

We dug into our food like he'd insisted, and it was delicious. We ate peacefully for a while, and it was nice just sitting next to Shy for a bit, but of course somepony had to interrupt us...

"HI!" The pink filly from ten minutes ago seemed to appear on our table, her face shoved in mine.

"GAH!!" I jerked away from her, causing my chair to tumble backwards. As I hit the ground, a stab of pain found its way up and down my leg. "Ohhh, buck me..." I hissed through gritted teeth, gripping my leg in my forehooves. Fluttershy was at my side in an instant, cooing softly and helping me up.

"Oh, I'm sorry did I do that?" Pinkie asked as she set my chair back up.

"You think?" I groaned as I sat back down.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that..." She looked sincere enough, plus she had this 'little filly' feel going, although I'm pretty sure she was about my age.

"*sigh* It's okay, uhh... Pinkie right?" Her smile snapped back instantly.

"Yep! That's me!" She bounced around our table excitedly, stopping next to Fluttershy. "What's your name?" She asked, sticking her face in Shy's. I probably should've been defensive or jealous, but I was too confused for that right now.

"U-uhm... Fluttershy." She answered, sounding just as confused as I was. Pinkie shifted her gaze to me curiously.

"Rainbow Dash." I said, anticipating her question.

"Oh cool! So, what brings you two to Ponyville?" She asked sitting across from us.

"We're here on a da-a-a-ay... off..." I said, catching myself, lamely, before I said date. Luckily, Pinkie didn't seem to catch on to what I was about to say, but she simply quirked an eyebrow. Fluttershy looked at me, seemingly using her eyes to ask me if I was serious. I shrugged at her.

"Okay?" Pinkie went quiet for a second. She watched us carefully for a while. After a second she got up and ran into the kitchen without a word.

"Pinkie! You DON'T work here!" I heard Mr. Cake yell from the kitchen, followed by some muted talking from Pinkie. I heard him give consent to something, then a few moments later Pinkie burst out of the kitchen with a cup balanced on her back. She set it down on our table between us.

"Enjoy!" She said, bouncing over to the stairs and heading up without even glancing at us. I looked at the cup, noticing two important details. The first was that it was a milkshake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

And it had two straws....

I glanced at Rainbow and she glanced at me. I looked around, seeing that almost everypony in the room wasn't even noticing the fact that it had two straws or even us in particular. I looked back at Rainbow and she just shrugged at me.

So we sipped at it gingerly for a moment, looking around to see if anyone was giving us funny looks, but nopony was... So we kept going, enjoying every moment, stealing sideways glances at each other, and all around enjoying ourselves. For once, we got to show affection in public, and nopony criticized us for it. Nopony ridiculed us, or even gave us a second glance. We were just a pair of young lovers.

It was... bliss.

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