Brony Recon: Ascension

by Freescript the Bard

Song of Hearts Part 4: Kiss From a Rose

Rainchaser's POV

I groaned as I tried to force my eyes open. Stupid sun… why does Celestia make you so bright? "Dashie, you forgot to close the blinds again…"

A moan from the other half of the bed signaled my fillyfriend's waking. "It was your turn," she complained, drawing the blankets over herself. "Now lemme sleep…"

Groaning again, it was obvious I wasn't going to get anymore sleep. I literally rolled out of bed, silently thanking Celestia for cloud-floors. Half-crawling half-fluttering down the stairs to the kitchen, I started the coffee machine. Rainbow didn't usually like coffee, resorting to her morning exercise in the weight room downstairs to wake up in the morning.

As I waited for the coffee to brew, I groggily stuck my head into the cupboard to pull out a box of oats. Apparently, in Equestria, oats are the equivalent of cereal. I'm pretty sure if ate these on Earth, I would immediately spit them out. However, like daisies and other flowers, oats tasted quite good on my equine tongue.

A series of grunts alerted me to Dash sliding down the stairs on her stomach. Foregoing using her legs altogether, she used her wings to propel along the cloud-floor. Continuing to slide, she made her way to the basement. It wasn't long before I heard the familiar sounds of weights being lifted and crashing back down. Yeesh, I could never do that in the morning.

A loud ding signaled the completion of the coffee. Trudging over to the machine, I poured myself a cup and added a generous portion of Sweet Apple Acres Coffee Sweetener. It looked and tasted almost exactly like apple juice, but was designed for use as a coffee sweetener, with the added benefit of removing the mid-morning crash one usually got from coffee. That, and it tasted like the morning drink of the gods (Luna loves coffee too).

Sipping the delicious beverage, I heard the telltale crash from the bench press and silently counted down. "Whew! Nothing like a morning workout, right?"

I just shrugged, taking another swig of coffee. Checking the clock on the wall, I saw it was nearly seven. Shift and Twilight would be getting home from whatever they were doing in Canterlot right about now.

"Hey, Chloe? Have you seen my towel?" I looked back to Dash, then began blushing. Dash was dripping sweat from her workout, her rainbow mane soaking and hanging in front of her face. Oh my Celestia, please let my wings be-- "Heh, nice bed-feathers, Chloe. You should really preen before going out." Buck.

"Your towel is in the wash," I said, covering my blush with a hoof. "Just please take a shower."

She gave me a seductive look, turning for the bathroom. Which, unfortunately, revealed her equally wet tail and flanks. On the bright side, my misaligned feathers were fixed.

As per my luck, the doorbell rang as soon as the shower turned on upstairs. My wings were still rigid. Sighing, I accepted my fate and trotted to the door, attempting to force my wings closed. I prayed to the Fausticorn it was somepony I knew. Scratch that, somepony I knew who was competent enough not to mention my aroused state.

I opened the door to a pair of light-blue insectile eyes. "Hey, Rain," Shift greeted before seeing my wings. "Um… were you stretching had a cramp, or are you just happy to see me?"

"Can it, Shift," I growled, effectively shutting him up. "What do you want?"

"Is Rainbow Dash in?" he asked.

I nodded. "She's taking a shower right now. She'll be down in a minute. Why do you need her?"

Shift looked around, as of he was missing something. His gaze stopped to the right of the doorframe, outside my field of view. "Twilight, would you please stop hiding?" he said, exasperated. "It's Rainbow Dash and Rain, Twi. They won't hate you for anything! Rainbow is LOYALTY for Luna's sake!

"Fine, but if you're wrong, you're gonna be a green stain on the cloud," she said harshly, stepping into view. At first, I couldn't figure out why Twilight was so stressed. Then her sides fluttered.

"Hey, nice wings Twilight," I said. "I thought you could only conjure butterfly wings."

She dipped her head. "Well, they're not conjured, per se…" Her hoof scraped on the cloud nervously. "They kind of… grew in."

At first, it took me a few moments to discern the difference between conjuration and random wing growth. Magic is Shift and Sky's thing, not mine, so you couldn't exactly blame my ignorance. The only magic I was aware I had was the standard pegasus cloud-walking/weather-control stuff.

Then it hit me. Twilight was standing on a cloud. A pegasus magic. "Oh my dear sweet merciful beloved baby Luna in her platinum crib," I whispered, shocked. "Are you telling me that you're a…"

Twilight nodded, dipping her head shyly. She abruptly perked up again at the soft sounds of wing beats behind me. Dash must have been done with her shower, and was fluttering down the stairs. Hearing this, Twilight jumped out of view again, making Shift facehoof.

"Shift, could you tell Dash before I come out?" she pleaded.

Shift groaned, but complied. My fillyfriend made her way to my side. "Hey, Shift. Sup?"

Once again, the Changeling sighed. His crooked horn glowed green and Twilight was for ably levitated into sight, her wings hanging limply as she flailed her hooves in a vain effort to escape.

"Dash, Twilight is an alicorn now, so I want your help teaching her to fly," Shift said nonchalantly. Talk about being direct…

"Okay." Hold on, what?

"You're not surprised that Twilight is now an immortal alicorn, possibly with goddess-like power?" I asked, surprised at the lack of a reaction from Dash.

"Nah, it kinda makes sense," she replied, surprising me once again. "If anything, it's about time. Sure, I'll help you learn how to fly, Twi."

Twilight was floating limp in the air, her jaw swinging on its joints. "Uh… thanks Dash," Shift said, just as shocked at Dash's collected disposition. "I guess we'll be… going… see you tomorrow…" With that, he changed into a large Royal Guard pegasus, picking up Twilight, who had fallen to the ground from a lack of magical levitation, and flew off.

Well, that was unexpected. I had read a few Alicorn Twilight fics on Earth, almost all having Twilight freak out at the appearance of her wings. I wondered how her family had taken the news, assuming she had already told them.

As I closed the door, I turned to finish off my coffee, only to find Dash sitting on her haunches with an exasperated look on her face. "It's so unfair!" she exclaimed at the ceiling.

"Huh?!" What da buck just happened? Rainbow had gone from cool and collected to frustrated and pouty. "But you were… with the… and I… what?!"

"Nopony can just grow wings! I mean, now she can use an awesome amount of magic AND fly!" the cyan pegasus complained. "Do you realize how much more awesome she could potentially be?!"

"You're jealous of Twilight?"

"Of course not!" she said quickly. "But now I have to work TWICE as hard to be the awesomest pony in Ponyville!"

Oh you have go to be kidding. "Rainbow Chromatic Dash!" I scolded, using her full name. "You listen to me. There is no way anypony, much less an egghead like Twilight, can match your level of pure awesomeness!" Dash cringed visibly and her eyes widened in shock at my outburst. "Besides, Twilight is a UNICORN for pony's sake! There is no way she has the natural talent and instinct of any true pegasus! Especially not you!"

Dash was motionless at the end of my reprimand, frozen in place. After a moment, she sagged and sighed, but smiled nonetheless. "Yeah, I guess you're right…" she admitted. "I could go for some music right now."

I smiled at her, then made for the sound system in the living room. The stereo worked like Vinyl's records, playing songs directly from memory. I put the headphones in and shifted through the songs in my head. AC/DC, Zac Brown Band, A City Alive… when it comes to music, I didn't really have a preference. Shrugging, I hit the 'random' button…

…and nearly broke down into tears.

Ba Ya Ya, Ba Da, Ba Da Da Da, Ba Ya Ya…
Ba Ya Ya, Ba Da, Ba Da Da Da, Ba Ya Ya…

Dash trotted into the room, looked at the stereo, then at my somber face. "Chloe, what's up?"

There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea
You became a light on the dark side of me
Love remained A drug that's the high and not the pill…

"It's his favorite song, Dashie…" I shed a tear. "Kiss From A Rose…"

But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and,
The light that you shine can be seen…

The tears came flowing down my cheeks. He used to sing this song all the time. When we were having a good time, the mirth forced it from him. In times of sadness or grief, he would hug us and sooth us with the calming melody. The memories it brought also brought along more tears, the liquid flow down my face now unstemmed…

To my surprise, Dash wrapped her cyan forelegs around my neck. As the next verse began, she started to sway to the rhythm. She was crying too, sharing the same memories.

Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah
And now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the grey…

We were now both swaying to the song of our lost friend, dancing in the middle of the living room. It was just her and I, physically. But in the song, I heard his voice singing it, lifting me up and telling me not to worry. I placed my hooves low on Dash's sides and drew closer, putting my muzzle below her chin level.

There is so much a man can tell you
So much he can say
You remain
My power, my pleasure, my pain, baby…

I leaned into Dash, still swaying. She gathered me up into her forelegs, keeping me close and putting her chin on my lowered head. The music continued unchanged, but to us it was sounding less and less like Seal and more like our fallen maroon lover.

To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny.
Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby?

But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and
the light that you shine can be seen.

Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the gray,
I've been kissed by a rose on the gray,
I've been kissed by a rose
I've been kissed by a rose on the gray,
...And if I should fall along the way
I've been kissed by a rose
...been kissed by a rose on the gray.

There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain
My power, my pleasure, my pain.

To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny, yeah
Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby.

But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and,
The light that you shine can be seen.

Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the gray.

Yes I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray
Ooh, the more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah
And now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the gray

Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the grey…

Still sobbing, we embraced each other, both leaning on the other's shoulders. "I miss him, Dash…" I told the cyan mare I loved. "I miss him…"

We drew into a kiss, wrapping our wings around us. It was a simple motion, one that express both of our grief. "I miss him too, Chloe," she replied when we finally separated our lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Author's Note:

MB: Gah! Must… get… chapter… done…! Need to… update… daily!

Skyblaze: *walks into room with three bottles of Mountain Dew* Hey, Markus I got the… whoa. Dude, you need to take a break for a day. Your 'luscious mane' ain't so luscious anymore.

MB: No! Must write… must finish-- *THUMP!* zzzzzzz…

Comments

[Sean1471]

wow just wow i can say proudly that chapter actually made me cry good chapter by the way

[M3Xkillers]

hmmm, One does not simply choose ONE POV (or in my opinion :P)

[LightningAce7]

More Aegis and definatly more Luna.

[JellyMyst]

I personally prefer quality over quantity, so I don't care if you update daily, weekly, occasionally or on whatever update schedule you like to use.
That said, I would love to see more canon-character POVs soon (big shocker there), like Shining Armor, Lyra Heartstrings or Fluttershy.

[Superswag420]

Great chapter.

Nuf said...

[Baraka Obama]

I couldn't help but smile at the sad part, yeah..... I'm a bit too sadist sometimes when dealing with death