Three Seasons

by shakealchemist

A Bad Idea

Dash stood at the edge of a cloud, flexing her wings impatiently. She shot a distasteful look back at flight school. 'Come on guys, school's out, let's leave already. Hate this place. Only thing good about it is hoofball. At least I'm headed for Rarity's place. Can't wait to see her again. It's been a few days since our date.' Dash couldn't help but smile at the memories of that day. A sudden kiss on her cheek made her jump back in surprise. She turned to see Sunbeam hovering just past the cloud she was on. "For Celestia's sake Sunbeam, don't startle me like that!"

"Sorry. Couldn't help myself. Seems like I only ever see you at practice." He said and nuzzled her.

Dash cringed, feeling uncomfortable. 'This isn't okay and needs to stop. I'm with Rarity now. Better break it to him that I'm not interested.' "About that . . . we need to talk." Dash started, gently pushing him away.

"Practice isn't canceled, is it?" Misty Dawn asked, trotting up from behind.

"Huh, what?" Dash spun around, caught off guard by her appearance.

"Sunbeam told me it was cool if I wanted to join and that Derpy didn't have a partner to practice with, so I thought I'd tag along." Misty said, and Dash noticed Derpy was standing alongside Misty.

"Oh, well . . . no, everything's fine." Dash couldn't do it in front of them. 'I'll just have to talk to him privately some other time.'

"Alright, cool. Oh and Dash . . ." Misty Dawn went up close to Dash's ear and spoke softly. "Since when have you two been a couple?"

Dash looked away and blushed. 'Oh great, he must've told the whole team about our kiss, and now everypony thinks we're dating.' Dash couldn't believe her bad luck with this, the timing couldn't have been worse. "I . . . uh, a couple of days ago." Dash felt forced to admit. 'Ah, horsefeathers.'

* * *

Arriving at Rarity's house, they greeted Hondo in the front yard.

Dash started to head toward the house to say a quick hi to Rarity when she was stopped by Sunbeam.

"Hey Rainbow, where you going? Not much room for running routes by the house." He pointed out.

"I, uh . . . was just going to the restroom." Dash said to excuse herself.

"Ok, I'll be waiting." Sunbeam started to lean in and for whatever it was about to be, Dash wasn't about to allow it.

She put a hoof up to stop him. "Hey, let's . . . uh, keep it professional while at practice." Dash told him. 'That'll buy me some time till I break it to him.'

"Right, gotcha." He said with a wink. He trotted a short way away before taking a seat on the ground.

Dash blew out a breath and hurried inside. She quickly found Rarity playing with Sweetie Belle in the living room.

Rarity carefully rolled a ball, with her magic, to her younger sister. Sweetie in turn poked it back to her. "Come on now Sweetie, use your magic." Rarity encouraged, demonstrating.

Sweetie Belle nodded and focused. Straining, she got her horn to glow but ended up smacking the ball away and laughing.

Rarity shook her head with the hint of a smile. "Honestly Sweetie Belle, you try me sometimes." She muttered with a sigh before turning to Dash. "Afternoon Rainbow. Sweetie, say hello to Rainbow Dash." She told her sister.

Sweetie Belle excitedly scrambled up to Dash and spread her hooves out for a hug. "I wuv you, Wainbow Dass." She squeaked.

Dash smiled and hugged her. 'I'm not one to care much about foals, but that was pretty freaking cute.'

"See, I can teach her some things." Rarity said proudly.

"Not that I doubted you, but hey, I was just stopping in to say hi. I got to get back to practice. I'll see you afterward, okay?" Dash said looking at Rarity as she let Sweetie Belle go.

Rarity nodded. "I'll be here with Sweetie."

"Cool. See ya then, you too Sweetie." Dash said and ruffled Sweetie Belle's mane before heading back outside.

* * *

Rarity hummed to herself as she laid out some fabric to measure.

"Hey, Rare." Dash's voice came from behind her.

Rarity turned her head around to see Dash leaning against the doorjamb. "Finished with practice? I was about to get started on a project, so you're welcome to take a seat on my bed and talk as usual." She said smiling at the uselessness of pointing out that last part.

"Actually . . . I was thinking . . ." Dash said trotting toward her.

"Yes?" Rarity egged her on.

"It's been a few days and with the long flights and practice . . . I could use a good preening."Dash said and bit her lip.

"Hmm, very well. Same spot as last time." Rarity approved the idea and hopped onto her bed.

Like a bolt, Dash assumed her position and waited for Rarity to take her place behind her.

"Wing out." Rarity ordered and Dash's right wing obeyed. Rarity carefully took the wing into her hooves and started her work. "So Dashie, when did you realize that you loved me?" She asked curiously.

"Uh . . ." Dash thought back but drew a blank. "I don't really remember, but I can tell you this. From the moment I first saw you I thought you were the prettiest mare I'd ever seen. Too pretty to be waiting in line for my autograph." Dash confessed.

"Awww." Rarity nuzzled Dash's cheek. For a minute a silence came over them as Rarity continued to preen her. "Well? . . . Aren't you going ask me the same thing?" Rarity spoke up.

"Huh? Oh, uh . . . I don't really care actually." Dash said with a shrug, then jumped at a sharp pain. "Ow!"

"Sorry, broken feather." Rarity said with a snide tone and snorted angrily as she set the plucked feather aside.

'Well, I messed that up real fast.' "Go ahead and tell me." Dash said, trying to make it up to her.

"Oh no, as you said, you don't care."

At that, Dash thought better of opening her big mouth again, until Rarity got started on her other wing. "Rarity? Could you . . . do that one thing?" Dash asked nervously.

"That one thing?" Rarity asked confused, halting her efforts.

"Where you massage the base of my wing." Dash explained.

". . . Like this?" Rarity asked, moving a hoof over and rubbed the muscles at the base of her wing.

"Yyyeah." Dash said relaxing instantly.

"You know Dash, You feel so tense, and as I suggested before the spa here in Ponyville will take better care of you than I can."

"Yeah, but the whole point is that it's you doing it." Dash said looking over her shoulder at Rarity with a dream-like look upon her face.

"Aw, Dash that's so sweet of you." Rarity gave her a peck on the lips that Dash returned.

Dash turned around and gave her a more passionate kiss as well and started a hoof on her side as well.

Rarity giggled softly and pushed Dash away in a smooth motion. "Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? I wasn't done preening you, you know."

"Oh, ah . . . right." Dash turned back, sitting down. "Sorry, a good preening can get a pegasus kinda . . . heated, if you know what I mean." She explained.

Rarity made a puzzled face. "I thought you said there was nothing sensual about preening."

". . . Yeah, I did . . . I lied." Dash admitted simply.

"Rainbow!"

"What? You wouldn't have done it otherwise." Dash defended herself.

"Well, at least I know I'm good at it apparently." Rarity said with a smirk and some pride.

"It's certainly different."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that I've never seen, let alone had a pony preen with just their hooves before. Not that it's bad, just different." Dash informed her.

"I use my magic as well."

"Ha! Yeah, for my least favorite part, pulling feathers." Dash scoffed.

'It's not like I'm an expert at this, but I guess I could always learn more.' "So what would you recommend?" Rarity inquired.

"You remember how I was preening myself?"

Rarity took a moment to think back and then made a disgusted face at what Dash was suggesting. "Are you serious?! Do you realize how dirty your feathers get? You didn't even shower after practice. You're lucky I'm even preening you now." Rarity said, put off at the thought of using her mouth to preen. 'All that filth.' She shivered.

"Yeah, I know. The only other thing I can think of is being more gentle when pulling feathers." Dash said kicking her hooves out, back and forth, grumpy at the rejection. 'Shoulda saw it coming.'

"Of course." Rarity nodded, making a mental note. She hopped off the bed once finished with Dash's other wing. "Are you going to stay over again tonight?" Rarity asked as Dash examined her wings.

"Uh . . . no. I'm visiting a friend tonight."

"Oh . . ." Rarity started, obviously disappointed. "Do you think we could make sleepovers a regular thing? Like once a week?" She suggested.

Dash paused then looked at Rarity knowingly. Of course, she wanted to snuggle up with her at night, even Dash had to admit it was better than sleeping alone. "Yeah Rare. Sounds cool to me. How's . . . Mondays?"

Rarity looked taken aback. "A school night?"

"Well, games and whatnots are on weekends so . . ." Dash responded. Whatnots being parties, hanging out, as well as official practices once they started back up again.

"But you won't have any games for a while . . . how about Fridays?" Rarity counter-offered.

Dash thought about it. " . . . Deal."

* * *

"Yo Gilda, how's it going?" Dash greeted, flying up to the table her friend was sitting at.

"Not much." Gilda mumbled, sliding Dash a mug of cider as she took a seat across from her.

Dash immediately took a greedy swing from it.

"I heard you and Sunbeam are a thing now." She commented.

Dash almost did a spit take. "Where did you hear that?" She asked.

"From Sunbeam. So it's true?"

"No! . . . Well, I mean . . . it's weird. Hard to explain." Dash said, biting her lip.

"Seems like it should be pretty straightforward. Are you two dating or not?" Gilda pressured.

"You don't get it! After practice, we're just chilling and he comes out and tells me he loves me, before I know it he' kissing me!" Dash blurted out.

"What did you do?" Gilda asked, wanting further explanation.

"I-I think I thanked him and flew off." Dash said planting her face into the table ashamed.

"Did you like it?" The kiss?"

"Yes." Dash grumbled.

"Ha! You're so lame Dash!" Gilda laughed.

"But we're not dating! I'm going to break it to him tomorrow." Dash declared, sitting back up.

"Well hold on a second now. Think about it. This mess you got in could actually be a blessing." Gilda told her, receiving a questioning look in response. "Dumbbell and Hoops will stop calling you a fillyfooler, they might leave you alone altogether." Gilda explained.

"I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought of that before, but . . ." 'What about Rarity?' Dash didn't dare say aloud.

"But what?"

"I can't just use him like that. He's a cool colt and all, that'd be pretty messed up for me to do." Dash excused with that reason instead of her other relationship.

"The beauty of it is that it's a win-win, Dash. He loves you, clearly. So . . . he gets to date you and you don't get bullied. All you have to do is play marefriend for him. Shouldn't be too hard since you like him. Who knows? Maybe he'll grow on you." Gilda nudged Dash with an elbow teasingly.

Dash rolled her eyes and leaned back. 'It makes sense, but what about Rares? Well, I don't love Sunbeam so it wouldn't really be cheating. And he wouldn't try anything at practice because I cleared that up with him already. And the rest of our time spent together is spent up on clouds, Rarity wouldn't find out about it. This . . . might actually be a good plan.' Dash nodded slowly. "Maybe. . ." She said, still thinking about it.

"Come on Dash, what's the harm? He already thinks you're dating. Might as well roll with it for the time being. If you don't like then you can break up with him." Gilda pushed her idea more, and to Dash she was right.

She might as well try it and bail whenever she wanted to. "Alright, but no making fun of me for having a coltfriend. Otherwise it kind of defeats the whole purpose." Dash agreed.

* * *

"I have to say, I never saw you falling for a pony like Rarity, Rainbow . . . no offense." Fluttershy quickly, yet still soft-spoken, apologized to Rarity as she set some tea down for the three of them.

"Oh, none taken. It's easy to imagine Rainbow with somepony more . . ." Rarity paused to make sure she'd get the wording right.

"Radical and cool?" Dash finished for her.

"Hey! I'm cool!" Rarity argued with a pose.

"Pft. More like radiant and . . . cute." Dash claimed, earning a squeezing hug from Rarity. Dash shook her head with an amused little smirk. 'I swear love is making me so lame.'

"Well, I think you two make a cute couple." Fluttershy declared. "Though Rainbow, you always told me you weren't into mares. Was that just because of Dumbbell's and Hoops's teasing?"

"What?! Dashie, you have bullies?" Rarity asked shocked.

'Oh no. Why'd ya have to bring that up Fluttershy?' Dash face-hoofed. "Had bullies, they don't bother me anymore." Dash lied.

"Hmph! The nerve of some ponies, to mock a pony for her sexual orientation." Rarity said angered by the notion.

"Oh yes, they were the worst. At flight camp, they would pick on me for everything. Luckily I had Rainbow there for me. She'd always stand up for me and encourage me. We were inseparable." Fluttershy said reminiscing.

"Oh, that's my Dashie." Rarity squeezed Dash once more, this time holding the embrace.

Dash blushed while failing to look unaffected by the hug.

"I would definitely say that without Rainbow Dash, I wouldn't be the pony I am today." Fluttershy said with a grateful look to Dash, whose blush deepened as she avoided eye contact.

"It was nothing."

* * *

"You know Dash, that was very brave of you to stand up to those bullies, not just for yourself, but for Fluttershy too." Rarity stated as she removed her make-up at her dresser.

Dash looked annoyed to have this subject brought up again. "It's not like Fluttershy ever did anything to deserve it. She always minded her own business." Dash said resting her chin on top of her hooves from her spot on Rarity's bed.

"Oh, like you ever did anything to deserve it." Rarity scoffed.

"Actually, me and them kind of did it to each other. Not only was I younger than most others there, but they also didn't like the fact that I was a mare either. It started with some dumb remark about colts being better and so I pushed myself to compete against them at almost everything. And I would win too when they weren't cheating or playing unfair." Dash finished with a huff.

"As far as I'm concerned, that only makes them worse. You don't see them anymore, do you?" Rarity asked, getting up and moving over to take a seat next to her.

"No." Dash lied with a bitterness under her breath.

"No pony else bullies you, do they?" Rarity asked as she summoned a brush over to brush Dash's mane.

"No." Dash said louder and more bitterly, causing Rarity to drop the brush which clanked onto the floor.

"You know Rainbow, those bullies-" Rarity started gently only to be cut off by Dash jumping to her hooves.

"Enough about bullies already! It's all past now and it's stupid anyway!" Dash took a breath and hung her head. ". . . I just don't want to talk about it, okay?" She said softly to make up for her outburst.

Nothing happened for a moment and then, feeling Dash's hidden pain, Rarity pulled Dash into a comforting hug. 'Poor Dashie . . . you were there for Fluttershy, but no one was there for you. . . ' Rarity realized.

Dash put a hoof around Rarity in return. Both of them shed tears that were secretly wiped away.

* * *

"So Dash, you got your date tonight huh?" Gilda asked, leaning against some lockers as Dash was putting stuff away, with some effort, in her locker.

'Come on dang it. Fit so I can leave already.' Dash thought then glanced at Gilda with a glare that reminded her of her no-making-fun-of-me-for-dating promise. "Yeah. All this stuff I got going on is keeping me busy. I'm so glad school's ending." Dash answered.

"Hopefully he doesn't bore you to death." Gilda said checking her talons for any dirt and flicking it off.

"Nah, he's pretty cool. We were friends before hoof, so it's always fun. We do the same stuff we basically always have . . . just a bit more intimate." 'Which usually feels pretty weird.' Dash thought. For her, acting like she had romantic feelings for Sunbeam was difficult. She certainly was no actress.

"He's growing on you, huh? Guess that means you'll have no time for me." Gilda said, faking being hurt. She was no actress either.

"Hey, we're still down for tomorrow? Games at your place, right?" Dash asked for confirmation.

Gilda nodded. "Yeah, see ya then." Gilda waved her goodbye and made her exit.

Dash struggled a bit more before finally shoving her locker shut. Turning away, she came face to face with Dumbbell, Hoops was right behind him.

"hey there, Rainbow Crash. Why are you seeing a colt? Aren't mares your kind of thing? He's not even a griffon." Dumbbell stuck his tongue out in disgust at the idea.

"Yeah, bad enough you're a fillyfooler, but you can't stick to your own kind till now?" Hoops added with a mocking laugh.

"Why don't you do us a favor and stay with just the chickenhead. We don't want whatever disease you two have spreading around." Dumbbell gave Dash a hard shove that made her stumble backward.

"Buck you!" Dash yelled raising a hoof, but then bit her bit. 'I can't get into another fight, Rarity would be so disappointed in me . . . but the-' Dash was snapped back into reality by Dumbbell slamming her against the lockers.

"You raise a hoof at me? You need to learn a lesson in pain, Crash." He threatened.

"Let me go, featherbrain!" Dash spat angrily, figuring a fight was inevitable at this point.

"Nah, I think-." Dumbbell started raising his own hoof while keeping her pinned.

"I think you should let her go." Sunbeam cut in, hooking Dumbbell's hoof in his own.

Dumbell turned to him. "Why don't you mind your own business?" He snapped.

"Cause she's my marefriend." Sunbeam stated obviously. "Now let her go . . . unless you want us to really get started." Sunbeam threatened with a nod to Dash, who smirked.

Dumbbell looked at each of them, sure he had Hoops on his side, but with the odds suddenly evening out he didn't like his chances in a fair fight. "Pfft, whatever." Dumbbell let Dash go and bitterly started trotting away with Hoops. "You better watch yourself Crash, your special somepony won't always be there to save your flank you know."

Dash and Sunbeam glared after them until they were out of view around the corner. "Are you okay?" Sunbeam asked looking to Dash with worry.

"Duh. Thanks for the help . . . though I could've handled that myself." Dash said for her pride's sake.

"True, but I thought I'd save you a few scrapes and bruises." He half-joked and stepped closer to her.

Dash suddenly felt uncomfortable, unsure of what to do next. 'Do I thank him? No, I just did that. Well, what then? He's supposed to be your coltfriend.' She told herself and in a panic, she clumsily kissed his cheek with enough momentum that it pushed his head away as she planted it. Dash turned away after that, thoroughly embarrassed with herself. To her surprise though, he put a wing around her shoulders.

"So I take it you're ready for our date then?" He asked.

Dash faced him and saw his kind smile. "Y-yeah. Your place right?" Dash stammered. 'Why is it so difficult to be romantic with him when he does it so effortlessly?'

"Oh shoot! That's right. My parents have company over. Is your place alright?" Sunbeam asked with sudden realization.

"Oh, my place . . . " 'What would my parents think? Wait, I could tell them it's just a teammate hanging out. It's sorta true.' "That works just fine."

* * *

"You know, we don't get much time together . . ." Sunbeam began as he and Rainbow landed in front of her house.

"What are you talking about? We hang out at practice and we go to school together. So . . ." Dash trailed off after cutting in.

"I mean like tonight. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, this is our first date, but for all the other time we spend together it's never close, but I was thinking we could walk together between classes and I could fly you home." Sunbeam suggested.

"Ummm, sure . . . I guess you could do that." Dash said after a moment of hesitation. 'I don't think this is much of a date. Just chilling at my place talking about tricks and hoofball.' Dash thought as she led him inside.

"Hey! What's up kiddo? I got hayburgers in the fridge if you want one." Dash's dad, Bow Hothoof, greeted as they trotted in. "Oh hey, you brought a teammate home with ya? Well, there's one for you in there too if you want." He added to Sunbeam.

"Thank you, Bow. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Your daughter is quite a skilled flyer. She's also pretty tough, but she's got a sweet side as well." Sunbeam greeted her dad with a hoofshake, he smiled back at Dash who was stuck staring at the questioning gaze her father was giving her.

'What does he think about all this...?' Dash worried.

". . . Yep, that's my little Wonderbolt alright. Why don't ya help yourself to a hayburger . . . Dash will join you in a minute." Bow said and Sunbeam nodded, trotting out of the room. "So . . . what happened with that unicorn mare? You really seemed to like her." Bow asked his daughter.

"Shhh! No, I'm still seeing Rarity . . . it's just this is complicated." Dash tried to explain.

"Ah, well . . . just be sure to have fun." Bow nodded toward the kitchen.

Dash held her ground for a moment, bewildered by that response, but then decided to catch up to Sunbeam.

"Cause when you play with fire . . . you're gonna get burned." Bow muttered to himself as he stared after her.

Author's Note:

At first, parts with Dash's parents were wrote with them as OCs as they hadn't been introduced in the show yet. Most changes were made because of that, were just name changes to be show accurate. So they may be OOC at times, even if there's only one episode to work off of.

Comments

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Oh no