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Flying High, Falling Hard

by Soundslikeponies

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Sunshine Trickling Down

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Sunshine Trickling Down

Flying High, Falling Hard by soundslikeponies

Twilight ran through the dark. The tip of her tail was heavy with mud, the rain making it wet and causing it to drag along the ground as she ran. She ran with no real destination in mind. She didn't even really know why she was running anymore. Her legs burned with exertion, distracting her from thinking about other things, if only a little.

She didn’t know how long she’d been running through the storm. The pitch black cloudy night, the deafening sound of the pouring rain, and the ache in her legs made it difficult to tell how much time had passed.

Despite all the water around her, on the ground and falling from the sky, she couldn’t manage to cry anymore. Her eyes felt like they had dried up and run out of tears. Twilight felt herself slowing down. The cold was beginning to numb her body and her limbs had become uncooperative lead weights. She could faintly make out the closest building to her, a flower shop, giving her some idea of where she was.

The library wasn’t far, but the last thing she wanted to do right now was to see Dash. She wouldn’t put it past the pegasus to come looking for her, even if it meant traveling through a storm. Someplace else—anyplace else would be better than home at that moment. Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were all too far away though, and the rain didn’t seem to be lessening any time soon.

A sign caught the corner of her eye—a realtor sign sitting in front of a house, with a large sticker diagonally across its length saying, SOLD. It was a small town. Twilight only knew of one pony who had moved to Ponyville recently, and she doubted Dash would think of looking for her at their place.

Twilight shuddered involuntarily from the cold as she walked up to the door, banging on it four times, just to make sure the owner would hear over pouring rain.

The door opened was opened by Spitfire, who gave her a surprised look. “Twilight? What are you doing out in the storm?”

Twilight didn’t answer right away, her chest still heaving as she tried to regain her breath and her legs shaking with the effort of standing up.

Spitfire gave Twilight another glance over, noticing how disheveled the mare looked. “Whatever, just come inside. It’s freezing out.”

Twilight nodded gratefully, stepping inside, but stopping on the welcome rug, still dripping wet and not wanting to tread water through Spitfire’s home. “Thank you,” she said.

"You wait right here, I'll be right back with a towel," Spitfire told her, rushing off to the bathroom.

Sitting down on the rug, Twilight sighed in relief at finally being able to rest her legs. Spitfire returned with a large white towel in her mouth. Twilight took it with her magic and began drying out her mane and coat with it. A pair of burning logs flickering in the fireplace was a comforting sight after running through the freezing rain.

Spitfire patiently stood nearby, waiting for her to finish drying off. Twilight looked at her coat to see if there were any spots she missed, before passing the towel back to Spitfire. She noticed it was covered in mud from when she had dried her tail, and looked at the ground sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"No problem, that's what washing machines are for," Spitfire said, waving it off and grabbing a corner of the towel that was still white to take it to the laundry. Twilight’s teeth chattered, and she eagerly moved closer to the fire. She sat down and placed her hooves in front of the burning logs, relishing in the heat they gave off. She turned to see Spitfire returning from taking the dirty towel away and sit down beside her at the fire.

"You're probably wondering why I was banging on your door this late on a night like this, huh?" Twilight asked, staring at the fire and pulling back her warmed hooves to try and rub some of the heat into the rest of her body.

"Yeah, I'm pretty curious, but it can wait until you're warmed up a bit if you want." Spitfire said, but she kept sending worried glances in Twilight’s direction.

Twilight reached up and patted her mane down, figuring she probably looked like a train wreck. "No, it's fine," she said, trying to be polite. "Dash and I..." Twilight paused, her face falling as she watched the fire. She felt an ache at the corner of her eyes. She probably would have started crying again if she could. "Dash broke up with me," Twilight finished, her voice quivering.

"Really?" Spitfire asked in surprise. She coughed and cleared her throat, frowning and reaching out to touch Twilight’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”

Twilight took a deep breath. "She told me she didn't want to see me anymore."

Spitfire’s eyes widened and she blinked. Her brow furrowed in thought. "That just... doesn’t seem like her. I thought you two were really good together. Did she tell you why?"

"I ran away." Twilight let out a bitter laugh, staring into the fireplace like a statue. "Maybe it's because I'm a coward. I'm always running away from her."

"Listen Twilight, this just doesn't seem like her. You really should try and find Dash and talk to her, there has to be more to it than what she said."

"You're right, as much as I want to hide, I can’t." Twilight gave Spitfire with a pleading look. "Can I stay here for a little bit? I just don't want Dash to come looking for me before I'm ready."

Spitfire glanced thoughtfully around the living room. "Sure I guess, but the guest bedroom isn't really moved into yet. I didn't think I would be needing it so soon."

Twilight gave her a thankful nod, and stood up. The fire had managed to warm her body back to normal, and knowing she had somewhere safe to stay she was already starting to feel a little better.

"I'm probably going to go to sleep right now then," Twilight said, glancing around the living room.

"It's down that hallway and up the stairs on the left," Spitfire supplied, pointing to a doorway. "There’s a bathroom at the end of the hall upstairs if you want to take a shower."

"That sounds like a good idea actually," Twilight said, walking down the hall to the bathroom with a passing glance at the room she would be sleeping in.

Twilight spun the taps to the shower with her magic, putting a hoof under the running water and adjusting the temperature until it was nice and warm. She still had a bit of dried mud in her tail that didn't come out with a simple toweling-off, so she stepped under the stream of water and closed her eyes in bliss as her worries melted away.


Rainbow Dash flew low through the rain. The wind howled in her ears and she beat her wings furiously against it to move. A huge gust of wind hit her, nearly sending her spiraling into the air, and only by a quick downward angle of her wings did she manage to avoid it. The sudden turn made her fall face-first into the grass, but it was a better alternative than having the winds take her up higher in the sky. One of the first things fillies and colts were taught in flight school was that the winds were almost always stronger the higher up you went, and to never, ever fly through a storm. Dash stood back up, keeping her wings tucked away, and deciding to walk on hoof.

She had to find Twilight Sparkle.

Surprisingly, the storm had decided to be helpful: it had turned the fields beneath her home muddy, and there was a trail of hoof prints left in the mud that she had been following. She had taken to flying once she noticed how the trail was a straight line, but the storm wouldn't allow it any more. She bit back a curse as the trail disappeared into a cobblestone walkway. All she could do was hope Twilight had continued to run in a straight line.


Spitfire prepared the sheets in the guest bedroom with her mind in conflict. Twilight was at her house, still in the shower, and she couldn't help but wonder what to do.

A brilliant white flash came from the window, followed shortly by a clap of thunder resounding through the house. Spitfire dropped the sheet from her mouth, going to look outside. The thunder rumbled again, and the rain was still pouring down as hard as ever. A gale of wind battering against the house cut through the rumbling of the thunder, but it was overpowered by a deafening bang as another arc of lightning went off in the distance.

The normal view out the window was disturbed by the outline of a pony trudging outside through the rain. Spitfire continued to stare out the window, unsure if she was merely seeing things or not. The thunder rumbled, and Spitfire waited patiently to see if another bolt of lightning would light up the walkway outside her house.

The storm answered her hopes, sending out another arc of bright light—somewhere out of view of the window—allowing her to confirm that there was in fact a pony outside, pushing on through the rain, her mane and tail drooping from the water.

Rainbow Dash must have gone after Twilight!

Spitfire's heart skipped a beat, and as the concussive sound of thunder followed the lightning, her hooves were already in motion. She dashed to the fireplace, grabbing a piece of kindling near it and sticking its tip in the fire, anxiously hopping from hoof to hoof as she waited for it to light.

C'mon, c'mon...

The stick lit, and Spitfire bolted to her door, quickly bucking it open with her rear legs. She shoved the burning stick into the open shutter of a lantern hung near the door. Its wick set ablaze, she dropped the piece of kindling and took the handle of the lantern in her mouth, running around the side of the house to where she had seen a pony out in the storm. She could see the pony still there, trudging through the rain.

"Rainbow Dash!" Spitfire shouted, seeing if it was her. The name came out as little more than mumbling with the lantern muddling her voice. The pony turned to her, its eyes widening in recognition and surprise.

"Spitfire?"

It was Rainbow Dash’s voice. Setting the lantern down on the ground between her forehooves Spitfire nodded and ran over to her. "We need to get inside!" she shouted over the wind and rain. "It's too dangerous out here!"

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder into the dark, in the direction she had been walking, with a look of longing. She turned back to face Spitfire and gave her a sad nod, signifying for her to lead the way.

Spitfire grabbed the lantern in her mouth again, and she rushed to get back inside with Dash following closely behind. She slowed to a trot as she walked back into the house through the open door. She watched the water drip off her hair onto the rug; she had barely been out there for a minute and her coat and mane were completely soaked. She turned to look at Dash, who was standing there with her mane covering most of her face while water dripped off it slowly.

"So... what were you doing out in that storm?" Spitfire already knew, but she couldn't very well come out and say it.

"I was... looking for somepony."

"Twilight?" Spitfire supplied.

The sullen mare nodded, walking to a couch by the fireplace and lying down on it. For a moment Spitfire cringed at the sight of the wet and muddy mare lying on her new couch, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything about it. Instead she walked over and sat down on the couch next to her, figuring the damage was already done.

"I screwed up big time Spitfire," Dash said, lying on her back and staring at the ceiling. "I made her cry."

"It's not the end of the world Dash, everybody gets their feelings hurt sometimes," Spitfire said with encouragement.

"I guess," Dash said, moping, and gave a couch cushion a small kick with a rear hoof.

"Was this your first real relationship?" Spitfire asked. She couldn't help but be a little curious, wanting to know a little more about Dash. While she had a strong attraction to the mare, she didn't actually know her that well, only having met her recently.

"Yeah..."

"First relationships are full of tension and high-strung emotion." Spitfire wished she was speaking from experience, but all she could think to do was repeat what she had heard others say. "I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you."

"I guess," Dash said once again, in the same melancholy tone. “I really want to talk to her though, and try to explain things. I didn’t know she’d react so bad when I told her—” Dash cut herself off, sighing. “I just want to get a chance to try and explain things, you know?”

Spitfire glanced around, looking at the soaking wet spot on and around the couch Dash was lying on. “Would you like me to get some tea to warm you up or something? Or I could make hot cocoa if you’d prefer.”

“Either one would be great,” Dash said, laying her head back on the arm of the couch and staring up at the ceiling.

Spitfire stood, her mouth tipped up in a friendly smile. “Okay, wait right here and I’ll be right back.”

“‘Kay,” Dash replied, turning on her side and burying her nose into the arm of the couch.

Spitfire walked towards the kitchen, but froze as she passed the stairs. She glanced up them and then back towards the living room before she began slowly creeping up them. Walking up to the bathroom door, she pressed her ear against it, listening to the sound of running water coming from inside.

Silently, she walked back downstairs to the kitchen, walking up to the kettle and feeling the side of it to check if it was still warm. A warm feeling at her hoof and a faint trail of steam coming from the kettle’s spout told her it was. Taking out two cups, she put two spoonfuls of cocoa powder in each of them, before biting the kettle’s handle with her mouth and tipping it to pour water in the cups.

Placing the cups on a tray, she flew back down the hallway with the tray in hoof, flying over to the coffee table by Dash’s couch and setting them down. Dash sat up, grabbing one of the cups and taking a long and gratuitous slurp.

“Is it good?” Spitfire asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” Dash said, nodding and taking another sip. She looked down for the first time at the couch she’d been lying on and blushed. “Sorry for getting everything all muddy.”



Dash scratched the back of her head with a sheepish smile spreading across her face. “Heh, I feel really bad now about barging in here and making everything messy.”

Spitfire chuckled. “Really, it’s no problem.” She glanced up at Dash from the rim of her cocoa to see her staring down at her cup, her ears drooping and her mouth set in a frown. “Hey, things are going to turn out alright, okay?”

Dash shook her head. “I don’t know if they are this time. I really screwed up. Twilight’s one of the nicest and bestest friends I’ve ever had, and I don’t know if she’ll even ever want to see me again after the way I hurt her feelings.”

"You shouldn’t worry so much. I’m sure there's other mares out there who would love to be with you." Spitfire gained a small blush, and stole a glance at Rainbow Dash, who was still staring down at her cup of cocoa. The wet mane look suited her.

"Hah!" Dash barked out a bitter laugh. "Like who?"

Spitfire paused; it was now or never. She took a deep breath to calm herself and calmly replied, "Like me."

"Uh..." The pegasus sat up, looking at her oddly. "What?" Dash looked confused, like she wasn't sure if it was just a joke.

Spitfire sought to make it clear it wasn't.

She moved around the coffee table and sat down beside Dash, leaning in close. A scarlet blush sprang up on Dash’s cheeks. Spitfire leaned forward and pressed her chest against Dash’s and put a hoof on her chest, pushing her down onto the couch. Spitfire crawling on top of her, placing her hooves on either side of Dash's head, planted in her rainbow mane.

"I mean it." Spitfire felt encouraged at seeing a blush on Dash's face to match her own. "I like you, Rainbow Dash." A smirk came to her lips at the way Dash's blush increased.

Dash opened her mouth, but was in shock, and couldn't make any words come out.

“This, I, uh... You do?" Dash's voice cracked a little and her face flushed.

Spitfire leaned down until Dash could feel her breath on her face. "You need proof?" she asked in a sultry voice, their snouts almost touching. Dash was frozen stiff, unable to do anything but stare up at her.

The sound of the front door slamming shut surprised both of them, shattering the moment. Spitfire tensed, as Dash, who was no longer blushing, asked a question Spitfire didn't want to answer.

"Who was that, Spitfire?"

Next Chapter: Chapter 18: And When the Trickling Stops Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 33 Minutes
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