Space Brony

A Rose is A Rose

Prologue

Darkness enveloped the figure like a cloak. What little light was given off by the stars seemed to be captured by its presence, never to be released again.  The only luminescence within view of the entire mountainside were the stars and the brilliant white being that was dragged carelessly by the black silhouette of the figure.

        Its progress was slow; its victim was heavy.  But it had time.  Years of waiting for this moment, of preparation, of brooding and mourning and plotting and hoping, made its arrival all the sweeter.  True, the ultimate moment of victory was still to come... but the hardest part was over.  After tonight, all there was left to do was wait.

        It had time.

        It dragged its captive on.

        ***

        The years seemed to be wiped away as the destination came into view.  It had all been worth it--every moment.  The figure stood alone, overcome by the journey behind it, as well as what lie before it.  After a moment, it grabbed its prey once more, dragging it for the final time.  I’m coming... I’m finally here, Laska.  I’m finally here.

        ***

        The altar was exactly as it had imagined.  Circular, like the chamber around it.  The victim fit upon it perfectly, hooves at her side, wings extended, their tips just reaching across the diameter of the circle, covering several of the cryptic symbols that lined the edge.

        Satisfied, the unicorn then moved towards the opposite side of the altar, where an apple-sized stone bowl rested upon its pillar of a base.  Into this, the figure gently dropped a grey feather.

Turning back to the altar, the figure unsheathed a dagger, which floated slowly towards the unconscious alicorn, its jagged edges outlined by the black magic of the dark unicorn.

        Blood slowly trickled from the incision made midway up the chest.  It dripped down the alicorn’s side, pooling on the cold stone altar.

        The dagger finished its malicious duty.  The wound itself was small; the blood already ceased escaping.  The figure knew it needed its victim alive.

        The deed done, the grim unicorn stood still, waiting.

        Nothing.

        Another minute went by.

        Silence but for the whispering winds outside the large chamber.

        The figure had unsheathed the dagger once more, preparing to draw more blood, when the cavern itself began to rumble.  The drying blood on the altar glowed an impossible red and began spreading through the engraved symbols along the circumference, which now shone with their own blinding light.

        In the quaking ancient cavern, the figure stood still, its heart beating not with fear or worry but with excitement.  Finally.

        The first pillar began to fall.

***

Part One: Fluttershy’s Tale

               Rainbow Dash fought her way through the crowd of pegasi ponies and slowly progressed through the bundle of tails and wings that had gathered around the form on the wall.

               “Ouch!” cried one pegasus.

               “Hey!” objected another.

               “I was here first!”

               “No, I was!  I don’t see your name on it!”

               “Actually, my name is on it.  I just signed it.”

               Dash rolled her eyes at the two quarreling ponies.  It didn’t even matter that they sign up; she was clearly going to win.  She continued shoving through flanks and wings until the coveted form was within her grasp.  She noted with relief that there were still about ten lines left for her signature—though she had arrived hours before sunrise (which happened unusually late today), she couldn’t help but fear that somehow she’d be too late.  It didn’t matter now, though.  With a smirk, she grabbed the quill near the form and signed line number fifty-two, her mouth-written signature jagged yet skillfully inscribed.

               She fought back through the crowd until she had room to spread her wings, and then took off vertically, already planning her routine.  Several of the pegasi still waiting in the crowd glared up at her, their manes spread crazily across their faces due to the great gust given from Dash’s flaps—and she couldn’t help but notice that perhaps several of those glares contained jealousy.  Any pegasus worth her wings knew of Rainbow Dash, who accomplished the Sonic Rainboom twice, saved the lives of several Wonderbolts, and won the Young Fliers competition in the process.

               That isn’t to say winning this competition would be easy, though.  There was plenty of stiff opposition.  Many of the same contestants from the Young Fliers competition were participating, most of which, she knew, had been training harder in the past few months than she ever had.  Of course, much of that was because of her immense natural talent, but she likely only won the Fliers competition because of her Sonic Rainboom, and she had only accomplished that because Rarity and the Wonderbolts were in danger, and she wasn’t sure she could pull it off again at will, and—

               “Oof!”

               Dash tumbled out of the air, landing on the cloud below, tangled with the body of a familiar pony.  Rainbow already knew who it was, but couldn’t believe that she had somehow been knocked out of the sky by…

               “Fluttershy?” Rainbow was shocked, as the yellow pony was indeed Fluttershy.

               “Oh, sorry Rainbow Dash, oh my gosh are you ok?  I’m so sorry I ran into you, are you sure you’re ok?  Is there anything I can do for—”

               She broke off when she noticed Dash was staring, dumbfounded.

               “Are... are you mad at me, Rainbow Dash?  I’m so very sorry, I didn’t mean—”

               “Fluttershy, what are you doing up here?  You never come to Cloudsdale!”

               “Oh… well... um…  I’m here to… help out somepony’s poor sick birdy.  She lives up in Cloudsdale so I had to come visit to see the poor creature.”   Fluttershy grinned nervously and looked away, and suddenly a very familiar expression snuck upon her face, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t quite remember where she’d seen it before.

               “Oh no, what happened to the bird?  Do you think you can help it?”

               Fluttershy looked away again, and suddenly Dash knew where she’d seen that face before: it was the same face Applejack wore when she was lying.  The Spirit of Honesty makes for a horrible liar, and Dash could tell that Fluttershy was no better.  She suddenly felt frustrated; she couldn’t stand somepony lying to her, but Fluttershy?

               “Alright, Fluttershy, you tell me what’s going on right now!  First you show up in Cloudsdale, which you never do, then you fly into me, and I can swear I’ve never seen you fly faster than Granny Smith can run, and now you’re lying to me about it!  What’s this about?  You can tell me!”

               Fluttershy sighed.

               “Well... I’m here… because…” her voice dropped off to a squeak as she mumbled.

               “What?”

               “I’m here… because… I’m…” once again she trailed off into a nervous murmur.

               “WHAT?”

               “I’m here because I’m entering the Flyathalon!”

               Rainbow Dash sat, mouth agape, staring at Fluttershy.  Her wings were still extended from her ill-fated flight.  Fluttershy looked around nervously in the silence, awkwardly rubbing her legs together.  Just before Fluttershy began to think Dash was paralyzed by surprise, she burst out laughing.

               “You?  You are going to enter the Flyathalon?” She wiped tears from her eyes, appeared to gain control of herself, but then exploded once more into another bout.  “You?  The pegasus…afraid of heights…is entering…the Flyathalon?” Dash barely managed to say this through her laughter.

                “Um... yes,” Fluttershy mumbled.

               Rainbow flew up into the air, twirling from laughter, and then dropped once more onto the soft cloud surface, rolling on her back.  The giggles finally began dying out, and stopped immediately once she noticed Fluttershy herself was also in tears.

               “Oh, Fluttershy, I’m sorry!  You know I don’t mean it.  It’s nothing against you.  You have such great talents.  It’s just... flying isn’t exactly one of them.”  She patted the yellow pegasus on the back.

               “I know… it’s just that… I need to win.”

               Rainbow Dash fought to avoid breaking into laughter again.  She knew how sensitive her friend could be.

               Half-joking: “Well, you’d better sign up fast.  There might not even be any spots left.”

               Fluttershy gasped, jumped up, and flew off towards the dwindling crowd of ponies gathered around the form.  She was once again moving with a speed Rainbow Dash had never seen in her before.  Heck, maybe she would do well in the Flyathalon, Dash thought, but then burst into laughter once more as she raced after her friend.

***

               “Oh no oh no oh no oh no!”

               Fluttershy arrived at the form just as the last signature line was about to be signed by a grey, blue-maned pegasus.

               “Please let me sign up! Please!” Fluttershy was almost crying.  She wanted so badly to sign up, but her selfless nature could hardly stand to ask something from somepony.

               The blue-maned pegasus stared.

               “I’m awfully sorry, but I was here first.  You can enter next year!”

               Fluttershy almost broke into tears—it was all over before it had begun, and it was all her own fault; if she had flown just a little faster, had left just a little earlier, she would have gotten a spot on the list.

               The blue-maned pegasus stared at Fluttershy as if she was crazy, and finished signing the form as Rainbow Dash caught up.

               “Fluttershy, will you please just tell me what this is all—”

               “OH MY GOSH!”  Rainbow Dash was broken off by the blue-maned pony.  The quill was still in her mouth, muffling her jubilant shouts.   “Are you Rainbow Dash?  THE Rainbow Dash?  The Rainbow Dash that won last year’s Young Flier competition?  The Rainbow Dash that saved the Wonderbolts?  The fastest flier out of Cloudsdale?  The fastest flier in Equestria?”  The pony was jumping with excitement, the apex of each jump accompanied by a little wing flutter that held her suspended longer than gravity would normally allow, as if her excitement was defying physics itself.

               Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but smile with pride.

               “Yes, yes, it’s all true, that’s me, the one and only!  Now, Fluttershy, please just tell me what’s—”

               “YOU know Rainbow Dash?”  The blue-maned pony, whose signature, Fluttershy saw, read Thunder Clap, now turned her attention to Fluttershy.

               “Um… yes.”  Fluttershy, though still deeply upset, couldn’t help but be amused by the antics of Rainbow Dash’s fan.

               “Oh my gosh Rainbow Dash you have NO IDEA how much you are my HERO!  I was there for BOTH your Sonic Rainbooms!  My cutie mark even matches yours!”  She gestured towards her flank, where her cutie mark was obscured by a piece of paper with Rainbow Dash’s own cutie mark scrawled on it.

               “Riiiiiiight…” Rainbow Dash was beginning to become unsettled by this fan of hers.  Of course, she loved fans, and though Scootaloo could be annoying at times, it was still nice having a worshiper around.  This, however, was getting out of hoof.

               “Hey, um—” Dash looked at the signature on the form. “—Thunder Clap.  Do you know what’d make me really happy?”

               Thunder seemed about to burst with joy; she couldn’t seem to decide whether she wanted to be dancing around with happiness, flying around with happiness, or rolling around with happiness, so she attempted to do all three at once.  Yes, this was beginning to get on Dash’s nerves.

               “Yes!  Of course!  Anything!”

                “Ok.  How about you let my friend here have your spot on the list?  I can understand if you don’t want to give it up; you seem very, um, enthusiastic about—”

               “Ok!”  The signature was already crossed off, and Thunder was staring giddily up at Rainbow Dash.

               “Well,” Dash grinned, “since you gave up your signature, I might as well give you mine.”  She grabbed the pen, but found it difficult signing Thunder’s pretend-cutie-mark due to the excited fluttering of her wings.  However, the deed was eventually done, and Thunder brimmed with happiness.

               “Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!  I have to go show my friends!  They’ll never believe me!  Thank you thank you…” The stream of “thank you’s” trailed off as she flew away.

               Dash, always glad to meet a fan (but also glad the experience was over), chuckled to herself, when she noticed Fluttershy was signing her name where Thunder Clap’s used to be with a mad, impatient scrawl.  The strangeness of the situation returned.  It was time for answers.

“Alright, Fluttershy, that crazy pony is gone and you can tell me everything now.  I want answers.  What’s going on here?  Why would a pegasus afraid of heights want to join the Flyathalon?  You can tell me.”

               “Well…”  Fluttershy looked solemnly at Dash, then quickly looked back at the form as if to ensure her name was still there.  She turned back to Dash, hesitating, trying to find a place to begin.  After a moment of silence, she found the words, which came slowly at first and then more confidently as the story took over, needing to be told, needing to be heard.

        As she spoke, Rainbow Dash listened, eyes growing wide, as a tale of love and loss unfolded before her.

***

               The rose sat in a vase in her mother’s bedroom.  On more than one occasion, Fluttershy saw her mother stop and stare at it, lost in thought, with a sad smile gracing her face.  She’d stand there this way for several minutes, until the spell was broken and she went back about her business.  Fluttershy had always been afraid to ask why that rose was so important, why it stood alone on the table, the other trinkets dwarfed by its significance.  She feared the answer would be sad or scary, too complicated for a young filly such as herself to worry about.  It had stood there as long as she could remember, a symbol for something loved and lost but not forgotten.

               One day, after ensuring her mother had left to run errands, Fluttershy stepped gingerly into her mother’s spotless room.  The evening sun shone beams through the window, illuminating particles in the air, which hung still as if suspended in time.  The rose itself stood as always, catching and re-releasing light off its immaculate, glittering surface.

               Fluttershy, whose most mischievous exploit to date was staying up eight minutes past her bedtime so she could sing to a bird standing on her windowsill (a rare occurrence at Cloudsdale’s altitude), stood frozen, unsure of her next move.  She thought of the other fillies in Cloudsdale Academy calling her a scaredy-filly (always the quiet one, she was an easy target for bullies) and of her mother staring at the rose, lost in thought.  With this in mind, she carefully climbed the stool next to the little table, and was suddenly eye-height with the shimmering idol.

               At first, she thought it was made entirely of diamond.  After some consideration, she realized this was something more; though it glimmered like diamond, its edges and curves were perfect in design.  No jeweler, no matter how skilled, could carve diamond so flawlessly—not even with the assistance of a dragon.  And though it resembled diamond in appearance, it gave off not an aura of strength but an aura of fragility, as if staring too long would shatter it.  Its entirety, from stem to leaves to petals, was composed of the incredible unknown material.  Its petals were so red that they seemed to glow; indeed, as the sun set and the beams of light faded, the petals continued to emit a slight, beautiful red blush on the vase and the wall behind it.

               Fluttershy simply stood and stared.  She hadn’t planned what to do beyond this point; in fact, she had no idea what her intentions were to begin with.  All she knew was that her mother regarded the rose with extreme importance, even love, and though she had never been the most adventurous filly (far from it), she had a fierce curiosity that demanded satisfaction.

               She reached out to touch the rose.

               “Fluttershy!”

               She jumped with a surprised scream, losing balance and toppling from her place on the stool, which also fell, landing next to her with a wooden thud.

               When she looked up, she beheld a sight she had never seen before: her mother was standing there, spilt grocery bags about the floor, staring at her with anger.  She had seen her mother upset before, had seen her displeased, but she had never seen her actually angry, as she was now.

               Fluttershy burst into tears, certain that her mother would never love her again, that somehow by trying to touch the rose, she had broken an unwritten but sacred rule.  She buried her face in her hooves, and then her hooves in her wings.

               When she felt her mother’s hoof on her shoulder, however, its touch was not filled with anger.   It was gentle; lovingly so.  The sobbing yellow pegasus’ crying reduced to sniffles as she looked up at her mother, whose face had softened to a sad smile; the same sad smile she wore when staring at the rose.

               Suddenly, Fluttershy was embraced in a warm hug, held tight by her mother’s hooves and soft wings.  Her tears finally stopped as she returned the embrace.

               “I guess it’s time I told you,” her mother whispered.  She unfurled her wings, but kept her hooves in their tight embrace around her filly.

***

               “Your father was the kindest pony I’ve ever met.  I never did tell you how we met, did I?  I suppose there’s a lot you never knew about him.

               “It was Winter Wrap Up in Ponyville.  Just like every year, pegasi from Cloudsdale volunteered to help clear the skies and melt the snow.  And just like every year, it was all a horrible mess.  The snow was either melting too fast or not fast enough; the birds’ nests weren’t being built fast enough; the snow plows actually got lost after plowing in the wrong direction.

               “Of course, I’m not the greatest flier (that’s where you get it from, dear).  But I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to help out the nice folks of Ponyville.  Unfortunately, I was only slowing everypony down.  I couldn’t keep up with clearing the skies, and I kept bumping into ponies who were actually getting work done.  I was making a bad Winter Wrap Up even worse.

               “I didn’t want to quit, I wanted to help!  But I wasn’t meant for the sky patrol.  So they relocated me to the ground, where I could aid in waking the hibernating animals.  I was slightly better at this than clearing the skies, but I still needed help.  So I searched around to find somepony who seemed capable of teaching me how to wake the delicate creatures, when I saw another pegasus!  He was the only other pegasus on the ground.  He was guiding a prickle of porcupines out of their winter home, guiding them with a loving care I can’t explain.  He was your father, Fluttershy.

               “We spent the rest of the day together, helping the animals find their place and fixing up their homes.  He had a talent with the animals... almost as if he could talk to them.  And while we were together, they seemed to listen to me as well.  In the beginning he was very soft-spoken… I could hardly carry a conversation with him, though he kept smiling at me—the way he smiled, it was no wonder animals adored him.  But by the end of the day, we were laughing together and joking and rounding up the last of the sleepy creatures.

               “After the hubbub of Winter Wrap Up was over, we were able to enjoy the first spring night of the year together.  He told me about himself; about his interests, about his family and home.  That’s how we spent our first night together, Fluttershy: lying on the grass, still damp from the snow that covered it only hours earlier; staring at the stars, which had been hidden by clouds for months; talking and laughing and living in the warm spring air; talking and laughing and living and falling in love.

               “And at the end of the night, so late that Celestia’s sun was only just below the horizon, he gave me this, Fluttershy.  He gave me this rose.

He didn’t say a word.  We were lying together, and I was laughing and telling him about some silly thing or another, and while I was talking he was just lying next to me, smiling, when he pulled it out from under his wing.  He pulled it out and looked at me and smiled and I lost my breath.  I just stopped and looked at him.  And I started crying and attacked him in a kiss.

“That’s how I met your father, Fluttershy.  That’s how I got this rose.

***

               “I broke it,” sobbed Fluttershy, as Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on her heaving shoulder.  “I broke the rose.” Next Chapter: Part Two: The Rose Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 44 Minutes