Smile for the Camera: Part 1

Rainbow Dash was jarred awake. Someone was in her cloud home above the dark nighttime skyline of Ponyville. She could just feel it in her hooves. Thinking it might just be residual feelings from a dream she had been having about the looming trees of the Everfree forest closing in, she lay still for a moment, listening intently to any disturbances to Luna’s nighttime quiet.

She heard a muffled cloud-quieted hoofstep and her heart jumped. She tensed to spring up in defense in the pitch black darkness of her bedroom.

"Just forget about it."

Using her strong wings she shot up out of her bed to confront the pony intruder, but before she was able, the intruder lashed out with a large hoof and hit her across the face with a resounding crack of solid hoof connecting with tender pony skull.

The force of the kick was hard enough to knock her out cold and Dash's world went black as her head snapped back from the blow.

The other pony whipped his bloodied hoof on the bed spread as he looked down at the unconscious Pegasus mare. He watched as her face began to swell and the red rivulets of blood ran from the small gash caused by the impact. He nudged her to see if she was feigning unconsciousness. He had spent weeks watching and planning, and he knew not to underestimate the small robust powerhouse that was Ponyville’s very own Rainbow Dash. Her feathers were ruffled and the primary feathers stuck out at odd bent angles from when she had collapsed suddenly from the kick to the head.

Her limp form didn’t even twitch.

He gave her another solid kick to the side to be sure she was out cold before lifting her body onto his back and making his way towards the wide open window.

He looked out over Ponyville. The crisp night air blew some stray strands of rainbow colored mane into his face.

From this vantage point above most clouds he could see for miles. The view was far because this specific Pegasus pony had pridefully built her house far above where most pegasi chose or dared to live. The air was thinner here, the winds were stronger and more capricious and chilly. The cloud home itself was a feat to the ability of its owner to craft with clouds. Clouds were difficult to build with, wanting to move, or dissipate, fluidly changing and hard to manipulate into solid stay-fast shapes. His lungs were filled with the chilly air that held the dampness from the surrounding cloud. He tried not to look down at the ground far below.

The clouds shifted and danced in front of the moon, casting twisting shadows and stray beams of moonlight that danced across the land below. He worried for a minute if anypony would see him on such a birght night. He was always so careful. Would Princess Luna, enigma that she was, be watching? He shook his head, mane whipping back and forth. That was silly. The princesses only raised the sun and the moon, they didn’t follow it. Surely she’d be at the castle in Canterlot?

He realized he was stalling himself from the difficult flight home with the extra burdening weight of the unconscious pony. And as the bright waxing moon disappeared behind the scattered cloud cover he took a deep breath of the thin air and disappeared as well, cargo in tow.


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xx Two weeks earlier xx

A white Pegasus stallion with a mane of unruly blue hair and news camera hanging around his neck stood outside the red arched Dutch style door of the cottage. The breeze that blew across the grassy hill from the forest brought strange new plant and animal smells to his nose.

He had been originally placed on this assignment by his boss Big Ink, a barrel-chested charcoal black stallion that was the editor and chief of Manehattan’s largest newspaper, The Hoofington Post. Big Ink had him always on assignment and chasing after the biggest of celebrity news across all of Equestria. No one got better candid shots of Equestria’s biggest stars than Camera Flash. And no one delved deeper into their stories or unearthed the skeletons in their closets better. He never understood why Big Ink only put him on the celebrity gossip page. Camera Flash was a professional, an artist! He deserved to be assigned front page news. Big headlines! Major stories! Full color photos in the paper!

But Big Ink had sent him here a week and a half ago to get the scoop on a new rising star, a Pegasus named Fluttershy, and even though Camera Flash would rather do more serious stories he was a professional and he’d get the job done, and done well. Maybe if he did this story really well he’d get to be moved to page two or three of the main section. Maybe if he uncovered something shocking in Ponyville he might even land the front page instead of his small column on C-6.

But in the time he’d been on the story of Fluttershy, he’d gorwn fond of the yellow Pegasus. They had a connection. He could just feel it in his wings.

Camera Flash looked nervously around the cottage, knowing she wouldn't be returning soon. He was careful, Camera Flash was the best at getting the shot in the whole industry. And the graceful yellow Pegasus was out with that controlling and brash rainbow colored mare. He knew Fluttershy wouldn’t return to her home for some time, and that the animals that frequented the cottage were gone for the moment. He’d already flown around the cottage and checked. Even peeked in the windows before landing by the front door.

He could only fear being found by the white rabbit that seemed to keep Fluttershy company. He couldn't help but jump at every sound. The roll of film cutie mark twitched on his flank as the muscles underneath quivered with nerves. He had no idea where the white rabbit was, he supposed that it was out enjoying the warm sunshine since Fluttershy was not home.

He entered her home. Carefully placing his hooves down lightly to not disturb anything or make any noise. Just in case there was an animal inside that he had not seen. Camera Flash was always careful. He was a professional.

He knew he had no right to be here. He was violating the perfect Fluttershy’s home and privacy. He was doing something that he knew would make her upset, and he couldn't risk getting caught. He’d entered other celebrity homes before for his news stories. It was against ethics and guidelines of a newspony, but Camera Flash didn’t care. It got him closer to the subjects of his columns and made his writing stand out. And he was always so careful.

He scoured every nook and cranny of the place for newsworthy information on the quiet and shy Pegasus. Gingerly walking through each room. Examining the earthy décor and skimming all of the titles of the books on her bookshelf. Bird houses hung from the ceiling and butterflies were carved into the heavy wood of the front door’s arch in the entryway. He noted the pots and pans attached to the stone fireplace that dominated the main room, he supposed that meant that it was also a makeshift kitchen. A simple sink. Simple chairs. Fluttershy’s home was dominated by her care for the animals. Such a kind soul his Fluttershy was. Gentle.

His mind tried to picture her around her home, picking up that vase he saw in the corner, or sitting in that low green couch. How would she look if she was reading by the fire? Or tending to an injured animal? Would her eyes cloud over with tears of empathy?

His wings itched.

He needed more, always more. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know what perfect thoughts filled her head, what all her hobbies were, where she grew up as a young filly. He wanted to know her like he lived under her skin.

His hooves carried him into the small bedroom and his heart skipped a beat with excitement. He nimbly sank down on her bed and nuzzled the pillow. Would she notice the disturbed bed covers? Probably not he assumed, she’d probably think one of the bunnies or birds had been in the bed.

His nostrils flared as he inhaled the aroma of the yellow Pegasus with a smile. She smelled of warm grass and moss? A faint whiff of wild flowers? Herbs? It was a smell so subtle he couldn’t completely place it. It felt like she was everywhere, like he was surrounded by her, engulfed by her. It was intoxicating being so close to her. This was where she slept every night, and it was where he was lying right now. His coat and skin was touching the same fabric and blankets that she wrapped herself in every night.

He sighed with delight. Surely they were meant to be together. A connection like they had was no silly filly matter. It was a serious and deep love. If only she would notice him, then they would be together!

On the nightstand next to the bed was a picture of the most perfect Fluttershy as a young filly. He smiled at the picture. Then he recognized the messy rainbow mane of the cyan pony standing next to her. They appeared to be young enough to still be in flight school. Even in his moment of discovery, this intimate time of him looking at the picture of his lover as a younger pony, Rainbow Dash was invading. She was always around. The others too. The orange one, the pink manic pony, Twilight Sparkle, and Rarity. His feathers ruffled. But none invaded his dearest Fluttershy’s life so much as that other Pegasus Rainbow Dash. He looked at the picture with cold eyes for a long time in the silent empty cottage. His face was a knife.

His hooves were shaking.

He knew now what needed to be done.


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Rainbow Dash woke slowly realizing she had a splitting headache that did not promise to go away soon. As she tried to rise off the hard cot she realized she was not at home. The rough fabric was nothing like the soft cushioning of her cloud bed. The aching escalated to a sharp shooting pain as she tried to raise her head. Even her neck hurt.

Her eyes stung from where blood had run into them and her face was sticky from the coagulating substance. A whole side of her face was swollen painfully, and she raised a hoof to carefully feel out the damage.

She must have fallen quite far and hard. But she couldn’t remember crashing from the sky. She ran through a mental checklist, twitching all her hooves to make sure she had no spinal damage.


She froze. Her left back hoof was tied down firmly to the corner and leg of the cot she was laying on.

This was no fall. She probably had a concussion. She tried to reach back into her memory for how she had gotten here. Flying loop pactice under the light of the setting sun, crawling up onto her poofy cloud bed, somepony in her house...

Somepony in her house. Her head throbbed again at the thought. Somepony had invaded her house and kicked her head in and she was... somewhere. She tried to clear her foggy head. What pony for Celestia’s sake would do such a thing?

Well her cloud home ruled out all non-pegasi ponies. No earth pony could get so high and no unicorn pony could tread the clouds. Her last refuge, the house she had crafted by her own hooves out of manipulated clouds was violently invaded. And she was captured.

Why?

Dash raised her head to look around the dark room. Her large rose colored eyes were already adjusting to the minimal light. The room seemed to be a large bathroom. Along the ceiling things that looked like ribbons were clipped to clotheslines that spanned the room. Macabre party streamers? She couldn’t tell what they were in the thin light that trickled in from underneath the edge of the door. The sink was filled with some liquid that did not smell like water. The whole room stank of foreign chemicals and the smell made her head hurt more and her stomach churn.

She tried to raise herself on the cot to sit up on her haunches. Slowly she managed despite the dizzying effect movement had on her head. It was an awkward position for a pony’s body to be in, what with her back hoof still stretched unnaturally and tied tightly to the corner of the cot. She stretched her wings out and the muscles were sore, but she was grateful for the slight freedom of movement. She reached down to see if she could undo the binding that held her. Nopony trapped Rainbow Dash. And Equestira’s fastest, best, highest flyer was NEVER kept on the ground for long.

On the ground.

It hit her like a ton of bricks and her hooves that had been fumbling with the rope froze. The walls, the sink, the ceiling. This was not a cloud home, this was solid, and on the ground. No self respecting Pegasus pony lived on the ground. Well, Fluttershy did, but her talents were unusual for a Pegasus. Instead of flying and cloud manipulation her place was on the ground caring for the animals of Equestria. No other Pegasus would ever live on the ground. They were born to fly. Rainbow Dash’s heart constricted at the small space of the dark room and she longed for the open sky, the rushing wind, and the warm sunshine on her feathers. But her cloud castle would be impossible to reach for anyone but a Pegasus pony. But now she was definitely in somepony’s bathroom on the ground.

So who had taken her and why?

Her hooves worked faster on the rope, but her talent was not rope working like AppleJack who had had a lifetime of wrangling and farm work to master such things. Her hooves were clumsy and slow with her fuzzy vision and throbbing headache.

Her heart pounded as her sensitive ears caught the sound of a door opening and closing. Somepony was coming. She tried working faster, but the rush only made her hooves slip accidentally tightening the ropes. Her breathing was coming in shallow nervous panicking pants as she listened to the sound of heavy hoofsteps come closer over wooden flooring.

The sound paused at what she suspected was right outside the door and a body blocked what little light was coming into the room from the crack at the bottom of the door. Her skin crawled and she shivered from her ears to her cutie mark covered flanks. She could feel fear rising in herself, and she tried to squash it down. Rainbow Dash feared nothing. She was the Iron Pony. She was the fastest, strongest, fiercest, and nothing and nopony would stop her. She was Rainbow Dash! She could handle this with her wings tied behind her back. Or her leg tied…

She steeled herself in preparation to meet the pony who intruded on her happy life.

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Author’s Note:
Hello Everybrony,
I hope you’re enjoying the story so far. The idea came to me as I was watching the episode “Green Isn’t Your Color”. This should be a long story. So I’m looking for a beta to edit my chapters and light a fire under my ass to motivate me to write more chapters faster. I’d also love to hear critique from you, and your ideas. I can be contacted at deusexpony@yahoo.com or here on my DA.
Thanks for reading, and I hope to have another chapter done soon!