"So... you're not like them?" Rainbow Dash asked Fluttershy. The three ponies were all sitting, with Rainbow's wing still wrapped around Twilight, and Fluttershy sitting opposite of them.
The three were alone. Spike had gone to Sugarcube Corner to pick up a special gem cake order from the Cakes. Rainbow offered Scootaloo a chance to go with him, which she eagerly accepted. Spike was staring daggers at her as he left. Twilight's only worry was how Pinkie would react to seeing Spike if she was there.
"No, at least, I don't think so. I don't understand why they are mad at you, Twilight. Nothing they said made any sense," Fluttershy answered.
Twilight gave a somewhat annoyed glance at Fluttershy. The only pony able to answer the question of why the other three hated her was right in front of her, and yet she couldn't answer.
"They must have a pretty good reason." Twilight rolled her eyes in sarcasm as the words left her mouth.
"What do you think, Dashie?" Rainbow blushed and facehooved as Twilight said it. Fluttershy's eyes widened, as she also noticed the feather in Twilight's mane. Her face went from a look of confusion to a look of understanding.
"Oh..."
"What?" Twilight looked at them both, confused. Twilight was so oblivious sometimes, it made Rainbow want to scream. But, she also thought it was adorable how naïve and innocent she could be. Rainbow nearly laughed at the thought of Twilight, the pony who just spit in Queen Chrysalis' face to save her, being innocent in that way. "What's so funny, Rainbow?"
Rainbow only now realized that she was actually laughing. "Oh, n-nothing," she said in between breaths.
This only annoyed Twilight even more. It made it seem like they were hiding something, but Twilight knew better than to think Rainbow would lie to her like that.
When Rainbow finally stopped, her gaze shifted back to Fluttershy.
Rainbow had been watching Fluttershy carefully. First off, the way Fluttershy reacted when she saw Rainbow was unreasonable, to say the least. It made her suspicious, and she felt a knot in her chest when she thought of Fluttershy wanting to speak to Twilight alone. On top of that, she knew that Twilight used to have a crush on Fluttershy, which made her feel a bit angry. She bit her lip at the thought.
Why do I care? she thought to herself. Is the amazing, awesome Rainbow Dash jealous? Jealous of what? Why? All these questions plagued her mind like a swarm of Parasprites. After all, how could she be jealous? Unless... she had feelings for Twilight. Was this possible?
"Umm, Rainbow? Did you hear me?" Twilight's captivating voice snapped her back to reality.
"Sorry, I was just... thinking."
"That's a first," Twilight teased.
"Hay! What's that supposed to mean, Egghead?!" Rainbow stared angrily at the Alicorn under her wing.
"What do you think, Featherbrain? Oh wait, that's right... you don't." Twilight gave an evil grin to the Cyan Pegasus.
Fluttershy was looking back an forth at the two, and now she looked a bit worried. Then again, she always looks worried at something.
As the two stared onto each other's eyes, their expressions faded into smiles, and they both blushed and started laughing hysterically. Twilight rested her head on Rainbow's shoulder, and Rainbow rested her own on the top of Twilight's head. She pulled Twilight closer with her wing, and Twilight found comfort in feeling Rainbow's heartbeat as well as her own.
The three ponies all sat in awkward silence, and all had slight smiles on their faces. Finally, Fluttershy of all ponies broke the silence.
"So, uh, what were you saying Twilight?"
"I asked Dashie why she keeps blushing and stuttering whenever she talks to me."
Rainbow's face turned a bright red.
"Oh, uh, I-I just remembered, I need to go, uh... c-change my eye bandages!" With that, Rainbow pulled her wing back and darted off to the bathroom.
"Huh. That was weird," Twilight said, with a genuinely confused expression returning on her face. "What has gotten into that pony?"
Fluttershy could never yell at her friend, but at that moment, she wanted to scream at the painfully oblivious Alicorn. She decided not to, and it was an altogether bad idea to point out Rainbow's feelings. She needed to change the subject.
"So, what happened to her? I heard it involved... Changelings."
"You heard right. Queen Chrysalis has returned."
Fluttershy gasped, and a look of horror appeared on her face. She remembered their last encounter, when she had impersonated Princess Cadance. She remembered how Twilight warned them of the imposter, and instead of hearing her out, they all shunned her. Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were all acting the same way now. It's like Chrysalis carried the emotions with her wherever she went, and now that she's back, it was happening again.
"Ugh! I had nightmares about her for a week after the first time." Fluttershy shuttered as she remembered that, too. "How did she get out of there? Scootaloo said you saved her."
"I'm glad you asked me now, because I'd rather not have Dashie be the one to explain it to you. I saw her get hit by some kind of magic while she was over the Everfree. Don't ask me why she was there, because I don't fully know. I only know it had something to do with the Weather Team."
"I flew to the area where she went down. I saw Chrysalis standing there, and Dashie was in a pool of blood." Twilight took the feather out of her mane, staring at the small spot of Rainbow's blood on the top as she remembered the event. Her voice became softer. "She looked... bad. Chrysalis looked ready to kill her. I let myself drop down and landed over her..."
Rainbow washed her face with cold water until the redness disappeared. She looked up and stared at herself in the mirror. "Coward. That's what you are. Useless. Stupid. Stubborn."
She spat out insults at herself, remembering everything she did wrong, not just that day, but the last several days.
"How could you put Twi in danger like that? You should have just stayed in bed you idiot. Then you wouldn't be hurt like this, and Twi wouldn't have had to risk her life to save you just because you were stubborn."
Rainbow was actually surprised at herself for caring about Twilight more. She didn't care how hurt she was, as long as Twilight Sparkle was safe. Rainbow always had quite the ego, and sometimes Rainbow Dash only thought about one thing: Rainbow Dash. It was different now.
"How could you snap at Fluttershy like that? She only wanted to help!"
Anger filled her once more. Why had she gotten so angry at Fluttershy? Was this jealousy? If so, what was she jealous about?
"And what the hay was that? You just up and left! Coward!"
She sighed as she realized that she actually didn't know the answer to Twilight's question. Why did she act so weird around her best friend? She once again gave herself a scolding look in the mirror.
"You probably made her feel bad! She probably thinks you hate her because you're always so weird around her! Not answering her question and leaving her alone with Fluttershy probably didn't help either!"
Rainbow's eyes widened as she realized it. She had left Twilight alone with Fluttershy. The knot in her chest returned.
Rainbow Dash finally turned the faucet off and bolted out the bathroom door.
"Wow Twilight. I never knew you were so athletic."
Twilight blushed a bit at the complement. "Oh, come on. It's not that impressive. Besides, I have magic on my side."
"Even more now that you're a princess. I mean, it was amazing when you were a Unicorn, but even more now."
Rainbow Dash appeared in the doorway behind Twilight, almost sighing in relief that the two were still in the exact same spot. Fluttershy saw her, and Rainbow raised a hoof to her mouth in a 'shhh' motion.
Twilight knew Fluttershy's words were correct. She had pure magical power unseen since the days of Star Swirl the Bearded. Her magic likely rivaled that of Celestia and Luna. In fact, she could sense Rainbow Dash approaching from behind.
As Rainbow loomed close enough, Twilight teleported into the air just above Rainbow, and said "Surprise!" right in her ear. Rainbow jumped forward with a shriek of fright. Twilight fell to the ground, clenching her sides in laughter. Fluttershy started to laugh a bit as well. Rainbow's face lit up red once again.
"I'll getcha back for that one Egghead." Rainbow put on her Trademark cocky smile and sat in her previous spot.
"Yeah, yeah." Twilight sat down next to Rainbow.
Twilight rested her head on Rainbow's shoulder again, who draped her wing over Twilight again. The end of her wing touched Twilight's Cutie Mark, and she shuddered at the unexpected contact. Twilight blushed, and Rainbow simply smiled.
The silence was broken by the whirling sound of the wind outside. Twilight looked to the window, and her jaw nearly dropped at what she saw.
"Dashie, I thought the blizzard wasn't due for a few more days!" Twilight said in anguish as she thought of Spike and Scootaloo.
"I thought so too, but then again, I haven't spoken to anyone on the Weather Team in a few days. They must have decided to do it early." Rainbow noticed the worried expression on Twilight's face, and instantly knew what was troubling her. "Don't worry, I'm sure the Cakes will let them stay. I just hope Pinkie doesn't get any funny ideas."
Twilight stood up. "This calls for some hot coco!" She said dutifully. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy stared at her in confusion of her suddenly changed mood. Twilight darted down the stairs, leaving the two Pegasi wondering what just happened.
Fluttershy and Rainbow sat in awkward silence. Once again, it was Fluttershy who broke it.
"So... you and Twilight, huh?"
Rainbow's face hadn't completely returned to its natural color, and this statement didn't help. She let out a long sigh.
"No, Fluttershy. Me and Twi are not dating."
Fluttershy just looked even more confused now. "But... the feather, and the way you snapped at me, and... 'Dashie'."
"I don't really know why I snapped at you, but I shouldn't have. I know you were only trying to help." This caused Fluttershy to raise an eye in confusion.
"It's just... when I realized you were expecting to talk to Twilight alone, I got this really weird feeling. Maybe I'm... jealous. I don't know what I'm jealous about though. Maybe it has something to do with you having a crush on her, which I have to say is kinda weird because you also have a crush on Applejack's brother."
Fluttershy giggled. "I had a crush on Twilight, silly. I was just..." Fluttershy thought of the correct term. "...Bi-curious. And that was before Big Macintosh. Besides, I never had the courage to come out to Twilight, so I got over it." Rainbow Dash realized the irony of the situation. Both Twilight and Fluttershy had crushes on each other, and both got over it because they were too afraid!
"What was this feeling like?" Fluttershy continued.
"It was a knot in my chest, and it made me want to put a hole in the wall."
Fluttershy considered this for a moment, before dropping the bomb. "Sounds like somepony else as a crush on Twilight to me," she said with a wink.
Before Rainbow could respond, or even have time to think about what she just said, she was interrupted by the last voice in Equestria that she wanted to hear.
"Rainbow Dash has a crush on Twilight Sparkle?!" said the voice. Rainbow looked left, right, behind, and up, but couldn't find the source.
"Down here."
Rainbow looked down to see a tiny, flat Draconequus. He smiled up at Rainbow, who angrily sneered back. He shrugged as he slithered to the area between the two ponies, growing to his normal size as he did. He lifted one flat arm and grabbed himself by the head, lifting himself and flicking his wrist. The motion caused him to shake himself out like a towel, returning him to his normal, non-flat shape.
"What do you want, Discord?" Rainbow asked in both an annoyed and embarrassed voice.
"I just came to find my dearest Fluttershy, is that a problem?" Discord said as his face collided with Rainbow's. She pushed him away strongly, almost knocking him into a wall. "Well then. Somepony's antisocial."
"It's impolite to eavesdrop, Discord. We went over this yesterday when I caught you listening to me and Big Macintosh." Fluttershy lightly scolded her "friend".
"Oh, I know, it's just it's so much fun listening to relationship things!" Discord snapped his fingers, causing small dolls of Flutteshy and Big Macintosh to appear in thin air. "Oh Big Macintosh, I loooove you!" He said, perfectly mocking Fluttershy's voice, who blushed as a result. "I'm sorry, but I don't talk about nuthin' ever." He said, mocking Big Macintosh. He was acting out the scene with the dolls.
"That's neither funny nor accurate to what actually happened, and you know it!" Fluttershy flew up to Discord's face with an angry look. He snapped his fingers again, causing the dolls to disappear. "You're right. I'm sorry Fluttershy," Discord said with his sad, apologetic face that he used so many times on her. "Just... don't do it again." She said calmly.
"Oh, but I also heard about the fight with Queen I'm-too-ugly-so-I-steal-other-ponies-looks. I have to say, I thought she was gone after that Shining Armor pony did that purple-bubbly-spell."
Rainbow merely sighed, before asking "How much did you hear?"
"Oh, that doesn't matter, dear Rainbow Crash. I swear I will never repeat a word of it." His tongue stuck out, and he dragged it with a zip sound across his mouth, forcing it shut like a zipper.
"You know that isn't my name." Rainbow was fighting a mental battle against patience and anger, and she was losing. Discord "unzipped" his mouth.
"I apologize, Misses Rainbow Sparkle."
Rainbow had enough at that point. She dived forward and tackled Discord, pinning his arms to the floor. Before she could do anything, he teleported above her and picked her up by a back leg.
"Now, now. It was just a joke." Rainbow thrashed around, trying to break free. "Calm down and I'll let you go." Seeig no other way out, Rainbow stopped struggling and let herself hang down.
"There, see? No one needs to get hurt." He dropped the Pegasus, and she landed on her injured wing. She let out a cry of pain. "Oops," Discord said, levitating the pony back into the air. "Heh, sorry about that. It was actually an accident that time."
A purple aura surrounded Rainbow Dash and gently brought her to the floor on her hooves. She turned to see an angry faced Twilight looking at Discord, and there were three mugs floating behind her.
"What the Hay, Discord? What are you doing here?"
"What? I can't come visit my friends? It's unfortunate you couldn't all be here at once, but I understand that the friendship..." Discord snapped his fingers once again, producing floating copies of the Cutie Marks of all six Elements. He put Fluttershy's, Twilight's and Rainbow's on one side of him, and the other three on the other side. "...is divided. It's a good thing I'm reformed, or else I might have taken advantage of the current uselessness of the Elements of Harmony."
Twilight's eye twitched. "How did you..."
"Flutters told me all about it. I understand Rainbow Crash gave Jappleack a nice kick to the face." He imitated a kicking motion, producing a tiny copy of Applejack that landed on his swinging hoof and flew across the room, exploding when it hit the wall. He snapped his fingers, removing the ash that was left and fixing the dent that was created.
"You know that isn't their names Discord. It's Rainbow Dash and Applejack," Fluttershy said. Twilight levitated a mug of hot coco over to Rainbow, and another to Fluttershy, as she walked forward and sat down next to Rainbow.
"Well I could have called her Dashie or Rainbow Sp-" He was stopped by a tiny orange hoof covering his mouth, followed by a light "Shhh". He looked over to see the tiny Applejack floating next to him. "Yeah, yeah." Discord rolled his eyes and made the Applejack clone disappear in a puff of orange smoke.
"How did you know about Queen Chrysalis returning?" Rainbow asked the most annoying creature she ever had the displeasure of knowing.
"Are you kidding? Princess Moon Moon and Princess Sunbutt wouldn't shut up about it! One of the few times I visit Canterlot..."
"Discord. Names." Fluttershy said, starting to lose her patience.
"Right. Sorry. Anyways, can we go home now?"
"There's no way we're flying back in this blizzard." Fluttershy said, sipping her hot coco.
"I could just teleport us back! Like this!" Discord snapped his fingers, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash. "Before you go, I need to ask a favor Fluttershy. Is there any chance you could take care of Tank? There's no way I can as long as I'm like this."
"No problem at all, Rainbow. But... how will I get to your home? I can't fly there right now."
"*Ahem!*"
"Oh, right. Sorry Discord."
With that, Discord snapped his fingers, and the two were gone. The mug Fluttershy was holding dropped to the floor and spilled. Twilight sighed, both in annoyance at the mess, and relief that Discord was gone. She levitated the mug up off the floor and a towel floated over. she began cleaning the mess.
Now that the thorn in her side was gone, Rainbow could finally think about what Fluttershy said. Is it truly possible that I have a crush on Twi? No, she thought. Twi is my best friend... but I get this warm feeling whenever we are together. Maybe, just maybe it's possible... but what are the chances that she feels the same? I guess I'll never know until I ask.