Daylight broke as the sun crept over the hills. A blue pegasus was shaking with fear as her marefriend tried to calm her down with a quiet song.
A white mare stood next to Doctor Stable as he checked his clipboard.
Breaking the silence, the doctor spoke, “Rainbow Dash, it’s astonishing how well that marefriend of yours can preen.” The blue mare blushed and the doctor resumed, “Well let’s fly then.”
“Miss Fluttershy, would you please stand here?” The nurse motioned the yellow mare to stand on a patch of clouds low to the ground.
“Okay, I thought Rainbow was the one flying today. Since her accident, I haven’t flown at all. I’m scared, border lining terrified.” Fluttershy hid underneath her hooves and tried to hide in the short grass. She began to shake violently.
“Fluttershy, I’m scared, too, to be honest. What if my wings fail to keep me off the ground? You have nothing to worry about. Your wings are perfectly fine,” Rainbow said as she knelt to the ground to face her cowering marefriend. “Besides I want to do this with you. I believe in you.”
Rainbow nuzzled the timid mare gently and lent a hoof to help her up.
Fluttershy inhaled deeply and said, “Okay, together then?”
“Absolutely.” Rainbow took Fluttershy’s hoof in hers as Doctor Stable scratched violently on his clipboard.
The nurse spoke up, “So if you fillies would just stand right here on this patch of clouds and flap your wings softly. Just a warm up.”
The two pegasi complied and separated so that they had room for their wings. Fluttershy glanced over at Rainbow. She was smiling ear-to-ear. Fluttershy did the same as she saw how Rainbow was trying to put her at ease.
In synch, they began to flap, folding their wings up and down as the nurse instructed, “Lift off gently, the clouds underneath you will move as you do in case you fall but it will only do so once. Princess Twilight said she couldn’t find a spell that would keep the clouds moving that way. Sorry.”
The mares lifted off the ground and the cloud followed. Rainbow grunted with effort.
“You okay?” Fluttershy asked, glancing over to her marefriend.
“Yeah, it still hurts a little, but I can do it,” Rainbow beamed, to reassure her marefriend.
They soared high into the clouds with the wind brushing into their faces.
“Hey! We’re doing it! Haha! Whoo hoo!” Rainbow shouted into the air. Fluttershy smiled as her marefriend did a confident loop-de-loop around a fat cloud.
Fluttershy flew gently, as Rainbow got used to her wings. The time faded away as they found themselves back on the ground as Celestia lowered the sun.
…………………
The horizon was struck with stripes of gold as the sun sank to make room for Luna’s moon. The clouds, which had been gathered by the weather team, cast shadows over the hills.
The pegasi walked slowly from the doctor’s office. Rainbow Dash hung her head as she walked. Her marefriend just looked straight ahead. Neither of them wanted to speak to the other.
Their hoofsteps were the only sound that rang through the falling night.
After an eternity of silence, Fluttershy spoke softly, “I am so proud of you, Rainbow. You can fly again! Aren’t you happy about that?”
“Yeah, it’s just… I…” Rainbow’s voice broke as a tear flowed down her cheek.
“What?” Fluttershy draped a wing over the upset pegasus.
Rainbow took a deep breath and said with a sigh, “I really love you, Fluttershy. I just wish I could stay with you forever. I don’t want to go home, but I know I have to.”
“What makes you think that? You don’t have to leave. I don’t want you to,” Fluttershy began to cry.
Rainbow stopped, and faced Fluttershy. The buttercream mare’s eyes avoided Rainbow’s. The cyan mare placed her soft hoof under Fluttershy’s chin and forced her to look at her.
Tears flowed freely from both mares’ eyes.
“I just miss my own bed and Tank. I haven’t seen him for a while since my accident. I know Twilight is taking care of him, but I still miss him.”
“He can come live with us in my cottage, Rainbow,” Fluttershy’s tears began to stain her coat.
“I love you to pieces, Shy. I really truly do.” Rainbow brought Fluttershy’s lips to hers, kissing her gently and passionately.
After the kiss ended, Fluttershy felt a “but” in there. “But?” She asked.
“I think it’s best for us if we live separately for awhile, since I’m healed. I loved being in your care, and I thank you.”
“But why? Why do you feel this way?” Fluttershy began to sob.
“I don’t know, I just do. I’ve lived alone for a long time. I like the solitude. I can maybe stay over now and then. I know how much you love the meadows and the ground. My place is in the sky. That’s why I have my cloud home. Since I can fly again, I can stay in the serenity of the sky. Maybe in the future we can live together permanently. You understand, don’t you?”
“Yeah, you make a pretty good point,” Fluttershy said gloomily.
“Thanks, Shy,” Rainbow said, “I love you.”
The mares walked in silence the rest of the way to Fluttershy’s cottage.
Once inside the abode, Rainbow fluttered up to the bedroom that she shared with Fluttershy for the past month. She began to gather her few things into her saddlebags.
Rainbow thought to herself: I am grateful that Cloudchaser got some of my things for me.
The blue pegasus felt the soft breathing of Fluttershy on her back. She looked over her shoulder, to see Fluttershy’s sad teal eyes.
“Aww don’t look like that, sugarcube,” Rainbow imitated Applejack’s accent. Fluttershy smiled.
“You don’t have to go tonight, do you?” the buttercream mare whispered.
Rainbow nuzzled her marefriend and then nodded her head.
“Do you want to stay with me tonight? In the sky? On a cloud?” Rainbow asked.
“My animals need me here. Maybe one day I can have the girls look after them later this week,” Fluttershy glanced down at her hooves.
Rainbow threw the saddlebags onto her back and stretched out her wings. She turned to walk down the stairs.
She glanced over her shoulder and whispered, “I love you with all my heart, Fluttershy. Don’t take this the wrong way. I just think it is best.”
Rainbow walked toward the wooden door.
“I know you are doing this because you love me, Rainbow, I just wish you wouldn’t,” Fluttershy said as she flew down beside the cyan pegasus.
The cyan mare turned to see the tear-stained face of her marefriend. She kissed the shy pegasus long and hard. Fluttershy returned the kiss harder. Her hooves went through the rainbow mane and down the neck of Rainbow.
Reluctantly, Rainbow broke the kiss and left the cottage. She disappeared into the night sky, leaving a rainbow trail behind her.