Fluttershy leant on the windowsill in her living room, smiling out at the rainbow in the sky above Ponyville. It was beautiful, and somehow, after the day's events, it felt strangely appropriate.
“Hey, Fluttershy. Can you give me a hoof? I can't... get this... to be fire.”
With a giggle, Fluttershy turned to see Rainbow Dash sat in front of the fireplace, clumsily rolling a stick between her hooves and trying to make a spark. It looked cute, but it wasn't ever going to work. She crossed the room and knelt down by her partner, taking the stick from her and placing it with the others in the pile.
“It's my fireplace, there's a trick to it,” she said. “Here, watch.” She reached in and started shifting the kindling into a vaguely pyramid shape, stacking the bigger logs around and atop the smaller ones.
While Fluttershy worked, Rainbow sat back and watched, as she was told. “What were you looking at?” Rainbow asked. “Out the window I mean. Something going on?”
“It was a rainbow over Ponyville,” said Fluttershy. She smiled wistfully at her pyramid of wood. “I was just wondering if our other friends were looking at it as well.”
“Oh, cool,” said Rainbow, as Fluttershy picked up a flint stone and began striking it. “Heh. I still can't believe everyone got their cutie marks because of my Sonic Rainboom. I always knew it was a big deal, but that's, like, huge!”
“It is,” Fluttershy agreed. The sparks ignited the dry kindling at the bottom, and she leant in to blow on it a few times. The fire started, drawing an impressed grunt from Rainbow. Fluttershy turned to smile at her. “To think, if you hadn't stood up to those bullies, none of this might have happened. It's amazing how something so simple could lead to changing so many lives.
Rainbow nodded and watched the fire. “You said it.”
Still smiling, Fluttershy lowered her eyes. “I've never really thanked you for that, have I? I suppose, between falling to the ground and getting my cutie mark, it slipped my mind. But it shouldn't have, especially since you were racing to, um, 'defend my honour'.”
“Don't worry about it. It's kinda what I do,” said Rainbow. She got a playful grin. “Buuut, if you insist, I accept 'thank you's in the form of kisses and/or food.”
Fluttershy gave a muted giggle and leaned in to oblige her, closing her eyes and kissing Rainbow on the lips. The gesture was familiar by now, but that didn't do much to make it less magical. Every time she kissed Rainbow was a flood of warmth and safety and longing that always ended too soon. It'd fast become a favourite part of their relationship.
When she pulled back – and after Rainbow stole one last split-second of touch by nipping her lower lip – Fluttershy opened her eyes with a warm smile. “Thank you,” she said, in case there was any doubt. Rainbow smiled right back at her.
“Any time.”
The fire cracked and popped, drawing Fluttershy's eye. It had caught very nicely, but once it got going it would eat through the wood they had pretty quickly. “We'll need some more logs to keep it going tonight,” she thought aloud. “I need to stay and finish dinner though. Would you mind?”
“On it,” said Rainbow, rising to her hooves and stretching. “I'll go acquire some from the shed on Applejack's farm.” When Fluttershy gave her a very gentle scolding frown, Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Fine, I'll ask her first.”
Fluttershy smiled and got up as well. “Hurry back.”
Rainbow grinned, pecked her on the lips, then took off out the window towards Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy watched her go, leaning on the windowsill again, and breathed a smiling sigh. Left alone now, she thought to herself just how lucky she was to have Rainbow Dash in her life, and in the way that she was. A few months ago, she never would have imagined being this comfortably romantic with somepony, let alone with her childhood friend.
Then her eyes fell on the rainbow over Ponyville again, still hanging up there as bright as ever. Her expression turned thoughtful. 'Or was it luck at all?' she wondered.
Fire crackled and danced, as was its wont, sending waves of heat out over the pair of pegasi who lay snuggling on the couch. It was dark outside and had gotten very cold, so they'd moved the couch right up next to the hearth and had dinner there, evidenced by the two empty plates on the floor in front of them. Comfy as they were, Rainbow and Fluttershy had decided to leave the washing up for the morning, and settled in for the night.
For Rainbow, there was no doubt in her mind. Lying there with a belly full of good food and Fluttershy curled up against her chest, she'd never once felt more at peace. Sure, she was at home and comfortable when she was tearing through the sky in a race – being a mare of action and all – but the simple comfort she felt right then was indescribably more awesome.
Though she'd never be able to express it with words, she did her best by tenderly squeezing a wing around Fluttershy, holding her close. Judging by the sound Fluttershy made, she approved. It was the longest, most comfortable silence of Rainbow's life. So far. She hoped for many more.
“...Rainbow,” said Fluttershy at last, almost quieter than the crackling of the fire. The first word since dinner.
Rainbow smiled, but kept her eyes closed. “Yeah?”
“Do you think the six of us were really all linked together, before we even met?”
Rainbow curled her lip and took a moment to think about it. “I don't know. I guess anything's possible,” she said. “Why?”
“I was just thinking,” said Fluttershy. “Earlier. About how lucky I am to have you. But... maybe it's not luck at all. Maybe we were meant to find each other. To end up here.”
That made Rainbow smirk. “If that's true, then I owe destiny a drink for setting us up.”
Fluttershy made a sound that could've been a very sleepy giggle. She was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Do you think it could be? Destiny, I mean.”
Rainbow opened her eyes half way and spared a tired look for the flickering fire. “Anyhing's possible,” she said again, leaning her head back. She'd be lying if she said that this was the first time she'd thought about destiny, about what the world had planned for her. She let out a breath, closed her eyes and shook her head slightly. “But no, I don't think so.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The universe might've been giving us nudges, one way or the other, I don't know,” said Rainbow. “Maybe my Sonic Rainboom linked us together and made sure we'd all meet up somewhere, somehow. But at the end of the day, we're all here because we chose to be. I'm here with you because I want to be.” She gave a half-hearted shrug, with neither the energy nor desire to move too much. “If that's what destiny wanted too, lucky coincidence for him, I guess.”
“Mm,” said Fluttershy, and Rainbow didn't have the awareness to ask what that meant. After what could've been ten minutes or an hour, Fluttershy shifted her weight and pressed closer to Rainbow, just when she thought it was impossible to get any more comfortable. “In that case,” Fluttershy said, “I'm glad you chose me.”
Rainbow smiled again, and she felt her thoughts beginning to swirl into dreams. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I'm the luckiest... somethin'... that you chose me too.”
* * *