//------------------------------//
// Chapter IV: Preperations 
// Story: The Harder They Fall 
// by DJ Leftwing 
//------------------------------//

	Her saddlebags were packed, she had the gifts for her parents, and Derpy had been informed to hold her mail for the week. All that was left to do was go and get Fluttershy and then they’d be on their way. Flapping her wings once, Rainbow Dash propelled herself off the launch platform at the top of her house, setting herself up to simply glide all the way to her friend’s house. She caught an updraft under her feathers and rose higher into the clear blue sky. She could see the cottage, and all she had to do was let the cool air beneath her carry her over to it, but her mind suddenly turned on her again, telling her that this was a bad idea, that she ought to cancel the trip entirely.

She Ignored the feeling, knowing that at this point, she had to go through with it, so as not to upset Fluttershy. She touched down lightly on the road in front of the cottage and started trotting towards the front door. It opened before she got the chance to knock, and Fluttershy was standing there with her own saddlebags already on, and a pair of flight goggles resting on her forehead.

“Since when did you have flight goggles?” Dash asked, not knowing her friend to be the kind to wear the somewhat uncomfortable eyewear.

“Oh, I’ve always had these, I just only wear them when I’m going to fly for a long time,” she explained as she slid the goggles over her eyes, “So are we ready to go?”

Dash was mesmerized, the goggles must have had some sort of curvature to the lenses, and once Fluttershy had placed them over her eyes, the teal of her eyes was magnified. She didn’t know why, but Dash just found this entrancing. The very back of her brain though, knew why, but refused to let her know yet.

“Sure, let’s go, it’s gonna be a long trip, so the sooner we start the better!”

Fluttershy exited her house, and after calling a goodbye to her animal friends, closed the door and locked it. 

“We need to stop by the library really quick if you don’t mind. I need to give the house key to Twilight so she can get in.”

Rainbow agreed, and with that, the two pegasi took off, heading towards the center of Ponyville where the library tree was built. When they arrived, Spike opened the door, welcomed them in, and told them that Twilight wasn’t really in condition to see them at the moment.

“Oh no, is something wrong? Is Twilight alright Spike?” Fluttershy asked, looking extremely concerned for her unicorn friend.

“Well, not really. She had a bit of a mishap with a spell that she found, and now she doesn’t really want anypony to see her. She’s trying to fix it right now, so she’ll be fine.”

“Oh that’s a relief. But what went wrong, is it serious?”

“Well, I’ll tell you if you promise not to tell her I told you,” Spike said, shifting his eyes back and forth as if he were worried that somepony was eavesdropping on them.

“Oh, well if it’s that secret, I can just leave it be.”

“Are you kidding Fluttershy? This could be good. We promise not to tell her Spike,” Dash exclaimed, causing Fluttershy to flinch at the suddenness of her outburst.

“Okay, well, here goes; she created some sort of portal to a different dimension, and when Colgate knocked her into it, they sort of combined into one pony. Heh heh, I like to call her Twigate now.”

Rainbow Dash let out a low whistle, trying to imagine the librarian and the eccentric dentist as the same pony, and then cracked up once she got the picture in her mind.

“Wow, even eggheads can get into big trouble. That’s just rich!”

“I hope she can figure out how to fix it,” Fluttershy said, “Oh, and here’s my key so that she can take care of my animals while we’re away.”

“Thanks Fluttershy, Twilight told me to wish you two a good trip, and we’ll see you when you get back. I’ll go get this to her.”

Spike turned and padded up the stairs, leaving the two pegasi to show themselves out. They did so and resumed their flying, this time heading towards the floating city of Cloudsdale, which had recently been blown a couple hours away from Ponyville. The weather pegasi were trying to generate enough winds to get the city back to its correct location, but it was a slow process. The trip was a slow process as well, given the speed limitation that Fluttershy placed on the duo, but Dash didn’t mind, finding the slower pace to be somewhat relaxing. It gave her time to think, mainly about her recent time with Fluttershy.

She had been subconsciously seeking the company of the shy yellow pegasus a lot more often recently than she had in the past. She couldn’t understand why she enjoyed spending time with her so much, given the canyon of differences between them. The only thing she knew is that every time that she was with Fluttershy, she felt a little bit happier. Maybe it was because she was her oldest friend, and she accepted Dash for who she was. Maybe it was because she was the only friend that could actually go everywhere she could, being a pegasus as well. Or maybe, it was a third thing, that Dash did not want to accept, but was slowly working its way to the front of her thoughts. May be she loved Fluttershy.

‘No, I’m not like that anymore! I’m not a filly-fooler. I’m not. Not, not, not, not, not. My parents already hate me enough, and if they found out I was in love with another mare, they’d hate me even more.’

The thought of her parents brought back a whole flood of memories of her life in her parent’s house. They were memories that she tried to avoid, but were now invading her mind without cease, and she could not get away from them.

She had just returned from her first year of camp…