Strong Cider, Weak Hearts

by Toiski

Chapter 1

Rainbow Dash shrugged off her saddlebags and winced a bit when their contents clinked loudly in protest at the rough handling. She turned her attention at the other pegasus sitting in the meadow, surrounded by all sorts of colorful birds. ”Hey Fluttershy. Sorry I'm late.”

Fluttershy looked up from her pals. “Oh, it's no problem. I had my friends to keep me company.” She didn't seem to mind, but Rainbow knew Fluttershy wouldn't voice a complaint if she were made to wait for hours.

“So, are you ready to cheer me on for my new big stunt?” Rainbow dash rummaged though her saddlebags and fished out her flight goggles. With practiced hoof motions she slapped them over her eyes and tightened the strap.

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes. I'm excited to see what awesome new tricks you've planned. Woo-hoo!” Her cheers were still more quiet than a regular pony's speaking voice, but Rainbow Dash thought she could hear a tiny difference compared to before the Best Young Fliers Competition. The volume wasn't the important part, anyway. As long as there was somepony heaping much-deserved praise on her, Rainbow felt like she couldn't fail.

Rainbow stretched her wings and took to the air, hovering just above Fluttershy. “Okay, this next trick looks awesome any way you cut it, but it's coolest from above. Go sit on that cloud,” Rainbow said, pointing at a fluffy white cumulus the size of a haycart, a hundred feet off the ground.

Fluttershy craned her neck and her ears turned back. “Oh, I don't know. It's so high. If you don't mind, I'd rather stay down here.”

Rainbow Dash put on her best 'are you kidding me' face. “Fluttershy, you're a pegasus. You're supposed to be up in the sky.” She could see the earthbound mare was about to object, but cut her off. “You can't appreciate my radical new stunt from way down here. Come on!” Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy in her forehooves and the saddlebag in her mouth and took off, scaring away the little birds. The yellow mare let out a tiny squeak and stiffened. That was good, Rainbow thought, way better than struggling. It made it so easy to carry the frozen pegasus and softly clinking saddlebags up to the cloud, that Rainbow wasn't even properly warmed up.

When she was unceremoniously dumped on the soft cloud, Fluttershy finally let out the breath she had been holding. “Oh my. Oh, oh my. Oh gosh.” She risked a peek over the edge and curled up as small as she could, in the middle of the cloud.

Rainbow dug inside her saddlebags again, pulling out a few bottles of cider. “Relax, 'Shy. Have a bottle. I got some from Applejack. She had these left over from cider season 'cause they were left in the sun for too long and now they taste funny or something. So she gave them to me and the other girls on the cheap.” She planted the bottles into the cloud mass to keep them cool and took off again. “Now watch me pull off things that would leave even the Wonderbolts amazed at my, uh, amazing agility and guts!”

With a trembling hoof Fluttershy uncorked a bottle and took a deep, shaky swig. It did taste weird, but not bad. Maybe stronger than usual, with a lingering warmth in her stomach. Halfway through the bottle, Fluttershy noticed she wasn't as nervous anymore. So she took a long drink, emptying the rest of the bottle, and uncorked another one while watching her friend defy the laws of inertia.

-O-O-O-

Rainbow Dash swooped onto the cloud and plopped herself next to Fluttershy. “So was that great or what?” She nudged her flight goggles up to her forehead.

Fluttershy appeared slightly flushed and was swaying gently from side to side. There were three empty bottles next to her. “Yay. You're really pretty. I mean the trick was. Almost as cool as the sonic rainboom.”

Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. Do you think-”

Fluttershy did the unthinkable and actually interrupted her. “I never got a sonic rainboom for myself.” She appeared slightly misty-eyed. “Rarity got one when you saved her. Remember when you did one the first time? I fell and you didn't come to catch me.”

Now Rainbow Dash was really confused. “Hey, Fluttershy. You know I'm sorry about that. I didn't notice that you--”

And again Fluttershy interrupted. “It's my fault. I wanted you to save me because,” she sobbed, “because then it wouldn't be weird, it wouldn't be wrong that I...” her voice thinned into a whining mumble and she stood up abruptly, nearly losing her footing. Her face was hidden under her mane, but Rainbow could see a tear roll down her cheek.

“Fluttershy, what's wrong?” Now Rainbow was standing as well. Her usual bravado was gone. She had tried not to think about that day, because it was so far from her usual cool self. Yeah, the sonic rainboom was all sorts of cool, but she'd let a friend down. That was decidedly uncool. “I said I'm sorry, okay?”

Fluttershy looked over the edge of the cloud and whispered. “I'm sorry, but I'm going to be a little bit selfish now.” Then she fell over the edge, wings pressed tightly against her sides.

For a split second all of Rainbow's muscles seized up. She felt an emptiness in the pit of her stomach and a tightness in her throat, and then she was over the edge and diving after Fluttershy. The rush of air past her face stung her eyes, but there was a yellow blob in front of her. Her hooves reached out, slipping once and sending the other pegasus tumbling through the air. She flapped her wings furiously to accelerate downwards and grabbed again, this time getting a solid hold around Fluttershy's midsection. She couldn't see well enough to tell how far the ground was, but her instinct told her it couldn't have been far. She hauled up on both their weights with all of her might, extending her rear hooves below them.

The collision sent jolts of pain through Rainbow's legs and she stumbled, but managed to tuck in her wings and twist herself under Fluttershy. The other pegasus fell on top of her, and Rainbow's breath was squeezed out of her lungs between the grass and the yellow mare. They slid a few feet until coming to a halt, and Rainbow shook her head to clear it. “What was that all about, huh? You could've gotten hurt!” There was a hint of tremor in her voice.

Fluttershy was curled up against her chest, her face hidden under her voluminous mane. The yellow mare stirred and continued whispering as if she hadn't just leapt from the height of a hundred feet. “You saved my life.” Her voice was surprisingly steady. “You're my savior, Rainbow Dash. So now it's not weird at all if I fall for you.” Fluttershy's nose emerged from under her shroud of pink hair, and she gave Rainbow a brief kiss on the lips. “My hero.”

Rainbow's eyes stared into nothingness and her mouth hung open. She felt Fluttershy rest her cheek against her chest, where her heart was doing its best to pummel its way out. There was the tingling aftertaste of strong cider on her lips. It was so... soft. Rainbow couldn't quite get her thoughts organized. But... buh. What just happened? It took her some length of time to marshal her thoughts, and realize that they were still curled up together on the grass. “Fluttershy? What was...?”

There was no reply. Fluttershy was breathing calmly, ruffling Rainbow's chest fur with her warm breath. She was asleep.

-O-O-O-

Fluttershy woke up with a slight headache. For a moment she wondered where she was and why it was so cold. The late evening light coming through a window stung her eyes. Yes, this was familiar; she was in her own bed. She rolled over to get the sun out of her eyes, but scooted back to the window-side half of the bed when she landed in a wet spot. “That's odd,” she said, feeling like her mouth was dry as a desert.

There was indeed a pony-sized moist splotch in her linens. The faint smell of sweat was all around her, and seemed to even cling to her hair. She saw Rainbow Dash's flight goggles hanging off the corner of her bedside table.

“What's happened? How did I get home?” She wondered aloud. Her memory failed her. She'd been watching Rainbow's flight practice and drinking that strong-tasting cider. Then something... Fluttershy's head throbbed. Something about falling, holding onto somepony... She smacked her lips and licked them to get the dryness out, and that brought back a memory. Kissing Rainbow Dash. “Oh my goodness. It must have been a dream.” She blushed held a hoof to her lips, ashamed of her wild imagination. But why was she suddenly here, in her bed? Why was there a wet spot that vaguely smelled like Rainbow Dash after strenuous exercise? And the goggles on the nightstand?

The coin finally dropped. “Oh, now you've done it, Fluttershy. Silly, silly, stupid Fluttershy.” Her panicked breathing hitched in her throat. She grabbed the blanket from the foot of the bed and pulled it over her head, curling up as tiny as she could. “Oh my. I don't think I can ever show my face to Rainbow Dash.” She sniffled. The strong scent of her friend was gathering up under the blanket. For a moment she regretted not being able to remember exactly what had happened, and then blushed from her eartips down to her neck when she realized what she was probably trying to remember. “Oh, silly Fluttershy. That's not friendship.”

Comments

[fabianguzman18]

you see after cider sits in the sun for a while cider begins to ferment and have a strong taste to it making alcohol

[Starfall]

A good start! I shall follow this with interest.

[Toiski]

626233
That'll be elaborated on in the next chapter I'm subscribing to other peoles' headcanon regardin alcohol for the duration of this fic.

626240
Thanks! I'm in the middle of exam week, but I've got the scaffolding of the next chapter ready. It'll probably be up during the weekend at the latest.

[Ardensfax]

This is really well done, I'm watching this one intently.

I'll be interested to see how RD can rationalize having her... ahem, encounter with Fluttershy while Flutters was clearly drunk. Without context it seems kind of like taking advantage on Dash's part. This could get interesting.

[Entere]

Interesting. I shall watch this.

[FlameWing]

well done
that is all
except that
and that
ect.

[warden006]

amazing!
track'd

[Toiski]

626423

Whoops, I forgot to reply here when I posted the second chapter. If you've read it, you can see I have addressed your concerns. There's still the problem that Fluttershy has no idea. We'll be getting to that later.