• Published 9th Sep 2012
  • 24,539 Views, 738 Comments

Magnetism! - Souldin



Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash must be in constant physical contact due to a pair of magic bracelets.

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Inseparable

Chapter 8: Inseparable!

“Pinkie Pie. Rarity,” Applejack addressed her two friends emotionlessly. “Ya'll can’ be serious.”

“Why, whatever do you mean, dear?”

“Yeah, I’m always super-duper serious about what I do.”

“Heh-heh, well,” Applejack began as she turned to her two friends with a forced smile. “Ah’m talkin’ about tha' there banner of yours.”

Designed by Rarity and carried by Pinkie Pie was a large metal rod with a banner tied to the top. Upon this banner were the sewed patchwork faces of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy within a heart symbol. Sewn just below that picture were the words, ‘FlutterDash Forever’.

“Now Applejack, we are simply showing our support.”

“You’re bein’ too blatant about it!”

Applejack’s outburst disturbed nopony, or at least appeared to disturb nopony. There were not many ponies out and about yet, and those who had been out were just arriving to prepare for another day of sales in the market. Since the number of shopkeepers was still few right now, the trio of friends were for the most part alone as they made their way to Twilight’s.

In response to Applejack’s outburst, Rarity merely huffed. However, after a moment’s thought, she started up her magic and began to fold up the banner.

“Rarity, what are you doing? We need to support the shipping cause!” Pinkie protested.

“I know, I know, but Applejack is right. We are being a bit ‘blatant’; we can come up with some more discreet ways to help things along for those two.”

The earth pony rolled her green eyes, and added with her southern accent, “Ya'll don’ need to do that either.”

The two shippers looked to Applejack aghast in disbelief for suggesting that they do not interfere with their friends' relationships, as good friends always do. Pinkie continued to look at her fellow earth pony with an expression of shock while Rarity’s turned into a frown, a serious glint in her eyes.

“Applejack, you’re not suggesting that we do not interfere simply because you disapprove of them both being… mares, are you?”

Rarity’s accusation caused Applejack to frown slightly, and choose her next words carefully. “If they both decide to be fillyfoolin’ with one another, Ah’m not gonna object, but Ah’d rather ya’ll not kick their hinnies down that path.”

“Oh Applejack’s being a silly pony again.” Pinkie Pie giggled as she hopped on over to sling a hoof round AJ’s shoulder, “The two of them being mare’s shouldn’t be a problem for you. I mean, what if Big Mac or Apple Bloom were ga—”

Pinkie didn’t finish her sentence as Applejack lightly spun Pinkie Pie around and pressed her against the nearby tree. Lightly keeping a hold of the party pony, Applejack looked to Pinkie’s face with fear and horror, and stuttered, “D-D-Don’t even j-joke about that, Pinkie. Do you know how many grandkids Granny Smith wants? Ten, Pinkie! Ten! Ah like big families an all, but Ah Ah’m not popping out ten of ‘em.”

“What are you two doing?” Twilight asked quietly from her library door.

Twilight Sparkle had heard noises from outside her house, and having already been up to greet her two bound friends, was quick to check outside for the source of the noise. Upon stepping outside, she witnessed Applejack face to face with Pinkie Pie, the former pinning the latter against her tree house. Twilight refused to jump to conclusions, but one immediate possibility made her quite quiet and cautious in speaking.

“Why, we were just coming over to see you. We heard from Spike that you plan to remove those bracelets off of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and we all decided we should come over and see if you needed any help,” Rarity chose to say as Applejack released Pinkie from her light hold.

“Actually, if I’m right about my translations, I won’t need any assistance at all, but you’re more than welcome to come in. Spike’s making tea right this moment,” Twilight replied, a large smile being her way of showing how thankful she was for the offered yet unneeded aid. She then ventured back into her abode and called out, “Spike, could you make that tea for seven?”

Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie followed their friend inside of course, and were quite surprised to what they saw. The ground floor of the library looked like… the ground floor of a library. Where the ponies expected to see complicated apparatuses and mystical magic algorithms they saw a table, seven chairs set around it, and everything else in their normal places.

“Uh, gee Twilight, Ah was expectin’ some equipment or fancy symbols, not… nothin’”

Twilight turned around and gave her friends a slightly uncertain smile, “Yes, I was expecting the removal of the bracelets to require some form of spell as well, but as I said earlier, if my translations are correct, I won’t need any assistance, equipment, or even spells.”

By now, the four ponies had taken seats, and by then Spike had emerged with five of the seven cups of tea, the other two whom would be served the warm beverages having yet to arrive, as well as a bowl containing sugar cubes. As the ponies continued their conversation, Spike started to set the warm beverages upon the table.

“Here you go Rarity.”

“Why thank you Spike.”

“No spells? How in the hay do they come off then?”

“Let me guess Pinkie, sugar with yours.”

“You know me too well, Spike! Lots and lots of sugar.”

“Please darling, don’t tell us that all we needed was some butter or cream to pull those garments off of them.”

“Here ya go Applejack.”

“Thank ya kindly Spike.”

“I thought it would be a magic must defeat magic thingy too.”

“Tea, Twilight.”

“Thank you Spike,” Twilight said as she levitated her cup up to her, took a sip, and addressed all of her friends, “Well, I’ll be explaining all of that soon enough. Let’s wait for Fluttershy and Rainbow first. They're the ones who need to hear it the most after all.”

Each of the friends at the table—Spike included now—nodded their heads in agreement. They all then went to take a sip of their teas, with only one pony stopping before she sipped.

“Hey Spike, Ah don’t suppose Ah could have some sugar cubes with this? Ya know how much Ah like sugar cubes, right?” Applejack asked, Pinkie Pie next to her immediately looking guilty.

“Sure,” Spike grumbled as he stopped drinking himself and waddled on back into the kitchen.

Applejack turned to a sheepishly grinning Pinkie and pondered aloud, “Pinkie, there were at least two cubes for each of us in there; Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash included.”

More would have been said regarding Pinkie’s possible sugar addiction. However it was at this point that the two most anticipated ponies arrived. A giddy with glee Rainbow Dash and a nervous with worry Fluttershy came into the library.

“Hey everypony!” Rainbow Dash shouted out, unable to hide her joy as she looked to each of her friends and in turn the rather bare room, “Shouldn’t there be some fancy doo da or something?”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile at the consistent train of thought amongst her friends and commented, “There will be no need for anything like that.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash chose to look at each other in confusion, now all of the friends smiling at the expected reaction. Twilight then continued to say, “Well, why don’t you all have some tea first.”


They had conversed, they had drunk tea, and much to Rainbow’s impatient delight they were now ready to remove the bracelets.

“But first, let me read out what I’ve translated.”

“Aw c’mon!”

Rainbow’s frustrated cry and followed up head bang was quite amusing to each of her friends, though this act did not stop Twilight from continuing with her explanation, “It turns out that the inscribed tablets I received were not in fact the writing material of those that lived in the Everfree Forest, but boxes.”

In the midst of this explanation Twilight had telekinetically brought over one of the rustic tablets and set it onto the table. Those amongst the group who had yet to see any of the artefacts outside of the matching bracelets rose up in their seats, and gazed upon it. Rainbow watched disinterested, Fluttershy watched patiently, and Spike went on over to the tablet styled box, and pried it open with his claws.

“I’m not sure how Princess Luna ever managed to open this up. Without digits it seems impossible,” Twilight commented as she withdrew from the box an old but carefully preserved reel of paper. “But inside the box I found this letter which niftily discusses and explains the use of each and every artefact.”

Rainbow immediately perked up, “So this letter tells us how to get these bracelets off.”

“Y-yes, does it?”

Twilight turned to her two friends and nodded, adding, “It was in all the old language of whom I’ve come to know as the fauns, but thanks to you two and the crusaders finding that site in the Everfree Forest, translating this was as simple as a basic set of algebraic equations.” Four ponies in the room shuddered at the thought of algebra.

Pinkie just smiled.

“So let me just read it out to you, and all will be explained,” Twilight began, sitting up as straight as she could and clearing her throat, “Dear Generous Luna—”

“Um, Twilight,” Fluttershy interrupted, raising her hoof as if she were in class, “I’m sorry to interrupt but isn’t it rude to be reading the princesses letters like this.”

The unicorn cringed at this statement, and with a face full of nervous fears and concerns replied, “I know it’s… intrusive, but I felt it was necessary in order to learn about the bracelets and… I’m sure she’ll understand.”

Everypony decided to nod their heads to this; in case saying no caused Twilight to revert back into psycho mode.

“As I was saying,” Twilight said, coughing once before continuing to read the letter. “Dear Generous Luna, Tis been a long while since I last beseeched you in the form of a letter, too long in fact. I fear, though I tried to let it not, that recent affairs amidst our circle of friends may have damaged our friendship, and subconsciously directed me towards the action of avoiding both you and your sister. So I shall feel it proper, prior to informing you of recent circumstances of the Everfree country, that I offer you my apologies for—”

“Twilight, quick question.” Rainbow interrupted .

“Yes Rainbow Dash.”

“How long is this letter?”

Twilight eyed up the letter, the various faun words carrying several pony sentences within their small characters, “It’s… pretty long.”

“Can we just skip to the bracelets then?”

Twilight pouted a little with disappointed, but complied, “Fine, fine, bracelets, bracelets… here we go.”

For what she hoped would be an uninterrupted last time, Twilight cleared her throat once more before reading aloud once more. “Now onto the issue of you and your sister, and what you claim to be a declining relationship between the two of you. I do believe you have managed to outline the problems that are surfacing between the two of you already, now you only need a way for the two of you to have time together in order to talk these problems out. Considering your royal duties, your sister’s love of socialising with her subjects, and your more collected, class-bound nature, I would advise the use of mystical means in order to force the two of you in spending time together. Along with this suggestion, I provide the means to do so, as along with the various gifts of my people, are two rather special bracelets.”

Undisturbed as her friends waited patiently, Twilight chose to stop this time. Seemingly expecting this, Spike made his way to the kitchen and shortly afterwards emerged with a cup of water.

Once Twilight had nourished her throat with the cool, clear liquid, she continued. “I shall confess, these bracelets are in fact a recent invention of my people, and have admittedly been designed for the use of married couples.”

A mixture of facial expressions emerged at that point, though Twilight was too busy to notice. Applejack’s became slightly bothered as if she had an itchy spot on the back of her neck. Pinkie Pie grinned to the garmented couple. Rarity winked at them. Rainbow looked back with a face that plainly showed her lack of knowing in regards to the meaning behind her friends' expressions. Fluttershy merely blushed.

“They should, however, work just as well for friends or family as they were invented on the principles of friendship. To think your sister once claimed I could not apply the teachings of friendship to scientific formula; these bracelets are proof that she is wrong and I am right. As I was saying though, the intent of the bracelets were to be used by married couples whose relationships are declining. The bracelets recognise the lack or loss of a relationship that had once been there and draw upon the essence of friendship to magnetically connect the two bracelet wearers together. It is then, according to my research so far, an impossibility to separate the wearers until they settle their problems, repair their relationship to the status that it once was, and make out.”

With that, every single pony in the room reacted in their own sudden way. Applejack fell off her chair in a fit of shock. Pinkie Pie squealed and looked to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash expectantly. Rarity was barely able to suppress her own squeal, but still looked expectantly towards Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was aghast with inner turmoil over what had just been said. All the while, Rainbow was just thinking.

“Make out, make out… make-oh, oh!” Rainbow stopped tapping her chin, and with both raised eyes and a rosy tint to her face, asked, “Y-You mean Fluttershy and I have to kiss?”

Everypony, bar Twilight, looked to Rainbow Dash in stark silence, shock dawning their faces. No words were uttered from them nor sound, and Rainbow was the only one still having some form of motion to her. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy then shared a thought among them without any communicating between them.

“Dear Celestia… she understood that!?”

“Wait…” Twilight began to say as her thoughts did a quick double take, “At what point did I say anything about kissing?”

Everypony now looked towards Twilight with vacant expressions, thoughts brewing in their heads.

“Y-y-you mean… we have to do more than… than... k-k-kiss?” Fluttershy stuttered.

Twilight sputtered, and began to mumble incoherently.

“Wait, what do you mean by more than kiss? Isn’t that something to do with birds and bees and writing a letter to a stork for a foal?” Dash commented, glancing to Fluttershy for an answer.

The two ship happy friends of the group could only look towards the two pegasi and think to themselves, “This is going to be good.”

“No!” Twilight shouted out, then shifted through her memory banks to remember what she had previously said and figure out what she had said wrong, “I-I meant make up, not make out! Make up!”

“Whew. Thank tha stars,” Applejack mumbled as Rarity and Pinkie did their best to hide their disappointment.

At the same time Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, and Rainbow reconfirmed, “So all we have to do to get these bracelets off is ‘settle our problems, repair our relationship to the status that it once was, and make up.’”

An exasperated Twilight decided to just nod now, tired from all the talking.

“Okay then,” Rainbow said before all became silent.

This silence was certainly an odd one, for no pony present—nor dragon—knew the reason as to why they had become silent. Some were possibly expecting others to talk, and some were possibly trying to think of what to say. The point is that for a couple of minutes all the friends chose not to speak and thus there was silence.

“Soooo, how do we do that?”

They all now looked to Rainbow Dash. First they looked to her with faces that questioned their friend’s intelligence at what clearly had an obvious answer but then stopped to actually ponder the answer to this question.

“I mean, Fluttershy and I were friends, we still are friends, and if that’s how they come off shouldn’t the bracelets have come off by now,” Rainbow further added, giving reason for the others to pause longer in their thoughts.

“Hey, what if you were a little closer before and have now returned to being that little bit closer, and you could have taken the bracelets off days ago but never tried,” Spike this time added with a wide smile, hoping he was right and thus everypony would praise him for his intelligence.

“Then this universe hates us,” Rainbow added as both she and Fluttershy place their hooves onto the bracelets and tugged.

They did not come off.

“Well then, that can only mean that ya’ll aren’t as friendly as ya you use to be, and ya need to find out why.”

“Well then, I have no idea what to do,” Rainbow admitted in defeat. “Fluttershy and I are just as good friends as we used to be and there's no problem between us.”

“Umm, actually…” Fluttershy spoke up, drawing each of her friend’s attention to her, yet she spoke up clearer, louder, and undeterred. “Rainbow Dash, we aren’t as close as friends as we used to be… and there is a problem between us.”

Rainbow turned to her friend, unsure of what she had heard, and their friends too looked towards Fluttershy in wonderment. “Ooookay… this is news to me. I mean… what’s wrong?”

Rainbow’s concerned words matched her actions, placing a hoof across her friend’s shoulder. Much to her surprise this display of assurance was cast off as Fluttershy pushed away the friendly gesture. Still the teal eyed mare cast her eyes to the ground, her gaze remaining on the floor as she sorted her thoughts. This time only gave Rainbow more time to worry, and her mind flustered with all her recent memories at something she could have done to upset her connected buddy.

When Fluttershy was ready, she looked to Rainbow, face to face, eye to eye, with sincerity and determination.

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said with determination that matched her look, “We need to talk.”

By now Spike had managed to both leave the room and then returned to the room, handing out popcorn to those who wanted it.

“Well uh, okay, I guess. What do we need to talk about Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, the words having been formed in her head already. “Rainbow Dash, before these bracelets, when was the last we hung out?”

Rainbow merely raised an eye to this as she questioned Fluttershy’s own question. “Fluttershy, we hang out all the time.”

“No,” Fluttershy replied with a shake of her head. “I mean… just the two of us. When was the time we hung out… as friends, without the others?”

“It… it was…” Rainbow lost herself in thought, her tongue clicking as she tried to think of her answer. “Pinkie’s surprise party! We hung out then.”

“Doesn't count. That was only to help set up Pinkie’s party,” Fluttershy shot down Rainbow’s answer immediately. Never looking away, she carried on to ask, “The time before that, when did we hang out?”

“… I asked you to cheer for me… for the young flyers competition.”

“Doesn't count. That was just to do you a favour.” Fluttershy couldn’t help but sigh with sadness then. “Then what about the time before that… when was the last time he hung out together as friends? Just to chat or play a game with one another—just us.”

The rash pegasus did not try to speak this time, choosing to think first and then talk. As she looked through her most recent memories though, even those spanning an entire years’ worth, she couldn’t think of an answer. Minutes passed and before long she could only reply with a slight shrug as an emotion resembling guilt stirred up in her.

Meanwhile, though the two garmented friends were easily in earshot of the words, Applejack whisper, “Hey, girls should we uh, should we be watchin’ this. Maybe we should give ‘em some privacy.”

“Don’t worry, if we just keep quiet it will seem like we’re not here at all,” Rarity added.

The sounds of Pinkie Pie and Spike munching away at popcorn begged to differ. Nevertheless, it did seem like they were not even there according to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, as their conversation continued undeterred.

“Rainbow Dash we… we used to spend all of our time together, almost every day, but now, now we can’t even remember the last time we enjoyed each other’s company.”

“Yeah but, that makes sense right?” Rainbow was surprised to see Fluttershy frown at this comment, and witness her friend displaying anger towards her, “I mean, it was just us then. Now if I want to do sports I don’t have to drag you into it, I just play with Applejack.”

Rainbow had pointed to this sport’s partner at this moment, the first time either of the pegasus chose to recognise the presence of their friends since starting their conversation. With each friend mentioned by Rainbow, she continued to point at them. “If I want to pull pranks on ponies, I hang out with Pinkie Pie. If I need serious advice on something, I head on to see Twilight. For Wonderbolt and celebrity gossip, Rarity, and as for Spike… if I, uh, need someone that is really easy to prank.”

“Hey!”

“Thing is, we only had each other back then and we were always forcing each other into doing things we didn’t enjoy,” Dash softly remarked. “It's better this way.”

“It is not!”

Nopony had expected Fluttershy to yell at Rainbow Dash with anger resonating from her voice. The sheer prospect of Fluttershy being angry in of itself was unlikely at best, and unlike in a recent case within the Everfree Forest, Rainbow Dash knew not why her friend was even angry. This left her confused and even more uncertain of what to say than she was before. Her friends on the other hoof saw this as the right time to stop eating snacks and leave.

Just as they were standing, Fluttershy—never removing her vicious glare from Rainbow—jabbed a forehoof towards them. “Sit down!”

When Fluttershy ordered something, ponies and dragons alike obeyed. Her friends sat back down to watch.

“Well why the hay is it—”

“It is not!” Fluttershy repeated once more, “Even when we did things together, no matter what it was, we always had fun, because we were doing it together. Now? You're always with Applejack or Pinkie Pie and we… we never spend any time together, not like we used to.”

“Now hold on a sec! ” Rainbow retorted, having had enough of being yelled at already. “How are you any different!? Huh? I’ve never seen you come up to me and ask to spend time with me! You’re always with your animals or off to the spa with Rarity or any of the others! This isn’t my fault alone here!”

“Then how did we get this way?”

“How did we go from being the best of friends to friends by association?”

“How Rainbow Dash!?”

“I don’t know!” Rainbow yelled out as she threw her hooves up into the air, “Sometimes friends just drift apart, we went our separate ways and just so happened to end up in the same town! What more is there to it than that!?”

Both ponies resumed an earlier silence, though it was a silence now thick with tension. Both ponies panted from their yelling, and yet it felt like neither could breathe. They both longed, in this heated moment, to be enacting all this from a distance but as circumstance currently has they had to right up close to one another. Close enough to see each muscle pulsing on their body, their lungs working away, and the emotions flashing up on their faces. There could be no lies between them right now; everything they saw between them was being unleashed in its purest forms.

Rainbow had to watch Fluttershy’s face of wrath shift slowly into one of depression and sadness. She had to watch as the scowl softened and the blazing eyes be drenched with wet tears. Then she saw before she heard, the anger spouting lips quiver and tremble.

“We went our separate ways… but I didn’t want to, I never wanted to,” Fluttershy forced out of a throat that wished only to weep at her heart breaking memories. “I felt lonely, miserable, confused… abandoned.”

Rainbow first watched her friend break down into tears without any thought, perhaps confusion at what was going on. Then that feeling from before, that guilty sensation but was something more, arose in her once again. Then she realised what it was. Guilt, but also apprehension, like something she had always regretted the actions of but managed to get away with and so chose to bury, to forget it, to never have to fearfully face it’s darker consequences, finally being brought up once again.

Something that she would now have to face.

“R-Rainbow Dash… why? You left home and school, to go travelling around with Gilda… and you left me.” Fluttershy’s tears freely flowed from her face as she mustered up the questions she had longed to ask along with their bitter emotions. “Why did you leave? And... and… w-why did you not tell me?”

Fluttershy wept, her sobs the dominant sound in the room as she waited for an answer, any answer. Rainbow was now completely unsure what to do; memories of that time, and the current image of her distraught friend conflicting with one another. Rainbow looked towards her friends; a plea for help apparent shooting towards them. Pinkie instinctively sat up, only to urged back down by Twilight’s telekinetic magic. Rainbow saw this as well as the gesture Twilight proceeded to make; gestures that told her to ‘go on, say something’.

Twilight and the others could do something, they could go over to comfort Fluttershy or guide Rainbow to the words she needed to say, but they also could not. This was a problem between the two of them, a problem that had occurred long before the group of friends had formed, and it was a problem that could only be resolved by either Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash. Rainbow needed to say something.

“I hated it.”

Fluttershy looked up at the start of Rainbow’s confession. Knowing that her friend was going to explain all she had wanted to know, all that had hurt her long ago; she wiped her damp face and stifled her sobs.

“I was just… fed up of my family and school, trying to make me somepony else. I hated all of it.”

“I knew what I wanted to do in life, I wanted to race, do sports, maybe go exploring, and join the Wonderbolts! But… at school they insisted I do all these things that weren’t relevant to my goals, and wouldn’t allow me to work at the things I would need to reach my goals if I couldn’t do all these other minor things. As for my parents, they didn’t care about what I wanted to be, who I was, they wanted their daughter to be prim and proper and prissy.

“I hated it, so I left.”

Rainbow looked firmly at Fluttershy, and Fluttershy looked firmly back at Rainbow. Neither needed to talk, their eyes spoke enough for the both of them. Rainbow’s continued to hold secrets, and Fluttershy’s continued to hold pain.

“Gilda found out about my plans to leave and insisted she go with me. So we began travelling Equestria, then to Gilda’s homeland and then just about everywhere we could. We travelled the world… and it was awesome!

“There were so many cool things, radical things, things so undeniably awesome that you just have to see them. I saw all kinds of ponies and griffons and really weird creatures. There were bizarre places and doodads and animals and I learnt a lot.”

Rainbow Dash decided to chuckle for a while at this point, looking to the irony of her travels, “Back at school they said I could barely write proper Equestrian. By travelling I became fluent in the Griffon’s language, and can speak the basics of five other languages. I learnt about animals and history and flight techniques and it was… I don't regret any of it.”

Fluttershy felt pain and anger boil in her at those last words. She was miserable while Rainbow had the time of her life and Rainbow Dash… Rainbow Dash didn’t regret a thing. She didn’t let it show, she didn’t speak up, Rainbow was still talking, still explaining, and a hopeful part of her refused to jump to any conclusions until she heard everything out.

“We travelled for a good, I don’t know, three years before we stopped. Gilda had been starting to act rather funny. I mean, she had been getting weirder and weirder, getting more temperamental and constantly looking at me. She would suggest we preen each other pretty much every day…”

Fluttershy, as the only feathered being in the room that understood the intimacy of preening, was the only one to begin blushing, despite her resolve to remain stone faced.

“…and that we share our body heat, sometimes on summer days. She’d also pinch my butt for absolutely no reason and try to touch me in other places that I know nopony, or griffon, is supposed to go near, definitely wrong.”

Now the others joined Fluttershy in the blushing, with exception to a humoured party pony and a designer unicorn used to reading far raunchier tales than what she was hearing.

“So I confronted her about it one day and you know what she told me. She told me how she longed to lay down on me and give me the pounding of my life. So of course I bucked her.”

Pinkie’s innocent nature couldn’t even shield her from blushing at this last comment.

“We then laid into one another and began ploughing each other. Giving each other a real smack down. We wrestled and tumbled and by the end of it we were wet all over and bruised all over and darn, we went at each other so hard that there was quite a bit of blood by how hard we got at each other. I clearly gave her the better bucking though.”

Even Rarity was bright red as the imagery ran through each of the ponies heads.

“Wow, that fight must have been brutal,” Spike nonchalantly remarked .

“It was, I’m telling you now Spike you don’t ever want to be punched by a griffin,” Rainbow replied to the dragon, both unaware at the flushed, fuming states of their friends.

Fluttershy's blush quickly faded. “I should have known… it was just a fight.”

“Anyway, Gilda got even weirder by babbling about how she didn’t mean a fight but that’s ridiculous. As if laying me down and pounding me could mean anything else, how was she not expecting me to hit her after threatening me like that. So we had our argument and we both agreed that we needed to part for a while, we’d definitely been travelling with each other for too long and certainly needed a break from one another, we parted saying we’d make up when we see each other again… well, you all know how well that went.”

It was not long after the time when Twilight had arrived in Ponyville that Gilda also had. Whereas Twilight warmed up to everypony, Gilda didn’t, and Fluttershy remembered how unpleasant her reencounter with the griffon had gone.

“At least she didn’t recognise me; it could have been a lot worse otherwise.”

“Well Gilda and I went our separate ways and I decided to settle down somewhere. Find a nice quiet place where I could train to be a Wonderbolt without bumping into any other pegasi. Ponyville seemed like just the place I was looking for, I moved here and… that’s it.” Rainbow finished.

After this long period of conversation, where information was churned out in great amounts, one would have thought now was a time that contemplating would be had. Such a time was not had though, for while those witnessing had nothing to say, or even could think to say, Fluttershy still had one question left unanswered.

“Rainbow Dash… why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?” Fluttershy asked as calm as she could, her emotions restrained as best she could.

“Oh I… uh, just didn’t I gue—”

“I heard you!”

Rainbow’s stuttered response was shattered by Fluttershy’s interruption and any words that were to be followed were crushed by Fluttershy’s following words.

“I heard you and Gilda. On the day you left I heard how you were going to tell me something. You came to my house, I stayed up all night waiting for your visit and I heard you come around to the back, I heard you grab the window… I heard you stop and I heard you leave. What I never heard was what you were going to say and now I know. You were going to tell me you were leaving but you didn’t!

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I-I was but then, and yeah… you see I-

“Tell me already!”

“Because I—” Rainbow began to shout back at Fluttershy but stopped, her voice proceeding to become quieter afterwards. “I wanted to leave. I wanted to travel. I’d made my decision and… there was no reason to stay.”

Her pink eyed focus shifted from the memories to her puffy eyed friend in front of her, “Except you.”

Fluttershy blinked away any stray tears that had clung to her eyelashes and looked back to her foal hood friend stupefied, “Wha…?”

Blushing from embarrassment in knowing the things she were about to say, and currently wishing her friends were not right there listening to everything that was about to leave her lips that day, Rainbow pushed onwards. “This was something I wanted to do—had to do—and yet, I also wanted to tell you as well.”

Sheepishly grinning to herself, Rainbow tried to laugh off her embarrassment as she continued, “But Gilda knew—hay I knew—that I couldn’t do both.”

This served only to confuse Fluttershy, but before she was able to state that Rainbow Dash could have easily done both, Dash talked on, “I knew you wouldn’t want me to go. I mean, you could have asked to come with me, but there was no way I would allow that. Even if he was never there, your father loved you, and your grades were amazing, and you knew what you were going to do, and… you were able to make something of yourself by being there. So I knew that you would definitely ask me to not go... and then I wouldn’t be able to.”

The cyan mare became red as she thought of what she was about to say, what she was about to confess to. She shut her eyes in some vain attempt to block out the others, and spoke out loudly so she wouldn’t have to repeat herself.

“Because if you had asked me to choose between you and getting to do all those things that I had wanted to do in life… I would have chosen you!”

Fluttershy felt her heart beat joyously, and a smile trying to work its way onto her face.

“I had a hard enough time convincing myself that leaving… even if it meant leaving you behind… was the best choice, and in everything but that it was.”

Rainbow spread her hooves out, pointing to the friends on the side lines, “Look at all I’ve got now. I’ve got a job, great friends, I’m on the track to doing what I want and if I had never left, I probably wouldn’t have had any of this.”

“But I know that all of this… getting here came at a terrible price.” Rainbow had first looked to the ground but then looked back to the slowly smiling Fluttershy. “I had to leave my very best friend behind, just to get where I am today and I… I’m sorry.”

With each rapid beat, Fluttershy’s heart began to heal.

“I’m sorry I never apologised for not telling you and I… when we met up again in Ponyville I wanted to. But I couldn’t and you never brought it up and so I just brushed it under the carpet. Sure we never became as close as were before because of it but we were still friends and that was better… better than what I feared. I feared that if I brought it up again, made us remember you would… you’d hate me.”

Fluttershy burst out into hysterics, her laughter drowning out her thundering heart beats, “R-R-Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy managed to splutter out between laughs, laughs accompanied by slight sobs, and tears of relief and joy, “I-I was afraid that-that you hated me, and didn’t tell me, b-because-“

Rainbow began to laugh alongside her hysterical pal, “Hate you? Please! You were my best friend!”

Rainbow resumed control of herself sooner than Fluttershy, and in finishing her spout of laughter, proceeded to say, “And you still are my best friend. I’m sorry we haven’t been hanging out as much as we used to, but if you really want to go back to listening to me blabber on about sports stars and watch my awesome flying moves, then I’m cool with that.”

Fluttershy shook off her laughter, shook off her tears, and positively beamed back at her best friend, “O-only if you can suffer through slow and tedious bird watching, knitting, games, and constant conversations about animals.”

“Yeah I guess I’d be down with that if it means hanging with you,” Rainbow replied with a chuckle.

The two friends looked to each other with clear eyes that held only truth and happiness, guilt was gone from one set, and heart break from the other. True and genuine happiness was shared between the two friends, and they smiled at one another like the fillies they used to be. Such a reminiscent feeling thus led to some reminiscent talking.

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said quietly, looking to Fluttershy’s shining eyes. “You should take up some sports… and become a Wonderbolt.”

The yellow smiling pegasus seemed to begin smiling more than what was physically possible as she asked, “Why?”

“Because,” Rainbow Dash pulled her best friend into a powerful hug—a hug meant to make up for all the lost hugs over the course of so many lost years, “Then you’d be my three favourite things combined; an athlete, a wonderbolt, and you.”

As the two embraced, there was something’s that just could not be held back any longer.

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaw,” Rarity and Pinkie gushed over the charmingly cute display of affection.

Applejack could only chuckle at her two friend’s reactions, shaking her head in amusement. Twilight and Spike continued to look to the glowering friendship before them with smiles; happy to see unknown unresolved issues between friends put to rest.

“Really Fluttershy, you just have to fall in love with the same mare twice.”

In the midst of the hug, in the midst of her thoughts, Fluttershy was unaware of a pair of small pinkish glows.

“But at least this means you fell in love with the best pony you could ask for twice.”

The small pinkish gleams then faded, and the source of the glows dulled down once again.

All kinds of magnificent feelings bubbled within Fluttershy but what blossomed most all inside the pony was one thing she often lacked; courage.

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said as she pulled herself out of the hug, walked back from her crush, and looked to her with resolve, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Rainbow nodded her head, ready to hear her friend out; sure that what was to come would be one of Fluttershy’s usual apologies. Rarity and Pinkie Pie appeared to have different ideas as to what was about to be said as they leaned on their seats with anticipating grins. Applejack stuck with the smile she had on her face from seeing her happy friend’s face, her disapproval for what was about to happen hidden away beneath it all. Twilight had no idea what Fluttershy was about to say, but she was sure it would be something worth writing in a friendship report to Princess Celestia. Spike really didn't care one way or another.

“Rainbow Dash I… I lov—”

“The bracelet came off!” Rainbow Dash cheered over Fluttershy’s confession attempt, proceeding to show off the now removed ancient artefact, “It came off!”

“O-oh, that’s nice and all but could you let me—”

“I bet yours will come off too!” Rainbow continued to cheer over her friend as she gently tugged the rustic garment off of the caretaker’s yellow hoof. “See, isn’t it awesome !”

Rainbow Dash continued to holler out with joy as she flew up into the air even further. “This is awesome! We’re free; we’re free at long last!” To her, it was like she was in a sports stadium with thousands of fans cheering her. Thinking of things like this made both her following words, and unfortunately the action that goes in conjunction with her following words; make sense, “Try!”

Rainbow then spiked the bracelets.

As the bracelets left the pegasus' hooves and twelve sets of eyes grew with horror at what she had just done, time seemed to stop. However, time stopping would be quite a ludicrous notion; so instead, several things happened one right after another.

First, upon the bracelets hitting the ground, they shattered into a bazillion gazillion teeny-tiny itty-bitty little pieces that proceeded to scatter across the floor.

Second, Twilight screamed.

Finally, Twilight’s scream shattered the stratosphere into bazillion gazillion teeny-tiny itty-bitty little pieces.

The student of Celestia, the pony that one Princess Luna had entrusted with both the research and safekeeping of several priceless gifts from both an ancient civilisation and a friend no doubt long since passed, fell to the floor. She flung herself to where the majority of the bracelet’s fragments lay, unaware of the many apologies spouting from the rainbow maned vandal. Amongst the fragments, a single pearl from one of the two bracelets remained unharmed, and seeing this gave Twilight hope. She picked it up with her magic.

The pearl split in two.

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow began as an aura—not of magic, but simply a pure black aura—resonated from the fallen Twilight, “you know how we pretty much promised to spend more time with each other and do things with one another again.”

“Yes Rainbow.”

“You up for jogging?”

“I-I think I would much rather take up sprinting right about now.”

“I can agree to that.”

With that said, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash turned towards the door. They then sprinted out of the building.

Twilight lifted herself off the ground, and looking to the doorway, giggled, “It will be fine... it will all be fine.”

Twilight then slowly dragged herself out of her house, a familiar psychotic grin upon her face. Unlike before though, accompanying her recently well practised maniacal look and laugh, was a mane of fire. In this case it was literal as Twilight’s mane was actually on fire.

“Rainbow Dash! Oh Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called out to her friend in a sing song voice as she left the sights of the other friends remaining in the room.

Spike repressed the urge to cry at all the recent emotional drama that had unfolded, and as the man he was, simply stated, “What a beautiful friendship.”

Rarity repressed a giggle as she patted the dragon on the head, “Sure Spike, ‘friendship’.”

“I bet you twenty bits they’ll be snogging by tonight.”

“Ah’m gonna have to be pokin’ through mah haystacks tonigh’, ain't Ah?”

Pinkie and Rarity could only nod and all friends continued to think of the wondrous relationship of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. All to the sounds of screams and cries along the lines of, “run for your life!” and “why are the chopping knives on fire!?”


The door to Rainbow Dash’s bedroom opened, and for the first time in almost two weeks, Rainbow Dash entered her own room of her own house.

“It’s good to be back,” she sighed, lugging her wearied body across the room.

Rainbow did not bother to look at or inspect much—she was both too tired from recently running for her life and too glad to just be back in her room to bother inspecting everything right there and then. Her eyes briefly glanced towards her dusty trophies, her dusty weights, her dusty posters, and pretty much everything was dusty. Still, it didn’t matter to her as of the moment, it was late and she was tired so only one thing mattered to her.

“I love you bed.” Rainbow Dash said as she belly flopped onto her bed and with her chin against her cloud patterned pillows,

That would be sleep.

Smiling contently to herself, she shifted herself slightly from her belly flop, and with a large sigh, drifted off to sleep.

She was still awake.

This was a new experience to Rainbow Dash, a pony who could sleep whenever and wherever. She was an expert in napping; if her talent wasn’t flying then it could very well have been sleeping. Yet here she was, tired, on a bed, and not asleep.

Rainbow Dash immediately rolled over onto her back, her back felt a little more comfortable, but she couldn't sleep. She tried her side next, a generally awkward position for the winged pony she was, but she couldn't sleep. Rainbow Dash fluffed her pillows, but she couldn’t sleep. Rainbow Dash tucked herself under the covers, but she couldn’t sleep. She began to toss and turn and twist herself into all manner of positions, but she couldn’t sleep.

No matter what she did, the phrase “but she couldn't sleep” kept coming to mind.

Eventually all of this moving around in bed caused her to smack her head against the wall.

“Ow, darn it you rab—” Rainbow cut herself off as she realised that of course, there was no Angel here, “...bit.”

Next Rainbow looked to the side of her, and saw nopony beside her. Dash fell back down onto her bed, and looking left and right, up and down, realised how large her bed was.

Also how incredibly lonely it was.


Angel was bored.

Fluttershy had returned home, giddy with glee and exhausted of energy. She had greeted Angel with a smile, and then the smile got smaller. She tended to her animals, and then the smile got smaller. She cooked up dinner alongside her beloved pet, and then the smile got smaller.

Now the two glum companions sat down and ate dinner together. Fluttershy would reach out to dish up more salad for herself, out of the bowl in the middle, and note how there was one less pony she was sharing it with. Angel would look up to the bowl, waiting to steal the food before a cyan hoof reached it, but there was no rainbow-headed jerk for him to annoy. Despite being with each other, owner and pet, they found themselves surprisingly lonely.

Dinner was eaten, utensils were washed up, and the animals were sent to bed.

Fluttershy let out a large yawn and looked to her pet, “Angel Bunny, you wouldn’t mind sleeping with me tonight, would you?”

Angel nodded with a small smile, an understanding smile, and he hopped his way up the stairs ahead of his owner. Fluttershy followed, noticing how much easier they were to ascend without a pegasus beside her. Fluttershy sighed, a sigh she could now hear, whereas before it would have fought to be heard over the sounds of a loud and enthusiastic pony.

So Fluttershy made her way to her room, finding a bewildered Angel in the doorway.

“What’s wrong Ange—” Halfway through the window, and with a smile that was both nervous and cheeky, was Rainbow Dash.

“Uh… hi Fluttershy… hi.”

Fluttershy blinked. Angel blinked. Owner and pet respectively just stared at the house breaking pegasus.

Rubbing the back of her neck and remaining half way through the window, the prismatic headed pony did her best to explain. “So Fluttershy, I was wondering… I know this is going to sound weird and all but… uhh... back home it was really lonely and well... uhh... can I sleep with you tonight?”

Angel hopped on over to Rainbow Dash, a death glare piercing the pony’s soul. He leaped up onto the window sill and kicked her as hard as he could.

Into the room.

Rainbow looked up to the cross pawed and frowning rabbit, who huffed at her as he jumped onto the bed. Dash then looked across the bed, and noticed Fluttershy on the opposite side of the bed, pulling up the covers. Rainbow motioned her head to the bed, and all Fluttershy replied with was a smile as she manoeuvred herself onto the mattress. Rainbow Dash followed suit and they pulled the covers over them. Then Angel wedged himself between the two.

“Good night Angel Bunny,” Fluttershy said as she kissed her pet on the head, “and good night Rainbow Dash.”

“Good night Fluttershy,” Rainbow murmured as she closed her eyes.

Fluttershy giggled to herself and then she and Angel Bunny let sleep take hold of them, just as it did Rainbow Dash.

Several minutes later, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes.

She inspected the pony and rabbit before her with both eyes and ears, ensuring they were asleep. When she was sure of this fact, she used her free wing to inch Angel away from between her and Fluttershy’s heads, and managed to place him on top of Fluttershy’s head without waking him. With nothing in the way, Rainbow Dash inched closer to Fluttershy until their muzzles were mere inches apart. She was laying on her side so it was with her free leg that she wrapped around Fluttershy’s body, and pulled the mare’s body closer to her. Within the hug, Rainbow Dash smiled at the sight of her peacefully sleeping friend, and with the pleasing sight before her, finally drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note:

For the last time I shall thank Ugugg93 dearly for proof-reading a chapter of Magnetism. This here is the end my dear readers, the final chapter... for the story that is. The story has come to a close but one last bonus chapter awaits you my loyal followers so don't stop tracking this fanfic yet, I have a little treat in store for you all. Until I return with this treat though I thank all of you, every one of you, for reading, following, and commenting on Magnetism, and I hope you all enjoyed it.