“Do you think we can tell them?” asked Rainbow Dash, as the two trotted along to Twilight’s castle. “I mean we’ve all been friends for so long now. What if it ruins what our friendships?" She paused and then added, "Or my reputation!”
Fluttershy patted her hoof against Rainbow's back. “I don’t think it’ll do either of those. But if you want we can keep it a secret.”
“Great!” Rainbow said. “Now all we have to do is not act too intimate when around them. That shouldn’t be too hard!”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Sure,” she said.
They shared a glance before entering into the castle doors.
---
It was a party. It wasn't a big party but it was a nice little gathering. Applejack and Rarity were sitting in the corner with fruit punch. They sipped it and talked about their respective work. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were playing a game of bobbing for apples. Pinkie Pie was pulling apple after apple out of the barrel and tossing them into a basket. Twilight swung the basket wildly with her levitation powers compensate for Pinkie's lackluster aim. Starlight Glimmer and Spike discussed something boring and irrelevant while they watched the game between Pinkie Pie and Twilight. One could guess there were more than a few snide comments. And then there was Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy situated herself on one of the chairs. Her gaze hovered on the other ponies. Rainbow Dash was right next to her. She stared solely at Fluttershy.
Fluttershy gazed back towards Rainbow Dash. Their eyes met one another's. A large red blush flashed across Fluttershy's face and she hid her eyes under her messy bangs. They squirmed in their seats, though Fluttershy had much more subtle motions than Rainbow. Rainbow Dash darted her eyes away. She turned over to Pinkie’s game and watched them play. Some of the Apples tumbled out of the basket and bonked Twilight's horn. Twilight frowned and pushed the apples away with her magic. Spike applauded. Rainbow Dash half-heartedly chuckled. Normally she'd find that hilarious. But at that moment it was a convenient distraction.
Fluttershy leaned into Rainbow Dash and put her mouth by Rainbow's ear. Her long hair caressed Fluttershy's head and lay on Dash's cheek, hiding her. "Um...” she whispered. “What do we do?"
"I don't know," Rainbow muttered.
"I'm not talking about that," she replied. "I mean we're both here and they're over there. Shouldn't be over there with them?"
"Of course we should be!" Rainbow Dash whispered back. "I was lost in thought. That's all."
"Me too...” she whispered. She nuzzled subtly into Rainbow's cheek. Rainbow's face turned bright red and her hooves shook in her seat. She jolted out of her seat and dashed over to Spike and Starlight.
In a flash, Pinkie Pie pulled an apple out of the basket and flicked it with her tail. It launched across the room before landing between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Pinkie jumped up and followed the trajectory of the apple. She landed right between the two ponies and wrapped her hooves around them. Heya buddies! Wanna join in on the fun!"
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash glazed at each other and back at Pinkie Pie. "Uh sure..." Fluttershy said.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. She placed her hooves against Pinkie's chest using them to push her back. "I was already going to," she said snapping her tail behind her.
Everyone gathered together by Spike and Starlight. Twilight, the last to arrive, ran up to Pinkie with a basket full of apples. Heavy breaths funneled from her mouth as she tumbled the basket down in front of Pinkie. "What was the point of that?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know! It seemed like fun!" Pinkie replied.
Twilight sighed and shook her head. Still there was a satisfied smile planted on her face. Pinkie ignored it and trotted towards the center. "Gather up girls, and Spike, because I planned a very very very fun party!"
"What is the plan this time darling?" Rarity asked.
"I'm glad you asked!" Pinkie Pie exclaim. "Because I have something very SPECIAL planned today," when she uttered the word special she winked towards Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy hid behind her bangs while Rainbow Dash winced.
Rainbow whispered to Fluttershy. "She doesn't know right?"
"Of course she doesn't. How would she know? I haven't told anyone." Fluttershy whispered back.
"Good," Rainbow answered.
"I have a trifecta of games!" Pinkie Pie announced. "I planned them special for a special day like today!"
"Today's special?" asked Applejack. "What's so special about today?"
"My Pinkie sense told me that today would be a very special day!" Pinkie exclaimed.
A bit of laughter could be heard around the room. "If you say so," Applejack answered back.
"Super Duper!" Pinkie cried. "Let's have a six legged race!"
They all observed the spacious confines of the castle party room. While it was big it was still a room. "Are you sure this is big enough?" asked Twilight.
"That's what she said!" Pinkie chimed in.
"And what about wings?" asked Applejack.
"Wings are cheating, we'll have to tie them down." Pinkie announced. "And this castle is perfect. We can set a course through the halls!"
Rainbow Dash huffed when she heard that. "Fine, I guess. Otherwise it'd be too easy."
"Well duh," Applejack answered. "Wings remove the whole point of a six-legged race."
Dash rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
Twilight trotted over to Pinkie and looked over her shoulder. "Are you sure it'd be safe to run around like that in the castle? Someone might get hurt."
Pinkie shook her head. "It'll be fine Twilight! Nothing could possibly go wrong!"
Twilight bit her lip. "Well, I hope you're right."
"Terrific!" cheered Pinkie. "Time to randomly pick teams!" Pinkie spun around and grabbed a bucket filled with many ping-pong sized balls. She pulled them out one at a time while nodding at each one. The others watched along not sure what Pinkie was doing but all the same going along with it. At the end of it all, she held up the eight balls before dumping them into the bucket.
"I got it!" she cried out. She pointed her hooves at Applejack and Rarity. "You two are a team!" The two of them looked at each other before sharing a silent questionable nod. She then pointed to Starlight and Spike. "You two are a team!" Starlight watched her while Spike looked at Pinkie quizzically.
"But how can I do it if I'm a dr-" Spike said. Pinkie cut him off by waving her hooves.
"And you two are a team," she announced pointing to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. The two of them glanced at each other and exchanged worried faces. Rainbow shuffled herself around and fidgeted. Fluttershy tapped her wing against Dashie’s back and subtly stroked it. Pinkie trotted over to Twilight. "And that leaves me and Twilight as the last pair." She beamed and put her hoof around Twilight. Twilight subtly grinned but quickly reverted back to her natural neutral expression. "Any questions?"
"I still don't know how I can participate in a six legged race if I only have two legs," Spike said.
Pinkie blinked and her head tilted around. "That is true," she said to herself. Pinkie tapped her hoof on her chin a couple of times before shrugging. "I don't know. You'll make it work somehow!" she exclaimed. She grabbed a bushel of rope and tossed it around the room like she was throwing confetti. "Grab some rope and let's have fun!"
Rainbow grabbed a couple pieces of the rope in her wings. She lifted them up to show Fluttershy. "I guess we tie ourselves up then?" she asked. Her hoof rubbed up against the back of her head.
Fluttershy extended her hoof out towards Rainbow. "I guess we do," she responded.
Rainbow lined herself up next to Fluttershy. She used her wing to cross the rope against their hooves. It was a messy loose knot but it was a knot. She turned to Fluttershy. "Ok Fluttershy, are you ready to win this thing?"
Fluttershy shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm more confused than anything."
Rainbow swung her untied hoof forward. "Me too. But I still want to win."
“Of course you do,” she teased. She dragged her wing against Rainbow's back. She giggled but stood tall. Somehow everyone l managed to get themselves prepared, somewhat. Pinkie and Twilight were not ready due to Pinkie. She was busy painting lines into the floor of the castle.
"Yo Pinkie, we're ready!" Rainbow called out.
"Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie exclaimed. She gave a couple strands of rope to Twilight. She pushed herself next to Twilight. "If you could do the honor please?~"
Twilight rolled her eyes but smiled. “Sure Pinkie.” She used her magic to bind the rope against their adjoined hooves. Pinkie moved her tied front hoof forward dragging Twilight’s hoof with her. "Perfect!" She cried out.
"Alrighty!" Pinkie announced. "I painted a trail of arrows. Follow the arrows until you get to the end. The first one there wins!" She beamed and swished her tail. "Are you ready?” she paused a second before yelling, “Go!"
The runners were off and it went about as well as one could expect. Applejack galloped while Rarity leisurely trotted. The difference in their speeds caused them to trip over each other.
Spike and Starlight trotted along but didn’t get far due to the difference in their body shapes and sizes. Spike tripped over himself causing Starlight to fall onto the ground as well.
Pinkie Pie hopped along the path. Twilight tried to follow her but her movements were ill timed to the party pony’s. She fell onto the ground as well. However, Pinkie didn’t notice. She continued to hop along causing Twilight to drag behind her.
Rainbow galloped as quickly as she could. Of course this was too fast for Fluttershy and they soon tripped over each other. Rainbow Dash glared back at Fluttershy only to meet her sad face. She winced and quickly hid her own face. “Sorry.”
Pinkie bounced along as the groans in the background piled up. She turned around and noticed the ponies on the ground in a mess. “Oops. Maybe we should play a different game then.”
Twilight picked herself up from the ground. She used Pinkie’s body to get her balance back. “You think?”
Pinkie untied the rope from their hooves. “I got something great in mind! We could play a game that I heard of. Each contestant is in a team of pairs. Someone will ask a question and the designated answerer has to answer what they think their partner would say.”
“Ooh that sounds interesting,” Twilight noted. Her nose crinkled as her eyebrows furrowed. “I wonder how much we know about each other.”
“Probably too much,” Spike snarked.
“We’ve been good friends for a long time, it’s bound to happen” Applejack said.
“Perfect!” Pinkie Pie said. “Let’s do it! We’ll keep the same teams!”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy narrowed their eyes. “Wait a minute!” Rainbow Dash barked. She stomped her hoof into the ground. “Something here feels off!”
Pinkie squeaked and jumped up and down. “What do you mean? Everything is perfectly normal!”
“Why are all these games team games? With the same teams.” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t get what you’re implying,” Pinkie Pie replied. A bead of sweat poured down her head. “I was thinking it would be fun!”
Rainbow Dash glared at Pinkie pie. She couldn’t help shake the feeling in the back of her head. What if Pinkie knew about her relationship with Fluttershy? Was this some way to get her to let it out? While she knew that she should let it out she was afraid of what would happen if she did so. Her friendships, her reputation, these were the thinks she feared she could lose. But there was nothing more to it than that. She was just nervous about it.
“Sure,” Rainbow said gritting through her teeth.
“Perfect!” Pinkie announced. She bounced up and down. “I’m so excited I could burst! Quickly pick someone to answer the question!”
“If you don’t mind darling I’ll take the question,” Rarity said.
“Sure,” Applejack replied.
Spike and Starlight looked over at each other. “I guess I’ll answer the question,” Spike said.
Fluttershy tapped Rainbow on the shoulder and said, “I can answer the question if you want me to.”
Rainbow shook her head. “No thanks. I got this.”
“Alrighty!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Here's the first question. If you were to get together with your partner in this game, would your partner want to tell the rest of us that you were dating?”
Rainbow Dash bolted out of her seat and tackled Pinkie Pie to the ground. “Pinkie Pie!”
“Huh? What?” Pinkie said with a smile and a chuckle. “What’s wrong Dashie?”
“If you know about it stop trying to hint at it with these vague games!”
Pinkie Pie’s eyes grew wide. She eased out of Dash’s tackle and jumped up and down. “You mean you’re dating someone too! How exciting! We should throw a party for it! It’ll be a special super awesome big party! It’ll be so exciting!”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “You mean you didn’t know?” she asked. She then paused for a moment and pawed at the ground. “Wait. What do you mean too?”
Pinkie Pie froze and looked back at Twilight. Twilight sighed and placed her hoof firmly on her forehead. Pinkie shivered. “Nothing!” she squeaked out. She dashed her way out of the room.
Rainbow darted out in front of Pinkie and grabbed her. “Don’t try to escape!”
Pinkie squirmed around more and fidgeted her hooves in every direction. “Are you sure I can’t? Why not?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Well somepony doesn’t want me to tell you because they’re worried that a relationship will ruin their very close friendship group that they care very very very much about."
Fluttershy added, “I know someone like that too.”
Rainbow groaned. “I can’t tell if this is all some sick joke or if there’s something else going on here.”
Pinkie shook her head. “It’s not a joke. My jokes are funnier than this.”
Rainbow broke eye contact with Pinkie and let her go.
“Don’t worry, we’ll never think of any of you any differently no matter who you’re dating,” Rarity said in her soothing tone.
“Eeyup,” Applejack added. “In fact. Rarity and I have been thinking about dating ourselves. So you’re not the only one in that position.”
Rarity nudged Applejack on the side. “I thought we agreed to wait until we made a clear decision.”
“I think this is a good time to let them know. Considering what they’re going through,” Applejack replied.
“I guess that helps,” Rainbow Dash said. She flew over to Fluttershy and grabbed her in her wings. She pet her head softly. “I’m dating Fluttershy,” she said, pushing Fluttershy forward. Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her bangs, but it wasn’t enough to hide her smile.
“Wow! Did we all decide to date each other within the span of a week?” Pinkie Pie announced. “That’s so awesome! We should have a party!”
Rarity shook her head. “Technically we haven’t decided yet.”
Twilight sighed. “Sorry girls,” she said. “I guess I got a bit worried about what would happen if you all knew. You’re all so special to me. I didn’t want to lose you so I hid the truth.”
Twilight reached over to them and put her hooves around Pinkie. “But I should have just let you all know after all.”
Pinkie responded by giving a big lick up Twilight’s cheek. This made Twilight smile, the two of them pulled each other closer.
Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, I guess we all could have saved the worry.”
“Did you all really think that would change anything?” Pinkie asked. “We’re best friends. And we’ll be the bestest of best friends forever! Even if we’re all doing each other!”
“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted as she nudged her side.
The girls all laughed along, warm with the thoughts that nothing could change their friendship.