Again, Rainbow Dash awoke with the terrible thought that some amazing events were nothing more than faraway dreams that she wouldn’t get back, but the feeling of Pinkie’s soft body twisting around in her arms reassured her. “Hey there, dollface,” she greeted.
Pinkie wrapped her hooves around Dash’s neck and giggled. “Good morning, sunshine! How’d you sleep?”
“Slept just fine with you here.”
“Really?”
“No doubt.”
The two equines got out of bed and got ready for the day. Getting ready for the day meant making the bed and, for them, sorting out how to go about their situation.
“So what do we do now?” Dash asked.
Pinkie didn’t quite know the answer, but she knew that both of them HATED keeping secrets. “Who already knows?”
“Twilight for one, obviously. I also told Applejack and Tank, but we both know they aren’t gonna tell anypony. One because they promised, and one because he can’t say anything. And you? Did you tell anypony?”
“No… but I told Gummy!” she yelled, pointing to the toothless alligator in its pen.
“Great. So two ponies and two pets know about us. That leaves, what, a hundred more ponies to tell?”
“Two-hundred and fourteen,” Pinkie corrected.
“How do you know… never mind.” Rainbow Dash didn’t even try. What Pinkie Pie knew, Pinkie Pie knew for a reason. Dash guessed it was the number of birthdays Pinkie had to keep track of throughout the year. “Okay, two-hundred and fourteen ponies to tell. Do we just go from door to door telling them? Or maybe we should just walk around holding hooves? What do we do here?”
“Well… why not?”
“Huh?”
“Not the part about going to everypony’s door; but the part where we hold hooves and just walk around, yeah! Let them figure it out, maybe!”
Rainbow Dash scratched her chin, considering the idea. It might take awhile for word to get around, but once it did, it would be out there. Neither of them really wanted that, but it seemed like a better alternative compared to not telling anypony. Dash nodded her head in agreement. “Okay then, let’s go with that. Start from Sugar Cube Corner and work our way from the inside out?”
“Sure!” Pinkie agreed, grabbing a hold of Rainbow’s hoof.
* * *
When they got outside, Rainbow Dash nearly let go of Pinkie’s hoof, but Pinkie tightened her grip when she felt Dash’s pressure starting to leave her. “It’s not going to get any easier,” Pinkie pointed out.
“You’re right,” Dash agreed, “it’s not.”
And so they took deep breaths and began walking around the center of town - heads held high and hooves held in love for one another. To say the least, they got some weird looks. Some smiled, some cheered; some pouted in disgust, some mumbled a quiet curse under their breath. The farther out Pinkie and Dash went, the easier it got. The houses were more spread out, and the ponies there seemed more friendly. Two in particular, Bon Bon and Lyra, even stopped to verbally congratulate them and wish them on a merry way. The new couple smiled at Bon Bon and Lyra as they trotted away.
Finishing up the outer edge of town, Pinkie turned to Rainbow Dash and asked, “What now?”
“Now we wait for the word to spread,” Dash answered simply, and spread it did! By the time they’d reached Sugarcube Corner again, over two hundred residents were aware of them now being together. Almost everypony knew - all but two: Fluttershy and Rarity. The couple looked at each other and sighed. They knew that it would be better to tell them directly. “Do you want me to tell Fluttershy?” Rainbow offered.
“That sounds good! I’ll tell Rarity.”
“I’ll come find you when I’m done. I have something I want to do for you.”
“Who’s gonna tell Spike?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head.
“We can both tell him later if Twilight doesn’t. For now, let’s just take care of Rarity and Fluttershy to get them out of the way,” Dash answered, “Like you said, it won’t get any easier,” she added. They split apart - Rainbow Dash heading to the outskirts of town, and Pinkie Pie bouncing toward Ponyville’s edge.
* * *
A cottage came up over the horizon along with a beautiful twilight making itself known in the sky. Turning her head to the left, Dash could see the first signs of stars. Scattered all about in clusters through an ever-darkening afternoon, they twinkled.
Rainbow hovered in the air a foot or so as she closed the distance between herself and the door. She knocked politely - lowering herself to the ground and closing her wings beforehand. After a short minute, the yellow pegasus Fluttershy answered the door, right eye covered by her flowing, pink mane. It reached almost all the way to the ground; she must not have had it cut in a while. She gave Rainbow a soft, welcoming smile. “Good evening, Rainbow Dash,” she said.
“Hey, Fluttershy,” Rainbow greeted in return, “Can I come in?”
“O-of course! Please, make yourself at home!”
Fluttershy stepped aside, allowing Rainbow Dash to trot inside and, very quickly and subconsciously, admire the cozy feeling that came with her friend’s home. She knew what she was there for, but that didn’t mean it was good to say it outright. To most ponies? Perhaps. To Fluttershy? No, she didn’t work like that. Her mind was all too fragile. Rainbow would have to take it slow. “Where are all your animals at?”
“I just got done putting them to bed. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I was only curious,” Dash shrugged.
“Are you just stopping by to say hi? I can get you some tea if you want..?” Fluttershy offered.
Dash shook her head. “I’m okay, I won’t be here that long anyway. Hey, can we talk about Pinkie and me?”
Fluttershy saw a worrisome look on Rainbow’s face and was immediately concerned. “Didn’t you say that you two were going to the meadow? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is better than ‘okay,’ Fluttershy. It’s great; we love each other!” Dash’s hoof reached for her own mouth to stop the words from spilling out, but they had already left. She slowly put her hoof back down and shyly wrapped it around her other front hoof. “S- sorry, I didn’t mean to say that so suddenly… it just kind of slipped out,” she apologized.
Fluttershy didn’t say anything; she just stood there blinking. For awhile, Rainbow thought she’d broken her. When the yellow mare finally spoke, it was with a smile and a giddy tone. “Oh, Rainbow, that’s wonderful!”
Rainbow Dash gawked. “Come again?”
“I said that that’s wonderful..!”
“You’re not upset?”
Fluttershy, still smiling, understandingly shook her head - whipping her mane upward for a brief moment. “Two of my friends just found their special somepony. How could I be upset?”
Dash couldn’t argue with that. Fluttershy HAD no reason to be upset. Still, what she had expected was at the very least a question asking for confirmation or a statement that would surely fill her with doubt… ANYTHING besides praise!
Just then, a new voice entered the cottage. It was male. “My, my! I had no idea you were capable of feeling such affection, Rainbow Dash.” Dash turned to an open doorway to see the draconequus Discord standing with his griffon hand resting on the door frame. “I suppose appearances can be deceiving, though,” he added, smiling with that mischievous intent glinting off his one long fang.
“Why I oughta…” Rainbow grumbled. She felt a bit robbed of her pride; she didn’t feel as strong with her emotions out in the open for everypony (and every draconequus) to see.
“Rainbow, please, not in the house. Fluttershy and I just spent all day cleaning it!” Discord teased, which only helped to further the cyan mare’s rage.
She took a deep breath and turned away with a quick “Hmph.”
Fluttershy glared at Discord before putting a hoof on Rainbow’s turned back. “What he meant to say was that he’s very happy for you just like I am. Congratulations, Rainbow Dash. Are you sure you don’t want to stay for tea so we can talk about is some more?”
“That’s okay, Fluttershy. I just came here to tell you, was all. I have to go pick Pinkie up.”
The yellow pegasus gave a look of excitement. “Can I come?” she asked, and Rainbow nodded.