Rainbow Dash’s cloud house still hung under the rainclouds, being reinforced with pegasus magic. She could keep the house higher, but she wanted to experience the weather with her friends, and with Ponyville in general so that she could know firsthoof how she was doing as a weather pony. Aloofness of a weather controller was often a complaint, especially in earth-pony cities, and Rainbow Dash was appreciated for living under her own weather. She also loved rain. It may have been hard to fly in, but the sensation of water pouring down over her gave her a powerful sense of connection with the universe. So she stayed a few moments more outside her home, reveling in the elements.
Not far behind, another figure approached. Knowing the limits of her friend, Rainbow Dash was shocked to see that she flew this high to see her, let alone in a downpour.
“Fluttershy? What are you doing? It must be terrible out here for a pony like you.”
“Not as terrible as not telling you what I’ve been meaning to say!”
It was, uniquely, Rainbow’s turn to mumble, “What?” in pure disbelief of her friend’s actions. Whether Fluttershy heard her over the rain or not, she kept on.
“Rainbow, you’re the best friend I have ever had too. You’re the only pony I know who lifts me up, who believes in me.”
“Fluttershy, this is crazy! I mean, we’re friends, but I’m sure there are plenty of ponies who treat you just as well! I mean, I even tried to convince Twilight not to take you along when we went to fight the dragon you scared off! I’m happy to be close to you, and it was a great evening, but you need to get home out of this weather before you get seriously hurt!”
Fluttershy breathed in deeply. Now or never. “Dying would be noting compared to what I go through! For years, all I have wanted to do is be with you! I love you, Rainbow Dash! You’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be! I can’t go another day without you knowing!”
Rainbow Dash sunk a few feet, wings frozen with the rest of her in disbelief. She found herself in a heap on the clouds in front of her house. Fluttershy limped up to her, feathers soaking, mane falling below her hooves in the weight of the precipitation.
“Please, Rainbow. I… I know this is awkward… and I’m sorry if this was a bad time… but I need you to hear this, and…” She began to cry, cry so moved that it was noticeable even against the rain. “…and I don’t want to go home right now.”
Rainbow Dash said the only thing that could come to her mind. “You – you love me? Love me?”
Fluttershy turned away, but silently nodded.
“Fluttershy… I had no idea… I don’t know what to say. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me…” Rainbow Dash suddenly realized just how long they had stood outside in her expertly-crafted downpour. “Would you, would you like to come in, have a bit of hay or something?”
“All I can taste,” Fluttershy said, using the words she had crafted for this moment after years of hoping, “is this moment, and all I can breathe is your life.”
It was too much for Rainbow Dash. She flew a few feet up and banged her head against her hooves. “Ugh! Why here, why now?! Fluttershy, can’t you just go home and rest and we can talk about this when it’s not a torrential rain?”
“Rainbow, I am sorry. I guess I could, I suppose I can last, ‘cause sooner or later it’s over, it’s just…” She finally looked up, “I’ve missed you. I’ve been so close to you all this time, but still I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you every day for all these years and… and I just don’t want to miss you tonight.”
“Fluttershy,” Rainbow floated down to her friend’s level and hugged her softly. “Fluttershy, I meant what I said. You’re the closest friend I’ve ever had. You’ve brought me happiness. You brought me Tank! You’ve believed in me when nopony else did, even when I wouldn’t do the same. But why now? Why haven’t you ever mentioned that you like mares?”
“It… it just never came up… and, well… I don’t want my friends to feel differently about me all of a sudden… and outside that… I know you all would support me… but I am not sure about anypony else… and I don’t want the world to see me… I don’t want to go to a Ponyville pride parade or anything… I just want to live my life… but… I can’t go on without letting you know… how deeply I do love you.”
“Why not tell your friends though?”
“Because… I don’t think that they’d understand. I’m sure they’d be understanding, but I don’t think that they’d understand. I’ve been afraid they would assume things about the time we spent together. So I promised myself I wouldn’t let that possibility get in the way of my closest friends”
“But all of a sudden you can break that promise now?”
“I knew this day would come when I made that promise. It was a promise meant to be broken, like everything else.” Like my own heart, she couldn’t bear to admit.
“So, what do you want from me?”
“Well…” What was it Fluttershy wanted? She knew she didn’t want to force her friend into a relationship that would tie her down, or be something she didn’t want. And as the night wore on and her coat and mane got more and more soaked, she was starting to realize that the night would not hold the ending she wanted. But she pressed on – why? “When… when everything’s made to be broken… I… just want… you to know… who I am.” She looked up, crying harder than she could remember. “I’m a mother-bucking fillyfooler. And I love you.”
Rainbow couldn’t remember hearing Fluttershy swear, or use such a derogatory epithet, especially against a group that she apparently was a part of. But there was only one thing the Element of Loyalty could do in this situation.
“Fluttershy, I love you, but not in the way you need me to. Not in the way you love me. I’m not attracted to mares. I will never stop loving you as my dearest friend, and I will do everything I can to make sure that you don’t have to go through the pain you feel because of me. But I can’t love you like you love me.”
Fluttershy wept. She cried until she couldn’t produce tears anymore. Then she collapsed into a shaking heap in front of Rainbow Dash, and took all the energy she had been using to keep her composure and redirected it into a squeaking wail that Rainbow knew, had it come from one of their other friends, would be heard in Canterlot. She screamed with every ounce of her being, until finally, her scream, unbroken, became the volume of her normal scream, and faded into inaudibility. Her mouth was still locked in the scream, until, out of tears to cry of a voice to wail with, she sputtered and coughed, and passed out for a moment, having screamed until she could not breathe.
The flight back to her cottage, draped over Rainbow Dash’s shoulders, barely registered in her consciousness. Having come to, she flapped her wings, opened the door, walked up the stairs, and got into bed, her oldest friend and unrequited love supporting most of her weight the entire time. Rainbow hugged her, noticeably holding back, and quietly left, crying herself.
Angel left his hutch and hopped into Fluttershy’s bed with her. No words were said, but even the simple bunny could read what had happened to the poor pegasus. Curling into a ball just under her front hooves, Angel nuzzled her to sleep, and wished upon every star of Luna’s mane that his friend, despite loosing everything she wanted, would at least find a closure she needed.