//------------------------------// // III. Clouded Thoughts // Story: The Blessing in Our Stars // by ashi //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash's dexterous, swift-moving hooves worked rapidly to make a peep-hole in the fluffy white cloud; once it was large enough, she poked one of her eyes through the gap and sought out her target. Even though she knew it was a physical impossibility for a pegasus to do so, her nerves were in such a shredded state of tension that she feared she might just end up falling through it. That would be embarrassing enough by itself, but the thought of accidentally revealing herself – of crashing right into herflight-path – would be even more ignominious. The repercussions of being discovered surveilling her … well, she dreaded to think what might happen. Fortunately for her, the cloud that she'd chosen had a nice, marshmallow-y consistency all the way through to the centre of its considerable mass; other than the hole which she'd dug, it was the same as any other, and ought to go unnoticed by all but the most perceptive of eyes. My friends can tease me all they like about my ignorance, but when it comes to weather-phenomena I can bend and shape with the best of them. How to manipulate the minute drops of water that formed clouds was practically Flight School 101. Settling in to a more comfortable position, Rainbow Dash allowed the wispy folds to hug the contours of her body like a gossamer-spun duvet. Even her polychromatic mane and tail were hidden from prying eyes. To all intents and purposes, she wasthe cloud. As unlikely as it was, though, the fear of being caught did send an enervating tingle throughout Rainbow Dash's body and she fought to stop herself from giggling at the dangerof it all. If she'd learned nothing else from perusing Rarity's romance novels whilst waiting for her to finish hemming her dresses it was that a little giddy thrill was good for the soul. Not quite as exciting as flying, of course, but definitely not without its charms. Being vulnerable, however, was something altogether different for her. It was rather more in tune with the pony that she was watching, in fact. The show taking place in front of her alert cerise eyes was, to her mind, absolutely worth the concomitant risk. Maybe it was Rainbow Dash's deeply-ingrained narcissism speaking, but ever since Fluttershy had cut her mane and tail shorter following Angel Bunny's death she looked even more appealing to her; the slick, spiky bangs did a much better job in defining the delicate curves of her face, anyway. On a more practical level, it also helped with her flying: without the constant worry of catching her overgrown tresses on something, she'd learned to cut loose a little. In private, of course. What she thought was private, that is. Only another pegasus had the senses required to keep up with the mesmerising trail of pink and yellow blurs as it performed stunts that would make even a hardened Wonderbolt gawp in astonishment. Fluttershy cut a beautiful, graceful figure as she whirled and wheeled and pirouetted, a colourful silhouette in the clear azure sky. I've always known that you could fly, given the appropriate stimulus, but seeing you actually FLY takes my breath away. Rainbow Dash's mind cast back to the events of the hurricane and their attempts at redirecting the river of water to Cloudsdale; ever since then, she'd redoubled her efforts to force Fluttershy out of her shell, to take some pride in her heritage as a pegasus, but there was so much trauma from the Summer Flight Camp to work through. It had instilled in her an extremely reticent nature and almost a loathing of the act of flying itself. Though she'd come through the events a hero, it hadn't taken very long at all for her old patterns of behaviour to reassert themselves; inertia, it seemed, was Fluttershy's biggest enemy. Going too long without adequate impetus made her retreat back inside herself until she was that same old doormat. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but think about the events of a few weeks ago, when it finally seemed that their relationship had reached a turning point following the death of Angel Bunny; despite the night of passion that they'd shared, both of them had ended up feeling a certain amount of guilt in the following days their coupling and they'd quickly reverted to being just friends again. Seeing that same passion writ large on her face once more – even if it was for slightly different reasons this time – made Rainbow Dash crave her; it was that same look that others had described her as having when she was performing, a heady mixture of focus and playfulness. With the close-cropped hair forming a frame for her features rather than hiding them away as was the norm, Rainbow Dash was left with the impression that she was seeing a creature who was tasting unbridled freedom for the first time in its life. Once again, the icy grip of guilt gnawed at her, brushing its cold fingers along her spine until she was left shivering inwardly; Fluttershy had been coming out here, far away from the safety of Ponyville, in order that she might be able to practice in relative peace and quiet. She did not want anypony to see her screw-up, even her closest friends. She wanted to be alone, to work out her myriad complicated feelings on her own. It just so happened that Rainbow Dash had been passing this way doing some flying of her own and had caught her in the act, so to speak; she quickly discovered that Fluttershy had been sneaking out here every free weekend she had to train, and – feeling something of an obligation toward her – Rainbow Dash decided to follow her in order to ensure her safety. It was partly curiosity and partly fear. Fear that she might have been meeting somepony else way out here and didn't want anypony to know about it, especially Rainbow Dash. Not that it was jealousy as such, though she knew that she would have lamented what might have been if Fluttershy did finally end up with somepony else; despite all but admitting their feelings for each other, they hadn't made any formal commitment to be each other's Special Someponies, much as Rainbow Dash didn't believe in the concept. It would've been good for her to spread her wings a bit more – as it were – and gain a little bit more experience. Frankly, unless you counted all those little tea parties of hers, Rainbow Dash was pretty sure that Fluttershy had never been on actual date in her life. Returning herself to the matter at hoof, Rainbow Dash shook her head free of these stray thoughts and refocused her attention on Fluttershy's elegant aerial ballet; her flight skills had come on leaps and bounds, and she wished that she could be more than a mute, passive witness to her growing confidence. Her biggest fear was that if she did reveal herself to Fluttershy now that it would undo all of her good work. Knowing that she'd been under observation all this time would more than likely make her retreat back inside herself. You have no need to be so skittish around me, not after everything that we've been through. Even as foals, Rainbow Dash's attempts at kindling a love for the boundless horizons the sky had to offer had been met with blank incomprehension. What little common sense Rainbow Dash did possess urged her to retreat back to Ponyville before she got herself in too deep, to let Fluttershy have these private moments, but a larger part of her was mesmerised into submission by those glittering beryl eyes, the radiant smile, the flushed cheeks … her gaze swept across Fluttershy's lithe body, taking in the rapidly working muscles, the beads of sweat clinging to her, her chest heaving with the effort and it all conspired to put the most sleazy of images in Rainbow Dash's mind. And that was palpably notsomething that she needed any help with. She tried to find for herself a sense of shame and failed miserably; Fluttershy was pure and innocent, and didn't deserve to be somepony's sex-fantasy, but, well, they were way past that stage already. Rainbow Dash's eyes tracked Fluttershy as she reached the apex of her rapid ascent toward the heavens; with a timing that impressed even her, she executed a deft pivot, beginning a steep dive with barely a wasted movement or a feather out of place. Rainbow Dash felt her eyes widen – both in shock and amazement – at just how much Fluttershy had improved lately. To have the stomach to pull off that kind of manoeuvre with so much confidence! That this same pony who had just so expertly turned in mid-air was also the one who had once been nicknamed by her bullies Klutzershywas just too much to believe. Despite the fact that Fluttershy had already been attending Flight School for a year by the time Rainbow Dash had transferred there, her aura of intense vulnerability had always made her seem so much younger than all the others; young pegasi pretty much defined themselves by how fast or how athletic they were, and Fluttershy was neither of those and so she suffered heartily for it. Rainbow Dash knew that she had more in common with the bullies, and it was that realisation that made her so desperate to stick up for Fluttershy. She didn't want to be one of them. Speed, prowess, the Wonderbolts, adulation of her peers … what did any of that matter when compared to making somepony happy? In return, Fluttershy had never once chided Rainbow Dash for her lack of humility or her brashness; she'd supported her, even going so far as to cheer out loudfor her when she could summon up the voice to do so. Fluttershy knew that Rainbow Dash was going to be a great pony some day, and had stuck by her side long enough to become her staunchest ally in the process. Together, they'd stood against the bullies; and while they didn't always win, they did at least always have each other's backs. That was until the Sonic Rainboom had changed everything, of course, Rainbow Dash knew; Fluttershy had nearly died when, during the race against the bullies, she was sent tumbling over the side of Cloudsdale when somepony had barged into her. Miraculously, she'd survived, and had decided to move to the ground permanently. Rainbow Dash's skills had earned her a new level of popularity – and, indeed, infamy – and she'd suddenly found herself too busy to visit her closest friend. Busy having too much fun! That realisation made Rainbow Dash wince. All of that had changed, though, when Twilight Sparkle had brought the six of them together as the Elements of Harmony; rather than just picking up from where it had left off, Rainbow Dash had actually found her relationship with Fluttershy deepening as she developed a new appreciation for her insights. And gifting her Tank, of course. They spent more time together, not just when dodging dragons and parasprites as chaos reigned around them. She wasn't sure at what point it was that her feelings had deepened from like to love – though she often suspected that it was their near-kiss at the wedding of Twilight Sparkle's brother – but she resolved never to Fluttershy know. Rainbow Dash knew that Fluttershy should've ended up with somepony who was more like her: somepony gentle, kind, tender and smart. With her head constantly in the clouds, Rainbow Dash knew that she could never give her all of those things that she needed. And then, that fateful night under the stars had changed everything … Fluttershy had admitted that she'd been harbouring feelings for hersince Flight School almost.     “Rainbow Dash?” Her introspection was brought to a screeching halt by those two softly-spoken words penetrating the dull haze of her mind; for half a moment, Rainbow Dash's first instinct was to be annoyed at having being discovered, but when she realised that shouldn't have been there in the first place she decided to blush sheepishly instead. Casting her eyes around, she noticed that her cloud had dissipated somewhat allowing her mane and tail to become visible. Her tail, she dryly noted, was swishing around excitedly thanks to Fluttershy's enthusiastic performance. A big, impossible-to-miss prismatic beacon set against the blue sky. “What are you doing here?” asked Fluttershy, as close to outrage as she ever got as her eyes narrowed at her friend's intrusion. Busted. All Rainbow Dash wanted now was for the cloud that she was lying on to swallow her whole, but of course, that wasn't going to happen. Her heart was racing and her muscles tensed, and she briefly considered just bolting. Flying away solves every problem, after all. Fuelled with adrenaline, her wings prepared themselves for take-off, but she managed to quell them just in time. Those big doe-eyes of Fluttershy's would've made escape impossible, anyway. It wasn't quite a full-on, dragon-halting Stare, but it was just enough to render a fidgety pegasus inert. Rainbow Dash just stared at Fluttershy's eyes for a long time. They were so big and so pretty, she felt herself becoming lost in their arcane depths.     “Um,” was her eventual brilliant response. In the pantheon of witty retorts, it probably wasn't going to last long in the memory. All the blood had long since vacated Rainbow Dash's brain, and certain cruel jibes would have it that she didn't have a lot to spare in there to begin with; all the potential excuses and reasons sounded unusually hollow when she thought about them, and she rapidly came to the conclusion that – just as Applejack would no doubt insist – she would have to tell Fluttershy the truth.     “Were you-” she frowned, her scrunched, confused face entirely too adorable for Rainbow Dash's liking “-have you been spying on me this whole time?” Swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat, Rainbow Dash nodded dumbly. “I mean, not the whole time, but … well, for the past few weeks or so, anyway.” She awaited the expected angry outburst. Looking perplexed, she simply asked, “Why?” Her look was one of betrayal, tinged with slight embarrassment; Rainbow Dash found herself hypnotised by the slow beat of Fluttershy's wings, moving just enough to keep her in place, to keep her level with her friend as she demanded answers. Her entire demeanour spoke of barely-restrained agitation. She hatesthat was meant as a private retreat, even a form of meditation, had just become a public spectacle. The words were slow to form in Rainbow Dash's mind. Perhaps there just weren't any good ones? Fluttershy's impatience only grew the longer the silence kept up between them. “I just … liked watching you, I guess,” Rainbow Dash said lamely. Oh, great, that totally doesn't make me sound like a creepy psycho-stalker. “Uh, what I mean to say is, I've really enjoyed watching just how much your flying has improved these past few weeks.”     “Oh,” she replied. Despite her anger, her cheeks flushed thanks to the compliment.     “Uh, I know I have no business saying this to you right now, but I'm really proud of you, Fluttershy. I've always known what a great flier you could be, and it makes me so happy to finally see you living up to your potential.” Looking away shyly, Fluttershy said, “You, uh, you really mean that? I'm, er, I've gotten that good?” With a vigorous nod of her head, Rainbow Dash excitedly said, “Totally! You're even better than I ever imagined you could possibly be! That mid-air pivot toward the end was just amazing!” It was one thing to receive a compliment, but it coming from Rainbow Dash – a pony that she'd respected and admired for almost her entire life – was something even more special. She was not nearly this fulsome in her praise, and knowing that she meant every word of it set Fluttershy's heart aflame with delight.     “It's so great to see you becoming this confident in your abilities.” Rainbow Dash took Fluttershy's hooves in her own.     “I-” Fluttershy couldn't meet her friend's penetrating gaze; she chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully, wishing that the words she wanted – needed – to say would come easier to her.     “What is it?” asked Rainbow Dash as tenderly as she could. Once again, she was awe-struck by just how beautiful Fluttershy was; it had nothing to do with the clipped mane or the structure of her face, but it was simply a function of who she was: she was the epitome of natural grace. Her growing sense of assertiveness and desire to push herself had only served to make her even more attractive. Idly, Rainbow Dash wondered if their respective heartbeats could be heard on the other side of Equestria right now. The heady scent of Fluttershy's coat pricked at her nostrils and she inhaled it deeply, wishing that she could devour more than just her aroma right now.     “It was Rarity who gave me the idea,” Fluttershy said by way of explanation.     “Rarity?”     “She thought … we spoke a while back, just after our, ah, first night together-” she turned a fetching shade of crimson as the pleasant memories of their union came unbidden to the forefront of her mind “-and it was her suggestion that I go about improving my flying in order to, um, wooyou.”     “To woo me?” Rainbow Dash said, trying her hardest not to giggle at the choice of words. That was Rarity talking, all right. Fluttershy nodded. “We, um, she thought that you'd only be happy with somepony who was able to keep up with you. So I've been coming here every chance I've had to try and improve my abilities.” In her wildest imaginings, she could not have pictured Fluttershy saying something like that to her. “You don't have to proveanything to me, I hope you know that,” said Rainbow Dash, closing the distance between them until their chests were practically touching. She shook her head, picturing everything that her friend had done on her account, just to prove herself, just to … once again, just to impressher. Fluttershy's dedication put her own to shame, it seemed. “You're already perfect just the way you are. My perfect Fluttershy. I wouldn't change a single thing about you-” now that she was close enough to do so, Rainbow Dash snaked her forelegs around Fluttershy's waist and pulled her in close “-I like you. A lot.” It was only in that final moment of naked admittance did Rainbow Dash's confidence finally fail her and she croaked the words out, her typical vocal crackling becoming much, much more pronounced in the process. Beads of sweat prickled her brow as she awaited Fluttershy's response. One way or another, this is it. A small kiss was planted on the end of Rainbow Dash's nose. Beaming brightly, Fluttershy said, “I like you a lot, too.” Rainbow Dash uttered a huge sigh of relief and she planted an intense kiss on Fluttershy's lips; when they broke it after a moment for air, they were still connected by a filmy trail of saliva. With a suggestive grin, Fluttershy placed the tip of her hoof on Rainbow Dash's chin and said said, “Now … I think that you need to give me some more lessons, Rainbow Dash.” Nodding with a silly grin affixed to her muzzle once she'd parsed the meaning of Fluttershy's words, Rainbow Dash replied, “It would be my very great honour.”