Rainbow Dash awoke to the sun peeking over the horizon. She slowly opened her eyes and was met with a large mass of pink hair in her face. She felt the soft warmth of Fluttershy’s back against her chest as it rose and fell in time with her breathing. She sighed contentedly, closing her eyes once again and prepared to drift off back to sleep.
But sadly, her attempts were futile as she felt Fluttershy stir under her wing. Rainbow Dash retracted her wing and sat up, giving up on going back to sleep.
“Morning Flutters,” Dash said with a yawn.
“Morning, Dashie,” Fluttershy yawned as she stood up and stretched out all her limbs. Rainbow Dash stood up as well and did the same.
When she was finished, she looked over to see Fluttershy standing by the edge of the water. She took a quick look back at her friends, finding them all still sleeping peacefully before she trotted over to where Fluttershy was standing.
Fluttershy was standing so that the water just barely came up to her hooves. Rainbow Dash walked up to her side, draping a wing over her back. Fluttershy sighed happily as the two of them stood there, side by side, watching the sunrise and taking in the beautiful scenery, the water lapping at their hooves as the waves came in.
It was cool, but not too cold. The sea was relatively calm, with waves fizzling out and rolling onto the beach where they stood. All was at peace.
The sunset was an amazing sight to behold. The edge of the sun was just poking over the horizon, painting the sky in a beautiful mixture of oranges, blues, and violets that was truly breathtaking.
After a few minutes, Fluttershy spoke up, breaking the silence.
“Sunrises are my favorite,” she said with a happy smile.
“I can see why,” Rainbow Dash responded, looking over to grace her friend with a warm, heartfelt smile. “They’re beautiful.” After this, the silence went on for a short while, neither of them quite sure what to say.
Eventually, Rainbow Dash sighed in frustration causing her friend to look over at her in concern. “Fluttershy, there’s… there’s something I need to tell you,” she said, her tone shifting to one of seriousness and the smile vanishing from her face.
“What is it Dash?” Fluttershy asked, visibly concerned. “Is it Scootaloo again?”
“No,” Dash said, looking down. “Well, it’s kinda about you...” She looked up to meet Fluttershy’s eyes. “About us.”
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, much less concerned, and more confused.
“What I mean is… well… ughhhh,” she groaned. “Why is this so hard?” she asked nopony in particular. “Fluttershy, with everything that’s been happening lately, I’ve realized something. Something I should have realized a long time ago.” She turned her body so that she was facing Fluttershy.
“We’ve been best friends for almost as long as I can remember. Out of all of our friends, you’ve always been the closest to me. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve known you the longest or what. All I know is that you and I are super close, closer than any of the others.”
“I know Dashie,” Fluttershy said with a soft, caring smile. “I’ve always known that.” The smile disappeared and she gave Rainbow Dash an inquisitive look. “Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?”
Rainbow Dash looked back down at the ground. “It’s just… everything that you’ve done lately. I-I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. From the day I first brought Scootaloo into the hospital, to all of the support that you’ve given me lately. I… I just want to say thank you. I would never have been able to make it through this without you.”
Fluttershy brushed a few happy tears from her eyes. “That’s where you’re wrong Dash,” Fluttershy said calmly as she used a hoof to lift Rainbow Dash’s gaze up to meet her own. “You’re the strongest pony I’ve ever met. You and Scootaloo would have both made it through this with or without my help. Don’t you ever forget that, and don’t ever let Scootaloo forget it either.”
Dash blinked a few times out of shock. That was not at all the response that she had expected from the pegasus that was normally so shy and reserved.
“F-Fluttershy… I-I don’t know what to say…” At that, Rainbow Dash threw her hooves around Fluttershy’s neck and pulled her into a tight hug, which Fluttershy gratefully returned. Rainbow Dash rested her head on Fluttershy’s shoulder, enjoying the warm and caring embrace.
Rainbow Dash had hugged all of her friends on multiple occasions, but this was something more. There was nothing new about the simple action, but there was a deep connection that she shared with Fluttershy at that moment. It was a connection she had never felt with any other pony before, yet at that moment, she felt it strongly.
After what was way too short of a time for Rainbow Dash, although the hug had lasted for at least a few minutes, they pulled away.
“Fluttershy, there’s something else I need to tell you.” A huge grin slowly appeared on Fluttershy’s face. She already knew where this was going, she had felt it for a long time now, and had just been too shy to do anything about it.
“We’ve been best friends for a long time, but lately… I’ve felt something more. I don’t want to hurt our friendship, but I need to tell you this,” as Dash said this, she looked shyly at the ground. By this point, Fluttershy was struggling to hold back tears of excitement and had to stop herself from squealing in delight. “Flutters I… I like—” Rainbow Dash was cut off as a powerful pair of hooves wrapped around her and lifted her into the air, spinning her around and around as Fluttershy squealed in delight.
When Rainbow Dash was finally back on the ground, she stood there, eyes wide open and jaw dropped in shock. She still had no idea what had just happened. When it finally registered after another few moments, a huge grin spread onto her face, and she looked at Fluttershy’s happy smile.
“You know Fluttershy, I don’t say that many things are cute, but your smile when you’re this excited is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Fluttershy blushed and looked away, though still not able to suppress the huge grin that had formed on her happy face. “I’ve got to say though. You must be pretty strong to be able to pick me up like that. I didn’t know you were that strong,” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk, not able to contain her own excitement either.
Fluttershy looked back up at Rainbow Dash. “Neither did I,” she said, causing both of them to laugh.
“So… does this mean…?” Rainbow Dash said with a hopeful look on her face.
Fluttershy leaned in and planted a warm kiss on her cheek, causing Rainbow Dash’s wings to spring out from her sides. “Does that answer your question?” she asked the wide-eyed pegasus sarcastically. Rainbow Dash was speechless. Her jaw hung open and her eyes were wide as her face wore a light blush, while her wings still stood upright at her sides.
“Uhhhh…” Both of them froze in shock for a moment at the sudden voice from behind them. They spun around, looks of shock and fear on their face as they turned to face four wide-eyed and slack-jawed ponies, staring back at them with just about as much shock as the new couple at that moment.
Rainbow Dash was the first one to break the silence after a while when the realization of what she was seeing finally dawned on her. “Oh buck.”
***
Scootaloo slowly pried her eyes open. This was normally an easy task, but at the moment, ‘pry’ was more of a literal term.
She had a splitting headache and could feel pain all over her body. She gave up on opening her eyes for the moment, and instead just lay there, taking in as much as she could with her other senses.
“Ughhh,” she groaned, as she attempted to sit up. As soon as she put weight on her front left hoof, her eyes shot open and she nearly screamed in pain as she slumped back to the ground.
Tears welled in her eyes as the shooting pain soared through her leg and up to her head. She felt nauseous all of a sudden, and her vision blurred. She blinked the tears out of her eyes and shook her head, forcing herself to stay awake.
She gave up on trying to move, and instead just took in what she could of her surroundings. She couldn’t see anything through the darkness that surrounded her. She was laying on a hard surface that felt a like wood, which didn’t really help the pain she was experiencing. The pain was like nothing she had felt before, and she had to fight to hold her tears in with every passing moment.
“Where am I?” she asked herself in a raspy tone. “What happened?”
That’s when she noticed it. “Am I… moving?” she asked herself, her confusion beginning to grow into panic as the gravity of her situation began to dawn on her.
All of a sudden, whatever she was riding in must have hit a pothole in the road or something, because the entire cart jerked, lurching to one side before quickly bouncing back the other way.
“Ah!” Scootaloo grimaced in pain as she was thrown against a wooden wall of the cart. She landed with her hurt leg underneath of her, and she could feel the sting of tears in her eyes as the excruciating pain shot through her leg. She wiped away the tears with her good hoof and tried to push through the pain, thinking about what Rainbow Dash would do, and how she’d get out of this.
Then, she noticed something else. Something must have been knocked loose when they hit the pothole because there was now a small sliver of light poking through the ceiling of the cart in the back right corner.
The light may have been small, but for Scootaloo, it was one of the most amazing things she had ever seen. It was a ray of hope, shining down on her like a guardian angel. She had no idea what had happened, or how she had gotten there, but she knew one thing for sure...
She had to escape.
***
“So, uh,” Applejack began after what felt like an eternity. “Do y’all want to explain what all that was?” she asked awkwardly.
Everypony in the group had a slight tinge of red on their cheeks, but none of them compared to the blush that had appeared on the faces of the two, now marefriends. They both stared at the ground, trying to hide their faces. They silently hoped that if they looked away for long enough, it would all go away.
Fluttershy, in particular, found the ground a lot more interesting than usual, and her hoof poked idly around the sand beneath her.
“Uhh… well,” Dash began, knowing full well that she was going to have to take this on her own. She was actually quite surprised that her friend hadn’t hidden behind her already.
Much to Dash’s surprise, as well as everyone else’s, Fluttershy suddenly jumped into the conversation, attempting to save her new marefriend, and hopefully any chance at friendship they still had with their other friends.
“P-please don’t… don’t b-be m-m-mad,” Fluttershy said nervously, shivering in fear the whole time she talked. Rainbow Dash was still completely frozen after Fluttershy had jumped in to save her. “I… I-I—”
“Now you stop right there Sugarcube,” Applejack said, cutting the pegasus off with her objection. “Now why in Celestia’s name would we be mad?”
Rainbow Dash was normally the confident one who would never back down from a challenge, never give up, and never quit, but as soon as she had turned around and seen her friends, all of that had gone out the window. Rainbow Dash had been reduced to a quivering mess of a pony, more nervous than Fluttershy on a stage in front of thousands. In short, Rainbow Dash was a mess compared to her normal self.
Fluttershy was not doing much better, although this was to be expected. However she, surprisingly, did most of the talking.
“Because we’re fillyfoolers!” Fluttershy shouted out of nowhere, causing everyone in the group to jump in surprise. Even Fluttershy jumped at her own harsh tone, before going right back to cowering before her friends.
“And?” Twilight asked becoming a bit confused. “What’s wrong with that?”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy instantly and simultaneously snapped their heads up and locked eyes with Twilight.
“Wait, so… you’re not mad?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused. This was not at all the kind of response she had been expecting she had expected at least one of them to be upset.
“Well of course not silly,” Twilight said, her voice regaining it’s upbeat and cheery tone as a big smile appeared on her face. “I’m happy for you t—”
Twilight was cut off, as she often was, by an insanely huge gasp from Pinkie Pie that lasted way longer than should have been physically possible. She decided to just shove these thoughts to the side though, as she often did with Pinkie Pie, lest she goes completely insane.
“WAIT A MINUTE,” Pinkie yelled as she stood there, frozen in mid-air. None of the others knew how she stayed in the air for that long, although none of them questioned it. “DOES THIS MEAN WHAT I THINK IT MEANS?!”
A nervous nod from Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash was all it took to send Pinkie Pie over the deep end. She came out of her frozen state and began bouncing on the ground in a frenzy, faster than any of her friends had ever seen her bounce before. The whole time she bounced she continually went on and on and on, although nopony was really sure what she was saying. Words were leaving Pinkie’s mouth at a speed of a million miles a minute.
Eventually, Pinkie pie came to rest in front of Rainbow Dash, collapsing to the ground and panting heavily. She had done that entire speech in one breath, which was impressive, especially since it had gone on for at least three minutes, if not more.
“So, what do you think?” Pinkie Pie asked after she had caught her breath. It was amazing how that pony could go from collapsed on the ground panting, right back to her normal and energetic self, not even a minute later.
“Uhh, sorry Pinkie, but none of us understood a word you said,” Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly.
“Oh well,” Pinkie Pie said. “I guess I’ll just have to start over.” Just as Pinkie pie was taking another deep breath to begin again, she was cut off by a cyan hoof being shoved into her mouth.
“NO!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “I mean, uh, just… give us the short version.”
“Okey Dokey Lokey,” Pinkie Pie said. “I was saying that we should all have a party to celebrate. When we get back, we’re throwing a massive party. It’s gonna be the best party ever!”
Just as it seemed she was done, her face lit up in excitement. “Ooh! I almost forgot. We’re gonna have to throw a party for Scootaloo as well! It’s gonna be one big happy welcome back and happy confessing your feelings party! Or should it be a yay you confessed your feelings and Scootaloo is now back party? Or even better, a happy beginning of a new family party!?”
“Whoa now, settle down now, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack called, getting the mare’s attention. “Don’t start throwing anything at ‘em too fast. I think they’re already broken as it is.”
Applejack was right. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were standing there, not moving, eyes wide and their mouths agape. Neither of them able to grasp what was happening. It had all happened so quick, from their friends’ accidental discovery of them by their friends, to their friends accepting it, which neither of them had expected. It was all rushing by so fast, and both of them were having trouble comprehending what was going on.
Finally, after a long silence, Rainbow Dash shook her head to clear the thoughts racing through her mind as she tried to make sense of everything that was going on.
“Uh, so… what?”
Twilight chuckled at this. “We’re not mad Rainbow. We’re happy,” she said as she walked over and placed a comforting hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, giving her a soft smile. “Granted, this was a little sudden, and I never would have guessed—”
“I would have. I already knew,” Applejack interrupted with a smirk, which Rainbow Dash returned with a stern glare.
“Anyway,” Twilight said rolling her eyes. “Although it was a bit unexpected for—”Twilight shot a quick glare at Applejack “—MOST OF US, I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that we’re very happy for the two of you.” There were murmurs of agreement amongst the rest of the group at this.
Rainbow Dash smiled as she placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, causing the shy mare to back away a little more. “Thanks, everyone. That really means a lot.”
Dash’s new-found relief was short-lived though, as Rarity jumped into the conversation for the first time. “I call planning the wedding!” she shouted. Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, as a furious blush forced its way onto both of their faces.
Twilight and Applejack spun around and glared at her, while Pinkie Pie pouted.
“Hey, no fair,” Pinkie Pie began whining. “I was gonna plan the wedding.” Pinkie Pie ended her objection by plopping down onto her haunches in the sand, and crossing her forehooves defiantly with a pout. Rarity noticed the glares coming from Twilight and Applejack.
“What? Too soon?” she asked, being completely sincere.
Applejack groaned and turned away while Twilight just rolled her eyes. “Well, I think we’ve had enough distractions for the morning. Let’s get a move on. Maybe we can make it over to where those towers are and find something to eat. I bet there’s a city over there.”
The rest of the group voiced their agreements, and after waking up Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, they began to walk down the beach in the direction of the towers. Rainbow Dash couldn’t be sure, but as she looked up at the skyline behind the towers, she thought she could see a faint silhouette of a mountain, rising high above the towers.
A new fire of confidence burned inside of Rainbow Dash. With the help of her friends and her new marefriend, she was certain they’d find Scootaloo in no time!