Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash returned to Fluttershy’s house about an hour after leaving the mall, they could have gotten there much sooner but Fluttershy wanted to take a more scenic route through the park. Rainbow had watched the immense joy on Fluttershy’s face as they witnessed various creatures preparing for their winter hibernation, it reminded her of her own passion for sports. They made small talk as Fluttershy lectured her athletic friend on all the animals they were seeing, Rainbow wasn’t really all that interested in animals and although she couldn’t explain it, she still found herself listening intently to the Shy girl walking beside her. She looked down at her pink-haired friend smiling to herself as she went on about how a squirrel prepares for winter. “She’s pretty cool,” Dash thought to herself.
They entered into the house and moved into the front room where they were greeted by Fluttershy’s parents,
“Hey girls, how was the outing.” Fluttershy’s mother asked with a smile urging the two girls to sit down.
“Yeah it was pretty fun, we ended up bumping into a bunch of our other friends so sorry we were gone for so long.” The meek girl apologised as she sat down with Rainbow.
“You can stay out as long as you like when you’re with Rainbow Dash, I know she’s capable of looking after herself.” Honey added still smiling, “As long as you’re back by nine.”
Rainbow Dash laughed at the interaction finding her attention brought onto the television, the conversation went on with Rainbow Dash offering very little other than a few little bits here and there, Fluttershy’s father was watching a soccer match and she couldn’t take her eyes off it.
“You really like soccer huh?” Fluttershy’s mother wondered aloud.
“It’s pretty much my life right now,” Rainbow answered with a proud smirk.
“You hoping to go big one day?” Fluttershy’s father asked bringing his attention from the game.
“You bet, that’s my goal!” The athlete answered.
Fluttershy looked to her side and up at the athlete’s face, she could see her eyes glittering with pride and ambition. A sense of pride filled her to know she had such an aspiring friend, it almost made her believe her own dreams were possible.
The game finished with the team Dash was rooting for winning, much to Fluttershy’s fathers’ glee as he was rooting for the same team. They cheered together before he and his wife got up to begin preparing dinner, leaving Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash alone.
“Do you wanna go upstairs?” Fluttershy shyly asked.
“Yeah, I’m down.”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were now sat in Fluttershy’s bedroom, her walls painted a mellow yellow that complimented her leaf green bed sheets, Rainbow couldn’t put her finger on how, but the room just sang spring. Fluttershy had put on a movie of Rainbow Dash’s selection it was one that they’d seen much earlier in their lifetime at one of the pairs sleepovers, but it made Dash feel nostalgic.
“You know this is pretty awesome,” The rainbow-haired girl said as she leaned against her back against the wall stretching her legs out across the bed.
“Hmm, is it?” Fluttershy asked worried she wasn’t doing enough to entertain her more active.
“Yeah, it reminds me of the old times, you know.”
“You mean like when we used to hang out?”
“Exactly, when our only worries were what flavour juice box we wanted,” Dash’s smile began to fade into a frown. “When there wasn’t so much expectation, if we messed up we could just get back up and carry on, but now we can’t let ourselves fail,” She sighed. “I can’t fail.”
“Rainbow…” Fluttershy sympathetically called out, reaching her arm out and placing it on her friends’ shoulder.
“Yeah Shy.”
Fluttershy gulped hard, and from the way, Rainbow was looking at her it was obvious she’d heard it. She already felt nervous but now Rainbow knew she’d felt nervous, which only made the feeling in her gut more gripping. She needed to be there for her friend, and she needed to know it.
“Shy is it really that hard for you to be yourself around me.”
The meek girl opened her lips, but no words came out, just a small squeak, Fluttershy watched in horror as Rainbows already sad face only fell lower.
“I’m here for you,” Fluttershy blurted out. “If you um want me to be.”
A small smirk appeared at the corner of Dash’s lips, “That must have been hard for you, I really appreciate you saying that.
Fluttershy looked up making brief contact before looking away again.
“What happened to us,” Rainbow sighed sitting forward her arm leaning against her knee as she placed her palm to her forehead.
A tear trickled down Fluttershy’s cheek, why did she feel so powerless, Rainbow usually brought her out of her shell. Her thoughts went to a dark place in her mind, “Did we really drift so far apart?” She thought to herself.
Fluttershy had a welling feeling in her stomach, she kept her eyes locked onto the floor so Rainbow wouldn’t see her sadness. “What was she meant to do, what did Rainbow Dash need,” She thought to herself. The sound of sniffling reached her ears, Fluttershy looked up ignoring any voice that told her not too, her gaze caught on Rainbow Dash who was physically fighting back tears.
“Rainbow what’s wrong,” Fluttershy spoke up inching closer to her friend.
“I’m sorry, it’s nothing I just got an eyelash in my eye.”
“Here let me help,”
“No I’ll be fine don’t worry about it, I’m Rainbow Dash nothing bothers me.”
“Dash, you know if something is bothering you, you can talk to me.”
“You mean that Shy?” Rainbow asked looking directly into her shy friends’ eyes.
The nerves and fears began to take hold of Fluttershy once more, only a few squeaks leaving her mouth, leaving Dash a little disheartened. “She needs you to say this,” Was all that was repeating through Fluttershy’s mind.
“Dash…” She took a deep breath, “I promise you can talk to me anytime, be it morning or night. I’ll be there if you need me.”
A smirk appeared on Rainbow Dash’s cheeks as she smiled kindly at her shy friend, “Thanks Shy, you’re an awesome friend.”
Fluttershy returned the smile, her eyes widening when the athlete embraced her in a short hug.
“I mean it dude not many people would do that for someone.”
“Well, I’d do it for you,” Fluttershy replied as their eyes locked the stare holding for what felt like an age.
The door swung open as an older boy with blonde hair stuck it head into the room, “Yo Shy get downstairs, dinners done and all that.”
Rainbows stomach growled, “That’s good timing, I am famished.” She climbed off the bed pulling Fluttershy to her feet as they proceeded out of the room.
The whole family was sat around the dinner table with Rainbow Dash being pointed to a seat beside Fluttershy, the athlete sat down admiring the spread of food along the table. The table chatted as Fluttershy’s mother handed everyone a plate, Fluttershy’s looking much greener than everyone else’s cuts of meat.
“You sure you don’t want any meat,” Her father called.
“Um no thank you,” Fluttershy said quietly nibbling on her food.
“Yeah I forgot you were a vegetarian, suppose I’ve known it so long It’s just natural for me to see you that way,” Dash said looking at the assortment of vegetables and pasta on her friends’ plate.
“I feel like as an aspiring athlete, you’d be encouraging her to get some meat in her system for that protein.” Her father added chuckling to himself.
“Nah a few members on my team are vegetarians, and besides you can get protein from more than just meat.”
Fluttershy’s father shrugged his shoulders and flicked the tv on turning his attention towards it.
“So Rainbow how’s school going, Fluttershy mentioned you’ve taken on a pretty big role at school now,” Honey asked, trying to ignore her husband’s rude behaviour. “And ignore him, he can be a little shallow-minded,” She teased, flashing Fluttershy a wink.
“Yeah, I’m the captain of the soccer team so it's up to me to make sure the team brings home the trophy, wait you talk about me Shy?” Rainbow asked looking over at her friend who had an immediate blush glow her cheeks.
“Well, it had been a while since she’d talked about you but recently its been on the rise,” Fluttershy’s mother interjected saving her daughter from embarrassment.
“Yeeeah, that’s my bad, things got a little strained,” Dash said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck.
“Well it’s been a good while since we’ve seen you ourselves, so let’s hope this is a sign things are on the mend between you pair.”
Fluttershy and Dash both smiled, sharing a high five. Dinner didn’t last much longer with everyone cleaning their plates fairly quickly leaving the two girls free as Zephyr was tasked with the washing up.
“Don’t you pair go running off, we got a show to watch remember.”
Fluttershy nodded pulling her friend into the living room and sitting her down on a couch beside her, “It’s okay if you don’t like it Dash, I don’t mind if you go walking off or something.”
“Nah it's alright, I’m sure it’ll be awesome if you like it.”
The two girls sat talking for a while watching as Fluttershy’s father took a seat on the other couch and started flicking through his phone, it wasn’t until more time had passed that Fluttershy’s mother entered the room carrying two bowls, handing one to the two friends before sitting down beside her husband and playing the show. Rainbow Dash went straight to work dipping her hand into the bowl and popping a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth Fluttershy giggled at her friend’s eagerness as she adjusted herself into a more comfortable position. The rooms lights switched off to ensure all focus was on the television, the athlete tried her best to pay attention but having missed so much found herself lost with what was going on. She felt her eyes grow heavy, either from the show or the full stomach but something was making her sleepy. The tired athlete leaned back against the couch feeling herself slide over and lean against her shy friends’ shoulder. Rainbow could feel Fluttershy tense up at the contact but didn’t move, she was far too comfortable resting her head where it was.
Fluttershy had entered panic mode, how could she focus on the show when she had Rainbow Dash resting against her, a few minutes passed and Fluttershy had finally managed to regain control of her breathing as she got used to the new feeling. Her attention fell back onto the show when she felt Rainbow Dash shiver against her, she looked down at herself wrapped in a blanket and took the initiative to drape it across the pair of them, hearing her athletic friend lightly snoring against her. About an hour had passed and the weight of her friend was beginning to overpower her small frame, Fluttershy shifted her body to allow Rainbow to slide down letting her lay softly on her lap.
Rainbow Dash although asleep could feel the change in position nesting her head against Fluttershy’s thighs realising how much softer they were than her own pillows and falling back to sleep. The next time Fluttershy stirred her the room was in pitch black besides a small glow from the light in the hallway.
“Um Dash,” Fluttershy whispered, lightly tapping at her cheeks, “It’s finished, Dash we can go get into bed now.”
“Come on sport can’t have you sleeping here,” Fluttershy’s father called to the pair of them snapping Rainbow into the world of the awake.
“Huh yeah, all right,” Rainbow said opening her eyes to see Fluttershy’s soft eyes looking down at her.
“Wow the stars are really pretty tonight,” Dash said not fully herself
“What?” Fluttershy replied looking back in confusion.
“Nothing,” Dash answered rolling over and falling onto the ground, “I’m alright.”
Fluttershy let out a small giggle as she stood up helping her friend up to her feet. The pair got to their feet heading upstairs, getting changed in the darkness before collapsing down onto their respective beds.
“Remember that time you climbed that tree to get a closer look at a bird and I had to come to rescue you,” Dash said as she looked up at the dark ceiling.
“Oh don’t remind me, I was so embarrassed.”
“Hey, I didn’t mind none, it was pretty fun climbing it with you.”
“You mean that?”
“Of course I do, hanging out with you was like my favourite thing to do when we were kids,”
“I guess its sports now, hmm?”
“I dunno man I love sports and the feeling of winning,” There was a pause, “But I feel like my Dad’s ruining the game for me.”
“Oh, what do you mean?”
“He doesn’t approve of fun,”
“Is that why you had to stop hanging out with us all?” Fluttershy asked her voice weak.
“Yeah,” Rainbow sighed, “He said if I never got serious, I’d never amount to anything.”
“That’s awful.”
“But no matter how much I tried; it was just never enough for him.” Rainbow Dash sat up leaning her head on Fluttershy’s bed. “Nothing I’ve ever done is enough for him, it’s always okay now do it better, just never satisfied with anything I do.”
Fluttershy turned over to face Rainbow her stomach in line with the athletes head she leaned on a lower portion of the mattress, she hesitated but stretched out her arm placing it on Rainbows head and stroking her hair to comfort her.
“I just wanted him to say he was proud of me, just once. Hell, even a thumbs up would have sufficed.”
“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy quietly called out to her friend. “I’m proud of the things you’ve accomplished.
A weak smile grew on the athlete’s face as she looked at her the outline of her friends face her timid nature masked in the dark, “Thanks Shy.”
“Like I said I’m here for you if you need me.”
“I appreciate it,” Dash lay her head back down on her own mattress, “We’d better get some sleep, who knows what could come out way tomorrow.”
“Dash?” Fluttershy quietly called out once more.
“Hmm,” Rainbow answered in a sleepy stupor.
“It’s nothing, sleep tight,” Fluttershy held her breath, now wasn’t a good time, in her mind, no time was a good time. She thought about trying again but felt herself succumb to her weary eyes falling into a slumber.