Rainbow Dash stretched out her wings to prepare for takeoff from the private garden she had been training in with Twilight, but before she could take to the sky, a half-mumbled whisper from Twilight got her attention.
“Hm?” Rainbow’s ears twitched. “You say somethin’, Twi?”
“Uh, yeah,” Twilight twiddled her fingers together and looked away anxiously. “I just wanted to tell you to be careful, and come back safe.”
“Awww do you care about me, Twilight?” Rainbow chuckled teasingly, giving Twilight a snide grin.
“Yes, of course,” Twilight said, and the completely unironic sincerity in her voice drowned Rainbow with affection.
“I care about you too,” Rainbow said softly, Twilight’s eyes lighting up and her smile growing bigger and brighter. “I promise I’ll be careful, so you don’t have to worry. I’ll have Fluttershy with me too, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be an unstoppable team. So don’t fret, I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Okay,” Twilight said and ran up to Rainbow, planting a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll miss you.”
“Like I said,” Rainbow touched her cheek and bit her lip, resisting the urge to giggle like a smitten schoolfilly, “I’ll be back before you know it.”
Green Neigh was freakin’ chill, especially compared to Bitsburgh which made Rainbow feel like she was buzzing from a caffeine high just from walking down the streets. But Green Neigh didn’t even really have roads; just a few scattered houses on a lot of empty grassland, and it was a nice change of pace.
It looked even peacefuller from the sky, and Rainbow thought about just staying up there and watching the ponies on the ground forever, but she quickly batted that thought away out of her mind, cuz she did have stuff she needed to do.
Apparently the nearby Big Thunder Mine was hosting some uncool mysterious activity lately; miners straight-up going missing on the lower levels, and even on the higher ones people were feeling sluggish and exhausted like something was making them sick, only for them to be totally fine when they left the mine.
Clearly, something was up. Something was down in those lower levels, and it was the job of the Slayers to do something about it.
Granted, with Rarity handling important stuff up in Canterlot, Rainbow was facing the prospect of going into who knows what kinda danger all by herself, which just wasn’t gonna happen. Rainbow wasn’t feeling anywhere close to as reckless as she used to be— in no small part thanks to Applejack and Twilight Sparkle and the others— and Slayers always worked in teams for good reason.
Thankfully, Rainbow had someone else in mind who could help her, and she had a good feeling that she couldn’t be asking for a better partner.
“Hey, Fluttershy!” Rainbow landed near the edge of town, the woods that housed the Big Thunder Mine practically within spitting distance, and she saw Fluttershy lying on the grass nearby.
“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy smiled up at Rainbow, not moving from where she was lying with her hands folded over her stomach. “Nice to see you.”
“Nice to see you too!” Rainbow chirped as she fell on the grass and lied down next to Fluttershy, looking at her with her cheek propped up by her hand, elbow resting on the grass. “Are you excited as I am about our upcoming mission?”
“I’m nervous,” Fluttershy laughed awkwardly; Rainbow couldn’t exactly blame her for feeling nervous, considering… well considering a lot of things. “But I’m honestly very grateful, and flattered, that you invited me to go with you, and I think it’ll be a good change of pace to clear my head.”
“Still thinking about Applejack, huh?” Rainbow said drolly, as if she even needed to ask.
It’d been about a week since Pinkie started dating Applejack, and only like twice that amount of time since Fluttershy started dating Pinkie; which like, good for Pinkie, right? Not so good for Fluttershy, who was really struggling not to feel jealous of AJ.
“I’m just—” Fluttershy groaned and sat up, biting down on her thumbnail. “I’m about ready to tear my damn hair out. I feel awful, and I feel even awfuller for feeling awful, and it’s just making so sick I can’t stand it!”
Fluttershy breathed heavily, and Rainbow only briefly considered the fact that she was sitting alone with a dragon who was slowly losing her mind to rage and envy, which was sorta kinda progress for Rainbow in a way.
“Y’know, I was talking to Pinkie the other day,” Rainbow hummed, sitting up and mirroring Fluttershy’s posture, minus the heavy breathing part, “and she just could not stop talking about you. About how cute you are, how beautiful you are, how sweet and nice you are, and about all the stuff she wanted to do with you. You aren’t being replaced, or anything like that.”
“I know,” Fluttershy whispered, her voice like a ghost speaking in the dead of night in an empty abandoned house. “It’s not even that… it’s not Applejack I’m afraid of, it’s me.
“Even if Pinkie hadn't started dating anyone else, would I have still wanted to control all of her time? I feel like I’m grasping for where the boundaries of a healthy relationship should be, but the understanding slips through my fingers like vapor.
“But also,” Fluttershy groaned and buried her head in her arms, folded over her knees as her legs were tucked up in front of her, “I’m also just really jealous of Applejack, and I’m afraid of missing out with Pinkie, or of being replaced, or of her not loving me, and I have no idea where any of these problems end and the other ones begin!”
Rainbow didn’t know what to say; she got where Fluttershy was coming from, but she didn’t know if being like ‘yea mood’ would come across as empathetic or rude, so she just shuffled up next to Fluttershy and put a wing across her back instead.
“Thank you,” Fluttershy smiled at Rainbow and wiped tears from her eyes with an awkward laugh. “I kinda went off the handle there a little bit.”
“It happens,” Rainbow shrugged, “no big deal.”
Fluttershy stood up with a gentle groan, stretching her arms over her head, and Rainbow sprung up beside her.
“We should get going, huh?” Fluttershy said. “I’m looking forward to letting this distract me for a bit, and hopefully it’ll help clear my head a little.”
“Yeah! No time like the present!” Rainbow said, pumping her fists.
“I like your enthusiasm, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy sighed softly. “I’ll try not to drag you down.”
“I’m sure you won’t,” Rainbow said casually as the pair started walking toward the woods, though Rainbow couldn’t help but think that she wished Fluttershy would stop talking about herself like that. The only thing dragging Rainbow down was Fluttershy’s self-deprecation. “In fact, you should repeat after me! I’m sure you won’t!”
“I’m sure I won’t,” Fluttershy said.
“We’re gonna have a great time!” Rainbow cheered.
“We’re gonna have a great time,” Fluttershy muttered.
“I love Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow grinned.
“I love Pinkie Pie!” Fluttershy smiled ear to ear, revealing her sexy sparkling fangs. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash, I feel a lot better now.”
“I’m glad to hear it!” Rainbow held out her fist toward Fluttershy. “Cuz you and me, we’re in this together! And I couldn’t ask for a better partner, to be honest!”
“You flatter me.”
Fluttershy tepidly placed her knuckles against Rainbow’s. It was an okay first try, so Rainbow was satisfied. Things could only go up from here!