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// Chapter 2: A House in the Woods 
// Story: Flutterdash: Never Leave Me 
// by Silver Moon 
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	“Sorry I’m late!” Fluttershy panted, bursting into the day spa. 
“It’s no problem, dear,” replied Rarity from where she sat in the hot tub. “But might I ask where you were? You’re almost never late.”
“Oh, um.” Unable to think of a lie, Fluttershy whispered the truth. “I was out flying with Rainbow Dash.” Blushing furiously, the Pegasus sat down for her hooficure. 
“Why are you blushing, Fluttershy?” the white unicorn asked. “There’s no reason. You two are friends, after all. I’m sure your flight was just like our spa days.”
“Oh, oh right. Yeah.” Fluttershy was unsure of what to say. The two pegasi had been hiding their relationship for almost a month now. Rainbow had kept her promise and told no pony. Although Fluttershy was glad, she was running out of excuses. This was not the first time she had been late for Spa day, and she was feeling bad about making Rarity wait all the time. On the other hoof, Fluttershy was happier than she could ever remember being, and it was all thanks to Rainbow Dash.
“Hello? Any pony there? Are you even listening to me, Fluttershy?” Rarity broke into Fluttershy’s day dreaming.
“Oh, sorry,” she said again. “What were you saying?”
“Well I was just saying how distracted you have been lately. Are you feeling ok, Fluttershy?” Rarity looked concerned. 
“Oh, yes, I’m fine.”
“If you say so, dear. You know you can always talk to me.”
“Oh, yes, I know that. I’m fine, though, really,” Fluttershy looked away as she said this trying to think of another topic. “Did you hear that the Apple family reunion is happen again soon?”
“Yes, I did hear that,” Rarity said, and immediately started gossiping about Applejack’s many relatives. Now that the conversation had entered less dangerous waters, Fluttershy began to enjoy herself. In what felt like no time at all, the spa date was over and it was time for both ponies to head home.
“Same time next week?” Rarity asked as they left the spa.
“Oh, yes,” responded Fluttershy. “See you then.”
Before she entered he cottage, Fluttershy checked her mail. There was only one piece of paper in her mailbox. She grabbed the folded paper and smoothed it out. There were only 7 words on the page, so Fluttershy decided to read it outside. The note simply said “Meet me in the usual place tonight.” Smiling to herself, Fluttershy walked inside to wait for Luna to raise the moon.

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That night, Fluttershy put Angel to bed early and started to fly to the clearing. She was no longer afraid of the flight over the Everfree Forest, her flights with Rainbow Dash had boosted her confidence greatly. Landing in the clearing, the yellow Pegasus looked around for the blue one. 
“Pst! Over here!” a voice somewhere to her left made Fluttershy jump. Turning around, she saw the space between the trees she saw on her first visit. She still did not know what was down there.
“Dashie? Is that you?” Fluttershy called into the shadows.
“Yeah, it’s me,” the voice called back. “Come here, Flutters! I want to show you something!” 
Fluttershy smiled and trotted over to the path. Rainbow was the only one who ever called her ‘Flutters.’ “What’s down here?” Fluttershy asked. Then she gasped. “Is there another way into the clearing? You told me there was only one way to the clearing and that was to fly!”
“What? No. No this is something different. Something cool!”
“Ok, if you’re sure,” Fluttershy whispered as she crept forwards. The path, it turned out, was very short. After only two minutes of walking, Fluttershy found herself in another clearing, a smaller one. The trees surrounding the clearing stood tall, their branches interlocking above her head, letting only a few patches of moonlight into the clearing. But the reason Fluttershy found herself stunned was the house in the middle of the clearing. Small, only one story tall, but beautiful just the same. It took up most of the space in the clearing. 
“I found this house shortly after I first found the clearing back there.”
Fluttershy jumped at Rainbow Dash’s voice. She had not heard her friend come beside her.
“What do you think, Flutters?” Rainbow walked up to the door. “It was a little run down; I had to fix it up myself. Now it is my home away from home. But I want to share it with you. Do you like it?”
“Oh, Dashie, I love it!” Fluttershy flew to the door and pushed it open. Once inside, it was clear that Dash often came to the little house. There were several pillows and blankets scattered around the one room. A pile of “Daring Do” books lay in one corner. A few candles burned softly around the room, but most of the light came from the fireplace just right of the door.
“I’m glad you like it. Come in! It’s nice and warm in here.”
Fluttershy walked into the house. Rainbow landed beside her and kissed her on the cheek. Blushing, Fluttershy lay down in front of the fire. With a smile, Dash lay down beside her so they brushed against each other. The two of them spent the next few hours cuddling by the fire and talking. Fluttershy fell asleep first, so Rainbow got some blankets and tucked her in. Then she fell asleep herself.

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Over the next 5 days, the two of them met in the house almost every day. Dash liked to refer to it as ‘our house,’ but Fluttershy always called it ‘the house.’ They argued a little about it, but nothing too big. On the fifth night, Dash flew Fluttershy home after spending the day together at the house. 
“Thanks for flying me home again,” Fluttershy said after opening her door.
“Anytime,” replied Rainbow Dash, kissing her on the nose. 
Fluttershy blushed. “Meet me there tomorrow night?” she asked.
“I would, but I have two tickets to the Wonder Bolts. Scootaloo and I are going.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy looked a little unhappy. “OK then.”
“Hey, what’s the matter?”
“Well, maybe I would have liked to go with you.”
Rainbow snorted. “Please. You HATE big gatherings like that. There are too many ponies for you to deal with.”
“Well, I thought you were over the Wonder Bolts. Remember how they ignored you at the Galla last year?”
“Yeah, well. They’re still awesome. Look, I should have asked you. I’m sorry.” Dash looked at the yellow Pegasus. “But I already asked Scoot so it’s too late to change it. How about we meet the day after?” 
Fluttershy shook her head. “I have a spa date with Rarity.”
“Well, how about-“
“It’s OK. Really,” Fluttershy added as Dash made to interrupt. “I… I’ll see you around then. Bye.” 
“Flutters,” Dash began, but the door had been closed. With a sigh, the blue pony took to the sky and flew to her home, feeling oddly empty and alone.