//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: Rainbows Can Be Lonely Too // by butboifranko //------------------------------// I held in a growl watching Fluttershy panic in fear as she tried another loop. That pegasus is such a scaredy pony. It had been just about the same thing for the past hour or so. I'd demonstrate the trick Fluttershy would try, she'd panic, fall down, and whimper how sorry she was for failing. Shes a pony that you can't seem to stay mad at, but she could be really aggravating at times, though. Seriously though, I shouldn't be complaining. I was the one that had taken a day off weather duty to spend some time with Fluttershy and teach her a trick or two. But all she seemed to learn so far was a half loop, and how to fall without breaking anything. Fluttershy sat on the ground, shaking her mane to cover her face. She was obviously embarrassed. "Its okay, Fluttershy. You put in a…great effort. It just takes practice." I had to hold back a choke at great effort. Fluttershy moved her mane out of her face and looked at me with the saddest face of the afternoon, by far. "Thanks…but, I'm just not as good a flier as you, Rainbow Dash." I agreed with her entirely but, this wasn't the time to agree with her insulting herself. "Fluttershy don't say that. I know your not a strong a flier as me. To be honest, there isn't anyone as good as me! You really did put in a great effort and like I said before…it just takes time and practice." I thought I made my point and let out a big smile. Fluttershy didn't seem to smile, though. I waited for her to say something back but she just sat on the ground looking at the dirt. Then she finally looked up at me but, her eyes were filled with tears, and she was about to start crying. "I…I can't, Rainbow Dash! I'll just fail and make myself look like a…bad excuse for a pegasus. A pegasus who can't even do a single loop without cowering and falling." Fluttershy got up from the ground and unfurled her wings, that seemed to tremble as she began to cry. I moved toward her and put a forearm on her shoulder. She looked at me… and it was unbearable. I could never take it when Fluttershy cried. It just tore me apart. Its not like I have feelings for her, its just that…shes my filly hood friend and well... I don't know where I'd be without her. Don't think I'm the sappy type, cause I'm not. It just with, Fluttershy… its different. She was now crying on my shoulder, I hardly even noticed. My shoulder was now stained with her tears from her lovely cyan eyes. Wait, what did I just say!? Did I just say her lovely cyan eyes? Well, they are pretty nice…but I just like her eyes, thats it. Sheesh that, Fluttershy. Shes practically my soft spot. Fluttershy continued crying on my shoulder as I still dwindled on how I was feeling at the time and I decided I should say something before Fluttershy flew off, and hid in her home. I cleared my throat and prepared to speak… "Sorry, Rainbow Dash…I'm just going to go home now. I didn't mean to um, cry on your shoulder." Well there goes speaking first. "Fluttershy, its cool. And didn't you hear what I said? You just need to put more practice and time and soon you'll nail that loop!" Fluttershy lowered her head, and sighed. "It's hopeless, Dash. Maybe…some other day we can try again. But... I think it would be best if I go home for now." That's a pretty valid deal. I sighed. "Alright, Fluttershy. I'll fly you back to your cabin." Fluttershy nodded and unfurled her wings again and became air born. I flew beside Fluttershy and tried to adjust to the weather. I looked up at the sky, it was a little grey and I felt a strong breeze pushing me. There wasn't supposed to be a storm today…Fluttershy seemed to be having difficulty with staying in the air as well. "Come on, Fluttershy. We should get back before this storm picks up." Fluttershy looked scared, of course. This wasn't the time to be scared, we had to get home like…right away. I've worked with weather long enough to know when its time to get indoors. And this was a storm, you'd want to be indoors for. I gave Fluttershy a little nudge and with a little bit of hesitation, she began flying as I trailed behind her toward her home. The breeze was definitely picking up, and fast. I began to get a tiny bit nervous about flying in the condition the weather was in. It was becoming really hard to fly and trees below were swaying furiously. It was going to get a little…hazardous. Fluttershy had been slowing down, and loosing strength. She was a few meters behind me, struggling in the harsh weather. Her mane was blowing in all which ways and her eyes were closed, shielding them from the dirt and twigs that were now in the air. I flew toward her and brushed up against her side. She was freezing. At that time all I could think of was going back to the ground and taking shelter. Considering we were a long ways from Fluttershy's cabin. I moved closer to Fluttershy's ear to tell her, cause I knew she wouldn't have been able to hear me… but then things went a little.... unexpected. A huge gust of wing pushed me forward, making both me and Fluttershy's heads to bang together. I growled and I heard Fluttershy make a small cry of pain. My vision blurred for a second, but came back. I looked forward to make sure Fluttershy was alright but she wasn't there. I began to panic, scared that she had been caught in the wind and was swept away. "Rainbow Dash! Where are you!?" I looked in all directions looking for Fluttershy. "I'm over here! Keep yelling, and I'll find you!" I called back, hoping for the best. "Rainbow Dash I'm on the ground just below you! Fly down!" I wasn't going to ignore her, so I began to dive down toward the ground, keeping my eyes open for her. Soon, I saw the ground and landed a little roughly. The wind was really picking up and now…it began to rain. My mane and coat were drenched, and now Iwas cold. Great. I hate being cold. "Rainbow Dash, I see you!" I turned my head in the direction of her voice, but couldn't see anything. "Where are you!?" This was beginning to get a little annoying, I always hated hide and seek. "I see you facing me! Just…walk the way your facing!" The rain began to fall harder as I turned my body the direction I was facing and galloped forward. In no time I saw Fluttershy laying under a tree. I hesitated a few meters before stopping. That tree was swaying back and forth, really…dangerously. I don't think Fluttershy noticed it but, it looked like it was about to come out of the ground. I heard a loud rumble come from the sky. I looked up and saw huge black clouds that didn't seem to be moving. My stomach churned and I turned my head to look back at the tree. "Rainbow Dash, I'm over here!" My eyes were set on the tree. It was really starting to scare me. There had to be a better option for shelter, other then that tree. I looked around to find a cave or something. It was really hard to see but, I caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a small cave. What luck! I heard another roar and instantly I looked over to the tree where Fluttershy was. The tree was on fire. I galloped as hard as I could to try and save Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, get out of there!" Fluttershy had noticed the fire and it was probably shock that was keeping her laying there like an idiot. I found myself under the tree beside Fluttershy. The heat from the fire warmed my coat as I chomped onto her tail and began pulling her out of the way. The tree was going to collapse in any second, and then…it fell over. The fire had died down, probably due to the huge amount of rain. The tree had trapped Fluttershy's back leg under a fairly big branch though. "Rainbow Dash, my leg is stuck!" Fluttershy pointed out the obvious. I could clearly see that, like sheesh. "Hold on, 'Shy. I'll try to get it off." "Al-Alright." I got up from under the rumble but when I put pressure on my front leg I felt pain. It couldn't be too bad, so I just ignored it. The only think on my mind was getting, Fluttershy out from under the branch and taking her to shelter, and waiting for this storm to pass. Without hesitation I started to try and push the branch off of her leg. It was pretty heavy, but soon it was off her. "Fluttershy follow me. I saw a small cave that we can take shelter in till this storm passes. Come on!" Fluttershy nodded and followed me with a limp toward to the cave. We went as fast as we could, since both of us were injured. At least me and her didn't have anything serious. Soon we arrived and I slumped onto the cold ground of the cave. I took a better look at my leg, and the rest of my body. I was covered with bruises and my leg had a small burn mark. It didn't look too bad, but it could use some cleaning. I looked over to Fluttershy to check her over. She didn't look half bad, other then her leg. There were bruises here and there, but overall she was alright. "Are you okay, Rainbow?" Fluttershy whispered to me. She was probably tired…I was pretty tired at least. "I'm fine. How about you…are you alright?" "Well, I think I'll live at least." I nodded with a grin. Fluttershy looked down at my leg and made a small, 'eep'. "Rainbow, is you leg okay? That looks…pretty bad." "I said, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She didn't have to be worry about me, I can take care of myself. "Well, um…you should probably clean it. It might get, affected." Fluttershy mumbled under her breath, but I caught it. "You don't have to act like I'm a little filly. I'm well capable of cleaning it myself, if it needs to. And its fine." Fluttershys expression changed from worried, to a little angry. "Rainbow, your bleeding and you've been in dirt and you don't want to clean it?" Someones getting a little assertive now…but shes right, I guess. "You make a good point, Fluttershy. I'm just not in the mood to bathing my self right now, okay?" Not to mention the fact that my weather patrol didn't do what I told them. Instead, they did something completely opposite. Stupid foals. "Not in the mood?" Fluttershy was questioning me now? What is this world coming to? "Yeah, I'm a little aggravated at the time being so... I'm not in the mood. I'll clean it later. Is that cool?" Okay, that sounded a little harsh. Fluttershy hung her head and nodded. "Oh, okay. I'm going to clean my bruises though." "Alright, you do that." For some reason I felt like blaming Fluttershy for being caught in this storm. But then its kind of my fault. If I hadn't brought us out in the open to fly, we would be home and I would've been at work, and it would've been a nice day. I guess thats what you get when you put Cloud Kicker and Ditzy Doo in charge. I watched Fluttershy clean her wounds with her tongue. I presumed she was right. The burn could get infected, but I really hate cleaning my self with my tongue. Its so gross. Fluttershy caught me looking at her and made a small frown. I sighed and looked at my leg. Wouldn't want it to get infected, would we? My tongue touched my burned flesh and fur, all I felt was searing pain and the taste of blood. I needed to clean it, but the pain was unbearable. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I continued lapping on my burn. I couldn't stop them from coming out. It hurt so much! Pulling my tongue back into my mouth, I squinted my eyes as my leg continued to burn. My head flew back as the pain continued. I looked over to Fluttershy. Who was now sitting next to me already cleaned partially. "Rainbow… do you um, want me to clean your wound for you? It'll be less painful, and less bitter." I didn't really know what to say to that. She did kind of owe me for saving her flank, but…she's my friend. Why would she have to owe me for saving her? "I do…kind of um, owe you for saving me, and all." Oh, okay if she puts it like that. "Alright, just stay away from my hooves. Alright?" I hate it when other ponies touch my hooves, so all she get's is a warning and if she goes even a inch near my hoof…bath time is over. "Oh, of course. I'll make it as fast as I can." Fluttershy assured. I looked over at her as Fluttershy moved her head toward my burn and I waited for the pain express to leave the station. I felt something wet come in contact with my leg, but it didn't hurt…as much as it did before at least. It actually felt, nice. Other then the small amount of pain, I was enjoying it. My eyes closed and I took a deep breath and let Fluttershy continue her work. Outside, I could hear the roaring of thunder and the rain still down pouring onto the top of the cave. I always loved the sounds the storms came with. They were peaceful. I usually prefer to be out flying, facing the dangers but…every once and a while, its nice to just relax. "I'm finished, Rainbow." Fluttershy interrupted my relaxation, peace, and sensation. "Oh thanks Fluttershy." What else could I say? I could probably say that it felt good, but that might be a little weird to say. "Rainbow…I just wanted to say, I'm sorry. We wouldn't be in this cave if it wasn't for me." Wait, what? Shes blaming herself for something I did? Why would she think this is her fault? "Fluttershy, what are you talking about? This is my fault." Fluttershy shook her head slowly. "No…if I hadn't accepted your invitation and I wasn't such a terrible flier, we wouldn't be here." "What! No, Fluttershy! This is my fault. I asked you to come and fly with me, I left my weather duties and this storm conjured up cause of my idiotic weather patrol. Don't say this is your fault, cause it isn't true." "Exactly…If I wasn't such a bad flier, you wouldn't have wanted to help me get better at flying." Oh come on. "I didn't say that, Flutters-" "But, that's what you meant." Fluttershy interrupted me, leaving me speechless. Even though I knew that it wasn't true. I was more shocked at how she was behaving. "Fluttershy, I just wanted to teach you some tricks in flying. I didn't invite you to fly with me, because I thought you were a bad flier! This isn't your fault, just let it go. Alright?" Fluttershy's head lowered as I finished. I must've made her upset. "Look, don't be sad alright? Just know this isn't your fault." "I'm not…upset. Well, maybe a little. I'm just tired Dash." Fluttershy began to lay down beside me. Leaving some space between us. "Oh, alright. You go ahead and sleep, I'm not tired yet." "Night, Rainbow." I looked at her and made a small smile. "Night." I watched her rest her head on the ground and her tail wrap around her. She reminded me of a cat, minus the whiskers. At least she would be able to sleep off some stuff. I looked out the entrance of the cave, it was darker then before…it was definitely night time by now. It was still raining pretty hard and thunder roared occasionally with a few flashes of lightning every few minutes or so. Fluttershy had already fallen asleep and I began to feel a little tired, more then I realized before. I looked over to Fluttershy to make sure she had done a good job of cleaning. She had done a decent job, but who am I to talk? Shes the one who cleaned my wound but maybe I could make it up to her somehow. I noticed a cut on the back of her right ear. It didn't look too bad, but she must've missed it. I moved my muzzle closer to her ear and pressed my tongue gently on Fluttershy's ear. She didn't move, so I began to lick the cut clean. It tasted bitter but she took in more blood on her tongue then me. After a few minutes, I stopped and it looked pretty clean. A job well done I'd say. I looked down at Fluttershy and nuzzled her cheek. I don't know why, I just felt like it was the right thing to do. Fluttershy began to shuffle around, and then…she brushed up against my side. I didn't know what to do. Instead of doing anything, a yawn came out and I stretched cautiously. I got into a somewhat comfortable position to sleep in, without moving too much so I wouldn't wake up Fluttershy and rested my head on my hooves in front of me. After a while, I just couldn't seem to get comfortable. I tried different positions but I was still uncomfortable. Then a thought came across my mind. I looked at Fluttershy and cautiously; I put my forearm over her shoulders and spread out my wings to cover me, and her. Thats when I felt comfortable. Fluttershy shuffled one more time, and was now right up against me. I rested my head lightly on top of hers, and fell asleep.