//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Frames // Story: Can a Flower Bloom in the Desert? // by DashieSoup //------------------------------// Days had passed since the incident at the mine, and Fluttershy had not left her room. She wasn’t sure who she was more upset at, herself for being so naive, or her father for being so cold-hearted with Rainbow Dash. Or, if what Rainbow had said was true, with all of his workers. She had always seen her father as a kind, caring pony. Was it true that their life of ease was skinned off the backs of the less fortunate? She heard her door opening, and pulled the covers over her head. If she had been quick enough she might be able to pass off being asleep. The sound of hoofsteps, and then a sagging of the side of her bed where her father had surely just sat. “I, er, sent someone out to offer Rainbow her job back,” he began. Fluttershy peeked up from under her covers, not daring to hope, but he continued, “she had already moved out of the company housing. We aren’t sure where she went.” Hearing this, a fresh wave of tears welled up in Fluttershy's eyes, and she let them freely fall. “It's all my fault,” she sobbed. Mr. Shy shook his head. “No, it isn’t. The world outside, darling, you just aren’t...That is to say, this is why I didn’t... Well in any case, Rainbow Dash is a strong mare, she probably found another job somewhere else by now.” “You- you don’t know that though! We should go looking for her, to make sure she’s okay.” Her father looked taken aback. “Absolutely not! I risked taking you out there before, and that proved to be a terrible mistake. I won’t have you out there falling for every sob story and wanting to look after every orphan. You have a good heart my dear, but you just don’t understand how the world works.” She pulled the covers over her head again in defiance, and her father let out a labored sigh. “If she comes back looking for a job, we’ll give it to her. She knows where to find us. And in the mean time, I miss you, your art instructor misses you, and the hired help around the house misses you. When you feel ready, we’ll all be waiting for you.” He closed the door, and she sat motionless under her covers in thought. If her father wasn’t going to do anything more for Rainbow Dash, she would. She pulled the covers off of her head with renewed determination, and looked through the wardrobe for her plainest attire. There was a green button-up yarn sweater, and she slipped it on before opening her window and stepping out. The weather was perfect, thank goodness. She knew the journey would be scary enough without rain or darkness. She took the same right turn they had made to reach the mine, her heart pounding with terror at the thought of traversing this path alone. It was a long trek back to the mining village, and she was thankful that she had paid so much attention to her surroundings last time, as she was at least able to make the trip without fear of getting lost. When she eventually made it to the small dilapidated mining town, she knocked on a door at random, hooves trembling with nerves. The door was opened by a mare with faded purple fur, a raggedy shawl, and slightly cracked glasses. She looked tired, despite the hour, and somewhat hollow. “Hello my dear, can I help you?” “I’m sorry to bother you, um, do you by any chance know a Rainbow Dash who used to work in the mine?” Fluttershy felt stupid at hearing the words out loud. It was a large mining town, how many knocks on how many doors would she have to risk before finding somepony who actually knew her? And even if they did, what were the chances they knew where she was? She now understood what Rainbow Dash and her father had said about her. She was naive, her plan was comically simple, and- “I can’t say I knew her well, but we all heard about what happened to her a few days ago. Stupid filly, yelling at the owner’s daughter like that, what did she think was going to happen?” A ray of hope beamed in her weepy heart. “Do you know where she went after leaving?” she asked, looking imploringly at the mauve mare. “Well,” said the mare slowly, looking pensive. “Most of the homeless end up under the bridge to the north. Protects them from the rain, you see. But a sweet filly like you really shouldn’t be going to that kind of-” Fluttershy had no ears for her anymore. She burst out “Thank you, thank you so much ma’am!” and with a little curtsy, left the doorstep and headed north. There seemed to be very little in this direction. She could see the bridge from a good distance, and only the dying grassy plains separated her from it. It appeared to connect the posh town to the west where she came from, and the more industrial zone to the east, which were separated by a river around 10 meters wide. She finally reached the encampment under the bridge, and realized it was far more intimidating than anticipated. Old rags and other bits of assorted junk were strewn about, having been stripped of whatever usefulness they once possessed. She felt her courage waver as she approached a grizzled mule leaning against a support column, warming his hooves by a fire pit. He had tattered hoof warmers on, and a faded red bandanna perched just above his eyes. “Um, excuse me,” she started, her voice trembling. The mule’s gaze landed on her with a predatory gleam. “Hey Marsh, look what we got here! A real pretty one.” A red furred stallion came over from behind the stone pillar and said “She sure is!” The two of them advanced slowly on her, and Fluttershy found herself frozen in fear. “Please I just, I’m looking for, I…” The stallion said “Hey, we ain’t gonna hurt you,” and reached out a hoof towards her. She closed her eyes in terror, before hearing “Knock it off, and let her go.” The voice sounded familiar, but for the life of her she couldn’t force her eyes back open. A laugh. “Oh yeah? And yer gonna stop us if we don’t?” She heard a grunt of pain as someone was slammed to the floor. A sickening crunch, and then a scream of pain. “Now get lost, and don’t bother anyone again.” Fluttershy looked up and saw Rainbow Dash standing in front of her, panting softly with blood on her hoof. The mare was looking at her with a mixture of pity and annoyance. “Jeez, kid, you're really dedicated to being a pain in my flank, aren't you?” Tears pooled in Fluttershy’s eyes, and she rushed towards Rainbow, throwing her forelegs around her in a tight embrace. Rainbow stood there, dumbfounded, awkwardly patting Fluttershy’s back. “You *sniff* saved me! *sniff* after what I did!” Rainbow shrugged. “Well, yeah, I’m not going to let you get attacked just because you got on my nerves.” More sobs. “But I got you fired! I came here looking for you trying to *sniff* get you your old job back.” Rainbow subtly escaped the extended hug and said "Oh well that's cool of you to uh, obsess over, but that job sucked anyway. I mean, yeah, you kind of set me off but it was the straw that broke the camel's back, you know?" Fluttershy wiped her tears with the corner of her sweater. “D-don’t you need the money though? You said you barely had enough to live on.” “I’m surviving. Can’t say it’s the best life, scavenging for food in dumpsters and sleeping next to these jerkwads, but at least I’m free now.” Fluttershy thought for a moment and then looked excited. “You could work at the house as a maid, or, or something like that! You wouldn’t have to be down in the mines or scavenging for food in the trash, I know I could convince daddy to hire you!” Rainbow let out a laugh, no longer offended by the naivety of the yellow mare. "You're really something else, kid. I'd rather eat my wings than be a maid for the stallion who just fired me, prancing around in some frilly little uniform." Fluttershy winced, deflated by the flat out refusal of her idea. "But... what will you do then?" she asked, concern creeping into her voice. Rainbow shrugged, her vibrant purple eyes gleaming in the dancing flames. "I'll figure something out. Always do." She glanced at Fluttershy, her expression softening. "I'll walk you home, though. You shouldn’t head back alone. I mean no offense, but you stick out pretty badly.” Fluttershy gave her a soft smile and a nod. As they journeyed through the hushed streets, Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, "I gotta ask though, why do you care so much anyway?" Fluttershy looked down as she walked, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I... I don't know," she admitted. "You're just... different from anypony I've known before." “Heh, I am pretty one-of-a-kind, I’ll give you that.” When they finally reached the house Rainbow looked ready to bid her farewell, but Fluttershy asked "Are you hungry?" "No, I'm good. I—" Her stomach growled loudly at the thought of food, betraying her. She grimaced, then conceded with a sheepish smile, "Okay, fine. I guess I am a little hungry." Fluttershy giggled and said “Come up to my window with me. Nobody knows I left.” “Yeah I don’t really want to go through the front door and see your dad anyway.” They climbed in through the window, and Fluttershy walked over to the door. “I’ll be right back with food.” She closed the door behind her and paused for a moment before heading over to the kitchen. Her body tingled with excitement. Sure, she had failed on the job offer front, but she had never done anything like this before. Sneaking out, bringing a rebel back with her without her father knowing. The more time she spent with Rainbow, the more thrilling she found it just to be in her company. Returning with a tray of crackers, cream cheese, peppers, hard cheese, and olives, Fluttershy found Rainbow admiring one of her dresses. "Do you like it?" she asked, placing the tray down on her nightstand. Rainbow shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "It's not really my thing, but it'd probably look good on you." Fluttershy blushed at the compliment, and awkwardly said “Well, um, the food is ready. Have as much as you want, there’s more in the kitchen. Oh, and let me lock the door so they don’t catch you in here.” Rainbow thanked her, and began to eat with gusto. Fluttershy giggled at the complete lack of manners with which Rainbow ate, crumbs sticking to her face and falling down next to the nightstand. When she had finished eating, Rainbow looked around and said “Pretty swanky room you got here, I like the paintings.” “Thank you! I um, actually painted them myself!” “No way, really? This one of your dad with the sword is awesome, I’ve always wanted to be painted in a heroic pose like that.” Fluttershy wondered if she was being naive again, but finally mustered up the courage to say “I could do a painting of you posing right now if you wanted.” “What? Oh, I didn’t mean… You don’t have to, well. I mean, if you wanted to yeah?” Fluttershy practically jumped in place with excitement, and blurted out “Let me get my paints from the closet.” Before long, Rainbow was striking a magnificent pose as Fluttershy began to paint, her brush strokes trying to capture not only the physical sight of the mare in front of her, but how that mare made her feel. They talked about their childhoods as she painted, Rainbow occasionally pulling funny faces that made Fluttershy giggle and scold her for moving too much. An hour or so passed, and Rainbow said “Hey uh, modeling is fun but is there any chance I can do it while sitting down, or *yawn* lying down maybe?” “Oh, sorry! I forgot to say I got the pose already so I’m just doing the details now.” “Perrrrfect,” said Rainbow, hopping up on the bed and stretching her muscles before nestling up into a ball. Fluttershy continued painting, trying to blend the colors just right for the mare’s uniquely purple eyes. “So when did you first start working at the mine?” Silence. “Rainbow?” She looked around the easel and saw Rainbow breathing softly, fast asleep at the foot of her bed. Fluttershy smiled, happy that she had been able to provide this small pocket of comfort for the mare. The room was bathed in moonlight by the time Fluttershy had finished painting. She turned off the flickering oil lamp on the wall, and quietly climbed into bed next to the slumbering Rainbow Dash. There was something comforting about having Rainbow sleeping here, although she couldn’t quite explain it to herself. She lay there for a while trying to piece her feelings together, when before she even realized she had fallen asleep, a voice boomed out “Fluttershy, why is the door locked? You come out here young lady!”