It had been several weeks after the Royal Wedding and the invasion of Canterlot. Everything had seemed normal, except for the occasional Changeling straggler here and and there. Rainbow Dash had left Tank with Fluttershy to make sure he got his shell rot cleaned up, and was now heading to her friend’s house to retrieve her pet.
Rainbow Dash knocked on the door twice, then let herself in. Before her stood Fluttershy, who was laying down on the couch, her hair laying lankily across her face.
Dashie trotted over to her friend. “What’s the matter, Shy? You look down! That’s no place for a pegasus to be!” Rainbow Dash grinned over her friend, who sighed drearily.
“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked quietly. “Do you love me?”
Rainbow Dash was taken aback by this, and let that become evident by the surprised look on her face. “Of course I like you! Why else would I-”
Rainbow Dash stopped when Fluttershy rolled over, and gazed up at her with those beautiful aquamarine eyes. “I didn’t ask if you liked me, Dashie.”
Rainbow Dash began to sweat a bit. She wasn’t used to being forced into this sort of predicament, and it made her uncomfortable. Fluttershy removed herself from the couch, and walked hauntingly to the window. A slight rain began to patter against the pane of glass, and Fluttershy smiled for a moment. She loved the rain.
“It’s funny, being around a friend for so long and then just... realizing your feelings for them.” Fluttershy turned back to look at Rainbow Dash, who had been slowly edging towards the door. She stopped once the yellow mare’s gaze fell upon her once again. “I’ve been far too scared to say it before, but... but...” Fluttershy’s eyes fell, gazing intently at the floor. “I... I think I’m in love with you, Dashie.”
Things moved almost too quickly for Fluttershy right after that. However, Rainbow Dash had a need for speed...
There was no way of telling if it was the morning when Fluttershy awoke. All she knew was that it was still raining, as the sound of running water filled the cave, and that Rainbow Dash was currently laying on top of her. The cadel was still flickering, but it was nearly gone. Fluttershy wanted to move, but at the same time didn’t want to wake Dashie up. She compromised by letting herself get lost in Dashie’s breathing, which caused the cyan’s one chest to move gently into her.
No matter how irregular it was, the breathing comforted Fluttershy. At least her friend was still alive.
Rainbow Dash blinked wearily as she awoke from her slumber. Fluttershy gasped with a slight eek as the mare yawned.
“Morning, Shy! I slept great last night! It felt real nice to have you sleep by my side again...” Rainbow Dash purred. Fluttershy began to feel uncomfortable. “But honestly, we should take it a bit further then-” Rainbow Dash winced as she moved towards Fluttershy in a very awkward fashion.
“Um.. no, that’s fine, thank you.” Fluttershy said, looking off to the side. “But really, we have to deal with your injuries! You’ll just get worse unless somepony helps you...”
“You’re no fun, you know that?” Rainbow Dash groaned, and allowed Fluttershy to remove the blanket that was currently sprawled over her. The timid pegasus shuddered as she looked over the extent of Rainbow’s wounds.
Heading over to the backpack she had brought with her, Fluttershy took to the first aid kit. It wasn't going to be very helpful, but every little bit counted.
“I can’t really do much about your ribs, but I can put a salve on your black eye, if that’s alright with you...” Fluttershy gently dabbed her hoof over Rainbow’s swollen eye, spreading the pale orange salve. The pegasus cringed, but soon sighed in relief as the slave began to work its magic.
“Now let’s see about those wings...” Fluttershy examined the left one first, and cringed at what she saw. It was bent at an odd angle, and looked very painful. She knew Rainbow Dash was tough, but... she had to hoof it to the mare this time around. That was honestly one of the most painful things she had ever seen.
“Oh Dashie... what did you do to yourself?” Rainbow Dash looked at the other with her good eye tentatively. Fluttershy blushed and went back to examining the wing.
She didn’t have a splint to work with. But she couldn’t just leave it like this... she’d become crippled. Fluttershy didn’t know if she could live with herself if she let her friend become flightless. Especially since this was Rainbow Dash. She’d never forgive herself.
“Wait here,” Fluttershy told Rainbow, who rolled her eye.
“No, I thought I’d just pop out for a bit of fresh air.”
Fluttershy looked down at the cave floor, embarrassed. Rainbow Dash looked slightly embarrassed at this as well, and avoided looking at the yellow mare.
Fluttershy walked back into where the cave opened up to the rainy sky. Water splashed against her face, running down off her coat, soaking her completely. The cool, cleansing feel calmed her, and distracted her from the situation. It was so nice to have this feeling...
“Hey! Fluttershy! I’m glad you’re enjoying the rain, my wing’s not gonna fix itself,” Rainbow Dash called out irritably to the yellow mare.
Fluttershy snapped back to reality, and felt her face grow hot. The cool rain did nothing to help this, and the pegasus took off, flying timidly up to the surface.
She immediately regretted not bringing her rain gear, as the winds had picked up since yesterday. The rain was not coming down as hard as before, but the combined blast of the winds, it made for an ultimately more miserable day.
Fluttershy searched around in the mud for a few moments, before luck decided to grant her a particularly straight stick. While not perfect, Fluttershy had improvised with sticks such as these before when tending to wounded animals deep in the Everfree.
Thanking Celestia silently, the yellow mare returned to the fissure, and slipped on in. Rainbow Dash still lay where Fluttershy had left her, staring at her with her open eye. Her other one, the black eye, seemed to be faring a bit better. The swelling had gone down some, and she looked less like she were about to die any moment.
“Well, that was quick. almost as quick as me!” Rainbow Dash laughed for a moment before cringing and coughing.
Fluttershy said nothing to this, and set to work on Dashie’s wing. Taking the wing and extending it, she put the branch vertically to Rainbow Dash’s appendage.
“So, um...” Fluttershy knew it was now or never, and she had to address this problem. “What happened?”
Rainbow Dash, who was clenching her teeth through the pain, looked up, giving Fluttershy a quizzical look.
“What do you mean what happened?”
Fluttershy used one hoof to hold the stick in place, while taking some bandages from the pack with the other. “I mean... what happened? You know, with him.”
Rainbow Dash began to look uncomfortable. “So... how bad is my wing? Am I ever gonna fly again?”
Fluttershy stopped tending to her former marefriend’s wing. “Dashie... please. You can tell me what happened.”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t uncomfortable anymore. Now she was angry. She glared at Fluttershy through her good eye, and seemed to radiate contempt.
“Look, you have no business asking me-”
Fluttershy dropped the bandages, and gave Rainbow Dash a stern look. “I’ve come here and risked so much to help you, and you won’t even-”
Rainbow Dash rolled over, groaning in pain all the way, and feebly stood up. “Now listen here, Fluttershy! You have no business pry through this. I don’t care if we were marefriends once, or are normal friends now! There are some things you weren’t meant to know! This is one of them, so STOP!”
Fluttershy stared at the ground, her lip trembling. A single tear leaked out of her left eye, and she turned away from the angry cyan pegasus in front of her. She walked away slowly at first, but then broke out into a trot, taking flight and leaving the cave, her sobs echoing once before the rain drowned them out.
Rainbow Dash sighed, and picked the bandages back up, applying them herself. She did a sloppy job, and her wing hurt more than before.
“I’m sorry, Shy...” Rainbow Dash whispered, and fell to her knees. “But some things are better off without you knowing them.” Crawling over to the place where she had slept the night away with her former marefriend, she looked down on the only thing that had been underneath her beside the cave floor.
It was a photograph of a blue stallion with a rust-red mane, smiling happily. It was torn and water splotched, but if one looked hard enough, they could see that smiling happily next to him was none other than Rainbow Dash.