Deeper Than Friendship

by JustaninnocentPony


Unfamiliar Feelings(New)

Chapter 2
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It was a peaceful and warm morning as the sun began to rise of the horizon, overthrowing Luna’s moon and bringing forth a new day. Critters began to creep out of their habitat, rubbing the sleep out of their tiny eyes before going about their regular routine. Birds started chirping in the trees, flying out to fetch breakfast for their fledglings; Squirrels crawled out of the trees as well, in search of food for the morning.

Rainbow Dash slowly awoke to all of these new noises, grunting lightly as she did. She slowly lifted her sleepy head and yawned, stretching out and moaning in frustration. She wasn’t a morning pony, never had been one. As such, it was quite weird for her to be awake that this time of morning, when she would usually take time to sleep in. But as soon as her eyes fell upon who she had woken up next to, all of those small little problems seemed to fade away. The blue Pegasus smiled lightly as she looked at her still sleeping friend, who was looking as peaceful as ever on the forest floor. The memories of the night before began to flood back into her mind as if somepony had just opened a valve, letting the contents out. But she didn’t panic; instead the memories only served to increase her smile as a blush soon joined it. Last night had been something alright, defiantly a night to remember in her book.

“She looks so perfect when she’s sleeping, like an angel,” Dash whispered to herself, bending down to lightly brush her friend’s mane. Her friend shook a little bit in disturbance, but quickly settled back into sleeping, a kind smile plastered upon her face. Rainbow Dash decided she wouldn’t wake the sleeping pony just yet; she instead got up, stretching out more before walking to a nearby tree, sitting down and leaning against it.

Wow, what a night; she still couldn’t believe it had happened; it would easily go down in history as the best moment of her life. She could still remember how the kiss felt; it was as if she had done a Sonic Rainboom and flew for miles, an exhilarating moment like no other. It had felt so… right. She would have given up a chance to get into the Wonderbolts if it meant she could relive that moment again. But she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to. What if Fluttershy woke up and started freaking out about what had happened, like she instantly regretted her choice? Dash sighed lightly to herself, maybe it was a bad decision to take things in the direction she had taken them last night. What if her friend was just trying to be nice and she took advantage of her? Her eyes trailed off to the nature around her as she felt a cool breeze brushing against her coat. She wasn’t really a nature freak like her animal loving friend was, but, she had to admit, this clearing was beautiful. It seemed like just the right condition for relaxation, and since it was within the outskirts of the forest, danger was rarely ever a problem. The mare couldn’t help but feel that she’d maybe come here for a nap or two in the future, should she ever feel like sleeping on the ground instead of a cloud again. Dash laughed at the thought as her eyes trailed back to the sleeping pony in front of her. A small smile found its way onto her face through all of the worry once more. Setting consequences aside, what more could she ask for? She had gotten to spend an amazing night with the mare of her dreams; kissing and hugging each other close under the twinkling stars, it was heaven. And in her opinion, it was a night she would cherish for the rest of her life.

Eventually, Fluttershy did awake, rising her tired figure and yawning softly. She slowly shook her mane and flexed her wings, stretching out her body. After she fully came to, she looked at the space around her, she was in her clearing. What was odd about that to the mare was that she never fell asleep in her clearing, even though she was in the presumed safe area of the forest, the element of danger was still real to her, and she never cared to spend the night in it, even if she was only in the outskirts. Another odd thing that she found was that the top of her head and nearly her whole back felt strangely warm, more so than usual; it felt as if somepony had been sleeping on...

Fluttershy shook her head when the memory came back to her, greeting her like an un-welcomed guest. She grunted, rubbing the crumbs sleep have dusted over her eyes with her hooves before hauling herself off the ground, stretching out her body in a mess of cracking. ‘Note to self, don’t fall asleep with somepony lying on top of your back again’ the mare thought to herself as she finished stretching. Contrary to her belief, she barely felt as regretful of the night before as she as she thought she would’ve been; in fact, she didn’t even feel regretful at all. Instead, she felt genuinely excited about the events of the night before. She got to experience such a wonderful night, one unlike anything she had ever felt before. The close holding, the kissing, it was all such a rush! And what’s more, for some reason she began to feel something a bit deeper than friendship towards the pony she shared it with. It was amazing, stupendous! It felt like something had awakened inside of her, some sort of odd, foreign feeling, and it was riveting throughout her entire body, echoing through every last part of it. She couldn’t help but wonder if Rainbow Dash felt the same way about it.

‘Speaking Of…’ The shy pony thought to herself as she looked around the area where she was laying. There was no pony next to her or anywhere near where she had awoken; had Dash decided to leave before she woke up? She began to frantically look around, eventually turning to be met with her answer. She giggled, blushing vibrantly like a little school filly as her eyes came across the very pony she was searching for.

“Hey Fluttershy,” the flier said with a sly smile. Fluttershy’s blush instantly increased as she looked off to the side. This caused Rainbow Dash to stifle a laugh as she leaned forward from the tree. The shy mare coughed abruptly and shook out her mane, doing her best to look at her friend without blushing heavily, being met with little success.

“S-s-s-sorry for looking frantic t-there,” Fluttershy apologized shyly, her voice trailing off towards the end of her sentence. Rainbow Dash laughed lightly, smiling as she got up. She calmly walked towards her friend, giving her a light nuzzle for reassurance.

“No need to worry about it, it was actually pretty cute,” Rainbow said softly, a light smile on her face. Fluttershy blushed even more, looking around for somewhere to hide her surely red face. She blushed even more when she remembered where she had hid it the night before. ‘It’s as good of a place as any, at least it’s warm...’ the mare convinced herself, she took a plunge towards the sky-blue Pegasus, burying her face in its neck. Dash smiled, not complaining what so ever about the sudden movement; after all, it gave her an excuse to have Fluttershy that much closer to her. She instead moved in, giving a light nuzzle on the shy Pegasus’s forehead. Fluttershy gasped quietly as she felt her friend’s warm muzzle brushing against her forehead. She sighed, breathing out in relaxation as she closed her eyes, enjoying the warm sensation. Easing out of her hiding spot, she moved her head up and looked nervously at Dash, who gave a kind smile back to her. A warm feeling immediately overtook her, she had never felt this way before about anything or anypony. It was new, and it only served to increase the one she felt before. They were like shockwaves were running over her entire body, she could feel herself start to tingle, and she enjoyed it. Was this the heart pounding feeling Rainbow Dash mentioned before? She seemed to be locked in a deep gaze with her best friend for what seemed like forever, unable to shift her eyes to any other area.

Rainbow’s eyes lowered into a peaceful gaze as she pressed her forehead against the pink-maned pony. Fluttershy could feel her heart rapidly beating, though her eyes were not as calmed and relaxed as her friend’s. In fact, they were bulging in surprise, everything felt right, but she knew it was wrong. It felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest at the rate it was pounding. Her wings involuntarily spread out as she felt the warm feeling surge through her very core once again.

Dash leaned forward, pressing her muzzle against hers. The yellow mare’s eyes popped open in surprise, but quickly settle behind her closing eyelids and she returned it, wasting no time doing so. Animals all around stopped their activities to watch the two ponies, staring in amazement. None of them quite understood what it was they were doing, or what it was that they were feeling. But they could sense it was something magical, none the less. The kiss lasted for a long time before both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash pulled back, both blushing deeply.

“I can’t wait to tell the other ponies about this,” The caretaker said in excitement “They’ll be so excited to hear!” As she heard the words, Rainbow Dash cringed up in fear of the thought of her friends finding out. If they did, they might not accept it, they might shun them for it. What’s worse, they could drive a wedge between them, before it could go any further! She couldn’t allow that, she wouldn’t allow that!

“No, no, no, no, no, no! They can’t know of this, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash could feel her voice rising a bit as she said the words in urgency.

“But, why not Dashie?” The shy mare asked in curiously. It had her confused, what could possibly go wrong with telling their friends about their possible new-found love?

“You know as well as I do they wont accept it, they won’t allow it, we can’t tell anyone about it, not even the rest of our friends!” Rainbow could feel herself yelling now, urgency crawling in her voice like a swarm of parasprites; each one adding more and more volume to the tone. Fluttershy cringed upon hearing the sudden rise in her friend’s voice. She didn’t understand her logic, why would their friends not accept it?! They were their friends; they would accept anything about them, no matter how ‘terrible’ it was.

“B-But they’re our friends Dashie, we have to tell them, they won’t judge us,” Fluttershy insisted, her voice squeaking a bit. She sighed heavily; arguing, her one kryptonite.

“Please Fluttershy, you don’t understand, we have to keep this between us,” Rainbow said, lowering her voice to a softer tone while looking at the shy mare with pleading eyes. Fluttershy sighed, lightly nodding, she didn’t want to keep it a secret from their friends, but she obliged. Dash did have a point after all; there was the chance that their friends wouldn’t accept, even if it was a very miniscule one.

“H-How will we hide it from them?” Fluttershy asked reluctantly, her voice hinting that she did not want to keep it a secret in the slightest.

“We’ll only do this when we’re alone, away from anypony’s prying eyes; I’m sorry, but this is how it has to be,” Rainbow replied carefully, the urgency in her tone lowering. Fluttershy nodded, telling her that she understood “But….on a lighter note…” Rainbow continued softly

“Y-yes Dashie?” Fluttershy inquired, looking up with a curious face.

“Waking up next to you was just about the best thing in Equestria this morning,” The blue pony said smiling. Fluttershy looked away blushing brighter than ever.

“You really mean it?” The mare mumbled shyly while pawing at the ground. Rainbow Dash moved in and rested her chin on Fluttershy’s head.

“Of course I do…” The rainbow maned Pegasus whispered lightly in her ear.

***

La La La Laaa Laaaa La La La Laaa Laaaa,” Fluttershy’s beautiful humming echoed throughout her garden as she flew around from animal habitat to animal habitat, depositing food and water at each one. This was one of the favorite parts of her day, when she got to see all of her little animal friends and tend to their needs. And today, she seemed particularly happier than she usually was when she did it. Her hums’ were louder, her smile was brighter, and overall, she felt genuinely excited. Maybe her interactions with Dash the past night had some sort of effect on her? Fluttershy shrugged, brushing it off as she continued feeding her animals; even if it had, it probably wasn’t important to think about now, especially with how tired she was. After finishing her rounds she floated down to the stone pathway outside of her home. Walking into her house, she shut the door calmly behind her and took a sigh of relief. She was done with her chores for now; at least until she had to feed her critters again come night time.

Fluttershy yawned heavily, rubbing the sleep out of the corners of her eyes. She looked around her humble abode, searching for someplace comfortable to nap on. She figured she needed the rest, but she didn’t want to fall asleep somewhere too comfortable, lest she sleep for hours. Her eyes lazily drifted from spot to spot, the sunlight streaming in from her window illuminating each one making it seem as if she were a show contestant picking out her ‘grand prize’. Fluttershy giggled to herself at the thought, she was never one to compete in anything; even if she did the chances of her actually ‘winning’ something were probably less than imaginable in her opinion. Finally, her eyes rested upon a particular spot, her throw pillow. The pillow was lying neatly on her couch, the light showcasing its fancy embroidering and drawing attention to the shinning logo on front, an outline of a mare with a pink, flowing mane.

“Oh Rarity,” Fluttershy mumbled to herself jokingly “You’re always so obsessive with such the smallest things,” She continued quietly as she made her way to the throw pillow, lying herself down snuggly upon it. It was just the right size for her, and it was so soft and felt so nice to lie on. She could almost hear Rarity talking to her in her head: But darling, your couch was ever so rough, I simply couldn’t just let it stay that way! You simply needed some sort of Décor!

Fluttershy nearly bursted out into laughter at the imaginary Rarity in her head, her imagination had managed to craft a near carbon copy of her friend for the moment. She smiled, laying her head down on the pillow and closing her eyes before slowing drifting off to sleep.

***

Rainbow Dash moved from cloud to cloud, kicking each one in and grunting as she did so. She stopped for a moment, catching her breath as she leaned on a soft and squishy cumulus cloud and wiped the sweat off of her brow. After a few moments, she was back in action, the sun beaming against her coat as she opened more areas for it to spread its warm and glistening light through. She stopped at the last cloud, rearing up her hind legs and pushing back with all of her might. The cloud vanished into thin air with a light pop, leaving behind a bit of water vapor.

Dash stopped once more, breathing almost as heavily as she usually would after intense trick practice. She looked around at the area she was stationed in, admiring her handiwork. ‘Clear skies in ten seconds flat, as always’ the mare thought smugly to herself as a prideful smile crossed her face. Suddenly, out of nowhere an abrupt yawn escaped from her mouth as she instinctively put a hoof over it to cover the noise. She brought both hooves up to her face, gently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Looking over her shoulder the sun told her all she needed to know; it was going to be dark soon, and she would need to catch some shut eye. She yawned once more, examining the area lit by the setting sun with restless eyes. Something wasn’t right; she tapped her hoof to her chin, turning around as if she were looking for someone. A fellow weather Pegasus assigned to the same area as her flew by, searching for patches of ice to melt. The blue Pegasus pulled her tired self together, flying on over and cutting the weather Pegasus off. The Pegasus, wearing tan weather goggles, had a bright yellow coat that reminded her of Fluttershy’s, except brighter. When Dash stopped her, the weather Pegasus gave her a look of indignation, as if she had somehow interrupted something important.

“What do you want, RD? I’m kind of in the middle of something here,” the Pegasus asked impatiently, tapping her hind leg on the air below like it was some sort of solid surface to express her irritation upon. The rainbow maned pony jumped at her question, awkwardly scratching the back of her mane like she hadn’t been expecting it through her haze.

“Sorry, Raindrops, I just had a quick question,” Rainbow Dash replied, sounding apologetic. The Pegasus grunted, facehooving in frustration before turning her attention back to the mare.

“Make it fast,” the yellow coated mare said impatiently. Dash stared at her with narrowed eyes. Her stare was returned with one equally as angry.

“Look, Drops’,” Rainbow started, cutting herself off before sighing in tiredness “Just tell me if you’ve seen my napping cloud,”

“Oh, that thing? Yeah, some other Pegasus kicked it in already, sorry,” Raindrops answered in sarcastically. Afterwards, the mare flew past her, soaring down towards a nearby patch of ice. Rainbow Dash grunted in defeated frustration, where was she supposed to sleep now? She didn’t feel like going back to her house, having been working all day, and all of the clouds in a five mile radius were destroyed. She looked to the setting sun again, it had nearly dropped all the way behind the western horizon now; it was getting late, and she had relatively nowhere to sleep. ‘There may be one place…’ the mare thought to herself in realization. She gathered her self together, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and shaking her mane out before heading off the direction opposite of her post.

***

Knock, knock, knock. Rainbow Dash grunted, still no response from the other side of the door. She stood outside Fluttershy’s cottage, the cool breeze of the near approaching night rustling against her coat and mane. She stomped her hoof on the stone ground in frustration, knocking three more times on the wooden door. After waiting awhile, she sighed in frustrated defeat. She put her ear up against the door, the cold wood making her shiver lightly as she listened intently. No sound coming from within, had she even disturbed Fluttershy’s slumber at all? For that matter, was Fluttershy even in the house? For all she knew her shy friend could be off doing Celestia-Knows-What and she might have just wasted the past fifteen minutes of her life, not including the ten minute fly over to the cottage!

Dash sighed, flying up into the air and moving around the cottage. All the windows were closed and had the drapes shut. The flier sighed once more, nearly giving up and searching for some stray cloud that didn’t get cleared by some miracle to sleep upon when something caught her attention. A window on the second floor of the cottage had been left open. She smiled; rubbing her hooves together in glee as she flew threw, easing herself through the window in an attempt not to make noise.
Once inside, she closed the window behind her and examined her surroundings. She had found herself within Fluttershy’s bedroom, but her yellow friend wasn’t on the bed. ‘Great, she wasn’t here’ Dash thought in frustration to herself. She looked out of the window behind her, staring at the darkened sky with anger. She couldn’t necessarily just go back outside and fly all the way back to her home, and there probably wasn’t a cloud for miles! She sighed, opening Fluttershy’s bedroom door and quietly trotting down the stairs, just in case.

When she reached the foot of the stairs, she was instantly met with her explanation as to why the door hadn’t been answered. Her yellow friend lay fast asleep upon a throw pillow on her couch, her light snoring audible all the way across the other side of the dead silent room. Rainbow Dash giggled lightly at the sight, covering her mouth with her hoof as she smiled. There was just something about the way her friend was sleeping so quietly, it just seemed so adorable. She shook her head vigorously, attempting to snap out of her ‘mushy’ thoughts. She yawned, glancing out the nearby window; it was pitch black outside now, and she was way too tired to bother and fly home. Besides, one of her ‘closest’ friends was here; she couldn’t let that opportunity go to waste. She walked over slowly with a mischievous smile on her face, so to not disturb her sleeping companion. She leveled herself up gradually, taking a seat on the couch adjacent to Fluttershy, making sure to keep her distance, for now.

“Ouch, this thing is way too rough, why does Fluttershy even keep it around?” She inquired in quiet irritation as she got up off the couch and looked around for some surface softer for her to lie on. She didn’t want to be picky like Rarity, but when it came to where she slept, she only used the softest areas. She had been too spoiled by sleeping on clouds to go to a rough area like that couch. She allowed her eyes to wonder around the room, searching for a suitable area. Sadly, the only thing that seemed comfier than the sandpaper feeling couch was the wooden floor. Well, that and one other thing…

Rainbow Dash did a double take at it; the throw pillow had just enough room left for her to squeeze her body onto it. She would be pretty close to Fluttershy, their bodies as close as two bodies could get. Her heart pounded at the idea as a small but noticeable blush came across her face. She slowly trotted over, feeling the soft, silky cover of the pillow with a hoof. She then retracted, as if it were some sort of forbidden fruit.

“I…I shouldn’t,” She muttered quietly, forcing herself to back away. She couldn’t stop herself for continuously looking back to the pillow, it was so soft… and its empty spot was right next to the very mare she felt for. She looked around nervously, fruitlessly attempting to distract herself from the tempting opportunity. She gulped, shaking out her mane and approaching the pillow once more with caution.

“I hope she doesn’t mind…” The mare whispered under her breath as she rested softly upon the pillow, attempting to keep as much space as possible between her and the mare next to her, which wasn’t very much at all. After slipping off several times and even falling onto the floor once it clearly became evident to the blue Pegasus; if she wanted to lay on a soft surface, she’d have to get a bit closer than she’d know a certain mare may like.

Sighing heavily, Dash lowered herself on the pillow once more, barely fitting upon the short space she had. She blushed instantly when she felt warm fur brushing against her side and looked over. Fluttershy was still fast asleep, thankfully, but had taken to unconsciously changing her position. Her hoof was now draped upon Dash’s neck, weakly squeezing it as if it were some sort of stuffed toy; her head was rested upon the flier’s hooves, every once and awhile unintentionally nuzzling them lightly when she got more comfortable. The Rainbow-Maned pony blushed more intensely, taking a deep breath and holding it, her heart-beat echoing throughout her ears. If it was hard to stay calm beforehoof now it was damn near impossible. She couldn’t help it, whenever she felt her friend’s warm coat brushing ever so softly against hers, whenever she felt a tickle on her hooves that signified Fluttershy had nuzzled them once more, or whenever she was unintentionally pulled closer by the mare, her heart rate rose exponentially. But she wasn’t complaining, in fact, she felt quite the opposite about her current ‘predicament’. She smiled, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly, wishing the moment would last for another thousand years.

Then it was all ruined…

Fluttershy yawned lightly, shifting her body into a more comfortable position. And in the process of doing so, knocking Dash off of the pillow. The unexpecting mare yelped in surprise, instantly flying up into the air like something had just attacked her, settling down shortly after. But it was too late; the damage had already been done as she looked upon her awakening friend. The yellow mare yawned, chapping her lips together and rubbing the dust out of her eyes. She looked around in confusion, searching for what had caused her disturbance. She flew up in surprise as soon as she found the source, a certain Blue-Coated pony attempting now to look the other way with a blush on her face.


“Dash! When did you get here?!” Fluttershy stammered out as she continued to stare at her friend, keeping her eyes fixed on the mare. Dash blushed heavily, still looking away as she struggled to come up with some sort of believable excuse. Sadly, there weren’t that many good excuses as to why she had snuck into her best friend’s house, purposefully laid down on the same pillow as she had, and didn’t stop or wake her when she unconsciously nuzzled her. The blue pony sighed, taking in a deep breath before turning to face the surprised pony in front of her.

“I…um…I couldn’t find any clouds to sleep on…and…um… Your house seemed to be nearby and I didn’t want to fly all the way to mine… so I kind of flew in threw the open window,” Her voice trailed off as she nervously giggled and avoided eye contact once more.

Fluttershy sighed, silently bringing a hoof to her forehead in minor frustration “That doesn’t explain why you were laying next to me, I mean, not to sound rude, but,” she cut herself off, taking a moment to gather herself.

“What’s wrong with a mare lying next to her best friend on a pillow?” The blushing pony said with a nervous laugh, obviously still trying to keep her usual sly nature in her embarrassment. Fluttershy gently fell to the ground, folding up her wings upon landing. Dash soon followed suite, still trying to avert the mare’s gaze, fearful of what emotions could be lurking behind it.

“Nothing, just,” Fluttershy started, trying not to sound angry with her friend “Next time give me some sort of warning…please?” she asked softly, giving a kind look to Dash. The pony nervously looked up, her ears rising as she saw the lack of disappointment in her friend’s eyes. She sighed in relief, happy that she had not just ruined everything she had established once again.

“Yeah, I’m sorry…” Dash apologized in earnest. Fluttershy smiled, walking over and giving her friend a reassuring hug. The blue pony smiled back lightly as the two moved to the pillow again, lying down upon it together. The caretaker sighed lightly, but it wasn’t a sigh of stress or displeasure; she felt happy to have her friend here, for some reason her presence made everything seem… easier. Even though she had broken into her house and lay next to her, it somehow didn’t sway her feelings. Was something happening to her…? She shook her head slightly, forcing the idea out of her mind; it was a thought for another time.

“You know what I love most about this?” Dash asked, a happy smile on her face as she gently spread her wing out, covering Fluttershy’s body. The yellow pony blushed, a surge of warmth rocketing through her spine as she looked back to her friend.

“W-what’s that?” The shy pony asked in a whisper, shifting her body a bit to get into a more comfortable position under her friend’s wing. Dash paused for a bit, taking a moment to allow the weak flier’s warmth seep into her body. She closed her eyes, taking a deep sigh of pleasure before opening them again.

“That you and I are here, together, spending time,” The dare devil said in earnest “I mean, I usually don’t get this mushy but…” She continued before being cut off by a swift and sudden feeling of pressure on her cheek. She instantly looked over, positive in the fact that her face looked redder than Big Macintosh’s coat. The pony responsible giggled slightly, the blush on her victim’s face making it easier to survive her own. “Oh, you’re going to play that way then, huh?” The blue mare said mischievously, leaning in forward with a smile on her face that matched the tone of her voice. Fluttershy cringed back a bit, giggling nervously. She wasn’t scared, but she decided to play along none the less. They were having fun, she was having fun, and she didn’t dare change that.

Dash moved in closer, slowly closing the gap between them. Fluttershy closed her eyes in anticipation as she felt a sudden force pressing against her muzzle. She opened her eyes to the sight she expected, Rainbow Dash delivering a playful, yet passionate kiss. The animal lover blushed, lightly apply pressure back as she too closed her eyes. She didn’t know how or why, but she liked these kisses. Ever since their first one under the stars, it seemed to have been growing on her. She quickly dropped the idea; it was silly anyhow, she wasn’t really falling for her friend already, was she? After a moment both ponies pulled back, blushing very brightly as they looked into each other’s eyes.

“How bout we get some shut eye, okay?” Dash asked, turning away to yawn loudly. Fluttershy said nothing, she still felt herself only able to look into the rainbow maned Pegasus’s eyes. Before another word could be said in response, the sports pony shrugged, laying her head on the pillow, beginning to snore shortly afterwards.

The yellow mare sat there for hours, lost in deep thought. It had only been a day since the night under the stars with Dash; but every minute their relationship seemed to be growing deeper and deeper. They had already kissed for the third time, and in Fluttershy’s experience, that wasn’t what friends did. Maybe, maybe they weren’t exactly friends anymore. She didn’t want to think that they had formed some sort of romantic relationship, but maybe they were closer than two friends usually get. Was there a term for that, or was she one of the first ponies to experience it? Fluttershy still couldn’t explain to herself the warm feeling that seemed to surge through her very core; the same one that she had felt just this morning. Why would anypony ever want to take this away from her? These feelings she felt, what could possibly be so bad about them for somepony to take them away from her? Feelings… she called them that, in fear of defying what they could be. She tried to deny it as she looked upon the sleeping pony; her beautiful rainbow mane, her stunning and vivid cutie mark, and the way she could be so aggressive, but if you got to spend some time alone with her, so sweet and caring.

Fluttershy violently shook her head; what in the world was she thinking? It was so wrong, yet so completely right at the same time.

“Oh, this is so confusing!” she said with frustration; she laid her head down and closed her eyes. If anything, a little sleep would help her.

***

Fluttershy was up bright and early the next morning, even before Rainbow Dash had risen. She yawned, stretching out her legs before getting up and beginning her usual morning routine. Walking out side, she began to fly around her garden, giving breakfast to all of her animals. She gave the birds worms, chopped up some carrots for Angel, and gave leftovers to the raccoons. She was in the middle of handing the Badgers under the dock a few fish when her thoughts got the best of her again. What was she going to do about the state of Dash’s and her relationship? She couldn’t end what was going on, she just couldn’t. She didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings after just getting her back from the grips of depression. Moreover, she kind of enjoyed everything they had herself, she didn’t want to start a full fledged relationship but she didn’t want what was happening to end. But it was all happening so fast too, what if she couldn’t keep up, what if she started to have sudden regrets, what if-

“Hey Fluttershy!” somepony said cheerfully behind her; the voice made Fluttershy jump back and yelp. She looked up, identifying the owner of the voice; a purple unicorn with a darker shade of purple for her mane and tail, she had a gleeful smile plastered on her face as she stared at the surprised pony.

“I’m sorry, did I startle you?” The unicorn asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

“N-no, it’s quite alright Twilight, I was just feeding my animal friends and I had something on my mind an-”

“What were you thinking about?” Twilight cut her off, looking at her with a mixture of worry and curiosity.

“Oh! Nothing, I mean, it wasn’t nothing, just nothing important. Well, I mean it was something important but…” Fluttershy sighed and gave up trying to finish the sentence; why did she have to be such a horrible liar?

“Well…okay… I just came by to see if you had seen Rainbow Dash anywhere, I need her for something.” Twilight continued, seeming relatively unphased from her sudden suspicious behavior. The yellow pony sighed, picking herself off and brushing the lake water off of her hind, was she really so shy that she hadn’t been picked up on?

“Um…well… what do you need her for? I mean, that is if you don’t mind telling me,” Fluttershy shyly responded, she still felt nervous about lying. Lying was her second most hated thing, next to dragons that was.

“Oh, well I need some clouds trapped in this bottle for an experiment I’m running” Twilight said normally, lifting a bottle out of her bag with a telekinetic grasp.

“Oh… I um…I can handle that for you if it’s not too much trouble,” The yellow pony offered nervously, she didn’t want Dash’s true place to be discovered. She could probably come up with an excuse, but she was still a horrible liar, and it showed.

“No…I’d rather have Rainbow Dash do it…Do you know where she is?” Twilight asked while eyeing Fluttershy. Fluttershy’s mind went wild; she had to think of something, something quick!

“Um…she…um…S-She’s off taking care of her weather jobs!” The pink maned mare said quickly, attempting to give an earnest-looking nod to the mare in front of her.

“Alright… Well, I’ll see you later on tonight, right?” Twilight asked in curiosity, preparing to make her exit.

“Um…yes! I mean, what’s tonight?” Fluttershy asked, a blank stare upon her face. Had she forgotten some sort of holiday or another random Pinkie Pie party?

“Your birthday party…” Twilight was sounding more and more impatient by the moment. Fluttershy’s eyes went small as she comprehended the information. How could she have forgotten her birthday!? She was supposed to show up at Sugar Cube Corner for her party this evening! What was she going to do; Rainbow was going to be there with her too! She’d be a nervous mess, what if she gave something away!?

“Hello…?” Twilight’s tone was short, signaling the yellow mare had waited a bit too long without a response.

“Oh, um, yes. I’ll see you tonight,” Fluttershy hastily spoke.

“Okay then, Bye,” Twilight turned around and walked away, still carrying a suspicious and jaded tone in her voice. Fluttershy took a deep breath and sighed in relief; that was close. She went back into her cottage and closed the door behind her. To her surprise, the previously occupied throw pillow was actually empty. Maybe Dash did actually need to go work on her weather chores.

Fluttershy took this to her advantage as she lay down on the pillow, sighing in a mixture of worry and frustration with herself. She had next to no time to prepare herself for the upcoming event tonight! She had to come up with some way to survive without looking like a total fool; But how…?

END