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// Year One: Two Of A Kind 
// Story: A Study In Nonsense 
// by Professor Piggy 
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Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie glared at each other, and that felt wrong. Not that Rainbow glaring at Pinkie was all that uncommon – Rainbow Dash did a lot of glaring, especially when she was annoyed, and there weren’t all that many ponies in Ponyville who were as… well, annoying, as Pinkie Pie could be.

She bit her lip and let out a quiet sigh. That had been a terrible thing to think, and she was almost certain that she hadn’t meant it to be as mean as it had sounded – it was just that Pinkie got a little overenthusiastic sometimes, and Rainbow wasn’t quite as patient as she could have been. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course; it was just her way, and the fact that it was so very different from how Fluttershy liked to handle things didn’t mean it was wrong.

But as common as it was for Rainbow to glare at Pinkie, Fluttershy couldn’t remember ever seeing Pinkie glare at Rainbow. It was a scary thing, seeing her happiest friend’s mouth twisted into a scowl, and it made Fluttershy want to leave the room. To go to bed, and let the two sort out their disagreement on their own. But she couldn’t do that – it wouldn’t be right. And besides, she was a part of this too.

She had known about the Mare Do Wells, of course. Both Rainbow Dash, and the trio that Twilight had assembled in order to keep Rainbow Dash from getting hurt – and, Fluttershy suspected, because it made her feel good to be able to help the town without really drawing attention to herself. Not that she was one of them – she hadn’t even really wanted to join in when they had all first disguised themselves to teach Rainbow a lesson. It had felt awfully mean, but if anybody knew that sometimes you had to be mean to help a pony, it was Fluttershy.

But she was the only one of her group of friends with any knowledge of medicine, and that made her their first stop when something went badly wrong – for Dash, and for the others. She didn’t like the job, not really – she had tried to talk them all out of it time and time and time again, but in the end they hadn’t been willing to listen. And they needed her. They trusted her. What kind of friend would she be if she’d broken that trust?

If she were honest, Fluttershy had allowed herself to believe that she would never actually have to do anything – in just a few minutes, an entire year would have passed since Rainbow had first come to her, explained what she was doing, and asked her for help. Barely less time had passed since Twilight and others had come. And since then… nothing. Nopony had ever gotten hurt well they were being Mare Do Well, and she’d allowed herself to believe nopony ever would.

Then Pinkie had shown up at her door, dragged a half concious Rainbow into her living room, and collapsed herself. That had been a few hours ago now, and she couldn’t remember ever being so afraid. She had tended their wounds, and checked to make sure there was no permanent damage – there wasn’t, though it would be a few weeks until Dash would be allowed to do anything strenuous. Which of course meant she would be trying to do sonic rainbooms the next morning, and it would be Fluttershy’s job to talk her out of it. Not that she minded, or anything. It was like taking care of children.

She bit down harder, trying to think of a nicer way to word that particular thought, but was cut off by Dash, her words slightly slurred.

“So, what? You’ve been following me around the whole time? Just… stalking me, and hoping I wouldn’t notice.”

It was an improvement from the hissed insults Dash had been throwing around earlier, but not by much. Pinkie just nodded and said a single word. “Yeah.”

The room was silent, then, and Fluttershy felt her heart beat faster. Then, with a shrug and a grin, Dash spoke again. “Whatever. Thanks for saving my flank – that was a heck of kick!”

And then Pinkie was grinning too, and Fluttershy found herself thinking that maybe everything would be alright.