//------------------------------//
// 4. Dawn 
// Story: Fear of Falling 
// by Eustatian Wings 
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Dawn broke over Dash gently bumping against the edges of her sleep like a foal begging for attention.

It began with the fragrance of hazelnuts, which drifted into Dash's dreams and made it hard to tell where they ended and reality began.  They were strange dreams too.  Some days something flowed and swirled and licked at the edges of her mind; she felt like she was riding a thrumming cataract of energy, like a microburst in the sky or an undertow pulling her out to sea.

Those days Dash wanted to lose herself in the flow.  It was overpowering, but gentle.  It wanted to sweep her away and take care of her and - although these dreams usually were vague and elemental for Dash - this time her torrent of feeling had taken the form of her best friend, Fluttershy.  

Dash crashed awake where she lay, eyes still closed and body still.  She knew instantly that she could never, ever talk about what had just been going through her head.  They were just dreams, but then Fluttershy might find out and the poor filly wouldn't know what to make of them, so Dash resolved then and there to ignore what was probably just a meaningless trick of her subconscious.

She rolled to her back with a creaky grunt and drew a forehoof casually up along the curve of her bottom rib, savoring the soft warmth of her belly.

At least, that was what she meant to do, but when she felt the heavy blanket slide over her body, and the firm bed - not a cloud - below it, her eyes flew open in fresher shock.

There was a watercolor of a marigold hanging on the wall, its reds and golds blazing in the morning sunlight.  The wall was papered, clean but cracked.  Small crates for animals were stacked against it.

Rainbow Dash sat up in bed, her blanket slipping down her chest and her mouth falling open.

It was Fluttershy's house.  Hazelnut still hung in the air.  And that meant - maybe… maybe last night wasn't all a dream.

The clink of a dish in the kitchen snapped Dash from her stunned state.  She was sitting on Fluttershy's guest bed, she realized.  Even now, her marefriend - her marefriend! - must be making breakfast.  It was morning, and she could smell faintly the pine shavings and other clean animal smells that were always there.  Something on tiny paws skittered atop the ceiling overhead.

Out of habit Dash twisted around to preen, the first thing she did every morning.  Sleeping on a groundy's mattress always gave her terrible bed-wings.

They didn't look too bad, though.  Her secondaries were a bit ruffled, but it looked like her primaries had stayed neatly folded all night.  When she brought her mouth to smooth out a twist, she tasted a bit of cinnamon.

So that part was real.  Oh boy, that part was real.



"Didn't your mother teach you to preen twice a day?" said Fluttershy last night.  Concern pulled at her face lit by shifting candlelight.

"I don't see the point," said Dash.  "I'm going to sleep on them and they'll be messed up again by morning."  She finished with her towel and hung it on the rack.  The air in the bathroom was heavy with humidity and the spicy sandlewood soap that Fluttershy liked.

Fluttershy shook her head.  "You lazy pony.  Have a seat, then, and let me do it."

"I'm not a little filly.  I can-" Dash began, but suddenly Fluttershy was filling her vision with kind, huge eyes and kissing Dash's nose and smiling.

"Of course," she said.  "But just because you can doesn't mean I don't want to."



The cinnamon oil she'd used still lingered in the vanes of Dash's feathers.  Dash preferred natural wing-care; this was all a little too fru-fru, but she had to admit they did look kind of nice.

More to the point, her feathers had stayed neater than she expected.  It took only a moment to make them perfect.  Dash hopped out of bed and opened the door and almost ran over Fluttershy who was just about to come in with a tray balanced on her back.

"Oh sorry."  She smiled, and her eyes seemed to light up the entire world.  Dash's heart pounded, louder in her ears than Fluttershy's voice.  "Good morning.  Um.  If you're up, we can use the table.  I just thought..."

"That sounds great, Flutters," said Dash.  "I'll just..."

What?  "Take a leak?"   Not that Dash was self-conscious or anything, but could she be any less romantic?

Once finished, Dash noticed somepony in the bathroom mirror.  She was smiling and her eyes almost seemed to sparkle - not at all like herself.  She shook her head and scowled and messed up her forelocks with a hoof, but then she only looked mean.  Dash experimented with a little bit of a smile, which looked silly, and only then realized she was obsessing.

Dash laughed at herself.  There.  For a moment, she saw the real Rainbow Dash, carefree, confident, awesome, the usual.  She tried to freeze that expression, but the love-struck other filly oozed through.  She looked like the heroine of those silly romance novels Fluttershy and Rarity were always talking about.

Whatever.  Dash decided to just roll with it.  Since when did she start caring about how she looked?



Fluttershy was waiting for her at the little table in her parlor.  Small creatures stirred around the margins of the room.  The sunlight caught stray strands of her mane, making them a frizzy pink halo.  Dash had never realized how beautiful her best friend was.  Which was stupid, because she'd been there year after year while Dash had been… not noticing.  Stupid.

And now they were together.

Dash took her seat.  "This looks amazing, Fluttershy."

Hazelnuts with some kind of syrup in pastry shells were cooling on a plate in the center of the table.  She and Flutters each had a glass of carrot juice with a straws in it, and their breakfast steamed in two bowls. 

"It's nothing fancy," said Fluttershy.  "Just hay and oats, really."

"Sticks and slop!" said Dash, then seeing Fluttershy's eyes fall she added, "That's what Gilda used to call hay and oats, back before... you know.  She liked pony food, she just joked around."

"Oh." Fluttershy looked up.  "You miss her."

"Good riddance," said Dash and scoffed.  There was an over-easy egg on the top of each bowl of oats - the "plop on top" as G would say - and a few slices of buttered toast completed the meal.  To change the subject, she picked up a knife and scored the egg's yolk, which flowed into the oats like a liquid sunset.  "Woah," she said, her knife clinking on the bowl.  "Where'd you get orange eggs?"

"They're supposed to be that color," said Fluttershy.  Dash took a bite.  "If the hens are healthy and eat plenty of... If they eat a good diet.  Um, I wasn't sure how to cook yours, so I just made what I like."

"Overeasy's fine.  But seriously, these are excellent.  What do you feed them, anyway?"

Fluttershy looked down and chewed her breakfast.  That gave Dash a moment to enjoy the slop - there was something in the oats that brought out the grassy spring shine of the hay, and the egg was very rich on her tongue, almost like butter.

Dash swallowed.  Somepony else had the food-critic cutie mark and could probably describe it, but she wouldn't even try.  All she knew was that it was almost good enough to make her cry - she could feel it in the back of her throat, a joyful tingly tightness.

What was going on, anyway?

"Um, well, chickens feed themselves," said Fluttershy.  "If you let them.  It's not fair how the big farms keep them cooped up and don't let them hunt and scratch."

"Hunt?" asked Dash.  They didn't look like predators.

"Oh.  It's a little bit gross.  I didn't want to-"

"C'mon.  Tell me."

"Insects," admitted Fluttershy.  "They eat bugs, and if they don't their eggs don't taste right.  I hope you don't mind."

Dash meant to say that it was alright.  They really were good eggs, and it would take a lot more than that to gross her out.  What came out was: "I love you."

Fluttershy blushed.  "I love you too, Dashie."

They sat and steam rose from their breakfast.  The moment seemed to stretch and stretch out toward forever, perfect and perfectly strange.

Somepony knocked on the door.  Fluttershy got up to answer it, greeting Rarity.  She was wearing a ridiculously large purple hat and a pair of silver-gray saddle bags. 

"Good morning," said Fluttershy.

"And the best of mornings to you too, dear.  I just wanted to thank you for the tea yesterday and return your things, but I can see-"  Her eyes met Dash's for the briefest moment.

"It's no bother," said Fluttershy.  "Please come in."

"Only if I'm not intruding," said Rarity.  When Fluttershy stepped out of her way she allowed herself in.

"We were just having breakfast," said Fluttershy.  "I didn't know you were coming..."

"I wouldn't say no to tea if it's no trouble."

"Just a moment," said Fluttershy.  "I have a kettle warm."  She disappeared into the kitchen.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.  

Rarity sat by the table, at right angles to Dash and Fluttershy's places.  She dropped her voice to a whisper.  "Rainbow Dash, what do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, having breakfast?" she ventured.

"Clearly.  But what are you doing here, mm?  Surely you didn't spend the night."

"So what if I did?"  Something very much like lightning prickled at the back of Dash's neck.

Fortunately, Fluttershy came back with the tea, which Rarity took with her magic.  Peace reigned for a moment: Rarity sipped her tea, Fluttershy sucked a long drink of carrot juice up her straw, Dash chewed her oats.

Fluttershy said, "So, you can probably guess this already, but I hope Dash won't mind me saying it."

Dash shook her head slightly, but Fluttershy charged ahead.

"You wouldn't believe what she did last night, Rarity.  It must have been the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen."

"And you two are dating, then," said Rarity flatly.

"Mmm-hmm," said Fluttershy, a huge grin spreading across her face.  She giggled.  "Yes.  Yes we are."

Dash bit the inside of her mouth, bracing herself.

Rarity smiled.  "Congratulations.  To both of you.  Goodness, and here I am interrupting your breakfast.  I am sorry, truly.  I should probably be going."

"No, no, please stay," said Fluttershy.  "It's always a pleasure to have you visit."

"Yeah," said Dash.  "So what's happening, Rarity?  It seems like a while since we've seen you..."  Dash swallowed hard.  The last Rarity had seen of either of them was yesterday morning.  Open mouth, insert hoof.

"Oh, I've just been... Well, I spent a good part of yesterday putting my sketches into a portfolio so I might find a model today.  Just between the three of us, I have good feelings about this show."

Dash chased her oats with her carrot juice, bittersweet and bright.  "Yeah.  Sorry about that."

"Oh, Dash dear," - Rarity sipped her tea - "it's no trouble.  You're not the only pegasus in Ponyville, after all.  If the runway isn't your forte that is nothing to apologize for.  I suspect you two had the more interesting day, mm?"

Dash scowled.  Sure, there were other pegasi, but no way were any of them half as good-looking as she was.  Not that she'd changed her mind, but...

Fluttershy filled the gap.  "Oh, yes.  We practiced flying together.  I even did a... what was that called?"

"Stoop-and-Swoop," said Dash.  Her sticks-and-slop-with-a-plop were getting heavy.  What was Rarity's problem, anyway?  

Dash let Fluttershy fill Rarity in, drawing loops and dives with her hooves and making soft "whoosh" and "whee" noises.  Dash soldiered through the rest of her oats and a slice of toast and kept an eye on Rarity's reaction.

"So I guess it wasn't all bad I let myself get so carried away," Fluttershy finished.  She blushed.  "I... do you think I'm a bad pony, Rarity?"

Rarity had set her empty teacup down.  Now she poured herself another half cup as she answered.  "Fluttershy, I can scarcely imagine you doing anything wrong."

"I... I did jump Rainbow."

"That was more my fault," Dash admitted.  "We were talking, and I kinda brought up the idea that I should practice dating somepony else and I guess that was a little too much.  But, hey, no harm no foul, right?"

Rarity set her cup down.  Dash could see her bite her lip.  Fluttershy said, "But then we practiced flying - and Dash painted a sunset for me.  I wish you could have seen it."

"I did, darling."

"Oh, but from a cloud, Rarity!"

Dash allowed herself a smile that might have been a little smug.  "Yeah, I have no idea how I'm going to outdo that one."

Rarity blinked.  Fluttershy smiled at Dash.  "Would you care for a pastry, Rainbow?"

"Oo, yes please."  

Fluttershy answered - not with words but by half-climbing the table, her wings mantling for balance.  She picked up one of the hazelnut-filled shells and before either of her friends could properly react, she had passed it to Dash, brushed her lips-to-lips, and backed down to her place.

It was electric.  Dash loved hazelnuts - and Rarity's speechlessness now was as sweet as the honey on them.  Fluttershy said, "Don't worry about it.  I think it's my turn now, Dashie."

Rainbow Dash took her time chewing and swallowing.  "Ah.  Is that how the rules go?"

"Rules?" asked Rarity.  Her voice was small.  "She is not just a game."

The air seemed to chill, or at least the silence made it feel that way.

"Sounds like a good rule to me..." said Fluttershy.

"Look," said Dash.  She fixed Rarity's eyes.  "Did anypony ask your advice?"

Rarity cleared her throat, politely.  

"You're a good friend, but sometimes you don't know when to keep your mouth shut.  Since when have I ever had 'just' game.  I have game, not 'just' game.  And I've got-"  In the flash of a thunderstroke, Dash saw herself and Rarity and Fluttershy, who was cringing ever so slightly.  And in the same flash, Dash saw herself with a much younger Fluttershy,  weathering a storm of words that wounded the pink-maned filly more than they ever did her friends.

Dash meant to say she had it, but the lie died in her throat.  "I've… I don't really know what I'm doing.  I don't think about this sort of thing, or read those stories or anything.  I just… Fluttershy, I want to make you happy, so I'm sorry."  

Fluttershy shook her head and laughed.  "Oh Dash, I love you just the way you are.  But you really haven't read any romance stories, have you?"

"Whaddya mean?"  Dash looked from Fluttershy to Rarity, who sure enough was trying to hide a smile, or possibly a smirk.

Rarity answered.  "They're just fantasies anyway.  Not how one should really go about finding one's soulmate."

"I'll save you the trouble of reading that stuff," said Fluttershy.  "They pretty much all end like this: 'Then at long last they kissed and lived happily ever after.' At least, the happy ones do."

"Really?" said Dash.  "Sounds more like a beginning to me."

That earned her a giggle at least from her friends, both of them, but Dash couldn't help feeling a little bit lost and out-of-place herself.  "Seriously though," she said.  "What do we do now?"

"We mustn't let ourselves get completely absorbed in each other," said Fluttershy.  "I should wake Angel and feed the animals and I'm sure you have your responsibilities, too."

"Well, traditionally..."  Rarity cleared her throat.  "The second date is the stallion's responsibility, of course, but...  Yes.  It won't kill you two to give each other a little space.  You wouldn't want to exhaust each other, and it takes time for feelings to mature.  Haha.  Not that I'm exactly the expert anyway."

"Like I said," said Fluttershy catching Dash's eye.  "This one's my turn.  I've got an idea, so just be patient."

Dash stood.  "Yeah," she said and then, because she could, she stepped close to Fluttershy.  The way the morning light caught in her eyes was really something - she could hardly wait to see them again.  "See you around."  She put her forehooves on Fluttershy's shoulders and embraced her, and they kissed.  Dash was really starting to like that part.




Rarity left with Dash, saying that there was a "little something" she wanted to ask her about.  They walked side by side, Rarity humming a little tune.

Her humming stopped once they were out of earshot.  Both ponies' hooves crunched in the dirt, already warm in the morning sun.

"Rainbow Dash," said Rarity with soft intensity.  "I ask you again:  What are you doing?"

Dash stopped.  "What?  I'm doing what you said."

" 'What I sa-' " sputtered Rarity.  "Rainbow Dash, I told you to console her.  Not to- to bed her, you stupid, stupid pony!"

"Nuh-uh," said Dash.  "You said, and I quote here: 'Rainbow Dash, in this store she who breaks any merchandise has purchased it.  That goes for hearts as well.' "  She took to the air.

At least, Dash tried to take to the air and would have flown off in a huff, but Rarity grabbed hold of her wings - her wings! - so that Dash could barely hover, shocked, between the silence and bird-calls.

"You are not yet dismissed, missy," said Rarity, her accent slipping from Manehattan back toward its Ponyville roots.  "I will not see Fluttershy taken advantage of for anypony's amusement or experiment.  And if you're thinking that you can't get her in a family situation earns you a free pass, think again.  You will not toy with my best friend's heart.  Am I clear?" 

"Rarity."  Anger licked at Dash's ears.  "What's with you and sex?  I'm honest here.  I will make her happy.  And, seeing how I've known her a lot longer than you have, I might know a thing or two more about your best friend than you do."

"Are you telling me you did not take-"

Dash leveled a shaking hoof at Rarity, who glared at her under hat and horn.  "Last night isn't your business.  And if you're so sure it is, you can go ask her yourself.  Now let me go."

Rarity took a deep breath and lowered her eyes.  "Promise me you're doing this for the right reasons."

"Of course I am."

"Say you love her!"

Dash looked Rarity in her eyes, sapphire-blue, angry and for whatever reason hurt.  "I love her," she said.  Her voice cracked.

Rarity let her go, and Dash went, faster and faster, trying to wash the shame off her wings.  Whether it was the imprint of Rarity's touch or of honest guilt, Dash couldn't be sure.

But everything that had felt so perfectly right the night before now lay between the light of dawn and shade of doubt.