//------------------------------//
// Chapter VI 
// Story: A Dash of Shyness 
// by TM2 Dinobot 
//------------------------------//

Chapter VI

It was a do-nothing day. There were still several weeks left in the semester, but that didn’t seem to matter. Nightmare Night had come and gone. Fluttershy had spent the night at Rainbow Dash's house, and they'd gorged themselves on candy. Now there was nothing but school left before the holidays. 
Autumn had moved in with full force, and the Weather Factory was doing its best to pump out warm clouds. Demand far outpaced supply though, all the shops had a waiting list. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash sat in their room, 'studying', while the tiny heater did its best to keep them warm, the only dorm in the entire school that had a heating cloud. How Fluttershy had snagged one of the expensive little things Dash didn’t know. She’d returned from Weather Wrangling Training to find the little cloud churning out heat as best it could. 

“Ugh! I’m so bored!” Dash had all feet in the air, simply because there was nothing better to do. 

“We could play a game.” Fluttershy suggested.

“Like what?” asked Dash skeptically. She already knew the answer. 

“The Quiet Game. I’m--”

“The world champ, I know. No thanks.” she rolled over. 

“We could study.” Fluttershy suggested again, quieter this time.

“I’m four chapters ahead for the first time in ever, no thanks to you.” 

Fluttershy bit her lip. “We could... do some decorations for the holidays?”

Dash bolted upright. “Yeah! We could head into the city and see the Hearth's Warming Eve decorations! That’s a great idea, Fluttershy.”

“Oh my, go into town...? Who’s going to fly us?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Dash thought for a moment. “I guess I could give my mom a call.”

“Oh, we don’t want to bother her. I guess we'd better not go. Oh well." Fluttershy said quickly. 

“Pshaw, she won’t mind.” Dash declared.

Firefly minded. The conversation was not going at all how Dash had imagined it. Usually her mother, so happy to hear from her only child, would be delightful and cheery. Today she just sounded tired. 

“No, Rainbow Dash.” 

“But moooom!” Dash whined. 

“I told you, I’m too busy. I've got an appointment. If you and Fluttershy want to go into the city, I can take you tomorrow.”

“But we have classes tomorrow.” 

Firefly sighed. “Then I can take you next weekend. But it can’t be today.”

“But mom, we never do anything any more.” Dash played the neglected child card. “I haven’t seen you in a while.” 

“Dash!” Firefly scolded, seeing through the ploy. “I said no! If you make me come down there, I swear to Celestia it won’t be to take you into the city, but to give your little flank a beating unlike anything you’ve ever had! Now go spend time with your friends.”

Dash was in shock. Her mother had threatened to beat her. Her mommy never beat her. Sure, sometimes she’d give Dash a quick swat, but this wasn’t the same. Her mommy had yelled and threatened. And despite the volume, she'd still managed to sound tired and out of breath. 

“Okay...” was all Dash could get out.

“I love you, Dashie.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Dash broke the connection. 

“So?” Fluttershy stood right beside her, pawing at the floor. “What did she say?” 

“She said for you to practice the quiet game some more. Because you’re manure at it.” Dash shoved past her, headed for the door of the school. 

With a grunt Dash flopped down on the front lawn, landing with enough force to wobble her cloud. Maybe she’d take a nap. But even when she closed her eyes, her heart wouldn’t stop racing. Why had her mommy yelled at her? It wasn’t an unreasonable request. And even if it was, she was just a little filly! There was no excuse for yelling at a filly and making her cry. 
Cry? Dash wiped her face. Yep, she was crying, and she hated it. Crying was something Fluttershy did, not Rainbow Dash. Stupid Fluttershy. Why had Dash snapped at her? She was probably off somewhere crying as well.
Fluttershy was indeed crying; words, even from a best friend, could hurt. But the ‘off somewhere’ was right next to Rainbow Dash. The larger filly daintily folded herself down next to her friend. With a twist of her neck she flopped Dash’s scarf over her friend’s neck. Dash, in turn, leaned into Fluttershy, snuggling for warmth. She was suddenly very afraid of being cold. There they sat on the front lawn, both sniffling, trying to stop the water works even as the wind blew their tears away. 

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, barely more than a whisper. 

“Yeah.” Dash wiped her nose. “I’m fine.”

“What did your mom say?” 

“She said no. She didn’t want to see me, Fluttershy.”

“Maybe she’s just tired?” The pastel pony suggested. 

“Maybe. I think something’s wrong. She yelled at me. She never does that. And she sounded more tired than I’ve ever heard her.”

“Oh my.” 

"What if she and dad are breaking up?"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash. Don't be silly, that could never happen. Your parents love each other too much to ever let that happen. And they love you too." Fluttershy necked her friend with a hug.

"I guess. I just don't know what it could be then."

Dash’s eyes trembled with fear as a thought occurred to her. To express it would be a crime, but she had to, even if it was just a whisper. 

“What if she dies?”

Much to Dash’s chagrin her friend didn’t answer right away. She just looked at her companion with those beautiful eyes of liquid turquoise, a caring heart behind her wonderful mind. When she spoke, they weren’t words of denial, but rather compassion. 

“Every pony dies, Dashie. The solution is to live with enough love that you’ll never be forgotten. Will you ever forget how much your mother loves you?”

“No.”

“Then it doesn’t matter when she dies, as long as you remember that.”

“Oh course it does!” Dash stood up, aghast.  “How can you say that, Fluttershy? You don’t know anything!”

“Oh.” Fluttershy looked away, crying again.

Dash sighed and dropped back down. “My mommy did say one other thing.”

“What was that?” Fluttershy choked around the tears. 

“You’re the best pony at the Quiet Game in the entire world. Even Celestia can’t beat you.”

Dash waited for a response, but when none came, she was afraid she’d ruined her friendship by shooting off her mouth again. Then there was a sound like a sneeze or a cough that came from her friend. Dash leaned over, concerned that Fluttershy might be choking, given the subtle shake of her shoulders. That was when she saw the smile. Fluttershy was laughing at her! Dash was ready to smack her friend when she found herself laughing in turn. 

“You’re my best friend, Dashie.”

“You’re mine too. Hay, you’re my only friend.”

“I love you.” Fluttershy sighed, leaning close. 

“Aww, Fluttershy.” Dash blushed. “Hey, lets go watch the last part of the Airball game!”

“Alright.” Fluttershy stood. 

The pair wandered towards the Airball field. Even though they were passing Coach McHard Cheese, just barely in Fluttershy’s case, the Coach still expected them to clear the field of equipment after every class. Fluttershy had been more than happy too, but Dash had complained loudly until Coach agreed to give the fillies extra credit. Every other pony wanted in on it after that, but seeing as how the two of them had been doing for a full semester already, it was kind of their unofficial jobs now. Besides, it helped keep their otherwise dismal grades up. Maybe Coach wasn’t such a bad pony after all.
The game was in full swing. It was just a practice game between the older ponies, all members of the same team. Every pony was taking it seriously though. Rainbow Dash almost jumped up and down at the ferocity that was taking place on the field. The score was 24:23, and one more goal and the ‘home’ team would win. The battle was quite fierce. Pegasi buzzed around the field, several mock dog fighting in the sky. One led the other too high and Coach called a penalty on both of them.
In the center of it all, Ace stood, stoic in the face of adversity. As other ponies screamed and grappled around him, he simply waited. Then his moment came and he took off like a lightning bolt, aimed straight for the loose Airball. One unfortunate pony got there first and Rainbow could hear the crack clear across the bleachers as Ace’s kick connected with his teammate-turned-opponent’s jaw. 
Now Ace had the ball and rushed all out for the goal. Sweat frothed on his chest, his wings beat the air with a savage power that lent them to their paramours’ nature.

“Oh wow! Did you see that hit?” Dash exclaimed. “Go Ace!”

“Dashie.” Fluttershy said quietly, trying to draw her attention. She struggled to hold her wings tight against her body. She wasn’t going to make it.

“Come on, buddy! You can do it!” Dash cheered louder.

“Dashie.” Fluttershy cried with some urgency. Her legs were locked up, otherwise she’d run.

Ace was almost at the goal. He looked incredible, a true Adonis. “Yeah! Go Ace!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy hollered. Her wings were now out of her control, and she had to get out of sight, quick. She needed her friend’s help, Dash she was apparently not listening. 

“Huh?” Dash looked back. “Hey, what’s wrong with your wings?”

If Fluttershy had been embarrassed before, she was mortified now. Not only did she need her friend’s help, but she was going to have to explain it to her as well? This day just kept getting worse. She tried to act like Dash and blow it off as no big deal, but the stammer of her voice and the knocking of her knees indicated otherwise. 

“I’m, uh, having a wing problem and I, um, can’t move.”

“Why?” 

Dash cocked her head, approaching slowly. She’d seen wings her whole life. All Pegasi had them. So did birds, griffons and dragons. They were used for flying, weren’t they? What was the big deal? And what was that scent? Dash had never smelled it before. Was it Fluttershy? Dash gave a quick nibble, trying to get her friends wings back in place. Fluttershy squinted, biting her bottom lip hard.

“Well, you see, I, um, kind of might, possibly, just a little bit, think that, in just a plutonic way, Ace is cute?”

Ace took that opportunity to score his goal. The air horn blew, signaling the end of the game. “What?!” Dash couldn’t hear.

“I said I think Ace is cute!” Fluttershy used the loudest voice she had. 

Unfortunately the air horn stopped and every pony of the field heard her declaration. All eyes turned to see those two weird ponies that ate alone in the lunchroom, the older one with her wings spread wide as the day while she declared her undying love for Ace. In fact, the Airball captain looked right at her. 
A few snickers were all the warning there was. A flood of laughter cascaded across them, washing Fluttershy with embarrassment. Ace shook his head sadly. She knew that look; it stemmed from pity. She knew that look far too well. Turning, Fluttershy ran off at top speed, her legs suddenly cooperating. Dash followed, still not understanding, as Fluttershy took to the sky and flew straight for Cloudsdale