Day by Day
No matter what you do, the sun always rises and sets. Days go on and lives are lost every day, be it tragic or peaceful. There is nothing that could possibly stop this inevitable fate. So what keeps us going? Is it a goal of happiness that keeps us living? Is it the inspiration of finding love in our lives? Both? No one knows but everyone has a spark that makes him or her get up everyday. A certain cyan Pegasus knows this all too well and never wastes a day.
Tragedy has befallen Rainbow Dash in the past and she is no stranger to crying and drowning her sorrows in the sweet, yet bitter, taste of whiskey. This side of Rainbow was always hidden from her friends. Fluttershy is the only one that knew of Dash’s heartache.
The way she lost her parents in an unfortunate runaway cart accident was devastating to Dash. She could rarely be seen looking at the stars from the roof of her cloud home. The weather team just couldn’t function and freak storms would pop up unannounced causing many gardening ponies to develop a lot of stress. Rain would drown crops while random snowstorms would render ponies powerless to save the growing plants. Needless to say, Rainbow was tough and rode out the storm of emotions to help Ponyville get everything back on track.
When she returned, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Dash was wearing her overconfident smirk as usual and cleared the clouds in ten seconds flat just as before she went on her little hiatus. When confronted by other ponies as to what happened, she simply changed the subject. Though her façade was still in place, her friends could see the hurt was still evident in her eyes. The four of them decided they should hold a meeting to help Rainbow (Fluttershy decided that since Rainbow trusted her with the bad news, she wouldn’t risk the chance of her accidentally sharing it).
“How are we s’pose ta help her? She just got up an’ left. What happened?” The disheveled, orange earth pony had been dwelling on this question but could never figure out what was wrong with Dash.
“I’m not sure but whatever it is, it’s eating her up inside.” The purple librarian had been reading a psychological study book and noticed the signs only a scrutinizing pony like Rarity would notice.
“Well I hope it ends soon. Her behavior is keeping me from designing beautiful dresses. I want to help so that I can finally rest knowing she is all right,” the fashionista said with a tinge of concern in her voice.
“OOH! OOH! I know! We can throw her a huge party! Complete with balloons, streamers, cake, party cannon and-" the pink party pony was cut off by the glares she received from her friends. “What?”
“Pinkie, I don’t think that a party can fix Dash. She seems to be troubled by something big. There is no reason why the ‘Fastest Flier in all of Equestria’ would ground herself in her home for a full month. It’s not like her,” Twilight said. She brought up a great point. A Pegasus that loved flying wouldn’t just suddenly stop.
“Ah jus’ hope we can help her before she completely breaks down. Sweet Apple Acres won’t be able to survive another snow storm.”
----+----
Fluttershy lay on her couch, thinking about what Rainbow Dash had told her a few days ago. She just couldn’t believe they were dead. Dash’s parents, Ultraviolet and Infrared, were the type of parents who loved their daughter’s friends as much as Dash herself. Fluttershy was Dash’s only friend and the same could be said for Fluttershy. They were inseparable. Nothing could break them apart.
Fluttershy could remember the time that they all went to a Wonderbolts’ show to watch current Wonderbolts’ leader Spitfire’s father, Slipstream, perform his last show before stepping down from his position as leader. Fluttershy wasn’t really into the high-speed action but she loved seeing Dash happy. The way she marveled at the idea of becoming a part of the team. Fluttershy could only giggle at her friend and feel admiration for Dash’s unlimited supply of confidence. It was the one thing that set Dash apart from any other pony. The fact that Fluttershy and Dash’s parents were the only source of encouragement baffled many others as to why she had more confidence than a pony who just won the lottery. “She is great all right.”
Fluttershy couldn’t help but blush. She had a secret crush on Rainbow Dash but wasn’t strong enough to tell anypony. Anypony except Ultraviolet and Infrared. They were the only source of parenting she had. She was an orphan and had only met Dash through flight school. If there were anypony that could comfort Fluttershy, it would probably be those two ponies.
They always encouraged her to try and tell Dash how she felt but she would either mumble incoherently and Dash would laugh it off, or she would put it off for another day and cry in her room when she returned to the orphanage. She felt as though her life was incomplete without Dash but she could never muster enough strength to even touch the subject.
Rainbow never hid the fact that she was a fillyfooler. Everyone knew but only Fluttershy, Ultraviolet and Infrared fully accepted this fact. It was also clear the Dash’s parents caught on to Fluttershy trying to take advantage of the situation but always coming up short. They encouraged the relationship between the two but it seemed unfair to tell Dash before Fluttershy had the liberty to do so first. Now the situation seemed reversed.
Fluttershy was aware of the bold efforts given by Dash’s parents and it seemed unfair that their efforts went to waste. That is when she decided for herself that it was an opportune time to tell Dash her feelings. She wasn’t just doing this for Ultraviolet and Infrared; she was doing it for herself. She then stood up with a confident aura around her and proceeded to fly straight for Dash’s cloud home.