Fluttershy
Chapter 5
Dreams were always an odd thing for Fluttershy. Usually her memory was quite decent, but she could never recollect her dreams. Distant voices, blurred colours were all that came to her when she tried. But she always remembered how they made her feel, happy, sad, frightened, the emotional repercussions of her night visions always followed her back to the real world.
This dream was almost like the others, but not quite. The colours weren’t distant or dull. Bright and vibrant, every colour in the spectrum surrounded her, flew around her, and carried her. Visual beauty became tangible, she felt it as it held her, cradled her, she felt warm and safe. There was nothing in the world except the light spectrum. But suddenly sound reached her ears, loud and clear. A voice, snickering. The colours broke and shattered around her as she realised it was only a dream. Darkness enveloped her, her vision now limited to the back of her eyelids. Yet the feeling of comfort never left her.
The laughter that had pulled her away was undoubtedly Rainbow’s.
Warm colours.
“Rainbow,” she whined sleepily, keeping her eyes closed.
“You woke me up.”
Her friend just laughed harder upon realising she didn’t have to try to be quiet anymore.
“Sorry,” she said gasping for breath. “I didn’t mean to.”
Fluttershy didn’t need to open her eye’s to know where she was. The memories of yesterday were still very fresh in her mind, and not even in her fillyhood were her dreams so vivid as the events of the day before. The dull throbbing pain at the base of her wing just confirmed to her that she and Rainbow were still stranded. And that they kissed.
“I was dreaming.”
“Oh yeah? What was it about.”
Fluttershy thought, for a moment.
“I’m not sure. It made me feel comfortable.”
Rainbow Dash burst into hysterics.
“What?” Fluttershy demanded, eye’s still shut tight to the bright light of the sun.
“Are you comfortable now?”
Actually she was, quite comfortable. Her body was resting on something rather hard, but her head was supported nicely by a soft warm pillow. She pressed her head into it further, and Rainbow laughed even harder. Pillow?
She opened her eyes slowly; the sun was shining brightly through a canopy of sharp green leaves. She had to squint to let her eyes adjust. The first thing to truly greet her sight was the laughing face of the pony she loved. They were lying close together. Really close together. Oh no, the pillow.
Fluttershy put her hooves under her, and lifted her head up to stare down at her “pillow.”
The many bright colours of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark stared back at Fluttershy, surrounded by her cyan blue coat. She’d spent the entire night resting her head on Dash’s flank. She looked up in shock, her face hot with embarrassment.
“Rainbow.” She said accusingly.
“What?” Rainbow Dash said still laughing.
“I didn’t put you there, you moved all by yourself. When I set you down I was just laying beside you.”
Fluttershy felt herself blush even more, and she turned away to hide her shame.
Seeing her friend’s distress, Rainbow finally cut back on the laughter.
“Hey come on, it was cute, and a really funny way to wake up in the morning.”
Fluttershy was grateful her friend wasn’t taking it too seriously; she didn’t want to give Rainbow the wrong impression. When she turned to face her, Rainbow was still laying down on the grass. She didn’t recognise the area.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, I just started walking towards town and I found this clearing. You were getting pretty heavy and I figured it would be a good place to settle down for the night.” Rainbow explained, digging a little circle on the ground with her hoof. Fluttershy looked around. Considering the forest, the spot Rainbow chose to settle down was very nice. The trees and brush were packed tightly all around offering decent protection. The ground was grassy and relatively soft all around for about ten feet before hitting the tree line.
“You carried me all the way here?”
“About five miles yeah.” She said with nonchalance.
“You were smiling in your sleep, so I didn’t want to wake you.”
Fluttershy was touched by her care; it was a side of Rainbow that she didn’t often see. She started feeling it again. That feeling she only got around Rainbow Dash. The feeling she learned yesterday was love. She lay back down next to Rainbow. Fluttershy had no idea how good having a special somepony felt. Just being close to Rainbow felt so natural, like she finally found where she was supposed to be. And the way she looked at her. Every time she met her eyes, she could see that she loved her. It made her feel so important, so happy.
Her eye suddenly drifted to Rainbow’s bloody wing.
How are you feeling?” Fluttershy asked
“Comfortable.” She replied with a cheeky grin.
Fluttershy felt herself go red again, but this time she laughed with Rainbow.
“I meant how is your cut feeling.”
“Oh, about the same as yesterday.” She said looking at the ground.
“Do you mind if I take another look?”
“Um, sure.”
Rainbow Dash was already lying on her side with her uninjured side to the ground. At least she knew enough not to sleep on it. This time Fluttershy lifted Dash’s wing for her, so she wouldn’t put as much strain on the muscle in the area.
“What about you? How is your wing?” Rainbow asked wincing.
“It still hurts a bit, but I’ll be fine. You patched me up good.” She said with a smile, which Rainbow graciously returned.
From the angle of where she was laying, Dash couldn’t see the cut, which Fluttershy figured was probably for the best anyway. She braced herself for what she might see, thought about the possibilities and prepared for the worst. As she looked over the wound for a second time it didn’t take too much time to see that her fears had already come true. The skin all around the cut was red and swollen. Fluttershy gingerly pushed aside some of her fur with her hoof. Small red lines were spreading out around thesplit skin. It had gotten infected.
“Well?” Rainbow asked, acting like she wasn’t worried.
“You were right,” Fluttershy lied. “Looks the same as yesterday.”
The blue Pegasus didn’t even try to hide the relief in her face, and Fluttershy knew she bought the lie. Rainbow needed a hospital, badly. She had never seen a cut get that bad in the span of a day, but she had also never seen a cut that deep. There were plants that could slow infection, but even if she could find them in such a sprawling forest, this type of injury was just too severe. If Rainbow didn’t get to a hospital, she was going to die.
The thought hit Fluttershy like a train. Life without Rainbow Dash. Losing love only days after discovering it. She felt dizzy, she felt sick. Her pessimism began to shine through. What if she dies? What if they can’t help her?
What if I can’t help her?
“Hey Fluttershy?”
“Yeah?” her voice cracked slightly. She turned to see Rainbow up on her hooves and stretching her legs.
“Can we go find some grub? I’m starving and I have no idea what’s even edible in this place.”
“Oh, uh... yeah.” Fluttershy said eager for an excuse to get moving.
“I saw a bush with some berries growing from it, just over there.” The colourful mare pointed to the edge of the clearing. Even from where she was standing she could see the blue hue of the berries. She walked over to get a closer look and Rainbow followed after her. It was odd to be leading Rainbow around. She didn’t know anything about this place. She had to rely on Fluttershy. It was a strange way to see her usually headstrong friend. And while she didn’t mind the more complacent attitude, Fluttershy loathed leading others, it was uncomfortable.
The shy mare didn’t need to look long to identify the berries.
“Oh no, we can’t eat these.”
“Aw why not?” Rainbow whined.
“These are nightshade berries. Very toxic, just two berries could be lethal.”
“Oops.” Rainbow’s voice rang behind her
Fluttershy whirled around in shock.
“Rainbow you didn’t-“
“Whoa hey relax,” she said with a smile. “You should lighten up a bit.” She kissed her on the nose.
“I never touched the berries, I’m not that careless.” She still seemed disappointed that she couldn’t eat though, and the yellow Pegasus felt her own stomach begin to grumble.
“Come on,” she said, beckoning Fluttershy with her hoof. “We’re bound to find something to eat along the way.” Fluttershy hadn’t seen Rainbow this happy in a long time, and even when she was, she was always flying. Taking to the air was what made her happy. Up among the clouds, Rainbow felt at home. And now she was grounded, her escape stripped from her, and even in quite a bit of danger.
Yet there she was, smiling, joking and genuinely happy. Fluttershy knew that she was the cause, but why? Could it be that even when she wasn’t airborne, she had found another home in Fluttershy?
She watched the blue mare turn and start walking, yet she couldn’t bring her hooves to carry her. Was it possible, to be that important to somepony? Especially to Rainbow Dash, so popular, so talented, so beautiful. She could have almost anypony she wanted... yet she chose her.
She felt so confused; all the new emotions were wreaking havoc on her mind. Not to mention that cut...
“Hey come on slow poke!” Rainbow called teasingly. She was about to cross over the tree line and Fluttershy was still standing dumbfounded beside the poison berry bush. She finally got her legs working again and made her way to the pony most special to her. The pony that could quite possibly die in just a few days.
The two crossed over into the forest, and immediately Fluttershy began to feel constricted. The trees rose up like towers, most of them much taller than the buildings in Ponyville. The sunlight came down, filtered through the leaves, casting eerie shadows upon the ground. At least when the ground was visible; most of it was covered by brush and foliage as far as the eye could see.
And yet despite being very uncomfortable, Fluttershy really couldn’t say that she was miserable. She didn’t feel worried or afraid, at least for her own well-being. Rainbow was beside her and for the moment she was fine. A bird sang high above them in the trees, and far away a branch cracked.
“Hey Rainbow.” Fluttershy whispered, wanting to talk, hoping to clear her head a bit.
“What?” she replied gently.
“What are we?” as soon as the question left her mouth she regretted not wording it better, and Rainbow pounced on it instantly.
“Well you see, we are ponies, specifically pegasi, you can tell because we have wings and-”
“No I mean me and you. Like I guess we aren’t friends anymore. So what does that make us?”
Rainbow seemed surprised by the question, but she replied pretty quickly. Maybe she was wondering the same thing.
“I don’t know,” She started. “I guess it’s up to you. We go back to town stop kissing and forget everything.”
“No!” Fluttershy blurted out
Rainbow smiled.
“Good ‘cause I never would’ve let that happen. Well, we could be marefriends, I never liked that term much. We could be friends with benefits,” she gave Fluttershy a playful wink, then stopped walking and looked straight at her with a little smile. Taking her yellow hoof in hers she said softly,
“Or we could say that I love you, and you love me, that I’m your filly forever, and you’re mine.”
Fluttershy couldn’t even respond, she was so swept up. Her mouth hung open, giving her a dumfounded look, which was honestly how the mare was feeling. Rainbow gazed at her patiently and the timid little mare was finally able to force a voice out.
“I think I like that last one.” She squeaked.
Both of them leaned into the kiss this time, taking in each other’s passion. It was the first time Fluttershy had kissed with an open mouth. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it. No that was a lie, she knew exactly how she felt, she just didn’t want to admit it. She felt her heart race faster, and all the worries that had weighed on her so heavily just seemed to fall away, like a crumbling wall. She could feel Dash breathing into her, and more than ever she loathed the moment when they had to separate. But the moment passed fast, for after they separated, and her eyes opened, she could see those two magenta wonders staring back at her.
“I think I like that one too.” Her friend whispered. No, her filly now.
Rainbow’s experience in the field of romance was very relieving for Fluttershy. She never had to wonder if she was doing something wrong, never had to question how that beautiful blue mare felt about her. She had never felt this way in her life, and didn’t want it to go away. But suddenly, a high pitched noise resounded from afar, cutting through both the dense forest and Fluttershy’s self generated dreamscape alike. The two mares spun in the direction of the noise.
“No.” Was all the yellow mare could think of.
No, no, no.
The sound continued for a time then stopped.
Rainbow’s cool and easy attitude disappeared.
“That wasn’t...”
Another howl reached their ears.
Fluttershy swallowed deeply.
“Timberwolves.”