Fluttershy’s cottage hung like a gorgeous painting in the afternoon sun, vibrant with swirling hues of green vegetation and rosy petals, all plastered against gray stone and brown earth. Within a short halo of space surrounding the abode, all walks of life flourished, from foraging ferrets to scurrying squirrels to bellicose bullfrogs and other forms of animalistic alliteration.
This was the one place where Rainbow Dash did not fly swiftly. The pegasus politely lowered her airspeed and coasted down in a gentle spiral. Her heart was still racing from the accelerated burst she had performed along the cloudtops surrounding Sweet Apple Acres, but as soon as she touched down on the fringes of her friend’s lawn, she instantly calmed down. There was a gentle hush to the air, as if the wind blowing against the individual blades of grass resonated with Fluttershy’s melodic voice.
Rainbow inhaled, inhaled, inhaled… and vacated her lungs with an exhausted expression. Her wings drooped as her legs buckled beneath her, but she caught her balance at the last second. Her heart had returned to a normal rate, and she shuffled forward with serenity and laziness.
“That was close… too close…” She gulped dryly. “That was closer than a hair’s breadth. Like friggin’... I dunno… uber hair’s?”
Birds chirped overhead and a squirrel or two paused to blink at the pegasus on her way to the front door.
“Hey ya, little guys.” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Fluttershy treating you well? Pffft…” She rolled her eyes. “Of course she’s treating you well.” A carrot flew in out of nowhere and violently ricocheted off Rainbow’s forehead. Smirking, she didn’t flinch one inch. “Nice to see you too, Angel.”
Humming to herself, Rainbow Dash reached the door and knocked on it.
A few seconds later, a voice meekly sing-songed from within: ”You may come in!
With a calm smile, Rainbow Dash opened the door…
A swath of light shone on Fluttershy’s tiny figure as she cowered in the middle of the school supply room. Sniffling, the filly looked up from her overhanging lock of pink hair. Teary aquamarine eyes reflected a petite pegasus in the doorframe.
“Jeez, will ya look at yourself?” Rainbow Dash frowned. The rushing air of young fliers zipped by right outside the cloudstone structure. “You look like a deflated yellow balloon! I’m surprised you’re not afraid of your own shadow!”
“Eeep!” Fluttershy gasped. Her shaking head littered fresh tears onto the floor as she regarded each dark shape with renewed fright.
“Whoah whoah whoah! Take it easy!” Rainbow waved her tiny hooves. Kicking the door shut behind her, she trotted softly towards the dainty filly’s side. “It was just a joke! You’re not scared of jokes too, huh?”
Fluttershy merely bit her lip and hid behind the length of her silken mane.
“Quiet pony, huh?” Rainbow Dash smirked. “I could never be that silent all of the time.” She tilted her chin up and boasted towards the ceiling of the small room. “Because I was born to thrill and kill! And until the second one becomes legal, I’m stuck with doing everything else at maximum volume! Heh heh heh!” She leaned over and nudged Fluttershy’s shoulder. “But you’re okay. Just for you, I’ll be awesome at a few lower decibels, okay?”
No response.
“Don’t wanna chat?” Rainbow Dash shrugged her petite wings. “Pfffft. Fine. But could you at least answer me one question?” With a scrunched up face, she sat down by the pegasus’ side. “Why’d you let those stupid colts wipe the floor with you? You could have stood up for yourself, y’know!”
Fluttershy’s eyes clenched shut as she curled into a little yellow ball.
“They can’t see your face half of the time because of your mane!” Rainbow Dash smirked as she leaned down to speak directly into the foal’s ear. “That’s totally your chance to surprise them with a headbutt! Like this!” She grinded her hooves.
“Mmmmm!” Fluttershy inched away from her.
“What?! I wasn’t gonna hit you!” Rainbow Dash’s brow furrowed. “Besides, if I did, something tells me you’d snap like a twig.”
Fluttershy let loose a shuddering breath. Her eyelids squeezed a new tear or two out.
“Hey… hey hey, look at me…” Rainbow Dash squatted down beside her. “My name is Rainbow Dash. What’s yours, girl?”
Fluttershy sniffled. She braved a glance up… then a second. “Mmm… Fl-Fluttershy…”
“Fluttershy, huh?” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
Fluttershy’s cheeks blushed red.
Rainbow Dash saw it. She merely blew her bangs out from over her blue brow and uttered, “Well, Fluttershy, my name is Rainbow Dash. Middle name ‘Danger,’ though sometimes just ‘Awesome’ will do. And someday, I’m gonna be the greatest, fastest flier in all of Cloudsdale!” She leaned forward. “You know what that means?”
Sniffling, Fluttershy glanced at her, slowly shaking her head and muzzle.
Rainbow smirked. “It means…” She stretched a wing out and pulled Fluttershy closer. “...if you stick with me, you’re gonna go places. Wickedly cool places.” She winked. “And don’t you worry about those nasty bullies. I’m gonna whip their butts this afternoon for you.” She tilted her head up again. “Nope. You don’t have to thank me.”
Fluttershy merely blinked at her. She felt the pony’s wing around her side, but she said and did nothing.
“Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I flew ten laps around Ghastly Gorge in a single day?” Rainbow Dash beamed. “Better hold onto your bridle, girl! Cuz it’s a whopper of an awesome tale!”
“And just like that--kapow!” Rainbow Dash spun her tiny body in the air. The sun’s rays glistened off her cutie mark as she hovered around Fluttershy atop the cloud. “I hit a pocket of air and blew back the falcons that were trying to eat me for lunch! Hah!” She touched down on the edge of the mists and stretched her wings out like the metal foils of a statue. “They’ll think twice before trying to rake their talons across pony flesh again! I bet half of Cloudsdale owes me their future lives cuz of that one!”
Fluttershy merely blinked at her. Her tail flicked as she listened to Rainbow Dash’s account.
“But I wasn’t done! I wanted to rub it in their faces--er… beaks!” Rainbow Dash smirked devilishly. “So I flew back to their nests and buzzed it no less than three times! Heheheh--Stupid buzzards couldn’t catch me! I nearly knocked their eggs out of the twigs on the last turn! Heheheh… Vrmmm-mmmm!”
“You… y-you didn’t hurt the hatchlings, did you?”
Rainbow Dash froze in place, blinking wide. She pivoted and stared down at the pony.
Fluttershy saw the gaze and looked away, blushing beet-red.
Rainbow Dash smirked. “Oh… so she can speak now, huh?”
Fluttershy bit her lip.
“How long have I been hanging out up here on this cloud with you?” Rainbow Dash hovered with her hooves on her hips. “Looking after you? Beating up those morons who call you names?”
Silence.
“Pffft. You really do have the weirdest timing, girl.”
“I… uhm…”
Rainbow Dash leaned forward. “Hmmm? What is it?”
“I would… l-like to hear more about your adventures in Ghastly Gorge.” Fluttershy smiled demurely. “If that’s alright with you.”
“Hah! Alright!” Rainbow Dash flew down and squatted right beside the filly. “I’m glad you asked! Cuz I forgot to talk about this totally awesome run-in I had with a pack of Timberwolves who were all hanging out at the bottom of the ravine!”
“T-T-Timberwolves?” Fluttershy trembled. “Really?”
“Relax, girl!” Rainbow Dash rested her wing on her and winked. “Nothing I couldn’t handle! Besides, I kicked enough of them so hard in the wooden snout that they’ll not ever bother ponies ever again! Yup! Every nasty creature from here to Blue Valley knows all about Rainbow Danger Dash!”
As Rainbow Dash began her invigorating tale, Fluttershy smiled with warm contentment. When Rainbow Dash wasn’t looking, she leaned over and nuzzled her head into the crook of Rainbow’s neck.
“I don’t like it,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, her forelimbs folded as the two sat on a hill beneath Cloudsdale. “I don’t like it one bit.”
“I… I-I don’t see what the problem is,” Fluttershy remarked while tending to a basket of mewling kittens.
“Just look!” Rainbow Dash’s voice cracked as she gestured towards Fluttershy’s flank. “Just look at how big you’ve gotten!”
“B-big?” Fluttershy’s eyes twitched. She glanced at herself and stammered, “But I’ve been keeping a steady diet and--”
“I mean compared to me!” Rainbow moaned, her face long. “Check it!” She squatted beside Fluttershy as if preparing for a long distance race. “Stretch your head and tail out!”
“Rainbow, I don’t see what’s so--”
“Just do it!”
Wincing, Fluttershy obediently stretched her spine out. “Like th-this?”
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhh…” Rainbow whined. “You’re at least a good two inches longer!”
“Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy smiled sweetly. “It’s not necessary for you to be the same size as me--”
“Like hay it is!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, breathless. “How the heck am I to protect you when I’m like a friggin’ pipsqueak in comparison?”
Fluttershy shrugged and leaned over to nuzzle a kitten or two, ushering them back into the basket. “Your body just decided to grow a little slower than mine. It’s okay at our age. At least that’s what the teachers are saying--”
“Well, the teachers are wrong!” Rainbow Dash pouted, folding her forelimbs in a slump. “They’re all together in their stupidness anyways! You see the way they frown and snap at me!”
Fluttershy fidgeted. “Well, perhaps if you didn’t break the rules so much and skip so many classes--”
“Pfft! And what? Be bound by their rules?” Rainbow Dash smirked evilly. “I’m a rebel, girl! You know that.”
“Oh. Yes. I suppose I do--”
“And I can’t get an edge in with my muscle, then I might as well with mind games!” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. “Grrrrrr--Make ponies afraid of me, y’know?”
“I… don’t think I would enjoy ponies being angry at you.”
“Why not? You think any of them mean anything?”
“Well… uh…”
“Who’s your loyal wingpony, huh?” Rainbow Dash leaned in, smirking as she held a wing over Fluttershy’s side. “Who sticks by your side no matter what?”
Fluttershy giggled inwardly, her cheeks rosy. “You do, of course.”
“And do you really want me losing my edge? Huh?” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Somepony’s gotta be able to catch you when you fall!”
“I have no doubt that you can and will do that, Rainbow.” Fluttershy bit her lip. “Although, you may wanna ease up a little…”
“Huh? Ease up?!”
“You’re such a go-getter, Rainbow Dash. I just don’t want you overexerting yourself--”
“Hah!” Rainbow Dash jerked away from her with an incredulous smirk. “Like what? What of your kittens?”
“Well… in a way.” Fluttershy petted one or two of them as she gazed at the pegasus. “You know I care for you more than all of my special critters combined--”
“But I’m not weak like any of them! You know that?”
“Oh Rainbow, I never said you were.”
“Darn straight! You know why? Cuz no kitten or bunny rabbit could kick some nasty flank for you!” Rainbow Dash scooted back over and nudged the filly’s shoulder. “Just you wait and see, Fluttershy. Someday, we’re gonna bust down the doors of Cloudsdale and really get some good air! There’s a whole crazy world of awesomeness just waiting for us, and together we’re gonna witness it with our own eyes! I don’t care how many jerks stand in our way! I’ll give them the boot; you’ll give them the stare. Nopony will ever think of dragging us down!”
“Heeheehee… you almost sound like you wanna conquer the world, Rainbow.”
“Why not?” Rainbow smirked. “It’s ours, isn’t it?” Rainbow leaned into Fluttershy’s weight with a relaxed sigh. “It’s like what I keep telling you, Fluttershy. Everything makes sense so long as you know how to fight for what’s right.”
“Yes. You do… erm… say that a lot…”
Rainbow Dash’s face leaned back, her eyes round and wounded upon seeing her friend jerk away. “But… but…” Her voice dwindled into a faint squeak. Gulping, she murmured into the gray air of the cold wintry afternoon. “Fluttershy, I don’t understand. I… you…” Her lips quivered. “Don’t… don’t you like me?”
“Rainbow Dash, of course I like you,” Fluttershy said, holding the pegasus’ shoulders at forelimb’s distance. She gazed softly into the pegasus’ confused face. “In fact, I love you.”
“Then… then I don’t get it…” Rainbow Dash began to shiver. “What’s wrong? Did… did I do something to frighten you?”
‘“Frighten’ isn’t the word for it,” Fluttershy said, glancing nervously at the snowy ground beneath them. “I care for you deeply, Rainbow Dash. You mean more to me than any other pony I know. You’re like a sister to me. A sister who actually cares about me and is willing to give me all the time of the day…”
“Just… a sister…?”
“Oh Rainbow…” Fluttershy hung her head with a sad breath. “I was worried this would happen.”
“Huh? How?” Rainbow frowned. “Fluttershy, are you playing some kind of stupid game with me?”
“No, Rainbow. No game.” Fluttershy looked up with glossy eyes. Her smile was a fragile thing. “I would never play a game like that with you. I care for you too much.”
“Then… then I don’t get it…”
“You’ve been my best friend for as long as I remember.” Fluttershy sniffled and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “And I shall always care for you as a friend. But… but I think we both know that that this… this is all it will ever be. Friendship.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. Her eyes began to water. “Only… fr-friends?”
“The best of friends, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy softly said, sniffling. “I can’t imagine myself living without your sincerity, your loyalty, your sweetness, but… but I’m afraid I can’t--”
“Nnngh!” Rainbow Dash suddenly batted her hoof off her shoulder with a seething expression. “You’d love living with my ‘stupidity’ is what you mean!”
“What?” Fluttershy gasped, eyes wide and tearful. “Rainbow, n-no!”
“Because that’s what I am, isn’t it?!” Rainbow Dash’s wings stretched out as her body began heaving. “All th-this time…” She gritted her teeth and grumbled. “Stupid! So… fr-friggin’ stupid!” She reached forward and slammed her skull repeatedly with two angry hooves. “Stupid stupid stupid--!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy gasped and rushed forward. “Don’t hurt yourself! I hate it when you do that--”
“And yet you still let me get hurt! Didja?!” Rainbow shoved her back and began flapping her wings. “Didn’t st-stop you from g-getting all those hugs in, you… you… wuss!” With a squealing sound, Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes tightly shut and zipped away.
“Rainbow Dash! Don’t fly away!” Fluttershy stammered, stifling a sob. “You know I can’t catch up with you! Please! Come back!” She clasped a pair of hooves over her grimacing muzzle. “Mmmm--Rainbow! Come back, please! I don’t want you to go! I don’t want…” She shuddered and collapsed across the snow, burying her crying face into her forelimbs.
In a panicked glide, Fluttershy drifted and drifted through the fog until she approached the edge of Ghastly Gorge. There, she spotted a lone figure perched on the edge of the ravine. Several open containers lingered by the equine’s side.
With a sharp gasp, Fluttershy instantly descended. She landed clumsily on scraping hooves, scattering pebbles to the cliff face and parting the mists by a tear. Gulping, she trotted forward towards the seated pony’s flank.
“Rainbow, I’ve been looking all over for you! Is it true? Did… did you drop out of flight school?”
“Mmmmff… flight school?” Rainbow Dash’s body jerked with a spastic hiccup. “Who cares for that stupid mess.” She teetered back and forth where she sat. “Always kept me bogged down…”
“Bogged down?!” Fluttershy’s eyes blinked widely. “Rainbow Dash, how long have you been wanting to join the Wonderbolts?! And without a diploma in Basic Flight Training, you know better than anypony that they wouldn’t accept--” She froze in mid-speech, her aquamarine eyes reflecting the image of several empty bottles. She bit her lip until her muzzle flushed red. “Oh dear. Rainbow, have… h-have you been drinking cider again?”
“Mmmmf--So what if I have?” Rainbow’s head twitched and leaned to the side. “Only thing that goes straight through me besides r-rotten luck.”
“I… I don’t understand, Rainbow Dash. What’s happened?” Silence. With an anxious breath, Fluttershy trotted closer, sitting directly behind the pegasus. “Rainbow Dash, I’m your friend! Speak to me! Pl-please! What brought all of this on?”
“That’s what I k-keep asking myself, y’know,” the mare grumbled. “Ever since I was born. What brought all the rotten luck on? First, it took my Mom. Then it took my Dad’s legs. Then, it took him. And now? Heh…” She lifted a bottle up to her lips, only for it to rattle empty. She gave it a good shake regardless, groaned, then tossed the thing into the dark ravine before her. “Now it’s come to finish what’s left.” Her cold tone was punctuated by the distant echo of a smashing bottle.
“Finish what’s… left?” Fluttershy’s face scrunched up in thought. Finally, she gasped in realization. “Rainbow! You… you mean…?”
At last, the pegasus stared over her shoulder. A glazed expression cast a gray sheen across her frowning muzzle. “I went to my appointment at Cloudsdale Central last week.” She shuddered briefly. “I really, really doubt the Wonderbolts are gonna want to induct a noodle onto their team.”
Fluttershy’s mouth hung open. Tears rolled down her face. “Oh, Rainbow…”
“Meh.” Rainbow Dash stood up on wobbly legs. “It’s fine.”
Sniffling, Fluttershy trotted forward. “But how could you say that--?”
“Look, I said it’s fine and it’s fine!” Rainbow Dash growled, frowning away from Fluttershy’s hurt expression. “I should just get used to life throwing me curve balls. Wouldn’t be the first time my dreams shattered.”
Fluttershy blinked. With a shuddering breath she managed to squeak, “Please. You’ve been through so much as it is. You mustn’t punish yourself…”
“Oh, I’m not punishing myself,” Rainbow grumbled. “But when I find the thing I will beat to pulp, I’m gonna make sure it gets me a ticket to some place that isn’t lame!” She flapped her wings and tore off for the sky in a haphazard, weaving pattern. “I’m gonna have enough of that is following me around for friggin’ ever, now!”
Slowly, Fluttershy trotted down the hill, carrying a basket of flowers from a frolicking day in the field. She hummed pleasantly to herself, and it was only when she was within twenty feet of her cottage that she came to a stop. Blinking, she gazed in astonishment at the figure that had parked herself along the building’s front stoop.
“Rainbow?” She leaned forward, one pensive hoof held high. “Rainbow Dash…?”
The pegasus said nothing.
Slowly, cautiously, Fluttershy placed the basket down and trotted forward. She squatted down beside the mare and gazed at her face.
“I… I haven’t seen you in ages! Are you okay? What have you been up to?”
Rainbow was shaking ever so slightly. She slowly lifted her muzzle. Her eyes were dull, like worn ruby pebbles. “Listing Breeze and I broke up…”
Fluttershy merely stared at her. At last, her breath funneled through. “Listing… I… I didn’t know the two of you were that close.”
“Didn’t you, though?”
Fluttershy bit her lip. She slowly shook her head. “I… I’ve barely seen you these past few months. It’s like you had moved to another continent and--”
“She said that I needed to grow a spine.” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. “Does she even know who she’s talking to? I’m the toughest pony Equestria has ever seen!” She shuddered briefly. “Just because I don’t want to make a complete dirty freak of myself doesn’t mean… d-doesn’t mean that I’m not…” She hissed through a squeaking voice. “... n-not like that. I am, though. I am st-strong…” She ran a hoof over her face, shuddering.
Fluttershy instantly cooed, “Oh Rainbow Dash. She’s a terrible, cruel, mean pony! I don’t care what good things Listing Breeze has done. Anypony who breaks your heart deserves to be--” She stopped in mid-sentence, suddenly grimacing.
Rainbow Dash didn’t even have to look at her. “You n-never did, Fluttershy,” the pegasus squeaked. “Don’t ever think like th-that. You were the one who m-made it…” Rainbow Dash hiccuped as moisture slid down her squirming hooves. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy,” she murmured into her forelimbs. “I’m sorry for ever hating you.”
“Rainbow…” Fluttershy smiled warmly as she scooped the mare into a soft hug. “You never hated me. All you ever said and did, you did with love. The most sincere love I’ve ever witnessed.” She sniffled as she nuzzled the mare. “Such a sweet, loyal pony. With such a kind and tender heart…”
“You t-tell anypony…” Rainbow Dash hissed as she surrendered to Fluttershy’s embrace, hiding her leaking face in the mare’s chest. “So br-breathe one word of it and I’ll… I’ll clobber… clobber…” She whimpered. “Not you. But I’ll fl-fly away! I’ll fly away so far that you and everypony else will n-never find me! I swear!”
“Shhhhh…” Fluttershy gently rocked her. “No you won’t, Rainbow.” She smiled as she nuzzled her harder. “You will do no such thing.”
“I’m just so sick of it, Fluttershy…” Rainbow Dash murmured between indecipherable sobs. “I’m so sick of tired and aiming and missing. Each. Friggin’. Time…”
“One day, you will hit dead center, Rainbow,” Fluttershy whispered. “And that pony will hold you. She will hold you forever and never let you go…”
Rainbow Dash said nothing; she simply quivered in Fluttershy’s forelimbs, her tears searching where her words could no longer reach.
“It went as well as could be expected,” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered in the corner of Fluttershy’s front living room. She pretended to examine a bird cage, playfully knocking the empty thing with a limp forelimb. She paused and flexed the leg at the joint, wincing slightly. “Nnnngh… though it was a tad bit awkward.”
“Oh?” Fluttershy looked up from a kettle of soup she was stirring for the animals by the fireplace. “When was the last time Gilda and you saw each other? Flight School?”
“Junior Speedsters Flight Camp.”
“I was close, though.”
“Hmmm… Sure you were.” Rainbow Dash smirked as she hovered lazily across the room. “Anyways, we hung out after dinner, talked about flight moves, the latest Wonderbolt--Soarin’.”
“Oh, I hear he’s such a nice pony.”
“Everyone’s a ‘nice pony’ to you, Fluttershy.”
She shrugged with a gentle smirk. “I try to be positive.”
“But… it got kind of weird when we parted ways to say goodnight.”
“Uh oh…” Fluttershy winced slightly. “Do I want to hear this part?”
“Fluttershyyyyyyy…” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Stop fearing the worst! It’s not like everypony I date is gonna end up like Listing Breeze!”
“Still, I get nervous, is all,” Fluttershy said as she continued stirring. A beat. “So… uhm… the awkward part?”
“Heheh… well, it’s hard to explain…” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “I never… uh… m-made out with someone with a beak before.”
Fluttershy nearly dropped the ladle into the broth. “Oh. Dear. That must… uh… that must be very strange.”
“It kind of was. And it was kind of ticklish in a way.” Rainbow Dash then waggled her eyebrows. “Especially when I made Gilda growl like a panther.”
“Oh!” Fluttershy flinched, her wings arched out. “Alright, Rainbow! Enough! Let us speak about something else, if th-that’s alright with you!”
“Heh heh heh…”
“Honestly! I’m trying to feed my little friends here.”
“Come onnnn.” Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop giggling. “You love it, girl!”
“Rainbow Dash? I…” Fluttershy hung her head in a jittery fashion as the two trotted across the star-swept center of Ponyville. “I don’t know about this…”
“Come on! It’s one of Pinkie Pie’s surprise parties!” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered just a few inches above the ground. “And besides!” She winked with a pleasant smile. “It’s not like she’s throwing it for you!”
“Yes, but they still tend to startle me.” Fluttershy gulped. “Especially with h-how loud they tend to get…”
“Look, you really need to get out some more! It’ll be healthy for you to meet a creature that doesn’t have to shriek like a banshee to let you know they want feeding time!” Rainbow Dash flew ahead and opened the door to the library treehouse where a hushed group of ponies were already huddling in the dark. “Besides, you’re gonna wanna meet this pony! She’s a total laugh! Plus, she’s from Canterlot! Maybe she can talk to you about the critters they keep in that Royal Garden you’re always rambling about!”
“Royal… Garden…?”
“‘Twilight Sparkle,’” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. “With a name like that, you can bet she’s as pampered as they get!”
“I… I dunno…” Fluttershy rubbed one forelimb with another and stared off towards the hazy night sky. “I’m usually not out this late. Besides, Angel may be missing me by now and--”
“Fluttershy. Let’s be real here.” Rainbow Dash touched down--teetered on wobbly legs--but caught her bearings in time to stare Fluttershy in the face. “You need to make good friends. You can’t just depend on me forever.”
“But… but you’re the loyalest of ponies and--”
“No matter how awesome I am, you have to fight for your place in this world yourself.” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t tell you this if I didn’t want to protect you.” Her lips curved again. “And you know… that I’ve always only wanted to protect you.”
Fluttershy bit her lip.
“It’s healthy, Fluttershy. Shoot, it’s done wonders for me.” She winked. “Besides, I’m willing to bet that you’ll be making somepony’s day. Because I know for a fact that…” Her voice wavered slightly. “...th-there’s no better friend that a pony can have than you.”
Fluttershy stared at her. Gradually, she formed a sweet smile and flapped the very tips of her wings. “Okay. Uhm… if you insist.”
“I do.” Rainbow Dash chuckled as she motioned with her head. “Now move your flank and come on in!” With a swish of her tail, the pegasus walked through the doorway…
...and onto the threshold of Fluttershy’s cottage. “Hey, Flutters! ‘Sup?!”
“Oh, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy smiled from where she sat on a couch, knitting a fresh rabbit-sized sweater. “How nice of you to drop in! Did you get to sleep well after arriving from Canterlot?”
“Hmmm… uhhh…” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head as she stumbled quietly through the room. “I guess you could say that--” One of her legs tripped and she nearly fell on her chest. “Ugh! Darn it!”
“Rainbow Dash. There’s no need when you’re with me,” Fluttershy said with a calm smile.
“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash’s cheeks went slightly rosy. With flapping wings, she easily hovered towards her favorite corner of the room. “I see that you dusted the place.”
“Hmmm? Oh, yeah.” Fluttershy smiled bashfully. “ I guess you could say that Rarity’s touch is rubbing off on me.”
“Yeaugh…” Rainbow made a face as she stared at her reflection in a jar above the fireplace. “This world’s coming to an end. I know it.”
Fluttershy giggled lightly. “What brings you here? I thought you’d be sleeping in.”
“I kind of did that already.” She replied, then glanced curiously over her shoulder. “But what gave you the idea?”
“Well, you got home really late, didn’t you?” Fluttershy asked. “You and Applejack?”
“Errrr…” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeahhhh…”
“You both took the last train home. I figured you had decided to spend more time together.”
“You really think so?”
“Well, don’t you know?”
Rainbow Dash bit her lip.
Fluttershy paused in her knitting. She raised an eyebrow curiously.
“I… I kind of forget, Fluttershy.”
“Forget what?”
“Uhm…” Rainbow winced as she breathed out the side of her gritting teeth. “The wholllle weekenddddd?”
“The whole weeke--?” Fluttershy gasped in mid sentence. “Rainbow Dash! Was it… did you hit the cider again?”
“No! Of course not!” Rainbow waved her forelimbs, then twisted her muzzle. “Well, okay, maybe a little--”
“Rainbow Dash--!”
“But it’s okay!” Rainbow Dash’s voice cracked as hard as her awkward grin. “Applejack was with me!”
“Apple… jack…?”
“I know it sounds strange, and I’m still trying to figure it all out myself, but… it… you see…”
Fluttershy stared silently with a gaping expression, waiting patiently on her lifelong friend.
At last, with a sullen sigh, Rainbow Dash slumped down on the couch besides Fluttershy. More seconds passed. “Okay…” She finally exhaled with a crooked grin. Her cheeks were instantly burning. “Promise to keep a secret?”
“Of course!” Fluttershy blinked.
Rainbow raised a hoof. “Pinkie Pie Swear?”
Fluttershy raised her own and nodded. “Now, tell me what’s on your heart and mind, Rainbow.”
Rainbow stared back at her. She smiled. She blushed. She blushed and she smiled...