I was thinking about you, thinking about me
Scootaloo marched haughtily into the clubhouse and past her two friends, who were now shocked at the way the orange filly looked. The four star helmet that was on the filly’s head was now accented by a flight jacket that was on her body, covered from neck to hem in medals, “Where does she find all of this stuff?” Applebloom asked.
“The flight jacket was a gift from my grandmother,” Scootaloo said, pulling out a pair of sunglasses (from her grandfather) and putting them on, “It’s time to commence operation: Jealous Other Mare Date! For this operation, we’ll need to convince Snowflake to ask Fluttershy out while I go and get Cloudkicker.”
“Wait a minute,” Applebloom argued, raising a hoof in protest, “I thought the plan was to get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash together?”
“It is. But,” Scootaloo said, pulling down a screen with a series of pictures, “in this plan we need to bring in some other players. By having Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash date other ponies, they’ll see how miserable the other is without the other and will go to the other girl, trying to show that the other how much they mean to each other.”
Sweetie Belle then leapt to the podium, “Then while the other dates amicably say their goodbyes, Fluttershy and Rainbow will declare how they will never see another pony for the rest of their lives.”
“Sounds nuts, but this is Sweetie Belle’s plan,” Applebloom sighed, “and it sounds better than mine. Let’s do it!”
“YEAH!” The two other crusaders cheered as they high hoofed one another and quickly ran out of the clubhouse.
________________________________________
Inside Fluttershy’s tree cottage, the butter colored mare was busy tending to a small squirrel, “There you are, Ms. Acorn. Now you be careful and try not over jump anymore trees.” The pegasus gave a soft smile as she watched the little squirrel run off to the window and leap onto the tree branch. Taking a contented breath, Fluttershy began to flitter and fly from the bird house to the little cat bed that laid around her home, giving each animal a proper check up before moving onto another chore. Her afternoon routine was soon interrupted by a knock on the door, “I wonder who that is?” Fluttershy asked herself as she flew to the open and revealed a very large and white pegasus stallion.
“Hello miss Fluttershy,” the overly muscular stallion said, carrying a small bunch of flowers in his right wing.
“Oh, hello Snowflake,” Fluttershy said, slightly intimidated by the large bulky stallion’s size and girth, “W-what brings you here?”
“Hello miss Fluttershy,” the large stallion said, his red-eyes gazing down at a slip of paper on his hoof and reading what it said, “would you do me the honor going with me to the park and having a fun time together?”
Fluttershy, though she was shy and timid, was not exactly what one would called stupid and began to see through the stallion’s fake request, “Are, you asking me out on a date?”
“YEAH!” Snowflake yelled, the force of which sent the yellow pegasus flying back.
“EEEP!” She squeaked as she righted herself up and looked up at the big Pegasus. “I would like that, to take a walk with you.”
“Thank you,” Snowflake said, allowing Fluttershy to walk ahead of him before taking a gulp as he looked at the butterfly cutie mark.
Elsewhere, Sweetie Belle watched from the bushes with a smile, “All right! Phase one complete!”
________________________________________
“All right, squirt, just a little more,” Rainbow Dash said, leading Scootaloo further into her house.
“You sure I’m going to like this surprise?” Scootaloo asked as she followed Rainbow’s commands.
“Kid, you gonna love it!” Rainbow Dash said, leading the small filly to the center of the room, “and now, open them!”
Blinking quickly, the little orange pegasus opened her violet eyes to see before her a shining orange scooter with purple handlebars, “OH my CELESTIA! Dash, you actually got it?”
Dash smile and nodded as she hugged her little sister tightly, “Happy Birthday kid. I noticed that your old one was getting kind of broken and I figured you needed this new one.”
“Oh, thank you so much!” Scootaloo said, the excitement never leaving her voice. Looking around the scooter, she looked at the middle of the bar and read the words on it, “‘Sunny Days’.”
Dash draped a wing over her little sister, wiping a small tear from the filly’s eyes, “ This is just my way of saying, ‘welcome home, best little sister ever.’ And to say, I’m proud of you.”
“You are?” Scootaloo asked.
“Remember a few months ago, when I said that I didn’t care if you flew one day or not? I meant it. Whether or not you become the second best flier in existence or not, it doesn’t matter to me. You will always be the best little sister I’ll ever have and you’ll always do me proud,” Dash then looked back at the name of the scooter and smiled softly. “She’ll always be proud too, kid. No matter where she is.”
Rainbow Dash wiped her brow as she finished cleaning Scootaloo’s scooter, smiling at the memory of the day that she bought it for her, “The kid can already do stuff on this scooter that I couldn’t even dream of doing. If she keeps this up, she’s gonna end up making me and Spitfire look like chumps.” A small chuckle escaped Dash’s lips as she begrudginly admitted this fact to herself. That was when she heard a knock at the door, turning away from the scooter, Dash went over to open the door.
“Hey Dash!” Exclaimed a dark purple pegasus with a white frazzled mane.
“Cloudchaser, how have you been?” Dash asked, smiling at the pegasus, “I haven’t seen you since the academy.”
“Been doing great, just doing some practice runs here and there for when we go back to the academy. I was thinking,” Cloudchaser said, looking down at her foreleg, “maybe you could come with me to help me practice?”
“Sure,” Dash said with a shrug, “Scootaloo is busy with a sleepover at her friend’s house and the others said they were busy with other chores, so I’m free.”
“GREAT! Come with me, I know of this awesome place down by the park,” the purple pegasus said with a smile as she led Dash out of the cloud house.
Down below, Applebloom watched the scene with a pair of binoculars up to her eyes, “Phase 2-done! I hope the other girls finished their parts.”
________________________________________
At the park, just out of sight from any passersby, Scootaloo laid in wait for her four targets and her two friends to arrive.. Looking around, she saw her two friends running towards her, “There you girls are! Did you finish the jobs?” Scootaloo asked as she made room for her friends.
“Yep!” Applebloom nodded, “Cloudchaser should be flying around with Rainbow at any moment.”
“Snowflake and Fluttershy should coming in any minute, too,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.
At that moment, they could hear the soft clopping of hooves on top of grass. Turning their heads around, they saw Snowflake and Fluttershy walking in from a path that was covered in flowers. Overhead, Rainbow Dash and Cloudchaser were flying through a few clouds together, “Great!” Scootaloo said, a smirk on her fact, “Now they’ll see how miserable each other is without the other and will swoop in to admit how much they love each other and how they can’t bear to be with anypony else. This will be so AWESOME!”
Turning their heads back to Snowflake and Fluttershy, they watched with great satisfaction that their plan might come into fruition, “So, your real name is Bulk Biceps?”
“YEAH!” Yelled Bulk, “But, momma always called me her precious Snowflake.”
“Well, that’s nice,” Fluttershy said, sheepishly. Turning her head to look anywhere else, she noticed the flowers on the ground, “Oh, aren't the flowers pretty?”
“YEAH!” Snowflake yelled as he thrusted his hoof into the air, then he pulled away very nervously as he caught sight of the butterflies that adorned the pegasus’s flank.
Fluttershy, a little shaken from the outburst, noticed that Snowflake was shirking back from the sight of Fluttershy’s cutie mark, “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that you’re a little nervous around butterflies,” she said as she covered the sight of the scary bugs with her tail.
“Yeah,” Squeaked Snowflake as he walked side by side Fluttershy.
Scootaloo chuckled, “This is perfect, they are absolutely miserable together. Now to just wait for Rainbow Dash to see how miserable Fluttershy is, just like she is. Ohhh, this plan is perfect!”
“Uhhh, Scoots? Maybe you should hold off on the celebration fer a little bit,” Applebloom said, looking through a pair of binoculars.
“Why?” Scootaloo asked.
“Because they don’t look miserable at all,” Applebloom said, looking up at Rainbow Dash and Cloudchaser, “they look right happy, actually.”
“WHAT?!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she ripped the binoculars out of Applebloom’s hooves. Looking through the binoculars, she watched as Cloudchaser and Rainbow Dash did loops together, laughing all the way, “Nonononononononononononono, this bad! Very BAD! They...they shouldn’t be laughing! What do they think they are doing up there? They’re supposed to be sad and miserable!”
Not noticing the young filly’s screams of failure or complaints of defeat, Rainbow Dash landed on her back onto the cloud with her wings spread, “Wow, Cloudchaser! You have really perfected those moves.”
Cloudchaser landed on her stomach on the cloud, before blushing and running a hoof through her messy mane, “Thanks, though I probably wouldn’t be half as good as I was if you didn’t give me those pointers.”
“What can I say?” Dash said, blowing on her hoof and turning onto her stomach, “My awesomeness tends to rub off on other ponies.” Looking down below at the park, she smiled a little bit when she caught the sight of a little yellow pegasus and a white stallion next to her, “Hey, isn’t that Fluttershy and Snowflake?”
“His name is Bulk Biceps!” Cloudchaser said, before blushing a little.
“Oh, now you’re talking about him on a first name basis,” Dash let out a chuckle as she raised a knowing eyebrow at her, “Does that mean that the little cloud jumper is going to be hearing wedding bells soon?”
Cloudchaser widened her eyes in shock before burying her face into the cloud, “WHAT? NO! He hasn’t even asked me out yet!”
“Then lets go!” Dash said, getting up off the cloud and floating off.
“What?” Cloudchaser asked.
“ Lets get you and him out on a date!” Dash said, taking the purple mare’s hoof.
“I-I can’t, he’s too shy, I-I” Cloudchaser began to stumble through her words.
“Look, I don’t know about you,” Dash said, looking straight into her friend’s eyes, “But I can’t stand it when two ponies Iove each other, are unable to admit it to each other, and take forever to take the plunge. Now, come on!”
Cloudchaser barely had time to let out a yelp as Rainbow grabbed her by the hoof and flew her down towards the ground. Fluttershy perked her ears at the sound of an incoming pony and turned to see Rainbow Dash flying in with Cloudchaser behind her. Fluttershy’s mood quickly brightened as a soft smile came to her face, “Hey, isn’t that Rainbow and Cloudchaser?” Fluttershy asked as she waved hello.
Snowflake looked up and saw the two incoming pegasi and quickly blushed,” Uh, yeah?”
Fluttershy turned and saw Snowflake cheeks turning red, “Oh, I see, do you like Cloudchaser?”
Snowflake gave a quiet nod, followed by a soft, “Yeah.”
“ Do you want to talk to them?” Fluttershy asked.
Softly nodding, the burly pegasus followed the yellow pegasus to where Rainbow Dash and her friend were landing. Little did they know, their conversation was being listened to by three little fillies hidden in a bush, “Wait? What are they doing? What the heck are they doing?” Scootaloo asked as she looked through the binoculars.
Pulling the binoculars away from Scootaloo, Applebloom looked at the four pegasi, “ And now they’re talking to each other and introducing one another.”
“And,” Sweetie Belle piped in, pulling the binoculars away from Applebloom, “I think Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are trying to hook them up.”
“What?” Scootaloo asked, deadpan.
“YEP! There Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy go, leaving Snowflake and Cloudchaser together, alone. Cloudchaser is blushin as she looks at him,” Applebloom said as her binoculars were then taken away by Sweetie Belle.
“Snowflake is looking nervous, blushing too as he is trying to say something,” Sweetie Belle said, looking through the eyeglasses.
“What?” Scootaloo deadpanned again.
“And Cloudchaser looks like she is tryin’ hard to ask him to go with her on a walk,” Sweetie said before her binoculars were swiped by Applebloom.
“And now he’s hoof bumping the air and yelling out, ‘YEAH!’ and is sweeping her off her legs and flying her over the horizon,” Applebloom said.
“WHAT?!” Scootaloo yelled in shock.
“Awww, that is so sweet,” Sweetie Belle said, smiling.
“ARRRG! That wasn’t was what was supposed to happen!” Scootaloo screamed as she thrusted her hooves in the air, “It was Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy that were supposed to get together in the end, not the other way around. They weren’t supposed to hook up the dates they weren’t getting along with, they were supposed to fall in love after they saw they were miserable without each other! How does this happen? Why does this keep happening to me?”
Applebloom sighed and put a hoof onto her friend’s shoulder, patting it consolingly before hugging her, “Come on, Scoots. Let’s head back to my house and continue the sleep over.”
“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile, “And we can also talk more about how to get your cutie marks. I feel kind of bad that I am the only one in the group with one.”
Scootaloo smiled a little, “Yeah, this plan was a bust anyway.”
As they walked away, they did not notice the two pegasi that they wanted to get together still standing on the flowery path, “Finally! I have been trying to tell her that Snow,” Dash said but was interrupted by Fluttershy.
“Bulk Biceps,” Fluttershy said.
“Whatever,” Dash said, shaking her head.” Was head over heels for her and would ask her out in a second. They just need the right push.”
Fluttershy lowered her head to her chest and smiled, “I’m happy for them, really. Besides, the date wasn’t what I had in mind for a first date anyway.”
“Oh, really?” Dash said with a playful smirk. “And just what is your idea of a first date?”
“Well,” Fluttershy said, trying to hide her blush as she hid behind her strawberry mane, “first, I would like my date to bring me a bouquet of violets They’re my favorite.”
In a flash, Dash flew off from her friend and came back with a bouquet of purple flowers, “Like this?”
“Rainbow, what are you-?” Fluttershy asked as she took the bouquet in her forelegs.
“Hey, I figure the night is young, Scootaloo is with her friends, and I figured we got nothing else to do so...Why not? Lets try out your date idea together, a ‘practice’ first date,” Dash said with a smile as she took one of the flowers and put it into Fluttershy’s mane.
“Um, ok.” Fluttershy said as she let her friend put a flower next to her ear, “A practice first date sounds, fun.”
“Thought you would like it, so...what’s next?” Dash asked, not really having an idea of what to do next.
“Well, I would like for the date to take me on a quiet walk through the flowers, and maybe watch the birds fly by.” Fluttershy said.
“Ok, a few minutes on the ground,” Dash shrugged, “I think I can manage it.” Then she took Fluttershy’s hoof into hers and walked her off down a small dirt path.
As they walked away, a mint green unicorn brought out a lyre and began to play some music for a beige earth pony. The pony smiled at her lover and began to add a song to the music. The song was a slow piece about how one can never find the right words to say the important feelings that a pony would have for one another. The unicorn smiled as she added her own lyrics to the song, reminding the earth pony of how there is always time to use words to lift each other up and to heal one another.
Fluttershy walked down the path through the flowers with her friend, and without thinking, she leaned her head onto Rainbow’s cyan shoulder. Feeling Fluttershy’s head landing on her shoulder, Dash looked down at her and smiled, deciding not to really ruin the moment. The two walked along the path connected like this for the entire length of the path, letting the setting of the sun and the rising light of the moon guide their steps. For Fluttershy, the lean muscles of Rainbow’s shoulder made a perfect pillow to rest her head on and the warmth of her friends body was enough to make her feel safe, “Hey, Flutters, anything else you want to do for this?”
Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow, looking into her friend’s red eyes, “Well, I was wondering, is there anything you would do on your first date?”
“Nah!” Dash said with a wave of her hoof, “You know me, I don’t think too much about this mushy stuff. But, if I were, I would like to do some chasing with my partner for a bit. You know, some racing here and there.”
Smiling, Fluttershy broke away from Rainbow Dash and walked ahead of her for a bit, “Well, come on.”
“What?” Rainbow Dash asked, getting a good look a Fluttershy’s flank as she walked ahead, trying not to show it.
“Chase me,” Fluttershy smiled and winked, giving her tail a little swish as she noticed Dash looking, “let’s race.”
“You sure?” Dash smirked as she watched the mare take off and began to fly away. Smirking, the rainbow maned pegasus flew off towards the buttery mare. Almost as if she wanted to give her friend a fighting chance, Dash held herself back a little and flew just a few feet behind her friend. Chuckling with confidence, the cyan mare did a few corkscrews and twists in the air as she continued the chase of her ‘date’. Dash’s eyes then widened as she watch Fluttershy slow down to fly under her. Arching an eyebrow, Dash swerved to fly underneath her friend and reached out with her forehooves to grab at her.
Fluttershy, quite unexpectedly, flew up and out of the way of Dash’s grab and turned to fly into the cloud bank. After making sure that she was well hidden, she popped her head out of the clouds to look and see if Rainbow Dash was still pursuing her. After taking a few moments to look around, she saw that Dash was nowhere to be found. Reaching a hoof to her head, she rubbed it in an attempt to figure out where Dash went to. Her answer came in the pair of cyan hooves that reached out from under the clouds and wrapped themselves around Fluttershy and pulled her through the bank. Fluttershy barely had time to let out a small, “eeep” as Dash pulled her friend through the cloud bank and held her close to her blue chest. With a soft smile, the buttery mare snuggled close to her friend as they tumbled through the air and landed softly together on the soft grass, “How did you know?”
“Know what?” Asked Rainbow Dash, draping her foreleg across Fluttershy’s shoulder, bringing her in close.
Fluttershy rested her head on Rainbow’s shoulder and laid her foreleg on Rainbow Dash’s chest, “That my other part of my first date, would be to watch the stars together.”
Dash gave her left shoulder a slight shrug as she said, “Eh, just a guess. I mean, come on, the stars are cool to look at .”
“I used to be a little scared of the dark,” Fluttershy said, looking down and away from Dash.
“No, really?” Dash teased.
“Well, a little, that is until I found out about all of my little nocturnal friends,” Fluttershy said as she looked at a lemur who was leaping from tree to tree. “They also helped me to see just how pretty some of the pictures the stars make are. Like the Canis, or the Ursa, or the felis one.” To reference, Fluttershy pointed to a cluster of stars that looked like a cat.
Dash took a good long look, and after a few moments, could actually see the cat, “Yeah I can see it. That is why they are so awesome to look at, all of the pictures and shape you could look at, the light they can give off for some late night pranks, and of course, the really awesome things you can do with your friends at night.” Dash then let out a small chuckle, “those ponies back a 1000 years ago didn’t know what they were missing.”
“Well, we can’t all have boundless energy Dash, some ponies do need sleep.” Fluttershy said, feeling comforted by Dash’s body heat.
“Yeah, but think of all of the cool things they’re missing at night! Stargazing, scary stories, raves, and snuggling up warmly with the mare that we l-care a lot about,” Dash said, blushing a little.
“Mmmmm,” Fluttershy said, snuggling up a little closer, “I like the snuggle bit, my little snuggly.”
“Oh, am I that soft?” Dash asked, looking at the mare in her hooves.
“Well, that is because...” Fluttershy blushed a little as she looked up at Dash, “well, um...your muscles are so lean and toned that they make a really good pillow,”
Rainbow Dash found herself blushing at the compliment, not knowing whether to deny it or to take it in, “Well, you’re snugglier.” To add onto this, Dash snuggled a little more into Fluttershy, keeping the mare close to her.
Fluttershy said nothing, but chose to nuzzle Dash’s neck instead. Thus, did the two ponies laid there under the stars, watching as they twinkled and shone. Luna’s moon continued to light the two as they watched the world pass above them, allowing them to relax and allow the night winds provide the music to relax them. After a few moments, Rainbow Dash got up with Fluttershy next to her, “Now, my date would walk me back home.”
Rainbow smirked at this, “No prob! One little walk home to finish off this great ‘practice’ first date.” She then took Fluttershy’s hoof in hers and lifted her off the ground, flying the two of them towards Fluttershy’s cottage. Elsewhere, the mint green unicorn changed her song to one of a shy lover finding herself afraid to confess or to fall in love with the one that the person cares for.
________________________________________
After flying through the air for a few miles, the two pegasi softly floated down to Fluttershy’s cottage, “Thank you so much, Rainbow.”
“Hey, no prob! This little ‘practice’ date was pretty fun,” Dash said with a chuckle, and slowly turned away.
“Oh! There is, um, one last thing I would like my date to do on my first date,” Fluttershy said, blushing to the point where her coat turned pink.
“What’s that?” Rainbow asked.
“To give me a...goodnight kiss,” Fluttershy squeaked.
Now, it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to blush a little as she took a step back, “A...what?”
“A goodnight kiss, you...don’t have to,” Fluttershy shyly said as she hid behind her mane.
“No, no, I want to. I mean after all,” Rainbow said, leaning in slowly towards Fluttershy, “It-its just a simple, goodnight kiss.”
“Yeah,” Fluttershy nodded as she leaned up, “J-just a...simple goodnight-”
“Kiss,” Dash said as she leaned in to kiss her dear friends, their lips pressing close to each other in a deep and soft kiss. Fluttershy let out a soft moan as she closed her eyes and fell into the passion of the kiss. Allowing her lips to move along Fluttershy’s, Rainbow slowly slid a hoof to the back of Fluttershy’s head, rubbing gently and moving through the soft strands of Fluttershy’s mane. Purring softly, Fluttershy allowed Rainbow to push a little further into the kiss, enjoying the soft taste of her friends lips. The two stood there for a few moments, allowing themselves to feel the emotion of the kiss. All too soon, did the two break off the kiss, Rainbow Dash panting as she looked at her friend, “WOW! That...that was something.”
“Y--yes, it was,” Fluttershy said, opening the door quickly and walking in, “A great practice first kiss on a date.”
“Yeah,” Dash panted, beads of sweat sliding down, “A great way to end a date. Goodnight Fluttershy.”
“G-goodnight,” Fluttershy smiled as she closed the door. Her eyes then opened wide as she heard a knocking at the door. Turning around, she opened the door quickly and saw Dash still standing there, “Rainbow Dash?”
“Hey, you wanna practice that goodnight kiss again? I don’t think we got it down,” Dash asked as she looked at her friend.
“YES!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she leaned up to her friend and pressed her lips closely to Rainbow’s, kissing her friend deeply. Though it was shorter than before, it was no less passionate. Pulling away slowly, Fluttershy smiled and stated, “Goodnight, Dashie.”
Rainbow Dash stumbled a little as she began to fly off, “G-goodnight Flutters.”
Closing the door behind her, Fluttershy leaned up against the door and let out a contented sigh, “That, was a wonderful first...date.”
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flew up to a nearby cloud and grabbed a tuft of cloud and threw it up into the air, “WHAT WAS THAT?! I only wanted to kiss her goodnight, not liplock her! I...I,” her eyes then widened at the realization, “Oh,...Luna help me. I think I’m in love with my best friend.”
________________________________________
The next morning
“Fridge Largemeats and Roll Fizzlebeef are pleased to announce the engagement of their son, Bulk Biceps to the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thunderwalker, Cloudchaser,” Scootaloo read aloud as she looked at the newspaper. Letting out a growl of frustration, she scrunched up the newspaper and threw it in the garbage.
“Well, at least we helped one couple get together,” Sweetie Belle nervously stated.
“TOO BAD IT WAS THE WRONG ONES!!” Scootaloo yelled before slamming her head against the wall.
“ Don’t worry, Scoots, Sweetie’s plan is sure to work,” Applebloom said, putting a comforting hoof onto her friend’s back.