The Curse of a Kind Heart

by Eyvind


Tough Love

Later that day, all of Fluttershy's friends had assembled at the library. All except one, that is. Twilight had taken it upon herself to travel to Sugar Cube Corner and the Apple Family Farm to invite Applejack and Pinkie Pie. She had flown up to Rainbow Dash's cloud home as well in the hopes of finding her there, but there was no sign of her. Twilight looked to her clock on the wall and noted that it was approaching five pm. She felt mildly frustrated that Rainbow was nowhere to be found when Fluttershy needed her, but she reminded herself that she must have been dealing with her own issues if Rarity's account was accurate.

"Has anypony seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked the group, hoping for some answers.

"Not since I passed her on my way here" Rarity said, a worried frown on her face. "She seemed awfully sad when I spoke to her. And then she walked off without so much as a 'hello'. Oh, I do hope she's alright."

"Can somepony tell me what the hay is goin' on?" Applejack spoke up, feeling incredibly out-of-the-loop.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie Pie said as she hopped in place. She inhaled dramatically before she spoke next. "Fluttershy-heard-this-scary-voice-in-her-head-after-Rainbow-Dash-found-her-in-the-Everfree-Forest-where-she-went-to-hide-after-yelling-at-her-and-Applejack-and-now-she-has-nightmares-every-night-and-can't-sleep-and-is-doubting-whether-or-not-she's-really-kind-deep-down!" She rattled off the synopsis at lightning speed, and everypony simply stared at her with differing levels of surprise.

"How did you..." Twilight began to ask. "Never mind" she said instead, just chalking it up to pinkie being pinkie. "Do you know why Rainbow Dash was upset?"

"Not a clue" Pinkie said with a shrug.

"Wait, what's this about ya wonderin' if'n yer kind or not?" AJ asked Fluttershy, looking at her with concern.

The timid pegasus averted her eyes, attempting to hide behind her pink mane and made a sound half-way between a whimper and a whine. She knew it was silly, but she was embarrassed that she felt she might no longer represent the element of kindness. Having ponies' attention drawn to her insecurity, even though they were her friends, caused her no small deal of discomfort.

Twilight was the first to pick up on this. She placed a comforting hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. She jumped at the touch, but didn't shy away from it. "Maybe we should go and find Rainbow Dash before we deal with this" Twilight suggested. "We should all be here to help Fluttershy. And it sounds like Rainbow could use some help as well."

Fluttershy gave a tiny nod in agreement. "Oh, my problems can wait. Rarity said that she looked really sad. I hope she's alright." Fluttershy's voice was noticeably stronger when she spoke of her concerns for her friend, betraying just how much she cared about her wellbeing.

Twilight smiled at her. "You really are a kind pony" she said simply. Fluttershy's cheeks grew warm at the unexpected statement and she quickly turned her face away to hide her blush.

"Alright girls" Twilight said, turning her attention back towards the others. "We've got another friend out there that needs our help, so lets go find her. We'll meet back here in one hour."

"Right!" they all said in unison.

They each departed the library to begin their search. Fluttershy was the last to leave. As she closed the door behind her, a cold chill ran up her spine.

Do you really want to find her, Fluttershy? Wouldn't it be nice if you never had to listen to Rainbow's bragging ever again?

Fluttershy closed her eyes as she tried desperately to block out the cold words. She hoped they found Rainbow Dash soon. She really needed her best friend.

~~~

Rainbow Dash sat on the sand at the edge of her favorite lake, staring dismally at her own reflection. She was not at all deep in thought, despite how it may have looked to the casual passerby. Rather, she had figuratively "shut down" her brain, leaving only the bare essentials running. If she thought about anything at all, it would inevitably be something pertaining to Fluttershy. But any thought relating to her best friend (she supposed that would be ex-best friend now) only caused a dull ache in her heart and a lump in her throat, so she elected to not think about anything at all and to simply stare at her reflection until it would not hurt to think anymore. How long until that would happen she did not know, but she was willing to wait as long as she had to. The pain she felt inside was just too much to bear.

"Ah thought Ah might find ya here."

Dash was brought out of her stupor by Applejack's familiar voice. She lifted her head to see the orange country mare approaching from her left along the lake shore.

"Oh, it's you, AJ" Rainbow Dash said in a monotone. She still didn't feel like talking to anypony, and she wasn't trying very hard to hide the fact. "I thought Pinkie would be the first one to bother me. She always seems to know where I am."

Applejack stopped a few paces away from her. "Well Ah guess she just doesn't know ya as well as Ah do." She could sense Rainbow's hostility well enough, but she kept a friendly air, understanding that her feelings were directed at something else. What that 'something else' might be she wasn't sure, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Ya know everypony's out lookin' for ya? We were all worried about ya after we heard how ya blew Rarity off today."

"Huh..." was all Rainbow Dash deigned to say, turning her attention back towards the gently lapping waves of the lake at her hooves.

Applejack was really worried now. Dash hadn't even tried to deny or excuse the way she had treated Rarity. This doom-and-gloom mentality that Rainbow was showing wasn't like her at all.

"What's with ya, Dash?" she asked in concern. "What could'a happened to make ya so miserable all of a sudden?"

"I don't wanna talk about it" she replied flatly, leaving no room for debate.

Applejack was becoming irritated by Rainbow's attitude, but she exercised her self-control and quickly suppressed the feeling. "Well could ya at least come back to the library with me? If'n ya don't wanna talk about yer problems, ya can at least help Fluttershy with hers. Or have ya forgotten about that?"

Rainbow Dash turned towards her angrily. "Hey, I want to help Fluttershy with her problems!" She turned back towards the water, quickly switching from anger to sadness. "But that doesn't mean I can" she tacked on quietly.

"An' just what the hay is that supposed to mean?" AJ asked incredulously. "If ya wanna help her, then help her. There ain't no middle ground."

"Don't you get it?" Rainbow scoffed, kicking the water half-heartedly with her hoof. "Fluttershy doesn't need me anymore. She has Twilight."

"What are ya talkin' about?" Applejack asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Of course Fluttershy needs ya. She needs all of us right now."

Rainbow turned angrily towards Applejack, frustrated that she couldn't understand how useless she felt. "I can't help her, alright?! She needs somepony she can trust! Somepony she can rely on!"

"She's yer best friend!" AJ retorted, raising her voice to match Dash's. Her self-control was beginning to slip as her irritation rose to the surface. "If she can't rely on ya, what can she rely on?!"

"What don't you understand?! I FAILED! 'Shy's already moved on!" It was becoming difficult for Rainbow to stay composed. Tears were trying to escape, despite her best efforts to suppress them.

"Dang it, Dash, Fluttershy's still your friend!"

"She doesn't need me anymore! So just LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rainbow shouted angrily.

Applejack brought her hoof up and smacked rainbow's face with enough force to bowl her over onto her back. The action was so sudden and unanticipated that Rainbow had to just lay there on the sand in shock for a moment as the realization that her friend had just hit her in the face slowly sank in.

Applejack stood over Rainbow Dash. She looked tired, as if slapping her friend had drained everything from her. "She needs ya, Dash" she said softly, all sense of hostility gone from her. "Yer her best friend. She'll always need ya. An' right now she needs ya more than ever before. So what are ya gonna do? Are ya gonna sit here an' mope? Or are ya gonna go ta her an' prove that yer worth every ounce a' faith she's put in ya?

Dash's mind began to clear as the pain receded from her swollen cheek. With her two options laid out so plainly before her, the choice was obvious.

"You're... You're right, AJ. Even if 'Shy never wanted to see my face again, I gotta be there to support her. Sorry I was acting like such a foal."

"Ah ain't the one ya should be apologizin' to" AJ responded simply, a smile playing at the edge of her mouth. She offered her hoof to help Rainbow up, and she accepted it gratefully.

Dash stood and dusted off the sand from her coat. As they started walking back towards Ponyville and the library, Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Hey, AJ?"

"Yeah Rainbow?"

"You ever hit me again, I'm gonna hit you back."

Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash and she returned the glare. After a few seconds, Applejack broke out into laughter, soon followed by Rainbow Dash, both of them laughing until their sides hurt. This was the kind of companionship that Rainbow Dash desired between her and Fluttershy, and she would do anything to get it back.