It was morning at Fluttershy's cottage. The pegasus in question was going about her animal friends' regular feeding cycles, flying from tree to tree, bush to bush, and ebb to ebb of the babbling brook that flanked her home. She hummed, relishing in the warm air of the twinkling dawnlight. Once she had emptied her latest basket full of breadcrumbs, she turned from a gaggle of geese and flew back towards her home—only to bump into a fuzzy blue chest.
"Eeep!" Fluttershy leaned back, startled to see that—while she flew in place—it was the other pony who fell to the grass instead. "Oh my goodness! Rainbow Dash, I had no idea that you were there!" She leaned down from where she hovered, hoof outstretched. "Please do forgive me."
"Nnngh... it's n-nothing..." Rainbow Dash winced, her hoof slipping when it attempted to grip Fluttershy's. She finally bit her lip, wrapped two fetlocks around her friend's limb, and awkwardly pulled herself up. "Nothing for you to be sorry about, Flutters. For real."
"Uhm..." Fluttershy fidgeted with the basket in her grasp. "What you brings you by my cottage this morning? Is everything okay?"
Rainbow squinted. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"
"Well, it's so early and at this time you're usually sleeping and—"
"I did that. Slept like a rock. Now I'm here."
"I can see that." Fluttershy smiled. "Would you like me to feed the squirrels? I'll serve you some tea later as a way of saying thanks."
"Sure, I'll help you with the squirrels. Though I'm not much of a tea fan..."
"Oh! Well, I'm sure I can scrounge up some biscuits and jam instead—"
"Look, Fluttershy, before we do anything else..." Rainbow Dash hovered forward and planted her hooves on the mare's shoulders. "I wanna ask you something."
"Oh... s-sure. You know you can trust me with anything, Rainbow."
"Dang straight. Nothing more in Equestria needs an excuse to wanna beat you up."
Fluttershy's pupils shrank. "What... th-thins in Equestria already h-have an excuse—?"
"In all the times you've known me, have I ever cheated?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at her squarely.
"Cheated?"
Rainbow nodded.
"Well, uhm..." Fluttershy glanced aside, biting her lip. "Oh dear. I-I don't think you're going to like this answer..."
"Give it to me straight, Flutters." Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "I can take it."
"It's just that..." The caretaker grimaced, but ultimately said, "At the Iron Pony Competition a few months back, it was... a b-bit obvious to everypony that you were using your wings as an unfair advantage over Applejack."
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, nodding towards the babbling brook beside them. "Yeah. That was pretty sucky of me, wasn't it?"
"Ohhhhh!" Fluttershy covered her flustered muzzle. "Please don't be mad at me for saying that! It's just that you asked and I-I wanted to be honest like a good friend and—"
"Do you think any less of me, Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked. She gulped. "For ch-cheating... that is?"
Fluttershy slowly shook her head. "No, Rainbow Dash. You may not have been showing some colors to be proud of that week, but I still knew you were my friend beneath all of that. Your loyalty has more than made up for all of your mistakes. Besides..." She giggled lightly, smiilng. "We both know you had a reason to act differently than normal. It was a competition with Applejack, after all."
"Yeah..."
"Uhm..." Fluttershy squinted. "You... were infatuated at that time... weren't you?"
"I don't think I knew what I was..."
"Rainbow Dash...?"
Rainbow looked up, jaw tight. "I refused to believe that Applejack was stronger than me, and so I cheated. Little did I know that I was only ripping a hole in my chest for me to look through and see my own heart."
Fluttershy blinked. "That is either the sweetest thing I've ever heard or the silliest thing."
"Wanna hear something sillier?"
"I'm game."
Rainbow Dash shuddered. "I'm pretty sure I'm about to cheat again." She gulped. "Only, this time, I know that it's because Applejack is stronger than me... and it's all I can do to keep up with her."
"Rainbow, I..." Fluttershy wince. "I'm afraid you've lost me on that."
"That's fine." Rainbow Dash nodded. "I just wanted to tell somepony."
"Tell me what?"
"Don't freak out, but..." Rainbow patted Fluttershy's shoulder. "If for some reason today... or for the next few weeks you see me acting strangely, just know that I'm... uh... exercising."
"Exercising?"
"Yeah. And I'm not going to stop until I've got something to prove."
"To who? Applejack?"
"To her. To myself. To the thought of her, perhaps." Rainbow gulped. "To be perfectly frank, it's a bit scary. But... maybe that's what makes it count."
"How do you mean?"
"If it's something I'm scared of doing..." Rainbow looked up with an awkward smirk. "Then it doesn't count as cheating, does it?"
"Uhhhh..."
"Anyways, I gotta jet. I have an appointment with Zecora in less than an hour."
"Zecora...?!"
"Yup. See ya!"
"Rainbow... just a second... I..." Fluttershy wrung her hooves together. "You're starting to concern me."
Rainbow Dash blinked at her. She hovered down, leaned in, and nuzzled the mare in a friendly way. "I want you to listen to me for a second, okay?"
"O-okay..."
"Things are a bit dicey right now. My legs are running away from me. I'm running out of bits. And ponies are trying to dissolve my home. But you know what?"
"What?"
Rainbow smiled gently. "I can't remember a time when I've felt this... this... chillaxed."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Which is why it would really, really suck..." Rainbow glanced off towards Everfree. "...to lose my mind while I'm feeling this buzz."
"Buh?"
"But anyways, I'll grab some acorns and feed the squirrels along the way. At least they've got an excuse to be nuts, right?" Rainbow Dash flew off with a billowing tail. "Zoop!"
Fluttershy blinked after her. Gulping, she trotted nervously back to her cottage. "I wonder if Celestia accepts prayers in the daytime..."