Fluttershy was practically shoved inside Rainbow Dash's bedroom and was dropped in the center with a yelp. Afterwards, Rainbow Dash immediately flew back to the door and slammed it closed.
"Rainbow Dash, what-"
"Quiet, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she spun around to face her friend, interrupting Fluttershy's question. Fluttershy closed her mouth in response. "I need to calm my emotions before I cause this cloud to explode!”
“W-what?!” Fluttershy stepped back a bit after those words. Rainbow Dash didn’t exactly respond. She just clutched her chest tightly, breathing very heavily as if she was having a heart attack.
Fluttershy was panting pretty heavily as well, but not as much as Rainbow Dash was. Fluttershy wasn’t sure about how she was feeling right now. She had been pretty much shoved inside this bedroom before she had a chance to say much of anything. But at the same time, she was the one who wanted to ask Rainbow Dash something she didn’t want to ask. Now she was too confused to comprehend what had just occurred.
Thankfully their deep breathing had managed to calm them down. They didn’t dare try and start their conversation again until they were both able to control their voices again.
“Alright, Fluttershy, listen carefully,” Rainbow Dash started, glaring into Fluttershy's soul as she walked up to her. “I will talk about what happened yesterday, but do not talk about this to anypony else!” Fluttershy leaned backwards, clenching her teeth hard as Rainbow Dash pushed her face very close to Fluttershy’s. “Understand?!”
Fluttershy let a few whimpers escape her before she shakily nodded her head in response. Her stress started to be relieved when Rainbow Dash pulled her head back, allowing Fluttershy to stand back up and have her space.
Rainbow Dash knew that Fluttershy was sensitive to threats, but she still wanted to make it clear that this was serious; so serious that even somepony as delicate as Fluttershy would not get compassion if she were to let the word spread.
Fluttershy let out a sigh as she collected her thoughts about this. She still wasn’t sure about asking Rainbow Dash about yesterday considering how she reacted before she left. But Fluttershy was here right now, because the tingling in her hooves and how it was affecting her, had persuaded her to come in the end. Now all that was left was to ask and see where that would lead.
“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy started after swallowing her breath. “About what happened at the dinner table...” She paused for a second, losing her words. But it was enough for Rainbow Dash to know what she wanted to talk about.
“You wanna know why that happened?” Rainbow Dash said as she looked away. “Why I touched you in... that way?” She started rubbing one of her forelegs as she treaded those words carefully.
“Um...” Fluttershy’s body started to heat up as she felt the need to back up some more. “That was an accident, right?”
Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped to the sides of her head as she looked back at Fluttershy. With a wave of a hoof, she motioned for Fluttershy to go towards the bed so that she could sit down. Fluttershy had to take a moment to glance at it before she decided to move. It was a bit unnerving to Fluttershy, but she figured it would help with the conversation. But while Fluttershy was walking to the bed, Rainbow Dash was walking somewhere else.
“Well, Fluttershy, it...” Rainbow Dash paused with a sigh. “This is gonna sound lame... or strange, or... however you would say it is... but...” Fluttershy was able to get herself seated on the bed while Rainbow Dash treaded her words. Rainbow Dash put a hoof on a door that looked like it led to a closet before she continued. “It wasn’t exactly an accident that that happened. I...” She took a moment to shake her head and sigh before she was able to get it out. “I have a hoof fetish...”
Fluttershy blinked as her mind took a moment to process those words. For some reason, a chill rushed along her body when she heard them.
“A... wha...?” Fluttershy wasn’t sure how she should respond. She had to rub her forehooves together as that tingling feeling came back to them. Rainbow Dash opened that door she was in front of before she decided to respond.
“Well... how do I explain this...?” Rainbow Dash paused for a moment as she looked inside the closet. Fluttershy couldn’t see what was in there from where she was, but she could see Rainbow Dash going inside to get something out.
When Rainbow Dash came back outside, Fluttershy didn’t think it was a closet anymore. It seemed more like a storage room now, because Rainbow Dash pulled out a cloud from there that was quite big for the space, but smaller than the ones seen outside everyday.
Rainbow Dash brought this cloud in front of Fluttershy and started to form it. This didn’t really surprise Fluttershy, because Rainbow Dash was really good with sculpting clouds. In fact, the interior of this cloud mansion occasionally changed as a result, because Rainbow Dash could do whatever she wanted with it.
But what Fluttershy was surprised with was what Rainbow Dash was forming this cloud into. After splitting some of it apart, she shaped it into the shape of a pony. But the shape of the pony, even the mane and tail style, looked a lot like Fluttershy. Fluttershy's tail swished instinctively, letting a small gasp escape her breath at the sight.
“You see... I-I have a strange attraction... to hooves,” Rainbow Dash started, lifting the cloud pony’s hoof up in the direction of Fluttershy. “When I look at them,” she brought the hoof closer to herself, “I feel a sudden urge to just... take them into my own hooves... and...”
Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped, leaving Fluttershy unsure how to respond. Fluttershy started fidgeting with her hind hooves, carefully letting her breaths out as she watched how Rainbow Dash held this cloud. She felt the feelings on her hooves crawl up her body as she attempted to think of something to say.
“Y-you... like my... hooves?” Fluttershy asked as she hid one of her eyes behind her mane, making Rainbow Dash glance back at her as a response. Rainbow Dash let go of her hold on the pony cloud.
“Well, it’s not exactly that, it’s... well...” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck as she thought over her words. “Did you notice how I was getting distracted a bit yesterday after I had set up the weather for your garden?”
It took a moment for Fluttershy to think about it, but she was able to reply with a hesitant nod when the thought of Rainbow Dash examining those animals came to mind.
“Well...” Rainbow Dash took the other cloud formation that she hadn’t formed and moved it in front of the cloud pony of Fluttershy. “That time, you were using your hooves more often than you normally did.” She continued to form the cloud up to shape into something smaller as she talked. “I can usually control myself, but it was harder to resist when those animals started crawling up your hooves and even rubbing on them.”
Fluttershy nearly let out a silent gasp at this revelation. She could only press her hooves against each other harder as Rainbow Dash told her story. She didn’t realize how her actions were affecting Rainbow Dash.
“But when you started feeding that mouse by hoof...” Rainbow Dash had formed the other cloud to shape into a small mouse, positioning the cloud pony to bend down towards it, making a replica of what had happened during that moment. “I just couldn’t help myself...”
Fluttershy’s eyes went wide after something had dawned on to her. Rainbow Dash was describing what she was really focusing on while Fluttershy was embracing the elegant weather with her animals.
“So... you weren’t hungry for that mouse...” Fluttershy said silently as she brought her vision down.
“Huh?” The sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice startled Fluttershy a bit. Fluttershy didn’t realize that she had said that out loud.
“U-uh, I mean, um...” Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment, trying to recover her words. “S-so, at the dinner table...” But Fluttershy wasn’t able to keep them for very long. However, it was enough to change the topic as Rainbow Dash started pacing away from the cloud pony, which stayed in the position of feeding a mouse cloud.
“Well, I was too distracted by your hooves to really focus on eating...” Rainbow Dash let out a sigh before she continued. “I... did something I thought I would never do.” She stopped her pacing and turned to Fluttershy with a frown that filled with regret. “While we were eating, I tried to calm myself by, ever so slightly, rubbing my hooves against yours, just to see how it felt.” Fluttershy thought this almost sounded like something she already knew, but something else occurred to her.
“Wait... so, I wasn’t imagining that feeling?” she said, looking down at her hind hooves as she swung them back and forth slightly. Rainbow Dash responded with a nod.
“I thought you had possibly felt that.” Rainbow Dash looked away in shame before continuing. “I wanted to ask you about it, but I stopped myself, thinking it was better that you thought you weren’t feeling anything. But...” Rainbow Dash let a large groan escape her mouth as she stomped a hoof on the ground. “I got startled by your voice and accidently kicked you. And, well...” She shook her head before she was able to finish. “I’m sorry about how I startled you like that. I didn’t mean it.”
Fluttershy wasn’t sure how she was feeling right now. She paid attention to Rainbow Dash as she talked about that moment while she was pacing around.
Fluttershy felt her body chill as she learned about how many assumptions she had gotten wrong there. She wasn’t sure at the time whether this talk or that realization was more uncomfortable to hear at the time. But what was really uncomfortable right now was how this conversation was going.
“I forgive you for what happened, Rainbow Dash, but...” Fluttershy took a deep breath as her heart pained at the next words she had to say. “That... wasn’t what I wanted to talk about...” At the mention of those words, Rainbow Dash’s head jumped as she switched her attention back to Fluttershy.
“E-er, what?!” Hearing Rainbow’s response, Fluttershy attempted to catch her words as that tingle spread along the legs of her hooves.
“Um... actually... I-I wanted to talk about what happened... after that dinner,” Fluttershy said in a bit of a panic as she rubbed a forehoof along her other. “Ever since that happened... I’ve been feeling different.” The words changed Rainbow Dash’s attention on the subject to where she was curious instead of regretful.
“Different?” Rainbow Dash said as she walked closer to Fluttershy. “Like, how?” Fluttershy had to close her eyes in response as she thought her words over.
“Well, I’ve been having this weird feeling on my hooves.” Fluttershy had to scratch her fetlocks as she talked. “I don’t know what it is, but... it’s making me do things... differently.”
Rainbow Dash carefully approached the left side of the bed from the direction Fluttershy was sitting at. Fluttershy could feel the bed shift, noticing that Rainbow Dash had sat down, but Rainbow wasn’t saying anything. She just kept her expression casually curious while she waited for Fluttershy to continue.
“You said I was using my hooves more often,” Fluttershy continued while she pointed at the cloud pony feeding the cloud mouse. “But ever since that feeling started, I’ve been... flinching away from my animals... every time they touch my hooves...”
Fluttershy could hear Rainbow Dash gasp quietly at the explanation. Fluttershy wasn’t sure what she was thinking right now, but the more she was telling, the more unnerving it was getting to her. Here she was, talking about something that she didn’t want to have to ask, but now if anything, she hoped that Rainbow Dash would have an answer now that she let it out.
“Fluttershy, do you remember the time we were all at the spa during the time Gabby Gums was around?” Rainbow Dash said.
“Well... um...” Fluttershy’s ears dropped to the sides of her head at the mention of that. It was the time when one of her own secrets were revealed by somepony she could trust, just like the rest of her friends, including Rainbow Dash. Even though Rainbow Dash knew she could trust Fluttershy, it now made sense why Rainbow Dash was so edgy about this conversation before they started.
“And when I was trying out that hooficure?”
Fluttershy nodded before she looked over to Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but she listened carefully.
“Well, when I tried it out, you probably remember me freaking out before that file touched my hooves, right?” Fluttershy nodded again. This time, Rainbow Dash looked away, shuddering a bit at the thought of that moment. She let out a sigh before she continued. “The reason why I retreated so nervously, is because of my hoof fetish.”
Fluttershy wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She always thought she was trying to protect her image back then. But at the same time, only she and her friends were supposed to see that moment. Even though it never happened, everypony found out about it and believed it did happen.
“I have a strange attraction to hooves, but that also makes me not like it when other ponies touch mine.” Rainbow Dash started. “I’m afraid that when somepony touches my hooves, they’ll see that pathetic side of me...” she finished with a soft cough that blew through her snout.
“But then, what does that mean for me?” Fluttershy said as she went into deep thought. “If you’re afraid of others touching your hooves, and I’m afraid of my animals... touching...” Her pupils shrank when she managed to put two and two together. “D-does, that mean...”
There was a bit of silence in the room after Fluttershy processed the information. She was so conflicted by a feeling that she still didn’t understand.
“Yeah, I think you might have a bit of a hoof fetish too...” Rainbow Dash said, looking back at Fluttershy with uncertainty.
“But, I don’t understand... haven’t we held each others hooves before?” Fluttershy looked away as she thought about the other times they touched hooves together. The ones that mostly came to mind were the times they hoof bumped each other, but Rainbow Dash was perfectly comfortable with those moments. “But even if I’m so afraid of others touching my hooves... why do I keep thinking about it?”
Fluttershy started pressing her hind hooves together again when she mentioned this part. She described what was on her mind while Rainbow Dash stayed quiet and listened.
“Every time I’m about to touch one of my animals with my hooves, or when they do touch them...” Fluttershy let out a shuddered breath that sounded like it was held in for a while. She could feel her own heart beat without putting a hoof on her chest. “My mind... wanders to that moment. I could only think of when your hoof was rubbing against mine.”
Fluttershy wasn’t even sure what she was saying anymore. She was too afraid to look back at Rainbow Dash as she spoke her mind.
“I thought it was my imagination, but now I think of it like, I knew it was happening.” Fluttershy made a soft cough as the tone in her voice rose to a higher pitch. “But the feeling wasn’t like how I reacted. I... I don’t know.” Her hind legs started shivering as her words increased in pitch. “I feel so scared about what I’m feeling. I feel so uncomfortable about my animals touching my hooves, but when... when... Ahh!”
Fluttershy’s body jumped when she felt something suddenly latch onto her left forehoof, making her shake violently in its grip. She squeezed her eyes shut as she made a slight attempt to pull her hoof back, but that thing forced her hoof to lift up to the side of her, giving a very threatening pressure. It almost felt like that thing was gonna crush her hoof in its grip, causing her to whimper at the sudden torment.
But Fluttershy soon realized that nothing was really happening. Her body suddenly started to warm up, ceasing her shivering. She could feel that something was holding on to her hoof, and it was holding it firmly, but gently in its grip.
“Nnh... huh...?” Fluttershy slightly coughed up her sounds as she hesitantly looked up to see what it was that suddenly had its grip on her hoof.
It was Rainbow Dash who was holding her hoof in her own hooves. As Fluttershy stared into those confident eyes, her mind wandered to the dream that she had this morning. The way that Rainbow Dash was holding her hoof right now looked very similar to the way that shadowy figure of Rainbow Dash was holding her hoof.
Fluttershy's breath caught itself in awe as Rainbow Dash led her through this experience.