For the rest of the day, Fluttershy backed off to her cottage, secluding herself again. After what had happened at the picnic she didn’t want to risk running into her friends – especially not Rainbow Dash. Even though she knew, of course, that she needed to speak up to her sooner or later. It was simple enough in theory; just find her, tell her the truth and they’d be good again. What held her back?
It was the look; the look that Fluttershy had received from her friend had burnt itself deep into her mind, eyes becoming a pair of glaring daggers in her memory.
Rainbow Dash hated her.
Of all things, this was too much to take. Fluttershy managed to make it through each day on her own because she’d learned to stand up tall and be brave, but she learned all that from her. She could believe in herself because she knew that, for whatever reason, Rainbow believed in her – and now, ultimately, she had become the one pony that she couldn’t turn to.
This time, Dash wasn’t there to comfort her.
Fluttershy sighed. All the complaining in the world wouldn’t get her anywhere. And she couldn’t blame herself for everything that happened, Rainbow Dash had told her often enough that that wasn’t good for her.
“You tried your best, didn’t you? Who could ask for more?” she asked herself, repeating the filly Dash’s words from when they had first met. And it was true, she hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t fair that she was the one hurting just because her friends didn’t care about her enough to listen what she’d had to say. Also, even if Fluttershy had missed her opportunity to speak up, she shouldn’t have to, because Twilight shouldn’t have come up with the suspicions in the first place.
And Rainbow Dash. Just leaving her like this, after all these years. Her best friend. How could Rainbow so easily abandon her?
As the day went on, Fluttershy’s misery turned more and more into frustration. The misunderstanding wasn’t the real problem: she could work that out somehow. What bothered her more was that Rainbow had let her down after promising she never would.
Fluttershy had to face reality: a lot had changed since flight camp. She might always stay a timid pony at heart, but she wasn’t without any confidence of her own. Fluttershy wasn’t an anxious little filly anymore; she wouldn’t let anypony do something like this to her.
She didn’t depend on Rainbow Dash.
The next day when Fluttershy woke up, she felt like a sack of oats was sitting on her back, weighing her down. She forced herself out of bed for her morning round of feeding the animals, barely managing to stand on her hooves; the night had been mostly sleepless for her.
After every last mouse and squirrel had gotten something to munch on, Fluttershy half-heartedly made breakfast for herself. Food was running short, so if she didn’t want her little friends to starve she was left with little choice but to go into town today. Swallowing the last of her cereal, she decided she might as well go right away, before the streets became too busy.
In Ponyville, Fluttershy couldn’t help but be reminded of Rainbow Dash at every corner. That park was where they’d hang out sometimes a lot in summer. They’d sit on a bench and Rainbow would tell her of her awesome future as a Wonderbolt, sometimes whole afternoons, looking into the sky with a longing glaze. There was nap spot number fourteen, the tall chestnut tree in a quiet corner of the street, where Fluttershy would find Rainbow sometimes when searching for her. There were cracks on the wall of that old building, remains from Rainbow crashing into it after a stunt going wrong.
Fluttershy couldn’t stand it; it was as if her surroundings were mocking her, teasing her for being dropped by her friend. She hurried to finish her shopping as quickly as possible and then rushed out of town. Only once she’d passed the all-too-familiar wooden road sign did Fluttershy slow down and look back. The colorful buildings that made up Ponyville were holding so many memories.
Then, suddenly, something eclipsed the afternoon sun. Fluttershy turned her head to see what that something was; only to crash right into the wall of red hair that had appeared in front of her. She jumped back, stumbling over a bag that she had dropped.
“Oh I-I’m so sorry, I d-didn’t look where I was going and …” She fell silent when she looked up and recognized Big Macintosh.
“You alright, Fluttershy?” he asked.
“Um, yes … and you?”
“Eeyup.”
She nodded softly, trying to get her head clear for a second. Under his collar, she could see the enormous chest muscles close-up, formed by many years of work. She’d never been this close to him – here he was, the stallion she had dreamed of. Strangely, she wasn’t intimidated.
“Well, I bet you’re super busy …”
“Nope.”
“Okay.”
They stared onto the ground awkwardly.
“Like me to walk you home?” Mac offered. Or did he actually? Fluttershy wasn’t sure if she could trust her ears.
“Um, sure … if you want to …”
He smiled and picked up her bag from the ground, then made a gesture down the path.
“Oh! How kind of you, thank you.”
As long as they walked, the calm pace of their hooves on the muddy road was the only thing breaking the silence. The stallion had his eyes half-closed, only giving Fluttershy a quick look every now and then. She was relaxing a little, just walking alongside him. It felt like years ago that she’d half fainted in his presence – maybe it had been but a silly crush after all.
When they arrived at the cottage Fluttershy thanked him again, which he brushed it off with a vague gesture.
“You look sad,” he remarked. “Wanna talk about it?”
Would she? She was not entirely sure.
“Um … if you want to hear it.”
Mac turned towards her and smiled reassuringly. Alright. Fluttershy took a deep breath.
“For some reason my friends believe I’m homophobic and now Rainbow Dash hates me because she’s a lesbian.”
She earned a long, surprised look.
“And I also know that you’re gay, and I totally support you. So, please, don’t believe them – I couldn’t take you hating me too.”
“Shh … Ah couldn’t hate you.” He carefully placed a hoof on her shoulder. Fluttershy could have sworn it melted under his touch. “And your friends … Ah suppose they won’t hear you?”
She shook her head.
“We gonna make ‘em hear, Ah promise. It’s all gonna be okay.”
Fluttershy nodded, near to tears. “T-Thank you.”
“It’s alright. And it’s always good to know who Ah can talk to – not everypony is that understanding.” Mac sighed. “Take mah sis …”
“How do you even keep it a secret from her?”
“Ponies won’t what see they don’t wanna. It’d be harder of course if Ah got mahself a coltfriend …“
Fluttershy’s ears perked up. “Is there anypony you like? I-if you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
“Maybe?” He looked down at his hooves. “Ah’ve been wantin’ to ask him out for some time but … Ah don’t think I can.”
“Of course you can. Don’t be shy!”
Big Mac smirked. “If you say so.”
He stayed a little longer, and Fluttershy made them both some tea. They sat down and drank, chatting about the weather and gardening and animal care and everything else that wasn’t Rainbow Dash. Big Macintosh was a good listener, and too soon it was that he had to return to the farm. Still, for Fluttershy, the time that they had was enough. She was happy, quite strangely; she did still feel drawn to the stallion in a way. He was just that sweet and, she couldn’t deny it, really attractive. But she still didn’t regret being just friends.
Actually, she could use a new friend.
Driven by a whim, Fluttershy got up from her sofa and walked over to the big mirror. She stared at the yellow pegasus, and it stared back at her until she couldn’t stand it and looked away.
She knew now that she was never meant to be with him. That realization felt good, like a huge weight that was taken from her. Only, who was she then able to see herself with?
Fluttershy looked at her optical twin again. Sometimes, she wondered if she was the one trapped in a mirror, and her mirror image was the real her. It probably didn’t matter, though; they both were used to standing in a corner and silently watching.
Thoughts went back to Big Mac. He was so cute when he was talking about that stallion he fancied. Fluttershy suddenly asked herself how many other ponies that she knew might be gay without her knowing.
Rainbow Dash was, of course; she’d nearly forgotten about that. But actually, had it been a surprise that she liked fillies?
“No,” Fluttershy told the mirror image that was looking at her expectantly. “Deep inside you’ve always known, haven’t you?”
She’d just never really thought about it, and they hadn’t talked about the topic, either. Now, Fluttershy wondered about Rainbow’s perspective. How did she see the world? What was it like to be a lesbian?
Fluttershy could see beauty in a mare; all mares could. And each one of her friends was beautiful, in her own way. Standing out the most, obviously, was Rarity; with the elegant curls of her mane and her stunning outfits and the cute faces she sometimes made. Nopony in their right minds could deny that. But really, even Rainbow Dash, who despised fashion and makeup and didn’t care much about looks – even she had a special kind of appeal. Or, especially her. Fluttershy could imagine her figure standing right beside her in the mirror; on the first glance she looked cool and almost a bit inapproachable, but that was just scratching the surface. In fact she had a lovely face with bright magenta eyes, cute perky ears and that muzzle that she used to scrump in the most adorable fashion. Her steeled body was bold and muscular, but also elegant like that of a dancer; and her wings, oh, her wings were truly gorgeous.
“She’s so beautiful.” Fluttershy’s mirror image nodded in agreement. But only for a second; then she stopped herself. She had enough of Rainbow Dash, and this certainly didn’t help. And it wasn’t like she felt anything for her.
“Because you don’t. You’re not even interested in mares.”
Admittedly, though, she’d never really thought about that. She could try and imagine herself with a mare – hypothetically, anyway.
In fact, it didn’t feel all that wrong.
The mirror Fluttershy blushed.
“Stop it, stupid,” she whispered to her reflection.
Perhaps, she even imagined a specific mare. Hypothetically.
This didn’t mean anything, of course. Yes, it would be nice to have somepony who cared about her, with whom maybe she could cuddle so she wouldn’t feel lonely anymore. Especially after what had happened. Somepony whom, unlike Rainbow Dash, she could trust. But that still wasn’t necessarily the same feeling she would have towards a stallion, was it? This was probably just her subconsciousness trying to compensate for her disappointment.
“No, you’re right; it can’t be.” She went over it in her head one more time.
“And just for the record,” she added, “in Rainbow’s case it wouldn’t matter, would it? Don’t you remember what she said?”
Fluttershy did; she could hear the words loud and clear in her head. I’d never want to be with you anyway. She was foolish for even considering it.
Regardless, for a reason that Fluttershy couldn’t explain, those words stung more than they should have.
She sat in front of the mirror until long after midnight.
The way to Sweet Apple Acres was a familiar one for Fluttershy. It lead up north along the border of the Everfree Forest, a trail winding through ferns and tall grass. Spruce and pine kept watch over the sandy path, and the birds chirped down their greetings from the treetops when they recognized Fluttershy. It was ever so lovely.
She’d followed the path often before, but on this particular day, something was different: she wasn’t planning to meet Applejack at the farm, but Big Macintosh.
The whole morning she’d been thinking about whether she should go. On the one hoof Fluttershy was eager to talk to him again; she had enjoyed their conversation so much and still had a lot of questions. But then on the other hoof, she didn’t want to spoil their freshly blossoming friendship by clinging to him to a point where she was a bother; after all, they had talked only one day ago. It was a tricky decision, but in the end, she convinced herself that at the very least he wouldn’t mind her asking. She certainly didn’t want to go with her other plan for the day, which was talking to Rainbow Dash.
Soon enough Fluttershy reached the orchards, where the sweet scent of apple trees filled the air. They were filled with little green marbles; young apples that were promising to grow and weigh down the wide, leaf-covered branches very soon. As far as the eye could reach the trees were standing tall, trunk next to trunk, heads raised to the sky. Fluttershy liked the orchards; they were a peaceful place, with no worries surpassing next year’s harvest.
With a heart much lighter than she’d had when she’d left her cottage, she finally arrived at the farm. She crossed the front yard and, since nopony was outside, knocked at the door. It was Applejack who opened. Fluttershy was still a bit anxious about her because of the debate, but she tried her best not to let that show.
“Fluttershy, what a nice surprise. What brings you here, sugarcube?”
“Oh, um … I actually wanted to see if your brother had any time?”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Well, then let’s see if we can find him for you. Should be ‘round here somewhere.”
She stepped outside and lead Fluttershy around the building, who followed hesitantly. Now she did feel like a bother.
“Beautiful weather, ain’t it? Though, if them pegasi go on like this Ah’ll have to have a sincere talk with that Rainbow Dash ‘bout trees that need water.” Applejack knocked at the barn door and glanced inside, but nopony was there.
“Oh, you see,” Fluttershy explained, “the spring showers always consume an awful lot of resources; that’s why sometimes, in late spring, cloud delivery is delayed just a little bit. It’s so Cloudsdale won’t run out of stock, like some years ago when we had that really dry summer, remember?”
“Is that so? Huh, Ah guess then we’ll have to make the best out of it. If it weren’t for the plants bein’ so thirsty Ah wouldn’t mind havin’ some sunshine in the first place.” She chuckled, while they surrounded the barn. “Ah’m sure it’s the perfect weather for you gettin’ on a date with mah brother, though.”
Fluttershy choked. “But – it’s not – we just –”
Applejack grinned, for all the wrong reasons. “Sorry sugarcube, Ah didn’t wanna be nosy; I’m just happy for y’all. See, Ah’ve been worried about Mac, seeing how he never brought himself home a mare … and Ah’ll be happy to have you in the family, Fluttershy. Oh, Ah cain’t wait for the day Ah’ll be the aunt of your sweet little foals …”
“Applejack! We’re not dating! We’re really just friends, is all.”
“Sure you are, ‘n that’s why you came all the way from your place to see him, right?”
“But I also come all the way here to see you sometimes.”
“That’s different; he’s a stallion, you’re a mare … see where Ah’m coming from?”
Big Macintosh, who was standing behind them, spoke up, making them both jump. “Nope.”
Applejack ducked her head. “Oops. Hehe. There you are.”
Macintosh looked over to Fluttershy with a half-pout, half-smile.
“Applejack,” she tried to reason, “ I get that you care about us being happy and I appreciate that, but don’t you think you might be assuming a teensy tiny bit too much?”
“Then you’re not … oh.” Applejack’s head dropped. Fluttershy almost felt sorry for her friend; after all, she had only meant the best for them. But her empathy only lasted for another second, until Applejack spoke up again. “Well, what ain’t now can always come to be some day, right?”
“Sis, Ah appreciate Fluttershy here an awful lot, but Ah won’t court her. And …” He stopped.
“And?”
“And no other mare neither. Sis, Ah’m gay.”
Applejack stepped back, shaking. “You’re kiddin’!”
“Nope.”
She looked over to Fluttershy. “And you … you knew all along? And you’re okay with that?”
“Of course I’m okay with it; it’s part of who he is, after all.”
“What’ll Granny say if she hears of this? And think of ‘lil Applebloom: they’ll never stop bullying her in school if she’s gotten a gay brother. In the end, you’ll make her ashamed of being part of this family!”
“The only pony Ah see bein’ ashamed of me is you.” Big Mac voiced quietly.
“That’s – Ah – this ain’t about me!”
“Yes it is. Applebloom’ll be fine. Granny’s prolly gonna try talk me out of it but Ah don’t care. Ah didn’t choose who Ah am, but you can choose to accept it or not.”
“Oh yeah? Well one thing’s for sure, you better not dare come here with a stallion or Celestia help me. And we’ll have a family meeting this evening.” Applejack threw a last disapproving glare back on Fluttershy, then she stepped off, muttering to herself.
Big Macintosh didn’t move, his gaze frozen. A tremor went through his whole body, and his big eyes filled with tears. Fluttershy was at his side in a heartbeat. She had to stand up on her hindlegs to reach a foreleg around his neck; Mac shuddered and buried his head in her chest, sobbing.
“There, there. You were very brave. I’m so proud of you.” She slowly stroked his mane. “I’m sure Applejack just needs time to adjust; she can be stubborn, sure, but she’s not a meanie.”
“Fluttershy … Thank you.” He tried to regain control over himself, wiping at his eyes. “It was about time something happened. It helps a lot having you here.”
For minutes they remained like that, Fluttershy holding Big Macintosh close until his body stopped shaking and his bulky chest was heaving calmly and evenly again.
“Ah’m sorry Ah got you into this. You sure came for something other than havin’ to put up with this mule of a sister Ah have?”
“It’s no problem. I just came to talk a bit.”
“What about?”
“Oh, nothing important. Maybe it’s not the best time …”
He looked at her in anticipation. Fluttershy sighed.
“Okay. After yesterday I’ve been wondering … how did you come to know that you’re gay?”
“Ah just always fancied colts, so Ah figured as much. It wasn’t easy coming to terms with it, though, since Ah’d been taught that Ah’d want to be with a filly. Never dared say anything to nopony. But then, one day, Ah was havin’ a sleepover with mah cousin Braeburn in Appeloosa. Ah learned from him that there were more of us, and that it wasn’t something bad. Ah went there a lot that summer.” He smiled, distracted from the present’s problems for a moment.
“So, you never had any doubts about yourself?”
“Eeyup. It ain’t the same story for everypony, though. Some have always been aware of it, like me, but Ah know ponies that never questioned being straight until they’re adults. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, um, for no reason. I’m just curious about you, since, um … At least I think we’re friends now. Are we?”
“Eeyup.” He smiled and hugged her again.
And Fluttershy sighed, thinking about Rainbow Dash.
On her way back, the argument replayed in Fluttershy’s head. Applejack’s reaction had been even poorer than what she’d expected. She’d told Big Mac that his sister would eventually come to reason, but regardless, Fluttershy was worried. Applejack didn’t know that Rainbow Dash was a lesbian. What if she found out? What would this do to their friendships? And of course, Fluttershy was not okay at all with how she’d acted towards Big Mac.
She was so distracted with her thoughts that at first she didn’t even notice the visitor prowling around her cottage until a movement in the corner of her eye made her look up.
“Hey Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash laughed uneasily. She was standing near the entrance and looked like a dog that was caught making a mess. “You’re back. I’ve been looking for you; just wanted to see if you’re okay, since nopony’s seen you.”
Fluttershy cocked her head. So Rainbow Dash did still care about her?
“I mean, uh … some of the others were a bit worried, and since I was doing some flight training around here anyway I thought it wouldn’t hurt to check on you, right? But, hey, they’ll be so relieved to hear that you’re doing fine.”
Right, her friends worried about her. Not Rainbow. Something inside Fluttershy felt like breaking.
“Rainbow Dash? Can we talk?”
The mare looked at her with the same cold stare that Fluttershy had already seen. “I don’t think I wanna hear it.”
Why did Fluttershy still care about what the mare was thinking of her? She wished she could just pretend they never knew each other; then, maybe, she wouldn’t hurt so much.
“Rainbow Dash, it’s not like you think. I never had anything against gays or lesbians or anypony.”
The mare stopped herself and knit her eyebrows.
“Wait, you don’t? But Twilight said –”
“I have no idea why she thinks that, but it’s not true.”
Rainbow Dash looked taken aback. “Then why didn’t you say anything when she came up with the whole thing?”
Fluttershy didn’t know. She should have been able to. Just like she didn’t know why this conversation was putting her more and more on an edge. Again, there were a lot of things she didn’t understand about herself recently.
Fluttershy tried to stay calm, fighting down tears. “I tried to say something, but you wouldn’t listen – nopony would listen. But I still thought you knew me better than that. I thought my best friend wouldn’t be so quick to just ditch me.”
That seemed to do the trick of making Rainbow Dash think.
“So … you’re okay with … oops.” She ducked her head. Even her eyes, usually so brassy, didn’t dare meet Fluttershy’s anymore.
“I’m so sorry,” Rainbow whispered. “You’re right, I should’ve known better.”
Part of Fluttershy wanted to forgive her; wanted to tell her that it was okay and bury her face in her mane and hug her forever and ever. But the rest of Fluttershy was too angry and too offended to let that happen.
“I’m afraid that sorry won’t do this time,” she said instead. “Not after you’ve let me down like this.”
“Fluttershy, please! I was just scared. I couldn’t take the thought of you being homophobic, so I snapped and … you can’t just leave me alone like this. Y-you wouldn’t, right?”
“But it’s … exactly what you did to me.” Fluttershy took in a deep, shaky breath. “Maybe you should think about that.”
Rainbow Dash stared at her in horror. As soon as she managed to break from her shock, she fled in a rush of feathers and tears.
Fluttershy stood there, frozen, and looked after her friend. She had just made Rainbow Dash cry. As she finally managed to move, she too began to feel tears searching their way down her cheeks. She got inside and collapsed on the floor. Even if what she’d said felt like the truth, she had never wanted to push Rainbow Dash away – it wasn’t meant to be this way. Suppressed whimpers escaped her throat.
A mere hoof’s width from her nose was the mirror. Fluttershy risked a look; the yellow pegasus mare that glanced back was a stranger, a mere excuse for a pony, degenerated to a miserable pile of tear-stained, sobbing hair.
“Oh, Fluttershy …” Her mirror image reached out a hoof to meet hers at the glass, giving her an apologetic look for being such a terrible sight.
So, this was how everything ended?
“You still have Big Macintosh,” she reminded herself. But that thought suddenly felt shallow. He could make for a great best friend, but he wasn’t Rainbow Dash.
She remembered when they were only fillies. Every morning, Rainbow would pick her up and walk her to school. In the beginning, it had been to protect her from a group of bullies who would show up and stop Fluttershy so she couldn’t get to class in time; but even later, they’d never give up what had soon become the best part of their morning routine.
“Rainbow Dash! You came all the way out here. Isn’t this a detour for you?”
“It’s cool. You ready to go?”
Rainbow flew some circles that made Fluttershy dizzy from just looking.
“Um, yes … If you are, that is.”
“Great! Then let’s get going or you’ll be late again!”
She touched down next to her friend, and pushed her forward.
After they walked for a minute, Fluttershy couldn’t stop herself from bringing it up again.
“Really, you shouldn’t have to get up earlier because of me. You live so far out anyway …”
“Fluttershy, when I say it’s cool I mean it, okay? I’m just making sure there’s no reason for the teacher to call you out again.”
“But you work so hard on your flying; I’m you sure need a lot of sleep.”
“It’s alright, I always take lots of naps. Just take it and say thanks, that’s all I need in return.”
“Thank you.” Fluttershy walked closer, about to hug the filly, but then hesitated.
“Oh, I’m sorry, do you like hugs?”
“Well … usually not but, it’s okay, I could make an exception for you.” Without further warning, Rainbow pulled Fluttershy into an unexpectedly tight embrace.
“Eep!”
Fluttershy smiled warmly at the memory. It had taken a while for them to get used to each other’s quirks but, in the end, Rainbow had always been there for her; she’d always gotten out of her way when Fluttershy had needed her. Even if she had failed Fluttershy once, she didn’t deserve to be rejected just because of that.
“You really overreacted, Fluttershy,” mirror Fluttershy told her.
“I know,” she replied. “I was just so upset.”
“But why? Why couldn’t you just take the apology and go back to being friends?”
Fluttershy didn’t have an answer to that. She only knew that she’d possibly destroyed what little was left of their friendship. It wasn’t often that Rainbow Dash cried. In fact, Fluttershy had caught her doing so only one single time, after losing the Best Young Flier’s Competition for the first time. Fluttershy had been in the crowd, waiting for her friend to join the other participants at the award ceremony, but Rainbow had never appeared, so Fluttershy had had run off to search for her.
The sobs were muffled through a chunk of raincloud, but still audible. Tremors ran through the cyan ears. Fluttershy approached Rainbow Dash carefully.
“Rainbow? It’s me.”
“Leave me alone.”
She stopped at that, not sure what to do. It was obvious that her friend needed her, but approaching her against her will – should she do that?
Fluttershy waited, but Rainbow Dash said nothing more.
“Can I come closer, please?”
When there was no answer, she decided to take the risk. She nudged the crying filly’s shoulder and, suddenly, found herself in a feathery mess, a muzzle pressed against her chest. She sat down and lay her foreleg around Dash’s shoulder.
“I know how much you wanted to win and I know you trained really hard for this. But in the end, you were the youngest pony ever competing; nopony expected you to even have a chance.”
“But I could’ve blown the competition away if I got the Rainboom right this time. It sucks that I could pull it off once and then never again.”
“I know.”
Rainbow sniffed. “And I wanted to see Spitfire so much. She’s, like, the greatest pony ever! Have you seen that inverted loop she does in her routine? And she pulls that off just in a breeze.”
“I know, I’ve been to the show with you. And I’m sure you’ll get there one day. But you’re still a filly. You tried your best – nopony can ask for more than that, remember?”
“I’m Rainbow Dash. I can do better than my best! I have to if I want to get into the Wonderbolts, anyway.”
“But if you keep pushing yourself so hard you might get hurt!”
“I’m not scared.”
“But I am! Oh, what would I do if something happened to you?”
Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy for a moment, then rested her head on her shoulder.
“Please,” Fluttershy said, “don’t be too hard with yourself. I think your performance was just lovely, and Princess Celestia looked really impressed, too.”
Rainbow sighed. “You’re right. I’ll just train until I get the Rainboom right and then, when I come back, I’ll be awarded as best young flier for sure!”
“That’s the spirit! And remember, you can always come to me if you’re having a hard time; there’s no need for you to hide yourself away.”
Rainbow Dash grinned and nearly crushed Fluttershy’s ribs with a hug. “You know what? Actually, Spitfire isn’t the greatest pony ever. You are, Fluttershy.”
Tears had begun to roll down Fluttershy’s cheeks without her noticing. She couldn’t imagine living without Rainbow Dash. She needed to get her back.
She wiped at her face and sat up. This was not how it ended. After all the time they’d spent together. The fights they’d fought side by side and the joy they’d shared. No argument in the world could keep them apart, not if she could help it.
And for the first time, Fluttershy realized something. She literally craved for the mare. She wanted to be close to her again, and closer even.
To hear her voice talking to her calmly. To snuggle up to her.
To feel her breath against her nose.
And then …
Her cheeks burned. The mare in the mirror reddened.
“Oh, my.”