A Slice of Flutterdash

by UnlicensedBrony


2 - Rendezvous (Swarm of the Century)

“So, I was gonna take you to this restaurant on Quill Street,” said Rainbow, as she and Fluttershy walked across the grassy fields outside of Ponyville. “But it turns out that the parasprites kind of... ate it. Along with every other restaurant in town.”

Fluttershy hung her head a little. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault. I mean, those things were weirdly cute – like irresistible cute.” Rainbow stuck out her tongue. “They even got me to adopt one, and that's saying something. Anyway, since they basically ate my plan, I had to throw something together, last minute.”

“Is that where we're going?” Fluttershy asked, glancing at Rainbow and then looking ahead. They'd been walking for almost ten minutes since they left Ponyville – and the grass was tall and thick here, where ponies hadn't passed through.

“Yeah, it's just up this hill,” said Rainbow. She nodded straight ahead, and Fluttershy found herself smiling. Ten minutes might not have been a lot, but at Rainbow's pace, her legs were getting tired very quickly. She hoped that whatever Rainbow's 'date' was, it would involve some measure of sitting down.

They crested the small hill, and the grass was somewhat lower at the top – only coming up to Fluttershy's knees now. In the middle of the hill's plateau though, the grass lay completely flat beneath a square Wonderbolts blanket. Atop the blanket there was a handled wicker basket, and atop that, a bouquet of yellow flowers.

“A picnic,” Fluttershy breathed. “And... flowers?”

Rainbow stepped onto the corner of the blanket and turned to give her a sheepish grin. “Heh. Surprise. The picnic's to share, flowers are for you.”

Fluttershy's smile widened as her eyes flicked between the blanket, flowers and basket. She felt a bubbling in her chest, and she couldn't help but let out a little squeal of excitement. “Oh, Rainbow, thank you!” She slid closer and brushed her cheek up against Rainbow's in affection. Rainbow squinted with one eye and grinned.

When Fluttershy pulled back and looked over the scene once more though, something occurred to her. Her smile fell. “Oh goodness, but I didn't get you any flowers.”

“Ah, I'm not really a 'flowers' kind of girl,” said Rainbow with a shrug. “Anyway, don't sweat it – this is my treat. You can do next time if you want.”

“But--” Fluttershy met Rainbow's smiling eyes, and struggled to argue with them. Though she hadn't thought to get Rainbow anything, it was Rainbow's treat... Eventually, she found her smile again and nodded. “Okay.”

The two of them sat down on the soft blanket, and Fluttershy moved the flowers to her side whilst Rainbow unpacked the basket's contents. There was a lot more inside than seemed like should've fit. Two plates, two glasses, a large apple pie, two cupcakes, six different sandwiches and two packets of hay crisps joined the flask of apple juice on the blanket.

“Goodness, you really made all this, just for me?”

Rainbow shrugged as she started dividing up the food. “Well, I didn't really make any of it.” She frowned. “Thinking about it, I guess I didn't really do anything.”

Fluttershy tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“I've never done a picnic before,” said Rainbow. “I never even thought of it. After I found out the restaurant was closed, I was pretty lost for what to do. I'm not good at this romantic stuff. But I wanted today to be special, you know? So, I went and asked for help. The picnic was actually Rarity's idea.”

Fluttershy's eyes slowly widened into a look of shock. “R-Rarity?”

“I didn't tell her it was for you,” Rainbow said. “Just that it was for 'a mare I like'.”

“Oh. Good.” Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh. “Um, sorry. Go on.”

“Yeah, so, talking to Rarity about a date was kind of a pain, but I didn't have much choice – she knows more about this stuff than anypony I know.” Rainbow paused to pour apple juice into the two glasses, then nudged one towards Fluttershy. She took it in her hooves and sipped at it whilst Rainbow continued. “I had to play twenty questions with her before she'd tell me, but eventually she said that a picnic is great first date material. And to bring some flowers.”

“Oh, I see.”

“She didn't say what kind though, so I had to fly all the way across town to that stall Roseluck set up after the parasprites 'happened'. I--” Rainbow smirked. “--Heh, spent about half an hour trying to tell her 'what kind of mare I was dating' without telling her it was you...”

Fluttershy swallowed her mouthful of apple juice and glanced down at the blanket, as the matter came up for the second time. “It's not that we're keeping it a secret--”

“No, totally,” Rainbow agreed, with an emphatic shake of her head. “We're just not going around telling everypony right away.”

“Right,” said Fluttershy.

“Yup.”

Fluttershy cleared her throat with a squeak and smiled at Rainbow, prompting her to go on.

“Uh, where was I? Right, flowers. So once I managed to tell her it was for someone 'a lot like you', she sold me those.” Rainbow nodded at the flowers. “And then I had to fly all the way over to Applejack's farm to pick up some of the good stuff.”

“Um?”

“Apple juice,” Rainbow clarified. “And the pie. Heck, I got the plates from her too.”

“So, what you're saying is, you didn't make or choose any of this – you just went around town and picked it all up?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” said Rainbow, with an apologetic smile. “Like I said, I'm not good at this romantic stuff.”

Fluttershy blinked at her for a moment, then smiled and shook her head. “I think you're better at it than you realise.”

Rainbow raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything.

Fluttershy got up and moved over to sit at Rainbow's side. Their wings brushed as she sat down, but she hardly noticed. “This--” She traced a hoof through the air, guiding Rainbow's eyes across the picnic. “--is absolutely lovely.”

“Yeah. But I didn't really do any of it.”

“But you did – you did all of it,” said Fluttershy. “You asked Rarity what made a picnic special, even though you felt uncomfortable. You spent hours flying all across town to find everything. And you even got Roseluck to pick out the most romantic flowers for me.” She finished with a warm smile on her face.

“I... Huh.” Rainbow turned her gaze upwards for a moment, screwing up her face in thought. It made Fluttershy giggle. Finally, Rainbow found her grin again, and turned to meet Fluttershy's eyes. “I guess I did do something.”

Fluttershy nodded. “You went out of your way to make this afternoon special. And it is. I think this is just about the most romantic thing anypony has ever done for me.” She smiled wider. “Thank you, Rainbow.”

Rainbow's grin turned into a much more subdued smile. “For real?”

Fluttershy nodded again.

“Ah, well,” said Rainbow. “When you put it like that, I guess that I... I'm...” She trailed off. A second later, Fluttershy realised why.

They were close. Very close. She really hadn't meant to get that close, but now their wings were touching, and their eyes were literally a hoof's distance apart. Fluttershy became acutely aware of the deep magenta of Rainbow's eyes. She couldn't remember ever seeing them this close, and for this long – usually Fluttershy would break contact before that could happen. But now...

Rainbow's eyes flicked down to Fluttershy's lips, and Fluttershy found herself mirroring the gesture. Her heart had started hammering. Her cheeks burned fiercely. She tried to say something, but her mouth only opened an inch, and no sound came out. Fluttershy wasn't sure who stared moving first – it was like she was watching from outside her body as she and Rainbow leaned towards one another.

Rainbow stopped before the touch and moved back a fraction of an inch. Fluttershy hesitated. She'd later recognise the gesture for what it was, but right then, her mind was completely blank. She wanted nothing more to lean in and kiss Rainbow Dash.

So she did.


When the touch finally broke – or more accurately, it melted away – Fluttershy's eyes drifted open. The two pulled back so that they were a hoof's distance apart again. Fluttershy stared at Rainbow's chest, breathing with a little labour through her nose. She dared not to look up into her eyes again.

“D-did we just...?” said Fluttershy.

In the corner of her eye, Fluttershy saw Rainbow lick her lips – a nervous gesture, she thought. “Yeah.”

“...Did you like it?”

“Heck yeah.”

Fluttershy found her nerve again. She lifted her head, tipped her mane out of her face and smiled sweetly into Rainbow's eyes. “Me too,” she said.

And they kissed, again.

...and again. And again...

It turned out picnics were great first date material after all.

* * *