//------------------------------// // A Nice Day Out... // Story: Deeper Than Friendship // by JustaninnocentPony //------------------------------// Chapter 11 ------------------- The sun poured through the drawn drapes of the small, cottage bedroom, illuminating everything in its short radius with a dim light. The room was still somewhat dark, but if a pony needed to, they could easily make their way through it now. Rainbow Dash grunted, slowly rising up from the bed and rubbing her head. She licked her chapped lips and stretched out, her joints cracking in complaint. She shook out her mane and lay back on the bed, wishing for sleep to imprison her within its relentless grasp once more. Sadly, after a short period of time it was obvious that she was awake and it was going to stay that way until the sun set again. The blue pony rose once again, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and observing her surroundings. The room she found herself in looked exactly the same as it had the previous night, and with it came back the pleasant memories as well. She smiled, checking the side of the bed adjacent to her, and when her eyes fell upon what it contained her smile only brightened. She soon found herself scooting a bit closer to the left, her hooves slowly wrapping the peacefully sleeping Fluttershy into a tight hug. As soon as the warmth of her companion’s body hit her, Rainbow Dash could feel her heart fast at work again. She was smiling so much she was almost afraid her face would stick in that position, but it didn’t matter; all she cared about right now was lying in the bed and holding onto a very special mare. Thoughts began to carelessly drift in and out of her mind, none of them carrying much importance, most of them were just reminiscing the previous night anyhow. It was a pretty good night, probably up there with the time she won the best young flyer’s competition, or the first time Fluttershy and her had spent the night together. It was amazing, and she was sure she’d remember it for a long time to come. That night had been it, they weren’t friends anymore, they weren’t on the fence and they weren’t friends with benefits. They were together, in love together and in a romantic relationship. And as she held her marefriend close to her body, allowing the warmth to seep into her body, she couldn’t wish for anything more. Fluttershy soon slowly rose, signaling her morning awakening at last. Dash had fallen back asleep and was snoring rather loudly, which is why she probably just woke up. A bright smile on her face, the yellow pony snaked her way out of the blue mare’s hooves and gave her a light kiss on the cheek, and proceeded to get out of bed and walk downstairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she began her morning routine as per usual. Make a quick breakfast (But leave some for Dashie this time), do some minor tiding around the house, go outside to greet and feed all the little critters, tend to her garden, and leave some time for a leisurely shower so she wouldn’t have to rush herself that day to do whatever it was she had planned. Of course on this day it didn’t even matter; she had the whole day to herself, no one to meet at the spa, no one to have lunch with, nowhere to go that she didn’t want to, it was blissful. She almost thought if inviting Dash to spend the day with, unless she was busy herself. How could she be? All she ever does is her weather chores, nap, and show up whenever somepony needs her to; from the long time Fluttershy has known her, the blue Pegasus has rarely ever planned something on her own. The yellow mare let the thought go as she stepped into her shower, giving the faucet a slight touch, allowing the water to come down and pound on her back. She sighed in relaxation as the heated rain drops hit her back, sending waves of comfort over her. Her wings spread out, and she gasped lightly when the water began to pound upon them too, but she didn’t retract. Instead, she allowed her wings to soak in the pounding droplets, each one hitting them hard yet gentle, a rock being thrown by a curious foal with great force into the smooth lake of softness that was her wings and back. Her eyes peacefully closed and a smile spreading across her face. She could just sit here forev- BANG Fluttershy’s eyes popped wide open, and her wings instinctively retracted. She hastily turned off the faucet, grabbed a nearby towel, wrapped it around her body and trotted down stairs. When she reached the bottom there wasn’t a pony in sight, so she called out lightly, moving into her main room. “I’m in here Fluttershy!” Dash’s voice called out from the kitchen. The yellow Pegasus made her way over to the kitchen door “Also…sorry,” Fluttershy stopped and stared blankly at the door, as if her marefriend was looking back at her through it. “Sorry for what?” She asked in curiosity as she opened the door. Upon seeing what had occurred, she gave a frustrated facehoof. “I said sorry,” Dash innocently repeated. “Sorry doesn’t fix my broken flower pots,” Fluttershy replied as the flier nervously shuffled through the dirt and clay shards on the floor to find a broom. After sweeping up the mess she apologized once more, but was soon cut off by the frustrated pony. “It’s alright Dash; I wanted to go do something today anyhow. I guess buying a new flower pot is something,” Fluttershy stated half-heartedly “Would you like to join me?” After she asked her question there was a short pause, she looked over to see Dash had turned deathly white, as if something had her petrified to the core “Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash swallowed, nodding lightly “As a couple?” she asked with a twinge of nervousness in her tone. The caretaker gave her a confused look, and slowly answered yes. “In public?” another yes “together?” yes. “Dash? Is something wrong? Do you… do you have a problem with being seen with me in public? If, if you do, you can stay here or leave, it…it’s okay,” Fluttershy’s voice strained as she talked, the pain in her voice clearly making no attempt to hide itself. Rainbow Dash cringed at this as she looked over, the timid pony gave her a smile back, but Dash could already see the tears welling up in her eyes. The thought of being seen as a lesbian in public made her want to fly to the nearest bush and hide until nightfall. But… this relationship had only really started just a night ago, and Celestia damn her if she was going to let it end so easily! Fluttershy gasped as she felt a pair of strong, yet careful hooves whisking her into a tight and loving embrace. The yellow Pegasus sniffled, but buried her head into her companion’s neck none the less. Dash soothed her comfortably, petting her mane lightly for a brief moment before letting go to look at her. The flier took a deep breath, closing her eyes as if she were imagining all of the horrible possibilities and exploring each one like a curious filly looking through a chest of toys for the right stuffed animal. After a pause, she opened her eyes again. “No Fluttershy, I don’t have a problem being seen with you in public; in fact, I’d love to go out with you,” the rainbow maned pony said with a reassuring smile. At the sound of her words, Fluttershy’s face brightened up, and she sniffled before looking up at the pony in front of her once more. “Y-You sure?” She asked, her voice quivering a bit. Dash didn’t say anything in return, but walked forward, offering her foreleg to the pony. Fluttershy looked, smiling and blushing vibrantly at the same time. She quickly dried herself off with the bath towel, rushing to throw it in the nearby laundry basket before returning to take the leg. The blue pony let her forward, leg in leg as they walked out the front door and towards Ponyville proper. *** “Oh that one’s perfect!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she rushed up to a nearby pottery stand, Dash following close behind. The sports pony stood closely behind as her marefriend inspected the pot, looking it all over as if she expected it to be somehow tampered with. “No, this won’t do,” setting the pot down, the pony ran over to the next stand that sold a plant, inspecting that one too as Dash struggled to keep up. ‘When did she get so fast’ she thought to herself through deep and exhausted breaths ‘And how freaking hard is it to find and buy a flower pot! It’s not like they put firecrackers in the things’. “Yes! This is it! How much?!” Dash took a breath of relief as she observed her companion staring up eagerly at the half-awake, half-asleep merchant. The gruff-looking stallion shook his head in tired frustration as he checked a few pieces of parchment below. “10 bits,” he responded, his voice lacking even the smallest trace of care. Dash usually wasn’t one to examine small details, or care much about random ponies in the town, but she had to ask herself why that pony is running a flower shop instead of someone like Rose; he doesn’t seem in the right… spirit for it. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as Fluttershy joined her side again, her pouch 1 pound heavier but 10 bits lighter. The blue coated pony smiled, that wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be; hay, she was willing to bet that nopony even thought that they were a couple, just two crazy Pegasi passing through. As she started the walk back to Fluttershy’s cottage, expecting the yellow mare to be right beside her, she heard a voice calling to her from behind. “Uh…. Dashie?” Fluttershy asked nervously. Dash turned around, walking back up to the yellow coated Pegasus. “Yea?” “I know I only said we’d be coming out to get a flower pot…but…” she trailed off, seeming like she wanted to ask but at the same time didn’t. “But…” “Well… It’s very nice out… and I was just wondering, I mean if it didn’t embarrass you to,” Fluttershy’s voice cracked with pain when saying that word “Can we go out to lunch? On me,” Well there goes the easy trip “Is that a no..?” The yellow mare asked half out of curiosity and half out of possible disappointment. The flier shook her head, breaking out of her minor comatose. “Uh…” As the blue mare began, the pony facing her looked up, her eyes bright and wide, containing depths of hope and the fear of the one answer she dreaded. Dash swallowed hard, trying to shove the fear she had herself down her throat; she had to pull through this, she couldn’t live with herself if she let Fluttershy get hurt, especially if it was over as something as dumb as this “What restaurant did you have in mind?” “Well… how about the Leafy Salad?” Fluttershy suggested “Isn’t that on the other side of town?” Dash replied, cocking her head in uncertainty a bit. “Don’t we have all day?” The yellow mare retorted in a tone that more asked ‘Please go with me’ than how much time they had. “Fine, let’s go,” Dash said, rolling her eyes as her marefriend’s squee of delight silently hummed in her ear like a sweet little butterfly, reminding her why she was going along with the possibility of being found out publicly in the first place. Before she had time to react, Fluttershy lightly tugged on her hoof, signaling for her to follow. Keeping a smile plastered over her worried and guilt-covered face Dash followed suite, grabbing her marefriend by the foreleg. Though it probably wasn’t of much importance, the blue mare could swear that she already saw a few ponies giving them odd looks, as if they were one step closer, one thin wall of narrow-sited prejudice away from figuring out the truth, and never letting her (or even worse Fluttershy) hear the end of it. *** Dash panted, sweat beading down her forehead as she galloped forward at crippling speeds. Every time she had a chance to she took gulps of air, slowing down but never allowing herself to come to a stop. This was too important, too important to stop, too important to let it slip like a piece of paper out of her sweat drenched hooves. She continued her run, jumping over several gaps and hazards on the ground below, the smoky air around her nearly causing several misses. She jumped a chasm, using her wings to glide over safely to the other side. She then jumped another, then another, then another; until she just let her wings stay out instead of closing them at every landing. Eventually she found herself flapping her wings to stay afloat, soaring through the darkened sky with a dimmer rainbow trail than the usual one she leaves in her wake. The blue mare checked all around her, every single corner of the endless wall of smoke, all to no avail. Where was her friend? Where could she be? Instantaneously she felt herself plummeting to the ground, an acute pain on the side of her stomach. Had somepony hit her? Thrown something at her? All of her thoughts were broken into glass shards as she hit the floor with devastating force, skidding forward several feet before coming to a rough stop. The mare groaned, pulling her bruised and battered body off of the crash zone. She shook her dusty mane out of her eyes, creaking the two shields open to reveal what lie before her. Her heart stopped, her breath slowed to a shuddering chill, and she began to shake violently all over. No, not again, not this again. Before her rested her yellow friend’s bloody and cut body, just like she had witnessed before. She felt a tight fear gripping her heat, and her every move, and she couldn’t move a muscle. Even when she could, her movements seemed as slow as molasses She wanted to break out, wanted to run forward and cradle the heaping mess of Fluttershy that lay so lifeless on the floor, as if it were hanging on to the last thread of dear life it could find in this sea of darkness. But sadly she couldn’t, she couldn’t move at all. All around her blank faces started appearing, carrying colors of ponies she knew, ponies she respected and chatted with daily. But these weren’t those ponies, these weren’t even ponies, they were faceless heads floating all around, staring at it with their invisible disapproving gaze. She could here soft chuckles emerging from them, as if the lifeless masks were now mocking her, mocking the pain she fell for her fallen lover. Ridicule, one of the things she feared most beyond all else. Yet, instead of cringing like some frightened foal, she burned deep inside, a fire igniting in the cold walls of her chest. How dare they laugh! How dare they mock this! She loves that pony and for all she cares everybody else could die. Suddenly, as if an incantation had been broken, she could feel her muscles move into action once more, acting like they had minds of their own as they carried as quickly as they could to her motionless mate. She galloped towards the lifeless body, scooping it up in her hooves and holding it close to her. She put her ear to the pony’s chest, listening for a pulse. Thankfully, she felt a weak beating coming from the chest, coupled with an even weaker breathing. Fluttershy was alive, but in horrible condition. And the fact that the faceless masks around her were still laughing made her want to hurt someone, hurt something, hurt them. The mare gently set her marefriend back on the ground, careful not to damage her any further than she already had been. She then turned, her direction towards the laughing abominations. “You. Will. Not. LAUGH AT THIS!” Rainbow Dash Hollered, spreading out her wings and taking to the sky, flying headfirst at her enemy. “Dash…” The daredevil stopped, whirling around to see what had called her. It…it was Fluttershy, and she was barely moving, barely croaking out her name in desperation. “Dash…” Her voice sounded again, softly but urgently. Rainbow wasted no time make the descent back to the yellow colored Pegasus, crouching down close to her body. “Yes, Fluttershy, What is it?” She asked, her voice stained with worry “Dash…” “I’m here, I’m here,” Dash held Fluttershy close to her, as close as a pony could hold another one. “Dash…” Fluttershy repeated relentlessly. The Rainbow Maned pony held her even closer, tears streaming out of her eyes as she rocked back and forth. “I’m here Fluttershy, I’m here and nopony can hurt you anymore… I won’t let them, ever,” Upon finishing her sentence, the cream Pegasus quieted down, tugging to pull herself closer to the mare holding her. Dash cried, her grip tightening and tightening by the moment. She didn’t want to let go, and she wouldn’t. “Dash…” “Dash…” “Dash…” “DASH!” *** “Dash!” Fluttershy called out in moderate frustration. Rainbow sprung to life, her eyes popping open wider than a gymnastics pony doing the splits. She pulled herself off of her metallic pillow, wiping her drool off with a nearby napkin. Throwing the napkin aside, she turned her focus back to the mare facing her, or rather, giving her a dirty look. “Did, did I fall asleep?” She barely muttered, rubbing the crust out of her eyes. “Yeah, we got to our table and you just dropped like a rock on it, I had to wake you up because our meal is here now,” Fluttershy stated. Dash stared down at her meal with little appetite, and pushed it to the side. What was with that dream? Those faces? She’s never had dreams like that before; nightmares, sure. But that, that was downright terrifying. She could tell that Fluttershy knew she was feeling uneasy, because when she looked up the mare was giving her a concerned stare, something she usually reserved for injure friends or animals, when she was really worried. “Are… Are you alright Dashie?” “Yeah, just, just an odd dream,” The rainbow maned pony lied as she looked off to the side, observing the environment. Yep, they were definitely at the other side of town now, The Leafy Salad. Her hooves ached, and if it wasn’t for her wings she’d be scraping together what money she had on her to take a carriage home. Fluttershy gazed worriedly at her, getting up from her seat and moving to the sky blue pony. She quietly buried her head into her companion’s neck, nuzzling gently. Dash nearly jumped at the feeling, but settled down when she saw who it was, which caused her to become even more nervous. ‘please, not in public, not in public’ she thought in desperation, about ready to gently prod the shy pony off of her. But she stopped herself when the dream instantly hit her blank wall of memory with a splash of clear paint, and she allowed Fluttershy to go on. Ponies seemed to be too caught up with their business and gatherings to notice anyhow, so Dash sinked into the nuzzle, allowing the feeling of her marefriend’s warm head to rub against her neck. Her stress and disturbance drowned out in a pool of enjoyment and bliss as she closed her eyes, lightly pulling the mare closer to her. Fluttershy moved closer too, pulling herself up onto Dash’s lap, and resting snuggly against her body. The whole world around them seemed to melt, and every issue worried about previously faded out into the distance. Fluttershy shifted around, turning to face Dash and putting her hooves on the flier’s chest. Dash looked down to her, blushing lightly but doing nothing to stop it when the caretaker leaned up, pressing her lips against hers. The kiss was a passionate explosion of love, and the two remained locked in an embrace for what they hoped would be an eternity. ‘Is anypony even watching or curious’ the thought nagged at the back of the blue mare’s mind, and she quickly buried it there; it didn’t matter, all that mattered was right here and now. They moved closer, and closer, and closer, as close as two bodies could possibly be as they remained locked in their romantic prison, oblivious to anything and everything going on around them. The kiss was fantastic, it was one of the first times Dash actually felt something when she kissed another pony. She didn’t even know how to begin to describe it. It contained the surprise and adrenaline filled nature of pulling off a sonic rainboom, and speeding through the broken sound barrier; but at the same time, it carried a gentle nature with it, something that softly tugged on her heartstrings like a pony playing the lyre. It was so incredible, the two pulled back, romantically gazing into each other’s eyes. Smiling, it seemed apparent to both of them that they were going to go in for another kiss, until they’re bubble of bliss was instantly popped. “Heya’ Guys!” Pinkie Pie shouted with delight as she bounced up to the two ponies now desperately trying to get out of their embrace. Hastily returning to her chair opposite of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy quickly turned around to face her cotton candy maned friend nonchalantly, as did Dash. The pink mare reached their table, giggling like a little schoolfilly and looking at them strangely. “H-Hey Pink, W-What’s up?” The flier asked, nervousness cracking in her voice. The pony only giggled more after she spoke, to the point where she had to force herself to stop so she could breathe. She calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye as the last few giggles escaped her mouth. “W-W-W-What’s so funny, if you can tell me that is,” Fluttershy squeaked, lowering herself a bit under the table in the cute embarrassed way she acts sometimes. This only caused Pinkie Pie to laugh more, until nearly everypony and their foal was staring over with interest. Rainbow Dash began to sweat under so many eyes, and she can feel herself telling Pinkie Pie to calm down through gritted teeth. “S-Sorry girls, it’s just so adorable how you try to make it look like you were sitting here across from each other the whole time,” Pinkie said, pausing to sigh out of laughter, she then moved up knowingly to Dash, as if she were going to whisper in her ear “When you were really not,” “W-What are you talkin’ about Pinkie? We’ve been sitting here eating our food the entire time,” Dash lied, trying her best to hide her blushing face. “Hehe, You don’t have to lie to Aunt Pinkie girls, I was on my way over here to buy some soap for Gummy at the general store, and on my path to the shop I happen to see two lovey-dovey love dove birds holding each other like there’s no tomorrow,” Pinkie said with a smile, making no attempt to keep the matter quiet. More ponies began to stare over, keeping their attention fixed on the scene. Rainbow Dash began to feel herself sweat even more, trying her best Fluttershy impersonation as she move closer to Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie! Shhh! No one in public knows about it yet, so keep it that wa-” “Nopony knows you two are together yet?!” Pinkie Pie nearly shouted, lifting herself and Dash back over the table “Wow, that’s such a surprise because you two are so cute with each other like that!” “Pinkie!” Rainbow said urgently, her face growing hotter by the moment. “Oooo! This gives me an idea!” The pink mare eagerly said as she rushed forward into the middle of the outside dining area, where many ponies at this point were staring at her. Dash quickly tapped her marefriend’s hoof, gesturing for her to follow. “But I want to hear what Pinkie has in mind,” The yellow Pegasus said innocently. “Fluttershy, we got to go, now!” “But” “Now!” Dash repeated in a hushed whisper, Fluttershy reluctantly got up from her seat, beginning to follow the hastily moving Rainbow Dash. But it was already too late; their escape was faulted when the pink mare’s voice sounded loudly behind them. “Listen up everypony! My two good friends Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy,” she stopped to gesture a hoof to the two ponies, Dash standing still in fright but Fluttershy acting as normal as ever “Are together in a relationship!” upon her finishing the sentence there was a collection of surprised gasps and disgusted looks “I know right?! Nopony has even thrown a party for it yet! Which is just where my plan comes in! I plan to throw a party for these two love birds! To celebrate their newfound love!” Pinkie was excited and happy when she announced her plan, but her elated eagerness wasn’t met with the ponies enjoying their meals. “Ewww! They’re both mares!” One mare said in disgust. “Why are they together?! It’s wrong!” A deep-voiced stallion agreed in anger. “Take your ‘love’ somewhere else!” A mare shouted, rushing her foals away from the area. Dash started to sweat bullets, quickly turning her head from side to side, looking for some escape route. Away from the hate, away from the pain and fear. She did a 180, and when she saw her marefriend her feeling of fear melted away. Fluttershy, in tears was crouching and shaking in a huddled position, her quiet sobs barely heard over the hateful slurs being thrown at them. The missing fear was soon replaced with a boiling and heated anger as Dash was instantly reminded of her dream, of those judgmental, lifeless, hateful faces. Dash instantly sprang into action, taking a defensive, furious stance, facing the hateful ponies” “ALL OF YOU SHUT THE BUCK UP!” The mare shouted, anger rooted deeply within her voice. Several ponies gasped, giving even move disgusted looks. ‘First they’re homosexual, now they’re cursing’ they think, not taking time to consider anything but their own narrow views. “Leave her alone!” she shouted even louder. Fluttershy’s eyes popped wide open, the memories of a filly inside her reawakened with those three words. A small and stout rainbow maned filly protecting her from two mean and horrible colts, anger brewing in her tone as she stood alone for her and her alone; the seeds of protection, love, and friendship were planted then, and she was now looking towards the fully grown plant, blossoming in beauty at its full bloom. She could still see past her marefriend’s legs, to the angry and disturbed ponies. She was still scared; she still needed to get away from all of this. But the fact that a blue mare was standing in front of her, one that was petrified of something like this, to defend her from those hateful ponies, warmed her heart and softened the impact of each hurtful word. She could feel herself slowly standing, joining her companion against the wave of enemies. Apart they were weak, apart they couldn’t handle it, but together it was like they were protected by a shield of magic conjured up by the princesses themselves. That all lasted, until the first stone was thrown. A teenage unicorn, lifting it up in an aura of magic, threw the object up and over, and it came to a clean hit on the yellow mare’s muzzle. She squeaked, feeling the warm blood beginning to ooze from her mouth. She whimpered, feeling tears in the corner of her eyes as she fought to hold her stance. Rainbow Dash felt herself growling deeply, that was the last straw. But, before she could act more stones came over and down; she, with her athletic skills and cat-like reflexes was able to dodge most of them. But when she looked over, Fluttershy was being pelted by the hard thrown objects, becoming bruised and bloody in many places. The mare began to cry, running away in the other direction and taking off to the sky. “Fluttershy!” Dash shouted, beginning to run after her before she turned around, facing the hateful crowd one last time. Her eyes fell upon Pinkie Pie, who had a look of utter defeat and depression on her face, she had failed her friends, and she had just had a little bit of her innocence token briskly from her filly-like grasp. Dash silently mouthed forgiving words to her, before addressing the rest “I hope you all get a nice and cozy spot in hell!” She screamed, her voice full of pure hatred. She turned around, taking off to the sky in fast pursuit of her marefriend, hoping to everything that was still good in this world that she hadn’t gone too far. The citizens below looked away, their faces bearing the pleasure of being rid of two filly fooling ponies. They went back to their activities that had been so rudely interrupted a moment ago. In the center of the plaza, defeated and distraught, stood a pink pony with a frown taking over her once happy face. “Damn your loud mouth, Pinkie…” She whispered disappointedly to herself. END