//------------------------------//
// Broken Hearts 
// Story: Break Your Heart 
// by LoZLttP13 
//------------------------------//

The birds sang outside, awakening Rainbow. She tiredly opened her eyes. Upon seeing where she was, she bolted upright and gasped.

It was morning, and she was in Fluttershy's bed. Sunlight was streaming through the windows, and the sheets under Rainbow were still damp with tears and sweat. Her mane was very messy, and her eyes were sore from tiredness and crying.

From downstairs, Rainbow could faintly hear Fluttershy humming. Rainbow smiled; she sounded very happy.

Rainbow walked downstairs to find that Fluttershy was preparing blueberry crepes and hash browns. As she flew between her cupboards and stove, she had a blissful smile and was humming a sweet, romantic tune.

"Hey, Fluttershy," Rainbow said.

Fluttershy turned to Rainbow. "Oh! Hello, Dashie!" she said.

Fluttershy took some salt, shook a little into a bowl full of batter, and began mixing it. "I'm making us breakfast," she said.

Rainbow blushed. Neither she nor Fluttershy had ever made breakfast for each other; after all, that was something only couples did. "Yeah, um... thanks, Flutters," Rainbow said.

Fluttershy smiled affectionately at her, and Rainbow embarrassedly cleared her throat. "I'm, uh... can I use your shower?"

"Of course," Fluttershy replied.

"Thanks," Rainbow said, and she trotted to the bathroom to clean herself off.

As Rainbow stood below the seaming streams of water, she rinsed out her mildly-stinging eyes and washed out all of her sweat. After she had shampooed her mane, she relaxed and smiled at the memory of last night. "That," Rainbow muttered, "is now officially the best night of my life."

Rainbow couldn't help but wonder, however, what she was going to do next. Were she and Fluttershy a couple now? What would they do about it? When and how were they going to tell the others? How would they deal with the inevitable emotional breakdowns of Pinkie and Scootaloo?

Rainbow sighed wearily, turned the shower off, picked up a towel, and dried herself off.

When Rainbow returned, Fluttershy had set the table and was waiting for her. Rainbow smiled thankfully and gave Fluttershy a quick peck on the lips; she found herself blushing intensely over it, as she'd never done so before. Fluttershy giggled and also blushed a little.

"So," Rainbow said, "Are we, like... girlfriends now?"

"If you want to be," Fluttershy replied simply.

Rainbow grinned. "Yeah, I think I want to be."

As they served themselves their breakfast, Rainbow asked, "So, what do we do now?"

Fluttershy shrugged. "I suppose we do whatever feels right. After all, that's what we should have done in the first place."

Rainbow laughed. "Yeah, you're right. We totally should've."

After a few moments of silence, Fluttershy said, "Um, Dashie, can I... um, ask you something?"

"Sure you can," Rainbow replied.

"Well, um, it's just that... well... it's probably a bit... unpleasant, and... I don't want to spoil the mood..."

Rainbow considered it for a moment, then shrugged dismissively. "Meh. Go ahead. It can't be that bad."

"Oh, alright..." Fluttershy said.

After Fluttershy stared at her crepes for a moment, she said, "Why were you crying last night, Rainbow?"

Rainbow sighed. "Alright. This might take a while..."

Rainbow retold everything that had happened to her over the past two days, and at the end Fluttershy was staring at her with great distress. "S-Scootaloo tried to sleep with you?"

Rainbow nodded somberly. "Yeah."

Fluttershy covered her mouth. "Oh my goodness... Is she alright? Did something happen to her?"

Rainbow shrugged. "I don't know yet."

"And, is Pinkie alright? After what Gilda did..."

"I think she'll be okay. But speaking of Pinkie and Scootaloo..."

Rainbow frowned anxiously at Fluttershy. "When are we going to tell everypony? And what are we going to do about Pinkie and Scoots?"

Fluttershy swallowed. "Well, I... I think we should tell everypony soon, but... I just want to spend more time with you today."

Rainbow smiled. "Yeah. Alright, then- let's tell everypony tomorrow, and just relax and take it easy today."

Fluttershy smiled back and nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's."

Rainbow briefly flew out to check in a day of vacation time at the weather patrol, and then she returned to Fluttershy, and the two of them enjoyed a quiet, uneventful afternoon together. They read, ate, changed Fluttershy's bedding, and napped together on the bed. Rainbow had forgotten how much she loved just letting the hours slip away with Fluttershy.

The next day, they went to each of their friends' doors to announce their relationship to them. They began with Twilight; when they knocked at her door, she opened it, took a look at them, and smiled. "You two are together now?" she said.

Rainbow threw her foreleg around Fluttershy. "Obviously."

Twilight gave a hug to each of them, and Fluttershy said, "Thank you, Twilight," as she received hers.

As Twilight stood back from them, she said, "I'm glad you two seem to be happy. You've been through a lot."

"Yeah," Rainbow agreed.

Spike scampered to Twilight's side, and upon seeing Rainbow's foreleg draped around Fluttershy's shoulders he said, "Hey! Are you two Special Someponies now?"

"Guess so," Rainbow replied simply.

Spike grinned. "That's great! You guys make a great couple!"

Twilight nodded. "I think we should write to Celestia about this. Spike, I hope you're ready to write a looooong letter."

Spike folded his arms and grumbled, "Aw, come on... I was just about to go bowling..."

Twilight giggled and said to Rainbow and Fluttershy, "I'll see you two later."

Rainbow and Fluttershy bid Twilight farewell, then they went to see Rarity. She, too, responded by hugging both of them, expressing great happiness for them, and giving deep congratulations to them. When they told Applejack, she reacted exactly how they expected her to: she was disapproving, but tolerant.

When they went to tell Scootaloo, Rainbow said to Fluttershy, "Are you sure you want to be here? I mean, Scootaloo might get pissed at you..."

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. I must face her sooner or later, and I want to help her as much as I can if she'll let me."

Rainbow nodded apprehensively.

When they arrived at Scootaloo's tent, Rainbow gently called, "Hey, Scootaloo?"

They heard some rustling from inside the tent, then the flap unzipped and Scootaloo poked her head out. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and she seemed depressed. "Hey, Rainbow," she said.

"Hey, Scoots. You alright?" Rainbow said.

"I'll get better," Scootaloo replied. She looked at Fluttershy. "So, are you Rainbow's girlfriend now?" she asked.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes."

Scootaloo sighed. Rainbow asked, "Are you upset?"

"Not that you have a girlfriend," Scootaloo said. "Just that I don't have you yet."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "'Yet'?"

Scootaloo smirked at her. "Yeah. I might not have Rainbow now, but mark my words: give me a few years, and she'll be mine!"

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow said. "What if I'm still with Fluttershy by then?"

"Then she'll be mine, too," Scootaloo replied.

Fluttershy blushed and Scootaloo laughed. "See you later, Dash," she said, and she went back into her tent.

As Rainbow and Fluttershy walked away, Rainbow chuckled and said, "We'll see, Scoots. We'll see..."

They then went to Sugar Cube Corner to see Pinkie. When they entered and the Cakes greeted them, Fluttershy said, "We need to see Pinkie."

Mrs. Cake nodded and said, "Just a second." She went upstairs to summon her employee, and after a few moments Pinkie came bounding down the stairs. "Hi, Dashie! Hi, Fluttershy!" She cried cheerfully.

"Hey, Pinkie," Rainbow replied. She said anxiously, "Um, Pinkie, we have something to tell you."

Pinkie nodded. "Okay! What is it, Dashie?"

Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy. "Well, Pinkie, Flutters and I... well, we're, um, together now."

Pinkie's smile disappeared. "You are?" she asked quietly.

Rainbow and Fluttershy nodded.

"Oh," Pinkie said.

Tears began welling in Pinkie's eyes. "I need to be alone," she said, and she sullenly plodded back upstairs.

Rainbow and Fluttershy gazed concernedly after Pinkie for a moment, then turned and left together.

Pinkie's friends didn't see her for several days. During that time, Twilight took Scootaloo to a child psychiatrist and then personally interviewed her. Both drew the same conclusion: Scootaloo hadn't been abused, but a lack of oversight or parenting had lead to her disturbingly early sexual precociousness.

When they hadn't seen Pinkie in four days, Rainbow grew worried and went to Sugar Cube Corner to see her. When she went to Pinkie's room, she found the pink Earth pony curled up under her blankets with several empty margarita bottles scattered around the floor. When Rainbow went to the bed and prodded Pinkie Pie, she poked her head out and turned to Rainbow. Her mane was straight and horrendously tangled, she smelled awful, and she was obviously deeply depressed.

"Are you okay, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.

Pinkie smiled. "Of course I am. I'm doing great."

Rainbow glanced at the empty liquor bottles. "Uh, Pinkie, you've been drinking."

"Of course I've been!" Pinkie replied. "But I've only been drinking a little! You always have some cider when you're upset, Dashie!"

"Not this much," Rainbow replied. "And we haven't seen you in four days."

"Exactly! I'm doing really well! I'll be back out in about three more days!"

Rainbow stared astonishedly at Pinkie. "You know exactly when you'll stop being depressed?"

"Of course I do! Everypony does!" Pinkie replied exasperatedly.

After blinking a few times, Rainbow asked, "So how long would you hole up in here if you were doing badly?"

Pinkie looked up, thinking about it. "I'm not sure. I've never done badly before. But I imagine that I'd have to be in here for two or three months."

"...What would make it so that you were doing badly?" Rainbow asked.

"All of my friends or family dying in a train crash," Pinkie replied. 

Rainbow shrugged. "Seems fair. So, you're really gonna be alright, Pinkie?"

"Not until three days, but yes. I'll be completely okay then."

"Are you angry at me or Fluttershy at all?"

Pinkie giggled. "Of course not! I'm happy for both of you, and Fluttershy's very lucky!" She frowned. "I only wish that it could've been me..."

Rainbow smiled sadly. "Yeah."

Rainbow hugged Pinkie, and then Pinkie cheerfully declared, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my moping. Bye, Dashie!"

She flashed Rainbow a smile, then reassumed her morose frown and returned to her fetal position beneath her blankets.

As Pinkie promised, after three days she was up and about again, as excitable and chipper as ever. Rainbow could tell that Pinkie was still in love with her, but they were able to go back to just being friends again, and Rainbow was deeply grateful for that. She wouldn't have wished for it any differently.

After talking with Fluttershy and Twilight about it for a while, Rainbow asked Scootaloo if she'd like to live in her house with her. Scootaloo eagerly accepted, and was able to move into one of Rainbow's empty rooms. After she did, Rainbow gave her her old collection of porn magazines, to which Scootaloo smirked and said, "Fluttershy making you get rid of 'em?"

"No," Rainbow replied. "I just don't need 'em anymore."

"Just give me a few years, and you're gonna be mine."

"Are you sure? You're really awesome, Scoot. What if you have tons of fillies falling at your feet before then?"

"None of 'em are half as amazing as you."

"You never know. Have you ever thought of trying with Apple Bloom? She's really cute; maybe you should ask her out sometime."

Scootaloo smirked. "Yeah. Maybe I will. But I promise: I'm still going to sweep you off your feet when I'm a teenager."

Rainbow smirked back. "We'll see."

Rainbow and Fluttershy's relationship wasn't always easy; they still lived in their own homes, and they still only had a few things in common. They sometimes wondered to each other if their relationship would last. Nonetheless, every time they asked they came to the same conclusion: even if it ultimately didn't work out, they would still always be best friends. After all, both of them were still able to be best friends with Pinkie. They speculated that if they broke up each of them might try with Pinkie or Twilight instead, but they would never regret that they tried with each other; at the moment, they were happy, and they were going to savor every moment of it that they had.