Epiphany

by Ninestempest

Epiphany 6

Fluttershy arrived at her house, landing softly and calmly opening the door. It was a small wooden cottage atop a hill, with various small holes and pathways all around and inside of it, for animals to travel through her house more quickly. She was greeted by Angel Bunny, her first care and her favorite animal friend, throwing a piece of carrot at Fluttershy. It smacked her square on the forehead. She sighed and picked up the carrot, giving it back to Angel as she walked to her bedroom.

Two months since we returned… she thought. The events following their return were clear to her, yet felt like a distant past. Rainbow Dash’s condition had been very severe, as she had lost more blood than Fluttershy realized from her broken and exposed wing, and the nurse says she might have died if she arrived even a few hours later. She recovered quickly enough, but wasn’t able to fly, or even walk properly, for six weeks. Trixie, through the use of her powerful teleport spell, had fallen into a coma. No spell that Twilight knew, or medicine that the nurse knew of, would bring her out of it. To that day she was still lying in bed, all of her vital signs incredibly normal, as if she was asleep. Fluttershy and the rest of her friends often visited, and Twilight seemed to see her the most, sometimes even spending the night there.

Rainbow Dash had stayed at Fluttershy’s cottage, learning more about animals, and spending lots of time with the shy pegasus, while she had been injured. She learned to sleep on the bed, even though she would still prefer to sleep on a cloud that they had managed to bring into Fluttershy’s bedroom. It wasn’t more than ten days ago that Rainbow Dash had fully recovered her wing, and Fluttershy had volunteered to accompany her as she cleared the skies, in case something terrible happened. Every day, when they were finished with the cyan pegasus’ work, she would thank Fluttershy. She wasn’t sure why, but it was reassuring to her that she was helping a friend.

Friend. Over the course of those two months of being together almost all the time, Rainbow Dash had been almost more than a friend. Fluttershy even explained what had happened the night when Dash had admitted she was in love with the shy pegasus. She denied she felt like that, saying that it was just as Trixie described; the magic of the plant simply turned her friendship into love. Yet Fluttershy couldn’t stop thinking of Rainbow Dash’s anger with her that night as well, and didn’t know what to make of what they had. She thought of Rainbow Dash as a friend, but did the confident cyan pegasus think that as well, or did she only tell Fluttershy that? She asked pretty often, but Dash responded the same way every time.

It took a month before Fluttershy felt she had to mention her fevered vision to the others. The Epiphany. She had called all of them to Twilight’s library, without letting anypony know why they were to meet. Rainbow Dash said she had as well, and with the two of them finishing their summary of their meetings, Twilight said she had received one as well, but thought it was a weird dream, as she only had it in her sleep. She hadn’t learned anything the other two already didn’t know, other than Magic seemed to have a constant connection to the other Elements, and received her vision in regards to Loyalty. Nopony else had such an event happen to them. The six of them agreed that if they felt something was wrong, they would all try and meet with Twilight, hopefully for a kind of spell to get them to meet their Elements too.

Fluttershy suddenly realized she was in her bedroom, having already walked up the spiral staircase to her room. Alone now, she looked around quickly, making sure there were no animals around. Not seeing any signs of them, she walked over to her bed, set in the middle of the room between a vanity, bookshelf, and other such furniture, and climbed on top of the covers, lying on her back and finally feeling relaxed. Since her return to Ponyville, she had adopted to a new sleep schedule; she would stay up late, sleep for only 5-6 hours, wake up to meet Dash and help her with the weather, then return and sleep for a 3-4 more hours. She wasn’t sure why, but this seemed to leave her with much more energy, and since some of her animal friends were indeed nocturnal, it made caring for all of the animals easier. She would manage to be awake most days at around noon or one, so it was easy for her to meet with friends, as long as they didn’t do things too early in the morning.

She figured that Dash would probably take a nap after checking on the party. Fluttershy yawned, and thought to herself that it was also her time to get some sleep. She looked to a clock, mentally noting that it was about nine in the morning. She had been awake for one hour and thirty minutes, hanging out with Rainbow Dash among the clouds that morning. Definitely time to get some shuteye, she thought to herself, as she closed her eyes and felt the peacefulness of sleep overtake her.

-----

Fluttershy woke up quietly, feeling wide awake. Her eyes flipped open and she brought herself to the side of the bed. The clock showed it was half past noon. She stretched her forelegs and slid off the bed. It was still dark in her room, even with the sunlight shining through the drapes on her bedroom window-

She heard a sound. It was a small tapping coming from the window. She turned around slowly and saw a shadow of somepony, tapping the window with a hoof.

“Fluttershy!” The voice yelled. She recognized it instantly and quickly walked over to the window, pulling apart the drapes with her mouth, and opening the window.

“Is something the matter Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy was concerned, Dash never tried to wake her up, or meet her at windows. She’d normally knock at the front door. Perhaps she had already done that, Fluttershy wasn’t sure.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, but her voice was still urgent. “Come to the hospital area, okay? You gotta see this!” She was smiling now, but the speed at which she spoke was confusing Fluttershy greatly.

“I’ll just leave with you,” Responded Fluttershy, walking up to the window. Rainbow Dash lifted herself off the flower-filled window sill as Fluttershy flew out as well, making sure to close the window.

Dash signaled for Fluttershy to follow, and they both took off towards the center of Ponyville.

Minutes later, they landed in front of the Hospital. It was more of a small doctor’s office that had some rooms set up to be emergency rooms if they were needed. Only a year ago it was simply an outside-area kept out of reach by a curtain, but after a certain incident with awfully baked muffins and Applejack, the mayor knew they had to improve the facility in case something did happen. The inside of the facility was mostly white, and had a hard-floor that clattered loudly with the sound of hooves hitting it. There was a reception desk with one pony behind it, and several chairs that were for ponies to wait for appointments.

They walked inside, and saw one of their friends at the reception desk. Fluttershy waved at their farmer Earth Pony friend, and she turned and gave an acknowledging nod, continuing to speak with the receptionist. It was Applejack, one of the ponies who ran the Ponyville branch of Sweet Apple Acres, and she definitely looked the part. She had orange fur, a blonde mane and tail that were and bright green eyes. She also always wore a kind of cliché-cowboy hat, which helped her when she was in the fields and the sun was shining bright, and also seemed to match her southern accent.

After about a minute of talking, Applejack turned to the two pegasi standing in the lobby, walking over to them. “Golly, you sure got here fast. You’re excited Ah bet!” She said, smiling widely.

Fluttershy shook her head. “I still don’t know why I’m here actually…”

“Trixie woke up!” Applejack said, relieved. “Ah was getting a might worried about her, but she seems perfectly fine, if not tired. I was checkin’ up on her this mornin’ when Ah saw she started wakin’ up. Ah ran outside, saw Rainbow Dash, told her about Trixie and to get the others, and Ah’ve been with her ever since. Happened about… thirty minutes ago now?” She glanced at the clock up on the wall, then nodded. “Let’s go meet her now, afore the other’s all get in there and fill up that small room she’s in.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both nodded, walking slowly behind Applejack as they all took the familiar path towards Trixie’s room. The reached it quickly, and saw Trixie laid down in the bed, her head against a pillow, looking absolutely exhausted. Her breathing was slow, but she was conscious, and alert. She turned her head to the three ponies that just entered the small, white room, and smiled weakly. “Oh, great, more rabble. Do you know how often the nurses have been in here? I’ve barely gotten a wink of shuteye in here.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Shut eye? Have they told you how long you were in here?”

Trixie’s eyes widened as she looked to the mare with a rainbow mane. “No they did not, but since you’re fully recovered… it must have been a long time.”

“Two months, Ah believe it was.” Said Applejack, genuinely glad that she was awake and already being somewhat snide. It was all she remembered of the mare, who only bragged and preformed cheesy magic tricks. It was clear she was nicer, but the confidence was unabated. “Ya’ll musta been really far when you teleported here.”

“I went out to check once, actually.” Rainbow Dash’s announcement hung in the air for a moment, the suddenness of it taking everypony off guard. She had never told Fluttershy, who was a little surprised. Applejack raised an eyebrow, and Trixie looked at her intently. “It was about five miles. We could have walked that day, but I would have been a big burden on you two.” She walked past Fluttershy and Applejack, and to the tired unicorn resting in the bed. “Thanks. I could have been in real trouble out there.”

Trixie smirked. “What do you expect? There’s no way I could botch a teleport like that. Sure it took a lot of energy, but it was still easier than you’ll ever know.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Sure thing, Trixie. You just didn’t want to see a friend get hurt, didn’t you?” Fluttershy didn’t consider it an accusation, but it seemed Trixie did.

“Friends? We have barely known each other for a day. We are not friends!” She was angry, but with one heavy breath, she calmed herself down. “I did it because there’s no reason to see a pony die when I can prevent it. I’ll have you know how much I’ve been working in medicine, and I thought your condition had been very dire.”

Applejack spoke again, quietly shoving Rainbow Dash aside. “Ya did a good thing Trixie, don’t listen to her. My friends and Ah are awfully thankful that you did what you did to get these two back to us. We had been in a frenzy lookin’ for them, and suddenly hearing them in the orchards was… well, it sure took a load off our shoulders!”

Trixie flipped her hair. She seemed to be regaining her energy from receiving so much attention. “Well, it was no problem, erm, Applejack was it? Yes, it was simply me using the powerful magic I was born with.” She closed her eyes, a sneer on her face. The other three pones in the room exchanged perplexed glances, as Trixie’s face focused a little more, her eyes still closed. “Oh shoot, this shouldn’t be so hard…”

“Are ya tryin’ to use magic, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, concerned.

Trixie opened her eyes and sighed. “Oh, well of course I am. And it seems I am unable too. That spell must have made me go into a coma to recuperate, and now I can’t even cast any magic…” she bit back tears. “I... I knew I might lose my abilities with such a strong spell, but I... I couldn’t imagine it happening...”

“What are you talkin’ about, sugarcube?”

“It’s something every Unicorn is taught as a filly. You can’t cast too much magic without consequences. When you’re young, it isn’t a big deal, but when you’re a full-grown mare, casting too much magic can have dire... effect. I appear to... be afflicted with the worst two. A coma that can last for an undefined amount of time, and the loss of magic... either temporarily or permanently.” She shuddered.

Rainbow Dash, feeling awkward enough as it was, turned around, but then looked at Trixie before going out the door. “Thanks, really. I’m sorry that you had to do what you did, but I am grateful.” Fluttershy didn’t move as Dash left hurriedly, as if she was disgusted by the show of emotions in the room. The shy pegasus looked at the two ponies, not sure what to do or say. She took a few steps forward when she heard two more ponies walk into the room. She glanced back and saw two more of her friends enter, stopping short when they heard Trixie crying.

The first one in the room was Rarity, a Unicorn friend of hers. Her fur was white as snow, and her mane and tail a deep, regal purple, always brushed smooth and curled slightly, and azure eyes. She wasn’t wearing more than a modest straw hat with some adornments on it. The one behind her was Pinkie Pie, a very brightly-colored Earth Pony. She had bright-pink fur and a poufy magenta mane and tail.

Rarity walked into the room, and looked to Trixie, who still had a distraught look on her face. “Darling, what is going on in here? Are you all right?”

“She apparently can’t use any magic, Rarity. She thinks she exerted herself too much when she... teleported us here.” Fluttershy kept her voice quiet, but loud enough to be heard over Trixie, now on the verge of tears as she was slowly realizing she had no magical ability. Applejack had taken to comforting her beside the bed.

“Oh, the poor girl! I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t cast magic one day...”

“Oh, she can’t use magic?” Pinkie Pie bounced into the room, her boundless energy and happiness seemingly indifferent to the crying unicorn in the room. “Well then we’ll just have to cheer her up! I’m sure she’ll get it back someday; Twilight told me that everypony has some kind of magic in them, no matter what!”

Trixie turned her head to Pinkie Pie, ignoring Applejack. She glared at the pink pony, who was now looking back at her in a silly smile. “What would you know about magic?”

“Oh, silly Trixie!” Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to register how angry Trixie was. “I don’t build ponies. I bake cupcakes! And cakes, and pies, and cookies. But that’s not really building, that’s just, like, throwing everything together really fast, I don’t think that’s how buildings work-”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Pinkie, Ah don’t think she wants to hear about that stuff right now.” She turned back to Trixie. “I’m sure it’s just temporary, we’ll get Twilight Sparkle in here and she’ll know what to do, don’t you fret.”

Trixie scoffed. “Ugh, Twilight. She’s that pony that fended off the Ursa Minor, yes? What makes you think I’ll accept help from her?”

“Oh, haven’t you changed even a little Trixie?” Applejack said. “You should be acceptin’ help your friends give you.”

“B-but-“

“You just woke up from a coma. You can’t be expectin’ to do everything you used to do right away. Ya’ll will probably be back to your good old self in a few days.”

“Hmph. You don’t sound too confident.” She got out of bed, and stood up proudly. Every pony there gasped at how easily she had gotten up. “I suppose you’re right though, I’ll find out in a few days whether or not I’ve really lost all my magic.” She began to lose her balance, her exhaustion very apparent, and had to put herself back on the bed.

“Gosh, where is Twilight anyway? Dash told her first Ah think, no idea why she isn’t here yet.” Applejack tapped an impatient hoof against the floor.

Trixie gave everypony in the room a look over. “Why are you all here anyway?”

“Oh oh oh, that’s an easy one!” Pinkie Pie bounced a few times and landed in front of Trixie from seemingly out of nowhere. “We were worried about you!”

“Worried? About me? Why in Celestia’s name would you worry about me?” She seemed earnestly confused, and Applejack decided to fill her in again.

“Sugar, you probably don’t know this, but we’ve all been pretty worried about ya. Friends worry about each other.”

“Pfft, friends.” Trixie looked at all the ponies in the room with mild disdain.

“You’re our friend, Trixie, even if we’ve only had... one bad meeting.” Rarity coughed. “ But you saved the life of our best friend! Why wouldn’t you be?”

Pinkie Pie giggled loudly. “I kept thinking while they were gone ‘oh, they’re going to miss so many of my parties! They’ll miss the weekly “get rid of the Monday blues” party, and the “mid-week celebration” party,’ and when I heard they were back, I just knew I had to throw an even larger party to make up for them missing so many! And I got to do that because you brought them back so super fast!”

Applejack spoke up again. “The nurse told us the day you got them back, that Rainbow Dash was only a few hours from dyin’. Without you, she would have been gone, no doubt about it. You DID save her, and ya barely even know her. Yer our friend now, like it or not.”

Fluttershy gulped. She appreciated Trixie’s sacrifice the most, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything to her. I hope Kindness didn’t take too much energy from her. That might have been what brought her into a coma for so long…

Trixie smiled weakly. “Thank you, all of you. But… what do I do now? I surely can’t perform any of my duties when I’m unable to use my magic…”

“I’m sure one of us will be able to have you over for as long as you need. For now, just rest here in the hospital for a while, okay?” Applejack seemed good at being comforting, and Fluttershy was glad. Meeting Trixie was bringing back all the memories of what happened so quickly and vividly, and she felt that awkward sadness and worry again, when Rainbow Dash was so injured. She could barely bring herself to smile.

Each pony said their goodbyes to Trixie, and each left the room quietly and slowly, except for Fluttershy. She was at the door, and only looked back at Trixie. She couldn’t say anything because she wasn’t sure what to say. Trixie looked back at her from the bed, seeming to know what she couldn’t put into words.

“You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to say. I did what I did because... no pony should have to know what it’s like to lose somepony. I know what it feels like, and I didn’t want to see another pony feel that way too. Just go, okay? I need some more rest…” she turned over in her bed as she finished speaking. Fluttershy walked out of the room, closed the door, and walked out towards the exit, where all of her friends, sans Twilight Sparkle, were waiting for her.

The group walked out of the hospital, readying their plan to hold the party for the indigo unicorn, but weren’t sure how to go about it. As they walked through town, they noticed Twilight heading to the hospital. Deciding to take this opportunity, the group headed to the Library, to set up the party they had been waiting a year to have.

-----

It was almost six in the evening. The sun was slowly but surely starting to set, waiting only for Luna to continue spinning the wheel, and bring up the moon, signifying the start of night. The sky was drenched in orange with purple streaks, strewn about like the canvas of a blind man’s painting. Ponyville itself was quieting down, fewer ponies in the streets, carts packed up, and most houses now lit up inside.

The Ponyville library was one of the few structures in the entire city that was built inside of an oddly large tree. It had two floors, book shelves lining the lobby, and quarters for the Librarian upstairs. There was a hallway and a door that led to a basement full of machines and other devices, meant for other experiments. The entire building was dark, none of the lights on. Yet inside, there were five ponies. They were all waiting in quiet hiding spots around the lobby, waiting for a certain unicorn to enter.

“This feels a little familiar…” Said Rainbow Dash, who was standing in a hallway next to Applejack.

“But it’s not the saaaaaame! I didn’t invite every Pony in town like we did last time!” Pinkie Pie was proud of herself. It had taken all of her willpower to not throw invitations around Ponyville for Twilight’s secret birthday party, and the only thing that had stopped her was that if she did that, Twilight would have seen one of them.

“By last time… you mean when Twilight arrived in Ponyville, right?” Fluttershy was quietly hiding next to Rarity, up the staircase that led to Twilight’s bedroom. Her whisper was especially quiet, but everypony was whispering, and without any sound from outside, even wind, they could hear each other easily.

“I reckon that’s what she means. We don’t have parties here very often. Seems to annoy Twilight a little too much.” Applejack huffed. “Today is the best day for it though.”

Rarity hummed to herself, thinking. “Do any of you know why Twilight didn’t go and see Trixie when we all did? She heard from Rainbow Dash first I believe.”

“Ah did find that a might strange. She spent the most time in the room with her after all.” Applejack sighed. “Ah don’t think she was studyin’ either, most of the books were cleaned up by the time we were here to set up.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. She’s still with Trixie probably, maybe she just wanted alone time or something.” Rainbow Dash seemed very indifferent. “Let’s just keep waiting for her, and be ready for when we hear somepony knock, all right?”

Nopony had spoken for about five minutes, when they all heard the door open. Pinkie waited in the main room, behind a couch, using all of her energy to NOT jump up and yell surprise. She knew she had to wait for Twilight to turn on the lights, and then everypony would jump out.

They all heard Twilight speaking, but had no idea to whom. “I don’t mind one bit. Besides, I can probably help your magic a bit. I mix things quite often in here, and I’m sure you could get used to doing it the old fashioned way-“

She flipped a light switch, and everypony jumped out of their hiding spots, yelling “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The indigo unicorn fell backwards, stunned and surprised. Her main reading area, the lobby, had a huge banner across the middle of the room saying what every pony had just yelled out. There was a table with cake, and another with some drinks and smaller foods. Pinkie Pie threw some streamers around, and let all the balloons that were once tied to the floor loose, and watched as they all floated to the top of the room. Then she noticed no one else had moved beyond their cheer, and slowly followed all of their stares to Twilight, and her guest.

“Trixie!?” They all yelled in simultaneous surprise. Twilight Sparkle had fallen backwards in surprise while Trixie, her blue unicorn companion, looked around excitedly, then back to Twilight.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was your Birthday? I thought you’d let a new friend know at least that much!” She wasn’t accusing Twilight, but instead had been stifling laughter.

“I-I didn’t think it was a big deal…” Twilight blushed a little, every pony in the room staring at her.

“You’ve NEVER had a birthday party before?!” Trixie and Pinkie gasped, and everypony else just seemed to exchange worried glances.

Twilight shook her head solemnly.

“Well, then we better get this PARTY STARTED!” Pinkie yelled, queuing everyone to rush forward and grab Twilight, dragging her all the way into the room party-ready room, and shutting the front door with a slam.

-----

Trixie had long since garnered more than a little attention from the other ponies over the past two hours. Even Twilight was fascinated by her endeavors into the field of chemical engineering, but only half of her friends seemed to agree. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were all standing near the table with snacks, chatting and having a little bit of food.

“Hey, I’m gonna go outside for a breath of fresh air, okay?” Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack nodded, and Dash flew outside almost instantly. Fluttershy took a small sip from her glass of juice, and looked over to the group, listening half-heartedly to Trixie talk about some event in Fillydelphia.

Applejack followed her stare, and then looked back to Fluttershy. She could tell Fluttershy was lost in thought, and didn’t want to talk. She bit her lip and decided she’d have to try and listen to the boasting unicorn discuss her adventures, instead of talking with Fluttershy. “Fluttershy?”

“Yes?” She answered quickly, but took a second to realize who had spoken to her. “Oh, yes Applejack, what is it?”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine, just fine.” She set her glass on the table, having finished its contents. “Never better, in fact-“

“If you want to go talk to Dash, just say so. You don’t have to lie about it.” Applejack turned and walked over to Trixie, who was still in the middle of a story. Fluttershy sighed with relief, glad Applejack could understand what she was at least thinking about. She quietly walked outside, and looked around for the rainbow-maned pegasus, hoping she was somewhere close by.

“I’m up here!” Fluttershy looked up, and sure enough, she was on top the tree that was Twilight’s house, and the Ponyville Public Library. She flew up quickly, and sat down in the leaf-covered canopy a few feet away from Rainbow Dash.

She stared up into the sky, which was now black, the only light being that of the moon and various stars in the sky. Fluttershy looked at Dash for a few seconds, and then stared up into the sky as well, wondering if there was anything she was looking at in particular. After a minute, she was satisfied that there wasn’t anything to see, and looked back to Dash. She turned her gaze to Fluttershy as well, and the shy pegasus saw that they looked distracted, or scared. She couldn’t really tell.

Rainbow Dash spoke first. “We need to talk Fluttershy.”

She nodded in agreement. “Okay… what do you want to talk about?”

“Something’s been bothering me for the past few weeks. It’s a question that, unanswered, seems to simply boil as it sits inside me whenever I think about it, eating away at my insides. It’s been nagging at me and I can’t push it out of my mind. It’s been painful to think about, but the possibility of your answer seems to comfort me almost instantly.” Rainbow Dash breathed in, then breathed out, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Oh god she’s going to ask me again, and she means it. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“Well, it’s not one question, it’s a few.” She scooted closer to Fluttershy, looking her directly in the eye. Just like Fluttershy had done to her in the forest. “Why do you keep asking me if I really love you?”

Fluttershy almost fell over. That wasn’t what she was expecting, but she knew what Dash was talking about. Every few days since they had returned to Ponyville, Fluttershy had asked the confident pegasus if she loved her or not. It was more to see how much the medicine had really touched Dash, but also because she had an almost morbid curiosity. She didn’t want to keep spending time with… her “friend” if she didn’t know how that friend felt about her. She wasn’t sure if it was prying or not, because Dash answered plainly every time, saying it was only the medicine that had said that, and not her own feelings.

She had trouble thinking of an answer, but decided to go with the truth, at least as she saw it. “Because you’re really important to me Dash. You’re the closest I’ve ever been to anypony before, and I just… wanted to know exactly how close we were. I wanted to know if we were just good friends, or if you do love me, and you wanted something… more.” She blushed. “It was an honest question about your health, but knowing what you really feel is also important to me.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I’m glad you wanted to know Fluttershy. I really am. Now I have another question for you. Do you love me?”

Dash couldn’t have been blunter in asking. Fluttershy swallowed some of her anxiety, but kept returning the stare Dash was giving her. “I…”

She didn’t even get to start before Rainbow Dash spoke again. “I love you Fluttershy. I really do. Maybe I said this before, maybe not. I don’t remember. But I do remember that before we got lost in that forest, we were good friends, but I was always angry. Not angry at you, or any of our friends, but just angry. I remember that one time we went to Appleoosa once, and even when I heard the buffalo talk about their tradition, and I sympathized with them, all I felt was anger toward the settlers. All I wanted to do with our friends was compete, and be better at everything, better than everypony else. My anger was there always because I felt that if I wasn’t better than everypony else, that I wouldn’t… be able to save everypony else, and sometimes I wasn’t better than everypony else. Or help them. I needed to be better than them. In our time together, I’ve realized that… what you said to me was obviously right. In the forest I mean; I can’t focus on everypony else. I just have to be myself sometimes. Sure I like being the center of attention as much as Trixie sometimes, but that’s just me showing everyone how much better I am. No, around you, I just want to be me. I didn’t want to be better than you, or beat you in a race, or anything. Your support was giving me more strength than you could imagine.” She smiled, and grabbed Fluttershy’s fore hooves in her own. “I love you Fluttershy. More than… more than I’ve ever been in love before Fluttershy. That doesn’t mean a lot though… but please. Just tell me how you feel! Tell me you feel the same way!”

Fluttershy looked back at her, smiling. She had never felt so happy before in her life. “Rainbow Dash, you’re the first pony I’ve ever let get this close to me, emotionally. You’ve taught me something really similar to what I’ve taught you. I was always worried that I wouldn’t be able to protect anypony else, and that I was some kind of failure because I couldn’t. But around you, I realized that not everypony is meant to protect everypony else. Some ponies are better at that than others, just like how we all have a cutie mark. I can help ponies, I can protect them. And that’s by caring for them, and healing them, and not by using force. I can’t worry about doing anything, just like you shouldn’t either. Without that anxiety on my back, Dash, I feel more liberated around you more than any other pony in my life, possibly even my parents. More than any of our friends”

She looked away, her smile turning to a frown. “But… I don’t think love is what I feel, Dash.” She saw something in the blue pegasus’s eyes. A kind of sparkle they once had, seemed to fall out of them. “When I think about what you mean to me, I feel… gratitude, and happiness, and maybe even a small tinge of pity. What I don’t feel is that… idea, that maybe we could spend all of our lives together. That life would be complete if you felt the same way about me, and that you never left my side and stood by me forever. I just… I can’t look at you and think anything else than how you are the bestest possible friend I could ever have dreamed, hoped, or wished for. I’m sorry Rainbow Dash. But I don’t think that I love you.”

Rainbow Dash burst into tears, Fluttershy responding instantly by grabbing her and hugging her, holding her close. She sat there, crying silently as she pressed her face into the yellow pegasus’s chest.

I took that last breath, and dove headfirst into the unknown. I took in that final breath breathed it into my lungs, and knowing that if I didn’t ask now, it would have left my mind completely numbed by only a silent hope, I asked her. My wish was to let this out, and throw those feelings into the air, to see which would return to me fulfilled. It felt like I was risking it all to know… and now that I know… it’s like a weight that’s been lifted from my shoulders. I’m disappointed, but now that I know how she feels… it’s not as sad. I helped her grow, and she helped me grow too. Maybe it’ll be okay if she doesn’t love me... maybe I can find somepony else who truly will. But she’ll be the closest and more irreplaceable friend I’ll ever have.

Fluttershy held Rainbow Dash there, on top of the tree, for what felt like eternity. She didn’t know what time it was when they had started talking, and she didn’t know what time it was when the crying pegasus finally stopped, and they both floated down, and headed back into Twilight’s home. She didn’t know what time it was when Rainbow Dash told everyone what happened, or how long the speech she gave lasted. It was a speech about how happy she was to be Fluttershy’s closest and best friend, and how that was okay with her, even if she was in love with the shy pegasus. Fluttershy didn’t know what time it was when everypony had left, satisfied with the party. She knew it was midnight when she offered to take Rainbow Dash home, who was still tearing up a little when looked at the shy pegasus without the company of her friends.

They both flew up to Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. It hadn’t changed at all. She hadn’t been there since the night Rainbow Dash’s wings were proclaimed by her doctor to be fully healed, and that she could fly again. They both walked inside, Dash having started crying again.

“Okay Fluttershy... I’ll... I’ll see you around.” She said, expecting Fluttershy to leave.

The shy pegasus didn’t move. “Are you... going to be okay?”

“I’m just... kind of... I just need to think about this okay?” She looked up to Fluttershy, who had the sweetest smile she’d ever seen.

“What if... what if I just... you know... stayed a little longer, would that be okay?”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head curiously. “What... do you mean?”

“You’re... obviously hurt Dash, and I just... I can’t leave you alone when you’re like this. It hurts me too.” Fluttershy walked over to the cyan pegasus. “How about... I get you to bed? It’s really late.”

Rainbow Dash nodded as they walked into the bedroom. There wasn’t much there. The cloud walls were puffy, and the bed was made form actual clouds, both the mattress and the blankets. Rainbow Dash floated up to the roof, taking some of the cloud and sealing up a hole that normally let in the sunlight that would wake her up early in the morning.

“I may not love you… but you’re the closest friend I’ve ever had. I don’t want to leave you alone tonight when you’re so sad, okay?” Fluttershy smile. Rainbow Dash got into the bed, her tears still flowing.

“I’m okay now Fluttershy, you don’t have to stay here...” Rainbow Dash spoke through her sobs.

“Oh silly.” Fluttershy began to sing. The quiet melody of her lullaby she knew by heart, one she hadn’t used in quite some time. Now, she knew, Rainbow Dash needed comfort, needed a friend. Even if she couldn’t be that pony Rainbow Dash needed, somepony to love, she’d stay and support her.

As soon as Fluttershy finished, Rainbow Dash reached out and hugged her. “Thank you Fluttershy. For everything.”

“I-It’s no problem, D-Dash.” She said, surprised by the sudden hug. The cyan pegasus pulled back and went under the covers again, falling asleep quickly. Fluttershy looked on, smiling to herself. She quietly left the room, and standing on the cloud platform outside the front door, she knew what she had to do.

I’ll keep you safe, Rainbow. I’ll never leave you.

Comments

[ParkedInDath]

close to tears but, nope, not gonna happen. good story.

[Woor]

I was hoping for fluttershy to love her back...

Her answer broke me completely, this was a sad ending mroe than a happy one in my opinion :(

Good writing sans for a couple of weird spelling errors and typos and obvious mind-clusters.

[Ninestempest]

113
Yeah, those were impossible to avoid for some reason, as I couldnt' italic anything, and saving removed a lot of my editing. Oh well.

[Midnight Moon]

I notice that the story is marked as incomplete. Are you planing to add more to it?

this story is good but what happend to trixie and was thier some thing with twilight and trixie

I liked it we need more the last words in this made me cry

[Gutovi]

4 hours have passed since I've finished reading this fic, I must say, that it was amazing, but the ending...
It didn't made me cry, I wont lie. But, I must admit though, that since I've finished reading it, a little voice in my head was saying "why fluttershy, why..." That means that your story reached my very heart, and though I feel upset about the ending, it was very touching. I would love to read another story from you, with a happier ending

[Ninestempest]

48374
Happier ending... well, good luck finding that!

This fic kinda confused me... switching from Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash was kinda wierd... but a good fic nonetheless, but I thought there was something in the fic about Fluttershy asking Rainbow if she loved.. nevermind... anyway somewhat a sad fic... Stupid brain not letting me write corretgly right now tho...

[fearanger]

this is so sweet... But it said incomplete. More coming soon? Shoo shoo be doo.

[McChiken116]

Yeah, I am going to admit it, You broke me :rarity cry: I was really shocked by how you played out the ending, and it actually made me angry a bit at my favorite pony (shy) and since your story is marked incomplete, I beg of you to continue. Even if it's down this path, you are a great writer and I really like this world you have made.

[Vhett]

Ohhh that made me so sad......pinkiesad2:
But I do have to say it was really good and I loved Fluttershy's little oath at the end which gave me some thoughts about well her thoughts....

[sillyfillybowilly]

Aw. Dammit why don't you love dash, fluttershy? I demand a sad tag.

[Fidelis]

It was a good story. Not terribly sad, but touching. I'd have liked a different ending, honestly, but it worked well enough.

Switching the POV at the end would have gone over better if you had an introductory or breaking sentence to explain that Dash was thinking and not Fluttershy. It wasn't hard to piece together, but it would have gone better nonetheless.

[Skeeter The Lurker]

Started with a FlutterDash story...

Ends with a Trixie redemption story.

Still, this was pretty good.

~Skeeter The Lurker

[Ninestempest]

3841351
When I wrote this I was pretty bad at both grammar and editing. The last two lines have errors, though the first one is just using a saying (over take).

[crowscrowcrow]

This was beautiful.
Kind of heartbreaking, but it was nice to see a story where the love is one-sided.
Though... Saying she does not love RD was a little harsh.
She obviously does, just not romantically. I would hope. O.o

[Katpride]

Great story
Almost cried...........

[Sage of the Leaf]

Wow. I feel like I was just slapped and stepped on. And I actually feel pretty angry.

Well played, mother fucker

[Accalia Lupa]

5952123 I felt the exact same way, but I do admire how it wasn't completely sad in the end.

[darbselah]

Yay 100th up vote! And I'm pissed at you for the ending... Great story!

[Nightmare mare]

NOOOOOO…FluttershyxRainbow would have been so cute but overall it was AMAZING

I cried that's how beautiful it was