Winning, and Why

by 8686

The Set-Up

With all of her friends on-board and the plan coming together beautifully, Rainbow Dash had one more stop to make before she acquired Fluttershy. Flying back over Ponyville, she headed in the direction of her cloud-house set on obtaining the last piece of the puzzle.

Twilight had been right. When you won something, you always got something. A prize, a trophy, some memento of your achievement. And while Rainbow was pretty sure that getting a trophy wasn’t the reason you wanted to win, receiving one was undeniably cool. And if Fluttershy was going to win, she wanted her to have the whole winning experience. Luckily, Dash had over a dozen trophies to her name. One of them would do.

The sun’s heat was finally relenting as it slowly began to lower, afternoon turning to evening. The blue sky faded to gold and a slight breeze had at last picked up, coming in off the Everfree. It was refreshing after the perfectly still, hot day and it tickled Dash’s feathers in just the right way as she soared towards home, the clouds of her house lined in silver as their edges caught and reflected the light, and the rainbows more vivid than she could remember seeing them in a long time.

She landed and went inside, finding her own trophy cabinet and her saddlebag. She opened the cabinet and picked out a fairly nondescript trophy – a golden pony rearing on its hindlegs with flared wings – and with the aid of a butterknife from the kitchen, managed to lever the plaque bearing her name away from the base. It came off with a plink, leaving only minimal cosmetic damage. There. One trophy in the bag, she thought, putting the trophy in the bag.

Just as she was about to leave through the window, there was a knock at the door. Dash frowned. Whoever it was, this had better be important. She was busy!

But when she opened the door, she found Fluttershy on her doorstep.

Oh, wow. Everything was just coming together!

“Rainbow Dash, I’m glad I finally found you. I just wanted to say I’m sorry for earlier. I–”

“Yeah, okay, cool,” Dash broke in absently. “Look I need your...” She paused. And looked at Fluttershy. “Wait. You’re sorry? For what?”

“Well... I’m not sure exactly. But whatever I said, it seemed to make you mad. So... for that, I guess. I hope you’re not still angry at me.”

Dash blinked. Then shook it off. “Okay, never mind that. Bygones be bygones and all. Look, I need your help. I need you to run with me in a seven-legged race over at Sweet Apple Acres against our friends!” Dash realised that she was grinning a wide grin that she really shouldn’t have been. But... she was excited. The plan was so awesome!

“Oh.” Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow Dash, her face coloured with suspicion. “Um... sorry for asking, but... why?”

Ah. Okay. She hadn’t actually thought that part through. How to convince Fluttershy to run the race. She scrambled blindly, thinking-time a luxury she did not possess.

“Uh... because Applejack and I were talking earlier...”

Good, true...

“...and we started arguing about racing...”

Not quite as true...

“...and she said she could totally beat me in a seven-legged race...”

Okay, now we’re lying quite a bit...

“...she said I could pick anypony in town to partner and she’d still beat me...”

I’m so going to Tartarus for this...

“So I picked you. Because there’s nopony else I’d rather race with.”

...wow...true! Hey, who’d have thought?

Fluttershy still looked various shades of nervous, unconvinced and suspicious by turns. “Are you sure you want... me?” she asked. “I mean, I’d like to help, but you know I’m not a racer. Wouldn’t you be better off running with somepony else? Somepony... fast? I won’t be disappointed if you pick somepony else. I just wouldn’t want to let you down.”

“No, Fluttershy,” said Dash firmly. “I want you, okay?”

Fluttershy flinched a little. A moment passed before she took a deep breath. “Alright Rainbow Dash. If that is what you really want, then of course I’ll help you. And I promise I'll do my best.”

Awesome! “Awesome! But you’re right, we need to be fast, and we don’t wanna let ourselves down, so we’ve gotta get some training in!”

“O...kay...” said Fluttershy. She never lost that vague look of suspicion. “When is this race?”

“In a couple of hours. So we gotta start practising right now!”

Suspicion was replaced by shock as Fluttershy was taken aback. “Today? I mean, you really think we can practice enough to win a race in only a couple of hours?”

“I know we can! It’s not gonna be easy, and we’re gonna have to take a shortcut that I'm really not a huge fan of, but we can do it!”

“A shortcut?” asked Fluttershy, dubiously. “What... kind of shortcut?”

Dash made a face. “We’re gonna have to use a training montage.” She stuck her tongue out. Yuck.

“Oh,” said Fluttershy, brightening and an innocent smile appearing. “I’ve done one of those before. They’re really not so bad. In fact, I think I still have the music. Can we do it to music?”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Sure, whatever. The point is, in two hours, we’re gonna be racing to victory, so: let’s get started!”

* * *

The door to the cottage was hurled open with a crash, causing all of the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and mice to scurry for shelter into their respective birdhouses and cubby-holes. Rainbow Dash entered with a low scowl and a clenched jaw, her furious arrival accompanied by the thudding of heavy, forced hoof-falls on the wooden floor as she tramped inside. With a solid kick from her hindleg she closed the door with a slam and trudged across the room to sit by the window overlooking the rear garden. She didn’t peer out though, her befrowned gaze instead finding a neutral point somewhere in the air between her and the wall beneath the windowsill.

“Rainbow Dash? Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no, nothing,” seethed Dash. “Just having the worst day of my life is all!”

“What happened?” asked Fluttershy, leaving the table and walking over to her friend. “I thought you were supposed to start work today?”

“I am! Or at least I was!” Dash yelled. She looked up in anger at Fluttershy but Fluttershy’s face bore no hint of understanding. Some explanation was going to have to be provided.

Rainbow Dash let out a long sigh, her gaze finding the same neutral point. “So I went to the town hall like I was supposed to. Big meet-and-greet with the mayor and some of the locals in town for the first day, right? Introduce the new weather-pony, Q-and-A, tea and cakes, all that nice easy stuff.” She snorted. “It was going great. I was wowing them with my awesomeness, telling them all sorts of stuff about me, eating cake – totally making friends and influencing ponies. And then...” She groaned, and her frown deepened. “This really obnoxious pony starts asking me questions. All innocent at first, like, ‘How much rain are we gettin’ next munth?’ I don’t know that. It’s my first day! I haven’t seen the forecast yet! Luckily, I was totally cool with it. I told her she wouldn’t have to worry about rain while I was around. Sunny skies from here on out!”

Dash’s frown deepened. “Boy was that ever the wrong answer. Because then she starts grilling me on the weather for the next forever! How much rainfall? How much sun? How windy? The cloud-cover, if it’s gonna frost, if it’s gonna hail... eventually I just up and told her to chillax alright? I’d handle the weather and she should get on and handle whatever she does. But that just seemed to make her mad and she didn’t stop there, oh no. No, then she asked if I could handle the weather! Wanted to know how much experience I had! Where I’d done weather-work before, the sorts of things I had to do there... it just went on! And when she found out that I’ve kind of just graduated, and never done real weather-working before, she starts yelling at me! Said she couldn’t believe that Cloudsdale had sent an inexperienced total amateur here! So I started yelling back about how she obviously didn’t know the first thing about weather!”

Dash’s frown finally relented and she let out a calming sigh. She closed her eyes. “It got real awkward for about five minutes and then I just left. But... she got to me, okay? I couldn’t stop thinking what if she was right? I mean, I can do weather. But what if there’s a whole bunch more to this that I’m not seeing? What if what this town needs is a professional? They only have one full-time weather-pony and, hey, here I am! Fresh out of school and no clue what I’m really doing! This whole town’s supposed to count on me and now... I just feel like it doesn’t want me around, y’know? Thanks to some horrible, freckley, drawly hat-pony.”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but be a little surprised. “Applejack?”

Dash looked up, also surprised, and with a faint look of betrayal to her. “You know her?”

“Well, not really,” Fluttershy admitted, “But I see her in town sometimes. She’s always seemed so nice and friendly.”

“Yeah, well, take it from me – she’s not,” grumped Dash, her scowl reappearing. “I really hope I never have to see her again.”

Fluttershy looked down at her friend. She’d never seen her so upset, so... frazzled. She was sure she’d be okay. She just needed to calm down a bit, maybe with a little honeyed tea. Tomorrow, when she really started work, things would be better.

But before she could say this out loud and begin to sooth Rainbow Dash’s anger away, there was a knock at the door. Since Rainbow made no move to answer it, sulking as she was by the window, Fluttershy crossed the room and opened the door to the caller.

Oh.

Fluttershy stepped out of the house, pulling the door mostly-closed behind her. “Applejack?”

“Howdy,” said the farmpony, touching the brim of her hat a little sheepishly. “It’s Fluttershy, ain’t it? I’m real sorry I ain’t been as neighbourly as I should’a been since you moved in, but we’ve kinda had a lot on our plates. Or actually, we haven’t.” She smiled a guilty half-smile.

“Can I help with something?” asked Fluttershy.

Applejack sighed. “I hope so. There’s a new weather-pony in town called Rainbow Dash? I’m fixin’ to find her.”

“Oh,” said Fluttershy. “Is that so you can yell at her again?” She’d meant it to sound defensive and a little spiky, but her innate demureness and aversion to confrontation caused her voice to phrase it in the style of a genuine question, and Applejack seemed to take it as such, looking briefly at the ground.

“You heard about that, huh?” She drew herself up and continued. “I stick by what I said, but... I ain’t proud of the way I said it. I wanna try and make it right with her, but nopony knows where to find her. Not even Pinkie Pie. Then, I just spoke to one pegasus who said she thought you two knew each other. That you were friends at school?”

“Oh. Really? They... said we were friends at school?”

Applejack nodded. “Last thing she yelled at me right before she took off was: ‘Forget this, I’m going somewhere I feel appreciated!’” Applejack looked at her. “But she’s brand new in town, and nopony else I’ve spoken to knows where she might’ve meant. Was hoping you might have some idea?”

Fluttershy couldn’t stop a little blush from touching her cheeks. She’d come straight here, after all. Where she felt appreciated? “Um... could you excuse me for just a moment?” Leaving Applejack, Fluttershy backed through the door, pushing it open with her rump and then closing it in front of her, standing within the cottage once more. She turned for the far side of the room and approached Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash? Applejack is at the door.”

Dash’s frown seemed to be a permanent fixture at the moment. “That’s nice,” she said, expressing sarcasm without subtlety.

“She’s asked to speak to you.”

“Tell her to get lost.”

“Now now, Rainbow,” Fluttershy admonished, “It’s only polite to see what she wants.”

Rainbow gave her an evil glare for a second. Then, standing, she turned for the door, reached it and pulled it open, revealing Applejack still standing outside with a beautiful expression of sudden-surprise. And as soon as Applejack recovered and looked as though she were about to speak, Rainbow slammed it shut with a loud, satisfying crash, right in her face. Then she turned away and headed back for the window, sitting and adopting her sulking pose once more.

Fluttershy was stunned. Flitting quickly to the door and opening it a crack she beseeched her guest. “Could you give us just one more minute?” Then she closed the door and rounded on Rainbow Dash, striding over to her, head high.

“Rainbow Dash! How could you? You didn’t even let her speak!”

“Why bother? She was probably about to start yelling at me again.”

Fluttershy frowned, incensed now. “Rainbow Dash! Visitors may not come here very often, but when they do, I do not want them treated like that by a guest in my house! Applejack has come here to try and make amends with you after this morning. It’s taken her a lot of courage to do that, and it’s more than you’re showing right now, moping on the floor there! So I think the least you can do is hear what she has to say!”

Rainbow Dash had looked up, transfixed once Fluttershy had begun her tirade. Her mind almost blanked. Fluttershy had got mad! She didn’t think that was possible! And she really didn’t want to see it again.

Laboriously, Dash stood and made her way once more to the door. She opened it more slowly this time, revealing Applejack still stood outside. Applejack hesitated visibly, uncertain whether to start speaking or whether that would just be a prelude to another door-slam. Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

“Yeah?” she said coolly.

Applejack sighed and deflated. The look of a pony who knew she’d failed before she’d started, but who still had to go through the motions, however futile.

With difficulty she forced herself to meet Rainbow Dash’s gaze. “Rainbow Dash? I’d like to apologise for what happened at town hall this morning,” she said. She hesitated, took a breath, half-started the next word, caught herself, and paused. Then she tried again, but couldn’t begin whatever sentence might have been there. Finally, solemnly, she reached up, removed her hat from her head, and held it against her chest with a foreleg. She took a deep, sincere breath.

“It’s... been difficult for us these past couple o’ years. Sweet Apple Acres ain’t just an apple orchard y’know, it’s a whole farm. We supply nearly two-thirds of all Ponyville’s food, and the town needs us to provide for ‘em over winter. But... the harvests have been real lean, last few seasons. Most folks don’t know how bad it is, yet... but they will soon if things don’t change.

“Ol’ Weathertop was a fine weather-pony in his day. But... he just ran on too long. Everypony knew, but nopony said anything. Pushing those clouds around just started gettin’ too much for his bones. One month we only got half the rain we were expecting. Next month it was even less. It’s been like that for a while now. The fields’re dryin’ up. The dirt’s turning to dust. We’re havin’ to work the land twice as hard and we’re gettin’ half the crops we need. And... and it’s only the two of us these days.”

She sighed, her head dipping, and when she looked back up, for an instant, her eyes held a look of unguarded desperation. “We’re tryin’ our best, we really are, my brother and me. But we’ve got a little sister and a granny to take care of, a business to keep afloat that we depend on, and a whole town out there that’s either gonna starve or bankrupt itself buying food in from someplace else if we can’t provide enough for ‘em. And we’re trying to muddle out just how we’re supposed to do all this by ourselves now. We’re blindly guessin’ at decisions we can’t afford to and grafting them out when they turn bad because we don’t know what else to do. And we know that if we fail, we're gonna have to watch folks go hungry, startin’ with our own kin. We’re barely sleepin’, and we're workin’ ourselves ragged to make sure that don’t happen but we just can’t keep up no more, and it’s only gettin’ worse. And if the weather don’t improve, then in a year or two the soil’s gonna die and nothin’ll grow at all. I don’t know what’s gonna happen then.”

She looked away for a moment, took a breath, then turned back. “Everypony that comes to Ponyville to work the weather, part-time or over winter or whatever says the same thing. They thought it’d be easy.” Applejack shook her head. “And by the time they leave they all agree: it ain’t. We get stray winds and random cloud banks blowin’ off the Everfree every day. Sometimes it even throws a big ol’ storm our way, just for fun. And then there’s Canterlot up on the mountain there. Some days they use magic to change their weather, and when they do I swear it futzes up the air down here in the valley somehow.” She shook her head again. “I can’t cotton to that. Magic’s all fine and dandy, but usin’ it on the weather? I’d rather have a weather-pony I can trust any day of the week. But as good as he was, by the end, Weathertop just weren’t up to it. We’ve been at the mercy of the weather more’n we’ve been in charge of it for a while now, and... and it shouldn’t be this difficult! We need enough rain and enough sunshine in the right amounts, and if we can just get that then... everything’d be a heap easier, y’know?

“So, yeah. When I heard we were gettin’ a new, hotshot weather pegasus straight from Cloudsdale, maybe I got a little excited. And when you showed up and started talking about everything that wasn’t the weather, maybe I got a little frustrated. And when you said you hadn’t done it before and acted like the weather wasn’t a big deal, maybe I got a little angry. But that don’t mean I was right to turn on ya like I did. I’m sorry, and I hope you’ll accept my apology. I just...” Applejack met Dash’s gaze with clear sincerity. “We really need some good growin’ weather, Rainbow Dash. Otherwise... I don’t know what’s gonna happen. To us, or to Ponyville.” She replaced her hat on her head.

Dash simply stood there like a statue. Her frown had slowly seeped away leaving surprise and shock; a gormless stare and a mouth that was half open.

“Rainbow Dash?” said Fluttershy, stood at her side now. “Don’t you have something to say to Applejack?”

Dash stood rooted to the spot for a moment, unable to move or change her expression, but managing to get the mouth-portion of her otherwise paralyzed face to function.

“I’m really sorry I slammed the door in your face,” she blurted quietly.

A quiet, tense moment passed. Until Applejack let out a little mirthful chuckle and touched the brim of her hat once more. “Sorry we got off on the wrong hoof. Here’s hoping we can work together from now on. Fluttershy? It’s a pleasure to finally make yer acquaintance, but I didn’t mean to be bringin’ all my doom-and-gloom to ya here, so reckon I should leave ya be for now.” She began to turn for the path leading away from the cottage.

Which finally seemed to shock Dash from her catatonic state. “Wait! Look, uh, Applejack, right? It’s gonna rain tomorrow.”

Applejack blinked. “Huh? The forecast says we ain’t due for rain until–”

“Nah nah nah nah, don’t pay any attention to what the forecast says, listen to what I’m saying,” said Dash. “And I’m saying, that if you need it to rain tomorrow, then it’s totally gonna rain tomorrow.” She smiled. “I’ll get you awesome growing weather, just... tell me what you need.”

Applejack smiled back, thoroughly disarmed. “Hey, uh... how’d you two like to come over for supper? Things ain’t so bad that Granny Smith can’t whip up a little more of her famous Spicy Sweet Potato and Vegetable Stew. Family’d love to meet ya, ‘specially since we’re neighbours an’ all. There’s even a little cider left in the pantry that I’ve been saving for a special occasion, and I reckon toasting a new weather-pony might just be it.”

“Oh, that’s very nice of you,” said Fluttershy. “I’d hate to refuse such a kind invitation...” She looked over at Rainbow Dash, waiting for her reaction before committing.

“Cider?” said Dash, wrinkling her nose, but beginning to follow Applejack from the cottage anyway. “That’s the rotten-apple drink, right?”

Applejack looked back in surprise as Dash joined her at her side. Then she barked a laugh. “Oh boy, you are in for a real treat.”

Dash felt her stride automatically fall into a lazy saunter, and the corner of her mouth quirk into an involuntary, tiny smile. “I’m just saying that since I’m totally gonna be saving your beans and saving your beans, you might wanna break out the fresh stuff. Y’know. Motivate me by showing me what I’d be missing if I didn’t use all my awesome weather-skills.”

“You ever eaten food before?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s what you’d be missin’.”

“Meh, it was overrated.”

“You’ll change your mind once you try the stew,” said Applejack, a little smile finding her own lips.

“Leftover stew and rotten-apple-water? Okay, maybe tomorrow after I’m done whipping up the best weather you’ve ever seen, you and me should go get oatburgers or something. You know, real food?”

They turned to look at each other, finding themselves side-by-side and somehow both naturally adopting the same, easy stance and identical, playful smirks. Applejack’s smile widened and she faced forward once more, falling back into her casual stroll.

“Rainbow Dash? I reckon this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

* * *

The montage had been a complete success. A series of short exercises ranging from weight-training to jogging to hoof-eye coordination, presented as a series of mini-vignettes ordered to show clear progression in each activity and set to Fluttershy’s surprisingly inspirational psuedo-rock track.

It had undoubtedly had a measurable effect on their performance. Perhaps not exponential, but certainly a marked improvement. Their rhythm was good, their pace was fast: they had accomplished in two hours what Dash guessed would normally have taken two days to achieve. And since their opponents would likely have done no training whatsoever, Rainbow’s confidence was high as she led Fluttershy towards Sweet Apple Acres, the sky a burnt orange as the sun grew close to the horizon.

In the centre of a field east of the farmhouse, Applejack had stuck two long poles vertically into the ground about ten feet apart and between them, strung a taut length of red ribbon. As Applejack caught sight of them, she beckoned them over with a smile and a cheery wave. Rainbow Dash was about to wave back, but Fluttershy surprised her by overtaking her and trotting towards Applejack. Dash followed but hung back just a little.

“Applejack?” said Fluttershy. “I’m really sorry to hear that you and Rainbow Dash were fighting today.”

Uh oh.

Applejack looked appropriately confused. “We were?” She glanced over Fluttershy’s shoulder at Rainbow Dash behind.

Dash frantically nodded, mouthing, Yes, urgently. Come on, Applejack! Yes!

“Uh... I mean, we were,” said Applejack, unconvincingly.

“But do you really think that the best way to settle your differences is to make your best friends race against each other like this?” continued Fluttershy.

“Um...”

Yes! Yes!

“I guess, yes I do. Because that’s the kind of pony I am, it seems.”

“Can’t you find some other way to make up and forget about this?”

No! No! Head-shake!

“Uh... nope. Because this is definitely the only way we’re gonna settle that argument we had. Right Rainbow Dash?”

“Right!” responded Dash, a little too quickly.

“Oh, okay,” said Fluttershy. “I thought so.” She wandered away a few steps, as if to inspect the tape strung between the poles. With her back turned, Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged looks.

When this is over, Rainbow Dash, we’re havin’ words.

Hey, the race was your idea, Applejack!

Their silent communication was interrupted by the arrival of their other friends in quick succession.

Rarity was first on the scene, looking exactly as Dash had seen her earlier, complete with levitated glass of cool lemonade and huge paper-fan. She had done nothing except bring herself to the party, it seemed, but she greeted them warmly all the same. A few moments later, Twilight arrived carrying Spike on her back. He was grasping a blue hardback book and reading it intently while Twilight mumbled numbers and phrases like, ‘rectilinear,’ ‘delta-V,’ and ‘distance over time,’ to herself. It all sounded like one huge maths thing. When they finally realised that they were within earshot, Spike closed the book and Twilight greeted them, both wearing guilty grins.

And then there was Pinkie Pie.

She came bouncing and bounding across the field, her springy gait carrying her almost twice as high as usual. Her eyes were pin-pricks, her mane and tail were frazzled and wiry as though she had been electrocuted, and she was wrapped from neck-to-tail in coils of soft, thick red cord which encircled her waist, barrel and all four individual legs.

She drew to a stop. Which is to say she stopped her forward momentum. Her up-and-down bouncing continued, making everypony else a little seasick as they tried to follow her.

“HiguyssorryI’mlatebutI’mherenowtotallyreadytoruntherace!” said Pinkie.

“Pinkie Pie, whatever happened to you?” asked Rarity.

“And why’re you all wrapped up in... whatever that is?” asked Applejack.

“It’s-red-rope-liquorice!” blurted Pinkie. “I’ve-been-eating-it-non-stop-ever-since-Rainbow-Dash-came-by-earlier-but-don’t-worry-I-brought-enough-for-everypony!” She finally stopped bouncing and, with remarkable dexterity for somepony in the throes of a sugar-rush, began to shuffle all of the liquorice off herself, leaving it in a single, large, neat coil on the ground. One end trailed from the coil to her mouth, and she sucked on it hard as though it were an impossibly long strand of spaghetti, pausing every so often to chew frantically. Her eyes darted this way and that, and never blinked.

“...alright then,” said Applejack with great hesitancy. She turned to address all of her friends as one. “I reckon ya’ll know why you’re here. This here’s your basic seven-legged race. Team Earth-Pony against Team Pegasus against Team Unicorn – uh, you don’t mind bein’ a unicorn again for this one, do ya Twi’?”

“Of course not,” smiled Twilight.

“Okay then. It’s a there-and-back race from the start-line here, around that tree over yonder–” she pointed out a tall, thick-trunked apple-tree about a hundred meters distant, “–and back here to finish. First pair of ponies to break the tape wins. Spike? You start us off, and decide on the winner if it’s close. Everypony get it?”

A series of nods from the gathered ponies. A rapid, furious succession of head-bobs from Pinkie Pie.

“Alright. There’s three coils of rope over at the start line. Everypony tie themselves together and once we’re all set, we’ll get this show on the road.”

Rarity wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, I absolutely refuse to race with some horrid, itchy and scratchy rope tied around my hoof. Come, Twilight darling, I have brought just the thing! We will be racing in style,” she said, using her magic to produce a pair of powder-blue silk-scarves, soft and supple. Twilight’s eyes lit up when she saw them and they took themselves to one side to complete their bindings.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack rolled their eyes as one. Applejack looked at her own partner. “Okay Pinkie, let’s get... huh?!”

“I tied us together when you weren’t looking!”

Applejack looked down, her left foreleg now inexplicably bound to Pinkie’s right by half-a-dozen coils of thick, red sugar. “Pinkie Pie... that ain’t rope, that’s candy!”

“It’s still rope, silly.”

“It’s liquorice!”

“It’s liquorice rope!” said Pinkie triumphantly.

Applejack rolled her eyes again. The heat of the day was waning but the evening was still warm, and the liquorice was already unpleasantly sticky against her coat. She groaned. “I hate liquorice.”

Dash walked the few steps over to the start / finish line, stooped and picked up one of the three coils of rope in her teeth. Fluttershy came over to join her.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. Just follow my lead and we’ll totally win this thing!”

“I know,” said Fluttershy.

That was strange. For an instant she’d almost looked disappointed. Then she looked up, smiled an odd, reserved smile, and offered her hoof. Sitting and bending her foreleg parallel to Fluttershy’s, Dash used the rope to tie their legs together neatly and securely. Then they stood and made their precarious way over to the start line to stand just in front of the red ribbon.

They stood side by side, two ponies as one, ready to take on all opponents for glory and... well, a cheap trophy.

But it wasn’t about glory. Nor the cheap trophy. This was about Fluttershy getting her win; about her finally feeling special like she deserved, and finally, it was going to happen. Here and now, in this least epic of races. Rainbow Dash raised her head, standing proud between the two other teams: Unicorns to the left of her, Earth-Ponies to the right and there they were, stuck in the middle, together.

All three teams prepared themselves as Spike approached one of the poles in the ground, checking to see that the contestants were all in line and that none of the teams had given themselves an unfair head-start. He gave a quick, satisfied nod and six ponies dropped into a ready stance, and waited for the off.

* * *

“Okay, uh... Cloud-nine, I guess,” said Rainbow Dash absently. She couldn’t really pay attention to the game, what with the horrible feeling in her gut. It was awful, knowing she was going to upset Fluttershy, but it had to be done. If she was honest with herself, this had been coming for a couple of weeks now.

“Well, you found my Cumulus, Rainbow Dash. And that’s my last cloud,” said Fluttershy, handing the token over to complete the formality.

Dash took the token and put it with the others in her little pile on the table, nudging a few of them around as though trying to make a pattern or something. She had to say it. Had to find the courage to say it, somehow. She couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Rainbow Dash? Is something wrong?”

Dash glanced up into Fluttershy’s concerned face, and immediately wished she hadn’t. It just made it harder. She tried to steel herself, ready to force the words out.

“Rainb–?”

“I’m moving out.” There, it was said. She forced herself to look up once more.

“Oh,” was all Fluttershy said. But she didn’t need to say anything else because it was all there, clear as day. The hurt, the sadness, the disappointment all written on her face as plainly as though they were words in a book. There were even the beginnings of tears, she was sure.

A long, uncomfortable moment passed.

“Is... is it because I–?”

“No!” interrupted Dash quickly. Then she sat back and breathed. “It’s not you Fluttershy, really. It’s... if I’m being honest, it’s all the critters in here.”

Fluttershy looked genuinely surprised, prompting Rainbow Dash to continue. “Don’t get me wrong, okay. I love cute, fuzzy little animals as much as the next pony. Just not... everywhere.” She sighed. “The animals down here, they scratch and chitter and flap and chirp and skitter... and it’s all the time! I mean, seriously: All. Night. Long. How do you sleep with all the racket?!” She tried to meet Fluttershy’s gaze but now it was Fluttershy who’d turned away. “I’m really sorry. Believe me, I’ve tried to live with it, but I just can’t do it anymore. It’s driving me nuts! And I’m not gonna ask you to choose between me or them, because that’s not fair. This is your dream, right?”

Fluttershy only gave the faintest of nods. “You’ve made your mind up, haven’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah,” whispered Dash.

“Where are you...?” Fluttershy trailed into silence, but she didn’t need to finish the question to get an answer.

“I’m just putting the finishing touches on a cloud-home just outside town. The mayor said it was cool. I’ve... been building it for about a week now,” she said guiltily. “I’m really sorry. I would have told you sooner but... it was hard, y’know? I didn’t want you to get upset.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy nodded again. She finally looked back up, meeting Rainbow’s gaze with a trepid, oddly worried expression. Then she looked down, beginning to clear away Rainbow Dash’s new game, closing the game boards and making sure they found their way safely back into the colourful, crisp box.

“Fluttershy, it’s not like we’re not gonna see each other. I’m not leaving town or anything, and we’re still totally best friends! I’m just gonna be living over that way a bit. It’s not even all that far.”

Fluttershy finished packing the game away. She pushed the game box slightly towards Rainbow Dash, looking up one final time, but this time with a faint but heartbreaking skepticism colouring her sadness.

It wasn’t that she was moving out, Dash realised. It was that Fluttershy thought she was losing a friend. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ went the old adage, and Fluttershy believed it would prove true; that any promises Dash might make about visiting or still being friends, however well-intentioned, would last only so long until they inevitably faded. That there would be an occasion in the not too distant future when she would see Rainbow Dash, and without either of them realising, it would be for the last time. Her oldest, closest, and at one time only friend. And it didn’t matter what she said to her right now – no matter how hard she tried to reassure her, Fluttershy would always carry that doubt. That belief that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be her friend forever after all. Because she had no reason to come back.

Well, there was no way that was going to happen.

With a hoof, Rainbow Dash pushed the game-box back towards her friend. “Fluttershy, could you do me a favour? Can you keep hold of this for a while?”

Fluttershy looked up, surprised. “You don’t want your game?”

“No, I do. I really do. But, y’know, I don’t have a lot of room to put things in my new place yet. If you could just find somewhere safe for it for a bit, I’d really appreciate it. I’ll probably be by to pick it up next Tuesday sometime. That okay?”

“Of course,” said Fluttershy, looking round before eyeing a cupboard next the the wall. But she had a little hopeful smile now. Maybe she suspected what Dash was doing. It didn’t matter.

Because when next Tuesday rolled around, and Rainbow Dash came to collect her game...

“Here you go, Rainbow Dash. I kept it safe, just like you wanted.”

“Awesome. Hey, wait... are you sure the pieces are all still inside?”

“I... think so.”

“Better check, right?” said Dash opening up her board and beginning to set it up. “Well come on, help me out here, Fluttershy!” she said with a smirk, shoving the other half of the game her way.

So they played. And when the game was over...

“Aw yeah! Good game, Fluttershy. Hey, uh...? Do you think maybe you could hang onto this thing for just a little longer? I’ll come by and pick it up next Tuesday if that’s cool...?”

And next Tuesday. And next Tuesday. And every Tuesday since.

Comments

[Emptybee]

“I guess, yes I do. Because that’s the kind of pony I am, it seems.”

This is a great line. I can see Applejack doing the shifty eye thing.

[Ri2]

Wait, they know how to trigger training montages? I thought only Pinkie did.

[kits]

Dash made a face. “We’re gonna have to use a training montage.” She stuck her tongue out. Yuck.

[Csquared08]

That montage has me 🤔