Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie glared at each other, and that felt wrong. Not that Rainbow glaring at Pinkie was all that uncommon – Rainbow Dash did a lot of glaring, especially when she was annoyed, and there weren’t all that many ponies in Ponyville who were as… well, annoying, as Pinkie Pie could be.
She bit her lip and let out a quiet sigh. That had been a terrible thing to think, and she was almost certain that she hadn’t meant it to be as mean as it had sounded – it was just that Pinkie got a little overenthusiastic sometimes, and Rainbow wasn’t quite as patient as she could have been. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course; it was just her way, and the fact that it was so very different from how Fluttershy liked to handle things didn’t mean it was wrong.
But as common as it was for Rainbow to glare at Pinkie, Fluttershy couldn’t remember ever seeing Pinkie glare at Rainbow. It was a scary thing, seeing her happiest friend’s mouth twisted into a scowl, and it made Fluttershy want to leave the room. To go to bed, and let the two sort out their disagreement on their own. But she couldn’t do that – it wouldn’t be right. And besides, she was a part of this too.
She had known about the Mare Do Wells, of course. Both Rainbow Dash, and the trio that Twilight had assembled in order to keep Rainbow Dash from getting hurt – and, Fluttershy suspected, because it made her feel good to be able to help the town without really drawing attention to herself. Not that she was one of them – she hadn’t even really wanted to join in when they had all first disguised themselves to teach Rainbow a lesson. It had felt awfully mean, but if anybody knew that sometimes you had to be mean to help a pony, it was Fluttershy.
But she was the only one of her group of friends with any knowledge of medicine, and that made her their first stop when something went badly wrong – for Dash, and for the others. She didn’t like the job, not really – she had tried to talk them all out of it time and time and time again, but in the end they hadn’t been willing to listen. And they needed her. They trusted her. What kind of friend would she be if she’d broken that trust?
If she were honest, Fluttershy had allowed herself to believe that she would never actually have to do anything – in just a few minutes, an entire year would have passed since Rainbow had first come to her, explained what she was doing, and asked her for help. Barely less time had passed since Twilight and others had come. And since then… nothing. Nopony had ever gotten hurt well they were being Mare Do Well, and she’d allowed herself to believe nopony ever would.
Then Pinkie had shown up at her door, dragged a half concious Rainbow into her living room, and collapsed herself. That had been a few hours ago now, and she couldn’t remember ever being so afraid. She had tended their wounds, and checked to make sure there was no permanent damage – there wasn’t, though it would be a few weeks until Dash would be allowed to do anything strenuous. Which of course meant she would be trying to do sonic rainbooms the next morning, and it would be Fluttershy’s job to talk her out of it. Not that she minded, or anything. It was like taking care of children.
She bit down harder, trying to think of a nicer way to word that particular thought, but was cut off by Dash, her words slightly slurred.
“So, what? You’ve been following me around the whole time? Just… stalking me, and hoping I wouldn’t notice.”
It was an improvement from the hissed insults Dash had been throwing around earlier, but not by much. Pinkie just nodded and said a single word. “Yeah.”
The room was silent, then, and Fluttershy felt her heart beat faster. Then, with a shrug and a grin, Dash spoke again. “Whatever. Thanks for saving my flank – that was a heck of kick!”
And then Pinkie was grinning too, and Fluttershy found herself thinking that maybe everything would be alright.
You know I always liked Pinkie as Mare Do Well. It just fits. I Liked it in Mare Do Well Redemption, I really like it here, and I love another story that has Mare Do Well in it. Hey in that one Mare Do Well saves Dashie from some crooks too though she may have eliminated them for hurting Dashie.
I also like the different perspectives. Each one is unique and captures their character. The Pinkie ramble in particular felt very right for her. It is too bad sometimes these are just short stories when sometimes they seem to beg for more.
Awesome.
if there were ever two members of the Mane Six who were capable of running purely on an adrenaline buzz, it's Pinkie and Dash. I have no doubt that they'll be laughing like lunatics in a minute and poor Fluttershy will be trying to understand their tale of daring and courage in the face of Ponyville's dark underbelly.
2626969 Would that third one be The Games We Play? I adore that story, and it's a lot of the reason I write Mare Do Well as often as I do. Though I admit, Pinkie is only my second favourite choice for Mare Do Well right below Gummy, she is my favourite for a serious take on the character. I'll have to look into the MDW Redemption.
I'm glad you like the stories, and I appreciate the feedback on perspectives - the Dash one is my favourite of the three, but the Pinkie was by far the most fun and easiest to write. As for more, there's a good chance you'll see it. I find I quite like doing continuous, running stories in short story format - it leaves me free to continue them where and how I want without feeling hurried or like I have to fill in anymore blanks than I want to. It's probably lazy, but it's just...fun.
2627131 Thanks.
2628584 Hehe. That's exactly what I'm envisioning myself, so I'm delighted you see it too.