Overslept

by FS713

III: Pegasi Of A Feather

11:30 PM, Friday

Fluttershy and Rainbow laughed roaringly.

“Ah, The Tale Of Old Stallion Halfpint has to be one of my favorite old Pegasus drinking songs,” Rainbow said as she threw back another big gulp of cider, holding a small acoustic guitar and laid back in her chair, hind hooves relaxing up on the table.

“Oh, one of mine too,” Fluttershy responded, taking a delicate sip of hers. “Doesn’t that one date back to the times of the three divided tribes, when Commander Hurricane and her army would sing it in the taverns and during feasts?”

Rainbow chuckled as she tuned her guitar. “Wow, Fluttershy. You really know your history.”

Fluttershy blushed a little, and hiccuped slightly from the drink. “Oh, it’s just a little tidbit I picked up.”

Rainbow stretched out and cracked her vertebrae and wing muscles a bit, letting out a big sigh of relaxation before returning to her previous state. “All right, as per tradition, how about we do Me And My Friends next?”

“Oh, I don’t know. That one is really best with all six of us.”

“Oh, that’s no problem, we’ll just do our usual verses and leave the others’ out. I’ll start, OK?”

“All right. Go.”

Rainbow strummed her guitar and began to sing.

“Well, some ponies say that I’m kind of a hothead,

Or even that I’m just a jerk,

But I really couldn’t give a flying feather

Those stupid insults won’t work

‘Cause I’ve got the best friends a mare could ask for,

And that’s all I’ll ever need,

And if any pony looks down to us,

or tries to put us down, oh, we’d

Just pour another cider and strike up a tune, so let’s all sing along…

For the chorus, the two ponies sang in unison.

“So here’s to us, me and my friends,

Just hanging out ‘til we all meet our ends,

Drinking up, singing, and having a ball,

And we don’t give a damn what they think of us all,

Oh, here’s to us, just me and my friends,

Whatever comes up will surely amend,

For there is no greater thing from here to the moon,

Than me and my friends here in this very room…

“All right, Fluttershy, go!” Rainbow called out, still playing.

Fluttershy began.

“Now, I’m not the most zestful of ponies,

I’ve got an odd quirk or two,

But me and my lot will have eachothers’ backs,

Whatever Tartarus we’re put through,

I’ve got the most wonderful friends a mare could ask for,

And that’s all I’ll ever need,

And if anypony looks down on us,

or tries to put us down, oh, we’d

Just pour another cider and strike up a tune, so why don’t we sing along…

“Soooo, here’s to us, me and my friends,

Just hanging out ‘til we all meet our ends,

Drinking up, singing, and having a ball,

And we don’t give a damn what they think of us all,

Oh, here’s to us, me and my friends,

Whatever comes up will surely amend,

For there is no greater thing from here to the moon,

Than me and my friends, here in this very room…

Rainbow finished off the song with a small bout of frantic strumming before hitting the strings and bringing the song to a close.

The two cheered, as Fluttershy went in for a toast but accidentally lost grip of her mug and splashed her cider all over Rainbow. “Oops.”

“Hey!” Rainbow said, subsequently soaking Fluttershy with her own drink.

The two burst into hysterics, with Rainbow jumping up on the table and playfully tackling Fluttershy to the ground.

While pinned down, Fluttershy eyed a half-full mug close by. She reached out to it and poured the beverage directly onto Rainbow’s head.

The laughter continued as Rainbow unpinned her friend.

Fluttershy looked at herself. “Oh, look at this mess,” Fluttershy said half-jokingly, lightheartedly jabbing her friend with her hoof.

“Hey, you started it,” Rainbow chuckled, jabbing Fluttershy back. “At least it wasn’t soda this time.”

Ah, yes. The Great Cola War Of That One Time Applejack Hosted. Fluttershy flashed back to that legendary sleepover; the brown fizzy liquid spraying everywhere, the barn left completely soaked, Rainbow and AJ’s team with such incredible tactic against Twilight and Pinkie’s… sadly, there were no survivors. Well, actually, that’s not true, in fact all of them survived, that’s just what they said to make it seem more ‘epic’. “You just had to bring the Cola War into it, didn’t you?” Fluttershy said.

“Hey, it’s always worth bringing up how much I kicked Twi and Pinkies’ flanks, isn’t it?”

Fluttershy laughed as opposed to taking offense on their behalf. She knew the jab was made in light-hearted jest, and as moderator, she knew firsthand that her and AJ did, in fact, kick Twilight and Pinkie’s flanks pretty hard. “It certainly is.”

“Yeah. Shame Rarity didn’t want to participate, but she thought it was so ‘uncouth and childlike and would simply stain my coat!’”, Rainbow put on her over-the-top Rarity impression.

The two laughed. It had been a while since Fluttershy felt this comfortable around Rainbow Dash, just standing around and reminiscing on sleepovers past. It was nice to just spend some quality time with her.

“All right, I’m gonna get the O&O campaign set up. Since you’re still a bit new to the game, I’ll get the beginner’s edition. Cool?”

“Cool.”

Rainbow walked off to Fluttershy’s drawer to retrieve the game board.

As Fluttershy watched Rainbow prepare the next event, she felt compelled to say something. “Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

“...thanks.”

Rainbow was taken aback. “Thanks? For what?”

“Thanks for being here. It’s nice to get to share this time with you.”

Rainbow smiled. “Aww, Fluttershy, no need to get so sappy.”

“I mean it, though. You’ve been a great friend and I just wanted you to know that… I’m grateful for you.”

Rainbow blushed a little. “Aww, Fluttershy, come here.” The two embraced in a hug.

Maybe it was the cider taking its effect, maybe it was simply having her crush actively hug her, but Fluttershy’s mind slipped into a state of intoxicated bliss, one where she didn’t ever want to let Rainbow go.

“...Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

“...I love you.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she pushed Fluttershy back. “WHAT!?”

Fluttershy had just realized what she said. It had slipped out. She didn’t mean for it to, but it did. Her vision began to blur as everything turned into a big haze. In that moment, it felt like everything was falling apart. For a good moment, she considered just up and running. Running away from the stupid thing she had just said. “Rainbow, wait, I… I can explain…”

But before she could head to the door and make a break for it, something happened she wasn’t expecting; Rainbow got flustered and ran away.

Fluttershy was left in shock. With four words, four little, stupid words that came out of her mouth, she had run her own friend right out of the house and ruined a perfectly good moment.

She ran out the door and looked to the skies for Rainbow, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, Fluttershy, you fool!” she convicted herself under her breath with a facehoof before flying off in search for her friend.

Maybe, just maybe, she could somehow fix this.

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