Telling the truth

by andrizzi

...is always better

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, in front of Fluttershy’s parents’ home.

“So… tonight?”

“Uhm, yes. Tonight!”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Oh yes. Totally sure.”

“Really?”

“...”

“...”

“Almost totally sure…?”

“Aauugh… listen! I’ve had enough of this!”

“I know, and… and I totally want to tell them too. But it could just be the wrong time...”

“You mean like that time when we were about to tell them but you chickened out because your pop spilled the cocoa?”

“He was so upset about the drink...”

“What about that time when we had accorded to talk ‘after dinner’ and your mom burned the turkey in the oven?”

“Technically, there was no dinner.”

“We went for hayburgers, Flatty. We still ate dinner in the end.”

“Did you want to say it in front of everypony?”

“Meh, maybe not… hehe, and do you remember THAT time when I said I had to make a declaration and your little bro thought it was about me and him!”

“Hehe.”

“Haha, I mean... as if that would ever happen! Pfft!”

“...”

“...”

“I am nervous.”

“I know you are. But don’t worry, I’m here with you.”

“But I am scared about how they will react! Ooo… what if they...”

“Hey, we’ve already talked about this: if there’s gonna be a problem about it then the only problem will be them!”

“But… but I don't want them to be a problem...”

“Neither do I! Don’t worry, we've all known each other for a lifetime. I’m sure that we’ll get all along; they’re cool ponies!”

“I know, but that is it: they would never dare to stand against me, they have never ever been assertive with anypony. B-but what if they claim to support me and then they start despising me while I don’t notice. What if they hold a grudge but they deny it and our family drifts apart because...”

“Fluttershy!”

“Hmm”

“What do you think of the two ponies inside that house?
Take your time and think it good before answering.”

“Think it well...”

“Huh?”

“Nothing...”

“...”

“I think they are the most kind and loving parents I could ever ask for, even if they have problems to impose themselves sometimes. But I also know that they’re very quiet and peaceful and I don’t want to do anything that could bother them. I also know that they always did their best to help me growing and they care about me very much and I want them to be by my side for the years to come.”

“Do you really think that they would despise you? For something about you that you can’t even change?”

“I don’t think so… but I don’t know. I know what they’re expecting from me, from my future… I don’t want to disappoint them.”

“You’re not a disappointment, especially for them!”

“You can’t...”

“They care about you, and they always stuck by your side. You know them well, and I think they know you. You should believe a little more in your folks, ‘cause i’m sure they love you just the way you truly are. Maybe they already know about this, even!”

“But they could be strict minded, you know it could be! Sometimes you are just so convinced about something and you can’t accept... y-you just don’t listen and everypony start shouting and crying and then they're all angry and then everything is gray and sad.”

“It could be Fluttershy, i hope it won’t. But it doesn’t have to. I’m sure that everything will go smoothly. They’re cool guys, trust me.”

“...”

“Besides, you’ll have to tell them sooner or later. It’s never good to keep a secret from the ponies you love.”

“Mm-hm”

“Look at me.”

“...”

“...”

“Rainbow Dash...”

“I believe that everything will go just fine. I truly do. I always liked your mom and dad and they always adored me back.”

“As my friend...”

“Not just because of that. Everypony adores me thanks to my awesomeness!”

“...”

“Anyway, yes. They’ve always been enthusiastic about you having me as your best friend. They were happy every time I showed up, they’ve been supernice with me and they even asked me to look after you several times. In fact I think they see me as family already!”

“Yes, like my big sister maybe.”

“Yeah well, everypony wants me to watch over them as a big sis apparently. After all, I’m the coolest best hero around along with you and the girls.”

“Mmm, weren’t we talking about my parents?”

“My point is: even now, I’m here for you. And I will be right by your side when you tell them. I won’t push you though, they’re your parents and we’ll wait until you feel ready. But when you tell them, I will be there. And they know how much I care about you, and that I would never let anything bad to happen to you. I would buck a dragon straight in the face for you.”

“And then I would have to apologize to him and scold him for his bad attitude. Right after he gets done with rampaging after you for your kick.”

“Ok, I should have picked a better example. What about ‘I would perform a sonic rainboom for you’?”

“Now I am flattered.”

“I thought you were Fluttershy?”

“Come on now, be serious.”

“Can’t, I’m Rainbow Dash!”

“Hehe.”

“Honestly, serious isn’t even my second name.”

“It sure is not, Rainbow Danger Professionalism Dash.”

“Oh, you’re joking now?”

“I had a bad influence.”

“I hope you mean ‘a really cool’ one.”

"Of course I do."

"..."

“Thank you, I feel so much better now.”

“Anytime.”

“And you are right, I shouldn’t be ashamed of this. I am not ashamed. And I owe them to know that much. Not for the matter, but for the way that I feel about it. I am just hurting myself not telling them, and I know that I can’t avoid the true forever. I have waited enough, it is better to tell them now.”

“Now we’re talking!”

“Hm-hm.”

“So, are you sure about this?”

“I don’t need to be. You are here, and nothing could give me more confidence.”

“Wow, Shy...”

“...”

“Uhm, I...”

“Hello miss. Is your name Fluttered perhaps?”

“Well, let’s get inside.”

“Rainbow Dash?”

“...”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“...”

“Now let’s go tell them!”

Author's Note:

First, you probably noticed that the entire chapter is made of dialogues.
Yes, that was on purpose. No, it wasn't a good idea nor a good writing technique.
I wrote this chapter as an exercise, since I am not a ShyDash fan I picked this story to improve myself.
I don't know if I succeeded.
One other thing I tried to do was to allow free interpretation to the reader, in fact i didn't point out the ship between RD and Flutter, I just implied it between the strings. In that, not describing anything of the actions or the environment helps, because it forces the reader to assume what's happening.
Written without an editor, please forgive me for all the offences to English writing.
Thanks to Raw Cringe and his comments, which helped to improve the chapter.
Tell me what you think in the comments.

Comments

[andrizzi]

Questioning my own story, do you think I should tag this as a Romance?

Also I'm not sure about my vocabulary:

even if they are a compliant couple sometimes

did you understood what I meant? Is compliant the right word?

[Flufux]

Not too bad actually, I wouldn't mind reading about the part where they talk with the parents.

[andrizzi]

7344704
Ok, it's 6pm and I just came back from my work place so now I can reply...

First, thank you very much for the feedback, it's very precious and actually I just longed for a comment like that!
Are you experienced? Because you made a very good recap/correction about the story.

so, digging into details:

Fluttershy’s parent’s home

you are right but why?
Shouldn't it be then Fluttershys' parents'? Or is it so because parents is plural?

“Oh yes. Totally sure”

Damn, I checked three times for periods...

we had accorded for ‘after dinner’

I meant that RD and Shy had planned to make their move 'after dinner'

“Hihi”

About the laugh, I'll check. About the punctuation, double buck!

even if they are a compliant couple sometimes.

This one was hard to write, but what I meant was that Shy's parents are really soft ponies and don't know how to impose themselves or how to be assertive.

believe a little more in your olds,

Another difficult one, I wanted to use a slang word for 'parents' since RD was talking but i don't know even one and I didn't found any help on the dictionary.

If you look over the story, you'll see a lot of ellipses

I completely agree, and I had that worry while I was in the middle of writing.
A lot of writers breaks dialogues by describing the actions, using the body language of the characters, and that is how I usually write. It is a more detailed and more lively style.
Still, because I'm and idiot and maybe a masochist, I challenged myself to write this chapter using ONLY dialogues (with one exception for picturing the background) and I already knew It would have taken points from the final result. I did so because I wanted this chapter to be as free-interpretation as possible and I wanted to try something new.
I'm still a beginner after all.

About the storytelling:

I admit it: You completely got me off guard here.
I'm very glad you did though, because I think you are right (again).
Now I'm in front of a dilemma, I could try to correct the lecturing parts, leave the flirting parts and add some more personal parts.
Thing is that I'm not sure how much far I should go to fix the sterility of those parts but also to not destroy the original structure.
Guess I'll start editing the easy issues, then I'll see if I can make it less "lecturing" and more personal.

About the Romance tag

About that: you are right again!
But this time you didn't understand my concern. One mayor target of the story was the involvement of the reader, and I tried to reach it by leaving blank spaces for identification.
The reader knows that Shy is keeping a secret from her parents, he knows that she is suffering for it and wants to them the truth.
Then I leave some hints about what this is all about, clearly leaving the romance implied (and maybe inbound if I write a sequel).
This way the story is completed, and it makes sense, but the reader has still no proof about what the secret is.
So this way the reader can:
-take the hints (e 'bona le).
-make theories (and continuing the story on their own).
-use THEIR secret as a replacement, getting completely involved!
My concern is: if I add the R tag, that alone will be a proof? Will it shatter the power of secret and the empathy of the reader?
If not, I would like to add the Tag, since it is plenty accurate.
If yes, that would destroy not just the mystery but also the attention of the reader, who just wants sappy romance (which isn't bad, but I think I accomplished that and a little more this time)

Again, thank you for your help, you really enlighted my day.