Something Happened

by SamRose

Chapter 3

No one knew where she came from, but Sunset ended up taking the school by storm. In less than a week, everyone knew who she was and where she stood in the pecking order.

She made the previous most popular kids look pathetic by comparison, she had half the school wrapped around her fingers, and it seemed like the other half were waiting to be caught in her web.

I couldn't say I liked her, there was always something wrong about the way she did everything. I tried to keep out of her way, focusing on staying with the new friends I had made and just ignoring the school going crazy for her.

But for some reason, she made it her business to be a part of mine. What had started out as one of the best starts to my freshman year of high school, turned into a strange return to the way things had been back in Cloudsdale.

Fluttershy was the only one I knew that ended up reliably hanging out with me all the time. The rest of the girls began to grow distant, hanging out at other tables during lunch, or outright ignoring us when we tried to hang out.

Sometimes they would be nice and throw a bone to hang out with us, but something always went wrong. They would show up at the wrong time or on the wrong day, they would purposefully screw up something meaningful, or they would just outright ignore something they had been explicitly told.

It felt like ever since Sunset Shimmer had come to the school, our friends had just decided they weren't interested in being friends anymore. I didn't have any proof that she was responsible for it, but in the back of my mind I always blamed her for coming in and ruining the good thing I had going.

Fluttershy began to become reclusive again, and I hated seeing her draw back into her shell. CHS had been doing so good for her, she had made friends and was opening up more and more. And all too soon she was back to her quiet ways, withdrawing from everything and barely speaking a word.

I ended up spending most of my free time with her as a result. If I didn't have practice, I was hanging out with Fluttershy. She seemed to enjoy the company, and I even helped her out some more at the animal shelter. I still didn't like actually helping, but the shelter was one of the few places I got to see her at her most natural. I could never take that away from her.

The school year went by in a blur after that, and Sunset began to seemingly rule the school. She acted as if she was royalty, and it didn't help that most of CHS's big school functions involved electing someone as a Prince or Princess.

And of course, Sunset Shimmer won all of the competitions. She even started running unopposed by the third one. It was almost sickening how there was a lack of anyone putting up a fight against her.

Not that I was any better, I was just trying to ignore her. But it's hard to ignore someone who won some fake plastic crown and was acting like it made her the most important person in the universe.

You could see it on her face every time one of those dumb crowns was placed on her head. She got this strange, mad cackling smile on her face, as if she had gained some ultimate power that would let her rule the universe.

It was just a plastic crown. Get over yourself.

And all too soon, freshman year was over. I hadn't even stopped to say goodbye to it, I was just happy to get away from Sunset Shimmer and the weird place she had turned the school into.

Fluttershy seemed relieved that school was over as well. I knew she didn't like Sunset Shimmer either, though if she had reasons beyond her being a showboating airhead, she never told me.

It wouldn't be until much later that I had learned how much Sunset had been bullying Fluttershy. I should have known better than to assume she hadn't, but back then I had been so focused on just getting through the year that I hadn't even stopped to notice the reason why Fluttershy had gone back to being the reclusive wallflower she had been before.

Summer vacation was a wonderful get away from school though. I had vowed to make it awesome and make up for all the time that Fluttershy and I had missed out on while we were separated. She was all too happy to get out of the house herself, and had no objections to me using most of her free time.

And just like when we were kids, we fell back into old habits. It had been so long since we'd played video games together that I hadn't realized how much I had missed her commentary while I played. She even took a few shots at playing some of my games herself. She wasn't very good at them, but I helped her along the way and soon even she was having fun with them.

She didn't care much for the arcade, but even she found some fun things to do while there. I was genuinely surprised at how much she got into one of the arcade shooters for zombies, I had thought for sure she would've been freaked out by it. Instead, she had beaten me for it's top score.

I really had never seen Fluttershy concentrate so hard on anything before, but there was a deadly look in her eye as she gunned down each of the zombies. It was kind of endearing actually, in that weird sort of way.

Of course once the game was over she had immediately apologized for acting weird, but I couldn't be angry at her in the slightest. If anything, I was really glad to see her being better at me in something, especially since it wasn't something I really needed to be good at. Video Games were about having fun after all, and I was glad she'd had fun.

I took her out on nature walks as well, just like old times. I still had fun turning them into mini-adventures while she just enjoyed the serene quiet and the woodland creatures that would come up and greet her.

I still get a little freaked out whenever a deer just walks up to her, that's not normal.

Summer vacation had been exactly what we needed though. Fluttershy was in her natural element and so she was so naturally vibrant again. She even stopped wearing her long-sleeved jackets and ankle-length skirts and wore her tank tops and knee-skirts again. It had been so long since I saw her bare arms that I had to at least tease her about them a little.

Seeing her bare arms though reminded me of the bruise I had seen on her during the funeral. I still had no idea where it had come from, and the memory of squeezing it without knowing still haunted me a little. I wanted nothing more than to ask where it had come from, but I didn't want to ruin what we had now.

If I brought up old, painful memories like that, she might leave me again. She might yell at me and tell me to leave her alone.

I didn't want that.

So I left well enough alone, wondering if I would ever know what had really happened to her, but at the same time perhaps I was better off not knowing. I didn't want anything to ruin what we had now, something that felt like it could vanish just as easily as it did so many years ago. So I never spoke up about my concerns or worries, and just focused on having a good time with my best friend.

And we did have a great time. Better than we'd ever had before.

Fluttershy was so genuinely kind and wonderful, I began to wonder just how I had gotten by without her before. Her smile shined so brightly, her eyes were always so open and welcoming, her voice was soft like an angel's, her skin was perfect and free of blemishes, her hair accentuated her natural good looks, and I was acutely aware of just how much her figure had filled out from puberty.

At some point just looking at her had started to make me smile and blush. I had just been with her for so long and enjoying her company for so long, that I hadn't even realized that I'd began to feel something for her that was more than friendship.

She had always been my friend for so long that I just thought these feelings were natural. I thought that when two girls were friends as close as we were, that it was only natural that she would make my heart flutter, or make me want to hug her and kiss her, that this was something every pair of super great friends went through.

So I never told her how I felt, and I just continued to spend every moment I could with her. But even if I couldn't admit it openly, my heart knew the truth.

I had fallen in love with Fluttershy. I hadn't even known I was attracted to girls, as no one else made me feel the way she made me feel. I didn't look at other girls and drool at how sexy they were, I didn't think boys were hunks that could be dated, I didn't even really want to do anything romantic or mushy like all those other girls did.

I was Rainbow Dash, I was just a little too good for romance. That was what I told myself.

Romance was more of a thing Rarity did, where she would squeal and dress up all fancy and spend money on dates that were completely unnecessary. Why spend money on someone you don't know if you're going to spend more time with when you could spend time with someone you know you cared about?

Like Fluttershy.

After what had been a whirlwind summer vacation, we spent the last day of it having a sleepover at my house. Early on I had suggested having a few over at her house, but she always shot me down saying that her Father wouldn't ever let anyone over. I had quickly learned to stop asking and to just invite her over to my house. She always took every opportunity she could to say yes.

We were in my room, dressed cozily in our PJs and sharing an oversized beanbag chair. A movie was playing on my TV while we shared a bowl of freshly popped popcorn. Her head was leaning against my chest and shoulder, while I leaned back into the plush cushiony goodness. Our hands would occasionally brush against each others as we reached for popcorn, and she would occasionally mumble an apology while I assured her it was okay.

It was bliss, honestly.

I don't think I even paid attention to the movie much. We had picked out a selection of movies to watch that night and just marathon them back to back. After a movie I had picked was finished, a movie Fluttershy had picked would play. We'd go back and forth like that until we had run out of movies or we passed out for school tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure we were in the middle of one of my movies, but I had honestly zoned out at that point. I was just relishing in having Fluttershy leaned against me, my arm wrapped around her so close. It was a moment I wish could last forever.

“Hey, Rainbow?” Fluttershy murmured quietly, almost drowned out by the sound of the action sequence taking place on screen. I'd learned to pick up on her quiet voice though, able to hear it through a lot of loud noises.

“Yeah Shy?”

“Do you think we'll always be like this?”

It was a strange question for sure. After all, I wanted the answer to be yes, but things had changed so dramatically so quickly when we were younger, I couldn't say it with any confidence.

“I'd like it if they could.” I spoke honestly. “I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than spending my night with you.”

“Really?” Fluttershy tilted her head to look up into my eyes. My face flushed, but I could see the emotions in Fluttershy's eyes. She wanted to believe what I said was true. “You... Really don't mind spending all this time with me?”

“Of course not.” I smiled at her, gripping her shoulder and pulling her a little closer. I closed my eyes and gently pressed my head against hers, “I didn't realize how much I missed you when you left all those years ago. I got by, sure, but it wasn't the same without you around. If I can help it, I'm always going to be by your side from now on.”

Fluttershy's hand gently squeezed at my shirt as she nestled deeper into me. “You mean it?” She asked in her quietest voice yet.

“I do. I want us to always be together.” I smiled, feeling my heart thud in my chest. I wondered if she could hear it, but if she could she didn't make any indications of it.

We sat there like there for a few minutes, the movie drowned out in our own sappiness. If anyone ever asked if I was such a sap, I'd probably sock em one and deny it forever. But for Fluttershy, I was willing to push my pride aside for a little bit.

“I'd like that.” Fluttershy finally responded quietly. I just smiled and held her close.

At some point the movie finished playing, but neither of us felt like moving to put the next movie on. We just held each other close, and I couldn't have been happier.

Comments

[cremen01]

SamRose. Do you think that you can make a story about Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash having a baby boy and learning how to raise him, I really wanna hear THAT story. Also, can the story be filled with happiness, joyfulness, dedication and labor?