Rainbooms On the Mind

by Kevinltk

Chapter 11: Bit by Bit

Just a little bit more and then I’ll be done.

Natalya dipped her brush into the paint can she was holding and then carefully started the last part of her painting.

It had been a few days since her visit to Sweet Apple Acres and the subsequent night flight with Rainbow. As Rainbow had suggested, Natalya had lightened up on her training, giving her time to do other things.

With one last yellow stripe over some light-blue, Natalya was finally done with her painting. She shoved the brush into the paint can and flew down from the second story of the building she had been hovering in front of this whole time. As soon as she touched the ground, she dropped off her paint supplies amidst a pile of a few other cans of different colors.

Next to the paint cans was bucket filled with water. Picking up a sponge that was floating in the water, she started to clean her claws of the paint that had dripped onto them. After a few good scrubs, she checked her claws and sighed when she saw that only a few tiny flecks of paint had been removed while several big splotches still remained. Considering the weather-resistant paint she had to use, she knew that it was going to be a while before she was clean.

As she continued to scrub away, Natalya’s gaze drifted back to the building she was in front of. Flanking the front door were display windows, and through the glass, she could see bags of candy with more colors than she had ever seen before; chocolates in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, lollipops as big as her head, and many other sweet treats. There was also a small poster hanging on one of the windows telling her to ‘Try out the specialty: Bon Bon’s Bon Bons’.

“Pony names are weird,” Natalya mumbled to herself, shaking her head at the punny poster.

Eventually, Natalya finally got her claws cleaned and just when she tossed the sponge back in the bucket, the door to the shop opened.

“Are you done already?” a beige earth pony mare with a curled mane of dark-blue and pink asked, walking out of the shop toward Natalya.

Natalya pointed a claw up. “See for yourself, Bon Bon.”

Bon Bon did as she was told, looking up to where Natalya had pointed. She let out a small gasp. “Oh my. The store sign looks just like new! You did an incredible job, Natalya!”

Natalya shrugged nonchalantly, although she did allow herself a small smirk.

Before she had started, the sign had dirt caked up in several spots and much of the paint was chipped and faded. Scrubbing off the dirt was not difficult, merely time-consuming. The hard part was the painting. Her artistic skills were matched by her applebucking proficiency. Fortunately, all she had to do was trace over everything with a fresh coat of paint, but it still took a bit of time before she got the hang of it.

The restored sign vividly broadcast the words ‘Ponyville Sweet Shop’ in large, dark-blue block letters. Following the words was a picture of Bon Bon’s cutie mark of three teal and yellow striped wrapped candies lined up vertically with the middle candy sticking slightly to the right.

Natalya allowed Bon Bon some time to stare in wonder at her hard work, but after a few minutes passed, she cleared her throat, grabbing the attention of Bon Bon.

“So, is that everything?” Natalya asked.

“If you could just move all of these paint cans into the backroom, then yes, that’ll be everything.” Bon Bon sheepishly smiled. “Sorry that I can’t help with that, but since it’s still business hours, I can’t really get my hooves dirty at the moment.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Natalya started gathering up the painting supplies.

“Thank you for all of your help.”

“You can thank me by paying me the bits we agreed on.”

“Of course.” Bon Bon chuckled and opened the door for Natalya.

With her hands full, Natalya made her way to the backroom at the rear of the store, briefly glancing around the shop’s interior. Shelves lined each of the walls, and just like the display window, they were stocked fully with all manners of sweets. There was also a large table that occupied the center of the room, laden with extravagantly-decorated sweets with a bouquet of candied flowers as its centerpiece.

Thanks to Pinkie already overdosing her with sugar, Natalya did not feel the need to purchase any candy of her own and proceeded into the backroom. After dumping the paint supplies, she came back out and met Bon Bon at the nearby store counter.

“Thank you again, Natalya,” Bon Bon said before bringing out a saddlebag and a small pouch from behind the counter and sliding them across toward Natalya. “Here’s your bag, all safe and sound, as well as your payment.”

Natalya’s first order of business was to check her saddlebag to make sure that all of her belongings were still there. She did not have anything worthwhile in her bag and she doubted that Bon Bon would try to steal from her, but it was a habit that had formed early in her life.

Finding everything in place, Natalya turned her attention to the other item on the counter. Picking up the pouch in her claws, she gave it a good shake.

My favorite music, Natalya thought when she heard the heavenly sounds of bits jingling from within the pouch.

“I threw in a few extra bits as thanks for your hard work,” Bon Bon remarked cheerfully while Natalya began counting her earnings.

“Oh, um, thanks,” Natalya uttered, briefly glancing up at Bon Bon before returning her attention to the bits.

“I’ve been meaning to fix up my sign for a long time, but I just kept putting it off,” Bon Bon continued. “I would’ve asked my friend for help, but honestly, she can sometimes be a bit too eccentric and probably would’ve added her own personal touches. I’m glad that you answered my job posting.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem,” Natalya replied. She had been only half-listening while she was counting her bits. Finding that she was indeed paid extra, she stashed her payment in her saddlebag and nodded to Bon Bon.

“Well, everything is all settled, so I’m going to head out now,” Natalya informed.

“Wait, there’s one more thing.” Bon Bon reached below her and pulled out a small paper bag filled with brown cubes. “Another little something for your help.”

“What is it?” Natalya plucked one of the cubes in her claws, eyeing it carefully. She felt the cube give slightly when she gave it a soft squeeze.

“Toffee. I made a whole batch this morning. It’s one of my specialties.”

“And toffee is?”

“Um, caramelized sugar, to put it simply.” Bon Bon cocked her head. “You never heard of toffee before?”

“We don’t get much candy in Griffonstone. In fact, I don’t know the names of half the things you got in this store.”

“Wow, Pinkie wasn’t kidding when she said you guys were lacking in the sweet department. All the more reason for you to try out my toffee.”

Natalya eyed the cube in her claws for another moment before shrugging and popping the candy in her mouth.

“Not bad, not bad at all,” Natalya complimented. She savored the taste of caramel and chocolate, and even after the toffee had melted away, the taste still lingered in her mouth.

“Thanks!” Bon Bon replied, smiling with pride. “I’m always glad to hear somepony enjoying my sweets. So, uh…” She leaned forward and eyed Natalya in interest. “You’re one of the two griffons that’s staying at Twilight’s castle, right?”

“Yep.” Natalya tossed another toffee into her mouth. “Other one is Gilda, and she spends most of her time at Sugarcube Corner.”

Bon Bon nodded. “Yes, I did see her working with Pinkie the last time I went there. How long are you two going to be in Ponyville?”

Natalya shrugged. “Dunno. Gilda is learning friendship stuff with Twilight and baking with Pinkie, so who knows how long that will take.”

“What about you?”

“What is this, an interrogation? What’s with all the questions?” Natalya asked, an eyebrow raising in suspicion.

“Sorry,” Bon Bon apologized with a sheepish smile. “It’s just been a slow day, so I could use a bit of gossip to help pass the time. We don’t get many griffons in Ponyville. Sorry again if I’m coming off as rude.”

Natalya shrugged. “Whatever. It’s not like you’re a secret agent or something like that, especially if you can make candy like this.” She popped another toffee into her mouth.

Bon Bon coughed lightly. “Right…”

“As for what I’m doing, I’m spending my time with Rainbow.” Natalya had to pause and think for a few seconds. “To be honest, I’m actually not too sure what I’m doing with Rainbow though. I was supposed to be training with her, but she wants me to spend some time relaxing instead. We’ve been kind of going back and forth.”

“So then how did you end up deciding to help fix up my sign?”

“I needed something to do when Rainbow has to do her weather job, so I started taking up odd jobs around town.”

With some help from Rainbow, Gilda had convinced Natalya that they needed to start pitching in at the Castle of Friendship. Besides helping out with the chores, Gilda thought it would also be a good idea if they earned some bits to help out with the groceries and maybe even buy gifts for Twilight and Spike.

Natalya was still resistant to the whole helping out thing, but she was receptive about the earning bits part. She asked Twilight if there were any ways for her to earn some quick bits and was informed of a public board at town hall that ponies could post stuff on, including requests for help. Twilight had mentioned something about helping ponies and friendship, but Natalya was more focused on the bits that many of the jobs were offering.

While Natalya would much rather be training than painting signs, cleaning windows, or other odd jobs, the bits she was making was more than worth it. It turned out that ponies were more generous with their money than griffons. Like Bon Bon, many ponies she worked for even gave her more than they originally offered—something about a tip.

Natalya was still unsure about Rainbow’s recommendation to ease up on her training, but it was hard to argue against her growing bit pouch.

Stuffing one more toffee into her mouth and stowing the rest into her saddlebag, Natalya said to Bon Bon, “I need to get going. I’m meeting up with Gilda.”

Bon Bon nodded. “Okay, thanks for keeping me company. Feel free to come back anytime, and make sure to tell your griffon friends about my shop.”

Deciding to not tell Bon Bon she was a bit lacking in griffon friends, Natalya merely nodded and left Bon Bon without a word. Stepping out of the shop, Natalya flew straight for town hall, which was where she was supposed to meet Gilda.

Sitting in the center of town and standing at three stories tall, Ponyville’s town hall was one of the hardest structures to miss, second only to Twilight’s giant, shiny castle. Tall, arched windows covered the circular building, and each story had a platform that completely encircled the exterior walls. The structure was topped off with a steeple, adding even more to its impressive height.

Seeing no sign of Gilda when she landed in front of town hall, Natalya went over to the public board hanging next to the main entrance, directing her attention at the ‘help wanted’ section.

“Already looking for your next job?” Gilda’s voice came from behind a few moments later.

“You’re late,” Natalya complained, turning to the other griffon.

“Yeah, sorry about that. The Cakes’ foals were clinging onto me, and it took a while before Pinkie could get them off me. Those foals are pretty darn cute, but they can also be pain sometimes, literally. Pretty sure I lost half of my feathers with their grabby mouths.”

“Sucks for you. So, we heading over to Fluttershy’s to get some fish?”

“Yep.” Gilda reached into her own saddlebag. She pulled out a small pouch like Natalya had received and shook it, sounding the familiar jingling of bits. “The Cakes just gave me another payment before I got here.”

“Wait, that’s where you’ve been getting your bits from? I thought you were just learning stuff from them and Pinkie.”

“I thought so too, but I guess they think I’m doing enough to be counted as an assistant. I know that they’re also grateful that I give them more time to spend with their foals.” Gilda put her bits back into her bag. “You ready to go now? I don’t have too long before I need to head back to Sugarcube Corner.”

Natalya nodded and took to the sky with Gilda, heading towards the outskirts of Ponyville where Fluttershy’s cottage was.

“I’m actually surprised that Twilight is cool with us eating meat and all,” Natalya remarked once their flight path was set. “I was kind of expecting her to freak out, on account of ponies being plant eaters and all.”

“Yeah, I talked to Twilight and Spike about it after you brought up the subject.” Gilda delivered a flat gaze toward Natalya. “Seriously, you could’ve done better than just blurting out ‘I want meat!’ last night during dinner. I think Pinkie would’ve shown more subtlety and tact than you.”

“I’m just getting really tired of all the salads and vegetable stuff.”

“What about all the bakery stuff that Pinkie and I make?”

“If I keep eating pastries, I can kiss my racing days goodbye because I’ll be too heavy to even get off the ground.”

Gilda snickered. “Now that would be a sight to see, but I get your point. To be honest, I’m hankering for some meat as well.

“Anyway, going back to what you said earlier, Twilight told me that most ponies are actually alright with meat eaters. Something about being culturally-insensitive to other species and tolerance and some other friendship stuff. I’m guessing that you don’t want me to give you the details.”

Natalya nodded. “Good guess.”

A short time later, Gilda’s looked to Natalya again, her eyes narrowing into a warning glare. “Now, before we get there, do I have to remind you what you have to do when you talk to Fluttershy?”

Natalya groaned and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you told me last night and again this morning. I’ll behave.”

“Good.”

“Speaking of which, I find it kind of weird that Fluttershy sells fish on the side. She doesn’t seem like that type.”

“You know, you could maybe listen to Twilight more instead of making crazy assumptions like that.”

“Meh,” Natalya replied with a quick shrug.

“For your information, Fluttershy takes care of all sorts of animals that visit her, so she always has fish on hand for the animals that eat them. Since there’s not really a big market for fish in Ponyville, it’s easier to get fish from her instead of searching for ourselves. Twilight even said that’s how Spike gets his fish.”

“Really? Spike eats meat as well?”

“Well, duh. He might be a little dude, but he’s still a dragon, and they eat all sorts of stuff. Actually, now that I think about it, we should bring Spike back some fish as well.”

“Why do…” Natalya closed her beak and gave Gilda’s recommendation more thought. While she was uncomfortable with the notion of spending extra bits on someone else, she supposed that a little present for the dragon was called for. After all, Spike was cool with her and Gilda living with him, not to mention all the cooking and cleaning he does.

“I guess that’s not such a bad idea,” Natalya half-heartedly agreed a moment later.

Gilda’s eyes widened with disbelief. “Really? You’re actually okay with doing something nice? I expected you to at least complain about your bits.”

Natalya let out an annoyed huff. “Well, I was going to, but I know that if I did, you and Rainbow would just lecture me later. Besides, I guess the little dude does kind of deserve it because of all the stuff he does for us.”

Gilda blinked a couple times and then a grin started to sprout on her face. “Yeah, you’re pretty much right.”

“Plus, I bet that we could get him to cook our fish for us as well if we do this for him,” Natalya hastily added.

Gilda chuckled. “Sure, whatever you say.”

“Hey, guys!” a familiar voice called from behind the griffons.

Natalya and Gilda both stopped their flight and turned around to see Rainbow Dash speeding toward them.

“Hey, Rainbow!” Gilda greeted cheerfully.

“Hey.” Natalya waved lazily at her friend. “Thought you had work today.”

“I was able to finish early,” Rainbow replied. “You know me. I do everything fast, including getting things done. I was looking around for you two. Where are you guys headed to?”

“Fluttershy’s place to get some fish,” Gilda answered.

“That’s cool.” Rainbow blinked. “Wait, Fluttershy’s?” She slowly turned her gaze to the other griffon. “Uh, Natalya…”

“Gilda already told me to behave,” Natalya flatly stated.

“Er, great, yeah, you should definitely do that, but that’s not what I was going to say. You see, um…” Rainbow bit her lip. “The thing is, there’s a chance that Fluttershy might get a bit scared when she sees you. You know, because of the last time you met her when you… uh...”

“Called her a lousy flyer that can’t do anything by herself?"

“Seriously?” Rainbow’s nervous tone was replaced by flat disbelief.

“It’s pretty much exactly what I said.”

“Well, yeah, but…” Rainbow facehoofed. “Just don’t do anything like that again. Please?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Natalya replied half-heartedly.

Fluttershy’s cottage came into view, and the three flyers descended upon their destination, landing on the short dirt path leading to the cottage. Rainbow took the lead, trotting right up to Fluttershy’s door and knocking on it, while Gilda moved up to stand on Rainbow’s right side.

Thinking that she should probably keep a bit of distance away from the skittish Fluttershy, Natalya stayed back and leaned on the fence that bordered the right side of the path.

A few seconds later, the door opened slightly, followed by a familiar, meek “Hello?”

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Rainbow greeted.

“Oh, hello, Rainbow,” Fluttershy replied, her voice losing its previous caution as she opened the door a bit wider. Her attention turned to the griffon next to Rainbow. “Oh, Gilda, you’re here too. Hello.”

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Gilda said back in kind with a smile.

From where she was standing, Natalya could only see a small part of Fluttershy’s mane peak out, meaning that she was out of Fluttershy’s line of sight. Deciding to let Rainbow and Gilda handle things, Natalya remained silent and hidden.

“So is there something you two need?” Fluttershy asked. “Not that I’m unhappy to see my friends, of course.”

“Actually, yeah,” Gilda answered. “Twilight told me that you sometimes sell fish to Spike, and since griffons kind of also eat meat, the both of us are here to buy some fish from you as well, if that’s alright with you.”

“Sure, I always have plenty on hoof for the… Wait, both of us? Rainbow, you eat fish?”

“Er, it’s not for me. It’s for…” Rainbow pushed the door wide open, finally revealing Fluttershy to Natalya, who was still casually leaning on the fence.

So much for staying hidden. Natalya casually waved at Fluttershy with a “Sup.”

“Oh, hello, Natalya.” Fluttershy blinked. “Wait, Natalya?” The pupils in Fluttershy’s eyes shrunk into pinpricks, and she let out a shriek before shutting the door in everyone’s face with a deafening slam.

“So… I guess you left quite the impression on her last time, Natalya,” Gilda commented after they all had been staring at the door for a few seconds.

“Yeah, I kind of noticed,” Natalya replied, injecting as much sarcasm as she could into her tone.

“Not gonna lie, I was half-expecting this exact thing was going to happen,” Rainbow informed.

“So this is what you mean by a bit scared?”

“More or less.”

“So, what now?” Gilda asked. “It would suck if we don’t get our fish, but I don’t want to push Fluttershy or anything. It hasn’t been that long since I settled stuff with her, and I don’t want to ruin that.”

“Don’t worry, leave it to me. Wait here a minute.” Rainbow flew up to a window on the second story, opened it, and went right into Fluttershy’s cottage.

It did not take long before Natalya and Gilda heard Fluttershy yelping as a loud crash was heard from somewhere inside the cottage. It was soon followed by animals chattering and then the splintering of wood. They briefly glanced at each other, shrugged, and then shifted their attention back toward the home. It was not much longer before the cottage door opened again with Rainbow standing in the entryway.

“All fixed,” Rainbow announced. “Fluttershy is getting the fish ready, and she wanted me to ask how many you two want.”

“Well, since this is our first time doing this, I think just two for each of us. Oh, and we also wanted to get some for Spike as well, so I guess that makes six?” Gilda glanced over at Natalya and received a nod.

“Be right back.” Rainbow rushed back into the cottage, leaving the griffons alone again.

Eventually, Fluttershy came to the door with a large paper bag held in her mouth, although it was slightly difficult to tell if it was of her own free will, due to the fact that her hooves were skidding across the floor as Rainbow pushed her from behind.

“Uh…” Gilda uttered while she and Natalya stared at the odd sight.

“She’s fine,” Rainbow assured. She placed Fluttershy in front of Gilda. “Come on, Fluttershy. Start with Gilda.”

“Right. Here you go, Gilda.” Fluttershy stepped forward on her own volition. As she placed the bag in Gilda’s waiting hands, her gaze constantly shifted in Natalya’s direction.

“Thanks, Fluttershy.” Gilda lowered herself onto her haunches, took off her saddlebag, and began rummaging through it. “Natalya, you mind paying your half first while I put these fish away and get my bits?”

“Sure.” Grabbing her share of bits from her bag, Natalya walked up to Fluttershy, whose eyes were getting wider and wider as the griffon approached her.

“Here.” Natalya stretched out her hand with bits toward Fluttershy. She tried to ignore Fluttershy’s shaking legs and eyes darting around. As Fluttershy continued to stand mutely in front of her, Natalya was starting to get annoyed, but she tried to hide the irritation in her voice.

“You going to take it or—”

Fluttershy suddenly grabbed the bits with a forehoof and ducked behind Rainbow.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow cried, sidestepping away from Fluttershy’s huddling form. “I told you she’s not the same griffon was when she first came to Ponyville.”

“I-I know,” Fluttershy quietly replied.

“Then why are you hiding from Natalya?”

“I’m sorry, Rainbow, but I can’t help it. I tried to not think about it, I really did, but I keep remembering how mean and scary she was from before.”

“But she’s changed, I swear…”

“It doesn’t feel that way to me…”

“But she…” Rainbow sighed and shook her head. “Never mind. It’s fine, Fluttershy.”

“Are you sure, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked, slowly getting back on her hooves.

“Yeah, it’s… it’s fine, Fluttershy.” Rainbow took a deep breath. “It wasn’t fair of me to simply ask you to not be afraid, especially within just a few minutes. I don’t want to force you. Just try and give Natalya another chance the next time, okay?”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy muttered quietly. “Thank you, Rainbow.”

“Sorry that things got pretty awkward,” Rainbow apologized to Natalya.

Natalya stared at Rainbow for a moment before shrugging. “No big deal.”

“You going to be alright, Rainbow?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Rainbow answered a bit too loudly. She paused to clear her throat. “Let’s just finish up here so that we can get going.”

“If you say so. Here’s my payment, Fluttershy.”

“Thanks…” Fluttershy meekly replied. She took the bits from Gilda, but her gaze focused on Rainbow. “Um, Rainbow, I’m really—”

“Fluttershy, I told you, it’s fine,” Rainbow assured, smiling softly. “Just keep what I said in mind, okay?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth, but she slowly closed and nodded silently instead.

“So, if everything is settled, I think we should go now,” Rainbow suggested.

Everyone muttered their mutual agreement, and after saying their thanks and goodbye to Fluttershy, the griffons and Rainbow flew away from the cottage.

As they made their way back to the Castle of Friendship, Natalya found herself glancing over at Rainbow multiple times. Despite Rainbow’s claims, she knew that the pegasus was not as fine as she was letting on, and she wondered if her friend was going to be alright.

Natalya also wondered why she started being concerned about Rainbow.

“Hey, you guys mind if we land?” Gilda suddenly asked.

“What’s up, Gilda?” Rainbow queried.

“I want to take a look at the fish Fluttershy sold us.”

“You know you could’ve done that at Fluttershy’s place if you’re worried that she gave us bad fish,” Natalya pointed out.

“Fluttershy would never do something like that!” Rainbow quickly protested.

“I trust Fluttershy too,” Gilda added. “I just really want to see what kind of fish we got, and I thought it would be rude to check out her goods when we were right in front of her.”

“Fair enough.”

“I’m pretty interested in seeing the fish as well,” Natalya stated.

“Cool.” Gilda glanced down and pointed at a lone tree below them. “There, that’s a good spot.”

The three of them dived down, converging on the spot Gilda pointed out. As soon as they landed, Gilda unpacked her saddlebag. Natalya looked around and could see Fluttershy’s home far off in the distance. The sound of rustling paper prompted her to quickly turn her head back to find Gilda hastily digging through the paper bag, pulling out one of the fish that was wrapped in even more brown paper.

“Oh man, these look awesome,” Gilda said gleefully, carefully peeling back the paper to reveal a fat, blue fish. “She really gave us the good stuff.”

Natalya nodded, her attention also seized by the fish as well. It felt like forever she had some decent fish, and she could feel her mouth start to water. “Man, I hope Spike knows some good fish recipes.”

“Me too. Tonight is going to be awesome.” Gilda smirked and in a teasing voice, called out, “Hey, Rainbow, you want to join us for dinner?”

When no response came from Rainbow, the griffons looked up to see the pegasus looking back in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Yo, Rainbow,” Natalya called out loudly.

Rainbow jumped up a bit at Natalya’s voice. “Huh? What?” She turned back to the griffons. “Uh, sorry, you were saying something?”

“Dude, I know you’re still hung up about Fluttershy and me.”

“What?” Rainbow scoffed loudly. “No, as if. Why would you think that?”

“You kind of learn how to read faces when growing up in Griffonstone. It helps prevent you from getting cheated out your bits. Honestly though, it’s not that hard to see that you’re dwelling on the Fluttershy thing. You get kind of loud when you were trying to cover it up.”

“She’s not wrong,” Gilda agreed. “I actually asked us to stop so that I could talk to you after I was done gawking at the fish. Natalya just beat me to the punch.”

“You two are…” Rainbow stopped when the griffons glared at her. She let out a long sigh and let her shoulders drop. “Alright, yes, I’m really bummed out Fluttershy did not get along with you, Natalya.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that, Rainbow,” said Natalya. “I’m not bothered by it at all.”

“Yeah, I know that wouldn’t get to you, but it would’ve been great if you and her became friends like Gilda did.”

“Does it matter if I’m friends with her or not?”

“It would be so awesome if you could. You’re pretty much on good terms with the others. Twilight and Pinkie are a given. Applejack thinks you’re alright, and minus the prank we pulled on her—expect some payback, by the way—Rarity is fine with you as well. Fluttershy is the only one of my friends that has a problem with you, on account of the whole being scare thing.”

“So in other words, you want me to be buddies with all of your friends?”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, pretty much…”

“And why is that so important to you?”

“Um…” Rainbow’s gaze shifted to Gilda.

“Oh, I think I get it,” said Gilda.

“What? Get what?” Natalya asked.

“Rainbow doesn’t want a repeat of what happened between her and me when I visited Ponyville last time.”

“You mean when she chose her pony friends over you?”

Gilda winced. “Yeah… But it’s not like I didn't deserve it…”

“Gilda’s right,” Rainbow confirmed. “I… I don’t want to go through something like that again. Having to choose between her and the others was horrible. When she left, I felt like I betrayed her. The worst part is that over time, things got twisted. I started to blame her for what went wrong, convincing myself that she was nothing but a jerk.”

“Yeah, pretty much the same thing happened to me as well. It really sucked when I pretty much lost the only friend I had at the time. It felt like a piece of me went missing that day. That soon got replaced by anger. I thought that Rainbow betrayed me, and I didn’t need her anymore.”

“When we met again at Griffonstone, our anger toward each other almost prevented us from fixing things.”

Gilda walked over to Rainbow and draped an arm across the pony’s back. “Lucky for us that Pinkie was there to help out, and now here we are, best buds again.”

Natalya gave the duo a slow clap and a deadpan face. “Great story, you two. So riveting. Changed my life.”

Rainbow and Gilda performed a collective eye roll.

“Rainbow, I get that you’re worried that I might do something that would come between you and your friends, but keep in mind that unlike Gilda, I’m not actively antagonizing any of them.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I was actively antagonizing them,” Gilda protested. “More like hoarding Rainbow to myself with lots of angry shouting as a side effect.”

Natalya shot Gilda a flat look and then returned her attention to Rainbow. “Point is, it took Gilda less than one day to mess things up.”

“Hey!”

Ignoring Gilda, Natalya continued, “I’ve been here for, what, two weeks? And like you said, Fluttershy is the only one who has a problem with me. I think I’m doing decent enough.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Rainbow admitted, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “I just would feel a lot better if you did manage to become Fluttershy’s friend.”

Natalya sighed. “That’s not going to be easy. To be honest, I find her whole shy behavior annoying.”

“O-oh… I see…” Rainbow fell to her haunches and her body slumped with disappointment.

“Natalya…” Gilda said in a chastising tone.

Natalya groaned and had to look away. The sight of the dejected Rainbow was causing a slight stir in her chest.

“Look, Natalya,” Rainbow spoke up. “I get that Fluttershy’s shyness can be a turn off. I sometimes even wish that she could be a bit more courageous, but then I remember the other good stuff about her. Give her a chance, Natalya. Fluttershy is a great friend, and you’ll be amazed by how kind she can be.”

“Do I really have to?”

“I’m not expecting anything right away, but like I asked Fluttershy, could you just give it a shot? It would mean so much to me.”

Natalya sighed, her gaze still avoiding Rainbow. She did kind of owe Rainbow with all the support and help the pegasus had given her, even if some of those things were irritating. Other than finding her a bit annoying, Natalya did not have any real quarrel with Fluttershy. Trying to be on friendly terms with Fluttershy in order to appease Rainbow did not sound that bad of a deal, and Rainbow did say all she had to was give it a shot.

If I’m going to get on Fluttershy’s good side, what’s the quickest way to do it? Well, Gilda patched things up with her… Natalya stiffened up when she recalled what happened during her first day in Ponyville.

Oh right… She did that… Aw crud…

Burying her face into her hand, Natalya muttered, “I can’t believe I’m going to…” She let out another weary sigh and faced the direction that they had flown from a few moments ago.

Well, might as well get it over with now instead of letting it loom over my head.

“Come on, we’re going back to Fluttershy’s,” Natalya ordered, turning back around to her companions.

“What? Why?” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “What are you planning?”

“Probably something really stupid…” Natalya said before flying off on her own. Partly because she wanted to get it over quickly and partly because she did not want to explain herself to the others, she raced across the sky as fast as she could.

Arriving back at Fluttershy’s cottage, Natalya quickly landed and moved up to the door. She raised a fist to knock, but she stopped when a thought came to mind. Backing away, she turned around and waited for the others to catch up.

When Rainbow and Gilda arrived a few moments later, Rainbow rushed right up to Natalya.

“Natalya, what are you planning?” Rainbow asked again.

“I’m giving it a shot, like you said.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Wait, really?”

“Yes, so hurry up. Knock on the door and tell her it’s you.”

“Uh, why?”

“Do you think she’ll open the door when she finds out it’s me?”

“Good point,” Rainbow conceded with a slight frown. She moved up and rapped her forehoof on the door, calling out, “Hey, Fluttershy, open up. It’s Rainbow again.”

Shortly afterwards, Fluttershy opened the door. “Hello, Rainbow. Did you forget…” Her gaze flicked to the side where Natalya was standing. She let out a yelp and her hoof reached for the door.

“Oh no you don’t!” Natalya shot out an arm and grabbed the door to prevent Fluttershy from slamming the door again. Her eyes widened for a second when she was almost jerked forward by Fluttershy’s desperate tug on the door. Either Fluttershy’s surprising strength was from adrenaline-fueled fear or the seemingly dainty pegasus really was stronger than she appeared.

“Natalya!” Rainbow angrily yelled. “What are you—”

“Fluttershy! I’m just here to talk to you! I’m not going to do anything to you, but I will drag you out myself if you don’t sit your butt down now and listen to me!” Natalya bellowed before Fluttershy retreated into her cottage or Rainbow tried to stop her.

Natalya could feel everyone’s eyes on her as everything went quiet.

“O-oh… Okay…” Fluttershy squeaked out a few moments later, falling back on her haunches and looking up at Natalya with wide eyes.

“Natalya, I’m trying very hard not to throttle you right now,” Rainbow warned as she huffed loudly.

“Yeah, whatever you’re doing, I’m pretty sure you’re doing it wrong,” Gilda remarked.

Natalya whirled around and demanded, “Quiet, you two. I’m not going to hurt her, but if I’m doing this, I’m doing this my way.”

Rainbow and Gilda both glared at Natalya, but they nodded and took a step back.

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Natalya turned back to Fluttershy. She slowly released her hold on the door and was relieved to see that Fluttershy did not try to make a second attempt at slamming the door shut, even if the pegasus was staring at her fearfully and looked ready to bolt at any second.

“Fluttershy, I wanted to say to you…” Natalya began slowly, but stopped as her next words caught in her throat. She took a deep breath for another try.

“I want to say…” Natalya grunted and glanced away. Usually, it was easy for her to say what was on her mind, but now, the words refused to come out. Then again, these were words she thought she would never have to utter. It did not help that she could still see Rainbow and Gilda glaring at her out of the corner of her eye.

Taking another deep breath, she looked back at Fluttershy. “I wanted to say…” Her willpower faltered again, and she had to avert her gaze once again.

Despite the fear in her eyes, Fluttershy leaned forward.

“Um, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked with concern.

Seeing that Fluttershy was actually being braver than her, Natalya rallied her thoughts and managed to blurt out, “I wanted to say thanks for the fish!”

“Oh, um, you’re welcome,” Fluttershy said at the same time Rainbow and Gilda uttered, “What?”

Not the right words, but at least it’s a step up from stammering like an idiot, Natalya mentally chided herself.

“So is that what you had to say to me? Because if it was, and if it’s okay with you…” Fluttershy spoke up when Natalya remained silent. “Could I maybe go now?”

“Yeeee—No.” Natalya took another deep breath. “I wanted to say something different. I didn’t mean to thank you for the fish.”

“You should though,” Gilda called from behind.

Natalya flashed an angry glare at Gilda before returning her attention to Fluttershy. “Fine, whatever, yes, thanks for the fish. Moving on. What I really wanted to say was…” She metaphorically and figuratively dug her claws into the dirt.

“I… am…” She closed her eyes and then mumbled the last word under her breath.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that last part.” Somehow, Fluttershy’s tone made it seem like it was her fault that she could not hear Natalya.

“I’m… ry…” Natalya mumbled a little louder, still refusing to look at Fluttershy.

“Could you maybe repeat that a little bit louder?”

“I’m… orry…”

“I’m so sorry, Natalya, I really am. I just can’t seem to—”

“I’m sorry, okay?!” Natalya bellowed. She grunted and turned her head to the side. For some reason, she also heard a squeal that suspiciously sounded like Rainbow.

“O-oh. Oh my. I certainly didn’t expect that.” Fluttershy bowed her head. “Thank you for apologizing, Natalya.”

“Shouldn’t you ask what she’s apologizing for, Fluttershy?” Gilda helpfully added.

“Gilda!” Natalya roared, whirling around and ready to plant a fist in the other griffon’s smug face.

“Um, that’s alright, Gilda,” Fluttershy replied. “I’m fine with—”

“No, Gilda is right, Fluttershy,” Rainbow interrupted. “Natalya needs to do it.”

Natalya groaned. “Rainbow…”

“It’s the right thing to do, Natalya. Besides, you made it this far.” Rainbow gave her a big, proud smile. “You got this.”

Natalya groaned again and dragged a hand down her face. “Fine, but Gilda, you better sleep with one eye open tonight!”

Gilda shrugged and showed off a smug smirk. “Worth it.”

Turning back to Fluttershy, Natalya let out the longest sigh she had ever made in her entire life. “Fluttershy… Look, I’m sorry… About the thing that happened when I first arrived in Ponyville. You know when I told you stuff… I guess that while I was doing that, I was maybe kind of harsh on you.”

“Kind—Mmphf!”

Natalya and Fluttershy look over to see that Rainbow had clamped her forehooves on Gilda’s beak.

“Keep going,” Rainbow urged Natalya before returning her attention to restraining Gilda’s quips.

Returning her attention to Fluttershy, Natalya continued, “So, yeah, sorry and all that stuff. I should’ve been more careful with how I talked to you.”

Fluttershy smiled softly. “Thank you so much, Natalya. I’m really glad that you’re apologizing for what you said to me.”

Natalya’s eyebrow went up. “I’m not apologizing for what I said though.
Fluttershy froze. “W-what?”

“What?” Rainbow added as well.

Keeping her focus on Fluttershy, she explained, “I’m just apologizing for how I talked to you. I still believe in what I said. You seriously need to shape up. Look, the thing is, Rainbow wants me to try and be your friend, but the thing is, your timidness irks me.”

“Er, Natalya, maybe you should call it quits now,” Rainbow suggested.

“My way, remember, Rainbow?” Natalya got a groan from Rainbow in reply.

“I’m sorry about my behavior,” Fluttershy apologized.

“See, that’s what I mean! If I said the same thing to someone in Griffonstone, we would be getting into an argument or even a fight.”

“O-oh my, I would never do that!”

“Yeah, I figured, but still, you got to at least stand up for yourself. Being a complete pushover is not going to help anyone.”

“Sorry, Natalya.”

Natalya slapped her face into her palm. “Fluttershy, you’re not helping.”

“I’m s—Um, nevermind.”

Natalya sighed. “I’m probably going to regret this, but I’m going to make a deal with you. I’m going to try to be nicer to you, but in return, you have to try and be less… you.”

“Um, me?”

“I think she means that you need to try and be more assertive,” Gilda clarified.

Natalya nodded. “What she said.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy looked down as one of her forehooves drew circles on the floorboards. “Well, to tell you the truth, I really am working on it. I’m just doing baby steps because I don’t want to go overboard like last time.”

Natalya cocked her head. “Last time?”

“Let’s just say that Fluttershy upset a few ponies when she went to a seminar on being assertive,” Rainbow informed.

“That’s it? That doesn’t sound—”

“And she kind of literally tossed a few ponies around and might have caused some property damage.”

Natalya and Gilda both blinked and stared at Rainbow.

“Her?” the griffons asked, pointing at the blushing Fluttershy trying to hide behind her mane.

“Hey, I keep telling you guys, Fluttershy might be shy, but she’s a lot stronger than she looks,” Rainbow proclaimed proudly. “Don’t mess with her.”

“Thank you, Rainbow.” Fluttershy emerged from her mane to show her gratitude toward her friend with a smile.

“Uh, okay, I guess… I’ll just take your word about her then, Rainbow,” Natalya remarked.

“So, Fluttershy, you’ll work on being more assertive, er, without the whole angry rampage thing, while I try to be nicer to you. Do we have a deal?” Natalya asked, extending a hand toward the pegasus.

Fluttershy stared at Natalya’s hand for a moment and then smiled softly.

“Deal,” Fluttershy proclaimed, bumping her hoof into Natalya’s hand. “So does that also mean we’re friends now?”

“Let’s just say we’re on a trial session for the time being.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Okay.”

Natalya breathed out a huge sigh of relief. Finally, it was over. Despite all odds, she had managed to patch things up with Fluttershy. She had to commend herself for not making a mess of things, and she was more than happy that this torturous experience was over with.

She turned around to tell Rainbow and Gilda that she was ready to go, but she stopped when she saw the smug grins on her companions’ faces.

Natalya rolled her eyes and before the inevitable teasing came, she hastily said, “Alright, this is as much as I can suffer through. I’m leaving,” before shooting past Rainbow and Gilda and into the air.

Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for Rainbow to catch up to Natalya.

“So, that was probably one of the weirdest apologies I’ve ever seen,” Rainbow remarked when she flew up to Natalya’s side.

“Whatever.”

“First you pretty much threatened her, then it took forever for you to say something, and even then, you said the wrong thing. When you finally said you’re sorry, you went ahead and finished things off by making a bargain.”

“Your point?”

“Watching you apologize had more ups and downs than a roller coaster ride.”

“It’s not like I have a lot of experience apologizing. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was my first real one either.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, can’t say I’m surprised to hear that either. For what it’s worth, even though it was, uh, different, you did good. I know that wasn’t easy for you, and it means a lot to both me and Fluttershy that you did that. Thank you, Natalya.”

“Yeah, well, I figured that you were going to keeping on moping around until I fixed things up. With you already cutting down my training time, I can’t afford you to be distracted.”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Rainbow replied with a smirk.

“Plus, I’m likely going to buy fish from Fluttershy again, so maybe I could persuade her to give me a discount once I’m on her good side.”

“Uh huh.”

“You’re not buying any of this, are you.”

“Nope.”

Natalya sighed. “Fine… To tell you the truth, I’m not too sure why I decided to go through with it. If I had to guess, it’s because I felt like I owe you.”

Rainbow’s smile vanished. “Oh… You do know that’s not a good reason to make an apology, right?”

“Yeah, well, it was probably going to happen eventually, so I decided to just get it over with right away. Despite my protests, you’ve been able to get me to do stuff, and as much as I hate to admit it, most of them ended up doing something good for me.”

“I would hope so. I keep telling you, I’m your friend, and I got your back.”

“I get that now, so thanks… friend…”

Natalya watched as a gleeful smile grew on Rainbow’s face, bigger than the one she had when Natalya apologized to Fluttershy. Even though Natalya found it a bit silly to get so worked up over some trivial words, she had to admit that it was kind of nice to see that she made Rainbow smile like that.

“Hey, Natalya,” Gilda called out, moving up to Natalya’s other side.

“What?”

“You do know that Twilight is going to have a field day when she hears about what you just did, right? I bet she’s going to give you some big, old speech or lecture.”

Natalya’s blood ran cold. “Don’t you dare tell her…”

“She’s going to find out eventually,” Gilda said with an evil grin. “After all, she’s the Princess of Friendship.”

“But she… Well, I could… Maybe if I…” Natalya sighed, resigning herself to her doom.

“Aw crud…”

Comments

[readsponies]

You know what I love about this story? It's tagged romance, it's about someone who's a big jerk, and 11 chapters in, there's not even a hint of anything past the remedial amount of friendship Natalya is capable of sustaining. It's so refreshingly reasonable!

[Kevinltk]

8180363
Make yourself comfy. There's still plenty more things left on this ride, and I'll try not to make waiting too long between each chapter.

[Seether00]

Twilight will make her write an essay

[Lancerlot]

8180363

It's so refreshingly reasonable!

I know, right?
The standard fic has all the subtlety of a pizza-delivery porno. This story actually has a story in it.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

“What about you?”

“What is this, an interrogation? What’s with all the questions?” Natalya asked, an eyebrow raising in suspicion.

“Sorry,” Bon Bon apologized with a sheepish smile. “It’s just been a slow day, so I could use a bit of gossip to help pass the time. We don’t get many griffons in Ponyville. Sorry again if I’m coming off as rude.”

Natalya shrugged. “Whatever. It’s not like you’re a secret agent or something like that, especially if you can make candy like this.” She popped another toffee into her mouth.

Ah the Irony it burns

[Emperor]

I get it now!

Once Twilight hears about Natalya's apology to Fluttershy, she'll drag the gryphon in for some seminars on friendship. In her desperation to be able to escape the Mad Princess of Friendship in her latest spiel about books and friendship and more books, Natalya will perform her own version of the Sonic Rainboom to be able to escape Twilight's castle

I have to agree though, that was a helluva weird apology. Though I guess for somebody coming from a griffon culture, that...sort of makes sense as an apology? "I'm sorry about what I did but you also gotta toughen up too"