Goals to Strive For

by DigitalPhoenix

What Was the Plan Again?

The walk to Rainbow's home was a short and pleasant one as Rainbow and Fluttershy discussing the upcoming school year. Fluttershy always loved most of the neighborhoods outside the city. Trees lined most of the sidewalks, and several homes were surrounded by acres of woods. Rainbow's was, unfortunately, not one of those homes, having most of the larger trees taken down to make space for a spacious backyard. Despite this, they still had smaller trees surrounding the yard, per Fluttershy's own encouragement.

Rainbow's home was a simple one, a small two-story home with a small garden lining its front entrance. The cloud gray coat upon the house made it stand out from the earthy tones of the neighborhood, as did the variety of cloud-shaped ornaments that sat atop the pillars of the surrounding wooden fence. Rainbow had often tried to get her parents to paint the house to look like a sunny sky, but they never went for it, always preferring the simpler color scheme.

"I'm telling you, you really should try more stuff outside your comfort zone. You never know what you're gonna enjoy," Rainbow explained as they made their way up the front steps.

Fluttershy brushed some hair from her face. "But don't you only ever play sports? Doesn't sound like the best advice you should be giving."

"That's why I'm looking at new stuff. Granted, it'd have to be something just as lively as sports, but I mean, come on Flutters! This is our last year of high school, our last chance to try big things before we settle into college or our dream career! Don't tell me you don't want a hobby outside of being a veterinarian, cause that'd get boring really fast, even for you." Rainbow opened the door to her home, allowing Fluttershy to pass and enter first.

The inside of the house wasn't much different to the outside. Most rooms were colored some hue of gray or blue, blending together to create a scene reminiscent of a view of the sky from outer space; at least, that's how Fluttershy saw it. The living room on their left had very few furnishings, only containing a wall-mounted TV, a large L-shaped sofa, coffee table, and a small shelf for various knick-knacks. On their right was the staircase up to most of the bedrooms and the bathroom. The top of the stairs' rail held another cloud ornament, while the rail itself had a lightning bolt engraving etched into each side.

"Of course I want a hobby, but that's why I'm joining Rarity's fashion club," Fluttershy replied as they made their way up the stairs.

"I suppose that's something, and don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are joining it, but..." Rainbow paused, doing her best to choose her next words carefully. "Wouldn't you rather have something else you could call all your own? I know you love sowing, and I wouldn't ever discourage you from it, but surely there is something else that catches your eye, right?"

Fluttershy pondered, an idea popping in her head. No, that's silly. Although Rainbow...

"Well, there was something that I thought you would really enjoy, but it kinda interferes with your sports quite a lot, so I don't think you'd go for it," she replied as they entered Rainbow's room.

"Go ahead, I'm all ears anyway," Rainbow set her things down and laid upon her race car bed.

"Cheerleading?"

It took every fiber of Rainbow's being to keep a straight face. "Haha, good one, Fluttershy, I... you weren't kidding were you?"

Fluttershy's response was a quick shake of her head.

"Me? A cheerleader? I mean, yeah, it's as lively as sports, I guess, but I could never see myself wearing such a goofy uniform. Besides, they don't really do anything except put on a silly little show for the crowd. They don't help raise the spirits of the team or anything." She picked up a small rubber ball and started to lazily throw it against the wall, the ball bouncing back to her hand every time.

"That's why I think you'd make a fantastic cheerleader! You could give them the spark of energy they need to really get out there and make the team proud!"

Rainbow smirked at Fluttershy's enthusiasm. "I guess you're right, I do have a way with getting people in the zone. But let's be honest here, you just want to see me in one of those uniforms." Rainbow's smirk only widened when she saw Fluttershy retreat into her hair, attempting to hide the growing blush on her cheeks. "You know, you're too easy to tease sometimes."

"It's not funny..."

"I never said it was. Come on, Flutters, you know I'm just messing around with you. Nothing to get sore over."

Fluttershy simply stood in the doorway, not making another sound.

Rainbow dropped the ball from her hand and went up to her shy friend. "Hey, is something bothering you? You're never this sensitive when I give you a hard time."

Fluttershy simply started fidgeting with her hands, still not uttering a word.

"Okay, okay, I get it, my little Flutters doesn't wanna talk to me anymore. Don't worry, I know how to get that mouth moving again," she said right before she shoved Fluttershy onto her bed, then climbed over her and started to tickle her.

Needless to say, it worked.

Fluttershy couldn't stop giggling into Rainbow's mattress as the girl above her continued her assault. Fluttershy tried desperately to swing her legs and knock Rainbow off of her, to no avail. Eventually, Rainbow relented, and Fluttershy up to face her.

"There's the smile I like to see."

Her compliment was swiftly answered with a pillow in her face

---

Dinner was relatively quiet, despite current company. Rainbow's parents discussed various things about their work lives, while Scootaloo was busy bombarding Rainbow with questions about "senior privileges", or something like that. Fluttershy personally thought that she was just trying to get Rainbow to swing some favors her way, which Rainbow wasn't buying for a second. The conversation stalled, however, when Bow Hothoof decided to ask Rainbow a question out of the blue.

"By the way, Rainbow, have you thought about senior prom yet?"

The entire table became silent, each member awaiting the answer with bated breath.

"Dad, that isn't until the end of the school year. I've got plenty of time to worry about it, if I even decide to go."

"Oh, but why wouldn't you go?" Windy Whistles inquired. "Senior prom is one of the most important events in high school. There isn't anyone you've been thinking about taking?"

"Besides, isn't there, like, a TON of stuff to do before then?" Scootaloo interjected.

"No, there isn't anyone I wanna take, and yes, Scootaloo, though they always announce deadlines for stuff like that during the school year, so I still have plenty of time. Besides, it's not that important to me."

Bow turned his attention to Fluttershy. "What about you? Do you have any plans?"

Fluttershy's face quickly turned crimson as the attention was thrust upon her. "Oh... I... I... I don't know yet..."

I know who I'd wanna take, though...

The rest of the meal passed calmly, with Rainbow's parents only occasionally needling about high school prom or other questions in regards to Rainbow's nonexistent love life. It was one of the few times Fluttershy actually saw Rainbow embarrassed about something, and she had already been sworn to absolute secrecy, never mentioning a word of it to her friends. It was still worth it for her own giggles.

After dessert, Rainbow and Fluttershy retreated back to the room upstairs, Rainbow having put up a "Do Not Disturb" sign on her door in an effort to avoid any more personal questions from her parents. Fluttershy took that moment to account for some changes in Rainbow's room.

It was a lot neater than it usually was when she visited, with no stray clothes littered around the floor. A few of her posters had changed, though they all still contained sports stars Fluttershy had never even heard of. It reminded her of how exasperated Rainbow would get whenever their friends mentioned that they had no clue who any of them were, as if these people were absolute legends despite only attaining such status in their respective sport, if that.

She still had her childish race car bed, though the entire paint job had been sanded away; perhaps she was looking to remodel it soon? Her bookshelf was cluttered with a wide collection of figurines that she swore grew larger every time she visited, despite the shelf itself appearing to have no more room for them. A small side shelf on it held her collection of Daring Do novels, and on top were a few model cars she still had from when she was younger. Her closet was practically empty except for some jerseys hanging up, and her bureau had but a few miscellaneous items scattered across its surface.

"I didn't get the chance to say anything before, but you did an impressive job cleaning up."

Rainbow once again laid on her bed. "Thanks. I know it's rather early to be doing this, but I figured I'd get everything organized for when I move out and head off for college or whatever I do." She quickly fetched the remote for her TV. "You wanna get changed and watch a movie?"

Fluttershy gave Rainbow a confused look. "What do you mean get changed?"

"Um, you agreed to stay the night at the dinner table, remember?"

Fluttershy couldn't recall the exchange, though she was pretty certain she had been halfway to La-La-Land after the question about the prom, so she likely answered without even realizing. "But I don't have any pajamas with me."

"Just borrow some of mine, top drawer on the right."

Fluttershy nodded. knowing better to ask for reassurance. After grabbing a set and changing in the bathroom, the two sat together in the bed and began the movie.

Fluttershy had always questioned whether or not Rainbow acted differently around her than with her other friends, in more ways than to just not upset the shy girl. She was always quieter, more humble, more compassionate, and overall did a lot of things she wouldn't ever do with anyone else. No one but Fluttershy, it seemed, could possibly convince Rainbow Dash to sit through an entire romantic comedy.

"I still say it was too saccharine for my liking. Some of the jokes were good, but I just wish they stopped thinking that a super awkward situation is comedy gold."

Fluttershy simply nodded, already half asleep by this point. With her mind in a daze, she snuggled up to Rainbow's side and laid down.

"Um, Fluttershy?"

The only response was a light snore.

"Heh, good night to you too, I guess." Rainbow shut off her lamp and laid down next to the shy girl, sleep overtaking her as well.