Prom Protector

by Natedogg2006

Studying Worries

'Dangitdangitdangitdangit!!!!!'

After she had been the one to confirm the engagement, Rainbow Dash had completely forgotten about studying with the girls after school. When she had remembered late in final period she had suddenly wished to hear the crack of the intercom. She had figured most of the day that she'd hear it and be called to Luna's office for punishment. Apparently the commotion caused by what she had done had led to such convoluted stories about what had happened that most of the staff had called it a wash on figuring out who was at fault. Thus neither her nor Blueblood had gotten in trouble.

Normally this would be a good thing. Though she usually got off light she was usually punished in some way for the things she did. It was mostly so the staff was at least not accused of favoritism. Getting off scot free this time meant she wouldn't have the extra time she'd been planning on having to deal with the issues that had been plaguing her all day. Her and the other girls always met on Fridays after school to study, and these study sessions would usually end up in an impromptu slumber party. This being the case she'd have to face Fluttershy again much sooner then she had been hoping.

On the plus side of this she probably wouldn't have to face a sleepover, but the reason for this didn't make that much of a plus. This week's study session was in the smallest bedroom of all the Rainbooms. Fluttershy's room. And while it was too small for a proper slumber party it was just big enough to study in, provided they were very economical with space.

Rainbow was now hyper aware of just how comfortable her and Fluttershy had gotten with each other over the years. Enjoying this closeness had been a guilty pleasure she had managed to conceal very well over the years, but now it was putting her on edge. Would being close to Fluttershy make her friends suspicious now? Would pulling away do the same? Why was she even thinking about this? She was supposed to be acting like everything was the same as it always was, wasn't she?

This was the war in Rainbows head as her and Fluttershy laid on her butterfly patterned bedspread in their usual positions. Fluttershy laid perpendicular across Dashes lap to prop herself up with her legs dangling off the edge of the bed while Dash sat back into the headboard and used Fluttershy as a book rest.

Similar examples of space saving team work could be seen among the rest of the girls, though not nearly as intimate. On the floor next to the bed Rarity and Applejack were using each other as back rests, their similar heights facilitating the comfort in the action. Pinkie Pie and Sunset were on the opposite side lying side by side, half their bodies hidden below Fluttershy's bed, both the confined space and the proximity of Sunset being used to try to contain Pinkie shenanigans to some degree.

Rainbow had been silently panicking at the thought of what she should do as she had been entering the room thinking about the usual positioning. When she noticed her friends taking their usual places without a thought, she figured her best bet was to do the same. Even Fluttershy didn't seem to give it a thought when she climbed onto the bed and waited for Rainbow to get into position. Luckily it didn't seem like anyone had noticed when she tensed up as Fluttershy took her normal position, her body seeming much more soft and inviting then when she normally dealt with this. But if Fluttershy wasn't freaking out about this then everything was still ok. As long as she never figured it out then she could keep this up as long as she needed to. She just had to be cool and everything would be....

"... Rainbow Dash!!!" Rainbow jumped slightly, realizing she hadn't been paying attention again. It was the third time she had realized she was drifting off thinking about... things. It definitely had nothing to do with how hypnotizing her oldest friend's lovely voice suddenly seemed to be every time she asked one of their friends a question. Nor how nice it suddenly felt when she had to move around on her lap to grab or hand off something to one of them as well. This time however she hadn't gotten away with it as someone had actually been trying to talk to her.

She tried to play it off. "Yeah yeah, what?" she responded disinterestedly. She was hoping it would seem like she had just been purposely ignoring a stupid question.

"Do you have the notes for Mr. Sombras class or not? I only asked you four times." Dang it, that had been a serious question. Sunset had turned on her side and was now looking up at Dash from half way under the bed with cocked eyebrows.

Before she could manage a way to play it off Apple Jack decided to take a jab. "Oh be fair sugar cube. She's gonna be a mite distracted with her new girlfriend bein' so close and such."

Luckily that was an attack Rainbow actually had been planning for. "Oh yeah, I've just been hiding a massive attraction to Shy this whole time and now I just can't manage to keep it under control anymore." She said this while putting on her best Rarity impression for optimal drama queen effect. Rarity herself managed to crane her neck over Apple Jack's shoulder to glare at her for how over the top she had gone with it. Rainbow let it start to fade as she continued and she was sure it had nothing to do with the force of the glare. "It couldn't possibly have anything to do with me freaking hating math class or anything like that because everything has to be somehow related to mushy lovey dovey stuff right?" Apple Jack may be a living lie detector, but over the years Rainbow had found that enough sarcasm could overload her sensors. And luckily she hadn't caught on to that little trick yet. As far as she knew.

She got lucky again as a substantial thud was heard from the other side of the bed. The girls collective attention went to Pinkie Pie and the massive pile of papers from earlier now placed in front of her. "She admitted it! Party on!!!"

"Pinkie where did that.. you know what, never mind. I told you you should burn that." Rainbow had taken the distraction to quickly and quietly rummage through her papers.

Pinkie looked to the pile with slight desperation. "But the party..."

"..Ain't gonna happen," Rainbow cut in.

Pinkies desperate stare at the stack grew. "Are you sure? There's really no way you and Fluttershy could fall in love? And then we could have a party."

'Dang it!' Rainbow noticed Applejack watching her this time. She was sure the others were curious as to how she might answer that one too. This one was going to have to side step the lie detector again if it was going to fool everyone. "Tell you what Pinks. If me and Shy ever actually do hook up, you're the first one we'll talk to about a party."

The rest of the girls could practically feel the sarcasm dripping from Rainbows lips, but to Pinkie sarcasm was mostly a foreign language. So with that statement the persistent party planner smiled up at Rainbow from her half turned over position and stashed her master plan away... somewhere. Rainbow would have to ask if Sunset noticed where she had whisked it off to. And as Dash watched the rest of her friends out of the corner of her eyes she figured she'd successfully dodged the issue again. Sunset seemed to confirm.

"So now that that is settled, do you have the notes? I want to be ready for his class Tuesday."

This time Rainbow was actually ready to make it look like she'd just been being nonchalant about the whole thing. "Yeah yeah, I got em' right here egghead." She handed over a few pieces of paper from the piles around her. "Still don't know why you actually want to study for a lesson you haven't even taken yet."

"Some of us like to be prepared for class Dash. It's not my fault the Monday Wednesday class is ahead of the Tuesday Thursday."

From the other side of the bed AppleJack cut in. "Yeah it is. Y'all are the one who keeps asking questions fer' the whole class till' ya' know even the stuff that won't be on the test."

Sunset stuck her tongue out at Apple Jack, a gesture she obviously couldn't see through the bed. So the noise she made to accompany it was much more prominent than it needed to be. This seemed to mark the room forgetting about the issue Rainbow was dealing with as everyone laughed at the exchange. Even more so as Sunset finally looked over the notes handed to her.

"Sweet Celestia, your chicken scratch is getting worse Dash." More snickering around the room, including some from on Dashes lap. Rainbow managed to not show how much that sound and movement affected her as the study session got back on track. "But your overall note taking is getting better."

The rest of the study session went along in a normal fashion. Rainbow managed to only drift off thinking about the girl on her lap once more, and luckily didn't get caught doing it this time as far as she could tell. When the time finally came to pack up it happened as usual as well. Pinkie had some new and elaborate plan to make a slumber party work in the confined space. This time it involved impromptu hammocks made from whatever they could salvage. The idea was rejected not only on the usual premise of sounding really uncomfortable, but also because it seemed like a huge mess Fluttershy didn't want to explain to her parents.

The rest of the girls were packed up and saying their goodbyes to Fluttershy when she seemed to suddenly remember something. "Oh Rainbow could you wait up for a minute. If it's not too much trouble that is." This threw fuel on the fire again.

AppleJack and Pinkie were immediately smiling like mad women. Even Rarity was giving them a suggestive grin. It was AppleJack that made the first attack. "Oh no y'all. We'd better hurry, the lovebirds want some time alone." The grin she put on was something Rainbow could only think to describe as 'punchable'.

Luckily Rainbow didn't have to be the one to defuse the situation this time. Fluttershy managed to pipe in just barely audibly at the new attention. "M.. My mom wanted me to ask you about something."

This didn't help much as Pinkie gave an overly exaggerated reply. "Oh, of course that's what she wants to talk to you about. Wink wink." The gesture of both winking in a very obvious way and actually saying it even got Sunset smiling at the fake couple suggestively.

Rainbow made a rude gesture as the rest of the girls made a display of leaving quickly. Rarity was the one to make one last parting blow. "You girls have fun," she said as the door closed.

Rainbow waited to hear footsteps at the bottom of the stairs before speaking. She didn't look back at Fluttershy as she did. "So, what did your mom want to know?"

"Umm... My mom didn't actually want me to ask you anything." Fluttershy looked away sheepishly. This meant she obviously didn't see the cringe run through Rainbows body.

"Yeah I know. So what's this really about?" She asked while still not looking back at the other girl. She took a few steps backwards and fell back onto the foot of the bed in what seemed like a practiced manner. She put her hands behind her head in a casual display that she didn't actually feel.

"I.. It's about what happened today."

Rainbow let out a sigh. "Yeah, I guess I kinda knew that already too." She groaned and sat back up, doing her best to face her oldest friend as they both sat on the edge of the bed. "Ok... I'm sorry I did something so reckless and shortsighted without thinking about how it would make you feel... Again. And I'm sorry I took so long to say I'm sorry... Again. You know I have a hard time with.. This stuff."

Fluttershy nodded but wasn't looking at her friend. She was having a hard time removing her eyes from her own hands folded in her lap. She did in fact know that Rainbow Dash had a hard time letting her guard down in front of other people. It was usually only for Fluttershy's eyes, and even then usually only during particularly hard moments for one or the other or both. Usually Rainbow Dash opening up to her warmed her heart, but this time the circumstances of the conversation weren't allowing her to feel it.

"I.. It wasn't that. Well, I guess it kinda is.. But not really." Rainbow had had her own head down as well, and only now that she was looking up did she notice Fluttershy also unable to keep eye contact. "I.. I was actually wondering about... about....., ........."

"... Shy?"

"The kiss." The word made Rainbow look away quickly. Fluttershy still couldn't make herself look up from her own hands, now gripping each other tightly. As such neither girl noticed the bright color come to the others entire face. "W.. Why did you k.. kiss me?"

"L.. Like I said Shy. I'm s.. Sorry, I just wasn't thinking. In.. In my head I probably just figured that I had to do something big or no one would believe it. I mean come on, who would ever believe we were a couple." She managed to say it with her normal laid back tone, mostly, but right now her bravado was all show. She was only just managing to keep her breathing even and was only just now starting to get the color out of her cheeks. Luckily AppleJack was out of the picture, that made lying much easier. Fluttershy knew her well enough to catch her in lies too, but Dash also knew her well enough to work around the usual pitfalls if she was careful.

"I... I guess that makes sense. And... And I know you don't usually have a plan when you do things." Fluttershy finally managed to look up as the two exchanged a smile at the statement that could easily be taken as an insult between anyone who didn't know each other as well as they did. That moment ended quickly as Fluttershy looked away again with a blush. "It's just that... Umm. I've never... I mean no one has... That was my first...." Fluttershy seemed unable to use the word again. She just kept stumbling over her words.

Luckily this was one of the few situations Rainbow Dash had had time to plan for in the limited time she had away from Fluttershy today. She made a dismissive noise and waved her hand back and forth. "Oh come on Shy. Don't even give it another thought. That totally didn't count."

Fluttershy managed to look back to Dash, confusion showing in her eyes even through her usual apprehensiveness that had been pushed to the max for most of the day. "W.. What do you mean?"

"Well I'm no expert on mushy stuff, but from what I actually pay attention to of the junk Rarity is always spewing, isn't your first kiss supposed to be meaningful. Something you'll never forget." She put on her Rarity impression for the last part. She even struck a dainty pose and fluttered her eyelashes for effect. "So since that kiss meant nothing, by definition it couldn't be your first kiss. Our first kiss?" She made a show of thinking about that for a second before waving her hand dismissively again. "Doesn't matter, didn't count.

Fluttershy's look of confusion remained for another few moments, then a tentative smile finally started to show on her face. It didn't seem the most genuine, but Rainbow figured that was mostly due to how stressful the day must have been for her. "Yeah, I guess you're right Rainbow. There's no way anyone would think we were together. And all the things that make that obvious makes the whole thing kinda silly when you think about it."

Rainbow smiled back to her. "Yeah, you're getting it now. Besides that, were both girls. Pretty sure neither of us is even into girls, so it double doesn't count." That one hurt Dash to say the most, but she didn't let it show on her face. She let out a very fake laugh, but luckily Fluttershy didn't seem to notice and gave her one back.

"Thank you Rainbow. Sorry if I almost made this whole thing even weirder for you."

"No problem Shy. It's just one week of weird then everything goes back to normal." She stood from the bed and gave a little stretch. "Would you like to have the honors, or should I?"

"Oh feel free," Fluttershy responded as she noticed her friend eyeing the door.

Rainbow took two long, quiet steps across the room. When she got to the door she yanked it open quickly. Four girls fell forward onto the floor in front of her in a heap. General noises of displeasure came from the pile. Sunset was the only one who had the decency to look sheepish about what she had been caught doing. "Did you girls all have your fun?" Rainbow asked with a sneer.

Pinkie was the one to respond, poking her head out from below Rarity. "No!!!! Fluttershy's door is way too thick, we couldn't hear a thing."

"Don't worry about it. Me and Shy were just exchanging our wedding vows while Santa and the Easter Bunny presided over the ceremony."

"WHAT!!! You got married and you didn't let me plan the party!!!" Pinkie exclaimed as she suddenly shot to her feet to glare at Dash. It wasn't clear how she got out from under the fashionista so quickly, but Rarity didn't seem to enjoy it as she suddenly fell again. Apple Jack was helping her up as Rainbow continued.

"We reallllllly need to teach you about sarcasm. And you just lost all your party privileges for me and Shy." Pinkie looked very disheartened as Rainbow started shooing the assembled girls out the door. "Now get out of here ya' bunch of bums. Move." Through the moaning and groaning of her friends Rainbow managed to turn back to her fake girlfriend and give her a quick wave. "See ya' Shy," Rainbow managed to say in a casual tone above the complaining as the door closed.

"Bye," Fluttershy managed at barely a whisper after the door was closed. She didn't even notice her hand had gone up in a wave as well. Absentmindedly she kept waving at the door until the footsteps disappeared at the bottom of the stairs and she heard the sound of a door open and close. It was only at this point that her hand drew back to her sadly smiling face and wiped the area under her eyes. The just emerging tears she had not felt building but knew were there suddenly cascaded down her face as their surface tension broke.

' Well Fluttershy, that was about as definitive an answer as you ever thought you'd get.'

Fluttershy stood from her bed and went to her small vanity mirror in the corner of her room. She leaned down and placed her hands on the small table in front of it so she could look into her own eyes. Despite the small smile still on her lips, tears were now running unabatedly down her cheeks.

'You always knew you were too much of a coward to ever tell Rainbow Dash how you felt. But you still managed to always think there was some chance that she might do it for you. Do what she always does and save you from your own fears. Be the way she always is; brave, upfront, and fearless.'

The smile finally dropped as her lips finally parted just barely. A single small sob found its way out.

'Well that's exactly what she did. It just turns out that the answer to the question you could never ask was the one you always expected, not the one you always wished for.'

Fluttershy finally broke down completely. She slumped into the chair in front of the table and fell forward. Her face pressed into her arms as she wept, small silent sobs escaping. She was no stranger to crying alone in her room, and knew how loud her sorrow could be before she might cause concern from someone else in the house. And as far as she was concerned, this sorrow was for her alone. Too many people spent too much time worrying about her, so the least she could do was have her breakdown quietly and not burden them further.

Her sobs were becoming shorter and her breathing more even by this point. She managed to look back up into the mirror and her now puffy and bloodshot eyes. 'That's what it really all comes down to I guess. I'm just a burden, especially to Rainbow Dash. She's even pretending to like girls just to help me. So in other words, that kiss that didn't count is the closest I'll ever get, and is more than I'll ever deserve.

She took a deep breath to steady herself before she started speaking at a just barely noticeable level even to her own ears. "Rainbow Dash is everything you are not. It's not enough to l... love her if you have nothing to offer her. This is the way it's always going to be."

Letting out a shaky breath she went to the next stage of this seemingly practiced ritual. She opened a drawer under the vanity to reveal a small picture frame. Inside was a picture of her and Rainbow Dash from the first day they met, and probably the first time Fluttershy started to have feelings for her beautiful protector. It had long since become too hard for her to keep the picture out where she could always see it. But now she clutched it to her chest, remembering all the ways Rainbow had been the best part of her life for most of it. This was meant to remind her that what they had together was enough. This time however, she had one more little comfort she could cling to.

"One week," she said, just the slightest amount of hope in her small voice. "I have one week to see what it could be like. One week to pretend it could ever happen."

With one last sigh she put the picture back in its place. She then stood and took just a couple trudging steps to her bed. It was still early, but it had been a hard day for the shy girl. Her bed and her dreams awaited.

Author's Note:

And with the completion of this chapter I have officially come to the end of what I had planned for this story. Though it has stretched longer then I thought it would, I really am not sure where I'm going from here. Any ideas are welcome. The slightest glimmer of inspiration is sometimes all I need. It's your guys story at this point
Since I like to see how many people read the author notes I'll ask a little question here. I was actually thinking about signing up for a patreon account. Half way just to get rid of ads on this site, the other half to see what would happen. So to any of my, I hesitate to use the word, fans, What do you think. Do you think anyone would actually pay for my writing.
On this question, as with all my work, your honest opinion is welcome.

Comments

[MarcosFury16]

Good Chapter. Can't wait for the next one.
So are you going to write a chapter for each day until prom or do plan to speed things along? And do plan to have admit their true feeling to one another before or after prom. And will they actually have a happy ending or a sad ending.(personally want a happy ending # FlutterDashForLife.)

[Natedogg2006]

9334347
No spoilers
Actually, I wasn't kidding in my description. I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed from here. I have a few ideas and a vague idea for a climax but no real way on how to put them together. I will say, I haven't strayed from a happy ending in my stories yet

[MarcosFury16]

9334418
Good to know.

[Vaguely Demented]

I would think it would best play out with a slow boil. Rainbow calculating what should be done for the ruse making her more and more stressed with Shy welcoming and even reciprocating in a way that implies desperation and despair. All building to prom night where one event leads to it all boiling over at once. Predictable perhaps, but how the journey is accomplished is usually where the gold of a story lies. Or you could have comedy give subtlety the finger and have Blueblood attempt to duel Dash for her affections.

[Natedogg2006]

9335322
I do agree that cleche and predictable is not necessarily a bad thing. Things become tropes for a reason, because they are good. And yeah I had been moving that way too. What I need is set pieces, not general ideas. But least you think I'm just sitting here complaining that you're not being helpful, you've actually been very helpful

[Vaguely Demented]

9335440
My method for when I write backstories for D&D characters is usually to put the character in the broad local and then just let things take their course. As such any suggestions I would make would either be general, or so tediously long winded that it would be little help. Thus the best I could offer is saying whatever randomly claws it’s way up from the abyss in hopes of triggering some kind of epiphany.

[Natedogg2006]

9335451
Interesting thought process. My method is actually similar, but with determined set piece situations. I then just try to imagine how the characters would move better then organically and work their way through them.
And please feel free to use any of my works as dumping grounds for any twisted monstrosity that might crawl from your head.

[Vaguely Demented]

9335461
Noted and appreciated.

[Eddy13]

Hey, where is Sci-Twi?

[Natedogg2006]

9374768
I am a lazy writer and attempting to write around the extra complexities that introduces makes writing more difficult. After eqg 2 but in a time line where 3 may never happen. Or you know, just hasn't happened yet. I do like scitwi, I don't want to negate her existence.

Or do I?

No, no I don't.
I just want my stories to be clean yet simple.

[Natedogg2006]

9374768
Actually thank you. Did not realize I didn't put that in the description.

[Whisper Dawn]

Great chapter. This is probably later than you needed the answer, but I think people would pay for your writing. I would. If I actually had any money. I'm broke as a joke. But keep writing.

Now I have to continue this awesome story.