Fragile Rainbow

by Synli

A Friend's Comfort

In the early hours of the morning on the outskirts of Ponyville the door to the cabin closed behind the cyan and yellow mares. Safely within the familiar walls of her home, Fluttershy glanced at her shaken companion and another pang of worry struck at what she noticed. The normally confident and proud Pegasus she had brought in from the cold sported an even more messy mane than usual. Thin lines of damp fur where tears had slipped from her irritated eyes and streaked through her coat lay beneath each eye. The final straw that absolutely broke her heart were the few feathers on her friend’s wings that lay askew.

When she was sure that her friend could make it to the couch by herself, Fluttershy allowed the other mare some room and made a quick detour to the kitchen to prepare some soothing tea. All the while the shy mare found herself glancing at her idle friend who now sat motionless on the couch. Several times throughout the process of gathering cups and boiling water she felt a familiar gaze on her, though every time she would look to her friend those magenta eyes would be looking at something else in the room instead.

Questions danced on the tip of Fluttershy’s tongue though she struggled to reign them in so as to avoid upsetting her close friend. After a few minutes in relative silence the shrill whistle of the teapot rung throughout the cabin. She frowned empathetically as Rainbow winced at the sudden high-pitched sound that had harshly broken the silence between them. The yellow mare hastily removed the kettle from her stove as she poured the steaming liquid into each of the mugs. A smile found its way onto her face as her gaze fell upon the chipped mug that her friend would use whenever she was over. It had been the first gift that she had given Rainbow Dash and despite its cracks it would always bring a smile to her friend’s face.

“Umm… Dashie?” Fluttershy began quietly as she placed the mug of tea in front of her still friend. After a few more seconds of gazing off to the side the cyan mare turned her head and locked her gaze onto the mug of steaming tea. For a few moments a heartfelt smile crested her muzzle at the image of her own cutie mark emblazoned upon the surface. As she looked away to give a nod of thanks her smile fell once more.

“Rainbow Dash.” Despite the stern tone of her voice, Fluttershy reached out and wrapped her wing around her close friend’s back. A sharp intake of breath from the other mare made it seem like she was going to break into a fresh wave of sobs. Instead of crying, the cyan Pegasus finally spoke up, though her voice cracked with emotion as she forced the words out. “I-I-I… did something horrible…”

Despite previous attempts to avert her gaze from her friend, Rainbow’s pained magenta eyes met Fluttershy’s pools of blue. The yellow mare frowned as she began to piece things together as her friend’s eyes started to water once again.
Something horrible? What’s so bad that she would rush out here in the middle of the night to apologize to me…? ...Oh Dashie…

“Dashie. You didn’t do anything. You would never hurt anypony.” This time Fluttershy’s words actually drew fresh tears from the shaking mare as a sob rocked her unsteady body. Rainbow Dash drew away from her embrace as she turned to the side and began to shake her head.

“B-but… I hurt you, Shy. I-” Sudden sobs wracked her cyan friend’s body and cut her explanation short, her pain-drenched words brought fresh tears to the corner of the shy mare’s eyes. She wanted to tell her best friend in the world that she was fine, that it was obviously just a dream and she’d never hurt her in a million years but each time she parted her lips nothing came out to silence her friend’s sobs. Thinking only of comforting the other mare, Fluttershy closed the distance between them and pulled the weeping mare into a consoling embrace. She could feel Rainbow’s tears soaking into her coat, but she paid them no mind as her hooves gently stroked up and down the other Pegasi’s back.

“I-I’m fine, Dashie. You’re my best friend, and I trust you completely. I need you to trust me, okay? I’m right here, and I’m fine.” The canary-yellow mare’s voice shook as she teetered on the edge of an emotional dam as she craned her head to look into her friend’s eyes. Blue and magenta met once more as Rainbow Dash sniffled out a quieted response to the kind mare’s reassurance. “Uh huh.”

The two mares sat on Fluttershy’s couch wrapped in the silent embrace until each pair of eyes had dried. As the pink-maned Pegasus pulled away from her friend she gave her one last gentle nuzzle. It was still early in the morning when she extended a caring hoof to her best friend and caught the small flash of uncertainty that overtook the cyan mare’s tired eyes. “I won’t leave your side, Dashie, I promise.”

Rainbow Dash silently eyed her friend’s outstretched hoof with suspicion as if the gesture was something foreign. After a few silent moments and more than one glance from her hoof to her eyes she held out her own hoof as well. As their hooves met with a gentle ‘thunk’ a grateful smile slowly spread across Rainbow’s face. “I won’t leave yours either, Fluttershy.”

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed the story. It was my first real attempt at writing anything between some of my favorite characters. I'd love to hear what you think of my attempt, and I've got more ideas that I'll post in the future.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Is there a way to read The Cough and not listen to it on YouTube?

[Lunar Flarion]

I like this! Great work! ^^

[Synli]

9327031
There is!
Here you are~
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7298408/1/The-Cough

[Synli]

9327407
Thank you very much. It was a bit daunting to build up the courage to post something. I'm glad that you enjoyed it and I hope that you'll like my future work as well.

[yeetfilly]

that brought me to tears👏👏👏👏👏👏

[Synli]

9823116
Hi! Really sorry to have missed your comment until now, but I'm glad that you found it moving!