Kisses Are Complicated
Kisses Are Complicated
By Souldin and The Rated Ponystar
Edited By: ugugg93
***
In the treehouse known as Golden Oaks Library, a deafening silence filled the halls as five sets of eyes kept their focus on a single, determined unicorn. They all knew the task, and while they had always believed in their closest friend, their de facto leader as she was, there were doubts that lingered in their minds. Twilight stepped forward, ready to face a challenge that Fluttershy was sure put to shame all the other obstacles the librarian had faced. Discord? Nightmare Moon? Changelings? All paled to what Twilight had to do right now. Fluttershy felt sympathy for the nervous unicorn, for the task before her by no means an easy feat for somepony like Twilight.
"Come on, Twilight," Pinkie Pie muttered, leaning forward on her forelegs. "You can do it..."
Fluttershy turned to her left; she saw the rest of her friends staring intently at Twilight, who was sweating like she'd been put in an oven. Twilight took another deep breath, and mumbled to herself—Fluttershy reasoned they were words of reassurance. There was no turning back now.
"Alright, here we go..." Twilight raised her head up. Pure determination decorated her face, ready to face the storm she had put herself in. Her horn lit up as Fluttershy felt the familiar essence of Twilight's magic emanate.
With careful precision, Twilight reached her magic out towards two books on opposite ends of the room. Licking her lips', she struggled to bring both of them across each other and to opposite sides of the room. A pool of sweat began to form underneath Twilight's shaking form as the books passed by each other in mid-air. Although tempted to give her exerting friend moral support, Fluttershy kept her mouth shut in fear of ruining Twilight's concentration.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the two books were inches away from their respective opposites place on the shelves. They stood still, surrounded by the ethereal purple glow of magic. Fluttershy could literally see the veins in Twilight's eyes, ready to burst from the pressure building up inside. With one last cry, Twilight forced the two books into their new places in the library. She cried out in relief before falling onto her haunches, breathing heavily.
"Woo hoo!" Pinkie cried out, jumping up as confetti and streamers burst out from her mane. Landing on the ground she proceeded to bounce around the panting unicorn like a rabbit greeting spring. "You did it, Twilight! I really didn't think you were going to do it, being the strict organizing pony that you are, but lo and behold you did it! You actually put two books on the wrong shelves on purpose!"
Twilight tried to say something, but was interrupted by the roaring laughter of her other friends, who were too busy struggling to stay on their hooves. Rainbow Dash, kicking her legs in the air, pointed at Twilight. "That was the best expression ever! Jeez, if I knew that dare was going to make you act like that I would have gotten a camera!"
"This is because I dared you into licking Spike's feet on my last turn, isn't it?" Twilight demanded, glaring at the howling pegasus.
"Now, now, Twilight. You did the dare and everypony is proud of you for doing it," Rarity said, holding back a snicker. "Although it was funny when it looked like your eyes were about to pop out."
"Yeah, that would have been really funny. Icky, but funny," Pinkie Pie pointed out, sticking her tongue out.
"I do declare that such a sight was of the most amusing of laughter, darlings," Applejack stated, using her old Manehatten voice that Rarity dared her to use for one full hour earlier in the game. "But perhaps we should all join back in our little game before we embarrass poor Twilight here into an early grave?"
The five nodded—even Rainbow Dash after calming down—and they proceeded to move back to their sleeping bags. Fluttershy lay down on her yellow one with a vibrant pink butterfly pattern as Twilight excused herself to check up on Spike upstairs. The rest of the girls engaged in small talk while Fluttershy used this moment to collect herself. So far the sleepover had been really fun. They made delicious s'mores, had a pillow fight, avoided telling scary stories—much to Rainbow's disappointment—and truth and dare had been very exciting.
Like when Applejack dared Pinkie Pie to cover herself up in peanut butter and sing a silly song. Or when Rainbow Dash dared Rarity to let Sweetie Belle and her friends give her a makeover the next time they came over. There were some good truths too. Fluttershy never would have believed that Rainbow Dash had a fear of spiders or that Applejack had a secret love for pears.
As she pondered on the nights events, Fluttershy felt a small yawn escape her lips. It didn't go unnoticed by Applejack. "I do believe that our dear friend Fluttershy is getting a bit tired. Perhaps we should all tuck in for the night before we're all pooped out."
"Wait! Wait!" Pinkie cried out, waving her arms in a blur. "It's my turn! I wanna have one more turn! Please! Please! Please! Please!"
"Alright, Pinkie. Fine, we can end the game with you," Rarity said, rolling her eyes at her friend's behaviour.
"Yahoo!"
Twilight soon returned and, after explaining the situation, they all sat down for one last round. Pinkie turned her head and glanced at each of them while rubbing her chin. They waited patiently for Pinkie to choose which pony would get the last truth or dare, but eventually Rainbow blurted out, "Ugh! Just choose somepony already!"
Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "This is a toughie... I shall have to use the most ancient and wise way of deciding impossible choices to solve this one." They looked at each other with raised eyebrows before Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and pointed it at each of them in order. "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo, catch a dragon by the toe. If he hollers, let him go, eenie, meenie, miney, mo. My mother says to pick the very best one... and... that... is... you!"
Her hoof was pointed at Fluttershy who gulped. "Um... truth?"
Groaning, Rainbow Dash's hoof made contact with her own forehead. "Again?! You always choose truth! Why can't you do a dare for once?!"
"Rainbow Dash, honestly, it's Fluttershy's choice and if she wants to pick truth then let her," scolded Rarity.
Fluttershy hid behind her mane, avoiding Rainbow Dash annoyed stare. It was the truth that she always picked 'truth' all the time, mostly because she was afraid of being dared to do something that would cause her to freeze up and embarrass herself. Still, it wouldn't be fair to everypony if I just did truth all the time...
"Okay, I'll do a dare," Fluttershy, surprising her friends.
"Are you sure, Fluttershy?" asked Twilight. "You don't have too if you don't want to."
"N-no, I'm sure," Fluttershy reassured, even though a voice in her head was telling her to take it back.
Pinkie Pie nodded and went back to rubbing her chin. Fluttershy gulped and felt her heart beat faster as she waited for whatever challenge she had just resigned herself too. After a minute of waiting, Pinkie Pie eyes opened wide and she gave a grin that made Fluttershy want to hide under her sleeping bag. "I dare you..." Pinkie looked around the room before pointing her right hoof at Rainbow Dash. "...to kiss Rainbow Dash on the lips for one whole minute!"
The entire library was silent for only a split second before both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both screamed, "What?!"
"Oh, my," Rarity whispered, placing a hoof against her chest. "Isn't that going a bit too far, Pinkie?"
"Nope! It's the perfect way to end a game of truth and dare! Besides, it's not really a good game unless you have a kissing dare played."
Twilight summoned her copy of Slumber 101: All you ever wanted to know about slumber parties but were afraid to ask and rapidly flipped to the truth or dare section. After reading a few lines, Twilight raised her head to the girls and slowly nodded. "I hate to say it, but Pinkie's kind of right. It says that a kissing dare is one of the most popular and fun dares to do in the game."
Everypony then turned to the two pegasi, who were doing their best to hide not only their blush, but each other's gaze. Fluttershy was now mentally beating herself up for not listening to her instincts and wished she could time travel to take back her choice. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see Rainbow Dash nervously rubbing the back of her neck, keeping her eyes focused on the floor.
She was suddenly hit with a thought that came out of the left field. This was going to be her first kiss. Never in her life had she been kissed by anybody other than family, and never on the lips. And now her oldest friend was going to be that special pony to take away her lip's purity. Her mother always said that a filly's first kiss was always special, but did that even apply in a case like this?
"W-well, I'm not one for backing out so..." Rainbow Dash turned her head towards Fluttershy and took a deep breath. "... I'm willing to do it if you are."
Fluttershy gulped and slowly turned around to meet Dash face to face. Her heart began to thump so hard she was shocked it had not burst out of her chest. Turning red, Fluttershy slowly skid herself forward on her rump, coming inches before Rainbow's lips. The two of them looked into each other's eyes as Fluttershy felt her entire body tremble at the thought of her and Rainbow, lips locked for a full session of sixty seconds.
She couldn't look at her other friends reaction, doing such would surely cause her to panic. Well, more than she was now. To her surprise, Rainbow Dash made the first move, leaning forward with her eyes closed. Realizing there was no way out of this, Fluttershy took a deep breath and followed Rainbow's example.
Their lips touched.
Like a bolt of lightning, Fluttershy was hit with a wave of emotions she never felt before. Her entire body shivered like it had been dumped in snow and then warmed up by the sun at full blast. Her mind went blank as every nerve she had in her body felt more energized than before. She could hear no other sounds, could feel nothing else but the lips of Rainbow Dash, which tasted like a certain spice she couldn't put her hoof on. The world had suddenly come to an unexpected halt as Fluttershy continued to keep her lips pressed against Rainbow's.
And then it was over.
Rainbow Dash separated from Fluttershy, never saying a word or even looking at her. Fluttershy, still recovering from the experience, didn't say anything either. All she could remember was somepony saying it was time for bed before they each went to their respective sleeping bags. She remembered saying goodnight and then the lights went off, leaving her to think about the kiss all alone in the dark...
... and how good the experience was.
***
Rainbow Dash felt her multi-coloured mane whipping in the wind as she continued to race though the airborne racing circuit on the last lap. With only a straight path to the finish line left to pass, Dash felt that now was the hardest part of all. Not only was the pegasus feeling the strain of the many loops, twists, and turns she had already mustered to get this far, she also knew that she couldn't relax for a second against her current racing opponent. There was no need to look to her side to see her opposition; Dash knew Spitfire was neck to neck with her.
The two pegasi continued to push ahead, neither gaining the lead as they gave all they had. Eventually though, proving herself worthy of her rank, the captain of the Wonderbolts began to take the lead. Slowly but surely, Rainbow watched as Spitfire flew past her. Gritting her teeth, Dash pulled out all the remaining strength she had to push herself one more time. With one last adrenaline filled burst of speed, Rainbow Dash overtook Spitfire and zoomed past the finish line.
Rainbow Dash fell to the cloudy surface, exhausted but still standing. Then came the applause, the clopping of hooves as her name was chanted throughout the heavens. Dash looked up with a wide grin, soaking up the praise while wishing she had the energy to even wave her hoof in thanks. An equally weary Spitfire then called out to her, slowly trotting forward, offering a hoof out in respect. The two athletes' bumped hooves and the crowd erupted into an even louder cheer. Rainbow Dash had little time to squeal with delight at being congratulated by her idol or deliver thanks to all her fans, she first had something to receive: her 1st place prize.
The pegasus' grin dropped for an expression of bewilderment as she witnessed her gleaming trophy being carried towards her; by Fluttershy. Fluttershy, in a pure white dress slowly made her way to Dash, trophy in hoof. She greeted Dash with a cute smile, handing the golden award over to the still puzzled winner. Rainbow Dash was about to ask what was going on but then the lovely Fluttershy slid her hooves around her, and kissed her.
"Gyah!" Dash yelped as she shot upright from her sleeping bag.
Blanketed by the darkness of night, Rainbow Dash kept her breathing as soft as possible despite her chest feeling like it was on fire and ice at the same time. Her body was sweaty, her face warm, and her wings felt itchy and active; as if she hadn't flown in a while. The now awake pegasus shook her head and began mulling over her bizarre dream along with all the odd sensations that came along with it. Her active mind began to cool down though; thoughts on the dream fading away. Once relaxed, she decided to lie back down to sleep.
"Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow spun around to the voice immediately, coming face to face with Fluttershy. Rainbow's throat dried up as she stared at her best friend, so close that she could not help but look into the concerned teal eyes. A blush began to creep up on Rainbow's face the ability to respond were lost on her.
Fluttershy moved closer, their faces only a few inches apart as she repeated the question, "A-are you okay, R-Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash ears perked up at these words, and her face warmed up even more as Fluttershy's breath brushed against it, "I-I, uh… yeah."
This perplexed Dash, rarely was she at a loss for words and she wasn't the sort of pony that got tongue-tied. Worry started to creep into an already massive barrage of wild emotions that were driving her mind wild. She tried to think of something else to say, to add to her answer, but her troubled mind was hazy and bothered.
"Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked, sitting up ready to lean even closer, much to Dash's worry.
"Yeah," The clearly troubled Rainbow Dash lied, clambering out of her sleeping bag, "I… just need to go the toilet, yeah, that's all."
So Dash proceeded to do just that, treading carefully to the libraries lavatories, and avoiding stepping on any of her sleeping friends. Rainbow felt Fluttershy's eyes on her the entire time, at least until she got into the restroom. Closing the door behind her and switching on the lights, she made her way to the sink. A quick twist and cool water came out from the tap that Rainbow Dash quickly began to scoop up and splash against her face.
She sighed and looked to the bathroom mirror, face to face with her wet reflection. She stared at it longingly, as if asking herself the question that had echoed in her mind, but was refused an answer
"What in Equestria was with that dream?"
***
For the second time in just as many days, Fluttershy left the hospital embarrassed and even more confused than she had been going in. It had been two days since the sleepover—two days since the weird feelings began. Her heart kept beating, she was sweating more often despite it being the beginning of fall, she was almost always lost in her thoughts, along with numerous other strange symptoms. Naturally, she had panicked at the thought of being sick, and rushed to the hospital for a check-up. To her shock, they said there was nothing wrong with her physically. She went again when it continued the next day, but again there was nothing wrong. The only suggestion they had was that it was a mental issue from stress. They told her to take an example from her friend Rainbow Dash and relax more often, maybe take an afternoon nap.
Suddenly, the strange nauseated feelings returned again as she stopped in the middle of the road, blushing and feeling her throat dry out like a desert. There was one thing she neglected to tell the staff at the hospital. For reasons unknown to her, she just couldn't bring herself up to say it.
All of her symptoms happened whenever she thought about Rainbow Dash. The blushing, the heart pounding, the embarrassing flare of her wings; whenever she thought, or even saw her oldest friend, she would feel her insides go all topsy-turvy on her. She knew when it had started, and it was an incident that continued to haunt her both day and night.
The kiss.
A simple kiss that she swore she could taste whenever she licked her lips. It was a hard feeling to forget. The energy, the shock. Just thinking about it made her slowly hymn in satisfaction. But why? It was just a dare. It doesn't mean anything... doesn't it?
"Everypony look out! Wild cart incoming!"
A few shouts of surprise snapped Fluttershy out of her stupor as she turned around and gasped. Rushing towards her from across the street was a big cart full of watermelons, ready to make her flat as a pancake. Fluttershy tried to get her wings to respond, but the sudden surprise had snapped them shut against her side. Closing her eyes, Fluttershy prayed that it wouldn't hurt so much and prepared for impact.
She suddenly felt the ground leave her hooves, but not from the impact of the oncoming cart. A second later, she felt her back make contact with the ground as a loud crash echoed in her ears. Turning her head to the side and opening her eyes, she saw the banged up cart smashed against the brick wall of a house, its melons scattered all over. Realizing she was unharmed, she looked up and saw her savior staring down at her in concern. Immediately, she felt her blush return two-fold as Rainbow Dash slowly got up, extending her hoof out.
"That was a close one. You okay, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked, helping Fluttershy to her hooves.
Fluttershy tried to respond with a thank you, but she couldn't find the strength to answer. She simply nodded and began pawing the pavement, hiding behind her mane. Rainbow Dash, looking a bit red, nodded back and slowly began to back away. "Um... yeah, s-so... I'll see you later, Fluttershy. I gotta... I gotta go... do that one thing... with the other guy... at... yeah, bye."
"Um..." Fluttershy whispered, but Rainbow Dash flew off like a dragon had suddenly started chasing her. "... Bye."
Not wanting to have more attention on her, Fluttershy quietly snuck away as a crowd began to form around the cart, inspecting the damage. As she made her way towards the edge of town, she thought back to her previous meeting with Rainbow Dash. The way she saved her and how they responded to each other almost seemed like it was from—
Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes widened in realization. It... it couldn't be...
In a split second, the usually soft and gentle flyer was blazing through the air like a Wonderbolt on sugar. She kicked her door open, passing by an annoyed Angel who was pointing at his salad bowl while tapping his foot. For once, Fluttershy ignored him and headed straight for her collection of romance novels. She opened each book, one by one, finding certain scenes and reading certain texts that slowly began to form answers. Angel bounced over and kept hitting his paws on Fluttershy's hooves, but even his persistent punches couldn't break his owner out of her sudden book craze.
More and more she read, tossing books away after finding the same feelings the characters all shared in common, as well as herself. She found other similar scenes of how one character saved another from a danger, the two near each other's lips as both blushed in embarrassment. Sometimes it was with a mare and a stallion, other times it was with the same gender on both sides. When the last book fell from her hooves, Fluttershy sat on her haunches, completely zoned out as she finally realized what was happening with her.
She was falling in love with Rainbow Dash.
With such a swift and mind-blowing revelation, Fluttershy reacted the only way she knew how: faint. Angel jumped out of the way as his owner fell onto the floor, completely knocked out. Groaning, he made his way towards his emergency carrot batch, knowing it would take at least several hours before his owner was up again.
***
Rainbow Dash rose up high, high into the midday sky, and sought out the largest, softest, comfiest cloud she could find. Upon spotting the cloud closest to her specific requirements, the pegasus glided over to it. As soon as she touched down, her tail and hooves instinctively began smoothing out any imperfections. Once the clouds surface felt just right, Rainbow Dash lay down to rest… until the thoughts came back to her.
Fluttershy; her face, her smile, her lips.
"Augh!" Dash yelled out in frustration, rolling about her cloud constantly, "What in Equestria is wrong with me?"
Then Dash fell off the cloud.
With the pegasus' constant rolling about this was inevitable really, but Rainbow Dash was quick to recover and soon flew back onto the cloud. The surprise and, though she wouldn't admit to it if asked, fright of the sudden fall had got her heart beating. Her heart beating as rapidly as it did when she had encountered Fluttershy earlier that day.
"Okay Rainbow Dash, it's time to think on this. That wasn't the first time you've saved Fluttershy, so why did it feel so different?"
First, Dash thought on the many times she had saved Fluttershy before, or simply came to help her out. To see her best friend safe naturally made her happy, relieved, and in the cases where there was a severe lack of danger, irritated.
"Yeah, she's a real scaredy cat," Dash couldn't help but chuckle as she whispered, "Always jumping into my hooves or holding onto me… making me feel like a hero."
The daydreaming pony shook her head and pulled her head out of the clouds, figuratively. Getting back to her concerns, Dash thought on how it had been as of late. Her earlier rescue of Fluttershy had made her feel unusually warm, her face felt hot and her mind became fuzzy, making it difficult to think. In fact, just being near Fluttershy got her dizzy. Every time she got close to her foalhood friend, Rainbow would feel goosebumps across her body, her wings would itch, and she also found it harder to breathe. The last of these confused the athlete the most; encountering Fluttershy had made her heart and lungs feel like she had just ran or flown a marathon.
"To think that I've been feeling like this since… that… dare…" Dash said to herself aloud. Suddenly, she perked up. "I got it!"
Realization dawned upon Rainbow Dash as she factored in both her recent feelings when around Fluttershy as well as the recent events between the two.
"This all started to happen after Fluttershy and I kissed. Feeling hot, dizzy, itchy, difficulty breathing; there is only one explanation for all of this." Rainbow Dash reasoned as she added everything together. With the discovery of what had been troubling her, she raised her head high, pleased at her quick feet of intelligence, and proud enough to declare her conclusion aloud.
"I am allergic to Fluttershy."
To Rainbow Dash, a pony as dumb as a turkey with romance or the various feelings one has when in love, being allergic to Fluttershy was the only answer. The way she perceived things was that when she had kissed Fluttershy, something the two friends had never done before, it had caused her to have various reactions towards it. Now, whenever she approached her friend she would have the same reactions as when she had kissed her, having repeated symptoms that to herself, were no different than an allergic reaction. So this was her conclusion, she had become allergic to Fluttershy from kissing her… and this brought forth more problems.
"Now what in Equestria am I supposed to do about being allergic to Fluttershy?"
Knowing was half the battle, now she needed to figure out how fix the problem.
"How do you even cure an allergy?" Dash began to ponder, "I mean, I didn't even think anypony could become allergic to other ponies?"
Rainbow continued to think of a possible solution to her current conundrum.
"Maybe… maybe it will go away after a while and…" Rainbow began to say to herself, her idea irking her more and more as she voiced it aloud, "maybe I should avoid Fluttershy until this allergy passes."
Her statement made, Rainbow went quiet, and the nature of her current setting seemed to follow suit with muted sounds. Reflective of the lack of worldly sounds, Rainbow also thought of little, nothing being said through her lips or in her mind. All there was for a brief moment was silence and a mixture of unexpressed but bobbling emotions. Then Rainbow sighed.
"It doesn't sit right with me," Dash finally began to fill in the void of sound, giving the edge of the cloud a good whack whilst she spoke, "but if I avoid Fluttershy for a little while, this allergy thing could go away. Perhaps it's just some bug that Fluttershy passed onto me, and reacts when I'm near somepony else that has it..."
Other ideas popped into Rainbow's head as she continued occupying her body by destroying small bits of cloud, "Perhaps I'll be able to find out some way to cure it… or maybe through small... uh... 'exposures' with Fluttershy I'll get used to it. I'm sure that wouldn't take too long."
Self reassurances completed, Rainbow stood up, and with a kick off her current surface to gain flight, obliterated the cloud she had been on. In the air she spread her wings and began to glide, stating aloud her decision, "So for now until I'm over this allergy I'll just avoid Fluttershy for a week or so."
"After all, how hard could it be?"
***
It took a full day for Fluttershy to recover from her revelation, but she was finally able to admit to herself that she had feelings for Rainbow Dash. It scared her to think that she had fallen in love with one of her best friends because of a simple kiss, but slowly she realized how important Dash was to her. The loyal pegasus had always defended her from bullies, made time to hang out with her, and trusted Fluttershy with her deepest secrets. Not to mention that Rainbow Dash was a stunning mare with a beautiful mane and a well-developed body.
Fluttershy 'eeped' and turned red again upon thinking such thoughts, nearly losing control of her wings as she continued her flight near the road. Last night she was conflicted on whether to tell Rainbow Dash her feelings or not. It didn't help that she kept simulating rejections or even outright disgust from her best friend that she knew would break her heart. Still, I can't deny what I feel, and not telling her will be like lying to her. I don't want to do that. I'll just have to come out and tell her. I just hope we can still be friends no matter what happens.
A few minutes later, Fluttershy came to an open field where she saw Rainbow Dash flying around, warming up before her big training exercise. Ready to do her part in cheering duty, she landed in the middle of the field, and called out, "Hello, Rainbow Dash!"
To her surprise, Rainbow Dash 'eeped' with surprise, and quickly spun around to greet her. What was weird about all this was Rainbow Dash was red faced as if she was blushing, but Fluttershy quickly reasoned that her friend was simply flustered from exerting herself when warming up.
Fluttershy continued to look puzzled at her friend whom was rubbing the back of her head. "Oh, F-Fluttershy! What are you doing here?!"
"Um, aren't I supposed to help you with your stunts today by cheering really loud? I've been improving a lot!" Fluttershy took a deep breath and let out the biggest "Yay!" she could. Looking back at her crush, she saw Rainbow Dash shake her head and rolling her eyes. Oh, dear. It was too loud again, wasn't it?
"That's… great, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash slowly gave an awkward looking smile. "But… uh, you can take the day off! I'm much too tired to be flying right now. Don't want to drive myself to exhaustion, right?!"
Fluttershy titled her head. "But… you looked fine when I wa—"
"Anyway, gotta go! See ya!" Rainbow Dash shouted before zooming out of the sky, despite being 'exhausted'.
Fluttershy just stood there, staring at the disappearing figure. Maybe that was why she was red faced; she pushed herself too hard warming up. She then realized she missed her confession chance and lightly stomped her hoof on the grass. Oh, well. I'll tell her tomorrow.
***
Okay, this time it's sure to work, thought Fluttershy, waiting outside her front yard. She put in a weather request for some clouds over at her place and specifically requested Rainbow Dash to deliver them. Once she brings the clouds over, I'll invite her inside for something to drink, and then I'll tell her my feelings.
She almost wanted to pat herself on the back for thinking such a clever idea. Her smile increased when she saw a large, fluffy cloud coming towards her house from above. However, said smile soon disappeared when she noticed a yellow tail behind the clouds, as opposed to the multi-coloured one she had been expecting.
"Um, excuse me?" Fluttershy asked as the cloud hovered above her. A head popped out from inside and gave her a quick smile while trying to keep her eyes from looking in the opposite directions. "Derpy?"
"Hi, Fluttershy!" Derpy greeted with a salute. "Rainbow Dash asked me to deliver these clouds for you; said she had something really important to do."
"Oh…" Fluttershy replied, hiding behind her mane. "I… I guess that's okay…"
"Sooo…" Derpy scratched her head, "where do you need this little guy?"
"Just by the flowers, they could use some watering," Fluttershy answered, weakly pointing to her garden.
"Roger!" Derpy quickly moved the cloud over the garden and got ready to buck it. "Don't know why you wanted a thundercloud here though."
Fluttershy's head snapped up. "Thundercloud?! Derpy, wait!"
Snap! Crackle! Pop!
Fluttershy winced as she saw her once grand garden turn into a pile of ashes. A nervous grin on her face, Derpy looked sheepishly at the destruction. "Oops, my bad."
***
This time Fluttershy was sure she and Rainbow Dash would get a chance to hang out. Although she and her friends always had their pony pet play dates every week, sometimes the two pegasi would get together on their own with their pets and enjoy each other's company. Of course, it was always a bit difficult to get to Rainbow Dash's house with Angel—if the stiff arms around her neck were any proof—but it was always worth it.
This time we'll hang out for sure and then I'll tell her my feelings.
Landing in front of the magnificent cloud home, she knocked on the door. A few seconds later, she was startled to find a red-spotted Rainbow Dash open the door. Jumping back a bit, she saw her best friend sneeze and cough, instantly turning on her mother-hen instincts. "Oh my! Are you sick, Rainbow Dash?"
"Oh yeah, ugh…" Rainbow Dash moaned, placing her hoof over her head. "Oh, I feel soooo sick… I don't think we can hang out together with me having the Pony Pox." She let out a few coughs. "I think it's best if I just stay in bed."
"That would be a good thing to do." Fluttershy stepped closer to see if she could feel her friend's temperature, but to her surprise she just stepped back, almost as if she was afraid of getting too close. Maybe she doesn't want me to catch it?
"A-anyway, I'll be fine by myself. You just head home, Fluttershy! See ya!"
"But Rainbow, I—" the door slammed shut in Fluttershy's face, "—have something to tell you…"
With a heavy sigh, Fluttershy made her way back to the ground, much to the pleasure of a nervous and sweating bunny rabbit. When she touched down on the ground however, Fluttershy gasped as she remembered something. Didn't Rainbow Dash have the Pony Pox when we we're foals? How could she have it again? Unless, I'm wrong…
With her tail hung low, she made her way back to the path leading to her house.
***
Oh, not only have I been unable to confess my feelings to Dash, I haven't been able to spend any time with her all week. It's like she's avoiding me? But why would she do something like that? Did I do something wrong? Doesn't she want to be friends with me anymore? Fluttershy thought as she walked through town, ears flat and eyes low. How can I tell her how I feel if she doesn't even want to be near me?
A loud gurgle from her tummy interrupted her thoughts and made her blush. She turned to her left and saw Sugarcube Corner nearby. Entering the establishment, she saw Pinkie Pie balancing a plate of cupcakes on her nose before she took notice of Fluttershy. With a flick of her snout, Pinkie lifted the plate in the air and caught all the cupcakes which made an impressive pyramid.
"Hey, Fluttershy! Need something?" Pinkie Pie asked with her usual big smile.
"Oh, um… I think I'll take…" Fluttershy started, but before she could completely answer, she heard the door open, followed by a familiar gasp. Turning around, she gasped as well when she noticed a stunned Rainbow Dash.
Spot free.
"I… um…" said the red-hoofed pegasus, her wings twitching.
"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Fluttershy, in a tone that surprised everypony in the shop, including herself. "What happened to your Pony Pox!"
Rainbow Dash gulped and slowly stepped back towards the entrance. "I… got better? Uh, I think I hear my laundry calling. Bye!"
"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Fluttershy shouted, but it was too late. The speedster was already long gone with only her signature trail in her wake. "Shoot! All I want to do is just talk to her!"
"Why don't you try talking to her tomorrow at our picnic?" asked Pinkie Pie.
Fluttershy smiled and turned around, nodding her head in thanks. "Great idea, Pinkie! She won't be able to escape me then! I'll see you tomorrow!"
Bidding her friend goodbye, Fluttershy made for a dash back to her place. This time I'll tell you, Rainbow Dash. I'll tell you how much I care about you! As Celestia is my witness!
***
There couldn't be a more perfect day for a picnic. The sun was nice and warm, the birds were chirping, and the breeze was refreshing. It stood to good reason then that six best friends would decide to enjoy themselves that day with such an activity. The present situation ensued naturally, the group of six enjoying a fine picnic on a fine day, and thus laughter came about… although this sentiment was not shared by all six friends present.
All six ponies were laughing, true, but for two ponies the feelings of joy of hanging out with friends were overshadowed by their individual troubles. Try as they might, they attempted to hide these troubles, but one by one their friends caught on to the fact that something was wrong.
"So aside from reacting to my clients… unfortunate choice in colours, business has been going splendidly this week," Rarity said, finishing telling the events of the past week, parts of which her friends found themselves snickering in amusement.
"Applejack, why don't indulge us with what happened with one of your customers this week?" Rarity asked.
With the focus of the conversation moved onto her, Applejack's laugh slowly changed to a nervous chuckle a she rubbed the back of her neck. "Heh-heh, it was only a minor accident, nothing worth talking about."
Gulping down the rest of her sandwich, Pinkie eagerly asked, "Ooh, ooh, what happened, what happened?"
"Well, as I hear it, just the other day an eager little colt, in paying Applejack here for an apple, ended up throwing his bits over her head." Rarity had begun to giggle, just as Applejack began to bury her head into her hat, "Applejack tried to catch the bits but when she did she was caught off balance and—"
"Hey Rarity, could you pass the salad cream over?" Rainbow interrupted the conversation to ask.
Rarity shot an accusatory glance towards her friend before turning to grab the nearby salad cream, but found it already in use by Fluttershy, adding some to her salad. Rarity turned to Rainbow, wondering why she had not simply asked Fluttershy to pass it over when finished with it. In fact Rarity was just about to ask this when—
"Here you go Rai-" Fluttershy paused once she looked towards Rainbow, her eyes pin-ponging back and forth to her friends around her, and a nervous blush springing up on her face, "Here you go Rarity, I'm all done."
Fluttershy turned to the nearby unicorn instead and placed the closed bottle into Rarity's hooves.
"B-but I don't…" Rarity's sentence trailed off as she looked to Fluttershy and then back to Rainbow Dash. She continued to look back and forth between the two pegasi as she hoofed over the salad cream.
"Thanks Rare."
As Fluttershy began eating her creamed salad, and Rainbow Dash began preparing hers, Rarity looked to the rest of her equally puzzled friends. With their eyes the group of friends began to communicate with one another.
Rarity looked to the other three, her expression asking, 'What was with that?'
Twilight's expression, in response, said, 'I don't know' with Applejack's being the same expression.
Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up bulged, and her pupils shook from side to side, an expression which the others somehow managed to catch onto as, 'Look!'
The friends turned their attention to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, a difficult task considering that this was one of the rare times that the two had decided to sit away from one another. In fact, the four of them thought at this point how it seemed like the two were trying to sit as far apart as possible. They continued to watch the two and soon began to notice brief glances they would cast towards the other. Watching and waiting long enough, the moment came when the two's gaze met before they quickly moved away with frowns etched on their faces
Rarity looked back to her friends once again, inquiring with raised eyes, 'What in the world was that about?'
A shrug of her shoulders, Applejack reply back with 'Ah have no idea'.
'They were frowning… perhaps the two are angry about something?' Twilight put forth.
'You think the two of them got into a fight?' Rarity asked.
'Ooh, I have an idea of what's going on! Yesterday, I was serving Fluttershy, she never did order anything now that I think about it, when Rainbow Dash walked in. Then Fluttershy began yelling at her and Dash ran off, and then Fluttershy got sad, and then I invited her to the picnic.'
The others looked back to their pink friend, silent and confused.
'…How in the hay did we all understand that?' they all thought unanimously.
'Regardless, we know something is wrong with the two, so the best thing to do is just ask them.' Twilight's choice of action was met with confirming nods and so each pony went to the mare closest to them.
Rarity and Pinkie shuffled along closer to Fluttershy… Pinkie perhaps a little too much. Rainbow from the corner of the eye saw this, and this time chose to continue looking. She didn't know why but there was something about Pinkie Pie, rubbing her cheek up against Fluttershy's that made her stomach unsettled.
"Rainbow Dash, is there something on your mind?" Twilight's question snapped Dash out of her thoughts, and she turned to the unicorn with a blank expression.
"Yeah girl, somethin' the matter?" Applejack's question had Rainbow switching sights to the farm pony, and then back and forth between her friends.
"Uh… no, not really. Why'd you ask?" Rainbow finally answered her two friends, looking towards neither one at the time.
"Well, it seems, from what we have observed that something might—"
"You and Fluttershy have been acting strange." Applejack cut to the chase and stated their observation outright, tipping her hat to Twilight as a form of an apology for interrupting her, "You two get into a fight?"
Rainbow snorted at the prospect of getting into an argument with Fluttershy—not that such a thing was impossible but Fluttershy rarely argued. Rainbow chose this moment to look over towards Fluttershy, in the midst of a conversation with Rarity and a sock puppet wearing Pinkie Pie… from that she had no idea what they could have been talking about. Watching Fluttershy for a short while, Dash soon remembered she was still conversing with other friends, and turned back to the two with a blush.
"A-anyway, Fluttershy and I haven't gotten into any form of argument we just… haven't seen each other in a while." Rainbow said, hoping this would be enough to end the conversation.
"Oookay, nothing wrong, uh-huh." Twilight said, all the while casting a 'She's hiding something' expression over towards Applejack.
"Hmm, now that I see it, no one has nabbed that cupcake yet," Dash said aloud, staring at a remaining cupcake in the middle of the picnic blanket, "I call dibs."
The cyan pegasus motioned her hoof towards the cupcake but at the last moment, as her hoof was to hover over and snatch the treat, she was intercepted. Dash looked up towards the pony that dared to challenge her over the cupcake, ready for a battle to the death over it, but then froze. She was staring face to face with an equally shocked and stunned Fluttershy. The two did not move, their faces mere inches apart, not unlike a moment they had shared at a certain sleepover. Soon, looking into those teal eyes made Dash feel warm, her face heating up unbearably.
So Dash moved her hoof away… only for the yellow hoof that had intercepted her to the cupcake to follow it. Dash moved her hoof back to her further, and Fluttershy's slapped down as if to grab it, to pin it, but missed.
"Sooo…," Dash began as she stood up and looked to each of her friends—bar Fluttershy, "I just remembered I have something I really need to do. Great picnic and all but I gotta dash. See ya."
Rainbow Dash took flight and flew away. She did not ascend, rather fly low to the ground. As she took the the sky, the pegasus decided to take one last look back at her friends. A she did so, she saw their stupefied faces as she left early. But one quickly changed to anger to the point where she looked like she was ready to explode.
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy roared as she shot off the ground at surprising speeds.
"Eep!" Rainbow yelped as she accelerated, with Fluttershy in hot pursuit of her.
Normally Rainbow Dash would not have to worry about anypony chasing her, let alone the ground-loving Fluttershy. This, however, was an angry Fluttershy, and an angry Fluttershy could apparently fly really really fast. So Dash flew forward knowing that Fluttershy was not only hot on her tail, but getting closer and closer.
Dash made a sudden turn—her desperate wishes to escape not clouding her judgement for a second—and a plan to elude her pursuer began to form in her mind. It helped that it wasn't all that complicated of a plan as she flew towards the trees of the area and weaved in and out of them. Flying away from the trees Rainbow looked back, certain to see Fluttershy unable to make the twists and turns to catch up.
She instead saw the trees timbering down as Fluttershy smashed her way through each and every one.
Dash would forever deny that she screamed in fright at that moment, although she would admit that she started to fly faster.
The pegasus headed towards Ponyville, flying through the currently busy streets, scooting around the crowd, over carts, and under pegasi in her desperate attempts to escape. Though the wind whipped past her ears, Dash could make out the sounds of various ponies jumping out of the way of the charging Fluttershy, as well as the sounds of carts and market stands being obliterated.
Gulping, the racer continued to pull off manoeuvre after manoeuvre, going loop-the-loop around the various landmarks, houses, and ponies of the town, each to which merely slowed the relentless Fluttershy down a tiny bit. Eventually Rainbow tried for a different tactic; she slowed down. Fluttershy closed in on her, and flew forth to catch her, only for Rainbow Dash to spring out of the way at the last second. Fluttershy stumbled from the attempted capture, while Rainbow rocketed herself away from Fluttershy, kicking up the dust on the ground for good measure.
Dash flew on and on, never daring to look behind her. The wind whistled fiercely as she flew faster and faster, to the point she could not hear anything but the rushing wind. Eventually though she felt the strain from all the flying and tricks pulled during the chase, and began to slow down. She could not hear Fluttershy, and as she slowed to a stop to look around the place, she could not see her either. She was safe.
"Phew, looks like I lost her." Dash sighed to herself, hanging her head, and taking several deep breaths.
Then Dash was tackled to the ground.
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy yelled down to the dazed and confused pony she had pinned to the ground, "Why do you keep avoiding me?"
"I, uh, wuh." Dash mumbled, her head still spinning from Fluttershy's full on collision into her.
Fluttershy got off of Rainbow Dash, allowing the disoriented mare to stand up, clear her head, and then look towards a seething and demanding Fluttershy.
"Oh, F-F-Fluttershy, you caught me. Congratulations!" Rainbow Dash stuttered as she stared at the dishevelled mane, deeply panting, and glistening-bodied Fluttershy. Ah nuts, my allergy, my hearts beating like crazy.
"Yes, I have, now tell me why you've been avoiding me!" Fluttershy demanded, marching closer towards the retreating Rainbow Dash.
"W-well you see I-I have…um…" Dash continued to mumble over and over, for reasons she was unsure of herself. Great! When she's this close I can barely speak.
Rainbow Dash continued to mumble and stammer, trying to explain to Fluttershy that she had managed to catch a bug off of her, and that she was now allergic to her, but the words just wouldn't form. At the same time, Fluttershy continued to push for an answer, her patience now non-existent.
"Well Rainbow, tell me already!" Fluttershy yelled out, now grabbing a hold of Dash's shoulders, and keeping the two of them face to face.
"Duh buh I…" Rainbow Dash tried to look away from Fluttershy but this was not something Fluttershy was allowing. She watched as a bead of sweat trickled down from Fluttershy's forehead, pass the watery teal eyes, and against smooth, delicate lips. Rainbow Dash felt her entire body light aflame.
"Rainbow Dash will you just answer me!" Fluttershy cried out to the mare, both angry and worried that she was no longer liked by the pony she loved. "Rainbow—"
Their lips met. Fluttershy was cut off as Rainbow Dash pressed her lips against the canary yellow mare, leaned forth, and gingerly caressed the hooves holding her down. Rainbow Dash's mind went blank as her body acted, keeping her lips against the sweet tasting lips of her best friend, and her body pressing closer to steal the warmth from her best friend's tired body. Dash felt calm as a smooth feeling passed over her, like she was being gently rocked to sleep, and she felt at ease.
Then Rainbow Dash remembered what she was doing.
"Gyaah!" Rainbow yelped as she pulled back from Fluttershy, removing all contact between the two.
Rainbow stood panting, gasping for air, as her mind wheeled around the shock. Fluttershy stood stupefied, her eyes wide and not knowing what to do or what to say. She stood as still as a statue whereas Dash shifted uncomfortably on the spot.
"R-Rainbow Dash, w-what-"
"I am so sorry! I-I can't believe I just-I'm sorry and I, uh don't know…" Rainbow Dash burst out, apology after apology spewing out, one after the other, "I-I have no idea why I just did that and I, I, sorry!"
Fluttershy remained still as she tried to ask a question once again "W-why did—"
"I don't know! I just did!" Dash yelled out, shock on her face as much as it was on Fluttershy's, "I'm sorry, I've just… I've been feeling funny and I…"
Dash went silent whereas Fluttershy perked up, "Feeling… funny?"
"Y-yeah." Dash confirmed with a nod, her explanation already rolling off her tongue, "Ever since we k-kissed… the first time we did it… I've been feeling strange and… I assumed you had passed something onto me and I became allergic to you."
If Fluttershy's mind hadn't fried from being kissed by her crush she would have done a double check at Dash's theory.
"B-but… I just kissed you… again and, I don't think it's an allergy." Rainbow Dash explained as she buried her head in her hooves, her overheating mind trying to make sense of a situation she just couldn't understand.
Fluttershy decided to sit down at this point, right by Rainbow Dash, her mind calming down and contemplating things. "R-Rainbow Dash… these feelings… what were they like?"
Rainbow looked with a good deal of uncertainty towards Fluttershy, but soon sat by her friend, calmly taking breath after breath. When she was a little more composed the cyan pegasus began to talk.
"W-well the feelings were… warm, like really warm. My head would go a little hazy and everything gets a little dizzy and… I feel a warm feeling. My body does… and my head… and my heart."
"Y-your heart?" Fluttershy asked curiously as a strange sense of hope began to well up inside of the mare.
"Y-yeah, it would start to beat like crazy too. So hard I could even hear it. Then I would feel really hot and my face, I'm sure I just start to blush, as in really blush." Rainbow Dash explained all this with a hoof over her chest.
"A-anything else?" Fluttershy asked eagerly, excited to hear Rainbow describe these mysterious emotions.
"W-well I would feel short of breath, like my breath would just be taken away and I would get—unbelievably for me—really nervous. When I got like that it suddenly became hard to speak and... wow... I guess it kind of was like being you in a way, you know, all meek and such." Rainbow Dash further added, with a calmer tone than before.
"A-and? When? When would you feel like this?" Fluttershy asked, pushing herself as close to Dash as possible, as if the rainbow maned pegasus was some new, adorable animal.
With the close proximity Rainbow Dash could help but turn scarlet, but she did not look away, "W-when I would get close to… you. Sometimes just looking at you or, or just thinking about you and I…"
Fluttershy smiled. She smiled larger than she had ever smiled before as feelings of mirth and joy overwhelmed her. Rainbow Dash caught onto this smile, this happiness, and assumed that the cheerful friend of hers had an answer.
"Fluttershy, you know what this is don't you?" Rainbow asked, and Fluttershy slowly nodded, never losing her smile. "Well could you tell me?"
"Sure, I know what it is you're feeling because… I've been feeling the exact same things as you," Fluttershy explained wily.
Rainbow's pink eyes bulged, and she excitedly proclaimed, "You do! You have! I knew it, it was an illness and, how are you allergic to you exactly?"
Fluttershy shook her head, a 'tut-tut-tut' passing her lips, "Rainbow Dash silly, it's not an illness."
"Well then," Rainbow began, facing Fluttershy face to face, "what is it?"
"Love."
"Love?"
"Love." Fluttershy reconfirmed for the surprised pony, a pony who became more surprised when Fluttershy leaped into her hooves and kissed her.
Rainbow Dash realized every moment of it this time. The mare pressed against her body. The soft and sweet lips against hers. The gentle and bright face in front of her. Dash knew what was going on, Fluttershy was kissing her… and she liked it. She was stunned and so did not move, but she did nothing to resist the pleasant feelings from a pleasant action being given to her. She just enjoyed the moment, enjoyed the moment until Fluttershy pulled away.
The two ponies looked to one another. One set of eyes confident and loving, another working things out but happy.
"So I love you," Dash began to say, finally sorting everything out in her head, "and you love me."
Fluttershy nodded with vigour.
"I love you," Rainbow Dash muttered to herself before looking towards the face of her lover, "I love you, Fluttershy."
"And I love you Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy declared before lunging forth once more and laying her lips upon Rainbow's.
This kiss was greeted with open hooves, and then hooves that wrapped around Fluttershy, and then hooves that urged the gentle mare to fall down with her lover. Fluttershy kissed Rainbow Dash, feeling the hot, spicy flavour from the speedster's lips, and a fiery passion burn within her chest. Rainbow Dash received this kiss and kissed back, feeling soothed and tranquil as she relished the sweet taste of the caretaker's lips. The two embraced each other, threw aside complications, and took their time enjoying each other's daring affections.
"Hey guys, I found theeeeeeyemmmmm." Pinkie's words went askew as she walked into the clearing to find the two pegasus in the midst of their passionate embrace.
"Really Pinkie? That's a relief I never thought we'd fiiiiiiineeeeeee." Twilight's words also went out of control upon coming across the romantic scene between newly lovers.
Rarity and Applejack entered the scene without saying a word. Regardless, upon seeing Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash they were at a loss for words.
"Ah think… Ah think they're no longer mad at each other now."
"Yeah… I agree."
"…I think we should leave them alone now."
"Fluttershy can really use her tongue can't she?"
The others looked towards Pinkie, looked back at the kissing scene, and mentally agreed. "Let's give them their privacy."
Thus the four friends left Fluttershy and Rainbow to enjoy their romantic kisses in peace and privacy… though they may have looked back once or twice.