Never too Shy to Love

by True Blood

First published 8th of December, 2012

Hearth's Warming is on its way, and Fluttershy is determined not to spend it alone... Again...

Hearth’s Warming is a special time of year: a time for giving, a time for receiving, and a time for friendship. And for some, a time of great romance, second only to Hearts and Hooves day. Many a couple will spend the cold winter nights curled up in front of fireplaces all over Equestria. This year, Fluttershy is determined to make something of it. She knows who she would like to spend the winter months with. All she needs now is the courage to ask the bravest, fastest, most amazing pegasus in all of Equestria, out on a date.

1 - A Remedial Journey

Hearth’s Warming. A time for celebration and good cheer. A time to share with your friends, family, and those you love. Or so Fluttershy had been told. She had also been told that, when it came to relationships, she had to take some initiative, be bold, and act on the impulses that the tiny, adventurous part of her mind suggested.

A sigh escaped her lips. It was easy to be strong and confident in the secluded confines of her cottage, but when it came to going out and taking action, she seized up. Her voice failed, her limbs locked, and her breathing tried to stop. It was just awful.

Lying sprawled on the sofa in her small house at the edge of the woods, the fireplace burning with healthy flames to help ward off the cold, Fluttershy’s mind was racing with thoughts about the upcoming Hearth’s Warming Eve festival. It was a huge event, by Ponyville standards; the entire town was attending, down to the last stallion, mare, and foal.

Even wrapped in the safety of her home, she shuddered at the sheer number of ponies that would all be in the one place. She got nervous in a crowd of more than six, let alone the hundreds of ponies in Ponyville. What if they stared at her? What if they judged her? What if they laughed at her? What if…

She clamped her mind down on the panicked thoughts before they could spiral further out of control.

Keep a hold of yourself girl! she chastised, but as always, things are easier said than done, and she soon found herself worrying again. She couldn’t help it. Ever since she was a foal, she was nervous around other ponies. Flight school had just made it worse: all those ponies laughing at her because she wasn’t such a great flyer.

She was no Rainbow Dash. Rainbow was strong, confident, brash, and the best flier in Equestria, short of maybe the Wonderbolts.

Fluttershy sighed again, only partly because Rainbow was such a better flier than her. She and Rainbow had done so much together. The Nightmare Moon and Discord ordeals, not to mention the Changeling Attack on Canterlot. True, those had been ordeals that all her friends had been involved in as well, but Rainbow was special. Fluttershy had tried to be there for her during the Best Young Fliers competition, and Rainbow had been there to support her when they sent the reservoir-water to Cloudsdale. The rainbow-maned mare was always so supportive and confident and strong. Always there for her friends, always able to help whenever anything needed doing.

No, she was no Rainbow Dash. But she wished she could be. She looked up to Rainbow, admired her even. She wished she could be as strong and confident. She wished her friends could rely on her for anything, but she couldn’t even rely on herself, so how were others meant to put their faith in her?

She sighed for a third time. All the other ponies made everything look so easy. She had seen a stallion walk right up to a mare, ask her out, and then simply walk away with her. She knew many couples would be curling up in front of fireplaces together all over Ponyville the night of Hearth’s Warming Eve, as well as every other snowy winter's night.

What was a shy Pegasus to do? She liked Rainbow Dash: she had come to terms with that quite some time ago, but she was just too shy to do anything about it, and with Hearth’s Warming coming up… it certainly wasn’t Hearts and Hooves, but it was still a very romantic time of year: couples would feed each other roasted marshmallows and sit by the fireside together to keep off the cold.

The thoughts spiralled around and around her head, achieving no end other than to confuse and worry her more. She was too shy to act on her feelings, so she needed help, but she was just too shy to ask for help…

What do I do? What do I do? She got to her hooves and paced a circle around the living room as she thought. What would Rainbow Dash do? This thought didn’t help her. Dash was the bravest pony she knew, so asking another pony out surely wouldn’t be a problem for her.

Oh, I just don’t know.

She slumped to the floor, a wave of depression passing over her. She supposed that the easiest thing would be to try and ignore the feelings completely, but where would that get her?

Another Hearth’s Warming alone she thought grimly. It had never overly bothered her that she spent a vast majority of her time with her woodland friends, away from any other ponies, but several weeks ago, Rarity had gone on a date with Applejack, and they had hit it off quite well. She was very happy for the two of them, but it had made her realise that, despite being surrounded by critters that she cared for dearly, she was lonely.

Critters didn’t speak. They were very expressive, true, and she often found comfort in talking to them, but this was something they could not help her with. Who could she turn to then? Who would know what to do?

Know… know? The word seemed to be trying to unearth something in her mind: it struggled and heaved, several memories flying through her mind almost too quickly to follow.

Know… who knows? And then it hit her. Twilight! Twilight knows! Of course, it was so obvious. Rainbow Dash may be the fastest, most confident mare in Ponyville, but Twilight was the smartest. Fluttershy couldn’t think of anything that the librarian didn’t know.

Oh, but, what if she laughs at me? The thought came unbidden to her mind, and scores more followed. Worries, concerns, fears, all of them made her more and more nervous.

What if she thinks I’m being silly? What if she doesn’t want to help? What if she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore because she thinks I like Rainbow more than her? She forced herself to stop at this last one. Now she was just being silly, and she knew it. Of course Twilight wouldn’t think that, she was one of her best friends, and she wasn’t a petty pony.

So how could she bring it up? She was far too nervous to admit her feelings to anypony else. Not that she was worried that Twilight might spread the secret; she just had trouble talking to other ponies about, well, almost everything really, even her best friends. She was just too shy.

You are a grown mare Fluttershy! she thought harshly to herself. You can be more confident than this. You were trained by Iron Will! Shuddering, she sighed and forced herself to admit that, whilst her own modified versions of Iron Will’s methods helped her stand up for herself, those were mainly for dealing with ponies who tried to walk over her, and not for building the confidence to ask a friend on a date – or for about asking a friend for help on the subject for that matter – She also didn't want to be using techniques like Iron Will's on Rainbow Dash. She wanted to draw the other mare in, not trample over her. She would simply have to suck it up and do it, as Rainbow Dash said. Only she couldn’t.

All this thinking was hurting her head, and she needed some air. Stretching her wings, she fluttered over to the door, opened it, and flew out into the cool winter’s day.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy didn’t know where she was going. She just flew in the direction she was facing when she left her cottage, and was barely even paying attention to her surroundings, as lost in her thoughts as she was.

Due to her deep level of introspection, she was not prepared for the pony that slammed into her at high speed, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and ruffled manes. She lay there, entwined with the offending pegasus, for several moments as her mind took its time registering what had just happened. It was only when her assailant spoke that she snapped back to the here and now.

“Hey, Fluttershy? Are you, like, going to move any time soon?” It was a voice that Fluttershy was intimately familiar with, and as this registered, she realised exactly who it was that had crashed into her.

There was no mistaking the cyan coat, the multi-hued mane, the glittering cerise-coloured eyes, and the brazen confidence in her voice.

“R-Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy managed to stutter. Thanks to her worried pondering over the past several hours, she was now thoroughly frightened to be in the other mare’s presence. Her eyes widened, her limbs froze, and her breathing grew rapid and shallow.

I’m not ready for this yet! her mind screamed. She couldn’t stop the fearful shriek that escaped her lips as she frantically disentangled her limbs from Rainbow’s, and fled behind a nearby snow-covered boulder once she was free. Rainbow was more than a little surprised.

“Um, Fluttershy? Are you ok?” the cyan Pegasus queried, only serving to make Fluttershy’s heart pound even faster in her chest. She struggled to reply, but only managed to squeak a “yes” before her throat closed up again.

Crouched, shivering behind the boulder, Fluttershy saw Dash poke her head around, and glance at her worriedly. It was more than she could take. Her fragile hold on the situation snapped, and she screamed, before jumping into the air. She flew as fast as she could away from her friend, shrieking out a jumble of words as she took flight.

“YesI’mokRainbowDash, don’tworryseeyoulater!” The words left her mouth in a tangled mess, but the only thought in Fluttershy’s mind at that time was that she needed to get away. Being so close to Dash was too much just then, and it was all she could do just to breathe as her unusually powerful wing beats took her soaring across Ponyville proper.

She flew up to a large bank of clouds resting above the corner of town, and buried herself into its soft, fluffy centre. Resting in the cloud’s cushioned embrace, her mind raced with so many thoughts, she couldn’t make any of them out. The cloudy cave she had carved for herself eventually cooled her nerves enough that some rational thought began to re-enter her mind. The first thing she did, was yell at herself. In her mind of course.

You’re such a coward! she inwardly screamed. All you did was run into Rainbow Dash, and you lock up like that?! Call yourself a grown mare? Her mental tirade continued for several minutes, until she finally burned her anger out, and was left with nothing but sorrowful tears. Discord had been right, she truly was helpless.

The sound of the Draconequus’ laughter filled her mind, and taunted her soul.

No

Discord was a monster who had threatened Ponyville, and threatened the world. But even worse, he had threatened her friends.

No

Discord was a trickster, a liar, a truly despicable being full of malice and malcontent.

NO!!! Discord was wrong! I’m not helpless! I can stand up for myself, I can be confident, I can be strong! I won’t ever let a bully like him push me around, and trick me into thinking I’m weak! I’ll show him! I won’t be afraid!

She tore her way out of the fluffy confines of the cloud, and stood atop it with a proud pose and steadfast determination on her face, eyes burning with righteous fire. She glared down at Ponyville, daring it to send its worst against her. The town gave no response, and Fluttershy grinned with victorious satisfaction.

She took a moment to think about what she was actually going to do now. She still didn’t know how she was going to ask Rainbow Dash out, and even in her determined state, she wasn’t willing to mess everything up because of needless ignorance. So she turned towards the library on the other side of the town, and took to the sky. She would ask Twilight. She would learn what she needed, and she would go to Rainbow Dash, and not seize up like a chicken caught in the stare of a cockatrice.

She soared through the brisk late-morning air, only half watching the ponies going about their daily business below in the snow that had accumulated on the ground the previous night. She had to think of a way to explain all this to Twilight. Her furious burst of determination was fading fast, and the haze of shyness was once again creeping into her mind.

What if she… Fluttershy had to forcefully stall her train of thought before she could begin to doubt herself again. What she needed was a way to ask Twilight about this without letting her in on everything. She knew Twilight wouldn’t laugh at her or judge her, but she was still too shy to just say it outright. She wouldn’t even be able to get the words out.

After most of the flight’s worth of time spent thinking, she came to a decision. She would just talk to the librarian for a while, as if everything were completely normal. Then she would ask what Twilight knew about relationships, as if she was asking for the time of day. Yes, that was it.

Okay Fluttershy. She thought determinedly. You’ve got a plan, you have the desire, now all you need is the confidence. By this time, the rest of her rage-induced bravado had vanished completely, but she was still determined to do this.

You’ve spent too long cooped up in your cottage Fluttershy, now it’s time to get out there! Now’s your chance to be outlandish, and have some fun! She continued her self-pep talk for the rest of the short flight, in a vain attempt to bolster some of her earlier courage. When she reached the library door, she couldn’t tell if it had worked or not, which probably meant that it hadn’t.

With a sigh, which she quickly turned into a very forced laugh, she landed in front of the door, and raised her hoof to knock.

She hesitated. Did she really want to do this?

Of course you do!

Was it really that important?

Yes! Yes it is!

What if…

No! No ‘what-if’s’, knock on the door!

Grimacing at the force of her own mental chastisement, she brought her hoof down onto the door in a barely-audible knock.

Immediately, without waiting for a response, she turned around with a “well, nopony is home” and began to walk away.

“Is someone there?” came a voice from inside the library. The door opened and Fluttershy grimaced as Twilight poked her head out.

“Oh, hello Fluttershy, is there something I can help you with?” The Unicorn’s mane was bedraggled, and she had bags under her eyes. She had clearly stayed up late studying last night, if she had even gone to bed at all.

“O-Oh, w-well um…” Fluttershy stuttered, unable to simply come out and say what it was that she was having trouble with. She stood there for a few moments, nothing but nervous squeaks emanating from her mouth. Twilight appeared to understand.

“Why don't you come inside?” Not waiting for a response, the librarian motioned with a foreleg, and pulled her head back inside the door, opening it wider in invitation as she did so. Having come this far already, Fluttershy forced herself to turn back around and walk inside the library.

She immediately saw that she had been correct. Twilight had been busy studying lately, and the books, notes, charts, loose scrolls and leaves of paper that were scattered across every available surface, including a large majority of the floor, attested to it. Several large beakers of multi-coloured liquid decorated a table in the far corner of the room, surrounded by miscellaneous pieces of alchemic equipment.

Several dirty plates were stacked on top of the table in the centre of the room, clearly remnants of a meal or two that Spike had probably made. Twilight had likely been too busy studying to worry about something like food. That baby dragon sure took great care of his big sister. She couldn’t help but describe them as siblings now. Twilight was such a big sister to the little dragon, and he looked up to and took care of her like a brother should.

Twilight was busy excavating a space for the two to sit when Fluttershy turned her attention away from the disaster-struck library interior. The Unicorn eventually cleared a small spot near one of the bookshelves by stacking all of the papers into one corner, and throwing several books onto a large heap that was accumulating near the middle of the room.

“So” the librarian stated simply. She waited a few moments for Fluttershy to say something, but when she got no response, she sighed, and continued herself.

“What is it that you need Fluttershy?” The yellow Pegasus froze. She had prepared herself for this. It wasn’t such a big deal, just talk.

What do I talk about? What CAN I talk about? What will Twilight want to talk about? How can I act calm in a situation like this? Fluttershy’s mind spun circles around itself with such manic thinking, and when she finally gained control of herself, Twilight was staring at her inquisitively.

“I-I-I, w-well…” She couldn’t get the words out: they just wouldn’t come.

Okay Fluttershy, you can do this, just talk about something not-romance related. You can do it, come on! Talk about books, about the mess, about studying, about anything! Fluttershy opened her mouth to comment on Twilight’s excessive study habits, but instead, something else found its way out.

“I HAVE A CRUSH ON RAINBOW DASH!” she heard herself shriek. She had time to frantically cover her mouth with a hoof before the sheer mortification and embarrassment of such an outburst toppled her remaining desire to be a part of the waking world, and she passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh my, is she alright?”

“I have no idea.”

“Poor dear, whatever happened?”

“Not sure about that either. She just passed out after screaming something.”

“Well, that is strange…”

The voices drifted across Fluttershy’s awareness as she struggled to pull herself back into the realm of consciousness. The voices were ones she recognised, but in her semi-conscious state, she couldn’t quite place them.

“What was it that she screamed?”

There were those voices again. Couldn’t they tell she was trying to sleep? Why in Equestria were they being so noisy?

“Well... I’m not sure it’s something I should be sharing…”

Wait, I shouted something? What happened? Oh, I hope nopony got hurt.

“Oh come on darling, we’re all the best of friends here, why-ever would Fluttershy keep something from us?”

Keeping something from my friends? Well, I’ve never kept anything from them before. Well, except my crush on Rainbow Dash.

“Well, I guess that’s true… well, when she knocked on the door, she was acting a little stranger than usual. When I asked her what was the matter, she stuttered for a bit, and then, sort of, screamed that she had a crush on Rainbow Dash, and then fainted.”

That’s right, that did happen, didn’t it? I was trying to be casual, but I was so nervous, and shouted that I… I shouted…

Fluttershy bolted upright with a terrified yelp, and dove straight for Twilight’s mouth, as if she could catch the words that the librarian had spoken and force them back into her mouth. The sudden movement elicited a startled “Oh my” from Rarity, and the collision sent both mares sprawling to the ground.

What Fluttershy didn't notice, was that Twilight had fallen directly onto her horn. Not familiar with unicorn anatomy, she also didn't know that, when severe enough, trauma to the horn is one of the most painful things a unicorn can experience.

Fluttershy's fear-flooded mind paid little attention to anything but the fact that her secret was now open to the world.

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you girls” she said quickly, attempting to untangle herself from a friend for the second time that day. “It’s just that I… I… oh, I’m so sorry!” Having finally extricated her last foreleg from Twilight’s mane, she fell to the floor and covered her face with her forehooves. Twilight, still shell-shocked from the surprise tackle, shook her head vigorously, and then placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“It’s alright Fluttershy.” The lavender unicorn shook her head again. “Relationships are talk to hard about…” Fluttershy perked her head up, and Twilight gave herself a puzzled look. “Wait, no… hard… talk… hard to… talk about. That’s it! Relationships are hard to talk about!” she clapped her forehooves together, but quickly cringed and gripped her head, pain written all over her expression as she collapsed onto the floor. Fluttershy gasped, and jumped back to her hooves.

“Oh Twilight, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you! Please don’t be hurt Twilight, please be ok. Oh, you’re not going to die are you? Don’t die Twilight PLEASE DON’T DIE!!!”

“Fluttershy, please!” Rarity’s shout snapped the pegasus back to her senses, and as she stood over her friend, panting, eyes wide, panic written all over her face, Rarity moved over to Twilight. After checking the fallen librarian over, and receiving a flinch and a pained squeak when her hooves touched Twilight’s horn, the fashionista sighed.

“Fluttershy darling, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Twilight is going to be fine, she just hit her horn when you awoke with such, er, violent fervour.” Fluttershy gasped again and threw herself back down beside the injured unicorn.

“I’m so sorry Twilight! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Twilight grimaced, but managed a smile.

“That’s alright Fluttershy, it was an accident. The horn is the most sensitive part of a Unicorn: even the slightest bump can be painful, and a hard hit can leave you dizzy for hours.” Twilight made her way shakily to her hooves, and stood on the spot for a time, wobbling a little, before collapsing again.

Fluttershy quickly dashed forward and caught the falling mare before she hit the floor.

Groaning, Twilight attempted to regain her balance, but Fluttershy quickly wrapped a wing around her before she could lever herself back onto her hooves. Her hurt friend brought out the caring, motherly side that made her the Element of Kindness, and soon she was guiding the injured unicorn through the chaotic study zone towards the stairs leading to the bedroom.

“Oh, Twilight, you need to rest. I was the one that got you hurt: the least I can do is take care of you.” In perfect truth, Fluttershy was using this event as a distraction from her Rainbow troubles. She was still concerned for her friend, of course, but she wasn’t sure how much longer her nerves would hold out with all the worrying. Plus, Rarity had said that Twilight would be fine.

Twilight winced with every step the pair took up the short staircase, but otherwise, their journey seemed like it would end without a hitch. Until the door slammed open to admit a certain baby dragon carrying a small, non-descript box in his claws.

“Rarity!” Spike shouted. “I got that package that you wanted from your…” the small drake froze as he beheld the scene before him: significantly more chaos was evident in the books and papers strewn about the floor from Fluttershy’s tackle. Rarity was watching the stairs nervously, and finally Twilight, clearly in significant pain, being all but carried upstairs by Fluttershy. After the half-second all this took to register in his mind, his panic mode set in.

“Oh my gosh, Twilight! Are you okay? What happened? How badly are you hurt?” He sprinted forward, stumbling often on the debris scattered over the library floor, and seemed just about to hurl himself through the air in a collision course with the two mares. Fortunately, Rarity had the foresight to reach out with her telekinesis and grab him before he could worsen the situation further. The last thing Twilight needed was a dragon-induced tumble down the stairs.

“Spike darling, there’s nothing to worry about” she reassured the distraught dragon. “An accident, nothing more: Twilight has hit her horn, and needs some bed rest.” This seemed to do little to calm Spike’s nerves, but wrapped in Rarity’s magic as he was, there was nothing he could do but accept the situation, and after a few moments his breathing and heart rate began to slow to a less panicked pace. With a long look that said 'don’t do anything drastic', Rarity set him back on his feet.

“What happened anyway?” he asked once he had properly regained his balance. Fluttershy grimaced and, with a pleading glance to Rarity, continued up the stairs. Spike looked expectantly at the object of his affections, who stood with a blank face for a split second, before releasing a slightly nervous giggle, and turning to the little drake.

“Well, Fluttershy, the poor dear, came by to talk to Twilight…” Rarity explained the situation as she knew it from what Twilight had told her, leaving out exactly what it was that the pegasus had blurted out. Spike seemed to be content at least with her explanation, but she suspected that was only because she was the one who was saying it. Crushes can be the strangest things.

“I was just stopping by to see if Twilight had a book on foreign sewing styles that I needed: I'm making a dress for a foreign dignitary who is visiting Canterlot next week, but when I arrived, I found poor Fluttershy out cold on the floor” Rarity concluded. Spike ran a claw over the spines on the back of his head, and shrugged.

“Well, so long as Twilight will be alright. What did you want the box from your boutique for?” He gestured to the small box he had brought with him when he had entered the library, which was now lying on top of a rather large pile of study notes. Rarity sighed.

She had intercepted the dragon just as he was about to return from an errand for Twilight, and he had gladly obliged to dash over to her shop and fetch the box for her. Thanks to the excitement of making a dress for a foreigner who was meeting with the Princesses in Canterlot, she had completely forgotten it when she had made her way over to the library. She levitated the small parcel over, and opened the lid.

Inside were several pieces of cloth, none of which were of a make Spike had ever seen before, and in all honestly, until she had been given them, Rarity hadn’t seen them before either. All of them had their own distinct sewing pattern embroidered in the middle. They were templates she had been given for the custom dress she was designing, and she had needed them as a reference for the book she was wanting to borrow.

Sighing, Rarity shut the lid with a snap. She knew the stitching designs by heart, and now that Twilight was out of action, she would need to find the book herself. Besides, she had Spike to help, how hard could it be?

~~~~~~~~~~

The duo made it up the stairs without further interruption and, after Fluttershy opened the door and guided her injured friend over to the bed, Twilight gratefully lay down on the soft mattress with a sigh of relief. For her part, Fluttershy simply stood there, watching the librarian bask in the comfort of a cozy bed. It was only after a few seconds of staring that she realised she didn’t actually know how to care for a unicorn with an injured horn.

“Um, Twilight?” she asked hesitantly, and the Unicorn slanted her eyes in Fluttershy’s direction. “Um, I’m sorry but, well, I don’t know how to heal a hurt horn…” She poked at the floor with a hoof, embarrassment written over her face. Twilight laughed, but quickly stopped with a cringe as the jerking motion sent a stab of pain through her horn. Once she had recovered, she gave the pegasus a smile.

“Oh Fluttershy, I wouldn’t expect you to know unicorn anatomy or medical treatment. Other than rest, all I need is an ice pack for my horn…” Fluttershy sighed with relief. She had been worried that it would be an extremely complicated process. Her relief turned out to be premature, however, as Twilight continued.

“… but that would take me too long to recover. To speed the process up, there is a remedial poultice that can more than halve the time it would take. I’m sure Zecora would be able to help you out with that.” Fluttershy froze, and it took her several moments in order to stutter her next words.

“Y-You mean, Z-Zecora, w-who lives in the Everfree Forest, Zecora?” Twilight nodded an affirmative.

“Yep. She’ll be able to whip up a batch of the poultice in no time flat. If she doesn’t already have some pre-made. Although I’d prefer it to be fresh. I’ve heard that it always works better when applied fresh…” The Unicorn continued on a large speel about the pro’s and con’s of fresh poultice versus pre-made and stored poultice, but Fluttershy wasn’t listening. Her mind was gripped in the talons of panic, and they were not being merciful.

The Everfree Forest… There’s horrible monsters in that forest: Timber Wolves, Hydras, Ursas! What if something tries to eat me, what will I do? Oh, but if I don’t go, Twilight won’t get better… oh dear, I just don’t know!

The two monologues continued for several minutes, Twilight’s verbal soliloquy on herbal remedies, and Fluttershy’s terrified internal tirade which began to spin out of control, until Twilight finally took notice of her companion’s horror.

“Um, Fluttershy, are you okay?” Fluttershy didn’t respond. She didn’t even hear the question. Her mind was, at that moment, somewhere between the four mouths and single stomach of a Hydra.

“Fluttershy!” The shout brought the pegasus out of yet another panic-fuelled hurricane of worries and fears. She slumped to the floor, exhausted.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Twilight, I was just, um… thinking…” Twilight didn’t seem at all convinced, and after a moment of studying Fluttershy’s face, which still had traces of terror from a few moments ago, she flashed an expression of realisation and understanding.

“Fluttershy, don’t be scared. Zecora only lives in the very outskirts of the forest, and the path to her house is quite safe. I go there all the time, and I’ve never had any problems.” Fluttershy looked at the injured Unicorn incredulously.

“You were turned to stone by a cockatrice one time!” she rebutted, and Twilight winced.

“Well, yes, there was that one time. But that was it! Only once, and I go to Zecora’s all the time. Come on Fluttershy, it’s not so bad.” Fluttershy whimpered, but Twilight adopted a wide-eyed, pleading look, and her resolve swiftly shattered. She may be a shy mare, but when she had friends in need, she had to help. She just had to.

“Oh, alright Twilight, if you really need it that badly, I’ll go to Zecora’s house and get the poultice for you.” Twilight clapped her hooves, but winced again.

Twilight really does need my help, Fluttershy admitted to herself. And if I don’t help her, how can I call myself the Element of Kindness? I won’t let her down! I’ll be here for her, like a friend should! I’m not helpless, I’m not weak!

“Um, ok, I’ll go right away.” Yes, go, before your confidence fails you, silly mare. Berating herself did little good, and she was relieved when the pain faded from Twilight’s face, and the Unicorn was able to talk again.

“Thanks Fluttershy, I really appreciate it. Ask her for… for… oh darn, what’s that poultice called? Why can’t I think of it? Ugh, why is thinking so hard? I… I…” Swaying, Twilight let out several pained moans. “I don’t quite know what’s… what’s… oh…” She flopped back onto the bed. “Oh, goodnight then.” Eyes closed, her breathing slowed to a pace of fitful sleep. She moved about, and moaned unintelligibly. Fluttershy was terrified.

“Oh my gosh, Twilight? Twilight?!?!” She leapt over to the bed, and gently shook her friend’s shoulder. When this elicited no response, she re-entered panic mode, but before her thoughts could spiral out into the realms of implausibility, she wrestled control of her mind back.

“No” she said aloud. “No, I won’t panic. Twilight is alive. She’s not going to die, but she needs my help. I need to go to Zecora, she’ll know what to do.” Giving a firm nod to herself, she pulled the blankets over Twilight’s sleeping form, and moved at a brisk trot out the door and down the stairs.

She stalked straight through the library, not even noticing the mess or the room’s inhabitants in her determined state. She upheld her exclusive resolve out the door and began down the road, when she was disrupted by a frustrated shriek from the library behind her. She didn’t know who would be screaming so loud in a library, but it wasn’t Twilight, so she didn’t have time to worry about it.

She was on a mission.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity shrieked with frustration. She had browsed through what seemed like every book in the library, and she just couldn’t find what she was looking for. Not even spike seemed to know where the book was that she sought.

Fluttershy and Twilight had been upstairs for some time, and she was cursing the fragility of unicorn horns. Fluttershy just had to incapacitate the librarian right when Rarity needed a book. A book she couldn’t find, and it was frustrating her to no end.

With her magic, she floated several books in front of her. Books on basic sewing with magic, books on sewing traditional stitches with machines, books on stitching with no thread (this book actually struck a curiosity chord in Rarity’s fashionista mind, but it was not the book she was looking for, so she ignored it for now), and a large, very worn, and agonizingly familiar book entitled “Sewing: Your basic guide to stitching and sewing for the novice fashionista”.

This last book was one she had as a filly, and she had donated it to the library because she was well and truly sick of seeing it. It had taught her how to sew, and use a needle and thread, and many basic stitching techniques. She had read parts of it every day for quite a number of years, and she was through with it.

Throwing the books aside, she screamed again in frustration. If Twilight hadn’t been hurt, she would already have the book by now. She was sure it was here. It had to be: Twilight had books on everything.

Twilight needed to hurry up and get better.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy hovered at the edge of the Everfree Forest, testing her nerve against the dark gloom of the woods as the trees hung over her head, threatening to engulf her in their horrific embrace.

The trees rustled in the icy wind, blowing clouds of loose snow into her face as the branches swayed, and the very forest itself seemed to shift in unnatural ways. Shadows danced, and dark shapes seemed to move in the blackness behind the trees. Fluttershy shivered.

She had to go in there, she knew. There was no escaping it. Twilight needed Zecora’s help, and the only way that was going to happen was if she forced her hooves to move beyond the edge of the trees, and into the abyss beyond.

Stop it, Fluttershy! She berated herself. Thoughts like that were only going to loosen her resolve even further, and it was fragile enough as it was.

Shivering, she lifted a forehoof, and placed it just in front of her other.

“Hi, Fluttershy!” The yellow Pegasus let out a scream of terror at the unexpected intrusion, and she leapt several paces into the air. Her mind froze, her limbs locked, and her momentum rolled her over in the air, so she landed with a thud on her back with a curious bleat. Rainbow Dash, who was just about to ask another question – what Fluttershy was doing so close to the Everfree, to be precise – cocked her head to the side.

“Um, Fluttershy?” The cyan Pegasus waved a hoof in front of her fallen friend’s face, but got no response.

“Fluttershy, it’s just me. What are you doing?” It took several moments for Fluttershy’s mind to unwrap itself from the confines of fright, and realise that it was just Rainbow Dash, and not some terrifying monster from the forest that had snuck up on her. It was only as she was getting back to her hooves that the reality of that realisation hit her, and she almost locked up again.

“R-R-Rainbow D-D-Dash?!?” she squeaked, and the mare in question stared questioningly at her for a moment, before puffing her chest out.

“The one and only! Whatcha doing Flutters?” Fluttershy was only just able to hold in another terrified squeak at the pet name that Dash had for her.

“U-Um, well, you see, T-Twilight n-needs Zecora’s h-help, s-so, I-I need to go into the f-forest and go get her.” Unpleasant shudders ran the length of Fluttershy’s spine, causing her to stutter profusely, but Rainbow seemed to get the message.

“Well, I don’t see why Twilight can’t just go and get Zecora herself, but anyway. You look like you could use some company. Want me to come with you?” This time, Fluttershy wasn’t able to stop her mind from spinning out of control.

Rainbow Dash wants to go with me? What should I do? Oh, I don’t know if I’m ready for this! Oh, but the forest won’t seem anywhere near as bad with her there. Oh, but I’m not sure I can stand having her so close! But this is an opportunity to spend time with her, I should be jumping at the chance!

Fluttershy’s internal monologue continued for a minute or two, all the while she simply stood, staring at Dash with a blank expression. For her part, Dash just stared right back, not entirely sure what was going on.

“Fluttershy?" When no response was forthcoming, she sighed. "Oh for the love of Celestia…” Dash moved up close to the canary mare and, placing both forehooves on her shoulders, shouted directly into Fluttershy’s ear.

“FLUTTERSHY!!!”

It took Fluttershy some time to comprehend that she had heard her name. And that her ear now hurt. Coming back to the present moment, she looked around with a puzzled look, and was about to comment on the pain in her head, when she noticed just how close Rainbow Dash was suddenly standing. Their muzzles were almost touching.

She expected her mind and body to lock up again, for another huge internal stream of fears and doubts to overcome her. Instead, all she felt was a pleasant weight on her shoulders where Dash’s hooves were resting, and the comforting warmth coming from her close proximity.

“Um, okay, sure.” She replied after a moment or two of wondering curiously where her shyness had gone.

Dash was taken aback by her friend’s sudden calmness, but shrugged it off and turned so that the pair were facing the trees which, to Fluttershy, seemed far less scary and foreboding now that Rainbow was by her side. As they started moving at a slow trot, the blue Pegasus turned to the yellow.

“So Flutters, why does Twilight need Zecora’s help anyway?” Fluttershy returned the glance, and began to explain.

“Oh, well, um, it’s a long story but, well, Twilight hurt her horn, and it was sort of my fault, and now she needs Zecora to make something to help her get better.” Fluttershy halted her rhythmic trotting when she noticed that Rainbow Dash had stopped as well, and was staring at her with a curious expression on her face.

“So, let me get this straight: Twilight is hurt, and she needs our help to get better?” Fluttershy hesitated before answering. She couldn’t tell what the expression in Rainbow’s voice meant, but she wasn’t sure it was anything good. Her doubts returned to claw at her insides. She forced herself to answer.

“Um, yes?” Dash breathed in deep, and Fluttershy braced herself for the worst. She was not expecting what came next.

Rainbow grabbed her with a shout of “Then what are we waiting for!?” and galloped off into the forest, dragging the terrified Fluttershy behind.

~~~~~~~~~~

The trees stretched their limbs overhead and the wind rustled through the leaves and swayed the branches in eerily rhythmic motions, causing shadows to shift and change everywhere Fluttershy looked. She winced as another stray branch bushed her flank with an alarmingly life-like touch. She had already frozen up three times thanks to similar events, but Rainbow had just dragged her onwards.

It was strange to Fluttershy: normally, the concept of being close to Dash, let alone having so much prolonged physical contact, would have terrified her more than the forest. Somehow though, having the rainbow-maned mare there with her made her more comfortable than it had any right to. The jump-scares had only made her lock up, not try to flee home and shut herself inside with as much haste as she could manage.

No, with Rainbow Dash by her side, the forest didn’t terrify her anywhere near as much as it normally did. What made it so strange, was that she had been in frightening situations with Dash before, and the other Pegasus’ presence had not abated her fear before. So why now? Was it because she’d finally resolved herself to doing something about her feelings for the mare? Or was it something else? She just didn’t know.

The journey was taken mostly in silence, broken only by Fluttershy’s occasional squeaks of terror – even with Rainbow Dash accompanying her, the Everfree Forest was still terrifying – and Rainbow’s exasperated sighs that usually followed.

When Zecora’s house-tree finally came into view, Fluttershy quickly cantered up ahead of Dash, and knocked as heavily as she could on the door. She managed three quiet taps, but it was enough to catch the attention of the resident of the peculiar house. Soon the door opened a crack, and Zecora’s head poked through.

“Who knocks on my tree-house door? Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, I have rarely seen here before. What brings you to these woods my dears? Important it must be, for you to belay your fears.” Fluttershy winced, knowing that Zecora was talking about her. Rainbow Dash winced as well, but only because she found it almost impossible to understand the zebra’s confusing rhymes, and was still trying to figure out what had just been said when Fluttershy remembered the reason they had come in the first place.

“Oh my gosh, Zecora you have to help! I mean, that is, if you don’t mind…” Zecora gave her a pointed look, and she blushed before continuing.

“Oh, well, you see, Twilight has hurt her horn, and she said you could help her with a poultice. Please, she really needs your help! I mean, if that’s okay…” the zebra rolled her eyes, and motioned for the pair to come inside.

The interior of Zecora’s hut was seemingly styled to be as similar as the exterior as possible. All the furniture, aside from a few chairs that could be moved about, seemed to be carved from the wood of the tree. This, coupled with the broad-leafed plants positioned around the perimeter of the main room, as well as the ever-present masks from Zecora’s homeland, made the house as eerie as the forest.

“There is a poultice I can mix, that will give Twilight her much-needed Fix. After only a few days of applying this remedy, she will be right as rain again, you will see.” Fluttershy sighed with relief: she would get this poultice to Twilight, and everything would be alright.

Focus on Twilight. Twilight. Not Rainbow Dash, who is standing right next to you. Don’t think about Rainbow Dash, don’t think about Rainbow Dash, don’t think about Rainbow Dash… she repeated this over and over in her head like a mantra, and soon found herself taking sidelong glances at her blue-coated friend.

Her mane was tussled, as always, sticking out at odd angles that just seemed to simply work with her rainbow colours. Her lithe, sporty frame was set in a semi-defensive stance which matched the puzzled look on her face. She was clearly no closer to understanding Zecora’s rhymes than she was when they had first met the Zebra. Her flowing tail was lightly wrapped around one of her hind legs, a habit that Rainbow did not seem to be aware that she had.

She does that when she gets nervous, or confused Fluttershy mused fondly, before catching herself. Stop that! This situation is already awkward enough without you gawking at her!

Zecora was busy rustling about inside one of the cupboards that lined the main room, muttering something under her breath, before she pulled her head out with a triumphant laugh, and turned to face the two pegasi.

“Of brews and poultices, I have many, but a horn-healing mix, I do not have ready. My apologies friends, but you will have to wait, for I must begin with a clean slate.” Rainbow Dash was looking as if she had had enough of the zebra’s rhymes, and she stomped a hoof lightly on the wooden floor.

“Ok, I didn’t really understand all of that, but what I did get, was that there’s a wait involved. And waiting really isn’t my thing.” Zecora smiled apologetically at the impatient pegasus.

“You need not wait around Rainbow Dash. I have always known you to be quite brash. To deliver the mix will only take one, once mixing this poultice is well and truly done.”

“Ugh, I can’t take this anymore!” Dash groaned. “See you later Fluttershy, I’ve gotta get out of here!” With a swift hug that left Fluttershy paralysed, the rainbow-maned mare threw the door open, and leapt up into the sky, speeding away until she was well out of sight. Zecora noticed Fluttershy’s reaction, and her smile became one of understanding.

“It seems to me, my shy little friend, that of an ear, you would like a lend. Tell me your troubles my dear Fluttershy, I have always been a zebra to pry.” Fluttershy paused. Zecora was an incredibly knowledgeable individual. In fact, the only pony Fluttershy knew who might know as much was Twilight. Sighing, she lay down and rested her muzzle on her forelegs.

Starting from the beginning, she told Zecora everything. From her interactions with Rainbow Dash at flight school, to their becoming friends in Ponyville, to their adventures with Twilight and the rest of the gang. She told of how her feelings grew over the time she’d known the fast-paced pegasus. She explained how, when two of her other friends had gotten together, it had made her realise just how lonely she was living so secluded from other ponies. Zecora listened, nodding and making small comments, occasionally asking questions about small details.

Finally, Fluttershy shared the events of the day, how she had crashed into Dash in the morning, and her terrified flight into the core of the cloud, and her burst of rage-induced determination to talk to Twilight about it, which faltered the moment she had reached the library. This led to how Twilight’s horn had been hurt.

“She was mixing up her words, and when I got her upstairs into bed, she spoke for a while, and then passed out. I didn’t know what else to do, so I came to you. I’m sorry, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh Fluttershy, have no fear. You and your friends I hold most dear. You helped dispel pony’s fears of me in town. I will do everything I can not to let you down.”

Over the previous two hours, as Fluttershy had laid her soul bare for the zebra’s scrutiny – something she did not do very often – Zecora had been grinding and mixing various herbal ingredients. The results of her labour were now being lightly heated over the fire in the middle of the room.

“We are very close to completion now. Just take this poultice, and apply it to Twilight’s brow. From what you told me of her condition, it will be several days before she regains her cognition. As for your troubles with romance, it is very much a game of chance. It is not good to keep feelings inside, but it may hurt very much if you are denied.” After such a long time spent with the zebra, the rhyming was beginning to make Fluttershy’s head spin, however she forced the world to stay still, and persevered. It was important that she learned everything she could. Zecora continued.

“To win any pony’s heart, you must take things slow. You must allow your friend’s feelings for you to grow. Spend time with her doing things you both like, and eventually, the metaphorical match may strike.”

Struggling to comprehend her striped friend’s words, Fluttershy’s mind raced. Take things slow: she understood that. Do things with Dash that they both enjoy: she got that part as well. It all made sense, and she was slightly angry at herself for not seeing it all sooner.

“I-I think I understand.” She said slowly. “So I just need to spend time with her doing normal stuff, and she’ll eventually have feelings for me too?” Zecora cocked her head to one side, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Spending time together is the best place to start, but you may still not win your way into her heart. In relationships, nothing is set in stone. You are taking a leap into the unknown.” Fluttershy shook her head. So even if she tried her hardest, Rainbow Dash might still not want to be with her. That made sense, really: she had always known that her chances of getting together with Rainbow were slim at best, but to hear Zecora say it made it so much harder to hope for the best. Hope she did though, because she was determined not to give up. Suddenly, a very strong, but not altogether unpleasant, smell permeated the room.

“Ah, that smell means that the poultice is done. In returning to Twilight, I suggest you run. Apply this swiftly, while it retains its heat, and soon poor Twilight will be back on her feet.” Hurry? Hurrying was something that Fluttershy was not good at. She took her time doing anything: doing things slowly ensured that nothing went wrong. Her breathing began to grow heavy and ragged.

“Oh my gosh, Um, okay… hurry, um…” She continued to encircle herself in worries and fears while Zecora put a large amount of poultice in a clear jar, which she then wrapped in a thick layer of foam, and tied up with a piece of string.

Fluttershy was still in the throes of an internal downpour of nerves, when an absolutely impossible smell permeated her nose. It somehow managed to be sweet, sour, spicy, tangy and bland, all at the same time, and it shocked her out of her downward spiral of worrying.

The first thing she saw was Zecora holding a very small, clay jar under her nose, which was emitting the absurd smell. The zebra clearly noticed Fluttershy’s half-shocked, half-curious expression, and felt an explanation was needed.

“From my homeland comes a most exquisite flower: the boiled leaves of which have this olfactory power. Now you must be on your way, if you hope to reach Twilight within this day.”

Looking outside, Fluttershy noticed that the light had dimmed significantly. The sun was setting, and the Everfree Forest was scary enough at high noon, let alone at night.

“Oh, thank you so much Zecora, I just don’t know what I would have done without you! I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you.” Zecora flashed a friendly grin as Fluttershy took the small parcel containing the precious poultice and, opening the door, took off into the chilly afternoon air.

The sun was approaching the horizon, sending a brilliant display of pink, purple, and golden rays across the sky, which reflected off the sparse cloud coverage, and spread a stunning array of colours across the snow-covered forest.

Flying below the tree line, so as not to attract unwanted attention from the creatures in the forest, Fluttershy took off swiftly along the path home. She flinched as another branch brushed her flank – the only thing stopping her from seizing up on the spot was her urgency to return to Twilight – and sighed. The forest had seemed far less intimidating on the way in with Rainbow Dash by her side.

Oh Rainbow, I know you’re impatient, but why couldn’t you have stayed with me a while longer?

She flew off towards Ponyville, her thoughts only partly focused on the jar of all-important poultice clutched by the string in her teeth.

Her mind was far away in the wintry skies above the open fields outside the town, soaring gleefully through the sky with a certain cyan-coloured mare.

2 - A Time of Crisis

Twilight groaned in her sleep, as mid-afternoon sunlight filtered in through the window, causing Fluttershy to bolt upright with a start.

Moving to the injured unicorn’s bed, Fluttershy watched worriedly as her patient tossed and turned in her sleep. She had been almost comatose for two days, and Fluttershy had barely left the library the entire time.

Twilight stilled, and with agonizing slowness, opened her eyes.

“Ugh, what… what happened? What’s going on? Why do I feel so weak? And why does my stomach feel like it’s eating itself?” Fluttershy took a concerned intake of breath, which attracted Twilight’s attention. “Fluttershy?” the pegasus in question nodded nervously.

“Um, yes, good morning Twilight, how are you feeling?” Twilight shot her a puzzled look for a moment, and then grimaced.

“Honestly, I feel as if I’ve been thrown to the floor, beaten over the head, and left without food for a few days. What happened?” Fluttershy returned the grimace, and motioned to a glass of water and a plate of food sitting on the bedside table. The meal was simple: half a loaf of bread, some apples, carrots and a cupcake or two, but Twilight grabbed the plate in her hooves, and devoured its contents hungrily.

Having polished off the last of the cupcakes, Twilight flopped back down onto the bed with a satisfied sigh.

“That was the best meal I have ever had. Thanks Fluttershy.” Fluttershy whimpered quietly, just loud enough for her friend to hear, and the bedridden unicorn shot her another curious glance, but said nothing. Laying her head down on the bed, Fluttershy sighed.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it…” She paused for a few moments, trying to work out what to say, but before long, her nerves broke, and she couldn’t hold together any longer. “Oh, I’m so sorry Twilight!” she burst out. “The only reason you’re in that bed is because I’m so shy…” the puzzled look on Twilight's face only grew more intense.

“Your fault? How can me waking up hungry and sore be because of your shyness? What are you doing in my room while I’m sleeping anyway? The last thing I remember is… the last…” Twilight’s face was overcome with an expression of exertion, clearly trying to remember the events of the last few days. When she came up short, as Fluttershy feared she would, she let out an exasperated sigh.

“I can’t remember anything. Fluttershy, what happened?” Fluttershy hesitated. Would Twilight be angry with her? How could she not? She had spent the last two days in a trauma-induced sleep, barely moving a muscle, all because of her. That still didn’t give her the right to withhold the truth from her friend though.

With another sigh, Fluttershy explained everything: from the moment she had entered the library, to her violent awakening, to Twilight passing out and the trip to Zecora’s hut.

“And when I got back, I applied the poultice to your horn. That was two days ago: you’ve been asleep ever since.” The look of shock that had been slowly developing on Twilight’s face over the course of the story was blown away by an expression of sheer and utter horror.

“Two days? TWO DAYS?!?!” the violet mare exploded. “I’ve been asleep for two whole days?!?! That’s forty-eight hours! Two thousand, eight hundred and eighty minutes! Do you have ANY idea how much of a disaster this is?!?!” Fluttershy cringed, afraid of her friend’s sudden outburst. She knew Twilight might be angry at her, but she wasn’t expecting, nor was she prepared, for such furious rage. She curled up into a ball on the floor and whimpered.

Twilight, who was breathing heavily, face so red that steam was almost whistling out of her ears, took notice of Fluttershy’s agitation, and immediately lost her anger.

“Oh my gosh, Fluttershy, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to get angry. I’m just going to be so far behind on my studies, not to mention I’m supposed to be Ponyville’s librarian! I can’t just sleep for two days straight and get away with it.” Fluttershy barely heard. Her mind was spinning with the ramifications of Twilight not wanting to be her friend anymore.

Oh, this is awful, just awful! How can I be the Element of Kindness if I can’t even keep Twilight as my friend? Fluttershy, you stupid mare! Why did you have to go and hit Twilight like that? Oh, what am I supposed to do? I can’t figure out what to do about Rainbow Dash on my own… Oh, I just don’t know…

Fluttershy hardly noticed Twilight staring at her in wonder. With a sigh, the librarian flipped off the covers, shivering in the chilly air after so long under the blankets, and attempted to get out of bed.

Fluttershy was alerted by a sudden whump, followed quickly by a muffled “ow!” Looking up, she saw that the bed was empty, and she immediately bolted back onto her hooves.

“Twilight?! Oh my gosh, Twilight, where are you? Are you alright? Twilight? TWILIGHT?!?!” Getting more and more frantic, Fluttershy dove onto the bed, and delved into the covers, searching for her lost friend, panic preventing her from noticing the obvious. She froze when she heard the unicorn’s voice.

“Down here Fluttershy…” Fluttershy froze, and looked around. All she saw was the white underside of the sheet she was currently underneath. When she shoved the blanket off with a frantic wave of her forehooves, and when her sight was finally clear, she looked down to see Twilight lying crumpled on the floor.

“Um, Twilight? What are you doing on the floor?” the Unicorn looked up at her with a dead-pan look.

“Oh, I got sick of the bed, and I decided that the floor would be so much more comfortable, so I came down here instead.” The sarcasm was dripping from Twilight’s voice, but in her panicked state, Fluttershy missed it.

“Oh, well, um, okay, if you really want to, I can get you some pillows if you…” she stopped when Twilight smacked herself in the face with a forehoof, which made her flinch with a pained expression.

“Ow! Ugh, no Fluttershy, I was being sarcastic! I tried to get up, but ended up falling down, now hurry up and help me back to the bed!” Fluttershy cringed at the harsh tone in Twilight’s words, but quickly leapt to her side and, levering her head underneath the Unicorn’s midsection, hoisted her back up onto the bed.

With a grunt, Twilight rolled over, and placed her forehooves against her head. Her horn was still causing her quite a lot of pain, Fluttershy surmised. Zecora, who had been by on several occasions when Twilight didn’t wake up the first day, had said that, with the level of trauma the Unicorn had sustained, the horn would continue to hurt for several days.

Fluttershy was hopelessly ashamed.

“Oh Twilight, I’m so so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was just so…” she was cut off by a Twilight’s hoof, which she found pressed against her snout. When she glanced up, Twilight was looking at her with an understanding expression.

“Fluttershy, it’s okay, really. I understand, you were nervous, and you panicked. I’ll be better in a few days, and then everything will be fine.” Fluttershy gaped at her injured friend.

Twilight really isn’t angry at me? But she was so mad before! But maybe that was just because she missed out on two days of studying… Oh, I’m so glad she isn’t unhappy with me. This is wonderful!

Resisting the urge to leap up and grasp Twilight in a huge hug, Fluttershy beamed a wide smile. She stood up, adopting her motherly tone she used for her animal patients.

“Alright, Zecora said that the best thing for you now is bed rest. There’s enough of the poultice here for another application, and she’s coming back this afternoon with more.” Twilight nodded an affirmative. Apparently, once she had come to terms with the fact that she had lost two days and there was nothing she could do about it, the bookworm seemed just fine with the idea of spending several more in bed. Fluttershy was just about to begin the struggle for an idea of what to say next, when Twilight broke the silence instead.

“So, did you come over to the library just to tell me you had a crush on Rainbow Dash, or was there some other reason?”

Fluttershy was mortified.

In all the commotion with Twilight, she had forgotten her worries about Rainbow Dash. Or had made herself forget. Now all those reasons were coming crashing back down onto her, narrowing her vision, and clouding her mind. She forced herself to see through the fog of fear and nervousness and, taking deep breaths, she calmed herself.

“Well, um, what you said is part of it but I… what I wanted to… I mean, if it isn’t too much trouble, I would um… I would very much appreciate your advice…” unfortunately, her voice got quieter and quieter, and before the sentence was halfway, she was mumbling so quietly, Twilight couldn’t possibly have heard.

“Um, what was that Fluttershy?” Fluttershy growled inwardly, frustrated at her lack of confidence at even talking to Twilight.

Come on Fluttershy, you can do this. You need Twilight’s help, and the only way to get it is to speak up!

I would, um, really appreciate, if it’s not too much to ask, um… I-I really need your advice.” This time around was a tiny bit louder, and Twilight seemed to get the message.

“My advice? Well sure Fluttershy, whatever you need, you can ask me anything.”

This is it Fluttershy. She already knows about your crush, now all you need to do is ask. Just ask: nothing too intimidating about that right?

“Well, you see, it’s just… well, I don’t really know what to do, about Rainbow Dash…” Twilight gave her a puzzled look for a moment, before a look of realisation crossed her face.

“Oh Fluttershy, you’re asking me for romantic advice? I don’t know anything about romance! I’ve never even had a colt or marefriend. I guess I’ve just never really thought about it.” Fluttershy was shocked. How could Twilight not know? Twilight was supposed to know everything!

Oh, what am I going to do now? If Twilight doesn’t know, who does? Oh dear, what do I do, what do I do?

Twilight must have sensed her friend’s distress, because Fluttershy soon felt a weight press against her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the mare reaching forward, despite the strain the effort was clearly putting on her, to comfort Fluttershy with a hoof.

“There’s no need to worry Fluttershy, I may not know much about relationships, but I’m still here to help you. This library may not be as extensive as the Canterlot Archives, but I’m sure it has to have books on the subject, and if it can be learned, books can teach it!” Fluttershy was comforted by Twilight’s determination, even if she severely doubted the subject of romance could be so simple as to be mastered from book learning. She had read as many romance novels as the next pony, but she knew that it couldn’t be so easy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Over the course of the afternoon, Twilight had Fluttershy scour the library for every book she could think of that may be of any use to them.

Twilight’s room had become an obstacle course of books and tomes, all containing advice about the subject of romance, or else recounting experiences, fictional and otherwise, of romantic encounters and the likes.

In short, they had every book the library contained that even so much as hinted towards the subject of relationships, from informational encyclopaedias like ‘An Egghead’s guide to Romance’ and ‘L.O.V.E: A Reference Guide’, to romance novels like the ‘Dusklight’ saga and ‘Fifty Shades of Pink’, the latter of which made the two mares blush so furiously, they hid the book under the bed, and hadn’t mentioned it since.

None of it was helping.

All of the romance novels made it seem so easy. Either things just fell into place for the couple with barely any effort on either’s part, or one of the pair walked right up the other with confidence, and a relationship was born. Fluttershy didn’t believe either of these approaches would work for her.

If things were simply going to fall into place between her and Rainbow Dash, they would have already. They had known each other for such a long time that if it were ever going to happen on its own, it would have. The other approach was shot down by the fact that Fluttershy lacked all semblance of the confidence she would need if she was to waltz up and ask Rainbow out on a date.

The informational texts weren’t any more useful. Almost every single one of them told her exactly what Zecora had. Take it slow, share in activities fun for the both of you, but still be bold enough to bring your feelings to light when the time was right. All of this, she already knew, and yet none of it seemed to help. There just wasn’t any information that was useful to an incredibly shy mare like her.

Another fact that had Fluttershy lost, yet didn’t seem to perturb Twilight at all, was the fact that there were very few texts that described a relationship between two mares. Every single one of the romance novels involved a mare and a stallion, and all but maybe one or two of the informative guides were the same. The scant few scraps of information they could find between two mares was even less helpful than the rest. A relationship between two mares was easy, they said, because you’ve already got so much in common, and you’re most likely already friends to begin with. The hardest part was coming out of the closet as a fillyfooler.

This had brought up another major issue, and it was one which Fluttershy had pinned as the source of the majority of her nervousness:

She had no idea if Rainbow Dash was even into mares. The speed addict had never really shown any romantic tendencies towards any mares. The fact that she hadn’t shown any romantic tendencies at all only served to heighten Fluttershy’s skepticism.

Again however, Twilight wasn’t troubled. She seemed to see this as another one of her research projects, and Fluttershy wasn’t sure she was going about it the right way. She already knew most of the information: what she didn’t know before, she certainly did now. She knew all the facts, all the guides, all the approaches, and all of the advice from all the published romance consultants. She just lacked the confidence to do anything about it.

When the sun had long disappeared behind the horizon and the moon was just short of the peak of its overhead arc, Twilight let out a huff, and lay back on the bed, snapping shut the huge book she had been reading.

“Are you sure none of these are helpful Fluttershy? I’ve learned a huge amount from it all, but you seem just as lost as you were when you came here the other day…” Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane, ashamed.

“I’m so sorry Twilight. I wasn’t sure if books would be able to help, and it turns out I was right. I already know everything these books have said, and it just doesn’t help me. I’m just too shy to act on anything these books have suggested…” A thought suddenly struck the canary pegasus, and she marvelled over its significance.

She had grown used to talking about this with Twilight. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere along the course of their study session, she had become accustomed to discussing the issue with her lavender friend. She had directly mentioned her feelings for Rainbow Dash several times over the last few hours alone, and she hadn’t let out so much as an embarrassed squeak.

True, the concept of broaching the subject with Rainbow herself – or any of her other friends, for that matter – still terrified her, but at least being able to be open with Twilight was a start. She thought she might even be able to discuss the matter with Zecora without too much trouble.

The zebra had stopped by just as the sun was setting, and dropped off another jar of the poultice. It had a strong scent, and was a sickly green colour, but it seemed to reduce the pain in Twilight’s horn only a few minutes after application. She honestly thought the horn was beginning to look worse, but both Twilight and Zecora were adamant that it was on the mend.

Zecora had been astonished at the number of books in the bedroom, and after lightly chastising Twilight for doing so much reading when she was supposed to be resting she had inquired as to the reason for such research. She gave them both curious glances when given the reason.

“Books cannot help, for romance is an art. The instincts must come from inside your heart.” The cryptic couplet seemed to leave Twilight baffled, but reaffirmed what Fluttershy had suspected the entire time. Books were not the answer. This had not stopped the study-crazed unicorn from continuing to read everything she could about the subject.

Finally, it seemed as though Twilight had had enough of the romance books, and the aggravation caused by not being able to find what she wanted was showing on the her features.

Hairs stuck out at gravity-defying angles from her mane, and there were dark shadows under her eyes – from a combination of stress and lack of rest in her injured state – and Fluttershy didn’t want to push it.

“Um, maybe we should get some sleep Twilight…” She suggested hesitantly, and Twilight seemed to think it over for several moments before responding with a huff.

“Oh, you’re right Fluttershy. We’ve been at this for hours, and we haven’t found anything useful. Well, ALL of it seems useful, but if you don’t think you can use any of it… I guess if we haven’t found anything by now, the odds of something else turning up are minimal to none. Let’s just get some sleep, and maybe we’ll find something in the morning, when we’re not so tired.”

Twilight rolled over on the bed, knocking several books to the floor, and almost immediately began snoring in a deep, sound sleep. Fluttershy envied her.

She had barely slept a wink ever since she had hurt Twilight in the first place. Part of her felt bad that only a very small portion of the reason for her insomnia was for her hurt friend, but the rest of her seemed content to let the issue with Rainbow Dash fill her mind with fears, and her stomach with nervous jitters.

Each of her friends had been by to check up on Twilight and herself over the past two days – including Rainbow Dash – but she hadn’t voiced her fears to anypony else besides Twilight and Zecora.

Maybe what she needed was another opinion: a point of view from somepony else who had direct experience with romance and relationships. Applejack and Rarity had just gotten together, so maybe one of them knew.

Oh, but which to I ask? I don’t know if I can bring myself to talk to both of them at once! Rarity seems like she would know the most about it… oh, but she’s in fashion. Ponies in fashion are always judgemental… oh, but Rarity isn’t like that, is she? Applejack is very honest: that’s her element after all. I’m sure she would understand, and help me get through this…

Her mental deliberation over which of her two relationship-savvy friends to ask continued for some time, but she finally came to a conclusion.

Applejack won’t judge me. She’s ‘down to earth’ as everypony says, so she’ll give it to me as straight as she can. That’s it, tomorrow I’m going to talk to Applejack.

Having finally made up her mind, Fluttershy drifted off into a restless sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy soared through the sky. This was nothing new: she was a Pegasus after all. The difference was that she was flying with a certain special pegasus. All of her shy inhibitions gone, she winged through the clouds, laughing with Rainbow Dash as the two circled the fluffy white globs and spun around each other in increasingly complex patterns, before breaking off, and gliding in a straight line for a time.

Fluttershy was happy. She was completely content with everything at that moment in time: being with Rainbow Dash, flying through the sky, playing, laughing and having fun. But then Dash began to pull ahead. Fluttershy flapped her wings faster, trying to keep up, but it just wasn’t enough.

Rainbow kept flying faster and faster, getting further and further away, never once looking over her shoulder to the friend she was leaving behind. Fluttershy called out.

“Rainbow Dash, oh please Rainbow Dash, wait for me! I don’t want you to leave me behind! Please you can’t leave me! Don’t leave me Rainbow Dash!” she shouted, but it was futile. She just wasn’t fast enough, and soon Rainbow was just a speck on the horizon. And then, not even that.

Giving up, Fluttershy flopped onto a large cumulus, and cried. Her sorrow threatened to overwhelm her. The world could have been ending and she wouldn’t have noticed. Not even if Discord returned once more to wreak his chaos upon the world, she wouldn’t have cared.

If the Changeling Queen decided she would make another try at Canterlot, it wouldn’t have fazed her. Rainbow Dash had left her behind. Nothing else mattered.

“Fluttershy…”

The voice echoed through the dreamscape, shattering the silence, and sending ripples across the sky.

“Fluttershy, snap out of it.”

The voice was familiar. Whose was it?

“Come on Fluttershy, you’ve got to wake up!”

A rainbow mane flashed across her mind as her mind connected the dots and she realised who this pony was.

“Rainbow Dash!” it was Dash, of course it was! She was the only other pony around. It had to be her!

She pulled her head out of the cloud, but when she wiped the tears from her eyes, she saw the world crumbling. The ground below was being rent by huge cracks, clouds were exploding in showers of blue fire, and pieces of the sky were falling to the earth far below.

“Fluttershy, wake up!”

Fluttershy opened her eyes and, blinking in the harsh morning sunlight, realised that it had all just been a dream.

She had never soared through the sky laughing with Rainbow Dash. Of course, it also meant that Dash had never left her behind either, so she guessed it was alright.

“FLUTTERSHY!!!”

The shout was harsh, and it jolted Fluttershy fully back into the waking world, and she remembered the reason she had woken up in the first place.

“Rainbow Dash?!?!” Her eyes frantically flew around the room, searching for the Pegasus, but all her eyes found was a purple unicorn: one that was giving her a half curious, half worried look.

“No Fluttershy, it’s me, Twilight.” Fluttershy blushed, and rolled off the bed and onto her hooves. She had no idea whatsoever why she had thought she was hearing Rainbow’s voice when, thinking back, the voice had been so clearly Twilight’s. She smacked her face with a hoof.

“You were mumbling in your sleep…” Fluttershy’s eyes bolted back open, glaring at Twilight from behind her hoof. Twilight didn’t seem to catch the hint, however, and she continued speaking.

“Something about Rainbow Dash leaving you behind…” Fluttershy was unsure of where the unicorn was going with this, but she didn’t think it could be anywhere good.

“You really have fallen for her, haven’t you?” Fluttershy’s breathing froze for a half-second before she realised that she wasn’t actually overly bothered by the question. In fact, she felt her heart soar at the thought, only slightly tempered by her usual constraints of nervousness and fear.

“Well, we should get back to the books!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed after several moments of silence, and Fluttershy flinched.

“Um, actually, Twilight: I really appreciate your help, and I know you’re excited about books and all but, I really don’t think this is the way I need to go about this. I’m sorry, I mean, we can still study, if you want, but I just don’t think it’s going to be of any more help…” Twilight adopted a blank expression, which held for almost a full minute, before she blinked, and shook her head.

“Oh, alright, of course, that’s fine. I’m sorry I couldn’t have been more help.” Fluttershy shook her head quickly, trying to reassure her friend.

“Oh Twilight, you’ve been a huge help. Everything we’ve found here has been very useful, and I’m very grateful. I just think I need to look somewhere else, if that’s okay with you…” it was Twilight’s turn to shake her head, but she quickly winced and placed a hoof on her forehead.

“Ugh, I have got to remember to stop doing that. But Fluttershy, of course, I’m here to help you, and if you don’t think this is helping, that’s fine. Book learning isn’t for everypony, and I guess it is a bit of a difficult subject to pick up on from books.” Fluttershy nodded, relieved that Twilight understood and wasn’t upset with her.

“What will you do now?” Fluttershy cocked her head at the question. What was she going to do now? Vague memories flashed across her mind, and she was struck with sudden remembrance.

“Oh, well, I thought, seeing as Rarity and Applejack have gotten together, I might go ask one of them...” A look of epiphany passed across Twilight’s face, and the unicorn’s hoof flew towards her forehead, only just stopping in time before making a harsh impact on her injured horn.

“Of course!” The bookworm exclaimed. “Rarity and Applejack! You can get first-hand reports: even use their information to make a research paper! Oh Fluttershy, if you make a research paper, I’d love to archive it in the library! We need more material on this subject if we couldn’t find what we wanted.” Fluttershy inched towards the door, Twilight’s ranting intimidating her slightly. Finally, it became too much, and she had to interrupt.

“Um, Twilight?” The unicorn continued for a moment before realising Fluttershy was trying to get her attention. Fluttershy continued when she was sure Twilight was listening.

“Um, I don’t think I’ll be writing a research paper, but if I do, I’ll try and get it to you. I’m going to go talk to Applejack now, so I can’t stay.” Twilight nodded.

“Of course Fluttershy, I know the importance of time management. I’m going to keep on reading up on this. I’m sure there’s something here I’ve missed. If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Oh, thank you Twilight. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help. It’s been good to have somepony to talk to. I’ll be back around this afternoon to check up on you alright?” Twilight nodded, but slowly, to avoid jostling her head too much.

“Alright Fluttershy, thank you. You don’t have to worry though, I’m sure I can manage with Spike’s help, but if you want to stop by, you’re more than welcome too. I can always use the company, and I’ll be able to discuss any findings I make with the research with you.” Fluttershy nodded as she made her way out the door towards the main library.

~~~~~~~~~~

The trip to Sweet Apple Acres took longer than it normally would have. It was almost midday by the time Fluttershy caught sight of the tell-tale red barn that Sweet Apple Acres was known for.

The trip had taken so long because Fluttershy had spent the entire journey deliberately slowing her pace. She needed the extra time to wonder just how in Equestria she was going to broach the subject of her Rainbow Dash situation with Applejack.

The cowpony was already in a relationship, so it shouldn’t be such a difficult topic to bring up, nor should it be so difficult to talk to Applejack about her feelings for Rainbow Dash.

So why did her limbs still threaten to lock up, and her lungs seize, at just the thought of telling the farmer her secret? The feeling was horrible, and she hated it more and more every time it happened.

Even when she had approached the front door of the house, and was lifting her hoof to knock, she didn’t have a clue what she was going to say. After all, what was she going to do? Break down and scream something embarrassing before fainting, like she had at Twilight’s?

No, that wasn’t an option. She might end up hurting somepony again. She had some experience talking about relationship issues thanks to her time spent with Twilight since the unicorn had woken up.

Okay Fluttershy, this is it. Say you need to talk to her. Tell her you need her advice: that it’s really important. Ask what she knows about relationships, ask if she has any advice. If she tells you, then great! If she asks why, well, cross that bridge when you come to it.

She had a plan, and was just about to bring her hoof down determinedly on the portcullis, when she heard a voice call out from the apple orchards.

“Hey there Fluttershy! You’ve been standin’ there a mighty long time. There anything Ah can do for ya?” Fluttershy smacked herself in the face with a hoof. Of course Applejack wouldn’t be inside: she was a work pony! She spent almost all of her time working the apple orchards.

“Oh, hello Applejack, um, how have you been?” The question clearly caught Applejack off guard, but she quickly smiled and, adjusting her trademark Stetson, walked over to Fluttershy.

“Well Fluttershy, Ahm right peachy! Thankin’ you kindly fer askin’. What brings you ta the farm? Surely you haven’t stood at mah door all this time just to say hello.” Fluttershy winced, hoping Applejack hadn’t seen her standing there the whole time: she’d been there for a while, trying to figure out what to say before knocking on the door. She clamped down on the jitters in her stomach and the worried thoughts in her head, and turned to face her friend.

“Well, um, Applejack, I was just wondering if I could, um, talk to you. Only if you have some time, and don’t mind of course, I don’t want to keep you from your work…” Applejack let out a short burst of laughter and shook her mane, which caused her hat to fall askew. Readjusting it, she walked past Fluttershy and opened the door to the house.

“Well Fluttershy, Ah was just about to take a break. Ah’ve been workin’ the farm all mornin’, and I could use a breather.” The Earth Pony led the way inside, out of the cold, and Fluttershy followed gratefully.

The interior of Applejack’s house was as down-to-earth as the outside. Old furniture lined the walls, from antique chests of drawers to ancient-looking armoires, to a worn armchair next to the fireplace in which resided Granny Smith, who was fast asleep in a midday nap. All of the wall space was taken up with photos of the Apple family, ranging from old black-and-white snapshots of Granny Smith as a young mare, to ones taken just recently at the last Summer Sun Celebration.

It was clear, from all the special memories captured in those photographs that the Apple’s treasured family above all else. It was a warming sentiment, and gave the farm home a very welcoming feel. She felt relaxed and at ease, and all her worries seemed to slide away. Until she remembered why she was here, of course. That was when she started feeling walls closing in on her. She forced the walls away, and sighed with relief when they relented.

Applejack was looking at her with a curious expression, and she blushed slightly, and had to force herself to not hide her face behind her mane. Granny Smith snorted in her sleep, but Fluttershy wasn’t worried. The old mare was so deeply asleep that the house could have fallen down and she wouldn’t have noticed.

“So Sugarcube, what was it you wanted to talk about?” Fluttershy opened her mouth to follow through with her plan, but froze, her mouth not wanting to sound out the words she knew she had to speak. It was always this way: everything worked out so well in her head, but when it came time to actually act, everything fell apart.

Forcing herself was usually the only option that was left to her, and it rarely ever worked, but at that moment, surrounded by Applejack’s fond memories, and after her time spent with Twilight, she found herself able to push through the fog of fear.

“Well, um, I was just wondering, if you wouldn’t mind sharing… um, what I mean to say is…” Applejack let out a short sigh, and Fluttershy winced, knowing the work pony was growing impatient.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, well, what I wanted to ask is, what do you know, about relationships…?” Applejack stared at her curiously for a moment, before glancing at the ground in thought. After a moment, she spoke.

“Well Sugarcube, Ah don’t know what Ah can tell ya. Ah don’t rightly know much about relationships at all.” Fluttershy’s mouth flew open, her shyness immediately forgotten. She leapt forward and put her hooves on the farm pony’s shoulders.

“B-But Applejack, you’re dating Rarity, how can you not know about relationships?” Applejack laughed at the shy mare’s sudden outburst, pushed Fluttershy gently away, and shrugged.

“Well, Ah can not know, because I’m still not entirely sure how what happened. Rarity and I just started spending more and more time together: sleepovers and the likes. She seems to like the challenge mah fashion sense gives her too. When she suggested we go on a date, Ah realised just how much Ah enjoyed her company, in a more-than-friends kinda’ way.” Fluttershy shook her head. Many of the books she and Twilight had read said the same thing. Spend time together, the feelings may develop in the other pony that way.

“So, you can’t help me?” Fluttershy was crestfallen. Her entire plan had been to get Applejack’s help with this, but if Applejack didn’t know anything, what could she do?

“Well hey now, Ah never said that.” Fluttershy’s ears perked up. “Just because Ah don’t know all the facts, doesn’t mean Ah can’t be of any help at all. What was it you wanted help with at any rate?” This was it: the moment Fluttershy had expected all along, but the one she feared most. She had to explain her feelings for Rainbow Dash.

You’ve already done it twice Fluttershy, this shouldn’t be so hard for you! Just tell her! She’s your friend, she won’t judge you. She can’t, she’s in a relationship with Rarity for pony’s sake.

All the pep-talks in the world probably wouldn’t have made Fluttershy comfortable with this, but relationships were all about moving outside one’s comfort zone, right?

“Well, you see, um, for a while now, I’ve kind of, you know, had a crush, on Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy was proud that the volume of her voice had barely dropped at all as she spoke the words, but her breathing stopped, and her heart pounded in her chest as quickly as a hummingbird’s wing-beats as she waited for a response.

“Well Sugarcube, that’s great! Does Rainbow Dash feel the same way?” Fluttershy sighed, and dropped her gaze to the floor.

“Well that’s just the thing: I have no idea. I don’t even know if she’s into other mares, let alone if she has feelings for me too.” Applejack adopted a thoughtful look for a few moments, before shrugging.

“Well, Ah guess I could talk to her about it for ya.” Fluttershy frantically shook her head.

“Oh, no no no, Applejack, thank you, but I don’t think that’s how I should go about this. I just need to know, well…” Fluttershy paused for a moment. What did she need to know? She knew all the theory, thanks to Twilight and Zecora. She knew all the strategies, and she knew all the possible outcomes. So what was left that she needed to know?

“Well Sugarcube? What was it that ya need ta know?” Fluttershy winced, brought back into the world with a jolt.

“Well, um, I’m not sure… I’m sorry Applejack, I know I’m missing something, I just don’t know what…” Applejack thought for several minutes, but shrugged, apparently coming up empty.

“Well, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, then Ah can’t rightly help ya. Have you thought about just up and telling her how you feel?” Fluttershy sighed.

“Oh Applejack, you know I can’t do that. I’m just too shy…”

“Well, how ‘bout spendin’ time with her? Yanno, doing stuff ya both like doin?” Fluttershy had to resist the urge to smack herself in the face with a hoof. Again.

“Everypony keeps telling me that, but I freeze up every time she’s even close! How am I meant to…” Fluttershy froze. She didn’t lock up every time she was close to Rainbow Dash. She hadn’t in the Everfree Forest on the way to Zecora’s. Once she had gotten over the initial nervousness of having the mare close, she had been completely fine.

“Er, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy was snapped back to the present moment for the umpteenth time in two days, and grinned sheepishly at Applejack, who was giving her another curious look. The canary Pegasus immediately wrapped the work pony in a tight hug.

“Oh Applejack, thank you! You’ve been such a great help! I don’t know what I would have done without you!” Releasing her friend, Fluttershy cantered over to the door, threw it open, letting a blast of cold air in that neither pony (nor Granny Smith) took any notice of, and took to the skies, flying off in the direction of Ponyville.

Applejack, who was left breathless from the hug, and entirely confounded as to what had just happened, stood with a blank stare for several seconds, before shaking her head, and walking out the door herself. She faced the direction Fluttershy had taken off in, and readjusted her hat.

“That mare is a strange one alright…” she commented to nopony in particular as she trotted off towards the apple orchards.

~~~~~~~~~~

She didn’t know exactly where she was going. She had taken off in such an excited hurry that she hadn’t thought it through quite as well as she should have, and now that her enthusiastic burst of energy had dissipated, Fluttershy had absolutely no idea what she was going to do now.

The realisation that she wasn’t as nervous around Rainbow Dash as she thought she was had thrown her adrenaline into dangerous levels – for her, anyway – but she needed a plan. The assertive part of her – which was an incredibly small part indeed – whispered that she should just find Dash and just explain everything.

That was obviously not going to happen.

Whilst she thought she would be able to spend time with Rainbow without locking up, she wasn’t sure she was ready to just up and confess her feelings to the athlete just yet.

Her stomach growled, suddenly reminding her that she had not even had breakfast, and it was now lunch time. Seeing as she was already in Ponyville, so she thought she may as well find somewhere to eat in town. The food, and thinking time, might help her to figure everything out.

She wandered down the main street of Ponyville – she had long since stopped flying, as she much preferred walking – searching for a decent place to eat.

Around her, ponies went about their daily lives wrapped in winter clothing, working or shopping at the stalls that lined the town square and main street, or bustling about from their workplaces to restaurants for lunch and back. Some ponies were shovelling the snow off the road, and the sounds of construction were coming from several places throughout the town, signs that preparations for the Hearth’s Warming festival were well under way. It was a clamor that usually sent Fluttershy’s nerves skyrocketing, but for once, she ignored them completely. She was far too busy with her deep introspection do to more than watch where she was going to avoid a collision.

Alright Fluttershy, what are you going to do? You know you can spend time with Rainbow without freaking out, but how are you going to go about doing that? What can I do with her? She likes flying, and napping, and, well… that’s about it…

Rainbow’s job as a weather mare wasn’t a tough job for her, so she spent most of her time practicing her stunts and sleeping. Fluttershy wasn’t a confident flier, so she couldn’t follow Dash in her aerobatic practice, so what could she do?

She was so lost in thought that, when Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of her, she didn’t notice in time, and ended up bumping into the pink Earth Pony. All of Pinkie Pie’s pronking must have given her incredibly strong leg muscles, as the hyper-energetic mare didn’t budge at all, causing Fluttershy to bounce back and onto the snow-covered ground.

Before she could take a moment to recover, Fluttershy was being hauled up off the ground, and into the crushing embrace of a Pinkie Pie hug.

“Oh my gosh Fluttershy, I’m sorry! I was just going to surprise you and ask if you needed lunch, because we’ve got specials on lunch-muffins that are about to start just now, but you didn’t see me, and then you fell to the ground. Are you alright?”

Fluttershy, who was finding it very difficult to breathe, gasped with relief when Pinkie released her, and promptly fell straight back to the ground panting for air.

“Oh, um, yes Pinkie, I’m okay. I’m so sorry I ran into you, I was just so caught up in my thoughts…” She stood back up shakily, and her stomach growled, informing her that Sugarcube Corner was as good a place as any to get some lunch. She turned to Pinkie, who was bouncing on the spot, waiting for a reply.

“Um, a lunch muffin sounds great Pinkie, I guess I’ll take one.” The party pony leapt twice as high as her usual bounce with a wordless shout of delight.

“Oh my gosh, that’s so great! I’ll bake it for you myself!” Pinkie bolted into the shop, and Fluttershy somehow suddenly found herself being dragged inside as well. Before she knew it, she was seated at a table with a mug of hot cocoa as mixing and cooking noises emanated from the kitchen. There were no other ponies in the shop, which explained why they were having a lunch special. Ponies seemed drawn to the concept of a 'special', regardless of the item said special was even discounting.

Fluttershy used this moment of sudden calm to resume her train of thought, which was interrupted somewhere around ‘learning to be a better flier’.

I’m sure, if I tried hard enough, I could get better at flying. But then, I tried so hard when dash wanted to break the wing-power record, but I only improved my wing-power by a tiny little bit…

She continued along this line of thinking for several moments, debating the benefits of working to become a stronger flier, and the impossibilities of that ever happening, when she finally gave up.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’m no great flier. I could never keep up with Rainbow Dash. Even if I trained as hard as I could for a whole year, I’d never be good enough to get her to notice me…

Her new spiral of self-pitying thoughts was interrupted by the clank of a plate being placed on the table. Glancing up, Fluttershy saw that on the plate resided a large, delicious-looking savoury muffin. Standing behind the plate and muffin, was Pinkie Pie, who bore an understanding smile on her face.

Fluttershy wasn’t sure what scared her more: that expression or the fact that Pinkie wasn’t bouncing in her usual happy-go-lucky way. She was about to speak up, and thank the pink pony for the muffin, but Pinkie beat her to the punch.

“Having mare troubles huh?” The question was simple, but contained such measures of thought and caring that Fluttershy’s heart cried out at the fact that she had such fantastic friends.

Then the thought occurred to her that she hadn’t even talked to Pinkie Pie about any of this. Had Twilight told her?

The thought sounded ridiculous: Twilight was great at keeping secrets, even to a fault, but the possibility still troubled her.

“Um, yes, but, if you don’t mind me asking, um, how did you know?” Pinkie giggled, and put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“Oh silly, it’s written all over your face. You were WAY deep in thought when you bumped into me outside the shop, and you’ve been sitting there for like, ages, staring at that mug. I knew something had to be on your mind, but what? I figured it couldn’t be your critters: you’d never neglect them, and you certainly wouldn’t be spacing out over something like that, so I thought, ‘what else could it be?’. The only other thing I know that could possibly distract you so much would be romance, of course!” The energetic mare nodded as if this was the most obvious thing in the world, but Fluttershy could barely follow. How the Earth Pony knew Fluttershy was having mare troubles, rather than colt troubles, mystified her.

Shaking her head, she reminded herself that you just couldn’t question Pinkie Pie’s logic. It was so twisted and convoluted that it wasn’t possible to follow, but it still usually ended up being spot-on.

“So, whose the gal?” Pinkie queried before Fluttershy could respond to the last verbal torrent, and the Pegasus had to take a few seconds to process the new question before she could even think about responding.

“Um, well, for the longest time now, I’ve sort of, well… I’ve kind of had a crush, on Rainbow Dash…” She finally managed to say. It was only after the words had left her mouth that her nerves kicked in, but before the walls could start closing in, and her lungs could stop working, Pinkie gasped.

“Oh my gosh, of course! Why didn’t I see it sooner! You’ve known Rainbow Dash since you were both just fillies! She even helped you get her cutie mark! Well, I guess she helped us ALL get our cutie marks, but still! Oh gosh Fluttershy this is so great! Does she know how you feel about her? Oh, when did you tell her? What did she say? Does she like you too?” The tirade of questions continued without any gaps presented to allow Fluttershy to answer any of them, but before long, Pinkie seemed to run out of questions to ask, and simply sat there staring at Fluttershy, waiting for answers.

“Um, well, no, she doesn’t know… I haven’t told her I mean. I don’t even know if she likes mares, let alone if she likes me. I just haven’t had a chance to talk to her about it, I guess…” Fluttershy hid behind her mane, slightly overwhelmed by Pinkie’s enthusiasm. Pinkie herself suddenly seemed lost in thought for a second or two, before gasping again, and leaping up to her hooves.

“Okay, if you haven’t found the chance to talk to her about it, I’ll go get her, and bring her here! Then you two can talk all you like!” Fluttershy was horrified at the idea, but before she could say anything, Pinkie had bolted out of the store and out of sight.

Oh, what am I going to do? I’m not sure if I’m ready to talk to Rainbow yet! What if I mess up? What if I lock up? What if I tell her and she doesn’t like me? What if she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore because she thinks it’ll be too awkward! Oh dear, what do I do, what do I do?

~~~~~~~~~~

What are you still doing here?

Fluttershy was frozen in place at the table at Sugarcube Corner. It had been almost ten minutes since Pinkie had disappeared in search of Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy was waging a huge internal war with herself.

On one hoof, this could be the break she was waiting for: an opportunity to talk to Rainbow Dash, express how she felt, and just hope that the fast-paced mare felt the same.

On the other hoof, she was almost completely sure that she wasn’t ready for the encounter. She would probably freeze up, her lungs would lock, she’d fall onto her back, and made a complete fool out of herself. Either that or, if she actually somehow found the courage to talk to Rainbow, that she’d look foolish anyway, or if she impossibly managed to tell the rainbow-maned mare her feelings, that she would be rejected. She wasn’t sure she could deal with that eventuality.

So there she sat, frozen like a log in the chair, muffin untouched, as the world passed her by outside the frost-glazed windows of the shop. She sat so for several more minutes, until the shop bell clanged, jolting her back into the present moment with the realisation of what that probably meant.

Frantically, she spun her head to face the door, and saw Pinkie Pie, somehow covered from head to hoof in snow, hopping in through the door. Only her eyes and her bouncing gave her away as she moved through the shop and into the kitchen without a word. Fluttershy was just about to call out to her, when the bell rang again, signifying another pony entering the shop.

The wind-tousled rainbow mane was unmistakeable, as was the agile yet muscular frame, flowing tail, curved thighs and…

Stop that! Why can’t you just look at her as if she’s just your friend? Things are always awkward enough without those kind of thought’s fogging my head.

Meanwhile, Rainbow’s eyes scanned the store, and when they settled on Fluttershy, a large grin flashed across her features. She trotted over, and took the seat opposite the yellow pegasus.

“Hi there Flutters! You here for lunch too?” The question was normal enough, and Fluttershy silently prayed Pinkie hadn’t said too much. Rainbow continued without waiting for a reply.

“I was just about to start working on some awesome new stunts, but Pinkie tackled me and said that Sugarcube Corner was selling lunch-muffins. She seemed unusually insistent too, and I figured I was getting hungry anyway, so I followed her back. Didn’t know you were here too.” Fluttershy mentally shouted a thank you to Pinkie for being subtle for once.

“Well, I’m um, glad you came, Rainbow Dash…”

Come on Fluttershy, this is it. You wanted this. Well, part of you did anyway. This is your chance: there’s nopony else in the store, so you two are alone. You may not get another chance like this for a while! Fluttershy steeled herself, and found some measure of the soothing calmness that had overcome her in the Everfree Forest those few days earlier.

Rainbow Dash was looking at her curiously – a lot of ponies seemed to be doing that recently – and Fluttershy took a deep breath.

“Um, yes, Rainbow. Um, if you don’t mind, could I maybe, talk to you for a while?” Dash cocked her head to the side, but after a moment, nodded.

“Yeah, sure thing Flutters.” She turned her head towards the kitchen, and called out to Pinkie. “Hey Pinkie! Could I grab one of these lunch muffins? They look really good!”

“Alright Dashie! One lunch-muffin coming right up!” came the cheerful reply from the kitchen. Rainbow turned back to face Fluttershy.

“So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?” The question caught Fluttershy off-guard – why, she didn’t know: she’d spent the better part of a week preparing for this moment – so it took her a few seconds to get her thoughts in order. Once she sorted her mind out, she realised that the moment was upon her, but the expected crushing wave of panic never came. She felt as calm as a day without a breeze. It didn’t stop her from stuttering her words, of course, but it allowed her to speak them in the first place.

“Well, I was wondering… well, what I really wanted to say was, um… well, you see…” Dash groaned, and brought a hoof up to her forehead.

“Come on Flutters, spit it out!” Fluttershy winced, but forced herself to say the words she was dreading having to speak.

“Well, um you see, for a while now, I’ve… I’ve…”

Rainbow gave her a pointed look, a clear indication that the speed-addict mare was growing impatient. In her nervous state, that was all she saw. What she missed was the prominent undertone of terror written all over Dash’s face. The cyan Pegasus knew something was coming.

“Well, I’ve… for a while now I’ve kind of… I mean, I’ve sort of, had a crush. On. You…” The last three words were halting and slow, and left as barely more than a whisper, but they seemed to echo around the space, growing louder and louder the longer the following silence lasted. Fluttershy could still hear them bouncing around, long after the actual sound had faded.

Rainbow’s face had fallen, all looks of impatience gone. Even her usual composure of cocky confidence had vanished completely. It was then that Fluttershy started to realise that something was horribly wrong. When Rainbow finally spoke, her voice wavered, as if she was completely unsure of herself. Which was ridiculous, Rainbow Dash was never unsure.

“Fluttershy, I… I…” the fact that Rainbow Dash was speaking haltingly worried Fluttershy more than anything else she could imagine. She said nothing though: Just waited for Dash’s response.

“I… Fluttershy, I already know.” Fluttershy froze.

What?

“I’m sorry Fluttershy. I’m sorry I haven’t said something sooner, I’ve just been unsure about how to take this… when Pinkie said she wanted me to come to Sugarcube Corner for lunch… I had no idea… I wasn’t thinking properly…” Fluttershy couldn’t speak: her mind was frozen on a single thought.

She already knows…

It took her a moment to unstick her mind, and when she did, her words fell out of her mouth without much thought on her part.

“You… you already know? But how? I don’t understand…” Rainbow flinched, and her gaze sunk lower from the table to the floor in front of her seat.

“I was flying overhead when you were at the library and screamed it out. I was also outside the door when you were talking to Twilight about it once she woke up… I was just coming to check up on you, I swear!” The cyan Pegasus quickly added the last part after Fluttershy gaped at her with a disbelieving stare. “And… and I also saw all the books in Twilight’s room this morning. I came to check up on Twilight while you were still asleep…”

Fluttershy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. So much worrying, so much stress. All that trouble over the issue of trying to tell Rainbow Dash how she felt: and the mare already knew? She had to ask a question, but she was terrified of the answer she might get.

“So um, what… what about you?” The question hung in the air, and seemed to leech the warmth out of the room, despite the fireplace burning in the corner. Dash’s response was slow in coming, and when it came, it was said with a level of sorrow that shook Fluttershy to her core.

“I… I don’t… Fluttershy, I’m sorry, but I can’t… I’m not… I don’t…” the words were halting, and each one of them struck a dagger into Fluttershy’s heart. “I’m so sorry Fluttershy, I just don’t know… I-I need some air.” The cyan-coated mare quickly got to her feet, and galloped out of the shop, pausing only to throw open the door. The burst of snow that flowed back through the portcullis as the door closed was clear indication that Dash had taken off quickly as soon as she had gotten outside.

Fluttershy watched the spot where Rainbow had disappeared, her heart breaking in her chest, tears flowing freely down her face. Pinkie entered from the kitchen with a second muffin but, seeing Dash gone, and the hurt on Fluttershy’s face, she backed back out of the room. Fluttershy didn’t notice. She didn’t care. What else mattered? Rainbow Dash had walked out on her. What else could possibly be of any significance compared to that?

She sat in her seat, staring at the bench, her tears creating an ever-growing puddle on the table-top. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. After all her preparation, Rainbow had already known about her feelings.

And she had flown away…

Images of a dream in which Rainbow vanished off over the horizon flashed through Fluttershy’s head, as a single question drifted with agonizing slowness across her mind.

What did I do wrong?

Author's Notes:

Sorry everyone! I know I promised at least one more chapter before Christmas, but the editors at EQD gave me such a huge list of grammatical errors that I needed to apply to this, and the previous, chapter. It seems MS Word has been imprinting some very bad habits onto me about the use of semi-colons. Editing over 19,000 words for these errors has thoroughly expelled that habit.

But here it is! Chapter Two! You'll all be pleased to know as well that chapter three is, in fact, finished, and is currently in its editing stage, so I'll be posting that in the next few days.

As always, feedback is appreciated, and I hope you enjoy

3 - A Friend in Need

“Come on Fluttershy darling, I know you’re in there, why don’t you come outside?” No sound came from the cottage on the edge of the forest as Rarity knocked on the door. She had come every day for a week, and had not garnered a single response.

Fluttershy had been seen openly crying, flying through town from Sugarcube Corner to her cottage a week ago, and had not been seen since. It was not until Pinkie Pie filled them in that everypony knew what had happened.

Incidentally, nopony had seen Rainbow Dash in the week either.

The loss of two of their friends had shaken Rarity, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, but it had not given them leave from their duties around Ponyville in order to prepare for the Hearth’s Warming festival.

The festival was a week-long celebration leading up to Hearth’s Warming, and was just beginning to get into full swing. None of the remaining four of the gang felt like celebrating. Fluttershy was clearly distraught over Rainbow’s rejection, and nopony seemed to know why Dash was being so distant. Her house had even vanished from the skies over Ponyville.

Rarity knocked on the cottage door once more, before sighing.

“Fluttershy, you’ve been holed up there for a week now. If you don’t open the door this instant, you leave me no choice but to commit an act so unladylike, I don’t know if I could ever forgive myself were the situation a normal one.” She paused to see if this would gain any reaction. When it didn’t, she continued. “Alright, you leave me no choice: I have to kick your door down.”

She was just in the process of turning around and tensing her back legs for a powerful kick to the door, when it opened a crack, revealing Angel. The rabbit looked extremely irritated, and was clearly quite stressed. One of his ears twitched as he waved a paw in invitation before throwing the door open further, and hopping over to the couch.

Lying on the couch, Rarity saw as she entered, was Fluttershy. The pegasus was lying on her side, a blank expression on her face. She was awake, unless she could sleep with her eyes open, but she didn’t blink, and showed no reaction when Rarity trotted over and sat down on the floor in front of her.

“Fluttershy darling?” Rarity queried, waving a hoof in front of her friend’s face. Still no reaction was forthcoming, and Rarity sighed. Forced to result to desperate measures, she reached into her saddleback, and pulled out a small, nondescript clay jar. Opening the lid, she waved the jar under Fluttershy’s nose.

Fluttershy jerked, coughing, and jolted upright.

“Rainbow Dash! Don’t leave…” her shriek cut off as she noticed Rarity for the first time, and her face fell. “Oh, hello Rarity.” Her voice had dropped into a monotone. It was the tone of a pony who believed she had nothing to be happy about. Rarity had seen it happen in young fashion models who didn’t get the results they were expecting. She had never seen it this get this bad before though.

Fluttershy’s was an expression of someone who had suffered complete and utter defeat. Rarity lidded the clay jar and, putting it away, gave Fluttershy a level-headed, examining stare.

“Fluttershy, are you alright? You haven’t come out of your cottage in a week.” Fluttershy glanced around her cottage blearily, as if seeing it for the first time in said week. Her expression never changed.

“I’m fine, thank you for calling in.” She kept up the heartless monotone, and it almost crushed Rarity’s soul. What could be done to break Fluttershy out of this? Usually a trip to the spa fixed up disappointed models easy enough, but this wasn’t as simple as fashion show results.

Fluttershy had a truly broken heart, and Rarity was lost as to what she could do. Then, an idea struck her, and she barely contained a gasp.

“Fluttershy, why don’t you come to the festival? It’s bound to be filled with fun, and it just won’t be the same without you.” Fluttershy shook her head.

“Thank you Rarity, but no. I’m not in the mood for a festival. If that’s all you wanted to say, I’ll see you later. Thank you for stopping by.” Rarity groaned, and smacked her forehead with a hoof. There was clearly nothing that she could do on her own to get Fluttershy out of her cottage.

She stood and made for the door, a plan forming in her head.

“Alright Fluttershy, goodbye darling, I’ll talk to you later.” Fluttershy simply nodded, her face blank, staring directly forward, at a right angle to Rarity. Sighing, Rarity turned and walked out the door.

An hour later, she returned with Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie in tow. Without bothering to knock and wait for a reply, she immediately turned and bucked the door open. The four ponies stormed inside.

Fluttershy hadn’t moved since Rarity had left. She was still staring blankly at the wall, not blinking or even twitching. Pinkie bolted straight over to the pegasus, and burst into a string of questions.

“Oh my gosh Fluttershy, are you okay? I heard what happened when Rainbow Dash left the shop a week ago, and I didn’t know what to do! I had no idea she would reject you, the thought didn’t even cross my mind! I’m so so so sorry, this is all my fault. If I hadn’t gone to get Dash when you came in for lunch, you never would have asked her out, and she never would have turned you down…” she was cut off as a purple aura surrounded her mouth, sealing her lips shut.

Twilight trotted over, her horn alight, and sat down next to Fluttershy, placing a comforting hoof on her foreleg. This produced a twitch, which was the first reaction the pegasus had shown since the four had arrived.

“Fluttershy, please. Talk to us.” Fluttershy turned to face Twilight, her expressionless gaze making the unicorn quite uncomfortable.

“Talk to you about what Twilight?” she asked, her monotone making the four new arrivals shift uncomfortably.

“Well, frankly, anything!” Twilight replied, leaning forward. Fluttershy recoiled, leaping off the lounge away from the unicorn, before immediately regaining her composure and trotted slowly towards the door.

“There’s nothing to talk about” was the only reply she gave. Twilight smiled, clearly thinking she had the upper hoof now.

“Well.’ She said smugly. “Then you won’t mind coming with us to the Hearth’s Warming eve festival then!” Fluttershy stared back with a bleak expression.

“No thank you.” The short reply left Twilight slightly speechless, but the unicorn was determined.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy, but I just won’t accept that. I’m not going to sit about watching you lose yourself in this depression any longer! You’re coming with us to the festival whether you like it or not.” Fluttershy’s face didn’t change. She simply shrugged her shoulders, and opened the door.

“Well, if you insist. If we’re going to go, then let’s go.” Pinkie tore out the door, clearly desperate to be in a more cheerful atmosphere, and was out of sight by the time the others made their way to the exit.

~~~~~~~~~~

The ground moved slowly by beneath her. She didn’t care. The sounds of the festival flowed over, and off of her without drawing so much as a glance. Hundreds of ponies passed her by, celebrating the onset of Hearth’s Warming. She ignored them. She was vaguely aware of her friends, sans Pinkie Pie, trotting along around her. She paid them little heed.

If her friends wanted to drag her out of her home to the festival then let them, why did it matter? Rainbow Dash had left them – left her – and was now gone. It was all her own stupid fault: if she had just kept her mouth shut, and kept her feelings hidden, none of this would have happened. Dash would still be here, and she would still get to spend time together with her.

But now, she couldn’t believe she would ever see Dash again. If she was ever going to come back, why would she have left in the first place?

She stared at the ground as she walked, kept in the right direction by her friends, who bumped her lightly to correct her trajectory. All of it was of little consequence.

She became dimly aware of the sounds and smells of food. She had barely eaten anything in the last week, but didn’t care: she didn’t feel like eating. All of the food she had ingested, mostly at the insistence of Angel, was as tasteless as cardboard. Her mind knew it was in fact, quite a tasty daffodil and daisy sandwich, but her shattered heart leeched all the flavour out, until all she could taste was a dry husk.

Despite all the sorrow that was flowing through her, she couldn’t bring herself to cry. Tears had run down her face almost non-stop for the first two days, but once that had finished, they had not started again.

She didn’t even feel sad anymore. She only felt numb.

A candy apple was offered to her, with a recommendation from one of her friends that she didn’t hear. She ignored it.

She was dragged around the festival until the sun was low in the sky, but she barely registered the passage of time. It could have been five minutes, or it could have been five days: it wouldn’t have mattered either way.

Her gaze only lifted from the ground once she found herself traversing the well-worn track through the fields towards her cottage. So they had finally taken her home? She didn’t remember anything of the festival. Part of her knew that she was being ridiculous. It was that small part that most often spoke sense, but was usually ignored, even at the best of times. Now, she didn’t even hear it.

She kept her pace, and moved up to her front door. She turned around, and was about to open her mouth the thank her friends for coming, and for taking her out to the celebrations in town, and to wish them all well and hope they would return soon.

She never got the chance, as a hoof suddenly connected with the side of her face in a full-strength slap.

Dazed, she staggered sideways, and rested on the doorframe to regain her balance. Once the world stopped spinning, she saw Twilight standing in front of her, hoof extended, with the rest of her friends – minus the obvious – staring at the unicorn with shocked expressions. There were tears in Twilight’s eyes, and when she spoke, her voice shook, half with anger, and half with sadness.

“Fluttershy, you may want to spend the rest of your life holed up inside your cottage, away from the world, but by Celestia I will do everything, and I repeat, EVERYTHING I can to snap you out of this.” Fluttershy raised a hoof to her cheek, which was stinging from the slap. It was the first real feeling she had felt since the tears had stopped. Twilight continued mercilessly.

“Have you even considered what you’re doing to your friends? Pinkie Pie hasn’t smiled at all since you left Sugarcube Corner in tears a week ago. And this is Pinkie Pie we’re talking about! We know you’re upset, and we know you’re heartbroken, but for Celestia’s sake, let us help you.” Fluttershy stared at the offending unicorn for a few moments, before her stare turned to a glare.

How dare Twilight assume to know what she was going through? How dare Twilight demand anything of her after what had happened. And how dare Twilight slap her! She pushed off from the door, and shoved her face into Twilight’s.

“Do you even know what I’m going through?” she demanded, menace lacing her words. “Do you have ANY idea how much I am suffering?” When Twilight didn’t respond, she shook her head. “I didn’t think so. Do you want to know how much I’m suffering?” Still no response, so she continued.

“None! I’m not suffering at all!” A brief look of confusion decorated Twilight’s features, and Fluttershy grinned. “And do you know why? Because I am numb. I don’t feel anything. Do you know why I don’t feel anything?” Twilight finally managed to shaker her head, and Fluttershy backed off slightly before continuing. “Because Rainbow Dash left. She left because I was stupid enough to believe that if I acted on my feelings, things would turn out alright. Now she’s gone for good, and it’s all because of my feelings. Not even your stupid books could help that.”

Rarity stepped forward, clearly about to intervene, but before she could, Twilight raised a hoof to stop her. The librarian took several deep breaths before replying.

“I stepped outside for the first time in a week yesterday.” Fluttershy blinked. “In all the time I spent in bed, nursing my horn, I’ve barely been alone for as long as an hour at a time. And do you know why?” Fluttershy didn’t respond, unsure of where Twilight was going with this. “I haven’t been alone, because my friends have been by my side the entire time, supporting me, and helping me to get better.” The unicorn took a step forward, and Fluttershy flinched.

“When you’re hurt, or in need, you can always rely on your friends to be there for you every step of the way.” The tears ran freely down Twilight’s cheeks as she spoke, her voice losing its anger, and adopting a caring kindness that Fluttershy tried to ignore. “You may be right: books may not have been able to help avoid what happened. In fact, I would say that they quite clearly didn’t, because we spent long enough looking over them, and Dash still left.” The shattered remains of Fluttershy’s heart broke into still smaller pieces at this statement, but before she could lash out, or break down, or do any of the huge number of things that she felt like doing, Twilight continued.

“No, books may not be able to help you now, but we can. We all care about you Fluttershy. What hurts you hurts us too, and all we want to do is help you. For example, did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, Rainbow Dash left because she needed time on her own to sort this out?” All of Fluttershy’s thought processes stopped in their tracks.

“Dash has never been a pony to ask for help, and she might just need some time alone to get all this straight in her head.” Fluttershy’s cheek throbbed. “Pinkie heard the whole thing in Sugarcube Corner a week ago, and Dash never did give you an answer, did she? She didn’t say yes, but she didn’t say no either.” Fluttershy’s cheek throbbed again, the pain making her wince.

Several seconds later, it was as if a dam had broken and she fell to the ground in tears. Her stomach ached with hunger, her throat felt parched with thirst, and the remains of her heart burned in agony over how she had treated her friends. Twilight was right: Rainbow never had given her an answer. She had just been so caught up over the fact that Dash had flown away, that she hadn’t realised the obvious.

And she had made her friends suffer because of it.

Twilight wrapped a tentative hoof around her neck, and Fluttershy threw herself into the embrace, sobbing desperately into the unicorn’s coat. Twilight held her close, and stroked her mane, the way her mother used to when she cried about bullies in flight school.

She didn’t know how long she stayed like that with Twilight, but eventually, her other friends joined in on the hug as well.

She really did owe it to her friends – and to herself as well – to be strong, and put on a brave face until Dash returned.

Because of course Dash would come back. She was the element of loyalty, after all.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash groaned, her wing muscles throbbed with a fierce ache, and she squinted in the late afternoon light. Sweat glistened on her body, and ran in beads down her face. Yes, sweat, that was it. She wasn’t crying. She didn’t cry.

She landed on a rocky outcropping and slumped onto the hard ground. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t tough. She had proved that when she had bolted from Sugarcube Corner, grabbed her house, and flew as far as she could before sunset. She flew as far as she could the day after that, and the day after that. She had flown as fast as she could away from Ponyville for almost a week.

She was now residing beside a tall, cliffy mountain somewhere far from the lands of Equestria. Even dragging her house, she could outpace any form of ground travel, and so had covered a huge distance.

She had had all that time to think, but she hadn’t managed to sort anything out at all. She thought she would have more time before Fluttershy came out and admitted her feelings; she thought she would have more time to think it all through before she would need to act. How was she meant to know Fluttershy would suddenly stop being shy?

She groaned again. She had been through this line of thought a hundred times over the past five days. She thought she must have covered every line of thought possible about the issue, but she still didn’t have any answers.

What was she supposed to do? When she had been flying over the library, and had heard Fluttershy’s terrified proclamation, it had shaken her. She had flown up to the highest layers of cloud, and stayed there for hours, wondering what she could do.

Before that day, she had barely spared a single thought to the subject of romance. She had always been too busy practicing to bother.

What about all the time you spend napping? You had plenty of time to think about it then. The small voice wormed its way uninvited into her head, and she sighed. Her subconscious was right: she had had plenty of time, she just hadn’t bothered. It had just never been much of a priority for her, and now she was paying the price.

Did she even like mares? All her filly-hood fantasies had all been of flying with the Wonderbolts, not marrying a rich, handsome stallion like some other ponies she knew. She sighed, and tried to think of it objectively.

How do you feel about Fluttershy liking other mares?

The concept of fillyfooling had never overly bothered Dash. She had seen several two-mare couples around Ponyville, and had never thought twice about it. Two of her close friends were dating each other for pony’s sake, so she had absolutely nothing against it.

How do you feel about Fluttershy liking you?

This question gave her significantly more trouble. Having never given much thought to the matter of relationships, she wasn’t sure how she was meant to respond to something like that. She supposed that she wasn’t opposed to the fact that Fluttershy liked her. This led to inevitable question that she knew she had no direct answer for.

Do you like her?

Of course she liked Fluttershy, half of her immediately huffed, but her rational half chastised her, and pointed out that it wasn’t what the question was asking. She forced herself the rephrase the question, so she couldn’t avoid it.

Do you have feelings for Fluttershy?

Dash wasn’t sure. Fluttershy was attractive, if she thought about it. She was well-proportioned with graceful wings and a pretty face. Her eyes always held an expression of kindness and caring, and she was always willing to lend a helping hoof to anypony in need. She could be determined, when motivated enough, and tried her best with everything she did.

Fluttershy had a lot of attractive traits, to be sure, but the timid mare was just so different to her. Dash was fast-paced, lived in the moment, and spent most of her time flying by the seat of her pants. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was timid, preferred walking to flying, and spent her time caring for woodland creatures, away from other ponies. Dash groaned.

She had been over this before. Yes, Fluttershy was all of those things, but none of them were negative traits. Dash had proven that she herself was shy when it came to things like relationships, and there was nothing wrong with walking. Caring for critters was Fluttershy’s special talent, and showed that her heart was filled with kindness. It WAS her Element of Harmony after all.

So, do you have an answer?

Dash supposed she did. If she thought about it enough, she could see that she did have feelings for Fluttershy, but where did that get her? She didn’t even know if she was ready for a relationship – she wasn’t sure if she could commit to something like that. She was a free spirit, and a relationship might end up being a rope holding her back.

What would it mean for the rest of their friends? She didn’t suppose it would affect the group too much – Rarity and Applejack had gotten together without creating too big a splash – but what if it didn’t work out? What if, later, the relationship fell apart, and they stopped being friends?

She wasn’t sure she was ready for that eventuality. It could break apart the whole group, not to mention the Elements of Harmony. Was she willing to take that risk?

She didn’t know. She took risks when she was flying, but they were always calculated, and could not affect anypony but her. So what was she to do?

She huffed, and rested her head on her forehooves, resigned to asking herself the same questions again, trying to come up with an answer that would help.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Princess Celestia

Twilight paused. She had been trying to write a letter to the Princess explaining the situation with Fluttershy, but she wasn’t overly sure how she should word it. She didn’t want to make it sound like Fluttershy was being silly – the fact that she was didn’t help – but every time she went to write the letter, it just never seemed to come out right.

“You know, maybe the fact that you don’t know what to write, means that you shouldn’t be writing anything?” Spike was lying on the floor beside Twilight’s desk, eating a small portion of ice cream from a bowl.

Late afternoon sunlight shone through the window, and Twilight closed her eyes and basked in the last drops of warmth before the cold night set in.

“You might be right Spike” Twilight replied. “But still, I feel the Princess needs to know what’s going on. I mean, I wrote her a letter when Applejack and Rarity got together, informing her of the situation then.” Spike tapped the edge of the bowl with his spoon for a moment, before pointing it at Twilight.

“Yes, you did, but you sent her the letter after they got together. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy aren’t a couple yet, so there’s nothing to write about.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at her assistant’s assuredness.

“What do you mean ‘yet’? And how can you say there’s nothing to worry about? Fluttershy locked herself in her cottage for a week, and Dash has been gone for just as long! The Elements of Harmony gain their power from the bond we share as friends, so what if something happens and the Elements are needed? The Princess needs to know about this Spike.” Spike sighed, and licked his bowl clean.

“I really doubt anything is going to happen in the next few weeks Twilight. If it were me, I’d wait till New Year’s Day, and if Rainbow isn’t back by then, then write a letter to the Princess. But if you really feel the need to write a letter now, you might want to think about making it sound less like a friendship report.” He picked up one of the many scrunched up pieces of paper that were Twilight’s previous failed attempts at writing the letter. He opened it up, smoothed it out, and looked it over.

“I mean, your friendship reports are all about the sappy stuff you’ve learned about friendship, but you haven’t learned anything from this yet.” He read the failed draft out loud. “Dear Princess Celestia: It isn’t always easy when you have a friend who needs your help, but won’t accept it. Recently Fluttershy has been having romantic problems with Rainbow Dash…” Having reached the point where Twilight had given up on that particular draft, he re-scrunched the paper, and tossed it into the bin.

“Twilight, I think you’re overthinking this. You already learned that you can rely on your friends that one time when Applejack tried to harvest all her apple trees on her own. Even then, you already knew that: she was the only one who learned anything.” Twilight sighed, and looked back to her latest sheet of paper.

Spike was right: she was trying too hard to make it sound like another one of her friendship reports, that she was missing the point in sending the letter in the first place. She hadn’t learned anything that she didn’t already know yet, but the Princess still needed to be warned as soon as possible.

She picked up her quill in her magic, and crossed out the ‘Dear’ on the paper. She then wrote a letter surmising everything that had happened. It was a factual recount, not a heart-felt retelling of a lesson learned.

When she was finished, she rolled the paper up into a scroll, tied it with a piece of ribbon, and took it over to where Spike was playing with Peewee. The phoenix had matured considerably over the time Spike had found him: he had shed his fluffy chick-feathers, and had grown to be almost as tall as the baby dragon himself. His personality was still one of a playful child, however, and he loved it when spike tossed morsels of food up into the air for him to dash around a catch.

Twilight trotted over as quietly as she could, and pulled Spike into a surprise hug, causing him to yelp. Before he could recover, Twilight ruffled his spines, and nuzzled him affectionately.

“Thank you Spike, I don’t know what I would do without you.” The compliment made Spike blush, and he took the finished report from Twilight’s aura.

“You wouldn’t last a day without me Twilight” he boasted, before breathing mail-fire on the scroll, sending it off to the Princess. Twilight gave him a playful nudge for his boasting, and moved over to lie down in front of the fire. The sun had since gone down, and the cold of night was setting in. She sighed again.

“What are we going to do about Fluttershy Spike?” Spike glanced away from Peewee, and gave Twilight a puzzled look.

“What do you mean? I thought you snapped Fluttershy out of it, like, two hours ago. What else is there to do?” Twilight shook her head, torn between annoyance at Spike’s naïveté and joy at the opportunity to give a lecture.

“We snapped her out of it for now, but we need to keep her out of it. We need to keep her distracted, keep her busy, so that she doesn’t have any time to worry about Rainbow Dash.” Spike shook his head at Twilight’s naïveté. He was just a baby dragon, and even he knew that nothing was going to keep Fluttershy’s mind off Rainbow Dash for long. He didn’t bother voicing this opinion however, as he knew that nothing would deter Twilight now. Twilight seemed oblivious to Spike’s apprehension, and was already laying out plans.

“The festival is a good place to start. There’s plenty of distracting stuff happening there, and it goes on all week, so we could just get Fluttershy so involved that she doesn’t have time to think about Dash. But then she might get bored or tired, so we need a contingency plan. Spike, what do you…?” She trailed off when she turned around to find Spike curled into a ball, fast asleep.

Chuckling, she levitated him over to his bed, and tucked him in. Once he was snoring peacefully again, she turned to her desk, and pulled out a large scroll of blank paper from one of the shelves.

She had a lot of planning to do.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy walked slowly through town, taking in the sights of the Hearth’s Warming festival this time around. Ponyville may be a small town, but its residents sure knew how to celebrate.

Every house-front in Ponyville had Hearth’s Warming decorations livening up their already-vibrant features. Huge pine trees decorated with baubles, tinsel, and other various festive titbits were in every front yard, and purple Hearth’s Warming hearts could be seen in every window. Fences were ornamented with cut-outs of everything from present boxes to stockings to ponies dressed in ridiculous green outfits with pointy hats. Countless snow ponies dotted the sides of the streets, and hundreds of candles adorned every remaining available surface. Fluttershy caught a glimpse of the library from down one of the main streets, and she couldn’t help but stop and stare at it.

Twilight, having recovered from her hit to the horn, had apparently been making up for her week without magic. The entire library was covered from root to leaf in streamers, tinsel, and strings of baubles, all of which appeared to be magically enchanted to light up, and flash different colours in different patterns. She saw images of ponies, of presents, of Hearth’s Warming trees, and of so many other things, Fluttershy couldn’t care to name them all. The lights only kept Fluttershy’s attention for a few moments, however.

Hovering above the library was an actual burning replica of the symbolic Hearth’s Warming heart. It blazed away in the sky, sending soft, soul-warming purple light down on the town. It represented the fire of friendship that had melted the ice and the hearts of the ponies on the very first Hearth’s Warming, and Fluttershy had no doubt that everypony in town would gather around the library on Hearth’s Warming Eve to sing carols around the burning heart.

Fluttershy usually avoided the festival as much as she possibly could, due to the high concentration of ponies all clustering around the town. The carols were usually something she attended from afar, standing on a hilltop outside Ponyville with her woodland critters. Looking back on all of those Hearth’s Warming spent secluded from everypony, she began to realise just how truly lonely she was.

This year would be different. This year, she would be involved in Hearth’s Warming. Even if Rainbow Dash didn’t come back in time, she was determined that she wouldn’t spend it alone. She would get out around town, join in the celebrations of the holiday, and be right in the midst of all the ponies singing carols on Hearth’s Warming Eve. Yes: this year would be different.

As Fluttershy continued through town, the cluster of stalls on the streets grew thicker and thicker. These shops would soon fill with ponies and their Hearth’s Warming wares, ready to sell to residents who still had to finish their Hearth’s Warming present shopping, or to eager tourists who wanted a slice of a Ponyville Hearth’s Warming to bring home with them.

A fresh layer of snow covered everything, and few ponies were out this early in the morning to clear it off in order for the day’s festivities to start. Within an hour, Fluttershy suspected that every pony in Ponyville would be out and about, shopping, singing, dancing, ice skating, or another of the scores of festive activities that were hosted during the week leading up to Hearth’s Warming.

Fluttershy had gotten little sleep the night before. True, her friends had snapped her out of her numbing depression not twelve hours previously, but that didn’t stop her worries and fears of Rainbow Dash attempting to overwhelm her.

She had been up since before first light, and her tension had grown to the point that she felt she was about to burst, so she had taken off towards town. The flight had cleared her head somewhat, and helped her to get a better grasp on reality. The bright, cheery sights of the festival, even coated in snow as they were, also helped put her in a slightly lighter mood.

After the night before, she had no doubt that her friends would do everything they could to try and cheer her up. She even suspected Twilight was planning on getting her out of bed every day up until the New Year if she had to. This made her smile. She was incredibly lucky to have such brilliant, caring friends, and was so grateful, she didn’t know what she could possibly do to repay them. A thought struck her, and she gasped.

Hearth’s Warming presents! She hadn’t even thought of getting her friends something in all the commotion over Dash. Now she owed her friends more than she ever had before, so she needed to make their presents as special and individual as she could. Each present had to convey just how grateful she was for their friendship.

It was still too early for any of the shops to be open, which was fine: she would need time in order to think of a gift she was going to get everypony. She wasn’t sure she would be able to get presents that special in any of the trinket shops around town. These presents had to be perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~

That’s it, I’m done. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief as she placed the last gift down on the table in her cottage. It had taken her almost the entire week to get everything ready, but it had been worth it. She had managed just in time too: it was the morning of Hearth’s Warming eve, and she would be giving the presents out the next day.

She had had to get all her friend’s presents without their knowledge, which had been difficult. They had more or less tailed her around all day every day, not pestering her, or telling her what to do. They had just been there.

Their presence had been a huge comfort to Fluttershy, but it had made it exceptionally difficult to get all their presents ready, and keep them oblivious. She had managed, however, and she was completely happy with how each present had turned out.

Not a single one of them was from a shop in town. All of the stores only sold souvenirs or cheap trinkets, which were great gifts for acquaintances or children, but had little more than Hearth’s Warming sentiment to give them value. It had not been enough.

She had tailored each gift to convey exactly how grateful she was to each of her friends for their support. Each one carried elements that reflected the ponies they were for, as well as elements of herself and her friendship with them.

A knock sounded from the door, and she quickly but carefully inserted the final gift into the drawer that contained the other three presents. Cantering over, she opened the door to reveal Twilight. The unicorn had spent most of her time with Fluttershy, keeping her company and being a good friend.

“Hi Fluttershy!” Twilight greeted enthusiastically. She had kept her demeanour as bright and happy as possible – all of her friends had – in an attempt to lighten Fluttershy’s spirits. Fluttershy had to admit that it was working as she smiled back and stepped aside, allowing Twilight to enter.

Twilight, as usual, had a large itinerary planned for the day. Fluttershy had never followed one through from start to finish yet, usually excusing herself from the festivities for hours at a time, in order to work on the gifts. Today though, now that she had finished off the last present, she was more than happy to go through with Twilight’s plan.

She paid little attention when Twilight explained the schedule as they wandered slowly along the path towards Ponyville. It was long and complex, as they all were, and contained activities situated all across town. Each event had a precise schedule and timeline, but for once, Twilight didn’t seem at all worried if the time schedule wasn’t kept. It showed the lengths to which her friends were going to cheer her up, and it was touching.

They started the day with ice skating in the ring that had been set up in the town square. It was a huge area of ice that left only a small walk space around the circumference of the square, and there were currently dozens of ponies skating about. Fluttershy had never been good at ice skating – neither had Twilight, for that matter – but Pinkie had been giving them lessons, and they managed to wobble about without falling over too often.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but laugh as she and Twilight struggled to keep their balance, often leaning on each other for support, which usually sent them both tumbling to the ice. Eventually they turned in their skates, and limped away from the ring, nursing several new bruises.

At this point, Twilight had some business to attend to with the mayor, so Rarity came and took over from the librarian to keep Fluttershy company. Fluttershy and her new companion then spent an hour or two at the sauna, accompanied by a full hooficure and facial treatment. Fluttershy had been missing her spa sessions with Rarity, and left the salon feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

She then met up with Applejack, at which point Rarity left to tend to her shop, and Applejack took Fluttershy around all the more carnival attractions of the festival. They threw horseshoes at poles – Applejack had somehow very comically managed to stick her tongue to hers – they shot rubber darts at cut-outs of present-stealing gremlins, and they threw rubber turkeys at targets shaped like the various prizes that could be won. Fluttershy left with a pointed hat, a heart-shaped cookie, and a snow globe containing a miniature Canterlot.

Applejack then handed Fluttershy over to Pinkie Pie, who took her back to Sugarcube Corner for lunch. The meal consisted of a selection of sandwiches, salads, and various hot drinks. Fluttershy chose a traditional daisy sandwich with a small garden salad, and a hot chocolate. There were no muffins in sight.

Over the past week, Pinkie Pie had been trying the hardest to make Fluttershy feel better. The usually bouncy pony seemed to have taken responsibility for events concerning Rainbow Dash turning out the way they did, and she was determined to make it up.

Fluttershy didn’t blame Pinkie in the slightest, but whenever she went to bring it up, she was always interrupted by Pinkie offering her something, or wanting to take her somewhere. Fluttershy just didn't know how to make Pinkie see that it wasn’t necessary.

After lunch, all of Fluttershy’s friends came together, and they went out to the fields surrounding Ponyville and made snow angels and snow ponies and had a massive snowball fight. Even Rarity participated in the snowball throwing competition.

They split into two teams – Twilight and Rarity, being unicorns, were on a team of two, with the other three on the second team – and each team built a snow fort. They then took turns trying to raid the other team’s fort with lobbed snowballs and rushing advances. Eventually Twilight and Rarity broke down the walls of Fluttershy’s team’s fort thanks to their ability to throw ten snowballs at once with their magic, and they all fell to the snow-covered ground laughing.

It had been the most fun Fluttershy had had in such a long time, but throughout the day, she had always felt a deep undertone of sadness that said something was missing.

Rainbow Dash.

Despite all the fun she had been having with her friends during the week, once she had retired to her cottage, she had cried herself to sleep every night. Angel would stroke her mane, and her birds would sing a soft lullaby, and eventually her wracking sobs would subside into the deep breathing of troubled sleep.

Each and every night, she dreamed the same dream: of flying through the clouds, laughing and playing with Rainbow Dash. They would circle each other blissfully, and perform stunts and manoeuvres that Fluttershy never would have dreamed of attempting in real life. The dreams always ended the same way: just when Fluttershy was happiest, and having the most fun, Rainbow Dash would start to fly away.

Fluttershy would call out, but Dash never heard. She just kept flying until she was out of sight in the distance. Fluttershy would then wake up, tears streaming down her face, and she would cry, either until morning, when she would dry her tears, get up and get ready for the day, or until she fell back asleep and the dream would repeat itself.

Fluttershy forced her mind away from the depressing thoughts, and turned her attention back to her friends, who were all lying in the snow around her. The sun was getting close to sinking below the horizon, which meant that, being Hearth’s Warming Eve, it was time to gather around the library, and sing the carols together.

Her friends were surprised when she said she would be coming with them – she had stayed away from every carol-singing gathering on every Hearth’s Warming Eve in the past – but they quickly hid their shock, and accompanied her to the library.

As she walked, Fluttershy marvelled over how not once during the entire week she had spent at the festival with her friends, did she feel the need to hide, or shy away behind her hair like she usually did in large groups of ponies.

Being in the crowds just hadn’t seemed like such a big deal anymore, after what had happened with Rainbow Dash. She grinned a tiny, wry smile, wondering if something good would come from this ordeal after all.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hearth’s Warming carols, particularly those in Ponyville, are songs that are intended to give ponies a sense of companionship throughout the winter months, and give a feel of warmth and compassion to all those who sing them.

To Fluttershy, they sounded as dry and lifeless as she felt as she attempted to put some emotion into her monotonal voice as she sang along with the rest of the town. It was now that she was most feeling the keen edge of Rainbow Dash’s abandonment, and the carols, which told of friends spending time together in the cold winter days, and of couples spending nights in front of warm fireplaces, only served to make Fluttershy feel hollow.

She lowered her voice to little more than a whisper, so she wouldn’t sound out of key when she couldn’t seem to change the pitch of her voice from its dull, expressionless tone. Her friends, who were all gathered around her, sang as loud as they could manage, and Fluttershy settled for embracing the warmth of the friendship that permeated their singing voices.

She listened as they sang the most traditional of Hearth’s Warming carols, and tried to feel the warmth and love that the lyrics told of, but all she felt was ice in her heart.

The fire of friendship lives in our hearts
As long as it burns we shall not drift apart

Fluttershy barely managed to supress a scoff at these words. Rainbow Dash had left, and Fluttershy had thought that the fire of friendship was plenty strong in her heart. A small voice reminded her that Dash would come back eventually, but she ignored it, bitterness rising in her heart.

We are a circle of pony friends
A circle of friends we’ll be till the very end

She forcibly reminded herself again that Dash would be returning, and resolved to ignore the rest of the carols that were being sung around her. They were only serving to remind her that Rainbow had flown away and left her.

Idly, she wondered how she would react when Dash finally returned. Would she be angry? She had every right to be. Dash had run away without so much as a word of assurance, and had left Fluttershy wondering what she had done wrong. The brash mare had even known about Fluttershy’s feelings for days before that confrontation!

On the other hoof, she was running away from things that scared her all the time. She had assumed that, because Rainbow Dash was confident and outgoing, that she would be able to easily deal with the fact that one of her best friends had feelings for her. Twilight had made her realise that it was quite the opposite: Dash was too busy being brash and foolhardy that she probably never put any thought into the subject.

It was a tricky situation, and Fluttershy had no idea how she would respond to Rainbow Dash’s return. She resolved to deal with the situation as it came, which was not something she liked doing, but saw no other alternative. She just couldn’t work it out. She just didn’t know.

The hearty singing and dancing that was taking place around her was beginning to wear on Fluttershy’s mind, and she quietly excused herself and threaded her way out of the crowd. Once she was clear of the mass of ponies surrounding the library, she took to the sky, and slowly winged her way home.

It seemed a very short trip, though judging from the position of the moon, it was more than an hour before she finally shook the snow off her hooves and stepped inside. She had flown with no great speed, reluctant to both be around other ponies, and to be cooped up inside her cottage again, but she resigned herself to another night of crying herself into a nightmare-filled sleep.

She poured herself a glass of water – she didn’t think she would be able to stomach a cup of hot chocolate at that moment – and checked on her animal friends. Angel was fast asleep in his padded bed, and her birds were all sleeping peacefully in their huts and nests. A loud snoring from outside indicated the sound sleep of a bear that was staying with her whilst he recovered from an injured paw.

It was a momentary distraction, but it helped to soothe her. She had been tending to animals ever since she had dropped out of flight school and came to live on the ground. It was her special talent, and was what made her the Element of Kindness.

Over the last week, she didn’t feel as though she had been living up to her Element. She had spent so much time brooding over Rainbow Dash, that she had been neglecting the animals she had taken under her wing. They were more than capable of taking care of themselves now – Angel knew which animals ate what – but it still shamed her to admit that she hadn’t even given them so much as a second thought during this entire ordeal.

She sighed, and stoked the fire, bringing blazing warmth back to the hearth. The light made some of her birds stir, and she was soon surrounded by all of her creatures, who had sung her to sleep every night. She didn’t bother going to bed: she just curled up in front of the fireplace, completely alone despite the company her woodland friends gave her. The tears began to flow freely from her eyes.

She felt the crushing weight of her sadness descend upon her, and she cried into her forelegs as Angel stroked her mane, and the birds softly sang a soothing lullaby. She stayed that way for a time: it could have been ten minutes, ten hours, or ten years, it wouldn’t have mattered. She just began to feel the cold embrace of nightmare-filled sleep grip her, when there was a sound at the door.

It sounded like a knock, but was timid enough to have come from her own hoof.

She dried her tears, and slowly struggled to her hooves, before creeping slowly up to the door.

The knock came again, louder this time. Three distinct taps which gave her a strange feeling in her chest. She couldn’t describe the sensation, but she somehow knew that something huge was about to happen.

She opened the door, and her mind began to struggle to process exactly what she saw.

“Hi, Fluttershy…”

On her doorstep, a shamed and embarrassed expression on her face was Rainbow Dash.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dash stood on the doorstep, looking extremely awkward as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, and her tail wrapped tightly around one of her back legs. When she spoke, Rainbow’s voice was cracked and halting, and carried a sorrow that belied everything the speed-addict pegasus had ever personified.

“Hey, Fluttershy. I know you must be mad at me… I mean, you have every reason to be, but I want you to…” Dash never got to finish, as Fluttershy threw herself at her with a shriek, sending both mares flying off the doorstep and into the snow that had gathered on the ground beyond.

“Whoa Fluttershy! I know you must be angry, but you don’t have to attack…” She paused as she realised that Fluttershy wasn’t trying to hurt her. The canary mare was heaving with wracking sobs, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gripped Dash in a crushing hug.

“Oh Dash, you came back!” Dash smiled sadly, and hugged the sobbing mare back.

“I couldn’t stay away. I’m the Element of Loyalty, remember?” Fluttershy’s crying only came harder, and she pounded lightly on her returned friend’s chest.

“You shouldn’t have left! But you came back, and that’s all that matters.” With a last squeeze, Dash pried herself out of Fluttershy’s grasp.

“How about we go inside?” Dash suggested. “It’s cold out, and it IS Hearth’s Warming.” Fluttershy didn’t want to let go. She had just gotten her friend back, and she couldn’t risk losing her again, but finally she relented, releasing Dash and accepting her helping hoof to get up off the snow-covered ground. They headed inside.

Fluttershy immediately headed for the kitchen to make some hot chocolate, but Dash stayed just inside the door, looking at the floor with an awkward and sorrowful expression. Fluttershy returned to her once she had set the brew to heating. Dash lifted her head for a glance at the approaching mare, but quickly dropped her gaze back to the ground.

“Fluttershy… I’m… What I wanted to say is… I’m sorr…” Fluttershy cut her off by pressing a hoof against her muzzle. She looked at her lost love with the kindest, most understanding expression she could manage, and tears came to Dash’s eyes.

“It’s okay Dash. You needed time to sort all of this out, I understand that. It took me months to come to terms with my feelings for you, I’ve just kept them bottled up for so long…” Dash opened her mouth to speak, but after a moment, closed it again. Fluttershy felt like crying again and gripping Dash in a tight embrace, but she resisted.

“I don’t expect an answer Dash… I’m just glad you’re back.” Dash grimaced, and her tail tightened around her hind leg. She seemed to struggle with herself for a moment before sighing.

“I have an answer for you Fluttershy, I’ve just never had to do something like this before. I’m… I’m nervous, is all.” Fluttershy’s heart skipped a beat as her mind processed the possible ramifications of this revelation. Dash had an answer for her? It would change her life, no matter what it was. She hoped for the best, but prepared herself for the worst.

“I-I-I-I…” Dash stuttered. She seemed to fight some internal struggle for several moments, before hanging her head with a shameful expression on her face. Fluttershy closed her eyes, as much to shut out the world as to try and prevent the tears that wanted to flow freely once more. Dash’s expression could only mean one thing. It meant that she didn’t want…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a warmth pressing against her lips. Her eyes flew open to see Dash’s face, right up close, kissing her in a slightly awkward pose, neck stretched out, hooves grounded solidly.

Oh my...

Fluttershy’s mind took a few moments to process what was happening, before she moved into the kiss, wrapping her hooves around Rainbow’s neck and kissing the mare back. Rainbow’s eyes bolted open in surprise, but soon relaxed into a content expression.

The kiss was simple, if improbably long, but sent lightning bolts through Fluttershy’s senses, and shivers down her spine. Her knees wobbled slightly, and eventually she had to break off for need of air. She gasped, and heard Rainbow do the same.

She discovered that she had closed her eyes again, and when she opened them, she saw Rainbow looking back with a warm smile. Fluttershy contentedly gazed into her eyes for several moments before speaking.

“So, does this mean…” She found herself unable to finish the question, and Dash’s smile grew slightly wider.

“It took me a little while, but while I was away, I realised that I really do like you Fluttershy. We’ve been through so much together, and…” Fluttershy’s breath was caught in her throat, and her heart pounded, her pulse throbbing in her ears. Dash continued.

“I wasn’t sure at first, if getting together with you was such a good idea. I mean, what if it didn’t work out? What would that mean for the Elements of Harmony? What would that mean for us as friends?” Fluttershy’s sensible side was screaming out for breath, but her heart would not let her lungs inhale.

“But then I remembered Rarity and Applejack. They got together despite the possible consequences, and I…” She seemed to run out of things to say, and Fluttershy sneaked a quick breath to stop her face turning blue. Rainbow looked straight into her eyes, which made her knees weak again.

“I want to be with you Fluttershy.” Fluttershy’s heart felt as if it had leapt out of her chest. “I’m willing to give it a try.” The tears broke, and streamed down Fluttershy’s face as she threw herself at Rainbow Dash, and they toppled to the floor in front of the fireplace. She pressed her lips against Dash’s, but quickly pulled back at an unexpected and uncharacteristic squeak.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash, I didn’t mean to… I mean I wasn’t… I don’t…” Dash pressed a hoof against her muzzle and smiled, before leaning in and returning Fluttershy’s kiss.

This kiss was more passionate, and Fluttershy felt her face heat up as pleasurable electricity bolted down her spine. She pressed herself against Dash’s chest, and felt the warm embrace of wings being wrapped around her. All her senses screamed out, not in pain, but in pleasure as she pushed deeper into the kiss.

Again, she had to break off for air, and they lay panting in front of the fireplace, Fluttershy pushing herself against Dash, who had wrapped her in the tender embrace of her wings. They stared at each other, smiling, watching the reflections of the flickering flames in each other’s eyes. It was a moment that Fluttershy had desperately hoped for, but had expected would never happen. She was glad she had been wrong.

“Thank you” Fluttershy murmured, and Dash tenderly nuzzled her neck. “Thank you for coming back.” Dash gave her a quick peck on the cheek before replying.

“Hey, Element of Loyalty, remember? How could I abandon you?” Fluttershy sighed contentedly, and nestled deeper into Dash’s embrace, the proximity of the other mare warming her chest, the heat of the fireplace warming her back.

Dash began to stroke her mane, and she drifted off into a sleep deeper than any she had slept in over two weeks, her mind filled with only one line of thoughts.

Rainbow Dash had returned, and wanted to be with her.

The moment was perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy was speeding through the sky. Her speed didn’t bother her. Why should it? She was a pegasus after all. Nearby, Rainbow Dash flew in synchronisation with her. They soared in between the clouds, spinning around. Peals of laughter escaped her mouth, and she heard similar sounds of exhilaration coming from Dash.

They sped through the skies over Ponyville, mirroring each other’s moves as they twisted around the clouds and each other, spinning around and around in increasingly complex patterns, coming close until they were almost touching, before dashing away until they were twenty paces or more apart.

It was an exhilarating dance of rhythmically fast wing beats and break-neck precision flying, and Fluttershy couldn’t help but toss her head back, mane flying out behind her, and laugh as loudly and heartily as she could. It was the most terrifyingly thrilling experience she had ever had, and she was having more fun than she could ever remember having before.

A memory attempted to surface, but she ignored it, and it sank back down into the depths of her subconscious. It was a troubling memory, and she had no room for unhappiness in her blissful euphoria.

She turned to Dash, who gazed back with a loving expression on her face. It made Fluttershy’s heart leap, and jump about in her chest as her knees wobbled as they hung below her. She moved to fly up to Dash, but the cyan pegasus turned and began to fly away.

The troubling memory jolted straight into her consciousness, and she remembered Dash flying away, time and time again, every time moving off into the distance until she was a tiny speck on the horizon, before fading away into the distance completely.

Fluttershy raced after her, calling her name.

“Rainbow Dash! No Rainbow Dash, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me again!” Dash continued to fly away, and tears began streaking down Fluttershy’s face as her wings began to slow, and her breath grew ragged. She refused to give up, and she kept flying, not willing to let go of the mare she loved again.

Her wings faltered, exhausted beyond tired, and she struggled for breath as she began to lose altitude. She gave a few more pathetic beats of her wings, and her lungs were right on the brink of seizing up completely. She was going to fall.

Suddenly, a cyan-coloured hoof appeared in her vision.

Looking up, she saw Rainbow Dash, loving smile still decorating her face as she offered her hoof to help. Fluttershy took it gratefully, and the moment they touched, her lungs freed up, her wings regained their energy, and she felt strong and invigorated. She threw herself at Dash, who accepted her with welcoming hooves, and the two spun around in a tight embrace, their united wing strength lifting their combined weight as they hugged.

Fluttershy stretched her neck up, all traces of nervousness and shyness gone, and kissed Rainbow as passionately as she could while they hovered in the air. They descended onto a large cloud, and lay together, curled up in each other’s embrace.

Part of Fluttershy knew she was dreaming. But the larger part reminded her that she was curled up with Dash in the waking world anyway, so it didn’t matter.

She had Rainbow Dash back. Nothing else mattered.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys, first thing I've gotta do is apologise. I've had this chapter written, sitting on my computer since before chapter 2 was uploaded, but shortly after I published chapter 2, I suddenly lost all motivation for anything related to my own writing. I couldn't bring myself to proof and upload it, but inspiration and motivation struck as suddenly as it left, so here it is! The long-awaited chapter 3.

The long haitus was a poor "I'm sorry for the low hit to the feels in the last chapter", but I'm hoping this chapter will at least start making amends, and I'll try and have chapter 4 done and dusted as soon as I can. Not that my word seems to mean much to myself, but anyway.

As always, feedback is hugely appreciated, I love to hear what you all think, and I love suggestions that I can use to bring you all a better quality product.

Enjoy!
True Blood

p.s. I'm also looking for an editor to help with my grammar. Aparently I don't have a single clue as to the technically correct way to use half the grammar in my stories (According to the pre-readers at EQD). If you're interested, drop me a message on FiMFiction, else email me at [e-mail]

4 - A Hearth's Warming to Remember

Morning sunlight filtered through the trees as Rarity, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie trotted along the path to Fluttershy’s cottage, each wrapped in a scarf and wearing boots to ward off the cold. They all carried presents of varying shapes and sizes on their backs and for once, Twilight had nothing planned for the day. They were going to have a nice, relaxing Hearth’s Warming, exchanging presents and pretty well doing anything Fluttershy wanted.

It was a beautiful morning: sparse cloud cover littered the sky, and the sun sent gentle rays of winter warmth down to the ponies below. Fresh snow covered everything in a striking layer of gleaming white, and there was very little wind, making is very pleasurable to be outside.

Twilight gave a content sigh and gazed skyward. She froze.

Floating in the sky over the patch of forest that contained Fluttershy’s cottage was a large cloud manor. Several rainbow streams cascaded down through tiered glittering pools, to eventually fall towards the ground and dissipate into the air as the construction bobbed slightly in the light breeze.

It was Rainbow Dash’s house.

Twilight’s gasp alerted the others, and they all stared at the floating mansion of their missing friend. After only a few seconds of staring, Pinkie let out another loud gasp, and took off down the trail so quickly her dust cloud lagged several seconds behind her speeding form.

“Pinkie wait!” Twilight called after her, but she didn’t slow. Twilight grimaced at Rarity, who in turn glanced at Applejack, and they all set off at a gallop after what was now a set of hoof prints in the dirt and a cloud of settling dust.

When they finally arrived, panting at the cottage, they saw Pinkie frozen in front of the door, her hoof poised, inches away from knocking. Gasping for breath, Rarity gave her a questioning glance.

“Pinkie Pie darling, just what are you doing?” Pinkie stayed frozen for several seconds more, before her hoof sagged, and she turned to face the others. She seemed torn between excitement over this development, and apprehension about something. Twilight trotted forward.

“Pinkie, what’s wrong?” Pinkie flashed an expression that was half devilish grin, half embarrassed grimace.

“We can’t just barge in on them girls. What if they’re, you know, naked?” Twilight smacked her forehead with a hoof.

“Pinkie, we don’t even know what the situation actually is. And even if it is the best case scenario, they’ve only just gotten together. I seriously doubt anything happened between them.” She paused, and thought for a moment, then smacked her hoof against her forehead again. “And nopony around here even wears clothes anyway. We’re all always naked!”

“Ooooooooh!” Pinkie bobbed her head. “That makes sense, of course!” With that, she turned back to the door, and bolted through it.

Or at least, she tried to. Instead, she slammed into it, and bounced off as a lavender glow held the door shut. As Pinkie picked herself up off the porch, Twilight transferred her magic from the door to Pinkie’s tail, and lifted her up and away from the cottage. Applejack and Rarity followed, the former looking as confused as Pinkie, the latter bearing a prim and content expression.

“Just because it’s not probable that anything is happening, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be giving them their privacy.” Pinkie struggled a little before crossing her forehooves in a huff, and resigning herself to being carried away.

“Don’t worry Pinkie dear” Rarity comforted. “We’ll come back later, once they’ve had some time to themselves.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy awoke to the sound of a loud thud that reverberated around her cottage as the remnants of an immensely happy dream floated lazily around her consciousness. It had been such a wonderful dream, and it was vivid in her mind, and something she would never forget. She had had such an exhilarating time, flying with the mare she held dear in her heart. Even the part when she had flown away, Dash had come back and… Dash had… Dash…

Rainbow Dash!

She bolted to her hooves in frantic panic as she realised that the chromatic-maned mare was no longer by her side. She wheeled her head from side to side, searching the confines of her living room in desperate hope that Rainbow returning had not been a dream as well.

Finding no sign of the mare in sight, she flopped to the floor with a painful sigh as tears began brimming in her eyes. Maybe she had dreamed up the whole thing, not just the blissful flight through the skies.

She was just about to completely break down and cry when she heard a voice come from the kitchen doorway.

“Fluttershy?” Glancing up with teary eyes, Fluttershy caught sight of Rainbow Dash, standing in the door, giving her a half curious, half worried look.

The scene lasted all of a second, before Dash was unceremoniously tackled to the ground for the second time in as many days as Fluttershy threw herself at the subject of her affections in a teary tangle of legs and wings.

“Oh Rainbow Dash! I thought you were just a dream! I’m so happy!” She blubbered into Dash’s coat as they lay on the ground, the blue pegasus stroking the canary mare’s mane. After a few moments of bawling, Fluttershy sniffled.

“When I woke up and you weren’t there, I was so worried. I thought you coming back might have been a dream, because I had such a wonderful dream about you and…” She trailed off as her mind processed the words her babbling had produced, and she blushed furiously.

“I’m sorry, I’m… I mean I didn’t… Oh, I hope you don’t mind that I had a dream about you…” She looked up at Dash with wide, pleading eyes and a quivering lip. Dash grinned, and loosed a comforting laugh.

“Hey Flutters, don’t sweat it, it’s totally cool. I mean, I knew I was awesome, but if I’m awesome enough to star in one of your dreams, I really must be something.” Fluttershy blushed and resisted the urge to hide behind her mane. Rainbow ducked her head and, blushing furiously, rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.

“And I’ll admit… on the down-low of course, I have a reputation to keep, so don’t tell anypony okay?” Fluttershy quickly nodded, and Dash’s blush grew more intense as she continued. “I… well, I kinda had a pretty neat dream about you last night too…” Fluttershy stared in amazement at this unexpected proclamation, and after a moment, threw her forelegs around Rainbow again, and hugged her close.

Fluttershy looked up into the eyes of her new marefriend , and both their blushes grew as Dash leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. They stayed in each other’s embrace for a time, before Fluttershy perked her ears at a thought that suddenly occurred to her.

“Hey Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

“What were you doing when I woke up?” Dash grinned sheepishly, and gestured with a wing to the kitchen door.

“Well, I woke up a little earlier than you did, and thought it’d be nice if I made us both a little breakfast.” Fluttershy’s eyes wobbled as her love for her fast-paced friend swelled a little.

“Oh, you didn’t have to, but that’s very nice of you. I didn’t know you could cook.” Rainbow’s sheepish grin only grew in intensity, and she released a burst of nervous laughter.

“Well, truthfully… I can’t.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened as several images flashed through her head of horror-movie quality scenes of a mutilated kitchen with viscous fluids dripping down the walls, twisted and disfigured knives strewn about, stuck in the walls and benches as various items of food lay ravaged and strewn about in total and utter chaos.

With a yelp, Fluttershy leapt from Dash’s embrace and tore through the kitchen door to survey the damage. She drew a sharp intake of breath at what she saw.

The cooking area was almost spotless. Aside from some utensils that were sitting in the sink, half washed – Dash had clearly been in the process of washing up when Fluttershy had awoken – there was nothing out of place at all.

Well, almost nothing.

Sitting on the counter were two meals consisting of some slightly overcooked eggs and hay bacon with a side of somewhat messy daffodil and daisy salad. The meal was not perfect, but the fact that it was hoof-made by Rainbow Dash made it the most delicious-looking meal she had every laid eyes on. Tears brimming in her eyes, she turned back to Dash, who had followed her in, somewhat more slowly, and was standing in the doorway.

“Oh Dash, it l-looks w-wonderful. Y-you said you c-couldn’t cook.” Rainbow flashed another sheepish grin as she moved over to a small bookshelf consisting of several cook books, and pulled one off the shelf.

“Yeah, well, cooking with a cookbook isn’t so hard, and yeah, before you say anything, yes, I read a book that wasn’t about Daring Do, but even I read the occasional egghead book from time to time, when the motivation is there.” She blushed again, which Fluttershy thought looked very cute on the backdrop of her cyan coat. “I wanted to do something special for you… Y’know, a sort of, ‘sorry I bailed on you without saying anything’…” She trailed off as she saw the tears in Fluttershy’s eyes.

“Um, Flutters, I’m sor…” she was cut off by Fluttershy’s hoof lightly pressing against her muzzle.

“Oh Rainbow Dash, I already told you, you needed the time, and it’s all okay because you came back to me.” Rainbow smiled, and used the hoof pressed against her lips to pull Fluttershy into an embrace.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Dash pulled away, but kept a hold of Fluttershy’s hoof as she gestured towards the plates sitting on the counter. “If we wait any longer, the food’ll get cold.” She moved over to the bench, and poked her thoroughly cooked eggs with a wingtip, which released a crackling noise that made her wince.

“It’s not the greatest, heh. The book was a little fuzzy on the cooking times.” Fluttershy giggled and gave Dash’s hoof a squeeze.

“That’s okay. You made it for me, and that’s what matters.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity took a dainty sip of her cocoa as she, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Applejack all gathered around a table at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie was slumped dejectedly in her seat, her mane and tail not quite as fluffy as usual.

“Rarity” she whined. “How much longer are we gonna have to wait?” For her part, Rarity released a small sigh, having heard the same question several times in the last few minutes, and levitated her cup back to the table top.

“Pinkie darling, we must give them as much time as they need, so we will simply have to wait until they come to us. There’s just nothing else for it dear.” Pinkie huffed, and seemed about to bang her head on the table, when suddenly her entire body shook from head to hoof. She vibrated fiercely for a few moments, before coming to a halt. Everypony’s drinks had been shaken over, and had spilled all across the table, but nopony paid them any heed.

“Pinkie…” Twilight began. “Was that, a doozy?” Pinkie nodded.

“Yep. I’ve had a few of those this morning. Oh! And one last night too! Once I saw Dash’s house today though, I figured it would be because she’d come back. What could be triggering it now?” Applejack shook her head.

“Hold an apple-pickin’ minute there Pinkie Pie. Y’all were able to tell that th’ first ‘doozy’ was at Froggy Bottom Bog, why can’t ya tell anymore about this one?” Pinkie pie shrugged.

“I dunno. That was a different kind of doozy I guess.” Her face lit up in a look of mischievous realisation. “Oh, I know! I bet it’s because Fluttershy and Rainbow dash are making out!”

Everypony else present at the table groaned.

“Not this again Pinkie!” Twilight sighed, smacking herself in the forehead with a hoof. Pinkie took on a grumpy expression, and mumbled something about having the same sort of doozy when Rarity and Applejack got together, but nopony paid her much mind. They had gone back to gossiping over how their Hearth’s Warming plans would have to change to cater for this new development.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash gasped slightly and attempted to hide a furious blush as her lips separated from Fluttershy’s once again. The pair were lying on a particularly fluffy cumulous a few hundred hooves off the ground, watching the sky overhead, and the ground down below, while what they were really watching was each other’s eyes.

After breakfast, Dash had suggested they go for a fly. She was getting itchy hooves from being on the ground and moving so slowly for such a long time. Also, what little she had garnered of Fluttershy’s dream the night before over breakfast made it seem like it would make her new marefriend happy.

Marefriend, Dash mused. That would take some getting used to.

Normally Dash would have been bored to tears flying at Fluttershy’s pace, but for once taking a leisurely flight through the low-hanging clouds on a winter’s day didn’t seem so bad.

In fact, she could honestly say she had enjoyed it. It was a strange thing for her to admit, being as fast-paced as she was, but for once she had actually enjoyed flying slowly. She suspected it was thanks to the mare she was flying with.

She had been taken completely by surprise when it was Fluttershy who first took off in a faster flight path through the clouds. The usually timid mare had spun around the sky, laughing joyfully, beckoning her to follow, so she had.

They flew around the sky together, still nowhere near the pace Rainbow was used to, but still faster than she had ever seen Fluttershy fly. As with the prior snail’s pace of a flight, she had enjoyed it far more than she ever would have suspected. Or at least, suspected she would have were she flying alone, or with anypony else.

Eventually, Fluttershy had tired, not being so used to extended flight, and they had come to a rest on the cloud. Rainbow Dash trying to find a way to break the silence, when Fluttershy gave a pointed cough. Turning to face her, Dash saw that she was looking back with a somewhat worried expression on her face.

“So, um, Rainbow Dash…” She trailed off, apparently having trouble voicing the thoughts that were in her head. Dash had more than an inkling of what the butter-coloured mare was thinking.

“Um… so, what happens now?” Dash inwardly patted herself on the back. She had been right on the money. She thought for a moment. What would they do now? It wasn’t likely things would go back to being completely normal, but she didn’t see why everything had to change. She would still work with the Ponyville weather team, and Fluttershy would still care for her animals. She would still train and nap and everything she would have been doing normally. She would just spend more time with Fluttershy as well.

The thought reddened her cheeks again, and stirred an unfamiliar, warm feeling in her chest. For some reason, it both made her somewhat uncomfortable and gave her the urge to kiss the beautiful mare lying next to her.

Beautiful? Now there’s a word I don’t use very often, she mused to herself. This mare has changed me, there’s no doubt about it. She was suddenly struck with how worried that thought made her. Trying out new things had always been something she’d enjoyed, but so much was actually changing.

Fluttershy cleared her throat, bringing her train of thought back on track, and she shrugged.

“Well, I have no idea. I’m not exactly a professional at this.” Fluttershy smiled, and nuzzled Dash’s neck, once again bringing a blush to both their cheeks. “I guess we should tell the girls…” Fluttershy let out a squeak, and buried her face in the soft fluff of the cloud.

Well, that explains where the ‘shy’ part of ‘Fluttershy’ went, Dash thought, as she chuckled and nudged her friend with a shoulder.

“Come on Flutters’, it’s not so bad. They deserve to know, and from what you told me over breakfast, they all helped you a lot with, well… y’know…” She trailed off with a grimace. She still felt horrible over what she had done to Fluttershy, but she had panicked. That didn’t excuse it, and despite all the reassurances that no grudges were held, she still felt guilty. She put on a brave face and continued.

“We can’t keep them in the dark. Not after all of this.” Another squeak came muffled from the cloud, and Dash rolled her eyes, content to wait the other mare out. Eventually, after several bouts of terrified shivering, Fluttershy extracted her head from the cloud’s embrace, and gave a half-wince, half-nod.

“You’re right Dash. They all helped me so much, and it wouldn’t be right not to tell them now.” She sighed, but it wasn’t a sad sigh. Dash wasn’t entirely sure what was in the sigh, but it was one of the cutest things she had ever seen.

She blinked as she realised that she was staring, and blushed. Again. She was sure at that point that she had blushed more that day than she had in all her life. She also suspected that it was something that would be quite a more common occurrence. Again, she had a somewhat uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She put it down to nerves. This was completely new to her after all.

Was she really comfortable telling her friends about this? She wasn’t so sure, but like she had told Fluttershy, it wasn’t right to keep this kind of thing from them. She would never leave her friends hanging. That was a promise she intended to keep for the rest of her life.

But how would their friends even react? Pinkie Pie had seemed pretty keen on seeing her together with Fluttershy, and Rarity and Applejack were together, so they couldn’t really say anything. Also from what Fluttershy had told her over breakfast, Twilight had helped as much as she could – in a way only the bookworm knew how – so it was unlikely the lavender unicorn would object.

So why did the thought of telling other ponies make her feel so uncomfortable?

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy stole another glance at Rainbow Dash as the two slowly winged their way through the sky in the vague direction of Ponyville. It was unlike Dash to be satisfied flying at such a snail’s pace, but then again, being around Dash made her want to fly as fast as she could, and try things she never would have normally. Maybe it was the same for her?

Inwardly, Fluttershy frowned. Dash had had a troubled look on her face, and had seemed quite distant, ever since the subject of broadcasting their relationship had been broached. Outwardly, she kept her demeanour bright and happy. How could she not? She didn’t think she could frown, even if she wanted to.

What if Rainbow Dash is embarrassed to be with me? The voice of her nervous side worried. What if she doesn’t really want to be with me? What if – Fluttershy clamped her mind down on the thoughts before they could subdue her. It was a voice she had not heard in some time and she didn’t intend on letting it take control of her now.

Dash had admitted that she had feelings for her. Dash may not have been the Element of Honesty, but being the Element of Loyalty probably stopped her from lying anyway. To her friends, at least.

The outskirts of Ponyville were well within sight at this point when a large puff of pink smoke suddenly erupted from one of the windows at Sugarcube Corner with a reverberating ‘whump’. Zeroing in on the source of the disturbance, she descended towards the sweet shop. Dash followed behind, momentarily drawn out of her reverie.

As the pair alighted near the shopfront, the door opened, and three coughing ponies staggered out, trailing pink smoke, which was apparently completely filling the interior of the store.

“What in the hay was that?” exclaimed Applejack as she wafted smoke away from her face with her hat. Twilight, who had cast a shield around her head, forming a protective bubble to ward off the smoke, dispelled her magic, and gave another cough before answering.

“I’m not sure. She was looking out the window towards the forest, when she… well I really can’t explain it. It’s like she just exploded!” Rarity gasped, her pupils reducing to pin pricks.

“Oh Princess Luna’s stars! I hope the poor dear is okay!” The alabaster unicorn whirled around to peer inside the clearing smoke in the doorway.

“You hope who is okay?” queried a bubbly voice from behind Fluttershy, who suddenly became aware of the presence of a vividly pink mare hugging her tightly around the neck. And that she was on the ground, lying on her back in the snow.

All heads swivelled in her direction and she blushed at the sudden attention, but before she could say anything, all of her friends were swarming around her and Dash, all clamouring together and saying so much all at once, her head began to spin, though most of the attention was directed at Rainbow, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable.

The absence of Pinkie on her neck allowed her to stand, and she moved over to lean against Rainbow. This provoked several giggles from Pinkie, a wink from Rarity, and smiles from everypony else. Dash laid a wing over her withers, making her blush furiously, though she managed to resist the urge to hide behind her mane.

Twilight was the first to ask the all-important question.

“So does this mean you two are… together?” Fluttershy suppressed a terrified squeak, and looked to Dash, who gazed back with caring eyes and responded without looking away.

“You betcha.” This produced cheers all round, and they all converged in a group hug which, incidentally, pressed Fluttershy up against Rainbow Dash and squeezed her there. She was not about to complain.

Suddenly, everypony was thrown apart, leaving Pinkie Pie reared up on her hind legs, forehooves in the air and an enormous grin on her face.

“You all know what this calls for?!” She shouted, and Twilight groaned.

“Let me guess. A-”

“A party!” Pinkie interrupted, as she bolted back inside Sugarcube Corner, which had cleared of all the pink smoke. Almost immediately after, she came tearing back out, somehow balancing a tall stack of Hearth’s Warming presents on her back.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh! I completely forgot! We still have to do presents!” She punctuated the last word by bouncing into the air as a burst of streamers and confetti erupted from her mane. Somehow, the pile of presents managed to stay put, doing little more than wobble slightly. Fluttershy bolted upright from her tangled position on the ground, and turned to face all her friends.

“Oh, we can open the presents at my house. It’s quiet, and… well, I have presents for you all too.” Rarity elegantly picked herself up and brushed herself off, removing several twigs from her mane before moving over to wrap Fluttershy in a hug.

“Oh Fluttershy darling, you really didn’t have to.” Fluttershy returned the hug, but shook her head.

“Oh, you girls have just been so supportive of me lately. I’m so lucky to have such great friends and I had to do something special for all of you to show you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done.” They all converged in another group hug and tears began welling in Fluttershy’s eyes.

“I just can’t thank you all enough. I don’t know what I would have done if you girls hadn’t been there for me.”

“Oh Fluttershy, what else could we have done?” Twilight appraised Fluttershy caringly. “That’s what friends do! Oh, I’ll have such a great letter to write to the Princess this afternoon, I can’t wait!” She began clapping her forehooves together as giddy giggles escaped her mouth. Fluttershy, along with all the rest of her friends, stared at the lavender unicorn with amused expressions.

Eventually, the group broke apart, and began the leisurely walk through the trees towards Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy almost couldn’t contain her excitement. After so much effort spent getting all the gifts together, she would finally get to watch her friends unwrap them.

~~~~~~~~~~

Everypony was gathered in the living room of Fluttershy’s cottage, a low fire burning in the hearth to give the room just that little bit extra warmth to make it toasty and comfortable after the cold outside. As soon as they were all seated, Twilight immediately stood back up.

“Alright everypony, I think Fluttershy should be the first to open her presents.” Fluttershy began to protest, but was quickly drowned out by declarations of assent from everypony else. She gave a slightly exasperated sigh, but conceded, not because she was too shy to push her case, but because she wanted to. If her friends wanted her to open her presents first, then she was more than happy to.

First up came a large box wrapped in exuberant pink wrapping paper, tied with a length of purple ribbon in a large bow which perched on top. After untying the bow, unwrapping the paper, and opening the cardboard box within, she found another box. This one however, was marked as a box containing one of Sugarcube Corner’s cakes.

“Oh Pinkie, thank you so mu-”

“No no no!” Pinkie interrupted. “You have to open the cake box as well!” Fluttershy paused for a second or two, before reaching in to pull out the inner box. She set it down, and began to open it, but never got the chance.

The box exploded open with a shower of confetti, streamers and balloons to reveal a cake that looked slightly too large to fit inside the box in the first place, let alone with all the effects which were now scattered over Fluttershy and the surrounding floor.

The cake was of a yellow colour that matched Fluttershy’s coat perfectly. It had three tiers, each covered in icing the colour of Fluttershy’s mane. The icing portrayed images of a pegasus mare frolicking around with different woodland critters. It was an incredible feat of icing work, as the depictions were all extremely detailed. The pegasus even had Fluttershy’s mane. On the top of the cake, on the smallest tier, were the words ‘We’ll always be your friends, no matter what.’

“I made it myself. I hope you like it.” Much of the bounciness was gone from the usually exuberant pink mare, and she had a worried expression on her face. Fluttershy looked up with teary eyes and a trembling lower lip, causing Pinkie to gasp.

“Oh my gosh Fluttershy, I’m so so sorry, if you don’t like it I’ll-” this time it was Pinkie’s turn to be interrupted as Fluttershy pushed a hoof to her muzzle.

“Pinkie, I love it. Thank you so much.” Fluttershy wrapped Pinkie in a tight hug, tearfully mumbling her thanks over and over. Out of all her friends, Pinkie Pie had tried the hardest to make her happy, and had even had a direct helping hoof in her and Dash getting together.

Once her sobbing had died down, Fluttershy closed the box back around the cake, and sat it on the dining table. Before she could try and hand any presents out herself however, Rarity was suddenly there, levitating a large rectangular parcel over towards her. This present was wrapped with snow-white paper, and tied with an indigo ribbon in a very tidy bow. Fluttershy accepted the present gracefully and unwrapped the paper.

Inside was a meticulously folded dress. A form-fitting green barrel flowed over the withers to meet behind the neck, before loosening slightly to drape along the back and around the flank. It had several silk highlights, and a small pink flower attached to the front. It was elegant, but not over the top, certainly not a Gala dress, but it was conservative, meant to be worn casually to a semi-formal get-together with friends. Such as giving and receiving presents on Hearth’s Warming.

“Oh Rarity, it’s beautiful, I love it.” Rarity beamed and pulled Fluttershy into a tight hug.

“Oh darling, we simply must get you into that dress straight away!” Before she could protest, Fluttershy found herself being led away towards her bedroom by Rarity, who was giggling like a school foal, levitating the dress along with them. Fluttershy winced, and sent a longing look back at her friends, who all smiled and nodded her on.

Once they had some privacy, Rarity began fussing over the dress, and gave several concise instructions to Fluttershy as she began the process of putting the dress on. Rarity appeared at war with herself about something, but before Fluttershy could comment, she appeared to lose said battle and burst out with an unexpected question.

“Oh Fluttershy darling, you simply must tell me everything about what’s gone on between you and Rainbow Dash since she’s come back.” Having had her outburst, Rarity sagged, panting lightly with a slight blush on her face.

“I’m sorry darling, I just couldn’t contain myself and you know how I am about gossip.” Fluttershy took a moment to process the question, before blushing furiously at the implications of her actually answering it.

“Um, well, you see… I don’t really, um…” She couldn’t find a way to tell Rarity what had happened without embarrassing herself. Most of what she and Dash had done since last night was cling to each other, stealing occasional kisses whilst staring dreamily at each other. She supposed there was breakfast, as well as their flight through the clouds, but she knew it wasn’t going to be enough to placate her friend. Rarity seemed to see how uncomfortable the question was making her, and quickly held her hooves up in apology.

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t have to answer darling. Besides, your reaction has told me everything I wanted to know.” Fluttershy was mortified, and began to stutter something unintelligible to her defense.

“W-w-we didn’t d-d-do th-that!” Rarity chuckled, and rested a hoof on Fluttershy’s foreleg.

“Oh darling, I know. I’m sure there was a lot of cuddling and kissing, but not anything more. You’d be far more embarrassed if that were the case. Don’t worry though, I’ll not tell anypony.” She finalised the discussion with a wink, which only made Fluttershy’s blush burn brighter.

“On a more comfortable, far less juicy topic, you’re done! Take a look!” Fluttershy gawked for a moment, a reply lost on the tip of her tongue as Rarity spun her to face the mirror hanging on the wall. The dress was, as she had concluded earlier, quite conservative, but was as far from simple as any Gala dress. The green fabric hugged her barrel and accentuated her slim figure in flattering, but not in an overly lustrous or suggestive way. The colours and highlights were shaded perfectly to match her coat and mane colours, and she felt like making squee noises every time the flower adorning the front caught her eye.

“Oh Rarity, its… its…” Fluttershy was completely lost for words. “It’s perfect Rarity, I love it!” she finished. Rarity actually did make several squee noises at the compliment, and quickly ushered Fluttershy back out into the living room where the rest of their friends were waiting.

As she re-entered the room, everypony looked up at her and smiled. The only smile that really caught her eye however, was Rainbow Dash’s. The chromatic-maned mare’s grin, half wonder, half astonishment, lit up the room far more than the fire ever could. Fluttershy returned to her seat with a bounce in her step, and caught Dash blushing ever so slightly.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash’s ear twitched as she heard the returning hoof-steps of Fluttershy and Rarity. Looking up, the sight she saw filled her with wonder. Fluttershy stood, looking absolutely stunning in the simpl, elegant dress that Rarity had given her.

Dash had always known, in the back of her mind, that Fluttershy was beautiful, in a timid, graceful kind of way, but the dress accentuated that beauty in just the right ways.

Suddenly, she found herself struggling to keep her wings from extending as a completely foreign feeling passed through her body. It was a strange, but not unpleasant sensation that sent tingles down her spine. It was much like the almost electrical jolt that passed through her when she and Fluttershy kissed. This one was far less forceful however, but no less powerful.

She continued the fight for control over her wings as a blush managed to creep its way onto her face.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next present on the menu was a small, rather non-descript brown box from Applejack which had a tidy little orange bow perched on top. Unwrapping it, Fluttershy could once again do nothing but stare in wonder.

Inside was a carved wooden rabbit, no taller than three hooves high, but it was the exquisite detail that dropped Fluttershy’s jaw. It was perfect: all the proportions were exact. Picking it up, she felt that it was as smooth as polished stone, and was quite light, obviously made from the wood of one of Applejack’s apple trees. The patterns in the wood swirled around in hypnotic cycles and all the fine details like the eyes, the creases in the ears, and the paws, were all precise.

“Oh my Applejack, it’s… it’s… Oh I don’t even know what to say! It looks exactly like Angel Bunny.” Applejack blushed, and took off her hat, holding it to her chest.

“Aw shucks Fluttershy, t’aint’ nothin’”

“Oh but Applejack, it must have taken you such a long time!” Applejack shrugged, blushing a little more.

“Well, Ah won’t lie and tell ya it didn’t take a while, but I wouldn’t be lying either if’n I said it was worth it ta see ya smilin’ again.” It was Fluttershy’s turn to blush now, and Applejack gave Twilight a nudge. “Now c’mon, time for Twilight’s present.” Twilight nodded with a huge smile and levitated a tiny, square box in front of her.

Fluttershy was immediately curious.

She took the small lavender box in her hooves and gently pulled open the deep purple bow. Contained inside was a silver, heart-shaped locket. Fluttershy carefully removed the locket from the box and clicked it open.

On the left-hoof side was a picture. It was the six of them in a tight group hug, still in their costumes after the Canterlot production of the Hearth’s Warming they had starred in. It was one of their tightest hugs yet, full of the spirit of Hearth’s Warming as they were.

On the right-hoof side was the caption: ‘The Fire of Friendship burns in our hearts. We’ll always be here for you.’ Fluttershy’s eyes began to water, and soon she was sobbing, tears streaming down her face as she collapsed on the floor with the locket clutched in her hooves. Everypony gathered around in yet another group hug and Fluttershy desperately tried to still her sobs and dry her tears so she could speak.

“Th-th-thank y-y-you Twilight, i-it’s beautiful.” Everypony broke apart, but Twilight stayed with a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“You’re welcome Fluttershy, but that’s not all. The necklace is enchanted and once you put it on, that enchantment will transfer to you. All you need to do is whisper ‘help’ and picture us in your mind, and we’ll hear you and come as fast as we can.” Fluttershy’s eyes grew teary again, but she managed to keep herself together as she gave Twilight a tight hug.

“Oh, thank you everypony. You have no idea how much it means to me that you’re all my friends.” When the two separated after a moment, Rainbow Dash coughed pointedly and rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof.

“Um, I’m really sorry Flutters’, I don’t have a-” Fluttershy pressed her hoof against Dash’s muzzle to cut her off. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

“That’s okay Rainbow Dash. You coming back to me is the best present I’ve gotten today.” Dash blushed, and Fluttershy had to suppress a giggle. It was quite funny and incredibly cute when Rainbow blushed, being as strong-willed and usually immovable as she was.

Fluttershy beamed a huge grin. It was finally time to be on the giving side of the presents.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy sat in front of her friends. They were all smiling at her with large grins and caring eyes, and it filled her heart with so much warmth, she thought she might melt. They all seemed to be expecting little things, like the trinkets from the festival shops, but weren’t they all in for a surprise! At least, she hoped they were going to be surprised.

She paused for a moment, thinking about who she would give her present to first, before deciding to simply follow their lead, and give them their presents in the order they had given her theirs.

She approached Pinkie Pie, and wrapped the party pony in a hug before presenting the present with a wing. It was large, perfectly square and the colour of fresh cream. Pinkie took it with a teary smile and unwrapped it with uncharacteristic slowness.

She soon gave up on the slow pace after the fourth layer of wrapping paper, and began tearing into the parcel with increasingly frantic flails. Soon, the room was full of falling wrapping paper and Pinkie sat in the middle of it, panting, a much smaller box held in her hooves. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing, falling over onto her back and waving her hooves in the air.

“Haha! Oh Fluttershy, layers and layers of wrapping paper. I love that one!” Pinkie, still panting, joined in and soon everypony was laughing. Fluttershy smiled. She had hoped her friends – Pinkie Pie in particular – would enjoy that.

When the laughter had died down some, Pinkie finally found some semblance of control over her hooves and opened the present, pulling out a large, circular, flat lollipop. Emblazoned on both sides was a balloon, the same shape as Pinkie’s cutie mark, blue on both edges with a vertical yellow stripe taking up the middle third. Underneath the balloon were the words: ‘You always make me smile. Thank you Pinkie’.

“It’s a special long-life one. It’s supposed to last all year. Oh, well, at least that’s what I was told. I hope you like it.” Pinkie stared at the treat for a few moments before she burst into tears and threw her forelegs around Fluttershy.

“Oh Fluttershy, I’m so sorry! For everything! It’s all my fault you got so upset and I’m such a horrible friend!” Fluttershy pushed Pinkie away, and held her at forelegs length.

“Pinkie, I don’t want you blaming yourself. There’s no way you could have known. And besides, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t think I ever would have been able to work up the courage to tell Rainbow Dash how I feel in the first place.” Fluttershy was going to say more, though she wasn’t entirely sure what else to say, but before anything else could be said, Pinkie’s bawling abruptly stopped. Her mane puffed out to its usual exuberance and she beamed a smile that was somehow wider than her face.

“Oh okay! You’re welcome then! Thanks for the lollipop by the way!” She immediately thrust the treat in her mouth and sat contentedly with a slightly goofy smile on her face. Fluttershy giggled into her forehooves and pulled the next gift off the table-top where she had put them once they had been removed from the drawers. This, she took over to Rarity, and hoofed it over after a quick hug.

This parcel was significantly smaller than the one she had given Pinkie Pie, though was wrapped in similar colours, but with a pearl-white ribbon tied in a neat bow. It was rectangular and fairly flat with square edges and when Rarity daintily picked the wrapping apart, a book was revealed.

The book was large, quite thick, and had intricate wooden covers. Rarity opened it to the inside cover which read: ‘A compendium of woodland stitching, styles and inspirational patterns.’ Below this were the words: ‘You’ve always been so generous to me and I’m so lucky to have a friend like you. Thank you Rarity.’ Rarity smiled and dabbed lightly at her eyes to avoid smudging her makeup.

“I put all the stitching and sewing techniques I know in it. Oh, but you probably already know them all. I put in all the different patterns I see around the forest too. You always seem to be able to get inspiration from things like that. I hope you like it.” Rarity glanced between the book and Fluttershy several times before speaking.

“No.” Fluttershy’s heart missed a beat in panic. “No, I don’t like it.” All faces in the room turned to face the alabaster unicorn as she stared at the book. Fluttershy was on the verge of tears before she caught on. Rarity was notorious for this prank and for some reason, everypony kept falling for it. She looked up at Rarity, who was grinning from ear to ear.

“Of course I don’t like it darling, I love it!” Rarity gracefully pranced over and wrapped Fluttershy in a tight, friendly hug. “This is just fantastic! I’ll be able to design so many new clothing lines with these patterns.” She flipped the book open the first few pages and read for a few moments. “Also, judging from the reference guide you have so helpfully included in the front, there are several stitches in here I’m not too familiar with. Thank you ever so much Fluttershy.” Fluttershy couldn’t tell if Rarity was being serious – she couldn’t imagine anything to do with fashion design or sewing that the fashionista didn’t know – but she was touched by the sentiment nonetheless.

Next came Applejack’s present. It had been one of the hardest to pick, as she had tried to make each gift represent elements of both herself and the recipient and she had struggled to find something she and Applejack had in common. Eventually, however, she had struck upon an idea that was just perfect.

Inside Applejack’s box – which of course, came accompanied by another hug – was a coiled length of deep red rope. Applejack put a hoof inside to remove it, but gasped.

“Golly! It’s so smooth!” Extricating it from the box, Applejack hefted the rope, and ran a hoof down its length before gripping it in two places and giving it a tug. “It’s smooth, and grippy? Fluttershy, what in the hay is this?” Fluttershy ducked her head at the sudden question and the attention that went with it, but managed to not even stutter her answer in spite of all it.

“Um, well, you see, it’s made out of manticore hair.” Everypony in the room gasped, and many hooves were raised to muzzles in shock. Fluttershy continued, trying to sound as if she hadn’t noticed the shocked reaction. “Manticore hair is very strong, and very resilient. The rope won’t break and it won’t wear, no matter how much you use it. I’m sorry it’s not longer, but there was only so much hair I could get…” Applejack uncoiled the rope: it was more than six pony-lengths long, eliciting an impressed whistle from the work-mare.

“Hay, Ah’ve no idea how you managed ta get even this much o’ the stuff.” She glanced down and saw the note that Fluttershy had written to accompany the rope. Picking it up, Applejack read it out loud.

“Applejack, you’re one of the bravest, most honest and true ponies I know, and though we don’t have too much in common, I’m so glad I’m able to count you as one of my closest friends.” This brought tears to Applejack’s eyes, and she moved forward to give Fluttershy another hug.

“Aw Sugarcube, Ah’m nothing all that special, but Ah reckon Ah’m mighty lucky to have you as a friend too.” Before Fluttershy could argue the point that of course Applejack was extremely special, the farmer had released her and pointed in the direction of Twilight with a quick “alright, next present”. Fluttershy was knocked slightly off cognitive balance for a moment, before shaking her head and smiling. It was just like Applejack to make sure everypony got their turn.

Fluttershy turned to Twilight, who was scuffing the floor with a forehoof, clearly trying her utmost not to be excited. Fluttershy giggled a little at her friend’s enthusiasm and hoofed over the last box on the table. She didn’t miss Rainbow Dash’s face flashing briefly to a look of disappointment before flickering back to her cocksure grin. Twilight was clearly trying to supress her excitement as she almost tore into the wrapping paper.

A bright blue light emanated from the box as Twilight lifted the lid, and the unicorn’s eyes were transfixed on the contents within. Everypony leaned in for a closer look, and every one of them let out a gasp.

“Fluttershy…” Twilight began. “What in Equestria is it? Where did you get it? What does it do?” All eyes were once again focused on her, though Fluttershy could tell that the glowing contents of the box was attracting their attention.

“Oh, well, um, I got it from a stallion called Time Turner. He was really very nice, and once I explained my situation to him, he gave that to me. He said it was a… Plasma Globe? I think that’s it.” Twilight’s eyes were drawn back to the light, and she slowly reached a hoof in to pull out what was inside.

It was a clear glass orb, about a hoof and a half in diameter, mounted onto an ornate onyx-coloured base. It was the contents of the orb that captured everypony’s attention however, as inside the little sphere was a small metal ball on a stem and emanating from that stem were fluctuating, flickering strings of light that looked almost like lightning.

With one hoof holding the device up by the base, Twilight lifted her remaining free forehoof and gave the sphere a little prod. She shrieked in surprise and almost dropped it as the light-like tendrils were attracted towards her hoof, returning to normal the moment her hoof was taken away.

Of course, this incited much interest, and Fluttershy endured the next few minutes as everypony took turns in watching at the light congregated around their hooves as they pressed them to the glass. Eventually, Twilight piqued up looked over to her.

“So Fluttershy. What does this… Plasma Globe, did you call it? Do? And how does it work?” Fluttershy thought for a moment, before shaking her head.

“Well, Mister Time Turner first said it was mostly for decoration, but then he started talking to himself for a while about how it might possibly help to enhance a unicorn’s magical abilities. As for how it works, I have no idea. Mister Turner ensured me that it’s safe, but other than that, I don’t know much about it. I had the base engraved as well.” Twilight looked back to the globe to study the base and immediately welled up with tears.

Twilight Sparkle. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to you for everything you’ve done for me. You’ve shared with me the magic of friendship, and I wouldn’t be the mare I am today without your help. I am truly lucky to be able to call you friend.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Twilight all let out a synchronised “awww” as they all read the words, and soon they were all back within the confines of another group hug. Fluttershy noticed that Rainbow Dash was beginning to fidget and was holding herself a little awkwardly. She quickly broke the hug apart, and turned to Dash, who rubbed the back of her head with a hoof again.

“Well Flutters, doesn’t look like you have one for me, but that’s alright. Seeing as, yanno, I didn’t have one for you either, heh…” She trailed off as Fluttershy lightly stretched her right wing out in front of her, and twisted her head so that her muzzle was right in front of her primary feathers.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash watched with barely contained emotion. She felt one part horror, one part anticipation, one part excitement as Fluttershy reached her head over to her extended wing.

She couldn’t be. Could she? She’s not going to is she? Oh Celestia, I think she is… Am I ready for something like this? I just don’t know!

She continued to watch as Fluttershy took her longest primary feather in her teeth, and yanked her head and wing away from each other at the same time, pulling the long, butter-coloured feather clean out.

Dash had to admit, it was an impressive feather. Impeccably groomed, gleaming with silk-like smoothness, and as long and well-developed as any of Dash’s own primaries. She fought to contain her wings as they attempted to defy her and extend as an age-old pegasus saying came unbidden to her mind.

You know what they say about a Pegasus with long primaries.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy winced inwardly as the feather came free from her wing. It was important that she show no outward sign of the pain, however. She ignored the sting in her wing, which was dulling down to a low throb, and was suddenly struck by fright.

Oh my gosh, am I actually doing this? This is actually happening. Oh gosh, I hope Dash doesn’t take this badly. Oh, what if she doesn’t give me one back? I guess I can’t be disappointed with that, it’s a big move to make. Oh, but what if she turns it down? That would be simply awful! Oh my gosh, what if…

She forced herself to still her panicked thoughts, which she was getting exceedingly good at over the last few weeks, and shyly glanced up at Dash, who was squirming slightly, with a shocked expression and a furious blush on her face. She wasn’t sure if she was glad or worried that Rainbow seemed at war with herself. She pushed this thought to the back of her mind as she slowly approached Dash.

Dash snapped to focus on her and when their eyes met, a surge of sensation ran through Fluttershy’s body from the tips of her ears to the bottom of her hooves. She gently moved up, her wings held loosely at her sides, keeping eye contact with Dash the whole way until they were almost touching muzzles.

Rainbow still had a somewhat dazed expression on her face as she reached forward the rest of the way and gently took the feather in her own mouth. It was a slow exchange, and their muzzles touched, as if they were sharing a very light kiss. It was not until Fluttershy moved away from Dash several moments later, leaving the feather lightly clutched in the cyan-coated mare’s teeth, that she became aware of everypony else in the room watching on, every mouth agape. Her friend’s eyes ranged from expressions of confusion from Applejack and Rarity, to wonder from Twilight, and barely-contained glee from Pinkie Pie.

“I’m unsure of what precisely is going on…” Rarity exclaimed as she pulled her mouth shut and reached over to close the gaping jaws of her friends. “But that was positively the most adorable exchange I’ve ever seen!” Fluttershy blushed furiously, and after a glance in Dash’s direction, she saw that her marefriend was experiencing the same problem. Or, was still experiencing it: Dash’s blush hadn’t gone away since Fluttershy first pulled out the feather. It was Twilight, however, who came to Rarity’s aid.

“I read a book on pegasus customs once. The giving of the longest primary feather on the right wing is a show of incredible dedication, loyalty and above all, love.” Rarity let out an almost inaudible gasp, and looked on in eager anticipation. “If Rainbow accepts the feather, and returns with one of her own… it’s a sure sign that -” Twilight was cut off by Pinkie Pie’s hoof connecting to her muzzle, pinning her lips shut.

“Shh” the Pink mare urged. “You’re ruining the moment.” Fluttershy only barely heard the entire exchange, as her attention was almost solely focused on Rainbow Dash, who appeared gripped in an intense internal argument with herself. After several moments of waiting, Fluttershy’s nerves were higher than they had been all week. She was on the verge of sweating as her breathing grew heavier and heavier as the anticipation continued to grow.

Abruptly, Dash let out a deep sigh, and her head and wings fell in a sure sign of defeat and disappointment. Fluttershy almost broke down crying right there, but forced herself to stay strong. She had always known this might happen. It was something every pegasus prepared for, but was never truly ready to deal with. She was about to lower her head, when Dash moved again.

Slowly. Ever so slowly, Dash lifted both her wings towards her lowered head.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dash was at war with herself. Was she ready for something like this? She had no idea. It was all happening so quickly, and she had had absolutely no idea that Fluttershy was planning this.

It was a little-known fact outside pegasus clans that the longest primary feather on the right wing was directly, if not critically, connected to a pegasus’ heart. To give one to anypony was a sign of pure love and, if accepted, was a bond not easily broken.

By presenting this feather – which Dash now clutched gently in teeth that were on the verge of chattering – Fluttershy was telling Dash that she wanted to spend the rest of her foreseeable days with her. It wasn’t quite like getting married. That involved moving in together and sharing money and having foals. This was far less imposing on their lifestyles, but just as significant.

The giving of the longest primary feather said that the giver would always love the receiver, no matter what happened. Even if their relationship ended, the love would remain.

The thought that Rainbow had somepony who felt for her like this almost brought tears to her eyes, but these feelings didn’t help her in her dilemma. She had taken the feather – that had been the easy decision – it was sure to signal the end to any friendship for any pegasus who rejected the offer, and she knew she had feelings for Fluttershy, and didn’t want to lose her.

But what was she to do now? She had two options to pick from: give Fluttershy a feather of from her own right wing and more or less seal the deal between them. Or she could not give Fluttershy a feather, which would no doubt upset the other mare, and make for untold complications and really awkward situations for the foreseeable future.

The choice seemed glaringly obvious in the logical side of Dash’s mind, but in the emotional side, things weren’t so simple.

Taking the feather was one thing, but giving one back was a huge commitment. Dash just wasn’t sure she was ready for something like that. Sure, it wasn’t marriage and it wouldn’t tie her down from her dreams of joining the Wonderbolts, but it was an irreversible act that would change her life forever.

It was a sign of love, and as she realised that she was standing still, her eyes glazed off and focused on nothing, she forced herself to ask the all-important question.

Do I love Fluttershy?

The answer that surfaced without pause from her mind and echoed around her head closed the argument with a snap, and the tension in her deflated like a balloon released before being tied. It didn’t clear up all her doubt, her secret worries, but it made the decision she had to take clear, and it was a decision she was content with.

Slowly – she couldn’t make herself move any faster, despite her reputation – she lifted her wings to her lowered head and removed Fluttershy’s feather from her mouth with her left wing, tucking it behind her ear. She then gripped her longest primary feather of her right wing in her teeth, and pulled.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy’s heart skipped several beats as the cerulean feather came free from Dash’s wing, producing not so much as a wince from the rainbow-maned mare. While she had hoped for this, her worries had stopped her from anticipating just how beautiful this moment would be.

She took in every detail about Dash that soaked her senses, from the soft winter sunlight that filtered through the window reflecting off her chromatic mane, to the blood flowing through her cheeks in a furious blush, to the way her tail was firmly wrapped around one of her muscled hind legs. Lastly, she focused on the feather that was being offered her, in much the same way she had offered hers to Dash.

Their muzzles touched, and she took the feather from the midst of the gentle kiss, her gaze, having moved to Dash’s eyes and were locked there. She lifted her left wing, and transferred the feather from her mouth to behind her ear.

Fluttershy then leaned forward, completely oblivious to any other pony’s presence in the room, and locked Dash in a kiss.

It was everything she had ever hoped and dreamed of whenever she considered her love for Rainbow Dash, though she had never actually expected it to happen. She leaned deeper into the kiss, and Dash reciprocated until they were both almost pressed against each other.

The moment was perfect, and Fluttershy wanted it to last forever.

Author's Notes:

Ahh, its finally here: the long-awaited Chapter Four! Sure, it didn't take as long as three, but I still think I could have pushed myself a little harder to get this out sooner. Anyway, if you're in the fashion industry, I'm terribly sorry for what is probably a butchery of terminology in the dress scene, but I had to work with what knowledge I had about sewing and whatnot, which isn't much.

In other related news, I'm still looking for an editor who knows grammar, but I'd also love some proof/pre readers to just go through the story looking for mistakes, or things that could have been written better or whatnot, so if you're interested, drop me a post on my FiMFiction page, or toss me an email at [e-mail]

In unrelated news, as I mentioned in my first and last blog posts (I've only got 2, seeing as I only started blogging recently, haha), I've started work on a new story involving Lightning Dust. The basis of the story (without giving too much away) is that everybody seems convinced that Spitfire kicked Dust out of the academy, but it never actually said that. My theory is that she just got demoted to wing-pony and got given chores or something for reckless behaviour. Anyway, keep an eye out for it, it should be making an appearance some time in the next few weeks!

As usual, I encourage feedback, and absolutely love it when you readers inform me about mistakes or things that could be done better, so like and comment if you like the story/chapter, dislike and comment if you don't, let me know!

That's all for now! Have a good one friends.
True Blood

5 - A Changing Heart

Twilight sat at her writing desk, a sheet of parchment in front of her, quill still sitting untouched in the inkwell. Surrounding her were the scrunched up remains of countless failed friendship reports to the Princess. The mug of coffee that was the current object of her attentions had long gone cold while she stared at it, completely at a loss for something to write.

This shouldn’t have been such a problem. Everything had worked out: Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were now together, the rift in their friendship mended. They were both happy, the rest of the group was happy. Everyone was happy!

So why did Twilight not feel as if everything was fine? Could it have had something to with the distant, troubled expression on Rainbow’s face ever since she came back? Was it the fact that, despite their assurances that everything was fine, they were still awkward around each other in public?

Well, aside from their little display earlier with the feather and the rather passionate follow up, Twilight reminded herself with a blush. The scene still made her a little giddy inside. It had been so heartfelt and so adorable. She had read in several books that the giving of feathers held a lot of significance to pegasi, but she had never known just how emotional it would be to actually witness the exchange.

So why was Rainbow Dash so uncertain? Fluttershy had to have picked up on it, and knowing that mare, she’d be worrying non-stop, whether it meant something or not. It also can’t be good for Rainbow’s psyche, having such a commitment placed on her and, above all, it was making it very hard for Twilight to write this report.

Was it her place to intervene and try to sort things out? She didn’t think sitting around and doing nothing when she knew there was a problem was something a good friend would do, but then, it might be something that Rainbow and Fluttershy had to sort out for themselves. Maybe she would offer her assistance, but not take any direct action unless either Dash or Fluttershy – or both, she supposed – asked her to. But, no, that might be taking to the sidelines a little too much.

Maybe she would talk to Rainbow Dash, be firm, and demand to know what the matter was. Fluttershy’s heart was in the balance here, after all, she couldn’t afford to be taking things lightly. Yes, that seems like a good plan. Maybe she would get the other girls involved as well. It seemed the kind of thing that the entire group should be a part of. Several of the books she had read mentioned group therapy sessions helping out ponies who were having trouble with their relationships. One even mentioned all but kidnapping one of the ponies in question and tying them to a chair until they admitted their issues and sorted them out. An ‘intervention’ or something, she remembered it being called.

Maybe she would only use that one in a last-resort scenario. This relationship between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash was going to work, and nothing was going to get in the way.

Her mind made up, Twilight hopped off of her chair, leaving the barely-started letter lying on her desk and the mess of failures scattered over the floor. She’d need to be well rested if she was going to have a chance of helping tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of light breathing mingled with the chirping of woodland birds from elsewhere in the cottage as Rainbow Dash watched Fluttershy sleep from her intimate position on the bed. The loud bass of the snoring bear outside did little to disturb the quiet mare’s slumber, and Rainbow couldn’t help but chuckle. Who would have thought that Fluttershy was such a heavy sleeper? Dash had only managed to get a few hours’ sleep in, sometime after midnight, thanks to the unsurprisingly loud cacophony of sleeping creatures in and around Fluttershy’s cottage. Dash was used to the almost absolute quiet of her cloud home, way up in the sky where few animals but birds even came close. How she had slept through the ruckus the night before last, Rainbow Dash had no idea.

Fluttershy stirred, mumbling inaudibly in her sleep, bringing a smile to Rainbow’s lips. Normally, she would be biting at the bit to get going, to move, or just do something after such a long period of inactivity, particularly since she had been conscious for the large majority of it. Normally. Normally, she wouldn’t be lying on a comfortable bed with a marefriend wrapped in her forelegs, simply enjoying the warmth of her coat and the constant rhythm of her heartbeat.

Dash would have laughed at how sappy that thought was, had she not suddenly been struck with a deep feeling of unrest. It was not Fluttershy so much that worried her. She cared for the mare deeply, but Dash was changing. She no longer constantly felt the need for speed whenever she flew, no longer got itchy hooves if she stayed still in one place for too long. She was becoming a sappy egghead poet in her own mind, without even meaning to.

All these changes were happening, and it seemed Dash had no control over it. She was the kind of mare that couldn’t be held back or controlled by anything or anyone. Yet, here she was, lying docilely in the embrace of the most timid mare in Ponyville, if not, all of Equestria.

Dash couldn’t hold back a flinch at this, which caused Fluttershy to stir again. It wasn’t that she valued her reputation as a brash, daring, fast-paced mare more than she did Fluttershy. Caring for her reputation was just so ingrained into who she was that she couldn’t help but worry about what everypony would think.

So many things were changing and there was so much to think about, all happening so quickly. It all made Dash’s head spin. She had to move, had to do something. At least that part of her had not gone away completely, it seemed.

Disentangling herself from Fluttershy’s embrace, Dash gingerly slipped off the bed and crept her way across the bedroom and out the door. Once out into the hallway, she breathed a deep breath and made her way to the front door. A quick fly would clear her mind, she was certain.

Trotting out of the cottage into the surrounding yard, Dash closed her eyes and breathed in deep, relishing in the fresh smell of early morning air, the feel of the grass beneath her hooves and the light breeze tugging playfully at her mane. With a surge, she pushed off from the ground, snapped open her wings and took off into the sky. The laugh that was forming in her throat was ripped out in a rush that ended up as a loud whoop.

Before she knew it, the ground was nothing but a patchwork quilt far below, stretching on as far as the eye could see. The day was almost spotlessly clear. Ponyville was a mass of tiny little odd-coloured buildings, bordered one side by the lush green hills of Sweet Apple Acres, and on another by a stretch of light bushy grassland which led into the Everfree Forest. Cities and towns like Baltimare and Appleloosa could be seen in the distance, while the hazy sheen that had to be Cloudsdale floated off to the North. The barren red scorch just visible on the southern horizon marked the Badlands, and Canterlot sat perched, regal and majestic on the side its mountain, gazing down upon the entirety of Equestria.

Dash chuckled. Twilight wasn’t the only pony around who could know things.

It was a sight that always took her breath away, but Dash would never admit just how beautiful the view was to anypony. After all, she had a reputation to keep.

The thought forced a sigh out of Dash’s lungs and marred the view significantly. Why couldn’t things like romance just be simple? Flying was simple. Even the most complex tricks and flight patterns were easier to figure out than what was going on with Fluttershy.

Going on with myself is more like it, she thought with no small amount of chagrin. Fluttershy wasn’t the problem, and Dash knew it. The issue was within her own head, and that’s what annoyed her most. Some Element of Loyalty I am.

Despite the downer on her mood, Dash felt her spirits soar as she did a quick loop and took off across the sky, heading towards Ponyville. Fluttershy would likely sleep for a while longer, so Dash hoped she could be back before the other mare woke.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy slowly drifted awake, the remnants of a very pleasant dream fading into distant memory. The faint recollection of something unpleasant in her dreams nagged at the back of her mind, but what possible reason could there be for a bad dream? She dismissed the notion without worry as she stretched her legs, feeling the slight stiffness of a good night’s sleep slowly work itself away.

Rainbow Dash’s absence didn’t faze her at all. Dash, despite what everypony thought, was actually a very early riser. The skies were always clearer very early in the morning, when everypony was still asleep. It was the ideal time to get some flying practice in. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noted that, normally, despite the knowledge that Dash woke up early, the other mare’s absence would have set off several alarm bells in her head, triggering a downward spiral of fears and worries that would only be assuaged by Rainbow’s return.

As it stood, she didn’t feel even the slightest flicker of worry.

Just as she was considering herself stretched out, Fluttershy simultaneously noticed the suddenly-conspicuous lack of light shining in her window, and the clock hanging on the wall above her dresser.

It was almost midday!

Frantically, she searched around for something to wear, before shaking her head and galloping out the door. She didn’t style herself as an early riser, but midday was ridiculous! All of her animals would be grumpy because they missed their breakfast, and there was so much work to be done to get ready for the coming spring. And ponies don’t even normally wear clothes!

Rushing out into the living room, she hurriedly filled the bird feeders with seed, dodged the projectiles being thrown at her from her squirrel friends as she lay nuts around for them, ignored the pounding of an aggravated rabbit’s kicks against her foreleg and rushed about doing the thousand-and-one other things that constituted the morning routine, which should have been done hours ago.

Finally, with all her animals contentedly munching on the inexcusably late breakfast, Fluttershy was left sprawled on the couch panting, sweat glistening on her forehead as she tried to listen to the sound of eating animals over the racing of her heart and breath.

A new sound was introduced as her stomach angrily proclaimed its own need for nutrition, attracting some glances from the surrounding animals. Hiding a giggle behind her foreleg, Fluttershy hopped to her hooves and made her way into the kitchen.

As she gathered the ingredients she needed for a tulip and poppy sandwich, on a spur-of-the-moment decision, she collected enough to make sandwiches for two ponies instead of just herself.

Fluttershy was just sitting down on the front porch to eat when the feeling turned out to be justified as a distinctive rainbow contrail passed over the sky before angling down into a lazy spiral. Before long, Rainbow Dash herself landed not ten pony-lengths from the front door, slightly out of breath but, strangely, not a drop of sweat on her.

Fluttershy waved from her position at the table on her porch as Dash trotted over and, as she got closer, both of their stomachs growled in unison. Grinning, Fluttershy motioned to the other seat opposite her, where the second sandwich sat untouched.

Taking a seat, Dash took a bite, and moaned. “Oh Celestia, I’m so hungry. This is so good.” Between the munching and the moaning, Fluttershy could barely make out a word Dash said, but couldn’t suppress a giggle which Dash either didn’t notice or didn’t care enough to comment.

It wasn’t long before the sandwich was gone, leaving Dash looking regretfully at the crumbs remaining on her plate.

“There’s always more inside.” Fluttershy pointed out, before suddenly having her hair flung back by the wake of Rainbow’s dash inside to the kitchen. After several minutes of various culinary-related noises emanating from the kitchen, Dash emerged carrying a plate with several more sandwiches. “I take it you didn’t have breakfast before you left?”

Dash shook her head, munching away at the rather plain daisy sandwiches she had returned with. “Nope. I went for an early morning fly and figured I’d be back before long, but when I came back, you were still asleep. I flew some errands for the weather team and stopped by my house. It’s a real mess by the way, so it’s probably good we’ve been staying here.”

Fluttershy nodded, knowing full well how untidy Rainbow could get. She was one of the few ponies ever to see her dorm room at flight school. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Ducking her head, she gave Dash an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry I slept so long Dash, I was just so tired. I didn’t sleep much over the Hearth’s Warming festival, and it must have caught up to me.”

“It’s okay, don’t be sorry. It was my fault after all.” Dash reassured, a frown suddenly on her face. It didn’t last long however and soon her attention was focused on Fluttershy’s now empty plate. “How did you know I’d be coming back now though? I didn’t leave a note or anything, but you made some for the both of us.”

Fluttershy smiled. “It was just a hunch. I don’t know, I just got a feeling that I should be making food for more than… more than…” she paused. There was a peculiar smell coming from Rainbow Dash. Was it… primrose and lavender? “Rainbow, are you… are you wearing perfume?”

The immediate and furious blush on Rainbow’s face was all the answer Fluttershy needed. “I just… you know, I was cleaning and… I just found a bottle of my mum’s old… and I thought it’d be nice… You know, if I didn’t come back smelling like-” Fluttershy cut her off with a hoof to her mouth, grinning a wide smiling and blushing a little herself.

“Oh, don’t worry Dash, your secret is safe with me.” This made Dash squirm, which only made Fluttershy giggle. “You smell great, by the way.” Punctuating this with a quick kiss on the muzzle, Fluttershy picked up the two very clean plates and trotted back inside.

Looking back, she saw Rainbow following, blushing redder than ever. It really was an adorable sight.

~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight bustled through town. It was a busy afternoon, and the streets were filled with ponies busy preparing for the coming New Year’s celebration. She was a mare on a mission and nopony was going to stop her from saving her friends’ relationship.

Soon, the target of her gallop came in sight: Carousel Boutique. The dress shop seemed liberally coated in snow, but as Twilight came closer, she saw that the covering was positioned and placed with precision, to accentuate the form of the building. There were also several snow-creatures arrayed around the front door, evidently Sweetie Bell’s work from their slight lop-sidedness.

The sign on the door declared that the shop was closed for the few days leading up to the New Year, however Twilight knew that Rarity always took in emergency cases, and this was far more important than some pony’s Hearth’s Warming fashion crisis.

A knock on the door elicited a quick “we’re closed until the new year, but if you have important business, come back in about an hour, I’ll have some time then.” Twilight flinched. She hated to bother her friends when they were busy, but this was important. Rainbow Dash was on the brink of doing something incredibly stupid, and Twilight just had to prevent it.

“Rarity, it’s me!” She called out.

“Twilight? Oh, come in dear, come in.” As Twilight pushed the door open, Rarity glanced up from her work at the sewing machine, where she was quickly but carefully sewing together some rather exotic materials, probably the ones for the dignitary from Saddle Arabia she had been working on for the last week or more. “So, what brings you here today Twilight?”

Taking a deep breath, Twilight replied: “I think something is the matter with Rainbow Dash.”

This made Rarity pause her work and lower the glasses Twilight never knew she wore. “Why, whatever do you mean my dear?” was her response.

Twilight then explained everything she had noticed about Rainbow Dash. The distant look in her eye whenever she and Fluttershy were around other ponies, the reluctance to be seen touching Fluttershy, and the strange feeling of foreboding that Twilight herself was experiencing. It all added up to one thing:

“What do you mean, ‘you don’t think it means anything’?” Twilight exclaimed when Rarity voiced her thoughts on the matter. “Can’t you see? Dash is having trouble accepting Fluttershy as her marefriend for whatever reason and we, as good friends, need to help!”

Rarity rolled her eyes slightly, and put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight darling, you don’t suppose you might be overthinking this just a little? Rainbow Dash looked us in the eye and told us without hesitation that she and Fluttershy are an item, and I don’t think she’s the kind of mare to lie to her best friends. So, maybe she’s having difficulty coming to terms with her new relationship status, but even if she were worried, it would be something the two of them need to sort out for themselves.”

Twilight groaned in frustration. Why couldn’t Rarity see? This was a serious problem, and would only escalate if left to get out of hoof. Something needed to be done, and it needed to be done soon.

Rarity must have noticed the look in Twilight’s eyes, because her grip on Twilight’s shoulder tightened. “Now Twilight, I absolutely forbid you to go off and do something silly that might put their relationship in danger. If you must, simply let them know that they have your support, but nothing more. Anything else might put a wedge between them, maybe even us as a group. Relationships are a delicate thing, and can explode in everypony’s face if not handled correctly.”

Twilight thought for a moment. Rarity was right. She was absolutely right: Relationships were a delicate thing, and Rainbow Dash’s relationship with Fluttershy needed to be handled with the utmost care. She had been going about this all wrong! She had been trying to bludgeon her way through this issue when she needed to be more subtle, but just as helpful. Maybe the tie-to-a-chair intervention plan would go back into the closet for last-resort emergencies. Maybe.

Bidding Rarity farewell, Twilight headed back to the library. It was back to the drawing board it seemed, but she already had a few new ideas as to how she could help. Rainbow Dash and Applejack have always been long-term rivals, and the best of friends. Maybe the honest farmer would be a better pony to talk to in order to get into Rainbow Dash’s head.

She’d head out to Applejack’s farm first thing in the morning: there wasn’t enough daylight left to make new preparations, let alone make the trip out there and back as well. It would have to wait until tomorrow. It was going to be another long night.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy used the small spade to clear the entrance to yet another animal den which had gotten blocked over by the recent snowfall. It was a long and tedious job, keeping all the warrens and burrows clear of snow and debris, but Fluttershy didn’t mind so much. If the holes were left plugged up, then the air underground would go stale and possibly interrupt the sleep of some of the hibernating animals.

She briefly considered what kind of effects the lack of hibernation was having on the animals that stayed with her in her house, but they had chosen not to hibernate, and stay under her direct care instead, so it couldn’t be all that bad. They did seem a little grumpier than usual, but that might just be the cold.

The sound of Rainbow Dash snoring on a low-hanging cloud overhead was like music to Fluttershy’s ears. Dash had earlier gone off to do some quick jobs for the weather team – keeping the clouds in line, making sure too much snow didn’t fall in the one place, things like that – but had finished up quickly, and returned to nap above the cottage before Fluttershy started her work.

The thought that Rainbow could be helping with the burrows only briefly crossed Fluttershy’s mind, but she ignored it in favour of the pleasure of just having Dash close to her at all. If Dash wanted to help, then she’d offer. Wouldn’t she?

Now that she thought about it, Fluttershy had been noticing Dash acting strangely. Being very distant when they were around other ponies, and sometimes seeming to argue with herself under her breath when she thought Fluttershy wasn’t paying attention.

Oh, come on Fluttershy, don’t worry. This is a big thing for Dash after all. She’s never had a fillyfriend before, or even a coltfriend for that matter. She probably just needs some time to get used to the idea, that’s all. The thought was somewhat reassuring, as Dash really never had any sort of romantic relationship before. She had always been too busy practicing her flying, striving for her dream. It was one of the things that Fluttershy admired most about her.

A large chunk of ice came free with a crack and Fluttershy felt a small pang of uncertainty and regret. Rainbow Dash is so incredible, how could Fluttershy possibly think she deserved a mare like-

Enough of that Fluttershy. Twilight and the others have been trying to tell you that everypony is brilliant in their own way, and you’re no exception. Dash accepted you, so you’ve got nothing to worry about. Sure, she might have trouble adjusting, and feel really awkward around you, and have regrets about where her life could have gone, and think she might be able to do better and…” Fluttershy let the thoughts trail off into silence. Her subconscious could worry all it liked, she was going to pay it no mind.

With a ladylike ‘hmph’ that would have done Rarity proud, Fluttershy turned her back on the voice in her mind, and went back to work. There were so many dens and warrens to clear, it would likely take her the rest of the day.

As she worked, her thoughts didn’t stray far from the mare sleeping on the cloud above her, but it wasn’t much more than an hour before Dash woke up.

Fluttershy was alerted by a sleepy moan from above, and looked up to see Rainbow’s groggy head peering down at her, mane mussed and half hanging over her face.

“Hey Flutters, what’cha doing?”

“Oh, hello Rainbow Dash, I’m just clearing away the snow and ice from the dens and burrows. The animals need the fresh air while they hibernate, and it would be terrible for one to get completely blocked up.”

Rainbow looked around at all the barely-visible warrens littering the woods surrounding Fluttershy’s cottage with a sceptical expression. “Wow, there’s a lot of them, do you want some help?”

“Oh, I don’t know Rainbow, this needs to be done slowly and carefully, so that no pieces of ice or snow fall back down into the holes. I’m not… I mean I just don’t…”

“You don’t think I can be slow and careful?” Dash finished as she opened her wings and glided down from the cloud. She didn’t seem to be angry, which Fluttershy had been worried about.

“Well, yes, I mean… I didn’t… Oh, I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, I didn’t mean to-”

Dash cut her off with a light kiss, and nuzzled her neck. “It’s okay Flutters, I know I don’t come across as much of a slow mare, but I think I can manage it for you.”

Fluttershy blushed, and returned Rainbow’s kiss in kind, then pointed with a hoof to an area she had yet to clear. “You can start over there, I mean, if you want to. There are some small spades in the toolbox over hear the house if you need one. I find it’s sometimes easier to use my hooves, but I’ve been doing this for years.”

“Alright, sure thing, thanks for letting me help.” Dash trotted over to the spot Fluttershy had indicated, and began gently clearing away the snow and ice from around the dens there.

Fluttershy realised she was staring, and quickly went back to work herself, but she couldn’t help but marvel over how gentle Dash was being. She carefully snapped off the icicles hanging over the burrows before slowly scooping the snow from in and around the holes. She double-checked each one when she finished, to make sure nothing had fallen inside, before moving on to the next.

Again she had to stop herself from staring and get back to work, but she found it hard to concentrate on the work with Dash to close.

It took them the better part of the afternoon to finish, and it wasn’t until the sun was nearing the horizon that they finally brushed the half-frozen sweat from their foreheads and went inside.

Fluttershy trotted straight to the kitchen and poured two glasses of cool water. Offering one to Dash, she sat down next to the table to give her hooves some much-needed rest. “Thank you so much for the help Rainbow, I would have had to work into the night to get it all done otherwise.”

Dash smiled broadly, and bumped Fluttershy’s shoulder lightly with a hoof. “Hey, don’t mention it, I’m always happy to help out a friend in need.”

Gladly returning the sign of coltish affection with no small measure of awkwardness, Fluttershy took a deep drink from her glass before replying. “You were so gentle too, the way you carefully handled the burrows and dens. I could hardly keep my eyes off of you and… and…” What Fluttershy had just said took some time to sink in, but once it did, she blushed furiously. She certainly had not meant to reveal that much!

Rainbow’s own blush was just as brilliant as her own must be, but there seemed to be a worried expression buried within the embarrassment. Fluttershy decided to change the subject, so she started looking in her cupboards for something to make for dinner.

“What did you feel like eating tonight Rainbow?”

The mare in question suddenly shook her head, as if being broken from some sort of inner monologue, and the unease rose to the surface of her expression. Putting a hoof awkwardly behind her head, she looked at the ground at Fluttershy’s hooves. “Well, you know, we’ve spent pretty much all of the last few days with each other, and I haven’t spent a night at home since I got back to Ponyville, so I was thinking I might just head home now, have dinner with Tank, get the place cleaned up a little. I’ll be back here before midday tomorrow alright? I promise.”

Dash seemed worried that she would take offense, or maybe be upset, but Fluttershy had known that they couldn’t spend every minute of every day with each other. They’d need some space. Many of the books she had read with Twilight had said as much, and she had been fully expecting this at some point or another. Maybe her little study session with Twilight hadn’t been a complete waste after all. Besides, Rainbow really did need to spend more time with Tank. There hadn’t been any pony pet play-dates recently, with all the fuss over Hearth’s Warming and the whole Rainbow ordeal, and Fluttershy hadn’t seen them about together in quite a while. She wasn’t upset or offended or worried in the slightest.

“Okay Rainbow, would you at least like a snack for the trip home? I’ve got some carrots here that are really tasty.”

Dash seemed completely distracted, more-so than usual, and with a quick but passionate – not to mention slightly awkward – kiss on the lips, she grabbed a carrot, thanked her for it, and trotted out the door.

It was so quick, so sudden, and very worrying. Something had been seriously troubling her, something more than just worries over a relationship, but if Rainbow needed to sort it out herself, Fluttershy would leave her to it. That wouldn’t stop her worrying about it, but she didn’t even have to try to block out the voice in her head that whispered all of the worst-case scenarios. All her worrying was all rational and thought-out. She was going to keep calm about this and not panic, even if her insides did feel like a turmoil of butter in the churner.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Ugh, what do you think you’re doing you stupid, stupid mare!” Rainbow gave her head another very unsatisfactory bang on the soft surface of the wall of her cloud home. It was dark, seeing as she had flown some laps around Ponyville to work off some energy until it was too dark to see and she had yet to light any of the candles around her home.Tank dozed in his bed, occasionally opening his eyes to glance in Rainbow’s direction.

Another unsatisfying thump of her head hitting the wall. “Now Fluttershy knows there’s something wrong, but you can’t just go back and apologise, because then you’ll have to explain the whole thing and she’ll be even more worried.”

Tank gazed up from his bed soundlessly, seemingly staring, before his eyelids slowly closed and opened again in a slow blink. Rainbow had come home in an utter fury at herself, thrown an un-eaten carrot down onto one of the solid cloud tables and had been banging her head against the fluffy cloud wall ever since.

“You’ve got to work this out Rainbow Dash, come on! You’ve overcome bigger obstacles with your eyes closed, this shouldn’t be a problem for you!” With a sigh, she collapsed onto the floor. That was the exact issue here. The problem wasn’t one she could fly over or around, or even through. The problem was within herself, and she just didn’t know how to deal with that.

Just the fact that she had been able to stay with her hooves on the ground doing something so menial as clearing snow by hoof for so long was troubling enough, but Fluttershy had even complimented her on her gentleness. Rainbow Dash was not a gentle mare! She was fast, quick, agile, speedy. She knew most of those words meant the same thing, but she didn’t even care.

“Oh, who am I kidding? I’m a changed mare. I’m a slow, earth-bound pegasus who moves slow and… can’t move fast, just like Fluttershy.” But Fluttershy had moved quickly. Dash had flown with her several times over the last few days where the timid mare had flown faster than Dash had ever seen her fly before. Fluttershy could actually fly better than most of the ponies in Ponyville, she just needed the right mindset for it.

Mindset… mindset… of course! It was all in the mindset! “Dash you idiot, you’ve forgotten the basic rules of flight camp. Rule number three: keep your head in the game!” She vaguely remembered that rules one and two had something to do with not talking about flight school, but the thought passed quickly.

“All I need to do is prove to myself that I’m still the action-packed, fast-paced pegasus I’ve always been, then my mindset will be put straight… or something, I’ll work the math out later. Now, what could possibly...” She trailed off and sat in silence, thinking for a solid two minutes before she came up with a solution.

“That’s it! I’ll fly ghastly gorge! If I can do that, I’m just as incredible and amazing as I always was. No changes thanks to timid marefriends. I can keep up my reputation and still be with Fluttershy, you’ll see.” She addressed this last to Tank, who rolled himself out of his bed before slowly walking over, making full use of the permanent cloud-walking spell Twilight had cast on him, and giving Dash a nudge on the foreleg with his head.

Taking this strange gesture as a confirmation that her plan was a brilliant one, she set about making the necessary preparations. She would get a good night’s sleep, and be up fresh and early for a break-neck fly through ghastly gorge. If everything went to plan – and honestly, why wouldn’t things go to plan? – She could be back well before the deadline she gave Fluttershy. It would be cold, so she’d need a flight suit, one of her senior flight camp ones should do. She might need a bit of food, a light snack for the flight back, and probably some rope, just in case.

Rope? Why would you need rope, it’ll only slow you down. Besides, we’re trying to prove we have guts and awesomeness here, rope is for amateurs and scaredy-cats.

Tank gave a croak of warning that was ignored as Dash, her mind made up, whisked around her house cleaning up the mess that had accumulated over the past week. Several dirty flight suits scattered her bedroom, along with the majority of her sparse collection of ‘normal’ clothes. She had gone through almost her entire stock of one-minute-meals, and the empty packets lay scattered around the kitchen, discarded in uncaring haste.

Worst of all, the bookshelf containing her own personal collection of Daring Do novels had fallen over completely, but she had never been able to bring herself to care. Dash heaved the bookcase back up into a standing position and grimaced at the array of squashed books left on the floor. Pages were bent, a few of the covers were hanging off at odd angles and the shape of the shelf edges was left imprinted in more than one of her precious books.

It was a good thing she kept her good set locked in a secure cupboard under the stairs. She had made sure those couldn’t move at all, so they should be perfectly fine. That was where she kept her signed copy of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone, the first book in the series. She would have to get this set repaired by Twilight at some point, but for now, she placed them back on the shelves where they belonged.

You were careless Dash. You rushed off without thinking things through and this is where it got you. Well, you won’t make that mistake again, will you? Her thoughts turning back to Ghastly Gorge, Dash continued about cleaning up, making sure everything was either in its proper place, or in the bin if it was broken.

The sun finally sunk fully below the horizon as Dash gazed out her bedroom window and the cold but soothing embrace of the night settled over the land below. This was her favourite spot to put her house, as it gave her a perfect view of Ponyville at night. Despite being such a small town, there were quite a lot of lights shimmering in the night, and a large number of ponies with very active night lives.

In the distance on the far side of the town she could see the sparse lights of Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack and her family would probably be eating dinner. She couldn’t make out many specifics in the town itself, but she thought she could pinpoint the location of Sugarcube Corner, which stayed open late into the night over the Hearth’s Warming period, selling sweets and hot drinks to cold ponies on the move after dark. The shadowy mass that was the library loomed over the edge of the town proper and was split only by a light in the upper window, indicating Twilight was hard at work reading or studying or… something.

And finally, over at the south-eastern edge of town near the Everfree Forest, the single glistening light that was Fluttershy’s Cottage broke the darkness. Why such a timid mare had decided to live so close to the Everfree still baffled Rainbow Dash.

Maybe she has more guts than you give her credit for, Dash’s mind put forth. Suddenly, images of Fluttershy began flashing in her mind: Fluttershy staring down a dragon, Fluttershy cheering for her at the Best Young Flyers Competition, stories of Fluttershy looking a cockatrice in the eye and walking away, Fluttershy fighting off Diamond Dogs, Discord, Changelings and Iron Will. Fluttershy using her wing power to put them over the mark needed to create the tornado to shoot water to Cloudsdale. Fluttershy looking Dash in the eye and saying ‘I like you’.

Fluttershy plucking a feather from her wing and gently offering it, along with the promise of love and companionship.

It suddenly occurred to Dash that Fluttershy was the bravest pony she knew, even moreso than herself. Yes, the mare was frightened of almost everything she saw or heard, but what makes her courageous is that, when she needed to, she could overcome those fears in order to help her friends.

And here I am afraid to be seen with her in public. The thought hit Dash like a hammer, and filled her with shame, which only fuelled her determination. No, I won’t be defeated by a thought like that. I’ll prove to myself, to everypony, that I’m brave and not afraid of anything! Turning her back on the window, she flicked her tail indignantly before moving to the kitchen to get some dinner. She’d need an early night if she was going to be up tomorrow for a flight like the one through Ghastly Gorge.

~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight yawned and lost focus on the parchment in front of her. Blinking, with a good shake of her head for good measure, she returned to reading her notes on relationship counselling she had compiled. She had stayed up almost all night thinking and researching about what Rarity had told her the day before, and now she thought she was almost ready. She had even read up on advanced knot-tying techniques, but she was doubtful things would need to be taken that far.

Placing the last item, a long length of rope, into her intervention supply bag, she checked the clock and saw that it was nearing four in the afternoon. Good, she was seven minutes ahead of schedule. That would give her seven extra minutes to eat her breakfast-lunch. She had been so busy double and triple-checking her notes that she had forgotten to eat more than a small breakfast, and she had been so close to finishing her final draft when Spike came asking her if she wanted lunch that she had skipped that meal completely.

At the thought of food, her stomach growled in complaint, making her chuckle with a slight blush. She really could go for a late lunch right now. Maybe she could shave some time off travel if she teleported to Rarity’s rather than walk, which would give her some extra time to eat.

Opening her mouth to call out for Spike to prepare something, she paused as she noticed a plate sitting on one of her other writing desks. On it was a mouth-watering assortment of apples, carrots and other fruits, with a small bowl of hay for a side. Making a mental note to give Spike a gem or two, Twilight was just about to levitate a particularly juicy looking apple off the plate and into her mouth, when her horn buzzed slightly, and a worried voice whispered quietly in her ear.

Help.

“That was Fluttershy!” Twilight immediately tossed the contents of her fruit platter into her intervention bag and, all thoughts of teleportation gone from her mind, bolted through the library and out the front door, following the spell that caused a nudge in her mind that indicated the direction Fluttershy was in.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy lay crying on the front porch of her cottage when Twilight and the rest showed up. She had been lying there for all of half an hour – the time it took for everypony to arrive – and when all her friends came into sight, she leapt up and rushed out to them.

“Fluttershy, what’s wrong? Why did you need our help?” Twilight blurted when they reached each other.

Fluttershy was breathless and the tears tickled her cheeks while her muscles ached from sudden extensive use, but it all might as well have been flies buzzing around somepony else’s head after the significance of what she was about to say.

“Rainbow Dash is missing. She told me she’d be back by midday, but she never came.”

Everypony’s expressions immediately became more serious. They knew better than to assume she was overreacting. They had learned that lesson during Twilight’s friendship report incident. Rarity was the first to speak.

“I assume you’ve checked her house?”

“Yes” Fluttershy replied. “Well, I flew up and shouted her name, and took a quick look inside, but when I saw she wasn’t there, I left to check her usual hang-outs in town, the places she usually naps both in the sky and trees. I’ve flown all over Ponyville so many times since this morning that I’ve lost count and I just can’t find her anywhere.” With the last of her breath gone, she slumped back down onto the ground panting as more tears ran down her face.

“Oh, so that’s why you came rushing into Sugarcube Corner, called Dashie’s name and then ran out again. I thought you were playing hide and seek!”

Pinkie’s hyperactive take on the situation made everypony present except Fluttershy smack their faces with their hooves.

Twilight was all business, however and before the red mark faded from her muzzle she was asking questions. “That aside, when did you last see her Fluttershy?”

“Last night. She helped me clear the snow from all the dens and warrens in the fields here, but when I asked what she wanted to eat for dinner, she said she wanted to head back to her own place and spend the night there. I just thought she needed some space to get this clear in her head.”

Twilight blinked, appearing taken slightly aback. “That’s… actually a very rational conclusion Fluttershy. You weren’t worried at all?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No. This whole thing has had me on edge so much lately that I just couldn’t bring myself to worry. Either that or being with Dash has given me more confidence in myself.”

Everypony opened their mouths, probably with assurances that it was the latter option and that they were all proud of her, but all paused on seeing the others about to speak. It was eventually Twilight that broke the silence.

“You know exactly what we would all say on that subject Fluttershy, but we’re wasting time here. We need to do a thorough check of Rainbow’s house. It was the last place she was supposed to be and we might be able to find some clue as to where she’s gone.” Before anypony could speak, several things happened at once.

Twilight’s horn began to glow, and purple auras appeared around everypony’s feet. Then a much larger aura appeared around the entire group and before Fluttershy knew what was happening, it felt she was being pushed through a pool or slightly cold water, before being plopped out onto a soft, cloudy surface.

They were in Rainbow Dash’s house, Fluttershy realised. Twilight must have cast a cloud walking spell on everypony – except her, she realised, which made sense, seeing as she was a pegasus – and then teleported them all here.

The unicorn in question was only slightly out of breath when she spoke. “Okay, search around for clues as to what might have happened to Dash.”

It took everypony several moments to recover from the dizziness of teleportation, Fluttershy included, but once her head stopped spinning she gave it a good shake and ran upstairs to the bedrooms.

Rainbow Dash’s house, despite only holding the one mare, had three large bedrooms on the top floor as well as spacious study which Fluttershy very much doubted saw much use. Everything was impeccably clean, much to her surprise as she looked around. The basket for dirty laundry in Dash’s bedroom was full of flight suits and a small, form-fitting dress Fluttershy had never seen Dash wear and the cloud bed had been fluffed to an orderly flat surface. All the other bedrooms were completely bare except for a bed and a wardrobe, all of which were empty and didn’t seem as though they saw much traffic.

The study was a different matter, though still held no clues to Rainbow’s whereabouts. There was a writing desk with some orderly stacks of blank parchment, an inkwell and several quills in an ink-stained cup. Tank slept in a basket in the corner to the right of the entrance, the small techno-magic rig Twilight had made to allow him to fly hanging from a hook on the back of the door. A bookshelf on the wall beside the desk surprisingly contained several informational books on complex flight techniques and tricks, as well as some books about the history of the Wonderbolts and a signed biography of Spitfire. They all looked worn and well-used, so Dash must have found joy in reading books other than Daring Do.

The small burst of happiness that this brought Fluttershy was lost in a wave of disappointment and depression. She still had no idea where Dash had gone or why, or even if she was still okay. Maybe something horrible had happened to her. Maybe she had been pony-napped. Or maybe she had run away, unable to stand the thought of being with Fluttershy any-

No. Again, Fluttershy had to shut down the worried thoughts before they could spiral out of control. This entire holiday had gone from one fiasco to the next and it was becoming very overwhelming. Throwing herself to the floor, Fluttershy cried.

“Oh Dash, where did you go? You didn’t leave me again did you? You can’t have, you promised me. You promised! Oh, but what if something bad happened to you? Oh Dash, you have to be okay, you just have to!”

Suddenly, she felt a nudge push slowly on her hind hoof. Her wailing had woken Tank and the tortoise was giving affectionate nuzzles to his former owner. If Fluttershy was not so attuned to animals, however, she would have missed the urgency in the tortoise’s actions. As it was, she only noticed because he slowly rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“What is it Tank?” she questioned.

In reply, Tank opened his mouth and gave a croak, before slowly turning around and inching his way to the door.

“Do you know where Dash went?” Fluttershy could barely keep the excitement from her voice.

Tank turned his head to face back towards Fluttershy and nodded before turning back around to keep on his way, but instead of moving through the door, he pushed it closed. Then, stretching his neck to its full extent, he reached up and grabbed his flight rig, which he presented to Fluttershy.

“Oh, of course, it would take too long for you to lead us there on hoof.” Fluttershy quickly strapped the strange apparatus to the tortoise’s back, then stood back and watched as the reptile became airborne. She then galloped out of the study, shouting to her friends who were at the foot of the stairs before she even reached the top.

Once she explained the situation, it didn’t take long for them to get organised. Fluttershy would follow tank to wherever Dash was, then Fluttershy would call for them again the same way she had before.

“It’s the only way, seeing as you’re the only one who can fly, and Tank can’t exactly tell us where Dash is.” Twilight explained unnecessarily for the third time. “If you keep an image of your location in your head alongside us when you call for help, we’ll see that too, so we’ll know where you are.”

Fluttershy only just heard, as she was already out the door and flying away, Tank leading at an impressive speed for an airborne tortoise. She just hoped she was not too late. The sun was already nearing the horizon, and Dash had been gone for almost a whole day.

Oh, please be alright Rainbow Dash, please, you have to be alright!

~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was well below the horizon and the stars glittered in the sky while the moon hid behind some partial clouds as Fluttershy frantically flew around the many edges of ghastly gorge. A bright purple light hovered over her head, illuminating the land below. A conjuration of Twilight’s to help with the darkness and Fluttershy could see similar lights roving in and around the gorge, indicating the location of her friends.

Tank had led her straight to the huge rift in the ground and she had immediately assumed the worst, but she didn’t have time for tears. She called her friends and got searching immediately and had been at it for the last several hours now at least.

She was beginning to lose hope. They hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Rainbow Dash, but Tank seemed adamant that the gorge had been her destination, so they searched. Ghastly Gorge was unstable, and rock slides fall from the walls every day. What Rainbow Dash had been thinking coming here, Fluttershy had no idea.

The gorge stretched off into the horizon and Fluttershy, nor Twilight and the others girls, knew how long it would take them to search the whole thing. Dash could be anywhere and Tank didn’t seem to know which part of the gorge she was in. She had investigated countless rockslides, caves, bramble walls and anywhere she could think that Dash might be, but to no avail. She met regularly with the girls to share what they had – or more accurately, had not – found. Nopony had seen anything so far, but the idea of giving up and going home was never brought up, never even seen as an option. Despite this, Fluttershy was beginning to lose hope.

Desperately, she flew faster and faster, searching every nook and cranny, ignoring the fiery burn in her wings from such extended use, until the lights from her friends were only specks in the distance and the moon was well into its trek across the sky. She passed at least four rockslides and investigated countless caves, one of which contained a pack of sleeping timberwolves, which didn’t frighten her, but only served as a reminder that this place was still dangerous.

It was getting close to the time they would meet up together again. Fluttershy was in the middle of doing one last flyover of the area then head back to the lights in the distance, when she felt a sudden urge to descend back down into the gorge itself. This part of the gorge was darker than the rest, due to the concentration of trees lining the edges up the top whose branches stretched out and over the gap, blocking the sparse moonlight from entering.

Avoiding the holes in the walls that signified the hiding place of the countless quarray eels in the area, Fluttershy carefully lowered herself into the darkness. She took notice of the large cracks and gouges taken out of the walls of the quarry opposite the holes. Somepony had flown through here recently and disturbed the eels. A spark of hope formed in Fluttershy’s heart.

The darkness felt like it was closing in around her as the light from the magical orb hovering above her head seemed to fade. The shadows moved and shifted with her expectations: part of her hoped for the best whilst another part feared the worst. Her descent slowed as she began to dread what she would find, but her drive to find Dash kept her going. Her vision slowly narrowed into a tunnel focusing on the base of an avalanche a little way further down the gorge, and the tiny glint of something colourful reflecting the little light left from Twilight’s spell.

The only thing that prevented Fluttershy from immediately flying as fast as she could over to the pile of rocks was the fear that she might find Rainbow Dash’s remains, instead of the mare herself. With her mind on the verge of locking up entirely, she managed to force her wings into a forward flap and move slowly over to the object of her greatest hopes, and her worst fears.

As she edged closer and closer, the glint of colour turned into several stripes, and eventually into a dirty rainbow-coloured mane. All rational thought left Fluttershy’s head and she bolted over as fast as she could, not caring about timberwolves or quarray eels or moving shadows. All she could think about was the mare lying motionless not twenty pony-lengths away.

Time seemed to slow as she approached and her vision narrowed further so that all she could see was Rainbow Dash. The mare’s eyes were closed and she had several cuts and bruises over her legs and back. Fluttershy’s heart stopped for a moment as she thought the worst had happened, until she saw the slight movement of Rainbow’s chest moving. She was breathing. She was alive!

At that moment, Fluttershy was never more glad that she had tended wounded animals in the past, because Rainbow was still hurt. Closing the remaining distance slowly and carefully, she saw that one of Rainbow’s wings was completely covered by a huge boulder, and that boulder seemed to be supporting the weight of the rest of the rock-fall too.

The thought that such a huge weight would have surely crushed Dash’s wing completely, and that the mare was likely never going to fly again, registered only as a side-note in her head, far overshadowed by relief that her marefriend was alive and… okay, maybe not well, but she was alive at least.

She gingerly lay down facing the sleeping mare – she had to be sleeping, she’d probably been here for a while judging by the dried blood around the cuts and the lack of dust floating in the air – and gave her a gentle nuzzle, ignoring the tears that were streaming down her face and the wracking sobs that threatened to make her chest heave.

Slowly, Rainbow’s eyes opened and she hazily gazed up at Fluttershy. She released a few dry cackles of humourless laughter. “Well, that settles it then.”

Fluttershy was puzzled, and her worry for Dash went at war with her curiosity over what she was talking about. Eventually, her curiosity won. “Settles what Rainbow?”

Dash laughed again, displaying some small dregs of mirth this time, before shaking her head and turning down her eyes. “That I love you more than anything else. Here I am, about to die, and I’m seeing a vision of you lying here in front of me. I’m even talking to you, and you’re not even really here. What I wouldn’t give to see you again; to hold you, to touch you, to smell you. To feel your warmth next to me and the soft feathers of your wing over my back.”

Such a declaration of love sent furious blushes burning on Fluttershy’s cheeks, but was somewhat diminished by the completely delirious state of the mare it came from. “Rainbow Dash, I’m real. I’m here for you now, I’m going to help you.”

Dash answered with another laugh, this one with somewhat more humour. “Exactly what a perfect vision of you would say. You’re here to help me pass on quietly, aren’t you? Well, I suppose seeing an illusion of you is better than not seeing you at all, even if it’s not as good as seeing the real you.”

Despair welled up inside Fluttershy’s heart. “Please Rainbow Dash, I’m really here.” The tears were flowing harder than ever as she pleaded, though Dash’s eyes were becoming glazed over again. “Please Dash, stay with me, please, you have to stay with me.” Fluttershy shook her head, sending her tears flying off in all directions and helping regain control of herself. Rainbow was in a fragile state, both in body and in mind, and she needed help.

Envisioning her friends in her mind, as well as an image of her location down in the gorge, she whispered, “help.” She then reached forward and put a hoof on one of Dash’s own. Leaning in, she put forth all of her passion, all of her worry and joy and tears, all into one short kiss. “I’m real Rainbow. Please, you have to believe me, I’m real, I’m going to help you get out of here alive, no matter what.”

Dash stared at the yellow hoof lying on her own and brought her other fore-hoof up to lightly touch her lips where Fluttershy had kissed her. Her gaze then turned to Fluttershy herself and her eyes began to clear. “Fluttershy you’re… you’re actually here? This is real?”

“Yes Rainbow, I’m here, I’m really here.” Tears began to stream down Fluttershy’s cheeks harder than ever, and Rainbow reciprocated with tears of her own. Fluttershy moved forward and embraced the injured mare, and they lay in each other hooves crying into their coats.

Once the tears subsided, Fluttershy moved back a little to study Rainbow. She looked even worse for wear than before, her mane even more messy and her face covered in mud from the dirt mixed with her tears. For her part, Dash gazed back, seemingly oblivious to the horrible state she was in before trying to jump to her hooves.

She immediately let out a horribly pained shriek and fell back to the ground, her face scrunched up and tears of pain streaming down her face while her hoof gingerly reached for her crushed wing.

Fluttershy felt a stab of fear as she remembered the exact direness of her marefriend’s situation. “Oh my gosh Rainbow, are you okay?” The ridiculousness of this question escaped her as she ever-so-carefully moved forward and inspected Rainbow’s wing.

The boulder was almost completely covering it, pinning Dash to the ground and all the rocks and rubble that had fallen were resting on top of it. Her previous assessment had been right: Dash would likely lose the use of her wing, if they could even get her out from underneath the rocks while keeping it intact. If the rock was moved, even a little bit, then the rocks above would likely fall and crush her completely, and anyone else nearby too in all probability. It was a delicate situation and she needed help.

As if on cue, she began to hear voices overhead and, looking up, she saw a purple glow indicating her friends had arrived.

“Down here!” she called up to them, careful not to make her voice too loud so as to not disrupt any more rocks. The last thing they needed was another avalanche.

With a bright flash of light and magic, Twilight and the rest teleported down and, upon seeing Rainbow Dash’s prone form, carefully rushed over to see what they could do. Everypony agreed that the situation was dire. Twilight began breathing heavily and her pupils shrunk to tiny pricks. Fluttershy could tell she was panicking, but didn’t have the time nor sense to try and calm her down.

Rarity made her own examination of the rock-fall. “Oh my, darling, this is bad. Rainbow Dash, can you talk? Are you alright?”

Rainbow managed to open her eyes and even roll them at Rarity before speaking in a dry, pain-wracked voice. “I can’t get up. It doesn’t hurt much, unless I move. I can feel a… I dunno, a heaviness where my wing normally is.” She tried to shift her weight, but winced with a muffled cry of pain. “Am I gonna be okay?” Her eyes grew even more pleading, more tears falling freely down her face. “Please, I don’t want to die here.”

Fluttershy was crying again now too, and was on the verge of falling to the ground and breaking down, but she heard a deep breath from beside her. Looking, she saw Twilight making a strange motion with her foreleg while taking deep breaths. At least she was starting to calm down. If the nerdish mare had panicked for much longer, Fluttershy wasn’t sure how long she could have kept her own composure.

Twilight sat down and rubbed her muzzle in thought for a moment, glancing from Rainbow Dash to the rockslide to the rest of the girls and back to Rainbow Dash. Eventually, a look of grim determination mixed with sadness overcame her features. “The easiest, not to mention safest, way to do this…” She hesitated with a grimace, giving a look of unhappy consolation to Fluttershy before continuing. “The safest way would be to just remove her wing. We could then get her out of here and to a hospital. She would lose her ability to fly, but at least she’d be alive.”

Everypony gasped in shock and Fluttershy closed her eyes, imagining Rainbow Dash’s life without her wings. She couldn’t picture it. Rainbow Dash without wings was like Twilight without her horn or Applejack without her legs. She wouldn’t allow it.

“No.” Everypony’s heads turned in her direction. “No, we can’t do that. Rainbow Dash would rather die than lose one of her wings and you all know it. If there’s even a chance that we can get her out of here in one piece, we’re taking it.”

Twilight looked at her askance, but studied the pile of rock again. “I might be able to lift this with my magic, but if I disturb one of the boulders I’m not holding, the whole thing will likely come down around our heads. We can’t risk that”

“Please Twilight, girls, please.” Fluttershy was crying again – if she had ever even stopped – and she was getting desperate. “Please, help me save her. Please…” Everypony stopped and thought, and Rainbow Dash glanced up with pained, pleading eyes dripping with tears of her own.

Everypony was thinking, everypony was glancing from Rainbow Dash to the avalanche to Fluttershy and back to Rainbow Dash again, but it didn’t seem as if anypony was getting anywhere.

Everybody jumped when Twilight suddenly shouted “I’ve got it!” before throwing her saddlebags to the ground and rifling around inside them. Out of the bags came several pieces of fresh, if slightly bruised, fruit, some books on romantic psychology, several scrolls of paper with quills and ink and finally, a length of rope.

Nobody questioned why Twilight had all this packed in her saddlebag, but Rainbow Dash had her eyes locked on the food that was being further squashed by the books unceremoniously thrown on top of it. Fluttershy picked up one of the less-squashed apples that had avoided the worst of the falling books and, dusting it off with a wing, handed it to the hungry mare.

“When was the last time you ate Dash?”

Dash replied by noisily devouring the fruit, slopping juice all over her muzzle, but not a single morsel was wasted. It took two more apples and a carrot before Rainbow would talk and all she seemed to be able to manage was “last night” before she returned to drooling over even the pieces of fruit that had been completely squashed and were mixing with the dirt on the ground.

Fluttershy turned her attention back to Twilight who was busy scrawling on one of the long sheets of parchment she had brought with her. She was mostly drawing rough sketches of the rockslide with calculations of what looked like mass and force, along with a variable that Fluttershy didn’t recognise.

After several minutes of intense concentration, Twilight put the quill down and rubbed her temples. “Alright, this might work, but everypony needs to do their part perfectly, or we could all… we could all lose our lives here.” She seemed to struggle to say those last words and Fluttershy could barely stand to hear them. It wasn’t something she wanted to contemplate, so she focused on Twilight as directions were given out.

It was a complicated plan and everypony would have to give everything they had for it to work out. Once the plan was finalised and everyone knew what they had to do, they got to work.

Rarity begun by taking the rope and using her precision with levitation to worm it underneath one corner of the boulder directly on top of Rainbow Dash’s wing. She used an adaptation of her gem location spell to detect weaknesses in the dirt and rock, and guided the rope to follow. She wrapped it around several times before passing the ends to Pinkie Pie, who was standing on a low ledge up the wall of the canyon.

Twilight then conjured a wall of magic encasing the front edge of the rockslide. If she couldn’t lift the entire thing by herself, she could at least keep them in place. Rarity added her magic to Twilight’s to further reinforce the barrier. Applejack then moved up and put her rear hooves on the main boulder. She then pushed while Pinkie Pie pulled on the rope from the ledge.

Applejack’s strength from apple farming, combined with Pinkie’s surprising leg strength from all her pronking was just enough to slowly lift the boulder, along with everything on top of it, off Rainbow’s wing just a fraction. Twilight devoted a portion of her magic to lifting as well, whilst the majority of her attention, combined with Rarity’s, was focused on keeping the main body of rocks from falling down on top of them. As the pile of stones rose, Fluttershy braced herself for the bloody mess that must be all that remained of Rainbow’s wing, but the sight she was granted with surprised her.

The wing was mostly intact, with only one obvious break near the middle, but no bones were protruding from the skin and there was no blood at all. Fluttershy saw why when she gently pulled Rainbow out and away from the rubble: Dash’s wing had fallen in a slight hollow in the ground just deep enough to fit the wing, but narrow enough that the boulder rested upon its raised edges. Enough pressure was on the wing to prevent Dash from moving, but not enough to cause severe, crippling damage.

With Rainbow out of harm’s way, Applejack and Pinkie Pie lowered the pile slowly back down again. This was the most delicate part: if anypony slipped and the rubble was lowered too quickly, everything could come down around their heads.

As the rockslide settled back to the ground with a resounding crunch, Twilight and Rarity began slowly lowering the barrier as carefully as they could to prevent any rocks falling forward. Everypony waited with baited breath as the last of the magical aura disappeared from the sloping wall of stone and all released a sigh of relief.

A noise prickled at Fluttershy’s ears. Turning around, she saw a small stone clattering along the ground. Another noise: another stone, this one rolling down the opposite slope. Yet another joined the second, and another, and more until a look of horrified realisation dawned on everyone’s faces.

The ground rumbled and rocks fell from above growing larger and larger, some getting to be as big as a pony. Rarity began running around screaming first, but was followed quickly by everypony else.

Fluttershy quickly hoisted Dash onto her back, ignoring the scream of pain from the injured mare, as well as the shrieking complaints from her own body, and began running. She couldn’t suppress a scream as a huge rock three times her height landed right in front of her, or when Twilight ran headlong into her side, knocking all three mares sprawling across the ground.

Twilight was the first on her hooves, but seemed to have regained some sanity, because she looked up thoughtfully for a split second, before shouting out over the crashing of rocks and screams of terrified ponies.

“Everypony, to me!”

Fluttershy immediately picked Rainbow back up again, much more carefully this time, and began dodging falling rocks to get to Twilight, who was struggling to avoid all the debris while still staying in one general spot. It didn’t take long for everypony to gather around despite, or maybe because of, the imminent danger, and as soon as Fluttershy would open her mouth to ask what the plan was, she was being sucked through the cold water again.

Her hooves made contact with solid ground and she blinked until the world was stationary again. A loud crash from below startled her, and she looked down to find herself standing on the very edge of the chasm they had just vacated. The entire area they had been standing mere moments ago was now buried under several pony-lengths of stone and rock.

They all stood and stared down into the rift below them, contemplating how close they had come to being buried alive. It was an unpleasant thought and it left Fluttershy’s heart pounding and her breath short. She managed to keep from fully hyperventilating thanks to the warm weight of Rainbow Dash lying on her back. She was safe and that was all that mattered.

Twilight turned away from the gorge and her horn began to glow with magic. “Come on everypony, let’s go home.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy lay curled up on the floor next to the bed, eyes closed but far from asleep. Her nerves were tight, and worry wracked her brain leaving no room for anything but concern for the unconscious mare above her.

Rainbow had been out for almost a whole day now and despite the fact that the doctors had said she was going to be alright, Fluttershy couldn’t help but fret. It was in her nature, it was who she was. The fact that she was in love with Rainbow probably didn’t help her anxiety, but she managed to keep up at least a somewhat calm façade as she waited.

Her friends were there, arrayed around the room in calm patience as they waited too. Rarity had taken up a chair by the door, and sat knitting a scarf in Rainbow’s colours. Applejack lay at the foot of Rarity’s chair, whittling away at a piece of wood into what looked to be a lightning bolt over the top of a cloud. Twilight sat at the desk near the window reading a book with an obscure title that Fluttershy managed to discern was about pegasus anatomy while Spike lay sleeping on the floor beside her.

Even Pinkie Pie had managed to keep still, though by the way her mane was losing its characteristic puffiness, she was deep in thought, probably blaming herself for what had happened. She always did take it upon herself to keep her friends, not to mention everyone else, happy and smiling, but when somepony ended up badly hurt, she had a bad habit of taking the blame onto herself.

Fluttershy heard a rustle from the bed above her, followed by a groan, and she bolted upright. Spinning around to face the bed, she saw Rainbow stirring.

Dash slowly opened her eyes, squinting in the mid-afternoon light shining through the window. “Ugh what, what’s going on?” She looked around for a bit, before seeming to notice Fluttershy for the first time. “Fluttershy, is that you? What are you…” trailing off, her eyes grew distant, as if memories were flashing across her vision, and she suddenly let out a wordless shout.

“Fluttershy, the avalanche! Did you, did we make it out, are you okay?” She went to jump out of bed, but let out a pained yelp as she jostled her injured wing.

The rest of the group, having given Fluttershy and Dash a moment alone, now gathered around the bed wearing worried expressions. Twilight put a hoof on Dash’s shoulder to stop her trying to leap up again. “Now Rainbow Dash, you’ve got to stay in bed for a while.”

Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration, threw her forelegs into the air and let them flop back down onto the bed. She seemed to be ignoring the exasperated stare Twilight was giving her, but Fluttershy could understand her frustration.

Aside from the main break, her wing had been fractured in two places and she had moderate muscle strain and bruising throughout most of her wing. It wasn’t deadly, or even overly serious considering what had happened, but it was enough to ground her for a week or more, which meant it was enough for Dash to complain about.

Her wing was in a cast and sling this time though, which restricted her movement, meaning she wasn’t about to run around having any midnight adventures like last time. The doctors said she was lucky to be alive, much less complaining about being stuck in bed for a week or so. They all knew how close she had come – how close they had all come – to their deaths, but it wasn’t something Fluttershy liked to think about, so she ignored it and focused on the fact that Rainbow was alive and on the mend.

They had taken Dash to the spare bedroom in Fluttershy’s cottage once the hospital had finished putting the cast on, not needing to keep her any longer than that. All the injured pegasus needed was rest and she’d be right as rain. They all agreed Fluttershy’s cottage was best, seeing as though in order to get to her own home, she would have to fly, coupled with the fact that Fluttershy was an expert in taking care of injured ponies by this point. There were other reasons too, such as the fact that Fluttershy was Rainbow’s marefriend, but nopony saw the need to voice those details.

Everypony questioned Dash on whether she was alright or if there was anything they could do to help, to which she replied that she was fine, that they didn’t need to worry and that there was nothing they could do.

Fluttershy was silent, however, hardly even paying attention. She was lost in her thoughts, thinking about something that she finally voiced out loud after Twilight asked the same questions everypony else had.

“Dash, what were you doing in Ghastly Gorge?”

Everypony fell silent and turned to face her, and from their stares Fluttershy could tell they had all been thinking the same thing, but none had been willing to breach the subject. Dash herself stared for only a moment before her ears drooped, her eyes fell and she sighed.

In detail, she confessed how she had been feeling lately, how she was worried about how being together with Fluttershy was changing her. She explained that she was scared of Fluttershy’s peaceful nature taking away her brash and daring, never-say-die personality and that she couldn’t stand the idea of not being the reckless, headstrong mare she had always been.

“I just couldn’t take it anymore, so I had to prove to myself that I hadn’t changed. It didn’t take me long to come up with the idea that if I could fly Ghastly Gorge, then I hadn’t changed at all, that I was still the same awesome pegasus from before. I dodged three rockfalls before the one that you found me under got me. I guess I have changed. I’ve gone soft.”

Everypony leaned in offering consolatory nuzzles and Fluttershy left a quick kiss as well. Dash looked up with her eyes on the verge of tears, making Fluttershy’s heart nearly break in two.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you Fluttershy. I should have told you how I was feeling right from the start, but I was... ugh, I was afraid.” The words sounded bitter, and Dash’s face certainly reflected a foul taste she got in her mouth from saying them. “I was afraid you might not think I was taking our relationship seriously enough so I wanted to sort it out myself. I should have known you girls would be here to help me. I’m so sorry I put you all in danger, I hope you can forgive me.”

Fluttershy leaned in and gave Dash another kiss, this one lingering and passionate enough to make her friends behind her blush and avert their eyes. “It’s okay Rainbow, I forgive you. I knew something was troubling you from the moment you came back, like you hadn’t completely sorted it out. I thought that if you wanted to, you’d come out and talk to me, but I know what you’re like. You’re brash and reckless and headstrong, but that’s what I love about you. If I could be half as confident – even a tenth as confident – as you, I’d be as confident as I could ever hope to be.”

“But Fluttershy,” Dash protested. “You’re the bravest mare I know. You’ve faced down dragons and cockatrices, you fought off changelings and diamond dogs and who knows what else? You were the only thing that got us enough wing power to get the cloud-water to Cloudsdale and you… you were able to do something I never would have been able to, if you hadn’t have given me the confidence.”

Fluttershy was confused. She was brave? She shivered whenever anything dangerous was close and she even jumped at her own shadow sometimes! “But Rainbow Dash I-” Dash cut her off.

“You were able to confess your love to someone. I’d never have been able to do that, if you hadn’t done it first. I just wouldn’t have been brave enough.”

“Yes, but all that other stuff, you and the girls were there too, I-” again, Dash cut her off.

“Do you know why you being there with us all makes you braver and we are?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest that it didn’t, that she had been scared the whole time, but Rainbow never gave her the chance.

“Because you were scared the whole time.”

Fluttershy blanched, almost choking on the breath she was taking. “What?”

“You were scared. You were more frightened than any of us, but you were right there, facing your fears, just so you could be there to help. So really, you were always braver than I’ve ever been, and now that I’m getting soft, you’re just making me look bad.”

Fluttershy could tell she was putting on a game face, that she was really quite upset, so she moved in for another nuzzle and found all her friends there as well. There were many consolations, encouragements and well-wishes, but Fluttershy was struck with a sudden thought.

“Rainbow Dash, you said earlier that you thought that if you could fly Ghastly Gorge, you’d prove that you hadn’t changed?”

Dash’s face fell, but Fluttershy continued.

“Dash, you’ve never been able to fly Ghastly Gorge at all. I’ve seen you fly over it or around it, and even once you tried, you got halfway through it before you had to fly up and out, but you’ve never flown the whole thing from end to end before. The path you flew in the pet competition wasn’t even the main branch of the gorge either.”

A collective gasp, followed by a torrent of exclamations and questions from her friends almost deafened Fluttershy’s ears, but her eyes were focused on Rainbow Dash, whose expression had gone blank.

Once the noise quietened down, she muttered a quiet “oh yeah” before flopping her head back on her pillow with a wince for the twinge it must have sent through her wing.

Fluttershy wasn’t finished though. “In fact, where we found you was further than I’ve ever seen you fly. You made it further than you ever have before.”

Another “oh yeah” was all the reaction she gave for a few moments, which she spent otherwise in a state of stunned silence. Suddenly, her eyes brightened. “So I am still the awesome, daring, dashing pegasus I’ve always been?” At the encouraging smiles and nods from Fluttershy and the rest, she let out an excited whoop and leaped up out of bed.

Or at least, she tried to. As soon as her hoof stretched above her head, she let out another pained cry and fell back onto the downy covers, reaching back to hold her wing.

“Remember what I said Rainbow? You need to stay in bed and get rest. Your wing isn’t going to get better otherwise” Twilight admonished, though her expression was amused.

Once she recovered from the burst of pain, Dash put on a grumpy face that Fluttershy found quite adorable. “Ugh, this is gonna kill me, I have absolutely nothing to do. I’ve already read all the Daring Do books like, seven times, and the new one doesn’t come out for another month!”

Everypony let out exasperated sighs, but Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel for her new marefriend. She gave the distraught mare yet another warm nuzzle, saying “don’t worry Dash, I’ll be here the whole time to keep you entertained.” In a sudden burst of courage, she gave Rainbow the most sultry wink she could manage, hidden from her friends by her mane.

They both immediately blushed furiously and Dash tried to cough incongruously but choked, ending up in a fit of coughing and gagging that drew everyone’s eyes, not to mention their curiosity.

Eventually, Dash managed to regain control of her voice. “Okay, maybe it won’t be that bad” she muttered, still glowing bright red under the eyes of her friends.

Everypony eventually caught on, and made knowing nods and an excited giggle in Pinkie Pie’s case before moving quickly out of the room. Everypony except Twilight anyway, who was still standing around in complete befuddlement and ignorance and had to be ushered out of the room by an embarrassed and apologetic Rarity. As they walked through the cottage, Fluttershy could hear Rarity speaking hastily in hushed tones before Twilight gasped.

“Really? I had no idea they… that is, I mean…” The voices dropped back into a quiet murmur out of hearing range.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend’s cluelessness, but Twilight never was one much for picking up on things not written in books.

Rainbow Dash, who had kept quiet the entire time, gave Fluttershy a worried look. “Um, Flutters, when you said-”

Fluttershy cut her off with a hoof before climbing onto the bed, careful not to disturb Dash’s injured wing, and curled up at her marefriend’s side. Dash appeared to relax a little until she stiffened completely with her good wing unfurling with a snap when Fluttershy, without opening her eyes, said: “at least let them get out of earshot Rainbow Dash.”

She chuckled internally this time, knowing that she would never have said anything so bold, or behaved in such a brave manner, a few weeks ago, but she was just so happy to have Rainbow Dash back and in her hooves that she felt as if there was nothing she couldn’t do.

She also knew that she probably shouldn’t tease Dash like that in her current state, and her friends were probably going to be gossiping over what they thought was happening right then, but she didn’t care. Let them think what they wanted, she just wanted to be alone with Rainbow for a while.

Dash wrapped her hooves around her, and Fluttershy snuggled closer into the embrace with a satisfied sigh.

She was home. Here in Rainbow’s embrace, she felt completely at ease, with no worries or cares about anything at all. Everything had worked out. She had Dash back and that was all that mattered.

~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight sat at her writing desk, a fresh roll of parchment in front of her, swilling her quill in her inkpot as she thought. The light from the candles was the only illumination other than the glow of the midnight moon and stars out the window. She could hear spike snoring upstairs, tucked into his basket under his treasured blue blanket.

She had almost finished composing her letter to the Princess in her head, and was just about ready to start writing. She had put a lot more effort into this report than she had any other, but it was going to be an extra-special report.

Dear Princess Celestia.

I’ve learned a valuable lesson over the course of the last few weeks. My close friend and fellow element bearer Fluttershy has been struggling with her feelings over Rainbow Dash, as I mentioned in the detailed report I sent some days ago.

Rainbow Dash returned of her own accord, as I predicted she would, but that wasn’t the end of it, as most of us suspected. Rainbow Dash was still struggling with her own feelings, and how she was changing as a pony because of Fluttershy’s calm and peaceful influence. You have probably already heard reports of an incident at Ghastly Gorge, as Spike has been around with all my friends sending letters to you for them, but Rainbow Dash, in an attempt to prove to herself that she hadn’t changed, attempted to race through the gorge, but became stuck in an avalanche. We freed her, and she is recovering well and should be better within a week or two, but it taught me something very important.

For the duration of the Hearth’s Warming break when this entire ordeal started, I’ve been trying to compose a report to you on the subject of love, but no matter how resolved events seemed to be at the time, I always thought there was something missing, as if I didn’t have the entire picture, and now I know why.

Love isn’t just one pony’s attraction to another as I originally thought. Love is the dedication of one’s whole heart and soul to another pony, the complete and utter devotion and commitment to the other’s happiness and wellbeing as I learned on the day of Hearth’s Warming when Fluttershy gave Rainbow Dash one of her feathers. While I understood all this from that event, what I didn’t understand is that love is also the ability of two ponies to change completely for each other, but still stay the same; the joining of two ponies into one whole, while they stay separate beings. It is completely confusing and entirely indefinable, but that’s just what love is. It makes perfect sense, by not making any sense at all. Love is two completely different ponies coming together to share good times and happiness, curled up together on a winter’s night. You can’t put a single, definite description to love, because it is constantly changing, and you can’t properly define it because it is different for every pony.

Love is so many things all at once and I don’t think I’ll ever truly appreciate it until I experience it myself, but watching my friends come together in this wonderfully befuddling emotion makes me truly appreciate the friendship that we have, that it can endure such hardships and come out stronger than ever. We are truly lucky to be blessed with such good friends.

Your faithful student
Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight put her quill down with a yawn and blew the candles out. It was late and she was tired, so she would read over the report again in the morning and get spike to send it then. It had been a long and eventful, not to mention stressful, Hearth’s Warming, but she felt things had finally come to a head, and it was a better outcome than any had dared to hope for.

It seemed as if she wouldn’t need to hold an intervention for Rainbow Dash after all, though she was certainly thankful nopony had questioned why she had had rope and books on psychology in her bag.

Blowing out the candles, she made her way through the dark by memory, trudging up the stairs to her bedroom, wondering when some stallion or mare would come to sweep her off her hooves. She rather looked forward to it too. What could be more exciting in her future than meeting somepony and falling in love?

Opening the door to her bedroom, she trotted inside and crawled under the covers of her bed, satisfied that everything with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been resolved.

It looked like everything was going to be just fine.

Author's Notes:

Feh. Just... Feh... The story behind this chapter is a long and annoying one, and I'll post the long version of it in my blog. Basically, I took a break after chapter 4 and lost inspiration, got major writer's block, but eventually got around to writing it again.

But anyway, here it is. The long-awaited Chapter 5 of Never too Shy to Love. Let me know what you all think, I'm a little worried that I'd lost my touch over the huge break I took. The part I'm most uncertain about is the very last part, namely, Twilight's letter to Celestia. I have no idea if I managed to pull that off, so let me know what you think.

Yes, this is the final chapter, so yes, this story is now complete. I'm so glad you've all stuck around with me this far, and again I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to get this to you, but I promise, I'll get a huge backlog of finished chapters for my next story so I can upload them consistently for you.

I hope you've all enjoyed this journey with me, and I really hope you'll come with me on my next one, which I'll post updates for in my blog, so (shameless self-advertisement warning) follow me if you wanna catch that when it comes out.

Thank you all so much!
~ True Blood