Love, marriage, and Scootaloo

by Alchemystudent

Rating: teen
Tags: Sex, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Scootaloo, Fluttershy
Length: 65744

Scootaloo needs a mother and wants to make Rainbow Dash happy; and she is willing to do everything to make both happen.

Scootaloo has been living with Rainbow dash for a year now. Her best friend has just gotten her cutie mark and she is getting better at flying. But why does Dashie seem so lonely lately and why does she still think of her mother. Maybe its time that she gets someone for her big sister to be there for her. Maybe its time to get Rainbow a special somepony.

Published 2013-04-27 07:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-05-28 20:01:46 UTC

I want to love sompony

I want to love sompony

Chapter 1: I want somepony like you

On a cloud overlooking the small little village known as Ponyville, two pegasi laid on a cloud overlooking the village, “See that, my little Scootaloo,” the orange mare said as she let her small filly walk to the edge of the cloud, “That’s your new home.”

The orange filly looked over the edge of the cloud, her eyes wide with excitement, “WOW! You think I’ll meet some awesome fillies down there?”

Sunny Daze smiled softly as she leaned in and nuzzled her little filly, “Of course you will, my dear. Just as long as you
keep that wonderful spirit of yours burning bright, you’ll meet some great friends.”

Looking down at the small town, Scootaloo smiled and ran a hoof through her purple mane, “ Do you think that dad is
down there too?”

A sad look came to the mare’s green eyes as she draped a wing over her daughter, “Oh Scootaloo,” she closed her eyes softly to blink out some of the tears that came to her as she thought of her husband, “Your dad...your father moved somewhere far away. He went off somewhere to live with your grandparents for a very long time. But you should know this, no matter where he is right now he is always with us. In our memories of him and in your heart,” she then nuzzled her filly once more.

“Mom,” the orange filly asked as she looked up to her mom, “If you were to go and live with dad...will you live in my heart too?”

“Always, my little Scootaloo,” the mare said as she gave a kiss on the filly’s forehead.

“I love you, mom,” Scootaloo said as she watch her mom pull away from the kiss. The filly’s magenta eyes then opened wide in fear as she watched her mother become a white wispy cloud, floating away, “Mother! No, don’t go away mother! DON'T LEAVE ME,” She began to run as fast as she could after the white wisp, trying to catch up in vain. She continued to call out for her mother as she continued to gallop faster and faster after her mother’s wispy form..

In time, she collapsed on the ground, panting. Lifting her head up from the ground, she saw that she was in a hospital hallway and laying in front of a room. Getting up slowly, she walked to the room and looked inside to see two unicorn doctors standing in front of a sheet, “Poor girl, so young and with a daughter too. What happened?”

“No,” Scootaloo thought to herself as she looked inside, “She’s asleep, just asleep. In a few minutes, she’ll get up and walk me home.”

“Chimera attack in the whitetail woods. Apparently, they were taking a walk for mother’s day when the creature attacked. The filly got away, while the mother tried to distract it. Sadly, the creature took the bait.”

“Thi...this cant be happening. Mom, get up! You need to be here to see me, to see me get my cutie mark, to watch me join Dashie as a Wonder bolt, and you need to be here,” Scootaloo cried as she collasped to the ground crying.

“Any family that can take the filly home?”

“ No, all of them are dead. We’ll give her a few days to recover, then we have to-”

“SHE HAS A FAMILY,” Said a blue mare as she walked by Scootaloo, favoring her right hind leg.

“Who are you mam,” asked one of the doctors/

“Rainbow Dash, I am the one who,” the rainbow maned pegasus grunted a little she put a hoof to the side, wincing in pain, “Saved Scootaloo from that monster before he could kill her too.”

“Miss Dash, you should go back to the bed, you’re hurt,” Said a white earth pony with a red cross on her flank.

“You should see the chimera,” Dash smirked.

“Miss Dash,” One of the doctors said, “How are you related to the young pegasus?”

“I’m her sister.”

“I’m sorry miss Dash, but there are no records of miss Scootaloo having an older sister, and unless you show some official records...I can let you take her home.”

“But, I promised Sunny! I told her before she died that I would watch that kid!”

“Miss dash, I am sorry, but if we could support promises,” the doctor sighed, “There would be a lot more happy kids in this world.”

Scootaloo heard this conversation and turned her head away, wanting to run. As she turned, she found herself looking down a hallway from inside a room. Walking softly, she could hear some more voices, “ Is she ready to go?”

“Yes, all of her injuries are healed and she is physically fit. You can take her to the home,” The doctor unicorn said, sighing, “Shame that she cant go with miss Dash, though. She seemed to really care for the kid.”

“What do you mean she isn't coming home with me,” Rainbow said, walking up to the two ponies with a piece of paper.

“I told you miss Dash, you can tell us all you want that you are her sister, but unless,” his face was then hit with a piece of paper held by Dash.

“This document legally recognizes me as Scootaloo’s legal parent and guardian. As signed by Princess of the night, Luna and Twilight Sparkle,” She then pushed a cyan hoof to the two names on the bottom of the paper, listing witnesses, “If you have any problems, you can take it up either Celestia’s trusted student or Luna herself. I don't think you want to talk to the egghead, and I KNOW you wouldn’t want to discuss this with the princess of the night. I heard she can get very VERY angry when her commands are questioned.”

“Y-yes miss Dash, she is right down this way,” The doctor said, smiling.

“Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me...I need to pick up MY little sister,” Dash said as she was suddenly tackled by an orange blur.

Her hooves tightly wrapped around the blue pegasus’s neck, she buried her face into the neck of her new sister, “Y...you mean it? I can go home with you, and live with you and be your little sister?”

Rainbow dash ruffled the little orange pegasus’s mane and smiled, “Scoot, you always were my little sis. We never really need a silly piece of paper to say that,” with that, Dash wrapped her legs around Scootaloo, hugging her tightly.

As the young filly looked up from her sisters chest, she then found herself in front of a huge cloud house, “I’ll live here? Are you sure you have room for me?”

“YEP,” Dash said as she led the little pegasus in, “I remodeled an old trophy room for you.”

Scootaloo smiled as she could hear the whispering voice of her mother, “I am so happy for you, my little one.”
Scootaloo then turned her head as she felt a warm breeze fly past her cheek.

“Mom,” Scootaloo asked as she shot up in bed, draped in a pair of light orange pajamas. She smiled to herself as she realized it was just a dream and began to remember fondly of the past year. Of her adoption by her big sister and of the great times that she has had so far. Getting up, she began to walk by her bedside table and looked at the photos that lined it: a picture of her mom, Rainbow Dash, and her in front of her old house. A photo of the day she had come to live with Dash, another photo showing them winning second place at the sisterhooves social while Rarity and Sweetie belle looked smugly at the two. Scootaloo chuckled at the memory of the day as she removed her pajamas and turned on the radio with her hind hoof.

“Hey all of you awesome listeners. This is Vinyl Scratch bringing you all of your awesome morning music to get you right out of bed and into Celestia’s beautiful sunshine! Listen, I was looking through Tavi’s old records and I found this one song by Frank Trotra that I think would be fun to give a listen to. So lets see how it goes, the song is called...”

Love and marriage (and Scootaloo)

As the orange filly listened to the upbeat music coming from the record, her thoughts again turned to her mother and Rainbow Dash. She began to remember how close she was to her and how much Dash has tried her best to be more like her mother every day. To the flier’s credit, Dash has tried her best; however, she still missed her mom deeply and always wished that she could be there once again. She then began to think about Dash, and how sometimes she has had a lonely look in her eyes sometimes. As if she needed something there for her, just like Scootaloo wanted a mother in her life again. She sighed softly, it wasn't like life with Dash wasnt fun and terrific, it was just there were somethings that her mom did that Dash couldn’t, “HEY SQUIRT! Time for breakfast!!!!”

“Like making breakfast for example,” Scootaloo joked to herself as she headed down the stair of the cloud home. Shaking her head, she reminded herslef that Dash wasnt that bad, at least not as bad as her best friend. Walking down the stairs, she patted the flying tortise that whizzed by her in his little helicopter while he flew by before she turned to head into the white kitchen. She looked inside to watch as Dash began to make some pancakes. Smiling, she quickly ran to the kitchen table and sat down while her sister served a plate.

“So, what’s your plans for today,” Dash asked as she quickly finished her own plate, looking out the window.

“Still that same look, I wonder what she’s missing? I was going to the clubhouse to meet with Applebloom and Sweetie to decide what is going to happen to Sweetie Belle.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Dash said, as she walked to the back door of the house, opening it to reveal a ramp, “She just got her cutie mark two days ago didn't she?”

“YEP,” Scootaloo said as she walked to her red scooter, the memory still fresh in her mind. She and Applebloom decided it was time to break to Sweetie’s stage fright, so they walked her to karaoke bar that was set up a month ago. They had gotten her to start to belt out some songs when she thought she was alone; however, they had her plugged to a speaker system and on camera in front of a crowd. IT didn’t take long for her to find out that she was being watched by a bunch of ponies and they were all listening to her beautiful voice. Finding her stage fright broken, she began to perform one more song to her heart’s content and in a flash, a musical note in a heart appeared on her white flank

“All right, I’ll pick you up after I finish clearing some clouds and I can give you some flying lessons,” Dash said as she held onto the orange filly from behind, wrapping her cyan hooves around the belly, “Ready?”

“I was born ready, Dash,” Scoot said as she narrowed her eyes at the ramp. She began to feel Dash pushing her slowly, before picking up speed. Dash began to push harder and harder until the two took off from the ramp and into the air. Flying for a short while, Dash took a dive with the orange pegasus in tow and down to the ground. Before she reached the green grass, the Blue pegasus let go of her charge and let her took off like a bullet in her scooter to the clubhouse. As she waited for the others to come there, she began to think about her mom and Dash’s loneliness.

“Scoot, HEY SCOOTALOO! You listenin,” a yellow filly with a bright red bow in her mane yelled.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking about something,” She turned to Sweetie Belle, “LEt it be known that Sweetie Starsong Belle, will forever be known as Cutie Mark Crusader helper. Destined to help the rest of us find our cutie marks and to help others find their way. She will forever provide help to her friends and any members from the Manehatten branch,” She turned her head to a spotted little colt with a bandanna on his head.

“Aye aye, Captain,” said Pipsqueak as he finished writing down the message, “All written and ready for delivery to post office cadet Dinky Doo as she makes her way to Manehatten with her mummy,” with a salute and a bow the little colt ran out the door and down the stairs from the treehouse.

As Sweetie Belle watched the little colt run off, she turned to look at Scootaloo, “So, why are you so distant today?”

“I was just thinking about my mom,” Scootaloo said with a sigh.

“Oh,” the white unicorn said, not wanting to continue any further.

“ And about Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo said.

“What’s wrong,” Applebloom said walking next to Scootaloo and sitting next to her, “Is she being mean to ya or somethin? Is she being a bad big sister, because if she is...”

“Oh no, nothing like that. She’s the one of the best big sisters a girl could ask for. She has been doing great taking care of me. It just,” Scootaloo sighed, “I kind of miss mom, and Dash has been looking kind of lonely lately. Like she is missing something in her life and wants somepony to be with her.”

“Like a wife,” Sweetie Belle said, head raising up.

“Yeah, like that or somepony to help take care of me when she gets to be wonderbolt or do all of the stuff she cant. It just looks like she wants a very special somepony,” Scootaloo then began to think about her statement, “OH, we can do that!”

“Hey, wait a second, don’t you remember what happened the last time we tried that,” Applebloom said, looking at Scootaloo with a serious face.

“Yeah, and despite how it began,” a smirk came to her face, “How’s the nephew doing right now?”

“Oh, he can be such a loudmouth somedays. Ah swear, its like a baby is born with a loudspeaker in their mouth and timer that says ‘please wake up my aunt Applebloom at the worst possible...” the yellow filly then took the time to think about what she was saying, and then looked to Scootaloo, “Ok., so it turned out ok for my brother and Cheerilee in the end, but still, it was weird before. How can we be sure we can get it right this time?”

“Ooo, ooh, I know,” The white unicorn said, her pink and purple mane bouncing up and down, “How about we ask around first for who they think Rainbow would be compatiable with and then we find a pony with those traits and pair her off?”

Scootaloo jumped up a little, hitting an overhead bulb and turning it on, “That’s brilliant Sweetie Belle. Then we can grab some of your sister’s sappy romance novels and use that to get them on dates.”

Applebloom put a hoof to her chin, “Ah don’t know about this. How can we so sure just what Rainbow even likes, mares or stallions, or if she would really like to start dating?”

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin, “Well, I know she likes mares thats for sure. I kind of heard her in her sleep sometimes, dreaming about doing ‘things’ with Spitfire, Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, Luna, Celestia, Cadence, Derpy, some mare called Littlepip, Terra, my...mom, Pinkie Pie, Surprise, Samus Aran, Fluttershy, Firefly, Lauren, Blossomforth, Cloudkicker, Flitter, Lotus, Aloe, A gender changed Shining Armor, Snowdrop, all of the nurses, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, River Song, Kim Possible, Bright eye, Melody, Lyra and Bon Bon at once, Trixie, Gilda, Miss Harshwinny, Peach blossom, Fluer De Lis ,and that one mare who delivered us pizza yesterday.”

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked on in shock at the list of names that Rainbow has had very naughty dreams about. Shaking her head, Applebloom was the first to speak, “Well, to be fair...Ah think almost everypony has had a dream about Spitfire at least once in their life.”

Sweetie Belle blushed as she raised her hoof, “And...Soren,” the girls look at her weirdly, “What, sometimes I dream that he comes and saves me from an evil dragon alongside Rarity.”

Scootaloo just shook her head in disbelief, “So its settled then. We’ll go and talk to some of Dash’s friends and see what they think Rainbow would like and then get her that mare!”

Sweetie Belle jumped up in the air, with her hoof raised, “Yeah, lets go get Scootaloo a new mom and Rainbow Dash a wife!”

“YEAH,” the other crusaders cheered in unison as they jumped in the air and high hoofed their friends and then ran out the door of the clubhouse.

Author's Note

Here it is, the first chapter, no editor yet, no proofreader, never worked on this genre before...ohhhhh this is gonna be fun.

I want to know what love is

Chapter 2: What is love?

The three crusaders ran from their clubhouse and into the middle of Ponyville where they stood to look around while they planned, while a nice rockbeat played from a stereo behind them, “Ok girls, lets split up. Sweetie Belle, you go and talk to Rarity,” Scoot said, looking at her two friends, “Applebloom, you go and talk to your sister. I’ll go and talk to Pinkie Pie.”

Sweetie Belle arched an eyebrow, “So why aren't we just asking Rainbow Dash first?”

“Because, theres no way she’ll say what she is looking for in a marefriend, “Scootaloo said with a sigh, “She’ll just say that she’s too cool to be looking for a special somepony and just fly off. This is something we’ll have to talk to the others about.”

“Well, why not start with Fluttershy,” Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo looked at Applebloom with a disbelieving look, “Really?”

“Oh, my. R...romance, well I uh...gotta go!”

“Yeah, bad idea,” Applebloom said, looking down.

“Then it's settled, we’ll talk to the girls and then meet back up at the library to get some books,” Scootaloo said taking a step forward.

In response the girls nodded in agreement and ran off towards their proper destinations.

Inside the Carousel Boutique, a lovely white unicorn with a purple mane was working feverishly on a foal-sized dress. Lighting up her horn with a purple magic aura, she began to work hard on this latest dress. Her focus on each little piece and stitch was intense, looking like an artist working on a painting that he would consider his masterpiece. So focused was she on her work, that she almost did not hear the bell on her doorway ring as a small filly came in, “Hey Rarity!”

Rarity’s eyes shot up in surprise as she quickly grabbed the mannequin with her magic and hid it behind a curtain, “Oh, Sweetie Belle, what an unexpected surprise! What brings you here?”

“What are you working on,” Sweetie Belle asked, her curiosity overwhelming her sense of purpose and the reason for why she was there.

“Oh, just a surprise for a client. He wants me to keep the dress a secret from his wife and told me not to show anypony else,” Rarity said, putting on her best liar face.

Sweetie Belle calmly nodded as she let out a small, “Ok,” and walked around Rarity a little a she quickly remembered why she came, “Oh, I just remembered why I came here today. I was wondering what you know about what makes a good special somepony?”

The look in Rarity’s eyes as she turned around, made Sweetie almost regret asking, “OH! My dear little sister is asking for relationship advice,” the purple mane unicorn ran and picked up her little sister in a big hug, tears in her eyes, “You’re growing up too fast, Sweetie. First your cutie mark comes in and now, a special somepony. W...where does the time go,” she said as she let go of her little sister and wiped a tear from her eye, “So, who is it? Anypony I know? It is not a hooligan is it? I will have no sister of MINE go out with any hooligans!”

“No, no, no! Its not for me, its for a friend,” Sweetie Belle said, holding her hooves up in defense.

“Oh, I see...a ‘friend’,” Rarity said with a wink as she walked to the side of her house and began to look for something else to work on, “ So, tell me, what does this ‘friend’ need help with?”

“Well you see,” Sweetie Belle said as she watched her sister pull another mannequin out of the back closet and put it on the stage, “she needs to know what to look for in a good romantic partner. What should she be wanting in a close friend? I knew you thought that maybe Blueblood had something special-”

“Ah yes, my so called ‘PRINCE’,” Rarity said with a slight growl as she began to fix up the guard outfit in front of her.

“So, maybe you might be able to say what you really wanted in a special somepony,” Sweetie Belle asked, watching her sister look over her new creation.

“Hmmm, what makes a good special somepony,” Rarity asked herself as she looked over the design of the uniform until her eyes laid upon the prop sword that the guard asked to be put on his dress uniform, “AHA! I know. A good partner should be...like a sheath for a sword.”

“A sheath,” Sweetie Belle asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Yes,” taking the sword and sheath out of the holster with her magic, Rarity walked over to Sweetie Belle and held the blade in front of her sister, “Tell me, what does a sheath do for a sword.”

Sweetie Bell held the sheath in her hoof and looked at it closely, remembering all of the tales of brave knights that her sister would tell her during her bedtime, “ It keeps the sword from getting dirty?”

“It does more than that, Sweetie,” Rarity said chuckling, “It protects the sword from getting damaged, from being ruined, or hurting the user,” she then used her magic to unsheathe the blade with a musical sink, “ At the same time, it helps the sword by making it a little faster to draw. Tell me, do you know why Cadence and Shining work so well together?”

“Becaussssseeee they are both really good looking?”

Rarity chuckled,” More than that. Shining helps to protect Cadence with his magic and helps to keep her from getting hurt.”

“But then Cadence always needs to go and save him from danger when he tries to protect her,” Sweetie Belle argued.

“Ah, but that’s the point. By the time anypony gets to the princess,” Rarity said as she brought out the sword out of its sheath, “ she is poised for an attack and well prepared for anything that other may throw at him. At the same time, Cadence helps Shining from doing something REALLY stupid and,” smiling she puts the sword back into its sheath, “Helps to keep him safe as well. They work together and protect one another.”

“I think I get it,” Sweetie Belle said, leaping up, “So, for Rainbow Dash would need somepony she could protect and guard.”

“Yes, for Rainbow Dash that would be true,” Said Rarity as she put the sheathed blade back into its holster on the side of the dummy, “Having somepony to protect might also help to reel in her more suicidal maneuvers, which I might add have lessened since she adopted Scootaloo. It seems being a family mare has helped her more than she thought.”

“That’s brilliant! Thanks Rarity,” Sweetie Belle said as she ran out the door.

“You’re welcome...darling,” Rarity said to the little smoke cloud. Shrugging, Rarity pulled out the filly sized dummy and began to work, “OH, Sweetie you are going to look devine for your party.”

Deep in the north orchard of Sweet Apple Acres, screams and pleas of help could be heard coming from a small yellow filly with a red bow, “HELP, Applejack! Hes attacking me,” the little filly screamed as her pursuer came closer to her, ready to get his prey.

“Attackin, really,” Applejack asked as she watched a little colt with a blonde mane and magenta coat caught up and began to crawl onto his aunt’s back, “Ya telling me, that the big strong crusader can’t handle a little colt smaller than she is. Why Ah am shocked,” the orange mare laughed as she began to work on bucking a tree.

“Well, its not like I can tackle him or anythang. He’s too little,” Apple Bloom said as she felt a pair gums on her neck, before she turned and grabbed him with her forehooves and sat him in front of her, “Hey, AJ...what type gal do ya think Rainbow would be interested in.”

“Why ya ask,” Applejack asked with a grunt as she kicked another tree full of apples, “Planning on matching me and her up like ya did Cheerilee and Big Mac?”

Looking down at the small colt in her hooves, she nuzzled him before tickling him a little, “Ya, Ah am responsible for ya being here so you better be grateful. Noooooo, just askin.”

Applejack thought for a bit as she wiped the sweat from her brow, “Well, personally...Ah would think somepony who’s her opposite would be perfect.”

“Why,” Applebloom asked as she watched Apple Butter crawl around her.

“Well...because her opposite would let her see things that she wouldnt normally do. Kind of help to let her explore,” Applejack said as she picked up the cart reigns and pull it, “Ya know how Cheerilee and Big Mac are kind of different from each other,” she looked over her shoulder to see Applebloom nod as she walked with her nephew, “And a lot of times they’ll get into big fights but will always come back to make up. Thats the kind of relationship Rainbow needs, somepony who wouldnt always want to do the same thing, but try and help her get out there more. They could still share everythang but they would have different likes to make their relationship interesting.”

“Oh, Ah see,” Applebloom said as she looked to see Cheerilee come up the hill.

“Oh, there’s my little boy. Did you have a good time with your aunts,” The purple mare said as she went to give her son a nuzzle.

“Yeah he did, Mrs...oh Ah mean Cheerilee,” she said nuzzling her teacher before running off into the distance.

As Scootaloo entered the sugar cube corner, she heard the small pleas of an innocent pink pony, “No, please I didn’t.” Gasping in horror, the little orange filly ran to where she could hear the pleas and saw a pink mare getting cornered by two 3 year-old equines, covered in flour.

“Cookies sissy,” said the small pegasus as he came closer.

“We know,” said the small unicorn.

“Problems, Pinkie,” Scootaloo asked with a small chuckle, running a hoof through her purple mane.

“Yes! They know about the cookies I had earlier and want to make me pay. HEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP,” Said Pinkie as she looked up to the pegasus.

“Hey, guys I need to talk to your sister for a bit, ok,” Scootaloo asked nicely.

The two young children nodded in agreement as they trotted off to see their mom and dad, while Pinkie stood calmly up, “So, what do you need,” the pink mare said, her mane bouncing as she walked to the counter.

“I was wondering...what do you know about a good relationship,” Scootaloo asked.

“Ohhhhh, like the Cakes,” Pinkie said excitedly, “Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll, lets see. A good relationship,” Pinkie Pie looked at the counter and saw some muffins, “A good relationship should be like a muffin. Look at the Cakes, without each other they are like a bland normal muffin,” Pinkie said as she brought out a small bland muffin, “ but when they are together, they both make each other extra special and bring something out of the other. Like this Blueberry muffin,” Pinkie said, pulling out a blueberry muffin, “ see? The blueberries make the muffin taste even better than ever. While the muffin make the blueberries taste all the sweeter.”

Scootaloo looked down at the blueberry muffin and then back to Pinkie, almost questioning her wisdom. It wasn’t until she looked back at the cakes that she understood, “Oh, I get it! They each bring out something special in the other, like chocolate milk!”

“Exactly, they both help to bring out something extra special out each other!”

With eyes of excitement, the little filly nodded and ran out the door, “Thanks Pinkie.”

“You’re welcome,” Pinkie said in a sing-song way before turning around, “now where are those twins,” at that point, she was then tackled by two little ghosts.

Once the two crusaders and the one former crusader met up at the library, they quickly began to compare the notes that the other two had gathered from their meetings. Once done, they then turned and moved into the large tree that held the Golden Oaks library. Inside, they began to look through shelf after shelf to find their chosen prey, “UGGGGH! Why can’t they have the genre listed on the side,” Scootaloo yelled.

“Spine,” Sweetie Belle interrupted as she looked at her book.

“Whatever. On these books instead of these stupid numbers.”

Applebloom began to look through some of her books, “And furthermore, what is up with all of these history books. No pony needs this many history books, it’s so pointless.”

At this, the room in which the three fillies sat suddenly went dark and a black smoke began to encircle it, “ Numbers, USELESS? POINTLESS HISTORY,” The black mist began to take form as two violet eyes appeared from the smoke, “YOU DARE TO INSULT THOSE PRECIOUS TOMES WITHIN MY PRESENCE? For this insolence, you WILL face the wrath,” the black smoke then formed into a purple alicorn, her wings spread and standing above the three terrified fillies, “Of NIGHTMARE ECLIPSE! The ruler of all books, and now the reading will last FOREVER,” The large purple alicorn laughed her head off as she threw back her purple mane, letting the full length of her horn be shown.

The three fillies held each other close, “I am so sorry miss Eclipse, I’ll never insult numbers again. Please don’t kill us,” Scootaloo screamed.

“Wow, that was better than I thought,” the purple alicorn said as she began to undo the transformation, leaving behind a smaller alicorn mare in its place, “I really scared you didn’t I?”

“Twilight, it was you,” Applebloom said as she let go of her friends.

“Well, I knew that,” Scootaloo said feigning bravery, “I just wanted to play along.”

This comment earned a roll of the eyes from Sweetie Belle, “So what was that you were doing?”

Twilight chuckled, “Oh, that was a spell Luna taught me for alicorns. She says its mean to inspire fear and to intimate the weak willed. She said that it was just in case I might need to scare somepony and avoid a fight.Judging from your looks...it worked,” Twilight said, not one for scares, but always glad to get a spell done perfectly, “So what books were you looking for?”

“Romance books and love stories,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Well, I don't have many books on romance, but,” Twilight looked to the shelves, using her magic to lift the books and hand them to the young fillies,” I do have some books with romance in them. Why?”

“Research for something,” Sweetie said as she took the books into her bag.

“What sort of something,” Twilight asked, a tinge of worry in her voice.

Scootaloo turned and open a door, “Its a secret.”

Twilight sighed, she knew it wasn't going to end well, “Ok, but you do know that a lot of those books just show an idealized romance, they don't always talk about what really goes on in a developing relationship.”

“Yeah, we’ll keep that in mind. We’ll be back Twilight,” Apple Bloom said as she followed her friends out the door.

The purple alicorn let out a deep sigh, she was now really sure that she just caused a disaster. Turning to the closet, she used her magic to open the door and let out Spike, “Its ok Spike, the scary part is over,” an evil smirk then came across her face, “Now, make a note for me to use that spell next time Pinkie and Dash go on a pranking spree.”

After making their way into the clubhouse, the three fillies began to set up a chalkboard where they would write down their notes. After this, they also began to open up the books and started to research them intensively; although, for some of Rarity’s books, they put the ideas under the “wait until they are engaged before even thinking of these” category of ideas. Once the research was done, they began to write down their plan on the chalkboard, “Ok, so here’s the plan,” Applebloom said, holding a stick in her mouth and pointing to each note, “Phase 1: we need to find a mare for Dash that has these qualities. 1: Has to be like a sheath for her while she acts like a sheath for the girl.”

Outside, Scootaloo could hear Rainbow and Fluttershy talking to one another. With one ear still listening to the plan, the orange filly looked out her window, “I could’ve made that dive Flutters, you know that!”

“Well, I know you could,” the pink maned pegasus said as she walked with Dash, her hair over one eye as she began to hide, “It’s just that I was worried that you wouldnt and you would’ve gotten hurt and then Scoot wouldn’t have her big sister, anymore.”

A smile came over Dash’s face as she looked to the yellow Pegasus, “Yeah...I guess you’re right. I should plan my stunts a little more carefully from now on. Though, hitting that jagged rock and breaking it would’ve been AWESOME,” she then held up her cyan hooves in excitement, “But...thanks for making sure I didn't splatter my brains across the forest.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Fluttershy said, smiling, “You’ve protected me more than I can remember. You’ve always have,” she then smiled softly.

“Number 2: Be the exact opposite of her while sharing some of her interest,” Applebloom said as she pointed to her next mark.

“Look, I know its loud, noisy, scary, awesome, and dark but I can tell you right now, you won't want to miss out on this trip. It’ll blow you away,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew up in the sky, excitedly.

“Well, ok...I guess. But I was thinking tomorrow maybe,” Fluttershy began to ask as she ran her hoof down her mane.

“Lastly, she should be able to bring something special out of Rainbow that helps to make her even better,” Apple Bloom said as she tapped the last note.

“Maybe we could go watch a migration together,” Fluttershy said, nervously.

“ANOTHER BUTTERFLY MIGRATION,” Dash let out an exasperated sigh, “Haven't they migrated enough?”

“Well, actually...its a bunch of eagles that I have been helping to fly again,” Fluttershy said, “But...if you don't want to go, I’ll understand,” Fluttershy said, her voice trembling with sadness.

At the mention of eagles and seeing the sad look in the blue eyes of her friend, Dash smiled a little, “Well, I guess seeing eagles fly would be cool to see, I guess. And maybe I could catch some rays while I watch “

Fluttershy’s eyes shot up in happiness, “Really, you’ll come with? Oh that is so great! While you’re there, I can also teach something about eagles.”

“Whoa! I didn't agree to anything about learning,” Dash said as she held up her hooves in defense.

“Well, we don't have to talk about anything...we could just watch together,” Fluttershy said.

“I could live with that,” Dash said.

“SCOOTALOO ARE YA LISTENING,” Applebloom yelled to the orange filly at the window.

“Yep,” Scootaloo said with a smile as she pointed her hoof out the window and to the two pegasi talking to one another, “And I think we found the one.”

“Fluttershy,” Sweetie Belle and Applebloom asked in unison.

“Yeah! Think about it, Rainbow acts like a sheath for her, they are exact opposites of the other, and Fluttershy brings out Rainbow’s soft side once in awhile. She has all the qualities that we are looking for,” Scootaloo said.

The two girls looked outside and nodded in agreement as they listened to the talk, “Brilliant,” Apple Bloom said as she ran to the chalkboard, “This brings us to phase 2: the dates that they should go on in order to become a perfect couple-

Date 1: Awkward dinner date, ending with them eating spaghetti and kissing each other.

Date 2: Saving her from some ruffians at a dance

Date 3: Rescue Romance

Date 4: meeting the Parents where they will stand fast to their love no matter what

Date 5: Jelous other mare date.

Date 6: Lie that will cause a temporary break up

Date 7: Heartfelt walk under the moon

And this will lead to Phase 3: engagement, which will be romantic. Phase 4: wedding preparation shenanigans, and then Phase 5: the wedding itself,”

“Which will NOT be interrupted by a bad guy attacking in the middle of it all and make the preacher wed them in the middle of it all,” Sweetie Belle said with a wink.

“and that will lead to a,” Applebloom then hit her marker onto the picture of a badly drawn and happy Scootaloo and Dash, “happy Scoot and Dash.”

“Right, we’ll enact this plan,” Scootaloo was about to finish when she heard the yell of her sister, “Tomorrow. See ya guys then,” she then turned and walked outside to where Fluttershy and Rainbow were waiting.

“Oh, Scootaloo, I hope you don't mind if I walk with you and Dash back home,” Fluttershy asked, looking at the little filly.

“No, I don't mind at all,” the little pegasus said as she began to walk with her sister. As they walked towards the cloud home, Scootaloo looked up at her adoptive sister and then back to Fluttershy, smiling softly. The wind slowly blew up around them as they walked, carrying a familiar warm gentle air about it.

Author's Note

Special thanks to my proofreader RainbowDerpy.

Now the plan has been set, the curtain has been raised, and now we shall see what fools these ponies be.

Ps. The sheath metaphor comess from "trust and Betrayl"

And they call it Bella note

And they call it Bella Notte

“Come on Dashie, just a little further, and keep your eyes closed,” said a soft filly’s voice as she held the hoof of a blue pegasus.

“This better be as cool as you say it is, Fluttershy,” said a young Rainbow Dash as she felt herself being led along the soft cloud ground, “And you promise that this isn’t like that whole ‘ground’ thing you showed me earlier?”

“I promise,” the yellow pegasus said as she sat the cyan filly down and flew to a nearby cloud to open a small box. Flying back to her friend, she put something around Dash’s neck “Ok, open your eyes.”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and began to look around the sky for what she was showing her, and then she looked down at her neck, “Fluttershy, what’s so cool about this? Its just flowers, mom puts them into her mane all the time.”

“OH, I’m sorry. I meant to say special instead of cool,” The demure pegasus said, putting her head behind her pink mane, “You see, dad said that sometimes he would give a ring of flowers to mom to show how much he cared about her and how special she was to him. I just wanted to show how special you are to me.”

“I’m special to you?” Dash asked as she looked into the blue eyes of the pegasus.

“Yes, very. You protected me from the bullies, you raced for me, and are one my only friends up here. You my very dear friend and I hope that you will always be my friend,” Fluttershy said as she looked down on the clouds, smiling as she rubbed the cloud beneath her hooves.

“Flutters, I’ll always be your friend,” Dash said as she put a cyan hoof onto the shoulder of the filly in front of her.

“Always?”

“Always,” The cyan pegasus then pulled Fluttershy closer to her, giving her a soft hug, “even if I move a million miles away from here. I will always be your best friend.

“Thank you Dashie,” Fluttershy said as she nuzzled into the blue filly’s neck, feeling her soft coat against her. Pulling away for a bit, she looked into the blue pegasus’s magenta eyes, and then gave her a kiss on the nose before pulling away and blushing.

Dash quickly began to rub her snoot after the kiss in shock, “W-What was that for?”

Fluttershy smiled shyly, her pink hair covering one eye, “For reassuring me, and for being, my hero.”

Dash smiled back, confidently, “Yeah, I am your hero and the best friend you’ll ever have.”

Years pass by in an instant as Dash flies ahead of the storm, a griffin right beside her, “Gilda, I need to go back, I lost something in there.”

“ITs too late, Rainbow! Whatever is there is gone,” Gilda yelled as she grabbed Rainbow’s cyan hoof and pulled her down below a rocky outcropping, “What was so important about an old flower necklace anyway?”

Dash looked down, a frown on her face, “It was a gift, from a friend.”

A few more years pass by, and now the blue mare looks down at a frightened pegasus as they stand in the middle of a fight. Trying her best to figure out how to reassure her admits all of the black bug like creatures, Dash picks up Fluttershy and gives her a quick kiss, reminding her that she will always be her hero.

The dreams slowly faded away as Rainbow Dash woke up in the middle of her bed, her blanket making a small cocoon around her body. Struggling to open her eyes, she realized that she had two options that morning: go back to bed since her weather duties were light, or wake up and spend the next few hours being awesome. She decided on the latter as she kicked the blanket up high into the air and raced to her bathroom. Grabbing a toothbrush and some toothpaste, she quickly began to brush her teeth. Once done, she ran a hoof through her mane and messed it up to a ridiculous level. Turning around, she watched as the blanket floated down towards the mattress and ran quickly back to it before it could connect. Grabbing the blanket with her teeth, Dash very neatly placed the blanket back down onto the bed and tucked it in, making sure that it was very neat and straight. Smirking, she then put her hooves onto the blanket and began to mess it up, leaving a jumbled mess behind. She let out a small chuckle at the thought of Rarity’s reaction to seeing such a messy bed.

Walking into the room next to hers, she smiled at the sleeping body that laid in the bed. It had been a year since the little filly had entered her life and began to stay with her, and for her it had been fantastic. Everyday with the little filly seemed to bring with it a new adventure and made each morning waking up all the more special. Walking up to the bed, she looked down at the orange filly with the blankets bunched up in her hooves and listened to her talk in her sleep, “Look, girls I have it...my cutie mark, I think its its...”

Dash leaned in to the filly’s ear and whispered, “A tickle monster.”

“Huh? What kind of cutie mark is that?” Scootaloo asked.

“THIS ONE!” Dash yelled as she pounced onto the bed and rubbed her hooves at the little filly’s stomach.

“Hahahahahahahahahah, ok ok I’m up,” Scootaloo squealed as she was awakened by her sister.

Getting away from her victim, Dash looked down at the little filly, “ Well, now that you are awake, how about some waffles for breakfast?”

The little orange filly nodded yes with great enthusiasm and rolled out of the bed. Getting up, she followed her big sister down the stairs and into the kitchen. As the two sat down to have some breakfast, Scootaloo watched at the look in her eyes, “ I wonder if she always felt this lonely without somepony else up here, or if she feels this lonely when she trains for a bit. Maybe that’s why she always wants Fluttershy to be with her when she practices,” Scootaloo thought to herself.

“What’s on your mind squirt?” Dash asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Scootaloo said, quickly finishing up her waffles.

“Ok,” Dash said, looking at her little sister and putting away her plate, “So, I was thinking that I could put off some of my training today so I can give you some lessons instead.”

“No thanks Rainbow Dash. Me and the girls have a big project we need to get started on,” Scootaloo said walking out to the door.

“You ok? You just rejected an offer for flying lessons, from me,” Dash asked, a look of shock in her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just really want to get started on this, really quickly,” Scootaloo said as she opened the door, Rainbow Dash walking up right behind her.

“Going to glide down by yourself?” Dash asked.

“Yeah, just like you taught me,” Scootaloo said, a little bit of nervousness in her voice, “I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yep,” Scootaloo said as she took a few steps and and ran off the edge of the kitchen doorway and into the open air, her wings splayed open as she began to glide through the air. Letting the wind blow softly through her feathers, she angled her wings to maneuver herself to glide gently onto the ground. Looking up at the cyan pegasus above her, Scootaloo gave a high hoof in victory.

Dash smirked back, a sense of pride filling her heart as she watched the purple maned filly head off into the distance. Turning around to go back into the house, Rainbow began to clean up just a little and tried to figure out what she was going to do for the rest of the day. Walking through the house, she bumped into a table and caused the picture to fall off. Catching it before it could crack, she took a look at it. It was a picture of her and Scootaloo with Scootaloo’s mom in front of their house. A sigh escaped Dash’s lips as she remembered the young mare, “Sunny I hope you’re proud of that little kid,” Dash looked back with a smile, “Because Celestia knows that I sure am.”

In the cutie mark crusaders clubhouse, Scootaloo stood in front of a chalkboard with the words, ‘Date 1: the romantic dinner date’ written on it. Putting an orange hoof to her army helmet to adjust it on her head, the pegasus turned to the two fillies before her, “Ok crusaders, listen up. This here is the plan: Step 1- Rainbow knows my hoof writing too well, so Sweetie Belle you are in charge of writing the letter to her. Applebloom, you write a letter to Fluttershy and arrange a date for these two. Step 2- we follow them to the restaurant and make sure that they will order the spaghetti. Step 3- we sneak into the kitchen and make sure that one of the strands of spaghetti will be extra long. Step 4- they eat the extra long strand and fall into an accidental kiss. This will, in turn, make them fall head over heels for each other,” Scootaloo then looked over her two friends, “so, any questions?”.

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked back at one another and then back at their friend, slowly Sweetie raised a white hoof, “How are going to be sure that they both get the extra long spaghetti noodle? what if Fluttershy or Rainbow eat the noodle before they can both get it?”

The other crusaders nodded back in response, finding it hard to argue with such sound logic and began to write down their letters.

Rainbow Dash flew through the WhiteTail woods and landed next to a badly injured mare, the deep gashes on her sides and back bleeding hard, “Oh Celestia, no! Sunny,come on, don't do this to me! Get up, GET UP!” Dash yelled as she put a hoof under the head of the pegasus.

“R...Rainbow, please,” Sunny let loose a little cough as she began to feel her life flowing out of her, “Watch over Scootaloo, protect her for me.”

“What are you talking about? Of course I’ll protect her, but you’re going to be there too. You and I, we’ll watch that kid grow up together. So please, for her, DON'T DIE!!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she watched the mare’s eyes roll back into her eyes and then breathe her last. Laying her down, Dash lowered her wings and her head as she had a moment of silence as a sign of respect. Sadly, she was brought out of this moment by a high pitched scream coming from a little filly, “SCOOTALOO!” Getting to her hooves, the blue mare launched herself into the air at a very high speed. Flying at a pace where everything became a blur to her eyes, she caught sight of a giant lion-like beast with a serpent tail and bat wings cornering a cowering little orange pegasus. Growling with a deep, burning rage, she slammed both hooves into the monster’s stomach, chin, and back yelling out with each hit, “STAY! AWAY! FROM! MY! SISTER!” She then flew back to the ground and stood in front of Scootaloo, her eyes staring at the monster with a glare of determination. Deep inside her, a part of her was terrified beyond belief; however, she was too filled with rage, vengeance, courage, and love for her little sister to give into the fear at the moment.

The chimera recovered and let out a roar as it charged at her and clawed at her. Taking to the air swiftly, she barely dodged the creature’s swipe but was caught by the creatures second swipe. The force of the blow left three deep cuts into Rainbow’s side and sent her crashing to the wall. Struggling to get up from the blow, the creature tossed Rainbow into the air, and then raked his claws on her back to force her back down. As she landed, the cyan mare could hear a very loud crack, “Damn! There goes my leg,” Dash thought to herself as she stood up slowly, favoring her leg. Looking up at the monster, she braced herself for another blow when the monster’s claw was suddenly stopped by a lasso.

“BACK AWAY FROM HER, YA MANGY VARMINT,” yelled an orange earth pony as she pulled the creature’s arm back. Standing next to her was a yellow pegasus mare who quickly flew to help Scootaloo. Dash looked at this scene, back to her little sis and best friend and then back to the creature, “Ok buddy, now that the ponies mean the world to me are here and need my help, there aint no way I am going to fail them!!”

The chimera never stood a chance.

A few hours later, Rainbow Dash laid down on a pillow in the library while Fluttershy adjusted her bandages, “Rainbow, please settle down. You might reopen those wounds,” Fluttershy said, putting a wing over her friend to soothe her.

Dash looked into her friend's blue eyes and calmed down a little, “Sorry, I just really want to get through this.”

“Now Dash, are you absolutely sure about this? Taking care of a filly is a much bigger responsibility than taking care of a turtle,” Twilight said, holding some law books in her magical grip.

“I know that, TWI!” Dash said, not wavering, “I have to do this. I made a promise to Sunny that I would watch after her. Besides, it won't be any different than how I have been acting for the past year. I am already a big sister to the little squirt and I have been helping to take care of her like a second mother already. As for keeping her safe,” Dash then took a good look at Fluttershy, watching as she adjusted some of the bandages on Dash’s leg, “I have been protecting ponies weaker than me for years, especially those who are close to me.” Dash then smiled at her before turning to look at the rest of the circle of ponies before her, “Besides, if I am doing something wrong...then she’ll have the 5 best aunts a girl could ask for to help.”

Applejack smiled to her friend as she placed a hoof onto her shoulder, “Well of course we're going to help you, Dash. We’re just making sure you are ready for this responsibility.”

Fluttershy gave Rainbow an affectionate nuzzle into her neck, “We’ll always be there to hold you up, Rainbow. Always.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at Fluttershy as Twilight got up, “Ok, Spike, take a letter.”

“Right. But Twilight? One quick thing,” Spike said, running up to his mother figure and gave her a quick hug. The idea of losing a mother hitting him hard.

Rainbow Dash woke up to the sound of a light knocking at her door and the sight of a book on top of her face. Grabbing the book she put it onto the side of her bed and began to walk to her front door, “I guess I’ll see if Daring will adopt that little filly reincarnation of Nightmare Moon later,” Dash thought to herself as she opened the door to see who was outside. Looking up and down and around the area in front of the door, she found nothing with the exception of a letter floating down in front of her. Grabbing it out of the air with her hoof, she quickly tore it open and began to read it.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

I have always loved you for years, but I never had the chance to say it. I now want to correct that by telling you face to face. Please meet me at ‘le Grande Cliche’ so we can discuss this.

Signed,

Your secret admirer.

Rainbow Dash arched an eyebrow at this, trying to figure it out. Putting the letter into her saddle bag, she took off towards Sugar Cube Corner.

Today was a particulary nice and normal day for Fluttershy, as she continued to help feed the various birds and rodents that were living in her house. Hovering from cage to cage, she took note of one of the pictures on her mantle, the one of her and Rainbow on Tornado day. She enjoyed that day, not just because of how Rainbow helped to break her out of shell again, but it helped to reminder her that Dash was always somepony to help her. She smiled a little, hoping that she can be that way for Dash. Hearing a knock on the door, she turned to the door, “Who is it?” Fluttershy said, inching a little closer to the door. Not getting an answer, she slowly opened it, “Hello? Is there anypony there,” Fluttershy asked, poking her head and looking down at the letter before her. Curious, she picked it up and carefully opened it. Reading the contents, she immmeaditly blushed and dropped the letter before heading back in, “OH MY! A love letter, but why would anypony be interested...? Oh, but what if he isn't interested at all and is just a stalker, what if he wants to take me in and do something nasty to me? But what if she isn't? Oh, what should I do? Should I go, Should I stay Should-

“Hey, Flutters,” Rainbow Dash called as she walked in and saw the dropped letter, “Let me guess...love letter,” as she watched her friend nod, a smirk came to her cyan face.

Within a few hours, the Crusaders were all hiding within a bush looking at the front door of the restaurant, awaiting their prey. They kept their eyes peeled at the incoming and outgoing partons, hoping to see if their two targets had taken the bait. Soon enough, the three caught a glimpse of a yellow pegasus walking through the door,” There she is, Fluttershy is in,” Scootaloo said, holding onto her binoculars.

After a few minutes they saw Rainbow fly in after her, “and there’s Rainbow Dash,” Sweetie Belle said as she held the binoculars with her hooves,” Now we just need to get in there and finish the rest of the mission.”

“And how are we supposed to do that,” Applebloom asked.

“I’ve got that covered, see this restaurant happened to ask a certain unicorn to make new uniforms for their staff. And of course,” Sweetie then brought out three filly sized waiter outfits, “she made extras, just in case.”

Scootaloo smiled, “Sweetie Belle, you are so awesome! Ok, lets sneak in through the kitchen and see where Rainbow and Fluttershy are sitting.” She then turned her head and waved a hoof to beckon her two friends to follow her to the back of the restaurant. Sneaking in carefully, they slinked by the chefs that were inside and the waiters. Moving carefully through the resturant proper and hiding behind some of the tables, they soon caught sight of Rainbow Dash as she began to walk through the tables in search of a booth. They watched in a small glee when they saw her catch sight of Fluttershy and listened in to the conversation, “Hey, Fluttershy,” Dash said, happy to see her friend.

“Oh, hello Rainbow,” Fluttershy said as she looked up at Rainbow from her table.

“Waiting for somepony?” Dash asked, then watched as the mare nodded slowly, “But he hasn’t shown up yet, hasn’t he?” Dash watched as Fluttershy gave a sad nod, “Well, no sense of letting a good meal go to waste right? Lets enjoy the night together.” Sitting in front of the shy pegasus, Dash raised a hoof to call a waiter.

Seeing her cue, Sweetie Belle ran up to the table and handed out two menus to the two pegasi, “Here you go, and what would you like to eat this evening. May I suggest the spaghetti?”

“Actually, I was thinking some orange juice and a giant salad for me and my friend,” Dash said, trying to get a good look at the waiter.

“I am afraid we are all out of the salad, madame,” Sweetie Belle said, keeping her best gruff voice as she avoided Dash’s gaze.

“The apple flambe?”

“Fried,” Sweetie said.

Fluttershy looked on, watching the scene before her as she tried to order, “ The fruit pizza?”

“Taken away by turtles,” Sweetie Belle said with a sigh.

Fluttershy and Dash looked at each other, confused looks on their faces before turning back to Sweetie Bell and asking, “The caesar salad?”

“Backstabbed,” Sweetie Belle said, a rimshot heard in the distance.

Dash let out a sigh as she put down the menu, “Fine, we’ll have the spaghetti,” she then watched as the little waiter nodded and ran off to the kitchen, followed by two other waiters.

“Ok, now what,” Sweetie asked as she and her friends did their best to avoid being spotted by the cooks.

“Now ah just add a little of this growth serum to the pot where they are making the spaghetti,” Applebloom said, pulling out a vial, “and make the strands extra long so that way, there’s no chance of them not kissing.” With that, she slowly snuck around to the pot of bubbling noodle strands that were going to be served and leaned over to put the liquid in. Slowly tipping her head, she slowly squeezed the bottle to get some drops out; however, the steam made the bottle slippery and caused it to fall in, “Uh, oh.”

“Uh oh? What’s uh oh,” Scootaloo looked at her friend with wide and fear laden eyes, “UH OH IS NEVER GOOD! WHAT IS WITH THE UH OH?!”

Applebloom shrugged her shoulders embarrassingly as she put a hoof behind her head, “Ah...may have put in too much of the growth potion into the vat.”

“What?” Scootaloo asked, deadpan as she she turned to see the water bubbling faster and faster, making the noodles grow rapidly, “Run.”

Outside in the restaurant proper, Dash and Fluttershy were talking to each other about the waiter, “How can you be sure that was Sweetie Belle?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s just a guess. Especially since I thought I saw one of those waiters look like an orange pegasus filly,” Dash said with a smirk. Her ears then began to twitch at the sound of three little fillies screaming, “What was that?”

“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!” Scootaloo screamed as she ran out of the kitchen, followed by her two friends.

“RUN! IT’S ATTACK OF THE SPAGHETTI MONSTER!!” Sweetie yelled as she ran out the door.

Turning her head slowly, Fluttershy let out a very quiet, “Eep,” as she gazed at the door. Slowly emerging from within the kitchen door was a writhing mass of yellow, wet noodles that seemed to be alive. Menacingly did its large wet tendrils flow from within the room, slapping and grabbing all who came near its writhing body.

Stepping out of the booth, Rainbow Dash took a quick look at her demure friend, “We should probably run, NOW!” and, before Fluttershy could respond, Dash grabbed the yellow hoof and pulled her friend out of the building as the almost unearthly creature continued to grow and fill the resturant up with its body.

A half hour later, after the excitement and horror died down and a team of unicorns were called in to find a way to clear the pasta, two pegasi sat in front of the cutie mark crusader looking down upon them. On Fluttershy’s face was a concerned look while Dash gave a look that only a protective and strong mother could give, “Ok kid, spill! What was up with that restaurant and what was up with this note?” Reaching into her bags, she pulled out the note that she had received earlier.

Scootaloo chuckled sheepishly as she stepped forward, hoping to draw the fire away from her friends, “Well, you see at first it started out a prank to see how you would react,” she lied as she put an orange hoof behind her head, “ Then when we saw you get into the restaurant, we decided to practice being chefs and try to mess with your food a little. We wanted to try and prank you that way. Guess we went a little too far, huh?”

“Yeah, you did. If that wasn't something harmless like spaghetti, you and the others could’ve been hurt,” Dash said as she got down to Scootaloo’s level and gave her a hug, “And I keep telling you, the best pranks are the ones where no one gets really hurt. Next time, try one that’s a little less...experimental. Also, pick a better target, no pony can get the drop on the master got it?” Dash asked as she watched her sister nod quietly, “Now, you and the others head to the clubhouse and I promise I won't tell Rare or AJ about this little incident.”

“Right,” Scootaloo agreed as she and her friends ran off into the distance.

“So, now what are we gonna do?” Applebloom asked as she followed her friends, “The next date won’t work if they already suspect us pullin somethang.”

Scootaloo smirked, “Don’t worry girls, I have a plan.”

Meanwhile, as Dash watched the three trot off back to their base, Fluttershy smiled softly to herself. It was always amazing to see how Dash could let down her guard around her and Scootaloo and show that big sister side that few ponies even knew she had. Walking up next to Rainbow Dash, she turned to face her, “So, how did you know the letter was from them?”

“I didn’t, at first,” Dash said honestly as she looked at her friend, “but when I got the letter, I thought Pinkie was planning something weird to pull on me. So I flew down to Sugar Cube Corner to ask what’s up. When I showed her the letter, she recognized the hoof writing to be Sweetie Belle’s from that one time Sweetie had her help write party invites.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said, amazed at Pinkie’s photographic memory, “So, what are we gonna do now? I am still kind of hungry.”

“Well, the night is still young and we still need to be fed. I say,” Smiling, she put a hoof around her friend’s shoulder, “Let’s go find another place to eat. I know of this fantastic joint just down the street. Besides,” she then turned to watch as the unicorns began to take out the monster, “I’m not much into dinner theater.”

As the two pegasi sat down in ‘first date meals and deals’, Rainbow Dash quickly began to talk up a storm while Fluttershy sat and listened intently, “So Snowflake, wanting to impress Cloudchaser, takes a wild left turn out of nowhere and crashes into one of the obstacles, sending him into a tailspin,” Dash said as she waved a cyan hoof in demonstration, “Of course, I saw this and flew right down after him. Racing down at unbelievable speeds , I dove down and grabbed him at the last second!”

“That’s so exciting, Dashie,” Fluttershy responded, finishing the last of her plate.

“Yeah, its a shame that I got yelled at by Spitfire later though,” Dash said, taking a slow drink from her cup.

“You got yelled at, why?”

“Oh, something about ‘since you are the leader of the rookie force, you need to take better care of them. Its your duty as a lead pony!’” Dash said.

“‘Rookie Force’?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, its what me and my fellow cadets are calling each other now. I wanted to call us, “Rainbow Dash and her amazing friends’ but I got voted out,” Dash said, crossing her legs and turning with a pout as Fluttershy giggled. When the waiter came back with their check, Fluttershy reached up to pay but Dash held out her hoof in protest, “I got it Flutters,don’t worry.”

“Oh, I couldn’t impose,” Fluttershy said, wanting to pay.

“It’s no big deal, I got it,” Dash insisted as she pulled out her bag of bits and paid. Getting up, Dash reached out with her hoof and took Fluttershy’s to lead her out of the resturant. Walking out of the restaurant, the moon hung just over head and gave the area an etherial light, “You know, I was talking about myself the entire time back there. How about you tell me what you’ve been up to and I’ll walk you home.”

“You...you’ll walk me home?” Fluttershy squeaked, “You don't really need to do that Rainbow, treating me to dinner is enough and you probably don't want to hear about my week. It’s too boring.”

Dash let go of Fluttershy’s yellow hoof and put it onto her shoulder and turned Fluttershy to face her, looking into her light blue eyes, “I know I don’t need to, I want to. I like walking with you Fluttershy,” Dash smiled at her and rubbed a hoof alongside the yellow leg, “And of course I want to hear about your week. You can live a pretty cool life sometimes.” Dash said as she walked ahead of her friend. As the two walked, a mint green unicorn mare looked at her wife with a smile. Levitating her harp she began to play a soft melody for the Earth Pony that sat next to her, a melody that started with a few soft tones and continued with the soft rythmic beat.

“You really think I can be exciting?” Fluttershy asked as she managed to walk alongside Rainbow, smiling softly as she looked up to her friend.

“Well, yeah. Especially when it comes to animals,” Dash said, smiling at her as they came up to a bridge, the moon reflected within the small river, “I’ve seen you do awesome dives to save little birds from their death. I watched as you would save some innocent animals from some fierce predators and then go and find those guys something else to eat. You are more awesome than you could ever realize Flutters.” She then placed both hooves onto the railing of the bridge and looked down at the water, letting out a sigh, “I’m just sorry I can forget that sometimes.”

“ Oh, don't be sorry Dashie,” Fluttershy said, leaning on the railing and looking towards Dash. Slowly, she placed a comforting hoof onto Rainbow’s blue shoulder and rubbed it, letting her hoof run along the blue fur, “ I know I can be weak and defenseless sometimes.”

“But you aren’t that weak, Fluttershy,” Dash said, turning to face her friend while they were reflected in the water against the moon, “You are one the strongest of us. Do you remember the dragon, when Twilight first came here to Ponyville?”

Fluttershy nodded and looked into Rainbow Dash’s red eyes, “Yeah, and you were so against me going.”

“It was because,” Dash then held back a little, not wanting to admit the next part, “I was a little scared for you. When I saw you there, all I could see was that little pegasus that would tremble at the smallest thing. That same little mare who hid behind me, even when I was shorter than her. Then,” she turned her head down, looking away from Fluttershy before turning to look into her eyes again, “You stood up to that dragon and saved us all. That’s when I saw that other side of you, the girl who is just pure awesome and doesn’t ever let her friends get hurt. It was when I saw, that the sweetest little mare that I ever knew, was also just plain awesome.” She then ran her hoof through Fluttershy’s mane, “Face it, you are awesome.”

Fluttershy turned her head away and blushed a little, “ Thank you.” Then as she looked at her friend, she remembered something, “Wait right there, I need to get you a present.” She then took off in a small little blur. A few seconds later, she landed with something behind her back,” Close your eyes.”

“Sure,” Dash said, doing what she was told and waiting for the surprise.

“Ok, and open them” Fluttershy said as she put the item around her friend’s neck. As Dash opened her eyes, Fluttershy rubbed her right forehoof genlty, hiding one eye behind her mane, “Do you like it?”

“Man, why does she have to do that pose? Doesn’t she know how cute she looks?” Dash thought to herself as she looked down at the flower necklace around her neck, “Fluttershy, this is-”

“I remember that you told me that you lost the original one I made for you, so I made you a new one with all of your favorite flowers,” Fluttershy said, smiling softly.

“Fluttershy, you didn’t need,” Dash was then interrupted by a hug from Fluttershy.

“I know I didn’t need to, I wanted to,” Fluttershy said, pulling away to look back into her friend's eyes, “ It’s to thank you for keeping your promise and always being there for me. It’s also to show,” Fluttershy then place a soft hoof to Dash’s chest, “that I will alway be there for you, too.”

Dash looked down at the yellow hoof on her chest and then back at her dear friend. Smiling softly at Fluttershy, Dash leaned in and gave a quick kiss onto Fluttershy’s nose.

Fluttershy took a step back, a look of shock on her face as she stumbled through her words, “Wh...What was that?”

“A kiss, to thank you,” Dash replied, “For being a great friend, and to remind you that you are very special to me. This,” Dash then kissed Fluttershy on the cheek, “Is to remind you that I will always be there for you, as your friend and your hero.”

As the unicorn mare’s song ended, the two pegasi were already nearing Fluttershy’s house. Opening the door for her, Dash let the yellow pegasus into her house, “Night Fluttershy.”

“Night Dashie,” Fluttershy said as she closed the door. Walking in, she began to smile at the warm feeling that she felt within her growing. Turning around to look at the door, she smiled as she rubbed a hoof along her cheek, “And thank you for being there.”

As Dash flew back home, she could feel a warm feeling in her chest, “Thanks Flutters, for being there.”

Snuggling herself into her bed, Fluttershy began to fall asleep and dream.

Looking on at the fight before her, Fluttershy watched as the chimera fell, “HA! Maybe that’ll teach you to not mess with a pony when she has something special to protect,” Dash said as she collapsed to the ground unconscious.”

“RAINBOW DASH,” Fluttershy yelled as she flew to her cyan friend to help lift her up.

Applejack went over to Scootaloo who was crying about her mother, “ You sure you’ll be ok taking Dash?”

Slowly, Fluttershy nodded as she began to walk away, “You’ve always supported me, now I will support you...Just like I always will. Always.”

Author's Note

This is the chapter, and its a beautiful chapter and I call it, Bella note

Nurse Pony helped to preread this, she is an awesome editor

Ok, I am done and in case you are curious as to what Lyra was playing to Bon Bon here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcEGDZdmI0U is a link for you.

Also, I had plans for a scene with Rarity and Aj in this chapter but I figuredit'll fit better if I moved it to the next chapter instead. Also, have any of you lovely readers ever tried the Spaghetti sceene? I can imagine its freaking hard,

Edit: to change Flitter back to cloudchaser because I am an idoit.

Remember this, a kiss is just a kiss

Ch 4.Remember this, a kiss is just a kiss

Scootaloo backed away in utter fear as she looked up at the imposing figure of Rainbow Dash, edging her way to the front door of her house, “Now, Dashie, that was just a joke. Y’know, a little laugh,” she then gave a fearful chuckle as her hind hoof touched the threshold behind her. Quickly, she glanced over her shoulder to look at the drop off from the cloudhouse to the ground below.

“Oh, I knew it was a joke. Which is why I want to hear what you said, again. That way we can both have a good laugh,” Dash replied, an evil smirk on her face.

Scootaloo gulped as she said, “ You’re the best...dad ever?” She then backed a few more feet out the door.

“There now, see Scoots? That wasn’t so bad was it? Now, come to your big sister so we can both have a good long LAUGH about this,” Dash said, a low growl coming from her lips as she walked slowly towards the little filly.

With an high pitched squeak of fear, the small pegasus leaped from the porch of the house and glided down to her waiting scooter. Taking a hold of both handlebars of her vehicle, she began to buzz her small wings to help propel herself away from her caretaker as fast as she could. As she drove her small vehicle as fast as she could, leaving behind a small dust trail, she took a glimpse behind her to see if Dash was still on her trail. A smile came to her as she saw that Dash was nowhere in sight and turned her head around to face forward. Her relief was short lived, however, as she saw in front of her a blue body flying backwards, “You know, I am faster than your scooter, right?”

“I was kind of hoping that you weren’t,” Scootaloo said as she was scooped up by a pair of cyan hooves and forced to the ground to be tickled and raspberried.

“Now, what am I? Am I a girl,” Dash asked.

“hahahah, yes!” Scoot squealed.

“And what I am the best at,” Dash asked as she continued her assault.

Scootaloo looked up at her sister, trying to find a way to get out of the assault, “Being a big sister,” she panted from the laughter as she looked up into the magenta eyes of her guardian, “ and a mom.” She then quickly threw her forelegs around Rainbow Dash’s neck and gave her a big hug.

“And don’t you forget it,” Dash said as she hugged her sister back, rubbing her cyan hoof through the purple mane, “Now, I have a ton of work to brush off, so I’ll see ya later.”

“Bye Dash,” Scootaloo said as she watched Rainbow Dash take off in a blue streak and then got back onto her scooter to drive back to her clubhouse.

“Ok, so we can write date 1 off as a bust,” Scootaloo said, wearing an army helmet with a few stars pinned to it, as she crossed off the first selection off the list, “however, this still leaves plenty of room for the other dates on our list. Which brings us to date 2: Have Dash step in between two jerks that want to force Fluttershy to dance. Sweetie Belle here will discuss the plan.” Scootaloo said as she stepped off the podium and allowed the white unicorn to step up to the podium and bring out a pointer to hit the blackboard.

“Ok, now we are positive this will work because it has a high ratio of success in all of Rarity’s books,” Sweetie Belle said as she point to the first picture of two stallions, “First, we’ll ask two stallions to head to a nightclub with us. At the same time, Fluttershy and Dash will be there as well.”

Applebloom raised her hoof, “Wait, how can we be sure that Rainbow and Fluttershy will be there? We can’t trick them with a note this time, they’ll see right through it.”

“Ah, that is why I decided to do it today,” Scootaloo said as she pulled out a flyer, “Today, Vinyl is headlining a new dance club, no entry fee, and they are offering some new drinks on the side. Dash said earlier that she was thinking about checking it out tonight. As for Fluttershy...” she paused, letting Sweetie Belle continue.

“I’ll go and convince Angel to lure Fluttershy to the club and make her enter the club. While he does that I’ll,” Sweetie Belle then hit with her pointer a picture of her and Applebloom talking to two stallions, “go with Applebloom to grab two stallions and head into the club. After that, they’ll go to Fluttershy to dance with them, of course she’ll politely say no.” Sweetie Belle then hit another picture of a Fluttershy being pulled by two big stallions with an angry Rainbow Dash looking on, “The two stallions will then begin to get a little rough with her, trying to force her to dance.”

“Rainbow Dash will then see this and race to her rescue,” Sweetie said, tapping another picture with Dash leaping at the two rowdy stallions and punching them both in the face. Hitting another picture, this one of a happy Fluttershy with hearts in her eyes as Dash stands triumphant over her fallen foes, “ Fluttershy will be wooed by this and awed by this show of heroics. Then Dash will then take Fluttershy’s hooves,” her pointer hit a picture of Dash holding a crying Fluttershy’s hooves, “look deeply into her eyes and go, ‘Hey pretty lady, want a real dance?’ Fluttershy will then say ‘yes’ with so much passion that they will begin to dance the night away, falling deeper and deeper into love,” Sweetie finished with a twirl thrusting her hoof up as she danced with herself.

“Ah don’t know about this girls,” Applebloom said looking at the chalkboard, “How can be sure nothing will go wrong with this plan?”

“Nothing will go wrong Applebloom, trust me. This thing will be foolproof,” Scootaloo responded, a confident smirk on her face.

Years ago, in the cloudy city of Cloudsdale, two fillies sat upon a cloud. One was a blue cyan pegasus with a bruise on her face, while the other was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. The yellow pegasus was beginning to treat the Rainbow filly’s bruise with a cold compress, “Rainbow you didn’t need to fight those bullies for me. I’m not,” young Fluttershy was then interrupted by Rainbow’s voice.

“I know that! But I wanted to do it, they needed to know that those who are smaller than them don’t deserve to be picked on,” Dash said with a bit of gruffness in her voice. Turning her head, she looked at her friend, “Look, if they ever bother you again then you come to me and I’ll handle it.”

“Rainbow, I couldn’t. You are already picked on so much by them. I really don’t deserve it, I wouldn’t ask you to take them on like that,” Fluttershy said as she felt Dash put a hoof onto her yellow shoulder and hugged her.

“Don’t talk like that, of course you deserve it. Nopony should be hurt like you are, and I can take everything that they throw at you a lot more. Trust me, there’s nothing that they can do to me that’ll bring me down,” Dash said, a confident smile on her face, “I’ll always be there for my friends, always.”

Years past, and the little pegasus filly is now an adult sitting next to an orange pegasus, drinking some cider while a small orange filly gets ready for the day, “Rainbow Dash, I can’t thank you enough for being Scootaloo’s big sister. It’s meant so much to her, and to me,” Sunny Day said, a soft smile on her face.

“Hey, it’s what I do,” Dash said, flicking her mane back confidently, “I always like to be there for the small guy.”

“No, I don’t think you realize what its been like with you here for her. It’s lifted her spirits up, made her want to do more, and has made her more...lively,” Sunny then sighed as she looked behind her to the noises from upstairs, “I work so hard, trying to make sure that she’s cared for and loved, but I never find any time for her and I am afraid that I’m not doing enough for her.”

[ i]Dash reached over and put a cyan hoof onto Sunny’s shoulder, “Hey, you’ve been doing a terrific job with her, just awesome. I’m just the girl who gives her a push in the right direction and helps you to keep her safe,” the cyan pegasus then put her forehead against Sunny’s and smiled, “Besides, you’re her mother and that makes you a part of my family too.”

“And I’m always there for family,” Dash said out loud as she rested on her back on the cloud, looking up at the blue sky. Her mind began to drift along the cloud that she was on as she began to think about the year that she had spent as her adoptive, “Sister? Mom? Dad?” Dash chuckled at the last comment as she remembered the earlier morning when she made Scootaloo pay for saying that to her. However, it was true, she did have plenty of moments where she was more father like than a mother. Then again, she also had a lot more moments where she was very maternal, caring, and loving to the little orange filly that she had taken under her wing. She couldn’t help but smile at the memories of the times she held a trophy above the heads of the other kids at Scoots’s school, high hoofing her because she passed a tough test, or hugged her after a bad day, “I hope I have been doing as good a job as you did, Sunny.”

Dash turned on her little cloud to look down at the dance club below her that her cloud was approaching. She remembered the flyer that she was reading earlier that was announcing DJ PON3 headlining it for the rest of that week and in honor of it, they we waving the entry fee to dance there. Turning her head back to look to her home in the distance, she remembered that Scootaloo said she was going to be sleeping over at Applebloom’s house that night and she had just finished all of her duties, which left her with nothing to to do for the rest of the evening, “Been wanting to check that place out for a while anyway,”Dash said as she walked to the edge of her cloud. Looking down to look where the building was, she took a few steps back away from the edge of the cloud and then ran to the edge to jump off,

As she fell towards the ground at high speeds, Rainbow kept her wings to her body to keep herself free falling to the ground. Closing her eyes, she felt the winds blowing by her multi colored mane and bright blue wings at high speeds, caressing and blowing by her well-toned body. Pushing her hooves against the crashing winds before her, she thrusted the two of them out before her muzzle to aid in cutting through the wind. .In her head, she began to count down the seconds before she would end up crashing into the ground below, and on the last count, just seconds before she could hit the ground, she opened her eyes with a look of determination. Spreading her wings wide, she used the forward momentum of the air and glided her body through the front door of the club. Once inside, she did a small somersault and landed next to the dance floor with her hooves up in the air before taking a small bow. Smirking, she went to a nearby table and ordered a small drink.

Outside of the dance club, two mares sat behind a bush looking at the front door, “Tell me why are we doing this, Rarity?” Applejack asked as she looked at Rarity.

“Because, Darling,” Rarity said as she watched the door with a pair of binoculars, “I had overheard Sweetie Belle mentioning that she had plans to head to the dance club tonight. This could only mean that she is heading there with her new coltfriend.”

“And you know she has a coltfriend how?” Applejack asked.

“I just know, Applejack, I just know. She has subtle hints that she has been leaving around that she has one and I, as her beloved big sister,I must see this colt for myself and see if he is deserving of my sweet little sister and not some callous fiend hoping to steal her innocence,” Rarity said, looking over her shoulder at Applejack.

“And if he some ruffian?”

“Then I will deny him ever seeing my sister ever again, and then she will say that I have no right to barge in her affairs. I will then continue to deny her love, at which point she will see him in secret, finding ways to continue their horrid love affair,” Rarity said with a bit of flair in her voice as she swooned, “ and then I will find out about their secret forbidden love affair in a few years from now when they have been together for a long time. I will see them in bed together and I will argue with her about keeping the arrangement. We will have a huge fight that lead to her running away with him in the throes of unbridled passion just to keep their love alive. Both for their forbidden love and their unborn child!” The white unicorn wiped a tear from her eye, “It will be, so romantic.”

Applejack could only roll her eyes at such a story, but then something caught her eye, “Hey, is that Fluttershy?” She asked, pointing an orange hoof to a landing yellow pegasus.

Rarity floated up her binoculars to her eyes and got a good look, “Why, yes it is! I wonder why she is here, it’s not like her to come to a loud place like this without us.” She then saw a little white rabbit running ahead of the yellow pegasus, “Ah, there’s the reason, she’s chasing Angel. Now he’s stopping in front of the door, pointing to it, and motioning for her to go in. She’s shaking her head no, he’s nodding, and now he’s going behind her and pushing her in.” The white unicorn then lowered her binoculars and raised an eyebrow, “Wonder what is up with that and...wait! THERE SHE IS AND SHE IS,” Rarity’s eyes opened in horror as she saw the little unicorn walking into the club with an older blue pegasus stallion with a bookstack cutie mark, “WALKING IN THERE WITH A STALLION TWICE HER AGE?! I will not stand for this!”

“Whoa there, Rarity!” Applejack yelled as she pulled Rarity back down into the bush, missing Applebloom walking in with an orange stallion with a brown mane, “ Are you sure you ain't looking into things here? What if this is perfectly reasonable and there is a good reason for this?”

“Reasonable? I fail to see any good reason as to why my little Sweetie Belle would be walking into a dance club with an unknown stallion other than he wants to steal her innocence away. He is probably corrupting her in there as we speak! Come on Applejack, we must save my sister from being tainted!” Rarity commanded as she grabbed Applejack’s mane with her magic and pulled her into the dance club before the latter could object.

“Ok, Story Teller, you got the plan?” Sweetie Belle asked as she sat at a table, talking to the blue stallion.

Story turned behind him to look at the timid Fluttershy, “I am to walk over to her and ask her if she wants to dance.”

“Exactly, now go,” Sweetie said, pointing her white hoof to the hiding mare.

Nodding, the stallion flapped his wings and walked to the yellow pegasus. Smirking, he ran a hoof through his short black mane, “Hey pretty mare, want to dance?”

“Uh, no, I couldn’t possibly think of dancing here,” Fluttershy said, hiding one eye behind her mane.

“Well, ok then,” Story said as he walked backed to Sweetie Belle.

The white unicorn face-hoofed at the response he gave, “What in the name of Celestia was that?”

“Well, you told me to go ask her to dance and she said no, so I agreed and respected her decision,” Story said.

Again the little filly face hoofed, “ You weren’t supposed to do that! You were supposed to go to her and ask her to dance, then when she says no, you then get a little rough with her to force her to dance.”

Story rubbed the back of his head, “But, I don't want to hurt her.”

“You won’t! It’ll be just enough to scare her while Rainbow Dash comes in to save her,” Sweetie said, pointing to Rainbow Dash who had taken notice of Fluttershy.

“So, I am the decoy?” Story asked.

“Yep, now go get her!” Sweetie said, thrusting her hooves in the air.

Sighing and lowering his head, story walked slowly to Fluttershy as the orange earth pony walked behind her.

Applebloom waved from the distance, “Come on Caramel, you can do it!”

Fluttershy looked up at the orange stallion as he walked closer, “Um, excuse me. What do you want?”

Caramel put on a frown and looked down at her, “I want to know if you want to dance with me.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t dance with you right now. I just want to go find a place to sit down and drink,” Fluttershy said.

“Hey, I thought the guy asked you to dance?” Story said, putting a hoof onto her shoulder.

“Yes he did, and I said no,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, well then. Come on Caramel,” Story said as he waved a hoof to Caramel to follow him. The two stallions made their way back to Sweetie Belle’s table where she and Applebloom looked at the stallions with crossed expressions.

“What the hay was that? You two were supposed to be a little more forceful than that!” Applebloom asked looking at the two stallions.

Caramel shrugged, “Well, I thought that she really didn't want to dance! So I decided to go get a drink instead.”

“NO! You are supposed to grab her shoulder, and then say, “What’s the matter you don’t like dancing?” And then Story is supposed to help you and then Rainbow is supposed to come in save her from you two,” Sweetie Belle put her hoof to her forehead, “Oh, this is just an-”

“OUTRAGE!” Yelled Rarity as she pushed aside the entire crowd of ponies away with her magic and began to walk forcefully towards the table where Sweetie Belle and Applebloom sat.

“Yeah, an outrage,” Sweetie Belle’s eyes opened in horror as she realized who owned the voice, “Uh, oh.”

“THE BIG UH OH, LITTLE MISSY!” Rarity furrowed her brow as she looked angrily at the little white filly, “So, its bad enough that you are dating behind my back, but to do with a stallion that is at least TWICE your age is just simply unforgivable! I cannot believe that my dear little sister would do something so undeserving of her, so SCANDALOUS, so repugnant, and so downright deplorable as to date a far older stallion. I cannot believe that you would degrade yourself like this!!”

Story raised his hoof, “Uh, excuse me but we weren’t-”

“And you! How dare you take a sweet and innocent filly out to a place like this where you could do who knows what to her and take away her innocence! YOU, YOU HORRIBLE MONSTER!” Rarity yelled, causing more than a few heads to turn around and to look at the scene as Applejack walked to the table.

“Uh, Rare? Maybe you better quit, everypony is staring at us and I think the bouncers are coming and...APPLEBLOOM?” Applejack asked as she looked down at her little sister and then back up at Caramel, “CARAMEL? So!” Applejack yelled as she pushed down her hat in anger, “You decided that you weren’t gettin any and decided to go younger and go after little fillies?”

Caramel held up his hooves in utter terror, “No! That’s not it at all!”

“A likely story,” Applejack said as she punched Caramel straight into the face, sending him flying, “NOW hear this! No pony, and I mean nopony, corrupts my little sister!”

“The same goes for me!” Rarity said as she stared down Story Teller backing him up.

“Excuse me,” Said Burly Pecs, a very large green stallion with a ponytail mane, “Would yas mind if ya took your fight somewhere else. You are disturbing the customers.

“We most certainly will not!” Rairty said, looking at the bouncer with an indignation, “ME and my friend will have words with these ruffians here and now!”

The only thing that Rarity, Applejack, Sweetie Belle, Story Teller, Caramel, and Applebloom remembered about the next few minutes were being picked up by the two burly bouncers, carried to the front doors of the building and thrown straight into a tree. The two unicorns sticking right into the bark as if they were two white darts with hair, “Ow,” moaned Story Teller as he got up and walked away, “That’s it, I am going back to the bookstore, this is too rough for me. Coming, Caramel?”

“Sure, as soon as I remember where my legs are,” Caramel said as he wobbled too and fro right behind the blue pegasus.

“Applejack, be a dear and get me out!” Rarity yelled as she tried to pull herself out of the tree.

“Sure thing, sugarcube. ” Applejack looked to the two young fillies behind her, “ Then we can have a long discussion with two very doomed fillies!”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other and swallowed in fear. Meanwhile, up above, Scootaloo was watching from a tree and facehoofed with a sigh, “Mark up another failure.”

Inside the dance club, Fluttershy watched the scene play out before her while Dash was sitting at the table across from her, laughing, “Oh, I do hope that they’ll be ok,” Fluttershy said.

Dash took a deep breath and wiped a tear from her eye before taking a long drink of cider, “Ah, they’ll be fine. It’ll take more than that to hurt AJ,” she then looked at the timid pegasus , “So why didn’t you agree to dance with those guys? They looked nice, even if they were a little dorky.”

“Well, the thing is that the music is too loud and I,” Fluttershy then said in a voice barely above a whisper,” can’t dance.”

“What’s that, Flutters? I can’t hear you with the music so loud,” Dash said.

“I can’t dance,” Fluttershy said, her voice a squeak now.

“What?” Dash asked.

“I can’t dance,” Fluttershy said hiding behind her bangs, letting only one eye be shown.

“You can’t dance, really?” Rainbow asked in disbelief.

“Well, not like they can, I mostly slow dance.” Fluttershy said.

Dash put down the drink and then got off her chair to walk around to where Fluttershy sat, “ There’s no difference between boring dance and a fast type of dance,” she then extended a blue hoof to Fluttershy, “I’ll show you.”

“No I couldn’t possibly,” Fluttershy said as she tried to refuse before looking into Rainbow’s eyes.

“Hey, if I can learn to love books, then you can learn how to dance,” Dash said, putting her hoof into Fluttershy’s before adding with a soft voice, looking into her blue eyes, “Dance with me.”

Fluttershy looked back at Rainbow and then to her cyan hoof before calmly nodding yes and accepting her friend’s offer. Getting up from her table and following along with Rainbow Dash, she walked onto the dance floor where the other ponies were beginning to move along with the new dance. Frantically, she began to swish her head side to side in fear and nerves as she felt some of the ponies bump and rub against her as they began to dance around her. Looking back, she saw Rainbow Dash calmly hitting her hoof against the ground in a rhythm, “Now the first thing to do is to get into a steady rhythm with the beat of the music, like this.”

Fluttershy looked down at her right forehoof and began to tap the dance floor with it to the beat as she listened to the steady drumming rhythm from the speakers, “Is this right?”

“Exactly, you’re starting to get it,” Dash said as she stopped tapping her hoof to the rhythm and then thrusted out her hoof, “Now, I want you to follow my moves, just like when I was helping you to fly. Mirror my moves, got it?”

Fluttershy nodded, “Yes,” she then thrusted out her hoof to Rainbow and touched her the extended foreleg with hers. The music around them began to increase in tempo, with the drums now mixed in with a keyboard sound to keep the speed steady and exciting. The two mares began to encircle one another as their legs stayed together, barely touching one another. Dash had a smile on her face as she pulled away from her friend for a few feet and began to sway side to side, moving her forelegs and hindlegs in a quickening rhythm. Fluttershy watched Rainbow’s legs carefully, making her own sways as she quickly stamped her hooves to the beat. Sometimes she would move back and forth along the beat or even add a few sways of her mane to add to the dance that was being created.

With a few sudden steps of her hooves, Rainbow got up close to Fluttershy and rubbed against her, letting them both feel the softness of each other’s coats. Fluttershy paid back the motion in kind, twirling around her partner in a circular pattern and occasionally brushing up against her friend’s body. At times, she would even nuzzle against Rainbow’s neck, taking in her scent and well as looking at her spectrum mane. Dash would do this as well, letting the softness of Fluttershy’s coat and the feel of her body warm her up and keep her pace going.

To any outside observer, it would like the dance was planned out between the two days before they even had come to the club. This was not the case, this was a dance that was between two close friends that knew each other so well that they could remain in synch without words. They just knew what the other was doing from their body movements and their eyes alone.

Dash then grabbed her yellow friend’s left forehoof and used some momentum to spin her around to face her. Dash then pulled the timid pegasus close to her, gave her a small kiss on the nose before stepping back and doing a mid-air somersault, landing back on the ground, and stepping side to side. Fluttershy, in response, crouched down low and did a small few steps back away from Dash as her friend began to dance towards her with a sway of confidence. The two then began to dance back and forth, as if Dash was a predator ready to latch onto her prey. Fluttershy then looked up at Rainbow from her crouched position and then stood up to her. Keeping her eyes wide and focused on Dash as she stared her down, backing her up a little. As she backed up, a smirk came to Dash as she shifted left and to the right, throwing the yellow pegasus just a little off balance. Then, grabbing Fluttershy’s hoof with her own, Dash pulled Fluttershy to her and then tipped her so she would be laying on the opposite hoof as the music came to an end. The two pegasi stayed there in that position, sweat glistening off their bodies as they panted, looking into each others eyes, “Where did you learn to dance like that?” Fluttershy asked, as she panted.

“I am a stunt flyer, being agile is part of the job,” Dash said as they began to hear clapping.

Fluttershy looked around, nervously, “Dashie...they’re staring at us.”

“Let them, they need to know that they just watched two of the most awesome pegasi in the world dance,” Dash said as she got Fluttershy to her hooves and smirked at each other.

“Well, I don't’ know about all of you awesome fillies and stallions out there, but after an awesome performance like that,” Vinyl said from behind her player as she ignited her horn to grab some disks, “I think we need to cool down so we can rock some more! So get a nice little partner that you feel like dancing with and get real cozy, because we’ll taking a little mellow for a bit.”

“Ok, that’s it! I’m out of this one,” Dash said as she began to walk away, only to be stopped by Fluttershy’s hoof.

“You don’t slowdance?” Fluttershy asked.

“Flutters, I don’t do boring dances. Its just too, wimpy,” Dash said.

“Are you saying that because you never tried it?” Fluttershy asked, looking into Dash’s magenta eyes.

“Well, uh,” Dash stammered for a bit before responding with, “Look I don't do slow dances!”

Fluttershy looked calmly into Rainbow’s eyes and said softly, “Dance with me.”

Dash looked at how Fluttershy’s mane rested on her face, giving a perfect frame of calm and gentleness. A sigh came from her lips as she took Fluttershy’s hoof in hers, “All right, one dance to try it out, but only because its you.”

Fluttershy smiled as she took Dash’s hoof and placed it on her shoulder, “Now just lay one hoof on my shoulder like that and place your other on my side like you’re giving me a hug.”

Dash did as she was told, “Like this?” Dash then watched as Fluttershy gave a little nod as a voice was heard over the speakers.

“Ok everypony, I think I found a good one,” the white unicorn said as she pulled out a record, “Its a little soft song about two close friends falling in love, ‘Could it be.’ Enjoy”

As the soft rhythm of the music began, Fluttershy took the lead in the dance, moving softly along the floor with her hindhooves. Feeling the soft sound of the music hitting her ears, Dash closed her eyes and began to follow alongside her friend, keeping in step with her hoof movements. As they danced along the floor of the club,Dash would on occasion run her hoof along Fluttershy’s shoulder, or through her pink mane as the music began to reach a higher pitch but never drifting away from the soft comforting tempo.

Fluttershy, feeling the music relax her along with the closeness and warmth of Dash’s touch, began to smile as she lowered her head onto Dash’s shoulder. Letting her chin rest on the cyan coat, Fluttershy took the time to nuzzle her friend’s neck. As she rest comfortly along Dash’s neck, she let out a small giggle as she felt the warm breath of air past by her yellow ear. She didn’t mind, she felt protected and safe in the legs of her best friend. Dash returned the favor in kind, running the hoof that was once on the side of Fluttershy along her back, Slowly did Dash run her hoof along the yellow back, feeling the soft hairs of her coat and the small ridge of her friend’s wing. Softly, Dash laid her chin onto Fluttershy’s shoulder and rested there. She did not move to the music, but to the soft rhythm of the heartbeat instead.

Breaking away from the embrace that the two shared, Rainbow Dash took the hoof that was exploring her friend’s back and placed in on the other shoulder she was resting on. Fluttershy watched this motion and followed in kind. The two looked into each other’s eyes as they continued their slow dance along the floor, breathing only ever so softly. Their bodies in a perfect rhythm, the two began move along the floor as if they were flying on the ground. If the previous dance was as if a butterfly was moving against a storm, then this was two leaves dancing in an autumn wind.

Watching as they danced, Rainbow looked down at how easy it was to follow her friend’s movements and how calm it made the both of them.Taking a look back up at Fluttershy, she smiled at her and watched as her friend returned the smile. Leaning in close to each other, the two rubbed each others gently before Dash gave a small kiss on the yellow nose of her friend. Blushing a little, the yellow pegasus return the soft kiss, smiling at the way the blue mare blushed. Quickly, Dash pulled her friend into a tight embrace and together finished off the dance with each other in their legs, “Dash, I think the song is over now,” Fluttershy said.

“I know, but I like it like this for right now,” Dash said, smiling as the two stayed there for the moment. Finally pulling away, the two walked to the exit door, “Ok, you were right. Dancing like that... was kind of nice.”

Turning with her friend to face the direction of Fluttershy’s home, the yellow pegasus smile, “I thought you would like it. You never know what you’ll like until you try.”

“Hmmmm, sounds like what I have to tell you sometimes,” Dash snarked as she playfully nudged her friend while a light green unicorn began to serenade her lady love sitting across from her with a soft song about two lovers and the meaning behind a kiss.

Fluttershy let out a small chuckle from her lips as Dash said that, remembering how many new experiences she has had, thanks to her dear friend, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Dash asked as they crossed over the bridge that led to Fluttershy’s house.

“For being there for me and for helping me open up,” Fluttershy said with a smile as she looked to Rainbow, “Even if its scary or something I am afraid doing, you alway find ways to let me join you. You make me feel like I’m special..”

“Hey, you are special to me, Flutters. You are one of my oldest friends and I know that deep down is an awesome pegasus waiting to be seen by the world,” Dash said walking a few feet ahead of Fluttershy and raising her hooves high and grabbing a flower from a tree. “Why do you think I get you into thing like jousting and tornado duty, because I want the world to see what I see when I see you. What I saw back when you scared the dragon, a great pegasus.” Dash then put the flower into Fluttershy’s hair and looked back at her with a smile as they made it to Fluttershy’s cottage, “And even if they never see it...you are still one of my favorite things on the planet.”

“Your favorite?” Fluttershy asked as she opened the door slowly and looked back at Dash, a soft smile on her lips behind a mane of pink.

“Yep!”

“Thank you, Dash. You’re one of my favorite things...too,” Fluttershy said as she look back at Dash, straight into her magenta eyes.

The two stood there at Fluttershy’s doorstep for a few moments, their eyes never leaving each other. As the music in the air began to fade, Dash began to lean in closer to Fluttershy, bringing her lips closer to hers. Fluttershy, closing her eyes, began to lean up to Rainbow Dash and brought her own lips closer to Dash’s until their lips finally came together as one. The two stood there for a few moments, letting their lips dance with each other, a small moan escaping each other’s mouths as they allowed the kiss to continue. Slowly the two pulled away from their kiss and turned away, both blushing lightly, “Well, I think I better get going now, You know, important, uh, things to do later,” Dash said nervously as she walked back a few steps.

“Uh, I know, uh me too,” Fluttershy said with a squeak as she quickly closed the door behind her.

Turning around, Rainbow Dash flew up to a cloud that was near her house and looked up at the starry night, “Oh merciful Luna, why did I do that? I was just wanting to give her a kiss on the nose, not a full on kiss on the lips!” Grabbing a tuft of cloud, she threw it up into the air, “I don’t know what came over me. I mean its not like I love her, that’s just silly. It must have been a mistake. Yeah, that’s it, a mistake, I was aiming for her nose but got her lips instead. We’ll talk tomorrow about it and remember that it was just a silly kiss between friends.” Turning around to fly home, Dash had one last thought to herself, “It felt great though.”

“Oh, Angel, you’ll not believed what just happened,” Fluttershy said as she ran upstairs past a white bunny who followed her up, “I just kissed Rainbow Dash, on the lips.”

Angel had a look on his face that said, “Oh really, and what are her intentions with you?” Along with a touch of, “Oh sweet Elfara, I now owe that stupid turtle 50 bits!”

“I don’t know what this means, Angel. Was it an accident? Was it on purpose, and why did I go along with it? Does it mean I love her? I know I care for her as a friend, but love? I, oh, I just don’t know Angel. What do you think?” Fluttershy said as she got into bed.

The white rabbit began to make movements that tried to state, “Go and tell her that you love her as much as she loves you!”

“Right, it was an accident that happened because we were caught up in the moment and nothing more,” Fluttershy said as she snuggled herself up into the bed, “I’ll just sleep and forget this ever happened.” With that, she turned off the light and began to fall asleep.

In a grassy knoll, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash sat across from each other on a blanket. They looked at each other, their eyes never leaving as Rainbow took Fluttershy’s hooves into hers, “Flutters, there is something I need to say.”

“Yes, Dashie?” Fluttershy asked.

“Fluttershy, I...” that was when she began to back away, fading but not before laying a deep kiss onto Fluttershy’s lips.

As she watched the blue pony disappear, Fluttershy tried to run towards her, “You what Dash? You what?” She called out. Taking a few steps back, the pegasus got on her knees and began to sing

Fluttershy

Does she love me?
I wanna know!
How can I tell if she loves me so?

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack appeared from the picnic basket dressed in sparkling pink, white, and orange dresses, respectfully. Looking to their left at a surprised Fluttershy, they began to sing as well.

Pinkie, Rarity, AJ: Is it in her eyes?

Rainbow Dash sat on a carpet, dressed in a white prince outfit looking back Fluttershy dressed in a harem girl outfit.

The scene now changes to Fluttershy standing in a crowd in a boxing ring while Rainbow stands triumphant over a black earth pony with boxing gloves, “Yo! Fluttershy,” Dash called out.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy called out as she ran past the crowd to Dash.

“YO! FLUTTERSHY!” Dashie called out with her boxing glove covered hoof in the air.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy called out as she made it to the ring and gave Rainbow Dash a big hug.

“Yo! Flutters, we did it, we did it Flutters.”

The scene now changes to several miles above the clouds where Rainbow Dash i dressed in a blue suit with a giant “R” on her chest inside a red triangle. Flying with her, in a blue evening gown, is Fluttershy who is being held up by her hoof. The two flew through the air together as they held each others hooves, letting the clouds float below them. Fluttershy extends a hoof to let a bird land on it and kiss it before sending it away. The two then wrap each other up in a tight embrace.

The scene now shows Rainbow Dash flying past a defeated black dragon and up a tower where a sleeping Fluttershy in a blue gown awaits her. Lowering her head to the sleeping figure, Rainbow Dash gives her a deep kiss that awakens her.

Dash drapes her hooves over Fluttershy’s shoulders, making a clay pot with her as they share a deep kiss.

“I love you Dashie.”

Fluttershy opened her eyes wide as she awoke from her dream, “Am I falling love with my best friend?”

Author's Note

Thanks to NursePony for the preread

Oh, and to all of my readers, the first person to guess all of the movie parodies at the music part and what cartoon based the joke on, gets to have Rainbow Dash say an heroic one liner or romantic line of their choice in the next chapter and will be credited for it in the next chapter.

Oh the hard part of doing this song was rewriting the lyrics to his and actually singing it in Fluttershy's voice

Edit: Kind of feel bad cutting out the musical number.

walk a mile for you, yeah I die for you

Everything I do, I do it for you

The sun hung brightly overhead on the small town of Ponyville, allowing all of its inhabitants to enjoy the soft warm wind and the warm sunshine that brightened up their day. All, with the exception of Scootaloo, who was walking towards Whitetail woods with her head down. Her friends were grounded for the day because of their antics the previous night and now the little filly was all alone in her thoughts, “I could fake a monster attack on Fluttershy with a weak one that Dash could easily kick the butt of. But that might,” Scootaloo stopped in front of the entrance of the forest and backed away a few feet, trembling, “go too far and could really hurt them. I could make a fake monster attack, but...” Scoot’s mind then thought of her own personal model making skills and costume making.

“Raw! I’m going to kill you Fluttershy,” Scootaloo screamed, covered in a wolf costume.

“AW! What an adorable puppy you are Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said, eyes widened in awe as she patted the costume’s head.

“I’m not a puppy!” Scootaloo countered, “I’m a firce Canis Major, run!”

“Well, if you want to play Canis Major and the prey, I guess I wouldn’t mind. I have time,” Fluttershy said, looking above Scootaloo’s head, “But I should warn you.

Scootaloo couldn’t hear the rest of the warning as a terrifying howl was heard right behind her, making her jump onto Fluttershy and hold her tightly. The terrifying howl soon turned into an uncontrollable burst of laughter coming from up above on the cloud, “OH man Scoots.” Dash said, holding her sides with her hooves as she rolled on the cloud, “You should see the look on your face.”

Scootaloo looked back at Dash, a blush on her face from the embarrassment, “I wasn’t scared!”

-----------------------

“Yeah,” She sighed as she kicked a rock in front of her down a hill, “Without Applebloom or Sweetie Belle to help out with the costume and the voice, I’m sunk.”

A small smile came to the orange pegasus’s lips as she began to think of her two friends and how much she truly needed them. They were the Crusaders and they have been helping each other in ways that went beyond just looking for their cutie marks. Helping each other with ideas, supporting each other when they felt bad, and overcoming their weaknesses. It was this one that she took the most pride in, after all it was helping her friend conquer her stage fright that helped Sweetie Belle find her cutie mark. A small giggle came from her as she began to think of the surprise cuteceneria that was coming up in the next few days in which she had a part in planning. This tled her to think of what has happened to her in the past few years: gaining two terrific friends, a big sister and a...She stopped at the last one, that was going to happen when she would finally came up with a good plan.

Walking around the edge of the woods, her mind continued to craft plan after plan for the third date: Rescue Romance; however, each one she could come up with would all encounter failure in her mind. For her, she felt like each plan was just as useless as the last, and her mood became worse with each failure. A growl of frustration left her lips as she walked by a tall green tree, the soft and comforting warm wind was doing little to lighten her grim mood. Turning to look at the tree before her, she placed her forehooves onto it while standing on her hindlegs. Smirking, she ran up the tree quickly before bouncing off of the trunk, doing a somersault and then landing back onto the ground on her hindlegs. Setting back down, she let out a deep breath of air and smiled. A warm wind couldn’t help cheer her up a little but a little trick here and there did it.

Turning away from the tree, she layed down onto her belly and began to run her right hoof along the ground, “UGGH!” She yelled in frustration, not noticing the figure that came from out of the tree, “Why must thinking up these ideas be so freaking hard!”

“Oh, I think I might be able to help,” said a voice from behind her, casting a looming shadow from behind her that covered her, “come up with some ideas.”

Scootaloo opened her eyes wide at the sound of the voice behind her, before slowly turning around to gaze at the source. As she gazed upon the figure behind her, she let out a gasp of fear at his towering presence.

_____________________________

“Fluttershy! Hey, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called out from her little cloud as she continued her search. It had been a few short minutes since her victory over the bullies, since she had recreated the legend as well as finding her true calling. In her young mind, she could still play the excitement of the win and the thrill of the cheering crowds. The cheering of all of the kids, with the exception of one, the one she was hoping would be right there to give her a hug of appreciation for helping her. That exception being Fluttershy.

Her young mind thought back to her horror and shock that, not only was her friend not there to cheer for her, but she had fallen off the cloud when the race had started and was now missing. Dash had already taken it upon herself to start a long search for her dear friend, and was already a few minutes into the search. Her eyes darted back and forth as she searched the land for the buttery pegasus, trying in vain for some sign of her. She did not want to admit it to herself or to anypony else for that matter, but she was scared. Scared for her friend, and frightened that it might have been her that caused the death of her close friend.

Her ears then perked at the sound of something that raised her hopes. From just a few yards away, she could hear a soft voice talking to somepony or something. Smiling happily, she fluttered her cloud above the ground to where the voice was coming coming from. As she neared the source, she saw the target of her search as a long-legged buttery yellow pegasus sat amongst the flowers, singing to the small cats and birds around her, “Fluttershy, there you are!” Dash yelled, “I’ve been searching all over for you. You had us all worried sick.”

“OH, I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said as she turned to her friend, “I didn’t mean to worry anypony, I was just enjoying spending time with my animal friends. See aren’t they wonderful? And look at all of this around you, its a wonderous place isnt it?”

Dash could only roll her eyes at her friend’s love for the ground and the little creatures that surrounded her, “Yeah, simply wonderful. Now come on Flutters, it’s time to go home,” she said, stretching out a cyan hoof to help Fluttershy onto the cloud.

“All right,” Fluttershy said, taking Dash’s hoof into her’s and used her little wings to help lift her up onto the cloud. As Dash began to push the cloud upwards towards their home in the sky, Fluttershy smiled and looked at her cyan friend, “Rainbow Dash, there’s something I need to show you.”

“What’s that?” Dash asked as she got back up on the slowly ascending cloud.

“I got my cutie mark today, see?” Fluttershy said, moving her flank to show off the three butterflies

Dash’s eyes opened wide in joy and shock, “That’s AWESOME Flutters! No where near as awesome as mine thought,” she said, showing off her flank for emphasis on the rainbow lightning bolt that now adorned her blue flank, “but, I guess having a soft butterfly is awesome too, a little.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“Yeah, I guess,” Dash said, lying a little, “Even if I wanted it to be something fast so I can always race with my best buddy,” she reached over and gave her a hug, “I guess I’ll just be awesome for the both of us and you can cheer for me.”

Fluttershy smiled softly from behind her bangs as it covered one eye before looking up at the cyan pegasus, “ Dashie, I want to thank you for protecting me from the bullies.”

Dash shrugged her shoulders as Cloudsdale came into view, “Eh no big. I just did what I needed to, no pony deserved to be treated like that.”

“No, it was a very big thing,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head, “you didn’t have to do that for me. I’m no pony important, I’m just me.”

“Hey! None of that!” Dash yelled, “You are important, Flutters, you’re important to me. You’re one of my bestest best friends and I couldn’t imagine being famous without you.” Dash then ran a hoof past Fluttershy’s mane and then gave her a soft hug, “And I promise you, I’ll always protect you. No matter where you are, I’ll race right to you.”

A soft smile came to Fluttershy’s lips as she looked into Rainbow Dash’s magenta eyes, “Promise?”

“Promise!” Dash said, as the world slowly morphed around her, changing into several years into the future. The yellow pegasus that was once before her now changed into an adult orange mare with a blond mane as she looked back at Dash.

“Oh Dash, thank you so much,” Sunny Daze said as she hugged Rainbow Dash while her daughter got ready to go off on another adventure, “You don’t know what this meant to me, or to her. She’s...my world.”

“I think I do,” Dash said, looking at the young filly who she just said she would be a big sister too not a week before visiting the filly’s home, “the kid has kinda grown on me.”

“You don't know how happy you made her, how happy you made me. She’s been jumping for joy ever since you said you’d be her big sister. I can’t ever thank you enough,” Sunny said, crying a little.

Dash wiped a tear from the mare’s eye before tucking her chin, “Hey, she’s become an important pony to me now, and that means you’re important to me too. And I, ALWAYS, will protect those important to me.”

“Promise?” Sunny asked.

“Promise,” Dash said with a confident smirk as she was tightly hugged by Sunny. Dash then let go of the orange mare as she felt something warm and sticky on her hooves. Looking down, she found that the world had changed again and now she was in Whitetail Woods, looking at the dying form of Sunny, “SUNNY! No, don’t do this to ME! Don’t you dare do this to Scootaloo, she needs you!”

Sunny looked up a Rainbow Dash with sad almost lifeless eyes, “Promise,” she said in a raspy voice.

Raising her head up in shock at what the mare said, Dash began to look around her as the world began to darken, the decayed bodies of her friends surrounding her, and on their bodies was the word, “protect” carved onto their forms”

________________________

“AHHH!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she rolled off of a tree branch and onto the hard ground, “OOOF! What the? Why am I on the ground and,” her eyes then noticed her outfit before saying in a deadpan voice, “what in Celestia’s holy horn am I wearing?” She then took another look at the weird green suit that she was now wearing, along with a little green hat with a yellow feather in it.

“Like it? I was looking around the town and I saw that and thought to myself “Rainbow Dash, Robin Hood? Only a few letters difference here and there,” a quite jovial voice said from above as a weird mismatched creature lowered himself from the sky on a pink cloud of cotton candy.

“DISCORD!” Dash yelled in rage at her predicament, “What’s...excuse me.” Grabbing her green tights with her teeth, Rainbow began to rip them off, leaving her now in a suit of blue armor.

“Hmmmm, well I guess if you want to be Lancelot instead,” Discord said, snapping his fingers and changing the forest into a green field with a castle in the distance, “Behold! Camelot, Camelot! I heard your thunderous call.”

“GRRRRRRR!” Dash growled as she ripped the knight outfit off, now putting her into a blue suit with a giant rainbow colored R on her chest in the middle of a shield.

“Well, if you wanted to be a superhero so bad...why didn’t you say so,” Discord said as he snapped his fingers to change the setting into a sprawling city, “and yes I can read your mind.”

“AHHHHH!” Dash screamed as she ripped the suit to shreds, now changing her outfit into a blue barding with a yellow 2 on her chest. Looking down at herself in curiousity, she noted a strange grey device on her right leg with a green light on it.

“A little post apocalyptic, but if that is what you want...who am I to disagree?” The mismatched creature said as he snapped his paw to change the world around the two of them into a barren wasteland, “ There we are, although don’t expect an easy Remedy to your Steely Calamity.”

Somewhere, a smaller Discord played a rimshot.

“CELESTIA’S FIERY SOLAR HEAT!!!” Dash screamed as she ripped her barding to pieces, now putting her into a black leather outfit with a rapier at her side.

“‘The Princess Bride’! A classic! I knew I liked you,” Discord said as he snapped his fingers to change the world to a grassy field once again, “Want to try again?”

“NO! I give,” Dash said, holding up her hooves in defense, “What’s this about, Discord?”

“This is about promises, Dashie,” Discord said, walking up behind Dash and bringing out two translucent spheres, “The ones that you failed to keep,” in the sphere on his eagle claw appeared an image of Sunny Day, lying motionless on the ground. Seeing the image made Dash turn her head away, a look of sadness coming to her face, “ and the ones that you tried to keep,” Discord said, showing an image of Fluttershy in a green gown with flowers in walking around in a castle.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Dash yelled as she leapt to the two orbs, only to watch as Discord pulled the two orbs away as if they were yo-yos. “What did you do to her?”

“Now Rainbow, I’m hurt, crushed even,” Discord said as he became as flat as a pancake before returning to normal, “that you would even THINK that I would hurt the only friend I have on this boring little mudball.” He then raised his tail above his head to make a halo, “I’m innocent. But something might happen to the little pegasus if you don’t save her in the next few hours.”

“What’ll happen?” Dash asked, watching the dragonquiss carefully.

“I don’t know, maaaaaaybe something bad,” Discord said, his red eyes rolling back as he shrugged, “Maaaaaybe something horrible. We’ll never know, because you are going to save her without fail. Aren’t you, Miss Loyalty? You always save those closest to you without fail, right?”

Dash raised up a hoof to say something, but then the memory of Sunny’s body laying at her hooves came back to her. Shaking her head of this memory, she looked up at Discord with a confident smirk, “Right! I’ll save her in no time, just watch me!”

“THAT’S THE SPIRIT,” Discord said, jumping up high in a cheerleader outfit with a group of him on a bunch of stands holding up the words ‘YAY Rainbow Dash’, “Now, before you go, take this.”

Dash looked down at the object that she was given, a small box with a starburst. apple, diamond, and a balloon emblazoned on it. Arching an eyebrow in curiosity, she opened the box to reveal small figurines of her friends, “What the?”

“Oh I know, molded ones are the best aren’t they? So accurate and so easily paintable,” Discord said with a smile as he looked over Dash’s shoulder, “But I digress. Those statues represent your four friends. When you encounter a problem that you know you can’t handle, and you will, take out one of those statuettes and your friends will appear to help you with the problem before disappearing.”

“Do they even know that they are statuettes?” Dash asked, wondering about her friends.

“Oh please, like I would turn them into statues! If anything, I would turn the princess here,” he said, lifting up the statue of a purple alicorn and smiled, “Into a book, just to watch her try to read herself! No, as far as they are concerned, they are still at home doing their homey things with their little homey lives. When you use the statues, it’ll just summon them to here and then back home when your are done with them. Now ta-ta.” With he disappeared in a flash of light.

Taking the box and placing it into a saddle bag at her side, Dash turned around to look at the castle in the distance. Smirking, the cyan mare gave a few flaps of her wings before taking off in a rainbow colored blur.

____________________________

Somewhere, in the top of the castle, sat a little yellow pegasus as she looked over some of the pictures that laid around her ‘prison’. She gave a soft smile as she picked up one photo from the stand and sit onto her bed. A sigh escaped lips as she looked around her room, there wasn't much for her to do in the tower other than await for her hero to come. Taking another look at the the photo, she couldn't help but smile again at it. It was an old photo of her and Rainbow Dash sitting in a hospital bed together, with a small caption that read “tonsil buddies”. She let out a giggle as the memory came back to her.

“Uggh, its so boring here,” Dash grumbled, the teenager not liking the fact that she was stuck in a hospital one bit. She then looked up as she saw somepony get placed on a bed next to her. It took her a few moments to recognize the yellow form next to her, “FLUTTERSHY?!”

The yellow pegasus then gave a quiet nod.

“But, what on Earth are you...”Dash asked, interrupted by the squeak from Fluttershy.

“Lonely,” Fluttershy said, her blue eyes hidden by her hair.

“You...you thought I would be lonely here so you got your tonsils taken out too?” Dash asked, her eyes opened in shock, “But you didn’t need,” she was then interrupted by another squeak.

“Watch over you too, protect,” Fluttershy said, electing a smile from Dash. She then reached into her table and handed Rainbow an ice cream bowl, smiling softly.

______________________________________

Rainbow Dash flew deftly through the air, the winds being cut through easily by her blue wings. As the winds blew through her prismatic hair, a look of cockyness and determination came across her face. The girl knew that she was going to make it to Fluttershy before anything bad could happen, and she knew that she would do it in no time. Her flight, however, was cut short by a short run in with a giant stone wall, the sides stretching from horizon to horizon. After shaking her head and rubbing her snoot with her hoof to numb the pain from ramming into the wall, Rainbow looked up to where the top of the wall ended. A determined smirk came to her lips as she flew off towards the the top of the wall; however, the problem came as the wall began to follow her upwards.

Annoyed by how the wall kept on following her, Rainbow Dash reared back with a forehoof and punched the wall hard. Pulling her hoof back, she let out a grunt of pain that was felt throughout her entire foreleg. Turning her head towards the ground, she decided to land for the moment to think about how to get over the wall. Looking at her leg and then at the wall, she began to pace alongside the side of the wall, hoping for an entrance or a small door. Finding none, she let out a sigh of frustration before looking back at the brown box that contained the figures of her 4 friends. Smiling, she took out the box and opened it to reveal the four statues of her friends. Looking back and forth, she grabbed the only one she knew for a fact that would be as strong as her. Taking the orange pony in her hoof, she watched in amazement as the figure glowed in a bright red apple and floated out of the box and landed next to Rainbow Dash, “Yeehaw!” Applejack yelled as she appeared, her stetson floating up in the air and landing back onto her head as she put her lasso onto her side.

“Applejack! I’m glad you’re here,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a smile on her face.

“Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked as she looked at Rainbow with an arched eyebrow, “What are ya’ll doing here at the farm? I thought you were dozin somewhere else.”

“Long story, but you’re dreaming and I need your help to take down this wall,” Dash said, pointing to the wall.

Turning her head to the wall, the orange earth pony nodded in agreement and titled her stetson, “No problem sugarcube.” Turning around with Rainbow Dash, the two ponies bucked as hard as they could, breaking a large hole in the wall and leaving them standing in the dust and debris. Turning to face her friend, the earth pony gave her friend a high hoof.

“Thanks a lot, AJ,” Dash said as she walked through the door.

“No problem, sugarcube,” Applejack said, smiling. “Must be hard though, huh Rainbow? Keeping that big wall around yah? Hiding all yer emotions behind those walls of pride, arrogance, and wanting to look strong fer everypony else? Not ever wanting to let anypony else know how emotionally vulnerable you are?”

“What are you talking about? I let you guys know how I feel all the time,” Rainbow Dash said, turning her head to face nothing but air. Looking back her box, she noticed that Applejack’s spot was now just a small black indentation in the foam, “Stupid Applejack, image...thing. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I’m PLENTY emotional, I show off my emotions all the time, and I show ponies how I feel about them a lot!”

“Is that so,” said Discord, hidden in the shadows, “Is that why it took your sister almost dieing before you could finally admit that she flew into your heart? That, out of all your little fans, she became the most like you little sister even before you said you would?”

“Well I...”Dash stopped herself in midsentence as she kept walking, unable to to come up with a good rebuttal.

“What about some of the things you said around...Fluttershy?” Discord asked as he snapped his fingers to show Dash in front of Twilight.

“Are you sure about this? The girl is afraid of her own shadow!”

“But what did you mean, really?” Discord asked, now changing things around Rainbow Dash to show her once again in front of Twilight.

“Twilight, I know Fluttershy. If we send her out there, she might die!”

“ Hmmm, interesting, when you take away the tough exterior, you have a caring pony who wants to be a protector,” Discord chuckled from his hiding spot, “Such a softy.”

“I am not!” Rainbow Dash yelled, slamming her hoof to the ground in denial.

“Oh no,” Discord asked, letting out a chuckle. “Forgetting about me then?”

As if to answer, Rainbow Dash turned her head forward to look at the image that had appeared. The image of events that happened not but a short year and a half ago, “Fluttershy, you can’t trust him! He’s Discord, who knows what tricks he has up his little sleeve.”

“Let’s play that clip again. This time without the walls, shall we?” Discord said, a smile on his grey lips.

“Fluttershy, I want you to be careful around him. I worry about you.”

“Hmmm, interesting. Apparently you can be a softy when we take away the tough daredevil exterior. And apparently, the best one to pull that out is the soft and spoken type, like Fluttershy and...Sunny?” Discord said, smirking.

“SUNNY?! She...she was just a really close friend, Scoots’ mom. She was nothing,” Dash said as she walked on, pushing away the shadows.

“Oh sure, that was how it started out, but then you began to feel for her. You started to care for her in an unexpected way. I would almost say,” Discord said, putting his lion paw to his chin, “fallen for her. But then, she died before you could admit anything to her or to ask her about how she felt. All because of that little wall of fear and pride that you put around yourself that made you afraid to admit your little emotions. Much like how afraid to admit to anypony else that you fear failure, abandonment, or being abandoned, you’re afraid to let anypony know how you feel when it comes to love. Now, you are on a quest to save Fluttershy from Sunny’s fate of never knowing how you feel.”

Dash let out a growl out anger and swiped at the air next to her, “Shut up!” Her eyes then looked down as she swiped at nothing and continued on, “ Fluttershy knows how much I care,” she whispered to the nothing next to her as she continued on.

______________________________

Fluttershy gently rolled off of the bed as she finished looking at the photo of her dear friend. Taking a good look around her room, Fluttershy took note of the many pictures, nicknacks, and toys that littered the room. Every little item that she looked act and every picture she would pick up brought her another memory of her and her friends. However, the ones that seemed to be most predominant in the room were the photos of her and Rainbow Dash.

As she continued her survey of the room, she found a small plush doll of a Wonderbolt. Reaching over to it, Fluttershy grabbed it and pulled it close to her. Running a hoof along the soft fur of the mane, a memory came to her of a time long ago when the two were just teenagers.

“Did you see Spitfire out there, Flutters?” Dash asked as she and Fluttershy sat on top of a cloud together, her legs waving in excitement.

“Yeah...exciting,” Fluttershy said, looking down at her hooves.

Dash drooped her hooves to her side and turned to Fluttershy, “Didn't you like it Fluttershy?”

“Oh, no, I um...found it to be spectacular,” Fluttershy lied, not wanting to ruin Dash’s day with the idea that she made her do something that she didn’t enjoy.

“ Really?!” Dash asked in a cheerful manner as she laid on her stomach on the cloud, “That’s great! You know, this is the first time I have ever taken anypony else to a Wonderbolts show. I usually just come here with mom or pops or gramps.” Dash said, looking up at her friend, “I’m really glad that you came here with me.”

Fluttershy ran her hoof along the soft cloud, turning away shyly, “Oh, you were? Thats, nice.” She said, despite not really feeling the same excitement as her friend.

“Aint it though?!” Dash said,rolling around on the cloud before shooting her head up, “Hey, how about I take you again sometime?”

Fluttershy’s eyes shot up in shock, “Uh, ok. Why not.”

“Great!” Dash said, hugging her friend, “Hey, if you ever feel really bored by coming here, you can always tell me. I won’t think any less of you or think of you any worse of a friend.”

“No, I enjoy it.. Really,” Fluttershy then reached behind her and brought out a small Spitfire plush, “by the way, I bought this for you.”

“Thanks!” Rainbow said, eyes open wide in appreciation as she hugged her friend tightly.

Fluttershy smiled as she put the doll away, sighing contently. It was the first time she went to a show, and for her the important thing wasn’t the show...it was spending time with Rainbow. She smiled as she looked back at the plush doll, remembering how she couldn’t really say those words, the ones that she wanted to say about why she went there, “I wanted to spend time with you.”

______________________________

As Rainbow Dash began to trot along the soft ground of the forest floor, her mind begn to drift to the talk that she had with Discor and the not Applejack, “Stupid Discord, stupid Applejack. What do they know,” Rainbow thought to herself as she kicked the ground, her mind not noticing how the ground became wetter the farther along the path she walked. “Not showing how I feel? I’m plenty emotional! I tell them how I feel when I am ticked off, if I think I’m happy with them and especially...how I ...feel,” this last thought made Dash pause in her walking and look down for a moment, “Sometimes,” she said in a whisper.

Looking down at the ground, she began to remember the day she saved a little filly from falling down a waterfall, “I wanted to be brave so you would take me under your wing and you could be my big sister.”

“ I mean I thought that Scoot did know I had already consider her like my little sister for a while,” Rainbow said with a shrug, “ I mean, I had never thought that way about any of my fans. Why did she think I came to her performance that night. Because...I never said it when I needed to,” a sigh escaped her lips as she continued to walk forward, “And Fluttershy knows how I feel right? I take her places I don’t with Twi, I pal around with her all of the time, she should know how close I am to her! I told her I would protect her, how much more does she need to know?”

As the words came from her lips, Dash stopped herself for a moment, “Swell job you did there didn’t you, protecting those you care about. You couldn’t save Sunny and you couldn’t save Scoot from becoming an orphan. You promised her!” Dash yelled, slamming her hooves into the soft ground, not realizing that she was sinking in deeper and deeper into the ground, “AND YOU FAILED!” Rainbow Dash then let out a scream of frustration and rage as she began to pound the ground harder, making her sink faster, “Why wasn’t I there? Why couldn’t I save her? Why couldn’t I protect her?! WHY WASN’T I JUST A LITTLE BIT FASTER!? Fastest Pony in all of Equestria, ha! What a laugh!” She continued, her body sinking deeper into the mud up to her neck, “ What’s the point of being fast if I couldn’t keep my little sister happy. Couldn't...do...a” Dash’s mouth was soon too covered by mud for her to continue.

As Rainbow’s body continued to sink further into the bog, her left wing brushed against the brown box and opened it. Once opened, a feather touched the little pink pony statuette and made it glow with a brilliant pink light. As the light flew out of the box, it rose from the muggy bog and hovered for a few moments at the sign post as a bright trio of yellow and blue balloons. Landing, it soon turned into the form of a bright and bouncy pink pony, “WHOOO! What a ride,” the pony exclaimed before taking a quick look around, “ Hey, what am I doing here? And where’s here? OOOOH, is this a teleporting game?” Pinkie then looked at a sign post that read:

Bog of Eternal Despair:

Watch out for snakes.

At this sign, Pinkie Pie could only arch an eyebrow in confusion, “Despair, who could be dispairing enough for the bog to do anything?” Turning her head quickly left and right, she quickly caught the traces of a pair of cyan wings sinking into the mud, “DASHIE?! What is she being all saddy waddy about? She doesn’t have time to be sad, she has somepony special to take care of!” With that, the pink party pony dug her hooves deep into the mud and began to pull up the sinking pegasus.

“Don’t bother, I’m useless. I couldn’t save her,” Dash said as he head appeared above the mud.

“That’s what you’re sad about Dashie? Don’t be silly,” Pinkie said as she grunted, pulling harder, “It’s just the bog talking, its taking you down by making you think all sad thoughts about your failures. But YOU, are forgetting something very important.”

“What?” Dash asked, her voice in a low tone.

“Nopony’s perfect Dash, not you, and not me,” Pinkie said in between grunts, pulling more and more to keep her friend from sinking, “You couldn’t save her, I know. Its been hurting you for a while now, and you feel responsible because you weren’t fast enough. You haven't even told Scootaloo about your feelings.”

“I seem to have a problem with that, lately,” Dash said as her hooves still clung to the mud.

“BUT! Are you going to let that stop you from keeping your other promise to her?” Pinkie asked, her voice softening as did her grunts.

Dash’s eyes opened wide as the memory quickly struck her, “P...please, Rainbow, watch over her, protect her.”

“No, no Sunny...I can’t. That’s your job,” Dash whimpered as she watched the mare slowly pass from her sight.

“Please, you have already been like a mother to her, and I can never thank you enough for that,” Sunny said, holding Dash’s hoof as she began to feel the life fade from her. Using what strength she had left, she leaned up to Dash’s lips and gave a soft kiss on them, “Promise?”

“Promise. I’ll always protect her,” Dash said, before the image changed in her mind to a image of a smiling Fluttershy.

As the rainbow maned pegasus shook her head out of the memory, she could hear Pinkie Pie behind her, “ If you let that one mistake continue to hurt you, you’ll fail all three of them Dash! What you need to do, is to take that mistake, learn from it, and use it to protect everypony that’s close to you even better: Me, Twi-Twi, Rarity, AJ, Scoots, and Fluttershy!”

Dash’s eyes shot up in realization as she then smirked in confidence, “You’re right! What the buck am I doing letting myself get sad over this. THEY NEED ME!” With a grunt of effort on her part, Dash pull up hard on her hooves to break out of the mud and sending the pink pony flying back. As she flew out of the mud, Dash performed a loop in the air and landed back on the ground before shaking the mud off of her body.

“THAT WAS FANTASTIC DASHIE,” Pinkie Pie said, giving Dash a hug before running her hoof through the prismatic mane, “feel a little better?”

“Yeah a little,” Dash said with a sigh, “I had been feeling down ever since Sunny’s death. I keep thinking to myself, ‘If I was just a little faster, if I was nearer, if I was with them on that trip,’ I could have saved her. Everytime I look into that little filly’s eyes, I feel like I failed her in not protecting Sunny.”

“But you didn’t fail her, Dashie,” Pinkie said, putting a hoof to Dash’s chin and smiling at her, her blue eyes showing a desire to alleviate her friend’s worries, “ You took her in, you gave her a new home, a family, and more than she could ever want in you. You brought light back into her world when she needed you the most.”

“I just did to her what I’ve always felt in my heart for the past few years since she has been palling around with me,” Dash said with a chuckle.

“And that would be?” Pinkie asked, a small smile on her lips.

“That she is, and always will be...my little sister and I guess daughter now too,” Dash then broke away from the hug and put a hoof to the back of her head, “Imagine me, a mother. I guess I should let the little tyke know that more often.”

“What about Fluttershy,” Fluttershy said, with almost an uncharismatic smirk and a glint of red in her eyes, “How do you feel about her?”

“Fluttershy,” Dash said, a sigh escaping her lips as the Pinkie Pie dissipated, “Is my dearest friend, somepony who I do things with that none of the others get to do with me. The only pony who sees that side of me that everypony doesn't get to see. Somepony,” Dash then put a hoof to her heart and smile, “who is very dear and special to me.”

With that, the rainbow maned pegasus flew off as a pair of red eyes continued to watch from the trees.

__________________________

Fluttershy put the plushie down on the bed, letting it join the picture that she had been inspecting and began to look over the room. As she walked to one side of the room, she saw the pictures of her and Rainbow Dash where they were now older and living in Ponyville. She chuckled as she looked at the photo of her and Dash after the mark swapp, where her friend hugged her close and told her that she would never take animal care for granted again. She saw another photo of them standing together before heading off to the empire, photos of them before and after the wedding, meeting Twilight, picture of her talking to Dash in quiet moments and loud moments as well. She smiled softly at one photo, of them at a second jousting competition at the empire, a photo of her looking frightened out of her wits while Dash put a hoof over her shoulder, a confident smile on the cyan mare’s lips, “ I was more worried about the audience than of you that day Dashie.” Fluttershy said with a smile as she remembered when that photo was taken.

“Ya know, Dash Ah’m not busy watching the stone this time,” AJ said, looking at the two of them, “Ah could help ya with the joust.”

“Nah! I rather do this with Fluttershy. If I do it with you, I’m afraid I’ll show you up,” Dash said with a smirk.

“WHAT?!” AJ yelled.

“Fluttershy, are you sure?” Rarity asked, looking at her dear friend, “You don’t really have to.”

“I know,” Fluttershy said, looking back at Dash, “but she is so enthusiastic and I want to.”

“Because...”Fluttershy said, looking at all of the photos where she was scared, frightened, and worried, standing next to Dash or under her wing, “I know she wouldn’t really hurt me. No matter how scary it would get, Dash will always be there to protect me and watch me. She did promise me after all, and I will always trust her.” with a soft smile and a closed set of eyes, she put a hoof to her heart, “Always.”

____________________________

The winds billowed around Rainbow Dash’s wings furiously as she flew towards the castle in the distance. The young pegasus mare couldn’t help but smile as she neared the castle and her dear friend, “ Fluttershy, you are one of the most important ponie...no, then it sounds like I don’t care about our other friends. Flutters, Scoots, you guys are like my family...no! Do you two know just how...! AHHHH,” Dash screamed as she hit an invisable wall in front of her, “OW! What is with the mother buckin walls around here,” she asked as she rubbed her nose to soothe the pain. Putting her hoof forward, she lightly touched the invisable wall in front of her and pushed in a little to watch it move. Eyebrow raised in curiousity, the cyan mare lowered herself to the ground where she saw on the wall, a small pattern consiting of orange, blue, pink, white, purple, and yellow gems.

“Oh great,” she said out loud, thinking back to a similar pattern that she had read from one of her favorite Daring Doo novels, “That thing was hard for me to solve just in the book. How can I solve a patt...wait, of course. I know just the mare for the job.” Turning to the bag on her back, Dash quickly pulled out the small brown box and opened it once more. Looking to the purple alicorn for a moment, she began to reach for it before shaking her head and reached for the white unicorn on the side instead. Pulling it out quickly, Dash smiled as the statuette floated out from the box and landed next to her as it glowed into a bright blue diamond. Within moments, the bright blue diamond turned into a sparkling white unicorn.

“My word, what is going on here and how did I wind up here?” Rarity asked as she began to look around her surroundings before looking at Rainbow Dash, “Rainbow, do you know what is going on here?”

“Long story, I’ll tell you all about it when I’m done,” Dash explained as she looked up at the pattern on the invisable wall, “Right now I need help with that puzzle up there,” she then pointed to the pattern puzzle right behind her friend.

“Oh, that?” Rarity asked as she examined the puzzle before her, “And I thought you wanted me to do something hard. Oh these type of puzzles are always fun.” With a soft giggle the white marshmallow turned to the wall and began to work furiously. As she began to arrange the correct pieces into their proper places, the white mare began to look closely at the colors and the way that the orange fit with the white and the yellow with the blue, “It is interesting, isn’t it Rainbow?”

“What is?” Dash asked as she let her mind wander by looking at the blue sky.

“How easily we each fit together, our individual strengths building us up like a piece of a fabric helping to accent the other. Like,” Rarity said, putting the orange and white pieces together, causing the lock to open, “Applejack’s roughness and my finer lady qualities, Pinkie’s...Pinkieness and Twilight’s intelligence. Then,” she said, smiling as she held the final two pieces together, the yellow and blue, “we have the two of you. Fluttershy’s softness perfectly accentuates your courage and roughness. Wouldn’t you agree? After all, next to Pinkie Pie, you spend the most time with her out of any of us. It’s usually her that you bring to the events that, by all rights, you should bring me, Applejack, Twilight, or Pinkie instead.”

“Its no big, really,” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug, “It's just that I’ve known her the longest. I know how she feels and what she can do if she gets the chance, she just needs to go out more, and she...knows me the best. Yeah, I can get invited to some of the most boring things in the world thanks to her, but...I don’t mind it much when its just us.”

“So what does that make her to you?” ‘Rarity’ asked, her eyes having a faint glow of red.

“That makes her,” Rainbow stuttered for a moment as she began to find the right words to describe Fluttershy as she watched Rarity disappear into mist, “My...special friend. A pony I do things with that I never would do with any of them. Somepony that I spend all of my special moments with,” Dash said, smiling to herself and placing a hoof to her heart before chuckling and flying off, “One of two ponies who can bring out the best in me sometimes.”

____________

Fluttershy let out a soft sigh as she pulled her eyes away from the photo and began to look around the room some more at the other photos. Each one bringing her a happy memory of her and Dash, a memory of everytime that the cyan mare had stood up for her, proected her, or would stand for her. A giggle came to her as she saw a picture of Dash putting a wing over her friend’s body to protect her from the pouring rain, “You were always there for me Dash.”

“Ok Flutters, just a little further and you can open your eyes,” Rainbow Dash said as she led the buttery pegasus down the road.

“Are you sure I’m going to like the surprise,” Fluttershy asked.

“Trust me, you’re going to love it,” Dash said as she let go of Fluttershy’s hoof and flew next to a wall eyed and slightly pregnant grey pegasus, “Ok Derpy, she’s here.”

“All RIGHT! Ok Fluttershy, on three: 1,2,3! Open them,” Derpy said as she flew up next to Rainbow Dash, “Ta-DA!”

As Fluttershy opened her eyes, she let out a gasp of excitement at the giant tree cottage before her, “Oh my...is this mine?”

“Yep, all for you. Me and Derpy had to work hard to get it for ya,” Dash said as her friend next to her nodded.

“But you didn’t,” Fluttershy stammered as she was interrupted by Dash.

“We didn’t, but wanted to do it,” Dash said with a smile as she and Derpy landed next to Fluttershy and hugged her. A smile graced her lips as she returned the hug.

Fluttershy smiled at the memory, one of several that had littered the room to remind her how close she had become to her friend, her guardian, her hero. She let out a small sigh of contentment before looking up at the top row of pictures, arching her eyebrow curiously at them. Flapping her wings a few time to elevate herself, she looked at the photos. Looking at all of them, she could remember all of those special times as well.

“I’m tewwing you Fwuttershy, I’m fine,” the little filly complained.

“No you’re not, you have an owie and I need to fix it,” said the little yellow filly with the lightly higher pitched voice as she put a small bandage onto the blue filly’s leg. She then placed a small kiss on it, “Thewe all bettew.”

“Thanks,” the little blue filly said, trying to look tough.

Every breath you take

Every move you make

Every bond you break

Every step you take

I'll be watching you

“Rainbow Dash, you came here too?” Fluttershy asked as she saw her friend standing in the apartment.

“Yeah, got bored with the whole ‘wanderin pegasus and her faithful griffin companion’ deal and wanted to find a place to stay here,” Dash then looked at Fluttershy, “know of any?”

“Well, there is a small apartment we could rent together,” Fluttershy said, “I’ll handle the rent while you find someplace else to stay.”

“What?! No way, I’m not putting all of the weight on you Flutters,” Dash said as Fluttershy put a hoof onto her shoulder.

“I insist, please,” Fluttershy said, smiling softly and looking deeply into her friend's eyes, placing a tender hoof ontot the shoulder.

Every single day

Every word you say

Every game you play

Every night you stay

I'll be watching you

All alone, far away from the crowds and cheering, a blue pegasus was being held by her yellow friend, “I can’t do it, Fluttershy. I’ll fail again and the Wonderbolts will never accept a loser pegasus like me. I’m just not good enough.”

“Oh Rainbow, of course you’re good enough,” Fluttershy said, running her hoof through the prismatic mane, holding her friend close.

“Oh yeah?! Need I remind you that I can’t complete the Rainboom again, even after so many tries, that I dropped out of the academy, and that I’m just a lowly weather patrol captain compared to the Wonderbolts awesomeness? Heck, my dad was doing tricks like mine when he was 10, how can I compare to that?” Rainbow Dash asked, tears coming to her eyes.

“You don’t, you do what you always do,” Fluttershy said, tucking her friend’s chin and smiling softly, “Be unique, do your best, and put on a stupendous show. Even if you do fail, we’ll know that you are the best, and...you’ll always be special to me Dashie.” Fluttershy said, hugging her friend once more, “Now, I’ll be with the others, you go and give a spectacular show.

O can't you see

You belong to me

How my poor heart aches with every step you take

Every move you make

Every vow you break

Every smile you fake

Every claim you stake

I'll be watching you

“Three cheers for Fluttershy, my best best buddy and best flier,” Dash said, a little tipsy in the air as a droplet of cider fell from her glass and onto Fluttershy’s snoot.

“Rainbow, I think you’re drunk,” Fluttershy giggled as she laid on her stomach on the cloud, “The after tornado party ended an hour ago.”

“So? We just had an awesome day and a great tornado, why can’t the party last for a little while later,” Dash asked as she did a backflip and landed onto the cloud next to Fluttershy. Taking a look at her friend’s nose, she noticed the cider droplet, “Wait, you have something good on your snoot,” Dash said as she licked the cider off of the nose.

Fluttershy pulled back from the lick with a giggle. She then looked at her friend inquisitively, “Rainbow Dash? Why were you so determined to get me there? You had more than enough to win a record.”

Dash smiled and then pointed to her friends’ wings, “Because of those.”

“My wings?” Fluttershy asked.

“You have been afraid of heights for the longest time and you always talked about being bullied as a filly. I figured if you were in something where everypony could pull their own weight and added to something, you could see you as I see you. A pretty good flyer, not as good as me, but a pretty great flyer that deserves those wings.”

“You really think that I’m great?” Fluttershy asked, laying her head onto Dash’s shoulder and trying hard not to smile at the compliment.

“Yeah, of course. You’re my best friend, my good luck charm.” Dash said, running her cyan hoof through her friend’s strawberry pink mane, “ I always want to bring out that awesome side of you, even if you don’t know it.”

Fluttershy let out a soft sigh as she cuddled up closer to her friend, wrapping her hooves around Dash's stomach and resting her head onto the shoulder, "Thank you," she whispered.

Since you've gone I been lost without a trace

I dream at night I can only see your face

I look around but it's you I can't replace

I feel so cold and I long for your embrace

I keep crying baby, baby please

Every move you make

Every vow you break

Every smile you fake

Every claim you stake

I'll be watching you

Fluttershy laid Rainbow Dash onto her couch, looking over her friend's hurt body, “Now you rest here Dashie. We can continue tomorrow.”

“Ok, but I want to hurry. I don’t want to waste a second that might put that kid into an orphanage and away from me,” Dash said, wincing at the pain in her side.

“Shhhh, yes, but you’re no good to her hurt. Don’t worry, we’ll help Scootaloo soon enough,” Fluttershy said as she kissed the mare’s forehead and tucked her friend in. As she walked away, she looked back at her friend, “You’re always supporting me, Dashie. Now I’m going to support you.”

Fluttershy smiled at the last memory before fluttering back down onto the bed and laying there, looking up at the ceiling. She knew that, for all of the times that Dash was was her sheath, her guardian, her hero, and for all of the times that she helped to bring out Dash’s strengths, Rainbow brought out something in her, “You always bring the best in me, Dashie.” Fluttershy said as she put a hoof to her heart, “No matter how scared I got, no matter the bad thing you introduced me to, or even if was something I didn’t like...I loved it, because it gave me something I never thought I had or could do. All because, you made me feel like I can be better than I am, more than I ever believed I could be. Thank you.”

_________________________________

Rainbow Dash’s flight went on for the rest of the trip with little incident, it felt like the winds themselves were helping to boost her speed. As she neared the targeted castle, a smirk of confidence came to her face and she gave a few flaps of her wings for an additional boost. However, before she could make her way to the castle, a pillar of flame sprang up in front of her and made her back off from the intense heat. Looking around her, Rainbow Dash quickly found a place to and wait as the pillar died down. Glaring, he eyes locked in a scowl of determination, the blue pegasus watched as the flames gave way to a green unicorn wearing a long black dress, “Hold, little Dashie,” Said the mare, levitating the black scepter to her side, “what brings you to my castle?”

“I’m here to save my friend and whoever the buck you are, you better not get in my way,” Dash said, a mix of anger and annoyance in her voice.

“ Ahhh, so the brave hero has come to save the fair and lovely maiden with her brave heart. The inner courage of the pegasus shining brightly on her majestic wings. How...heroic,” The mare said, mockingly,” But, I have to wonder, just what does this mean for your feelings of your friends?”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked, looking at the mare, taking note of the two gnarled horns on her headdress.

“Love changes thing, young Rainbow. The moment you start to admit that you are falling in love for that buttery mare up there,” the mare said, nodding her head to the castle, “is the moment you risk putting her above the others. In time, you might even abandon them or forget about them to focus on your ‘beloved’.” The last word she added with a bit of bile in her voice.

“THAT’LL NEVER HAPPEN,” Dash denied, slamming her hoof onto the ground.

“Oh, are you saying that you don’t care that much for the lovely pegasus. That you are ignoring the lesson that you have been learning here today. To be open about your feelings, to let those you care about know that you care, and to remember what the ones you love do for you? Are these lessons so unimportant that you will drop them when this journey is done?”

“NO! I’m not saying that, and I’m not going to abandon my friends either. Look, I,” Rainbow Dash hesitated on this word, “I don’t know how to describe how I feel about Fluttershy just yet. The past few days and this adventure helped to remind me just what she has meant to me through my childhood and what she has done for me, what she brings out in me, but I can’t if that’s love yet. I don’t even know if thats what I would use it, maybe its just that I see her as a po y who is close to me like a sister or something like that. I don’t know, I’m no good at mushy stuff like that, but I do know this-even if turns out that I do love her, and that I am ready to spend my life with that mare...I will NEVER,” to accentuate the point Dash slammed her hoof to the ground, “abandon any of my friends. Fluttershy will be the mare that I do special things with that I wouldn’t do with the others. Now get out of my way!”

“Oh no little pony,” said the mare as she held up her staff, “FIRST YOU MUST FACE ME AND ALL OF THE POWERS OF HELL!” once again a pillar of flame surrounded the mare, making her grow larger.

“Oh no,” Dash said, shaking her head as she backed away slowly while the mare’s legs began to grow and change, claws appearing at the end, “Nonononononononononononononono.” Turning around she quickly took to the air as the mare’s snout grew larger to accomidate her large and scaly body. Dash’s eyes widened in horror as the once-mare now grew black wings and a long spiked tail, “Oh real funny Discord...a DRAGON! REAL FRAKKIN FUNNY!! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!!” Dash said as she dodged the fiery blast from the dragon.

Moving swiftly through the air, Rainbow Dash dodged fire blast after fire blast while bearly getting her singed in the process. Turning her head to look over her shoulder, she let out a gasp of fear as the dragon took a swipe at her with it’s massive claws. Taking a giant swerve to get beneath the dragon, Dash turned around in the air and began to kick rapidlly kick at the dragon’s stomach with strong kicks. Letting out a growl of pain and annoyance, the dragon looked down at the bluee creature kicking her. Dash turned to look at the beast with a cunning and confident smirk before flying at top speed at the monster’s face and slamming both hooves into the dragon’s chin.

Flying up and away from the monster, Rainbow Dash kept an eye on the beast below. Panting with exhaustion, the cyan mare pulled out the brown box and grabbed the purple alicorn that rested in the box. As the statue glowed and floated out, the dragon let loose a giant green and black fire blast right at Rainbow Dash and the floating purple object.

At that point, Rainbow Dash was grateful for a few things.

1: That one of her friends has a talent for magic.

2: that the hoof is truly faster than the eye

3: That her friend has acquired those wings, because having to save her after protecting Dash with a in-the-nick-of-time shield spell would be embarrassing for the two of them.

“Y’know Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, the shield spell taking in all of the fire damage, “Black Dragons shouldn’t be able to fire flame magic like this. They normally use acid as breath weapons, fire would be normally reserved for red dragons or gold ones.”

“Yeah, that’s nice and all,” Dash said, before being interrupted by Twilight.

“Logically speaking, my shield spell should be melting, albeit slowly, due to the high acidic quotient of the dragon’s breath weapon,” Twilight continued, not noticing Dash’s agitation, as she tapped the shield with her fore-hoof “but look, the shield isn’t melted at all.”

“Yeah, well Twi we kind of got-” Dash said, before being interupted again by Twilight.

“ Then again, purples are psionic but Spike has no psychic powers at all. Then again, I think he has some red dragon blood in him,” Twilight said, putting a hoof to her chin thinking, “ I wish I knew-”

“ THATS GREAT AND ALL TWI,” Dash interrupted with a large outburst, her hooves in the air, “BUT HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?! DRAGON PROBLEM? AS IN...DRAGON?!”

“Oh,” Twilight chuckled as she looked back at the dragon and teleported her and Dash out of the way in a flash of light, “sorry about that. Celestia introduced me to this wonderful gold dragon that had this book on dragon types and I was really getting into the research,” the purple alicorn.

“D...dragon types,” Dash asked.

“Yes, oh I have to tell you guys all about them later,” Twilight said, before looking back at the dragon above them who had now turned it’s attention to the two ponies, “How to handle out current dragon though, that is the question.”

Before Dash could answer, however, the black dragon unleashed a torrent of flame at the two ponies as they leapt out of the way in time. As Dash flew upward, she watched her friend fly up close to the dragon and then get slashed by the monster’s claws, “Twilight!” Dash yelled, but then watched as another Twilight flew up to her, “Twilight?”

“Hmm-mm,” Twilight said, with a few flaps of her wings to keep her steady while three other Twilight’s began to distract the dragon behind her, “Mirror Image spell, kind of tricky but it was a blast to try at least once,” she let out a chuckle as she turned her head to watch her ‘selves’ keep the dragon busy, before swaying a bit in a woozy spell“Ohh, that’s why I don’t do it more often. Taxing on my mana.”

“Are you alright?” Dash asked, looking at her friend with concern.

“Yeah, just fine,” Twilight said reassuringly, “Rainbow Dash, I need to know, do you think you could kick a lightning bolt or two?”

Rainbow Dash’s lips curled into a cunning smirk as she remembered the time she did kick a lightning bolt (1), “Watch me.”

“Good,” Twilight said, smiling at the confidence of her friend, “I need you to fly just above her head and be ready to kick when I tell you to.” As Twilight said this, Rainbow Dash nodded and flew up into the air, high above the dragon’s head. Turning around, the purple alicorn flew at high speed under the dragon and collect all of her mirror selves (said mirror selves each had a mane style and build similar to her 6 other friends). Making her way to the end of the dragon, Twilight made her horn crackle and snap with a surge of electricity. Concentrating on the dancing bolts on her horn, she held the cage of white and blue electricity in place until she had an aim at Dash. Thrusting her horn forward, she unleashed five bolts of forked lightning from her nub at Dash.

From above her position, the swift daredevil watched as the lighting came close to her at a fast pace. With a smirk of confidence, Rainbow Dash spun in place with her hind hoof extended and kicked all five lighting bolts away from her and straight at the black dragon. The dragon would’ve dodged it, were it not for her horns acting like a very good lighting rod and attracting all five bolts. The dragon let out a giant roar of pain as the lighting coursed throughout her body, making her miss the torrent of wind and stone that was forming on the young alicorn’s horn. With a flash of magic, the whirling cyclone of wind and stone flew from Twilight’s horn and struck hard against the dragon’s stomach, making it fly away from the two ponies and into a nearby mountain.

“Is she...” Dash asked, not wanting to kill.

“No, badly injured, going to be nursing wounds I don’t even want to imagine, but otherwise she’ll live,” Twilight said, smiling.

“Good, thanks Twilight,” Dash said, hugging her dear friend.

“Now, go and save her,” Twilight said, her voice deepening a little as she walked away, “and don’t forget...”

“No matter how your relationship changes,” Applejack said, walking out from behind Twilight.

“Or what you decide to do with her,” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing out from behind Twilight.

“We will be behind you 100%” Rarity said, walking out from behind Twilight and standing next to the others.

“I knew that, somehow I always knew that,” Dash said, taking off while the four girls quickly disappear, their red eyes glowing, “But thanks for the reminder.”

Taking a quick pace, Rainbow Dash flew higher and higher to the top of the castle tower where she landed on the window sill, “Fluttershy, I’m here to save...” Dash was too stunned by the way the yellow pegasus had looked to continue.

“Oh Rainbow, you came to save me,” Fluttershy said, her pink mane falling on one side of her face. She was dressed in a brilliant gown, with plenty of earthy colors to accentuate the curves of her flank, “I’m so glad.”

It Dash a few minutes to stop staring at the pegasus in front of her and admiring how the dress fit her friend, “Uh, Flutters, no offense but you don’t look that much in trouble.”

“Well, I wasn’t, not really,” Fluttershy said softly, “Discord told me everything.”

___________________

A few short hours ago::

“Now Fluttershy we’re going to be playing a little game with Dashie,” Discord said with a smile as he walked around Fluttershy’s room, “You get to play a captive and she gets to save you.”

“Well that sounds fun,” Fluttershy said, smiling, “What’ll happen if she doesn’t make it?”

“If she doesn’t save you in time, then you will,” the draconiquiss then smiled as he snapped his fingers, causing an armada of feathers to appear and surround the young mare, all pointed at her belly, “get the giggles tickled out of you.”

_____________________________

As this bit of information went into Rainbow’s mind and registered into her cerebellum, she could only open her mouth in disbelief, “You mean, I flew all over the Celestia freaking country side, fought a giant dragon, and went through a whole lot of mush brain stuff just to save you from being TICKLED?! Here I was thinking that you were in danger of being torn apart by rabid squirrels or eaten alive by a giant snake and you were getting violated by it, and enjoying it. OR that you were going to get sucked into a giant quicksand trap. And! Here I was, planning getting you out of here, lifting you up into my legs and saving you!” Dash yelled, not realizing how what she said would sound to another pony as she turned away from Fluttershy, crossing her forehooves..

“Well, if it makes you feel better,” Fluttershy said, rubbing a hoof along Dash’s shoulder and walking around to look into her magenta eyes, “You can still pick me up in your legs and fly me somewhere safe...my brave hero.”

Dash then got a good look into Fluttershy’s blue eyes and smiled softly as she stared, letting out a sigh before shaking her head,” Come on then,” she said as she picked up the pegasus with her forelegs and began to carry her, “LEt me fly you somewhere safe.” She then used her wings to lift off from the floor and flew out the window as the world around them, returned to normal.

Somewhere nearby, a small orange pegasus filly watched the scene from a distance with a pair of brown and grey binoculars, “EXCELLENT!” Scootaloo shouted as she leapt off from the branch of the tree and back to the ground, “This is so perfect, it worked perfectly! Thank you, Discord.”

“Oh, you are quite welcome,” Said the talking pair of binoculars as it transformed into the long serpentine form of the familar Draconquis, “I always relish the times I get to use my powers for some fun mischief with my favorite ponies. Especially if it can help with their little minds.”

“Now that she saved her, Rainbow will see how much Fluttershy means to her and Fluttershy will be so grateful that she’ll fall in love with her in a second,” Scootaloo said, throwing her hooves up in victory.

“Woah, wait a second my dear little filly,” Discord said, floating above the filly’s head, “ I never said that this little game would help your mom and her friend fall head over heels in love with each other.”

Scootaloo looked up at Discord, saddened, “It...it won't?”

“No, it won’t,” Discord said, landing next to Scootaloo and watching the two pegasi fly off into the distance, “Don’t tell me that you actually thought that just because she saved her dear friend from something that it would make them fall for each other. Love doesn’t work like that, it never does,” he added, a little sigh in his voice, “Of all the emotions out there, its the only one that’s almost as chaotic as I am. I’m a spirit of chaos Scootaloo, not love, that’s the pink alicorn back in the empire’s job. Even I can’t force any pony to fall in love, all I can do is to open the door for them. If they want to act upon their feelings, then that’s their choice, not mine. Ta-ta.”

“WELL, THANKS FOR NOTHING!!” Scootaloo yelled to Discord as he disappeared in a flash of light. Letting out a soft sigh, the young pegasus brought out a small clipboard and marked and x on the list, “ Well, that’s another failed date. 3 down, 5 more to go I guess,” Scootaloo sighed, “Maybe the next one will work and make them fall for each other.” Another sorrowful sigh escaped the pegasus’s lips as she walked away, the warm wind on her back giving her a comforting hug.

________________________________________

On a grassy hill, not too far from Ponyville or Fluttershy’s cottage, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew above the clouds, letting the moonlight highlight the two as they circled a small clearing. Not too far away, an earth pony with a candy cutie mark began to sing a soft song to the mint green unicorn. She began to sing to her lyra playing mare friend a song of ponies willing to give their all for the love of their lives, a song about a pony willing to stand for their loves, and about a pony willing to die for their love if the need arose. As the music began, the two pegasi made their landing on the soft grass, Dash still holding onto Fluttershy with her legs, “I can’t believe Discord put me through that!”

Fluttershy looked worriedly at Dash, thinking that it was just a game, “You didn’t like it?” she asked, not letting go of Dash.

“Well, I kind of did. I got to admit, it was awesome being your hero,” Dash said with a soft smile, “but I was still worried about you.”

“You were?” Fluttershy asked, looking at her friend and reminding herself to tell Discord to make sure that everypony knows how the game is going to go before playing.

“Well may...” Dash said, stopping herself before remembering the lessons of the day’s events, “Fluttershy, pal, of course I was worried. You’re like, one of my most dearest friends,” Dash said, putting a hoof to the yellow mare’s cheek and rubbing it, “You’re the mare I would give my life for. I would do anything to make sure that you are safe from harm, even if it means giving these up,” Dash said, waving her wings, “Remember when we were kids and I said I would protect you always.”

“Yes,” Fluttershy said, never taking her eyes off of Dash.

“I still mean it,” Dash said, smiling at her, “I’ll give my life to protect you, and when I die, I’ll watch over you, always.”

Rainbow Dash then looked into her friend’s eyes, looking at the love and caring that lied within, the mare that she would always fight for. Her mare, her friend, and what else that she was not sure of yet to call her. She cherished her other friends as if they were sisters, the close family that they would always be. Fluttershy, to her, was different, she was that pony who would always see the special side to her that she would only let her see. Her...special friend.

“Don’t forget,” Fluttershy said, putting a hoof to Dash’s chest, and looking up at her friend, “I’ll always be watching you too.” She then let out a soft smile as she stared into the eyes of her protector, her guardian, her friend. Her other friends would always be the big sisters that would help her live, but Rainbow was that special friend who would see that other side of her. That side she would be afraid to let out if Dash were not there to support her and to tell her that she could do it. For her, Rainbow was her guardian and the friend that would bring out the best in her, even if she did not know it. Her...special friend.

The two sat there in the grass for the longest time, letting the song around them reach a high point in its lyrics, letting the moon highlight the two in shadows. As the two continued to sit there, their bodies touching each other by hooves and letting the music carry them, Dash leaned in slowly to the buttery pegasus. In response, the young pink maned mare leaned up to her cyan friend and met Rainbow’s lips with hers in a deep passionate kiss. The two mares moaned as they felt the softness of the kiss, letting the emotions of the liplock carry them.

As Rainbow continued to kiss the shy mare, she slid her hooves around to the back of her companion and began to run her hooves along her friend’s back. Slowly, her hooves ran up and down the slender yellow back, feeling the edges where the wings connected to the back and up to her head and through the long pink mane. Fluttershy, with her hooves on her friend’s chest, began to rub one hoof along the breast while rubbing another along Dash’s sides, moaning softly as she deepen into the kiss.

After too short of a time for either one of them, Dash broke the kiss, “Sorry, I guess I got caught up in the moment,” she said with a chuckle.

Fluttershy, her hooves still on Dash, leaned in and rested her head onto Rainbow’s shoulder, a smile as she whispered in a tone too low for her friend to hear, “I didn’t.”

Dash, still holding her friend thought to herself as she laid her head onto her friend’s shoulder, “Me neither.”

Author's Note

(1) as told in the classic fic Equestria's Mirage ' now available on FIMFiction but not with an audio reading...sadly :(
A big Special thanks to Nursepony for editing this thing

(12,000 words, I remember when this was a goal...)

Anyway, behind the scenes info on this one- At first, I was going to play this straight with a fake monster attack and everything, and would still lead to the scene at the moon;however, I then remembered that I was going for subversion and parody of the tropes that usually pop up in movies with these plots, so I changed it. Then I remembered that I have Q, I mean Discord...yeah I mean Q on my side. Then I remembered Q-pid and used that as a basis for this plot, heck that is why Dashie is in a Robin Hood outfit at the beginning of the scene. Yes, I was temped to put in AJ and have her say, "Dash, I protest, I am not a merry mare!"

There wasn't much more added to that, well, other than the Fluttershy scenes, because I was afraid of NOT focusing on her and would lose the build-up.

Next time we come back...meet the parents, and discover wich song I will use for that one (if you guess we are family, you are wrong.)

PS. Dear Audience, I apologize for the obivious use of an awesome Disney villian, I promise that the next one will be less obivous

Welcome to the family

Welcome to our family

With the air of a proud general surrounding her and a sash across her chest that held many buttons on it that clanked when she walked, Scootaloo marched into the clubhouse and past her two friends. Said friends could only look on in amazement at the little orange filly as she made her way to the podium that stood before a large whiteboard with many pictures on it. The look of determination never leaving her face, the little pegasus turned to her friends and spoke with a deep voice, “All right Crusaders, listen up! Before we begin our talk about the next plan, lets recap! Our first date was the dinner one, which FAILED!”

“On the bright side, we got all of the free spaghetti we could eat,” Applebloom said as she continued to work on four little model ponies.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at this before adjusting her four-star general helmet and continueing, “Next, the dance date, which also failed!”

“And we sadly got Rarity and Applejack banned from the club for life,” Sweetie said with a down look in her face.

“Third, the rescue romance,” Scootaloo said, before letting out a sigh, “which sadly failed as well.”

“Yeah, sorry about not helpin ya with that one Scoots,” Applebloom said.

“It’s ok,” Scootaloo said before turning to the board, “but this next plan is sure to work. One I will dub ‘Operation: Meet the Parents’’” Reaching behind the podium, Scootaloo pulled out a small rod and slapped the stick against the board, “As you may not know, Rainbow Dash’s mom and dad,” she began, pointing to the very masculine Rainbow picture with a beard and a motherly Dash with an apron on, “are coming over to visit us. Apparently, they are very busy and don’t always get time to see Dash, but they heard about her adopting me and have decided to come over and see their new granddaughter. This is phase one, meeting my new grandparents. Phase 2: I trust that while you two were in solitary that you two fulfilled your part of the job.”

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom turned to each other and nodded, “Yep! While Ah was stuck back at home, I snuck some messages out to Pipsqueak so he could write a letter to Fluttershy’s parents saying that she wanted to see them.” Applebloom said.

“While I had Dinky look up where the parents lived so we could mail the letter to the right address,” Sweetie said, a smile on her face.

“Good, now in phase two,” Scootaloo said, looking at the four dolls in Sweetie’s hooves, “I’ll try to get Rainbow Dash to where Fluttershy and her parents are. Naturally, Rainbow and Fluttershy will be happy to see each other, but when Fluttershy’s parents see how happy she is to be near her, Sweetie Belle will exasperate on the scene.”

“Elaborate,” Sweetie said with a smile.

“Whatever,” Scootaloo said as she pushed her helmet back into place.

“Well, when Fluttershy’s mom and dad see how happy Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are together, her father will be like,” Sweetie said, lifting up the stallion doll, mare doll, and a doll that looked like Fluttershy, “‘Young lady, we do not approve of you hanging out with this mare. She is a horrible ruffian that does not deserve you. We forbid you from ever seeing her again.’ Her mom will then be ‘I agree, she is uncouth and will only bring you tears.’ Fluttershy will then tremble and hide behind her parents, feeling weak and helpless.”

“Then Rainbow will puff out her chest heroically and be all like,” Scootaloo said, bringing out a small Rainbow doll, “‘Hey, you can’t tell Fluttershy who she can or can’t see! She’s one of the kindest and sweetest ponies out there! What’s more, she’s my best friend and I love her! There’s nothing that you guys can say that’ll change that and I’ll do everything I can to stay with her!”

Sweetie Belle joined in, bringing the Fluttershy doll away from the dolls that represented Mr. and Mrs. Fluttershy, “And then Fluttershy will be like, ‘Oh, Rainbow, you’re right! I shouldn’t let my parents decide who I can and can’t see, thank you for letting me see the light. You are so brave and strong.”

Scootaloo smiled as she put the Rainbow Dash doll with the Fluttershy doll and spoke in a deep voice, “I know, babe! Now, come let me take you away from your evil and abusive parents and to somewhere where we can be free.’”

“Yay!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in a perfect rendition of Fluttershy’s voice.

“Then they’ll fall instantly in love, get married, and we’ll all live together happily,” Scootaloo said as she held the two dolls in the air.

Applebloom sat there watching the plan unfold with her hoof to her chin, “Ah don’t know girls, are y’all sure about this? What if Fluttershy’s parents are nicer than that?”

“Oh please,” Scootaloo said, putting the dolls down, “Didn’t you read all of those books Rarity has? Everypony knows that the bride’s parents are always evil monsters that just want to ruin the bride’s happiness. It happens all the time in these books, the father’s parents are usually the fun and loving ones while the wife’s parents are monsters.”

“Well, its just that Ah met Cheerilee’s parents, and they are not only the nicest ponies I could meet, but they all love Big Mac.” Applebloom argued.

“It’s probably a front, you know, to hide the trauma of family squabbles from young innocent eyes,” Scootaloo said.

“Seriously?” Applebloom asked, an eyebrow arched in utter disbelief.

Scootaloo let out a sigh of desperation as she made her way to where her scooter helmet was stored, “Look, its how it works in the books and we are gonna do everything BY THE BOOK! Now,” she added walking to the door of the clubhouse, “you girls head home for now, I am going to meet up with Rainbow Dash so we can get ready to meet up with my grandparents!”

Applebloom noticed the big grin on Scootaloo’s face, “Excited to meet them aint ya?”

“You better believe it,” Scootaloo said with a big smile, “My other grandparents died before I was born, so this will the first time I get to have some...and they’re the parents of RAINBOW DASH! How cool is that?!”

“Yeah, but you’re other grandparents are going to be monsters,” Sweetie Belle said as she walked next to Applebloom.

Scootaloo’s ears drooped at the realization, feeling down at what was said. Shaking her head to remove some of the doubt that entered her mind, she gave a soft shrug, “Ah, it’ll be fine. You’ll see. I’ll see you girls tomorrow to let you know how brilliantly the plan works.” A smile crept along her face as she rode off towards her home.

As Scootaloo drove her scooter along the dirt paths of Ponyville, her mind began to think over the details of her plan. One the one hand, she was excited to be meeting her grandparents; however, on the other, she was scared to be meeting Fluttershy’s mom and dad, “This was going to happen sooner or later. Might as well get meeting Fluttershy’s mom and dad out of the way now so I can figure out if I should hate them. But still,” a small sigh escaped her lips as she looked down at the ground as it rolled under her scooter, “I hate to get a fight going...NO!” She mentally yelled as shefocused on the road ahead, “I knew how bad this was going to be when I came up with this plan and I can’t change it now, besides its better to get it out of the way now...Right?”

A soft little whisper that could barely be called a scream was heard from the inside of a cottage outside of the Everfree forest, “Oh my gosh! My parents are coming over,” Fluttershy yelled as she looked over the letter.

“That’s terrific, Fluttershy,” A grey pegasus said as she ate a muffin and stood outside of the door.

“No it isn’t Derpy,” Fluttershy said as she frantically fluttered and flittered about her home, “It’s simply horrible. I’m so unprepared and not ready to recieve my parents. This is going to be a horrible disaster; my mother is a stickler for perfection and father is very tidy, there is no way that they’ll approve of this mess.”

“They can’t be that bad, right?” Derpy asked as she walked into the house, eager to help.

“They can be,” Fluttershy squeaked in utter fear, “Mother one time scared a stallion white because he didn’t keep to a schedule and father...I don’t want to think about it. Oh, its going to be simply horrible when they get here and see that my home is a mess”

“I could help,” Derpy said, walking to a broom.

“Oh, thank you so much Derpy. I appre-” she was about to show her gratitude when she heard the door knock.

“Fluttershy? Sweetie? We came to visit,” said a voice from behind the door, as Fluttershy fainted.

A loud cheer was heard through the streets of Ponyville as Scootaloo drove her scooter along the ground at high speeds. Though it would always bother her that she wasn’t able to fly yet, the moment she was on the scooter that bother was all forgotten. A fierce smirk came to her as she bobbed and weaved through the streets of Ponyville, dodging each pony that was brave enough to get in her way. The feeling that she had on the bike, the way that the wind blew through her mane and coat, and the way the wind blew by her wings was the closest that she would ever get to true flying.

This was something that she took with pride, that this was something that only she could do. The only pegasus in the world who could master the ground as well as she could, and the only one in the world who had total mastery over the scooter. She let out a few laughs as she began to perform maneuvers on the ground that was as good as any Wonderbolt, and could weave pass other ponies as easy as a water drop through the ground. Without missing a beat, she turned to face her personal ramp and charged at it, buzzing her wings to propel herself to it.

As soon as she hit the ramp, she felt herself launched high into air and then she let go of the scooter for a few moments to spread out her wings to let herself float for a few moments in a free fall in the sky. It was a trick that she had performed many times, and it was one of her favorites for it allowed her, just for a moment, to feel like a real pegasus. No longer the speed goddess of the land, but an aerial acrobat. Taking in a deep breath, she allowed herself to enjoy the feel of the warm air flowing past her splayed out limbs, as if a kind pony had swooped in and held her in the air for the time that she was up there, holding her close and telling her that, “It’s all right, I’ll care for you.” A soft smile came to her as she relaxed in the comforting air, before looking down at the ground below, curious as to why she had not landed yet. As she lowered her eyes downward, she noticed that a pair of blue legs were now wrapped around her waist, holding her to a similarly colored chest, “RAINBOW DASH!” Scootaloo squealed as she turned around in the grip and nuzzled her sister’s neck, returning the hug.

“Hey there, squirt,” Dash said as she put the little filly onto her back.

“I thought you were back home, getting ready?” Scootaloo asked.

“I was, but then I got bored waiting for ya, so I decided to pick ya up instead,” Dash said, a smile on her face as she flew off to the waiting cloud house, “So are you excited to see your grandparents?”

Scootaloo nodded very enthusiastically, “Yes! So,” she began as they landed on the threshold of the cloud home, “What are your mom and dad like?”

“What do you think? If they raised me, then they must be some of the most awesome parents in existence,” Dash said, a confident look on her face, “they needed to be. Dad was one of the best aerial aces out there, always competing in some sport or another. And mom...well, she was so close to becoming one of the best wonderbolts ever, but stuff happened.”

“What happened?” Scootaloo asked as she walked into the house with Dash.

Dash softly smiled as she walked to the table next to the couch and picked up a photo of her and a pink pegasus with a blue mane, “I happened to her.”

It took Scootaloo a few moments to figure out what Dash had meant, “Oh, she had to give up being a wonderbolt to raise you.”

“Yeah,” Dash said with a soft smile as she ran a hoof along the photo of her mom, “ Mom said that she wanted to do her best to raise me. Sometimes I would ask her if she ever regretted her decision, and she would always tell me that if she had to...she would pick me over anything else, every time. Besides,” she let out a small chuckle as she put the photo away, “She helped to teach me everything she knew about stunt flying. Heck, she probably forgot more than I ever learned, so it worked out. Now, did you fix your mane?”

Scootaloo shook her head, “Nope.”

“Wings preened?” Dash asked.

“Nope,” Scootaloo said.

“Tail combed?” Dash asked.

“Nope,” Scootaloo said.

“Good!” Dash said, leaning in and nuzzling Scootaloo’s nose, “You’re ready to meet mom and pop. Let’s go outside to meet them.”

With a quick nod, the little pegasus ran out the door with her mother to watch the skies for the two visitors. For a few moments, they sat on the threshold of the front door keeping an eye on the empty skies until two little dot appeared on the horizon. A smile crept on Rainbow’s face as she could make out the two dots as they came closer, taking the shape of two pegasi. On the right was a dark blue stallion with a rainbow mane and tail much like his daughter’s. To the stallion’s left was a pink mare with an electric blue mane, flying at his pace. With a joyous glee, Rainbow Dash waved her hooves frantically to wave her parents down, “Hey, Scoots, I should warn you, mom can kind of get...excited to see little foals.”

“What do you mea-ooof!” Scootaloo asked, only to get tackled through the the doorway and into the living room by a pink and blue blur.

“OH MY GOSH! SHE IS SOOOOOO CUTE!” Squeed the pink pegasus as she held the little filly close to her in a big bear hug, “Rainbow, if you didn’t tell me that you had adopted the little gal I could’ve sworn she was your own daughter! Look at her, she looks just like you did when you were that age.” The mare looked at the little filly in her legs and smiled warmly, “I am your grandmother but you can call me grandma.” She then gave Scootaloo a couple of quick kisses on the forehead before hugging her tightly again.

“Firefly, sweetie, if you keep this up you’ll smother the poor little gal,” the stallion said as he walked over to where his wife and new granddaughter were.

“Then at least she’ll die knowing the she was loved.” Firefly smiled as she let go of her granddaughter.

The stallion simply rolled his eyes at his wife’s antics before holding out his hoof, “My name is Spectrum Burst, and this is my wife, Firefly. But, you can call me grandpa.”

“Hi,” Scootaloo said, holding out her hoof.

“Well then, now that the introductions are over” he said, taking Scootaloo’s hoof and then immediately pulled her into a big warm hug, “ welcome to the family, my little Scootaloo.”

“Please to meet you, grandpa,” Scootaloo said, nuzzling into the chest of the dark blue stallion.

Getting up from the hug, Spectrum turned to his daughter, “So Rainbow, did you make us anything to eat? We kind of...skipped breakfast.”

“What?!” Dash yelled, looking at her parents as they smiled sheepishly, “Didn’t you tell me to NEVER skip breakfast because that was the second best meal of the day?”

“Well, we were excited to see you again and wanted to get here as soon as possible,” Firefly said, walking up next to Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash facehoofed in response, “Ugggh, fine. I’ll go make us some grub and then we’ll go on the town.”

“I’ll help ya, Dashie,” Spectrum said as he followed Dash into the kitchen.

“Oh no dad, you know how you get when you are in the kitchen, you’ll turn the entire place into a stage show. I’ll make it faster.” Dash objected.

“Oh come on, you love my cooking,” Spectrum said as he moved Dash to the side, “Now let me.”

Firefly giggled to herself softly, “Come on, squirt. Your mom and grandpa will be at this for a while, so how about I show you some embarrassing photos of your mom?”

“Rainbow Dash doesn’t have any embarrassing photos. She’s too awesome to have those,” Scootaloo said as she followed her grandma to the couch.

“Rule 1 kiddo,” Firefly said, getting a photo album from a saddle bag, “Mothers always have cute and embarrassing photos of their children.”

Scootaloo let out a small giggle at the thought before gulping, “Does Rainbow?”

Firefly nodded, “Yep, she’s just waiting to spring it on ya. Now let’s see, oh...” Firefly smiled as she showed a picture of Rainbow Dash on a rug, nibbling the ear of a blue wonderbolt, “Here’s Dashie on a rug, with her favorite plushie. And this one is when we first brought her home,” she said, showing a photo of a yawning filly Rainbow Dash laying curled up next to her mom, “We had to watch her mid-yawn. Oh, and this,” She said with a sheepish chuckle as she showed a picture of a very wet Firefly, looking at an equally wet Rainbow dash with a frown, “Was when I tried to give a defiant Rainbow Dash a bath. And this...is the sequel,” She then show a photo of Spectrum, just as soaked and the wet Rainbow, winking at the camera.

“Wait, grandpa would help you out?” Scootaloo said.

“Of course dear,” Firefly said with a smile as she looked at the next photo of her, Spectrum, Dash, and Fluttershy in a hospital room, “That’s what good partners do, they help to raise the children, help the other when the other is feeling down or sick, and help lift each other up; although,” she chuckled as she she looked at a photo of Dash on top of a fallen Spectrum, a victory flag in her mouth, “I was the better flight teacher.”

“Mom! What are you two doing in there?” Rainbow Dash asked, poking her head into the room, “You aren’t showing Scoots embarrassing photos of me are ya?”

A slick smile came to Firefly’s face as she said plainly, “No!”

Dash could only arch an eyebrow in disbelief as she went back into the kitchen, “Ok then.”

Firefly then turned to look at her young granddaughter with a wink and then went back to the photos, “Now, here is a picture of when we took Dashie to meet Santa Hooves for the first time. Oh, did she cry the entire time,” she added, pointing a pink hoof to the photo of a crying filly Rainbow Dash.

“MOM!” Dash yelled as she came into the living room with a plate full of sandwiches on her hoof, “You were showing her embarrassing photos!”

Firefly smiled at her daughter as her husband offered a personal plate of food to her, “Call it a mother’s prerogative sweetie. Just wait until Scootaloo starts dating or has foals of her own and lets see how long it takes you to bring out her photo album.”

Scootaloo let out a small sigh of relief as she knew that Rainbow dash probably didn’t have the appropriate picture album to embarrass her. Then, almost as if Dash knew of Scootaloo’s relief, smirked as she sat down on the couch next to Scootaloo, “Oh...about 10 seconds. Sunny told me a lot of stories,” she then chuckled smugly as she rubbed Scootaloo’s mane.

Scootaloo let out a small gulp of fear as the thought hit her while her grandpa took his seat on a love cushion next to his wife. As the early afternoon wore on, and the food became smaller, the discussion around the table turned to the things that families usually discuss. There were talks about what Rainbow’s parents were doing, Dash’s training in the Wonderbolts, and if Dash was in any relationships, “Not yet at least.” Was Scootaloo’s thought at this. The conversation also turned to Scootaloo’s life, her friends, and the adventures that the little filly went on. They discussed at length of the various subjects that were important and the ones that weren’t so important in the greater aspect of life.

As the discussion carried on, Scootaloo couldn’t stop smiling a heartfelt smile at the scene before her. The way that the four talked amongst each other, the ways that they joked with each other, and the way that they would joke with one another gave her the feeling of being in a real family. She wondered to herself if this is what her life would’ve been like if her mom and dad were alive, and with her at that moment. Looking down at her plate, her mind began to envision this to be what life would become once she had gotten Fluttershy and Rainbow together. The two lovers talking about their day, Dash with her training and Fluttershy with her animals. Looking up from her plate and at the two pegasi in front of her, Scootaloo asked, “So, grandma and grandpa...how did you two get together?”

“Oh, now that is a story, let me tell you,” Firefly said, drinking a small cup of soda, “You see, it happened a few years ago...”

I was busy resting at my home after doing some practice drills for the Wonderbolts.

“Wow! You were a wonderbolt?” Scootaloo asked.

“One of the best,” Dash said, a proud smile on her face.

“Where do you think your mom got most of her talent from,” Spectrum said with a smile as he looked at his wife.

Anyway, as I was in the kitchen getting myself something to drink, I heard a loud crash coming from my living room. I quickly ran into the room to see what had happened and there, with his head in the cloud floor and his legs sticking up, was Spectrum. Curious as to why a stallion crashed into my house, I went over to him and pulled him out from the floor. When I asked him what he was doing there, he told me that he was fixing a few thunderheads for a small thunderstorm in Ponyville when a worker shocked him from behind sending him crashing into my house.

Well, I couldn’t let him fly out with a hurt head and wing so I invited him to rest on my couch and drink some soda. We spent the next few hours talking about our lives, what our hobbies were, and our flying styles. Well, soon it was time for him to leave and we said our goodbyes.

About a week later, I was doing some of my own flying tricks when my good friend, Masquerade, accidentally hit me in the head with a ball and sent me crashing into Spectrum’s house.

“We later found out that Masquerade found out about our little meeting and wanted to play matchmaker,” he then smiled at Firefly, “I think it worked. I guess she must of also heard about me sneaking a peek at your grandma’s fine flank.”

“You still sneak peeks, only now you are much more obvious,” Firefly said with a smile.

“I can’t help it if you are still hot after all this time my dear,” a smile came across his face.

“Oh, ewewewewewwe, need to repress that image!” Screamed Rainbow Dash.

After Spectrum was nice enough to take care of me and give me something to drink, he offered to take me to a small little diner for supper. After the date was over, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

Until...he fell through my roof again, and again we went out on a date. This was the way our dates went for a little while. I would fall through the roof of his house or he would fall through mine and it would always end in a date or a snuggle-fest. At one point, I had enough and the next time he fell through the roof I looked at him and said, “Spectrum, I love ya and all, but would you mind not falling through my roof so much?”

“Well then,” he said, pulling out a small box from behind his wing, “I guess I’ll just have to start making this our house.”

“The look on your grandma’s face when I proposed was priceless,” Spectrum said.

“ So you said yes right away, right?” Scootaloo asked.

Well, actually, I had to think of it for a few moments, but really...he looked so adorable at that moment that I just couldn’t say no to him. So, in a few months we were married and then a little while after that, we had Dashie.

“When Rainbow was born, that was when you stepped down from being a Wonderbolt to take care of her. Wasn’t it?” Scootaloo asked, finishing her soda.

“Not completely,” Firefly corrected, “After I had her, I asked to become more of a teacher rather than a flier. I just enjoyed teaching so much that when I was ready to come back into service I chose to stay a teacher. Though,” she added, a smirk coming to her face as she walked to the front door, “I can still outfly the pants off of any rookie.”

Rainbow Dash could only look at her mother with a confident smirk, “Is that a challenge?”

“Not a fair one, after all...you would be carrying the squirt the entire way,” Said Firefly as she stood outside.

“Says you!” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk, “I can fly rings around ya, even holding onto the squirt.”

As Scootaloo and Spectrum walked up to the two girls, the stallion smiled, “I should’ve known they get like this. Birds of a feather, oh well. Makes for some great exercise.”

“But, I can’t fly yet, grandpa. I’ll just be following you on the ground.” Scootaloo said, frowning a little.

“HEY! None of that, this is a family flight and I mean a family flight,” Dash said, taking the little filly in her forelegs before stretching her wings, “Contact?”

“Contact!” Spectrum said, straightening out his wings.

“Lets do this,” Firefly said, smiling as she began to get ready to take off.

“And GO!” Dash said as they took off.

From Rainbow’s house, the four ponies took off and allowed the winds to glide them across the cloudless sky. To the passing-by earth bound ponies who would happen to look up, they would see a flying V comprised of three pegasi and would think it was a new aerial team, but it wasnt. It was a family of pegasi who had helped each other through each others lives, and knew each other well enough to keep in perfect synch with each other.

With Rainbow Dash in the lead of their V formation, the family of four soared and sailed through the sky. Moving back and forth, allowing the winds to blow softly through their feathers and to caress their wings, the group would only move enough to dodge an incoming bird or cloud. Turning her head to look behind her, she gazed at her mom on her left and then to look at her dad, Rainbow Dash could only smile happily at being able to share this with her family. Looking down at the little filly laughing in her hooves, Dash smirked at Scootaloo and held her close to her barrel as she put a small bit of distance between her and her parents to perform a loop. Without missing a beat, the parents of Rainbow Dash joined in performing the maneuver.

Firefly turned her head to Spectrum and smirked at her husband before putting on some speed in her flying and raced to fly next to Dash. As she flew under her daughter, Firefly performed a small barrel roll and leveled off just underneath Rainbow’s left side. Looking up at her daughter, she put on a confident smirk and winked at her. At Rainbow’s right, her father came up quickly next to her, making a few small air gallops before leveling off at his daughter’s side.

Looking down at Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash watched as the little filly giggled a little at some of the cirrus clouds passing by her stomach and tickling her. Still keeping a good grip on her ‘daughter’, Rainbow Dash began to lower her legs so Scootaloo would be at legs length away from her body. Turning her head up to look at her protector, Scootaloo looked at the signs of trust and love that graced Rainbow’s face. Feeling that she would not fall or be dropped, the little filly let out a cheer as she thrusted out her hooves and assumed a flying position like her family around her. She then stopped her cheering and closed her eyes, taking in the warm feeling of the wind around her, the warmth of her family, and the memories of taking similar flights with her mother so long ago. Her eyes then opened in shock when she felt Dash let her go and became afraid that she was in freefall. That was when she felt two hooves below her.

Looking down, she saw that Spectrum and Firefly held the little girl up with their two hooves, as if she was the victor in a big race. Smiling at the two grandparents as they held her above their heads, she continued her faux flying all the way until they landed in the market square. Smirking, Rainbow Dash set her young daughter to the ground, “Think we gave the ponies a good show?”

“Dash, sweetie,” Firefly said with a smile, “That was just a pre-show, just wait until we really get started. Then they’ll see a show.”

Rainbow Dash let out a small chuckle as she gave her mother a high hoof in response. Turning around the four ponies began to walk around the marketplace when she heard a small voice calling out, “Rainbow Dash.”

Perking her ears, she turned quickly to the sound of the voice, “Fluttershy!” Dash said happily as she saw Fluttershy walking up to where her and her family was. As the buttery pegasus came closer, Rainbow Dash immediately began to remember the events of the previous evening and of the long deep kiss that she shared. That thought, and the warm memories of the embrace that they shared under the moonlight made her blush and turn her head a little, “What brings you here?”

A soft smile came to Fluttershy’s face as she began to remember the events of the previous evening, trying her best to hide behind her mane to hide her blush, “I was doing some small shopping with my-”

She was then interrupted by Firefly, who immediately came up to see her, “Well, if it isn’t Fluttershy Firewing! It’s been year since I saw your adorable face!” She then gave Fluttershy a big hug. “Aw look at you, you haven’t changed at all.”

“Hello, Fluttershy,” Spectrum said, walking up with Scootaloo in tow who was nibbling on a cookie, “Still as shy as ever I see.”

“Hello Mr. Spectrum and Mrs. Firefly, it is good to see you again,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Oh, stop it with that Mr and Mrs stuff, you’re making us sound old,” Firefly said, rolling her eyes.

Scootaloo chuckled, when she suddenly felt the stomping of very large hooves, “What was that?”

“Oh, I forgot to mention, my parents are here as well,” Fluttershy said as she felt the hoofsteps come closer.

“Your...parents?” Scootaloo asked as she began to tremble, her plan beginning to crumble in her mind. Now, instead of Dash saving the day, it looked like it was going to end with her mother as a pasty smear at the end of somepony’s hoof.

As Fluttershy nodded, a very large yellow mare walked up behind her. At first glance, all of the muscles, tone of her body, and the way she held herself would make one think that this was a stallion, but a good long look at her would say otherwise. The large pegasus glared at the four ponies before her, focusing on Firefly in particular, “Well, if it isn’t Firefly,” she said with a growl in her voice, “HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?!”

Without warning, the pink pegasus was wrapped up in a big bearhug by the muscular pony, “Great to see ya again, Posey.” Firefly managed in between gasps for air.

After letting go of Firefly, Posey turned her head to look at Spectrum, “And you brought your big softy of a husband with ya? How is it hanging Spect! Keeping an eye on my best friend right? Not planning on breaking her heart are ya?”

“Nope, not at all, and its more like she’s keeping an eye on me,” Spectrum said, sheepishly laughing.

“And Rainbow Dash,” Posey said, looking at the multicolored mane, quickly grabbing her and ruffling Dash’s mane, “Glad to see you have been keeping up with a good training regime. Though if you ask me...you’re way too good for a bunch of showoff wannabe fliers. The guard’s wheres it at.”

“No way!” Dash yelled, slipping out of her grip, “I’d rather not be spending my time guarding a princess all day, give me the open air anyday of the week.”

“Can’t say I didn’t try, but if you change yer mind...I’ll make you a comm. on the spot,” Posey said with a smile before turning to Scootaloo, “and who is this?”

“S-S-Scootaloo ‘mam,” Scootaloo said, quite intimidated by the large pegasus. Meanwhile, in her head, she watched as the plan that she had crafted was now destroyed by several tons of C-4 and a well organized construction crew.

Posey smiled softly and placed a hoof onto the filly’s head, rubbing the mane, “Heh, you look like a good kid. I trust yer watching over yer big sister nicely, the runt needs it.”

“You...know Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked, shocked and a little sad as she continued to watch her plan crumble down to its foundations.

“Of course I know her, the little scamp would sometimes come to the trainin grounds to do some endurance runs, most of the time during class,” Posey said with a scowl, before turning around to yell, “HEY, STORMCLOAK! GET YER FLANK OVER HERE, FIREFLY AND HER BROOD ARE HERE!”

“Y-yes dear,” said a soft and kind voice as a green pegasus with a pink mane came out from one of the stalls.

“Oh, father, there you are. I was afraid you gotten lost,” Fluttershy said, her voice being a little louder than her quiet father.

“Oh, no I wasn’t lost,” Stormcloak said, turning his head away shyly, “I was just talking to this mare selling apples and she offered me a deal I couldn’t refuse and then I had to buy some extra carrots to show that I wasn’t being unfair. Oh I do hope the cabbage merchant doesn’t feel too bad.”

“Your dad?” Scootaloo asked, as the plan was now bulldozed into a parking lot and the remains put somewhere else.

“Oh yes, I know he can be kind of shy and quiet and Mother can be kind of intimidating. But, once you get to know them, they can be really nice.” Fluttershy said, “And mom can’t resist being kind to little foals.”

“That’s nice,” Scootaloo said, as she watched the remains of her plan turned into pudding by Discord, then the pudding was eaten by her, Sweetie Belle, Twist, Applebloom, Dinky, Pipsqueak, and a hyped up on sugar Pinkie Pie. In short, she put the plan under: COLOSSAL FAILURE.

“Hey, Posey, we were just about to spend the day together, want to join?” Firefly asked, eager to spend time with her friend.

“Sure,” Posey said as the group began to walk away together.

Scootaloo let out a small sigh as she followed the group, thinking to herself, “Well, that was a failure. On the other hand,” a soft smile came across Scootaloo’s face as she listened to the discussion that the six ponies were having, “It’s great to have such an awesome family.”

As the group of ponies walked through the small town, Scootaloo walked up next to the strong yellow pegasus, “So, Posey, how did you get together with Stormcloak? You two seem so...”

“Different? Yeah, we kinda are,” Poesy said, smiling, “Well you see...”

Several years ago, I was a young private in the royal guard and I was busy training to do my job of protecting the city. One day, I noticed this cute little stallion taking a few peeks at me whenever I passed by. I didn’t think anything about it, until I noticed him doing it more often, sometimes in the mess hall, out on the grounds, or sometimes when we pass each other at the campus. Well, at first, I wondered if I had a stalker, a cute stalker, but a stalker nonetheless; so I went to some of my friends and I found out that this guy had a crush on me. It’s just that he was afraid to ask me, so I waited for him. And I waited, and I waited, and I waited. Well, after a month of waiting, I had enough, went over to him at the mess hall and picked him up by his collar and said, “YOU. ME. DATE. NOW!”

He let out a squeak of, “Ok.”

Well, after the date, we had another and another and eventually, we found out that I had loved him as much as he did me. And I had hoped he would pop the question soon, and he didn’t. Well, finally I had gotten tired of waiting, found him outside out favorite place in the rain and grabbed him by the collar and told him, “YOU. ME. MARRIAGE. NOW!”

He held out a ring and squeaked, “Ok, my darling.”

We were married a few months after that and when I came into season and wanted children, I looked at him in the eyes and told him, “YOU. ME. BABIES. NOW!”

“Yes, dear.” he told me, before giving me the kiss of my life.

“And then 11 months later, we had little Fluttershy,” she smiled softly as she watched her daughter and Rainbow Dash walk somewhere to talk for a bit.

“Wow, thats...something,” Scootaloo said, eyes wide in shock, making a mental note that would definitely not be one of the dates she would use.

As the afternoon rolled down, and the ponies found a park to relax and play in; Fluttershy went over to her mother, “Mother?” She asked, “Could we go somewhere private to talk?”

“Sure,” Posey said as she walked with her daughter to a small patch of flowers, away from the others.

Fluttershy laid on all fours next to her mother, cuddling up close to her as she looked down at the flowers, “How did you know that you were in love with father?”

Putting a comforting wing over her daughter, a sly smile came to Posey’s lips, “Why? Do you have a certain mare in mind?”

Fluttershy immediately blushed and hid behind her pink mane, “W-what makes you think that its a mare?”

“Because my little flower,” Posey chuckled as she nuzzled her daughter’s neck, “I’ve known that you were into mares for quite a while.”

“Oh, I see,” Fluttershy said as she giggled at the gentle nuzzle.

“Now, about your father,” Posey said with a sigh as she looked at the field where her lover talked with Spectrum, “Well, I guess I figured it out when I had started to notice that he added something to my life. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my friends-Firefly is the best ‘sister’ a gal could ask fer and Masqurade is a riot; however, it was a different feeling with him.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, “How so?”

“Well, it was like,” Posey put a hoof to her chin in thought, “everytime he was with me, he brought something new to my life. Drills became more fun, outings with my friends became even better, old things seemed new again, and he brought something out in me.”

“Something new?” Fluttershy asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Mmmmm,” She said with a smile, “Helped make me become a little softer and nicer. He showed me it was ok to be nice once in a while, and I would help bring out the best in him. He loved me as much as I loved him, because to him...I helped make everything brighter.”

“I see,” Fluttershy said, nodding.

Slowly, Poesy got back up and stretched her wings, “Well, I think it’s about time for me and Stormcloud to be heading home. Take care of yourself my little flower and by the way,” she said, lowering her head to Fluttershy’s ear, “I think Rainbow Dash would make a great daughter-in-law.”

Fluttershy felt her face redden in embarrassment, “WHAT? How did you know?”

“Kid, youse always would talk about her when you were young. Youse kept on and on about the things you and she did that I felt like I knew her before I even met her. If she makes you feel any way like I do with Stormcloud, I approve.”

“Thank you, mother,” Fluttershy said, smiling softly as she watched her mom and dad fly home.. She then walked up to Rainbow Dash’s family, “I should be going myself. Thanks for inviting me and my family to spend time with you.”

“Hey, it was no problem at all,” Dash remarked, confidently putting her hoof through her mane, “See ya later, Flutters.”

Fluttershy nodded in response and flew off in the direction of her cottage, while Spectrum looked at his granddaughter, “Hey, Scoots. Speaking of home, how about I fly you there personally?”

“I would love to!” Scootaloo said with a big smile on her lips as she was picked up by Spectrum and flown off.

As Firefly and Rainbow Dash watched the two fly off, the pink pegasus stood next to her daughter, “So, about you and Fluttershy?”

“W-w-what about us?” Dash asked defensively.

“Hun, I am 24 years older than you, I have far more experience in seeing this than you,” Firefly said, shaking her head and putting a hoof onto Dash’s shoulder, “I have seen the way you two have been looking at each other, it was the same way that me Spectrum would look at each other when we were dating. Are you falling for her?”

“Well, I uh...”Dash said, stumbling over her words.

“Let me help,” Firefly said, putting her forehead onto Dash’s and rubbing her nose with hers, “Do you feel like you can perform better with her around.”

“ Well, yeah, but that’s how it is with all of my friends,” Dash said.

“Are there things you do with her alone, things that you could never see yourself doing with your other friends, even a princess? How about when you two are alone, you let her see a side of you that rarely would get seen, or that when you two are alone you feel like she brings something special to your day and you seem to know better when she’s around.”

“Yeah,” Dash said softly, looking away and blushing, “sometimes, she makes me feel like a better pony.”

“Then that’s the way I feel with your dad, kid,” Firefly said, giving her daughter a hug, “Even before we were married, he made me feel better and stronger. When he was around me, I felt better, felt faster, and he made me feel like a better pony. That’s what loving somepony does to you, you feel like you are better with them. And I have to say, if you do take that step with her, I approve.”

Dash smiled back as she returned the hug, “Thanks mom. See you later, love ya.”

“Love ya too, kid,” Firefly said before taking off to follow her husband.

“Love ya too, mom,” Dash said, smiling and then turning around to fly off. As she flew off, she began to think back to one night, a year ago.

“Wow! Rainbow Dash, what a great dinner you made,” Sunny said, smiling as she finished the meal.

“Hey, Scoots invited me to dinner and I thought that helping you out was the least I could do,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile.

“That’s what you seem to be best at, helping,” Sunny said, looking down and smiling, “You know, you never had to-” she was then interrupted by a hug from Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, your Scootaloo’s family, and since she’s my sister,” she smiled as she looked back at the orange filly, “That makes you my family too.”

“And I’ll anything for friends and family,” Dash said as she walked into Scootaloo’s room, seeing her little sister nicely tucked in, “Hey squirt. Had fun today?”

“Are you kidding? I had a blast,” Scootaloo said as she hugged a plush of Rainbow Dash close to her, “They were both so awesome.”

“Told ya,” Dash said with a smirk, running her hoof along Scootaloo’s mane, “Now, time for bed.”

Scootaloo nodded, before looking into her sister’s eyes, “Hey Dash? Did grandma ever sing you any lullabies when you were a kid.”

“Why, want me to sing one to you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Quickly, Scootaloo nodded before hiding under the sheets a little, “Only if it doesn’t make it sound like I’m a baby.”

“Hey, nothing wrong with singing a lullaby kid.” Dash said, kissing her sister on the forehead.

Little dreamer
Sleep now
And prepare yourself for the days ahead.

Little dreamer
What are your dreams
Will you dream of heroes and glory

Little dreamer
What are your dreams
Will you dream of love and joy

Little dreamer
Know not to fear the dark
Dream of light

Know that I will always
Be there to watch
You and to make things right

Know that I will always
Be right here
To wash the darkness in light

Sleep my little dreamer

Sleep well through the night

Fluttershy opened the door to her cottage and smiled at the sight of all of her animals walking around the house. Smiling softly, she began to tuck each little creature into their beds, kissed them goodnight, and walked towards the stairs. As she walked up the stairs, she began to sing,

My sweet dreamer
What are your dreams
Tell them please

My sweet dreamer
What are your dreams
Let me know them, please

My sweetest dreamer
I want to help you
to achieve the skies

My sweetest dreamer
I want to help you
and see the world through your eyes

My sweetest dreamer
Can I watch you grow
into what you dream to be

As Fluttershy made her way to the last step, her singing had reached a pitch and tone that seemed to match Rainbow Dash’s beat for beat. As the two began to sing the final part of the song, it was as if they were singing to Scootaloo together in perfect harmony.

Dearest dreamer
I will always be
There for you

Dearest dreamer
I will always
Watch over you

Dearest dreamer
I will always
Watch your dreams

Help you

[
i]Love you

Never fear my dearest dreamer
I will always be there,
To love, to care

Never fear my dearest dreamer
I will be there, to see you grow
to be there to love you
and to see you become
all that you are

My dearest dreamer
I love you.

Softly, Rainbow Dash ran a hoof through her little kid’s mane, listening to the soft snoring that came from her. Walking out the door, she could hear faintly Scootaloo saying, “love you, mom.”

“Love ya too, squirt.” Dash said softly, walking back to her room. As she made her way to the bed, she looked at a photo of her and Fluttershy that was taken just after Twilight’s coronation. She ran a hoof along the picture of her and Fluttershy hugging each other, “Night Flutters, I love you.”

Meanwhile, back at Fluttershy’s cottage, the demure pegasus ran a hoof along a similar picture, “Goodnight Rainbow, I love you.” She then gave the photo a small kiss before falling asleep.

Addendem:

Sweetie Belle walked home from her meeting with the other crusaders, hoping that the plan that they had come up with would be successful. As she skipped along the dirt road, her mind began to think of new songs that she could sing at her cutecenera, trying to decide between a ballad and a dance beat. Smiling and skipping, she opened the door to the Carousel Boutique, “Hi, Rarity!”

“Oh, there you are Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said as she turned away from a group of four ponies, “Mother and Father have come over to see you, as well as Mother’s mother and father.”

As the words hit Sweetie Belle’s ears, her eyes opened wide in utter horror, “M-mom’s’ mom and dad?”

“Oh please,” Scootaloo said, putting the dolls down, “Didn’t you read all of those books Rarity has? Everypony knows that the bride’s side of the family are always evil monsters that just want to ruin the wife’s happiness. It happens all the time in these books, the father’s parents are usually the fun and loving ones while the wife’s parents are monsters.”

As Sweetie Belle remembered the words that her friend had said that morning, she took a few steps towards the stairs and screamed, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! MONSTERS!” Then she ran up the stairs in a white, pink, and purple blur.

“Now, what is her problem, eh?” Asked the Canieghdian brown stallion with the hockey puck cutie mark.

“Oh, I don’t well quite know,” Sweetie Belle’s mother said, “Maybe it just that she’s nervous, huh mom and pop?”

“Mais, oui!” Said the mare with a bouque cutie mark, “Your daughter is just like you were when you were zat age.”

Author's Note

Thanks to Nurse pony for the edits

Oh, its good to be back isn't it? A month hiatus to work on Supernatural Pony Tales, and other fics. I apologize to everypony who was missing out and missed me. Don't worry, I'm back baby!

Now, onto this chapter- Firefly was not going to be in this originally, in all actuality I was going to make it: G3 Rainbow Dash and name her Rainbow Arc de ciel (french for rainbow) and mention that Dash had two unseen brothers. But, overtime, I fell in love with Firefly and found out about Lauren's plans for Firefly and I saw a pic of Firefly, Spectrum, Dash, and Scootaloo flying together. Thus, I ditched the idea and went with Firefly just to do a fic on that image. Also, I felt I was repeating myself with Fluttershy's parents so I figured this would allow me to do both sets without causing too much problems.

As for the song, yes its my own creation and no, I have never written lyrics before and I have no idea what music would be good for it. Feel free to tell me how bad I am at writing lyrics in the comments and what to do to fix it.

Also, if I find someone doing a piece of art with Firefly cuddling Scootaloo like in the fic, then I will be forever grateful

Ps. Firefly is what my mom is going to be like when she meets my kids.

Pss. I HATE THE EVIL MOTHER-IN-LAW trope! I hate hate hate it! I hate it in Flintstones, I hate it in films, and I hate seeing it used. So thus, I needed to riff it.

I thinking about you, thinking about me

I was thinking about you, thinking about me

Scootaloo marched haughtily into the clubhouse and past her two friends, who were now shocked at the way the orange filly looked. The four star helmet that was on the filly’s head was now accented by a flight jacket that was on her body, covered from neck to hem in medals, “Where does she find all of this stuff?” Applebloom asked.

“The flight jacket was a gift from my grandmother,” Scootaloo said, pulling out a pair of sunglasses (from her grandfather) and putting them on, “It’s time to commence operation: Jealous Other Mare Date! For this operation, we’ll need to convince Snowflake to ask Fluttershy out while I go and get Cloudkicker.”

“Wait a minute,” Applebloom argued, raising a hoof in protest, “I thought the plan was to get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash together?”

“It is. But,” Scootaloo said, pulling down a screen with a series of pictures, “in this plan we need to bring in some other players. By having Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash date other ponies, they’ll see how miserable the other is without the other and will go to the other girl, trying to show that the other how much they mean to each other.”

Sweetie Belle then leapt to the podium, “Then while the other dates amicably say their goodbyes, Fluttershy and Rainbow will declare how they will never see another pony for the rest of their lives.”

“Sounds nuts, but this is Sweetie Belle’s plan,” Applebloom sighed, “and it sounds better than mine. Let’s do it!”

“YEAH!” The two other crusaders cheered as they high hoofed one another and quickly ran out of the clubhouse.

________________________________________

Inside Fluttershy’s tree cottage, the butter colored mare was busy tending to a small squirrel, “There you are, Ms. Acorn. Now you be careful and try not over jump anymore trees.” The pegasus gave a soft smile as she watched the little squirrel run off to the window and leap onto the tree branch. Taking a contented breath, Fluttershy began to flitter and fly from the bird house to the little cat bed that laid around her home, giving each animal a proper check up before moving onto another chore. Her afternoon routine was soon interrupted by a knock on the door, “I wonder who that is?” Fluttershy asked herself as she flew to the open and revealed a very large and white pegasus stallion.

“Hello miss Fluttershy,” the overly muscular stallion said, carrying a small bunch of flowers in his right wing.

“Oh, hello Snowflake,” Fluttershy said, slightly intimidated by the large bulky stallion’s size and girth, “W-what brings you here?”

“Hello miss Fluttershy,” the large stallion said, his red-eyes gazing down at a slip of paper on his hoof and reading what it said, “would you do me the honor going with me to the park and having a fun time together?”

Fluttershy, though she was shy and timid, was not exactly what one would called stupid and began to see through the stallion’s fake request, “Are, you asking me out on a date?”

“YEAH!” Snowflake yelled, the force of which sent the yellow pegasus flying back.

“EEEP!” She squeaked as she righted herself up and looked up at the big Pegasus. “I would like that, to take a walk with you.”

“Thank you,” Snowflake said, allowing Fluttershy to walk ahead of him before taking a gulp as he looked at the butterfly cutie mark.

Elsewhere, Sweetie Belle watched from the bushes with a smile, “All right! Phase one complete!”

________________________________________

“All right, squirt, just a little more,” Rainbow Dash said, leading Scootaloo further into her house.

“You sure I’m going to like this surprise?” Scootaloo asked as she followed Rainbow’s commands.

“Kid, you gonna love it!” Rainbow Dash said, leading the small filly to the center of the room, “and now, open them!”

Blinking quickly, the little orange pegasus opened her violet eyes to see before her a shining orange scooter with purple handlebars, “OH my CELESTIA! Dash, you actually got it?”

Dash smile and nodded as she hugged her little sister tightly, “Happy Birthday kid. I noticed that your old one was getting kind of broken and I figured you needed this new one.”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Scootaloo said, the excitement never leaving her voice. Looking around the scooter, she looked at the middle of the bar and read the words on it, “‘Sunny Days’.”

Dash draped a wing over her little sister, wiping a small tear from the filly’s eyes, “ This is just my way of saying, ‘welcome home, best little sister ever.’ And to say, I’m proud of you.”

“You are?” Scootaloo asked.

“Remember a few months ago, when I said that I didn’t care if you flew one day or not? I meant it. Whether or not you become the second best flier in existence or not, it doesn’t matter to me. You will always be the best little sister I’ll ever have and you’ll always do me proud,” Dash then looked back at the name of the scooter and smiled softly. “She’ll always be proud too, kid. No matter where she is.”

Rainbow Dash wiped her brow as she finished cleaning Scootaloo’s scooter, smiling at the memory of the day that she bought it for her, “The kid can already do stuff on this scooter that I couldn’t even dream of doing. If she keeps this up, she’s gonna end up making me and Spitfire look like chumps.” A small chuckle escaped Dash’s lips as she begrudginly admitted this fact to herself. That was when she heard a knock at the door, turning away from the scooter, Dash went over to open the door.

“Hey Dash!” Exclaimed a dark purple pegasus with a white frazzled mane.

“Cloudchaser, how have you been?” Dash asked, smiling at the pegasus, “I haven’t seen you since the academy.”

“Been doing great, just doing some practice runs here and there for when we go back to the academy. I was thinking,” Cloudchaser said, looking down at her foreleg, “maybe you could come with me to help me practice?”

“Sure,” Dash said with a shrug, “Scootaloo is busy with a sleepover at her friend’s house and the others said they were busy with other chores, so I’m free.”

“GREAT! Come with me, I know of this awesome place down by the park,” the purple pegasus said with a smile as she led Dash out of the cloud house.

Down below, Applebloom watched the scene with a pair of binoculars up to her eyes, “Phase 2-done! I hope the other girls finished their parts.”

________________________________________

At the park, just out of sight from any passersby, Scootaloo laid in wait for her four targets and her two friends to arrive.. Looking around, she saw her two friends running towards her, “There you girls are! Did you finish the jobs?” Scootaloo asked as she made room for her friends.

“Yep!” Applebloom nodded, “Cloudchaser should be flying around with Rainbow at any moment.”

“Snowflake and Fluttershy should coming in any minute, too,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

At that moment, they could hear the soft clopping of hooves on top of grass. Turning their heads around, they saw Snowflake and Fluttershy walking in from a path that was covered in flowers. Overhead, Rainbow Dash and Cloudchaser were flying through a few clouds together, “Great!” Scootaloo said, a smirk on her fact, “Now they’ll see how miserable each other is without the other and will swoop in to admit how much they love each other and how they can’t bear to be with anypony else. This will be so AWESOME!”

Turning their heads back to Snowflake and Fluttershy, they watched with great satisfaction that their plan might come into fruition, “So, your real name is Bulk Biceps?”

“YEAH!” Yelled Bulk, “But, momma always called me her precious Snowflake.”

“Well, that’s nice,” Fluttershy said, sheepishly. Turning her head to look anywhere else, she noticed the flowers on the ground, “Oh, aren't the flowers pretty?”

“YEAH!” Snowflake yelled as he thrusted his hoof into the air, then he pulled away very nervously as he caught sight of the butterflies that adorned the pegasus’s flank.

Fluttershy, a little shaken from the outburst, noticed that Snowflake was shirking back from the sight of Fluttershy’s cutie mark, “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that you’re a little nervous around butterflies,” she said as she covered the sight of the scary bugs with her tail.

“Yeah,” Squeaked Snowflake as he walked side by side Fluttershy.

Scootaloo chuckled, “This is perfect, they are absolutely miserable together. Now to just wait for Rainbow Dash to see how miserable Fluttershy is, just like she is. Ohhh, this plan is perfect!”

“Uhhh, Scoots? Maybe you should hold off on the celebration fer a little bit,” Applebloom said, looking through a pair of binoculars.

“Why?” Scootaloo asked.

“Because they don’t look miserable at all,” Applebloom said, looking up at Rainbow Dash and Cloudchaser, “they look right happy, actually.”

“WHAT?!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she ripped the binoculars out of Applebloom’s hooves. Looking through the binoculars, she watched as Cloudchaser and Rainbow Dash did loops together, laughing all the way, “Nonononononononononononono, this bad! Very BAD! They...they shouldn’t be laughing! What do they think they are doing up there? They’re supposed to be sad and miserable!”

Not noticing the young filly’s screams of failure or complaints of defeat, Rainbow Dash landed on her back onto the cloud with her wings spread, “Wow, Cloudchaser! You have really perfected those moves.”

Cloudchaser landed on her stomach on the cloud, before blushing and running a hoof through her messy mane, “Thanks, though I probably wouldn’t be half as good as I was if you didn’t give me those pointers.”

“What can I say?” Dash said, blowing on her hoof and turning onto her stomach, “My awesomeness tends to rub off on other ponies.” Looking down below at the park, she smiled a little bit when she caught the sight of a little yellow pegasus and a white stallion next to her, “Hey, isn’t that Fluttershy and Snowflake?”

“His name is Bulk Biceps!” Cloudchaser said, before blushing a little.

“Oh, now you’re talking about him on a first name basis,” Dash let out a chuckle as she raised a knowing eyebrow at her, “Does that mean that the little cloud jumper is going to be hearing wedding bells soon?”

Cloudchaser widened her eyes in shock before burying her face into the cloud, “WHAT? NO! He hasn’t even asked me out yet!”

“Then lets go!” Dash said, getting up off the cloud and floating off.

“What?” Cloudchaser asked.

“ Lets get you and him out on a date!” Dash said, taking the purple mare’s hoof.

“I-I can’t, he’s too shy, I-I” Cloudchaser began to stumble through her words.

“Look, I don’t know about you,” Dash said, looking straight into her friend’s eyes, “But I can’t stand it when two ponies Iove each other, are unable to admit it to each other, and take forever to take the plunge. Now, come on!”

Cloudchaser barely had time to let out a yelp as Rainbow grabbed her by the hoof and flew her down towards the ground. Fluttershy perked her ears at the sound of an incoming pony and turned to see Rainbow Dash flying in with Cloudchaser behind her. Fluttershy’s mood quickly brightened as a soft smile came to her face, “Hey, isn’t that Rainbow and Cloudchaser?” Fluttershy asked as she waved hello.

Snowflake looked up and saw the two incoming pegasi and quickly blushed,” Uh, yeah?”

Fluttershy turned and saw Snowflake cheeks turning red, “Oh, I see, do you like Cloudchaser?”

Snowflake gave a quiet nod, followed by a soft, “Yeah.”

“ Do you want to talk to them?” Fluttershy asked.

Softly nodding, the burly pegasus followed the yellow pegasus to where Rainbow Dash and her friend were landing. Little did they know, their conversation was being listened to by three little fillies hidden in a bush, “Wait? What are they doing? What the heck are they doing?” Scootaloo asked as she looked through the binoculars.

Pulling the binoculars away from Scootaloo, Applebloom looked at the four pegasi, “ And now they’re talking to each other and introducing one another.”

“And,” Sweetie Belle piped in, pulling the binoculars away from Applebloom, “I think Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are trying to hook them up.”

“What?” Scootaloo asked, deadpan.

“YEP! There Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy go, leaving Snowflake and Cloudchaser together, alone. Cloudchaser is blushin as she looks at him,” Applebloom said as her binoculars were then taken away by Sweetie Belle.

“Snowflake is looking nervous, blushing too as he is trying to say something,” Sweetie Belle said, looking through the eyeglasses.

“What?” Scootaloo deadpanned again.

“And Cloudchaser looks like she is tryin’ hard to ask him to go with her on a walk,” Sweetie said before her binoculars were swiped by Applebloom.

“And now he’s hoof bumping the air and yelling out, ‘YEAH!’ and is sweeping her off her legs and flying her over the horizon,” Applebloom said.

“WHAT?!” Scootaloo yelled in shock.

“Awww, that is so sweet,” Sweetie Belle said, smiling.

“ARRRG! That wasn’t was what was supposed to happen!” Scootaloo screamed as she thrusted her hooves in the air, “It was Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy that were supposed to get together in the end, not the other way around. They weren’t supposed to hook up the dates they weren’t getting along with, they were supposed to fall in love after they saw they were miserable without each other! How does this happen? Why does this keep happening to me?”

Applebloom sighed and put a hoof onto her friend’s shoulder, patting it consolingly before hugging her, “Come on, Scoots. Let’s head back to my house and continue the sleep over.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile, “And we can also talk more about how to get your cutie marks. I feel kind of bad that I am the only one in the group with one.”

Scootaloo smiled a little, “Yeah, this plan was a bust anyway.”

As they walked away, they did not notice the two pegasi that they wanted to get together still standing on the flowery path, “Finally! I have been trying to tell her that Snow,” Dash said but was interrupted by Fluttershy.

“Bulk Biceps,” Fluttershy said.

“Whatever,” Dash said, shaking her head.” Was head over heels for her and would ask her out in a second. They just need the right push.”

Fluttershy lowered her head to her chest and smiled, “I’m happy for them, really. Besides, the date wasn’t what I had in mind for a first date anyway.”

“Oh, really?” Dash said with a playful smirk. “And just what is your idea of a first date?”

“Well,” Fluttershy said, trying to hide her blush as she hid behind her strawberry mane, “first, I would like my date to bring me a bouquet of violets They’re my favorite.”

In a flash, Dash flew off from her friend and came back with a bouquet of purple flowers, “Like this?”

“Rainbow, what are you-?” Fluttershy asked as she took the bouquet in her forelegs.

“Hey, I figure the night is young, Scootaloo is with her friends, and I figured we got nothing else to do so...Why not? Lets try out your date idea together, a ‘practice’ first date,” Dash said with a smile as she took one of the flowers and put it into Fluttershy’s mane.

“Um, ok.” Fluttershy said as she let her friend put a flower next to her ear, “A practice first date sounds, fun.”

“Thought you would like it, so...what’s next?” Dash asked, not really having an idea of what to do next.

“Well, I would like for the date to take me on a quiet walk through the flowers, and maybe watch the birds fly by.” Fluttershy said.

“Ok, a few minutes on the ground,” Dash shrugged, “I think I can manage it.” Then she took Fluttershy’s hoof into hers and walked her off down a small dirt path.

As they walked away, a mint green unicorn brought out a lyre and began to play some music for a beige earth pony. The pony smiled at her lover and began to add a song to the music. The song was a slow piece about how one can never find the right words to say the important feelings that a pony would have for one another. The unicorn smiled as she added her own lyrics to the song, reminding the earth pony of how there is always time to use words to lift each other up and to heal one another.

Fluttershy walked down the path through the flowers with her friend, and without thinking, she leaned her head onto Rainbow’s cyan shoulder. Feeling Fluttershy’s head landing on her shoulder, Dash looked down at her and smiled, deciding not to really ruin the moment. The two walked along the path connected like this for the entire length of the path, letting the setting of the sun and the rising light of the moon guide their steps. For Fluttershy, the lean muscles of Rainbow’s shoulder made a perfect pillow to rest her head on and the warmth of her friends body was enough to make her feel safe, “Hey, Flutters, anything else you want to do for this?”

Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow, looking into her friend’s red eyes, “Well, I was wondering, is there anything you would do on your first date?”

“Nah!” Dash said with a wave of her hoof, “You know me, I don’t think too much about this mushy stuff. But, if I were, I would like to do some chasing with my partner for a bit. You know, some racing here and there.”

Smiling, Fluttershy broke away from Rainbow Dash and walked ahead of her for a bit, “Well, come on.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked, getting a good look a Fluttershy’s flank as she walked ahead, trying not to show it.

“Chase me,” Fluttershy smiled and winked, giving her tail a little swish as she noticed Dash looking, “let’s race.”

“You sure?” Dash smirked as she watched the mare take off and began to fly away. Smirking, the rainbow maned pegasus flew off towards the buttery mare. Almost as if she wanted to give her friend a fighting chance, Dash held herself back a little and flew just a few feet behind her friend. Chuckling with confidence, the cyan mare did a few corkscrews and twists in the air as she continued the chase of her ‘date’. Dash’s eyes then widened as she watch Fluttershy slow down to fly under her. Arching an eyebrow, Dash swerved to fly underneath her friend and reached out with her forehooves to grab at her.

Fluttershy, quite unexpectedly, flew up and out of the way of Dash’s grab and turned to fly into the cloud bank. After making sure that she was well hidden, she popped her head out of the clouds to look and see if Rainbow Dash was still pursuing her. After taking a few moments to look around, she saw that Dash was nowhere to be found. Reaching a hoof to her head, she rubbed it in an attempt to figure out where Dash went to. Her answer came in the pair of cyan hooves that reached out from under the clouds and wrapped themselves around Fluttershy and pulled her through the bank. Fluttershy barely had time to let out a small, “eeep” as Dash pulled her friend through the cloud bank and held her close to her blue chest. With a soft smile, the buttery mare snuggled close to her friend as they tumbled through the air and landed softly together on the soft grass, “How did you know?”

“Know what?” Asked Rainbow Dash, draping her foreleg across Fluttershy’s shoulder, bringing her in close.

Fluttershy rested her head on Rainbow’s shoulder and laid her foreleg on Rainbow Dash’s chest, “That my other part of my first date, would be to watch the stars together.”

Dash gave her left shoulder a slight shrug as she said, “Eh, just a guess. I mean, come on, the stars are cool to look at .”

“I used to be a little scared of the dark,” Fluttershy said, looking down and away from Dash.

“No, really?” Dash teased.

“Well, a little, that is until I found out about all of my little nocturnal friends,” Fluttershy said as she looked at a lemur who was leaping from tree to tree. “They also helped me to see just how pretty some of the pictures the stars make are. Like the Canis, or the Ursa, or the felis one.” To reference, Fluttershy pointed to a cluster of stars that looked like a cat.

Dash took a good long look, and after a few moments, could actually see the cat, “Yeah I can see it. That is why they are so awesome to look at, all of the pictures and shape you could look at, the light they can give off for some late night pranks, and of course, the really awesome things you can do with your friends at night.” Dash then let out a small chuckle, “those ponies back a 1000 years ago didn’t know what they were missing.”

“Well, we can’t all have boundless energy Dash, some ponies do need sleep.” Fluttershy said, feeling comforted by Dash’s body heat.

“Yeah, but think of all of the cool things they’re missing at night! Stargazing, scary stories, raves, and snuggling up warmly with the mare that we l-care a lot about,” Dash said, blushing a little.

“Mmmmm,” Fluttershy said, snuggling up a little closer, “I like the snuggle bit, my little snuggly.”

“Oh, am I that soft?” Dash asked, looking at the mare in her hooves.

“Well, that is because...” Fluttershy blushed a little as she looked up at Dash, “well, um...your muscles are so lean and toned that they make a really good pillow,”

Rainbow Dash found herself blushing at the compliment, not knowing whether to deny it or to take it in, “Well, you’re snugglier.” To add onto this, Dash snuggled a little more into Fluttershy, keeping the mare close to her.

Fluttershy said nothing, but chose to nuzzle Dash’s neck instead. Thus, did the two ponies laid there under the stars, watching as they twinkled and shone. Luna’s moon continued to light the two as they watched the world pass above them, allowing them to relax and allow the night winds provide the music to relax them. After a few moments, Rainbow Dash got up with Fluttershy next to her, “Now, my date would walk me back home.”

Rainbow smirked at this, “No prob! One little walk home to finish off this great ‘practice’ first date.” She then took Fluttershy’s hoof in hers and lifted her off the ground, flying the two of them towards Fluttershy’s cottage. Elsewhere, the mint green unicorn changed her song to one of a shy lover finding herself afraid to confess or to fall in love with the one that the person cares for.

________________________________________

After flying through the air for a few miles, the two pegasi softly floated down to Fluttershy’s cottage, “Thank you so much, Rainbow.”

“Hey, no prob! This little ‘practice’ date was pretty fun,” Dash said with a chuckle, and slowly turned away.

“Oh! There is, um, one last thing I would like my date to do on my first date,” Fluttershy said, blushing to the point where her coat turned pink.

“What’s that?” Rainbow asked.

“To give me a...goodnight kiss,” Fluttershy squeaked.

Now, it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to blush a little as she took a step back, “A...what?”

“A goodnight kiss, you...don’t have to,” Fluttershy shyly said as she hid behind her mane.

“No, no, I want to. I mean after all,” Rainbow said, leaning in slowly towards Fluttershy, “It-its just a simple, goodnight kiss.”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy nodded as she leaned up, “J-just a...simple goodnight-”

“Kiss,” Dash said as she leaned in to kiss her dear friends, their lips pressing close to each other in a deep and soft kiss. Fluttershy let out a soft moan as she closed her eyes and fell into the passion of the kiss. Allowing her lips to move along Fluttershy’s, Rainbow slowly slid a hoof to the back of Fluttershy’s head, rubbing gently and moving through the soft strands of Fluttershy’s mane. Purring softly, Fluttershy allowed Rainbow to push a little further into the kiss, enjoying the soft taste of her friends lips. The two stood there for a few moments, allowing themselves to feel the emotion of the kiss. All too soon, did the two break off the kiss, Rainbow Dash panting as she looked at her friend, “WOW! That...that was something.”

“Y--yes, it was,” Fluttershy said, opening the door quickly and walking in, “A great practice first kiss on a date.”

“Yeah,” Dash panted, beads of sweat sliding down, “A great way to end a date. Goodnight Fluttershy.”

“G-goodnight,” Fluttershy smiled as she closed the door. Her eyes then opened wide as she heard a knocking at the door. Turning around, she opened the door quickly and saw Dash still standing there, “Rainbow Dash?”

“Hey, you wanna practice that goodnight kiss again? I don’t think we got it down,” Dash asked as she looked at her friend.

“YES!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she leaned up to her friend and pressed her lips closely to Rainbow’s, kissing her friend deeply. Though it was shorter than before, it was no less passionate. Pulling away slowly, Fluttershy smiled and stated, “Goodnight, Dashie.”

Rainbow Dash stumbled a little as she began to fly off, “G-goodnight Flutters.”

Closing the door behind her, Fluttershy leaned up against the door and let out a contented sigh, “That, was a wonderful first...date.”

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flew up to a nearby cloud and grabbed a tuft of cloud and threw it up into the air, “WHAT WAS THAT?! I only wanted to kiss her goodnight, not liplock her! I...I,” her eyes then widened at the realization, “Oh,...Luna help me. I think I’m in love with my best friend.”

________________________________________

The next morning

“Fridge Largemeats and Roll Fizzlebeef are pleased to announce the engagement of their son, Bulk Biceps to the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thunderwalker, Cloudchaser,” Scootaloo read aloud as she looked at the newspaper. Letting out a growl of frustration, she scrunched up the newspaper and threw it in the garbage.

“Well, at least we helped one couple get together,” Sweetie Belle nervously stated.

“TOO BAD IT WAS THE WRONG ONES!!” Scootaloo yelled before slamming her head against the wall.

“ Don’t worry, Scoots, Sweetie’s plan is sure to work,” Applebloom said, putting a comforting hoof onto her friend’s back.

Author's Note

Thanks to Nurse Pony for the editing.

Now about this chapter, the original couple was going to be to random background ponies...until I saww Wonderbolts academy, then I had to put them in. And yes, his parents names are based off of MST3K, were you expecting anything else?

Edited to fix some formatting

I think I love you

I think I love you

It was sullen and quiet in the clubhouse on this particular day. The three crusaders laid around in various positions with the romance books that they’d collected for research splayed out before them as they tried their best to come up with how to execute their latest plan. With a loud annoyed grunt, Scootaloo grabbed her ‘Crusader shipping planning military helmet’ (patent pending) and forced it over her face, “Doesn’t anypony have a plan, yet?” She muffled through the helmet.

Applebloom looked up from her book with a pencil in her mouth, “Oh, Ah got it! What if we wrote a letter to each sayin ‘Confess your lies!’ and make them go to each other.”

“That won’t work,” Scootaloo said with a sigh as she laid on her back, “Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both know my hoofwriting. Even if we don’t include me, there is nothing stopping Dash from going to Pinkie and have her point out that its our writing.”

“OOOH!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, raising her hoof as she raised her head away from her book. “What if we had Dinky or Pipsqueak write the letters instea...oh wait, no. Same problem huh?” A sigh escaped the little filly’s mouth as she watched the girls nod in response, “What if we made Fluttershy feel guilty about a lie she said once?”

“And how do we do that? Fluttershy’s not the type of mare to hold in a secret for that long,” Scootaloo said, thrusting her hooves in the air.

“Ya know, Ah think one of the big problems with this plan is that none of us know that much about Fluttershy. So we can’t really figure out what she would lie about for a long time,” Applebloom said dejectedly.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo sighed, rolling onto her belly, “it’s also tough to do when you remember that they had been friends for years.”

“It’s like us,” Sweetie Belle said as she put away the book, “We’ve known each other for a while and we tell each other everything.”

Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other and nodded in response. With a small grunt, Scootaloo rolled onto her belly and looked to her friends, “To tell you the truth, I was hoping that we already have Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as a couple by this time and we could use this plan to bring them closer together.”

“Maybe we should just skip this plan. Ah mean,” Applebloom said, pointing her hoof down at one of the open books, “ every time one of these writers pull the old ‘Ah’ve got a lie Ah’ve should’ve told ya from the beginning,’ or the old ‘mah lie is something that really isn’t that big, but it will hurt ya’ type of things, it’s always just to force some drama on the book. It always seems to lead to nothing but a bunch of worthless padding!”

“Yeah, they always seem to get together in the end, and we know that they will. So what’s the point of separating them with a stupid lie?” Sweetie Belle asked, putting away the book.

“Yeah, lets try to think think of something else,” Scootaloo said, taking out another book before looking outside the window, “Hey, what time is it?”

“About 3:30,” Sweetie Belle said, looking at the clock behind her, “Why?”

“3:30? We got to call this short, Ah got some chores to do,” Applebloom said, getting up and walking to the door, nudging her head over her shoulder.

“Uh,” Scootaloo quickly took the hint as she looked over to her friend, “Yeah, and I’ve got somethings to do. Talk to ya later!” Scootaloo said, putting on her scooter helmet and walked out of the door and down the steps to her scooter.

“All right, bye!” Sweetie Belle smiled as she waved bye, before looking at her cutie mark. Her contented smile grew a little bigger as she stared at the heart shaped around a bell and a music note. The day she had gotten it, just a short few weeks ago, was one of the happier moments of her life. The smile then turned into a little bit of a frown as she thought about the lack of a cutecenera for her achievement, like earning her goal was meaningless.

Little did she know, that just outside of the clubhouse, two little filles smiled and began to wisper, “Come on, lets get over to the botique and wait for her. The party is about to start.”

“Oh, Ah can’t wait. Sweetie’s gonna be so surprised!” Applebloom softly whispered as she and Scootaloo sped off, “This party is going to be something else.”

Date 7: A lie that causes a temporary breakup

On the other side of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were walking along the soft path that led outside of town. As Fluttershy looked to the small birds flying around them she also listened to Rainbow Dash bragging, “This show is going to be AWESOME! The Wonderbolts will be flying in and...” the cyan mare went on, not noticing the mare next to her pondering.

Fluttershy looked over her shoulder at the talking Rainbow Dash, listening to her talk on and on about the flight team. Letting out a sigh she said, “Ummm, Rainbow?”

“And then Spitfire will swoop in with a-” Dash continued on.

“Rainbow?” Fluttershy squeaked, trying to get the pegasus’s attention.

“Then we’ll watch the big finale where Fleetfoot and Surprise-” Rainbow continued, unaware of her friend’s calls.

“RAINBOW DASH!” Fluttershy squeaked, the noise just loud enough to frighten a small mouse.

Turning her head to look back at the yellow pegasus, Dash floated to ground level with her, “What is it, Fluttershy?”

“I need to tell you,” Fluttershy nervously stated, “The truth is...I never liked the Wonderbolts shows...all that much.”

“What?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow at this.

“Their shows are just too loud and noisy, and they are always the same, are usually boring and why don’t they get some new fliers?” Fluttershy ranted, and then looked at the shocked pegasus in front of her, “I am so sorry, pleasedon’thateme!”

Rainbow’s first reaction was to yell at her about why she didn’t say anything before for all of that time, but then she looked at the cowering pegasus before her and sighed, giving a roll of the eyes before responding, “I’m not mad Flutters. I’m just annoyed at the fact you never told me this before. Why did you keep coming with me if you hated the shows that much?”

“Well the truth is,” Fluttershy blushed, “I just went there because it was a chance to spend some time with you. Even if I can’t get into the performace like you can, I just like staying with you and listening to you talk about it. I just like being near you and doing things with you, and you...kind of outperform them any day.”

“I do? Well of course,” Dash said with a bow.

“Well, its true!” Fluttershy said, walking up to Rainbow, “You always find new ways to perform your stunts, adding new twists because you want to make it perfect, and always trying to make it the best that you can. Like you are never satisfied with one style or approach, because you want it to be the best. It’s,” Fluttershy then smiled a little, “inspiring.”

Rainbow Dash threw her head back in a chuckle at this statement, letting the approval getting to her head, and then turned her head away a little as she began, “As long as we’re being honest here,” she said, rubbing the back of her head. “I kind of don’t really like those butterfly migrations you take me on.”

Seeing that her friend was about to give out some apologies, she quickly put a hoof to Fluttershy’s mouth, “Wait, before you say anything- Look, I just hate the whole migration thing its just too boring for me. But, I only go to those things with you because I...” a soft smile came to Dash’s face as she continued, “really love to hang out with you and just listen to you talk about them. When you get into talking about birds, butterflies, and all of that other animal stuff, its just too awesome for words. Come on, do you see yourself when you get like that?”

“Well, no,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head.

“When you get started on talking about animals and stuff, you become just as enthusiastic as I am about flying! You just become so,” Dash struggled for a moment as she thought about the right word, “passionate.”

“P-P-Passionate? ME?” Fluttershy questioned, feeling a little embarrassed.

“Yeah, really passionate. You just get into it so much, that I can’t help but love it,” Dash said with a confident smile. She then cupped her friend’s chin and looked into her blue eyes, “Look, there are just some things that I like doing with you that I can only do with you. Yeah, Twilight can fly now, but she hasn’t been doing it nearly as long as we have and I like pranking with Pinkie, but she doesn’t have that cute squeak when she gets embarrassed. I love to hang out with AJ, but I always prefer to compete with her or try to oneup her and Rarity can be annoying sometimes with how often she tries to ‘pretty-me up’. But with you,” Dash let out a little chuckle, “I can relax, show something about myself that I can’t show to others. It’s why I do things like taking you out jousting, tornado drills, and stuff like that. It’s just that sometimes it’s better when it’s just you, and...its just more special with you and I love spending those moments with you.”

“I like spending that special time with you, too,” Fluttershy said with a smile, leaning up. Looking into Rainbow’s eyes as her lips neared Rainbow’s, “Rainbow Dash, I think I-” she was then interrupted by what sounded like a party cannon going off, “WHAT WAS THAT?”

Pulling away from Fluttershy for the moment, Rainbow Dash took to the sky and saw bright lights coming from the Carousel Boutique, “Hey, isn’t today when Sweetie Belle was having her surprise cutecenera?” Dash asked, watching Fluttershy nod in response, “Come on, lets check it out!” Dash said, taking Fluttershy by her hoof and taking her to the area of the party.

Date 8: A moonlit walk

A few moments before the party began, Sweetie Belle was walking alone to the Carousel Boutique. As she made her way to the door, the little white filly began to hum and come up with a new song in her head

Doo-doo
Dreams come true
Once more I’m into you

When she had discovered her special talent, she found out that not only could she sing, but also had a penchant for writing lyrics as well. The ease of which the lyrics came to her was the type of thing to bring a big smile to her, especially since her friends were all busy with other things and left her alone for the afternoon. Opening the door widely, Sweetie Belle called out, “Rarity! I’m home!” Taking a look inside, she found it deserted, “Hmmmm? Where did she go? I thought she had something important to make for a client,” she said out loud to herself as she put away her saddle bags.

Looking ahead in the dark room, the little white filly saw a box on the stand where Rarity’s clients would normally stand to pose in Rarity’s latest outfits. Arching an eyebrow at the box, she walked up to it and lifted the box to read the card, “To my Sweetest Belle, from: your biggest fan.” Curious to what was inside it, the white filly quickly began to rip the package to reveal it’s contents, “Oh my Celestia!” Sweetie exclaimed as she looked at the blue dress in front of her, “This is beautiful,” her tone of glee came out as she quickly put her dress on. As she put it on, she was happy to discover how well it fit her body and was able highlight her developing beauty. Looking at the sparkles of her dark blue dress, she was quickly reminded of the outfits of Cherry and Twinkle Turner that she liked so much. As she continued to look over every inch of her new dress, she heard a large boom coming from outside. Walking off the stage and out the door, the young filly was surprised by the sight of a large party outside her door.

“SURPRISE!” Shouted Pinkie Pie as she leapt out from under banner, walking over to the little filly and giving her a little hat.

Sweetie Belle stood there in shock and surprise as her two friends walked over to her, “You guys threw me a cutecenera, but I thought-” Sweetie began but was interrupted by Scootaloo.

“Yeah, we agreed to wait until all of us got our cutie marks, but we figured it-” Scootaloo began to explain but was interrupted by Applebloom.

“Would be more fun if we each had one for us and then a big one fer when we are all done to celebrate s making it as a group,” Applebloom stated, a smile on her lips as she stood next to Sweetie Belle.

Some small tears came to her eyes, “Thanks guys, you’re the best. Thank you,” Sweetie squeaked.

“Hey! None of that!” Pinkie Pie said, wiping some of the tears away, “This is a party and they’re meant to be fun! NOW LETS PARTAYYY!!!”

As the party began in earnest, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew in, quickly joining in on the festivities. They immediately found their friends and began to while the day away, talking about their own stories and remembering the cutie mark crusaders disasters in getting their old attempts to get their marks. Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, played and danced with her friends, trying her best not to brag about how great it was to have one finally to two certain bullies.

The party wore on through the day and well into the night, with the ponies only becoming more livier as the night descended on the little hamlet. Looking back at a small stage, Sweetie Bell quickly ran to the round platform and grabbed the microphone, “ Um, excuse me everypony! If I could have your attention,” she spoke into the microphone. “ I want to thank everypony for coming here, it means a lot. Standing here, I can’t help but think of all the effort that me and my friends put into getting our marks, but it was all worth in the end. But,” she then looked to Scootaloo and Applebloom with a smile on her face, “I wouldn’t have found it out if it weren’t for my friends. That is why I came up with this song, to help remind them what they meant to me.” With a glow of her horn, the little filly began the music and began to sing.

There I was, with a sulken head
Waiting for my destiny

Turning her head to look at her friend, Rainbow Dash noticed Fluttershy’s hooves tapping in synch to the beat. A smile came to her face as she asked, “Hey Flutters, wanna dance?”

“Oh, me, w-well...” Fluttershy stammered as she hid behind her pink mane.

“Come on!” Dash said, picking up her friend in her forelegs and flying high into the sky.

And when my friends are there, nothing needs to be said
We stand to hold each other up

Pinkie Pie watched the two pegasi flying up into the sky and past the clouds, giving a small cheer in response, “Yeah! Go for it you two!”

“Well, its about time,” Rarity said, standing next to Pinkie as she watched the pegasi flying away, “I guess I better get to designing soon.”

Sadly, Scootaloo was too busy listening to her friend’s song to see the culmination of her plans coming to fruition.

Funny how all dreams come true
when its me and you
The day we met I found my destiny

After the two broke through the small set of clouds, Rainbow Dash set her friend softly down on the bank and held her at hoof’s length. A cunning grin came to the cyan pegasus as she then twirled the butter-colored mare to her. Fluttershy let out a small squeak as Dash pulled her in close, and then smiled softly as she laid her head onto Dash’s shoulder. For a short while, the two danced softly on the clouds, their hoofprints making tiny little dance steps in the clouds.

Its funny how you make me feel
Safe and sound
how you keep me from getting turned around

Down on the ground, Scootaloo and Applebloom decided to join the songstress on stage, finding a way to hum in perfect harmony. Though they didn’t know the words to the song, they were able to pick up on the beat easily enough to join their longtime friend. As they could feel the music flow through them, they found themselves dancing alongside Sweetie Belle better than before

Here we are, heart to heart
It’s great feeling you so near You kept my world from falling apart
Keeping yourself so dear
baby

Up on the clouds, Fluttershy broke from the close contact with Rainbow Dash to begin dancing to her own beat. Watching her partner move along the beat, Dash began to copy her movements and trying to add some unique movements on her own. A soft smile coming to Fluttershy’s lips, she danced up close to Rainbow Dash, brushing her side against Rainbows slowly. As she did, Rainbow Dash extended a wing to rub along the curve of her back.

Funny how all dreams come true
when its me and you
The day we met I found my destiny
We can be like fools, its true

Turning to face Rainbow, Fluttershy again began to dance to the beat, allowing the music to dictate how she was moving. Rainbow Dash put on a small smile as she flew below the cloud bank and then flew up and over Fluttershy, making a few loops over her. Fluttershy decided to follow her friend’s lead, grabbing some clouds of her own and tieing the hoops together before landing next to her cyan friend.

Dreams come true
when its me and you The day we met I found my destiny

If anypony were to look up at the cloud bank, they would see that it turned into a heart with the letters “RD+FS” in the center.

Just look at what we can do
When its just me and you

Grabbing each other’s hooves, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy began to dance at hoof’s length, rising higher and higher into the sky as they danced. Moving softly, each trusting each other completely like two life-long dance partners, the two allowed themselves to dance along to the music’s upbeat tempo.

Funny how dreams can come true
When its just me and you The day we met I found my destiny

As the music began to near its end, Fluttershy took both of Dash’s hooves and twirled the cyan mare into her, letting her rest her head on Rainbow’s shoulders. Dash’s eyes widened at this assertive moment, but as she came into contact with her friend, she let out a contented sigh and rested her head on Fluttershy’s shoulders. With their bodies in close contact with each other, they finished off their dance as Sweetie Belle came to the last verse of her song.

Funny how we help dreams come true
When its just me and you
You helped to find my destiny

As the music came to a close, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy continued their little dance, hovering in the air with their bodies cuddling close to one another. As Rainbow Dash listened to the soft breathing of her dance partner, she took a quick look down at the lake, “Hey, Flutters?”

“Hmmmm?” Fluttershy murmured, enjoying the closeness of Rainbow Dash and the soft touch of her coat.

“Want to go and walk by the lake?” Dash asked, looking into Fluttershy’s eyes with a smile.

“Sure,” Fluttershy said with a quick nod and flew off towards the lake, with Rainbow Dash right behind her.

After a short flight to the nearby lake, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash landed softly on the beach next to it. Taking the buttery-colored pegasus’s hoof, Rainbow Dash walked with her along the shoreline, the moon above lighting their journey. Dash looked at Fluttershy, highlighted by the moon’s bright glow and admired the way that she looked at that moment, as if she was a transcendent being, or a fairy of love that she had read about in a Daring Do book.

Meanwhile, just a few miles away, a mint green unicorn looked up to her beige earth pony mare and smiled, bringing out her lyre to play her final song. A soft breath escaped the unicorn’s lips before she began, deciding to tell her maiden why she had been singing the songs for the past few days. This was her gift to her love, to honor the day that they promised to each other to be there for all time. To love and support one another, and to be the one that they could rely on. As she began this song that would tell her everything that they meant to each other, Lyra mouthed out the words to Bon Bon, “I love you,” and then began to play her last song of the week. This song was a pledge to her, and a promise to live up to the vow they made that day so long ago.

As Fluttershy walked with Rainbow Dash, she laid her head onto the blue pegasus shoulder. Breathing softly, she allowed herself to enjoy the warmth of her dear friend and the softness of her body. The walk continued to take them around the water’s edge, never touching the water but leaving behind an obvious trail. Looking up at her dear friend, Fluttershy asked, “Dash, have you ever thought about what’s going to happen when you finally make it into the Wonderbolts?”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked, stopping their walk.

“Well, when you make it there,” Fluttershy said, scratching the ground beneath her, “you’re not going to have much time to raise Scootaloo, or time for your friends.”

“Hey, none of that!” Dash said with a bit of confidence, “There is no way I am going to let my dream going to interfere with spending time with my friends or my little sis. I am going to make time! After all, Surprise is a mom herself and she raises her kid pretty dang well. And even if I can’t...I know Scoots will be well taken care of,” Dash said, tucking her friend’s chin, “ because I know she has five awesome gals to help raise her: AJ, Pinkie , Rares, Twi, and you.”

“Oh Dash, you know I will always be there to help,” Fluttershy said, looking into Rainbow’s magenta eyes.

“I know,” Dash said softly. As she stared into the blue eyes of her friend, her mind began to think back to the events of the past few days, “Fluttershy?”

“Hmmm?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“I think...” Dash began, thinking of what this mare meant to her. The mare that she swore to protect when they were fillies, to stand by no matter what was going to happen to her, “I...”

“Yes?” Fluttershy asked, looking into Dash’s eyes, thinking of how this mare would help support her through thick and thin, was the mare who would make her see that she was better than what she gave herself credit for.

Dash, remembering the things she lost with Sunny, that she gained with Flutters, and how this was the mare that would allow her inner self come through, steeled her resolve and said, “I love you.”

“Oh Dash,” Fluttershy said, quickly leaning up, “I love you too.” and with that, pressed her lips against Dash in a deep passionate kiss.

Meanwhile, as Lyra finished her song, Bon Bon mouthed out, “I love you.”

Author's Note

Thanks to Nurse pony for editing. You're the best mom!

Ok, a little trivia. The lie part of this, was going to be it's own chapter, but when I looked back at the rough draft, I began to realize that I had no idea just HOW the CMC was going to trick them or to go through this plan without them looking like aholes. So instead, I decided to merge this chapter with the lie and make it one big one. This, to me, helped a little in flowing the story.

And yes, I hate the lie part of romantic comedies. They usually just drag the action down and slow everything about the movie to a halt when its really unesscary.

Oh, and yes, I just ponyfied Cher and Tina Turner. I love their music that much.

Now, we are in the home streach. Three chapters left, what will happen next? and will this ever get popular enough for a tropes page?

Lets keep the light, forever true

Let’s keep the light forever true

Scootaloo rode through the quiet streets of Ponyville alone on her small scooter. It had been about two months since her plans to try hook Rainbow Dash up with Fluttershy had all ended in failure and since then, the crusaders had given up on the rest of the plan. Mainly because their reservoir of potential plans had all dried up, and they lacked any other ideas to send the two pegasi on potential dates. A small happy chuckle escaped her lips as her mind drifted away from the failures of the last two months and onto the achievements of the Crusaders instead, “I am so proud of Babs, getting her mark like that!” The orange pegasus exclaimed as she drove on ahead.

This was how the preceding two months was spent, the small group of ponies trying to get their cutie marks. As her house came into view, she thought about how their Manehatten counterpart accidentally interrupted a sleepover that she was having with her friends to break the news. This was why Scootaloo was traveling home so late, she wanted to give her best friend and her cousin time to part and plan how to celebrate the occasion. Stopping at the rope ladder that led up to the cloud home, the orange pegasus climbed slowly up the ladder and through the front door of her home, trying her best to not wake up her ‘mother’.

As the filly made her way up the stairs and past Dash’s room, she heard the pegasus snore quietly, “Mmmmm, Fluttershy.”

“Great, another one of Those dreams,” muttered Scootaloo under her breath.

“Dashie,” squeaked a soft voice.

“What?” Scootaloo deadpanned as she took a peek into the room and her eyes widened at the sight on the bed. Laying there was Rainbow Dash, her hooves draped across a buttery-yellow pegasus. Said pegasus had her forelegs wrapped around the barrel of the cyan mare, resting her head on the shoulder and snoring contentedly with her mane a little out of place. It did not take long for the gears in Scootaloo’s mind to figure out what she walked in on, “Oh, my, Celestia,” she whispered under her breath as she backed away. “They-They’re-They are- They...”

Miraculously, the small pegasus found the strength to walk away quickly from the sight of her mother and her mom’s marefriend in bed together without shrieking in utter glee and made it to her bedroom. Once there, she began to thrust her hooves up triumphantly into the sky before falling back onto the bed, giggling, “Hehehehehehehe! I did it! I DID it! I got them together, I got them together I...I just saw my mom and future other mom in the afterglow!” As the revelation of that news came to her, she quickly stuck out her tongue, “YUCK!”

The next morning, Rainbow Dash opened her magenta eyes as the first rays of the sun hit her eyelids. Groaning and moaning at how she was woken up, she shook her head a little to wake herself up fully before trying to get out of bed. Moving slightly, she found her process impeded by a pair of yellow hooves. A warm blush filled her cheeks as she quickly remembered the events of the previous night, and slowly untangled herself from her mare’s grip. Moving slowly, she got out of the bed and kissed Fluttershy softly on the cheek. Fluttershy let out a soft giggle as her marefriend’s lips touched her cheek and whispered, “Morning.”

Dash smirked as she looked at the sleeping pegasus, “Mornin, snuggly. I’ll go make us some breakfast and then we can go pick up Scootaloo together.”

“Ok,” Fluttershy groggily said, slowly wiggling under the covers.

Walking out of the room with a smile, the rainbow maned pegasus trotted down the stairs and to the kitchen. As she walked to the cabinet to get some cereal, she did not notice the orange filly sitting at the table with a bowl full of cereal, “Morning, Dash!” The orange filly exclaimed, a smirk on her face.

“Mornin, Scoots,” Dash said as she grabbed a bowl, only to drop it as her eyes widened in shock, “SCOOTS! When did you get here.

“Last night,” Scootaloo said.

“Last night?” Rainbow Dash asked, a little surprised.

“Yeah, Babs and her family dropped by for an unexpected visit last night, so I had to cut the sleepover short to let them have some family time,” Scootaloo said, before smirking, “So did you have fun last night?”

“Y-Yeah, I did. I had a blast last night,” Stuttered Rainbow, getting a drink of cider.

“I bet Fluttershy was,” Scootaloo nonchalantly said.

At that remark, Rainbow Dash immediately spat out the cider she had been drinking, “W-What? What makes you think I was doing anything with Fluttershy last night. We were-”

“Oh, you are here already Scootaloo,” Blushed Fluttershy as she came down the stairs and saw the two sisters. Lightly rubbing her hoof while a small blush came to her cheeks, “I...I think I’ll be going home now. See you later Rainbow Dash.”

As Rainbow Dash watched her lover walked out, she turned to look at her little sister, “Ok, so me and Flutters have been going out for two months now. She’s just been really shy about this and didn’t want to tell everypony just yet. You ain't upset about this are ya?”

Scootaloo’s eyes opened wide at this, “ARE YOU KIDDING? I AM EXCITED ABOUT THIS! I have been waiting for you two to get together for a while!” With a squee and a laugh, the little filly got off the chair and ran to give her sister a congratulatory hug, “Now that you two are together, you two can get engaged and then married and then-”

“WHOA KID!” Dash exclaimed, pulling away a little and looking down at Scootaloo in disbelief, “Just because me and Flutters had a really ‘great’ time last night, doesn’t mean that we are ready for something like that.”

“Dash, do you love her? Do you like holding her? Are you really close to her to the point that you two almost know what the other is thinking?” Scootaloo asked, smiling as Dash nodded her head to each answer, “Then there’s the answer.”

Dash sat the little filly on the ground and rubbed her hoof through the purple mane, “ You’re a shrew debater you know that kid?”

A cheerful chuckle escaped the filly’s lip as she looked up, “It’s a gift. Now, I got to see the girls, Babs just got her cutie mark and that calls for a big party with the four of us!”

“Right, see ya later kid,” Dash said, smiling as she watched her little charge leave. With a contented sigh, she walked over to a small cupboard and pulled out a small box. Smiling softly to herself, she opened it to look at a bracelet, meant to go over one’s hoof, “Now to just talk to Rarity.”

“Hey, Rares!” Rainbow Dash said, flying into the boutique as the marshmallow mare finished the last stitch on a suit, “I need some advice.”

“What sort of advice, darling?” Rarity asked.

“How,” Nervously, she put a hoof behind her head as she looked to her longtime friend, “do you go about popping the question.”

“OH MY GOODNESS! THIS IS SO WONDERFUL!” “Rarity exclaimed as she hugged the cyan mare tightly, “I am so proud of you, finally asking Fluttershy to be your wife! Oh, I cannot wait to design her gown! I have been dreaming about this for ages!”

“Wait, what made you think it was Fluttershy?” Dash asked.

“Rainbow, my dear, everypony in the entirety of Ponyville could tell that you two had been getting closer as of late, and the rest of us could see just how much you two were falling for one another,” Rarity then turned her head and grumbled, “It’s just that now I owe Applejack 50 bits.”

“What?”

“We had a small betting pool between the four of us on how long it was going to be before you popped the question,” Rarity explained, “I had thought you would wait a year, but Applejack figured you’d move fast and would do it in two months. But never mind that, tell me, how you were going to ask?”

“Well, I was thinking,” Dash explained, “I was going to say, ‘Hey, Flutters, you and I have known each other for most of our lives...how about you and I go and spend the rest of our lives together.” At the end of this, Dash noticed that Rarity had looked at Dash with a disbelieving look, “What?”

Calmly, Rarity placed a hoof onto Dash’s shoulder and shook her head, “Rainbow Dash, you are about to propose to Fluttershy. Fluttershy, who is one of my dearest friends and somepony I care deeply about, and you are going to ask her a life changing question. One that could affect her entire life,” her eyes then narrowed as she grabbed Rainbow Dash by both shoulders and yelled, “YOU ARE NOT ASKING HER OUT FOR A BIG HAYBUGER AND SOME FRIES!”

“Well, what’s the problem?” Dash asked.

“Rainbow, you need to romance her, woo her, and charm her. You should do things for her that, when you have her in your hooves and looking deep into her blue eyes that she will be putty in your hooves,” Rarity then smiled, “and then when you ask her that question, she will have no choice but to say, “YES!”

Rainbow Dash arched an eyebrow at all of the spectacle, “So what do advise, oh Mistress Rarity?”

Rarity chuckled as her brow narrowed, “My darling Rainbow Dash, watch and learn.”

The atmosphere in the CMC clubhouse was very jovial as the 3 were partying up a storm, “Come on, Babs! Y’all have to tell the story again,” Applebloom said, looking to the door to see if Scootaloo was coming in yet.

“All right. So there I wuz,” the brown filly began, “walkin in the back alleys of Manehatten with my two friends, when suddenly, some bullies from my ol’ school showed up. Of course we tried to walk away, but theys wanted to fight us. One of them pulled a knife and I stood my ground while the others got away. I rumbled, fought, and got knocked for it, but when I woke up,” a smirk came to her face as she turned her flank to show off the image of an apple inscribed in a shield, “There it wuz.”

“That was an awesome story,” Scootaloo said, walking up the ramp to meet the other three, “It’ll go great with the other awesome news I have.”

“Scoots! Ya finally got here,” exclaimed Applebloom as she watched her friend come in.

“Whats the news?” Asked Sweetie Belle.

“Well, remember all of the stuff we did two months ago with Rainbow and Fluttershy?” Asked Scootaloo, watching two of the fillies nod.

“What stuff?” Babs inquired, looking confused.

“Well, two months ago me and the others tried to get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash together,” Scootaloo explained.

“Shouldn’t ya have waited for that to happen naturally?” Babs argued.

“But that would’ve taken forever! And besides,” Scoots said, smirking, “They would have never done it without us. And, that’s what happened! They got together!”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, smiled, and let out a huge cheer, “WE DID IT!”

Taking hold of Applebloom’s hooves, the white unicorn mare jumped up and down, “I can’t believed our plans worked. They actually worked! Now we can move onto phase 2: Getting them engaged.”

“Uhhh, shouldn’t ya wait for a moment and think this ova?” Asked Babs as she watched the three mares run throughout the clubhouse to get out their “Operation: Get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hitched” plans.

“No time! We have waited two months and that is too long for my tastes!” Scootaloo said, lifting up the white board and drew up the diagram.

Babs let out a deep sigh and looked up with a bit of determination in her eyes, “Ya know yuz all sound crazy, right? But what the hey, I’m in!”

Sweetie Belle smiled as she reached over and stole Scootaloo’s helmet, “GREAT!”

“HEY!”

“Sorry, Scootaloo but I had been planning this one for a while!” Sweetie said with a smirk as she ran up to the podium and lifted up the pointer with her magic, “So here’s how it’ll go down-”

“What we are going to do, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said, tapping her pointer with her hoof, “Is first, you will ask Fluttershy to go to the most fabulous restaurant in Canterlot. Luckily for you, I have connections. Then I’ll-”

“-get Rarity to put Fluttershy into a spiffy and spectacular outfit. Then, we’ll follow them to Canterlot, where they’ll dance to some awesome-”

“-Soft, classical, romantic music as provided by Octavia. After which, you two will enjoy a nice and romantic dinner. Perhaps a-”

“Flaming meal with some awesome fireworks!” Interjected Babs as she looked at the stick figures representing the two pegasi.

“Right, then Rainbow will-”

“Present the ring in the middle of the beautiful sonata, declaring your love for her!” Rarity finished with a flair.

“Do you really think that this plan will work?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Darling, its... “Going to be perfect!” The sisters said, simultaneously.

______________________________________________________________________________

The next day, Rainbow Dash was dressed out in an athletic and sleek dress and pacing like her hooves were on fire, “Ok, Dash you can do this! I mean, its just a simple question and Rarity said that the night she had planned is gonna be perfect. There is no reason to worry about this,” the blue mare then struck a pose with all of the confidence that she could muster, “Ya got this.”

“Hello Rainbow,” shouted a soft voice from above.

Rainbow Dash turned to look up at the incoming buttery yellow pegasus as she flew in, “Heaaaah,” was all she could get out before the sight of Fluttershy in her dress caused her to lose all ability to speak.

“Oh, did you like my dress?” Fluttershy asked, twirling around a bit to give Dash a full look at her gown.

Rainbow Dash looked on in a bit of stunned silence as she gazed at the green dress, the way that the outfit clung nicely to the curves of her body began to affect the cyan pegasus’s mind, “Yeahhhhhhh,” Dash mumbled, still unable to find the ability to speak.

“It isn’t too much is it?” Fluttershy asked, looking at the small cut in the top and how the lower part seemed to empathize the soft curves of her flanks, “ I asked Rarity when she put it on me and she said it wasn’t. But I was worried that it might have made me look sultry, it doesn’t does it?”

“Uhhh, nnnno, no it doesn’t,” Dash nervously said, her mind unable to form proper sentences.

“Should we, go inside?” Asked Fluttershy, taking her marefirend by the hoof.

“Y-Y-Yeah,” Dash stammered, her mind finally finding the strength to talk again as the two walked into the fancy restaurant. Once inside, Dash led the buttery mare to the dance floor, a desire to have a little dance with her mare friend in her eyes. On the dance stage, a grey earth pony began to play a soft love song for the appropriate mood. Laying her cyan hooves onto Fluttershy’s shoulder, Rainbow Dash began to dance with in perfect tempo with the music.

“Ok, Vinyl, HIT IT!” Sweetie Belle cued Vinyl, not noticing the grey earth pony mare playing the song.

“Got it! Man, I love playing with Tavi,” the white unicorn said, smirking as she grabbed a stereo system and leaped onto the stage.

“Tavi?” Sweetie asked, looking at the stage to see Octavia playing, trying to ignore the DJ pony getting the music ready, “I didn’t think that she was playing tonight. I thought Vynyl was free to play alone tonight.”

The DJ listened to the music that Octavia was playing with her band and shot a look that read, “really?”. Smiling deviously, the unicorn lifted up another record and began to play some of her own music. Octavia’s eyes opened wide in shock at the loud noise from the music and furrowed her brow in response. With a flick of her mane, she looked to her band and tapped her foot in order to signal the group to pick up the tempo in order to match Vinyl's song. As the music began to pick up speed, Scratch let out a soft chuckle and smiled deviously as she began to speed the music up as well, adding a touch of her own to the beat with a mix of techno. Seeing this challenge present itself, the grey earth pony gritted her teeth and began to change her tone and style of song.

The white mare stepped back in utter shock at this turn, surprised that her longtime roommate could pull something like this. She then shrugged and gave a smirk of confidence as she quickly changed the tracks on her set, making sure that she added some beats in order to match the skill and melody of the opposition. Undeterred and unimpressed by the music selection from her opponent, Octavia continued to play her song. The two mares then looked at each other from across the stage, desire to win and show off their skills pumping through their blood along with the fire in their eyes. Stopping her song only long enough to draw her bow across the instrument slowly, she flashed her opponent a look at that dared Vinyl to make the next move. Vinyl saw the smirk and accepted the challenge in kind as she began a slow beat that turned into a blast of techno and rock to oppose Octavia’s hard instrumentals mixed with a soft tempo.

As for the effect this had on the two lovers on the floor, Rainbow Dash took the musical duel all in stride. Taking a hold of her pegasus date, she swooped her along the floor and moved in perfect rhythm to the odd mix. Keeping her hooves onto Fluttershy’s shoulders, she continued to dance in a weird ballet of speed and grace. Fluttershy, her eyes widened at first in shock, gained a knowing smile on her face as she began to move in tandem with Rainbow. Keeping close to Rainbow, she moved with all the grace that she had mixing her dance with the blue pegasus.

Together, they found a way to mix their usual style of dance with the music’s otherwise chaotic tone. This strange mix of techno and symphony created a music that was fierce tempered with gentleness, while being quiet yet with a loud spirit. In return, the dancers moved along with the beat in a dance that was firecly loyal yet kind at the same time, supporting each other to make one another brighter. Much like the two dancers themselves.

All too soon, the music ended and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy trotted back to their table exhausted. On the stage, Octavia and Vinyl looked at each other, tired but glad to have their little duel. Slowly, the white unicorn held up her hoof for her friend and in return, the grey mare held up hers and they shared a hoofbump. Rarity, who was watching this from behind the stage with a look that screamed ‘my plan is ruined’, shook her head and asked herself, “WHAT WAS THAT? What in Celestia’s name was Vinyl doing here, what was up with that music selection, and why did nopony tell me about this?” Rarity asked, frustration in her voice. “Well, at least it can’t get any-”

“I AM GOING TO PICK UP THEIR ORDER!” Silently yelled a brown pegasus waiter as he struggled with another stallion.

“Excuse me! But I have done engagement orders like this several times before, I am the most qualified,” the yellow unicorn objected.

“But an old school friend of mine wanted me to do this!” The teenage stallion said, trying his best to get to the table.

“Excuse me, but WHAT are you two doing?” Rarity asked, looking at the arguing stallions.

“I am sorry, miss Belle,” the older stallion said, “but this intern was trying to barge in on the job that you requested of me.”

“And all I am saying, is that I am a former Ponyvillian and I want to serve those two girls as a favor to-” he was quickly interrupted by Rarity.

“Tutut! I know how to solve this,” Rarity said, pushing the two waiters to the side, “You go get their order, and you bring the wine.”

“Uh, wine?” The other waiter asked.

“Yes, wine, is that a problem?” Rarity looked at the teenager weirdly.

“Well, its just that we getting something else,” the stallion continued as he looked behind him at a big red stallion carrying two barrels marked ‘Apple Family Cider.’

Rarity arched an eyebrow at this and looked to waiters, “Look, you ust get their orders, and I’ll handle this.” Walking away, she walked over to the back while grumbling to herself, “Try to work together with this resturant in order to get my two friends together and see it all fall to pieces before you. See if I will ever make them new uniforms at half price ever again.” Walking outside, she looked at the red stallion as he held a barrel over his shoulder, “Big Mac, what are you doing?” She asked, very sweetly but with some venom in her voice while running her hoof along Big Mac’s chest.

“Well I-” Big Mac began but soon was interrupted by Rarity.

“I don't want to hear it. Are you delivering cider?” Rarity questioned.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac plainly said.

Rarity then let out a smooth chuckle, “Big Mac, you do NOT bring cider to a restaurant like this! When you are proposing to somepony that you love, you should put the ring in a glass of wine, not cider. Wine, is romantic, cider is NOT ROMANTIC!”

“But-”

“Now, go and store your cider elsewhere and come back with some wine!” Rarity demanded, much to the annoyance of the red stallion. Rolling his eyes, Big Mac walked off to the kitchen and laid the barrel of cider to the side, wondering why his sister asked him to bring the barrels over there if nopony wanted any cider. He then sighed and walked out of the building, not seeing the two earth fillies walking behind him with some vials on hoof.

As Rainbow and Fluttershy began their order, Scootaloo noticed a bottle in the hooves of one of the waiters. Her eyebrow arched in curiosity, she walked over to Sweetie Belle, “Sweetie Belle, what’s going on?” Asked Scootaloo, her voice in a whisper, “I thought you had asked Long John to help with the order and get some cider. Not wine!”

“I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, a look of shock on her face. “I told him to bring some cider for Rainbow to put the ring in, because of how much she loves the stuff. I don’t know who that other guy is and what happened to the cider.”

“Guyz? We got a problem,” Babs said, sneaking over to the two fillies, a nervous Applebloom in tow.

“What problem?” Asked Scootaloo.

“Well, me and Applebloom decided to help with the meal a little for ya while you got everything else ready. I brought some stuff from mah Aunt Orange’s cabinet to help and...”

“And?”

Applebloom gulped, “When we were looking at the food, trying to see what they were ordering, Babs accidentally grabbed mah growth serum formula. Ya know, the one I made during our time with Twilight? I was gonna show it off to Babs and she took it. Ah tried to stop her but it slipped and fell onto this barrel of cider.”

“Oh no,” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“So...what’s going to happen?” Scootaloo gulped.

“Well, near as Ah figure...what’s gonna happen is that the serum might cause all that liquid to build up, and more and more of it is going to be produced and well...”

A look of utter fear came over the two fillies as they turned to look at the place where the kitchen was, and saw how a wave of yellow cider was coming from within, “TIDAL WAVE!” The four screamed as one as they ran out of the restaurant.

“Sweetie Belle?” Asked Rarity, watching the girls run by.

“Girls?” Asked Fluttershy.

“T-tidal wave?” Asked Dash as she looked at the kitchen, her eyes opening wide in horror as the doors burst open by the force of a powerful giant wave of brown cider. Moving quickly, she grabbed her marefriend and tried her best to save Fluttershy before they could be overtaken by the large wave of liquid. However, even with her speed, she just could not escape the oncoming wave before it washed over them both and sent them out of the restaurant.

After a few moments of swimming in cider and being washed against the waves, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy found themselves sitting against a fountain of Cadence. Completely soaked and part of her mane over her eyes, Rainbow Dash let out a small grumble, “Well, that was...something,” she said, pushing her mane back. Looking up, she stared at the buttery pegasus before her, the pink mane covering one eye and smiling a little. As the cyan pegasus looked at the mare, she noticed the buttery mare smiling more before breaking into a fit of giggles.

“Oh, Rainbow, this date was fun,” Fluttershy giggled. “I never thought I would get washed out of a restaurant by cider.”

Dash, finally seeing the hilariousness of the situation, began to laugh as well, “What can I say, I like to pull the unexpected on you sometimes. It’s what I do.”

Slowing down her laughter, Fluttershy nodded and pushed aside her mane, “Never a dull moment it seems. Everytime I’m with you, you make it exciting.”

Dash smiled back at her and reached behind her blue wing, “Hey Fluttershy, how about I go and make everyday of your life, just as exciting?”

“Rainbow, what do you-” Fluttershy stopped as she saw the box in front of her, the small golden hoofband inside gleaming with a gem. Looking back up at Rainbow Dash, she let out a small quiet, “YES!” Tackling her marefriend to the ground and kissing her deeply, running the yellow hoof along the cyan wings.Closing her eyes, Rainbow Dash returned the kiss with just as much passion, rubbing her hooves along Fluttershy’s back.

“YEEEHAW! CONGRATS YOU TWO!” Cheered Applejack from behind the bushes.

Disengaging from Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash sat up and looked towards the sound, “Applejack? When did you, where did you?” Dash asked as Fluttershy blushed a deep red and hid behind her strawberry mane, wiping it slowly.

“About right when you two landed. Ah just had to see how things were going to go,” Applejack said. “That and I had to help dry off Rarity.”

“And for that, I thank you,” Rarity said before running to Fluttershy and giving her friend a big hug, “OH, Fluttershy, I can’t be happier for you.”

“OH THIS IS GOING TO BE SO GREAT!” Cheered a pink and bubbly mare as she popped from the fountain to tackle hug her two friends, “MY two besties are getting married! Oh, I better start planning the cake and then there’s.”

“Pinkie Pie?” Asked Dash as she tried to get air from the pink mare’s big hug.

“Oh, I am so happy for you two! I can’t wait to tell the princess about it,” Twilight said, flying in from above the trees, crashing soon after. Shaking her head, she got back up and hugged her friends.

“Thanks, twilight,” Fluttershy said.

“Anypony else saw us getting sappy back there?” Asked Dash as four young fillies came rushing out, in particular an orange pegasus who jumped and hugged the two mares.

“YES! You two finally did it! I’m going get a new mom, or is it dad?” Scootaloo asked herself and then hugged the two mares again, “I don’t care, I’m getting a bigger family.”

“Family?” Dash asked, looking down at the filly and then back up at the mare before smiling, “Yeah...a family.”

Author's Note

I had a sex scene here somewhere, but I cut it out because I didn't want to change the rating for one and I didn't want to make a new story for that one scene either. (also, my mom is my editor, and you don't really want your mother to edit your porn) So I had to change the scene a bit. Maybe one day, I'll write the scene as a deleted scene for you all.

Second, this was an interesting chapter to write. At first, I had Scootaloo's discovery come from 'hearing' Rainbow and Fluttershy together. Then when it came to the engagement part, I was just going to have it with the mane six and not involve the CMC at all; however, the title of the fic is 'Love, Marriage, and Scootaloo" how can I have a chapter without the title character getting involved a little. Also, there was no Vinyl and Tavi match in the diner.

Thanks to Nurse pony for the editing.

Next up, wacky wedding preperation shennagians :)

Ps. Yes, I am a fan of Stan Bush, how did you guess?

Pss. Does anyone mind if I make a tiny edit to her Hardest duty to add Cheese in it?

Somebody's getting married

Somepony’s getting married!

Waking up one morning, a blue pegasus with black glasses walked out of his book store and picked up a newspaper

Story Teller: (holds up newspaper that says: Engagement announcement-Rainbow Danger Dash to marry Fluttershy Firewing)
Extra! Extra! Somepony's getting married!

Lyra:
Somepony's getting married? HEY, somepony's getting married!

BonBon:
Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash's getting married!

Cheerilee:
Fluttershy's getting married???

Pinkie:
My best friend’s are getting marrrrieeeed!

Roseluck, Daisy, Lilly, Fleetfoot:
Their getting married! Their getting married! Their getting, Their getting somepony's getting somepony somepony somepony somepony...!

Twilight Sparkle:
Now to check off everything
Chapel, flowers, choir, and cake?
Got to make sure everything is ok
Got to make sure everything is perfect

Spitfire, Soarin, Surprise, holding a newspaper with the engagement announcement:
Cause those two are getting married someday!
[a bit of the 'end of ceremony' music played]

Pinkie Pie:
Let’s get some party favors!
Let’s all bake a cake!
Lets set up a huge bachelorette party with all of our friends together

Rarity:
Its time to create, my masterpiece

Rarity and Pinkie:
Cause our friends will be getting married, soon!

Scootaloo:
Wedding Wedding, my mom is actually getting married!

Applejack:
Ah hope they remember to get a room,
Don’t wanna traumatize poor Scootaloo
Lets all make sure that they have the best day ever

Fluttershy:
Oh, we better get a-

Dash:
Oh I need to go and make sure of-

Both:
We need, we need, we need, we need to!!--!

Mane 6:
Come on and lets get this thing underway!

Dash and Shy’s parents:
Oh our babies are going to go and get marrrrrieeed!
(Musical bridge)

Dash and Fluttershy, with list of things to do in front of their faces, looking nervous:
Oh we about to go and get married, someday!

Fluttershy sat down the list on the table in front of her, Rainbow Dash looking over her shoulder as the yellow pegasus looked over everything, “Oh, my. Rainbow Dash, there is just so much for us to do, I don’t know how we’re going to do it all,” Fluttershy said as Rainbow Dash took a drink of cider.

“Ah, don’t worry too much about it Flutters,” Dash said, running her hoof through Fluttershy’s pink mane, “We’ll get through it. Ya got me helping out, remember. We can get through all of this in no time without anything big happening. Now, what is first on the list?”

“Well first...”

------------------------(Step 1: finding someone to preside over the wedding.)------------------------------

The two mares walked toward the golden oaks library, hoping that Twilight would say yes to their request. There was a bit of nervousness going through the two of them as they hadn’t seen Twilight since they announced their engagement and they had gotten worried, “Hey Twilight, ya there?” Dash asked, knocking on the door, only to watch in shock as it opened to her knocking.

“She must be really busy if she forgot to lock her door,” Fluttershy said, walking in with Dash and coming to a stop as they saw the stacks of books laying around, each in a perfect tower.

“Help!” Squeaked Spike from under one as of yet unorganized pile, his purple claw sticking out.

“Oh, my, Spike. I’ll help you out,” Fluttershy said as she walked to the pile of books and helped him out.

“Hi girls,” Twilight said, looking down from her perch on a balcony, “I’ll be there in a minute.” With that, she took off and flew to the two mares, only to crash into the ground, “Still need to work on that. What brings you girls here?”

“Well, we were wondering if you like to help and be best mare at our wedding,” Dash asked, shaking her head at Twilight’s lack of landing.

“Uh, well that is going to be a problem. I am going to have to decline,” Twilight said, looking away blushing.

“Twilight, why?” Fluttershy asked, “Please don’t think that we don’t feel right doing it because you are a princess. We don’t mind.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t care if you were a princess, a duke, or any of those other fancy-smancy terms. You are our best friend and end of story,” Dash said.

Twilight let out a small chuckle as she grabbed a book with her telekinesis and put it away, “No, you don’t understand. I can’t be your best mare because...I’m going to be presiding over your wedding.”

“WHAT?!” The two mares exclaimed together.

“Yes, you see that is what I have been looking into for a while. I have been looking into marriage laws and traditions of Equestria trying to make sure I have everything perfect. Did you know that Cloudsdale used to have a ritual called ‘the cloud jump’?” Twilight giggled as she picked up another book and put it away.

“Wait, how did you get the job?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“Well, you see...”

The day after you girls got engaged, I made a quick trip to Canterlot Castle to ask Celestia about a certain duty of a princess. See, I had read somewhere that a princess could marry off ponies legally and I wanted to request that permission for you. When I walked into see Celestia, I was still a little nervous, “P-Princess Celestia?”

“Twilight, you are royalty now. You do not need to be formal,” Celestia said, walking up to my side and hugging me.

“I am sorry, p-Celestia, but I have a request. As you know, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are getting married soon and I-”

“Ah yes, I heard of that. I cannot wait to preside over the marriage of two bearers of-”

“That is what I want to talk to you about, Celesita,” I said, keeping calm. I looked up at her with the same pleading eyes that I had when I was a little, “I want to be the one to preside over my friend’s wedding and all others that come afterwards. I want to do the same for their families as well.”

“You want to bind all of your friends in the bonds of holy matrimony?” Celestia asked, looking at me like a mother would.

“Y-yes, they are my best friends and I want to feel closer to them. I figure that this would be the best way,” I stated, bowing.

If I didn’t know better, I could’ve sworn that she wa beaming with pride at me, “My dearest Twilight, of course you can. I am
so glad that you are taking you-”

I quickly interrupted her with a big hug.

“And so, I now have the chance to preside over your wedding, if you’ll have me,” Twilight said, before getting glomped by her two friends.

“We would be honored!” Fluttershy squeaked as she held her friend tight.

“Yeah, this is going be twice you got us together!” Dash cheered before breaking away from the hug. Smiling she and her fiance walked out of the library, “I wonder if Raindrops wants to be best mare?”

----------------------------------------------(Step 2: wedding dress)----------------------------------------

Rarity turned up from her sewing machine as she heard the door open to the Boutique, “Welcome to Carousel Boutique where everything...Oh Fluttershy, welcome!” Rarity said as she saw Rainbow, Scootaloo, and Fluttershy walking in.

“Hello Rarity, I was hoping you would help design my dress,” Fluttershy said.

“I already have a few designs for you try out my dear. As a matter of fact, I was,” the white mare stopped herself to look at Rainbow and Scootaloo, “What are you two doing here?”

“Uh, I was getting my suit read-”Dash was quickly interrupted by a nudge from Rarity.

“Oh no, it is bad luck for a groom to see a bride in her wedding dress before the wedding day. So you have to leave!” Rarity exclaimed as she grabbed the two mares in her magic and began to shove them out.

“OH COME ON! You can’t mean to tell me that you believe in OOOF!” Dash grunted as she and Scootaloo were dropped outside.

“Look, this will be HER big day and I am NOT, repeat, am NOT about to let you two risk ruining it with bad luck and bringing in an attack by a random god, the ancient evil of the week, getting her replaced by a changeling and taking away your love energy so she can let her minions invade Ponyville, a bad alicorn with a really bad name, Gannondorf popping out of nowhere, attacking space pirates, attacking nightmare queens, our cutie marks getting switched, evil vines, a jilted ex-marefriend of yours with an army, Twilight getting attacked by Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy getting kidnapped by an old enemy, invasion of evil beings from a possible post apocalyptic future,or an old friend getting corrupted and trying to kill us all and putting a piece of her good self into Fluttershy! So out you go!” Rarity screamed.

“Why do I have to go to?” Scootaloo asked.

“You’ll tell her. You tell your mother everything,” Rarity said, slamming the door.

Scootaloo tried to object, but then looked at Dash and then back to the ground in defeat, “Ok, she is right. So now what do we do?”

“We find a way to spy on them anyway,” Dash smirked, leading her little companion to the side of the building.

“Now, let’s start,” Rarity said as she put Fluttershy into a classic wedding dress, “Hmmm, too formal.”

“But I think it looks nice,” Fluttershy said, looking at the white gown and walking in a circle.

“MY dear, we’re not going for nice, we are going for sexy! I want the dress that you walk down the aisle in to be drop dead gorgeous. I want it to look so good on you that, when Rainbow Dash sees you in it she’ll go, “Forget the wedding!” And take you right there in front of the entire crowd to see. I want her eyes to bulge out, I want her to swoon, and most importantly I want her to fall in love with all over again and...excuse me darling,” Rarity said, walking towards the window with a bucket of water.

“OH my, you really want all that? Think she’ll like it?” Asked Fluttershy, blushing a little.

“Oh, she’ll be hot and bothered by it, so much so that she’ll need a BATH!” Rarity exclaimed as she opened the window and dumped the water onto Rainbow Dash, making her fall from the window. “When I said no peeking, I meant no peeking!”

“So what now?” Asked Scootaloo as she looked at the wet Rainbow Dash.

“What we do now is try the other window!” Dash said, hearing Rarity pull down the blind.

Rarity quickly put Fluttershy into another dress, “Hmmm, rides high on the flank, and shows a little bit of the cutie mark, but doesn’t really accentuate your beauty,” the mare pondered, putting a hoof to her chin.

“Maybe you could make the train a little longer,” suggested Fluttershy, looking at her new gown.

“True I could...excuse me again,” Rarity said, taking out a small pail and dumping it outside, and then called out, “Oh Opal! Time for Dinner!”

“Opal? Why is she calling out for Opal and what is this stuff?” Asked Dash, sniffing at the powder.

“Rainbow Dash, I think that is catnip,” Scootaloo said, backing away slowly as she watched a slowly creeping up white cat.

“Catnip? Why would I be cover...in...catnip?” Asked Dash as she heard the low growling from the evil cat. Letting out a loud “YIPE!” The cyan pegasus took off into the sky.

After about an hours worth of trying on and off dresses, making the minor adjustments to the old ones and fixing the mistakes of the new, Rarity had finally fixed Fluttershy’s wedding dress, “There we are! I think that this is perfect, one of my finest works if I do say so myself,” Rarity gloated.

“Oh, this is beautiful Rarity, thank you,” Fluttershy said, giving her friend a hug while Rarity put the dress in a box.

“You are quite welcome my dear,” Rarity said, a soft smile coming across her face, her eyes tearing up a little. “I am just happy to be a part of this, and to see my friend move onto such an important step in her life,” she added, wiping a tear from her eyes.

“Rarity, I wouldn’t even think of anypony better to do this,” Fluttershy said, tightening the hug. She then left, letting Rainbow Dash walk in afterwards.

“Ok, so now you are done with Fluttershy, now can you do mine?” Asked Rainbow Dash, reaching into her saddle bag.

“Of course I will, now what are you-is that your Wonderbolt Reservist uniform?” Asked Rarity, taking the blue material in her magic and laying it before her.

“Yeah, I asked Spitfire about it and she said that its usually tradition for Wonderbolts to get married in their uniforms and I decided to do so too. Besides it looks cool and because it makes me look like Fluttershy’s knight and her hero. “ Dash mumbled the last part.

Rarity arched an eyebrow, “What was that?”

Rainbow grimaced, not wanting to say something so mushy again, “makes me look like her hero.”

Rarity smiled as she heard it, “Why Rainbow Dash, that sounds so romantic of you. I never knew you had it in you.”

“UGH, Yeah, whatever! Could you fix it up?” Asked Dash.

Rarity let out a small giggle as she laid the suit in front of the sewing machine before smiling like a wildmare, “My dear Rainbow, I’ll make it dazzle.”

--------------------------------------------------------(Step 3: the wedding cake)----------------------------------

Fluttershy looked down at the two photos, sighing. As if she was trying to pick which one of her animals to save from certain death, she looked back and forth between the photos of her friends Applejack and Pinkie Pie with timid eyes, “This is so hard. I can’t pick either one of them.”

“I think it would be easy, remember how great Cadence’s cake was back at her wedding? How soft and fluffy it was, and how delicious it was?” Asked Dash, rolling off the couch.

Timidly, the pegasus nodded, “But Pinkie’s cake at Cheerilee’s wedding was just as good and if we don’t ask her,” she then lifted up a photo of Pinkie, covered in icing, “She’ll be so disappointed. She’s been looking forward to making the cake for ages.”

Rainbow Dash let out a defeated sigh, “Yeah, I know but she is already busy planning the reception-”

“And both our bachelorette parties,” Fluttershy added, watching as Dash’s eyes shot up in stunned silence at the idea of Pinkie Pie and bachelorette party.

After a few moments, Rainbow Dash shook her head out of her stupor, “Yeah, I can see how that would be tough, even for Pinkie,” for a few moments Dash began to think and looked when she had an idea, “HEY! I got it, why don’t they do it-”

“TOGETHER?!” Asked the two earth pony mares at once.

“THAT’S a great idea, DASHIE!” Pinkie Pie squealed, giving her friend a hug and racing off to the baking room of Sugar Cube Corner.

Applejack watched with dread as the pink mare raced off, the thoughts of the last time they collaborated running through her mind. Sure, she had been tired at the time, but still not an experience she wanted to live through again, “Uh, sugarcube, ya sure this is a good idea? Ah mean Pinkie can be a little...enthusiastic when it comes to cake makin and you know that.”

“That is why you two are perfect,” Rainbow Dash began to explain, putting a hoof over AJ’s shoulder. “See, while Pinkie can come up with the awesome designs and put her usual Pinkieness to the cake, you can keep everything under control with the basics. That, and Pinkie always comes up with the best frosting. Unless,” Dash sneered, “you can’t do it.”

“What was that?” Applejack asked.

“I said you can’t handle Pinkie. You don’t want to do it because you can’t,” Dash said, smirking and putting a hoof onto Aj’s chest.

“Say that again,” AJ said, putting her hat down.

“You...Can’t...Handle...Pinkie Pie,” Snarked Dash.

“OH YEAH!” Exclaimed Applejack as she stared down Dash, “I’ll show you, me and Pinkie are going to make ya such an awesome cake that ya’ll never want another one as long as ya live!”

“Now, that is what I want to hear,” Dash chuckled before being brought in for a hug.

“Oh, and thanks for the compliment sugarcube, but Ah would’ve been happy if you picked just Pinkie,” Applejack said, smiling softly.

“Hey, I could never pick one friend over the other, you know that,” Dash smiled back as she hugged Applejack back and flew off.

“Ok, now Pinkie, lets get this...” Applejack stopped herself and looked at the wall behind her, the pupils of her eyes shrinking at the sight of the large pictures drawn by Pinkie, “started.”

Pinkie Pie turned to her fellow mare, a wild grin on her face, “ I really like number three, but number two looks more Dash like!”

---------------------------------------------------(step 4: the parties)-----------------------------------------------

“So, the girls and I have decided,” Rarity said, standing on the doorstep of Fluttershy’s cottage, “that me and Twilight will take you to your bachelorette party while Applejack and Pinkie Pie will handle Rainbow Dash’s.”

Scootaloo, who was playing with Rainbow Dash in the cottage, overheard the mention of party, “Can I come to the party?”

“Uh, kid? This is not going to be a party for you, its a little bit older than what you are expecting,” Dash said.

“But Dash,” Scootaloo complained, “I want to see all of those stallion strippers show off everything like you showed me in those magazines!”

“WHAT?!” Rarity exclaimed as Fluttershy blushed.

“Uh, the kid wanted to know the facts of life and I kind of showed her...research. It was how dad taught me,” Rainbow Dash explained.

Twilight and Rarity said nothing as they took the blushing yellow pegasus outside, “Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I promise you that this will not get too wild,” Rarity said, looking back to the cottage and thinking to herself, “So, that was Sweetie’s little friend who told her all of that.”

A few hours later found the three mares at a reserved dance club, three glasses of wine in front of them, “Well, my friends,” Rarity said, sipping her drink slowly, “I think after this, we can safely say that Fluttershy has the best constitution of the three of us.”

“Well, its not that much,” Fluttershy said, sinking into the seat.

“And Twilight...” Rarity said, only to be interrupted by Twilight’s outburst.

“YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE ABOUT DASH?” Twilight drunkenly questioned, swaying a little in her seat.

“Should never be allowed near liquor again,” Rarity calmly said as she drank a little of her wine.

“Her mane, her well toned flank *hiccup*, and those pretty lips,” Twilight hiccuped as she looked to Fluttershy, “You know, if I wasn’t straight and you weren’t my best friend. I would so kidnap her and take her for myself to a castle farrrrrrrrrr away from here.”

“That’s...nice,” Fluttershy stammered a little, watching the tipsy Twilight scoot a little closer.

“So, come out with it Flutter-butter,” Twilight hiccupped a few more times, “ does she?”

“Does she what?” Fluttershy asked.

“Taste like skittles?” Twilight asked, giggling.

“Ok Twilight, how about you sit over here for a moment,” Rarity said, pulling the alicorn away.

“Oh, thanks Rare. You truly are generosity personified. I am so impressed, I think I’ll make you an alicorn princess right now!” Twilight said, creating two foam wings from her magic.

you’ve come such a long long way
And I’ve watched you
From that very first day

As Rarity moved Twilight and felt the foam wings placed on her back, the white alicorn nodded and placed the alicorn to the side, “Yes darling, you have.” While Twilight took a few more drinks of wine, Rarity turned to Fluttershy, “So, Fluttershy, have you and Rainbow Dash been talking about how are you two going to live?”

“Well, Rainbow Dash decided to move her old cloud home close to mine so Scootaloo can practice her gliding, but for the most part she’s living with me,” Fluttershy said, sipping a little of the wine.

“But, Fluttershy, you can’t tell me that there is room in that house for you, Dash, and Scootaloo,” Rarity said.

“Oh, I had a little help with that,” Fluttershy said.

“From whom?” Rarity asked.

“Discord,” Fluttershy replied calmly.

“WHAT?!” Exclaimed Rarity, shocked.

“Well, Rainbow Dash was a little against the idea, but Discord insisted because he is my friend and he is partly responsible for me and Dash getting together. He said it was his little wedding gift for me,” Fluttershy sighed happily, thinking about her friend.

“But, you can not expect anything good to come from that,” Rarity said, sipping a little.

“But it was nice, well, as nice as he could make it. But, it was a little too ‘chaotic’ for Dashie’s tastes and she ordered him to change it. They then continued to argue about how Scootaloo’s room should look like, and there were some very harsh words exchanged between the two of them. I had to convince him a few times to not turn my marefriend into a stool or a plushie,” Fluttershy then muttered under her breath, “even though she was adorable as a little plush toy and very cuddly.”

“Oh my, that sounds hectic. How did you finally decide on a design?” Rarity asked.

“Well, they left it up to Scootaloo and she choose a delightful mix of their two ideas. It was kind of cute watching them together,” Fluttershy softly giggled.

“You are a wonder you know,” Rarity sighed, “ friends with a monster of chaos, tamer of manticores, and lover of a near suicidal, hot headed daredevil.”

“Oh, she has been a lot less ‘suicidal’ lately,” Fluttershy said, smiling softly.

“Really?” Rarity pulled back, a little surprised.

Fluttershy nodded in response, “Oh, sure, she is still trying out her bigger and flashier moves and keeps pushing herself to be the best, but there is something different to it, lately. She’s been making sure that some of the places she practice are absolutely safe before trying anything, and I even watched her practice a little bit of each trick before trying the entire show. Like she wants to make sure everything is perfect before doing anything that could kill her.”

“Sounds like she is getting a little more mature,” Rarity said, drinking slowly. She then turned to look at the buttery pegasus, “Did you ever think that your life would turn out like this?”

Fluttershy smiled softly, and put down her drink before responding, “If it is with the ponies that I love, then yes. Its everything that I ever dreamed.”

Rarity smiled at this, but was interrupted by a drunk Twilight before she could respond, “WHOOHOO! Bring out the entertainment!”

“Entertain-ment?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Why yes,” Rarity reassured. “When Vinyl heard about our Bachelorette party, she invited over Chip N Dale to dance at the party.”

“Oh, you mean the furniture salesponies?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, they are part time furniture salesponies, and part time,” Rarity explained as the music began to speed up and two large muscular stallions with little bow ties on their necks strolled onto the stage, “Male dancers.”

The stallion on the right of the stage, dressed in a black speedo and a fedora, stepped up to the mic, “All right mares! Who’s ready for a fantastic feast for their eyes?!”

The other stallion smiled back, the red coat flapping in the breeze to show off his well toned flanks, “And if there are any naughty mares tonight, trust us, you’ll get everything you want and more!”

Fluttershy’s eyes shot up, “Oh MY!”

“You might not enjoy the sight, dearest Fluttershy, but me and Twilight on the other hand,” Rarity said, smirking as she watched the erotic dance before her.

“WHOO! YEAH!” Twilight drunkenly called, yelling out, “Take it off you stallions, show it all. DEMONSTRATE YOUR FULL ANATOMY AND REPRODUCTIVE STRUCTURE! WHOOOO!”

(a few hours later)

Dash walked down the stairs from tucking in Scootaloo to the sound of knocking on her door. Opening it up, she pulled back at the sight of a slightly tipsy Fluttershy walking into the room, “Oh, Dashie, I have had the most wonderful time. I think it was one of the best nights ever, and Dashie...” Fluttershy said, as she fell to drape her hooves over her lover’s shoulders, “I want you to marry me.” She then gave her marefriend a deep kiss.

Breaking away from the kiss, Dash looked to the pegasus on her, “Uh, Fluttershy, maybe you need to lie on the couch.”

“Sure thing, Dashiekins, but I expect you to come back later and make me scream your name in so many languages!” Fluttershy said as she swayed over to the couch.

“Ok, what just happened?” Asked Rainbow Dash as she looked at the white unicorn in front of her.

“I do believe I had just found out the limits to her constitution after the 7th drink,” Rarity said.

“Uh huh, and where is Twilight?”

“Back at the library, having Spike write down a letter telling Celestia that she should go and marry Discord and make several babies together,” Rarity said, shaking her head sadly. Then she looked up at Rainbow Dash and looked closely into her eyes, “So it is true.”

“What?” Dash asked.

“Well, Fluttershy said that you were acting more, what’s the right word, responsible as of late, and from the looks of you, I can see that you look just a little bit more mature than you have been in a while,” Rarity said with a smile. “I can tell that adopting Scootaloo and being engaged has had quite a positive effect on you.”

Dash held up a hoof defensively, “HEY! I’m still the awesome pegasus I’ve always been.”

“I’m not saying that, darling,” Rarity said with a soft smile, “I am just saying that you have become more mature and caring as of late. That you are making sure that those close to you are safe, and its quite a commendable quality to have.” With that Rarity walked away.

“More mature, me?” Dash asked as she closed the door, walking to the couch, “I guess. I mean I haven’t noticed, I just want to make sure that there is still somepony to keep an eye on Scootaloo and Flutters.” She said to herself as she walked to the couch where Fluttershy slept, a grin on her face as she prepared to give into the drunk mare’s desires. She then stopped herself as she heard a sweet sound coming from the couch.

“zzzzzzzz,” Fluttershy softly snored, “mmmmm, Dashie, I love you, please stay with me.”

Dash smiled softly as she looked at her sleeping mare, unable to wake her up. Instead, she picked up a blanket from the closet and laid it on her lover’s body, tucking her in and kissing the pegasus’s cheek softly, “Night Flutters.”

“Night,” the sleeping pegasus said, grabbing Dash by the neck and holding her to her body.

The next night, Applejack stood by with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, looking at the yellow pegasus with a calming smile, “Now, you three won't make it too rough right?” Asked Fluttershy, worried.

“Ah, don’t worry yer pretty head about it sugarcube,” Applejack reassured, “Ah can promise you that we’ll return your mare back to ya completely unharmed, but there is no guarantee that she’ll be sober.”

Pinkie Pie nodded her head furiously, “And we’ll make sure that she’ll have the best time ever!!”

“Hey, come on guys,” Spitfire said, flying just ahead of the group, “ The night is still young and I don’t Rainbow be late for one of her last nights as a free mare!” Turning around, the red headed pegasus nudged her head forward, smiling.

“Bye guys, be back in a few hours,” Dash said, flying away.

“Still wish I could go,” Scootaloo said, sitting down.

“Aw, no you don’t Scootaloo,” Fluttershy calmly said, looking down at the little filly, “They’re probably just going to be just drinking and talking. Nothing that would really interest you.”

Meanwhile...

“WHO’S READY TO PARTY!” Pinkie Pie said as she strolled into the large dance room, some of the ponies just getting into the groove of the beat.

“Uh, Pinkie, no offense, but this seems rather tame,” Dash said, looking around.

“Silly, that’s because I haven’t brought in the cake!” Pinkie Pie said, a big grin on her face, “Annnnnnd here it is!”

The ponies in the dance hall stopped their milling about as Pinkie Pie brought in a huge yellow and pink cake. Once she rolled it into the room she had a big grin on her face, and looked up as the cake began to rumble and shake. After a few moments, a yellow earth pony with a curly brown mane popped out of the top of the cake, “ LIKE THE FILLY SAID, WHO”S READY TO PARTY!!”

“CHEESE!” Pinkie Pie squealed as she ran in a corkscrew up to the top of the cake, wrapping her forehooves around the stallion and hugging him tightly, “Got the party tank?”

“Sure as shooting!” Cheese Sandwich said as he brought out a giant tank from within the cake, marked ‘Party Pinkchesse Cannon 3000’, and fired it to launch a multitude of streamers and decorations all across the room.

Dash had a big smile on her face as the party commenced in full swing, “Now this...is a bachelorette party!”

( a few hours later)

Fluttershy came down the stairs to the sound of slow, but very loud, knocking. Opening the door, she stepped back in shock at the sight, “Oh my!”

“Howdy sugarcube,” Applejack said, swaying into the room, a passed out and frazzled Rainbow Dash on her back.

“W-what happened?” Asked Fluttershy.

“We drank, we sang, we fought, the mare did her parents proud,” Applejack said with a chuckle as she flopped Rainbow Dash unceremoniously onto the couch.

“F-fought?” Asked Fluttershy, walking over to the passed out mare,

“Yeah, long story. See, we were doing fine at the party, and yeah there were a few rumbles here and there, but nothing too serious. We were actually all having a blast...at least until the guards showed up,” Applejack chuckled as she put her hands behind her head.

“The guards showed up?” Asked Fluttershy, now a little worried.

“Ah, they were just investigatin the noise, but after Pinkie and Cheese got through with em, they were in the thick of it, partying like nopony’s business. Ya should’ve seen that prissy Esteem act like a normal lout after he had about 10 rounds in him and Flash Sentry...WHOA NELLY! That boy could be raunchy as heck when he’s sauced! Of course, when the party ended? Ah can tell ya that none of the guards went home lonely, if ya catch my meaning. Heck, Ah thought Ah saw Spitfire fly off with Soarin at the end of it.”

Fluttershy nodded softly, “I get the meaning.” She then looked behind Applejack and noticed that one was missing from their party, “Where’s Pinkie?”

“Well, after engaging in a drinking contest with Rainbow Dash she went over and planted the biggest dang kiss that I had ever done seen on Cheese Sandwich and after that, Ah lost track of her,” Applejack said, scratching her head, “But Ah’m sure they’re fine. Well, goodnight Flutters.”

“Goodnight, Applejack,” Fluttershy said.

“Flutters, please,” Dash drunkenly said in her sleep, “Don’t make me stay away from my friends, I’ll never get drunk again.”

Fluttershy giggled softly as she leaned in and kiss Rainbow Dash on the lips, “Your friends are my friends too and if I took them away from you, then I wouldn’t see them again.” She smiled as she tucked in the cyan mare, “Now sleep, my brave knight.”

“Mine,” Dash sleeply said as she grabbed Fluttershy and held her close.

(Back at Las Pegas)

Pinkie Pie awoke as the first rays of dawn hit her eyes, and she let out a giant yawn, “Man, what a party that was. I hope one of the others gets married soon so I can another one.” The pink mare giggled to herself as she attempted to roll out of bed, only to find herself stopped. Looking down, she noticed a pair of hooves wrapped around her barrel and turned around to find the source of said hooves, “Cheese?”

“Oh, morning Pinkie...what a par...what are you doing in my bed?” Cheese asked, and then, in time with Pinkie, looked down at their hooves to see a pair of matching wedding bands.

“WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?”

------------------------------------------------------------ (The day before)-----------------------------------------

“All right, Scoots, time for bed. I want to my favorite ring bearer to be well rested for tomorrow,” Dash said, walking into her little sister’s room.

“All right Dash,” Scootaloo said, putting away the book, “I’ll finish reading ‘Daring Doo: Fallout’ later.” She then smiled as Dash began tucking her in, “Hey, Dash, are you nervous about tomorrow?”

Dash let out a small chuckle before rubbing her little sister’s head, “ To tell the truth kid, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”

“You are?” Asked Scootaloo, looking up at her mother figure.

“Well, yeah,” Dash shrugged, “I mean, who knows what’s gonna happen tomorrow, Fluttershy or I could be captured by changelings, the wedding could be crashed by some sort of monster, or worse...Fluttershy could decide that she doesn’t want to go through with it. I’d be crazy not to be, but I also know, that its going to be one of the best things I’m about to do. Well, this, and adopting you of course,” she added, giving the orange filly a hug. “All of this is because of you, ya know.”

“Wait, you knew?” Scootaloo asked, her eyes wide in shock, “How long did you know, when did you figure it out and-”

Rainbow Dash interrupted the little filly with a blue hoof to the lips, “Woah there squirt, too many questions! I kind of figured it out after the whole entire dinner date deal,” Dash let out a small chuckle, “Applebloom is about as good as AJ is when it comes to keeping secrets, especially when cornered by her big sister.”

“So, all this time you knew,” Scootaloo asked, looking up.

“Well, I saw the kind of cool effort you were putting into all of this, and I figured, what the hey, it might be fun. And it kind of was, I went on a epic quest, reconnected with Flutters Mom and Pop, and even got Bulk Biceps together with Cloudkicker. But what I really loved, what was getting to me, was that I was starting to fall in love with my best friend and I didn’t even realize it. The fact that, in the end, I am about to share the rest of my life with the mare of my life and the coolest little daughter I could ask for, has made it all worth it.”

“So, you’re not mad?” Scootaloo asked.

Dash put a hoof to her chin, “Hmmm, lets see, I mean you did try to hook me up against my will, destroyed a restaurant, and had me play mind games with a crazy draconiquis. Yeah, I guess I should be ticked, but then again,” Dash smiled softly as she pulled Scootaloo into a hug, “You wanted a family and to see me happy, so mission accomplished...my little Scootaloo. So, as your adoptive sister, I hereby punish you by condemning you to having an awesome life with me and Fluttershy.”

“Oh no! Not that,” Scootaloo giggled, pulling away before going back into a hug. She then felt a warm breeze flow by her back, hugging her as well.

“And, I think your mom would be happy too,” Dash said, rubbing the filly’s back.

“I know she is...”

Author's Note

Thanks to nurse pony for being an awesome editor

So, here we are, second to last chapter. The wedding is all set up and everything is in place. Will it workk out, will we have a sudden appearence by a guy to launch a random attack and make this an action story?

Originally, I had a plan to put in Rainbow and Fluttershy's parents in one of the scenes, but then I remembered that we already saw that they were ok with the wedding, so I cut it out.

Also, Cheese was not in this chapter when I first wrote it back in 2013, but I liked him way to much to NOT put him in. And yes, the idea of Twilight being the one to marry the two was something that was done back in 'Her Hardest Duty'

Marry me today

Down on one knee, Marry me today

PINKIE PIE
There's a party here in Ponyville
There's excitement in the air
Ponies pouring in all willy-nil
'Cause Fluttershy and Dashie are gettin' married splashy!

There's a party here in Ponyville
Ev'rypony's here; that's plain.
So if you're a countess or a shill
Do something with your mane!

You mustn't wear an outfit that's shoddy.
A saddle made for traveling just won't do.
No earrings that are tasteless or gaudy.
You're gonna look great when Rarity's through!

There's a party here in Ponyville
So I'm going to paint the town.
If colorful sights you want your fill
Follow me around!

Dash and 'Shy will marry and it's gonna be
The wedding of the century.
My friends are gettin' married and you're gonna see
Just how much I can do!

You've heard of your theme cuteceañera.
You've all been to a gala or a potluck brunch.
Well none of them compare to what this is.
The party cannon's blazing, the food'll be amazing!

CROWD
There's a party here in Ponyville
And it's got us all aglow.
If those pegasi could come so far,

UNSPECIFIED BACKGROUND PONY
Maybe I could do it.

PINKIE PIE
Sure, there's nothin' to it!

DIAMOND TIARA
There's a party here in Ponyville
But we're not sure that we'll go.
For although Fluttershy fits the bill.
That rainbow one's awfully low. Oh!

PINKIE PIE
Now we take you to the library
Where ev'ryone has celebrated all night long.
There's no reason for us to be wary.
Ev'rypony is happy! What could possibly go wrong?

SCOOTALOO
There's a party here in Ponyville
And I can't believe it's real.
Though unseen instruments all trill
Even this musical number
Can't express how I feel!

RARITY
There's a party here in Ponyville
And the gifts are pouring in.
Today true love we will fulfill
(And maybe, so I pine, I can be the next in line.)

PINKIE PIE
We've ordered just a few tasteful flowers
And other hors d'oeuvres everypony can chew.
The bridesmares have been dressing for hours.
Girls, you look just lovely, and so grown up too!
There's a party here in Ponyville.
We're about to start the show.
But there's something missing even still:
Where'd Dashie go?

Pinkie Pie looked around as the song ended, the ponies looking on at the excited mare in awe of the spectacle she had just performed, “Well, don’t be shy! Come on,” she exclaimed, wavign a beckoning hoof to the crowd of guests, “Lets see how everypony’s doing.”

“I am doing horrible,” Rainbow Dash said to herself as she looked at herself in the mirror. While Rarity had fixed her Wonderbolts uniform to match that of a captain of an army, tightened and cleaned to the point where it can almost shine, the cyan mare could only look back at herself in the mirror and let out a long sigh. With a small grunt, she ran a hoof through her unkempt mane in order to try and tame it. After a few tries, she finally managed to get it into a shape that she was most comfortable with and then looked into the mirror before letting loose another soft sigh.

“Hey Rainbow, few minutes to showtime! Ah just need to make sure that,” Applejack stopped herself before looking at her friend. “Ok, sugarcube, what’s wrong? Ain’t gettin cold hooves are ya? Because if ya break that filly’s heart, ya are gonna have more than just her parents to worry about. Me and Rarity will probably get to you first and hang you out for Twilight to turn you into a beating tree,” Applejack said, jokingly.

“WHAT? No! I would never,” Dash denied, turning to face Applejack before putting a hoof to her chest in confidence, “Nothing is wrong with me, AJ. Come on, you know me.”

“Ah do know you, sugarcube, that’s why Ah’m asking,” Applejack said, pointing a hoof to Rainbow Dash’s chest.

Rainbow Dash was about to swipe the orange hoof away to give another bragging remark, but then looked into her friend’s green eyes and sighed, “ You can see straight through me, huh?”

“Like you were glass,” Applejack snarked.

Rainbow Dash walked away from her friend for a bit and looked out the window for a moment, “Nerves,” she said plainly.

“You’re nervous? You?” Asked Applejack as she walked up behind Dash.

“Well yeah, a little,” Dash shrugged as she turned away from the window, “What if this turns out to be a big mistake? What if we fall out of love with each other? What if we stop giving a care about each other or find a way to hurt Scootaloo? What if she thinks I’m not worth it?”

Applejack laid a hoof onto Dash’s shoulder and then hugged her, “Dash, Ah’m not gonna lie to ya. It’s going be tough, and it's not going to be perfect. There’ll be times when the two of ya will have fights like you wouldn’t believe. Ah should know, Ah saw mah maw and paw get into some hectic fights, to where Ah was worried that they would kill one another. You should see the fights that Big Mac and Cheerilee get into.”

“Oh really?” Dash asked softly.

“Yeah, but that’s all part of being in a relationship, sugarcube,” Applejack said, a comforting smile on her face. “You will get into fights where you doubt why you care about her, or she will start to forget why she loves ya so much.”

“Thanks for the comfort!” Dash snarked.

“But!” Applejack objected, “After a little time, once you both had a moment to clear yer heads and think over your problems, you’ll start to remember why you two made this promise to each other in the first place. That’s what all of this is, Rainbow. Its a promise between you and Fluttershy to be there for one another, to love each other, and to stay together until you two are in the ground or even longer. But Ah do know one reason why it’s gonna work out, one very big reason.”

“And what would that-?” Dash began to ask, before looking down at the orange hoof pointed at her heart.

“You sugarcube,” stated Applejack, plainly. “You are never one to quit, you don’t give up easily, and you never leave a friend hanging when they need you. So Ah know, you won’t give up on her, even when you are at yer lowest point and you don’t know why you stay, you won’t quit on her or Scootaloo. Ya made a promise to Scootaloo’s mom once, to watch over her daughter? Well, this is the same thing, you’re promising to stay by the side of the mare you love and to protect her forever. You don’t give up on a promise like that, it ain't you.”

Dash smiled softly as she looked up to her friend, before being hugged from behind by a pair of dark pink hooves, “She’s right you know.”

“Mom!” Dash exclaimed as she turned to look at Firefly, “How much of it did you hear?”

“Everything, Sweetie,” Firefly said softly before she hugged Rainbow Dash. “You know, I can remember being just a nervous marrying your father. On the day of our wedding, every argument, every fight, and every memory I had was coming back to me. It made me worry that we were going to kill each other on our wedding night before anything. But then, I looked at my ring.”

“Why did you do that?” Ask Dash.

“IT helped to remind me, that there was much more to our relationship than fighting. We loved each other, and without each other, we were incomplete. He helped me, as much as I helped him and that was more important than any fight we got in. Besides, do you know what the best part of the fighting is?”

“What?” Ask Dash.

Firefly giggled as she walked out the door, “The make up sex. It is glorious.”

Dash eyes widened at this, and immediately shook the thought from her mind, “UGH! Mom! I did not need to know that!”

Applejack chuckled and was about to offer something else when Pinkie came in, “Come on guys, its getting late!” Pinkie chirped with a smile.

“All right, we’re coming,” Applejack said, looking back at Dash, “Right?”

Dash took a look at her hoofband and read it to herself, “Soaring Forever,” and turned up to look at her friends, “Yeah, I’m coming. Can’t keep the crowd wait-uggh!”

Pinkie interrupted Dash’s remark with a big hug, tears coming out of her squinted eyes, “Oh Dashie!”

“Pinkie, what’s?” Dash barely breathed as she tried to get some air. After a few moments of thought, she smiled, “Oh, I get it. You are really happy for me.”

“Mmm, hmmm,” Pinkie squeaked.

“Thanks,” Dash said, returning the hug.

Little did Rainbow Dash know, inside her dressing room, Fluttershy was having problems of her own, “Oh, this is just...” Fluttershy trailed off as she looked at the wedding dress that Rarity had prepared. She had to admire the seamstress for being able make her dress flowery yet very sexy, it was just the right mix for her. Lifting up part of her train, she let out a happy sigh before walking back and forth.

“Fluttershy, darling, whatever seems to be the matter?”

“OH, Rarity, I’m so scared,” Fluttershy said, looking at her white friend. “What if this doesn’t work out? What if...she doesn’t think I’m worth all the trouble? What if I don’t raise Scootaloo right? What if I mess this up?”

Rarity stopped Fluttershy’s tangent with a gentle hoof onto her lips, “Now, none of that Fluttershy. First off, you have spent the past five months helping Dash take care of that little filly, I think you know how to raise her by now and what she likes. You are a wonderful caretaker, and I think you are doing fantastic as a mother.” Rarity then smiled softly as ran a hoof through her friend’s long pink mane, “As for the rest, I’ve seen the way that Rainbow looks at you, she is madly in love with you and doesn’t let us forget it. She’s the type of mare that will probably do all she could to make you happy.”

“But what if-?” Fluttershy began, but was again interrupted by Rarity.

“I won’t lie to you, there will be times when you have fights, but, I remember what you told me about how Rainbow Dash makes you feel and why you love her,” Rarity said, smiling.

“That, she inspires me, makes me feel like I’m more than I can be, and that I’m better when I’m near her,” Fluttershy said softly.

“And she feels the same, darling,” Rarity said, looking out of the door. “You were willing to overcome your stage fright and perform in the games, because you knew it would make her happy and you wanted to spend time with her. That girl is willing to live on the ground for you, what does that say about her to you? It says to me, that this is the girl that Rainbow will fly to Tartarus for. She isn’t the only one who makes you feel better, you make her better. I’ve seen that in her, a lot, to put it as a matter of fact. You have given her a chance to grow as a pony, and I think that she would miss that about you. Without you, she would feel like a piece was missing, something that she would need to be whole again. And that, is more important than any argument. After the fight is done, she’ll remember why she needs you so much, and will come back for it. Soon you two will forget why you fought in the first place.”

“Aw, is my little flower nervous?” Asked Posey as she walked behind her daughter, putting a wing over her body.

“Mom!” Fluttershy said with a smile, nuzzling into her mother’s warm hug.

“Y’know, even I was a little nervous when I was going to marry yer father,” Posey said.

“Really?” Asked Fluttershy.

“Yeah, like he was gonna chicken out, or he was too intimidated by me, but then I realized,” Posey smiled, “As much as I helped him, he helped me alot. That stallion was one of the best things to happen to me, and ain't no way was I ever gonna let him go that easily. And I know, you aren’t the type of mare to let a good thing go. Yer a lot stronger than anypony gives ya credit fer.”

“Thanks mom,” Fluttershy said as she hugged her mom and then Rarity, “and thank you Rarity.”

“It’s what mom’s are here fer,” Posey said kissing her daughter’s forehead.

“Could you guys hurry up?” Spike asked, being a gentle-drake and covering his eyes as he peaked in, “Twilight is having one of her moods about being on time.”

Fluttershy giggled, “Be right there.”

“Such a gentle-drake,” Rarity admired, smiling as she walked out with Poesy.

Fluttershy smiled as she looked to the reflection in the mirror, “I’ll never let her go, ever.”

Rainbow Dash fidgeted a little in her outfit as the procession began, the pangs of nervousness now replaced with antsyness and impatience, “Celestia, how much longer do I have to stand?”

“Just hush now, sugarcube,” Applejack said, standing in the best mare slot. “The procession’s just starting.”

Rainbow Dash looked ahead at the procession as it was starting, beginning with Scootaloo carrying the rings on a little pillow, “Heh, she looks really miffed in that little dress.”

“Hey, isn’t that Sunny’s little girl?” Asked a bystander.

“Yeah, but she got adopted by the groom over a year ago,” said another voice.

“Trixie heard of that, she should’ve called upon the great and powerful one to help!” Trixie replied.

After Scootaloo made her way across the aisle, the next few to walk down were Applebloom, Babs Seed, and Sweetie Belle, “Hey, I know that filly. She’s that filly who played with Sapphire shores a few weeks ago, what is she doing here?”

“I heard she has connections with bride and groom, but I’m not sure,” said another mare.

“Oh, look at my little niece, so cute,” Orange Sherbert commented.

“Hey, look at Spitfire,” Story teller said, looking at the saluting bridesmaid as Rainbow’s parent’s strolled in.

“Its in remembrance of all the good Firefly did for some of the Wonderbolts and the old family name,” said a stallion as Stormcloak walked in.

“Hey, why isn’t the father giving away the bride? There wasn’t,” started Soarin.

“Oh no. Nothing like that,” said Fleetfoot, “Its just that Poesy wanted to give her daughter away...”

Fleetfoot’s dialogue was quickly interrupted by the beginning of the music and the entrance of Fluttershy, being held in hoof by Poesy. One guard looked at the more muscular mare and whispered, “Wait, is that Poesy...crying?”

An orange pegasus with an arrow cutie mark looked up, “Well, yeah! She’s a mother, of course she’s gonna cry. Of course, we guards ponies would...Flash, are you crying?”

“Y-Yes!” Cried a yellow pegasus as Fluttershy made her way to the alter.

Before Twilight could start anything, Dash took one good look at Fluttershy, “That’s it, flip the ceremony! I want to take her right here and now and get to the fun part!”

“Oh my,” Fluttershy thought to herself, “Is-is Rainbow Dash thinking what I think she’s thinking? Oh, I think my dress is too sexy.”

“Fillies and Gentlecolts,” Twilight began, after taking a calming breath, “You can do this Twilight, you read up on every single tradition for every single marriage ritual in existence. You can’t mess up now. OH, but what if I forgot the...no, I triple checked the list before I got here. Thank you all for coming, we are gathered here to see the binding of these two pegasi together in the bonds of holy matrimony.”

“She is doing tremendously well,” Rarity whispered.

“Yeah, isn’t so nervous anymore,” giggled Pinkie Pie in her bridesmaid outfit.

“ I remember, at this time, something my old foal sitter once said, an alicorn of love is as good as any saying from Celestia I guess, Love is just a deeper feeling from friendship. Much like my reactions to friendship, I thought it was silly when I was a kid. But now, I see how right she was, when I look at the two ponies in front of me. These two started off as friends and, thanks to time, became something much more. They remembered that, in order to form a strong bond with someone you love, you have to know them first, take the time to bond with them, and grow with them. In short, you need to become friends with them first. Through the years, these two ponies have proven that and their relationship will continue to grow as their love for one another.”

Dash blushed a little as she looked to her marefriend, all of the memories of the past few months coming back, “Yeah, my best friend, now my best girl. I’ll never forget that.”

“Do you, Rainbow Dash, take Fluttershy Firewing to be your wife, for now until eternity? To protect her, watch over her, and to help her no matter what?”

“You better believe it,” Dash confidently replied.

Twilight repressed a chuckle, knowing that even being formal wouldn’t stopped Dash from being Dash, “And Fluttershy, do you take Rainbow Dash to be your wife, for now until eternity? To protect her, watch over her, and to help her no matter what?”

“I do,” Fluttershy replied without hesitation, looking to Dash, “even if you don’t think you need to be saved or protected, I’ll be there for you.”

“Now, the two have written their own vows for each other, and have agreed to say them,” Twilight said, breathing deeply, “Ok, Twilight. Steps 1-4 are down, just five more to go. You can do this.”

Dash noticed Twilight starting to sweat, and chuckled a little at the nervousness of the egghead, “ Flutters, I am not a gal who can say how I really feel inside, you know that. I rather let my speed and wings do the talking and because of that, I lost somepony I fell for. I think that was Celestia’s way of telling me to wise up and spill my heart out to those I care the most for. So believe me when I say, I love you Fluttershy. You are more than something I want to protect and keep safe, you are a part of me that reminds me of when I do something dangerous, the part of me that tells me to hold back, and the part of me that helps me to cool down. You helped me become a better mother/sister to Scootaloo and I can’t thank you enough for that. I want you to continue to be that part of me.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said, taking a deep breath as she focused on Dash. For a moment, her fear of crowds came over her, but then she looked into Dash’s magenta eyes and found her courage, “You help me more than I ever could you. You bring out the best in me, you make me more than I think I could be, and you help me become stronger. When I am with you, I feel less afraid of the monsters around me. I don’t know what I did to make you see something special in this weak and helpless mare, but I thank you for it. Without you, I don’t think I could nearly be as assertive as I can be, and I don’t think I could be as strong as I am without you. When you are gone, I feel incomplete, but when you are with me, I can create tornadoes. No matter how scary things are, you make me face them, because you believe in me.”

“Now, Scootaloo, the rings,” Twilight said, watching the orange filly lift up the pillow.

“Here,” Scootaloo said, smiling at a job well done.

Taking the rings in each hoof, the two silently exchanged them as Twilight spoke, “With these rings, they are representing an eternal promise between each other. A promise to care and love one another for the rest of time. Repeat after me, ‘with this ring, I thee wed.”

“With this ring, I thee wed,” the two mares said together.

“I now pronounce you mare and mare, you may kiss the bride,” Twilight said, wiping a hoof over her forehead, “I have to do this again one day, oh brother.”

“Finally,” Dash whispered as she pulled Fluttershy into a deep and very passionate kiss, demonstrating to the whole of Ponyville, the love she had for the mare next to her.

Fluttershy let out a moan of happiness as she leaned into the deep kiss.

“Now, if you’ll all head outside, I do believe Pinkie Pie has a party all set up for us?” Twilight asked.

“YOU KNOW IT!” Pinkie cheered as she ran out to begin the reception.

(Obvious song, for this is obvious)

As the reception went on in full swing, two figures watched from atop of a cloud, “So, are you happy with this, Tia?” Asked Discord, watching as Luna left the cloud to head to Canterlot to lower the moon.

The white alicorn sighed happily, her ethereal mane flowing down from her, “Yes. Kindness and Loyalty are together forever, as they should be.”

“Want to join them?” Asked Discord, smiling as he watched Fluttershy dance with her father.

“I couldn’t,” Celestia shook her head, “If I went down there, then the entire thing would all be about me and I would take their moment away from them. This is their special day, best to let them enjoy it.”

Discord then smiled evilly, “You are just saying that to hide the fact that you can’t dance.”

“What?!” Celestia exclaimed, pulling back, “I so can dance!”

“HA! I seem to remember that, a few thousand years ago, that a certain little alicorn filly couldn’t dance a wink,” Discord said.

“That was millenia ago, I have improved since then,” Celestia said.

“Prove it,” Discord sneered.

Celestia then arched her eyebrows, “Are you asking me to dance?”

“Why,” Discord said, donning a tux and putting a rose in his mouth, “yes!”

Putting her hoof into Discord’s outstretched paw, she looked up at the draconquis, “One dance and that is it.”

“My pleasure,” Discord chuckled.

“Sister, we have returned from our duties, what has transpired down with the two,” Luna stopped herself as she watched her sister and Discord dance. “Never mind, we will go and watch from another cloud, you two continue your dance.”

Down below, Twilight walked her way to the table where Applejack and Rarity were sitting drinking some of the cider, “And here comes the mare of honor. Nice job Twi.” Applejack said, holding her glass up to the princess.

“Thanks,” Twilight said smiling, “I wasn’t too nervous up there was I? I was so afraid of forgetting something.”

“You did fine, I dare say even better than Celestia herself,” Rarity smiled as she sipped her drink.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Twilight blushed.

“Oh, much better than Applejack’s best mare speech,” Rarity said, looking back at her friend.

“What was wrong with my speech, it was what Rainbow wanted,” Applejack argued, “Short, Sweet, and to the point.”

“Really, ‘You two, good luck, good buck, and hope Dash doesn’t drive you mad?’ That was what you could come up with?” Rarity questioned.

As the two mares argued, Twilight could only shake her head. Elsewhere, the three CMC sat at their table and clinked their glasses together, “ Girls, here’s to us and a job well done! Another successful hookup thanks to us!” Scootaloo cheered.

“Here here,” Applebloom said, taking a drink of her juice.

“You know girls,” Sweetie Belle said, putting her drink down, “When you think about it, there is a lesson to be learned from all of this.”

“What do ya mean?” Asked Applebloom.

“Well, technically, none of our plans really worked. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash only started to fall in love when they went against the plans that we made for them. They were going against everything that we thought that romance meant,” Sweetie Belle said.

“So, what’s your point?” Asked Scootaloo.

“Well, maybe, real love isn’t exactly what you see in a movie or read in a book. You don’t need a fancy restaurant, a high adventure, or a wacky mixup for you to fall in love with somepony,” Sweetie Belle said, looking up at her two friends. “You just need to find a common ground that you can relate to and build up from there. Like being together, or a love of flying, or just enjoying the same thing. Then that builds up into something more and becomes love. Kind of like friendship, actually.”

The two other fillies pondered the little unicorn’s words and then said in unison, “NAH!”

“So, which one of is next to get our cutie mark?” Asked Scootaloo.

And so the party continued on. Soon, the time came for the cake cutting ceremony, and together the mares cut out an even piece of cake and gave it to each other. After eating a small piece, Fluttershy let out a small giggle as she saw the dollop of icing on top of the cyan mare’s nose. Leaning in, she quickly licked the icing off the nose and in response, Dash gave her a look that said, ‘that won’t be only licking you’ll be doing, snuggly.’

To which Fluttershy responded with a small blush and a wink. After that, it came time for the throwing of the bouquet and with a tiny grunt, the yellow mare threw the bouquet over her shoulder and towards the crowd. Surprisingly, it did not come back down, “What?”

“Taking the Bouquet? Are you trying to say something, Tia?” Asked Discord as he laid on the cloud, tired after dancing with Celestia.

“Just shut up and be my pillow,” Celestia said as she held the bouquet and cuddled up to Discord.

Shrugging, Rainbow Dash picked up the young yellow pegasus in her hooves and smiled, “Ready to go?”

“Yes, Nibbly,” Fluttershy smiled as she held onto Dash, wanting to be carried away.

Smiling, Dash flew off into the night sky, leaving behind a rainbow trail.

Epilouge:

On a cloud overlooking the small village of Ponyville, three pegasi sat to look over the entire area. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself as she looked at her wife laying to her side and the little filly next to her. She then looked back at the giant tree castle that had now replaced her friend’s former home, wondering how much longer it will be before it gets filled with every book that she could think of, “I guess I am their knight protector now. I think I could get used to that,” she thought to herself as she rubbed the little filly’s mane.

Scootaloo let out a giggle as her mother did this, content to be with a family. Turning her head up to look at Fluttershy, she smiled widely. Fluttershy looked back at the little pegasus and rubbed her nose with Scootaloo’s, “Something on your mind?” She asked noticing a look in her little girl’s eyes.

“Well, I was thinking, now that I have a mom and a dad,” Scootaloo began.

“Yes?” Asked Fluttershy.

“I was thinking of one more thing to get,” Scootaloo said.

“What’s that squirt?” Asked Rainbow Dash.

“A little sister,” Scootaloo said plainly as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and blushed.

The End

Cast:

Asleigh Ball-Rainbow Dash/ Applejack

Andrea Liberman- Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy/Sunny Day

Tabitha St. Germain-Rarity/Luna

Tara Strong- Twilight Sparkle

Nicole Oliver-Celestia

John De Lance- Discord

Grey Delise- Maleficent

Michelle Griber-Applebloom

Clare Corlett- Sweetie Belle

Madeline Peters- Scootaloo

Writer/Director- Alchemy Student

Producer- Knighty

Proofreader- Nurse Pony

Thanks for reading

Author's Note

Thanks to Nurse Pony for editing and helping her little boy with all of this madness. Let's give my mom a big hand!

Thank all of you, again, for reading this, commenting, and being such loyal fans. You guys made my journey here worth it.

Thanks to Fanofmosteverything for being an amazing writer and song parody writer, I could not have made the opening song without him.

Thanks to the wonderful people of the Flutterdash group,

Thanks to Lauren and all of the fine people of DHX for giving me such wonderful characters to work with.

And no, there will not be a sequel where I will get Fluttershy pregnant! I won't do it!...
...

Unless inspiration strikes me ;)