Prologue: Laws and Predispositions
A/n: enter the episode May the Best Pet Win here. The story picks up from the finish line, when Dashie is debating whether to take the tortoise or the falcon. -Honey Heart, the Filly-
I looked from the tortoise that had saved my life, to the falcon that had won the race, then back and forth and back and forth, until I realized something. I didn't want a pet animal. But what I really wanted, nopony would be willing to give me. Except. One. Maybe. I turned to Fluttershy with a faint smile on my face.
"Hey, Flutters, can we go back to your house while I decide? I'm feeling a little pressured here." She nodded eagerly. "Anything that'll help you decide, oh I'm so excited to see which one you pick." She was already gathering up the other animals, and walking briskly back to her house near the Everfree Forest. How she lived so close to that place and feared it so much, I will never know. I followed her, watching her closely as we walked. The others had dispersed, obviously seeing my discomfort with them watching me. I evaluated my 'decision' as we walked.
Her nice, soft pink mane framed her face perfectly. Her hooves were light on the ground, barely making a noise on the beaten dirt. Her face glowed with enthusiasm, but her normal shyness didn't look bad either. Her flank was very well-shaped, as well it should be, as she had to take care of all her woodland creatures, and that meant exercising them. Her eyes were the epitome of innocence, which was most of the reason she drew me in like this. Before I knew it, we were there. I looked away as we entered, and pretended to busy myself flopping on the couch to think as she put her animals away.
I continued sneaking glances at her, building up my courage. This was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I really needed all my strength to do it. Right now, I just needed to bend all the universe into this one question, and maybe, just maybe, I'd get an answer I wanted. I coughed quietly, trying to get her attention, but she wasn't near me, so she didn't hear. I got up, stretching, and trotted over to her, prodding her side with my hoof. She turned to face me, expectant.
"Yes, Rainbow? Have you made up your mind already," she asked quickly. I had never seen her so into anything like she was into this. I guess animals really are her thing. I leaned forward, whispering in her ear really low.
"Heh, actually, I lied back there. I'd made up my mind the moment I crossed the finish line." Fluttershy looked confused, cocking her head a little. I sighed, pushing on. There wasn't any turning back now.
"I. Chose. You." It was barely above a whisper, and yet her reaction let me know she had heard me. Her body locked up, her face contorting with intense confusion and thought. She backed away from me, very slowly, which gave me a little hope. I knew it was still a longshot, but I held out hope now.
"W-what? A-a-are you...Serious? You w-w-w-want to...own me?" I ducked lower with every word, instantly regretting what I said, thinking of ways to make it up to her before it destroyed our friendship entirely. I cringed, waiting for the final statement of rejection.
"Y-you do r-realize i-it's t-technically illegal. E-even though y-you a-are asking me, I'm n-not sure if it's legal..." The way she spoke was confusing me. Like she was actually considering it, despite the fact that it was, as she pointed out, illegal to own another pony in Equestria. I hadn't thought of that. I sighed in defeat, turning to leave.
"I'll have to think about it. This is...quite a big deal for you to ask of me, no matter what the provocation." I smiled faintly, turning back to her. She was smiling at me, as if she had some ideas in her head, which was quite unlike her. Still, her to even consider such a thing is way beyond her norm in the first place. I left her hut feeling a lot more confident than I had entering it.
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I walked away from the window, after watching to make sure Dashie went home. I was probably going to end up accepting her request, but she would have to prove she would be a nice owner. I looked over my array of creatures from the woods, trying to think. An idea came to me, and a good one at that. If Angel was on his best behavior, then unless he was completely neglected, he would be just fine anywhere. I thought it over, and decided that it was the best of my options. I cantered over to Angel's side.
"I'm gonna need you to stay with Rainbow Dash for a few days. If you aren't on your best behavior, we'll have a little talk in the shed. Got it?" Angel immediately nodded profusely, as afraid as any of the rest of the creatures of my 'shed.' Satisfied that Angel would be the sweetest bunny ever, I picked up his cage and flew out the door. I'd have to have a talk with Dashie first, but this would hopefully go off the way I planned it.
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I had just arrived at my cloud home, gotten some food, and sat on the couch eating when I heard somepony circling the house. I grumbled, leaving my lunch on the couch as I went to the door to see who it was. I couldn't believe it.
"F-Fluttershy? What are you doing here? I literally just left your house." The confusion was plain in my voice, and probably on my face, too, and then I saw what she was carrying. "Angel bunny?"
"Yes, Angel bunny. He'll be staying here with you for a few days. I got a little behind on my caretaking, and one less creature would be fantastic! Please, would you take him for a few days?" She was practically begging me to take the little demon off her hands. Of course, I didn't want to leave a friend hanging, so I agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to take him in. I took his cage and placed it in the middle of my living room, unlocking the cage. I took him out and placed him on the floor, seeing if he could walk on the cloud floor. Apparently, he could, and started exploring impatiently. I left him to that and returned to Fluttershy.
"So, how long is a few days?" I asked, getting a time frame in mind for how long I needed to bear the miscreant. She giggled softly, as if something I said was funny.
"Oh, no more than a week, I promise. I'll be back next week to pick him up! Thank you ever so much!" With that, she ran out and took off, heading back to her place, presumably, to catch up on her stuff. I sighed, turning back to find Angel and see what he was up to...
Author's Note
I hope you enjoy this story's beginning, it took forever to hash out while keeping it in some semblance of the plot i wanted.
Chapter 1: Doubts and Disbelief
It had been five days. Five long days. Even with Angel on suspiciously good behaviour, I still had another mouth to feed. Being a weatherpony doesn't pay the greatest bits, but at least it's a job. Still, I had to persevere, if I wanted this kind of thing with Fluttershy. It was one of the things I hadn't thought of, how I was going to pull off living together, somehow. I shook my head, continuing to smash clouds into little puffs of disappearing moisture in the air. I had to focus, I couldn't risk my pay being docked. Not right now. I wouldn't have enough money for both me and Angel. I grimaced, pounding clouds until I could barely feel my hooves, they were numb. I was panting, and I looked around, dreading to see more clouds in the sky.
There were perhaps twenty clouds left in the sky, signalling my work was almost complete. I flung myself into the air, destroying the cloud I had alighted on when I thought I was done, and cleared the last of the clouds. I blinked, my eyes burning, and found myself halfway to the ground. My wings were tucked by my side, and I hastily unfolded them, drifting the last few inches to the ground below. As my hooves skidded along the ground, as I had forgotten to tuck my wings back in so I could land properly, and was thus gliding along, I heard my name and I snapped up my head, looking around. Unfortunately, that threw me off balance, and I pitched off the road, landing in the grass beside. I struggled to my hooves, still numb with exhaustion, and if not for the pony still calling my name, I probably would've fallen asleep right then. I looked around again. I saw it was just the paymaster, and sighed with relief. For a second, I had thought it was Fluttershy, and it wouldn't do at all for her to see me like this.
"You forgot your pay again, Rainbow Dash. Where are you off to in such a hurry? All this week I've had to chase you down to pay you. You're being very irresponsible, and by that I mean more than usual." He dropped a bag of bits in front of me and flew off, muttering under his breath. I didn't really care. I had to get food and get home. I walked into Ponyville, too tired to risk flying until I had at least eaten. I ate some of the food I bought, and put the rest in my saddlebags. Feeling a little refreshed, I took flight. It was a little bumpy, and I kept losing altitude every so often when my wings angled wrong. But if I had flown to Ponyville, it might've been worse. My quick reactions got me to my house without major incident, and I was relieved.
Inside, I found nothing. Angel's cage was gone, and the bunny itself was nowhere to be found. I sighed. Maybe Fluttershy picked him up already, and I wouldn't have to face her like this. I could take a nap...
"R-Rainbow, you look a little worse for wear. M-Maybe this isn't such a good idea. I w-watched you c-coming home, and that was n-not as good as I know you are." I jumped, whirling around, which caused me to trip and fall on my face. I looked up straight into her eyes.
She had 'the stare' on. Like I had done something wrong. I couldn't think why she would ever use that on me, because I hadn't done anything wrong, but it was scary. Easily the scariest thing I've ever seen. I backed up to the wall as fast as I could.
"I-It's alright, Dashie, we'll s-still go through with it. M-Maybe not exactly the way you hoped, b-but we can still do this. A little...um, modification, is all." Her "modification" seemed to be throwing her into a nervous cycle. Oh, Celestia, just speak, mare.
"Spit it out, already, jeez." I was slightly snappy, maybe a little too much, but I had been worked to the bone this week from all the overtime and such I was doing. My whole body was numb and I just wanted a nap before we had this conversation. It wasn't going well, and both of us knew it.
"Um...That is...I was thinking that, maybe...If it's okay with you...If we could...reverse the roles?" My jaw hit the floor. Was she joking? She couldn't be serious. Me, the best flier in Equestria, bowing down to her? I would've rolled over laughing if I didn't think I would hurt my wing. I stared at her, trying to see if she was actually thinking that this would ever go down with me. Her eyes were full of hope. She wanted this to work, and knew that the way I had driven myself to support Angel, I couldn't possibly support us. But she could do it. I saw everything a little clearer as I continued thinking. She was in a lot better position to take me on than the other way around. I lowered my head a little, my cheeks burning.
"I...I accept the new terms." In seconds I felt her above me, doing things. I heard a few metallic clicks and tried to look around, but my neck wouldn't go very far, so I was stuck. I tried to ask her what she was doing, but she told me to be quiet, and that she was concentrating on something. I started to feel cold metal on my body, and whimpered. I didn't understand. Then, she walked in front of me, and I followed, struggling under some weight I didn't understand. I knew that in this state I couldn't fly, so I looked up questioningly at Fluttershy, but she stared ahead, not looking at me. I didn't know how to feel, or what to do, so I felt nothing, did nothing. She nodded, apparently satisfied with something, then picked me up in her hooves, not even blinking at whatever was weighing me down. Then, she took off.
It was a little awkward with both of us, plus whatever she had put on me. I couldn't help watching the ground as she lost altitude, but I didn't feel any fear. I couldn't feel anything. It was weird, but if I could feel I would've been glad not to feel right now. She finally stopped dropping and flew level to the ground, only a few feet off. She flew faster than I thought she could, even without me weighing her down. How much did I know about her that was completely wrong?
"You're going to be fine. You won't need that knowledge ever again." The words chilled me to the bone, and I already began to regret the decision I had made mere minutes ago. Then, my eyes widened, as I realized I didn't feel the regret, it was just me attempting to feel something, anything, inside me. Because it was still there. That numbness in my heart, keeping me from any actual feelings. I couldn't react to anything, because I didn't have my feelings. I just sat there, trapped in her hooves, as we flew towards the Everfree Forest.
Author's Note
I had some inspiration after days of trying to write it where it worked out. What if it wouldn't work out, and Fluttershy reversed it on her? So I tried that, and it seemed to work better. Let me know what you think, as always~! Sorry for the delay, I just took forever to make this inspiration.
