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.