Epiphany

by Ninestempest

Rating: everyone
Tags: Fluttershy, Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Romance
Length: 27093

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash shipping with a minor adventure into a forest.

Fluttershy finds a demon from her past, and confronts it head on with the help of Rainbow Dash, who has yet unconfessed feelings for the shy pegasus.

Published 2011-07-11 02:57:40 UTC
Last updated 2011-07-11 14:25:00 UTC

Epiphany 1

Epiphany

NinesTempest

"The last one!" Said Rainbow Dash, as she easily kicked away a cloud out of the sky. The blue-furred and rainbow-maned pegasus grinned at her friend, Fluttershy. With a yellow coat and wings and pink mane, she clapped as loud as she could. Rainbow Dash strained to hear it.

"Wow, that was faster than even 10 seconds!" She said, the excitement in her voice very clear, if anypony could hear her.

Rainbow looked around the sky. The sky was bright and blue, the warmth of the mid-afternoon sun flowing over all of Ponyville that afternoon. Rainbow Dash had just finished clearing the skies of all the clouds, leaving a clear day for the Ponyville below. She didn’t respond for almost a minute, lost in the beauty of the clear blue sky. She turned finally, nodding. "Well, duh, there were only like 8 clouds today. I didn't really try to do it fast because there was, you know, no reason to."

"Well, I don't know, I'd think you'd want to make the town look nice on Twilight's Birthday!" Fluttershy said. "She's been here for a bit over a year now!"

"I know how long she's been here, Fluttershy. I wish she had just told us she had her birthday so close to when she got here. I swear that pinkie almost cried when she heard we'd missed her firth birthday in Ponyville." She sighed. "Besides, I could have cleared the skies that day almost twice as fast!"

Twilight Sparkle, who had not been used to the idea of friends when she first arrived, hadn't ever thought of having a birthday party. The day came and went, and she never bothered mentioning it. By sheer coincidence, Applejack had asked her days later, and upon hearing the date, then told the rest of Twilight's friends about it. Since then, all of them had agreed to never mention it until the next year, to plan a surprise party for her.

"Oh, I know you could!" Said Fluttershy. Without warning, she felt something nudge her flank. She squeaked in meek fear and dashed up to and behind Rainbow Dash, looking down where she had felt something in the sky.

"... That's a cloud, Fluttershy." Indeed, a cloud had simply floated a little bit due to some wind, and nudged the timid pony.

She meeped, simply trembling in place.

"I think you know what clouds are, and why they can't hurt you. Hey, why don't you try and just break this one!" Rainbow darted off to the cloud and laid down on it. She was close to the edge, the body of the cloud exposed so that a moderately strong impact would easily dissipate it. "Come on, it'll be easy!" She swung down a hoof, patting the spot where Fluttershy should try to kick it.

Fluttershy hovered down slowly, landing on the cloud. She moved it around, as if looking inside of it for something. She patted the middle of the cloud a little, and hovered up a bit again. She took a deep breath, and dived at the cloud, back hooves first. She fell right through it, the cloud vanishing and leaving Rainbow to have to rely on her wings again to stay in the air. She stopped herself only after several long seconds, not getting anywhere near the ground, but definitely going farther than the cloud. She floated back up and gave Rainbow Dash a silly grin. "That was... cool." She said, her excitement once again hidden in the volume of her voice.

"Hehe." Chuckled Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy wasn't normally this energetic, and the fact that she decided to try and... 'attack' a cloud without protest meant her confidence was definitely building. She didn't seem like it, but getting a 'way to go' or a 'yay' out of her was more than Rainbow Dash had ever been expecting. Of course, she should realize that once the plane of their relationship changed, how she'd act would change too. "Okay Fluttershy, I'm going off now. I'm going to check in on Pinkie Pie about the party. Remember, we don't tell Twilight about it. As far as she knows, we don't even know her birthday is today! We'll meet up before the party at your place, right?"

Fluttershy nodded. She'd grown accustomed to the visits from Rainbow Dash, and even now looked forward to them. "That would be... nice." She smiled at her.

Rainbow Dash floated over to her, and rubbed her face in Fluttershy's mane, giggling. "Thank you." She gave Fluttershy a lazy smile.

Her small smile was comforting to Rainbow Dash as she pulled away slightly. "Oh, it's no problem Rainbow Dash." She started floating away in the direction of her home. "I'll see you later then!"

Rainbow Dash waved as she darted off toward Sugar Cube Corner, where Pinkie Pie lived and worked in her family bakery. Fluttershy, alone now, grew a somber expression as she slowly started to fly to her own home. She kept thinking about Rainbow Dash, and how every day they had met, she would say thank you when they were done hanging out, no matter what. She had been a lot nicer to her lately, especially since the Equestria's Best Young Fliers Competition at Cloudsdale, about a year previous.

She started the trip home, gliding over the Everfree Forest, and as she went, her thoughts drfited back to that day, two months ago where both her and Rainbow Dash's life changed.

It was a bright day, the mid-summer sun keeping everything warm, almost sweltering. Rainbow Dash had decided to move some clouds over Ponyville as to cool it down, but still have plenty of sunshine on the city. Twilight was busy giving Rarity some magic lessons, and Applejack had been home with Pinkie Pie, teaching her about certain apple pasteries. The only who had been outside that day was Fluttershy, it was her voice that startled Rainbow Dash from a nap ontop of the clouds.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Fluttershy flew through the air right past Rainbow Dash like a missile, the shriek hitting her ears about a second later, the amazingly high pitch almost stunning her, leaving her with a headache. She shook it off, regained her composure, and looked to see what had caused her friend fry so frantically.

She saw a Dragon. It hadn't been as large as the adult dragon who wanted to take his sleep in Equestria, so close to Ponyville, but it was probably something close to a dragon who had just become an adult, or a teenager. He was almost twenty feet tall, his scales a dark green, and underbelly an almost golden yellow. He zoomed past Rainbow Dash, roaring after Fluttershy. That sound was so loud it actually destroyed the cloud Dash had been using as a bed. Without thinking twice, she darted after the dragon, soon passing it with ease and catching up to Fluttershy. She had no idea Fluttershy could fly so fast.

Fluttershy turned her head to see Rainbow Dash next to her, pumping her wings at a high speed to keep up with her. Fear was pronounced everywhere on Fluttershy's body, sweating profusely with a panicked look. Rainbow Dash knew this was tiring her out, and knew that if she delayed too long, she might freeze up out of fear. Fluttershy gave Rainbow Dash a pleading look, and Rainbow Dash's heart screamed at her. Stop the Dragon.

"I'll. Stop. Him!" Yelled Rainbow Dash. She signaled for Fluttershy to keep going straight, and the shy pegasus nodded. Dash veered up and started going about a 45 degree angle upwards, eventually falling behind both of them. When she had reached a height where she almost found breathing difficult, even for a pegasus, she dived straight at the dragon. She tried to anticipate where he'd be at his current trajectory, and aimed there. As long as the dragon didn't change altitude, hitting him should be fine.

Her wings pushed the air by her harder than she had thought possible, faster than she ever had before. The air pressure began to build up in front of her, but she didn't even notice. All she could think of was Fluttershy, and saving her. The air began to visibly bend in seconds, the mach cone slowly forming around her body, and before anypony even saw, she had preformed a Sonic Rainboom for the third time in the history of Equestria.

Her calculations had been off; the boost from the sonic boom wasn't something she had predicted. She could tell that she was about to go between the dragon and Fluttershy, so she tried to maneuver downwards a bit to make up for it. She lost all control at that speed, and instead of steepening her angle of descent, she went straight down on top of the dragon, forelegs first, hitting the dragon's back and bringing him down with her, before he even realized what was happening. I’m not stopping now! She thought. Fluttershy needs saving! Why it was after her, or why she had angered it somehow in the first place, didn't matter.

Their crash into the ground was spectacular. The cloud of dust, dirt, and even debris went into the air almost a hundred feet. Fluttershy had seen the flash of light from the Sonic Rainboom, and stopped to look behind her and see Rainbow Dash take the dragon to the ground. She was panting as she slowly floated to the ground; she had never flown so fast, but she had known that stopping probably would have cost her her life. The smoke cleared, and the scene almost made her squeal. The dragon lay unconscious on his stomach, a small crater having formed, and Rainbow Dash was just getting up, standing on his back just next to the spines. She wobbled a bit, and then fell over, sliding down the dragon's side to where Fluttershy had landed. She walked over, still trying to regain some strength, and grabbed at the tuff of skin on the back of Dash's neck, dragging her away from the dragon. Oh thank goodness, she's alive, thought Fluttershy, after a quick feel of her chest and neck. Then she noticed that her left foreleg was bent at a weird angle, one that Fluttershy didn't think was possible.

She started to panic, thinking about how to get back to Ponyville. We came from... the other side of the dragon, but how far did we fly? Rainbow Dash had gone for almost three to four seconds in the sonic boom before hitting the dragon, so there was no telling how far they had traveled. Many many miles, was all she could think.

She examined Rainbow Dash again. Her wings were okay, and her other legs seemed in order. It was only the left foreleg that had been broken, but that was still a problem. Flying quickly at all would hurt that leg way too much, and Fluttershy was sure that Rainbow Dash was not used to injuries this severe. She decided to try and grab the back of Rainbow Dash's neck and drag her to the nearby forest. They weren't anywhere near Everfree, but this place was still where rain and growth was totally natural, and animals thrived. She wasn't familiar with this specific part of the forest, but she had been to a similar area, on the opposite end of Ponyville from the Everfree Forest, and she knew it would be safe.

The moment she started to drag Rainbow Dash, she heard a moan. Her body went stiff as she looked to the dragon, who was staring to stir. He turned over on his back, almost yelling in pain as he did. He looked to Fluttershy, and huffed. He started to flap his wings, wincing with every firm swing downwards. He floated over them and then behind Fluttershy, leaving Rainbow Dash the furthest away from the Dragon.

Fluttershy could see that he was in pain, but she wasn't sure if kindness was the safest way to repay somepony who had tried to kill you. The Dragon smirked at her as she cowered, lowering her head and raising her flank in pure fear, trembling, her legs almost giving away to her petite weight. "You... do you remember me?"

Fluttershy nodded slowly, and sqeaked. She knew the Dragon indeed. Not by name though; she had known a relative.

"As soon as I knew it was you; playing with those birds, it could only have been you. You always loved animals. You even loved my brother." His voice was loud, as it threatened to rip Fluttershy from the ground she was cowering over. He looked at Rainbow Dash. He moaned in pain again as he did, and gave a look to Fluttershy that she could only describe as... appreciative. An almost relieved smile. "It's good to see that you have friends who can protect what you never could."

"I'm... imsosorry... I'm... sorry..." She got out. The Dragon looked at her inquisitively. She backed up, almost tripping over Rainbow Dash.

"It's been almost 17 years since I heard what happened, dear Fluttershy." He said. "I'd come to accept what happened. But today, I was... very angry seeing you in the clouds; I wasn’t thinking, clouded one moment by that... meager gift Your gift to me... a bouquet of flowers, felt insulting, trying to compare his death to something you hadn’t even intended for me. However, your friend's bravery seems to have pacified me, if the wounds he inflicted haven't-"

"Um... Rainbow Dash is a... she... eep." She said, still scared more than she ever had been before. She wasn't sure what had made her interrupt him.

"The females among your race are formidable." He said. "I must return to my path, for my destination is a great distance away." He looked at her soothingly, and that only scared her more. "Seeing you today... reminds me why I long since forgave you. It couldn’t have been your fault." His last statement had a haze of resentment, as he started to fly once again. He winced with each flap, as he eventually soared into the sky, flying back in the direction of what she figured was Ponyville.

She exhaled. Her body was soaking in sweat, her legs trembling. Her fear subsided as the adrenaline in her veins finally started fading. The entire time she had been ready to pick up Rainbow Dash and fly. Fly as fast and as far as she could, no matter how impossible it would have been for her to pick up a fully-grown mare and fly with her. She still felt like she had to, no matter the futility. Her legs buckled, as she fell down on top of Rainbow Dash. The miniature-crater was behind her, almost 20 feet away. The brick road was cracked everywhere, the grass flattened from the shockwave in the surrounding area. She was breathing heavily now, almost hyperventilating. Lying there, she closed her eyes, and tried to calm herself. She thought of Angel at home, of the other birds and animals in her house. She thought of her friends, and of Ponyville. Of the adventures they had had since Twilight Sparkle's arrival, and restoring Luna from her Mare in the Moon state. It all seemed surreal to think back on it. She had barely known many of the ponies in Ponyville, and really only interacted with them during the Winter Wrap Up and other yearly holidays. Before Twilight, she had only really known Rainbow Dash, from Cloudsdale, and the rest of their group, but only barely; even Rarity she didn’t interact with much. When Twilight arrived... she had gotten to know so many of the ponies in Ponyville, it made her realize how good her friends were.

Her breathing normalized now, she looked to Rainbow. The mare had not woken up yet, and it had been several minutes since the impact. With slightly more energy now, she started to drag Rainbow Dash to the forest. She hoped to set up a splint and find some water or medicine for her injured friend.

Epiphany 2

Rainbow Dash woke up. She was in the middle of a forest, the sun blocked out by the tall trees and their leaf-covered branches. The first thing she noticed was the intense pain in her left foreleg. She clenched it with her right hoof by instinct, but the pressure made the pain ripple through her leg. She screamed. She had injured her wings and gotten terrible bruises and even broken her collarbone once, but a limb... that was new to her. She bit back tears as she examined her left forleg. It was resting carefully on a pile of large and broken branches, with the bark ripped off, and she had been laid back against tree right next to the pile. She looked at her own body, to see if anything else was out of order. She didn't see anything, but she ached all over. She could feel her left foreleg, but she didn't dare try and move it. The pain felt like it was seeping into her shoulders and chest, lingering and bothersome without overtaking her. She tried to slowly move her other limbs, and flap her wings. They all moved without a hitch but with how sore she was, it made her more exhausted. How long had she been out? She had no idea. Was this Fluttershy's doing? Did the dragon die-

She gasped. A dragon. She had fought a dragon, to some degree. She looked around, and lifted her back off of the tree, trying to curl herself up as much as possible. If there was a dragon around, she'd be in no state to even try and get away.

That's when the sound hit her. Something... tumbling? a faucet? Splashing? Wait, a natural river? The sound was faint but constant, but she knew what that was. This didn't look like Everfree, but it sure looked like a forest, which meant there were probably streams and animals all over. She tilted her head around in several directions and discerned that the water was off in the distance behind her. She couldn't see it, but she sure could hear it. Her thirst was great by that time, she felt dehydrated. Then the splashing sound stopped. So somepony was in the river?

That's when she craned her head to the right to look behind the tree her head rested on, and saw Fluttershy. "Fluttershy! Oh thank Celestia you're okay!" She yelled. She wanted to get up and hug her, but cheering with her right hoof was all she could afford. And even that made her feel tired.

"Oh Rainbow Dash!" She said, dropping everything on her back and running up to her. She had several branches and vines, which were now strewn out across the forest floor about where Rainbow Dash was sitting. She ran up and onto Rainbow Dash's with a relieved smile. "I was scared you weren't going to wake up." She looked at her with even more concern, and moved forward. "I've you do something so brave Dash, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Fluttershy had a few tears of joy building up in her eyes, her head resting firmly against Rainbow Dash's neck. The cyan pegasus started to blush a little, thinking more about Fluttershy than she did herself. Somehow, the shy pegasus had gotten a dragon mad at her, fended the dragon off, and took care of Rainbow Dash when she had almost died. As she reminisced, she realized she started... feeling odd. The memories she recalled were all that of Fluttershy. She had started to admire her gentle beauty and kindness a long time ago, but now... it was in overdrive. Her blush grew as she looked away from the pegasus.

"I-I-I found some herbs... they should have helped numb some of the pain. I-I'm pretty surprised you even got up. Do you... hurt much?" She looked all over Rainbow Dash's body to make sure nothing was out of order.

"Fluttershy..." she said, giving a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, nothing wrong, 'cept this leg," she motioned at her left foreleg, "and I'm pretty tired. You've done great." She realized with their faces even closer now, she was blushing a bit harder.

Fluttershy didn't notice. Her smile grew a bit, as she whispered to Rainbow Dash "B-b-but you almost died because of me..." she looked away in shame, "I'm a bad friend. Friends don't let their friends almost die."

"Fluttershy..." said Rainbow Dash, trying to be comforting. She redirected Fluttershy's ashamed stare back to her with her free hoof. "I did what I did because you were in danger. It doesn't matter what happened, because you're okay now. I'm okay now. We're both okay now. So just..." Stuff it, okay? were the words she almost said, but something held her back. She knew better than to be a jerk at time like that. In fact, just thinking that those were the words that came up made her mind feel tinged in sadness. She continued quietly, hiding her trying-to-emerge emtoion, "... just try and fix me up, then we can just spend the night here. I'll be better tomorrow, so we can get back to Ponyville then." Fluttershy nodded. Just she started to sit down, Rainbow Dash coughed a bit. As she did, she felt liquid splash against her fur, and she looked down. Red blotches had fallen on her coat. "This is bad." She said, her face grim.

She coughed again, seconds later, but no blood came through. "Well then... we have to head back." Fluttershy said. She got up and started to try and get Rainbow Dash on her back.

The cyan pegasus coughed again, even more blood coming out this time. Fluttershy moved back a few steps, watching Rainbow Dash carefully. The salty taste lingered in the confident pegasus’ mouth, and she spit it out. "If I'm bleeding internally, we should try to move. Doesn't that need surgery or something? Come on..." She tried to get up on three hooves. Fluttershy reached out a hoof to help, but was ignored; she amazed her friend could even walk. She hobbled a few steps, her left foreleg hanging in the air. She didn't get very far before the pain seeping into her chest from her foreleg strengthened, the surprising intensity causing her to lose focus and fall over onto her left foreleg. The pain exploded and she bit her lip to keep from screaming.

"Let me make a splint, Dash," said Fluttershy. Dash nodded, and turned on her back, laying her leg out. Fluttershy retrieved the wood and vines, and took only a minute to finish the makeshift splint. She yelled and gritted her teeth as the pressure was applied, and when Fluttershy finally finished, the pain was already subsided enough for her to be able to focus. She stood up, and nothing intensified.

"My father knew a lot about taking care of animals." Fluttershy explained. "He knew all kinds of wild plants and herbs and flowers that grew in peaceful forests and wild forests alike that were good medicines. I think... I-I think if I go and look for one of those, I may be able to get you better if we just stayed in this forest for a little while."

"Fluttershy, you were just telling me we had to leave. If you go and find more of these plants, how long will we be stuck around here?" Rainbow Dash could feel her voice rising. She immediately shut herself up when she saw Fluttershy's melancholy expression.

"B-but!" She cried, "this isn't just any herb I'd be looking for! It's magical. It can treat... physical wounds... and stuff, on the inside, that you can't reach with regular medicine." She wimpered a bit, almost making a squeak. Her voice grew even soft. "Dash, I-I don't know what to do..." she sniffled a little. Rainbow Dash was giving her a serious look. She was about to yell at her, when she had that feeling again. As soon as she thought about yelling at Fluttershy, she regretted it. It was like she couldn't say anything bad to her. She wanted to comfort her, but Rainbow Dash didn't know how. She had never tried that before. She had never been comforting before, always critical and always loud.

The thoughts made her feel... helpless. She had no idea what to do right now, no way to get back to Ponyville and no way for Fluttershy to take her back. They couldn't stay in that forest for long, or else food maybe a problem. How long was it until Ponyville sent some kind of search party? As she mulled over possible outcomes, Fluttershy lifted her head and looked at Rainbow Dash with a solemn expression. "You are okay, right? It's... I think it's too early to leave. Your leg is broken, we should at least wait a day..."

Rainbow Dash could only stare back at her. That face... the fearful eyes... how helpless she looked... where had she seen it before? Suddenly, a wave of emotions seemed to strike her, ones of anger, sadness, confusion, and guilt. Memories from years at Junior Speedster's Flight School came roaring back... her friends... Sky Swallower... no...

Rainbow Dash broke into tears. Her sobs took Fluttershy off guard completely. "Oh no no, I made you sad didn't I? I'm sorry, I shouldn't be making you cry; friends don't do that." She said, reaching out with a hoof to wipe the tears away.

Rainbow Dash swatted her hoof away, and pushed Fluttershy off of her without even looking at the concerned pegasus. "Stop apologizing! Get away!" She yelled, voice thick with rage. She stopped mid cry and looked at the shy pegasus. She was stunned, but looked hurt, almost ready to cry. Rainbow Dash shook her head, the last tears on her cheeks finally falling loose. "Just go find me that plant okay? Breathing is getting hard." It wasn't a lie, but it was her excuse for getting Fluttershy to leave for a little while.

Fluttershy sniffled, and nodded, trotting off slowly to where she knew the plants would grow in a forest like this.

Tears were flowing again; she desperately tried to stop them, scratching at her eyes with her free hoof, but it was to no avail. She felt like she had just destroyed her friend. She had argued with Fluttershy before, about silly things such as flying, but something about this time felt wrong. During the entire ordeal, she couldn’t get that visage out of her head, the pegasus leaving an impression with more than her sad expressions. Rainbow Dash found her beautiful, not in a way she had seen before. Even in the presence of such beauty, she had yelled in anger at her.

Without trying, her thoughts turned to their lives in Ponyville. She remembered always being supported by Fluttershy, her kind eyes, and how she herself had sometimes felt jealous that Fluttershy always had the company of animals, where she sometimes had nothing. Rainbow Dash wasn't really alone, but she still felt like some of her part of her... yearned for a greater companion than friends. She couldn't think about what that yearning was specifically, all she knew was that Fluttershy fulfilled that feeling.

That was when she felt it. The feeling that she'd read, heard, and that had been preached on awful sitcoms about when a mare and a colt become so close, that they never want to be apart. Her stomach had done a back flip, and wouldn't stop. The telltale butterflies had moved in. She now knew what she felt. She couldn't stop thinking about Fluttershy, and how everything about her was so great. She had felt this way only once before in her life, and feeling it again, she knew what it was.

Before she could pursue that line of thinking, she started coughing again. The blood flew yards in front of her, her hacking loud and painful. She couldn’t stop; it would pause for barely a second, letting her get in a free breath, then start up again just as painfully. The coughing continued for almost a minute, ending with her gasping for breath. It brought her back to the reality of the situation. She felt weaker than she had before, and left foreleg's pain had reached almost up to her shoulder. She heard leaves crunching under somepony's steps, and turned to see Fluttershy walking back with a huge amount of plant stems and leaves.

"Ohdearohdearohdearohdear," she said, speaking too quickly for Rainbow Dash to hear. "This is really bad, I have to get some water and mix this up right away, don't move!" And she flew off, leaving behind the plant. Rainbow Dash took a good long look at it, then a sniff, and winced. It smelled awful. The color was a light-green and mustard-yellow mixture, and it smelled like a skunk. The stem was small, the leaves loose and almost oily. She drew her hoof away, almost afraid that touching it might be bad.

Fluttershy quickly reappeared with what appeared to be the tops of several flowers. She saw that they each had water in them, holding it like a bowl. She carefully laid the flowers upright on the tall stack of plants that were meant to heal Rainbow Dash up. Then she walked back to where Rainbow Dash had woken up to retrieve some things there. She came back with a rock that was in the shape of a bowl, and about the size of two of her hooves. Rainbow Dash didn't question how she had found such a rock, or why she put the plants into it and grinded them with a smaller rock. She did question pouring cold water on them. "I thought that you heated things to get chemistry to work." She said, her voice weak. "Twilight heated things, almost never cooled them..." she felt some kind of ping of pain, like she had been stabbed. She brought her free hoof to her stomach, and coughed for a few seconds again.

"This stuff just needs to be ground up so it gets out of the leaves and the stem, but then mixing it with any liquid works." Explained Fluttershy. She had made a lot of the medicine, and had had almost too much plant for her to carry back earlier with just her hooves. When she saw the bowl with water and the plants mixed it, it had really ground down into nothing. "This may taste funny. I've never made this much at one time either, but you're a big mare, compared to little animals, so you need this much!" She spoke as if to give herself confidence. "Now, with the first sip, I want you to swallow it like you would anything else. Then, with the second sip, you breath it in, and hold it for 10 seconds or so. If you do that, you'll be okay for the next day or two probably, with this much." Her confidence comforted Rainbow Dash quite a bit. She put it up against Rainbow Dash's lips, and tipped it slowly, letting Rainbow Dash swallow almost half of the contents. Surprisingly, it had tasted sour, like some kind of weak lemon juice. She hesitantly took the second sip, breathing it in.

Almost immediately she had tried to cough, but she somehow withheld it, and kept herself strong for a full eleven seconds, before coughing up all of the liquid she had breathed in. Fluttershy gave her a comforting smile. "I think you should be good until tomorrow now. I'll get more wood and make a little camp, okay?" She asked. Rainbow Dash - who wasn't sure why Fluttershy had suddenly started acting like she knew what she was doing - only nodded. Rainbow Dash smiled to herself once Fluttershy was gone. I guess I'm still a fillyfooler, she thought to herself. And to think I once hated that.

Fluttershy took about 10 minutes to find enough broken branches and dried leaves to start a fire. The entire time she had been focused on looking for small enough branches, but large enough logs as well, so she wouldn't have to leave for more that night. When she found enough, she placed them carefully on the ground and then flew up, high above the trees, to see the sun. It had been around 10 AM when the dragon had chased after her, and she had estimated that Rainbow Dash woke up about six hours after that event. She was too shy to admit it, but she had spent most of the time that Rainbow Dash was passed out curled up next to her, sleeping. She had been exhausted, as she had never flown so far or fast before in her life. She herself had slept almost 4 hours, and had only had time to find some of the medicinal herbs and a little water for Rainbow Dash by the time she woke up.

Emerging from the trees, she looked around. It seemed that their entire interaction had taken a bit over an hour, as she decided it was closer to six than five. She floated down and landed softly, picking up the branches and leaves with her forelegs as she slowly flew back to their camp. She seemed pleased that she'd be able to spend a whole night with Rainbow Dash, even if there wasn't a lot to be happy about. After all, she had basically hit the ground at the speed of sound. She only had one external injury, which wasn't that external anyway; Fluttershy had originally feared that there were problems inside of her due to the lack of bruising anywhere but on her hooves. She wasn't sure what a shockwave of that magnitude could do, but it couldn't be good.

Of course it wasn't any good, silly Fluttershy, she thought to herself. Fluttershy couldn't help but feel guilty for what she had done. In angering the dragon, she had gotten Rainbow Dash so hurt, that she had almost died. This is my last shot to prove it to everyone, she thought. I'll get Rainbow Dash all better, and then I'll get her to Ponyville, and maybe... everyone can see that... I've finally done some good. She sniffled a little, but held back the tears as she started heading back.

Fluttershy arrived at the camp in minutes, clearing a patch of dirt a few feet away from them, setting up a circle of rocks, and getting a fire started. Rainbow Dash's face glowed with surprised as she saw Fluttershy start one up so quickly. She grinned at seeing the expression, and gloated quickly about how she had made fires in forests before.

"You like it out here, don't you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy sat down next to Rainbow Dash. "Well, it's quiet, and calm, and peaceful, and I can go away and be alone, but I've never been this far away before."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "You know, you probably saved my life today, Fluttershy."

"It's not like I was going to leave you there with the dragon..." she began to explain, but Rainbow Dash cut her off.

"That's what I thought! That dragon didn't die!" She pointed at Fluttershy. "So what did you do? Get mad at him and tell him to bug off, like the last one?" She snickered at the memory of the fully grown adult dragon whimpering at the angered Fluttershy.

"Well... no..." Fluttershy responded with indignation. "I... we... I just kinda knew him..."

"Whoawhoawhoawhoa." Said Rainbow Dash, waving her free hoof in the air. "I thought you were scared of dragons. Why do you know one like him?"

"Well, I don't know him exactly. I knew his brother." She now began to whimper a little bit.

Rainbow Dash continued to pry. "Fluttershy, I risked my life to save you. I know you've done a lot for me, saving my life. But... I'd at least like to know why I was doing it."

Fluttershy nodded. She had no reason to hide it anymore. "Okay, I guess that's fine." She took a deep breath to retell the story. "When I was just a little filly, both of my parents cared for animals a lot. My mom was a veterinarian, but my dad did what I do now, caring for the various farm animals and other criters that lived in or around the city, though Cloudsdale didn’t have a lot in that department. I liked animals too; I had already known that because of how I discovered my cutie mark when I was at summer flight camp.

"Upon finding my cutie mark, my parents and I moved down to Fillydelphia, which had a lot more animals than Ponyville, so it was a big job.”

“But how did you get to know a Dragon? I mean, I thought you didn’t know anything about them when Spike first arrived.” Rainbow Dash seemed determined to contradict the shy pegasus as much as possible.

Fluttershy frowned. “Well, my father once had a very odd request; he was to take care of a baby dragon, one that apparently was very... important in dragon circles. He wasn't old enough to talk, being even younger than Spike, but he was walking and stuff. That is what I was unsure about; I figured that dragons perhaps communicated with a different language, not even Equestrian. Regardless, my father and I had stayed home to take care of him for, because he was sick with something and the parents were busy on other matters and couldn't watch him. We had never actually met the parents, and we had no idea how long they'd really be gone.

"I was older than him, but he was nice. We played a lot over the days that we knew him and I'd say we good friends in the week he lived there. He was obviously sentient, as he definitely made gestures and knew me, but he still couldn’t talk, or maybe he wouldn’t. I’m not sure.

"One night though, something awful happened, and it was... bad." She whimpered a bit, causing Rainbow Dash to raise her eyebrow. "I was asleep, until I had heard some glass break. It was a stormy night, so even when I was little I guessed that something had fell or flew through the glass. I had walked down the hall to see it, without getting my dad. In the living room kind of place in our house... there was somepony with a hood and cloak on, and a knife levitating in front of her. I panicked. I had saw the knife fly at me and I dodged instinctively, the knife cutting off some of the hair from my tail. I ran back to my room screaming, and that woke up my dad and the baby dragon."

She looked around, like she was trying to think about a lot of different things quickly; distracted almost. "Uhm, so... yes, I was in my room, and that unicorn in a cloak opened my door. I was huddling in the blankets, but I was so obvious... oh, I was so stupid!" She yelled. Rainbow Dash almost fell back from where she was sitting. "I... I was just huddling there and I hear a sound of a knife hitting something. I looked out from under the covers, and saw... the baby dragon... he had a knife... in his chest..." she began to cry silently, tears falling very slowly. She couldn't bring herself to finish, but Rainbow Dash was still perplexed as to what this had to do with her predicament.

"Hey, come on now, that was a long time ago, okay?" She said, trying to be comfortable. "You were a silly little filly, you didn't know any better. If that was too hard on you, then you don't have to tell me anymore." She felt incredibly awkward, but Fluttershy had taken it to heart.

Fluttershy wiped the tears from her face. "No, no no no no, I'm okay, I can do this. I'm a big mare now!" She said, trying to be confident. Rainbow Dash had to contain a few chuckles at Fluttershy’s self-confidence boosting phrase. "While I had been hiding and shaking in the blankets, the unicorn had raised her knife at me. But the dragon had climbed up on the bed and stood in front of me, his hand and arms blocking as much as me as possible. So the unicorn..." she looked to the ground in shame. She continued quietly from there, explaining how the unicorn was then caught by her father, taken by police, and that the unicorn was convicted of the murder.

"That dragon's family had been very angry." She said. "They had apparently talked to my parents, saying they blamed us and all ponies for what had happened to their child. They hated us, and the older sibling of the baby dragon, who was close to spike's age, said that he had hated me the most. A lot of officials and stuff... had to help protect us. The city hadn’t blamed us at all, but I think the dragons all did. The dragon you saved me from was that older brother." Rainbow Dash looked stunned, that she had been involved something as big as a sort of 'family feud' in Fluttershy's life.

"I had always blamed myself for what happened too." She said. "So I promised to myself that day that... if somepony was in need, animal or pony, that I'd help them." She smiled weakly while averting her gaze in shame, and the conflict on the shy mare's face confused her. That's when she heard laughter Fluttershy and realized that she had been ashamed of herself. "But I was never really able to do what I promised myself that day. I wasn't ever helpful in school, or anything. I didn't make any friends. The baby dragon had been my first friend, so I kept thinking that if... I made a friend, I'd lose them.” She grabbed up Rainbow Dash’s hoof, as if pleading. “When you hurt yourself earlier... I was so scared; I wanted to make sure I was with you as much as possible... because maybe you might have d-"

Rainbow Dash reached out to her shoulder and held it tight, bringing her closer. "Hey hey hey! I'm not going anywhere, and you have kept that promise! You help us all the time; you said you'd come help tell the sleeping dragon to leave, and you did! You said you'd take care of the cutie mark crusaders, and you did! You even said you'd cheer for me at Cloudsdale... and you did!" In her little tirade, she had moved her face closer to Fluttershy's, and when she finally noticed, her face turned a bright red, but she still continued, her voice more quiet, personal. "You are the nicest pony I've ever met, Fluttershy, hooves-down. There's no way you have done anything wrong by us, or by anypony else! Sure, the baby dragon may have died... but he was protecting you, because you were his friend. There is no sense in just thinking that he died for no reason. He died for you." Rainbow Dash was looking at Fluttershy with a more concerned expression now. She didn't look uncomfortable, but she was still melancholy. "He gave you the chance to live, Fluttershy. A gift that... I'm very grateful for."

"Uhm, what was tha-" Fluttershy was cut off by Rainbow Dash's lips meeting hers slowly. Fluttershy blushed strongly, letting Rainbow Dash press harder. Feeling relaxed at long last, she closed her eyes, letting the kiss fill up her thoughts. She felt Rainbow Dash's tongue enter her mouth, their tastes mingling as their hooves embraced one another, their bodies drawing closer. They slowly parted their lips, and Rainbow Dash was staring at her, intently. Fluttershy felt safer than she ever had felt in her life, staring into her big magenta eyes, and seeing nothing but strength in them. She still was straining to make sense of what had just happened when she heard Rainbow Dash spoke.

"I love you, Fluttershy." She said.

Fluttershy almost jumped backwards. She still felt some fear and confusion, and hadn't moved more than inches away from Rainbow Dash's face. "I have for a little while. Since our visit to Cloudsdale for the competition, I always felt a little something when we talked, or hung out together." She gave Fluttershy an uplifting smile. "At first, I thought we were just becoming closer friends... but then I was admiring your hair, your face, your shy kindness... and a little of your body." She blushed even harder now, her blue-face almost bright red. "And today... I knew it. I really love you, Fluttershy." She finished, her face clearing up and her face smiling with heavy anticipation at a response.

"I... I can't..." Fluttershy was utterly confused. She couldn't decide of such an announcement was funny, kind, or some kind of cruel joke. Her? Somepony love her? She scoffed at it in her mind. Why would somepony love her if she couldn't protect a single thing she had ever loved? She got up and backed away a few steps, almost trembling. "I can't... I can't... no... Rainbow Dash... I-I'm pretty sure I like... but well... Idunno..." was all she would respond with, before squeaking. She had no idea what she 'preferred.' Without ever making friends, she had never felt the desire to love anypony but her parents, and had given it no thought, ever, in her entire life. The idea of love to her was... it almost destroyed the shell she had made around her mind. She wanted to just bolt, fly away and leave, but she knew better than to leave Rainbow Dash how she was.

Rainbow Dash's face, which had been hopeful, now turned melancholy. "I... I can't force you to like me back, Fluttershy." She said. "I just didn't want to keep it to myself, not now. Who knows if I'll even make it out of this forest?" Her voice was raising again, which only served to confuse Fluttershy. "But I had to tell you, because if I kept it in, it might... start to tear me apart. I'm just glad you listened to me. You're really a good friend of mine, Fluttershy." She started to get on the ground to sleep.

"Dash... I..." Fluttershy scooted closer to Rainbow Dash, meeting her face with her own. This surprised her, and she started to blush again. "I... I really like you, and you're my closest friend. You really are. If you like me that way, then... well... you... uhm... I don't... really mind..." she lay down next to the brightly-blushing and embarrassed mare. "We can sleep, uhm, you know, next to each other, tonight..." she patted the ground next to her.

Rainbow Dash smiled. After all this time, it had been one thing she really wanted. Just to be close to the one she loved. She lay down, lowering her head to the ground slowly. Their faces were probably only half a foot apart, and Rainbow Dash tried to look anywhere but to the mare's face. Fluttershy giggled, as she rolled over, and moved a little closer to Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy continued talking, not moving her head to face Rainbow Dash. "I... I... I'm still... not sure, okay? Please, oh please don't feel like I'll never love you, because I really don't know..." her talking faded and she began to breathe in a quiet rhythm. Figuring she had fallen asleep, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. She felt her body, though tired and beaten, had very little pain to give her now. She was too relieved and excited about Fluttershy to feel much of anything. She had admitted she loved her, and the shy pegasus had only responded with more hope and somehow this lifted her spirits more than anything that day. Even if she doesn't end up loving me, she thought to herself, I'll protect her. I'll be the one to keep her safe, and nothing will ever hurt her again. I'll make sure... nothing... bad happens to her... like... Sky Swallower... did...

Sleep over took Rainbow Dash, dreams of ruin plaguing her sleep, and dreams of delight filling Fluttershy's.

Epiphany 3

Rainbow Dash awoke to a knock. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the room she was in. It was a cloud house, and she quickly remembered it was the cloud house she had built near Cloudsdale.

The knocking resumed with three loud bang. She yawned, still waking up. She looked to her clock, and saw it was just past seven am. Unsure of who was at the door at this time, she slowly got up and walked towards the entrance to her domain. The house was small, and one of the ones required to be built for Junior Speedsters Flight school. It only had four rooms, and only three of them were large enough to really accompany ponies. A living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. There was a small pantry she kept for food in case she didn't have much to eat from Cloudsdale, where she typically spent evenings with her friends.

The knocking didn't stop, the same three hits against the wooden door she had fashioned against the clouds. She sighed, figuring it didn't matter who it was, and opened the door. There she saw one of her friends. "Sky Swallower?" Asked Dash, in a tired haze. She then realized who was at the door, and momentarily panicked. "Oh, uhm, hey, what brings you here?"

"You weren't asleep now, were you?" She said, shy as usual. Dash didn't know how the pegasus got up so early every morning, while staying up late almost every day. "It wouldn't terrible if I just popped in for a tad, would it? I wanted to chat."

"Sure, fine. Just let me get some food and maybe a quick shower." Dash yawned again, but she tried to maintain a smile. She was tired from being woken up so early, but she wanted to maintain some sense of composure around her crush. "Don't peek, okay? It was creepy enough when Gilda was joking around last month-"

Rainbow Dash could visibly see her ligthen up a little, having been invited inside. "Oh, come now! Only a filly fooler would do such a thing! And even then... it would be a compliment." Sky Swallower rolled her eyes. As Dash lazily walked to the bathroom, she took a concerned glance at the pegasus behind her, who was watching her without any expression.

Dash sighed. "You ARE a filly fooler, remember?"

Dash closed the door to the bathroom but heard Sky behind the door. "Well, then if you happen to catch me, think of it as nothing more than a compliment." Rainbow Dash started the shower, and smiled. Alone, she sighed happily as the hot water from the cloud over her poured over her, and she let her thoughts float about. The pony she had been quietly pining over for the last year... alone, in her own house! She couldn't stop thinking about the mare.

Sky Swallower had bright-orange fur, an almost black-navy-purple mane, and emerald green eyes. Her cutie mark was that of a dark-grey cloud with a tornado emanating from it. At first, Dash had pegged her for a quiet, shy, soft-spoken pegasus. Yet only after a few days of hanging out did Dash quickly find a slightly argumentative, proud, and carefree friend. She wasn't much of an athlete, but she definitely was well read; she had good understandings of things she’d never do, like direct movies, or how to cast magic. She could take any concept, science or art, and dissect it into its individual parts, and make it incredibly easy to understand, explain, or criticize. It helped her in her one and only career plan: being a weather pegasus, hopefully a team captain for a big city like Hoofington or Manehattan. She was definitely a pony who could handle the weather well; she had earned her cutie mark by calming an accidental tornado over Hoofington that was made by the lead weather pony after he had gotten a little too drunk the previous night.

Though they had basically known each other for two years, it wasn't until seven or eight months prior that Rainbow Dash sometimes felt a little uneasy about the mare. Dash had started combing her own hair and flying more to perfect her own tricks, and generally was more concerned with her attention compared to any other pony's. Sometimes her heart would race, and her voice would crack more around her. She couldn't accept her own feelings for a while, leading her to even isolate herself from her friends for a whole month. It racked her so hard only because of her parents, and how they tended to view the subject of love. In their eyes, everyone was made male and female for a reason, and anything else was very wrong. They had raised Rainbow Dash this way, though where she was from there weren't many ponies like that; Sky Swallower never mentioned it, never asked about it, and never was asked about it. Once they became friends, she somehow thought it was very important they all knew. Ponies in larger cities were a lot more open about these kinds of things, this Rainbow Dash knew, and Sky was never a pony to be concerned with what others said of her anyway.

Dash suddenly slipped, and barely maintained her balance in the shower. She felt like she had been falling asleep, even with the stream of hot water shooting down at her. She yawned, attempting to make the last remnants of exhaustion vacate her body, and it seemed to work. She turned off the shower, and tried to shake some moisture off her body. Still soaking wet, she walked outside into her bedroom, where Sky was lying on the bed. She almost blushed when Sky looked over at her, and threw a towel from her dresser over her own back, to dry herself off. Sky was on her back and gave Dash a very lazy, upside-down look. "Ten minutes, and it sounded like you just stood there." She stared, almost disinterested, at Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus figured she had settled down a bit, realizing it wasn't much of an intrusion being in her house this early.

"I was just thinking." Rainbow Dash finally said in response.

"About what?" Sky asked, still with a lazy and uninterested expression.

Rainbow Dash tried to look a little annoyed, but couldn't stay terribly mad at the mare in her bed. "You don't want something to eat do you?" She had brushed off the question, but didn't care.

Sky shrugged, still lying on the bed. "I'm good, ate an energy bar before getting here." She playfully rubbed her stomach. "Feels good sis."

"Why are you up so early anyway? What do you want to talk about?" Rainbow Dash walked through the room and to the living room, opening the cloud-door that lead to the pantry. She grabbed an apple, closed the door, and saw Sky somehow in front of her where the door had been. She almost dropped the apple in surprise.

"Just wanted to chat a bit. Finals are coming up and everypony's been so busy." Rainbow Dash nodded silently as she took a bite of her apple. There were only two weeks left of class, so there was truth to her words. Dash figured there was still another reason, considering they could easily talk over the upcoming weekend.

She tried to be assertive. "Well, is there anything YOU wanted to talk about?" Asked Dash.

Sky replied with mock shock. "Clearly there is, or I wouldn't be here, would I! What right do I have to barge in here and make you talk to me." She grinned. "I was wondering if you had some pony in your life yet."

The casual tone of Sky threw Rainbow Dash off. "G-gossip? Really? You're the LAST one I expected to ask me about that kind of stuff."

"So, is there?" She was unperturbed by Dash's deflection.

"No, there isn't." Dash replied firmly, almost stomping a hoof. "You know I never cared about that stuff. You and Gilda were actually some of my first friends here at Cloudsdale, and I’ve only made a few others since you two.”

"Funny, isn't it?" Sky said, sitting at a chair on the opposite end of the room from her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... look at you, Gilda, and I. Did any of us have friends before we met?" She got up and started walking across the rom. "I certainly only had a very small group of friends growing up here. Gilda more than not mentioned her distaste in griffin company..."

Rainbow Dash had figured the conversation was innocent enough to go along with it. "And I guess my parents were a little too strict to let me hang out with friends."

"Yet, here all three of us are, great friends. It's a little perplexing to me sometimes."

"Well, it's kind of as they say. 'Opposites attract' and all of that. None of us like the same music, tricks, or food, but..."

"... but we've all met and become great friends." Sky was starting to blush now. "Rainbow Dash, there's something I have to tell you." She looked at Dash, and saw that she already had a stunned face. Sky silently cursed herself for being obvious, but continued anyway. "I like you. I really do. Didn't think I'd fall for a friend but I have..." she stared at Dash with an almost sad expression.

Dash almost fell over. She instinctively went defensive, yelling at her, "Why are you telling me this, when you don’t know if I like other mares?!"

Sky shrunk a little. She gave a half hearted smile as she quickly turned toward the door, turning into the shy pegasus who had difficulty talking to those she didn’t know well. "This is stupid. I should just leave. I have no right to ask you to think about this out of the blue before school." She turned around, but Dash grabbed her.

"Wait!" Sky, still a little shook up, didn't move, only turning her head to face Dash. She tended to listen to Dash or Gilda, even if she didn't want to do what they were asking. Dash almost felt ashamed for being forceful, but continued anyway. "How I responded... that was really rude. My parents... you know... were real family ponies. Somepony like you would probably scare them."

Sky only nodded, relaxing a little. "Yeah... yeah, I know some ponies aren't... as understanding about that. I hope you are though, you've never had a problem before."

"Well, Sky, I am." Dash was now standing next to Sky, and they both started blushing at the same time. "And there's a bit more to it than that..."

"I... well, I don't want to say you should ignore your parents, but when it comes to a subject like this... you can't agree with them can you?" Sky was trying to make it sound like she was stating a case, but she sounded as if she was pleading instead.

"No... it's not that... Ummm." Dash was stammering, unsure if she could get herself to say what was on her mind.

Sky looked at her hopefully, but Dash couldn't bring herself to say it. "Hey... let’s just sit down here okay?" She motioned for the couch with her a hoof. "I'd just... like some company after that news. I think you would too."

Sky only nodded, and both of them sat down on the couch, staring into each other's eyes for a minute before Sky broke the silence. They decided that they couldn't go to school and think with this on either of their minds, and agreed to not go to school that day, damned the consequences. They talked for a while, mostly about each other. They talked about their homes more than before, their families, and both of them realized they had never had dated or even crushed on someone before. After a few hours, they both began to tire a bit. Dash had woken up too early, and Sky had been up thinking too late. Slowly but surely, they fell asleep. Sky fell first, her head resting on Dash's shoulder. It was a comfort that Dash had never felt before. A pony that wanted to be with her, and be close to her, and loved her. She was hoping she could somehow give Sky what she wanted as she finally dozed off.

Fluttershy jumped, giving a small yell. She looked around, panicked. What just touched my face? She kept thinking. She looked down finally, and saw a squirrel. It squeaked at her, and she smiled at it, petting it once before shooing it away. It was still completely dark, but she felt wide awake. Awake enough to go up and look at the sky just a little bit.

Now I wish I could look at the moon and figure out what time it was... she thought to herself, floating up to the tops of the trees slowly, hoping there may be a tiny bit of sun poking out of the horizon. Poking her head out of some leaves, she looked to the sky. It was completely clear, a half-moon giving some light to everything around her. The tree tops looked like a sea of green, almost level, as if a creature was meant to walk on them. She looked again to the stars. She recognized a few constellations; Twilight loved letting her friends know which were which, and Fluttershy was the only one who was ever out and about late, sometimes caring for certain nocturnal animals.

Oh I hope you aren't all worried about me. I know you wanted to see me tonight Twilight, about magic and animals, but there've been problems. Rainbow Dash should be making a full recovery, and will be all better soon... she smiled. She realized that she had been thinking to Twilight Sparkle, all alone on the highest branch of a tree. Even acting like someone was around comforted her, but she felt a little more liberated in the forest. Even with a sleeping wounded Dash below her, she felt secure. Even all alone in the top of a tree, she felt like nothing could hurt her.

Her face turned thoughtful. Well, actually, a lot of things could hurt me. There might be a cockatrice up here, or maybe a wild manticore... she shook her head quickly, forgetting such thoughts. No, it's okay. Nothing in this forest is like Everfree so far, even if it is wild. It's so peaceful... she smiled to herself again, feeling happier already. She floated down slowly toward one of the stream near their camp, her wings letting her glide down gradually. She went around trees, doing large figure eights, and landing softly in the stream. She yipped a little to herself, never having tried something like that before. I'm not much of a flier but I can see why Dash likes it so much... she got a quick drink of water before heading back to camp, retrieving some of the flowers she had left there, and filling them with water as well.

When she arrived with the flowers filled with water, she noticed Dash was squirming a bit. Her face looked worried, and her working foreleg kept moving to grab something. Fluttershy had no idea what was going on in her friend's head, and wasn't sure if she should do anything. She approached Dash slowly, on the ground, when Dash's eyes popped open, and she let loose a frightened scream. Fluttershy flew up and back, her wings pumping with her own fear and surprise, as she smacked head first into a tree almost twenty feet away. She fell down to the ground, and started rubbing the back of her aching head before looking over at Rainbow Dash was looking around, as if in panic. She saw Fluttershy behind her, and got up slowly, hobbling on one leg as she walked over slowly.

"Augh... you look hurt." Rainbow Dash said. Her face was difficult to see in the dark.

"You're more hurt." Fluttershy said, pointing at the splinted hoof.

Dash only shrugged. "Heh, I guess so. I was having a terrible dream back there, you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I was wondering what you were dreaming about, and then you yelled, and, you know, it startled me, so I just kind of took off, and then this tree was here..." Fluttershy's voice had grown more quiet over the discussion, but Dash put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

"Just a bad dream, it doesn't matter." She looked around, as if examining every tree and leave she could see. "How long have I been out?"

"I have no idea... maybe a few hours? It's still dark out so-"

"It wasn't dark out... I don't think it was when I fell asleep, right?" She raised he hoof, gently tapping her own forehead as if to juggle memories around. "Around six hours then right?"

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "No, it was definitely very late evening when we fell asleep."

"We? You went off to get more medicine, and then I passed out." Said Rainbow Dash, as if the memories were vivid to her.

Fluttershy gave her a concerned look. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" She shook her head. "Whatever, let’s just get moving. You remember the way to Ponyville?"

Fluttershy had her protests about traveling at night, but the fully awake Rainbow Dash was being too assertive. "Y-yeah..."

Dash lifted off with her wings, not even wincing. Fluttershy's mouth fell open, astonished at the fast recovery of her friend. "Then let's go. You lead the way; I don't want to fly too fast yet."

Epiphany 4

It took a full hour of flying to completely exhaust Rainbow Dash. She slowed down to land, but ended up hitting the ground hard on her stomach, with a thud loud enough to make Fluttershy stop and turn around. Dash lay motionless on the ground, panting. "That was... a lot harder than I thought... it would be..."

Fluttershy could only sigh, her wings flapping more slowly as she fell in altitude. "I'm not sure it was the best idea to move at night. We almost hit some trees, and there might be things out here..." she shivered a little as she landed, walking over to Rainbow Dash. "You sure you're okay?"

A vein on her forehead pulsed in anger. "I'm QUITE fine Fluttershy. Is there some reason you're asking every five minutes?"

Though Rainbow Dash was visibly angry, Fluttershy didn't want to drop the subject. "How sure are you that you're fine?"

"Wh-what kind of question is that? Of course I'm fine! You gave me that medicine right?"

Fluttershy nodded, then leaned her head forward. She had no idea what was going through her friend’ss head as she stared her magenta eyes, trying to gleam any bit of sense from the confident pegasus’s thoughts.

She backed up a little, falling to her rump. "Hey, don't get so close. It's kind of weird."

Fluttershy knew something was off. Only a few hours ago Rainbow Dash had declared love for the shy pegasus. Now, Fluttershy's stare into the pegasus's eyes revealed only a very small tinge of embarrassment. It was clear that at that moment, Rainbow Dash didn't love Fluttershy, or at least didn't want to admit it. She started to speak again, interrupting Fluttershy's thoughts.

"I don't think we can go much farther for a while, but I'm just... too awake to sleep."

"No, we need to try and sleep if we're not going to move." Fluttershy wanted to try last test to see if Dash was really herself or not. "Come over here, we can sleep next to each other again. It'll keep us warmer too." Fluttershy withheld a sly grin. Hah! That outta get her to be her old self, those are two great reasons to stay next to each other, she has to take the opportunity. If she doesn't... then there's something very, very wrong here, Fluttershy thought to herself.

Dash blushed almost instantly. Unable to hide her embarrassment, she stuttered a little as she spoke. "Oh... uhm, well I g-guess, that's fine... you know. If y-you don't mind it, then yeah, okay... I am kind of cold in this dark forest..." she slowly walked over, which now seemed to take little effort, but her exhaustion was visible in her slow steps. Fluttershy patted the ground where Rainbow Dash should lie down, and she did so. Fluttershy then turned to face her, and lay down next to her, bringing a comforting hoof over Dash's shoulder.

She shuddered as Fluttershy lay down next to her. "Y-you don't have to get that close Fluttershy, it's... kind of..."

"Oh, silly, I don't mind. We can keep a little warmer this way too. Besides, I know you don't mind too much."

The cyan pegasus lifted herself up and looked at Fluttershy as anger built up in her voice. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Fluttershy couldn't stop thinking about what her friend had told her just hours earlier, and it was almost visibly painful to her that her friend was somehow acting like they were just friends. Without thinking, she blurted out, "I thought you loved me!"

Her mouth fell open, her face blank as she stared at the Fluttershy. "You... I... what? How could you-"

"You told me earlier! You told me that you loved me before we fell asleep together, Rainbow Dash! How could you forget?" Fluttershy said, now getting up as well. Her voice had risen a little, an emotion running through her brain that she couldn't register.

"I-I said no such thing! Why would I be in love with you anyway?! You're a mare! Are you trying to accuse me of being a Fillyfooler?!" She yelled, her body trembling with rage. "How the hell could you possibly know what kind of feelings I have, huh?"

Fluttershy shrunk down from her previous stance, audibly whimpering. She had hoped that maybe Rainbow Dash was just being tired and a little forgetful. Now it seemed that, in the cyan mare’s mind, the confession never happened. Fluttershy, scared, could only stare at the angry pegasus in shame as she glared. Then she noticed a flash of white-and-blue light, from what seemed to be several feet behind Dash. Fluttershy moved her head to look past the angry pegasus, but she followed, not breaking eye contact for a second.

"Don't try and avoid me this time, Fluttershy! Maybe you can be all squeaky and be all cute and shy with the other ponies, but not me!" She was still yelling, rage thick and making her voice almost hoarse. "I'm going to Ponyville alone. Don't follow me, or I swear you will regret it."

"But Dash-"

"FUCK. YOU." Was all Rainbow Dash screamed as she lifted off, her wings working as if she wasn't tired, and flew in the direction they had originally been heading.

Fluttershy stared at the pegasus as she vanished into the darkness of the forest. Fluttershy looked around. She was alone. She tried to think to herself, but felt a sadness poking at her consciousness, trying to break free. What... did I do... I thought she loved me... why would she be so mad... why be so mad at me... I just wanted... to help her... Fluttershy could no longer hold her composure as her legs crumbled, and she began to weep, her entire body lying against the ground and visibly shuddering. She ran through her head everything she had done that day, the weeping filling the forest with a quiet white noise. Her friend's rage had permeated her mind, filling her inner-most thoughts.

Rainbow Dash. She had admitted that she loved Fluttershy only hours ago, and it was the first time Fluttershy had truly felt wanted, needed, or loved. She had then screamed at her, in a voice filled with rage. Fluttershy had tried to fulfill the unrequited love, and that had driven away her closest friend. She felt truly alone in the forest. She looked around briefly from her spot on the ground. Nothing. The forest was pitch black, the only thing visible being the tall trunks of trees nearest to her. Her mind started to fill with thoughts of loneliness, not having anypony to help her. Her weeping began to quiet a little as she remembered when she hadn't had anyone in Ponyville, simply living day-after-day like it was a giant haze, only buying what she needed to live. Angel Bunny had been her first care, and she had slowly gotten to love every animal in the town. But then she made more friends. Rainbow Dash, whom she already knew, and the other ponies in their group had become her friends, and slowly she had lost some of that shy demeanor through them, but she still felt as if something was missing.

Then an old acquaintance who was now one of her best friends, had told her she loved her.

Through her own tears, she tried to lift her legs, and flap her wings. Nothing moved. Her body felt heavy, as if her bones were lead. Rainbow Dash had betrayed her. Fluttershy had trusted the cyan pegasus completely, and that trust was betrayed.

Her mind, uncontrollable, started to ravage her with images of Rainbow Dash leaving her, yelling at her in anger, abandoning her. She squeaked suddenly and the weeping grew louder. She felt tired. Her tears stopped suddenly as she lay down on her side, try to make the dirt against her coat comfortable as she laid her head on her forehooves.

I'm all alone, was all she thought as she fell asleep.

She didn't know how long she had slept. She didn't know what time it was when she woke up. She still didn't know where she was when she woke up. The sleep hadn't cleared her mind of anything except for one thought, which now seemed to overwhelm her mind. Rainbow Dash abandoned me...

She stood up. Her face was tear-stained as she wiped her eyes and rubbed her cheeks. She wasn't sure what to do next. She had even forgotten what cardinal direction Ponyville was in. The forest was clearly visible now, small rays of yellow darting down in various patches from the treetops around her. A few animals were moving around, ones that apparently were partially sentient without needing pony incentive to act for their own betterment.

She heard a loud snap of a branch from behind her, and she spun her head around to see what had caused it. There stood a pony she didn't quite recognize, but thought was familiar.

She was a blue furred unicorn, with a silver-white mane and violet eyes. She only wore a plain purple cape and hood, almost a kind of cloak. She had two saddlebags, but both seemed to have very few things in them. She had kept her whole body still, probably in surprise from the cracked branch below her hoof. Upon meeting Fluttershy's gaze with her own, she puffed out her chest gave Fluttershy a sly smile. "Guess I've been seen. Do not fret, for I was not here to try and harm you, but simply pass by-"

Fluttershy interrupted her. "Hey... I think... I've seen you... before..."

"Nonsense! How could you know who I am? I have... never been to Ponyville before!" She said, loudly and full of confidence. "Perhaps you mistake me for some other Ponies who travel about?"

Fluttershy squinted. She knew the unicorn. She couldn't place her hoof on it, but she was distinctly familiar. "Never... been to Ponyville?"

She shook her head, and waved her off with a hoof. "I should leave you to your own business, as you leave me to mine. I am sorry to have disturbed you-"

"Trixie?" The words had slipped Fluttershy's mind without thinking, but the image the word brought to her mind matched exactly who was standing before her. "Yeah, I remember you... you were that magician pony doing tricks and stuff..."

Trixie hung her head. "Oh, I had hoped no pony would remember something like that." She sighed, and gave Fluttershy a somber look. "Yes, I am the 'Great and Powerful Trixie' as I once used to say."

"I-I'm sorry if that was rude. I just..."

"No, I take no offense." She flicked her head, lowering the hood of her cloak. "I was a proud pony during those times. I made money, gave spectacular shows, even if I was a tad over-the-top about my achievements-"

"You sort of... lied..." Fluttershy had almost whispered the sentence, but Trixie heard her just fine.

"I suppose you're right again. But those times are behind me now. I've long since come to my senses, using my magic to further the pursuits of science!" She reared back, and gave Fluttershy a grin as her forelegs hit the ground. "Since my last show months ago, I've learned to use my magic to help various labs or scientists do all kinds of jobs. It's been a great traveling experience, and I've come to terms with how much of a show-off I used to be. You forgive me don't you? For inspiring Snips and Snails to bring an Ursa Minor into Ponyville?"

Fluttershy's face contorted a little in thought. She had not really remembered that night as much of a big deal, considering how fast Twilight had dealt with it, but she suspected that Trixie, who had dashed off with none of her belongings, or saying a word to anypony, might feel a tad guilty. She shook her head at Trixie. "It wasn't your fault, so you don't have to apologize. So, what are you doing in the woods anyway?" She looked at the blue unicorn, and felt like she had seen that color of blue more recently. Fluttershy was instantly reminded of the flash of light she had seen during the argument she had with Rainbow Dash. That blue... it must have been the same color as Trixie's fur. Her face hardened. "And did you see us arguing last night?"

"I had hoped to be a bit less obvious than that. Oh dear..." she sighed, and lowered her saddlebags to the ground, which had apparently been tiring her. She lifted head higher than when she had the saddlebags on her back, and looked at Fluttershy apologetically. "You see, I wasn't looking for you exactly. I had been wondering the forest, lost, when I happened upon your camp. In fact, it was more the yelling that brought me towards you. I quickly cast myself in invisibility as soon as I realized I was in your line of sight, and tried to ignore what was happening... but I found it difficult."

"Oh... I'm... I'm sorry you had to see that. It was my fault." Fluttershy looked down in shame, but Trixie walked up to her, patting her shoulder.

"She was just angry." Trixie said. "I used to be angry all the time. I never kept friends. I still don't." She laughed. "But I've learned a little something over the last year or so, trying to make friends and be... nice." She had to force herself to speak that final word. It almost seemed hoarse when she spoke it. "It's that, sometimes, friends may get angry, or maybe even hurt you, physically or otherwise, but that doesn't mean they aren't your friend. It simply means they made one bad decision. One bad decision doesn't define anypony."

One bad decision doesn't define anypony... Fluttershy kept playing the sentence over and over again in her head. It felt like a lesson she'd learn from Twilight; one of the "values of friendship" letters that Twilight Sparkle would always send to Princess Celestia, almost weekly. Fluttershy felt... something in her mind. It nudged her. Her mind quietly returned to thinking of the baby dragon, but the memory didn't bring sadness. It brought hope.

Fluttershy smiled. "Thank you."

"What?" Trixie was perplexed.

"It's... something I was having trouble thinking about. Rainbow Dash told me it too, but somehow, it wouldn't click until now." She chuckled to herself. She felt happy, standing so close to Trixie. She didn't mind being loud or talking as much. She decided to give a very light summary to Trixie of what happened that day, about the dragon, Dash's injuries, and - skipping over the admittance of love - the argument they had. She made it clear that Rainbow Dash was far too injured, and bound to her herself in her current state.

Trixie nodded when Fluttershy finished. "Well, we should go looking for her. She may still be mad, but that means she won't be thinking straight. I know exactly how that feels." She magically levitated her saddlebags to her back, and didn't run ten feet before Fluttershy flew in front of her and stopped her.

"Yes, I agree.” Fluttershy's face was stern as she hovered in front of the curious unicorn.

“But I don't trust you.”

"What could you possibly not trust about me-"

"Why are you in this forest, all alone, with saddlebags that seem to only hold a few days worth of food, and... books, it looks like? It looks like you were ready to travel in here."

Trixie scoffed. "I am doing nothing remotely suspicious, and if it will clear your mind of such thoughts, then I will explain my presence here. I was on my way from Fillydelphia after doing work for a few chemists there, working on non-magical medicines. My specialty in life is magic, and therefore I am good at levitating and infusing or defusing energy. Something that seems to help in labs... and in storage of such chemicals. It's no more tiring for me to move huge boxes of chemicals or materials than an Earth Pony worker-"

"Well, why are you in this forest?" Fluttershy was beginning to soften.

"Augh, you are so FRUSTRATING, do you know that?" Trixie gritted her teeth, and calmed herself down a little before continuing. "On my way to Ponyville from Fillydelphia, I encountered an entourage of ponies leaving said city and going towards Fillydelphia. A few ponies had remembered me, and wanted a preformance." She sighed, obviously annoyed at the memory. "I gave them a quick 10 minute show of me doing tricks, and a few helpers on stage who I integrated into the act without humiliating them.

"I told them that I was on my way to Ponyville to help the nurse with my magic, as few magic users in Ponyville are adept or used to medicinal magics. I was called about a special plant they had discovered recently, and I was to help analyze it and bring out its medical properties. They told me they knew what I meant, and said the plant was in this forest. I figured coming with a few samples wouldn't be a terrible idea, so I retrieved some, and proceeded to get lost." Using magic, she opened her saddlebag, and brought out a plant. Fluttershy smiled as she instantly recognized it. It had that terrible smell and same yellow color as the plant she had made medicine with.

"I've used this plant before. It's something I've known about for a while. My parents used it sometimes," she explained. "It helps animals pretty well."

Trixie nodded. "Yes, and apparently it has magical properties, which is why I was called in. It seems to have curious effects on ponies, when compared to animals, and that is why I was called in. Twilight Sparkle has apparently been busy with her OWN studies, and didn't know enough about medicinal magic."

Fluttershy tilted her head in curiosity. "Different... effect on ponies?"

Trixie nodded again. "It seems... to entice them. You see, on animals, it seems to ignore their mind because it isn't truly sentient, and targets any other organ it can, amplifying its abilities, helping them heal or recover. But it’s supposed to affect the brain, and when given to a Pony... If they're thinking about something strongly, they'll become obsessed with it. An example might be if a pony is obsessed with food, they might start eating food non-stop, even if they're not hungry, to a point where it might be physically impossible for them to fit any more food into their stomach, but they eat anyway. It might even develop into some kind of terrible fetish, we have no idea. But because the feelings aren't natural to their body, they forget those specific feelings after about half a day." Fluttershy's face fell, but she kept listening to Trixie. "If it's heated properly, it can also act as a kind of cold medicine, and it's the only thing so far that we've discovered that can somehow counteract the virus. But ingested any other way, it magically strikes the brain in very interesting ways. We had very limited supplies of it in Fillydelphia, which is one reason I'm on my way to Ponyville as well. Now, can you TRUST me? I'm quite tired of telling you my life story."

Trixie noticed that the yellow pegasus had a look of distraction and concern on her face. "Hello? Did you remember something important just now or something? Shouldn't we be looking for your friend?"

Fluttershy shook herself out of her own distracted spell, and nodded. "R-right. I think I know which direction Ponyville is in now, so let’s head that way. But I want to catch her before sundown, so I think we should move quickly. I can fly just fine, but can you run?"

Trixie smiled her confident, sly smile. "Just you watch. So where are we going?"

Fluttershy pointed with a hoof, and instantly, both of them were off, Trixie going at a jogging pace, and Fluttershy flying just ahead of her.

Rainbow Dash. Please stay safe. Just stay safe for now. I don't care if you never speak to me or see me again. Just don't get hurt.

The sound of the wind howling brought Rainbow Dash out of the depths of sleep. Everything in her house had been blown around, broken or on the ground, and her cloud roof was gone, as well as most of the walls. She glanced up and saw a horrible black cloud, large enough to cover almost a mile of sky, swirling above her. Rain was falling and the flashes and cracks of lightning and thunder could be seen and heard, as if only feet away from them.

"Sky! Sky get up!" She yelled at the mare next to her, who was still asleep. "Sky, now is NOT a good time to be sleeping!"

Sky Swallower groggily opened her eyes, and glancing at the scene around them, yelped in surprise. She flew up over the walls of Dash's house, looking around. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, I just woke up and this storm was there!" Rainbow Dash flew up as well, her eyes darting for movement of ponies. Sure enough, she saw it; a weather squad was coming up from south of them, under the clouds. "Storms aren't supposed to happen this high, why is this happening?!"

"Look!" Sky pointed with a hoof to an area below them. A group of young colts, not much older than them, had engaged one of the flight teams in the air, trying to stop them from reaching the cloud. "Are they vandals or something? What point is there to setting a storm up above Cloudsdale?"

"They must be a gang or something. They've set up storms before, but never above a cloud city." Dash looked around hastily. "We should try to get down to the ground; the lightning is dangerous up here-"

The sound was deafening. Lightning struck out just past Rainbow Dash, almost breaking her eardrums. Her vision turned foggy and her head emptied itself as she started falling, only half-aware of the situation. The bolt of lightning had taken out some of her house as she plummeted past now broken floor, and towards the ground. She fell for almost four seconds before becoming aware again, her wings starting to flap instinctively. "Ow... so... loud..." she could barely hear herself over the ringing in her ears. "Sky..." she looked around. Sky Swallower was nowhere to be seen.

She looked down, and saw the orange pegasus plummeting, falling through clouds, unconscious. "SKY!" Screamed Rainbow Dash as she dove after her. She wasn't sure how far below her Sky was, but she had to catch up. She had to catch her. Her forehooves outstretched before her as she dived, eventually going through a layer of clouds covering the sky, letting ground come into view.

It was only early morning. While the sky above them was dark, the ground below them shone with sunlight, revealing the grass country side. Dash focused on Sky Swallower as her wings pushed her lithe body through the air, every fast, approaching Sky slowly.

Dash eventually got close enough to see exactly what had happened. The lightning had hit her wing, leaving only half of her wing left attached to her body, like a snapped twig. She saw that Sky wasn't unconscious, her eyes half open as she was falling. Dash pushed her wings into overdrive, pumping them faster than she thought she ever could. She wasn't thinking about what would happen if she didn't catch her. Only that she had to.

The mach cone was building around her body as she dove, propelling herself as fast as she could. She started to feel resistance as she dived, and knew exactly what was happening. No! I can't do a sonic rainboom! But if I stop now, I'll rebound and never catch her!

Sky's eyes opened completely now, and she looked around, her wing violently flapping. It only served to start her rotating, as one wing served no use in flying. She had slowly done one small loop, seeing the ground, then slowing to a stop as she looked to Rainbow Dash.

"I'm going to catch you!" Dash yelled. The barrier became visible now, as Dash felt it tightening around her hooves. I can do this. I have to do this.

Tears were forming around Sky's face as she smiled. She closed her eyes and mouthed, "You're the best, Rainbow."

"DAMMIT NO!" Rainbow Dash screamed, getting a sudden burst of speed and coming within one foot of Sky's tail. The barrier formed, held her in place as she battled to break it, her wings still flapping harder than they ever had before. The barrier won, and catapulted her backwards, sending her a hundred feet into the air. She corrected herself in seconds, and flew downward, more cautious now.

I failed. She landed, looking around. She knew what to expect, yet she kept hoping that something, anything had happened. Had she landed in a hay bale? Did some other pegasus catch her? Her legs carried her quickly, faster than her head could scan the ground. It was just a dirt path and lots of grass, how hard could it be-

I couldn't catch her. She found what she had been looking for, and more. A unicorn was standing over a collapsed pegasus, breathing heavily. Her horn had been glowing, the light shining down on the pegasus, but it abruptly ended as Rainbow Dash started walking towards them, the unicorn collapsing in exhaustion.

I wasn't fast enough. The Unicorn had a purple coat, black mane, and bright blue eyes. Her cutie mark wasn't visible beneath the brown cloak and saddlebags full of books she was carrying. She turned towards Rainbow Dash, choking back tears.

This is my fault. Dash wanted to lift off, fly away, never return, and forget it all happened. Yet something in her mind had to know; it begged to see what had befallen her best friend... the one she had loved. She walked forward and looked down at the unmoving pegasus. "I tried to brace her fall with magic..." explained the unicorn. "I couldn't, and I tried healing her with magic too, and... I couldn't... I'm sorry..."

Dash broke into tears.

Fluttershy brought her hoof down quickly, the motion for the two ponies to stop.

"Why are we stopping?" Asked Trixie, irritated. "We were making good progress-"

"Sh!" Fluttershy turned her head, back and forth. I was certain I heard something...

There it was again. She flew off in the direction of the sound; a quiet whimpering that she could now hear clearly.

They had been traveling for five hours, and were due to soon stop for a quick meal of the rations that Trixie had in her bags, but the sound Fluttershy heard had been what she was looking for the entire trip. Following the quiet sound of whimpering, she finally found Rainbow Dash in a small . She was whimpering in pain, tears streaming from her eyes. She lay on her back, her left wing folded against her side. Her right wing was bent backward, and bleeding, but was only mostly attached. She looked up to Fluttershy and shook her head. "I got really tried... drifted off... hit a tree at full speed... the pain kept me up for a while, and then I finally passed out..." she coughed. Blood was still present in her lungs.

"Hush now..." Fluttershy examined the wing, and knew it was still something that could heal naturally. "Don't move that wing. I can fix it safely against your side."

She nodded, swallowing her sadness. She saw movement from behind Fluttershy, and leaned her head an inch to see who it was.

Trixie looked at her, in pity. "I'm sorry, I don't know much healing magic in particular, I only work with potions and solutions..." she followed Fluttershy as she found some leaves and a vine to safely tie up Rainbow Dash's wings, and used her magic to tie them firmly in place. She then focused a little bit on healing her wing with magic. Feeling the flesh mend and blood stop its flow, she winced. Convinced she was now safe to move, they took Rainbow Dash with them as they walked towards Ponyville, progressing slowly as the two ponies supported the wounded pegasus. None of them talked the entire way.

It was evening. They set another camp up, the fire and water easier to obtain now with magic from Trixie. She fell asleep first, as she wasn't used to working or walking as much as they had that day. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were sitting on the opposite side of the fire from Trixie, leaning against each other. Dash had started crying again, and was using Fluttershy as support as she pressed her face into her neck.

"Fltrsh..." Dash's voice was muffled by the yellow pegasus's neck.

"Yes?" She said. She had been blushing lightly the entire ten minutes that the cyan pegasus had been crying. She had never seen the once confident and loud tomboy be so emotional before, and it frankly filled her with more than just concern for her health. The calm quiet Dash before her whispered to the shy pegasus, filled with sadness and regret.

"I'm... I'm not sure what's been going on most of today... but I think I have to tell you something." Dash took her head off of Fluttershy's neck, and was staring at the shy pegasus.

She blushed a little harder, and this time didn't make any assumptions. "What do you mean?"

Dash shook her head to clear her thoughts, then cleared her throat. "I'm... well, I've done a lot of stuff today. One really big good thing... and some not so good things. I think I should... tell you why. Do you know what my greatest fear is?"

Fluttershy only shook her head. Dash continued, "Well, it's losing my friends."

"Losing them?"

"Losing them. In every sense of the word. I'm scared whenever I think about a friend that might be leaving, or when they get hurt... scared beyond belief sometimes."

"I'm scared of that too, Dash-"

"Not like me you're not." She said, cutting her off. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. Had she forgotten I explained the dragons to her too? "When I was a filly, back in Cloudsdale and flight school, I had a really good friend. Her name was Sky Swallower. She was one of my first friends along with Gilda, and we hung out... almost daily. In our second year of class, we were hanging out at my house one morning when a big storm suddenly rolled over Cloudsdale. Some gangs had been fighting, and one of them wanted to bring the other out with the storm, I can't remember. That week was a huge haze. Anyway, it rained, blew, and even had lightning that reached all the way to the ground. A lot of pegasi were hurt that day."

"Dash, please, you don't have to-"

"One of them died."

Fluttershy felt her heart sink. She had lost a childhood friend too? "Sky Swallower had been hovering next to me, and a bolt of lightning struck her, only inches away from me. It tore off one of her wings, and... she fell to the ground." Tears Rainbow Dash had been trying so hard to hold back were starting to emerge again. "That day was also... the second time I attempted a sonic Rainboom. If I had done it that day, she'd probably be alive right now..."

Fluttershy hugged Dash. She went limp, her tears stopping purely in surprise. Fluttershy pulled back and looked the cyan pegasus right in the eye. "I know that feeling, okay? When I was a filly, a friend of mine died too. I know what you're feeling, okay? So no more crying."

"She wasn't just... just my best friend, Fluttershy!" Dash tried to push her back, but didn't even have the strength to nudge her. "That morning... she had stopped by before school, and told me... that she loved me. She loved me Fluttershy! And you know what?" She punched the ground with her hoof. "I did too! I loved her back, but I didn't have the courage to tell her, and she died, like that! Do you know how THAT feels?!"

Fluttershy kept staring, but surprised was still painted on her face. "No, I'm sorry. I-I don't know how that feels..."

Dash swallowed again, and tears resumed their race down the creases of her face. "It was the first time I had felt anything for anypony, and she... made me realize that I at least liked mares. I didn't even know until I met her. And as soon as we had talked... she died. Just like that. I-I didn't even get a chance to tell her I liked her back!" Her weeping grew louder. "She died because I couldn't catch her, because I wasn't fast enough."

Fluttershy whimpered. "It wasn't your fault Dash-"

"It is too my fault! I couldn't catch her! All I had to do was fly straight down fast enough, and scoop her up... like I did Rarity." She wiped her face with a hoof, but it proved useless against the stream of tears. "So I devoted myself that day to being as fast as I could be. To be the best flier, and even to performing a Sonic Rainboom one day. I wanted... I want to be the very best. I want to be able to be faster than anypony, so that I can catch them where they fall.

"I thought back to how I got my cutie mark. How that first race had felt, how fast I was and how easy it was and how in control I was... and I knew. I knew that I was supposed to be the best flier in all of Equestria, but with that, I could save my friends. I would have to be faster than a tidal wave, faster than a mad thunderstorm, faster than... an enraged dragon, to protect them. And that I would protect them from any and all danger."

Her gaze returned to Fluttershy. "When... you somehow figured out that I... well, I don't know if it's love... but had feelings for you... I couldn't say anything, and I felt helpless in this weakened state. I didn't want to face you when I couldn't even fly faster than a trot! I was scared that something would happen if I couldn't protect you again... so I just bolted, okay!? It was stupid of me." She made one last sob, and stared into the big, teal eyes of the yellow Pegasus who had been holding her close.

Fluttershy wiped the single tear from her face. "Oh, you silly filly!" She said, hugging Dash again. Dash embraced her this time, both of them wrapping their hooves around each other. "There's no point in caring for others if you never care for yourself. You can get hurt just as much as any of us. You're the best friend I've ever had, and I've never felt safer around anypony else," she pulled back and looked Dash in the face again, "but you need to take care of yourself too, okay? If I lost you after I couldn't even help you get back to your feet... you'd have broken my heart twice in the same day."

Dash nodded. "I'm sorry Fluttershy."

"Don't be. Let’s get some sleep so we can get back to Ponyville tomorrow, okay?"

Epiphany 5

Despite sleeping on the hard, dirt ground, Fluttershy felt like she had gotten real, genuine rest from that night of sleep. She woke up, yawning, and gently brushed dirt off her coat and any dried tears from her face and eyes. The fire had long gone out, and she didn’t see Trixie at the other side of the camp. Before she could begin looking around, she heard Rainbow Dash stir beside her. Deciding that the wounded pegasus next to her is more important, she reaches over to gently brush her side.

She noticed something as she touched her. She was cool to the touch, and seemed wet. “Dash?” She whispered, hoping she’s fully awake.

Dash rolled over to face Fluttershy. Her eyes were barely open and her voice was weak. “Hey... Fluttershy... I don’t... feel so well...”

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh Dash, what’s the matter? You were fine last night.”

“I... actually didn’t feel too good. I didn’t want you to feel any worse about me running away... or about the medicine you gave me.” she tried to smile, but started coughing again. They were loud, and ruthless, as they wouldn’t stop for almost a full minute. She moaned in pain when she finally stopped, and thankfully no blood came out.

“I... already found out that wasn’t good medicine for you...” Fluttershy looked around the campsite again. Trixie wasn’t there, but she had left her bags and cloak. She must have noticed that Dash was sick, and went off to find something. But I don’t know anything natural that can help her now...

Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to do. She simply said the first thing she thought of, which was self pity. “I should have realized that you were in bad shape Dash, this is sort of my fault. I’m sorry I didn’t find any medicine that could help you.”

“No big deal. Just stop apologizing all the time...” she reached out with her right forehoof, the other hoof lying on the ground in its still secure splint. “I don’t like seeing you sad. This isn’t your fault.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Then I’ll keep a brave face, just for you, okay?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

They were silent for a few moments, before Fluttershy broke it. “I’m kind of sorry to bring this up, but uh... is there somewhere where it hurts more?”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “You mean inside?”

“Yeah. If you are bleeding, I think you’re having some blood loss problems. You should feel some kind of area where it hurts a little more...”

Dash nodded. She slowly brought her hoof and placed it on her lower abdomen. “It... really hurts right here...”

Fluttershy nodded. As she got up, Dash moaned again. The rainbow-maned pegasus tried to stand up, only to collapse almost as soon as she had. She passed out as soon as she hit the ground.

“DASH!” Fluttershy yelled, jumping to her side again. “C’mon, wake up. Dash, this isn’t funny.” She nudged her face, finding it soaked in sweat and cold to the touch. “Dash... come on...” She knew that they had to get back quickly. Dash had passed out, and showed every sign of blood loss she knew. It had been about two days of basically no treatment, but it wasn’t until then she knew how dire the situation had to be. Oh, Dash, if you didn’t fly all that distance, you might be okay right now... but I can’t carry you to Ponyville on my own.

A tree branch snapped behind her, followed by the hurrying rustling of leaves. She didn’t even get to turn around before Trixie appeared next to Dash. She was looking down in panicked worry at Dash as she quickly explained what she had been doing that morning. “When I woke up this morning, she was sweating, cold, and shivering. I realized she must have lost a lot of blood, but I thought it might have been from her wing.” Fluttershy looked to the wing, which was still against her side. It looked mangled and red, but it wasn’t an open wound. “I sealed it up with more magic, but I thought she must have had internal bleeding.”

Fluttershy nodded. “She coughs up blood sometimes, but before last night she was okay. I think the wing was a problem before we found her. Do we have to get her surgery or something to stop the bleeding?”

Trixie shook her head. “The only difference is that the opening in the vein or artery is inside, not outside. Clotting would stop it normally, but inside there’s no way for the blood to dry up or clot, since there’s no air. She’d need special clotting medicine, and blood transfusions to keep her going while she waited. Neither of which we can do out here.” She looked around. “I have no idea how far Ponyville is from here...”

Fluttershy nodded again, tearing up a little. “I don’t... either...” she buried her head in the unconscious pegasus’s chest, crying. “Oh Dash! Please stay strong until we can get back to Ponyville. You’re gonna be okay... you have to be okay...”

Trixie had no words for Fluttershy. She had plenty of medical experience and experience in drugs or potions, but never interacted with a patient or even those ponies who volunteered for studies. She walked around the unconscious pegasus and sat next to Fluttershy, bringing a comforting hoof around her. After a minute of sitting and trying to think of what to say, she had an idea.

She patted Fluttershy comfortingly. “Your friend is made of tougher stuff than that. She even took on an angry dragon! Something I’m pretty sure no pony else could have done. Not even I, the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

Fluttershy looked up from Dash, with a weak smile. “She’s strong... but it’s been two days Trixie. I don’t think she’ll last much longer, especially after all that exertion yesterday.”

“That’s why I’m prepared to save her, and get us out of this forest.” She stood up, and walked over to where her things were, retrieving them.

“Wh-what?” Fluttershy was utterly confused. “We can’t make anything to carry Dash with us, how would we get back-“

“I am a Unicorn, dear girl.” Trixie said, her voice proud and confident. “My specialty in life is magic. Do you think I’m unable to cast a simple teleport spell?”

“B-but that seems kind of hard...” Fluttershy wasn’t sure what else she could say. She knew nothing of magic, other than it would make a pony tired if she used, or tried to use something too powerful.

Trixie nodded. “Magic... for things like levitating, is easy to quantify. Weight and distance moved decide what you can do. For chemistry or medicine, it’s just moving energy around to cause reactions. Teleporting is... harder...” she looked at Rainbow Dash, then to Fluttershy. “All I know is how to do it without light, for my shows. I have teleported before, as it’s something Unicorns do well when their talent is related to magic itself.”

Fluttershy didn’t move, only sat staring at her. She couldn’t figure out why a Unicorn she had basically just met, who had been humiliated by her friends in Ponyville, and hadn’t even kept a single home or tie to anypony, would just up and help her. It was beyond her understanding. Was it some weird kind of charity? Did she feel remorseful for what had happened to Ponyville, even if nothing bad had happened? Was she making up for something else?

Trixie continued after a short pause. “Heh, speechless, of course. I often have that effect on ponies.” She looked at Rainbow Dash again. “What you two have, I don’t know what it is. I don’t really understand what it might even be. But seeing you two… it’s strange. I want you to stay the way you are, and I don’t want either of you to lose it.”

“Trixie…” Fluttershy almost whispered it. Trixie heard her perfectly well.

“I suppose this might be something ponies call ‘friendship,’ but I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had friends.” Before Fluttershy could respond, Trixie’s horn started to glow. “I don’t know how far Ponyville is, and I don’t know how much energy I’ll need for all 3 of us. I’m just going to shoot for about five-six miles, we did travel quite a distance already. There’s no risk for you two, just for me, that over shooting or even just using this energy… might be bad. Stay perfectly still and this will go smoothly.”

Fluttershy, still somewhat unsure but knowing this was the only option left, nodded. She sat quietly next to Rainbow Dash, who was still passed out. Trixie’s horn was still glowing, the pale-blue ivory like a lamp that shone an electric blue light. It encompassed all of them, the glow making Fluttershy almost feel warm. The glow around the horn grew brighter, the lamp-like shape of the light expanding to be as large as Trixie herself. She grunted, and the light pulsed, and Fluttershy’s vision became nothing but a shine of blue as she shut them to stop the harsh light from blinding her.

She opened her eyes. The area around her was not that of a forest, or that of the town of Ponyville, or that of any location she could think of. The sky, unobstructed, was a strong yellow, like a sunset, but without a sun and without any mixed shades of color strewn across the sky. There were clouds. They were in the sky, and around her. She looked down, and saw nothing except more dense white clouds. It was like she was in heaven. She thought for a second, and wondered if she had died. She then immediately pushed that thought aside, and thought she must be dreaming, or having a vision, or maybe she was in the sky and she somehow forgot how she got there. She was still sitting, so she stood up, and walked for a few seconds. She circled where she was sitting, testing the ground. Whatever she was standing on, it wasn’t a cloud, as it held her firm but it wasn’t a hard floor, as it made no sound. She brought her hoof down on it firmly, and it stopped, but it stopped instantly, and brought no pain, nor a loud sound. It was a hard floor that didn’t hurt, didn’t move, and made no sound. She thought for a second about how many laws of physics that broke.

She had just sat down again when she heard a sound of wind from behind her, as it brushed her tail, fur, and wings. She looked behind herself slowly and saw another pegasus standing there. Her fur was yellow, and hair was streaks of both pink and green. There was an uncanny air of familiarity that Fluttershy couldn’t put a hoof on as she stared at the pegasus.

“Fluttershy is your name, correct?” She said. Her voice echoed and seemed to reach Fluttershy’s ears last, after it was done bouncing off the non-existent walls of wherever she was. It entered her mind, and seemed to somehow emanate from her own thoughts at the same time she heard it. It sounded quiet and calm, much like her voice.

“Yes.” She felt comforted by this strange pony, even though she had no idea who she was. She wasn’t scared at all. It was liberating. “What is going on? Where am I? Why-“

“Please don’t ask too many questions. All you need to know right now is that you’re safe.” The pegasus smiled. Fluttershy felt a little perturbed by the smile, and realized why.

“You look exactly like me, but with different colors of your mane!” She exclaimed, pulling down her mane and examining it, then looking closely at the other pegasus’s mane.

“Correct. Fluttershy, I am the Element of Kindness. I felt you being touched by powerful magic, and knew this would be a good chance to let my holder know what exactly was happening.”

“What is happening? Is Rainbow Dash alive? Did Trixie successfully teleport us to Ponyville?” Fluttershy stopped herself suddenly when Kindness threw a stern look at Fluttershy, almost like her own Stare. “Oh, right, too many questions…”

Kindness shook her head. “I do not know any of those answers. I only know what you feel and what you felt ever since we bonded. I don’t even know what has been happening to you recently. I decided that, with an opportunity to get this much magical power, I would use the time it would give me to talk to you. Fluttershy, holder of the Element of Kindness, remember this. Someone is trying to take the Elements of Harmony from you, and the other five ponies that hold them.”

Fluttershy tilted her head in curiosity. She had a few questions, but was hesitant to ask them. She did anyway, figuring that they weren’t like her previous ones. “Two things: Who is trying to take them?”

Kindness shrugged. “It is most likely one of great magical power. It is not a holder of the elements, for they may not hold more than one element at any given time, and would most likely cast the element into nothingness in an attempt to take one. Upon using magic as powerful as one would need to take an element, their element would do what I am doing now, probably scold them, and tell them it’s impossible.”

“What do they have to do to take an element?” She asked her next question without hesitation.

Kindness thought for a few seconds on this, her hoof at her own chin in thought. “I do not know. I only know that I could feel a force being exerted upon Loyalty recently, and it was a very targeted force. For me to feel something of another element must mean you were very close to them, physically and spiritually and emotionally. Has something happened recently that felt oddly out of their regular behavior? That is all I can think of that may weaken an element’s attachment to a pony.”

Fluttershy was put off a bit by the over-analyzing and calculating nature of Kindness, especially when it carried her own voice. It sounded like she was boiling down her and her friends into simple behaviors. She answered begrudgingly, “Rainbow Dash recently got very angry with me, but that was because of a problem she had as a filly. It wasn’t something I expected, but now that I know more about her, it seems valid.”

Kindness shook her head. “We choose our holders because they truly and literally and completely, are the embodiment of that feeling, that ideal. If Loyalty has done something that would not be loyal to you or others recently, it goes against any moral code she has. It was brought on by complete foreign influence, be it magical, medicinal, intense sickness, or loss of sanity.”

Fluttershy thought about what happened exactly. It was in the forest, the night of the day that Rainbow Dash had fought off the dragon. When Rainbow Dash had threatened her, and swore at her. She hadn’t thought of it before, but why did she threaten to hurt her? Why would she threaten the pony she was having a crush on, with violence? She mulled over the brief synopsis of her story about Sky in her head, and couldn’t see violence associated with anything. Trixie’s description of what Fluttershy had given Rainbow Dash gave no indication that she’d feel especially the opposite of what she felt before waking up. Indeed, it seemed Rainbow Dash had felt out of character, but at the time she could only assume it was an angry Rainbow Dash, who often threatened enemies of her friends with violence. Did that mean for a second, Rainbow Dash felt Fluttershy was an enemy?

“Betrayal would be the opposing ideal to the Element of Loyalty.” Kindness interrupted Fluttershy’s thoughts. “I do not know for sure what has been happening to you recently, other than it has made you feel sad. I felt this sadness at the same time I felt Loyalty weaken. I do not know for sure, but it seems that not embodying your element makes an element’s bond to their holder weaker.”

“Are you speculating?” Fluttershy felt sort of incredulous. “You’re an element of harmony, and you don’t even know exactly what bonds us, or how to destroy that bond?”

“We have existed for a thousand years, and we have been used twice. Only now, in more recent times, have we even been bonded to a pony. We know as much about it as any leading scholar might. That is very little.”

“Why are you telling me this? If I’m here, does this mean that you’re just giving me a vision, between the teleport, and landing in Ponyville?” Fluttershy didn’t care about the elements anymore. She was growing more worried about Rainbow Dash, even though she figured nothing had actually happened yet.

“I’m telling you this because the elements hold power, and you must not let anyone collect them-“

“Why do you say anyone?” Fluttershy interrupted. “Don’t you mean anypony? Only ponies can use magic. Unicorns at that.”

“I do not know if anyone else can use magic or not. It’s not my place to decide if anyone else can besides ponies, so I use the most generic way possible to define the… situation.” Kindness looked around, and then stopped her head, as if spotting something. “We have little time left. Do not expect us to speak again.”

“Wait, what?” Fluttershy reached out to Kindness as she floated off, without even flapping her wings.

“Loyalty may have talked with her holder, if this ‘teleport’ you are worried about is what is bringing a magical power to you and her holder. She will know as much as I did. You must try and alert the other elements that they are in danger. I do not know what happens to a pony if its element is driven or taken from her. I do not wish to see it happen.” She started to step backwards, away from Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded. “O-okay. I’ll tell the others. I’ll try and warn them. They’ll probably think I’m crazy though.”

“Doubtful. Magic would only bond with a pony of great intelligence, and surely she will understand some of this, even without having spoken to her element.” She started to fade, turning almost transparent as she floated away. “If not, then you can tell the others how to speak with their elements. Simply have a user of magic bring them into contact with extraordinarily powerful magic. The elements may have felt tugs or pulls at their bonds, and they will have events like this one happen to them. Do not forget what we have discussed.” Kindness finally vanished as she floated up into the sky.

Her voice echoed once more, this time seeming to emanate from her mind, and then reaching her ears. “We call this event an Epiphany. Celestia granted us this power in the hopes that when the holders of the elements are needed, they would realize their purpose in the world, and strive to fulfill that purpose. Good luck and stay safe.”

Fluttershy sat for a few more seconds, expecting more words from Kindness, but when she heard nothing, she sighed. She didn’t know how to feel. She was immensely worried about Rainbow Dash, but if somepony was attempting to steal their elements… she had no idea what that could mean. Would they be powerful enough to do what Celestia did a thousand years ago? Fluttershy shuttered at the thought of somepony being able to channel that power; it was a power that sealed away an immortal monarch who controlled the moon, for one thousand years. If a power like that could be used however one wished… she knew it was a terrible thing.

Fluttershy closed her eyes, and fell backwards, hitting the clouds soundlessly. She was tired, and worried, and scared. She just wanted to see Rainbow Dash again, to tell her it would all be okay, and stay with her when she recovered, and-

The sky turned blue and she saw no clouds. The sun shone in her eyes as she realized she was falling. She landed with a thud on the ground less than a second later. She must have fallen only a few feet. She felt grass tickle her as she brought her hooves to the ground and pushed herself up. She looked to her left. Rainbow Dash was lying still, and Trixie was standing, sweating and panting, next to them. The light was fading from her horn, and she let out one last gasp as she passed out.

Fluttershy got to her hooves quickly, and glanced around. There were more apple trees than she could count. It was Sweet Apple Acres. They were close to Ponyville!

“APPLEJACK,” Screamed Fluttershy, running mindlessly around the apple trees that surrounded her. Fluttershy had never really been out in the fields, not since the harvesting season where Applejack had been too exhausted to buck all the apple trees herself, and had to ask the rest of her friends for help. After being lost for two days in unfamiliar territory, she smiled at the memories her mind was instinctively bringing forth. She realized that she had no reason to be running around and flew up effortlessly, seeing the telltale red barn and the Apple family house. She flew over quickly, and found Applejack and Big Macintosh, Applejack’s brother, just entering the fields. Fluttershy yelled at them, and they looked up, surprised and amazed to see the shy pegasus. She floated down to greet them, and they met her with nothing but relief.

“We’ve been so worried about you, Fluttershy!” Applejack ran up to meet her friend. “Ah thought somepony kidnapped ya’ll or something. Where in Equestria have you been off to?”

“It’s a long story, but we have to help Rainbow Dash, she’s badly injured. We have to get her to the hospital!” The two farmers nodded, and Fluttershy flew off, leading the two back to where her group had arrived.

Epiphany 6

Fluttershy arrived at her house, landing softly and calmly opening the door. It was a small wooden cottage atop a hill, with various small holes and pathways all around and inside of it, for animals to travel through her house more quickly. She was greeted by Angel Bunny, her first care and her favorite animal friend, throwing a piece of carrot at Fluttershy. It smacked her square on the forehead. She sighed and picked up the carrot, giving it back to Angel as she walked to her bedroom.

Two months since we returned… she thought. The events following their return were clear to her, yet felt like a distant past. Rainbow Dash’s condition had been very severe, as she had lost more blood than Fluttershy realized from her broken and exposed wing, and the nurse says she might have died if she arrived even a few hours later. She recovered quickly enough, but wasn’t able to fly, or even walk properly, for six weeks. Trixie, through the use of her powerful teleport spell, had fallen into a coma. No spell that Twilight knew, or medicine that the nurse knew of, would bring her out of it. To that day she was still lying in bed, all of her vital signs incredibly normal, as if she was asleep. Fluttershy and the rest of her friends often visited, and Twilight seemed to see her the most, sometimes even spending the night there.

Rainbow Dash had stayed at Fluttershy’s cottage, learning more about animals, and spending lots of time with the shy pegasus, while she had been injured. She learned to sleep on the bed, even though she would still prefer to sleep on a cloud that they had managed to bring into Fluttershy’s bedroom. It wasn’t more than ten days ago that Rainbow Dash had fully recovered her wing, and Fluttershy had volunteered to accompany her as she cleared the skies, in case something terrible happened. Every day, when they were finished with the cyan pegasus’ work, she would thank Fluttershy. She wasn’t sure why, but it was reassuring to her that she was helping a friend.

Friend. Over the course of those two months of being together almost all the time, Rainbow Dash had been almost more than a friend. Fluttershy even explained what had happened the night when Dash had admitted she was in love with the shy pegasus. She denied she felt like that, saying that it was just as Trixie described; the magic of the plant simply turned her friendship into love. Yet Fluttershy couldn’t stop thinking of Rainbow Dash’s anger with her that night as well, and didn’t know what to make of what they had. She thought of Rainbow Dash as a friend, but did the confident cyan pegasus think that as well, or did she only tell Fluttershy that? She asked pretty often, but Dash responded the same way every time.

It took a month before Fluttershy felt she had to mention her fevered vision to the others. The Epiphany. She had called all of them to Twilight’s library, without letting anypony know why they were to meet. Rainbow Dash said she had as well, and with the two of them finishing their summary of their meetings, Twilight said she had received one as well, but thought it was a weird dream, as she only had it in her sleep. She hadn’t learned anything the other two already didn’t know, other than Magic seemed to have a constant connection to the other Elements, and received her vision in regards to Loyalty. Nopony else had such an event happen to them. The six of them agreed that if they felt something was wrong, they would all try and meet with Twilight, hopefully for a kind of spell to get them to meet their Elements too.

Fluttershy suddenly realized she was in her bedroom, having already walked up the spiral staircase to her room. Alone now, she looked around quickly, making sure there were no animals around. Not seeing any signs of them, she walked over to her bed, set in the middle of the room between a vanity, bookshelf, and other such furniture, and climbed on top of the covers, lying on her back and finally feeling relaxed. Since her return to Ponyville, she had adopted to a new sleep schedule; she would stay up late, sleep for only 5-6 hours, wake up to meet Dash and help her with the weather, then return and sleep for a 3-4 more hours. She wasn’t sure why, but this seemed to leave her with much more energy, and since some of her animal friends were indeed nocturnal, it made caring for all of the animals easier. She would manage to be awake most days at around noon or one, so it was easy for her to meet with friends, as long as they didn’t do things too early in the morning.

She figured that Dash would probably take a nap after checking on the party. Fluttershy yawned, and thought to herself that it was also her time to get some sleep. She looked to a clock, mentally noting that it was about nine in the morning. She had been awake for one hour and thirty minutes, hanging out with Rainbow Dash among the clouds that morning. Definitely time to get some shuteye, she thought to herself, as she closed her eyes and felt the peacefulness of sleep overtake her.

Fluttershy woke up quietly, feeling wide awake. Her eyes flipped open and she brought herself to the side of the bed. The clock showed it was half past noon. She stretched her forelegs and slid off the bed. It was still dark in her room, even with the sunlight shining through the drapes on her bedroom window-

She heard a sound. It was a small tapping coming from the window. She turned around slowly and saw a shadow of somepony, tapping the window with a hoof.

“Fluttershy!” The voice yelled. She recognized it instantly and quickly walked over to the window, pulling apart the drapes with her mouth, and opening the window.

“Is something the matter Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy was concerned, Dash never tried to wake her up, or meet her at windows. She’d normally knock at the front door. Perhaps she had already done that, Fluttershy wasn’t sure.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, but her voice was still urgent. “Come to the hospital area, okay? You gotta see this!” She was smiling now, but the speed at which she spoke was confusing Fluttershy greatly.

“I’ll just leave with you,” Responded Fluttershy, walking up to the window. Rainbow Dash lifted herself off the flower-filled window sill as Fluttershy flew out as well, making sure to close the window.

Dash signaled for Fluttershy to follow, and they both took off towards the center of Ponyville.

Minutes later, they landed in front of the Hospital. It was more of a small doctor’s office that had some rooms set up to be emergency rooms if they were needed. Only a year ago it was simply an outside-area kept out of reach by a curtain, but after a certain incident with awfully baked muffins and Applejack, the mayor knew they had to improve the facility in case something did happen. The inside of the facility was mostly white, and had a hard-floor that clattered loudly with the sound of hooves hitting it. There was a reception desk with one pony behind it, and several chairs that were for ponies to wait for appointments.

They walked inside, and saw one of their friends at the reception desk. Fluttershy waved at their farmer Earth Pony friend, and she turned and gave an acknowledging nod, continuing to speak with the receptionist. It was Applejack, one of the ponies who ran the Ponyville branch of Sweet Apple Acres, and she definitely looked the part. She had orange fur, a blonde mane and tail that were and bright green eyes. She also always wore a kind of cliché-cowboy hat, which helped her when she was in the fields and the sun was shining bright, and also seemed to match her southern accent.

After about a minute of talking, Applejack turned to the two pegasi standing in the lobby, walking over to them. “Golly, you sure got here fast. You’re excited Ah bet!” She said, smiling widely.

Fluttershy shook her head. “I still don’t know why I’m here actually…”

“Trixie woke up!” Applejack said, relieved. “Ah was getting a might worried about her, but she seems perfectly fine, if not tired. I was checkin’ up on her this mornin’ when Ah saw she started wakin’ up. Ah ran outside, saw Rainbow Dash, told her about Trixie and to get the others, and Ah’ve been with her ever since. Happened about… thirty minutes ago now?” She glanced at the clock up on the wall, then nodded. “Let’s go meet her now, afore the other’s all get in there and fill up that small room she’s in.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both nodded, walking slowly behind Applejack as they all took the familiar path towards Trixie’s room. The reached it quickly, and saw Trixie laid down in the bed, her head against a pillow, looking absolutely exhausted. Her breathing was slow, but she was conscious, and alert. She turned her head to the three ponies that just entered the small, white room, and smiled weakly. “Oh, great, more rabble. Do you know how often the nurses have been in here? I’ve barely gotten a wink of shuteye in here.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Shut eye? Have they told you how long you were in here?”

Trixie’s eyes widened as she looked to the mare with a rainbow mane. “No they did not, but since you’re fully recovered… it must have been a long time.”

“Two months, Ah believe it was.” Said Applejack, genuinely glad that she was awake and already being somewhat snide. It was all she remembered of the mare, who only bragged and preformed cheesy magic tricks. It was clear she was nicer, but the confidence was unabated. “Ya’ll musta been really far when you teleported here.”

“I went out to check once, actually.” Rainbow Dash’s announcement hung in the air for a moment, the suddenness of it taking everypony off guard. She had never told Fluttershy, who was a little surprised. Applejack raised an eyebrow, and Trixie looked at her intently. “It was about five miles. We could have walked that day, but I would have been a big burden on you two.” She walked past Fluttershy and Applejack, and to the tired unicorn resting in the bed. “Thanks. I could have been in real trouble out there.”

Trixie smirked. “What do you expect? There’s no way I could botch a teleport like that. Sure it took a lot of energy, but it was still easier than you’ll ever know.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Sure thing, Trixie. You just didn’t want to see a friend get hurt, didn’t you?” Fluttershy didn’t consider it an accusation, but it seemed Trixie did.

“Friends? We have barely known each other for a day. We are not friends!” She was angry, but with one heavy breath, she calmed herself down. “I did it because there’s no reason to see a pony die when I can prevent it. I’ll have you know how much I’ve been working in medicine, and I thought your condition had been very dire.”

Applejack spoke again, quietly shoving Rainbow Dash aside. “Ya did a good thing Trixie, don’t listen to her. My friends and Ah are awfully thankful that you did what you did to get these two back to us. We had been in a frenzy lookin’ for them, and suddenly hearing them in the orchards was… well, it sure took a load off our shoulders!”

Trixie flipped her hair. She seemed to be regaining her energy from receiving so much attention. “Well, it was no problem, erm, Applejack was it? Yes, it was simply me using the powerful magic I was born with.” She closed her eyes, a sneer on her face. The other three pones in the room exchanged perplexed glances, as Trixie’s face focused a little more, her eyes still closed. “Oh shoot, this shouldn’t be so hard…”

“Are ya tryin’ to use magic, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, concerned.

Trixie opened her eyes and sighed. “Oh, well of course I am. And it seems I am unable too. That spell must have made me go into a coma to recuperate, and now I can’t even cast any magic…” she bit back tears. “I... I knew I might lose my abilities with such a strong spell, but I... I couldn’t imagine it happening...”

“What are you talkin’ about, sugarcube?”

“It’s something every Unicorn is taught as a filly. You can’t cast too much magic without consequences. When you’re young, it isn’t a big deal, but when you’re a full-grown mare, casting too much magic can have dire... effect. I appear to... be afflicted with the worst two. A coma that can last for an undefined amount of time, and the loss of magic... either temporarily or permanently.” She shuddered.

Rainbow Dash, feeling awkward enough as it was, turned around, but then looked at Trixie before going out the door. “Thanks, really. I’m sorry that you had to do what you did, but I am grateful.” Fluttershy didn’t move as Dash left hurriedly, as if she was disgusted by the show of emotions in the room. The shy pegasus looked at the two ponies, not sure what to do or say. She took a few steps forward when she heard two more ponies walk into the room. She glanced back and saw two more of her friends enter, stopping short when they heard Trixie crying.

The first one in the room was Rarity, a Unicorn friend of hers. Her fur was white as snow, and her mane and tail a deep, regal purple, always brushed smooth and curled slightly, and azure eyes. She wasn’t wearing more than a modest straw hat with some adornments on it. The one behind her was Pinkie Pie, a very brightly-colored Earth Pony. She had bright-pink fur and a poufy magenta mane and tail.

Rarity walked into the room, and looked to Trixie, who still had a distraught look on her face. “Darling, what is going on in here? Are you all right?”

“She apparently can’t use any magic, Rarity. She thinks she exerted herself too much when she... teleported us here.” Fluttershy kept her voice quiet, but loud enough to be heard over Trixie, now on the verge of tears as she was slowly realizing she had no magical ability. Applejack had taken to comforting her beside the bed.

“Oh, the poor girl! I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t cast magic one day...”

“Oh, she can’t use magic?” Pinkie Pie bounced into the room, her boundless energy and happiness seemingly indifferent to the crying unicorn in the room. “Well then we’ll just have to cheer her up! I’m sure she’ll get it back someday; Twilight told me that everypony has some kind of magic in them, no matter what!”

Trixie turned her head to Pinkie Pie, ignoring Applejack. She glared at the pink pony, who was now looking back at her in a silly smile. “What would you know about magic?”

“Oh, silly Trixie!” Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to register how angry Trixie was. “I don’t build ponies. I bake cupcakes! And cakes, and pies, and cookies. But that’s not really building, that’s just, like, throwing everything together really fast, I don’t think that’s how buildings work-”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Pinkie, Ah don’t think she wants to hear about that stuff right now.” She turned back to Trixie. “I’m sure it’s just temporary, we’ll get Twilight Sparkle in here and she’ll know what to do, don’t you fret.”

Trixie scoffed. “Ugh, Twilight. She’s that pony that fended off the Ursa Minor, yes? What makes you think I’ll accept help from her?”

“Oh, haven’t you changed even a little Trixie?” Applejack said. “You should be acceptin’ help your friends give you.”

“B-but-“

“You just woke up from a coma. You can’t be expectin’ to do everything you used to do right away. Ya’ll will probably be back to your good old self in a few days.”

“Hmph. You don’t sound too confident.” She got out of bed, and stood up proudly. Every pony there gasped at how easily she had gotten up. “I suppose you’re right though, I’ll find out in a few days whether or not I’ve really lost all my magic.” She began to lose her balance, her exhaustion very apparent, and had to put herself back on the bed.

“Gosh, where is Twilight anyway? Dash told her first Ah think, no idea why she isn’t here yet.” Applejack tapped an impatient hoof against the floor.

Trixie gave everypony in the room a look over. “Why are you all here anyway?”

“Oh oh oh, that’s an easy one!” Pinkie Pie bounced a few times and landed in front of Trixie from seemingly out of nowhere. “We were worried about you!”

“Worried? About me? Why in Celestia’s name would you worry about me?” She seemed earnestly confused, and Applejack decided to fill her in again.

“Sugar, you probably don’t know this, but we’ve all been pretty worried about ya. Friends worry about each other.”

“Pfft, friends.” Trixie looked at all the ponies in the room with mild disdain.

“You’re our friend, Trixie, even if we’ve only had... one bad meeting.” Rarity coughed. “ But you saved the life of our best friend! Why wouldn’t you be?”

Pinkie Pie giggled loudly. “I kept thinking while they were gone ‘oh, they’re going to miss so many of my parties! They’ll miss the weekly “get rid of the Monday blues” party, and the “mid-week celebration” party,’ and when I heard they were back, I just knew I had to throw an even larger party to make up for them missing so many! And I got to do that because you brought them back so super fast!”

Applejack spoke up again. “The nurse told us the day you got them back, that Rainbow Dash was only a few hours from dyin’. Without you, she would have been gone, no doubt about it. You DID save her, and ya barely even know her. Yer our friend now, like it or not.”

Fluttershy gulped. She appreciated Trixie’s sacrifice the most, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything to her. I hope Kindness didn’t take too much energy from her. That might have been what brought her into a coma for so long…

Trixie smiled weakly. “Thank you, all of you. But… what do I do now? I surely can’t perform any of my duties when I’m unable to use my magic…”

“I’m sure one of us will be able to have you over for as long as you need. For now, just rest here in the hospital for a while, okay?” Applejack seemed good at being comforting, and Fluttershy was glad. Meeting Trixie was bringing back all the memories of what happened so quickly and vividly, and she felt that awkward sadness and worry again, when Rainbow Dash was so injured. She could barely bring herself to smile.

Each pony said their goodbyes to Trixie, and each left the room quietly and slowly, except for Fluttershy. She was at the door, and only looked back at Trixie. She couldn’t say anything because she wasn’t sure what to say. Trixie looked back at her from the bed, seeming to know what she couldn’t put into words.

“You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to say. I did what I did because... no pony should have to know what it’s like to lose somepony. I know what it feels like, and I didn’t want to see another pony feel that way too. Just go, okay? I need some more rest…” she turned over in her bed as she finished speaking. Fluttershy walked out of the room, closed the door, and walked out towards the exit, where all of her friends, sans Twilight Sparkle, were waiting for her.

The group walked out of the hospital, readying their plan to hold the party for the indigo unicorn, but weren’t sure how to go about it. As they walked through town, they noticed Twilight heading to the hospital. Deciding to take this opportunity, the group headed to the Library, to set up the party they had been waiting a year to have.

It was almost six in the evening. The sun was slowly but surely starting to set, waiting only for Luna to continue spinning the wheel, and bring up the moon, signifying the start of night. The sky was drenched in orange with purple streaks, strewn about like the canvas of a blind man’s painting. Ponyville itself was quieting down, fewer ponies in the streets, carts packed up, and most houses now lit up inside.

The Ponyville library was one of the few structures in the entire city that was built inside of an oddly large tree. It had two floors, book shelves lining the lobby, and quarters for the Librarian upstairs. There was a hallway and a door that led to a basement full of machines and other devices, meant for other experiments. The entire building was dark, none of the lights on. Yet inside, there were five ponies. They were all waiting in quiet hiding spots around the lobby, waiting for a certain unicorn to enter.

“This feels a little familiar…” Said Rainbow Dash, who was standing in a hallway next to Applejack.

“But it’s not the saaaaaame! I didn’t invite every Pony in town like we did last time!” Pinkie Pie was proud of herself. It had taken all of her willpower to not throw invitations around Ponyville for Twilight’s secret birthday party, and the only thing that had stopped her was that if she did that, Twilight would have seen one of them.

“By last time… you mean when Twilight arrived in Ponyville, right?” Fluttershy was quietly hiding next to Rarity, up the staircase that led to Twilight’s bedroom. Her whisper was especially quiet, but everypony was whispering, and without any sound from outside, even wind, they could hear each other easily.

“I reckon that’s what she means. We don’t have parties here very often. Seems to annoy Twilight a little too much.” Applejack huffed. “Today is the best day for it though.”

Rarity hummed to herself, thinking. “Do any of you know why Twilight didn’t go and see Trixie when we all did? She heard from Rainbow Dash first I believe.”

“Ah did find that a might strange. She spent the most time in the room with her after all.” Applejack sighed. “Ah don’t think she was studyin’ either, most of the books were cleaned up by the time we were here to set up.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. She’s still with Trixie probably, maybe she just wanted alone time or something.” Rainbow Dash seemed very indifferent. “Let’s just keep waiting for her, and be ready for when we hear somepony knock, all right?”

Nopony had spoken for about five minutes, when they all heard the door open. Pinkie waited in the main room, behind a couch, using all of her energy to NOT jump up and yell surprise. She knew she had to wait for Twilight to turn on the lights, and then everypony would jump out.

They all heard Twilight speaking, but had no idea to whom. “I don’t mind one bit. Besides, I can probably help your magic a bit. I mix things quite often in here, and I’m sure you could get used to doing it the old fashioned way-“

She flipped a light switch, and everypony jumped out of their hiding spots, yelling “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The indigo unicorn fell backwards, stunned and surprised. Her main reading area, the lobby, had a huge banner across the middle of the room saying what every pony had just yelled out. There was a table with cake, and another with some drinks and smaller foods. Pinkie Pie threw some streamers around, and let all the balloons that were once tied to the floor loose, and watched as they all floated to the top of the room. Then she noticed no one else had moved beyond their cheer, and slowly followed all of their stares to Twilight, and her guest.

“Trixie!?” They all yelled in simultaneous surprise. Twilight Sparkle had fallen backwards in surprise while Trixie, her blue unicorn companion, looked around excitedly, then back to Twilight.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was your Birthday? I thought you’d let a new friend know at least that much!” She wasn’t accusing Twilight, but instead had been stifling laughter.

“I-I didn’t think it was a big deal…” Twilight blushed a little, every pony in the room staring at her.

“You’ve NEVER had a birthday party before?!” Trixie and Pinkie gasped, and everypony else just seemed to exchange worried glances.

Twilight shook her head solemnly.

“Well, then we better get this PARTY STARTED!” Pinkie yelled, queuing everyone to rush forward and grab Twilight, dragging her all the way into the room party-ready room, and shutting the front door with a slam.

Trixie had long since garnered more than a little attention from the other ponies over the past two hours. Even Twilight was fascinated by her endeavors into the field of chemical engineering, but only half of her friends seemed to agree. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were all standing near the table with snacks, chatting and having a little bit of food.

“Hey, I’m gonna go outside for a breath of fresh air, okay?” Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack nodded, and Dash flew outside almost instantly. Fluttershy took a small sip from her glass of juice, and looked over to the group, listening half-heartedly to Trixie talk about some event in Fillydelphia.

Applejack followed her stare, and then looked back to Fluttershy. She could tell Fluttershy was lost in thought, and didn’t want to talk. She bit her lip and decided she’d have to try and listen to the boasting unicorn discuss her adventures, instead of talking with Fluttershy. “Fluttershy?”

“Yes?” She answered quickly, but took a second to realize who had spoken to her. “Oh, yes Applejack, what is it?”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine, just fine.” She set her glass on the table, having finished its contents. “Never better, in fact-“

“If you want to go talk to Dash, just say so. You don’t have to lie about it.” Applejack turned and walked over to Trixie, who was still in the middle of a story. Fluttershy sighed with relief, glad Applejack could understand what she was at least thinking about. She quietly walked outside, and looked around for the rainbow-maned pegasus, hoping she was somewhere close by.

“I’m up here!” Fluttershy looked up, and sure enough, she was on top the tree that was Twilight’s house, and the Ponyville Public Library. She flew up quickly, and sat down in the leaf-covered canopy a few feet away from Rainbow Dash.

She stared up into the sky, which was now black, the only light being that of the moon and various stars in the sky. Fluttershy looked at Dash for a few seconds, and then stared up into the sky as well, wondering if there was anything she was looking at in particular. After a minute, she was satisfied that there wasn’t anything to see, and looked back to Dash. She turned her gaze to Fluttershy as well, and the shy pegasus saw that they looked distracted, or scared. She couldn’t really tell.

Rainbow Dash spoke first. “We need to talk Fluttershy.”

She nodded in agreement. “Okay… what do you want to talk about?”

“Something’s been bothering me for the past few weeks. It’s a question that, unanswered, seems to simply boil as it sits inside me whenever I think about it, eating away at my insides. It’s been nagging at me and I can’t push it out of my mind. It’s been painful to think about, but the possibility of your answer seems to comfort me almost instantly.” Rainbow Dash breathed in, then breathed out, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Oh god she’s going to ask me again, and she means it. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“Well, it’s not one question, it’s a few.” She scooted closer to Fluttershy, looking her directly in the eye. Just like Fluttershy had done to her in the forest. “Why do you keep asking me if I really love you?”

Fluttershy almost fell over. That wasn’t what she was expecting, but she knew what Dash was talking about. Every few days since they had returned to Ponyville, Fluttershy had asked the confident pegasus if she loved her or not. It was more to see how much the medicine had really touched Dash, but also because she had an almost morbid curiosity. She didn’t want to keep spending time with… her “friend” if she didn’t know how that friend felt about her. She wasn’t sure if it was prying or not, because Dash answered plainly every time, saying it was only the medicine that had said that, and not her own feelings.

She had trouble thinking of an answer, but decided to go with the truth, at least as she saw it. “Because you’re really important to me Dash. You’re the closest I’ve ever been to anypony before, and I just… wanted to know exactly how close we were. I wanted to know if we were just good friends, or if you do love me, and you wanted something… more.” She blushed. “It was an honest question about your health, but knowing what you really feel is also important to me.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I’m glad you wanted to know Fluttershy. I really am. Now I have another question for you. Do you love me?”

Dash couldn’t have been blunter in asking. Fluttershy swallowed some of her anxiety, but kept returning the stare Dash was giving her. “I…”

She didn’t even get to start before Rainbow Dash spoke again. “I love you Fluttershy. I really do. Maybe I said this before, maybe not. I don’t remember. But I do remember that before we got lost in that forest, we were good friends, but I was always angry. Not angry at you, or any of our friends, but just angry. I remember that one time we went to Appleoosa once, and even when I heard the buffalo talk about their tradition, and I sympathized with them, all I felt was anger toward the settlers. All I wanted to do with our friends was compete, and be better at everything, better than everypony else. My anger was there always because I felt that if I wasn’t better than everypony else, that I wouldn’t… be able to save everypony else, and sometimes I wasn’t better than everypony else. Or help them. I needed to be better than them. In our time together, I’ve realized that… what you said to me was obviously right. In the forest I mean; I can’t focus on everypony else. I just have to be myself sometimes. Sure I like being the center of attention as much as Trixie sometimes, but that’s just me showing everyone how much better I am. No, around you, I just want to be me. I didn’t want to be better than you, or beat you in a race, or anything. Your support was giving me more strength than you could imagine.” She smiled, and grabbed Fluttershy’s fore hooves in her own. “I love you Fluttershy. More than… more than I’ve ever been in love before Fluttershy. That doesn’t mean a lot though… but please. Just tell me how you feel! Tell me you feel the same way!”

Fluttershy looked back at her, smiling. She had never felt so happy before in her life. “Rainbow Dash, you’re the first pony I’ve ever let get this close to me, emotionally. You’ve taught me something really similar to what I’ve taught you. I was always worried that I wouldn’t be able to protect anypony else, and that I was some kind of failure because I couldn’t. But around you, I realized that not everypony is meant to protect everypony else. Some ponies are better at that than others, just like how we all have a cutie mark. I can help ponies, I can protect them. And that’s by caring for them, and healing them, and not by using force. I can’t worry about doing anything, just like you shouldn’t either. Without that anxiety on my back, Dash, I feel more liberated around you more than any other pony in my life, possibly even my parents. More than any of our friends”

She looked away, her smile turning to a frown. “But… I don’t think love is what I feel, Dash.” She saw something in the blue pegasus’s eyes. A kind of sparkle they once had, seemed to fall out of them. “When I think about what you mean to me, I feel… gratitude, and happiness, and maybe even a small tinge of pity. What I don’t feel is that… idea, that maybe we could spend all of our lives together. That life would be complete if you felt the same way about me, and that you never left my side and stood by me forever. I just… I can’t look at you and think anything else than how you are the bestest possible friend I could ever have dreamed, hoped, or wished for. I’m sorry Rainbow Dash. But I don’t think that I love you.”

Rainbow Dash burst into tears, Fluttershy responding instantly by grabbing her and hugging her, holding her close. She sat there, crying silently as she pressed her face into the yellow pegasus’s chest.

I took that last breath, and dove headfirst into the unknown. I took in that final breath breathed it into my lungs, and knowing that if I didn’t ask now, it would have left my mind completely numbed by only a silent hope, I asked her. My wish was to let this out, and throw those feelings into the air, to see which would return to me fulfilled. It felt like I was risking it all to know… and now that I know… it’s like a weight that’s been lifted from my shoulders. I’m disappointed, but now that I know how she feels… it’s not as sad. I helped her grow, and she helped me grow too. Maybe it’ll be okay if she doesn’t love me... maybe I can find somepony else who truly will. But she’ll be the closest and more irreplaceable friend I’ll ever have.

Fluttershy held Rainbow Dash there, on top of the tree, for what felt like eternity. She didn’t know what time it was when they had started talking, and she didn’t know what time it was when the crying pegasus finally stopped, and they both floated down, and headed back into Twilight’s home. She didn’t know what time it was when Rainbow Dash told everyone what happened, or how long the speech she gave lasted. It was a speech about how happy she was to be Fluttershy’s closest and best friend, and how that was okay with her, even if she was in love with the shy pegasus. Fluttershy didn’t know what time it was when everypony had left, satisfied with the party. She knew it was midnight when she offered to take Rainbow Dash home, who was still tearing up a little when looked at the shy pegasus without the company of her friends.

They both flew up to Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. It hadn’t changed at all. She hadn’t been there since the night Rainbow Dash’s wings were proclaimed by her doctor to be fully healed, and that she could fly again. They both walked inside, Dash having started crying again.

“Okay Fluttershy... I’ll... I’ll see you around.” She said, expecting Fluttershy to leave.

The shy pegasus didn’t move. “Are you... going to be okay?”

“I’m just... kind of... I just need to think about this okay?” She looked up to Fluttershy, who had the sweetest smile she’d ever seen.

“What if... what if I just... you know... stayed a little longer, would that be okay?”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head curiously. “What... do you mean?”

“You’re... obviously hurt Dash, and I just... I can’t leave you alone when you’re like this. It hurts me too.” Fluttershy walked over to the cyan pegasus. “How about... I get you to bed? It’s really late.”

Rainbow Dash nodded as they walked into the bedroom. There wasn’t much there. The cloud walls were puffy, and the bed was made form actual clouds, both the mattress and the blankets. Rainbow Dash floated up to the roof, taking some of the cloud and sealing up a hole that normally let in the sunlight that would wake her up early in the morning.

“I may not love you… but you’re the closest friend I’ve ever had. I don’t want to leave you alone tonight when you’re so sad, okay?” Fluttershy smile. Rainbow Dash got into the bed, her tears still flowing.

“I’m okay now Fluttershy, you don’t have to stay here...” Rainbow Dash spoke through her sobs.

“Oh silly.” Fluttershy began to sing. The quiet melody of her lullaby she knew by heart, one she hadn’t used in quite some time. Now, she knew, Rainbow Dash needed comfort, needed a friend. Even if she couldn’t be that pony Rainbow Dash needed, somepony to love, she’d stay and support her.

As soon as Fluttershy finished, Rainbow Dash reached out and hugged her. “Thank you Fluttershy. For everything.”

“I-It’s no problem, D-Dash.” She said, surprised by the sudden hug. The cyan pegasus pulled back and went under the covers again, falling asleep quickly. Fluttershy looked on, smiling to herself. She quietly left the room, and standing on the cloud platform outside the front door, she knew what she had to do.

I’ll keep you safe, Rainbow. I’ll never leave you.