Three little words can make or break you...
"I love you."
"I love you too, Flutters. And don't you ever forget it."
Up high in the clouds, feeling the soft wet of the mist upon their fur and feathers, two pegasi sat together. One had her wing, a very light sky blue, wrapped over the other's back and nuzzled her playfully upon the muzzle. The pale yellow pegasus smiled a bittersweet smile and rested her head upon her hooves, long pink mane wrinkling upon contact. She sighed, and with that sigh, blew a small puff of cloud out in front of her; slowly she batted at it with one hoof, watching it break away and drift lazily off towards another part of the sky. So fragile. So delicate. So easy to snap with the lightest touch of a hoof. The yellow mare sighed, trying hard to suppress tears.
Her marefriend blinked at her, concern in her voice. "Fluttershy? Are you alright?"
"Yeah...yes, Rainbow Dash. I'm fine. I promise."
Rainbow lifted an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"Of course I do." Fluttershy was almost offended by the question, but tried to keep her feelings bubbled down beneath her calm exterior. "And there's nothing to tell you, Rainbow...except that your mane is tangled."
"My mane is...what?" Confused, the blue-coated pony lifted one hoof and ran it through her rainbow-colored mane, wincing as she presumably ran into several knots. "Celestia, it is...how did it get this way?" Normally she wouldn't care about something like this, but ever since she had started dating Fluttershy she had been trying to make herself seem more presentable.
Fluttershy smiled, trying to force herself to sound amused despite her drifting thoughts. "Maybe your stunts were a little too rough this morning," she pointed out, laying one hoof over Rainbow's and placing the other in the bright spectrum of a mane. "Why don't we go back to my cottage? We can fix you up, and it's starting to get late." She glanced up at the rapidly approaching darkness; Celestia was lowering the sun as her sister raised the moon.
Rainbow shrugged. "Sure...not like I have any other plans tonight." She got to her hooves slowly, extending her wings and preparing to dive; before she exited the cloud she turned back and looked at her marefriend, one eyebrow raised. "You coming?"
"Yeah." Fluttershy also got to her hooves and stretched out her wings before she and Rainbow flew off the cloud, spiraling towards the ground, and alighting atop the bridge leading to Fluttershy's cottage. As they headed inside, once again Fluttershy thought of the cloud, so small, so fragile, so easy to break.
Was she like that? Was she that small, that fragile, that easy to break?
She loved her friends and her friends loved her, that she knew for certain. But there was a problem: she wasn't sure if they were being entirely honest with her. Even Applejack, the given Element of Honesty, told her she was strong in her own ways. Maybe once Rainbow Dash would have given her the truth, but ever since they had started dating, she had seemed softer.
Fluttershy just wanted the truth. Was she weak? Was she a bad friend?
Was she like that cloud?
Together she and her marefriend walked into the cottage; Rainbow Dash opened the door and tipped her head elegantly as Fluttershy headed in, and then followed, slamming the door with a bang. For a moment they were alone together, alone in pitch black darkness, pressing in on them like walls; Fluttershy’s chest heaved as she pictured being crushed, when all of a sudden the light was flicked on and there was Rainbow Dash, looking at her with impatient magenta eyes.
The innocent way Rainbow tipped her head and looked at her marefriend, watching, waiting for her to do or say something, made the little bit of sanity Fluttershy had sheltered snap; she let out a weak gasp and threw herself at the pale blue mare, throwing her arms around the other’s neck and burying her face into Rainbow’s shoulder fur. The speed-demon seemed completely taken aback by this; she jerked backwards, loosening her marefriend’s grip and causing Fluttershy to slip away, tears streaking down her face.
“Flutters,” Rainbow whispered hoarsely, wings fluttering slightly at this sudden change in personality. “What’s wrong?”
“You…you wouldn’t understand.” It was a weak answer, but it was all she could give. A second later, Fluttershy felt a comforting wing fold over her side.
“Come on, now. What’s wrong?” There was a bit of an edge to Rainbow Dash’s tone, a rare tone of concern entering her voice, which only caused Fluttershy to sob even louder.
“I-It’s just…I don’t feel…” She trailed off, looking out the window, up at the now darkened sky, lit only by the gorgeous stars that shone like lanterns illuminating the black darkness.
Rainbow Dash let out a huge sigh, patience clearly thinning. "Come on, Fluttershy." She leaned over, and magenta eyes finally hit teal. "You can tell me anything. Didn't I just say that?"
"You did...but I...you..." Fluttershy winced, the tears running even faster now, like little salty rivers on her face. Rainbow lifted one sky blue hoof, as if to wipe them away, but pulled back when her marefriend shut her eyes and spoke, this time in a harsh, raspy whisper. "I didn't think you'd understand."
"I understand a lot of things." The speed demon sighed and her wings folded against her side dejectedly. "A lot more things than anypony believes I do."
"You wouldn't understand this."
Rainbow's answer was hard as stone, as cold as ice. "Try me."
At this, most ponies would melt into their marefriend's arms, sobbing and confessing everything. Fluttershy herself could admit that she was once that type of pony, before the incident with the dragon in the cave. But now, after all she had been through with her friends, she could read through the lines.
And she wasn't liking what she saw.
"Flutters?" Rainbow's expression wavered as the teal eyes of her marefriend hardened. "Fluttershy, are you alright?"
The words next spoken were hardly above a whisper. "How dare you?"
The blue mare recoiled. "What?"
"Don't play like I'm stupid." Fluttershy bit her quivering lip so hard she could almost taste blood, and another tear fell. It splashed against the wooden floor. "You're supposed to maybe leave me alone. Comfort me. Don't pry. It's...it's not nice, Rainbow Dash. I thought you would know how to make me feel better, but instead..." She began to quake all over, like a little mini earthquake. "You're making me feel worse!"
There was a beat.
And then Rainbow spoke.
"Alright, Flutters. I don't know where in Celestia's name this attitude is coming from, but I don't like it. You should drop it, now. So what if I don't know how to be a good marefriend? You're my first, you know. And before you ask, that thing with Gilda was never serious." The mare looked away, towards the back of the house, where she could see many small pairs of beady black eyes watching in concern and confusion; when they noticed she was watching, they whipped out of sight. "So I don't know how to make you feel better. So what? We're still fine, right?"
Fluttershy stared at Rainbow in disbelief. This wasn't what she had wanted to hear. Not at all.
When she had first discovered she was...attracted to mares, she had spent days dreaming up the perfect marefriend. One that would love her in all situations, support her when she felt she had fallen, and help her when she had tripped; help her to get back up. She had believed Rainbow Dash would be all of that, and more.
Until now.
Now, it seemed like Rainbow was just an annoying, self-centered brat who wanted everything to work in her favor. For everything to cycle around her. Like she was the center of the universe. But she wasn't.
Fluttershy's gaze hardened to a cold teal stone.
"Want to go fix my mane now?" Rainbow asked cautiously, taking a peek in the nearest mirror, hanging above the sofa.
Want to go...she thinks she can just blow this off?
"You know what?" Fluttershy's voice trembled, but she forced the words out. "Forget it."
Rainbow looked up, pupils shrinking. "What?"
"Forget it." The tears were back now, and this time she welcomed them, allowing them to stream down. They would help her feel secure, down to earth. She was normal. Normal ponies cried at times like this. All the wonderful times they had had together, in the park, in the sky, on the clouds...ruined by a single moment of carelessness. "Forget it," Fluttershy repeated, for the third time. "We're over."
"Over?" Rainbow's ears drooped, and she grabbed Fluttershy's shoulders. "But...oh Celestia, Flutters, what did I do wrong? I've never been good with touchy-feely stuff, you know that!"
"You ignored me." Sob. "You care more about your mane..." Another sob. "...than my well-being."
The sky blue mare was growing angry now too; her wings were twitching, itching to spring from her sides and stand erect in an intimidating fashion. "I wasn't sure what the hay else to say! I'm not good at this stuff! Didn't I just tell you that?"
Fluttershy pulled backwards, causing Rainbow Dash to drop to the ground and land with a thud. Body quivering ever so slightly, she forced herself to swallow back her anger and frustration.
The next words spoken could have been true, in the spur of the moment. They might not have been true; they could have been brought on by peer pressure. They were crazy, unexpected, completely un-Fluttershy.
But whatever they were, they were spoken.
Three little words can be tremors and shake you...
"I hate you!"
Red hot panic flashed throughout Rainbow's mind; against her will, she felt herself beginning to tremble all over as her brain screamed Panic, panic, panic! She reached out one hoof to take her marefriend by the shoulder again, but Fluttershy jerked away.
No, no. Flutters. You can't do this to me. You... Rainbow Dash choked back tears, wings unfurling and then folding against her side repetitively. Fluttershy...
"Get out," Fluttershy snapped, completely out of her zone now and gone. Gone into the phase she sometimes referred to as 'New Fluttershy,' a phase that had never really gone away. "Get out now."
Rainbow shook her head, refusing to believe that any of this was reality. She had been happy for once, in a relationship. She had been prepared to take it to new heights. She had been prepared to...
Fluttershy advanced up in her face, aqua eyes ice cold. As she moved forward, the speed demon found her hooves slowly moving backwards, wishing to get away from this Not-Fluttershy, this pony that looked like her marefriend but wasn't, in any way at all. "Flutters," she choked out, in one last plead of desperation. "You've got to listen to-"
The door slammed shut behind her, and Rainbow Dash was alone.
Again.
"And so I said 'Really? Her birthday party isn't going to be held in twenty-seven days, but twenty-eight? That throws off absolutely everything! The clowns will arrive a day late, and everything will be ruined, and that will be sad, because then she won't realize how absolutely wonderful she is, and then she'll be depressed forever and there'll be nothing that I can do to help!'"
Rainbow Dash nodded and said, "Mm-hm."
Her head was rested on the small circular table in the corner of the aptly named Sugarcube Corner, staring out the window. The pegasi had scheduled a horrid thunderstorm, and the sky was as grey as ash; everypony's mood had dropped considerably because of the gloomy weather. Normally she would be spending it in Fluttershy's cottage. But after last night's events, she was stuck here. Not that Pinkie wasn't a good friend, but when you'd been listening to her ramble on and on about Elizabeak the chicken's birthday, it was kind of getting irritating.
"Then it was even harder because I didn't know what flavor cake she liked, so I had to ask Fluttershy-"
The resting mare's head shot straight up. "Fluttershy?"
Pinkie stopped talking and stared at her friend, mouth twisting into a silly little smile. "Well of course, silly filly! She's the one who owns Elizabeak, right?" With her long, cotton-candy like tail she began to dust off the countertop behind a now incredibly disappointed Rainbow Dash and hummed for a few seconds before continuing her story.
"Fluttershy told me that she loved birdseed cake, but I wasn't quite sure how to make that into a flavor so I decided to be creative and make my own type of birdseed cake, which is actually double-vanilla-lemon-fudge-swirl cake with birdseed sprinkled on top, but I'm not sure if she liked it or not because she never actually stayed in one place long enough to have a slice! That was when I - GASP - realized that I had forgotten the dollop of whipped cream! No wonder she hated-"
"Pinkie?" Rainbow asked, head back on the table and magenta eyes glazed over, staring unseeingly out the window. A raindrop trickled by; the blue pegasus could almost imagine it as a tear falling from her own eye. The grey and the storm seemed to perfectly mirror her mood right then.
Pinkie Pie stopped dusting and glanced at Rainbow Dash with a look of curiosity etched on her face and in her blue eyes. "What is it, Dashie?"
Rainbow straightened up and casually flicked her mane back so that it didn't hang over her eyes. "Can I tell you something?"
The earth pony's blue eyes widened and she nodded her head rapidly, up and down, up and down.
"Do you promise not to tell anypony else?"
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." As she said so, the pink pony performed the hoof motions that went with and with a flourishing finish, turned back with a wide grin.
Rainbow took a deep breath and forced herself to exhale, as much as she didn’t want to. She knew that the Pinkie Promise meant that Pinkie would most certainly keep it, FOREVER, if needed. "...I think Fluttershy and I broke up."
Pinkie's jaw dropped and her pupils shrank until they were nothing more than tiny little blue and black dots. In a heavily exaggerated voice she exclaimed, "WHAT?"
"We...had a fight last night. I don't really want to go into detail, but it was pretty awful."
The answer didn't change. "WHAT?"
Starting to feel uncomfortable, Rainbow reached one hoof behind her neck and scratched awkwardly. "I just thought somepony should know..." She stared back at the window again, watching as Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom raced for cover from the rain under a stray fruit stand somepony forgot to pack up. "...I'm a little down about it."
Neither pony spoke for about two minutes, and Rainbow was starting to feel uncomfortable. Should she brave the rain and go home, maybe go to the library, talk to Twilight and Spike and read a Daring Do book or two? That sounded like a good idea.
But all of a sudden the silence was interrupted by Pinkie. "That's not right, Dashie! She's the perfect pony for you and you know it!"
A flare of hope arose inside Rainbow’s chest, fluttering like the wings of a captured butterfly. “Yes…yes she is.” Remembering all of the wonderful times they had spent together, captured only in her mind. And Fluttershy’s, of course.
“So you need to go do something!” Pinkie leaned forward and placed one elbow on the table, leaning forward and peering into Rainbow’s eyes. “Let’s see…I guess I need to know what happened first.”
It took a bit of bribing and poking, but eventually Rainbow Dash agreed to tell her the entire story. This was Pinkie Pie, after all; Master-of-Figuring-out-a-Pony’s-Feelings-and-What-She-Doesn’t-Want-to-Tell-You. The explanation was easier to say than the pegasus had thought it would be; honestly it felt really good just to let out all of her emotions in one breath. Pinkie Pie was a good listener, too. She nodded at all the right times and gasped right at the correct moments. It was really quite relieving.
When the whole thing was over, Rainbow let out a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding and felt like she could collapse.
Pinkie, on the other hoof, was nodding and stroking her chin with her hoof. “Interesting…very interesting.” All of a sudden her eyes lit up like fireworks. “By Jove,” she trilled in some sort of strange accent, “I think I’ve got it!”
The pegasus shot straight up, wings extended in pure excitement. “What is it? Do you know how to help!”
“Yes!” Pinkie stuck her nose up in the air and proclaimed loudly, “You've got to apologize to Fluttershy!”
A beat.
Rainbow groaned loudly and sank back down onto the table, almost rolling over in her irritation. “Seriously? But I didn’t know what to do! What else was I supposed to say?”
“You could have acted a little bit more supportive, Dashie,” the earth pony scolded.
“I know, but…”
“No excuses!”
“What if the excuse is a good one?” Now Rainbow Dash was just whining, begging, pleading for a way to get out of apologizing, and she knew it. But she truly didn’t have the heart to do so. Fluttershy had been very upset with her, and this just wasn’t right. She didn’t want to have to be the one to bend over and kneel into submission.
Pinkie narrowed her eyes. “No excuses, Missy! And shame on you if you don’t want to get back together with your marefriend!”
“But I do!” the pegasus found herself pleading. “I want to…”
She finished the sentence in her head. More than anything.
It was something she would never say aloud, but Fluttershy was one of those ponies that kept her going morning, noon and night. She was the soft and gentle to Rainbow’s hard and brash. The sweet and quiet to sour and loud. They were the perfect balance. Rainbow Dash had felt it all the way back in flight camp – she just hadn’t acknowledged it until they had become a couple. But now…
Now she knew she needed her.
She needed Fluttershy back.
“Well?” Pinkie asked, blue eyes still narrowed in waiting.
Rainbow bit her lip and shook her head. She wasn’t the kind of pony to fall over at the slightest touch, to bend and fawn to one’s will…
“I have to go,” she spat out, jumping up from the table and rushing out of the door into the cold, wet rain without a second thought, Pinkie Pie staring after her through the window as Rainbow Dash ran and ran, wings extending slowly before she took off.
The rain battered against her face; the pegasus tilted her head so that she was at an angle where it hit her mane, soaking it down to the skin, but she didn’t care, she didn’t care, she didn’t care. She was Rainbow Dash, the one and only, and she wasn’t…
Lightning struck; the figure only flew faster.
…going…
Rain was pouring down now, the pegasi having set the record for the worst thunderstorm seen in years.
…to…
She was approaching a cloud now. Dark grey came so close she could touch it. The pegasus reached out one hoof, subconsciously anticipating the blow.
…bend!
The mare hit the inside of the cloud and her world went dark.
...I need you, Fluttershy.
When Rainbow Dash next opened her eyes, she wasn’t quite sure where she was. Lifting her head, she turned it back and forth, side to side, but still all she could see was a blinding white, like she was in some sort of dream zone. Perhaps that was it. Was she dreaming? Was she dead?
No, she was just inside a cloud. Huffing with annoyance, Rainbow spread her wings and began to flap them, clearing the fog out of her vision and allowing her to see exactly which cloud she had taken an unexpected nap in. Looking left and right she saw that it was slowly growing darker. Celestia, she had been sleeping for a while. Where exactly was she?
A quick scan of the area caused her heart to almost skip a beat.
She was directly over Fluttershy’s cottage.
What was this? Was it some sort of omen? A strategic plan, set up by the very inner workings of her mind, subconsciously trying to get her to apologize? Maybe it was Pinkie. Celestia knew that pony could do what she wanted if she wanted it. Rainbow rolled her eyes just thinking about her.
But whatever brought her there, it evidently wanted her to speak to her (former?) marefriend.
Was she going to break?
Was she going to bend?
Was she going to fawn, or pray?
No. She was just going to talk things over. Rainbow held back a distinct rumble in her throat, a rumble she hadn’t felt incredibly often but had learned how to recognize. Celestia, I’m not going to start crying now, am I?
The mare swallowed and felt immense pride as the feeling successfully vanished. Time to do this.
Lifting her hoof, she rapped three times on the door.
As she waited for Fluttershy to come answer, she anxiously shifted her weight from one side of her body to the other. Come on…come on…why isn’t she answering? Rainbow Dash wasn’t a pony to be left waiting.
But when she was waiting, on those rare occasions, she thought. And when she thought, she thought of memories that stuck in her mind.
The pegasus shot straight up, wings extended in pure excitement. “What is it? Do you know how to help!”
“Yes!” Pinkie stuck her nose up in the air and proclaimed loudly, “You must apologize to Fluttershy!”
Why was she –
It was something she would never say aloud, but Fluttershy was one of those ponies that kept her going morning, noon and night. She was the soft and gentle to Rainbow’s hard and brash. The sweet and quiet to sour and loud. They were the perfect balance. Rainbow Dash had felt it all the way back in flight camp – she just hadn’t acknowledged it until they had become a couple. But now…
She had to stop –
“Well?” Pinkie asked, sky blue eyes still narrowed in waiting.
Rainbow bit her lip and shook her head. She wasn’t the kind of pony to fall over at the slightest touch, to bend and fawn to one’s will…
The door creaked open.
“Hello?” asked a very red-eyed, teary-faced Fluttershy, cuddled up protectively in her beautiful bathrobe.
I need you, Fluttershy.
Rainbow Dash burst into tears.
Three little words come out to play...
"Please forgive me!"
Fluttershy honestly wasn't sure what to say.
For the last day she had been curled up in her room, animals by her side, trying and notably failing to comfort her. They had spoken to her, told her stories, told her it was going to be alright. But it wasn't going to be alright. No matter how much they told her it was okay, that she was just defending herself, it wasn't going to be okay. She didn't have Rainbow Dash. Apparently she didn't need her. Her animal friends had comforted her, told her it was okay, that Rainbow was a stupid pony anyways. Angel Bunny in specific had pointed out how rude and conceited she could be. Fluttershy had drilled it into her head that they would never be friends again.
And now here was Rainbow Dash, crying on her front doorstep and begging her heart out to forgive her.
Naturally, she was speechless. But natural instinct came first.
Fluttershy leaned down and nuzzled her ex-marefriend's cheek. "What's...what's wrong?" she whispered in such a high-pitched voice it was almost shrill with confusion.
Another sob shook Rainbow's body. "I...I can't...I'm so stupid..." She choked up again and turned away.
There was a round of confused chattering behind the two mares; the animals wanted to know what was going on. Normally Fluttershy never would have ignored them, but today seemed different. It seemed confusing, unnatural. Out of all her friends, Rainbow would have been the last one to break down in front of her...
...so what was going on here?
Well, ex-marefriend or not (this still made Flutters wince; she quickly banished the thought from her head), Rainbow clearly was unstable and needed help.
"Come on now," she cooed softly, leaning down and prompting the speed demon up onto her shoulder. Rainbow staggered against her, putting almost all of her weight on Fluttershy; this made her stumble but she didn't quite fall; instead she headed inside, whispering all the while.
Perhaps a less forgiving pony would have kept Rainbow upon the streets. Told her she still hadn't been forgiven for last night's events. Would have let her stay outside and cry her eyes dry, and go back to her cloud house to rot.
But Fluttershy wasn't that kind of pony.
The animals gathered around her, chirping and squeaking in horrified tones. Why had she brought the monster into the house, the one that had made her cry for hours on end? Why did she not leave her outside? For the second time in the timespan of three minutes Fluttershy found herself ignoring the creatures who were often her greatest advisors as she laid the blue pegasus on her couch.
"I'm...I'm so stupid," Rainbow kept saying, over and over, like a broken record player.
All Fluttershy could do was sit next to her, one wing over her shaking shoulders, and wait.
She did wait, too. She waited for a long time. Rainbow didn't seem to want to stop crying, or begging for forgiveness, and until she knew what was going on here, she just was going to remain quiet. Fluttershy waited for perhaps half an hour before the sobs slowly began to reside.
They stopped about two minutes later, and Rainbow looked up for the first time. Her magenta eyes were bloodshot and tear-stained. "Fluttershy?" she breathed.
Her voice cracked. "Yes?"
"I...I'm so stupid."
Hearing Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, say that, brought tears to the yellow mare's eyes. "Rainbow...no..."
"I am. I am the stupidest pony ever, to think I could get away with my own selfishness instead of your problems. I am the stupidest pony in the world to have lost you. I am so stupid."
Rainbow was crying again now, and Fluttershy was too, sobs shaking throughout her whole body. She had never felt she could connect with Rainbow Dash like this ever before, and here she was, less than a day after their breakup, crying with her over their mistakes. Who would have thought?
"D-Dashie," she managed to squeak out. "Oh, Dashie...no, I was the stupid one."
That was a lie. They both knew it.
"You're too kind for your own good, Flutters," Rainbow managed to squeak out, and that set them both off again.
The animals gathered, not quite sure what to do. Some looked at each other and shrugged, going upon their own business. Some others glared at Rainbow Dash but made no action. None actually made a specific move...until Angel Bunny stepped up to plate.
With a tiny white paw he yanked on his mistress's tail, and beady black eyes shone with irritation. Fluttershy glanced back down, still too overcome with emotion to say anything, and simply gave him a small pat on the head and shooed him away, back to his place by the other animals where he simply stared in confusion.
One yellow hoof stroked through a rainbow-colored mane. No words were spoken, no words were exchanged. Everything was still and calm, and utterly silent.
How long they stayed like that, neither of them knew. But eventually Rainbow turned and sat up, purposely turning her head away from her ex-marefriend's, and sighed. "Flutters?"
"Y-Yes?" The words came out as barely a whisper.
"You don't have to tell me what was wrong with you last night. And I know I was a total jerk. But I want you to know that I'm there for you." Magenta eyes hit aqua, and Fluttershy's heart melted as Rainbow exhaled a tiny sigh. "If...if you'll still have me, that is."
Both of them were crying again now, and that was how they fell asleep ten minutes later: curled up with one wing draped over the other pony and hooves, sides, and flanks touching, ever so gently, but touching all the same.
When Fluttershy awoke the next morning, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. At first she panicked briefly, not sure if the blue-coated mare had left in the middle of the night or what. But then she heard a clattering of pots and pans from the kitchen area and she knew that Rainbow was still there; she exhaled and began her trot over.
"Stupid...soup! How the hay does Fluttershy do it - oh!" As soon as Fluttershy herself entered the room, Rainbow whipped around, smiling large and eyes darting from side to side. "Hey, Fluttershy?"
"Rainbow?" The yellow mare tilted her head to one side. "Why are you in my kitchen?"
"N-No reason."
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes.
Rainbow sighed, ears drooping. "Alright, alright. I was trying to make you breakfast soup. The kind you made me that one time I was sick and I was over here...but I can't do it!" She gave a little stomp and growled angrily.
Fluttershy suppressed a giggle and trotted over, gently pushing Rainbow Dash aside and beginning to stir the pot of hot water Rainbow had already prepared. "Well, you remembered the first step," she remarked, before adding in the soup mix and stirring that. Rainbow blushed and turned away.
Three minutes later the water had turned a nice, soupy red. Fluttershy took a small sip, stuck out her tongue, switched spoons, and continued to stir. "Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah?" The mare spoke up from where she had seated herself at Fluttershy's table.
"Why did you try to make this?" The yellow pegasus giggled. "You know you can't cook."
"Well..."
Fluttershy stopped and waited.
Rainbow sighed, wings ruffling a little bit in her awkwardness. "See, I wanted to make up for everything I've done to you. I know that we're still on a sour note, but I wanted you to know that I can still be reliable. That I'm not a self-centered jerk." She looked down at the ground and exhaled. "Even though I am..."
"Oh," Flutters said.
That was really all that she could manage. After everything that had happened, she simply didn't have the energy to say anything more. However, it seemed to cause a mini breakdown inside of Rainbow; she slumped forward, seemingly in defeat. At that moment, Fluttershy realized, Rainbow felt small, and fragile, and delicate.
Just like that cloud.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Magenta eyes flickered upwards.
"I...I have something to ask you."
Rainbow sat up, wings ruffling a little, before turning to stare Fluttershy right in her teal eyes.
"Am...am I a bad friend?" Before Rainbow could say anything, it all bubbled up to the surface, and Fluttershy, much like a volcano, exploded. "Am I too shy, too scared of everything? Do I back away from a fight when you girls step up to the challenge? Do I do the wrong thing? Are you always mad at me but are too nice to tell me? Am I...am I a cloud?"
There was a long, long silence after that. Fluttershy wasn't sure if she had said the right thing.
But all of a sudden, Rainbow was by her side, forelegs pressed around Fluttershy's neck, and their lips were locked. Fluttershy panicked at first, but slowly grew accustomed to it, returning the kiss and closing her eyes.
For a moment, it was just her, Rainbow Dash, and the infinite universe.
And she liked it that way.
And three little words will save the day.
"I love you."
Those were the first words that Rainbow Dash said as soon as they broke apart. Not anything comforting, or even mildly so. But somehow she could tell that they had comforted Fluttershy more than any other words could have, and she smiled, a genuine smile, knowing that she had succeeded.
Tears were bubbling in Fluttershy's eyes; Rainbow hooked one foreleg around her shoulder. "Hey...hey, it's alright. You don't have to cry."
Fluttershy bit her lip. "But...but you're so good to me, when I say all these meaningless things!"
"I'm the stupid one here, remember?" Rainbow teased gently in a light voice, which just caused the yellow mare to burst into tears again. "Aw, no, it's alright, Flutters. You're so much better to me than I am to you. You have to put up with this." Jokingly, she gestured at her body, but this only caused Fluttershy to cry harder.
"I-I-It's not you, Rainbow Dash...I was very hurt by what you said," she whispered, tone barely audible. "I know you want to make things how it was, but...I don't know if we can do that right now."
Rainbow's heart sank like a stone. "You...do you not love me?"
Fluttershy's eyes leaked salty tears. "No...no, I do love you, Rainbow Dash! I really, really do! I just...need some time to cool off."
"Oh."
The mare's butter-yellow wings ruffled sadly. "I've upset you, haven't I?" she whispered, almost a squeak.
"Nah!" Rainbow's mind, which was screaming yes, yes you have, completely contradicted how she answered. "I mean, as long as we can go back to the relationship...right?" Please say yes. Oh, please please please please please say yes, Fluttershy...
Fluttershy bit her lip. "I...I think so..."
Rainbow stared in horror, trying to suppress tears of her own. "You think so?"
The yellow mare sighed and turned her head. "It's...it's complicated. I do love you, and I do want a relationship with you, but not right now, alright?" She looked up, teal eyes water. "O-Okay, Rainbow Dash?"
She still wanted a relationship. She wasn't dumping her. Relief flooded Rainbow's bones like a tidal wave; an eerie grin etched upon her face she smiled like she was Pinkie Pie. You still love me, Fluttershy. My other half. And I love you too. "Okay," she responded, too overwhelmed to say anything more.
Fluttershy wiped away her tears and smiled.
Rainbow Dash stayed over at the cottage for maybe an hour and a half longer, before heading out into the now bright day. She squinted, not yet accustomed to the bright sunlight, before taking about three hoof-steps forward...
...and having Pinkie Pie bounce right in front of her, screaming, "PARTY TIME!"
Rainbow yelped and immediately zipped into the air, hovering above Pinkie by several feet; this didn't seem to bother the earth pony, as she just stared upwards with a wide grin on her face. "Pinkie Pie!" the pegasus panted, placing one hoof on her chest to steady her breathing. "What was...What in Celestia's name was that?"
"Weeeeeeell~" Pinkie started, eyes as bright as shiny buttons. "I was waiting outside of Fluttershy's cottage because I knew that you were in there and if you were in there because of your big fight you would both be super duper sad and I really didn't want that to happen so I decided that I would be the 'happy police' and wait until you guys were really sad so I could come in and make you not sad anymore but - GASP - I fell asleep, so then-"
"Wait, wait, wait. How long were you outside the cottage?"
Pinkie giggled and rolled her eyes. "Well, long enough to see you guys go smoochie smoo-"
"Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash growled, feeling heat flood to her face as her wings stiffened, remembering the tight embrace. It was the first real, real kiss they had ever shared, and she had enjoyed it. But to have Pinkie Pie mock it? No. That was not cool.
"Alright!" The pink earth pony bounced with a little skip in her step across the bridge; anxiously, Rainbow Dash followed via the sky. "But anyways, does this mean you've made up? Are you marefriends again? Can we throw a party called the 'Flutters and Dashie are smooching again' party yet?"
How to answer this question? Not the end part, of course, but the first and second parts? Rainbow considered it for a minute, remembering the small smile on Fluttershy's face, the way she'd reacted to the kiss, everything about her very being that made her who she was and what she loved and who she loved...
"Yeah. I guess you could say that."
Pinkie squealed and began to hop faster. "Oh, this is just wonderful! I'll need to prepare the balloons and the cake and the games and the punch and the..."
She rambled on longer, but Rainbow didn't bother to listen. Instead she looked back over her shoulder at the cottage. Peeking through the window was a familiar yellow pegasus.
She was smiling.
Blocking out the drone of Pinkie's consistent rambling, Rainbow smiled back, and turned around.
Yeah. Everything's alright. Everything's going to be just fine.
Three little words can make or break you,
Three little words can be tremors and shake you,
Three little words come out to play
And three little words will save the day.
