Chapter IV: Where'd She Go?

"Um, R-Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy weakly said, suddenly very nervous.

"Yeah Flutters? What's up?" Rainbow answered.

"Um, are you- are you going to... that... um, Winter Snowflake dance thing?" she asked, her nervous stutter starting to show itself.

"What? Oh that? Nah, probably not! Dances are lame!"

"What? Dashie!" Derpy interjected. "The dance is gonna be so much fun! I heard Surprise is going with Cerulean Voice! Oh, they make such a cute couple! And Surprise told me there's gonna be a chocolate fountain!"

"It's just not my bag, baby!" Rainbow Dash replied, with a shrug.

Fluttershy chose to speak again. "But Dashie, w-would you go if... um, you... you had, a-a date?"

"Hmm..." she thought. "Yeah, if I had a date, then maybe, but nopony likes me like that."

Fluttershy was shocked. She looked over to Derpy and, judging from her expression, she didn't share that feeling. "What do you mean, Dashie? Everypony likes you! You have tons of friends, you're the most popular pony in school!" She looked to Derpy again to see if she was as surprised now, after hearing that information. Still no. In fact, if anything, she looked less surprised this time.

"Listen, Flutters. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret: they're not my real friends. In fact, I hate just about every single one of them."

"But, Dashie, you're always hanging out with them though. Heck, you even dated half the HoofBall team and the other half all have admitted having a huge crush on you!"

"They're all jerks, though. I just suddenly got popular after I did that Sonic Rainboom and nopony's left me alone since. You, Derpy, Spitfire, and Surprise are my only real friends!"

Fluttershy was completely bewildered right now. She even forgot about her mission for a minute. She shook her head and instantly remembered it, as if it somehow jogged her memory. Suddenly full of confidence, Fluttershy thought, Buck it! I'm goin' for it! "Rainbow Dash, would you like to go to the dance with me?" She immediately regretted asking and felt like she was shrinking under embarrassment. But the words were out there and there was nothing she could do about it. Aside from watching in horror as Rainbow was sure to shoot her down.

Rainbow suddenly looked nervous herself, perhaps even more so than Fluttershy. It was a different kind of nervousness, though. Fluttershy knew the difference was there but she just couldn't put her hoof on exactly what was different about it. "Oh, um, I, I might need some time to think about it."

It wasn't a no, so Fluttershy was left at least a little relieved. "Oh, ok! Take all the time you need." It wasn't a yes either so Fluttershy was still worried that it would never be. Regardless, it still went a little better than Fluttershy had planned, she thought.

**********

The next day, Fluttershy was a nervous wreck: She wasn't sure what Rainbow Dash would say at lunch, would she say yes? Would it get awkward between them? Would she stop being her friend? Fluttershy had no idea what was going to happen. The poster to the dance hung right beside her locker so it served as a constant reminder in between classes, she suddenly hated that poster now. Those stupid letters, those badly drawn ponies dancing that dumb dance that probably doesn't even exist in reality, those idiots with their less than clever graffiti. Mustaches? Really? The excess amount of exclamation points. She hated every detail in that stupid poster.

Fluttershy snapped back to her senses and immediately abandoned those thoughts once she realized she was starting to sound like Hoops. That was the last thing she wanted so she just ignored the poster.

Lunch time finally came and she felt her heart skip a beat. It was time: the moment of truth. She walked to their usual spot, not even bothering to open the salad she brought. She was feeling queasy with anticipation and wasn't entirely confident in her ability to keep it down. When she finally arrived, she saw Rainbow Dash wasn't there. Only Derpy and Spitfire. They appeared to be talking about something important. Derpy looked over and saw Fluttershy, then called her name. "Hey, Fluttershy!" It wasn't a greeting, the tone of voice indicated that it was more of a message: Come here. Fluttershy abided to the implied command and quickened her pace. When she finally got there, Derpy asked the one question Fluttershy didn't want to hear: "Do you know where Rainbow Dash is?"

"She's not with you guys?"

"We haven't seen her since yesterday, when you asked her to the dance." Spitfire answered. "Do you like her, Fluttershy?"

"Why would she leave like that?" Derpy asked, obviously saving Fluttershy the trouble of having to dodge the question herself. Spitfire took the hint and dropped the matter.

"I don't know, it's not like her to cut class without talking about it beforehoof, let alone skipping school entirely! Though she's like a scout at times, moving quickly and erratically, you never know what she's gonna do, all you know is you're about to miss it. She's a Force A Nature!"

Could she have left because of... m-me? Fluttershy pondered. I hope not, I would hate to lose the one... friend... I've... had! She couldn't finish the thought without crying, as it was too painful to even think about. She started crying out loud and fell into Derpy's and Spitfire's arms.

"What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Derpy asked, genuinely worried.

"Yeah, why are you crying?" Spitfire questioned.

"Because..." Fluttershy started. She sniffled and continued. "Because it's my fault!" she yelled. "Rainbow Dash hates me now! I asked her to the dance and I embarrassed her and she doesn't like me anymore and she left to get away from me and-"

"Fluttershy." Spitfire interrupted. "I'm sure it's fine, Rainbow Dash doesn't hate you, she loves you! In fact, when you're not around, you're a she talks about. She really cares for you and wouldn't leave like this without a good reason, she's always loyal to her friends. She'll probably be back tomorrow and we can figure out why she was gone. Who knows? Maybe she's just sick or something! She is more prone to feather flu around this time of year and hates needles so she never got a vaccination!" Fluttershy hadn't thought of that, therefore it made her feel a little better. "Come on, we'll go talk to Surprise, she's really good at cheering ponies up." Spitfire wiped a tear from Fluttershy's eye and gave her a welcoming, reassuring hug.

Fluttershy sniffled again and started to calm down. "Ok! Let's go!" And with that, the trio set off in the direction toward Surprise's usual hangout.

Author's Note

well heres the fourth chapter (finally! :/ )) Cerulean Voice (i think thats how you spell it, im using my memory and im not good with names)), dont worry, this isnt the only cameo youre getting, you appear later on, several times in fact, mostly at the dance! and speaking of cameos, i have two references you can find for a dual cameo, possibly show up as a couple at the dance! how cool is that, huh? :P theres an Austin Powers reference and a Team Fortress 2 reference. and please, if you find one, let somepony else find the other?