Butterflush

0-0-0-0-0

Tick tick ticka tick, tick tick ticka tick.

Oh, how Fluttershy had grown to love the sound of that typewriter.

The familiar clack and click of the keyboard as she carried on almost in metronome, her hooves playing the keyboard like a musical instrument as she crafted her masterpiece. It was a comforting thing, one that Fluttershy had taken to appreciating even after her problem with the heat was solved; and it was because of this typewriter that Fluttershy cursed her name that day, because perhaps if nopony had heard it, she might have gone unnoticed.

Although she doubted it.

It was only a matter of time, of course.

Fluttershy lowered Twilight to her back, cupping her spine with one hoof. She was much stronger than she looked, and the unicorn couldn’t help but gasp a little as Fluttershy’s lips excitedly met her own. Twilight boldly kissed her back, her own tongue extending and searching pleadingly into Fluttershy’s –

“Hullo?” the banging on her cottage door rattled throughout Fluttershy’s home, the racket filling the morning air. “He~ll~o? I know somepony’s in there, I can hear you!”

Fluttershy promptly responded by nearly jumping out of her skin, bruising her shin on her writing desk. She hissed sharply, rubbing the aching tendons and hobbling toward the door with a hint of despair creeping into her chest. She knew who it was, of course.

She always recognized the sound of that voice.

“Hiya, Miss Fluttershy!” Scootaloo grinned breathily as Fluttershy tiredly pried open the front door. “How are you today?”

“I’m –”

“Great!” Scootaloo pranced back and forth excitedly. “Is it finished? Is it, is it? Huh, huh, huh?”

Fluttershy chewed her lip awkwardly, and ruffled her wings.

Ever since the filly had discovered Multicolored Madness, in which a fictional Rainbow Dash embarked on a perilous and romantic journey with Discord, Scootaloo had been the number one fan of ‘Butterflush’. Poor Fluttershy didn’t even know how the pegasus had even managed to figure it out, considering that nopony else had; and Scootaloo wasn’t divulging information. It only made Fluttershy even more uncomfortable knowing that Scootaloo had somehow managed to find what was quite possibly her most… explicit story involving her friend first.

Instead, Scootaloo threatened to accidentally let it slip who ‘Butterflush’ really was if she didn’t write more books about ‘the most awesome flier in Equestria’.

In short, it was a drain on her psyche that Fluttershy could easily do without.

“No, Scootaloo,” Fluttershy shook her head a little guiltily, knowing that she hadn’t even touched Ramming Rainbows in over a week. “It’s still not finished.”

“Still?” the pegasus gave her a downcast look, the disappointment evident in her voice. “Aww. How much longer do you think it’ll take?”

“I’m going as fast as I can,” Fluttershy said sheepishly, slowly trying to close the door. “But it really is hard work… and I simply can’t do any writing at all with somepony over my shoulder, I’m afraid.”

“You’re right!” Scootaloo beamed, nodding immediately. “You should take a break!”

Fluttershy actually paused, not expecting the suggestion.

“I… suppose I could use a little break right about now,” Fluttershy admitted, stretching her wings and giving them a couple of aching pops.

“Awesome!” Scootaloo grinned. “So, can I come in?”

“What?”

“For your break,” the filly said excitedly. “You don’t have to do any writing, not even a little! Also, I would just love to talk to you about the next book…”

Fluttershy struggled to hold back a heavy groan.

“There’s just no getting r- I mean, dissuading you, is there?” she asked with a frown.

“Nope!” Scootaloo slipped past her with a cheer, speeding into her cottage. “Whee, break time! This is going to be great!”

Fluttershy sincerely regretted ever writing anything in the first place.

She supposed that she should be grateful; after all, Scootaloo had so kindly purchased all of her books.

At least twice.

That didn’t make the filly any less obnoxious, though. It seemed like she was on her doorstep every single day, eagerly pounding a hole in her door. If only Fluttershy could have mustered the courage to simply turn her away, she might have been able to write in peace.

She even tried to, once.

At which point, Scootaloo promptly reminded her that she happened to let things slip ‘accidentally’ pretty often, and she was less likely to blurt secrets if she was inside Fluttershy’s cottage during the summer.

And thus, Fluttershy obtained somepony to bounce ideas off of, no matter how reluctantly.

“So, then,” Scootaloo slurped noisily at her cup of ginger tea, obviously much more excited than the pegasus sitting across from her was. “Then, Rainbow Dash meets Daring Do, right?”

“Daring Do is a fictional character that belongs to A.K. Yearling,” Fluttershy explained quietly.

“Fine, fine,” the filly rolled her eyes. “So, Rainbow Dash is by herself in the Ponyzonian rainforests, right? All of a sudden-” Scootaloo clapped her hooves together loudly “- BAM! The whole place is on fire!”

“I really don’t see what that has to do with… um, anything, really,” Fluttershy admitted. “At all.”

“That’s the genius of it!” Scootaloo carried on eagerly. “Then, Rainbow Dash humps the fire into submission!”

Fluttershy was silent for a long beat, staring at the expectant Scootaloo.

She sighed inwardly, and shook her head.

“Knowing you, I probably should have seen that one coming,” Fluttershy resisted the urge to sag her shoulders. “That’s awfully, um… unfeasible.”

“I don’t know what that word means,” Scootaloo said flippantly. “But it would make for a great story!”

“I can’t –”

“Wait to write it?” Scootaloo perked up.

“I’m actually right in the-the middle of something… else, at the moment…” Fluttershy started slowly.

“Oh. Okay,” the filly hanged her head in disappointment, immediately looking up again.

“Ooh!” she grinned. “What if Rainbow Dash –”

“Surprise, surprise!”

Fluttershy leapt at the table, shrieking as she simultaneously dropped her tea and slammed her other poor shin.

Rainbow Dash, peering in shamefacedly through the window, gave a guilty little grin.

“Uh… sorry, Flutters,” Dash snickered. “You okay there?”

“Fine,” Fluttershy whimpered, rubbing her sore spot.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo spluttered, both thrilled and surprised.

“The one and only,” she smirked, flapping her wings a little more strongly and leaning against the windowsill in midair. “I kind of figured that somepony somewhere was talking about me.”

“Really?” Scootaloo balked, mystified.

“Nah, not really,” Dash chortled. “I was just coming to see if Flutters was going to actually come outside for once and chill with me at the lake. Hang on,” Rainbow Dash did a slow double take. “Squirt, it’s summer. What are you doing, stuffed up inside?”

She opened her mouth to reply in earnest, only to be cut off by Fluttershy.

“Oh, well,” Fluttershy blurted. “We were just talking about you, actually…”

“Well, I already knew that,” Dash rolled her eyes, grinning a little more widely. “You comin’, or what?”

Torn, Fluttershy resisted the urge to rub her eyes from sheer irritation.

“S-sure, Rainbow Dash. Just, um… just give me a minute.”

0-0-0-0-0

Rainbow Dash floated haphazardly on the cloud, letting one hoof hang off lazily as they drifted above Ponyville Lake. The crystal water shone brightly with the sun’s reflection beneath them, rippling calmly in the warm breeze.

Fluttershy silently watched a couple of clouds being pushed into position not too far away, the weekend’s rainstorm being prepared. She lost herself in thought as she watched pegasi work, staring after them as they moved puffy white chunk after puffy white chunk.

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash murmured eventually, scratching the back of her head. “I guess I’ve put it off long enough.”

“Hmm?” Fluttershy hummed, turning toward the reclining pegasus next to her. To be honest, she had been a little distracted. “Put what off?”

“I thought about talkin' to AJ about it, but she's kinda busy. I’ve got to know…” Rainbow Dash steepled her hooves together pensively, furrowing her brows. “… Do you really think I’d be the kind of mare to spread ‘em for Discord?”

Fluttershy’s heart jumped into her chest, and she suddenly found herself coated in a cold sweat as she tried to keep from falling off of the cloud. Hoping that the burning in her face was only her imagination, she tried to speak to defend herself. How in the world had Rainbow Dash found out…?

Unless Scootaloo had broken her promise, and she had been continuously blackmailing Fluttershy just to get away with it. Both humiliated and a little angry, Fluttershy strained to form sentences properly at all.

In what might have been an enormous stroke of luck, Fluttershy only managed to sputter incoherently.

“I know!” Rainbow Dash sat up, crossing her hooves across her chest. “I mean, can you imagine? Pffft. Me and Discord. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Finally finding her voice, Fluttershy croakily cleared her throat and asked “O-oh, you-you mean, um… those books…?”

“By this Butterflush bastard!” Rainbow Dash mimed choking the air in front of her, and Fluttershy cringed. “There is no way I can spread like that, it’s totally unrealistic! Show him," she mumbled angrily, grinding one hoof violently into the other. "Show him who can spread what way."

Fluttershy was nearly visibly shaking, so great was her relief. For a split second, she had seriously considered throwing herself through the air just to escape Rainbow Dash finding out about her extracurricular activities. Of course, the feeling of relief was swiftly replaced by an odd, pained sensation as Dash explained her rage.

“Um… I-I thought that you, uh… liked B-Butterflush’s books,” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together with a strange queasy feeling rising in her stomach.

“Well, yeah,” Dash grumbled, using her hooves to emphasize her frustration. “I mean, I used to. I thought that they were really, really good. And then he writes that crap, and now it’s all ruined for me! I don’t even like Discord! Discord!”

Fluttershy paused a full beat, thinking.

“So, you… you asked me to come out to… to talk about Discord?” she asked curiously, desperate to change the subject.

“Well… kind of,” Dash finally sighed heavily, ruffling her wings. “It’s just that I’ve been doing some reading, and doing a whole lot of thinking lately.”

“Oh, do go on,” Fluttershy said with complete interest, thankful that ‘Butterflush’ would soon be forgotten.

“I think I might have the hots for Butterflush.”

Then Fluttershy fell off the cloud.

0-0-0-0-0