Rainbow Dash set down her quill, and looked over the page before her, giving a small smirk. She picked up the paper and began to quietly read it.
"My dearest Fluttershy..."
Her smirk shifted to a grimace. "Too freakin' cheesy!" She crumpled up the page and threw it onto an ever-growing pile of abandoned notes. She put another piece of paper on her desk; however, before she even set her quill to it, she groaned and crumpled it up as well.
She looked out her window. It was just as bright out as it was when she had started writing; the same dusky twilight of day turning to night...
"Wait a minute..." Rainbow muttered to herself. She flew a short ways out her window and looked out at the sky.
The sun was opposite where it had been when she started.
"It... it's morning?!"
She looked back in her window at the mountain of paper balls that had accumulated in her room, and sighed. "I need help..."
She quickly flew back inside, put on her saddlebag, and began on her normal morning route. Despite the fact that today seemed to be clear as scheduled, she had to make her rounds and knock out any lingering clouds from the previous day's rain.
Right as she passed by town square, something caught her eye. Fluttershy was in town, presumably doing some shopping. Nearby her were some pastel-blue flowers that had never particularly caught Rainbow's attention before, but...
"Flutter would probably look really nice with one of those in her mane..." She felt her cheeks begin to tint red as she unknowingly flew headfirst into a cloud.
Rainbow took a moment to regain her composure. "Jeez, when did I become so lame..." Over the last couple of weeks, Rainbow had been having trouble even looking at Fluttershy without blushing, let alone functioning normally. She took a quick glance at the skies around her. There didn't seem to be any clouds besides the one she just busted with her face, so...
"Off to Twilight's, I guess." She kicked up her speed and made it to the library within only a few seconds. She landed, cleared her throat, and knocked on the door.
A few moments passed, and the door opened. It was Spike.
"Oh, hi, Rainbow! What's up?"
"Uh... hi, Spike. Can I talk to Twilight?"
Spike didn't seem to notice the nervousness in Rainbow's voice, much to her relief. "Of course! Come in, she's just organizing some books."
Rainbow Dash stepped inside to see books floating around the main room, with Twilight at the center, her eyes close, clearly in control of the operation. "Hello, Rainbow! What do you need?"
Suddenly, some of the books flew onto a single shelf. Rainbow sighed. "Well, um... you see... I need a little help."
"With what?" Another set of books flew onto a different shelf.
"I need to write... a thing."
"Well, Rainbow, you'll need to be a bit more specific than that. There's all different kinds of writing!"
"I'm writing... a... love letter."
Twilight's eyes shot open and the remaining books tumbled to the floor. "A what?!"
Rainbow looked away, her cheeks tinting red once again. "You heard me. Can you help me or not?"
"Oh, can I!" Twilight gave a little excited giggle, and pulled a book from one of the organized shelves. "Here!"
"Of course it's a book..." Rainbow muttered. The book floated in front of her. "The Ins and Outs of Confessing to Your Love: Love Letters, First Dates, and More... Th...thanks, Twilight." Rainbow Dash quickly put the book in her bag.
"Who are you confessing to~?" Twilight said mischievously.
"N...none of your business!" Rainbow's cheeks turned beet red as she bolted out the door.
Once she was about twenty feet away from the library, she pulled out the book and began to read it as she walked. However, she quickly began to realize that the book was rife with the kind of cheesiness she was trying to avoid.
WHAM!
Rainbow tumbled to the ground, her inattentiveness again causing her to smash face-first into something.
"I'm so sorry, Rainbow! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, i'm okay..." Rainbow groaned, looking up. She immediately blushed; she had ran into Fluttershy.
"Whatcha reading?"
"Nothingsorrytalktoyoulaterbye!" Rainbow immediately bolted. As if things weren't embarrassing enough just having that book... she had to run into Fluttershy, too?
She put the book back in her bag as soon as she was out of sight. She needed somepony with actual social experience.
Naturally, she made her way to Carousel Boutique. Rarity was sitting on a chair outside, clearly trying to gather inspiration from the world around her. At least, that's what Rainbow assumed she'd say.
"Hey, Rarity!"
She looked over at Rainbow. "Why, hello, Rainbow, my dear! How can I help you!"
Rainbow took a deep breath. "I... need to confess my love to somepony and I want to write a love letter."
Rarity gasped. "You?! Well then, we need to get you ready! You need to look your best when you give this letter, and..."
Rainbow immediately turned around and began to walk away, tuning out everything Rarity was saying. Of course she would bring fashion into it. Of course she would make it overly romantic. It was Rarity. She'd have a better chance getting a straight answer out of Pinkie Pie on this one.
She knew who she could definitely get a straight answer out of, though...
"I haven't the slightest, Dash."
Rainbow gave a sigh.
"I dunno what ya was expectin'! When have I ever been in a romantic situation with anyone?"
"Good point..." Rainbow began to walk away from the farm. She was running out of options...
After a few minutes of walking, she passed in front of Sugarcube Corner. "Should I even...?" She looked up at the store, then glanced around the town square. "I guess it's worth a shot..."
"Didja call, Dashie?"
"AH!" Rainbow jumped and looked to her side. Pinkie had suddenly popped up next to her. "Pinkie!"
"That's my name! Whatcha need?"
Rainbow took a deep breath. "Can I ask you to keep this a secret?"
Pinkie smiled. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
Rainbow sighed. "I'm trying to confess my love to somepony by writing them a love letter..."
"Don't worry about the letter! Writing is soooo not your thing. Try to show off a bit, do what you do best! Make a heart out of clouds or something!"
Rainbow looked up at Pinkie, shocked. "That's... really good advice. Thank you!"
"No problem! Just doing what I do best!" She then hopped off without another word.
Rainbow, after taking a moment to compose herself, jumped into flight and began to make her way back home. At first, Pinkie's advice seemed great, but as she got closer to home.
"No... it just isn't right..."
She didn't want to show of to Fluttershy. That would be letting her pride get in the way of what she was trying to say. Nobody seemed to get it... the love letter wasn't supposed to be about Rainbow herself...
Rainbow's eyes brightened. "Th...that's it!"
Rainbow knocked on the door of the small cottage. A few moments later, Fluttershy opened the door. "Ah! Hello, Rainbow! I'm sorry about bumping into you earlier..."
"It's okay!" Rainbow felt her cheeks quickly growing warm. "H...here, take this!" She quickly shoved a piece of paper in front of Fluttershy.
"H...huh?"
Rainbow watched Fluttershy's eyes as they scanned the paper, reciting the letter in her head as Flutter read it.
Fluttershy,
We've know each other for so long now. We've been friends since we were little, and recently, I began to notice something different. Something felt different.
But I didn't know how to say it. I couldn't just say it to your face, I was too freakin' proud to do that. So I decided to write you a letter. But of course, you know me. I'm bad at writing. You've known that since way back when we were in school.
So I tried to ask for help. No-one seemed to get it though.
This letter isn't about me, it's about you.
I could have gone a made a Sonic Rainboom, or crafted a heart out of clouds, but that would just be stroking my own ego. I needed to show you not how awesome I am, but how awesome you are. How beautiful you are to me.
When Fluttershy reached those words, Rainbow Dash carefully put something in her mane.
You balance me out. You help keep me calm. You've shown me the joy of slowing down and taking everything in. And I can't thank you enough for that.
But what I can do is say...
"I love you." Rainbow finished the words of the letter, and quickly looked away, holding up a pocket mirror in front of Fluttershy. In it, Fluttershy would see the beautiful pastel-blue flower Rainbow had picked for her and delicately placed in her mane.
A moment later, Rainbow felt something soft brush against her cheek.
"I love you too."
Author's Note
A little short story idea I came up with during work. I hope you guys like it.
