The Colors We All Share

---The Colors We All Share---

Emotions Have No Boundaries

She had to keep running. She'd been running for so long now, but she knew if she stopped she'd be caught for sure. Sweat coursed down her face, and her body ached from her continued sprint. Her mane kept falling in front of her eyes, and for what felt like the fifth time she whipped her head around, clearing the rainbow colored obstruction from her view. She dared a glance behind her, and saw a flash of pink, even closer than it was a moment ago. She chanced another look, but this time it was gone. She turned to face forward, and the moment she did she was barreled over by an onslaught of pink.

“Tag, you're it!”

“Pinkie Pie! How do you keep doing that?” Rainbow Dash painfully asked, staring at her friend who was happily bouncing up and down, beaming at the fact that she was able to catch her athletic friend.

“No tag backs!” She shouted, laughing while trotting away. Pinkie Pie always did have ways to seemingly teleport, and nopony knew how. Dash wasn't sure if Pinkie was even sure how she did it, or even if Pinkie was aware of the fact, for that matter. As Dash looked over the field they were playing in, she eyed all her prey. So now it was her chance to tag somepony else...but who? They had agreed that the use of wings would be considered cheating, and so she couldn't just pick a target and fly on over, she had to run it, and she was still a little winded...

Pinkie had called no tag backs, so she was out...that left Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy. The lack of one prissy- er, well kept pony made Dash recall back, remembering what Rarity's thoughts on the game were. “Something fun? I could never partake in any such thing, count me out!”

Okay, so maybe Rarity didn't say it exactly that way, but that's how Dash liked to process that memory. And many other involving her. Queen anti-fun. Most of the time, anyhow. Dash supposed Rarity was pretty cool for a high-maintenance pony.

Chuckling to herself, she turned her eyes back towards her targets. Finally having caught her breath, it was time to get serious! She knew she could catch Fluttershy, but Fluttershy knew that anypony could catch her, and had hid at the start, and nopony has seen her since. There wasn't much cover, except for trees, but there were hundreds of trees, she couldn't very well just search them all! They were playing on the Apple family's farm, since it's pretty much the perfect spot. Makes sense there would be trees everywhere on an apple orchard. Discounting Fluttershy, that left Twilight and Applejack. Applejack was closer, but not by much, Twilight was mere feet behind Applejack, obviously trying to bait Rainbow into going after Applejack and not herself. Well it wasn't going to work! Twilight would put up less of a fight, and Dash knew it!

“CHAAAAAARGE!!!” Dash roared her battle cry as she galloped forward, making a run in Twilight's general direction. It looked as if she was going after Applejack though, so Twilight kept relatively still as Applejack started to move. As she approached, she strayed off to the left however, surprising Twilight as she neared. Twilight tried to turn around, but it was too little, too late. Dash picked up her speed, and jumped with all her strength. As she landed on Twilight, they rolled for a few feet until their momentum died out. She had an odd sense of Deja Vu from when Pinkie had done the same not five minutes ago.

BOOOOM!!

Rainbow jutted upright, immediately shaking her head to clear up the confusion of tumbling around, then promptly took off into the sky. She knew that sound, that was the sound of thunder. But there wasn't scheduled to be any lighting today, so how could there be thunder?

“Are y’all okay over there? I heard this mighty powerful noise, kinda sounded like lightnin'!” Applejack soon rounded the nearest tree, coming into Twilight's vision, a concerned look on her face.

“I'm fine. A little confused, but fine. I'm assuming Rainbow Dash is okay too, considering she immediate flew in the direction of that awful noise. I couldn't quite tell what it was though myself, my mind was still a little shaken up from being tackled...also, lightning refers to the flash itself, the 'boom' is called thunder.”

“Well shoot, don't that jus' make all the difference in Equestria?” Applejack replied sarcastically. “Now why would the pegasuses...pegasis...pega...uuuhhhhhh...”

“Pegasi.” Twilight said matter-of-factly, a small smirk appearing on her lips at Applejack's expense.

“Right, those things. Now why would they schedule a blasted storm when we jus' had one last week? It wasn't no soft one, neither! Mah apple trees were near flooded 'fore the storm ended!”

“Perhaps someone made an error in the schedule?” Twilight said, genuinely wondering herself.

At that precise moment, Dash had made her way back into the small clearing where Applejack and Twilight were.

“That noise? It's thunder, and boy is it a lot, but you probably guessed that by now.” Rainbow said. She went to continue, but saw Twilight open her mouth. Knowing Twilight was about to ask why it even existed so close to the last storm she cut her off. Time was of the essence here! “And to answer your question before you ask it Twilight, it's rolling in from the Everfree forest, so it's not something the Pegasi have made. Even worse, this one's been brewing miles into the Everfree, far from where we normally patrol, so we haven't even noticed it...it's gotten huge...”

Most of the town was probably warned of the storm a while ago, but considering these five were a couple miles away from town at the moment, it makes sense they weren't told.

The wind had picked up already by this point, and the three ponies huddled together to speak over the sound of the wind in their ears.

Another flash lit the sky, so bright and noticeable the entire gang shot their heads up, and their faces shifted to a look of fear. In that last flash, they'd seen the silhouette of a pony falling right towards them. And what's more is that the pony was mere feet from the group.

Rainbow steeled herself for an impact while Applejack grabbed Twilight, who was closer to her than Dash,  and ducked off to the side.

As the pony collided with Rainbow, who had stood where she was, they all heard a shout of “Boo!”

Applejack and Twilight looked up to see Pinkie Pie in much of a similar position as when she tackled Rainbow the first time.

“Pinkie Pie, you scared us! ...I mean, you...surprised us when you fell from the sky.”

The others gave her a disbelieving look, but they knew better than to press the situation. Wounding Dash's pride was not a smart idea.

“Actually, come to think of it Pinkie Pie,” Twilight started “How in Equestria DID you fall from the sky?”

“Well that's easy! I couldn't find any of you, and that made me so sad! I mean, what's the point in being with friends if you're not with friends? That would be silly! If you're hanging with friends, and your friends aren't with you, than that's totally sad, too!”

“Pinkie, will you get to the part about you falling like I bucked you outta a tree?” Applejack interjected.

“Oh yeah! So I was totally sad, like I said, so I bounced and bounced and bounced and bounced until eventually I bounced so high I could see you guys, and on my next bounce the wind picked up so strongly it pushed me exactly 128.82 hoofs in your direction!”

“How could you POSSIBLY know that measurement!?” Twilight questioningly shouted.

“Oh, that's easy! You see, this one time-”

Another flash brought all the group huddled together out of instinct. The rain had abruptly started as well, fiercely. There was no pick up, no grace period, so to say. The rain just started at a downpour, and was getting heavier by the second. Thankfully ponies have a thick coat, the rain was so heavy it would almost hurt otherwise.

“Save yer story fer later, Pinkie, we gotta go!” Not wasting any time, Applejack pointed in the direction of her home, and they all started trekking. “Remember that sleepover Twi' kept talking about ladies? Well I hope you were jealous, because y'all are staying at my place until this storm blows over! ...No pun intended.”

Twilight clapped her hooves together happily, giving a quiet “Yay!” to go along with it, and Pinkie managed to do a backflip, even with the wind and rain pushing down.

Rainbow was the first and only one to voice her concerns. “I dunno Applejack. Staying in a barn doesn't seem very...safe. Maybe we should go to Twilight's since she has that magical metal thing that saves her tree from being struck by lightning.”

“Might I mention that there will be apple pie at my place? ...Just thought y'all would wanna know that.” Applejack wasn't about to let slip away the pony she could hold a good conversation with. Pinkie was waaaay to hyper indoors, and Twilight's speech subject matter was just a tad out of Applejack's league. Not that they couldn't speak at Twilight's house, but she always felt a little weird in the library, like she had to act a little more proper than normal.

During Applejack's internal thought process, Rainbow's attention was snatched REAL fast. “Apple pie?” She asked disbelievingly yet longingly. “As in...your family's brand apple pie? The same one that wins the pie contest every year?”

“The very same!” She proudly declared, knowing that there would now be a one hundred and twenty percent chance that Dash would stay over her home.

“Count me in!” Rainbow Dash loudly declared. “I didn't really wanna be cooped up in a place that you couldn't fly in, so it's a double win anyway.”

Ignoring the fact that her friends were pretty much down-talking her home, Twilight's smile grew to almost eerie proportions as she realized exactly what was happening...she was about to have her second ever sleepover! Giddy at the thought, she smiled on, pushing through all hazards.

As the wind grew a bit more ferocious, and the rain a tad bit fiercer, they continued walking towards the Apple family barn.Trotting along at a brisk pace, they saw the house fade from the fog cover, and the spirits of everypony rose as they realized how close they were to enjoying the warmth, comfort, and hospitality that a home offered.

A branch snapped off in the distance, and thunder was resounding fairly close by, while the rain literally poured in from everywhere. The sky was completely encompassed in black and gray swirls, the unforgiving clouds blocking out nearly all sunlight.

As a flash of lighting once again provided precious few seconds of visibility, two or three more progressive hoof prints were impacted upon the muddy trail. A lone pony fighting her way through the cold, through the rain, and most of all, through the fear. It was scary out here. No, it was terrifying, horrendously so, even. This particular storm was tough, tough as they come. So tough in fact, that a pony larger and burlier than Big Macintosh himself would have trouble fighting through this battle! Which begs the question of why a timid, shy, and terrified pony was trudging though it all by her lonesome!

And that's exactly what Fluttershy was begging to know as she continued along her increasingly depressing path. Already her pink mane was matted, her yellow coat muddy, and her blue eyes red with tears. She didn't even know where she was headed, just that she had to move. Staying in one spot was NOT going to find her cover, and no matter which direction she went, she'd come to the Apple family boundary fence eventually, and from there she'd know her way.

Her mind could think not of the storm, though. Not her destination either, nor her well being, and not even the thought of her being lost entered her thoughts...all her mind forced upon her was her friends. She knew they made an honest mistake. She hid from the beginning, was seen for less than a second! Of course they wouldn't remember her, a pony-in-hiding who barely stood out even when shouting...the rain came so suddenly, in their rush they'd surely just forgotten. There's no way they abandoned her intentionally!

“But what if they did?” Fluttershy whimpered out, immediately clapping a hoof over her muzzle in retaliation of herself. She'd been failing to keep those five words out of her head, and now she'd gone and said them out loud. It almost held a tone of finality to her once she said it. Slowly almost believing it was the truth, now that it was out in the open.

There was a flash of lighting and a loud crack, unheard by Fluttershy, as it was masked by the winds.

“No!” She shouted in retort to her body's initial counter to her mind. “My friends wouldn't leave me behind, not on purpose, and not if they could help it!”

A large branch dangles precariously from whence it proudly stood.

“My friends wouldn't leave me behind!” This very mantra was repeated a dozen times in her head, in an attempt to ward off her dark thoughts saying otherwise. It wasn't working very well. “They wouldn't...they wouldn't...”

The winds grew stronger.

Fluttershy took a momentary reprieve underneath one of the bigger trees, sobbing slightly, her faith draining away, and sapping her willpower along with it.

“They wouldn't...they really wouldn't...I love them all so much, and I know they all love me!”

One strong gust of wind. A 'thud' following quickly. The sound of a weeping pony.

“...Don't they?”

“Whew! I'm sure glad to be out of that awful wind!” Pinkie Pie loudly stated, her and her companions stepping into the Apple family's barn. “Not all wind is bad though, sometimes it can be really fun! Like if you get sucked up in a mini tornado like Dashie makes you go round and round and round and round until you're soooo dizzy, and then you eventually fall out in a heap of laughter and happiness!”

Nopony else had the energy to quiet Pinkie Pie, or to even change the subject to something she would be less hyper about. They each dragged a loosely tied hay bale in a semi-circle near the center to lie upon, and were ever so grateful to be able to sit down after their quite straining, and I might I add infuriating, trek through that monster. Rainbow Dash was the first to relax, jumping upon a hay bale almost desperately, her body grateful to her within seconds. When she really started to think about it, she were sure glad that Applejack's farm was where they were at the time, it was the only place big enough to hold the five of them in one room comfortably. In hindsight, it was probably best that Rarity didn't come, she would have never been able to stay, shouting that she needed a mirror, some mousse, a brush and comb, shampoo, a shower, some diamonds, and Celestia knows what else to make up for what would most certainly be a less-than-stellar appearance.

Yup, Rainbow was definitely glad it was only the five of them. Only the five of them...only the five of them...

'Well that's weird.' She mused to herself. She couldn't stop thinking about those words. In fact, she repeated them so often, they almost seemed false! But that couldn't be right. The barn currently held herself, that made one, Applejack, that makes two, Twilight, makes three, Pinkie Pie four, and the fifth was Flutt-

The other ponies were finally all relaxing, even Pinkie Pie, who was lying on her back, her head hanging upside-down from a hay bale...when suddenly everypony was strewn across the floor faster than they could even realize. Literally, they were pushed across the room a small ways by a sudden and quite furious wind.

“WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!”

That was the cry that was loud enough it seemed it could reach Las Pegasus.

Everypony was still recuperating when they heard Rainbow shout “We gotta save her!”

“Save who? Whassa matter?” A rather dreary Applejack replied.

As they saw Rainbow Dash head for the entrance, they hear a quick “Fluttershy's still out there!” Followed by a massive blast of the barn door being forced open, against the wind and rain.

Rainbow took to the sky, the wind doing its best to be an almighty force plowing her back towards the ground, but still she pushed on. Even in a storm, she'd be faster in the air, it was what she worked for the most after all.

Immediately though, she concluded on what a tough time she was sure to have. Rainbow could scarcely see fifty feet in front of her, how was she expected to find Fluttershy in this mess?!

She heard a faint banging noise coming from the direction she just left from, the barn door repeatedly smashing against the very wall that kept it in place. She looked at it long enough to notice that everypony else was rushing out as well, no doubt to come to the aid of Fluttershy, but they were too slow to wait up for. By the time Rainbow had even registered that they'd been leaving the barn to find Fluttershy, she'd already fought the wind for another forty or so feet forward.

Rainbow was closing in on the area they were originally playing in, so she swooped low, just above the tree line, thankful that the elements seemed to feel a tad less terrible down here. Or maybe it was just the adrenaline, as copious amount of it were invading her blood stream.

One minute of frantic searching passed, no Fluttershy.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

Ten minutes, and still no sign of her. No sign of her friends, either. She sincerely hoped they weren't hurt as well, but she had a feeling they could handle themselves just fine, whereas Fluttershy...well, she couldn't.

Pressing on forward, her lingering thoughts of her other friends who were also risking their lives had almost worried her enough to go back, but she finally settled on the thought that they were in a group, and would therefore be alright. If anything, Twilight could teleport them back to where they need to be.

Rainbow on the other hoof...decided not to think about herself. That thought process was sure to lead somewhere she didn't want to go. She knew she could handle herself, but still...

Minutes later, and the frantic mare was already exhausted. In her panic, thoughts of conserving her energy were long foregone, and she'd spent it all in the little time she'd been searching. Against her will, she started lowering to the ground in quite a speedy descent.

She'd hadn't even realized she'd been loosing altitude until she hit the ground. It wasn't a hard impact, but it certainly shook her more than she cared to believe it did.

Normally she could fly MUCH longer than this, but in her adrenaline-filled haste she'd already torn multiple wing muscles without even realizing.

Rainbow was frightened. Terrified, even. Fluttershy was still out here, and the longer she waited, the more likely Fluttershy, her friends, and herself were to be injured!

She tried to fly back above the tree tops, but her wings simply wouldn't carry her. She ran blindly forward, not even caring where she was going. As long as she kept making progress, that was okay with her...but she wasn't making any progress, not as far as she could tell.

Everywhere she went looked exactly the same, her vision swimming together into one big mess, both from the rain and the exhaustion. Not just her vision, but every sense seemed to bleed into the next. She was being assaulted by all her senses on so many fronts, she couldn't rightly tell them apart!

Rainbow ducked down under the cover of a tree. Or rather, she ducked underneath what she called cover, as it provided pitiful protection.

She was making this out to be way more challenging than it needed to be. Her worry hyping her up so much was causing half the trouble she was having, so she took this chance to cool off a little bit. Half of her fear came from not being able to fly, but she just had to ignore that. A Pegasus being grounded...it's about the same as a unicorn without their magic!

After a moment to calm down an catch her breath, she felt sufficiently calm, and gracefully left from her position. She felt almost relaxed, and more sure of where she was going. Instead of running around blindly, she thought of a plan. Her wings still ached, but she had enough energy to follow through with her idea.

Facing the bottom of a tall but thin tree, she hugged it with all four of her limbs, beating her wings mildly to keep her from falling off. Flapping with more force, she used her front legs to grip the tree and her rear hooves to dig into the bark with enough force to start pushing her upwards.

Up she rose, at quite a quick speed, too. It wasn't long before she had reached the top. Again using her wings to her advantage, she precariously perched herself at the top of the tree, and took a look around. Even in a storm, Fluttershy still has a pink mane, it shouldn't be terribly hard to spot.

Beginning her search, Dash was vaguely reminded of stories about how ponies in this situation would look for  a while before quickly being overwhelmed with a hopeless feeling.

Those ponies were liars.

Rainbow would have been lucky to have that feeling...for the moment she started her search she already thought it was hopeless. Still, she had to find Fluttershy...

...She just had to...

Many trees later, and her search had finally came to fruition. Not fifteen yards away, she saw a mass of pink. Or was it red? No matter, she'd found Fluttershy and was closing in fast. She resigned herself to believe that her inability to see color was probably just the extended strain of her situation affecting her vision...

Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were surprisingly much better off than Rainbow was. Even through the war raging around them, there wasn't much holding them from pressing forward.

The magic produced by a unicorn horn turns out to be fairly useful in this particular situation, the lavender tinted bubble surrounding the three was quite the life saver.

Literally.

Although, even without the magic, the trio would probably be okay. Unlike Rainbow, they were taking their time, systematically checking their respective sections. Them keeping a level head and not rushing in head-on didn't hurt either.

Keeping a record of where they were going, they didn't pass over the same area twice, much like Dash had accidentally done. Several times.

Their trip was quite uneventful...or rather, it was as uneventful as a trip through a torrent of wind and rain could be.

Following no trail in particular other than making wide sweeps back and fourth, they finally caught up to Rainbow Dash. They saw her several yards away, huddled over something.

“Hey guys!” Twilight shouted to her companions “Rainbow Dash is right ahead!”

“Ah see her, Twi, and boy nelly am I glad!” Was the response of Applejack.

Pinkie had said nothing, but there seemed to be an extra spring in her step as they headed towards their feathered friend.

As they approached the still-crouching figure though, Pinkie's face settled on a worried tone.

“Why isn't Dashie moving?”

Any further comments were held off, as they made their final approach. The footfall of one of the ponies had snapped a small branch, alerting one Rainbow Dash, her sensitive hearing picking up the noise.

But Rainbow didn't know it was her friends, and one centisecond later she was already facing the girls, her wings flared, teeth bared, stance low, one hoof poised and a subtle growl emanating from her diaphragm.

It took until she realized the “threats” were backing away to realize exactly what, or who in this case, she was attempting to scare off.

Realization coming to her, she recalled just what kind of predicament her friend was currently in.

“Twilight! Magic! Now!”

“Uhhh...excuse me?”

“Fluttershy...she needs your magic, quick!”

It was at about this time that Twilight heard Pinkie gasp. Looking over her shoulder, she saw pinkie hovering her hoof over her mouth, standing next to a stunned Applejack as well.

Twilight's next question was never asked, as the moment Rainbow saw her open her mouth, she decided that Twilight would take too long, and therefore had grabbed her hoof and pulled her a few feet to where Fluttershy lay.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack quickly got over their shock and joined the duo, the four of them hovering over a pony whose colors were a mix of pink and yellow. And red.

“Twilight...y-you gotta fix her! Her head, she...she...”

Rainbow couldn't talk any longer, she was too choked up. She wasn't crying per say, but she was so worried for her friend the depression was overwhelming.

“Twi, we ain't doin' her any good bein' in this here storm!”

“I got it AJ!” Was Twilight's quick response, her horn already flaring up.

Her spell took longer than normal, however. Five ponies was the most Twilight had ever teleported before, and it was no easy feat.

The impatient looks she was receiving from all of her friends hadn't helped her nervousness one bit, but she knew the life of her dear friend was in her very capable hooves.

Finally her horn had worked up the energy required for such a spell to operate, and it cast them all back to AJ's barn house.

...At least, she thought it did. It had actually placed them something like one hundred feet from the barn, but regardless they were much closer than they were previously.

Rainbow however, couldn't wait as she saw Twilight's horn flare up a second time. She scooped up Fluttershy in her arms, then placed her on her back before blazing a chromatic trail as she brought her into the barn. Stealing a glace down, Fluttershy looked pale. Not only that, there was a not-so-thin stream of blood running from above her right eye down past her chest, and it was leaking at an alarming rate.

Once in the barn, she laid the broken mare onto a haystack, trying to get her as comfortable as possible. She propped Fluttershy on her side so the blood wouldn't drip down into her mouth and choke her, and afterward she held high her head with a separate bale of hay, hoping gravity would keep blood flow to the head a little less, this way less would come out.

She hadn't the slightest clue of whether or not what she was doing was, er...medically correct...but it sure looked like the right thing to do, she hoped.

It was at this time that the others had appeared in the room in a brilliant light. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were still recovering from the trip, but Twilight, being used to her own spell, was quick on the uptake.

She moved over to where Fluttershy was and immediately started wrapping her in a gentle enveloping light without disturbing her. Fluttershy's blood stopped flowing freely from her skull soon after, but not much else happened.

Rainbow idly thought about how at times it was certainly handy to have a unicorn around. Unicorns were kind of like universal cheat codes, really. She almost thought that magic was a little too convenient...

Any other lingering thoughts she may have had were swept away as Twilight started to address the group.

“She doesn't have any serious injuries. Her skull is intact, save for a tiny fracture, and it wasn't a particularly deep wound, nor was it very damaging. I've done repairs as best I can and I've stopped the blood flow, now we just need to make sure she stays comfortable until she regains consciousness.”

“She looks so pale though...” Pinkie stated sadly to the group. “She almost looks like she'll never party again...”

Twilight was quick to dismiss their fears, stating that the only reason for worry was blood loss, which also attributed to her currently pale color. Since the blood loss had stopped though, they only need to make sure of her comfort for everything to work out nicely.

Twilight, being sufficiently happy with her handiwork, went about doing what she could to make Fluttershy as comfortable as she possible could.

Applejack took it upon herself to try and console Rainbow, who seemed to be the most distraught, but before she could reach her she saw Rainbow shuffle over to where Fluttershy was, a bale of hay being carried behind her.

Placing the hay bale close to where her dear friend lay, she grasped one of Fluttershy's hooves in hers and sat there.

Rationally she knew that it wasn't really her fault, but she still felt responsible. This game of tag was her idea, and she couldn't help but feel this way.

Minutes later Applejack broke the silence.

“I'm headin' out for a spell, gonna grab some blankets might quick. This here barn is more'n large enough for us all, but it'll be pretty chilly with no covers...”

A few moments later they heard the barn door forcefully close from the wind, but nothing else broke the silence.

Hours later and everypony was fast asleep. Everypony except Rainbow Dash, who lie a short ways away from Fluttershy, just thinking about today's events. She was exhausted, but she was so exhausted that she could scarcely sleep. Funny just how weird that was.

Rainbow Dash had been thinking a lot since this whole incident started, namely the relationship between her and her friends. Rainbow had always cared for her friends, but the events of today made her realize that her feelings were changing. Not just from today, they'd been changing for a while, but it took her until today to really comprehend it.

Searching for Fluttershy, she found just how much she really cared. Like she had some sort of special part of her that cared for her friends on another level...but it wasn't only Fluttershy, it was the rest of her friends as well. They were all in a relative amount of danger, and her heart went out to each them when she was searching for her Pegasus friend as well.

She didn't quite know exactly what that feeling was, and so here she lie, still thinking about her predicament. All she knew was that the more she thought about it, the warmer she felt. Weird again. She continued her thoughts until something roused her from her position.

As everypony lie underneath their comforter, Fluttershy stirred in her sleep. She slowly rose from her position, Rainbow Dash tentatively getting out from under her blanket.

Fluttershy sat up, putting a hoof to her head in the process, immediately feeling a nice size lump. Wincing slightly, she heard a movement to her left and looked over to where Dash now stood.

“Rainbow? Is that you?”

Rainbow was ecstatic that Fluttershy was okay, and the fact that she was able to talk and see fine was even better, but she couldn't get excited, not now when everypony else was sleeping, anyway.

“Sssshhhh, you had a hard day Flutters. Just lie down.”

'She looks so at ease, even right now.' The thought had seemingly invaded Rainbow's head, she was sure she wasn't thinking anything of the sort just earlier.

“Okay...” Fluttershy had managed to speak, but it was little more than a whimper.

'She seems so weak...I wish there was more I could do to comfort her...'

“Tell me Fluttershy, how are you feeling now? To sum up, I found a large branch near you, and you were bleeding pretty badly from just above your eye. i found you almost a half hour after the storm started, and Twilight used her magic to bring us back here, then she sealed up the wound.”

'And that's all my fault...why did I have to decide on such a stupid game!?'

“Oh Rainbow...you all went through so much trouble...” Fluttershy felt horrible for putting all of her friends through such an ordeal, but Rainbow sure didn't see it that way.

“What in the hay are you talking about!?” Dash said quietly, but forcefully. “It was my idea to play that stupid game in the first place, and...and it was all of our responsibilities to make sure everyone was safe...we should have looked for you...”

'I feel so terrible...I wish I could just snuggle up under the blankets with her, I think that'd make both of us feel better...'

'…'

'…'

'...Woah, where did that thought come from?'

Even now, Fluttershy wore a small smile. “Rainbow, it's really noponies fault. It could have happened to anypony, really. I'm just glad you found me when you did.”

Rainbow felt truly appreciative at this words. It lightened her heart to know that Fluttershy honestly held nothing against her...and it stirred something else inside her as well.

'Yeah...yeah, I think that what I was thinking about before makes sense now.'

In a rush of emotion, Rainbow just had to ask a question she'd been fighting with herself over.

“Hey Fluttershy?”

“Hmm?” Was the soft response.

Rainbow had to choose her wording carefully, she had no idea just how exactly to ask, but it had to be carefully.

“I-is it wrong....to, er...what I mean to say is, um...well, I was just wondering-”

“Rainbow.” Fluttershy said softly. “Relax, take a deep breath, think about what you're saying, and don't stop talking once you start.”

'Yeah, there's no doubt about my feelings now. They're always there for me like like this.'

Rainbow did exactly that. She relaxed herself, breathing deeply and closing her eyes.

'Okay, okay...' Dash thought out exactly what she needed to say. 'This...this isn't as big a deal as I'm making it. Okay, here I go.'

“Flutters...I've been through a lot today, and it made me do a lot of thinking. I normally don't think a lot, I just do things, but this is different. I realized today that, well, I really care for you. For everypony. All of my friends, I mean. In a different way though, I-UGH! Why can't I- No, calm down, I got this.”

Fluttershy was a little surprised at the outburst, but was composed enough to calm her friend anyhow, but as she went to say comforting words, Rainbow raised her hoof to stop her.

“No, I'm fine Fluttershy. It's cool. Look, here's the deal. Have you ever liked a mare? Like, have you ever like liked a mare?”

Fluttershy cutely gasped a bit in surprise at the question, but luckily Rainbow Dash picked back up her sentence, so Fluttershy didn't have to speak. Which was good, for Fluttershy had no words yet.

“Listen, 'cause this is how it is: I like you. Romantically.”

Rainbow's long time friend had recoiled slightly in surprise, but not in negative way, she just didn't really know how she should react. Rainbow on the other hoof didn't take notice, as she was focusing entirely on saying what she needed to say.

“It's not just you, though. I like all of you. I like Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and even Rarity! ...Well, maybe not Rarity. At least, not romantically anyhow. Or maybe? Doesn't matter! My problem is that I just don't know who to choose! I lik- no, I love all of you so much!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Well...say something Fluttershy!” The Pegasus who was now more red than any other color in her multi-colored mane pleaded for anything to break the silence, and after a few more moments, Fluttershy obliged.

“Rainbow, where...where did this come from?”

Rainbow opened her mouth to tell her exactly why she decided to say all this.

…

…

…

Aaaaaaaaany minute now.

…

Huh, that's weird. Rainbow really didn't have anything. It just kind of happened.

“Ya know” Rainbow voiced, “I don't really know. I started thinking, and then when I started talking...those are the words that came out....heh...eheh, heh.”

Fluttershy was done being stunned, as her response came quite quickly.

“So you say you like, or maybe even love all of us?” A nod was given from Dash. “Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie definitely?” Another nod, only this time it was accompanied by a red streak across Rainbow's nose. A red streak that didn't go unnoticed by Fluttershy, but she pretended to ignore it.

“And you love even...even m-me?” Fluttershy didn't really know why she was scared when she asked this question. Maybe she wasn't...maybe she was scared of the answer?

“Yes.” Was the blunt reply from the headstrong Pegasus mare.

Fluttershy gave a small 'eep' as she covered her face with her hooves.

“Well...wh-who d-do you like the m-most?”

Rainbow shook her head. “I don't know. I just don't know.”

She continued her speech coming to an epiphany of sorts. “I think I'm gonna take my time, hang out with you all. Find out if...if I wanna...I mean, I need to- argh! Damn it all!”

Timid little Fluttershy was a little shocked at the sudden anger, but she knew her friend was very frustrated right now

“Find out what, Rainbow?”

“Find out if...” Rainbow got quieter. “If I wanna...maybe...” Quieter still. “Spend the rest of my life...with any of you.”

“Oh, Rainbow! I'm so happy for you!” Fluttershy really was excited. Her best friend had finally had an emotional breakthrough! She was scared that The Wonderbolts took so much of her time that she would never even think about romance.

“Fluttershy, please don't tell anypony about this...I really wanna figure this out for myself.”

“Your secret is safe with me, Rainbow. Maybe we should get some sleep though, my head starting to hurt...” Fluttershy didn't want to simply stop the conversation...but she didn't feel like she could stay awake much longer. She pulled up the covers and closed her eyes.

“Good idea. Maybe if I sleep on it I can get my head on straight.”

And so, after pulling up some blankets of her own, Rainbow Dash went to bed, and had a fitless, dreamless night.

Hopefully the morning would make more sense to her.

A/N: Well! That's the end to chapter one of “The Colors We All Share”. I hope the irony of the title isn't lost on you.

I really don't have much else to say except I'd REALLY appreciate it if you gave me a review. Or even just tell me if you think this is good or not. Also, thank you for reading!! :D

And while you're here, please remember the three C's! Critique, Comment, and C-....C-......Rate. If you like this style of writing, then check out my other work!