Accidentally on Purpose

“That’s a spoon-billed sandpiper!” A butter yellow hoof pointed to a small white bird standing in the middle of the stream, where it was grooming itself.

“Oh, and that’s a Luzon bleeding heart!” gushed the Pegasus, smiling widely as a small dove flew over her pink mane.

“And those are Passer Domesticus!” squealed Fluttershy, noticing a group of brown and white feathered birds chirping around her.

Raindow Dash was not amused, “Those are sparrows.” she said pointedly.

Fluttershy nodded, “Yes, Passer Domesticus, commonly known as the house sparrow.”

The cyan Pegasus dead panned, “Thank you, Fluttershy.” With a groan, she flipped onto her back to watch the clouds in the sky pass lazily by. It was a nice day, a day perfect for taking naps, or maybe do some wicked tricks, not for watching a bunch of lame birds flap around. Rainbow bet she could fly circles around the avian creatures any day of the week!

“Honey Bunchie,” groaned Fluttershy slightly, tracing circles on Rainbow Dash’s stomach, “What’s wrong?”

Rainbow grimaced at the touch, it was awkward. Fluttershy was her best friend, not her lover. She rolled away.

“Bunchie…are you not having fun?” asked the gentle Pegasus, her voice small and timid.

Rainbow Dash sat up, “No, no, I am!” She bit her lip, “Just maybe not as much as you are.”

Fluttershy looked toward the happily bubbling stream, “Well, there’s other animals closer to the water…if you want to give them a chance that is.”

Rainbow sucked on her teeth; maybe she had been a little closed minded. Fluttershy did seem to be having fun, and here she was being a, as Pinkie Pie would say, a stupid meanie fun-sucker sucky pants. She rolled her eyes at the thought, what pants? Nevertheless, the pony trotted over to the stream, where she could see some ducks float happily around, with small fish swimming around their feet.

For a while, instead of animal watching as her friend suggested, the Pegasus was actually staring into her own reflection. Dang, I look gooood. She thought shamelessly, Awesome rainbow mane, award winning smile…yep. Rainbow Dash, you are a picture of perfection!

Her ego stroking was cut off in mid hair flip however, as a splash was heard, also drenching the pony in progress.

Sputtering, Rainbow backed away from the stream, soaked, “W-what?”

A giggling was heard from behind her, Fluttershy had a hoof over her mouth, but her eyes gave it away.

“What was that for?!” pouted Rainbow Dash, shaking the water from her coat.

“It wasn’t me.” said the peagsus innocently, “Look.”

Rainbow frowned, but looked where her friend was pointing to. A small trout was laughing at her, happily splashing around as it did so.

“Hey!” Shouted the pony angrily, “What was that for?”

With another grin, the trout spat a jet of water into Rainbow Dash’s face, before diving back underwater.

“Oh, no you don’t!” came the indignant shout. With a battle cry, the cyan peagsus launched herself into the stream after the fish, however almost immediately she realized her mistake. Pegasi can’t swim.

Panicked, she began to flail around, somehow making it to the surface, “Help! Fluttershy! Applejack! Casually drowning here!” She felt herself go under the water again but kicked hard and managed to break surface once more, “ Anypony?!”

“Rainbow…” came a small voice.

“F-Flutte-” The cyan pegasus spat out water, “Help!”

Fluttershy watched with an amused smile as her friend struggled around in the chest high water. Sure, peagsi couldn’t swim, but in this shallow stream, they sure as heck could at least stand.

“Why aren’t you helping me?” whined Rainbow Dash, frantically flailing every appendage she owned around.

“You could just…you know, stand.” said Fluttershy lightly, trying not to burst out into giggles.

The flailing stopped. Rainbow Dash looked down at her hooves and stood, the water barely coming up to her shoulders.

“Uh…I knew that.” she said sheepishly, slowly getting out of the water. Rainbow took a seat on the grass next to Fluttershy. She then shook off the water on her coat and extended her wings, trying to let them dry.

The butter yellow peagsus gave her a nuzzle, “Are we okay now? Are we calm?”

Rainbow Dash blushed, mostly out of embarrassment, she was supposed to be one of the greatest fliers of Equestria. The Wonderbolt’s Captain! Eventually.  How would she ever live down getting tricked by a fish and nearly ‘drowning' in a shallow stream?

Think of it as self-sacrifice, said a voice in the pony’s head, Stop being so hard headed and just have fun.

Breaking away from Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash stood up wordlessly. The Pegasus trotted off, leaving the other behind. Frowning, the yellow pony flew after her.

“Bunchie?”

Rainbow Dash ignored her. She continued to walk, since her wings were still wet, with her eyes forward. Eventually, they broke out of the small forested area they were in, but even so, Rainbow continued to trot forward, finally stopping at the top of a large hill. When she turned around, her amethyst eyes glinted with mischief, and she broke out into a large smile.

“You’re it!” she laughed, poking Fluttershy in the chest with a hoof, before rolling down the hill, giggling all the way.

Fluttershy herself was initially shocked at her friend’s sudden change of mood, but she didn’t complain. With a laugh of her own, the Pegasus flew down after the rolling pony, the wind of her wings sending the hundreds of dandelion seeds below flying into the sky.

At the base of the hill, Rainbow quickly jumped to her hooves and started to dash off. Fluttershy would catch soon, she knew. Wings beat hooves.

“Hmm….” The cyan Pegasus stopped for a moment, noticing a few small holes in the ground. Dens, she realized. A small grey and white head poked its way out of the den, its small pink nose sniffing the air around it.

“Hide me, quick!” ordered Raindow Dash to the small bunny, who only cocked its head in response.

“I mean, hide me…please?”

With a grin, the bunny stuck its paws into its mouth and blew, creating a shrill whistle. All around, other furry heads began to arise from their earthy homes. Before she knew it, Rainbow was surrounded by at least thirty of the small bunnies.

“That’s not really hiding m-” Before the pony could finish her sentence, she was jumped by a mass of fluff and paws, covering every inch of her blue body. She was covered completely just in the nick of time, as the butter yellow Pegasus flew by at that moment, in search of the other pony.

“Hello, little bunnies. Have you seen my friend? She’s a peagsus like me, only with a rainbow mane and a blue coat.” said Fluttershy softly to the mass of bunnies before her. They were arranged on the ground in an oddly ponyesque manner, but she decided to shrug it off.

A small grey and white bunny hopped in front of her, before shaking his head in a negatory manner. He and his family hadn’t seen anything of the sort, oh no.

“Oh, well, thank you anyways.” And with that, the yellow peagsus flew off again.

Rainbow Dash coughed and sputtered as she shook off the furry camouflage and her lungs tried to suck in fresh air. The bunnies didn’t smell bad, but she had her allergies to be mindful of.

The grey and white bunny sniffed her curiously, before offering Rainbow a piece of carrot.

“Hey, you bunnies aren’t so bad. I can see why Fluttershy likes you guys.” said the Pegasus thoughtfully, taking the piece of carrot into her mouth as she did so. The bunnies seemed to beam at the pony’s compliment.

“You know what, I’m gonna call you….” Rainbow thought for a moment, “Skittles! No wait…Professor Flufferkins! No…” The Pegasus suddenly perked up, “I got it! I’ll name you Havoc and Destruction!”

The grey and white bunny seemed to give the Pegasus a ‘What in buck’s name is wrong with you’ look.

“No? How about Pepper? Yeah, that’s it! Pepper!”

Pepper grinned at his new name, and bounced in place happily.

Before Rainbow could say anything else, a small blue butterfly landed on her snout, fluttering gently. What was not gentle however was the sudden shove from the back, causing the Pegasus to face plant into the dirt.

“You’re it.” Said Fluttershy non-chalantly, casually inspecting her hooves.

Rainbow Dash started to giggle, then laugh. Then roll around laughing. Pepper promptly joined in. Then Pepper's entire family happened to join in.

Fluttershy could only stare on; not comprehending what was so funny. The cyan pony and around thirty small bunnies were practically bouncing around in laughter. Wiping a tear from her eye, Rainbow Dash clumsily stood and wrapped a wing around her friend, “You sure got me, Shy. You sure got me.” she said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash turned to west, sighing contently at the now orange tinted sky. The sun was finally setting for the day, “It’s nice isn’t it?” she asked softly.

Fluttershy had a small smile on her lips as she leaned against her friend, watching the magnificent sunset, the sky alight with warm oranges, reds, and yellows.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, but then leaned in and planted a small kiss on Fluttershy’s forehead, “I love you, Fluttershy. I’m glad we were able to spend the day together.” While Rainbow Dash harboured no romantic feelings toward the mare, the cyan Pegasus now realized she hadn’t exactly been the easiest pony to work with. She should have been strong and accepting of the situation, like Twilight had been, and not have acted like an immature foal.

Fluttershy however, seemed to be in a trance.

Rainbow frowned slightly; she had been expecting some sort of response from the pegasus, “Fluttershy?”

The yellow Pegasus blinked and gasped slightly, as if somepony had splashed her with cold water while she was asleep.

“Rainbow Dash?” she murmured, “Rainbow…when did we get out here?”