Fluttershy stood in front of Rainbow Dash's door, trying to decide if she should knock, or just leave. She knew that her friend had just found out that her coltfriend from the Wonderbolts had just left her for some mare from Manehatten, and she wasn't sure if Rainbow Dash wanted to be alone or not. She finally decide to knock, figuring that her friend would tell her if she should leave. If Rainbow Dash allowed her to stay, Fluttershy planned to comfort her in anyway she could. And under no circumstances would she try to be fair when talking about her friend's ex. She'd learned her lesson during Rarity's last breakup.
"Come in," a gruff voice called from inside. Fluttershy entered the cloudy house to find her fillyhood friend sitting on the living room couch with a sour look on her face. She was flipping aimlessly through the channels of her television, stopping only to take a bite of ice cream from the carton in her other hoof. "Hey," she eventually said, acknowledging the quiet mare's existence without looking up or losing her sour expression.
"H-hi..." Fluttershy wondered if she should come back later, but sat down next to Rainbow Dash instead. "How... how's it going?"
Rainbow Dash sighed and stopped flipping channels, ending up on a documentary about Griffon flight patterns. "Fine. I s'pose. I'm doing all the things Rarity says a mare should do to get over a breakup."
"Oh. How's that working out for you?"
"Well, to be honest, I've always heard that revenge is a dish best served cold. Like this ice cream here. Knowing that, I feel like I'm eating the revenge that I should really be serving to that no-good, low-down, TWO-TIMIMG..." Rainbow Dash inhaled to deeply. "Here," she said, handing the carton to Fluttershy, "I'm not hungry."
Fluttershy looked at the ice cream as Rainbow Dash went back to channel surfing. Without a word, she put down the carton, flew over to the television, and switched it off.
"Hey, I was watching that!"
"You were not. You weren't watching anything, and we both know it." Fluttershy looked her friend straight in the eye. "Rainbow, I'm worried about you. You're not acting like yourself. You passed by three sports shows, the weather ponies say you haven't been coming to work, and you don't want ice cream!" Rainbow avoided Fluttershy's gaze. "Rainbow, I want to help, I really do, but I can't unless you trust me. Please."
For a long while, the two ponies were silent. Finally, Rainbow Dash relented. "What did you have in mind?" she asked as she put down her remote control.
Fluttershy smiled. She once again sat next to her best friend and grabbed a couch pillow. "Here," she said, handing Rainbow Dash the pillow, "I want you to punch the pillow, and at the same time, tell me something that you liked about your ex-coltfriend." Rainbow dash looked at the yellow mare as if she was crazy. "Trust me."
"Okay, I guess," the reluctant pegasus said, "well, one thing I liked about him was how dedicated he was to his job." She then punched the pillow with little enthusiasm.
"Good," Fluttershy said, "now do it again."
"Hmm... I liked the way he flew I guess?" She punched the pillow again. "I don't really see the point in this."
"It does seem like this isn't working," Fluttershy's said, "try switching to what you loved about him."
Fluttershy noticed Rainbow Dash tense up at the mention of love. This was a good sign. "How many times do I have to do this?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"As many times as you need."
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "I loved how he seemed to fly better when he knew I was watching. I loved how sometimes he would smile and stare at me when he thought I wasn't looking." With each sentence, Rainbow Dash delivered a punch to her pillow stronger than the one before it. "I loved how he would buy me things for no other reason than to make me smile. I loved the graceful way he pulled off the most difficult arial aerobics. I... I think most of all, I loved his sense of loyalty." She snickered. "Well, what I thought was a sense of loyalty. But can you blame me? How was I supposed to know when he was whispering sweet promises in my ear, promises that he would never let me go... how was I supposed to know that he would leave me for some floozy from the big city?"
Despite no longer listing any positive qualities, Rainbow Dash was still punching the pillow. In her mind, it was no longer the pillow she was punching, but the body of her former special somepony. "Do you hear me? I loved you!" she said, anger finally bubbling up to the surface, "And you threw me aside like a forgotten outfit! And for what? A roll in the hay?" Rainbow Dash paused. Tears streamed down her face. "I loved you. All of you. And now... now, everything I loved, I hate. Especially you." She gritted her teeth. "DO YOU HEAR ME? I HATE YOU!"
Rainbow Dash launched into a frenzy. No longer contented with mere punches, she kicked, slapped, tackled, and even bit the hapless pillow. As she flew around in a vengeful rage, Fluttershy calmly watched the whole spectacle. She knew that if Rainbow Dash was ever going to get past this, just as when Tank had started hibernating, she had to let out all her emotions first. That included both sadness, and rage. Eventually, Rainbow Dash stopped, but not before the pillow was finally reduced to shreds. After looking at the pillow for a while, she wept. Rainbow Dash wept harder than she had ever wept before. She wept as if she was a child who only just realized that their best friend had not actually moved away as they had thought, but had died unexpectedly.
She felt the soft touch of a wing, and melted into Fluttershy's embrace. A pegasus' wing hug is said to be the softest and most comfortable hug in the world. However, few know that in ancient pegasus society, the hug was reserved for those closest to the pegasus. One unicorn philosopher commented that he first noticed the affections of his pegasus lover by how tightly her wings hugged him.
Such was the case with Fluttershy. She had loved Rainbow Dash for a long time, ever since flight school. However, she never had the courage to admit it to anyone other than her pet bunny, Angel. Even so, she did not care if their relationship never advanced past close friends. It was these moments, these intimate moments when it was just the two of them, when she saw a vulnerable aside of her beloved that was almost never shown to anypony else; it was these moments that made Fluttershy feel like the luckiest pony in the world.
"Shhh... it's alright," she whispered in her closest friend's ear, "cry as much as you need to. I'm here for you."
Rainbow Dash wimpered, and nuzzled Fluttershy's neck in appreciation.
Hours later, Fluttershy realized that Rainbow Dash was asleep. The two mares had moved back to the couch, intertwined in a comforting cuddle. Fluttershy looked up at the clock and let out a silent squeak. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten. She still had chores to do back at her house, and she knew Angel would be mad at her for being late for dinner; but as she tried to move, Rainbow Dash tightened her embrace around the yellow mare and squeaked out a desperate, yet sleepy, "Don't leave me..."
Fluttershy blushed. She then settled back into place and kissed Rainbow Dash on her forehead.
"Never."
