Fearless

Three years later...

"--Police arrived at the scene shortly after the fight broke out. Thankfully, none of the boys were seriously injured. The perpetrator is still on the loose, however. All five boys' descriptions conclude that their attacker was a young ponymorph. So far, few confirmed details have come out, as the boys went on to say that none of them got a good look at it.

"The ponymorph viciously assaulted the young boys when they were returning home from a night out at a local attraction. They were caught off guard, and violently beaten. The ponymorph ran away before police could arrive and apprehend it. We can all at least breathe a sigh of relief that the boys all returned safely to their mothers."

It wasn't terribly uncommon for Fluttershy to awaken upon a sudden in the middle of the night. However, the circumstances were usually due to something along the lines of insomnia. So she was more confused than disturbed to open her eyes and discover a grinning Rainbow Dash hovering inches from her face, lips moving to form five words.

"I got my cutie mark!"

Fluttershy rubbed an eye. "Your cutie mark?"

Rainbow Dash nodded excitedly. "I was changing earlier, and I barely even noticed it. I betcha I got it when I was racing that dingleberry, Dumbell."

A race which took place yesterday evening, in fact. Rainbow Dash's wings had just gotten strong enough to carry her full weight; she could actually fly. Which, judging by Fluttershy's open window, explained how Rainbow Dash had found her way in.

"Oh, that's lovely, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy smiled. She knew that for ponymorphs, getting a cutie mark was a huge part of their coming of age process, and often celebrated as a major achievement. "What is it?"

"Ta-da!" Rather than describe it, Rainbow Dash simply dropped her pajama shorts. Fluttershy reddened slightly, but looked anyway; Rainbow Dash was one of those very loose, open people (which frankly, Fluttershy didn't mind at all). On both of her outer thighs beneath her tail was an image of a cloud shooting a bolt of lightning. What interested Fluttershy the most was its unique coloring: the lightning bolt was split into three sections of orange, yellow and red.

"Isn't it awesome?" Rainbow Dash's voice went so high that it cracked. She stared adoringly at the image, taking turns on each side.

Fluttershy nodded. "It's amazing, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash smiled proudly, then pulled up her shorts. "Yeah. It was definitely the race."

Yesterday...

Rainbow Dash hung lazily upside-down from the monkey bars, while Fluttershy sat quietly on one end of the teeter-tot. She pored over her history book, jotting down notes as she read. Rainbow Dash hummed to herself to pass the time. When the blood in her head got to be a little too much, Rainbow dropped down, flapping twice to help flip her right-side up.

After a few minutes, Fluttershy shut her book. "Done."

"Sweet!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "Now we have the day to ourselves."

Fluttershy opened her bag to deposit her school items. "What do you want to do?"

"I dunno. I'm up for anything."

"Then get up and beat it, punk!"

Rainbow Dash groaned when a small cluster of boys approached from across the street. Fluttershy instinctively stood up and moved beside Rainbow Dash.

"Hoops, Dumbell. Always a pleasure." Rainbow Dash said curtly.

Dumbell snickered. "The feeling isn't mutual."

"Yeah," Hoops guffawed. "Your kind ain't welcome here!"

Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrows. "I don't see you sharpening your pitchforks over Dumbell."

"That's cuz he ain't a dumb animal like you." Another boy spat.

"Oh, but hold the phone," Dumbell held up a hand, grinning in disbelief. "Who's the cutie? Dayum, is that Fluttershy?"

Rainbow Dash sensed Fluttershy shrinking beside her as the boys whistled.

"Ugly duckling turned into a Swan Princess, eh guys?" Dumbell high-fived his crew. "Say, doll. You wanna cozy up to a hotter hunk of horse? I guarantee I'm packing more artillery." The boys burst out into louder, rambunctious laughter.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. "Fluttershy isn't interested in dating a creep like you."

Dumbell faked an injured look. "Aw, come on. I can be nice."

"Okay, let me rephrase that in a language you can understand," Rainbow Dash wrapped both arms around Fluttershy, who only squeaked in surprise. "She's mine, and I don't share, so go wave your junk in someone else's face."

The boys giggled at this, but Dumbell glared at Rainbow Dash. "Did I say you could talk?"

"Afraid of getting verbally smacked by a girl?"

"I will beat your ass!" Dumbell was fuming, now. The boys looked on, ooh'ing in suspense.

Rainbow Dash smirked. "You couldn't beat me at anything."

It seriously looked like Dumbell might try, until Hoops coughed. "Yo, you're both Pegasus ponymorphs. How about a race?"

Dumbell took a moment to process this, then grinned. "Yeah, I like it. A race: the grand tradition which has settled countless schoolyard disputes. What do you say, guys?" The boys cheered in response. Dumbell turned back to Rainbow Dash, a challenging look in his eyes.

"...Why the hell not?"

Fluttershy knew the rest of the story. Rainbow Dash relished in recounting her win throughout the day. She had taken Fluttershy to the carnival in celebration of her cutie mark appearing, which was quite fun. Fluttershy had never before been to one; her mother said they were too outlandish.

But the mix of odd showcases, performances, rides, and food was just... fun. Rainbow Dash helped herself to deep-fried refried beans, yard-long licorice, bacon-wrapped corndogs, and sherbet ice cream. Fluttershy just carried a bag of popcorn.

Finally, after hours of exploring, Rainbow Dash seemed to tire. "Hoo, I think I'm outta juice. Anything you wanna check out before we go?"

Fluttershy looked around. Sure enough, her eyes spotted the perfect ride, which she pointed to. Rainbow Dash nodded, and led them up to the booth. The line was considerably shorter, given that the crowd had faded. In fact, the grounds would probably be closing in a couple more hours. Rainbow Dash gave the ticket booth operator two tickets: one for her, and one for Fluttershy.

When they were inside the basket, they sat across from each other. The ride came to life, and they slowly began their ascent.

"Best. Day. Ever." Rainbow Dash sighed. Fluttershy smiled.

"Mhmm."

She looked out from their basket. The ground below looked like a playset from the top of the ferris wheel. Fluttershy looked back at Rainbow Dash. Her eyes were closed in blissful content. Now seemed like a good time.

"Um... Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah?"

Now or never. "Do you... do you ever think about... who you want to be with?"

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. "I don't need to. I got you."

"No," Fluttershy bit her lip. "I don't mean as friends."

Rainbow Dash tensed. "Uh, you mean like dating?" Fluttershy hesitantly nodded. "Uh, then yeah, I guess. Why?"

There's no good way to say it, so just spit it out. "Y-yesterday, when you told Dumbell that I was... yours," Fluttershy blushed at the language. "I-I know you were saying that to make him stop, but... I think I'd like that."

Rainbow Dash's ear twitched. "Huh?" She gaped dumbly. "You... you mean... for real?"

Fluttershy nodded again. "You..." She swallowed. "...Don't?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. "What? No no, I just- I didn't-" Rainbow rubbed her head. "You... like girls?"

"I like you."

Rainbow Dash scratched an ear. "But... I'm a ponymorph," She said lamely. "People will hate us."

Fluttershy sighed this time. "I know. I don't care. But I've never felt like I do for you about anyone. I... if you want to, then I want to."

Fluttershy waited for a response. Rainbow Dash sat in stunned silence. "...Well then, I guess technically... we just had our first date, right?"

Fluttershy gave a short incredulous laugh. "Um, yes?"

Rainbow Dash twiddled her thumbs. "Uh, cool."

For a moment, they said nothing. Then, Fluttershy did something to break the barrier. She carefully stood up, turning to face away from Rainbow and sat back. For one terrifying moment, Rainbow Dash wondered if she was about to receive a lapdance.

Instead, Fluttershy simply sat crossways on Rainbow's lap, curling up and snuggling into her. Rainbow Dash froze, but eventually the tension in her body eroded. She placed her hands on Fluttershy's shoulders, holding her as they rose up and down while gazing at the last light of the sun. Fluttershy smiled as she whispered.

"Best. Day. Ever."

A hooded figure stepped into the light of the street lamp. Then another, and another. These figures being the reason that Rainbow Dash had led Fluttershy down Sector 5 and then sent her home, instead of taking the usual way to her house. Rainbow had spotted them almost as soon as they left the carnival.

They were all dressed in dark jeans and hoodies. Rainbow counted five in total. She sighed, shaking her head.

"Boy, you're just a sore loser, aren't you?"

Her comment was met with the thwip of a switchblade opening. Rainbow Dash rolled up her sleeves.

"This isn't going to be pretty..."