A soft rustle of sheets pulled Rainbow Dash out of her gentle slumber. She drifted slowly through that netherworld of cotton candy clouds and pastel colored night visions and as her mind passed the borderline between trance and reality she opened her mist-veiled eyes to see her body entwined with Fluttershy’s own.
The yellow mare stirred slightly and awoke. At first those large blue eyes of hers widened abruptly, shocked to be in another’s embrace, but as she remembered whose arms she was now in and how she had come to be held in their grasp she relaxed and pressed her muzzle firmly against Rainbow Dash’s chest. Rainbow Dash stroked her light pink mane softly until her hoof brushed against Fluttershy’s poorly bandaged wing. It lay limp against her flank, her normally smooth and neat feathers now disheveled and unkempt.
Rainbow Dash rose, nuzzling Fluttershy’s forehead for comfort before leaving. She exited the bedroom and returned promptly, carrying a pail of warm water, a sponge, and fresh bandages with her. She then, after placing the said objects next to the bed, gingerly began to remove the soiled bandages and cleanse Fluttershy’s damaged wing, carefully rinsing each yellow feather at a time with the sponge and water. Occasionally Fluttershy would wince in pain during the treatment, to which Rainbow Dash would respond by halting the cleaning process and kissing the back of her neck tenderly until she was at finally at ease, only to proceed what occupied her before the well deserved affection that she had shared.
She finally finished washing and applying the bandages to the wing and crawled back into cot beside to Fluttershy, the exhaustion that the day had applied to her finally winning over. She began to brush the mare’s mane with her hoof as she had before, holding her as tightly as she could without causing Fluttershy discomfort. Rainbow Dash then slowly brought her muzzle near Fluttershy’s ear and whispered those three powerful words in a hushed tone, and it seemed for a moment that nothing else was a part of their reality.
In that moment it seemed that the world was filled solely with the two of them, that nopony else had ever felt that sort of gentle strength that they could feel at that very moment, that there was never a Discord, or changeling, or ghoul, or dragon, or basilisk, or fear. Everything was tranquil and safe and it would stay that way for all of eternity. There would always be clear skies, warm sun, and green grass. That every little thing had an immeasurable amount of beauty, magic, and potential. All of Equestria was right at their horseshoes, all they had to do was reach out and grab it and it would be theirs. And they did.
“I love you.” Rainbow Dash murmured as she and Fluttershy drifted into that netherworld of cotton candy clouds and pastel colored night visions, together.
