Bitter tears stung Fluttershy's throat as they burned into her eyes. Tears clouded her vision if she opened them, but Twilight's menacing purple ones burned her eyelids if she kept them closed. Tears snaked their way down her pale yellow face and faded into the growing layer of thick white snow that carpeted Ponyville.
Fluttershy sniffed and tried to swallow her pain, but it buried itself deep inside her heart and refused to let go. Instead, she choked as more bile and anger gushed out of her onto the snow at her frozen hooves.
She's been stumbling around Ponyville for an hour and her feet and body were numb from the thick cold of the wind. But her face was hot from the storm of tears that paraded out of her eyes and flooded her cheeks. Her mane was plastered to her neck and face with a mix of tears and frost. Both a corrosive force in this situation. And this situation being the worst heartbreak of her life.
She collapsed on the snow. Not caring about the way that she sunk into it or the way its cold burned her flank. She was heated by the rage and sadness in her stomach as it all came tumbling out into the cold winter's night.
Just an hour or so ago, she'd been sitting by the fire in Twilight's castle. The warmth radiating onto her and Twilight as they sat side by side. She had been so caught up in the romance of it all that she hadn't realized how stiff Twilight had been. She hadn't heard the unnerving sounds of delicate hoofsteps in the hall. And worst of all, she had been so oblivious, she hadn't even wondered where Twilight was going. The lilac alicorn had gotten up abruptly and announced that she was going to get more cocoa, startling Fluttershy. But, the heat distracted her and her worries fell away as Twilight had briskly trotted off.
The fire had begun to wilt, so Fluttershy ventured off to the kitchen to get herself more cocoa. After finally finding it in the maze of jade-green doors and echoey hallways, she had heard noises. She had moved to the doorway to investigate. What she had seen had blinded her to love. There was Twilight, the supposed love of her life, and Rarity, one of her dearest friends, and love advisors, kissing. It had most certainly not been the kind of kiss between friends either.
She had almost gone unnoticed but her mug crashed on the floor. Twilight's purple eyes flashed at her face as they welled with tears. The two unicorns were yelling at her but she was running too fast to care.
With the bitter pang of the memory, she collapsed into a snowdrift in tears. The sobs racked her fragile body and her teal eyes froze shut in a hazy mix of stinging ice and burning tears.
Suddenly, a loud icy creak shattered the remorseful silence and Fluttershy was startled into a choking fit. The sadness overtook her and she lost all of her senses. All she could feel was the cold snow leaving her coat and soft bolt blue arms pulling her up out of her mess of tears in the snow. All she could do was close her eyes and pretend it was all a dream.
Fluttershy's eyes drifted open, expecting to see a blizzard through the blurry mesh of tears. But instead, she found the flickering flames of firelight. For a moment, deja vu overtook her and she was sitting in the castle of friendship. Twilight was sitting with her, her lilac coat giving off just as much warmth as the fire. Her purple eyes were looking curiously at her and suddenly it was all a dream. Until she shivered and she knew it wasn't. Then Twilight spoke. But it wasn't Twilight. A lower raspy voice came out of the princess's mouth.
"Flutters?" It whispered questioningly.
Then the dream was gone. The palace and her princess disappeared. She was no longer curled up against Twilight, a bolt blue hoof was laid on her shoulder. The fire burned in a blue hearth and all around her, the blue and gray walls were decorated with posters of flying heroes in bright colors. Clouds lined the ceiling and it smelled faintly of rain. She was at Rainbow Dash's house. But why?
"Rainbow?" She croaked. The world came into focus and she saw the unmistakeable Rainbow mane of her friend. Magenta eyes scanned her face. "What am I doing here?"
"Well..." Rainbow Dash trailed off. Her confidence suddenly lost. Fluttershy leaned in. "I was outside and I saw something crying in the snow. I went to investigate. When I saw you, I didn't know what else to do. You were moaning and sobbing and half conscious. You kept muttering through your sobs. Stuff about princess and Rarity or something." Rainbow looked away, "I think you thought I was Twilight." She confessed, still looking away.
"But why were you outside?" Rainbow's mane flipped as her magenta eyes bore into Fluttershy's curious ones.
"What do you mean?"
"You said you were outside. Why? It's storming like nothing else you-" Fluttershy's throat caught and her words clipped off as her sobs overtook her again. Rainbow moved closer to her and wrapped a blue hoof around her shoulders.
"Fluttershy, the last thing you need to be worrying about is me. Okay?" Fluttershy nodded.
"But-" Fluttershy began, her eyes welling up at the memory of why she had been crying in the first place. Rainbow sighed and opened her mouth.
"I was on my way to Twilight's, okay? I knew you were going to be there tonight and I wanted to-to- to come and walk you home." Rainbow jerked her head away at the last sentence. Clearly embarrassed.
"Why?" Fluttershy whispered, blushing also, but turning to see Rainbow's face.
"I- because I knew Twilight wouldn't alk you home and I- I care about you Fluttershy okay?" Her voice rose at the last part and she buried her head in her hooves, peeking out slightly as if expecting the worst. Fluttershy cocked her head.
"Well, of course, you care about me. You're my friend." Fluttershy stated simply. Rainbow smiled a sad smile and continued.
"N-no. Not like that." Rainbow whispered. "I care about you more than a friend cares about another friend. I care about you in a different way." Rainbow trailed off as her magenta eyes clouded over as if she was dreaming. Fluttershy blushed a bit.
"Rainbow-I" She began.
"No." Rainbow shook her head somberly. "You don't have to say anything. I know it's ridiculous. I know that you're just my friend and I know that you're dating Twilight and she's amazing and-"
"Rainbow." Fluttershy cut in sternly. "Twilight-I'm-she-" Fluttershy was struggling to get the words out now. "She's not. We're not...we're not." She ended with a dreary tone of finality. "We're not." Rainbow's eyes widened.
"What happened?" Rainbow whispered, leaning closer to her broken friend. "You can tell me if you want."
With that, everything came tumbling out. Her date with Twilight, Rarity in the kitchen, her trudge into the blizzard, her deja vu, everything she had felt in the past hour came spilling out into Rainbow's lap as tears poured out of Fluttershy's eyes and sobs racked her broken body. Rainbow said nothing. She just sat there with her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulders, letting the storm pass. And when it passed, Fluttershy lost everything and collapsed across Rainbow. Rainbow frowned a bit and helped her friend regain her strength. Soon, Fluttershy was just whimpering into Rainbow's shoulder as the blue bolt pegasus wrapped the breaking pony into the arms.
Fluttershy spluttered one last time and tried to regain control of herself. She let her breath come in time with the thudding of Rainbow's heartbeat on her cheek. It was actually quite fast.
"You're heart's beating fast." Fluttershy murmured.
"hm," Rainbow replied. "Like I said, I care about you in a different way. More than a friend would. "
"Thank you, Rainbow," Fluttershy said, curling up against Rainbow's streaked mane.
"You're welcome," Rainbow replied breathily.
"I should've come to you sooner," Fluttershy muttered. "I should've seen the signs that both you and Twilight and Rari-"
"Shhhh." Rainbow cut her off. "Just be here now. You can deal with Twilight in the morning. You can sleep here." Rainbow moved to get up, but Fluttershy touched her hoof lightly.
"Can you stay?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes full of fear. Rainbow nodded and the two pegasi curled into each other to escape the pain.
"I don't want to say anything I'll regret later," Rainbow began, "But I think I might be in love with you Fluttershy." The butter yellow pegasus's cheeks melted into the color of her hair.
"You know what Rainbow?" She murmred into her bolt blue shoulder, "I think I might love you too."
With that, her teal eyes flickered shut. The tears forgotten as if it had all been some long ago nightmare.
