I sat on top of a fluffy white cloud while watching Fluttershy clear away the gloomy storm clouds, kicking a few and flailing weakly at others to get them to dissipate, the light of the setting sun glistening off her wings and making her look really cool, even though she was pretty covered in sweat. She was taking way longer than I would have (obviously) but she was doing a really great job. I was super impressed!
“I think that’s the last of them.” Fluttershy panted as she floated up to my cloud perch and sat down next to me. “What do you think, Rainbow Dash? Did I do a good job?”
“Good? You did awesome!” I said happily and gave Fluttershy a high-five, which made her do the cutest little giggle you’ve ever heard. “Thanks again for helping me with this, by the way.”
“Of course.” Fluttershy nodded with a smile. “I wouldn’t want you to over-exert yourself while you’re still getting over your cold.”
I chuckled nervously, blushing and looking away from Fluttershy in embarrassment. I got a really bad cold pretty recently and Fluttershy took care of me in her cottage the whole time, and while it was super sweet of her it was also pretty embarrassing to not be able to take care of myself. Still though…
“And thanks again for taking care of me.” I said bashfully. “There’s nopony else I would’ve felt comfortable enough with to look after me like that.”
“Not a problem at all!” Fluttershy said proudly, smiling like a goof. “I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”
Fluttershy and I looked out over the clear sky bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun, the bright star hanging low on the horizon, getting ready to disappear for the night. It was a beautiful image… wistful and nostalgic in a way. It got me to thinking.
“Fluttershy?” I said, still looking at the sky and not at my friend.
“Yes Rainbow Dash?” She replied, similarly gazing out onto the horizon.
“We’ve known each other a long time, haven’t we?” I said.
“Yup. I think the two of us have been friends longer than anypony else in our main friend group.” She said.
“Yeah…” I said distantly. I anxiously fluttered my wings about and jumped up, just getting enough air to stretch my legs before landing back on the cloud and looking at Fluttershy. “Do you remember that time, back in flight camp when we were kids, when I raced those bullies that were making fun of you?”
“You mean the race that led to you doing a sonic rainboom that caused both of us and all our other friends to get our Cutie Marks?” Fluttershy said drolly, looking at me with a wry smile on her face. It was a good look for her honestly. “Yeah, I think I remember that.” I laughed at that, doing a rather undignified snort, which made Fluttershy giggle.
“I don’t think I ever apologized…” I said, dusting off the cloud nervously with my hoof. “I mean, for knocking you off of Cloudsdale and sending you careening toward the earth below.”
“No, you didn’t.” Fluttershy chuckled. “But I knew it was an accident, and it was very sweet of you to defend my honor like that.” She was so sweet, so forgiving and understanding. If somepony had done that to me I would’ve held a grudge for like, forever.
I looked back out at the orange sky, Fluttershy following my glance. The two of us sat there silently watching the sunset for a few more moments, but I needed to break the silence. I needed to say… something. I didn’t know how to say it, but I needed to. I couldn’t keep running from my feelings forever, and I had a real strong feeling that it was now or never.
“Fluttershy?” I said fretfully.
“Yes Rainbow Dash?” She said sweetly.
“Can I tell you something?” I choked out the words despite a wall of anxiety trying to keep them tamped down. “Something important? And you can’t tell anypony else?”
“Of course, Dashie.” She chuckled, putting her hoof on my shoulder. “You can tell me anything, what are friends for?”
“That’s just it…” I backed up hesitantly, my eyes darting every which way, desperate to look at anything other than Fluttershy. “I don’t… think I want to be friends with you anymore.”
“W-what?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock and I could see tears forming on the edges of her eyes.
“No! That’s not! What I meant at all!” I really put my hoof in my mouth this time. Ugh. “I don’t mean, I think you’re, I mean, uh…” I was starting to freak out just a liiiitle bit, flapping my wings out of control and stomping my hooves on the cloud.
“What are you trying to say, Rainbow?” Fluttershy sat upright and grabbed her hair, pulling it over her shoulder and nervously brushing it as I continued to act like a total spaz.
“I mean I don’t want to be just friends!” I blurted out, immediately covering my mouth with a hoof as my cheeks turned jalapeno red, Fluttershy looking at me in complete shock. “Fluttershy…” I said softly “I mean think I’m in lesbians with you. I mean I’m in gay with you! I mean you’re lovely! You’re lesbian! I love gay! Wait no let me start over!”
Before I had a chance to dig myself into a deeper hole, Fluttershy cut my rambling off with a kiss to my nose, looking right into my soul with her gorgeous teal eyes and saying “I’m in love with you too.”
I didn’t know what to say so I sat there in stunned silence for a second, Fluttershy covering her face bashfully with her hair. After a second I just started laughing cuz I didn’t know what else to do and Fluttershy laughed right along with me.
The two of us just laughed and laughed for what seemed like an hour before I gently place my forehead against hers, our noses touching lightly. “I love you.” I said.
“I love you too.” She replied, giving me a kiss.
****
Rarity was tending to the dresses in her Ponyville store, doing that Rarity thing where she applies ‘finishing touches’ to something that was finished over an hour ago, and humming a little melody to herself when suddenly the door swung wide open and slammed into the wall behind it, thanks to yours truly.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity’s tone was a mix between surprise and choked down frustration, trying to play it cool like she wasn’t super mad at me for throwing her door open and interrupting her concentration. She delicately put down the needle and measuring tape she was working with on a table and trotted over to the door to give me a kiss on the cheek. “I hardly ever see you come into my shop, what can I do for you?”
“I need an outfit.” I said abruptly.
“Ah, well you’ve come to the right place, obviously!” Rarity beamed and put a hoof over her chest then daintily walked over to the racks and racks of dresses she had on display, even taking a few out of a storage closet as she hummed a jaunty tune, with me following tensely behind her.
“What kind of outfit did you have in mind, darling? Something dapper? Or dramatic? Or maybe a little more intimate?” With each question Rarity pulled out several different outfits that I assumed matched the descriptors she was giving, even waggling her eyebrows a little with that last one, but my dumb brain was just like “buuhhh duhhhrrr guhhh cloze”
“Uh, I dunno… I think I want something… cool.” I said with a shrug. Rarity sighed and glared at me, no doubt having flashbacks to the last time she made me an outfit. “I’m sorry, I just don’t understand any of this fashion stuff!”
“It’s quite alright, darling.” Rarity took in a deep breath and her tone became pleasant and accommodating. “What’s the occasion? That should help us narrow down an appropriate selection.”
“Well, I’ve kinda got a…” I sharply inhaled, my whole body and brain totally not prepared to say what I was about to say “…a date.”
Rarity gasped dramatically and scrunched up her cheeks with her hooves, looking at me with stars in her eyes. “You don’t say! Oh that’s just the most wonderful thing I’ve heard in ages!” Rarity couldn’t stay still, excitedly dancing in place as she spoke. She almost seemed more excited than I was. “Who’s the lucky somepony?”
Before I could answer I was distracted by the sound of a bell as the shop door was opened, I looked over and saw Fluttershy walking in and immediately started blushing, Rarity looking at Fluttershy and then at me and connecting the dots in a snap, sporting the goofiest, smuggest grin you’ve ever seen on her face.
“Um, hello? Rarity?” Fluttershy said. “Oh! Rainbow! I… I didn’t expect to see you here…” Fluttershy timidly walked up to me and started blushing, and my cheeks were burning up too as she came closer, her face ending up barely an inch away from my nose.
“Yeah well, y’know, I was here because I…” I stammered. “Gotta go!” I blitzed out of the shop and smashed through the window, leaving a rainbow trail and two very confused ponies in my wake.
****
It wasn’t until I was like a mile away from Rarity’s store that I realized I never actually picked out an outfit, but it wasn’t like I could just go back after the exit I made so I had to keep trudging ahead! My next stop was Twilight’s castle, where Twilight and Starlight were sitting in the library looking in awe at the massive, towering stacks of books that Twilight had built.
“That is um… quite an accomplishment.” Starlight said, unsure of how Twilight wanted her to respond to her ‘achievement’.
“I know!” Twilight said gleefully, clapping her hooves together. “It took me all day to set them up like this so I could organize them again! It’s way easier now that I can see where everything is instead of them being a big heap all over the ground.”
“But aren’t you worried that somepony is just going to dash through here and completely destroy these towers, ruining all of the work that you did?” Starlight asked.
“Not really.” Twilight’s answer was accompanied by a satisfied grin and the sound of a distant THUD, specifically the sound of me crashing into a forcefield that Twilight had put up around the library. “Hey Rainbow.” Twilight said haughtily as she and Starlight walked past the forcefield and helped me get my limp carcass up off the ground. “What’s going on?”
“Well I have a headache now for some reason.” I grumbled, glaring at Twilight while rubbing my head.
“Don’t worry, I have something for that.” Starlight chuckled.
“Also I really need your help!” I jolted toward Twilight and grabbed her, lifting her a couple inches off the ground. “Like, your Princess of Friendship help!”
“You have a friendship problem?” Twilight said concernedly but her temperament quickly became poised and confident as she said “Well you came to the right pony, Rainbow Dash! Starlight, will you keep this shield up while I help Rainbow?”
“Uh, I mean, I don’t really want-” Before Starlight could finish rejecting Twilight cut her off with a loud “Great!” and teleported her and me away, leaving a disgruntled Starlight behind to keep up the barrier between the cold, cruel outside world and Twilight’s soft, innocent book towers.
“So what’s the story, Wishbone?” Twilight brought me to her lounge area and sat upon a couch as she readied herself to listen to me ramble about friendship and stuff, meanwhile I was too nervous to sit still so I paced back and forth on the ground.
“Okay, so, um…” I was starting to sweat and my insides were burning up. All this relationship stuff was super new to me and I was not prepared at all. “Okay, I kinda sorta asked Fluttershy out on a date and now I’m freaking out because I don’t know how to be in a relationship! I keep thinking of all the times I’ve been mean to her or brushed her off or made her feel bad and all I can think is that she deserves someone, anyone, better than me! I really, really want to go out with her and make her feel like the most special, beloved pony in the whole world but I’m scared I’m gonna mess everything up and she’s gonna hate me, or at least realize that dating me was a huge mistake, and that she’s gonna be right too!”
“Okay, um…” Twilight’s eyes were wide and she was jotting notes down in a notebook, struggling to keep up with my rapid-fire worrying. “First of all, I think it’s nice that you asked Fluttershy out, although I do owe Pinkie 25 bits now.”
“Why?” I said confusedly, tilting my head.
“Because I could’ve sworn Applejack and Rarity were going to get together first, so Pinkie won our bet.” Twilight shrugged and I just glowered at her in bemusement. “Oh well, that’s not what’s important here. Rainbow, I’m sorry to say that I don’t know a lot about love. I mean, I’ve only had a crush one time and it was while I was a different species, so I don’t even know if that like gives me different hormones or brain chemicals or whatever else.”
“You’ve never had a crush on somepony before?” I asked. “I mean, I guess that’s not that weird, I’ve only ever had a crush on Fluttershy.”
“How long have you had a crush on her?” Twilight asked.
“Since we were kids!” I said, continuing to pace the floor of the lounge area. “I’ve had feelings for her almost as long as I’ve known her cuz what started out as just a childish little crush sorta blossomed into these feelings of affection as we grew older together…”
“I think that’s sweet.” Twilight said with a big grin.
“I guess.” I shrugged. “I’ve been hiding it from her forever though because… because I don’t know if I’m… I don’t think I’m good enough for her. I really thought I blew it at Cadance’s wedding when I accidentally kissed her, but we just sorta moved on without ever talking about that… but these days it seems like the fate of Equestria is in danger every other weekend, I just had to tell her before… before I dunno, something happened I guess. Is that totally dumb?”
“Rainbow Dash, you should never let yourself feel bad over how you feel.” Twilight jumped off the couch and walked over to me, placing a hoof beneath my chin and lifting my head up to look her in the eyes. “You are a strong, loyal, caring, beautiful pony. You’re funny and talented, you’re brave and always looking out for others. Anypony would be lucky to be going out with you.”
“Twilight, that’s…” I blushed and couldn’t help looking away from Twilight’s gaze. “Thanks. That means a lot.”
“Of course!” Twilight happily chirped. “And you and Fluttershy have been friends forever, and romance isn’t that different from friendship, I think, just a little more intimate. The important thing is that you’re honest with Fluttershy and you communicate how you’re feeling with her.”
“Yeah, I… I guess you’re right.” I said, taking deep breaths and starting to feel a little more confident. “Maybe I’m worried over nothing.”
“Yeah probably.” Twilight said with a shrug. “That’s usually how anxiety works. Speaking from experience, obviously.”
“Heheh, yeah.” I chuckled, starting to feel just a teensy bit better when suddenly another terrible thought occurred to me. “Oh no! But what if instead of Fluttershy hating me, what if I grow to be really annoyed by her! What if all those little things she does that kinda get on my nerves, what if they start really getting on my nerves cuz we’re spending more time together! Or what if she does a bunch of things that I don’t even know about that are annoying!! I don’t want to hate Fluttershy! This is terrible! This is a disaster!”
Before Twilight could give her little speech on how I was overreacting I had already dashed out of the room, flying through the castle at mach speed with no destination in mind, trying in vain to outrun my worries. That came to a screeching halt though when I crashed headlong into Starlight’s forcefield.
“Ouch. You okay?” Starlight said as she helped me up.
“So you said you had something for headaches?” I said groggily.
“I do.” Starlight snickered. “Hey Twilight,” Starlight said to Twilight as she floated down beside us “you want to keep this barrier up while I help Rainbow out?”
“Uh, sure.” Twilight said. “Maybe a break from thinking about all this relationship stuff will do you some good, Rainbow.”
“Maybe.” I said grumpily.
Twilight walked inside the library and put up her barrier as Starlight walked with me into the kitchen. She brewed up some tea and carried it with her as we walked into the throne room, putting the pink teacup on the table in front of my throne. As I sat down and drank from it I started to feel a little more relaxed again.
“So what’s going on with you anyway, Rainbow Dash?” Starlight asked, taking a seat in Twilight’s throne, which was pretty close to my own. “It seems like whatever Twilight said to you only made you more upset.”
“No, Twilight’s advice was fine.” I sighed. “It’s just my brain that sucks.”
“So what’s the problem?” Starlight asked softly. “Maybe I can help.”
“Couldn’t hurt I guess.” I grumbled. “I’m going on a date with Fluttershy tonight.”
“Ooh, that’s exciting!” Starlight said, clapping her hooves with a gleeful look on her face. I just looked at her disgruntledly and she became bashful and said “Sorry, I won’t interrupt.”
“Uh, it’s fine.” I shook my head to try and get my thoughts straight. “Look, I love Fluttershy, but what if when we start getting like, closer, what if we start to find out we don’t really like each other? I mean, we have like nothing in common. And there are all these little things about her that annoy me sometimes, what if they blow up into like big things that annoy me? Or what about the things about me that bother her? What if I can’t stop being, like, the worst around her?”
“Well, I would say…” Starlight took a minute to ponder her thoughts before speaking, and it felt like an agonizing eternity waiting for her to speak up. “It doesn’t really matter what you do or don’t have in common, what matters is that you care about each other. Just because you aren’t passionate about animals, are you going to shut her down if she starts talking to you about them?”
“Of course not!” I said, jumping up into the air and flapping my wings. “I love when Fluttershy talks about animals, cuz she’s so passionate about them! I don’t really care if she’s talking about something that doesn’t really interest me, I still enjoy hearing her talk about it cuz I value her opinions about stuff!”
“Well then, I think you just solved your own conundrum.” Starlight said with a smile. “And you know how accommodating Fluttershy is, and she’s already proven that she’s willing to put herself in situations she ordinarily wouldn’t to make you specifically happy.”
“Huh, I guess you’re right.” I said, floating back down and sitting on my throne. “I hadn’t really thought about it, but… yeah I guess that’s true. Twilight said that romance isn’t all that different from friendship, just a little more intimate, and me and Fluttershy have already proven that we’re great friends, and there’s nopony else in all of Equestria I feel as comfortable around than her…”
“And Twilight’s not wrong either, by the way.” Starlight said. “Being romantic is just like having a best friend who you can share almost anything with. Obviously you’ll still have certain boundaries even with each other, there’s no such thing as one pony ‘completing’ you or anything like that, but when you’re intimate with someone, you see their rough edges and they don’t bother you the same way, because even when they’re annoying you, you remember all the things about them that you love and that makes it-”
“STAAAARRRLIIIIIGHT!!”
Starlight’s speech was cut off by a shrill yell that went right through my ears but Starlight just look vaguely bemused, like she was annoyed but not surprised. Sure enough a pale blue unicorn came prancing into the throne room and put her front hooves up on the arm of Twilight’s throne where Starlight was sitting.
“Staaarliiight!” Trixie whined. “I can’t find the bath bubbles in Twilight’s stupid bathroom! How is the Grrrrreat and Powerful TRRRRRIXIE! supposed to get her relaxing beauty bath in without any bubbles?”
“Did you check the cabinet under the sink?” Starlight asked drolly, looking skeptically at Trixie. “Like I told you to?”
“Um, of course I did!” Trixie stammered, timidly backing up before resuming a poised and haughty stand. “But I suppose I shall check again! You can never be too thorough!” With that, Trixie ran off and Starlight sighed, her expression a cross between annoyance, relief and, weirdly, laughter.
“You see what I mean?” Starlight said with a wry smile. “If I didn’t love Trixie the way that I do, that sort of thing would drive me crazy. But it doesn’t bother me because… I honestly don’t know why not, it just doesn’t. She comes to me with a stupid problem like that and I just… I remember her smile and how much I want to see her be happy and it makes me-”
“Staaaarliiiight!”
Starlight scowled and her ears fell flat against her head, her frown practically drooping to the floor as I tried and failed to contain my laughter.
“Starlight I can’t find the bath bubbles!” Trixie stomped her hoof. “Can you come show me where they are please?”
“Yeah, Trixie, no problem.” Starlight said dejectedly. As Starlight went to help Trixie I decided to follow along, thinking that seeing how she dealt with a relationship problem might help me figure out what I was doing.
We got to the bathroom and Starlight immediately opened the cabinet under the sink, and all three of us could see the bottle of bath bubbles, sitting in the cabinet plain as day. Starlight glared at Trixie who just said “Yeah, I was kinda thinking of other stuff as I walked back to the bathroom and totally spaced on what you told me so I just sorta walked back and forth for a few seconds before calling you again.”
Trixie gave Starlight a huge nervous grin as Starlight glared at her. Starlight sighed and smiled, giving Trixie a kiss on the nose and saying “You’re very pretty.”
“I know.” Trixie said, crossing her hooves and looking to the side like she was posing for a headshot.
We left Trixie to enjoy her bubble bath and headed back to the throne room.
“You see?” Starlight said to me. “I’m not even upset, I’m more amused than anything and I genuinely hope she enjoys her bath.”
“I guess so.” I said hopefully.
“Now it’s true that sometimes your partner will do things that really get under your skin.” Starlight said cautiously. “But when that happens, you talk about it. You tell her how you feel and you listen when she talks to you. Being open and honest in communicating with your partner is the most important thing.”
“Yeah, I think I can do that.” I nodded confidently.
“I know you can!” Starlight said cheerfully. “Now go out there and make Fluttershy feel like the most special, appreciated and beloved pony in all of Equestria!”
“Ha! You don’t have to tell me twice!” I said confidently before dashing into the air and crashing through the castle roof.
****
It was starting to get a little dark by the time I headed back to Rarity’s store, gently pushing the door open instead of slamming it or just flying through the window again. Or the wall.
“Ah! Rainbow Dash, you’re here!” Rarity said pleasantly. “And not a moment too soon!”
“What do you mean?” I asked, walking into the shop and closing the door behind me.
“I have something special for you!” Rarity giggled and ducked behind a curtain, rummaging about for a sec before coming back out with an amazingly cool outfit. It was like this dark blue cape, cloak, thing that wrapped around the shoulders, plus these sick silvery-glass boots and to top it all off an awesome looking rainbow-colored scarf!
“Wow, Rarity!” I said, feeling starstruck as I put my grubby hoofs all over the cloak part. “You made this for me?”
“I did!” Rarity said proudly. “It’s not my usual style,” as Rarity spoke she used her magic to put the outfit on me and make sure it fit just right, a mirror placed in front of me so I could see how cool I looked “but Fluttershy helped me design it with you in mind.”
“Fluttershy helped you make this?” I said, blushing.
“Indeed.” Rarity nodded with a slight giggle. “After you left, Fluttershy stayed here most of the day, gushing about you and how excited she was for her date with you! It was really quite adorable, and when I told her that you came in for an outfit but left without getting one, she helped me whip up something that would be perfect for you.”
“That’s…” I felt pretty overwhelmed with emotion, heck I think I may have even been misting up… but only a little, not much. “Wow, I don’t even know what to say.”
“You could say ‘thank you’.” Rarity said with a teasing wink.
“Thank you! Thank you so much, Rarity!” I grabbed Rarity in a big hug and leaped into the air with her, doing a flip before placing her gently back on the ground, her head spinning a little bit after the fact.
“It was… no problem at all, darling.” Rarity said, wobbling back and forth.
“But seriously, thanks.” I said sincerely. “Thank you for talking with Fluttershy too… she’s really excited, huh?”
“Oh yes, very much so.” Rarity nodded. “Are you not?”
“No, I think I am…” I took a deep breath and sighed. “I’ve been trying to sort out my feelings all day and… I was really nervous this morning but now… I dunno, now I’m a little less nervous, I guess.”
“Well I don’t know if this makes it better or worse,” Rarity said “but Fluttershy was similarly nervous.”
“She was? Really?” I said in surprise. “How come?” I had to bite my tongue to keep that sentence from continuing into ‘is it because I’m a big huge failure and she knows what a loser I am?’ or some other stupid thing.
“She’s been waiting for this for a long time.” Rarity explained. “She told me that she’s had feelings for you ever since you were kids, that what started out as a little crush grew into deep affection for you over time.”
“No kidding.” I chuckled, drinking in the irony.
“And now that it’s actually happening,” Rarity continued “it’s natural that she would feel a little bit nervous.”
“Listen, Rarity…” I took another deep breath to steady my nerves “do you think, and be honest… do you think me and Fluttershy will work out? As a couple, I mean? You don’t think we’re too different, do you?”
“I think you too will be marvelous for each other.” Rarity’s words were a soothing melody for my heart. “You both care so deeply for each other, you love spending time together despite your many differences, and I think you both want the same things from the relationship; to be your best selves for each other and to bring out the best in your partners, and I think that’s a magical thing.”
“Thank you.” I gave Rarity another, gentler hug. “It means the world to me to have friends like you guys looking out for me.”
“Of course, darling.” Rarity giggled. “Now go out there and make Fluttershy feel like the most special, beloved and important pony in all Equestria!”
“You can count on me!” I said, beating my hoof against the ground before dashing toward the door and then immediately stopping. Rarity glared at me and I chuckled nervously as I gently opened the door and then dashed out of the shop, instead of just smashing through the door.
****
It was early dusk and my heart was jumping into my throat when I approached Fluttershy’s cottage. I stood in front of the door for like ten million years before knocking on it, trying to steady my nerves. But this was it! This was what all this buildup and anxiety was leading up to! It was almost too much to handle!
Fluttershy opened the door and I just… wow, my heart??? I think I’m dying holy heck she’s so??? CUTE??? Ugh, can’t take. I think I honestly swooned when I saw her.
She was wearing a pink dress with flowy, shimmery, almost translucent fabric and little pink shoes, and she even had a light blue ribbon in her hair.
“Wow, you look… wow.” I stammered, my face turning redder than like, an apple. But like on the sun or something, would that make an apple more red? I dunno, point is I felt like I was gonna actually melt into a puddle.
“You look very… dashing.” Fluttershy said with a big goofy grin and winked at me repeatedly, and suddenly all my nervousness was flushed out of my system. She was such a dork and I LOVE HER. “Do you like that pun?” She said sweetly, raising a hoof in front of her face. “I’ve been working on it almost all day.”
“Well you make… my heart… um, aflutter.” I said, trying to play it cool and totally bombing, but it made her laugh so no harm done. “Sorry, yours was better. I should’ve had something prepared.” I took another look at her dress and couldn’t help but smile ear to ear. “You look amazing though.”
“Thanks.” Fluttershy said bashfully, covering up her face with her hair. “So what do you have planned for…” Her voice became a squeaky whisper as she finished her sentence “our first date?”
“Uh…” AW CRUD I FORGOT TO MAKE PLANS FOR THE ACTUAL DATE. AAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!!! It’s fine I can totally save this! “Only the best possible thing that’s gonna blow your actually I’ve got nothing.” Or maybe not. “Look, I gotta be honest with you, Fluttershy… I was super nervous about this. I spent all day trying to be not nervous that I totally forgot to actually come up with something for us to do on our date.”
“That’s okay.” Fluttershy said with a warm smile. “I was really nervous too and I felt a little bad, like I shouldn’t be nervous to be hanging out with my best friend but I couldn’t help being a little worried like, what if I messed everything up and made her mad at me and she didn’t want to…” Fluttershy cleared her throat. “It’s not important, what I wanted to say was that hearing that you were nervous too makes me feel a lot better about being nervous. Because if a strong, brave pony like you was anxious about this, then maybe I’m not as silly as I thought for worrying.”
“Don’t ever feel bad about feeling bad, Fluttershy.” I said, lifting up her chin with my hoof. “You’re entitled to your feelings, no matter what they are. They are your feelings after all.”
“I know. Thank you, Rainbow.” Fluttershy giggled, the sweetest most precious sound in the whole universe. “So, since we don’t have any plans, do you want to just fly around under the moonlight? We’re a little overdressed, but it could be fun.”
“Heck yeah!” I said enthusiastically, jumping into the air.
Fluttershy and I flew up into the sky, floating around clouds and bathing in the soft moonlight. We didn’t really say anything to one another for a long time but we didn’t need to, I felt completely comfortable in her company and judging by the sweet smile on her face and the way she kept brushing against me and nuzzling her head against mine I’d say she felt the same way.
After what may have honestly been a couple hours just flying around all of Ponyville, we rested on top of a cloud and looked out onto the sky, the bright moon shining on us and bathing the dark night sky in a soft, pale glow.
“Hey Fluttershy…” I said, looking out onto the horizon.
“Yes, Rainbow Dash?” She replied, similarly looking toward the sky.
“I’m sorry… for being a jerk to you sometimes.” I said. “I’m sorry for losing my patience with you, and for getting frustrated when you don’t take to something the way I would take to it. You’re not me after all, you’re you, and I wouldn’t want you to be anypony else.”
“You know I forgive you, Rainbow.” She said softly. “And I’m sorry for sometimes being too much of a…”
“You don’t need to apologize, Fluttershy.” I interrupted.
Fluttershy remained quiet for a moment and I briefly looked over to her and saw her brushing tears off of her cheeks while smiling. “Thank you, Rainbow.” She said, getting close to me and resting her head on my shoulder. “You make me feel really strong, like I can do anything. When I’m with you I feel this… this power inside me. Knowing that you’ll be there to support me when I struggle, to celebrate me when I succeed and to comfort me when I fail… it means more than I could ever… ever even say with just words. It gives me the confidence to try new things I would normally be too scared to, or to do things I enjoy that I wouldn’t because I’d be scared of being judged or made fun of… you’re just… you’re so good for me, Rainbow. Thank you.”
“Honestly, Fluttershy…” I breathed deeply and looked into her eyes, nuzzling my nose against hers and gently placing my forehead against hers. “You make me feel the exact same way… sorry for cribbing your awesome speech though.”
“It’s okay.” Fluttershy giggled, happy tears falling from her face. I started laughing too and to my surprise I even starting crying a little myself.
“I love you!” I said happily, embracing Fluttershy in a fuzzy bear hug.
“I love you too!” She replied, happily reciprocating my hug.
We just squeezed each other until it felt like our spines were gonna give out and then we just looked at each other, all dressed up, sitting on a cloud cuz we didn’t make any plans and faces all muddled with tears, and we couldn’t help but laugh together.
Author's Note
Helooooo! It me! Everyone's favorite platinum coyote!
In my quest to write the most epic fantasy adventure ever conceived I realized an important truth: writing epic fantasy is really hard.
SO in order to keep my writing muscles flexed while working on my magnum opus (and by magnum opus I mean self-indulgent fantasy story that I want to make basically just to prove that I can) I'm gonna try posting a series of unconnected one-shots!
No set schedule or anything for when they'll be released, I'm just gonna work on 'em a little each day and post 'em when they're finished.
And this little gem is my first foray into the world of one-shot writing, and I think it's pretty good for a first attempt!
It definitely skews more toward dialogue and less toward descriptions, which is very on brand for me but I'm lookin' at some of these passages and thinking I could've probably been a little more descriptive of environments and character actions.
That said, I could look over my own work a thousand times and find a thousand new problems because that's just how I am.
The story is good! I need to not be such a perfectionist! Sheesh!
Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this cute little Flutterdash fluff, and I hope you tune in for my next tale! Take care! <3
