Rainbow Dash flinched as Fluttershy rubbed some sort of ointment onto a gash on her shoulder. The goo stung worse than the actual cut itself, but she managed to stay still as her caretaker tried to be as gentle as possible.
Fluttershy must have noticed her cringe, and quietly apologized. “Sorry... I should have warned you.”
Rainbow couldn’t help but start to regret choosing Fluttershy over an actual doctor. Sure, she was very capable and had a gentle touch, but she said sorry too often.
“Could you stretch your wings out for me, please?”
“He got my wings too?” Rainbow Dash groaned, but obediently stretched them out.
“No, he didn’t, I think. I’m just making sure there are no cuts that I missed.”
Well, that was a relief. At least one part of her body wasn’t scraped or bruised. Normally, she would know better than to get into a fight, and especially with Dumbbell, who was much bigger than her… but her temper had gotten the best of her. How could she have sat there and done nothing while he called her a lesbian, right in front of her? At this point, she wished she had just sat there, since she had gotten beat up…
“You know, he had lots of injuries too.”
Rainbow frowned. Fluttershy was too perceptive for her own good.
“This will all heal quickly, you’ll see.” Fluttershy had stopped ruffling Rainbow’s feathers to look for injuries, and moved so she was standing opposite her seated friend. “Would you like me to make us some dinner?” Rainbow Dash looked prepared to reject the invitation, so Fluttershy quickly added, “And then you can get going. I just want to make sure you’re up to getting yourself home.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Fine…”
She wasn't usually in such a terrible mood, but being beaten up and publicly humiliated was taking a toll on her. Fluttershy seemed happy to have the company though, and Dash didn't bother hiding a smile as she watched Fluttershy walk into the kitchen, a slight bounce in her step as she did.
Like most of her kind, Rainbow usually wore a type of shirt that lacked an upper back portion to it, so her wings weren't constricted, but the shirt had been removed so Fluttershy could properly tend to her wounds. All she had been wearing on her torso during Fluttershy's treatment was a strapless bra, and she was happy to put her shirt back on, despite the few dirt stains here and there.
“I hope you don't mind something vegetarian,” Fluttershy called from the kitchen as Rainbow finished the final clasp on the back of her shirt. “Oh, I know! I'll make you my vegetable minestrone soup.”
How could she have forgotten that Fluttershy didn't eat meat? She had already agreed to stay, so Dash held in her complaint as she walked into the kitchen, and tried to mask her distaste with an unenthusiastic, “Sounds good.” Vegetable whatever soup sounded far from good, but Fluttershy was already happily dicing up some tomatoes, humming away as she did.
Rainbow Dash pulled out a seat from the kitchen table and turned it around, sitting on it backwards as she watched Fluttershy get more vegetables from the fridge and start chopping them up.
“What song is that?”
“Hmm?”
“I mean, what are you humming?”
“Oh, it's not an actual song,” Fluttershy looked over her shoulder as she continued to chop veggies, which made Dash nervous. “I just made it up, since I like to hum while I cook.”
“You should probably watch the knife,” Rainbow pointed out, although it seemed like Fluttershy knew what she was doing. Regardless, Fluttershy smiled and looked back at the cutting board.
“Sweet of you to worry.”
“I wasn't worried,” Dash frowned, “Was just looking out for you. They did call you Klutzershy in school...”
Fluttershy laughed at that comment, and retorted with, “I wasn't the only one with a nickname, Rainbow Crash.”
Rainbow couldn't help but smile. Her mood was starting to brighten already, thanks to her friend.
The two continued to chat while Fluttershy cooked, and Rainbow found herself glad she had accepted the dinner invitation. Fluttershy had joined Rainbow at the table while the soup simmered, which was starting to smell delicious, despite it's lack of meat. It apparently had to simmer for half an hour, but talking with Fluttershy made her forget she was waiting on her food, and before she knew it, Fluttershy had placed a bowl in front of her.
Fluttershy took a seat at the other side of the table, and started blowing on her own steaming bowl of soup in an undeniably cute fashion. Rainbow smiled at how dainty her friend was. Well, how dainty she was most of the time. She did sometimes let slip another side of herself that Rainbow was unfamiliar with, and she wondered if there was some kind of battle for dominance going on inside Fluttershy’s mind, between the assertive, intimidating Fluttershy, and the sweet, kind Fluttershy that all of her friends knew and loved. That would be pretty awesome, now that she thought about it. What if that battle was raging right now? Whatever was going on in her friend’s head, it was a mystery!
“Um… Rainbow Dash? Why are you staring at me?”
Mystery solved, she was thinking, ‘Why is she staring at me?’
Rainbow turned her gaze to her soup, “No reason, I just zoned out.”
“Um… okay.” Fluttershy had turned a little red, but after a brief silence, pushed through the embarrassed feeling and tried to start up a conversation.
“Do you mind if I ask you something?”
Rainbow had started taking her first few sips of soup, but stopped to answer Fluttershy. “Yeah, sure.”
“Why did you and Dumbbell start fighting?”
“He called me a lesbian, and wouldn’t shut up about it. He had it coming, if you ask me...” Fluttershy looked like she suddenly felt uncomfortable, and Rainbow Dash didn’t quite understand why. “Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy placed her hands in her lap and looked at the table, across the room, at the floor… anywhere but at Rainbow.
“You… you think I’m a lesbian!”
“No, I don’t!”
Dash had already started to storm out of the kitchen, and Fluttershy quickly followed after her.
“Everyone thinks I like women!”
“I don’t think you like women, Dash! That’s the problem…” Fluttershy nervously averted her gaze as Rainbow turned on her.
“How is that a problem?”
“I-It isn't...”
Rainbow Dash turned around again and stomped her way out of Fluttershy's house, slamming the door behind her and rousing more than a few animals out of their hiding places in the process.
By the time Rainbow had reached her cloud home, the sun had almost disappeared, just barely peeking out across the horizon. She was still frustrated with the whole situation, and her heavy, less than graceful landing at her doorstep revealed that her mind was still focused on other things. She realized her accusation against Fluttershy had been a bit uncalled for, and the way she had acted afterwards was downright rude, but it wasn't entirely Rainbow's fault, was it? Fluttershy shouldn't have brought up the fight, or acted so.. strange.
Still, I shouldn't have yelled at her. And did I really need to slam the door?
Rainbow sighed as she made her way through her house, headed towards her room. She needed to sleep, that was all. She was exhausted and her body ached all over. Rest would definitely be a good thing.
She changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, then crawled into her cloud bed, but she didn't fall asleep right away. Rather, she tossed and turned for a while, her restless mind keeping her awake. Fluttershy was a sensitive little thing, what if Rainbow had really hurt her?
After a while of hard thinking, Dash sat up and got off her cloud, then started to put her shoes back on. She needed to apologize to Fluttershy, it was going to bug her all night if she didn't. Nothing fancy, just something simple should do the trick. Then she could get some rest.
She quickly made the trip back to Fluttershy's cottage, and ignoring the fact that it was in the middle of the night, she knocked on the door. “Fluttershy, you in there?” She called after a long pause. All the lights were off, it was entirely quiet... maybe she was asleep. Rainbow honestly wasn't aware of the time, but she needed to get this off of her conscience... but she didn't want to wake up her friend. With a sigh, she turned and started to walk away, but turned back around at the sound of the door opening. She was prepared to greet Fluttershy, until she saw that it wasn't her who had answered the door. “Angel?”
The little white rabbit was standing in the doorway, and gestured for Rainbow to come inside. “Thanks little guy,” She said as she walked by him, closing the door behind her.
There was no sign of Fluttershy in this room or the kitchen, so Rainbow assumed she was asleep. She stood there for a moment, deciding if she should wake her up or not... but she eventually decided it wasn't important enough to interrupt Fluttershy's rest.
She tried to take a step back towards the door, but her foot didn't lift all the way, and she tumbled forward, landing flat on her face. “What the hell?” She flipped over onto her back to see what had happened to her feet, and quickly figured out the problem. Her shoelaces had been tied together, and there was Angel, looking resentful. “You little...!” Rainbow Dash scrambled for him, but he quickly ran out of her reach and into one of the miniature houses built around the cottage. So, instead of giving chase, she sighed and started to fix her laces.
“Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow looked up to see Fluttershy standing at the top of the stairs, wearing a robe, and apparently nothing else, seeing as her legs were exposed up to the middle of her thighs. Rainbow had forgotten her friend slept naked, something she only knew from waking up Fluttershy last cider season.
“Oh... hey.” Was all she could say at first. “I, um... Angel let me in.”
“Ah, okay...”
Rainbow realized that didn't explain much. “I guess you were asleep...”
“I was.”
Coming inside was a really bad idea. Looking at Fluttershy jumbled her thoughts, for whatever reason, and she felt bad about waking her up.
“You want to talk upstairs?” Fluttershy finally asked, since Dash didn't seem keen on breaking the silence. “The animals in here are probably trying to sleep.”
Rainbow nodded and got to her feet, then followed her friend up the stairs and into her room. The moonlight coming through the window illuminated the room enough for her to see Fluttershy fairly well as she sat at the edge of the bed. Rainbow stayed by the door.
“I'm really sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have yelled at you, I just had a rough day.” Apologies weren't her thing, but she thought that was a pretty good try. Fluttershy, however, didn't react, looking at the floor rather than at Rainbow. “Uh... Shy?”
“I thought you were really angry...” She sounded like she was about to cry, so Rainbow instinctively went over and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her friend as she did.
“I'm not mad. I feel really bad about how I acted. I was just pissed at the whole day, and took it out on you...” Fluttershy still looked at the edge of tears, so Rainbow continued to try and comfort her, “C'mon Fluttershy, don't cry!” She playfully poked her in the side, and Fluttershy jumped and squeaked. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, and Fluttershy merely gave the most innocent smile she could manage.
“Fluttershy, are you ticklish?”
“N-no!”
Rainbow Dash smirked, and Fluttershy shrank away, inching towards the opposite end of the bed. Before she could get very far, Rainbow had pounced, eliciting a surprised shriek from her friend as she started to tickle her. “Rainbow!” Fluttershy fell back onto the bed, but Rainbow didn't stop her attack as Fluttershy writhed and laughed uncontrollably. Rainbow was laughing hard as well, amused at how easily her friend was set off. Even through her robe, she was extremely ticklish. Rainbow was propped up on her knees, leaning over Fluttershy, who managed to get out a few words between her laughter and gasps for breath. “Rainbow, stop, please!”
“Nah, this is hilarious,” Dash chuckled, and kept at it, until she realized that Fluttershy's squirming had caused the bottom of her robe to roll up a little and show more skin, and her chest was now partially exposed since the robe had opened slightly. Upon noticing this, Rainbow froze. She was partially mortified, and partially mesmerized as she looked down at Fluttershy, who was panting from all the tickling. Her eyes first fell on her legs, which looked soft and smooth. Her stare moved up her body, noting Fluttershy had pretty large hips and breasts, and had something of an hour glass figure, although she never showed it off with tight or revealing clothes. Rainbow's chest was rising and falling practically as fast as Fluttershy's, although Rainbow hadn't been the one tickled, so she really didn't have an excuse like her friend did.
Fluttershy was attractive, to say the least... and as Dash finally looked up at the face of the woman beneath her, she saw that she was watching Rainbow and blushing, yet making no attempt to cover herself.
“I...” Rainbow finally pulled her gaze away from Fluttershy, and got off the bed. “I should go.”
She didn't turn to look at Fluttershy again, scared of what might happen. She started towards the door, and almost made it, but was suddenly pulled back by her wings and flung onto the bed with a startled, “Oof!”
“Dash,” Fluttershy was standing at the side of the bed, sliding off her robe, exposing herself entirely. “I've been waiting years for you to want me,” She got onto the bed and crawled towards Dash, who was scooting away, and finally backed herself up against the bed frame. “And the way you just looked at me...” Rainbow opened her mouth to defend herself, but Fluttershy cut her off. “You aren't going to chicken out and ruin it!”
“Look, Fluttershy, let's talk about this.”
Fluttershy's cheeks were still red, but she didn't seem to have any qualms about her up-front advances. She had crawled her way up the bed, so she was now beside Dash, an arm on either side of her.
This whole thing happened so suddenly, Rainbow was entirely taken off guard, and had no clue what to do. Sit here? Make a run for it? Try to reason with Fluttershy?
Put an arm around her?
… Kiss her?
No, Dash, pull it together!
Romance had never appealed to her, it always struck her as boring, something that was meant for more sentimental people. She was daring, loved excitement and challenges... Lovey-dovey nonsense didn't exactly fit that criteria. Or at least, she had always assumed it didn't, but her loudly pounding heart insisted it was as exciting and challenging as any flying stunt she had performed.
The truth was, this was her first romantic encounter. She always fervently denied any interest in women, and her personality clashed too much with most men to even consider any of them as a significant other. She hadn't really given it any thought...
“Fluttershy, I've never even kissed anyone before, let alone...” Fluttershy's arm wrap around her, and she started to undo her tank top. “Let alone...”
“That doesn't matter to me,” Fluttershy's voice had gotten less forceful, but her hand continued to slide off Rainbow's top. Once it was off, she set it aside and ran a hand down her bare torso. Rainbow looked down at herself, as if she hadn't seen her own topless body before. She was rather flat when it came to bust size, but she liked it that way; she felt more aerodynamic. Her skin was lightly tanned, unlike Fluttershy's slightly more pale skin tone, and Rainbow had a more defined abdomen as well.
“I know you get nervous sometimes, but there's nothing to worry about.” Fluttershy's voice sounded more like a purr. “You're like a baby bird, Dash. You just need a little push, and you'll be flying in no time.”
“I already know how to fly,” Rainbow knew that wasn't what she had meant, but said it anyway, for lack of a better response.
Fluttershy leaned towards Dash, moving so her lips were close to her ear, and whispered, “Not the way I do it.”
Her voice was soft and sultry, it gave Dash chills. Fluttershy leaned away again, to admire Dash's toplessness, and returned to running her hand across her stomach and chest. Her touch made it hard to focus, but Rainbow wanted to figure out this whole situation.
“Can we please talk about this, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy's hand stopped on her stomach, and she finally looked up at Rainbow, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, Fluttershy tried to prompt her to speak with a simple, “I'm listening.”
“Well, it's just... you don't-” Her voice cracked, so Dash cleared her throat and tried to continue. “You don't usually act like this.”
“I don't usually feel like this...” Fluttershy smiled a little and added, “I feel... confident. Brave. Like a different woman.”
In any other situation, Rainbow Dash might have encouraged Fluttershy to be a bit more confident in herself, but... this? Seducing her? No, she had to shut this down. Rainbow Dash needed to find confidence as well, and tell her that there was no way this was going to happen. Why couldn't she say just that?
“Fluttershy, there's no way this is going to happen.” There, piece of cake. Rainbow was glad, Fluttershy looked like she finally got the message, although she was hard to read. She removed her hand, which was a good sign... until she leaned in to Rainbow's neck and kissed it, very gently, so her lips just barely touched her skin. Rainbow didn't move, kept her arms at her side as the delicate kisses started to slowly move up her neck, then along her jawline, and finally, her lips were hovering over Dash's.
Fluttershy was hesitating, practically taunting Dash, daring her to make the next move. Yet here she was, cowering against the headboard, nervous and uncomfortable. For Celestia's sake, what was she doing? It wasn't like her to act so uncertain when she was out of her element... and it definitely wasn't like her to be so submissive, no matter the situation. She followed her gut feeling, her instincts, and right now... her instincts were telling her to take hold of the problem at hand. She wanted this just as badly as Fluttershy, why was she fighting it so adamantly?
Rainbow pushed off of the headboard, connecting her and Fluttershy's lips rather forcefully, as well as suddenly flipping Fluttershy onto her back and moving so she was on top of her. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise, but it was only barely audible.
The kiss lost it's fierce nature rather quickly, and became more passionate than aggressive. Fluttershy wrapped her arms around Dash's neck, as Dash got a feel of Fluttershy's body with one hand while the other propped her up. She managed to kick off her shoes, but wiggling out of her sweatpants without the use of her hands proved to be too difficult, so she left them on. She loved how warm Fluttershy felt, though she guessed she didn't always feel that way... it gave her a small sense of accomplishment. Fluttershy was aroused, and her body was reacting to it, all because of her.
By the time she pulled away for air, Dash was well acquainted with Fluttershy's upper body, and the two were panting, yet they exchanged a smile. Dash's stare wandered across Fluttershy's body again as she caught her breath, and she found the anxiety returning as she looked down at her legs. She quickly told herself to calm down.
“I love you, Rainbow Dash.”
Dash glanced up again, and there was a silence, during which she knew she should be reciprocating Fluttershy's statement, but found herself unwilling to say anything. Instead, she leaned down and kissed her again, trying to convey her message physically. That was just as good, right?
Fluttershy didn't seem to mind the lack of a vocal response. Now that she seemed to have the position of power, Dash felt inclined to take things further. She broke the kiss, so she could get a good look at Fluttershy's expression as she placed a hand on her inner thigh. She looked a little nervous, but more than anything, her partner seemed like she was eagerly anticipating the next move. For a moment, Dash started to wonder exactly how long Fluttershy had been wanting this... but rather than give it more thought, she decided not to keep her waiting any longer.
Living out in the country, Applejack usually encountered her fair share of creatures, but never were they as friendly as the ones found around Fluttershy's cottage. As she set down the wheelbarrow of apples she had been pushing, two squirrels ran over to her and sniffed her boot, and she noticed a badger watching her curiously from a short distance away. A few birds that had been perched in nearby trees even made their way to lower branches and sent several greeting twitters in her direction. Applejack returned the gesture with a simple nod and tilt of the hat, then went to go knock on Fluttershy's door, sending the furry boot-sniffers scurrying off.
A minute or so passed with no sound from inside the cottage, so she knocked again, but this time the response was immediate.
“Just a moment!”
Fluttershy sounded a bit flustered, but Applejack didn't give it much thought. After all, she did take care of quite a few animals, and it was hard to believe she never got stressed out by them.
After another small wait, the door finally opened. Fluttershy looked as she normally did, except...
“What in tarnation happened to your hair?”
Confused, Fluttershy reached up a hand and found that the back of her hair was a complete mess.
“Oh... well...” There was a quiet crunching coming from the corner of the room, and when Fluttershy looked over, she spotted Angel eating a carrot. “It was Angel. He was throwing a bit of a tantrum, and thought hair pulling would get him his way.”
A half chewed carrot suddenly hit Fluttershy in the side of the head. “He's been really tempermental lately...”
Applejack snickered, “Ah just don't get why ya don't train that little fella...” She decided not to question her pet owning tactics further though, and resigned to a shrug. “Well, Ah've got some apples for ya- you wanted a lot of em, for your critters, right?”
“Oh, yes, I did. I had forgotten about that... let me just grab some money- exactly how much is it?”
Applejack shook her head, “You've helped out on the farm enough, and I've never really repaid you for it. Granny agreed, don't worry about payin' for this batch.”
Fluttershy looked surprised for a moment, “That's so nice of you.. thank you, really.”
“Nah, no problem. I'll pick up the wheelbarrow tomorrow... Good luck with your bratty bunny.”
Applejack started off, and Fluttershy stepped back inside, closing the door after her. She was receiving an intense glare from the little white rabbit in the corner. “Sorry about that... I had to.”
Angel simply rolled his eyes, not expressing the least bit of sympathy, but Fluttershy didn't dwell on it. Instead, she started up the stairs to her bedroom. As soon as she entered, she was greeted by the laughter of Rainbow Dash.
“That was great...” She had been sitting on the edge of Fluttershy's bed, wearing only a bra on her upper body, though she was still wearing a pair of jeans. “Your sex hair almost gave you away!”
Fluttershy smiled a little as she went to sit beside Dash, trying to smooth out her hair as she did.
“That won't work, Shy... I've heard the only way to get rid of sex hair is to have sex again.” With a smirk on her face, Dash had turned so she was sitting on her knees, facing Fluttershy, and was now leaning in to her neck. “It cancels out the messed up hair from before, and it looks perfect afterwards.”
After a few kisses and soft bites, Dash started to lean against Fluttershy, trying to get her to lay down, though she wasn't cooperating.
“That was a bit close...”
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash leaned away from her, and finally noticed that Fluttershy looked troubled. “What was close...? That thing with Applejack?”
Fluttershy nodded, and Rainbow looked confused. “Did she even come inside? I mean... even if she had, I was ready to jump in the closet.”
“Well... yesterday it was Twilight, coming to pick up some bird feed, remember? And today it was Applejack... I just don't know why you have to hide from them... or why I had to lie. I don't think they would care...”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Right, they'd totally understand. We could just tell them, 'Hey, we've been screwing each other's brains out for a while, and we don't see why it has to be a secret, so... ta-da!'”
Fluttershy shook her head, “Of course we wouldn't say it like that... You've been over here almost every day for two weeks, and...” Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, looking down at her lap, and Dash was looking impatient. “We are a couple, aren't we? They would understand that.”
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash stood, scooping up her shirt from the floor. “I knew you were going to do this!”
Fluttershy was clearly confused by Rainbow Dash's outburst, but instead of explaining her anger, Dash turned so her back was to Fluttershy and started putting her shirt back on.
“... What did I do?”
“Trying to make this whole thing official, and wanting to tell everyone? My reputation would be ruined! Besides... we aren't a couple, so there's nothing to tell. I mean, think about it, Fluttershy... maybe I just come over here for a good time.” She had finished buttoning her shirt, and finally turned to look at Fluttershy, although she immediately wished she hadn't. She was staring down at the floor, and it was obvious she was tremendously hurt by what Rainbow Dash had said. She looked more like she had just received a slap to the face, rather than having just been told she was being taken advantage of.
For a moment, Rainbow Dash felt an unexpected pang of guilt, but quickly remembered she was supposed to be angry. Ignoring her suddenly overactive conscience, she stormed out of the bedroom, and as she left, Fluttershy dropped her head into her hands.
A few minutes passed. Dash was long gone, she had flown off at top speeds as soon as she had reached the front door, yet Fluttershy was still resisting the inevitable tears. The past two weeks, Fluttershy had felt stronger, bolder, more confident...it was hard to believe one person could change so much about her, and do it so quickly. It seemed unreal...
Well, it was unreal. Nothing about this had been real. It was a prolonged one night stand that she had fooled herself into believing was something more. Fluttershy loved Dash, she had said it a few times, in fact...
Recounting the various I love you's, Fluttershy remembered something she had overlooked, and muttered quietly, “She... never said it back.”
Finally, Fluttershy burst into tears. There was no building up of any kind, she was sobbing almost instantly. Her realization hit full force, and at this point, she was sure this heartache was her own fault, and could have been avoiding had she not been blinded by love and lust.
She hadn't noticed the dozen or so birds that had flown in through the open window, or the various furry creatures that had made their way up the stairs and into the bedroom. Angel had managed to climb onto the bed with the help of a raccoon, and prodded Fluttershy in the side as a few more birds landed on the windowsill.
Looking around at the crowd that had accumulated, Fluttershy tried her best to put on a smile. “Thank you, I appreciate the concern... I'll be fine.” The halfhearted smile faded, and Fluttershy gave Angel a pat on the head as she added, “I think I just need some time alone.”
Angel nodded vigorously and hopped off of the bed so he could properly shoo the animals out of the room. The birds took the hint and flew off, several of them teaming up to close the window behind them.
As soon as the room was cleared, and Angel had shut the door to Fluttershy's bedroom, he raced down the stairs and darted out the front door, headed towards town as fast as his paws could carry him.
