Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash walked mostly in silence the whole way to Fluttershy’s home, a fact that Fluttershy was rather thankful for, as she was still really overwhelmed and needed some time to breathe before she talked about the whole Bifrost… thing.

As they reached the place Fluttershy called home— a sad, dark, and lonely building that could only generously be called a ‘house’ and was much more like a shack— Fluttershy walked up the steps of the porch, but as she reached for the doorknob, she hesitated.

If Fluttershy were being entirely honest with herself, she wouldn’t be able to deny that she had an amazing night. Even with the scary stuff that happened, Rainbow was so kind to her, and even fighting alongside her felt liberating, somehow.

“So, hey, uhh—” Rainbow cleared her throat, standing at the bottom of the three steps that led to Fluttershy’s front door. “What do you uh— what do—”

Rainbow sighed and Fluttershy adorned a strained smile as she waited for Rainbow to figure out what she wanted to say. Fluttershy found it kind of adorable the way Rainbow was fumbling her words; it reminded Fluttershy of herself, made her feel less like a stupid loser who couldn’t do anything right if even someone as brave as Rainbow stuttered sometimes.

“I’ll just cut right to it,” Rainbow said, releasing her breath in a quick, sharp exhale. “I know you got your own invitation to Bifrost, but I want—” Rainbow shook her head, ruffled her hair and then, to Fluttershy’s shock, bowed her head. “Please join my team, Fluttershy. I would really like to have you on it.”

“Wh-what?!” Fluttershy’s shock at Rainbow bowing was nothing compared to the shock those words gave her. “Why me? Why would you— why would you want someone like me on your team?” Fluttershy wasn’t a very good fighter, she wasn’t reliable or strong, and she was kind of a downer. She had no idea what Rainbow could possibly have been thinking.

“You’re amazing, Fluttershy.”

Rainbow said those words like it was nothing, like she was just stating an obvious fact. But to Fluttershy, nothing could have prepared her for them. She swore her face must have turned cherry red at those words and she wouldn’t have been surprised if her face was still red the next day.

“That power you have,” Rainbow continued, “I dunno what you did or how you did it, but it was incredible! But even more than that, you had the guts to throw yourself into the fight between me and Gilda. Power is one thing, a lot of ponies have power, not everyone has the guts that you showed me tonight. And that’s why I want you on my team.”

Fluttershy was speechless. She stood there trembling, not sure of what to say or how to even begin to say it.

“And honestly, it’s even more than that,” Rainbow sighed, a coy smile on her face. “You’re kind, you’re fun, you’re funny,” Rainbow laughed softly and looked up at Fluttershy, smiling brightly, “I could really use someone like you on my team.”

“I— I don’t know what to say,” hearing Rainbow gushing all that praise, all of it for her of all ponies, she couldn’t— she didn’t—

“I’m not gonna twist your leg or anything,” Rainbow batted her hoof dismissively. “It’s not my style to force people into stuff, you’re free to live your life however you wanna live it. And you don’t have to decide anything right now.”

Rainbow turned to leave and walked a few steps down the paved path back into the road, taking a deep breath and releasing it with a tense sigh.

“I’m leaving tomorrow on the eight o’clock morning train,” Rainbow said, turning back to Fluttershy with a bright smile. “If you wanna join my team, meet me at the station. If not-” Rainbow shrugged but she was still smiling “-then hopefully I’ll see you as a rival. Later, Fluttershy.”

With one last wave goodbye, Rainbow was on her way, leaving Fluttershy alone in the dark on the porch of an empty home. No one was waiting for her inside— no, nothing was waiting for her. And not just ‘no thing’, but nothing. Emptiness. Oblivion, almost.

Maybe that’s overdramatic.

But…

Fluttershy stared at the golden envelope that she’d tucked into her wings, and saw an opportunity to change her life forever, for better or worse.

She didn’t like fighting— no, she hated fighting. She hated conflict of any kind, but she couldn’t stop her mind from flashing between the sad thoughts of her eating alone in her dark house all by herself, wishing for somepony to keep her company, and the kind words Rainbow Dash piled onto her all throughout the night.

You’re amazing, Fluttershy!

You’re kind, you’re fun.

You’ve got guts!

…

…

Fluttershy opened the door to her home, headed straight to the dark, empty bedroom and threw herself into the bed. She buried herself under the covers and tried to clear her mind to sleep.

After all, she needed to be up before eight o’clock tomorrow.

Author's Note

Please feel free to alert me to any typos or errors.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.