Mating Dances

by TigerCat111

Rating: teen
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Romance, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Profanity, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 3638

Rainbow Dash has been acting strange. Very strange. But why only around Twilight Sparkle?

Rainbow Dash has been acting strange lately--and not the "I've been hanging around Pinkie for most of the week, she's just rubbing off on me" strange. After all, Pinkie Pie doesn't build sheds at random and strut around like a peacock.

After finally noticing this odd behavior, Twilight enlists the help of Rainbow's oldest friend, Fluttershy, for answers. What follows is not what she expects. At all.

----------------

Takes place between Seasons 4 & 5.

Profanity tag for Fluttershy swearing :rainbowlaugh:

Now with an Audio Reading!!

Published 2020-06-06 17:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-06-06 17:10:01 UTC

And Sheds for All

Fluttershy sat patiently on her sofa, waiting for her friend to arrive.

She had managed to convince most of the animals to go outside, save a few nocturnal ones who preferred the indoors to rest and some smaller rodents who didn't want to leave their burrows. Oh, and a napping Angel Bunny, who was currently snuggled up under her wing.

She was startled out of her wits when a flash of violet exploded into her room; it dimmed away to reveal Twilight, who looked extremely frustrated.

Upon noticing the startled Pegasus, she gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Fluttershy," She apologized. "I'm still not used to the new castle, and there are a lot of rooms...to get lost in..."

Regaining her composure--and checking to make sure Angel hadn't been woken up--Fluttershy gave a nod.

"It's alright, Twilight... would you like some tea?"

Climbing onto the extra seat on the sofa, Twilight nodded, smiling.

"That would be great, Fluttershy. Wandering around that castle can sure work up a thirst."

After pouring her friend some tea and refilling her own cup, Fluttershy turned to Twilight once more.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about...?"

Upon remembering why she was here, Twilight gently set her cup down.

"Right, that. It's...well, it's about Rainbow Dash."

The yellow Pegasus felt a bit of worry swell in her stomach, but did her best to hide it.

"Is everything alright? She's not hurt, is she?"

Twilight hurriedly held up a hoof.

"No no no, nothing like that. She's just been acting...strange."

"Has she been spending too much time with Pinkie again?"

"Not that kind of strange, Fluttershy." Twilight replied, sipping some tea again. "It's...well, it's kind of hard to explain..."

A thought suddenly came to the Pegasus, having a good idea of where this was going.

*Ah, buck. Twilight must have noticed...*

Such seemed to be the case, as Twilight continued speaking.

"Well, I actually noticed it a while ago, but I tried to pass it off as Rainbow being...well, Rainbow, but she seems to get worse and worse every day!"

Fluttershy nodded along, her calm demeanor completely masking her thoughts.

*Rainbow, you absolute bucking moron. I warned you about this. I told you to be straightforward with her, and what do you do? Decide to be a bucking dumbass, that's what. Let's see what centaurshit you pulled this time...*

"Well, um, what kind of things has she been doing?" She asked innocently.

"Well, it started with strutting," Twilight replied, going into thought. "Rainbow's always had this...'cockiness' to the way she walks when she's not flying, but lately she's been full on strutting. I think she said something about showing off her fabulous legs or something..."

*Dumbass. Your legs aren't even muscular or sleek. Rarity and Applejack's legs are ten times better than yours any day.* "Well...maybe Rarity's been rubbing off on her?"

Twilight shook her head.

"I highly doubt that. Those two rarely spend time alone together. And even still, that's not even the weirdest thing."

"Oh?"

The lavender Alicorn nodded again.

"Her flying's been weird, too. She's been doing these fancy tricks when she's just taking a regular flight! Or, well, at least when we're flying together..."

*Twilight. You're a Princess. Probably the smartest one. You don't need me for this.*

"Twilight, if that's all--"

"Oh, no no no," Twilight cut her off, shaking her head. "Those are just the little things."

"Little things...?"

Another nod, and a sip of tea.

"I should probably start a couple weeks ago, when I first started noticing..."

Rainbow Dash strutted into the castle library, head held high.

"Hey Twi!! You in here?"

"Just a moment!!" The other mare's voice rang out from deeper in.

Rainbow tapped her hoof impatiently, looking around.

Twilight eventually came around the corner, looking a bit frazzled.

"Oh, hey Rainbow!" She beamed, trotting over to the Pegasus. "What brings you here? I thought you had weather duty today?"

"I did, but they changed the forecast last minute." She rolled her eyes. "Apparently there weren't enough rainclouds for a storm in Manehattan, so we had to give all of Ponyville and Fillydephia's to them. All we had was mildly cloudy today and tomorrow though, so now it's just sunny skies all week!"

Twilight smiled at that.

"Well, that's nice, Rain..."

She trailed off as her gaze landed upon Rainbow's wings.

Rainbow poked her nose, trying to get the Alicorn's attention again.

"Uh, Twi? You good?"

"Have your wings always been that fluffy, Rainbow Dash?"

The Pegasus' ears perked forward at that.

"Huh?"

"Your wings. They seem...a lot fluffier than usual."

A grin that seemed just a little too excited spread on her face.

"Oh, you noticed, huh? Yeah, It's a new thing I'm trying. Guys usually do it around this time of year, but I figured I could totally rock the look, y'know?"

Twilight nodded absentmindedly.

"So, ya dig? You look like ya dig."

Snapping out of it, the lavender mare gave her head a slight shake.

"Sorry, Rainbow. It just..."

The Pegasus tilted her head to the side.

"What? Not diggin' it?"

"Whatever that means, it sounds weird."

That earned an eye roll.

"You like it or not, Twi?"

"Oh! Well, that depends."

"Uh...on what?"

Twilight leaned in; Rainbow copied the gesture, grin forming on her snout.

As her eyes drifted closed...

"Can you teach me to do that? They look extremely comfortable."

Rainbow's eyes snapped back open.

"Huh?"

"Dash, they look like pillows," Twilight stated, pointing at the other's wings. "I really, really like soft pillows."

"Uhh..."

"Oh, I think I've seen birds do that before, actually!! Is it to protect their young or for warmth? Wait--Rainbow, are you preg--"

The cyan Pegasus leaped back, reeling.

"I AM NOT PREGNANT!! TWI, YOU--I--WHAT THE BUCK?!"

The Alicorn took a step back.

"Pegasi tend to have bird-like qualities," she replied matter-of-factly, "and as I'm still getting used to being part Pegasus, I don't know how my body may adjust for more...ahem...maternal matters. So, about the pregnancy--"

Rainbow Dash, however, had gone zooming out shortly after Twilight had stepped away.

Fluttershy stared at her.

*What kind of dumbass asks something like that? No, wait, what idiot thinks somepony wants to kiss without even saying anything even remotely about it?*

"Um...Twilight?"

"Hm?"

"Why would you ask Rainbow something like that? That can be kind of...personal for some mares..."

Twilight shook her head.

"I know. I realized after and tried to apologize, but she blew me off and said not to talk about it."

Fluttershy gave a grim nod.

"That sounds best, for both of your sakes..."

"I agree. Besides, that wasn't the weirdest thing, anyways."

Fluttershy calmly poured herself some more tea.

*The buck she do next?*

"Well, what else has she been doing...?"

Twilight ruffled her feathers as she thought.

"Well, you know how we've been going on flights together? To help me get more experience?"

A nod from Fluttershy.

*Read a bucking romance novel, Twilight. Anypony can see that it's not about the flying.*

"And you remember what I said earlier about the tricks, right?"

Another nod.

"Well, about a week ago..."

Twilight followed Rainbow up to a cloud, sitting on it once they reached it.

"So, you wanted to show me some tricks today?" She asked, curious.

"Uh-huh!!'' Rainbow confidently replied, hovering above her. "You've been doing pretty good with your flying lately, so I figured you deserved a little reward!!"

"By...watching you do tricks?"

"Not just any tricks, Egghead," She replied with an eye roll. "These are some fancy moves passed down in my family for generations!!"

That piqued the Alicorn's interest.

"Oh?"

"Uh-huh!! Now, I'm not gonna lie, usually the guys did it--it's, uh, passed down on my dad's side--but I've been practicing a while, and since I'm an only child it's pretty important I keep the tradition alive, y'know?"

Twilight beamed at her.

"I am so touched you're sharing this with me, Rainbow! The fact that you're keeping your family tradition alive despite your gender is so sweet of you!"

Rainbow chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head and looking away so Twilight couldn't see the red on her face.

"Hehe...yeah..."

She gave Twilight a pat on the head.

"Now you just sit there and look pretty while I show you my awesome moves!!"

Twilight fixed her mane again whilst Rainbow shot up into the sky.

Once sure she was watching, the cyan Pegasus gracefully floated down, wings out, caught on the wind.

She gently did several loops in the air, gradually gaining speed; soon she was just a blur of rainbow, spinning across the sky.

Twilight was transfixed by the gracefulness her friend was displaying--

"CA-CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!"

Twilight jumped back at the sound of a dying eagle screaming.

Rainbow shot up into the air, then back down, then straight at her.

Twilight shrieked, spreading her wings to fly off; however, Rainbow diverted course last second, flying in speedy circles around the cloud.

Sounds of dying birds assaulted the poor mare's ears; Twilight covered them, wincing.

Rainbow shot into the sky yet again; this time, she snapped her wings shut, plummeting to the ground.

Twilight screamed, activating her magic; however, her rainbow-maned friend opened her wings at the last second, shooting at Twilight at breakneck speed.

The Alicorn screamed again, losing her grip on her magic; she scrambled back, opening her wings.

Rainbow proceeded to stop in front of Twilight, then dive around her; all she could see were wings, assaulting her vision and sense of smell.

When the cyan Pegasus flew away again, Twilight coughed up a blue feather.

The dying birds returned; when the purple mare looked up, her jaw dropped.

Rainbow seemed to be doing a mix of twerking and thrusting, fully showing off both sets of her privates.

Red spread across the Alicorn's face; she wanted so badly to cover her eyes, but couldn't move her hooves.

Rainbow proceeded to do a flip, shooting up into the air one last time.

She finished her show with a Rainboom; colors burst out across the sky, but Twilight barely noticed.

Rainbow slowly descended, panting and sweating.

"So, Twi...whadja...whadja think? The Rainboom was my own little touch, cause--*wheeze*--at the end, it's tradition to do your own little thing for the--*wheeze*--big finish."

The wheezing Pegasus waited patiently; Twilight's jaw twitched, but she made no movement, nor did she speak.

Rainbow gave a breathless laugh.

"You're...haha...speachless. I--*wheeze*--knew you'd love it."

She then collapsed on the cloud, snoring.

Fluttershy's mouth sat agape.

*She did the dance. She did the bucking dance.*

"I know. That's...that was my reaction."

Fluttershy sighed.

*Faust, Dash...way too soon.*

"Oh my..."

Angel fidgeted under Fluttershy's wing; she pulled him closer, lulling him back to sleep.

"Twilight, I--"

"And then there's what she did yesterday--"

Fluttershy sighed.

"What did she do now?"

Twilight looked her dead in the eyes.

"She built me a shed."

The yellow Pegasus stared at her.

"She...built you a..."

"A shed. She built me a shed."

Fluttershy's lips twitched, but no words came.

"I know. Spike said he saw something weird out there the past week, but I didn't really pay any attention because--well, who goes behind the castle?"

Fluttershy pursed her lips.

*Assassins, idiot. You're going to get assassinated and never see it coming.*

"But apparently, he was right..."

The doors to the castle came flying open from the force of Rainbow's buck, slamming against the adjacent walls with a THUD that echoed across the castle.

The sweating mare strutted through the halls, doing the same to the library doors.

...Unfortunately, the doors inside the castle were a lot weaker than the ones going into the castle; thus, Twilight had to duck when the right one came flying at her.

Jumping back up, the Alicorn spread her wings and charged her horn, only to calm when no imminent threat presented itself.

However, she scowled when she realized that it was just Rainbow Dash causing collateral damage.

"Rainbow Dash!!"

"Hey Twi!!" The Pegasus strutted over. "I got you a present!!"

"Is it a new door, by any chance?!" She snapped back, annoyed.

"Pfft, nah!! Well, it has a door on it, but that's not the present!"

She grabbed Twilight's hoof, dragging her off.

The purple mare attempted to protest, but was dragged outside
and to the back of the castle before she could be heard.

"Ta-da!!" Rainbow flew over to the wooden construct, throwing her hooves out for emphasis. "I built you a shed!!"

Indeed, a shed stood in front of Twilight; it was at least six feet tall, made out of strong oak, and sloppily painted, the streaks of blue and purple not covering all of the brown from the wood and clashing with each other.

"I even painted it to look like your castle!" She boasted proudly, beating her chest triumphantly.

Twilight stared.

"Um..."

"And it's not just any shed, either!!"

She flew down, ripping the door open; it slammed to the side, nearly coming off of its hinges.

The inside was covered in hay, rising up to fill almost half the shed.

"It's a Nesting Shed!"

Twilight eventually found her words.

"Nesting Shed...?"

"Yeah!! You can come on out here if you're stressed or tired, and chillax on the hay!! It's like a nest, but for ponies!!"

She smirked, holding her head high.

"It only took me, like, a week to build, but I finally finished it!! No need to thank me, I know you love it."

Twilight pursed her lips.

Rainbow frowned.

"What? What's wrong?"

Twilight turned her head, looking up at the massive, room-filled castle behind them.

Realization dawned on Rainbow after a moment, making her facehoof.

"Ah, buck."

Twilight shook her head.

"And that's when I decided to come talk to you, because you know her best, and this strange behavior is starting to worry..."

She trailed off upon realizing her other Pegasus friend had slowly risen off the couch, placed the snoozing Angel on her back, and walked over to her bookshelf.

The yellow mare looked through her books before settling on one, pulling it out and carrying it to Twilight.

She handed it over.

Twilight read the title.

"Bird Behaviors 101...?"

"Read Chapter Seven." Fluttershy calmly commanded.

Twilight flipped the book open, finding the chapter and beginning to read.

The further she progressed, the more realization dawned on her.

Upon finishing the chapter, she looked up at Fluttershy again; silent, but enlightened.

"Pegasi have bird-like tendencies," the Pegasus softly began. "And because of that, we have traditions that stem from even the first generations."

She gently sat down, cradling Angel in her wings.

"For birds, the males do all the courtship rituals," She continued. "They tend to be more colorful, to attract mates, while females are duller to protect the young and blend in with their surroundings."

She looked at Twilight again.

"That fact is reversed for ponies. We have the female/male ratio--"

"One male in every seven females," Twilight affirmed.

Fluttershy nodded.

"That's right. And female ponies are more colorful than males. So, around this time of year, male Pegasi try to attract females in different ways with courtship rituals, before they get snapped up by other males or females."

She gently pet Angel's head.

"They usually start with the basics--fancy walking and puffing out their feathers. We Pegasi have an affinity for clouds, so it's nice when your mate has soft fur or feathers to snuggle up to."

Twilight's mind flashed back to the first incident with Rainbow.

"After they scout potential mates that way, they can do different other courtship rituals to see if they're still interested. One is the courtship dance--every family has one, passed down through the generations. Most families join theirs together when they marry, which can be done in a special ceremony at weddings."

She looked Twilight dead in the eyes.

"If you see Zephyr spreading his wings and screaming like a hawk in public, kick him in the balls immediately."

Twilight was taken aback by her friend's tone, but nodded nonetheless.

Fluttershy continued as if nothing had happened.

"Of course, in some cases, a family only has female children--such as Dashie's family. So they try and keep the traditions alive. And, in similar cases, they do it for mares, rather than stallions. Like I said about the gender ratio earlier."

Twilight nodded again, stunned.

"So, that day, with the weird tricks she was doing..."

"Her family's courtship dance. Please don't be too upset with her, things like thrusting are usually attractive to Pegasi whenever males are doing it."

The slightly nauseous Alicorn nodded.

"Another ritual is nest building, where we build things like sheds or small houses for our potential mates. Some Pegasi do unconventional things, like pools or business buildings to be extra impressive. You're just lucky Rainbow stuck to a shed, because anything else would probably have landed you both in the Mayor's office right about now."

Fluttershy giggled, but Twilight was too distracted to find humor in her statement.

"So...Rainbow..."

The yellow mare nodded.

"She loves you, Twilight. She wouldn't be trying so hard if she didn't."

Twilight went quiet again.

Slowly, she stood, ruffling her feathers.

"Well, thank you, Fluttershy...I think I have some serious thinking to do."

Fluttershy nodded, setting Angel on the couch and escorting her friend to the door.

After a parting hug, she began to shut the door.

"Oh, Twilight?"

The Alicorn craned her head around to look at her friend once more.

Fluttershy smiled at her.

"Good luck."

With that, she shut the door, returning to the couch.

She sat down, sighing.

She looked down at Angel.

"I think I've hit rock bottom, Angel."

She sighed, petting the bunny's head.

"I always knew my friends were idiots, but this is a new high, for sure. I mean, even Pinkie knew what I wanted when I puffed my feathers up for her and built her that balloon dispenser."

Around sunset, Twilight descended upon Rainbow's cloud house, knocking on the door.

After a few minutes, it opened, revealing the Pegasus herself.

"Oh, hey Twi." That little-too-happy grin returned. "What's up?"

Twilight looked away, shifting her hoof on the ground.

"Can we talk, Rainbow? I...I think we need to."

Frowning a little, the cyan mare stepped to the side, letting her in.

The two got seated on Rainbow's couch, facing each other.

Twilight took a deep breath, steadying herself.

"I know why you've been acting so strange, Rainbow."

Rainbow's ears perked forward, a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

"You, uh, do?"

Twilight nodded.

"How long, Rainbow?"

Rainbow suddenly found interest in her hooves.

"Uh...I dunno. Well, I dunno when it started, exactly
...I guess I'd been thinking about it a while, but..."

Twilight tilted her head to the side.

"But what?"

Red crept onto Rainbow's face, gradually consuming it.

Twilight sighed.

"What did you do now, Rainbow?"

"Wha--hey!! Just 'cause I'm embarrassed doesn't mean I did something bad!!"

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Then why are you embarrassed?"

Rainbow inhaled, looking Twilight in the eyes.

"Your wings, Twi."

Twilight gained a quizzical look.

"Huh? My wings? What's that got to do with anything?"

The cyan mare facehooved, then flew a few feet in the air.

"Twi, Pegasi have a natural attraction to wings. Have you seen yours?! Like, if I didn't want all of you I'd just buck those!!"

Silence reigned between the two.

Rainbow slowly descended back onto the couch, red on her face intensifying.

"...I never said that."

"Said what?"

"Exactly."

Silence continued.

Twilight cleared her throat.

"Well, putting that...statement--"

"That I never said."

"--that you never said, aside, what exactly do you mean?"

Rainbow groaned.

"When you came that one day--" *Ha!! That's what she said!!* "--and you had wings, that just kinda...triggered something. Inside me, I mean. Like, before, I always thought you were pretty attractive--y'know, for some nerdy unicorn that smells books--but that was what caught my attention. Then we started hanging out more, and, well..."

She looked down again, rubbing the back of her head.

However, when she looked back up, Twilight was grinning like a schoolfilly, staring off into space.

"Uh, Twi? You good?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She shook her head. "Sorry, just...you think I'm pretty?"

The Pegasus seemed confused.

"Uh...yeah?"

She then found herself pulled closer by an elegant purple wing, Twilight wrapping her forelegs around her friend.

"I'm flattered by everything you said, Rainbow. And I've been thinking..."

Rainbow's ears perked.

"Well, I do find you pretty attractive as well, and since we are such good friends...why don't we give this a shot?"

Rainbow looked up at her, eyes widening.

"You mean...?"

Twilight smiled at her.

"Will you be my marefriend, Rainbow?"

Twilight expected more of a girlish squealing sound and a hug; what she got was that blasted dying eagle screech and a hug.

"Buck yeah!! I got a hot princess marefriend!!"

Twilight blushed hard.

"Right..."

Rainbow pulled away, grinning.

"So, what should we do first?"

Twilight smiled.

"Well, I do know of a certain Nesting Shed that's currently vacant of snuggling mares..."

Rainbow eyes widened, as did her grin.

"Snuggling? And I thought I was moving fast with the Courtship Dance!!"

With a small giggle, Twilight charged up her magic, teleporting the two away with a flash of violet.

Author's Note

Finished!! Took me around four days for this one. I'm just glad I finally got something else published on here :twilightsmile:

Yes, a personal headcannon of mine is that Fluttershy curses at everyone inside her head. I mean really, with the way she gets treated (especially in the early seasons), do you think she's all nice and kind inside her head?

Hope you enjoyed this mess of TwiDash I created. Thanks for reading!