“Are— Are you okay?”
“Yeah, Flutters. Don’t worry about it.”
Rainbow Dash slowly made her way across the room to the couch by the window. It wasn’t very big, but nothing in Fluttershy’s cottage was. The cottage usually felt cozy, safe, and secure because of the small animals sleeping or running around, but Twilight had asked to borrow those animals for a few days to help teach some foals in Canterlot about Equestrian wildlife. Now the animals were gone, leaving the cottage small, cramped, and lonely. Fluttershy hadn’t wanted to part wither her animals, even though it was only for a few days. They were her friends and source of company. In spite of that, she parted with them. She was always happy to help when anypony needed it, and she knew that Twilight and all those foals needed for her. When somepony as sweet as that asked Rainbow to stay over and keep her company, how could she say no?
Rainbow Dash let out a long exhale and leaned her head against the back of the couch. All day she had been busy with one thing or another, ranging from her job to avoiding Applejack. She had so little time to relax she didn’t even get to take her afternoon nap! Fluttershy’s soft voice soon interrupted Rainbow’s musings.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t look okay.”
Rainbow Dash looked over at Fluttershy, confused. “What do you mean? I’m fine! I’m Rainbow Dash, after all. Not even missing my nap is going to stop me.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.”
Rainbow eyed Fluttershy as the yellow mare quietly traipsed over to the couch and sat down. She thought that Fluttershy had sat a bit closer than necessary, even being able to feel her friend’s body heat maker her coat hairs stand on end.
Fluttershy smiled as she continued. “You always feel like you have to be okay. You’re allowed to be tired, you know.”
Rainbow Dash looked back, feeling like this was something more than Fluttershy was letting on. She had smiled, but it reminded Rainbow of a smile that might be given after coming fourth in a race. It looked strained. It looked forced. Rainbow frowned at this thought as she replied, “I’m not too tired. Just a busy day.”
“I… Well…”
Fluttershy went silent, making Rainbow Dash groan inwardly. Rainbow and Fluttershy had been friends since they were fillies, so Rainbow knew all about Fluttershy’s nervous behaviors. In spite of this knowledge, Rainbow let her curiosity get the better of her.
“Well?” she asked impatiently.
Fluttershy flinched back and shrunk into the couch, eliciting an eye-roll from Rainbow Dash. She knew Fluttershy got scared easily, but this was going a bit far.
“Come on, Flutters, it’s just me.”
Fluttershy shakily got back into a proper sitting position. She usually got over a startle like that fairly quickly, but something was still bothering her. She gulped, looked at Rainbow, and said, “You can be weak if you need to be.”
“Weak? I’m the fastest flier in Equestria! I—”
“It’s okay to be weak, isn’t it?”
Rainbow Dash froze. She lowered herself from her usual confident stance to be eye-level with Fluttershy. Even though she avoided eye contact, Rainbow could see the pain on her face. That must have been the wrong response.
“Hey, Flutters…”
Rainbow Dash had never been good at being the comforting one, but she couldn’t just leave Fluttershy looking like this. No matter how awkward it would be, she was at least going to try.
“You okay? I didn’t say something wrong, did I?”
Rainbow Dash could have kicked herself as Fluttershy let out a small squeak. She had said something wrong.
“I’m sorry.”
Why was she apologizing? She hadn’t done anything wrong! But when she looked at Fluttershy, she couldn’t help but feel terrible. Fluttershy was shaking, but she didn’t quite seem afraid. Not any more than normal, at least. She seemed sad.
“Look, Fluttershy, I—”
Fluttershy dove forward and put her hooves around Rainbow Dash. Rainbow wasn’t sure how to respond, and when Fluttershy began sobbing, she tensed up out of guilt.
“I— I just— I just thought that it was okay.”
“What do you mean? What’s going on?”
“You’re always so strong; nothing slows you down. I— I—”
Rainbow returned Fluttershy’s embrace. Fluttershy sometimes got worked up over some minute thing, and it was often best not to think about it. “You’re gonna be fine, Fluttershy.”
“But—” Fluttershy drew a shaky, shallow breath before continuing. “But I’ve never been the strong one like you. I’ve never—”
“What are you talking about?” Rainbow didn’t mean to sound so incredulous, but she couldn’t stop her disbelief from creeping into her voice. “You’ve gotten so much better about that stuff!”
“But o-our whole lives, you’ve protected me. I was hoping that you’re like me, but you’re not. You’re strong. I can’t do anything myself.”
“Huh? Fluttershy, that was when we were fillies. We’re mares now. And yeah, it took some doing, but you’ve gotten past that.”
Rainbow was still trying to process Fluttershy’s remark. Had she been holding that against herself this whole time? She had mentioned this once or twice, but never like this. She had never been this sad. She had never been this desperate.
Rainbow quietly waited for Fluttershy’s loud sobbing to become a quiet sniffling before replying. “Look, Fluttershy. Are you as confident as me? Probably not. Are you as fast as me? Not a chance. But you’re still awesome.”
Fluttershy looked up, her eyes red. “R-Really?”
“Duh! You take care of all these animals and you’re always there to help! If that doesn’t say ‘awesome,’ I don’t know what does.”
Fluttershy buried her face in Rainbow’s fur again. This time, the hug wasn’t desperate. It was content. Rainbow smiled and began absentmindedly running her hoof through Fluttershy’s mane. She had never noticed how soft it was, or how gentle Fluttershy was, or how—
Rainbow blinked and looked down. She hadn’t noticed. She hadn’t noticed what was right in front of her. She tightened her embrace and rested her head on Fluttershy’s shoulder.
“Can we stay like this for a bit?”
