That Special Day
By Dewdrops on the Grass
Fluttershy’s limbs ached as she sat up in bed, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She opened her mouth wide to yawn, wincing a little as her jaw hurt from the effort. Stretching her arms out sent little cracks and shivers ratcheting up into her shoulder and down her back. Goodness, why did she hurt so?
Her knees knocked as she sat up, hips joining the rest of her body like the last goose in a flock taking off, honking like the rest as they flew south for the winter. Come to think of it, it was far too cold in the room. She shivered and clutched her woolen blanket around herself. Glancing about, she located her robe and reached for it, her back cracking as she leaned over just a tad too much in the process.
“That’s better,” she murmured, her voice more akin to a frog’s croak than her usual gentle tones. Swallowing sent her into a coughing fit that lasted a good minute before she finally located a glass of water she’d left by her bedside the night before. Only after she drank the water and soothed her burning throat did she realize the glass wasn’t the one she’d used, but a coffee mug painted in shades of gold, with a stylized numeral fifty on one side.
The wedding had been a spectacular affair, with friends from all over and both families coming out dressed to the nines. The honeymoon was even better, with plenty of time spent relaxing on a tropical beach or inside a spa getting massages, and just as much time, if not more, spent in their bedroom, rolling like thunder under the covers. They’d be together forever, they vowed, and they consummated those vows with every touch, every kiss, every declaration of love. With every new anniversary they celebrated, and accumulated more and more little knick-knacks and reminders.
“When did I get this?” she wondered, before shrugging and finishing the water. She must’ve picked it up at a garage sale or thrift store, she decided as she set it aside. And she must’ve simply forgotten which one she grabbed.
Besides, no amount of aches and pains or bizarre mugs would get in her way today. Not when today was so special. She glanced back at the nightstand, where a tiny black box with a single hinge lay, and smiled as she remembered its contents. Yes, today was the day. She’d make it the best they ever had together.
As she got out of bed, her ankles shooting sparks of sizzling protest at each step, she stumbled over to her vanity to grab her hair brush. She hummed as she brought it up to her hair, only to gasp and scream, her hands moving to clutch her face. Her breath caught in her throat as she moved her fingers, exploring everywhere.
Wrinkles. Dozens of them, all over her cheeks, her forehead, between her eyes. And her eyes, they looked so strange, almost cloudy, just like the rest of her vision had felt since she awoke. But the worst, the worst was her hair. Instead of the gorgeous pink flowing locks she’d so carefully washed several times the night before with the most expensive shampoos and conditioners Rarity could provide, her hair was a mess of broken ends, stiff and almost lifeless, and whiter than a sheet of paper.
She pointed at the mirror and screamed again. “What’s happening to me?!”
The door to her room burst open, revealing a lithe figure that her eyes took a moment to focus on before recognizing the prismatic array of hair and short stature of her beloved Rainbow Dash, though her movements seemed sluggish, and for a split second she could’ve sworn that Rainbow’s hair had lost most of its luster and faded to a more monochromatic set of shades of grey.
But that was ridiculous.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong, Fluttershy?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her Just the feel of Rainbow Dash’s warmth acted like a balm to soothe Fluttershy’s nerves, if only a little. Strangely, though, even her hold felt different, weaker maybe. Or like she was trying to be extra gentle with her. Rainbow Dash was so silly. Fluttershy wasn’t that much of a fragile waif, after all.
Fluttershy pointed at the mirror, her voice cracking as she spoke. “M-my face, m-my hair, I, I look so wrinkled, and my hair is so white!”
“What? That’s not supposed to -- damn it, Twilight, I thought you fixed that!” Rainbow grunted as she scowled at the mirror, before suddenly pressing a button that Fluttershy hadn’t noticed on the wall, causing a curtain to descend over the mirror.
Fluttershy blinked repeatedly as she stared in mute confusion at Rainbow Dash. “I, I don’t understand.”
“Just a sec… ugh, Twi, you had one job…” Rainbow Dash’s voice descended into mutters Fluttershy couldn’t make out as she pulled out what looked like her phone and pressed a few random buttons on the screen before slipping it back into her pocket. “Sorry, Fluttershy, I uh, I had Twi help me fix your mirror after Pinkie tried to play a prank on you. See?”
Pranks. She remembered pranks, and jokes, and japes, and tomfoolery and shenanigans and all the other colorful words for it. She even participated in a few, once she’d opened up in her late twenties.
But then one day, the jokes weren’t funny anymore. One day, the joke became all too real.
Rainbow Dash pressed the button again, the curtain lifting, and when Fluttershy looked in the mirror, she saw exactly the face she expected to see: youthful, no wrinkles, shining and perfectly clear sapphire blue eyes with flowing locks of pink hair cascading around her face, full and healthy. “Oh, that’s much better,” Fluttershy said, a smile pulling at her mouth.
“Yep. Ahahaha. Just a prank. Nothing to worry about. Hey, uh, so…. You want breakfast, right? Eggs over easy and strawberry pancakes?”
A burst of warmth filled Fluttershy’s chest as a happy giggle escaped her lips. “Oh Rainbow Dash, how’d you know I was craving that?”
It’d been her breakfast of choice, the morning of the day she first proposed. And it became their traditional anniversary breakfast, every year, without fail. Every year, the same, a little tradition of their own, a way to celebrate being together as a couple.
Even when they stopped being a couple.
Rainbow Dash smiled, though for some reason it didn’t seem to fully reach her eyes. “Just a lucky guess. I’ll… I’ll go get it ready.”
“Alright.” Fluttershy reached out and hugged Rainbow Dash, planting a kiss on her cheek. “I love you.”
Rainbow Dash sniffled. Was that actually a tear in her eye? No, Fluttershy decided she must be seeing things. Her Rainbow Dash wouldn’t cry that easily. “Y-yeah, love you too, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said as she gave Fluttershy’s hand a gentle squeeze before heading out the door.
Fluttershy returned to brushing her hair, getting it all nice and ready before going to her closet to pick out her outfit. She’d set aside one of her favorite outfits for today, her flowing light blue dress with the butterfly motif and the accompanying sandals and bows. She found it precisely where she expected to see it, but as she picked it up, the fabric seemed to feel a little odd to her… almost like it was frayed in places, thin, older than she would have expected.
No, she must be imagining things. That prank that Pinkie tried to pull… why would Pinkie try to make her think she was old? She admitted it had almost convinced her for a moment thanks to waking up cold and in pain, but she presumed that was due to her nerves. She just needed to relax. After all, they’d already moved in together, they’d been living together for quite a while… surely if she didn’t do what she planned, Rainbow Dash would sooner or later.
It took a little longer than usual to get the dress and sandals on, but once on, she did one last run through of her hair, then slipped the box off the nightstand into her pocket. Patting it gently, she left her room.
As she passed into the hallway, her nose filled with the scent of cooking eggs and pancakes, a savory sweet potpourri that delighted her senses and made it easier for her to walk. For some reason, walking hurt, and it took a lot more effort than it should have. She must be nervous, she realized. She’d always been such an anxious girl, and given what she had planned it was a wonder she could walk at all.
Oddly, however, as she approached the kitchen, her ears caught a few words of what sounded like a conversation between Rainbow Dash and… was that Twilight?
“...broke again, Twilight, that’s the third time this month.”
“I’m sorry, Rainbow, I’ve been doing what I can but I can only do so much when you won’t even let me seen most of the--”
“I know! I know, damn it! Why do you think I’m t-trying so hard to keep it going?!”
Falling in love with Twilight surprised them both, and yet by the time it happened it was so natural, so logical, so right, it made them wonder why they hadn’t realized it sooner. But then the time had to be just right, just so. The second wedding proved to be even grander than the first, despite Fluttershy and Rainbow’s mild protests. Besides, it gave Rarity a chance to design their wedding gowns, and Applejack a chance to challenge her culinary skills. Pinkie’s planning went perfectly without a hitch, of course. They didn’t reset the number of years counter though. Twilight refused, saying she didn’t want to be responsible for them forgetting their first anniversary,
The second honeymoon was even better than the first.
The sound of Rainbow’s voice struck at Fluttershy’s heart like a dagger. Why did she sound so, so distraught and upset? What happened? Was it her grandmother? She knew Rainbow’s grandmother was close to passing away.
“Rainbow Dash?” she called out. “What’s wrong?”
As she turned the corner into the kitchen, she saw Rainbow whirl about, her face twisting into a mask of panic. “Uh, Fluttershy! It’s, it’s nothing, it’s nothing, really, don’t worry about it, ehehe. Just… sit down… breakfast is almost ready, okay? Nothing’s wrong, I promise.”
Rainbow Dash took her phone and stepped away into the living room without another word, leaving the food to sizzle away on the stove.
Fluttershy frowned at this. Even if nothing was wrong, Rainbow Dash knew Fluttershy hated it when she left cooking unattended. Besides, something obviously was wrong. But she also knew her Rainbow would never tell her if she bothered to needle at her. Better to let Rainbow come to her with it. Instead, she stepped over to the stove. Something about it seemed oddly different, with a few more buttons than she remembered, and she could’ve sworn they used a gas stove, not an electric, right?
No, it was her nerves. Her nerves were filling her with all kinds of confusing ideas. She hummed to herself as she finished stirring the eggs, flipped the last pancake, then plated it all up and brought it over to the kitchen table, splitting it between them.
She waited for a couple of moments for Rainbow Dash to return, but when Dash didn’t show, she felt curiosity tickle her brain. Enough that it roused her from her chair and over to the door to the living room, where she could still hear the trickle of Dash’s voice.
“...I don’t want to do that, Twi, that’s like giving up! …I know. I know that too! But, I… it’s just been so hard. I’m… I’m tired, Twi.”
Fluttershy winced at the sheer exhaustion in Rainbow’s voice. Poor Rainbow. She must’ve had a harder day at work yesterday than she let on last night. Fluttershy resolved to get Rainbow some fresh coffee from their Prench press. But before she did that, she lingered, just long enough to hear Rainbow say one last thing.
“...damn it… fine.We’ll… we’ll do it. Tonight. We’ll do it tonight, okay? …yeah. Yeah, I will. Thanks for everything, Twi. Love you too.”
Well, whatever it was, it seems like Rainbow Dash had solved things. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered if, if maybe Rainbow Dash was going to… well, she’d find out sooner or later when she did it first. Setting the thought aside, Fluttershy puttered about the kitchen, fetching the grounds for Rainbow’s favorite coffee blend and boiling some water in their electric kettle. Like the stove, the kettle was… oddly different, but she paid it no mind. It didn’t matter. What mattered was her Rainbow.
So when Rainbow Dash came back into the kitchen, Fluttershy smiled and held up a freshly poured cup of coffee. “Here, Rainbow, you seemed like you needed it.”
Rainbow stared blankly at her for a moment before glancing down at the mug and taking it, her movements almost robotically stiff as she brought it up to her face. “...oh. I uh, I didn’t expect you to, err, how did… nevermind. Thanks, Shy.” She took a sip, then set the mug on the table. “I guess you finished breakfast too, huh?”
“Mmhm! I didn’t want it to burn.” Fluttershy poured herself some coffee and sat down at the table. “Is everything okay, Rainbow Dash?”
“Huh?! Oh! Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, what you heard… sorry, just, just talking to Twi about my grandma, you know she’s getting up there in years, hahahaha.” As it had all morning, Rainbow Dash’s laughter sounded… strained. Forced, even. Despite the words, despite the smile, something was wrong.
Fluttershy reached out a hand to take Rainbow’s and squeezed hard and firm. “Rainbow Dash,” she said, a note of gentle scolding entering her voice. “You know you can talk to me about anything on your mind, right?”
Twenty-five years. Five without Twilight, twenty with. Twenty-five wonderful, glorious years.
And then the accident happened.
Rainbow’s lips quivered, her eyes misting up. To Fluttershy’s shock, instead of the relief she’d expected to see, Rainbow burst into tears. Quiet sobs escaped her, her face stained as moisture dripped down her cheeks. “I wish,” she croaked. “I’ve tried. But you never understand. You can’t understand.”
Fluttershy straightened up in her chair and frowned, even as she ran her hands comfortingly over Dash’s. “Rainbow, I love you. Of course I’ll understand.”
That only seemed to make Rainbow cry harder, till she’d practically doubled over her plate, clutching onto Fluttershy’s hand like it was a lifeline. Her body wracked with sobs, Rainbow clung to Fluttershy without saying a word.
At first, everything seemed fine. Fluttershy suffered a major concussion, but she recovered. She had the occasional short term memory issue, but that was to be expected.
But then the losses lasted longer. Minutes, even whole hours could go by, and Fluttershy wouldn’t remember a thing of what she did. Anterograde amnesia, the doctors called it. The inability to form new memories.
Fluttershy couldn’t understand why this was affecting Rainbow Dash so much. It couldn’t just be her grandmother, right? Had something happened to her parents? Well, if Rainbow Dash was going to tell her, she wouldn’t do it from Fluttershy trying to pry. Instead, Fluttershy drew Dash in and held her, long enough that Dash’s tears died down and fell away, till she’d finally relaxed once more.
“Guh… sorry about that, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said as she pulled away. She used a napkin from the table to blow her nose and wipe away her tears. “I, uh… I didn’t sleep well.”
That struck Fluttershy as a bizarre explanation, but she chose not to question it. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Don’t worry about it, that’s all,” Rainbow said as she finished wiping her face. “Let’s just eat breakfast.”
“Alright.” Fluttershy reached for the syrup and poured it onto her pancakes before using her knife and fork to separate out a piece. “Mmm… this is delicious, Rainbow.”
Rainbow Dash chuckled weakly as she ate a few forkfuls of her own food. “Yeah, I’ve uh… I’ve gotten good at it.”
For the first few years, they learned to live with it. Fluttershy never forgot them. She never forgot who she loved. So while she was forced into early retirement and her wives had to pick up the slack with their own jobs, they were happy. Things slowly settled into a new normal.
They ate their breakfast in what felt to Fluttershy like a companionable silence. Only when she finished her last bite did she say, “So, um, Rainbow, would you like to go for a walk in the park later?”
“Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah, sure. We can pack a lunch.”
“I was just going to suggest that,” Fluttershy said, beaming at her. “You’ve been so thoughtful today.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged at that, turning away so Fluttershy couldn’t see her face before getting up to pick up the dishes. “So uh, I gotta go out for a bit before we go on that walk. You gonna be good here?”
“Mhmm! I’m going to work on some of my drawings today.” Fluttershy took a final sip of her coffee, then got up to place the mug in the sink. “What about you?”
“Oh, you know me, gotta get that practice in,” Rainbow said, her voice shaking again. “Sorry, I, uh… excuse me.”
She left in quite a hurry, disappearing into the living room, and soon after Fluttershy heard the front door open and shut.
“She hardly seems like herself today,” Fluttershy murmured as she left the kitchen and went back to her bedroom, pulling out her box of art supplies. She did a double take as she examined the box. The plastic shape was the same, the color of the lid the same, but… the stickers on top were in the wrong order. Her markers and colored pencils had been rearranged. And she never had a tiger sticker before, did she?
For a while. But the memory loss issues only grew, until they began to consume memories she’d formed after the accident. A day here, a week there. The doctors told them it was an extremely rare complication from her injury, one that a better scan could’ve caught. But by the time they realized the extent of the damage, it was too late to fix.
Was this another prank from Pinkie Pie? If so, it wasn’t very funny. Between all this and how distraught Rainbow Dash seemed to be, it was almost enough to make her rethink her plans.
But no, no. She had to do it today. It was the day, damn it, and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her.
She reached her hand into her pocket and felt the comforting presence of the box before withdrawing.
After a few hours spent drawing what came to mind, which she’d struggled with more than she expected, her hands being oh so terribly clumsy today, she heard a knock at her door. “Hey Shy, I got the picnic lunch ready. You ready to go?”
“Oh, um, yes, just a moment!”
Fluttershy picked up her drawings and placed them in her folder inside her art supply box, then went to place it back. Only as she was putting it back did she notice that there were a few more boxes on the shelf than she remembered, each one full to practically bursting with folders of more drawings.
Soon she began to lose whole years, until finally, irrevocably, she was left with nothing after the accident. Each day began for her like that day had begun. It was peculiar for her wives, but they learned to live with it. Surely it couldn’t get any worse, right?
She started to reach for one when the door opened. “You coming?” Rainbow Dash repeated.
Fluttershy briefly glanced back at the boxes before shrugging and standing up straight, wincing at the sudden ache in her back from doing so. Rubbing it gently, she said, “Yes, of course,” and followed Rainbow out the door to their car.
Or what she’d thought was their car. This one looked quite a bit different than she remembered… a four door sedan, sure, but it appeared sleeker, with a different profile, the panels made of some different sort of metal, even the interior seeming higher tech. And when Rainbow switched on the engine there was no noise, not even a whisper.
“When did we get an electric car?” Fluttershy asked.
“O-oh, I uh, this is a rental, remember? Ours is in the shop. They lent us this while it’s getting fixed.”
Fluttershy glared at Rainbow for a moment. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure,” Rainbow Dash said with a laugh as she searched the seats of the car. “You know I couldn’t afford to buy an electric.”
Fluttershy nodded. That was certainly true. Electric vehicles had only been on the market a few years, and Rainbow Dash was notoriously tight with her money. She wouldn’t buy an electric car unless they’d become ubiquitous.
Rainbow glanced about and groaned. “Ugh, damn it, we must’ve left it in Twi’s car… hope we’ll be okay without it.”
“Without what?” Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow Dash waved it off. “Just your favorite walking stick, that’s all.” She got into the driver’s seat. “Let’s get going,” she said as she pulled out of the driveway.
So Fluttershy relaxed and sat back, waiting for the drive to the park to be finished. She briefly closed her eyes, and had begun to drift off when the car came to an abrupt stop, shaking her awake again. “We’re here,” Dash announced.
Fluttershy shook her head to clear the beginnings of sleep and stepped out of the car, looking about the place. Thankfully, the park looked just as it always did, with the kid’s play place set over on one side full of various equipment for monkeying around, while trails criss-crossed through fields of grass and various trees.
Though she could’ve sworn some of those trees had been freshly planted a few days ago, yet here they were, sprawling and towering oaks that dominated the park. Probably just misremembering which park this was, since there were so many in Canterlot, after all.
Rainbow Dash took her hand in hers, and together the two took a gentle walk around many of the trails, till Shy picked out the perfect spot to lay out the blanket on the grass, under the shade of a sycamore with the sunlight streaming through gaps in the leaves.
“This has been a lovely day so far,” Fluttershy said as she gratefully sat down on the blanket, feeling much more tired than she expected from such a short walk.
“Yeah… it’s been… something,” Rainbow Dash said, distributing the food from their picnic basket.
Fluttershy bit into a sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. “You sure nothing is wrong?”
They lived that way for another five, maybe eight years, before the true reality of Fluttershy’s health set in, when she awoke one day, and couldn’t remember why Twilight was living with them.
“Nothing I can help,” Rainbow Dash answered as she noshed on an apple. “Really, I’m fine, Fluttershy, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
“O-oh. Okay.” Fluttershy stared down at her sandwich, the air less comfortable by the second. Rainbow Dash must really be worried.
Well. She would just have to fix that.
She waited for the right moment, as they worked their way through the picnic food, till Rainbow Dash was about to pull out dessert. Then she reached into her pocket. “Um, Rainbow Dash… before you get the pie out, I have something I need to ask you.”
Rainbow Dash paused what she was doing and looked at her expectantly. “What is it?” she said, her tone almost mechanical.
Soon, more and more memories vanished, and Rainbow and Twilight began to fear she’d forget everything eventually. So they allowed her to undergo an experimental procedure, and it worked. It stopped the memory loss.
But it trapped her in the process.
Fluttershy smiled at her. “I… I love you, Rainbow Dash. I have for a long time, longer than I realized.”
Rainbow Dash’s lips quirked up as a sad little chuckle fell out of her. “Yeah, I, I know, Fluttershy. I love you too.”
Fluttershy beamed at her words, her face flushing even as she struggled to continue. “Yes, well, we’ve been living together for a while, and I thought, um, well… I…”
She trembled, her body shaking as she pulled the box out of her pocket. Her words briefly caught in her throat, forcing her to cough gently as she looked up into Rainbow’s eyes, slipping onto one knee. She opened the box, revealing a golden ring studded with seven small gemstones, each one in the shade of one of Rainbow’s seven hair colors.
“Rainbow Dash… will you marry me?”
Rainbow let out a shuddering sigh, and although she tried to smile, Fluttershy could see the sorrow threatening to overwhelm her. Like this morning, she seemed about ready to cry when she took hold of Fluttershy’s hands. “O-of course, Fluttershy. Always.”
Fluttershy’s memories became locked onto the most important day of her life, the day she proposed to Rainbow Dash. They did everything they could to fix this, to find some way to bring her memories back. For a while it seemed to work, and Fluttershy began to have more lucid days. But eventually, inexorably, her memories would decay again, until she was left with this one day, repeated for eternity.
Despite Rainbow’s sadness, Fluttershy’s heart soared in her chest, and her whole body glowed with happiness as she pulled Rainbow Dash in for a hug and a kiss. “I’m so glad to hear you say yes,” she whispered as she held her fiance close.
Then she fell back on her rump, her head swimming. “Oooh… I feel dizzy all of a sudden,” she murmured, giggling a little. “Probably the rush of excitement, huh?”
They’d spent the last seven years like this. Seven years of monotony, of coping with Fluttershy thinking every day was the special day, while tensions grew. Rainbow Dash and Twilight weren’t any younger than Fluttershy, after all, and while they were far from feeble old women, there was only so much they could do. Only so long they could manage, even with Twilight’s ingenuity in finding ways to prevent Fluttershy from growing confused.
“Yeah… yeah, it’s definitely that, and nothing else,” Rainbow Dash said with a sigh. “Come on, let’s… let’s get back home. We can celebrate there.”
“Alright.” Fluttershy tried to stand up, but found her ankles suddenly giving way, and she cried out in pain as something snapped in her leg. “Oh! Ow! Oooooh!”
“Fluttershy! Oh, damn it I should’ve known this would happen if we didn’t have the cane.” Rainbow Dash scooped her up. “Come on, let’s get you to the car… shit, your leg…”
“I… I think I broke it…” Fluttershy said, gasping from the waves of radiating agony swelling through her. “H-how? I just stood up?”
“...osteoporosis?” Rainbow Dash said with a light shrug as she carried Fluttershy through the park.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Rainbow Dash, that only happens to old people,” Fluttershy said. Her vision swam as the pain rose. “Ooooh… it hurts a lot…”
Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes shut, and a few tears escaped her even so before she opened them again. “I know. Let’s get you home.”
“Home?” Fluttershy wondered. “Is… shouldn’t I…”
“Yeah. Just… just sit back. I’ll get us home.”
They knew it wouldn’t last forever. They knew that, eventually, something would give. Despite every hope, every bit of effort, it all came down to the simple fact that they were tired. They needed rest, rest they could never get while Fluttershy was still living with them.
So the decision was made.
Rainbow buckled her in, then got into the driver’s seat and pulled away. Fluttershy found her attention wavering, but she was still aware enough to notice Rainbow slipping an earpiece into her ear and tapping her phone. “Hey, Twi. Listen, Fluttershy, she broke her leg at the park… I left it in your car… I know, I know, but this is why I told you we should’ve gotten the second… look, this is hard enough already, okay?! …yeah. Yeah, soon as we get home. We’ll wait for you. Okay, thanks.”
She ended the call, prompting Fluttershy to ask, “What was that about?”
“Oh, Twilight’s meeting us at the house with a doctor,” Rainbow said as she pulled into their driveway. Once parked, she came around to help Fluttershy out, carrying her gently. “Come on, let’s get you in bed.”
Fluttershy giggled as Dash carried her over the threshold of the door. “It’s almost like we’re already married,” she murmured, more to herself.
“Yeah, almost,” Dash muttered.
Rainbow continued to carry her into Fluttershy’s room, and laid her on the bed, removing Fluttershy’s sandals before tucking her in. Just as she finished there was a knock at the front door. “Here. Just rest, okay? Try not to move that leg. I’ll… I’ll be right back.”
“O-okay.”
Fluttershy laid her head back, trying not to let the pain overwhelm her. It had weakened during the car trip, but not by much. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was wondering why Rainbow hadn’t taken her to a clinic or a hospital to get it treated instead, but the rest of her was too happy over Rainbow saying yes to worry about it.
Soon Rainbow returned with Twilight, and a doctor in tow, someone who looked oddly familiar to Fluttershy, with curly dark pinkish hair and a familiar tone to her skin. A name tag pinned to her lapel read “Doctor Lil’ Cheese.”
“Twilight?” Fluttershy blinked, cocking her head as she stared at the new arrival. For some reason, Twilight’s face was taut, worn down, and tear stained.
Twilight sniffled as she wrapped Fluttershy in her arms. “Oh Fluttershy… I… I know it seems strange that I’m here… I wish you could understand, I, I--”
Rainbow Dash placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder, prompting her to let go. “Let’s not overwhelm her, Twi.”
Oddly, Twilight wrapped an arm around Rainbow’s waist before backing off. Why would she do that? Didn’t she understand that Rainbow was with Fluttershy? If Fluttershy didn’t know any better she’d almost swear that they were acting like a couple.
What a silly notion. Sure, she liked Twilight, but it would take a heck of a lot for her to love Twilight as much as she did Rainbow Dash.
…though admittedly the thought was kind of nice…
Lil’ Cheese interrupted Fluttershy’s meandering thoughts with a loud, “Hey there, Fluttershy, how’re you feeling?”
“Oh! Lil’ Cheese, is that really you?” Fluttershy said, confusion racking her brain. “Um, I’m… my leg hurts. I think I broke it.”
“Yup, it’s me,” Lil’ Cheese said as she moved the blanket away. “Let’s see here… hmm, yup, it’s broken alright.” She glanced over at Rainbow Dash. “You said she broke it just sitting up in the park.”
“Yeah… We, we didn’t have her cane.“
Lil’ Cheese sighed, drumming her fingers on the bridge of her nose. “I told you, you can’t forget the cane anymore. Her osteoporosis is too severe. Realistically she shouldn’t even be walking anymore.”
“Well she can’t now,” Rainbow muttered.
“Rainbow!”
“What do you want me to say, Twi? I already told you, I know I messed up, okay?” Tears streaked down Rainbow’s face.
Fluttershy whimpered, her head hurting from how little sense this made. “I don’t understand,” she murmured, her words too quiet to be heard.
“I’m going to have to set her leg, then I’ll want to give her a sedative to help her sleep through some of this pain,” Lil’ Cheese said. She rummaged through her medical kit. “But this is why I keep recommending the memory care facility. It’s becoming clear to me that you two can’t keep up with her needs anymore.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Rainbow snapped. “We’ve done everything we can for her and then some!”
Lil’ Cheese winced, and let out another sigh. “You’re right, I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“No… no it wasn’t,” Twilight admitted, giving Rainbow a forlorn look. “And we agree. It’s time. It has been for a while now.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow added, her words far too glum for Fluttershy’s taste.
“Girls?” Fluttershy murmured, still too quiet for the others to hear.
Lil’ Cheese brought her supplies over to the bed. “Okay, Fluttershy, just hold still for me. This might hurt a bit, but we need to set your leg so it can heal, okay?”
“W-what’s going on, doctor?” Fluttershy asked, her words slurring. “I don’t understand anymore.”
“You’re hurt, and I’m going to help you feel better. Easy now… easy… there.” Lil’ Cheese tapped her leg once, nodded, and moved away. She pulled out a tablet, tapping the screen a few times. “I’ll need your consent to consign her to the facility. Before you do, however… are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s… we’ve been doing what we can, but there’s only so much we can take. I don’t want her to suffer anymore, you know?”
“She’s earned her rest,” Twilight said, her voice strained. “And so have we.”
“Alright then…” Lil’ Cheese tapped the screen a few more times. “I just need you both to sign here.”
Rainbow Dash moved her finger across the screen. “Done.”
“Done,” Twilight said after she too signed the screen.
“Okay. I’m going to make her a sleeping aid tea. We can move her once she’s had some rest.”
“Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked as Lil’ Cheese left the room. “What’s going on?”
Twilight let out a long, low sigh. “We’re going to send you to-”
Rainbow elbowed Twilight in the side. “Oh, the doc’s just gonna make you something to help you feel better, okay? It’ll help with the leg. Right, Twilight?”
“O-okay,” Fluttershy said, wincing. The pain kept her from thinking too hard about why Rainbow would be so insistent. Rainbow was good to her.
“Rainbow…” Twilight murmured. “She deserves to know that she’s not going to be living with us anymore--”
“It’s going. To help. With her leg,” Rainbow insisted, leaving Twilight to huff in frustration.
Lil’ Cheese soon returned, cradling a steaming mug of what smelled like peppermint tea with just a hint of something else to it. “Here,” she said, helping Fluttershy to sit up and take the mug in her hands. “This will help with the pain, and let you get some sleep, okay?” She stood up to make room for Rainbow, who held onto Fluttershy’s arm. Twilight sat on Rainbow’s other side and placed her arms around her.
Fluttershy looked into Rainbow’s eyes curiously. Those eyes, they were full of tears again, this time unshed. “It’s okay, Rainbow,” she said as she sipped the tea. “It’s just a hurt leg. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Rainbow Dash whimpered, holding Fluttershy’s free hand so hard it made Fluttershy wince. “I… yeah. Just drink your tea, okay?”
“Okay,” Fluttershy murmured. Her head had begun to feel foggy, confused, her body weak. She gulped some more tea down, and her body relaxed more. She couldn’t feel her leg anymore. It was nice, not feeling pain.
“Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah?”
“...I love you…”
“I love you too, Fluttershy. I always will.”
Fluttershy finished the tea. She handed the mug over, her vision clouding up, her arms suddenly so weak and unable to move much. She laid back, the day's events spiraling out of her mind. She’d been dreaming, right? Of course she had. She hadn’t been able to ask Rainbow Dash the question yet. She must be dreaming. Why else would everything look so funny, so, so dark?
Twilight’s barely visible face moved over hers, pressing her lips to Fluttershy’s forehead. “I love you so much, Fluttershy,” she whispered.
Fluttershy couldn’t understand why Twilight would say such a thing. She tried to open her mouth to protest, but nothing came out except a weak wheeze.
Together, Rainbow and Twilight whispered, “...goodbye, Fluttershy…”
Goodbye? Why would they say goodbye? Surely this was a dream.
Yes, she’d been dreaming. It was time to go back to sleep, she knew, so she could be rested for tomorrow. Tomorrow was going to be special.
As she closed her eyes, she vowed to herself, tomorrow would be the day. The day she’d ask Rainbow Dash to marry her.
Tomorrow.
Author's Note
Thank you kindly to EileenSaysHi in particular for suggesting this be an entry into the Polyship Contest, as I nearly missed the deadline.
This idea came to me the other day after binging, of all things, the DC Peacemaker show, Somehow the term "butterfly" from that show turned into a plot bunny about Fluttershy with her memory stuck on repeat. No, I don't know how my brain managed that, but the story came to me almost fully formed. It did go through a few edits, particularly the ending, which had a few different potential resolutions before settling on this.
Thanks again to all four people who helped me with this story, and I hope you enjoyed.
