Books and Butterflies

The brilliant sun that dominated Equestria’s skies shone down upon a beautiful garden, which contained everything from daisies to marigolds, and roses to blueberry bushes. If it was in a garden somewhere, it was probably here too. It was a wondrous sight for its sole inhabitant, a yellow pegasus that went by the name of Fluttershy. She always enjoyed the times she was allowed to wander her garden, finding it to be very peaceful and relaxing. She held a small watering pail within her mouth, which she used to water the various flowers and plants that she took care of. She hummed a soft, gentle tune, which would’ve lulled anypony to sleep that was close enough to hear it, had anypony else actually been there.

She came across a small flower patch, one which was rather unique given that its flowers had rainbow-colored petals and a cyan stem. She began to water the flowers, and kept her eyes locked on the patch. Studying the flowers, she realized she had no idea what type of flower they were, and had never seen them before in all of her many visits to the meadow. Though they brought confusion, along with that came thoughts of a pegasus with a rainbow mane. This wasn’t the first time Fluttershy had the pegasus on her mind, whose name was Rainbow Dash, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Fluttershy had long since developed deeper feelings than friendship for her friend, and as such she had caught herself dozing off in the middle of the day to think of Rainbow Dash.

There were many things that Fluttershy admired about her friend. From her unbelievable courage to how great of a friend, and possibly more, that she could be, there was no reason Fluttershy wouldn’t like her. Though occasionally she could be a little mean, Fluttershy always knew she was to blame for those moments. It was always whenever Fluttershy was doing poorly, and ended up disappointing Rainbow Dash. She strived to become better for her friend, but could never manage to impress her no matter how hard she tried. She could only hope this wouldn’t ruin what little chance she already had to get with Rainbow Dash…

As Fluttershy continued thinking about her friend, they quickly changed from simple, happy thoughts to much more questionable fantasies. She could feel her cheeks begin to burn and her wings unfurl themselves from her sides, standing straight up. Such a thing would normally be highly embarrassing, but with nopony in sight, she had nothing to worry about.

Her head began to tilt to her side ever so slowly, and she started to drool as her fantasies became much more enjoyable. The world around her meant almost nothing compared to Rainbow Dash, and she hadn’t noticed the watering can slipping from the grasp of her teeth, falling onto the patch of flowers that she had been watering. She had been watering them for far too long, most of the petals had become soggy and started to droop. The watering can falling onto them only made things worse, damaging the flowers even further.

This worried Fluttershy, as some of her precious flowers had been hurt! She prepared herself to try and save them, but realized there was nothing that she could do. She let out a sigh and hung her head low, watching the flowers closely.

“Hey, cheer up!” Her ears picked up the sound of somepony calling to her, and she looked up to see who it was. Of course, it had been the one pony who was previously dominating her thoughts. She immediately felt embarrassed, as she believed that her crush had seen her ruin her flowers.

Rainbow Dash chuckled, walking over to Fluttershy’s side. She picked up the watering can with her mouth, walking over to a shed which Fluttershy kept most of her gardening tools inside. She set the can next to the shed, and almost immediately trotted over to the yellow pegasus. She wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy, hugging her tightly and wrapping a single wing around Fluttershy, whose cheeks had rapidly changed in color. They had gone from their usual yellow to a deep shade of pink, something Rainbow Dash found amusing.

Fluttershy was not used to this type of attention, and she stood still in absolute surprise at the fact that she was receiving such affection, and from Rainbow Dash no less. Rainbow Dash pulled away from Fluttershy and walked in front of her, staring deeply into her eyes. She gave Fluttershy an affectionate nuzzle, and pushed her down onto the grass. She ran her hoof through Fluttershy’s mane, stroking it gently and whispering into her ear, “I l-”

Fluttershy nearly jumped out of her bed after waking from the dream. She panted heavily, wings fully erect and flapping wildly. She lay back down, going back through her dream in her head. She wished she could actually experience such an encounter with Rainbow Dash, and possibly go even further than where she had gotten in her dream. A few minutes later, after having replayed the dream several times in her head, she let out a long sigh and crawled slowly out of her bed. As much as she enjoyed her dream, and even with a good eight hours, or possibly even more, of sleep, she was still extremely tired. The best thing she could do at the moment was take a nice, warm shower, and she went to do just that.

Even in the shower, Rainbow Dash continued to fill her thoughts. All sorts of scenarios, some romantic, some steamy, and some downright perfect played through her mind. These caused her to spend much more time in the shower than usual, and as soon as she noticed this, she turned off the shower, taking a step outside of it. Immediately, she was greeted by a sudden change in temperature, and she began shivering uncontrollably. She reached for the nearest towel, using it to dry herself off.

She walked outside the bathroom, carrying the towel on her back, and went downstairs to check on all of her critter friends, and possibly get some breakfast, provided she had the time. Before she made it downstairs, however, she noticed the picture she had taken with all of her best friends. They were positioned very close to each other, with Fluttershy lying down at the bottom of the picture. Her friend Applejack was to her left and Rarity to her right. Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn who was probably Fluttershy’s closest friend out of the group, was sitting directly behind her. Normally, Fluttershy would be spending much more time with Rarity than the rest of the group, but Rarity had been very busy in the recent months with designing clothing for some of Canterlot’s finest ponies.

To Twilight’s right was Pinkie Pie, and to her left was…

Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy stared at her for much longer than she had the others, and her mind immediately became shrouded with doubt that Rainbow Dash would actually return her feelings. This happened often, but that fact didn’t help that it hurt Fluttershy greatly each and every time it did. She started to tear up a little, and wiped away the tears with her hoof as soon as she noticed them, looking away from the picture. If she stared any longer, continuing her thoughts, she probably would’ve broken down completely right then and there.

Not only was she sure that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t return her feelings because of how weak she was, she was also worried about the simple fact that Rainbow Dash was a mare. A fillyfooler is what she’d be called, a label that she didn’t want. Simply being attracted towards somepony of the same gender would cause problems for her, if anyone knew. Though Rainbow did accept her for it, she had no way of knowing whether her crush was one as well.

Fluttershy decided lingering on such thoughts was not a very good idea, and tried her best to ignore them. However, they seemed to insist on staying, and there was no way Fluttershy could force them out. She didn’t bother to look at the clock to check what time of day it was, but decided that now was a good of a time as ever to get some breakfast. With such a simple thought, she went from thinking about Rainbow Dash to wondering what to eat for breakfast. It was a good thing, thoughts about the cyan pegasus always ended in some ridiculous fantasy or with Fluttershy feeling a little down. Besides, she was hungry too.

Looking around her kitchen, none of the food available to her at the moment captured her interest. She figured she would just go out somewhere to eat for the morning, and walked outside to do just so. Upon opening her front door, she was greeted with a cool, relaxing breeze of fresh air. The weather already seemed to show as if today was going to be a wonderful day, and she smiled, trotting towards Ponyville.

Business had been very slow that day, something Pinkie Pie was rather unpleased with. Not a single customer, or even any of her friends, had taken a step inside the bakery at all. Not having anypony to talk to, or even much of anywhere to go, being limited to the small area that was behind the counter, she figured she could find at least something to keep herself from succumbing to absolute boredom. Without even looking, she pulled a bouncy ball from behind the counter; tossing it on the counter and watching it bounce up and down.

Just like everything else would eventually, the bouncing became boring, and she stopped the ball with her hoof. She picked it up, tossing it back behind the counter and letting it roll back off to wherever it came from. She impatiently tapped her hooves on the counter in front of her, trying to find something else to do. She couldn’t leave and go out to find her friends, customers could arrive at any moment and if nopony was there to help them, the Cakes would end up very upset with Pinkie. As unlikely as anypony was to actually show up…

The boredom that was building up had exhausted her to the point where she was beginning to feel sleepy. She closed her eyes and passed out for a few moments, but woke up to a large thud and the feeling of her forehead slamming against the counter. She looked up in hope that there was at least somepony outside, and noticed two of her closest friends, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, walking past the bakery. She never saw the two ponies alone together, and wondered what they were up to.

“Dashie! Twilight!” The pink earth pony shouted out to her friends, waving at them in an attempt to grab their attention, “Come inside, please!”

The unicorn and pegasus exchanged mildly confused glances, but both decided that they might as well see what Pinkie wanted.

“Hey Pinkie! What’re you up to?” Rainbow Dash called to Pinkie as she walked inside, Twilight following closely behind.

“Oh nothing really, that’s why I called you guys in here! It’s been really boring all day, and I need some company,” Pinkie disappeared behind the counter, jumping back up with a tray of cupcakes in her hooves, “Here, for saving me from boredom! Take only one, alright?

“Thank you, Pinkie.” Twilight spoke with a smile as she reached out to the tray, grabbing a cupcake. Rainbow Dash mimicked the action shortly afterwards.

Pinkie put the tray away and leaned closer to her friends, placing her hooves on the counter, “So, what have you two been up to?”

“Oh, nothing much. We’ve just been walking around.” Rainbow Dash replied while taking a bite from her cupcake.

“Sounds a lot more fun than my day so far…” Pinkie sighed, resting her head on the counter in front of her.

“Oh, right! Pinkie, have you seen Fluttershy at all recently?” Rainbow took a step close to Pinkie, tilting her head a little.

“Fluttershy?” Pinkie’s head rose from the counter, and she held a hoof up to her chin, “No, I don’t think so… Why?”

“We haven’t seen her in a couple days, and Twilight here,” Rainbow Dash gestured her head towards Twilight, “Seems to be a bit worried, so I thought I’d help her.”

Twilight’s worried about Fluttershy, huh? Hmm… Pinkie smirked, letting out a small giggle.

“What’s so funny, Pinkie?” Rainbow tilted her head a little more, feeling rather confused.

“Oh, nothing…” Pinkie looked towards Twilight, her smile growing even larger, “Hey, if you’re looking for Fluttershy… Why don’t you go to her cottage? She’ll probably be there, if anything.”

“Well…” Twilight was ready to finish her sentence, but stopped and slapped her hoof against her face, “Wow… Why didn’t I think of that earlier?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, looking over to Twilight, “I’d at least expect you to think of that…”

“Whatever. Well, thanks for the help Pinkie! I think we’ll go check on Fluttershy now.”

“And thanks for the cupcakes!” Rainbow added in.

“Wait! Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed Pinkie, raising a hoof to stop the rainbow-maned pegasus from leaving.

“What is it, Pinkie?”

“Do you think you could stop by tomorrow? I’ve been trying out some new recipes, I was hoping you could try them out for me.”

“Of course, Pinkie! See ya later!”

Not too long after she began walking towards Ponyville, Fluttershy noticed two ponies heading in her direction. She wasn’t quite able to tell who they were at first, so she stopped and watched them carefully, trying to see who they were. After a while, she was able to identify the two ponies as her close friends Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Seeing Rainbow Dash made her nervous, but with Twilight being there, she knew there was no way that she could do anything that she would like to do with Rainbow Dash.

Nonetheless, a smile formed on her face. She started to slow down a little, and tried her best to seem as if she hadn’t noticed the two ponies. This worked for the most part, as Rainbow Dash noticed her shortly after she had slowed down. Rainbow nudged Twilight with a hoof, who looked up to see Fluttershy, and almost immediately sped up to meet her. Rainbow Dash simply rolled her eyes, flying after the unicorn.

Twilight slowed down when she was within speaking distance of Fluttershy, and soon came to a stop. Fluttershy did the same, and looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying above Twilight.

“Hey Fluttershy! How’re you doing? You’re up late.” Rainbow smiled, waving at Fluttershy.

“I’m, umm… I’m fine, I guess…” Fluttershy managed to say, the volume of her voice barely audible.

“Are you sure? It’s about already a couple hours past noon! Normally you’re up and running errands at this time, or hanging out with one of us. Besides, we haven’t seen you in a couple days!”

“It’s already that late? Oh dear…” Fluttershy began fidgeting her hooves nervously.

“Would you like some help with anything? Taking care of your animals, perhaps?” Twilight joined into the conversation, tilting her head slightly.

“Oh, thank you Twilight, that would be wonderful.” Fluttershy calmed down a little, smiling at Twilight. Not a moment later, her stomach let out a loud growl.

“Have you eaten anything yet?” Rainbow asked Fluttershy, descending to the ground.

“No, I haven’t…” Fluttershy directed her eyes towards her hooves.

“Well, how about we go and get something to eat? Twilight can take care of all of your animals.” Rainbow suggested to the yellow pegasus, glancing at Fluttershy’s cottage in the distance, before turning back to look at her.

“Umm…” Fluttershy’s mind drifted off to thoughts of her and Rainbow Dash going on a date, an ideal situation that she didn’t find likely to become true. She hadn’t noticed herself zoning out, and Rainbow Dash gave her a confused look.

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow waved a hoof in front of her friend’s face.

“Huh?” Fluttershy snapped back to reality, jumping backwards and falling onto her back. She rolled onto her belly and stood up, shaking her head.

“Are we going or what? Twilight’s already left.”

Fluttershy glanced around, trying to look for the unicorn. Sure enough, Twilight had already gone off to the cottage. “Oh, umm… Sure! Where did you want to go?” Fluttershy smiled a little, eager to go on, what she considered at least, a ‘date’ with Rainbow Dash.

“Well, there’s this one place that seemed pretty cool, I thought we could go there.”

Twilight had just recently begun making her way towards Fluttershy’s cottage, having taken up the responsibility of taking care of Fluttershy’s animals while the pegasus went out for lunch with their friend, Rainbow Dash. Admittedly, she was a little jealous, having wanted to go with Fluttershy herself, but she knew that things probably wouldn’t have gone well between the two. Her infatuation with the yellow pegasus would most likely cause her to do something stupid and highly regrettable, given that she had little experience with relationships at all.

She sighed and dismissed the thoughts, looking up to see Fluttershy’s cottage directly in front of her. She used a simple telekinesis spell to open the door, poking her head inside to see if any of the animals were around at the moment. Luckily for her, everything had been peaceful. She took a step inside, immediately greeted by the calm air that always seemed to reside in Fluttershy’s cottage. She took in a deep breath, and the scent of the cottage reminded Twilight of the pegasus, but it also held the various scents of animals in it as well.

She took a good look around the cottage, making sure she knew all the ins and outs of the pleasant little home. She created a mental map with the locations of everything from mice holes to where each room was, where to find the food for the critters and even the exact position of each window. Just as she had decided the map she had created was good enough, she noticed a small white mouse crawl out from its cozy little den.

It immediately noticed the intruder, sitting completely still and hoping it hadn’t been noticed. Unfortunately for the little mouse, Twilight had indeed seen it. The unicorn walked towards it very slowly, leaning her head down close to it. She gave it a friendly smile, whispering in the calmest tone of voice she could possibly make, “Hello there.”

The mouse stared up at her, and shortly after made a small squeak, running away from the unicorn. She had made a pretty poor decision, choosing to chase after the mouse in an attempt to calm it down. This didn’t do anything good, only drawing other animal’s attention to her. They were all sent into a state of worry, not liking when an unfamiliar pony was there without Fluttershy. Twilight tried her best to calm down each and every one of them, waving her hoof and them and speaking in a very nervous tone, “It’s alright…”

No matter how hard she tried, all the animals would do is run away from her. She let out a sigh; looking up to the clock and noticing not even five minutes had passed since she had arrived. A frown formed on her face, and she slowly began walking towards the group of animals, “Ugh… Today’s gonna be a long day…”

“Thank you, sir…” Fluttershy looked up towards the waiter who had just brought them their food, two daisy sandwiches, one for Fluttershy and the other for Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy took a moment to glance around, noticing that the restaurant was largely empty, except for a white unicorn who Fluttershy had recognized as Vinyl Scratch. The unicorn was passed out at the bar, likely due to drinking a little too much.

Fluttershy’s ‘date’, as she considered, but she knew that her friend would never think of her that way, sat across the table from her. Rainbow had already started on her sandwich, enjoying it greatly, which was made obvious by the almost large smile she wore on her face. Fluttershy suppressed a giggle, instead resorting to smiling back at the blue pegasus. She picked up her sandwich as well, taking small bites as the two sat in silence together.

She had just downed her second bite when she set the sandwich back down onto her plate, looking up at Rainbow Dash as the all too familiar feeling of nervousness flowed through her. She knew it was time, either she said it now, or she may never run across a chance like this again. At least, that’s what she had thought at the time, not considering that they were close friends and would probably eat together like this some time again.

The yellow pegasus broke the silence a few seconds after she opened her mouth, her eyes darting from Rainbow Dash to the window, from there to her sandwich, and from the food back to the pegasus sitting in front of her, “Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah?” Rainbow took another bite of her sandwich, “What is it Fluttershy?” She swallowed after she finished her sentence, looking over to her friend curiously.

“Umm…” A very faint blush began to form on Fluttershy’s cheeks, something neither of the pegasi noticed, “I’ve been meaning to say this for a while now…”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow, “Huh?”

“I… Kind of have…” The volume of Fluttershy’s voice dropped with every word, and she could now easily notice her blush by the burning sensation she felt in her cheeks, “A crush…”

“Aww… That’s great, Fluttershy!” Rainbow smiled, happy for her friend, but it still didn’t answer any questions. Just why did she decide to tell me? Nothing I can do about it. She thought to herself, and after she set down her sandwich she raised a hoof, “But, why are you telling me? Do you want my help or something?”

“No, it’s not that…” Rainbow Dash’s help could’ve done a lot for Fluttershy, but she knew better than to ask for help from her crush.

“What is it then?” Rainbow rested her head on her hoof, wondering when Fluttershy would actually give her an answer. She didn’t want to push her friend to answering right away, so she figured it would be best to just wait a little longer.

“Nevermind…” Fluttershy shook her head and brought her eyes to look back at the table in front of them. She looked at her unfinished sandwich, and pushed her plate forwards a little, no longer feeling hungry.

Knowing that this would likely just go on forever with no answer, Rainbow decided to ask the shy pegasus, despite her previous feelings about the entire situation. Letting out a mildly frustrated sigh, she spoke up, “Fluttershy, just who is your crush, anyway? Do I know them?”

“Oh, yes, you know them… Quite well, actually…” Fluttershy began to tremble, already regretting that she had brought up the subject.

“Oh, I do, huh? Hmm…” Now it was time to guess. Rainbow was sure she could get it right on the first guess, and so she shot out her first answer, “Twilight?” A smirk grew on her face, but it disappeared as soon as Fluttershy shook her head. “Ah…” Rainbow Dash leaned back, resting her head on her hooves and thinking to herself, Well, at least I won’t have to compete with her… The smirk made another appearance, and Rainbow was confident with her next guess. “Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy shook her head again, and Rainbow closed her eyes and jumped back into her thoughts. Well, that doesn’t leave much else… Fluttershy’s interested in mares so that means somepony like Big Mac or Thunderlane wouldn’t be an option… She groaned, deciding she would just wait to see if Fluttershy would tell her.

Rainbow had learned of Fluttershy’s interest in mares back when they were in flight school, when they were only little fillies. Luckily for Fluttershy, Rainbow didn’t seem to mind, unlike almost every other pony in Equestria. She had asked the yellow pegasus if she had an interest in somepony, and though she didn’t get an answer right away, she did eventually find out that Fluttershy had been crushing on one of the other fillies in their class. Even more so, they had ended up in a short-lived relationship for a while, though they remained very close friends.

“Umm… Would you mind if I just told you?” Fluttershy shifted her eyes upwards to look at the pony in front of her, who quickly gave a rather eager nod. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts together, Rainbow Dash… You… She tried to get the words out, but no sound escaped her lips, save for a barely audible squeak. A wave of embarrassment crashed over her, and she quickly lifted up a hoof to point at Rainbow Dash.

At first, Rainbow was confused by the gesture. She didn’t know what Fluttershy was trying to say, but after staring at Fluttershy’s hoof for a few seconds and realizing where it was pointing to, it dawned on her. Fluttershy liked her.

“You… You like me?” Rainbow leaned across the table, speaking in a rather hushed whisper to ensure that nopony else could hear. Her friend returned a quick nod, along with a rather red face. “Wow… Didn’t expect that, that’s for sure…”

I didn’t expect it either… I’m surprised I could tell you at all… Fluttershy wished she could talk back, but her body wouldn’t allow her to speak. She brought her head up to look Rainbow Dash in the eyes, waiting for an answer.

The answer that arrived was the one she expected, but not the one she desired. “Sorry… I don’t exactly feel the same way, Fluttershy. I hate to break it to you, but… Sorry, Fluttershy,” she turned away as she finished, not wanting to see her friend’s reaction.

“Oh…” She knew that was coming, but could’ve by no means prepared herself for it. Not wanting to come across as somepony who is emotionally weak, she did her best to hold back tears and any other reaction she could’ve made, but that didn’t stop a sole tear from dripping down her cheek.

Although they had barely finished their food, Rainbow Dash knew that they should probably leave before her yellow friend burst into tears. She called for a waiter, subsequently paying for their meal and walking outside with Fluttershy, who couldn’t bring herself to look at the pony who had just rejected her.

Rainbow Dash brought her wing across her friend’s back, leading her back to her cottage. Nothing would be better than the comfort of her own home, right? She thought to herself. She glanced over to Fluttershy, who’s head was drooping down low, her eyes fixated on her fore hooves. “Come on, Fluttershy. Let’s get you home.

The two pegasi arrived at the cottage not too long afterwards. Rainbow gave her friend the best hug that she could offer, hoping it would be enough to make up for what she said. Although she knew it wouldn’t, she figured that it wouldn’t hurt to at least hope it would. “Sorry Fluttershy, I really didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but…” She let go of Fluttershy, resting a hoof on her shoulder, “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Right now I gotta go.” Turning around, the rainbow-maned pegasus flapped her wings and took to the sky, quickly disappearing from Fluttershy’s sight.

Fluttershy turned around shortly afterwards, deciding that she might as well go inside her cottage. Twilight was probably still there, and maybe she could talk to her unicorn friend about her problem. It was getting cold as well, another incentive for her to go inside. She could hear some rather unusual sounds coming from the cottage, and approached it with caution and curiosity. Nudging the door open with her nose, she placed a hoof indoors, already comforted by the warmth she could feel.

What greeted her upon entrance of the cottage was her friend Twilight attempting, rather poorly, to calm down the animals. Fluttershy assumed Twilight had caused this, most likely unintentionally, which really wasn’t that unlikely. She couldn’t help but giggle at the situation Twilight had gotten into, and thought it best to intervene. A sweet, calming tune filled the room, lasting only a few seconds, but its effects were immediately clear.

The animals calmed down, rushing over to the familiar caretaker, quickly forming a crowd around her that made it nearly impossible for her to move. Fluttershy smiled at them, thankful that she at least had a group of friends who loved her. Redirecting her attention to Twilight, she lifted up a hoof to move, which the animals responded to by moving out of her way, allowing her to take a step forward. “You’ve had your hooves full, haven’t you?”

“That’s for sure… These animals are really difficult to handle, and they don’t seem to like me. I don’t know how you manage to take care of all of them, Fluttershy.”

“It’s not as hard as you think, or at least I think so… But don’t worry; they’re just not used to seeing you here. They’re not that familiar with you, since they’ve either been outside or sleeping whenever you’ve come to visit… Everyone, this is Twilight Sparkle. She’s a really nice pony, and one of my best friends… So there’s nothing to worry about, okay?”

Twilight smiled somewhat nervously and raised a hoof, waving at the animals to greet them, “Hello!” The gesture was returned by most of the animals, which seemed a little strange to Twilight given their earlier behavior, except for one relatively grumpy rabbit.

He didn’t like the thought of somepony being in the cottage to distract Fluttershy from caring to his every need. He shot Twilight a glare and hopped away shortly after, to which she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Oh, don’t mind him,” Fluttershy spoke up to try and reassure her friend. “He’s just jealous of you is all.”

“Jealous?” Twilight glanced to her side, looking at Fluttershy. He’s jealous? Of what?

“You, of course,” she answered Twilight’s question swiftly, and the unicorn’s expression went blank. "He knows he won’t get as much attention, now that one of my friends is here…”

“Oh, right. That’s what you meant…” Twilight shook her head, quickly dismissing her thoughts.

“Of course, Twilight… Why, is there anything else for him to be jealous of?” Fluttershy tilted her head curiously, wondering what her friend meant.

Careful, Twilight. “No, nevermind…” She sighed, mostly to herself.

“Hey Twilight?” Hope she doesn’t hate me for this…

“What is it?” Twilight turned her head to look at Fluttershy, curious as to what she wanted.

“Can we talk, please?” Worry was evident in her voice, which brought the same feeling to Twilight.

“Of course, what would you like to talk about?” Twilight wore a smile on her face, hoping it would quell whatever was worrying Fluttershy.

“About Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy’s focus was redirected to the floor.