Books and Butterflies

“Hmm… I wasn’t expecting you to say that. What about her?” Twilight asked the pegasus in front of her, feeling rather confused. Did Rainbow Dash do something?

“She, I, her…” Fluttershy made an attempt to speak, but could only manage to get out a few words, which were by no means a coherent sentence. It didn’t help Twilight’s confusion at all.

“Did something happen between the two of you?” She frowned slightly, leaving a worried expression on her face.

“Nevermind…” Fluttershy’s eyes drifted off to her hooves, and she already regretted trying to talk to Twilight about what had happened. Maybe I can change the topic… Probably not.

“Come on Fluttershy, please tell me. If there’s anything that’s troubling you, I’d like to… Assist you.” Twilight was determined to help her friend, and although Fluttershy would normally be grateful for this, she wished she could lie down on her bed and soak the sheets with her tears. Crying had always helped her feel better before, and she believed it would help another time if she was allowed to.

The pegasus sighed in defeat, bringing herself to look back up at her friend who only wanted to help. There’s no other option… I guess I have to. She took a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking, “I’ll tell you, but could you please, please not tell anypony?”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, your secret is safe with me,” she said as she gave a reassuring smile to Fluttershy, hoping it would help. The pegasus’s special condition only increased Twilight’s interest in what had happened between the two pegasi.

“When we were eating, I told her how I… Felt…” Fluttershy wanted the conversation to be over already, but knew she couldn’t leave Twilight without an answer. Come on Fluttershy, get yourself out of this, one side of her mind spoke to her, to which seemingly another side answered, I can’t.

“How you felt? Felt about what, exactly?” The bookworm’s mind brought up a multitude of possible answers to her own question, and she tried to find which one would be the most likely, not unlike trying to find the correct pieces to put together in a jigsaw puzzle. Putting two of those ‘pieces’ together, she found what she believed to be the most likely answer. Oh…

“How I felt about her…” Fluttershy clarified, and the volume of her voice dropped with each word that escaped her lips. She shed a small tear, which made its way down her face, moving very slowly. Don’t hate me, Twilight… Please…

Well, there go my hopes and dreams. Though, judging by Fluttershy’s reaction, even if she does like Rainbow Dash, there’s still a chance… She likes mares at least, so I guess that’s a small victory. Twilight thought to herself, almost smiling at her last thought before remembering she was still with a very sad pegasus, and rested a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Well, uh… Wow.”

Fluttershy could only nod, keeping her gaze directed at anywhere but Twilight. If her friend outright objected to the idea of fillyfoolers, she could easily lose her friends right there. Luckily for her, things didn’t seem to be that way. “Come on, Fluttershy. Let’s sit down, and then you can tell me about what happened.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, seemingly in surprise, and she turned her head to look at Twilight. She doesn’t hate me? That’s good… Fluttershy sighed in relief, glad to know there was another pony who didn’t mind her being a fillyfooler. Walking over to the couch with Twilight by her side, she sat down, not quite ready to have to remember Rainbow Dash’s rejection, but wanting to anyways if it would help. “Thank you Twilight…”

“You’re welcome, Fluttershy,” Twilight smiled and sat down on the couch next to Fluttershy, tucking her hooves under her chest. “Now, start from the beginning. Where did you two go?”

“Well… After you left… We went off to this really nice restaurant not too far from Sugarcube Corner… I don’t quite remember the name though…” she said, and sniffled shortly afterwards. “We had a nice little lunch together… I had a daisy sandwich, so did she…” she stopped herself as soon as she felt a wave of tears coming once she remembered the events that followed. She buried her face into the arm of the couch, hiding her tears to try and not look weak in front of Twilight.

“Fluttershy…” Twilight brought her hoof over to her friend, resting it on top of Fluttershy’s back. She rubbed her hoof up and down Fluttershy’s back to comfort her, something that seemed to work, if only a little. “You have to tell me what happened. I can’t help you otherwise.”

Pulling her face back away from the couch, Fluttershy turned to face Twilight, tears slowly flowing down her cheeks. “I decided to tell her how I felt around halfway through our meal…” The scene had begun playing through Fluttershy’s mind over and over again, as if she was doomed to never forget the crushing feeling of rejection.

“How exactly did she react?”

“Well, umm… She was confused at first, and didn’t really know what I meant… All I did was point a hoof at her, after all… Though she did realize after a few seconds, and she seemed pretty surprised… Shortly after that, she said she didn’t feel the same way…” The tears that had been only slowly travelling down Fluttershy’s face were now coming down quickly, and in much larger quantities.

Twilight couldn’t bear to see her friend in such a state and pulled the pegasus closer to her, resting her head on top of Fluttershy’s. Placing a hoof on the back of her friend’s head, she began a slow, rubbing motion to try and ease the emotional pain Fluttershy was experiencing.

“Twilight?” Fluttershy looked up at Twilight, her eyes filled with tears and cheeks damp from the crying.

“Yes, Fluttershy?”

“Would it be too much for you to spend the night here with me? I’d really like having a friend here…”

“Of course it wouldn’t!” Twilight shook her head, smiling at the pegasus next to her. “If it will help you feel better, then it’s fine with me.”

“Thank you, Twilight. You’re really a great friend.”

Friend. Of course.

“Just get some rest, Fluttershy. You really need it right now,” Twilight said as she gently stroked Fluttershy’s mane.

“I will…” Fluttershy shuffled around, changing into a more comfortable position, and brought herself a little closer – physically, that is – to Twilight.

Angel, having overheard the last portion of the conversation and sensing that something definitely wasn’t alright with Fluttershy, hopped into the room to see what was happening. When he saw his caretaker resting on the couch with that unicorn, a mild wave of jealousy passed through him. He would’ve much preferred Fluttershy cuddling with him, rather than some unicorn he barely knew. Upon seeing her tears, however, he quickly made his way to the couch and found himself a comfortable spot under Fluttershy’s wing, giving her a bit more company.

“Thank you, Angel bunny…” Fluttershy smiled at the arrival of Angel, glad that he could at least be kind in a moment like this. The pegasus slowly drifted into the world of sleep, the comfort of both unicorn and critter aiding her as her consciousness slipped from her grasp.

Twilight’s cheeks burned with a deep shade of red as soon as she noticed that she was, essentially, sleeping with her crush. If everything goes perfectly, that would definitely be nice… Though there’s also the possibility of her falling for somepony else, or even never getting over Rainbow Dash… She shook her head to dismiss the negative thoughts. No, don’t think of that. Think of a more positive outcome, Twilight.

And she did just that. Her mind conjured images of her with the pony she cared so much for, hundreds and thousands of different possibilities, all with their own major and minor differences. It wasn’t long before her focus transitioned back to the world around her, and she glanced over to the pegasus laying down next to her. For a moment she considered kissing the top of Fluttershy’s head, but decided against it, knowing it would be far too risky.

Good night Fluttershy, she thought, falling asleep merely moments later.

The loud, obnoxious noise of an alarm clock woke the sleeping Rainbow Dash, who took the opportunity to silence her alarm and attempt to go back to sleep, before realizing that she should probably get out of bed. She spent a few seconds simply staring at the clock, trying to read the time but having difficulty doing so in her tired state.

“It’s already noon?” she said to herself as she rose from the bed, stretching both her legs and wings. Rubbing her eyes with her hooves, she felt much different than she usually did when she woke up. She felt horrible, as if she had done something absolutely terrible, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Fluttershy, food, crush… “Oh.”

Having discovered the problem, she jumped out of bed and began her usual morning routine. Stretch a little more, take a nice shower, and get some breakfast. One hour and three cups of coffee later, she made her way outside of the cloud home she lived in, and to the edge of the clouds. From there she could get a relatively good view of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, and even the Everfree Forest, which seemed to stretch on forever.

“And now…” the cyan pegasus said as she leaped off the clouds, diving down towards the ground. The speed, the feeling of the wind passing through her mane, the rush it gave her was enough to fully wake her, and she extended her wings to slow her descent. She landed on a cloud, and rested for a couple minutes, going through in her mind what she was going to do that day.

Pinkie Pie wanted me to try out some stuff, so I guess I could go there first. After that, I could hang out with Twilight, maybe lean over to her and… Wait, where is she anyway? I didn’t see her at all after she left to take care of Shy’s animals for her…

A wave of guilt seemed to pass through the pegasus, and a frown formed on her face. Sorry Shy. Standing up, she jumped off the cloud and flew to Ponyville, taking out a few clouds along the way. Well, off to Sugarcube Corner. She also passed a few weather ponies as she made her way towards the bakery, and felt glad that she was off of work for the day.

Before long she had reached her destination, and landed only a short distance away from the door, which was conveniently open. Pinkie was inside, sitting at the counter as usual and twirling her mane with her hoof. The earth pony took notice of Rainbow’s arrival, and smiled, glad that her friend had actually arrived to help her out with the sweets she had been testing out. So far, she had gotten nopony to try them out, besides herself.

“Dashie! I’m so glad you’re here! I’ll be right back with the samples.” Giving no time for Rainbow to respond, Pinkie hopped upstairs and, true to her word, came back down almost instantly with a tray in her mouth. On the tray were an assortment of cupcakes, chocolates, lollipops and more, all available for Rainbow Dash to choose from.

“These are what you want me to try out, right?” Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof at the tray, to which Pinkie quickly nodded in response. “What flavors are there?”

Pinkie began pointing at the items on the tray, showing what each of them tasted like. “This muffin right here tastes kind of like bubblegum, with maybe a teeny bit of watermelon mixed in.” The rest of the goods that she showed Rainbow all had rather strange flavors, such as hot sauce or another clash of two flavors.  “This little lollipop looks really small, right?” she said as she picked up one of the smallest lollipops Rainbow Dash had ever seen.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“It… Actually, maybe I shouldn’t tell you… You’ll have to try it for yourself,” said a grinning Pinkie Pie.

“I guess I’ll take that one, then. And this muffin, too.” A hoof was pointed at a yellow and blue muffin. Pinkie grabbed the aforementioned muffin and lollipop, putting them in a small bag for Rainbow Dash to carry around. “Thanks, Pinkie.”

“You’re welcome! I hope you like them!”

“I’m sure I will, Pinkie,” Rainbow said, giving the pink pony a friendly smile. “Oh, do you know where Twilight is? I couldn’t find her at all yesterday.”

“Twilight? Hmm…” Pinkie placed her hoof under her chin, raising an eyebrow and looking up at the ceiling. “Nope! Well, maybe. Didn’t she go with you yesterday to Fluttershy’s? Maybe she’s still there!”

“She probably is, actually… Thanks again!” Rainbow was already gone and flying in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage before Pinkie had the chance to say goodbye.

“Bye, Dashie…” The pink earth pony said after her friend had left, and slowly retreated upstairs to her room.

I probably should’ve asked what flavor that muffin was first… A rather disgusted Rainbow Dash thought to herself after finishing the muffin that Pinkie gave her. Though she didn’t know exactly what flavor it was, she knew it was unlike anything she had ever eaten before. Not in a good way, either. She didn’t dare taste the lollipop, for fear of something even worse.

In search of Twilight, and as if she had forgotten the events of the previous day, she landed just outside of Fluttershy’s cottage. A cool breeze passed by, one of the signals that the weather pegasi used to warn ponies that winter was coming soon, and caused her to shiver. Not wanting to stay outside in case it got any colder, she trotted over to the front door and knocked gently so that she wouldn’t alarm the pegasus inside, but at least loud enough to be audible.

A minute passed. No answer. Another knock, one that was slightly louder. Same result.

Her patience already wearing off, she went to open the door. As a potential fortune and misfortune, the door was unlocked. Pushing the door open, she heard no reaction from anypony that she suspected to be inside, and quietly walked in. Before she had the chance to close the door behind her, she spotted two ponies laying very close to each other on a nearby couch.

Twilight, the unicorn she was looking for.

Fluttershy, her close friend whose heart was broken the day before.

Both were sleeping.

Opening her mouth to speak, Rainbow Dash stopped herself before any words could escape her lips and shook her head. With a turn and a few steps forward, she left the cottage and closed the door behind her, making a much louder exit than she had intended.

Twilight Sparkle was awoken by the sound of a door shutting, and she was almost sure she heard somepony’s voice just a few moments after waking up. The voice came from the direction of the door, but nopony was there, the only other pony who could’ve made any noise was sleeping next to her.

A smile crept onto the unicorn’s face, though it dissipated nearly as soon as it had appeared. Fluttershy appeared to be dreaming, though clearly not enjoying whatever was happening. Taking an effort to calm the pegasus down, Twilight placed a hoof on top of Fluttershy’s head, rubbing it in a circular motion. Her attempt didn’t help at all.

Twilight glanced around the room in search of a pillow, finding one resting on a chair across the room. Levitating it over towards them, she placed it directly under Fluttershy’s head, hoping to ease any pain or distress she was experiencing. Only a few minutes later, Fluttershy relaxed and woke up, stretching out her legs and wings, accidentally pushing Twilight away with a hoof.

“Good morning, Fluttershy.”

The pegasus froze for a brief moment, wondering what somepony was doing in her cottage so early. Her eyes shifted to the side to look at Twilight, and she calmed down, remembering how Twilight had stayed with her to keep her company.

“Did you sleep well? It didn’t look like you were having a very good dream not too long ago.”

“I feel okay right now, but I didn’t in my dream… It was so scary, Twilight. I was all alone, and…” Fluttershy shut her eyes and turned to Twilight, hugging her tightly and earning a light blush from the unicorn. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here… Thank you, Twilight.”

“You’re… Welcome?” She would’ve said more, but she was mostly focused on the hug she was receiving from her crush. It brought her great feelings of joy, and she almost returned the hug before her stomach growled. “Do you think we should get something to eat? I’m starting to feel hungry…”

Fluttershy’s stomach seemed to growl in agreement. “That sounds good… I guess I’m getting hungry too.”

“What do you want to eat?” Twilight asked, and didn’t give her friend any time to react before an idea came to mind, “I could make us something.” Smiling at her friend, she shook her head and removed the smile from her face. “No… Bad idea.”

“Well, why is that?” A curious Fluttershy asked.

“I’m… Not that great at cooking.”

“Oh. Well, we could always just go somewhere and get something to eat, right?” Fluttershy crawled off the couch, looking back at Twilight and waiting for an answer.

“That sounds great.”

“Alright. But, umm… Where are we going?”

“Actually…” Twilight rolled off the couch, landing on her belly. “That’s a good question.”