An Unlikely Romance

All five of Rainbow Dash’s friends’ jaws dropped to the ground. For several long, tedious seconds everything was silent. Then Rarity coughed out, “I beg your pardon?”

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and slumped down, trying to hide her fear. “I already told you. It was Gilda. There, I said it. Are you happy? Can we move on?” Sweat began to drip down her coat as the silence reigned on. Her friends’ shocked faces burned into her. Her wings drooped until the tips of them touched the floor and her pupils shrank. “Girls?” she squeaked, her voice cracking. “Can we please just forget this and move on?”

They’re going to hate you, she thought. Yes, all but Rarity and Twilight know you like mares, but…Gilda? There’s no way they could’ve known about that, and they met Gilda. They hated her. If they know I liked her that much, they might hate me, too! Oh, Celestia, please don’t let me lose my friends just because I’m a bucking idiot!

Her breath was short and ragged. She stood and shuffled her hooves nervously as her stomach began to toss and turn. Frantically she turned in circles, taking in her friends’ expressions.

They hate you they hate you oh my Celestia they’re never going to talk to you again they’re going to kill you GET OUT OF HERE!

“Where’s the bathr—” Before she even finished her sentence she shot off like a rocket, weaving through the halls until she reached the bathroom. Once she had found it she slammed the door and bolted it.

Tears streaming down her face, she sank onto the rug and covered her face with her hooves.

“S-stupid Rainbow Dash,” she whimpered. “Now not only are they g-going to h-hate you because you k-kissed Gilda, but they’re g-going to know you’re a c-crybaby. A s-stupid, immature, weak crybaby.” Her hind legs kicked out as if shoving away all her fears.

She didn’t know how long she’d been crying before she heard a knock on the door. It could’ve been thirty seconds…heck, it could’ve been thirty minutes, for all she knew.

“Dashie? It’s Pinkie. Are you in there?” The party mare’s voice sounded soft and shaky, a stark contrast to her normal bubbly tone.

“G-go away,” Rainbow Dash blubbered, her tail flicking around.

Pinkie continued knocking. “Please come out. I don’t like hearing you crying.”

“I’m not…” She paused to give a loud sob. “I’m not c-c-crying! Leave me alone!”

Hoofsteps sounded and the knocking stopped. A second later, though, Applejack’s voice called through the door. “Rainbow, Ah know why you’re upset. You think we’re going to hate you just ‘cause you kissed Gilda, right? Do you really think we’re that shallow? We’ll never hate you. We just want you to come out of there so we can talk to you.”

“Go away.”

“Goshdarnit, Rainbow, Ah’m not going to do that! Do you know how upset Pinkie is right now? She looked like she was about to cry because you won’t suck it up and come out of there! Ah don’t mean to be rude; you’ve got a right to be upset. But we’re tryin’ to help you.”

Rainbow Dash sniffled. “Pinkie’s upset?”

“Would you please come out of there so we can talk? And just for the record, Rarity and Twilight said they don’t hate you, either.”

Dash set her head down on the fuzzy rug, closing her eyes before standing and wiping her nose. “Okay, fine, I’ll come out. But you can’t make me do anything else.” She unlocked and opened the door, immediately yelping as she came face to face with Applejack. Both mares leapt backwards before averting their gazes.

“They’re still in Rarity’s room,” Applejack told her. As the pegasus began to move, though, she held out a hoof. “Wait. Rainbow Dash, are you okay?”

“I’m better now,” she replied, brushing past the farmer.

“That’s not what Ah meant. Pinkie and Ah heard you talkin’ to yourself, and when you did that Sonic Rainboom earlier… Can Ah ask you somethin’, and will you give me an honest answer?”

“Fine. Sure. Whatever.”

“Do you…Ah mean, what’s your…do you have self-esteem issues?”

“No!” Rainbow Dash hollered immediately. Her wings flared out with desperation. After a moment she sighed and turned her head away, wincing. “I mean…yes. Sort of. But I shouldn’t! I mean, I’m the awesomest pony ever! And why do you care?”

“’Cause Ah’m your friend.” Applejack frowned. “Ah don’t mean to be pushy, but Ah think you should get professional help for that.”

Rage boiled through her blood. She bared her teeth and shoved her muzzle in her friend’s face, her neck veins bulging. “Oh, so as soon as I tell you I kissed Gilda, you say I should get help? Some friend you are. And here I thought I could trust you!”

“Calm down, sugarcube, that ain’t what Ah’m sayin’. Can Ah tell you a secret?”

“Do I have a choice?” she spat.

Applejack ignored her. “Ah used to have a horrible self-esteem. Sometimes it got so bad that—well, never mind. Ah got a head doctor to help me, and it really helped. Now Ah’m perfectly fine. Ah’m not sayin’ you have to do that, Ah’m just sayin’ it might help. Trust me, you’ll feel a lot happier.”

Instead of answering, Rainbow Dash shouldered the farmpony aside. Her face darkened and she snorted through her nostrils a few times, trying to calm her anger, before trudging to Rarity’s room. At the entrance, however, she paused and rested her forehead against the soft oak of the door. She could hear her friends’ subdued murmuring drifting under the door, and occasionally she heard her name tossed into the conversation.

I’m an idiot, she thought, suppressing a sigh. I should’ve just stayed there and explained it all to them instead of running away like a little filly. Now not only will I have to explain what happened with Gilda, but also why I was crying so hard.

Before she could continue with her bitter thoughts, she closed her eyes and drew in several shuddery breaths. No, she corrected. That’s in the past. I can’t change what I did. My dad always told me, “If you’re going to be dumb, you’ve got to be tough.” Besides, Applejack’s sort of right. I do beat myself up a lot. But…I shouldn’t. I’m awesome. I’m Rainbow Dash. There’s nothing wrong with me. I don’t need a head doctor, and I definitely don’t have self-esteem issues. I’ll show her!

She plastered on a cocky grin and stood taller. Without allowing herself a moment to regret it she gave the door a gentle push. It swung open.

“Hey, gals,” Rainbow Dash said, still wearing an obviously phony smile. “Sorry about that, I, uh, had to…use the bathroom. Yeah.” Chuckling nervously, she added, “Hope I didn’t miss anything too important.”

At once Pinkie lunged and threw her arms around Dash, catching the pegasus by surprise. The pink mare’s cheeks were decorated with darker streaks, most likely caused by tears, and her mane was drooping slightly. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Dash’s mane, whimpering softly. After several long moments she drew away and stared up at Rainbow Dash. Her blue eyes were dull and gloomy. “Don’t do that, Dashie,” she whispered. “We were so worried…”

Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her neck, swallowing the lump in her throat, trying to act brave for her friend. “Hey, calm down, Pinks,” she urged. “It isn’t like I was in danger or anything. Heck, you weren’t even this upset when I did that Sonic Rainboom into the tree, and I could’ve died. I’m surprised I got away without injury, but hey, I’m Rainbow Dash. What can I say?”

“But that was different. You weren’t sad then. I knew you weren’t hurt. You were crying now, and you wouldn’t come out and talk to me and we were worried we had done something to hurt you and don’t ever do that again!”

“I-I-I wasn’t crying,” Dash insisted, glancing away. “I was just…um…coughing. And stuff. I’m probably coming down with a cold or something stupid like that.”

Pinkie Pie seemed unconvinced. She didn’t press the mare, though, and instead took advantage of the silence to make her way back to her pillow seat. Once there she began staring forlornly at her hooves.

Avoiding her friends’ gazes, Dash trotted over to the pillow she had been sitting at before and sank her haunches back. “So…uh…what happened while I was gone?”

Rarity cleared her throat dramatically as she stood. “Well, Rainbow Dash, we were, in fact, talking about the delightful piece of information you recently disclosed to everypony. Everypony but Twilight and I, that is.”

Rainbow Dash winced. “Oh. Right.”

“And I have just one thing to say on the matter,” the mare continued, making her way over to Dash. She now stood directly in front of her, her nose almost touching the other mare’s. Disapproval glimmered and shone in her pristine blue eyes, and Rainbow Dash braced herself for the worst. What she got instead was a soft hug. Rarity’s warm breath tickled her ear as she murmured, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I’m your friend. Faust knows we don’t get along one hundred percent of the time, but I would’ve thought you trusted me enough to tell me you liked mares.”

Rainbow stared at her with her jaw hanging loose.

“I may be a stallion lover myself, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t accept you. Haven’t all of us shown you enough that you can trust us? By no means do I intend to be rude, but if you had just told us from the start, you would have saved yourself a lot of worry. Trust me,” she added, swapping glances with Fluttershy, “I learned that lesson long ago.”

“You don’t hate me,” Rainbow Dash stated, the fact sending a sharp fizz of joy through her. “You don’t hate me!”

“Of course not, Rainbow Dash. Although this certainly explains why you were acting so jumpy before when I asked you to lunch. I must have been sending you the wrong signals. No hard feelings?” Rarity stood back from her and offered her hoof.

Rainbow’s cheeks flushed just the tiniest bit as she shook Rarity’s hoof. “No hard feelings.”

“Wonderful! Now, then, about that question I asked you earlier…and that answer you gave…while I would enjoy hearing an explanation, I can see that it made you quite uncomfortable, so I will drop it. And I do believe Truth or Dare is probably done with tonight, so we shall move on to our next activity—Spin the Bottle!”

A collective wail rose from the group.

Rarity covered her mouth with her hoof and giggled quietly. “Oh, I’m only kidding. Next we’ll make s’mores while we wait for our food to arrive. I ordered in from a fancy restaurant!”

Applejack, who was just entering the room again, mentioned, “Isn’t that sort of backwards? Aren’t you s’posed to eat dinner first and then dessert?”

“Darling, we’re at a sleepover. I never thought I would say this, but…rules don’t apply here.”

Before too long the six of them were clustered around a small fire in Rarity’s backyard, clutching sticks dripping with melted marshmallows in their jaws. Rarity was watching each of them carefully. Every time one of their marshmallows would turn golden-brown she grasped it in her magic and slowly and deliberately placed it in a s’more. This annoyed Rainbow Dash immensely, as she preferred her marshmallows burnt to a crisp.

Soon she found a technique. She’d wait until Rarity was busy making a s’more for one of the others, and then she would stuff her stick in the fire and wait until the flame spread to her sticky treat. Just as Rarity turned back to the blaze Rainbow Dash blew out the fire stuffed the marshmallow in her mouth, ignoring the heat to savor the crispy flavor.

Pinkie had cheered up considerably since they’d come outside. Now she was eyeing Rarity. Just like Dash, every time the unicorn was occupied Pinkie tried to burn her marshmallow. Unlike Dash, however, Pinkie seemed intent on not only burning her marshmallow, but also anything else she could get her hooves on, like a graham cracker, a blade of grass, a shred of newspaper…

“Mmph,” she mumbled over her mouthful of gushy sweetness. “Thish ish really goo!”

“Tell me about it,” Rainbow Dash replied, hoofbumping her. “That was a great idea to have us make s’mores, Rarity.”

Rarity didn’t look up from the graham cracker she was placing a marshmallow on. “Oh, nonsense. It was Twilight’s idea.”

“Well, it’s a good one, whoever thought of it.” Rainbow Dash beamed at Twilight, seemingly oblivious to the huge chunks of burnt stuff in her teeth.

The unicorn didn’t respond. She was busy staring into the fire, looking very peeved about something. Since they’d gone outside she hadn’t said a word.

Actually, Dash thought, come to think of it, she hasn’t said anything since…oh, no.

She trotted over to where Twilight was sitting and plopped herself down next to her, whistling a tune. For a moment she just continued whistling. Then she gently reached out the tip of one wing and brushed it against Twilight’s shoulder.

“Gahhh!” Twilight yelped, recoiling from Dash’s touch. Her ears flew down like they’d been shoved. When she saw it was Dash who had poked her, she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and turned her head away. “Hello, Rainbow Dash. Can I help you?”

It was bound to happen with one of them. I guess I kind of hoped my friends were above that sort of thing, but…that’s okay. I can…I can fix this.

“Hey, Twi. I just wanted to see how you were doing. You haven’t talked much tonight.”

“Fluttershy hasn’t talked much either. Why aren’t you asking her how she’s doing?” Icy venom doused Twilight’s voice.

Well, I can probably fix this. It’s worth a try.

“Twilight,” she began, and stopped. Then she tried again. “Twilight, look, I know what’s got you upset. But it’s not something I can help. If I could change it, buck yeah, I would. I can’t, though. So you’re going to have to accept this, just like I learned to. And if you want me to, I promise I’ll never hit on you or anything like that. See? Nothing to worry about. I’m your friend, and nothing more.”

Twilight’s face contorted in an odd mixture of disgust, alarm, and contemplation. Her tail swept away from Dash and she closed her eyes, saying, “Look, it’s not that you’re not my friend, I just…I need some time to think about this, okay? It’s a lot to take in. In Canterlot, that sort of thing was frowned upon by most. Celestia never told me what she thought of it, but…I just…I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I’m going to need some time before I tell you how I feel about all this.”

Rainbow Dash could feel her tears from earlier threatening to make an appearance again. No, no, I can’t cry! Not now. Not with Applejack over there giving me that stupid look of pity. I hate pity. Pity should go somewhere else and leave me alone! I don’t need pity. I’m not going to cry. I just need to say something, something that’ll convince Twilight that I’m not an enemy. It has to be something intelligent-sounding enough to get her to accept me. “Cool.” Her voice cracked, swerving upward several octaves. …Well. That went horribly.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, sitting across from the troubled mares, leapt to Rainbow Dash’s rescue, drawing her away before she could give herself a chance to let her tears loose.

“Hey, Dashie! Look what happens when you put the marshmallow all the way in the fire!” Pinkie exclaimed. “It gets reeeeeally big and then it melts! See?”

Rainbow Dash watched Twilight for one more moment before making her way over to the excitable earth pony. “That’s…really cool, Pinks.”

“Isn’t it?” Pinkie grinned. Her face fell when she noticed that Rainbow wasn’t responding. Frowning, she nudged Rainbow Dash with her hoof. “Hey, Dashie, remember? No being saddy-waddy tonight. Have fun! That’s the whole point of sleepovers.”

“Sorry, Pinks.” She fixed her gaze intently on the crackling blaze, imagining it spreading through the town, devouring everything in its path. The thought made her chuckle, which scared her.

“I like that nickname!” Pinkie declared. “Ooh, ooh, now give one to Flutters! Oops, I already did. Maybe you can call her…uh…’Shy! Or FS. Or Shyflutter. Or Shutterfly. Or Fluttery!”

“Thanks, Pinkie Pie, but I think I can find my own nicknames for my friends.”

Pinkie’s shoulders slumped. “Aww…” Seconds later, however, she reverted to her normally hyper state, tossing several pieces of chocolate in her mouth at once.

Rainbow Dash could feel a wall of tension form between her and Twilight. Even though they were both doing what they could to ignore each other, Dash knew Twilight was thinking of her, and vice versa. How am I going to convince her I’m not some sick freak if I can’t even convince myself?

It seemed like forever before Rarity finally suggested they get some shut-eye. They put out the fire, cleaned up outside, and headed up to Rarity’s room to get ready for bed.

“I’ll sleep between Dashie and Applejack,” Pinkie offered cheerfully, dragging her gruesomely pink sleeping bag over to Rainbow Dash’s. “I don’t know why, but they seem a teensy-weensy bit upset with each other and that’s not good because friends shouldn’t argue and I hope they make up soon but that’s not of my business so I’ll sleep between them so they don’t argue tonight.”

Rainbow Dash, lying on her back on her Wonderbolt-emblazoned sleeping bag, didn’t respond. She just folded her ears as to block out all sounds and sighed. Why was life so difficult for her? Half of her friends were upset with her—Applejack because Rainbow had snapped at her when she offered to help, Twilight Sparkle because Dash was a fillyfooler, and Rarity because the two had argued intensely earlier that night. The only ponies who didn’t seem angry with her at the moment were Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, and even Pinkie had been upset by Dash’s crying fit from before.

“Hey, Fluttershy, wanna sleep here?” Rainbow Dash patted the space on the other side of her.

The shy pony nodded silently and dragged her bag over. It was pale yellow, like her, and covered in woodland creatures.

“’Cause everypony but you and Pinkie seems upset with me, and I don’t want…” She trailed off, sighing. “Never mind. You probably get it.”

Fluttershy crawled over to Dash and sat beside her. One of her wings gently reached out and curled around her. “I understand. Are you okay?”

Rainbow Dash glanced around. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were brushing their teeth in the other room, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie were busy talking about who-knows-what. Finally she sighed dejectedly, “No. No, I’m not okay. Why the hay do all of our friends suddenly hate me? What did I do wrong? It’s not because I’m a fillyfooler…I mean, with Twilight it is, but not Rarity and Applejack, I don’t think. It’s not fair! I’ve even managed to upset Pinkie Pie today, and that’s saying something. The only pony I haven’t hurt yet is you, and I bet that won’t last long. What did I do wrong?”

“Well…um…”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “What? Spit it out.”

“Oh, um, I don’t want to be rude.”

“Just tell me, Flutters.” She smiled. “I kind of like that nickname. Anyway, just say it. I won’t get offended, I swear.”

“Rarity’s upset because you didn’t trust her before now, and you two were arguing earlier and you both said things that were kind of mean. Applejack’s upset because…well, I don’t really know for sure, but, um, I think you two argued before you came back from the bathroom. Twilight grew up being told that fillyfooling is wrong and so she sort of thinks it’s bad that you like mares, and Pinkie Pie was really depressed because you were upset earlier and you promised you wouldn’t be sad tonight. She also doesn’t like it when you’re hurting.”

Rainbow Dash blinked and stared at her. “…Oh. Right.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and concern jolted across her face as she said, “Oh, no, I’m sorry, that was mean of me to tell you…”

“No, it wasn’t. I sort of already guessed all that.” She withdrew from Fluttershy’s hug and flopped backwards onto her sleeping bag again. “Flutters, do you…do you hate me?”

“Oh, no! I could never hate you.”

“Thanks.” She faked a yawn. “Well, I’m really tired now, so, uh, I think I’m gonna hit the hay. G’night.” Slipping into the sleeping bag, she pretended to snore.

Fluttershy backed away. “Okay. Goodnight, Rainbow Dash.”

For a few minutes she lay there, fake snoring. Then, once she was sure the others thought she was asleep, she pulled the covers far over her head and tucked her face away. Her snoring faded to soft breathing.

She didn’t know how long it was until the others finally fell asleep. When they did, she sat up and looked around. They all looked so…peaceful. Every once in a while one of their ears would twitch, or they’d roll onto their side, or scratch their nose. But other than that, everything was silent and still.

Rainbow Dash remembered her earlier thought that the sleepover would turn out to be a disaster. What with her and Rarity’s argument, her forced coming out, Applejack thinking she needed a head doctor, Twilight turning out to be homophobic, and her hoof aching like crazy, well…she had pretty much been spot on.

“Called it,” she laughed quietly to herself.

At the sound of her friend’s voice, Pinkie Pie blinked her eyes open. “Dashie?” she groggily mumbled. “Why are you still awake? I thought you went to sleep a long time ago. Were you faking?” As she spoke she clambered over to Rainbow’s sleeping bag and sat next to her.

“I couldn’t fall asleep.” She averted her eyes. “I know I promised not to be sad and stuff at the party, but, uh…”

Pinkie wrapped her arms around Dash in response. “I know, Dashie. It’s okay, you can be sad now if it makes you feel better.”

“Thanks, Pinks.” Her eyes slid closed as she leaned her head on the pink pony’s shoulder. Her lip trembled and tears began to fall silently. “I-I knew you’d understand.”

“Dashie?”

“Y-yeah?”

“I know it’s none of my business but I couldn’t help it because you were so sad so I asked Applejack what happened between you two and she said you argued because she thought you had self-esteem issues.”

Rainbow Dash remained silent, not trusting herself to speak anymore.

“And I know you probably don’t want to say out loud if you do, but I don’t like to see you upset. You’re the toughest pony ever on the outside, and even though it’s kinda sweet to see your soft side, I think it makes you saddy-waddy.”

You can say that again, she thought.

“So I think you should take her advice.”

…Okay, please don’t say that again.

“She might’ve said it in a way that made you think she was talking down to you and making fun of you, but she really, really did have a good point. You’re Rainbow Dash! It’s not like you to be crying.” Pinkie Pie’s voice began to quiver. “Dashie, please get somepony who can help you with this. Don’t do it for me, or Applejack, or Rarity, or anypony else. Do it for yourself. Please, just do it so you can be happy again.”

Rainbow Dash, finished with her muted sobbing, wiped her nose, saying, “Pinkie Pie…why is it that you always seem to have the best advice? You’re so random.”

“Does that mean you’ll take AJ’s advice?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Suddenly her voice took on a hard edge. “But if you tell her I am, I’ll just deny it, so…don’t tell anypony, okay?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie’s face split open in a wide grin, and she pulled Dash into yet another hug. “So now will you go to sleep? You have your not-really-but-sort-of-in-a-way-date tomorrow. You won’t want to fall asleep during it ‘cause then you might fall into your soup or whatever you order and you’re meant to eat it, not breathe it, silly!” Returning to her own sleeping bag, Pinkie Pie giggled softly. “Oops. I’m being too loud. Well, good night, Dashie!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, slithering under the covers. A yawn snuck out of her parted jaws. Her eyelids began to droop. “G’night, Pinks. Thanks for letting me be ‘saddy-waddy.’”

The last thing she heard before she slipped into slumber was, “It was the least I could do, Dashie-Washie.”