Of a Feather

Consolation

--

Fluttershy's journey back to her cottage was uneventful, stopping briefly in Ponyville to pick up some extra fruits, veggies and grains for her animals before the shops closed, rushing out to her cottage as fast as her hooves - and occasionally her wings - could carry her.

Her first stop was to go see Tank, Dash's pet tortoise. Tank, being a tortoise, didn't get along so well with clouds. As a result, he'd still spent most of his time sleeping at Fluttershy's and in the nearby forest tree she had hollowed out to act as a sort of shelter during bad weather at the edge of Everfree.

Rainbow Dash diligently visited him every day, even if only for a few minutes, but often she stayed for quite a while. According to an annoyed Dash, the enchanted contraption that Twilight came up with let him buzz around worked stunningly well, but only for a few hours at a time before needing to be recharged, so she reluctantly was forced to keep him on solid earth.

Tank seemed to prefer it that way regardless. Fluttershy hadn't the heart to tell Rainbow that clouds made him nervous.

Fluttershy took a few minutes to let Tank know what was going on, but put most of the emphasis on, 'the next time you see Dash, make sure you give her a hug. Or, the tortoise equivalent'. A sluggish nod and a crooked smile from the tortoise's beak was all the reassurance Fluttershy needed that he understood.

The next hurdle was Angel. It took a lot of coaxing from Fluttershy, but eventually, she convinced the feisty bunny that her friend was in trouble, and that she needed to be there for her. After that, she was rewarded with a crisp salute and a dutiful hop towards the chicken pen. Fluttershy made sure to leave a few extra strawberries out for her capable, if fickle bunny assistant, and then winged it for Rainbow Dash's house.

By the time she arrived, she was a little breathless, but fortunately, Rainbow hadn't beaten her there. She took up a position on the fluffy porch of Rainbow's tall, tower-like cloud home, finally settling down to do a little thinking herself. Since Rainbow Dash's admission, it was like she had a gale at her back, and couldn't slow down. She didn't even think she could move that fast.

Now, it was catching up to her, and she stretched out on the fluffy stoop. Thinking.

Item: Rainbow Dash was very nice.

Item: Rainbow Dash was her best friend, in the whole world.

Oh, certainly, the others were her greatest friends too, she could never say otherwise, but Rainbow Dash was the pony she'd known the longest, and trusted the most.

Item: She kissed Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow Dash hadn't burst into tears or instantly fled the premises.

Fluttershy folded her hooves beneath her, nudging them into the soft cloud stoop. She peered over the edge at the mailbox, far below.

The thought of someone actually liking her, not just liking her but like-liking her was nerve-wracking. She wasn't sure if she was going to have a heart attack or giggle.

Absently, Fluttershy wondered if this was how Pinkie Pie felt all the time.

Still, on the whole, it felt...nice.

Fluttershy's brow knitted together. Right after she finished learning how to be assertive - and she was very proud of how assertive she'd been today - she would pester Twilight as politely as she could for a thesaurus.

Rarity had called her out on using 'nice' for everything whenever she wanted to shy away from actually saying what she meant, and told her discreetly one day at the spa that proper ponies do not 'obfuscate their feelings...in such simple terms'.

So not just nice, Fluttershy thought. Everypony is nice.

What, then?

Even growing up, she'd always admired Rainbow Dash's strength, her...how did she put it. Radicalness? Fluttershy was pretty sure that wasn't a word, but it seemed to fit Rainbow perfectly.

Rainbow Dash was everything that Fluttershy had hoped to be, when she was a filly. She tried so hard at flight school. Somewhere along the way, after she had got her cutie mark, Fluttershy had accepted that she really was pretty weak and helpless. Fluttershy had settled that with herself a long time ago, she was okay with that.

She turned instead to Rainbow Dash as the best friend she hoped she could have. She tried her best whenever she could, when they needed her for Winter Wrap Up, for delivering water to Cloudsdale, to help her find a pet.

Dash was everything Fluttershy wasn't, and that made Fluttershy just a tiny little bit stronger every time she was around, all the parts she was missing right there at her side. At first, it had just been about that. She thought she could soak up some of Rainbow Dash's qualities by sheer osmosis, and then maybe they'd stop laughing at her quite so much, but that changed.

They'd been through a lot together. Fluttershy nodded, and watched the sun crawl across the sky. She rolled on her back and felt the breeze through the pillow of the cloud beneath her, wafting through the coherent vapour, made tangible by her touch and a liberal sprinkling of inherent pegasi magic.

Before Ponyville, they drifted together and apart. Dash stood up for her at school, kept the bullies away, kept her safe and tried to teach her what the other ponies wouldn't. Afterwards, Dash had gone to Junior Speedsters' Flight Camp and continued through Cloudsdale Middle School, while Fluttershy had apprenticed at Hoofington's Veterinary Hospital. They wrote to each other every week or two.

Dash had talked about Gilda in those letters using terms that made Fluttershy blush even now. Dash had been so pleased with herself that she had gotten the reluctant, normally somewhat cantankerous Gilda to open up to her. Rainbow Dash, being Rainbow Dash, couldn't settle for anything less than courting the only gryphoness at Flight Camp.

Of course, when Gilda had showed up in Ponyville that time, Fluttershy had been taken totally off guard. The Gilda that bumped into her in the market was nothing like the Gilda that Rainbow had written about. It wasn't until much later that remembered some of the similarities; Rainbow Dash had sometimes described her as gruff and distant, but after what happened, Fluttershy had concluded that even Rainbow was as confused as she was by Gilda's behaviour. She had stayed by her for so long, Fluttershy knew it had broken Rainbow's heart to see Gilda go.

But of course Gilda had played with Rainbow's wings, all that time ago, when they were marefriends. Fluttershy mentally bucked herself for not seeing that connection sooner, after all that she'd read. It was just so naturally intimate, and then to have Fluttershy come along...

Fluttershy sighed and buried her head in her hooves. Oh, goodness.

She really had made such a mess of things.

Time to fix that. Fluttershy knew she'd been nursing this ember around ever since Rainbow Dash had joined her in Ponyville. It had wavered, faltered, come perilously close to going out, on more than one occasion.

But that spark had never gone out completely.

--

"Fluttershy?" Rainbow began, tentatively. She was a hoof's length from Fluttershy's curled up, napping body.

"Eeep!" Fluttershy jumped up and bolted straight through the cloud wall of Rainbow's House, puffing out a pony-shaped hole in the fluffy white stuff.

Rainbow Dash's eyes lowered a little, and she waited on her stoop patiently for Fluttershy to return to the door of Dash's very own house, the clouds tinged orange with the slowly setting sun. A few moments later, the door dutifully swung open to reveal the sheepish Fluttershy.

"Um, hi," Fluttershy smiled, biting her lip. "I'm, um, so sorry about the, um, wall."

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head, her now appropriately-gnarly rainbow mane cascading to one side. She reached out and smoothed over the wall with a stirring of her hooves, and mentally noted to scrounge up an appropriately sized cloud to augment her stingy patch job later. "It's okay, 'Shy. I was gonna say to come on in, but you managed to beat me in here too." Rainbow Dash stepped carefully past Fluttershy, smiling wryly.

Fluttershy scuffed her hoof at the floor, and squeaked in fright when a puff of cloud rose where she dug at the floor, the cloud coloured to look like checkerboard tile. She wasn't used to clouds, especially tailored, permanent ones like these. It'd been years since she lived in Cloudsdale. Before Rainbow could see, she frantically patted the patch of floor back down, stood on it with all four hooves, and reminded herself that it was very important not to do that.

Fluttershy stood in a cylinder of a room with a sweeping staircase that led up one side, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, glowing with electric light from a captured thundercloud, which roiled in a chamber built into the middle of it.

There was a couch and an assortment of pillows strewn around the room, with more than a few Fluttershy recognized as being arranged in formations for Rainbow Dash's aeronautical planning efforts. Orange light from the sun streamed in through peaked windows on the walls, and through the walls themselves, casting the whole room in a brilliant hue that almost matched part of Rainbow's mane.

Colonnades were arranged around the room, spaced evenly to support the floor above, traditional pegasi architecture. Fluttershy had been in here before, a few times, but never for very long. Now, she took in all the details. Stacked up those columns were takeout boxes and other mess from Rainbow Dash's day to day life. Rainbow wasn't exactly one for homecooked meals. Or keeping the place tidy. Fluttershy tried to remember just when the last time she had been to Rainbow's house was, and whether it had been quite this messy.

By now, Dash had returned from the kitchen counter with a couple of mugs of water. Of course, the mugs themselves were enchanted, specially made in Cloudsdale for pegasus ponies, the water a product of another captive raincloud Dash kept above her sink. Even left on a cloud, they wouldn't fall through.

"Listen, Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash began.

"I'm so sorry," Fluttershy interrupted suddenly, then as Rainbow Dash stared at her, she squeaked and ducked. "Oh, um, I'm sorry for interrupting. I just...oh." Fluttershy stopped as she noticed Rainbow's withering stare, and muted herself with a tiny squeak.

"Fluttershy, just...come here," Rainbow sighed, flopping onto one of the myriad pillows strewn around her floor, dragging another close for Fluttershy. "What are you sorry for now?"

Dash leaned her muzzle on one hoof, already looking annoyed, but she had enough concern written on her brow that Fluttershy had the courage to slink over and sit carefully on the other fluffy cloud pillow, taking a sip of the mug of water Rainbow Dash had left in front of it.

"Um, about Gilda," Fluttershy replied, finally. "And...your wings. I should have thought that through. Really. That was silly and foalish of me and I'm sorry."

Rainbow Dash shut her eyes and shook her head, wings rustling uneasily on her back. "'Shy, it's okay, really. I mean, I have a lot of good memories with Gilda, and you just kinda...brought 'em back and I wasn't expecting it and you...you made me feel, well..." Rainbow blushed, ducking her head to one side, trailing off helplessly.

Fluttershy blinked, mind working on that for a long moment. "But you miss her terribly, I can tell," she said, hurrying past the point that Rainbow left hanging.

"Yeah, 'Shy, I do." Rainbow looked down at her mug, swirling the water around in it slowly. "I really do. Gilda and I had a lot of good times together. But, that's gone now. And now..." Rainbow trailed off, her happy thought cut short as she thought better of the company she was with. "Sorry."

"No, Dash, it's okay, really, um." Fluttershy stirred the cloudpillow between her hooves carefully. "I understand."

Rainbow Dash nodded, clearing her throat nervously. "I mean, I just...I wanted to think, y'know, and..." She shook her head, desperately, setting her water aside. Forcing herself to think. "What you said," Dash's cheeks flushed. "What you did."

Fluttershy's heart thrilled a little. "Yeah. I guess I got a little carried away."

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh a little. "I guess so, I mean, I've never imagined that, here's little ol' Fluttershy and, well." Rainbow Dash shook her head, smiling softly. When Dash looked at her Fluttershy could see something had changed in her expression.

Flying really does help her think. She can face it on her terms.

She owns her feelings, after she's done flying.

Fluttershy smiled right back. She could tell Dash was still terrified as it was, the little quiver in her smile at the corners, but she was hiding it better.

But Fluttershy had to say it out loud, not let it linger between them, or let it descend into niceties and rationalizations. Not after their conversation in the spa, not after all this. Now.

Fluttershy realized she didn't want to be just best friends. There was more than that.

They both deserved more than that.

Fluttershy scratched at her mug a little more, mustering up the nerve she needed to keep going. "I really...really like you, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said finally, letting out a long nervous breath and blushing brightly. "You're special. Not like anypony else. You're...real."

Fluttershy furrowed her brow, trying to keep her momentum going, trying to find words beyond 'nice' platitudes and vague non-things like that.

Don't stop, don't think about it, just keep going. Assertive. Articulate. Just like Rarity talked about.

To her credit, Rainbow didn't interrupt, though Fluttershy could tell she was struggling. This was normally when Dash would make a hurried excuse, fly away, and Fluttershy could see Dash's wings fidgeting. But she forged on ahead; after all, where could Dash go now that they were in her home?

Dash could have asked Fluttershy to meet her anywhere. Where she could have had an avenue of escape. Fluttershy thought maybe a part of Dash didn't want to fly away this time.

"I care about you, Rainbow Dash. You're my best friend. In flight school, you saved me I don't even know how many times from those big mean bullies." All the things that Fluttershy had been ruminating about on Rainbow's stoop came spilling out at once.

Dash nodded, her muzzle and her eyes tightening. Fluttershy wasn't sure if it was pride or admiration or affection, or all three mixed with a healthy dose of sheer terror, but she forged ahead anyway.

"You helped me get my cutie mark, even if it was because I fell off a cloud, but your Sonic Rainboom changed everything. You're always around to help everypony. You're selfless and courageous and amazing. You helped me learn how to fly properly, when most of my other teachers just gave up. You were always there, even in letters, even when you were with Gilda, you always sent me letters that made me laugh."

Fluttershy looked up, blinking herself back to awareness, finally meeting the uncertain, brimming gaze of Rainbow Dash across from her for a fleeting moment before having to duck away again, fidgeting in place, voice momentarily lost after seeing the other pony's expression.

Rainbow rubbed her hoof back through her mane, trying to appear nonchalant, but her muzzle was screwed up in that way it always was when somepony was about to burst into tears.

"Fluttershy, that..." Rainbow trailed off, snuffling wetly again. "Aw, man, mushy. Um." Rainbow Dash looked skyward and took a deep breath, blowing a few strands of errant rainbow mane out of her brimming eyes. "That really means a lot. I mean...aw, I'm no good at this sorta thing." Dash tried to chuckle, laugh it off like she always did, but she faltered. "You really...really think I'm...that special?" She croaked, throat tight.

But Fluttershy just nodded, slowly, and was silent for a long moment. When the silence dragged on, Fluttershy started again, almost apologetically. "I know you're not good with that sort of thing, and it's not like I'm great either I mean I just read those silly books that Rarity always makes me read but it seems like the right thing to say and it's okay if you don't feel the same way, but..."

"I do, though," Rainbow Dash interrupted firmly, slowly rubbing at her own damp cheeks with a forehoof. "I really do, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy paused and stared at Rainbow Dash, who lay her head against the back of her couch, sprawling bonelessly on the cushions. She pointed her muzzle upward because Fluttershy knew that talking to the ceiling was easier than talking to her right now, and that was okay.

"Like you said," Dash gamely continued. "Even when I was with Gilda, I kept writing to you. Because you're my best friend too. I know that was probably a mean thing to do now, but at the time..." Rainbow's voice kept cracking, but she kept talking anyway, barrelling on as she was wont to do, stubbornly committed now. "Gilda was...was a lot of fun. But she wasn't you. I wrote to you and told you everything because I knew you'd understand. Because I cared about you and I wanted to be honest and, I don't know. You were important. I wanted you there with me."

Fluttershy said nothing, merely nodding a little in encouragement. She ventured a hoof out to lay it across Rainbow Dash's, and was pleasantly surprised when she locked wrists with her, squeezing their hooves tightly together.

The timid pegasus smiled a bit wider, but didn't dare close the gap between them just yet. Rainbow needed the space for what she was saying. She let her hoof be the bridge for now.

Rainbow Dash sucked in a deep breath, furrowing the cloudy floor with her hooves as she tipped her snout back down, resting her chin on her chest. "You always understand, even when I rant and go on and even when I get crazy about my tricks and stuff. You're patient and helpful and you're the only pony that always comes to cheer me on, even when all my tricks turn to horseapples and ponyfeathers."

Dash managed a tiny chuckle at that, anxiously pawing at the cloud-floor, her hooves making a substantial divot in the fluffy material as she kept digging.

"I always looked forward to coming back to Cloudsdale and Ponyville because I knew I'd see you and you'd make me feel better, when the other ponies teased me. 'Rainbow Crash'. I always remembered you, even when..." Tears streaked down Rainbow Dash's cheeks from her trembling, crimson eyes, even as she pursed her muzzle tightly and fought them, shaking her head slowly. "And sometimes," she said, voice cracking, "I sometimes left you behind."

"Oh," Fluttershy gasped, and abruptly got up from her pillow, sliding over and pressing close to her friend's side before she even realized what she was doing. "You never left me behind."

"I did, though," Rainbow Dash began, only to be silenced by her friend's hoof at her cheek.

"No, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said firmly, in the kindest voice she could still manage, trying not to cry herself. "You said it yourself. You always came back. I always knew you would."

Fluttershy smiled kindly at her best friend, even as Rainbow sagged against her, blue coat resting heavily against yellow. Not knowing what else to say, Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut and nosed firmly into Fluttershy's neck and chest, letting out a couple of stifled sobs, her muzzle working as she tried to find her voice, to say something appropriately brave for the moment.

Fluttershy simply tucked her head over Rainbow's brilliant mane, holding her close until Rainbow realized she could stop trying to find something clever to say. Eventually she relented and they simply clung to one another, each enwrapping the other in hooves and legs, rocking to and fro as the evening deepened and darkened.

They stayed that way for an eternity, with tears occasionally streaking down each other's cheeks until both were wrung dry of years' worth of missed opportunities and wasted time.

Fluttershy's calming scent filled Rainbow's senses, meadow grasses and flowers and faintly, the fruits she'd give to her animal charges. Rainbow's scent kept Fluttershy company all the while, smelling like freshly outdoor-hung linens from her endless forays through misty clouds, with a hint of some peculiar spice from her mane.

Each basked in each other's presence, their eyes opening occasionally to look over the other, neither quite at the same time, as if to reassure themselves that the other was still there, still real. The last rays of Celestia's majestic sunset faded from the windows, leaving them in the ethereal glow of Luna's night, the rising moon catching and casting through the cloud-made walls of Rainbow's home, giving them an eerie, but smooth white glow throughout.

On any other night, Fluttershy might have been frightened by it, but now, with brave, strong Rainbow Dash at her side, she felt as safe as she did in her cottage, surrounded by her animal companions. And on any other night, where Rainbow Dash would have tossed and turned, fearing missed opportunities in the day to come, she found her normally restless mind and body warmly becalmed.

For the first time that either of them could remember, both pegasi wanted for nothing.