Of a Feather

Conclusion

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It was almost noon before Dash finally stirred again, squinting at the light streaming into the room from the dialed-open skylight and uncurtained window. Dawn should have woken them ages earlier.

Carefully, Dash untangled herself from Fluttershy's various limbs. She might be cute and adorable when she's awake, Rainbow mused, but when she's sleeping, she can sprawl like an Ursa.

Rainbow carefully slithered out of the cloud-bed and got to her feet, stretching herself out, wings, fetlocks, tail, forelegs. Her wings twinged pleasantly when they were stretched; even Rainbow Dash had to admit that she felt better than she had in ages. They were sore, but the good kind of sore. She craned her neck back and forth, listening to the muffled pops as the vertebrae lined up, and sighed happily.

A look over the rest of herself made her blanch; her tail was a tangled mess, her coat matted and sticky, and she didn't even want to speculate as to the state of her mane.

She turned back to look at the pony responsible for her good mood, and smiled lopsidedly, red eyes lidding fondly at the sight of the other, unnaturally skewed pegasus occupying her bed, forgetting both of their unkempt states as she watched Fluttershy's sides rise and fall.

With a little chuckle, she worked her way downstairs, hooves muffled on the soft cloud floor.

Carefully, she opened the door, leaned over the edge of her cloud, and frowned at the sight of a pair of crumpled letters jammed awkwardly into her mailbox.

Dash rolled her eyes as she descended briefly to ground level, shaking her head in resignation more amused than annoyed. "Thanks a lot, Derpy," She mumbled around the letters clutched between her teeth, zipping back up to her home above. Her wings felt fantastic, with every stroke. Sliding silently back through the door, she pushed it closed with a hindleg.

She had to pause after that, leaning against the back of the door, and then slowly sliding down to sit in on her hindlegs, propping her chin up on one hoof. She transferred her letters to her other hoof and regarded them absently, but her mind was elsewhere. Eventually she just tossed them aside. They could wait.

Fluttershy.

She still wasn't sure.

That sounded cruel, but it was true. Rainbow Dash's restless mind couldn't settle on anything. She'd been waiting for Gilda for so long, and after she left the last time, after Pinkie's party, it was like someone had stolen the center of her heart out. She wasn't sure because she wasn't sure, she wasn't sure because she was afraid. Not that she would admit that to anypony. She hated admitting it to herself, but Fluttershy deserved that honesty at least in her own mind.

She had buried that empty feeling under so much, ignored it most of the time, tried not to think about it. Whenever she saw an opportunity, she leapt on it, trying to fill that gap in however she could. Helping ponies, especially during the whole Mare-Do-Well fiasco. Tank. Shreds of adulation in place of affection.

Nothing quite fit.

But being around Fluttershy, it felt like that hollow center was full again.

Fluttershy really was always there for her. Flakey, weird, silly, scaredy Fluttershy. For whatever that was worth.

She was genuine and open and had been more bold than Rainbow Dash had seen her in forever.

Dash blinked. Did I do that? Did I bring that out?

Certainly brought out that wing thing. Rainbow Dash shivered in glee. What the fuck.

Only Celestia knew how Fluttershy pulled that off.

It was comforting. She didn't have to fight, to put up a facade and a ton of walls, didn't have to do any of those things. Fluttershy just...got her. And that was worth its weight in gold alone.

She wasn't sure if it was capital L "Love", like Rarity always liked to talk about, with her hoof firmly stuck to her forehead, but Rainbow Dash figured she could at least entertain the possibility. She wasn't sure what that felt like anymore.

She thought she had loved Gilda, but even then, it hadn't felt like this. Warm and fuzzy around the edges. Gilda didn't understand her like Fluttershy did, though she always hoped that someday she would.

For the first time in who knows how long, Rainbow Dash thought about her gryphoness girlfriend without a pang of sadness or regret or anger or guilt, and her ears, which were drooped on either side of her head in thought, suddenly perked up.

The novel sensation made her feel weird.

Dash wasn't good at this mushy stuff. She decided she was going to work on that a little. Fluttershy made her feel good. Calm, centered, content. Not just good, like a stallion or a mare after a good night. But good good.

That was worth it.

"Okay." Rainbow Dash said, to nopony in particular. She couldn't back out now. She wasn't sure exactly what Fluttershy was to her, but she was...whatever that was. And Dash liked that. It would take time, and it would take a special effort. She'd have to be careful, what she said, what she did. This whole thing was a new foal, figuring out how to stand up. But that's what it was all about. It was worth it.

Rainbow Dash knew now what she wanted, and just how badly she wanted it. More than all the titles and badges. She wanted this.

Wanted her.

"Rainbow Dash?" Came a quiet, timid voice from up the stairs. Dash looked up to see Fluttershy rubbing sleep out of her eyes, her pink mane hopelessly tangled on one side of her head, feathers askew every which way.

Dash chuckled and got up to all fours, smiling up the stairs at her...marefriend. "Hey, 'Shy," she said, trying to sound casual. "How're you?"

Fluttershy nodded, and yawned. It was potentially the most adorable thing that Fluttershy could do, especially in her current disheveled state. "I'm fine. How do you feel? Did you sleep okay?"

Rainbow Dash considered the question for a moment. "Yeah. I really did," she settled, with a grin. "I'm...gonna go grab some breakf--...er, lunch. For us. How does, uh, pancakes sound?"

Fluttershy seemed to light up at the idea, suddenly beaming. "Oh, that would be just lovely."

Rainbow Dash nodded, turning and lifting a foreleg as she headed for the door. "Get flightworthy, and I'll meet you back at your place. I'm betting you want to make sure your animals are okay. It'll proooobably take me a while to talk them into making breakfast at noon, anyway. But don't worry, Rainbow Dash's got it covered." Dash straightened, and put a hoof to her chest, confidently.

Fluttershy finished waking up as Rainbow Dash spoke, her smile broadening. "Oh, that'd be wonderful. Angel must be wondering where I am. I know Tank wanted to see you, too."

Dash felt her heart warming at the sound of Fluttershy's soft-spoken voice, and the mention of her favourite tortoise, the pet that Fluttershy had helped her find, made her feel even better. Dash grinned and nodded, opening the front door. "I'll see you in a bit, then," she said, though her voice caught in her throat as she was heading out.

"Are you sure you're okay, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy shouted, just above a whisper, catching the hitch in her voice.

Rainbow Dash paused on the stoop with her wings fanned, and looked back over her shoulder, smiling back at Fluttershy. She'd noticed that hitch, that little crack in her voice. She always noticed. Dash paused for a moment, taking in the sight of a dishevelled Fluttershy standing in her living room, genuine concern etched on her muzzle.

Slowly, she nodded, her eyes squinting a little as she worked on the emotions balling up inside her stomach. "Yeah," she said finally, with a small, but definitive stomp of her forehoof on the fluffy step, and a look over her shoulder. "I'm good."

Fluttershy's worried expression broke into a wordless smile, and she nodded, pink locks of silken mane falling over one side of her muzzle.

Dash gave her one last grin, and then took to the sky with an easy beat of her wings, soaking up the heat from the shining sun. It was a clear, pristine day, with not even a cloud in the sky for her to worry about.

Her wings ached deliciously as she put them through her paces, heading first for a pond near the edge of Ponyville for a quick bath, deciding against trotting through Ponyville with her mane in a tangle and smelling of sex and Fluttershy.

This time.

As Rainbow Dash flew towards Ponyville, she whooped and tipped her wings into an easy barrel roll, unable to help but laugh.