In The Late Summer Sun

Chapters

Into The Woods
The Sage and the Spirit
Facing Your Fears
The Oasis
Sparks
Heartbeat, Part One

Into The Woods

There came a time every year where Applejack found herself with considerably less work than the infamous Applebuckin' Season fall brought, or the pruning and maintenance she and the other members of the Apple family engaged in throughout the chill of winter. Managing such a large orchard required a great deal of work to maintain the health and quality of the fruit, and nopony could make the claim that Applejack or Big Macintosh slacked off in those departments. However, a few months after Winter Wrap-Up when spring was in full swing, the apple trees burst into an endless field of pinkish white blossoms that were beautiful to behold.

During the blooming season there weren't too many tasks to be performed in the orchard, besides gathering the honeybees used to fertilize the apple blossoms that would eventually become lush red fruit. Aside from regular farm upkeep there was little buckin' to be done in late spring.

While she far too often strayed into workaholic territory, Applejack really did enjoy pausing in her routine to stroll through the orchard. Whenever the wind wove itself among the trees, it would dislodge pale petals to litter the ground below her hooves. The world around her always looked wonderful following the manual cleanup, but the beauty of spring shone more brilliantly as it progressed on its own.

Applejack paused to lean against one of the flowering trees and inhaled, breathing in the sweet scent of the apple blossoms. She couldn't wait until those flowers withered away, leaving the small buds that would grow into the apples her farm was famous for, but they were pretty to look at, at least.

She should've known by then not to expect the peace and quiet to last very long. She and her friends did not live peaceful, quiet lives the way some in Ponyville did. In contrast to the Cake family, who led a relatively calm, sensible life of baking -- or at least they would have, if they didn't have Pinkie to contend with on a daily basis. Still, the baker couple, and most of the other inhabitants of Ponyville only had to deal with domestic troubles. They were never called away to deal with dragons, hydras, and whatever else crept out of the Everfree Forest or fell out of the sky.

Clearly it was a day for the latter. Applejack didn't even bother to look up as "Look out below!" rang out over her head, followed by a rainbow-colored blur barreling straight into the tree she was leaning against with a muted "OOMPH". The impact dislodged a substantial amount of petals and leaves, all of which found a new home in Applejack's mane. Only then did she glance up, glaring at the thrashing, grumbling pegasus struggling to free herself from the branches in which she'd managed to entangle herself.

"A little help here?" Rainbow Dash snapped. She grimaced as a branch sprung back to smack her in the face. Applejack sighed, placing her forelegs against the tree trunk and reaching up to seize her friend's tail with her teeth. With one sharp tug she yanked the pegasus free, letting her slide unceremoniously to the ground.

"You gotta start practicin' your routine somewhere else, Dash, else I won't have any trees left when applebuckin' season comes around." Applejack chided her friend, who looked rather put out about the whole affair. As if she had any right to be irritated.

"Eh." Rainbow Dash dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hoof, brushing herself off as she stood up. "You've got a million of 'em."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "You're gonna knock yer own block off one o' these days."

"Nah. I've got a pretty hard head."

"Ain't gonna argue with you over that one. What kind of trick were you tryin' to pull off, anyhow?"

"I'm glad you asked." Rainbow Dash shot into the air, hovering above Applejack's head and pantomining her brilliant plan that had somehow, although she couldn't imagine why, gone wrong. "Well, I was gonna start off with a-"

Applejack watched in amazement as her friend detailed the series of complicated and seemingly impossible maneuvers, tracing a diagram in the air with her hooves. "Followed by my signature move - a sonic rainboom. Two of them. At the same time."

"Is that even possible?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I don't know. Never hurts to try, though."

Applejack shook her head, although she couldn't hide the smile that crept across her face as Rainbow Dash continued rambling on and on about her aerial prowess. Her bragging sometimes approached Trixie-level, but somehow it remained endearing instead of annoying. "By the way, sugarcube, yer head's not nearly as hard as you think."

"Wha...?"

Applejack gestured at the pegasus' scalp with a hoof, where large bump was rapidly swelling.

"What? What is it- OW!" Dash exclaimed as her wandering hooves came in contact with the lump. "Uh... I mean, it's not so bad. Injuries are a badge of courage... don't do that!"

"Badge o' courage, huh?" Applejack asked dryly, poking at the lump peering through her friend's rainbow-colored mane. "You should probably have yer badge of courage looked at."

"It'll go away on its own," Rainbow Dash said dismissively, although the grimace of pain that crossed her face briefly said otherwise. "I don't feel like going all the way over to Ponyville General because I hit my head."

"I swear to Celestia, yer the stubbornest mare I ever laid eyes on. At least let Fluttershy look at it." Applejack offered, realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with the weather pony.

"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Why Fluttershy?"

"She spends all her time carin' for critters. I don't see why she'd have any trouble dealing with a stubborn stuntpony."

"Alright already!" Dash groaned. "I'll go! Just stop nagging me about it! I'd hate to see how bad you guys would flip out if I broke a wing or something."

"That's only a matter o' time."

A full-fledged argument broke out as usual between the two ponies, their voices ringing out among the flowering trees. As always, neither mare sounded truly angry.

Fluttershy's cottage was only a few minutes away by air travel, especially at the speeds Rainbow Dash was known for, but she decided to take it slow for once. Contrary to what she'd told Applejack, the lump on her head was pretty sore and flying at top speed did nothing but aggravate it. She let out a sigh of relief as Fluttershy's cottage and garden came into view, teeming with the animals she devoted most of her time to caring for.

Even after knowing Fluttershy since they were fillies, and having witnessed her reluctance when it came to making the most of her wings in typical pegasus fashion, Rainbow Dash still couldn't understand how Fluttershy seemed so at ease spending most of her life on the ground. She would've felt boxed in without her breezy, spacious cloud home above Ponyville. Ponyville had its share of pegasi, although they weren't nearly as common as Earth ponies and unicorns. Yet Fluttershy was the only one, save for the younger pegasus ponies that had yet to fully master the art of flight, that didn't spend the majority of her time in the air.

Multiple birdhouses hung haphazardly from every tree; their inhabitants perched within their branches, conversing with each other melodically. Dozens of small animals grazed and scampered over and around the bridge, the stream running beneath it bubbling cheerfully. Clustered around the chicken coop a smattering of hens pecked at a pile of corn, oblivious to all save the delicious meal spread before them. Their caretaker stood a few feet away with her back turned, humming gaily to herself as she watered a patch of brightly colored flowers at her hooves.

"Hey, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash called out, throwing herself into a dive and landing in a cloud of dust that sent the chickens and the pale yellow pegasus in question flying. The latter let out a startled "Eep!" and darted behind the chicken coop. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "It's just me. You can come out now."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fluttershy said apolegtically, peeking out from her hiding place.

"It's okay, I'm used to it."

Fluttershy crept out from behind the chicken coop, retrieving the watering can she'd upended in her rush. "Did you need something, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, you got a moment?" Dash gestured towards the lump on her head. "I made a minor miscalculation when trying out a new stunt earlier."

Fluttershy trotted over to inspect the lump poking through Dash's vibrant mane. "Oh dear! Don't worry, I have just the thing."

"Thanks!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, catching herself almost immediately and coughing, tossing her head proudly. "I mean, not that it actually hurts or anything..."

Fluttershy smiled; years of friendship had taught her how protective her friend was of her pride. "I know."

Leaving the watering can hanging from a hook on the side of the chicken coop, she led Rainbow Dash up the path to her front door and into her cottage. The inside of Fluttershy's house was just as charming as the outside, if not more; it was certainly inviting and friendly. From various nooks and crannies glittering eyes peered out at the newcomer, and hummingbirds occasionally darted in and out of the open window, the humming of their rapidly beating wings announcing their arrival.

"Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back," Fluttershy instructed, leading Rainbow Dash to a thick, comfortable looking rug. "If you don't mind."

"No prob," Dash sat down on the rug, which felt incredibly soft against her haunches, and tucked in her wings. She took stock of the room while she waited, fighting her urge to get up and explore; she briefly wished she'd brought Tank with her to visit. Fortunately Fluttershy returned before she could get up to any mischief, carrying what appeared to be a damp rag in her mouth. She motioned for Rainbow Dash to lie down, and she complied, lying flat on the rug with her back legs stretched out behind her. She felt her friend carefully drape the rag over her lump, and shuddered slightly. Whatever medicine Fluttershy had slathered over it felt cool, almost instantly causing the soreness to fade to a faint ache.

"Just let that soak in for awhile, and the swelling should go down." Fluttershy's voice was warm and comforting, as always.

"That feels great. You're really good at this." Dash closed her eyes, inhaling the poultice's sweet, minty aroma appreciatively. "Forget Ponyville General -- I'm coming to you the next time I cr...have a miscalculation." Not that there would be any more such errors in judgment, she chided herself.

"T-thank you," Fluttershy stammered; Dash could tell she was blushing without even bothering to look up. "Um, you can rest here for awhile, while I go give everyone their afternoon snack. Just let me know if you need anything."

Dash's only response was a flick of her tail. Between the rug, the relaxing atmosphere and the cessation of her headache her body had apparently decided it was time for a nap. The warm, clear skies outside called to her, and the weather was perfect for revising her failed routine from earlier that day. But even awesome ponies had to take a break sometime.

She lay there dozing lightly as the poultice worked its magic, listening to the faint sounds of Fluttershy tending to her animals outside and within the various corners of the room. She dimly registered a note of concern in the other pegasus' voice as she chatted with her birds and squirrels and everything else that looked up to her as a sort of den mother, but she paid it no mind until-

"ANGEL!" A terrified shriek rang out from above, jolting Rainbow Dash fully awake. It was Fluttershy's voice, alright, but it sounded far different from her usual squeals and other exclamations of surprise. Instead of dismissing it as one of her usual quirks Rainbow Dash leapt to her hooves and shot upstairs, knocking quite a few knickknacks off the wall and shelves placed along the stairwell. The scream had come from Fluttershy's bedroom. It was a good thing the door was already ajar, as Rainbow Dash would've knocked it off the hinges in her haste to reach her friend's side. Fluttershy stood beside the bed, looking at something on the floor with an expression of horror plastered across her face. Dash groaned; she didn't see any immediate sources of danger. "What is it? Did one of your animals leave you a surprise?"

Fluttershy turned from where she stood, barreling into Rainbow Dash and sending her head over hooves as she galloped down the stairs, ignoring the cyan pegasus entirely.

"Ow! What gives?" Dash picked herself up, rubbing her head. She'd lost her rag somewhere in her ascent, and she could feel the faint stirrings of discomfort where the lump persisted, although it had gone down considerably. It was then that she noticed the small heap of white fur Fluttershy had been standing over. It wasn't moving, at least not noticeably. Upon further inspection Rainbow Dash could see the white rabbit's chest rising in an unnervingly slow manner. She'd never seen the disagreeable little bunny Fluttershy loved so dearly so quiet and still, and she felt a foreign sense of anxiety stirring within her at the sight.

Downstairs the normally tidy Fluttershy had forgotten all in her panic; containers of herbs, kitchen utensils, and cookware were strewn all over the kitchen floor. A pink tail stuck out from behind a cabinet door, its owner seemingly arguing with herself. "Think, Fluttershy! Where is it? I know I had some left..."

"Uh, Fluttershy?" Dash ventured.

Fluttershy continued rummaging around in the cabinet, either unaware of or unconcerned with Dash's presence. "I can't have used it all up last year."

'Maybe I should go.' The thought vanished just as quickly as it had come; Rainbow Dash recalled the expression on the gentle pegasus' face, and knew she couldn't just leave her there to deal with whatever was happening on her own. Besides, she could recall going into a similar panic several weeks ago when she'd forgotten to carry Tank over to Twilight's library for a cloud-walking spell renewal. Of course she'd managed to catch him only a few seconds after he sank like a stone through her kitchen floor, but those seconds, and the overwhelming feeling of guilt at having forgotten him were permanently burned into her memories.

Leaving Fluttershy to her devices in the kitchen, she ran back upstairs to the bedroom, slowing to a halt beside the rabbit. "Alright, bunny. Wake up before your owner has a heart attack. Or explodes."

The white rabbit didn't respond, although Dash wasn't used to conversing with woodland creatures so that wasn't necessarily indicative of anything. She had a good idea of how inconsolable Fluttershy would be if anything terrible did happen to Angel, and with a growing sense of dread she leaned forward, lowering her head and nudging the rabbit with a hoof. "You're not really...dead, are you?"

A moment of perfect silence passed. Rainbow Dash's spirits began to falter.

The white rabbit stirred, slowly, and a furry head inclined towards her. The rabbit's fur was slick with perspiration, and his ears hung limply against his head, but she could've sworn the little creep was glaring at her with his glassy black eyes.

Rainbow Dash sighed, although she felt much better knowing the rabbit was still alive and kicking. "I don't know why Fluttershy likes you so much," she groussed, poking her nose beneath the prone rabbit and deftly flipping him onto her back. "You're kind of a jerk."

By the time Fluttershy returned, carrying a cup of some kind of potion she'd worked up from her medicinal supplies Dash had managed to make Angel comfortable on her bed, sans the good bit of effort it usually took to make Angel do anything. He was now draped awkwardly in a light blanket she'd found in a drawer, with Fluttershy's pillow propped up behind him. Despite her initial assessment of the rabbit's attitude she actually felt sorry for him, huddling beneath the blanket shivering and drawing shallow, shaky breaths. It was a good indicator of how sick the little creature was that he gave her no real trouble, despite glaring daggers at her the entire time.

Fluttershy's eyes shone with gratitude, although she held off on expressing it and immediately rushed to Angel's side. The rabbit poked his head out from beneath the blanket, his nose twitching. Fluttershy sat the cup on the nightstand, leaning forward to nuzzle her pet affectionately. "Oh Angel Bunny, I was so worried," she said, her voice heavy with emotion. Angel's small face was still fixed in its characteristic glare, but it was softer and considerably less abrasive. He shuddered, withdrawing to huddle beneath the blanket once more.

"Now now, you have to take your medicine, or you won't get better." Fluttershy admonished, pushing the blanket away to reveal her sickly looking companion. Angel initially shied away from the cup Fluttershy held to his lips but he lacked the strength to push it away, grudgingly opening his mouth to swallow the vile smelling liquid.

"Oh, thank you, Angel." Fluttershy said gratefully, placing the empty cup on the nightstand. "Now you get some rest, and you'll feel a little better when you wake up."

Rainbow Dash made note of the quiver in her friend's voice. While she tended to be oblivious when it came to social cues, or even outright ignored them at times, even she could tell that Fluttershy was lying.

Angel complied with his owner's orders rather quickly; by the time Fluttershy finished rearranging the blanket around his tiny body he was already asleep. Fluttershy glanced over at Rainbow Dash, then at the door; it took a second for Dash to understand the implication.

The two mares descended the staircase in awkward silence; Fluttershy clearly distressed and Dash completely unaware of how to handle the situation. Upon reaching the living room, Fluttershy broke away from Dash's side and ran over to her bookshelf, reaching out to grab a very familiar book. Dash caught sight of the cover, realizing that it was the very same book they'd encountered such a long time ago, when they'd befriended Zecora. Supernaturals. Fluttershy flipped through the book, brow furrowed in concentration, while Dash approached her, feeling somewhat out of place. "Uh, Fluttershy? Should I go, or," She trailed off.

Fluttershy looked up at her, her large blue eyes full of unshed tears. "If you want to," she said quietly, although those eyes said the exact opposite. It was the kind of expression one would have to be completely heartless to say no to.

Dash shrugged, settling down beside her friend to stare at the open book as well. "Eh. I don't have anything to do today. Nothing but sunny skies scheduled for the next couple of days, anyway."

"That's good to hear," Fluttershy smiled weakly. "The flowers could use some sunshine."

She continued poring over the book. Dash stared blankly at the pages full of remedies and pictures of strange plants. Finally Fluttershy stopped, the page turned to a full color picture of a beautiful blue flower. Its petals curled gracefully back to reveal golden tendrils of pollen. Unlike mundane daisies and the like, it seemed more a flower made for admiring, not eating. "Lunawort." Rainbow Dash read aloud; the plant's name was printed in black letters beneath the picture.

"This is it." Fluttershy fell absolutely silent, inspecting the remedy detailed on the opposite page intently.

"What do you need it for? Is that what that medicine was made of? Why's it called Lunawort, anyway?" Rainbow's barrage of questions went unanswered as Fluttershy suddenly went pale, closing the book and pushing it away.

"Okay, what's going on?" Dash huffed. "You've got to tell me something here. What did the book say?"

Fluttershy stared the book as if it were a full-grown dragon. "Everfree." She whispered the word, as if speaking it aloud would bring whatever horrors the forest held into her home. The word still unsettled Dash as well, albeit to a lesser degree. They might've have survived their first journey into the forest, and Twilight occasionally braved its mysterious foliage and rogue weather conditions to visit Zecora, but they'd only scratched the surface of the Everfree Forest. The outskirts were far less dangerous and held much less of a threat than the dense, ancient forest that lay beyond Zecora's tree. Even the zebra herself seemed distrustful of it; she seemed to live in the relatively tame part of Everfree.

"You mean like actual Everfree? Not the part we've been in, but Everfree?" Dash asked.

Fluttershy nodded. "It's the only place Lunawort grows. There used to be a clump at the edge of the forest, but it withered away a long time ago. I only managed to save a little of it. I haven't seen any around here since, and the book says it grows plentifully in the forest." She shuddered fearfully. "Deep in the forest."

The two mares fell silent, staring at each other. Dash claimed to not be afraid of anything, but the depths of the forest weren't just anything. A few minutes passed, and then Fluttershy shook her head, a look of determination taking the place of her anxious expression. "It doesn't matter," she said shakily, stamping her hoof on the ground. "I...I have to go. Angel needs me."

Fluttershy rose from the floor, darting upstairs with Dash close behind. "Are you crazy? You can't go in there alone!"

"I have to." Fluttershy's voice was muffled, her head buried in a closet as she dug through its contents. "If I don't, Angel could..." She paused, unable to even voice the possibility. "I've seen that illness before. It's really bad."

She fell silent, and Rainbow Dash heard the distinct sound of sniffling. "I don't know how long the dose I gave him will last. I've got to go now before he gets any worse."

Fluttershy emerged from the closet, her saddlebags bearing the image of her cutie mark slung across her back. She ran back downstairs, and as Dash followed at her heels it occurred to her that she'd never seen Fluttershy as worked up as she was at that moment. In the living room the pegasus flew from corner to corner, stuffing various items in her saddlebags, including the Supernaturals book. As she packed, Dash continued trying to reason with her. "Okay. Let's say you're crazy enough to go into Everfree. Shouldn't we get the others? "

"I don't have any time." Fluttershy snapped one bag closed, holding the strap in her teeth and pulling it tighter, then doing the same for the other. "I have to find the blossoms and get back here as soon as I can."

She took a final look around her living room, sadly, then shook her head once more and resolutely pushed her way out the door. As if unaware of the situation taking place, her animals approached their caretaker but went unacknowledged, scattering as she broke into a gallop towards the forest that loomed in the distance. Dash gave chase by hoof for a minute then stopped short, remembering that she was much faster in the air than on the ground. "Fluttershy!"

She reached Fluttershy's side as the pale yellow pegasus halted before the great stand of trees, gazing into the depths of the forest apprehensively. The pegasus' legs trembled, and despite her resolution Rainbow Dash could tell how terrified she was. Everything was happening so quickly, and while it wasn't how she'd planned on spending the rest of her day Rainbow Dash knew there was no way she could leave her friend to her own devices. The idea had been forming in her head, ever since Fluttershy had begun her mad dash throughout her house, and now it solidified.

"Well, if we're gonna do this, we probably need to get going before it gets dark," she said nonchalantly. Fluttershy's legs ceased trembling; she gasped in surprise, turning to face Rainbow Dash and ducking her head behind her pink mane in her usual hesitant manner.

"You're going with me?" Fluttershy said, trying to disguise her hopefulness and failing miserably at it. "I mean...you don't really have to. I don't want to inconvenience you."

"Of course!" Dash reared up on her hind legs, shaking her colorful mane out fiercely. "If you're gonna make it out alive you're gonna need the bravest, fastest pony in all of Ponyville by your side. If anything comes at us, WHAM!" She bucked at an imaginary foe, fluttering her wings. "I'll take 'em down. In ten. Seconds. Flat."

'And I know how much he means to you.'

Fluttershy rushed forward, wrapping her forelegs around her in a tight hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

Dash grinned, patting her head affectionately. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I've got a pet too now, remember? You'd help me with Tank, if I needed it. So let's go."

With a backwards glance at the safe, peril-free town of Ponyville now far behind them, the two mares turned and entered the Everfree Forest, unsure of what the future held but ready to take it on. Dash felt her heart pounding against her will and ignored it. Fluttershy was depending on her to help her save Angel from whatever illness had taken hold of him, and there was no way she'd ever let one of her friends down.

The Sage and the Spirit

The presence lifted its shaggy head, snout in the air, and sniffed the wind. Today, and for many days previous it had taken the form of a large bear draped in a thick brown pelt instead of the translucent, star-spangled hide of an Ursa. It found the bear's body more efficient in allowing it to feed. The extra bit of terror the sight of the looming creature sparked in the hearts of its prey was an additional treat. Nothing substantial, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

The unfortunate prey it set its sights on that morning was a raccoon. The presence snorted; it had been hoping for something larger, but by now a great deal of the meatier animals had come to avoid its territory. It could barely keep itself fed, much less muster the energy to erase the trail of corruption it left in its wake. Of course, there were always exceptions: young, stupid cubs and kits that strayed from their parents' side, foolhardy males fueled by the chance to impress their female counterparts. Those exceptions sustained the presence, for in its weakened state it knew not to risk leaving its home deep in the forest where hooves no longer trod.

On heavily padded paws, it crept closer to where the raccoon crouched, scratching at the ground for some tiny, creeping grub. Such was the symphony of Everfree - eating only to be eaten, in a cycle as old as time itself.

The raccoon was obviously very young, for it failed to notice the approach of the hulking beast stalking it until the bear was almost upon it. Only then did the raccoon whirl around, emitting a shriek of terror and turning to run, pushing its short, stubby limbs as fast as it could go. It was already too late.

The raccoon's legs gave out of their own accord, leaving it lying prone on the forest floor. It struggled vainly to move, but the presence had it within its grip and it had no intention of letting the small creature go. It could feel the fear coursing through its body, sending its heart rate to fever pitch, and the presence trembled in anticipation. Such rousing fear of death, frustration from the immobility having taken hold of its limbs, and of course, sorrow. The mixture of emotions emanating from the struggling body drove the presence into a frenzy - without further hesitation the bear descended upon the raccoon, savoring its final burst of pain as sharp teeth pierced its hide.

The raccoon died without ceremony, and the creature fed. It wasn't nearly enough, it never was. But it would have to do.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stood side by side, staring out at the forest spread before them in awe. Twisted, gnarled tree trunks with lush vines snaking around and throughout their tangled branches loomed high over their heads. The resulting canopy of intertwined vegetation and bark still allowed a fair amount of sunlight to stream through the cracks, forming intricate patterns on the ground.

Unfamiliar birds flitted throughout those trees, engaged in a disorganized melody quite different from one of Fluttershy's compositions. Fluttershy sat on her haunches, seemingly overwhelmed by the enormity of their mission, but Rainbow Dash's adventurous spirit rapidly overcame her initial discomfort. "Whoa," she said, flitting from tree to tree like a pony-sized hummingbird and inadvertently startling the actual birds roosting in them."This place is huge!"

Fluttershy slowly rose from where she sat on the forest floor. "It's..." her voice quivered, giving lip to the lie, "Not that scary."

"Oh, this part of the forest is fine." Dash landed on a low-hanging branch, fluttering her wings excitedly. "We've been here before like a million times. This isn't the scary part." She nimbly leapt to the ground, grinning mischievously as she crept towards Fluttershy, one hoof after the other. "It's the stuff we haven't seen before that's truly scary."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. She squeaked, sinking to the ground with her hooves clamped over her eyes.

"Come on, Fluttershy, I'm just kidding. Lighten up a little." Rainbow Dash ruffled her tidy pink mane fondly.

Fluttershy stopped trembling, peeking up at her friend nervously. "O-okay."

The two mares set off, Fluttershy leading the way with her hooves firmly planted on the ground unlike her companion. Rainbow Dash insisted on hovering a few feet above her, deftly slipping between the various natural obstructions in her way. In her mind the whole setup was just one big obstacle course to tackle. "So where are we going, anyway?" Fluttershy flinched; the cyan pegasus' voice was even louder against the tranquil backdrop of the forest. "Do you already know where this lunawort stuff grows?"

Fluttershy lowered her head, avoiding making eye contact with her friend. "Um... no, actually."

Rainbow Dash froze in mid-air, lowering herself to Fluttershy's eye level. "Wait a minute, hold up. How are we supposed to find one plant in all of this?" She indicated the vastness of the forest with her forehooves. "We can't wander around forever."

Fluttershy sighed. "I... I know. We have to go see Zecora first."

"Zecora?"

"Yes." Fluttershy nodded. "She lives here, so she probably knows about all the plants that grow in the area."

"Oh. Good idea." Dash moved out of Fluttershy's way, satisfied with the answer. "At least we know where that is." With a destination in mind Rainbow Dash took the lead, Fluttershy trudging behind morosely.

"I hope she really does know where we can find the flowers," The pale yellow pegasus said softly. "The Everfree Forest is really... big."

She sounded so miserable that Rainbow Dash couldn't help landing beside her, placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find it, even if Zecora doesn't know. These eyes can spot anything, no matter how small it is. In the dark."

Fluttershy smiled, knowing good and well that there was little to no evidence to back up these claims. But Rainbow Dash sounded so confident that it was hard not to take her seriously. "Really?"

"Hold on a second." Dash unsnapped one of the saddlebags Fluttershy carried, poking around until she located what appeared to be a blueberry muffin. Even in her panic Fluttershy had had the presence of mind to bring some food along. "It's not a cupcake, but it'll have to do."

In a perfect imitation of Pinkie Pie, she launched into the famous Pinkie Pie swear, tossing the muffin into the air and swallowing it in a single gulp. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Dash licked her lips; the muffin was absolutely delicious. "Dude, those are great! Did you make them, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, yes." Fluttershy beamed. "The berries are ripe now, so I make use of them while they're still in season. Angel always has to help me, since he's better at collecting berries than I am."

She stopped speaking abruptly, as if something were caught in her throat, and after a moment of awkward silence the two mares continued down the path to Zecora's tree.

After half an hour of travel, the large tree Zecora lived in came into view. Bottles of various sizes and colors hung from the branches, sparkling in the thin streams of sunlight. The various hollows in the tree's trunk, as well as its raised roots that looked for all the world like claws were unsettling; the entire tree loomed as if it were a creature waiting to ensnare them the moment they approached. Fluttershy's hoofsteps slowed, although she resolutely soldiered on against her obvious anxiety. Rainbow Dash attempted to disguise her discomfort by boasting as usual. "It's not that creepy. I mean, it's creepy, but it's the good kind of creepy."

"There's a good kind of creepy?" Fluttershy whimpered.

"Of course there is." Dash dropped to the ground, approaching the door as if it weren't connected to the most disconcerting house she'd ever laid eyes upon. "You think she's in?" Before Fluttershy could respond Dash darted past her, rapping at the door heavily. "Hey Zecora, you in there?"

Fluttershy pressed a hoof to her face in embarrassment. "Rainbow Dash."

"What?" Dash shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with the situation. "How else is she supposed to hear me? It's a really big tree!"

She raised her hoof, preparing to knock on the door once more. It swung open without warning, causing Dash to lose her balance and topple over, landing in a heap at a pair of ebony hooves. Zecora's stern striped face gazed down at her. "I can hear you just fine," she said dryly, "Pounding on this door of mine."

Dash laughed nervously, flushing. She picked herself up, trotting contritely behind Fluttershy and shoving her forward with a squeak of protest. "I'll just let Fluttershy tell you why we're here."

"I... I..." Fluttershy looked absolutely terrified, awaiting Zecora's wrath. "I..."

Zecora's stern expression gave way to a kindly, welcoming smile. "Ah, the gentle healer I rarely see." Fluttershy relaxed slightly at her words, although she remained tense. "What is your reason for visiting me?"

"Um... well... that is..." Fluttershy stammered. "I needed to ask you about something, if you don't mind. About a plant that grows here."

Zecora mulled over this for a second, then gasped, bowing her head politely. "It is not often that I entertain guests, foolish me." She backed away, gesturing towards the interior of her tree. "Would you care to join me for tea?"

"That would be wonderful," Fluttershy said gratefully. "Although we can't stay for too long."

She glanced back at Rainbow Dash, who nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me."

Twilight visited Zecora's tree in the forest more often than any of her friends did. She lacked the natural apprehension ponies that had been raised in Ponyville, and ponies that had been living there long enough possessed in respect to the Everfree Forest. Zecora's presence was more constant in Ponyville ever since the whole 'curse' business had been debunked and swept behind them, but her home was still a mystery to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. They shared a couple of meaningful glance as they followed Zecora inside the tree hut and seated themselves beside the ring of stones encasing Zecora's campfire.

The two pegasi and the zebra engaged in light banter regarding recent events in Ponyville while Zecora prepared their tea. There were no major occurrences save for the Cakes announcing Cup's pregnancy and the decree that the year's Summer Sun Celebration would take place in Ponyville to make up for the history-altering event that had interrupted the celebration a couple of years back.

"I've stepped up my training just in case the Wonderbolts decide to put in an appearance at this one," Rainbow Dash was saying dreamily as Zecora placed two carved wooden cups full of steaming tea before them.

"Excuse me, I wish not to offend, but there is a matter to which I must attend." Zecora left the two pegasi inhaling the mouth-watering aroma rising from their cups of tea; it was clear that she'd been generous with the honey she used as a sweetener.

While they waited for their refreshments to cool and the return of their host, Dash took the opportunity to get a better look around than she had the first time she'd invaded the poor zebra's home. The masks were definitely strange, but the sight of them evoked a sense of excitement within her. She didn't know much about Zecora's homeland, only that it was very far away. 'Do Celestia's sun and Luna's moon rise there? Who controls the weather? What are the clouds like?' The thought occurred to her that perhaps they had their own version of pegasi for weather maintenance.

A pair of masks caught her eye. The one on the left was fearsome, jagged teeth and long horns curling to a point at either side of its head. The one propped up beside it was the exact opposite, composed of elegantly sloping curves. Its head was decorated with soft white feathers. "See, that's what I'm talking about," she nudged Fluttershy, pointing at the mask with the horns. "That's the good kind of creepy. It's weird, but it still looks really cool."

"The one on the left represents brashness, foolhardy bravery. At its side is compassion and wisdom, co-existing in harmony." Zecora explained as she reentered the room, having heard the remark. "Where one is weak, the other makes them strong. Side by side is where they belong."

Dash blinked. "Whoa. That's deep."

Fluttershy gasped, suddenly recalling why they'd come in the first place. She rummaged around in one of her saddlebags, producing the Supernaturals book and turning to the page displaying the lunawort. "Zecora, have you ever seen this plant before? Does it grow here?"

Zecora studied the image thoughtfully. "Nightblooming flowers of blue," she muttered to herself, "In such a calming hue. From root to petal, its medicinal powers abound; among those who practice the healing arts this herb is renowned." She paused for a moment, amidst the sound of Rainbow Dash noisily slurping at her tea in such a indecorous manner that Rarity would've passed out at the sight of it.

Fluttershy pushed her half-empty cup away. "One of my animals is sick, and I need the flowers to make the right medicine."

"Would you happen to know what ailment has laid your companion low?"

"It's my bunny, Angel. He has the snuffles."

Rainbow Dash looked up from her cup, licking her lips. "The snuffles? That doesn't sound all that threatening."

"Make no mistake, this is a grave illness indeed." Zecora said solemnly. "Many attempt to cure it, but..." she looked at Fluttershy with an expression of pity, "Very few succeed."

Fluttershy stiffened and lowered her head, as if she were about to cry, but the pegasus that met the zebra's gaze a moment later had no trace of fear or sorrow in her eyes. "I have to find the lunawort, Zecora, no matter how hard it is." All the shakiness had withdrawn from her voice. Rainbow Dash sat up straight. This was a side of her friend she rarely saw. "I can't just give up on Angel. He's very important to me."

Zecora regarded her with interest for a minute, then turned her back on them. Fluttershy fell back, her fighting spirit having fled once more, and Rainbow Dash prepared to defend her friend's decision, as loudly as possible. Before she could say anything, Zecora glanced over her shoulder at them. She wasn't smiling, though there was no trace of anger or disapproval on her face. "A truly kind spirit resides deep within you," she said evenly, directing her attention to Fluttershy. "I shall see what I can do."

The zebra walked away, still muttering to herself, into one of the back rooms. With the altercation averted Fluttershy let out a deep sigh and deflated, allowing herself to sink to the dirt floor. Being truly assertive seemed to take a lot out of her.

Rainbow Dash stared at her for a moment, glad the expression of surprise on her face had gone unnoticed. They'd come a long way since she'd spent an entire expedition to shoo a sleeping dragon off the top of a mountain berating the least confident member of their party, and through the course of their adventures she'd come to understand that Fluttershy was capable of much more than she'd imagined. Still, it shocked her every time she saw her shy, hesitant friend confront ponies or creatures larger or more aggressive than herself. No squeaking or shying away.

'She's not shy at all when it comes to someone she cares about.' It was a sappier thought than Dash usually allowed herself, but she reached over to pat her friend's mane reassuringly anyway.

By the time they'd polished off their tea Zecora had returned with a rolled up scroll in her mouth. She spread it out on the ground, weighting its corners down with stones, and made various marks on it with a stick of coal. Once finished with the crude map, she rolled it up once more and stuffed it into the side of Fluttershy's saddlebag. She gestured for the pegasi to follow her outside, and after gathering their equipment and securing Fluttershy's bags once more they left the tree. Zecora led them a few yards away from her tree, pointing at a light trail that led deeper into Everfree. "The herb you seek grows where the forest is most dense. I ventured into its depths only once, and haven't returned since. It blooms in abundance at the side of a small lake. On this map I've marked the path you should take."

Fluttershy had resumed hiding behind her mane, but the gratitude was evident in her voice. "Thank you so much, Zecora."

Rainbow Dash came forward then, not quite meeting Zecora's gaze as she apologized for her earlier actions. "Yeah... sorry for almost knocking your door down."

Zecora shook her head. "Your devotion makes up for the patience you lack," she informed the cyan pegasus, who couldn't figure out whether to be insulted or pleased at the compliment. "You'll need to rely on each others' strengths to make it back."

"No problem. I've got everything covered." Dash flew over to Fluttershy, who was staring intently at the trail.

Zecora shook her head. "Noon is high upon us, so you must be on your way. Your journey will proceed smoothly, I pray." With those parting words the zebra bowed politely, as before, and returned to her tree. Rainbow Dash watched her go, then waved a hoof in front of Fluttershy's face. "We should probably get moving."

As they approached the trail laid before them, Rainbow Dash tapped Fluttershy on the head with a hoof. "Hey, Fluttershy. How do you think she does it?"

"Does what?" Fluttershy looked up at her curiously.

"That whole rhyming thing." Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs over her chest, contemplating. "You think she just does it without thinking about it?"

"Uh...I'm not sure."

"Or does she actually think them up on the fly?" Rainbow Dash ran her hooves throughout her wild mane, mussing it further. "Why am I even thinking about this?"

"Well..." Fluttershy paused, smiling up at her. "Whether by instinct or force of will, there's no doubt it requires a good amount of skill."

Rainbow Dash's mouth dropped open. She burst out laughing. "Nice one, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy ducked her head bashfully at the praise. "You're right, it is a little hard."

The two mares trekked along the path with Rainbow Dash attempting a few awkward rhymes of her own while Fluttershy listened appreciatively. However, their conversation slowly died down as they realized that the forest was rapidly becoming very different from the section of Everfree they were used to. The trees had begun to grow more closely together, and the canopy appeared to be thickening. It became harder for Rainbow Dash to slip between the trees as she had been. The trail wasn't very well defined, and from time to time they strayed a few feet from the path. The birdsong was muted, more somber, and the sound of smaller creatures crashing through the undergrowth had become less frequent.

"I don't think anyone's been here in a long time," Fluttershy whispered, afraid to speak too loudly. Dash agreed, finally giving up flying and dropping to the ground to walk beside Fluttershy. She too was starting to feel uneasy, but she couldn't pinpoint why. Something about the area of the forest they were entering felt wrong. Her instincts nagged at her, but she ignored them. 'Don't be a wuss. There's nothing here, and if there is, it's nothing you can't handle.'

After another half hour of travel they reached the end of the trail; the path beneath their hooves disappeared completely. The unmarked forest lay ahead of them. Fluttershy reached for the map, spreading it out on the ground before them. "Rainbow Dash, you know how to read these, right?"

"Of course." Dash positioned herself to get a good look at the map. "It's one of the first things you they teach you in weather pony certification class. Gotta know where you're going."

Zecora had sketched out the disorganized stand of forest, and leading through the trees a path marked by various landmarks. She stood up, scanning the area for the first one: a large boulder with a deep indentation in it. "There it is. Okay, you see that rock right there?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Is that where the path is?"

"There isn't one." Rainbow Dash studied the map for a little while longer, then rolled it up and placed it back in Fluttershy's bag. "She's marked off a bunch of rocks and other stuff, and we just have to keep moving until we reach the next one. So we start at that rock, and move in a straight line until we reach the next landmark. It's a big tree with a weird-shaped hollow in it. We'll check again once we get there."

Fluttershy sighed with relief. "I'm so glad you came with me. I don't think I would've made it this far on my own."

Rainbow Dash accepted the praise with a proud toss of her mane. "We've got a long way to go, so let's move out."

Fluttershy lingered where she was standing, regarding the trail they were leaving behind wistfully. Realizing that Rainbow Dash was proceeding without her she raced off after the other pegasus with a panicked, "Wait for me!"

Neither of them registered that the birdsong had ceased completely.

The presence couldn't have been more pleased.

It watched from a branch, having taken the stealthier form of a red squirrel to spy on the intruders entering its domain, and was overjoyed to see two hooved creatures, ponies. Save for the zebra it had foolishly allowed to escape its grasp several months earlier, it had been years since it encountered a such a large creature. It could scarcely remember the taste of ponyflesh. Far more appealing were their heads, capable of processing so many emotions, instead of the simple fear it managed to squeeze out of the smaller animals before consuming them. What tasty morsels could it find resting within these two, it wondered?

The blue one with the colorful mane was clearly the bolder of the two, while the pale yellow one visibly quivered with fear. It radiated from within her, to the point that even at a distance the presence got a good whiff. That one, it decided. She was certainly the weaker of the two, and probably the easiest to catch. It would've been ideal to kill two pegasi with one stone, but it lacked the energy to seize both of them. She would have to do.

The disguise fell away; the presence would need all its remaining energy soon. Freed of physical confinement, it flowed through the trees, around their trunks, and slithered along the forest floor.

Freedom, and the world outside Everfree lay within its grasp once more.

Facing Your Fears

For once Rainbow Dash plodded along in perfect silence.

While not nearly as chatty as Pinkie Pie, she wasn't the kind of pony that went for too long without striking up some form of conversation, even if it were merely bragging about her accomplishments or bemoaning a lack of action. This wasn't odd for Fluttershy, as she'd discovered through years of one-sided conversations, but somehow even Dash herself felt too nervous for small talk.

It was a feeling that had been building in the pit of her stomach for awhile, and despite her efforts to quell it the anxiety had grown in scale to the point where it was all she could do not to grab Fluttershy and fly, tearing through the canopy above and hightailing it back to Ponyville. Her heart did battle with her head though, and no matter how uneasy she was the lunawort was their main priority. The thought of watching Fluttershy cry over Angel was much worse than what she felt now.

It occurred to Rainbow Dash that if she was feeling this freaked out Fluttershy must be close to passing out. She glanced over at the pale yellow pegasus. Fluttershy was several shades paler than usual and she was biting her lip, wings folded in tightly against her sides.

"Hey Fluttershy, you okay?" The sound of her voice rang out throughout the silent forest, even in the lowest whisper she could muster. Fluttershy merely whimpered, never taking her eyes off the ground she beneath her hooves.

"It's okay," Dash reassured her, in a tone that she hoped didn't betray her own fear. "We've only got a little ways to go to reach the lake. And if anything shows up..." She prepared to make one of her infamous bravado-laced speeches, but somehow couldn't bring herself to do it, given their circumstances. "I'll protect you."

Fluttershy briefly looked up from the forest floor, meeting her gaze. There was such a deep expression of gratitude in her eyes that Dash felt infinitely better herself, the knot in her stomach loosening somewhat. She couldn't afford to be scared of what lay beyond if Fluttershy was counting on her to keep them both safe. It was always easier to push herself past her limitations when it was for someone she cared about. Performing her signature move had become second nature to her, but Rainbow Dash knew she never would've been able to overcome her ability to pull off the second sonic rainboom of her life if she hadn't been striving to keep Rarity from becoming a stylish splat on the ground.

They reached their next landmark: a clump of large bushes covered in berries of all colors; deep yellow, vibrant green, vivid red. She was reminded of her own mane and tail. The leaves were such a bright green that it was hard to believe the entire bush wasn't fake. Even Fluttershy seemed intrigued by them, speaking up for the first time in a good half hour's worth of travel. "I've never seen anything like these before."

Rainbow Dash, who was in the process of leaning forward to take an experimental bite out of the strange bush realized that this was probably a poor choice. "Probably shouldn't eat them if even you don't know what they are."

"Usually around this time of the year there aren't a lot of berries at the top of bushes around Ponyville," Fluttershy said thoughtfully.

"Why not?"

"The birds eat all the berries at the top." Fluttershy suddenly resumed her anxious stance, her voice trembling. "But... I don't think there are any birds around here."

Rainbow Dash let this sink in, pointedly ignoring the faint stirrings of discomfort rising within her once again. "Maybe they like the rest of the forest better," she offered lamely. "It is pretty stuffy in here with the canopy being so thick."

Fluttershy's trembling intensified. "There aren't any animals around here, either," she whispered, taking a step backwards. "Nothing lives here, Rainbow Dash."

"How do you know that?" Rainbow Dash hadn't realized how oppresive the silence surrounding them had become until that moment. All natural noise had ceased, save for their voices and the soft swish of Fluttershy's quivering mane. She could smell the stagnation in the air. There was no air flow in this area, no movement. That was unnatural.

Rainbow Dash hadn't been this frightened in a long time, and it took great effort not to show it. The tremor in her voice was hard to swallow as she spoke, cringing at how loud her voice sounded against the complete silence of the forest. "Maybe they're just hiding. You shouldn't worry so much, Fluttershy. Nothing's happened-"

A low grunt from behind them caused both pegasi to whirl around, turning their backs on the odd bushes. A large bear stood about 20 feet away from them, staring at them intently with curious brown eyes.

"Yet." Rainbow Dash growled, hair rising along her neck as she prepared to recklessly launch herself at the threat. Fluttershy, on the other hand, brightened at the sight of something familiar.

"Oh! A bear! I didn't know any lived this deep in Everfree." Fear forgotten in the face of meeting a new potential friend, she began to approach the bear, practically glowing. "Hello there, Mr. Bear!" she called out, amiably.

Rainbow Dash didn't follow her. There was something about that bear that bothered her. Granted, she hadn't seen many bears, unlike Fluttershy, but this bear... it was much bigger than any other bear she'd seen, aside from the Ursa Minor they'd encountered. Its fur was shaggier and much more unkempt, although that could've been from living unaided in Everfree. Animals did take care of themselves here.

The eyes. It was the eyes, and almost instantly her wings unfolded as the cyan pegasus stiffened in recognition. Those eyes were not the kind, beady eyes of the few bears she'd seen in her lifetime. They were cold, and clearly malevolent.

The bear's eyes were also deep red, instead of brown as she'd initially thought.

"Fluttershy!" she yelled; her friend was about ten feet away from the bear. All of a sudden Fluttershy stopped short, sitting down hard on the ground and folding herself into a compact, trembling ball. Her ears slicked back against her scalp, and Rainbow Dash could hear the faint sound of whimpering. It made her angry.

"Fluttershy, get away from that thing!" Rainbow Dash yelled again, galloping towards her immobilized friend. At that moment the bear let out a chilling roar and attacked, clods of dirt flying through the air behind it as it launched itself at Fluttershy. For an animal with such stubby, short legs it moved surprisingly fast.

Fluttershy still didn't move; instead, she wrapped her tail around herself and lowered her head in resignation. Rainbow Dash gave up running and took to the air, silently begging Celestia for the speed to reach the terrified pegasus in time.

Her wish was granted. With a split second to spare before the bear was upon Fluttershy, huge paw raised to strike her down, Rainbow Dash soared past, seizing the thankfully lighter pegasus and shooting into the trees as swiftly as her wings could carry her with Fluttershy in tow. The bear roared again, this time in frustration, and took off after the fleeing pegasi.

Rainbow Dash crashed through the branches and vines hanging in her way, forelegs wrapped tightly around Fluttershy. She was lighter than any of her other friends she'd found herself having to carry at various points in their adventures, but the extra weight still slowed her down a bit, and it was harder to navigate the obstacle course Everfree had laid out for her with an extra body to look out for.

"Fluttershy, I can't carry you forever!" she hissed, barely missing slamming the yellow pegasus into a low-hanging branch too thick to break through. "You're gonna have to snap out of it and fly on your own."

"I can't!" Fluttershy squeaked, her panic-ridden voice barely audible over the sound of the wind whistling past Dash's ears. "I'm not as fast as you!"

Rainbow Dash groaned. "This is why you should've stayed in flight school longer!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Whatever-" Rainbow Dash managed to get a glimpse behind her; the bear was hot on their trail, only a few feet behind them. "What the hay! What kind of bear is that? How is it keeping up with me?"

"It's not a bear." Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder at the beast for confirmation. "It's not a bear at all."

"What?" Dash looked back at the creature pursuing them. "What do you mean it's not a bear? It looks like a bear!"

"It's not a bear!" Fluttershy snapped.

Dash was surprised by the vehemence in her soft-spoken friend's voice, but she decided to deal with it later. The bear was gaining on them, and she wildly scanned the forest surrounding her for an escape. The canopy was much thicker than it had been, only allowing the slightest amount of sunlight to trickle through, and she couldn't risk bashing through it without hurting Fluttershy. The pale yellow pegasus in her arms was shivering so hard it was a wonder she hadn't shaken herself loose, and Dash bit into her lip hard enough to break the skin. Ignoring the coppery taste of blood on her tongue she narrowed her eyes and gave it an extra kick of speed. No one was faster than her, no one and nothing, not even a creepy not-bear in the Everfree Forest. She could outrun or outfly anything.

This course of action was shattered as she burst through the forest into a small clearing. The trees surrounding it were also too thick to fly through at top speed. The canopy remained dense overhead, and she realized she'd been flying deeper into Everfree instead of out of it. There was no escape; the clearing felt like a cage.

Rainbow Dash's heart sank; she knew what she had to do, and she had only a few seconds to do it. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," she said sadly, veering to the right and unceremoniously tossing her into a stand of bushes. Fluttershy yelped, flying through the air and landing somewhere inside the clump of foliage, hidden from the naked eye. "Get out of here, okay? Go get help or something while I hold it off!"

The bear crashed through the trees into the clearing behind her, knocking one aside with a single blow, and paused, its red eyes fixed on the cyan pegasus before it. Rainbow Dash gulped. Somehow the bear looked enraged, although there was no way to tell from its nonexpressive face. She landed lightly on the ground, her own deep growl rumbling in her throat. Her powerful wings spread out to their full length, and she stamped at the ground with her hooves threateningly. She'd had her share of fights before, but very few with stakes as high as this.

"Hey!" She shouted, glaring at the bear as if daring it to even consider approaching her. "You want a piece of me?"

The bear stared dead at her, not moving, although it opened its giant maw just enough to display its jagged rows of ugly-looking teeth. "I asked you a question, you stupid bear!" Rainbow Dash snarled. "Do you want a piece of me?"

The bear did. With another resounding roar it charged at her, claws digging into the earth and leaving deep gashes in the forest floor. Adrenaline raced through Rainbow Dash's veins, and with an equally loud war cry she charged at the bear, hooves kicking up just as much soil in her wake. Her fear melted away, and the weatherpony felt a trill of excitement. This bear was scary, but it had nothing on her, and she was going to show it exactly what happened when something picked a fight with her and her friends.

Meeting the bear head on at the center of the clearing, Rainbow Dash ducked between its legs, using the moment of surprise to land a powerful blow against its backside with her hindlegs. The bear roared in anguish, twisting around to swipe at her with one of its paws. Dash jerked out of the way a split second before the long, wicked claws raked through her side. This was a real battle, unlike the ones she'd been in at any point in her life, and she found herself hard-pressed to keep up. Wrangling storms was one thing; fighting an angry bear was something else entirely.

Taking advantage of her ability to fly and the extra speed it gave her, Rainbow Dash darted from side to side, landing blows on the bear wherever she could and avoiding its flailing paws. At one point she grimaced as a claw slashed her flank just above her cutie mark; she repaid the blow by slamming into the bear's head with her own, knocking it off-balance. The bear wasn't going down, but it wasn't gaining on her, either.

Something had been needling at her the entire time, and now it finally wormed its way into her head. If they were now deeper in Everfree, how exactly was Fluttershy supposed to make it back to get help from the others? Rainbow Dash gasped, hovering above and just out of reach of the bear. 'Who knows what else is out in that forest?' The odds of Fluttershy running into another monster were fairly high, as was the chance that she'd be immobilized by fear once more. A chill ran down her spine; there was the distinct possibility that her efforts to save Fluttershy would be in vain regardless of how the fight with the bear turned out.

At that moment, the tide of the battle shifted drastically, and not in her favor, either. Rainbow Dash's wings stopped, mid-flutter, and without warning she plummeted towards the ground with a shriek. She hit the forest floor hard. Not hard enough to break anything, but it did hurt, knocking the wind from her lungs. "What the..."

She gritted her teeth, attempting to spread out her wings experimentally. Nothing happened. She tried once more, to no avail. They were there, she could feel them folded against her back. Try as she might, her wings remained unresponsive; she could still feel them, but her continued attempts to move them yielded no results. She began to panic, struggling to rise to her hooves. She managed to take a single step before falling over, her legs giving out as well. Lying there limply, Rainbow Dash scowled, willing her body to obey her. 'What's happening to me? Why can't I fly?'

'Weakling.'

The thought came out of nowhere.

'Weaaakling.' It taunted her, in a mockery of her own voice. 'The great Rainbowcrash has fallen once again.' The voice in her head giggled, cruelly, and Rainbow Dash shook her head in an attempt to clear it. 'Just when your little friend needed you the most.'

"Shut up," Rainbow Dash hissed.

'She trusted you to protect her, and you let her down.' The voice giggled once more. 'Rainbowcrash lets her friends down.'

"I do not! Shut up! Get out of my head!"

'I can't,' the voice said, sorrowfully. 'I would if I could. I don't want to be you.'

"Then you suck!" Dash yelled; it didn't occur to her that the bear was no longer roaring, nor was it attacking her. It stood in front of her, quietly watching her struggle to move even an inch. "I'm awesome!"

'...because if I didn't say I'm awesome, no one else would.'

The thought wrapped around her heart, constricting, and Rainbow Dash fell silent. That couldn't be true, could it? Her friends...

'Tell me I'm awesome, because they feel sorry for me.'

"No. That's not true." It was becoming a little harder to protest against the seed of doubt blooming within her. "They like me. They'd never hurt me or anything."

'And that's why they lie to me. Because they know I couldn't handle it if they told me the truth.' The voice was now starting to sound more like hers; identical, to be exact. Rainbow Dash was beginning to have trouble differentiating between the two. 'That I'm weak. Weak, and delusional. A second rate pegasus with a few fancy tricks. You could never be a Wonderbolt, you know. You'll never be good enough.'

"Stop it." Dash moaned, wishing she could clamp her hooves over her ears. "Stop it. Buck off."

'Why? Why lie to myself? Why not be honest?'

"Because...it's...not..."

'Because it's true. You couldn't protect Fluttershy, could you? You let her down. You let your friends down. Some element of loyalty you are. You couldn't even outfly a bear. She's going to die, and it's all your fault.'

"I..." Tears began to stream down Rainbow Dash's face unbidden, dampening her cyan coat.

'I'm too weak to protect my friends.'

"I'm..." She couldn't finish the sentence, knowing it was true. She was too weak to protect Fluttershy, or any of her friends. She wasn't fast enough. She wasn't strong enough.

'Yes. The truth hurts, doesn't it?' The voice crooned, maliciously. 'Don't fight it.'

Rainbow Dash didn't answer. She'd regained control of her limbs, but she didn't have the will to use them. She curled into a ball, wings limp, neither noticing nor caring that the bear had begun to walk towards her, slowly, with its fangs bared. Saliva flowed over its chin; had she possessed the presence of mind to get a good look at it she'd have noticed how triumphant the creature looked.

'It hurts.'

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and the bear loomed over her, raising its paw to slash her open...

"NO!"

A yellow blur slammed into her, knocking Rainbow Dash halfway across the clearing and jolting her out of the trance. She felt dizzy, nauseated, and lay there moaning as she tried to make sense of what was happening around her.

"You stop it right now!"

Although her vision was blurry from the pounding in her head, she could dimly see Fluttershy, standing before the bear with her wings raised high. She neither cowered nor trembled. This was the Fluttershy that had stared down a fully grown dragon, approached a manticore without batting an eye, and taken on a cockatrice even as her limbs solidified. She stared up at the thing that she'd insisted wasn't really a bear, unflinchingly... and surprisingly it did not move.

The two stared at each other and the world fell silent, as if holding its breath. Fluttershy's voice rang out again, harshly. "You can scare me, Mr. Whatever You Are, and you don't have to be my friend if you don't want to. But you do not hurt my friends! Ever! Do you understand me?"

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she was seeing. 'Fluttershy is fighting a bear. Fluttershy. Is fighting. A bear.' Nothing about this made sense, but she felt far too sick to intervene.

The bear growled, opening its mouth to roar at the pale yellow pegasus before it. Fluttershy stamped her hoof on the ground. "Don't you dare growl at me when I'm talking to you!"

The bear's mouth snaped shut. It took a cautious step, clearly unprepared for something like this.

"Go away!" Fluttershy snapped, stamping her hoof again. "You've been really mean, and you should go back where you came from! Maybe when you've learned to be a little nicer we can be friends, but not now!"

The bear took another step back, and Fluttershy stepped forward, eyes locked on the bear intently. "I said GO AWAY!"

In a moment of utter insanity, the bear turned on its heels and fled back into the forest, crashing through the trees haphazardly. Fluttershy ran after it for a few paces, then halted, staring after it.

A few moments passed, with Rainbow Dash staring open mouthed at Fluttershy, and Fluttershy's sides heaving as she watched the bear retreat. Then Rainbow Dash rolled over on her side and began to laugh.

Tears streamed from her eyes once more, but not from guilt. She'd never seen something as ridiculous as what she'd just witnessed, and despite her entire body aching she couldn't stop howling. "Oh Celestia!" she managed to gasp, holding her sides. "That was awesome! That was so awesome!"

Once more her quiet, sometimes downright wimpy friend had sent something more than twice her size heading for the hills by just telling it to get lost, and Rainbow Dash vowed never to doubt Fluttershy again. Or at least to try not to.

Her laughter began to die down, and Rainbow Dash sat up, shaking her mane out. She remembered that she'd heard a voice, before Fluttershy'd knocked her out of the way, but she couldn't remember what it had said, though she remembered feeling awful for awhile. No matter. She grimaced again as she rose to her hooves; save for the slash on her flank she appeared to be fine. She tested her wings, extending them to their full span and flapping them experimentally. Thank Celestia they seemed to be fine too.

"Hey Fluttershy!" She called, trotting over to where the pale yellow pegasus still stood, staring into the forest. "That was so cool! Where'd you learn to do that? You should do that all the time when a monster shows up!"

Fluttershy didn't answer.

"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash stopped beside her, nudging her. "You alright?"

Fluttershy turned to her; her eyes were downcast, and she was sobbing. "I'm sorry," she said, hanging her head.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head, confused. "Why? You just saved my life! I've never seen anything that cool before!"

"I made you come with me," Fluttershy cried. "And you got hurt trying to help me."

Rainbow Dash sighed, smiling. She pressed her forehead against Fluttershy's, looking into her deep blue eyes. "You really are too nice, you know?"

Fluttershy leapt forward, wrapping her forelegs around Dash's neck as she cried. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be." Rainbow Dash nuzzled her friend affectionately; it wasn't something she was used to, but at a moment like this it didn't bother her at all. "I came with you because I wanted to help you. You don't have to be sorry for anything. Everything's okay now."

Fluttershy continued to sob into her mane, but it eventually started to subside. Tossing awkwardness to the wind, Rainbow Dash allowed her to stay there, hugging her while the birdsong that had been absent during their journey resumed in the trees surrounding them.

After a few minutes Fluttershy calmed down, still sniffling. She let go of Rainbow Dash, backing away from her while a deep blush spread over her cheeks.

"Are you okay now?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying to keep the impatience from creeping into her voice. Now that they were safe, and the forest around them was flowing with life once more, she wanted to get moving. She could tell from the color of the sunlight streaming through the canopy that it was late afternoon, and she wanted to find the lake before nightfall. Although she had no idea where they were now. She shifted uncomfortably; the gash she'd sustained in the fight with the bear had grown terribly sore in the aftermath.

Fluttershy noticed this, and wordlessly trotted over to take a good look at the wound. "It's not too deep, but we probably need to clean it so it doesn't get infected."

Her saddlebags laid on the ground near the bushes Dash had tossed her into; one had come open during their mad dash through the forest and was completely empty. Thankfully the one with the now crumpled map and the Supernaturals book was still tightly shut. "The first aid kit was in the side that came open, but I can probably find something around here to bind it with."

"It's fine." Dash flicked her tail carelessly. "Battle scars. We can take care of it when we get to the lake."

She retrieved the map, spreading it out on the ground. "I don't know where we are now. The bushes were the last landmark we passed, but I'm not sure what direction we went in."

She scoured the map, then gasped with recognition. "Oh my gosh."

Rainbow Dash suddenly leapt to her hooves, rolling the map up and shoving it back into Fluttershy's bag. "I can't believe this." She rose into the air and took off into the forest, with Fluttershy trailing behind.

"What is it?" Fluttershy called out from behind her, but Dash ignored her, plunging through the forest with only a single goal in mind. Her hind leg still throbbed, but it wasn't as bad as it would've been had she been running. After a few minutes of seemingly arbitrary winding her way through Everfree she ground to a halt in mid-air. Fluttershy clumsily stopped beneath her, out of breath. "What happened?"

Rainbow Dash met her gaze, grinning. "Maybe that bear did us a favor." She landed on the forest floor and stepped forward through a wall of leaves into a much larger clearing, leaving the dense stand of trees behind her. Fluttershy followed, stunned into silence. Here the canopy thinned out, golden sunlight reflecting off the still surface of a small lake on the other side of the clearing and warming a field of brilliant blue flowers waving gently in the light breeze.

'We're here.'

The Oasis

Deep in the Everfree Forest, a shaggy brown body huddled in a shallow, somewhat damp cave, trembling with frustration. So close; it had come so very close. The presence had succeeded in soaking up quite a bit of energy from the blue pony, but not nearly as much as it could've had the yellow one not interfered.

The yellow one... the bear's body shuddered again at the memory. The wretched creature had fooled it, emitting such intense fear and anxiety while she trudged through its territory, enough that it was able to fuel itself on the fumes alone, only to shake it off so rapidly in defense of her companion. Just recalling the encounter sent a wave of anger so violent coursing through its body that the sullen creature took a few swipes at the cave wall, leaving an irregular pattern of light claw marks in the rock. At the moment just before it overwhelmed the doubt-ridden pegasus it had weakened, when the previously fearful pony knocked her aside, it had definitely felt the shift in atmosphere. And then she stood before it, commanding it to leave them be, and the presence found the tables turned as it was now the one held in thrall. Her eyes were the worst part. Those eyes, the determination within them when she turned her gaze on it... she'd radiated with some kind of vitality that shook its physical body to the core. The aura of confidence washed over it, overriding its efforts to infiltrate her thoughts. There was nothing to grasp at, and the look in those blue eyes... the look was familiar. The presence had seen that very defiance, countless years in the past before its confinement.

There was nothing to do but retreat, fleeing from that pony before she drained it of the moderate amount of energy provided by the blue one.

As expected, hooved ones provided a far better meal than any number of animals it could've frightened to death. Their emotions were so very complicated, and it did feel much stronger after its interrupted meal. The extra kick of energy had restored its ability to eradicate the natural stench of corruption it left behind, so it opted to venture closer to the exterior of the forest than it had in years. It couldn't leave, not yet, but perhaps there was something that could be done. It wouldn't be able to feed off the bounty of the forest any longer, but soon that would cease to matter.

Tucking the bear's legs in, the presence stilled itself, feeling the bear's heartbeat pick up the pace. The thick, furry pelt tingled unpleasantly, and agonizing pain shot through its body as its limbs lengthened, bones flattening and rearranging themselves, fur falling in clumps from its hide and giving way to a short, brightly colored coat. The bear's body shrank to a fourth of its size, trembling uncontrollably until the pain centered at a point on its forehead...

A few minutes passed, the forest outside the cave falling silent as an ear-splitting roar rang out from within, followed by silence. After a moment, the forest returned to normal, the incident forgotten. None of its inhabitants took notice as the small, svelte body of a unicorn mare with a light green coat crawled out of the cave, struggling to stand on unsteady legs. She shook her wavy, deep green mane out of her hazel eyes, reaching up to poke at the horn on her head. It was a useless protrusion of keratin with no magic flowing through it, for now.

Satisfied with her appearance, the unicorn set off shakily in search of water and food. It would be easier to sustain this form, physically, until an opportunity arose to feast once more.

The tranquility that hung over the clearing was shattered as a loud "Yahoo!" rang throughout the air, followed by Rainbow Dash rearing up on her hindlegs in excitement and galloping straight for the lake. After the battle with the bear and hours of trudging through the forest she was far too thirsty to care about the pain at her side. She tried to halt at the edge but momentum carried her forward, sending the cyan pegasus plunging into the water.

Crisp, cool water flowed down her throat and over her body, instantly lifting the sheen of dust and perspiration matting her coat, mane, and tail. To her surprise, the throbbing sensation in her flank lessened considerably as well. She turned a few somersaults beneath the lake's surface; being a prime example of athleticism Rainbow Dash was perfectly capable of swimming, and she rather enjoyed doing so when she got the chance. She caught sight of Fluttershy, kneeling at the side of the lake and frantically scanning its depths for her friend. "Rainbow Dash?"

Dash grinned mischievously, propelling herself forward with her wings. "Boo!" she shouted, breaking the surface and splashing Fluttershy with a light spray of water from the lake. Fluttershy let out a characteristic squeak and fell backwards on her rump with her wet mane hanging over her eyes.

"You should've seen your face!!" Rainbow Dash howled, pointing at the dumbfounded pegasus in front of her. "That was priceless!"

Fluttershy picked herself up, squeezing the excess water from her mane as Rainbow Dash climbed out of the lake, shaking herself vigorously. "That really hit the spot," she sighed.

Thirst sated, she took stock of the clearing around them. Ringing the lake were thick stands of reeds, hiding small frogs that conversed among themselves. The healthy-looking grass beneath her hooves was soft yet springy; she snagged a mouthful, confirming that it was as good as it looked. A few of the rainbow-fruited bushes they'd encountered in the forest before grew along the edges of the clearing near the trees. The trees ringing the clearing were large enough that their branches stretched out to create a thin canopy that disappeared altogether towards the center of the clearing, where the lunawort grew its thickest, clearly flourishing in the undiluted sunlight. The place was absolutely beautiful, and that beauty was not lost on Rainbow Dash. She swallowed a few more mouthfuls of grass then took to the air, flitting about like an excited pegasus filly. "This place is amazing! Who would've thought something like this would be in the Everfree Forest?"

Fluttershy also seemed thrilled at the sight of the oasis amidst the deep forest. She delicately trotted over to the stand of lunawort and leaned down to sniff at one of the tightly curled blossoms. "I've never seen this many before," she said softly, eyes shining with unspoken happiness. Careful not to crush any of the flowers beneath her hooves, she waded out into the middle of the sea of blue petals. "I'm so glad we managed to find them."

Rainbow Dash landed beside her, a little less gracefully. She flinched when her right wing touched her injury, opting to avoid folding them in completely. "That bear got me good," she admitted, glancing over her shoulder at the offending area. "At least it didn't hit my cutie mark. That would've been seriously uncool."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'll fix that up right away." Fluttershy left her side and ran over to a vivid green patch of what Rainbow Dash assumed were herbs, gathering a mouthful and then heading for the lake. Once there, she dug a small, shallow hole in the muddy bank with her hooves and dropped the vegetation into it. Rainbow Dash watched uncomprehending as Fluttershy proceeded to mash the herbs and mud together.

"Uh, Fluttershy? Is this really a good time to be making mud pies?"

Fluttershy looked up, smiling shyly. "Oh, it's not a mud pie. It's for your back."

"You're putting mud on it?" Rainbow Dash asked, skeptically. "I mean, I know you're the expert and all, but I don't see how mud is gonna help."

"Well, I'm not applying the mud directly to the wound." Fluttershy left her handiwork and flew just high enough to grab a large leaf from one of the trees ringing the clearing. She hovered over Rainbow Dash, looking apologetic. "It's going to hurt for just a little bit, and then you'll feel better," she said, softly.

"It's okay. Do what you have to." Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and attempted to ignore the burning sensation spreading over her back as Fluttershy quickly lined the wound with a few herbs and placed the leaf over it, applying a liberal amount of mud to the area to hold the leaf in place. She finished her dressing up by turning a few rapid circles in the air around her patient to dry the mud.

"Wow, that already feels better!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, folding in her wings properly with little pain this time. Whatever the herbs were, they were definitely effective. Within but a few minutes the soreness subsided altogether. "You're really good at this, Fluttershy."

"Oh... it's nothing." Fluttershy looked away, a light blush coloring her face again. "I'm sorry you got hurt."

"Are you kidding? That scar is going to be wicked." Rainbow Dash grinned, raising a hoof triumphantly. "And I can say I got it fighting a bear."

Fluttershy brightened, looking as if she felt a little less guilty. She looked up at the sky, noting the time; the run-in with the bear had eaten up a good chunk of their time. "It's getting late. I need to get back to Angel before the sleeping draught I gave him wears off."

"Yeah, we probably need to grab the lunawort and head back before it gets too dark." Rainbow Dash approached the patch of flowers, leaning down to seize one with her teeth. "So how many do you need?"

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Fluttershy darted over to where she stood before she could grab ahold of the plant to yank it free. "We can't just pull them out."

Dash poked one of the flowers; the stems weren't particularly thick, and it felt just as fragile as any other flower she'd encountered. "Doesn't look that tough to me."

Fluttershy surveyed the edge of the patch, picking out one of the isolated flowers. She began to dig lightly at the earth around it, concentrating intently on the job. "You have to be very gentle with plants, so you don't damage the root system. It could kill the entire patch."

Rainbow Dash watched her dig at the ground in a painstakingly slow manner with a look of disbelief on her face. Whereas the process would've been far easier with claws, as Spike had, with hooves it seemed like it would take forever. Rainbow Dash felt she should mention this before Fluttershy got any further. "You know that's gonna take forever, right?"

Fluttershy paused in her work, glancing over her shoulder at her friend with the kindly expression she normally wore while caring for one of her animals. "But it could also take forever to grow back if we harmed it somehow."

The sincerity on her face went straight to Dash's heart. She recalled, less than an hour earlier, being pushed out of harm's way by that same pony; the same timid pony that had forced herself to venture through uncharted woods to save a single rabbit. 'She really is the element of kindness,' Rainbow Dash mused. She'd never met another pony with so much love to give — and whose devotion extended to everything.

She heaved a heavy sigh, although she really wasn't as exasperated as she normally would've been. "Fine." Approaching an isolated flower the cyan pegasus eyed it disdainfully. "This shouldn't be too hard."

Rainbow Dash began to dig at the ground around the flower with her hooves, slowly making a shallow indentation in the earth around it. After a good five minutes she was still digging, and in typical Rainbow Dash fashion she grew agitated. She muttered a few choice words under her breath, increasing the speed of her digging until she was literally kicking up clods of soil.

"This... isn't... supposed to be hard!" Mind completely focused on the task, Rainbow Dash didn't stop and get a good look at what she was doing until she heard soft laughter behind her. Fluttershy had a hoof clamped over her mouth, trying to hide her amusement. Rainbow Dash looked down at her handiwork. Somehow, she'd managed to dig a perfect circle a few inches around the lunawort flower. The flower sat at the center of the circle, swaying slightly in the wind as if mocking her — and still firmly rooted in the ground.

Rainbow Dash coughed, averting her eyes from her friend. "I meant to do that," she lied. "I was trying to make it easier for you."

Fluttershy trotted over to her, beaming. "I know."

She began to dig at the ground closer to the flower. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I can gather them on my own."

The cyan pegasus dismissed this idea with a wave of her hoof. "It's faster if I help you. I just need to go a little... " she sighed. "Slower."

After about an hour of work, the two pegasi had managed to safely extract ten flowers, roots and all. They were also both dusty, tired, and their hooves were a bit sore from the effort. After Fluttershy carefully placed the flowers in the empty side of her saddlebag she and Rainbow Dash both headed for the lake, flopping down on the bank.

Rainbow Dash scanned the clear blue sky overhead. By the position of the sun she could tell that Celestia would be lowering it soon. She wanted to be well on their way before that, considering they were looking at a good two hour walk back. "Did you get all the flowers you needed?"

"I think so." Fluttershy sounded uncertain. "I don't think we should disturb any more right now, though. If need be, I can come back, now that we know the way."

"Kinda." Rainbow Dash inspected her dirty hooves. She decided to hold off on washing them off, especially since they'd just get muddy again trudging through the forest. The idea of returning was both aggravating and enticing, all at once. The clearing was quite pretty, and the lake and clear sky above were perfect for developing and practicing some new moves. And save for the bear, the trip there had been fairly uneventful. Years ago she'd have never thought she'd be in the middle of the infamous Everfree Forest, much less strangely enjoying it. "We do still have the map."

The two pegasi rested in silence, listening to the hum of the frogs and the discordant melody coming from the trees ringing the clearing. As usual, Rainbow Dash broke the silence first. "So what's so special about Angel anyway? Is he your favorite or something?"

"I'm not supposed to have favorites. It's not fair to everyone else." Fluttershy mumbled, sounding ashamed. "But... yes. Angel's the first animal that came to stay with me after we left school in Cloudsdale and I came to live in Ponyville."

Her voice took on a faraway quality, as if she were reminiscing. "When I first moved here, it was pretty lonely. I didn't know anyone in town, and you hadn't moved in yet. None of the animals lived here yet, and I hadn't met any of the other ponies," she said. She refrained from stating the obvious, but Rainbow Dash was well aware of how nervous Fluttershy was around... well, everypony, especially ones she didn't know.

"A few weeks later, there was a really big storm."

"That's because I wasn't here to take care of things yet," Rainbow Dash interjected proudly.

"It was terrifying, because I was all alone. I was so glad when morning came." Fluttershy smiled sadly. "When I left my house in the morning, everything was wet, and my garden was ruined. It was awful. And all of the animals were still too frightened to come out of their hiding places. I was on my way to the edge of Everfree to check on a den of mice that lived nearby... and there was a tiny bunny in the grass. He wasn't moving, and he was soaked. I rushed him home and dried him off, and gave him something to eat. Angel was so small then. He was just a baby, and I didn't see any other bunnies when I found him. I don't know what happened to his parents, and he was all alone, too. He needed me, so I let him live here with me. And then I wasn't alone anymore..." She trailed off, staring off into the distance.

Rainbow Dash tried to imagine Fluttershy's cottage standing alone, without the chicken coop and numerous birdhouses, with a lonely pegasus inside. By the time she moved in Fluttershy was well on her way to having an all-out menagerie, and she'd somehow become acquainted with a few of the other inhabitants of Ponyville, as well.

She recalled the day she showed up at her old friend's house, wary of the many birds and other critters hanging around in the lush yard outside, walking right up to the door and pounding, as usual.

"Hey, Fluttershy! You there?"

Fluttershy had taken a few minutes to answer; she probably wasn't used to company, especially company as boisterous as Rainbow Dash. She'd opened the door ever so slightly, just a hint of pink mane and blue eyes that initially looked frightened... until she recognized the pegasus on her doorstep.

"Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?"

"I live here now. I-"

Before she could explain, Fluttershy had thrown the door open, face lit up brighter than Dash could remember. The shy pegasus threw herself forward, in a haze of yellow and pink, and wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash's neck in an uncommonly tight hug.

"I'm so glad."

A couple of years and many more adventures later, Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to reach over and pat her friend reassuringly. It was very difficult not to. She'd felt like an outcast in flight school until she met Gilda; she couldn't imagine how lonely Fluttershy must've been all that time, especially after she took off. "That must've been hard," she said awkwardly.

"It was." Fluttershy brightened. "But now I'm lucky to have lots of wonderful friends."

Rainbow Dash smiled herself, although she made sure Fluttershy couldn't see it. She rolled over and pointed at the sky, indicating how late it was. "We should probably head back. The sun'll be down soon, and I've got cloud control early tomorrow morning." She was never pleased when work required being up at the first light of dawn, even though she knew she'd be finished almost as quickly as she began.

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. After retrieving her bags with the flowers safely enclosed inside and the clasp pulled as tightly as possible in case they ran into any more trouble on the way home, they took a final look at the clearing behind them. The late afternoon sunlight illuminated the area, casting an otherworldly glow on the patch of lunawort. Rainbow Dash did not want to leave.

Fluttershy must've felt the same way. "We can always come back," she said, gently.

"Yeah." The two mares then slipped through the curtain of leaves and back into the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest.

Only a moment of standing in the forest confirmed what the two pegasi had felt before — whatever presence had been corrupting the area was now long gone. In contrast to the oppressive silence they'd initially encountered, this section of the forest was now as lively, if not more than the rest of it. Birds perched in the branches, chirping joyfully, and the bushes rustled with the passing of any number of small creatures, some of which ventured close enough to watch the two ponies passing by. The entire forest was alive with sound; it felt as if its inhabitants were expressing their gratitude in the only way they knew how.

Whereas Rainbow Dash had been the excited one running around the clearing hours ago, it was now Fluttershy that brimmed with energy, greeting each furry head she saw cheerfully and almost bouncing in place with every step. Instead of being grating, her excitement was endearing. With a happy Fluttershy trotting beside her and Everfree bursting with activity around her, the trip back to Ponyville was rather pleasant. At first Dash remained somewhat tense, waiting for danger to rear its ugly head as it had earlier that day. However, after awhile the cyan pegasus relaxed like her companion and took to the air, twisting and turning through the obstacle course with a surprising amount of skill given that her exhaustion was now creeping up on her after a full day of work.

As expected, it took two hours to reach the edge of Everfree, close to Fluttershy's home. The journey back went smoothly and without incident. By the time they reached the bridge night was in full swing; a heavy full moon shone like a dollop of silver amongst a milky sea of stars. Fluttershy looked up at her friend hovering above her head. "Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash."

"Aw, it was nothin'." Dash grinned. "And I'm not the one that ran a bear off just by glaring at it. I told you that was cool, right? Because that was really cool."

"You did," as usual Fluttershy lowered her head, clearly embarrassed by the compliment. She glanced over at her house, still brightly lit the way she'd left it when she ran out that morning. "I need to go check on Angel, so..."

"Yeah, I need to get home too. Tank's probably wondering where I've been all day. And I need to get some sleep, too." Rainbow Dash groaned. "Maybe I can get Ditzy to cover for me tomorrow. Although knowing her, she'll lump 'em all together and it'll take forever to separate them. Like last time."

Fluttershy turned to leave, then suddenly rose into the air and hugged Rainbow Dash once more, tightly. Instead of backing away as she normally would she held on; and instead of telling her to knock it off, as she normally would, Dash returned the gesture wholeheartedly. After a brief moment, Fluttershy lost her nerve and broke away, whispering a quick "Good night" and making off towards her house with her flowers in tow. Rainbow Dash stared after her, feeling rather peculiar. It wasn't a bad feeling; she felt perfectly happy. Warm and fuzzy was more like it.

She shook her head frantically to shake the feeling free. She was approaching sentimental territory, and that was a definite no-no, although she felt happy for Fluttershy, and glad that she would be able to save Angel. It would've been terrible seeing her upset had they not been able to locate the lunawort. Of course, it felt wonderful realizing that Fluttershy clearly cared about her enough to put her own life, and Angel's, on the line to save her. She and her friends had saved each other numerous times, but usually on a grander scale, in the sense of saving Equestria itself instead of risking their lives for each other personally. The moments when they had to fight simply for each other didn't arise as often, but it was always amazing to see how strong she and her friends could be when it came to protecting their loved ones.

Rainbow Dash growled, pounding at her head with her hooves. "You are being a sap. Stop it."

She recalled Fluttershy pushing her out of the way, rigid with determination; standing up to Zecora's light criticism, unafraid of the consequences of her decision, and patiently digging up lunawort blossoms, unwilling to harm even a single one, despite the pain in her hooves. Devotion, determination, and sheer willpower, all in a fragile-looking, easily startled package. She had to admit — even though she'd taken Fluttershy for a weakling before, and of course she wasn't nearly as fast and skilled as Dash herself was, she was pretty awesome in her own right.

"Yeah... awesome," she muttered. The warm and fuzzy feeling intensified, and suddenly Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open, realizing that she had wandered into sentimental territory despite her internal warnings not to. "NO! Stop... being... lame!!"

Like a rocket she shot into the air, rainbow jetstream trailing behind her. She was tired and needed to get some rest before the next day, but perhaps some additional exercise would clear her head. She cared about her friends quite a bit, but dwelling on that fact was most definitely not her style.

Even after pushing herself through a tiring routine and finally arriving home completely worn out, a single thought continued lingering at the back of her mind, and it was hours before she managed to banish it altogether.

"Fluttershy is awesome."

Sparks

"So Spike was telling me that a new joke shop just opened up in Canterlot next to Pony Joe's donut shop, and I was like, a joke shop? In Canterlot? You've gotta be joking!"

Rainbow Dash was indeed listening to Pinkie, but she couldn't focus very well on what her talkative friend was saying. Her mind kept wandering of its own accord, like a wayward butterfly. She tried to direct her attention to the chattering pony dancing around Sugarcube Corner in a blur of pink and confetti, but it slipped away just as quickly. Perhaps she was simply tired; the previous day had been devoted to a series of late spring showers that had to be carefully monitored to avoid overwatering crops. That took more out of her than merely kicking clouds.

"But he wasn't joking, so I put in an order for an assorted collection of super duper pranky stuff, and it just came in yesterday! And it was a lot cheaper than I thought it would be, too! I got this whole box for only three bits!"

"Uh-huh." Rainbow Dash cast a weather eye over the box Pinkie Pie was bouncing in place atop. It was an ordinary-looking brown box with faded lettering on the top; she recognized the kind of shimmering ink and postal stamps associated with Canterlot. Granted, the package was a bit dented and appeared to have been dropped a few times, but with mailmares like Ditzy Doo on the job that was to be expected.

"Overall it's a pretty good haul, but some of this stuff is weirrrd. I mean, like really 'We probably shouldn't let some of this stuff fall into the wrong hooves' weird!"

For what seemed like the millionth time that day, Rainbow Dash wondered what Fluttershy was doing. A few days had passed following their excursion in the Everfree Forest, and Dash hadn't seen hide nor hair of her since then. This wasn't odd, as they all had duties and jobs of their own to attend to, and she assumed that Fluttershy would be occupied with caring for Angel for an indeterminate amount of time anyway. Yet, given the terms that they'd parted on, Fluttershy's absence bothered her.

She lifted her wing, tuning out Pinkie Pie, and looked over her shoulder at the wound she'd sustained from her fight with the bear. It itched occasionally, but whatever herbs Fluttershy had lined it with really were magical. It had only taken a day for it to scab over, and from the way it was healing it looked as if the scar wouldn't be as dramatic as she'd initially thought. Dash hoped Fluttershy's expertise would be enough to help her sick charge just as well as she'd attended to her.

"Dashie?" Two sparkling blue eyes and a mass of unruly pink hair appeared directly in front of her face, causing Rainbow Dash to topple over backwards. Pinkie Pie stood over her, looking down with a hint of concern dimming her cheerful smile. "Are you okay? You're kinda not there. Even though you're still here."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rainbow Dash stood up, folding her wings back once more. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"Ooh, is it a good something or a bad something?" Pinkie punctuated the question with a characteristic bounce. "Or is it a secret something?"

Rainbow Dash briefly considered voicing her concerns to Pinkie Pie, then thought better of it. "It's nothing."

"I thought you said it was something. Nothing isn't something." Pinkie's tone indicated that she didn't believe Dash's explanation for a second. "Are you sure it's nothing? I'm the best secret keeper in Ponyville, remember?"

"Really, it's nothing." Rainbow Dash lied. In an attempt to change the subject, she poked at the box with a hoof. "So what all did you get? Anything good?"

Pinkie tilted her head to the side, regarding her thoughtfully for a minute, then seemingly dismissed the issue altogether. "Oh, I've got some great prank material! Ponyville won't know what hit it!"

The two mares proceeded to dump out the contents of the box on the floor to get a closer look. As per Pinkie's initial assessment some of the items were rather questionable. There was the usual lot of itching powders, whoopee cushions, joy buzzers and cans of fake snakes to be expected of a joke shop. There were also a couple of items Rainbow Dash did not recognize. These included a simple brown book made of a shiny material that seemed familiar although she couldn't put her hoof on it; it was bound with black clasps and made her feel uneasy when she looked at it for too long. Further inspection turned up a strange, colorful mask with a spike-lined, heart shaped face and vivid eyes painted on the front; Pinkie Pie stuck her head into the pile and withdrew it with a large green gem that seemed to sparkle within in her mouth. Rainbow Dash couldn't see how such a thing could function as a joke item, but if it did have some practical use Rarity would be a great target, seeing as the fashionista would've likely considered ponyslaughter to get her hooves on a rock like that.

"Maybe they got your order mixed up with someone else's," she offered, tapping the cover of the book and shuddering. Pinkie dropped the gem and picked up the mask, sliding it over her face.

"This looks like one of the masks Zecora has!" She exclaimed. "We can have a costume party!"

As Pinkie Pie launched into planning out a costume party (from the sound of it a costume party was simply one of her regular everyday parties with an additional dress code), Rainbow Dash found herself feeling unusually grateful for her hyperactive friend's company. Whereas Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack had their hooves full on a more regular schedule, Dash's weatherpony duties were hardly difficult and tended to be more sporadic. She'd finish her tasks swiftly enough to have lots of free time for training, lazing about, and social interaction; whereas her other friends were busy a good deal of the time Pinkie Pie was always up for the latter.

Having witnessed Ponyville's premiere party pony in action while at work, Rainbow Dash had to wonder how the Cakes dealt with having such a wayward employee. Pinkie regularly ate half of what she needed to be selling to customers and threw parties at the drop of a hat, and yet they rarely reprimanded her and even allowed her to live above the bakery. Dash assumed that she'd just been absorbed into the family like a high-strung adopted filly with a bottomless pit for a stomach. She wasn't sure she would've been able to take actually living with Pinkie Pie, but she was great fun to be around. When they weren't pranking Ponyville's unsuspecting inhabitants they passed the time scarfing through Pinkie's appropriated supply of baked goods while Rainbow Dash regaled her with tales of the nightlife and party scene in Cloudsdale; Pinkie Pie seemingly never grew tired of these stories.

The earth pony in question interrupted her thoughts, abruptly ripping off the mask and throwing it across the room. "I knew it!" She cried. "I knew I recognized that mask! I thought I'd destroyed it last time!"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Should I even ask?"

Pinkie Pie ignored her, continuing to hold a one-sided conversation with herself. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, sighing with exasperation. 'Pinkie Pie... you are so random.'

The tinkling of a bell announced the arrival of a potential customer; a familiar purple unicorn entered the bakery, levitating a small shopping basket at her side. "Hi girls!" Twilight Sparkle called cheerfully upon seeing two of her friends.

"Hey Twilight." Rainbow Dash greeted her; Pinkie Pie didn't acknowledge Twilight's entrance, still engrossed with whatever crisis she'd happened upon.

"But then we'll have to visit Cloudsdale and break into the weather factory, and I haven't patched the balloon yet!" Pinkie waved her hooves in the air in frustration. "It's hopeless!"

Twilight glanced from Rainbow Dash to Pinkie Pie, and then back to Rainbow Dash. "Uh..." A slight shake of Dash's head warned her against questioning further. "Okay, I'll just take that as a hello, I guess."

Sensing the chance to discuss the issue with somepony a little saner, Rainbow Dash withdrew from the pile of joke items and moved closer to Twilight, nudging her off to the side.

"Twilight, have you seen Fluttershy around lately?"

Twilight thought for a minute, stroking her chin. "Maybe? Sorry Rainbow Dash, I've been so busy making checklists for the Summer Sun Celebration that I haven't seen much of anypony lately."

"Isn't the Summer Sun celebration two months away?"

"Yes it is," Twilight announced proudly, "And you can never start planning too early!"

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond, and for once thought better of it. Fortunately Pinkie Pie snapped out of her reverie before Dash could change her mind. "Oh, Twilight!" She literally leapt across the room, stopping just short of tackling Twilight. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Pinkie, you just saw me yesterday," Twilight said dryly.

"That's pretty close to forever." Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up as the proverbial lightbulb went off over her head. "We should have a 'Welcome Back, Twilight!' party!"

"But I haven't gone anywhere," Twilight insisted. Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to laugh at how flustered she looked. After nearly two years of living in Ponyville she would've expected the town's resident librarian to adjust to Pinkie's antics. "And anyway, I've got to get back to the library as soon as possible. Spike isn't feeling well today."

"He's sick too?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, incredulous. Granted, it probably had nothing to do with Angel's mysterious illness, but it was an interesting coincidence...

"Well," Twilight hesitated. "Not really. He's just molting, and he refuses to leave the house because Rarity might see him in 'such a disgraceful state.' His words, not mine."

"Dragons molt too?" Rainbow Dash grimaced. "That sucks."

"It's only once in awhile, instead of every year. And unlike you guys," she indicated Rainbow Dash's wings, "It only takes a day or two instead of shedding feathers over a longer period of time."

She turned her attention back to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, could you make some more of those muffins Spike likes so much?"

Pinkie Pie paled, letting out an exaggerated gasp. "Y-you mean... those?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. I figured they'd help the little guy feel better. You do remember how to make them, right?"

"Yes. I do. I remember," Pinkie Pie said grimly. She glanced back at the kitchen as if it were a desolate battlefield, then walked away with the air of a scarred soldier cantering off to war. "I think we all remember."

Neither Rainbow Dash nor Twilight had suffered through the 'baked bads' incident, but they'd witnessed the aftermath. Rainbow Dash pantomimed gagging; Twilight merely shrugged. "I'm not sure why he can eat them without succumbing to food poisoning as well. I suppose dragons have a severely different constitution than we do, even at such a young age," she mused.

"He eats gems, Twilight. Duh." Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

The bell tinkled again, cutting off Twilight's response. Both ponies turned to see Fluttershy peeking into the bakery over the bottom half of the door. Her mane, while retaining its gentle curl, appeared to be slightly disheveled, and there were small bags beneath her blue eyes indicating that she hadn't been sleeping well. "Um..."

"Hi there, Fluttershy, we were just talking about you," Twilight hailed the newcomer, pleased to see so many of her friends at once. "Did you need to put in an order? I think Pinkie Pie went out to get the ingredients for Spike's muffins but I can go get her if you want."

"Oh, no, that's fine," Fluttershy said quietly. She kept her eyes trained on the ground, as if afraid to make eye contact with anypony. "I was just wondering if I could borrow your book a little longer... if that's okay with you?"

"Supernaturals? Of course!" Twilight smiled. "I've got an entire section on natural remedies now, if you need any more. There's a particularly informative one recently released by a herbalist from Manehattan. It's got the craziest home remedy for hay fever."

"That's okay, I think the one I have is fine." Fluttershy cut the enthusiastic librarian off before she could get started, bowing her head in gratitude. "Thank you so much, Twilight."

Rainbow Dash watched her walk away, not quite sure why she'd let her leave without saying anything. On one hoof, she was incredibly glad to see Fluttershy after their adventure earlier that week, but she would've expected her to look a little happier, having gotten the ingredients needed for Angel's medicine.

A terrible thought occurred to her: perhaps the lunawort hadn't been effective.

"Hey Twilight, I just remembered I gotta do something. Tell Pinkie I said I'd catch her later, okay?" With those parting words the cyan pegasus flew off after Fluttershy at top speed, leaving Twilight staring after her in wonder.

Of course Fluttershy hadn't gotten very far on hoof, and Rainbow Dash came close to bowling her over... and several other ponies that just happened to be in the way.

"Hey! Fluttershy!" She shouted as she crash landed right in front of the startled pegasus, pointedly ignoring the couple of disapproving stares her arrival earned her. Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock; for a brief moment she looked as if she were about to fall over, but she managed to steady herself.

"Oh... hi, Rainbow Dash."

"What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked eagerly. Normally she might've attempted to conduct herself with a more nonchalance but the elation she felt over seeing her friend for the first time in days went straight to her head. "Did the lunawort work? Is Angel better?"

"Um... " The tone of Fluttershy's voice indicated that she didn't have good news for her, slightly diminishing Dash's excitement. "A little."

"Just a little?" Rainbow Dash almost yelled in disbelief. "You got plenty of those flowers. They should've been able to cure him, right? Maybe the recipe's wrong."

"Actually, it's only the roots that are used to make the medicine." Fluttershy sighed, dejected. "I used all I had to make the batch I've been giving him, but it doesn't seem to be working that well. He's not getting worse, but he isn't really improving, either." She hung her head, sounding close to tears. "I guess I didn't make it strong enough. I'd need a lot more to fix a batch that would actually be effective."

"So we gotta go back to Everfree and get some more of those flowers then." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "You saved the map, didn't you? You took care of that crazy bear last time, so we shouldn't have any trouble getting there."

Fluttershy gasped and lifted her head. Her eyes were shining, although whether from joy or unshed tears Rainbow Dash couldn't tell. "You mean you don't mind?"

"Of course I don't. I already said I didn't mind going back if you needed to. What, you think I'd leave you hanging?" Rainbow Dash joked, feigning offense.

"No," Fluttershy said hurriedly, "It's just I thought you'd be busy and I didn't want to bother you-"

"Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash reached over and tapped her friend on the head (lightly for her, although Fluttershy flinched). "Stop freaking out. You could've just asked me, you know."

Fluttershy didn't need to respond; the expression of sheer happiness she wore said it all. Seeing it made Rainbow Dash feel lighter than she had all day; it was if the fog weighing her down had completely dissipated.

After years of leading other Ponyville's other pegasi in weather management, Rainbow Dash was used to giving orders, and after a moment of pondering she laid the plan out for Fluttershy as if they were embarking on a mission. "Okay. We need to gather as many of those flowers as possible tomorrow, so we're gonna need to set out early. I'll bring Tank with me to keep Angel company, too. Fluttershy?"

The pale yellow pegasus snapped to attention. "Bring something with you to make digging easier if you can. In fact, maybe... "

The idea of bringing their friends along entered Dash's mind, then disappeared almost immediately as she envisioned Pinkie Pie rolling in the flowers laughing, Applejack trampling them, and Twilight attempting to remove one with her magic and somehow uprooting the entire patch. She didn't even bother considering Rarity, who would've fainted dead away at the prospect of manually digging up lunawort with her manicured hooves. "Never mind. Just bring something so we don't have to spend all day on a single one. And bring some more of those muffins. And the map, 'cause we're gonna need it."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, making a mental note of everything her friend listed. "Is there anything else?"

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I think that's about it. I'd tell you to bring the awesome, but that's my job."

The two pegasi finalized their plans to meet up at Fluttershy's house early the next morning, and after another tearful round of 'thank yous' Fluttershy left to attend to her other charges. Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches as Ponyville bustled around her, watching her leave for the second time that day. This time there was no lingering anxiety, only a sense of accomplishment, much like she felt when she managed to pull off a particularly well-executed stunt.

It felt good to make other ponies happy. Especially when they were as expressive with their gratitude as Fluttershy.

The next morning dawned clear and bright; the first rays of Celestia's sun warmed Rainbow Dash's mane, awakening her from a peaceful sleep without a trace of the bad humor waking up at a reasonable hour generally left her in. She stretched, taking care not to knock Tank out of the bed as she usually did, and all but floated to her bathroom to prepare for the day. Instead of bleary eyes and a scowl, a perfectly content face greeted her upon looking in the mirror. She even found herself humming as she went through the motions of showering, contemplating combing her mane and snorting at the very thought, and fitting Tank with his propeller and goggles.

While doing so she felt compelled to hug the tortoise, who watched her with his usual adoration. He'd only been living with her for a couple of months, but Rainbow Dash could truthfully say she loved Tank already. It was wonderful to have someone to talk to all the time, even when the world below was slumbering.

"You don't get to get sick," she informed him; Tank nodded, slowly.

After retrieving her empty saddlebag, reasoning that they could collect and carry more of the flowers if she shouldered a load as well, she left the house with Tank buzzing behind. Twilight's contraption couldn't keep up with her top speed, but it did allow Tank to follow along pretty rapidly.

"I'm gonna need you to try to get along with Angel today," Rainbow Dash called behind her, looking over her shoulder at her airborne tortoise. "Think you can do that for me?" Tank didn't respond, but Rainbow Dash knew the answer would be yes.

As she streaked through the sky, gracing Ponyville with its first rainbow of the day, it became apparent to her that they'd left much earlier than they needed to. That fact didn't slow Rainbow Dash down any, and within a few minutes she'd reached the edge of Fluttershy's property. She settled on a soft, pillowy cloud nearby and stretched out to wait for the appearance of her traveling companion. Tank landed nearby, creeping up beside her and pulling in his legs, leaving only his head visible outside his shell. It wasn't long before Fluttershy burst through her front door, obviously frazzled as she attempted to make sure her other animals would be alright without her guidance for the day. Chicken feed spilled from the bucket she carried while nearly tripping over a bag of vegetables hanging around her neck. Instead of alerting Fluttershy to her arrival, Rainbow Dash chose to take in the scene of chaos unfolding below her. It was all pretty comical.

Shaken from their usual routine by the early administration of food some of the animals had taken to eating already, leading to Fluttershy struggling to wave them away. "Now now, that's for later," she fussed, taking to the air to keep from trodding on the group of chipmunks, squirrels, and young rabbits following her every move. "I'm sorry, everyone, but I won't be here to give you lunch today."

After about fifteen minutes of herding small animals about she managed to reign some of the madness in, as well as convince most of them to hold off on eating their lunch for a little while. She headed back into her house, presumably to grab her supplies; after a few minutes she returned laden with supplies and looking hopeful. It was then that Rainbow Dash chose to reveal herself, leaping from her resting place and landing on the ground in front of her. Fluttershy seemed to be adjusting to her friend's entrances; the sudden arrival only resulted in an "Eep" instead of her dropping everything as she normally did. Tank followed suit, landing beside Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy leaned down to nuzzle the tortoise affectionately. "Has Rainbow Dash been taking good care of you?"

"Of course I have." Rainbow Dash lightly tapped the tortoise's shell with a hoof. "I do everything with this little guy. Even if he is a little slow." Tank craned his head up, gracing his owner with one of his contented smiles, and Rainbow Dash patted his head lovingly. Fluttershy looked on, clearly pleased at how well her former charge and his new owner were bonding.

"You ready to go?"

"Just a minute." Fluttershy turned to face her host of creatures, who were watching her with a myriad bright, questioning eyes. "I want everyone to be on their best behavior today." She singled out a trio of chipmunks standing in a row, looking up at her intently. "Simon, Alvin, and Theodore, I don't want to hear about any rough housing while I'm away. Lola, please keep an eye on them for me." A pale brown bunny twitched her nose in affirmation. A beautiful hummingbird hovered over her head, and Fluttershy smiled up at it. "Hummingway and Tank, I have a very important job for you. He's still sleeping and he shouldn't wake up until after I get back, but if he wakes up before the I left medicine and carrot soup next to the bed. Try to get him to eat. " Hummingway landed on her head, chirping his response, and then flew back through an open window to begin his shift. Tank followed, his propeller kicking into gear and carrying him along after Hummingway.

"Okay," Fluttershy said, looking back at Rainbow Dash. "Now I'm ready."

They assumed their general traveling positions, Rainbow Dash flying either directly above or beside her, and Fluttershy firmly planted on the ground with her wings tucked in, and set off for Everfree. The sense of urgency driving the two pegasi before had vanished, and instead of a dangerous mission this time the trip felt much more light-hearted, as if they were merely going for a long walk. Rainbow Dash relayed news from Cloudsdale, including a Pinkie Pie-esque, fanpony rant about a Wonderbolt performance that she'd missed while Fluttershy listened patiently, occasionally interjecting a comment or two. She shook her head in sympathy when Rainbow Dash told her about her missed chance to see her idols in action.

Even the march through Everfree was easier and more enjoyable. This time some of the small animals skittering about in the undergrowth actually stopped to peek out at them. One brave squirrel approached the path, inching towards Fluttershy before losing its nerve and dashing back up the tree it had come from. Fluttershy took this in stride, stating that at least they were getting used to her.

The feeling of elation had not faded, and as Rainbow Dash slipped in and out of the openings created by intertwined branches, thick creepers and misshapen tree trunks she did so with more speed and precision than ever. Whatever the cause of her high spirits was, it was a good thing. The fresh air and the light warmth hinting at the approach of summer must've gotten ahold of her, she thought. Now she understood how the birds felt, literally dancing in the spring breeze.

After awhile, following Zecora's map without divergence, they reached the silent woods where the bear had attacked them. As before, the area no longer felt tainted, and was just as lively as the rest of the forest around it. Fluttershy actually rose into the air beside Rainbow Dash, clearly ecstatic. "Isn't it wonderful?" she said happily. "This place was so dead before. Now it's alive again."

Recalling the fight made Rainbow Dash uncomfortable. There were some details that were too fuzzy to remember, but one stuck out first and foremost. Why didn't she remember what it felt like to be staring death in the face? She had no memory of being seized by fear for her own life, and the thought that she must've laid down and prepared for death without putting up a fight disgusted her. But was that really what happened? Whatever the case, it really did seem like the bear was gone, and that was a relief.

False sense of security or not, the two ponies felt much safer traveling through the section of forest this time, and before long they stepped (and flew) through the ring of trees surrounding the clearing and were greeted with the lovely smell of innumerable lunawort blossoms. This time Rainbow Dash refrained from pitching herself into the lake, deciding to save that for after she'd spent a couple of hours digging up flowers.

Fluttershy shrugged her saddlebag off, nosing one side open and withdrawing a small silver trowel. Rainbow Dash knew next to nothing about gardening; the only turf she was heavily familiar with was the pliable softness of clouds beneath her hooves, and thus she didn't recognize the tool. "What the hay is that?"

Fluttershy skillfully seized the handle between clenched teeth and lowered her head, burying the blade in the soil. She then pulled back, lifting a scoopful of soil and leaving a small hole in the ground. It wasn't very large, but it was a much easier way of digging holes than scratching at the earth for hours on end. She dropped the trowel, nudging it towards Rainbow Dash. "We can't use it to dig up the flowers directly, but we can dig around them more easily so it doesn't take as long to pull them out."

Rainbow Dash eyed the gardening tool skeptically for a moment before reaching down to retrieve it. To her surprise, and minor irritation, she had trouble biting down on the handle. The trowel slipped from her grasp and fell back to the ground, mocking her. The cyan pegasus growled, leaning down to attempt grabbing the trowel once more, with the same result. "Hold still!" she commanded it, finally managing to get a good hold on the handle.

"YES!!" Rainbow Dash shouted triumphantly, pumping her hoof in the air...

...and dropping the trowel she'd worked so hard to pick up. "No!" The wicked gardening tool lay before her innocously. Yep, it was definitely mocking her.

Fluttershy laughed; a light, gentle sound. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I can dig around the flowers as close as I can get, and then you can finish digging them up. If you don't mind."

"An assembly line? I can get with that." Rainbow Dash shoved the trowel in Fluttershy's direction. "You do this part."

For the next couple of hours the two pegasi worked side by side. Fluttershy, having mastered the use of the trowel through her own gardening endeavors, dug deeply enough around the flowers at the edge of the lunawort patch that it was easy for Rainbow Dash to extract them. It took a few tries of accidentally separating the plants from their roots to get used to wiggling them free gently instead of yanking the flowers from the ground, but after awhile the cyan pegasus got the hang of it. When they finally finished working sometime after midday, they'd managed to gather enough flowers to fill both of their bags. Fluttershy was overjoyed.

"With this many I should be able to make a stronger version of Angel's medicine." She hovered above the lunawort patch, staring up at the cloudless blue sky with the wind ruffling her mane and tail. "I can't thank you enough, Rainbow Dash."

The cyan pegasus in question stared blankly at sight of her friend floating in the breeze much like one of the butterflies depicted on her flank, finding it impossible to look away. She hadn't paid much attention at the time, but it was clear why Photo Finish had taken Fluttershy under her wing.

As if unwilling to take the line of thought any further, Rainbow Dash bolted for the lake and dove into the water. She held herself beneath the surface for a moment, utterly confused by her reaction, and severely irritated by it. She couldn't understand why she felt weird over acknowledging the fact that Fluttershy was... pretty? Rarity was attractive; that was a universally accepted truth among the group, and Rainbow Dash knew it. There was nothing wrong with noticing that.

She ran out of air and was forced to surface, where Fluttershy was waiting for her on the bank, looking concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yep." Rainbow Dash shook her head, shoving her frustration aside. "I'm good."

The rest of their day passed uneventfully. They rested for awhile in the soft grass beside the lake and made use of the food Fluttershy had brought with her (fruit salad, blueberry muffins, and a couple of barley and alfalfa scones that Rainbow Dash practically devoured). She was too stuffed afterwards to get some aquatic exercise in the way she'd intended, and simply fell asleep with a satisfied smile on her face while Fluttershy puttered around in the clearing, refilling the holes they'd created. By the time she finished, and Rainbow Dash woke up, it was late afternoon once again; after cleaning up the two pegasi left the clearing.

"That was nice," Fluttershy remarked. This time they reached her house just before the moon rose, and stood on the bridge in the twilight observing the early evening sky before returning to the cottage. Once inside, Fluttershy set about unloading the lunawort, layering them in a basket she found nearby. Tank slumbered on the rug, completely withdrawn into his shell, and Hummingway dozed lightly on a stray perch.

"I guess everything is fine," Fluttershy remarked. "They look awfully tired, though. I hope Angel didn't give them too much trouble."

"Did you get enough this time?" Rainbow Dash asked, somewhat impatiently. The foreign anticipation fluttering in the pit of her stomach was bothering her; she attempted to ignore it, flying over to where Tank slept and gathering him into her forelegs to carry home.

Fluttershy looked over the basket of flowers taken from Rainbow Dash's saddlebags, and those she'd collected. She took tilted her head so that her silky pink mane fell over her face, leaving only her eyes visible. "...maybe. I think so."

Rainbow Dash tossed her mane proudly. "Well, if you don't and we need to go back, I got ya covered."

"Um... are you sure?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly, taking a step back. "I don't want to-"

"Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash grinned. "I'm sure."

As before, Fluttershy darted forward and gave her a quick hug before flushing crimson, then rushing upstairs to check on Angel. Rainbow Dash hovered in place for a few minutes after the pale yellow pegasus withdrew; even after excusing herself and heading home with Tank in tow she was unable to shake her preoccupation. The thought from before tickled her brain; it would not stick long enough for her to fully dwell on it, but it joined another thought that had been lurking beneath the surface.

'Fluttershy is pretty.'

A couple of days passed with no further word from Fluttershy, and even though she remained busy with weather duty, an impromptu party thrown by Pinkie Pie in celebration of some randomly cooked up event that Rainbow Dash couldn't recall, caring for Tank, and assisting Applejack with watering a couple of fields recently sown with summer crops through a localized cloudburst she remained preoccupied as before, wondering how the pale yellow pegasus was doing in her efforts to care for Angel. This was unsettling, as she really wasn't used to spending this much time thinking about any other pony save herself.

After half a week she found herself wandering towards Fluttershy's house, pretending that she was merely heading in that direction for some reason that had absolutely nothing to do with its owner, and nearly collided into Fluttershy coming from the opposite direction, also clearly distracted by something.

They stared at each other for a moment before Rainbow Dash broke the silence. "How's Angel?" she asked, formalities aside. She was fully aware of how swiftly her heart was beating, as she awaited Fluttershy's answer. It felt as if she'd just flown a race, thumping against her ribcage strongly enough that it was a surprise that Fluttershy couldn't hear it.

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "He's a lot better now." She met Rainbow Dash's gaze, smiling shyly. "I had to make a couple of batches before I found an amount that works, though. It used up a lot of the roots we collected last time, though."

Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat, and she felt herself smiling in return.

The question, and the consequent answer, went without saying.

A pattern developed over the next few weeks.

At least once a week, sometimes twice, Rainbow Dash and Tank arrived at Fluttershy's house early in the morning, whenever the day was guaranteed to be clear. Fluttershy bid her animals goodbye and left Tank and Hummingway with instructions to watch over Angel, and the two pegasi went to the clearing to gather lunawort.

Even Fluttershy's residual reservations regarding Everfree, at least in regards to the part they traversed, melted away after awhile. A few of the small animals that lived in the forest became comfortable with approaching her. Only a few, two rabbits and a raccoon, came close enough to converse with her, but she was overjoyed to have even a few new friends.

They'd made a larger dent than Fluttershy liked on their second trip to the clearing in Everfree, and on the subsequent visits she only gathered just enough for a single batch of medicine to avoid harming the flower patch irreparably. This freed up Rainbow Dash to pursue her own interests: improving her swimming ability, practicing in the open air above the clearing, developing a few new tricks incorporating the use of the lake, and generally lazing about in the sun as summer set in. It was still unclear as to whether the Wonderbolts would actually be present at the upcoming Summer Sun celebration, but she needed to be ready just in case.

Whether occupied with something constructive or not, she found she was content just to be there with her old friend. Fluttershy was incredibly fun to be around; she wondered how she'd never realized it. The pale yellow pegasus was terribly reserved and she moved at a far slower pace than Rainbow Dash did, but at some point it had ceased to matter. They talked, more than ever, about their lives prior to Ponyville, their friends, and occasionally strayed into personal territory. Those gentle eyes allayed any fears Rainbow Dash had of losing face, and she found herself telling Fluttershy things she'd kept to herself for such a long time that it felt strange hearing the words spoken aloud. It was clear to those that knew her that she got stage fright when actually faced with the prospect of performing in front of massive crowds, but for once she actually admitted it openly, unloading her reservations and fear that one day she'd freeze up mid-stunt, possibly in front of the Wonderbolts themselves.

"It's scary being watched by everypony," Fluttershy told her, probably recalling her own stint as a celebrity. "I don't blame you for being nervous. It doesn't mean anything is wrong with you. But you're the best flier I've ever seen, Rainbow Dash. You're the fastest pony in both Ponyville and Cloudsdale, maybe all of Equestria." Fluttershy sounded perfectly sincere, instead of emptily complimenting her. "You shouldn't worry so much."

The irony of Fluttershy telling anypony not to worry was not lost on Rainbow Dash, but she appreciated the advice. She was surprised at how self-assured her friend sounded recently, but even more at how much Fluttershy's words comforted her.

It was almost too embarrassing to do so, but she eventually admitted that she missed Gilda rather badly, having been very close to her prior to parting when she came to live in Ponyville. Although Fluttershy's experience with the griffon wasn't exactly pleasant, she nodded understandingly.

"M-maybe one day you two can patch things up with each other... and she can come visit Ponyville again." Fluttershy's smile was shaky, yet appeared to be genuine as she spoke. "She's probably very nice when you get to know her."

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash watched her in awe. How anypony could forgive so readily eluded her.

"Fluttershy is kind."

From time to time the focus fell on Fluttershy herself, who took a little longer to become comfortable with opening up. Rainbow Dash wanted to know why she'd never spent much time developing her flight skills. She could fly well enough to travel to Cloudsdale (although she did need to stop and rest on the way), but her endurance, flexibility and speed were severely lacking in comparison to Rainbow Dash's, which was to be expected, but still.

Finally Fluttershy told her, her voice nearly inaudible. "I'm not good at flying. I never was, and the other ponies teased me so badly that I was afraid to try. And after I got my cutie mark, it didn't really matter so much. I knew my place was here."

Rainbow Dash bristled. "Those jerks. I knew I should've beaten 'em up when I had the chance."

"It's okay. I have my life down here, taking care of all my friends, so... "

"You still need to work on your skills, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash insisted. "You've got potential! Not as much as I do, but with a little practice you can be almost as good as I am." She thought about that for a second, then amended her statement. "Okay, you need a lot of practice, since I've been doing this for way longer than you have. But I can help you if you want."

Fluttershy considered this for a moment, then sighed in resignation. "Alright."

Rainbow Dash reached over and ran a hoof over her mane. "Don't worry, I won't push you TOO hard. You'll probably be sore for awhile, but it'll wear off. Eventually."

Fluttershy gulped.

When she wasn't talking to Fluttershy or sleeping on the bank, Rainbow Dash spent a good bit of time stretching her wings. The fresh air and unfamiliar clouds of Everfree made perfect training grounds, as the Everfree clouds were quite different from those manufactured by her hometown. They weren't as substantial, and when she perched on them it felt like she was seated on nothing. They were also harder to destroy, for some reason; simply dashing through the center of one or bucking it wasn't nearly as effective as it would've been on one of the ones she was used to dealing with. It took trapping one in the center of a miniature twister and choking the life from it to disperse the clump of condensation.

The lake below was even more intriguing. She found that she could create natural rainbows by propelling herself in a perfect circle at top speed in just above the surface with one of her hooves lightly touching it. The sunlight filtering through the resulting spray produced a rainbow haze that shimmered for a brief moment before fading. It wasn't as impressive as a rainboom, but the effect was certainly very pretty. Fluttershy seemed to like it.

They usually left before the sun slipped below the horizon, enjoying the symphony of crickets, frogs, and other creatures greeting the approaching night as they walked through Everfree, although on one occasion both pegasi drifted off to sleep after a delicious lunch provided by Fluttershy; the pale yellow pegasus lightly snoring with her legs folded beneath her, and Rainbow Dash flat on her back with her limbs splayed in all directions, occasionally kicking in her sleep. The latter awoke an hour or two later to Fluttershy gently but urgently nudging her with a hoof.

"Rainbow Dash!" The cyan pegasus rolled over, yawning.

"What?" she asked blearily, then realized that Celestia's sun had vanished. Luna's moon was in place, casting a silver glow over the clearing. A handful of lazy fireflies imitated the stars above. Neither she nor Fluttershy had the magical intuition of a unicorn, but it was very clear that something magical was taking place. Leaving her side, Fluttershy carefully approached the lunawort patch, pale coat illuminated by the moonlight. The fact that night had fallen over Everfree didn't seem to be bothering her, at least not yet, and the overall ethereal effect made Rainbow Dash wonder if she was still dreaming.

She rose to her hooves, aware of every blade of grass beneath them, every feather lining her wings; there were no cynical observations to be made as she found couldn't speak. Even if she could've, she had no idea what to say. She followed Fluttershy to the edge of the patch and stood at her side, looking out over the sea of blue reverently. It was apparent, now more than ever, why the flowers were named for the younger princess. The scene unfolding before them felt less like a natural occurence and more like a rite in her name.

One by one at first, and then all at once, the lunawort flowers began to unfurl their tightly closed petals, displaying deep golden stigmas and the lighter blue interior of the blossoms. Fluttershy inhaled; Rainbow Dash glanced over at her, surprised to see how close she seemed to be to tears. When Fluttershy tore her gaze away from the blooming lunawort and looked up at her, her eyes were gleaming, and a single tear coursed its way down her cheek. "I've never seen anything this beautiful," she whispered.

Rainbow Dash picked her brain for a response. It was very hard to do so; it was even harder to pay attention to anything besides Fluttershy standing before her, with the light breeze ruffling her mane. There appeared to be a lump in her throat, and swallowing did nothing to clear it. The flowers were beautiful, but unlike Fluttershy Dash couldn't say that they were the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Fluttershy looked at her expectantly, and finally Rainbow Dash gave up, echoing her sentiments. "Y-yeah. Beautiful."

It was very late before they reached the cottage. Neither pegasus had spoken since they left the clearing save for Rainbow Dash asking whether Tank could spend the night with Fluttershy. They were each lost in their own thoughts, and somehow unable to look each other in the eye. Upon reaching the bridge, Fluttershy turned to face Rainbow Dash. It was clear she wanted to say something, but whatever it was remained buried for the time being. "Good night," she said softly, refraining from her usual hug.

Rainbow Dash waited until she'd entered her house, and then turned on her hooves, trotting towards Ponyville. Her mind was absolutely blank. She wasn't sure where she was heading; she doubted anypony else was awake in town. As she walked, her hoofsteps grew faster and faster, until she broke into a canter, and then began to gallop. Her wings flared out of their own accord, and Rainbow Dash shot into the sky. Her jetstream trailed behind her as she gained more and more altitude. The glowing eye of the moon gazed down at her, drawing her in; she sped towards it in an impossibly straight line.

A familiar sensation spread throughout her body. The air closed in around her, a thick, inpenetrable wall against her hooves. Her speed began to decrease as the air sought to deny her passage. Her heart, which had faltered innummerable times when meeting this resistance, sped alongside her, driving the cyan pegasus forward.

She recalled the sweet smell of flowers, soft, scratchy grass against her hooves, and a pale yellow pegasus with a pink mane standing in the moonlight, looking at her with lovely cerulean eyes.

Rainbow Dash didn't realize what was happening until the pressure melted away; she heard a loud RIP as she burst through the sound barrier, breaking into a sonic rainboom that sent waves of rainbow colored moonlight rippling throughout the night sky.

She spiralled into a barrel roll and gradually slowed to a halt, wings flapping intermittently, just enough to keep her airborne. All around her, stars twinkled, several tearing themselves from the velvet cloak spread above Equestria and trailing thin streams of light behind them as they descended.

Her coat was slick with perspiration, her mane was damp... and she felt amazing.

Rainbow Dash, for all her bursts of frustration and hatred of immobility, was usually pretty content. She doubted any of the residents of Ponyville weren't happy most of the time. However, there was a noticeable difference between simple complacency and what she felt now. Even when she wasn't at Everfree, she felt ecstatic; it gave her such a kick of energy that her performance rate with weather duty and her training sessions almost doubled. She bucked clouds into nonexistence and pounded rainclouds with her hooves and shot through the sky above Ponyville, occasionally inadvertently breaking into a rainboom, usually on the way home from a visit to Everfree.

Maybe it was the beautiful weather, or whatever magical energy that sustained the lunawort seeping into her, or Fluttershy's cooking or a million other reasons why she felt the way she did all the time. Maybe there wasn't any reason at all.

She was simply content to bask in how wonderful it felt to be alive.

Heartbeat, Part One

Every morning, Pinkie Pie greeted the day with a smile. This day was no different.

Brilliant blue eyes fluttered open, briefly squeezing shut as she yawned, while pink hooves pushed aside her quilt and a pile of super fluffy pillows.

"Morning, Gummy!" Pinkie greeted the alligator stretched out at the foot of her bed. Gummy craned his head at an unnatural angle; Pinkie could see herself reflected in his large purple eyes as she swept him up for a great big gator hug. "Oh Gummy, today is going to be great! Well, every day is great, but today will be double great! First I need to cover the counter for Mrs. Cake since she's feeling under the weather...wait a minute, can you be over the weather?"

She leapt out of bed with a literal spring in her step, bouncing across her bedroom to the open window and sweeping the shutters open to poke her head out.

"Good morning Ponyville!" she cried at the slowly thickening crowd of ponies also beginning their day below. Her outburst received a couple of smiles and waves in return; seeing them further brightened Pinkie Pie's already bright day.

As she cavorted through her bedroom like a hyperactive filly half her age, preparing for the day, Pinkie couldn't help but notice how colorful the world around her was. Despite the essentially colorless world of her origin, Pinkie Pie saw the world not in simple primary colors, but an entire spectrum: pale golden balloons, silver and cerulean confetti, deep lavender alligator eyes, her own carnation-hued mane that poofed out in all directions. Or maybe it was bubblegum. Or tea roses, like the ones Fluttershy grew in her garden. Perhaps it was a color the world didn't have a name for yet, and it was all up to her to come up with one.

Dropping the load of streamers and party supplies she was carrying, Pinkie Pie flopped over on her back, kicked her legs in the air and embraced the element she represented, wrapping her forelegs around her midsection and laughing at how wonderful it felt to be surrounded by vivid colors and wonderful friends.

"You seem more excited than usual, dear," Mrs. Cake remarked. She sat off to the side of the storefront, firmly installed in a comfortable armchair Pinkie and Mr. Cake had picked up at Quills and Sofas. While she was only a few months into her pregnancy, Mrs. Cake was already beginning to feel the effects of having not one, but two foals developing in her already relatively plump tummy, and occasionally Pinkie Pie covered for her while Mrs. Cake rested and observed. Adhering to the other symptoms of her condition, Mrs. Cake also occasionally proceeded to make a light snack of the freshly baked goods being laid out for sale.

"I am!" Pinkie giggled, as she put the finishing touches on a fresh batch of strawberry banana cupcakes. Her frosting job wasn't as impeccable as her incapacitated employer's, but Pinkie's skills still far outshone those of other ponies. "Taste test!"

She tossed one cupcake into the air and nabbed it as it fell, swallowing the baked good in a single gulp. "Those are delicious!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, licking her lips. She held one out to Mrs. Cake, who held up a hoof in protest. She started to chide Pinkie for once again eating what they needed to be selling, but her growling stomach halted her in her tracks.

"Well...I guess one won't hurt," Cup said sheepishly, accepting the cupcake and inhaling it almost as quickly as Pinkie had inhaled hers. Pinkie only smiled as she reached for another immediately.

"Today my favoritest friend out of all my favorite friends is coming over, and we're going to spend the whole day talking and laughing and eating yummy snacks and it's gonna be so much fun!" Pinkie bounced in place with every word, somehow managing to not send the cupcakes flying in all directions. Noting the accident waiting to happen, Mrs. Cake reached over and gently took the tray from Pinkie, setting it on the countertop out of harm's way.

"That certainly sounds like fun," she said with a knowing smile. Her right hoof drifted close to the baked goods, hesitantly. Pinkie noticed her discomfort, and nodded in affirmation; she grinned as her employer's eyes lit up.

"I'm sorry, Pinkie," Cup sounded embarrassed as she helped herself to the remaining cupcakes. "These two have quite the sweet tooth, it seems."

"Aw, that's okay, Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie chirped. "I can always make more."

Mrs. Cake's eyes widened at the implication.

Shortly afterwards the first few customers of the day arrived, and the bakery steadily filled up over the next few hours while Pinkie Pie darted back and forth between the kitchen to retrieve Mr. Cake's handiwork and the counter. Mrs. Cake watched her with admiration, amidst humbly accepting congratulations for her impending arrivals. At times Pinkie was nothing more than a pink blur, and yet she still managed to provide service with her characteristically bright smile. At one point Pinkie found a few minutes to catch her breath, and Mrs. Cake, struggling to rise to her hooves, waved her over.

"Are you sure you don't need to take a break, dear?" She asked; Pinkie shook her head vigorously.

"Don't you worry your little head, Mrs. Cake! I've got everything covered."

"But aren't you getting tired?" Cup gave up and settled back into her chair with a sigh.

"Oh, of course not! I never get tired when I'm helping bring a smile to somepony's face!" True to her word, Pinkie never faltered for the next couple of hours, long after Mrs. Cake retired for a nap (after polishing off a few more pastries). As the lunchtime rush died down, Mr. Cake left the kitchen to relieve her, hanging his baker's cap on a peg on the wall.

"We really appreciate this, Pinkie," Carrot's voice shook with gratitude and exhaustion; between turning out an entire day's worth of baked goods and simultaneously fretting over his wife he looked as if he were ready for a nap himself. "Do you mind picking up a morning shift later this week? Cup's tiring out more easily these days."

"No problem, Mr. C!" Pinkie saluted. She literally danced in place, hugging herself with her forelegs. "Oh, I can't wait to hear the pitter patter of itsy bitsy hooves running around. Have you thought of any names yet?"

"Well..." Mr. Cake scratched his head. "Preferably something that goes well with 'Cake', of course."

"Ooh! Like Strawberry? Oh no, wait. Chocolate Cake? Coconut Cream Cake? Vanilla Bean Cake?" Mr. Cake watched (with a fondness that his wife admitted to aloud more readily, but he felt it all the same) his wayward employee wander off, still rattling off suggestions to herself.

Pinkie's next task was to prepare for the arrival of Rainbow Dash; she threw herself into the job so energetically that anyone simply watching her would have grown tired. Pinkie couldn't help it. She was so excited that her legs felt like springs, of a springier than usual quality. It was a joy that went beyond her normal demeanor, one that only the possibility of spending time with Rainbow Dash ignited in her.

She paused for a brief moment, standing in the middle of her room and looking up at the colorful balloons and streamers hanging above her head. She wasn't decorating for an actual party, but she treated these get-togethers like a party anyway, one for two. Dash never complained, laying into the snacks Pinkie provided enthusiastically and treating the decorations like they were the norm. Pinkie closed her eyes, standing perfectly still, and listened to her heartbeat. At times like this it deviated from its ordinary rhythm, thrumming in her little pink chest so swiftly that she imagined her heart was dancing.

"Gummy! Gummy!" Pinkie whispered loudly; the alligator in question opened one purple eye lazily in response. "I feel like my heart is dancing."

She decided to take Gummy's blank stare as encouragement.

After close to an hour of preparation, Pinkie Pie stood back and gazed upon her handiwork proudly. Her newly cleaned and decorated room gleamed, two batches of chocolate cupcakes topped with rainbow sprinkles sat waiting to be devoured, and her recently acquired box of prank material sat on a rug, filled to the brim with opportunity.

"All done!" Pinkie chirped, patting herself on the back. "And just in time. Rainbow Dash should be here any minute!" She settled down next to the box, watching the window for signs of her friend's arrival. Using the front door was not Rainbow Dash's style.

True to form, several minutes later Rainbow Dash darted in through the open window, alighting on Pinkie's bedroom floor. "Hey there, Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie's usual greeting was a full body hug that generally sent both ponies tumbling, and today was no exception. Rainbow Dash visibly braced herself for impact, but that didn't prevent her from being thrown to the floor as Pinkie slammed into her with a squeal of glee.

"Rainbow Dash!" She exclaimed, wrapping her forelegs around her friend's neck and embracing her tightly. Pinkie's heartbeat had once again risen to fever pitch in her little pink chest; the vibrant mane pressed against her face smelled only lightly of perspiration, and the body lying limp beneath hers was ever so warm. Rainbow Dash didn't return the hug, but she allowed Pinkie to slightly restrict her air supply for a good minute before gently pushing Pinkie away, although she was smiling as she did so.

"I take it you're glad to see me," She joked, rising from the bedroom floor and brushing herself off.

"Yes!" Pinkie bounced in a circle around the pegasus, chattering the entire time. "Oh Dashie, today's going to be so much fun! I made cupcakes and punchy punch and I made my room all super sparkly..."

Rainbow Dash looked up at the ceiling, noticing the abundance of streamers and balloons. She raised a cautious eyebrow. "Is all of this just for this afternoon?"

Pinkie stopped bouncing for a brief moment. "Of course! Even if it's a two pony party it's still a party! Although every day is a party when your bestest best friends are with you!" Her tone shifted to a less cheerful one, and she looked away before continuing. She felt a bit guilty for bringing up the glaring alteration in their schedule of spending time with each other, but the feelings refused to remain bottled up any longer. "Especially since you've been so busy lately. Me and Gummy have had to undertake the sweet pranking of Ponyville as a duo, instead of a trio. Or a duo and a half since he can't really do much besides providing moral support."

Rainbow Dash sighed, staring at the floor. "Yeah...sorry about that. I've been working on something."

Pinkie's ears detected the uncertainty in her voice. The manner in which Rainbow Dash said the word 'something' was suspicious, and it smacked of secrets. She took a step closer, grinning knowingly. "What kind of something? Is it another secret something you're gonna call a nothing?"

Rainbow Dash was clearly taken aback, and her mouth hung open for a second or two before she managed to recover. "Um...sorta?" she said with a nervous chuckle. In a obvious attempt to change the subject, she pushed past Pinkie Pie, eying the chocolate cupcakes. "Hey! Cupcakes! I haven't eaten all day, so..."

The moment wasn't lost on Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was terrible at hiding things, and this was no exception, but in the spirit of indulging in her wonderful day Pinkie decided to let it rest momentarily. There was still plenty of time to figure out what the 'something' bothering Rainbow Dash could be. "Well then eat up, because there's more where that came from!" she giggled. Dash needed no further invitation, proceeding to lay into the treats with an enthusiasm that rivaled Pinkie Pie's.

Time flies when you're having fun, and Pinkie was having a blast. The afternoon marched forward in a blur, as did her time with Rainbow Dash. After finishing off the cupcakes and punch, the pair dug through the box of prank material, discussing various uses for the newer items and potential targets; this gave way to a couple of hours of simply gossiping, with Rainbow Dash sprawled on the rug beside Pinkie's bed and Pinkie perched atop it, gazing down at her with a loving expression that Rainbow Dash likely failed to notice. As the afternoon sun streamed through her open window, bathing the room in its light and warming the two lounging ponies, Pinkie began to feel lightheaded. Not sick lightheaded; she knew what that felt like from the cold she'd slogged through a few months back. This was something different, something lovely. Her forehooves tingled in the most distracting manner. It wasn't her Pinkie Sense, as far as she could tell. She had to catch herself, at one point, as she realized just how close she was to reaching down and running a hoof over Rainbow Dash's mane.

As Pinkie struggled to keep her hooves to herself, Rainbow Dash was venting her concerns involving the upcoming festival later that summer. "So I've got less than two months to come up with some new moves and perfect my routine. They've already seen a rainboom, although another one can't hurt. But this time I need to really wow them." She punctuated the statement by pounding a determined hoof against the floor. "Especially after the worst night ever."

"Or the best night ever," Pinkie piped up. She agreed with the statement for the most part, but it really hadn't ended too badly. "Maybe the best worst night ever?"

Rainbow Dash considered this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Let's go with that. At least I've been getting plenty of exercise out in the f...the farm."

"The farm?" Pinkie's brow furrowed for a moment; had Rainbow Dash meant to say something else? "Oh, have you been working those calves by kicking trees with Applejack?"

"Y-yeah. Something like that." There it was again, that uncertainty. Not to mention, Dash's behavior was suspicious as well. Every time she caught herself, she unconsciously ran a hoof through her mane, scratching her head nervously. It was a subtle quirk, but noticing things about other ponies was a skill that made Pinkie so good at making others happy.

"Dashie?"

At one point, Rainbow Dash would've flinched at the decidedly uncool nickname; now she merely looked up at Pinkie questioningly. Pinkie Pie took a deep breath, mentally prepping herself for what might be a serious conversation. "Are you okay?"

Rainbow Dash kept her eyes trained on the floor, responding with a quick (and completely insincere), "I'm fine."

"Are you really okay?" Pinkie insisted, pushing herself closer to the edge of her bed so she could get a better look at the pegasus lying below her. "Really really?"

"Um..." Rainbow Dash was scratching at her mane again. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worried about the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Are you sure?" Pinkie was leaning so far off the bed now that she knew she was in danger of falling off of it and landing right on top of Rainbow Dash, but she wasn't entirely opposed to that outcome. Dash, however, had reached her limit, and when she looked up at Pinkie her lovely pink eyes were narrowed.

"Pinkie, stop asking me if I'm fine. I said I'm fine and I mean it," She snapped. "Don't worry about it."

Pinkie recoiled, hurt. She scooted further away so Rainbow Dash couldn't see her expression. After a good minute or so she felt a hoof on her shoulder, and glanced up into those same eyes; instead of angry, they merely looked guilty.

"Sorry, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said; she both graciously accepted and returned, in a halting manner, the hug that Pinkie seized her in in response to the apology. "I've been letting all the stress get to me. I didn't mean to yell at you. I know you're just trying to be a good friend."

Pinkie held on tight; her Pinkie Sense was throwing all kinds of signals she didn't even recognize, her heart racing a mile a minute, probably faster than Rainbow Dash when she sent waves of rainbow colored light rippling through the sky. When she finally broke the hug, she could still feel the skin beneath her luminous coat tingling. "It's okay," she heard herself saying, in a whisper. She examined her hooves ruefully. Even she could tell that Rainbow Dash wasn't being completely honest, but for once she felt it would be best not to push the issue any further. Besides, she didn't trust herself to keep talking. Her mouth wanted to say things that she wasn't sure she should say.

The tension broken, the pair fell into a comfortable silence, lost in their own thoughts for the moment. Pinkie's mind was fixated on the observation she'd made earlier, and she finally voiced it, in an offhanded, irreverent manner. "Hey Rainbow Dash? Do you ever feel like your heart is dancing? Like there's an entire party going on in your chest?"

"Pinkie, you're being random again."

"No, really!" Pinkie sat up and leapt onto the floor, grabbing one of Dash's hooves and holding it against her chest. "See?"

Rainbow Dash just looked confused. "Um..."

"Normally my heartbeat sounds like 'thump thump, thump thump'," Pinkie tried to explain, "But then sometimes it goes crazy and it's all 'thump thump thump thump thump' like a party that lasts all night. Like one of those parties."

Dash chuckled at that. "You mean a good one?"

Pinkie nodded vigorously, releasing her friend's hoof and flopping over on her back with her own hooves pressed against her chest. "The best kind of party."

"Hm..." Rainbow Dash seemed to be taking the question seriously, staring up at the ceiling while she stroked her chin. "Oh, I've got it! Have I ever told you what it feels like when I do a rainboom?"

Pinkie bolted upright. "I'm all ears!"

"Well...it's like this." Rainbow Dash trotted over to the window, gazing out at the late afternoon sky. "It's hard to explain if you're not a pegasus, but when I'm in the air, with the sun warming my wings and the clouds at my heels, it feels like...like I'm alive. Like I can hear every heartbeat, the wind whistling in my ears..."

Pinkie Pie leaned closer, enthralled. She was not used to Rainbow Dash waxing poetic, as Rarity could. Her wings had flared out of their own accord, waving softly. The sunlight illuminated her form, highlighting the spectrum of colors composing her mane and tail. Of all the words she could think of to describe the image, the most accurate was beautiful. That wasn't all, of course, but in that moment she could think of nothing else.

"And then when I'm launching into a rainboom," Dash continued, completely unaware of the internal battle keeping her friend standing stock still, "It all gets louder and louder, and my heart's beating so fast it's like it's trying to punch a hole in my chest. I can feel the sky closing in around me, the air trying to keep me out, and just as I can't take it anymore..."

Pinkie closed her eyes, envisioning the sight: waves of color rippling across the sky, in the wake of a toned blue body being held aloft with powerful wings. Her little legs trembled, and she quickly sat on haunches, no longer trusting them to keep her standing.

"Rainboom," She whispered, her eyes wide and her own heartbeat out of control once more. Rainbow Dash glanced back at her, her wild mane sweeping to the side and her face alight.

"Yep," Dash said with a wink, and Pinkie melted like a chocolate chip, sighing inwardly. She rolled over on her side, giggling madly.

Of all the forms of happiness she'd encountered in her life, being in love was most certainly one of the best.