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“Didja see that one Fluttershy? What’d ya think, am I awesome or what?”
Fluttershy clapped politely as Rainbow Dash landed her aerial triple backflip with perfect grace, speed and form. She puffed her chest out in anticipation of her friend’s praise.
“Oh, yes Dashie, it was lovely.” She replied, in that quiet, calm monotone of hers, sipping delicately from her teacup.
Dash deflated.
“’Lovely’? Fluttershy, you’ve been saying that to every trick I’ve shown you! Isn’t there something I can improve? Or like, what was so ‘lovely’ about it? Gimme specifics!”
“Um, I liked...” her soft-spoken friend ran a hoof over her chin, forehead furrowed in thought. Rainbow’s ears perked up again, hopeful for a more constructive response.
“...The part where you were in the air?”
“Ughhh!”
It had been like this for the past hour. Fluttershy’s face remained placid, her compliments unspecific no matter what awesome stunt Dash showed her. The primrose yellow pony wasn’t her first choice of audience. If Applejack had been available, she would have asked her. Her honesty and athleticism were much needed right now, after hearing nothing but “Lovely!” and “Nice!” fifty times in a row from Fluttershy.
“I’m sorry Dashie, I just don’t know what to say about flying. I don’t really know anything about it.”
“How? You’re a Pegasus! Okay, okay, just – watch this one, okay? This next one will totally knock your horseshoes off!”
Rainbow Dash stretched her wings, looking up at the sky before shooting off in a perfectly choreographed routine. She couldn’t help but grin as she busted through the clouds, the buzz of the wind in her ears, her mane and tail pulled straight by her speed. This sequence was muscle memory to her. It was her audition to the Wonderbolts academy, and she didn’t really need to practice it. But at this point, she was just desperate to get any reaction, and even Fluttershy had to be impressed by something like this.
From the ground below, she heard a gasp. Esctatic, she spared a glance downwards, hoping to see a pair of glassy teal eyes looking up at her in unblinking wonder. Not so. Fluttershy was crouching, gaze fixed on the grass.
“Oh, come on!”
In her distraction, Rainbow Dash failed to notice the tree right in front of her, the thick branches stopping her flight abruptly and painfully, sharp twigs piercing her chest and face.
“Oh no, Rainbow Dash, are you okay?” Fluttershy said, voice laden with concern as she hastily hovered over behind her.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. At least now she was getting some attention.
Fluttershy gently lifted her out of the branches, holding her close against her chest. The feeling of being carried with such ease took her by surprise. Dash sometimes forgot that Fluttershy was actually quite strong for such a graceful pony. Her shock overtook her indignance, and she stayed still, allowing herself to be held all the way back to the cottage where she was laid down on the avocado green couch.
She sat up, crossing her arms over her chest before wincing at the pain of the cuts being touched.
“Hey, I could have gotten myself out of there, yknow?” Rainbow Dash pouted.
“I know, but I think you bruised your left wing, you might want to rest it.”
Dash flexed her wing, inspecting it - Fluttershy was right. She hadn’t even noticed, being so focused on her bleeding chest and head. Of course, it wasn’t like a bruised wing would have really affected anypony’s flying, least of all The Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, you poor thing.” Fluttershy cooed, the tip of her wing brushing next to where the twigs had cut Rainbow.
“Wait there – I’ll fix you right up.” And she trotted into the next room.
Dash groaned. Fluttershy had a tendency to be overly attentive, her nurturing attitude with animals carrying over to her fellow ponies as well. It had been that way since fillyhood, with every one of Rainbow’s namesake crashes being followed by a concerned Fluttershy all over her. Well, maybe she hadn’t minded it so much when she was younger – in fact, she’d kind of liked the attention, having someone who cared so much. They were close back then, they protected eachother. More than that, they needed eachother. Rainbow Dash, a bold and scruffy runt of a filly, always at the defense of Fluttershy, lanky and awkward, with weak wings.
“I don’t need your nursing.” She grumbled, but lay back down regardless, as Fluttershy turned the corner, carrying her first aid box in her mouth. “Plus, I’m mad at you – you weren’t even watching when I showed you my sick routine! You were way more excited by the stupid dirt!”
“Hm, I’m sorry Rainbow Dash.” Her friend said dreamily, as she dabbed a cotton ball with a mint green ointment. “I saw a very rare species of ladybug, and we struck up a conversation. Now hold still, this might sting a little.”
Rainbow winced as Fluttershy cleaned her grazed forehead. The ointment did indeed sting.
“Hey, what is that green stuff anyway?”
“Zecora makes it. It’s to sterilise the cut.”
She moved down to her chest, dabbing gently. Though the ointment stung, Fluttershy’s mouth never pressed too hard, and her closeness was something of a comfort to Rainbow Dash. Her mane was close enough for her to smell it, and the scent was nostalgic. Sweet honeysuckle, exactly like when they were fillies. She must have used the same shampoo she did then. The sting of the ointment had faded into a dull tingle. A feeling that was almost pleasurable, and her heart began to pound a little in her chest, her cheeks warming up as she watched her friend tend to her cuts. Weird side effect.
“Alright, now just a bandaid...”
Fluttershy rummaged around until she found a blue one, then stuck it on her chest, pressing it down with her nose. Her breath was warm, tickling the soft feathers on Rainbow’s chest as she smoothed the bandage. Maybe it was just because she wasn’t used to being touched there but Dash’s mouth went a little dry at the feeling. She couldn’t deny that there was something nice about it, something that ran deeper than childhood nostalgia, though she couldn’t quite place what.
Fluttershy planted a kiss over the bandaid. Immediately, Rainbow Dash’s stomach dropped.
“Mwah! All better – oh!” Fluttershy’s eyes widened, her entire face flushing as she met Dash’s gaze in recognition of what she’d done. “I’m so sorry, it’s a force of habit! I do that when Angel Bunny gets hurt...Oh my, I’m so embarrassed.”
If Fluttershy was blushing, then Rainbow Dash was burning. Her friend stepped back a little and immediately, Dash felt the loss of Fluttershy’s closeness, of her warmth. Her wing brushed the bandaid, looking at the lipstick print she’d left – bubblegum pink and shiny, matching her mane perfectly. She’d never noticed that Fluttershy wore lipstick before. Normally, Rainbow would hate something sticky like that near her coat, especially on the soft feathers of her chest. So why did it make her feel...tingly. In a good way. Like the ointment had been put over her whole body.
“No, it’s okay...I kinda liked it, actually.” Her face was searing, she knew she must’ve been bright red. Her heart pounded relentlessly in her chest. She swallowed as she continued, “Can you...Kiss the one on my head better too?”
Her eyes darted away, hoping Fluttershy wouldn’t find it weird. She knew that her friend was the least likely of anyone she knew to judge her like that, so why would she harbour such an irrational fear? And why did she even want her head to be kissed in the first place? The whole situation was beyond humiliating.
“Um, yes, of course.”
Fluttershy was still a little pink, but she smiled, relieved as she placed the bandaid on Dash’s brow. She smoothed it with her nose, like before, and then, with soft lips, she kissed her. Whoa. It felt slower than before, now that Rainbow knew what was going to happen. The kiss pressed a little harder too, or was it her imagination? Her throat felt full of something, and her heart sped up again. By now, it had to be going at a near dangerous speed. What in the world was going on with her today?
“Uhhh, thanks, bye!”
And with that, Rainbow Dash sped out of Fluttershy’s cottage, not even bothering to close the door behind her on her way out. She didn’t stop until she was home, in bed. A nap. That was what she needed. She was clearly sleep deprived or something. Dash lay flat on her back, staring at her cloud ceiling. It was like she was too awake even to blink. Her eyes drifted down to the kiss print on her chest, right over the unrelenting thumping of her heart. Rainbow very delicately touched beside the bandage. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to smear the lipstick print left by Fluttershy. It was...pretty. When the light hit it, it glittered like dew in the early morning. How had she never noticed that Fluttershy’s lips glittered like that? It seemed so striking, so enchanting even just smeared on this stupid bandaid. On her real lips, well, it must be nothing short of dazzling if she’d even bothered to look.
Rainbow Dash didn’t even know why she cared. She hated pretty things. Rarity was always trying to get her to dress up more, to style her mane. Most days, Dash wouldn’t even bother to brush the knots out, and a dress? Forget about it. This froufrou lipstick was one of those pretty things that she’d never in a million years put on herself, so she didn’t know why she was so fascinated by it.
But, well, Fluttershy was pretty. Fluttershy was beautiful, she always had been, and Rainbow loved her. Her comforting presence and her kindness and the way she always laughed at Rainbow Dash’s jokes, even the stupid ones. The way she saw things that others didn’t. Little things, like whatever dumb ladybug had captured her attention today. Dash even loved Fluttershy’s pretty things, her teacups and her flower garden and the way her mane smelled like freshly picked honeysuckle. Everyone always said that she was a beautiful pony, and Rainbow had passively agreed, without ever paying much mind to such things. Suddenly, she didn’t think beautiful was high enough praise. Fluttershy was awesome, totally stunning. Her coat shone the most perfect pastel yellow, her wings so gentle, and they always fluffed up to give the softest hugs. As for her mane and tail? Easily the best in Equestria, no contest. Long and lustrous and bubblegum pink, they were at least ten times that of anypony elses, ever. And then of course, there was her lips...
Her wing touched the bandaid on her head, where she knew the second kiss print was. As she did, she grazed another cut.
Wait, another cut? Fluttershy hadn’t put a bandaid on this one! That just wouldn’t do. What, was she supposed to just walk around with an open wound, exposed to the elements? That was completely unsanitary – anything could get in! Dirt, bugs, diseases, any number of horrible, potentially dangerous foreign objects. It could get infected. Rainbow Dash was left with no other choice. She’d have to visit Fluttershy’s cottage tomorrow to fix it!
And if Fluttershy wanted to kiss her better again...well, that was just part of the healing process.