The Rainbow's Surprise Chap 3

Chapter 3



The only sound that could be heard in Fluttershy's house was the very faint, very soft sound of sobs. Even the animals had grown quiet, as if in understanding of Fluttershy's plight. The only animal that hadn't kept quiet was Angel, who had tried several things to cheer her up, but nothing did the trick.

She just lay curled up on her bed, hiding under the covers. She was sure she'd cried enough tears to fill a bucket and now her eyes just felt tired and dry. She just wanted to stay curled up in her bed and be forgotten. She felt so insignificant.

"Rainbow Dash…" She murmured quietly under her covers, sniffing as memories began to pour into her mind. Memories that made her think back to perhaps, there was some warning, some moment that showed that Rainbow was tired of their relationship…

The rain was coming down gently around them as they watched through the window of Fluttershy's cottage. Rainbow let out a soft sigh, perking Fluttershy's curiosity.

"What's the matter? Are you bored?" She asked curiously, never actually quite sure what was going through Rainbow's mind.

"A little." Rainbow stretched, before trotting over to Fluttershy's bed and leaning against it, "How do you stand being cooped up all the time?"

"Oh… I… I just like solitude sometimes." Fluttershy looked down, listening to the soft patter of the rain, "I like having other ponies around, and I always enjoy being with you Dash… it's just…" she turned slowly to look back out the window, "I used to not know myself but… I think it has to do with when I just a filly. Being quiet and by myself… it meant that I was being good, that I wasn't upsetting my father and that I wouldn't get hurt."

Rainbow Dash went quiet for a moment before walking back over and nuzzling up against Fluttershy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up." Rainbow apologized quickly.

"It's okay; you know I accept what happened." Fluttershy nuzzled back, smiling softly.

"Still doesn't make it right." Dash said sighing softly, "And I don't want to sound disrespectful to what happened, but it's hard for me sometimes. I love flying, being in the free open air." Dash moved away, stretching her wings, "You like being cooped up and I like flying free…"

"I'm sorry… I love watching you fly, you know that." Fluttershy rubbed her leg awkwardly.

"Yeah, I know… and you know I like making you happy…" Dash sighed softly, turning to smile, "Sorry, maybe I'm just feeling a bit pent up."

"Oh… well…" Fluttershy smiled blushing, "We can fix that… you know…" she almost didn't say it out loud, though around Dash she certainly felt bolder. And it took Dash a moment for the idea to ring through her head, before a grin formed on her face, her wings extending up.

"Yeah… yeah we can fix that." She said closing in on Fluttershy and kissing her deeply.

Fluttershy quickly shook her head, trying to stop the memory from playing anymore. She didn't want to think about being happy with Dash right now. The memories stung like needles jabbing into her. But they didn't want to stop.

"Hey Dash… I-I've been thinking lately…" Fluttershy said putting down the food she had been eating.

"Hm? What's up Shy?" Rainbow said her mouth half full of the sandwich Fluttershy had prepared them for lunch.

"Well… it's just that… well, you know everything about my foalhood… but I still barely know anything about yours." Rainbow stopped munching half way through her sandwich, "And just after everything that has happened… I-I was just curious…"

Rainbow grew quiet for a moment, before flipping the sandwich into the air and devouring the whole thing, swallowing it quickly.

"Well… there's not much to say. I was kind of a grumpy filly who just liked having fun and didn't like being tied down by rules." Rainbow shrugged, "I'm not even sure what made me feel compelled to stick around you so much. Seeing you get picked on by bullies just didn't seem right so I wanted to help you…" Rainbow stopped in thought thinking about that before looking down at her plate, "Though… I suppose those bullies were the least of your problems back then, huh…"

"You're making this about me again." Fluttershy said moving a hoof across the table to place it on top of Rainbow's who looked up at Fluttershy with a bit of surprise, "How come you were so willing to leave Cloudsdale Dash? You left behind everything… why?"

Rainbow hesitated once more. She seemed reluctant to say anything about it.

"Honestly, I don't remember too much about my foalhood. Once I came to Ponyville I put most of it behind me. I wasn't happy in school because they always wanted to control HOW I flew and I just wanted to fly however I pleased. Home was okay, but it wasn't exceptional either. It eventually got to me and I took my frustrations out on you in the end and left." Rainbow looked away, "And then you came to Ponyville to find me. I honestly wasn't expecting to see you ever again after I'd left." Rainbow let out a soft chuckle at this, "And here we are, marefriends all these years later… I have to admit Fluttershy… if you hadn't come back for me… I might not be as loyal as I am today. You inspired me to be this way."

"Oh Rainbow Dash…" Fluttershy sniffed quietly, wiping her face. Everything she said hadn't been a lie, right? She had been important to her. What had she done to change that? Was it the Wonderbolts? But she'd always supported that dream…

She felt a gentle nudge from outside the covers, like a small paw prodding her. She carefully wriggled to the edge of the covers and winced as stronger light opened up under the blanket. She could then see Angel, holding up a plate with a daisy sandwich on it for her. She smiled softly, thankful for her small friend's sympathy.

"Thank you Angel… but I'm not hungry right now…" She said softly to him, though Angel just seemed to give a small disapproving smile. He just placed the plate on the night stand and hopped off to who knows where. She never really knew what kind of mischief he got into on his own.

She just let out another soft sigh as she returned to the comfort underneath her blankets. It was true, she wasn't hungry, maybe a little thirsty but she just didn't have the energy to get up. She was just hoping no one needed her services today. Not only was she not up for it, she worried that she wouldn't be able to take care of what they needed properly.

Her ears flattened as she felt a soft groan escape her throat at the familiar hard knocking on her front door down below. She curled up tighter into a ball, just asking for the knocking to go away and leave her alone. However they only seemed to become more insistent, getting louder and faster with each set. Fluttershy thought she could hear a muffled voice from outside calling out to her, but she didn't try to listen for who it was. She put her hooves over her head and waited for the noises to die down.

It seemed to take forever but the knocking finally died down. She waited a minute or two before letting out a sigh of relief, whoever it was had thankfully given up and gone elsewhere.

Suddenly she heard the frames of her windows open followed by four hooves landing in her bedroom.

"Hey Fluttershy, you under there?"

'Oh no…' The words raced through Fluttershy's mind, it was the last pony she wanted to see right now. The ball under the covers gave a noticeable twinge in reaction to Rainbow's words.

"Ah-hah, so you are under there. How come you didn't answer the door?" Rainbow asked curiously.

The only response Fluttershy could give was a rather strong "Hmph" before turning her body to face away from Dash.

"Uhhh… kay… hey listen, I need to talk to you. It's kind of important too." Rainbow said as if trying to word herself carefully.

'Oh I'm sure you do.' Fluttershy thought feeling another twinge of pain in her chest. She shifted under the covers, keeping herself wrapped up in them. She sat up on her bed, bundled up tight and moving the covers just enough so that she could see Dash. It seemed she was still wearing that saddlebag from earlier. She also seemed… groomed?

That was strange… Rainbow's mane was brushed neatly. It had also been styled to flow longer and sleeker. The bangs on her head were neatly folded over with a pink-flower hair clip. She was also wearing the scarf she had made her and… was that makeup? It was barely noticeable but it seemed to add to her feminine features. The normally tomboyish Rainbow Dash looked… girly.

"…Huh?" Was the first word to come out of Fluttershy's lips as she blinked back her confusion, "What happened to you?"

"Uhhh…" Rainbow looked down at herself as a blush crawled onto her face and looked away, "I-It looks terrible right? Ugh, I knew it was a bad idea to let Rarity give me a makeover." Rainbow looked physically unnerved, as if this stark change in her appearance was uncomfortable.

"N-No… it looks… fine…" she said flatly. She didn't want to admit she was hiding a blush under the covers now. She'd never seen Rainbow so neatly done up and it was genuinely attractive. But she was trying to hold on to her resentment from earlier, not wanting her body to defy her mind. "What do you want to talk about?" she closed her eyes trying not to be distracted by Rainbow's beauty.

"Well, first I gotta talk with you about why I've been avoiding you this last week and what you saw today." Rainbow let out a sigh, "Yes, Rarity told me everything you saw and how you reacted. But I assure you, just as I told her, I have a GOOD reason for everything. You have to believe me."

Fluttershy looked back at the rainbow pegasus her heart held such affection for. Rainbow had mentioned that Rarity gave her a make-over and it showed. If Rarity had forgiven Rainbow Dash for what they'd seen then… did that mean she really did have a good reason for everything she did?

"…Okay… I'm listening." Fluttershy said quietly, still not leaving the safety of her covers.

"…Ugh… I don't want to do it here Fluttershy. I want to go somewhere special for this conversation, just the two of us." Rainbow explained, getting closer to the covers, Fluttershy felt herself back up instinctually a little at Rainbow getting closer.

"Is it… is it absolutely necessary? We can't just… talk about it here?" Fluttershy whimpered softly, fairly certain she was a mess.

"It is. Please Fluttershy, I need you to come with me." Rainbow smiled. Fluttershy couldn't say no to that face.

"…F-Fine… just... let me freshen up first." Fluttershy said slowly moving off of the bed still covered in blankets. Rainbow watched this with strange curiosity as Fluttershy slowly wriggled into the bathroom in some kind of bed slug. It was one of the oddest sights Rainbow had seen.

Once in the bathroom Fluttershy unwrapped herself from the covers and looked in the mirror.

Her mane was everywhere, an unkempt ragged mess she could barely call hair anymore. Her faced was covered with tear stains and her eyes were still blood shot from all the crying she'd done.

"Yup… I'm a mess…" She sighed softly, quickly turning on the sink and quickly washing her face. It didn't take long for her to comb her mane back into a manageable state, but what worried her was the state of her eyes. It'd simply take time for the bloodshot look to vanish. She sighed defeated; at least the rest of her looked fine. She quickly gathered up the blankets off the floor before returning to her room and dumping them on her bed. She'd make them up later.

"Okay… let's go Dash." She said with a soft sigh, before looking at her marefriend. Dash simply seemed to smile.

"Trust me, you won't regret this." Dash said spreading her wings and flying out the window. Fluttershy followed quickly after her.


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When they reached the hill Rainbow Dash was taking them to, the sun was getting ready to sink into the horizon and flare the sky with its brilliant colors. As they landed, Fluttershy couldn't help but notice that this was that same hill, the one where they had talked the first time after having met her father in Cloudsdale, where she had told Rainbow Dash everything about her past.

"Alright, we're here." Dash smiled, turning to face Fluttershy, "So I guess I can explain myself now."

"Well… I'm all ears." Fluttershy said quietly, still having a bit of difficulty with Dash's new look. She wanted to keep herself on an even emotional level, but her looking so good was making it difficult.

"Alright. Here goes." Rainbow said taking a deep breath, before starting to pace, a habit Fluttershy knew meant she was nervous about the subject she was talking about. "As I told you, the Wonderbolts gave me a second opportunity to audition for them in a month, it's been a week since then. The reason they did so was because I was nervous during my audition and they could see it. I explained to them that I was worried, that if I got accepted into the Wonderbolts that I'd be giving up my love for you for my dream."

Fluttershy opened her mouth to react, but Dash held up a hoof.

"Please just let me finish, if I get interrupted I might say something before I'm ready to." Dash said before taking another breath, "And yes I know you've said before that me joining the Wonderbolts won't mean I'm abandoning you or my other friends in Ponyville, but I was still worried. That's why I asked you to hold back on us having a foal, because I wanted to make sure I'd be able to have enough time to be there to help raise them AND live the dream. But that's a bit off topic…" Fluttershy could tell Rainbow was getting a little flustered with her rambling; her hooves were scrapping against the ground a bit more than usual.

"SO! As I was flying back from the audition opportunity they had given me I was thinking about what I could do to possibly calm myself and fully make me realize what I could do to know for sure I would always come back to you despite being a Wonderbolt. So the moment I got back I started doing odd jobs around town and taking my job seriously so that I could gather up as much money as I could quickly." Fluttershy raised an eyebrow curiously at this. The edge of the sun hit the horizon as Rainbow continued.

"And I've been avoiding you all week because I didn't want to say something I wasn't ready to. You have a way of drawing things out of me and I didn't want to spoil the surprise of what I had in mind. Which goes into what you saw today." Rainbow said taking a deep breath, "I was sweeping up the plaza of Ponyville for the mayor; the 'gift' she gave me was a bag of bits. I helped out Carrot Top with gardening for the same reason; she paid me to do it. Pinkie Pie also said she was going to help me with money in exchange for helping her with Sugar Cube Corner. At Lyra and Bonbon's house I was helping them move furniture, they basically asked me to help redecorate their whole house which they couldn't do alone."

Rainbow then reached into her side bag and pulled out a sheet of paper that she then gave to Fluttershy, who looked at it curiously.

"And THIS is the paper you saw me reading with Roseluck. Basically she was paying me to help her rehearse for a play. At the bottom you can see it says her stage directions are to kiss her opposite actor. Essentially she got too into the role while practicing with me."

It was true; Fluttershy's eyes scanned the script and saw exactly what Rainbow was talking about.

"It was then that Rarity started yelling and berating me. Once she was done I got to tell my side of things and well…" Rainbow brushed her hair with a hoof, "This kind of happened."

Fluttershy blinked in confusion, looking up at Rainbow Dash.

"I… I guess that makes sense…" Fluttershy said softly, feeling some of the pressure being lifted from her chest at Dash's words. None of it seemed like a lie, at least not from her body language. "But why were you doing all this? Why did you need the money? What couldn't you tell me about?" She asked confused at everything.

Rainbow took a moment to take in a deep breath and calm down. She had certainly just spoken a mouthful and needed a moment. She then smiled softly.

"I was doing this all for you. And well… once I talked to Rarity she loaned me the rest of the money I'd need. I guess maybe I should've asked her in the first place, but I wanted to do this on my own, to make it even more special for you." Rainbow chuckled softly, "I still promised to pay Rarity back, but thanks to her I can do it now." Rainbow turned her back to Fluttershy and walked towards the sunset.

"Do what? What are you doing Dash?" Fluttershy was still very confused.

"Well Fluttershy, I'm showing you that no matter where I go, how far apart we are, or how tough times may get that you'll be in my thoughts and my heart." Rainbow seemed to be grinning as she then stretched out her wings before taking off into the sky. Fluttershy watched with a mix of awe and curiosity as Rainbow went to work gathering stray clouds in the sky, thinking about her words as Rainbow worked.

The sky began to flare with different shades of orange and red as it began to sink into the horizon. Rainbow aligned the clouds in two single file lines in sky, angling them just right.

Then, in a resounding burst of speed and color, Rainbow flew straight at the clouds, kicking and striking each into a specific shape at break neck speeds. Fluttershy had never seen such quick cloud forming, but Rainbow was doing it masterfully.

Rainbow sculpted each cloud into shape, making them just thin enough so that they changed colors with the setting sun washing the sky with color, but thick enough to be seen from land. With one final hoof kick Rainbow came careening straight down for the hill, her head in her saddlebag to grab something.

Fluttershy quickly guarded her fast as Rainbow came into a skid landing before her, kicking up dirt around them. A small box seemed to land on top of Dash's head as it opened up.

Fluttershy turned to look at the box, seeing a magnificent golden hoofband covered in different colored gemstones, including all the colors of the rainbow and a few pink gemstones.

"So, what do you say?" Rainbow grinned, making Fluttershy look up at the magnificent scene of orange and reds.

Written in the clouds were two simple words.

"Marry Me."