The Heat of an Ember

Rainbow Dash was not believing what she was getting all dressed up for… again. It was literally two days before that she was putting this same dress on, but this time, she wasn't doing it because she was going to a dance. She was doing it because she was going on a date. With a girl. Her… Rainbow Dash… on a date with a girl… and what made this more unbelievable, was that the girl was Fluttershy.

"Just one night, Dash," she told herself, looking in her bedroom mirror. She looked good, she wouldn't even deny herself that. What am I kiddin', I look amazing! She thought, viewing her own reflection. "One night, and everything is great. One night, and you can go back to your old life. You can go back to flying, and becoming a Wonderbolt. You can go back to…" she took a deep sigh, leaning her head against that of her mirror's reflection, "pretending like this never happened."

"Just out of curiosity, would that be a good thing or a bad thing, RD?" the sudden voice tore her from the mirror. Flipping around, she saw none other than Vinyl Scratch, standing before her, a smug look on the DJ's face. "Well—you're all tidied up, again. Got a hot date with a special somepony, after all?"

The rainbow-haired pony looked back at the mirror, ruffling her wings up to made sure they were flexible. "Somethin' like that," she said with a snort. "How are you even up here, anyway?"

Vinyl simply shook her head, a slight look of mischief on her face. "I have a gig in Cloudsdale this weekend, so I have to go preview the whole place, and get it all rigged up. Can't really preview anything if I go falling through the floor, so I had to get zapped. I'm leaving tonight, thus the cloud-walking.

The Unicorn tilted her head, a look of seriousness crossing her face. "I figured since I already went through all the trouble, I might as well swing by here, and check up on you."

Rainbow Dash frowned, turning away from the mirror. "And why would I need 'checking up' on?"

Vinyl only raised an eyebrow, lifting a hoof at the question. "Seriously? I mean, I know I kinda come off as a goof-up, but I'm not complete stupid, D. Something's off with you. At that party last night? You didn't actually get up and party. And when you don't party? Something big is going on.

"I'm not really sure what's screwing with you, but I know you've been thinking about something. It's pretty obvious, and I don't even know you half as well as most of the ponies in that room, last night. You're just not yourself. You're, like—acting like your whole world is falling apart, or something. Just… hang in there, alright? I wanna see you back to your old self by the time I get back. Deal?" she stepped forward, extending a hoof with a smile.

Rainbow Dash nodded, taking her friend's hoof. "You got yourself a deal."

As Vinyl lowered her hoof, she shrugged. "Maybe this date will be good for you, after all." Vinyl turned to leave, but once she was in the doorway she stopped, turning one last time. "Who is the lucky pony, anyways?"

Rainbow Dash snorted, wondering what the reaction would be from the next single word: "Fluttershy."

Rather than the freak out she was anticipating, it was just a smile and a nod. "That's the pink-haired girl from back at the Academy, right?" Rainbow Dash hesitantly nodded. "Yeah. Whatever's bugging you? I'm pretty sure she can handle it."

Vinyl stepped outside of the room without a single word. And before Rainbow Dash could even ask for an explanation, a burst of sky-blue light shown from outside her porch, leaving Rainbow Dash to her own thoughts.

Two ponies, now, didn't even find the news of this fake date surprising—for the right reason, anyways. And, if Rainbow Dash read Fluttershy right, she, herself, seemed to be looking forward to the occasion. Was it seriously such a believable fact? "This night just keeps getting weirder," she said to herself, giving herself one last look in the mirror. She promised she would meet Fluttershy at her cottage, and, after that, she wasn't even sure. Fluttershy said she wanted to surprise her. Who knew what that meant?

Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Abandoning her reflection in the mirror, she took to the air, flying slowly toward the cottage. The journey gave her time to think, but she wasn't even sure what words should be crossing her mind. Every factor that she thought of was completely ridiculous. How in Equestria were all of these ponies just buying this, without question? And, in the same light, how was she just letting them buy it? All of these weird events had slowly grew to this point, and just to save herself a little bit of a headache, she was here, dressed in a ball gown, going on a fake date with one of her best friends.

And the worst part? She was almost positive that her best friend was excited about it. Sure, Fluttershy was pretty chill about everything, but to just keep a positive attitude in a situation like this?

What was Rainbow talking about? Fluttershy kept a positive attitude about everything. She was kind of weird like that: the pony was scared of her own shadow, had a nasty case of anxiety, and was positive that every single idea of her own was likely to end in a failure. But when it came to other ponies? She was the most positive pony in all of Equestria. She didn't just believe in second chances, she believed in third, fourth, and probably even fifth chances.

Maybe, Rainbow Dash thought, Maybe that's all that this: just another chance. Maybe she's just going along with this just so I can fix everything with AJ, in a few days. I mean, really: Flutters doesn't like me or anything. That's just ridiculous… isn't it? She doesn't think this is real, does she?

Rainbow Dash let out a small laugh as she approached Fluttershy's cottage. A better question is do I think this is for real?

She landed just outside of Fluttershy's door, and, not even having enough time to gather her courage to knock, the door slowly cracked open. Fluttershy peered around it, her face completely blushed red. "Uhm, hi, Rainbow Dash. You look—uhm—come in." The words were soft, jumbled, and filled with complete and utter terror. It was the exact opposite of the Fluttershy that Rainbow had talked to just the previous day, yet still, in the weird way, the same.

If she had to guess, Rainbow Dash would have thought that it was just the nerves that had finally gotten to the pony, not much unlike what had happened to herself. "Hey Fluttershy," she opened up with. "You look great," she said, accepting the pony's welcome into her cottage.

Fluttershy had a light, airy dress on. The hem was lace, paired with light pink butterflies, not unlike her cutie mark. The large majority of the green, transparent fabric was layered on a dulled yellow silk, creating a very earthy look. It was screaming nature, yet it was still somehow very, very attractive.

Whoa, where did that come from? Rainbow Dash asked, shaking the thought out of her mind. Keep your head on straight… literally. She scolded.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Dashie." Dashie. No one else called her that, only Fluttershy. It was kind of the one thing that Rainbow Dash knew was Fluttershy's. Before, she always took it as a sign of their friendship. But now? It just seemed really special all of a sudden. It was kind of their thing, if that made any sense. It was the one thing they shared between them.

Fluttershy led Rainbow Dash to her backdoor, and then outside, to Fluttershy's open backyard. "I didn't exactly plan to be outside, Flutters…" Rainbow Dash slowly mentioned.

"Oh, I know you didn't. I already planned this all out," she said, brimming with pride.

Fluttershy… with pride? Never thought I'd put those two in the same sentence, Rainbow Dash thought with an inner smile. "If you say so."

Fluttershy led her through her backyard and up, over the rolling hill behind it. Once they had peaked the hill, Rainbow Dash was hoping for an indication on how Fluttershy viewed this "fake" date. But, it seemed like, as with everything about Fluttershy that night, it wasn't as one-dimensional as it first appeared. A small fire flickered near a single blanket, where a small plate of pastries sat amongst a pitcher of a light brown, transparent liquid. Rainbow Dash assumed it was biscuits and tea, but she couldn't be positive.

"So, what do you think?" The words hung in the air as Rainbow Dash took this all in. It seemed very… romantic. But plain and simple, at the same time. Everything about it screamed Fluttershy, but all of the underlying factors to it held so many other complications that Rainbow Dash still didn't know what it all meant.

"It looks… cozy." That was a compliment, right? Rainbow didn't even know, herself. She was completely lost in all of this, desperately trying to claw her way out of this situation. Usually, she reveled in being out of her element, viewing it as a chance to push herself to new limits. But this? This was just awkwardly uncomfortable. And it was her own fault, too.

Without another word, the two took their spots near the fire. Fluttershy simply lay down, right near the crackling flames, seeming completely at ease with the whole thing. Rainbow Dash glanced around, wonder what, exactly, she was supposed to do. In the end, she merely sat down, staring at her date with no little uncertainty. "So, uh—this is nice." Grasping at straws, Rainbow Dash watched her date giggle at the comment.

Giggling… again. It seemed to always be giggling with Fluttershy. This girl juggled between severely terrified and carefree and fun. There was no in-between with her.

"Yes. I think it is very nice." Fluttershy paused a moment, taking a deep breath. She let it out with a sigh before continuing: "I didn't bring you out here for no reason, Dashie. I brought you out here so you can say whatever it is that is bothering you. Out here, no one can hear you, but me. You seemed really upset the other day, and I want to help."

Rainbow Dash just sat there, taken back by Fluttershy's openness. "I'm pretty sure you already know everything. I haven't, really, been able to adjust to this new life that my friends have. I get all weirded out whenever I am with either of them, Flutters. It's not them both being girls, I already told everypony how I feel about that. It's just—them being together makes me wonder when I started be so… alone."

Fluttershy, tilted her head, a look of sadness crossing her face. "But you aren't alone. You have all of your friends."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I know I have you girls, and that is awesome. It's just… I don't have somepony special. I don't have that pony I can just be with, just for the sake of loving her. I don't have anypony that is with me, just to be with me. I don't have a pony that loves me, just because she can. I've tried to find somepony, but there's nopony that I'm not already friends with. There's nopony that I don't know that could do that."

Fluttershy nodded slowly before looking deep into the embers of the fire. Rainbow Dash noticed, with a weird sense of curiosity, that her fake date's eyes were greener than she thought. They weren't just blue… they were kind of ocean blue. With the fire reflecting off of them, the only way she could describe it was to say it looked like somepony had set the ocean on fire.

But as quickly as she birthed the analogy, it died as Fluttershy turned, the world inside those eyes breaking as Rainbow Dash returned to this awkward reality. "First of all, you said 'her', Dashie. Twice."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head in confusion, completely missing the accusation. "Huh?"

"You said 'I don't have a pony that loves me, just because SHE can'," Fluttershy quoted, emphasizing the pronoun. "I thought you said you didn't like girls?"

I… did? She thought, the realization setting her back. She paused, thinking this through, wondering where, exactly, this put her. Twilight and Applejack: they seemed… nice. Their relationship seemed like it just made sense. There was no politics about her opinion, no maneuvering or rationalizing with herself. In the end, it just seemed nice.

Rainbow Dash sighed deeply, wondering where to begin in her strange explanation. "I thought I didn't. But lately, after seeing Twilight and AJ, a relationship like that just—to be honest, I don't know why, but it just looks nice. It looks comfortable. Familiar. When I see them, I wonder how it is to just be with somepony you can so easily identify with. I can't say I'm completely attracted to girls, I just know that I can't say I'm not. Is that bad?" her uncertainty showed through, making her watch herself even more. She wasn't sure what it was about this pony, but Fluttershy's innocence just made it so easy to just want to tell her everything.

"Not at all, Dashie. Like you, yourself, said: if somepony makes you happy, and nopony is hurt in the process, then what does it matter? You liking girls doesn't make you a different pony. It doesn't change anything about yourself besides that one fact."

Rainbow Dash looked back over at Fluttershy, who only smiled reassuringly before continuing on in this ever-evolving lecture: "The second thing is this: you claim that you can't find anypony outside of those you already know, but shouldn't you be looking at the ponies you already do know? If you date somepony you know, you won't be surprised about much of anything. You'll already know so much about the pony that you'll save yourself so much heartache that you would have to go through, otherwise."

Once again, Dash, she's right. Rainbow thought, looking back into the fire. I don't want to date a stranger. I don't want to walk through Ponyville, guessing to see if I'm right for somepony. So where did this put me? She discovered she liked girls—maybe, and that she needed to be looking inside of her own friends for love. But… who did that narrow it down to?

Who did she go to when everypony else failed? Who did she know would never judge her, because they knew her entirely too well to know that she wasn't just some rebel? Who wouldn't expect too much from her too quickly? Who did she care about the most… the longest? As she asked herself each question, her list of friends narrowed down after each one, until only a single name was left in her mind. And, shockingly, it belonged to the pony right in front of her.

"Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash whispered. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. How could that be possible? How did everypony somehow magically know before she, herself, did? How could somepony so different from her somehow complete her in so many different ways?

"Yes?" The one word tore her from her shock, bringing her back to realize that the pony in question was watching her, waiting for her to speak.

"How did everypony… did you—" The words faded as she stared into the fire, not even bringing herself to look her realization in the eye. Rainbow had no idea what to make of this situation. The past two days had been life-changing, but this? This was completely insane! She couldn't have a crush on her best friend! And if she did, definitely not on Fluttershy! That was so crazy that she never even thought she needed to lay down that ground rule.

Fluttershy giggled, once again. "Are you okay?"

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, shrugged in honesty: "I truly don't know."

Fluttershy motioned for Rainbow Dash to come closer, and after she did so, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash's neck and pulled her down, making her lay just in front of her, her eyes facing the fire. "One thing that I know for sure is that you can't rush the process of finding out who you are. I think that those three girls running around town are a perfect example of that. You'll figure everything out when you're supposed to, Dashie. But for now? Let's just enjoy tonight."

Rainbow Dash didn't understand this pony. How could she be so… different, all of a sudden? She rolled onto her stomach and lifted her head, turning to face the pony in question: "I, sometimes, don't even feel like I totally know you. I mean—where has this Fluttershy been since, like, forever?"

Fluttershy giggled for what seemed like the tenth time, that night. She tilted her head, smiling as she spoke. "I've always been like this. I just can't really bring myself to show it around anypony… except maybe you."

Rainbow Dash smiled, nodding her understanding. She took a deep breath, remembering her date's words: Let's just enjoy tonight. She rolled around, turning to face the fire, once more. "Thank you, Flutters… for everything, tonight."

A long pause passed, and just as Rainbow Dash thought she wasn't going to get an answer, Fluttershy spoke, her words quiet and lazy. "No, Dashie. Thank you."

That night, so many things were cemented in Rainbow Dash's mind that she couldn't believe it wasn't all just a strange, crazy, yet wonderful dream. She discovered she liked girls (she figured she might as well just own it, now), she discovered she had been searching in all the wrong places for love, but most importantly: she discovered who that love was: Fluttershy.

She had no doubts in her mind, anymore. When she first thought up the concept, she was sure it was absolute, utter insanity. But once Fluttershy brought her close, made her lie down in front of the fire, and placed a single hoof on her side—it felt strangely wonderful. The heat of Fluttershy's slow, deep breaths mixed with the crackling of the fire, and when Fluttershy spoke, her soft voice barely rising above that of the flames'… it was weird, but Rainbow Dash felt really, really sleepy, and yet wide awake, all at the same time.

Loyalty and Kindness. They seemed so different, at first. They seemed to be, in some cases, the complete opposite of each other, just like their embodiments were. But when you looked closer, when you delved into the heart of the elements, you would find that they were complete compliments of each other… just like their embodiments.

Now? Now all that was left was the hard part: explaining everything to Fluttershy.

A/N: When I first wrote this, I thought maybe Fluttershy was just a touch OOC, but as I thought about it, I could *totally* see her doing what she did, here. So, I mean, take it or leave it: that's what happened.

There's still 2 or 3 more chapters in this part (thank goodness, otherwise this would be quite the short story), despite things seeming to be at a climax, so we'll probably be all finished up with part 2 by the end of next week. I hope you really are enjoying this! Stay awesome, everybrony!

P.S. – While I'm not totally on the MarbleMac ship, can we just appreciate Marble, herself? I would love to see Marble and Flutters together, in a scene. They would be adorable… If any of y'all have a fanfic with them, please let me know… the ship must sail.