"R-really?" Stammered Fluttershy.
Now it was Rainbow Dash's turn to blush. "Yeah, I do."
"Oh! I-I love you too!" Fluttershy snuggled in closer. A momentary flash of doubt passed through the pregnant mare's mind, but she quickly pushed it down, just wanting to enjoy this moment.
Rainbow Dash beamed as she looked down at the pony pressed up against her side. She laid her head down on top of Fluttershy's plush mane and took in her scent; it was warm and motherly. A hint of sandalwood and lavender wafted up to Rainbow Dash's nostrils. The blue Pegasus could feel her friend's breathing even out as time passed. Rainbow Dash felt her eyelids begin to sag as she yawned. She nuzzled into Fluttershy's mane and let sleep wash over her.
Rainbow Dash felt a drop of water hit her nose. Then another. And another. Soon it was raining quite steadily, but the sleeping Pegasus beside Rainbow Dash hadn't noticed yet. Rainbow Dash had her wings stretched over Fluttershy so she wouldn't get too wet and cold, but that would only do for so long. The blue Pegasus nudged Fluttershy gently. The quiet little pony stirred slightly, and then cuddled in closer for warmth. Rainbow Dash nudged her a little harder, but still elicited minimal response.
"Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash whispered. "It's raining, we need to get inside."
"Hmmm?" Fluttershy mumbled groggily and half opened her eyes.
"C'mon, we need to get inside before it starts to rain any harder," Rainbow Dash urged.
Yawning, Fluttershy said, "O-okay, but I'm not even wet yet." Then she looked up and realized that there was a blue wing shielding her from the rain. "Oh..." The two Pegasus ponies got up and moved into Rainbow Dash's cloud house.
Once inside, Rainbow Dash shook all the rainwater off her coat. "There! Nice and dry."
"That's good," smiled Fluttershy. "I didn't realize how wet you got trying to keep me dry. Thank you."
"Nah, no biggie," Rainbow Dash brushed off her thanks.
"What time is it? We didn't spend the whole night outside, did we?" Asked Fluttershy.
"Umm..." Rainbow Dash looked around for a clock. Finding one she reported the time, "Well, it's 7 am so I guess we did spend the whole night outside," the blue pony chuckled a bit and then yawned. "But we could still fit a few more hours of sleep in."
"Oh! Goodness no, I-I've already slept quite late," fretted Fluttershy. "I'm usually up and doing chores at 6 am. I need to get going!" The flustered Pegasus rushed towards the door.
"Hey now!" Called Rainbow Dash, "What can you possibly have to do in this miserable weather?" She asked, gesturing at the increasing amount of rain that was falling from the sky.
"Oh, I-I... I don't know," giggled Fluttershy. "Stay here and keep you company I guess," she nuzzled up against Rainbow Dash and planted a small kiss on her cheek. "If that's okay with you," she blushed and looked away.
A broad smile found its way across Rainbow Dash's muzzle. "Of course it's okay! It's great actually, I wasn't planning on doing anything really, so we can like, hang out."
"Wonderful," smiled Fluttershy.
"I'll go make some coffee then. Do you want some?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"Um… Sure. I've never had coffee before, but I'll try it."
So, Rainbow Dash went to her well-used coffee maker and brewed up a pot of strong coffee. She pulled two mugs out of her cupboards, a large one for herself and a more modest one for Fluttershy. She filled her own cup first, then Fluttershy's. Without asking her, Rainbow Dash put two milk and three sugars in her friend's coffee. She herself took it black, but she figured Fluttershy would want something a little sweeter.
"Thank you," Fluttershy said, taking the mug from Rainbow Dash. She took a sip then made a face.
Rainbow Dash laughed out loud. "Too strong?"
"O-oh my, it's quite… bitter. How do you drink it with nothing in it?" Asked Fluttershy, still making a disgusted face.
Rainbow Dash chuckled and went to get the sugar. "I'll put a lot more sugar in it for you then." The blue pony put another five spoonful's of sugar in her friend's coffee. "Better?"
Fluttershy tentatively took a sip, then took another. "Oh yes! Much better, thank you." With her modified coffee, Fluttershy happily sipped at her warm drink.
Fluttershy followed Rainbow Dash as she walked over to one of the massive windows in her cloud home. The two Pegasi stood side by side watching the rain pelt the clouds outside. Much like the night before, they began to inch closer and closer to one another until they could feel the slightest electrical current run between their nearly touching bodies. Fluttershy blushed at the closeness of Rainbow Dash as her proximity brought back memories of the night before. Rainbow Dash smiled next to Fluttershy. She was very happy that she finally made a move.
After they had both finished their coffees, Rainbow Dash closed the small gap between them a placed a light kiss on Fluttershy's cheek. She smells like coffee and rainwater, noted Fluttershy. The smell made her shiver with pleasure. Fluttershy nuzzled Rainbow Dash's muzzle and let her nose linger by the blue Pegasus's for a moment. The air that passed through Rainbow Dash nose blew gently into Fluttershy's nostrils and she returned the gesture of affection. They stood like this, sharing air, for almost 20 minutes. Lost in a blissful world of their own they were completely unaware of time passing.
6 MONTHS LATER
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's relationship continued to bloom in the months that passed since that faithful night on the clouds. They hadn't told any of their friends yet, but they were just waiting for the right time. Rainbow Dash had already told Twilight, but that was only because the little purple unicorn was the one who helped to give her the confidence to make a move in the first place. They had had many discussions on when and how they were going to tell their others friends, but they never came to a solid date that both of them were comfortable with. So, for the time being they just let it be.
Rainbow Dash was flying down to Fluttershy's cottage early one morning to see her mate. The sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day. Fluttershy didn't go up to Rainbow Dash's home very often anymore; being nine months pregnant really took a toll on Fluttershy's mobility in the air. Rainbow Dash didn't mind having to fly down to Fluttershy's. She quite liked to fly and it wasn't too far. She could see a little yellow dot just outside of the cottage before she landed. Fluttershy was already outside, basking in the warm glow of Celestia's sun.
"Good morning beautiful!" Greeted Rainbow Dash with a smile.
Fluttershy blushed. This is how she was greeted every morning, but it still made her cheeks turn pink hearing Rainbow Dash call her beautiful. "Good morning."
"How are you feeling today?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, not too bad. My back hurts a bit, you know with the extra weight, but it's really not that bad," Fluttershy brushed off how uncomfortable she actually was. Only two more months, only two more months, she thought to herself. She did enjoy being pregnant, just sometimes it really took its toll on the once slender pony.
"That's good," grinned Rainbow Dash. "Wanna go out for ice cream?"
"That would be lovely," Fluttershy answered.
"Great!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed and jumped in to the air, flying around and doing flips. She landed next to her beloved and they walked into town together.
In Ponyville the two Pegasus ponies found an ice cream shop and a nice place to sit and eat their frozen treats. It was a glorious morning to have ice cream for breakfast and this was the best ice cream that Fluttershy had tasted in a long time.
"This is the best ice cream ever!" Exclaimed Fluttershy, mauling her ice cream.
Rainbow Dash laughed, "Is that so?" She asked.
"Oh yes!" Fluttershy replied, ice cream all over her face. Rainbow Dash was still laughing. "What? What's so funny?"
"He-he, here, let me help you," Rainbow Dash said and promptly began to like the ice cream off of the yellow muzzle.
"Oh, thanks," Fluttershy said shyly. Rainbow Dash just smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.
Pinkie Pie, who was standing not 20' from them saw this whole exchange and quickly raced over to see her friends. "Ohmygoodness! Heyguys, 'Hey! That's Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash' ! Areyouliketogether? Areyouacouple? Oooooh!Youwouldbesocutetogether!"
Even just listening to Pinkie sucked the energy out of the Pegasi. It took their brains a full 30 seconds to catch up with what Pinkie had been saying after she finished speaking.
"Uh, well, actually Pinkie Pie, we were going to talk to all of you at some point. We just didn't want to quite yet," Rainbow Dash explained.
"Oooh! Sothatmeansthatyouare! You know what that means?" Pinkie Pie oozed.
"Um… should we ask?" Fluttershy mumbled under her breath.
"IT'S TIME FOR A PARTY!" Cried the pink earth pony enthusiastically and ran off.
"Oh no," groaned Rainbow Dash. "Why couldn't it have been any other pony besides Pinkie would found out about this?"
"Oh I know! I love Pinkie's parties, but I don't really want to be in the spotlight," Fluttershy began to fret. "Maybe we should ask her not to. O-or just not show up." Fluttershy was winding herself up more and more, pacing back and forth, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.
"Hey, settle down Fluttershy. It'll be okay, I promise. It's not like you have to do it all by yourself or anything. And this way we can stop worrying about how to tell the other ponies," Rainbow Dash tried to quell her mate's fears.
"B-but there's going to be so many ponies there…"
"It's probably only going to be Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and us. That's not bad right?"
"I-I guess you're right, I just really don't like being the center of attention," Fluttershy replied shakily.
"Well, I love it, so I'll take all of the pressure off of you," grinned Rainbow Dash.
"Okay," Fluttershy replied a bit more evenly. "Thank you." They shared a quick embrace then finished eating their ice cream.
Pinkie Pie's party was held at Sugar Cube Corner. The little earth pony really outdid herself this time; there were streamers and balloons everywhere, cute heart decorations, and lots of treats. Some of the balloons had foals on them, some had hearts, and some were just colorful. As Rainbow Dash had expected, all of their friends were there, but nopony else. All of the ponies besides Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had no idea what was going on or what to expect. Pinkie just told them that she was throwing a surprise party. No details other than that.
"Who are we surprising?" Twilight had asked.
"It's not who we're surprising; it's that you will be surprised!" Pinkie smiled broadly.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were the last ponies to arrive. They were enthusiastically greeted by all of their friends. The party atmosphere was infectious and soon all of the ponies were in a great energetic mood. The mares all crowded around Fluttershy, asking how she was feeling, if she was excited, if she had thought of names for the foal, etc. Fluttershy didn't particularly love all of the attention, but she tolerated it because she loved her friends and knew that they meant well and really cared about her.
After about an hour of all the ponies and Spike arriving, Applejack asked, "Not that I don't love yer parties, Pinkie, but could ya tell us what exactly this party is for?"
"I told you," the little pink pony replied in a sing song voice, "It's a surprise party! And it's time for you to be SURPRISED!" Pinkie winked at Rainbow Dash who did nothing. "Rainbow Dash!" she stage whispered to her friend. "Tell them your surprise!" She urged.
"Oh, well um…" started Rainbow Dash. All the ponies leaned in closer with anticipation of what Rainbow Dash had to say. "I-uh didn't really have anything planned to say, this all just kinda happened," the blue pony chuckled nervously.
"Go on, sugarcube, we're yer friends and will support ya no matter what!" Applejack encouraged her friend.
"Well, our- mine and Fluttershy's- relationship just moved on to a different level," Rainbow Dash said.
The ponies looked a little confused, so Rarity asked, "Are you saying that you two are dating, darling?"
"Um, I guess you could say that?" Replied the rainbow-maned pony.
"Ooh! That is simply wonderful!" Exclaimed Rarity. "I knew you would just be perfect for each other."
"So, this isn't a big deal for any of you?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
"Not at all!" Rarity answered. "We just want you to be happy, darlings."
"And to be honest," Applejack piped up, "We all kind of suspected anyways. We were just'awaitin' on you two to tell us when you were ready."
"Really?Youallknew?'CauseIdidn''OHMYGOODNESS," Pinkie Pie energetically vocalized her lack of prior knowledge.
"Heh, well… yeah," answered Applejack.
"Oh, well cool! Now it's out there and everything is good," smiled Rainbow Dash.
"Whydidn'tanyponytellme?Ican'tbelieveyouallknewbutdidn'ttellme!" Whined Pinkie melodramatically.
"Sorry, sugarcube," Applejack consoled the manic pony. "We just wanted to let Rainbow and Fluttershy work it out for themselves."
"So, how long have you known?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"Ah've known 'bout four months," answered Applejack.
"As have I," added Rarity.
"Huh, well I'm glad you girls are all okay with it!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Of course! We love you girls and we just want you to be happy," said Twilight who then initiated a group hug that smooshed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the middle.
"TIME FOR CAKE!" Pinkie exclaimed, escaping from her friends' embraces.
The pink earth pony dashed away to the kitchen and brought back a massive pink and blue cake. It was beautifully decorated with hearts, ponies, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's cutie marks. It was a two layer butter cream cake with strawberry cream filling in between the layers. Pinkie had put a lot of time and effort into that cake.
"Wow," Fluttershy said as she bit into the rich treat. "This is fantastic Pinkie!"
"Thanks!" Pinkie Pie smiled broadly. "After I saw you two in the park I just knew I had to make something superextraspecial for this party."
The party lasted another two or three hours, and then the ponies started to disperse. Applejack left first because she had to get up early the next morning to start applebucking and it was getting late. She was followed closely by Rarity who "needed to get her beauty rest." Twilight took a sleepy Spike home when Rarity left, leaving the two Pegasus ponies and Pinkie Pie.
Seeing Fluttershy yawn, Rainbow Dash said, "I think this pretty little pony is a tired little pony," she grinned over at the adorably sleepy Fluttershy. "I should probably take her home."
"Okie dokie lokie!" Said Pinkie.
"This was a great party, thank you Pinkie Pie," said Fluttershy.
"It was my pleasure." Pinkie hugged her two remaining friends. "Now, you go home and get your rest, mama Fluttershy."
Fluttershy giggled, "Yes ma'am." And with that, the two Pegasus ponies left Sugar Cube Corner and headed for Fluttershy's cabin.
Once they reached the cottage, Rainbow Dash kissed Fluttershy goodnight. "I'll see you tomorrow honey pie," Rainbow Dash smiled affectionately at her beloved.
"Oh… Um…" Fluttershy started. "Would you… maybe like to stay the night with me?" She finished shyly.
"Sure! I'd love to," Rainbow Dash said and followed Fluttershy into her home.
Angel bunny was stretched out on the couch when they entered the main room. Fluttershy went over to him and gently nudged his soft white fur. He stirred then rolled over to avoid the sensation. Fluttershy pulled back and smiled over him. "I'll just let him sleep," she told Rainbow Dash and pulled a blanket over the sleeping bunny. Yawning again, she added, "Maybe I should get up to bed. I'm quite tired."
"Yeah, I'd be happy to go to bed now too," Rainbow Dash said.
Rainbow Dash followed Fluttershy up the slightly winding staircase and to her bedroom. Fluttershy's bed was impeccably made, not that Rainbow Dash was surprised. The rainbow-maned Pegasus paused in the door frame. She watched her mate walk in, but was unsure whether or not she should follow. Until now, she had not been invited to sleep at Fluttershy's, so she had no idea what the protocol was in terms of sleeping arrangements.
Noticing that she was no longer being followed, Fluttershy turned and said, "W-would you like to sleep in here… with me?"
Eagerly, Rainbow Dash replied, "Yeah! Yes."
"Great, come keep me warm," Fluttershy baited as she lay down on her bed.
Rainbow Dash grinned wickedly as she followed her lover into bed. She crawled up next to the warm body that had already found a comfortable spot in the bed. The blue Pegasus nuzzled into the soft pink mane and inhaled that sweet scent again. Fluttershy sighed happily. For a moment everything was perfect. Then Fluttershy started to move and twist uncomfortably.
"What's wrong babydoll?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, it's nothing. My back is just a little sore that's all. Nothing really," Fluttershy said as she was writhing on the bed.
"Well here, let me help you; I'll give you a massage and help relax your muscles a little bit, okay?" Offered Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, that sounds nice," agreed Fluttershy.
Rainbow Dash moved the covers off of Fluttershy and instructed her to lie as comfortably as she could on her stomach. She proceeded to work her hooves down the yellow pony's spine to the dock of her tail. She gently soothed the muscles in and around the delicate wings and withers. As Rainbow Dash continued to work away the tension in Fluttershy's back, she began to gently groom her long pink mane with her teeth. The act of grooming gave Fluttershy a great relaxing feeling along the crest of her mane and neck muscles. The more Rainbow Dash worked, the mellower Fluttershy became.
When the sore pony was almost asleep, Rainbow Dash slowly prompted her to roll over onto one side so that Fluttershy's back was facing her. She ran her hooves in slow, rhythmic circles up and down Fluttershy's back until her beloved was fast asleep.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, ponies drink coffee. I wrote this chapter while on vacation near Algonquin Park. I had a splendid time writing while looking over the water, sipping a nice glass of Chardonnay. Gotta love life.