Deeper Than Friendship: Chapter 2

Chapter 2
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It was a warm and lit as the sun rose in the morning. Animals were creeping out of their habitats and looking around, going about their every day routine. Fluttershy was still sleeping when Rainbow awoke. She lifted her sleepy head and yawned, she wasn't a morning pony. But that didn't matter, not this morning; she soon realized who she woke up next to and the memories of the night before came back to her. A smile overtook her face as she blushed and looked down to her sleeping friend.

"She looks so perfect when she's sleeping, like an angel" Rainbow whispered to herself.
She decided she wouldn't wake the sleeping pony just yet as she sat down on the grass and leaned back against a tree.

Wow, what a night; she still couldn't believe it had happened, easily the best moment of her life. Dashie sat there for awhile, her heart pounding as she watched Fluttershy peacefully sleeping a few inches away from her. What more could she ask for? She got to spend a night under the stars with the pony of her dreams.

Eventually Fluttershy did wake up, slowly rising her head and stretching as she blinked and yawned. She looked and saw something peculiar, no Dashie next to her. She frantically looked around on the ground near her until her eyes panned up and rested upon Rainbow's figure.

"Hey Fluttershy" Dashie spoke softly. Fluttershy blushed and looked away.

"S-s-s-sorry for looking frantic t-there" Fluttershy squeaked. Rainbow Dash smiled as she got up and walked over to Fluttershy, giving her a reassuring nuzzle.

"No need to worry about it, it was actually pretty cute" Rainbow smiled as she looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy blushed even more as she hid her face in Rainbow's neck. Dashie didn't complain what so ever, she lightly licked the base of the shy Pegasus's hair. Fluttershy slowly eased out of her hiding spot and looked to Rainbow Dash, who was gently smiling back at her. A warm feeling overtook Fluttershy, she had never felt this way before about anything or anypony. Was this the heart pounding feeling Rainbow Dash mentioned two weeks back? She seemed to be locked in a deep gaze with her best friend for what seemed like forever.

Rainbow pressed her head against Fluttershy's lightly, keeping her gaze focused on Fluttershy's eyes. Fluttershy could feel her heart rapidly beating; feeling like it was going to burst out of her chest. Her wings involuntarily spread out wildly as she felt the warm feeling surge through her very core once again. The love was practically radiating from the two as they looked into each others eyes.

Dashie kissed Fluttershy lightly, closing her eyes. Fluttershy wasted no time returning it as she too closed her eyes. Animals all around stopped their activities to watch the two ponies. None of them quite understood what it was they were doing, or what they were feeling. But the animals could sense it was something magical, none the less. The kiss lasted for a long time before both Fluttershy and Rainbow pulled back blushing deeply.

"I can't wait to tell the other ponies about this" Fluttershy said excitedly. Rainbow felt a wave of shock engulf her, the others can't know if this; they would reject it, worse, they'd try to prevent it.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! They can't know of this Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash could feel her voice rising a bit

"W-w-why not?" Fluttershy shyly replied.

"You know as well as I do they wont accept it, they won't allow it, we can't tell anyone about it, not even the rest of our friends!" Rainbow was nearly yelling now.
Fluttershy squeaked and winced a bit when she heard Dashie's voice raising.

"B-but they're our friends Dashie, we have to tell them" Fluttershy insisted

"Please Fluttershy, you don't understand, we have to keep this between us" Rainbow said, lowering her voice to a softer tone. Fluttershy lightly nodded, she knew but didn't want to believe that what she felt for Dashie had to stay in secrecy.

"H-How will we hide it from them?" Fluttershy asked reluctantly, she didn't want to have to keep this a secret at all.

"We'll only do this when we're alone, away from anypony's prying eyes; I'm sorry, but this is how it has to be." Rainbow replied carefully. Another nod from Fluttershy told her she understood. "But….on a lighter note…" Rainbow continued

"Y-yes Dashie?"

"Waking up next to you was just about the best thing in Equestria this morning." Rainbow said smiling. Fluttershy looked away blushing brighter than ever.

"You really mean it?" Fluttershy mumbled shyly while pawing at the ground slowly. Rainbow Dash moved in and rested her chin on Fluttershy's head.

"Of course I do…" Dashie whispered lightly in her ear.

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Soon after that Rainbow and Fluttershy parted ways; Rainbow Dash needing to catch up on some weather chores and Fluttershy having to tend to her animal friends. Fluttershy went about her usual job happier then ever. Singing and humming while all of her critters continued to move around and about her. After she finished feeding and watering all of the animals she decided she'd go inside and relax a little. It would be awhile until she and Rainbow Dash could spend time together, after all. She stepped into her main room and carefully shut her door behind her. She trotted towards the throw pillow she had laying on the couch nearby and slowly lay herself down on it.

The throw pillow had amazing stitching and a soft silk cover. It was gentle, clean, and just the right size for her. The pillow had been a gift from Rarity; Rarity had seen how coarse and rough her couch was, and how it had no decorations of any sort. Rarity, being the fashion fanatic she was, insisted on making Fluttershy a new throw pillow to lay on. Fluttershy giggled when thinking of how obsessive Rarity could be.

Thinking about the memory made Fluttershy think about the rest of her friends; could what she and Dashie had been doing be so bad? Fluttershy couldn't bear the thought of loosing all of her friends like that. Even worse, what if they tried to separate her and Dashie? What if she could never see her blue colored Pegasus friend again? Her whole body shuddered at the thought as she eased down onto the pillow and closed her eyes.
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Meanwhile Rainbow Dash was busy with her weather chores; she had to clear the skies, melt a few patches of snow, and break some ice. It was so much work to do and she could barely focus on any of it. She spent time away from the other weather Pegasi, avoiding contact with any of them as she reluctantly went from cloud to cloud kicking each one out. Her mind was elsewhere at the moment, all she felt like doing right now was spending time with Fluttershy.

After awhile Rainbow was tired and exhausted, she had left one small cloud for herself to nap on once she was finished; as she neared the location of her cloud, she discovered another Pegasus had removed it when she was gone. Rainbow silently cursed under her breath, where was she going to nap now? She sighed and decided she might as well pay Fluttershy a visit since she was all done. She leapt up into the sky and started to soar towards her shy friend's house.

Fluttershy was sleeping when she had arrived; she knocked on the door once more, slowly getting irritated at the lack of response. Rainbow sighed and started to look for another way in; she flew to several different windows, all locked and closed. Finally, she found an open window which coincidentally also happened to by the one leading to Fluttershy's Bedroom. Rainbow carefully hovered herself in and closed the window behind her.

Dashie moved slowly downstairs to find a sleeping Fluttershy on the couch. She sighed and moved over to the peaceful Pegasus, being careful with her steps. She sat down on the couch and laid her head on her hooves.
"Ouch, this thing is way too rough, why does Fluttershy even keep it around" She muttered to herself as she got up off the couch and looked around for some surface softer for her to lay on. The only one she found to be suitable with a nice, hoof stitched, silk throw pillow; the same one Fluttershy was sleeping on.

"I hope she doesn't mind…" Rainbow Dash said sighing. She carefully laid herself on the empty part of the pillow next to Fluttershy. 'Wow, this thing is so soft' she thought to herself as she rested her head on her hooves.

Fluttershy yawned and woke up, stretching her arms out until she saw Rainbow Dash next to her. Fluttershy squeaked and fell off of the couch, hitting the floor.

"Huh? What?" Rainbow mumbled as the crash slowly woke her up as well.

"W-w-w-when did you get here Dashie? I mean, I-it's not that I don't mind having you here and all but…" Fluttershy tried to squeak out

"Oh, well, I wanted to visit but you wouldn't respond when I knocked on your door; so I looked to see if you had any open windows and snuck in" Rainbow replied in her usual, carefree tone.

Fluttershy lightly sighed and got herself up "That doesn't explain why you were sleeping next to me though." She replied curiously. Rainbow Dash blushed and looked to the side.

"What's wrong with a mare lying next to her best friend on a pillow" she said with a slight laugh. Fluttershy started giggling as well as she smiled at Rainbow. She walked over and laid herself down on the pillow again, resting her tail on Rainbow's back. Rainbow nervously laughed and lightly licked Fluttershy's nose. Fluttershy blushed and smiled as she and Dashie looked into each others eyes.

"You know what I love most about this?" Rainbow asked smiling.

"W-what's that?" Fluttershy whispered.

"That you and I are here, together, spending time" Rainbow spoke quietly as she leaned in to slightly kiss Fluttershy. Fluttershy flushed even more as she could feel her wings involuntarily spreading out again; she closed her eyes and was terribly red.

"How bout we get some shut eye, okay?" Rainbow asked while yawning. Fluttershy said nothing, her wings still as far out as they could be; she felt herself only able to look into the rainbow maned Pegasus's eyes. Before another word was said Dashie laid her head on the pillow and shortly began to snore.

Fluttershy sat there for hours, lost in thought. It had only been a day since the night under the stars with Dashie; but every minute they seemed to be growing deeper and deeper. They surely weren't just friends anymore, at the least they had to be friends with benefits by now. Fluttershy still couldn't explain to herself the warm feeling that seemed to surge through her very being every time she was close to the cyan colored pony. Why would anypony ever want to take this away from her? This…This…This love she felt; could it really be love she felt? She tried to deny it as she looked upon the sleeping pony. Her beautiful rainbow mane, her stunning cutie mark, and the way she could be so aggressive yet so sweet.

Fluttershy violently shook her head; what in the world was she thinking? It was so wrong, yet so completely right at the same time.

"Oh, this is so confusing!" she said with frustration; she laid her head down and closed her eyes. If anything, a little sleep would help her.
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Fluttershy was up bright and early the next morning, even before Rainbow Dash had risen. She got up and began her usual routine of feeding all of the animals their breakfast. She gave the birds worms, chopped up some carrots for Angel, and gave leftovers to the raccoons. She was in the middle of handing the Badgers under the dock fish when her thoughts got the best of her again. What was she going to do about the state of Rainbow's and her friendship? She couldn't end what was going on, she just couldn't. But she didn't know if there was a full fledged relationship in store at some point either.

"Hey Fluttershy" somepony said behind her; the voice made Fluttershy jump back and yelp. It belonged to her friend, Twilight Sparkle, who now stood in front of her.

"I'm sorry, did I startle you?" Twilight asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"N-no, it's quite alright Twilight, I was just feeding my animal friends and I had something on my mind an-"

"What were you thinking about?" Twilight cut her off

"Oh! Nothing, I mean, it wasn't nothing, just nothing important. Well, I mean it was something important but…" Fluttershy sighed and gave up trying to finish the sentence; why did she have to be such a horrible liar?

"Well…okay… I just came by to see if you've seen Rainbow Dash anywhere, I need her for something." Twilight sounded a bit impatient.

"Um…well… what do you need her for? I mean, that is if you don't mind telling me" Fluttershy shyly responded.

"Oh, well I need some clouds trapped in this bottle for an experiment I'm running" she said while lifting a bottle out of her bag.

"Oh… I um…I can handle that for you if it's not too much trouble" Fluttershy didn't want her to find out where Rainbow Dash actually was.

"No…I'd rather have Rainbow Dash do it…Do you know where she is?" Twilight asked while eyeing Fluttershy. Fluttershy's mind went wild; she had to think of something, something quick!

"Um…she…um…S-She's off taking care of her weather jobs!" Fluttershy lied while giving a nod to Twilight to look like she was being truthful.

"Alright… Well, I'll see you later on tonight, right?" Twilight continued to prod

"Um…yes! I mean, what's tonight?" Fluttershy blankly asked

"Your birthday party…" Twilight was sounding more and more impatient by the moment. How could Fluttershy had forgotten about her birthday today!? She was supposed to show up at Sugar Cube Corner for her party this evening! What was she going to do; Rainbow was going to be there with her too! She'd be a nervous mess; what if she gave something away?

"Hello…?" Twilight's tone told Fluttershy she had gone too long without a response.

"Oh, um, yes. I'll see you tonight" Fluttershy hastily spoke.

"Okay then, Bye" Twilight turned around and walked away. Fluttershy took a deep breath and sighed in relief; that was close. She went back into her cottage and closed the door behind her. To her surprise, Rainbow Dash actually had left; maybe she did need to do her weather chores.

Fluttershy took this to her advantage as she lay down on the couch. She had to come up with some way to survive the party tonight without looking like a total fool; But how…?

END