Romance and the Fate of Equestria

In casual conversation, I often refer to this story as "RFE". But I realized that if you include the small words, it could also be acronym'd as "RatFoE". That spells "rat foe". Boy, I sure hope that doesn't catch on. Haha.

Chapter Eighty-Seven

Rainbow Dash rifled through her mail as she flew down the streets of Ponyville. She wasn't focused on where she was going, and didn't realize that she was sinking closer and closer to the ground. Once her hind hooves touched the icy streets, she slipped and skidded, flapping her wings frantically to stabilize, but colliding with something huge, solid, and unyielding, sending her crumbling to the ground and her mail scattering all over.

It took Rainbow a moment to realize that the stone wall she had crashed into was actually Big Macintosh, who himself seemed to only just be noticing that somepony had hit him. "Rainbow Dash!" he said in alarm.

He reached out his hoof to help her up, but wound up slipping himself. He tried to stand, but couldn't keep his hooves stable underneath his body. Rainbow flapped her wings to take to the air, and helped haul him back up to his hooves. She then darted around to grab all of her mail.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said.

"No, it's my fault," said Rainbow, shuffling her mail and sticking it into her saddlebag. "Sometimes I just don't look where I'm going. Wasn't somepony gonna salt these streets? Huh, maybe it was supposed to be me."

Big Mac chuckled at that, and she grinned at him.

"Nice to see ya, Big Mac," she said brightly.

"You too," he replied quietly.

She blushed and averted her eyes. "Well, later," she said, starting to fly away.

"Rainbow, wait," Big Mac said hastily.

She turned back to him.

"Um… what's up?" he asked.

Rainbow smirked. "Well, you said 'wait', so I'm waiting. That's about it."

"Right," he muttered. "I guess, uh, I just wanted to ask if, maybe, sometime you think you'd like to… be gone out with by me." He grinned broadly.

Rainbow was silent for a moment as she hovered there. "Hm," she said. "That was pretty cute. And, uh, flattering. Yeah, flattering. I am… flattered. How long do I get to think it over?"

"Wh-what's to think about?" he said, looking hurt.

"Well, come on, you know," she said seriously. "You used to date Fluttershy. There are codes that forbid dating friends' exes. It's a bit of a no-no. Distinctly falls under the heading of 'not cool'."

"Oh, come on," he said irritably. "What are we, in high school? We're two consentin' adults, we can do whatever we want. I know you like me. Don'tcha? I like you too. Why do we have to bring other ponies into it?"

She nodded solemnly. "I know we're not in high school, and I do like you. Those are the only two reasons I'm asking you to let me think about it instead of saying no." She squeezed his face between her two front hooves. "Do you follow me?"

"Eeyup," he said in a strangled voice.

"Good. I'll let you know what I decide."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Twilight sat at a table in Sugarcube Corner. Rarity approached her cautiously. "Erm… Twilight?"

"Yeah?" said Twilight, looking up.

"Is Discord with you?"

"No."

"Well… good," Rarity sighed in relief. "Truth be told, I'm glad you don't take him with you everywhere you go anymore."

Twilight grinned. "He's on call. But yes, now that I'm certain there's no need to keep him under constant supervision, I'm relieved to have set up a schedule that gets him off my back every now and again."

Rainbow burst into the bakery, wide-eyed and frantic. "Is Fluttershy here?" she demanded.

"Right here, Rainbow," Fluttershy called from another table, instantly standing up and trotting over. "What is it?"

Rainbow breathed deeply to calm herself. "You… may wanna sit back down," she said gently.

"That's all right, Rainbow," said Fluttershy. "What's wrong?"

Rainbow set down on the floor and had to make a visible effort to hold eye contact with Fluttershy. "Big Macintosh asked me out," she said plainly.

"WHAT?!" Pinkie Pie shrieked from behind the counter. She grabbed a small bottle of something, uncapped it, and took a large swallow from it.

"I thought I should tell you," Rainbow mumbled.

"…Oh," Fluttershy peeped.

Rarity raced to Fluttershy's side. "Fluttershy, darling, I… I'm sorry," she said in a pained voice.

Fluttershy smiled at her. "Don't be sorry, Rarity. I thought this might happen. He needed to be alone to grieve, so… this must mean he's not grieving anymore. That's good. I'm happy for him."

"Yeah, but I thought that when he was done grieving, he'd come back to you," said Twilight, also coming up alongside her. "I think that's what we all hoped was going to happen." She put her head on Fluttershy's shoulder. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Can you guys give us a little space?" Rainbow said. Rarity and Twilight backed away, surprised. "Thanks. Fluttershy… here's the thing. He asked me out… and I… want… to tell him… 'yes'."

Fluttershy stared blankly. "What?" she breathed.

"Oh my—" Rarity whispered. She snatched up Pinkie's drink with her magic and took a large gulp of it herself. She shuddered. "What the devil is this?" she demanded, looking at the bottle.

"Raspberry vinaigrette," said Pinkie.

Rarity glared at her. "I just pounded salad dressing?"

"Uh-huh."

Rarity looked at the bottle, then at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "All right," she said softly, taking another swallow.

"I don't understand," Fluttershy was saying.

"I wasn't gonna tell you," said Rainbow. "I was gonna keep it to myself forever. But he asked me out, you understand? I'm asking you if I can finally… let it out."

"I… I just… what?" Fluttershy stammered.

"Allow me," said Applejack, stepping up and rubbing Rainbow's back. "RD's spent the past few months fallin' in love with Big Mac, even while you were gettin' closer to him and then… farther away. She'd never do anything to hurt you, sugarcube, and she's askin' if it would hurt you to go out with him now."

"You love him?" Fluttershy asked Rainbow, stunned.

"Maybe," Rainbow muttered. "I don't know."

"But you want to be with him?"

Rainbow didn't answer.

"You know, I always suspected," Twilight said thoughtfully. "Gosh, Rainbow. That must be painful for you. That much conflict in your heart."

Rainbow scoffed. "It's fine. Schoolfillies deal with that problem. It's no big deal."

"Was this the secret you were keeping?" Twilight asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's no big deal!" Rainbow snapped. "Look at everything you guys were going through."

She looked out at all the others. "Having to bury a relative," she said to Applejack. "Whatever happened to you that killed your regard for yourself," she added to Rarity. She gestured vaguely to Twilight. "Getting deflowered by a rat bastard of a con man. And after all of that…" She hung her head and looked up to Fluttershy. "You. Losing him. I… I'd look like a jerk and an idiot and a sucky friend if I brought up my lame issues and tried to pass them off as real problems."

Twilight pouted sympathetically. "Dash…"

Rainbow glared at her. "Where's Discord? I expected him to be throwing in his two cents by now."

"You want him here taunting you?" Twilight said blankly.

"No, but it's better than waiting for him to pop out unexpectedly," Rainbow said edgily, glancing around.

"He won't," Twilight assured her. "I'm so sorry you've been dealing with this all by yourself. You can't compare yourself to the rest of us. Just because your problems might not be as bad as ours doesn't mean they're not traumatic for you."

"Traumatic?" Rainbow demanded. "Oh, that's stretching the truth just a… just a little bit…" Her voice trailed off as she gazed at Fluttershy, and she suddenly started crying and dropped to her knees. "Fluttershy," she choked out.

"Whoa, nelly," Applejack muttered, backing away.

"Vinaigrette?" said Rarity, offering her the bottle.

"Please." Applejack tossed back a swig of it.

"Please," Rainbow Dash whispered, her tear-streaked face staring down at the floor. "I've never begged for anything in my life, but I'm begging you now. If you still love him, and want him, I completely understand. But if you can find it in your heart to let me take my shot at him… to run the risk that I might end up with him… then I swear I'll make him happy, and I'll be in your debt forever and ever. Just please say yes. If you say no, fine, I'll never even think about him again. I just… I have to ask. So what'll it be?"

Fluttershy smiled, letting out a little sob of her own. "Rainbow… stand up."

Rainbow shakily got to her hooves, and Fluttershy hugged her tightly. "I'm honored," she whispered, "that you care enough to ask me first. And I wouldn't expect any less from you, you wonderful friend. Yes. Yes, you can go out with him."

"Really?" Rainbow said softly in her ear.

"Of course," said Fluttershy, parting from her and staring lovingly into her eyes. "And don't feel like you owe me anything for it. Please? He broke up with me. I don't have any more claim to him than you do."

"This won't change anything between us?" Rainbow said hastily, just to make sure.

"Of course not. I love you."

Rainbow squealed in excitement. "Thanks, Fluttershy. I'll never forget this. I'm gonna go tell him. Thank you!" She kissed Fluttershy's forehead and darted out the door.

Fluttershy turned away from the others so they couldn't see her face. A tear fell from her eyes and landed on the floor.

"Oh, Fluttershy…" Rarity said softly.

Fluttershy whirled on them angrily. "None of you saw that!" she said in a harsh voice that sounded entirely unnatural coming from her. "I… am… happy for them."

She sat back down at her table, staring off into space.