The prize, it was more than a flower, more than this Rainbow Blossom. The plant was beautiful, radiating with a graceful range of colors, but that was just a device. Just a substitute for words which Fluttershy could never say, for actions that she could never perform. The real prize was Rainbow Dash, the mare she adored. The thoughts she had of her, and the words that she would speak, these were the forces driving the seemingly timid mare to her goal.

A river flowed down in the area, water moving so calmly as it forked into two separate paths. One stream was right between the two mares and the mountain, a bridge lay over it, the other bridge lead into the base of the mountain, as water descended into lower elevations. A breeze of cold air passed the ponies, almost warning them of the dangers of climbing the mountain. The great mountain, Fable Peak, staring motionlessly at the pegasi who had finally reached it's base.

"Alright Fluttershy, ready to fly up there with me?" Rainbow Dash asked. Her wings spread quickly as she looked determined.

Fluttershy's wings locked up, she shivered in fear. "N-No. It's... so scary."

"Fluttershy, are we really gonna have to do this again?" The athletic mare threw her hoof against her face.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash... I just can't though." the timid pony responded.

The cyan pegasus sighed. She already knew that Fluttershy wouldn't be flying up to the top of Fable Peak from the start. It was just some hope that she would overcome her fear and start flying, saving a lot of trouble. It wasn't that bad though. She liked just being here, accompanying her friend.

"Alright. Walking it is." she spoke.

The sun beginning to set, as evening approached. The two ponies walked onto the brown, oak bridge which spanned across the river. Crossing the bridge, the road now took them up the mountain. The cobblestone being overtaken by cold and dry ground after a few metres of ascension up Fable Peak.

The two ponies were very soon, off of the road, hooves beating against the rough earth beneath them. Snow placed itself on the mountain unnaturally, as Fable Peak's Weather was not maintained by any weather team. It was these areas, these places so far away from any sort of civilization that were so intimidating, so mysterious.

"Hey Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash spoke.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash?" her friend responded.

"There's something I want you to see. I'll show you when we get high enough to see it." the cyan pony gave off a slight smile.

Fluttershy looked confused. Confused, but at the same time, very interested. "What is it?" she asked.

"Can't tell you." she said. "Just wait, you'll love it."

The two ponies continued ascending Fable Peak. Fluttershy wondered what her love was talking about. Rainbow Dash said she would love it though, and Fluttershy placed her trust in her.

What seemed like a small amount of snow quickly grew, as more white appeared instead of the grey, rocky terrain at lower elevations. The temperature dropped in a way that most ponies never felt in the pony-controlled weather they were used to.

Fluttershy broke the silence. "You can do this Fluttershy. I know you can."

Her crush looked confused, and then smiled a bit. "Really Fluttershy, talking to yourself?" She giggled a bit.

"Oh my, I didn't mean to! That's not like me Rainbow Dash, you know that." Fluttershy's face lit up.

"Don't worry, that was cute." the mare replied with her smile growing, causing Fluttershy to blush even more.

Fluttershy attempted to say something, but could only make out a squeak. Rainbow Dash could only snicker at that.

"Oh man." she thought to herself. "This is awesome."

The pair continued up the mountain, any shrubbery or other form of multicellular life slowly disappearing. Fluttershy was still blushing, thoroughly embarrassed by her actions and Rainbow's words. Her crush however, blissfully walked alongside her, a large smile on her face.

An hour passed, the two ponies sharing their thoughts with one-another. Rainbow Dash listened intently on what Fluttershy had to say, which filled Fluttershy with joy. Rainbow Dash would tell her admirer about her interests in racing, occasionally about some weather job accidents.

"Yeah, ten seconds flat, my flank!" Rainbow Dash laughed. Fluttershy laughed with her, smiling at her love.

"I'll tell you, there isn't anypony who can match my talent." she added.

Fluttershy up towards the sky. "Of course not, you're Equestria's best weather pony." she added.

"Thanks Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash stopped again, moving her foreleg in front of Fluttershy to make her stop as well.

"Hey, here's what I wanted to show you." Rainbow Dash motioned to her right with her head. "Look over there."

"Oh... It's beautiful!" Fluttershy exclaimed, her cheeks filling with redness, and her heart, with joy.

It was a view of the ocean on the side of the mountain opposite to that of the Whitetail Woods, a large body of water which didn't often form in Equestria. The only few ponies who actually saw oceans were travelers, or pegasi. Fluttershy may have been a pegasus, but she didn't enjoy flying, nor did she like large heights. Rainbow Dash however, had seen plenty of them. She knew about Fluttershy though, she knew that the mare would love to see one.

"You like it?" she asked.

"Of course, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy beamed. "It's wonderful. Thank you!"

Rainbow Dash felt something she didn't often feel. Some sort of warmth, a feeling of being back home, yet somehow a feeling of being at her prime. "No problem." she said. This feeling however, rose quickly, "Anything for my favorite pony." it guided, almost forced her to say.

"Dashie..." Fluttershy spoke. She didn't often call her that, but she thought it was cute, never really having enough courage to actually call her that. "Do I really mean that much to you?"

Rainbow Dash gave a bewildered look. "Awkward, much?"

"Oh no!" Fluttershy thought. "That's not good." A worried look appeared on her, perhaps she took that too far. "Uh... Sorry, just asking." she said, starting to whimper.

Rainbow Dash looked confused, and then sorry for a while. "Nah, my bad. Of course you mean a lot to me!"

The now guilty pony sighed once more. "Look Fluttershy, that just sounded a bit... personal. Don't take it too hard. You can ask me anything you want and I won't get mad. Alright?"

Fluttershy looked up to Rainbow Dash and nodded. She thought of asking Rainbow Dash if she liked her, but disregarded those thoughts. She'd save it for later, once they were out of this mess.

With that, the two ponies continued up the mountain. Hours passed, with Rainbow Dash thinking of thoughts that were never known to her. She was a bit hard on Fluttershy, yet at the same time, a bit more sympathetic to her. These were things she never really cared about, at least until now.

It was getting dark. Luna's moon would arrive soon, to dimly light the barren mountain. The ponies needed a place to sleep, but they had no lighting. They didn't have the specialized fire-making equipment that ponies could easily use, here at this mountain. They needed to find some place though.

"Fluttershy, we've gotta' sleep soon. You know that right?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy nodded. "But where?"

The sportsmare thought for a moment. "Wait right here. I'll bring a cloud close enough for me to carry you to. You'll be okay, right?" she asked. She could carry Fluttershy for a while, but not up an entire mountain.

"Y-Yes." she lied.

"Great, it won't take long." Rainbow Dash replied, zipping off into the sky.

Fluttershy decided to take the time to curl up and look at the sky above. It was cloudly, but not with denser masses of clouds, only fog.

"Oh Dashie... Do you love me? Could you ever love me?" Fluttershy asked herself. "If only we could be together at this very mome-"

"Back!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, as she threw the cloud she was holding with her hooves behind her.

Fluttershy jumped. "Oh, Rainbow Dash! You startled me!"

"Ah, sorry." she said, holding Fluttershy's sides while lifting herself over the yellow pony. "Alright, let's get you to that cloud."

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings harder, and she lifted the combined weight of the two ponies a few feet up into the air. Quickening her pace, she flew over to the cloud which both pegasi could sleep on. Softly letting Fluttershy down onto the cloud, she smiled.

"Okay, I'm gonna' get us some food now. It won't be long."

"Alright." Fluttershy spoke. "Just a little cold here."

"Sorry Fluttershy... No other options for you though. If you could fly here, that would be great. I could go back to Ponyville, but I'm not gonna' do that to you. Just stay here." she said, zipping back down to the base of the mountain where there was more vegetation.

It didn't take a while for Rainbow Dash to get back to Fluttershy. This time, her mouth was stuffed with shrubs. It looked silly, but they needed something to eat. Fluttering down to the surface of the cloud, she laid the shrubs down.

"Not much." she chuckled. "We'll last, though. I'll get some for myself now." she said, repeating the process.

In a moment, the two ponies were on the cloud, both with around a mouthful of shrubs to eat for each of them. It didn't take them long to finish the small amounts of food they had.

"Alright then, time to get some sleep!" Rainbow Dash said, laying with her belly against the cloud. "Good night Fluttershy."

Fluttershy slowly curled up on the cloud, she hadn't been on one for a long while. She preferred to stay on the ground. "Good night, Dashie."

A half-hour passed. Neither pony could get any sleep. It wasn't a feeling of nervous, but rather emptiness, dissatisfaction. That so much has happened, yet so much hadn't. What hadn't happened that they both wanted, neither of them knew.

"Fluttershy, you awake?" Rainbow Dash was almost certain that she was still awake, but asked anyway.

Fluttershy spoke. "Yes. What is it?"

"Just can't sleep." she commented. "It's pretty cold and all, I don't think that's it though."

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment. "Not sure, just feeling some things at times. I don't really want to talk about it."

"Please Rainbow Dash. You can ask me anything." Fluttershy stated.

"Thanks, you're a good friend." she replied., her pride being replaced with sentimentality. "I'm not sure if I have anything to ask though. It's just so vague, you know?"

The two laid down without any speech for a while. Finally, Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

"Fluttershy, do you like anypony?" The cyan mare asked.

The timid pony blushed. "Uh... I-I like everypony."

"You know what I mean. Do you, like, like anypony?" she asked again.

"Well... Yes." Fluttershy admitted.

"That's awesome." Rainbow Dash commented. "Who is it?"

"I... I can't tell you." That was just what Fluttershy said about why she wanted that flower so badly, or why she didn't want Rainbow Dash to go with her.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. "Fluttershy, there's definitely something you're hiding from me. Doesn't matter though, I'm not gonna' force you to tell me."

"Not going to make you do something you don't like." she added.

"Oh... Thanks." Fluttershy was relieved. "Rainbow, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah." her love approved. "Anything."

"Can we share some warmth?"

"Oh... Of c-course." Rainbow Dash spoke. "Yeah, why not?" she rephrased her previous sentence to one which suited her better.

"Great." Fluttershy softly spoke, rolling over to Rainbow Dash and wrapping her arms around her.

It was cold, any both ponies needed some heat, so the weirded out pony decided to let that one slide.

"Oh horseapples." Rainbow Dash thought to herself. "Now this is awkward. Feels so right though. Speaking of awkward, what in the hay was that? How often do I stutter? Celestia forsake 'Sentimental Dash', 'Ms. I'm so deep and philosophical.'" Still though, she felt like she needed to get those words out. She didn't often speak the way she did to Fluttershy, to other ponies.

Rainbow Dash continued to think to herself. "How often do I say this stuff to my friends? But then again, maybe she's more than a friend. But then, what is she? What would she be?"

"But again." she thought. "This feels so right. Just right. Feels like I could stay like this forever."

A feeling of warmth surged through both ponies. Both physically, and on a plane of existence which neither of the ponies knew of. The two slowly drifted off into sleep, thoughts of one-another manifesting into their dreams.

An image of contrast appeared to all who could have seen it at that time. The barren and loveless reaches of Fable Peak and the cold air, and then the small place of retreat, and of affection.

Fluttershy shared her love's thoughts. "I could stay like this forever." she thought, drifting into her dreams.

Next Chapter: Rainbow Blossom - Part 4 Estimated time remaining: 13 Minutes