Dear Rainbow Dash,

I’m writing this to let you know that I am not coming back to Cloudsdale. I’m returning home because something wonderful has happened after I fell from the sky!

‘Wait, she fell from the sky? That’s what happened?!’

I fell into the woods outside of this town of Ponyville. For the first time ever, I was on the ground exposed to untamed wilderness. There were so many wonderful creatures that I had never seen in person when I was living with my uncle in Cloudsdale. There were bunnies, and butterflies and squirrels; just so many wonders! I never wanted to leave, and then a strange explosion happened in the sky. It was so strange, the sky became filled with all the colors of the rainbow.

‘Sky full of rainbow?....Huh, that's weird.’

All of my new friends were really frightened by the explosive sound of the boom. I had to let them know that everything was okay, and you know what? They understood me. I realized that I had a special connection with animals that nopony else did! You’re not going to believe it Rainbow, but I got my cutie mark! I was so happy! I knew who I was and what I was meant to do.

‘Did we seriously get them on the same day? Huh, weird.’

So I’m dropping out of Flight School, moving back in with my parents in Foalando, and when I’m old enough to be on my own, I’m going to go where I can spend the rest of my life taking care of animals in Ponyville. I may not see you for a long time, so I just wanted you to know that I really loved having you as my friend, and thank you so much for standing up to those bullies all summer. Hopefully, we’ll meet again someday. Maybe you can visit Ponyville when you’re a Wonderbolt! Either way, I hope to see you again in the future.

Your pal,

Fluttershy.

The cyan filly put down the the letter in front of her on her bed. It had been two weeks since the incident Fluttershy had been referring to, and Rainbow had since returned home. The letter from Fluttershy was the first indication as to where she was, as she was nowhere to be found in Cloudsdale after Rainbow’s historic race. Rainbow was, of course, relieved that Fluttershy was okay, and she was very happy that her friend had found her special talent (even if it was kind of uncool).

Rainbow sighed and leaned back on her pillow to stare at the ceiling, with an overhead poster of the Wonderbolts’ latest rookie, Spitfire staring back at her.

Something was up with Rainbow, and she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. Over the summer, she had grown quite accustomed to the company of Fluttershy, and had grown to consider her a dear friend. It was because of this, that Rainbow was especially bothered by the way their relationship ended. Fluttershy unceremoniously fell off of Cloudsdale without saying goodbye to Dash. She wasn’t there to congratulate the little speedster on her accomplishing the first sonic rainboom and earning a cutie mark in the process. Rainbow certainly had oodles of praise showered upon her by her other friends and family, but it just seemed off to her that she didn’t relish the victory with the one filly that she had spent the whole summer bonding with and protecting. Rainbow would have gladly written a reply to Fluttershy’s letter explaining what happened in the race, but unfortunately, she had no idea what her address was in Foalando, and the letter Fluttershy wrote was from the post office in this “Ponyville” she wrote about.

Something else about the letter was bothering Rainbow Dash, and it concerned the ending passages. Would they ever actually cross paths again? What business would a Wonderbolt have visiting some hick frontier town like Ponyville? Even if Dash did have the time away from touring and training as a ‘Bolt, would Fluttershy, in the future, even care that she paid a visit? Certainly, Fluttershy may have missed Rainbow now, but what about in ten years? They would be complete strangers at that point.

That was another thing that was bothering Rainbow Dash: why was she contemplating all of this? Why was the topic of reuniting with a filly she knew from summer camp racking her brain so much. Sure, Dash and Fluttershy bonded, but it wasn’t like they were soulmates or anything. To Dash, Fluttershy was sometimes weak and spineless to the point of irritation. She was the antithesis of cool...so why was Rainbow so invested in her? What did Fluttershy do in time they spent that caused the junior daredevil to care so much about somepony as definitively uncool as her?

Perhaps she would never know.

__________________________________________________________

‘Well, I could certainly get used to this.” Opalescence thought to herself as she rolled over onto her back. Rarity had been gone all day, and frankly, Opal wasn’t complaining. As grateful as the feline was for the care and companionship her owner provided, even a kitty needed a break from that drama queen.

So with her solitude in the Boutique’s living room, Opal resolved to finally enjoy her opportunity to go to sleep to total darkness and silence, as opposed to all the lights in Rarity’s workroom being on and the fashionista’s noisy work serving as un-soothing background until the wee hours hours of morn. The cat stretched out and made herself comfortable on one of Rarity’s many throw pillows, curled up with a ball of yarn, let out a soothed sighed, and relaxed herself for a good night’s sleep.

So naturally, that’s when Opal heard rumblings from outside. Approaching the door was what sounded like two vagrant drunkards who were on their way back to their shanty, or at least that’s what Opal wished it was. She recognized the sing-songy giggle of one of the mares. The cat let out a defeated sigh.

‘Of. Fucking. Course.’

The front door slammed wide open. The natural light from Luna’s moon entered the boutique and protruded into Opal’s eyes, causing them to open. Making a “grand” entrance was a clearly tipsy Rarity (evidenced by said “grand” entrance) accompanied by another mare. Opal recognized her as the mare whom Rarity was being all flirty with earlier in the day. The two were giggling loudly like two school fillies and leaning on each other for support. They stumbled in and plopped onto the couch gassing on about whatever nonsense they were talking about outside. The throw pillow that Opal sleeping on was edged off of the couch by the sitting of the mare that Rarity was courting, and as it fell, Opal promptly leaped off and landed on all fours. The feline rolled her eyes and took a look at the cackling party of two, making the conclusion that nopony would notice if she just up and left. Opal showed herself outside, closed the door behind her and decided to find lodging at Sweet Apple Acres. Hopefully, Winona wasn’t still upset about Opal’s little “encounter” with Angel a few weeks ago, and if not, this kitty knew a few “moves” that lowered a bitch’s defenses. Anything was better than trying to get to sleep at the boutique.

Rarity was on cloud nine. Aside from the unfortunate events that marked the early afternoon, she had spent the perfect day with Foxy. Even though her revelation that she was infatuated with a married mare was pretty unsettling, Rarity wasn’t going to let that deter her enjoyment of her and Foxy’s camaraderie. The way the fashionista was feeling and acting at the moment, one would’ve never guessed what had been going on with Fluttershy. In fact, Rarity had sort of pushed what had happened just a few hours ago out of her mind when she went to the spa with Foxy, and as she was sitting on the couch laughing about...whatever it was they were talking about (for the last half hour, they were mostly just laughing and screwing around), the memories of the incident in Fluttershy’s bedroom came back to her as a bad reminder.

Almost instantly, Rarity’s mindset switched from carefree to guilt-ridden. She ceased her guffaws and let out a weary sigh. She slumped her shoulders and reclined against the couch. Foxy, taking notice in Rarity’s sudden shift in countenance, expressed her concern.

“Hey, what’s up? What’s eating you?”

Another weary sigh. “What are we doing, Foxy?”

The former star raised an eyebrow. “Whaddya mean?”

The fashionista scoffed in annoyance at Foxy’s supposed lack of knowledge. “I mean THIIIIIIIS.” Rarity flailed her hooves in the space around her for dramatic effect. “Like...why are we here?”

Foxy groaned. “Sweet Celestia. You’re not going to get existential on me, are you?”

Rarity returned a confused look. “Uh...no.”

The fox colored mare expelled a sigh of relief. “Good, you had me worried for a second. So now, what are you talking about?”

“Like, why are we here getting drunk and laughing about nothing...and there’s all this travesty going on with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy? It seems like we should be doing something.”

“Oh...” That was all Foxy had to say for a while. An interlude of awkward silence followed before Foxy came up with, “You know, in theory, you’re right, but I gotta be honest, there’s really nothing that we can do.”

It was Rarity’s turn to get quizzical. “Beg your pardon.”

Foxy raised her hooves. “Now, now just bear with me for a second. Think about this: you’re Fluttershy’s best friend, right?”

“I like to think of myself as such, yes.”

“Okay. You two are BFFs, but when Fluttershy locked herself in her room after Rainbow left, did she let you console her?”

“Well....no.”

“Exactly. But when Saltlick came upstairs to talk to her, she let him in, and she opened up to him, and she let him console her. Why? Because when you have an issue with family, the best people to help solve it is family.”

Rarity processed this statement for a moment before drooping her shoulders and bestowing herself a saddened look in her eyes. “But...I am her family. Me, Twilight, Applejack, all of us.”

Foxy extended her hoof to Rarity’s shoulder. “I know you are. Fluttershy couldn’t ask for any better friends, but you need to understand. Blood is thicker than magical stones that shoot rainbows.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Did...did those words just come out of your mouth?”

Foxy nodded. “Did it land?”

Rarity slowly shook her head in stunned bemusement. “No....not all. Weak, weak joke.”

“Oh. Well the point is: there are just some things that you can’t fix. You need to just accept that.”

Rarity thought about this a let out a depressed groan. “But this is all my fault.”

“What do you mean?”

Rarity sighed. “The other day, before you and Fluttershy’s family arrived to Ponyville, I decided to pay her a visit. To chit chat and what not. Anyway, when I arrived at her cottage, she was moving a heavy box to her shed.”

“Wait. Is that the box Fluttershy was talking about earlier today? The one that had the Wonderbolts posters and pictures of her and Rainbow Dash?”

Rarity nodded. “I saw that she was trying to hide them. I chastised her and she confessed that none of you knew about her...persuasion, let alone her relationship with Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah, it’s true. The guys have been distant from Fluttershy for years. To be honest, the only time I had met Fluttershy in the past was when Saltine and I got married.”

“Rather than ask why she was unwilling to tell all of you, I resolved to make her come out at that dinner party last night. I pushed her into it, and it was only because of Twilight’s insistence that I force her to do it when we were there.”

Foxy nodded. “I see.”

“This whole thing is my fault. I should have just let sleeping dogs lie. What kind of friend am I?” Rarity plopped to her side and struck a pose that suggested that she was preparing one of her performances. She was only to be stopped by Foxy.

“Rarity, listen to me. What happened today is not your fault. You did what you thought was the right thing to do. Yes, you probably had no business doing it, but the intention was noble. It’s not your fault that Rainbow came home early; it’s not your fault that my husband caught them together, and it’s not your fault he decided to be a bastard about it. This whole situation was out of control.”

Rarity sniffled slightly and began to ease out of her self-pity. Felling consoled, she rose from her “woe is me” position and looked into Foxy’s eyes.

“Why did you marry him?”

The earth pony stared back and furled her lips in silence before letting out a sigh. “You know, after I left “House of Shadows”, I decided to just take a break from all of it. When you run the club circuit in Canterlot for long enough, you start to burn out. I needed peace, quiet, and normalcy. I guess what I loved about Saltine was that he offered me this kind of content with something small. He let me be myself instead of some larger-than-life pop-star. For a while, I loved having that kind of stability and comfort.”

Rarity was surprised by Foxy’s confessions. “Do you even miss being an artist? Because trust me, I and a lot of ponies could only have dreamed to be you.”

“I appreciate that, and in answer to your question...sometimes. Yeah, I know I said I loved the quiet life, and I still kind of do, but nowadays, the itch for a comeback is kinda getting to me.” the earth pony lowered her head, closed her eyes, released a defeated sigh. “But in all honesty, that’s a pipe dream. I mean, who would still want to see me: the forgotten half of the duo that was just a launch pad for Sapphire’s solo career?”

It was now Rarity’s turn to console, as she placed a hoof on Foxy’s slumped shoulder. Foxy raised her head and the two looked into each other’s eyes. Rarity uttered softly, “Me, for one.”

Foxy’s eyes glimmered as she gave a warm smile to her friend. “Thanks, Rarity. It’s good to know I wasn’t completely forgotten, but I’m still not ready to make that move. I still want to work things out with Saltine.”

Rarity was legitimately stunned by this. “Oh...honestly, why?”

“Rarity, imagine if you were with somepony for literally a decade and had two foals with him. Would you just leave him on a whim in the span of 24 hours?”

Rarity thought about before replying, “You’re right.”

Foxy nodded. “Exactly. Tomorrow, I’m going back to Foalando try and work out this problem with Saltine. I’m sure Fluttershy and Saltlick are thinking the same thing.”

Let’s find out, shall we?

______________________________________________

Like the night before, everypony had gathered in Fluttershy’s living room, only this time, Rarity, Foxy, and Saltine weren’t present, and Spike and Pinkie were conscious. Tonight, this meeting concerned how Fluttershy and Saltlick were going to handle the situations with Rainbow Dash and Saltine respectively. Fluttershy had just laid out her plan to begin a search for Rainbow Dash.

“Sugarcube, didn’t RD say she was gonna come back? I wouldn’t wear yourself out trying ta do some snipe hunt to find her.”

“I appreciate your concern, Applejack, but I can’t rest easy not knowing where Rainbow Dash is. We have to find her.”

Twilight nodded and replied, “We understand, Fluttershy. We’ll help you anyway we can.”

“Yeah!!!” Pinkie interjected, having broken from her psychotic “Pinkie Promise” episode. “Wherever Dashie is, we’ll find her, dead or alive!”

“WHAT?!” Everypony replied in shock.

“Sorry, sorry. Alive. Not dead. Alive.” Pinkie wisely decided to stop talking after that.

Twilight turned to Spike and said, “Spike, write a letter to Princess Celestia and ask her to put out an APB on Rainbow Dash.”

“A what now?”

“All Points Bulletin”

“..........”

Twilight groaned and did a facehoof. “Ask her to put a search out on Rainbow Dash!”

“Ohhh. Seriously, just say that.” Spike then whipped out his quill and parchment and began work on the letter.

Applejack looked to Saltlick. “So what’re ya’ll gonna be doin’?”

“I’m going back to Foalando. Hopefully I can talk some sense into that son of mine.”

Applejack understood, but given what she had seen of Fluttershy’s brother, she was pretty pessimistic of such a prospect.

As everypony continued discussing their plans, a muffled, but very powerful noise began to come from outside. It started out incoherently, but then began to sound like a raspy mare yelling,

“FLUTTERSHYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!”

Everypony’s eyes widened. Spike began to crumple up his parchment, eyes still wide open and staring vacantly.

Applejack was the only one to say anything. “Ya cain’t be serious.” Obviously, she added nothing.

In a matter of seconds, a cyan blob crashed through and destroyed the front door. It rolled on the floor and was stopped by Fluttershy’s chair (more specifically, her hindlegs).

Rainbow looked incredibly dazed and dehydrated. Not to mention, her face was covered in dried pixie dust. Everypony in the room was asking themselves the same question, “What the hay was going on up in this bitch?”

Rainbow looked upward and made contact with Fluttershy, who was honestly too shocked to be frightened, and pretty much pounced on her like a dog reuniting with its owner. The chair that Fluttershy was sitting in tipped over and now the two pegasi were lying on the floor. Rainbow’s wings were standing tall and erect, while Fluttershy’s were splayed across the floor. Stammering incoherently and slavening her lover with kisses, Rainbow had clearly experienced a complete shift in mood over the course of the evening. While Fluttershy was certainly elated that Rainbow had returned to her and adorning her lips with kisses, she was, above all, dreadfully confused.

“Rain-” kiss “-bow” kiss, “RAINBOW!!!”

“Sup, honey?”

“What the hay are you doing here?”

“Unfinished business.” Rainbow rose from her position and got on one knee. Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and everypony in the room went from universal silence to harmonious gasps. Dash cleared her throat.

“Fluttershy, I...I made the biggest mistake. I thought you were ashamed of me, and that was just really dumb. I-i should have been there to protect you. I mean, isn’t that what I usually do? Tell me I’m wrong. Anyway, because I was dumb, I almost lost you. You’re the reason I live, Fluttershy. I want to protect you and hold you close forever. Aw jeez this is sappy-but it’s the truth! I love you, ‘Shy, and I’m never gonna stop loving you, and I know we can’t do it here in Ponyville, but...”

Dash extended her wobbly forelegs and took hold of Fluttershy’s right hoof. Tears of joy were in both of their eyes and everypony else was grinning wildly and practically beginning to break out the champagne.

“Fluttershy, will you marry me?”

Oh, sweet romance! Never had Twilight and company ever seen such a grand gesture of love. Dash’s grand entrance combined with such a daring proposal was like that of the most over-the-top romantic comedies, but to see such a genuine display in the flesh was so elating. It was only to be culminated when Fluttershy responded,

“Oh, Rainbow. I don’t know what to say, just....”

Everypony leaned in, giddy and anxious as school fillies.

“No.”

Next Chapter: 15. L is for "Loss" Estimated time remaining: 16 Minutes