"Carrying Torches/Passing Torches"

Rainbow Dash was utterly convinced that all of her friends were going to be absolutely over the moon with the news that she and Fluttershy were now dating. It was not a conviction that Fluttershy shared.

But there was no arguing with Dash when the blue pegasus believed something as firmly as she believed this, and so Fluttershy offered no protest or complaint. Instead, she trudged along behind her beloved as Rainbow Dash happily and speedily flew towards Twilight’s tree. When they arrived, they found that their four closest friends were already inside and waiting, just as Dash had requested.

The room felt uncomfortably warm and stifling. Fluttershy opted to stand near the corner and observe, while Dash positioned herself right in the middle of the room. The weather pony beamed a huge grin at all of their assembled friends.

“Well?” Twilight smiled expectantly. “What’s this big, important announcement you two have for us?”

Holding her breath, Fluttershy trained her eyes on Pinkie Pie and, for the moment, ignored the two unicorns and other earth pony. She wasn’t entirely sure about what was going to happen, but … but she had suspicions. It wasn’t as good as Pinkie sense, that was true, but spending so much time caring for animals taught a pony how to read silent, subtle clues, and Fluttershy had gotten enough clues to suspect that Rainbow’s big reveal might not go as well as they hoped. Best to stay alert, at any rate.

“It’s totally awesome,” Dash began, flaring out her wings dramatically. “Fluttershy and me? Yeah, we’re dating now. Totally in love and all that. Probably gonna adopt, like, a gazillion foals.”

Fluttershy smiled despite herself. Dash always did have a way of just cutting right to the chase, blunt and direct, something Fluttershy herself could never quite do. It was one of the things she most admired about Rainbow Dash, actually. One of the things that had all but forced her to fall in love with the brash young pegasus.

But the smile dropped from Fluttershy’s face just a moment later when she noticed Pinkie’s bright blue eyes blinking rapidly, as though the room was suddenly too bright, and Pinkie’s mouth jerking down in a tight frown. A small shiver ran the full length of her pink body, and the earth pony clenched her jaw. Pinkie almost looked like she was in pain.

Then, almost instantly, all signs of any trouble had vanished--Pinkie was smiling again, her eyes wide and untroubled. She gasped loudly. “Oh, my gosh! I have to throw you guys the bestest party ever!”

“And I must, must, must hear all the details!” Rarity chimed in, eyeing Fluttershy with an odd mixture of reproach and glee in her eyes. “I want to know exactly how this little romance began, as I admit it’s taken me rather by surprise.”

And then Rarity was hugging her, and Applejack was grinning and slapping Rainbow on the back, and Twilight was asking nopony in particular about whether she should write a friendship report on this new development, and Fluttershy was utterly and completely overwhelmed. Through all the noise and congratulations and hyperventilating, she did manage to form one coherent thought, that it was nice that all of their friends seemed to be taking this so well. She hadn’t known what she and Rainbow would do if anypony had been upset by the news.

Except, she remembered suddenly, that one pony had been.

With a quiet apology and hastily whispered excuse, Fluttershy disentangled herself from Rarity’s embrace. She turned to face Pinkie Pie. Pinkie sat a few feet away, separate from the others, smiling blankly at everything and nothing all at once. She’d never looked more painfully young than she did right then and there.

Fluttershy took a few hesitant steps towards the other pony, and Pinkie glanced up. They locked eyes for several endless, tense seconds, before Fluttershy completely broke. She threw her forelegs around her friend and held on as tight as she dared.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured into Pinkie’s fluffy mane, “but I also can’t help not being sorry, because I really do love her, and it’s all very complicated and confusing, and … and … oh, Pinkie.”

Gingerly Pinkie hugged her back. “I … I really am happy for you. For both of you.”

“I’m s-so sorry ...”

“Take good care of her, Fluttershy.” Pinkie’s voice was quiet, nothing more than a whisper, and discordantly serious. “She needs somepony to take care of her, because she’s a silly pony and not very good at doing that herself.” There was a strained pause. “But don’t tell her I said that, okay?”

Fluttershy pulled back a little and saw that Pinkie was smiling ever so slightly--and, though the earth pony’s eye shone with tears, the smile was warm and genuine. Fluttershy found herself smiling back.

“I won’t tell her,” she promised.

---
Author's Notes: Come for the Rainbow Pie, get blindsided by Flutter Dash! That's just how we roll here at DB Stories Incorporated.