It was a beautiful, hot, mid-summer day, fluffy clouds were floating in the azure sky, and the sun was shining bright over the land. Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were helping their friend Fluttershy in her yard. They all pitched in, some trimming hedges, or feeding the fish in the small pond on Shy’s property, while others watered plants and harvested crops. Everypony was enjoying each other’s company and the honesty of the labour they were performing.

Across the garden Twilight and Dash could be heard having a debate of sorts.

“True, the Daring Do books are good, but they’re hardly a complicated read, especially if you compare them to some of the more… involved books in my library.”

“Oh, c’mon Twi!” Dash exclaimed in her sporty voice, “Don’t wave your egg headedness at me! Daring Do has hard words! Like! Like! Like conspicuous! That’s a hard word! Did you know how long that word it?! It’s like, ten letters long!” She threw her front legs up in emphasis and stomped a hoof.

“Come now, Dash. Conspicuous is certainly not a difficult word. A word such as colloquially, for example, could be considered a somewhat difficult word. But conspicuous? No way. Also it’s eleven letters long, not ten.”

“Ugh. Whatever. Daring Do’s still an amazing series! Do you remember what she did in the last book? That was so totally awesome! She was all like, ‘What are you doing? That’s a priceless relic, if you take that this volcano will erupt!’ And the bad guy was all like, ‘Ohhh, it will? Well I’m a bad guy and I’m going to take it anyway! Grrr!’”

Dash jumped off the ground and enacted the courageous fight that ensued, her legs kicking in every direction while she feigned and dodged in the air.

This went on for a good few seconds before she tucked her wings in and fell back to the ground, chest heaving more from excitement than from exertion.

“Daring Do is so cool!”

"For the millionth time, yes!" Applejack snapped. "Daring Do's very cool! We know."

She cut an uneven patch off the bush she was tending out of sheer annoyance. Applejack could never get used to Dash’s constant rambling about Daring Do. It wasn’t that she herself didn’t like the books, they were admittedly entertaining, but it just got so old listening to her go on, and on, and on about them.
"I knew getting you to read the series while you were recovering from that wing injury a while ago would get you hooked onto them, and maybe after we finish here you could come to the library with me and I’ll introduce you to some other books you might enjoy." Twilight smiled widely. She would never say so out loud, but she loved being right.

Puffing out her cyan chest, the pragmatic pony responded, “Pffft! Nah, I don’t want to read any other books. Only Daring Do’s awesome enough for me!”

“Oh. Well, if you change your mind, just ask. I’m sure I can find something you’d love to read!”
Fluttershy, over near the middle of the yard, fed a piece of the celery stalk she recently harvested to her little snow white bunny, Angel. The animal grinned in delight and munched on the vegetable, making her unusually long whiskers wave wildly about her face.

"Can you remind me to trim Angel's whiskers sometime this week, Twilight? They’re getting awfully long."

"Of course, Fluttershy." Twilight said with a smile and a nod.

"Whoo-wee. I'm sweatin' more than a pot-belly pig out in this here heat." Applejack exclaimed with a sigh. She got up and, reaching over to the bucket of fish food nearby, threw a hooful of the nutritious flakes into the pond. The fish swarmed around the specks as they drifted down to the bottom of the water, devouring them and leaving no trace behind.

"Jeez, ain't you fellers full yet?" she continued to stare at them, slightly mesmerized by their brightly colored scales.

"Hey," Rainbow Dash began, "Have any of you guys seen Pinkie Pie or Rarity around? I needed to get back the mixer I lent them, but I couldn't find them to save my life."

"Rarity said she was supposed to attend to one of Sapphire Shores' shows." Twilight said, “And as for Pinkie Pie, you know how she is. Disappearing and reappearing all over the place like her usual self." They all giggled, knowing well how true that was.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "Well, if any of you see either of them, let me know."

Rainbow looked back to the carrot she's been fighting with for the past five minutes and gave it an intimidating leer. She leaned down again and clamped her teeth around the leafy greens protruding from the top of the vegetable and gave another hard tug. Dash felt the leaves slip from her mouth, causing her to lose her balance and fly back onto a rake lying on the ground behind her. As she hit it, it shot up and whacked her in the shoulder, bouncing off and falling back to the grass with a thud.

"Tell you what Twi,” she grumbled, rubbing her shoulder, “I'm gonna let you handle these stupid things, the sheer force of my awesomeness doesn’t seem to be working. Magic will probably do the trick, though."

Applejack let loose a loud laugh as she trotted up to the garden, "Come on! You gonna let a little plant best you?" Applejack bit the top of carrot and pulled it out with ease, setting it in a basket with the others. "I thought the fastest Pegasi in Equestria could handle somethin' as small as a carrot."

Rainbow Dash smirked, "Ya know, I may be faster than lightening, but I don’t have a green hoof in my body, AJ. Not like you, anyways."

"Aw, Dash. You're too much, sugarcube" Applejack blushed and slung a leg around RD in a friendly hug which the Pegasus squirmed her way out of.

Soon, the chatting ceased and they set back to work, toiling on until early evening, oblivious to the darkening of the sky and the imminent setting of the sun. Only when Applejack glanced upwards did she notice how late it had gotten, and with a roll of her shoulders she straightened up and said, “Well, it’s gettin’ mighty late now then, ain’t it? I think it’s about time I headed on home. I think Applebloom has been meanin' to show me a special cutie mark crusadin' chant her and her friends have been working on or somethin'."

"I think it's time we all got home." Twilight agreed. Pointing her eyes skywards, she continued, "Last time I checked the clouds were being set for a light rain tonight, and I certainly don’t want to be outside when they start. I'll see you guys tomorrow, though!"

Everypony soon said their goodbyes and parted ways. As her friends faded into the distance Fluttershy began gathering some of the gardening tools that were spread about her yard. The clouds were getting even darker as Luna’s night drew near.

"Gosh, I don't think it's going to be just a drizzle tonight. It looks more like it’s about to pour." She quickened her pace and put all the remaining tools in the small shed beside her doorstep. She looked at the large watering can she had just set down.

"I didn't know I had a watering can this big. Usually I just borrow Twilight's whenever I need to water my larger plants." The pail had a few dents in it alongside a signature. Fluttershy couldn't make it out right away, but after a few moments of squinting she realised the scrawled name was that of Twilight.

She gasped, "Oh no! This one is Twilight's! Well, I guess I can bring it over to her now. I wouldn't want her to need it and find it’s missing because of me."

She put Angel inside the warm cottage they called home and gave her a bowl of fresh, diced carrots for dinner. The bunny was less than pleased with the food presented to her and shot a stern look at Fluttershy to let her know as much.

"Oh Angel. Don't give me that. I promise to make something more to your liking tomorrow night. How about that mango and cucumber bowl you always seem to enjoy? Maybe I’ll even go to town and pick up a bit of nettle to sprinkle on top." Angel's poof ball tail started to shake vigorously, and a big smile stretched across the cute rabbit's face.

"There we go," Fluttershy smiled back. "It's settled then. I’ll be home soon, Angel Bunny."

With that, Fluttershy trotted off towards the library.

Fluttershy always hated walking alone at night, memories of scary monsters journeying from Everfree Forest always seemed to pop into her head without fail. She, knowing they didn't mind the dark, usually got Rainbow Dash or Applejack to walk with her when she made forays into town at night.

There was once a time, late last year, when a pack of timberwolves invaded her garden during the evening. The birds started calling out loudly and Angel thumped his foot rapidly on Fluttershy to wake her up. She was terrified, of course, but she knew she could call the bears for help and they would respond. Unfortunately, this close to town there were no bears to call upon for help, so Fluttershy power-trotted towards the library, casting scared glances around her all the while.

The clouds swirling above were dark and ominous thunderheads now, moving angrily across the sky as the newly conjured wind nipped at Fluttershy in chilly waves.

"I hope Twilight doesn't mind me coming over on such short notice." Fluttershy mumbled, "I know how busy she can get with her studies." Her head started to get pelted with small droplets of water, and the ground beneath her began to soften and turn to mud. She slipped a few times on her way over, but managed to keep her balance, eventually arriving at the library.

"Thank goodness I got here before it started to really pour!"

Fluttershy went to the door to knock, but stopped at hearing a muffled song being sung from inside. Fluttershy hated spying on other ponies, but she didn't want whoever was singing to stop, so she trotted to the window and peeked inside, curiosity written across her face. Within, she saw Twilight brushing cobwebs off her bookshelves in the corner of the library. Spike was sweeping the floor in the kitchen, collecting the luminescent jewels that he knocked off the dining table nearby.

Twilight has always liked to keep the library neat, even when she knew it was an impossible feat, what with some of the experiments some ponies had her testing out. Twilight always cringed when there was a mess around her workplace, finding it distracted her from the task at hand. Spike wasn’t as serious about keeping the place spotless, but he nevertheless liked everything to look nice as well.

When Fluttershy identified the source of the beautiful song, she found that no pony other than Twilight was singing it. She always knew Twilight had a good voice. Heck, she always sang with her on Sundays in the Ponyville choir.

The group would always sing a song each month for the community meeting at town square. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Bonbon were the lead vocalists in the Ponyville choir while BonBon’s marefriend Lyra was the lead instrumentalist.

However, there was something different about Twilight's song. Fluttershy tried to make out the words, but found she couldn't from her position. She pushed up against the wet glass and managed to decipher the song:

Glory of architect, glory of painter, and sculptor, and bard,
living forever in temple and picture and statue and song,
look how the world with the lights that they lit is illumined and starred,
brief was the flame of their life, but the lamps of their art burn long!
Where is the Master of Music, and how has he vanished away?
Where is the work that he wrought with his wonderful art in the air?
It is gone like the glow on the cloud at the close of the day!
The Master has finished his work, and the glory of music is where?
Once, at the wave of his wand, all the billows of musical sound,
followed his will, as the sea was ruled by the prophet of old.
Now that his hoof is relaxed, and his rod has dropped to the ground,
silent and dark are the shores where the marvelous harmonies rolled!
Nay, but not silent the hearts that were filled only with life they grew,
deeper and purer forever the tides of their being will roll,
grateful and joyful, Master, because they have listened to you.
The glory of music endures in the depths of the equine soul!

A ballad had never been sung so beautifully by anypony in Fluttershy's life. A whole new world had been opened to her, one of tranquility, peace, and a warmth that caressed her very soul. She felt a spark light inside of her, filling her up with an acute lust for music. She had never heard anything so heart-warming and divine, never felt this level of happiness, never complete bliss quite like this. Fluttershy's eardrums were throbbing in musical ecstasy.

Floating in a musical nirvana, the yellow mare hummed with Twilight in perfect
harmony. This new feeling made Fluttershy almost collapse. Tears of joy and enthrallment filled her turquoise eyes, falling unnoticed to the ground alongside the rain. How could anything in life be this wonderful? How could any song be sung with such grace and serenity? Why had she not heard anything like this from Twilight before? None of these questions could be answered by Fluttershy in that moment, but after this she planned on finding out.

This pureness coming from Twilight was overwhelming for Shy. She had never felt more attached to Twilight as she had at that moment, she never had this feeling of unfathomable desire for the mare. More tears spilled from her eyes as she gazed in awe at Twilight. The lavender pony kept singing the song over, giving Fluttershy a repeating loop of the truly magical tune. She stilled and listened to her heart's content, the song becoming more and more irresistable each time Twilight sang it anew. Fluttershy didn't realize she had begun to flap her wings in pleasure.

Twilight, having finished cleaning the shelves, turned around and noticed a pale yellow pegasus hovering outside her window.

"Fluttershy!" Twi yelled happily, walking to the window.

Shy was broken from her trance and fell from mid-air, landing on her flank.

Twilight opened the door and saw Fluttershy moving in the bushes, soon appearing with a look of utter bewilderment on her face.

"What are you doing? It's pouring rain out here! The weather ponies must have primed the clouds to a different degree than they were supposed to. Come inside before you catch a cold and we'll get you cleaned up."

Fluttershy climbed shakily to her hooves and cantered inside, cold, dirty and wet, but with an unshakable smile plastered across her face.

Author's Note

I want to thank and credit the author of the ballad, Henry van Dyke. He's been an inspirational figure in literature to me, and made this story possible.

May he rest in peace