The sun was hot, sweltering, as it beat down on the apple trees that made up Sweet Apple Acres orchard. Rainbow Dash was lying spread-eagled on a bale of hay in an open front barn, watching Big Mac as he worked. Her face was dreamy as she admired the way his muscles moved under his skin, the way his powerful hind legs struck out in kick after kick. She licked her lips, fascinated by the way the light glinted off the sweat that dripped down his flank.

Slowly, she became aware of a voice trying to pull her out of her fantasies.

“Rainbow? Are you ok?”

With that, Rainbow snapped back to reality. Applejack was beside her, a concerned look on her face. Her body was slick with sweat just like Rainbows. They were taking a breather after working for several hours solid in the broiling sun.

Rainbow cleared her throat, a guilty look flashing across her face. “Uh, I’m fine. Guess I just zoned out a bit.”

Applejack scrutinized her sceptically. “You know, if you were ogling my brother, I would appreciate it if you would just tell me.”

Rainbow flushed. “I wasn’t.” It was an angry denial that nopony would have believed, let alone the element of honesty.

“I don’t mind, really, I don’t.” Applejack grinned. “To be honest, I’ve noticed you watching him quite a bit lately.”

Rainbow sighed and looked down at her hooves. At least Applejack didn’t seem to mind.

“If you don’t mind me asking, is it serious or are you just horny?”

Rainbow blushed bright crimson at that. “I was planning on asking him to the couples’ night Twilight is holding,” she snapped, heatedly.

“Ok, ok, take it easy.”

Twilight was holding a couple’s night party in Ponyville as a celebration of hearts and hooves day. Princess Celestia said that it was the perfect opportunity for the all her friends in Ponyville to realise that she was still the same, despite having been made a princess.

Rainbow, relaxing, chuckled deviously. “Quite a lot of gall she’s got, throwing a couples only event when she still holds the record for the most forever alone pony in Equestria.”

“Hush now. That’s the new princess of Equestria you’re talking about,” Applejack chided, but it was obvious she was suppressing a grin.

“Yea right, the new princess of Equestria who actually grew wings before she got a coltfriend.”

“And is there anything wrong with being single?” Applejack challenged. She wasn’t actually allowed to attend, being single herself. Twilight had gotten around this by asking her to do the catering.

“I bet you’d change your tune if you found a stallion who went in for the butch kind of mare.” Rainbow was simply poking her friend for fun now.

Applejack knew this, but couldn’t help retorting, “I’m single because I haven’t found the right stallion yet. If you would look anywhere but between his hind legs you might actually find the time to look for one with a decent heart. You know, the most important organ.” She emphasised the last three words, glaring.

Rainbow made a face. “You sound like my mum, she was always telling me I should look for the personality of the stallion.” She snickered as a memory flickered to the surface of her mind. “You should have seen her face when I asked her if she said that because Dad had a small cock.”

Applejack laughed despite herself. “I’ll bet. And how long were you grounded for exactly?”

“As far as I know, I’m still grounded.”

The two laughed. After a moment , Applejack looked thoughtful. “Do you know if any of the others have a special somepony they’ll be taking along?”

“As far as I know, Pinkie will be there with Neon, but she’ll be a bit busy organising the event so I doubt she’ll get much time to actually enjoy herself.”

Applejack nodded, unsurprised. “What about Rarity, is she taking anyone?”

“After the fiasco with whatsisface at the gala, I don’t think she’ll be eager for another dating disaster.”

There was a long pause as Applejack seemed to decide whether or not to say what she wanted to say. At last she spoke. “And… what about Fluttershy?”

Rainbow realised Applejack had probably been trying to steer the conversation this way since they got on the topic of the couples’ night.

She found herself a little miffed. “Look, just because I’m her closest friend, doesn’t mean she would tell me stuff that she didn’t tell you. If she had… somepony to take, you would know about it at the same time as me.”

“Sorry, I just thought, seeing as you two have known each other so long…” she trailed off, raising her hooves in a gesture of peace.

Rainbow sighed. “Pinkie and Rarity have been pestering me about that for weeks now. I wish they’d just ask her themselves.”

“Probably Rarity has been. I kinda feel bad for poor Fluttershy. Do you think she’d call off their trips to the spa if she was feeling uncomfortable with the constant scrutiny?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I’ve learned she’s a lot stronger than we often give her credit for. I think if she really wanted to, she would tell Rarity to back off.”

Applejack nodded, unsure. “She has looked mighty skittish of late.”

“Nerves I guess, I think we’re all a little on edge, what with Twilight’s sudden ascent to greatness.” Try as she might, Rainbow was unable to keep a slightly bitter edge from entering her voice.

Applejack, keen as ever, picked up on it and said, “Now, now, you know it ain’t like that. Tell you the truth, I think she’s quite embarrassed at all the attention. Probably wants things to just go back to normal like we all do.”

The bitterness was out in full force now. “She sure didn’t look embarrassed, or like she wished she could go back to normal when she was prancing about with her new wings and that flashy crown.”

Applejack poked her in the chest. “I won’t have you talking about Twilight behind her back like that. If you have a problem, I suggest you take it up with her.”

Rainbow sighed. “I know, I don’t really resent her. I just miss how quiet it was before all this happened.”

That statement fell oddly on Applejack’s ears. “I would have thought you would love for things to be stirred up a bit. You would be the first to complain at how boring things can get around here.”

Rainbow laughed a self-deprecating laugh. “Yes, you would think that. I guess I like the excitement to be on my terms.” She shook herself. “Look, let’s not talk about this; I’m sure everything will blow over.”

“It always does.”

Rainbow turned her attention back to the sleek, well-muscled stallion still bucking apples in the orchard. She gave a sly smile. “Gotta give him points for stamina.”

Applejack gagged but her tone was good natured. “That’s my brother you’re talking about.”

Rainbow smiled, unabashed. “Any tips you could give me?”

Applejack poked her in the chest again, slightly harder this time. “There’s one for you.”

“I mean it, do you think I have a shot with him?”

Applejack looked thoughtful. “You might, I really couldn’t say. He’s very quiet and I don’t honestly think I could work out one of his secrets if he really didn’t want me to know.”

“Lot of good you are.”

Applejack ignored the jibe and tapped her chin with a hoof, looking thoughtful. “He likes honesty, guess it runs in the family. If you have something you wanna say to him, my advice is that you’re best off just giving it to him straight. He doesn’t so much go in for subtleties.”

Rainbow nodded, taking in the information. She shivered with something that definitely wasn’t cold.

The sun being out in full force like this was both a blessing and a curse. By the time Big Mac walked into the barn to join the pair in a much needed rest, he looked as though he had just climbed out of a pool. The air was heavy with the scent of testosterone. There was something in that smell that whispered to the primitive corners of Rainbow’s mind. She looked away, choosing instead to focus on the bottle of chilled apple juice Applejack had given her.

“Well you look plum tuckered out,” said Applejack, addressing Big Mac and choosing not to notice Rainbow’s sudden bashfulness. “Reckon I can handle the rest, if you wanna call it a day and head inside.”

“Nope, I could go for another hour or so once I get my breath back.”

There was a strangled choking sound from where Rainbow was sitting. Applejack smirked when she saw how twitchy her friend had become.

Noticing her for the first time, Big Mac turned and said. “Oh, howdy Miss Dash. You were doing mighty fine work out there.”

Rainbow managed to mutter something that passed for. “It was nothing,” before Applejack cut in, taking pity on her.

“Rainbow was just heading home. She’s done quite enough today.”

Rainbow flashed her friend a grateful smile. She turned and, without saying another word, flew off at breakneck pace.

There was a long silence in the barn. At last, Applejack said, “What do you think? Would you be interested?”

Big Mac appeared to think for a while. At last he decided, “Eeyup.”

While she flew, Rainbow cursed herself. What had all that been about? She never backed down from a challenge, never. It was part of what made her, her. She flew faster, frustration lending power to her wings.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. What had she been thinking? Had she even been thinking? Her whole body shivered as she remembered the chiselled, red stallion, drenched in sweat, his muscles still slightly enlarged from his exertion.

She was so lost in fantasies that she barely heard the quiet voice vying for her attention.

“Rainbow?”

She turned, dispelling a thought that her mother would have probably cuffed her around the head for.

“Hmm?” She softened her expression the moment she saw who it was. “Oh, hi Fluttershy. What brings you here?”

Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. “Oh, nothing much. I just got a little bored at home. I was wondering if you wanted to go for a fly around.” There was a wiry little question hanging onto the end of that sentence. It was nervous and meek, much like the mare herself.

Rainbow smiled, perhaps hanging out with Fluttershy for a bit would clear her head. “Sure.”

The two flapped off, Rainbow setting the direction but Fluttershy setting the pace.

There was a brief moment of silence as Rainbow sought for a suitably light topic of conversation.

“You excited about the couple’s night?” Mentally, she facehoofed. Of all the idiotic…

“Not particularly,” said Fluttershy, with unusual directness. “I’ve decided not to go.” She flushed, remembering her manners. “What about you?”

Rainbow shrugged. “There’s a pony I want to ask,” she said, offhandedly.

Fluttershy’s ears gave the minutest twitch. “Oh? Who is it?”

Rainbow smiled in a manner reminiscent of her filly days. She could almost imagine sitting under a blanket with Fluttershy, a torch held between them as they confessed their school crushes. A frown came across her face as the memory was disturbed by a much more recent one. How much of that had been in her own head. How real was the scene? Were the special effects really that good or were they just good enough to fool one who wanted to believe.

She shook herself out of such thoughts. “Promise not to tell?” she laughed, deliberately putting a whine into her words, making them sound much younger.

Fluttershy smiled that same, gentle smile she had always had. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“It’s Big Mac.”

If she had blinked, she would have missed the flicker in Fluttershy’s eyes. Even having held gazes with her friend when it happened, she was unsure if it had really been there. Then the moment was gone and Fluttershy was smiling again. “That’s wonderful. You’ve admired him for quite a while now.”

Rainbow nodded, unsure why a statement like that should fall strangely on her ears, unsure of the motive behind anything Fluttershy said anymore. Still, she was used to conversations like this. For the last few months, talking to Fluttershy had felt like walking on eggshells.

“So how is Angel?”

“He’s well.” Fluttershy seemed happy to leave it at that. Perhaps she just wanted company and not necessarily to chat.

Still, there were things Rainbow had to say. It didn’t matter that she’d said them what felt like hundreds of times now, nor did it matter that she always got the same answer. If it came to it, Rainbow wasn’t really sure she could exactly say why it was so important, just knew in her gut that it was.

“Have you talked to Twilight?”

And there it was; the same smile, the same look in her eye that said she was telling something so close to the truth that she could say it with a clean conscience, the determinedly bright expression that promised not to break, no matter how much it looked like it should.

“I talked to her yesterday. I had to go to the library to pick up a book Angel wanted. She was polite.”

Now came the part where Rainbow felt like she had been kicked in the guts. She wished one of them would blink, she wished one of them, either Twilight or Fluttershy, would break stride enough to have the screaming fight that seemed destined from the very start. Rainbow wondered if the pair having it out would actually help but decided it probably wouldn’t.

“Well that’s good.” This was part of the routine too. Fluttershy would pretend that the continued false nicety was progress and Rainbow would pretend to congratulate that progress. Then they would sit beside each other, Fluttershy, unwilling to blink and Rainbow unwilling to stop trying to force her to.

Rainbow knew this part of the routine too. Sometimes Fluttershy seemed to speak more with her silences than with her words. Right now, the silence was politely telling Rainbow that she really didn’t want to talk about this anymore.

She sighed and decided to back off, allowing Fluttershy her space. The only thing she took comfort in was that she knew, if and when the collapse came, it would be her that Fluttershy collapsed on.

“So have you talked to Big Mac yet?” Rainbow had not been expecting the query, thinking her friend would want to steer clear of anything even vaguely related to the couples' night.

“No. I’ve just come back from helping AJ out with the harvest. He was right there and I couldn’t even talk to him.” Somewhere in her mind, Rainbow realised Fluttershy was trying to divert the topic away from herself but didn’t really care. Sometimes it was nice to have someone she could vent at. “I just don’t get it. I’m brave when it comes to everything else. Why should I become some trembling waif when it comes to this? It’s pathetic.”

She knew it as soon as she said it. That had been badly phrased. In her own frustration, Rainbow had forgotten her audience. She turned to Fluttershy just in time to see a look of shocked hurt slide easily back to detached politeness. “Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll find the words to talk to him.”

“Fluttershy— look, I didn’t mean—”

“I expect you’re tired after doing so much work.” Fluttershy’s voice cut in smoothly. “You need to go rest. Don’t worry, I can find my way home from here. Thank you for flying with me.” Without another word, she was gone. She didn’t storm away, just left. Despite the calmness she had portrayed, Rainbow was sure she saw her friend’s shoulders shake a little as she flew away. Then again, perhaps it was just caused by the flapping of her wings.

Rainbow sighed and turned away.

Author's Note

Wow. It feels weird to finally be posting this. I've been working on this story for nearly three months now and, I gotta tell you, I'm more than a little nervous. I will be updating this story once weekly so stay tuned. Curious? Frustrated? Confused? Join me next wee for some of the answers to your numerous questions. Anyway, I hope you like it.