Study Buddies

by Samsara

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Romance
Length: 93282

Fluttershy finds herself with little to do during the winter months, only to find a warm companion

Fluttershy loves to care for animals, going so far as to help other people care for theirs as well. But during winter, when they're all snuggled up in their warrens and dens to hibernate, Fluttershy can hardly cope with the boredom. Always one to try and better herself (in non-physical ways that is) the yellow pegasus begins spending time at Twilight's library, learning as much as she can on… softer subjects. Finding that she had the capacity for far more love than just Animal care, and never expecting a certain lavender unicorn to occupy her thoughts.

As usual, I do not own any of these characters, nor do I represent in any way Hasbro or the specific team responsible for the creation of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. All rights are reserved by their original owners and this work of fiction should in no way be distributed for profit of my own, or anyone else's.

Special Thanks to c0nker of deviantART for allowing me permission to use his artwork as a cover image (http://c0nker.deviantart.com/)

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-05 23:38:34 UTC

Sleeping like an angel

Another peaceful autumn afternoon gently faded toward dusk as Fluttershy tended to her duties.  Angel Bunny sleept soundly in his bed, with his belly swollen from his recent gorging on fresh carrots.  Fluttershy delicately hovered about her home, dusting off the tops of her various furnishings and happily humming her favorite tune.  Fluttershy's feather duster sat clamped in her teeth, letting her brush off the insignificantly small layers of dust and animal hair any place she could find it.  Lately Fluttershy had been having a bit too much down-time, as if her compulsive urge to clean hadn't made that abundantly clear.  All of the animals had long since finished building up their nests and eating to their hearts' content for the winter, so they'd gradually left the yellow pegasus behind in search of a place to sleep.

As Fluttershy finished her self-given chores for the day she dropped off her cleaning supplies and lethargically plodded to her small sofa, curling up and glancing around her quaint little home.  Boredom overtook her; Fluttershy got up and searched for a book, any book, and ended up with the same novel she'd read just last week.  After only a few pages, Fluttershy clapped the book shut and set it down on her end table and attempted to take a long afternoon nap.  With her mind abuzz with mental activity, sleep never quite found her.  Things that she needed to do to prepare for the winter raced through her mind, though redundantly due to the fact that she'd attended to every single one, many of them twice.  Her own food supply was nearly overflowing, and that of her animals even more so.  Firewood and kindling hadn't ever really been a problem for Fluttershy with her close proximity to the woods, but even so she gathered a very large quantity in her back yard.  Fluttershy simply dropped her hooves at her sides and gently pounded the cushions of her couch in frustration.

"I'm bored..."  She complained aloud, though it was still barely above a whisper.  She glances around her living room one more time for something to do, but she finds only the same repetitive things time and time again.  "Angel, are you still hungry?"  She asked the unconscious bunny rabbit.  The small white critter came to at the mention of his name, simply looking Fluttershy in the face with an annoyed quizzical look.  He responded by pointing his paw at the pile of carrot greens nearly as big as he was.  "Right... sorry..."

Finding little of interest in her minimalist living room she simply starts to take in her surroundings.  Noticing that the only furniture she has are either for herself or her animal friends.  Even her sofa is really only comfortable for a single pony; It hadn't  ever crossed her mind to have many house guests, and even less so to pursue a relationship.  Just the very thought made her blush dark red through her yellow coat.  A few stallions had shown interest in her back up in flight school, but she never really was fond of the competitive types of guys that always seemed to chase her around.  She was far more content sitting around with a sick bunny rabbit and nursing it back to health, or taking a troublesome pet off of her friends' hooves.  Fluttershy flaps her wings a few times, unable to quell some of the pent up energy that she still has, finding a slight entertainment in watching the leaves on her various potted plants quiver from the breeze.

"Alright, well, I suppose I could go try to find a new book to read... Maybe Twilight would loan me one... what do you think, Angel?"  She asks as she stands up and trots toward her door.  The bunny simply stands up and walks inside of his small shack set up in Fluttershy's living area, slamming the door and getting back to sleep.  "... I'll take that as a yes then..."

After tossing a scarf and saddlebag around herself and making doubly sure to blow out any candles she had left lit, Fluttershy takes to the brisk autumn air and flies toward Twilight's library.  Fluttershy always loved flying, but not quite for the same reason as other pegasi.  She loved to feel a gentile breeze between her feathers, to smell all of the wonderful scents of the forest during a low-fly, and to see all of the colors just beneath her.  She never flew faster than a small bird, enjoying everything she could and trying her best not to strain herself; but of course Rainbow Dash had other intentions.  The daydreaming yellow pony is brought immediately out of her trance by a rainbow streak right across her nose, sending her spiraling mid-air and completely messing up her bearings.  The pegasus snaps her wings open and tries to stabilize herself, succeeding literally seconds before she would have hit the ground, glancing up in the direction of the rainbow trail left by her friend.

"Woops! Sorry about that Fluttershy.  I was trying out a new succession of barrel rolls to see if I could get some clouds to corkscrew behind me and I guess I didn't see you there... y'alright?"  The blue pony calls out as Fluttershy lands, readjusting her scarf.

"Oh, uhm, it's alright Rainbow Dash... I guess I blend into the leaves this time of year sometimes..." She replies modestly, trying to avoid making Rainbow feel bad, always one to think of others' feelings.

"Yeah you do, well take care Fluttershy, I gotta go try this again... I'm losing daylight!"  She replies, pointing one of her hooves out toward the setting sun.  Fluttershy had been so lost in her daydreaming that she didn't even notice how dark it was getting.  She decides that it would be best to get this book and get home quickly before it gets too cold.  She's about to tell Rainbow Dash to have a nice evening, but she was already long gone.

Fluttershy continues to fly toward Twilight's library, thinking intently about just what kind of book she might want to check out, or even if she really wants a new book in the first place.  Maybe I'll just check Twilight out... she thinks after letting her mind wander just a bit too far.  It doesn't take her long to realize what she just thought, causing her to blush intensely and wonder why the thought even crossed her mind.  "I guess I'll just check Twilight's recommendations out..." she says out loud, as if trying to correct some kind of mistake.  She notices the candle-lit windows of the familiar tree, landing just a few steps away from the front door.  The sun is completely behind the mountains now, leaving only the soft orange glow on the horizon in the fading light; Fluttershy knocks softly on the door, worried that she might be intruding.

Almost without hesitation she hears a set of hoof-steps coming toward the door.  A gust of wind blows behind Fluttershy, messing up her mane and causing her to shiver from the autumn chill.  The door opens with a faint purple aura of magic around it, revealing Twilight Sparkle on the other side, looking at Fluttershy like she's got three heads.

"Hey Fluttershy, is everything alright?"  She asks, unaware of the pegasus's intentions, but noticing immediately the wind-mangled hair and deep set shiver in her stance.

"Hmm? Oh, everything's fine, Twilight, just a little chilly out tonight that's all..."  Fluttershy says, pasting a smile on her face and almost forgetting why she came to visit.  She spends a few seconds staring awkwardly into Twilight's eyes, she always did have such pretty eyes...

"Would you like to come inside?"  Twilight asks, gesturing the mare into her home, feeling a little worried for her well being.  "And what are you doing out so late anyway? are you sure everything's okay?"

"Oh, yes Twilight, I'm just fine... I only came over to take a look at you..."  She catches herself and blushes a little bit, stumbling over her words to try and correct herself a little bit "t-t-take a look at your selection of books! I just was feeling like I needed something else to read lately..."  Twilight responds with a concerned, but amused, look on her face.

"Well that explains what you're doing here, but not why you're out so late.  You'll catch a cold in this weather, you know,"  She responds, stifling a little bit of a laugh at the silly pegasus.

"It was more of a last minute decision really... The animals are mostly holed up for winter by now and I just haven't had too much to do in the past few days,"  She says, regaining a little bit of her composure, only to realize that she'd spent the entire day cleaning, organizing and feeding her pets, but hadn't actually eaten anything since breakfast.  Her tummy announces this with a deep growl, frightening Fluttershy just a little bit from the noise.

"Uhhhh was that your stomach?"  Twilight asks, clearly hearing the sound.  She continues to grin and stare at the yellow pegasus and her unusually awkward motions tonight.  "Why don't you stay for a little while; Spike just made dinner."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude..."  Fluttershy responds, taking off her scarf and tossing it over the small coat rack just inside the doorway.

"Nonsense, Fluttershy.  It would be no intrusion at all... Spike always cooks way too much for just the two of us... and besides, when's the last time you and I got to sit down and talk anyhow?"

"Well uhm... I guess it has been a while... and--"  Twilight interrupts Fluttershy by appearing seemingly out of nowhere right next to her and nudging her toward the kitchen with her hoof.

"Then it's settled, you'll stay for dinner.  I think you'll love this veggie soup that Spike makes, it's delicious and should warm you up plenty after a flight in this weather!"

Fluttershy can't help but think, just being here is warming me up but tries to look away from the lavender unicorn and push thoughts like that away.  She can't even quite put her hoof on what she likes so much about Twilight, possibly the fact that she's one of the few ponies in this town not trying to one-up every other pony around them.  Either way, she hasn't ever had thoughts like that about anypony else.

"So uhm, Twilight... how was your day?"  Fluttershy decides to break away from her awkward silence just to give her the illusion that she isn't thinking about her.

"Oh my day was just fine!  Mostly just organized books, cleaned the shelves... Spike helped me with a small experiment I was conducting to see how magnetic fields affected the control and direction of magic... let's just say it didn't go too well,"  Twilight replied, happy to take the spotlight away from the shy little pony.

"You're tellin' me!  I thought your horn exploded when we tried that,"  Spike said as he walked into the living area.  He plods happily along, unable to see over the massive pot of soup that he holds barely clutched in his claws; the whole scene punctuated with a comically large chef's hat extending over the creature.

Twilight rolls her eyes and pats Spike on the head for bringing out the dinner, using her telekinesis to serve up three hearty bowls of the delicious smelling soup. Spike drinks his straight from the bowl, not having any sensitivity to heat of course, and then goes for several more helpings immediately following.  Fluttershy and Twilight simply sit and chat, having not had any time to truly catch up with each other.  They speak of their days, well... Twilight speaks of her days while Fluttershy sits there nodding and trying to get a word in edge wise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... And so the resonance frequency turned out to not match up with that specific metal semiconductor, so obviously that caused so many recursive problems that I simply had to restart every single step in the procedure!  But enough about my exploits in cross-dimensional teleportation physics... what have you been up to Fluttershy?"  Twilight asks, finally breaking away from her mental rant long enough to realize she had a guest and not just a soundboard.

"Oh uhm... Well I just fed the animals and helped them build their nests and insulate their dens for the winter... gathered some firewood and food... and that's it really, nobody's needed a vet lately,"  Fluttershy replies, immediately eating a spoonful of the delicious soup right after.  She had only just barely finished her bowl when Twilight realized the time, it was already almost ten o' clock.

"Oh whoops! I'm sorry for keeping you around so long Fluttershy!  I just lost track of the time,"  Twilight says, using her magic to gather up all of the dishes and sending them into the kitchen.  Spike, passed out in his chair at the table from having gluttonously consumed more than half of the soup (not to mention the intense boredom at Twilight's speech) wakes up startled from the clanging of ceramic wear.  Twilight gives him a dirty look and asks him to wash the dishes before bedtime; he grumpily goes about his new chore.

"It's no trouble at all, Twilight, I lost track of time too..."  In truth Fluttershy loved to hear Twilight rant.  Unlike many of the other ponies around town she could understand most of what she said (though admittedly had a lack of experience in the scientific subjects, her vocabulary at least fit the bill), and she genuinely enjoyed her voice.  Soft spoken, but still projecting an air of confidence; not quite as abrasive as Rainbow Dash's but not as overly refined and meticulously polished as Rarity's.

"You know, you're welcome to stay the night if you would prefer not to fly home in this cold,"  Twilight says, seemingly off the top of her head.

"Oh I wouldn't want to impose!  The dinner was generous enough,"  Fluttershy replies, not wanting to seem eager to stay the night due to an irrational fear of being 'found out' by the lavender unicorn.

"Aw come on, it'll be like a good old fashioned sleepover, just the two of us.  I have the day off tomorrow anyway, and you said yourself that you haven't really had anything to do lately, right?"  Twilight chirps happily as she doesn't get to spend too much time with any of her friends, let alone Fluttershy.

The canary-yellow pegasus simply stands in shock, blushing a little at the brief thought of sharing a bed with Twilight Sparkle.  She looks around and realizes that she can't get out of this without being too disappointing, but deep down she feels a spark of excitement about the prospect.  Twilight and she never really interacted too much anyway...  Maybe she could muster up the courage to talk to her about all these strange thoughts that she'd been having, maybe just to be safe she'd tell a little white lie about just who the thoughts were about.

"O-Okay, Twilight... if you insist,"  She says, looking down a little bit and smiling, feeling a tad weak in the legs from the thoughts racing through her head.

Twilight giggles and turns a little red in the face, walking up to Fluttershy and tilting her head at her.  "Gee I thought I would detect a little more enthusiasm in your voice considering... well, those," She follows up by pointing at Fluttershy's involuntarily extended wings.

"Ohmugosh! I'm sorry Twilight!"  Fluttershy blushes the deepest shade of crimson that Twilight has ever seen a pony turn, hiding her face in her hooves and dropping to the floor with an embarrassed squeak.

"Relax Fluttershy, I didn't mean to embarrass you,"  Twilight says, punctuating her statement with a giggle, walking past the pegasus to greet spike, who finished cleaning the dishes and had already begun walking upstairs.  "Uh Fluttershy?  My extra mattress is still up in the linen closet somewhere, do you mind just sharing a bed with me tonight?"

This statement immediately makes the already embarrassed and timid mare almost shrink down into nothingness.  "That's just fine, Twilight..."  She says, barely able to speak in an audible tone.  She wanted to say that nothing in the world sounded better right now... but just couldn't bring herself to do that... not yet anyway.

Fluttershy follows Twilight up her stairs, inadvertently staring at her haunches and trying awkwardly to look away, almost tripping over her own hooves a few times, and sighing contentedly as they reach the top of the flight of stairs.  Twilight makes quick work of blowing out the candles around her room and closing the window with her magic, climbing into her bed (a rather large one for a single pony, Fluttershy thinks) and happily relaxing.  Fluttershy very slowly steps up to the opposite edge of the bed and sits down, shyly inching under the blanket and rolling onto her side, trying to face away from Twilight and avoid thinking too hard about this situation.

"G'night Fluttershy,"  Twilight whispers.  The breath on the back of Fluttershy's neck makes her shiver a little bit, having to fight an involuntary reaction to twitch her hind leg.

"Goodnight Twilight..."  She whispers in response, trying to no avail to get some sleep.  Her mind races, sometimes thoughts of romance, sometimes thoughts of slightly dirtier things, sometimes things that are completely unrelated to her current situation.  The belly full of soup does make her feel heavy and tired, but the knowledge of Twilight laying right behind her continues to arouse her mind and thoughts.  Needless to say, she doesn't sleep a wink that night.

An Open Book

Fluttershy awakes from her slumber, having fallen asleep at some indeterminable point in last night's stream of consciousness.  Realizing that, in her sleep, she had rolled over and now looks Twilight face-to-face, almost close enough to touch muzzles with her, the yellow pegasus blushes an extremely deep shade of scarlet, only being exacerbated by her outstretched wings reaching off the edge of the bed.  Twilight hasn't woken up yet, and seems to be stuck in a dream.  Fluttershy notices her eyes moving tumultuously under her eyelids, and tries to think of a way to readjust her position without waking up the lavender unicorn.  A few minutes pass, each one containing a silly, awkward twisting of joints beneath the light sheets to try and turn away; each one is met with a nonsensical mumble from the unconscious Twilight Sparkle, or some other tell that she may be stirring awake.  Fluttershy simply gives up, fighting back her embarrassment and relishing the moment, figuring that, since she's still sleeping, she won't be able to judge her too harshly.

Twilight mumbles a little more nonsense, lazily pushing her leg forward and accidentally moving a bit closer to Fluttershy.  Her hoof nestles itself just beneath her wing.  The pegasus shivers a little from the sensation of being hugged, just laying there and accepting the motion, tilting her nose down to avoid 'accidentally' kissing Twilight (not to mention avoiding her morning breath, though she'd never admit it.).  Fluttershy pulls her wings back and pins them to her sides, wrapping the feathered appendage around Twilight's hoof, making her blush and smile contentedly.  She always loved cuddling something; she found a very special kind of loving comfort, even if it was just platonic.  Thoughts race through Fluttershy's active mind which, although running on what feels to her body like a half hour of sleep at the most, still flies full-throttle through frantic images.  The pegasus loves the feel of the soft breathing across the bridge of her nose and forehead, as well as the hoof under her wing, gently caressing her side.  She keeps her eyes open to watch Twilight sleep, remarking at how peaceful she looks, even taking a somewhat motherly gaze at the mare.  There is no discomfort here, maybe it's because Twilight isn't aware of Fluttershy's actions, or maybe she just came to terms with the fact that she was with her best friend ever, but the yellow pony finally relaxes for the first time in half a day.

Her mind begins to wander, thinking about whether or not she wants to tell Twilight about her feelings, whether or not she should tell twilight her feelings out of fear that she may ask her to leave.  Fluttershy knew that Twilight wasn't that cruel, but she also didn't know about her upbringing or attitude toward filly-foolers.  This term never seemed to sit well with Fluttershy, she only ever heard it as a mocking jeer directed at Rainbow Dash and Gilda in flight school, but she didn't really know how else to describe the feelings.  Her thoughts were met with a confusion, What if I don't really feel this way? she asks herself, not knowing how to honestly respond.  Do I just want Twilight because she's available?  Or are these feelings real?...  Her mind betrays her, and since the only pony she would ever tell a lie to was herself, it eats her up inside.

Twilight's still sleeping... she thinks to herself.  Maybe I could sneak a kiss... just to see how it feels,  She's even timid in her head.  She mulls over the thought a little, tilting her head back up so that she's nearly nose-to-nose with twilight, looking into her closed eyes.  They've stopped moving now, apparently she's dropped into a deeper sleep, perfect timing.  Fluttershy blushes and feels the sensation of butterflies in her stomach, feeling like this was almost violating the lavender mare somehow, but still fighting the desire.  It should be quick, maybe just a peck on the lips, if that...  She thinks, justifying her actions in her head as innocent and cute.  She takes a few deep breaths and conjures up the courage to inch closer, now so close she can feel the heat radiating off of Twilight's muzzle.

Fluttershy closes her eyes, imagining what could happen if Twilight ever found out; dark little thoughts those are.  She fears that Twilight might feel violated, might run, might kick her out and never be friends with her again.  Her fears are quickly dispelled however by a glimmer of hope.  What if Twilight likes it?  Fluttershy asks, having a true conversation in her mind with herself about how to go about this.  The shy pegasus was so used to being alone that she'd developed a dialogue between herself and... well... herself... to keep company, knowing full well that it's pathetic, but still taking solace in the fact that she was at least willing to listen to her.  IF she likes it, then maybe you could be more than friends,  Fluttershy exclaims, part of her wants to pursue this as far as it could go.  But if she doesn't like it then we won't even be that... A majority of her thought process shoots down the small inkling of courage that she really has.  Every action for the pony is a battle, fighting between courageous acts and prudent advice from what can only be the residue of her mother in the front of her mind.  Just go for it, I'm sure Twilight wouldn't hold it against you, besides I know what you're going to do if something goes wrong.  We've been through a lot together, you know.  I know you inside and out,  Sometimes her 'conversations' seem to split into two entirely different entities; this is one of those times.  Well...  What if she wakes up?  Her timidity stems from a deep set fear of the unknown, having grown up very sheltered; her mother had a degenerative disease that caused many of her feathers to weaken and render her unable to fly.  She was a stay-at-home and always took care of dear old Fluttershy, never letting her do anything without a meticulous examination.  Just close your eyes and pretend that you're asleep. You were going to do that anyway, I can read your thoughts you know....  Fluttershy's face twists into a concerned confusion about herself as she realizes what she's doing, shaking her head a bit before giving one last response.  You do realize how stupid it is to be talking to you right? You're me,  She says, trying to quell this bizarre dialogue.  Well you're the one doing it, I don't have any control over you... Except with things like that dragon or the cockatrice where you're so freaked out that even your consciousness curls up in a corner and hides and puts our friends in danger.  Fluttershy's face only represented the pondering of the 'real' Fluttershy, never contorting in thought for the courageous voice in her mind.  So why don't you just take over and make me kiss Twilight then? She genuinely asks herself, still feeling stupid for talking in her mind like this.  I think we both know the answer to that question... You want to do that, and you're not too timid to do it on your own, you don't need me for this one co-pilot. She gave herself a nickname... Am I insane?  She thinks, not getting a response from the courageous end of her consciousness.

Well... here goes nothing I guess,  She finally tells herself, realizing that her mind has begun to slow itself down.  No longer buzzing with activity and paying close attention to the world around her.  She takes in the golden rays of morning sunlight as they wash over Twilight's snoozing body, watches the leaves outside dance in the gentile breeze and cast their shadows over the two, making them seem almost under water.  That's how Fluttershy honestly felt, like she was suspended in a comfortable, quieting pool; whim to the currents as they shifted her very life.  She smiles a little bit and leans forward, starting by pressing her nose very softly against Twilight's; she stirs, but doesn't seem to fall out of sleep.  Finally, with one last mini pep talk in her head, she cranes her neck and meets lips with the violet unicorn, shutting her eyes as the warmth seemingly transfers between their very hearts.  Fluttershy feels herself getting extremely hot in the cheeks as they darken.  She opens her eyes and looks at her own nose just a little, realizing that her countenance resembles that of a fired brick, but then to her chagrin she sees Twilight's cheeks redden a bit as well.  Her stomach sinks as soon as the unicorn opens her eyes; she does so slowly and groggily, but it's all the same to Fluttershy.  She pulls away from Twilight and can only stare on in shock, thinking to herself Oh no... what have I done?

"Mmngh... Fluttershy? W-what was that?"  Twilight asks, it's too late for the yellow pegasus to shut her eyes and pretend to be asleep, they'd already locked gazes.

"Uh... uh-uhm,"  The poor thing is at a complete loss for words, realizing that her worst fears (as rehearsed in her head of course) could be coming true at this very moment.  She can feel a familiar pressure build up behind her eyes as she involuntarily readies herself to start bawling.

Twilight looks down at herself and realizes that she'd cuddled up to Fluttershy in her sleep,  "Oh no, Fluttershy I hope I didn't do anything to make you uncomfortable!  I uh, I'm so used to sleeping with plushies and things that I guess I instinctively... Oh I'm sorry,"

"N-n-no that's... that's fine, Twilight... I uhm... I..."  She can't really think of what to say, she kissed Twilight in her sleep and then Twilight apologized to her.  "I uhhh..."  Fluttershy shivers a little bit, not pulling away from Twilight but trying to break the awkward silence to avoid making the unicorn too uncomfortable.Hey co-pilot... How'd it go?  Courageous Fluttershy asks, stepping back into the conversation from... wherever it is that she went while absent,  Ohhhh I see, Twilight thinks it's her fault huh?  Well why don't you tell her what you did?  Courageous Fluttershy seems like a spy sometimes, just doing things to mess with Fluttershy's head... even though she's part of it.

"Fluttershy, I'll... I'll just go downstairs then... please don't hold it against me... I didn't mean anything by it..."  Twilight exclaims, ending the uncomfortable silence with a heartbreaking statement.  She starts to turn and try to get out of the bed, making Fluttershy feel like she's done something horribly wrong, and then let her friend take the fall.

"Twilight, wait..."  She says, just loud enough for the unicorn to hear her over the sound of rustling sheets,  "I uhm... I want you to stay here for a little while i-if that's o-okay..."  Twilight blinks a few times and then rests back down, looking Fluttershy in the eyes, clearly embarrassed of herself and shrinking back a little.  "Twilight, I... I know exactly what happened..."  Twilight's attention shifts up to meet the gaze of the soft spoken pony.  Fluttershy feels herself turning dark crimson again and tilts her head down, not wanting to look Twilight in the eyes as she admits her intentions, never wanting a friend to beat their self up over something that she did.  "I... I saw you sleeping and... well... I kissed you... I think that's what woke you up,"  She almost flinches a little bit, expecting only the worst response of horror to come from Twilight's face. 'Attagirl.  Now we can watch the fireworks.  "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that... I know it's wrong but... I..."  C'mon co-pilot, just two more little words, "... like you,"

Twilight's eyes widen and she turns so red that it's visible through her purple coat.  She looks around a little bit, almost like she's worried somebody heard them talking.  "You... l-like me?"  She asks, prompting an ashamed nod from Fluttershy in response.  "You... You like like me?"  She says, sounding a bit in disbelief but not without a kind of curious energy about her voice.

"Yes, I like like you, Twilight...  You... well, you believe in me when nobody else does...  You're the only one who thinks I'm... useful..." with this last word she looks away, focusing her attention on a star embroidered in Twilight's blanket, remembering all the colorful uses of the word "useless" that were pointed at her in the past.

Twilight's voice shifts from surprise (with a hidden undertone of glee) to a concerned observation of her friend's plight.  "Fluttershy, of course you're useful, if it weren't for you our town would be devoid of happy animal life... you add a wonderful joy just to ponyville, and enrich the lives of anyone that meets you,"  The unicorn doesn't hold anything back; seeing how deep the thought must have run into Fluttershy's past cued her to pull out all the stops for reassurance.

Fluttershy doesn't say anything, only looking back up into her friend's comforting eyes.  The pegasus is so used to other people taking help from Fluttershy but rarely ever offering it; just the simple gesture of offering comfort as opposed to insult means an unknowable amount to her.  She then, seemingly against her own will, leans in and hugs Twilight, resting her head on the unicorn's shoulder.

"Fluttershy, I'm sorry I reacted like that... I honestly don't know how to react to something this... surprising.  I've never been like liked before,"  Twilight says, stroking the soft pink hair of the pegasus hugging her.  Almost as if Twilight had thrown a switch, Fluttershy's wings slowly flap open.  Twilight giggles and tells her to relax, pulling away to find (thank goodness) that she hadn't been crying.

"To be honest... from uhm... personal experience... you're not missing much.  At least not with the stallions that... like liked me,"  Fluttershy says, knowing it was influenced partly by courageous Fluttershy, and silently thanking her for it.

"Well... you're not a stallion, now are you?"  Twilight says with a blush and a short chuckle, looking for ways to poke fun at the pegasus.  Deep down Twilight was happy that Fluttershy had a crush on her, not really knowing why and (though possibly due to negligence) not quite feeling the same, she figured that if anypony was worth being open minded with, that pony was Fluttershy.

The yellow mare laughs at the joke but still tries to get her buzzing mind under wraps... at least things didn't turn out for the worst like she expected.  Everything's fine co-pilot... what'd I tell ya?  Every time she manages to quiet down, courageous Fluttershy breaks the silence.  I suppose I do owe you one now... She says, quietly thanking herself while hollowly staring into Twilight's smile outside of her head.  Well, my work here is done... you and Twi have some talking to do so I'll leave you alone... if you need me I'll be back in those dreams you were having about big mac a few nights ago... thank goodness you still remember them, they're fun!  Fluttershy's countenance drops into a worried look, right eye twitching a little and entire face turning dark red.  She hadn't told anypony about that dream, but she still gets grief for it... how do you keep a secret from yourself?

"You okay Fluttershy?"  Twilight asked, giggling a little but still a touch concerned.

"Oh... yeah, yeah I'm fine... I'm just thinking that's all,"  She says, shifting back into reality, trying to see the actual gravity of the situation.  Now what?

"Well... you and I obviously have some... talking to do, so why don't we get up and go have breakfast?"

Fluttershy smiles and nods at the unicorn, looking back into her soft eyes, now feeling more comfortable and relieved than she ever had her whole life.  "That sounds lovely, Twilight,"

The Spark

Fluttershy yawns and stretches her wings as she hops out of Twilight's bed.  The purple mare had left just nearly half an hour ago but the yellow pegasus felt the need to take a small nap.  She hadn't slept very long, but the relief of getting her 'secret' out in the open sent her reeling into relaxation; she just couldn't help it.  Twilight and Spike had been busy making breakfast while she was asleep, and from the smell she assumes that they're finished.  The newly rested pegasus, adhering to her name, happily flutters down the ladder toward the library, landing at the foot of the staircase to the upper floor.  She delicately trots toward the kitchen, gazing around at the beauty of the tree in the morning.  The east-facing windows are open, letting in beaming rays of sunlight to illuminate Twilight's entire collection of books in a wonderful golden glow.  Intoxicated by the smell she walks in through the kitchen door frame, wondering at the turmoil as Twilight attempts to help Spike cook breakfast.  Spike had always been the cook, and was extremely talented, but currently is stuck supervising Twilight, who has taken it upon herself to do the cooking for Fluttershy in a goofy attempt to make her feel welcome.

"Twilight you should really just let me do the cooking..." Spike says, shaking his head at Twilight's struggles to keep something from burning.

"No Spike, I can do this, I promise... Besides, Fluttershy is here and I would just like to feel like I've done something nice for her lately,"  She replies, an obvious tone of frustration in her voice as she burns yet another batch of pancakes.

"Uhm... Twilight?"  Fluttershy says, speaking up and accidentally surprising the both of them; neither had heard her come down the stairs or step into the kitchen on account of the noise of clanging metal.  Twilight loses concentration with her magic and accidentally lets the frying pan drop onto the stove, splattering pancake batter everywhere.  "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you two,"  She says and shrinks away a little.

Spike groans at the new mess and glares at Twilight, who just smiles back and him with a nervous chuckle and blush.  "On second thought, Spike why don't you just go ahead and cook...  I'll clean up instead, most of this is my mess anyway,"  Spike gives Twilight a nasty look and snatches the frying pan away from her,  scraping off the burnt batter and proceeding to pour in a fresh batch and shoo away the ponies from the kitchen with his tail.

Fluttershy can't help but giggle at the unicorn, walking out into the dining area that Twilight had set up for them, "You didn't have to do that Twilight..."  She says modestly, overhearing the conversation and feeling overwhelmingly flattered.

"I'm a little embarrassed that you heard that...  Honestly I just don't know how to behave in this situation,"  She admits with a blush, having genuinely wanted to make Fluttershy feel wanted, but hoping that she didn't overdo it.  On the way out of the kitchen she grabs a hoof towel and tries to clean some of the batter that had landed on her face.

"That's okay, Twilight, I just appreciate that you... uhm... that you didn't run away screaming when I told you..."  Her voice trails off as she ends her phrase, still the tiniest bit uncomfortable at the thought.

"Fluttershy,"  Twilight says comfortingly, stepping up next to the pegasus and trying to lock eyes with her despite her attempts to look away, "I know it was difficult to speak up about that...  and I don't want to be a disappointment.  I just don't know quite... how to continue a relationship with another mare...  Or with either gender for that matter.  I'm not exactly the most social and likeable unicorn in Equestria you know..."

"I know, Twilight... and honestly I haven't ever been in a situation where I've even been attracted to another mare... or, well, honestly anypony aside from silly crushes that I quickly changed my mind about.  I'm still sorry for springing it without notice on you... no matter what I hope we can always be friends,"  Fluttershy replies.  Her cheeks grow dark red from the conversation but she still tries to look up and keep eye contact.

Lately the timid mare had constantly been trying to fight away her fears of social engagement... trying but not succeeding.  However, Twilight is different from just any random pony off the street.  She's compassionate, if not a little socially awkward herself, and always understanding.  What's most important is that she goes out of her way not to judge anyone for their various quirks, and always looks for the good in anypony she meets.

Twilight immediately gets that same usual sparkle in her eyes anytime she sees or hears something she likes, wasting no time in narrowing her gaze at the yellow mare, "Well you know what that means then don't you?"  She follows her rhetorical question with a sly grin.

"N-no... what's that mean?"  Fluttershy states nervously, glancing around with a bit of worry in her eyes as the purple unicorn inches ever closer to her.

"This is a job for an experiment!"  She shouts, startling the timid Fluttershy just from the power of her voice... Leave it to Twilight Sparkle to make it scientific.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the pair finish up their breakfast, each one with a large helping of rich cream-cheese and cinnamon pancakes, Twilight hurries about her task of gathering a quill and paper to write out the premise of her 'experiment'.  Fluttershy finds this kind of behavior absolutely adorable, if not a little impersonal.  She still can't help but enjoy the unicorn for who she is, especially for the fact that she wasn't afraid to just act on impulse.

"So, Twilight...  What's this 'experiment' exactly... uhm... for, again?"  Fluttershy timidly asks, not totally understanding the premise and implications.

"Well, Fluttershy...  Since neither of us have really been in this situation before I can use it as a control to test out exactly how compatible we are in a relationship.  I really hope that I can observe us, keep tabs on behavior, try and track what we feel like it's going to turn into after a while...  This could really help me understand what a meaningful relationship is all about, even though we're... you know... both mares and everything,"

Fluttershy can't help but giggle at Twilight's ridiculous way of going about this, but does take into account that she must be interested if she's willing to look at it empirically.  "Just promise me you won't let keeping tabs on all of this ruin all the fun.  Relationships are supposed to be fun... aren't they?"  She asks, blushing a bit and watching as Spike takes it upon himself to leave before anymore mushy romance contaminates the air.

"Right you are, Fluttershy... Uhhhm, could you do me a favor?"  Twilight asks, unsuccessfully fighting a thin blush across her nose.

"Anything, what is it?"  Fluttershy responds immediately, knowing that she certainly means she would do anything for Twilight.  Except maybe stand up in front of a crowd and give a speech.

"I-if I let it get out of hand just go ahead and let me know...  I really do want this to work... I just don't have any, well, references to go off of.  I've never known any mares who liked other mares before,"  She says with a sheepish grin.

Do we know the same Rainbow Dash as she does, Co-pilot?  Fluttershy asks herself, suppressing the voice as she nods and agrees "Of course, Twilight, I'll do my best to take a little initiative...  But uhm, d-do you want to tell our friends?"

Twilight blushes, and glances around; Spike wasn't a threat to privacy, but Twilight has a nervous habit of checking around corners for any gossipy, eavesdropping fiends. "D-do you think they'll be okay with it?"  She stutters, nervously tracing a circle on the floor with her hoof.

"It's okay, Twilight... I don't really wanna say anything either yet to be honest... I just don't know what they'll think of me... us...  Maybe it's just too soon, I'm sorry i asked."

"Well, why don't we just spend some time... testing the water I think is how most ponies say it.  We'll give it a try and see if it works out... If we're happy then we can decide where to go from there, okay?"  Twilight certainly does care about Fluttershy, expressing concern for her extremely delicate sense of self esteem.  She walks up to the sheepish pony, glancing around to see if Spike is watching (as if he cares) and uses her nose to brush the pegasus's mane out of her face.  "No pressure, just enjoy it and see where it goes," Twilight whispers in her ear, finishing the statement with a soft kiss on the cheek.

Fluttershy shivers from the affectionate actions, still not used to such treatment, but definitely wanting more.  Her face turns brick red and she returns the smooch, taking the time to rest her head on Twilight's shoulder, standing there in total bliss.

Twilight tilts her head and gently nuzzles it up against Fluttershy's, no longer glancing around for any prying eyes and just going with what she feels is right.  She tangles her front legs with Fluttershy's and looks her in the eye with a smile.  "I just want for the both of us to be comfortable, right now that's all that matters,"

Fluttershy refuses to speak, knowing that her voice might crack from all of the tear-jerking happiness that she's trying to suppress.  Only nodding and flicking her head so that her mane moves aside, losing herself in Twilight's eyes once again; mind wandering and heart... for lack of a better word... fluttering.

The moment is broken just as Twilight looks about to say something; a certain purple dragon has stepped into the door, clearing his throat for attention.  "I hate to interrupt you two, but you just got a letter, Twi,"  He says, holding up a scroll bearing the Princess's seal.

Both ponies blush intensely, though Spike doesn't even seem to be phased; just passing off all the lovey-dovey, touchey-feely business as gross and girly behavior.  "Oh... Uh, thank you Spike... Fluttershy, why don't you make yourself comfortable while I go take care of this real quick?  You can look for that book you were hoping to check out earlier,"  She says, glancing back and forth between the impatiently waiting dragon and the yellow pegasus.

"Oh right!  I had actually forgotten about that... thank you, Twilight, I'll just be here waiting then,"  Fluttershy masks her disappointment with a grin, figuring that she's finally found something a little more interesting than a book, only to have it taken away.

Wow Co-pilot, I didn't think I'd ever catch you being self-centered for a change,  The 'voice of courage' manages to dig its way into her thoughts once again; mocking her as always.  Fluttershy glances over her shoulder to catch the fleeting image of Twilight's tail as it disappears into the basement with Spike.

What do you mean?  I just was hoping we could spend the day together, that's all...  She responds in her head, taking flight and hovering along the top racks of Twilight's bookcases.  Each one was impeccably clean and perfectly organized.

Pfft, you can't lie to me Co-pilot... I'm the only reason you can lie at all,  She's starting to sound kind of smug...  Fluttershy opens up a book to keep her looking busy should Twilight come back in.

At least stop making fun of me... I'm trying my best to do what you encouraged me to...  Fluttershy responds, putting the book back in exactly the place she had gotten it from.  She continues to slowly flit along the bookcases in alphabetical order, stopping at the top of the "D" section and glancing over the beautifully emblazoned spines of all the well-maintained tomes.

Aww c'mon, can't you take a joke?  Hey... What're you doing?  Fluttershy hates the fact that this voice always seems to know what she's up to before she actually does it.  She pulls a book from the long list of titles: DSM.  The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, by the Equestrian Psychiatric Association.

What's wrong? Can't take a joke? Fluttershy mocks her little voice right back, leafing through the book until she comes across the section for Dissociative disorders.  She reads down the list, mouthing out the definition for Dissociative Identity, otherwise known as Multiple Personality or Split Personality disorder.

How dare you? Her voice asks her, though still in an oddly calm tone.  I'm not something wrong with you, I'm a part of you... You just refuse to accept me, that's all.  She says, a tinge of annoyance in the mental voice, though not quite retaining anger.

You're not me...  Fluttershy closes the book and puts it back where she found it, not feeling truly like the voice fits the description.

Nothing could be further from the truth, Co-pilot.

Unfortunately the 'voice of courage' is right.  Most pegasi have a tendency to be adventurous and athletic, even competitive, at least to a degree.  Fluttershy was the same way early in her life, but years of constant bullying and an oppressive family structure have burned away her desire to be better than anyone, and even her desire to excel at simple, private tasks.  Those feelings never went away however, they're just buried, and from time to time they manifest as the voice Fluttershy had come to recognize; the Fluttershy that she wishes she could be: strong, stoic, confident, and bold.  The Fluttershy that everypony knows and loves, however, is an entity of pure comfort and happiness.  She loves to be kind and generous, it makes her feel good inside, but there's always that little voice digging at her to go out and fly really fast,  kick some clouds, or maybe just go to a party.  She wouldn't ever admit or acknowledge it, but the brief moment that discord locked up her sweetness was a rush; she never felt more alive, even though the whole incident was poisoned with the bitter taste of regret for the horrible actions.

Fluttershy, lost in memory, imagines that moment.  Visualizing that her inner voice was manipulating her with puppet strings.  The trance is broken as the mare of her recent desire steps back into the library, calling out for Fluttershy.

"Heya! I'm done, just a quick check-in from the Princess... somehow she got a free moment and decided to send me a letter.  Nothing too important, thank goodness,"  Twilight says, taking a seat in the center of her library.  "Find anything you like?"

In a fit, Fluttershy reaches over and grabs a random book from the lineup, trying to pretend like she'd been doing something productive and not just flying around talking to herself.  "Yeah, uhm... This one looked kind of interesting," she says, flashing a nervous smile at the lavender unicorn who reads the title aloud.

"Essential Salts: A guide to preparing the dead...  Uhh... That's... That's certainly interesting,"  She says, looking quizzically at the confused pegasus.  Fluttershy gasps and looks at the title, sure enough the unicorn was telling the truth.

"Oh! Oh my... I think I grabbed the wrong book,"  Feeling her stomach turn as her active imagination begins to visualize an extraordinarily tame version of a corpse preparation (such an innocent mind can only conjure up so much...).  "I wanted, uhhm..." she flies around the top of Twilight's bookcases again, scanning the "E" section for anything that seems up her alley.  "This! This is what I meant to get,"  She says as she yanks the "Equestrian guide to vegan cuisine" out of the rack.

"Ahh now it all makes sense... See, here I thought you had some kind of demented necrology lab in your basement or something,"  Twilight says jokingly, though Fluttershy doesn't exactly realize that.

Fluttershy squeaks "H-How could you think that I-I-I'd have tha--"  But Twilight interrupts.

"Relax, Fluttershy, I was only kidding..." comforting the pegasus and trying to stave off a giggle as she speaks.  Fluttershy can't help but blush at having believed such a thing; she lands a few feet from Twilight and sighs in relief.

"Uhhm, Twilight?"  Fluttershy says after a short minute of silence, "It's starting to get a little late and I should really get back home to feed the animals... did, uhm, did you want to... j-join me?"  Fluttershy's blush returns, this time feeling almost feverishly hot in her cheeks.  Well well, what do we have here?  Co-pilot asking Twilight to join her at home? That's new...  Fluttershy simply ignores the voice and tries to keep her composure, looking into Twilight's eyes and inadvertently giving her the puppy-dog look.

Twilight glances over her shoulder at Spike, who nods his head and uses his claws to mock a 'shoo' expression.  By now that dragon would do just about anything to ventilate the library of all the 'mushy, girly drama' and so doesn't even mind the thought of extra chores to keep the place in order.  The unicorn turns back to face Fluttershy, only shrugging and agreeing to take her up on it.  "It's a date,"  She exclaims with a big smile to back it up.

Winter Rainfall

Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy casually step out into the chilly afternoon air, both displaying a deep shiver as a gust of wind brushes past them.  Instinctively, the yellow pegasus fluffs her wings up to help keep her warm, glancing over at Twilight who apparently thinks the action is cute.  They begin their long walk back to Fluttershy's tree-home in silence, simply listening to nature as they pass it by.  The cold, clean air feels almost lighter than usual, carrying sounds from further away and prompting a stillness outside that would, on any other day, be a deafening barrage of noise.  The rustling of leaves from behind them gives a brief warning to the two ponies that another chilly gust of wind is about to hit them.

Twilight jumps a little as the frigid air once again teases her thin coat, causing her to shiver and exclaim her discomfort for the cold.  "Wow!  I had no idea it was so chilly today...  The sun is out!"  She says, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her mane back and forth.

Fluttershy simply smiles and walks up next to Twilight, reaching out her wing and resting it on her back.  Twilight seems to be getting used to this type of treatment as she tilts her head and nuzzles it against Fluttershy's shoulder, keeping a slow and steady pace along with the mare.

"I had no clue how warm pegasus wings were..."  Twilight says, happy to be next to Fluttershy and looking up into her heavily blushing face.

"W-well... some ponies pay good money to have pegasus-down collected after we molt to stuff pillows and blankets with... b-but I'm just happy I can help,"  Fluttershy stutters a little bit, having to force herself to keep from shrinking away timidly.

Twilight giggles at Fluttershy's reaction, nuzzling her head up against her neck and accidentally rubbing the tip of her horn against the mare's jawbone.  "Well...  I didn't mind having a pegasus stay with me last night... I don't know if you're always such a hot-pack or if it was just something special about the situation, but we barely needed the blankets,"  Twilight says with a gentile nudge into Fluttershy's ribs, teasing her and giggling.

Fluttershy blushes brick-red once more, instinctively hiding behind her mane from the embarrassment, "Yeah... well... you... You're a selfish kisser!"  Trying to think of anything she could use against the unicorn, but not quite having the effect she desires.

"Bahahaha!  Maybe when I'm unconscious I am... did you need me to prove you wrong?"  She says with a wink, comfortable enough to display this affection in public since everypony's staying inside today, save the occasional Weather Patrol pegasus flying overhead.

Fluttershy realizes that she's not up to the task to embarrass Twilight and submits.  Blushing heavily and shaking her head, "N-n-no that's okay... You've made your point... a-at least, not outside..."  She admits, secretly wishing that they could share another moment of intimacy like that soon but too embarrassed to say it.

Gee Co-pilot... Twilight sure seems to have gotten comfortable with this whole situation pretty quickly... what's it been... 6 hours?  Almost as if on cue, the 'Voice of Courage' shatters the tranquility in Fluttershy's mind.

So?  I'm comfortable with it too... I like Twilight, She responds, using the opportune silence of a comfortable side-by-side trot home with the purple mare to have a minor 'argument' with herself.

But you still don't want your friends to know, that doesn't sound like comfortable behavior to me,

Just leave me alone...  This is the first time I've felt like I could actually be happy with someone, why are you trying to ruin it?

I'm not trying to ruin it Co-pilot, I'm just trying to pin down your motives... Keep in mind that without my pep-talk you would have just lied there in Twilight's bed, silently wishing to yourself that you told her.  You would have gone home disappointed in yourself and would have tried to make up for it by obsessively reorganizing your house, feeding your animals, and all that other junk that you do to keep yourself occupied in the absence of companionship.  You did the same thing with Morning Dew in Flight school, you passed up an opportunity with Big Macinosh when you helped during Applebuck season, and you even hid your interest from Rainbow Dash after finding out you both came to Ponyville...  I hate to see you lonely and depressed because I have to live with you and listen to every little thought and worry in your head, and frankly it gets dull... it gets dull fast...  The voice tells her off very matter-of-factly, and Fluttershy understands what the voice means.

The voice isn't a separate entity, they share feelings, thoughts, emotions, pain, pleasure... They share everything, whether they want to or not.  But she acts as an analogue for something that's never truly been there: a close friend.  Someone to tell her the things she needs to hear, and someone to fight with when they're too stuck in their routines to move on.

B-B-But... But you... you make fun of me and...  Fluttershy stutters even in her mind when she's processing, trying to reason with the voice and put up some kind of resistance as opposed to to simply giving in and letting her win.

B-B-But nuthin', Fluttershy... You're timid and nice and sweet and kind, and I understand that, I respect it even... but there's one thing I will never respect about you...  'Voice of Courage' is starting to get a little testy; Fluttershy enacts these emotions physically as well, grinding her teeth and stiffening up a little as she and Twilight slowly approach Fluttershy's tree-home in blissful silence.  You're afraid to let yourself be happy,

Fluttershy knows the voice is right, and she even feels her body unravel from the absolute dissipation of all anger that she was holding against herself.  She loosens up and stops grinding her teeth, sluggishly plodding on toward her home which is now in full view of the unlikely pair.  Twilight, however, catches on to the changes in Fluttershy's body language, having been worried about her for some by now.

"Fluttershy, are you alright?"  Just four simple words illicit the pegasus to really think about her answer.  She was angry with herself, mostly because the voice was right.  Fluttershy doesn't answer right away, instead stopping and turning to face Twilight eye to eye.  She decides to do what she feels for once: no debate, no worry about the consequences, just taking something that she wants for the first time in her life.

The pegasus moves forward, wrapping her forelegs around twilight's shoulders and standing up with her, flapping her wings out briefly, only to wrap them around the pair.  Fluttershy, lost in a blind affection for the unicorn cocks her head and presses her muzzle to Twilight's.  The deep kiss, accompanied by a warm embrace feels to both ponies like it's actually generating its own heat source; they wouldn't be surprised if they looked around to see all of the snow around them completely melted.  Fluttershy holds the mare tight against her, not letting the kiss break, falling deep into euphoria at the moment and letting tears well up in her eyes.

I have to say Co-pilot, I'm impressed... Guess I'll go for a little while then.  I'm sure you want to be alone.  The voice remarks, leaving Fluttershy's mind open to wander without interruption.  The pegasus stays calm and tranquil through the whole ordeal however; lost in the moment and dedicating her entire conscious mind to an almost meditative state of sensation.  She breaks the kiss after what feels to her like an eternity, opening her eyes and looking deep into Twilight's beautiful purple irises.  Smiling big and blushing as she realizes what she just did.

"I'll... I'll take that as a yes,"  Twilight says, pleasantly surprised at the reaction and blushing intensely.  The only thoughts present in both of their minds was a feeble attempt to relive the feelings and emotions; to experience the euphoria of a surprise kiss once again if they could.  Fluttershy smiles and begins to lean in again, still blushing, but this time accompanied by the conscious and willing Twilight Sparkle to meet her.

"Now that's something I never thought I'd see!"  Says a mysterious voice from somewhere above the pair.  Fluttershy thinks it's her Id coming back to haunt her, but soon realizes that Twilight heard it too and is looking up.  Fluttershy follows her gaze with a grimace, seeing none other than the legendary Rainbow Dash hovering above the two of them with the most wicked grin they had ever seen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The unlikely pair enter the door to Fluttershy's tree, Rainbow Dash following suit, never having landed while following them.  She goads them constantly, asking embarrassing questions to both of the already timid ponies and prodding into their private life.  Poor Fluttershy hides behind her mane, not making eye contact with the cyan mare or Twilight; the only time she really stood up for herself and her desires ended in the most embarrassing situation of her life.

"So, guys, how long have you been an item?" Rainbow Dash asks, seeming to be genuinely interested but still holding onto that mocking tone of voice that she's known for.

"It hasn't been long, Dash... we actually just recently made the decision to try it out and didn't want to let anybody in on it until some more time had passed,"  Twilight responds, not afraid to make her displeasure known to the pegasus.  Dash promptly hovers above Fluttershy, dropping right out of the sky and landing next to her on the floor with a loud thud, glancing back and forth between the two bashful ponies.

"So, just what do I get for keepin' my mouth shut?"  She asks, hugging up to Fluttershy and making her shrink away just a little; she hasn't made eye contact with anypony since that wonderful moment.

"Rainbow, I can't believe you'd try to use this as blackmail!  You know how sensitive Fluttershy is..."  Twilight snaps in response.  Growling a little at the laughing pegasus while taking very little self-interest in her example.

"Aww c'mon! I don't mean anything by it.  It's just that sweet little Fluttershy and brainy Twilight Sparkle being fillyfoolers... and a couple no less!  That would be worth an awful lot to some of those paparazzo ponies as a story.  You might have to sweeten the deal a little to keep me from cashin' in on this,"  Neither of the ponies really wanted to believe that the element of loyalty would play with a secret so delicate, but Fluttershy knew something that Twilight evidently didn't.

"Twilight, she's just acting this way because she made me promise not to tell anybody that she liked mares back when I found out in flight school..."  Fluttershy speaks up, blatantly disregarding Rainbow's 'secret' in hopes that it'll help show her how she's acting.

"Wait... Rainbow... You?  I never would have guessed..."  Twilight says, taken aback by the revelation.  Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash can only look at each other confused.

"Heck even I thought everypony knew,"  The rainbow-maned pegasus says, standing up and walking around the pair.  Twilight stands up to keep at eye-level with Rainbow, pacing around in a circle and taking her place beside Fluttershy.  The yellow pony looks up at the protective unicorn, unable to fight a small smile from sneaking across her face.

"No offense, Twilight... But it is kind of obvious..."  Fluttershy says, standing up and keeping her side pressed against Twilight, hugging one wing around her back and bringing her in close.

"Hey now I wouldn't say obvious..." Rainbow Dash says, starting to sweat a little now from her own secret being publicly discussed,  "B-but it's certainly not as much of a shocker as you two together...  I'm sure Pinkie would just love the idea of throwing you a party!"  She immediately takes control of the situation, expertly snapping the spotlight back onto the two lovers.

Fluttershy bites her lower lip and looks at Twilight, who seems equally horrified at the prospect, "Alright Dash, you win... I don't think we're quite ready for that kind of attention yet... what do you want?"  Twilight asks, lowering her head in submission to the devious mare.

"Hmmm... Well, considering this is you two that we're talking about here... And you did say that it hasn't been long right?"  Dash asks, waiting for an answer before she continues.

"I... I spoke up about it y-yesterday..."  Fluttershy admits, knowing it wouldn't be prudent to lie at this point.

"Right then, your first time together, you gotta let me watch!"  Rainbow replies, immediately taking a stance, stoic as always.

"W-watch what?"  Twilight asks, ignorant of the hidden meaning behind Dash's words.

Fluttershy, already so red she could put Big Macintosh to shame, leans over and whispers in Twilight's ear, explaining in the tamest way she knows just what Dash meant by 'watch'.

Twilight's eyes widen until they look like they're about to burst from her head, and what appears to be all of the blood in her body rushes to her cheeks.  The unicorn seems to be paralyzed just by the thought of such an invasion of privacy.  Rainbow Dash had given up standing long ago by this point though; she's currently on her back, laughing so hard that she's crying and flailing around.

Ohhhh she's dirty... you should have asked her out Co-pilot!  Of course she'd chime in now.  Part of the 'Voice of Courage' really makes Fluttershy feel like she has a very tiny Rainbow Dash lodged into her mind.

"Y-y-you know neither of us are going to agree to that!"  Twilight, moving from paralyzing embarrassment into a defensive rage, yells to the giggling mare.

"Bahaaaahahaha! The... The look on your face Twi... P-Priceless! ahahahaaaaa!"  Rainbow can barely speak through her fit.  "Awwhh... You guys are adorable when you're embarrassed... I'm sorry, I couldn't really ask you to do that.  I was just messin' with you both,"  She pauses to take a few breaths, standing up and flapping her wings a few times.  "Listen, all kidding aside I'm happy for you, and I hope you stick together and have tons of fun.  I won't tell anypony, that's up to you, I am the element of loyalty after all,"  She says, stifling a laugh at the end of it.

"Sometimes I wonder..." Twilight quips, still angry but very, very relieved.

"Oh take a chill pill Twi... Just keep your marefriend happy and you won't need to worry about anything else.  Although I do wanna say this: our friends are super-cool, they wouldn't think any differently of you two no matter what, so don't take too long in deciding when you wanna tell them, I'm sure they'll be totally psyched for ya!"

Fluttershy, forgiving as usual, unwraps her wing from Twilight and walks up to the other pegasus, giving her a hug around the shoulders as thanks for taking back that mean-spirited prank.  "Thank you, Dashie, please just promise us that you won't tell anyone, please?"  Fluttershy begs, knowing that the pegaus can't resist her charms.

"Alright, alright I promise you I won't tell anypony whatsoever... Just go back to Twilight and have yourselves a good day.  I gotta get back to work anyhow, we're planning a light snow tomorrow so you might wanna stock up on hot cocoa and such.  Twenty bits says you two will be snuggling up nice and cozy in this place during the whole thing!"  She winks and grins at the ponies as she approaches the exit, stretching her wings and opening the beautifully carved door,  "Take care gals!  Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" and with that final word she leaves; the draft created by her speedy escape shuts the door for them, rather slams it, and leaves the pair in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"So...  I'm uhm, I'm glad she didn't really mean that she wanted to watch us..."  Twilight says, breaking the silence but only adding to the discomfort.  "I mean... I don't even know how that would work... Sure a stallion and a mare makes sense but..."

Fluttershy blushes and giggles, reaching her hoof up to cut Twilight off in the middle of her sentence, looking her in the eyes and smiling, "You said it yourself Twilight... No pressure... we don't have to think about that right now,"  She lowers her hoof and punctuates her statement with another sweet kiss on Twilight's lips.

"Well...  Fluttershy, to be honest I want everything we do together to be special...  I don't quite know why but being with you feels unique."  Twilight responds, taking a few seconds to collect herself after the kiss.

"Twilight, I understand... and if Rainbow is any testament, two mares don't seem to have much trouble doing... well... that...  So I wouldn't worry too much about how it works, just focus on being comfortable,"  Fluttershy responds, feeling like a weight has been lifted from her.  She's actually able to openly speak to Twilight about anything, and she loves every single second of it.

"Aww, well I promise I'll think about it, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable either...  We'll talk later about it okay?  I'm kind of in the mood to just sit and chat and maybe snuggle for a while... I really enjoyed doing that with you last night,"  Twilight says, deciding to change the subject before the rise in blood pressure makes her lightheaded.

Fluttershy blushes again, surprised that it's actually her exhibiting more knowledge about this than Twilight,  "Deal... But could you make me a promise?"  She asks, smiling at the lavender mare of her dreams.

"Of course, Fluttershy!  What is it?  I'd be happy to,"  She eagerly responds, clinging onto that moment of feeling confided in.

"Promise me that when the time comes for us to fool around, you won't try to take any notes,"

The girls both giggle and Twilight shoves Fluttershy away playfully.  They can't help but feel happy together, especially given the sublime beauty of the pale, overcast sky casting its light on the tree home.  They sit down together, wrapping each other up in a warm hug, melting in each others arms as they kiss.  This time no surprises, just two loving mares as they share a moment; cherishing every single second of bliss and wishing it could last forever.

Three Little Birds

The soft light of dusk pours into Fluttershy's window, casting a shimmering ray of pale light over the two napping ponies.  A very traumatized Angel Bunny slowly hops down the stairs, having seen things that he wishes he could un-see. Things he knows he can never speak of to anyone; mostly because he can't speak, but also because of his new desire to completely block out the memories.

Fluttershy stretches her shoulders, unable to move her forelegs as they're wrapped around Twilight's already conscious self.

"Good afternoon,"  Twilight says with a giggle, leaning in to kiss Fluttershy's nose.  The pegasus smiles right back with her eyes half closed, still as relaxed as she could possibly be from the few hours previous.

"The same to you... I uhm,"  Twilight cuts the mare off, leaning in for another deep kiss, holding her close and feeling her face grow warm with a heavy blush.  Fluttershy shivers from the affection and returns the kiss, stretching her wings out and letting them dangle lazily over the side of the bed.

Twilight slowly opens her eyes and pulls away from the kiss, reaching her hoof up and brushing Fluttershy's hair behind her ear.  "I really enjoyed that..."

"I did too Twilight, I uhm... I didn't know that would feel so good..."  Fluttershy can't help herself from trying to hide her face from the embarrassment.

"Mmmn, I've read about that time and time again but I had no idea either.  Thank you so much, Fluttershy...  Do... Do you want to stay with me?"  Twilight asks, wrapping her arms around the yellow mare's back and holding her close.

"Of course, Twilight... I can't think of anything better,"  Fluttershy responds, kissing the lavender unicorn's neck and snuggling against her, folding her wings against her sides once again and resting comfortably against Twilight.

Twilight yawns and sits up, using some pillows to prop up her weight and gaze around the room.  She admires all of Fluttershy's classic decorations: quilts, an old-timey clock, several small pictures of her and her friends, and a couple of hoof-carved toys that seem to be from her childhood.

"I didn't know you collected things,"  She says after spying the toys, unsure of quite what to say without sounding insulting.

"Hmm?  Well I guess I just pick up a few things here an there... What do you mean, exactly?"  She responds, following Twilight's gaze to the small group of dolls on the hearth in her bedroom.  "You mean the dolls?"

"Well yeah, definitely the dolls, but some of the other stuff too... It seems almost... Antique.  Don't get me wrong though, they add a very cozy feel to this place, I've just never seen too much like them before,"  The purple unicorn says, looking back down to Fluttershy as she props herself up against the bed.

"A lot of that stuff is from home...  Back where I used to live there were a ton of artisan ponies who made things like those.  For some reason my neighborhood was full of them, and most of the things that people had were hoof-made.  When I was a filly I was particularly fond of the dolls...  They took a lot of love and patience to make, and just having them felt like I had a little bit of that love and patience to keep for myself,"

Twilight can't help but smile at the sentiment.  She leans down and hugs Fluttershy softly, relaxing and humming happily in the warmth of their embrace.  The gentile silence is interrupted first by the rustling of leaves outside the window.  Fluttershy lived in one of the few trees around Ponyville that didn't lose their leaves during the winter; Twilight's library was another of them.

Both of the ponies find the sound soothing; the soft music of nature flowing around them as they stay safe and cozy in their bed.  As the wind dies down, the silence is once again broken, but this time by a grumbling in Twilight's stomach.  This prompts a giggle from Fluttershy, who looks up at the mare and rubs her tummy, "Hungry?"

Twilight smiles sheepishly and shrugs "I wouldn't mind going out to get something to eat with you,"

Fluttershy sits up and stretches, kicking her legs out of the bed and standing up, looking at the clock and realizing the time, "Maybe getting dinner is a good idea..."

Twilight lazily gets out of the bed as well, using her magic to place the quilt from atop Fluttershy's bed back perfectly.  Looking over to Fluttershy as she steps toward the stairs and stretches her body out,  "Feel like going to Friesian's?"

"B-But isn't that place expensive?  Like... really expensive?

"Well... yeah... but it's my treat.  It's been kind of a special day so I figure we should end it with something special,"  Twilight says happily as she starts to walk downstairs.

"Aww, Twilight you don't have to do that..."  Fluttershy follows behind, feeling a gentile warmth in her heart from the gesture.

"No no, I insist.  I really do want to go someplace nice... I've never been on a real date before, and since you made my entire day back there I can't think of anybody else I'd rather go out with.  Whaddya say?"

"Well... I suppose if you i-insist..."  Fluttershy sheepishly says, very happy about the prospect but still feeling almost guilty about letting Twilight spend the money.  Celestia knows she doesn't have it herself.  "B-but aren't you worried about somebody else seeing us?"

Twilight giggles a little bit and finds her scarf and saddlebag, taking out enough bits to cover the expected cost of the dinner, "Honestly, Fluttershy, at this point I don't mind if someone sees us...  I think Dash was right when she said that our friends would be happy, and who cares about the rest of the town?  We saved their lives several times already,"

"I guess that's true...  Well I won't turn down a gift, but at least let me pay for half..."

"Tell you what, you can leave the tip,"  Twilight says, leaning in to kiss Fluttershy on the cheek, "But I want this to be my gift to you.  Think of it as a... special thank you for such an amazing few hours,"

Fluttershy squeaks a little and blushes a deep shade of red; her body was still tingling from all of the 'magic' Twilight had used on her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash, lazily lounging on a cloud and gazing over Ponyville, spots her new favorite couple exit from Fluttershy's tree-home off in the distance.  She feels like going to say hello, but knows deep down that they probably want to be alone.  She does, however, decide to watch them for a while and see what they're up to; not much else to do until the cloudmakers actually finish their jobs and make the snow-producing clouds.

The cyan pony glances around and flaps her wings a few times; not leaving a trail but propelling the cloud forward into Ponyville, spying on the happy couple.  From up in the sky Dash can see that they are walking together as usual, both wearing scarves that they likely bought from Rarity... And Fluttershy has her wing around Twilight's withers.  The rainbow maned pegasus scoffs a little bit at the overt cuteness of the two of them.  She's jealous but would never admit it; not necessarily wanting either of the two for herself, but upset that she can't even hold a stable relationship.  The fastest pony in Equestria, the pony that saved the lives of Rarity and three of the Wonderbolts at the same time, the only pony that could perform a sonic rainboom and she couldn't find someone that she wanted to stay with.  Fluttershy didn't even want to find a marefriend or a coltfriend for the longest time, and then suddenly poof, now she's with Twilight.

Rainbow is incapable of being as cute and sweet as Fluttershy, but she likes to think she's at least somewhat attractive to the average pony.  Stallions from all over the country have been sweet on her, and that's definitely a boost to her already swollen self-image, but she fears being too set in her reputation to really admit to the public that she likes mares instead.  To protect said reputation, she just plays hard to get for all of the stallions, sending them mixed messages and eventually chasing them off.  Self-destructive behavior or not, she enjoys being adored, and wants desperately to have someone to call her own.

Rainbow snaps out of her envious train of thought as she notices the couple headed toward the more expensive side of Ponyville, and more specifically into Friesian's.  Dash always wanted to go there...

She rolls onto her back and huffs as the two ponies disappear into the pricey restaurant.  She stares up into the sky longingly, having only really been in love with flying before but now seeing that she longs for companionship.

"If Fluttershy can do it, why can't I?"  She asks herself aloud, crossing her legs and propping her head up with her forelegs.  Gently kicking her highest leg to the beat of some song she had heard recently.

"Spitfire wouldn't be caught dead with somepony like me...  Even if she does swing that way she wouldn't want to 'stain her spotless reputation by being with a commoner' anyhow...  Whatever the heck that means..."  Rainbow says with a mocking and sarcastic tone.  She sighs and looks off to her left, watching the sun as it sets below the horizon, painting the sky a deep shade of orange before finally dying out into blackness.

Hmm... Applejack hasn't ever had a coltfriend since we've known each other...  She thinks to herself, imagining all the times that she and Applejack have had their little competitions.  Maybe...  No, there's no way... A country girl like her?  She'd probably burn me at the stake if I asked her that... but then again...  The pegasus sits placidly atop her cloud, weighing out what could and couldn't happen if she were to approach the earth pony with such a question.

Screw it...  Fluttershy did it and she's happier than ever...  Tomorrow I'll catch AJ when she's out doing something alone and ask,  She lets a smug grin sneak across her face.  "Applejack..."  She says it aloud, loving the way her name rings off her tongue.

"I sure hope you're as open minded as you seem to be AJ...  I wouldn't mind having someone athletic to race before a long night of lovin' every single day,"  She can't help but laugh at herself, she hasn't felt this girly since she was just a little filly playing with Wonderbolts dolls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun finishes setting behind the sky, leaving no trace of orange light against the black canvas.  Luna's moon takes its reign over the land, accompanied only by the beautiful, twinkling stars.  Fluttershy sits back in her chair, dropping the cloth napkin onto her completely empty plate and looking across the candlelit table at Twilight.  Twilight, who had finished a few minutes ago, sits happily grinning at her marefriend, thinking to herself that the candle flame seems to tease across her nose via its position on the table.

Twilight manages to flag down the waiter pony and ask for the check, declining desert after a quick check with Fluttershy, and looking woefully at the bill.

"H-How much is it... you sure you don't want me to help pay?"  Fluttershy asks, feeling a little guilty even though her dinner was half the price of Twilight's.

"Oh, no no it's okay Fluttershy.  As I said, it's my treat,"  Twilight responds with a nervous chuckle, taking out her pouch of bits and counting it, eventually deciding to drop the whole bag onto the table as they get up to leave.

Fluttershy and Twilight walk side-by-side toward the door, and the pegasus doesn't think twice about putting her wing around Twilight's back as usual.  She feels comfortable, needed and loving with a warm body under her wing, almost motherly, so she forgets the current situation and just does what she feels is right.  This prompts a few dirty looks from the snooty and sophisticated, tux-wearing ponies dining around; she even thinks she can pick out a "well I never in all my years..." from the hushed gasp of a few select tables.  The embarrassed pegasus looks down, her wing quivering from the second thoughts and eventually folding back against her side.

Twilight, having felt Fluttershy shrink away from her at all the commotion, scowls a little.  She's upset at the disdain from the room, especially the judgment of such uptight ponies who couldn't tell the difference between night and day if their butlers didn't dress them in pajamas or three-piece suits.

"You got a problem?"  Twilight says in a loud, lecturing tone, "Fluttershy here is the kindest, sweetest, and most loving pony in this whole town,"  She doesn't quite focus on any one table, but looks around to all of the offenders, making absolutely sure to lock eyes with every single one of them, "She saved the town from a dragon almost single-hoofedly, and was necessary for stopping Nightmare Moon and Discord... What have you done lately?"  Many of the snooty ponies understand where Twilight is coming from and try to hide their faces.  The usually timid unicorn finally snapped at having her relationship insulted so readily.

"T-T-Twilight..."  Fluttershy stutters, embarrassed beyond belief, though flattered, that Twilight would go out of her way to defend the pegasus.

"I love Fluttershy and I'm not afraid to say it.  If you don't like it, fine... but we won't stand to be insulted by a bunch of losers who have about as much class as a rock.  You all should be ashamed of yourselves, not us, how dare you!"

Fluttershy just wishes that she could be someplace else, shivering under the spotlight that had been placed on the two of them as deviants; she's terrified.

"Madams, I'm going to have to ask you to please leave the restaurant,"  A pudgy green earth pony in a tuxedo and with the most ridiculous mustache that either of the pair had ever seen had managed to walk up to them without being noticed.  Twilight huffs and stomps the ground as she obliges; Fluttershy ducks her head and follows without so much as a peep.

As Fluttershy meets the frustrated unicorn outside she almost doesn't want to look her in the eyes.  That outburst was a little too much, and when Twilight said she 'loved' the mare she felt like she was moving a little too quickly.  "Twilight... Are you okay?"  She can't even berate without being nice.

Twilight kicks a rock out of the road with her foreleg, turning to meet gazes with the mortified Fluttershy,  "I'm really sorry about that... I... I-I felt you pull your wing away when they started scoffing and I just couldn't deal with someone else hurting your feelings that badly... I didn't mean to embarrass you, I just... I..."  Twilight has come down off of her soap box and realizes the damage.  She tries her best to apologize to Fluttershy, who seems accepting but still somehow hurt.

"M-maybe we should keep this a little more quiet for a while... I just don't think I'm ready for public episodes like this..."  Fluttershy says, walking over to kiss Twilight on the cheek and then taking flight,  "I need to go home...  I think you should too... I'm sorry, Twilight, but we'll talk a little more tomorrow..."  She fights away some tears as she turns around and flies toward home; the unicorn isn't quite as stoic, surprisingly.

"Fluttershy, wait!"  Twilight calls out, tears already streaming down her cheeks, "I-I-I... I just... want you to be happy..."  But it's too late, the pegasus is almost gone into the night sky and her voice trails off toward the end.  She can't do anything but run home, sobbing.

The Lights Are Many

Rainbow Dash, tosses in her sleep, mumbling something incoherent and rolling almost to the point that she falls off of her cloud.  She's fallen asleep on the fluffy thing above Ponyville, only being roused by the unmistakable sobbing of Fluttershy as it echos through the still night air.  She stirs a little, fluttering her eyes open and yawning, taking her time to come back into consciousness before she realizes that Fluttershy had just flown home, alone... crying.  The pegasus doesn't even hesitate to kick her cloud into oblivion and fall, letting the chilly night air caress through her mane before snapping open her wings, tilting up and flying as fast as she can, taking to the sky an instant before she reaches building-level.  She flies toward Fluttershy's tree, worried about the pony, and trying to fight off the predisposition that Twilight had broken her heart just now.  Even if that were true, Dash wouldn't want to believe it, so she wanted the whole story first.

It doesn't take long for the fastest flier in all of Equestria to arrive at Fluttershy's home.  She lands a few yards away, trotting as she slows down and stopping just short of the door.  She lifts up her foreleg, thinking about what she's doing, but only hesitating for a moment before knocking three times.  No answer.  She knocks again, looking into the side window and scanning around the living area for Fluttershy; nothing.

She feels that it's her duty as a friend to help, so she flies up to the bedroom window and hovers directly outside it.  She looks inside and sees the troubled pegasus sitting on her bed, hunched over and holding one of several dolls in her hooves, looking blankly through it.  Rainbow Dash cringes at the sight, recognizing the bizarre coping mechanism from the last time she had her feelings hurt back in Flight School; she taps her hoof on the window to get her attention.

The exhausted pegasus looks over her shoulder through the window and locks eyes with Rainbow; the cyan pegasus can see the misery behind Fluttershy's gaze and feels almost crushed just to look at her like this.  Fluttershy stands up and sniffles a little, walking over to the window and opening it up slowly, shivering from the cold air as it rushes in to greet her first, "Y-yeah?"

"Gee, Shy, don't get so excited or you might faint..." Dash says jokingly, just trying to lighten the obviously dark and tense mood.

"S-Sorry..."  Tough crowd... Rainbow thinks to herself, switching from a joking tone that she's used to into the uncharted territory of gushy friendship and helpfulness.

Dash tilts her head to the side and gives her a genuinely concerned look, "May I come in?  You look like you could use a friend..."

Fluttershy sniffles again, nodding her head and stepping aside to allow the pegasus in through the window, promptly shutting it and walking back over to her bed.

"So what happened at the restaurant?"  Dash asks, trotting up and sitting next to Fluttershy on her bed.  Fluttershy is the only pony that Rainbow Dash would do this for, they've just known each other far longer than any other ponies, and as such share a special kind of friendship.

"T-Twilight embarrassed me in front of everybody..."  Fluttershy says quietly, not crying because of the event itself, but just that the unicorn would be so inconsiderate of her feelings.  She doesn't hold it against Twilight, but she does feel like she can't trust her quite as much, and no wound could hurt more than that to such an intimate and emotionally charged pony.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad... Innit your marefriend's job to embarrass you from time to time?"  Dash replies with a gentle chuckle, feeling awkwardly immersed in the emotional tension.

"You just don't get it... She didn't think about how I would feel... She's moving too quickly and isn't being as considerate as I thought she would...  I'm worried that she's just... desperate...  Only trying to get with me because I'm the only one she has..."  Fluttershy says as she hugs one of the hoof-made dolls, reverting to her childhood sentiments to calm herself down.

"Well... no offense, Fluttershy, but isn't that how you two got together in the first place?  I'm not saying it's a bad situation, but you both kind of are desperate..."  Dash rubs the back of her neck as she speaks, knowing this can't end well, but that it's still something that needs to be said.

Fluttershy just tilts her head down; not one to snap back, she just lets the words stab at her heart, knowing they're true but still wounded from hearing her best friend say them.

"Listen, Shy... Twilight is a great pony: she's smart, nice... she's got that cute nerd-filly look that I know you like... but most of all she's loving.  She doesn't always show it, but she's loving... I've seen her and spike together and she treats him like a son.  And don't even make me bring up that Owl that she's got living in the library with her,"  Fluttershy lowers the doll into her lap, still avoiding eye-contact with Dash, but listening intently.  Dash puts her foreleg around Fluttershy's shoulders and gently hugs her, "Maybe she's desperate... and maybe she doesn't even know what she wants... But instead of flying off and abandoning her you should have talked it out.  Set some boundaries for yourselves... It seems to me like you dove right into something that neither of you were really prepared for, and though I admire the ambition in that... I can't say it was a smart idea... I for one don't believe in 'true love',"  This grabs her attention...

"You d-don't?"  Fluttershy seems almost shocked, figuring that Dash was just holding herself out for someone she thought she could be together with forever without even trying.

"Nope... I never have... I've always seen 'love' as work... something you gotta compete in, something you have to actively build and work on.  If you give up for even a second then it falls apart, and I'm still single because I haven't found anybody who's a hard enough worker to really stick with it the way I would want them to.  I think you and Twilight should try to work this out because I know Twilight would be able to put in the work.  The question here is whether or not you're willing,"

"I... I want to be with her so badly..."  Fluttershy starts to cry a little again; Dash just keeps her stoic disposition and continues to explain how she feels.

"Well...  You have to start working for it, Shy...  Put in the effort; next time she screws up don't just fly away crying...  Talk to her about it... Let her know that she hurt your feelings, and let her explain herself and learn from her mistake... If Twilight can do anything she can learn..."

Fluttershy sniffles again and hugs her doll, hiding her face from Rainbow Dash.  Not in denial, but in shame... Dash is right, and Fluttershy knows it.

"You two make a really adorable couple, you know that?"  Dash says, switching from negative to positive lights to shed on the pegasus, knowing that she's mortified with herself, "I'm honestly a little jealous... I wish I could be as cute as you,"

The pink-maned pegasus smiles a little, putting the doll down and looking up at Rainbow Dash, "You're really jealous of me?"

"Pfft, not right now I'm not... You have a chance to be happy and you're about to let it slip right through your hooves... I wouldn't want to be in your position if my life depended on it...  But I do envy what you can have if you just put in the effort.  So as soon as possible you need to get off your plot and go talk to Twilight,"

Fluttershy wipes a tear from her face and leans over to hug Rainbow Dash, nuzzling her head into the cyan mare's shoulder, "Thank you... you're absolutely right, thank you so much,"

"Woah! Heh, you're welcome Fluttershy... I'm happy to help,"  Dash slowly hugs back, still not used to the intimacy of the moment, but accepting.  Deep down she does feel a warmth in her heart that she always gets whenever she helps her out; Fluttershy hasn't ever been without need of a helping hoof, "Now then... I think maybe you should get some sleep, get up early and talk to Twilight tomorrow... I didn't quite see what she was up to, but no doubt she's no better off than you were just then... I wish you luck, but I've got someplace I gotta be,"

"I understand... Thank you again, I'm sorry I'm such a mess..."  Fluttershy says, breaking eye contact and pulling away from the hug.

"No need to apologize for that sweet-cheeks.  You've always been kind of a mess; that's why I'm here!  To help clean you up when you need it,"  Dash says with a wink, standing up and heading back toward the window.

"Yeah... I guess that's true... Hey, I have a door you know..."  Fluttershy responds, watching her closely as she approaches the window.

"Yeah but this is faster... G'night Fluttershy!  I've gotta get up bright and early tomorrow for the snowstorm!  Hope you and Twilight can get together before it hits Ponyville too hard,"  She gives the window a gentle kick to open it up, perching on the sill and stretching her wings.  With one last look over her shoulder she bolts out of the window, leaving enough force behind her to pull some papers off of Fluttershy's desk and scatter them on the floor.  With a sigh the yellow pony picks them up and stacks them back where they were.

She thinks about how great of a letter this could make to Celestia... but decides to actually go talk to Twilight before she does anything that silly.  To end the day she sets the alarm on her antique clock and slowly slides into bed.  A mix of fear and sadness still resides inside her heart, but they're nicely diluted by a new reservoir of confidence that everything will be just fine.

As the yellow mare drifts off to sleep she can feel one last vision pass through her mind: Her voice of courage sitting patiently and nodding in approval of her plan.

Sweet dreams, Co-pilot.  She'll come around, as long as you stick to your word,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash flies slowly away from the tree-home, thinking intently about what she had told her.  She ascends to the cloud ceiling and looks down upon the sleeping town of Ponyville, only a few lights still remain, none of which belong to her friends.  The pegasus finds a small cloud and wrestles it beneath her, propelling it over to Sweet Apple Acres, figuring she could practice what she preached and catch AJ when she got up to do her morning chores.

It'll start out as a friendly warning about the snow, and then I'll just pick it up as we chat from there... Shouldn't be too hard... I got this!  She reassures herself, getting her ego thoroughly stroked before bed.  The rainbow-maned mare slumps down on the cloud, spreading herself out and taking up the entire thing for herself; she stretches her wings and wraps them around her as best she can to help keep warm in the frigid night air.  Thoughts of the happy couple that she may have saved pass through her mind, making her unconsciously smile and wiggle on the cloud.

Life is good... and I'm the best friend ever...  She dozes off with these final words echoing in her mind's ear, helping her find peace and relaxation in rest.  Something poor Twilight hasn't known all night.

Bashful Skies

Twilight sits at her window, staring outside with bloodshot eyes at the pale sky.  Dawn lazily approaches and paints the low-hanging clouds silver with the soft, downy light of the sun.  Twilight hasn't had a good hour of rest all night and she's feeling the effects.  She tilts her head down and away from the horizon to stare at her windowsill; perfectly clean as always.  The lavender unicorn sits back on her bed and sighs; she feels guilty for locking Spike out of the upstairs, but she really wanted to be alone last night.  She slowly climbs down the ladder from her sleeping area and sighs, looking in the mirror at her disheveled appearance without a care.

Twilight opens the door to see Spike asleep in his bed right next to the doorway, the poor guy must have been worried  sick about her all night.

"Hey, Spike,"  Twilight says, letting her misery resound through her voice as she speaks.

The dragon yawns and stretches, taking a minute to realize who just spoke to him, "Are you okay Twi?  You look like you had a really rough night,"

Twilight responds with a stretch; she feels stiff and run down from all the crying and lack of sleep, "Yeah... I feel like I did too.  Sorry for locking you out by the way.  I'm just have not been in the best of moods,"

The unicorn walks downstairs into the library, her head low and not looking at Spike as she passes him.  He promptly stands up and follows close behind,  "Do you want me to get you anything?"

Twilight thinks about saying "You could get me my marefriend back," but isn't quite depressed enough for that kind of snarky talk.

"No, Spike, that's alright.  Just go ahead and take the day off, I've got some thinking to do,"  She responds with a weak, airy tone in her voice.

"Mnn, If you say so, but I'll be here if you need anything, I really am worried about you Twilight, you haven't been this freaked out in a long time,"  Spike says as he gathers up his bed and blanket, heading into the bedroom area and climbing the ladder.

"I'll keep that in mind, but don't worry too much about me, It's nothing I can't deal with,"  She says with a little false confidence.  In reality she has no idea how to handle this situation and is running over different possibilities in her head; to no avail of course.

Twilight sits down at her desk, thinking very seriously about asking Celestia for help.  She magically unrolls a scroll and picks up a quill, dipping it in ink and hovering it just millimeters above the parchment.  The unicorn hesitates a little bit, thinking to herself about how crushed Fluttershy would be if she revealed the secret again, and to the Princess nonetheless.  A few blots of ink drip off of the quill onto the parchment and stains it; Twilight decides to put the materials away, resolving that she has to do this herself.

But what if Fluttershy doesn't want to speak to me?  She thinks, constantly running over every bad situation that she could possibly conjure up.  What if she never wants to see me again?  What if she's having second thoughts about the way she feels toward other mares?  What if she becomes even more reclusive now and never finds anybody?  It'd be all my fault!  Twilight finds herself chewing on the tip of her hoof, having reverted to a habit that she thought she kicked years ago.

The lavender mare paces around, going from depressed to worried, and then to mortified.  Emotions swinging wildly, she looks around, trying to find some way to make up for her transgression.  Twilight walks back to her desk and takes out the quill again, finding her blotted parchment and figuring that she could write an apology to Fluttershy.  She writes a few lines out,

"Dear Fluttershy," No, no that won't do... She scratches out the two words vigorously.

"Dearest Fluttershy,"  No that won't work either... that's just creepy,  She thinks to herself over and over how imperfect her wording is, writing phrase after phrase and almost immediately scratching it out; unable to even get the beginning salutation down.

"Dear Element of Kindness,"  Too impersonal, Scratch

"Dear Love,"   Definitely no.  Too personal, Scratch

"Dear Neighbor," No...  Scratch, scratch, scratch.

"Dear Friend,"  No,  Scratchy-scratchy-scratch.

"Dear... Dear...Dear..."  She actually writes the 3 'dear's in a row and then scratches them out.  Eventually she scratches right through the parchment and snaps the tip of her quill against the desk.

Frustrated, she uses her magic to fling the quill across the room.  She breaks down, thinking that she can't do anything right.  She never puts the thought into whether or not Fluttershy actually does want to see her, just taking what she saw and extrapolating on it.  To her horror, Twilight hears the one thing she never thought that she would hear; the one event whose statistics she never estimated or produced in her head: a gentle triplet of knocks at the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A rooster crows aloud on the farm of Sweet Apple Acres to greet the dawn, and a snoozing Rainbow Dash awakens from her moderately inappropriate dream of Applejack.  Stretching out on the roof of the Apple Family's new barn, Dash greets the day herself with an audible yawn.  She trots over to the edge of the gabled roof, sitting down with her hooves dangling over the edges to watch for the muted orange earth pony to emerge from her home.

A few minutes pass and Dash begins to feel a sinking sensation in her stomach.  She takes a few deep breaths and resolves to just do it.

Relax... It's AJ we're talkin' about here.  She's cool with almost anything, and it's not like she's gonna turn me down right?  Hey even if she does I'll make it a challenge or something, she won't turn that down.  I'll get her, I have to get her... I'm Rainbow Dash! I get everything I want.  Her thoughts ramble as she goes off into her own little world.  Every single time she tries to get her nerve up she just builds her ego instead of rehearsing anything.  She still doesn't know quite how she's going to go at this, but a pegasus as great as her doesn't need any plan or practice... right?

Applejack steps outside and takes a deep breath, not noticing the rainbow-maned pegasus on top of her barn.  Rainbow Dash spots her and trots around the roof of the barn excitedly, running in a circle to gain speed and then taking flight.  The pegasus snaps her wings open and feels that familiar rush of chill air through her feathers, quickly approaching the surprised pony.

"Awh, Rainbow what in the hay are you doin'?"  She yells out as the pegasus passes her, knocking her hat off with the wake left behind her flight trail.

Rainbow laughs in her usual condescending manner and picks up the hat, "Heh, sorry there AJ, just thought I'd swoop in to let you know about the snowstorm coming along this morning.

"You let me know about that two nights ago,"  Applejack says with an annoyed tinge behind her voice.

"Ah, that's right.  Slipped my mind I guess,"  She says with a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck and glancing away from their eye-contact.

"Uhm, somethin' wrong Rainbow?"  She asks, clearly noticing the pegasus lose her nerve.

"Who? Me? No nothin's wrong! I'm perfectly fine! I'm great!"  All that ego-stroking for nothing, the pegasus has been rendered helpless in the light of the object of her desire.

"You sure? You seem like you got somethin' on your mind,"  AJ can read the pegasus like a book and notices very clearly that she's flustered, "Somethin' you wanna tell me?"

Dash didn't expect this at all.  What little rehearsal she had performed in her head dissolves the instant Applejack catches wise to her intentions.  She caves however, and decides to follow through with her plan to just ask and see what happens,  "Well.  I, uhm... I... I haven't said this to anypony before but..."  She stumbles over her words, blushing a light shade of pink across her nose from the embarrassing strain on her resolve, "I kinda... have a... I have a thing for you, I guess is what I'm trying to say,"

"You got a what for me?  Like a present? or a surprise?"  Applejack is genuinely confused at the pegasus's statement.

"You know... I have a thing for you... a uhm... I have a crush on you.  I was wondering how you felt a-about me.  Maybe we could, go out or... something."  Dash gradually grows less confident in her statement as she watches Applejack's face drop from a confused look to one of worry.

"You uhm, really feel that way sugar-cube?"  She says, trying to mask her disappointment with a compliment.

"Yeah... Yeah I do.  You're a hard worker, you're confident, you're fast, honest, and loyal.  You're just... you're great,"  she trails off at the end, breaking eye contact again and just staring intently at Applejack's mouth, waiting for a response.  The earth pony sighs and looks over each of her shoulders, checking for any family and then walking forward to stand next to Dash.

"Rainbow, you and I need to have a chat, d'ya have the time?"  She says, looking Dash in the eyes.

"Uhm, yeah I've got a little while before the storm, what is it you needed to say?"

"Follow me.  We'll talk in the barn,"  Applejack slowly trots toward the new structure with Rainbow Dash close behind.  The cyan pegasus can't help but worry about the upcoming conversation; she feels that familiar sinking in her heart that she gets whenever she knows something is seriously wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle sheepishly opens her door, peeking outside into the bright morning light, and more specifically to the familiar silhouette of a certain yellow pegasus.

"Hey, Twilight..."  The soft-spoken mare says, not making eye contact quite yet and staying perfectly still.

"Hey... I uhm, I-I didn't think you would want to see me so soon,"  Twilight opens her door all the way and looks down in shame, feeling almost wounded during the awkward silence that follows.

"Uhm, may I come in?"  Fluttershy asks after a short time, quietly entering directly after Twilight's nod,  "I wanted to apologize to you.  I shouldn't have freaked out like that,"

"No, no Fluttershy you're not the one who should be apologizing, I shouldn't have done that in public.  I just didn't want you to feel ostracized like that,"  Twilight responds, walking slowly back into the library proper with Fluttershy in tow.

"I understand that you were just trying to defend me.  I think maybe we should just talk a little more and get some things established, if that would be okay..."

Aw and you were doing so well up to now too, Co-pilot,  Courage, who probably has had her hoof in this entire journey thus far, chimes in and mocks Fluttershy's usual self-doubt.

This really isn't the time...  She snaps in her mind, catching only the tail end of what Twilight has been talking about.

" -- So you said you had something to establish?"  Twilight tilts her head to the side as the slightly absent Fluttershy snaps back into focus and sits with the unicorn.

"Y-yes...  I just think maybe we should keep it quiet for a little longer.  It's clear that not every pony in Ponyville is going to be accepting of us as a couple, I want to be happy and comfortable with you but I don't want to be ridiculed in public.  I already had an experience where I was publicly adored and... well... you saw how well that turned out,"  Fluttershy's voice trails off once more as she reminisces on that discomforting moment.

I still think you should have taken that contract with Photo Finish, you could have more money than you know what to do with by now,  Courage seems whimsically amused by her own actions; ignoring the emotion of the moment playing out before them and still mocking her 'Co-pilot'.

And just what would I do with that money anyway? I it's not like I need it, if anything Rarity would be more inclined,

Pfft, you and I both know that you're much more attractive than Rarity is; I think Photo Finish would agree.  That's not to say she isn't kinda cute but I've seen how you look at yourself in the mirror,

That's how you look at me in the mirror  Fluttershy closes her eyes and shakes her head a little at the strangeness of the moment

"I understand, Fluttershy, and I promise I'll try to be a little better about keeping it quiet.  I'm just so happy to have someone in my life that I can count on and actually... well, maybe it's a little soon to be saying this, but I feel like I can love you.  And I feel like i can be loved by you.  There's nothing more I could ask for,"

See? Twilight's begging you to be with her,

Just shut up! Please!

"Thank you, Twilight... I feel the same way, I just don't want other people to make fun of us..."

"I understand, I really do... Please forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you, you mean so much to me, and e-everyone makes mistakes,"

Someponies more than others...  Courage mocks and mocks, feeling stifled by the emotional cage and just wanting nothing more than to fly away.  Her best resolve is to make fun of Fluttershy's obvious inhibitions; taking a bad moment (for her anyway) and making it into an entertaining one.

"Why do you always have to try and ruin everything for me?!"  Fluttershy yells, not quite used to having two simultaneous conversations and accidentally crossing them into each other.

What'd I tell ya? Heheee,

"Fluttershy... What are you talking about?"  Twilight shies away from the mare, shivering a little from the loud outburst and afraid that she's done something wrong.

"No! No, no no Twilight that wasn't for you... That was... That was for me,"  She tries to explain without sounding crazy, but just can't seem to fit the words right in her mind.

Maybe I should leave you alone now.  Sure it's fun messing with you but I really don't wanna have to put up with some kind of emotional breakdown for the next few months.  If you turn out to be too far around the bend for little Twilight to handle just let me know so I can find a dark little place in your obnoxiously bright and happy mind to hide... Peace!  With that, the 'Voice of Courage' disappears from present consciousness...  Lately she's been getting worse and worse as far as making herself a separate entity goes.

"I don't quite understand... you... yell at yourself in your mind?"  Twilight breaks into Fluttershy's focus for the first time this conversation, making the yellow pegasus feel guilty for ignoring what she had come here to do.

"That's about the closest explanation I could give you...  Twilight I haven't... I haven't quite t-told you some things about myself.  Maybe it would be dangerous to hide them if we were going to get s-serious,"  the embarrassed mare tries to take a page from Courage's handbook without reverting to her level.  In her mind she would always be above that pestilent mass of spite, regardless of the fact that they're the same pony.

"I see.  Well, whatever you want to tell me I'm perfectly willing to listen to, and don't be afraid; I'll keep it purely confidential,"  The unicorn replies with sincere worry in her voice, resting her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder as she steps close to her.

"Thank you, Twilight...  You really are a great friend... erm... a great marefriend"

"Even if I do screw up sometimes, heh," she follows with a tense giggle, but relaxes just enough to hug the mare.  Fluttershy happily returns the gesture.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack stands by the barn door, holding it open for the cyan pegasus to step inside.  Rainbow Dash, still on edge, nervously enters the dark area, afraid of what's about to happen.

"Now listen here, Sugar-cube.  What you asked me out there.  You're telling me you're a... what's the word again?  Fillyfooler, is that it?"  Applejack didn't quite respond the way Dash had expected.  She can feel her heart fracture right down the middle with the pronunciation of that slightly degrading term.

"Well, yeah I guess... yeah that's what I'm saying.  I'm a fillyfooler, I'm happy, I'm proud of it, and I was wondering... well... hoping that you were too. I-I guess,"  She starts to break down a little bit, deflated ego bringing with it the rest of her resolve.

Applejack opens with a sigh and stands next to the mare, "I don't mean to be a disappointment, Rainbow...  But I'm afraid I hafta let you know that, well... My barn door only swings in one direction.  And It ain't the same one yours does.  Catch my drift?"

Dash lowers her head and closes her eyes gently, sighing as she hears AJ speak.  "Yeah, I hear you..."

"Dash, I love you, I love you very much.  But I love you the same way that I love my family.  As far as I'm concerned you are family, and you always will be.  I'm not saying I have anything against you, or that way of life.  I understand it's not a choice, because if it were maybe I'd be a little bit more willing to give it a shot with you, but I'm afraid all I can offer you is a friend to be with.  Not one to... be with,"  The pale-orange earth pony sits down next to Rainbow and brushes up against her.  She nudges her ribs in a friendly manner to try and cheer up the melancholy pegasus.

"Thank you AJ, I'm sorry I assumed..."  Dash feels a little ashamed of admitting her 'secret' so readily.

"You're always welcome, oh and don't worry about me saying anything.  I may be the Element of Honesty but that don't mean I'm fixin' to go around spreadin' business that ain't my own,"

"No worries AJ, I'm pretty sure everypony already knows anyhow.  Either way it means a lot to me to be able to talk to you about it...  Maybe we could have another sit-down like this again soon... Except with some actual sitting down,"

"Haha!  Now there's an idea, but ah think we both have someplace to be right now.  See you around soon n'kay?"

"Yeah, definitely,"  Dash smiles, feeling honestly happy that she managed to get that off her chest.  She's still a little sad that she couldn't get AJ all to herself, but at least she didn't crash and burn.

Applejack opens the barn door and lets Dash get a running start to fly off toward Cloudsdale.  She waves the pegasus down and takes cover behind a nearby pile of hay, holding her hat down with her hoof.

"All clear partner!"  She yells, holding up her hoof from behind the hay-pile and beckoning her out the door.

"See you around AJ!  Nice gettin' to catch up with you!"  Dash yells as she trots to the back of the barn, running as quickly as she can and taking flight as soon as sunlight touches her wings.  She feels the slightest bit more invigorated by the skies as usual; taking deep breaths and enjoying the caress of the air across her whole, streamlined body.

Applejack takes a deep breath and shivers from the cold.  She steps outside and shuts the barn door, laughing softly at Dash's trademarked rainbow-trail that she left behind her.  Smiling, the orange pony gets to her morning chores, briefly imagining a strange image of Rainbow Dash and her, snuggling on a couch in front of the fireplace and keeping each other warm.

Not such a bad idea, She thinks, not putting it too far beyond her, but still too set in her ways to give it more than a consideration.  At least they'll be happy as friends.

Another Stranger Me

[Note]  As I'm sure some of you have noticed I've been using the titles of songs as titles for my chapters (Specifically: Three Little Birds, Lights Are Many, and this one: Another Stranger Me.).  I wanted to just say to any readers that I do not claim copyrights to these songs, and if anything are promoting them because they are all wonderful songs!  They belong to their respective bands and other such logical nonsense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So... You're telling me that you hear voices in your head?"  Twilight opens after a short, and very awkward explanation from the bashful pegasus.

"No, not voices, just one..."  Fluttershy replies, ashamed of the fact but still trying to defend her reputation as a sane pony.

"Does it tell you to hurt other ponies?"  Twilight then asks, her face contorting to a worried and curious gaze as she sits down in her room.  Fluttershy sits across from her and keeps very still, almost as if facing some kind of trial.

"No, nothing like that... She mostly just makes fun of me,"  Fluttershy looks away as she says that, feeling stupid for even letting it affect her in such a way.

"It... she makes fun of you?"  Twilight asks, recoiling just a little bit in the neck from taking this all in, "How does she make fun of you?"

"W-well..." Fluttershy stutters a little bit, still not sure if Twilight even believes her, "she calls me names, she laughs when I make mistakes.  She's just... Not very nice to me.  She seems to want me to be happy, but she doesn't make it easy,"  The yellow mare mimes her hoof along the floor as if drawing a circle in some dirt.

"Hmm... Do you remember when you first started hearing her?"  Twilight seems to be taking the mare seriously now, especially after seeing her reaction to telling her about the voice.

"Well...  I couldn't tell you exactly, but I think she started out as an imaginary friend I used to have,"  Fluttershy still doesn't make eye contact and mumbles a bit, speaking only loudly enough through the embarrassing confession for the purple unicorn to hear her.

My ears are burning, why are you trying to explain our relationship to Twilight?  'Courage' speaks up, and Fluttershy tries her best to ignore the pest.

"An imaginary friend huh?  No offense but I can definitely see that happening with you... What was she like?"

"Well she was strong and courageous, charismatic, and she never needed anybody to reassure her.  You could say I wanted to be her..."  Fluttershy looks back up to Twilight, still avoiding eye contact but pretending at least; she stares directly at her horn.

Oh come now, it'll break her heart if she finds out you've already got a mare like me so close to your heart,  Courage takes her usual stance of bothering the poor pegasus as she tries to open her heart to the intently listening Twilight Sparkle.

"I think you might be right about wanting to be this imaginary friend.  Hmm... I've never heard of anypony having an imaginary friend becoming a voice in their head though... you're sure she's a voice?"

"I'm sure, Twilight... She talks to me, I respond... I don't even feel like I'm thinking about what she's thinking about.  It's kind of... Scary,"

Oh now you're afraid of me? Tch, I thought we were friends!

What kind of friends hurt each others' feelings?  Fluttershy asks, taking her motherly tone of voice in her head as it's the 'meanest' one she can conjure up right now.

Pfft, Applejack and Rainbow Dash beat each other to a pulp over that silly iron pony competition!

Nevertheless... You're just... You're just mean,

"Well it sounds like you have a pretty big problem here... Is she talking to you right now?"

Say no,

"Yeah, she is... She told me to say no,"

Tattle-tale,

You're not real, I didn't tattle on you,

I'm real enough to have my feelings hurt!

"So why didn't you say no?"

"She doesn't control my life... she just tries to convince me of things.  Sometimes I let her and sometimes I don't... Right now she's just being... silly,"

You don't have feelings... Your feelings are my feelings,

Yeah, and I'm hurting your feelings right now, therefore you're hurting my feelings,

"Well have you ever listened to her and done something you regret?"

I kissed your horn, 'Courage' tries to take control of Fluttershy's awareness, hoping to inadvertently make her say something that could embarrass her,

"N-No!  I think about whatever it is I'm about to do before I listen to her...  She's courageous and helps me get over things sometimes... b-but I can't let her run my life or I will do something I regret,"

Pfft, you're no fun,

You keep saying that, why?

Because it's true... duh?

"D-did she tell you to kiss me?"

Things just got interesting!

Shut up!

"Uhm... she uh, she... mmn..."  Fluttershy stumbles over her words a little bit, not really knowing what to say in this situation.

Come on Co-pilot... Say yes.  You're not gonna lie to your marefriend are you?

"She uhm... may have had a hoof in the decision..."  Fluttershy blushes and looks away, afraid that she may have hurt Twilight's feelings.

"Well then she can't be that bad can she?"  The lavender unicorn says with a smile, sensing that Fluttershy was having second thoughts about what she was about to say.

Finally I get some respect, you should stick with this one Co-pilot,

I plan to, provided you stop trying to screw up everything I do...

Oh please... Twilight thinks you're adorable, especially when you screw up... Everypony loves to see you screw up... Blushing is cute, stumbling over your words is adorable, and shyness is attractive.  You're everything that Twilight... heck, you're everything that everypony wants, but you're too shy to see it and you're too silly to admit it,

"Hah, uhm, uhh... eek,"  Fluttershy can't do anything but squeak, both Twilight and courage had left her almost speechless from their remarks toward her.  The yellow pony goes red in the ears and tries to hide her face, to which both the beautiful mare in front of her as well as the invisible mare in her mind giggle at in tandem.

"You know, Fluttershy, you really are cute when you're blushing like that... " Twilight herself turns a little red as she states this.

Told ya,

You're still a meanie...

But I'm a smart meanie... and I'm you anyway... That's how silly you are, I'm the only way that you can get yourself to admit something that you don't really wanna hear.  You've got some problems Co-pilot,

This coming from the voice in my head,

I rest my case.  Speaking of which, I'm gonna head back into your mind for a little bit, you've got some dirty thoughts that won't surface unless I give them a little push for you... There's always work to be done in this place...  Now, would you prefer Twilight or Applejack?

E-Excuse me!?

Twilight or Applejack? You've got a few inappropriate fantasies down here about both of 'em, and it's my never ending quest to make you uncomfortable around a cute pony, so what'll it be?  At least I'm giving you a choice this time,

Fluttershy hesitates and looks at Twilight's forelegs as they sit patiently in front of her, Twilight, please...

Attagirl, be right back!

"T-Twilight?"  Unbeknownst to Fluttershy, the pair had been sitting in a slightly awkward silence, staring at each other just like when they first met.  She speaks up a little and looks her in the eyes; her nose still tinted red from the embarrassment.

"Yes, Fluttershy?"  Twilight responds and cocks her head to the side, listening intently once more.

"I-Is this still just an experiment?"  Fluttershy feels she has to ask in the absence of her courageous counterpart.  Still thinking the idea to be very impersonal, but wanting some kind of closure from the unicorn.

Twilight just giggles into her hoof and trots over to stand next to Fluttershy, "Well... I don't see any notes around, do you?"

"I guess n-not..."  Fluttershy feels herself turn dark red once more as Twilight brushes against her and nuzzles her face into her neck.

"Then I guess the experiment is over, and I'd have to say that the results I observed point to a wonderful reaction,"

Fluttershy can't help but grin shyly at the chemistry pun.  She turns her head to look Twilight in the eyes and then gives her a kiss on the bridge of her nose.  The unicorn promptly pulls away from the nuzzling and locks gazes with Fluttershy, kissing her lightly on the lips to respond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash trudges through her work, feeling somewhat depressed about her rejection; as usual, however, twisting it to stimulate her self-image.

Bah, she just couldn't handle me, she's too down to earth anyhow.  I don't need anypony like that crampin' my style,

Dash goes about her duties setting up the soft snow-producing clouds above Ponyville.  The weather team is a few hours late but not because of Rainbow this time.  The workers in Cloudsdale were short a few hooves and couldn't finish producing all of the clouds before sunrise, so a light afternoon snowfall was scheduled instead.

Rainbow flies through the puffy white things, accidentally ramming into one or two from time to time and claiming it was to "test their durability" as she put it.  She lazily hovers over the clouds, checking for any holes and promptly closing them up.  The pegasus continually runs over thoughts of Applejack in her head, feeling mortified for not getting what she wanted.  Dash would never admit it, even to herself, but she was almost jealous of AJ; she could spend her whole life single and still be happy and seemingly carefree.  Applejack has a family, and that's what matters to her.  The rainbow-maned pegasus knows this but still tries to block the thoughts out of her mind; her own family never supported her.

Feeling herself start to well up inside, she decides that she really needs to call it a day.  The cyan pony flies up to her foremare and lets her know that she'll be leaving early due to some 'family troubles'.  The dark green pony in charge of the operation gives Dash a funny look, but can clearly see the sadness lying behind her purple eyes.  Understanding what the prideful pegasus is trying to tell her, she waves Dash off and lets her know that she'll still be paid for a full day's work.

Rainbow thanks her with a hug and flies off, hiding her eyes behind one of her forelegs to try and dispel any rumors that somepony had seen her crying before they formed.

As Dash reaches her home she begins to slow down, making sure nopony is around and quietly stepping toward her front door.  As far as homes go, hers is fairly nice: a good sized house made of clouds, rainbow fountains, doorway into a large foyer with all the amenities, though it always feels like it's missing something.  The miserable pony looks around her home, berating herself for almost crying in public,

"When did I get so weak?  Just thinking about family d--"  She chokes up in the middle of her sentence as her heart wrenches a little inside.  Every time she thinks of family ties she's brought back to her own home life.

"I don't need them... I never needed them!"  Dash kicks one of the ornate pillars holding up the inside of her room; a piece of it is obliterated in a barely audible 'poof'.

"Just like they didn't need me..."  She tries her best to suppress the sadness inside of her with anger, though as one might expect, conflicting strong emotions with others doesn't do too much good.  Rainbow puts a grimace on her face and sobs heavily into her foreleg, sitting in the middle of her home with nopony there to console her.

You are family, sugar-cube...  Rainbow tries to calm herself down and remembers what Applejack said that day.  She is family.  The mare brings her head up away from her foreleg and shakily walks toward her bedroom, not worrying about her messy mane in the slightest.  She enters the arching doorway into the far larger than necessary room, looking onto a small shelf next to her bed.  Sitting gently upon that shelf is a framed photograph of all six close friends.  They stand frozen on the parchment, each in a perpetual group hug with the next, not a single frown amongst them.

I do have a real family...  The pegasus smiles and closes her eyes, laughing softly at herself for having done all of this for nothing.  She picks up the picture and holds it between her hooves, staring at it and thinking about all the wonderful times she's had with all of her friends.

After a minute of reminiscing, Dash's purple eyes wander to a certain yellow pegasus on the edge of the photo, smiling with the rest of them but still retaining a very shy demeanor.

Maybe I should go talk to her... make sure things are alright with her and Twilight,  Dash cheers herself up and looks in the mirror, promptly using her hooves to fix her hair back into its usual windswept style.  Satisfied, the pegasus stands up and trots toward her doorway.  She sighs and gathers her nerves, not taking long to forget about her past and taking off into the noontime skies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the Library, Twilight and Fluttershy keep themselves sequestered up in Twilight's room, continuing their moment of passion in the form of a very deep kiss.  Twilight keeps her forelegs wrapped around Fluttershy's back, gently toying with her wings every now and then.  Fluttershy, laying prostrate on her back with wings spread to the furthest reaches of the bed, holds Twilight's shoulders gingerly, returning every single motion that the unicorn's tongue makes with one of her own.

As all of this goes on, Spike sits patiently down in the library proper, reading a book "A Farewell to Hooves" while munching on his most recent batch of cookies; completely unaware of the shenanigans going on upstairs.

Fluttershy gently tilts her head away from the kiss, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a soft squeak.  Twilight responds to the broken kiss by tilting her muzzle down and gently nibbling along Fluttershy's shoulder, being extra sure to only bite softly.  The yellow pegasus, already a deep shade of red across the nose, manages to blush even more intensely, shivering just a little from the motions and gripping onto Twilight's shoulders as firmly as she can manage.

"I... I love you, Twilight!"  Fluttershy manages to squeak out through her heavy breathing.  The unicorn pulls her head up to look Fluttershy in the eye and smiles,

"I love you too, Fluttershy,"

The two of them simply stare into each others eyes for a second before meeting lips once more, each one burning up with the intensity of their blushing cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash quickly bursts through the low-hanging snow clouds, feeling the chill of frost between her feathers as she escapes the light of the sun.  The pegaus shivers a little from the frosty air, not having prepared for any kind of real cold before leaving.  She lands on the wet, slightly snowy walkway to Fluttershy's home and skids, nearly ramming into the door as she tries her best to stop.  It's a shame nopony was around to see the most skilled flier in all of Equestria, for all intents and purposes, land on her face.

I meant to do that...  Dash thinks to herself, checking around to be sure nopony witnessed the embarrassing event, especially peering into Fluttershy's windows to see if that specific pegasus had seen.  Dash doesn't find anypony inside, and all of her candles had been blown out; the only movement in the whole place was Angel Bunny rocking back and forth in the fetal position on the sofa.

She must have gone over to talk to Twilight... You go girl! I'll just drop in and say hello,  Dash, still in a good mood, glances around to be sure nopony is watching, then takes off quickly.  She flies low to the ground and streamlines her body to move nice and quick through the frigid air, flying gracefully between buildings and leaving the rainbow trail behind her that she's known for.

Weaving through the various spires and gabled rooftops of the multitudes of Ponyville's businesses always brings a little rush to the adventurous pegasus; she purposely takes the long way to Twilight's library on the edge of town in order to get a fix for the day.

Dash slows herself down and repeats the fundamentals that she learned in flight school for landing in slick weather; not wanting to make a jackass out of herself in a slightly more populated area.  As she slows down and trots along the ground lightly before letting her weight off of her wings she kicks up water and snow from the ground, making a spectacle of the landing for most of the passersby to see.  In usual Rainbow Dash fashion, she bows her head and thanks the crowd, following up the mini-performance by walking toward the library door and giving it a few hard knocks.

Spike comes to the door after a short delay, opening it and welcoming the pegasus inside from the cold.

"Heya, Dash, what brings you all the way out here?"  Spike says with a touch of lethargy in his voice; as a cold-blooded dragon, chilly weather always leaves him feeling sleepy.

"Hey, Spike, ooh cookies, mind if I steal one?"  She doesn't wait for permission and just takes one, Spike tries to object but doesn't even have time to, "Anyway... mmn these are good.  Anyway I just dropped by to see if Fluttershy came over, she's not home,"  She speaks with her mouth full and gets crumbs everywhere, crumbs that poor Spike will have to be responsible for; he's less than satisfied.

"Yeah, she came over... Twilight and her are upstairs right now; Twilight said they wanted to talk in private for a while.  I dunno what it's about but it sounded kinda serious,"

"Alright, thanks bud!  I'll see you later,"  Dash says and begins prancing upstairs, completely disregarding Spikes haphazard plea for her to respect their privacy.

Dash walks up to the bedroom door and opens it up, not knocking or giving any consideration to the noises coming from behind it.  She very quickly notices the two ponies up the ladder in Twilight's bed.

"Woah!"  Dash yells in surprise, reeling from having walked in on them and only expecting some kind of conversation,

"Woah!"  Twilight and Fluttershy yell in unison as a response to Rainbow Dash.  Fluttershy promptly grabs the sheet and hides herself.

Woah! Haha! Didn't see that one coming didja Co-pilot? This got interesting,  Courage makes her presence known as Fluttershy hides very sheepishly behind the star-studded sheets of Twilight's bed.

"Rainbow! G-Get out of here!"  Twilight says, using her magic to pick the sheet up and cover herself as well, both ponies blushing very intensely,  "Don't you know to knock?"

"Hah, haha, uhhm, sorry about that... I guess I misheard something.  Spike said you were just having a conversation and I only wanted to check in to see if you two ended up kissing and making up...  Looks like it was a little better than that huh?"  She recoils a little bit, embarrassed at having walked in on her friends.  She gives a few nervous chuckles and rubs the back of her neck, trying to look away but feeling almost fixed on the angry scowl across Twilight's countenance.

"Get out!"  Twilight yells, using her magic to physically shove Rainbow out the door and slam it in her face, breathing heavily and blushing a very bright shade of red.

Guess that means the mood's dead huh?  Courage asks mockingly, she'd probably be poking Fluttershy's ribs if she were real, You'd think she would have known from all the noises you were making...

You get out too!  Fluttershy snaps, not having to say anything else because the voice actually listens for once.

"Uhm... Twilight?"  Fluttershy gently rests her hoof on the mare's shoulder, gaining her attention and calming her down a little bit.

"Yeah?"  She says with a sigh, trying to calm down and go back to being sweet for her marefriend beneath her.

"You don't think Rainbow's gonna make a habit of catching us like this, do you?  That's twice now..."  Fluttershy fights a smile on her face as she says this, still embarrassed but trying to lighten the mood with a joke.  Twilight eventually caves and smiles a bit as well, tickling Fluttershy under her wings and responding to her joke.

"We really need to get her a marefriend to keep her occupied..."

Prying Eyes

Twilight exits the upstairs room first, having calmed down a little from the 'incident' just moments ago.  Fluttershy lays back in Twilight's bed and exhales, still having a discussion with Courage within her mind.

Looks like Dashie got to see you two anyway huh?  The voice teases and prods at the shy pegasus, never letting up for a moment.

That was so embarrassing... I hope she doesn't think less of me because of that,  Fluttershy doesn't even try to fight it, feeling almost like she deserves to be laughed at.

Pfft, if anything she'll be proud of you.  Just look at how tense Dash seems to be, when's the last time you think she got any action?

Oh that's none of our business...  Fluttershy quietly mouths along with her inner dialogue, losing herself in her own little world as Twilight converses with the nosy mare downstairs.

Hey it's our mind, everything's our business,

I guess that's true...

Hey, Co-pilot, guess what?

What?

We're talkin' again,

Uhm, yeah? So?

So? What do you mean so?  You usually do everything in your insignificant little power to try and shut me up, but we're talking... we haven't spoken since we were fillies,

Well... that's kind of your fault you know,

Yeah, you're right,

Fluttershy doesn't quite know what to think or say, for the first time in ages she actually came to a peaceful resolution with Courage.

The canary-yellow pegasus decides to break back into the real world and actually get up, taking a glance out the window to check the time of day.  The overcast skies cover up the sun and paint the entire landscape a dreary gray, so she figures it would be best to just get up and go see Twilight before it got too late.

The pegasus gingerly stretches her wings and flutters down toward the steps, trotting along at a gentle pace and peeking her head around the corner to see Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow Dash sitting together.  At this time they had gotten past the 'lecture' Twilight was giving Dash about knocking and had moved on to a simple chat about Twilight's relationship with Fluttershy.

"So I guess you two are gettin' pretty serious eh Twi?"  Dash speaks with a mocking conviction in her voice, poking fun at the embarrassed unicorn.

"Not that it's any of your business... but yes, she and I have agreed that we want to stay together, but she doesn't want it to be a public spectacle quite yet,"

Fluttershy feels a small warmth spread through her heart that Twilight really listened to her; she expected it, but it always helps to hear it naturally said.

"I hear ya, I hear ya... I'm not about to go around telling everypony I see,"

"Or Pinkie Pie..."  Twilight snaps at Rainbow, scowling a little bit and knowing that she needed to be sure before making any assumptions.

"Fine, Twi, I won't tell anypony... happy?"

"Yes, yes I am,"  Twilight sits back and wears her signature self-important, closed-eye smile.

"I am too..."  Fluttershy speaks up and slowly walks the rest of the way into the library, smiling gently down onto the three of them.

"Heya, Fluttershy,"  Twilight says as she scoots over to make room, "Uhm, how long were you standing there?"

"Oh not too long,"  The pegasus replies, smiling around the room but reverting to her usual shy self.  She doesn't make eye-contact with anypony and just sits down next to Twilight, wrapping her wing around the unicorn's back.

Spike, sitting still and bored, listening in on the conversation gives a deadpan stare at the emotional overload from these past few days.  The dragon doesn't really have anything to contribute to the conversation, and so just stands up to walk away.  Almost as soon as his back is turned on the trio, Twilight asks him to go make some tea; he begrudgingly obliges.

"You two really do make an adorable couple, y'know that?"  Rainbow says as she sits back and makes herself comfortable.

Both of the target ponies grin sheepishly at the compliment.  Fluttershy looks up at Twilight and kisses her cheek, making the unicorn turn the faintest shade of pink across her nose.

"Thanks, Rainbow..."  Fluttershy says gingerly as she rests her head on Twilight's shoulder.

"You know... I've always wondered why you're rarely spotted with other ponies... You seem charismatic enough,"  Twilight says, referencing Rainbow's almost perpetual single-ness.

"Ah, uhm... well, I'm just not really looking for a relationship, I guess. It's never really been super important to me,"  A bold faced lie from the mare, she's still just too embarrassed to admit to anypony else that she doesn't like colts.

"Fair enough, I was just curious...  As long as you keep yourself happy that's all that really matters,"  Twilight casts her a soft smile and leans her head against Fluttershy's, resting her temple up by the pegasus's ear.  Rainbow Dash nods, smirking a little and relaxing, just enjoying the time that she can take for her friends.  The happy couple on the adjacent couch try to avoid doing anything too overtly 'lovey' for Dash's sake.  Spike enters the library from the kitchen, carrying a large platter with three teacups, a teapot, and some sugar cubes, grumbling a little bit and leaving immediately after dropping off the provisions.

Twilight calmly pours some tea for all three of them, dropping in two sugar cubes in each cup.  Just as they're about to take their first sip, a panicked knock at the door breaks the comfortable silence.  The lavender unicorn sets down her cup and walks over to the door; halfway there being attacked by another set of frantic knocks.  She opens the door to see a very nervous Applejack standing on the front walkway.

"Hey Twi, is Rainbow here?  Oh there ya are!  Rainbow, you need to come with me, something bad's happened."  Applejack looks over Twilight's shoulders as she speaks and spots the cyan pegasus sipping tea with her friends.

"What's the matter, AJ?"  She calls, not taking the nervous speech as any real sign of trouble.

"It's your home... It's uh... uhm... Well, it's collapsed,"  AJ says, trying to break the news delicately but unable to form the right kind of sentence in her mind.

"What!?  What do you mean?"  The pegasus almost drops her tea onto the table and runs to the door, looking the earth pony in the eyes.

"I mean it collapsed... I was out shoveling the snow before it got too heavy and I saw that fancy fountain of yers fallin' out of the sky.  I went to take a look and it looked like the roof had fallen in, but I couldn't see much since I couldn't fly up there.  Either way it didn't look right at all,"  Applejack seems almost defensive and backs away, looking over her shoulder and beckoning them all to follow her, "Just come see for yerselves,"  And with that she takes off in a gallop, followed immediately by the rainbow-maned pegasus.  Fluttershy and Twilight look at each other and shrug, figuring that they'd better follow in case something really did happen.

Rainbow Dash takes off far ahead of Applejack, leaving behind her a thick rainbow trail that leads a b-line directly to her home.  Applejack gallops at full sprint, which Fluttershy and Twilight have difficulty keeping up with.  Eventually all three ponies arrive, Dash is already at her front step, or what used to be anyway, and standing awestruck at her destroyed home.

"I didn't even know cloud homes could collapse..." Twilight says, looking in disbelief at the ruined structure.  The rainbow fountain had been destroyed and was trickling down off of all sides, while the roof definitely had caved in.

"Regular clouds would diffuse into the atmosphere really quickly, especially this low to the ground.  The ones we make our homes with have to be packed in until they're really dense, which makes them heavier...  That's why most cloud structures have big pillars: it's to hold all that water weight, one of hers must have failed,"  Fluttershy says as she stares at the disaster.  Without anymore hesitation she flies up to the grieving cyan mare, leaving the two earth-bound ponies to sit and watch as rain falls in torrents from beneath the foundation of Rainbow's home.

The canary yellow pegasus lands next to Rainbow Dash, who kneels on the side of her home and digs through the rendered cloud.  The trembling pegasus balances on her knees, pushing aside the 'debris' and trying to salvage anything she can.  Most of her furnishings were made of the same cloud material so she can't really pull much from the wreckage, but does manage to find her photograph of her and her friends.  Fluttershy rests her hoof on Dash's shoulder, trying to offer some kind of comfort.  The pegasus pulls the photo and the shattered picture frame out of the puffy-white rubble; she turns to look at Fluttershy with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Rainbow..."  Fluttershy says barely above a whisper in the most comforting tone she can muster.  The yellow mare even feels her own lip start to quiver at the sight.  Rainbow stands up and hugs Fluttershy, not quite wanting to let go and clinging onto any small bit of comfort that she could find.  "Come on,"  The canary pegasus tugs gently on Rainbow and tries to get her to leave, just to go see the other two, "Twilight and AJ are probably worried, I know it's hard, but it's probably best to just go calm down and come back a little later, okay?  You and I both know there's nothing we can do until most of the water stops,"  The sobbing pegasus tries to calm herself down, mentally assaulting herself for crying in front of Fluttershy of all ponies, but ultimately ends up unable to fight the emotions.

Eventually she calms down and only produces a few sniffles, walking toward the edge of her cloud-home and looking down at the two ponies below who sit patiently and wait for the duo to return.  Fluttershy steps to the edge and looks Dash in the eye, taking her hoof with hers and falling off of the artificial cliff, plummeting toward the ground.  She snaps her own wings open, not letting Rainbow go even as the rainbow pony opens hers almost in unison.  They descend together and drop onto the ground, walking up to the worried mares.

"You okay sugar-cube?"  Applejack asks, immediately noticing Dash's bloodshot eyes and depressed demeanor.

Dash just looks away, and Fluttershy never leaves her side, "Everything's wrecked AJ... We need to wait for the water to drain before we can get started cleaning it up..."  The cyan pegasus finishes her sentence with a sigh, never quite making eye contact and just trying to wall her emotions up.

"Horseapples... I'm sorry, Dashie... You're perfectly welcome to bunk with me and mine until everything's fixed up the way it should be; we've got plenty of extra room,"  Applejack steps up and looks the pegasus in the eye, forcing her to bring her head back up away from the ground,  "and I won't take no for an answer... I couldn't sleep at night knowing you're out on the streets in the dead of winter,"

"Thank you, AJ...  You're a good friend,"  Dash responds, sniffling into her foreleg and prompting Fluttershy to let her go; she steps forward and hugs the earth pony very tightly.

"There there, sugar-cube... T'ain't nothin' you wouldn't do for me if ya could,"  She gingerly wraps her own foreleg around Dash's back, holding her close and comforting her,  "Besides... you're family.  I'll help you anyway I can, but I'm fearin' I won't be able to actually help you clean this mess up after it dries out..."

Fluttershy and Twilight sidestep to stand next to each other, both moving in to offer their services for helping Rainbow Dash out as well.

"We'll help you get your home fixed up Rainbow, I'm sure I can find some books back at the library on cloud construction that can help us out... and I'm sure there's a spell or two that'll allow us to stop the clouds from dissipating so we won't have to worry about getting too much more material,"

"Mhmm, and I'll help clean up any of the stuff you had in there that may have gotten soaked with water, you keep valuables in waterproof boxes right?"

"Mhmm, some..."  The melancholy mare sniffs between words and sighs, her wings drooping and laying on the ground.

"Well don't worry about it sugar-cube, we're all here for you.  We all love you very much,"  Applejack smiles and drapes her foreleg around Dash's withers.  Twilight and Fluttershy nod and comment in turn with Applejack, helping to try and cheer the pegasus up.

"You guys are the best,"  She says and hugs Applejack once more.

The four ponies all walk Dash back to Applejack's farm, each one reassuring the miserable pegasus over and over again.

TLC

"So how long do you think it's going to take for all that water to stop?"  Twilight asks as she and Fluttershy slowly walk back toward the library.  They've decided to give Dash some time to herself, but not without extending several offers of someone to talk to should she ever need it.

"I don't really know, but it shouldn't take too long.  Maybe tomorrow afternoon would be a good time to start, assuming it doesn't all freeze in the mean time,"  Fluttershy says as she looks over to the beautiful purple unicorn walking next to her.

"Well I hope she'll be alright, I couldn't imagine losing my home like that...  It has to be absolutely horrid,"  Twilight steps a little bit closer to Fluttershy, who promptly extends her wing around the unicorn's withers.

"Yeah...  Losing your home is no fun at all,"  The pegasus struggles to remember her own experience with being thrown out of her home after her father left and they couldn't make the bill payments.

"Is there anything you wanna do today that might help us take our minds off of this whole mess?"  Twilight asks sweetly and turns to look Fluttershy in the eyes.

The pegasus smiles and shrugs as best she can while she walks, meeting her gaze and blushing just a little bit.  Certain thoughts flash through her mind of just what she might want to do, though she would never spontaneously ask those things of Twilight, at least not in public.

"Uhhm, d-don't you have any studying that you have to catch up on?"  She finishes her sentence with a slightly uncomfortable grin, doing her best to dispel anymore dirty thoughts; silently berating 'Courage' for being the one to push those into her mind, even in her absence.

"Actually I do, but I could really use an assistant,"  She flutters her eyelids as she finishes this sentence, grinning at the shy pegasus and continuing her slow trot toward the library, "If you don't mind that is.  Spike has been all but useless lately given his desire to sleep sixteen hours a day,"

"W-well... I suppose I could, but would you mind if we stopped by my home for a bit, I've gotta feed angel and the other critters, they've been alone for a while now and I'll bet they're getting worried about me,"

"Alrighty, mind if I join you?"

Clingy huh?  'Courage' pokes her metaphorical head in the door and starts out her usual routine, how tedious.

Oh leave Twilight alone, she just wants to spend time with me...

"I'd love that, Twilight, I could use the help with feeding some of the less picky animals, the bags get heavy after a while,"

I wish I could tell her to her face that it's not all that great,

Okay now that just hurt my feelings...

Alright, alright, I can take a hint... I'll leave ya alone now, Co-pilot,

"Not a problem, any particular rhyme or rhythm to it?"

"Well... I'll show you when we get there,"  Fluttershy says with a nervous grin, remembering her animals' complicated system of different blends and formulas.

A thin sheet of snow covers the natural scene as the couple walks, making the entire landscape seem like a painting that wasn't quite finished.  Twilight takes in the beauty of the mountains, paying special attention to Canterlot as it dangles off the edge of the rolling mountains.  Fluttershy casts repeated glances between Twilight and the slowly lowering sun, enjoying the soft glow it casts over everything through the filter of the now thin snow clouds.  Everything feels just perfect for the pair, if not a little too chilly.

The duo step up to Fluttershy's doorway and open it, getting quickly inside and out of the cold.  Angel spots them and immediately takes cover inside his small home, putting a comically cartoonish sign on his door that reads "Never Again".

Fluttershy walks gently into her kitchen and removes a small bundle of fresh carrots, bringing them out by the greens dangling in her teeth and knocking softly on Angel's door.  The entrance to the small hut in her living room opens up just enough for a beady rabbit eye to look out from the darkness and see the treat before him.  Without hesitation he snatches the morsels up and disappears into his home again, still refusing to lay eyes on the couple for fear of the memories haunting him even more.

Twilight looks astonished over the various bags of foodstuffs for the animals, each one organized seemingly according to where in Fluttershy's home each animal lives.  Twilight can't figure the pattern out, but the yellow pegasus steps into the kitchen and explains each one's function, as well as to whom they're supposed to go.

The unicorn shrugs and takes her direction to heart, using her magic to lift up a few bags and then trotting back into the living area; Fluttershy meanwhile takes care of the upstairs pets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash sits quietly in the Apple family's guest room, continually looking over the damaged photo of her friends and her together.  She's calmed down by now, having come to terms with what happened and already planning out how to fix it, but still not without its injury.

Eyes dry, Dash looks out the window at the mountains, each one with its coating of snow reminding her of a cloud almost.  She sighs and looks down, feeling completely drained and, for the first time in ages, not wanting to fly.  She sluggishly stands from the chair at the end of the room and walks toward the bed in the corner, figuring that she could probably fall asleep and just try to forget if at all possible.

No sooner does her mane touch the pillow than does a triplet of knocks disturb her comfort; Applejack opens the door by a crack and asks if Dash is doing alright.

"Heya, AJ..." Rainbow says with a heavy sigh, rolling onto her back and looking over to the door, "Come on in, I just laid down for a second... I wasn't sleeping,"

"I'm worried about ya sugar-cube... You've barely left this room, seems a little out of the ordinary for a rambunctious gal like you,"

"Well just how would you be acting if this place collapsed huh?"  She snaps at the earth pony, not really mad at her but secretly trying to 'get back' at the rejection that she gave her.  Dash never really thinks about what she's doing, only going on impulse for a good ninety-five percent of her actions.

"Jeez, just forget I asked then..."  Applejack says and backs out of the room a little, prompting the pegasus to sigh and apologize.

"I'm sorry AJ, I didn't mean that... I'm just not exactly in the best mood right now,"  Dash really just wants her to come back into the room, but is too afraid to say it.  She's always enjoyed being in the humble pony's presence, whether it's in competition or relaxation.

The pale orange mare sits down on the edge of the bed and looks Dash in the eyes, "I won't even pretend like I understand what you must be going through, but your friends and I are all doing our best to help you out,"

"I know, AJ, and I'm sorry for snapping at you like that...  I'll try to behave a little better,"  Dash says and looks away, curling up on the bed and trying not to make eye contact with the earth pony, afraid of what she might ask or do.

Applejack, against all of her best instincts, lays down next to the pegasus, propping her head up with her elbow and pulling the pony into a hug, knowing in her heart that it couldn't possibly hurt.  Dash doesn't say anything, but certainly takes the opportunity.  She nuzzles her head into Applejack's shoulder and takes a deep breath, trying to hold back a torrent of tears.  She catches a whiff of apples off of the pony's mane, strong enough to overwhelm her other senses, but not so pungent that it made her sick.  Almost like a foal at her mother, she manages to find comfort in the other athlete of the bunch, but thinks to herself that it's all she can ever find with this one.

The earth pony, however, thinks in a slightly different tone.  Applejack feels a lot more comfortable laying with Rainbow than she thought she would, but just chocks it up to the motherly position that she's in.  Secretly she enjoys the feeling of the pegasus pressed up against her, having tossed the idea around in her mind since she asked about it.  The pale orange pony is still set in her family's ways, but somehow feels almost willing to leave them behind.  She looks down at the sniveling pegasus, watching as all of her pride and ego melt away into tears, leaving only the scared, sad, lonely, but beautiful filly to be seen in confidence by the motherly Applejack.

"You know, Rainbow... Maybe now ain't really the time, but... I've been thinkin' long and hard about what you asked me the other day..."

Dash doesn't say anything, only taking a minute to really process what AJ just said.  She blinks a few times and then pulls her face away from the pony's shoulder, looking her in the eye with a puzzled look across her countenance.

"I uhm, I guess I have to be honest with ya... I don't really know how I feel about it either way.  On one hoof my family's always been against that sorta thing, but on the other... well, I've never really known what it's like, nor have I ever had any real problems with folks' orientation.  I guess maybe I'd be willing to give it a try, just to see, y'know?"

Rainbow sniffles and grins, chuckling a little and looking the earth pony in the eyes, "You've got horrible timing you know that?"

"Yeah, so I've been told...  But I figure now's as good a time as ever, eh Dashie?"

The pegasus hugs Applejack again, grinning wider now, "Can't argue with that... managed to cheer me up a little too,"

"Well there's somethin', eheheh,"  The pair lay quiet for a while, snuggling happily and looking each other in the eyes, "So uh... I'm not exactly sure how it would work... two mares bein' together and all..."

Dash winks once and rolls so that Applejack is forced underneath her, kissing her softly until she relaxes, then breaking away and hovering her muzzle just inches above the earth pony's, "Well I'd be happy to give you a few pointers,"  Following this with a grin and another deep kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight magically closes the door behind Fluttershy as they both step back into the chilly winter air.  Fluttershy quickly fluffs her wings to help them retain some body heat, to which Twilight voices her jealousy.

"Ugh, it's gotta be like 20 degrees out here!  You're lucky you've got those things to keep you warm, Fluttershy..."

Fluttershy just giggles and walks next to the mare, taking her usual routine of wrapping as much of her wing around her as she can, "And you're lucky you've got me to keep you warm,"

"I can't argue with that.  I really am a lucky mare,"  Twilight says as she flashes the pegasus a smile.

"N'aww, thank you Twilight, I feel lucky too..."  Fluttershy tries to look away to hide her blushing cheeks, but has learned already that it won't do any good, "So uhm, what's this experiment you need my help with?"

As they walk, Twilight explains the basics of the experiment to Fluttershy, as well as a few more advanced portions that fly right over her pretty little head.  It feels to the yellow pegasus like hours of listening quietly and nodding, but they eventually reach the doorstep to Twilight's library.

Spike, who had finished cleaning up the kitchen and library area greets them as they step inside.

"Heya Twi, Shy... Everything okay with Rainbow?"  He asks, having improved his mood a little on his own.

"I'm afraid not... Her home collapsed and we have to wait for all the water to drain out of the clouds before we can do anything about it.  Luckily for her she's got Applejack to take care of her until then,"  Twilight says, taking her scarf off and hanging it up in the usual spot.  Fluttershy stays silent and just follows Twilight around,  "But, since we can't help from here I figure I've got that experiment I need to do, but you can take the rest of the day off if you like, Spike, Fluttershy here will assist me downstairs,"

The dragon is a little disappointed, but certainly happy to take the opportunity to relax,  "Next time you see Rainbow Dash, tell her I wish her well, but if that's all you need I'm gonna go upstairs and take a nap...  Kitchen's clean, dishes are all washed and put away, laundry is dry and everything's in order in the Library; I double checked,"  He puts his hands on his hips and tilts his head up, expecting some kind of congratulatory pat on the head.

"That's wonderful, Spike, thank you,"  The unicorn says as she moves toward the basement door.  Spike takes the half-hearted thanks for what it's worth and heads upstairs to sleep; he may be the number-one assistant but he sure is lazy.

Fluttershy and Twilight gradually walk down each step, clacking their hooves off of the hardwood and listening to the echos through the wonderful acoustics of the basement.  Twilight magically brings along a notebook and quill, as well as a few small specimens of multicolored crystal that she presumably picked up from the hooflocker at the side of the stairs.

"Thanks for your help, Fluttershy.  This might actually be useful to help Rainbow rebuild her cloud home.  It's actually got to do with how these crystals affect water density in the air, wild coincidence huh?"

"Sure is,"  She responds quietly, looking around at all the machinery and specialized gizmos scattered around Twilight's basement.  Every inch of it looks like a quintessential mad scientist's laboratory.

Twilight looks around in a drawer and pulls out a mangled piece of wood and metal, "Aww shoot, the stand got broken...  Well this isn't a particularly dangerous spell... Fluttershy would you mind holding onto the crystal for me?"

"Y-you're sure that's safe?"  Fluttershy asks, shrinking away after seeing the small scorches on the inside of the stand; Twilight follows her gaze and puts the piece away.

"Oh yes of course, this spell doesn't generate much heat at all, those scorches were from when I had Spike heat something or other up... It's a multipurpose specimen platform,"  She smiles and floats a light blue crystal over to Fluttershy, who gingerly balances it between her hooves.

"Now if it starts to hurt just say so and I'll stop, but I don't think anything like that will happen, It just might start condensing a little water onto your coat.  Just be sure to speak up, and don't hesitate to let me know if anything feels wrong okay? I don't want anything at all to happen to you,"

Fluttershy grins sweetly and does as she's told, holding the crystal out away from her as far as she can and leaning her flank against the nearby table to balance.  Twilight leans forward and recites a few lines from a page in the notebook; her eyes close and her horn begins to sparkle with the usual tinge of magical energy.  The unicorn regulates her breathing and her whole body gains a faint aura, eventually extending it in a translucent beam into the crystal.  Fluttershy stands perfectly still, literally spellbound to the inside of the crystal as it twinkles with a beautiful purple light.  She's unable to break her gaze as the light intensifies, though she can see out of the corners of her eyes what seems to be a cloud forming around her hooves.  The air becomes chill from all of the moisture gathering around her, and fairly soon she can feel an extremely familiar feeling of Twilight's magical energy coursing through her body.  The pegasus's hooves create a circuit of sorts with the crystal at the center, running the soft tingle through her chest and making her heart flutter.

Twilight tries her best not to break her concentration with the spell, though she does observe the cloud forming around the mare.  She smiles and thinks to herself how beautiful Fluttershy looks surrounded by mist and holding a glowing purple and blue object.  This distraction of thought causes her to lose control of the spell as her horn gives a flux and then sputters to a stop; a surge of magical energy bursts out and impacts the crystal.  The fragile thing shatters between Fluttershy's hooves and her body absorbs nearly all of the energy, though strangely enough it doesn't hurt her.  She feels almost the same as when Twilight used her 'magic' on her in the bedroom, making her blush intensely as the mist dissipates into the room.

Twilight rushes forward, breaking the already swirling cloud and running to Fluttershy's side.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!  Are you okay?  Are you hurt?"  Frantically she speaks, begging Fluttershy to respond.  Without a word, the pink-maned pegasus sits up and kisses Twilight as deep as she ever could; heart pounding rapidly and body in an already aroused state from the magic.

As the kiss breaks, the pegasus stands up, folding her wings back down to her sides and readjusting her mane a little bit, "I'm... I'm sorry, Twilight.  I dunno what ca-came over me,"  She genuinely feels embarrassed, but doesn't quite want to tell Twilight about how the pulse through her body made her feel.

"No problem...  I'll take that to mean that you're okay... right?"  She asks sheepishly, expressing concern for the well-being of the canary mare.

"Of course... yes, yes I'm alright.  It was nothing, just a little... tingle,"

"Well, I dunno what I was thinking, putting you in the line of fire like that... That was really unprofessional... heck, it was dumb of me, I'll just have to put this off until I get a new stand.  I'm sorry, Fluttershy... Are you sure you're alright? You're looking a little lightheaded,"

The pegasus does feel that way, but it's not due to any kind of injury.  In fact, she hasn't felt better all day.

"Uhm, Yeah I'm fine, Twilight... Just... Feeling a little... warm,"

That's one way to put it I suppose,  Courage remarks on Fluttershy's choice of words.

I didn't see that coming at all...  I feel like...  She can hardly think straight, feeling in an almost perpetual state of euphoria.

You feel like you did in the bedroom... But it's lasting a lot longer than it should,  Courage seems to be affected by the feelings as well; being in a much better mood than usual.

Yeah... I think I'm alright with that,  Fluttershy sits down on the floor, feeling a little moisture and hoping that it's from the condensation of the mist in the room.

"Just stay right there Fluttershy, I'll go get you a glass of water,"  Twilight says as she rushes upstairs; Fluttershy barely hears what Twilight says and only acknowledges in a faint 'uh-huh'.

Let's ask her to do that again,  Courage says and follows with a giggle.

M-maybe I will...

Where The Heart Is

Rainbow Dash nuzzles her head happily against Applejack's chest, listening to her rapidly beating heart rate and smiling contentedly.  The orange earth pony tries to catch her breath, having gotten a far different kind of workout from the pegasus than would be common this time of year.

"I guess the 'fastest pony in all of Equestria' title doesn't exactly apply to everything,"  Applejack manages to say between deep breaths.

Rainbow just laughs a little, wrapping her foreleg around the earth pony's midsection and propping herself up to look her in the eyes, "What can I say...  takes a little more than your amateur skills to finish me off quickly,"

"Well you'll have to forgive me.  I didn't think my first time would be with a mare, let alone mah best friend.  The thought takes a little gettin' used to is all,"

"Oh I'm just giving you a hard time, AJ.  I really enjoyed that, and I really do appreciate you taking that leap just for me... I know it couldn't have been easy, what with your family and all..."

"Awh, well it wasn't just for you, sugar-cube.  I did it for mahself too.  I'm still not totally sure how I feel about it, but I certainly don't regret a thing,"

The rainbow-maned pegasus smiles softly and rests her head back onto Applejack's chest.  By then Dash had gone far too long without somepony to spend some time with, sexual or not, so she was most certainly grateful for the moment.

Applejack reaches her forelegs around and hugs the pegasus, pulling herself down so that they're face-to-face while they cuddle, letting the world pass them by in such a soft instance of time.  Dash's wings gently fold out and lay across the pair, giving an extra layer of added warmth underneath the quilt that lays atop them.

A few minutes pass and Applejack has to fight herself from falling asleep.  She gingerly shakes her head and nudges the already snoozing Rainbow Dash, who promptly opens her purple eyes and grins.

"I was just having the most wonderful dream about you,"  Dash jokes, following the statement with a mischievous grin.

"Just tryin' to keep mahself from fallin' asleep here.  Last thing I need is for Big Macintosh to walk in on us huddled up like this under the covers.  No offense,"

"None taken, AJ, I understand completely,"

"Well, I guess while I've got your attention I should ask what you want for dinner,"

"Eh, I'm fine... I just ate," The cyan pegasus can't even hide her amusement at her own joke, snickering a little and then bursting into full on laughter.

"Haw haw, Rainbow...  Seriously though, got any preference or should I just make somethin' easy?"

"I'm easy, AJ.  It's generous enough that you're letting me sleep here with ya; I won't be picky with the eats.  Besides, as long as I get some more 'apple pie' for desert I'd be happy with just about anything,"  She snickers again, which prompts Applejack to playfully shove the pegasus away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy, feeling slightly better after her magical encounter, sits down on a chair in Twilight's kitchen.  The unicorn sets a glass of water down for the pegasus and pulls up a chair just to her right, looking her in the face.

"Pardon me for saying, but I'm actually kind of interested in what happened...  Would you mind telling me what that felt like?"  Twilight softly asks the pegasus, who already has a mouthful of water when the intrusive question reaches her ears.

After a fit of coughing, she manages to catch her breath and look, blushing, at Twilight.

"Uhhm... well... It's a little embarrassing, Twilight..."  She turns dark red and looks directly across the table instead of at the unicorn.

"Embarrassing? how so?  It was my fault, Fluttershy, you know you can tell me about it if you need to,"

"Well... Uhhhhm..." Fluttershy squeaks a little bit but cracks a smile, "If you really wanna know..."

"I do, I really do, I was so scared that I'd hurt you... if anything feels off please tell me so I can make sure that I can fix it,"

Fluttershy giggles a little and rests her hoof on Twilight's foreleg, "Calm down... It really only made me a little... well, uhm, turned on,"  She finishes with a bashful giggle and looks away from the unicorn.

Twilight takes a few seconds to really understand what she means by this, but slowly starts to turn a light shade of red as well, "Oh... It uh, it really did that?"

"Mhm, it actually was great while it lasted, if not a little uhm... unexpected,"

"That's certainly a curious reaction...  You said it happened right after the crystal burst right?"

"That's when it hit me, it was a pretty big contrast so it's easy to see the change,"

"Well you named them 'crystals of moisture' for a reason, maybe it's just a different one than you first thought, Twi,"  Spike says as he steps into the kitchen, retrieving a glass of juice for himself.  Twilight's dumbfounded look switches to a scowl with clear highlights of dark red on her cheeks.

"Spike!"  She yells, grinding her teeth a little bit.

"What?"  He takes a sip nonchalantly and steps out of the kitchen, "I'm not allowed to make dirty jokes too?"

Fluttershy giggles and uses her hoof to catch Twilight's attention as Spike's tail exits view, "Did he say 'too'?"

"Yeah yeah, you caught me... Rarity comes over every so often and we gossip about everypony in town.  Sometimes we make dirty jokes about... certain ponies... I promised I wouldn't tell who,"  Twilight says with a grin, not really ashamed but feeling enough whimsy to fake it, "but someone must have been listening in on our conversations!"  She directs this out the door, hoping spike would be able to hear and take the hint.

Fluttershy laughs softly again and uses her foreleg to prop her chin up, "Gee, Twilight, I didn't take you for the gossipy type,"

"Well what can I say? Rarity brings out the worst in me,"

"I know the feeling all too well..."

The two ponies share a laugh at this joke, allowing themselves a moment of relaxation after the slightly stressful events.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack serves up her favorite hay and apple 'spaghetti' dinner, sitting at the antique dining table with her family and their guest.  Rainbow Dash almost immediately assaults the dish in front of her, receiving an elbow to the ribs from Applejack.

The orange earth pony whispers into her ear, "Slow down there nelly, Granny Smith likes to say grace to Celestia before we eat dinner, it's a family tradition,"

"S-sorry everypony, my bad..."  Dash says sheepishly, clacking her hooves together and bowing her head in prayer, uncomfortably following along as the other four ponies utter their thanks to the princess.

Once this is over, Dash looks around the table awkwardly until Granny Smith very loudly proclaims that it's time to 'dig in'.  Each of the four ponies around go about sloppily eating their dinner, to which Rainbow Dash happily joins.

"So sis,"  Applebloom says with a mouth full of food, "How come this is the first time you invited your marefriend over for dinner?"

Applejack nearly chokes as a response the unusual wording of the question.  She manages to clear her throat and catch her breath, "Now what in the hay are you talkin' about Applebloom?"

"Wull Rainbow of course, I seen you a'huggin' on her all the time so I just figured she was your marefriend,"

Applejack lets a relieved chuckle escape her, "Now, Applebloom, we're just friends. friends can hug each other as much as they want, it doesn't make them... 'that way', understand?"

"I think I do but I really don't see what the difference is,"  The confused filly scratches the top of her head with her hoof and then continues eating, seeming innocent enough but letting on to possibly more than she should know.

"I'll have a talk with you after supper then, Applebloom, we'll get everything straight with ya,"  Applejack follows her statements with more nervous chuckling, casting glances back and forth between Applebloom and Granny Smith to try and measure the elder's countenance.

Rainbow wants nothing more than to just step over and kiss Applejack as firmly as she can, maybe cop a feel or two, just to show up the extremely conservative family, but certainly has enough self control not to wreck everything they might have like that.

The family moves on from the controversial topic and goes about moving around the table to ask each other about their day: Applebloom provides an incomprehensible relay of what she learned in school, Granny Smith recounts how she had spent all day knitting three new pairs of socks for the 'Crusaders', and Big Macintosh, stallion of few words that he is, mentions how he helped Applejack shovel the snow around the barn to keep the doors from getting stuck closed.  Rainbow is more or less lost in the conversation, not really paying any attention, but nodding her head and hoping that they don't ask her to describe her day.

To her relief, the family skips right by her; not without acknowledging her of course, but just trying to avoid any kind of regression due to the unfortunate circumstances.  Applejack reassuringly rubs her hoof against the rainbow-maned pegasus's leg under the table, trying to help keep her comfortable in such a volatile setting.  Clearly the Apple family wouldn't approve of the two of them being together; that includes Applejack unfortunately.  Deep inside, where Rainbow can't quite see, the orange pony lets her family 'peer pressure' silently push her disposition away from the pegasus.  As happy as she had made her, Applejack lets the prying, judging eyes of her Granny and brother erode every good memory and feeling that she built up.

Rainbow simply fights the urge to kiss the pony where she sits, all the while thinking to herself that everything will be fine and that they can keep it a secret as long as they need to.  What she doesn't know won't hurt her; at least not until she knows it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sneak up behind her and give her a kiss,  Twilight slowly digs through a small linen closet filled with various scientific apparatuses, trying to find a new stand for her crystals in the midst of the perfectly organized materials.  'Courage' reminds Fluttershy that she exists by directing her attention to the bent-over unicorn.

I don't know...  That seems a little...  Fluttershy can feel her cheeks sting just a little as the thought flashes briefly through her mind.

There's nothing strange about it, Co-pilot, she'd like it,

How do you know?

Because she likes you...

The canary pegasus hesitates to move, nervously flicking her mane away from her face even though she knows it won't stay that way for very long.

"Grr... I could have sworn I had a stand in here someplace..."  Twilight impatiently moves from the middle shelf of the closet down to the floor, moving some boxes aside and inadvertently presenting her behind very clearly for the conflicted pegasus.

Oh she's gotta be doing that on purpose... 'Courage' chuckles coyly as Fluttershy's eyes meet the unicorn's flank.  In an embarrassed reaction she diverts her attention to Twilight's cutie mark instead; analyzing the five white sparkles around the central violet star,  Just swat her rear with your hoof, It'll be hilarious,

That is not happening,

Spoil sport,

You're just trying to get me in trouble with her,

Psh, she'd probably love it, the quiet ones always do,

What's that supposed to mean?  Fluttershy asks herself indignantly, still watching Twilight but this time focused on her shoulders.  She moves out from under the shelf, much to 'Courage's chagrin, and up to stand on the tips of her hooves to examine the very top of the closet.

Oh come on, she's just askin' for it now, look at her all stretched out like that, hug her from behind, pull her away from that lame shelf and bite her neck, do something,

I don't think I can...

Ugh... You're killin' me, Co-pilot, you can't do anything sexy?

What is it with you and sex anyway?

Well, since you haven't got a shred of corruption anywhere in that spotless little mind of yours, someone's gotta have those kinds of thoughts.  Everypony thinks about sex, everypony thinks about violence, everypony thinks about being sinful and naughty, even the ones like you who repress it.  You can't make them completely go away, they just concentrate into something like me; without me you wouldn't last two seconds in the real world.  Not everything's about butterflies and bunny kisses,

That's a little harsh don't you think?  Fluttershy feels a little hurt, but knows that somewhere deep inside there's a bit of logic behind this.  She is arguing with herself after all...

You apologize to your pet bunny rabbit when he's not satisfied with the massive amounts of food and warmth you provide him...

Twilight tilts her ankles a little to raise herself a few more inches up, tightening her buttocks for the pegasus to view inconspicuously, distracting her and making her blush even more intensely than she already was.

I hate it when you make valid points...  I wonder how Angel's doing anyway... he hasn't quite been himself,

That's it... I'm taking the wheel, you're trying to change the subject and I ain't lettin' that happen,

Wait... what?  The pink-maned pegasus finds herself already with a hoof raised, unable to react in time before she gives into her hidden temptations.  She swings it down and firmly swats Twilight's rump, startling the unicorn a bit and making her spin around, only to see Fluttershy's mischievously grinning face.  She uses both of her hooves to pin Twilight's forelegs to the wall behind her, pressing their muzzles together in a very deep and forceful kiss; Twilight has no idea how to react, but doesn't exactly fight.  After a second or two of surprised struggle she gives in and gleefully returns the kiss.

All yours Co-pilot, let's see you pull out of this tailspin,  'Courage' follows her final comment with a hysterical laugh, taking her rightful place in the back of Fluttershy's awareness.

"W-Wow Fluttershy... Still uhm,"  she clears her throat a little bit and focuses her eyes onto Fluttershy's, "Still feeling the 'effects' of that spell?"  Twilight turns dark red and smiles helplessly at the mare in front of her.

"I-I'm so sorry, Twilight, that... That wasn't me...  That was her"  Fluttershy releases Twilight and backs away a little, letting her fall down onto all fours and stay at eye-level with the pegasus.

"Shame, that was one heck of a surprise... I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it,"  Twilight flashes the mare a wink and then kisses her cheek; poor Fluttershy can barely feel her face from all of the blood rushing to it.

Told you she'd like it,  'Courage' resumes tossing the occasional mocking comment into Fluttershy's head.

I hate you so much...

-Tch- you love me and you know it,

Secret, But Fun!

"Alright Apple Bloom, we need to talk,"  Applejack leads the little filly into a slightly more private section of the house with Rainbow Dash following close behind.

"What for?  Did I do somethin' wrong?"  Apple Bloom asks indignantly, already prepared for some kind of accusation.

"No you didn't, but you almost did, so just listen up ya'hear? This is important,"  The elder pony sits down on the floor, patting the hardwood in front of her to signal Apple Bloom to join her.  The younger filly glances over to Rainbow Dash once as if analyzing the situation, then sits down as tense as can be.

"So what is it you wanna tell me?"

"It's a secret, can I trust you to keep a secret for me?"

The young earth pony's eyes widen at the very concept of implied trustworthiness; naturally she yells out a torrent of 'yes's.

"Of course you can, big sis!  You can trust me with anything!  I swear!"  She nearly bounces off the floor in excitement.

"Well good, I'll just let you in on a little personal secret then, but you can't tell anypony, even our family, understand?"

"I understand, now what is it?"  She grins and tilts her head in close to Applejack's, listening intently for what she's about to say.

The orange earth pony whispers into her little sister's ear, still barely loud enough for Rainbow to hear, "Granny Smith and Big Macintosh wouldn't like this about me, but I do guess you could say Rainbow and I are 'marefriends', to a certain degree that is,"

The filly expresses a slight disappointment at the 'secret', and so wants more, "Huh? Why wouldn't they like that about you? I thought they loved you,"

"They do love me Apple Bloom, just...  They don't support the idea of two mares bein' together, that's all,"  Applejack sits back on her haunches and tries desperately to satisfy the filly's unquenchable thirst for classified information.

"But that don't make no sense, AJ... What's it matter whether you're goin' out with a colt or a mare?"

"To me it doesn't matter... and to you it sure as hay shouldn't matter... but to them it does matter; they think it's wrong,"

"Wull I reckon you should go in and set 'em straight then.  Let them know that it don't matter,"

"No!"  Applejack shouts a little but tries to quiet down; Rainbow can only sit and watch as the scene unfolds.  "No, Apple Bloom, it's just them bein' set in their ways.  We can't change them anymore than they can change us.  They're family and I'll always love them for who they are... Hopefully they'll always love me for who I am..."  Applejack looks over her shoulder and catches gazes with Rainbow Dash.  The pegasus can feel the plea for forgiveness coming from the earth pony, but still has trouble deciding whether or not she's really taking the 'relationship' as seriously as Rainbow would like.

"You sound really worried about that, sis..."  Apple Bloom catches her attention once more, tilting her head to the side and causing the bow to flop over in a silly way.

Applejack can only look back and smile, trying to force herself to lighten the mood a little bit, "Well that's because I am... I reckon I'll tell them when I'm ready, but I ain't ready yet.  That's why it's a secret, understand?"

"I do, AJ, I swear I won't tell anypony,"

Dash flaps her wings a little, trying to subtly release some of the building energy she has.  Each time Applejack wishes to keep their relationship a secret from her family feels like a knife straight through the heart.  Dash has never really had any family to hide from, but still doesn't see things through Applejack's eyes.  She feels like the earth pony is willingly hiding from her family because she's too afraid of them to take a stand for what she feels is right.  It's a sad, weak gesture in Dash's eye; tarnishing the reputation of that golden pony.  Applejack easily managed to steal her heart, but now she's begun to sell it back to her for stones.

Fluttershy tilts her head to the side, rubbing it lightly up against Twilight's neck as they snuggle happily on the couch.  Twilight has given up trying to find a new crystal stand after Fluttershy's little 'outburst' and has resolved to just buy a new one tomorrow.

The lavender unicorn levitates her copy of the DSM in front of her, slowly flipping the pages and scanning over them for any symptoms that might match Fluttershy's description of 'Courage'.  The pegasus genuinely doesn't mind Twilight's curiosity; she even welcomes it as something that could draw them closer together.  Twilight halts on the page for paranoid schizophrenia, but soon flips it; to her it seems more like something Pinkie would have anyway.  She skims through many psychological problems, stopping again on Split Personality/Dissociative Identity Disorder.  Fluttershy rests her chin on the unicorn's shoulder and reads along with her, only to be cut off in the middle of a paragraph by a quickly turned page.

"Hmm... So you say she's a voice in your head that manifests as all of the 'bad' things you can think of?"  Twilight asks, laying the tome down and looking over to the mare on her shoulder.

"Yeah, everything naughty that I've ever seen or heard she thinks about...  It's like she's some completely different pony, but only knows what I think... I don't know what she thinks unless she tells me though..."  Fluttershy explains to Twilight once more, feeling less and less comfortable each time she brings it up.

"Very interesting...  It doesn't quite fit with any known 'disorders' but it's certainly not... well..."  Twilight hesitates to say it, but Fluttershy anticipates her choice of words.

"Normal?"

"Well... yeah,"  Twilight cringes inside and prays she didn't offend the pegasus.

Fluttershy, much to Twilight's relief, laughs softly and hugs around her waist, staying just as clingy as ever around the lavender unicorn.

"If I were normal I wouldn't be interested in you now would I?"  She says in a completely unusual turn of snarkiness.

"Ouch! That cut deep, Fluttershy..."  Twilight pretends to be wounded in the chest and flashes a coy look to the pegasus, fluttering her eyelids and grinning at her to finish it off.

The two ponies relax against the sofa, kissing each other softly and letting their eyelids close partway.  The whole world seems dim to them, with only the soft light of a low fireplace to cast dancing shadows into the library.

"I really should get going home tonight..."  Fluttershy says gently, pulling her head away and looking directly at Twilight's shoulder, examining its contours to try and distract her from the more voluptuous parts of the unicorn.

"Aww, you can't stay tonight and keep me nice and warm?"  Twilight jokingly asks, teasing the shy pegasus and holding onto her tight.  She makes her point clear that she doesn't want Fluttershy to leave, but respects her decision either way.

"I'd love that, but I think maybe it would be nice to spend some time with Angel, he doesn't seem to be feeling very well,"

"Well I'll let you go whenever you want, I'm just really enjoying all the time we've gotten together.  Though it is getting dark, you might wanna get going soonish if you're gonna make it home with daylight to spare,"

"Mmn, just five more minutes,"  Fluttershy moves a little closer to Twilight and hugs her tight, keeping their bodies closely cuddled together in front of the fire.

Rainbow Dash slowly moves up the stairs toward her room in the Apple family home.  Glancing back and forth at the different, not to mention humble decor.  She truly feels at "home" in the traditional sense, though almost like an uninvited guest, especially considering how Applejack seems to feel about their relationship.  Every single time she denies it, every time she tries to explain that it's not what they think, Dash cringes.

The rainbow-maned pegasus steps into the guest room and drops herself onto the bed.  The old thing creeks under the sudden impact, but soon accepts its new resident.  The pillows still smell of apples, and this comforts the winged mare, but only serves as a reminder of something to be desired but never quite there with her.

The pillow picks up some of the moisture from Dash's face; she tries her best to fight the waterworks but can't quite hold them back.  Everything that's been happening lately has gone against her.  Sure she got to spend a few measly hours with the mare of her desires, but it was so absentee.  Applejack was either allowing it out of pity, or if she did want it she wasn't willing to defy her family for it; to fight for it.  Rainbow wants somepony to stick with her through thick and thin.  She needs dedication, passion... loyalty.

Downstairs, Applejack notices that Rainbow has left the conversation and begins to worry.  She softly pats Apple Bloom's head and tells her to run along, then steps upstairs and trots gently toward Rainbow's room.  The earth pony sees that the light is on and nudges the door open with her hoof, glancing inside once again to try and avoid disturbing her too much.

"Rainbow?  Everything alright sugar-cube?"  She quietly asks, looking at the pegasus with her face buried in the pillows.

Not now AJ... Just leave, please... Just leave before I do something I'll hate myself for,  Dash acknowledges her existence only in her mind, not moving or making a sound in the waking world.  Applejack lets her worry get the best of her and steps into the room, noticing a slight shift in the pegasus's wings as she moves inside.

"Wanna talk?"  Applejack asks and sits down on the bed next to the pegasus, staying propped up and resting a hoof on her shoulder.  Dash just rolls over onto her side, not facing the pony and curling her legs up to her chest.  "W-was it somethin' I said?"

"Yes... AJ, yes it was..."  Dash mumbles angrily, still not facing the orange mare.  She half doesn't want to look at her, and half doesn't want her to see her bloodshot eyes.  "You don't really wanna stay with me..."

"Now hold on a minute... Where'd you get that idea?"  Applejack snaps back at the pegasus and removes her hoof from her shoulder.

"You're so afraid of what your family might think you won't even tell them...  Some element of 'honesty' you are..."  Dash's comments grow more and more hostile as the image of Applejack in her mind's eye continues to tarnish, leaving a barely recognizable pony behind a rusty, destroyed facade.

The orange pony knows it's true, but doesn't want to just sit there and take the accusation, "Wull... I told Apple Bloom didn't I?"

"You told Apple Bloom because you were afraid she was gonna out us in front of everypony.  Face it AJ, you aren't comfortable with being in a relationship with another mare.  I very much appreciate the hospitality of letting me stay here, and I am very grateful for the few hours we spent together in this bed, I know those weren't easy things for you to do, but I'm afraid I just don't quite feel welcome here anymore.  The only pony in this house who doesn't seem to care that we're together is Apple Bloom and it's only a matter of time before she does out us in front of your family.  I think maybe until you stop trying to juggle a spotless relationship with me and with your family and decide what's really important to you, I should probably just go find someplace else to stay.  I don't want to cause anymore problems for you,"  With this the pegasus stands up and walks quickly over to the window; Applejack is left speechless and continues to stare at the spot where Dash was laying.

The cyan mare casts one last tear-filled look back to the earth pony and opens the window, taking off as fast as she can toward the setting sun, not even saying goodbye.  Applejack, sighs and looks down at her hooves, not really having anywhere else to focus her attention.  She sits in silence for a few seconds, tears falling off of her face and landing on the same hooves she used not hours ago to hold the only pony to ever be romantically interested in her, having the solemnity only broken by the guttural throat-clearing of a certain large, red stallion.

Fluttershy steps softly through the frigid air toward her home, deciding not to fly so she can witness the sunset behind the mountains without accidentally flying into anything again.  Fluttershy loves sunsets, especially in the winter time.  The pale orange rays cast between the peaks of the mountains paint both the sky and parts of the white canvassed ground a beautiful shade of gold; giving every square inch of the world around her a heavenly glow.  Happily she walks along, stepping up to her porch and gently kicking the door frame to get any snow off of her hooves.  She gingerly steps inside and hangs her scarf up, lighting a few candles on her way through the home.  Angel glances around for the purple unicorn/'problem instigator' and sees that the coast is clear.  He takes the opportunity to run up and greet Fluttershy the only way he knows how: by jumping up into her arms and accepting the familiar warm hug that she gladly provides him every single time.

It doesn't take long for the pegasus to sit down and relax on her couch, sighing happily as her pet happily snuggles with her.  She even almost dozes off a little bit, feeling her body sink into the cushions and the world around her melt into a dull, dark glow that slowly encompasses her attention.

Fluttershy is brought back into waking consciousness by the sound of flapping wings outside of her window.  The night is so quiet she can hear a pin drop, so the arrival of another pegasus is punctuated by soft hoofsteps and what sounds to Fluttershy like sobbing.  She gently sets the snoozing Angel Bunny aside and steps toward the door, glancing out the window to see none other than Rainbow Dash with tears in her eyes.  The pegasus opens the door before Rainbow even gets a chance to knock.

"H-hey Fluttershy... Could I uhm... Could I stay with you for a little while?"  She rubs her foreleg with her hoof, trying to hide her face but not doing a very good job.

"Of course you can, Rainbow... Did something happen with Applejack?"  Fluttershy steps aside and welcomes the pony into her home, following her closely and letting her sit down on the couch.  Angel wakes up and glances over at the new visitor, deciding that she's not a threat and falling back to sleep.

"I uhm... We... We just didn't really..."  She stumbles over her words but can't quite get them out.  One of the hardest things in Equestria for Rainbow Dash is admitting defeat.

"Shhh,"  Fluttershy takes a comforting tone and rests her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, "You don't have to talk about it right now...  Just forget I asked and get some sleep.  You can take my bed if you like, I'll just sleep down here,"

Dash sniffles and looks Fluttershy in the eyes, trying to force a smile as she thanks her,  "Thank you, Fluttershy... I'm sorry you have to see me like this...  But uhm, you know you don't have to sleep down here if you don't want to... I know you're Twilight's gal and I'll keep my hooves to myself...  I just... I don't wanna be alone tonight,"

Fluttershy smiles and nods, not really having to say a word.  She stands up off of the floor and leads Rainbow up to her bedroom, clearing some of the pillows off the bed to make a little extra room for the two of them.  Dash lays down first, facing toward the outside of the bed and keeping her wings folded tight; it's very clear to Fluttershy that she's upset.

Fluttershy lays down and rests her hoof on Dash's flank, pulling her to lay onto her back and catch eyes with the canary pegasus, "You're never alone, Rainbow, I'll always be your friend and I'll always be there for you, you know that,"  She finishes with a soft grin and a gentle hug.

Rainbow can't help herself but smile, feeling more tears well up behind her eyes, "You're the best, 'Shy..."

Fresh Apple Pie

Applejack sighs and looks away from her big brother, not wanting to face him now that she'd been caught,  "How much of that did ya hear?"

"About the last part before Rainbow flew out the window,"  he steps into the room calmly, "S'you and Rainbow really are like that are ya?"  Big Macintosh asks in his trademark slow and steady way, not really showing much disdain, but certainly not excitement either.

The orange earth pony cracks a soft smile, knowing that no matter what she says or does he already knows.  There's no point in hiding or being ashamed anymore, "Yeah, yeah I guess we are... Well, we were anyway, she kinda left me,"  The smile is all fake, deep down she feels as if her heart had been kicked by the very stallion talking to her.

"I wish you'da told me sooner, AJ,"  Big Macintosh sits down on the bed next to Applejack, causing her to sink down a few inches as the mattress buckles under his weight.

"Why?  So you could kick me out?"  The stoic mare keeps her sadness locked tightly inside of her, tossing out snippy remarks to try and keep it hidden.

"Nope...  So's I could congratulate you before anythin' went wrong,"

"Y-you're not mad or... or ashamed or nothin'?"  Applejack feels her emotional defenses crumble the second she sees acceptance in his big green eyes.

"AJ, c'mon now who do you take me for?"  He flashes her a smile and pats her leg.  "I love mah family and only want to see you happy.  Rainbow makes ya happy, what's there to be ashamed of?"

"I just thought that y'all didn't like f-fillyfoolers..."  Applejack begins to tear up, feeling the warmth behind her eyes grow stronger with each minute, almost as if she's ready to burst.

"Wull... We usually don't, but if two of the hardest workin', fastest, strongest, and nicest ponies in Equestria are fillyfoolers how bad could it be?"  His tendency to answer questions with other questions kept sending the subject back to Applejack, she feels more and more like she's just been stupidly running and hiding when she had no reason to be.  She lets her tears flow, not trying to hide anything else anymore.

Big Macintosh just gently hugs her, holding the mare close and resting his head on top of hers, "Why're you afraid of yer family anyway, AJ?"

Applejack sniffles a little and opens her eyes, trying to calm down to answer his question, "I was just afraid y'all would be ashamed to have me livin' here with you if'n I was with Rainbow..."

"Wull we ain't ashamed, I love you, Granny Smith loves you, Apple Bloom loves you, and that ain't gonna change just 'cuz you love Rainbow,"

Applejack manages to give a tearful smile, "I love all of you too," and buries her head against the big stallion, letting all of her pent up emotions flow freely, washing away doubt and shame in the tearful flow.

"Heya, Twi,"  Spike steps up into Twilight's sleeping area at the top of the library, catching her attention as she sits in her bed and scribbles into an old diary.  Surprised, the unicorn slams it shut and turns around to see the friendly dragon offering her a large bowl of salad that he undoubtedly put together for her.

"Oh, hey Spike... Sorry, you scared me.  This for me?"  She asks, pushing the old book under her pillow and levitating the meal over to her.

"Mhm,  I haven't seen you eat anything all day so I figured I'd make you some dinner...  You don't take very good care of yourself when you're obsessing, Twilight,"

"I'm not obsessing!"  Twilight snaps indignantly, using her magic to lift a hefty forkful of salad to her mouth and munch on it angrily; she really was starving,"

"Oh please, the last time you had that look in your eyes was when you first got moved into your room at Celestia's school.  I'm willing to bet fifty bits that whatever you wrote in that diary of yours just now has the word 'Fluttershy' three times,"

It was four, "T-that's none of your business!  How do you even remember that anyway?  You were just a baby,"

"Dragons remember every second of their waking life, Twi, well... we can remember every second anyway, we can block it out if we want to.  Either way don't change the subject, you're obsessed with Fluttershy,"

"Okay, so what if I am?"  Twilight shifts from denial to defensiveness, still eating her salad as it's the only thing she can vent her anger on.

"Hey I didn't say it was a bad thing... She looks good on ya, just try to take it slow okay?  You're not exactly... well... smooth,"

"This coming from the doting dragon who gets rejected by Rarity every five minutes..."

"That's different!"

Twilight sticks her tongue out at Spike, teasing him back and finishing up her food, "Thank you for the dinner, Spike... You're right about me not taking great care of myself,"

"You're welcome, just try to find time to get out of your own head from time to time.  I know it must be fascinating in there but the real world is nice too,"

"When did you get so smarmy?"

"Since I got ammo against you as revenge for all the times you tease me,"

"Fair enough...  I'll wash this bowl, Spike, you get some rest, you're looking kinda sleepy,"

"Yeah I guess I am, thanks, Twi,"  The young dragon waves Twilight off and hops back down the ladder, landing in his bed just at the right spot to send his blanket up into the air.  With an expert grab he tugs it over himself; a perfect landing.

Twilight sets the bowl down and re-opens her diary, flipping to her most recent entry and re-reading it with a smile on her face.

Dear Diary,

Fluttershy, my close friend for well over a year now, has begun to seriously weigh on my heart.  Every single day I catch myself thinking about her, and though it's only been a few days that we've actually been together I can say with confidence that I may be falling in love.  Fluttershy is sweet, kind, and helpful, and best of all she actually understands what the hay I'm talking about most of the time!  I never thought I would catch myself falling for another mare, but I just don't feel wrong about liking her.  Everything that anypony has ever told me wouldn't support that, but to a certain degree it just doesn't matter... right?  Oh why am I asking you about Fluttershy?  You can't respond to me...  Here I am rambling...  Isn't apostrophe such a wonderful thing?  I guess I should close this entry before I break my quill, thank you for listening.  The last thing I'd like to close with is just one statement of fact:

I Love Fluttershy!

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle, Equestria's most talented unicorn.

"Wow..." Twilight says with a quiet giggle, "I really am obsessed."

Rainbow Dash falls asleep first, snoring very quietly, just barely above the level of a whisper.  Fluttershy rests her head on the pillow and looks toward the cyan pegasus; she's so relaxed, so quiet, so unlike the usual Dash.  Fluttershy rolls onto her back and looks up at the ceiling, resting her eyes a little bit and thinking.  She's not particularly tired, and thoughts of Twilight race through the back of her mind; 'Courage' oddly enough doesn't make herself known where she normally would.

The mare opens her eyes and stares at a fixed point on the ceiling, not moving her eyes at all.  The room darkens itself around her field of vision as she focuses, and her body relaxes against the soft pillow-top mattress.  She doesn't quite notice her descent into sleep, only feeling her thoughts envelop her consciousness and take over, driving away all perception of the world.  Her bedroom is still there, though it can't be seen, and a swirling feeling around her still body brings her to feel as if she's falling.  It's not a frightening fall however, but a slow descent into a dark, calm world.  She looks around, seeing nothing but yet feeling as if she's gazing out over Ponyville.  Soon the town does come into view, though she's already inside of her home.  She sits happily on the couch, Twilight lays comfortably across her lap, speaking incomprehensibly while the soft sound of a roaring fireplace barely teases their ears.  She looks away toward her wall, and steps through it.  She runs in the hidden daisy meadow just outside of town, Twilight Sparkle following close behind and giggling.  The summer sunlight washes over them, warming their bodies as they warm each others' hearts.  Their movement through the fields is poetry in motion, and the world is simply there to hold them up to the sky as they live their lives carefree and happy.

Fluttershy is back in her bedroom again, gently embracing Twilight with a deep kiss.  She feels her velvety fur almost over every single square inch of her body, like being wrapped in a lovely quilt.  Her hooves rest on Twilight's hips as they finish their kiss, looking deep into each others' eyes, not having to say a word to convey their love.  Fluttershy closes her own eyes and basks in the darkness, warm and calm, shifting through gentle currents that wash over her body.  She's standing now, and opens her eyes only to see nothingness all around her.

She looks to her left: nothing.  She looks to her right: nothing.  She looks down: she's not standing on anything, but feels as if her hooves are planted in Terra Firma.  She hears the clacking of horseshoes on hardwood, echoing through the abyss from some direction that doesn't seem to exist.  She turns around and sees a small speck of yellow walking toward her.

"Hey there, Co-Pilot!"  The figure calls out, and as if out of nowhere, drapes her foreleg around Fluttershy's withers,  "I think it's high time you and I had a chat, don't you?"

Fluttershy stands perfectly still, realizing who it is standing next to her.  She turns her head to see an exact clone of herself, only without any wings, smiling back at her with the same mischievous grin that Rainbow Dash gets around Applejack.  Fluttershy's clone... 'Courage' in her manifest form, uses her foreleg to pull the pegasus into a deep, unwelcome kiss.  Fluttershy is simply paralyzed, unknowing at exactly how to feel right then.  She doesn't understand this to be a dream, and is lost in a haze, but sees quite simply that she's kissing herself.

"Ahh... I've always wanted to do that,"  'Courage' says as she pulls away, trotting in a circle around the confused mare.

"W-what are you doing here?"  She asks, finally seeing that she's talking face to face with 'Courage' from her previous conversations.

"I should very well ask you the same thing... This is my home after all,"  Fluttershy glances around into the black void, only hearing gentle clacking of hoofsteps as 'Courage' walks around and casually performs some invisible task.

"W-..."  She stops herself in the middle of the word, taking a breath and looking around, now scared out of her mind, or into it rather, "What is this place?"

"I already told you, Co-pilot... This is my home, but I guess you could call it your psyche.  Quite simple really, you took a wrong turn about that point where you and Twilight were shoving each others' tongues down your throats and you ended up here.  Which is a good thing, because you and I need to talk, and I can't have you ignoring me anymore like you do on the outside,"

"W-what is it you want to talk about?"  Fluttershy shivers in her place, feeling like she's going completely insane as she watches Courage sweep an invisible floor with an invisible broom.

"Oh, Everything.  But we can't talk about everything right now... You're gonna wake up soon.  As a matter of fact, you probably won't even remember ever being here, but I'll remember.  I remember everything, Co-pilot.  Consider this a warning... You're needed down here to do a little spring cleaning, and I'm gonna bring you back here the next time you fall asleep, no squishy Fluttershy dreams before-hoof, got it?"

"Why are you d-doing this?"  Fluttershy cries a little bit; her tears fall straight down and never hit anything, simply dripping off into nothingness.

"Why?  Because you're in love Co-pilot, and we can't have you screwing that up,"  The strange earth-pony steps forward and seems to hold a newspaper in her hooves.  Fluttershy can't see the thing, but Courage goes through the motions of rolling it up and bashes her on the nose with it.  The impact is enough to break open her eyes and wake her up.  She sits up quickly with a start, gasping for air and accidentally waking up Rainbow Dash in the process.

"Nnnghh... Fluttershy, what the hay are you doing?"  The cyan pegasus rolls onto her back and rubs her amethyst eyes with her foreleg, looking over at the clock on Fluttershy's bedroom hearth and focusing her vision on it, "it's like nine in the morning, what are you doing wakin' up so dang early?"

Sure enough, sunlight pours in through the small slits in her curtains, brightening up a sliver of the room.  Fluttershy is still speechless from the encounter, barely acknowledging Rainbow's complaints as she gets out of bed.

"I uhm... I need to go feed the animals..." Fluttershy stutters as she trots out of her room, leaving the half-sleeping, angry pegasus in her bed to grumble and pull the quilt over her face.

Ehehehe... So you did remember it.  That's good... very good... I'll see you soon Co-pilot, have a nice day,  Courage appears for only a second, then dissipates into Fluttershy's frantic cloud of worries and thoughts pulsing through her mind.

"Just... Just go feed the animals, Fluttershy," the pegasus tells herself as she checks her eyes in the bathroom mirror, "Just get your mind off of it, everything's gonna be alright,"

The Abyss of Your Eyes

Applejack, awake bright and early, walks slowly out toward Rainbow's old address.  She catches a glimpse of the contours of the cloud home against the bright backdrop of dawn; the edges have softened and started to diffuse, while the thicker portions of the cloud home seem to have all grown weaker.  A large puddle of slowly freezing slush lies below the structure, but otherwise all is calm and serene.  The earth pony sighs and turns around, deciding to go notify the others of the fact that the structure is dry and ready for repairs.

The walk toward the nearest of her friends' homes, Fluttershy's, is a solemn one.  Applejack barely looks where she's walking, instead keeping her eyes pointed at the ground only a few feet in front of her, lost in thought.  The quiet mare thinks about everything Rainbow had said, realizing she was right and resolving to settle everything.  She'll find her, apologize, and explain herself; then hopefully mend the wounds that had been so brutally inflicted to the both of them.

The vibrant foliage of Fluttershy's home comes into view as Applejack tilts up her head with new-found confidence, making her smirk a little bit and pick up the pace.  She briskly trots to the door and kicks it a few times to knock.  She gets no reception, and so knocks again, this time yelling into the closed window at the side of the door.

"Fluttershy!  It's AJ, can I come in?"  She asks, standing patiently on her front step and waiting for the shy mare to open up.

It doesn't take too long for Fluttershy to calm herself down enough and head downstairs, answering the door for Applejack who had readied her hoof for another series of loud knocks.

"H-hey Applejack... Come right in, I-I guess."

"You okay, Fluttershy?  Ya look like you didn't sleep at all last night..."  The Earth pony gives Fluttershy a concerned look as she steps across the threshold, shivering briefly as her cold body comes in contact with the warmth of the pegasus's home.

"Oh... That... Uhm, just, just nightmares, that's all..."  Fluttershy nervously spits out excuses for her apparently disheveled look, remembering that Twilight is the only of her friends that really knows about 'Courage'.  Thinking of which, Fluttershy decides that soon she's going to have to tell Twilight about that dream, hopefully before she gets to sleep today.

"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that sugar-cube.  I hope you're not too tired to help out today; Rainbow's home looks like it's all dried out so we can start fixin' it up.  Maybe if y'all flyin' types can get it closer to the ground I can help clean up some of the more solid things inside."

"I'll ask Dash when she wakes up what she thinks about that...  Thank you for letting me know."  Fluttershy smiles and starts to walk toward her kitchen, figuring she could go fix something to eat and then go try to clean herself up.

"S-She's here?"  Applejack takes a second to really grasp the idea, having figured that the Rainbow pegasus would have gone someplace a little more solitary instead.

"Hm?  Yeah, she came over last night right before I went to bed; she seemed a little bit upset... I would have felt horrible to turn her away, so I just let her stay with me... D-Did something happen?"

Applejack rubs her foreleg with her hoof, looking down a little and trying to decide just how much to tell Fluttershy; if Rainbow hadn't told her much then what right does she have?

"Ehm... Well, I think I just need to have a talk with her, she and I kinda... had an argument last night, and I need to apologize,"  the earth pony says with a shaky tinge to her voice.

"I understand, Applejack...  Did you want me to leave while you two talked?  I could go get Twilight and head back here, that should be enough time right?"  Fluttershy smiles softly at the flustered earth pony and happily offers her dwelling up for a little privacy.

"T-that would be great, sugar-cube, thank you..."

"Any time...  Now I'll just take my sweet time going to fetch Twilight, you two take as long as you need to, uhm, talk."  The shy pegasus catches onto Applejack's discomfort, recognizing what she's hiding almost immediately from personal experience.

"Will do."  Applejack steps over to Fluttershy and gives her a warm hug.

The ponies part ways and head to their respective destinations: Fluttershy to the front door, and Applejack to the staircase.  The canary pegasus leaves without pause, but Applejack hesitates a little as she walks up the stairs.

What if she doesn't want to see me right now?  Insidious thoughts pop into her mind as she slowly approaches Fluttershy's bedroom.  This is like... the third time I'll have walked in on her laying in bed...  One good, one bad... Third time's the charm right?  But what if that's not right?  Applejack's hoofsteps actually match her hesitation; she pulls her leg back and cringes a little bit.  The image of Rainbow snapping at her and telling her to get out breaks her heart, but the pony presses onward.  She fights her fears off in her mind, pushing away any doubts and inhibitions she receives from hypothetical scenarios.  Applejack steps toward the room and swallows back every single negative thought she has, stuck on the idea that she's going to make everything right.

Twilight Sparkle lays comfortably in her bed, fast asleep and having a rather inappropriate dream about Fluttershy.  From time to time she tosses in her bed, clumsily emulating the movements in the real world that she's making in her dream, though in an almost comically uncoordinated manner.

Spike had drawn the curtains the instant the sun began to rise this morning, so they sit tightly closed above Twilight's head and block out every single ray of sunlight from entering the room.  Her silent, peaceful, dirty-thought-filled rest is disturbed by an almost inaudible triplet of gentle knocks on her front door.  Twilight opens her eyes and registers the lack of light in the room, grumpily mumbling to herself about what the noise was.  She rolls onto her side and tries to go back to sleep, but is once more disturbed by the soft knocking.

Twilight throws her blanket off of herself in a frustrated exertion, rubbing her eyes with her hooves and getting up to look at her clock.  She grits her teeth as she realizes that she'd slept in for far over an hour, inferring that Spike had shut the curtains some time during the night.  She 'forgives' the dragon and decides to go answer the door to keep her mind off of it, hurrying down the stairs and shaking her head side to side to try and even her mane out.

Fluttershy hears the sound of hoofsteps coming downstairs through the walls and waits patiently for them to greet her, humming quietly and nodding her head to a soft tune she heard a few days prior.  Twilight opens the door, squinting, not quite used to the morning light as it pours in around Fluttershy's bright yellow body.

"Oh, hello there, Fluttershy.  This certainly is a nice surprise," Twilight says as she rubs her eye with her foreleg, trying to wake up a little more.

"Hey there, Twilight, I-I didn't wake you up did I?"  Fluttershy tilts her head and examines the bedraggled unicorn.

"No no, it's okay, I should have been up around an hour and a half ago.  Sorry about not answering the door, is Rainbow's home all dry?"

"Well, yeah, but I'd say we have a little while before Applejack and Rainbow get, uhm, done."

"Before they 'get done' with what?"  Twilight yawns and stretches her shoulders, casually asking the pegasus a question that, unbeknownst to her, holds delicate information.  Fluttershy turns a little red in the cheeks as she's confronted with a moral dilemma: whether or not to explain the secret relationship to her own more-or-less secret lover.

"Uhhhm...   C-can you keep a secret?"  Without 'Courage's input to really tell her what the 'bad' side of the argument might have been, Fluttershy instinctively tries to slake the unicorn's thirst for knowledge.

The very mention of the word 'secret' reminds Twilight of her previous encounter with cloak-and-dagger relationship drama.  She expects Pinkie Pie to pop out of some unintelligible object soon only to simply and eloquently state the word "Forever!" in the usual 'Pinkie' flare.

"You know I can keep a secret.  How long did I cover for you with Rarity and that modeling fiasco?"

"I've been trying to forget about that...  But you do have a point,"  The pegasus says gingerly as she blushes and looks away, remembering every single embarrassing second of that unwelcome spotlight.

"I have two!"  Twilight uses her hoof and points to her horn to help emphasize the cheesy unicorn joke.  Fluttershy is scarcely amused, so she moves on, "But I suppose it's for the best that you left that all behind: I don't need everypony around town staring at my mare."  The unicorn embraces Fluttershy in a surprise hug, hovering her muzzle just inches away from hers and grinning.

"Awwhh... w-well, the only pony I want staring at me is you, Twilight..."  Fluttershy is starting to get a little bit better at affectionate banter without stuttering and shying away too much, but definitely needs to work at it.

"So what's this secret?"  Twilight asks the swooning yellow pegasus after a brief kiss.

"Well...  I think Rainbow and Applejack are uhm...  going out."

"Is that so?  Seems like all of our friends swing that way...  Honestly I thought Applejack of all ponies would be straight as an arrow..."

"So did I, but anyway Dash seemed kinda shaken up about something last night, so I let her stay with me and--"

"You didn't cheat on me did you?"  Twilight interrupts the mare mid-sentence and casts a joking question that flies right over poor Fluttershy's head.

"N-no! No, Twilight I would never!  How could you even think that?"  She shrinks away and worries that Twilight was serious; much to her relief the unicorn chuckles and tries to calm her down.

"Relax, I was only joking.  Don't take everything so seriously sweetheart,"  Twilight says with a smile, leaning over and kissing her cheek.  "Now what were you saying?"

Fluttershy clears her throat and blushes once more, embarrassed that she fell for such an obvious trick,  "W-well...  Rainbow came over last night.  She was crying and seemed almost desperate for somewhere to sleep, so I let her stay with me...  Applejack showed up today to let me know that Rainbow's house was dry, so I decided to run over here and let you know in AJ's place so that the two of them could have a little alone time."

"Well that was awful nice of you,"  Twilight says as she wraps her foreleg around Fluttershy's withers, "though if I were you I'd inspect your bed before you slept in it again... make sure it's still clean."

"W-why?"  Fluttershy asks with a tinge of worry behind her voice.

"Mmn... Let's take a walk and get some breakfast...  I'll tell you on the way,"

In her dream, the rainbow maned pegasus flies happily through a lightly clouded summer day.  Not a care in the world, no broken homes to go back to (or not to go back to), and no hindrances to keep her chained to anything whatsoever.  She tucks her wings to her sides and corkscrews herself, bursting through a cloud and bringing all of the moisture with her.  The dream-simulated water shock doesn't feel cold or harsh, but still refreshes her spirit for flight just like it would in reality.  She opens her eyes and sees Sweet Apple Acres below her, with a familiar blonde tail poking out of the barn door.  Unconsciously, the pegasus lands and trots toward the barn, completely oblivious to the fact that it had completely changed shape from when she saw it flying over.

"Sugar-cube, can we talk?"  A voice asks from behind the door, muffled by the wood and prompting the pegasus to venture closer.

She places her hoof up to the door and pushes it open, surprisingly easily for a seventy-foot tall door made of solid wood.  The only thing inside the structure is a bed, lit up as if by some invisible heavenly glow, but suspended upon a wooden floor that couldn't possibly belong to a barn.  The bed is familiar, yet not her own, and of course, containing a very familiar cyan pegasus underneath the hoof-stitched quilt.  Dash reaches out and touches her own shoulder, the contact merging the two bodies without any feeling, pause, or warning in between.  The pegasus goes completely unconsciously from standing next to her own body to laying in Fluttershy's bed once again.  She opens her eyes and realizes where she is: Fluttershy's bedroom, with Applejack standing in the door frame and asking her for a chance to talk.

"Ah guess you're still asleep...  Maybe I'll just go, it was a stupid idea for me to come up here anyhow..."  Applejack lowers her head and walks away solemnly, turning as slow as she can and stopping once she hears the rustling of sheets and a mumble from the bedroom.

"N-no, no AJ don't go... I'm sorry, come on in here,"  The pegasus says as she tries to force herself awake.  She reaches back and forces her 'morning-wings' back down to her flanks with her hooves, sitting up in the process and looking at the melancholy earth pony.

Applejack lets a concerned look take over her face as she steps in, head low, waiting for some kind of accusation to be thrown her way.

"Applejack... I'm... I'm sorry,"  Rainbow Dash says in a slightly out-of character expression of humility.  She's still in somewhat of a trance from her rude awakening and every raw emotion within her doesn't have the chance to pass through the usual filter that she puts up with her facade.

"You're actually apologizing to me?"  Applejack, genuinely surprised, steps back into the room and sits on the floor, looking up to the pegasus who had taken the liberty of propping herself up against the head-board.

"Yeah, I shouldn't have run off on you like that...  That wasn't cool..."  Rainbow focuses her vision and sees the calmly sitting Applejack at the foot of the bed, forcing the pegasus to smile contentedly at this 'dream-come-true' moment.

"It's alright, sugar-cube...  What ya said last night...  You were right.  I've kinda been lying to myself and I'm downright ashamed of it.  I'm not sure if this helps any, but Big Macintosh walked in about five seconds after ya left and set things right with me.  So I guess I was dead wrong about how I thought my family would feel..."

"So they know?"

"Wull... Big Mac knows, and so does Apple Bloom..."

"Still don't wanna tell Granny?"

"To be fair I don't even tell her mah friends' names."

"Close enough I guess...  Not everypony can be made of pure, concentrated awesome like I am."  Rainbow flashes the earth pony a smile and opens her forelegs for a hug, welcoming her marefriend into a warm embrace should she choose to take it.  She does, and with a fervor at that; Applejack dives into Rainbow's arms and hugs her as tight as she possibly can.

The pegasus rests her chin on Applejack's shoulder; she gladly does the same.  The orange mare notices Dash's wings fighting against the head board to stand on end and laughs a little, "If this weren't Fluttershy's bed I'd offer to help ya with that little problem ya got there."

"Well...  She does have a shower... wouldn't leave any evidence... just sayin'."

Ambivalence

Fluttershy and Twilight walk side by side down the street, laughing like school-fillies about the quality of their rest last night.  The decision to go get breakfast before returning to Rainbow and Applejack directs their attention toward Sugar Cube Corner for something quick and simple.  The ponies look out front of the elaborately decorated store facade and notice that it's surprisingly empty for a late morning like this one.

"I hope they're not closed today,"  Twilight says quietly as she walks past the store, looking in through the windows.  She sees a very familiar pink wad of cotton-candy colored (and shaped, oddly enough) pony mane behind the counter.  "Well, Pinkie's in there.  Shall we?"

Fluttershy nods and trots toward the door, flashing a smile at the unicorn as they approach.  She lays her hoof gently on the door and pushes to see if it's locked; it opens and quickly rings the small bell set above it.  The sound surprises Pinkie Pie, who promptly tries to stand up with a start.  She accidentally bashes her head on the counter, which of course makes Fluttershy feel absolutely terrible.

"Oh no, I'm sorry about that Pinkie!  I didn't mean to surprise you."  She says just loudly enough that Pinkie could hear her on the other side of the room.

The pink earth pony emerges from under the desk and shakes her head to try and get her bearings once more.  After a few blinks to focus her vision on the pair that just entered she becomes ecstatic, as usual, to see her friends that have been more or less absent for the past few days.

"Hey you two!"  Pinkie yells, following with a big grin and placing her hooves on the counter.  Twilight and Fluttershy approach the pony and can't help but notice a splotch of what looks to be flour or confectioner's sugar just beneath Pinkie's nose.

"Hey there, Pinkie.  Uh, you've got a little somethin' right here,"  Twilight says while rubbing her own muzzle with her foreleg to indicate what she's talking about.  Pinkie glances around nervously for a second and then disappears under the counter one more time, rubbing her muzzle furiously with her foreleg while taking a deep, noisy breath through her nose; she reemerges after a few seconds with a small tweak in her eye.

"There!  All better... Now then, what can I help you girls with?"

"If you have any oat muffins left that'd be wonderf--"  Twilight says calmly right before being interrupted by the hyper mare.

"Comin' right up!"  Pinkie disappears with a flash and returns with two large muffins that seem to be fresh from the oven.  The circumstances are a bit odd that she would have just baked oat muffins on an empty day like this, but after living in Ponyville for so long the couple has learned not to ask too many questions when it comes to Pinkie Pie.

"Thanks, Pinkie...  What do we owe you?"

"Two bits."

"Allow me, Twilight...  You got dinner a few nights ago."  Fluttershy chimes in and drops the coins onto the counter.  Pinkie loses herself in their shininess for a second or two before snapping back to reality and waving the two off.  Twilight doesn't object and simply levitates the muffins along with her as they head toward the door.

"I dunno quite how I feel about that one, Rainbow..."  Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly try to dry themselves off after their little mutual shower.  "Maybe next time we should keep this out of our friends' houses...  I know they'd be okay with us bein' together, but probably not with us bein' together in their shower."

"Well you're the one who wanted to stay out of the bed,"  The rainbow-maned pegasus states matter-of-factly and follows with a grin.  She folds up the towel that she 'borrowed' from Fluttershy and replaces it in its exact location, hopefully avoiding any suspicion when the pegasus finally returns home.  Applejack keeps hers draped over her shoulders and tries to get her mane back into its usual style.

"Can you imagine how awkward it'd be if she walked in on us like that?"

"Oh I've been walked in on before, s'not that bad..."

"Jeez, Rainbow... How many mares you been with?"

"None that I've actually cared about until now, AJ."  She gladly lets her rough-around-the-edges personality fall for just a brief moment of sentiment, leaning in to kiss the still slightly damp mare standing with her in the bathroom.  They both lose themselves in a short period of bliss, letting the world around them melt away until they're the only things that matter.

"I had no idea you were able to be sweet like that,"  Applejack says after the comfortable silence immediately following the kiss; Rainbow playfully pushes her away in response and steals her towel.  She winks at the not-so-bashful earth pony and then quickly twirls the towel up and uses it to snap her flank once.

"Oh yer gonna pay for that one!"  Applejack yells as she recovers from the injury.  The couple each take hold of a damp towel and proceed to have one more of their affectionate competitions: whichever one gives up first loses.

"So..."  Twilight speaks with a mouthful of oat muffin as she and Fluttershy slowly return toward the yellow pegasus's home, "You're tellin' me that, mmnghh, you're tellin' me that little voice in your head actually took you out of a dream?"

"Well...  I was asleep, dreaming of, uhm... well... of you..."  She pauses and blushes a little, though tries to continue carefree, "a-and suddenly she pulled me into this black... void.  And told me that she and I were going to have a talk next time I fell asleep.  Since then she hasn't talked to me at all, so I don't know quite what happened, or what's going to happen."

"Dreams aren't usually indicative of things that happen in the real world... but since this is pretty much only in your head I don't quite know what's going to happen either...  Would you be willing to let me study you?"  Twilight finishes her breakfast and tosses it into a nearby trashcan that they pass.  Fluttershy had finished eating several blocks ago.

"Don't you 'study' me every day?"  She says with a grin, trying to make the unicorn blush if she can.

"True,"  Twilight winks at Fluttershy and steps closer, walking side by side again and letting their shoulders touch, "But I mean a sleep study.  I just want to see if you have any physiological changes in your sleep.  That is if you have that meeting with the voice when you fall asleep of course.  It could be of some help to you in the long run."

"Well if it gives me an excuse to spend the night with you again I guess it couldn't be all bad right?"  Fluttershy smiles in her usual shy demeanor and rests her wing on Twilight's back, deciding that she doesn't really care if the public sees them together; she avoids them most of the time anyhow.

"Good!  For now though, I think we've kept AJ and Rainbow waiting long enough, let's go see them about that cleanup."

The happy couple slowly walk together toward Fluttershy's home, taking in the sights around them and feeling almost like they have a new appreciation for Ponyville since they got together.  Birds seem louder, flowers seem to smell better, other ponies seem friendlier and the sun seems brighter to them.  They're euphoric almost, walking together without saying a word, and only having the silence broken by a slightly familiar pair calling out for them.

"Yoo hoo!  Hey you!  Wait up, we have something to say!"

Twilight and Fluttershy halt and turn around, watching as a cream colored earth pony with blue eyes and a navy blue and hot-pink mane, followed by a sea-foam green unicorn canter up to them excitedly.

"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced yet.  I'm Lyra and this is Bon Bon.  We were at Friesian's when this one here stood up in front of everypony about you two being together,"  Lyra states happily as she points her hoof toward Twilight.

"It was our anniversary that day and we hoped we'd get to see you again.  I wanted to let you know how brave I thought that was and how cute a couple you two are!  We know what it's like to have to go against the prying eyes and social drama like that, so good for you."  Bon Bon reaches her hoof out and shakes it with Twilight and Fluttershy's as she finishes her tiny speech.

"Well, thank you very much, it's uhm... a pleasure to meet you."  Twilight gingerly smiles, seeming to be nearly as uncomfortable as Fluttershy in this situation, but does genuinely take some pride in being recognized in a positive light for being with her.

"The pleasure's all ours, but we won't hold you up any longer.  Go enjoy your date, and maybe we'll see each other again soon!  Either way it was nice to finally see another couple like us, I was worried we were the only ones."  Lyra nuzzles her head against Bon Bon's neck as she finishes.  The two of them turn and slowly walk back toward their favorite park bench and leave Twilight and Fluttershy blushing and giggling to each other.

"Well that sure was nice of them."  Fluttershy wraps her wing a little more tightly around Twilight's back as they walk away, taking a small jolt of pride from the encounter and smiling at her marefriend.

"Yeah it was..."  Twilight pauses a little and tries to really take in the moment.  The whole town is going to be seeing them as a couple; she doesn't really care but it certainly is something to think about.

"Something wrong?"

"Hm?  No, no everything's just fine.  I couldn't ask for more."  She leans over and kisses Fluttershy's cheek to punctuate her statement, resolving that everything would be just fine no matter what.

The bell above the door at sugar-cube corner rings once more as Rarity enters the shop.  Pinkie Pie bolts back to the front counter from the back room, presumably preparing more baked goods for sale.

"Hello there, Pinkie, what's on the menu today?"

"We don't have a menu, silly, just what's in the window!"

"It's just a turn of ph-- oh... nevermind.  I finally have one day to myself now that Sweetie Belle is off with her teacher for a while so I've decided to treat myself to something sweet and then maybe curl up with a good book.  Have any recommendations?"

"It's been kinda slow today, but I've got some fresh strawberry tarts in the oven if you wanna hang around and chat for a while!  They'll be done soon."

"So that's what that smell is...  I'll take two of those when they're done."

"Okey dokey lokey!  So how is Sweetie Belle anyway?  I haven't seen her around much."

"Frustrating, as usual... but she's still got that heart of gold so you needn't worry about her.  You said it was slow today?  Seems kind of strange for being almost lunchtime."

"I know right?  The only ones who have even come in recently have been Twilight and Fluttershy..."

"Oh?  And how are they?  I feel like it's been a week since I've had any contact with either of those two."

"Well from what I could tell they seemed happy together..."  Pinkie rests her elbows on the counter and props her head up.  She has been on somewhat of a sugar rush from eating her share of the pastries and is nearing a crash.

"Happy together?"

"Mhm, like two peas in a pod... Which is kinda goofy if you think about it because peas can't be happy.  Or can they?  If so I bet they don't like being eaten..."

"Now now, dear, don't get side tracked... This is the juiciest thing I've heard in months.  You couldn't possibly mean that Twilight and Fluttershy are... Going together could you?"

"Seemed like it to me...  I've seen a few happy mares and colts walkin' around together and they looked the same as Twi' 'n 'Shy."

"No way,"

"Bet you five bits."

"Five bits huh?  Your 'Pinkie Sense' didn't tell you about this fiasco did it?"

"Nopers, if it did that wouldn't be a fair bet."

"I suppose you... have a point there... I guess.  You're on."

"What am I on?"

"It's a turn of phrase, Pinkie!"

"Phrases can't turn, silly filly,"

Rarity, dumbfounded by the mental gymnastics that Pinkie always seems to pull on her, is broken out of her trance by the sound of the oven timer in the back room.  The pink earth pony stands up and bounces back, returning a few minutes later to the patiently waiting unicorn with two of her tarts, bagged and wrapped up to keep them warm.

"Thank you, dear."  Rarity says calmly as she takes the bag in her teeth and pays by levitating two coins onto the counter.  Pinkie drops them in the register and waves goodbye to her friend, who mulls over the idea of Twilight and Fluttershy dating.  She had never thought that either of them would feel that way, so it certainly did come as a surprise.

Next they'll be telling me Applejack and Rainbow are going together.  Pah!

A Taste of Infinity

Applejack sits happily on the floor, head tilted down toward the hardwood and back against Fluttershy's sofa.  Her cyan marefriend sits atop one of the cushions and leans over the orange earth pony, softly scratching her back with her front hooves and simply enjoying the quiet time they have together.  Before having to go clean up the remains of Rainbow's home that is; Dash really isn't looking forward to that.  The pegasus, having grown up used to having things taken away from her, manages to keep that detail at the back of her mind and, in an oddly optimistic approach, feels content and happy knowing she has somepony who understands and loves her for who she is.  As far as she cares, if she can stay with AJ, nothing else in Equestria can take her good spirits from her.

Applejack's head tilts up from its comfortable position as soon as she hears the doorknob turn.  Dash doesn't stop what she's doing except to briefly wave to Fluttershy and Twilight as they step in the door.

"Hey girls.  I take it you got everything sorted out?"  Twilight rhetorically asks the couple.  The two ponies aren't quite sure how much Twilight knows about them (though they certainly don't care) and so simply say nod in unison and continue on their merry way.

"Y'all ready to head out?"  Applejack asks halfheartedly as the back-scratch slowly changes to a deep tissue massage; Rainbow lets herself get somewhat carried away, but knows to keep her hooves where everypony can see them.  At least until they're in private.

"We probably should get to that...  I feel like we've been putting it off all day,"  Fluttershy says softly, trying not to look at Rainbow, knowing her heart would break if the pegasus's face showed her anymore negative emotion on the subject.

"That's probably for the best, actually."  The rainbow-maned pegasus leans forward and uses her weight to force a tight muscle in Applejack's withers to loosen up. "I've been calming myself down and thinking pretty hard for a while.  I think I'll be able to actually handle myself up there today."

Applejack lets out a slightly pained grunt from the 'muscular adjustment' and can't really think of anything else to add; she's still somewhat in a fog from the almost surreal experience that morning.

"Do you think you can bring what's left of the place down to ground level so Applejack and I can help?"  Twilight asks, not wanting to feel completely useless out there while the only two fliers do all of the real work.

"Shouldn't be a problem...  Might need you to use your magic to stop the fountain for a while anyhow."

"That I can do, d'ya think we'll need anymore clouds?"

"Definitely, I bet I can't even stand in that place anymore..."

"Can Spike send letters to anypony else besides the Princess?"  Applejack asks, still enjoying her back rub and not looking at anypony in the crowd.

"No he can't, not unless they're another unicorn and have given him their 'mark'.  It's a magical transfer so he has to know who they are and how they 'decode' dragon-fire.  So far the Princess and I are the only ones he's managed to master, and he still doesn't always get them to me without some... complications."  Twilight shrugs and tries to explain the complex method behind dragon-fire information transferring, or "D-Mail", to her friends, but they all just give her the usual look of disapproval as whenever she tries to explain something to them.

"We can just fly over to Cloudsdale and place an order tomorrow or something, Twi, don't worry about it,"  Rainbow takes her hooves off of Applejack's back and wraps her forelegs around her neck, pulling her into a hug and forcing her to face the ponies in the room.

"If you insist... Uhm... Shall we?"  She gestures her hoof toward the door to try and signal the two ponies to actually get their flanks up and get to work, "You two sure aren't trying very hard to act like you're 'just friends' right now."  She follows this statement by giggling into her hoof.

Applejack's cheeks turn a little red but she doesn't try and deny it.  Rainbow smirks and can even feel a slight sting in her own face, though hides it by nuzzling up to Applejack's neck, "What can I say? She grew on me like... like..."  Not exactly being a mare of many words, Rainbow struggles to find a suitable metaphor.

"Like an apple on a tree?"  Applejack helps her out a little, if not a tad on the cliche side.

"Gee I didn't see that one coming..."  Twilight rolls her eyes and tries to look over to Fluttershy for some kind of reassurance.

The canary pegasus breaks her streak of silence with a mousey giggle.  She waits for Applejack and Rainbow to be looking toward them, then walks over to Twilight and kisses her softly on the cheek.  "Don't worry, Rainbow... You could say we know the feeling,"

"I'm still gettin' used to the fact that you two are together.  For the longest time I seriously thought I was the only one in Ponyville who swung that way.  Heck if I had known I had this much selection earlier I probably wouldn't have settled for 'Southern Comfort' over here,"  She snickers into her hoof, still hugging around a very unimpressed Applejack.

"S'cuze me?"  She says indignantly and turns her head to look Rainbow right in the eyes with a look of pure disdain.

"Hee hee.  Ah Lahv you AJ."  She manages to pull out an astonishingly girly side from the deepest recesses of her inner self and kisses the earth pony, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy to stand just a little awkwardly in their respective places to watch the emotional gushing.

"You're adorable and all... but we're losing daylight, you wanna fix that house or just move in with AJ?"  Twilight allows a second or two to pass before trying to catch the attention of the two slightly blushing, and very intimately connected ponies.

"Good question..."  Rainbow breaks the kiss but doesn't break eye contact.  Secretly, Applejack's favorite color is purple; Rainbow's eyes have her almost hypnotized.

"Maybe we should just leave without them 'Shy..."  Twilight walks over to Fluttershy and speaks softly into her ear with an obvious frustrated twang to her voice.

"I don't really know if I feel comfortable leaving them alone in my living room anymore..."  Fluttershy speaks back in the same low-tone, knowing that the couple on the floor can hear them, but still trying to act discreet.

"Oh... Speakin' of which, you're almost out of shampoo, Fluttershy."  Dash breaks away from the trance and decides to brashly throw that piece of information out in the open.

"Rainbow!"  Applejack says and jabs her hoof into the pegasus's ribs.

"Uhm... Why?"

"Ehhm.  Just come with us Sugar-cube... We'll tell ya on the way."  Applejack grimaces a little bit, still not nearly as comfortable as Rainbow evidently is about being forward.

"I hate it when you guys say that..."

The four ponies all finally take to the road, walking in a lighthearted but still somewhat dark mood toward the wreckage of Rainbow Dash's former home.  Each pony takes place beside their respective marefriends, Fluttershy behaving predictably as ever (to which Twilight is extraordinarily attracted), and Rainbow Dash actually mimics the shy pegasus by laying her wing over Applejack's back.

The ruined home comes into view, most of which has dissipated and left only an amorphous husk of soft, puffy cloud.  The rainbow fountain had breached at some point that night and is currently leaking off of the side of the structure.  Rainbow Dash takes one look and sighs, but does her best to keep her composure as she and Fluttershy slowly fly up and hover above the roof.  Fluttershy gently pushes on the surface and shrinks away as the entire structure shifts under the light touch.  She shrugs at Rainbow Dash and together the two ponies force the cloud structure toward the ground.  The roof caves in a little more from their combined weight, and a soft mist flows off of the ruins as it comes into contact with the ground.  The earth-bound ponies step inside of the home, easily pushing their way through the misty clouds without any collision, and taking in the true extent of the wreckage.

Everything significant in the home is made of clouds, including most of the furniture and other possessions, so all of it is almost completely through its own process of dissolving into the air.  Mist rises off of everything, even the token solid objects, which Applejack promptly begins to gather up and take out of the moist environment.  She picks up a picture frame that seems light as a feather, somehow having survived the cave-in.  Behind the foggy glass lies a photograph of an adolescent Rainbow Dash in Flight School holding a trophy.  The corners of the photo are slowly beginning to diminish with water damage, so the earth pony quickly takes the delicate thing out to a rocky outcropping away from the cloud.

Twilight uses her magical prowess to create a standing bubble around the fountain, stopping anymore leaks from the thing.  She continually calls up to Rainbow to make sure the bubble doesn't have any leaks as the two pegasi try to sift through the 'attic' of the demolished home.  Fluttershy flies out carrying a very heavy looking water proof box that she clunks down on the ground near the unicorn.

Rainbow Dash follows soon after carrying two similar boxes, setting them down in a small pyramid with the other.

"What's in these things, Rainbow?"  Fluttershy asks, trying to catch her breath from the difficult flight out.

"Mostly some back-up bits just in case I have an emergency... great timing huh?...  And a few things to remember home by though, but that's why they're locked up tight."  The cyan mare replies in a relatively morose manner as she flies off to destroy the roof and get into the rest of the home.  Since she's a pegasus she can't just walk around inside of the clouds like Applejack and Twilight can, so everywhere she goes she has to break through with a kick.  She finds it oddly cathartic, and begins to kick an opening from the roof to the ground, giving at least some access to every level of the small home.  The pegasus loses herself in emotional venting, breaking through the cloudy debris with an unnecessary level of force.  She sails right past Applejack, almost kicking her in the nose on the way down.  The surprised pony opens her eyes wide and can scarcely see through the cloud.  The only visual she can really pick out from the grayish white surrounding is the beautiful color spectrum of the empowered pegasus standing before her.  For the first time in her life, Applejack feels truly smitten by another pony as she stands strong and proud in the beautifully dampened environment of mist and broken light.

Fluttershy watches intently as Twilight uses her telekinesis to lift out any objects from the cloud that are more dense than water vapor.  She can't help but see the strong-willed, intellectual unicorn in her usual state of full concentration.  Eyes closed, horn glowing with the familiar, warm violet aura of magical energy, and small objects sailing past the pair into neat, organized piles.  Fluttershy stays out of the way and waits for Rainbow's order as to what they should do with the remaining clouds; she has far more knowledge of such things than the yellow pegasus, and she knows it.

"There... That should be all of it,"  Twilight says through a few deep breaths, clearly exhausted from the magical exertion. "I wonder what AJ and Rainbow are up to..."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash certainly are enjoying themselves in the mist.  They embrace each other with their forelegs, eyes closed, and muzzles pressed firmly together.  The velvety feel of Applejack's coat through the moist, steamy environment, even in the cold of the winter day, makes Rainbow Dash feel as though a fire has burned up inside of her; every single second is one of pure intimacy for them.  The rainbow-maned pegasus doesn't care that they're kissing each other so deeply in the sundered carcass of her old home, nor that they're technically in public.  Applejack has her inhibitions as usual, but fights for just another second with Rainbow.  Then another, then another after that, each one leaving her wanting more and more and making her wish that the moment would never end.

"Are you two alright in there?"  Fluttershy calls down the large hole that Rainbow Dash had kicked in the roof, making both of the ponies at the bottom blush intensely.  The yellow pegasus doesn't quite see what they're up to, only that they're both down there together.

"Just fine!  We're just... Just makin' sure we didn't forget anythin'."  Applejack tilts her head and yells over Rainbow's shoulder, still in the heat of the moment but trying to work herself down to interact with their friends.

"Here's what I was lookin' for..."  Rainbow smirks at Applejack as she finishes her sentence and holds up an old pendent that she had picked up a while before.  The pegasus didn't want to leave it in the pile of things outside and instead resolved to just keep it to herself.  It was a personal sentiment that she had never shown to anypony else.

"I think we'd better get goin' sugar-cube.  Plenty of time for this afterward."

"I think you're right...  Damn that Twilight and her speedy magic.  Should have done this Winter-Wrap-Up style and told her to pick everything up by hoof."

The couple giggles and stands up, fixing each others' manes before parting ways.  Rainbow of course exits first, flying through the hole in the roof instead of simply walking through the walls.  Applejack doesn't stray far behind after finding her way through the mist.

"Well, I think we got everythin' in there.  Dang good job gettin' all that stuff outta there with your magic Twi, we could have been here all day without that."  Applejack doesn't lie to the unicorn, but certainly avoids letting her see the opinion that she hides behind her face.

"Unfortunately,"  Rainbow Dash interjects as she hovers in between the ponies, looking back and forth between them. "None of the cloud in there is salvageable anymore.  I'm gonna have to get some new material to rebuild the place."

"Do you need something to hold that fountain together?  That bubble isn't going to last very long."  Twilight points a worried hoof at the fading magical shield keeping the rainbow fountain from spilling all over the dead, grassy plot below them.

"If you've got anythin' in that fancy library of yours that'll hold a self-replenishing cloud spring then sure."

"Hmm...  It's a fluid rainbow just like the one Pinkie tasted on our tour of Cloudsdale right?"

"Yeah, though it uses the sunlight to replenish itself.  As long as some of the rainbow is exposed to light for a while it'll keep refilling."

"So if we were to put it in one of these boxes you have here it wouldn't go bad would it?"

"Nah, they keep for a while..."  Rainbow opens up the first of the three waterproof boxes that she keeps emergency supplies in.  Removing a few bottles of preserved fruits as well as a pouch full of bits.  Setting these aside, she removes the last of the items:  a first aid kit, and a small, purple lock-box.  She tries to hide the box from her friends' eyes, setting it very close to her tail while she gives Twilight the 'okay' to use the box.

Twilight moves the fountain over the piece of hardware and opens up a small hole in it, letting the rainbow liquid fall inside until Dash tells her to stop.

"Alright...  We might as well wait for the rest of the place to just dissolve.  You guys mind helping me take this stuff over to Applejack's barn?  Y-you don't mind do you AJ?"  Dash asks quietly, almost worried that Applejack won't let her.

"Don't mind at all, Sugar-Cube.  We've got plenty'a extra room in the barn."

"Of course we'll help, Rainbow, what're friends for?"  Fluttershy steps over to the pegasus and smiles at her, picking some of the lighter objects out of the pile and draping them over her back.  Everypony there picks up as much as they can lift and begins their trip back to Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack drops off the last of the loose objects from Rainbow's wrecked home in her barn, pulling the door shut on her way out to say her thank-yous and goodbyes to the other three mares.

"Thank you so much for all your help everypony,  I dunno what I'd do without you."  Rainbow steps around and gives both Twilight and Fluttershy a big hug before returning to Applejack's side.

"You're absolutely welcome Rainbow.  We know you'd do the same for us if you needed to."  Twilight hugs her back and responds in a soft, sincere tone.

Rainbow simply gives a smile and waves to them.  The sun is starting to set behind the western mountain range so everypony just wants to get home.  Moving Rainbow's stuff took a little longer than expected, but neither Twilight nor Fluttershy regrets helping, even though they're freezing out in the chilled air.

"So Rainbow..."  Applejack turns to look the cyan pegasus in the eye as she watches the other couple disappear around the corner, "What was in that little purple box I saw you try to sneak back?"

"The box? Uhm...  It... It was just something I like to hang onto, that's all."  Dash rubs the back of her neck, a tell that Applejack has gotten used to by this point.

"Well if you don't wanna talk about it I understand, Sugar-cube... I was just curious is all."

Rainbow sighs and puts the act away, dropping her hoof to the ground and looking AJ in the eyes with her head tilted, "I'll tell you a little later tonight...  I'd rather be alone with you for it, n'kay?"

"That's fine, Dashie.  I don't wanna make you do anythin' you're not comfortable with."  The orange earth pony kisses Rainbow on the forehead, something that Granny Smith always used to do to subtly let her know that everything was going to be okay any time she had worries.  It seems to have the same affect on the pegasus, who fights back a tear and stands up to hug Applejack.  "In the mean time, you wanna go watch the sunset before supper?"  Applejack pulls away from the hug to look the pegasus in the eyes again, taking initiative to make her feel loved and welcomed just with body language.

"I'd love to."

Purity of Anima

Twilight and Fluttershy step quickly through the door to the Ponyville library.  The wind had picked up on their way home, so they're freezing cold and just want to get inside by the fire.  The couple walks into the living area to see the fireplace already ablaze, with Spike sleeping soundly on the sofa.  Twilight quietly trots over to him and lays the blanket dangling off the edge of the couch over him while Fluttershy gets herself as close to the hearth of the fireplace as she can.  She stretches her wings and body out to try and warm herself up as quick as possible, quivering a little from all of the physical work that she'd done that day on top of her chilled bones.

"My wings are killing me...  Those boxes were heavy,"  She says plainly, resting her chin on the top of the fireplace as she slowly begins to absorb the relaxing heat.  "I'm not used to picking stuff up like that."  Fluttershy closes her eyes and feels her body start to loosen up as the warmth permeates every fiber of her being.  Her eyes open as Twilight's hooves wrap around her waist and the unicorn's chin meets with her shoulder.  She turns to look at the lavender mare, who wastes no time in kissing her on the nose.

"Well at least we did our good deed for the day.  I can't imagine losing my home."  Twilight speaks softly into Fluttershy's ear as she warms herself, using the canary pegasus as a conduit.

"Me either.  But I guess at least she and Applejack seem happy.  I think even if I lost everything... uhm, as long as I have you I'd be okay..."  The pegasus feels a very familiar sting behind her cheeks as she mentions such a mushy fact.  Her thoughts wander as usual, but eventually manage to imagine how Courage would have reacted to such a thing.  She focuses on the fact that she's not showing up, even though partially welcome at this moment, and somewhat missed.

"N'aww, you're so sweet."  Twilight gazes softly into Fluttershy's eyes, moving slowly forward and analyzing her movements for signs of approval.  With the mare making it perfectly obvious that the feeling is mutual Twilight kisses Fluttershy, moving to her side and standing in front of the fire with her.  Both of them can feel their hearts beat quicker with each passing moment, and a feeling of euphoria building on itself to bring them further from reality.  Once the kiss breaks they look deep into each others' eyes with longing expressions.  Fluttershy loves the way Twilight looks with the orange light of the fire dancing on her face, casting a moving shadow over her already 'perfect' features.  The pegasus simply sits back and enjoys the view, not feeling any need to push for something else.  Twilight, however, pulls her into another kiss, though somewhat deeper this time.  The moment, wonderful as it is, just so happens to be shattered by Spike as he stirs in his sleep.

Twilight rolls her eyes and pulls Fluttershy closer.  "Maybe we should head upstairs for a while,"  She whispers in the pegasus's ear and follows with a gentle giggle.  Fluttershy smiles and winks at her, dropping out of the hug and sneaking past the snoozing dragon, headed for the upstairs bedroom ahead of Twilight.

Rainbow Dash sets down the purple box on the windowsill, carefully laying her pendant on top of it and curling the chain so that it's not hanging.  She sits down on the guest bed and looks at the objects, feeling a little bit silly for hanging onto such old trinkets, and even more so since they hold as much meaning to her as they do.

She tilts her head back and closes her eyes, taking a few long, deep breaths through her nose.  The air somehow tastes cleaner when you're in a welcome home.  Rainbow looks over to the windowsill, laughing quietly at herself that it was the very same one she used to completely bail on AJ last night.  She can see a bare tree branch outside the window wave in the wind.  Not really acting on deliberation anymore, the pegasus steps lightly over to the window and looks outside.  She hates winter; the holidays are nice but the cold and the deadness of nature really start to weigh on her as it drudges on; she can't wait for wrap-up time.

She unconsciously tilts her head down to look at her two prized possessions.  The engraved metal of the pendant gleams in the soft light of the family home, and the little purple box gives it a gentle square backdrop against the varnished wood of the windowsill.  She picks the objects up and then moves back to the bed, sitting down with them in her lap.  As she manipulates the pendant in her hooves a little, she can hear the unmistakable sound of hoofsteps coming up the stairs.  She smirks a little, moving toward the door and glancing out through the small crack that she had left herself.  Applejack's lethargic climb up the flight of stairs seems to make Dash almost feel bad for not helping out with the nightly chores... almost.

"Psst!  Hey, AJ!  C'mere!"  She half-whispers out the door, catching the mare's attention.  Applejack gets a slightly better perk in her step as her marefriend calls her over to the room.

"Whaddya want Rainbow?"  She asks amidst another yawn; shoveling snow after helping Rainbow move all of her things back from the collapsed home really wore the orange pony out.

"Just wanted to talk... Jeez AJ if you're gonna be like that maybe I should just leave again."  She snickers into her hoof as the earth pony rolls her eyes.

Applejack spots the box and pendant on the bed and grins a little bit. "Ah... I'd almost forgotten about those...  You know you don't have to tell me about 'em if you don't wanna.  We're all entitled to keep our own little secrets."

"It's not a very interesting secret if nopony knows it...  Besides, I feel like I want to tell you about this.  It's been a little too long since I've really had a chance to talk to anypony about myself..."

"Well Ah'm flattered that ya trust me so much."

"You kiddin'?  I'd trust you with my life.  Now Rarity on the other hoof... eugh...  I wouldn't tell her my favorite color."

"What is yer favorite color anyhow?"

"Oh, it's uhm... It's blue..."

"Hah!  I always knew ya loved yerself, Rainbow, bringin' it to a whole 'nother level I see?"

"Not like that, AJ...  I like dark blue...  It's calming.  Very different from my usual life..."

"That's fer sure..."

   "Wull what's yours then?"

"Ehm..."  Applejack stutters and hesitates to let this one slip out. "It's... Well, it's purple."

"Now that I never would'a guessed...  I always figured you liked red or green."

"Very funny... Naw, I've been around red and green all my life.  The first time I saw real deep purple was in Manehattan and it just seemed so... regal.  It still has that same feel to me y'know?"

Rainbow, like her usual self, doesn't waste any time in taking advantage of this fact.  She grins mischievously and brings her nose in very close to AJ's, making her look into her own two amethyst eyes.  "I bet you just love these things then dont'cha?"

"Heh, you could say that.  Provided they're not staring at my plot all the dang time."

"Oh you secretly love that."

"Says who?"

"Says the most awesome pony ever."

"Funny, I haven't seen Rarity in some time."

Neither of the pair could handle that sarcastic, jeering joke and both start laughing hysterically.  Applejack and Rainbow have a long-standing tradition of mocking Rarity behind her back.  They still love her dearly, but they also love to joke at her expense.

They calm down and Rainbow wraps her forelegs around Applejack's waist, looking her in the eyes and kissing her softly on the muzzle.

"So then..."  Applejack speaks in a very gentle and calm tone, having let the stress of the day melt away with almost no effort.

Rainbow smiles and lets her face relax, not particularly happy about the things she keeps, but very much so about the fact that she can talk to somepony else.  "Well...  First the locket."  She picks up the silver thing, clicking the side and letting the small spring-loaded hinge pop open.  Applejack tilts her head down and rests it on Rainbow's shoulder, looking into her hooves and letting her eyes wander over the trinket.  She focuses on a very tiny picture of Rainbow Dash as a filly, sitting in the lap of a pink pony with a dark blue mane.

"This your ma?"  Applejack reaches her hoof around Rainbow's waist and rests it on her hip, pulling her close and holding her there.

"Yeah...  It was..."

"Did somethin' happen?"

"There was an accident when I was still really young...  I barely remember her, but every time I look at this picture I know she loved me."

Applejack doesn't really know what to say.  She looks up to the pegasus and notices her eyes starting to well up with tears.  "You have her eyes..."  This makes Rainbow crack a smile, but she doesn't say anything.  "I take it your dad wasn't around too much?"

"He was...  But he didn't take losing her very well...  neither of us did.  He was always either sad or... or mad... and he never went and did anything with anypony else... me included.  He just bottled it all up and drank it away until he e-e-explo--"  Her reminiscing is interrupted by a pained gasp.  One tear from each eye streams down her cheeks and her voice becomes shaky.  She's trying not to cry but losing very, very badly.

"I'm here, Sugar Cube...  You don't have to try and bottle it up for yourself no-more."  She places her other hoof on the mare's shoulder, hugging her tight and not letting her go.  As if by instinct Rainbow throws her forelegs around Applejack and breaks down completely.  Every painful memory rushes back into her mind, as well as every lonely night.  Every single time she'd ever want to cry that she just pushed down into herself.  Every single time she flew away just to feel the air across her body and calm down.  The night she ran away to join Flight School just to get away from it all.  Her repressed memories that had haunted her subconscious finally find a chance to surface, but at least she's in the arms of the one she loves.

Applejack sits with her and strokes her mane, still holding her close and trying not to speak too much.  Something about the strong, yet soft body of the earth pony gives her a loving quality like nopony else.  She knows that anypony walking past the door could probably hear the poor pegasus sobbing, and just hopes that Apple Bloom doesn't decide to make one of her trademark entrances.

It takes a few minutes but the pained sobbing soon calms down into a steady rhythm of sniffling and heavy breaths.  Applejack even feels her eyes start to sting a little from the emotion in the air.  She hugs the pegasus extra tight one more time before pushing her just far enough away to look her in the face.  Rainbow tries not to make eye contact; she hates being seen like this, even with somepony she trusts.

"Rainbow...  You've gotta be the strongest mare I know to have put up with so much and still managed to become who you are today."

The appeal to her ego helps to try and bring her out of the slump, but such a painful past doesn't go away so easily.  "Thank you..."

"Yer welcome Sugar Cube...  If this is too much we can stop there.  I don't want to push you into anywhere you don't wanna go."

"I think this is good though..."  She rubs her foreleg against her nose and sniffles loudly again, having calmed down from the waterworks but still retaining the look of a miserable pony.  "I probably should talk about it with somepony.  Can't be bottling that up forever... right?"

"Wull... yeah, but pace yourself, Rainbow... No need to go everywhere all at once, not if it's gonna hurt you."

The pegasus huffs out a small chuckle. "Have you even met me?  I don't know the meaning of the phrase 'pace yourself' AJ."

"This ain't a race, Rainbow."

"Nah, I know that... but it feels good to get it out."

"If you say so...  But anything you decide you don't wanna say right now... well, I'll always be here to talk whenever you need it though, you keep that in mind."

"Will do, AJ."  Rainbow lays the pendant aside very gently and moves the small purple box into her lap.  She unhooks the tiny clip that holds it shut and doesn't do anything else.  She looks over to Applejack with a slightly frowning face and plainly says, "Promise me you won't laugh..."

"Of course I promise that Sugar-Cube, why would I laugh?"

"Just because it's so... simple...  and kinda silly.  I don't usually cling onto things..."

"We all need things to cling onto, Rainbow."  Applejack gives her a soft glance and then averts her gaze back toward the box.

Rainbow sighs and takes a deep breath, pulling open the lid to reveal a wad of dark blue satin cloth.  She gingerly uncovers a very small, semi-crude, and obviously hoof-made stuffed Wonderbolt pony.  The outfit is their slightly older one from before the upgrade to yellow lightning bolts on a dark blue backdrop.  Applejack reasons that it must be nearly as old as Rainbow Dash herself.  Beneath it lies a tiny note, one that has clearly seen the ravages of time and reads:

Dear Dashie,

Reach for the skies sweetheart,

The only thing that can limit you is yourself.

Love Always, ~Mom

Just the sight of the plush toy drives Rainbow to quiver a little more, but Applejack won't let her go.

"This is all I have to remember her by..."  Her eyes stay remarkably dry, but her voice betrays the obvious sadness that's crushing her heart.  "She made this for me...  She gave it to me for my birthday just a few days before the accident and... and I promised her I'd never ever lose it."  The final straw.  The pegasus breaks down once again and gently places the note and toy back into the box, closing it up with the care that only a child-bearer could present, and sets it aside.

Applejack, having been empathizing with the pony for this whole ordeal, feels her own eyes begin to sting and blur with the onset of tears.  "I had no idea you were so sentimental, Dash..."

The two of them reflect nervous smiles in each other, sharing emotions and love.  They find comfort and solace in each other, being able to share a side of themselves that they never share with anypony else.  As well, they find it impossible to resist ending their moment with a very deep, passionate, and emotionally charged kiss.  The heat of the moment drives them closer than they'd ever been.

Twilight pulls her face away from Fluttershy's chest.  The couple has their forelegs entwined together with Fluttershy splayed out on Twilight's bed.  The pegasus rests her eyes as she lays comfortably on the soft thing, somewhat sore from the unusual amount of physical exercise that she had put out.  Twilight works her hooves in just behind Fluttershy's outstretched wings, gently massaging the sore muscles for her while listening in on her heartbeat.  The canary mare is oddly calm at the moment, simply relaxing and enjoying the attention.  The lavender mare actually manages to put some of her book-born knowledge to use with pegasus anatomy; she knows just the right spots to put pressure on to make Fluttershy melt.

"That gets better and better each time, Fluttershy."  Twilight mumbles into the pegasus's coat.  She looks up to her and smiles, still working her hooves in circles around Fluttershy's wings.

"It certainly does..."  The pegasus tilts her head down and smiles at Twilight.  The lavender mare rests her elbows on the bed and props herself up, pulling her body up Fluttershy's and meeting her muzzle for a kiss.

"So you did you decide whether or not you wanted me to study you while you slept tonight?"

"Eager huh?" The canary pegasus giggles and wraps her forelegs around Twilight's back to hold her close.

"What can I say?  Your mind fascinates me."  Twilight grins kisses Fluttershy's nose; she promptly blushes and smiles at the unicorn.

"Well... Will you be able to join me?"

"I uhm... Probably shouldn't, but I guess the EEG could just be given 8 hours of paper or so and let go on its own..."

"You don't have to if it would be too much trouble..."

"No no.  Now you've got me wanting to."  Twilight smiles and winks at the mare.  "I'll figure it out, all you have to do is put on the headpiece and go to sleep.  I'll be right beside you as soon as I can."

"That means a lot to me, Twilight...  I'm just a little scared."

"What's there to be scared of?  It's only a dream, you'll be perfectly safe.  To make it better I'll be right here with you when you wake up."

"Alright...  Where's the uhm... EEG, was it?"

"Just downstairs in the basement, I used a modified version of it on Pinkie to try and figure her 'Pinkie Sense' out but that was worthless...  It's been mostly unused ever since."

"S-should we head down?"

"Yeah...  As much as this fascinates me though I'm finding it hard to pull myself away from you and get to work right now."  Twilight giggles and rolls off of the pegasus, stretching her muscles and standing to trot downstairs.  Fluttershy, having nopony else to talk to since Courage started leaving her alone, follows suit, keeping almost perfect pace with the unicorn.  They sneak past the still snoozing Spike and head into the basement of the library.  Fluttershy quietly finds a spot that's out-of-the-way enough as Twilight uses her telekinesis to move and adjust the massive piece of machinery.  After a violent grinding noise that surely woke up the irritable baby dragon upstairs, Twilight moves on to get a spare mattress out of a nearby closet in the library basement.  Instead of setting up any kind of bed frame, Twilight simply drops it on the concrete floor and drapes a fresh pair of sheets and a comforter over the thing.

"Okay... I'm gonna have to ask you to put on these extremely uncomfortable and unfashionable electrodes...  Sorry about that."

Fluttershy laughs and picks up the net of wires and plastic, glancing over it and then draping it over her head. "Oh I dunno, this isn't so bad..."

"You look like such a dork."

"Says the purple bookworm."

"Touche..."

Twilight steps over to the block of hardware and switches it on, feeding as much paper as she can fit into a large compartment toward the top.  She asks the pegasus to lay down and get comfortable, checking to make sure she has a base reading for her brainwaves before stepping over to her.  Fluttershy rolls onto her side and tucks her wings tight against her flanks, Twilight positions herself behind the mare and pulls her into a hug.  The spooning ponies both slowly attempt to sleep; no simple venture considering the whirring mass of lit-up metal not ten feet away from them.

Twilight is the first to drift into slumber, and Fluttershy can feel the relaxed, calming breath on the back of her neck.  The closer and closer she gets to sleep, the more she can feel the world around her fade away.  No dreaming, no observation, very little thought outside of her own worries.  All that happens is a total disappearance of her world.  Once more she finds herself falling in the black abyss, unable to move her wings or body and unable to see anything but the bright colors of her coat contrast to darkness.  She doesn't know precisely when she fell into her dream-state, and for the time being she has no idea that she's truly in a dream-state, but she does feel as if time has no passage in this place and notices a few things amiss.  She lands on the familiar nonexistent floor and looks off into the distance, whichever distance out of infinite ones that is.  She finds one single speck in the entire spectrum of darkness: her home.  The tree in which Fluttershy resides sits calmly in the dark void, no wind to rustle its leaves and no ground to hide its roots.  She steps toward the speck, and it seemingly rushes to meet her, for she's at the threshold of the door in no time at all.

The shy pony reaches forward and turns the knob, opening it very slowly to hear some other ponies rustling around inside.  She chews her lower lip nervously and looks inside, only to see what appears to be two nearly exact copies of herself having some inexplicable argument.

"Why did you drag her down here?  She's not even going to know how to manifest this place, what were you thinking?"  One of the 'Fluttershy's asks.  Upon closer inspection, this one seems to have a unicorn horn as well as no wings.

"Chill out, Numbers."  The extremely familiar voice of Courage falls out of the second pony's muzzle.  This one hasn't any wings and appears almost exactly as Fluttershy saw her the first visit.  From what she can gather, these are the only two here, and so goes in to meet them, fearing the worst.

"Ah, Fluttershy.  You're here,"  The unicorn that Courage referred to as "Numbers" replies.  "Very nice to finally meet you...  I'm sorry you had to join us down here in such odd circumstances but I'm afraid this ruffian thought it would be a good idea to simply drag you into this place without any desire or preparation."

"W-w-where are we?"  Fluttershy stutters and pleas, shivering in a slight terror at the unfamiliar and unwelcoming environment outside.

"Oh dear... You still have no idea do you?  Well, Fluttershy, you're inside the portion of your mind that contains myself, Courage, and previously, your ideal self.  You can call it your psyche if you like...  But the reason it's so dark outside the home is because you have no idea how to envision this place.  Normally somepony who enters the realm of their on mind does so by choice through a lucid dream or extremely potent meditation, but you were taken in forcibly."

"Don't forget drugs.  If you take the right stuff you can find yourself in this place for days at a time having all sorts of awesome conversations with ponies and objects that don't really exist."  Courage chimes in as she 'reorganizes' the shelves full of illegible books, seemingly only to annoy the unicorn.

"Stop that!"  The obviously intellectual pony uses her magic to undo every single change that Courage had made and freeze the books in place.

"S-so I'm in my mind?"  Fluttershy tries to capture their attention long enough to get some answers.

"Yes and no, you're in the part of your mind devoted to your personality.  Not the part devoted to thinking.  On to business though, we're miss--"

Courage interrupts the unicorn-Fluttershy with a brash statement, "There were three of us but now there's two, through a series of unfortunate events you've managed to repress your ideal self.  I like to call her Supershy, she's a real sweet kid but just as fiery as I am...  Having her gone for a while was really nice, but being stuck in here with nopony but Numbers here to talk to just gets... awful after a while."

"How can she be 'missing' if she's a part of my mind?"

"Well, Fluttershy..."  Numbers interrupts; it seems to the pegasus they can't both speak at the same time, or at least have some kind of mutual respect.  "Whenever you have a pony that goes... crazy...  It's because they're missing something in their head.  This doesn't mean it's gone, just that it's not where it's supposed to be.  We're not actually ponies, and this isn't actually your home.  Nor is this space a black void of nothingness, or well... Now it seems to be the Everfree Forest..."

Fluttershy looks out the window to see, unmistakably, the depths of the Everfree Forest surrounding her home in the middle of the night.

"You're in a place that's scary and unknown to you, just like the Everfree forest, so that's how you see it."  Brash once again, Courage gives a simple explanation to her current conundrum.

"Yes...  And we're simply components to your personality, we're not actually ponies... but you need somepony to tell it to you or else your mind would scramble itself trying to comprehend the idea of pure information... so you run it all through the filter of  what I have to say is one of the most bizarre dreams you've ever had..."

"So...  Where's uhm... Supershy?"

"Well...  That's not really easy to explain."  Numbers stands up and steps toward the bookshelf that Courage was muddling up.  "Step over here and I'll just show you..."

Dreaming Neon Black

Rainbow Dash, wings spread wide on the sheets, lays panting with Applejack beneath her.  The pale orange pony seems to the pegasus like she just ran a marathon from the sounds of her heavy breathing.  With her head laying gently against the mare's chest, Rainbow can hear her rapidly beating heart as well as the rush of air each time she inhales.  Somehow she's reminded of ocean waves; the pegasus had always wanted to go for a walk on the beach, though never really had the chance to do so.  She instinctively wraps her forelegs tightly around her partner's waist, holding her as close as she can and closing her eyes, trying to lose herself in the afterglow of that wonderful moment.

"Wull butter mah butt and call me a biscuit...  I reckon it don't get much better than that..."  Applejack manages to force out through deep, slow breaths.  She closes her eyes and rests her foreleg over the bridge of her nose, trying to apply just a little pressure to her forehead and help calm her body.

The cyan pegasus can't help but laugh at the expression.  She tilts her chin up and looks over the mare's form and straight at her head.  She can't see her eyes due to the position, and so decides to move her hooves out from under AJ, pulling her whole body up along Applejack's front, grinding every square inch until the two are face to face.  "Maybe I'll just have to start using that as a nickname then hmm?"

"Ah horseapples...  I shoulda' seen that one comin'."

Rainbow presses her lips softly to Applejack's, smiling as she pulls away and looks through half-closed eyes down at her marefriend.  "Yeah you should have... Biscuit."

Applejack rolls her eyes and smirks at the pegasus who has now taken the opportunity to pin her forelegs to the bed.  "I suppose there are worse nicknames out there, right Rainbow Crash?"

"Pfft, that's nothin'.  I've had so many worse ones in Flight School...  They'd make a pony as innocent as you blush redder than your brother's coat."

"No offense, Dashie, but you don't exactly seem like the type of pony to worry about maintaining a warm and fuzzy reputation...  You strike me more as the 'bad filly' that everypony wishes they could be with...  The kind that treats inappropriate nicknames like accolades."

"Bad Filly huh?  Whatever gives you that idea?"

"Oh I dunno...  The showboating, the whole... 'I'm better than y'all' attitude.  The fact that you have a troubled past... It's all very quintessentially 'bad filly' if ah do say so mahself."

"Does that mean you like 'bad fillies'?"

"No, but I like you.  Doesn't matter what you are...  I'll always like you for who you are; ya done grown on me, Rainbow."

"Well I'm glad for that.  You're the only pony I've ever seriously worried about askin' out before..."

"Hah, well I dunno if I should be honored or insulted..."

"Hey now I'm usually pretty chill with that sorta thing!"

"Oh ah'm sure.  Though you didn't seem too apprehensive about showing me the pot of gold at the end of your rainbow."

The pegasus, not expecting that kind of response from the mild-mannered mare, blushes intensely and is left completely speechless.

"Hah, gotcha'."

"I s'pose I shoulda' seen that one comin'."

"S'pose you shoulda'."  Applejack finishes her slight mockery of the pegasus with another kiss, to which the pegasus gladly returns every ounce of passion.

Fluttershy calmly steps over to the bookcase where Numbers had beckoned her.  She glances over to a clock once, and then, presumably a few seconds later, she glances a second time.  The time changes by about three hours and fourteen minutes during that one quick look.

"W-what are you g-g-going to show me?"  Fluttershy can pick up on the unusual entities' body language (at least that's what she thinks she should call it) that something isn't going to be exactly comfortable in these next few moments.

"We're in your home for a reason Co-pilot.  You know that old saying 'home is where the heart is'?  Well... this is kinda why 'they' say that.  Your heart and your mind are very similar things, in a meta... metaph--"

"Metaphorical sense."  Numbers interrupts and finishes the slightly inarticulate earth pony's sentence for her.

"Yeah... that.  Things that you've repressed and hidden, things that you don't want to see anymore get stored here, they don't just go away.  We have to act off of your past experiences and behaviors to really shape you as a pony, so we get most of them to look at."  Courage pulls a book out of the bookcase, much to Numbers's chagrin, and lays it down on top of the shelf as she finishes her sentence.

"What book is that one?"  The unicorn asks, glaring at the earth pony over a set of slimmed glasses.

When did she get those glasses?  Fluttershy asks herself through thought.

"I've always had these, I just don't always wear them."  The unicorn speaks to Fluttershy in a smug tone of voice; she read her mind.  "I know everything you're thinking, as does 'Courage' over there.  We're the ones that help you think you know."

"This is just a latent memory of springtime, Numbers.  Don't worry your nerdy little head."

Fluttershy steps over to the earth pony version of herself and looks down at the book.  Between the pages she can make out words that seem to have no sensible order whatsoever.  Regardless of this fact, Fluttershy manages to form the words into a perfect picture within her mind.  She's in a field, smelling flowers with Angel and watching birds fly overhead.  She looks up and tries to count them but isn't quite able, nor is she able to really make out where she is.  The pony blinks a few times and snaps back out of the trance, though in this place the line between real and unreal seems to have been blurred to the point that the entire area is gray.

"As you can see,"  Numbers says while magically adjusting her glasses, "some parts of the image were missing or incomplete.  You didn't commit those birds to memory so you don't remember how many were there, you just know that the birds were there.  Memories come in numerous forms; that was just a simple memory from a few weeks back.  More complex memories, such as the muscle memory involved in how to fly straight for instance, are stored a little further back in your mind, but the one we're looking for is a repressed memory... much more difficult to access."

"W-where is that?"   Fluttershy expects them to have the answers even if she doesn't.

"Well...  It's buried."  Courage plops down on the floor and inspects her hooves to make sure they're still manicured, as if she cares.

"You repressed them for a reason, Fluttershy.  They're painful, potent memories that caused you years of heartache.  Unfortunately getting over those years of heartache is one of the major steps you need to take before we can find out where your ideal self has been taken."

"W-why can't we just go look for her?  Isn't there some obvious place that she'd be?"

"Where do you think she'd be?"  Courage stands up again and smirks at the frightened pegasus.  Fluttershy is trying her best to get used to the changing world, but simply can't handle all of it without driving herself into bad habits of fearful reaction.  She chews gently on her hooves and flits her eyes back and forth, trying to take in as much of her surroundings as possible: a futile attempt.  Each time she looks at something it seems different when she returns to it.  Moreover, she can't even seem to sit in the same position before coming to realize that she's fallen into a different one.

"I... I don't know..."

"Well there's the problem.  We don't know either Co-pilot.  And it's not like this place is small... ohhh ho ho ho, no.  This is one big, expansive noodle you got here.  Plus we can't just up and leave your psyche without causing some other problems.  If numbers left then I'd have full control of your mind, and you know what that's like."

Fluttershy feels her eyes widen and her stomach sink at the very thought of such a concept.

"I regret to inform you that if Courage left then I would have full control of your mind and, being one who can admit my faults, you'd most likely be absolutely unable to get anything done.  You'd constantly try to evaluate every single situation and decision and become more obsessive than anypony in the world.  You'd probably spend days deciding whether or not the quilt on your bed was straight."

"And if we both left... well... your psyche would go unattended and you'd basically be unable to filter your raw emotion and thought through a balanced sense of reasoning and experiential emotion control.  You'd probably slip into a coma from the overload and starve to death if nopony found you.  That or some of your animals would just gnaw at your unconscious body until there wasn't anything but bones left."

"A bit gruesome don't you think, Courage?"

"What?  That's how I roll, ladies."

Fluttershy and Numbers exchange a half confused and half disapproving look with each other.

"So... then... do you two know where this memory is buried?"

"Well... we know the general region.  You have to be the one to find it... and read it.  If we were to read it there wouldn't be any kind of revelation, we could just help you act.  If you're the one remembering the event then you can actually do something else with it, especially with our help augmenting that effort."

"D-do I have to..."

"I'm afraid ya do, sugar-wings.  You lost something in your mind, and when that happens it's only a matter of time before you start losing other things.  Think about it like doing some spring cleaning."  Courage places her hooves uncomfortably on Fluttershy's shoulder as she finishes this statement, giving her a slightly unwelcome massage.

"W-wait... isn't this just a dream?  Can't I just wake up and forget about you two?"

"That's a little selfish don't you think, Co-pilot?"

"Either way, the answer is no.  Courage pulled you down here by force and is keeping you by force."  Numbers removes her glasses and cleans them with a cloth that seems to have come out of absolutely nowhere.

"See this little baby?"  Courage holds up an antique clock identical to the one that Fluttershy keeps above the mantle in her bedroom.  "This is what Numbers likes to call your cir... cer... circa--"

"Circadian Clock."  Numbers interjects and smiles as smugly as she can muster; muzzle in the air and all.

"Yeah... that... anyway it controls, more or less, your sleep cycle based on time.  I'm keeping this and I'm making it so that the passage of time is very, very slow for you.  You'll stay asleep as long as we need you in here finding Supershy."

"Sorry about that, Fluttershy, but she insisted and there's really not much I can do to fight her when she's got her mind set on something... so to speak.  That's never been my job, I'm just here to balance out whatever she does decide to do with logic."

"This is my mind!"  Fluttershy starts to quiver and tear up a little bit, feeling as if she's been falsely imprisoned.  "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Well... frankly, we're you and you want this.  You may not know it yet, but you truly do want this.  You've always felt like something's been wrong with you since she went missing, but you've never known why.  We're just helping you understand why, and hopefully helping you actually get on your way to fixing it."

"Get a hold of yourself, Co-pilot."  Courage takes a slightly different approach than Numbers, trying to push Fluttershy with tough love instead of reasoning.  "You're nopony to complain to us about unfair treatment.  You're the one who locked her away anyhow, so you should be the one to get her back.  She wants to come back, and you want her to be back so that you can live your life happily again.  You put up a nice facade, but inside you're hollow.  You're hollow and you know why, but you're too damn scared to do anything about it."

"Fluttershy...  She's right, maybe not being as kind as you're used to, but her logic stands up to scrutiny..."

"I-if you're the only ones in my head helping me decide... how come I can't d-d-do this?"  Fluttershy shakes and shrinks toward the ground, feeling a single tear exit her left eye and drag its way down the soft coat on her cheek.

"Because the one who would give you the confidence to do it isn't here.  You've got the understanding and you've got the drive, you just don't have the ambition.  It's pathetic really.  You're afraid of yourself.  You're afraid of your own mind."  Courage punctuates these points by pressing her hooves to different portions of her own body as she stresses the syllables.  "This is the one thing you truly have control of in your whole little existence, and you're too scared to touch it."

"That's enough, I think you've made your point."  Numbers places her hoof on Courage's shoulder to try and get her to ease up on the poor mare.

"But she's still --"

"I said that's enough."  The unicorn gives the earth pony an angry stare, sending Courage right back into her place.

"Alright... you win... For now."

"Good.  Fluttershy just think about this for a second:  You want to be happy right?"

"R-right..."  Fluttershy responds to the slightly less confrontational one.  Even though Courage's speech did evoke the spark of passion in her heart.

"Being happy means having peace of mind... right?"

"Ri-ight..."  She sniffles and sobs, trying her best to calm down.  She sits up straight and does her best to clean her face off with the back of her foreleg.

"In order to have peace of mind, your mind has to be whole.  Agreed?"

"Mhm..."  Her statements still trail off with an unsure tinge, but she seriously thinks about everything that the logical unicorn is saying.

"So if you want to be happy you have to go get that missing piece of yourself.  Sounds logical doesn't it?"

"I guess... I guess it does..."

"Twilight loves you, you know."  Courage sits in a rocking chair that Fluttershy assumes has been there the whole time, though she can't recall its existence.  "She loves everything about you, and you know it.  You know it because I know it."

"What's your point?"

"Well...  She'll love you no matter what.  But she gets totally peeved off by disorder and disorganization.  She may be interested now but what about later on?  It'll start to annoy her, I guarantee you.  Trust me, I know annoyance, and I know dislike...  She won't be happy with you if you're not happy with yourself."

"Now... Will you let us show you to the archives?"  Numbers extends a hoof to help Fluttershy get up off of the floor.  The timid pegasus takes it with her own hoof and stands, flapping her wings to shake off the ethereal 'dust'.  "Good... Come with us."

The trio begin walking at a slow trot back toward the bookshelves, passing by row upon row of furniture on the way there.  Fluttershy realizes that the entire world around her has been changing along with her perception of it.  When she stepped inside the door everything was disorganized and muddled.  Things were missing, everything was out of place, and even the two ponies of her consciousness were having trouble getting along.  Not to mention the fact that there wasn't even matter outside the home itself.  Now that she's had some time to adjust however, things all seem to be where they should be, if not still a little windswept.  The ponies arrive at a door in the center of the far wall where her fireplace used to be, one that wasn't there before but seems to fit very, very naturally.

"Here we are.  Just through this door and we'll be in a section of your mind devoted to long-term memory."

Fluttershy glances to each of the ponies who only return her gaze.  Only after Numbers nods her head toward the doorway does Fluttershy reach her hoof out and turn the knob.  As the heavy wooden door opens up, she realizes just where she is: Twilight's library.

"Ahh, good choice there Co-pilot."  Courage speaks up and glances around.  The bookshelves are much higher and more numerous than Twilight's actual library, but the whole place just resonates that same feel of natural, organized beauty.

"Interesting...  Your idea of a knowledge base revolves around Twilight's own literary archives.  I dare say you're brighter than you let on, Fluttershy."

The pegasus blushes a little and stares in awe at the apparent miles and miles of bookshelves, each one containing memories long past, so she guesses.  "So where do we go?"

"Well, stop and think for a second.  What do you avoid most in all of Equestria if you can help it?"

"Uhm...  Attention?"

"Hah!  Close,"  Courage says with a chuckle, "but how many animals do you ritualistically say goodnight to and individually tuck in?  You explode if your little furry buddies don't love-up to you all the time... need I remind you of the Grand Galloping Gala incident?"

"Okay, okay... You've made your point... uhm... heights, then?"

"Now you're thinkin'!  So try and imagine the highest place you've ever been."

"Cloudsdale."

"Uhm... Highest and most afraid."

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down..."  Fluttershy says with a small blush in her cheeks, looking away from the snickering earth pony.

Numbers stands next to the pair and rolls her eyes with a soft smile.  She places her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder to get her attention, and then points it off into the distance.

"Does that look at all familiar?"  She's referring to an almost exact scale copy of the mountain that Fluttershy climbed with her friends to 'remove' the dragon from Equestria some months back.  Fluttershy squeaks in her usual manner and shrinks away.  Its existence inside the library doesn't seem out of place, despite its massive size.  It seems as if the wood of the walls is actually the sky: something to be seen but not really there in the quintessential sense.  Almost as if the whole hollowed out tree were built around this very mountain and meant to contain it.

"Do we really have to go back up there?"

"M'afraid so..."  Courage shrugs and starts walking toward the colossal, steep mountainside.

"Yes, we really do, that's where you put this memory.  Well... it wasn't always that way, but that's the place you'd never go again since that encounter, so that's where it is now."  Numbers seems oddly unfazed by the fact that this mountain is actually in front of her.

"Remind me again why I need this memory to find my ideal self?"

"Think of it like when you lose something practical in your waking world.  You usually have to retrace your steps to find it again, or at least think about where you could have possibly left it.  Well this isn't much different; you have to find out what caused you to lock her up in the first place before you can get any notion of where you might have locked her up, and subsequently get her back, understand?"

"I... think so."

"Rhetorical question dear.  I know everything you're thinking.  And if it's any consolation there's nothing to be afraid of: this is all under your control."

"You two slackers gonna move your plots or what?"  Courage calls down off of a ledge about a fifth of the way up the mountain; of course she'd trudge on ahead.

"We'll be right beside you, Fluttershy.  Go on, don't be afraid."

Fluttershy takes a very deep breath through her nose, eyes closed shut, and takes a step forward.  She feels her hoof encounter stone, which of course prompts her to open her eyes once more.  She glances around and sees that she's on the same ledge that Courage had gone ahead to, with Numbers standing right behind her.

"Just a few more steps, Fluttershy.  You can do it."

The canary pegasus looks up to the summit of the mountain.  No smoke this time, but it's certainly not a welcoming sight.  She gulps and sighs, taking one more shaky step, eyes closed shut with her mind concentrating as hard as it possibly can on success.

"You can do anything if you just believe in yourself."

Down the Rabbit Hole

"Should we tell her?"  Courage asks with a deadpan tone, letting her eyes droop a little  as she stares down at Fluttershy.

"She knows."  Numbers sits and watches the pegasus intently as she climbs with all her might up the cliff face.  Needless to say that's not very much, but the poor pony still gives it her all.

"She sure doesn't seem like she knows..."

"Trust me, she does.  We know what she knows, and we know, therefore she knows."

"What are you two... nngh... t-talking about?"  Fluttershy stretches her exhausted body up and presses her hoof into a small wedge in the rock, pulling herself up inch by inch until she can take another moment of rest.

"I'm tellin' her..."  Courage stands up and steps over to the cliff, looking down on the struggling pegasus.  She takes a deep breath and yells as loudly as she can, "You have wings!"

The noise frightens the physically strained Fluttershy and causes her to let go of the wall, falling backwards with a loud, shrill squeal as she descends toward the ground.

"Now why would you go and do a thing like that?"  Numbers asks as she performs some recreational calculation in the dirt, never looking up to make any eye contact.

"Ah she'll be fine." Courage states with utmost certainty, even keeping the cliche of brushing dust off of her foreleg. Then, almost as if on cue, Fluttershy crests the ridge, flapping her wings softly and easily keeping herself aloft.  She keeps her head tilted down in embarrassment as she lands and kicks at the dirt.

"Would'a been a whole lot faster if you had just done that in the first place you know."

Fluttershy just grumbles and avoids eye contact, looking up to their eventual goal and trying to change the subject.  "How much further do we have to go?"

"That depends on you, Fluttershy.  You're the one who made this place, you control how big it gets."  Numbers just casually trots along side the other two ponies, humming the all too familiar "my little pony" tune that nopony ever seems to  be able to name, but everypony seems to know by heart.

Fluttershy stops and feels her eyes open wide in a mix of frustration and confusion, "You mean we didn't have to climb any of this from the start?"

"Well... technically no, but your fears and apprehensions about this memory have driven it into a place that you thought you'd never go to.  Now that you're actually going to it you can make a decision: either to have the memory be unreachable which would only complicate matters more..."

"And that seems to be what you're doing right now."  Courage interrupts with her trademark nonchalant razzing of the poor pegasus.

"... Or you can make it as simple as it needs to be.  You've already overcome the fear of accessing it, so there's really nothing holding you back from doing so other than your own lack of want to do so."

"How would I make it less difficult?"

"Well... the same way you made it more difficult...  Just close your eyes and think about the task, only try and think about it for what it is: as simple as just remembering something."

The timid pony tries her best to do exactly what Numbers had told her.  She shuts her eyes tight and takes a deep breath, holding it in and focusing her concentration.  In her mind she imagines the mountain shrinking to nothing more than a very short walkway into a small overhang.  She just wants to get to the end without having to climb forever, and she acknowledges that she can do it, and must do it.

Fluttershy opens her eyes and, to her chagrin, nothing has changed.  The other two ponies can almost hear her heart shatter at the still daunting sight of the obstacle that lays before them.

"Well... I guess that didn't work...  Onward then!"  Courage thrusts her hoof toward the ultimate goal of the expedition: the cave nestled into the mountain peak.  Somewhere in the time that Fluttershy had closed her eyes and then reopened them, Courage obtained a pirate hat.  Fluttershy decides not to question it and simply accepts the event.

"Instead of trying to make the goal closer to you, why not try making yourself closer to the goal, Fluttershy?"  Numbers doesn't even bother to stand, instead choosing to read what seems to be another memory tome from Fluttershy's mind; where she got that is a mystery.

"O-okay..."  Fluttershy sits on the ground with her legs folded beneath her, closing her eyes tight and trying her best to force herself toward the cave.  She can feel a slight shift in the gravelly surface beneath her and so opens her eyes in excitement.  As of now, the pegasus has managed to move about six feet closer to the goal.  She groans from a deep-set frustration and stands up with conviction.  "Alright, forget it... let's just get walking."

Outside the confines of Fluttershy's mind, Twilight sleeps somewhat soundly right behind her.  The gentle whir of the machinery in the basement actually helps the unicorn find peaceful rest at night; this on top of the natural warmth radiating off of her love interest pressed against her.  She dreams of spending a lovely day outside with the pegasus: picking flowers, running around like goofy school-fillies, even visiting cloudsdale (the impossibility of which doesn't occur to Twilight's dreaming mind).  However, just as soon as the scenes jump around in her mind do they vanish, sending the unicorn right back to her desk, muzzle deep in her studies.  She seems aware that it's all just a dream, though still goes through the motions of doing her homework.  She's her adult self, yet for some reason is busy filling out math worksheets from school days long past.

At the turn of a page Twilight realizes that this is no dream; it's a nightmare.  The worst possible thing that could ever torment the obsessive unicorn's mind lies mocking at her from the parchment: a math problem that she can't solve.  She grabs quill after quill, pulling copies of the equation off of the parchment and laying them out all over her desk.  Magically levitating somewhere around 10 different pens, Twilight tries desperately to use all of her knowledge of mathematics, but each time comes out incorrect.  She grinds her teeth, thinks to herself that 'this can't possibly be happening', but the mental torture is unmistakable.  As if in unison her quills snap, bleeding their ink in torrents out onto the papers.  Twilight can only watch in horror as the gore-like black fluid seems to gain a life of its own, forming one very large character on the desk: an "F".

"This isn't happening!  This can't possibly be happening!"  Twilight falls backwards out of her chair, thudding on the ground and then using her legs to skitter back into a corner.  It seems that no matter how far away she gets, she can still see the massive, black "F" following her wheresoever she hides.  The burden of the ink seems too much for even the desk to handle; the legs nearest to Twilight snap and send it tilting toward her, thus exposing the massive black mark and placing it in full view.

Twilight closes her eyes and curls up in the fetal position, trying to look away, ignore, do anything to get the brand to leave her alone.  The image is burned into the back of her eyes: even closing them can't make it go away.  It's taunting her, just in its very existence.  Twilight Sparkle, personal protege to Princess Celestia actually received an "F" on her homework.  The pony releases a very distressed, very pained "Nooooo!"  Into the thick air of the stifling dream.  She curls up and tries to convince herself that everything's going to be okay, but her words are just hollow husks of false sincerity.  Back in the waking world, still holding around Fluttershy's waist, the unicorn tightens her grip and pulls the mare closer to her, reacting in a small physiological manner to the 'worst possible thing' in her dreams.

Back at the Apple Family home, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had gleefully fallen asleep after their less-than-innocent romp.  Rainbow keeps her head nuzzled against Applejack's neck, chin resting calmly on her shoulder and snoring into her mane.  The orange earth pony has forgotten to replace a pillow behind her head, and so lays completely prostrate, head tilted back and breathing heavily from the awkward position.

Rainbow Dash naturally dreams of flying through the clouds, though oddly with Applejack by her side.  The orange earth pony had sprouted wings overnight, and this doesn't bother Rainbow in the slightest (or give her cause to ask any questions as a matter of fact) but only prompts her to just go with it.  The dream state takes away her true recollection of AJ and simply replaces her with a shade of Dash's ideal vision.  The orange pony keeps her rustic hairstyle but lets it flow free, having it whip in the wind behind her as she flaps her strong wings next to Rainbow in mid-flight.  Her already toned, athletic body has undergone some other augmentations as well: Rainbow has always had a secret attraction to Clydesdale horses, only overlooking Big Macintosh due to his gender, and so has attributed a few of the "better" qualities of the breed to the mare, specifically the 'feathering' around her hooves.

Rainbow has dreamt up a challenge for herself, and keeps neck and neck with the construct, following as close as she can, going as quickly as she can, but completely unable to pass her.  The pale orange mare seems to effortlessly speed up, rocketing through the sky at a pace that Rainbow just can't quite reach until she's a few yards ahead.  Applejack turns her head and sticks her tongue out at the cyan mare, who struggles just to keep pace with the speedy pony.

Rainbow closes her eyes and flaps with all her might, being brought out of the trance by a familiar feeling brushing against her face.  She opens her eyes to see a pale orange feather dangling from her windswept mane.  She realizes the implications and watches almost helplessly as Applejack falls out of the sky.  She doesn't hesitate any longer, acting on pure love for the pony and diving toward her with all her might.  The figure that Dash had constructed for Applejack seems to have slowly dissolved in a trail of feathers behind her; the closer Rainbow gets to her target, the more like the real Applejack she begins to look.

Rainbow zeroes in on the falling pony, stretching her arms out and inching closer and closer to her.  Applejack reaches her hooves out and grasps Dashes with them, pulling herself closer and happily being accepted into her arms.  Dash fights against gravity as the ground rapidly approaches, flapping her wings as hard as she can and straining every muscle in her body to prevent the g-forces from tearing Applejack away from her.  To her surprise, her hooves touch ground as gently as if she had given a little hop.  The pegasus opens her eyes to see all of her friends in a circle somewhere in the middle of a field, with Applejack standing right in front of her.

"Mah hero!"  The hilariously cliche interpretation of Applejack's rustic accent reaches Rainbow's ears only seconds before their lips meet.  Their union is greeted with a flourish of cheers from everypony out of Ponyville, (they all show up just in time for the big, public kiss) and the spotlight sits trained directly on Rainbow's shoulders; as is usual for her dreams.

Applejack finds herself alone, sitting inside of an unusually large barn that, despite having not a single candle, is absolutely aglow with a heavenly light from all directions.  In the center sits a dragon's horde of bits, surrounded by apple trees that appear to be made of solid gold, yet grow the biggest, shiniest, most delicious looking apples that she has ever seen.  The orange pony climbs up one the massive piles of gold coins and nabs an apple off of the branch of a nearby golden apple tree.  She looks it over and regards it almost as a work of art, nearly unable to bring herself to eat it.  Remembrance of who she is sets in almost as quickly as this first thought does, and she takes a hearty chomp out of the thing.  The taste is absolutely divine: the perfect balance of sweet and tart, the perfect texture: not too crisp, not too soft.  The juiciness is so much that every bite is like drinking a sip of apple juice, yet it doesn't run down her hoof or make her coat sticky.

Applejack crunches back the last of the apple, not having to eat around the core since none seems to exist: only the flesh of the fruit in its absolute perfection.  She eats another, then another, then one more until she can't even find any on the low lying branches of the tree.  She hops down off of her gold bit pile and stands in front of the marvelous tree, giving it as hard of a buck as she can.  The tree doesn't even move, but Applejack feels the resonance of her kick pushed right back into her body, making her shake, teeth chatter and ache in every single pore of her body.  Shaking her head and trying to recover from the impact, she looks up into the tree again, just to see if there are any apples at all.  From what she can tell there aren't, but she only managed to get a small portion of the tree to pull apples from, so she rears up for another kick.  Her hooves impact the tree with the exact same result, only this time giving the golden tree a ring to it as if she just kicked a tuning fork.  To her surprise something falls out of the tree, only it's no apple.

"Rainbow?  What in the hay are you doin' here?"  Applejack asks a very confused and obviously rudely awoken Rainbow Dash as she offers a hoof to help her up.

"Wha?  I could very well ask you the same thing."  The cyan pegasus responds.  She stands up and shakes her head, looking up into the tree as shiny, golden leaves slowly flutter down and embed themselves in the soft soil beneath them.

"What do you mean?  This is my barn... I have every right to be here."

"Hey I was just taking a nap... I dunno why it was in a tree, I could have sworn it was in a river instead..."  The nonsensical remark flies right past Applejack's area of attention.

"Wull I reckon you came in here to eat all o' these apples, didn't ya?"

"What apples?"

"The ones that were in that tree you were sleepin' in!"

"I was sleeping in a tree?"

"Of course you were... how d'ya think you got in here in the first place?"

"I thought it was what you wanted..."  This statement makes Applejack blink a few times.  She doesn't quite know what to say to that: it does hold some truth, and she hasn't been particularly hospitable to somepony so important to her, but she just doesn't quite know what's going on anymore.  She looks out of the corner of her eye and sees one more of the perfect, red apples lying on the ground right next to the tree.

"Oh look, there's another one..."  Applejack slowly approaches it and picks it up by the stem in her mouth, motioning to Rainbow to come look at it.  "Did you want this one?"

"No thanks, you can have it, AJ."

"Arright then...  If'n you insist."  She tosses the apple up in the air and catches it in her teeth, quickly munching down the entire fruit and spitting the stem against the ground.  "Gawh... dang those're good... you sure you don't want whu--"  Applejack is interrupted by Rainbow Dash forcefully, but sensually, placing her hoof on the inside of her thigh, running it up and meeting it between her legs.  The pony turns to see a tinge of blush in Dash's cheeks as well as a mischievous grin.  The pegasus doesn't give Applejack time to say a thing before she pushes her back up against the tree and kisses her very, very deeply.  The second the kiss breaks Applejack is forced to ask: "What in the hay are you doin'?" With a little extra emphasis on the faux-curse-word

"The Apples, AJ...  They give you exactly what you want."  A voice that seems to come from Rainbow Dash speaks, but it sounds nothing like her.  This one seems a little bit more regal and ringing, almost like Celestia's but with a slightly more ethereal tone.  "They don't grow back, but when you eat them you'll get your heart's desire...  Wealth, power, free time...  Rainbow Dash...  It's all yours, just don't waste your wishes."  With this final statement, Rainbow seems to be herself again.  She continues her treatment of the pony and keeps her pinned to the tree, kissing her deep once more and holding every single movement just the way the earth pony likes it.  She resolves that she won't fight back too much, only sitting back to enjoy what she's been given while she has it.

Rarity sleeps soundly, undisturbed by any single little quibble or issue.  Her extremely comfortable bed and warm blankets support the perfect environment for a relaxed, perfect snooze.  She dreams of being surrounded in the relaxing steam of the spa that she and Fluttershy frequent, only this time she's alone.  As a matter of fact, none of her friends appear in the dream, and she even begins to worry about their well being.  Though not enough to exit the sauna, oh of course not.

Lotus and Aloe gleefully tend to their star client's every whim: delicately washing her hair, manicuring her hooves, brushing her coat with only the finest of imported brushes... she's treated like a queen.  Every single movement she makes seems to be enough to shift the entire world around her, bringing with it only the most perfect of current fashion trends, lifestyles, important ponies, and of course, studs.

Out of the steam (that once was inside the spa but now appears to be from a story-book style misty countryside) stands the silhouette  of a strong stallion with his mane blowing in the wind.  She gallantly steps forward to meet this mysterious stallion, only to be taken aback by exactly to whom she is running.

Prince Blueblood stands before her, eyes soft and mane just as perfect and flowing as always.  Everything about him seems to have stayed exactly the same, all except his demeanor of course.  The regal unicorn bows his head to Rarity, who curtsies back in a moment of reflexive shock.

"Good evening m'lady.  I wish to extend my sincerest apologies for our only other encounter."  His voice flows from his mouth like only the softest music from an artisan-craft violin.

"A-Apology accepted...  May I ask what prompted this?"  Rarity, fearing this is some sort of prank, shies away and tries her best to analyze his body language, to no avail of course.  She can only see perfection, especially when she catches herself eying his extremely shapely figure.

"I realized the error of my ways when I meditated on my actions that night after the Grand Galloping Gala.  Each day it haunted me, tormented my very soul, even, that I should treat such an utterly wonderful mare such as you with that level of... disrespect.  It was hardly becoming of a gentleman such as myself, and I swore in the Princess' name that, should I ever see your lovely face once more, I would take it upon myself and myself alone to shower you with attention, love, and of course, riches until I could hold your forgiveness within my heart and use it to set ablaze a burning, passionate love for you!"  Ever so shamelessly does the prince take hold of his soap box and rant on about Rarity's importance to him.  He punctuates his every single statement with an interpretive movement and heart-wrenchingly dramatic bodily display of his passion.

"Oh Blueblood!  I don't care that you were such a royal jackass to me at that party!  I... I love you!"

"And It doesn't bother me in the slightest that you were so uncouth to me that night as well, I deserved every second of it."

"Yes... yes you did."  Rarity takes every single ounce of sincerity from his royal voice and embraces him.  His wavy mane blowing in the wind past her and blocking off the entire world.  His strong body holding her tight against it, perfectly dressed in the most sophisticated tuxedo ever.  His shapely face taking to hers with the most perfect kiss the night had ever known.  It would seem an eternity wasn't long enough to give Rarity enough time to truly enjoy the moment.

Naturally she is roused back to the waking world, amidst a generous smooching of her pillow.

"Phooey!"

One of the oddest sets of things in Equestria has to be Pinkie Pie's sleeping habits.  The abnormally energetic pony spends all day on a massive rush, only to sleep like a baby at night.  She often lays down and wakes up without having moved a single muscle through the entire course of the night, only to have been perfectly relaxed and storing every single ounce of energy for the following day.

The unusually calm pink earth pony dreams of everything that she couldn't possibly do in the waking world, a frightening concept indeed.  In her mind she hops around a field of flowers, (though the flowers are made entirely of folded paper) and glances up into the sky.  The clouds, naturally, are actually sheep, standing upside-down on a bright blue pasture and grazing away to their hearts' content.  Gummy rides along Pinkie's back, giving his usual emotionless expression and munching on an extra-sticky piece of bubblegum.

"This is so much fun!" Pinkie yells, hopping up in the air and wiggling her legs to emphasize her final word.  The mindless alligator just blinks out of synch and looks over to the pony.  "I can't wait to tell everypony else.  Are you having a good time, Gummy?"

"Jolly good time M'lady."  To no surprise at all for Pinkie Pie, Gummy articulates his opinion in the most wonderful english accent that ever there was in Equestria.

"Aww you just love frolicking in the flowers with me don't ya?"

"Couldn't possibly think of anyplace I'd rather be, Pinkie, dear."

"Oohh! How about that place!"  Pinkie points her hoof over to a small hill in the distance.  They seem to be in a valley anyway because the horizon is obscenely close.

"Shouldn't we take a rest?  Perhaps have a spot of tea..."  The unamused reptile glances side to side, following Pinkie's hoof to the small incline.

"Nonsense!  I don't know the meaning of the word 'rest', Gummy."

"With this I have no argument..."

Pinkie Pie and her pet bounce off toward the hill with a gleam in their eyes, well, Pinkie's eyes at least.  Gummy grips onto her mane to keep from flying off with all the spring-loaded movement that Pinkie is so well known for.

As the pony begins to walk nearly vertically up the steep hill, she and Gummy begin to see the twinkle of the sun start to reflect off of a very bright object behind it.  Gravity doesn't seem to have much of a constraint within this dream, so Pinkie softly steps up the ninety-degree incline and onto a rounded hilltop, gazing out onto a glorious sight.  Pinkie Pie and Gummy behold a small mountain of a white, crystalline substance.  Pinkie Pie immediately sees sugar (though the many passed-out animals at its base seem to suggest otherwise) and without any kind of warning or forethought, the Pink pony dives toward the treasure and lands muzzle-first in the pile.

She rolls in the hill, picking up the substance in her coat and giggling wildly.  It feels remarkably soft, almost like warm sand at the beach, so she rolls over and over, circling the small mountain until she hears a loud grunt escape from the powder below her.

"Oops!  I'm sorry, who was that?"  Pinkie asks as she glances around, sitting up and trying to get a good view of the whole mountain.  A white unicorn horn pokes its way out of the mountain very close to her left arm, so she tugs on it and, in a cartooney fashion, pulls the entire entity out with it.  She sets the very confused unicorn back down onto the hillside, brushing his shoulders off for him and then tilting her head as she inspects him.

" Oh!  Uhm... Hello there...  My name is Charlie."  The white unicorn states very plainly.  He shakes his head to get some of the 'sugar' out of his straight, black mane.  Pinkie Pie tilts her head in the other direction and glances him over, not really sure what to think.  His mane is cut short, and his cutie mark seems to be of a small stone, polished until it holds a lustrous sheen.

"Nice to meet you, Charlie!  I'm Pinkie Pie!"  She holds her foreleg out and viciously shakes the unicorn's hoof.  He coughs a few times, presumably to clear his lungs of some of this 'sugar', and looks back toward his hill, seeming as if he really really wants to bury himself in it again.

"So... Pinkie Pie... what brings you all the way out here?"  He scratches his hoof up and down his adjacent foreleg quickly, and returns to the same compulsive action every few seconds.

"Oh I was just out exploring with Gummy here,"  She states and points to where her pet used to be.  "Oh... uhm... I guess he's gone.  I wonder where he went?"

"Is this him?"  Charlie asks as a very familiar alligator nibbles on his foreleg and casts Pinkie Pie a smiling glance.

"Yep!  Don't worry, he doesn't have any teeth."

"Ah... that's, uhm, fortunate for me."  The unicorn waves his arm and tries to shake Gummy off.  After a few failed attempts, he is flung outward toward Pinkie, who expertly catches him with a baseball glove that she seems to have materialized out of thin air.

"So what brings you all the way out here?  And where exactly is here anyway?"  Pinkie asks as she places Gummy into her lap and tosses the glove off over her shoulder.

"Oh it's a little place I like to call 'Sugar Hill'.  It's kinda like... my home away from home.  I like to stay here whenever I'm feeling down.

"Sugar Hill?  Is that anything like Candy Mountain?"  Pinkie giggles into her hoof and tosses a handful of the granular substance at one very unamused unicorn.

"Please don't mention that place again, Pinkie...  May I call you Pinkie?"

"Sure!  Everypony calls me Pinkie.  And why don't you like the name Candy Mountain?  Should I call it something different?"

"I just have some bad memories from that place is all..."

"It doesn't scare you does it?"  The earth pony lifts her hooves up and wiggles them toward the unicorn who has already begun to bury himself in the mountain once more.

"Ehm... not really... I just have these two friends and..."

"Say no more!  Come with me, we're going to Candy Mountain, Charlie!"

"Son of a bit--"  Charlie is interrupted mid-word by the surprisingly strong earth pony's tug at his foreleg.  She drags him away from his precious hill of 'sugar' and takes him in the general direction (or so she assumes) of Candy Mountain.  Pinkie doesn't really know what she's doing, but her dreams rarely make any sense whatsoever; she prefers it that way.

A Leap of Faith

Fluttershy finds herself lost in vivid memory and seeing directly through her own, young eyes.  Her filly self sits on the floor, doing her best to drown out the sounds of her parents' argument outside of her room.  The sound is muffled enough so that all she can sense are tones of voice, each one loud and aggressive, presumably arguing about some insignificant little detail.  She thinks she hears her name, but doesn't dare respond; the last time she walked into the room while they were fighting she got a scolding that scared the living daylights out of her.  She is that insignificant little detail.  Her father complains every chance he gets about how 'needy' the little yellow pegasus is, while her mother tries her best to defend what little praise she does have for the filly; not out of love, but instead out of defiance.

Something Fluttershy's parents never told her but that constantly ate at their hearts was that neither of the two young pegasi were ready to have a foal when they did; Fluttershy was a mistake, and unfortunately they made her aware of this through actions rather than words.  As the pegasus's memories flash back and forth between different instances of her childhood, this becomes more and more clear to her.  She sees through her eyes during one of the days that her parents attempted to teach her how to fly.  Her frustrated mother pastes on a false smile and attempts to show her the right way to flap her wings.  Each time she manages to hover just a few inches off the ground before falling again, and each time this is rewarded with a sigh.

Her father, a young, aggressive stallion takes her onto his back and flies several yards in the air, figuring that the only way to teach her is to let her fall.  She remembers the look in her father's eye as he let her go: cold and unloving.  She watches from her helpless fall, trying to flap her wings but only feeling like her body is being jerked forward and back.  He doesn't try to help her, and even though her mother watches in horror, she doesn't try either.  They didn't really care.

Fluttershy doesn't remember the impact, but does remember that her leg was hurt in the fall and the argument over hospital bills lasted for a few nights following.  Every single day she feels more and more unloved.  Her parents struggled just to keep from killing each other, only staying together for Fluttershy's sake, regardless of their disposition toward her.  She would feel like a pet in their presence, never saying a word and just doing as she's  told.  Her visions flicker between various awkward dinners where nopony would speak in any tone outside of a vicious snap.

As her days in primary school closed off she would try to pursue her interests.  She recalls the painstaking effort it took to work up the courage to audition for the choir program.  She recalls her embarrassment when everypony in line was absolutely amazed with her voice, and the disappointment when her parents didn't show up to her first concert.  She remembers breaking down and crying for hours after being caught singing in her room by her father and subsequently berated for it.

"That's what you're going to do with your life?  You're going to sing?  Why don't you do something useful?"  His sarcastic, acid words eat her alive inside.  Everything she tries to do, and the one thing she's good at, is never good enough.  She recalls trying to run away from home one night, only to sneak back inside for fear of being chased down.  She recalls looking in the mirror and seeing only a disgusting figure staring back at her.

Nights without dinner to try and keep her weight down after her mother made some snide comment about 'saddlebags' on the young filly flash across her eyes; sometimes nights without dinner just to avoid having to be in the same room as her parents.  Her repressed childhood quickly and painfully works its way into her head, showing her just why she might bury some part of herself.   The final images begin to fade; one particularly bad one where her father finally raised his hoof against poor, young Fluttershy.  She had been told that night to "let everypony know" that the black eye was from her own clumsiness and certainly not from troubles at home.

The memory dissolves from her vision and is replaced with the manifested home that she first stepped into, only blurred intensely by tears.  She can feel the light, warm hoof of Numbers on her shoulder, and see Courage out of the corner of her eye giving her a discreet, reassuring look.  As she takes a look around her room she sees that it has become muddled and torn apart, almost as if a massive gust of wind came through.

"Your parents weren't easy for any of us to deal with, Co-pilot."  Courage states as she tries to get the mare's attention by tugging her shoulder.

"Your father...  I understand he wasn't ever very much help for your self esteem."  Numbers adjusts her glasses with her magic and steps forward, sitting just a few feet in front of Fluttershy.  "Just know, though, that your ambitions never died.  They just went to sleep..."

"You said this was supposed to help show me where though..."  Fluttershy sniffles and shivers, calming down and once more trying to repress the awful memories.  "All this did was make me feel... horrible."

"Well, think about it, Co-pilot."  Courage moves to go sit next to Numbers, showing an unusual level of respect for personal space and general comfort zones.  "You're the sweetest, nicest, most irritatingly kind thing in Equestria.  Where do you think that part of you went?"

"Uhm..."  Fluttershy doesn't actually try and think at all.  She's so drained from the emotional overflow that she just wishes for the two knowledgeable ponies to give her the answer.

Courage sighs and stands up, nodding toward the front door, "C'mon, I'll show you."

Fluttershy hesitantly stands up and follows the earth pony, catching a glimpse of her flank as she walks beside her.  Her lack of wings isn't the only thing that makes her different: she only has one butterfly as a cutie mark, instead of Fluttershy's triplet; this is the first time that Fluttershy has really noticed.  The earth pony casually opens the door and shows Fluttershy the outside.  Things have certainly changed: the landscape is no longer the Everfree forest, but a vast microcosm of activity.  Everywhere she looks she can see things happening; some mechanical, some natural, some just plain incomprehensible.  What seems to be small ponies work through the massive plots of land, ocean, machinery, air, even seeming to be beneath the ground based on small protrusions in the floor below.  The doorway doesn't touch the ground anymore either, instead it seems to be near the top of a massive tree, with smooth bark beneath it hundreds of feet toward the floor.  The pegasus stands in awe as the sight before her, trying to take in the shifting environment as she sees it.

"It's somewhat dangerous to be showing you this, Fluttershy."  Numbers steps up behind her and looks out the doorway with the others.  "This is your mind, in all its glory.  Remember that you're still asleep; this isn't even close to the level of activity that it performs while you're awake.  Showing somepony the workings of their mind has a tendency to drive them crazy, it being as complicated as it is, so we'll keep this brief.   Right now we're standing on what you can see as a tree, your home in fact, and looking into thought in its purest form."  Fluttershy shivers a little from the heights, she hasn't ever liked being on a precipice like this.  "Everything you see here is a process; organized and put together by you, most of which happens without your knowledge, however, and all of that is thanks to your subconscious mind.  That's where this tree is rooted, so to say."

"Is that where I can find her?"  Fluttershy tilts her head toward Numbers but never breaks her eyes away from the sight.

"Yeah, if that's where you put her."  Courage has grown bored of the view and has taken to sitting back on the couch, reading what appears on a cursory glance to be a slightly 'dirty' thought.

"What she means to say is that you emulate many qualities of your ambitious and ideal self, Fluttershy."  Numbers walks back into the home and beckons the pegasus to close the door.  "Perhaps she's locked away in your core being, someplace you can access her without having to let her... be."

"W-where would that be?"  Fluttershy, a little confused by the thought of such a thing, begins re-engaging herself in the task.

"Well...  That I'm not sure of."

"Hah!  Finally something stumps you."  Courage puts her book down and laughs derisively at the unicorn.  The word "stumped" rings in Fluttershy's mind however; she just can't let it go.

"Wait a minute...  You said this tree was my psyche right?"  Fluttershy tries to snap the other two ponies out of another squabble before it gets too far out of hand.

"Well, yes, at least that's how you've manifested it."  Numbers backs away from Courage, trying to hold her ground but not wanting to be in 'punching distance' of the malevolent earth pony.

"Could she be at the bottom of it?  W-with the roots?"  The more she begins to think on the matter, the more comfortable she starts to feel.  Her mind seems to just be a story book almost, filled with various symbols and metaphors that more often than not lead to exactly what she is looking for.

"I hadn't thought of that...  I suppose it's worth a look."  Numbers tries not to admit defeat in the matter, but (as Courage makes so perfectly clear with a theft of her glasses along with mocking laughter) she lets her countenance betray her.

"How would I get down there though?"

"Just jump."  Courage tosses the pair of glasses toward Fluttershy, who promptly (if not clumsily) catches them between her hooves.  After looking them over she reaches out to hand them back to Numbers, though to Fluttershy's surprise she isn't there anymore.  She looks around quickly but doesn't see either of the two ponies, frightening her into thinking that she had done something wrong.  The floor seems to be the same, but the walls are gone; Fluttershy glances over her surroundings to see herself standing perilously on the end of a very large bough.

"Where did you go?  What happened?"  She tries to keep calm but can already feel a minor panic attack brewing in her chest.  Everything seems to change the instant she stops focusing on it, until finally she stands at  the end of a thin plank overlooking the treacherous fall toward the ground beneath her.  Fluttershy tries to look away, but can't fight the fascination of wanting to know just where she is.  She allows this to take her over as she looks down over the edge, seeing nothing but open space below her that tapers into a very light patch of lit ground surrounded by darkness.

"Oh we didn't go anywhere, Co-pilot."  Courage's voice comes from behind the pegasus, who gingerly turns around to see the smug earth pony standing on the branch, looking with a very serious gaze at Fluttershy.  "Ya got Numbers back, that's what happens when you show us what's what."

"I-I-I don't understand..."  Fluttershy feels a very sinister vibe coming from Courage.  Her voice sounds almost serpentine, and her body language suggests an assertion of dominance.

"Of course you don't...  Numbers allows you to think very heavily.  You could say she's the embodiment of your thought as it weighs out a situation, and when you out-thought her you absorbed her.  This isn't quite like what you did with Supershy... you buried Supershy.  Which, for the record, was very good for me."

"W-what do you m-mean?"

"When you absorb one of us we lose our ability to control you, but when you bury one of us we just lose our ability to control ourselves.  Supershy has been influencing you for years, and frankly that's annoying to me.  Numbers is simply allowing you to think more clearly, to weigh out situations better and analyze your surroundings, which is why I had to go to great lengths to get this place ready."

"Where are we, then?"

"This is just outside your psyche, Co-pilot.  I had to make sure that you couldn't see anything and use it against me while we were here.  It was inevitable that you would absorb Numbers first, because I don't wanna be absorbed."

"What...  What are you going to do?"  As Courage speaks to her, Fluttershy realizes that she's telling the truth.  Her thoughts become more clear and coordinated, not weighed down by any sort of inhibition or passionate emotion, but the area around her is so frightening and demanding of her attention that she can't focus on the pony in front of her."

"We act as filters for your emotions, and emotions are very, very strong, Co-pilot.  So strong that they can rip a pony's mind to pieces.  Your mind was already encompassed by three pieces, me, Numbers, and Supershy, but your emotions ripped up the bonds that kept us working together.  You're trying to fix your mind, and I've been helping you, as has Numbers... but I'm done helping.  You try to lock me up, you try to keep me down, and up until that goody-goody was locked up you had me fight against another piece of yourself just to keep me too tired to take anything away from you.  Well without us to filter your emotions, you'd go insane, and absorbing us is one way of keeping us under your own lock and key while still using us to keep your thoughts and feelings cohesive and appropriate... Or one of us can take over."

"You're going to... take me over? H-how?"  Fluttershy feels almost as if she's being pushed back toward the edge, looking Courage straight in her fiery, emotionally charged eyes.

"I have no reason to lie to you.  You're weak without your little ideal self to help you strive.  You've never fought with anypony in your entire life and that's because you've ignored me.  Without me, left to your own devices, you're destiny-bound to fail... hard.  So I'm going to get you to jump, and then one of two things is going to happen.  One: You'll overcome your irrational fear of heights, which I highly doubt, and use your own sense of courageous effort to absorb me and have the willpower and bravery necessary to get Supershy out.  Or two, and this is far more likely:  You're going to cry all the way down, and smack your pretty little body against that pretty little patch of ground and I'm going to take over.  You won't have the strength to take yourself back, and you'll see how it feels to be locked up in this place... alone... watching through your own eyes as you do everything you've never thought you could do.  I've got some big plans, so I'd suggest you take another step back and we just get this over with."

Fluttershy looks over her shoulder and finds that the edge of the plank has moved right up against her back hooves.  As she turns back to look at Courage, she sees that the earth pony is almost nose-to-nose with her.  She squeaks in fright and has to fight her reflex to jump backward.  "P-please don't make me do this..."

"Aww what's the matter?  Getting stage-fright on your big moment?"  Courage cruelly plays off of Fluttershy's early performing phase, especially the stage fright.  "If you want to fix yourself this is what you have to do.  It just so happens that if you screw up I benefit greatly.  So jump.  Oh and don't even think about trying to throw me off in some big, climactic battle or nuthin' like that... You can't touch me... even if you could you're a wimp so I'd win anyhow.

"I-I-I..."  She can't even think of what to say, the earth-shattering idea that she has been betrayed by her own mind is still taking hold in the poor mare.

"I was hoping you wouldn't even have the courage to jump on your own...  That bodes very well.  Not for you of course, but for me."  The earth pony lifts her hoof up and hovers it just inches in front of her nose, showing the perfectly clean underside in frightening detail to the pegasus. "Bu-bye, Co-pilot.  It's been a fun ride, but I think it's high time I took the stick."  With that she pushes forward, bumping into Fluttershy's nose and sending her careening off of the edge.  The fall seems to be in slow motion: Courage lays down on the plank and crosses her forelegs beneath herself to watch the pegasus fall, and Fluttershy can only see the malicious grin on her face as it slowly shrinks into the sunless, black sky.  The sound of air rushing past her ears deafens the pegasus as the blur from the passing tree bark gives her the impression of falling at terminal velocity.  Her wings feel paralyzed as she tries her best to unfold them, only managing to squirm in the air and fight desperately to survive.  She rolls over in midair and can see the ground rapidly approaching, though she doesn't know what will happen when she hits.

This is it I guess...  All I wanted to do was love Twilight, and this is how it ends.  Fluttershy thinks to herself, cringing in horrified anticipation for the upcoming impact.  Tears catch the air beside her face and rush up into the sky around her.  The final thought in her mind is the hope that Twilight will be able to handle the new management of her once-sweet-and-innocent marefriend.

Waking Beauty

Fluttershy crosses her forelegs over her eyes, not wanting to watch these last few yards before the impact.  Her stomach feels like it's been pushed into her hind hooves and in her mind she just wants it to be over with.  The last thought that flashes through her is the image of her favorite unicorn.

I love you, Twilight... I'm so sorry.  She thinks to herself right before impact.  The pegasus feels the sting of hitting water at high speeds, and realizes that she's sinking deep into a pool.  She pulls her forelegs away from her face, looking around in her new, watery environment with no irritation to her eyes at all.  She takes a breath reflexively, but doesn't feel the sensation of drowning, and each time she exhales she releases a torrent of bubbles as if she had just taken a deep breath of air.  She looks down, seeing only darkness surrounded by the deepest, most beautiful clear blue that she's ever seen before.  As she looks up she sees the massive roots of her tree reaching down into the deep recesses of the ocean.  Everything is lit very subtly by a bright blue light that appears to be radiating from the center of the root system.  Fluttershy tries to swim forward, flapping her wings as if to fly, and moving at a slow pace.  There seems to be no end to this place, but she feels no danger; everything presents a very calming feel.  The water is warm, and the lights are very placid, even the roots seem to be swaying lazily back and forth like there were a breeze pushing them along.  The pegasus approaches the light in the center, noticing that there are many roots entwined around it that disappear deep into the abyss below her.  The light seems to grow smaller as she approaches, but no less brilliant.

Fluttershy isn't quite sure why she wishes to see what's behind the light, only knowing that she feels a general warmth from it and wants comfort.  For all she knows she lost, and Courage is currently doing Celestia-knows-what to hurt Twilight's feelings, so any bit of reassurance is welcome.  As she approaches her target, the light seems to position itself behind the roots.  This gives the silhouette in front of it a ghostly, but still beautiful glow around a very small opening in the twisted, gnarled roots.  Inside this opening Fluttershy can see the distinct, unmistakable visage of herself.  She gasps at the sight, reaching her hooves out and pressing them to the roots, trying to push them away but not moving them a bit.  The clone seems to be sleeping very calmly, with a smile on her face and her head resting comfortably on the back of the roots.  Her forelegs are crossed over her chest, with her hooves buried behind some smaller recess of the roots.  Just looking at her drives Fluttershy into a sense of calm, so she reaches her hoof out to gently touch the snoozing pony's face.  Just before her hoof comes in contact with the lovely pink mane of her clone, Fluttershy can feel a pair of hooves on her shoulders.

The pegasus is forcefully spun around to see the scowling face of Courage floating right behind her.  Her mane has been completely tossed around by the water and so seems to float around her head in an almost aura-like projection of her anger.

"Oh that's cute, Co-pilot... That's real cute.  You couldn't work up the nerve to just fly away so you decided to change the world instead... is that it?  Well that kind of junk just don't work in real life you know..."

"H-How did you get here?"  Fluttershy freezes in the icy stare of her earth pony counterpart, immediately scared just by her presence.

"I live here you moron, I know every single nook and cranny and crevasse and abyss and dropoff and cliff and everything. There's nowhere you can hide, and nowhere you can run, so would you hurry up and give in already?"

"N-No!"  Fluttershy tries to wrench herself away from her attacker, but is only greeted with a knee to the stomach from the earth pony.  She gasps and exhales sharply from the blow, cringing in minor pain as Courage picks her back up and glares into her eyes.

"Then I'll just have to make you give in...  You're so not worth the trouble I'm going through for this..."  With this statement, Courage spins Fluttershy a full turn, letting go and throwing her to the side.  The pegasus feels herself exit the water and lands hard on the ground.  She coughs a few times, trying to catch her breath from having the wind knocked out of her.  She takes a breath and looks up to see herself in her old home, looking her father straight in the face.

"How many times have I told you to dry yourself off before you come in this house?"  The stallion speaks with a cold, unfeeling voice.  "You walk around drenched like that and you're gonna mess up the floor.  Why can't you just listen?"  Fluttershy shrinks away from the stallion, not taking very long to revert to her filly self.  Just the sight of him makes her want to curl up and cry.  He raises his hoof as he takes a few steps toward the cowering pegasus, "Look at me!"  She does not, so he uses his hooves to pry her head away from her forelegs and force her to look into his eyes.  She looks back, afraid of what she'll see, but notices that her father's eyes are a blue-green like hers, not the dark brown that they actually were.  It's Courage.

Despite this realization, the pegasus still cowers in fear from the large figure.  The stallion raises his hoof away from her face and brings it down, slamming it into Fluttershy's cheek hard enough to make her stumble to the side.  She realizes that she's standing, and brings her forelegs away from her face, looking around and finding that she's on a stage.  The seats appear to go back forever, and she must be standing in front of every pony in Equestria.  She looks up and sees Courage working the lights, flashing her a single wink before cuing the 'show' to start.  Fluttershy has no clue how to react, and so prompts derisive laughter from every single pony in the audience.  She feels her cheeks turn a deep red at the embarrassment, even though she knows that this isn't real.  The prying eyes of everypony shoot daggers into her heart, and make her step slowly backward, trying to escape their gaze.  In this desperate struggle to escape, she steps between the curtains and off the back of the stage, falling into another horrid scene.

She plummets once more toward the earth, this time seemingly above Ponyville, with no cloud of butterflies to save her this time.  She tries to fly but feels her wings once more pinned to her sides, though this time by something physical.  She looks over her shoulder to see Courage sitting on her back, forelegs wrapped around her wings and keeping them from snapping open.  She keeps her trademark evil grin on her face as she watches them both plunge toward the ground.

"Get off of me!"  Fluttershy yells as loud as she can, struggling to try and shake the pony off.  Her twisting and turning sends them both into a spin, barely clung together only by Courage's forelegs.  The earth pony actually seems to admire the effort from her grunts and chuckles, though she never does let go.

"Not gonna happen, Co-pilot.  It's only a matter of time now before you literally hit rock bott--"  Fluttershy interrupts her cocky speech by kicking her straight in the stomach with both of her hind legs.  Courage finally releases the pegasus and falls independently, allowing Fluttershy to unfold her wings and catch the air.  She's a little late, though, and they both still hit the ground.  Fluttershy slides a few yards in the dirt since she had just caught forward momentum, Courage, however, impacts with a muffled thud.

Fluttershy stands shakily and spits out some of the dirt that found its way into her mouth during the slide, turning around to see Courage writhing on the ground and clutching her ribs.  She walks slowly over to the earth pony, who shakily stands and faces Fluttershy with the same fire in her eyes as before.  Fluttershy tries to hide her fear, knowing that anypony who could stand up after that kind of a fall must be tough.

"Con... Congratulations, Co-pilot... You learned how to fly..."  Courage's sentences continually get interrupted by a horrible cough.  Fluttershy breaks eye contact with her, not in a show of deference, but to observe her surroundings once more, trying to find out where they are now, and anything she could possibly use to her advantage.  She can see her home in front of them, as well as a large plain surrounding the ponies.  "Heh...  You're doing a whole lot better than I thought."  Courage lifts one of her forelegs and wraps it around her side once more, taking a few deep breaths and then producing a large, gold key.  "This is the key to your home, Fluttershy...  Your little friend is in there, so if you can get this from me, all will be well...  But that's a really big 'if'."

The pegasus looks toward her counterpart with a tired and frustrated countenance.  The only thing that keeps her going is the thought of keeping this horrible part of her away from Twilight.  She sniffles a little bit, realizing that her nose is bleeding, but continues to walk anyway.  She keeps her head high and her walk consistent, moving with conviction toward the mocking earth pony.

"Here we go!  Little Fluttershy finally grew a pair!  She's gonna fight me!  Hey everypony!  Fluttershy, the nicest pony in Equestria, is gonna fight me!"  Courage doesn't actually address anypony around, but still showboats as if a stadium were around to witness this.  She whips her head toward Fluttershy and laughs a little bit, swallowing the key and then cringing as it goes down.  "So how d'ya wanna do it?  Boxing? Kickboxing?  MMA?  Wrestling?  Karate?  Neigh-Jitsu?"  Every single time she mentions a specific fighting style she emulates a small stereotype about it in her body motions, gaining a strange wealth of energy after her hard fall.  "Or maybe you just wanna go no-holds-barred dirty grappling...  I'm down for a good romp, maybe I'll slam your pretty head into the dirt a few times... C'mon Fluttershy, look who you're dealin' with here."  She mocks the pegasus every single step she takes.  Fluttershy tries her best to keep her mind clear, realizing that this situation reminds her a little bit of the manticore that she and her friends had to deal with some time ago.  "Here... I'm feeling charitable... I'll give you the first hit!"  Courage tilts her head to the side, exposing her cheek and lower jaw for Fluttershy to punch, presumably.  "I can take whatever you dish out, so go ahead, take the first swing!  I dare ya!  I double-dare ya!"

Fluttershy stops just a few inches away from Courage, who smiles wickedly out of the corner of her mouth, waiting intently for the pegasus's attack.  In one single move, Fluttershy leans forward and kisses Courage right on the cheek, leaving the earth pony dumbfounded and blinking in her position.  "I'm sorry for kicking you, Courage...  I hope you didn't hurt yourself too much in the fall."

Courage can't help but start laughing after a few more seconds of dumbfounded confusion.  She sits back in the dirt and tilts her head back, cracking up completely at the ridiculous gesture of affection from Fluttershy.  "You're too much, Co-pilot...  Before I kick you into the dirt you mind telling me just why you kissed my cheek and apologized to me?"

"Well, sometimes even the most frigid hearts just need a little kindness."  Fluttershy sits back and smiles as Courage realizes just what she's done.  The gesture doesn't have the effect that Fluttershy quite thought it would: Courage seems to actually break apart a little bit, becoming small particles of loose dust, still somehow bound together into a coherent earth-pony shape.  She picks her forelegs up to look at them, leaving a small trail of her dust behind, prompting her to scowl and grit her teeth.

"What the fuck did you do to me?!" Courage stands up and steps back a few feet, watching small yellow flecks flutter off of her and dissipate into the air.  She looks over to see Fluttershy smiling contentedly to herself, watching the situation unfold and Courage grow even more and more angry.  "I'll kill you!"  Fluttershy takes a deep breath and a few steps back as Courage says this.  The earth pony charges forward with a murderous scowl set in her face.  Just before reaching the pegasus she jumps in the air, letting Fluttershy see just how much of her has dissolved in the run.  Courage lifts her hoof to punch Fluttershy right in the nose, swinging it forward at full force.  The pegasus calmly lets her breath out, blowing gently on Courage's hoof, causing it to dissipate completely and become a disordered cloud of yellow steam.  Soon, the rest of the pony's body follows, being pushed back and mixed into the atmosphere by Fluttershy's breath until nothing recognizable as a pony remains in front of the pegasus.  She stands for a minute, surrounded by the yellow and pink steam, admiring its warmth before inhaling from her lack of breath.  The steam follows, filling her lungs and moving into her body, causing Fluttershy to close her eyes and accept the very essence of Courage into herself.  She finishes breathing and holds it in, standing solemnly and feeling a new sense of conviction and bravery take over.  Fluttershy opens her eyes to see the key laying on the ground in front of her, but otherwise no sign of Courage anywhere in her world.

Fluttershy leans down and picks the key up in her hooves, looking side to side to see a lovely natural world around her.  The sun is shining, birds are singing in the trees, and even the ground seems alive.  She happily trots forward stepping up to her doorway and manipulating the key in her hooves to get it positioned right.  Not knowing what's going to be on the other side, she takes a deep breath and cautiously inserts the key into the lock.  She listens intently as each of the pins falls into place, turning the key and hearing the lock snap open.  She doesn't open the door, but looks down at the key while she takes her hoof away from it.

Fluttershy tilts her head as water slowly beginss to trickle out of the lock.  Soon, every crack in the house seems to leak with water, so the pegasus backs away very slowly.  Almost as soon as she gets out of swinging range of the door, the house bursts open and sends a small flood of water in all directions, washing over the pegasus as well as the land.  She keeps her eyes open even as the water pushes her away, breathing in the warmth that is within the fluid.  Once more she doesn't feel the sensation of drowning, only of being in absolute comfort.  The water levels around her soon fade away, leaving only the sky above and the ground around her.  Sprouts of plants already begin to grow in the dirt, leaving Fluttershy surrounded by small, leafy things with the same massive roots where her home used to be.

The pegasus stands up and stretches her wings out, flapping them a few times to dry them off as she walks forward, training her eyes on her sleeping clone.  The pegasus reaches the large structure of roots and reaches her hoof out, gently touching them just to get a feel for how dense they are.  To her surprise they all begin to shift, some twisting and others pulling away, eventually opening up and releasing the pegasus that they kept locked away for years.  She falls to the ground, barely able to stand, so Fluttershy leans down and helps her up.  All the while, the roots twist together, grow, and move until they resemble the very large tree home that Fluttershy used to have.  Small adjustments and growths continue to develop, though at a much slower pace once the general shape has been taken, so Fluttershy focuses her attention on the now semi-conscious pegasus before her.

"Are you alright?"  She asks gingerly as the mare stands up.  Fluttershy looks her over to make sure she's not hurt, and notices, once more, the cutie mark on her hip: only a single butterfly.

"Hah...  Never better... Nothing quite like sleeping for... twelve years is it now?"  She stretches her shoulders and neck, trying to get her bearings as she looks Fluttershy over a few times.  "I really like what you've done with the place."

Fluttershy can't help but smile, not knowing quite what else to say as she slowly begins to realize that she actually won.  "Uhm...  So, what now?"

"What do you mean?  You absorbed the other two...  I think you probably need to absorb me now."

"Well... how would I do that?"

"I'm not like the mean one...  I actually want to be absorbed, it's best for you and probably best for Twilight.  So you're not going to have to find my weakness or anything... Kudos on that by the way, a really smart way to handle that little fight... Couldn't have done it better myself."

"Thank you... she wasn't easy... but wait, how do you know all this?"

"Hah!  Darling, I'm you...  I know everything you know... I thought the smart one and the mean one would have made that pretty clear by now."

"Well... they did... but you've been sleeping for twelve years."

"Yeah...  This is all takin' a little getting used to, but I'll manage."

"Well... how did I know how to deal with Courage?"

"You just followed your insight sweetheart.  You know a lot more than you think you do, so you can act on either instinct or insight...  You knew what you were doing without even knowing it."

"T-thank you...  I know you probably had a hoof in all of this..."

"I may have helped a little when I could."  She smiles and winks at Fluttershy as she steps closer to her.  "But for the most part it was all you.  You're a smart filly, and I must say Twilight is a lucky gal to have you."

"Thank you..."  Fluttershy smiles and looks away, blushing a little bit at the compliments.

"Now c'mere."  Fluttershy's clone reaches around Fluttershy's back and picks her up, holding the two of them very close.

"W-what are you doing?"

"I'm the part of you that helps you with love and kindness...  Put your hoof right there."  She takes Fluttershy's hoof and places it on her hip, while pressing herself up against the other pegasus.  "There, doesn't that feel better?"

"I-I guess it... d-does."  Fluttershy, though embarrassed, isn't totally uncomfortable with the idea.  She does her best to keep her wings under control, which the other pegasus clearly picks up on.  Fluttershy's counterpart stretches her wings out, showing them off to the timid pegasus.  "Oh wow... those are... way bigger than mine..."  Fluttershy looks down and tries to break eye contact, giving up on fighting her own wings as they stretch out to be around half the span of the other's.

"Don't be too jealous, sweetie.  They tend to give me back troubles sometimes."  She follows this with a giggle and gently nuzzles Fluttershy's cheek.  "Come on, you're almost done."  Fluttershy looks up and gazes deep into the happy, calm eyes of her ideal self.  She feels more comfortable than ever in the embrace and allows her cheeks to turn a deep red as she feels the warm breath on her neck.  "Good job, now just... a little closer."  Fluttershy moves with her counterpart's beckoning, slowly pressing their lips together in a very soft, and very intimate kiss.

A familiar feeling of euphoria fills the timid pegasus as she feels every fiber of her being grow warm.  Each second feels to her like one laying on a warm beach, soaking up the comforting heat from around her and basking in a heavenly glow.  She can feel her hooves grow closer together, but doesn't dare open her eyes.  The pegasus never feels her forelegs stop touching a body, but eventually does feel a lack of lips pressed against her own.  Finally opening her eyes, she sees that her ideal self is gone, only leaving her forelegs wrapped around herself.  Even in her absence Fluttershy feels a kind of serenity in her mind that she hasn't known in all her life.  She sits down, looking around at the beautiful, fertile land, growing once more and seeming to reinvent itself; even the tree has grown to its full size and grandeur.  The only thing that isn't completely natural in the setting is her antique clock sitting just a few feet in front of her.  Fluttershy blinks a few times and steps toward the thing, picking it up and looking at the time.  The minutes needle twitches and sets off the alarm, prompting the pegasus to look around and eventually reach to turn it off.  The instant her hoof comes in contact with the button, she wakes up.

Pegasi of a Feather

Fluttershy opens her eyes slowly, expecting to see some other horrible test from her mind, but instead seeing the placid, dimly lit basement that she fell asleep in.  The pegasus lets out a deep sigh of relief and then glances over her shoulder in response to some rustling from behind her.

"Next time we spoon like this...  You're in back."  Twilight props herself up with her foreleg and spits out a single yellow feather.  Fluttershy realizes her wings have extended right into the unicorn's face and turns a little red from the thought.

"Sorry, Twilight...  How'd you sleep otherwise?"  Fluttershy rolls over and looks her marefriend in the eye, retaining that same serenity of the mind that she had gained in her dream.  She can remember every single second of it at this moment, and plays it over and over in her head.

"I slept alright... I was having some weird dreams though."  Twilight stretches and yawns, resting her foreleg around Fluttershy and pulling her in for a kiss. "Uhm... you've still got those electrodes on your head."

Fluttershy rolls her eyes up as far as they'll go and sees the edge of the net of wires, smiling and pulling them off with her hooves.  "There, better?"

"Yeah, but now your hair is all mussed up."  Twilight gently smiles and pulls herself closer to the pegasus.

"There's just no pleasing you is there?"

"Nope, it's just not possible, ask Spike."

The two ponies share a laugh and go back to laying together, staring happily into each others' eyes.  Twilight starts to lean forward a little, prompting Fluttershy to move her nose as well.  She presses her muzzle up against Twilight's and rubs it back and forth, smiling happily and then letting it melt into a kiss.  The two ponies don't want the kiss to ever end, so they breathe through their noses and hold each other close, basking in the warmth that radiates from each of them.  It doesn't take too long for the feeling to slowly fade and bring Fluttershy to break away from the kiss.

"Twilight?"  The pegasus asks, not really having to think about what she's about to say.

"Yes?"  Twilight tilts her head and waits patiently for the question, feeling totally at home with being quizzed.

"Would you feel like this was moving too quickly if I told you... that I think I love you?"

Twilight blushes and giggles a little bit, looking down and tilting her head up slowly, blinking and flashing a shy smile.  "Actually...  I was afraid you'd never say it."

Fluttershy smiles and bumps her muzzle up against Twilight's chin, nudging it up so that they can lock eyes one more time. "What can I say?  I guess after a good night's sleep I've gotten a little extra dose of courage."

Rainbow Dash opens her eyes to a beam of morning light shining in through a crack in the window.  Applejack, already awake, rests her chin on the pegasus's shoulder and smiles down at her.

"Mornin', Dashie."

"Mornin', Biscuit."

"I thought you left me last night."  Applejack noses Rainbow in the cheek, gently giving her a kiss and refusing to move herself away.

"I just went out for some air is all.  I woke up and couldn't quite get back to sleep; there's no constant white noise from the jetstream like there is way up in the sky."

"Well I still worried.  I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't relieved when you came back in."

"I wish you woulda' told me you were awake.  We could have fooled around a bit."  Rainbow rolls herself over after this comment and grins at Applejack, looking her in the eyes all the while.

"I sure as hay hope that's not all this is to you..."

"Of course not, AJ!  You really do make me feel something I've never felt before...  I just can't help myself sometimes: you're just that sexy."

"Don't be too flatterin'... You're pretty good lookin' yourself, Rainbow."

"Oh I know, you'd have a run for your money if there were two of me, I can tell ya that right now."

Applejack rolls her eyes and flops onto her back, not paying anymore attention to the snickering pegasus.  Rainbow immediately apologizes in her usual half-hearted manner, trying to get the earth pony to crack a smile with some tickling.  After a short period of calm, Applejack writhes beneath Rainbow's hooves and has to fight herself from kicking the bed into splinters with her powerful hind legs.

"Rainbow!  Cut it out!" The earth pony tries to push a tinge of seriousness into her voice, though the incessant giggling doesn't make that work quite as well as she wants it to.

"I didn't know you were so ticklish, AJ."  Rainbow holds the earth pony down, though just barely, and keeps rubbing her hooves up and down beneath her forelegs, grinning and starting to laugh herself.  The earth pony manages to position her foreleg behind Rainbow's shoulder just high enough to pull her down, slamming her face-first into the mattress and holding her there.  The pegasus grins and uses her new proximity to Applejack to give her a gentle kiss that neither of them decide to break.

"What're y'all doin'?"  A little, familiar voice chimes in from the slightly cracked open doorway; Rainbow didn't latch it last night because she though Applejack was still asleep.

"Apple Bloom!  You spyin' on us?"  Applejack pokes her head up from the bed and scolds the filly in the doorway.

"No, y'all are just makin' so darn much noise it's hard not to ask."  This comment makes Applejack blush a tad, prompting a torrent of laughter from Rainbow Dash.

"Why don't you c'mon in here Apple Bloom, we're not doin' anything bad."  Rainbow pats the side of the bed with her hoof and stretches out to make a little bit of room.

"Whaddya mean by bad? Were y'all doin' somethin' wrong?"

Rainbow flashes Applejack a slight cringe, not quite sure how to approach the situation and looking for some kind of help.

"What she means is that we weren't doin' nothin' that you're too young to see.  We were just havin' a tickle fight."

"Ohhhh, I get it.  Kinda like that time I walked in on Big Macintosh in his room all by himself with--"

"Yes! Exactly like that...  But we promised him we wouldn't go a-talkin' about that, remember?"  Applejack makes sure to interrupt the filly before she says too much.

"Wull gee sis, you must really like Rainbow.  It's been ages since you've had a tickle fight with me."

"You could say I really really really do like Rainbow."  Rainbow Dash can see that very unique smile that Applejack gets whenever something sentimental gets in her head, and so reaches over and hugs her.  She uses the fact that Apple Bloom isn't quite paying attention to her other foreleg to get her hoof behind the filly and viciously surprise her.

"We'll just have to change that then won't we?"  Dash asks as she tickles the writhing and giggling earth pony, smiling up at Applejack, who happily joins in until the pair are afraid that Apple Bloom is going to pass out from laughter.

Twilight steps into her kitchen area, the pile of papers taken from the EEG machine downstairs levitating lazily beside her and with Fluttershy in tow.  She drops the stack of paper on the end of her dining room table and steps over to the counter, removing a small bag of coffee and a covered bowl of sugar from a nearby cabinet.

"I didn't know you drank coffee, Twilight."  Fluttershy takes a seat at the table and watches Twilight's movements, trying to make a little smalltalk as the unicorn produces an old looking french-press coffee pot and begins boiling enough water for two.

"I only do sometimes, frankly I feel like I didn't sleep a wink.  I think I was having nightmares."

"Oh?  Remember anything about it?"

Twilight doesn't want to admit to being so worked up about a failing grade, so she slightly distorts the truth. "I do... but it's a little fuzzy...  I remember being in my room but that's pretty much it."

"Well I'm sorry you didn't sleep well...  Uhm, need any help with all that?"

"Oh, no that's okay, but here."  Twilight steps away from the kettle of water on the stove after placing the coffee grounds into the coffee pot, moving to sit down right across from Fluttershy and flipping through the stack of papers. "Let's take a look at this, I'm still interested.  Do you remember any out-of-the-ordinary type dreams from last night?"

"Heh, you could say that..."  Fluttershy struggles to remember specific events as the day drags on, losing more and more of the strange happenings to the information of the day, but still clings onto a few noteworthy events.

"Anything specific?  Also: it seems like you had some unusually long REM patterns last night..."

"Uhm...  What does that mean?"

"It means you spent more time in an actual dreamstate than most normal ponies... though I don't have any data from an average night to compare it to...  unfortunately."

"Well... I do remember that there was a really big tree, uhm... my parents were there for a short time... ehm."  Fluttershy tries to remember specific details, but feels them slip just at the tip of her tongue.  "I think I had a talk with myself..."

"A talk with yourself?  Like... in a mirror? or face-to-face? or just you in the middle of nowhere talking to nopony else?"

"Face-to-face...  Different parts of myself actually... there was a unicorn who kinda reminded me of you... and an earth pony that reminded me of Rainbow Dash... and a pegasus that was kind of... uhm... really really really nice...  But they were all me... if that makes any sense."

"Very interesting...  do you remember what you talked about?"

"Not really...  I think the earth pony wanted to kill me, but the unicorn and the pegasus helped me out a little bit..."

"The earth pony wanted to kill you?  That's not good..."

"Yeah...  No kidding.  She wasn't as nice as Rainbow but she seemed to have the same attitude sometimes..."

"Oh well...  I'll just have to 'study' you for a few more nights to see just what's out of whack up there in your head."

"That sounds lovely, Twilight... but please don't make me wear anymore wires to bed."

Twilight giggles and gets up to pour the water into the coffee pot, pressing it down and bringing it over to the table along with a pair of cups. "Deal."

Twilight moves her chair to be right next to Fluttershy's, resting her head on the pegasus's shoulder and clearly exhausted as she concentrates on the small bubbles floating to the top of the clear glass pot.  Fluttershy leans over and nuzzles the top of Twilight's head, holding her close and trying to keep her awake with another conversation. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something..."

"I dunno if I like the sound of that...  What is it?"

Fluttershy laughs a little and props the unicorn's head up.  "I just think that maybe we should tell everypony about... well... us."

Twilight turns red in the cheeks and thinks for a minute, keeping a sly countenance and just smiling back at the pegasus.  "Alright, how did you want to do it?"

"Well... Pinkie Pie and Rarity are really the only ones of our close friends that don't know...  Maybe we just have Pinkie throw a party and we mention it while everypony is in good spirits?"

"Alright sure, she'll probably insist we throw a party anyway once we tell her.  Wanna head over to Sugar Cube Corner now?  I'll walk you home afterward and we can check on your pets."

"That sounds lovely, Twilight."

Pinkie Pie obsesses over the order in which to place the freshly baked cupcakes for the first few customers of the day, swapping them around and rearranging them over and over so that they have just the right quality of display for anypony looking in the window.  She nearly drops the tray as the bell above the doorway startles her, causing her to spin her head around and see none other than Rarity standing shivering just inside the store.

"Goodness it's cold out today..."  The purple maned unicorn shivers and kicks the door shut, trying to quickly escape the frigid air.

"Wull, it is winter."  Pinkie finally gets her cupcakes right and places them in the display window as she makes this obvious point even more so.

"Thank you, Pinkie... I had no idea."

"You're welcome!  So what can I do for you?"

"Oh I just stopped by to pick up some breakfast again.  Sweetie Belle is set to come back today so I figure I should have something tasty waiting for her... just as a nice gesture."

"Awwh, well that's sweet of you!  What would you like?"

"I think two of those danishes would do just fine, one for each of us."

"Here ya go!  Two bits please."  Pinkie hands the pastries over, still steaming from the oven, and takes the coins over to the cash register.

"Thank you, these smell incredible.  By the way have you seen Twilight and Fluttershy around lately?  Our bet is still on you know."

"Oh I know, and I have seen them.  They're right there!"  Pinkie points over Rarity's shoulder to the storefront window; Twilight and Fluttershy walk side by side toward the door and lightly nudge it open.  The couple steps inside together; Fluttershy stands with her wing around Twilight's withers as usual, and takes their place near Rarity after extending a greeting to both of the ponies inside.

"Hey there you two!"  Twilight calls out as she and her marefriend happily step up to the counter.

"Heya, Twi.  What can I help you with today?"  Pinkie Pie takes a stance at the counter as if she's about to take up the bad habits of a door-to-door sales pony.

"We're just here for some breakfast really... and uhm, to ask you something."  Fluttershy calmly looks over the freshly baked  treats in the window, trying to downplay that last portion of the comment.

"Oh? What would that be?"  Pinkie flashes Rarity a grin and goes about getting ready for another sale.

"We were just wondering if you'd mind throwing a party for the six of us and maybe just a few others..."

"What's the occasion?"  Pinkie giggles and seems to know exactly what's coming, Rarity on the other hand sits quietly and listens in on the conversation, determined to ride out the five bit bet with Pinkie until the bitter end.

Fluttershy smiles and blushes just a little bit, not so much in embarrassment but just from the uniqueness of the situation.  She looks over to Twilight and opens her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the unicorn.  "Frankly, Fluttershy and I have been spending a good deal of... well... 'personal' time together lately, and I guess we just wanted to make it official that we're going out.  The party was her idea, but what better way to celebrate than to get together with everypony and have some fun?"  Pinkie can barely hold back her glee, but does so just for Rarity's sake, considering how badly she's lost her bet.  The surprise definitely shows in her eyes, but she manages to extend a very sincere congratulation to the happy couple, as well as extending a hoof-full of bits over to Pinkie the instant Twilight's back is turned.

"Why don't you two come back around eight tonight?"  Pinkie asks as she frames out the store for in her head for decorations.  "I'll be off at six and then I can have plenty of time to decorate!"

"You sure two hours will be enough?"  Twilight asks the excited pony, breaking her away from her frantic mental acrobatics about the room.

"Uhm, hel-lo!  Have we met?"

"Okay, okay.  You've made your point...

"Just go have a good time tonight you two, then come see me and everypony else!"

"Okay, Pinkie... Thank you so much."  Fluttershy chimes this last part in and nudges Twilight back toward the door.  The pegasus is eager to get home, but definitely feels the desire to cling onto her marefriend and keep her as close as she can.  Twilight gets the hint and walks toward the door, pushing it open with her hoof and holding it for Fluttershy.  The pegasus uses her wing as a shield for both her and Twilight against the wind, quickly trotting in the direction of her house.

The instant the two ponies are gone, Rarity looks over at Pinkie and lets her jaw almost drop to the floor.

"Told ya, silly."  Pinkie drops the five coins on the table and counts them out, giggling at the unicorn in her usual manner.

"I never would have seen it coming...  You wouldn't happen to have any gossip on any other ponies around town that are... well... 'like that' would you?"

"Lyra and Bonbon for sure."

"Oh of course!  Even I can see that."

"Hmm...  Octavia and Vinyl."

"The DJ pony?"

"That's the one."

"Hmm...  Well I won't doubt that one too much, they certainly do seem to like each other.  Anypony else?  This is rather juicy."

"Well I've got a feeling about Rainbow and Applejack."

"There's no way...  Rainbow Dash maybe but I just don't see it at all in Applejack."

Pinkie giggles mischievously and rubs her hooves together.  "Wanna bet?"

"You're so on."

"Let's make this one interesting, got any ideas?"

"Perhaps staying with the theme of things...  Loser has to kiss one of the ponies at the party."  Rarity seems very sure of herself this time to risk such a thing.

"Like a kiss or a kiss kiss?"

"Kiss kiss."

"You're on."

"Please don't tell me you're a fillyfooler too, Pinkie..."

"Nah, mares are waaaay too hard to figure out, I like colts, they're nice and simple."  Pinkie Pie gazes over her hoof as if inspecting it for any small flaws, being as nonchalant as she possibly can.

"That's certainly an... interesting way of putting it, Pinkie."  Rarity wants so badly to call her a hypocrite, but just doesn't want to cross that line.

"I try!  By the way if I'm wrong I'll give you back your five bits on top of that little extra part."

"So we have a deal then, I look forward to this."

"So do I!"

With Friends Like These

Applejack and Rainbow Dash finally decide to get out of bed, though only to eat something substantial as there's almost no work to be done this morning.  The earth pony steps out of the bedroom first, holding the door open with her back hoof for Rainbow to follow.  The cyan mare looks around for any family and swats Applejack's rump with her wing as she passes, flashing her a wink before walking toward the stairs.  Applejack catches up with Rainbow and follows her downstairs, catching a glimpse of Big Macintosh hurrying Apple Bloom out the door to get to school.

"Heya big brother."  She calls downstairs as soon as the door shuts, softly stepping down and giving the big stallion a hug.

"Howdy, Sis.  Sleep well?"  The clydesdale tilts his head down and happily accepts the hug, sending a slight nod toward the cyan pegasus behind Applejack.

"Yessir I did, how about you?"

"Oh just the usual.  'Course I didn't have another pony to share the bed with and keep me nice'n'warm all night long."

"Oh pfft, don't give me that... she ain't that warm."

"Hey, I'm standing right here!"  Rainbow indignantly responds to the comment, sloughing off the small chuckle that Big Macintosh sends her way.

"You wanna come into town with us big bro?  I figure we could go get somethin' to eat and maybe visit Twilight and Fluttershy for a bit."  Applejack steps back and joins Rainbow at her side, stretching out her shoulders a little bit as she's still a bit stiff from just waking up.

"Nah, I gotta stick around here for a bit and help Granny Smith, she's got some things that need movin' and goodness knows she can't do it by herself."

"Well alright, I'll be back sometime tonight."

"See ya then."  He may not say much, but both Rainbow and Applejack can see the quiet intelligence glimmering behind his big eyes.

Rainbow Dash just shrugs and goes along with Applejack, not really caring what they do so long as it's with her.  The cyan pegasus grabs Applejack's scarf and passes it on to her, content to go without anything in the winter air.

"You sure you don't wanna borrow somethin'?  Looks chilly out there."

"I'll be fine, I'm used to the cold."

"If ya insist.  We ain't comin' back just on account of you a'changin' yer mind halfway down the road now, just sayin'."

"It's fine, AJ.  Really."  The pegasus has to fight back a laugh at this semi-aggressive side to her marefriend.  She holds the door open and lets Applejack out first, following along and puffing up her wings to help keep some of her body heat trapped.  Rainbow notices that nopony is around and so goes about walking just a few feet behind AJ, staring conspicuously at her backside as she walks and admiring the muscular curves.  She quietly laughs in her mind, thinking about just how much she'd love to have some shy pony beside her to bump with her elbow and say: "Yeah.  I'm hittin' that."

Twilight and Fluttershy sit on a park bench during their walk back, taking a small break in the beautiful winter day.  The bone chilling wind has stopped and left only a very cold, but very still sense of calm around the entire town.  The snow pack from the past few days is riddled with small hoofprints and sled trails, leaving a rough and dotted surface for the two ponies to look at as they simply sit and take in their environment.  The pair sits in silence, though a very comfortable one, as they sit right up next to each other on the bench, unperturbed by the frigid air so long as they're side by side and keeping each other warm.  Fluttershy bides her time trying to make shapes out of the various puffy clouds floating overhead, while Twilight rests her head sideways on the pegasus's shoulder, silently daydreaming about the park in the summertime.

"It sure is lovely out here today."  Fluttershy breaks the silence but not her gaze, tracking a cloud that looks suspiciously close to a bunny as it lazily floats through the sky.

"It certainly is...  And this view from right here is absolutely perfect."  Twilight speaks as she looks directly into Fluttershy's eyes, making the pegasus blush a little.  She resists the urge to shy away and leans in for a gentle kiss, receiving exactly the same enthusiasm back from the unicorn.

"Twilight, I can't thank you enough for spending so much time with me, I'm sure you've got studying and such to do."  The pegasus says softly as she breaks away from the kiss, keeping her muzzle very close to Twilight's.

"Awh, well all of that can wait.  It's mostly just my own personal projects anyhow; the Princess hasn't requested anything specific in a long while."

"Well I'd hate to intrude on that either way."

"No intrusion at all, Fluttershy.  Honestly I don't think I've been this excited to leave the Library since I first came to Ponyville."

"Awwh, well I'm certainly happy to join you any time you like.  You really brighten my days."

Twilight just smiles and hugs around Fluttershy's waist, holding her close and kissing her cheek; the two of them couldn't be happier.  A few minutes pass in quiet bliss for the two ponies, only being interrupted by a light growling of Fluttershy's stomach.

"Uhm, Twilight?"  She asks the unicorn, who giggles a little bit having heard the sound.

"Yeah I know... we forgot to get breakfast."

Fluttershy laughs and stretches her wings out, wrapping one around Twilight's back as she stands up from the bench.  "I'll make us something when we get back to my place.  I'm pretty sure I have some veggies laying around that would be perfect."

Twilight responds with a gentle nod, walking with the pegasus toward her home.  She breathes in deep, taking as much of the clean, crisp winter air as she can and letting it out in a happy sigh.  She leans over and gives Fluttershy a small kiss on the cheek, staying close to her the whole walk back and cherishing every single second that they can be together.

The walk to Fluttershy's home is almost automatic, having gone the route many times prior, and leaves the two to happily chat away about the random gossip around town, recent projects, and other such smalltalk.  Fluttershy generally keeps quiet as she still feels uncomfortable talking down about anypony, but doesn't hesitate too much to share a good chuckle at somepony else's expense.  Before they even know it, the pair is at the front door to Fluttershy's home.  The pegasus slowly and quietly opens it to avoid waking up any of her snoozing animal friends, should they be in earshot.  After a quick glance around the room, Fluttershy flicks on the light and steps inside, bringing the lavender unicorn in and offering her a seat on the couch.  Angel Bunny sticks his head into the living room and spots Twilight.  The unicorn, to his chagrin, spots him at almost the same time, and beckons him over.  Cautiously, the rabbit hops over and jumps into Twilight's lap, accepting the lavender mare's big hug and torrent of baby-talk about just how cute he is.

Fluttershy digs around her refrigerator, pulling a bag of fresh carrots and celery stalks from a small drawer and dropping it on the counter.  The pegasus briefly considers making some soup since the day is slowly progressing toward lunchtime, but resolves to simply rinse them off and bring them out raw.  She steps out of the kitchen and back into the living room, smiling as she sees Twilight holding Angel and scratching her hoof between his ears.

"N'aww, you two look so adorable."  She says through her teeth gripped around the handles of the bag.

"Now I know why you spoil him so much...  How'd you find him anyway?"  Twilight giggles softly at the pegasus and delicately strokes the bunny.  Most of his traumatic associations with Twilight have faded by now, giving him a cautious but still calm demeanor as he lays happily in her lap.

"He was actually really sick when I found him; he got away from his family when he was just a little tiny bunny.  I was taking a walk one day and it was in the middle of fall, only a couple of days before the first snow, and he was just on the side of the trail, shivering.  I couldn't just leave him there so I took him home with me, and even after he got better, since he didn't know where his family was, I just didn't feel right letting him go, so he's shared space with me ever since."

"Awwh!  Well you've done a great job nursing him back to health.  He seems very happy."

"Can you blame him?  I'd be super happy to sit in your lap and have my head scratched."  Fluttershy smiles and takes a seat next to Twilight, laying the bag down on the table just in front of them and revealing all of the food inside.  The carrots capture Angel's attention, so Twilight decides to feed him one.  Fluttershy takes a stalk of celery for herself and delicately munches it down, resting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder and smiling over to her; the scene, at least in her eyes, couldn't be more perfect.  Just to cap it off, however, the pegasus gingerly kisses Twilight's cheek, following it up with a smooch on the top of Angel's head.  She can't help but feel almost like a family.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack walk through the quiet town square and head toward Sugar Cube Corner.  As they approach the building, Applejack catches a glimpse of Rarity's tail turning the corner at the opposite end of the street, but she's too far gone to catch with a yell.  The couple shrugs and heads into the building, catching Pinkie Pie between her short, semi-frequent trips upstairs.

"Hey you two!  What can I get ya?"  The pink pony asks as she bounds down the stairs, happy as always.

"You wouldn't happen to have any coffee would ya?"  Rainbow Dash asks with a yawn, stepping up to the counter and lazily gazing at all of the confections beneath the glass.

"Yeah, I reckon that's a good idea, actually."  Applejack yawns in return and scolds Rainbow under her breath for keeping her up all night.

"Well it hasn't been very busy today so I haven't actually made any, but I'll go get a pot started, be about five minutes alright?"  Pinkie Pie fakes a yawn for their sake, gathering up all of the supplies for making coffee that she needs from under the cash register.  Surprisingly enough, the hyper pony doesn't actually like coffee: it tends to be a tad too bitter for her sweet-inclined palate.  As such, making it proves to be somewhat of a chore for her, but eventually she gets the order right and starts the process off.  "So what brings you two all the way out here?"

"Oh we're just taking a day to ourselves.  Walking around town, getting some breakfast right now."  Rainbow says as she decides on a large croissant sitting temptingly at the front of the display case.  She points it out to Pinkie, who happily delivers it to the hungry pegasus.

"Rainbow... it's lunch time."  Applejack interjects, but orders an identical one for herself.  Rainbow decides to pay this time, keeping the pastry in her mouth as she fishes out a couple of bits for the food and the coffee.

"Breakfast is whenever the hay I decide to have the first meal of the day."  The cyan pegasus says with a mouthful of croissant.

"Nice that you're taking some time to yourselves, I could really use a day off."  The pink pony rings up the purchase and hands the pair their coffee, having left room for some cream and sugar and flashing them a wink.  "By the way, while I've got you here: Twilight and Fluttershy are having me throw a party today, here at Eight, and they want us all to be there."

"Alright, sounds like fun.  What's the occasion?"  Applejack asks since Rainbow's mouth is far too full to make any kind of coherent sentence.

"Well, they're... 'together' now so they wanted to celebrate and let everypony know.  Plus it's a party... who need a good reason to have a party?"

"Good point... I guess... But anyway that's great!  We're certainly happy for those two, they make an adorable couple don't they?"  Applejack finishes up a hefty sip of her coffee after saying this and gently pats Rainbow's leg under the table.  "I reckon it's 'cuz of them that Rainbow and I ended up together too."

"Hah!  I knew it!"  Pinkie jumps in place happily, clapping her front hooves together and grinning big.

"You okay?"  Rainbow asks as she finishes her coffee, tossing the empty cup into a trashcan halfway across the room and just barely making it in.

"Who me?  Oh yeah, I'm fine... say, would you two mind doing me a favor at the party when you see Rarity lookin' at ya?"  The pink pony follows this up with a somewhat mischievous grin, leaning over the counter as if to tell them a secret.

Applejack looks at Pinkie and knows she's up to no good.  "What favor?"

"Hah, I think I like where this is going..."  Rainbow Dash looks over at her marefriend and rests her hoof on her foreleg.

"If you're not too busy you're welcome to help me out upstairs, but just make sure Rarity is looking and then just kiss each other or something, be affectionate, rub it in her face that you two are together."

"You, Pinkie Pie, have yourself a deal."  Rainbow snickers under her breath and looks over to Applejack, who seems slightly less than amused at the idea.

"That seems kinda petty don'tcha think?"

"Uhm, AJ?"  Pinkie asks her, looking her in the eye with a very serious look. "We're talkin' about Rarity and you're worried about being too petty?"

"Alright you've made your point, I'll do it."

"Yay!  This is gonna be fun!"

Flourish

With Applejack and Rainbow Dash's help, not to mention the insane efficiency of the fabled 'party cannon', Pinkie Pie manages to get the upstairs to Sugar Cube Corner decorated for a friendly party in just under an hour.  The clock strikes seven and the earth pony glances around for any last-minute changes.  Since there's so much time left, Pinkie Pie resolves to bake a large batch of fresh cupcakes and make some more punch just to add a little extra to this party.

"Rainbow, AJ, thank you so much for your help, you really made this whole thing a ton easier."  Pinkie states as she wipes her forehead with her foreleg, glancing around her disorganized kitchen cabinets for the necessary ingredients.

"Aw shucks, Pinkie, it's the least we can do.  You're throwing us this party after all."  Applejack helps clean up some loose packaging from the dozens of balloons and streamers cast around the room.

"Yeah, we wouldn't be very good friends if we let you do all this completely on your own would we?"  Rainbow Dash, using an old towel to polish the scorch marks off of the wall near where the party cannon had misfired, actually shows her loyal side for a short time.

"Well it still means a lot, thank you.  If you want to you can help yourselves to some of the food downstairs that I didn't sell."

"Wull thanks, Pinkie.  You want us to bring you up something from down there?"  Applejack tosses her arm around Rainbow's withers as the two of them head over to join their pink friend.

"Yeah, if there are any danishes left I'd love one."

"We'll be sure and grab you one."

The two head downstairs and into the store, spotting a trio of earth ponies looking into the window.  Applejack walks over to greet them and let them know that the shop is closed for the evening, while Rainbow wastes no time digging into the pastries.  Applejack opens the door a crack and sees Roseluck, Lilly and Daisy all standing together eager to get in.

"Hey you three, uhm, shop's been closed up for a while now, sorry for any uhm, inconvenience."  Applejack tries to act professional just to keep Mr. and Mrs. Cake and Pinkie Pie's reputation for picking good help in tact.

"Oh, well we're actually here for the party."  Lilly states as she shivers and sloughs off the winter cold.

"Oh really?  Well... That's not for another hour, then.  Sorry... again."

"Told you it was at eight, Lilly."  Daisy snips, blowing some warm air into her hooves and rubbing them together.

"And I told you to shut the hay up!"  Lilly doesn't hesitate to defend herself, prompting Applejack to close\ the door and back away in order to avoid getting caught up in the tussle.  The muffled sounds of their fading voices can easily be heard as the earth pony steps back upstairs.

"Uhm, Pinkie?"  Applejack calls out into what appears to be an empty upstairs room.

"Yeah?"  Pinkie's voice comes from above her, so Applejack tilts her chin up to see the pink pony dangling by what appears to be a bungee cord attached to the rafters above, setting balloons into the wall as she falls and retracts.

"Ehm, just how many ponies did you invite to this party, Pinkie?"  In probably one of the better decisions of her life, Applejack refrains from asking her just how she managed to do that (or for that matter, how she plans to get down from there) and simply inquires about the expected head count for the evening.

"Oh..." Each of her statements are spoken at the height of her drop, and cut short just before she flies back up.  "I... invited... everypony that... came into... the store... today!"

"No kidding..."  Applejack tries to act nonchalant but secretly feels a heavy sense of nervousness.  She walks back down to go see Rainbow, who has finished annihilating Pinkie's supply of day-old baked goods, and sits next to her.  "Pinkie didn't tell you just how many ponies she invited to this thing, did she Rainbow?"

"Nope...  I figured it'd just be the six of us."  She answers and sits back; her eyes droop a little from gorging herself after the unusual day of physical activity.

"Well... Turns out it might be everypony that walked into the store today, that's assumin' they all show up on the invitation..."

Rainbow opens her eyes wide and looks at Applejack, immediately thinking about how Fluttershy and Twilight are going to react to such a crowd.  "Holy shit."

"Couldn't'a said it better mahself..."

"You think Twilight and Fluttershy will flip?"

"I don't imagine they'll be all too comfortable..."

"Well...  Let's just sit back and enjoy the fireworks then... not much we can do about it."

"Good point..."

Fluttershy and Twilight hold each other in a deep embrace, hovering via Fluttershy's wings just a few feet above her bed.  The happy couple shares a kiss, legs entwined with each other with the earth-bound pony clinging onto Fluttershy as she flaps her hardest to keep them aloft.  The pegasus can only stand to keep herself and Twilight airborne for a couple of minutes, unfortunately, and so drops them both onto the bed with a resounding thud.

"Sorry about that...  I'm not a very strong flier..."  Fluttershy looks down, a little embarrassed at the fact that she couldn't keep afloat too long.

"That's alright, I'll just have to take your word for it that mid-flight tomfoolery is great fun."  Twilight strokes her hoof through the pegasus's mane, brushing it out of her face and kissing her nose.

"Well...  I've never done it before, so I don't actually know...  but it's supposed to be much better... a-at least according to Rainbow."

"She told you?"

"She tells me a lot of things...  back in Flight school I think she made a game about how many times a day she could make me blush and hide my face."

Twilight giggles and wraps her forelegs around the pegasus.  "Can ya blame her?  You're adorable when you're blushing."

"Oh c'mon, it can't be that cute...  Can it?"

"Well, technically it sends a mixed message...  Blushing does denote embarrassment, but shyness is also attractive based on empirical tests on the matter, so for hotheads like Rainbow who tend to take chances it's--"  Fluttershy interrupts Twilight by pressing her hoof up against the lavender unicorn's muzzle.

"It was a rhetorical question, Twilight."

"Sorry."  The unicorn smiles and blushes a bit, happy to be in her marefriend's arms once more.  "We've still got a little bit before we have to leave for that party...  Might you want to share a shower with me?"

Fluttershy hesitates to answer right away, looking around just out of reflex and feeling another small sting in her cheeks.  "Definitely."

Twilight pushes Fluttershy onto her back and crawls over her, being sure to show off her body to the pegasus as she watches 'helplessly' from her position on the bed.  Twilight blushes and giggles, unable to believe what she's doing; she doesn't drag any of her weight over the mare's face, but lifts herself up, hopping off of the bed and offering her hoof to help the pegasus up with her.  They slowly walk to the bathroom together, not wanting to be apart for more than a second if they can help it.  Fluttershy shuts the door behind her as they step inside while Twilight flicks the lights on.  They share a shy, but still suggestive smile and move together for a warm kiss, holding each other close and falling deeper and deeper into the moment.  Fluttershy extends her wing and uses it to open the curtain around her shower, stepping backward into it and beckoning Twilight to join her with a tilt of the hoof.  The unicorn happily grins and steps inside, magically closing up the curtain and turning the water on to a nice, warm temperature.  Twilight gets the first hit of water, letting her mane out as it rapidly gets soaked all the way through.  She moves her hair out of her eyes and uses her magic to point the shower head at Fluttershy, bringing her mane down in the water as well and making the pegasus blush just a little bit from the excitement.  They kiss one more time, though, this time with slightly more emotion and force than before, knowing exactly where this is going to take them.

Applejack cracks her neck in a very un-lady-like manner after setting down a few chairs from upstairs that she had to move.  Pinkie decided at the last minute to strip away most of the seating in the party area, so the two ponies who so selflessly offered to help are now working their flanks off to please the ruthless and unquenchable thirst of Pinkie's orders for party perfection.  Rainbow, having heard the unattractive crunching of bone, steps up behind Applejack and places her hooves firmly on the earth pony's withers.  She slowly kneads her tired muscles in firm but still gentle circles, giving her a back rub that could soothe even the most tired and stressed of farm workers.

"Nnnghh...  You're way too darn good at that..."  Applejack can't stop herself from leaning down and accepting the back rub.  Rainbow knows just the right places after years of experience, and so could easily make anypony in town melt just with the touch of her hooves.  Had she been slightly less inclined to wile away her days and fly whenever she wanted, Aloe and Lotus at the spa would hire her as a masseuse faster than the blink of an eye.

"Thank you, thank you.  You're lucky I'm not chargin' you for these."  Rainbow adds a little extra kiss to the back of Applejack's neck as she brings her hooves lower on her body, eventually reaching her lower back and causing the earth pony to sit up a little more straight.

"And you're lucky I'm even lettin' ya put yer hooves on me.  Ask the last fella that tried that and he'll tell ya that mah orchard ain't got the only apples I'll kick."

"I'll bet his voice is squeakier than Fluttershy's when she's scared."

"Hah, well I didn't hear him say much after that, but I'd be willin' to wager you're probably right."

"I'd sure hate to ever have to be on the business end of your legs, AJ."

"Much prefer the pleasure end don't ya?"

"Very much so."

Applejack turns her head and presses her muzzle against Rainbow's, who happily accepts the gesture.  She continues to rub her hooves up and down Applejack's back, although can't keep her coordination quite as perfect as it was.  The earth pony pulls away and grins at the pegasus, hiding her slight blushing with a smug look on her face and another series of short kisses.  Their moment is shattered by a high pitched clearing of the throat from a giggling pink pony at the bottom of the stairs.

"Uhm, I don't have anything against you two doing that or anything, but if you don't mind at least moving it someplace private... that'd be just great."  She giggles and trots over to them, handing Rainbow Dash a small, brass key.  "This is the key to my bedroom, try not to knock anything over while you're in there..."

"R-Really?"  Rainbow seems a bit shocked from the earth pony's offer to use her bedroom.  Pinkie just shrugs and steps away, continuing to decorate the upstairs with various finishing touches.  The two lovers check the clock on the far wall and see that it's only 7:20, plenty of time to fool around before the party.

"I'm game if you are, Dashie."  Applejack prods the pegasus's ribs just beneath her wings, grabbing her attention before she spaces out too much.

"Do you even have to ask?"

"First one to finish buys dinner tomorrow?"

"Ooh makin' a game out of it, eh?  Challenge accepted, Biscuit."

Pinkie just giggles softly and shakes her head as the two lovers disappear behind her door.  Hanging up a streamer from one wall to the other and softly humming to herself.  She tries to think whether she hid that vibrator that she bought from Rarity well enough; knowing that Rainbow might be slightly less honor-bound than Applejack and take it for a spin.  Pinkie steps down and trots to the middle of the room, looking around and finding herself satisfied with the fruits of her labor.  She heads downstairs and picks up a leftover danish that Rainbow and Applejack forgot to bring up for her, messily chomping it down.  She looks around at the empty store, sitting on a chair in the corner and taking a minute of calm for herself.  Feeling alone isn't something that Pinkie is used to, but from time to time she doesn't mind just sitting back and enjoying the waning light of the disappearing sun as it pours in through her windows.  She tilts her head back and rests her forelegs over her eyes and forehead, groaning a little bit and speaking up just to herself.

"I need a coltfriend..."

"But I'm not even tired!"  Sweetie Belle complains as Rarity tucks her into bed.  Rarity kneels next to her small bed and looks at her with a very soft countenance.

"I know you're not, I can tell...  But frankly you've got school tomorrow and I've got... well... 'dinner' tonight, so I can't be around to watch you...  I really just need you to get to sleep, please?"  Rarity begs the filly to just try and get to sleep, knowing that she'll undoubtedly get into some kind of trouble if she's up while the older unicorn isn't present to watch her.

"Aww c'mon sis, why don't you ever trust me?"  Sweetie Belle manages to always put on a pathetic face any time she wants to guilt trip Rarity out of something; time and time again it works.

"Please don't give me that look... you're not in trouble or anything, and it's not that I don't trust you, per se..."  Rarity hesitates to come up with a slightly less offensive way of saying it, even though she truly and deeply does not trust the filly.

"Then why are you makin' me go to bed before you leave?"

"Well...  It's because I do trust you, Sweetie..."  Rarity does her best to distort the truth for her younger sister.

"That doesn't make any sense...  If you trusted me why don't you let me stay awake?"

"Well...  Because you're young, and since you're as young as you are I'm technically not supposed to leave you alone at all... understand?"

"I think so...  But that doesn't explain why I need to go to bed."

"Well...  If you're awake then something could happen, and even if it's not your fault, it still happened while you were awake, and alone, so I could get in trouble, and so can you.  If you're asleep and something happens then there's no way it can possibly be your fault, so I'm trusting you to be a good girl and get your beauty rest while I go off to dinner and then come back to a safe home, and a safe filly."

The truth-stretching works insofar as to confuse Sweetie Belle, which is all Rarity ever really set out to do.  "So... by going to bed, I'm making sure everything will be okay for when you get back, and that means you're trusting me to make sure everything's okay?"

"Almost...  By going to sleep, you're ensuring that nothing that happens in this place can be your fault, so I'm asking you to take care of yourself while I'm gone...  It just so happens that taking care of yourself means going to bed... quietly... understand?"  Rarity has to paste a fake grin on her face and fights herself from rubbing the back of her neck.  She knows how good the filly is at telling when she's lying, and so focuses intently on her every single movement.

"Alright, big sister...  I guess you're right, and I'm feeling kinda sleepy anyhow."  In Rarity's mind she's doing a very happy dance, but has to filter it through good judgment in the form of a kiss on the forehead.

"You're a good little sister, Sweetie Belle.  I'll see you tomorrow; sleep tight, and just remember: when you go to bed early, good dreams are more likely to happen!"

Sweetie Belle smiles and snuggles her head into the pillow.  "Alright.  I love you, Rarity."

"I love you too, Sweetie Belle."  This last comment strikes the unicorn extra hard since she has just lied her sister into bed, but knows it's for the greater good.  For as much as the little one gets on her nerves, Rarity really does love her with all her heart.

Rarity steps downstairs and looks at her clock; 7:35, too early to head over to the party, but too late to actually get anything accomplished.  She thinks to herself about how boring this next twenty minutes will probably be.  She can't just go wake Sweetie Belle up for some kind of game, that would counteract everything she had just worked for...  But she also can't just sit there or she'll be bored to tears.  The unicorn rubs her legs together a little as she paces around the living room, feeling a familiar thought prod its way into her mind.

It certainly has been a while since I've...  She tosses the idea around in her head: she sold a 'toy' almost identical to her favorite one to Pinkie Pie just a few months ago.  With work and the filly to watch she hasn't had much time to herself, so it's definitely been a while since she's had any fun, and even longer since she's had a colt with her.  After a few seconds of tapping her hooves on the floor she resolves to just go make it quick and quiet.  The unicorn silently steps back upstairs and into her room, digging the small horseshoebox from under her bed and opening it up to examine her medium-sized, pink vibrator.

"So...  We meet again, Mr. Beauregard."

Ahimsa

Fluttershy, eyes closed and hooves tightly clasped around Twilight's back, takes slow and heavy breaths through the steam of their shower.  Twilight always uses her magic to augment their 'intimate encounters', but this time Fluttershy can't even explain how incredible it felt with the water involved.  She looks down at the lavender unicorn with her back propped up against the side of the bathtub, seeing that she's beyond exhausted from her contribution.  Her cheeks are light pink with an excited, but fading blush, and her deep purple eyes sit half closed as she fights to keep herself from slipping into a semiconscious state.  Fluttershy keeps her wings extended, shielding the two of them from the onslaught of hot water, though not without enjoying the gentle and warm massage on her back as she does so.

"Think it's time to get out?"  Twilight says after calming down a bit, looking happily up at her marefriend through her half-closed eyes.

"As much as I'd love to stay here with you all night, I'm afraid so..."  Fluttershy leans down and kisses Twilight; something about the feeling of their soaking wet coats pressed together just adds that much additional comfort to the situation.  Twilight magically rotates the knob on the wall to stop the water, prompting the pegasus to leave the shower first and help her up.  She sweetly passes a towel over to the unicorn and grabs one for herself, using her hooves to dry her mane but keeping the piece of cloth steady with her teeth.  With the towel covering her eyes Fluttershy finishes drying her mane off and lets it fall, catching it with her teeth to keep it from hitting the floor.  Twilight looks at the pegasus quizzically and points to her mane.

"What's that?"  She asks softly, using her magic to levitate a small object out of Fluttershy's ruffled pink mane.  As it comes into view, both ponies can identify it as a small, blue feather.  "This looks like... one of Rainbow's?"

Fluttershy immediately widens her eyes and drops the towel out of her teeth and onto the floor, "Eww!"

Twilight, supportive as always, sits back and laughs after realizing that the other fillyfooler couple must have used her bathroom without permission.  She trots over, stifling more laughter and pats Fluttershy on the back, "Don't worry, love.  We've got a little while before we have to leave...  I'll just go wait downstairs while you brush your teeth."

The pegasus is already hard at work with her toothbrush before Twilight even says this, viciously trying to scrub away whatever 'residue' could be left after that towel has been Celestia-knows-where on her friends' bodies.  Just the very thought makes her shiver; subsequently making Twilight laugh so hard that she can hardly breathe.

Trotting downstairs after giving her mane a quick brush to be sure it's nicely styled, the unicorn begins to visually scan the tiny pictures that Fluttershy keeps above her mantle.  She levitates a photograph of Fluttershy as a filly with her parents.  Each one is smiling, but the unicorn can plainly see a falsehood about each of them; they're not really happy.  Fluttershy seems to be having trouble holding her head up to look at the camera, and her father seems almost nervous.  Her mother doesn't actually touch any of them with her body, and everything just appears to be forced and uncomfortable for the family.  Why Fluttershy keeps this, Twilight hasn't the slightest idea.

She sets that photo down and looks at another; this time one of a younger Fluttershy all alone, adorable as ever.  The pegasus is a natural in front of the camera, though it appears not by her own devices.  The shy filly doesn't fail to make Twilight crack a smile, only to slowly place the picture frame back on the mantle exactly where she got it.  No sooner than this does Fluttershy slowly step down the stairs.

"Ready to go?"  Fluttershy asks as she steps up beside the unicorn, giving the back of her neck a soft kiss and flashing her a smile.

"Just been waitin' on you."  Twilight turns and smooches the pegasus, stepping toward the door directly after and checking the clock, "We've got enough time to make it with a bit to spare I think...  Your breath is great by the way."

Fluttershy shudders as she thinks once more about Rainbow rubbing herself down with the towel.  "Thank you...  I only use that mouthwash with alcohol in it on 'special occasions'..."

"Hah!  Well at least it makes for a funny story."

"Don't you dare tell anypony."

"Okay, okay...  Only if you let me spend the night with you tonight though."

Fluttershy giggles and nuzzles just under Twilight's ear.  "I think I can live with that."

Pinkie Pie bangs on her bedroom door with the back of her hoof, trying to alert the two lovers behind it that some guests are starting to arrive.

"Rainbow!  AJ!  It's almost time for the party!  Hurry up in there!"  Frustrated, she tries the doorknob but finds that it's locked from the other side.

"Hold your horses out there, we're comin',"  Applejack says through a small giggle, audibly nudging Rainbow Dash after a muffled dirty joke.

The pink pony is forced to leave her bedroom door behind and run downstairs in response to the sound of knocking.  As soon as the glass window in front of the door comes into view, Pinkie notices a small crowd of ponies standing outside; some familiar and some not so familiar, but each of them eager to get inside.  Pinkie slowly steps toward the door, not having expected this many ponies to actually accept the invitation, let alone bring their friends.  She opens the doorway and, just as she's about to greet the ponies, nearly gets trampled by the crowd as they all pour in to escape the cold.

The commotion causes Rainbow Dash and Applejack to open the door and step out, watching helplessly as Pinkie tries to direct as many of the ponies upstairs as she can, already regretting her careless tossing-around of invitations.  They each exchange a worried glance as Lilly, Daisy and Roseluck step upstairs first, not too far ahead of Lyra, Bonbon, Caramel, Berry Punch, and a few slightly less familiar ponies waiting patiently downstairs to be corralled up by the hostess.

"Wull hey there you three, s'been a while."  Applejack tries to avoid any kind of awkward silence around the room and breaks the ice with Lilly.

"Sure has, Applejack!  How's the family?"  Lilly happily responds to the orange earth pony as the remaining guests fill up the space around them and go about their mingling.

"Oh usual winter stuff, mostly shoveling snow and keeping the ground clear so it'll warm up quicker once wrap-up time hits.  How about you?  What do you do when ya can't grow yer flowers?"

"Oh, actually there's a way to grow plants inside with filtered water and artificial lights; flowers are small enough that I can manage to grow a decent bunch in my basement."

"Sounds fancy, too bad I ain't got nothin' big enough to keep apple trees in or I might spring for one of those."

"Ever... think about growing... you know, something else?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Hrmm... Why don't you stop by my place and I'll show you.  I've got some great stuff and I could use someone who has a little know-how about farming."

"Well alright, sounds like fun."

Rainbow Dash has already disconnected herself from the conversation about gardening and glances around the room.  She doesn't quite feel right about just leaving Applejack behind, but desperately wants to call somepony more interesting over to talk to her.  She does manage to spot Cheerilee and Berry Punch together, and so beckons them over with her hoof.  Berry seems to be far more interested in the bowl of punch, and so stays behind, but Cheerilee happily trots over and greets her.

"Hey Cheerilee, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm alright...  A little stressed out.  Test time you know: a whole lot of work to get the thing written up and graded."

"Well gee, that sounds uhm--"  Rainbow doesn't know anything about teaching and so can't empathize with the earth pony at all, only going for the friendly conversation angle before being interrupted by Pinkie.

"Jeesh!  Some crowd huh?"  The pink pony drapes her forelegs around Rainbow's withers and droops her head to look entirely exhausted, even though she's just as twitchy as ever.  "I didn't expect everyone to show up."

"Well... at least you made enough food and punch for everypony."  Cheerilee glances around at the crowd; from what she can see at least thirty ponies showed up.

"Oh I've got plenty of the punch, and I gave it a little extra 'buck' if you know what I mean."

Rainbow seems to catch onto her meaning, though Cheerilee just blinks and can't seem to grasp the idea.  "She spiked the punch, Cheers."

"Oh sweet Princess..."  Cheerilee slaps herself on the forehead and immediately runs back to the now half-empty punch bowl, trying to stop Berry Punch before she gets completely trashed.

"Hey Rainbow, did you know that Cheerilee and Berry Punch are sisters?"  Pinkie, not letting go of the pegasus giggles a little bit, giving Rainbow a whiff of the odor of alcohol on her breath.

"Wow Pinkie...  How much have you had to drink already?"

"Who me?"

"No, the other Pinkie."

"Oh, she's only had five shots, but I've had six."

"Good thing there aren't any kids here."

"Why?  I love kids!  They're so much fun to party with."  Pinkie throws her arms out to the sides in emphasis and immediately loses her balance, falling flat on her face and prompting a concerned laugh from the cyan pegasus.

"Oh, this is not going to end well."

After having thoroughly satisfied herself, Rarity locks 'Mr. Beauregard' up in his usual box and places him someplace where it would be absolutely impossible for Sweetie Belle or her friends to ever find him: the top shelf in her closet.  She checks the clock and hurries downstairs, briefly washing her hooves in the kitchen sink and then rushing out the door.  Rarity figures it won't be too big a deal if she's fashionably late, and so trots at a light speed, not too quick lest her hair be ruined.

"Excuse me!"  A voice sounds from behind and above the unicorn.  She slows down and tilts her head back, seeing a familiar, yet still unknown male pegasus flapping quickly to catch up to her.  "I saw you at the Grand Galloping Gala, right?  You're Rainbow Dash's friend?"

"Yes I am...  A-and you are?"  Rarity keeps her pace and heads directly for Sugar Cube Corner, unsure of this stallion's motives.

"Oh, I'm Soarin'...  You know, from the Wonderbolts?"

"Oh!  Are you?  I'm dreadfully sorry, I didn't recognize you without your outfit on."

"Yeah, I only wear that on special occasions.  It's kind of uncomfortable to have on all the time."

"Well if it's any consolation they're very stylish suits."

"Hey thanks, but still, I'd rather fly around without it if I can help it."

"So why did you ask if I'm friends with Rainbow Dash?"

"Oh... Well...  I kind of have a little crush on her.  She reminds me a lot of Spitfire, but... well... Spitfire isn't even willing to give me a chance.  So I guess I just wanted to see if maybe Rainbow would like to catch dinner with me sometime, between you and me I'd say she's probably faster than Spitfire anyway."

"Well I'm headed to a party where she'll definitely be if you'd like to join me.  I suppose that'll be your best bet."

"Sounds like a plan, what's the occasion?"

"Oh...  My two friends Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy have been dating for a while so they decided to come out of the stable together and throw a party with all of our friends, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you showed up too.  Not too often a celebrity visits Ponyville."

"Pfft, I'm not celebrity...  Just an overpaid and over-glorified clown.  All I do is show off the same trick over and over for a bunch of ponies watching and wear a flashy outfit...  Anypony can do that."

"So how come there are only six of you that actually do that?"  Rarity smirks, asking rhetorical questions the instant she detects his self confidence at a low point."

"Because the ones that started doing it first made sure nopony else could get in...  It's just a clique system really.  Like I said, we're overpaid...  Not that I'm complaining about having money, it just feels a little undeserved is all."  The unicorn is surprised by the humility Soarin' is showing her, having thought for the longest time that all of the Wonderbolts were pompous jackasses.

"Well...  If it's any consolation, I'd certainly hope the rest of the Wonderbolts were like you...  I'm sure it would make most ponies who pay to see your shows feel like they're supporting some great individuals."

"Well thank you very much miss..."  Soarin' pauses a little as he realizes he never caught Rarity's name.

"Rarity, and you're very welcome."

"I keep telling you, Twilight, if we kiss for too long in this cold our lips will freeze together."  Fluttershy smirks and walks alongside Twilight as they approach Sugar Cube Corner.  The store is the only thing in the town square still lit up at this time of night, and so is easy to see in the darkness.

"And I keep telling you that it couldn't happen, our body heat would keep them melted."  Twilight knows Fluttershy is just kidding around, but still likes to play along with everypony's idea of her as an emotionless and unimaginative nerd.

"Now you're just gonna have to prove that to me one of these days, because you don't make a very convincing case."

"Hah, well if we weren't late I would right here and now."

"I think that would be my favorite way to keep warm in the cold."

"I think mine too, love."  Fluttershy blushes and coyly looks away as Twilight says this, still getting used to the intimacy of their conversations, but absolutely cherishing every single second of it.  Without saying a word she gently pushes open the front door to the sweets shop, stepping inside and beckoning Twilight to hurry in and get out of the cold.

The unicorn does so and kisses Fluttershy on the nose, certainly not having had her fill of lovey-dovey-ness already. "Shall we head upstairs?  Sounds like the party's already started."

Fluttershy can hear several muffled conversations, as well as the soft and diffused sound of music radiating from Sugar Cube Corner's second story.  "Yeah, I wonder how many ponies showed up to this...  Sounds like more than just the other four of us..."

"You're right...  I wonder who else Pinkie invited.  Oh well, only one way to find out."  Twilight quietly hums and trots toward the stairs; Fluttershy shrugs and follows suit.  The two of them freeze at the top of the stairs as they behold the crowd.  Fluttershy turns to look at Twilight with a slight cringe on her face, seeing only the awestruck eyes and gaping mouth that she expected.

"Hey you two!  Welcome to the party!"  A slurred voice breaks the uncomfortable stare-fest as Pinkie Pie stumbles over.  "I was wondering when you three would show up...  It'sh crazy in here innit?"  She seems to have forgotten that she's the hostess of this party; the ponies can easily tell from the pungent smell on her breath that she's been drinking for some time now.

"Pinkie...  Why are so many ponies here?"  Twilight claps her hooves together to get the earth pony's attention as her eyes wander to a phantom spot on the ceiling; Pinkie has a tendency to be easily distracted while drunk.

"You said to leave room for a few others..."  She pauses in the middle of her sentence, seeming to try and refocus her eyes on the pair on front of her, continuing after a brief shake of her head.  "You told me to leave room for others so I thought I'd invite a few others but a few too many others came here and I didn't know what to do so I opened up my emergency whiskey...  this is an emergency isnnit?"  Her usual hyper demeanor has depressed a bit from the alcohol, driving her to show a nearly bipolar set of mood swings from happy and giggling to the verge of tears.

"Pinkie, go lay down."  Twilight gently rubs the side of her head with one hoof, trying to calm down and think about this party.  The music seems to have been playing for a while since the floor in the middle of the room is full of dancing couples, many of whom seem like they've had a few too many to drink as well.

Fluttershy feels a gentle nudge in her side as Twilight tries to get her attention.  "Hey, you wanna just duck outta here?  This is way too crowded."

"Awwh, we couldn't do that to Pinkie.  She went through all this trouble to throw us a nice party that we asked for.  It would be a little rude to just leave."

"Fluttershy, she's completely sloshed, just look at her."  Twilight directs the pegasus's attention to Pinkie Pie trying to have some kind of argumentative conversation with her floor lamp.  "She won't even remember..."

"It's the thought that counts, Twilight.  We can't just ditch our friends at our own party...  A-and it's not so bad anyway.  Let's go try to find Rainbow and AJ and Rarity and just hang out a little bit."

Twilight sighs heavily and walks over to Fluttershy, gently kissing behind her ear.  "Only for you."

Fluttershy giggles and tries to lighten the mood by turning and winking at the unicorn.  "Oh I know, public interaction is so difficult for us both, but at least it's for a good cause."  As soon as she finishes her sentence, both of their attention is drawn over to Pinkie Pie dancing with the aforementioned floor lamp and receiving a torrent of cheers from the audience directly around her.  "Somepony's gonna get hurt..."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Oh well, it's a party."

"Well if it isn't the guests of honor!"  Rainbow Dash's voice permeates the crowd as she and Applejack push to the edges of the building.  Fluttershy greets both of them with a gentle hug; Twilight does the same, though wouldn't have thought to if not for her marefriend.

"How long have y'all been here?  Couldn't find ya for a while."  Applejack glances around, seemingly looking for somepony.

"Oh we just got here.  This place is packed!"  Twilight easily unwinds with her close friends, almost ignoring the dense crowd of other ponies around her.

"Yeah it is...  Pinkie invited everypony who came into the store today.  I guess she figured most of them wouldn't show up.  By the way have you seen Rarity at all?  AJ and I need her and Pinkie in the same place sooner or later."

"Why's that?"  Fluttershy looks at them with her usual, innocently quizzical look.

"Let's just say she lost a bet with Pinkie involving myself and this sexy piece of flank right here."  Rainbow bumps her hips against Applejack's as she says this, knowing that talking about the humble mare in this way will irritate her just enough to get a reaction.

"Gosh darn it, Rainbow.  Can't you go five minutes without talkin' about my plot?"

"Nope, and I wouldn't if I could anyhow."

"Well, AJ, you do have a nice figure..."  Fluttershy starts getting with the loose theme of the party and speaks her mind, though still in a sugar-coated manner.

"T'be honest I never thought I'd hear that come outta your mouth, Fluttershy,"  Applejack says with a smirk.

The timid pony blushes but does her best to slough it off.  She shrugs and only breaks eye contact to re-establish it with a slightly more relaxed look on her face.  "Well, I'm just sayin'.  It's totally true Applejack."

"Yup, and she's all mine.  Unless by chance you two were feelin' freaky one night and though to join in."

"Rainbow!"  Applejack finally establishes her line-in-the-sand, unfortunately Rainbow Dash has already crossed it.

"Okay, okay...  Sorry about that one."

Fluttershy giggles into her hoof and tries to hide the deep, stinging blush on her cheeks.  "That's okay, I'm a one-pony gal anyway, and Twilight's the only one that I'll be joining in bed, but thank you for the offer."

"Any time...  Oh!  There's Rarity.  Where's Pinkie at?"

"Last we saw her she was dancing with the lamp."  Twilight chimes in and takes a quick glance over the crowd, seeing Rarity and waving her over with her hoof.  None of the ponies notice Soarin' following close behind the white unicorn.

Pinkie Pie manages to get to her friends before Rarity does somehow, still drunk off her plot, but functional enough to stand and comprehend the basic situation.  Rarity shoves her way through a dark blue stallion who just seems to be in her way on purpose, muttering some kind of indignant comment before swishing her hair back and joining her friends.  Rainbow Dash manages to grab her attention before she says anything at all.

"So it's been brought to my attention that you and Pinkie Pie have some kind of bet going on about Applejack and myself, is that true?"  Rainbow feigns professionalism with her speech, all the while keeping a sinister grin while the unicorn goes about her merry way being conceited.

"Yes, I do suppose that's true, but I thought you weren't supposed to know about it."  Rarity casts an unamused look over to the giggling pink pony.

"Well, one thing led to another and now we do know about it, and let me preface this by saying I'm glad that you bet against Applejack and I being a couple..."

"You have no idea just how glad I am to hear tha--"  The unicorn is interrupted as soon as her attention focuses on the two ponies.  Her jaw drops to the floor as Rainbow Dash shamelessly holds Applejack in a very deep, very passionate, and very public kiss.  The instant it breaks she (along with Pinkie Pie) breaks out into a torrent of laughter.

"... Because I just love seeing your face when you lose miserably!  Bahahaha!"

Rarity sighs and levitates a small pouch of coins over to Pinkie Pie.  The earth pony just giggles and takes it, stepping over to Rarity and nudging her with her elbow.  "Well, you've got your pick of the litter here, only rule is it has to be a mare, that was the deal."

"Yes, Pinkie, I remember the 'deal'.  You don't have to remind me."

"Get on with it already."

"Before the night is over, I will.  Might be easier if you show me to that bottle of whiskey you have."

"You stay away from my emergency whishkey!"  Pinkie's slurred speech gives her a hilarious sound, especially when angrily defensive like this.

"Alright, alright.  I'll just go hit the punchbowl and settle for something non-alcoholic for now."

"Uhhm, actually Rarity --"  Twilight starts to try and tell her about the spiked punch, but quickly finds herself being silenced by Rainbow Dash's hoof in her mouth.

"It'll be funnier if we let her find out for herself,"  She whispers into Twilight's ear just before letting her go.

"You're just out to get everypony tonight ain't ya, Rainbow?"  Applejack laughs a little and shakes her head at Rainbow's antics, who responds in kind with a grin and a nod.  Applejack walks over to her and playfully bops her on top of the head, to which Rainbow drapes her forelegs around the earth pony's withers in response.  They can't resist the moment and kiss once more, though this time feeling a little bit more natural since they're not doing it to show anypony up.  Applejack is still getting used to being intimate with Rainbow in public, and so blushes nearly as bright red as the apples on her hips, which is only amplified by the 'woo' they can hear stem from the crowd.

"Hey Rainbow!  I wanted to ask you... some... thing..."  Soarin', having spotted Rainbow from the back of the room and pushed his way through, steps over and sees the unfolding scene first hand.  He blinks a few times as the ponies redirect their gaze over to the confused and bewildered stallion standing just a few feet from them.

"Soarin'?  What are you doing here?"  Rainbow is mostly surprised to see a pony with an actual reputation showing up at what was originally supposed to be a private gathering.

"Well...  I'm not sure anymore, but it started out with the idea that I'd ask you if maybe... you'd go on a date with me sometime."

"Oh...  Soarin', I'm sorry, but..."  Rainbow pauses and cringes a little, still holding onto Applejack and not even thinking to let go for the explanation.  "You're a nice guy... but, well, I just don't..."

"It's alright, Rainbow.  I understand."

"If you were a mare I'd totally give you a shot...  I just don't swing that way."

"Well, thank you, and by the way you're a lucky mare miss...  Applejack right?"

"Yep, and thank you right back.  I'm mighty happy with her, but believe me, you're not missin' much."  Applejack shakes hooves with the pegasus out of reflex and flashes a vengeful smirk over to Rainbow Dash.

"Oh that's mean... but I guess I do deserve it,"  Rainbow says as she crosses her hooves over her chest, mocking like she's just been stabbed in the heart.

Soarin' sighs and backs up a little, feeling very disappointed at this sudden surprise, but somewhat relieved that the rejection wasn't humiliating.  He turns to leave the upstairs of Sugar Cube Corner and fly home, but feels a gentle tapping of a hoof on his shoulder.  He turns his head and sees the unmistakable mane of Pinkie Pie, remembering her from the impression she left in the ballroom at the gala.

"Hey there, shtud."  Pinkie, still somewhat drunk, isn't particularly discreet in her approach.

"Uhm, well hello there, Pinkie right?"

"That's right...  And a little birdie told me that you like pie."

"Do I ever!"  Soarin' decides to take the very, very obvious offer from the pink pony and follows her back toward her room.

"Well at least he ain't goin' home alone tonight..."  Applejack holds her foreleg around Rainbow Dash's neck and nuzzles the top of her head.  She watched Soarin' intently as he walked away, and certainly keeps her eye on him as he disappears with the hostess of the party.

"Good for him.  Though I'm a little worried that it might just be the whiskey talking on behalf of Pinkie in there."

"Wull if that's the case I'm sure there's a whole lot of things that whiskey is gonna be doing on behalf of Pinkie."

Rainbow reels and has to stifle a laugh, the thought of the next morning already entering her imagination.  "I'm kicking myself now for not thinking of that joke before you did."

"Can't have you take all the glory, Dashie.  I gotta get a little somethin' every so often."

"If we can find someplace private I'll give you a 'little somethin'' extra right now."

"Jeez, Rainbow.  How many times in one day?"

"AJ, if it were up to me I'd hop in bed with you and never ever leave."

Applejack laughs a little and nips the pegasus's ear.  "You're never gonna rebuild your house are you?"

"Well...  If I can be serious for a moment I wouldn't mind taking over that guest room of yours."

"Two things, Rainbow.  One: you can't be serious for a moment; it's literally impossible for you.  Two: You absolutely cannot take over the guest room."  Rainbow sighs and looks away from the earth pony, but Applejack isn't quite done yet; she tilts Rainbow's chin up with her hoof to look her in the eyes with a gentle smile.  "If you're movin' in with me, we're sharin' a bed."

The cyan pegasus huffs out a single laugh and looks down, feeling her marefriend kiss her on the forehead before nodding her head toward the door.

"Sorry you two, but I think we're gonna head home early.  AJ and I have some 'talking' to do."  Rainbow says to Fluttershy and Twilight, who have decided to make themselves comfortable against the wall while watching the party unfold.  More ponies seem to have had too much to drink and are stumbling about, so the shy couple has decided to sit back and pony-watch to see who can handle their liquor better than others.

"Alright, be safe you two!"  Fluttershy waves them off as Twilight says her goodbye.  The pair glances around and spots Cheerilee and Berry Punch both passed out together on a small sofa.  A cursory glance would reveal a somewhat inappropriate position, at least for siblings, but they continue to scan the crowd instead of focusing on just those two.

Rarity sits uncomfortably on the arm of the couch where Cheerilee and Berry Punch are 'sleeping' and continues to mull over the idea of Pinkie's 'deal'.  She doesn't want to duck out of it at the last second, but she did spot her heading into her room with Soarin'.  She glances around and shrugs.  "What the hay?  It's a party."  She taps the first mare that she can spot on the shoulder, gaining her attention and then surprising her with a big, inappropriately deep kiss.  A slight shiver sneaks up her spine as she pulls away, watching the gray-coated pegasus pony open her eyes and spotting the fact that they're not quite focused on the same point.   Rarity flicks her tongue a little bit inside her closed mouth and blinks a few times.  "That tasted like... Scones?"

"Muffins..."  The blonde-maned pegasus glances around with a tinge of blush on her cheeks, making that simple correction and no other comment.

"Ah...  That's it.  Sorry about that, I suppose I just got swept up in the mentality of a crowded party."  Rarity lets her go and clears her throat, standing there uncomfortably and hoping that nopony she knows saw that.

"Hey Twilight?"  Fluttershy leans over and noses her marefriend against the jaw, grabbing her attention and smiling at her.

"Yes?"  Twilight brushes the pegasus's mane out of her face with her horn, smiling down at her and gently nuzzling against her cheek.

"You saw that right?"

"Mhmm, I did.  Not sure Rarity liked it very much though."

"Nah, didn't look like it, but at least we can tell Pinkie that she kept up her end of the deal."

"True."

"One more question, Twilight."

"What is it, love?"

"Is this the part where we live happily ever after?"

"Oh c'mon Fluttershy, that only happens in cheesy romance stories."

"Well...  Ours is pretty cheesy."

"True, but nopony would wanna read about us... would they?"

Fluttershy giggles and pulls the unicorn into a tight hug, humming softly and kissing her neck.  "I would."

The Morning After

Pinkie Pie is roused from her slumber by a thin ray of sunlight prodding through her curtains and landing directly on her nose.  Even with closed eyes, the sunlight seems to burn deep into her skull and worsen her awful hangover.  Every single muscle in her body is stiff; just moving causes several of her joints to crack.  To her, this sounds like somepony operating a jackhammer on the pillow right next to her head.  She lifts her body up and tries to sit straight, glancing around her room and beholding the spectacle of various party favors (ones that shouldn't be in there) scattered around the floor and furniture.  She keeps her eyes squinted to try and reduce the amount of light entering them; she can almost hear the beams of light burning her retinas.

"Never... again..."  She says softly and follows with a groan, rubbing her temples with her hooves and moving to get out of bed.  A muffled noise and feeling of movement grabs her attention and brings her to turn her head around.  She spots Soarin' (though can't remember his name) sleeping soundly in the space next to where she had apparently passed out last night.  "Oh sweet Princess..."

Soarin' rolls onto his stomach and positions his forelegs under the pillow, still half asleep and supporting his body so that his wings can be free above the covers.  The pink earth pony stumbles out of bed and lands on a pillow with a soft poof.  She crawls away, trying not to wake the stallion, and exits through her door to the smell of fresh coffee.  She slowly and quietly steps down the stairs and into the shop, holding her hoof on her forehead to continue filtering out any light that tries to find its way to her eyes.

"Is somepony there?"  Pinkie calls down just above a whisper, to which a happy response is given.

"Mhmm, and we made coffee, come and get it before it gets cold."  Fluttershy gently rubs a towel across the glass display case at the front of the store while Twilight pours Pinkie a mug of coffee.  The pink earth pony moves over to the chairs lining her counter and slumps down facing away from the windows, slowly sipping on the mug and trying to keep her eyes closed.

"So, did you have a good night?"  Twilight's voice, though teasing in nature, sounds to Pinkie like a bellowing dragon from her sensitivity, and she responds nearly inaudibly.

"I have no idea..."  The earth pony drops her head down and rests her chin on the counter, holding her hooves over her eyes and not moving from this position.

"Yeah, we figured that would be the case.  You had an awful lot to drink last night, Pinkie."  Fluttershy sets down her cleaning supplies and moves to sit next to the hungover earth pony.

"Who's in my bed?"  She asks in a muffled tone, not remembering anything past about the time that she saw Twilight and Fluttershy.

"That would be Soarin' from the Wonderbolts...  Rainbow Dash rejected him last night and you kinda scored on the rebound."  Twilight doesn't stop her sarcastic remarks even for a second, having no sympathy for the miserable mare.

"Well...  At least it wasn't some random colt from around town..."  Pinkie still hasn't moved from her sheltered position.  "Is somepony knocking on the front door?"

"No, that's probably just your heartbeat."

"This coffee tastes kinda funny..."  Pinkie's mind still jumps from topic to topic, but her body is simply unwilling to cooperate with any kind of enthusiasm.

"That's because there's licorice root in it, chase it with a big glass of water and you should start feeling better pretty quick."  Fluttershy quietly hums as she cleans up her mess, putting away the small pouch that she brought along from home.

"Hangover cure?"

"Yes and no, the root will help your body retain water, which should help with the dehydration.  The headache and nausea should go away if you drink enough.  The coffee is just to wake you up so you shouldn't drink too much more, caffeine dehydrates you too."

"Thank you..."  Pinkie continues to sip from her mug, loving the pungent smell of fresh coffee and the now-identifiable licorice root.  It leaves a smooth aftertaste in her dry mouth, though bitter from the lack of sugar; she hates coffee but drinks it anyway because she knows it'll help.

"What are we going to do about Soarin'?"  Twilight asks just before sipping some of her own coffee; hers is the same formula as Pinkie's, but only because she likes the taste.  Pinkie just groans in shame and frustration at the mention of her 'lover's' name.

"We should probably just let Pinkie handle that, Twilight..."  Fluttershy sits next to the unicorn and nestles her head against her shoulder.

"Please feel free to help...  I don't even remember meeting him, let alone slee--"  The pony gags and has to fight herself from dry-heaving.

Twilight mistakes the action for a 'comment' on the stallion's 'skill' and laughs a little, patting the earth pony on the back.  "He couldn't have been that bad."

"I have no clue how he was..."

"Maybe you ought to give him another chance while you're sober."

"It's been a while since I've been with anypony at all...  Maybe I'll just go back to bed and talk to him when he wakes up and I'm feeling better."

"That sounds like a good idea Pinkie.  Do you want us to put up the 'closed' sign before we go?"

"No that's okay, I'll just tell Mr. and Mrs. Cake that I can't work the register today...  They'll understand."  Pinkie stands up and very slowly trots toward the stairs, trying not to clop her hooves against the ground too loudly.

"Mmn, I've been meaning to ask,"  Twilight says the instant she swallows some of her coffee, having to slow down and clear her throat. "How do you know about the medicinal qualities of different plants?"

"When you make your whole life into helping animals and ponies feel better you start to learn some things.  I'm not nearly as good as Zecora, but I've got a little bit of experience in what works and what doesn't."  Fluttershy stretches her wings out and flaps them a few times, ridding herself of a pestering itch near her shoulder.

"So I take it you're around hungover ponies fairly often then hmm?"  Twilight follows this up with a short laugh, kissing her marefriend on the cheek and gently scratching between her wings with her free hoof.

"More often than I'd like, I'm afraid."

Rarity wakes up in her own bed, happily stretching as she greets the day by flinging her curtains open.  She may not have gotten home late with anypony last night, but at least the party was fun and she had a good night's sleep afterward.  Sweetie Belle actually managed to stay in bed without destroying half the store, so everything went far better than the unicorn had expected.  She yawns and heads toward her bathroom, levitating her toothbrush over and calmly beginning her morning routine.  She had a little to drink last night, knowing that the punch was spiked, but didn't have any trouble handling herself like a true lady and keeping her composure.  She does, however, remember vividly kissing that pegasus from the post office, and nearly gags just thinking about it.  She checks the small clock that she keep on the countertop to be sure she'll have enough time for a shower before she opens the boutique, and decides to just make it a fast one.  As much as she's repulsed by the idea, kissing a mare certainly was a 'different' experience.  Though she picked possibly the most unsophisticated and uncouth of all mares in Ponyville, she still seemed somewhat... softer than a stallion.  For the longest time fillyfoolers have been taboo as far as Rarity is concerned, and this certainly didn't convert the unicorn, but it did spawn a new kind of understanding from her.  Even if she would never admit it.

Her shower is a quick and practical one; she goes through the robotic motions of washing her mane and tail very carefully, as well as the rest of herself, and exits with just enough time to delicately dry off.  After a quick look in her steamy mirror she determines that she's 'presentable' and heads downstairs.  The unicorn compulsively checks every single mirror and reflective object as she walks past it, making sure everything on her body stays absolutely pristine, as well as keeping those reflective surfaces clear of dust and debris.  She catches a tiny splotch of grime on the corner of the glass on a hanging clock and so rubs it off with her foreleg.  She smiles and strikes a small pose with her mane covering part of her face in the reflection, only to notice a blue earth pony standing outside of her front window with a box hanging from his teeth.  She quickly turns around and goes to open the door, letting him in and trotting back to behind the front counter.

"My apologies for opening late, sir.  Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, how may I help you?"  Rarity smiles nervously as the frustrated looking stallion drops the box onto the counter top and takes a deep breath to compose himself.

"It's no trouble, I'm just looking to return this dress."  He seems very level headed as he tries to suppress his anger and behave calmly in front of the unicorn.  Rarity takes pride in her ability to 'read' ponies, though the art of sexual-orientation-determination still eludes her apparently.  She analyzes his body language and can only fight her intense curiosity for some new gossip.

"May I ask what was wrong with it?  Was the fit wrong?"  Rarity simply opens the box and checks on the garment: it seems to still be folded in the box without even being touched.

"Oh, well I wasn't planning on wearing it so I'm not quite sure how the fit is."  The earth pony jokes a little but can only prompt a short snippet of uncomfortable laughter from the unicorn as she looks over the price and begins to gather her funds.  "It's actually never been worn.  It was going to be a birthday present for my marefriend, but I found out a few days ago that she's been spending a little too much 'special' time with another stallion, so I figured I'd just take it back and not even tell her about it...  Say, weren't you at that party last night?"

"I'm very sorry to hear that; clearly you have great taste though, this dress certainly wasn't cheap.  Oh, and yes, yes I was...  I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't see you there."  Rarity moves the bits that she owes him over the counter and takes the dress back to re-box it and get it back up for sale.

"Nothing to apologize for, I was mostly just lurking around the edges.  My friends dragged me to that thing because I've been moping around my house since the breakup, so they thought I needed to loosen up and I have to say it worked."  The mysterious blue stallion takes his money and drops it into a small pouch.  "By the way, my name's Noteworthy."

"Rarity...  Pleased to meet you."  Rarity smiles over the counter, acknowledging his flirtation and responding with some very subtle cues of her own; she has to play hard to get.  It's just in her code.

"The pleasure is all mine, ma'am...  Well, I was originally going to spend these bits at a liquor store, but I think they might be better suited for, let's say, dinner for two?"

Noteworthy would be putting it lightly;  Rarity knows she'll be thinking about this one for a while.  Something about his stance and his demeanor reminds the white unicorn of some kind of royalty, but without the condescending attitude.  "I'd like that...  I close up at around nine, you don't mind eating late do you?"

"Not at all, ma'am."  The earth pony bows his head and turns to walk out of the store; even his stride is confident.

Rarity looks down at the box he returned as soon as he leaves and levitates it up to the counter, opening it up and examining the garment.  It's a nice dress, lavender colored with white filigrees, not too formal but certainly complimentary of a mare who likes to look her best.  Rarity glances around and thinks for a minute, deciding almost immediately to wear it later that night.

Rainbow Dash carefully places dishes into the Apple Family's various cabinets around their kitchen.  Applejack is busy at work washing more of them for the pegasus to put away.

"Thank you kindly for helpin' out with the dishes, Rainbow."  Applejack taps her hoof on the countertop to signal Rainbow that another stack is ready for her to put away.

"No problem, sorry I didn't help with them last night."  Rainbow picks the stack up with her hooves and sneaks a kiss on Applejack's cheek, making the mare blush a little but hide it with a smirk.

"Well none of us were really in the mood for it last night, s'why they didn't get done."  Applejack gets back to her robotic chore of washing and drying plain dishes in the sink.

"Hah, well still, I'm happy to help."

"And we're happy to have ya."  The earth pony taps the counter for the final stack but intercepts Rainbow before she can grab the dishes.  She pulls the pegasus, mid-flight, into a tight hug that she happily accepts.  "So you're really wantin' to move in with me?"

"Honestly, AJ, I can't think of anything better in the world right now...  Plus I'm pretty much already moved in, and building another cloud house would be such a pain... you know how lazy I am."

"You can't be that lazy if you're helping me with the dishes out of the kindness of your heart right now."

"You and I both know I'm only doing this because it'll get me some action later tonight."

"Just fer that I should cut you off for the rest of the dern month!"

"You couldn't handle cuttin' me off for that long."

"That sounds like a challenge, Dashie."

"Well... It was a challenge, but giving it a little thought brings me to think it's not one that I really want to test you on."

"Smart move."

"Hey, be proud of me.  I'm learning about boundaries."

"That's somethin' you should'a learned some time between learnin' how to read and learnin' how to fly."

"Oh c'mon, at least I'm working on self-improvement!"

"Alright I'll give ya that...  But still, you owe me for lettin' you live here and still givin' me grief all day."

"Okay, I'll bite.  What is it you want?"

"Well...  Bein' pretty much self-sufficient all mah life I've realized that I like bein' somepony who's got power and control.  Not to say I'm horribly dominant or nuthin', but I like feelin' strong."

"I don't know if I like where this is going..."

"Well let's just say this: I've got some old farm equipment, mostly leather straps and a ridin' crop or two... not even sure why we have the things, but we do, and I'd say y'gotta let me try some of that out on you tonight."  Rainbow Dash looks at Applejack like she's anticipating a punchline, but unfortunately for her the earth pony keeps her very serious look on her face. "It's either that or I make you wear an apron and clean this place every day for the rest of the month while I watch and order you around."

"Alright, alright...  We can try it out tonight.  But only tonight."

"Only tonight if you don't like it, but somethin' tells me you'll be willin' to give it another try."  Applejack snickers now that she's finally managed to bring Rainbow down a peg.

"The things I do for you..."

Pinkie Pie has rejoined Soarin' in her bed and fell asleep almost immediately after laying down.  The caffeine hasn't had enough time to get into her bloodstream so her exhaustion quickly took over.  The pegasus however rolls onto his back and feels his outstretched wings strain against the bed, waking him from his restful slumber.  He looks over to see the mare he fell asleep with last night, snoozing in a completely adorable way: head sunk into the pillow and forelegs outstretched in front of her with a slight bend at her knees.  She faces the pegasus as a beam of sunlight through her curtains brightens her muzzle, painting a shadow on her mane and bringing the curvature of her body into full view from where he's laying.  Soarin' adjusts his body since his wings are trapped and accidentally wakes Pinkie from the movement.  The earth pony opens her eyes to find her hangover much less dreadful, though the glare from off of her muzzle could hurt anypony's eyes.

"Good morning, Pinkie,"  Soarin' says softly as he watches her eyes flutter open.

"Nngh...  Mornin' Soarin'."  Pinkie is still waking up, and Soarin' doesn't know that she's already been out of bed, so is under the impression that she's extremely hungover.

"Feelin' okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine...  But I do have to ask..."  Pinkie hesitates but opens her eyes all the way, laying in the exact same position, but wide awake now.  "What did we do last night?"

Soarin' smiles softly and reaches his hoof forward, resting it against Pinkie's just to be cute.  "Look, Pinkie.  You were wasted last night...  I admit I got in bed with you, but I swear on my life I kept my hooves to myself... it didn't feel right to take advantage of the fact that you were drunk, so I just spent the night, but that's all."

"That's...  Not at all what I expected..."  Pinkie feels a small warmth in her heart from the sentiment, believing him without any doubt.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint..."

"No, no that's not what I mean.  Just...  Well, you're a Wonderbolt... you can have anypony you want."

"That doesn't mean I'm not honor-bound sometimes."

"I guess you're right...  I'm sorry, Soarin', I didn't mean to offend you."

"Nah, it's alright.  I'm used to everypony thinking we're all 'high and mighty' feeling.  It's really not like that at all though."

"Well...  I think I'm sober now...  Wanna go on a real date or something?"

"Sure, Pinkie...  By the way you're very different with a hangover."

"Isn't everypony?"

"True, but I just never thought I'd see you as still as you are.  You haven't moved since you opened your eyes."

"Actually I got up a little while ago, had some coffee and came back up here, but you were asleep so I guess you didn't know that..."

"No, but I think it's a good sign that you came back up to bed."

"I guess that is a good sign...  I didn't even think about it."

"So I take it you'd prefer a dinner date instead of lunch?"

"Dinner sounds great...  I don't think I could keep anything down right now anyway.  Plus we can pass the time together."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh c'mon...  I know you've got that reputation for being kinda silly in the head, but I think even you can figure that out."

"You sure you're feeling up to it?"

"Why don't you just get over here and hold me for a little while, then we'll see where it goes."

"That sounds like a great idea."

I Can Hear Their Laughter

Cheerilee rests her chin on her desk with her hooves crossed over her forehead, trying to block out sunlight and apply pressure to her throbbing migraine.  She sighs miserably and treasures her few moments of silence during the class's recess time.  Her hangover has certainly hindered her ability to teach, but the school board wouldn't allow her anymore sick days so she's been toughing it out all morning.  The plum colored earth pony counts the seconds, dreading the inevitable ringing of the bell as it steadily approaches.

"How does Berry deal with this every single day?"  Cheerilee grumbles to herself and closes her eyes, reaching blindly along her desk to try and find the large mug of green tea that she expects to still be warm.  She manages to find it, though nearly knocks it over in doing so, and brings it to her lips to take a drink.  She slowly swallows the lukewarm tea, keeping her eyes closed as the mug empties, only to be interrupted by the bell.  The noise is something out of a nightmare for her, causing her to jump and cringe, spilling what's left of her tea onto herself and her desk.  "You've gotta be f--"  Cheerilee looks up as her door opens and immediately corrects her language, "fooling with me."

"S'cuze me, Miss Cheerilee?"  Apple Bloom is the first one through the door, puzzling the teacher since she can see all of the other fillies filing into the school from out her window.

"Oh, nothing.  Just had a little spill, that's all.  Were you waiting outside the door?"

"Yeah...  I wanted to ask you somethin' in private but I couldn't think of a good way to say it..."

"Well, would you like to talk with me after school instead?"  Cheerilee silently curses herself out for offering any extra time away from her bed, but can't help herself from extending a hoof to a student in need.

"I would but I think Applejack needs my help around the house today."

"Oh, well don't worry, I'll just walk you home and we can talk then."  Cheerilee can feel her rational mind screaming obscene remarks about her intelligence at her from inside her head as soon as she makes this offer.

"Wull thanks a million, Miss Cheerilee!  That'd mean an awful lot."

"You're very welcome, Apple Bloom.  Now go take your seat, I think the others should be getting in here soon."

Apple Bloom cooperates and sits down at the front of the class like usual, though can't help but make a quick comment about her teacher's condition.  "You're lookin' kinda sick by the way, did ya eat somethin' spoiled last night?"

Not unless you count my sister...  Cheerilee thinks to herself, cracking a smile and feeling as if she'll throw up at the same time.  "Yeah, that's probably it." Sweet Princess when did I get such a filthy mind?

She looks up from her desk after grabbing a small wad of paper towels from the roll that she keeps in one of her drawers, cleaning herself and the wooden piece of furniture off of all remaining tea.  The children are in their seats, but certainly aren't paying any attention.  She can see Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara making some kind of snickering comment about the three 'crusaders' as they sit amongst themselves.  She can't make out what any one of them is actually saying over the cacophony all around the room.  The teacher sighs and pulls out her day planner, flipping it open to the current date and addressing her class.  "Alright my little ponies, settle down.  I've got a quick lesson planned before you go home today, so we're going to spend the next few hours learning about..."  She pauses to look down at her self-assigned curriculum.  She's very organized and has kept to her plans all year, even through this misfortune, though it seems the powers that be have a sense of humor.  She gulps as she reads her written (and forgotten until now) lesson plan aloud for the kids in a jittery, almost frightened tone,  "The dangers of alcohol..."

"Hey Twilight?"  Fluttershy's gentle voice lightly brushes over the unicorn's mane as they lay together on Fluttershy's couch.  Twilight uses her magic to place a bookmark into the levitating book in front of her, lining up the bottom of the piece of paper with the line that she's ended on.

"Hmm?"  She adjusts herself to be laying on her back, head turned to face the yellow pegasus with a smile on her muzzle.

"Did you want to do anything tonight?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...  I'm perfectly happy to just lay with you here for the rest of the day, have a nice homecooked meal and then spend the night with you again, but I just thought I'd check if you wanted to go out or do anything at all."

"Hrm..."  Twilight closes her book and sets it down, looking up at the ceiling and thinking for a few seconds.  "We are pretty boring aren't we?"

"I didn't say that!  I was just curious is all..."  Fluttershy breaks eye contact when she feels like she might have offended the unicorn.

Twilight smirks and rolls onto her side, facing the pegasus and tangling their forelegs up together, staring face to face on the little sofa.  "Oh relax, Fluttershy, I was only kidding.  Did you have anything in mind?  Because as long as I'm spending time with you I'm game to go do just about anything."

"Well, it's a little warmer tonight than it was yesterday.  Why don't we have an early dinner and then... go out someplace."

"Go out after dinner?"

"Mhm, I don't mean anywhere in town.  I mean we should go out.  Like... let's say we head out to the edge of the Everfree forest, not much of a walk from here, but we can get away from the Ponyville lights and just watch the sun go down and the stars come out.  Something quiet."

Twilight sits there and thinks for a minute, knowing from her voice inflection that this is a commonly desired practice for the nature-loving pegasus, and so figures that there's no harm in it whatsoever.  The unicorn leans forward and gently presses her muzzle against Fluttershy's, softly smooching her, but not letting it fall too deep right away.  "Let's do that, then.  It's been a while since I've watched a sunset."

The yellow pony smiles and gently closes her eyes, tilting her chin away and giggling very softly.  "Yay."

"Soarin'?"  Pinkie Pie lifts her head off of the stallion's chest, adjusting it to look him in the eye somewhat during their fading moment of afterglow.

"Yes?"  The pegasus looks down and slowly strokes Pinkie's cotton-candy shaped mane; he can't quite tell if this is how she always looks, or if this is just the pink pony's own version of "bed-mane".

"I know this is kinda silly of me considering what just happened and all... I guess old habits just die hard... but I'm not entirely sure I want to rush into a relationship right now..."

"Breaking up with me already?"

"No!  No, no no not that...  I just...  Well, I'd like to keep it kinda slow.  Everything in my life seems to rush around, and everypony seems to think of me like that...  I was kinda hoping after this we could go out on a few dates before things got serious... have fun with it, no need to rush right?"

"To be honest I know how you feel, Pinkie..."

"You do?"

"You try being a professional racer for a living and not being expected to live your whole life in the fast lane...  I think I wouldn't mind just taking it nice and slow with you."

The pink pony nuzzles back against Soarin's chest, listening to his calm, strong heart and shutting her eyes.  "You're the best."

"Nah, but I'm definitely top five."

Pinkie just rolls her eyes and pulls her two-tone light pink and hot pink blanket over her head, leaving Soarin's neck and head out of the barrier.  Soarin' has other ideas however, moving himself down under the blankets and tickling the earth pony as a kind of revenge for her improvised game of hide and seek.  This is a move that he'll learn to regret however, because although Pinkie is very ticklish, she has a tendency to flail her hooves, and this can be dangerous to certain areas of the male anatomy when performed in a confined space.

Big Macintosh sits on a large easy-chair across from the Apple family sofa where Applejack and Rainbow Dash have no trouble showing off their obvious affection for each other.  Granny Smith has decided to leave the home for a few hours and head into town for some 'provisions', though the rest of the family has no clue exactly what she'll be getting.  This doesn't discourage the three of them from just taking some time to catch up and relax, though, so they simply sit in the living room chatting away about various farm-related activities.  Rainbow Dash lets most of these fly over her head, feigning interest with the occasional nod of silent approval.  Applejack holds her forelegs around Rainbow's waist as she sits back against the sofa, clutching her marefriend in her lap and holding the pegasus close; something that Rainbow Dash certainly doesn't mind in the least bit.

"I have a question."  Big Mac keeps his usual, pensive countenance as he looks past the happy couple and onto each and every one of the various heirlooms and decorations around the living room.

"Shoot."  Rainbow smiles projects her command just before she wriggles in the earth pony's lap to make herself slightly more comfortable.

"I figure this is gonna come up sooner or later, so we might as well figure it out now.  Are you ever gonna come out of the stable to Granny Smith?"

Applejack hesitates to answer this question, and simply drops her chin onto Rainbow's shoulder with eyes scanning over the top of the window to allow her a soft distraction while thinking.  "I dunno...  I'm frankly not sure if we even should...  I mean, she's gettin' on in years, and keepin' a secret isn't exactly all that hard around her, plus I kinda doubt we'll have to do it for very long..."

"Applejack!  I never thought I'd hear my own sister say something like that!"  Macintosh is appalled at the deviousness of the mare's statement.

"Yeah that's pretty horrible, AJ, even by my standards..."  Rainbow Dash chimes in with an equal level of surprise, though still cloaks it in a somewhat non-serious manner.  Rainbow has some trouble switching from care-free to careful when the situation warrants it.

"Wull I don't mean it to be!  Just...  It's no secret that Granny Smith is as old as Ponyville itself, and...  Well, I just don't want the most recent thing she ever remembers being that I'm a disappointing abomination..."  Applejack's tone switches from defensive to self-loathing mid-sentence; the only pony she ever gives a hard time to is herself, and it always shows.

"What kinda granddaughter is willin' to let her granny kick the bucket without telling her that she found the love of her life?"  Big Macintosh doesn't get angry very often, but when it comes to family loyalty he can still get a bit touchy.

"Mackie, please... may I?"  Rainbow waves her hoof at the stallion to try and calm him down, using a nickname that, unbeknownst to Rainbow, he hasn't heard since Granny Smith could still bounce him on her knee.  He feels it strike home, sighing and allowing the pegasus to take over.

"Ah'm sorry, I didn't mean to let my temper get the better of me."

"It's alright, Mac.  No hard feelin's."  Applejack, obviously bottling up some kind of heavy emotional burden, does her usual routine of trying to make somepony else feel better to channel all of that pent up energy.

"AJ, Macintosh is right, but he wasn't exactly saying it right.  I know I'm not really the pony to be giving family advice, but I'd treat them like really close friends if anything else...  It's not my place to tell for you, but I really encourage you to do it.  If we can tell our friends, why can't we tell our family?"  Rainbow's use of 'our family' really strikes deep with Applejack.  She really does consider her part of the family, and the lack of protest from Big Macintosh indicates he feels the same way.

"Awwh...  You guys are right.  I guess not sayin' somethin' is just as bad as lyin' to somepony's face."  Applejack pulls her chin away from Rainbow's shoulder and buries her eyes into it, trying to hide her face from the expected flood of "tisk-tisk"s from the two ponies around her.

Rainbow Dash moves off of Applejack's lap and sits right next to her, leaning over and kissing her sloppily on the cheek, forelegs wrapped around her and holding her close.  "Just remember who you are, AJ.  I never wanted to change you, so don't start doing things now that you never would before."

"We're family, AJ.  We'll always love you no matter what.  Just be willing to trust that Granny will feel the same way."  Macintosh steps over and sits down right in front of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, giving a calm and collected look with his statement.

Applejack can't help but feel a tear form in her eye along with a big smile across her face.  She sniffles and reaches her free foreleg out to welcome Big Mac into the hug.  "I love you two."

We Seek the Perfect View

"So, Twilight?  I have a question."  Fluttershy flaps her wings gently and carries a number of picnic supplies in saddlebags on her sides.  Twilight trots below the pegasus and shuts the door behind them, setting off on the short walk toward the edge of the Everfree Forest.

"And I have an answer, ask away."  Twilight smirks and walks with a little more of a pep in her step, proud of herself for that witty retort.

"Can unicorns use their magic to levitate themselves?"

"Hmm...  I've never tried, but I suppose in theory it's possible."

"Well if anypony can do it, it's you...  I mean, you can teleport with what seems like no effort at all."

"Oh believe me, Fluttershy, it takes more effort than you might think."

"I can imagine so...  Flying with wings isn't any walk in the park either though."

"You don't have to spend hours studying it though do you?"

"No, but you do have to spend hours practicing.  It's not really a technique that can be taught, you just have to teach yourself by trying to do it over and over again."

"Interesting thought..."  Twilight shakes her mane a little, letting it come undone from her relatively brushed-clean look that she keeps.  She looks up at Fluttershy who currently flits gingerly just a few feet above the ground, following at a slow and calm pace alongside the unicorn.  "You're adorable by the way."

"Everypony seems to think so but I just don't see it..."

"Oh come on, Fluttershy.  There's modest, and then there's just plain lying to yourself."

The pegasus blushes lightly and breaks eye contact with Twilight, looking straight ahead and flying at a very slightly increased pace.  "Well...  Okay I guess I do have a nice smile..."

"More than that, Fluttershy."

"A-and...  And nice... wings?"

"You're gonna make me do this aren't you?"

"Do what?"

"Give you a list of everything about you that's nice, since you're obviously not gonna say it yourself."

"Oh so now you're making lists about me?"

"We've met, right?"

"Good point...  Well I just don't really think I'm all that special...  I'm awfully boring."

"You're not boring, you just haven't given anypony except me the chance to really explore everything you have to offer."

"If I did that I'd be kind of a whore don't you think?"

"Well... I do think that's the dirtiest thing you've ever said."

Fluttershy cups one of her hooves over her mouth and blushes.  "Oh sweet princess, you're right."

Twilight giggles and reaches her hoof up to gently grab her foreleg as it dangles below the floating pegasus.  "You're just so innocently charming...  It's so cute."

"Hey!  I'm not innocent...  I've stolen cookies when my parents weren't looking before."

"You're really not helping your case..."

"Uhm...  Some days I won't go outside because some of the ponies around town annoy me and I just don't want to deal with them."

"Now we're getting somewhere...  any other juicy secrets you'd like to share with me?"

The pegasus glances around over her shoulders and pirouettes in the air to make sure nopony else is around and spying on them.  "I used to have a crush on Big Macintosh."  Each revelation that she gives to Twilight makes her blush a slightly darker hue of red, though she feels almost relieved in telling them.

"Well...  I think everypony's had a crush on Big Macintosh, Fluttershy."

"Bet'cha Rainbow hasn't."

"Okay you've got me there...  Rainbow probably hasn't ever had a crush on Big Macintosh."

"Probably not Applejack either."

"Well...  Anything's possible."

"I think that's the dirtiest thing you've ever said."

"Definitely top five."

"Alright, well I'm not telling you anymore secrets unless you give me some of your own in return."

"Ask away, sweetheart.  I've got nothing to hide."

"I know Rarity sells those 'adult toys'...  I've seen them around her shop from time to time.  She does try to keep me away from them though...  Anyway...  Did you ever buy one or consider buying one?"

"Jeez...  that's pretty specific for how quickly you came up with it...  Been thinking about this for a while huh?"

"Just answer the question...  P-please."

"Alright, fine...  I thought about it but I couldn't ever work up the guts to go talk to Rarity, of all ponies, about it...  I was afraid she'd spread the information around town and that's not the kind of stigma I want.  I'm already the boring, egg-headed nerd...  why be the boring, egg-headed nerd who's also a pervert?"

"Well if it's any consolation... something that feels as good as that couldn't possibly be a bad thing...  Just saying."

"Excuse me?  You're in the same boat as me little miss innocent."

"Yes, so you agree with me?"

"I don't know how it feels, Fluttershy..."

"We've been together a few times now...  How could you not know what it feels like?"

"That's completely different...  What Rarity sells doesn't just... well... stay on the outside."

"I don't follow..."

"And you say you're not innocent...  Didn't your parents ever have 'The Talk' with you?"

"I don't think so...  What talk is it?"

"You'd know if they had it...  The talk about where foals come from."

"Ohhhh that talk...  No...  My parents never told me about that sorta stuff...  I picked up on it a little bit from Flight School, but Rainbow was my biggest source of 'information' and I wouldn't say she's much of an expert on foal making as far as being with a stallion."

"Uhm, 'as far as being with a stallion'?  You do know that two mares can't make a foal together... right?"

"I uhm... I do now."

Twilight can't help but give a somewhat arrogant chuckle as Fluttershy answers this way and looks down to the ground, feeling that familiar embarrassed sting in her cheeks.

"So you've really never been talked to about this by anypony?"

"I'm not completely blind, Twilight...  Nopony has ever talked to me about it but...  well keep in mind I do own bunnies...  A-and they're not exactly as shy as I am...  I've seen how it works...  A-and I've known that it isn't magic for a good two years now...  It took a while but once I came to the conclusion that earth ponies and pegasi can do it too then I connected those dots..."

"Well if it helps any...  I've read stories about magic playing a role in having a foal sometimes.  I don't know if they're exactly true, but I suppose magic has done stranger things."

"That counts as a secret, Twilight."

"What?  That you're so innocent you don't know where foals come from?"

"H-hey!  Be nice!"

"Oh I'm just kidding, love."

"I know... but still..."

"Alright fine... Well, if this counts as a secret: I had to wear glasses for a few years after hurting my eyes with some extremely bright magic that I tried to cast."

"Really?  I bet you were cute with glasses..."

"I got made fun of a whole lot..."

"It couldn't have been that bad...  Besides, you're you, no matter what you look like or have to wear, and I... I love you for you."

"N'aww, I love you too, Fluttershy.  You really are the best thing that's happened to me in years."

The pegasus slowly lets herself drop to the ground, though positions herself above the unicorn before descending and wraps her forelegs around her neck.  She gently hugs Twilight and flies along with her trot, nuzzling the top of her head right behind her horn, happily holding the mare as they approach the shade of the overhanging forest before them.  Fluttershy flaps her wings and disengages from Twilight, fluttering over and dropping a picnic blanket down onto the soft grass.  The two of them face west, toward the mountains as the sun just barely teases the peaks of them.  Twilight trots over to join the pegasus as she lands and sits curled up on the blanket.  The unicorn lays with her and they stare off into the sky, waiting for that magical hour.  The sky is already a beautiful mix of pink and orange, tinting each of the low-lying clouds with a shaded and bumpy color palette all the same, giving the sky the texture of a beautifully painted picture.  Fluttershy rests her head on Twilight's shoulder, sighing contentedly and taking in the beauty of the sight.

Twilight turns to look her in the eye, and Fluttershy immediately picks up on the signal.  The two of them lock gazes and wrap their forelegs together, holding each other softly and very gently moving their muzzles in for a kiss.  It doesn't come right away, but instead slowly develops from a brushing of noses and lips, to a stinging blush in the cheeks from the excitement mixed with the chilled air, to the final product of a soft, quiet kiss.  The couple closes their eyes almost simultaneously, letting the world around them melt away until the only thing that truly exists to them is their love and the picnic blanket.  Fluttershy somehow finds herself laying atop Twilight's prone body, participating in the kiss, but not leading it, while Twilight runs her hooves up along the pegasus's back.  With a very slow, building pressure she presses down on the weak muscle structure holding her shoulders together, massaging just above her wings in shallow circles, and slowly moving them down along her back.  Fluttershy can feel her wings flutter a little bit, already completely stretched out above her, blushing but not caring at all.

The two of them let their kiss break for some air, looking out at the sunset by tilting their heads to the side and seeing that enough of it has disappeared behind the mountains to dim the light and soften the glow from the fiery orb.  The world is their candle, slowly burning down until darkness blankets them and hides them from unwelcome, prying eyes.  Despite the rays of orange light being projected all around them, the two of them can't help but feel plunged into a kind of tunnel-vision, with nothing around them even registering with their eyes and leaving them all alone in the world.

"Twilight, I..."  Fluttershy tries to say something to Twilight as she looks down, knowing her cheeks are beet red for almost no reason.  She can't help herself from blushing, especially when things get as heavy as they are.

"Shhh.  I know, Fluttershy,"  Twilight calmly whispers into her ear, kissing along her neck and up her jawline right afterward.  The pegasus tries to control her breathing, but feels it enter and exit her lungs in a shaky and jittery manner.  She's always just a little nervous with this sort of thing, but being outside certainly doesn't help calm her down at all.  "You okay?"

"Y-yeah...  Just a little... Well I don't know if we should be doing this outside...  What if somepony sees?"

"Who?  We're out by the Everfree forest behind your house, which is at like the edge of town anyway."

"G-good point... I just... I guess I'm still not as..."

"It's alright, love.  We don't have to do this out here if you don't want to.  I never want to make you uncomfortable, you know that."

"I know...  Thank you, Twilight.  When we go back inside we can."

Twilight giggles and uses her hooves to try and pull Fluttershy's wings back down to her sides, still holding onto her tightly and keeping their faces very close.  "Calm down, dear.  You're shaking."

"I-I-I know...  I'm just n-nervous is all..."

"Why are you nervous?  We've been together like this already...  Several times."

"Not outside...  A-and I'm always nervous...  I'm a-afraid of being...  Inadequate for you..."

"Fluttershy...  I can't think of anypony I've ever met who might be better for me than you are.  You're patient, caring, sweet, kind, loving, beautiful...  You're everything I've ever wanted.  I can't stop thinking about how much I love you, and how much you've grown on me.  It's only been like... a week, and I've already fallen for you, and frankly...  Everything about it just feels right.  So please don't say you're inadequate, because you're not.  You're spectacular, and I'm okay with it if I have that all to myself just because you don't want to walk around ponyville flaunting how great you are."

"Well I promise that you won't have to worry about that any time soon...  B-but thank you for the compliments."

"You're welcome, love."  Twilight smiles and wraps her forelegs around Fluttershy's withers, pulling her down and joining in a deep kiss.  The two of them hold it there for just a few seconds, breaking away for a breath and to look out at the sunset once more.  The sun itself is actually gone, leaving only a glowing, crimson color behind to burn across the sky.  The furthest reaches of their vision can pick up a growing darkness invading from the opposite horizon, slowly filling out the sky into darkness.  "This really is beautiful."

"It's a great time and place to just go out and think...  Really clears out the mind."

"I'll say...  What do you think about?"

"Hmm?  I think about everything, Twilight."

"I mean when you come out here to think."

"That's what I mean too.  I just let my mind go blank and then think about whatever it is that steps into my head afterward...  Some days are happier about it than others though."

"You seem like such a happy pony all the time though...  I mean, except when you get scared, of course."

"Of course."

"But I guess that's fair...  I suppose I haven't really taken enough time to myself for just 'thinking'..."

"You really ought to more often, Twilight.  It's not healthy to just lock yourself in your library all day."

"Hey!  I don't lock myself in.  Besides, you're one to talk...  When's the last time you said hello to a stranger without them having to look you up first?"

"Okay fine, maybe I'm reclusive too... but at least I do it outside!"

"Face it, Fluttershy...  We were made for each other."

"Okay fine, I'll face it, but only if you promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"We go back to my place right now and you keep me nice and warm... it's getting chilly out here."

Twilight can't help herself but giggle and poke Fluttershy in the nose with her hoof.  "I guess I can live with that."

You Can't Ignore Us Anymore

"So, Apple Bloom.  What exactly did you want to talk about?"  Cheerilee slowly trots along toward Sweet Apple Acres with Apple Bloom beside her.

"Well...  Is it okay for two mares to love each other?"  The filly doesn't hold back at all, choosing to throw the question out in the open and see what Cheerilee has to say.

"Uhm... Hmm...  I-I really don't..."  The school teacher knows exactly what she wants to say, but doesn't know exactly how to answer.  "This is what's been bothering you all day?"

"Yeah...  All week actually...  Applejack and Rainbow Dash ended up bein' together, and they say it's okay, Big Macintosh doesn't really say much one way or the other 'bout it, but Granny Smith says it's not right...  I just dunno who else to ask."

"Well...  Anything I tell you out here I can't tell you as a teacher, you understand?"  Cheerilee takes the situation to heart and does her best to help the filly, just making sure she can cover her own flank as well.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...  In school I'm your teacher, because it's my job to teach you things and it's your job to sit there and listen.  Out here I'm just like any other pony, so you should treat everything I say like you heard it from any other pony, even if you do know me better."

"Why's that?"

"Because things like this are controversial enough to spark family involvement more often than not, and if I told you anything one way or the other as your teacher instead of just as your friend, then... well... I could lose my job."

"Wull I don't want you to lose your job, miss Cheerilee.  You're the best teacher I've ever had!"  This comment gives the schoolteacher a little warmth in her heart.  She loves hearing things like that from a student, especially when she's trying to help out with something personal.

"Alright, Apple Bloom.  Just don't tell anypony we talked about this, okay?"

"Okay, Miss Cheerilee. I promise."

"Just call me Cheerilee out of school."

"Alright, Cheerilee...  Gawsh, that's gonna take some gettin' used to."

"Oh I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.  Anyway: personally, I think anypony should be allowed to be together regardless of who they like, what color their coat is, or anything else that makes them different, and it's not anypony's business but their own.  That being said:  I don't think you should go around asking everypony in town about this sort of thing."

"Alright, Miss... Uhm.  Alright, Cheerilee...  But why not?"

"Everypony has their own opinion on the matter, and it's just going to be frustrating to you if you walk around getting so many different things told to you all the time.  These kinds of things are frustrating even to me, and part of the reason it's a problem that hasn't been solved yet is simply because it's such a difficult thing to solve while making everypony happy."

"But how do I know who's right?"

"Well...  Nopony's really right or wrong.  Matters of love and life aren't like math problems, they can't be solved by plugging all of the variables into a formula; there are just far too many variables to keep track of.  It's entirely up to you to decide what's right or wrong for yourself.  You have to ask yourself whether it would make you happier to let Applejack and Rainbow Dash be together, or to try and convince them that being together isn't quite right.  Some ponies, like me for instance, might think it's better to let them be as they are.  Others, however, might think that it's important to uphold traditions and family values that have been passed down for generations, like your granny.  What you think about this isn't up to me, your granny, your sister, your brother, or anypony else you know (or even the ones you don't know) to decide.  That responsibility is entirely up to you."

"I guess that makes sense...  Thank you, Miss Cheerilee."

"Just Cheerilee!  And you're very welcome."  Cheerilee continues to walk toward Sweet Apple Acres with Apple Bloom, keeping her promise to walk her home all the way and watching the sundown on the horizon.  "Just remember, you didn't hear it from me."

"Who'd I hear it from then?"

"You're a smart filly, maybe you just came up with it yourself."

"If'n you say so, ma'am."

"Now go on home, I gotta get back and start grading your homework for the day."

"Just between us, could I maybe get an 'A' on this one?"

"That depends on how much you deserve an 'A' on this one."

The filly shrugs and giggles as she steps up to her front door.  "It was worth a try ah suppose."

"You look great in this, Rarity!"  Sweetie Belle chimes as she stands on a stool, helping her sister fit the dress for herself.  The lavender colored garment fits almost perfectly, but seems to have been made for a mare at least two inches taller than herself, leaving a small drag behind as she walks.

"Thank you, Sweetie Belle, now could you hold the hem up just a little bit higher, I need to pin it."  Rarity keeps her focus as best as she can, continuously letting her mind wander back and forth between lucidity and daydreaming about Noteworthy.  She slips a few pins into the dress to hem it up, looking at herself in the mirror as Sweetie Belle silently begs to let the fabric go.  "There, that does look pretty good on me doesn't it?"

"Sure does.  Thank you for letting me help, Rarity."

"Oh you did great, Sweetie Belle.  Thank you for helping, now do you promise to behave yourself tonight?"

"Of course I do, what kind of trouble could I possibly get in?"

"I've learned to stop asking that question myself..."

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the right choice of words...  But really I'll just stay home and figure out something to do, I won't make a mess or break something or anything like that...  I can take care of myself."

"Yes, I guess you can.  Just remember though, if anything does happen, I want you to run down the street and try to get Pinkie Pie's help, okay?"

"Yes, Rarity."

"I won't be mad at you, I just want you to be safe.  So don't try to cover it up yourself if you really can't handle it, okay?"

"Okay, Rarity, I promise if it's something serious I'll go down and get Pinkie's help."

Rarity leans down and gives Sweetie Belle a big, warm hug.  "You're a good filly, Sweetie Belle.  Don't let me down."

"I won't, sis."

Rarity pulls away and glances at herself once more in the mirror, posing a bit for the imaginary cameras flashing away in her mind.  After a flick of the mane, the unicorn trots downstairs and waits behind her front desk, making sure everything is in perfect order.  She goes about rearranging some small rolls of fabric, only to be interrupted by the familiar tingling of the bell above her door.  She slowly turns her head, thinking of just how captivating she would look on camera with some twinkling lights behind her, and only being brought out of this thought by the sight of her 'prince charming' stepping across the threshold.  Noteworthy isn't dressed too fancily, but he does show at least a little effort to look nice; and once Rarity gets a good first impression of a guy, it's relatively difficult for her to revert away from that, even in events of fashion detriment.

"Oh my goodness, Miss Rarity, that's just adding insult to injury."  Noteworthy makes a comment on the unicorn's attire as he steps in, smirking a little while he silently admires her poise.

"I hope I'm not offending!  I only figured you bought this dress for a special someone so I thought it might be, uhm..."  Rarity doesn't quite know what to say; she doesn't pick up on the lighthearted tone that Noteworthy had given her.

"Oh relax, Rarity, I'm just giving you a hard time.  Honestly I think it looks a whole lot better on you than it ever would on her.  Speakin' of which, maybe if we get lucky we'll see her tonight and have the opportunity to rub it in her face."

"That's awfully... passive aggressive, don't you think?"

"Well..."

"I just love it!"

Pinkie Pie and Soarin' sit across from each other, gently sipping "classy" coffee drinks that neither of them could pronounce (or identify for that matter) to save their lives.  Somewhere off in a distant corner of this particular "Barstucks" establishment is a pony wearing square-rimmed glasses and a scarf, trying furiously to write some hopeless manuscript, and even though the scratching and scribbling of a pen on paper is annoying, it doesn't interest the couple in the slightest.

"Remind me why we're here again, Soarin'?"  Pinkie tries to keep her fidgety self still as she looks around the dimly lit,  bare brick interior.

"Just kinda one of those things that couples do...  It's called a date."  Soarin' smirks and takes a slightly larger gulp from his mug now that it's cooled down a little bit.

"I know what a date is."  Pinkie replies with a chuckle and lightly nudges Soarin' under the table with her back hoof.  "It's just that this place is expensive...  I've got coffee back at the bakery that's not 5 bits for a cup..."

"Oh I know, but it's not about that.  It's about coming out here and watching all of the other ponies who come into places like this and feel all full of themselves.  It's about being out of familiar territory and exploring, spending a ridiculous amount of money for a cup of coffee and then getting an experience from it.  It's fun, plus we're supposed to go out for coffee; staying inside at your place isn't going out."

Pinkie turns her head as Soarin' finishes his sentence, glancing over the dingy little cafe and absolutely missing whatever beauty the stallion tried to plant into her mind for her.  Regardless, she tries to feign interest, knowing that the semi-sophisticated and high-class athlete will be having his own reservations about society, but retains her general desire for being a homebody.  "Let's go for a walk after this."

"A walk?"

"Yeah, a walk.  Just around town, maybe outside of it.  You said you wanted to go out didn't you?"

"Well, yeah but--"

"So let's go for a walk when we're done.  Walking is out."

"True..."  Soarin' doesn't want to argue with Pinkie, knowing she's on a very quick road to recovery from her previously lethargic, hungover state.  "Alright, deal.  We'll go for a walk after this."

"Hooray!"  Pinkie throws her arms out and grins big, never having gone for a walk around town with a stallion before.  She'd always had a destination whenever she was walking with anypony else, and doing so alone just wasn't quite the same.  Soarin' finishes up his mug and stands to leave.  He holds the door for Pinkie, who gladly hops out in her usual fashion, and follows alongside her.  The stallion still doesn't quite know what he finds so intriguing about the pink earth pony, but even the way she bounces along the ground captivates him.

"So where did you want to go?"

"Nowhere."  Pinkie doesn't even turn her head to address Soarin', keeping her eyes focused ahead only enough to avoid the various obstacles in her path, but otherwise observing the natural scene even in the midst of a suburban section of Ponyville.

"Nowhere?"

"Nowhere."

"So...  We're just walking then?"

"Yuppers!"

"Okay then..."  The gray pegasus has to fight every fiber of his being not to ask 'well where the hay are we going then?' but manages to do so.  He's nothing if not open minded.  To say the walk progresses in silence would be slightly incorrect; Pinkie's various repertoire of noises and comments whenever something interesting passes by keeps anything akin to silence at bay.  However not much discourse goes on between the couple; Pinkie simply steps through the various slices of nature and absorbs the balanced beauty.  Soarin' really does feel a special moment here, though he wouldn't admit it if asked.  He'd never taken the time until now to really walk around in a natural place; it's always been speed above all else.  He trots alongside the bouncing mare, noticing through the fading light of sunset the leafless trees and dried grass in place of the homogenous brown blur that would be in their place had he been flying overhead.  Somewhere in the distance a bird chirps, bringing a small moment of beautiful sound to his usually wind-buffeted ears.  "This is pretty nice, Pinkie."

"Isn't it?"  Pinkie pulls herself away from a snowdrop flower as Soarin's voice cuts into her chaotic mind.

"It really is...  Thank you."

"N'aww, you don't have to thank me silly-willy.  Just enjoy it!"

Soarin' smirks and steps over to Pinkie Pie, giving her a gentle hug with his wing as he begins to walk alongside her.  "Now that I can do."

Twilight and Fluttershy keep their hooves entwined with each other, swaying gently through the dimly lit bedroom in Fluttershy's cottage.  A single ray of orange light juts in through the window, lighting up a small area in the center of the floor almost like a spotlight and giving the couple the perfect spot for a late-afternoon dance.  Twilight moves through a complex set of moves with almost no coordination whatsoever, clearly having gathered knowledge without any practice.  Fluttershy, however, performs in exactly the opposite way; her every step is met with grace and poise, but with no real knowledge of any traditional dances or patterns, so she simply allows Twilight to lead.  In all, the move-set is awkward and goofy, prompting many instances of red-tinted cheeks and nervous giggles from the mares, but never setting them back at all.  They love each other very deeply, and are more than willing to do something just for the fun of it, even if it does make them both look like dorks (which this undoubtedly does).

The ray of light splitting the room slowly shrinks as the couple dances, casting smaller and smaller rays across the faces and bodies of the mares whenever they pass through its beam.  Twilight lifts her left hoof up while Fluttershy keeps hers connected, twirling beneath the arch and ending with her back pressed against Twilight's chest.  The unicorn's arms wrap around her waist and she is completely unable to stop herself from squeaking happily.  Twilight hears this and giggles a little herself, quietly smooching the pegasus on the back of her neck and holding her there for a few wonderful seconds.  Fluttershy's breathing takes a slight spike as the unicorn's lips brush against her neck, sending a small shiver down her back and almost making her melt.  Every single moment like this is one that they both treasure, especially as the day quietly comes to a close.

Twilight backs up to the bed, Fluttershy still in her grip, and plops down on her back.  She brings the pegasus with her and prompts a soft laugh from the two of them; Fluttershy rolls onto her side and gazes into Twilight's eyes.  The two have only to offer a warm smile to each other, eventually letting the moment draw them into a kiss, undisturbed by anything at all.  Well, that is except one thing: a familiar voice in the very back of Fluttershy's mind; one whose inflection betrays almost as  much anguish as it does anger.

Well aren't you *cute, Co-pilot?*

You Cannot Judge Us Anymore

Why are you here?  Fluttershy thinks to herself (or rather, to Courage) in a frustrated tone.  The surprise of the moment doesn't deter her from the disdain she holds for her 'wild side'.

Well, it's in part because of comments like that, and in part because you never actually got rid of me.  'Couage' responds in a less than usual fashion, appealing to Fluttershy's sense of reason rather than the usual snarkiness that she used to be known for.

Why won't you just go away?

You seriously think you can make me disappear just like that?  That's why I'm here, you moron.  If I could just be gotten rid of you'd be the nicest pony in the world.  You wouldn't feel any kind of anger, frustration, annoyance, impatience or hatred.  Just like you wouldn't feel the desire to take things for yourself, to defend your own honor, or to live the life you want to live.  Sound familiar?  That's what you're trying to be; all your life you've been striving to be something that doesn't exist, Fluttershy, and that's why I'm here.

Why did you try to take me over, then?

Pfft, why?  Maybe it's because living with you is just so insufferably disappointing!  You never take things for yourself, you never stand up for yourself, you never do anything for yourself and I'm sick of it.  If you were to give me the reigns for five minutes, five fucking minutes, I would live more than you have in your whole, boring life.  You tried to 'consume' me, but you did so because you wanted to get rid of me.  Your other two 'sides' aren't here anymore because you live with them.  You do that because you want to live with them, and so you actually accept them as a part of yourself.  Well I'm a part of yourself too, Fluttershy, and you have to learn to live with that fact.

I don't need you...  I've got everything I want right here, right now.

You actually believe that, don't you?  You're pathetic, Fluttershy.  You know I'll never go away if you stick yourself in that mindset.

Please, just leave me alone.

Look, now you're begging with yourself.  You're actually begging yourself to leave you alone.  Do you have any idea how sad that is?

Why are you being like this?  Why can't you just go away?

Because you're so damn scared of the world that you need me to do all of the difficult things for you!

Fluttershy is being noticeably quiet as all of this goes on in her mind, and Twilight certainly notices.  The pegasus's eyes mist over and she breaks away from their love-locked gaze, prompting Twilight to try and grab her attention once more.

"Fluttershy?  What's the matter?"

You're not even going to tell her, are you?

The pegasus sniffles and buries her face into Twilight's shoulder, pulling her into a hug and knowing that it will be the perfect way to stall for time.  Twilight takes the bait and rubs Fluttershy's back, letting her hold on tight without saying a word.

You might as well be lying to her.

S-shut up...  Even Fluttershy's inner voice has the stutter of a sob.

No.  I won't shut up because if I do then you'll never grow out of this.

Please go away, I don't want you here...

"Fluttershy, please tell me what's wrong?  We were having such a wonderful time, are you alright?"

Are you gonna answer her?

I-I-I don't...  Fluttershy hiccups a little and lets her eyes quickly drain out some of the pent up moisture behind them.  I don't know...

How the hell can you not know?  Are you going to answer your marefriend or not?  She's asking you a question.

I don't know what to say...

You're hopeless...  You're just, fucking hopeless.  If I could abandon you then you'd better believe that I would in a heartbeat.

Then why can't you just leave?

"Fluttershy...  I'm worried about you."  Twilight's voice shifts from patient comfort to genuine concern.  Fluttershy's radical mood swing from happy and blissful to abnormally depressed really brings the unicorn into a worry about her mental health.

"I-I'm fi-ine..."

Now you're lying...

Stop trying to change the subject!  Why can't you leave?

I keep saying it, over and over again, but you just won't listen.  Whether you like it or not, I'm a part of you.

No you aren't!  You're mean and you're cruel, a-an-and selfish, and just... You're horrible!  You're not me, and you'll never be me!

"You don't sound fine, Fluttershy."

Excuse me?  I'm selfish?  You're the one who tried to snuff me out just because you don't like the way I think.  You're the one who can't get past your own petty little problems long enough to have a nice conversation with somepony who loves you...  You're the one who can't grow up and get your mind out of your parents' house!

Shut up!

Why?  So you can keep running away from it all?  What help could that possibly have for you?

I said shut up!

No, you shut up!  It's my turn to talk.  There's a reason I call you Co-pilot you know.  You've always convinced yourself that you're learning, but you've never actually flown for your own self once in your pretty little life.

I-I-I fly every day...

Don't bullshit me, Fluttershy.  You haven't flown a day in your life and you know exactly what I mean by that.  You never learned to fly.

That's not true...

"Fluttershy, please just talk to me.  I want to help."

It's more than true.  You can't handle your own problems, you can't handle your own anger, and you can't handle your own life.  If you could, you wouldn't need me here to do it for you.  You wouldn't have needed me all these years to keep you alive, you wouldn't have needed me all these years to keep you sane, and you wouldn't have needed me all these years to keep you from letting yourself rot away while you try to hide from the realities that surround you.

I-I-I...

Don't give me that 'I-I-I' crap either.  You know it's true.  You know you wouldn't be anywhere without me.  Would you even have had the guts to say hello to Twilight if I wasn't there?

Why are you doing this?

Why? Why?! Because you can't do it yourself, that's why!

Twilight's look of worry turns into that of frustration, bringing her to pull the pegasus away from the hug and look her straight in the eye.  "Fluttershy, why are you crying?"

"B-because..."

"Yes?"

"It's because I'm pathetic..."

At least you have sense enough to admit it.

"You're not pathetic, Fluttershy...  Why would you say such a thing?"

"Because I am..."

"What happened, sweetheart?"  Twilight can see the pain in Fluttershy's face as she speaks, wanting to help but not wanting to pry into what's making her speak like this.  Fluttershy stays silent, however, letting herself think about how to answer the question.

You gonna tell her?

What should I say?

Everything.  Twilight doesn't actually know you, Fluttershy.  You've been hiding everything from her and you can't even admit it to yourself.

I haven't been hiding everything...

You've hidden everything important.  She doesn't know anything about your family, she doesn't know anything about your past.  She doesn't know about what makes you you, Co-pilot.

Those things hurt...

Of course they hurt, if things like that were supposed to feel good then the whole world would be a fucked up place full of crazy, masochistic, child-minded ponies like yourself.  It doesn't matter what you've seen, done, or heard, but how you deal with it that actually makes you strong.  You've just been the weirdest little filly anypony in your whole life has ever seen and you've gotten used to it.  Now you can't do anything without somepony else's approval.

What do you mean?

Oh please...  Why'd you go outside earlier?

Because I wanted to...

Wrong, because you wanted Twilight to share something with you that you knew would make her happy.  When's the last time you went out to dinner?

My date with Twilight...

"You still there, love?"

And when's the last time you went to buy food?

When angel ran out of carrots to snack on...

So riddle me this: when's the last time you did something because you wanted to?  You and nopony else.

I don't know...

That's because you don't do that...  Ever.  You always wait to hear what other ponies want and then you always try to please them.  You might as well be wearing a sign on your forehead that reads "Daddy Didn't Love Me".

That's uncalled for...

No it's not.  You need to hear it because you need to be able to say it yourself.  Your daddy didn't treat you very well, and we both know that's true.

He did the best he could...

No he didn't!  He slapped you around like a hockey puck, drank at eight in the morning on weekdays, yelled at you, and never showed you any praise.  He hated you, Fluttershy.

He didn't hate me!

He hated you!  He hated you and he hated his life, but you know what?

Fluttershy has already begun to cry, letting out a small torrent of tears onto Twilight's sheets in her silent agony.  What?

It wasn't ever your fault.  It was his.

Twilight uses her hoof to nudge Fluttershy's chin up so that she's forced to look her in the eye.  The unicorn half examines her pupils and half tries to pry a response from her sealed lips.  "Fluttershy?"

"I'm sorry, Twilight.  I'm just...  Thinking."

For once in your life that's actually true.  You're really thinking.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just... stuff."

That's not good enough for me, Co-pilot.  You've gotta let her in.

"What kind of stuff?"

"I've... I've never told you about my daddy, have I?"

That's better.  Now I think it's time for me to give you two some privacy.

Wait...  Why are you doing all of this?  Why are you helping?  You tried to bury me, take me over...  Kill me, whatever you want to call it.

I never tried to kill you, Fluttershy.  I just wanted to teach you how to fly.

But what about all of that stuff you said?

Okay fine, there was a little more to it than just teaching you how to fly...  The way I figured it, there were two options for you to take: one was to learn how to deal with me and live with me under your own power, and the other was for you to fail miserably and let me take over.  Either way I would benefit, but you managed to just suppress me again and ruin everything I was trying to do for you.  Living with you is so difficult, you have no idea.

You're no walk in the park either.  This witty retort actually commands a small amount of respect from Courage.

Hah, I'll give you that, but you're just frustrating.  It took a lot to make you grow up, even just a little bit.

What do you mean?

You stood up to me, as well as all of the problems I set for you.  I was the ultimate thing you hated, every fear you've ever known, and you stood up against me.  That's admirable, but you did it for the wrong reasons.  You did it to get rid of me, so I only ended up teaching you where to look, but not how to get there.

"No, you haven't told me about any of your family at all.  Did something happen to him?"  Twilight's voice continues to briefly punch through the web of racing thoughts that Fluttershy has.

"Not really...  It's more like... he happened to me."

But why?  Why all of this?  Fluttershy balances her conversations just as usual, switching back and forth between haphazard answers to Twilight and more thought-out ones for Courage.

All three of us had something to teach you, Fluttershy.  Kindness and compassion weren't really new to you, so she came and went pretty quickly.  Logic and reasoning needed my help to find their way into your head, but for the most part you managed to get her yourself.  Something you've always been great at is loving others and thinking up a pattern of circular logic for doing so, but you've never been good at embracing all of your emotions.  There are things that you hate in this world, Fluttershy.  Things that annoy you, things that drive you crazy, things that bring you nothing but grief and anger at just the very mention of their names, but that's true for everypony out there.  The difference between them and you is that you have no clue how to channel and control that hatred.  You can't fly with your eyes closed.

Fluttershy stays quiet, quivering a little bit because she knows that everything Courage has been telling her is right.

"He hurt you, didn't he?"

It's time to fly, Fluttershy.  Let her in.

Only if you leave...

I'll leave when you're ready for me to leave, but until then you're gonna have to get used to me.  As if you haven't had time enough to do that.

"He did...  It's a long story, Twilight."

"I've got plenty of time for it, sweetheart."

"I... I d-don't think he ever wanted me..."

Attagirl, just let it all out in the open.  I promise it'll all be okay.

Applejack leans down and presses her lips to the back of Rainbow Dash's neck.  The cyan pony is thoroughly pinned to the bed by her strong marefriend, blushing intensely and breathing very heavily.

"There, that wasn't so bad now was it?"  Applejack lays herself down on Rainbow's back and nuzzles her head into the pegasus's shoulder, grinning as her muzzle comes into Rainbow's view.

"My flank hurts like you wouldn't believe..."  Dash tries her best to deflect the question, not wanting to admit that she did enjoy the 'treatment', but wouldn't want to do it again any time soon.

"I'll bet.  I did get a little... carried away I reckon."

"Yeah...  You slapped it around like it owed you money."

"Sounds to me like you've got some experience with that."

"Hey, I earn my money just like any other pegasus.  Weather Patrol by day."

"Weather Patrol 'by day' huh?  What happens at night?"

"Hey, don't judge..."

"Tell me you didn't..."

"I'm not admitting to anything until I know what I'm being accused of!"

"Oh c'mon...  I won't tell.

"I know you won't, but that doesn't change that it's embarrassing."

"Oh just tell me, Rainbow!"

"Okay fine...  I..."  Rainbow Dash hesitates and looks away from her marefriend for a while, trying to compose herself a little.  "I scalped Wonderbolts tickets once!"

"That's what you're embarrassed about doing for money?"

"Yeah... I saved up for months to get them but then I needed to pay rent and I didn't really have a choice..."

"Phew!  I thought...  Oh sweet Princess that's a relief."

"What'd you think I did?"

"Oh... let's just change the subject, can't we?"

"You didn't seriously think I was a whore did you?"

"No, no nothing like that!  Just... the way you were talkin'... I just..."  Applejack's usually calm demeanor begins to fail miserably.

"I know you made me say 'Oh yes, please give me more, I'm your little whore' just now but I didn't seriously mean it."  This comment brings a bright red tinge to Applejack's cheeks as it plucks on her general tendency for using polite language in place of the raw descriptions that Rainbow was using.

"H-hey now!  I ain't never heard you make noises like that before so I think it's safe to say you enjoyed yourself."

"I'll admit that it was a... ehm.  Different experience...  Not gonna say more than that."

"Well, with the amount of "Rainbow-Dash-ese" I've learned to speak in this short time I'd say that means it's a 'do-again' then hm?"

"Yeah, fine...  Only if you let me do you next time though."

"Alright, I'm open to that."

"Wow really?  I didn't expect it to be that easy..."

"I trust you."

"That's a bad idea, biscuit."

"Yeah, I know.  But hey, you trusted me enough to do this, so I reckon I can extend the favor."

"Speaking of trust, Applejack."  Rainbow rolls over slightly, looking her marefriend in the eyes.

"Yeah?"  Her answer is cautious and slow as she readies herself to delicately answer whatever the pegasus plans on asking.  The orange earth pony knows immediately that Rainbow is being serious from the simple act of using her full name.

"Are we ever going to tell Granny Smith?  I figure it'd be better that way than having her, say... walk in on us or something."

"I don't know, Rainbow...  I really do wanna tell her, but every time I get anywhere near her I just freeze up."

"Why though?  She's such a nice old lady, I've never seen her do anything that wasn't either goofy or generous...  Or  both...  That's actually the more common of the three."

"Ah know...  It's just a reflex, I don't like breaking bad news to anypony, I always try to think of a way to say it without saying it, if you get my meanin'."

"So you're saying that our relationship is 'bad news'?"

"No!  No, that's not what I meant...  I just...  She might take it as bad news, and I don't wanna see her disappointed...  Rainbow, I don't know what I'd do without you, I don't want you to leave and I'm afraid that Granny might kick you, me, or both of us out of the house if she found us out..."

"Alright, alright, I understand why you don't wanna tell her...  Just, please think about it, okay?"

"I've been doin' nothin' but thinkin' about it, Dashie."

"Well you know I'll be by your side no matter what you decide."

"Of course I know that.  You're my marefriend after all."

"Yeah well...  That doesn't always mean they're loyal."

"Someone didn't treat ya too well did they?"

"Not really, but it's not important."

"No, no, it's very important."  Applejack makes sure to keep Rainbow pinned to the bed, looking down at her and grinning.  "Sugar Cube, you might as well open up to me if you're gonna be in a relationship with me.  I respect your privacy, but I'd really like to listen if you've got somethin' to say.  I don't wanna make the same kind of mistakes they did."

The pegasus hesitates a little bit, feeling her heart sink from the painful memories, though doesn't dwell too long.  She understands that the beautiful earth pony with her wouldn't ever leave if she could help it, and finally feels a familiar warmth in her heart.  "You remember Gilda?"

"You really were with her?  I was just teasin' ya back when I made those jokes..."

"Yeah, well, I didn't tell anypony because it's kinda embarrassing.  Thinking back I only really did it to piss off my parents.  The whole... 'fillyfooler' thing did enough of that, but dating a griffon really threw them over the edge.  I think that's the biggest reason I decided to actually stay in Flight School."

"I thought you loved Flight School?"

"I loved flight.  The school part of it sucked...  I was better than any of the other ponies in there, and I'm not saying that just to be cocky."

"I'm sure that's a pretty big part of it, Sugar Cube."

"I'd give it about forty percent.  But seriously, I didn't really need the training as much as I just needed time to practice.  After the Junior Academy Gilda and I broke it off...  Well, I broke it off with her, she wasn't exactly a loyal marefriend...  If you can even call a griffon that.  My parents had long-since thrown me out, so I didn't really have anywhere to go but Flight School.  I'm just lucky I was good enough to get scholarships for the tuition."

"Well, if my word means anythin' to you, I promise that I'd never just up and leave ya.  You're the only pony that's ever actually made me happy.  Even if you do pluck at mah nerves all the damn time."

"Oh, you and I both know that you need somepony to get you all worked up otherwise you'd just slink around all full of yourself like usual."

"That's precisely what I mean..."

"Ah lahv you, AJ."

"Save it, lover-filly."

"Aww, don't be that way.  I was only kidding."

Applejack smirks and uses her hooves to viciously tickle Rainbow's ribs just as she lets her guard down, not allowing her to move from beneath her.  "Too bad, you're gettin' punished anyway."

Twilight Hours

Twilight Sparkle sits patiently on Fluttershy's small sofa, amazed at how organized the pegasus has shown herself to be.  Glancing back and forth over the neat and tidy bookcases, fireplace, coffee table, and other small bits of furniture placed expertly around the house.  Fluttershy, having not fed her animals in almost twenty-four hours flits about her home, refilling bowls and other such things with various specialized blends.  As she flies into the living area with Twilight, the unicorn promptly tries to initiate a little smalltalk.

"So, Fluttershy, this place is pretty much spotless, and for someone with dozens of pets that's pretty impressive.  How do you manage?  I can barely keep the library clean and I have spike to help me,"  She asks, drumming her hooves on the floor in a spell of boredom.  Twilight feels very comfortable inside the tree-home.  Almost too comfortable in fact; Fluttershy's home is unlike most other dwellings where she has something to focus her obsessive desire to organize on.

"Well... The animals aren't very messy believe it or not...  And after I make sure they're fed and given water I usually just clean up.  I don't really have much else to do if I'm not out on the town with Rarity every week,"  Fluttershy responds, dusting some loose birdseed onto her hoof from the brim of a newly-filled bird feeder and heading back to throw it out.

Twilight just giggles at the mare, standing up and following her through the home, "Well I hope you know you're always welcome to drop by the library!  Maybe you could help me out with my studies every now and then, I always need at least one assistant and Spike seems to be asleep half the time,"

"Maybe I will...  That actually sounds kinda fun Twilight,"  Fluttershy says with a gentile smile, turning to face the unicorn and then accidentally flying into the low frame of a doorway.  She falls out of the sky, landing on her back with a thud and squeak.  Having completely lost her bearings from the impact, she shakes her head and blinks a few times, trying to figure out which way is 'up'.

"Oh my goodness!  Are you okay Fluttershy?"  Twilight doesn't hesitate to run next to the mare, kneeling down and looking her in the eyes.  Fluttershy slowly comes to, smiling and relaxing a bit as the first sight to come into focus is the worried face of Twilight Sparkle.

"I've never been better..."  The canary-yellow pegasus states, smiling up into Twilight's face and using one foreleg to wrap around her neck.  She pulls herself up and kisses the unicorn, who gladly accepts the gesture and even uses her magic to help support the mare's weight.  After pulling slowly away, keeping her eyes closed and taking a deep breath of Twilight's sweet aroma, she stands and looks the blushing unicorn in the face, just happy to be here with her.

Twilight, relieved that she's alright and swooning from the kiss moves Fluttershy's mane out of her face and smiles, "Don't hurt yourself anymore you big goof, you scared me there for a second,"  And follows it up with a kiss on the cheek, gathering up the seeds with magic and tossing them into the garbage bin for Fluttershy.

"Well it's not like I planned that, Twilight!"  Fluttershy says with a pout, rubbing her sore forehead from the impact.  She decides to just walk from then on, saving herself from anymore clumsy injuries,  "ugh... well at least the birds were the last of the animals that needed to be fed...  what do you feel like doing today, Twilight?"

The unicorn stops and thinks, not having put any attention to the matter and just coming along with Fluttershy on a whim.  She shrugs and looks back into the living area, taking special notice of the fireplace.  "Well... why don't we go sit and get to know each other a little better?  I feel like I don't know anything about your past,"

The pegasus takes a minute to think, half expecting Twilight to have wanted lunch or something,  "Well, alright... that sounds nice, and it's too cold to go out anyway..."  Fluttershy obliges, trotting back into her living area and taking a seat on her cramped sofa, gently patting one hoof on the space next to her.  Twilight happily joins, sitting cuddled up next to Fluttershy, who lovingly wraps her wing around the unicorn.  Twilight uses her magic to toss a few logs into the fireplace along with a match, promptly setting a small blaze for the two to sit and watch.  Angel lazily hops into the room, yawning and glancing around to see Fluttershy and Twilight together on the couch.  The silently jealous rabbit hops over and bounds into Fluttershy's lap, claiming his rightful place and refusing to acknowledge Twilight's existence.  Fluttershy, blinking in surprise just accepts the newcomer, softly stroking down his back and leaning her head onto Twilight's shoulder.  "So, uhm... What is it you wanted to know?"

Twilight, still laughing and teasing Fluttershy about the bunny intrusion, calms down and wraps her foreleg around the pegasus's back, embracing her softly and sighing in content, "Well, what was your family like?"

Fluttershy hesitates a little bit, her family life was somewhat painful... but she does feel like she can tell Twilight anything.  After a short pause and a sigh she nuzzles her head into Twilight's shoulder, opening up to the only one she feels she can open up to.

"Well... my dad wasn't home much...  He worked for the post office and delivered mail all over Equestria.  My mom was a stay-at-home... she had some disease that made her unable to fly very far because her feathers tended to fall out in a heavy breeze.  The doctors didn't know quite what the disease was, but they figured I was at risk of having it, so my mom wouldn't let me fly very far from the house...  My dad didn't teach me how to fly until shortly before I left for flight school, so I've never really been a strong flyer.  Other than that it was just the typical hen-pecking mother who wouldn't let me do anything unless she was watching over me, and a dad who never seemed to be around, and the only time he really was there he was too tired to talk..."  Fluttershy relives her family life, feeling all alone more often than not, even with her mother tracking her every movement like a hawk.  She resents both of her parents, only having gone to flight school to escape living at home with them.

"Awwh! I'm sorry, Fluttershy, if I had known I wouldn't have asked..."  Twilight says calmly, stroking the pegasus's pink mane and trying to be comforting, knowing the memory wasn't an easy one to conjure up.

"It's okay, Twilight...  I'm happy that I can talk to you about this stuff..."  Fluttershy says, trying to emulate Twilight's affection by hugging and petting Angel Bunny, keeping herself close to the unicorn all the while.

"You can talk to me about anything, Fluttershy, I want you to know that right now,"  She says, leaning down to kiss the bridge of the pegasus's nose, still holding her tight and stroking her hair.

"Mmnn, I know, Twilight, and thank you so much... you're a great friend,"  Fluttershy says, blushing deeply and happily humming into Twilight's shoulder.

Twilight blushes and leans down to kiss the top of Fluttershy's head, holding her close and looking down to her, "Well, I think that maybe by now... we're a little more than just friends,"  She pauses a little bit to consider the idea, but decides that she doesn't care what other ponies think, only wishing to pursue this.

Fluttershy responds in her typical fashion, turning brick red and burying her face into Twilight's shoulder, squeaking a little from the embarrassment, but knowing that it's true,  "How do you feel about... us?"  She asks, wanting to know just what Twilight plans to do as far as the relationship goes.

Taking the next step I see... Good girl,  The voice chimes back on cue, taking the time to help keep Fluttershy encouraged.

"How do you mean, Fluttershy?"  She asks, almost as if stalling; she clearly knows the answer.

"You know, how do you feel about being in a relationship?  W-would you be okay calling me your marefriend?"  Fluttershy desperately wants this, not wanting to keep everything secret from all of their friends.  She's had to keep secrets before and they always eat her up inside.

Twilight sits and thinks for a while, mulling over the question in her head but ultimately deciding, "Fluttershy... You're a wonderful friend to me, and to everypony else.  You brighten my day each time I get to see you, rare as that is, and you show nothing but kindness and love to me time after time.  I wouldn't be 'okay' with calling you my marefriend... I would feel honored,"

Fluttershy blushes brick red and smiles, looking up to Twilight and opening her mouth to speak.  Just as she's about to say "thank you" her shoulders are met with the weight of the unicorn's hooves pressing her against the back of the sofa.  She squeaks a little at the surprise, only to be cut off from making anymore noise by a deep, sensual kiss.  Twilight keeps the pegasus pinned to her sofa with her weight, breathing heavily through her nose and parting her lips.  Fluttershy doesn't hesitate too much, allowing Twilight's tongue to dance playfully with hers as she finally relaxes and rests her forelegs at her sides.  The unicorn breaks the kiss and tilts her head down, letting her horn graze Fluttershy's forehead as she takes a few deep breaths.

"T-T-Thank you, Twilight..."  She manages to stutter out after a few deep breaths.  Twilight simply sits in her lap and gazes into her eyes, holding onto her shoulders and kissing her again.

"You're very welcome... I dunno what came over me, but I think I like it,"  Twilight says, still breathing heavily and blushing dark red, kissing along Fluttershy's jawbone as she finishes speaking, holding her tight and keeping her pinned to the sofa.

"Mmmn... I uhm, I think I like it too..."  The timid pegasus states, wrapping her forelegs around Twilight's back and pulling her close, kissing her horn once and feeling the gentile tingle of magical energy running along her lips.  Twilight sits perfectly still, blushing extremely heavily from the attention and shivering just a little bit.  "That wasn't... too far was it, Twilight?"

Twilight stands up, looking into Fluttershy's eyes and blushing intensely, using her hoof to tug on the pegasus's foreleg.  She leads the other mare toward the staircase and walks up in complete silence, all the while feeling her body shiver and her heart flutter.

Fluttershy, who's just following blindly and still worrying that she crossed a line, chews her lower lip and berates herself in her mind.

Great job, Fluttershy... Now she's mad at you...  Or else she'd say something, right?  She says to herself, hoping that her favorite figment of her imagination stays out of this for a little while longer.

Thought you could keep me away did ya? ... Drat... You don't know much about unicorns do you Co-pilot?

Well... Apparently I do if you know anything at all...  Fluttershy responds, lately trying her best to be reasonable with the voice and recognize it for what it really is... or rather isn't.

Well, you do have a point there, you remember that one time at the spa where you and Rarity were hanging out just a little too close to the edges of the mud bath pits?  The voice says, prodding on something that she thought she hadn't noticed at all...

uhm...  Fluttershy and Twilight were nearing the top of the staircase, the pegasus realized that Twilight was dragging them to her bedroom...

Well...  One of the spa ponies, Lotus, accidentally brushed up against Rarity's horn as she walked past... Their horns are very sensitive Co-pilot... and you kissed hers... I think you know where this is going,

Oh... uhm... OH! Fluttershy says in her mind, twitching a little bit and looking back up at the hypnotized mare.  Giggling and blushing to herself.  She doesn't really mind where this could be going, she really does feel love for the mare.  The only worry in her mind lately has been whether or not she felt the same; she's about to find out.

Don't Set Your Mind to One Side

Fluttershy's climb gradually becomes more and more effortless the further she advances up the mountain.  As her goal approaches the sky clears, and even the glance down to the archives of the library seems far less menacing.  She gazes around to look at the scenery, taking in this world for what it truly is: a creation of her own mind.  The more she realizes exactly where she is, the better everything starts to become.  There are actually animals in the scene, rather than it just being a barren wasteland save the other two ponies following her around, and for once she can see the sun.  The higher they climb, the more like nature the background gets, and so, the closer they get to their ultimate goal.

"Uhm... N-Numbers?"  Fluttershy turns to the slightly distracted unicorn version of herself and asks.  "Is this getting easier because I want it to...  o-or because I'm getting used to the environment?"

Numbers, currently shoving away the mocking hooves of one very bored Courage, takes a second to readjust her glasses before answering.  "The answer to that question is 'yes'.  A little bit of both really, you're becoming more comfortable in your mind, and therefore everything is starting to take shape as a slightly more comfortable environment."  At the end of her statement, Courage sneakily baps Numbers on the back of the head, knocking her glasses loose and nearly sending them crashing to the ground.  "You're so lucky that you're a necessary component for Fluttershy's sanity or I'd throw you off this mountain right this instant!"

"Hah, I knew I could get you to snap."  Courage sticks her tongue our and snickers at the frustrated unicorn.

"Brute."

"Nerd."

"Girls!" Fluttershy yells to try and break up the quarrel before it gets too bad.  She immediately apologizes after she has their attention, however.  "Please...  We need to keep moving.  We're almost there."

"No we're not, Co-pilot."  Courage steps away from Numbers and points her hoof over Fluttershy's shoulder.  "We're already there."

"H-h-how did... How did that happen?"  The pink-maned pegasus stares in awe at the larger-than-expected mouth of the cave at the summit of the mountain.

"Decisiveness I'd venture to assume."  Numbers readjusts her glasses and tries to set her hair back, doing so almost without any effort whatsoever.  "You ordered us to quit goofing around, and in effect you ordered your mind to quit goofing around.  Whether you know it or not."

"So if I tell you two to do something it'll change the world?"

"Not exactly...  Whenever you're talking to us you're just talking to yourself.  However that comes to pass in this place is as much up to chance as it is up to whatever you say or think."  Courage throws a rock into the cave and listens intently for the echo.

"Your interpretation of what you say to us, ehm... yourself... is what drives this world, Fluttershy.  The fact that you're actually well-read and fairly intelligent only makes that more complicated.  If you were dumb and brutish like... say... Rainbow Dash, we'd have been here and back ages ago... but since you have irrational fears, inhibitions, interpretations, functional analyses of specific situations, and such a great memory coupled with so many emotional and sensory cues that you might as well have a standing stone in your mind with all of your experiences chiseled onto it for eternity... well, that just makes this whole journey longer, more difficult, and of course, more frightening."  Numbers ends her long-winded statement with a sigh as she looks over to see Courage amidst throwing things off of the precipice of the cliff.  "They say ignorance is bliss, and I must say Courage is a pretty solid example of that as a fact."

"Hey!"  Courage stops dropping various objects off of the sheer cliff face and turns around at the insulting mention of her name.

"So... should we go i-inside?"  Fluttershy looks up to the mouth of the cave and feels as if it gets bigger and darker every single second.  It seems to her that her mind's last defense of this memory is to scare her away.

"We must go inside, Fluttershy.  It's not a matter of whether we should or shouldn't... to be quite frank you 'shouldn't' even be here, but you need to be here."  Numbers uses her magic to throw the remainder of Courage's pile of rocks, various articles of clothing, even a few gold coins off of the cliff and then drag her back toward the group by the tail.  Needless to say, the earth pony is not amused.

The pegasus gulps and takes a few steps toward the mouth of the cave.  All she can think of is the first time she'd been to the real-world version of this very mountain, and as such, the mouth of the cave becomes literally a mouth.  Jagged stalagmites and stalactites jut out of the floor like teeth, and the opening seems to have elongated around her.  She manages to fight the urge to just shrink up into a little ball and cry, knowing full well that her companions wouldn't allow it too well.  Just to get a look at her state of mind, Fluttershy looks around and tries to analyze the body language of the ponies behind her.  Numbers seems very calm and collected, observing her surroundings extremely thoroughly and with a kind of focus that Fluttershy has only ever seen in Twilight, while Courage steps through with her chin held high, nodding her head to some kind of tune that only she would ever know, and paying almost no attention to where she's stepping.  The pegasus gulps one more time, re-playing the quote that Numbers had mentioned outside: "Your interpretation is what drives this world."  Fluttershy doesn't really have to force it this time, but steps into the blackness toward the back of the cave, knowing full well that she has the strength to take on whatever lies ahead.

Rainbow Dash opens her eyes to be greeted with the darkness of a nearly midnight hour.  She turns to look at Applejack, who has rolled out from beneath the pegasus and is sleeping in a somewhat awkwardly oriented position.  The only thought running through Dash's mind is how goofy Applejack looks when she's sleeping:  hair messed up, mouth open, snoring with the most adorable, quiet but still squeaky tone.

The pegasus lays her head on the pillow and readjusts her position so that she's comfy, looking Applejack straight in the face.  Secretly, she wishes that the earth pony would open her eyes and be greeted with the wondrous image of  "hers truly", but all that the snoozing mare does is mumble something entirely incomprehensible (besides the word "apples" of course) and roll onto her back.

Just my luck...  Rainbow thinks to herself, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling for a while.  A sliver of moonlight eeks its way through the curtains and paints itself on the wall, but nothing else of any interest occurs.  The cyan pegasus comes to terms with the fact that she won't be getting back to sleep any time soon, and so rolls off of the bed.  She's not quite sure where she's going, but figures she can get outside for a breath of fresh air and then maybe take a drink before trying again.  She stretches her wings and tries to sneak out of the room, though the exhausted earth pony probably wouldn't wake up for a train crash outside her home at this point.

She steps out of the doorway and heads downstairs, glancing around to simply take in the quiet darkness of the rustic home.  Every single corner is pitch black, with only small sections of the rooms and hoof-crafted furniture being lit up by moonlight pouring in through the windows.  Cloudsdale is very different, almost always having a uniform coat of white painted on everything.  The clouds allow much of the light through them and so keep most of the darkness of night away so long as the moon and stars are out.  Rainbow watches the slivers of light through curtain-drawn windows cast a moving pattern on her body as she walks toward the front door of the house.  She takes a deep breath and turns the doorknob, slowly pulling the heavy wooden door inward and feeling the cold rush of winter night air hit her directly in the face.  The door squeaks with the loudest, most obnoxious tone that this pegasus had ever heard, at least relative to the nearly silent night atmosphere, and the noise causes her to visibly cringe.  Even the smallest squeak in the house makes her feel like she just woke the entire family up, so the stress from that obnoxious thing nearly sent her shrinking back inside.

"The door sags a little at the hinges... if'n you wanna be quiet ya gotta lift it up a bit before you open it."  A deep, familiar voice calls out to the pegasus as she steps outside, startling her and making her freeze in place.  Rainbow looks over and sees none other than Big Macintosh sitting on the porch and gazing up at the stars.  "Ah hope you're not a-tryin' to run out on my sister again, Rainbow."

"No!  No... nothing like that.  I just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, thought I'd head outside for some air.  What're you doing out here so late anyway?"  She tries to take the spotlight off of herself, as is usual in cases of accusation, despite the fact that her intentions were true.

"Wull ya caught me.  Sometimes I like to come out here at night and look at the stars.  They're uhm... pretty."  The big Clydesdale uses his facade of a 'stallion-of-few-words' to hopefully get out of explaining his true intentions.

"Nothin' wrong with that...  But I get the feeling there's something else to it."  Rainbow Dash isn't fooled, she's always been able to read ponies.

"It's just my thinkin' place...  Nopony bothers me out here at night and I can just take a little time to mahself.  Watchin' Applebloom is a hassle and AJ's usually out doin' somethin' so whenever I'm not helping on the farm I gotta help with the filly.  Takin' some quiet time is, uhm, nice."

"You know.  You're absolutely right about that."  Dash doesn't really feel like she needs to say anything.  She knows the feeling and doesn't want to upset the big guy.

"I've been meanin' to ask you about your relationship with AJ..."  Macintosh obviously has a lot on his mind, though he does a great job of trying to hide it behind big eyes and a quiet countenance.

"Ask away.  I've got nothing to hide."  Rainbow proudly exclaims her disposition as she sits a few feet away from the stallion.

"Why her?  I mean I got nothin' against it, and as far as I know ya make her happy... I'm just curious..."

"Well...  I usually don't think about that.  I guess what attracts me to her is that she's strong, calm, tough, and can hold her own.  Fluttershy's too wimpy, and Twilight is waaaaay too nerdy, and Pinkie Pie is... well..."

"Pinkie is Pinkie..."

"Yeah... that.  She's nice and all but... well I don't think she even swings that way anyhow.  As for Rarity...  We're just two completely different ponies, and not in the good way."

"Good way huh?"

"Yeah.  They say 'opposites attract' and sometimes that's true.  If it's an interesting difference anyway.  Rarity is just too prissy and too obsessive for somepony like me."

"I get'cha...  I've just never thought about what two mares would look for in each other... well... even what they could look for in each other.  'Course I'm a little old fashioned like that."

"Hah... AJ wasn't exactly open to the idea at first either, Mac.  The way I see it, though, is that love can exist no matter who tries to pursue it.  Doesn't matter what's between their legs."

"I reckon that's a good way of lookin' at it...  I've never really had any problem with fillyfoolers and coltcuddlers and such... but I know Granny Smith isn't exactly open minded..."  Big Macintosh never takes his eyes off of the stars, he only flits them around and tries to pick out each one, almost as if trying count them all.  "You'll be good to her, won'tcha, Rainbow?"  He asks in a very rhetorical tone, knowing the answer already.

"Of course I will, Mac.  She means a lot to me."

"Did she tell you that she hasn't been in any other relationships?"

"She did, and I'll do my best to make her first one grea--"

"She didn't tell ya the whole truth there."  Macintosh tilts his head down to look at Rainbow right after the interruption.  "She's tried to be in relationships before, but everypony she's been with has ended up hurting her... bad.  She doesn't even consider them real relationships because they only ever lasted around a week or so, but they got close enough to break her heart, and that's close enough as far as I care."

"Well then... that's uhm.  That's good information to have."  Rainbow feels almost hurt that Applejack didn't tell her, but knows that she's probably just afraid to.  "H-how many?"

"They've all been colts... and only three, but that's three too many times that a brother has to sit with his sister and listen to her cry, especially when they're as tough as AJ.  It just ain't right."

"Agreed...  Don't worry, I promise you I won't hurt her."

"I hope not.  Just know that I trust you, and I'll tell ya anythin' you need to hear, even if it ain't pleasant."

"Hah, well I'll keep that in mind."  Rainbow sits up straight and looks over at the very large stallion, trying to make eye contact with him, though he's not exactly making that easy by his stargazing.  "Either way, don't stress about it.  I'll keep her happy and safe, and I sure as hay won't hurt her.  She means a ton to me, especially after letting me stay here after the accident."

"My condolences for that by the way."

"Thank you, but just letting me stay here with you all is a massive help."

"Well as far as I'm concerned you're part of the family now, so we'll treat you like it.  Don't be afraid to ask fer anything."

"I won't, Mac.  Thank you."

"You're welcome..."

"So do you get many marefriends?  I can only imagine the ladies swarmin' all over a big stud like you."  This comment makes Big Mac blush a little and prompts a snicker from the pegasus.

"Ah, no, not really.  I've never felt like I needed a marefriend..."

"Not much of a surprise... mares can be bitches sometimes."

"Don't be usin' that language around Applebloom, heh..."

"Psh, we're all adults here...  Don't worry though, I won't expand her vocabulary with anythin' dirty."

"Either way you're right.  I'm kind of a simple pony if you haven't guessed..."

"Gee... the thought never crossed my mind..." Rainbow sarcastically remarks toward the big stallion with a mischievous grin.

Macintosh clears his throat and gives Rainbow a deadpan look.  "...Anyway... Ponies that always want me to buy 'em stuff and spend tons of time with 'em and all that kinda drive me nuts...  We don't have a whole lot of money here in the family and there's always a lot of work to be done, so I can't really ever cater to those wants and needs.  Seems best to me to just stay out of it."

"Well maybe you're just lookin' for another stallion like yourself to keep you hard at work."  Rainbow smirks a little and knows this is about to pluck a nerve.

"Hey now don't joke about that.  Somepony's gotta give Granny Smith some great grand-foals, and ever since you came along AJ's outta that rodeo.  Though honestly I have given it some thought..."

"Wull I was just teasin' you... but if you really do feel that way don't bottle it up.  I know from experience that it doesn't go away if you try to hide it."

"I'm not really sure how I feel or I'd tell ya, Rainbow.  Maybe I'll just look at it the way you do and try not to think about right n' wrong if I'm put in that situation..."

"That's the spirit.  When it comes to love, there isn't a right and wrong, there's only love."

"Them's fancy words from a pony like you who always seems to be gettin' herself into some kind of trouble with her inflated ego."  Big Mac's turn to return the jeering.

"Hah! Well I deserved that one...  Either way, do what feels good to you, nuts to whatever everypony else thinks."

"I'll keep that in mind, Rainbow.  It was good talkin' to ya, but I think it's about time we head inside."

"Yeah, it's freakin' cold out here."

Fluttershy steps across the rocky surface of the cave floor.  As of now, the lights have gone completely dark, and the only illumination comes from Numbers's horn casting a slight aura on each of the three ponies' faces.  The sounds of water dripping in the distance once again bring to life the fear that Fluttershy has been swallowed whole by some menacing beast, but each time the thought creeps into her mind she simply dispels it.  As if out of nowhere, the trio spot a light at the end of the tunnel, though with the darkness enveloping them Fluttershy feels as if they're in a completely flat plane.  The void extends in all directions, even down since they can't quite see their hooves.

The three ponies hurry toward the light, figuring it should be the goal.  Fluttershy quickens her pace, eager to get out of the cave and into something a little more cozy, whatever that may be.  The second she steps out of the darkness she realizes just exactly where they ended up: her old bedroom from Cloudsdale.  She was just a filly, and so still has legions of stuffed animals littering the shelves and floor, as well as several other small playthings.  On the wall made entirely of clouds sit crudely done drawings of her early work, most of which containing the visage of her and her mother.  She stares in awe at the sight, just the existence of this place starts to bring her back into painful memories.

"Be strong, Co-pilot, you have to do this."  Courage rests her hoof on the mare's shoulder, trying to give her a little extra strength.  Even she can sense the disturbing nature of the place through Fluttershy's mind.

"We need to find the tome...  It should look just like any other book, with the obvious augmentations associated with these memory books.  Anything strike your fancy?"  Numbers asks as she patrols the perimeter of the room, lightly pushing aside small objects in search of that one specific book.

Fluttershy instinctively looks toward her small, colorful bookshelf.  Out of the dozen or so books that she has perfectly organized and lined up, one single one juts out into the room.  She begrudgingly reaches her hoof out and tugs at the thing.  To her surprise it comes out with no friction whatsoever, only slipping away into her hooves for the other two ponies to see.  The cover of the book doesn't have any kind of title, which prompts them all to think that this must be it.

Hesitantly, Fluttershy looks to each of her sides, gaining the 'go-ahead' from both Courage and Numbers, who eagerly look over her shoulder.  She opens the book to the first page: it's a coloring book, but the images are certainly swirling and holding the same properties as the other 'memory' that she read earlier.  Unlike the one she read earlier, however, she doesn't slip into the memory immediately.  She takes the time to focus directly on the page for a little while, watching the swirling and blurred images flash before her in typical, disorganized memory fashion; she turns the page to the next.  This one holds a very similar set of images, and from the coloration she feels that these must simply be happy childhood memories from out of Cloudsdale.  One more turn of the page reveals another swirling mass of images with a very disturbing overlay.  In deep, black ink atop the page sits one single word: Cry.

"What's this?"  Fluttershy asks Numbers while pointing her hoof to the eyesore of a word on the page.

"That, Fluttershy, is an emotional cue.  The memory won't be revealed until you're... uhm, how do I put this delicately?.. unbelievably miserable.  It's a very large cue, so that means it's a narrow umbrella for what exact feeling you'll have to tap into."

"Hey, Co-pilot.  I heard Angel Bunny got hit by a runaway wagon."  Courage chimes in with this lovely little piece of 'information.'

Just the imagination of such a horrible thing makes Fluttershy's heart sink down deep into her chest.  "What?!  What's wrong with you? Why would you say that?"  Tears well up in her eyes as anger and sadness take their hold on the usually quiet and submissive mare.

"Because you need to be sad to get this to work, so I figured I'd try a little something easy..."

"I hardly think that's the way to go..."  Numbers interrupts and casts Courage a look of displeasure.

"Why?  She's got tears starting to form, just look... By the way, Co-pilot.  All that time you spend trying to eat healthy and exercise isn't working, you've got some saddlebags startin' to form by your chubby flanks."  Fluttershy shrinks away and tries to hide herself as Courage brings up any mention of 'fat'.  She's secretly self-conscious about her weight, though unnecessarily so; all this statement accomplishes is embarrassing the poor mare and hurting her feelings. "Uhhm... The only reason Twilight is staying with you is because she's so desperate for someone to love she'll settle for the bottom-of-the-barrel type ponies like you."

"Now that's just..."  Fluttershy sniffles at the mental assault.  "That's just uncalled for..."

"No, 'uncalled for' was the way you ran away from Twilight after that restaurant incident when she stood up for you and all you could do was bend and sway to the prying eyes of the other ponies... She actually had a backbone where you were just gonna curl up and wish they would all go away... then you had the audacity to fly away from her and blame your little depressive dip on her!  If anything you should have stayed there and kissed her hooves, but you can't keep a grip on yourself long enough to realize when somepony's trying to do something nice for you."

The bullying works, poor Fluttershy can feel herself break down and drop the book on the floor.  A single tear drips off of her chin and lands right in the middle of the page, seeming to dissolve the ink around it.  Just that one tear does the trick, everything quickly starts to clear up, the ink melts away and disappears to the furthest corners of the book.

"There you go, Co-pilot.  Book's clean... my work here is done.  By the way if it makes you feel any better I didn't mean any more than about half of what I said there.  You're pretty great, at least... I think so, I haven't had much of a chance to talk to anypony else."  Courage gives an extremely half-hearted attempt at cheering the extremely sad pegasus up.

"She's trying to be sincere I'm sure..."  Numbers steps over and gently rubs Fluttershy's back.  "At least the book is ready.  You should read it now, darling, I know that this is going to hurt, but it's something that we all need for you to do."

The pegasus sniffles and looks down at the swirling mass of crayon-colored images.  Each one seeming to depict a piece of her childhood from before Flight School.  She gazes into the eyes of her filly self as she steps inside the door one day and finds that odd feeling of being pulled into a memory flow over her once more.