Invisible Relationship

"Ready to go?" Fluttershy asked, smiling her gentle smile at her marefriend.

Rarity smiled back. "One second, darling, this sun hat just - mmf! One moment. Ah, there we go!" she said, her hoof dropping to the ground and her wide-brimmed straw hat perched neatly over her mane.

Fluttershy picked up the wicker basket with her mouth and tapped her hoof twice on the hardwood floor. "Let's go!" she said, walking off happily towards the door, Rarity not too far behind.

It was still imperative to keep their public relationship platonic; they still hadn't figured out too many details for what they were planning. They chatted lightly back and forth, until they reached the light woods that surrounded most of the southeast side of Ponyville. It was only when they entered it that Fluttershy felt comfortable to extend her wing over Rarity.

The forest opened up to the East Plains, a sprawling pastoral beauty in which Fluttershy loved to sit and think. Today, though, she was here with Rarity, making a near-perfect thing beyond perfect.

It was that time of day where there doesn't seem to be any temperature at all; the time of day perfect for brunch. As Rarity commented on the beauty of the field and scanned for a nice, shady spot to lay out the blanket, Fluttershy felt the chill of a midmorning zephyr and watched its effect on the grassy valley before them.

"Ah, look! Over there!" Rarity's voice threw Fluttershy back out of her peaceful trance. Her marefriend was smiling and pointing to a spot almost across the valley, surrounded by tall grass and enveloped in shadow. Perfection, indeed.

Fluttershy merely nodded, and began trotting along the forested perimeter of the crescent-shaped hill encasing the valley, when Rarity's voice made her stop once more. "Oh, don't go the boring way around." She turned to Rarity grinning and motioning with her head to the long, shallow slope to the plains below.

It took her a second to realize what Rarity was trying to get across. She walked over to her slowly, pausing for a second when she came close to her face, and then turned in a split second and hopped down the hill.

"Hey!" Rarity shouted, laughing, and took of down the hill after her. Fluttershy began laughing as well, the picnic basket falling from her mouth. When the two of them were neck-and-neck, though, she clumsily tripped over her own hooves and tumbled down the remainder of the slope, taking Rarity with her.

They hit the bottom side-by-side, laughing and ruddy-faced, their usually well-styled manes out of order.

Rarity laid a hoof over Fluttershy's chest, and leaned over to kiss her quickly on the cheek before standing and reaching down to help her up. She gratefully accepted, retrieved the wicker basket from a few feet away, and they started off to the little shady spot, sides touching.

There wasn't much talking; there hadn't been for years. It seemed as though they knew everything about each other, until the next meeting. Then, they felt as if their knowledge and love for one another was... solidified. Either way, it didn't really require conversation.

The spot turned out to be on the edge of the rim, overlooking not only its enclosed valley, but the wider, amber-and-gold East Fields beyond. Rarity let out a short, content sigh when they reached the top, and nuzzled a little into Fluttershy's neck. "It's beautiful."

Fluttershy smiled, and nuzzled back. "Just like you."

Rarity flushed a light red as the couple sat down, spreading the warm, quilted blanket below them. The wicker basket was beginning to let off a delicious scent, which quickly wafted its way to Rarity. She gasped. "Is... is that..."

"Yes," Fluttershy smiled, pulling out a cluster of pastries covered delicately in wax paper and placing it between them. "I made four, and you can have as many as you like."

"Fluttershy, you are too good to me," Rarity giggled, hurriedly unwrapping one of the pastries and biting into it, savoring the warm, flaky crust and the sweet, thick syrup for all it was worth.

"...Is it okay?" Fluttershy asked as Rarity sat, stone-still, staring past her and holding the half-eaten pastry.

"Okay? It's -" she stopped, savoring the flavor with renewed vigor. "It's the best thing I've ever had in my mouth!" That mischievous gleam popped into her eye again. "Well, third-best."

Fluttershy flushed a deep maroon and stared at her hooves, not sure whether to laugh or feel embarrassed. Was she talking about what -

Yup. She glanced up to see Rarity licking the bitten side of the pastry seductively, letting the sweet syrup drip off her tongue and onto the blanket below. But - but weren't they technically in pub-

She was taken by surprise by Rarity leaning across the blanket and enveloping her in a long, passionate kiss. Her tongue tasted sweet, of course, and it added so much to the embrace. Slowly, the couple backed up to the tree behind them and Fluttershy began to lean against it, the bark feeling much more comfortable against her back than she thought it would.

Rarity moved quickly. He hooves traveled down Fluttershy, sensually stroking alongside the pegasus' body. Her lips stayed locked to Fluttershy's as her hooves moved down her belly, coming closer to-

"TWILIGHT!"

Fluttershy's eyes snapped open. "Twi-" she gasped, and her swung her head to her right, where she could see nothing but four purple hooves, one raised in surprise. In two seconds, she threw herself into high gear and flapped her stiff wings twice, gaining just enough speed to thrust herself into the tree limbs above.

"Twilight! I - you - I -"

"Were you - was that - wh-"

"It - I - please -"

Fluttershy could hear both the unicorns below her babbling in total shock, but she could do nothing more than think the worst of the near future. She laid on the thick limb supporting her, covered her face with her wings, and began to sob softly. It was over. This was it.

"Twilight, calm d-"

"How long could - did you - h-"

"Stop! Please, darling, just calm-"

"I can't! This is - it's... why...?"

"Twilight, please!" Rarity finally calmed down, interrupting the confounded mare to the best of her ability. "I can't hide it. You saw... something, and -"

"Yeah, I saw something! I saw two of my best friends making out under a tree! That's something!" Twilight was in the middle of confusion and panic.

"What were you doing here, anyways? I've never seen you in the East Fields!"

"I don't even know! I was on a walk! A-a biology study or something! I don't remember! That's not the problem at hoof now, though!"

"I'm sorry we couldn't have told you sooner! I didn't want anypony to... find out like this. I'm sorry." At this, Twilight began to calm down, but bewilderment was still evident on her face.

"So, then, how long has this been going on? You said 'sooner'; that means that this's been going on for a while! How long have you guys been..." She looked around at the valley below them, and up at the tree above. She sighed. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have - I just - this -" Another sigh.

"I'll come clean," Rarity said, trying desperately to get Twilight to stop babbling. "Just... listen, please. Okay. Everything started three years ago, wh-"

"Three WHAT?!" Twilight shouted, red-faced and flustered. "Why didn't you tell anypony else? We would've been fine with it then, but now - it - it'll take some explaining!"

Rarity looked down at her hooves, still thoroughly embarrassed. "Spike," she murmured quietly.

A brief, but terrible silence filled the little hilltop, during which only the soft sobs of Fluttershy above them could be heard. Rarity looked up at the tree branches above and smiled wistfully, her eyes glistening with tears. "I just wanted what was best for everypony. But... I can't. I can't keep them all happy."

Twilight had been trying to speak, but, again, no words would come. Finally, she was able to speak. "You're right. It would kill Spike. It's..." she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

The lavender unicorn looked up into the dense mass of tangled branches above her, and sighed again. "Fluttershy, I'm - I didn't mean to - just come down, please," she asked tenderly. "I swear I won't ask too much."

The crying slowed to a halt, again leaving the hilltop in silence. After what seemed like quite a while, Twilight heard the quiet, choked voice in reply: "No."

Twilight cast a final, guilty glance at the tree above her, and shook her head. "Really, I'm sorry, and... and I won't tell anypony if you don't want me to. Please, just come down, I want to talk about this."

There was no reply, but only a shuffling of wings as Fluttershy cautiously descended to the ground below and the conversation she'd hoped she'd never have to endure. She lightly touched down at the base of the tree before walking quietly over to Rarity, her face hidden by a thick curtain of mane.

Twilight stood apart from the couple, piecing together what she was going to say before she made the awkward situation worse.

"So..." she began tentatively. "You and Fluttershy?"

Rarity nodded, her eyes cast downward.

She bit her lip, and looked sadly at the two mares whose relationship she'd accidentally interrupted. "I don't want you guys to think that I'm not okay with it, 'cause I am. But I'm just really confused. Why did you keep it a secret from us? From me?"

Rarity sighed briefly, and opened her mouth to speak, but was surprised by Fluttershy's soft answer. "We thought you guys wouldn't think it was normal. I couldn't face it. It's my fault."

Tears came back to Rarity's eyes, and she shook her head. "No, no, darling, it isn't, really, I... I shouldn't have been so afraid. I'm sorry."

Fluttershy shook her head, her gaze still locked on the ground below.

Until now, Twilight was watching on with a terrible pain in her heart. "No, wait, guys, listen! It's not anypony's fault! get that you were trying to play it safe. I didn't mean to hurt anypony, I never did. I promised that I won't tell anypony. We'll just keep it between us until you guys... you know... come out," she finished lamely, slightly unsure of the meaning of the phrase.

Rarity smiled, despite of herself. "You'd do that for us? And you really don't think it's too... strange?"

Twilight returned her smile. "I'm not against f- l- you guys, it's just weird to think of my two longtime friends having done this for so long."

Rarity and Fluttershy were still standing awkwardly side-by-side, afraid in context to get too close. Rarity walked forward first, giving her friend a hug. "I'm really glad. Really. We were planning on telling everypony soon, but, well, we haven't set aside a date. This really helps."

Fluttershy finally looked up, and flashed a quick smile before looking back down again, still too embarrassed to look Twilight in the eye for too long.

Rarity walked back over, and smiled again, warmly. "I'm sorry that I didn't come right out and tell anypony, but I'm glad that somepony else knows now. It really makes me feel less stressful."

"Well, whenever you wanna talk to anypony, I'm always available. Really, though, how long has this been going on again?"

"Out third-year anniversary is next Tuesday."

Twilight's ear flickered and she looked out across the valley below, her cheeks turning a light pink. "So... I mean, you already... uh..." she trailed off, glancing up at the pair and tapping her forehooves together for a moment.

Rarity cocked her head. "You mean..."

Twilight shook her head quickly, a full rosy blush spreading over her features. "I - I didn't need to ask - I mean, um, you don't have to answer -- you shouldn't, actually, I was just... um..." She sighed. "It's just disconcerting, I guess, to think that two of my friends have been, well, together like that for three years."

"It's fine, Twilight." She giggled. "Also, yes, and a lot."

Twilight looked at Rarity, then at Fluttershy, then back to Rarity, her eyes glazing over. "Y- I- never mind. Sorry. I should go. I never should've been here in the first place, I should've just turned and walked away, I shouldn't have said anything, I shouldn't have overreacted-"

"It's okay, Twilight," Rarity interrupted. "Truthfully, I was expecting much worse," she added, giggling.

As she waved an awkward good-bye to Twilight and watched her walk away, she sighed happily. Everything went better than expected; one of her friends approved, and she could talk to Twilight about everything now. It felt like a weight was lifted from her back - the feeling she only felt when she was in deep with her marefriend, when she felt like there wasn't a blasted thing on Earth that she needed to do or to worry about.

She turned to Fluttershy, putting a hoof under her chin and gently moving her head up to meet her gaze. "Are you okay, darling?" she asked quietly.

Fluttershy was still flushed a terribly deep red, a shade that Rarity had only seen on her the day their relationship began. "I'm okay," she replied. "I... I love you."

Rarity smiled broadly. "Is that so?"

Fluttershy blinked, and looked down again. "But why did you have to tell her about us... um... you know," she asked, blushing lightly and touching her two forehooves gently together.

"I didn't, technically. She asked."

"That's... I didn't think she would do that."

"You were right there!"

"I zoned out."

Rarity looked into the yellow pegasus' face for a few seconds, scanning her for any sign of emotion. Finally, she burst into laughter, prompting Fluttershy to laugh, too. Rarity fell back onto the picnic blanket, motioning for Fluttershy to follow. She did, of course, and they laid next to each other, just laughing. Pure joy; pure love.

"Well..." Rarity began, calming herself to the best of her ability. "That actually happened."

Fluttershy laughed again. "Yeah, it did."

Rarity sat up, helping her marefriend up as she did. "Fluttershy, we did it! We told somepony!"

"We didn't really -"

"Now we can tell everypony else, and I'm absolutely certain they'll be perfectly fine with it!"

"Well, Twilight being okay with it doesn't really m-"

"Can't you see what's waiting for us? Life, darling! A real relationship! A life together! We can finally be ourselves in public! I can't wait, really."

"A life... together?"

Rarity looked back towards Fluttershy from her magnificent position at the top of the hill. "A life... a-a life t-..." she trailed off, thinking forward as well as she could. Was it... could it work?

She smiled, and approached the blanket again. "Yes. A life together," she replied, lying down next to Fluttershy and leaning over onto her, their lips touching and their bodies pressing. She pulled away momentarily, still stroking Fluttershy's side with a hoof.

"Now... where were we?" she purred.