A Friend In Need

The late-summer sun poured down on the leaves of Sweet Apple Acres’ orchard like thick honey, warming apples that were just beginning to ripen into redness and baking the colorful coats of the farmponies tending the trees. Several stallions were making their way towards the barn, laughter echoing under the trees, their coats dark with sweat in the humid early afternoon.

Beneath one of those trees, two mares were settled on a checkered blanket with a picnic basket between them. Both were watching as the stallions stored their tools and stepped over to the pump to rinse away the sweat and dust of the morning’s work before turning to their own lunch.

A small sound, almost a whine, drew Applejack’s eyes back to the pony beside her. Fluttershy’s gaze was firmly fixed on the stallions at play. The tinge of blush on her cheekbones and the soft rustle of feather on feather as she shifted her wings were obvious enough, but when Applejack saw her friend’s tail twitch upwards as one colt shook out his long mane, she couldn’t resist a bit of gentle teasing.

“See something you like down there?” Applejack drawled, making sure to keep her voice low enough not to carry over the droning of the cicadas as she grinned over at the intent pegasus.

Fluttershy stiffened as her friend’s words broke her concentration on the colts, and she turned to Applejack with a deepening blush.

“I... um... that is.... yes.”

Each statement was more embarrassed and softer than the last, as the Fluttershy’s blush deepened further and she turned her eyes downwards to intently study the weave of the blanket she rested upon with every evidence of fascination. A gentle hoof lifted her chin, and Fluttershy looked up into Applejack’s sympathetic smile.

“It gettin’ to you, sugarcube?” At Fluttershy’s hesitant nod, the young farmer grimaced sympathetically. “Late summer’s always worst about it.”

Turning, Applejack dug into the picnic basket, busying herself with laying out lunch to give her friend a little time to recover her composure. She looked up from digging out the small peach tarts intended for desert as Fluttershy cleared her throat.

“Um, Applejack?” The usually meek mare’s voice was a bit strained, and more that a little frustrated. “How can you ignore it so easily? It just doesn’t seem fair!”

The farmer chuckled, leaning back against the apple tree that was providing the two mares with shade and taking a long pull from a cool bottle of lemonade before replying. “Couple reasons, actually, sugarcube.”

“Oh?” The question was definitely edgy.

“Well, for one, it gets easier with practice. “ Tipping her battered old hat off onto the blanket, Applejack smiled reassuringly over at Fluttershy. “After a couple summers you get used to being on edge for a while.”

“I actually asked Twi about it the other day. Couldn’t help but notice you were getting twitchier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, and wanted to see if she could help without really telling her why I was asking.”

At Fluttershy’s startled look, Applejack reached over to pat her friend’s hooves reassuringly.

“She didn’t ask questions, so no need to get embarrassed. She kinda went into lecture mode on me, but I learned a couple useful things. Like how pegasi don’t usually get the little speech the rest of us fillies do in pony biology.”

Fluttershy blinked in confusion, her embarrassment overtaken by confusion. “What little speech is that?”

“The one about how estrus works, sugarcube.” Applejack chuckled at Fluttershy’s renewed blush, but continued. “What we’re both feeling is normal, you know. Just how pony bodies react to more sunlight, a little leftover from back when the weather meant having foals in the winter was dangerous business.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy nodded, then sighed, muttering a touch bitterly under her breath. “Wish they’d told me that in school...”

“Usually it doesn’t matter for pegasi, sugarcube. Ask Rainbow about it some time.” Applejack snorted. “She’s up above cloud level basking in the sun year round, so she’s always like this. With all that, most pegasi don’t feel the change of seasons like somepony who stays on the ground most of the time will.”

“So they’re just used to this... need?” At Applejack’s nod, Fluttershy relaxed a bit more, taking a dainty bite of her sandwich before confusion caught up to her again and she turned back with another frustrated question. “But that doesn’t explain how you are so calm! Or Twilight for that matter!”

“Twilight actually told me her little secret on that one. She’s got a spell to help keep her from feeling it so bad.” Applejack said between bites of sandwich. “Seems our little magical genius had the same problem back in Canterlot.”

That surprised a laugh out of Fluttershy, and she relaxed a bit more as good company distracted her from her body’s urges. “She didn’t.”

“Oh, she sure did. Turns out that glow Princess Celestia puts off? Pure sunlight. So spending all that time studying with her...” Applejack trailed off, grinning wickedly over at her friend. “Let’s just say even Twilight was getting a little hot for teacher before she figured out why.”

Fluttershy giggled, hiding her smile with a hoof. “Poor Twilight!”

“Yeah, she was a mite upset about it.” Finishing off her sandwich, Applejack stretched luxuriously before continuing. “As for me? Well, while you were checking out those shapely flanks, did you happen to notice all those stallions have something in common?”

“Um...” Fluttershy’s blush was back, but she thought about it for a minute before replying. “They do all look a little alike...”

“A little nothing, sugarcube. They’re all related.” Applejack grimaced, waving a hoof at the barn and its’ occupants. “To me. We hired out a bunch of the cousins this year so they'd have an excuse to hang around Ponyville. They’re all family.”

“Oh my... so...” The dawning realization on Fluttershy’s face was enough to set Applejack to chuckling.

“Eyup. Even with all the natural urges a hot summer brings, family’s still family. I just stay out of town ‘til I get used to it each year.”

Applejack’s expression turned a bit more speculative, and she raised an apprasing eyebrow at Fluttershy.

“You know, there is another way to quiet down the urges, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it.”

The pegasus mare perked up, looking pleadingly up into the farmer’s eyes. “What is it? I would love to be able to go shopping without looking at every stallion I pass like he’s one of Pinkie Pie’s desserts!”

“Just grab yourself a friendly stallion and rut him senseless.”

To her credit, Fluttershy didn’t lock up in shock at the suggestion. She actually considered it for a moment, then her ears flattened and her expression fell as she turned teary eyes on Applejack.

“I couldn’t do that!”

“It ain’t like anypony’s gonna judge you for it, sugarcube. Plenty of single mares have discreet little ‘agreements’ with the nicer stallions in town...”

Fluttershy’s empathetic head shaking cut Applejack off midsentence. The pink maned pegasus was shaking like a leaf in a stiff breeze, looking so miserable Applejack couldn’t help but pull her into a hug. Fluttershy immediately buried her burning face in her friend’s mane, just clinging for a bit as the earth pony gently patted her until the panic subsided. Finally, she relaxed with a sigh, looking up at Applejack through her pink mane.

“I couldn’t do that, Applejack!” She laughed, frustration apparent. “You know how nervous I get even talking to somepony I don’t know well, much less...”

“Much less inviting them into your bed.” Applejack said as her friend trailed off, with a wry grin for her own mistake. “I should know better than that. Sorry, ‘Shy, I surely didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Oh, it’s alright, Applejack!” Fluttershy leaned in to hug the other mare again, pulling away with a smile and settling down next to her companionably.

“If you say so, sugarcube.”

“I do.” Fluttershy nodded, still smiling.

The two mares chatted for a while longer as they finished their lunch, leaning companionably against each other and catching up on the various events around the the farm and cottage. Once the last pastry had been devoured and the basket packed away, Applejack stretched out on the blanket with a satisfied sigh.

“That really hit the spot, Fluttershy. Thank you kindly for bringing lunch over.”

“Oh, it was no problem, Applejack. I guessed that even you had to get tired of your own cooking eventually!”

A drowsy chuckle was the farmer’s only reply as she settled down to nap for a bit in the heat of the day. A few moments later she peeled one green eye open as a gentle warmth settled next to her, then smiled slightly as Fluttershy cuddled up to her side.

“Y’know, for somepony who gets nervous so easily, you sure don’t have any problem relaxing around your friends, ‘Shy,” Applejack muttered sleepily, curling up slightly to comfortably rest her chin on her hooves. “Don’t be so goldarned hard on yourself.”

“Mmf.” The heat, a full stomach, and the drowsy droning of cicadas in the trees had slowly lulled Fluttershy into sleepiness of her own. The familiar warmth of a friendly pony was encouraging her as well, and she quietly snuggled closer to Applejack, burying her nose in the other mare’s mane. Fluttershy’s relaxation was complete enough that she sleepily replied before thinking twice.

“Too bad you aren’t a stallion, then. That’d make it easy...”

With her nose buried in Applejack’s blonde mane, the sleepy pegasus didn’t see the slightly wicked grin slowly spreading across her friend’s face.

~ * ~