Bright and sunny days were, naturally, something that all ponies enjoyed, save for the obvious exception of the Lunars of course. And today was no different, as the skies were clear, the sun shining down on all below, with a cool breeze flowing throughout Ponyville. Birds and animals were making happy noises wherever they were found, and nowhere was this clearer than in the favoured spot of all local wildlife in Ponyville; Fluttershy's cottage. Indeed, this place seemed to be a veritable magnet for every critter in the area, beast or foul, and their presence, along with the general picturesque nature of the cottage, gave it an almost fairy-tale appearance, enchanting and peaceful. So it was outside, and so it was inside too, as Fluttershy herself, with a calm and contented smile upon her face, was carefully serving tea into four cups, before starting to bring them over to the table in the middle of her kitchen.
"Drink up, everypony."
Taking her own cup and making herself comfortable on her side of the table, Fluttershy regarded the guests she was entertaining today, Applejack, Pinkie, and their latest friend, Twilight. All three of the other mares gave her appreciative glances, before taking sips of the offered drinks. It wasn't long after this when the first of her friends decided to comment on it.
"Great tea, Flutters, as always!" Pinkie remarked, brushing some of her straight hair aside as she did so.
Fluttershy nodded back to her.
"Thank you. It's a new blend. My brother's been sending me samples from his workplace over in Vanhoover. Much better than my old stuff."
To that, Applejack decided to add her voice to things.
"Ah still hold true ta the old stuff, but dis ere's pretty good too!"
Emphasising that point, she took a massive gulp, much to Fluttershy's amusement. Finally, the animal carer looked over to Twilight, who was in the middle of adjusting her glasses before being addressed.
"So, Twilight? How've you been the last few days?"
The young unicorn looked to her host, smiling back to her.
"It's been going good. I've finished up some of the essays Princess Celestia assigned to me last week. Oh, and I've been helping Cadence out with her paperwork down at the Town Hall."
Suddenly, her expression became a warm one, and she turned her eyes to the nearby kitchen window.
"I have to say...I appreciate you inviting me over, Fluttershy. And I'm sure Spike enjoys coming over too."
At that, all eyes turned to the aforementioned window, and sure enough, it took little time to realise what Twilight meant by that. For outside, playing around in Fluttershy's back garden, was Spike himself. Currently, the young drake was standing beside a pond that Fluttershy had out there, and nearby, was Scootaloo. Together, the children were staring into those waters with fascination, perhaps watching some fish or other aquatic creature. Regardless, it was a sweet and innocent sight, and one that Fluttershy couldn't help but smile at.
"The pleasure's all mine, Twilight. It's good to have him over to see her. Scoot's taken quite an interest in the lad."
A knowing smile came to Twilight at that.
"Well, I'll be sure to give all the appropriate teasing to him when we get home."
The remark earned her all the giggles one would expect at such a notion, which died down as soon as they all took to getting back to their drinks. However, it wasn't long after this when Twilight, again looking out of the window, noticed something.
"Oh! Looks like they've found a little frog."
Looking out the window again, Fluttershy saw that Twilight had the right of it. There was indeed a small frog, having just hopped out of the pond, and was now being stared at by both Spike and Scootaloo. The pegasus mare started to get out of her chair, only to be stopped by Twilight.
"It's okay. I'll go. I handled a few frogs in my youth, so I think I can tell them what to do here."
Fluttershy chuckled, then nodded, giving silent permission for her friend to go and do just that. After gulping more of her tea, Twilight set off, heading for the garden and closing the door of the cottage behind her. Seeing her through the window, going out to the two youths and speaking to them, a warm smile came to Fluttershy's face.
"It's nice seeing Twilight and Spike settling in here now."
Pinkie smiled to her at that.
"I’ll say! Being stuck with all that paperwork and helping out the Ambassador must be pretty tiring, so it’s good she can relax every now and then."
The two mares nodded in agreement over that, but Applejack, who'd been quiet for some time, appeared to be a bit more thoughtful.
"Well...she might not be too uncomfortable to be dealin' with all that."
The other mares tuned to her, with Pinkie in particular raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Silence was the only response Applejack gave for a time, until, finally, she let out a sigh, looking to her two friends.
"It's just...look...do y'all ever get the feelin' that Twi...ah dunno...doesn't really seem all that bothered with the Lunars?"
Pinkie and Fluttershy looked to one another with confusion, then turned to Applejack yet again.
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
Applejack considered her words, then explained.
"Ah dunno. Sometimes...sometimes it jus' feels like she gets a bit...ya know...too friendly with em."
Pinkie frowned a little.
"Not to put too fine a point on it, cousin, but if she's going out of her way to help the Ambassador, isn't it kind of her job to be friendly to them?"
Applejack frowned right back.
"Ah know that! But with all the stuff they're doin’, meddlin’ with the Griffons, being all secrety an' stuff. Heck, did y'all hear jus' how easy they took ta the idea of killin’ folks when they start causin’ trouble?"
Pinkie rolled her eyes.
"You're being a bit paranoid, Applejack. What, are you trying to say Twilight's some kind of Lunar spy or something? Remember, they had somepony spying on her!"
Applejack sighed.
"Yeah, but...when ah hear Twi talkin' bout all her dealin's with em...ah jus' can't help but feel that she’s...maybe...startin' ta drift too much ta their side o' things."
This time, it was Fluttershy's turn to frown.
"Twilight has never done anything other than what's right. And I consider her to be as much of a friend to me as you are."
Applejack, after hearing that, did her best to try and avoid Fluttershy's assertive gaze.
"Believe me, ah hate myself fer thinkin' this. Ah consider Twi a friend too. But when ah think ta all those times she's gone ta that Lunars fer help, an' all the times she don't seem too bothered by what they do out in the world...ah jus'...think about it."
Another silence fell, and Pinkie and Fluttershy kept their eyes firmly on Applejack. Then, after a long time, the farmer let out a sigh, shaking her head and putting on another of her hearty smiles.
"Ya know what? Maybe yer right? Maybe ah am jus' bein' paranoid. Ah should give Twi the benefit of the doubt. She had good reasons fer involvin herself with em at the time an'...well...ah should trust her."
Hearing that, the other mares smiled, nodding to her in agreement with that sentiment. And it wasn't a moment too soon, for Twilight herself, having apparently finished with things outside, now returned, closing the door to the garden again and taking her previous seat by the table.
"Well, I think they're both up to speed on frog handling measures. So...what did I miss?"
Instantly, Pinkie and Fluttershy looked to Applejack, and the farmer, for her part, realised that she was now being put on the spot. After a moment of hesitation, she cleared her throat in a deliberate manner.
"Well...um...we were talkin' bout...erm...the Lunars?"
It wasn't a lie, so for now, Fluttershy and Pinkie didn't seem to want to contradict her on that point, and instead turned to Twilight, who simply smiled at the remark.
"I'm glad you said that, AJ. Because the last time I spoke to Ambassador Rarity, over at the Town Hall, things between her and us went a lot smoother than usual. She was way more amiable than previous meetings, so who knows?"
She looked out of the window, her smile widening a little.
"Maybe things between us can be better than we hoped? I might even call her and Aurora my friends one day."
Applejack looked to her, seeing the earnest way she'd said that, and slumped her shoulders slightly, letting out a long sigh.
"Yeah...maybe ya could."
