Our Sacred Spot

The world was more fragile than anyone knew. The dirt, the forests, the mountains—they whispered to those attuned to mother nature's ancient rhythms. But why must such knowledge fall on poor little Fluttershy?

Mud congealed around Fluttershy's knee-high rubber boots as she trudged through the riverbank. The swampy water sparkled in the morning sun, and beyond a carpet of lily pads stood the depth marker, a white post hidden by leaves and vines. Fluttershy brushed the plants aside and scribbled the measurements in her notepad.

Pinkie cartwheeled across the shore and somersaulted into a headstand. “That's the last marker thingy, right? Let's celebrate with a snack!”

“Not hungry,” Fluttershy said, tensing her brow as she compared rows of figures. “Just like I thought. The river is still growing year over year.”

“Wetter is always better,” Pinkie said with a suggestive lilt. “You know, for farming.” She rummaged through her saddlebag and popped a lemon square in her mouth.

“Not if the cost is pulling water from distant regions and drying them out.”

Pinkie grabbed one of the cattail reeds and held it like a microphone. “Equestria is wet one minute and dry the next. Sounds like our love lives, am I right?”

Fluttershy sighed to herself, waded back to shore, and packed the notes in her bag. “Let's head home.”

Pinkie's raunchy jokes didn't shock or outrage, but they reminded Fluttershy of her uneasy relationship with her sexuality. The Fates had cursed Fluttershy with an early growth spurt as a teenager, a curse which separated her from everyone else and flooded her mind with confusing desires. Sex was always awkward, sometimes painful, and yes, occasionally pleasant, but coupling with stallions never resembled the transcendent bliss so often depicted in the romance novels she ordered through the mail catalog. In recent years she retreated from sex and relationships and focused on her true calling: Environmental stewardship.

Most mares didn't struggle with these issues as far as Fluttershy knew. On the contrary, some exhibited a great deal of comfort with their desires. Like a certain pastry chef and party planner.

To say Pinkie was eccentric would be like calling the dragon lands a tad toasty, and for a long time Fluttershy kept her at a distance. Fluttershy wanted predictability and peace, while Pinkie spread more trouble than a bear in a honeybee farm. Often when Fluttershy dined at the outdoor cafe or shopped in the markets she overheard salacious rumors about Pinkie and her “after parties.” Even Twilight teased Pinkie about meeting “new friends” and “entertaining the guests.” Rainbow Dash once invited Fluttershy to tag along, saying how she could meet “chill stallions from Cloudsdale looking for a good time” and how it would be “an awesome change of pace.” She refused, of course.

Despite all that, Fluttershy grew accustomed to Pinkie's peculiar quirks over the years and sought her company for these long treks into the wilderness. They never talked about those wild parties, although the rumors had died down as of late.

Birdwatching became Pinkie's favorite new hobby. She spotted them high in the treetops with her keen eyes, not even needing binoculars half the time, and with Fluttershy's help she mastered their songs and called them out while hopping through the woods. “That's a pine sparrow,” Pinkie said with glee. “Oh! Oh! And that's a white-tailed wobbly! Easy peasy.”

Pinkie grew increasingly drawn to nature, and she listened to Fluttershy's lectures with great interest, even when Fluttershy raved about the cooperation exhibited by lichen.

“Lichen is a composite organism,” Fluttershy said, pointing at the fuzzy roots of a massive sycamore tree. “That means lichen is composed of two completely different creatures. It's algae and fungi working together to form a symbiotic relationship, which allows them to flourish more than they could alone. That's why lichen survives in some of the harshest environments in Equestria.”

Pinkie examined the blue-green patch clinging to the bark. “So this moldy muck is kinda like us. You keep tabs on nature, and I make sure you don't lose your marbles in the middle of nowhere.”

Fluttershy giggled so hard her mane spilled across her face. “Something like that.”

Pinkie squealed with excitement and bounced higher than usual. “That's what I like to see! Getting a smile out of you lately has been tough. I haven't been annoying you, have I?”

“Heavens no. You've been loads of help. I've just been, um, working too hard?”

Pinkie pawed at the dirt and spoke with a nervous rush. “You're my friend and I want to help but if I'm a nuisance please yell at me so I can do better. I love spending time with you away from the crowds and the parties and the pressure to to be a dumb clown. When I'm with you I can find my balance instead of falling face-first into a pie. I know sometimes you have trouble flexing your courage but if you tell me to scram I won't take it personally. Honest!”

The sudden outpouring left Fluttershy at a loss for words and filled her tummy with confusing jitters. Pinkie usually told silly stories about faraway festivals where someone tripped into the apple bobbing basin, or how her sisters once brewed rock alcohol in an old bathtub they found in the woods. But this was something different.

“You don't have to go anywhere,” Fluttershy said. “I adore your company. What brought this—”

Pinkie painted the world with a bright smile as she slung her foreleg over Fluttershy's shoulders. “Great to know! Now check this out: I've been working on that fancy bird call.” Pinkie crouched low to the ground, took a deep breath, and let loose a warbling honk that echoed across the forest and sent a flock of birds fleeing over the horizon.

Fluttershy winced and covered her ears. “Okay, that's a bit much, maybe you should—”

A Northern Equestrian Star Snatcher sailed across the sky and called out with a song sweeter than a crystal bell, rendering Fluttershy speechless. A rare and majestic bird with tail feathers that flowed like liquid gold, the Star Snatcher circled overhead and revealed his iridescent plumage covered with starry spots.

Pinkie playfully nudged Fluttershy's side. “How's that for bird watching?”

“He's beautiful,” Fluttershy murmured. “Like a living jewel. I've never seen one so close.”

The Star Snatcher shrieked a teeth rattling cry, and Pinkie yanked Fluttershy to safety under a birch tree. “Whoa! What's his problem?”

“Pretty sure it's mating season and you confused him.”

Pinkie giggled into her hoof. “Whoops! Dunno about you, but I'm not in the egg laying mood. Let's blow this popsicle stand.”

After a long hike that involved regularly checking over their shoulders for a lovelorn Star Snatcher, Fluttershy and Pinkie returned to Ponyville and visited Fluttershy's pet playpen.

“Hey Pinkie, do me a favor? Don't tie balloons to the bunnies this time.”

“But they're jealous of their flying squirrel buddies. They wanna taste the sweet sky too!”

“Maybe, but you weren't the one who had to corral them before they floated away.”

“Fair point.”

Pinkie trotted inside the enclosure while balancing a basket of food on her head. She tilted to the side and spilled nuts and seeds along the ground for the growing mob of bunnies, birds, and other hungry rascals. A chipmunk named Maurice, whose legs Fluttershy had patched up with bandages, fell behind and couldn't catch up, so one of the bunnies shared a big leafy green. They sat and munched it together.

“Aww, that's adorable,” Pinkie said. She flipped the basket through the air and scattered treats all over the place. “Party hard, critters!”

Fluttershy spoke above the feeding frenzy. “Wanna help out back?”

The two friends rounded Fluttershy's cottage into her backyard, and Pinkie zipped to and fro and gathered the equipment in mere moments. Fluttershy knelt and tended her garden with a trowel and a watering can. “Do you know what I love about nature more than anything else?”

“Oh, I got this!” Pinkie reared back and flapped her forelegs. “Butterflies!” She lost her balance and crashed to the ground.

“Good guess, but no. I love how so many animals work together, even across different species. Kindness isn't unique to us civilized creatures, but something that arose long ago, something that's deep in our bones, if only we would listen.”

Pinkie picked herself up, strolled through Fluttershy's sizable garden, and smelled the succulent flowers. “Mmm, yeah, mother nature is a cool lady, at least when she's not trying to eat us.”

A bumblebee caught Fluttershy's attention as it landed on the purple petals of a carnation and covered itself in pollen. “All these flowers host insects and fungi that depend on one another. Now imagine the dizzying complexity of a whole forest, let alone the whole world. Holistic thinking is what forged Equestria's bedrock principles of togetherness, but nowadays a lot of ponies dismiss animals as lower lifeforms, as if we aren't animals too, as if we have nothing to learn from our primal kin.”

“Is everything okay? You've been going on longer and longer nature rants lately. Which is educational, don't get me wrong, but—”

Fluttershy jammed the trowel deep into the dirt and slumped. “This garden is a waste of time.”

Pinkie blinked and tapped her head. “Are my ears full of circus peanuts and candy corn? I swear you just bad-mouthed gardening!”

“I can put this garden in order,” Fluttershy said, dragging her hoof through the soil, “but what about the rest of Equestria? The way we're twisting the environment to our designs is disgraceful.”

“Ooh, for sure,” Pinkie said with a spirited nod. “We pat ourselves on the back and say we're in balance with nature, but we're a bunch of fibbers.”

Fluttershy's ears perked up. She couldn't believe Pinkie of all ponies had opinions about ecosystem management. “What do you mean, exactly?”

“If ponies can't benefit from nature, do we really care? Like if it's not pretty, or we can't make potions from it—ya know? Like how fancy mares bedazzle their dresses with Star Snatcher feathers.”

Fluttershy rose to her hooves and dusted herself off. “That's right. Don't forget the way we control the weather and write off the negative consequences. I bet that growing desert down south is from our meddling with the hydrologic cycle.”

Pinkie rubbed her chin. “I don't think hydras can ride bicycles. Now a unicycle, maybe…”

“I mean the water cycle. You know, evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.”

“Oh, right, of course! I mean, I was just testing you, to make sure your brain wasn't all frizzle frazzled.”

Fluttershy trotted across the yard, leaned against the fence, and gazed into the distant line of fluffy white clouds. “Pegasi weather teams move entire lakes from one region to another without a care in the world. We force the clouds to rain and snow, and for what?”

“Um… food?”

“Usually it's to enrich some noble house. They grow water-hungry cash crops and reap huge profits on the public dime. If there's a mudslide or a flood, oh well, they don't care.”

“Well that's a bummer.” Pinkie hopped next to Fluttershy, threw her forelegs over the fence, and surveyed the heavens. “I wish I could visit the sky more often. It's so soft and cuddly up there, like a world of pillows!”

“I've always been more comfortable on the ground," Fluttershy said, peering into the distant forest. “Sometimes I swear I'm part earth pony.”

Pinkie scooched closer and nuzzled Fluttershy's shoulder. “I'm glad you're afraid of heights, at least if it means you stay down here. Is that weird to say?”

Fluttershy's face warmed and she spoke through a clumsy smile. “Don't worry. I know what you mean.”

Pinkie danced a little jig with her hind legs while holding onto the fence. “Oh! Another example! How about monsters? If it's a cute critter, we love 'em. If it's big and scary and attacks us, boo, hiss, banish the beasty!”

Fluttershy giggled and swished her tail. “Gosh, I thought I was the only one who thought like that, other than Tree Hugger and her friends. Most ponies would call us bleeding hearts for feeling sorry for monsters.”

Pinkie shrugged. “We cut down their homes, build villages in their kitchens, and then act surprised when they see us as snacks. If a pack of timberwolves set up shop in Sugarcube Corner I wouldn't be too happy either. And you know their cakes would be made of twigs and tree sap or something icky like that.”

“It's a problem that's growing worse as ponies expand into the unknown. What should we do about it?”

Pinkie crouched low to the grass, crept toward Fluttershy with an evil eye, and spoke in a mock monster voice. “You should watch out, you tasty little mare, and you better run if you don't want to be my brunch!”

Fluttershy backed away and giggled. “Pinkie! That's almost kinda scary.” Pinkie playfully growled and leaped closer, and Fluttershy screamed and took off galloping across the back yard. “I don't want to be brunch!”

The bewildered animals in the pen looked on with squawking excitement. The air whipped past Fluttershy's face as she raced in circles around her cottage with Pinkie bouncing close behind. Despite her slender build, Fluttershy wasn't exactly an athlete, and after a morning of hiking her legs already ached from the sudden exertion. Rather than closing the distance, Pinkie stayed out of reach and teased her instead. “Run, run, quick as a bunny, or the pink monster will getcha!”

“You're a silly mare!” Fluttershy shouted through streams of laughter.

“Silly monster,” Pinkie corrected.

Fluttershy spread her wings, sailed into the air, and landed on the roof of her chicken coop. “Ha! I bet you didn't see that one coming.”

The only response came from the chorus of buzzing cicadas deep in the woods.

Fluttershy spun around and scanned the yard. “Pinkie? Where did you go?”

Nothing to see but wisps of dandelion fuzz wafting on the warm summer breeze.

“That's fine. I can stay up here for awhile. Maybe I'll take a nap. Or I could fly into town and grab some real brunch. Artichokes and garlic butter sounds delish.”

The wind swept through Fluttershy's mane and she brushed it out of her face.

“Come on, Pinkie. I know you're a hide and seek champion, but this is a little weird.”

Fluttershy glided to the ground and ambled across the yard while focusing on the back door of her house. She whirled around and slinked backward to be extra sure she wouldn't be caught off guard, but she only found swaying tree branches. A nearby bush rustled and a pink blur zoomed out and tackled her into the grass. “Don't be scared,” Pinkie said with a growl. “I'm a tickle monster!”

Pinkie needled her forelegs into Fluttershy's sides with gleeful abandon, and Fluttershy shrank into a trembling ball of fluff and feathers until the growing tension in her tummy muscles erupted. “Pinkieeehehehe! Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy's voice wavered and squeaked under the tenacious tickles, and when an opening presented itself Fluttershy rolled across the grass and through a clump of dandelions. “Catch me if you can!”

Pinkie pounced and reclaimed her prey with ease. “Sorry Shy, but the tickle monster is hungry. Nice knowing ya!”

Pinkie's playful hooves glided over Fluttershy's soft belly and dug into the sensitive spots under her ribs. Fluttershy shrieked with helpless laughter and twisted along her side as her feeble body shook in a giggling quake that only encouraged Pinkie to press more insistently into her tummy and hips. Tingling waves filled Fluttershy with a warm gooey ache and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness and vulnerability. Fluttershy couldn't help but sink back and surrender to Pinkie's endless stamina.

Years ago, Pinkie had asked Fluttershy if she was comfortable with her famous tickle attacks, to which Fluttershy said she didn't mind, but this onslaught was almost too much. The teasing caresses along Fluttershy's exposed stomach plunged her deeper and deeper into spasms of laughter with no hope of escape. Hot sweat rolled down Fluttershy's brow while Pinkie found a new tickle target under her fragile wings. If the tension rose any higher Fluttershy would explode into a cloud of feathers.

Pinkie's eyes sparkled with delight as she planted her mouth around Fluttershy's bellybutton and blew a raspberry harder than a whirring egg beater. Fluttershy howled with such outrageous laughter she swore it would carry across the wind into Ponyville, and everyone would gather around them in a huge crowd and whisper judgmental comments about what strange mares they were. Fluttershy's wings snapped open, her hind legs kicked the air like she was pedaling one of Pinkie's unicycles, and the world spun in a dizzying rush. “Oh my gosh, Pinkie! I can't take it anymore! I can't!”

Pinkie pulled away and beamed a big goofy grin. She opened her mouth to speak, but something made her pause. Fluttershy gazed into Pinkie's warm blue eyes and a strange comfort washed across her as she caught her breath. The warm sun, the soft grass, and the welcoming smile of an old friend brought a newfound sense of security. Sparks of restless energy spread through Fluttershy's chest and limbs and filled the space between them. Pinkie blinked and turned away like she might stand up and dismiss their connection as an awkward fluke. Fluttershy couldn't let this moment slip past, but she didn't know what to say without making a fool of herself.

Fluttershy reached with a trembling hoof and tugged Pinkie's foreleg, which made her glance down with concern. “Sorry if I went overboard. I got caught up in the moment, ya know?”

Fluttershy bolted upright and wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie in a tight embrace.

“Whoa. Nice to see you too.”

“D-Did you feel that spark?” Fluttershy asked, leaning against Pinkie's shoulder. “Or am I crazy?”

Pinkie spoke just above a whisper. “Maybe I did, and maybe you are.”

Fluttershy drifted away and swallowed hard. “I've never—I mean, with a mare—if you want we could—”

Pinkie guided Fluttershy down to the plush grass and kissed her on the cheek. Fluttershy murmured in appreciation as Pinkie pressed her soft lips under her jaw and nuzzled her delicate neck. “Is this okay?” Pinkie asked. “Is this what you want?” Fluttershy released a pent up breath and nodded. Pinkie smiled and kissed her on the lips and sent warm shivers deep into her chest. Pinkie tasted like zesty lemon squares and watermelon chapstick. She was gentle and methodical, the opposite of her typical maniacal mayhem. Fluttershy wiggled against the grass as Pinkie kissed her neck and blew tiny raspberries against her sensitive skin.

“You're such a sweet and modest mare,” Pinkie said, pulling back and resting on her haunches. “Maybe we should stop before someone catches you with me.”

Fluttershy tried to pull Pinkie down onto her, but she was too weak. “Or maybe we could, um, do that again? If that's okay with you.” Pinkie straddled Fluttershy between her soft plump thighs and dipped down and smooched her chest. Fluttershy bit her lip from the rush of hot tingles shooting through her skin all the way down to her tail. The poofy fuzz of Pinkie's mane brushed against Fluttershy's muzzle while Pinkie roamed up her neck planting kisses until she dragged her lips across Fluttershy's chin and onto her mouth. The silky smooth caress of Pinkie's eager tongue teased and prodded Fluttershy until she opened up. Pinkie slipped between her lips and filled her mouth with citric bliss. Their kiss was as warm and pristine as the rays from the sacred sun dancing across their coats under the clear summer sky. Fluttershy moaned into Pinkie's bewitching embrace and wished this could last forever. Pinkie booped Fluttershy's nose with her own and pulled away with a satisfied smile.

“I've never been kissed like this,” Fluttershy said with a dreamy tone. “At least not by stallions.”

Pinkie rested her hoof on Fluttershy's chest and giggled. “Your poor little heart is about to leap out and run away. Don't worry, I'll chase it down for you.”

Fluttershy's ears drooped under the weight of reality. “Bad news. I need to attend a weather meeting, collect soil samples from Applejack's orchards, and take her pigs truffle hunting.”

Pinkie dismounted and helped Fluttershy up. “Sounds like you have a busy afternoon.”

“Don't go yet. I can push everything back twenty minutes. Maybe a little more.” She gestured toward her cottage. “We could go inside and, and,” she stammered so much her cheeks flushed with heat, “and we could drink tea. Or whatever.”

Pinkie shared a warm smile and pulled Fluttershy's hooves into her chest. “I don't want a quick fling. Not with you, Fluttershy. You mean so much more to me than that.”

“But—”

“Let's wait two days. If this was a passing phase we can laugh and pretend it was a strange dream. But if you're still interested, stop by Sugarcube Corner after my shift and we'll see what happens.”

Fluttershy ruffled her feathers and rubbed the back of her head. “Right, it was probably a heat stroke or something. Temporary insanity.”

Pinkie waved goodbye and turned to leave, but instead she peeked over her shoulder. “Do you think Equestria will be okay? The environment, I mean.”

What remained of Fluttershy's good mood drowned in a sea of shadows. “That's… Not a pleasant subject. I'd rather not think about it.”

“So that's why you've been in a funk. You're worried about the future! Why didn't you tell me?”

Fluttershy slumped back and hid behind her mane. “I didn't want to be a downer.”

“But I'm your friend. Don't pretend everything is sunshine and lollipops when it's not.”

“One reason I've enjoyed spending so much time with you lately is because you take my mind off what's looming over the horizon. But it's getting harder to ignore those dark clouds.” Fluttershy took a deep breath as the suffocating reality gripped her chest. “How do I even explain this? Think of the weather like a rubber band. The more we work against nature with our magic, the more the band stretches, and the more wingpower we have to summon to get what we want. We'll keep pushing the system further and further until it hits the breaking point and snaps. And when that happens… It's over. Our control. Our way of life. Gone.”

Pinkie braced herself against the fence post and sank to the grass. “Holy cinnamon buns. Is it too late for that tea?”

“See why I wasn't eager to share the good news?”

A battle waged across Pinkie's face as she confronted this frightening new world. “No way. You're smart, Flutterpal, but that can't be right. Ponies have been controlling the weather for ages.”

“Right, but our modern weather projects surpass all previous efforts in sheer scale. The amount of magic we're pouring into the system isn't sustainable. And I can't prove this, but I suspect the old kingdoms weren't blanketed by snow and ice because of Windigos, but because they mismanaged their climate system.”

“Whoa. They definitely don't put that part in the plays.”

“You think that's bad? I'm just getting started. Do you want me to describe what happens when Equestria's topsoil blows away in a dust storm? Or what happens when ponies migrate by the millions searching for dwindling resources? We've built a pyre under our hooves, and now we're playing with matches.”

“At least my fireworks won't go to waste.” Pinkie cracked up with nervous laughter that failed to hide her growing dismay. She stood up and trudged closer. “So we can still change, right? It's not too late?”

“I… I don't know.” Fluttershy struggled to meet her friend's hopeful gaze, so instead she glanced toward the shaded woods and let the melodies of the songbirds rouse pleasant memories. “Sometimes when the stress is too much, I wander through the forest and listen to nature's music. When your mind clears, you can ponder the vast expanse of time and the untold aeons before our birth. Just as there was a time before birds and frogs, someday there will be a time after ponies.”

Pinkie stepped back and pinned her ears. “You sound like you've already given up. I refuse to believe we'll let things get that bad!”

“Well, you asked. The good news is the worst effects won't happen in our lifetime. Probably.”

Pinkie looked up with sudden confidence. “Explain all this to Twilight. She'll figure something out.”

“I did. She called my research speculation. She said the problem is too far in the future and my solutions were too extreme. You should've heard her grand speech, her ode to inaction, how she described Equestrian society as this delicate balance of interlinked systems and how we can't disrupt one without harming another, as if that didn't apply even more to the environment.”

“That's disappointing.”

“But not surprising. The princesses were always dedicated to preserving the status quo.”

“Maybe we could—”

“I also sent letters to the Royal Weather Institute. They told me to go pound sand, in polite academic jargon of course. They think any future weather anomalies can be mitigated with more advanced magic.” Fluttershy pointed toward Canterlot, the golden city that glittered in the sunlight. “There's a lot of powerful interests arrayed against us.”

Pinkie mulled that over. “So it's up to us regular ponies.”

“This is way beyond bake sales and charity concerts. This would take—well, let's just say it. We'd have to reorganize Equestrian society from the bottom up. Doesn't seem likely.”

Pinkie paced in a meandering path across the yard while her face pinched with concentration. “When I was little, my Nana Pie said the schools taught history all wrong. She said countless normal ponies do all the work, make all the real progress, and then a few famous ponies hog all the credit.” Pinkie spun on her hooves and faced Fluttershy with conviction. “Are you gonna tell me my Nana Pie was out to lunch?”

“She sounds like a wise mare, but where would we even start?”

“You got it. We start something. A movement. A campaign. A party?”

“I suppose with the proper organizing anything is possible.”

Pinkie bounced across the yard and glomped onto Fluttershy's side, almost bowling her over. “That's the spirit!”

Pinkie's tight hug and infectious optimism pushed down Fluttershy's fears, replacing them with a rush of bewildering desires, desires that only grew more intense as Fluttershy inhaled the mix of sweat and strawberry shampoo from Pinkie's mane.

Pinkie relented and gave a soft pat to Fluttershy's shoulder. “You've given me oodles to think about, but I should really get going. See ya around!” After they waved goodbye, Pinkie hiked down the long dusty trail back to Ponyville, and once again Fluttershy found herself on the boundary between civilization and the wild green yonder.

Alone.