Butterflies and Balloons

Chapters

Jarred Gargilly
Vanhoover Bound
L'Amour
What Happened at the Ice Rink
Easier
Rosy Cheeks
Like a Knot in a Hose

Jarred Gargilly

Chapter Two - Jarred Gargilly

Millions of tiny, white specks drifted toward the ground. Fluttershy closed her eyes and felt the snowflakes land on her snout, on her mane, and on her back. They tickled her furled wings. There was a slight chill as the snowflakes melted into her, like a gentle touch from the sky. Fluttershy raised her head skyward.

How relaxing… hmmm.

She smiled. A woodpecker jackhammered away at a tree nearby — clickclickclick, clickclickclick — and a family of squirrels chirped cheerfully as they burrowed into their underground home. Only the lightest of brisk breezes sailed through Fluttershy’s impossibly long, silk-like pink mane.

Pure peace, she thought.

Then a hefty CLUNK tore through the air.

“Fluttershy!!! You ready for our trip into the Everfree Forest?”

It was Pinkie Pie throwing open the cottage front door. Fluttershy opened her once-relaxed eyes and turned to watch her friend zoop right next to her. Pinkie was all smiles, covered with just a blue-and-white stripped scarf and some snow boots.

“Well? Are ya?” Pinkie asked again. She looked Fluttershy in the eye, but Fluttershy had learned over the course of the previous two days that it wasn’t a good idea to stare back. It made her feel funny. So, she just looked past Pinkie and smiled with a clear of her throat.

“I guess I am. It’s not like there is much to prepare for. I see you have your saddle bags.”

Pinkie jumped up and down and let the burlap bags tied around her haunches flop wildly in the process. She saluted and replied as if she were addressing a drill sergeant.

“Yes, ma’am, Mrs. Fluttershy, sir — ma’am!”

Fluttershy giggled.

“Okay then, I’ve got mine. Let’s get a move on before it gets too dark. It’s quite cloudy today!” She turned toward the Everfree Forest and immediately wished she hadn’t. Fluttershy swallowed the lump in her throat. The sinister, snow-capped treetops of the Forest seemed like spires of an evil fortress. Fluttershy took a confident step forward, then another, and breathed out shakily. Pinkie hopped beside her as the two began their trek.

“What do these flowers look like again, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked a few minutes into the journey. Fluttershy shifted her eyes from side to side. Her body felt uncomfortable and stiff. The ground inside the Everfree Forest was nearly barren of snow, the canopy above so thick it acted like a shield to the elements. Fluttershy responded nervously.

“T-They’re green and yellow. The flower is called jarred gargilly. It only grows in the winter, at least that’s what Zecora said. She also said it can be made into a special tea.” Fluttershy lightened up as she distracted herself with the conversation. Her lips automatically curled into a gentle smile when she looked up at Pinkie, who appeared intrigued, if not a tad confused.

“Special tea?” Pinkie asked. Fluttershy nodded.

“Mhm. Zecora says it makes your body feel so comfy, so warm, even if it’s really cold out, you won’t feel anything but pure, cozy bliss. I thought we could have some tonight, since the pegasi are planning a blizzard.”

A branch snapped nearby. Fluttershy yelped and leapt close to Pinkie, bringing their bodies to a touch. Fluttershy turned red when she realized how she had reacted, but Pinkie snickered.

“It’s just a branch, Flutterscared! Hee hee.” Pinkie wrapped her hoof around Fluttershy’s neck. Fluttershy instantly basked in its warmth. “Don’t worry! I’ll protect you from any meanie-bo-beanie monsters! Nothing in here scares me! Remember what Granny Pie said?” Fluttershy backed away with an embarrassed throat clearing and a cock of her head. Pinkie waved her hooves.

“Whaaaaat? You don’t remember? The Laughter Song?! The first time we came to the Everfree Forest we ran into those scary trees, and then I sang that song about laughing at everything to make it not scary anymore!”

Fluttershy turned away and sighed.

“Sure, I remember, but it’s easy for you to say, Pinkie. You’re much braver than I am…” Fluttershy trailed off.

A lone crow cawed from somewhere in the distance.

CAW.

Everywhere Pinkie and Fluttershy looked around was the same. Tall sentries of thick, ridged bark with twisting, gruesome limbs blocked passage and hid away all manner of beasts. Horrid ferns and creepy undergrowth were aplenty. Beards of green moss hung down on the tree branches – that, or cobwebs. Only the cleared path forward, made by Goddesses knew what many centuries ago, was navigable. Fluttershy’s bottom lip quivered as the duo reached a thin path that veered off from the main one.

Fluttershy breathed out slowly and then sucked in air. She did this repeatedly, not quite hyperventilating, but not far off either. Pinkie stopped beside Fluttershy and stared at her with a concerned, soft brow.

“Fluttershy… listen, why don’t we turn back? We don’t need to try this special tea stuff, not if it means forcing you to do something that you’re so scared to do!” Fluttershy smiled at the concern, only looking into Pinkie’s ocean-blue eyes for a moment. Fluttershy shook her head.

“It’s okay, Pinkie. I’ve already resolved myself to do this. It’ll be worth it, I know it!”

Fluttershy tensed her shoulders and furrowed her brow. She inhaled deeply then snorted like a bull about to charge.

“Let’s go!”

Fluttershy tore down the thin path, leaving a surprised Pinkie in her wake. Pinkie gasped.

“Fluttershy, wait! Confidence is one thing, but don’t go crazy! This place isn’t exactly the Royal Canterlot Garden!”

The narrow passageway weaved and bobbed every which way. Pinkie struggled to keep up with Fluttershy, who was running on pure adrenaline, eager to have the entire experience behind her. She deftly jumped over the snags and briars along the route, Pinkie calling after her the entire time.

Finally, the pair came upon a clearing filled with green and yellow flowers. Fluttershy stopped to catch her breath.

“In the shape of a glowing green fire, watch for yellow, too, and it’s the one you desire!” Just like Zecora said!

Fluttershy beamed victoriously. Pinkie ran up beside her, gasping for air.

“F-Fluttershy… please tell me… this is the flower...”

Fluttershy snatched a gargilly and threw it in one of her saddlebags.

“Sure is! Let’s hurry before I decide to look up and get scared again.”

Pinkie and Fluttershy spent the next few minutes gathering as many flowers as they could stuff into their saddlebags. Fluttershy had made it clear that one could never have too many jarred gargillies, as they stayed quite fresh after being picked and could be used to make warming tea for months afterward. When both mares had bulging sacks of green and yellow hanging from their hindquarters, Fluttershy announced they would be leaving. She made the mistake of looking up at the same time.

The clearing the two stood in was surrounded by needle-like, white trees. In between the rows and rows of trees were glowing yellow eyes partially obscured by darkness. Fluttershy’s pupils shrank to pinheads.

“Gah… BAH… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” she screamed.

Fluttershy broke off back in the direction her and Pinkie had come, hollering the entire way. Pinkie chased behind her with frantic concern.

“Just calm down Fluttershy! Wait up! Watch for—!”

*CRACK*

Fluttershy’s left hoof got caught in a jutting root and she crumbled onto her left side as her hoof gave out. She slammed into the frigid soil and slid on the forest floor until she collided with a bigger, more solid root. Stars flashed in her eyes. Pinkie cried out.

“Fluttershy! Ohmigosh, are you okay?”

Fluttershy groaned. When she tried to use her right hoof to feel her forehead, just the mere movement of her right side was enough to send lightning bolts of pain coursing through her left side. She quietly moaned in pain.

“Fluttershy! C-come on, let’s get out of here—”

Pinkie wasted no time. She nudged her head underneath Fluttershy’s body and moved forward. She worked Fluttershy onto her back, and with a great effort on Fluttershy’s part due to the intense pain, she was safely attached to her friend’s back. Fluttershy wrapped a desperate right hoof around Pinkie’s chest to hold on as her left hoof hung limp off its own side.

“Ahhh! P-Pinkie Pie, y-you can’t…”

But Pinkie didn’t seem the least bit perturbed by Fluttershy’s presence on her back. She even managed a laugh, a more serious laugh than Pinkie usually made.

“I don’t wanna hear it, Fluttershy. There’s no way I could leave you behind. This was the only way! I’ll get you back, safe and sound. Pinkie Promise!”

Every step that Pinkie made sent vibrations of sharp pain through Fluttershy, but she endured. She had to. When the two got back to the main path, Fluttershy finally let her neck relax. She nestled her head into Pinkie’s cotton candy mane. The scent of sugary delights, with a hint of strawberry, cleared her mind and relaxed her pain. She let out an inadvertent hum of happiness.

Pinkie was a furnace. Fluttershy hugged Pinkie’s backside tighter with her own backhooves, as if she were a koala. Her heart started to pound. Pinkie was way too warm. Way, way too warm. It made Fluttershy feel safe amid the forest of her nightmares. She felt the world drain away around her as sleep took hold.

The last thing Fluttershy heard was her mouth producing words her more conscious mind would never allow.

“You smell… way too good… Pinkie Pie...”

* * *

Something crackled. Was it a fire? Fluttershy heard the pop of steam pockets bursting through wood bark. She was so warm, so much warmer than she felt when she was on top of Pinkie. Cozy didn’t even begin to describe it.

Fluttershy’s eyelids flew open. She brought herself up with her right hoof and scanned her surroundings. She was in the upper level of her cottage, lying in bed with a thick, wool blanket wrapped around her. The fireplace was ablaze. She remembered that she had had an accident in the Everfree Forest when her left side throbbed anew with pain.

“Ouch!” she cried, laying back down and bringing her right hoof over to comfort her left side. The pain had subsided enough that if she was slow and gentle, she could use her right hoof without causing further discomfort to her left side. Pinkie rushed up the stairs.

“Oh, you’re finally awake! Thank Celestia!”

Pinkie ran up to the side of the bed and smiled motherly at Fluttershy, who could only blush back. But she didn’t take her eyes off Pinkie. There was some new look in the ocean-blue eyes of Pinkamena Diane Pie. Fluttershy had seen the old look of worry when her other friends were in trouble — the new look was definitely different. Fluttershy couldn't put her hoof on what it was that looked so different. It demanded her attention.

“I wasn’t sure when you were going to wake up,” Pinkie said quietly, “If I knew it was going to be so soon, I would have waited up here for you! I was making that tea you were talking about, with the jellied gargoyles.” Pinkie transformed her somber smile into a wider, wilder, more Pinkie-ish one, and Fluttershy laughed from the heart.

“W-what?” Pinkie said with a frown, her head turned. Fluttershy stifled her snickering behind her right hoof.

“Pinkie, it’s jarred gargilly, not jellied gargoyle!”

Pinkie’s smile slowly returned as she realized the mess up of her words.

"Oh! Hahahaha!"

She tittered and chortled along with Fluttershy. The jiggling in Pinkie’s cheeks, and the wiggle of her snout, was not lost on Fluttershy. A stray thought careened into her mind.

Pinkie’s really cute…

Fluttershy looked away from Pinkie with a snap of her neck and her cheeks ignited.

Did I really just think that? Cute as in ‘cute’ cute? Or was it the other kind of cute…

Pinkie poked Fluttershy with her hoof.

“Hey! Once the tea is done, I’ll bring you some, okay? I don’t want to leave it by itself down there, buuuuut…” Pinkie leapt over to the top of the stairs and held out her hoof over the banisters as if ushering in somepony. “I think these guys can keep you company in the meantime!”

A stampede of woodland critters, great and small, came up the stairs and jumped up onto Fluttershy’s bed. Fluttershy yelped as she became covered in furry creatures: squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, stoats, ferrets, one deer, and one huge bear named Harry, whose presence on the bed elicited a painful groan from the wooden structure.

Of course, a wet-eyed Angel Bunny had tackled Fluttershy as well.

Pinkie took her leave with a snicker as Fluttershy cuddled the animals, who were squeaking with concern. Fluttershy instantly felt a million times better and beamed.

“Awwww, hello everyone! Were you worried about me?”

Every creature chimed in at once with affirmative squeaks. Fluttershy giggled.

“I’m okay. I had Pinkie with me!”

Fluttershy laid back and closed her eyes, letting time wash over her like a tide. She relished the feeling of her animal friends and the cushy, heavy blanket on top of her. It was the life. At some point, the aggressive hissing noise of a steamy kettle resounded throughout the cottage from the lower level. Fluttershy opened her eyes.

“Oh, the gargilly tea…” she whispered. Some of the animals rose their heads and looked at Fluttershy. She cleared her throat and addressed them.

“The tea makes ponies a lot more, well, relaxed. And Zecora said, sometimes, it makes you just say whatever’s on your mind. So, I had this idea to—”

“TEA’S ZEDDY!”

Fluttershy flinched out of surprise. Pinkie crested the stairs with a jubilant step, holding a plate with two teacups on it between her teeth.

“P-Pinkie!” Fluttershy cried, blinking rapidly. Pinkie placed the plate of teacups on Fluttershy’s bedside end table with a clink. Pinkie doubled back to the stairs.

“I’m just going to go grab us some supper then I’ll be back!”

From the bottom of the stairs Pinkie continued.

“Don’t worry! I already fed the animals!”

Fluttershy looked at her animal friends. They all looked rather satisfied with that night’s supper.

“I suppose Pinkie overfed you then, hmmm?” Fluttershy asked, seeing the blushes on the furry faces of her friends. She giggled again. “Well, one night’s okay.”

A few moments later, Pinkie was back with another, larger plate between her teeth. Two big, soft puffs of hay bread took up most of the room on the plate, but there was also a collection of grapes, cheese, alfalfa, wheat stalks, and oat biscuits.

“Move over, sister!” Pinkie cried through the plate as she dove into the air. Fluttershy watched in horror as every item of food hovered in the air, being knocked off the plate. Pinkie barreled down onto the bedspread with a brutal rock of the bed and effortlessly collected all the food as it fell down. She burst into a jitter of laughter as she put the plate between her and Fluttershy on the bed.

“Sorry, haha, it’s just way too much fun to get into bed that way, haha! I had to!”

The animals shared Fluttershy’s shocked expression. But after a moment, Fluttershy regained her ability to breath and managed a chuckle.

“Only you, Pinkie,” she said. The two mares dug into supper as the animals either napped or rested their eyes.

When the plate was halfway devoured, Fluttershy’s deer friend got off the bed, picked up the plate with the tea on it with her teeth, and brought it over to Fluttershy and Pinkie. Each mare took a cup in their hoof.

“Oh thank you, Bambo,” Fluttershy praised.

“Thanks, my deer,” Pinkie said, with a snort of laughter. Bambo the deer blushed and got back onto the bed. The cottage started to rock from the harsh wind outside. Fluttershy looked out her window and saw the beginnings of a blizzard whizz past as she brought her teacup to her lips for the first sip.

“Guess it’s really starting out there…” she said quietly. Pinkie ‘mhm’d!’ around the rim of her teacup as she, too, took a sip. When she pulled away, Pinkie smacked her lips and contorted her face into a bitter expression.

“Wowzers! That’s some tea, alright! Woo!”

Fluttershy, more used to strong teas, hummed in delight instead and smiled.

“Isn’t it? It’s got that perfect kick, but it’s not too overpowering.”

The two friends sipped and sipped and sipped as they talked about different topics. The blizzard outside got crazier and crazier and crazier as the early night stretched on. The tree cottage creaked all around the mares as the battering of its bark from the onslaught of ice crystals outside intensified. Despite the blizzard, however, Pinkie and Fluttershy felt their bodies gush with warmth and tender numbness as more and more of the bitter ichor entered their blood.

By the time both teacups were dropless, Pinkie and Fluttershy were definitely feeling it. Their cheeks were taut and flushed, and Pinkie couldn’t stop giggling.

“T-that really IS quite the tea, Fubbershy, haha.”

“Fubbershy?” Fluttershy lost control and started to laugh boisterously. “You just… you just called me… Fubbershy!” She rolled onto her back and started to wave all four hooves in the air like a playful newborn.

Pinkie stared blankly at the giggle-stricken Fluttershy as she slowly absorbed the information behind the words. Suddenly, she also broke into a fit of laughter and fell onto her back beside Fluttershy. Their lungs burned from the nonstop laughter. They didn’t notice their bodies were touching. The laughter became high-pitched, almost maniacal, and the furry animal friends took their leave, the awkwardness of the ponies’ states forcing them downstairs.

The last of the giggles died out and Pinkie and Fluttershy turned onto their sides to look at one another. Pinkie raised her hoof towards Fluttershy and stared at it, holding it in a magnetic gaze.

“My hoof is, like, alive, you know?”

Fluttershy shook her head in agreement.

“I do, I do know, Pinkie. My hooves are alive, too, see?”

She shifted her fore and back hooves over to Pinkie’s side of the bed and started to tickle the pink mare at her most vulnerable areas (Fluttershy learned about them during a few times in the past when the depressed Pinkie needed a pick-me-up).

“Tickle tickle tickle,” Fluttershy teased, in a silly tone she'd never use under normal circumstances. Pinkie lost herself in a mad fit of laughter as Fluttershy assaulted her with the light, fuzzy touching. Fluttershy did not relent, picking new weak spots when Pinkie defended the zones that got tickled the most. Fluttershy started to laugh too, and both ponies engaged in a tickle fight, all the while the storm raged on outside.

When the dust settled and both mares were thoroughly tickled and fuzzy-headed, Pinkie and Fluttershy found their hooves tangled over one another and their bodies much closer together. Both had to catch their breath with heavy pants. After a minute, Pinkie chimed up.

“Y’know, Flutters, I like you.”

Fluttershy was momentarily awoken from her tea stupor and blushed.

“O-o-ohhh, y-y-you do?”

Pinkie looked at her seriously.

“Of course, of course I do. Flutters, you’re THE mare. Y’know? You just…” Pinkie slurred. She waved her hoof around as if searching for what to say, her mouth agape and lost for words. “You’re like, great with animals. Really nice. You’re just… you’re cool, okay? Uhuh?”

Fluttershy slithered her body ever closer. A scarlet tinge covered her cheeks.

“P-Pinkie, I l-like you too…”

Pinkie wore a goofy smile and stuck the end of her tongue out of her mouth.

“Awww, thanks Flutters, you always know JUST what to say.” Pinkie started to giggle and laid her hoof on Fluttershy’s side. Fluttershy closed her eyes and sighed.

“W-well, umm, I didn’t mean it like — I mean, I think—”

She opened her eyes and stared into Pinkie’s. She wasn’t nervous, not at that moment, not as the blizzard wailed outside in the blister and boom of the heavy snowfall. Pinkie stared back unphased, her goofy smile ever present.

Neither mare moved. Then Fluttershy started to shuffle imperceptibly closer to Pinkie with each second that ticked by. She didn’t really know why she did it, not with the gargilly tea numbing her usual sensations and inhibitions. Pinkie and Fluttershy were mere inches from their muzzles touching.

A particularly loud pop erupted from the firepit, drawing Pinkie’s gaze. She scrambled onto her hooves.

“Cheese and crackers! The fire’s almost dead! We’d freeze if that puppy went out,” Pinkie said, as if nothing had just happened. As if nothing was about to happen. Fluttershy’s heart sank, though she couldn’t figure out why.

Wait what DID I think was going to happen?

She looked up at Pinkie’s face, the orange-red glow of the fire dancing amid the pitch-black shadows covering her features. Pinkie got off the bed with unsure hooves, as if she were relearning to walk, and managed to get over to the stairs.

Fluttershy laid back down as Pinkie fetched more firewood. Fluttershy’s face was flushed, her breathing shallow, her wings slightly spread apart, and her heart performing a drum solo inside her heaving chest. She studied the swirl of the wooden ceiling and tried to pick apart her mile-a-minute thoughts.

W-what was about to happen? This tea might n-not have been a good idea after all… wow. It’s still so warm… and Pinkie.

Fluttershy let her mind wander over to images of Pinkie Pie. Her devil-may-care mane, the curve of her slightly chubby belly and haunches, the captivating gleam of her irises… Fluttershy’s cheeks burned hotter, and she was starting to think it had nothing to do with the tea or the fire.

Pinkie had always been one of the best friends a mare could have — Pinkie and the other girls were the only friends Fluttershy had ever had, truthfully— and Fluttershy cherished that friendship. She cherished the friendship she shared with all her friends. But what she was feeling for Pinkie — it couldn’t be friendship, or if it was, it was some new form of it.

After some time alone with her confusing thoughts, Fluttershy was once again graced with the presence of Pinkie, who had dragged herself up the last few steps of the stairs. Her tongue flopped out of her mouth and she struggled to catch her breath, a load of firewood and Gummy the alligator situated in her mane.

“Can’t… move… legs… too… tired…”

Pinkie took a moment to fill her lungs and dragged herself over to the fireplace. She tossed the load of timber into the fire with a wooden clunk and then scuttled back to the bed, Fluttershy watching with concern all the while. She quietly cursed herself.

“Oh Pinkie, I’m sorry I suggested that tea — I didn’t realize this would happen.”

Pinkie strained herself to get up, and with a throaty groan she plopped up onto the bed once more. Gummy slithered out and curled up on one of the pillows. Pinkie rolled onto her back and took a minute to suck in huge gulps of air. Then she glanced at Fluttershy with an understanding grin.

“Don’t be sorry. We had lots of fun, didn’t we? And it did keep us warm — it still is!”

Fluttershy nodded but didn’t return the smile. She looked over Pinkie’s face, trying to detect any hint that she was weirded out. There was none — Pinkie just looked like Pinkie, albeit a tired, tea-numbed Pinkie. Fluttershy forced a smile.

“I think we should hit the hay. What do you think, Pinkie?”

Pinkie stretched out all four of her limbs and sighed out in pleasure.

“Yeah… bed sounds… guhhh…”

Pinkie passed out with a loud snore. Fluttershy called down to her animal friends, who quickly joined her and Pinkie in bed. Harry the bear gently moved Pinkie onto her own side of the bed and laid her head on the pillow next to the sleeping Gummy. Harry smiled warmly at Fluttershy, who returned the gesture.

“Okay, okay everyone. Remember this is just for tonight, because of the blizzard. Get cozy and comfy now!”

Fluttershy watched the embers in the firepit crackle and pop as everyone else fell asleep. She studied the red flicks of fire as they moved to and fro.

I need to set things right with Pinkie about what happened. Oh, I hope this isn’t going to make things weird from now on…

Vanhoover Bound

Chapter Three – Vanhoover Bound

A few days had passed since the incident involving the gargilly tea. Fluttershy had been lucky enough that Pinkie Pie was needed most days at Sugarcube Corner, even with the sugar mites having made a home of her room, so their time spent together was short. Woefully and thankfully, Fluttershy felt. A strange combination of the two.

On the eighth day since Pinkie arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage, all the mares had planned a two-day getaway to Vanhoover.

In the morning, Pinkie and Fluttershy rolled out of bed and prepared their belongings. The animals needed tending to, which Fluttershy was all-too-happy to take care of, and Pinkie felt most helpful double-checking that they had everything they needed for the trip. Their teamwork was flawless — the duo did not even need to exchange words. When the chores were taken care of, both mares met up downstairs.

Fluttershy was wrapped in a green-and-white stripped scarf and wool socks of the same pattern that went past her knees. Pinkie Pie wore similar attire, though hers was blue with white stripes. Their luggage was reasonable — each mare had saddlebags tied to her backside.

“All set to go, then, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked. Pinkie nodded and smiled wide.

“Totes McGotes, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy turned around and looked down. A smug Angel Bunny stood with his paws at his hips.

“Now Angel,” Fluttershy began, “remember when I said last time you couldn’t be trusted to take care of things yourself?” Angel Bunny rolled his eyes and threw out his little bunny paws as if to say, ‘So what?’ Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Because of that, I arranged for a petsitter. Be nice, now!”

After Fluttershy said ‘now’, a giant mass of swirling energy and matter appeared in the cottage living area. A furry, goat-like head poked out of the energy and called out.

“Helloooo everypony!” The rest of the figure’s body slithered out and the energy mass poofed out of existence. A blast of confetti erupted out of the top of the figure’s head and rained down on Angel Bunny, who wore a deadpan expression. Pinkie had a fit of giggles.

“Discord! Haha, I love when you do that!”

Discord closed his eyes and brushed some dust off his chest.

“Yes, yes, I am quite good at making an entrance — common knowledge, dear Pinkie Pie. And at just the right time too!”

He leaned over and bulged one eye out, staring just an inch away from Angel’s angry stare.

“This little fellow, uhhh” — Discord pulled out a large tome from thin air and flipped through the pages — “Angel Bear… Angel Blair… Angel Boss… Ah, here you are. Angel Bunny, right?” He closed the tome with a curt laugh and it disappeared. “Fluttershy, it shan't be an issue, this whole petsitting thing!”

A beach chair with an umbrella poof’d into existence underneath Discord and he flopped down onto it. Sunglasses and a sunhat materialized onto his face and head, and a little sun formed above the umbrella and bathed him in sunlight. With a snap of his fingers, another Discord appeared.

“Reporting for duty, Mr. Discord!” the new Discord announced. The original Discord waved his paw as he started to flip through a magazine.

“Yes, yes, go about with the petsitting, Number Two. I have a very important article on afternoon tea to catch up on.” The original Discord lowered his sunglasses and winked over at Fluttershy. The new Discord chased after Angel Bunny, who had blown a cheeky raspberry in defiance and ran off. Fluttershy shook her head and laughed as her and Pinkie left the cottage.

“He might seem a bit… unorthodox,” Fluttershy explained as they walked down the snow-covered lane, “But I trust him. He would never let anything happen to the animals.” Pinkie bounced with extra-abundant joy.

“Are you KIDDING me, Fluttershy? I’d let him petsit ME! Well, foalsit. Discord’s a whole barrel of monkeys full of fun!”

Fluttershy’s mind produced a strange image of a baby Pinkie Pie pulling Discord’s nose and dumping baby powder on his head. She laughed out loud. Pinkie laughed too, not knowing why, but going along with it because Pinkie Pie.

A few minutes into their trot, Fluttershy shot a sideways glance at Pinkie during a lull in their conversation.

Still nothing about that other night… and, well, I didn’t SAY anything about it, but…

Fluttershy turned pink in the cheeks when Pinkie caught her staring. Fluttershy looked away with a goofy smile.

You’d think SHE would have said something…

Indeed, nopony had brought up the bedroom antics of the night of the blizzard. Of course, Fluttershy assumed that to Pinkie it was all just fun and games — it wasn’t like Pinkie could read her mind. But Fluttershy knew better. She knew that it meant something. The way she had acted wasn’t normal.

Still, whatever it was, Fluttershy was becoming more comfortable with Pinkie around, and as long as they didn’t drink any gargilly tea or stare at eachother too long, living with Pinkie was a ton of fun and a lot of help. Fluttershy felt little reason to broach the subject herself.

Plus, it’s not like she’ll be around forever! She’ll go back to Sugarcube Corner at some point, and everything will be back to normal!

The thought caused a sudden twang of pain in Fluttershy’s chest. She involuntarily frowned and stopped moving. She stared at a patch of snow.

Everything… will just be normal again.

“Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked, leaning into Fluttershy’s field of vision and staring at her with a simple, bewildered expression. Fluttershy managed to look into Pinkie’s bright, happy blue irises before forcing a smile and turning away.

“Oh, um, i-it’s nothing, Pinkie.”

The two started moving again, Pinkie with her usual bounce.

“You sure? Causeeee if it is not nothing, and is actually something — well, you know you can tell me, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy replied quietly, “Thanks Pinkie.”

A nearby train chugged into the Ponyville station. Pinkie and Fluttershy went inside the station, acquired their tickets, and stepped onto the boarding platform. Their other friends were already there, equally as well-dressed for the winter weather, except Rarity, who was MORE well-dressed. A hoof stitched winter hat of bright pink wool sat on her head, and a winter coat of the same material hugged her form to a T.

“Howdy Pinkie, Fluttershy,” said a peppy Applejack. She didn’t have any saddlebags with her. Rarity, however, had a mountain of suitcases, which one of the train attendants was struggling to get on board.

“…And do be a dear and make sure the larger suitcases are placed in first, followed by the smaller ones so they don’t get crushed.” Rarity batted her eyes at the attendant and he hurried along with his first load of Rarity’s luggage. Rarity turned to Fluttershy and Pinkie. “Good morning, ladies.”

Everypony said their hellos and greetings. Rainbow Dash was flying just above the ground, carrying a hockey stick in her hooves. A tether tied to the stick was wrapped around her midsection.

“I can’t WAIT to play pegasus hockey and show those Vanhoovans how ponies from Cloudsdale tear up the ice!”

Twilight Sparkle raised a single eyebrow.

“Rainbow, do you even KNOW how to play pegasus hockey? I don’t think Cloudsdale has a team. Ponyville definitely doesn’t.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged and waved the hockey stick around, a fire brewing behind her magenta eyes.

“I’ll figure it out pretty quick! How hard can it be? Flying with the Wonderbolts has got to be 100 TIMES harder!”

Pinkie bounced in place.

“Oh, oh! Do you girls think they have any bakeries in Vanhoover?” Pinkie stopped bouncing and rubbed her chin with her hoof. “Orrrr… do you think it’s too cold? Maybe they have ICE bakeries! Haha, what an idea!”

When the attendants had finished bringing all of the girls’ luggage onto the train, the mares started to shuffle into the train along with some other passengers. Twilight snickered at Pinkie’s silliness and replied with an encyclopedic succinctness.

“Actually Pinkie, the Vanhoovans love baked goods! Well, specifically donut holes — for some reason. They call them Tombites, after the famous Vanhoover hockey champion, Tom Horseton! They’re also quite fond of coffee and hockey, as you can probably guess.” Twilight pointed at some of the other passengers. Each stallion and mare was dressed in a knitted winter hat and a hockey jersey. Their fur was thicker than the average pony Pinkie or Fluttershy had seen in the southern parts of Equestria. Twilight continued.

“Those ponies are all from Vanhoover – you can tell because their fur is thicker and, well, the outfits. Vanhoover is pretty cold all year round, being so close to the Frozen North, so they’re always well equipped for it!”

Rarity hummed in approval at Twilight’s explanation as everypony took their seats.

“Well, Twilight, I guess it’s no surprise you know so much about Vanhoover and its inhabitants already — I suppose you were up until midnight planning this trip, hmm?”

Twilight blushed and smiled sheepishly.

“Just past midnight, heh heh.”

Fluttershy looked out the train window as she scuttled into the inner seat. Pinkie sat next to her. In the bench across from them were Rainbow and Applejack, and just in front were Rarity and Twilight. The train started to move as a light snow fall cascaded outside.

Rainbow waved her hockey stick around like a pretend sword and made battle noises. Applejack leaned away slightly and grimaced.

“Rainbow, do ya gotta do that when Ah’m sittin’ right here? Just hold yer horses til we get to the dang place! Ah’m sure every pony in Vanhoover will be happy to watch you get yer flank whooped at hockey.”

Applejack smiled sideways at Rainbow, smugly. Rainbow blew air out of her mouth.

“Pff, like you could do any better. This is pegasus hockey! You don’t even have any wings!”

Applejack crossed her hooves and shrugged.

“Guess we won’t ever find out. Ah’m makin’ a beeline to the frost apple plantations soon as we get there — shoot, Ah hope that doesn’t interfere with yer plans or nothing, Twi.” She turned to the mentioned mare with apprehension.

Rarity spoke up.

“Yes, I also was hoping I could visit Vanhoover main street to check out what kind of fashion boutiques they have. Especially with the weather being so frigid all the time! I bet it will be a fascinating and inspirational excursion,” she batted her eyes at Twilight. “Of course, assuming we will have some time to split up for a bit?”

Twilight giggled.

“Of course, everypony. I put two hours for individual exploration onto the schedule. I figured we’d all have our own interests to pursue.” She turned around to Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“Pinkie, Fluttershy, do you have someplace you want to visit?”

Fluttershy spoke first, her face coming alive, ears twitching.

“Oh yes! I’m pretty excited to check out the Vanhoovan Zoo! The pamphlet you gave to all of us last week said they have so many different animals that aren’t found anywhere else in Equestria!” Fluttershy moved her hooves about as she talked, enraptured in a fervor. “And they treat them so well, they’ve won every Society for Better Living with Animals award for animal care of the last five years!” Pinkie smiled with approval at Fluttershy. She threw her hooves up.

“Woooo! That sounds like a blast! I’m gonna go with Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy quickly jerked her head and a flash of heat struck her cheeks. She shakily spoke to Pinkie.

“O-oh, are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to be bored, Pinkie…”

Pinkie laughed out loud.

“Bored? With YOU Fluttershy? Haha, you’re a real hoot sometimes!” She slapped Fluttershy on the shoulder, causing the yellow pegasus to jump out of shock. Fluttershy nestled her hooves between her thighs and stared at the floor.

Just the two of us at the zoo… it’s kind of almost like a…

Fluttershy put her head even further down and felt her cheeks burn. A whisper of a squee escaped her lips. Pinkie leaned down to get her attention.

“Uhh, Fluttershy?” she asked. Fluttershy looked up. All her friends were staring at her expectantly. She felt her face become even hotter. Her ears flopped down against her mane and she smiled wide and awkwardly.

“H-haha, nothing! J-just trying to keep warm.” Thinking quickly, Fluttershy’s ears popped up again and she turned to Twilight. “Oh, Twilight. Y-you haven’t told us where you will be going once we reach Vanhoover.”

Twilight closed her eyes and put her hoof against her heart.

“I will be visiting the Sigilstone of Polaris, an ancient artifact that contains the writing of a scholar from old times known as Polaris. He apparently discovered the secret to living in the North that was lost when the original pony tribes moved away when the Windingos attacked. His writing has never been interpreted yet, but I thought…”

Twilight opened her eyes. The sound of snoring filled the air. She turned to the side to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack fast asleep, with the former’s head back against her seat and the latter having her stetson pulled out in front of her face. Twilight threw up her hooves.

“OH COME ON IT WASN’T THAT BORING!”

The remaining, awake mares giggled. Rarity poked Twilight’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, Twilight, dear. They’ve got the right idea, after all. It will be a bit of a journey before we reach Vanhoover. A nap will make for a shorter trip, in a sense.”

After that, Rarity and Twilight got more comfortable and shut their eyes. Fluttershy stared out her window, assuming Pinkie was asleep. She watched the snow make its way to the ground, carried by a slight breeze. The sun was bright enough above the grey snow clouds to illuminate the earth below, so Fluttershy could see the wide stretch of the Equestrian wilds from the train’s position as it steamed ahead past a mountain range.

White blankets of snow covered the evergreen trees that made up most of the landscape. In the distance were rolling hills of white and rocky light grey. Fluttershy leaned against her hoof and sighed.

Maybe I should talk with Pinkie and clear things up after all. She could have an explanation for how I’m feeling, and it’s just so awkward to be feeling this way around a good friend.

Something caught Fluttershy’s eye outside the window. To her surprise, it was a pink butterfly. A lone butterfly bitterly flapping its wings against the cold and the snowfall.

“Oh my, a butterfly in this climate?” she said aloud, forgetting the snoozing friends nearby. A familiar voice beside her made her jump in surprise.

“It looks like one of the butterflies on your Cutie Mark, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy swerved around. Pinkie was staring just past her, gentle smile gracing her face. Fluttershy's stomach felt like it had a butterfly inside it.

“Pinkie! I t-thought you’d be asleep like the others.”

Pinkie shook her head.

“We slept pretty good last night, right? I’m not tired. I'm more excited than anything! Don’t you agree about the butterfly, though?”

Pinkie pointed at the window and the butterfly just beyond. Fluttershy looked back and hummed in thought.

“Like my Cutie Mark? Hmm, I guess so. That’s an interesting observation, Pinkie. What made you think of my Cutie Mark?”

Pinkie shot Fluttershy a sly smile and winked.

“Cause I like to look at your butt.”

Fluttershy almost choked on her saliva. Her eyes bugged out.

“W-W-W-WHAT?” she squeaked in utter disbelief. Pinkie was hysterical with laughter and nearly fell out of the bench. It was a wonder none of their friends woke up, though the other passengers were less than pleased.

“Fluttershy — ahahahahah — I’m just pulling — hahahahah — your hoof!”

Fluttershy puffed out her lips and frowned.

“Wasn’t very funny,” she pouted. Pinkie wiped a tear out of her eye.

“Sorry Fluttershy, haha. The reason I thought of your Cutie Mark was because I always thought it suited you well! You and that butterfly are the same!”

Fluttershy was intrigued. She cocked her head, and for a rare moment she could look into Pinkie’s bright blue eyes without feeling strange.

“Oh?” she asked simply. Pinkie nodded with an ‘mhm!’ She continued.

“Even if the going gets tough, you and that butterfly keep on flapping and don’t give up! And you’re really graceful, too. Well — and fragile. But not in, like, a bad way, you know?” Pinkie smiled super wide like she was worried she had said too much. Fluttershy kept staring into Pinkie’s eyes, her mouth becoming a small O. After a few moments of the two mares blinking back and forth at one another, Fluttershy broke the stare and looked at her hooves.

“N-no, I think you’re wrong,” Fluttershy said quietly, “I give up way too easy, I’m scared of a lot of things… and graceful?” She shook her head, an unbelieving smile flashing across her face. “I’m definitely not graceful. Clumsy, maybe. Slow, maybe. But not graceful… but t-thank you, um, anyway, Pinkie.” Fluttershy quickly looked up at Pinkie, flashed an awkward smile, and looked back to the window. She cleared her throat.

“Fragile is a good word for what I am, and I do mean in a bad way. It’s gotten us all into trouble before, after all...”

Pinkie placed her hooves on Fluttershy’s shoulders and pivoted her around. They were so close at that point that Fluttershy could have stuck out her tongue and touched it to Pinkie’s snout.

“But you’ve also gotten us out of trouble, too!” Pinkie said encouragingly. She was more serious than the normal Pinkie. Fluttershy lost her breath from being so close, feeling Pinkie’s hooves on her shoulders, holding her as if they were about to embrace.

Or, something more intimate that involved their lips. Fluttershy shuddered.

WhatamI…

Pinkie continued, “Remember the manticore? And then there was that time you saved the CMCs from the clockatriceps” — Fluttershy raised a hoof to correct Pinkie, but reasoned against interrupting — “And there was the dragon in the mountain, and the way you handled Iron Will when he was being a big jerk face, and let’s not forget that you stepped up and helped stop that big tornado that one time! I mean, I could go on and on!”

Pinkie caught her breath and slowly let her hooves slide off Fluttershy’s shoulders and rest on the bench just in front of her. Fluttershy felt the heat return to her cheeks. Her heart thumped against her ribcage. She looked at Pinkie’s chest, slowly heaving in and out as the lungs just inside inflated with air. The soft, pink fur looked more inviting than ever before. Fluttershy looked back up into Pinkie’s eyes and smiled warmly.

“T-thank you, Pinkie. I get caught up in the negativity sometimes — well, a lot of the time, to be honest with you.”

Pinkie giggled.

“That’s what friends are for, silly! To pick you up when you’re down!”

The next couple of hours passed quickly for Pinkie and Fluttershy, who partook in conversation about what Vanhoover was going to be like. Eventually Rarity and Twilight woke up and joined in. As the girls saw the skyline of Vanhoover’s tall skyscrapers appear in the distance, Applejack awoke with a snort.

“Wuh — huh? Oh, right, we’re on the train.” She shook her head and looked over at Rainbow, who was still snoring up a storm, her head hanging over the back of the bench and a huge snot bubble shrinking or expanding as she breathed. Applejack lightly jabbed her bench buddy in the ribs.

“Hey, Rainbow Snooze, up and at ‘em! We’re almost there!”

Rainbow awoke with a jolt and flew into the air, eyes wide.

“NO IT’S MY SPITFIRE PLUSHIE, YOU CAN’T HAVE IT!” she shouted. Everypony in the train looked over at her, and Rainbow quickly turned redder than Fluttershy had been at any point over the past week or so. She dropped back down into her seat and cleared her throat, smiling sheepishly.

“Uuuhhhhhh I mean, heh heh — oh hey is that Vanhoover?!” she said, changing the subject and pointing toward the window. The girls all laughed. Applejack threw her hoof around Rainbow’s shoulders.

“What was all that about the Spitfire plushie, hmm?”

Rainbow made a terrible attempt at laughing it off.

“I was just goofin’ to make you guys laugh, that’s all! As if I’d have a dream about something lame like that!”

The train plowed along on its tracks, reaching the Vanhoover station right on time: 12 o’clock.

“Alright, everypony!” Twilight said enthusiastically with a clopping of her hooves, “Let’s get our luggage to the hotel, check in, and then get the day started!”

Everypony hollered in agreement. The poor train attendants were suckered into helping Rarity with her suitcases, since she was awfully persuasive with the opposite sex, and soon the six mares plus a caravan of stallions with suitcases were trudging through the Vanhoover snow to reach the hotel.

All six mares’ heads were on a swivel, taking in as much of the strange city as they could. Vanhoover was much different than what they were used to, being covered in a persistent load of snow that never melted. The skyscrapers of the downtown core were close enough that each mare had to crane her neck to see the top, though there wasn’t much to see but accumulated snow and ice on grey windowsills built into large, concrete structures.

Closer to normal eyelevel, the common buildings of Vanhoover were similar in appearance and style to Manehatten, except, again, they were snowlogged. The streets were neatly plowed, seemingly every few minutes, by odd, fuzzy, white creatures with large, iron plows.

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash cried, her face alive with excitement as she watched a monkey-like behemoth drive a mass of snow down the road with two muscle-bound arms. “What the hay IS that thing?”

Twilight explained matter-of-factly.

“That was a yeti. Vanhoovan legends used to speak about how they were terrifying monsters, but once the Vanhoovans met them and gave them a chance, it turned out they were big fans of eating donut holes, not ponies, and their partnership has lasted ever since!”

Every mare “oooo”d upon hearing the tidbit of knowledge. Vanhoovans were walking up or down the sidewalks, occasionally going inside shops or restaurants, of which there was the usual distribution in a city of Vanhoover’s size (about as big as Manehatten). The grey sky didn’t add much to the city’s charisma, although Twilight and her friends found it quaint given it was a city built on a winter wonderland backdrop.

“So what kinda digs we lookin’ at here, Twi?” asked Applejack. Twilight stopped in her tracks, carefully looking from her magically floating map to the building to everypony’s right, and then back to the map. She had an “a-ha” moment and pointed at the building.

“See for yourself! We’re here!”

The caravan of stallions carrying Rarity’s luggage breathed sighs of relief and one of them said, “Thank Celestia…”

Everypony shuffled forward, making sure to get as much of the snow out of their boots as they could manage before walking into the foyer. Once inside, the mares took turns displaying their pleasure.

“Swankier than a five-star Canterlot hotel!” Applejack cheered. Rarity was less than impressed, letting her hoof brush against a potted fern and giving it a stern glare.

“Hmm, I wouldn’t say that…” She smiled and lightened up. “But nonetheless, you chose well, Twilight, dear.”

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie looked at eachother, ready to burst.

“I’m just wondering one thing — you know what it is, Pinkie?” Rainbow asked. Pinkie bit her lip to contain her excitement.

“I think so, on the count of three… one, two, three—”

“POOOOOOOOL!” both mares shouted, running further into the foyer to investigate. Twilight snickered.

“Yep, there’s a pool, but I guess they’ll find out for themselves. Fluttershy?”

Twilight nudged Fluttershy, who had spaced out.

“Oh, um, yes. It’s… nice.”

The reason for Fluttershy’s odd behavior was a sign sitting on a wooden foldout stand. A stallion and mare were holding hooves together as they skated on an ice rink, a pink and red heart forming the background. The words, “COUPLES SKATING COMPETITION” were written in bold white, with a mass of smaller words just below that Fluttershy couldn’t read from her distance. She generated an image of her and Pinkie skating together in place of the couple on the sign, causing her tail to start waving back and forth.

Maybe we could… I mean, we’re not a couple but… I mean, would Pinkie find it weird? Why does it make me feel so… giddy?

“Earth to Fluttershy!” It was Twilight, waving her hoof in front of Fluttershy’s face. “Woo-who! Fluttershy! You sure you okay?”

Fluttershy was brought back to reality. Her face grew even redder when she realized she had spaced out. She shook her head and her fantasies away.

“Y-yes! I am! Promise! Sorry, I was just… um, thinking about… the pool! Yes! A swim will be nice later, heh heh.”

Twilight smiled.

“Yeah! I agree! So do you actually like the look of the hotel so far?”

Fluttershy took a look around, avoiding getting drawn into the sign again.

The floors were shiny, reflective tile of a tan, floral design. The molding where the walls and floor met was made of a rich, dark brown oak carved into an intricate, flowing pattern. The walls themselves were fine marble, with an inset pillar of oak here and there for artistic effect. Fancy paintings and photographs were spaced out along the walls, which was common at most fine hotels. Looking up, Fluttershy saw the tiled ceiling meet in the middle of the foyer where a huge, gold chandelier bathed light on the ponies below.

Fluttershy lost her breath.

“Wow, this really IS nice!”

She smiled and looked back down. Rarity checked everypony in at the front desk as the tired train attendants debriefed the wary bellhops.

“Good luck,” one of the train attendants grumbled as he passed over the suitcase he had been carrying. Before they all turned to leave, Rarity broke her conversation with the front desk pony and stopped the stallions with a sing-song voice.

“Oh boys! Don’t go just yet, I have a gift for you nice, strong stallions for bringing my luggage here safe and sound.” She pulled out her purse from her saddlebag and deposited some bits in each stallion’s hoof, instantly turning their frowns upside down. They all tipped their train attendant caps and said, “Thank you, ma’am.”

Rarity beamed. Fluttershy and Twilight exchanged a knowing look and smiled. Applejack, off to the side, chuckled and shook her head.

“Still, only Rarity could get a whole slew of ponies to do something like that, heh.”

The bellhops stood expectedly, now with eager expressions and wide, giddy smiles on their faces as they happily snatched up the suitcases and prepared them for transport. Twilight and Fluttershy met up with Applejack, and when Rarity finished and retrieved the room keys, they set off. As expected, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had wound up down a hallway that was on the way to where the girls’ rooms were. They were staring in through a huge window into a room with foal-like, face-consuming grins on their faces.

“IT HAS THE BIGGEST SLIDE I’VE EVER SEEN!” Rainbow cheered. Pinkie was vibrating.

“I KNOW I KNOW! AND IT HAS FIVE SETS OF LADDERS TO GET IN AND OUT OF THE POOL! FIVE, RAINBOW!”

“YEAH, THAT’S — Wait, that’s not that exciting, Pinkie.”

Pinkie chuckled and resumed shouting.

“I KNOW BUT YOU TOOK THE SLIDE PART SO THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE TO GET EXCITED ABOUT! WOOOOO!”

Twilight snickered as the group passed Rainbow and Pinkie. She playfully rolled her eyes.

“Alright you two, we can go swimming later. Let’s get settled in a bit and then head out. I want everypony to meet for an early supper at 4 o’clock, so the sooner we get started on our own activities, the more time we have for them!”

Once they had gathered Pinkie and Rainbow, the gang continued on their way down the hallway. When they reached the end of the hallway, Rarity stopped in the middle of two rooms and retrieved the room keys from her saddlebag. She held them out to the circle of her friends.

“Right, one of the rooms has two king size beds, and the other has one. Since the maximum capacity per room is 4 ponies, two of us will go in one room and the other 4 in the other room. So, with whom are we all bunking up?”

Fluttershy looked straight down at the red carpet floor and awkwardly shuffled on her hooves.

Should I… should I suggest Pinkie and I go—

“Oh, that’s an easy decision!” she heard Pinkie say in a happy-go-lucky tone, “Fluttershy and I will share the room with one bed! We already sleep in the same bed at the cottage, so it just makes sense!”

Fluttershy prepared herself to become more embarrassed, but then realized Pinkie had a point and raised her head.

I guess it ISN’T any weirder than it has been…

She smiled and nodded in the affirmative towards Rarity.

“Right, that’s that, then!” Rarity cheered, “Let’s drop this stuff off and hit the road, ladies!”

L'Amour

Chapter Four – L’Amour

A large, grumpy monkey with snowy fur sat cross-legged and stared at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy over a low wall. A giant protrusion hung down from the centre of his face, like a floppy sausage with a bulbous end. Surrounding him in the enclosure were several other smaller monkeys. Pinkie laughed.

“Look at the size of that schnozz, haha! Wow!”

She blocked her nostrils with her hoof and blew air into her snout. Her nose inflated and expanded so that it matched the large monkey’s inside the enclosure. Fluttershy blinked a few times in surprise and took a step back. Once in awhile Pinkie’s randomness still made her doubt her sanity.

Suddenly, the other monkeys in the enclosure left the large monkey’s side and flocked to the wall closest to Pinkie. They started jumping up and down and hollering, hearts formed in their eyes. Pinkie giggled up a storm, but Fluttershy blushed and waved a hoof to get her attention.

“Ummm, Pinkie wait!”

Pinkie waved her giant nose around and made silly noises, edging the smaller monkeys on. The large monkey got up in the back and roared. He pounded on his chest. Fluttershy grimaced.

“Pinkie! The nose of the snownobo is a… well, it’s a symbol of, ummm, prowess for snownobos.”

Pinkie swung around, her nose swooping in a wide arc and almost hitting Fluttershy in the face.

“Prow-who?” she asked. The monkeys continued their shrieking, and Fluttershy grew even redder.

“A-as in… the males use their big noses to attract the females. Do you understand, umm, what I’m saying?”

Pinkie blinked for a few moments. Then the realization hit her, and for the first time in — well, maybe ever — Pinkie blushed. She smacked her oversized nose and it deflated back to normal size. She shuffled back.

“Oops, s-sorry, snownobos…”

It was enough to calm them all down, but the male snorted in Pinkie’s direction and mumbled something in ape-speech. Fluttershy cleared her throat. Pinkie smiled awkwardly.

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy said, wearing a light smile, “you didn’t know. Let’s go visit another enclosure!”

Though the Vanhoover Zoo called them “enclosures”, the living areas of the animals were more like vaguely walled off spaces meant to organize the Zoo and not so much trap the animals. They weren’t massive, since the Zoo needed enough room for all the different animals, but the animals were given plenty of time to roam about during off-hours, so Fluttershy figured it was a fair deal. After all, she reasoned, the Vanhoover Zoo was the best zoo in Equestria for its care of animals!

Fluttershy and Pinkie walked away from the snownobo enclosure and continued on the path. The shoveled snow pathway led straight on through the zoo, with the different enclosures, at different intervals, positioned either to the left or right. Light fixtures hung over the pathway at certain points, and here and there was a wooden bench for sore pony behinds to take advantage of. The two mares walked side by side on the right, letting the plentiful fellow zoo-goers pass them on the left. A consistent downpour of fluffy flakes constantly reminded them that they were in Vanhoover.

“So, what’s next Flutters?” Pinkie asked with the usual bounce in her… bounce, snow crunching beneath her. Fluttershy reached back with a wing and retrieved a zoo map from her saddlebag. She studied it with a hum.

“Looks like it’ll be the ice bats! Awww, they must be so cute!”

Fluttershy was giddy, and there was a tremble in her gait. Pinkie watched her with an enormous smile on her face.

Just down the pathway, to everypony’s left, was another enclosure. The tan, ice-covered walls only came up to about Fluttershy’s chin. There were no fences around it, and inside was a large, gnarly looking dead tree. On its branches hung dozens of bats with spiky blue fur that covered their bodies and stuck up on their ears. Their leathery flesh was a lighter blue. Fluttershy made a noise that was a combination of an “aww” and a laugh.

“Lookit those widdle fellas! Oh, I could just pinch their widdle cheeks…” she trailed off and made a hoof pinching motion in the air. Pinkie giggled.

All the bats but one were asleep. The lone straggler was a baby bat, standing up on a branch and blinking over at Fluttershy. Her face lit up as the baby bat took to the air with a graceless flap of its wings and soared over.

“He’s coming over here, Pinkie!” she cried, lightly shoving Pinkie with her wing. “This is amazing! An icebat awake during the day!” The baby bat landed on the separating wall right in front of Fluttershy and stared up at her with big, googly baby eyes of deep, dark sapphire. He made high-pitched chirping noises.

“Hey baby boy!” Fluttershy praised, running her gentle hoof over the bat’s head. He closed his eyes as she petted him. Pinkie got close and leaned down to look at the bat at eyelevel.

“Aww, he really is a cutie! Hey little ice bat!” she said, booping his bat nose. The baby bat, however, recoiled, and made a bat hissing noise. He stuck out his tongue and flew back to the tree. Pinkie muffled her laugh behind a hoof.

“Guess he didn’t like the baby talk!”

Fluttershy chuckled as well.

“Guess not.”

And so, the zoo trip continued. Time seemed to stand still as Fluttershy and Pinkie made the rounds throughout the zoo, Fluttershy being the animal favorite no matter where she went, and Pinkie occasionally riling up a few other of the critters with her Pinkie shenanigans. More often than not, though, she made the animals, and the other zoo-goers, double over with laughter. Fluttershy found herself laughing more than usual.

By the time both mares had visited every enclosure, and hunger started to set in, Fluttershy glanced up at a clock on a pole and noticed how late it was. Her ears perked up with a jolt.

“Oh! We need to get going so we don’t miss supper with the girls.”

Pinkie nodded.

“Mhm! I’m so hungry I could eat a rhicenocerous — no, two rhicenocerouses! Or is it rhicenoceri?”

Because Fluttershy and Pinkie were in Vanhoover, the vague light above the permanently-grey snow clouds was dissipating, even though it was only 3:30 in the afternoon. The early northern night was fast approaching. Streetlamps and windows of buildings became illuminated as the mares left the Vanhoover Zoo and got back onto the streets of the city proper.

On their way to the restaurant that everypony had agreed to meet at for 4 o clock, Fluttershy and Pinkie approached a walking couple. They were hoof in hoof as they slowly made their way down the lamp-lit, snow kissed sidewalk. They both wore fine, felt overcoats, and they giggled in the way only new lovers could.

“That couples skating competition is going to be the HIGHLIGHT of our romantic getaway, honeybuns,” Fluttershy overheard the stallion say as her and Pinkie passed the couple. Fluttershy stopped and looked over her shoulder at the enamored twosome.

The mare snickered and brought in her snout to touch her coltfriend’s.

“Just as long as you don’t bring ALL four of your left hooves onto the ice, darling,” she replied. The couple laughed in unison and continued on their way. Fluttershy quietly sighed.

“Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked, having stopped as well. Fluttershy ignored her momentarily, staring at the orange-grey glow of the illuminated white sidewalk, the fluffy flakes of snow from the sky still coming down around her.

Must be nice to have a special somepony like that to enter skating competitions with…

Fluttershy stared longingly at the couple walking away and frowned.

I bet she feels like the luckiest mare in the world. Warm and fuzzy…

“Fluttershyyy—”

The called-for mare blinked. Something felt heavy on her back. Her shoulders wobbled with strain. Fluttershy realized what was happening and her face burned red-hot.

“P-Pinkie, what are you doing?!” she cried.

Pinkie embraced Fluttershy in a backhug, her head parallel to Fluttershy’s. Pinkie squeezed.

“Juuuust thought I’d bring you back down to Equestria in a Pinkie Pie-certified way!”

She squeezed again and burst out rapidly.

“WithABigWarmHug!”

Fluttershy couldn’t deny that the hug was toasty warm, and definitely not unwanted, but her back cried in agony. She groaned.

“Uhhh, P-Pinkie, I’m gonna…”

Pinkie yelped and quickly jumped off. She walked around to Fluttershy’s front, worried that she had gone too far. Fluttershy was lightly panting before switching to an embarrassed smile.

“I’m so, so sorry, Fluttershy!” Pinkie apologized, “I didn’t mean to hurt you! Was that too much? Did I overdo it? Usually when I do that it’s to a yak, so…”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“N-no, it’s okay. I’m okay. You just caught me off guard, that’s all.”

She looked up and smiled at Pinkie, cheeks rosy and eyes twinkling.

Pinkie found herself lost for words for a moment. The streetlamp above bathed Fluttershy in a perfect wave of light. Pinkie had never seen Fluttershy’s cyan irises sparkle like that before.

“Wellll,” Pinkie began, clearing her throat briefly, “You’ve been spacing out an AWFUL lot lately, and it’s starting to worry me!” She thrust her hoof out and gingerly laid it lengthwise across Fluttershy’s forehead. “Are you coming down with the pony flu?”

“N-no—” was all Fluttershy could utter before Pinkie got closer, lowered her head, and pressed her ear against Fluttershy’s chest.

“Are you sure?” Pinkie asked as if thrusting your head against your friend’s chest was just a normal thing to do. Fluttershy looked around frantically and forced a smile at passersby, who gave the twosome an odd glance.

“P-Pinkie Pie, I’m f-fine… promise! I’ll even Pinkie Promise!”

Pinkie got back up and narrowed her eyes at Fluttershy. She gave Fluttershy the “I don’t believe you” look. Fluttershy could only smile, wide and false. Her tail was flapping back and forth like a feather duster.

“Tell me,” Pinkie said, quietly. Fluttershy shook her head.

“There’s nothing to tell…”

“Tell me!” Pinkie said more urgently, getting a step closer.

“Pinkie, I promise…”

“TELL ME!” Pinkie pressed her snout right into Fluttershy’s and the latter mare sat onto her rump. Pinkie followed her all the way down, keeping her inquisitorial snout right on target.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and tightened all the muscles in her body. She blurted out a bunch of words that her mind forced out.

“It’s just that there’s this skating competition going on tomorrow and I really want to go but I have nopony to go with!”

Pinkie leaned back and became normal (relatively speaking) again. She cocked her head with a light chortle.

“That was it? Why would that make you all” — Pinkie parodied Fluttershy’s spaced out look by turning her eyes complete white and dropping her mouth into an “o”, then she spoke again with a smile — “You can enter the competition with me, silly! Did you forget that I LOVE skating?!”

Fluttershy rubbed her left hoof with her right and stared at the snow around her hooves.

“O-oh, b-but this skating competition is only… ahem… for couples…”

Pinkie cocked her head the other way.

“It’s only for who now?”

Fluttershy cleared her throat and looked in a different direction, away from Pinkie. She spoke a little louder.

“I said it’s only for couples.”

“For cantaloupes?” Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy giggled and shook her head.

“No, Pinkie Pie. I said for… couples.”

Upon saying the last word, Fluttershy did a 180 spin and sucked in her lips. Her face burned. She stared at the snow with a blank expression. She heard Pinkie reply behind her, and at that moment her heart took to the stars.

“But isn’t that what we are, Fluttershy?”

The pegasus mare felt her pupils grow large and her hooves become like noodles.

M-me and Pinkie… a couple?!

Her lips quivered and she looked up to the dark grey sky, blinking away the falling snow. A smile creeped onto her face.

What is she…

Pinkie threw her hoof around Fluttershy’s neck and hugged her tight.

“A couple of besties, you and me! We’d make those other ponies so jealous of us on the ice! I bet none of them have the kind of friendship you and I have!”

Despite all the warmth that Pinkie’s embrace would normally create, Fluttershy started to feel cold and clammy. The sky above crumbled before her eyes and crashed down like broken glass shards. Fluttershy instantly felt like a fool, like she had failed the flying test at pegasus academy all over again.

She meant — I mean, of course she meant —

Fluttershy was choked. She couldn’t respond to Pinkie even if she wanted to. She simply stood in the cold chill of the Vanhoover early night, her friend’s hoof tight around her neck, and wallowed in her ridiculous thoughts. Her silly little brain matter droppings. Fluttershy closed her eyes.

“Right… we’re friends. That’s right.”

She escaped Pinkie’s grasp and shuffled forward on the sidewalk. Pinkie zipped up next to her and kept pace, walking instead of doing the usual Pinkie Bounce, keeping a watchful eye on Fluttershy’s mopey form.

“Did uhhh,” Pinkie asked with a scratch of her cheek, “Did I say something wrong? Was my hug too tight? Oh — was it the jumping on your back thing?! I’m super, duper, triple sorry, Fluttershy! Honest!”

Fluttershy sighed long and deep. She turned to Pinkie with a weak smile as the two closed in on the restaurant.

“It’s… fine. I just figured, we shouldn’t join that skating competition after all. I bet there are more fun things we can do tomorrow instead. I mean, we could just skate back at Ponyville anytime we want. We’re only in Vanhoover for another full day.”

A yeti marched down the street next to them, plowing through any and all snow piles in his way. Pinkie frowned.

“But — you said before that” — Pinkie held in her breath until her face turned purple, then she burst out — “BAH! FLUTTERSHY!” Fluttershy stopped in surprise. She looked into Pinkie’s eyes with vibrating pupils. Pinkie continued, slower and cheerful.

“Listen, I know what you’re like. You thought I didn’t sound interested in the skating competition, but I want to make it 100% clear that I 200% want to join the competition with you AND I 500% will not take no for an answer!”

Fluttershy searched Pinkie’s ocean irises for a hint of doubt, even a speck of uncertainty, but all she saw were her best friend’s mirthful, jewel-like eyes and a bubbly smile. Fluttershy relented, and with a sigh and a small smile she nodded.

“O-okay, Pinkie. Have it your way.”

Pinkie jumped into the air and clicked her hooves together.

“WEEEE! I’m so excited! I mean, you and me, in a skating competition together! Ooo, ooo — how do we join, how do we join?” Her tail wagged like a giddy dog’s, as did her tongue flopped outside of her mouth, and Fluttershy was confident for a moment that Pinkie was going to lick her. Fluttershy cleared her throat apprehensively.

“I only read the sign at the hotel for a second when we were leaving earlier, but I think it said we could sign up for the competition at the Horseton Stadium tomorrow before noon.”

Pinkie squealed and trotted in placed.

“Allllllright! This is gonna be THE BEST!”

Fluttershy saw something in the corner of her eye and stopped to turn around. She looked at two elegant double doors and her ears flicked up.

“Oh, we’re here, Pinkie! The Tasty Morsel — see, it says it above the door!” Fluttershy said pointing up. Pinkie licked her lips and ran through the doors.

“Thank Celestia, I’m starving!” she quickly said before barreling through. Fluttershy walked in after her.

The Tasty Morsel was a restaurant with an aesthetic that matched the hotel Fluttershy and the others were staying at. It had fine, dark oak walls, wall hangings and paintings, and the occasional marble statue of one famous pony or another. Fluttershy spent most of her time looking at the maroon carpet in front of her, unconsciously following Pinkie’s hopping shape. Too many daring thoughts battered the defences in her brain. Eventually, she had to resume manual control of herself to look up and greet her friends at the reserved table.

“You guys made it!” Twilight said. Fluttershy noticed a grey ribbon with a faux gold medallion on Twilight’s chest that read, “I survived the Sigilstone of Polaris Tour!”. Twilight caught Fluttershy looking and pointed to the ribbon with a wide smirk. “You like it, Fluttershy? Can you believe that they had over 100 of these still left for sale?!”

Rainbow Dash fought back a huge laugh (badly) and chuckled as she replied, “Oh I can believe it, Twi, hehe.” Twilight squinted at Rainbow and the other mares laughed. Fluttershy and Pinkie took their seats as Rarity, who of course was wearing the shiniest emerald dress known to ponykind, told of her own day’s exploits.

“… and then I met this stunning mare at The Heflock Bay Company — that’s this practically ancient clothing boutique at the corner of Main Street and Snowbank Avenue — and she showed me this exquisite wool jacket.” Fluttershy shifted her weight around to get comfortable on the cushioned, wooden dining chair under her rump while Rarity continued.

“Now, you’d never see such a thing in Canterlot — a wool jacket, mind you — not in a million years. I just don’t think Canterlot’s upper crust would ever accept something of that mode. But the stitching — and the pleats! Girls, the pleats!” Rarity sighed and slumped down in her chair. “It was magical. What a day!”

Rainbow yawned and smacked her lips.

“Yeah yeah, Rarity, that’s pretty exciting. We’re all at the edges of our seats,” she sat up straight and her face lit up. “But you girls want to hear about a REALLY exciting day?”

Fluttershy tuned out her friends. She looked at her fork and knife and the porcelain plate in front of her, a floral pattern inlaid into its rim. The light from the restaurant chandeliers bounced off the silver of her knife and showed a distorted image of a pink pony. Fluttershy watched as the form moved about.

Pinkie Pie… Fluttershy thought, completely lost to the world around her. Her eyes truly felt like they were about to leap out of her skull. An unbelievable realization crept into the core of her brain.

Do I have a crush on Pinkie Pie?

Fluttershy unconsciously rubbed her hooves along the tops of her thighs. Her wings were ever-so-slightly wriggling behind her against the chair. Her throat felt dry and cracked.

It can’t be. It’s impossible… we’ve been friends for so long. We’re friends!

But the very thought of Pinkie Pie, and the idea of just being friends, created a throbbing longing in the pit of Fluttershy’s chest. She slowly brought a hoof up to where her heart was and it jittered against the pounding flesh beneath.

Then… why do I feel like this?

Fluttershy ventured a glance upwards. Pinkie Pie was staring right at her, and Fluttershy instantly looked away with hot cheeks. In that moment she had noticed the other mares looking at her, so she looked at Applejack, seated across from Fluttershy, and returned to reality.

“Fluttershy?” the cowpony asked with a smile, “Y’all ready to order or do ya need a minute?” Fluttershy looked from face to face to confirm that she was the centre of attention. She realized a waiter with a neutral expression was standing beside her, a pad of paper and a pen flowing to his left with a magical glow from his horn.

“S-sorry everypony!” Fluttershy stammered, “I’m fine! I’m ready! I’ll j-just have the soup du jour, p-please!”

The waiter nodded, scribbled on the pad, and turned in a flash. Fluttershy let out a huge sigh and held her beating chest once more. Twilight sat beside Fluttershy and she reached out a hoof and laid it on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“You know, if you really don’t feel good, Fluttershy, you can tell us. Are you worried that we’ll have to cancel the rest of the trip because you’re sick?”

Rarity inadvertently whined.

“Awww but there’s a fashion show” — Rarity caught Twilight’s disapproving look and changed her tune with a smile — “I m-mean, Fluttershy, darling, nothing is more important than your health!” Rarity narrowed her eyes at Fluttershy for a few seconds as if she were studying some artistic sculpture. Fluttershy felt her blush throb and she shot Rarity a defensive stare.

“W-what is it?” Fluttershy questioned. Rarity did a closed eye smile and hummed with satisfaction.

“Actually, girls,” she said, “I think I know just how to help our Fluttershy. Can you come help me to the bathroom, dear?” She winked at Fluttershy, who looked around as if the spotlight was shining directly on her. She wished she could shrink into an ant and scurry away.

“M-me?” she stuttered. Rarity mumbled a peppy “Mhm!” and hopped off her chair, pushing it in before she started walking away. Fluttershy gulped and followed suit. She stared blankly at Rarity’s swishing violet tail all the way into the mare’s bathroom. Once inside, Rarity spoke to the attendant and asked for a moment of privacy, which was accepted.

“Now, Fluttershy,” Rarity turned back to her friend with a knowing grin. “It’s time to spill the beans. I know those kinds of rosy cheeks anywhere. And you’ve been ever so strange the last few days.” Rarity quickly flicked up her eyebrows a few times with a giggle. “It’s l’amour, isn’t it, darling?”

Fluttershy sat on her rump and rested her hooves on her cheeks. Indeed, they did feel hot. Fluttershy looked from right to left in a tizzy.

“L-love? No… no, t-that’s not it Rarity… that’s just not possible…”

Rarity briefly reared, wagged her forehooves, and whinnied.

“It is, isn’t it Fluttershy — oh this is the cutest thing ever! You have a crush! Don’t deny it, my dear, I KNOW the look!”

She sat down beside Fluttershy and wrapped a gentle hoof around her.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Fluttershy, honest. You think this old lady hasn’t felt the twang of Cupid’s arrow before, hmm?” Fluttershy shot her a sideways glance.

“…we’re the same age, Rarity.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and her tongue stuck out between her teeth.

“Oh, enough already! Tell me who the stallion is!”

Fluttershy slowly shook her head and nibbled her lower lip. Her ears lay flat against her mane.

“Ummm…” was all she could muster. Rarity squinted.

“Is it NOT a stallion, then?”

Fluttershy’s body jolted. She quickly turned her head so Rarity could only see the back of her mane, but Rarity already had her answer. She giggled.

“Fluttershy, there’s nothing wrong with you liking another mare! Just tell me who it is and I can help you!”

Fluttershy quietly replied.

“N-no.”

Rarity pressed on.

“Pleaseee, Fluttershy? I won’t tell a soul — I swear!”

“N-no thanks.”

“Fluttershy, you really should just tell me!”

“Nope.” Fluttershy crossed her hooves and pouted, still turned away from Rarity. Rarity came around to Fluttershy’s front and pleaded.

“Darling, friends tell each other these things! You’re killing me — I must know!”

Fluttershy turned to the other direction.

“Sorry Rarity, but I absolutely, positively, definitely can’t tell you who it is!”

Rarity stewed for the briefest of moments, so eager to hear some new gossip — and from one of her best friends to boot — but it was quickly replaced by sympathy. She brushed against Fluttershy and nudged her to her hooves.

“Okay okay, I won’t press the issue. And I won’t tell anypony about your crush. But please at least listen to my advice, won’t you?”

Fluttershy slowly rose to her hooves and sighed. She forced a smile and looked at Rarity, finally nodding to give Rarity the go-ahead to continue. Rarity closed her eyes and raised her hoof.

“First,” she advised, “You need to find out if this pony has the same feelings for you that you have for her. If she does, then you can tell her how you feel, knowing that it’s mutual.”

Fluttershy frowned and looked away.

“W-what if she doesn’t feel the same way, Rarity?”

Rarity tilted Fluttershy’s head back up to eye level with a caring brush of her hoof. She smiled wide at Fluttershy.

“You never know until you tell her how you feel. That’s the trick: you have to tell her no matter what. If you let the truth stay inside you without it ever coming out, you’ll be stuck with the regret forever. Trust me, Fluttershy.”

A mare entered the bathroom, and upon seeing the close proximity of Fluttershy and Rarity, backed out slowly with wide eyes. Rarity cleared her throat and chuckled.

“Heh, we should probably get back before everypony gets the wrong idea.”

Rarity turned to leave, but Fluttershy reached out with her wing and stopped her.

“W-wait!” she near-shouted. Rarity turned back, bewildered. Fluttershy turned away again with flushed cheeks.

“A-are you sure I have feelings… like that. I mean, how can you be sure? I can’t even figure it out myself…”

Rarity smiled with a hum and spoke.

“Look at me and think of her.”

Fluttershy did as asked. Though she stared at Rarity’s face, her mind created images of Pinkie Pie instead. She remembered the scrunch of Pinkie’s snout from the night of the blizzard, and the gleam in her pearly white smile as the fire danced on its reflective surface. The warm embrace of Pinkie, the bounce she felt in her heart when Pinkie laughed. It was as if the very feeling lifted Fluttershy off the ground.

Rarity studied Fluttershy’s expression and replied with a happy titter.

“That’s DEFINITELY l’amour!”

What Happened at the Ice Rink

Chapter Six – What Happened at the Ice Rink

Fluttershy stood in front of the tall concrete walls of Horseton Stadium, Pinkie Pie at her side. Both mares had bellies full of complimentary breakfast foods. Snow billowed down around them.

Ponies came and went up or down the stairs to the stadium doors. Pinkie and Fluttershy had heavy saddlebags upon their flanks. They each wore a thick wool hat, a white stripped scarf, a winter jacket, and warm, furry boots, with Fluttershy’s garments being green and Pinkie’s blue to differentiate the two.

“Quite the showing, huh?” Pinkie asked, bouncing in place. “Are you as EXCITED as I am?”

“I’m” — Fluttershy gulped and hid behind her wings — “Something. Definitely something.”

Fluttershy wondered if she hadn’t made a gargantuan mistake in bringing up the skating competition in the first place. What did Fluttershy see in the competition? Her and Pinkie had never skated before as a pair. They’d probably lose in the first round.

Fluttershy shuffled in place for a moment before bracing herself to ascend the stairs, which she did so with a huff.

“Okay! Let’s go, Pinkie!”

Pinkie cheered, “WooHoo!” and bounced up after Fluttershy.

Once she was through the stadium doors, Fluttershy’s heart jumped up into her throat and she became speechless. Her jaw unhinged itself.

There were hundreds of ponies inside, mostly Vanhoovans (if their appearance was anything to go by) who had come to watch the competition, but also out-of-towners who were in line to sign up. The stadium lobby was a sea of furry equines dressed in winter attire. Fluttershy couldn’t even hear her own thoughts amid the flurry of noisy chatter. She hid behind her wings again.

“O-oh no… Pinkie, this is so much pressure I’m just… I could just… ohhhhhh!”

Pinkie giggled and slapped her friend on the shoulder.

“Hey! Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy! It’s just a huge crowd of potentially hundreds of ponies, all of whom are competing against us in the skating competition which we haven’t even practiced for!” Pinkie chortled. “That’s nothing to worry about!”

Fluttershy awkwardly forced a laugh and smile as a reply before turning back toward the crowd and contorting her face into an expression of pure terror.

The daring duo of Ponyville mares found what they assumed was the back of the line and trotted into place. The line moved quickly, so that after a few minutes they were standing in front of the desk to sign up. It was supposed to be a simple affair, though Fluttershy found herself shuffling in place with a red face, glancing between Pinkie and the mare working behind the desk.

Fluttershy ignored the stadium mare behind the desk and instead smiled in response to all questions as a hot streak overtook her cheeks. Pinkie beamed and looked through the inner lobby windows toward the centre of the stadium where the rink was.

Fluttershy followed Pinkie’s gaze. The stadium’s inner rink was much larger than anything she had ever laid eyes on before. Fluttershy’s tummy vibrated with nervousness. The staff member cleared her throat so that Fluttershy was brought back to the moment.

“Hello!? Are you listenin’, eh?” the stadium mare asked with clear annoyance. She was an older mare. Fluttershy’s cheeks lit up as the stadium mare continued. “Do ya consent to the agreement as I read it to yoose so we can process yoose and get tha line moving er what?”

Fluttershy made an “Mhm…” noise and shuffled in place. Pinkie was primed to burst from excitement, so that the grumpy stadium mare looked over with a deadpan expression.

“And how’s about you, Sunshine?” the employee said in a Vanhoover drone. “You agree, too?”

Pinkie nodded rapidly with a much more chipper ‘Mhm!” than Fluttershy. The employee frowned and wrote something down with her magically controlled feather pen. She grumbled, turned around, grabbed some bibs, and slid them across to the mares.

“Right. Put these here bibs on, go through the doors to the rink, and keep on goin’ ‘til you reach the waiting area. You won’t miss it, yeah?”

The girls had to politely shove past the mass of ponies in the lobby, but eventually they pushed the doors open and walked straight ahead, moving alongside the outside boards of the rink. Being inside the stadium proper, Fluttershy was glad her and Pinkie had dressed so warmly, because even with the winter wear, the ice rink was a chilly place.

The rink itself seemed to go on forever, in the sense that ponies skating at the other end furthest from Fluttershy seemed like little fillies and colts because they were so far away. Fluttershy looked up and around. The domed ceiling was supported by a series of grey support beams that criss-crossed in all directions. Looking further down and all around, Fluttershy saw rows upon rows of stands quickly filling with onlookers.

“Ooo, ooo, there’s the girls, Fluttershy!” Pinkie shouted with an excited pointing of her hoof. Fluttershy looked and saw the four of her friends in the distance, halfway up the stands, watching with smiling faces. Fluttershy nervously waved and smiled a wavy grin.

Pinkie squeezed Fluttershy in an excited hug and squealed.

“This is SO cool!”

Fluttershy giggled.

“Y-yeah, l-literally.”

She shivered and Pinkie giggled as well and nodded.

Fluttershy stared at Pinkie. Really stared hard. She studied Pinkie’s chubby cheeks of pink and her piercing ocean irises vibrating with joy. She took in the bounce of Pinkie’s curly mane. She realized that Pinkie’s beauty wasn’t the kind of beauty that Rarity had, the classic sort. And Pinkie didn’t have the kind of charm that Applejack carried, rustic and traditional.

But what Pinkie had was… well, Pinkie. She was unique. One of a kind. Fluttershy had never known anypony quite like her. Pinkie’s own brand of self was mesmerizing. From the day they had met, Fluttershy was always attracted to Pinkie’s confidence and craziness.

Fluttershy just never realized it would be that kind of attraction…

The two mares found the employee’s words were true after a minute or so of walking. They came across an open area to the right of the skating rink. It was carved into the stadium seating, so that the back of the waiting area was surrounded by tall, concrete walls.

Pinkie and Fluttershy found some free spots on the waiting benches and made themselves comfortable. The couples around them were all quite different, with some being lovey dovey with each other, some being very serious and discussing their routines, and others not saying much. It looked like, on the ice, some couples were practicing.

“Hey!” Pinkie asked, drawing Fluttershy’s gaze, “Why don’t we get some ice time in before the competition? Everypony else seems to be doing the same!”

Fluttershy thought she had a point and shuffled her saddlebags off.

“Okay,” she answered quietly. “It’s probably for the best. We don’t exactly have a plan, do we?”

Pinkie snickered and did the same with her own saddlebags. Both mares got into their skates.

“Nope!” Pinkie replied, “The only plan is to have fun, right?”

That drew Fluttershy’s neutral lips into a crescent of a smile, straight from the heart. She nodded in perfect agreement.

With their skates on, both mares wobbled over to the open rink door and tentatively stepped on the ice. Once their bearings were about them and they found their balance, they began treading the ice with more comfort.

Fluttershy watched Pinkie figure eight and perform spinning leaps into the air, humming all the while. Fluttershy wondered what she might do for practice beside just skating around. The rink was so vast, even with all the practicing couples, and there was more than enough space on the ice.

Fluttershy hung her head and stared at her skates. The lack of friction between her blades and the ice meant that even if she wanted to stand perfectly still, Fluttershy was always edging forward little by little.

I’m not as good as Pinkie at all of this stuff… jumping, spinning, figure eights. She frowned and screwed the end of her lips into a sort of scowl. Her brow tightened. But just skating — I’m not scared of that. Yeah!

Fluttershy looked back up. She gave herself a burst forward with her wings and kicked her hooves in perfect timing. She skated, faster than she normally would on Saddle Lake. There was just so much open space on the Horseton Stadium rink.

She truly felt like she was flying. Fluttershy was never a very strong flyer, but having solid ground under her hooves filled her with confidence. She glid across the ice, faster and faster with each passing second, and she neither fell nor collided with anypony.

It was so seamless. So natural. If she approached somepony, Fluttershy swerved past. If somepony skated into a direction that she was headed, Fluttershy anticipated it and altered her course. As she reached a speed that the normal Fluttershy would have cried at even thinking about, the new, daredevil Fluttershy grinned wildly and narrowed her eyes.

This is… wow!

The feeling of freedom was intoxicating! Fluttershy couldn’t believe it. She was really doing it! She was skating as fast as Rainbow Dash and Applejack did the other day. She cheered as she zoomed past the slower ponies.

“WOOHOO! THIS IS GREAT!”

She deftly passed an older stallion and jumped right over a mare even smaller than herself. She landed with a graceful clink of the ice below, slowing the fall with a flap of her wings, and maintaining her previous skating speed post-descent. Her smile never faltered for a minute. Pinkie’s surprised voice came from Fluttershy’s left.

“Holy moly, Fluttershy! Look at you go!” Pinkie was neck and neck with Fluttershy, and the pink party mare had an even larger open-mouth grin than Fluttershy in her euphoric state. Pinkie made a suggestion.

“Hey, I wanna try something! In like ten seconds, lean and jump towards me okay?! Jump high! And hold your hooves in front of and behind you, like you’re flying! Open your wings, too!”

Fluttershy, as confident as ever, nodded with determination. She didn’t question Pinkie’s suggestion for even a half second. She narrowed her eyes again and counted inside her mind, maintaining her insane speed. After reaching ten, Fluttershy swerved towards Pinkie and leapt into the air. She held out her hooves as if she were flying, and even unfurled her fluffy pegasus wings.

And then…

Fluttershy never went back down. Instead, she felt two strong hooves grip the sides of her midsection.

Pinkie.

In the heat of the moment, Fluttershy didn’t even blush or become self conscious. She just beamed and laughed.

“This is amazing, Pinkie! How’d you manage?!”

She heard her friend’s strained response.

“I… kicked my skates off… and just stood up! Pretty cool… h-huh? This should… be our t-trick!”

Fluttershy closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of flying without having to flap her wings. Pinkie must have been so strong to hold her up like that. The speed of Pinkie’s skating forced the air to rush through Fluttershy’s flowing pink mane and blow it behind her. As soon as the intimate skating display had occurred, though, it was over.

Fluttershy felt her body lower as Pinkie dropped her. Acting quick, Fluttershy braced for impact with her skated hooves and continued skating after falling. She looked back at Pinkie, who was flat out on her belly.

“Pinkie! Oh no, are you okay?”

That knocked Fluttershy out of it. She doubled back, head swimming with regret. She nudged Pinkie with her head. Pinkie didn’t move, her huge mane hiding her face. Fluttershy got onto her knees.

“PINKIE!” Fluttershy said, louder.

A giggle escaped from underneath the mane. Pinkie raised her head, biting her bottom lip.

“Gotcha.”

Fluttershy contorted her worried frown into an uneasy smile. She couldn’t help that it grew wider and wider as she noticed how pretty Pinkie’s “messy mane” look truly was. Clumps of cotton candy ‘fro stuck up at odd angles, and some of Pinkie’s hair hung in front of her face in blades of pink. It looked… wild. In a different way than Fluttershy had seen out of her friend before.

Both mares laughed as the other couples swerved around them on the ice.

“Not the best ending,” Fluttershy said, full of mirth, “Can we really do that for the competition? It probably won’t get us through the elimination round.”

Pinkie let Fluttershy help her up with a lift from the pegasus’s wing and she shrugged.

“Ehhh, maybe not. But it looks cool, it’s fun, annnnnd I think if nothing else, it’ll make ponies laugh! And isn’t that the best!?”

Fluttershy smiled with closed eyes and nodded. When she opened her eyes, Pinkie was looking confused and raising and lowering her front hooves off the ice as if they were in pain.

“C-cold…” she stuttered. “I gotta go find the skates I ditched!”

Pinkie and Fluttershy worked together to scour the rink for the missing skates. It didn’t take long, and avoiding the other skaters was some much-needed extra practice. Once Pinkie had her chilled hooves back inside her skates, the two heard a stadium horn blow and knew it was time for the elimination round to begin.

“We better get back to the waiting area!” Pinkie cried. Fluttershy nodded with a smile.

Once they were off the ice and had found some free spots among all the other couples waiting to go, the voice of a bored announcer resounded throughout the stadium.

“Right. Let’s get the show on the road, folks. First couple, bib number 1, please make your way onto the ice, eh.”

Pinkie was bouncing in place and gripping Fluttershy’s thigh as the two sat on the bench. Fluttershy’s heartbeat fast like a vibrating generator. She watched the first couple get up and nervously make their way onto the ice while the crowds in the stands clapped their hooves.

At first, Fluttershy was content to passively watch the skating couples as they came and went, not thinking too much about the situation. But eventually, as she realized the announcer was counting down closer and closer to her and Pinkie’s number 78, the realization that she was set to perform a not-even-practiced routine with her new crush in front of hundreds of ponies smashed into her like a freight train.

After that, the hyperventilating was a foregone conclusion.

“Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked, worried. Fluttershy’s eyes were wide with fear. Her wings vibrated while she shook her head.

“Oh dear, oh no…” Fluttershy said, out of breath, “Big mistake, this was a very big mistake, Pinkie. Very big. Oh no.” She wrapped her wings around her head and shivered. Pinkie nudged into her.

“Hey! It’ll be okay! We just gotta get on there and have fun, remember? Who cares if we win or lose!” Pinkie rubbed a hoof along Fluttershy’s back, and it helped the pegasus mare somewhat, but only until she heard the announcer call number 78.

The five or so minutes after that became a blur of sounds and moving colors. Fluttershy found that her shaking hooves were pulled up by a pink form that gingerly led her to the ice rink entrance. Soon enough, she saw the bluish-white of the ice rink under her skates. She felt her wings return to life.

Then, slowly, colors and shapes merged into coherent form. The noise of the stadium, filled with pony onlookers, returned. Fluttershy remembered that she was alive and breathing and felt her heart crash around in her ripcage as if it might burst out. She turned, frantic, to her smiling Pinkie Pie.

“I CAN’T DO THIS!” Fluttershy shouted in a panic.

But Pinkie just smiled and stared at her. It was those ocean blue eyes again. Wide and full of happiness and joy. Energy just seemed to pour out. Fluttershy felt as if Pinkie was filling her with confidence and can-do attitude.

“Yes, you can.”

Pinkie’s eyebrows tightened downward and she became determined.

“Who’s the pony that pulled all of that confidence out of nowhere when we were practicing before? That was you, Fluttershy! I’ve never seen you skate like that before — that was ALL you!” Fluttershy found it impossible to not smile, her tight, hot cheeks rosy and shiny. Pinkie continued, “Now, let’s show these Vanhoovans what a couple of Ponyville mares can do… what two best friends can do!”

Pinkie smiled wide again and nodded at Fluttershy. The shell around Fluttershy finally cracked completely. Pinkie turned to start skating.

“Come on! We got this! Just feel it out!”

Fluttershy forced a huge lump in her throat down and stared at the swirling mass of ice underneath her. Only, it wasn’t swirling; her head was. So many emotions and feelings played tug of war inside her nervous skull. She dared not look up where the noise of the crowd emanated. She closed her eyes and breathed out.

“Just… feel it out, Fluttershy. Just feel it out!”

Fluttershy ended on a loud note and her eyelids flew open. She gave herself a start with a gust of backwind from her wings, then skated around the edge of the ice rink in earnest.

Fluttershy fixed her gaze on the space just in front of her. She didn’t think of the crowd or the competition or the trip to Vanhoover or the animal critters back home waiting for her or about anything. She thought about skating, and she thought about flying up into Pinkie’s hooves like it was the perfect spot for her.

Like she didn’t want to be anywhere else.

And then, there she was. Fluttershy leapt into the air to her left. She didn’t look, she didn’t worry. She stretched out her hooves and opened her wings as if she would fly. And… she did.

Once again the strong, trustworthy grip held her tight around her midsection. Fluttershy’s mile-a-minute heartbeat threatened to break right out of her chest. She watched the ice in front of her and Pinkie stretch on and on as Pinkie swerved around and approached the middle of the icerink. The crowd lost it.

And Fluttershy, amazingly, felt a beam of pride and joy take over her face.

“This is amazing!” she roared with happiness. She closed her eyes and thrust her hooves higher up, letting her wings open just a bit more. She laughed with mirth and abandon.

Until she heard Pinkie’s strained groan.

“T-that’s great, Fluttershy…” Pinkie managed, “B-but can you dismount, please?”

Fluttershy blushed. Very quickly she flapped her wings and flew out of Pinkie’s grip. She landed delicately on the ice and did a flourish with her wings without even realizing it, making it look rehearsed. She turned and saw Pinkie stumble around on her two backhooves, her forehooves being skateless due to the trick. Then, Pinkie found her balance and threw her forehooves up toward the ceiling and smiled at the crowd. She spun around.

“Wow!” Fluttershy heard the once-bored announcer on the intercom, “That one didn’t totally suck, everypony! It was actually great, eh!?

Once Pinkie retrieved her skates from the rink, the two mares got off to some minor admiration from their fellow competitors. The couple from the day before, that Fluttershy had seen and been jealous of, approached her and Pinkie as they took their seats on the bench again.

“You two were great!” the mare said, eyes aglow with sparkles.

“Totally!” the stallion exclaimed. “It’s like way too obvious you’ve got a connection!”

Fluttershy turned towards Pinkie, who stared back with warm cheeks and an even warmer smile. Fluttershy was burning up. She quietly gave her response to the couple.

“Y-you really think so?”

The couple looked at eachother and then back to Fluttershy.

“Absolutely!” they cried in unison. Fluttershy’s mouth became a squiggly line of bashfulness – meanwhile, Pinkie wrapped her hoof around Fluttershy and smiled back at the couple.

“Of course it’s obvious, because Fluttershy and I are the best of chums!”

Pinkie giggled. Fluttershy’s and the couples’ smiles disappeared.

“Chums?” the stallion asked.

The awkward (to everyone but Pinkie) scenario was cut short once a voice over the loudspeaker clicked on.

“Hey there everypony, uhhh, I got the results of the knockout round to announce, yeah? So here goes, eh…”

Every couple that had competed held their collective breaths and listened for their number. Right at the end of the announcement, Fluttershy heard something that made her heart skip a beat.

“… and lastly, number 78. All called numbers, yoose couples move on to the last round. Other couples, yer done bud.”

Pinkie took in a sharp breathing of air and got onto her hind legs, kicking her front ones in a little pony flourish. Her face erupted into joy.

“FLUTTERSHY! DID YOU HEAR THAT?! WE MOVE ON TO THE LAST ROUND! WEEEEEEEE!!!”

She wrapped Fluttershy into another snuggly, laughter-filled hug as Fluttershy stared blankly ahead.

We… move on? Wait… we have to SKATE again?!

Fluttershy’s eyes became wet.

“Oh no… I-I-I don’t think I can muster up that sort of courage…” she paused, “again.”

The pony couple once again congratulated Pinkie and Fluttershy and left, not having moved on to the last round. Pinkie led Fluttershy back to their bench and patted her on the back.

“Don’t sweat it, Fluttershy! Same as last time: aim for fun, and everything else will just work out! Or not! But who cares as long as you have fun?”

Moments that lumbered by painfully slow turned into minutes that Fluttershy didn’t even feel. She spent all the time between rounds staring at her wing tips, which she turned around and around in front of her.

Hmm…

She turned her wing tips around again. She made circle motions with one of her wings. A realization hit her, and her ears popped up. She turned to Pinkie.

“P-Pinkie! I have an idea!”

Pinkie leaned in close as Fluttershy relayed the newest trick.

“It’s, umm, well, it goes like this…”

Ten minutes after telling Pinkie the trick, it was the yellow and pink twosome’s turn once more. It was the last round. Fluttershy once again closed her eyes and took a deep breath, standing before the rink’s entrance. Her senses did not go crazy like during round one. She was more poised, more ready. The new trick she had devised gave her confidence, if only because she really, really wanted to perform it with Pinkie.

Fluttershy kept Rarity’s advice alive in her mind.

Be bold.

Well, it was something like that. Fluttershy couldn’t recall exactly, but she knew it was no time for the timid, quiet Fluttershy. It was time for action!

“Let’s go, Pinkie!” Fluttershy said, and Pinkie nodded a determined reply before they both stepped onto the ice.

The routine began as the last had: Pinkie skated ahead first along the edge of the rink, with Fluttershy just behind. And as natural as the first winter’s snow in Ponyville, Fluttershy leapt into the air as before; only, Fluttershy also kicked off her front skates as well.

The crowd “ooo’d” and “aww’d” as Pinkie held Fluttershy aloft once more, as if an angel being carried by a titan. Then, the dismount occurred. And the crowd held their breath.

Fluttershy hung onto Pinkie’s hoof with her wing and spun around. The entire motion was not rehearsed, but rather, it occurred as if it were meant to. As if no matter what, Fluttershy could not fail. And she didn’t.

On the dismount, Fluttershy’s and Pinkie’s forehooves were intertwined. The crowd watched as Fluttershy and Pinkie spun around and around as their bodies, together, continued to turn around the corner of the edge of the rink, like some celestial body caught in an orbit. The hoof holding exercise that they had attempted back at Saddle Lake was happening before Fluttershy’s eyes.

The crowd went wild.

Finally, Pinkie looked up at her companion. Sea-blue eyes met with cyan ones – two souls met for the first time in a moment that ignored the whirlwind of noise and sensation surrounding it. Pinkie’s mouth became an O. Fluttershy’s cheeks became fire.

Then the moment ended as one of the mare’s backhooves gave out and the two collapsed into separate piles, becoming conjoined when their forms collided on the ice further down the rink. Heads spinning, both mares stumbled to their shaky hooves and remembered where they were. The crowd was insane with cheering.

Fluttershy and Pinkie looked at one another with the biggest smiles in Equestria. They laughed and waved up at the crowds as they slowly found their lost skates and left the rink. Once back outside the rink, their friends raced down the stands to meet them.

“T-T-That was amazing!” Twilight cheered, leaping into the air with a girlish squeal. Rainbow Dash did the same with a hoofbump and roared.

“Yeah! That’s how it’s done, guys!”

Rarity’s eyes swam with stars.

“Why, it was simply majestic! Awe-inspiring! The best skaters in Canterlot couldn’t have put on such a show!”

Applejack took off her stetson.

“I ain’t much for this sort of thing, but gals, that was impressive.”

Pinkie and Fluttershy, still catching their breaths, looked at one another and shared a closed-eye smile.

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?” Fluttershy asked rhetorically. Pinkie replied anyway.

“Sure was, partner!”

Everypony waited at the benches for the results to be announced. Fluttershy felt her insides stir and twirl and churn. Somehow, she was worried they wouldn’t even place among the top ten of the fifteen last competitors. After way too much time spent waiting, the announcer came back on over the loudspeaker again.

“Hey there everypony! So, wow, that was better than expected, eh? I mean, uhh, good job to all our competitors!”

The crowds of ponies, including the Mane Six, cheered.

“So uhh, results are in from our judges, yeah? At third place out of fifteen we have Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, couple number 78, eh?”

Fluttershy barely comprehended the words. Her friends around her cheered and clapped their hooves. She looked around, wondering if it was all a dream like one of her “I have confidence” dreams where things turned out differently than they normally would. Rainbow Dash’s hoof landing on Fluttershy’s back and woke her from her trance.

“Racing Wonderbolts, Fluttershy! You guys came THIRD among, like, 80 different couples!? I didn’t know you could skate like that!”

Applejack chimed in.

“Yeah, if that was the case y’all shoulda joined Dash and I the other day fer our race!”

Fluttershy was in a sensational whirl of emotions. She stumbled out a response.

“I d-didn’t know I was that good either — wow.”

Pinkie was in a fit of giggles. She nudged Fluttershy.

“I did! I never doubted you for a second!”

The touch of Pinkie made Fluttershy feel tingly. She wanted more all of a sudden. She felt the excitement rise up, and soon Fluttershy became a clone of Pinkie in terms of emotions.

“I can’t believe it — I ACTUALLY CAN’T BELIEVE IT!” Fluttershy cheered. Every mare hooted and hollered, with onlookers torn between smiles of shared mirth or scornful, resentful sneers. Fluttershy’s face became heated and red, and she fanned herself with a wing.

“Oh umm, wow. I need some fresh air, girls. I’m getting… dizzy.”

Rarity led the group to a side exit. Pinkie and Fluttershy walked for the door, but Rarity held the others back.

“Uhh, girls,” Rarity started, in a purposefully louder-than-usual voice, and when Fluttershy turned back to look, Rarity winked. She continued, “Why don’t we let the winners have some time to themselves to relax! And we’ll, uhhh, wait outside out front!”

Fluttershy didn’t, at that time, understand what Rarity had done, but shrugged and continued outside with Pinkie.

The newest third place skaters of the Couples Skating Competition thrust open the side stadium doors, feeling the rush of the cold winter air surround them like a blanket. They leapt outside into the darkening Vanhoover evening. Snow was, of course, cascading all around them. A single, stark fire on a post illuminated the small steps just outside the side entrance. Pinkie broke the silence first.

“YIPPPEEEEE!” Pinkie cheered, the word exploding from her mouth. She was caught between her cheers and laughter. Fluttershy wore the biggest smile of her life. If it became any wider, she was afraid it would snap like a rubber band pulled too tight.

“WE WON!” Fluttershy cried, jumping around like Pinkie. “I MEAN, WE DIDN’T WIN, BUT THIRD PLACE! WE ACTUALLY CAME THIRD PLACE, PINKIE!” The two looked at each other, then got onto their back legs so they could hold their front hooves together while standing. They stared into each others twinkling eyes, chests heaving, faces so alive with joy that it was like Hearth’s Warming morning and they were a pair of fillies.

The mares separated and started bounding around on their own. Fluttershy figured that she was feeling what Angel Bunny always felt — like she could take on the whole world and dang the consequences for doing so! She looked up to see the early evening moon shining down at her against the backdrop of a sparsely clouded purple sky. The moon bathed her with fervor.

Her entire body throbbed. She was filled with vigor and purpose. She swerved around, watching Pinkie happily jitter to herself. Sweet Celestia, the mare was glowing with cuteness. She was so pretty.

Then…

It happened so fast. Fluttershy’s heart was pounding. It felt so natural. Too natural. It was what needed to happen.

Fluttershy bounded in front of Pinkie, waiting only a brief moment for Pinkie to stop jumping and pay attention. Pinkie blinked rapidly with a cocked head. Fluttershy’s trembling breath escaped shaky lips.

“Fluttersh—”

The yellow pegasus thrust her head forward and kissed Pinkie. She was hungry — desperate — for the kiss that had taunted her dreams. She couldn’t tell what Pinkie’s reaction was but in that moment all she wanted to do was savor the newfound flavor of raspberry and sugar and the warmth that naturally emanated from Pinkie’s lips. It was one single kiss.

When Fluttershy opened her eyes in shock, she realized what she had done.

O-oh no.

Author's Note

Nope, this story ain't dead neither! Sorry for these terribly long waits for updates... I hope to get the next one out much sooner.

Easier

Chapter Seven – Easier

Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no…

On and on the bad thoughts battered Fluttershy’s conscience. She looked all around her except at Pinkie Pie, who she couldn’t believe was silently standing still. The pegasus mare closed her eyes. Tears gathered within the lids.

“I’m sorry.”

It was barely a squeak. Like a mouse’s whisper. Fluttershy galloped down the stairs. She heard Pinkie call after her.

“W-wait Fluttershy!”

But Fluttershy would never do such a thing. She had seen the look in Pinkie’s eyes after the kiss. She had seen that look. That darned look.

Fluttershy knew…

She just knew!

…

Pinkie didn’t feel the same way about her.

The walk around the outside of the stadium took Fluttershy longer than she anticipated. Minutes of tearful running stretched on like hours with her dark thoughts clouding her better judgement. A rush of snowy air and cold blew the strands of pink that had snuck out of the winter hat on Fluttershy’s head. She stopped running and looked up to the sky.

Her tears had all streamed out and in a temporary moment of dryness she beheld the early evening moon. It was an ivory, pockmarked globe glowing against a sea of deep purple water speckled with tiny shimmering balls of white fire. It was like a sun in the middle of night. Fluttershy closed her eyes and sighed.

Well, that’s that then.

She forced one side of her mouth upwards in a pathetic smile attempt.

Not quite what Rarity had in mind, but at least I got my feelings across, right?

Fluttershy hung her head.

The answer’s no. Okay. So now I know. But how…

She shook her head and grit her teeth, feeling fresh tears building.

What do I do now?

Another rush of air. It was as if the early night chill of Vanhoover was pushing Fluttershy forward. It knocked her out of her unsure thoughts and pointed her in the right direction. It was leading her back to the front of the stadium where her friends were waiting. Yes, she had to go there. Life went on, after all.

She’d be fine after a good night’s rest. A voice carried on the wind from behind.

“Fluttershy! Wait, Fluttershy!”

But Fluttershy would not wait. There wasn’t a chance, not one. She sighed and walked forward, building into a steady trot. She cleared her mind of what had happened.

Thinking about it would just cause pain.

Because of the headstart Fluttershy had on Pinkie, she was able to trot back to the stadium’s front even with Pinkie at a full gallop. Pinkie was out of breath by the time she reached the other five mares, whereas Fluttershy looked calm and collected, though she had adjusted her hat so the front of her mane fell over and hid most of her face.

“Uhhh,” Applejack asked, one eyebrow raised in utter confusion. Fluttershy saw that her other friends looked equally as bewildered. Applejack cleared her throat and continued, “Did we, err, miss something, or?”

Fluttershy was at a loss for words. The weight of what had happened bared itself on her again. She had to look down to the snow-kissed stone slabs of the stadium walkway and focus on not crying. She heard Rarity’s voice.

“Obviously our two winning mares were crying tears of joy!”

Rarity laughed and patted Fluttershy’s shoulder. Fluttershy looked up at Rarity, all her strength focused on holding the salty liquid back behind her eyes. Rarity’s smile was so genuine and reassuring, Fluttershy believed the lie for a minute even though she had lived the truth. Fluttershy managed a convincing smile of her own.

“T-that’s right!” Fluttershy confirmed, and it scared her how she believed herself. She forced out a happy sniffle and even reached over and rubbed Pinkie’s back like a friend would.

Just a friend.

“Pinkie and I cried so many tears of joy, well, we’re pretty pooped now, so let’s get back, okay?” Fluttershy turned and started walking away, Rarity right on her tail. The other friends exchanged weird looks before following Rarity and Fluttershy. Pinkie stayed near the back, silent.

Pinkie was silent.

Fluttershy took notice right away but didn’t have too much time to mull it over. Rarity whispered to her, head turning back to the other mares from time to time.

“Darling… what happened? Did you tell her?”

Fluttershy tightened her top and bottom lips together into a determined yet quivering line. Her ears twitched.

“Not really, no,” Fluttershy said in her best normal voice. “Everything’s fine, like you said. I’m just tired.”

Rarity growled with annoyance.

“Come on, Fluttershy! Obviously, everything is not alright! Are you sure that you left your talk with Pinkie with the right impression?! I mean—”

Fluttershy stopped and sighed. She turned to Rarity, and Rarity couldn’t believe the look on Fluttershy’s face. Her brows were straight and determined. Her mouth was an open “O”. It was almost as if the words couldn’t come out.

“I took your advice and did something I would never do normally. I keep quiet and don’t do adventurous things exactly because of this.”

Fluttershy looked down.

“This is a good example of why I just keep quiet. I’m not like you Rarity.”

Fluttershy continued her walk. The other mares caught up.

Twilight, eyebrows pointed toward her snout, approached her friend. “Rarity what’s really going on with Fluttershy? This is too quiet, even for her!”

Rarity’s brow faltered.

“W-well…” she said quietly. Her gaze travelled to Rainbow, who scratched the side of her head with a bemittened hoof, then onto Applejack who flicked her eyebrows up as if to signal, “Well?”

Then, Rarity saw Pinkie. Rarity couldn’t quite tell what Pinkie was thinking - she had the “blank look” that Pinkie sometimes got when she had retreated into her mind. But Pinkie snapped out of it with a shake of her head and her mouth became an open “O’. She looked surprised. Rarity saw some gears turn in Pinkie’s head, and then, the party pony returned to normal.

“Oh! It’s really nothing, Twilight!” Pinkie cried, hopping up to her friend’s side. She giggled her normal Pinkie giggle. “Like Rarity said, we just got a lot of happy crying out!” There was a pause. Pinkie turned toward Fluttershy, who was still slowly walking forward.

“Right, Fluttershy?”

All five mares waited for the response. Fluttershy continued to look away from everypony. After a few seconds, she slowly turned around, hooves crunching against the snow underneath. Her eyes were closed, and she wore a light smile.

“Right, Pinkie!”

It’s easier this way.

Twilight looked at Applejack and the cowpony shrugged. Rainbow Dash continued to rub her head.

“Wait, what happened… or didn’t happen…? I f-feel out of the loop here, gals.”

Rarity giggled and rolled her eyes playfully.

“Nothing really, dear. Come on now, I’m sure you and Pinkie are dying to try out that pool back at the hotel — and on such a chilly night!”

Rainbow’s face erupted into happiness as she remembered. She leapt over at Pinkie and stopped the party mare.

“The pool! I almost forgot! You excited, Pinkie?”

Rainbow didn’t notice that Pinkie had a different expression for a split second before becoming the normal Pinkie again.

“Buhhh — yeah of COURSE!” Pinkie screamed. Her and Rainbow went on and on about the pool, the other mares finding their own conversation. Rarity trotted back up to Fluttershy but gave up on trying to get much more information out of her before long.

And so, the six friends meandered their way back to the hotel. As Rarity said, it was chilly, but the good times and future good memories warmed the mares and touched their spirits. It was a beautiful night with a sky that reminded Rarity of her very own mane with its color. It was a rare thing in Vanhoover, or so they heard ponies say.

Yes, the trip back was a joyful one, if what Fluttershy heard was any indication. She certainly heard the joy in Pinkie’s giggles and words. It made Fluttershy smile to herself as she walked slightly ahead of the others.

Yeah, this will be much easier. We’ll just… we’ll just pretend it didn’t happen.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and her smile grew and grew.

What I’ll do is pretend nothing happened! Pinkie is a good friend; she won’t ask me about it!

A tear plopped out of the corner of Fluttershy’s eye and rolled down her cheek, freezing not long after its birth into the cold Vanhoover night.

* * *

“CANNONBALLLLLLLL!”

Pinkie’s scream echoed off of every wall in the hotel pool at least a hundred times. The waves that curved out of the pool as she smashed into the water’s surface crashed against the ponies on the deck. One such pony was Rarity, seated on a lounger, whose wide-brimmed sunhat became a droopy little thing after Pinkie’s wave hit her. Rarity’s mane also broke from its shape into a purple drape, falling against one side of her neck and upper body. She looked at her hooves, mouth fallen and at a loss for words.

“Hey, u — P-Pinkie!” she cry-whined. She turned to Twilight, who had just sat back down in her own lounger with a giggle. The unicorn levitated two clean, white towels, one that she brought right into Rarity’s hooves, and the other that she levitated over to Fluttershy, seated on a lounger beside Rarity.

Rarity pouted with crossed hooves after wrapping the towel up in her mane.

“Next year we’re going to Monacolt, so I can sunbathe on the beach and not get covered in water!”

Twilight chuckled again. She leaned up and looked over at Fluttershy, who was clearly deep in thought.

“Fluttershy?” she asked. Fluttershy stirred. She looked at her friend as if she had been somewhere else. Fluttershy smiled, and Twilight felt reassured because it looked like one of Fluttershy’s normal little demure smiles.

“Oh, I was just thinking about Angel Bunny and the other animals,” Fluttershy said, and Twilight again was reassured. It was Fluttershy’s normal voice. Fluttershy continued, “I trust Discord and everything, but you… know how Angel can be.”

“And Discord, too,” Twilight added, laughing. Fluttershy returned the laugh.

“And Discord too, haha.”

Twilight leaned back and sighed happily.

“Girls, I think this trip was a great success! And it was all thanks to yours truly!”

Another one of Pinkie’s splashes erupted from the pool and drenched Twilight. When the torrent subsided, Twilight sat blinking with a mated mane like melted cheese. Rainbow Dash, in the pool, lost herself in a fit of giggles.

“Hey look… it’s Twilight Showers!” she managed between breathes.

Rarity brought a hoof to her mouth and snickered. Fluttershy laughed, too. Everypony would definitely think she was just her normal self. In the pool, Applejack snuck up behind Rainbow Dash and used her tail to splash a huge wave of water at the Pegasus.

“Yea and look,” Applejack said with a chuckle as Rainbow spit out water, “It’s Rainbow Splash!”

Everypony but Rainbow laughed. Rainbow did smile playfully, however, and crossed her hooves as her wings flapped her out of the water.

“Yeah yeah. You just took my joke; yours wasn’t THAT funny.”

“GERONIMOOOOOOO!”

Pinkie roared and her third cannonball into the pool produced what could only be described as a tsunami. The resulting wave washed over the ponies on the deck and carried them, loungers and all, into the pool.

Rainbow came spurting out of the water, the stream she spat like something from a fancy fountain. The other mares, plus a few other ponies who were inside the pool room, eventually came up coughing.

“S-seriously?!” Rainbow shouted at her pink friend, who was treading water and snickering. The laughter seemed to be contagious since next Rarity was giggling. Then, Twilight. Applejack stared at Rainbow and laughed. The pegasus racer looked at Fluttershy, who also quietly laughed into her hoof. Finally, Rainbow gave up and chuckled.

What happened after that was hours of literal horseplay and joking in the pool. Even quiet Fluttershy and ladylike Rarity took part. All six friends forgot about anything outside the pool room and engaged in their jibes like fillies at a summer party. There were races from one end of the pool to the other (the competitive nature of Rainbow and Applejack was forgotten and replaced with laugh-ridden half attempts), splashfests, breath holding contests… the sheer level of foal-like revelry made some of the older ponies on the pool’s deck shake their heads.

By the time everypony decided that they were wet and pruney enough, it was late and even Rainbow Dash was tuckered out from the physical activity. When the adrenaline wore off as everypony dried and trudged out to the hotel hallway, each mare felt the weight of the day bear down on them and their shoulders slumped on the walk back to their rooms.

“H-hay,” Applejack said with a yawn, “Suppose that’s one way to end the day. Ah’m gonna be out like an old candle soon as ah hit the pillow, no doubt…”

Rarity opened her mouth and daintily yawned.

“I agree. I don’t gallivant like that very often. It really takes its toll on you without you even noticing.”

And dear Fluttershy, who had been so back to normal since the group left the Horseton Stadium, was drifting off to sleep mid-stride. She stumbled into Pinkie Pie without even realizing it. The Earth Pony mare, with a bit more of a presence in the waking world than Fluttershy, noticed and smiled softly. She walked with Fluttershy leaning against her for support.

Before long, the six mare friends reached their two shared rooms and everypony said goodnight. Pinkie blinked her heavy eyelids back up to their resting spots, though she knew she could not do it for much longer as she pushed her and Fluttershy’s hotel room door open. She continued to lead Fluttershy’s body along. Fluttershy hummed happily and spoke in her sleepy state.

“Little… baby… bunnies…” she said with a sigh. Pinkie didn’t have the energy to laugh but she did smile. She led Fluttershy to the shared bed, finding her footing thanks to the soft moonlight peeking inside the room from the window. Pinkie helped Fluttershy into her side of the bed first, being gentle yet firm so that Fluttershy was in the comfiest position for her: on the side, with wings raveled up.

Then, Pinkie got into bed. She didn’t last too long in the real world and drifted off to sleep not long after Fluttershy.

* * *

The line between dreaming and being awake was slithering its way around Fluttershy’s mind. She felt as if she were in the out-of-body state that one sometimes finds oneself in in the morning after waking for a few minutes then falling back asleep. Fluttershy wasn’t sure what was real or not, though she definitely heard words from a familiar voice.

“Can I cuddle with you? I’m… I’m a bit cold…”

The voice sounded so familiar. It came from something beside her. Fluttershy’s half-asleep brain reasoned it must have been Pinkie, but the tone wasn’t right. Pinkie was loud and confident —Pinkie wouldn’t be quiet and unsure like the voice Fluttershy heard. Nevertheless, the pegasus mare was not in the mood or the state to argue with voices in her dreamlike mind. She “mhm’d” a response.

Soon after (at least it felt like soon after), something warm embraced her from the back. Fluttershy was so exhausted from the day before that she was mostly in a dream world full of an infinite number of woodland critters of all sizes. Only briefly did she realize that another part of her was in the real world, and it was being hugged by something that could only be described as a furry furnace.

Fluttershy, in both worlds, smiled wide. Everything about the sensations, imagined and tangible, was perfectly right.

The dream world took over in earnest, and Fluttershy slumbered on until morning.

Rosy Cheeks

Butterflies and Balloons

A Pinkie Pie x Fluttershy Shipfic

By: OneLonelyPickle

Chapter One - Rosy Cheeks

Pinkie Pie careened through Fluttershy’s front door, hit the back wall, and bounced around the living room like a pinball. Miraculously, she didn’t damage a single potted flower or animal friend of Fluttershy’s, although the homeowner was a tad worried.

“O-oh my, Pinkie…” the demure mare said, coming in from the snow and cold of winter, tracking some of it inside with her in the process. Fluttershy looked down and hummed in displeasure.

Pinkie Pie stopped herself mid-flight right in front of Fluttershy and beamed.

“Sorry, Fluttershy, I got a bit too carried away there, haha. But I’m just soooo excited to be staying with you! This is gonna be like an extended sleepover! I’m really glad you offered; I really, really appreciate it!”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“Oh, it’s no trouble, Pinkie. No trouble at all. I love company, and so do the animals. I have a lot of room I never use for anything.”

Fluttershy noticed the snow that Pinkie Pie had tracked in with her rambunctious entrance and grimaced.

“Well,” Fluttershy began, “Why don’t we get straightened away a bit before we head over to the lake?”

Pinkie Pie followed Fluttershy’s eyes and her ears drooped.

“Ahhh! I made a mess - I’m the worst houseguest ever!”

Like a lightning bolt Pinkie zipped over, grabbed a hanging broom and dustpan, and swept up all the snow and dirt. She then tossed it out the front door, all without breaking a sweat. Fluttershy stood motionless, mouth agape.

“W-wow, Pinkie. Maybe you’re one of the best houseguests ever! I could never clean that fast.”

Pinkie shrugged. “Ehh, you put enough chocolate éclair cakes in the oven by accident, which then explode and cover the Cakes’ bakery with enough chocolate filling to feed an army of parasprites, annnnnnnd you’ll get pretty quick at cleaning up!”

Pinkie became crestfallen and stared in Fluttershy’s eyes.

“And by the way, I know you seem cool and all with me staying here, but I promise it won’t be that long. Mr. Cake told me the pony from Baltimare who knows how to get rid of sugar mites should be here in no time!”

Fluttershy shook her head and smiled.

“Don’t even mention it, Pinkie. It’s truly no issue. I’m just as happy to have you here as you are happy to be here! I mean, that was why you tackled my front door, right?”

Pinkie blushed.

“Hehe, yeah, I do that sometimes.” Pinkie looked to her left, then right. She cocked her head. “Where’s Gummy?”

At the mention of his name, Gummy the toothless alligator, behatted in a blue and white tuque, popped out of Pinkie’s mane and stared blankly at the wall. Pinkie reached out and placed him on the ground. Fluttershy giggled.

“There he is. Angel!”

Fluttershy called out to her favoritest widdle white bunny in the whole wide world, and he came hopping along, wearing his own little red and pink hat. He jumped up onto Fluttershy’s back.

“Oh, Angel. Can you stay here and keep Gummy company? He’s not familiar with the other animals.” Angel frowned, took off his hat, and looked angrily at Gummy, who just blinked off in some random direction.

“I’m just going to quickly unpack my things so we can go!” Pinkie started, moving towards the couch. “Is it okay if I put my stuff by here? I assume I’m sleeping here.”

As Pinkie started to remove her saddlebags, Fluttershy stopped her with a cry.

“No!”

Pinkie jumped up and looked back with a confused expression. Fluttershy blushed and stepped back.

“Uhh, I mean, I’d feel bad putting you on my couch, P-Pinkie. You can sleep upstairs with me if you’re comfortable.”

Pinkie blinked at Fluttershy.

“Oh,” was all Pinkie said. The two stared at one another for longer than Fluttershy would have liked, and she looked away with another hot flash on her cheeks. Finally, Pinkie Pie squealed and then spoke.

“What was I thinking! Of course, that’s a much better idea! It’ll be like a real slumberparty that way!”

Pinkie ran upstairs and Fluttershy remained, still feeling strange after the staring incident. She let out an uneasy sigh and whispered to Angel.

“Gosh, I thought I was getting better at looking ponies in the eye since meeting Twilight all those years ago, Angel, but it still makes me feel woozy sometimes.”

Angel squeaked away a little bunny response and Fluttershy nodded, seemingly in understanding.

“Right.” Fluttershy finished with a softer whisper as she heard Pinkie descend the stairs. “Nopony’s perfect.”

“Ready to go now, Fluttershy!” Pinkie announced, standing at the foot of the stairs with a wide grin. Fluttershy returned the expression in her own, less-overt way.

“Okay, let’s go!”

* * *

Fluttershy and Pinkie admired how winter had treated Ponyville as the pair leisurely strolled towards Saddle Lake on the other side of town. The trees were blanketed white, woodland critters peacefully made their homes amidst the snow and ice, and the sun peaked shyly through the grey clouds. Ponies cantered down the streets, busy with one task or another.

“I’m telling you, Fluttershy! I saw it!”

“Hmm, are you sure Pinkie? I mean, ummm, I thought sugar mites only ate, umm, sugar.”

Pinkie cried, “Yeah, so did I, but then I saw them start to eat my bed, my table, and my rug, and I figured, maybe they’ll want to eat me too! So, I took Gummy and ran to your place!”

A stray thought entered Fluttershy’s mind, it was odd, but she blurted it out anyway.

“Maybe the sugar mites went for you because you’re so sweet, Pinkie.”

Fluttershy immediately regretted her choice of words and stopped, turning a deep shade of red. Pinkie, however, didn’t take it in a weird way and giggled.

“Thanks, Fluttershy. That could be the reason!”

Pinkie stopped too and looked at Fluttershy with wide eyes.

“Wait, maybe that really IS the reason! I’m too sweet!”

Fluttershy raised a hoof.

“Umm, no I don’t thi—”

Pinkie grabbed Fluttershy’s shoulders and looked the yellow pegasus right in the eyes.

“Seriously, Fluttershy! Do you know what this MEANS?!”

Fluttershy tried her best to look Pinkie in the eyes, but she couldn’t hold the gaze for long. Something about Pinkie’s cerulean irises made Fluttershy look away. If she looked too long, Fluttershy’s cheeks became warm and tight, and she felt a strange feeling in her stomach.

Eventually, though, Fluttershy managed a response.

“Umm, no, I don’t know what it means, Pinkie.”

Pinkie took a deep breath and then let out all her thoughts at once in rapid succession.

“ItMeansIHaveToBeLessSweetFromNowOnWhichMeansIHaveToBeALittleMeanWhichMeansIMightAsWellBeReallyMeanAnd” — Pinkie paused to take in huge gulps of air into her deflated lungs — "IfIAmReallyMeanIWon’tHaveAnyFriendsAndNoponyWillWantToBeAroundMeAnd IfNoponyWantsToBeAroundMeICan’tThrowAnyParties!”

Fluttershy nodded and stared at Pinkie, not knowing what to say. Eventually she realized she was looking into Pinkie’s eyes again and turned away, clearing her throat.

“Well, uhh, I think you’re looking into this too much, Pinkie.”

Pinkie released Fluttershy and chuckled.

“Hah, maybe you’re right! I guess I was overreacting!”

Pinkie suddenly gasped. Fluttershy turned to see what it was.

“Applejack and Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie cried with gusto.

Indeed, the two mares were heading in the same direction as Pinkie and Fluttershy. They seemed to be in the middle of a disagreement.

“All ah’m gonna say is, you might be the fastest pony in the sky,” Applejack said, annoyed, “but earth ponies reign supreme down on the ground! If you think you can beat me on the ice, you’ve got another thing coming, missy.”

Rainbow Dash blew air out of the side of her mouth. “Pshhh, I can beat you on the ice with two hooves tied behind my back! Come on, AJ, don’t embarrass yourself!” Rainbow finished with a chuckle.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash noticed their friends approaching and briefly lightened up.

“Howdy, Pinkie, Fluttershy.”

“Sup gals?”

All four mares engaged in conversation, most of it being centred around which of Applejack or Rainbow Dash would be the best ice skater. Finally, Rainbow Dash challenged Applejack directly, a dangerous fire in the pegasus’s magenta eyes.

“Fine! You want a race? Well, you got one! You and me, ten laps around the edge of Saddle Lake!”

Applejack smiled and furrowed her brow.

“Why not make it a hundred, unless you’re chicken?”

Applejack got onto her back hooves and flapped her front hooves like wings. She clucked as she strutted back and force. Pinkie started waving a hoof back in forth.

“Ooo, ooo, are we playing chicken? I want to play too!”

Pinkie joined Applejack in the chicken pantomime. Both mares yelped and bickered like hens, and even Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle. Rainbow stewed.

“Fine!” she roared. “Hundred laps it is!”

Applejack returned to all four hooves and laughed. “A pegasus tryna beat an earth pony on the earth!” she said while shaking her head, “Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, keep them peepers wiiide open because you’re about to watch me put Ms. Ah’m-The-Best-at-Everythin’ in her place!”

Pinkie Pie cheered.

“Weee! A race! I call ref!” The mares, excluding Fluttershy, broke off into a gallop, as Saddle Lake was just over a hill. Fluttershy, however, remained at a steady trot. Her mouth was slanted, and she studied the snow on the ground as she meandered forward.

Whatever could be coming over me? I’m never that awkward around Pinkie Pie… I mean in the past, maybe, before Twilight came along, but…

Fluttershy hadn’t noticed she was standing atop the hill next to Saddle Lake. All five of her friends were just below. Twilight Sparkle was tying up her special, extra-secure skates with her magic, deep in focus with her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth. The other mares wore typical, pony ice skates — no laces. On the ice, Rarity glided back and forth, from one end of the lake to the other, humming to herself.

“Ahhh!” Rarity announced, “Look, Twilight! The girls are here! Feast your eyes, ladies!” Rarity struck a pose mid-glide, bringing her forehooves up above her and using only her backhooves to skate.

“I call this: The Swan Dance of the Elegant Miss Rarity!”

Rarity closed her eyes and began to spin. She made a little jump and twirled, shifting her body down so that her forehooves formed an arch over the ice while she skated. Fluttershy joined Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie beside the lake. All four mares “ooo’d” and “awe’d” as they watched Rarity’s performance.

Rarity’s mane flip-flopped back and forth as she turned and turned like a little music box ballerina.

“Da daaaaaa!” she sang out loud. Twilight called from the other side of the lake.

“Rarity! Watch ou—”

Rarity had picked up so much speed that she skated right off the ice and slammed into a snowbank with an audible puff.

“Bahahahhaa!” Rainbow Dash burst into laughter. “Nice dance, Rarity!”

Applejack snickered.

“Sure as shoot hope you don’t skate like that, Rainbow, heh.”

Pinkie was caught in a fit of giggles as she watched her friend’s accident, but Fluttershy’s eyes were transfixed on Pinkie, her bouncing pink mane, and the white and blue stripped scarf wrapped tightly around her neck.

Why am I being so weird with Pinkie today? I’m never like this normally… am I?

Fluttershy couldn’t remember the last time it was just her and Pinkie alone like it had been earlier. Sure, things felt normal enough when all six mares were together, but Fluttershy couldn’t shake her thoughts. With a blank stare she took off her saddlebags, grabbed her skates, and started to put them on, still deep in her own mind.

I mean, maybe it’s just because Pinkie Pie was forced out of her room thanks to the sugar mites. That’s got to be it! I’m just worried about her!

Fluttershy remembered where she was and what she was doing. With a quick shutting of her eyes and a shake of her head, she relaxed and returned to reality. She smiled as Twilight skated over, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie having piled onto the ice already.

“Hey, Fluttershy. You okay?” Twilight’s expression softened. “You looked deep in thought from where I was standing.”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“O-of course!” she responded, not as confidently as she would have liked, “I’m excellent, Twilight!” Fluttershy avoided eye contact as long as she could with Twilight before she felt like she was being judged. She reluctantly met eyes with her friend and smiled so wide and tight that her cheeks hurt. Twilight cringed ever so slightly and smiled back.

“Welllll, alrighty then!” Twilight turned around and started to skate towards the middle of the lake. “Come join us as soon as you’ve got your skates on, Fluttershy!” she called out. Fluttershy signed and stared out at the ice at the girls.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were essentially blurs, taking turns chasing each other’s tail as they raced around the circumference of the lake. Rarity had plopped out of the snowbank, covered in snow, and ready to kill the next pony to mention how ruined her coiffure was. Twilight was in her own little world, gingerly testing out her balance, out of the way of the race. And Pinkie…

Pinkie was…

She was looking right at Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie was standing in the middle of the ice, and she was supposed to be refereeing for Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but instead she was staring at Fluttershy. The yellow mare wondered for how long Pinkie had been staring, and why. Fluttershy’s face grew ever so hot. She simply couldn’t hold Pinkie’s gaze.

“Hey, Fluttershy!?” she heard Pinkie yell, “Are you coming on the ice at some point?”

Fluttershy cleared her throat and replied shakily, “Y-yes, just getting my skates on, I’ll be on in a minute!”

Fluttershy buried away all the thoughts about Pinkie and the weird feelings. She finished putting on her skates and got onto the ice. Her hooves needed only a moment to adjust. Fluttershy wasn’t the best skater, but she did enjoy it.

The afternoon, and the skating mares on ice, floated along as the day stretched on. Eventually the sun became big, fiery, and red on the horizon somewhere far away. A golden blanket covered the outskirts of Ponyville.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were completely out of breath, manes and coats frazzled and licked with sweat.

“Ah-Ah’ll be a… centaur’s uncle… Rainbow…” Applejack managed, wiping her brow with a hoof that held her Stetson. Rainbow plopped down on the snow and stuck out her tongue in exasperation.

“Y-yeah… 100 laps… 100 ties…”

Twilight rolled her eyes, gathering up her things with her magic.

“You two are ridiculous. How many physical challenges does it take for you to realize you’re evenly matched?”

Rarity nodded in agreement.

“And to let yourself get to such a state in the process! I certainly would never stoop to such levels to prove such a silly point.” Rarity laughed in an elite, elegant tone. “The fastest skater—hah! Ice skating is about grace and beauty, not brute speed and force!”

She watched Applejack spit on her hoof to smooth back her hair and Rainbow burp while cracking her neck. Rarity grimaced.

“Of course, grace and beauty aren’t the objectives of… every pony, it seems.”

Twilight giggled and nudged Rarity along. Behind the four mares, Pinkie and Fluttershy were aimlessly moving around on Saddle Lake. The sun was casting its glowing gaze on the two mares, so that Pinkie’s coat looked pinkish-orange, and Fluttershy’s just looked orange.

“Well, umm,” Fluttershy began with a clearing of her throat. She looked at Pinkie’s cheek because she didn’t want to risk their eyes meeting. “Guess we should go, too.”

Pinkie smiled wide and leaned her body to the left to start a figure eight.

“Ya think?” Pinkie said with a giggle. “I mean, this is pretty fun, and now we got the lake all to ourselves!” Fluttershy swallowed. She looked over to her departing friends, who stopped to look back and inquire on the remaining two of the bunch.

“Pinkie? Fluttershy?” Applejack called out. “You two comin’?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply but Pinkie spoke first.

“No, you girls go on ahead! We’re gonna stay a bit longer!”

Rainbow called back.

“Suit yourselves! After that workout, I don’t want to see another patch of ice until next winter!”

Fluttershy watched the four mares crest the hill, and then they were gone. It was just her and Pinkie on the ice. Pinkie completed her figure eight with a jubilant hum. Fluttershy sort of pushed herself along, not quite sure what to do or say now that she was alone with Pinkie.

Why do I feel awkward again? This is Pinkie Pie. PINKIE. PIE.

Fluttershy swerved on the ice to turn her entire body around. When she saw behind her, Pinkie was right there, grinning. She was just a hoof away.

“Heya. I want to try something neat, okay?” Pinkie asked in her usual pep. Fluttershy felt compelled to look at the ice. Her cheeks were simmering.

“O-oh?”

Pinkie continued to hum as she sat on her rump and worked the skates off of her front hooves. Fluttershy looked with anxiety, moreso because she knew how crazy Pinkie’s ideas of fun could be, and not just because of the weird way she was feeling towards Pinkie that day.

Eventually, Pinkie was left with only the skates on her back hooves. She slid the skates she removed over to the side of the lake and threw up her hooves in encouragement.

“Alright Fluttershy, your turn! Take ‘em off!”

Fluttershy cocked her head, now so enraptured in whatever Pinkie was planning, she forgot about the flush of her cheeks.

“Umm, why, Pinkie?”

Pinkie laughed.

“Just do it, Fluttershy! Truuuust me!”

Fluttershy cleared her throat and sat down on her behind.

“Well, o-okay then, Pinkie. I-if you say so.”

Fluttershy delicately removed her front skates with a light smile. She carefully but wobblily managed to skate back to the side of the lake on just her back hooves and deposited her skates beside her saddlebag.

“Alright now come here!” Pinkie called out. Fluttershy wobbled her way back to Pinkie Pie. She carefully sat down once more and stared at Pinkie expectantly.

“No, closer!” Pinkie chimed. Fluttershy felt the heat return to her face.

“C-closer?” she inquired. She remembered how she couldn’t look the pink mare in the eyes. Pinkie sighed.

“Fine, I’ll just come to you!”

Fluttershy sucked in her lips and stared blankly at Pinkie’s coat as the party pony butt-scooted into Fluttershy’s personal space. Pinkie reached out and grasped Fluttershy’s fore hooves. Pinkie’s grip was firm, but in a way that felt calculated. Like she knew just the right amount of force to use so that she didn’t hurt Fluttershy.

“Okay, now we need to stand up! On the count of three; one, two—”

Fluttershy realized what was happening and began to interject.

“W-wait Pinkie, I—”

“THREE!”

With impressive force, Pinkie hoisted Fluttershy up by her forehooves. They each stood on two shaky hooves, quite unponylike, as if they were newborn fawns.

It was a wonder that they didn’t topple over immediately, but Fluttershy was able to maintain just enough balance to stay upright as she held onto Pinkie’s hooves for dear life. Pinkie managed the same.

Fluttershy’s eyes were fixed onto their skates, which were stuck in a ridiculous display of constant movement back and forth like they were trying to stop from slipping on a big puddle of oil.

“W-whoa, P-Pinkie—w-whoa, uhh, this is—!”

Pinkie responded with a shaky voice.

“Flutter—j-just wait, move that way—no the other w—”

“L-like thi—WAHH!”

The two mares lost their hooves beneath them and fell tail over head backwards. Fluttershy went from looking at her shifty legs to an ember-colored sky in the blink of an eye. Just a hoofful of clouds slowly drifted by. Her head felt fuzzy. Fluttershy blinked. Time stopped.

Finally, she heard Pinkie burst out into laughter. A rumbling, snorty, gleeful laughter. It made Fluttershy smile.

And then, before she knew it, Fluttershy was laughing as well. Her heart felt free as vibrations from her mirth rattled her chest. She lost control of the part of her that prevented such displays, out of terror somepony might notice her acting odd. She laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and so did Pinkie.

Time slipped by. Fluttershy swore there were tears at the corners of her eyes. She rolled over at the same time as Pinkie and the two locked eyes.

“T-that was…” Pinkie began, holding in another chuckle, “Hilarious! Hahaha!”

Fluttershy tittered like a filly.

“Oh Pinkie, you were right! That WAS fun!”

The last vestiges of joy drizzled out in much the same way that the last of the sunlight faded. It wasn’t long before the two mares were en route to Fluttershy’s cottage, a hesitant moon aloft in the sky near the horizon.

"We need to do that again sometime!" Pinkie declared as the two trotted side by side. Fluttershy turned her head.

"Oh? The, umm, hoof-holding thing?"

Fluttershy turned back around and smiled to herself. Pinkie replied with a cheerful "Mhm!"

By the time they reached the tree that Fluttershy called home, only a flicker of moonlight teased its presence over the imposing canopy of the Everfree Forest. Both mares piled inside, and after a quick supper, headed straight to bed.

The exhaustion of the day took its toll on both mares -- neither one had time to fuss about their usual bedtime rituals. Fluttershy, for all her anxiety about Pinkie earlier, couldn't keep her eyes open as she crawled into bed with a yawn.

"Goodnight, Pinkie," she said, nestling into her buttery-smooth pillow with one final sigh for the day. Pinkie mumbled her response.

"Guh nuh..." She started snoring right after that. Neither mare was awake for longer than a minute after their heavy heads hit the pillows.

Like a Knot in a Hose

Chapter Five – Like a Knot in a Hose

After her impromptu pep talk with Rarity, Fluttershy awkwardly shuffled back to her friends’ table. She forced her feelings and thoughts down as far as she could, resolving to just accept what Rarity and her had talked about. The constant self-doubts were too much for her. She sat down in her chair and took a long swig from her glass of water.

“Feeling better, then?” Applejack asked, genuine concern gracing her tone. Fluttershy looked up and nodded, cheeks still hot.

“O-oh yes,’ she said, “R-Rarity’s quite good at… helping sick ponies feel better…”

She looked over and Rarity winked at her. Applejack looked at Rarity and rose an eyebrow.

“She is? Huh. Never heard of that. You got some nursing experience or something, Rare?”

Rarity giggled daintily.

“Something like that, Applejack.”

Pinkie Pie chimed up and Fluttershy’s heart flipped over in her chest.

“Are you sure you’re fine, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy didn’t look over at Pinkie, but she just knew she was staring at her with that same concern she had shown the night they drank the gargilly tea. Fluttershy was definitely not going to look up and see that face. She instead looked down at her cutlery and nervously traced the edges of the pieces of silverware. Pinkie continued.

“Cause if you’re not, maybe I can take a look at you like Rarity did. I’ve helped a lot of sugar-rushed ponies with their tummy aches! This is, like, probably the same thing, right?”

Fluttershy smiled and shook her head.

“No, it’s okay. I’m just hungry. Once I eat, I’ll be better.”

Pinkie replied.

“Awesome! Becaaaussssee, I wanted to wait for you to get back before I mentioned the skate competition tomorrow!”

Fluttershy’s ears flicked up. She continued looking at her fork. She heard Twilight ask a question.

“Oh?” Twilight’s tone changed as if she discovered something strange. “Wait, the one couples skating competition that’s been advertised everywhere?”

Pinkie “mhm’d!” cheerfully in response then replied with words.

“Fluttershy mentioned that she wanted to go and didn’t have anypony to go with, so I said, ‘I’ll go!’ and then she was all like, ‘Noooooo, that’s okaaayyy’ and THEN I said ‘No, we’re going and that’s final!’. It was a real hoot! Anyway, we talked about it and now we’re going! It’s going to be so much fun I can’t even — I just can’t EVEN!”

Fluttershy ventured a glance around the table. Twilight was smiling with a creased brow, as if she were about to address a young filly who said something ridiculous. Rarity’s mouth was agape, and she was looking over at Fluttershy. A look of realization crossed her eyes and Fluttershy quickly looked away in distress.

O-oh no… she thought, Rarity knows…

Twilight looked at Fluttershy with the same strange expression she had given Pinkie.

“Fluttershy… you do know that the couples competition… is for couples, right?”

Fluttershy hid behind her mane and focused on her plate. A low whine escaped her quivering lips. Rarity’s stare was heavy upon her. Fluttershy could feel the tension.

Pinkie spoke.

“We ARE a couple, Twilight!”

Rainbow Dash started choking on her spit and Applejack leapt over to give her a swat on the back to break the clog in her throat. Twilight and Rarity looked at Fluttershy instinctively with wide eyes and open mouths. Fluttershy covered her face with her hooves, lest the heat escape from her cheeks and melt the tablecloth.

Applejack sorted out Rainbow, who held her heaved chest in the aftermath of what everypony (sans Pinkie) assumed was an overt confession. Applejack then got back in her seat and stared at Pinkie as if she had ten heads. All the mares besides Pinkie and Fluttershy cried in confusion.

“You ARE?”

Pinkie giggled and replied matter-of-factly.

“Well yeaaaah… a couple of besties!” Pinkie held up a hoof and shook her head with a confused expression. “Why does everypony keep reacting that way to me saying that?”

Luckily for Fluttershy, the only pony who had noticed her display of embarrassment and put two and two together was Rarity. Fluttershy slowly calmed down and dropped her hooves from her face with a sigh. She glanced up and saw Rarity looking at her with an understanding, sympathetic smile.

Breaking the awkward silence, Applejack cleared her throat.

“S’just, when ya say it like ‘We’re a couple’, Pinkie — well, ponies get a DIFFERENT idea of couple in this here situation… know what I’m sayin’?”

Pinkie cocked her head.

“Like, ‘we’re a couple of chums’?”

Rainbow chimed in, waving her hoof as she explained.

“No, Pinkie, it’s more like — well, like how Big Mac and Sugar Belle are… get it?”

Pinkie rose an eyebrow.

“Wait, Big Mac and Sugar Belle? I didn’t know they skated.”

Rainbow Dash facehoofed and Applejack chuckled, looking to Twilight for backup. Twilight just shrugged and looked to Rarity, who cleared her throat with a smile.

“Ladies, I believe this topic should be saved for another time. Our food is almost here, after all.” She slyly winked over at Fluttershy, who managed a soft smile in reply, thankful that the impending disaster of Pinkie realizing what was going on was averted. If Pinkie caught on that it was an event for couples — like, DATING, in-love sort of couples — Fluttershy didn’t think she could bear the thought. If Pinkie got weirded out by it and declined…

Fluttershy closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about it.

And so, she didn’t.

As Rarity had predicted, the food came a moment or two later, and as everypony dug in, Fluttershy found herself slowly return to a relatively normal state. She carried on conversation with each of her friends in turn. Everypony elaborated on what they had done earlier in the day, and Fluttershy came alive during her recounting of the zoo visit, making sure she didn’t steal any glances at Pinkie in the process.

Supper was a happy affair, and Fluttershy felt free to laugh and joke with her wonderful friends. The stress was lifted from her shoulders. She silently accepted the truth in her mind, unconsciously and utterly.

I have a crush on my best friend, Pinkie Pie.

The thought lay just below the surface of her conscious mind. As she chuckled along with everypony else while Pinkie told a mid-meal gut buster, the thought only grew and grew. Like the building water behind a knot in a hose. And after the meal, when everypony left the restaurant and headed for the theatre as per Twilight’s schedule, Fluttershy still rejected the true impact of the thought.

She ignored it further as she sat down in a cushy theatre seat, Pinkie to her left and Twilight to her right. And she continued to ignore it as the show started. A cast of colorful characters (which, in Vanhoover, simply meant they weren’t wearing hockey jerseys and wool hats) came onto the stage and danced about for an hour. Throughout the show, Fluttershy’s deep, dark secret was still just a blur.

And as the curtain prepared to close, and the entire cast came out to bow, Fluttershy sniffled back tears. The thought about Pinkie lingered as a shadow in her mind. The rest of her friends also sniffled, except Pinkie and Rainbow, who were hugging eachother in their seats and full-on crying.

“Jeez, it’s just so sad!” Pinkie said between sobs. “How could Muffin Sprinkle leave without saying she loves Jibber Jabber?” Rainbow shook her head as it rested on Pinkie’s shoulder.

“I know what you mean, Pinkie! It’s not fair! Who writes these awful things… dang it!”

Applejack nudged Rainbow with her flank as she moved down the row of seats and grinned like a fox.

“Well well, Rainbow, I didn’t take you for the blubbering-at-a-play type.”

Rainbow rubbed her eyes and glared at Applejack.

“Whataya talkin’ about?! There’s nothing lame about enjoying good theatre! Crying’s just part of the whole experience — or something!”

Pinkie also glared at Applejack and rubbed her eyes.

“Yeah!” she retorted. Rainbow hopped out of her seat and followed behind Applejack, who was chuckling.

“Plus, don’t think I didn’t see you crying in the third act, Applejack!”

Applejack sucked in her lips and her pupils darted about.

“Uhhh, no ya didn’t. That was, uhhh, sweat. Yeah! Ah was sweating buckets” — She took off her stetson and fanned herself — “Woowee, sweltering like a hen house in here.”

All six mares shuffled out of the theatre. It was a full house, so leaving took a few minutes, giving everypony ample time to discuss their favorite parts of the show. Fluttershy found herself awash with thoughts about the play and ignored the “knot” in her mind’s hose, and that’s how she maintained herself on the walk to the hotel once the girls finally left the theatre.

Though everypony was dressed in their winter warmest, the cold chill was unlike anything that would blow through Ponyville. Fluttershy’s and her friends’ teeth chattered, and their tails flicked back and forth for the entire trek.

Once back at the hotel, the girls rushed inside the lobby and quickly closed the doors, the brisk breeze rushing through behind them. They stood just inside and shivered for a good minute or two, not even realizing how much snow they had brought in with them. Pinkie shook herself all over like a wet dog, sending clumps of snow and ice everywhere. Vanhoovans were used to such things, however, so there was hotel staff ready and waiting at the entrance with shovels and mops to clean up. Twilight spoke first.

“W-well, everypony, I think that was a great first day! Let’s get back to our rooms, hop into bed, and get lots of sleep for tomorrow!”

For a hoofful of seconds the mares made for the hallway that led to their rooms. Twilight stopped suddenly when she saw the sign about the skating competition.

“Oh! Right!”

She turned to Fluttershy, slightly unsure of the whole situation still but just going with it because Pinkie was involved and, well, Pinkie was Pinkie.

“What time is the competition? I’d love to watch you two compete!”

The other mares agreed. Fluttershy looked at her hooves and kicked the tiled floor.

“Oh, um, I’m not exactly—”

“It starts at 12:30 tomorrow!”

The voice came from the front desk receptionist, a peppy, white-furred mare with a medium-length, silver mane. She smiled and continued.

“Sorry, I overheard your conversation! If you meant the Couples Skate Competition, it’s at 12:30!”

Twilight thanked the receptionist and addressed Fluttershy as the group went down the hallway to their rooms.

“Well, there you go! 12:30.”

Fluttershy nodded and a quiet ‘mhm’ escaped her lips.

Everypony said goodnight and entered their rooms. Once inside Pinkie and Fluttershy hopped into bed. Pinkie yawned like a loud grizzly bear and settled into her pillow with a smack of her lips.

“Boy I’m bushed! What a day, huh Fluttershy?” she asked. Fluttershy slowly pulled her covers up to her neck as if they were fragile and made of glass. She nodded to herself.

“R-right. Tomorrow will be fun, right?” Fluttershy asked, still unsure. Pinkie yawned again and replied with a drone that trailed off.

“Yeah of course… I can’t… wait…”

Pinkie started snoring. Fluttershy smiled and adjusted her position for maximum comfort. Then, a twang reverberated inside her head.

The knot in the hose in Fluttershy’s mind was unravelling.

At some point the dam was always bound to burst, the immense flood of realization hidden behind Fluttershy’s ignored thought, and it chose to happen as she closed her tired eyes. Her head was facing the ceiling. When the flood happened, her eyes burst open and she traced the swirls of the fancy ceiling pattern.

I have a crush on my best friend, Pinkie Pie.

The very real sensation of imaginary butterflies, hundreds of them, flying around in Fluttershy’s queasy stomach made her involuntarily moan. She ventured a glance at Pinkie’s passed out, snoring form.

Rarity said I need to tell her… but…

Fluttershy relished her personal acceptance of the crush, truly she did. But the true pain came from the fact that now that she accepted her crush, something had to be done. Something uncomfortable and painful, most of all to her. The quiet, timid Fluttershy. Element of Kindness. She retreated underneath her blanket, so that only the top of her eyes would be seen were somepony watching her.

Ohhhhhh… I need a hundred years to prepare for something like that! I mean, it’s impossible.

She shook her head rapidly.

Never ever, never ever, never ever, never ever… was the mantra Fluttershy repeated over and over again in her thoughts until sleep slowly overcame her.

* * *

A knock at the hotel room door stirred Fluttershy out of the best sleep of her life. She yawned a small, demure yawn and stretched her hooves. Well, one of her hooves. The right one could barely move because a hot, furry, pink mass was sleeping soundly right up against Fluttershy. She turned her head. Pinkie’s snout was right next to hers.

With a yelp, Fluttershy jumped out of the plush, golden silk blankets and extended her wings.

Oh, it’s just Pinkie…

She blushed. Pinkie’s eyelids started to flicker. There was another knock on the door. Fluttershy caught her breath as she minced over to check who it was. With a turn of the bolt, she slowly opened the door.

“Y-yes?” she asked. The pony on the other side was a chipper looking light blue stallion in a hotel attendant’s uniform.

“Morning miss! Just want to remind you of the complimentary breakfast in our dining lounge! Only available for another hour!”

He tipped his hat and was on his way. Fluttershy smiled.

Breakfast sounds good right now! I should see if—

“Did he say COMPLIMENTARY BREAKFAST?!”

Pinkie’s voice came from directly behind Fluttershy, and for the second time that day already, Pinkie made Fluttershy jump into the air in fright. This time, Fluttershy stopped herself in midair with a flap of her wings and held her chest with a shaky hoof.

“P-Pinkie Pie! I’m g-glad you’re awake but, umm, you sort of startled me!”

Pinkie giggled.

“Sort of? Haha, sorry Fluttershy! But when it comes to meals, there’s NOTHING better than a complimentary breakfast!” Pinkie made a thoughtful expression with her hoof against her chin. “Well, maybe a complimenting breakfast, but I mean, when does food ever tell you how funny your jokes are or how great the poof in your mane looks?”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Alright, alright. Let’s get down there before Rainbow Dash and Applejack eat all the food.”

Pinkie got a determined look in her eye.

“Yeah! I want to be the pony to eat all that delicious, free food.”

Pinkie was raring to go, but Fluttershy’s ears flicked up and she held up a hoof.

“Wait, Pinkie! I’m just going to wash up a bit before breakfast. You can go on ahead if you’d like.”
Fluttershy flew back inside and into the bathroom. Pinkie called out.

“It’s okay, I’ll wait for you! But don’t take too long!!!”

Fluttershy glanced at herself in the bathroom mirror to make sure she looked okay. She checked that her mane was brushed to its usual side and that no tufts stuck up on her coat. She gave her wings a hasty pruning. She blinked at herself.

The swell of her cheeks, the color of her teal irises, the plunk in her eyebrows. She frowned.

I wonder if she looks at me too? Does she think I’m pretty?

Fluttershy blushed and closed her eyes with a sigh.

“Fluttershyyy! What didn’t you understand about ‘delicious’ and ‘free’?! Let’s go!”

It was Pinkie. Fluttershy exhaled and put on a happy face.

“Coming!!!” she cried out.