Green Is Your Color

“Hi-Yah!” Fluttershy shouted as she twisted Harry the Bear’s neck and threw him down on the ground. She giggled, landing on his back and giving a massage with her hooves. “You really should have come to me sooner. You were carrying so much tension in that shoulder,”

Harry growled in appreciation. After a moment he grunted and tried to get up.

“Uh uh uh,” Fluttershy tutted. “You have to relax now.”

The bear pointed down the path leading to the cottage with a grunt.

Fluttershy spotted the lavender coat of Twilight. “Yes, that is my friend,” she remarked.

Harry gave a little whine, looking up with sad eyes.

“She does look a little sad,” Fluttershy agreed. “Just relax while I go check on her. I’ll be right back.”

As Fluttershy trotted closer to Twilight, she noticed how frazzled her friend’s mane looked. “Twilight?” Fluttershy called, but her voice was too quiet. She galloped forward. “Twilight? Is something the matter?”

Twilight’s neck snapped straight up and she gave Fluttershy a grin that looked a little too wide and toothy. “Hi Fluttershy! I was just stopping by to see if you had any troubles, trials or conundrums that I as a good friend could help you with! …But you seem to have it all covered,” Twilight sighed.

“Troubles, trials or conundrums?” Fluttershy repeated, scuffing a hoof.

“Uh huh!” Twilight exclaimed, going starry-eyed at Fluttershy’s body language. “So, do you have something for me?”

“Well, there’s one thing I could use some help with,” Fluttershy mumbled, starting to hide behind her mane. “I think I have a… crush.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Twilight prodded, leaning in closer.

“I have a-” Fluttershy started again, but trailed off.

“Didn’t quite catch that,” Twilight remarked. Her horn started glowing. “Here, let me give you a little amplification spell!”

“I have a… a crush,” Fluttershy whispered.

Twilight clopped her front hooves together. “A crush! You have a crush! So, you need help telling your crush?”

“Yes,” said Fluttershy. Her eyes widened as all the nearby birds flew out of the trees.

“Perfect! Well, how hard can that be? Who do you have a crush on?” Twilight asked, summoning a notepad and quill.

“Rarity,” Fluttershy said in the quietest voice possible, which didn’t come out quiet at all.

Twilight gasped, eyes widening, the notepad plopping on the ground.

“Um, please make my voice normal again?” Fluttershy whispered. Twilight somehow managed to reverse the spell while staying absolutely still.

“So…” Fluttershy started, testing to make sure she was back to normal. “I want to take her out on a date. Could you maybe help me plan it out? I-If it’s not too much trouble…”

“Not you too!” Twilight exclaimed, snapping out of her stupor. “Spike is already too much of a hooffull! Now you two are going to be competing for Rarity? Oh no. This is bad,” Twilight shuddered. “I thought the cupcakes having unequal icing for six friends was bad, but can you imagine what will happen to six friends if two of those six friends are more than friends? There won’t be six friends anymore, there’ll be four friends and two more than friends! And if there’s a breakup, we’ll be left with four friends and two not friends! What will happen to the Elements of Harmony?!”

Fluttershy cowered, her jaw on the floor as she shuffled back.

“Are you sure you have a crush and not just a closer friendship?” Twilight asked. “We need to go to the library and cross check a reference. I know I have a book on this.” She grabbed Fluttershy in her magic and galloped towards Ponyville, unable to hear her charge’s protests.

“Not this one, not this one, aha! Here it is! One-Hundred and One Telltale Signs of a Romantic Crush! Alright, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, flipping through the book rapidly and glancing to the seat next to her, only to find it empty. “Fluttershy?” She looked behind and saw the yellow pegasus sprawled out on the carpet in a daze. “Whoops, sorry I dropped you there,” Twilight remarked. She grabbed Fluttershy in her magic, who squeaked in response, and sat her friend down on the empty stump at the table, not noticing Fluttershy’s glare. “So, when you see Rarity, do you get a warm feeling in your chest?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy answered curtly.

Twilight frowned. “How about when you think of her?”

Fluttershy thought of Rarity and all the times her friend had helped her gain confidence, and the warm feeling started to bubble in her chest once more. Her agitated look melted into a small smile. “Yes,” she affirmed.

Twilight facehoofed at Fluttershy’s dreamy expression. She flipped through a few more pages. “Okay, do you get butterflies in your stomach when you see her?”

“Um… no? What kind of butterflies?” asked Fluttershy.

“Aha! Maybe you don’t have a crush on her after all!” Twilight proclaimed. She turned another page. “Okay, here’s a chapter on physical attraction. Do you like her mane? Or her eyelashes?” Twilight glanced at Fluttershy and saw a frozen expression. Twilight grinned as she went further down the page. “What about her perfume? What about her flanks?”

A mewl from Fluttershy caught Twilight’s attention. Now Fluttershy’s cheeks were a rosy red; at least, the parts that Twilight could see past Fluttershy’s trusty mane. Both her wings were unfurled too. Wait, rosy cheeks? Tense wings? Twilight flipped back several pages and groaned.

“Um,” Fluttershy squeaked. “I never really thought about those before, but…” she trailed off in a series of sounds an octave too high to interpret.

“What was that?” Twilight pressed, dreading the answer.

“I said, [small]yes to all,” Fluttershy answered, before draping her mane over her cheeks.

“Ugh!” Twilight exclaimed to the ceiling, slamming the book closed. “You can’t have a crush on Rarity!”

“Why not?” Fluttershy asked, emerging from her pink curtain and lowering her wings.

“Because…” Twilight grumbled, more hairs popping out of her mane. “Because…” she looked around the library, then scrambled around the library, then looked out the window. She spotted two stallions leisurely walking down the street. “Because Rarity likes stallions!” Twilight decided. “Yes, Rarity likes stallions! All she could talk about before the gala was finding her prince! She wants to marry a prince!”

“Oh…” Fluttershy mumbled, slumping. “I hadn’t thought about that, either…”

“You see? Rarity isn’t going to return your feelings. Things will get awkward. Then you’ll drift apart, and that could put our whole group of friends at risk. It’s best if you keep your crush a secret,” Twilight nodded matter-of-factly. She pulled out a scroll and dipped a quill in ink. “Dear Princess Celestia,” she said as she wrote, “today I learned an important lesson about friendship. Sometimes it’s necessary to keep your romantic feelings a secret in order to keep your friendships fair and intact. Your Faithful Student-”

“Twilight,” Fluttershy suddenly interjected, tapping a hoof on the table. “I, um… I don’t think Princess Celestia will like that letter.”

“Hmm, it is a little short, isn’t it? Okay, let me try again,” said Twilight, crumpling up the scroll and summoning a new one. “Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned an important lesson about friendship. I learned that crushes on friends are bad, and can only cause conflicts between friends. It’s better to keep your feelings a secret-”

“Do you really think my crush on Rarity is that bad, Twilight?” Fluttershy sniffed.

“Yes! You’re favoring Rarity over everypony else!” Twilight accused.

“Well, I’ve known Rarity the longest,” Fluttershy said. “I’ve known Rainbow Dash just as long, although-”

“Ugh!” Twilight screeched, ripping up the second scroll and starting fresh again. “Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned an important lesson about friendship. I learned that if you are the last friend to join a group of friends, then you will always be less important than the others. Your Faithful Student-”

“Twilight!” Fluttershy exclaimed, plucking the quill out of Twilight’s magical grasp with a wing. “You’re not any less important! Why would you think that?”

“You have a crush on Rarity,” Twilight deadpanned. “Clearly she’s more important to you than me.”

Fluttershy flinched. “A-are you jealous of Rarity, Twilight?” she stuttered. Almost subconsciously, the pink curtain started closing in.

“What?” Twilight shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I mean, I know I’ve been interested in both mares and stallions before, but you girls are just my friends. I haven’t thought much about romance, which is why I needed that book. I wanted to learn everything about friendship first before studying romance, but now I’m seeing how friendships aren’t all created equal…”

Fluttershy placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I do have a crush on Rarity,” she admitted, softly and clearly. “I guess that does mean she is more special to me than my other friends. But does that have to mean we’re not friends anymore? I don’t want that…”

“Well, maybe it’s happening without you noticing,” Twilight said. “Did you ever realize that you two left me behind at the photo shoot studio? That hurt, and I didn’t know why at the time, but now I do. It’s because you’re favoring Rarity over all your other friends because of your stupid crush, whether you know it or not!”

Photo shoot studio? Fluttershy wondered. She thought back to what that could mean, but immediately started regretting it as memories of being a model and everypony staring at her resurfaced, making all her muscles tense. “I didn’t leave you behind because I had a crush on Rarity, which I didn’t have at the time,” Fluttershy grumbled as she remembered the real reason. “I was upset with how you used your magic to embarrass me on stage.”

“I was helping you!” Twilight said defensively. “You didn’t want to be a model anymore, but you could never be ungraceful on your own, so I made it happen!”

“And it was humiliating!” Fluttershy cried. “Your magic-”

“And it was working!” Twilight continued, pacing around. “It would have worked if Rarity hadn’t intervened.”

Fluttershy facehoofed. “You don’t get it, Twilight. Your magic-”

“What’s this about my magic?” Twilight snapped, several more hairs springing out of alignment.

Fluttershy drew back. “Um… Twilight, maybe you should calm down… a-and we can talk about this later?” Desperate not to meet Twilight’s increasingly manic expression, Fluttershy glanced out the window. “Oh, look, it's kind of getting close to sundown!” she exclaimed, even though the sun’s position was still solidly afternoon. “I better go back and finish Harry’s massage, then head to the park! See you at the picnic!” Without further ado, she flew out the window, leaving behind a yellow and pink contrail.

Oh my… Fluttershy thought, frozen with her muzzle slightly agape. She had arrived at the park to the sight of Rarity bent over and nosing through a basket. Fluttershy wouldn’t have thought twice about it if it hadn’t been for Twilight’s accursed book making Fluttershy think about what she thought was attractive about Rarity.

A picnic blanket suddenly washed over Fluttershy’s view, snapping her out of her trance. Trance was an understatement. Fluttershy had been ogling her best friend’s flank, for pony’s sake! She needed a distraction, fast. Spotting some balloons rising into the air, she turned her head up to watch them, hoping that nopony noticed that she was-

“Are you alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “Sorry if I startled you with the blanket.”

Fluttershy flushed a little more at having been caught. “No, I wasn’t- I-I mean, yes! I’m fine! P-Pinkie, why did you bring balloons?” Fluttershy breathed out, desperate to change the subject.

“I had some left over!” Pinkie chimed. “I was gonna deflate them, but then I thought they might be so sad that their siblings got set free, so I-”

“Please tell me I did not forget the plates,” Rarity interrupted, still nosing through her basket.

Fluttershy dared to turn her head back towards that dazzling voice, barely trusting herself and her big disobedient eyes.

“I did!” Rarity gasped. “I totally forgot them! Of all the worst things that could happen, this is The. Worst. Possible. Thing!” She flopped onto her conveniently placed chaise lounge.

Fluttershy saw her other friends looking exasperated and put on a similar looking mask, but on the inside she was wrestling with herself between thinking of what it would be like to lie down with Rarity on the fainting couch or wondering how the two of them would fit.

“What? You didn’t expect me to lay on the grass, did you?”

Fluttershy snapped out of her fantasies, replacing her exasperated mask with the real thing.

There was a soft plop, followed by the sound of Rainbow Dash scrambling to her hooves, disrupting the picnic blanket. Five mares turned to face a wide-eyed, scruffy Twilight Sparkle. “You alright, hun?” Applejack asked, taking a cautious step forward.

“No! I am not alright,” Twilight declared, eyes starting to water.

“What can we do?” asked Applejack.

“It’s just terrible,” Twilight continued. “Simply awful. It’s the most horrific trouble I’ve ever been in and I really, really, really need your help!”

Fluttershy sat there wide eyed at her frazzled friend, holding her hooves to her muzzle. She suddenly felt very guilty for leaving the library so abruptly while Twilight had clearly not been thinking straight. Had Twilight sent a bad letter to the princess and got a scolding? Had she broken anything? Had she hurt herself somehow? When it came to Twilight’s magic, any damage imaginable was possible…

“My letter to Princess Celestia is almost overdue, and I haven’t learned anything about friendship!” Twilight exclaimed, going as stiff as a board.

Fluttershy breathed a huge sigh of relief, resting her eyes. “Oh, thank goodness. I thought something really awful had happened,” she said, putting on a serene smile.

Twilight drew back in shock, making some strangled sounds. The next moment, Twilight started teleporting around, the pop sounds making Fluttershy wince. “Something awful has happened!” Twilight screeched. “If I don’t turn in the letter on time, I’ll be tardy! Tardy!”

“No offense, sugarcube, but it looks like somepony’s getting themselves all worked up over nothing,” Applejack said, easing Twilight into a calm sitting position.

“This is not nothing,” Twilight shot back, punting Applejack’s hooves away. “This is everything. I need you guys to help me find somepony with a problem I can fix before sundown! My whole life depends on it!”

Pinkie Pie let out a signature giggle. “Oh Twilight, you’re such a crack-up!” she laughed.

“Come on now, have a seat and stop sweating the small stuff,” Applejack offered.

Twilight gave them a venomous glare that could probably shoot magical lasers if held for long enough. “Ugh!” she groaned, running off and teleporting away. The ponies at the picnic couldn’t see their friend anymore, if she was even still in the park at all.

Fluttershy lowered her head. “Wow, I’ve never seen Twilight so upset before,” she mumbled. She really should’ve braved whatever magical apocalypse was awaiting her back at the library in order to help Twilight sort out whatever was going on in that lavender head…

Rarity scoffed a dignified scoff. “What a drama queen!” the fashionista laughed. “Ehem, relatively speaking,” she added, tossing her mane and looking to the side with a sheepish smile.

Fluttershy smiled at the beautiful sight; Rarity very rarely had a need to look shy, but Fluttershy couldn't help but notice that shy Rarity looked adorable. For once, Fluttershy thought she might understand why all those ponies wanted her to look all shy in front of the camera. Fluttershy thought of complimenting Rarity, but then a strange feeling arose in her stomach. What was happening? Is this what Twilight meant by “butterflies in her stomach?” She never felt this way before! Why did Twilight have to read that book to her against her will?

“Fluttershy, darling. Is there something you’re trying to say?” Rarity asked, now staring back at the yellow mare.

The butterflies doubled, no, tripled. “Twilight!” Fluttershy blurted out. Twilight read a book about crushes to me and now I can’t think straight! Fluttershy squirmed even more at those thoughts. “Twilight came to me earlier asking for a friendship problem to solve so she could write a letter,” Fluttershy breathed out instead.

“So that’s why she asked me if I had any problems with AJ,” Rainbow Dash chimed in.

“I suppose that’s why she visited the boutique earlier,” Rarity remarked. “She disappeared before I could ask what was the matter.”

“Maybe we should help her find a problem to solve so she can write about it to the princess?” Applejack asked.

“Nah, it’s just Twilight being Twilight,” Rainbow dismissed, lying down on the picnic blanket.

“She’s gotta come back for cupcakes,” Pinkie said, nosing the forgotten box. When the lid flipped open, Pinkie gasped, eyes going wide at the thirteen near frostingless cupcakes. “What happened to these poor things?!” She pulled a tube of frosting out of her mane and squashed it between two hooves. Frosting splattered all over the cupcakes and surrounding picnic blanket.

The other four stared at Pinkie’s mess, then shrugged. “I’ll take the one with the least frosting,” said Rarity. “A lady must always watch her figure.”

“I’ll take the most frosting,” Rainbow declared. “I’ll fly it off in a jiffy. You just need to exercise more, Rares.”

“I do exercise,” Rarity pouted.

Pinkie handed out cupcakes based on everypony’s frosting preferences. “You know, Twilight’s birthday’s coming up! Since she’s not here, we should start planning the surprise party!”

Fluttershy wanted to ask Rarity for a date, but she couldn’t do it. She still hadn’t the slightest idea how, or what to even do on a date, and Twilight hadn’t helped at all. In fact, Twilight had made things worse by pointing out all of Rarity’s features and cursing Fluttershy with these new butterflies in her stomach. So instead of saying anything Fluttershy just smiled and listened as Rarity talked about how her dresses were doing in Canterlot.

Suddenly, the ground rumbled. A horde of ponies ran through the park, led by the mayor in front and with pegasi closing in from the air. “What in the name of all things oats and apples is going on here?” Applejack asked.

“Don’t look at it!” Twilight suddenly screeched. Fluttershy turned to see that Twilight was suddenly back, with her hooves covering Rainbow Dash’s eyes, looking even more unstable than before, if that was even possible.

“Don’t look at what?” Rarity asked.

Twilight let go of Rainbow’s eyes and moved to cover Rarity’s, which gave Fluttershy a sudden urge to push the mad unicorn away from Rarity. “My Smarty Pants doll!” Twilight let go of Rarity and stepped away. “I enchanted her and now everypony is fighting over her!”

Suddenly Fluttershy found herself at Rarity’s side, in front of Twilight, as if she could shield Rarity from whatever crazy spell might come out of Twilight next. “Why would you enchant your doll?” she demanded.

“Well I had to do something! I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia!” Twilight cried, lying on the grass with her hooves to her head. “I thought if I couldn’t find a problem, I’d make a problem! The day is almost over!”

“Not almost…” Applejack muttered, looking towards the horizon as the sun dipped below it.

Fluttershy whimpered at the carnage taking place across the park. She should’ve helped Twilight earlier. She knew she should’ve, but she didn’t. Now the magical disaster that she thought would happen was happening before their eyes.

“Twilight Sparkle!” a voice from above called, a ray of light shining down on them. Princess Celestia floated above, and for the first time, she looked angry. Her horn shone, followed by a wave of light, and the scuffles across the park ceased.

“Meet me in the library,” Princess Celestia ordered, flying off.

There was complete silence as Twilight lifted herself onto four hooves, head still to the ground. “Goodbye girls,” she whimpered, dragging her hooves forward. “If you care to visit, I’ll be in magic kindergarten… back in Canterlot…”

The five remaining friends stared after Twilight’s departing form until she teleported away. “Magic kindergarten…?” Fluttershy asked.

“Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“We’re never going to see Twilight again!” Pinkie Pie cried.

“What are we gonna do, y’all?” Applejack asked.

“Of all the things that could happen, this is The. Worst. Possible. Thing!” Rarity cried. Fluttershy stared, pretending to look annoyed like the others although she was feeling on the more endeared side. “What? I really mean it this time!” Rarity added, flipping a hoof and winking.

Fluttershy had to look away to clear her mind of Rarity and maintain a normal temperature in her cheeks. She took a calming breath. “I’m sorry everypony. I knew Twilight needed a letter. I should’ve helped her write one, or talked to her to calm her down, instead of running off.”

“It ain’t your fault, Fluttershy,” Applejack reassured. “We all should’ve calmed her down earlier instead of letting her run off.”

“Well we gotta tell the princess that now! We can’t let Twilight go to magic kindergarten!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She set a course to the Golden Oaks Library with the others galloping after.

Twilight landed on the wooden floor of the library after her teleport, flopping on the ground and covering her face with her hooves. There was silence as Twilight awaited a lecturing and her sentencing. When none came, she slowly peered up at her teacher’s stern look.

“Twilight, I trust you know what you did wrong. So tell me, what did you learn today?”

“I’m sorry, Princess,” Twilight stammered. “I didn’t get a letter about friendship to you on time. I promise to be more organized in the future and never miss a deadline-” Twilight felt Celestia place a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight stopped immediately, covering her mouth with her hooves.

Celestia withdrew her hoof and closed her eyes. Silence filled the library once more.

Twilight didn’t know what to say. Despite being her teacher, Celestia was still an enigma to her in many ways. If the princess wasn’t mad at her friends for ruining the gala, then what would make her mad? The only time Twilight had ever even seen the princess mad was a moment ago back at the park, and the princess didn’t even look mad right now, just disappointed. “What did I do wrong, Princess?” Twilight asked in a small voice.

Princess Celestia sighed, looking Twilight in the eyes. “You know I don’t like giving out answers, Twilight. I prefer to guide my subjects and students alike to come to an understanding for themselves.” A small smile formed at the edges of her white muzzle as she went into teacher mode. “Now, why don’t you start by explaining to me what was happening in the park?”

“O-okay,” Twilight whispered. “Everypony was fighting with each other because they all wanted my doll, which I enchanted with a Want It, Need It spell. But you already knew that, since you cast the counterspell.”

“And why did you cast this particular spell?”

“I wanted to make three fillies fight over my doll so that I could break it up,” Twilight continued. “So that I could write a letter to you about how friends should share with each other. But they weren’t interested in the doll. I-I… When I cast that spell, I was only trying to cause a little argument between three fillies. I didn’t stop to think about what would happen if other ponies came in contact with my doll, and I ended up hurting a lot of ponies. I never should’ve forced anypony to like my doll.”

Celestia nodded. “Sounds like you learned an important lesson today.”

“I did,” said Twilight. “And I have a lot of ponies to apologize to.” Twilight briefly tried to calculate just how many ponies she had to apologize to, then put that thought aside for now. “So, does that cover my letter for the week?” Her eyes shone. “I’m clear until next Tuesday? I know it's after sundown, but-”

“Next Tuesday? What are you talking about, Twilight?”

“I’m supposed to send you a letter about friendship every week. I missed the deadline. I’m a bad student. I’m… tardy…”

“You are a wonderful student, Twilight. I don’t have to get a letter every week to know that. Wherever did you get that idea?”

Twilight’s mouth hung open. Indeed, she didn’t recall the princess ever giving her instructions, only asking her to report back on the magic of friendship with no specific due date. What was so special about a week? What was so special about Tuesday? Then it hit her. “Back in Canterlot, we would have tea every Tuesday afternoon and I would go over my magical discoveries,” Twilight said. “It was my favorite part of the week.”

Princess Celestia smiled warmly. “It was my favorite past of the week too, my faithful student.”

“But then, when I moved to Ponyville, I had new friends to share the day and night with instead of studying on my own all the time. I also spent more time with Spike; I wasn’t a very good friend to him before. I was enjoying my time in Ponyville so much that I started to forget what Canterlot was like. But one Tuesday afternoon, I felt like I was missing my meeting with you.” Twilight looked off to the side with an embarrassed grin, tapping her hooves together. “I realized that those Tuesday afternoon meetings were not just me reporting my studies to my teacher. I was spending time with a friend. So I thought, if I wasn’t in Canterlot to see you, I should at least send a letter every Tuesday.”

Princess Celestia pulled Twilight into a hug. “Oh Twilight, that means so much to me. Sometimes I worried that I was only a teacher to you, and not your friend. I am happy to hear my worries were unfounded. As I’m sure you now know, the magic of friendship is a very special kind of magic. While most magical studies can be gathered up and discussed every week, the magic of friendship doesn’t follow such rules.”

“You’re right, Princess. I can’t believe I tried to force a friendship problem for the week,” Twilight said sheepishly.

“Our magical talks were the highlight of my week, and your letters continue to be so. You can always write to me, and it doesn’t have to strictly be about a lesson in friendship. In fact, I realize today that I’ve been rather neglectful on my part. From this day forth, you should be expecting some mail in return, too,” Celestia added with a wink.

The library door burst open, causing Twilight to jump in surprise. Rainbow Dash flew in between Twilight and Princess Celestia, holding out a hoof. “Wait!”

“You can’t punish her!” Pinkie Pie cried, zipping to Twilight’s side.

“It wasn’t her fault!” Applejack hollered.

Princess Celestia smiled to herself, seeing the magic of friendship at work. “I’m listening.”

“Please your highness, we all saw that Twilight was upset,” Fluttershy said.

“But we thought that the thing she was worrying about wasn’t worrying about,” Rainbow confessed, looking at her hooves.

“So when she ran off all worked up, not a single one of us tried to stop her!” Applejack added.

“As Twilight’s good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her!” said Rarity.

“Please don’t take her away from us just because we were too insensitive to help her,” Fluttershy pleaded.

Princess Celestia wore an enigmatic smile. “It seems we’ve all learned a pretty valuable lesson today. Myself included.”

“I’m sorry I caused all that trouble and worried everypony,” Twilight said, wrapping her hooves around her friends. “I’m not getting banished to Canterlot. Although, I’m sure I’ll visit more often,” she smiled.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Princess Celestia chuckled. “Now, if you all will excuse me, I must return to Canterlot.” She made her way to the library’s balcony.

“Princess Celestia, wait!” Twilight called. “How did you know I was in trouble?”

“Spike made me aware that you were letting your fears get the best of you,” Celestia chuckled. With a great leap, the alicorn flapped towards the distant mountain in the moonlight before disappearing in a golden flash.

With her hooves on the balcony, Twilight stared out at the glowing speck that was Canterlot fondly. She walked back inside and spotted Spike hiding against the wall with his claws behind his back. “Thanks Spike,” she said, pulling him into a hug. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Twilight?” Fluttershy voiced, rubbing one hoof. “I was wondering, if it’s not too much trouble, if I could help you write a friendship lesson to the princess?”

“Of course!” Twilight cheered. “Spike?”

“I’ve got you covered,” Spike grinned, scroll and quill handy.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” Fluttershy started, “today I learned to take my friends’ worries seriously, even if I don’t think it’s anything worth worrying about. It’s always better to handle problems early instead of letting them get worse.”

“And I learned to always talk about problems before jumping straight to magic, and to never use magic that affects others without their permission,” Twilight added. “Your friends, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle.”

“P.S.” said Spike, “Obviously, Spike did not have to learn a lesson, because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else, he took things seriously, and-” he trailed off, grinning at Twilight’s glare.

Twilight shook her head and smiled. “Let’s just go with, ‘P.S. Thank you for coming to Ponyville after receiving Spike’s letter. He is the best friend a pony could ask for.’”

“Deal!” Spike declared. He scrolled up the letter and sent it off with a breath of green fire.

After all the girls left the library, Twilight caught up with Fluttershy on her way home to her cottage. “Fluttershy, I just wanted to say to you first…” she scuffed a hoof along the ground. “I’m sorry for all the times that I, um, cast random spells on you without approval.”

“Hmm?”

“You know, amplifying your voice, dragging you to the library… embarrassing you at the fashion show with all kinds of crazy things… I’m sure I’m forgetting something.”

“Turning me into a vampire fruit bat pony?” Fluttershy offered.

“Yeah, that,” Twilight said with a shudder. “It’s obvious now why you didn’t want me to turn your mice into horses. I’m sorry. From now on, I promise to control how I use my magic and think before I act.”

“It’s okay,” said Fluttershy. “You never wanted to hurt anypony on purpose. I, um, I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable about your special talent.”

“From now on, don’t hide your worries,” said Twilight. “As you said, we’re going to take worries seriously, even if we think they’re not worth worrying about.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy smiled. The two friends shared a warm hug.

“Wait,” said Twilight. “I feel like there was something else I said to you today that wasn’t right. All the details got foggier as the day got closer to sundown…”

“No, you didn’t say anything bad,” Fluttershy said.

“Are you sure? I really feel like there was something I should apologize for,” Twilight insisted, rubbing a hoof against her head.

“Whatever it was, apology accepted,” Fluttershy smiled.

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, then shrugged. “Well, if you say so. Thanks!”

“Good night!” Fluttershy waved, heading towards her cottage.

Once Fluttershy was out of town, she lowered her head, careful not to trip over her mane. She didn’t want Twilight to know what had been forgotten. It wasn’t Twilight’s fault. Of course, the thing Twilight forgot was how she had crushed Fluttershy’s dreams by pointing out how Rarity wouldn’t return her feelings. It was The. Worst. Possible. Thing.