The Elements of Love

Chapters

Before The Boom
The Boom and Beyond
Many Meetings
Hearts, Hooves, Honesty and...Huh?
One Step Forward
Two Steps Back
What Matters
Matters of the Heart
Forgiveness and Friendship
A Heart's Pain
Distribution
Tears
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Claw, Hoof
Feelings Deep Inside
True Feelings?
More Feelings
Tell Me What You Think

Before The Boom

Chapter 1: Before the Boom!

Many Years ago

The cyan foal walked up to the grey filly and smiled at her. Rainbow Dash had been friends with Derpy Hooves since they joined school, but now she felt butterflies in her stomach whenever they were together. Between classes one day Dash told her this. Derpy blushed but told her she had to go "Do some things" but they'd catch up later.

Unfortunately, 'catch up' meant that the prismatic pegasus found herself alone at recess with dozens of pegasai- most of which she didn't know, some of which she disliked, but a few she had thought were friends- surrounding her. They were pointing and laughing, chanting "Lesbo Dash! Lesbo Dash! Lesbo Dash is a piece of trash!"

She was scared, confused, and angry. She was scared of the way her peers were treating her. It was uncomfortable and frightening. She was confused because she had no idea what 'Lesbo' meant nor why they were doing this. And she was angry for being called a piece of trash. She knew what that meant. She also was angry that Derpy was in the crowd and, while she didn't know why, she knew that what she had told her best friend had turned into this. She flew at Derpy and punched her square in the nose, crossing the brown pony's eyes as she was knocked out.

After being sent home for assaulting another student, Rainbow Dash asked her parents what a Lesbo was. They explained it to her and she quietly thought about it for a while, not telling them the full story of the event at school. A few weeks later she kissed one of the boys in her class and the 'lesbo' label left her. She felt better, or she thought she did. She started to vent her anger not by punching people in the face, but by beating them at the one thing Pegasai cherish more than anything; flying.

Some months later

Pinkamena Diane Pie was shoving a rock across the ground for a good two hours before she took a break. She sat down and sighed, looking around with a bland expression and glassy eyes. The grey dirt and grey rocks gave way to nothing new. Not now, not ever.

She was about to yawn but was interrupted by a tug, or a tingle. Something inside her that was suddenly different, but not in a bad way. She'd been getting these strange feelings more and more frequently over the past few years- floppy ears, twitchy tail- none of it made sense to her, but this feeling was new and it was strong. It pulled her attention and turned her head to the left where she saw three ponies approaching her father. He was on the far side of fields and she saw him greet them. She couldn't see the details of what was going on and, having nothing better to do, walked towards them.

Before she got five steps she stopped and stared at an orange filly who was staring back at her. The orange one was smiling slightly and lifted a hoof, waving to her. Pinkamena felt that tingle again and her lips formed an ever so slight smile. Lifting her hoof, she waved back, but before she could get closer the old green pony nudged the orange one and the trio left, leaving a cart of apples behind.

When the tingle inside her vanished Pinkamena went back to her rock with a sigh. She was bored again.

A few weeks later

Applejack bid her family goodbye as her few belongings and travel goods were slung over her shoulder. Her big brother, Mac, was sobbing but Granny Smith seemed to understand what was going through the young filly's mind. She wanted to try the sophisticated life of aunt and uncle out in Manehatten, and she told her family this weeks ago as she prepared for the trip. But she had a slightly less obvious reason for going. She felt...uncomfortable at home now. Or she thought she did.

She had been thinking about that pink pony out on the rock farm for a few weeks now, and she was also thinking about Rarity, the girl from her class she had become friends with while they prepared for a play. Rarity had made Applejack such an amazing costume that the teacher asked her to make outfits for everyone else. Applejack spent a lot of time with Rarity to help her design the costumes, though truth be told Applejack mostly just stabbed herself with the needles and got her hooves stuck to things with the glue, but she had fun.

Up until during a conversation Rarity asked if she'd ever kissed a boy. Applejack admitted that she liked to get kissed on the cheek from her brother but she made Rarity swear not to tell anypony that. She had an image to uphold as the tough rowdy cowgirl in class after all. Rarity giggled, promised, but meant a non-family kiss. When Applejack said she hadn't she asked if she'd ever kissed anyone non-family, and when AJ said no again Rarity leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

AJ blushed a bit but made an excuse to leave after waiting around a bit to make it seem like that wasn't it. Since then, she'd felt very wrong. She knew that girls shouldn't kiss girls- though she only 'knew' this from the agitation her Granny would show when in town and they saw two mares standing too close together, 'Carpet munching bi-' Granny would always say though she'd stop when she remembered Applejack was with her and correct herself to 'Carpet munching foals shouldn't be actin' all filthy like that'. While Applejack saw nothing filthy about it, she absorbed the dislike.

Now that she was thinking about how nice it would be to be friends with the pink pony and Rarity she started to feel like she was dirty. It was confusing since she had many mare friends, but something about the pink pony and Rarity made them different. It confused and scared her, so she wanted to leave for a while. Clear her head, make some new friends and enjoy the clean life of her wealthy relatives.

She gave her brother a kiss on the cheek and hugged Granny Smith before turning her back on Sweet Apple Acres and leisurely strolling away.

A couple days later

Rarity sighed in frustration, her eyes squinted in disgust at the newest hideous piece of fashion she had attempted. She slapped it aside and buried her head in her arms on the table. Why were her costumes so ugly? When Applejack was helping her they were absolutely fabulous but now her friend had moved away. She didn't even say goodbye!

True, Rarity had only met her a few weeks ago but they had been getting along swimmingly! Rarity absolutely loved being around the pretty orange foal and the cowgirl was the only topic of conversation that interested her for quite some time. She had rather naively asked her mother if Applejack could come live with them or if she could live with her friend since she loved being with her. Her mother merely chuckled and told her that it wouldn't be fair to the families if one of their loved ones had to leave.

She walked in on her parents kissing one day, asked what they were doing, got the explanation that when two ponies really care about each other they kissed to show it, and Rarity blundered out how she should kiss Applejack to show how special she was to Rarity. Her parents were immediately concerned and grilled her with questions for hours. After a while, they began to tell Rarity that she was just confused and the feeling would pass.

"Besides," her mother said, telling her what her mother had told her at that age, "That feeling you have is just your creativity trying to come out. What were you and Applejack doing when you first felt it?" Rarity had to think on that, since she had felt it ever since meeting the Sweet Apple Acres girl. She decided that it must have been when Applejack had asked for her help in making a costume for the play.

"Then you must really enjoy making costumes" her mother said, "Try making more"

"Well, Miss Chalk did say it was really good...she wants me to make more"

"Excellent," her mother had said. That made some sense to Rarity and for the next week she and Applejack had worked together on the costumes. Rarity decided to ignore her parents advice and gave Applejack a kiss. She assumed her friend knew what it meant, but a couple weeks later she left.

She must not have known what a kiss meant Rarity thought dejectedly. Everything Rarity had made had been perfect, but with Applejack's presence no longer here everything seemed horrible. Maybe her mother was right and by trying to force her feelings to Applejack she had lost those feelings for her costume designing. She closed her eyes and focused, trying to love the costumes as much as she had used to.

Her horn began to glow and it dragged her outside...

The next day

Fluttershy floated gently between clouds as she practiced flying out in the schoolyard. She looked around to find another empty cloud and leaped for it. She flapped her wings hard, her eyes clamped shut and her jaw clenched from the strain as she over-tasked herself, but she made the landing. She smiled and looked about, stopping only when she saw the best flier in class.

The blue pelt'd pegasus zipped around the air like a hawk or an eagle. She was so graceful and so amazing. Fluttershy didn't dream of becoming as good a flier as Rainbow Dash, but she did dream that the multicolored mane would be closer to her and help her and be her friend. But whenever Rainbow Dash would look at Fluttershy the yellow pegasus would blush and hide as best she could.

Fluttershy was watching Rainbow Dash when she went for a longer jump than normal. She flailed about in the air, her distraction costing her all sense of direction, and crashed into a cloud.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!"

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

Fluttershy's heart stopped as she looked up and saw none other than Rainbow Dash coming to her rescue. She couldn't breathe for a moment, then two moments, and she felt her eyes start to well up with tears. Rainbow Dash was going to fly for her! She was going to put these bullies in their place...for her!

The Boom and Beyond

Chapter 2: The Boom and Beyond

Many years ago

Rainbow Dash felt her heart pounding in her chest. She was so excited for this race that she could barely stand still at the starting line. Beside her were the two bullies, Hoops and Dumb-Bell, and before her was the precious pegasus that they had been making fun of. Fluttershy had been Rainbow Dash's best friend for years now, even more-so than Derpy. Dash knew that Fluttershy would never have betrayed her like that and that she would always be there. She needed to return the favor.

The flag was waved and Rainbow Dash was off. She wasn't even thinking about the other two at the moment. She wasn't even thinking about flying as fast as she could. She used to remember the anger and pain of that day when Derpy had what seemed like the entire school turned against her, and she used those feelings to fuel her wings and reach speeds many considered amazing. None of that came to mind right now.

All she could think about was winning this race for Fluttershy.

I can't fail her she thought as she whizzed and banked through the air, curving and turning without thinking to dash through the cloud rings. She's too special her voice echoed in her head. The sound of the wind rushing past her ears never reached her mind. All she heard was Fluttershy's "Thank you" after she had helped the pink maned pony up from the cloud and all she could see was the precious, timid smile. Rainbow Dash would do anything to keep Fluttershy smiling. Anything.

A bizarre sensation shot through Rainbow Dash's body and she felt her bones quake. She turned her head a little and looked back over her shoulder. There was an expanding circle of fantastic light and color, and the wake left behind her was no longer the blurred after-image of her own rainbow colored mane, but an actual rainbow.

Not just a rainbow....a Sonic Rainboom!

The young purple pony pouted as the tension in the air got to her. Her parents were watching, the judges were watching, and she couldn't hatch that stupid egg! What was wrong with her? She knew she knew the spells. She'd practiced a dozen times on chicken eggs!

While Twilight was grateful that her parents were standing behind her in moral support, she wished that Cadace was there with her. Or her BBBFF, Shining Armor. Even Smarty Pants would have been a grand gesture of comfort, but he was busy doing a book report she had assigned to him.

With one baleful look at the judges, both of whom gave her dismissive glances, clearly already deciding that she had failed, Twilight lowered her head in defeat and shame.

Her ears perked up at an incredibly loud explosion that ripped through the air, but before she could turn to see what it was a tingling sensation in her horn caught her attention. She blinked once before the world stopped making sense.

And yet...it made perfect sense. For an eternal moment, Twilight felt good. Complete. Whole. That desire for her friends and family was gone and she felt like she had everything she ever could have dreamed of and more.

More than feeling happy with the world, Twilight suddenly knew everything. She saw the past, present, and future of all of Equestria unfurl before her like a giant parade.

Sonic Rainbooms, parties, curly pink hair, shy yellow smiles, rippling orange muscle, dashing blue wings, immaculate purple hair, toothless crocodiles, crying dragons, dark shadowy mares, mutant monstrosities, zebras, legends, harmony, discord, shapeshifters, marriage, sphinxes, hatred, and more!

It overloaded her mind and confused her. She wanted to cry...and yet..she felt as though it all made perfect sense. Everything was as it should be and, in the bitter end of it all, she was still happy and surrounded by love.

It all vanished from her mind and from her memory the moment the Princess of Equestrial tapped her shoulder.

Fluttershy stared up in amazement at the Sonic Rainboom that occurred moments after her fall was halted by a swarm of butterflies. She thought she had known joy and happiness when she was exploring the beautiful meadows and forests of Equestria's land, but as she gazed up at the menagerie of colors she felt truly special, and in the best possible way.

Rainbow Dash... she thought with a lump rising in her throat. She wanted to cry because she knew that her friend had done the impossible for her. She'd won the race and brought a legend to life.

But there was no time to cry! All of her new animal friends had been frightened by the explosion. She had to cheer them up and get them out of their hiding holes so they could see the beautiful rainbow before it was too late and vanished.

The young orange filly wiped off the last bit of her makeup while she stared in her bathroom mirror. Manehatten was all she had ever thought it would be and somehow it felt like less. It felt like she was missing something and she figured it had to be her family. Not that Aunt and Uncle Orange weren't great, they just weren't the ponies she grew up with her whole life.

A cracking sound in the air caught her attention; it sounded like a building had just fallen down somewhere! Startled, worried, and curious, Applejack ran to the window and witnessed the most amazing and beautiful rainbow she had ever seen. The rainbow made her feel warm inside and all kinds of happy. In fact, it made her feel like she did when she first met that pink pony, and all of the times she had been with Rarity.

She stared at the rainbow with a look of wonder and joy on her face as her aunt and uncle entered the room. Her aunt made a scoffing sound and commented on those "Silly Cloudsdale ponies" and their "Abhorred gay pride rallies" Applejack didn't know what she meant by that, but hearing her aunt speak snapped her out of her reverie. That rainbow was pointing right to Ponyville or Applejack was a barn mule. She knew that she needed to go home to be as happy as she had been, and she needed to apologize to her friend.

There it was again, that strange tingle. Pinkamena's head turned of its own accord as it had done when the Apple family had come and delivered a cart of apples to her dad. For a moment she was hopeful that the orange filly had come back. They could wave to each other again...that had made Pinkamena feel really good.

Instead of an orange pony on the ground, however, Pinkamena's inner tingle had her looking skyward as an explosion of color and joy washed over her. It was incredible...beyond amazing and beyond description. It was over as quickly as it started but Pinkamena wanted more. That feeling, having felt it a second time, was something she didn't want to let go of.

She wanted to recreate the feeling, so she decorated the barn with all of the colors of the rainbow. She looked around but it wasn't enough, so she added more decorations. For days she decorated and brought things from her home and her neighbors to her makeshift workplace. The colors were nice, but she needed music to get her body grooving. The music was cheery but she needed cakes and other sweet confections to tingle her. The food was delicious but she needed other ponies to feel whole. Her family joined her and the first ever Pinkie Pie Party had begun!

And yet, something was still missing.

"You!" Rarity shouted while smacking her forehead against the massive stone, "Stupid!" she beat her hoof into it as well, "Rock!" she kicked it a couple of times more, punctuating her sentences with violent outbursts at the stone. Mid rant, there a shock wave of pressure that sent Rarity tumbling backwards, head over flank, into the ground.

As she fell, the surging magical energy of the Sonic Rainboom caused her horn to glow and flash with a brilliant white and purple light and for a moment Rarity felt utter joy and peace. The bright light in her eyes faded away and she saw the now shattered boulder...filled with the most glorious and beautiful gems she had ever seen. There were rubies and opals and emeralds and sapphires and amethysts and jewels she had never seen before in her life!

She stared at the gems and the tingle in her horn spread throughout her mind. She suddenly saw her next set of costumes! It was as if Applejack was with her again and her creative muse was simply flowing like water from a faucet! She needed to get these beautiful decorations back to the school so she could finish her work on the play as soon as possible!

Reuniting with her brother and granny had been a tearful but joyful experience for Applejack, and for a couple of days she stayed at home with them and just basked in the familiar feelings of family and belonging. But there were other ponies on her mind that she had to go and meet as well. Before heading into town, Applejack went out to the rock farm.

She walked across the grey stony fields and looked around curiously. Surely the pink pony couldn't be so hard to find among this monotone landscape. She paused mid-step when she heard something. Closing here eyes, Applejack focused and thought it was music. She turned and looked towards the large grey silo. She was halfway there when the door flew open, letting out- among streamers, confetti, balloons and a much clearer bit of music- the pink filly that Applejack remembered.

She looked a little different this time; her mane was poofed up and her eyes were bright with life. Unlike the expression of sadness and boredom from before, this pink pony looked as happy as a pig in mud.

Pinkamena- now shortening her name to Pinkie Pie as it sounded soooooo much funner!- had been throwing her parties for her family non-stop for days before that feeling had come back to her. She loved the parties and loved the way her family smiled and was happy for a change, but even that joy paled in comparison to the feeling she was trying to recreate. When the tugging tingle finally came back, Pinkie was quick to jump to it, and as soon as she opened the doors to her Party Zone- her new nickname for the rock silo- she saw the orange filly from weeks before.

"Hiiiiii!" she said, waving her hoof and running over to Applejack. Without further greeting she wrapped her arms around the country pony and pulled her into a hug that made Big Mac's bear hugs seem loose and brief by contrast. Applejack had to cough a few times before Pinkie would let go and let her breathe, but when she did she smiled at the pink filly.

"Wah howdeh there," she said, her cheeks fading slightly from orange towards the color of Pinkie Pie's coat, "Ah saw you a few weeks ago when mah granny was sellin' some apples to yer Pah but I didn' get a chance ta innerduce mahself. Ahm Applejack, at yer service." she said, extending her hoof with a proud smile.

Pinkie Pie just beamed and gave Applejack a big hug again. "Oh I just knew you'd come back! I just knew it knew it knew it! My Pinkie Sense told me something good was going to happen today and when it told me someone super amazingly special was outside I just knew it had to be you! Oh! Did you see that awesome spectacular beautiful rainbow a few days ago? Wasn't it so super specially awesome! It made me want to throw a party and so I did and I haven't stopped because it was such a good fun party and my whole family loved it! Hey do you like parties? Parties are AMAZING you just gotta try one!"

"Ahm...." Applejack said, thinking about sticking around for a bit but forcing herself to shake her head, "Ahm sorreh there....erhm...." she rubbed the back of her head, feeling bad for not knowing Pinkie's name but the earth filly hadn't introduced herself.

"Oh sorry I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie said gleefully.

"Raght, well, erm, sorreh Pinkeh Pie but I really can't stay long. Ah did wrong by a friend of mine a while back and I need tah go make amends...ya understand?"

Pinkie saw the honesty in Applejacks eyes as well as the pain she knew could only come from hurting someone close. Without a frown Pinkie Pie nodded her head, her smile somewhat lesser than before. "Of course I understand Applesnack"

"Applejack" Applejack corrected.

"I know, I just wanted to give you a sweeter nickname." Pinkie pie said with a bigger smile.

"Well that sure is fine of you sugarcube," Applejack said, blushing again, "And, uhm, how about ah come back tomorrah for a spell. Ya know, fer that party y'all were talkin' bout?"

Pinkie Pie's eyes widened and her smile stretched so much that Applejack was afraid her head might split open. "OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh of course! Oh you should totally bring your friend too it'll be so awesome! i should go get it ready now!" she said before vanishing in a puff of grey dust. Applejack blinked as Pinkie vanished back into the barn.

"Well now thaht was just plain weird." she muttered to herself, but for some reason she couldn't fathom, she smiled at the weirdness.

Applejack was waiting in the dark just off the back of the stage. She'd caught the end-half of the final showing of the school play and was waiting for Rarity to come out. She waited quite a bit as Rarity was packing up the costumes she had made ever so carefully, but well after the final schoolfoal had gone home with their parents Rarity appeared.

Applejack spotted her and Rarity saw Applejack. The two were only a few paces from each other and they simply stared at each other for several long, silent seconds. Applejack spoke first, frowning and looking down at the ground. Rarity decided in an instant that she did not like Applejack's frown. Her orange friend should be smiling.

"Ahm sorreh Rarity." Applejack said before sighing, "Ah shouldn'ta just up and left like that. It was might unfriendlike of meh."

"Oh, no worries," Rarity said, stepping closer and smiling, "I'll admit I was very upset at first- well, frankly I was upset up until I saw you a few seconds ago. I missed you dearly, Applejack." she said, her large eyes glinting with moisture.

"Ah missed y'all too." Applejack replied. "Ah shoulda just told'ya about...y'know..."

"Oh," Rarity said, her turn to look down now. She figured that the kiss might have had something to do with it.

"Ah was just so confused'n-"

"No, no" Rarity said, lifting her hoof to Applejack's mouth to silence her, "It was my fault entirely. I did something my parents told me was improper for two fillies to do. I broke the rules and I made the mistake. I am very sorry Applejack."

Applejack smiled at Rarity and Rarity smiled back. "How 'bout we jus'...pretend....lahk it nev'r happened?" Applejack suggested slowly. Rarity closed her eyes for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

"Oh Applejack! I'm so glad I caught you before you went home!" She burst out suddenly as though she had just seen her. She turned about and ran back onto the backstage. Applejack waited a moment, then was about to follow out of curiosity, when Rarity suddenly ran back to her. She had a large cowboy hat in her mouth. She put it on Applejack's head and beamed.

"Its a stetson!" she said with pride. "I made it as part of my last batch of costumes for the play! It didn't' really fit in well, but I knew it would be absolutely perfect for you if- well, when- you came back."

Applejack looked at her gift in wonder, at a loss for words. Rarity frowned after a bit, thinking maybe Applejack didn't like it. "I'm sorry it doesn't' have any gems," she began, "I was out by the time I got around to making it, and I couldn't think of any that would have matched your coat so well, and-"

Now Applejack put her hoof in Rarity's mouth to silence her. "Rarity...its great!" she said as she tilted it back a bit as it was slightly too big, but she'd be able to grow into it. "Ah swear, Rare, its bah far the bes' gift ah ever got!" She gave Rarity a big hug. "Ah'll wear it so long as we're alwahys friends."

"Oh, I don't know," Rarity said, hugging her friend back, "You should really remove it to wash it once in a while." The two fillies giggled at the joke.

Many Meetings

Chapter 3: Many Meetings

Pinkie Pie was enjoying another beautiful day in ponyville. She never once regretted moving from the grey boring rock farm to this wonderful ponyfabulous place and every day was bright and joyous one. She had just left her friend Rainbow Dash to her cloud napping when a purple pony and a baby dragon walked up to her. They were talking about something but Pinkie didn't pay that any mind. she was staring intently at the purple pony. She didn't recognize her at all, and Pinkie Pie knew every pony in ponyville.

As strange as that was, it wasn't the fact that Pinkie didn't know this pony, it was the fact that her pinkie sense was tingling. It wasn't the twitchy tail, or the floppy ears, or any of her normal ones. It was the very special pinkie sense, the one she had only gotten around four ponies. This purple stranger made five. Whoever she was, she had to be extra-super special

She jumped in the air and gasped as she had an idea. OHMYGOSH I'm soooooo gonna throw her a super special party with all of my friends and super special friends so she can make friends! before dashing away. She stopped nearly a block later and realized that she had, once again, failed to introduce herself. She turned around to go back but by the time she got there the purple pony had gone. She could be anywhere by now.

"No time to lose!" she said, lifting one of her hooves up to her chest and pumping it in the air. "I shall throw that super special pony a super special party!" she announced as if to a crowd of adoring fans and not an empty street.

She had no idea why she couldn't take her eyes off of this uptight mare from Canterlot, but Applejack could scarcely blink as she shook her hand. She wanted to give her a hug for some reason, but she blamed that impulse on Pinkie Pie. Ever since she'd met that random mare back when they were little fillies she'd been all touchy-feely. Not that Applejack minded it at all, but unlike Pinkie Pie she couldn't fathom the idea of hugging a perfect stranger, although the urge had never been present before now.

Despite not hugging her, Applejack was compelled to 'strut her stuff', so to speak. If Twilight wanted to check the food out, Applejack would show her just what the Apple Family was capable of. She'd get a banquet fit for Princess Celestia herself!

Rainbow Dash couldn't stop giggling as she looked down at the dripping wet pony. She wasn't laughing at her misfortune but simply because she was feeling rather ticklish and giddy. Only her close friends had ever made her feel this way, and here was this stranger who's mere presence was energizing her.

She dried the unicorn off and accepted the challenge of clearing the sky in ten seconds. As Rainbow Dash darted from cloud to cloud, zig-zagging across the sky, she realized that she just might actually do it. She hadn't flown this fast in a long time, not since the Sonic Rainboom. When the sky was clear she was almost as surprised as the pretty mare seemed to be.

"Told ya! Ten seconds flat!" Rainbow Dash boasted, striking a victorious pose.

Rarity scarcely noticed the little swooning dragon when her decorating was interrupted. Twilight from Canterlot was all that Rarity could see for the moment, and her creative juices were positively flowing. She was imagining a plethora of dresses and gowns and jeweled accessories even as she primmed and polished up that horrid mane that made her look as though she'd been caught in a windstorm.

Oh its like the school play with Applejack all over again she thought as she prepared some ribbons. She turned around but Twilight was gone. Rarity frowned and felt herself deflate a bit, but then remembered that she had to continue decorating for the Summer Sun Festival. I'll have to visit Applejack later she thought, cheering herself up.

Uh oh....not again Fluttershy thought as her lungs constricted and her heart pounded in her chest. When she first met Rainbow Dash this had happened, and it had happened when Dash had introduced her to Applejack and Rarity. The last time it happened was when she first met Pinkie Pie, but then for years she had been fine. Now this purple unicorn was talking to her, asking her name, and Fluttershy could barely squeak it out.

Doing the technique that Rarity had taught her, she held her breath and counted to ten. Once she exhaled she could speak again. She had nothing to say, though, so she just spouted the first thing that came to mind.

"Oh! A baby dragon!"

Dear Princess Celestia,

I've spent all day preparing for the Summer Sun Festival and I know you won't get this letter until it is over, but I think that's for the best. Consider this my first formal complaint ever against my royal duties. I know you are wise and powerful beyond my understanding, and forgive me for this presumption but I also know you are somewhat of a prankster.

Did you send me, specifically, to Ponyville, specifically, just so you could get a laugh? All day long I've met beautiful mare after beautiful mare. You told me very specifically to keep my preferences low-key in Ponyville because the locals weren't as open minded as in Canterlot, but its so hard! I met five incredible mares today and they're all downstairs right now at this party for me and its all I can do not to just slide out onto the dance floor with one of them. I've never felt this strongly about anyone before and its rather frightening, but also exciting.

Please, just tell me this is a prank you're pulling on me. Either Ponyville is more liberal than you're letting on, or you planted five mares here ahead of me to torment me.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

The next day

Twilight closed the door to the library and all but collapsed onto the floor. She was utterly exhausted. Between rescuing Princess Luna from her darker half, celebrating with her new friends, and answering the swarm of questions from the other residents of Ponyville Twilight hadn't found a chance to rest. It didn't help that she'd been awake for over twenty four hours due to the Summer Sun Celebration and the party Pinkie Pie had thrown for her.

She forced herself to stand up and fought heavily lidded eyes as she looked through the dimly lit library. Forcing herself to keep moving, Twilight battled gravity against weary muscles and mind and went up to her room. Spike was long asleep now and Twilight looked fondly upon her bed. Just before she climbed up to the landing where she could rest, she remembered she had to write one more letter to Celestia.

Just thinking about what she wanted to write was enough to energize her despite the long day, and she almost trotted over to the desk. Lifting the quill with her magic, she dipped it into the bottle of ink on her desk then set the pen to parchment and began to draft.

Dear Princess Celestia,

First of all, I want to apologize for my previous letter. I was just frustrated in a way I'd never before felt. It was beyond the physical issues you helped me work through when I was younger. Now, after all that has happened, I'm happier than I have ever been. There's something incredibly special about the other Elements of Harmony, even more so than the fact that we all can wield the Elements.

Applejack, for example, was more than the Element of Honesty when she held my hooves at the brink of the cliff. I couldn't just take her as an honest pony when I trusted her enough to let go, not if I had been as terrified as I should have been. But when I looked into her beautiful green eyes I felt as safe and secure as if I were a mere filly again and my own mother's arms were wrapped around me.

Fluttershy was beyond courageous and kind when she helped the manticore. It was an example of compassion and empathy that touched my heart so deeply I almost cried. If I wasn't so certain it would scare her to death I would have given her a bear hug that would have made Pinkie Pie jealous.

Speaking of Pinkie Pie, have you ever had the opportunity to hear her laugh? It cannot be compared to any other sound in the world. The music of birds and the sound of silver horns in Canterlot will be nothing but jagged sounds that mar my ears now, and Pinkie Pie is to thank for that.

I can't talk about 'thanking' anything without mentioning Rarity. There was a river dragon between us and our goal and Rarity sacrificed her tail to please him. I cannot begin to express how shocked I was! She cut off her own tail! just so that the dragon could have a stylish mustache. There's generosity, but then there's selflessness. If she were to ask anything of me from now on, I can hardly imagine saying no after witnessing her willingness to give.

Since I'm on such a roll, I have to talk about Rainbow Dash. That egocentric pegasus proved her loyalty, but we already told you about that. What I didn't get a chance to tell you was that she never, for an instant, considered leaving us. There was no hesitation, no thinking, no battle within her heart or head. Its as if the idea, the mere possibility of leaving the rest of us for anything, even her dream, was simply incomprehensible. That's more than loyalty, but I don't know what else to call it.

Thank you, Princess, for sending me here. These five ponies are without a doubt the best friends anypony could want. I love them all dearly, and if such a thing were possible I might even say I was in love with them all. But I'm just being a silly filly now. I am -extremely- tired.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

With that done, Twilight used her power to roll the scroll up and seal it. She yawned and decided to have Spike send it off first thing in the morning. With half-closed eyes, she relied on muscle-memory to guide her up the last set of stairs and into her bed. She didn't bother trying to cover herself up, or even lay down correctly. Splaying her body at an angle, she went to sleep almost instantly.

Hearts, Hooves, Honesty and...Huh?

Chapter 4: Hearts, Hooves, Honesty and...Huh?

Twilight Sparkle inhaled the beautiful spring day through her nostrils and savored the scent of manicured grass and blossoming flowers. It was hard for her to decide whether she liked spring or summer better, but on a glorious morning like this she almost had to say spring. Everything was fresh and new and bright and, as Pinkie Pie would say, 'gave her an incredible case of the smiles!'. Twilight chuckled at the voice of Pinkie in her head as she entered the park. The dirt trail took her to the base of a hill where, upon the summit, her friends were already waiting.

Twilight looked up at her best friends and smiled on the outside and on the inside. She'd been in Ponyville for two years now, and every day had been wonderful. Even on her worst days, such as when she was going nuts over being tardy with her report, she couldn't deny being happy when her friends were around.

"Yay Twilights here!" Pinkie's voice chimed down from above. Twilight looked up and saw Pinkie Pie up in the tree. She jumped down from the upper branches and landed on Twilight, pulling her down to the ground in a tight hug. Twilight laughed for a second, but then the hug constricted her windpipe and she had to struggle to break the deadly grip. Once she could breath again she found herself at the center of a group hug, but unlike Pinkie's hug, the united hooves of her friends were soft and gentle. Even Pinkie Pie was able to get into the spirit of the hug and Twilight basked in the warmth of her friends.

The rest of the morning passed with laughter and games. Applejack and Rainbow Dash tossed a Frisbee around while Pinkie Pie asked Fluttershy a dozen and a half questions per second about something she perceived as wrong with her pet alligator, Gummy, and Fluttershy was trying to calm her down from the overreaction, but to no avail.

When it was time for lunch everyone returned to the red and white checker-patterned quilt that Rarity and Twilight had been setting up. The food, brought by everyone, was laid out and everyone sat down to enjoy themselves. Rarity was the first to end the flurry of small conversations with a group topic.

"Well now everyone, I'm just curious and in no way trying to pry, but with tomorrow being Hearts and Hooves Day I simply must know if any of my best friends have a special somepony they've made plans with."

Everyone glanced around the circle that they sat in, but only for a moment. Applejack was the first to speak up.

"Well shucks ah can't say ah've had much time this year fer ehny flirtin' er nothin' of the sort. Between applebuckin', zapapple harvestin', those Flim Flam nits-"

"Aaaaaand that time you ran away to join the circus!" Pinkie Pie chimed in.

"Ah didn't join no circus Pinkie," Applejack said, "Ah went to a rodeo and was too ashamed tah come home." Her cheeks noticeably reddened and her eyes averted to the ground as she recalled that particular episode in her life. Fluttershy reached out a comforting hoof and patted Applejack on the back.

"That's what you get for being such a busy-body" Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

"Ooooh! Does that mean you're going out on Hearts and Hooves Day?" Pinkie Pie asked, beaming.

"Well..." Rainbow Dash began, deflating, "Not exactly. After pulling off two Sonic Rainbooms in the last few months and winning the Best Flier contest, no stallion has had the bits to approach me, let alone ask me out."

"Waaaiiitttt," Pinkie said, "What about when Snowflake asked you out after that-" She was silenced by a cyan hoof in her mouth.

"He was talking about something completely different and it had nothing to do with dating or going to see a Wonderbolts show or anything like that."

"Uh-huh," Rarity said, cocking a knowing eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. "Well darling, if it makes you feel any better, I have yet to have a suitable suitor seek my hoof. Only the occasional boorish ruffian that I wouldn't even consider consorting with."

"That doesn't sound very generous of you," Twilight said with a smirk. Everyone giggled but for Rarity. She just rolled her eyes then examined one of her well manicured hooves.

"Even generosity has its limits. A diamond can only shine so much no matter how much others may wish for it to, after all." There was another round of laughter at Rarity's less than convincing analogy. Unfortunately for Pinkie Pie, she giggled longer and a bit louder than the rest of the group, so all eyes went to her for the next response.

In typical Pinkie fashion, the ever cheerful pony gave them all a big smile as she answered the global question. "I don't have time for a special somepony this year because I'm helping out the Cake family in the bakery. We have so many orders for hearts and hooves cupcakes, pies, lollipops, mints, heart-shaped candies with little words on them, sweet-" this time it was Applejack that silenced her by holding her mouth shut with one of her hooves. Pinkie pie continued to mumble behind her friend's hoof fora few more seconds before stopping. When Applejack released her mouth, Pinkie was smiling as though she hadn't just been forcefully muted.

"What about you Twilight?" Pinkie asked. Everyone looked at Twilight and the purple mare blushed a little.

"Oh, well, I really hadn't thought about it. I can't imagine anyone in Ponyville wanting to be my special somepony because...well...nobody in Ponyville knows me well enough and I really don't know any of them well enough to really like them. Except for you five, of course." She added with a smile. Unlike Pinkie Pie's previous smile, this one was more from the warm depths of her heart rather than the rapid heights of joy. Five pony faces returned the very same smile.

I don't need a special somepony Twilight thought, I've got all of the love I need from my friends.

Everyone had gone back to eating and it was a few minutes of silence- save for the sound of chewing, slurping, burping and Rarity giving Rainbow Dash a hard time about saying 'Excuse me' after burping- before Applejack lifted her head and looked to Fluttershy.

"Aw I'm sorreh sugarcube" she said, getting everyone else's attention with the remark, "We completely forgot yer turn. Do ya got aneh plans fer Hearts'n'Hooves day?" Everyone stopped eating and looked at Fluttershy patiently. As was typical, the yellow pegasus had blushed and retreated partway into her mane. Unlike prior conversations or instances of being put on the spot, she didn't shy away completely. She was doing quite well, but only because it was her friends who surrounded her. More than her friends, really. Fluttershy had strong feelings for all of them, and that was what caused her the moment of embarrassment as she spoke.

"Oh, well, um, I really haven't had the chance to ask anypony and nopony would ask me when there are still five fantastic mares like you all available." Four of her five friends gave her a nervous smile, as though both flattered by her suggestion but also put in an uncomfortable position by it. Twilight, however, gave her a much more appealing smile.

"Aww," she said, reaching a hoof out to pat one of Fluttershy's. "Fluttershy, I'd be honored if you would be my special somepony for Hearts and Hooves Day." She hadn't quite thought about the aftermath of what such a comment would be before she said it. All she knew was that Fluttershy was being adorable again and Twilight wanted to show her just how special and amazing she was. Unfortunately, the only reply she got was silent looks ranging from flattery to shock to horror to disgust.

Fluttershy's cheeks had gone as pink as her mane and she retreated fully behind her hair now, The others, meanwhile, looked at Twilight as though she were a changeling.

"Uhm, Twi," Applejack started, "Y'all know that 'round these parts Hearts'n'Hooves is a Stallion-Mare sorta thang."

"What?" Twilight asked, rather surprised by the comment, "But...you all know I'm not into stallions." She had told her friends of her sexual orientation a few months after getting to know them all. Applejack had commented on how complete honesty was the best policy among friends and Twilight had shared that part of herself with everyone so that there would be no miss-communications in the future.

"Thas not the point ahm tryin' ter make" Applejack said, her cheeks getting as rosey as the apples on her flank, "Its more fer Fluttershy's sake is what ahm sayin'"

"What she means, dear," Rarity cut in, giving Applejack an eyeroll as the orange mare looked flustered, unable to articulate her thoughts as well as the fashionista. "Is that while all of Ponyville may know of your...orientation...its different for poor Fluttershy here." She patted Fluttershy on the back sypathetically. "You're Twilight Sparkle, remember? Student of Princess Celestia, Element of Magic, Savior of Luna, Vanquisher of Nightmare Moon, Harbinger of Harmony, Destroyer of Discord, Master of the Ursa Minor. You're a hero, a celebrity" Rarity giggled excitedly after saying that word, having not thought of herself as being friends with a celebrity before."

"But Fluttershy is just as great." Twilight said, "She's the Element of Kindness, the..erm...tamer of the Manticore, the Stare Master, the Dragon Intimidator, Photo Finish's Finest Feature," She tapped her chin trying to remember more events that would warrant a title.

"But Fluttershy is a local," Rarity said, "Different things are expected of her. I mean no offense dear Twilight, but you are from Canterlot, and everyone knows that Canterlot is...different. Amazing, extravagant, and glorious, but different."

"Fluttershy is from Cloudsdale." Twilight countered.

"Yes, but she has lived here in Ponyville most of her life. She has the Ponyville charm and the Ponyville history. If people were to suspect or even think that she was a lesbian, why, she would be shunned."

"That seems a little harsh." Rainbow Dash said, "Sure in school that might have happened, but now everyone's grown up. No one's gonna pick on her."

"Very true, I may have exaggerated a little." Rarity said, "But people would talk. Gossip and the like. And certainly people would treat her differently."

"Ahm sorry y'all, but I gotta go" Applejack said. She'd been silent while Rarity spoke but now she seemed rather antsy. She was up and galloping away before anyone could ask if she was alright, or even say goodbye.

Applejack just needed to get away from them for a moment. Seeing Twilight ask Fluttershy to be her special somepony...it caused feelings in Applejack that she hadn't felt in a long time. The last time she'd felt this torn up she'd run off to Dodge Junction to try and clear her head, and before that she'd run to Manehatten to live with her aunt and uncle.

Why don't ah like the idea of Twilight 'n Fluttershy bein' together? she thought to herself.

Mares munchin mares ain't natural. Granny Smith's voice entered her mind, A mares meant ta be wit' a stallion. Two mares can't 'ave a foal, and choosin' to waste their lives like tha' oughta be acrime.

Applejack shook her head and felt something stinging in her eyes. She stopped running for a moment and wiped her hoof across her face. Tears? Why in tarnashin' was she crying. She shook her head and stomped her hoof.

Naw Granny. Sorreh, but if Twilight wants Fluttershy to be 'er special someponeh then she has evereh raght to want it. If Fluttershy decides to be Twilight's special someponeh, then by all means they 'ave the raght to be happeh. She gritted her teeth and shook her head. Thinking in opposition to her grandma was causing even more discomfort. Now it felt like Big Mac had just applebucked her in the chest.

The raght to be happeh...the raght to be happeh... Images of Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy danced around her head as she thought of this.

Everyone watched Applejack gallop away. She wasn't the only one who suddenly didn't want to be at the picnic anymore. After a moment of unanimous confused silence, Rarity cleared her throat and looked at everyone. "Well, this must certainly seem like terrible timing, but I, too, must depart. I have a big order to work on. Fancypants is throwing a party and everyone in Canterlot it seems wants one of my dresses.

She flashed everyone a smile while backing away, turning only when her friends had vanished over the crest of the hill. Her smile faltered as she began walking back into town. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

The moment Twilight had asked Fluttershy to be her special somepony Rarity instantly felt jealous. If Twilight could ask someone, then why couldn't Rarity? If someone could ask Fluttershy, then why couldn't someone ask Rarity? She thought about who she would ask, but Twilight's words only came back to haunt her. The only ponies I really know are my friends. And they're the only ones I could even consider spending a whole day with. she shook her head and focused. Dresses! She suddenly had a craving to go work on her dresses.

Bright yellows and pinks, amethysts, orange and blue ribbon, oh they're going to be so magnificent! she thought happily.

Rainbow Dash didn't make a scene as she left. While everyone watched Rarity back away, she simply took off into the sky. She didn't have anything in particular to do, but she was feeling restless. Very restless. She'd been on the ground too long and eaten too many calories. Yeah, that was it. She just needed to get flying again. Speed, sky, freedom!

She shot past the clouds and flew up as far as her wings could carry her. When it started getting too cold she did a flip then tightly spiraled her way back down, heading for Cloudsdale. She needed to race someone, anyone. Well, not Fluttershy. Racing Fluttershy was never fun. Whenever Rainbow Dash wanted to do anything other than race, Fluttershy was her go-to-girl, but for a race she needed someone with speed, not someone who was just awesome to hang out with.

While distracting herself with a roster in her head of the fastest pegasai in Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash completely failed to notice the incoming collision. With a loud crack of two high speed bodies flying together, Rainbow Dash and a Wonderbolt collided in mid-air and fell a few dozen feet onto a large cloud below. Three more Wonderbolts flew down and landed with them, one of them helping their comrade back to his feet while the other two helped Rainbow Dash.

"Ouch!"Rainbow dash said as she rubbed her head at the point of impact. "Why don't you watch where you're-" She began before she recognized the four other pegasai. Even with their distinctive coverall uniforms on, she knew who was who from the hours and days she'd spent fawning over their trading cards.

Soarin, Spitfire, Fleetfoot and Rapidfire! Soarin was rubbing his head and giving her an appologetic look. "Ohmygoshohmygosh!" Rainbow Dash began to ramble out her typical chant upon gaining such close proximity to her heroes, but Spitfire's hoof shot out and pinned her mouth shut. Dash suddenly felt a pang of guilt for all the times she'd done that to Pinkie Pie. Having it done to her felt rather rotten.

"Chill out Rainbow Dash" Spitfire said in such a cool manner that Rainbow couldn't help but calm down. She let Rainbow Dash control her own mouth again before she continued. "Kinda strange how often we've been running into you lately."

"Oh!" Rainbow Dash said, trying to find something to say but currently at a complete lack for words, "I'm so sorry, I was just, like, distracted and all and I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing."

"Is that a fact?" Fleetfoot asked with a smirk. When Rainbow Dash blushed and looked down, ashamed, she chuckled. "Hey I'm not saying its a bad thing. I'm just rather surprised. For someone who wasn't paying attention to herself, you were pulling off some pretty sick moves. Did you know you did a spiraling corkscrew into a barrel roll without breaking your glide?"

Rainbow Dash perked up a bit. That was one of her signature moves. She'd done it so many times that she knew she could do it in her sleep, so doing it without paying attention came as no big deal.

"Oh I did? Yeah, that's just one of my signature moves." she said, rubbing her hoof against her pelt in an attempt to mimic Rarity's poise.

"Well it was bad-ass!" Soarin said excitedly. "Hey would you mind teaching it to us?" This caught Rainbow Dash off guard. The Wonderbolts wanted her to teach them something?

"Wait, you want me to teach you something?" Rainbow Dash voiced her shock.

"Well, yeah," Rapidfire said, his voice clipped and his words coming out almost too fast for Rainbow to follow. Spitfire shook her head and repeated what Rapidfire said at a more audible pace.

"You're the best flier we've ever seen. You won the Young Flier contest, you kicked a dragon, you saved three of our lives and your friend's life, you did a Sonic Rainboom not once, but three times, you were chosen over us to perform at the Royal Wedding, you're one of the Elements of Harmony and you stopped Nightmare Moon and Discord. Heck, we should be the ones fawning over you." Of course, Spitfire was too cool to fangirl in public.

Rainbow Dash's cheeks were as red as the red streak in her mane and she had a look of utter shock. The Wonderbolts were fans of her!? She shook her head for a moment then smiled excitedly. "Sure! I'll teach you guys a thing or two!"

By the time the remaining three ponies noticed that Rainbow Dash had ditched them the mood was noticeably less tense, but also less jovial. Pinkie Pie looked from Fluttershy to Twilight Sparkle. Twilight's ears were drooped as the burden of being the one who drove everyone to leave weighed heavily on her. Pinkie patted her shoulder and gave her a smile, letting her know that she had no issues what-so-ever with Twilight.

Looking back at Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie's someone-wants-a-moment-alone-with-someone-else sense caused her left eye to wink a couple of times. She looked up at the sun, it having just passed its zenith, and rubbed her chin to put on a show of thought. "I'm super duper sorry but I actually do gotta go. Hearts and Hooves Day snacks won't bake themselves!" She gave her friends a nervous smile. It was true, she did need to leave, but not at the moment. She could have spent some more time with them, but she knew that Fluttershy had something to say to Twilight.

"That's fine Pinkie," Twilight said, her ears up a little more while giving Pinkie Pie an understanding smile. "Go ahead, I can clean up here."

Pinkie Pie nodded vaguely, looked at Fluttershy and then Twilight one more time before pulling them both into a super duper sorry hug. "I'll see you two later!" she said, smiling again before bouncing away.

Despite smiling on the outside, Pinkie Pie was more than simply sad on the inside. Fluttershy was supposed to be Pinkie's special somepony. And Twilight as well. All of her friends were supposed to be her special somepony. She knew her Pinkie sense well, and whenever her friends were close it pulled her to them. Hopping away was always hard and painful, but that was why she forced the joy out to the surface. It was the only way she could leave.

The trip back to Sugarcube Corner was long and bitter. Pinkie smiled and waved to and greeted everypony she met along the way, but once she was inside and certain that the Cakes were still out she ran up to her room.

Locking the door, she crawled into her bed as the tears began to fall. Her smile was gone and her mane deflated. Sobs shook her body and gasps constricted her throat as she hugged one of her pillows to her chest. She burried her face in the pink fabric and let out a long, low wail of misery.

Pinkie Pie couldn't understand why she was so upset at Twilight and Fluttershy being special someponies for each other and yet, at the same time, so happy. When Twilight asked Fluttershy to be her special somepony Pinkie Pie instantly felt like she was being ripped in half.

On the one hand, it was perhaps one of the best things she had heard in months, or even years! Two of her friends falling in love? It was so super terrific that she wanted to sing and dance and throw a party! But at the same time it terrified and depressed her. Why didn't they want to be her special somepony? She wanted to be theirs! She thought she was. That tingle she felt around her friends...she always thought that that was what it felt like to have a special somepony.

But despite what her thoughts and feelings were, she was eternally alone. Sure, she could throw a party and be surrounded by friends and people who loved her. Sure, she was flirted with on a weekly basis- guaranteed at least once at any of her parties- but it never came from them. It never came from the five ponies she loved most.

Applejack had run off. Rarity had excused herself. Rainbow Dash had flown away without a word. And now Pinkie Pie had bounced away. Twilight was sort of glad everyone had to leave despite feeling like it was her stupid suggestion that had caused the initial discomfort. She closed her eyes to focus, and when her horn started to glow with magic and the picnic began to slowly clean itself up Twilight opened her eyes again to look at Fluttershy. With everyone else gone the yellow mare was starting to re-emerge from her mane.

"I'm sorry about that Fluttershy." Twilight said. Fluttershy squeaked something but Twilight didn't hear it. "I should have just kept myself to myself instead of putting you on the spot like that in front of all of our friends." She inhaled a deep breath and sighed, her eyes lazily following some of the paper plates and scraps of food as they entered a floating trash back.

"Yes" Fluttershy said, somewhat softly.

"Exactly," Twilight said, "It wasn't anyone's fault but my own."

"No," Fluttershy said, a little louder. "I mean yes...to before." Twilight blinked and looked back at Fluttershy. The pegasus's face was fully emerged from the pink hair now. Her eyes were glistening with tears but her lips were curled into a nervous smile.

"Yes?" Twilight asked, wanting to verify before jumping to a conclusion. If Fluttershy was saying 'yes' to her request to be special someponies, then the butterflies in her stomach made so much more sense.

"Yes," Fluttershy said, "I...I'll...I want to be your special somepony." Her cheeks went to a darker shade of red and she began to fiddle her hooves in the grass nervously.

Twilight swallowed nervously but couldn't prevent the excited smile. With a tummy of fluttering creatures, however, she wanted to make absolutely certain. "I...I'm touched, Fluttershy," Twilight said, "But you don't have to if you really don't want to. I mean...I know how much you bend over backwards to try to please everypony, but-" A gentle hoof touched her lips and Twilight stopped speaking. Fluttershy was smiling with more confidence now and her watery eyes stared deeply into Twilight's.

"I really really want to," She said. "I...well...I'm attracted to mares also. And, um, not stallions." She looked down again, her left hoof digging slightly into the grass from her nerves.

Twilight's jaw was agape at the revelation. "What? Really? But...you never said anything." She was trying to avoid accusing Fluttershy of being dishonest when Twilight had come out and admitted it to all of her friends at once, but the thought did enter her mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Fluttershy said, giving Twilight one of her normal apologetic expressions, "But its just that I never really had a reason to tell anypony. I mean, no body ever expressed an interest in me before now, and I could never have asked any of you to be my special somepony. I'm far too nervous to do anything that bold." She looked up through her long bangs and smiled at Twilight again, "But since you asked...yes. I would love to be your special somepony Twilight."

Twilight Sparkle felt a little choked up at all of this. It was all so sudden and she wasn't entirely sure what to do. She bit on her lower lip for a moment before her expression changed to one of surprise. Fluttershy had leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Twilight's horn flashed and the bag of garbage exploded, sending bits of food all over the hilltop, and more than a bit onto Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Oh my," Fluttershy said, "I'm so sorry, I didn't think-"

"No, no, its fine" Twilight said, a somewhat dreamy expression crossing her face. She concentrated again and the garbage began to float off of Fluttershy. Once the two mares were as clean as she could get them Twilight leaned in and nuzzled her cheek against Fluttershy's. "It was a great kiss" she said softly into Fluttershy's ear. After a few seconds, Twilight backed away but looked as happy as a Pinkie Pie at a party.

Fluttershy felt simply amazing, having shared that little bit of a lot of herself. She smiled back at Twilight and wondered what to do next. Having never been romantically involved with anyone, she was unsure of what should come after agreeing to be someone's special somepony.

"So," Twilight started.

"Um," Fluttershy.

"How about I come to your place tomorrow morning." Twilight suggested. "We can figure out what to do from there. Spend the whole day together."

"That sounds lovely," Fluttershy said, her wings flapping a little in excitement. "Um, should we meet before or after breakfast?"

"Hmm, before," Twilight answered after a moment of tapping her hoof on her chin. "We can go out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Okay," Fluttershy said. "Do you need my help cleaning?" she asked, looking around at the mess she had caused when she kissed Twilight. The purple mare looked around and shook her head.

"No, I can handle it all easily enough." Twilight said. She was too giddy at the moment to really care about the mess though. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see you." Fluttershy said before turning around and flying off slowly and gracefully. Twilight watched her fly, her heart fluttering along with Fluttershy's wings. She turned her focus back to the mess and started to clean it up in earnest. She needed to spend the rest of the say coming up with a plan for her date tomorrow.

A gust of wind picked up as Twilight was cleaning. It was brief and it did little, save to pick up a single leaf. That leaf, having fallen only moments ago, was swept off to the south, floating along on the breeze. It drifted up over Ponyville, past Rarity's Boutique and over Sweet Apple Acres. It moved out across the Everfree Forest and beyond. Mountains passed beneath the leaf as the wind joined with greater forces of nature.

The sun set and the cool air of the night dropped down, sending the leaf lower onto the far side of the mountains where the grass grew thick and tall and trees were few and far between. As the dawn came and the air began to heat, warm updrafts kept the leaf afloat some more. It floated over a village of straw and mud huts, passing low enough for a few young Zebra to jump and try to catch it. They missed and it continued on well outside of the village limits. Further and further it went until another village moved beneath it.

This village was less carefree than the one further west. This village had fires in some of its huts, the others utterly destroyed. There were Zebra corpses littering the ground, mostly adults but a few children as well. Dozens of distinctly non-zebra creatures patrolled the ruins while a handful of the native striped horses were herded into the center of the village by the tips of polished spears.

The invaders of the village were various shades of grey and brown, ranging from a sandy tan to an almost black. Their bodies were reminiscent of lions, but their manes weren't thick manes of fur. Instead they seemed more like a shiny fabric, or a very soft metal. They were multicolored as well, varying in primary tones and secondary lines. Their faces were almost lion-esque, very feline. Some of them sported massive wings that seemed almost ill proportioned to their bodies. They all had matching marks on their flanks of a beetle-like creature in various poses, colors and degrees of realistic appearance. Some looked like the beetle was actually standing on their flank, while others seemed to be carved into the skin as though carved into stone.

The invaders were Sphinxes, coming from the south. They were spreading their territory and had been at war with the Zebra Tribes for centuries. Their new Empress, however, had taken the war to a whole new level and now the wild creatures of the prairies were no match for the relentless expansion of the Rising Sun Empire.

The Empress herself was here in the village. From the information she had been obtaining over the last few years, this was the last true warrior tribe that remained in the lands. The rest had all been falling before her army systematically, and the few villages remaining between her and the Mare Mountains. Beyond them lay unexplored and unknown territory. The Rising Sun had no unexplored lands, however, and everything that the dawn touched would be claimed by Empress Dune Sea. It was only a matter of time.

One of her guards came up to her and snapped a crisp salute. "What is it?" Dune Sea asked, her voice a seductive purr of power and polish. She knew the various requirements of leadership, and she knew she had to present herself at all times as a being above the normal hodge-podge over which she ruled.

"Empress, we have been finding several intruders among our soldiers." the guard said.

"Indeed?" Dune Sea questioned, cocking one of her dark eyebrows, "And how do these striped aboriginals infiltrate our highly polished and refined warriors?"

"It isn't the Zebras, my Lady," the Guard said, "The creatures are insect-like, and they cast an illusion about themselves to take on the appearance of our men. The ones they have pretended to be are thus far unaccounted for.

"Illusion spells?" Dune Sea asked, now giving the guard more of her attention. her dark eyes narrowed skeptically. "Interesting..." she looked off into the distance, deep in thought. "I take it that you have one of these spellcrafters in custody?"

"Yes ma'am," the guard said, gesturing with his spear towards one of the non-destroyed huts. Dune Sea eyed the guard a moment longer and then proceeded ahead of the sphinx. She stepped inside of the dark hut without hesitation, but the moment her guard followed she spun around and swiped her claws across his face. The guard went down and rolled across the ground, colliding into the wall.

Dune Sea's eyes glowed with a malevolent red light and the spear that had been in the guard's paw was surrounded in a matching red glow. It floated up into the air, re-oriented itself, then pierced the guard through the neck. There was a flash of green light and the sphinx corpse was gone, replaced instead by a black, insectoid creature. Or the corpse of one, at least.

She approached it and leaned low to examine it. "Fascinating," she said once more before removing the spear. The body of the creature was then lifted by her magic and brought outside into the sunlight. The Empress approached the circle of surviving Zebras and dropped the body of her assassin on the ground before them.

"Identify this creature." she commanded. One of them gave her a defiant look and one of the Sphinx guards gave him a wound in his flank that would eventually lead to death, but until he bled out he would be suffering that wound, and it would take a while.

A female jumped to his defense and stood between the injured zebra and the guards. She glared at Dune Sea but gave her the answer she was seeking.

"Changeling, is the word that comes from our mouth. They invaded from the north, before you came from the south."

The sphinx looked down at the dead 'Changeling' and pondered for a moment. "Thank you," she said in a courteous enough manner. Turning her head towards one of the huts, her eyes flashed red for a moment and then she turned to walk away. Out of the hut came several young zebras; the children of the village. Their eyes were glowing red and they had vicious expressions. Upon their flanks, where their tribal tattoos had once been, were now various images of scarabs. The adult zebras recognized their children and backed away in horror as the guards handed spears to the young zebras. The children of the village took the spears and moved towards their surviving parents.

One Step Forward

Chapter 5: One Step Forward

The pink and orange rays of the morning sun blossomed over the horizon and illuminated the facade of Fluttershy's cottage. Celestia's brilliant dawn couldn't have been more perfect in Fluttershy's eyes. Staring out the window towards the rising sun, Fluttershy wondered if Twilight had requested such a spectacular dawn from her mentor. The idea that Princess Celestia knew of the upcoming date between Fluttershy and her friend gave the pegasus an embarrassed smile. She partially concealed her face from the dawn with her mane, but continued to watch for a few more seconds.

When the oven chime went off, Fluttershy floated back through the air towards her kitchen. Having woken up just prior to dawn, Fluttershy was too excited to get back to sleep. While waiting for Twilight, she had decided that making breakfast for friend...now her special somepony...might be nicer than going out.

Thinking about Twilight as her special somepony was giving Fluttershy a positively glowing attitude. She was smiling more than usual and humming a song from her heart. The tune wasn't anything she recognized at having heard before, but it just felt right. It sounded like she felt; warm, happy, excited, and strangely enough; not nervous. She felt so confident and self-assured about the day that she didn't even consider if Twilight had wanted to go someplace special for breakfast. She just knew that having breakfast in her cottage would be right.

Flipping the wheat pancakes over so that the raw, gooey side would start to cook to a golden fluffy finish, Fluttershy turned the oven's heat down a little then walked over to the table. She had two plates out already with empty glasses; one each for milk and orange juice. The drinks themselves were still in the refrigerator so that they would be nice and cold when breakfast was ready. Fluttershy fussed for a moment for how many flowers to have on the table before she decided to just garnish each plate with them rather than use them as decoration. They would block Twilight and Fluttershy from being able to see each other anyway. A second look at the seating gave Fluttershy a momentary frown, but she quickly smiled again and moved Twilight's seat and furnishings around the table until it was beside Fluttershy's seat. The two could sit with each other instead of across from each other. They were still good friends after all, no need to get overly formal, right?

There was a soft knock at the door. Fluttershy felt a rush of excitement and she called "Coming!" in her typically soft shout. Walking to the door, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before opening it. Twilight was outside, smiling at Fluttershy.

"Good morning" she said, leaning in and nuzzling her cheek against Fluttershy's affectionately. The yellow mare nuzzled back then stepped away to let Twilight inside.

"Good morning Twilight," she responded. "Um, I thought maybe we could have breakfast here instead of going out. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep so I started cooking, and, um, you don't mind do you?" she asked. For once, she didn't retreat into her mane, though she still blushed as she gave Twilight a nervous smile.

Twilight chuckled a bit but walked towards the kitchen. "I don't mind at all Fluttershy. Whatever you're making smells absolutely delicious."

Fluttershy followed Twilight into the kitchen, glad that Twilight wasn't upset over Fluttershy changing their breakfast plans at the last minute.

"Its wheat pancakes," Fluttershy said, "I also made some toast. Um, the table's set already so if you just want to wait a moment I can get everything ready."

Twilight nodded and went over to the table while Fluttershy went to the refrigerator. She brought the orange juice and milk over to the table, filling both of Twilight's glasses first and then her own. She went back to the kitchen and took the pancakes off of the oven and added them to the stack of already cooked ones. Bringing the plate of pancakes to the table, Fluttershy used a spatula to separate and serve them. "Would you like some syrup or butter?" she asked.

"No thanks," Twilight said, licking her lips, "These look delicious on their own." Fluttershy blushed and took her seat next to Twilight. She was glad that she hadn't poured the drinks ahead of time, as the hot pancakes went down great when followed by ice cold milk. The two of them ate their way through all of the pancakes, with Fluttershy having three of the eight and Twilight enjoying the rest. Originally, Fluttershy had split them up evenly between herself and Twilight, but her appetite wasn't as great as her friend's so she offered her the last one from her stack.

Twilight helped Fluttershy clean up when they were done eating. The meal had been delicious and fulfilling, more so than just filling her stomach. Fluttershy was washing the dishes in her sink so that the residue didn't harden while they were out for the day when Twilight stepped up close and gave her a brief kiss on the lips. Both ponies blushed but Twilight prevented any uncomfortable silence.

"Thanks Fluttershy. Nopony's ever made me breakfast before. Well, Spike does, but this was different. This was really special. Thanks."

"Oh, no need to thank me," a blushing Fluttershy said, putting the last dish on the drying rack, "It was my pleasure, really." The two mares exchanged silent smiles. "So, um, what did you have in mind for the day?"

"Well, I didn't think too far after breakfast, actually," Twilight said, rubbing the back of her neck as she admitted to not having planned something out in advance for once. "But I was thinking we could digest breakfast with a walk through Whitetail Wood."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful," Fluttershy said. "Um, I'm ready to go whenever you are."

"Okay," Twilight said, taking the lead from the kitchen to the front door. Fluttershy followed Twilight, taking only a moment to make sure that everything was cleaned up and she would be alright to go. "Oh, um, one minute," Fluttershy said, remembering that she needed to get the breakfast bowls out for her various animals.

Twilight stood by patiently as Fluttershy went through her normal morning routine. Animals had begun to arrive before she finished, but Fluttershy didn't mind. She gave each one a brief apology, explaining that she had been entertaining a very special guest. This earned her a blush and a smile from Twilight, but an annoying insistence from Angel that he needed something extra special for breakfast.

After Fluttershy went out of her way to make a rather ornate salad for the rabbit, Twilight gave the little white bunny a harsh look but it just gave her a smug smile of victory. Twilight stuck her tongue out at Angel but acted innocent when Fluttershy came back.

"I'm so sorry Twilight," Fluttershy said.

"Its fine Fluttershy," Twilight said in return, "You're a very compassionate pony, and it really shows when you care for your animal friends." Fluttershy blushed and smiled. "So, um, we can go now. They should all be good until this evening."

"Great!" Twilight said, opening the front door and going outside. She held it open for Fluttershy and closed it behind her. Twilight and Fluttershy matched their paces as they left the cottage behind and headed towards Ponyville.

Before they entered the town itself, the two mares turned down a side road that would take them around Ponyville instead. It wasn't a conscious decision on either of their parts, it just seemed like a better trail to take at the moment. Subconsciously, maybe they were both avoiding the possible difficulties they would have to deal with when their date became public knowledge. As they entered Whitetail Wood, however, there was not a single negative thought in either of their minds. They were enjoying each other's presence, the ambient sounds of nature around them providing an excellent backdrop.

Twilight and Fluttershy looked around independently of each other as they walked through the woods. Twilight had only been through Whitetail Wood during the Running of the Leaves celebration the previous year, so seeing it in spring time brought a new kind of beauty to the place. Fluttershy frequently walked through the woods, but she was still more than enjoying herself. Walking with Twilight was better than walking alone. On occasion, Fluttershy would look over to Twilight and watch the excitement and interest play across the unicorn's face.

Fluttershy stopped walking and looked closely at the base of a bush. "Oh, Twilight!" she said, getting her friend's attention, "You should come and see this." Twilight came to Fluttershy and the pink maned mare knelt down with her forelegs to look under the bush. Twilight knelt down to look as well and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Fluttershy, is that a baby rabbit?"

"Yes," Fluttershy nodded, looking at the baby bunny. It was sleeping, its ears were flopped down over its eyes to keep the sunlight out.

"Awww, its so cute," Twilight said. Fluttershy nodded then lowered the section of bush slowly so as to not disturb it's sleep.

"Did you know that rabbits..." Twilight began along, informative schpeel about rabbits and their habits. Fluttershy listened to what Twilight had to say and only commented on the accuracy, inaccuracy, and her own observations whenever Twilight asked for them. It turns out that a lot of the books Twilight read focused more on the mating habits and dietary needs of rabbits, and described them very accurately, but had little to no correct information regarding the social habits of the creatures or how to care for them. Once Fluttershy began to talk about what she knew of bunnies, Twilight became the eager listener, asking an occasional question.

Before either of them knew it, they had gone through Whitetail Wood, the road looping back to Ponyville. "That's amazing," Twilight said when Fluttershy indicated she was finished speaking. "Have you considered writing a book?"

"What?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes widening significantly, "Oh no, oh no no no, I could never be a good writer. I'm far too busy taking care of the animals."

Twilight and Fluttershy decided to go to Stars Buck while they were walking into town. The green-and-white image of a mare in a horse shoe hung was emblazoned over the door. The tables inside and out were full of couples, but just as Twilight and Fluttershy arrived one of the couples got up to leave.

"Hey Big Mac, hey Cheerilee," Twilight said as the older ponies made their way for the metal gate that Twilight and Fluttershy had just entered.

"Well hello Twilight. Fluttershy." Cheerily said, giving them both a big smile. "You two have good timing. There's not one vacant seat, but we were just leaving."

"Eyup." Big Mac said with a smile.

"Oh, the Cutie Mark Crusaders didn't give you any punch this year, did they?" Fluttershy asked. The four of them shared a mirthful chuckle as Cheerilee looked around.

"So, are you two waiting for any special ponies?" she asked.

"Eh, not exactly," Twilight said. "Fluttershy and I are here together."

"Oh," Cheerilee said, her smile faltering for a moment as her expression showed surprise. She smiled again, though she had to nudge Big Mac in the ribs to get him to stop staring with wide eyes. "Well, you couldn't have come to a better place then. The coffee here is delicious, right Mac?"

"Eyup" Bic Mac answered, nodding mechanically. There was an unease moment as all four were quiet, then Cheerilee that she and Mac had made some plans and needed to get going. Twilight and Fluttershy said their farewells then went over to the table. It had been cleared while they were talking to the previous diners.

Twilight used her magic to tilt the umbrella over the table a little bit to keep the sun out of Fluttershy's eyes and their waiter came over. They both ordered coffee, though Twilight wanted hers black while Fluttershy asked for enough cream and sugar to make the coffee little more than sweet, caffeinated milk.

They discussed what they were each getting and had a short, playful argument over how to split the bill with Twilight winning that she would pay for the meal and Fluttershy would handle the tip. They both wanted to take the majority pay, but Twilight won with the argument that Fluttershy had made breakfast.

The two ended up ordering the same meal; a dandelion sandwich on whole grain bread with hay fries. They talked about their past adventures as they ate, laughing at some of the more terrifying things- Pinkie Pie had rubbed off on them, apparently- and reminiscing about the best parts, like the time they spent together after the Gala fiasco.

"Oh!" Twilight said suddenly, "That reminds me! I got a letter from Princess Celestia a few days ago. She wants all of us to set up this years Grand Galloping Gala."

"R-really?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes glistening with excitement, then sudden fear, "But, the animals didn't like me last time I was there, and I did sort of cause a stampede." her ears flattened a little as she remembered how she had lost all control of her temper and gone on a rather mad rampage.

"Don't worry about that Fluttershy," Twilight said, reaching over to pat Fluttershy's hoof. "I'm sure Princess Celestia will introduce you to every one of the creatures in her garden and they will love you as much as I do."

Fluttershy looked up at Twilight and smiled, her eyes welling with tears and her cheeks flushing from the depth of that comment.

The waiter cleared his throat to break them apart momentarily as he set their food down. They both thanked the stallion and he left them to their meals. They went back to talking about the Gala and going over ideas they each had from the past one that they liked and things they would definitely change.

"I can't wait to tell the others" Twilight said and Fluttershy agreed. They would need to start talking about it soon so they could get plans made. The Gala would be in a few months after all.

They enjoyed their meals for a little over an hour before paying and leaving. When they left they heard many hushed conversations begin that hadn't seemed to get to them during their meal. Apparently many of the patrons were highly interested in this 'scandalous affair' despite there not being anything scandalous or affair-worthy about it. Twilight leaned closer to Fluttershy and whispered "If I kissed you now, would you freak out?"

Fluttershy almost freaked out from the suggestion. Her heart raced and her mouth went dry. "Um...I don't think I would" she managed to say. She stopped walking when Twilight did and turned to look at her friend. The purple mare leaned in and pressed her lips to Fluttershy's. The kiss was as chaste as that Twilight had snuck in while they were doing the dishes that morning, but it lasted a lot longer. Several seconds, in fact. Then they both broke away blushing, and they both looked back over their shoulders with smiles on their faces.

The hushed conversations had all stopped as everypony- stallion and mare alike- in and around the cafe had fallen silent and stared wide-eyed at the kiss. When they realized that the objects of their fascination were onto them, they all quickly went back to ignoring them as casually as if the two had just arrived on the arms of their own stallions.

The mares giggled as they left, going to the library. They ended up out front of it before they realized that was where they went. "Huh, must have just come this way out of habit." Twilight said. Fluttershy only nodded, having mostly been following Twilight's lead but not having really thought about where they were going. "Well," Twilight continued, "Anything you want to do between now and dinner?"

Fluttershy thought about it as she shook her head "No" but then blinked and nodded her head 'Yes'. "Well, um, if you don't have anything already planned, we could, um, maybe go to the park and watch the clouds."

Twilight smiled at her. "That sounds like a great idea Fluttershy." she said. Fluttershy smiled back and the two walked side by side to the park. This time, Twilight flicked her tail over to Fluttershy's and the two entwined. Fluttershy blushed again but didn't even consider pulling her tail away. It felt nice. It felt more than nice, really. More like wonderful!

They made it to the park and went up to the hill where they normally met their friends for picnics or weekly pet play dates. With the area vacant, they rolled over onto the grass, their heads side by side. They looked up at the clouds and scanned them for images. Fluttershy found one first; a cloud that looked like a butterfly. Apparently, a pegasus thought so to because the cloud began to move in semi-erratic ways across the sky before stopping. Twilight and Fluttershy giggled as they watched one pegasus chase the culprit out of the cloud and across the sky. They had never known that the weather control pegasai had such humorous antics, but after spending several hours watching the sky, looking at interesting clouds and watching pegasai "work" they thought they had a much better idea of what Rainbow Dash did when she wasn't skipping work.

Eventually, Twilight rolled over. The sun was getting lower in the sky and the tree they were near kept their heads well shaded while their bodies continued to bask. Fluttershy rolled to face her and the two locked eyes for a moment before mutually leaning in for another kiss. Unlike the one at the cafe, this one wasn't quite so chaste. Fluttershy felt Twilight's lips part and her tongue pressed against Fluttershy's lips. The yellow mare parted her lips and teeth, letting Twilight's tongue into her mouth. The unicorn slowly ran her tongue along every surface it could reach before it settled on playing with Fluttershy's tongue. The pegasus timidly played back, and started to trace Twilight's tongue back into the unicorn's mouth before retreating. Whether it was Fluttershy's natural timidity, or whether she was teasing Twilight, the purple unicorn loved it and tried to coax some more out of her date, but soon had to stop the kiss to take a full lungful of air.

Fluttershy gasped as much as Twilight did when the kiss broke. The two mares giggled a little, glancing at each other, as they caught their breath. "I was thinking," Twilight said, "We could have a picnic for dinner. Right here, under the stars."

Fluttershy nodded. "That sounds beautiful Twilight," she said, "I never knew you were so good at romance." Twilight blushed at her and gave most of the credit to all of the reading she did, but Fluttershy felt that Twilight would have done something just as special even if she didn't read a single romance novel. The two sat up and trotted back to the library, tails entwined again.

They went inside and Twilight called for Spike but he was nowhere to be found. She gave a shrug and figured he must have been out somewhere and she wasn't too concerned. She took Fluttershy back to the kitchen and the two went to work getting everything they would need for a picnic. Blanket, basket, a couple of candles, some flowers, sandwiches, bottled juice, napkins, the works. Twilight packed it all into the basket and used her magic to carry it.

Returning to the hill in the park, Twilight asked Fluttershy to pick a spot. They didn't want to go too near the big tree lest they couldn't get a good view of the night sky. Already to the east the stars were beginning to glint into life as the sun neared the point where Celestia would put it away for the night. Fluttershy found a good spot on the north side of the hill and Twilight used her magic to set up the picnic.

They sat side by side, flanks touching, and ate their sandwiches as they looked up a the duality of the sun setting and the moon rising. The brilliant silver orb rose up to the sky and dimmed the brilliance of the stars around it and yet it still fit into the sky; a beautiful centerpiece for their dinner.

Twilight lifted one of the flowers to Fluttershy and the pegasus ate it. She did the same for Twilight and the unicorn returned the gesture. Once all of the food was gone and their drinks were almost done Twilight leaned in and nuzzled Fluttershy affectionately.

Looking skyward again, she said "I can't believe Luna felt shunned all those years ago. The night sky, her moon, they're so romantic."

"This is the best time of day for love." Fluttershy added, leaning her head onto Twilight's shoulder. Twilight lifted her hoof up and wrapped it around Fluttershy's shoulder while resting her cheek on Fluttershy's soft pink mane, agreeing with her.

As the two stared up at the moon, a dark figure stared back. Unseen by her subjects, Luna flew through the night, observing the various romantic couples enjoying the end of Hearts and Hooves day. The most stand-out of the couples was easily the Elements of Magic and Kindness sitting too close for 'just friends' and entwined in an intimate embrace.

"Very interesting." Luna said, smiling down at them, "I'm certain my sister will be as pleased as I am to know of this." She watched the two Elements enjoy each other and her moonlight in silence. When the two began to get up and pack up their picnic Luna decided to move on and return to Canterlot where she had various nightly duties to attend.

Fluttershy and Twilight returned to the library so they could put the picnic supplies away and toss the trash where it belonged. Twilight walked Fluttershy back to the main room then they both stopped. Fluttershy opened her mouth to say 'Goodnight' and assure Twilight there was no need to waste her time walking Fluttershy home, but Twilight kissed her before words could escape. Fluttershy melted into Twilight's lips and kissed her back until Twilight broke the kiss.

"Spend the night" Twilight said softly, lifting a hoof to caress Fluttershy's neck. The pegasus blushed and for the first time of the evening her smile faltered.

"W-what? R-really? B-but...i-its only our first date." she said, the butterflies on her flank feeling as though they had some how made their way to her stomach. She was secretly excited at the prospect, but at the same time she was more than a little nervous. Twilight continued to stroke her mane, making Fluttershy more at ease despite herself.

"So?" Twilight said, "Three dates is such an arbitrary number. I've read numerous books on the subject of dating and they all point out that the current social construct makes no sense given the history of Equestria. Did you know that back in-" Fluttershy was not in the mood for a lecture on this subject, but being incapable of speaking up against her friend, nor really wanting to do anything against her, she silenced Twilight with a kiss. As Fluttershy had hoped, it got the unicorn to be quiet and stop her speech. Fluttershy already knew the gist of what the unicorn was trying to get at. She wasn't uncomfortable with the idea, she was just nervous. Twilight and Fluttershy knew each other better than most people knew their best friends, and the unicorn had a point; no sense in waiting three dates when the social norm scarcely applied.

"Alright" she said after the kiss, giving Twilight a nervous smile. Twilight beamed and the two kissed once more before Twilight led the way up to her room. Fluttershy followed Twilight up to her friend's personal room and then went up the stairs to Twilight's bed while Twilight shut the door. Fluttershy stood by the bed while she waited for Twilight to come up, glancing from the bed to her friend with a nervous expression.

Twilight used her magic to lift the blanket away from her bed then, giving Fluttershy another nuzzle to the cheek, climbed onto the soft mattress. She looked to Fluttershy and the yellow pegasus tentatively put a hoof on the bed. She took a deep breath then climbed all the way onto it. She laid down beside Twilight and the blanket floated down to cover them up.

Twilight scooted closer to Fluttershy and embraced her. Fluttershy snuggled herself into Twilight's arms and Twilight kissed her. Fluttershy returned the passion ofthe kiss, which in turn caused Twilight to get more excited and Fluttershy was fed by Twilight's passion. Twilight's tongue entered Fluttershy's mouth and caressed Fluttershy's. Fluttershy tried to breath normally but she was having a hard time with how hard her heart was pumping. She felt Twilight's hoof start to caress her shoulder and then move down to her side, Her touch felt nice and soothing to Fluttershy, and as it passed over her cutie mark Fluttershy moaned softly into Twilight's kiss. She timidly began to mimic Twilight by sliding her own hoof down Twilight's side. She couldn't see exactly where Twilight's cutie mark was but has a vague idea, and when she touched it Twilight moaned, breaking the kiss to whisper "Oh....that's so nice." Fluttershy smiled and initiated the next kiss.

They rubbed each other's cutie marks for a while, Fluttershy feeling her excitement growing between her legs. Twilight moved her hoof down off of Fluttershy's cutie mark and to her leg. Fluttershy broke the kiss to look down at the blanket concealing their bodies. Both ponies had darkly flushed faces as the heat of the moment was getting to them.

"If you want me to stop," Twilight began to say.

"Oh, no, I-I don't want you to stop," Fluttershy was quick to answer, "Its just that I....I.....never....." her eyes began to well up with tears but Twilight only smiled.

She rested her cheek against Fluttershy's and whispered "Shh. Everything will be fine." She almost wanted to say that it was going to be her first time too, but she did not want to lie to Fluttershy. Twilight had had several dates back in Canterlot before she came to Ponyville, and a couple of times she had gotten physically intimate with other mares. This was different though. The other times had been hormonal, primal, and all about the sex. Right now, with Fluttershy in her arms, it was so much more. It was special. It was love.

Fluttershy was calmed by Twilight's words, and felt, with growing anticipation, Twilight's hoof get closer and closer to her marehood. When the hoof made contact with that sensitive, sacred place, Fluttershy shuddered in ecstasy. "Oh...oh Twilight..." she whispered. The unicorn continued to rub Fluttershy's pussy and the receiver of the attention let out pants of pleasure.

Fluttershy writhed in ecstasy, her body slowly twitching and jerking in pleasure. Waves of amazing sensation radiated from between her legs and tickled every inch of her, from the bottoms of her hooves to the tips of her ears. She kissed Twilight with a level of passion that, while not overwhelming, was quite surprising to the purple mare. She returned the feeling with equal fervor but her hoof never ceased being gentle upon her delicate partner.

Removing her hoof from Fluttershy's marehood, Twilight broke the kiss and brought her hoof up to lick it. She slowly savored the flavor of Fluttershy, making an "Mm" sound of approval. Fluttershy blushed some more, slightly embarrassed by the gesture, but also slightly aroused. Getting bold, Fluttershy slid her tongue out and tasted herself on Twilight's hoof. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but before she could try another taste Twilight had lowered her hoof and was kissing Fluttershy again.

The kiss was short lived as the unicorn moved her lips down Fluttershy's cheek, then down her chin and neck. Fluttershy began to pant softly as her imagination ran wild. She may have been a virgin and an extremely shy pony, but she had read novels that hinted at what was going to come next. As she felt Twilight's lips move along her side and down onto her stomach, she reflexively rolled over to her back. Twilight must have expected this because she didn't miss a kiss as she moved her head to follow Fluttershy's body.

For a moment, the kisses hit a ticklish spot on Fluttershy and she giggled as she looked at the lump in the blanket bobbing with the little kisses, but then she felt the kiss right above her nether region and tensed up before gasping and arching her back at the wonderful feeling. Stars swam across her vision despite the ceiling only being a simple wooden veneer. Her forehooves pressed down onto Twilight's head, gently petting the purple unicorn through the blanket that separated them. Her tail flailed wildly, brushing against Twilight's stomach and thighs and her hind legs began to curl around Twilight's shoulders.

She felt Twilight's tongue slide along the surface of Fluttershy's lower lips and slide between them. It moved around with a nervous experience that felt absolutely amazing to the yellow mare. Twilight's nose rubbed against Fluttershy's exposed clitoris whenever her tongue wasn't stimulating it. The soft gasps and pants from Fluttershy actually grew softer as her pleasure mounted. Something exciting and frightening was growing within her, and when it exploded she let out a muted scream as her body trembled. Twilight felt her tremors and tasted the new wave of love juice that flowed from her. She didn't just stop pleasuring Fluttershy though. She slowly worked Fluttershy down from cloud nine, reducing the length and breadth of her licking until she was just barely kissing the sensitive folds of flesh. She slowly kissed her way back up Fluttershy's body until she was looking down on the smiling, loving eyes of the pegasus.

Fluttershy tried to speak but was still rather breathless. Twilight silenced her attempts with a kiss and fixed the blanket around them. She wrapped her arms around Fluttershy and buried her face into the voluptuous pink mane. She whispered "Goodnight" to Fluttershy, but the dear mare didn't hear it. She had already fallen asleep in the embrace of her lover.

Two Steps Back

Chapter 6: Two Steps Back

While Twilight and Fluttershy were enjoying a nice lunch together at the Stars Buck Cafe, Applejack was feeling mighty nervous trying to back away from Rarity.

"Oh please Applejack, I insist the fashionista said, almost ready to pull out her exaggerated pleading voice. It worked wonders when applied just right, but she would much rather not manipulate one of her best friends that way unless absolutely necessary. Though, truthfully, it would be for Applejack's own good to just accept Rarity's offer. She would undoubtedly have a good time if she did.

"Awww C'mon Rare," Applejack said, "Ya know ah don' go in fer that sortah thang."

"Which is exactly the reason I insist you take it." Rarity said, the ticket floating between them as Rarity levitated it.

"But speed dating? Ain't that sortuh...ah dunno...trasheh?"

"Trashy?" Rarity asked, looking almost offended, "Oh my goodness darling, it is anything but trashy! Why, you'll be at the finest restaurant in Manehattan! Only the social elite are invited. Well, the single social elite." she added the last part while glancing down, clearly less than pleased at her current relationship status.

"An' why aintchyoo goin?" Applejack asked.

"I already told you," Rarity said, rolling her eyes with a sigh, "Fancy Pants wants me to design a whole new wardrobe for his wife and he wants me to come to Canterlot to do it. The time I'll be spending there conflicts with the date of the speed dating invitational. It would be a tragedy for the seating to be ruined by having one less mare show up than expected, and I know you have yet to be courted-"

"Thas cuz ahm so dang busy helpin' run Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack cut in defensively, her eyes betraying her discomfort at the moment.

"Of course!" Rarity said, lifting a hoof placatingly, "I didn't mean to imply anything-"

"Oh shush!" Applejack said quickly in a conspiratorial whisper, "RD's comin'. Not a word of this speed datin' nonsense, kay?"

"Okay" Rarity agreed, turning to look over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash was, indeed, approaching them. Unusually, she was walking across the ground at a rather slow pace. The pair of ponies could tell something was wrong even before Rainbow Dash was close enough for them to see a large bruise on her left shoulder.

The blue Pegasus looked up when she sensed that she was the object of some else's attention and appeared quite surprised that he friends were there. She twitched as if she was going to try and run away but then she heaved a surrendering sigh. She knew her friends too well to think that she could try to pass off her appearance as nothing and walk away without being questioned.

Applejack and Rarity walked toward their friend, meeting her halfway.

"Somethin' wrong there Dash?" Applejack asked.

"No" Rainbow Dash blatantly lied. They all knew it was a lie, and they all knew that Rainbow Dash knew that they all knew it was a lie. She just had to try and pass it off as nothing at least once. She looked balefully at her friends and then sighed. "Alright, yes...but...can we talk somewhere else?" she asked, her voice shaking a bit and her eyes flooding with tears, the flood held back only by sheer force of will. Something was very wrong for Rainbow Dash to be on the verge of tears, and Applejack and Rarity could hardly fathom what it could be.

"O' course sugarcube," Applejack said gently, stepping alongside Rainbow Dash to try and provide some comfort.

"My boutique is nearest," Rarity offered, "We can all go there and have a cup of tea." Rainbow Dash nodded as her gaze continued to sweep the ground in a forlorn manner. Applejack and Rarity shared a concerned glance as they led Rainbow Dash off of the trail and in a direct line to Rarity's dress shop in an attempt to get there as soon as was possible.

It only took them a few minutes to arrive. Rarity let everyone in then shut and locked the door behind her. They all went upstairs to where Rarity actually lived. Applejack helped Rainbow Dash onto a couch while Rarity went into the kitchen to make some tea. The moment she sat down the multicolored maned pegasus busted out into tears. Applejack sat beside her and hugged her, patting her back and whispering "Shh, its aight sugarcube. Its aight."

"No, its not alright," Rainbow Dash said between sobs, "Its never going to be alright!" Despite the rising anger in her voice, she clung to Applejack as though her friend were the only thing keeping her from falling off of a cliff into a chasm of despair from which there was no return. Rarity came back into the room with a teapot, three cups, and a plate of small cookies all on an amethyst platter. She moved the table nearer the couch and placed everything on it, pouring each of her friends and herself a cup of tea. She got up onto the couch on the other side of Rainbow Dash and reached out to pat her friend's shoulder while Applejack's shoulder got soaked with the pegasus's tears.

"Jus' calm down darlin'," the earth pony said, patting Rainbow's back consolingly, "If ya can, how bout y'all tell Rare and me what happened to ya?"

Rainbow Dash's crying began to weaken after a few minutes. She was soon down to just having tears flow down her face and in need of a tissue to blow her nose every few seconds, but she could talk and sip at her tea.

"It...it all s-started yesterday. After the picnic fell to pieces I w-went for a fly." She sniffled some and blew her nose on a tissue Rarity handed her. Taking another sip of tea she continued. "I m-met the Wonderbolts a-and they were, like, totally fanboying over me." Rainbow Dash began to start returning to her old self as the parts about the Wonderbolts asking her for tips and Rainbow Dash training them. Apparently she'd spent all day with them, learning some of their maneuvers as she showed them some of hers.

"I was invited back today," she said, "And we were off to a great start." Now Rainbow Dash began to revert to the sobbing mess she had been an hour earlier. Her eyes welled up and she sniffled again. "Then that...that...." her nostrils flared some and she slammed her hoof down onto the couch, "That pig, Soarin', Uuunnnnhhhhh!" she groaned, "He starting flirting with me like he was some all-that hotshot, and he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer no matter how many times I said it." She sighed and collapsed into the couch, looking downtrodden once more now that her anger had been vented.

"Is he the reason y'all got this here bruise?" Applejack asked, pointing at the off color splotch on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. Her nostrils were flared at the thought, "Did he start gettin' fresh with ya? Did he...." Applejack's eyes widened with shock at the thought that Soarin might have raped her friend.

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked, blinking in surprise. She looked at her shoulder and shook her head. Her eyes widened as well as she grasped what Applejack was thinking. "Oh, no, I got that yesterday when I hit a tree." She swallowed a dry lump of air as she tried not to get choked up. For some reason, Applejack's reaction was more than a little comforting. The idea of her cowmare friend kicking Soarin's ass was quite pleasing as well.

"So Soarin upset you with his relentless pestering for your affections?" Rarity asked, surprised that Rainbow would let a boy like Soarin get under her coat like that.

"N-no..." Rainbow Dash said, sighing. "When I made it clear I wasn't interested...he talked about the Flight Academy." Her eyes began to well up with tears again, "He brought up some....some rumors about me when I attended....he called me a...a...slut." She closed her eyes and began to cry again. Applejack and Rarity hugged her until she calmed down.

"Well if that ain't the worst," Applejack said.

"Indeed," Rarity agreed. "Why, I hope you gave him what he was owed! If not, Applejack and I would be more than happy to put him in his place!"

"Shoot," Applejack said, "Ah'll go 'n git Big Mac 'n a bunch o' his big stallion buddies. They'll put a limp in Soarin's leg that that boy won't be fergettin anytime soon!"

Rainbow Dash sighed and wiped her eyes. "No...no its fine. Spitfire kicked him in the jaw when she heard one of his comments. But....what he said...it r-really got to me." She sniffed again and was about to wipe her nose on her arm when Rarity floated a tissue in front of her, not liking the idea of snot covered hooves smearing boogers across her furniture if she could help it. "I...I broke down. I l-lost my c-c-cool in front of them all." She began to sob some more and started bawling. "And now the Wonderbolts won't ever want to hang out with me again! I totally blew my one chance at becoming a Wonderbolt because I let what that prick said get to me!"

As Rainbow Dash cried herself out, Applejack held her again and shared a glance with Rarity. Truth be told, they both thought that she might have been overreacting a little, but neither of them dared to voice that thought. They both remembered, to their own shame, how they had treated Twilight when she had overreacted. So instead they sympathized with her. She needed comfort and care, and that's what they would provide.

After about ten minutes of crying and tea and cookies, Rainbow Dash had calmed down again. She was still moping and looked not unlike Twilight when she had received that scolding from Celestia.

"Y'all shouldn' let that bother you," Applejack said after the silence was too long for her to handle. Rainbow Dash just looked up at her with her sad eyes. "What that Soarin' feller said was jus' plain wrong. The fact that you didn' do the kickin' to his face makes y'all a better pony than 'im. Even if ya did cry. Heck, if the Wonderbolts won' take ya on cuz one o' yer heroes called ya somethin' that vile, well then yer better off without'em."

"Applejack is quite right," Rarity agreed, giving Rainbow Dash a smile. "Give it a couple of days so you can calm down, then go back and offer to continue training the Wonderbolts. And if Soarin' apologizes, accept it. If he doesn't, all the more reason for you to show them just how much better than them you are."

The pegasus seemed to absorb their compliments like a sponge absorbing water. She smiled at Rarity and gave her a hug. "Thanks." she said. She sniffed again and reached for a tissue so she could blow her nose. Wiping her eyes, she got up. Rarity and Applejack got up with her. "I...I think I'll go home. Thanks, both of you. I guess I kinda knew you two were right but...I needed to hear it." She gave both of her friends a hug and made for the door.

Applejack and Rarity considered following her to make sure she was okay but decided that she probably needed this time alone now that she had vented it all.

"So, Applejack," Rarity said, "Are you going to need a new dress for the speed date?" Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing she wouldn't be able to get out of it.

Deep in the Everfree Forest there was a lone zebra casually mixing her dinner. The fact that the ingredients were exotic from the perspective of anyone or anything in this part of the world, that they were cooked in a large black cauldron, and the fact that the smoke and sparks coming out of bubbling hot pink goo were not commonly seen in most pony recipes, Zecora's stomach was rumbling and her favorite dish was coming along quite nicely.

She dipped her ladle into the delicious brew and pulled a sample out of her cauldron and lifted it to her lips. The smell was right, and when she sipped at it the taste made her smile. "I have finally broken my failing loop. Now I can enjoy my favorite soup." she said as she put the ladle back into continue stirring.

A knock at her door surprised Zecora. She was used to being unceremoniously dropped in on, but the time of day wasn't usual for her normal visitors. She went to the door and opened it to find a very nervous looking Derpy Hooves hovering a few inches above the ground. She was glancing around nervously as she handed Zecora a scroll.

"Here ya go Miss Zecora," Derpy said, "Gotta go!" she added quickly before flying away. Zecora was surprised; this was the first letter she'd received in months. She took it over to her table and opened it, the seal being one not used in Equestria, but a seal from her tribe.

Zecora

Dune Sea has defeated all of the Southern Tribes. She is continuing to move north. We are next. They have killed Jelani and Rafiki. We cannot escape. Find help.

The message was written in a rushed manner, but the writing was familiar. Her sister didn't even have time to sign it. Zecora felt a cold, sickly feeling come over her. Dune Sea... For over a century her people had been keeping the Rising Sun Empire from getting into Zebra territories. If they were expanding to the north again, then Equestria was in danger.

Not knowing how long it would take the sphinxes to travel the distance it took her to come to Equestria, she feared she may be to late to do anything. But she had to try. The first thing that she had to do was inform Princess Celestia of the impending danger. She went over to a drawer and pulled out a scroll and a quil. Spreading the parchment out on the table, Zecora began to write.

Princess Celestia,

I just received word about an incoming stranger. I fear that Equestria is in great danger. My sister has told me that my people have failed, and now it is Equestria that will be assailed. The terrible threat is in the form of a sphinx, and they will bring more peril than hi-jinx. I am shamed for what I must say, but I have known of this threat long before this day. I did not tell of Dune Sea for fear of spreading gloom. I am sorry to tell you now so late, but her coming is the sign of doom. I shall send this letter off and make for Canterlot at once, for I shall help prevent Equestria from grievance.

-Zecora

Zecora sealed the envelope then put it in her saddlebag. She would take it to Ponyville and have Twilight Sparkle's assistant send it directly to Celestia before she departed herself. With luck, she could prevent the fate of her people befalling these peaceful ponies.

What Matters

Chapter 7: What Matters

Angel threw his plate across the room, shattering it in the far wall. Fluttershy, who had ducked, frowned at the small rabbit. "I'm sorry Angel, but you really mustn't throw things." her eyes widened and she ducked again as another plate- this one taken from a rather angry squirrel- was hurled by the white bunny. "Okay, I'll make you a new lunch." Fluttershy conceded. She had served Angel his usual salad, or thought she had, but apparently she had messed up in some way, which was the reason for her pet's outburst.

As the pegasus began to remake the salad, her mind began to wander. Again. This was the reason she had messed up the first time, more likely than not. Her mind kept wandering back to her date and night with her friend Twilight. The issue was that she was having a hard time thinking of her as anything but friend. Hadn't they shared something special? Hadn't Fluttershy felt love that day? She had thought she would feel it at some point, and she knew that she enjoyed every moment with Twilight, but in her heart she feared that nothing had changed. Was that a bad thing? If she didn't love Twilight but still valued her as a good friend, was there anything wrong with it?

If Twilight truly loves me though...oh, I can't bear to lead her on. But if I tell her I don't love her it might break her heart.

A sudden thwack to the back of her head jolted Fluttershy out of her thoughts. She gave Angel an irritated frown then huffed and went back to finishing his salad. She gave it to him and he seemed to grudgingly accept the secondary attempt. With a sigh she went back and fixed the squirrel's lunch as well, since Angel had ruined it all over the wall.

She was in the midst of cleaning up the mess her rabbit had made when an idea suddenly came to her. As she pondered love and why she might not feel it for Twilight, or why she might just not be recognizing the feeling, she remembered that the expert on love had said that she owed her, and all of her friends, an invaluable debt.

"Princess Cadence!" she suddenly blurted out. The animals all looked at her and she blushed in embarrassment. "Um, never mind," she said, hovering backwards and into her bedroom. For a few seconds, she searched her room for a paper and a quill, neither of which she had. She made the decision to go into town and get them, so she did a quick check on everything at her cottage to make sure her critters would be alright when she left. Angel wasn't a fan of this oddness in her behavior and routine, but didn't throw up much of a fuss other than giving Fluttershy attitude when she said she was going out to get paper and quills.

She was halfway into town when the doubt started to settle in. What if my questions are stupid? What if I'm just being a foal about it all? The voice in her head was given a hoof-to-mouth by another, similar voice. What if you end up leading Twilight on for years and she misses the chance at loving someone who loves her back?

That idea steeled Fluttershy enough to get to the store, buy the writing materials, and get back home with no more doubts. She cared far far too much for Twilight to do something as cruel as lead her on when, after the most romantic day of her life, she could not differentiate her feelings for Twilight from her feelings for any of her other best friends. She had to ask for help, no matter the inconvenience.

Settling herself at her dining table, Fluttershy began to doubt herself once more, and each word she wrote made her feel more and more apprehensive about finishing the letter at all, let alone sending it.

Dear Princess Cadence,

I'm sorry to bother you from your duties in the Crystal Kingdom, but I'm having trouble with something that I think only you can help me with. You're the most knowledgeable pony about love and thats the problem I'm having.

A dear friend of mine has professed love to me. I thought I loved her back, and I accepted the offer to be her special somepony on Hearts and Hooves Day. It was a wonderful, romantic date, but even after all we did together I cannot feel anything different. She's very precious to me, but so are all of my closest friends. I love them all in unique ways, but equally. I'm sorry if this doesn't make any sense, but its why I'm asking for your help. I'm so confused.

~Fluttershy

Fluttershy looked at her note and frowned. She was considering starting over and replacing all of the "her"s with "him"s, or with "them"s to try to hide the fact that she was most likely talking about one of her obvious friends, but she couldn't think of any good reason to lie. The more Cadence knew the better. She might even mention that its Twilight if she ever got a reply, if that would help.

Rolling it up and sealing it, she wondered how to get it to Cadence. She could send it in the mail, but that would take a long time. Days, weeks even. She could have Spike send it, maybe. Would he do it? She didn't want him to have any extra trouble on her account. But she had to get it to Cadence as quickly as possible.

She went as quickly as she could- her timid pace none to quick at all- to the library. When she entered the first pony she saw was, of course, Twilight. The purple unicorn beamed at Fluttershy and rushed over to greet her. So naturally that it surprised Fluttershy, the two mares leaned in and kissed each other tenderly for a moment. Fluttershy was the only one blushing after the quick kiss, more by how nice it felt and yet how nothing felt different.

"Hello Twilight," she said, "Um, is Spike here?" She asked.

"Spike?" Twilight asked, "Um, yeah, he's just in the other section," she pointed with her hoof, "Mind if I ask what you need him for?"

"Well, um," Fluttershy stammered, retreating into her flowing pink mane, "I have a letter to send to Cadence and I don't know the best way to get it to her since the Crystal Kingdom is so far away and I thought that Spike could use his magic fire to send it to her." She was sincerely hoping that Twilight wouldn't ask why she was writing to Cadence. Fluttershy didn't know if it would be worse to tell her the truth or to lie about it, but neither sounded appealing.

"Ah," Twilight said, curious about the letter but not as prying a pony as Rarity, "I can get him for you, but he can only send letters to Celestia."

"Oh," Fluttershy said, dejectedly. "Then I guess I'll just go to the post office." She looked sad and Twilight didn't like that look at all.

"Hold on," She said quickly, "I can write a quick letter to Celestia and send it with yours, asking her to send it to Cadence. That shouldn't be much trouble."

Fluttershy came back out of her mane, smiling with joy at Twilight. "R-really? That would be wonderful."

"Spike!" Twilight called as she levitated her own pen, ink, and paper from a nearby table.

The orange mare from Sweet Apple Acres was not feeling all too happy as she rode the train to Manehattan. Sitting alone on a train was nothing new to Applejack. She'd made numerous trips to Appleoosa, Dodge Junction, and other places on her own. She wasn't upset about where she was going either. She'd been to Manehattan a few times to visit her Aunt and Uncle, and she found the city quite pleasant in small doses. No, the cause for Applejack's lack of joy for this trip was the reason behind her going to Manehattan.

Her best friend Rarity had talked her into accepting an invitation to a speed date session in her place. Rarity was busy elsewhere this weekend and insisted that Applejack be the one to go. Applejack had a hard time saying "no" to her friends, especially when they gave a pretty good reason for it. Applejack hadn't been on a date in years, and she was so busy working on the farm that she had no time for proper dating. Speed dating could actually help her relationship situation. She hadn't realized just how lonely she'd been feeling until Twilight had asked Fluttershy out. That had been a bit of a wake-up call, and an unpleasantly strong one.

The train ride wasn't helped by the new dress Rarity had made for her for the occasion. It was less frilly than her normal attempts to get Applejack to dress up, and, for once, it was designed so that her favorite hat would work with it. Rarity actually made a point to insist that Applejack wear her stetson, saying that it "Completed the ensemble" and that "Without your stetson the entire dress would be ruined." While Applejack didn't understand how or why her hat affected the appearance of her dress, she was glad she could keep it on. Well, she was glad she had Rarity's go-ahead to keep it on. Applejack didn't usually care how she looked, but when Rarity said that her hat didn't match a dress she was being forced to wear, Applejack tended to feel somewhat on the self-conscious side. Not because she cared what other people thought, but because she didn't want to lose sales or credibility just because she wanted to wear her hat.

The train slowed down and eventually came to a loud, hissing and screeching stop in Grand Stable Station near the center of the big city, Manehattan. Applejack left the train with the other passengers and, despite previous visits, still had to look around like the tourist she was. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that the speed dating would only take a couple of hours and she'd be catching the train back home that same afternoon. Probably for the best, was what she figured.

Looking at the address on the ticket, Applejack found the street she was supposed to be on, but which building was harder to determine. She caught the attention of several passers-by while trying to ask for directions, but the first five completely ignored her. The sixth person made a skeevy remark that got Applejack to back away with a scowl but the next person was actually helpful, telling her that he, too, was going to the speed dating event. Thanking the stallion, Applejack followed him into one of the monolithic buildings and into a brightly lit room with a chandelier that she thought might have been bigger than her barn.

Applejack followed her guide up to a fancily dressed unicorn who gave the stallion a number, pinning it to his dress jacket. Applejack walked up next and gave the unicorn her ticket.

"Miss....Rarity?" the unicorn asked, reading the ticket.

"Oh, uh, naw," Applejack said, suddenly feeling a little nervous. If they up and threw her out she'd have to wait at the train station for three hours until the next line to Ponyville. "Mah name's Applejack. Rarity's mah friend an' she couldn' make it to this here shindig so she asked me to come in her stead."

"I see," the Unicorn said, giving her a rather scornful look while a book levitated out from behind the podium that he stood behind. It opened up and he looked down at the pages as they turned.

"Ah yes, here it is. Applejack." He said, the book shutting and his demeanor doing a complete one-eighty as he smiled politely at her and magically pinned a number to her hat.

"Erhm, what am ah supposed ter do?" she asked, not sure what to do or where to go next.

"Just enter the main hall," the unicorn explained cheerfully, "And go mingle with the other mares. When it is time to begin the host shall explain the procedure. I assure you it is quite simple." Applejack didn't know if that 'simple' was a shot at her or not, so she let it pass.

"Thankya kindly." she said, walking around him and through the red velvet curtains into the massive hall. She looked to her left and saw a horde of stallions just standing around talking and glancing at the mares, who were all on the other side of the room. Applejack joined her fellow dress wearing attendees and waited a few more minutes. No one came to talk to her, which was just fine by Applejack since most of these people seemed to be Rarity's type. She had nothing against the rich and snotty other than their attitudes. In fact, Rarity was the only one she could tolerate longer than a couple of minutes.

An earth pony walked into the middle of the room and cleared his voice loudly. Once everyone was looking at him he smiled and began to speak.

"Mares and Stallions, allow me to welcome you all to Manehattan's most prestigious event, the Fancy Pants Social!" There was a polite pattering of hooves that Applejack joined in. Unlike the others, who were just being high-society polite, Applejack really wasn't impressed by the name of the event. It was just a bunch of single people hoping to meet as many people like themselves as they could in as short a time as possible.

"For those of you who have never done this before," the host, Applejack assumed him to be 'Fancy Pants', since had a monocle and top hat and looked rather fancy, "The procedure is simple. The ladies," He looked over to the mares and gave a vague gesture in their direction, "Will each sit at their numbered table. The stallions will do the same. You will have two minutes to converse with your partner. After that, a bell will ring. There will be a thirty second window where the two of you can exchange contact information, if the date went well, and the stallions move on to the next table. Once every stallion and every mare have met, the social is over and you are encouraged to engage anypony you found charming enough to give your mailing address here. Any questions?"

He looked around the room and spotted Applejack, as she was the only one raising her hoof. "Yes madam?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, when are we gonna get some grub?" she asked. There were a few chuckles; some mares laughed disdainfully as though they were better than her, but a couple of the stallions laughed in a manner that suggested agreement.

"An excellent question!" Fancy Pants declared, "When you take your seats there will be menus. After the first five rounds, waiters and waitresses will come for your orders. By the tenth round your first course will be served, and every tenth round your dishes will be taken and your next course delivered. Five rounds will pass between refils of your beverages. Anything else?"

There were no questions this time, and Fancy Pants rang a bell to begin the event. Applejack found her way to her seat and looked at the stallion she'd met before.

"Hey, small world." he said. Applejack just nodded, her eyes already half-glassing over from boredom. She kept telling herself that she would give each guy a chance, but each time the bell rang and each time they rotated she felt like she was just watching a mind-numbing slideshow of stallions trying to stud themselves with the only noticable variation being the presence or absence of horns and wings.

When the food arrived a pegasus who had just sat down with her gave a sigh of relief. "NO offense or anything, but I'm totally starving." he said before he started to dig into his meal with abandon. It was a sentiment that Applejack could understand, as she, too, was quite hungry and she joined him in the ravenous eating. When their time was up she offered to give him her address so that they could actually get to chat some time since they'd eaten most of their time away. She wrote it down on a slip of paper and told him to write her before he rotated away.

The next dozen or so stallions were as lackluster as the first batch, but just after the second course was served a very familiar pony sat down.

"What in tarnayshin...Braeburn?" Applejack asked with more surprise than confusion.

"Well howdy there Applejack," her cousin said, "Didn't expect ta meet you at this shindig."

"Ah certainly never figur'd on y'all bein' here either." Applejack said, "What got you all the way out here from Appleoosa?"

"Well a friend o' mine out there said he couldn't make it to this Social and asked me to go for him. Ah reckon he's tired of seein' me be the brash young bachelor in town and wants me ta find a nice mare and settle down."

"Ah," Applejack said, "Sounds more or less the same way I got roped in here."

"Heh, well ain't this akward?" Braeburn said.

"How 'bout we just don't speak of this again?" Applejack suggested. Braeburn agreed and, when the bell rang, moved on. The rest of the Social went on in more or less the same manner as before. There were a few stallions who managed to get Applejack to show interest in them. One guy who was great at cracking jokes, one who boasted a lot about his athletic achievements (it was less her interest in him than her interest to compete with him) a rather smart unicorn and a young buck who was so shy and polite it was almost sickeningly sweet. Almost. She found him rather charming and gave him her address as well.

At the end of it all Applejack met up with Braeburn and they compared experiences as they went back to the train station and waited for their respective transports home. Braeburn had more success than Applejack did, having almost twenty names to write to, two of them from Appleoosa, which excited him to no end. Applejack was in the middle of telling him about the few stallions she was expecting letters from when her train arrived. She bid her cousin farewell and boarded.

A few hours later she was back in Ponyville and she immediately went home to Sweet Apple Acres. The first thing she wanted to do was get out of the dress and get comfortable again, then she needed to find Big Mac and see what all needed to be done now that she was back to work.

The second part was easiest since before she made it back into the house Big Mac was just stepping outside. He looked at Applejack and chuckled a bit. He'd seen her leave with the dress that morning and already gave her a friendly razzle about it, so now he just kept it at a simple laugh. It still irritated his younger sister.

"Howdeh Big Mac," she said, "How y'all been doin?"

"Pretty good," Big Mac said, "Yerself?"

"Ah just got back from that shindig Rarity wanted me ta go to." Applejack said, "If ya don' mind ah'd like ta get in and take off this dress 'n get ta work."

"No need," Big Mac said, "Applebloom go her Cutie Mark Crusaders ta help out tahday. Made a right mess o' things, but they got it all cleaned up. Ah wish you'd a've been 'ere earlier though."

"Why's 'at?" Applejack asked.

"Well, ya know how we had to give Applebloom the Birds'n'Bees talk a few months ago?" Applejack nodded, "Well, she saw Twilight and Fluttershy on a date the other day and ah had to explain-"

"What?" Applejack asked, "Y'all mean Fluttershy said yes?" Applejack had left before Fluttershy could reply to Twilight, but she had imagined that the yellow pegasus would simply, politely, turn down Twilight's momentary act of compassionate madness. There was a painful twinge in Applejack's gut at the thought of Fluttershy bashfully accepting Twilight's offer for a date on Hearts and Hooves day just so that she wouldn't hurt her friend. It made her a little angry, actually, but not at Twilight or Fluttershy. Just....angry...ish...sort of.

"Aww, poor Fluttershy," Applejack said, "She never could say no to a friend. Musta been miserable."

"Actually," Big Mac said, "Ah saw her and Twilight when Cheerilee and ah were leaven the restaurant. Fluttershy seemed quite happy. Still wierd though. Ahm glad Cheerilee got me outta there."

"C'mon now Mac," Applejack said, her tone changing to a defensive one, "Y'all don't gotta go callin mah friends wierd jus' cuz they ain't inta stallions."

Big Mac shrugged while saying "It jus' ain't natural."

Applejack stomped her hoof on the floor. "Now that's goin' too far. It don't matter what y'all think. If they're happeh with each other then I'm happeh. Heck, Ah'm more than happeh that they're happeh." She stomped right up into Big Mac's face, getting the older, larger stallion to back up a few steps and seem to shrink, "And if y'all said anythin' to Applebloom that'll make her think there's somethin wrong with mah friends I'll buck you so hard you won't be applebuckin' fer a month!"

Big Mac just nodded his head, agreeing to a non-existing question. He remained in a semi-frightened hunched form while Applejack stomped her way into the house, muttering to herself. When she was up in her room and removing the dress, careful not to rip it for fear of Rarity's wrath, she felt her eyes start to sting. She was crying?

Why the hell em ah cryin? she wondered, Ain't Twilight's fault Fluttershy can' say "no" worth a darn. Ain't Fluttershy's fault that Twilight's willin ta make a foal of 'erself in public to give somethin' special to Fluttershy on Hearts'n'Hooves day. She thought about those two for a few seconds, then a few minutes. Smiling, laughing, out on some romantic date, kissing...

Applejack shook her head and wiped her eyes with her arm. "No ma'am," she said, "No more o' that kinda thinkin' now. Ain't right." As soon as she said it she slapped her hoof over her mouth.

Ain't right? What aint right? Love ain't right? she wondered. She was stuck on that thought for a rather long time. It don' matter what ah think. Or what Mac thinks. Or what Granny thinks. If a mare loves a mare, then whats wrong with that? Love's love....right? As she thought this she didn't think of Twilight and Fluttershy.

Ebony black hair gleamed in the torch light, contrasted sharply by the bright gold lines that detailed the mane around Dune Sea's head. She was sitting in contemplation over the five insectoid bodies that her guards had brought in. More and more of these changelings had been found over the last few weeks. The closer they got to the Mare Mountains the more of these Changelings seemed to appear.

She glanced to her right, her cold, black eyes looking at one of the young Zebra warriors she had converted into a soldier of the Rising Sun Empire. He looked back at her patiently, waiting for his orders. The tip of his spear was still red from the executions she had him commit that morning, and even the deepest parts of his eyes showed now remorse. Her conversion spell was powerful indeed.

Giving him a feline smile, she said "Go fetch me the nearest alchemist. It is high time I find a permanent solution to this problem." The obedient zebra nodded and walked away at a decent clip. Dune Sea got up on all fours and prowled around the corpses. She prodded them with her claws, sniffed at one curiously, and examined the pale green eye of another before another young zebra, this one a female, entered.

Like her escort, this one's tattoo had been overwritten with a more appropriate one. A scarab curled into its own shell, the sign of alchemy. Dune Sea was quite the accomplished alchemist in her own right, but the zebras had taken it to a new level.

Gesturing to the bodies on the floor, Dune sea told the zebra girl to begin examining the bodies and learning what she could about them and their peculiar powers.

"I will have one of my warlocks assist you." she added. "By the end of the week, I want a way to expose the Changelings at our whim, not by deciphering minute nuances."

"Yes Empress," the alchemist said, bowing low. Dune Sea smiled and left the hut. Her zebra and sphinx entourage formed around her. She made a gesture with her tail and five sphinxes stepped forward from the crowd. "Prepare to break camp. We are going to continue our journey north. These Changelings are coming from the Mare Mountains and we shall find them. They will join us or be wiped out."

The sphinxes bowed and scattered. The rest of the group surrounding her let up a roar- or in the case of the zebras, a whinny- before they bowed as one to her. "Enough," she said, bored of their antics. The group spread out and began the act of packing up belongings and taking down tents. It was time to move on.

Matters of the Heart

Chapter 8: Matters of the Heart

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or just simply Cadance, was more than a little caught off-guard when her horn flashed pink and a scroll appeared out of thin air in front of her. She wasn't surprised that a scroll had appeared since that was how she communicated with her aunt Celestia, but simply the timing since she was not expecting a correspondence with her aunt for another few days.

"Shall I take that to the mail room your Highness?" the brilliant blue and white Serenity asked. She was Cadance's assistant, secretary, and friend.

"No, I should probably take a look at it," Cadance said, already levitating the scroll and opening it, "If my aunt is sending me unexpected mail, it might be important." It also might be something silly, as Celestia was known to do silly things. Inside the scroll was another scroll, but the outer one had a message on it also.

My Dearest Niece,

It seems that one of our Elements of Harmony is having difficulties of the heart. She wanted to reach out to you, and the quickest way was through me. I'm going to teach Twilight's assistant, Spike, how to send messages to you so that we won't need this silly middle-man setup again. Please keep in mind how much she helped at your wedding and with reviving the Crystal Empire before you make any decisions.

Love,

Auntie Celly

Cadance rolled her eyes and giggled, rolling back up that first scroll and levitating it over to Serenity. Of course she'd do anything to help Twily and her friends. She didn't need to remember the wedding to know that. The second scroll was opened and she first peaked at the sender. Surprised to see Fluttershy's name, she started to read the letter, going over it twice.

"Well this certainly is interesting," she said, but she smiled as she said it.

"Cadance?" Serenity asked, dropping the formality in friendly curiosity.

"Sorry, its a matter of the heart," Cadance said, rolling the scroll back up, "As such only I am privy to the details. But its nothing bad. Love is in the air!" She almost laughed as she said it. Love was such an amazing thing. So simple, so complex, so frightening and beautiful. Even Cadance, who knew all there is to know about love, knew nothing about it.

Giggling, she galloped away from Serenity, leaving her to do whatever it was she did when Cadance was not around. She was giddy as a school filly as she went back to her room to write her reply to Fluttershy. She already knew how to start the letter, and she would simply let the rest come from her own heart.

Dear Fluttershy,

I'm honored you thought to ask me about matters of love and it is never a bother to help my friends. Its my pleasure, a thrill even, to assist you in any way I can considering all that I owe you and your friends.

I'm overjoyed that love is in the air in Ponyville! There is nothing more binding than when someone manages to overcome their fears and tell that special somepony else how they feel. Unfortunately, there is nothing more painful than when that love is not reciprocated in turn. I sympathize with your position Fluttershy. It was hard for me to find true love among all of the ponies that I knew, but do not fear, it is out there.

If you want my advice, the first thing you should do is tell this friend of yours exactly what you told me. If she truly loves you, she will understand.

I'm going to be bold here and guess that she is one of the other Elements, am I right? I don't assume you all call yourselves that, but that's the only way I know you all as a group. Would it be possible for you to tell me who it is, or describe her if that's too hard? I don't mean to pry, I do mean to help.

I know, what about you tell me about each of your friends from your perspective. What makes you cherish each of them, and, above all, when you think about them how do you feel?

Your loving friend,

Cadance

And that was that. Everything flowed out better than she thought, but from how she knew Fluttershy she was worried that the pegasus might go into some terror stricken coma at the thought of exposing her heart on paper like this. But it was all she could do. Cadance would love to go visit her in person, but there just wasn't time. With Shining Armor back in Canterlot to help with a possible thread to all of Equestria she was needed here in the Crystal Empire too much.

Sealing the scroll, Cadance lowered her horn to it and concentrated. Soon enough, it vanished, and a certain pink maned pony would be in for a surprise when it appeared.

Twilight Sparkle was seated on the back of a chariot that Princess Celestia had sent for her. She didn't expect this kind of treatment for a simple conversation, but she could scarcely refuse Celestia's insistence. The most surprising part of it all was the speed at which the royal guards and chariot arrived.

Twilight had only sent the letter two hours earlier, asking Princess Celestia if she could visit and talk about a problem she was having with regards to a mare she had recently dated. The Princess had helped Twilight come to terms with her sexuality when she was younger, so maybe she could help her come to terms with her heart now.

The problem she needed her mentor for was the fact that, despite her greatest attempts at being romantic and showing true affection and love for Fluttershy, there was no spark. Or no spark more-so than the close friendship they already had. Taking Fluttershy on a date and to bed had felt almost natural, like something she could have done with any of her best friends. And this was what frightened Twilight, because if she didn't love Fluttershy then she would have to let the bashful mare know before they became too close and risk breaking her heart. But on the other side of that, Twilight couldn't resist the joy she got from treating Fluttershy as more than a chaste friend. Sure, the sex was fun, but the intimacy they now shared was spectacular. It made her want more. That was another point that Twilight would have to talk to Celestia about.

The fact that it was approaching midnight on the eve of the Summer Sun Festival had made quite the convenient excuse to leave Ponyville. Twilight, being the protege of Celestia and one of the Elements of Harmony, was prone to sudden departures at significant events. Even Spike didn't question Twilight when she said that at dawn she would be taking the first train to Canterlot.

The chariot had arrived hours after the letter was sent and the two royal guards had told her that Celestia requested she come with them rather than wait. So now she was standing on a chariot and Canterlot was in view. In the pre-dawn air it was quite cold, but the summer night was pleasant enough that she only shivered a little and she could wait until they landed before she'd have to worry about getting sick.

When she was left on the ground, Twilight went up the brick road to the palace where the guards greeted her with familiarity. She asked to see the princess but was informed that, although she was expected, the princess was currently out preparing for the Summer Sun Festival. This year she would be raising the sun in Fillydelphia but Twilight was welcome to wait in the palace or enjoy the Canterlot festival until her return in the morning. Twilight, knowing the grounds fairly well, decided to go out to the Canterlot Grand Square to celebrate the Sun

Most unfortunately for her, the Grand Square had a new stage set up on it and a very familiar unicorn grandstanding and garnering the attention of the residents of the capital city.

"Viola!" the unicorn said, her crowd applauding politely as a single flower in her hoof became a bouquet. Unlike the crowds she drew in smaller towns, such as Ponyville and Appleoosa, the social elite of Canterlot were unlikely to break out into roaring cheers and applause. Twilight smirked a little at Trixie's momentary irritated look at this realization.

The blue unicorn spotted Twilight as the purple mare tried to walk around the back end of the crowd. Feeling like she could earn more of a cheer if she really stepped up the showmanship, she called out to her.

"Why look everypony," She said, flourishing her hoof, "Its none other than the famous Twilight Sparkle, the living embodiment of Magic herself." All heads turned towards Twilight. The sudden attention made Twilight highly uncomfortable. Trixie apparently knew this and made a great fuss about Twilight joining her on stage. Twilight Sparkle tried to turn down the offer but a surprisingly enthusiastic crowd urged her on. Before Twilight could really grasp the situation, she was standing on stage beside a rather smug looking Trixie.

"Mares and Gentlecoalts," she said, "This is Twilight Sparkle, resident of Ponyville. Before I continue the show we shall let her regale us with the tale of how I vanquished the Ursa Major and saved her beloved little town from certain destruction.

Twilight blinked, shocked from her stupor by Trixie's blatant lie. Hadn't she learned her lesson last time. As all eyes turned to her expectantly, Twilight looked at Trixie quizzically.

"Vanquished? You were panicking in the street. And it was an Ursa Minor, not an Ursa Major. And it wasn't vanquished, it was lulled back to sleep and sent home. And it wasn't you that saved Ponyville, it was me." Twilight argued.

There were some surprised gasps but Trixie was quick to react. "You? Oh please. I know you are the student of our beloved Celestia, but how can you hope to compare to the Great and Powerful Trixie!" As she announced her own name her hat lifted up slightly so that her horn could be seen glowing. Sparks of light shot out in multiple directions, exploding like fireworks and earning some "Oooh"s and "Ahh"s from the crowd. The sounds of appraisal stopped with gasps as the exploding sparks of light all froze in place. Even Trixie sounded shocked.

All eyes went to Twilight, who's horn was now glowing as well.

She had frozen the illusions cast by Trixie in place, and was now rearranging them. Each spark of light floated towards a central point and they began to swirl around in a sphere, moving faster and faster and faster until they appeared to be one solid ball of light. The ball of light began to deform and reshape itself. Appendages began to appear and elongate from the central mass, and as they did so the sparks that were used to form the light slowed somewhat, showing of the swirling effect once more. Within seconds the irregular lump bore a strong resemblance to a rather large pony with a large hat, flowing cloak, and long beard. The lights swirled around within the beard and the pony of light, thrice the size of all present, appeared to walk over to Trixie, causing the blue unicorn to cringe back from it.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie should learn to be more modest in the presence of greater magic," Twilight said, "Meet Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest user of magic to ever exist. Second only to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." This display caused a much more vigorous applause and cheering from the crowd of onlookers. Trixie's cheeks began to look purple-ish as she flushed with embarrassment and anger. Her horn flashed light blue and the sparkling apparition of Starswirl erupted into a multifaceted explosion gleaming like a thousand diamonds in an array of light and beauty that would have made Rarity drool.

The ground where Starswirl had stood was now billowing with multicolored smoke. Twilight looked through the smoke at a surprisingly wicked looking Trixie. "Behold!" The Great and Powerful unicorn said as the smoke flew towards Twilight like ropes, each color separating into its own strand. They lashed around Twilight's legs and neck, lifting her into the air and twirling her around theatrically.

Turning to the audience, Trixie took a bow, but there was a sudden bright flash that blinded everyone for half a second. When the audience could see again, Twilight was standing in Trixie's place, bowing, while Trixie was neatly wrapped up by the smoke ribbons. There was even a big red bow on her head. She used her magic to have the smoke dissipate and turned to Twilight, stomping her hoof in irritation. Twilight smiled smugly at her. It was about time someone had properly put Trixie in her place.

Trixie smiled back. Clearly she had another trick or two up her sleeve. "You're rather impressive, I have to admit." she said, her voice once more inflecting theatrically for the sake of showmanship. "There must be some powerful motivator driving such extreme talent. Lets have a look at whats on your mind, shall we?"

Twilight froze up. Trixie's horn glowed and a matching aura wrapped Twilight's head. Memories of the night with Fluttershy began to well up, but even as Twilight fought the spell and tried to hide that memory, fantasies began to surface. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity...

No no no! Twilight struggled as illusions began to materialize around her on the stage. It was one thing to be a public lesbian, it was another to have your depraved sexual fantasies displayed on stage for everyone to see. Twilight was rather good at caring little about what strangers thought of her, but this would be something even she would have difficulty living down. Even more-so if her friends ever heard the news.

There was a tap on her shoulder and Twilight opened one of her eyes to look. It was...Pinkie Pie? She leaned in and whispered into Twilight's ear. "Think about your friends."

Think about her friends? That was the main problem! Trixie was pulling out thoughts and fantasies of her closest friends. If only Twilight could get her spell to pull out more appropriate memories. Apparitions of her friends not doing something sultry would be far more helpful.

And that's when it came to her. Think about her friends! That's exactly what she was doing! Twilight focused more and stopped worrying about Trixie pulling her friends out of her head. Instead, Twilight pushed them out.

Translucent, glowing images of Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie surrounded her, all facing towards Trixie.

"Awww, how cute!" Trixie said, "The Element of Magic thinks about the other Elements of Harmony. Almost storybook, if I do say so myself."

"They're not just the Elements of Harmony," Twilight said, "They're my friends. And as long as they're here with me," she tapped her hoof to her chest, "You'll never beat me." With a smile of confidence, Twilight's horn burst with light and the illusions left Trixie's control and became her own spell. They ran towards her, the sounds of their illusionary hooves sounding like a stampede. They collided with Trixie and Twilight expected them to travel through her, but instead they actually shoved her offstage, carrying her back behind the curtains.

When the sounds of the hooves and shouts of anger and surprise of Trixie died away, there was a moment of silence before an almost undignified cheer rose from the crowd. They clopped their hooves on the ground and cheered Twilight's name. Blushing, she bowed and backed away off stage, going to the same side that Trixie had been taken.

Once she was out of sight, she ran around to where she had last seen the apparitions of her friends. Instead of five magically created ponies there was just one solid Pinkie Pie with an unconscious Trixie laying at her feet. Pinkie Pie was looking up quizzically when Twilight approached.

"Pinkie?" she asked. Her friend looked at her and beamed.

"Hiya Twilight!" she said.

"But....how did you...how are you...." She reached out and poked Pinkie Pie's shoulder. The pink pony giggled and poked Twilight back. "You're real? How did you get here? Where did you come from?" Twilight was overwhelmed by the relief and confusion caused by Pinkie Pie's timely appearance.

"My Pinkie Sense told me that a friend is gonna be in a bit of a pickle and that I needed to get to Canterlot to help her out." Pinkie replied with a big smile. Twilight lifted a hoof and was about to voice another question, but instead stopped herself. There was no point in asking Pinkie Pie about how she Pinkie Pie'd. She just did.

Smiling with appreciation, Twilight only said "Thanks Pinkie. I'm glad you did get here when you did." Pinkie PIe pulled Twilight into a hug and the two held each other for a few seconds. "Hey! Its almost dawn, want to watch the Summer Sun Celebration Sunrise with me?" she asked. The poofy haired mare about exploded with excitement before mimicking Twilight's emphatic 'Yes yes yes yes!' in a way not unlike how Twilight acted when she first got her cutie mark. "Here, I know where the best view in the city is." Twilight added, nodding her head for Pinkie Pie to follow her. They walked back around to the front of the stage and Twilight was relieved to see that the crowd had dissipated . Everyone was heading off to the other end of the central square where the Princess would stand to raise the sun if it were Canterlot's turn to host.

Twilight took Pinkie Pie into a tower whose entrance was guarded. They let Twilight in as well as Pinkie because of familiarity with the two Elements. At the top of the tower was a balcony and a telescope, the one used by the princesses to watch over all of Equestria when needed. Twilight moved the telescope to one side of the balcony then went over to the railing with Pinkie Pie. The two leaned on the rail and stared at the glowing horizon. "Here it comes!" Twilight said excitedly.

The sun broke the horizon and began to rapidly ascend. Brilliant golden yellow light flooded the landscape and shadows shrunk before its warm glow. Twilight basked in its beauty and leaned against Pinkie Pie. The pink mare leaned back against her friend and watched the dawn.

"This would be super romantic if we were on a date," Pinkie Pie said after a lenghty, peaceful silence. While some might consider the comment awkward, Twilight was inclined to agree. This would be incredibly romantic if she were dating Pinkie Pie. But then a nagging thought entered her mind. Would it be romantic? In the technical sense, sure it would be. But with all of the confusing problems with dating Fluttershy at the moment, Twilight was fearful that something was wrong with her that would take the romance out of anything.

Frowning, she stopped leaning against Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie Pie fell over now that the mutual support was gone. She gave Twilight a concerned frown when she stood back up.

"Is something wrong Twilight?" she asked, momentarily afraid that her comment had upset her.

"Yeah," Twilight said, "But if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell Fluttershy."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Pinkie Pie said with a smile, mimicking the entire process of her vow to secrecy. Twilight suppressed a giggle but couldn't suppress a smile. More than once she had thought What would I do without Pinkie Pie and she always dismissed the question because she'd never want this particularly quirky pony gone.

With a sigh, Twilight told Pinkie Pie about her feelings for Fluttershy. She told her about the date, briefly mentioning that they spent the night together without going into details, and how she was uncomfortable that even after all of the romance and how much she tried to fall in love with Fluttershy that nothing happened.

"This may sound weird," She said, "But for all that we did, I feel like I could have had exactly as romantic a time with you, or Rarity, or any of our friends." She looked down for a moment before looking back up in nervous surprise at herself, "I don't mean that in a bad way!" she quickly defended against an unaccusatory Pinkie Pie.

The pink mare reached out and patted Twilight's back. She truly sympathized with her friend, but from a different direction. Her fear wasn't that she couldn't love anyone, but that no one could love her. "I know whatcha mean," she said in her normally perky manner, but inside she was anything but. Inside she was feeling cold and bitter and worried.

Twilight's fears of not being in love froze Pinkie Pie's blood in her veins, and the fact that the purple unicorn had such a wonderful gift as the mere potential for love and was whining about not feeling anything special made Pinkie Pie almost spitefully bitter towards her friend. She was close to just smacking her across the face with her hoof and screaming into her face to not dare give up this chance at a joy that Pinkie Pie dared not even dream of. It also worried her because to see two of her closest friends be on the brink of something so wonderful and yet be so close to losing it all. Pinkie decided that, though it might benefit her to try and slide into one of these possibly breaking hearts, it would be better for everyone if she could keep Fluttershy and Twilight together. The thought of them breaking up hurt almost as much as the thought of herself breaking up with someone she loved.

Twilight received a summons from a royal messenger while they talked on the balcony and excused herself, apologizing profusely despite Pinkie's assurance that she'd be fine without her for a bit, and that her meeting with Celestia was the entire reason she was here in the first place. Once Twilight was gone, Pinkie Pie dashed back to the train station. She needed to get to Ponyville and hatch out a plan to save the romance between her friends. Actually, she decided to do her planning and thinking on the train. The ride would take most of the day and that way she'd have have something in mind and all of the details thought up thoughtfully so that when she got out of the train she'd be able to get started without any more minutes passing.

She pondered what to do while waiting for the train to get her back to Ponyville. What would save a relationship? She wasn't entirely familiar with the concept having never tried to save one before. There were books and sappy movies she could read and watch about breakups and get-back-togethers, so that was a place to start!

The rest of the train ride was laboriously long. Pinkie hadn't thought that she could think so fast, so now that she was eager to get back to Ponyville and find a romantic literary piece she was dancing about as though she had ants in her pants. The moment the train had slowed enough to allow it, Pinkie Pie leaped from the door and ran at breakneck speed away from the train station. Her target: the library!

As she had guessed, the only living souls in the library were Spike and Owlowiscious, the one capable of flight currently sleeping the day away, and the one with fire for breath carrying a short stack of books. He looked over when Pinkie Pie entered and gave her a smile and a wave.

"Hey Pinkie Pie."

"Hiiiiiii Spike" Pinkie answered, cheerily as ever. Having her mind set on saving the romance between two of her closest friends had put her in as dandy a mood as ever. She hopped along the library floor towards the side of the library where most of the fiction was. "Hey Spike, do you know any good romance books?" she asked when she started to peruse the shelves.

"Romance? Bleh," Spike said, making a gagging noise, "I don't touch the stuff."

"But I thought you're the one that puts all the books away?" Pinkie asked, looking over her shoulder quizzically at him.

Spike slapped himself in the forehead with a sigh. "Okay, I do touch them, but I don't read them or really look at them if I can avoid it."

"Aww," Pinkie Pie said, "But I really need to find a good book to help keep a couple together." She winced a bit as she said that, since that was a little too close to telling Spike what Twilight had told her in confidence. Spike didn't pick up on that, however. Perhaps he genuinely wasn't interested in anything romance related.

"Check that shelf to your right," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Its the romance shelf." He made another sickly face after saying 'romance' and walked back over to a cart full of book to continue his duties in Twilight's absence.

"Thaaaanks!" Pinkie said before taking a longer than natural sidestep over to the shelf in question. Her eyes bulged out as she leaned in close to examine each spine. Her head moved sideways from one volume to the next as she judged them by their spines, stopping every couple of books to bite on one and pull it out. She flicked them open to the middle with her hoof and read a couple of sentences in each one before moving on. Spike made a grunting noise when he saw the mess she was making but otherwise didn't complain.

"Aha!" Pinkie said as she all but buried her face in one of the books. She closed it and picked it up, running over to Spike and stopping just short of barreling the little dragon over. Spike had cringed at the sight of the pink pony approaching him at such reckless speeds, but let out a breath of relief when she stopped.

"Go ahead and take it," Spike said, not feeling like going through the tedious process of actually checking out a book. Not like he'd miss it, and Pinkie Pie was more than trustworthy.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Pinkie pie said while picking up the book and bolting out of the library so quick the sheer force of the air whirling around her knocked several books off of the shelf, which greatly irritated the young dragon.

Pinkie Pie went back to Sugarcube Corner as fast as she could. She greeted her kind landlords but without any further adieu she went to her room and shut the door to begin reading. She didn't so much 'read' the book as skim it for anything that seemed relevant to her cause. The words "I'm sorry" popped out at her and the phrases "I love you" and "I still love you". She completely ignored the entirety of the story, something about a young colt falling for a mare from a rival family, but none of it mattered. What did matter were the things being done in the story when the colt and mare get into a fight and split up. The colt tries to rekindle the romance.

Flowers, sweets, dinner Pinkie Pie thought, memorizing the list while at the same time thinking of what to do, in what order, how to do it, and where to start. Flowers would be the easiest thing to pick since she knew both Twilight and Fluttershy's favorite species of the pretty, tasty morsels. The sweets and dinner and other materials she would require would require a lot more thought and research.

"To the flower shop!" She cried loudly from her room, causing both of the twins to wake up and a someone irritated Ms Cake to come galloping up the stairs as Pinkie galloped down them. She was on her way to the best flower shop in town: May's Flowers.

The small store was more or less halfway between her home on the second floor of Sugarcube Corner and Rarity's fashion boutique. Pinkie Pie almost always stopped in to see the owner, May, or her assistant, April Showers. Today when Pinkie got there it was April Showers who was behind the counter.

"Hi Pinkie Pie," she said, waving her hoof.

"Hiya April!" Pinkie said, "Is that a new manecut?"

"Oh, yes, thanks" April said, "I'm trying to wear it to a different side, what do you think?"

"Hmmm," Pinkie Pie said, rubbing her chin as she examined her friend's hairdo. "I like it!" she said after a lengthy, speculative silence.

"Thanks," April said with a smile, "So what brings you here today? We have fresh lilacs if you're interested." April knew all too well that Pinkie Pie loved lilacs, but today Pinkie was on a mission.

"Actually," she said, "I'm on a special mission that requires tulips and babiesbreath." April raised a surprised eyebrow at Pinkie Pie's request.

"Dare I ask why you're changing your usual order?" she asked, but she still smiled since she expected a very Pinkie Pie answer. She walked around the counter towards one of the rows upon rows of trough-like gardens, looking for the prime flowers for Pinkie.

Pinkie Pie hesitated before answering. She had sworn to Twilight not to tell Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie naturally extended that promise to anyone within the circle of friends. Even her little slip-up to Spike had been too close for her comfort. April Showers rarely had contact with any of Pinkie's closest friends, but telling her might be breaking Twilight's trust....but telling the expert on flowers about the situation could be beneficial since April might know what sort of flowers are best for stopping a breakup.

"Well...I can tell you...but only because it might be better for you to know since I only came here for flowers cuz I got the idea from a book." Pinkie Pie was visibly struggling with the dilemma and it caused a look of concern to cross April's face. "And you can't tell anybody" Pinkie added. April rolled her eyes, smiled, and made the gestures that went along with Pinkie Pie's famous Pinkie Promise. Relaxing a little at this, the curly maned mare took a deep breath and began to explain. "My friends Twilight and Fluttershy started dating a little while ago and they make such a cute couple but Twilight told me she's not sure if she's really in love with Fluttershy because even after all of their dating and other activities she doesn't feel anything different for her than when they were just friends and I'm really worried that they might split up which would be just terrible since my Pinkie Sense tells me they belong together and so I went to the library and got a romance novel and read it and got the idea to get flowers and some other things to try and rekindle the romance." She ended and took another deep breath, having let it all out in once burst.

April showers blinked, her face contorted in confusion and slow comprehension. Eventually she deciphered all that was said and nodded her head thoughtfully. "Okay...I think I see what you're up against...hmm." she looked down at the flowers Pinkie had requested and went on "But tulips and babysbreath aren't what you need."

"But they're Twilight and Fluttershy's favorites," Pinkie said.

"Maybe, but then you can't send them just bouquets of them. You need something more." She tapped her chin then began to calmly walk around the room, "Roses, for one. Long stemmed and red," she clipped a few and put them on a cart. Pinkie Pie followed and watched as April went to many different bushes of flowers and began to sort the few she clipped into two separate arrangements.

"Wowwwww," Pinkie said as the flowers came together in a pair of beautiful bouquets. She wasn't sure at what point they became beautiful, but from the pile of flowers and stems that April had started with to the two wrapped bouquets sitting on the counter, there was some magic being done, that was for sure.

"Yes, I think these should do," April Showers said, smiling down at the bouquets with a hint of affection. She turned the same expression onto Pinkie Pie before saying "You're a really good friend, you know? Most mares would stay out of their friends' business and let them work it out themselves. Heck, I know a few who would actively try to sabotage a relationship for one reason or another," She rolled her eyes at the sheer stupidity of some people. "I hope they realize how sweet you are."

Pinkie Pie felt the coldness in her chest begin to flare up again, spreading downwards to the pit in her stomach where she tried to hide all of her bad feelings. Her smile gave way to a nervous frown. "Gee, you think maybe they'll think I'm interloping?"

"Nah," April said, "If they're really in love, they'll realize this and thank you until the end of time for saving it. And I mean really in love, deep down in their bones, ya know?"

"Well, actually..." Pinkie Pie began, "I don't-" She was cut off by the ringing of the bell at the entrance. Pinkie looked over her shoulder to see half a dozen young ponies come running in.

"Uh-oh" April said with a concerned smile.

"Cutie Mark Crusader Flower Arrangers!" the children all said in one unified enthusiastic shout. Scootaloo, Pipsqueek, Air Horn, Applebloom, Toddleoff and Zippity Zip all but stampeded into the small store, almost knocking Pinkie Pie over, but the energetic mare managed to dance her way around them as they ran past her and up to April.

"Let me guess," April Showers said to the notorious youngsters, who were all looking at her with eager expressions, "You want to try and find your cutie marks by arranging flowers?"

"Yeah!" Scootaloo said.

"Well, alright," April said, "But-" before she could finish the foals had darted off in different directions. April's head turned from side to side with an increasingly horror filled expression as flowers were ripped from stems and entire plants were pulled out, root and all, "No...no no no no no!" April Showers said before she began to run to the Crusaders, trying not to tackle them away from their wanton destruction in her haste to save the flowers.

Pinkie Pie fought off the urge to laugh and instead went about to help, trying to stop the eccentric youngsters from ripping the flowers out by the root. By the time the litte ponies had abandoned the venture- briefly gathering by the store entrance to discuss their next idea- April was looking over what appeared to be the aftermath of a small tornado that had appeared and been entirely concentrated within the flower shop.

April looked at the ruins of her shop, her right eye twitching slightly. Pinkie Pie walked up next to her and looked around, surveying the damage. "Wow, what a mess." She said, "Want me to help clean up?"

This brought April out of her dumbfounded state of mind. With a sigh she gave Pinkie Pie a grateful smile. "Really? Would you?" She asked. Pinkie nodded and April Showers accepted the help. She went to grab a broom and dustpan while Pinkie Pie began to upright overturned flower pots and attempt to replant the ones that did not seem too horribly mangled by the young ones that had just left.

As April and Pinkie worked their way around the shop, slowly repairing the devastation, April started up the previous conversation. "You were saying?" She asked. Pinkie Pie blinked at her, having no idea what she was saying or what April was thinking she was saying. "You were worried your friends wouldn't like you nosing in on their business? I said if they were really in love, and you were saying 'You don't'?"

"Ohhhh," Pinkie Pie said, feeling that cold ache in her stomach return. Her smile faltered and April Showers blinked, having never seen Pinkie without a smile before.

"Are you okay?" April asked, stopping her sweeping while waiting for an answer.

"I'm...not...sure?" Pinkie said. April waited for a few seconds, and was about to ask some more when Pinkie Pie sighed. "I'm just...very...very confused." She sighed and sat down. April leaned her broom against one of the shelves that held partially fixed flowers and walked over to the floor beside Pinkie Pie, sitting next to her.

"About what?" she asked, "Maybe I can help?"

Pinkie Pie looked at April Showers, then nodded her head. "Maybe," she said "But....well...." She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Here goes....When Twilight asked Fluttershy out I was super excited and super jealous because I want them to be happy no matter what but I also do my best to make everypony happy and I've never been asked out once ever by anyone I really care about I mean I know everypony in Ponyville and a lotta people have asked me out but no one really special do you know what I mean? Like a minute ago you said that deep deep love you feel in your bones right? Well no matter who I get to smile and who I hang out with I don't get any warm fuzzy feelings except when I'm around my best friends and it gets very frustrating so that's why I'm really wanting to keep Fluttershy and Twilight together because if they split up then I don't' know what I'd do but I don't like the ideas that come to mind." Again she inhaled, having expended all of her breath on that miniature speech.

April gave Pinkie a moment to catch her breath. "Love isn't something you find, Pinkie," she said, patting the wild maned mare on the shoulder, "Its something that finds you."*

Pinkie Pie stared in slack jawed wonder at the simple statement. It was both all-explaining and yet left her feeling absolutely clueless. Eventually her mouth closed and her eyes stopped focusing on April and instead focused on something in the distance, something not in the real world. "Something that finds me..." she thought as her life did a fast-rewind before her eyes.

"I'm not going to make you a guarantee," April continued, "But its very likely you already found what you're looking for, and just haven't recognized it."

"Yeah..." Pinkie Pie said, standing up, "Um, sorry to leave you with this mess April, but I need to go."

"Its fine," April said, "You helped me clean most of it anyway. Good luck, by the way." She gave Pinkie Pie a wink and, smiling again, Pinkie Pie left the flower shop, her mind still reeling.

Princess Celestia walked ahead of the small procession of ponies down the hallway that led to the great Vault placed deep within the sprawling palace of Canterlot. With Celestia was Luna, walking less than half a pace behind and beside her sister. Behind them walked Zecora, who looked up at the tall stained glass windows as they passed them. Beside her was Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle's elder sibling. He had come from the Crystal Empire to assist his home in this upcoming time of need. Behind them were two of Celstia's royal guards, their faces grimly stoic, as always.

Zecora had set in motion the events that led to this. Her letter to Celestia had been answered quite promptly and she had been teleported from the train station in Ponyville directly to the palace. This had greatly surprised Zecora, but only for a moment. Once her senses had adjusted she began to answer the white alicorn's series of pointed questions. The princess then wrote to her niece, Cadence, and teleported Shining Armor back to Equestria to hear Zecora's description of Dune Sea and the Rising Sun Empire first hand. They grilled her for hours about the details of the Zebra's war against the Sphinxes and got everything they could learn from Zecora. Zecora was more than willing to help and very patient with them. What she was telling them was no small matter, and the fate of Equestria was in the balance.

Now Zecora was following them all to a rather majestic vault, the contents of which she could only wonder. Celestia and Shining had been in conversations without Zecora for quite some time before she was summoned from her guest room to join them, so she could only guess that what they had discussed involved this vault.

Just as she was examining a window that depicted the new Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle and her friends, turning Nightmare Moon back into Luna, she stopped walking along with everyone else. They had arrived at the massive doors.

"Guards," she said as her and Luna's horns glowed with magic, and the doors began to open, "You are to take these necklaces to each of the Elements of Harmony. Speak to no one about your assignment besides them."

"Yes your highness," the two guards said simultaneously, the unicorn of them taking the box with his own magical levitation after the princess removed it from the vault. Luna closed the vault doors as the guards left, and Zecora waited silently as Shining Armor watched two of his former soldiers leave.

Looking to Zecora, he blinked and gave her a slightly apologetic look. "Sorry to leave you in the dark Zecora," he said, "But we decided," he gestured to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, "That the Elements of Harmony needed to be moved to a safer place."

"What place could be safer than a safe?" Zecora asked.

"When Discord returned," Princess Celestia began, "He was able to get past my magical safeguards. He is a powerfully magical individual, as is this Dune Sea you have warned us about." Zecora only nodded, and waited because she could tell that Celestia had more to say. The princess continued, "When Queen Chrysalis attacked, her army was able to keep the Elements of Harmony out of the hooves of their wielders, much to all of our dismay. This Rising Sun Empire you speak of sounds as though it will be even larger than the Changeling army that assaulted us during Shining Armor's wedding. If Dune Sea can get beyond my magical seal or if her armies can keep my student and her friends away from Canterlot, then our greatest defense against the worst will be lost."

"Ah, I see," Zecora said.

"So we decided that it would be best to trust the Elements into the care of those who wield them," said Luna. "This way, should the Sphinxes enter Equestria, Twilight Sparkle and the others will be able to react immediately to any situation that threatens."

"This decision is very wise." Zecora said, nodding her head, "I merely hope Equestria does not get seen by Dune Sea's eyes."

"So do us all," Shining Armor said, "So do us all."

Forgiveness and Friendship

Chapter 9: Forgiveness and Frienship

Dear Princess Cadence

You are right. The mare I was talking about is Twilight. But I don't think I could ever come out and tell her that I don't feel for her the way she feels for me. But maybe you're right. Even if it hurts her a little right now, it would be better in the long run, wouldn't it? But I don't even want to hurt her a little, she's too good a friend. Even if I don't love her the same way she's still very special to me.

As for my other friends this can be tricky. They're all so dear and important. Applejack is strong and courageous and can coax me to do anything even if it goes against my nature, like when she managed to get me up the mountain to face the dragon. Rainbow Dash is very similar, but rather than coaxing the inner me out, her actions end up making that little outgoing bit of me burst out on its own. Pinkie Pie can take even the most dreary and serious situation and laugh it off as a fun game, which endears her to me in a way I don't think I can explain. Rarity I even have a harder time explaining why she is so special, but she is. She was the first pony I met when I moved to ponyville and we've spent so much time together that now I can't imagine a day without her.

Writing my feelings down is just making me even more confused. I love them all, and thats really the only word I can think of to describe how I feel when I think about them. Of course, because of my orientation, I've thought of them all in romantic ways, but only as a fantasy. Maybe because I did that a lot is why I don't think I love Twilight? I mean, when I first met her it was such an amazing sensation that I almost thought it had to be love, but the more I think about it the more I'm pretty sure it started that way with all of my friends

I'm sorry if I'm coming off so whiny and useless, but I'm as confused as this letter.

Your friend,

Fluttershy

There were more things to love than to hate about Cloudsdale, and Rainbow Dash loved to visit the spectacular city in the sky whenever possible. It was often pointed out to her by various ponies that if she loved to visit so much why didn't she just live there. The excuse was that she had a duty to Ponyville and all of her closest friends were there. The hidden reasons were her near debilitating depression if she was away from her friends for too long, and the reputation she had earned during the senior years of flight academy.

Closing her eyes and shaking her head to get rid of those shameful memories, Rainbow Dash slowed herself down from a reactive increase in speed and landed on one of the cloud streets. She looked up and down the rows of houses on either side of her and then looked down at the note she was carrying. She had looked up Derpy Hooves' address some time ago, but she had never been able to bring herself to actually confront her. Sure, she worked with Derpy over the years, but they always had that tension between them. They both had chips on their shoulders and baggage that couldn't just be dropped. Applejack and Rarity's brief talk with her, however, about forgiving the Wonderbolts and giving them a second chance, had inspired her to do this.

Not just her friends, but the reaction she got from the Wonderbolts. After going home and resting for a few hours, Rainbow Dash had answered a knock on her door. It had been Spitfire, coming to apologize for Soarin's repulsive behavior. She informed Rainbow that after she almost broke his knows he was summarily punished according to their contractual obligations and was currently the verbal abuse punching bag of the rest of the team. This cheered Rainbow up a lot and she accepted Spitfire's apology on behalf of all of the Wonderbolts and also the invitation to come back and keep training with them. Spitfire also dropped a hint that there was an open position now that Silver Streak had retired. This had brought Rainbow out of her funk.

If forgiving someone who had wronged her so recently and in so minor a way could feel so good, then Rainbow figured it was high time to forgive and apologize to Derpy. However, now that she was standing just outside her house and about to knock on her door, she felt nervous again. It had been such a long time since the incident on the schoolyard, but Rainbows assault on her had left Derpy permanently cross-eyed. It never seemed to be a negative issue for her, but surely she'd want some sort of physical recompense. Rainbow Dash could only swallow and hope her wings wouldn't end up broken as she knocked on the door.

Derpy's surprise was apparent when she saw Rainbow Dash after opening the door. She blinked a few times and gave her former friend a nervous smile. Rainbow Dash returned the expression and then glanced down at the ground.

"Um...hi...Dash," Derpy said.

"Hiya Derpy," Rainbow Dash replied, rubbing the back of her head with one of her hooves. "Um...can I come in? I...well...we need to talk."

Derpy didn't hesitate when she nodded and stepped aside to let Rainbow in. The cyan mare looked around and walked into the living room while Derpy shut the door and then came in to join her. Rainbow sat on a chair and Derpy took the couch nearby. They looked at each other for an awkward moment before averting their gazes and looking around the room.

"Look," Rainbow started, not comfortable trying to beat around the bush, "I'm here to apologize."

"Apologize?" Derpy asked, rather surprised. She had guessed that Rainbow's unexpected visit involved their confrontation so many years ago, but an apology was the last thing she expected.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash answered, "I mean, I was mad at you and all-"

"And you had every right to be," Derpy said, reaching out and touching her hoof to Rainbow's. Rainbow looked from their hooves up to Derpy's golden eyes and saw the apology written in them. "I was a terrible friend back then. I did the worst possible thing I could have done, and I know it doesn't mean much but I've regretted it ever since everyone started calling you names, before you even hit me. I was too much a coward to apologize then, and I didn't think you'd ever accept it. I really don't expect you to accept it now."

"Derpy," Rainbow said, "I accept it. And it does mean a lot to know how you felt." The two smiled at each other, tears welling up in both of their eyes. They stood up and stepped into each other's arms, hugging like old friends after an interminably long separation. Rainbow squeezed her friend tight and Derpy returned the pressure. Tears ran freely down both of their faces.

"Can you please forgive me?" Rainbow asked.

"There's nothing to forgive," Derpy said.

"I never should have hit you like I did," Rainbow said, "Just, please, for me, forgive me for it? I'm so sorry."

"I forgive you," Derpy said, kissing Rainbow Dash's cheek. Dash smiled, sobbing a little as so much weight was lifted from her shoulders. Derpy kissed her again and Rainbow turned her head to give her friend a warm smile, but then Derpy kissed her on the lips. This surprised Rainbow Dash in more ways than one. She stepped back from Derpy, eyes still wet with freshly shed tears.

"Um, Derpy?" she asked.

"Its okay Dash," Derpy said, half closing her eyes and smiling in what could only be described as seductive. "I...figured it out a few years ago. I'm...I'm gay too." She stepped closer to Rainbow Dash, "We can...i-if you want...be together now...like you wanted before...like we should have been."

Rainbow Dash stepped back, her ears lowering a bit as she looked away from Derpy. This was not how she had expected things to go. "U-uhm, I'm s-sorry Derpy, but...really...I'm not a lesbian." This caught the gray mare off-guard, and she gave Dash a surprised look equal to the one the blue mare had worn when Derpy kissed her.

"W-what?" Derpy asked. Rainbow gave her a guilty frown but nodded her head.

"I'm...I'm not. I mean...that time back in school? That was just a silly filly crush. I'm straight. Don't get me wrong, you're a real catch Derpy, and I still want to be your friend. I'd love to be friends like we used to be. But...not like that. A-and besides, even if I were a lesbian, there's someone else who'd be ahead of you in that line."

"Ah," Derpy said, nodding and giving an understanding smile, "Fluttershy, right?" Rainbow Dash didn't nod or shake her head. Instead she just looked at Derpy in slight surprise. Fluttershy had been the first face to pop into her head when she babbled on about 'someone else', but not the last. Five faces were dancing around in her head at the moment, and Dash couldn't honestly say which of them was the one she had meant when she said that.

Derpy put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder and patted it a few times. "Well, just let me do this," she said, and before Rainbow could ask what Derpy leaned in and gave Rainbow Dash a kiss that sent bolts of energy quivering through every inch of her body. From the bottoms of her hooves to the tips of her mane hair she tingled with excitement. When Derpy finally released Dash's lips, the latter found herself shell-shocked from the experience. "That's the kiss I should'a given you years ago." Derpy said with a smile.

"Erm...thanks," Dash said, her cheeks turning bright red. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her head without shaking it like she wanted to.

"I know," Derpy said, "Too little too late. But really Dash, I'm glad I finally got the chance to apologize. It feels good."

"It does," Sash said. They shared another smile and then Dash excused herself. "Well do some catching up another time," she said. Derpy couldn't wait and showed Rainbow Dash to the door. They gave each other another hug before Dash flew off. For the first time she could remember, she felt lighter than the air.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had grown over the past couple of years since their formation. From Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo, they also took in other foals such as Pipsqueek, Air Horn, Toddleoff and Zippity Zip. In recent months, one of the founders- Sweetie Bell- finally succeeded in discovering her special talent; music and song composition. Her cutie mark was three different musical notes, and Applebloom and Scootaloo couldn't have been more excited for her. Unfortunately, as time passed, they started to get a little on the jealous side.

The newer crusaders had a worse case of jealousy and even expressed feelings of betrayal, arguing that they had all been in it together. While they wanted Sweetie Belle to be kicked out of the club, Applebloom and Scootaloo defended their friend despite their own envy. She was one of the original crusaders, after all, and in the end she was still their friend. Sweetie eventually chose to leave the organization of cutie mark hunters out of the fact that she had gotten her cutie mark, but she still swore to be best friends with Applebloom and Scootaloo forever. True to form, they still hung out together whenever the other two weren't working hard to find their cutie marks.

Today, however, Applebloom and Scootaloo found themselves with the other crusaders. They were all in Applebloom's clubhouse, recently renamed to the Cutie Mark Crusader Head Quarters, sitting around a badly dilapidated table that had been the end result of a Cutie Mark Crusader Carpenters attempt by the new ones. The first few months of the new Crusaders' experience was re-doing what the original three did when they were trying everything they could think of. Now that they were all caught up, so to speak, the group as a whole were brainstorming ideas.

"Hairdressers!"

"Bakers!"

"Bankers!"

"Sheep farmers!"

"Herders!"

Applebloom was less enthusiastic than the rest and just sat there silently, staring out the window at the forest and sky around them. She was starting to lose the vigor she once had for questing for her cutie mark. It just seemed that everyone who they ever asked about cutie marks got theirs when they least expected it. That's what happened to Sweetie Bell. They were preparing for the school talent show and she was writing a song for the seven of them, and partway through writing the lyrics her flank flashed and the musical notes were there. Why couldn't that just happen to Applebloom? She was actually getting kind of tired of all of this trying that they were doing.

Flawless white coat, perfectly styled purple mane, the grace that all ponies envied, these were features that Rarity boasted about herself, and indeed they were all true. She considered herself many things, but among them was certainly not adventurous. She left such things to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and to a lesser extent Twilight. Rarity enjoyed things being in order and in their proper place. Rarity's proper place was in Ponyville with her friends. For a temporary length of time, her proper place was the guest. sweet of Fancy Pants's mansion. Her proper place at the moment certainly was not standing at what passed for a train station at the southernmost junction of Equestria's rail line.

She was sitting with her luggage under a shoddy pavilion, which was a very generous description for a five long by five wide square of plywood held up with a few six foot high two-by-fours. There wasn't even a bench for her to sit on, she was just sitting on dusty concrete.

She sighed and berated herself for her faux pas. She had been a complete idiot the other day. Boarding the wrong train! How silly of her! How utterly ridiculous! It was such a plebeian mistake and Rarity was unsure if she was more embarrassed or infuriated at it all.

The train had taken her south, of all directions. The complete opposite direction than the one she had wanted to go. She had gone much farther than she had thought she would as well. Instead of a pleasant day ride up to Canterlot she was now three days farther from home than she ever recalled being. Down in the Macintosh Hills, or so the conductor said. "Go any further and you'll be in Dragon country."

Rarity closed her eyes and shook her head mournfully. This was simply awful. This end-of-the-line station had no place for her to stay. The only place to sleep was the bunkhouse used by the sweaty workers who were digging their way through the hills to continue to lay more tracks. Besides simply being uncouth, it would be less than dignifying and more than mortifying to be sleeping in a public bunkhouse with dozens of day laborers.

Though I'm certain that someone like Rainbow Dash would enjoy it Rarity bitterly thought moments before chastising herself. Her mood sank further, having thought such an awful thing about her friend. She knew the rumors of Rainbow's past but so far as she was aware, that part of her life had ended before she graduated from the flight academy.

"I suppose I deserve this." She thought bleakly, "If for no other reason than even insinuating such an awful thing about one of my dear friends." A dear friend who saved your life she reminded herself.

"Rarity?" A highly refined voice sounded from not too far away. Rarity's ears perked up and she got up to stand very quickly, almost fast enough to mess up her mane.

"Upper Crust?" Rarity said, shocked to see the wealthy mare standing a few yards away. "What are you doing here?"

A Heart's Pain

WARNING: This chapter contains RAPE

Chapter 10: A Heart's Pain

Dear Fluttershy,

You are anything but useless. And the whining is all but indistinguishable in your letters. I promised to help you in whatever way that I can, and you can rest assured that even your most confusing of letters will be read carefully by me and every thought and feeling you divulge will be taken into account.

Telling Twilight is still the best option, but I understand your reluctance to hurt her. Perhaps that is a sign that you love her more than you think. Honesty is an aspect of friendship that tends to have a stronger grip on friends than on those in love. Feelings matter, of course, but friends can see beyond the surface layer of happiness and tend not to hesitate to be honest when necessary. Those in love, however, go to great lengths just to see their special somepony smile.

Just remember that love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.* Just because you don't feel the same passion for Twilight now that you did when you were first getting to know her does not mean that there is no deeper love, but possibly a better love has formed.

Your friend,

Cadance

Applejack was laying on her back in a bale of hay, staring up at the rafters of her barn as she tried to figure out what could have gone wrong these past few days. Her emerald eyes drifted away from the rafters and towards the small window at the apex of the north wall, showing her the barest glimpse of the moon and a small section of stars. She looked back at the rafters; they were boring enough to stare at without distracting her from her thoughts.

A few days ago she had started getting letters from the colts and stallions she had met during the ridiculous speed dating scheme that Rarity had sent her on and she had responded to them, arranging the initial dates. The one local to Ponyville was easiest to set up, but the others were willing to travel and most seemed to be ready for an immediate date. For a few days in a row she had a date with a different stallion a night. This was good for Applejack because she wanted to give them all a shot in as short a window as possible so that she could pick the best and move on. Then again, she thought, That verreh well might been the problem.

The first date had been less than she'd hoped for. It was with the blue unicorn who was really into books. Applejack didn't really think much of it at first since her friend Twilight was also a book worm, but unlike her friend this particular unicorn could not shut up about the books he read. All through lunch he just talked about one book and then another. Every time Applejack tried to steer the conversation in a new direction he'd find some reference to a book he'd read and ramble on about it. Applejack wasn't opposed to a good story, or to books in general, but this pony definitely deserved the nickname 'Egg head' a la Rainbow Dash.

The next day Applejack went out to the park to meet with the date of the series; a pegasus who claimed to be one of top athletes in Equestria. This had been an exciting idea for Applejack since she was quite the athlete in Ponyville and had a competitive edge that could cause more harm than good if left unchecked. Unfortunately for her, this 'athlete' was just a runner. He did one sport- run- and even then when Applejack challenged him to a race he accepted 'despite not earning a paycheck for his efforts' and ended up losing to her.

Applejack woke up a couple days later hoping that the next date would be less annoying than that guy. It was the brown maned pegasus from the speed date that had been as hungry as her and they ate more than they talked. This time they had lunch at The Grassy Field and, again, they ate more than they talked. When they did talk, however, they both realized that they had nothing in common. At least this date ended mutually and both were happy not to see each other again.

The jokester was scheduled for dinner that afternoon but Applejack had changed her mind about it and just stood him up.

The last stallion she spent time with was the shy one. When she'd met him at the speed date in Manehattan he had been cute. Adorable, even. But now his timidity proved to be more annoying than anything. Even Fluttershy seemed outspoken compared to this buck. The evening ended with Applejack saying 'farewell' and just leaving the quivering mass of nerves at the table to collect the check. Even she couldn't be that generous. She wasn't Rarity after all.

That evening she sat alone, as usual, in a bale of hay in the barn. She stared out at the stars and then up at the rafters, sighing once in a while. She closed her eyes and imagined Fluttershy and Twilight on their date. She felt a...spark in her chest when she pictured them sitting at a table, talking, holding hooves. Why didn't she feel that with any of the stallions? Ah prolly need tah date more she thought with a sigh. The idea of going through the last few days again in the future was highly unappealing.

At home alone- well, Tank was with her of course- Rainbow had been laying on her bed, deep in thought, unable to sleep. When she had visited Derpy Hooves the day before and forgiven her, she had rekindled a spark within herself that she had no idea had been extinguished. When Derpy had kissed her, and flirted with her, Rainbow had denied being a lesbian but, deep down, deeper than her conscious thoughts, she had wept. She had been dreaming of the day she would be asked out by a mare, but not by Derpy. Derpy Hooves had simply been a childhood crush, something that would have been fun but ultimately would have been doomed to fail, for better or for worse.

There was a succession of thuds on the shaped cloud that served as Rainbow Dash's door. She sat up and wondered who it could be. There weren't any pegasai in Ponyville that would visit her at this time of the night and she was too far from Cloudsdale for any of her friends there to stop by. Maybe its Fluttershy! she thought, her eyes lighting up at the idea of her friend visiting. Or maybe Twilight used her freaky magic to walk on clouds again! Equal excitement. She loved her friends and had, on more than one occasion, admitted to other inquisitive ponies that if she were a lesbian she would certainly have gone for one of her best friends.

Most likely Twilight because she's a lesbian, and she's really pretty and soooo smart. I also owe her at least five awesome dates for getting me to read Daring Do. Screw it, I'll treat her to something special anyway, because she's my friend and I owe her. I'll treat Fluttershy too, since they're dating. Twilight's a lucky mare to have Fluttershy. She's such a sweet and kind pony, I can only imagine how good it feels to be the focus of her affection.

She opened her door and was surprised to see the purple eyes of her former friend, Gilda. The griffon gave her a smirk and walked into her home without waiting for a welcome.

"Hey Dash," she said, looking back at Rainbow, who's jaw was open and eyes were wide. She smirked and lifted a talon to her beak. She blew a whistling sound and another griffon entered the door. Rainbow hadn't noticed him before because she was so focused on Gilda. He was a little bigger than the female griffon, his coat darker and his feathers less white and more gold. He looked about with a curious and somewhat smug attitude.

"Gilda?" Rainbow finally spoke, closing the door to prevent any more griffons that might be planning to enter from coming in. "What are you doing here? Who is he?"

"Chillax," Gilda said nonchalantly, "He's my boyfriend. We're celebrating our three month anniversary."

"Gee, that’s a new record for you," Rainbow muttered, still not too happy with her being here, nor quite understanding why she was here.

"Heh, what can I say?" Gilda said as the male griffon walked up behind her, resting a talon on her rump and smirking at Rainbow Dash. "He knows what I like."

"Yeah, how nice for you," Rainbow said, "Now why are you here?"

"Good question," Gilda said, "I wanted to give you a chance to apologize and be cool again."

"What?" Rainbow asked, her nostrils flaring a little due to her sudden anger. "Me apologize?"

"Yeah," Gilda said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm still pretty pissed about how you treated me at that party, but I can understand at least. You were trying to impress your marefriend and I was cramping your style. Kinda hard to impress anyone when I'm in the room after all." Both Gilda and her partner chuckled.

"Marefriend?" Rainbow asked, "Pinkie's not my marefriend, she's-"

"Oh, riiiight," Gilda said with a wink, "I forgot, you're 'not a lesbian'." She said this using her talons to make air quotes while rolling her eyes. "Though I gotta say you do have the tongue of one." Rainbow Dash blushed and her ears flattened a little bit. "I told my man about the fun times we had in Senior Flight Academy," Gilda went on, walking over to Rainbow Dash and around behind her, encircling her like a predator, "You and me, so many stallions. How many threesomes did we have? Can you remember? I sure can't." She looked over her shoulder at her guest as she said "There were nights when we'd screw one guy, leave his house and pick up another guy within the hour. Heh, I know Dash here's the only reason I passed the academy; we fucked and sucked our way to almost all every 'A' on my report card."

Rainbow's face was burning up with embarrassment, remorse, and anger. This was a chapter of her life she had thought she had closed up. True, she had been a slut in high school and true she had done most of her more depraved acts with her friend Gilda, but after graduating and figuring out her life more Rainbow had thought she'd gotten Gilda to understand that they could be friends without the sex and everything that was going with it. Gilda had understood and for years had never mentioned it- well, once or twice when alcohol was involved maybe they both slipped back into their old habits- but now she was dredging it all up in front of this stranger and Dash didn't like where it was going.

"Hey, remember that time you went into the boy's locker room?" Gilda said, "The team came back after a game and you were the last one to exit."

"No," the blue mare said, lying. That memory was burned into her brain. It was the worst one for her because it defined just how low she had sunk in those days.

"Sure ya do," Gilda said, "I remember cleaning you out afterwards," She was behind Rainbow Dash at this point and she rested her talons on her cutie mark. Rainbow Dash shivered from it; the sensation was good but the feeling was unpleasant. It brought back flashes of memory that were best left unrecalled. Her former friend kept her talons resting on her flank for longer than Rainbow Dash cared for and the multicolored tail lifted to swat it away.

"Tsk tsk tsk, thats not nice Dash." Gilda said.

"Neither is you coming in here and talking about things that are over with." Rainbow said.

"Aww, but it’s our anniversary," Gilda feigned a hurt tone, "And we wanted to celebrate with a threesome." And there it was. Somehow, Rainbow Dash wasn't surprised. The first time she saw Gilda in almost two years, and the griffon wanted to screw her.

"Sorry, you wasted your time coming here." Dash said, walking to the door and opening it. "You can g-" she stopped talking when Gilda flew over and slammed the door shut.

"Sorry nothing," She said, walking closer to Rainbow Dash, causing the pegasus to back away until she hit a wall. "We're here for you, and we're not leaving without a piece of tail." She leaned in and kissed Rainbow Dash. Unlike the kiss she had received from Derpy, the beak of the griffon was hard and unrelenting. The kiss was forceful and dominating, with not even a trace of compassion or love. This kiss didn't send electric jolts of pleasure and wonder through the blue mare, but caused discomfort and revulsion. She could taste a familiar flavor on Gilda's tongue and knew where it had been within the last hour. Some griffons never change Rainbow thought as she lifted her hoof to slap Gilda away.

When her hoof made contact Gilda's head jerked to the side. She looked shocked, stunned from the blow. Then she gave Rainbow Dash a glare that froze her blood. With a roar of anger Gilda swung her talons and caught Rainbow Dash on the side of her face, leaving three deep scratches along her cheek and knocking the pony to the ground. Before Rainbow could get up, the female griffon grabbed her by the neck and lifted her high enough that her legs couldn't touch the ground. She was pinned to the wall and staring into eyes that could never belong to a friend.

"The choice isn't yours," Gilda said, her voice betraying rage. Rainbow Dash saw now what had happened. She could see the hurt in Gilda's eyes. Gilda had wanted Rainbow Dash all to herself. She had tolerated the presence of others because she knew that Dash would never have done anything with her alone. Rainbow Dash felt awful; she could sympathize with how Gilda felt. It had to be even worse than when Rainbow felt betrayed by Derpy all those years ago. Worse because whereas Derpy had openly rejected the idea, Gilda had been so close yet so far from what she wanted. It wasn't love, though. The bleeding mare could see it was not love. Gilda craved for Rainbow in a carnal way, and for that reason Dash could not feel anything other than pity and contempt for her friend.

"Gilda, I'm sorr-" She was cut off from speaking when the griffon squeezed her throat tighter. With a strong heave, Gilda tossed Rainbow Dash over her head and through the air, right into the arms of the male griffon that had come with Gilda. He wrapped his massive arms around Rainbow's chest and forelegs, keeping her from escaping despite her struggles.

"I don't care," Gilda said, walking over to her with a strut. She leaned in close again, her beak poking into the tip of Rainbow's nose. "Iron Claw and I are going to enjoy our anniversary, whether you like it or not."

Dash swallowed nervously, but her eyes widened in surprise when Tank, of all things, flew into the side of Gilda's head at top speed.

"Tank!" Rainbow yelled, happy that he had heard what was going on and came to help her. Unfortunately, Gilda was hard headed and Tank's beaming only had her stumble a little. She reached out and grabbed the turtle by the propeller mechanism that kept him flying at all times.

"Aww, does lil' Dashie have a pet?" she asked, her voice mocking an innocent one but dripping with malevolent intent. She brought her free flaw up to Tank's face but the turtle was quick enough to retreat into his shell. "Hmph, fine then." she said, reaching up and snapping one of the two wings on the propeller. "Oh dear, your propeller broke. I sure hope turtles can walk on clouds."

"NO!" Rainbow yelled, "Please don't! I'll do anything you want!" She meant it to. What was some physical abuse and depravity to saving the life of one of her friends. Tank meant more than a lot to her; he had demonstrated loyalty in the face of her negligence and despite all she had done to dishearten him he worked hard to be her pet.

Gilda looked at Rainbow Dash for several quiet seconds before dropping Tank. The turtle and broken contraption fell right through the cloud floor.

"TAAAAAANNNNKKK!!!!!!" Rainbow screamed, jerking against Iron Claw's arms. She couldn't break from their grip and she felt a part of her falling with Tank. Her eyes burned with tears as she flailed, kicking with her unbound legs, trying to do something to get down there and save her pet.

"Oops," was all Gilda had to say, a wicked grin on her face. She waited for Rainbow to stop screaming and take a breath before backhanding her across the face to shut her up. "C'mon Iron Claw, let’s take her to the bedroom."

The rainbow maned pony suddenly went close to limp in Iron Claw's arms. He dropped her to the clouds and grabbed her by the hoof, dragging her across the floor as he followed Gilda. The cloud surface of her floor didn't hurt Rainbow Dash as she was pulled across it. It hurt a little when her shoulder hit the door frame to her room, but other than that her mind was awash with grief. Tank...her pet...her twenty-four-seven friend...was gone. She had just let Gilda drop him to his death, and now she was going to let them do what they wanted with her body and she knew she was just going to lay there and take it.

Iron Claw picked Rainbow Dash up and tossed her onto the bed. Gilda climbed on top of Rainbow and immediately began to kiss her. She laid her body along the pegasai's and while one talon was busy wrapping around her neck, keeping a firm grip lest Rainbow forget where she was and who was in charge, the other one dragged the tips of its talons down her coat, leaving a light scratching sensation that made Rainbow more and more wary as it approached her nether region. Just as they were about to touch the most sensitive spot Dash could think of, the claws vanished from her body and the probing tongue was pulled from Rainbow's mouth.

Gilda's bulk was replaced by her gold and black feathered friend. He stood up over Rainbow Dash, staring straight into her eyes. For some reason she could not comprehend, she had trouble looking away from his elongated, dark irises. They did not attract her- in fact, they were rather repulsive, as far as eyes went- but they kept her attention. She sniffed back some tears and snot but ceased outwardly crying. Tank's death weighed heavily on her mind, but this stare was dominating, demanding.

She suddenly felt her hoof being moved. She couldn't look away from him to see what exactly was happening, but she assumed it was Gilda moving her hoof. It was pressed against something familiar to Rainbow Dash. Warm, firm, a faint pulse. Iron Claw grinned a little a moment after Rainbow was forced to touch his member. Gilda made her stroke it while the male began to gently move his hips.

Tears returned to Rainbow Dash's eyes as the realization of just how real this all was hit her. Tank was gone. She was going to be raped. Gilda moved Rainbow's hoof faster and Iron Claw moved himself faster as well. Rainbow could feel a tongue slide up her shoulder and neck to her ear.

"Well Dash," Gilda whispered, a seductive tone she remembered from her teenage years, "Where should he fuck you first?"

Rainbow couldn't answer. She wouldn't answer. There was nothing arousing about this, nothing romantic, nothing to set any part of her body or mind into a sexual frenzy. All there was was fear, and sadness.

Gilda flicked her nose to get Rainbow's attention. Iron Claw had closed his eyes while grinding against her hoof so his spell was broken. Rainbow Dash looked at Gilda was tear filled, pleading eyes but the Griffon stared back at her like a cat who had finally cornered its mouse and was just playing with it until it would devour it.

"Fine," Gilda said. She forced Rainbow's hoof to lower the aroused member of Iron Claw down her stomach. Rainbow Dash felt the tip slide over her coat and the griffon made a low throaty growl to vocalize his pleasure. Gilda then had Rainbow put the tip at her entrance and Dash closed her eyes tight, expecting the male griffon to thrust his hips forward and penetrate her.

He did, repeatedly, relentlessly, and Rainbow Dash cried out in pain. It didn’t' hurt as much as when she lost her virginity, nor was he as big as some of the teachers she seduced in school, but there was nothing for her to enjoy. No excitement, no lubrication, just pain and fear. Her entire body moved with his thrusts, and sharp pain in her shoulders told Rainbow that the griffon's talons were firmly holding her in place for his pleasure.

Gilda leaned over and kissed her, muffling Rainbow's cries and protests. She would have pushed Gilda away with her hooves but every time she tried to move her arms from a certain position the nails digging into her shoulders hurt more. She had no idea how long Iron Claw used her marehood like he did, but it felt interminable for Rainbow Dash. Eventually, however, he pulled out and let go of her. The soreness between her legs was suddenly soothed by Gilda's tongue. The female griffon had been quick to crawl down the bed and lay between Dash's hind legs and taste her former bedmate. Iron Claw, meanwhile, moved to the head of the bed.

He pulled Rainbow Dash's mane down and around to get her to look away from Gilda and up at him. Again his eyes captivated her against her will. He used two talons to pry her mouth open then slid his slickened member in. He pushed it deeper into her mouth and down her throat. Rainbow Dash had long ago conquered her gag reflex but right now she wished she hadn't. She tasted herself on his shaft as it forced its way in and out. Again he gripped her shoulders and began a rhythm similar to earlier but a little more subdued.

Against her will, Rainbow Dash moaned a little as the pleasure she couldn't avoid from Gilda licking her raw lips gently and tenderly. The moan became a cry of pain when Gilda's claws dug into her flanks. The nails pierced her cutie mark and the sensitive skin beneath screamed through her nervous system and she made a few attempts to buck her hips away, but when motion intensified the pain she froze up.

Surprisingly, Iron Claw pulled his member out of Rainbow Dash's mouth. She breathed heavily for a bit, catching her breath because breathing through her nose was only just barely sufficient, and then gasped when she felt a sudden blow against the side of her face. She was dazed and her eyes spun dizzily as he grumbled "Don't just lay there, suck it!" and held the tip of his dick over her face. She just looked up at it with no desire all, but another strike to her face, this one a balled fist, inspired her to open her mouth and actively, if half-heartedly, begin to suck on the griffon's cock. He smiled down at her as she relented. She tried to look back up at him but one of her eyes was starting to swell shut from the punch she had just taken.

Gilda squeezed her talons, the nails cutting a little deeper and the pain returning with new vigor. She cried out in pain once more, then silently sucked Iron Claw's dick while tears ran up her face and onto the bed under her head. She hoped he would finish up soon and they would leave her alone. She wanted the night to be over, but she was not going to be so lucky.

The two griffons switched places again. Iron claw got between her legs and grabbed one of her flanks. His nails pierced her hide as he pulled, flipping her over to her stomach. The marks bled and Rainbow Dash tried to hide in her audible cry of pain, but her face glistened with tears as she looked up at Gilda's uncaring face. She couldn't imagine having ever thought that Gilda was actually a friend. What sort of friend could do this?

Iron claw pulled Rainbow Dash by the hind legs to the edge of the bed. Her tail immediately went to cover her rear end, but that was a mistake. Sharp nails dug into her back and left long red marks on the blue coat. She screamed and Gilda grabbed her mane to force her face down into the cloud, muffling the cries. Moving her tail away, Rainbow exposed her ass to the griffon. Iron Claw gripped her cheeks without care for how it felt for Dash and forced himself inside of her. Fortunately, he did this slowly. Not quite slow enough for Rainbow Dash to fully acclimate to the size difference, but slower than he had been for her before.

Gilda spread her legs and lifted Rainbow Dash's face up enough to force her nose to be buried in her excited pussy. Gilda was clearly getting off on this whole night; Dash could tell by the smell and taste that was being forced upon her.

"Start licking" Gilda said, two sharp claws pushing into the tip of her ear. The threat was obvious and Rainbow Dash didn't want any more pain. She pleased Gilda with her tongue as the griffon behind her began to find a faster, more aggressive pace with which to fuck her. Dash cried as she ate Gilda out, her muzzle rubbing against the excited clitoris of the griffon. Her tongue lapped deeply into the moist folds of her former friend and Rainbow Dash was again reminded of other similar encounters back in high school. This exact position had been one of Gilda's favorites and Rainbow, always wanting to share her stallion of the night with her friend, was willing to go for it despite the anal discomfort.

Unlike the past, Gilda was the first one to reach her orgasm. She roared in a high pitched almost-squeel, her claws digging into the back of Dash's head. She rolled away from the pegasus when she was done and Rainbow had to wait in her own pain as Iron Claws finished up, filling her rear with his uncomfortably hot semen. He pulled out of her then picked her up. He tossed her onto the floor and walked over her. Reaching down, he began to softly caress one of Rainbow Dash's wings, the sensation and sheer surprising gentleness surprised Rainbow and she looked up at him through the non-black-and-blue eye. Like griffons, the wings of a pegasus could be powerful sources of pleasure if treated right, like they were now.

"Tell anyone," he said, grabbing one of her feathers and twisting it slightly. Also like griffons, mistreating a wing was an incredibly, mind-numbingly painful experience, and the way he was twisting her blue feather was leaving Rainbow Dash completely breathless, unable to even scream, "and I will remove every feather on your body, one at a time." To emphasize this he pulled the feather out completely and Rainbow Dash almost blacked out. The edges of her vision darkened for a few seconds before her breath came back to her and she let out a long, pained wail.

This had the effect of getting Gilda back into a proper state of mind. "Pfft," she scoffed, getting off of the bed and using her claw to fix her own feathers a little, "What a baby. Lets fly Iron Claw." The male griffon only nodded ad the two left Rainbow Dash on the floor of her bedroom. She was laying exactly how she left, too sore to move, to overcome by self disgust and pain. As the sun rose and the light filtered through her window, she finally passed out.

The Mare Mountains. Tall, rigid, rather barren. Near the peaks of some there was an eternal coating of snow. Due to the warm climate of the region at this time of year, none of it affected Dune Sea's army. In fact, the melting permafrost from the summits flowed down in crystal clear streams that enabled her soldiers to replenish their water supplies and drink the freshest water available. It had quite the moral boost in that regard.

The frequency of Changeling attacks had risen to a point that Dune Sea was considering taking up paranoia as a psychosis to help her prepare against these metamorphic creatures. Her men refused to do anything in groups of less than five, and even then they always had a second group observing what they did. Any sphinx or zebra who was out of somebody's site for even an instant was imprisoned and interrogated while being administered the potion that would force a Changeling to revert back to its true form. The only good aspect of this frequency and the increasing desperation of the Changeling tactics was that Dune Sea was certain she was getting closer and closer their hive, or nest, or whatever it was the ugly creatures called home.

"Incoming!" A lieutenant shouted. Dune Sea's carriage came to a stop and her guards swarmed around her. Paying no heed to them, the Empresses sphinx rose to her feet and looked off in the direction of the sounds of combat. A larger than yet seen swarm of Changelings had descended upon the western-most flank of her march and were quickly assuming the appearances of any sphinx or zebra they could find, dead or alive. It was causing an increase in confusion on that end of the march.

One Changeling rose above the rest. This one was several times larger than the others and made a bee-line, flying straight towards Dune Sea at top speed. Her guards prepared to fight but even from this distance the sphinx leader could see not hostility in the eye of the approaching Changeling, but desperation and anger. This large one must be the leader of the creatures, and she was here to plead.

"Stand down." She ordered. Without question every guard lowered their weapons and allowed the blue haired Changeling to fly over them and land on the same platform that Dune Sea stood upon. There was a quick flicker of the sphinx's tail and a half dozen of her aides rushed off to a nearby cart and began to pull items from it.

"And you are?" Dune Sea asked the tall figure standing over her.

"I am Queen Chrysallis," the large Changeling answered, her voice carrying the clear ring of regality that was present in Dune Sea's own manner of speech as well. "I am the ruler of the Changeling race, and I am here to plead for mercy." As she spoke that sentence, Chrysallis seemed to lose some of her luster. She stooped a little, her heirs of regality dropped in submission.

"Indeed?" Dune Sea commented, "You attack my army and then come to beg for forgiveness when we reap what has been sewn?"

"I did not know-" Chrysallis began to speak before being interrupted.

"You know nothing," Dune Sea said, her voice as demeaning as it could be, "You are a fool. The worst sort of fool; the fool that begs forgiveness rather than stand by their mistake. You came here to attempt and fill my ears with useless excuses and..." The Empress stopped her rant and let out an exasperated sigh, "Forgive my rudeness. Royalty must not argue like this in front of those beneath us." Despite the presence of many armed guards, Dune Sea was clearly comfortable enough to say whatever she wished. Chrysallis was more than a little surprised by this; as a ruler herself she had to lie, scheme, backstab and flatter her way to complete power. "Come with me," the sphinx said, turning around and stepping down from her chariot. Chrysallis obeyed, though had momentarily considered not doing it. As Dune Sea had demonstrated, she needed to maintain some aspect of regality if she were to save face.

There was a large tent hastily constructed in the few minutes since Dune Sea had silently ordered it. Inside the air was dark and cool, a few candles lit to fill the makeshift room with aromas pleasing to the Empress and foreign to Chrysallis.

"Have a drink" The Sphinx said, pouring herself one first before handing a bottle to the Changeling queen. Chrysallis watched Dune Sea drink before pouring herself some of the beverage and sniffing it. It smelled not very unpleasant, and tasting it provided some rather unique flavors. "It is a mixture of fruits grown far to the south of here," Dune Sea explained, reading the expression on Chrysalis’s face. "They grow in a far more arid land than what we are currently traveling through, and have developed strong flavors. Mixing them properly provides the greatest quality of taste without becoming overbearing to the senses. There are other additives to give the drink different effects. I prefer a rare herb that keeps my body awake and my mind keen. A small dose is all that is required for several hours of stable energy and clarity."

"That is fascinating," Chrysallis said, being polite so as to not upset the Empress.

"The particular herb also grants me immunity to another plant. The plant in question is called Felonias. When drank, it opens the receptive parts of a being's mind. Making them more susceptible to mind altering toxins, such as the kind I lined your cup with before you began to drink."

"Fascinating," Chrysallis said, wondering why the Empress was explaining her machinations to her. What the Empress did was for hers to do. What did it matter that Queen Chrysallis understood or not?

"No, not quite," Dune Sea said, smiling, "What is fascinating is that those toxins, combined with the spell I have been casting on you since we made eye contact on your approach, grants me a lifetime complete control over your mind. You will never question my authority and my merest whim is an irresistible order to you. Until I die you will never be free of the spell."

"I understand," Chrysallis said with a nod. "Is there something that you wish of me, my Empress?"

"Yes," Dune Sea said, "I want to know what it is that your people feed on. They have surprising tenacity for such a barren wasteland. There must be some source of food that can support a hive as large as yours with this much energy."

"No food," Chrysallis said, "We derive energy from the power of love." When Dune Sea rolled her eyes Chrysallis lifted one of her ligaments and made a pleading expression, "Please, listen, and do not scoff. Love is a powerful energy and our bodies can harvest it ambiently. As long as love exists we will live. The nearer we are to it, the stronger we become." She looked down at the table and sighed, "But unfortunately my hubris caused our exile. We were once in a land that was filled with love, but in my arrogance I thought we could move out of the shadows and stop nibbling on the ambient energies and become direct receivers of its power. Alas, I overplayed my hand and we were cast out."

"From where?" Dune Sea asked. A land with a lot of love had a lot of life, and a lot of life was what Dune Sea needed for the Rising Empire.

"Equestria," Chrysallis said, "If you continue to travel North, beyond the Dragonlands, you will find it."

"Tell me about Equestria," Dune said said, sitting down with an almost feral smile on her face. She glanced at Chrysalis’s flank and was pleased to see a golden-brown beetle in a contemplative pose. Chrysallis was her new adviser.

Distribution

Chapter 11: Distribution

Dear Princess Cadance,

Yesterday Twilight told all of us about this years Grand Galloping Gala. She had told me a little about it on our date, but now that everyone was together she had an easier time explaining everything. Princess Celestia wants us all to help! Rarity is going to be making gowns for everyone, including Celestia and Luna and you! Twilight is organizing everything, of course. Applejack is working with Mr. and Mrs. Cake to cater the event, Pinkie Pie is setting up all of the decorations and events for the evening, Rainbow Dash is going to be the one to hand out the invitations and she's going to direct the Wonderbolts in spectacular stunts. I'm going to do a special performance with the animals from the Royal Gardens! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!

About your last letter though, are you sure that is love? I mean...I feel like that about all of my friends. Or at least my close friends. When I first met each of them it was the same amazingly brilliant "hot flame" that, over the years, has simmered down. I always thought that was just my own personal...desires...getting overcome by a more meaningful friendship. I can't love them all, can I?

Your friend,

Fluttershy

Rarity closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose. She sighed contently as the aroma of Gyokuro tea cleansed her mind and calmed her nerves. Her trip to Macintosh Hills- and subsequently the very end of the rail line- was a most distressing experience. Alone, in the far south of Equestria, Rarity had despaired at ever finding civilization again. Of course the work ponies down here were polite enough and they assured her that it would only take two or three days to get the train turned around for her- sooner, if they finished the turntable first- but it did little to assuage her worries.

Much to her surprise- and now to her delight- Rarity had found the most surprising temporary denizen of the rail line. Upper Crust, one of the residents from Canterlot itself, had found Rarity sulking under a pavilion- or what passed for one- and immediately invited her to her house. Rarity had been so surprised to see the wealthy unicorn that she had simply gawked for a few seconds.

"Um, Rarity?" Upper Crust asked, wincing uncomfortably. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh! Oh but of course!" Rarity said, standing up quickly with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "I'm terribly sorry, I must appear a shambles!"

"Oh hush now, its fine," Upper Crust said with a dismissive wave of her hoof, "We're out in the rugged country after all. A little dirt has to be expected. Come! We shall move this conversation inside. I'm not too fond of the warmth of the midday sun."

Rarity had followed Upper Crust while she ordered a couple of the workers to take Rarity's belongings for her. The house that Upper Crust was staying in was only slightly larger than the homes of the other work ponies in the area. Just like the others, it was built of logs hastily stacked together and the cracks between them patched over with mud. On the inside,however, the decor was far more to Rarity's liking. Expensive rugs, plush furniture, ornate tapestries, it was all rather heavenly. Then again, almost everything was heavenly compared to her imagining having to sleep on the ground while waiting for the train to be turned.

Taking a sip of the tea that her hostess offered, Rarity cleansed her palette and smiled. "Thank you again for your hospitality Upper Crust."

"The pleasure is mine to have such an exquisite guest," Upper Crust said, having just set down her own glass. "The workers are so boorish, it is simply wonderful to have someone of class to talk to."

"Oh but the pleasure is truly mine. I did not expect to find such luxurious accommodations this far from Canterlot. If I may beg your pardon, what is such a well to do mare doing out here?" This was the question that had been on Rarity's mind since Upper Crust had made herself known to Rarity out by what passed for a train station.

"My husband acquired the South Range Train Company a short bit ago," Upper Crust explained, "He was planning to come down here himself to oversee the renewal of the southern rail line. It was abandoned some time back because of a lack of funding and lack of ability to tunnel through the Hills at the time. But with my husband and myself backing the project, the rails can finally continue to the south."

"Do you intend to pass through the Badlands?" Rarity asked, knowing full well how dangerous they could be, what with all of the dragons living there.

"Of course," Upper Crust said, "But we have that figured out already. There's a chart somewhere with the construction crews that shows them a route through the Badlands where the dragon's won't so much as hear our trains, let alone see them. They tend not to bother with anything we do so long as we aren't disturbing them, so even if one happened to fly over a train it would more than likely ignore us. Plus," she leaned in and whispered, almost conspiratorially, "We plan to stash a certain number of gems on each train so that in the event of a dragon attack we can use them as leverage or distraction to allow the train to escape."

"Ahh," Rarity said, "That certainly is some prudent planning. Tell me, what comes after the Badlands?"

"I do not know, myself," Upper Crust said, "The largest difficulty at the moment is digging the tunnels through the Macintosh Hills. There are a frightful number of frightening creatures that inhabit them and we haven't the number of guards available to us to keep our construction ponies safe while doing their work." She sighed a little, looking downtrodden.

Rarity saw this as an opportunity to win some favor with the well-to-do pony. "If I may be so bold," She said, "But I like to think I have some...'pull'...with the Royal Guard." This was an understatement if ever there was one. Rarity, as one of the Elements of Harmony, had the ears of both of the Princesses of Equestria and the Princess of the Crystal Empire. Equestria owed her more than one debt of gratitude for her part in saving it several times. She had also been a guest in Canterlot Palace and attended Shining Armor's wedding. If anyone could make a request as simple as sending more guards south to help keep the ponies working on the railways there safe, Rarity could. "When I make it to Canterlot I could ask to speak to the Captain of the Guard or perhaps Princess Celestia herself and ask if any more guard ponies could be spared to send to you."

"Oh Rarity! Could you? Would you?" Upper Crust asked, her eyes bright with excitement. "That would mean oh so much to me! I would be indebted to you beyond constraint!"

"Oh please, stop," Rarity said, forcing a blush. She loved play-acting being humble. She was generous and would have done such a favor out of the kindness of her heart, but she enjoyed it when others knew of her splendor. "You don't have to do anything. I'm more than happy to do my part to help keep ponies safe."

"What a noble thing to say," Upper Crust said, lifting her teacup to Rarity. "A toast to the Element of Generosity." Rarity lifted her cup and clinked it gingerly against her hostess's cup, trying and failing to keep her smug smile from showing.

"You are such an astounding pony Rarity," Upper Crust said after sipping her part of the toast, "I can scarcely believe I was so obnoxious during our first encounter."

"Its quite alright," Rarity said, "Everyone makes mistakes. Even the most glamorous of us are no exception." She patted her mane with her hoof to emphasize the 'glamorous' of her sentence.

"My biggest mistake being not to recognize you for the brilliant, beautiful mare you are," Upper Crust said. She got up from her seat and moved around the table to sit on the couch beside Rarity. "So elegant, so creative, such lovely artwork in your dresses, so...beautiful." She slid a little closer when she said this, and Rarity noticed.

"Erm...thank you. You're so kind." She said, sliding a few inches away from Upper Crust.

"You know, Rarity," the wealthy mare said, sliding closer to Rarity again, "With the right backing, you could certainly open a boutique in Canterlot. Or Manehattan. In fact, with enough financial support I'm certain you could open a dress shop in every fashionably city in Equestria."

The idea caused Rarity's eyes to widen and her mouth to salivate, just a little, before she composed herself. "I'm certain I could, but that is quite a lot of money-"

"Money is no object to some ponies," Upper Crust cut her off. She let go of her teacup and put her hoof on Rarity's flank, just above her cutie mark. Rarity swallowed nervously. On the one hand, she could see where this was going and did not like the thought of it, but on the other hand, some of her dreams could come true.

"If you're offering to finance my work," Rarity said, setting her own cup down, "I really couldn't think to impose. That would be too generous."

"Its nothing, really," Upper Crust said, "Just one good friend helping another. I owe you so much after all." Her hoof slid down and touched Rarity's cutie mark. The white unicorn shut her eyes and shuddered a little. Touching another pony's cutie mark by accident was an almost daily matter. Touching one's mark on purpose, however, was usually reserved for intimate partners. "You really are very pretty," Upper Crust said, her tones soft and smooth as silk.

I wish Applejack were here, Rarity thought. Applejack's brazen, uncouth manner were exactly what was needed at the moment. Not only would her friend be blunt and quite clear about her feelings on the matter of someone touching her cutie mark, but she would never stand to let it happen to one of her friends. Despite their difference, Rarity and Applejack were the best of friends, and just imagining Applejack bucking Upper Crust into the wall for her forwardness was enough to make Rarity smile.

She hid the smile, however, lest Upper Crust get the wrong idea. Instead, she reached down with her own hoof and gently pushed Upper Crust's away. "I'm sorry, really, but...I'm not like...that." Rarity said. It wasn't the first time she had been propositioned in a not-so-subtle way, and it wouldn't be the last either. Rarity would normally have stopped it before the hoof grazed her flank, but Upper Crust was a woman of wealth and means. Insulting her unduly could be quite troublesome in the future. Rarity was practical after her beauty was taken care of, and she knew some of the unfortunate truths of the world.

"I never meant to imply..." Upper Crust said, her face still polite and casual but her entire demeanor changing. Rarity wasn't sure if there was a hurt expression in Upper Crust's eyes or irritation at being denied what she wanted. Either way, Rarity could only care so much before it became emotionally tedious and an overall pointless exercise.

The rest of the day, and the rest of Rarity's stay over the next several days, became socially standard by all measures. The two fabulous ponies spent most of the day inside, exchanging gossip and making new gossip, sipping tea and discussing various social topics that appealed to them both. Every now and then Upper Crust would make another pass at Rarity but the beautiful unicorn was always able to politely deflect the passes.

The day the train was finally turned Rarity packed her things. She bid farewell to Upper Crust and told her that as soon as she was in Canterlot she would speak to someone about sending more guards down. Neither said anything about Upper Crust's attempted indiscretions, and as far as Rarity was concerned they need never speak of them again. She looked forward to returning home, but first she still needed to go to Canterlot to see Fancypants and fulfill his order, which would now be over a week late.

The purple librarian wasn't expecting a package, mail, or visitor of any kind in the pre-dawn hours of Ponyville's morning. Unfortunately, a loud and insistent knocking at the front door to the library had woken her up and repeated itself at ten second intervals for over a minute before she was compelled to get out of bed. The temptation to teleport just outside the door and startle the hay out of whoever was the culprit of the obnoxious knocking was present in Twilight Sparkle's mind, but she was simply too tired and too good-morning-Zombie-Joe to concentrate on the spell.

In lieu of teleportation, she simply kicked her blankets off of her bed and rolled onto the floor. Standing up, she grumbled and descended the wooden stairs, eventually shouting "I'm coming!" when the knocking continued in its irritating pattern. The door to her bedroom opened with a flourish of magical energy and Twilight made her way down the stairs. The knocking had stopped, which was a good thing. Perhaps the culprit had run away at the sound of her angry morning voice and she could return to bed, though Twilight knew she would be even more irritated at getting out of bed at this time of day for no reason.

She opened the door partway and was surprised to see the shining golden armor of a Royal Guard.

Opening the entrance to the library complete, Twilight immediately went from partially awake to completely alert as adrenaline coursed through her veins. Royal Guards typically meant either Princess Celestia was going to come to Ponyville or there was an urgent matter that required Twilight to return to Canterlot immediately.

"Twilight Sparkle," one of the guards said. Twilight knew them both; Silver Wing and Gale Force. They were the fastest fliers on the Royal Guard and often sent as couriers for the Princess should speed be of essence. Though why Princess Celestia wouldn't just send a message through Spike like she normally did, Twilight couldn't hazard a guess.

"Yes?" Twilight asked, "Is something the matter."

"Classified." Gale Force said.

"Our orders are to deliver this to you," Silver Wing added, reaching under his wing and biting onto the brown twine of a package. He held it out to Twilight who took over managing the brown box with her levitation magic. She gingerly put it down in front of her before looking back up at the guards who had both already turned and were walking away from the library.

"Um, what is it?" Twilight asked.

"Classified!" Gale Force said over his shoulder. The two armored pegasai went as far as to be out from under the branches of the large tree that was the Ponyville Library and then took to the skies, heading in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight looked down at the box after the guards had left If it was classified, then she shouldn't open it with the door wide open as it was, even though the darkness outside ensured that almost every pony in town was still asleep. Even so, Twilight closed the door and levitated the package over to a nearby table. With a quick twist of magical energy, the twine was removed and she opened the box.

The golden crown emblazoned with the magenta gem that shared a likeness to her cutie mark was the last thing Twilight had expected to see in the box. "The Element of Magic?" she asked the empty library. "Why would Princess Celestia send me this?"

Lifting the tiara with her magic, Twilight set it on her head and tilted her head a little from side to side. It still felt the same on her head. She went to the bathroom to look at it in the mirror, but as she analyzed its reflection the crown began to fade away.

"What?" She exclaimed as the Element of Magic vanished entirely. There was a brief purple flash of light around her irises, but she scarcely noticed. "Oh nononononono!" she said, crossing her eyes while trying to look at the top of her own head, blaming the mirror for an impossible feat. But it was true; the crown was gone. She ran back to the box to see if it teleported itself back to its original container, but it was gone.

"Spiiiiiiiiike!" she cried, running up to the bedroom. She needed to send a message to Celestia immediately!

Pinkie Pie was hopping up and down in place as the box was dropped by the pegasus. "Oooooooh! What is it what is it what is it?" she asked, her face close enough to the package that her nose was pressed up against it.

"Classified." one of the armored guards said before they left the front of Sugarcube Corner. That was good because the store would be opening in an hour or so since the sun was beginning to rise. Royal Guards tended to drive business away.

Pinkie picked up the box and was about to lose the door to the sweet shop when she saw Twilight running towards her. Pinkie Pie sighed softly, her eyes drawn to the beautiful purple unicorn. She still wanted to fix whatever was happening between her friend and her other friend Fluttershy, but she could tell that Twilight was here for something completely different. Her expression said it all.

"Mi Bwily" Pinkie tried to greet her friend with a mouthful of package. She put it down just as Twilight barreled into her. The two rolled across the floor before their bodies separated. The unicorn was the first to her feet and she ran over to the box.

"Hey! That's mine." Pinkie said with a concerned frown. The guards had made it sort of clear that she wasn't supposed to show anypony what was in the box, but Twilight wasn't just somepony, she was one of her best friends who gave her the amazing super special feeling.

The unicorn ripped the box open and used her magic to lift the necklace within the box up into the air. As Twilight had suspected, the pegasai were delivering the Elements to all of their wielders. She ran over to Pinkie Pie and said "Hold still!" before putting the necklace on her friend.

"Wow!" Pinkie said, looking down at the familiar necklace, "Why did I get this in the mail? Usually it just magically appears...or you find it in a book or something fun."

"Just wait," Twilight said, leaning in close and examining the necklace. Pinkie Pie held still for a bit. She didn't like to hold still, but she would for her friends. "Aha!" Twilight said suddenly after a few silent seconds. Pinkie Pie looked down at her chest and watched as the nearly transparent necklace vanished entirely.

"Oooooh, how'd you do that?" She asked Twilight. The unicorn was already staring into her eyes and, as expected, saw a brief flash of light blue light; similar to the light she had seen in her own eyes in the mirror a short while ago.

"I didn't do anything," Twilight said, stopping leaning her head in so close to Pinkie Pie, "I received my Element of Harmony from the Royal Guards also. I put it on and a few seconds later it vanished as well. I was so worried I sent a letter to the Princess telling her about it and then I came here as fast as I could to see if it happened to you also. If it happened to both of us then it might be nothing to worry about, or it might be something very very bad."

"Did the Princess write back yet?" Pinkie asked.

"Oh!" Twilight said, almost jumping through the roof, "I don't know! I should get back to the library and wait for her letter! Bye!"

The young pegasus winced as the soft tunes of her friend were interrupted by a sharp knocking at the door. Sweetie Bell was confused about who it was, but was far more upset that Octavia's performance was interrupted.

"Let me see who that is," Sweetie Bell said, "Probably someone looking for Rarity." She left Octavia up in the bedroom and listened to her music drift through the air and follow her down the stairs. With Rarity away on a trip Sweetie Bell was enjoying having the boutique to herself, but there were quite a few customers who came by and the chore of telling people that Rarity was out was an annoying price to play for her freedom.

"I'm sorry," Sweetie said when she opened the door, "But Rar-" She stopped talking when she found herself looking up at two tall, imposing armored pegasai.

"Is Rarity here?" Silver Wing asked the child.

"Uh..uh...n-no she's not," Sweetie Bell said, "She went to Canterlot. She, uh, she'll be back in a few days."

"See to it that she gets this." The pegasus said, dropping a package in front of Sweetie Bell. "Only Rarity can open it."

"What is it?" Sweetie asked.

"Classified," Gale Force said. The two guards left and Sweetie picked up the package and carried it up to Rarity's bedroom before returning to her own.

"Who was it?" Octavia asked.

"Two Royal Guards," Sweetie said while taking her seat, "They delivered something for Rarity."

"What was it?"

"They didn't say," Sweetie said, "I was going to open it, but..."

"Aww," Octavia said, walking away from her instrument. She nuzzled her cheek to Sweetie Bell, "You did the right thing."

Sweetie smiled and kissed Octavia's cheek, "Hey, let's practice our song again."

"Lets wait for Vinyl to wake up," Octavia said with a chuckle, "She needs to provide the beat."

Applejack normally didn't enjoy putting up with distractions and interruptions to her normal work schedule, but she'd grown increasingly used to it since Twilight had moved to Ponyville. Since then, there seemed to be something going on at least once a month to pull her away from whatever she was doing.

Today, for example, she was hitching her brother up to the plow so they could get to tilling the fields and begin their summer planting of radishes, peas and spinach when two pegasai landed right beside her. Normally a pegasus was courteous enough to land a distance away and announce their arrival. The two Royal Guards, however, were on a mission. They wouldn't tell her what was in the package and they wouldn't take it to the house to give to Granny Smith.

"We were told to give it to you directly. In your absence, we could give it to a relative."

"But Ahm kinda busy," Applejack said, "Ah can't be opening' no mail right now."

"We have to go," Silver Wind said, and with that he and Gale Force took off.

"Haybrained guards," Applejack muttered.

"Now don't be like that AJ," Big Mac said, "If the Princess sent it to ya its gotta be somethin' important."

"Y'all reckon ah should jus' drop what ahm doin' 'n open'r up?" Applejack asked sarcastically.

"Eyup," Big Mac said, "If y'all don't, I'll just call for Applebloom. Yah know she will."

"Someone say mah name?" Applebloom's voice perked up. The older ponies looked over their shoulders to see the youngest Apple sibling poking her head out from behind a pile of hay.

"You spyin' again?" Applejack asked, knowing the answer.

"Nuh-uh!" Applebloom protested, "Ah was lookin' fer mah loopty hoop." She said, lifting the metal circle up from behind the bale of hay she had been behind.

"Raght," Applejack said, rolling her eyes. She looked at Big Mac who returned the look with his normal, even stare and then sighed. "Fahn fahn, ah'll open it."

"Open what?" Applebloom asked, approaching her siblings with her favorite toy around her waist, but Appljack didn't answer. She just bit down o nthe paper and string of the package and pulled up while her strong hooves held the box down. It unwrapped easily and the top came off. Inside was a necklace she was familiar with.

"What in tarnashin?" She asked as she looked at it. Applebloom and Big Mac looked at it also.

"Whats that?" Applebloom asked.

"Its the Element o' Honesty," Applejack said, "But wah its here 'n not in the Vault in Canterlot ah can't say,"

"Put it on," Big Mac said, "Ah've always wanted ta see mah lil' sis when she's off savin' the world."

"Yeah!" Applebloom said.

"Ah shucks," Applejack said with a smile, "Y'all are embarassin' me." She said, but she was willing to humor them. She took off her stetson and put the necklace on then replaced her hat.

"Well?"

"Awesome!" Applebloom said.

"Eyup,"

"Ah'd better put this away," Applejack said, "Ah don' think anyone'd lahk me losin' it out here in the-" She stop talking when the expressions on her siblings' faces got her to turn her attention down to the necklace. It vanished.

"Well, that's convenient," Applejack said.

"Whats with yer eyes?" Applebloom asked.

"What?"

"They turned orange for a second." Applebloom said.

"Probably some of that fancy magic stuff," Applejack said with a shrug. She'd never really tried to understand magic or how the Elements of Harmony worked. They worked and that was enough for her. "Now lets get back tah work."

A beaten mare was laying on the floor of her cloud house when a knock came to her door. She jumped up to her feet; panic overcoming her. How long was she laying there? Where did Gilda and Iron Claw go? Were they back? The knock came again and Rainbow Dash took a step towards the door, but a sharp pain between her hind legs and in her chest reminded her of the ordeal she had just been through. The memories flooded back and she slumped to the floor again, tears running freely down her face, stinging the scratches on her cheek left by her 'friend'.

"Who..who is it?" she called.

"Royal Guards Silver Wing and Gale Force." Silver Wing called back through the door. "We need to give you something.

The absolute last thing Rainbow Dash wanted was to see or be seen by anypony right now. "Just...just leave it on the stoop," Rainbow Dash said. The 'stoop' was a typical enchanted slab of stone common to all pegasai cloud houses that allowed for mail to sit safely without falling down through the cloud.

"Its important that we give it directly to you." Silver Wing replied.

"I'm..I'm not decent," Dash said, which was more or less true. Various remaining fluids of her most recent visitors clung to her skin, having dried into crunchy shell-like splotches around different parts of her coat. Combined with the dried blood, there were few- if any- ponies who would even consider showing themselves in such a state.

There was some subdued muttering that Rainbow Dash couldn't quite understand. Apparently the one Royal Guard was talking to another. She hoped they would just leave her alone. Whatever they had, she really didn't care about it. If I'm lucky its something very very sharp. she thought despairingly.

"We will leave it on the stoop." Silver Wing called back through the door. "We have one more to deliver. We will come back this way to check that you have retrieved the package."

"Okay." Rainbow Dash said, forcing herself back up to her hooves so she could go get the damn box once they left. If it was gone they'd leave her alone. She waited another thirty seconds and then pulled the door open just a crack. No ponies outside in the morning sunlight. A package on the slab. She reached out and grabbed it, seeing her own hoof for the first time and the blood on it. With a sigh, she slowly pulled the package inside and shut the door. She took it over to a table and dropped the box on it before going back to her bedroom. She was about to crawl onto the bed, but the clouds still contained stains and terrible memories. Instead, she grabbed a tuft of cloud she had in the closet and laid back down on the floor. Hugging her security cloud, she closed her eyes and let the tears flow once more.

Visitors were always a nerve-wracking experience for Fluttershy. She never knew who exactly was at the door. Maybe it was Twilight! Oh no oh no oh no she thought with a sense of panic growing within her. I'm not ready for this I'm not ready for this she thought as she tried to figure what she wanted to say to her dear friend.

When she opened the door, Fluttershy was half relieved to see that it wasn't Twilight Sparkle, but also half alarmed that it was a pair of armored guards looking down at her with their normal intense yet passive gaze.

"Fluttershy," one said, lifting his wing and grabbing a package from under it. "From Princess Celestia." he said after dropping it at her hooves.

"Um..what-"

"Classified." Gale Force said. The two retreated from her now that the package was delivered and left. It had taken longer than they had thought and they were ready to go back to Canterlot for their real duties.

Fluttershy watched them leave and then took her package inside. Angel hopped up on the table and tossed a carrot on top of the box.

"No Angel," Fluttershy said, "I have to see what the Princess sent me."

The rabbit tapped its foot a few times then took the carrot and swatted her nose with it.

"Angel, can this please wait?" she asked. Another swat, this one to her eye. Fortunately Fluttershy closed her eye in time so there was no real harm done.

"Okay," she said, defeated. She would check the box as soon as she had seen to whatever it is that Angel wanted.

Tears

Chapter 13: Tears

Dear Princess Cadance

I'm sorry it took me so long to respond, but I was doing my best to try and figure out exactly how I define love. I do not think that I can describe it accurately, but my best attempt would be that love is when you cannot describe your feelings for someone other than saying 'love'.

I'm sorry that I cannot think of a better way to describe it, but that is the best I could put into words. Everything else is just feeling. Its indescribable for me, or at least I cannot describe it. But when I think of my friends I think of love.

I'm sorry this letter was delayed further, but Rainbow Dash needed me. I promised her I wouldn't tell anypony what happened, but if you talk to Shining Armor he should be able to tell you.

Your friend,

Fluttershy

---

The entire Ponyville branch of the Apple Family stood in the homestead, all around Applejack's bed. They had all been surprised when Applejack had come running onto the farm a short while earlier with Rainbow Dash draped across her back, wailing hysterically. Before any questions could be asked Applejack was barking orders. No one questioned her and they all did as they were told; a friend was clearly in need and the Apple Family were nothing if not attentive to their friends.

Granny Smith had gone up to Applejack's room as fast as her old hips could carry her to add some clean blankets and pillows to the bed while Big Mac had taken on the burden of Rainbow Dash's weight, allowing Applejack to remain beside her friend and calm her down.

Applebloom's task had been to run into town to fetch a doctor as fast as she could, but the youngest of the Apples wasn't exactly the fastest when it came to running. Instead, she ran to her own room and grabbed a whistle. It was a rather loud whistle that, when she blew into it and into a cone that was sitting right next to the whistle, could be heard clear across Ponyville.

The whistle was the emergency call of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They all had one, and when one of them heard it they were to report to the clubhouse as soon as they could. If time weren't of the essence, Applebloom wouldn't have bothered with this childish gimmick, but for the situation it was actually beneficial.

Applebloom was the closest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders to the clubhouse by a long shot. Despite this, however, there was already a pony there by the time she arrived. The dark yellow coat and dark red mane of Zippity Zip was jogging circles around the base of the treehouse when Applebloom got there.

"Zip!" She called, breathless from her run. The yellow filly saw her and darted across the distance separating them faster than one might have believed possible.

"Applebloom! Whats up? Who blew the whistle?" she asked, her voice firing words at the Apple filly mile-a-minute.

"Ah did," Applebloom said, "Its an emergency! Ah need ya to run 'nto town and get the doctor. Rainbow Dash is hurt and at the farm with mah-"

"Got it!" Zippity Zip said, vanishing in a puff of dust as she bolted away. Applebloom watched her quickly vanish into the distance and then waited. The other Crusaders might get mad at her for blowing the whistle and only needing one of them to do anything, but she'd take all the flack they could throw if it would help Dash.

Applejack managed to get Granny Smith and Big Macintosh out of the bedroom so she could have some private time with her friend. Something terrible had happened and Applejack knew she wouldn't want an audience in such a situation. She'd want to talk to someone, but she'd want privacy.

"Shhhh," Applejack said once she was beside Rainbow Dash again. She gently stroked Dash's rainbow mane with her hoof while whispering "Shhhh" too her over and over.

"Everythin's fine now," Applejack said quietly, "Yer safe."

"N-nothing's f-f-fine," Rainbow Dash sobbed. She had only stopped wailing loudly a short while earlier because her throat had been getting hoarse and it became too painful to scream.

"But ya are safe," Applejack cooed, "Wanna tell me what happened?"

"N-no," Rainbow Dash said. She wanted to, she really really wanted to unload all of her problems right now, but she was terrified that when she opened up she would just feel more pain. Rainbow Dash had felt enough pain to last her a lifetime, and any more was completely unwanted. Applejack frowned but didn't press the issue. Not consciously. Her eyes glowed orange beneath her shut lids and Rainbow Dash's did the same. Dash's desire to confess everything to Applejack began to grow within her until she nodded her head. "Yes." she said after a few silent seconds. "I...I want to talk about it."

The blue mare rolled off off of her side and settled on her knees on the bed. She slid herself closer to the pillows at the head of the bed and gave Applejack a pleading look. The blonde pony understood and climbed onto the bed with Rainbow Dash and sat beside her. Dash rested her head on Applejack's shoulder and the tears began to flow fresh from her eyes as she spoke.

"Gilda came to my place the other day. Her and some male griffon she's into now. They...they 'invited' me to join them in a threesome. I refused, but Gilda didn't take my no for an answer. She...he...they..." Rainbow Dash sobbed as a lump rose in her throat and Applejack put one of her arms around the pegasai's shoulder. If Dash hadn't already been trembling from her sobbing she would have felt Applejack's barely contained rage in her shaking limbs. Though Dash didn't come out and say it, the implications were obvious now that Appljack had the context. The farm pony was shaking with anger and if it hadn't been so clear that she needed to be here beside her friend she would have gotten up and gone straight to Cloudsdale to find this griffon and introduced her to Bucky McGillicutty and Kick's McGee.

"I tried to stop them," Rainbow Dash went on, "But then Tank came in to try and help. Gilda," She had to stop talking for a few seconds. Applejack had a very bad feeling about what Rainbow was trying to say. Whatever happened to Tank was harder for her to say than what had happened to her. "She broke his shellcopter," Dash managed to choke out, "and I watched him fall through the floor." She turned and threw her arms around Applejack. Rainbow Dash buried her face in her friend's neck and cried more. Applejack returned the hug and kept gently stroking Rainbow Dash's mane. She could barely hear whatever disjointed words her friend was trying to say as she cried, but she managed to piece together that Dash had been helpless to save Tank and despite his sacrifice she just laid there and let the griffons have their way with her.

Applejack was sickened by the entire story, but she couldn't do anything just yet. She wanted retribution, but she needed to stay with Dash.

Applejack stayed with Rainbow Dash while she cried. Over time, Applejack helped Rainbow Dash lay down and within minutes the emotionally exhausted pegasus had fallen asleep. The earth pony carefully disentangled herself from Rainbow Dash's arms and covered her friend up with the blanket before heading for the door. Just outside was the rest of her family and several of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Doctors on his way," Applebloom said quietly.

"Good," Applejack said, "Can ya take care of her for a while? Ah need to go talk ta Twilight."

"Sure," Applebloom said. Granny Smith nodded as well.

"Eyu-" Big Mac began.

"Not you Mac," Applejack said, "Ah need you ta come with me."

"Aight," the big red pony said passively.

"What do ya need Mac for?" Applebloom asked, concerned that without any sufficient muscle around the house that she and her granny would be at a loss if something went bad.

"Nothin' ya need ta worry yerself about," Applejack said, squeezing between Applebloom and Granny Smith to get to the stairs. Big Mac followed her.

Applebloom looked at Granny and the older pony turned to go downstairs as well.

"Ahm gonna make Dashie some soup," She said, "Mah momma always made me soup when I was a youngin and it always cheered me up. Ah remember one time..." her voice trailed away as Applebloom stopped paying attention. She'd heard the soup story enough times to recite it herself anyway.

She led the other Cutie Mark Crusaders back into the room where Rainbow Dash was fitfully sleeping. They were all quiet because they didn't want to wake her up. They all had heard her crying from out in the hallway and none of them wanted her to get that upset again. Scootaloo was particularly affected by the sounds of her hero's misery and had almost broken down in tears herself.

"Remind me to apologize to Sweetie Bell next time we see her," she had told Applebloom.

"So whats the plan?" Pipsqueak asked Applebloom.

"We just need to keep an eye on Dash," Applebloom said. "Maybe someone should...oh wait!" she almost yelled in excitement as ideas came to her. She gestured for everyone to come back out into the hall. "We may not know what to do to help Dash but her friends would! Scoot, head on out to Sugarcube Corner an' find Pinkie Pie. She's usually around there. Zip, go on out and find Fluttershy. Ah've no idea where she might be, so look everywhere. The rest of y'all come with me. Not you Pipsqueak, ah need you tah go downstairs so ya can show the doctor up here straight away when he gets here."

The Crusaders all put there hooves together then split up, with Applebloom and the remaining Air Horn and Toddleoff heading to another room along the hall.

"What are we doing on Mac's room?" Toddleoff asked as she looked around.

"We're gonna find his secret doll," Applebloom said, "Ah saw him with it when he was sick a few months back. Ah figure if it helped Mac get better, it'll help Dash too. 'Sides, sometimes ya need someone to hug."

"Bleh, hugs are for girls," Air Horn said before Toddleoff socked him in the face.

"Hugs are for everyone!" she argued, "My daddy -loves- my hugs."

"Because you're a girl!" Air Horn argued, shoving Toddleoff.

"'Dash is a girl too," she argued, rearing onto her hind legs to try and stomp down on Air Horn's head. Applebloom jumped in between the two and gave them both a swat on the head.

"Enough o' that," she said, "Help me find the dang doll. Y'all can play hoofycuffs later." Toddleoff and Air Horn were notorious for arguing all the time and Applebloom knew she had to assert her authority as the 'leader' of the Cutie Mark Crusasders- a title she wielded whenever Scootaloo was very far away- which tended to work. The two foals stopped their bickering and gave her attentive nods before splitting up to scour her big brother's room. They pulled out drawers, flipped the mattress and scoured his closet before they finally found the doll hidden inside of his pillow.

Applebloom took the doll and told the others to clean up the room- earning her a pair of groans but otherwise no complaints- while she took the doll into Rainbow Dash's room. Quietly she crept across the floor and up to the bed. Dash was still asleep, breathing evenly and calmly. Applebloom, as carefully as she could, tossed Smarty Pants up onto the bed so that it landed on one of Dash's hooves. As the young filly backed away she saw the sleeping pegasus shift herself in bed and pull the doll into a hug. Considering that a rousing success, she left the room and shut the door.

I need to go faster. I always need to go faster; it is a major part of who I am. I love to win, and I win with my speed. This time I'm not going fast enough. I can feel the wind whipping through my mane, threatening to tear it out, but I'm still to slow. I can't even see the clouds anymore; they're just white blurs against this milky black backdrop. But I'm so slow! So slow! I won't make it there in time, and its catching up to me.

I feel the claws dig into my back and my vision blurs a bit. I struggle and flap my wings harder. I push myself even faster than before, but that quickly proves to be a mistake. The claws drag themselves along my back like knives. They rip fur and flesh and draw blood that I can feel run down my sides; a burning hot contrast to the icy cold wind around me and even colder fear that grips my heart.

All of my speed was taken from me as another sharp pain stabbed at my side, and then another in my chest. I could feel myself being pulled backwards, away from my falling pet.

"Tank!" I cried as he plummeted through the air before me. His mouth opened and formed the words 'Help me!' but I couldn't hear him over the sound of my heart pounding in my ears and my own screams of pain.

I watched as two griffons dug their claws into me. I was no longer me though, I was someone else. I was falling and I was watching myself be dragged away; pulled towards a frightening fortress formed of storm clouds and spewing rainbows consisting solely of red fading to black. It looked like a true hell.

My gaze shifted and I was watching Pinkie Pie continue to fall through the air. But she was Tank a moment ago, wasn't she? The claws were in me again and the edges of my vision began to show the storm clouds. I was being drawn inside a place I dreaded to go.

I lurched and I fought and, after an immense pain that felt like something was ripped out of me, I was free! The skies cleared and I flew as fast as I could to the falling...Fluttershy? This was so weird. I couldn't understand what was going on.

As I flew the dark clouds began to return. They swirled around me and around Fluttershy, closing in like vices. They blocked my sight and robbed the world of light. I couldn't see anything. I felt like I was still flying but there was nothing to reference. No feeling of movement.

I suddenly impacted something. It was more yielding than a rock or a tree, but still firm.

"Getting a little excited there?" a pegasus asked me. Who was he? I didn't recognize him. A moment later he was gone, taking off to the sound of a whistle.

"Dash lets go!" Twilight's voice called to me. I turned around and saw my friends standing on the hill where we have picnics. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were there also. And so was Tank!

"You're up Rainbow Dash," another voice called. Behind me again. I turned to see Spitfire with a clipboard in in her hand. We were in the Cloudsdale stadium and there were crowds filling the bleachers. "Haven't got all day."

I had to perform. I had to prove that I was Wonderbolt material.

"C'mon Dash!" Applejack called.

I turned around, about to tell them I'd only be a minute, but they were all walking away, heading for the sunset. They looked back at mewith smiles, waving their hooves, gesturing me to come along.

"Running out of time," Spitfire said impatiently, "Us or them rookie?" she asked. I froze up: Wonderbolts or my friends? What kind of choice was that? I turned my back to Spitfire and flew off to my friends who had almost vanished over the hill. "Bad choice!" Spitfire called after me, but I ignored her. I knew where I belonged. It would be pointless to join the Wonderbolts and lose my friends.

I ran as fast as I could. I didn't want to fly; the pain was still too near even though my body had no marks anymore. I didn't look up but I could feel the clouds above me, just waiting for me to get off of the ground.

My friends stood waiting for me, smiling. But when I was close enough to be among them, their smiles were no longer warm and friendly. They weren't even smiles. They were scowls and grimaces.

"Guys? Whats wrong?" I asked, but my legs were shaking and I felt sick. I knew why they were looking at me like that.

"What you did in school was so...un-lady-like" Rarity said with scorn.

"Slut!" Pinkie Pie added, her glare accusatory.

"Yer a dyke?" Applejack asked in angry surprise rather than questioning.

"She's a liar," Twilight said. Each of them turned their backs to me and walked away when they were done speaking.

"I don't want to speak to you again," Fluttershy finished last, her sorrow more painful than the hatred of the others. She flew away and only Tank remained, looking up at me.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why what?" I asked in return.

"Why did you let me die?"

"I didn't!"

"I'm not alive right now," he said, frowning at me, "You could have saved me."

"I couldn't!" I said. My eyes burned with tears and a lump was rising in my throat. I remembered vividly how Gilda destroyed the shellcopter and dropped him. I had struggled and strained against Iron Claw's arms but I couldn't escape, "I was held back! He was too stro-"

"You gave up on me," Tank said, "You gave up on yourself. You gave up on trying. You gave up. You gave up when you liked Derpy. You gave up when you couldn't do another Rainboom after the first one. You gave up when you decided sleeping around in the academy was better than being who you really were. You gave up when you realized your friends would all leave you if you told them the truth."

"They wouldn't..." I said, but I looked around. They were gone. I was alone.

"You gave up on being a Wonderbolt." Tank continued.

"No..." Dash said, "No, I can't give up on that." The turtle began to fade away. Dash grabbed for him and lifted his fading visage up, "No! Tank don't go! Fluttershy! Twilight! Applejack! Pinkie Pie! Rarity! Don't leave me!" The storm clouds had

A pink hoof touched Rainbow Dash's shoulder and she almost jumped out of the bed. Her eyes stung and her chest ached. She was crying. She had been crying for some time, it felt. She looked at the hoof on her shoulder and then up at its owner. Pinkie Pie. Her sky blue eyes full of concern but her smile disarmed Rainbow Dash and quelled the fear in her heart.

Pinkie Pie held onto her friend's hoof and watched as her friend stared off into space. The blue pony trembled in the dark as Fluttershy hovered over the bed and landed beside her. She pulled Rainbow Dash into an embrace.

Dash flinched, taking a few moments to realize what was going on, then with a sigh of relief she hugged back and buried her head into the yellow fur of her friends shoulder and sobbed.

"We're here for you Rainbow," Fluttershy whispered. Pinkie Pie climbed up onto the bed and sat at Rainbow Dash's other side. She joined in on the hug and rubbed her cheek against Dash's multicolored mane.

Rainbow Dash felt her tears start to run down her cheek and into Fluttershy's coat. But she wasn't sad. Not exclusively sad, at least. There was happiness in her tears. She was happy that her friends were here. She was happy that she could feel something other than cold, helplessness, pain and fear. Warmth, comfort, security, and joy were flooding her heart.

Pinkie Pie left the bedroom with the doctor who had checked that Rainbow Dash was alright. Fluttershy remained behind with Dash since the pegasus didn't want to be alone. Pinkie and the doctor went downstairs to where Granny Smith and Applebloom were waiting for a verdict.

"So she's okay?" Pinkie asked for the fiftieth time.

"Physically, she has no severe injuries," the doctor said, directing his speech more towards Granny Smith since Pinkie Pie was mostly working his patience by now, "She should have come to me sooner, of course. I cleaned, disinfected, and bandaged her cuts and scrapes and washed away the...residue." He made a disgusted look as he said it, which was matched by Granny Smith. "She should certainly bathe herself more thoroughly as soon as she can. Her dressings should also be changed at least once a day. Will she be staying here or does she have some place with family to go?"

"She'll be stayin' here fer certain," Granny Smith said.

"Good," The doctor said, "Solitude is not recommended for someone in her condition."

"Well don'tcha worry," Granny Smith said, "Between me, Applejack, Applebloom 'n Big Mac, Rainbow Dash won't be alone fer a sec-" The door opened, causing attention to shift from Granny over to it. Pinkie Pie leaned around the doctor to see who was coming in.

Applejack, Twilight, Rarity and Big Mac walked in. All of them, except Twilight, were covered in bruises, cuts, and blood, but all of them were smiling.

"Oh good there's a doctor here," Twilight said, "Now you three need to get looked at. You don't have any more excuses."

"Eyup," Big Mac said.

"Whaaaaaaaaat?" Pinkie Pie cried out, "What happened to all of you?"

"We made certain that those horrible griffons would never hurt Rainbow Dash, or anyone for that matter, again." Rarity said with a smile and a wince. One of her eyes was black and blue and swollen shut, but she looked as though she had just sold a dozen dresses to the Canterlot elite.

"Shinin' Armor had'em all sent off ta jail as well," Applejack said, one of her teeth missing, "Hey doc, y'all can look at mah brother 'n Rarity first. Ah wanna check in on Rainbow Dash. Ah hope she's okay?"

"Rainbow Dash is fine," the doctor said, already poking at Big Mac's ribs, causing the big pony to wince and grunt, "As fine as someone can be considering what she's been through."

"Good," Applejack said, vanishing up the stairs. Pinkie Pie looked at Rarity and Big Mac for a moment before going upstairs as well. When she made it to Applejack's room Fluttershy was just stepping out of it. Pinkie looked over her through the door and saw Applejack talking to Rainbow Dash.

"Applejack looks awful," Fluttershy commented.

"Yeah," Pinkie Pie said, "So do Rarity and Big Mac. They're downstairs. Is Dashie okay?"

"She's doing better," Fluttershy said, "I'm going to go see how the others are."

Pinkie nodded and kept looking into the room. Rainbow Dash was hugging Applejack now. The pink pony shut the door and made her way downstairs. She saw Rarity wincing as the doctor applied some brown liquid to her swollen eye, Applebloom wrapping a bandage around one of Big Mac's legs, and Twilight sitting close to Fluttershy, their tails entwined.

Quietly, she exited the Sweet Apple home. The sun was almost set as she walked home, feelings mixing within her. She was glad that Rainbow Dash was okay, angry over what had happened to her, and sad that, at the end of the day, she was once again going to be alone.

When she made it to Sugarcube Corner she was accosted by the Cakes, whom she informed on Rainbow Dash's condition. They decided to bake something special her. Pinkie Pie put on a fake smile and promised to deliver it in the morning, but she was tired and wanted to go to sleep early so they left her be.

Up in her room. Pinkie Pie lay in bed on one side, looking at a photograph of her and her friends all together and happy. She remembered that day. She remembered every day she spent with her friends. It hurt having all of that love inside of her, unable to come out.

"Why don't any of them love me?" she asked herself as she stared tearfully at the picture, "Why can't I just love all of them? It would be sooo much easier if-" She paused mid sentence as the light over her head flicked on. "Love them all? Pinkie Pie, you're a genius!" she said to herself.

Dune Sea stood upon a faux-stone dais that had been set upon the ground near the northernmost edge of her camp. All around her were the fiercest and loyalist of her warriors. All sphinxes, naturally, and all under her control. Her scouts had already informed her that a single dragon was coming their way. This was perfect as far as Dune Sea's plans were concerned. A single dragon would be easy to manipulate into drinking her potion, and then her paw would be in the metaphoric door.

The door that lead to ultimate victory.

When the dragon diplomat did arrive, however, Dune Sea immediately saw that she was being given the brush-off by the barbaric race. The 'diplomat' was nothing more than a red youngster. The message was clear; the dragons saw the Rising Sun Empire as beneath them and sent an adolescent dragon to speak to them.

Nevertheless, Dune Sea was determined to maintain the proper regality for the meeting. She had little recourse; there were no ways around the Badlands and there was no way for her to force her way past the creatures. She had to play their game.

"Greetings," Dune Sea said, bending her forelegs to kneel politely for her guest, "Welcome to my army's camp. I am Dune Sea, Empress of the Rising Sun Empire, Queen of the Sphinx Clan, Sovereign of the Sands and Pharo-"

"Yeah yeah yeah," the dragon said, mimicking a talking mouth with his claws, "And I'm Garble. What did ya go and bug my dad about?"

"Ah, so the illustrious dragon that-"

"C'mon," Garble said with a groan, "It's already embarrassing enough talking to a bunch of freaky cat...things," he said while looking at all of the sphinxes with mild disgust, "The quicker we can get this over with the better."

It took all of Dune's self control not to strike the dragon with her claws, or have her soldiers skewer him with spears. Unfortunately, the repercussions of that were too staggering for her to even consider flowing through with the impulse.

"Very well," She said, "I humbly request that my people be allowed to cross your lands unmolested, and-"

"Hehehe," Garble chuckled, "You wanna be molested," he snickered some more.

"Nay!" Dune Sea said, her ire rising, "I do no-"

"Ha! Now you're neighing like those stupid ponies!" Garble cut her off again, laughing.

"Listen!" Dune Sea roared, slamming her paw on the dais. The sky darkened over her as magical energy swirled around him. Garble looked at the green swirls of energy then flapped his wings and they scattered like dust in the wind.

"Pff, gonna take more than that to scare me," he said with a smirk. Dune Sea simmered in her anger, but gritted her teeth and forced a smile.

"My apologies," she said, giving Garble another graceful bow, "I lost my temper. Please, allow me to make it up to you," She tapped her paw on the ground and a pair of winged sphinxes glided over to them, each carrying a tray with an assortment of beverages. Each one was laced with the chemicals that would open the dragon's mind to her spell, "A beverage of your choice?"

Garble leaned over the glasses and sniffed at each one before taking a drink that was almost the same shade of red as his scales. "This smells good," he said before tossing the drink down his throat in one gulp. He licked his maw and smacked his teeth a couple of times before nodding, "Not bad, not bad."

"I'm glad you like," Dune Sea said as she gazed into his eyes, waiting for the glassy look to come about them. But nothing was happening. She focused harder, but still nothing.

"Gonna keep making flirty eyes?" Garble asked, "Or you gonna let me get back to the lava pool?"

Dune Sea started to feel distressed. This dragon seemed immune to her potion. Or to her magic. To something.

"Uhm...yes," she said, having to maintain face as her plan crumbled around her, "I wish for my people to cross your land without hindrance."

"Sure," Garble said, crossing his arms and grinning, "Just give us your gems."

"Gems?" Dune Sea asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, gems." Garble said, "Hmmm, about a hundred gems per cat thing. Two hundred for the zebras," he said when he glimpsed one" Scratching the bottom of his jaw he grinned and nodded his head "Yeah, that sounds about right. Give us the gems and you'll be allowed across....unmolested." he snickered at the word again before spreading his wings and taking off into the sky. The Empress of the Sphinxes watched him fly away before turning to the wall of soldiers on her left. "Get the Hunters," she demanded, "We must begin finding gemstones."

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Claw, Hoof

Chapter 13.5: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Claw, Hoof

"Doctors on his way," Applebloom said quietly.

"Good," Applejack said, "Can ya take care of her for a while? Ah need to go talk ta Twilight."

"Sure," Applebloom said. Granny Smith nodded as well.

"Eyu-" Big Mac began.

"Not you Mac," Applejack said, "Ah need you ta come with me."

"Aight," the big red pony said passively.

"What do ya need Mac for?" Applebloom asked, concerned that without any sufficient muscle around the house that she and her granny would be at a loss if something went bad.

"Nothin' ya need ta worry yerself about," Applejack said, squeezing between Applebloom and Granny Smith to get to the stairs. Big Mac followed her. He knew what she had in mind and he couldn't blame her one bit. Big Mac, too, was bridling with fury after what he'd heard Dash say to Applejack, but unlike his younger sister his emotions weren't worn on his saddle, they were much closer to vest.

"Uhm, Applejack," he said once they had left the house, "Ah think ah know where yer goin with this,"

"Don't bother tryin' ta stop me," Applejack said, "Ahm only bringin' you ta keep Ironclaw off mah back."

"Ah figured that," Mac said, "And ah don't plan ta change yer mind. What ah do wanna know is how do ya figure we're gonna find 'em?"

"We'll start in Cloudsdale," Applejack said, "From there ahm sure someone will'ave seen 'er and know where we can go look."

"Okay," Mac said, "Now how are we gonna walk on clouds?"

"We're goin ta Twilight fer that," Applejack said, "She's got a spell that'll let us earth ponies walk on clouds, and she's got a hot air balloon we can use ta get up to Cloudsdale."

"Wow. Ya really thought all this out already?"

"Sorta," Applejack said, starting to gallop down the dirt road that took them out of Sweet Apple Acres and towards Ponyville, "Ah wanted ta give'er a piece of mah mind a couple years ago when she gave Pinkie Pie a hard time 'n ah asked Dash where ah could find 'er. Bah the time we figured out how best to git to'er ah'd lost mah steam. But this is quite different."

"Eyup," Big Mac said with a nod, galloping alongside her. He no longer felt a need to follow since he knew where they were going. The two Apple siblings ran side by side into town. It was early afternoon and most ponies were still busy at work for the day doing what it was they did about town. The few that were out on the roads for any reason only glanced casually at the two as they ran by, curiosity not even piqued; there had been much stranger things happen in Ponyville than two ponies running down the road.

Even if they had been gawked at by crowds Applejack wouldn't have noticed. She currently saw only two things; Gidla and red. It was fortunate for her that she knew the way to Twilight's library by heart and did not even need to think about the route; her body just locked itself into autopilot and guided her through Ponyville as sure as a compass pointed north.

She arrived at the library and tried to open the door only to find it locked. "Tarnashin," she grumbled, slamming her forehoof into the door.

"Easy there AJ," Big Mac said, "Y'all ain't mad at Twilight."

"Ah know," Applejack said through gritted teeth, "But wah of all times does she hafta lock the dern door now? Ain't this place supposed ta be open this time o' day?"

"Normally yes, but I had company and a special meeting that required a bit of privacy." Twilight answered after opening the door. Behind her was Shining Armor and both were looking at Applejack with confused and concerned expressions. "Is something the matter Applejack? You sound like-"

"Yer darn right there's somethin the matter!" Applejack said, storm into the library. She remembered what the odd spell book that Twilight had used to give Rarity wings and the rest of them the cloud walking ability looked like. She searched the shelves for it as Big Mac entered more calmly and shut the door behind himself, looking at Twilight and Shining Armor.

"Howdy Twilight, Howdy Shining," he greeted, "Sorry about Applejack's manners."

"That's fine," Twilight said, though her concerned gaze was following Applejack's progress around the library, "What's wrong?"

"I'll let Applejack tell you that," he said, looking over at his sister who was going into another room to keep searching for books, muttering under her breath. Spike walked around the same corner a few seconds later with a frightened and confused expression.

"Hey Twilight, why is Applejack ripping apart the library?" he asked.

"I haven't quite figured that part out yet," Twilight said.

"Tarnashin!" Applejack swore from the other room. A moment later she reappeared with a sour expression on her face. "Twilight! Where the heck ya keepin' that book with the cloud walkin' spell?"

"Its up in my room," Twilight said, "Spike can go get it," she made a 'go go' gesture with her hoof to Spike, who didn't need to be told twice. "Whats the matter Applejack?"

"Gilda's the matter," Applejack said.

"Gilda?" Twilight asked, "Is she picking on Pinkie Pie again?"

"No," Applejack said. Twilight noticed her eyes were starting to glisten with tears and her jaw was clenched. "She...she...hurt Dash."

Twilight gasped, "What? What did she do? Is Rainbow Dash okay?"

"She's safe," Applejack said, "She's at the farm now. But ah don't think she'll be okay. Not for a while."

"Gilda and another griffon forced themselves onto her," Big Mac explained. Both Twilight and Shining Armor gave the farm pony matching expressions of shock and horror.

"Don't sugarcoat it Mac," Applejack said, her nostrils flared, "Those motherbuckers raped her!"

"What!?" Both asked in outrage.

"Eyup," Big Mac said, nodding his head solemnly.

"Ah need ta get up to Cloudsdale, find Gilda 'n her boyfriend a piece of mah mind." Applejack said hotly.

"Found it!" Spike said, running back down the stairs with a book in his hands. He took it over to Twilight who used her magic to lift it from his claws and take it over to a table to set it down while she turned to the right page.

"Ahm goin' with her," Big Mac said, "Two griffons is too much for one pony."

"Not for three," Twilight said as she re-read the spell to remind herself how it worked, "I'm going with you two."

"So am I," Shining Armor said, stepping up to the table with a pen and a quill. He was writing something short and rolled the parchment up, "Spike, can you send this to Celestia?"

"What?" Twilight and Applejack asked at the same time.

"Y'all can't bring the princess in on this," Applejack said, "She'll try 'n stop me, and ah don't think ah can listen to her when she tells me to-"

"Don't worry," Shining said, nudging Spike to send off the letter. The dragon exhaled green flames onto the parchment while the unicorn continued, "I'm asking her to send Silver Wing and Gale Force to Cloudsdale to meet me."

"Royal guards," Twilight asked, "Shining Armor, what Gilda did to Rainbow Dash...she deserves more than jail time." Twilight said,her knees quivering and her eyes now as wet as Applejack's.

"I know," Shining Armor said, "Those two are friends of mine. They know how to keep secrets." He gave his sister a meaningful look and Twilight began to think she knew what he was getting at.

"So ya got the spell?" Applejack asked.

"Yes," Twilight said, "I'll cast it on all of us then we'll go to the-"

The door to the library was kicked open and a white unicorn with a lovely purple mane and a wild look in her eyes shouted "Me too!"

"Rarity?" Applejack, Twilight, Big Mac, Spike and Shining Armor all exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" Twilight asked.

"I came to return a book," Rarity said, her teeth clenched and nostrils flared, "I was about to knock when I heard Applejack's pronouncement regarding Rainbow Dash and Gilda. I was shocked, nay, appalled to say the least! If you are all going to enact retribution in the name of our friend then I would be loath to remain behind!"

Five ponies jumped out of the basket of a large purple hot air balloon as the sun began to vanish and the orange glow faded on the horizon. Twilight Sparkle, her brother Shining Armor, Applejack, her brother Big Mac, and Rarity felt an urge to run across the clouds of Cloudsdale, but they had no idea where to go. The only location they had in mind at the moment was a rainbow fountain near the center of town where they were to meet two Royal Guards who Shining Armor trusted enough to let them assist in something highly illegal.

The two pegasai were there, their golden armor still glimmering without the sunlight. One of them had a scroll under his wing. He gave it to Shining Armor, who used magic to open it up.

"Its a message from Moon Trot," he said, "She's one of my best spies. I had her find the location of Gilda." He rolled it back up and the floating scroll combusted. The ashes fell through the cloud below their feet. "This way," he said, leading the group of ponies.

Near the outskirts of Cloudsdale was a somewhat suburban area. The house in question was on its own cloud slightly separated from the rest of the city, but it was lower than street level so everyone was able to jump and fall onto it. Clouds were soft enough to fall several stories and land unharmed.

"Twilight," Shining Armor said, "Would you be okay with staying out here?"

"What?" Twilight asked, "I didn't come here to be a lookout."

"I know," Shining said, "That's what Gale Force and Silver Wing are for. I want you to cast a silencing spell over the house so no one overhead will hear."

Twilight looked at the house, then looked at the houses around and overhead. "Fine," She grumbled before sighing, "I really don't know what I'd do once I got in there anyway."

"Thanks Twilight," Shining said. He, Big Mac, Applejack and Rarity walked to the house while Twilight remained near the edge of the cloud with the two royal Pegasai guards.

Applejack walked ahead of the rest, her hooves almost stomping against the cloud hard enough to make sound. When she got up to the door she pounded her hoof against it hard enough that Rarity thought she might be trying to kick the door down with her forehoof. Then there was a patient silence.

"Ungh, what?!" a familiar voice sounded from the other side of the door just before it opened. The griffin target of Applejack's rage had enough time to see four angry looking ponies and have her expression change from anger to confusion before an orange hoof hit her right in the eye.

"You bitch!" Applejack shouted, charging in through the door after having socked Gilda. The orange pony swung her forehoof again, slapping Gilda across the face and into Rarity's hoof, who had been just about to do the same thing.

"What's going on?" A deeper voice said. A larger griffon entered the room and Applejack knew he had to be the boyfriend that had assisted Gilda in defiling her friend. Before she could do anything, however, a pair of red hind legs appeared and connected with Iron Claw's chest. Big Mac had just griffon bucked him through the wall and into the other room. Shining Armor ran through the door and Mac vanished through the same door a moment later.

"What the fuck do you think-" Gilda began to say but Rarity had turned around and, possibly copying Big Mac, gave the griffon a firm kick to the chest. Rarity wasn't an applebucker, but she still managed to give Gilda enough of a hit to send her a few feet into the air and across the room. Both of the ponies walked over to Gilda, rage written across their faces. The griffon got to her feet, a little dazed but very angry.

"Heh, you ponies don't know the world of pain you've just opened up," Gilda said with a grin. She rose up on her hind legs and let out a roar, flexing her claws and swiping at Rarity, the closest of the two. Her sharp talons grazed the side of Rarity's cheek, leaving two thin red lines and causing the dressmaker to yelp and jump to the side. Applejack was on Gilda's other side and since she currently was not being attacked, she headbutted the lion-eagle in the side, knocking her back down. Applejack pressed her advantage and jumped on top of Gilda, wrapping her hooves around one of the griffon's arms. Gilda got back up using her free arm and wildly shook the limb that Applejack was clinging to. She managed to fling the orange pony across the room and into the wall. Snarling, Gilda took a couple of steps towards Applejack but then Rarity, having regained her composure enough to go on the offensive, bit down on Gilda's tail and yanked backwards in a move well practiced when restraining Pinky Pie or Rainbow Dash. The tail was all flesh though, so the bite not only held Gilda back from harming her friend further, but it also inflicted significant pain.

"Gaahhh!" Gilda screamed, turning around and swinging her fist. She hit Rarity's muzzle, earning a sound between a grunt and a groan from the purple maned pony.

"You little bitch," Gilda muttered, reaching out and grabbing a clawful of Rarity's purple hair.

"You leave her alone!" Applejack shouted, running across the room and tackling Gilda again, "Ah aint gonna let ya hurt another one of mah friends!"

Gilda spun around under Applejack and wrapped her claws around the pony's throat. She grinned at her. "Oh, so you're here for Dash's sake huh? Not pony enough to face me herself?"

A sudden blow to the side of her head loosened Gilda's grip on Applejack's throat. Rarity readied her leg for another kick and delivered it with as much force as she could manage. Gilda had to release Applejack to bring her claws up and stop Rarity, but that was a mistake she wouldn't have time to rectify.

"We're here," Applejack said, stomping on Gilda's chest and knocking the wind out of her lungs, "tah make you pay," she stomped again, "fer what ya did," Applejack slammed her hoof into Gilda's chest a third time, just as the griffon was trying to inhale "to Rainbow Dash!"

Applejack was breathing heavily now and got off of Gilda. Rarity stepped closer and kicked the gasping griffon in the side of her chest three times, stopping only after she heard a cracking sound.

"Gahhhhh!" a shout sounded from the other room. Applejack and Rarity exchanged grim smiles; the shout hadn't come from a pony.

The cowpony slapped Gilda across the face and looked into her eyes. "Y'all are gonna apologize," she said, "And its gonna be sincere."

"Fine!" Gilda groaned, "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Ah don't believe you!" Applejack said, swinging her hoof into Gilda's face. She caught the griffon in the eye and Gilda roared in pain, swinging her fists in anger. She hit Applejack in the face and managed to roll back onto her stomach. She stood and turned to grab Rarity's hoof as the fairer pony attempted to kick her in the head again. With a twist, Gilda rolled Rarity onto her side then balled her free claw up into a fist and punched Rarity twice in the head.

"How do you like it?" she asked, already expecting Applejack to attack from behind again. She looked over her shoulder and saw Applejack preparing to jump. She kicked her hind leg backwards to catch the orange pony in mid-leap and send her toppling. Gilda almost laughed but the pain in her lower chest was excruciating when she tried; Rarity had done a number on her.

"Time for payback," Gilda said, spreading her fist open so that her claws gleamed.

"Indeed it is!" Rarity said, her horn glowing. A magical aura covered Gilda's claw and she was surprised to find herself unable to move it. What was more surprising was the sudden pain she felt radiating from her hand. It felt like each of her talons was being pulled in a different direction. This was essentially what Rarity was doing with her magic; pulling every part of her claw she could focus on in different directions.

"Ahhhhhhrrrrrrggghhhhh! Stop!" Gilda howled in pain. She attempted to swipe her free claw at Rarity's face, but the white unicorn was too smart for that; she sent the claw she was currently hurting moving backwards really quickly, and Gilda was forced to follow it.

Applejack was back on her feet by now and stomped on Gilda's tail, causing further pain to the griffon. With Gilda distracted by the pain in her claw, Applejack was free to spin around and deliver a full forced applebuck style kick to the side of Gilda's head. Rarity released the claw, having heard a satisfying series of popping sounds from it, and stood by the dazed Gilda, opposite the side Applejack was on. There was some blood coming from the side of Gilda's head, but when Rarity spat angrily at her the red color spread even more.

Applejack pressed her hoof against Gilda's throat and kept the pressure enough that Gilda stared with horror up at Applejack, giving her undivided attention. "If you ever, ever, show yer face in Ponyville again, ah won't be so fergivin'," she said. Pressing a little harder against Gilda's windpipe, she leaned down and got her bloodied face closer to Gilda's, "And if ah hear Dash so much as sees a part of ya, ah'll find ya and personally drag yer sorry arse back to Griffon country, pluckin yer feathers along the way. Y'all comprehend what ahm sayin?"

Gilda nodded vigorously and Applejack released her throat. She gave a satisfied smile that gave way to an expression of confusion as Rarity's magical aura appeared around Gilda's head and neck. Gilda looked frightened for a moment, then horrified. She opened her mouth but no sounds came out, and her claws began to frantically grasp at her throat.

"I'm not satisfied." Rarity said, standing menacingly by Gilda's head, "What she did to Rainbow Dash is utterly unforgivable."

"Rarity?" Applejack said, concerned, "What are you thinking?"

"You know exactly what I am thinking," Rarity said, "And if it goes against your salt then you are free to wait outside." As she spoke she never broke eye contact with Gilda, and Gilda was unable to pull her gaze away from the white pony.

"Ah think you need to calm down Rare," Applejack said, "Shinin' already gave us a pass to do this much, ah don't think he'll-"

"I do not give a damn what he or what anypony thinks or has to say!" Rarity all but screamed, "This...this...abomination did unspeakable things to Rainbow Dash. They were friends! Rainbow Dash trusted her, and she...she..." Tears had begun to work their way out of Rarity's eyes and run down her cheeks, smearing her mascara.

"Ah know," Applejack said, "And ah ain't sayin I really disagree with ya, but what would Dash say?" This had a sobering effect on Rarity. "What would Rainbow Dash say if she found out ya went that far?"

The magic aura vanished and Gilda gasped for air. Rarity looked at Applejack, anger twisting her face but sorrow sending tears from her eyes. "She...she would not approve." she admitted, sniffling a bit. She looked back down at Gilda and scowled once more. She lifted her hoof and brought it down on the crown of the griffon's head, knocking her out. "But...this cannot possibly match what she did to our friend."

"Ah know," Applejack said, reaching out and touching Rarity's shoulder. "But the last thing Dash would want is for us to sink down to that level." Rarity gave Applejack a ghost of a smile but turned and walked away. Applejack was about to follow her to the door but then remembered her brother and Shining Armor in the other room. She turned to head that way and see if they were alright, but the big red and white ponies walked out of the room at that moment.

"How'd it go?" she asked. Both of them looked worse for the wear; black and blue eyes, claw marks, swollen lumps, and a bunch of blood, but both also seemed oddly satisfied.

"We took care of Iron Claw," Shining said, "But I think he'll be needing a new nickname."

"Eyup," Big Mac said, nodding his head. The three of them caught up with Rarity at the door and they went outside. Twilight was standing there staring at the house, the tiara that was the Element of Magic on her head and her eyes glowing bright purple. She saw them and blinked, her eyes returning to normal.

"Did you do it?" She asked, looking at the beaten and bloodied ponies.

"We beat them up, yes," Rarity said, "But that was all." She added, not hiding her disappointment.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"We're fine,"Applejack said, "But ah wouldn't be against gettin' home and takin a hot bath."

"Leaving sooner rather than later would be a good idea." Shining Armor said. "Gale Force, Silver Wing," he said, walking to the two pegasai, "In this building are two dangerous griffons. Treat them as hostile and arrest them for the rape of Rainbow Dash, citizen of Equestria, resident of Ponyville, Element of Loyalty and friend of the Princesses."

"Yes sir!" The two royal guards said, walking around the rest of the group as though they weren't there.

"Twilight,' Shining Armor said, "Take us back to Ponyville."

Feelings Deep Inside

Chapter 14: Feelings Deep Inside

Dear Fluttershy,

Now its my turn to apologize. The last couple of months have been rather busy; I’ve been traveling around the Crystal Empire to familiarize myself with all of its ponies. Its much larger than the capital city that you visited.

Shining Armor told me about what happened to Rainbow Dash. My heart goes out to her and to all of you. That’s something that nopony should ever have to experience.

On a lighter note, I think you know what you’re feeling Fluttershy, and I think you need to follow your heart. Have you talked to Twilight yet? I know that she was your original concern.

Your friend,

Cadance

Preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala began months in advance, out of necessity. For one, it was a large-scale event that required many ponies to spend a lot of time organizing. For another, everything had to be perfect- or at least as near to perfect as ponyly possible. The biggest reason that everything needed to be planned far in advance was because everypony involved in setting up some aspect of the Gala sill had their own lives to lead.

Today Rarity had managed to find a gap in her schedule that coincided with some of Rainbow Dash’s free time. They needed to get together so that Rarity could get her measurements for her new dress. Rarity had her friends’ approximate sizes all memorized, but getting an exact measurement was a necessity for her normal routine. She could get by without doing it of course- she had done so in the past- but the closer she could keep to her routine the better off she would be...or at least the better she would feel about.

Rainbow Dash was standing on a raised platform that looked to be rising out of the cream colored rug itself, holding her about a head higher than Rarity on the ground. Rarity was moving around Rainbow Dash while using her magic to levitate half a dozen tape measures that stretched and curled all around her friend. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was recounting her latest time spent with the Wonderbolts. She’d been getting invited to their training sessions more and more frequently as of late, as well as a few social events.

“So then I was like, ‘Hey Soarin, try this!’ and I did my Super Speed Trot, you know the one, its the one I did back at your birthday last year?” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh yes,” Rarity replied, “I recall quite nicely.” She also recalled how the Super Speed Trot had turned the buffet table into a Super Big Mess.

“So then Soarin tries it!” Rainbow Dash said with a laugh, “He gets all of two steps and trips over his own hooves and rolls right off the edge of the cloud and starts falling and screaming like a first time flier, ahahahaha!” She stooped in her posture and clutched at her sides with one of her forelegs as she laughed at the memory.

“Rainbow, while your story is amusing you must stand still while I take your measurements!”

“Oh, sorry Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said, standing up straight and snickering a little. Rarity was genuinely happy that her dear friend was living her dream, but her quite animated mode of communication was annoying the fashionista.

“After that I started trying to teach the Wonderbolts the Sonic Rainboom. Still none of them can even come close to my level of awesome and they’re all left in my dust, haha!” she pumped her hoof in the air as her chest swelled with pride, pulling one of Rarity’s tape measures out of place and getting her even more flustered than before.

With a twitching eye and rapidly draining patience, Rarity snapped “Hold still!”

Rainbow Dash stood up straight and clenched her jaw shut, remaining unmoving for several seconds. Rarity eventually sighed and apologized for snapping at her.

“Um, lets talk about something less exciting than the Wonderbolts,” Rarity suggested, “You’re seeing Applejack now, yes? Care to talk about that?”

“Oh sure!” Rainbow Dash said, her eyes changing subtly from the bright excited gleam they had held to a softer glow as her thoughts began to go to Applejack. “We went on our...hm...third date last week. It was awesome; we raced through Whitetail Wood, then-”

“You two had a race for a date?” Rarity asked, shocked and slightly appalled by the idea.

“Yup!” Rainbow Dash answered happily; the tone of voice completely lost on her. “We raced through Whitetail Wood then dove into Clover Lake for a relaxing swim. After we sun-dried on the edge of the lake we walked and talked back to Sweet Apple Acres where we drank cider for the rest of the day.” An expression crossed Rainbow Dash’s face at the recollection that Rarity was able to clearly define as ‘longing joy’. Despite how dreadful such an energetic date seemed to her, it was apparent that her friend had enjoyed it fully.

“Well, that sounds lovely,” Rarity lied, “So, third date, does that mean you two...”

“What? No!” Rainbow Dash argued, knowing what Rarity was implying. “I mean, we kissed, yeah, but we didn’t go that far.”

“I’m sorry,” Rarity said, feeling genuine guilt at suggesting it, “I only asked because-”

“Because you give tail on the third date?” Rainbow Dash bit. Rarity looked at her aghast, pain in her eyes. In an instant Rainbow Dash’s hostile expression was replaced with one of deep regret. Her ears flattened in shame and she looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry Rarity. I honestly didn’t mean that. I’m just...frustrated. I mean, I wanted to, and I know Applejack wanted to, but I’m still not...” Rarity reached out and put her hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. She could see tears in her friend’s eyes and knew what she was thinking about.

“Its quite alright Rainbow Dash,” she said, “All is forgiven...so long as you stand up straight and stop moving for five minutes so i can finish taking your measurements.”

“You’re not done yet?” Dash asked, smirking, “You’ve been staring at my flank long enough to commit it to memory!” She inflected her voice in a suggestive manner; when she felt bad she liked to joke around. It was something she’d learned from Pinkie Pie over the years; the best cure for a frown was a smile. Rarity, apparently, did not take too kindly to the joke and puffed out her cheeks in rage.

"How dare you say such a thing? Just because I appreciate your figure doesn't make me a lesbian!" Rarity’s hostility surprised Rainbow Dash, but not to the point of backing down. Instead, she stoked the flames some more. Aside from competing with Applejack, getting under Rarity’s coat was one of her favorite hobbies. I’d like to get under her in other ways she thought with a grin.

"I never said that.” Rainbow Dash said casually, looking away from Rarity and standing fully upright to allow her friend to continue her work.

"Well of course you didn't...” Rarity conceded, “But you were going to!"

"No, I was going to say that for you there's not a look-don't-touch policy.” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help herself from chuckling at her own wit. The entire joke- now falling into place- irritated Rarity and she was about to ‘accidentally’ poke Rainbow Dash with a needle that was on a nearby table when, glancing at her friend’s flank in an attempt to find an adequate stabbing zone, she was struck with inspiration. More than inspiration; she had an idea for a whole new style of dresses.

Rainbow Dash heard Rarity gasp and looked back at her. Rarity was staring, mouth agape, at her flank. Dash blushed, wondering what was going through Rarity’s mind. “Um, Rar-”

“IIIIIIIIIIIDEAAAAAAAAAA!” Rarity sang as a look of bliss came across her face. She vanished in a cloud of smoke and appeared across the room at her drawing table. Rainbow Dash stood in place, uncertain of what to do for a bit.

“Hey Rar-”

“Oh thank you so much Rainbow Dash!” Rarity said without looking away from the paper where three pencils were dancing around under the guide of her light blue magical aura, “I’m going to change the entire way Equestria looks at fashion with this!”

“Well, you’re welcome, I guess,” Dash said, “But-”

“Oh feel free to go,” Rarity said nonchalantly, “I dare say I’ll be at the drawing table for quite some time.”

“Oh okay!” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, glad to be free, “I’ll see you later!” she said while heading for the door. Once outside she inhaled the fresh air and took off into the sky. She had to go and pick up Scootaloo for the Sisterhooves Social later in the day.

No sooner had Rainbow Dash left did the front door open again, but this time with a slam. Rarity winced at the sound of the slamming door, and cringed at the voice that followed it.

“Rarityyyyyyyyyyyy!” Sweetie Belle whined. Rarity sighed. Just when she was struck with a daring new idea for a dress- a whole new style of dresses- her sister had to show up in one of her moods. Rarity loved Sweetie Belle to death, and the last things he wanted to do was repeat the drama of a couple years ago when the filly had gone off seeking a new sister, but just because she was trying to be a better sister did not imply that she needed to ignore the irritated feeling she got when she was interrupted.

Calming herself, Rarity turned around and gave Sweetie Belle a smile. “Yes Sweetie?” she asked, as though she were not ready to roll her eyes and ask her to go play with her friends.

“You forgot what day it was didn’t you?” Sweetie Belle asked, an expression of non-surprise and mild irritation worn on her face.

“Not at all!” Rarity said defensively, “It was the one day I could get Rainbow Dash to come by so I could-”

“The Sisterhooves Social is today!” the younger unicorn cut her off with another whine. Rarity’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She had forgotten that. She tried to look unphased by the information, but Sweetie Belle had seen the look of surprise. She scowled at Rarity then turned away, sticking her nose up in exaggerated disgust. “I knew you forgot!” she accused.

“Now now Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, her voice sounding almost pleading, trying to salvage the situation. She looked down and to one side, lifting her hoof halfway to her mouth as she quickly thought up an excuse. “I...I didn’t forget it was today, I just lost track of time because of Rainbow Dash. Honest!” She lied through her teeth. Sweetie Belle turned her head to look over her shoulder with big, sad eyes and a pouting expression; she believed her sister’s lie but still wanted to pour salt on the proverbial wound while she could.

“So...you still want to compete with me?” She asked, adding a sniffle for effect.

“Of course I do!” Rarity was quick to say, “I just-”

“Great!” Sweetie said, a sudden smile on her face. She ran to Rarity, then behind her, and lowered her head into her sister’s flank and began to push her to the door. “We can go there now! The event starts in less than an hour and we still need to register!”

“But I-” Rarity tried to argue as she was shoved across the floor.

“I bet this year we’ll beat Applejack and Applebloom!” Sweetie Belle continued, ignoring Rarity’s protests as she pushed her out the door. Rarity looked over her shoulder at her shop and sighed. Her horn flared with magic and the door shut and locked itself under her guidance.

The older sister began to walk herself and the younger one stepped up to walk next to her. Sweetie Belle looked happy as could be and Rarity, despite wanting to get back to work on her new dress design, couldn’t help but start to cheer up as her sister’s infectious attitude spread to her.

“You certainly do seem to be in a good mood today,” Rarity said, “Are you this excited about the Sisterhooves Social?”

“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle said, “I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks! And when we win I’m gonna go out and celebrate with...” she trailed off after that sentence and turned away with rosey cheeks.

“With whom?” Rarity asked.

“Nopony!” Sweetie answered quickly.

“Sweetie Belle...?” Rarity asked, “With whom will you be celebrating our victory if not the sister with whom you were victorious?”

“Well...” Sweetie bit her lower lip and nibbled on it a little as she struggled with how to answer. Rarity read the signs and read between the lines. Sweetie Belle was getting to the right age where crushes were expected and common. She smiled and giggled a little.

“Dear sister...do you have a crush on somepony?”

“No...maybe...I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle said. “I mean...I really like her...and I know she likes me, but it seems like...I don’t-”

“Her?” Rarity asked, stumbling in her walk as the phrasing got to her. There was no way...could it be? Was Sweetie Belle a...no...no, Rarity shook the thought from her head.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said, “It’s-”

“It’s just a crush, dear,” Rarity said, “Just a little bit of youthful confusion. It’s perfectly natural for you to like your friends, just-”

“But Rarity,” Sweetie Belle said argumentatively, “This is different, really! She’s not like Applebloom or Scootaloo, she’s-”

“Besides,” Rarity said, repeating the words of her mother when she had confessed similar feelings about Applejack when they were but children, “That feeling you have is just your inner creativity trying to come out. What were you and your friend doing when you first felt it?”

Sweetie Bell looked up as she thought about this. “Um...she was playing music and I was singing.”

“Well there you have it,” Rarity said, “Clearly you enjoyed the music and singing to it; you just happened to associate the experience with your friend. And we both know your special talent is music,” Rarity said leadingly, glancing down at her sister’s flank where the musical notes of her cutie mark had appeared the year before.

“Yeah, I know that,” Sweetie Belle said, “But I don’t think you’re right about Octavia. It’s really-”

“Octavia?” Rarity asked, surprised, “She is whom you have a crush on?”

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle barked, looking around in pure embarrassment, “Not so loud!...And what's wrong with Octavia?”

“Oh...nothing at all,” Rarity said, a spreading sense of relief through her chest. Octavia was older than Rarity, so nothing would come of this crush. Soon enough, Octavia would realize what was going on with Sweetie Belle and talk to her to let her down easily. Perhaps I should speak to Octavia and see if I can expedite the process Rarity thought as Sweetie Belle was talking. She blinked and realized she hadn’t been paying attention.

“I’m sorry Sweetie, what was that last part?” she asked.

“I said that when she kisses me my chest feels like its going to burst,” Sweetie Belle repeated with a rather satisfied and happy expression on her face. Rarity, however, had a look of horror on hers. She froze in her tracks when Sweetie told her that they kissed.

“Pardon...” she said, “Did you say she kisses you?”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle said, looking at her sister with a bit of confusion.

“Um...how does she kiss you?” Rarity asked, “Like, is it a friendly peck on the cheek or...”

“Vinyl called it making out.” Sweetie Belle said, “I think she gets jealous when we do it in front of her. Or that’s what Octa...Rarity? Where are you going?” Sweetie asked as Rarity ran ahead of her.

“I’m going to speak with Octavia!” Rarity called back, anger lacing her words.

“But what about the race!?” Sweetie Belle called.

“I’ll meet you there!” Rarity called back before vanishing around a street corner.

The grey earth pony who was known for her ability with the cello and symphonic compositions sat in the main room of her home in Ponyville, pulling the bow in her hoof across the strings of her favorite instrument. Her eyes were closed as she focused on the subtle sounds she was producing. The loud notes were the ones that anypony could hear and anypony could produce. It was the filler; the things between the notes, the subtle nuances that truly made the music.

A loud series of slams distracted her and made the mare wince. That was not part of her composition. Somepony was knocking at her door. She looked out towards the hallway and was about to rise when Vinyl appeared, emerging from the kitchen.

“Got it,” she said absentmindedly Octavia nodded to herself and closed her eyes again, pulling the bow across the strings to return to her tuning.

“Hello Vinyl, is Octavia home?” a feminine voice asked. Octavia stopped pulling her bow as she tried to figure out whose voice it was. It almost sounded like Sweetie Belle’s, but there was something off about it.

“Sure, she’s in here,” Vinyl said. Octavia heard the door shut before her housemate called “Octavia! Rarity is here to see ya.” Octavia watched Vinyl walk down the hall, probably back to the kitchen, while Rarity glanced into the room and saw her. A sudden change came over Rarity. She appeared hostile as she made a beeline for Octavia. Alarmed, Octavia stood up off of her seat, setting her cello down upon it semi-gently before backing away.

“W-what's wrong?” she asked, still backing away from the outraged mare.

“What’s wrong!?” Rarity asked, walking closer, backing Octavia into a corner and stepping right up into her face. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong! You! an adult mare! Kissing my little sister!” Octavia, unfortunately, couldn’t deny the accusation. Aside from being a naturally honest pony, the fear brought about by Rarity’s intensity. Her bright blue eyes were red with anger.

“I...I...I...” Octavia tried to defend herself, but Rarity wouldn’t give her half a moment. A finely polished white hoof came of nowhere and slapped Octavia cross the face.

“I don’t want to hear whatever excuses you may conceive of!” Rarity yelled, “The only reason I do not call the authorities on you for being a pedofoal is because it would humiliate Sweetie Belle and-”

“I am not a pedofoal!” Octavia countered back, finding her voice again after the brazen accusation. “My feelings for Sweetie Belle are-”

“Are beyond immoral and disgusting!” Rarity snapped. This took what little wind there had been out of Octavia’s sails. She looked down and away from Rarity, shame on her face.

“I’m...sorry,” Octavia said, “I know its wrong, but...I couldn’t help it. It felt-”

“No!” Rarity cut Octavia off, putting her hoof over the grey mare’s mouth. “I do not want to hear anything about it. I want it to stop! She’s just a child, Octavia.”

“Told you,” Vinyl Scratch said from the other side of the room. Both Rarity and Octavia turned to look at her, glaring. Vinyl’s eyes widened a bit and she whistled nonchalantly as she backed away from the entrance to the living room and back into obscurity. Rarity and Octavia looked back at each other; Rarity’s hostility diminished somewhat by the look of shame that was apparent on Octavia’s face. Not fear; shame.

“Okay,” Octavia said, “I promise...I won’t do anything to Sweetie Belle again. Ever. I never wanted...” She swallowed with tears in her eyes. In most any circumstance, Rarity would have taken pity at the honest shame coming from Octavia. She would have tried to delve deeper and see what all had transpired. But this was different. An adult had come onto her sister. Celestia knows what else she might have done if something wasn’t done to stop it.

“Good,” Rarity said, taking a step back from her, the angry look never leaving her face, “I cannot forbid Sweetie Belle from seeing you anymore; you and Vinyl are the only musically talented ponies in Ponyville and I want her to thrive now that she understands her special talent. But I warn you; if I hear anything about you so much as glancing at my Sweetie Belle improperly, I will not hesitate a second time to send you to prison.”

“Okay,” Octavia said, “Nothing will happen. I swear. I...” She swallowed and took a deep breath. “I’m going on tour in Germaneigh. I’ll be leaving tomorrow. I...I was going to invite Sweetie Be-” Rarity smacked Octavia across the face again, then a second time. Octavia waited for a third but one didn’t come. “I’ll be out of your mane for six weeks.” She said, “Can...can you tell her goodbye for me?”

“I shall,” Rarity said, backing away slowly, keeping a steely gaze fixed on her. “Remember...anything improper.” She warned. Octavia nodded. Rarity, content that her warning had been received and would be heeded, turned and left the room. She glanced up the hall where she saw Vinyl looking at her with a worried expression. Rarity ignored it and turned to the door, holding her nose up. She was right and nopony would talk her out of it. She was glad that she had gotten to the bottom of it and she would be back to ensure the warnings were heeded. Rarity may not have been the best sister, but she was good enough to not let her sister be taken advantage of.

As soon as she was outside, her thoughts upon herself being a ‘good enough’ sister, she remembered the race. “Oh!” she said, darting away from Octavia and Vinyl Scratch’s house, not wanting to disappoint Sweetie Belle by being late.

Rarity was not entirely certain how much time had passed since she left Sweetie Belle, but it could not have been more than ten or fifteen minutes. She should have enough time to make it to Whitetail Park for the race, find Sweetie Belle, and register if Sweetie had not already done so. Even still, she moved at a brisk trot to try and cover the distance quicker.

She could hear the commotion of the social event before she could see it, and after rounding a bend in the forest road she could see the gathering of ponies. Mostly mares and fillies, but plenty of stallions and colts as well; the families of the competitors were there to cheer their daughters and mothers and sister son.

Sweetie Belle was standing by the registration table, looking around with a frown. Rarity could see she was concerned and probably doubted that her older sister would make it, but she was there. She would always be there for Sweetie Belle.

“Sweetie!” Rarity called as she cantered up to the registration table. Sweetie Belle beamed a smile then sighed with relief.

“About time you got here Rarity! We only have five minutes-”

“Three minutes,” One of the ponies at the registration table interrupted.

“Three minutes to register!” Sweetie finished her sentence as if she hadn’t been interrupted.

“Well I’m here,” Rarity said, smiling down at Sweetie Belle as the pony at the table wrote down their names and gave them each numbers to wear for the race. Rarity was fifteen and Sweetie Belle was Fifteen-and-a-half, earning the number-granter a sharp look from the young filly but a chuckle from Rarity.

“So!” Rarity said as they walked towards the starting line of the race. “I spoke to Octavia.” This stopped Sweetie Belle in her hoofsteps.

“Why?” she asked.

“Why? Why...to stop the...er...indecency.” Rarity said, fading to a whisper lest anypony else hear her.

“Stop...wait...is this because she kis-” Sweetie Belle began to say ‘kissing’ then was silenced by Rarity putting her hoof over her mouth.

“We shan’t speak of it in public.” Rarity muttered.

“But why?” Sweetie Belle asked. They had made it to the crowd of competing sisters. Applejack and Applebloom were visible nearby and Rarity was looking around for Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo; she had heard that they were there to compete with Applejack and Applebloom for the gold. It was actually a rather excited gossip that had spawned some betting pools.

“Because it’s improp-”

“Its ‘improper’ that a pony I kiss somepony I really like?” Sweetie asked.

“No,” Rarity said, “It’s improper that a pony that much older than you-”

“So?” Sweetie Belle cut her off, “I really like her, an-”

“Sweetie!” Rarity cut her off with a sharp whisper, “Don’t speak like that in pub-”

“Don’t speak like what?” Sweetie Belle asked loudly, getting all of the teams around them to glance in her direction. “Are you embarrassed that I like a mare?”

Rarity was normally an attention hog, and some of her friends- most notably Rainbow Dash- would use another word rather than ‘hog’, but this was too much of the wrong kind of attention. Ponies were staring and muttering. The phrase ‘fillyfooler’ was said nearby but Rarity couldn’t pinpoint the source.

“N-no, not at all,” Rarity said, her cheeks flushing to a pale red, “I-I just-”

“That’s it isn’t it?” Sweetie Belle asked, “You’re too ashamed of being a fillyfooler so if I like a mare you need to make sure I’m as bitter and unhappy as you!” Rarity looked around. Now almost everypony was looking at them and her face felt incredibly hot. “Look at you! You’re always so worried about what other ponies are thinking than you are about me! That’s always what it is!” Sweetie Belle was about to shriek something else but the whistle for the race to start drowned out her words. All the observing ponies noticed this and broke their attention from the feuding sisters to start running the course. Rarity and Sweetie Belle ran as well; in opposite directions, neither of them going down the racetrack.

Two other ponies hadn’t taken off down the racetrack either. Applejack and Applebloom watched as their friends ran away, both of them in tears. They had heard bits of the argument, mostly the louder parts. They exchanged a glance with each other and neither even considered continuing with the race. Applejack turned and ran off after Rarity while Applebloom made to follow Sweetie Belle.

Dune Sea cursed the very existence of dragons. Even their adolescents were a terrifying creature to fight; the magic of the sphinxes was too meagre to overcome the natural magical resistance of dragons, and even the sharpest weapons could not penetrate their scales. Fortunately for the Empress, the rumors and fear of the dragons had spread through her army.

Had there not be a mass consensus to not confront the dragons, Dune Sea risked a challenge to her authority. She did not fear being dethroned, but she did fear discontent and disunity among the ranks of her military. Thus far the Northern Campaign had been successful due to the unified exertion of her forces under her command. Any doubt now would ruin it

The amount of gems that the dragons were requiring to allow her army to pass through their lands without being attacked and obliterated was a frighteningly high price. Precious stones were quite rare in the Golden Sea of her home far to the south and her Empire would be almost bankrupted by this venture. The zebras she had acquired, however, were more than happy to inform her that hundreds of years of dragons migrating while carrying their hoards over these lands had made the ground rich with gems. Dune Sea had tested this by sending out a few of her servants that knew spells to locate gems and when they returned with more gems than were typically found in the Imperial Mines in a year she was excited.

Every sphinx in the army that knew the spell or was capable of nearling it quickly was sent out to scour the land and find every gem they could find. At first, they turnout was good, but the more her sphinxes searched, the harder it became to find the precious stones. Until good news reached her about a new discovery.

“Dogs?” Dune Sea asked.

“Yes,” Chrysalis told her. She was kneeling in the Empress’s private tent; the air was hot and thick with various scents coming from concoctions on tables all around the outer walls. Dune Sea was sitting in her travel throne resting upon a two-level dais; she would not be unseated when in front of one of her lesser functionaries.

“Like pets?” the Empress asked.

“No,” Chrysalis explained, “”They are larger, some of them almost as tall as myself and as broad as your soldiers. They are also sentient, but their intelligence has thus far seemed lacking. They call themselves Diamond Dogs and got into an argument with some of your Gem Seekers over ownership of the jewels being hunted.”

“Did they attempt to take the gems?” Dune Sea asked.

“No,” Chrysalis said, “They were very cowardly. They retreated as soon as our soldiers appeared.”

“Cowards. That is good news.” Dune Sea said, “I can enslave them without wasting energy or time attempting to influence their minds.” She stroked her chin with her paw and nodded as she thought about the possibilities. There were a few, but the most important and apparent one was that if these Diamond Dogs contested the ownership of gems, then they already knew how to find them and likely had stashes.

“Have your changelings scout out the Diamond Dogs,” Dune Sea said. “We will take them over within the month and use them to meet the dragons’ demands.”

“Yes my Empress,” Chrysalis said with a bow, backing out of the tent to deliver the orders.

True Feelings?

Chapter 15: True Feelings?

Dear Cadance,

Rainbow Dash is recovering very well from that night. It took a few days before she could get herself out of bed, but Applejack was with her every day and was very supportive. The entire Apple family, actually. Big Mac and Applebloom picked up many of Applejack's duties so that she could spend more time with Rainbow Dash. The two of them became much closer from this and actually began to date about a month ago. I've never seen either of them this happy in their lives and I could not possibly be happier for them.

I've been very nervous about talking to Twilight about what we've been discussing. I mean, I know she will not react against me about how I truly feel, but I do not want to hurt her. As I said, I care just as much for her as I do for the rest of my friends and I do not want her to think that our time together has not been special to me. I really do not want to hurt her, but I know the longer I wait the worse it will be.

We have a date planned tonight. I will tell her then and I will let you know how it goes.

Your Friend,

Fluttershy

Applejack was a fast pony. Arguably the fastest in Ponyville, if Rainbow Dash would keep her wings folded and stick to her hooves. Unfortunately, speed didn’t mean diddly-squat when chasing a pony you lost sight of. Applejack didn’t see where Rarity had gone, just the general direction. Unfortunately, the general direction led her into town. If Rarity had run into Whitetail Wood then Applejack would have been able to find her lickety-split. A mare like Rarity wouldn’t get fifty yards in the forest before giving up or tripping and falling in the mud and Applejack would find her in minutes. In town? Rarity could have gone anywhere.

The upside to the issue was that Rarity made quite a fuss when she was upset, and an upset Rarity running through town was certain to attract attention. The first pony Applejack asked was able to point her down a road where another pony was able to give her further directions. The trail of observers who had watched the famous fashionista pass by wailing her woes pointed Applejack all through town until she was approaching Carousel Boutique.

“Well, ah guess ah shouldn’t be surprised she ran home,” Applejack muttered to herself as she knocked her hoof against the purple door. “Rare-” She was calling her friend’s name as a courtesy before the door was opened. A unicorn stood on the other side of the threshold, but it wasn’t Rarity.

“Hey Applejack,” Twilight said, stepping aside and nodding her head to say that she should come in.

“Well howdy Twilight,” Applejack said, “Is Rarity here? She seemed mighty-”

“Upset?” Twilight completed the sentence, turning it into a question. Applejack nodded and Twilight nodded in answer to Rarity’s presence. “She’s in the back,” she added. Once Applejack was in, Twilight shut the door and both walked across the main room to a curtain that separated the main shop from the work area that Rarity spent most of her time when actually designing an repairing dresses and other miscellaneous attire.

Applejack found her friend laying across a familiar long red couch that she tended to drape herself over whenever she had one of her ‘meltdowns’ for one upsetting situation or another. Usually they were more overreactions that the rest of their group of friends just rolled their eyes at.

Today seemed a little different; instead of loud, theatrical wails of anguish, Rarity was laying down with her back facing them, her face hidden against the back of the red cushions. Her sobbing was audible, but not exaggerated. It was genuine, and that’s what worried Applejack the most. The last time she’d heard one of her friends genuinely cry it had been Rainbow Dash during the days following the final confrontation with Gilda. She did not like to hear her friends cry like this.

“She’s been like this for almost ten minutes,” Twilight said quietly as they watched Rarity cry from the door. “She nearly trampled over me in the road. I caught up to her and got her to come home. She walked back to her couch and laid down and...I’ve been waiting for her to calm down.”

“She say anythin’?” Applejack asked in a whisper.

“Not yet,” Twilight said, “I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to go home and get a book on how to comfort someone who's sad, but I don’t want to leave her here alone.”

“Y’all don’t need a book for that,” Applejack said, rolling her eyes but giving Twilight a humored smile until another loud sob attracted their attention back to Rarity’s back. They both frowned again. “We just gotta calm her down, see what’s wrong, then cheer her up.”

“Really? That sounds simple,” Twilight said.

“Sure does,” Applejack said, knowing it wasn’t going to be simple at all.

“Okay, so, how do we calm her down?” Twilight asked.

“Whelp, when ahm feelin’ down, and ah mean really down, ah usually do mah thing where ah jus’ go sit in the barn and cry and try not to talk to no one, but a big ol’ hug from Mac or Applebloom or Dashie always cheers me up. Makes me cry a lot more for a lil’ bit, but its like gettin’ poison from a wound; squeeze it all out real quick so it don’t get in there and make ya sick.”

“That makes sense,” Twilight said, “Let’s test your theory.” She walked around Applejack and into the workroom. Applejack followed her up to the couch where Rarity lay despondent. They shared a glance before Twilight lifted her hoof and gently tapped Rarity on the shoulder.

“Rarity, I-” she began.

“My sister is evil!” Rarity wailed, her voice rising to the high pitched cry that her friends recognized. At that moment, both of them ceased to greatly worry about her and were able to calm themselves somewhat. If she was okay enough to whine, then she wasn’t in any terrible situation, but still; her earlier sobs had been genuine and they knew they were not clear of the danger zone just yet.

“What’s wrong Rarity?” Twilight asked. Rarity sat up, sniffling, and turned to face her friends. Applejack climbed on the sofa and sat next to her. Twilight did the same on rarity’s other side and the two reached their hooves around her; Applejack over her shoulders and Twilight across her back.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity cried, leaning against Twilight’s shoulder as the purple mare gently rubbed her back. “She...she...she...”

“Hey!” A voice called, interrupting Rarity. All three of them looked to the entrance to the workshop and saw a blue pegasus looking confused and worried. “Scoots and I won...we were looking for you two and your sisters but Berry Punch said that you had all run off when the race started...something wrong?” she finished with the question she knew the answer too. Applejack and Twilight were comforting a highly upset and slightly disheveled Rarity; something was, indeed, amiss.

“What’d she do sugarcube?” Applejack asked, now worrying that Sweetie Belle was in some kind of trouble. Did something happen to her? Did she do something dangerous?

“She...she c-called me a...a...a lesbian!” Rarity yelled, her sadness tinged with anger, “In public! Can you believe that?” She slammed her hooves into the couch and let out a grunt of frustration even as tears continued to run down her face.

As if on some cue that Rarity couldn’t see, both Applejack and Twilight removed their hooves from her. Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped for a second, but then her wings began to flare, along with her nostrils, while her eyes narrowed.

“So...” Twilight began, her cheeks flushed a little and her eyes shifting from amusement to irritation. She could not decide if Sweetie Belle calling Rarity out- since it was about time somepony did- was funny, or if Rarity’s reaction was abhorrent, “That’s...a...bad...thing?”

As soon as Rarity heard the question she took in a sharp gasp. She had just insulted all of her friends, she realized. Twilight, a long standing fillyfooler who was quite open and quite proud of her orientation, Applejack, the one who had only come to the realization after drastic events had forced Rainbow Dash into her care for a short time, and Rainbow Dash, the pony who had repressed her feelings and coped with them throughout her teen years with promiscuity that led to recent past problems, and her only solace recently was in Applejack’s hooves.

“I...I didn’t mean-”

“Can it!” Rainbow Dash barked. Applejack was up and by Rainbow Dash before the multicolored maned mare could get off another wood, putting a hoof on the back o fhe rneck and stroking her mane.

“Calm down sugar,” she said softly, “Rarity’s a might upset. Ahm sure she didn’t mean it like it sounded.”

“Quite...quite right,” Rarity said with a nod, trying for a moment to regain composure but now that the sudden fear of hurting her friends was gone, the pain of her argument with Sweetie Belle on what was the one day of the year she ever really felt close to her sister returned and she started crying again. Twilight went back to patting Rarity’s back since she was the only one directly beside her now, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash came closer. Even Dash’s temper was subdued by Rarity’s sorrow and her wings folded back up.

“Can you tell us more?” Twilight asked, “Like..why Sweetie Belle would say that?”

“Yeah, ah don’ t mean ta pry,’ Applejack said, “but ah heard a whole mess of shoutin’ from you two. Twern’t no idle comment from yer sister that got you all worked up.”

“Oh where to begin!” Rarity said, “So much happened today!”

“Well, start from when you and Sweetie first met up,” Rainbow Dash suggested, “It couldn’t have been more than, what, two hours ago? Whenever I left; you seemed like you were in a good mood then.”

Rarity sniffled a bit and used her magic to levitate a box of tissues from a nearby dresser over to her. She drew one square of paper from the box and blew her nose in it before tossing it over the back of the sofa she was on.

“After Rainbow left,” Rarity began, “Sweetie Belle came and reminded me of the time. I had lost track of it while-”

“Staring at my flank,” Rainbow Dash muttered aside to Applejack, earning her a rough elbow in the ribs from the blonde pony.

“-working on the dress design that Rainbow Dash was helping me with. Fortunately, we still had the better half of an hour to arrive at the Sisterhooves Social so we took our time and walked. She seemed in high spirits so I inquired as to her plans following the competition and she mentioned wanting to meet somepony. Jokingly, I implied that she was interested in somepony and she denied it as a child oft would do in such a situation. I coaxed more out of her and found that her interest was in Octavia!”

“Octavia?” Rainbow Dash asked, her face skewed a bit in disbelief.

“Octavia...as in the musician?” Twilight asked.

“Well, can’t say that ahm too surprised,” Applejack said quietly, more to Rainbow Dash and Twilight than in trying to interrupt Rarity. The white unicorn had ceased sobbing and speaking for the moment as her friends spoke because she was hoping they would back her up in her decision to put an end to it. “The way Applebloom’s been talkin’ bout how busy Sweetie is since she got her cutie mark, always goin’ off with Octavia ‘n Vinyl Scratch.” Applejack lifted one hoof in a shrugging gesture, as if to convey that she was not concerned. “She’s still a youngun. A harmless foalhood crush ain’t much to worry ‘bout.”

“Not much to worry about!?” Rarity asked, aghast, “That is how I felt at first, but then Sweetie told me that they had been making out!” Her friends all took on shocked expressions and Rarity inwardly smiled smugly. Take that Octavia! Rarity thought while wiping her eyes dry with her hooves.

“Okay, now that ain’t alright.” Applejack said.

“I know,” Rarity said, “But no need to worry. I went to Octavia directly and ensured an end to it. I pointed out the error of her ways and told her in no uncertain terms that if she made any attempt to pursue the illegal activity I would take all forms of action against her."

“Don’t blame you there,” Rainbow Dash said.

“The nerve of that woman...seducing my little sister like that,” Rarity said, more anger in her voice than anguish now. She got off of the sofa and walked out of the room. The other three shared a glance then followed her. Rarity went to the kitchen and her horn flared with a light blue magical essence.

The refrigerator door opened as she walked past and a bottle of wine floated out. She took a seat at the kitchen table and rested her chin on it. A cabinet opened and a wine glass floated over to sit on the table right in front of her. The bottle opened and tilted, and while Rarity poured she asked her friends “Would any of you like a glass?” Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all shook their heads. Rarity shrugged and set the bottle down, lifting the glass with her magic and taking a large sip.

“So....are you okay Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Okay?” Rarity asked in return, taking another sip of wine, “Of course i’m okay! My sister was being molested by Octavia and accuses me, of all ponies, to be a fillyfooler! As if I would ever even consider getting intimate with a mare. It’s so disgus-”

“Hold onto that thought Rare,” Rainbow Dash said as she reached over and yanked the glass of wine out of the light blue field that held it in front of the alabaster mare. Once she had control of it she flung its contents into Rarity’s face.

Rarity had realized what she was about to say the moment Rainbow Dash interrupted her and was opening her mouth to apologize when Rainbow Dash had emptied the contents of her wine glass into her face. She coughed and spluttered and wiped at her eyes, opening them just in time to see an orange hoof inches from her face. It was caught in a purple aura that Rarity knew was Twilight’s magic.

“Twilight, lemme go,” Applejack said through gritted teeth while glaring straight into Rarity’s eyes. Rarity could see the rage and pain in her gaze but could not bring herself to look away. A part of her was terrified of what she would see; matching expressions of mingled hate and anguish on Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s face.

“I’m I’m s-so sorry!” Rarity hastily said, taking a few steps back from the furious Applejack. She looked from Applejack to Rainbow Dash to Twilight and, as expected, she saw pain and hate on their faces; Rainbow Dash looking like she wanted to attack Rarity and Twilight appearing on the verge of tears. Rarity’s ear’s dropped “Really! I did not mean a word of it! It...it was the wine...a-and my mother. My mother was terribly homophobic and...and...and...”

“Oh save it,” Rainbow Dash said bitterly. Applejack lowered her hoof after Twilight released her magic and none of them looked happy, but they seemed a little less mad. “So you and Sweetie got in a fight because of Octavia, basically.” Rainbow Dash said, to clear things up and try to distract herself from her urge to slap Rarity for what she had been about to say.

“Y-yes,” Rarity said. “I was trying to tell her that it was wrong, what Octavia was doing, and she just went off on me!”

“I agree with your sentiments about Octavia,” Twilight said, “I think we all do,” Rainbow Dash and Applejack each nodded. “But you need to understand that this might be Sweetie Belle’s first crush; she won’t really know what she’s feeling and how to deal with it.”

“I know,” Rarity said with a sigh, slumping down onto the floor and resting her face on her hoof, “I just did not want her to be as disappointed as I was when I had my first crush.” No one in the room noticed Applejack tense up a little at that statement. “I mean...first crushes never last, and they never blossom into true love. I do not wish for Sweetie to lose her innocence to the first pony she has an eye for.”

“So...” Applejack said, “Yer sayin’ that no first crush...so not even mah first crush...can’t ever come back ‘n love me?”

“Hmph, its highly unlikely,” said without looking up. She didn’t see the tears forming in Applejack’s eyes, and when she looked up to the sound of the farm horse running out of the kitchen she was too late to see anything but her friend’s tail whipping around the door to the kitchen.

“Applejack wait!” Rainbow Dash called, flying out of the kitchen behind Applejack, leaving Rarity and Twilight there.

“Wow...” Twilight said, “Not a reaction typical of Applejack. I wonder who her first crush was...’ she thought.

Rarity looked at Twilight for a moment as she mentioned the question, and that was when she made the connection in her head. Rarity had been Applejack’s first crush; and Applejack hearing Rarity’s verbal abuse towards lesbianism and stating that it was unlikely her crush would reciprocate her feelings must have been far more difficult to listen to than Rarity could imagine. She suddenly felt lower than low and went back to the table. She needed a drink now.

“Rarity?” Twilight asked as she watched her friend go back to the table.

“Twilight, I’m sorry about what I said,” Rarity said in a voice and with the body language of utter defeat, “But right now I need a bit of time alone...to think.”

“Okay,’ Twilight said. Normally she might argue such a point since she did not like leaving her friends in such a fragile state, but Twilight was still a little upset about what had been said earlier. She quietly left.

”Life would be so much easier if everypony could just choose to be straight.” Rarity muttered, her stomach churning a little. She felt terrible.

A half hour passed as she stewed in her own self-misery and regret and then there was a knock at the door to the boutique. Rarity ignored it the first few times, but when the knocking persisted she got up. “Ungh! Who could possibly be here?” she asked herself.

More Feelings

Chapter 16: More Feelings

Rainbow Dash flew in the sky over Applejack as the farmer ran through town towards Sweet Apple Acres. The pegasus easily caught up to the distraught earth pony but maintained her speed and altitude above Applejack as she ran. Dash understood her marefriend as she was very much the same way. Whenever Rainbow Dash was upset, she went on a long fly alone, as fast as she could. Applejack was wingless and couldn’t fly, but a run was very much the same.

Eventually the blonde mare slowed her run to a gallop, then to a trot, and then a slow walk. Having made it back to her farm, Applejack walked among her apple trees for a few more minutes before laying down under one. She looked towards the soft sound of hooves gently landing on the ground near her and knew Rainbow Dash had been following her closely. She had actually expected it, not bothering to look the skies for her. Applejack knew Rainbow Dash would stay near her.

“Howdy there sugarcube,” Applejack said, her voice a little terse.

“I still hate when you call me that,” Rainbow Dash said, giving Applejack a slight smile to try and cheer her up. She laid down in the grass beside Applejack and extended one of her wings to wrap around her back. She kissed Applejack on the cheek and rested her head against the side of AJ’s neck. She felt a soft lurching and shaking against her cheek as Applejack began to cry.

Rainbow held Applejack under her wing and waited for her to get it all out. She had her own suspicion at what got Applejack so upset and they would talk about it later, but for now she knew her marefriend needed quiet. Applejack had done the same for her months ago. Rainbow Dash had broken down after being raped by someone she had thought was her friend and Applejack held her all through the night and the next day, letting go of her only to help Dash eat. Applejack had spent every minute of the next three days within Rainbow Dash’s line of sight.

She kept Dash as a guest in her home for almost a month before Rainbow felt like she could return home and stay there on her own. The time together had been enough of an eye-opener for the both of them to know that they weren’t just friends. Nothing had happened during those weeks, nothing physical except hugging and cuddling throughout the night, but inside both of them they had gotten much closer.

While they held each other they talked, and Applejack was a great listener. They talked about their insecurities and dreams, they talked about their private thoughts and opinions, they talked about just about everything possible to talk about, and then some more.

Less than a week after returning home, Rainbow Dash asked Applejack out on their first date. They went to Whitetail Woods for a walk where Rainbow Dash challenged Applejack to a race. The race ended at Horseshoe Lake where they swam together until sunset and shared their first kiss on the bank under the rising moon. They went back to Applejack’s and slept in the barn after taking their relationship to a more physically intimate level. They spent hours wrapped up around each other’s bodies, but by dawn they were asleep in each other’s hooves as they had done back when Dash was a houseguest, and when Big Mac and Applebloom found them in the morning they were none the wiser.

Rainbow Dash was with Applejack when she came out to her family. Well, when she came out to Big Mac and Granny Smith. She didn’t want whatever their reaction may be to cause strife in front of her. Mac didn’t seem too comfortable, but he didn’t say anything against them. Granny Smith had made a big roaring ruckus about it, saying hurtful things such as ‘unnatural’ and ‘yer parents are spin-’ That last comment was stopped by a slap across her face by Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare was able to cut to the chase and get Granny Smith to admit that she still loved Applejack, she just didn’t like this relationship, which was good enough for Dash, and good enough for now for Applejack.

Since then their relationship had been rather smooth. More than smooth; it had been glorious. They’d spend hours together every day, usually working on the farm. Rainbow Dash pitched in all the time as best she could; her natural athletic spirit and speed being quite useful. Even to the point where now even Granny Smith stopped giving her dirty looks; she was just too dang helpful. She still didn’t acknowledge the fact that Rainbow Dash and Applejack were dating, but she did acknowledge that Dash was a welcome member of the farm. Mostly welcome. She always left the room whenever Applejack and Rainbow Dash hugged or kissed.

That was two travesties that the two had gotten through together. Now they had a third obstacle to face; Rarity. Fortunately, Rainbow Dash already suspected what was going through Applejack’s mind, because the same thing had gone through Rainbow Dash’s mind several times. Unfortunately, it was not the kind of thoughts two committed marefriends should have about a mare that isn’t their lover.

“Ahm sorry Dash,” Applejack said now that her few minutes of self-indulgent crying had passed.

“Ain’t nothing to be sorry about AJ,” Rainbow Dash said, kissing Applejack’s cheek and earning her a smile from the orange farmer.

“Ah shouldn’t be all emotional over someun’ other than you.” Applejack said after leaning her head to rest against Dash’s neck.

“Really AJ, its fine,” Rainbow Dash said, lifting her foreleg to wrap around Applejack’s shoulders, “You’re not the only one who was upset by what Rarity said.”

“But ah ain’t upset over her pigheadedness,” Applejack said, “Well...ah am, but that ain’t what got me to cryin’. Ahm upset cuz-”

“Because she was the first pony you ever had a crush on,” Rainbow Dash said in an understanding tone, “And it hurts to think that she won’t feel that way for you ever.”

“Y-yeah.” Applejack said, looking with surprise at Rainbow Dash, “How’d ya figure that?”

Rainbow Dash smiled and looked up at the night sky, partially obscured by the trees. “I already told you about my feelings for Fluttershy when I was little. Well, when she accepted Twilight’s offer for a date back a few months...that hurt a bit. It hurt more when I saw how happy they were together since then. But...I don’t know, it didn’t hurt in a...bad way?” She looked a little confused as she spoke to the sky. Applejack looked up as well, thinking about what Dash was saying..

“Cuz it was Twilight she’s with?” Applejack offered.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, “It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I guess my heart was always funny that way.”

“Still, ah shouldn’t be this upset about Rarity and ahm sorry,” Applejack said, “Yer mah marefriend and ah couldn’t ask fer a better one than you.”

Rainbow Dash smiled again then looked at Applejack, a slight blush and a look of discomfort coming over her. “Better? Nah, there are none better.” She said “But...a-and tell me if I’m wrong...but could you think of a few marefriends that would be, you know, as good?”

Applejack blinked as her own orange cheeks began to take on a red hue. “W-what?” she asked uncomfortably.

“Listen...AJ...I don’t know how to say this without hurting your feelings,” Rainbow Dash began, “But you being upset about Rarity not loving you back...I feel the same way as you. I mean...a part of me really...really liked Rarity. I had really thought about...well...”

“Y’all thought about datin’ her from time to time?” Applejack asked.

“Please don’t be mad Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said, looking rather worried.

“Ah aint,” Applejack said, kissing Rainbow Dash’s cheek, “Ah get what yer feelin’ and yer right; its one of them tricky thangs mah heart likes to do.” She touched her chest with her hoof, “But look at it this way,” she said, reaching over to touch Rainbow Dash’s chest, “If both of our hearts are bein’ mighty funny ‘bout the same thing, then that’s just one more thing we’ve got goin’ fer us.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and the two leaned in and kissed each other. They closed their eyes when their lips met and they held the kiss for a long time, simply basking in each other’s presence and the mutual feelings of love they could feel. It was more than satisfying; it was invigorating.

With no spoken words or physical gestures, the two stood up and hugged each other; both of them knowing that the other was ready to go home and rest.

“Gnight AJ,” Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings to start hovering.

“Night Dash,” Applejack said, waving her marefriend goodbye. She stood up on her tiphooves and Dash ducked her head low so they could share another quick goodnight kiss before separating. Applejack watched Rainbow Dash fly into the starry sky before turning and finishing the trek home to the farm house.

She got home at the same time as Applebloom and they both shared notes on how Sweetie Belle and Rarity were holding up. Applejack omitted some of the details of the conversation and just summarized that Rarity was a bit upset but she’d be fine. Applebloom said much the same about Sweetie Belle.

Exhausted from an emotional evening, Applejack had gone right up stairs to her bedroom once she was inside, figuring to take a shower in the morning, when there was a knock at the door. She heard Big Mac’s big hooves heading to answer it and sighed, closing her eyes and feeling mighty tired.

“AJ!” Big Mac hollered, forcing Applejack to open her eyes and groan, “Its fer you!” She crawled out of bed and grumbled to herself that if it was Rarity she’d smack her again just for getting her out of bed.

Twilight took her time walking back to the library from Carousel Boutique. She was performing the breathing exercises that Princess Cadance taught her, stopping every few paces to emulate the gesture with her hoof even. Before long she felt a semblance of serenity and decided she was calm enough to cease with the breathing exercise and finished the short wlak to her home.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight said in surprise when she opened the door. She saw her marefriend in the entrance room talking to Spike. Both of them turned to Twilight.

“Oh, hello Twilight,” Fluttershy said, “Um, I was just asking Spike if he would be willing to petsit Angel for me when we go to the Gala.”

“Oh, aren’t you going to the Gala Spike?” Twilight asked.

“Nah,” Spike said with a dismissive wave of his claw, “I went to the last two, and the last one was boring since you guys didn’t destroy it. Since I doubt you’ll do it this year, I’ll have more fun dealing with....Angel.” he said the rabbit’s name with a disgruntled sigh. Twilight suspected that he was just agreeing to it for the sake of helping Fluttershy rather than actually preferring it over going to the Grand Galloping Gala. She would need to get him something nice as a token of appreciation.

“Um,” Fluttershy said after a couple of seconds, “I also, kinda, wanted to talk to you too, Twilight. If that’s okay.”

“That’s fine Fluttershy,” Twilight said, giving her marefriend a smile to try and ease her.Fluttershy never had enough confidence to assert herself to her friends unless the matter was beyond urgent. “I actually wanted to talk to you also, but I’ve been...hesitant. I guess now’s better than never. Let’s go upstairs so we can talk privately. Er, no offense Spike.” Twilight added. She trusted Spike with keeping secrets, but telling Fluttershy that she did not share her feelings the way she had thought was something that should be kept between them. At least at first.

“I’m not washing the sheets this time.” Spike grumbled, crossing his arms and walking into the other room. Both of the mares blushed a bit at that comment and Twilight shot Spike a glare that he did not see. They left the main room and went up to the second floor of the library and entered Twilight’s bedroom. Twilight entered the room behind Fluttershy, her mind churning with the twenty-seven different versions of what she was going to say.

“Um...you first.” Fluttershy said, standing uncertainly in the middle of the room. Twilight had expected Fluttershy to suggest that and was considering insisting on Fluttershy talking first, but decided that she should say what she needed to say now just in case Fluttershy was here to say something too touching and heartfelt for Twilight to be able to bear.

“Alright,” Twilight said. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. She was feeling nervous now. Fluttershy was too precious to for this. She could feel her heart beating heavily in her stomach. What would she say? Would this ruin their friendship? Would lying about love be better than losing her as a friend?

“Fluttershy...you know that I love you, right?” Twilight said. Fluttershy’s eyes widened perceptibly, but she nodded. Twilight could feel heat rising in her face. Her stomach tensed and knotted itself. “Well...I...I...don’t...” She closed her eyes for a moment as tears began to well up. She did not want to look at Fluttershy, but she had to. Fluttershy was her friend; she deserved to be acknowledged while Twilight broke her heart. “I don’t think that...I’m in love with you.”

Twilight bit her bottom lip and looked at Fluttershy, anxiety etched on every feature. Fluttershy stared back, her wide eyes returning to a normal size and, much to Twilight’s surprise and confusion, a smile appearing on her face.

“I don’t think that I’m in love with you either.” She said quietly.

“Huh?” Twilight asked, her head quirking slightly to one side.

“I...I’ve been talking to Cadance,” Fluttershy said, her cheeks getting a little pink, but she did not retreat into her mane. “I love you Twilight. I love you dearly. M-more than family. But...I also love Rainbow Dash and Rarity...and Pinkie Pie and Applejack just as much. I’ve...I’ve been really worried about saying ‘I love you’ to you so often. I do! Really, but...I also love them. And...”

“And my feelings for you are no different from my feelings for them!” Twilight interjected where Fluttershy trailed off. She felt like a weight was removed from her chest and that she could think clearly again for the first time in days.

“Yes.” Fluttershy said. She looked uncertain and Twilight smiled. She reached out and touched her hoof to Fluttershy’s shoulder to reassure her.

“I feel exactly the same.” She said. Twilight let out a breath and chuckled lightly. “I’m so relieved you feel that way too.”

“Oh yes,” Fluttershy agreed, also looking as though she had just overcome an insurmountable task as well. “I...yes, yes.” She repeated softly, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh of relief.

“So...” Twilight said, “No hard feelings?”

“Oh no,” Fluttershy said, “Not at all. I...I still love you Twilight.”

“Yes,” Twilight said. She stepped in closer to Fluttershy and gave her a lingering kiss on her cheek. She embraced Fluttershy, holding her close and hugging her tight. “I still love you too.”

They held each other in silence for several minutes, letting their tensions and anxieties flow from their hearts and dissipate. Eventually they released each other and looked into one another’s eyes. There was no problem between them. No awkwardness, no bitterness. They were still friends.

Perhaps...still more. Fluttershy thought hopefully. “I need to go home.” She said. “The animals need their night snack before bed.”

“Alright.” Twilight said, giving Fluttershy another quick hug, “I’ll walk you out.” She opened the door to her room and walked back down into library with Fluttershy at her side. They went to the front door together and Fluttershy exited.

“Bye.” She said softly.

“Good night.” Twilight said, closing the door after Fluttershy had taken a few strides away. She sighed again and slumped against the wall. “That could not have possibly gone any better.” She said happily. Standing up, she went to the back of the library to look for Spike, but before she had gotten far she heard a knocking at the door.

“Spike,” she called, “there’s someone at the door!”

“I’ve got it!” The dragon replied, heading for the door.

The entire day was devoted to planning the ultimate party. Though this party would not be the kind most ponies would expect by Pinkie Pie. In fact, most ponies would not even be aware of this party. Only six ponies would be present, including herself. This party was going to be the perfect party, and it was going to be a private party.

Pinkie’s realization that she was deeply in love with all five of her friends had come as less of a shock and more of a relief to her. It helped her deal with the odd feelings she had when Twilight and Fluttershy had begun dating, and when Rainbow Dash and Applejack told them all that they were together. However, keeping that realization to herself simply would not do. Nope! She needed to tell each and every one of them that they had captured her heart.

For that reason, Pinkie had left the preparations in Sugarcube Corner- a beautiful surprise for later that night when her friends came over- and headed up the road to the library. Twilight would be the first to receive her invitation because she was the closest and that made the most sense, plus the silly unicorn would probably spend a long time over analyzing what Pinkie’s invitation meant, so the more time she had the better!

Knocking on the door to the library, Pinkie Pie glanced over her shoulder to make sure that the lavender and magenta cake was balanced on her back adequately. Whent he door opened she opened her mouth to take a deep breath but stopped herself when she saw it was Spike.

“Hi Pinkie Pie.” Spike said.

“Hi Spike!” Pinkie said, “Is Twilight home? I wanna give her this cake.” Pinkie Pie had been about to say invitation instead of cake, but managed to switch out the word without any difficulty or stuttering. She felt a little bad not inviting Spike to one of her parties, but this party was special and he really did not belong there. I’ll throw another party and invite everypony she thought, deciding that was the fairest thing for her to do.

“Sorry Pinkie,” Spike said, “Twilight left a little while ago. She went to Rarity’s I think. I can hold onto it and give it to her when she gets back.” he added, eying up the cake with a scarcely concealed ravenous look in his eyes, his tongue licking his lips.

“Oh that’s okay,” Pinkie said, “I’d rather give it to her personally. It’s a special friendship cake and I wanna see her face when she sees it.”

“Okay, guess.” Spike said, frowning in disappointment “Seeya later then.”

“Yeppers!” Pinkie said, turning around and heading away, Spike shutting the door behind her. Pinkie Pie headed back to Sugarcube Corner to switch Twilight’s cake out for Applejack’s. She would have liked to take Rarity and Twilight their cakes at the same time, but Pinkie could only carry one cake at a time, plus if one heard their special song before the other it would ruin the surprise!

With Applejack’s cake on her back, she headed up the road out of Ponyville and to the farm, humming the tune she had designed for Applejack’s song as she walked. She was excited! She had never pre-written songs individually for each of her friends before; they had always been more spur-of-the-moment to the situation at hand, or song she had known from beforehand. She knew they would all like her songs though; they always loved her normal songs, and these ones were special to each of them.

Lifting her hoof she knocked on the door several times and waited. Fortunately, as she expected, the wait was not long. There were so many friendly ponies in Applejack’s family that someone was surely nearby.

“Howdy Pinkie Pie.” Big Mac said after looking down at the energetic party pony. “What can I do for you?”

“Hiya Big Mac!” Pinkie said happily, “Is Applejack here? I need to talk to her. Its reeeeeeaaaaaaaaally important.”

“Sure thang.” Big Mac said, taking a couple of steps back, turning, and hollering towards the stairs “AJ! Its fer you!”

They both heard hooves coming down the steps and Mac walked out to another room to let Pinkie Pie talk to Applejack in private. Pinkie waved him farwell and beamed at Applejack as she arrived.

“Oh, hey there Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said, “Somethin’ goin on?” Pinkie Pie opened her mouth and took in a deep breath.

Applejack,

I'd love to have ya,

and all our besties- don't be too dressy!

At my own personal

Gala!

I have to admit

That your freckles are real cute.

And without you at my side

This ho-down just won't be a hoot!

Applejack blinked and looked at Pinkie Pie with a somewhat confused expression. Pinkie Pie had placed the cake on the floor at Applejack’s hooves while singing and hopping around. But if the song had been confusing, what followed was even moreso. Applejack stood stock still as Pinkie Pie leaned in and pressed her lips to Applejack’s.

The farm pony’s eyes shot wide open. Pinkie Pie’s lips were clamped firmly on her own, her tongue sliding past the stunned orange lips and caressing the insides of her mouth. Applejack was numb at the moment; all feeling gone save the warm tingle of Pinkie Pie’s lips and the tantalizing touches of her tongue. Just as Applejack was coming to terms with the moment and was about to return this surprising display of affection, Pinkie stepped back, still smiling cheerfully.

“I love you Applejack.” She said before turning around and walking away with a bounce in her step. Applejack watched her leave, and stayed at the door staring at the empty road for a minute after Pinkie had vanished.

Pinkie Pie had to make a quick stop at Sugarcube Corner to get one of the other cakes, after passing by the library and seeing Twilight just getting back. This time Pinkie grabbed the white cake with dark purple frosting and glittering sugar diamonds. She knew Rarity would love the cake, but she had to make sure Spike didn’t see it;the sugar diamonds would probably be too tempting for the young dragon. She knew it was very tempting for her to eat the cake, but the cake wasn’t for her, it was for Rarity, so she had to resist.

Carousel Boutique was a short trot away for Pinkie Pie. She was so excited after giving the invitation to Applejack that she was almost jittering with bottled up energy. She couldn’t wait to give Rarity the invite! But she had to walk slowly; she was not exactly a ‘stable’ pony and balancing a cake on her back was tough work, so she took her time with the walk.

Knocking on the door to Rarity’s dress shop-slash-home, Pinkie Pie waited, expecting to see Rarity in all of her normal elegant splendor. The pony that opened the door, however, was quite different what Pinkie had expected. It was still Rarity, but she was far from glamorous. Her eyes were puffy and red, her mascara had ran, and her hair was a mess. She was in her fuzzy bathrobe and slippers.

“Oh? Pinkie, wha-*hic*-what is it? Is something wrong?” Rarity asked. Pinkie Pie felt a lump in her stomach. Rarity was upset? But why? This should cheer her up though! she rationalized.

“Nothing is wrong!” Pinkie said with a smile, tossing the cake from her back to land between her and Rarity. Beaming at her, she began her song.

Rarity,

My fair lady.

My damsel in distress.

I do say,

That today,

I really love your dress.

Now come with me,

Fair Rarity,

To my private soiree.

There'll be party games

And expensive champagne

And we'll all have a wonderful time!

“Yay!” Pinkie finished her song. She worked on catching her breath for a moment while Rarity blinked at her. When the unicorn opened her mouth to respond, Pinkie Pie stepped in close and planted the deal-sealer. The kiss she gave to Applejack she also gave to Rarity.

The Unicorn nearly took a step back in surprise, or she would have had her mouth not been caught. It took a few more moments to register that perhaps she should be kissing back, but by then Pinkie had already started her trot back down the short path to the road.

“I love you, Rarity!” Pinkie called over her shoulder.

Rarity stood in shock, watching her friend turn the corner and trot back to Sugarcube Corner. “I love you... too?”

Pinkie bounced happily down the streets back to Sugarcube Corner to make her next pickup. The cake she had for this visit was a nice lavender color, with dark purple icing and pink and magenta flowers. A six-pointed star motif was on the top, with each point resting on one of the flowers.

She picked the cake up and balanced it on her back with a practised ease. The walk to Twilight’s was also rather short, and she only had to reposition the cake once. With a hop, skip and a very small jump, she landed on Twilight’s doorstep and happily knocked on the door.

“Spike,” the Unicorn called from inside, “there’s someone at the door!”

“I’ve got it!” The dragon replied, his footsteps quickly approaching. Pinkie drew in a deep breath.

Spike opened the door.

“I know you're in a hurry

but before you have to part,

“Oh, hi Spike!” Pinkie halted mid-song, smiling down at the little dragon. “Could Twilight come to the door?”

“Uh, yeah. Twilight? Pinkie’s here to sing to you.” He finished the sentence with a confused lift.

“Coming!” Twilight trotted out from somewhere in the library, absently moving around Spike in the perfect way to move him back into the building. “Uh, hi, Pinkie. What brings you here? I’m kind of in the middle of something, so-”

Twilight was cut off as Pinkie pushed a cake towards her, where it was swiftly caught in a magenta aura. Before Twilight could question Pinkie took a deep breath, her eyes bugging out slightly.

“I know you're in a hurry

but before you have to part,

I'd like to say,

that voice, that mane!

really touches my heart.

You are cordially invited,

if you come, I'd be delighted!

Oh yes, you're cordially invited

To a party for us all!”

Pinkie leaned in and kissed Twilight in the same way she had been doing on her previous deliveries. The aura around the cake vanished for a moment, as Twilight lost focus in shock, and the cake almost collided with the ground. Fortunately, she was able to grab it in another protective aura when Pinkie Pie relented on the kiss. Twilight just stood there with a stunned expression on her face. Pinkie did not know about the recent conversation with Fluttershy or the self revelation Twilight had come to recently. All she knew was how she felt about Twilight.

Lifting her hoof, Pinkie Pie gently pushed Twilight’s slack jaw closed. “I love you, Twilight.” She said before turning and bouncing away, back to Sugarcube Corner. Two ponies to go and she was running out of time; she couldn’t be late to this special party she was inviting them all too, and she also needed to give Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash time to arrive! It would be beyond rude to tell somepony about a super special party and then tell them it starts in five minutes!

Grabbing the yellow and pink cake with butterfly candles from Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie traversed the distance between her residence and Fluttershy’s home as fast as she could without toppling the cake off of her back. This was not the first time she wished she were a unicorn, that way she could just hold the cake in place with her magic. Even as a pegasus she could use her wings to keep it level as she ran.

Fortunately, Fluttershy’s cottage was not too far away; not nearly as far as Applejack’s farm, at least. Panting slightly, Pinkie Pie knocked on the door and shifted her weight from hoof to hoof. She knocked again after a couple of minutes. And again after a couple more.

“Aww, isn’t Fluttershy home?” she asked herself, pouting a little. She turned around, thinking to go give Rainbow Dash her cake then come back later, but at the bottom of the path was Fluttershy.

“Um, hi Pinkie Pie,” She said, now that Pinkie had noticed her.

“Hi Fluttershy!” Pinkie said, stepping aside from the door, “I was just looking for you! I have a gift!” She turned her profile towards Fluttershy to show her the cake.

“Oh my, that looks very nice.” Fluttershy said, smiling at her friend. She unlocked the door and let Pinkie inside. The pink mare went to Fluttershy’s kitchen table and put the cake down on it, turning around when she heard the door close. Beaming excitedly at Fluttershy and unable to contain it any longer, she burst into song.

Fluttershy, I came to say

There's something to confess.

How you make me feel,

Well, I really can't express!

You are hereby invited

to a private party!

So we can spend some time together,

but it won't be just you and me!

Fluttershy’s cheeks were flushed at the end of the song and she blinked repeatedly. Pinkie Pie did not wait for a response before so she did not wait for one now and she stepped closer to Fluttershy. She did not just kiss her straight off like she had her other friends though; Fluttershy was...shy. Shy, adorable, and precious.

“I love you Fluttershy.” Pinkie said softly and sincerely. Fluttershy’s eyes widened and seemed to glisten with tears. Pinkie slowly, ever so slowly, leaned forwards. Fluttershy did not recoil or pull away, but instead gave in to what Pinkie Pie was leading towards and met her lips. The kiss was softer than Pinkie had been with the others, but every bit of feeling went into the gentle caresses of her tongue against Fluttershy’s, and Pinkie could feel her friend melting into the kiss.

Much to Fluttershy’s disappointment, however, Pinkie broke the tender kiss. She hugged Fluttershy then headed for the door.

“Um, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said, turning to follow her. Pinkie stopped by the door and smiled at her.

“I...um...I l-love you too.” Fluttershy said, her cheeks becoming dark red, akin to Big Mac’s in hue.

“I know!” Pinkie replied in her cheery tone, opening the door and leaving the blushing Fluttershy behind. She looked up; the sun was almost completely set and the sky was getting dark. She hurried back to Sugarcube, grabbed the blue cake with multi-colored icing decorations, and went out the back door to pull her flying machine out of the shed. While she was setting it up- she had needed to remove segments in order to fit it into the Cake’s shed- she saw Cranky Doodle Donkey walking by with a cart of vegetables.

“Hi Cranky!” she called, waving at him.

“Why hello there Pinkie.” The donkey said stopping in his trail and moving towards her. “What is this...uh...contraption?” he asked.

“It’s a flying bike.” Pinkie explained, “I’m going to visit my friend Rainbow Dash but she lives up on a cloud so I need a way to get up there.”

“Huh...I see.” Cranky said. “Well then, I will just leave you to that. Have a good evening.”

“I will, you too!” Pinkie said, waving farewell to Cranky as he walked away. She caught sight of an odd looking cabbage on his cart and, after a second glance, she saw that it was not a cabbage at all.

“Cranky wait!” She said, hopping over to him and his cart. She reached up and pulled the turtle out of the pile of vegetables, examining it.

“Huh?” Cranky asked, looking back at her, “Where’d ya get that?”

“He was stuck on his back in your cart.” Pinkie said, placing the turtle on her head. “Don’t worry, I know where he should be so I’ll take him.”

“Okay then,” Cranky said, giving the turtle a confused glance as he continued on his way. Pinkie turned her eyes up to the turtle and smiled.

“Dashie is going to be so excited to see you Tank!” said, returning to her flying machine and picking up the cake on the seat. Buckling in, she held Tank in one hoof and the cake in another, her hindlegs working the pedals that took her into the sky.

The flight to Rainbow Dash’s beautiful cloudhouse took only a few minutes because she could fly in a straight line and did not have to follow laid out roads or avoid plantlife in the woods. Rainbow’s house was not as bright as it was normally during the day; her rainbow fountains had been turned off and the setting sun had fallen behind the hills to the west, casting the town into shadow.

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!” Pinkie shouted when her flying gizmo hovered outside her door. She didn’t have a spare hoof to ring the doorbell or knock, so she had to shout.

“Yeah Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash’s voice sounded from beyond the door just as it opened. There was no look of surprise on her face at Pinkie Pie floating there before her on the crazy contraption she had seen a few times; she was simply used to pretty much whatever Pinkie was going to do.

“Hey Dashie!” She said, leaning forward to hand her the turtle first, “Look who I f-”

“Tank!?” Rainbow Dash asked, her face now the definition of shock and awe. She slowly reached out her hooves and took the smiling turtle off of Pinkie Pie’s hoof, staring into his eyes. “Tank!” she shouted in surprise, pulling her pet into a hug. She thought he was dead! For months now! “Where did you find him?” She asked Pinkie Pie, tears now in her eyes.

“On vegetable cart.” Pinkie Pie said, “I saw him and I thought ‘Hey that looks like Tank!’ so I picked him up and thought ‘Hey that is Tank!’ and I knew you missed him and since we all thought he was, well, you know, so I brought him back. Oh, I also brought cake!” she added, handing Rainbow Dash the cake. The pegasus took the cake and set it on her own back but was hardly paying attention now; she was gawking at Tank, hardly daring to believe that he was really there, in her hooves, that it was actually him. Her reverie was broken, however, when she heard Pinkie Pie break into song.

Rainbow Dash,

you're the awesomest pony

I have ever known.

Every time I see you soaring -

let's just say

I'm mind-blown!

If you could take a break, I know you are busy.

But I want you to come to a very special party.

And Rainbow, all the other ponies are expecting you

so if you don't show

this party will totally blow!

At the end of her song, Pinkie Pie leaned halfway out of her flying machine and pulled Rainbow Dash towards her, bringing her into the kiss. Dash’s wings erupted from her sides and stood rigid on either side of the cake while her eyes widened in surprise. This was the fifth mouth that Pinkie Pie was kissing, and for the fifth time that evening the pony of her attention reciprocated the passion she was showing them.

“Pinkie...I...what...”

“See you in an hour!” Pinkie Pie said with a squeaking smile before flying away, leaving Rainbow Dash stunned in her doorway, a cake on her back and Tank in her hoof.

Author's Note

Thank you to Viola Velvet for helping me with Pinkie Pie’s songs.
Thank you to IceOfWaterflock for helping with the Pinkie Pie portion of the chapter.
And fear not! Tank's appearance is not just some silly little thing I threw in.

Tell Me What You Think

Chapter 12: Tell Me What You Think

Dear Fluttershy,

I'm excited to hear about the Gala. Shining Armor and myself will be attending and I know that with you and your friends in charge it will be the best Gala yet.

I'm very confident that I properly described love, or at least one of its many forms. As for your feelings for your friends, I am rather surprised that you felt the same for everyone. Love is a mysterious power, however, and I can't tell you what you are feeling. If you feel that way about your friends then all I could say is that you are, in fact, in love with all five of them. Not unheard of, but of course unusual.

Can you tell me what you define as love? Perhaps I can help if I know what you are looking for, or think you are looking for.

Your friend,

Cadance

---

Applejack hadn't seen her cousin Apple Cobbler in a couple of years, not since she had come out shortly after the Summer Sun Celebration a few years back. Applejack wasn't proud of her own family in just one way; they were so backwards minded when it came to relationships that when Cobbler announced she was in love with her marefriend Valentine she was disowned.

Applejack wasn't typical of the Apple Family, however, and while unable to properly defend her cousin from what happened she still maintained a friendly relationship with her and the two regularly got together to enjoy each other's company and catch up on each other's lives. Applejack also kept Apple Cobbler in the proverbial loop as to what was going on with the rest of the family.

Apple Cobbler lived out in Trottingham now, and to keep things 'even' between her and Applejack they took turns traveling out to visit each other once a month. Over time that had reduced itself to visits of convenience preceded by a letter to alert the other. Shortly after the package from Celestia containing the magical Element of Honesty, Applejack was delivered a letter in a more traditional form- via Derpy Hooves- from her cousin Apple Cobbler informing her that she would be coming through Ponyville shortly and would like to have lunch.

Applejack met up with Apple Cobbler at Stars Buck. They both loved the food that was served there, even if neither had any real taste for their famous coffee, and it was the best place in Ponyville for two mares to sit down and eat without drawing stares or starting rumors. Its casual atmosphere lent itself to friendships as well as romance, and was a very nice place for a pair of almost estranged cousins to meet and talk in a relaxed manner.

For the first part of the conversation, Apple Cobbler told Applejack about things out in Trottingham. Life was good, despite the family she had no regrets about Valentine, spooky rumors of monsters in the woods, a new foal her best friend had, and other dribble that Applejack felt bad for not being able to concentrate on. Unlike Apple Cobbler, Applejack hadn't been having the best of times for the last few weeks and her life was murkier than a creek that had just been jumped in by a herd of fillies and colts.

"Are you okay Applejack?" Apple Cobbler asked, noticing her cousin's weary gaze and slouched posture. None of the Apple family had ever been much for 'proper posture' but Applejack tended to have the posture of a hard worker full of energy. Right now she looked tired.

"Yeah ahm fine," Applejack said, "Just had a hard time sleepin' the las' few days."

"Something the matter?" Apple Cobbler asked.

Applejack closed her eyes and was about to say 'Nothing in particular' because she didn't really think there was a reason for her anxiety, but something came over her before she could say anything and she had a sudden realization that something was wrong. Something rather specific.

"Well, ah'm not sure that somethin's 'the matter'," Applejack said, "But ah've been havin' mahself some...thoughts'n'such." she had to gesture vaguely with her hoof to emphasize her point while she was thinking.

"Like?" Cobbler asked, leaning forward in her seat a little in a subconscious gesture of her interest. Applejack was, for lack of a better term rather simple in terms of what she tought about. Not to say she was simple minded, but she tended to solve the world in a simple way and kept things...simple. If she was thinking about something enough to lose sleep, it must have been a real problem. For all that Applejack did for Apple Cobbler after the family abandoned her, Cobbler wanted to do whatever she could to help her cousin and friend out.

Applejack tapped her forehoof on the table while staring down at her sandwich. "Ah dunno, its really rather silly," she said, "Well, a lil' while ago mah frien' Rarity got me ta go to this speed datin' thang in Manehattan, an' ah met a few real nice stallions there. Ah went on some follow-up dates with'em but they all ended up bein rather..."

"Dissappointin?" Cobbler interjected, "Or maybe just 'unsatisfyin'?"

"Bit o' both," Applejack admitted. "Somethin appealed to me 'bout each'o'them durin' the speed datin', but when ah spent more time with'em each ah honestly couldn't see nothin' above average 'bout any of'em." Cobbler was about to say something but she remained silent, mostly in confusion, when Applejack's normally bright green eyes flashed a luminescent orange light for a moment. By the time she blinked and rubbed her eyes to see if it had just been her, Applejack continued speaking.

"Well ah guess that ain't true. They sorta reminded me of mah best friends. In fact...the more ah think 'bout it, the more ah think ah initially liked'em at all was cuz they were like mah friends. Nerdy unicorn, athlete, cute'n'shy, party crayzeh and fancy dressin."

Applejack looked as confused as Apple Cobbler for a moment. She rubbed the back of her neck as she looked up and down in a thoughtful manner. "Huh...can't believe it took me that long ta figure that out."

"So...basically," Apple Cobbler started, chewing on her lower lip for a moment, "Ya were dating the male versions of yer friends."

"Yes!" Applejack said, slamming her hoof into the table and her face lighting up. It was the biggest, most obvious 'eureka' moment of her life and it made so many things make so much more sense. "Bah Celestia that makes more sense than a lasso 'round a bull's legs!" Fortunately, she lowered her voice before she attracted too much attention and added "Ah was only acceptin' of the stallions that were like mah friends! No wonder ah didn't feel anything fer'em when ah was on them dates! Ah was jus' hangin' out with mah friends, more er less."

The Trottingham pony gave her a look that indicated she was expecting Applejack to finish that sentence differently. "Or....?" She said, trying to urge Applejack on.

"Or...what?" Applejack asked.

"Maybe..." Apple Cobbler said, gesturing with her hoof for Applejack to continue the sentence.

"Maybe...?"

"Maybe you're..."

"Maybe ahm...not...straight..." Applejack said, her cheeks flushing red as the thought crossed her mind. It hadn't been the first time she had thought that she might be a lesbian, but it was the first time it was more of a thought than a worry. Apple Cobbler only smiled and nodded her head encouragingly for her to continue, but Applejack had hit another wall. "But...ah don't know Cobbler. Ah mean, y'all know ah ain't got nothin' against it 'n all, but ah just never really picture'd mahself with another mare. Not since ah was a lil' filly that is."

"Well," Apple Cobbler said, "How about ya tell me what ya see when ya imagine yerself in the future?"

Applejack couldn't say she didn't really think about the future. It wasn't something she actively imagined, but at the end a long day of work, just as her mind was loosening into the comfort of sleep, she did think about life in five or ten or twenty years. "Well, ah always saw mahself as a mom," she admitted with a smile and another blush, "A lil' ol' herd of four er five youngin's. Still at the farm o'course."

"Uh-huh," Cobbler said, "How about yer husband?"

"Hmmm," Applejack hummed, thinking about it, "Ah always figured he'd be a nice stallion. Hard worker...loyal..." She ended the sentence with a shrug, "Guess ah never really thought 'bout the husband part of it."

"Okay," Apple Cobbler said, taking a shot in the dark by pulling on a thread Applejack had let dangle earlier, "Bear with me on this one; imagine yerself and yer five kids, but instead of a generic stallion next to you in the family pictures its Pinkie Pie."

"Pinkie?" Applejack asked, "Wah would ah-"

"Ah-bup-bup-bup!" Cobbler said, holding her hoof out to keep Applejack quiet. "Just close yer eyes and imagine."

Applejack rolled her eyes before doing as she was told. Closing her eyes, Applejack imagined five foals running around the farm, playing with Winona, and Pinkie would certainly be out there running around with them, laughing infectiously and beckoning for Applejack to put down the two bushels of apples she was carrying to take a break and play. Applejack declined the invitation because she needed to meet quota for the day or the harvest would fall behind schedule. Pinkie Pie quickly rallied the children and they all but stampeded out into the apple orchards with each of the foals carrying a small basket while Pinkie Pie jumped up into the trees to shake them vigorously and drop apples into the kids' baskets. Applejack laughed as she went back out to join them in the newest game.

Opening her eyes, Applejack looked at Apple Cobbler in shock. That had been such a fantastic fantasy that Applejack knew she couldn't imagine any other future now. She was so blithely happy that it was unbelievable.

"Well?" Cobbler asked.

"Ah...ah can't believe it..." Applejack said, "Ah never thought of Pinkie Pie that way before..."

"Well I just picked one of your friends," Apple Cobbler said, "I guess I picked the one you have a secret crush on."

"But that don' make no sense," Applejack said, "Ah mean,ah like all my friends the same. Or thought ah did. If any of'em gotta be better than the rest than it'd have to be Rarity."

"Oh?" Cobbler asked.

"Yeah. Rarity's mah oldest friend. Knew her before ah knew Pinkie Pie. Rarity's the one who gave me mah hat," She emphasized the comment about her hat by tapping the brim.

"Tell me about her," Cobbler said, "Rarity."

"Well there's a whole lot ta tell," Applejack said, "She's the Element o' Generosity, if ya already didn't know. Ah met her on mah first day of school. She was easily the pertiest filly in class, all obsessed with fashion and whatnot by then already." Applejack gave her dark orange cousin a rough summary of her relationship with Rarity from childhood. She went through their school year friendship, giving extra detail to when she had left Ponyville and come back. Cobbler gave Applejack a knowing look when she talked about the kiss Rarity gave her, but otherwise didn't interrupt. The story went on from school to high school through graduation and the years since.

Apple Cobbler got the feeling that Rarity's magnificence was diluted after the Nightmare Moon fiasco which- told from Applejack's perspective- didn't mean that Rarity had diminished over time but that Applejack simply couldn't focus on just her.

"And then she gave me that ticket for the speed datin'. I told ya 'bout that part though." Applejack finished.

"Hmm," Cobbler said, "She does sound very nice. If ah weren't already engaged to Valentine ah might be tempted to look 'er up."

"Heheh, hold on now there cuz, she's mah mare," Applejack said and they both chuckled.

"Ya sounded like ya had a lot to say 'bout yer other friends," Cobbler said. She looked over some of the rooves of the town at the clock tower, squinting a bit to see it, "Ah've got some time 'till my train if you've got no problems."

"Well shucks ah love talkin' bout mah friends" Applejack said, "Got any one in particular yah wanna hear about?"

"Hmmm, ya mentioned Pinkie Pie being the next friend ya made after Rarity, so start with her." Apple Cobbler suggested. Applejack obliged and, starting with her first glimpse of the eccentric filly while their families bartered over apples and outlining their friendship up to the present. She went on to tell Cobbler about Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash next, then Twilight last because she'd only known her for a couple of years.

Applejack was in the middle of describing how Twilight used her magic to see through the Changelings that attacked the Royal Wedding when Cobbler started giggling. She had been trying not to laugh since hearing about Rainbow Dash and a noticing the pattern that had emerged, but now that they were near the end it was too hard.

"Uhm, pardon?" Applejack asked.

"S-sorry," Apple Cobbler said, still chuckling, "But...hahaha its sooo funny!"

"What?"

"The way you talked about your friends," Apple Cobbler said, "You're just...enamored with them."

"Say what?" Applejack asked, "That's ridiculous."

"Why? Ya as much as said so yourself earlier that ya don't get love, ya never imagine a stallion in yer life, and when ya was imaginin' Pinkie Pie as yer wife ya had such a smile on yer face that ah knew ya were really happy. Ah know cuz ah see that same smile on Valentine's face all the time. And mah own when ah look in the mirror."

Applejack blushed and tried to give her cousin her most cross expression, but her eyes weren't in it. In fact, her eyes were orange.

"Uhhhh, AJ?" Cobbler spoke up, "There's somethin' funny goin' on with yer eyes."

"What?" Applejack asked, lifting her hoof up and looking at it as she moved it back and forth. Cobbler took her spoon and licked it clean before holding it up for Applejack to see her glowing orange eyes.

"What in tarnashin?" she muttered, taking the spoon to try and get a better look, but it was hardly a good mirror. Still, she could angle enough to see one of her eyes, and the normally emerald iris was a startlingly bright orange color. "That's...strange..." Applejack said as though mesmerized.

"Ah'll say," Apple Cobbler said, "Only time ah ever see that sorta stuff is when Unicorns are doin their magic."

"Ah know..." Applejack said, "But...somethin' stranger...ah think yer right."

"What?"

"'Bout mah friends. 'Bout me." Applejack felt like she was having a massive revelation. Some epiphany of sorts. But at the same time, nothing she was figuring out wastoo surprising. It was all just a secret, hidden truth she had known all along. Lying to herself for years had made Applejack believe the lies. She had told herself since she was old enough to understand it that she wasn't a lesbian, she didn't like other mares, her closest friends were just her friends, and the feelings she had for them were how all friends felt about each other. Those were all...lies.

"Ah do like mares," Applejack muttered.

"'Scuse me?" Cobbler asked.

Putting the spoon down, Applejack looked at Apple Cobbler with an expression that was equal parts surprise and elation. "Ah like mares...like you do ah mean. An' not just aneh mares...mah best friends are all ah can think of."

"Woah," Apple Cobbler said, "Talk about a sudden change'o'heart."

"Ah was just lyin' to mahself before," Applejack said, sighing in defeat but smiling, "Wow...admittin' it feels good! Ah ain't felt this good since...since...since ah came back to Ponyville 'n met Pinkie Pie."

"Got one in mind?" Cobbler asked.

"One what?" Applejack asked.

"One of yer friends." Apple Cobbler asked, "Who ya gonna ask out?"

"What? Ain't that a lil' fast?" Applejack asked.

"Nah," Cobbler said, "Takin yer time ain't gonna change their minds. Wah, when I first met Valentine ah was smitten and ah asked her out right then and there. Ah didn't even introduce mahself first. Yer friends know ya way more'n'that. Ahm sure whoever ya ask'll say yes if they're of a similar persuasion."

Applejack closed her eyes- they had stopped glowing by now- and thought. "One..." she muttered, "Ah don't think there is just one. Ah love all of'em."

"What?" Cobbler asked.

"Er...ah guess ahm in love with all of'em." Applejack said, blushing a little but smiling also, "Twilight, Rarity, Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy...yeah, all of'em." Applejack looked up while she thought about that, then smiled and nodded, as though officializing the statement.

"Gettin' in a lil deep there ain't ya?" She chuckled and brought a hoof up to her mouth as she spoke. Giving her cousin a once over she nodded. "Ya sure thar ain't justa one you fancy?"

Applejack looked down as she considered this. She thought very hard about it. "Well...ah fancy'em all...fer different reasons..but also the same way. Fluttershy and Dash can't be compared but there's nothin about'em ahm not attracted to. Same fer'em all, if ya get mah meanin'"

"Thing is, Ahm not gettin' yer meanin' at all, ya can love 'em all for different reasons, but Ah can't see lovin' 'em all the same way workin' out all too well ya hear?"

"Well...." Applejack said, having to concede the point that trying to love several ponies at once was probably just asking for heartbreak. "Ah guess Ah can see yer point." She started to frown, "But ah can't just choose one of'em."

"Well then," Cobbler said, reaching a hoof over to pat one of her cousin's hooves, "Maybe you haven't found the right mare yet."

"Maybe," Applejack said. Her eyes flashed orange again, but neither of them noticed it. Applejack knew that it was a lie though. "Maybe." She said again.

The conversation sort of lost all momentum from there. They went back to small talk and little things that were of themselves meaningless. When Apple Cobbler's train was due she parted with Applejack and the two went their separate ways.

Applejack needed to think. A lot. She took a very roundabout way home, passing near Rainbow Dash's house. Perhaps if she could get Dash into some sorta game to distract herself she'd be able to clear her head when her body was exhausted.

She looked up at the large cloud house where Rainbow Dash lived, but she saw that the blue pegasus wasn't there. She was on the ground under the house.

"Dash?" She asked, heading towards her, "What are ya doin on the-" She stopped talking when she saw the haggard condition her friend was in. Bruises and scratches covered her body. Rainbow Dash was sobbing as well. Sobbing was something that Applejack only rarely saw her do. At first, she thought that it might have been another incident with the Wonderbolts, but the scratches along her back were not something a pony could do.

"Dash..." Applejack said when she was closer. Rainbow Dash turned to look at her; her eyes were red and swollen with tears. One of them was black and blue and had swelled almost shut.

"He...he's gone." She choked out. She stepped to the side and Applejack saw the shattered remains of the metal contraption that had kept Tank, Rainbow Dash's pet turtle, suspended in the air so he could live with his owner.

Rainbow took a step towards Applejack but winced and gasped before falling over to one side. The sobbing became crying and Applejack ran to her.

"What happened?" Applejack asked.

"G-Gilda," Rainbow Dash said. The name set Applejack's mane on end. That griffon was back? More that, she had done something awful to Rainbow Dash. Something in pegasai's manner gave Applejack the feeling that it wasn't just a thorough beating, and clearly Tank was involved.

Taking another look at the device that should have been attached to Tank, Applejack got next to Rainbow Dash and pulled her up and over her back to carry her.

"Hold on Dash," she said, "Ahm takin' ya home and then I'll get a doctor to look at ya."

"No!" Rainbow screamed, struggling violently, though with almost no vigor or strength, "No! I can't leave him!"

"Who?" Applejack asked.

"Tank!" her friend cried.

"Tank's not here," Applejack said.

"Tank!" Dash cried again. Applejack was worried more and more.

"Ahm sorry Dash, but ah gotta get ya looked at." And with that Applejack ran towards Sweet Apple Acres with Rainbow Dash bleeding and crying on her back.

Dragons presented Dune Sea a slew of unexpected problems all bundled into one big clusterfuck. The Empress's newest adviser, Chrysalis, had warned her extensively about the powerful monsters but her military advisers had insisted that they could handle any beasts they encountered.

Unfortunately for them, they were very very wrong.

The first scouting party to leave the Mare Mountains and enter what Chrysalis called the Badlands never returned. The second scouting party only had two survivors return, both of whom were severely wounded. They reported almost exactly what Chrysalis had warned.

A larger force of sphinxes and zebras were sent ahead to capture a dragon to bring it back for study. Only a handful returned. Dune Sea herself went out next. She used every spell and potion she knew of to conceal herself so that she could get close to and analyze the dragons. What she saw was more than surprising.

Hundreds of feet tall and dozens of feet wide, the dragon race were true monsters. The first one that Dune Sea saw was a red behemoth snoring clouds of noxious black smoke. Even in its sleep it intimidated her. Traveling further into the Badlands showed her that there were hundreds more of these beasts. This was certainly nothing that she wanted her armies to face. The Rising Empire would be slaughtered by such raw power.

Or, it could be made invincible with it.

Her journey back to her army allowed her to plan out her next move. She would send a single messenger- one of the expendable zebra children- to request an audience with one of the dragons. She would take control of this dragon's mind and use it to slowly take power over every beast in the Badlands. With that kind of power in her army, Dune Sea would truly become invincible!