A few miles south of Appleloosa, the twinkling Eros River runs from the falls of Canterlot, through Ponyville, and finally streams into a pond above the land of the Griffins. On one side of the river, large sand dunes can be seen in the distance. Saddlerabia, as hot as the sun gives off heatwaves that seem to even warm up the water. On the other side lay the dense jungle of the Everfree, large, smoke black trees lay against each other as if to hide the screeching creatures that can be heard all night long. Rabbits crawl out of the tanglevine and one can only wonder how they survive in such a horrid place. Nevertheless, the creatures here give the place an awe-inspiring beauty that can only be matched buy the castles of Canterlot themselves.
A blazed trail runs along this river. A trail which the Earth Ponyfolk have used for centuries as an easy way to get from the White Tail Woods to trade with the Griffins to the south. With the river in easy access, and plenty of shelter, anypony can see that this trail had made the journey much easier for plenty of mares and stallions. Buck marks could be seen in the fruit trees along the way, and the occasional ash and singed wood lay low in the ground after many of years of abandonment.
It was a warm summer day. The rabbits drank from the river, just as they always did. Hawks swooped down, grabbing fish and other small animals to bring back to their nests in the trees. The leaves of the Everfree Spruce fluttered silently in the wind. Occasionally, a leaf would fall, scaring a rabbit or two, which would in turn make them alarm the others, and they would high-tail it back into the Everfree, leaving the water calm and at peace. For a moment, the place was lifeless, and then two mares trotted down the path and slowly made their way to the bank of the river.
They had walked in single file down the path, and even when they had come to a clearing by the river, one still seemed to shy behind the other. The first had a cowboy hat on. She wore denim overalls over her orange coat. She had a dirty blonde mane, which she had tied a pony tail into the back of, and on her flank was three apples. The other wore a smaller cowboy hat atop her pink mane which seemed to flutter so gently in the breeze, as if it too would scare the rabbits. Her coat was a light yellow and her eyes were as wide as can be, yet never looking directly at her partner, or at anything for that matter. The wings on her back seemed to want to open all the time, but she made sure to keep them down. On her flank was three butterflies.
When they had finally made it to the river bank, and the yellow pegasus had finally realized what was in front of her, she nearly trotted over the other pony. She quickly took her hat off, and bent down in the bank and gulped the river water in huge mouthfulls. As she drank, the other pony stepped nervously beside her.
"Fluttershy!" she said sharply, "Fluttershy, fer Celestia's sake, do ya' have ta' drink like that?"
Fluttershy continued to drink from the pool. The orange pony began to tap her on the back. "Flutters, yer gonna get sick all over again."
Fluttershy then dipped her whole head in the water, mane and all, and then came back up, shaking it dry all over her companion. "That's wonderful." She said. "You get some Applejack. You wouldn't want to stay thirsty now." She smiled happily.
Applejack took her hat off and laid it to the side. "I ain't sure if this water's any good" She said. "Just doesn't look right ta' me."
Fluttershy dabbed her hoof in the pool, letting the water trickle down her fur and creating large rings in the river. A fish jumped a few feet in front of them. "Look AJ, did you see that?" She asked happily.
Applejack shook her head and sat down beside the water. She bowed her head down and took small sips. "Tastes alright, I guess." She said, looking at the water. She splashed some up around her neck and face, and used her hooves to wash herself.
Fluttershy looked at Applejack and began to copy her, splashing water on her face and cleaning herself off also.
Applejack looked up at the sun and squinted, then looked down angrily at the water again. "That damn Rainbow jerk. Told us ma' cousins carrot farm were just down this trail. Forgot to mention how long the trail was. If I woulda' known it'd be this far, ah woulda' asked some pegasi for a lift, seeings as how you're too scared to lift one hoof off the ground." She said towards Fluttershy, venomously.
Fluttershy looked sadly at the ground. "Applejack?"
"Whaddya want?"
"Where are we goin' again, Applejack?"
"What? Ya done went and forgot already?"
"I'm sorry Applejack, I tried not to forget, I swear."
"Ugh. Are ya' jus' gonna go and forgot again, if I tell ya?"
"You don't have to tell me the part about the bunnies, AJ, I remember that part, I swear I do."
"Of course ya do! Of course that's all ya remember. Now, listen. Were going to ma' cousins carrot farm. And if ya' don't screw it up, maybe we can make some big cash and buy the house we've been wantin'. That is, if ya' behave."
"Oh, oh yes and she has plenty of cute little bunnies there too, right?"
Applejack glared at Fluttershy. "Is that all ya' care about? Seriously? What about our life? Don't ya' want to have a better place to sleep at night, than the edge of the Everfree, Flutters?"
Fluttershy looked down in despair.
Applejack took her gaze away from her to look down the trail. "We still got a bit o' sunlight left. Perhaps we could walk a little farther. The closer the better."
Fluttershy didn't respond. Applejack looked back to her, to see her silently staring at the rabbits across the lake. Her frown turned slowly into a smile and she looked over at Applejack. "AJ, look, there-"
"Yeah, I see 'em"
"Do you think we can take one along maybe? Just for a little while, Applejack?"
"Hail Celestia, why can't ah get a damned word through yer' skull? Leave the bunnies alone fer' once in yer' life! We need tah' start goin'."
Fluttershy looked away embarrased. She closed her eyes tight as she held back a tear. "I forgot where we're going again..." She said quietly.
"Oh my-! Fluttershy lookit' me and pay attention. We're gonna go work on a farm alright?"
"Again, AJ? Just like before when we did?"
"Yep, just like that, except instead of apples, we gonna be harvestin' carrots. Ya got that?
"Sure, AJ, yeah. I'll remember now, I swear it."
"Now where are we goin'?"
Fluttershy hesitated "I... uh, I... We're goin' on a farm. That's right, a carrot farm, with bunnies, right AJ?"
"Yeah, but you ain't goin' near them unless you behave and do yer' work. I don't want ta' have to get put out of business again, 'cuz you wasn't doin' yer' job."
"But... not doing my job?"
"Oh, ya done went and fer' got that to, eh? Yeah, you let them damned Flim Flam Brothers stomp on us with their stupid machine. You was too busy playing with the damn rabbits than doin' yer' damn job, Fluttershy! And that better not happen again, and hell, if it does, I'll leave you with the rabbits! Ya got that?"
"Ooooh, the rabbits AJ, no no, I remember. It won't, it won't I swear."
Applejack just shook her head and looked off into the distance. "Eh, buck it." She said, tiredly, "We'll jus' sleep here I guess. I don't wanna walk no more today."
The sun was starting to set, and the golden rays bounced off of the surface of the water. There weren't very many animals out now, but the fish splashed and jumped out of the water to catch bugs. The owls could be heard from the Everfree, chirping and "Hooing". The tops of the dunes looked as if they glowed with the light from the sun, and surprisingly made it look more lonely than before. Crickets chirped and grasshoppers jumped all around the two ponies, who had lay down on their backs, looking up to the darkening sky.
"AJ?" Fluttershy peeped after a long silence, "Where do the rabbits go when the sky gets dark?"
"I dun' know, Fluttershy, and frankly, I really don't care.
"But they have to go somewhere AJ, right?"
"Gah! Fluttershy! Enough with rabbits! I miss out on so much peace with ya! Always causin' me trouble!"
There was a long pause.
"I could leave any time you want AJ... I could go stay in the forest.."
"Where the hell would ya' go?"
"I would just stay in a tree. I'd like to be a tree."
"Yeah? How'd ya get food? Hmm?"
"I could eat, AJ. I could find something. And I could pet all the bunnies, and keep them and love them."
Applejack looked closely at Fluttershy. Then, she looked down, sadly. "I'm sorry if ah' been mean, Flutters."
"I'm just saying, if you don't want me anymore, I can try to live on my own AJ. I don't want you to be mad at me."
"No, no. Ah was jus' kiddin' with ya' Flutters. I want ya' with me. I'm happy you can keep me company."
Fluttershy looked away, content. Together, they sat quietly for a while longer. Fluttershy let out a yawn, and Applejack looked her way.
"AJ, can you tell me about the bunnies again?"
"Flutters! You ain't doin' this ta' me right now!"
Fluttershy pleaded, "Oh, please, please, please, AJ! I really want to hear about them!"
Applejack sighed. "Alright, alright."
Fluttershy turned on her side happily and stared at Applejack while she talked.
"Now ponies like us, that travel day in and day out, we're the loneliest mares in Equestria. We got no fam'ly. No friends. Nuttin'. We go from work to work, but got nowhere else to go, because thas' all we know. Thas' all we do. We ain't supposed ta' have nuttin' to look forward to."
"But it's different with us, right AJ?"
"Right. But not with us. We got somethin' ta' look forward ta'. We got somepony ta' talk ta' and somepony that cares about us. All the other ponies will be long gone and forgotten, but not us."
"But not us, AJ! Because... well, because I have you to look after me, and you have me to look after you!"
"You got it, Fluttershy."
"Keep goin' AJ, I wanna hear more."
"Well, someday we're gonna have us a nice farm. A big 'un. With a cow, and some pigs..-"
"And we're going to have bunnies too, right AJ? Right?"
"Yep, o' course we is. A nice bunny farm with a huge vegetable patch."
Fluttershy yawned again. "Thank you, AJ. I know one day we're going to have everything we want."
"Yeah we will, Fluttershy."
Together they lay in the darkness. The occasional lightning bug shined through the dark, and a fish or two skimmed the water. After a few minutes, Applejack heard Fluttershy's small short rasps, which meant she was asleep. She looked over gratefully to her friend.
"Thanks Flutters. I'm glad you're here with me." She whispered, mostly to herself. Then, she looked back up and closed her eyes.
Fluttershy turned and smiled.