Chapter 5: Gastrulation
Now get off my back, Berryshine :P
Some days passed and the two pegasi settled into a comfortable routine. Derpy would help with the morning chores before flying off to do her mail route, returning in time for dinner and the evening chores. Fluttershy would tend to things around the house and do anything she had to do for her veterinarian clinic.
The days gradually melted into weeks as the two mares grew closer, often sitting in comfortable silence for hours while Fluttershy would sew and Derpy would read one of the many many MANY books on pregnancy and foalbirth that Twilight had brought over a few days after her arrival. Every payday, the grey mare would try and convince her hostess to accept some of her bits in exchange for the room and board. Every payday, the yellow pegasus would reply that she had more than enough bits to handle the bills and supplies, and that the bits would be better saved for the foal.
After each day settled into darkness, Fluttershy would wait until Derpy went to bed before heading to the hill near her house. Reaching the peak, the pegasus would sit on the stump that adorned the hill, staring upwards at the stars before reaching down, after a time, and removing a small case from the crook of the stump and open it, revealing a secret she kept even from her fellow elements. Putting the pieces of the small silver object together and channeling her pegasus magic into the metal to allow her control of the intricate moving parts, she would take a deep breath, and reveal her heart to the night when she couldn't reveal it to anypony else. This night was no different as she left the world behind and simply played.
In her room, Derpy could not sleep. A thought kept rolling through her head. It was a strange thought, one she had never felt for another mare before beyond her sister. A sense of closeness and deep trust. However, there was something there she was only familiar with in the concept of being with a colt. A tingling at the back of her heart which fluttered whenever she thought of her hostess. Admittedly, she had grown closer to Shy over the weeks, but the hormones of her pregnancy had to have been messing with her head. Loving another mare couldn't happen, right? It wasn't a thing you saw often. Well, to put it more accurately, it wasn't a thing she saw very often. The only mares she knew that were together were Lyra & BonBon...
The music wasn't helping her think straight either. It struck those parts of her brain that told her to just go with it and be happy with Fluttershy. She was the kindest pony in the whole world and the only pony to ever treat Derpy like family other than her actual family. Sighing, the grey-coated mare rolled over and tried to go to sleep before her brain caught up to her ears. There was definitely music coming in from outside. Getting to her hooves, the pegasus looked out the window to see a figure in silhouette on the hill past the chicken coop. The music was coming from that figure. Wondering what the hay was going on, Derpy trotted down the hall and out the door, moving carefully through the dark yard toward the hill as the moon rose behind it.
The sight before her was absolutely incredible. A pegasus, seated upon a stump, playing a flute, silhouetted against the moon. The music itself was amazing, pouring straight into her heart and filling it up so much that it began to leak out of her eyes as tears. Wiping them clear, Derpy continued her careful approach towards the top of the hill. As her eyes adjusted to the light from Luna's moon, the mare realized who it was that was sitting there, playing this beautiful music to an audience they didn't know they had.
Fluttershy's music gradually came to and end. Finishing the piece, one that would never be heard again since she never wrote the music she played down, she began to put her flute away. Standing up, she looked up at the moon, smiling, "Thank you for listening, Luna... If I weren't so shy..." she whispered to the celestial object that filled her vision.
"Fluttershy?" came a voice from behind her. She squeaked and spun around, simultaneously ducking behind the stump and peeking over the top.
"Who's there!?"
"Sorry, Shy, I didn't mean to scare you. It's me, Derpy."
"W-what are you doing up so late? You should be resting because of the foal, um, if that's alright..."
Blinking the last few tears out of her amber eyes, the listener approached the musician and smiled down, "That music was beautiful. I didn't know you could play an instrument."
"Oh, I can't. I'm absolutely terrible at it. That's why I practice at night when no one's around."
"Shy, you're not terrible! That song was amazing. Anypony would say that," Derpy said, offering a hoof to help Fluttershy stand up. She felt her throat clench a bit as the other mare touched her hoof with her own. The smile on her face only grew wider as she saw a shade of pink form under the yellow of her friend's coat.
"Um, Thank you, Derpy. It... It means a lot to hear you say that," Shy whispered. She let her hoof linger on Derpy's for a moment and then sighed, dropping it to the ground. Come on, Fluttershy, you can do this! Before she goes back to bed! The voice in her head hollered at her. It was right, was she really going to let this one get away like all the rest? She was the only one of her friends still single. Her shyness had prevented her from being confident enough to confess to other ponies she was attracted to. That after all these years she still felt for this scatterbrained, wall-eyed, silly pony said something about said pony, "Um, Derpy, would you like to hear another?"
Derpy sat down on her haunches and nodded, "I'd love to, Fluttershy."
Taking a deep breath and putting her flute back together, another song began to flow out of the shy mare's soul. As it poured out, she watched her friend's face gradually soften from that happy smile into a slight smile with watery eyes dripping tears. When the song finished, a nervous yellow pegasus bent down and placed a soft kiss on the lips of the grey pegasus that formed her audience. The moment they shared seemed to freeze in time. A long moment of perfect stillness as the last note of the song faded into the distance.
Thanks to everyone who's been reading/commenting/helping me proofread this entire time. I hope everyone's at least okay with the headcanon that not only can Fluttershy sing like an angel, she can play the flute like one too. Also, any edits suggested in comments will be taken under advisement. Private messages work well too. I'm also on the IRC channel.