Their first stop was Sweet Apple Acres. No leaves rustled, no wind blew, and no ponies were locked up in their rooms crying the day away. The great apple trees were healthy and green. They bore no fruit yet, just leaves. The steady scritch scritch of a rake scratching the ground was the only sound in the wide stretch of land. Even the birds were quiet. Actually, they were absent. Odd.
“Hello, Applejack!” Twilight strode up to the fence lining the property and waved.
“Hey, Twilight.” The orange earth pony waved back. Applejack stopped to wipe her brow and leaned her rake up against a dead tree. Dried, brown leaves were gathered up in a neat pile. “Old Barkus here caught a blight last month and we had to intervene to keep the infection from spreading.” She tapped on a barren, brown tree, noting a three-inch thick ring of peeled bark around the whole trunk, a surefire way of killing almost any tree. “A shame, really, but when the blight calls the tree falls as they say.”
“Yeah, that is a shame,” Twilight said.
“I'll really miss her. Poor, ol' Barkus.” Applejack shook her head. “Had the sweetest little plum apples too. One of the best.”
“What kind of blight was it? Balewood? Ghost mites?”
“Leper leaves.”
Twilight winced. “Ooh. Nasty.”
Applejack nodded. “Eeyep.”
Spike frowned and grabbed Twilight's mane. “Twilight, aren't you going to ask her about Fluttershy?”
Raising an eyebrow, Applejack frowned and turned back to her work. She kicked the rake, causing it to flip in the air before snatching it and scraping the ground, as if she were burying the dead. “It's a shame about Fluttershy, too. She was a real good friend of ours.”
“Yes, she was.” Twilight nodded. “It's a shame what happened to her.”
“Was? But she hasn't gone anywhere. She's still here, isn't she?” Spike asked.
Twilight snapped her head, glaring back at her scaly passenger. She scrunched up her face in a deep scowl and hissed, “Quiet, Spike. Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be.”
“But—”
“Yer darn tootin' it's a shame,” Applejack said, scraping the ground. “Remember when we dragged her up that mountain to confront a dragon? She was shaking like a mouse the whole time, but in the end, she had the most courage of anypony. She was one of the best of us.”
Spike groaned and slumped on Twilight's back.
“I remember that. And the time she stole Celestia's pet bird? He was never sick at all. He was a phoenix!”
“Heh, yeah. That was what? Three weeks ago? Things sure can change fast.” Applejack accidentally spread out some dead leaves and frowned as she redoubled her effort to gather them back up, scritch-scritching the ground. “A real shame about the Gala coming up, but when the blight calls, the tree falls.”
“Eeyep,” Twilight said. She sighed and drooped her head low. “I'll really miss her.”
Closing her eyes, Applejack listened to the still air. “Me too, Twilight. Me too.”
A door chime tittered when Twilight stepped into the Ponyville boutique. Rarity's shop was just as full of beautiful, silky dresses as it always was. The air was light and pretty, thanks to sparkling window displays and fancy herbal perfume. The place was like a vacation for the eyeballs, truly a dazzling sight.
Twilight took a deep breath before calling out for her friend. “Rarity, are you there?”
A pile of cloth shuffled and a white unicorn with a stylish, curled purple mane poked her head up. “Oh! Twilight. Sorry, I was so caught up that I didn't see you come in.” She was well groomed as usual. Her mane was silky and shone in the light, but she had on too much eyeliner, making her eyes look dark and somewhat baggy.
“Hello, Rarity. You're looking wonderful,” Spike said dreamily.
Frowning, Twilight flexed her back to give her passenger a light bump. When it didn't help with his gaga eyes, she sighed and turned to her friend. “Are you doing okay? It was pretty shocking to find out that Fluttershy's a... a fuzzy.”
“Shocking? Hardly. It was terrible, awful, abysmal even! One of the worst things that could happen in the entire history of worst things that could ever possibly happen! The poor dear must be completely devastated!”
“Her?” Twilight blinked. “Uh, I guess, but I was asking about you.”
“Me? Well, I'm completely devastated too, of course. But right now I need an opinion. What goes better with this trench coat, the brown hat or black one?” Levitating a few items, Rarity held up a long black coat that was more a cape with legs than a true trench coat. The brown hat had a dimpled top and curved brim while the black one was short, flat and had a wide, long brim that was rimmed with short tassels.
“Try the black one,” Spike said.
“Hmm, an elegant choice. But it still needs something to complete the ensemble...” She tapped her chin, then tore a thick, black scarf with frazzled, frayed edges out of a box. “Perfect!” With a mad grin, she stuffed all three items into her saddlebags and placed them on her back. “Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off. I have a weekly engagement that I must attend to.”
Hesitating in the door, Twilight did not step aside. “Weekly? But... Today's Monday. Don't you normally have tea with Fluttershy on Mondays? You aren't thinking of... going to see her, are you?”
Twilight frowned. The thought of Rarity visiting Fluttershy shouldn't bother her, should it? Yet... it filled her stomach with a dreadful, knotted tension. Fuzzies were things to be avoided, and friends didn't let friends see fuzzies. Nopony did. And if that fuzzy happened to be a friend? No. Fuzzies were friends to nopony. They couldn't be. It was just how things were. That didn't sit well with her either. She knew she couldn't be friends with Fluttershy, but to have no friends at all...? Her frown deepened.
Rarity stood perfectly still. Her wide blue eyes stared unblinking, and her mouth was thin and closed. After the lengthy, uncomfortable silence wore on, she spoke as if no time had passed at all. “Oh no no no, dear. I am a respectable business pony. I cannot be seen traipsing about with her kind. If ponies thought I was a sympathizer, I'd be ruined, ruined!”
Twilight blinked and stepped aside. “Oh. Okay, then. I guess I'll see you later?”
Walking out, Rarity said nothing more.
“Bye!” Spike waved as she walked past.
Twilight sighed and flipped the sign on the door to 'Closed' before walking out herself. She shook her head and marched off into the busy streets. She supposed she should feel relieved, but... the apprehensive knot in her gut was still there.
She felt horribly conflicted. This all happened so fast. One minute Fluttershy was a friend, and the next she was a fuzzy. It was still hard for her to fathom that even though she'd seen it herself. Perhaps there was merit in talking to the others, to keep herself grounded on the right path. Rainbow Dash should help with that, as she idolized those fuzz-busting Wonderbolts.
Heh. And Pinkie Pie turned the whole town against Fluttershy, a real fuzz-buster in action! Though a nagging voice told her that was unlike the Pinkie she knew, redoubling her unease.
She'd talk to Rainbow first.