A white unicorn galloped down a forested path, tears blurring her vision. Behind her, a purple and pink mane streamed away from her body, blown back by her speed. The filly wasn’t running towards anyplace, but rather from somewhere, and somepony. She saw the trees around her begin to blur as more tears gathered in her eyes. Finally, she began to slow, exhaustion taking its toll on the young pony. Her run trailed off into a desolate walk, and she was breathing hard from exertion and emotions. Her breath hitched in her throat as she thought about why she was running, and she started to cry in earnest, opening the floodgate on her tears.
The reason Sweetie Belle was crying was her best friend, Scootaloo. When the pegasus had suggested another one of her crazy schemes, Sweetie Belle, tired of getting covered in tree sap every time she tried to earn her cutie mark, had offered an alternative, helping to clean up Carousel Boutique, a place known for its lack of tree sap. Scootaloo in turn told her that her suggestion was lame, and that BASE jumping would make for a much better Cutie Mark than house cleaning. From there, the argument had escalated, despite Applebloom’s attempts, until the two fillies exited their clubhouse and stormed off in opposite directions, leaving their earth pony friend behind. Sweetie Belle had waited until the building was out of her sight before she broke into a gallop and let loose the tears that had built up.
The unicorn was, in part, angry with her friend. Angry at how she always wanted to do dangerous things, angry at how she had immediately shot down Sweetie Belle’s idea, angry at how she had continued the argument for so long. But mainly, Sweetie Belle was angry at herself. She was a practical filly, and she had known, when she went against Scootaloo’s idea, that an argument would ensue. She knew how the pegasus would react, how she always reacted. She’d known that it would be painful for Applebloom, that her friend would try to stop them, and yet she had still gone ahead. Couldn’t she get covered in tree sap once in a while, for friendship? She sat down, tears streaming down her face, and slammed her hoof against the ground, angrily, before burying her head in her front hooves and crying her anger out.
After a while, her tears slowed down to a trickle, and she sat quietly aside from the occasional sniffle, her emotions spent. She stared at the twin puddles beneath her that had formed from her tears, too emotionally tired to do anything else. As she watched, another tear fell from her eyes to the ground, making ripples in the puddle.
“Sweetie Belle? Are you okay?” The soft voice, coming from behind her, scarcely registered with the young pony. Hoofsteps sounded behind the filly as the owner of the voice trotted up next to her. A yellow pegasus with a pink mane came into the unicorn’s vision.
“Are you okay, Sweetie?” she asked again. The filly turned her head slightly to look at the mare beside her.
“Hi, Fluttershy. I’m fine,” she replied in a despondent voice. The unicorn had gone into a state of apathy after crying, and was feeling strangely detached to the world.
“Um… I hate to intrude, but it’s kind of cold out. Do you want to come back with me to my house? It’s just down the road.” The mare gestured with her mouth. Only a few hundred yards away Sweetie Belle could see Fluttershy’s cottage. She blinked, surprised that it was so close, and that she hadn’t even noticed it when running. On the other hand, she’d had other things on her mind. She turned towards Fluttershy with a wavering smile.
“Thanks. I was feeling kind of chilly.” The unicorn looked up at the mare, who gestured with her wing. Sweetie Belle stood up slowly, limbs somewhat numb, and started following Fluttershy back to her grass thatched house. Neither talked as they walked, settling into a companionable silence. Eventually, the two reached the house, and Fluttershy opened the door to let her companion in.
Sweetie Belle followed her inside, uncertain. Fluttershy led the filly over to the large chair that she’d placed in front of the stairs.
“Here, make yourself comfortable. I’ll make some tea… I mean, if you want some that is,” the mare finished shyly.
“I’d love some,” the unicorn said to her companion, regaining some of her usual enthusiasm. Fluttershy smiled, glad that the filly was becoming more like herself. The pegasus quickly busied herself with making the tea as Sweetie Belle slowly stopped shivering. When the tea was done, the mare brought it over to her young guest, pouring out two cups of the steaming liquid. Giving one of the cups to her unicorn companion, Fluttershy sat down on a second chair facing the first and set the tea pot on the table between them.
After a few minutes of quietly sipping tea, Sweetie Belle began to squirm, feeling kind of awkward about the lack of conversation now that she wasn’t feeling so bad. She’d been expecting the pegasus to ask why she’d been crying, but the mare seemed content to just sit and quietly sip tea. The tea itself had had wonderful effects on the filly, soothing her emotions and warming her up, but now the lack of talk was beginning to get to her.
“So, Fluttershy, what have you been doing recently?” the filly asked her host, in an attempt to break the silence that had fallen over the house. The mare looked up, blinking as she came out of her peaceful reverie.
“Um, not much, I guess. I’ve been caring for a little bird that broke his wing,” she responded, “But it healed and he was able to get back to his family today. I was actually thinking about cleaning my house this afternoon.” Sweetie Belle looked around the room. It wasn’t terrible, but it was clear that the cost of taking care of animals was a messy house. She turned back towards Fluttershy.
“Do you want any help?” she asked the mare, in part because she wanted to ease her host’s burden and in part because working would be a good way to distract her mind from painful thoughts.
“That would be great! I mean, if you don’t mind, that is…” the shy pegasus replied.
“I’d love to,” Sweetie Belle told her, setting down her empty tea cup. “Where should I start?”
“I was thinking we could begin with sweeping the floor,” the mare directed, “and maybe afterwards we could dust off these bookshelves and the table.” Following her companion’s lead, Fluttershy set her tea cup back on the table and opened a door beside her leading into the bathroom. From inside she grabbed a broom and a dustpan. Grabbing the broom in her mouth, she began to sweep up the dust on the ground, leaving the dustpan for Sweetie Belle.
The filly’s horn glowed blue for a second, magic encircling the dustpan and lifting it a few inches, before the magic flickered and the pan fell back to the ground. Grimacing, the filly reached down and picked up the cleaning instrument with her mouth.
For a while the two simply worked, the mare sweeping as the young unicorn held the pan in place, periodically dumping the dust into Fluttershy’s trash bin. When they finished sweeping most of the room, the ponies moved on to dusting, Fluttershy with her wings, Sweetie Belle with her tail. As they were working, the yellow pegasus mare began to hum a soft song, almost subconsciously.
Sweetie Belle looked up from sweeping her tail along a shelf and opened her mouth, joining in to create a perfect harmony between the two ponies. As they sang, a family of mice came out of a tiny whole in the wall to listen. The birds who had taken residence in Fluttershy’s birdhouse poked their heads out and looked at the two singers. Even Angel came downstairs from where he’d been napping to listen to the beautiful song.
As the two reached the end of the melody, a smattering of applause rang out from the assembled audience of animals, who then dispersed back to what they had been doing before the two ponies had started their song.
Sweetie Belle turned to Fluttershy. “That was incredible! Where did you learn to sing like that?”
The mare blushed, embarrassed by the compliment. “I’ve just, um, always been able to. But that was nothing compared to you,” the pegasus replied, trying to evade the question. Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted as a lightning bolt struck outside the window, creating a resounding crash that made both of the ponies jump with fear. Fluttershy rushed to the window, and, looking out, saw a looming thunderstorm creating a steady downpour.
“Oh dear,” the mare said. “I don’t think you should go home in this weather. You should probably just stay here for the night. I mean, if you want to, that is,” she said, not wanting to seem pushy.
“Thanks,” the filly replied, looking at the dark sky with an apprehensive expression. “I’m actually kind of afraid of storms, myself.”
Fluttershy smiled kindly. “Don’t worry; I get scared of them too. Why don’t we just finish up this room, and then I’ll make us a bit of dinner. How does carrot soup sound?” she asked her young companion.
“That sounds great! And, Fluttershy?” the filly asked, looking at the mare as she got ready to start dusting again.
“Yes?” the pegasus asked, getting ready to dust herself.
“Thanks.”