//------------------------------//
// 3 Wait, what... Fluttershy? 
// Story: Applejack's First Crush 
// by Cryogenii 
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The rasping voice nearly made Fluttershy jump out of her skin, when there was a sudden exclamation from behind her.

"Oh my god, oh my god, on my god! Fluttershy, where have you been!"

Fluttershy turned to see a pair of wide magenta eyes staring at her from beneath a wild mane of rainbow-coloured hair.  It was a pegasus she'd not seen since she was, well, a filly back in Cloudsdale.  Here was an athletic young mare though, gracefully flapping her wings to hover a few shoulder's height overhead, whereas back then those colours had been the defining features of a very rebellious tomcolt.  That seemed like such a long time ago, as her life had changed far more than she could ever have expected since she'd got her cutie mark.

"Goodness, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy's softer tones drifted back towards the excitable newcomer, "what are you doing in Ponyville?"

"What am I doing here?" Rainbow Dash spluttered, "what're you doing here? You just disappeared from Cloudsdale when we were fillies!"

"I live here," replied Fluttershy, simply, "have done since I was knocked off a cloud when we were foals."

Rainbow Dash looked at the small, crooked cottage where she had landed.  It stood alone, several miles from Ponyville town on the edge of the Everfree Forest and seemed to be in a state of disrepair.  There were animals of all kinds around the place, but no sign of other ponies anywhere.  Was Fluttershy serious? How could a foal have possibly lived alone all that time ago?  Had she grown up here, whilst Rainbow Dash went to school and then weather college? It was incredible.

"Woah, woah, woah… You've been here since you went missing from school?"

"Well yes," Fluttershy let her mane cover her face as she shuffled nervously under the other pony's gaze.

"But why didn't you come back to Cloudsdale?" asked the cyan pegasus, "no-pony knew what happened to you."

"I think you'd better come in," said Fluttershy softly, "it must've been a bit of a shock for everypony when I was lost."

She led the way into the little cottage, and gestured for Rainbow to follow her.  After carefully folding her wings she followed the yellow pegasus inside.  The cottage seemed comfortable, but was filled with critters and worn out furniture.  The downstairs was split between a living area and a kitchen, with stairs leading up through the centre of the building. Fluttershy noted her companion's gaze and continued.

"These cute animals are the reason I'm here," she explained happily, "I found my special talent in caring for them."

"That's cool and all," frowned Rainbow Dash, "but it doesn't really explain why you just… vanished."

"Well, I found that I just love all kinds of critters," smiled Fluttershy, "and you just don't get them up in Cloudsdale. It's too high for most birds, even."

"But you didn't have to stay down here," protested the other pony, "you could've come home. It was just weird the way you were gone with nopony knowing what happened!"

"Oh, I wasn't strong enough to make the flight back up," explained the yellow pegasus, "so I had to find a way to live down here."

The enormity of this thought hit Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was a little younger than her, but when she'd gone missing she'd been unusually tall for her age.  Or perhaps gangly would have been a better description, as her legs had grown before the rest of her had filled out.  She still had the same extremely long mane and tail, the former of which she used as a barrier to hide behind from the world.  She hadn't had a cutie mark the last time they'd seen each other, though.  It seemed unbelievable that this incredibly shy and timid pony had been living alone since she was a filly. 

"How have you lived down here anyway?" asked Rainbow Dash, "I mean, food, bits and everything."

"Well no pony starves down here," replied Fluttershy, "it may not be fancy but we can always eat grass. That's not something you can say about cloud cities.

"That's what I did to start with, but then my friends," she gestured at the critters, "showed me how to forage for better food."

Rainbow's eyes and mouth seemed to be competing to see which could be wider open. She was amazed that any pegasus, let alone Fluttershy, could survive like that. The flying ponies had a very energetic metabolism, otherwise they wouldn't have the power to get airborne. Finding sufficient energy by gathering wild food wouldn't be easy for a grown pony, but at the time Fluttershy was just a filly.

"Wait, wait, wait… these critters showed you how?" Stammered Rainbow Dash incredulously, "they're just animals, 'shy!"

"To you maybe, but my special talent is talking with them," explained Fluttershy, with a little tone of admonishment in her voice, "to me they truly are friends who took care of me when I was in need."

"So how did you get this cottage?" Rainbow asked, looking around the ramshackle home.

"Oh yes. My friends helped me again, they led me to this abandoned cottage. I mean, I'm still fixing it up, but I like it here," the yellow pegasus explained.

"So you just, like, moved in? What about who owned it?"

"I don't think they're coming back," said Fluttershy quietly, "there's not much to know about who lived here.  A few household items and some books on sewing, but apart from that nothing."

Rainbow considered this, "way out here I guess there aren't many ponies who are going to care."

"Yes, I'm left alone mostly," agreed Fluttershy, "unless someone needs my help."

"Wadda ya mean?" Asked the other pegasus.

"I help look after critters," said Fluttershy, "you know: grooming, healthcare, accomodation… that sort of thing.  I make enough bits to get by, it's starting to get quite comfortable actually."

Rainbow Dash was amazed again by the resilience of her old classmate. As fearless and resourceful as the cyan pegasus was, she didn't think there was any way that she could've made a life for herself so far from her friends.

"But what about your family?" Asked Rainbow Dash, frowning.

Fluttershy smiled, "that's all ok now. I feel bad that my parents thought they'd lost me for so long, but I got a message to them eventually."

"Oh. I didn't know that," said Rainbow, "how?"

"Ditzy Doo lives in Ponyville," replied Fluttershy, "she works as a furniture mover. Anyway, she took a message to Cloudsdale for me."

"Woah, woah, woah… do you mean 'Derpy', the one with the, you know," exclaimed an astonished Rainbow Dash, gesturing at her face.

"Yes," replied Fluttershy with a sad look, "that one. She's really kind, I think she makes muffins for me sometimes. I find a basket of them on the doorstep from time to time."

"Wow, I haven't seen her around since she stopped competing in the junior flyers league," Dash seemed lost in her memories for a second, "so have you seen your folks?"

"Oh yes, they come and visit me when they can," Fluttershy replied, "when they're not taking care of Zephyr."

An awkward silence fell on the two pegasi.  Rainbow Dash couldn't imagine what it must've been like for Fluttershy's family, because she must've been gone long enough for her to have aged sufficiently for her parents not to be able to simply take her home.  It would have been years for Fluttershy to go from foal to filly.

Eventually the cyan pony spoke again, "so, any other classmates living here that I don't know about?"

"Not that I know of," replied Fluttershy, "but I've made some other friends like Ophelia, Gummy and Winona."

"Pegasi, or other ponies?" Enquired Rainbow Dash, thinking they were some very odd names.

Fluttershy giggled, "oh no. Ophelia is a cat, Gummy is an alligator and Winona is a dog."

Rainbow Dash looked surprised at this, "are all the owners from Ponyville?"

"Rarity and Pinkie Pie are. Applejack is a farmer."

The word "farmer" immediately grabbed Rainbow's attention.  There had to be plenty of farmers around here, but could that be the strong brown mare with the blond mane and tail that she'd been admiring since starting work over Ponyville?  The orchard was also near the Everfree Forest, south of the town and relatively nearby to Fluttershy's cottage.  Thinking about it though, "Applejack" didn't seem like the sort of name a mare would have.  She suddenly realised that the yellow pegasus had asked a question that she'd completely missed whilst deep in these thoughts.

"Huh," asked Rainbow, "what was that?"

"Why are you in Ponyville," repeated Fluttershy, "do you have other friends here?"

"I got the weather pony job when the old one retired," explained Rainbow Dash, "so I've been flying back and forth from Cloudsdale to make sure the weather behaves."

"My goodness, that's a very serious job to have got straight away. Your parents must be very proud."

Rainbow looked uncomfortable and a little annoyed, was Fluttershy making fun of her? "Well, I don't see them much these days", she said, scowling.

"Oh no, have I upset you?"

"It's fine. Just my parents are so uncool and precious about everything," confessed Rainbow, "so I try not to tell them much about what's happening."

"But you're not living in Ponyville? That must be hard," said Fluttershy.

"A little yeah, but it's ok most days," agreed Rainbow, "it only really gets tough if some of those wild clouds from the Everfree try to stray over the town. They always take a lot of energy to deal with."

"You are very brave. I wouldn't fly around with those clouds."

"Yeah.  I leave them alone if I can, but the orchard south of town is on the edge of the forest and needs to be watched pretty closely." Rainbow nearly blushed as thoughts of the pony that worked the orchards came to mind again.  She'd spent a little too much time hidden in the clouds, spying on the young mare.

"That's Sweet Apple Acres," said Fluttershy, "it's really pretty."

"Sweet Apple Acres," asked Rainbow, "does Applejack work there?"

"Mm hm, I think she runs it with her brother, Big Mac," replied Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash's mind was racing; Fluttershy had said "she".  Was this the earth pony she'd been crushing on?  Just thinking about her made Rainbow Dash tingle with desire. Those fillyish freckles on that mare's muzzle and the pretty bows in her mane and tail that occupied her thoughts as she drifted off to sleep each night.  She wanted to ask so much more, but didn't want to make her interest obvious.  She decided to play it cool, but resolved to find a way of finding out for sure before much more time had passed.

"Hey, it's been awesome running into you," Rainbow told the other pegasus, "but I've kinda got to go do my job."

"Oh, that's ok. You can stop by anytime to catch up, I don't go far," said Fluttershy.

The cyan pegasus was already squeezing through the door of the cottage.  Once outside in the open she shook her wings out.  With a wave to Fluttershy, who was now standing in the entrance, she shot up into the sky and headed towards the town.  Fluttershy watched until her long lost friend disappeared over the tree line.  She secretly made a wish that it wouldn't be long before seeing her again as, although she loved her critters, it had been many long and lonely years since she'd had a proper friend to talk with.