//------------------------------//
// Interruptions, New Tactics, Running 
// Story: A Forward Approach 
// by Ahiam94 
//------------------------------//

	Fluttershy silently followed Pinkie. She wondered where they were going, but Pinkie didn’t say a word. Pinkie's usual happy bounce was replaced with a calm walk.

After a long moment, Fluttershy cleared her throat. "Pinkie, do you mind telling me where we are going?"

Pinkie did not look back at Fluttershy. She didn't even slow down. She just replied. "Don't worry, we'll be there in a little bit." 

Fluttershy, silently, sighed. She knew that she would not get a straight forward answer. All she could do was follow Pinkie Pie and wait.


***


"And that, is how you do it!" Blossomforth finished.

Rainbow Dash looked at the pegasus in awe. Her mouth agape, a large blush spread across her face. "I-uh, I don't think I can do that, Blossomforth. I mean, I've been forward, yeah. But only with words. I've never actually done anything physical to Twilight."

Blossomforth kept her smug expression on her face. "Which is why you haven't won her heart yet." 

No matter how hard Rainbow tried, she could not defeat that logic. "I guess you're right. I'll go ahead and try your way. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Rainbow reasoned.

"Exactly!" Blossomforth replied. "Now get out there and win yourself a unicorn!" She said.

"Alright!" Rainbow cheered as she flew off at a great speed.

Blossomforth sat on her bench and saluted towards Rainbow Dash. "Good luck, you crazy kid," she said as a single tear ran down her cheek.

***

"Okay, Twilight. The way I see it, you have very few options," Rarity said. 

Twilight gazed at her, listening to her every word. 

Rarity, for her part, flipped her mane and continued to pace in front of Twilight. "One choice, the easiest choice, is you accept Rainbow Dash's love and you may live happily ever after." 

Twilight gave Rarity an uncertain look. 

Rarity let out an airy laugh. "I'm not done yet, darling. You're second choices is to tell Rainbow how it is, very bluntly. Tell her that you just don't have any attraction to her whatsoever, and that no matter how hard she tried, you two would never become more than friends."

Twilight lowered her eyes. "I know I could do that, but that would probably break Rainbow's heart." Twilight interrupted.

"Yes, that is the downside to that option," Rarity continued. "Now, your third, and final, option. Tell Rainbow that you can't love her, because you are already in love with somepony else." 

Twilight's mouth opened, but Rarity quickly held up a hoof, silencing Twilight. "This option also has the chance of breaking Rainbow's heart. But, with this method, it's possible that she'll understand and will want to continue at least being friends with you."

Twilight frowned. "Isn't there any way to not end up with Rainbow Dash AND not break her heart?" she asked.

"There aren't any that I can think of, I'm afraid," Rarity replied.

"Oh." Twilight lowered her head. A long silence filled the room.

Rarity shifted and bit her lip "Um, Twilight? Maybe if I were to talk to Rainbow Dash, I would have a better understanding of the situation. With that, I may be able to come up with a better solution for both you and Rainbow Dash." 

Twilight's head instantly perked up. "Really? Do you think that'll work?"

"I'm not saying it will work, I'm saying it can work," Rarity admitted.

"It's still something," Twilight said as her eyes shimmered. "Wait right here Rarity. I'll find a way to get Rainbow here." Before Rarity could say anything, Twilight teleported out of the boutique. Rarity let out a long sigh and took a seat.


***


Fluttershy continued to follow Pinkie Pie. She still had no idea where she was going, but she still followed Pinkie without question. Every so often Pinkie would look back at Fluttershy. Every time she did, Fluttershy would feel her heart skip. Pinkie finally stopped walking turned to face Fluttershy. "We're here!" she announced.

Fluttershy observed the area around them. They were on top of a hill that led to a cliff. Nopony was around. There were no buildings, and there was barely any sound; aside from the occasional blowing of the wind and some birds chirping. The only thing you could see around the ponies was grass and trees. "Where are we, exactly?" Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie turned around and gazed into the sky towards the setting sun. "This is the place I come to to relax. Whenever I feel a little sad, I come here and I feel better." Pinkie looked over the cliff. "And we're here just in time." Pinkie smiled.

"Just in time for what?" Fluttershy asked. Pinkie didn't answer. Instead she sat down in the grass at the edge of the cliff, and made a gesture for Fluttershy to sit next to her. Fluttershy, without a word, headed over to Pinkie and sat down. She know knew what Pinkie meant by being just in time. The sun was shining with a beautiful orange glow. At the bottom of the cliff was a massive flowerbed. It was the first time Fluttershy had seen anything so beautiful.

Fluttershy looked over at Pinkie Pie. Her eyes were shining, a calm sincere spread across her face. Fluttershy had never seen her look so amazing. Pinkie noticed Fluttershy staring at her. "What is it, Flutters?"

Fluttershy blushed. "I need to tell her how I feel. It's so perfect right now. There won't ever be a time like this again." Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Pinkie, I. I..." The other two words Fluttershy searched for stood at the tip of her tongue. "Come on, Fluttershy! You can do this!" She thought. Pinkie stared at Fluttershy, still smiling. "I... I'm sorry!" Fluttershy yelled as she quickly got up and flew away.

Pinkie got up and looked towards Fluttershy. "Wait! Fluttershy, come back!"

Fluttershy flew higher and higher. She needed to get away. Tears started to block her vision. "Why am I so pathetic? Why can't I just tell her? I'm so stupid."


***


"Wow, that was great." Spike commented. "Sure, they didn't have any jewels, but still..." Spike trailed off as he rubbed his stomach. Sweetie Belle walked behind him, brow furrowed. Spike stopped and looked back at Sweetie Belle. Soon she passed him and continued walking. "Uh, Sweetie Belle?" he called out.

"Huh?" Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. "Oh, sorry Spike. I didn't mean to ignore you. I'm just thinking about a lot of things." She said, trying to quickly end the conversation. "Let's go. It's getting dark and we should both get home, right?" She picked up her pace towards her house without giving Spike a chance to reply.

"Oh, okay," Spike said as he tried to catch up.

After a small walk Spike and Sweetie Belle arrived at Rarity's boutique. "Thanks for walking me home."

"No problem," Spike replied. "We should do this again. That was pretty fun!" 

"Yeah, we should," Sweetie Belle replied.

Spike looked at Sweetie Belle with narrowed eyes. "Hey, before I go. I need to ask you, why have you been acting so weird?"

Sweetie Belle started to sweat. "What? Weird? I haven't been acting weird. Heh, hehe."

"Yes you have. Ever since we saw Diamond Tiara you've been really quiet. Why?" 

Sweetie Belle tried to think of a way out. "Um. IgottagoBYE!" Sweetie Belle yelled as she disappeared into Rarity's boutique.

"Wait! Sweetie Belle!" Spike called out. "What with that pony?" Spike asked himself as he walked off towards the town library.


***


Rainbow Dash flew low, scanning the area for Twilight. She still wore the beaming grin that had been on her face when she left Blossomforth. "Alright Twilight, where are you?" She looked down and saw a purple blur. It had gone from a bush to a table. Rainbow stopped immediately. "Was that Twilight?" Rainbow narrowed her eyes as she focused all her attention on the table. Slowly, a head came out of under the table and looked around. "It is Twilight!" Rainbow, calmly lowered herself towards the ground and came to a silent landing behind Twilight.

Rainbow Dash took a few steps towards Twilight. "Alright, now I just need to do follow Blossomforth's instructions and Twilight will like me back." Rainbow tried to take single step forward, but felt something holding her back. Rainbow Dash started sweating, her face red. "Come on, Rainbow! You can do this." Rainbow thought. 

Twilight glanced behind her and caught Rainbow. Twilight's eyes widened, but she did not move a muscle. Rainbow grit her teeth and started running towards Twilight.  "She already saw me. Now’s my chance."

Twilight could not move. She was frozen in place. She knew she would not be able to move on time, so she closed her eyes and embraced for an impact. Rainbow jumped onto Twilight, knocking her down to the ground. Rainbow stood above Twilight. Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes and saw her situation. Her cheeks were consumed by a dark red. Rainbow stood still and looked closely at Twilight. She could not help but admire Twilight's beauty.

"Twilight," Rainbow whispered. "I... I really do love you." Rainbow slowly closed her eyes and lowered her head.

Twilight did not know what to do. Rainbow Dash was closing in on her. She felt paralyzed. Without thinking her horn began to glow. A bright light consumed the two ponies, and they disappeared in a flash


***


Rarity let out a long yawn. She was finally putting the final touches to several dresses, that had taken op most of her day. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to stick a thread through a needle. "So many interruptions. What's with everypony today?" She asked herself. Suddenly, her door flew open and slammed shut. Rarity jumped, making her thread miss the needle. She let out a long sigh. "What now?" Rarity turned to find Sweetie Belle leaning against the door. "Sweetie Belle. Why did you slam my door, that's not very lady like."

Sweetie Belle looked up at Rarity. "Oh, sorry. I just really needed to get back inside, quickly."

"Wait! Sweetie Belle!" Spike's voice could be heard behind the door.

Sweetie Belle gave Rarity an innocent grin. "Sweetie, what's going on?"

A deep blush gathered onto the filly's face. "I... I don't really know," She admitted.

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked as she arched an eyebrow.

Sweetie Belle told Rarity about her whole outing. She went into great detail on how she felt after Spike chased off Diamond Tiara, and how cool he looked when he did it. "And when he asked me what was wrong, I felt really embarrassed. So I ran in here as fast as I could. Why am I doing this stuff? Do you know, Rarity?"

Rarity smiled at Sweetie Belle. She could not believe that her little sister was already developing her first crush. "Well, Sweetie, it seems like you've found your first crush," She said.

"My first what?" Sweetie asked.

"It means that your starting to see little Spike as a little more than a friend." She explained.

"Like a BEST friend?"

Rarity sighed. "No, it means that you're starting to like Spike in a 'very special somepony' kind of way."

"Is that what this feeling is?" Rarity nodded. "Oh, I thought that having a... crush would be a good feeling. But it's not. It just makes me feel embarrassed for no reason." Rarity looked down at her sister with a bit of jealousy. "Well, I'm gonna go to my room. I'm tired." Sweetie Belle, then headed upstairs.

"Goodnight, Sweetie." Rarity called out. Rarity let out another sigh. "If only my love problems were that simple," Rarity thought, as she walked back to her sewing machine. "If only I were just going through a crush. Then maybe..." Rarity put a hoof to her chin. "Where is Applejack? She stormed out of here, and never came back," Rarity thought aloud. "Oh, well. Best I get back to finishing the rest of these dresses." Rarity walked to her sewing machine. She placed some fabric down and began sewing. After getting three stitches in, her home was filled with a sudden flash. "Ugh, I'll never get these dresses done!" she yelled.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight fell onto Rarity's floor. "Rarity, I'm back." Twilight announced.

Rarity walked up to the two new guests. "Yeah, I could tell." She replied. Rarity closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long night.


***


Pinkie walked into Sugar Cube Corner. She still did not understand why Fluttershy would fly off so suddenly. She had checked Fluttershy's cottage, but nopony had answered. She had no choice but to go home. "Hi, Pinkie," Mrs. Cake said from behind the counter. Her smile was quickly replaced with a worried look when she saw Pinkie's current state. "Oh, what's wrong, dearie?" She asked.

Pinkie walked towards the staircase. "It's nothing Mrs. Cake. I just feel a little strange." Pinkie lied. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine." 

"Oh, okay. Feel better soon, dearie."

Pinkie closed the door behind her. She walked over to her bed and let herself fall onto it. "Why did Fluttershy run away? I don't get it. Was it something I did? Was it something I said?" Pinkie let out a big breath. "I don't know. I thought that the sunset was a great way to cheer her up, but I just made things worse." An image of Fluttershy crying flashed in Pinkie's head. "I hate seeing my friends so sad. Especially when it's Fluttershy." Then came the tears. "How can I make her happy again?"