//------------------------------// // Fear // Story: Of Delicate Things... And Hard Work... // by ladydestinae //------------------------------// Spa day. Now that she stood there, gazing at the sign to the local spa where she and Rarity met up and discussed the weeks’ events, she felt mildly amused at the unintended redundancy of the place. She had just the evening prior been with Applejack, and for all her rough edges she was a very gentle pony in bed. She couldn’t imagine that this spa offered any treatment more relaxing than her beloved farmpony. She lost herself in thought, a delicate pink overtaking her facial features as she recalled the precision with which Applejack had touched her body, her wings, and her lips. The entire experience played in her head. “Hello Darling!” cried a confident voice, full of the vigor that only the anticipation of a spa day could bring it. She jumped, her wings flaring in reflex to her sudden start as she spun to meet Rarity’s sapphire gaze. After a moment, she felt her cheeks burning and recoiled from Rarity, immediately retreating to the protection of her mane as she forced her wings down to her sides. She could utter no noise above a timid squeak like that of a sick mouse whilst Rarity continued her greeting. “Isn’t it simply lovely today? Oh, I must tell you what happened to me on my way here!” she beamed, not seeming to notice Fluttershy’s embarrassment at all. Sensing that very thing, Fluttershy felt herself relax after a brief exhale and focus more fully on her best friend. The time seemed to move far too quickly for Fluttershy’s liking as she listened to Rarity ramble on about some pony having paid quite a lovely compliment on a scarf she had made and worn earlier in the day, going over the weather, detailing juicy gossip about their friends and about one or two clients she carefully left unidentified while adding enough clue for a more attentive pony to appreciate. As they settled into the sauna, Rarity felt a need to address her friend more personally. Even for Fluttershy, she had been exceedingly quiet for the duration of their visit and while she was accustomed to the good natured attention that her friend paid her, she was not at all convinced that it was coming naturally today. “Darling? Are you okay? You seem awfully quiet, even for… well you,” she said in a sunny, yet concerned, voice. Fluttershy was still very much lost in thought as Rarity asked, but even against the obscuring nature of her train of thought she could hear what was said. She snapped her head towards Rarity, trying to recover from what must have looked like an absolutely terrible startling. She took a deep breath, and braced herself. It was now or never. “Oh! Um…,” she swallowed, feeling her throat thickening against her will, “I… Well, I have something to tell you.” “Yes dear, go on, I’m listening…,” Rarity said sweetly, the unmistakable sincerity bathed over Fluttershy and gave her previously unfelt confidence. “Well, Okay,” she began, “This isn’t easy…” “Hm?” replied Rarity with increasing interest. She closed her eyes, using all of her strength to maintain the already timid volume of her voice as she spoke her next lines. “I’ve known for a long time that I don’t like stallions. At first I was confused about it, wondering if I was just not maturing as quickly as the other fillies, but, even after I came to Ponyville… well… I still didn’t think anything of stallions, but there was this one mare that I could never stop thinking about,” she took a breath, feeling the need for oxygen make itself apparent as she struggled to fit as many words as she could in a single breath, “what I mean is, I’m gay.” Rarity sat in silence, soaking in the warm water as she pulled herself back into focus. Fluttershy quivered in nervous anticipation of her friend’s response, but as each minute passed with no sign of a response she became more worried. “Oh my, I’ve just remembered a rather difficult order I am expected to complete before tomorrow morning. I am so sorry, but I really must take my leave!” she said in an unexpectedly high pitched voice as she moved hurriedly towards the exit. Fluttershy simply watched her leave, unsure of how to gauge her reaction from that point. It was clearly not favorable, and as much as it sounded like an excuse it could just as easily be the truth that she was spouting. Rarity was known for getting a bit too emotionally invested in her projects, causing herself undue stress at the threat of a looming deadline and an oversized order to fill. She felt herself calm at these thoughts, reassuring herself that it had not gone disastrously as she relaxed in the sauna and lost herself in thoughts of Applejack. • • • The bells chimed as Applejack let herself into the library in the afternoon, she had decided to take a bit of time off from the farm after lunch. Big Macintosh certainly didn’t seem terribly worried about it, but then he always felt she worked much too hard. Not to mention that Fluttershy had been helping out there recently and the work went faster as a result. “Twah?” she called out. “I’m up here,” replied a focused sounding Twilight Sparkle, but that changed as soon as she heard a book settle onto a desk with a very quiet but still significant thump, “Can I help you with something, Applejack?” “Oh, um…,” and now was the moment she hadn’t prepared herself the least bit for, “Well, I’m lookin’ fer a book” “What book?” asked Twilight. “Well, I dunno yet,” she admitted “Okay, well, what kind of a book then?” asked Twilight, her patience not challenged the least bit. “Well, somethin’ mushy,” she said “…Mushy?” replied Twilight, not entirely sure whether or not she was referring to the aesthetics of the novel, the overall texture of the pages, or the contents of the tome in question. “Uh… sappy?” she offered, recalling Rainbow Dash’s particular vocabulary for the subject. “Oooh!” exclaimed Twilight with a sound of eager dawning eclipsing whatever confusion had been there earlier. “Um… yeah?” “Oh, I think I know… wait… why?” asked Twilight in a sudden surge of curiosity that caused her to pause in her search. “Um…,” Applejack began with a hint of discomfort in her voice, but as she was wont to do, the truth became her decision, “I wanna surprise mah marefriend with a day of romantic stuff.” Twilight took a moment to absorb the words, not initially reacting but at no time looking the least but superficial on the matter. Still, confusion did linger on a particular word in her friend’s sentence. “Marefriend?” she inquired carefully, not wanting to upset Applejack. “Uh huh,” replied Applejack “Do I know her?” inquired Twilight, her sudden thirst for knowledge overpowering her better judgment. “Um… yes.” “Oooh!” she giggled almost too loudly, causing her to blush and hide her face under her hooves. She wasn’t accustomed to such a giddy demeanor within herself, and felt that it better suited Pinkie Pie or perhaps even Rarity, so it remained a constant surprise that she was so excited about this news. “Are you going to tell me who?” she pushed, hoping her luck, and Applejack, wouldn’t run out. “Why?” asked Applejack, feeling as though she were suddenly the subject of intense study under the lens of a carefully adjusted microscope. Thinking quickly, even for Twilight, she came back with, “Well, if I know which pony you want to surprise with a day of romance, perhaps I can select the romantic novel that best represents her interests.” Perfect. She won’t be able to argue with that! Applejack blinked, searching frantically in her mind for any flaw in that logic. Oh well. She hadn’t lied to this point, why bother now? Besides, Twilight didn’t seem to be judging her at all. In fact, she seemed oddly excited at the entire idea of it. She closed her eyes before she spoke, “Fluttershy.” In an instant, Twilight’s voice went from the unusually excited ramblings of a filly to the serious and meaningful tone of a close friend, “Fluttershy? Really?” “Uh…yeah?” she replied, suddenly feeling uncomfortable on a whole new level from before. If it weren’t enough to feel as though she were under a microscope, now she felt as though Twilight were holding her and Fluttershy up side by side and carefully gauging each and every compatible trait against the incompatible ones. “That’s so nice! I’m so happy for you!” she chimed, bursting from her serious bubble and into her giddiness once again. Only now it was the type of giddiness a friend reserved for her friend’s best news, in order to share in the excitement of it. Applejack sighed with a great deal of relief, and trotted further into the library. She had to grin at the sight of Twilight Sparkle bouncing around the library like she were Pinkie Pie in a room full of cupcakes, it certainly fit the otherwise serious librarian pony. “Oh let me think now… Fluttershy has taken out quite a few of these novels herself, so I want to find one she hasn’t actually seen but that she would really like… Hmmm…,” she was managing to bounce around excitedly while sounding seriously contemplative; the experience was very amusing for Applejack. “Oh! I have it!” she chimed as she bounded to the far end of the book case she had been investigating in her impromptu bouncy frolic. Applejack followed her every movement, finding it hard to feel entirely comfortable around a pony that acted the way that Pinkie Pie did. She had already reasoned to herself that while Twilight Sparkle was acting like Pinkie Pie, the idea of her doing the things that Pinkie Pie did was unthinkable. Until she remembered that Twilight Sparkle happened to be proficient in magic. “Yes! It’s here!” she exclaimed as she rushed down to Applejack’s side to deliver the novel. It couldn’t be counted among the older tomes in the library, but it certainly did not appear to be a brand new addition either. It looked to be a few months old, and the binding was well worn. Of course, a book owned by Twilight was bound to have suffered that particular stress. “A Sunrise to Remember…?” she read the title aloud, curious as to the contents and feeling just a bit skeptical. “Yeah! It’s great! I think it’ll have the perfect romantic idea in there for you to treat Fluttershy to!” she chimed; she sounded as excited as one would be if they were to be on the receiving end of the date she seemed to have in mind. “Thank ya kindly,” said Applejack, tipping her hat before taking the book and dropping it into her saddlebag. She was thankful, but still a little put off by the excitement her friend had showed. Although that didn’t mean she didn’t share in the happiness of the news herself. • • • The market was active as ever on the main street of Ponyville. Ponies to her left and right called out their slogans and drew attention to their products of the day as they avoided announcing prices. The entire practice was intimidating, listening to those shouts she had to constantly remind herself that they weren’t directed at her just to avoid feeling self conscious about not replying to everypony. She wasn’t the most fond of the thick social atmosphere of the main street, but it was something she had come to tolerate in order to see her friends. She also learned to live with it in order to take care of her animal friends, for if she didn’t manage her way in the market, she might never be able to get the food that they needed to survive. Truthfully, she has reasoned quite a few things that were more important than her constant anxiety in crowds. Using that, she had almost overcome her fear of them altogether, except for the constant nagging feeling that she might accidentally be ignoring somepony and that brought her undue guilt. Today, her reasoning for braving the hustle and bustle of Main Street was simple: she had a Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover scheduled at her home, and tonight she wouldn’t be alone in taking care of them. Applejack had agreed to be there with her, and she looked forward to that more than anything else. So, it was her mission to arrive at Carousel Boutique and pick up those fillies for the evening. She had become one of their favorite hostesses since the cockatrice incident, so was often requested. Fluttershy was fine with this; she still enjoyed the company of smaller creatures. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were exactly that, and now that they were tame around her, it was that much more comfortable for her. Not too far ahead of her she could see the exceptionally stylized exterior of the Carousel Boutique. It really did reflect the personality of the owner, and that was something Fluttershy found a little unnerving. She wasn’t as comfortable with being noticed as Rarity was, and certainly wasn’t as comfortable displaying so much of her personality all at once for the world to see. In a way, she found herself envying Rarity’s bold personality. Still, if she had so much of that in herself, she might not be able to communicate with her animal friends on the level she did. So while there was certainly calculable envy there, she was equally grateful of her own timid nature. She lifted a hoof, and gently knocked on the door to Carousel Boutique. It took a few minutes, but eventually there was an answer. The door swung open slowly, freezing halfway as soon as Rarity saw that Fluttershy was there. “Oh!” she exclaimed in a volume not at all intentional before clearing her throat, “Oh, Fluttershy, it’s you. Is there something I can do to I help you?” Fluttershy blinked. Surely Rarity hadn’t forgotten about the sleep over? She took a breath before speaking, as was customary to suppress the often welling anxiety she felt at the beginning, middle, or end of any conversation. “I’m here for Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.” “Oh! Yes! Um… Oh, I’ll be right back,” she said as she slammed the door. Fluttershy could hear the faintest hoofsteps from within. She waited at the door patiently, unsure of Rarity’s attitude but unwilling to question it. After a few minutes, and the unified chiming of the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they announced their next great adventure, she heard hoofsteps closing the gap between the interior of the shop and the door to it. Casually, the door opened a fraction of the way and Rarity delicately poked her head out. “Oh, I am so sorry dear, but I thought perhaps the girls would have more fun tonight trying to get their cutie marks in modeling. So I thought they could help me work on some of my designs while acting as models for the new cute-ceañera line of dresses I have in mind.” “Um… A-are you sure?” replied Fluttershy, taken aback at this behavior. Fluttershy could no longer reason anything but the worst behind Rarity’s behavior, and it was killing her to see and hear. “Oh yes, I’m quite sure, they’ll be fine here. Don’t worry, you’ll get to see them another time!” and with that the door slammed shut. Fluttershy stood rooted to the spot, staring at the door for what felt like an eternity before she could will herself to move. In fact, however much time had passed was enough for Luna to have brought the moon into the sky. She closed her eyes and shook her head to loosen the current thoughts on her mind, in hopes they might simply tumble out of her ears and onto the road below. She turned from Carousel Boutique in low spirits, hanging her head as she trotted away. At least, she thought, the roads were going to be quiet for her return trip home. • • • The cottage built on the very edge of town, near the Everfree Forest and populated by all kinds of woodland creatures, was really a pretty good home for Fluttershy. Applejack couldn’t help thinking about this as she moved about the tiny cottage and cleaned up a few stray messages from the animals becoming too fidgety with food. She had nowhere near the experience that Fluttershy did with these creatures, but she had agreed to take care of them when Fluttershy wasn’t around. Today had been that kind of a day, where her own work was slowing down and she found more free time than she generally knew what to do with. Now she had something special to fill that time up with, helping her marefriend out. Fluttershy was quite ready to help out around the farm, although she had her own way of bucking apples out of the trees. She was nowhere near as strong as Applejack, and that was evident in her inability to actually kick the trees with enough force to even rattle a leaf. Instead, she recalled how she had helped out during the time when the Flim Flam Brothers had been in town. She found it was very possible for her to get the apples from the trees if she flew into them and disturbed the branches manually. It was easier to do and just as efficient as properly bucking them, and while she was in the trees she could give whatever birdies happened to be there fair warning. She mostly enjoyed it because it brought her closer to Applejack, and that was worth a lot to her. Applejack was grateful for the help, and it gave her a lot of free time. She decided to repay Fluttershy’s kindness with a romantic gesture, rather than her typical practical approach to things. She wasn’t accustomed to it though, but it was something she was more than willing to try for Fluttershy. So, she slipped the novel out of her saddlebags that were hanging on the wall and cantered over to the sofa, and settled herself down to read. If she was going to get an idea in mind, she was going to have to read this novel. She was startled at the opening of the front door, and quickly hid her newly acquired novel behind her back as she looked to see Fluttershy entering the cottage. She wasn’t accompanied by the three fillies, and she seemed to be sad. In fact, she looked heartbroken, and that was unacceptable. Fluttershy deserved to be happy, and Applejack wanted only that for her. “What’s wrong Sugarcube?” she asked as she trotted over to her butter yellow dream. Fluttershy gazed into Applejack’s eyes, and the orange mare could see the shimmering of continually building tears in those aquamarine depths that she could so easily get lost in. Now was not the time for that. She drew Fluttershy into a warm and loving embrace and Fluttershy’s voice found itself after some time spent in Applejack’s hug. “I think,” she began, sniffling while she caught her breath, “I think Rarity hates me…” “What? What gives ya that idea Sugercube?” “I told her, during our spa day, that I’m gay,” she said quietly, sounding almost defeated as she spoke, “and she started acting very strange.” “Strange?” “She made an excuse to leave the spa early,” she said somberly, “and then when I went to pick up the girls she made another excuse, or at least it felt like one.” She sniffled again, another wracking sob suddenly shook her body, but Applejack kept her close. It wasn’t really a mystery to Applejack what was going on, and it made her angry to think about it. She was going to settle this, she wouldn’t let Fluttershy lose her friend and she sure wouldn’t stand for anypony hurting her marefriend. • • • It was not long past midnight when Fluttershy finally fell asleep. Applejack just watched her for a short while, bathed in the pale blue of the moonlight as she was brought out a sort of inexplicable beauty that threatened to outshine every star in the night sky. She was caught breathless at the sight of it, but gathered herself back into focus. She had somepony she needed to talk to, and that pony was not likely to be sleeping with three energetic fillies – that included her own little sister – sleeping over her home. She knew the kind of energy that those fillies had, and only Pinkie Pie could ever keep up with them. She was also the only pony, other than Fluttershy, to have the patience to deal with them. She sighed and looked at Fluttershy, and kissed her forehead before she carefully removed her forelegs from around Fluttershy and lowered herself to the floor. • • • The night air was cool and crisp, and that made it very inviting. The walk from Fluttershy’s cottage was not unpleasant, but the idea of confronting Rarity still did make her slightly uncomfortable. She had really had to work hard to get along with Rarity in the past; the slumber party at Twilight’s being the first example to come to mind. The streets were empty, the only real company being the street lights that lined either side of Main Street in a comfortable, if limited, glow. It brought a soft golden hue to an otherwise silver scene, and made the whole place feel more inviting. It was never especially frightening at night, being a small town whose economy was based mostly in the farm and garden trades. The only real excitement the town knew was in Pinkie Pie’s rather generous helping of parties. Well, and the occasional end of the world event that she and her friends had to stop. Applejack took no time to really appreciate the sheer emptiness of the normally busy streets, electing instead to focus on her goal for the night. It was important that tonight’s conversation went well, and she had been trying to come up with the right way to begin it. The right answers for any possible questions that Rarity had and the right reactions to any stupid things that might pass through her lips. She needed this to end in such a way that Rarity and Fluttershy could be friends again, so she needed to plan this. The problem with planning a conversation is that the other pony could still surprise you, so you needed to try to prepare for that possibility. There it was: the door to the Carousel Boutique. She could hear the chaos that came from the attempts of the Cutie Mark Crusaders to get their cutie marks and she knew that it was impossible for Rarity to be asleep during that. She took that as a good sign, and even thought that if Rarity was stressed enough it might make the conversation a bit easier for her part. In that Rarity would have difficulty maintaining her composure, and therefore be easier to read. She raised her hoof, and had to resist the urge to slam it against the door full force. Instead, she knocked rapidly on the door, and then turned to face away from it. It was a few minutes, several shouting matches, a collective “Awww” from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and two separate world shattering crashes before Rarity came to the door. She sounded completely stressed out as she spoke. “Oh, Applejack, is everything alright?” she said amongst short intakes of air. “Nope,” she replied, still facing away from Rarity, “we need to talk.” “Oh, well. Alright then,” was the uncertain reply, “Do come in then.” “No, come out here,” she said, thinking it best not to let Apple Bloom or the other fillies see or hear this particular conversation. “What’s wrong?” asked Rarity as she stepped outside of the Boutique, and closed the door against her better judgment. She still worried about what the girls were up to within. “What’s goin’ on with you’n Fluttershy?” she asked. “What ever do you mean, dear?” “We was talkin’ tonight. She was awful upset with you, well more hurt than upset really. She says you’ve been makin’ excuses to get away from her, and you didn’t let her take the fillies for their sleep over at her cottage tonight.” “Oh, well, u-um…,” she stammered, shifting her weight in preparation to run inside. “She said she told you somethin’ personal about herself.” Rarity closed her eyes, trying to push back tears as she spoke. “Yes… yes she did. She told me she was a fillyfooler.” Applejack took a deep breath before replying. “Okay. So why’ve you been avoidin’ her since she told ya?” Rarity paused, briefly considering a number of lies she could employ at that moment. Instead, she decided that the Element of Honesty deserved just that. Honesty. “Do you remember the Best Young Flyers Competition?” “Um…yeah?” “Do you remember my atrocious behavior towards Rainbow Dash?” “Sure do.” “I mean… I saw how nervous she was. I was the first to see it, actually. Really, the only one to identify it amidst the false bravado she was trying that day. Anyway, I had really wanted to go there in full support of her. She deserved that, after all, she had put a lot of work into qualifying for that competition and winning meant spending time with her idols.” “When Twilight first put those wings on me, I didn’t think much of them. I saw them for their practical use, keeping me flying so that I could help support Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t until we arrived in Cloudsdale that my head got inflated with the words of praise and adoration the Cloudsdalians began to shower me with. I had become used to hearing praise about my fashions, and I so loved to hear them. When I started hearing this praise about my new wings, I got lost in it.” “So, I started getting carried away. I forgot about Rainbow Dash in all of that praise, and started taking my wings far too seriously. I didn’t even think of how it might make her feel to just show up and enter the competition with no effort at all for my part. After all she’d been through to get there; to watch a pony who could not appreciate the hard work or the Wonderbolts suddenly take that stage next to her must have felt awful.” “I wish I had seen it then, I really do, but I was too lost in it. Too selfish to see it. I wanted to put on a glorious show. I even thought that if I could put those wings to such marvelous use as the light show that I had in mind, it might help my business here in Ponyville and I might become better known throughout Equestria. In other words, I was only thinking of myself at all. It wasn’t until those wings evaporated that everything stopped being about me. I was scared, I won’t lie about that. I was suddenly falling from an incredible height, and watching helplessly as the ground just sped towards me.” “I was so panicked that I couldn’t get control over my limbs, flailing them in every direction like I was going to somehow start flying again if I did that. I knew deep inside that it wasn’t at all possible for that to happen. I still had to try though, you know? Because I didn’t want to die without being able to apologize to Rainbow Dash at the very least. She deserved one, more than one really, and I wasn’t sure she would be able to forgive me and I wasn’t prepared to blame her if she didn’t.” “In my panic I had harmed the ponies who were trying to save me, and put them in jeopardy as well. I was just making more mistakes and doing more harm, but then it seemed to be my special talent for the day. Then, suddenly, I saw her. She was moving faster than I had ever seen before, and directly toward me. She had left the competition behind. Left her dreams behind. To save me. She was coming for me at the expense of everything she ever wanted in life” she said, her eyes shimmering in the light of the moon.” “…so?” asked Applejack, utterly confused at the relevance of any of what Rarity had said. “Since then, I’ve looked at Rainbow Dash differently. I couldn’t tell you in what way, but she seemed larger somehow. Like she was more special, more important. I couldn’t stop thinking about how selfless she had been after I had been so incredibly selfish towards her. I didn’t like some of how I thought about her, I was afraid of it. So I kept my mind on things that were coming up.” “Things like the Gala, because I wanted to look my best there and make my very best impression on Prince Blueblood. But, even meeting him, as quickly as my heart raced, felt somehow wrong. I just didn’t feel anything for him, as much as I had hoped for him to be as chivalrous and caring as he had always been in my fantasies. The night with him was frustrating, true, and he was no prince that I should ever like to see again, no doubt. The problem was that I couldn’t stop thinking about how lovely Rainbow Dash had looked in her gown.” “I think I would have rather spent that whole night with her, but I knew she wanted to be with the Wonderbolts. After how I had behaved in Cloudsdale, I couldn’t get in the way of another of her dreams like that again. So I tried to spend the night with Prince Blueblood. Well, you saw how he was.” Applejack nodded, “Oh yeah, he was a real jerk.” “Yes indeed,” she agreed, “he made me realize something though. I wondered if other ponies saw me that way from time to time. I know that I behave poorly at times, that I think more of myself than others. I hope that I was never that rude or selfish, but I think that there must have been times when I was grating on somepony’s nerves,” she stopped, looking at Applejack, “like during our slumber party at Twilight’s.” Applejack sighed, “Ya had good points though. I was ready ta just tread a whole buncha mud into her house all thoughtless like. As annoyin’ as you can be with how ya say things, ya weren’t wrong.” “Yes, that is my point. Whether or not I am right does not give me the right to act so… so superior. Well, after the night of the Gala… I knew that there was a reason I looked at Rainbow Dash so differently.” “Yeah?” “I cared very deeply for her. I didn’t know what that meant right away, but over time I understood something about myself. I figured out why the night with Prince Blueblood felt so unnatural, and it had nothing to do with what a snob he was. It was me. I just didn’t want him. I didn’t like him. I couldn’t. I was already feeling something for somepony else. For Rainbow Dash.” “So… then…” “I feel awful, Applejack. I’m so confused. I know how I feel about her, but to me it doesn’t feel right. When Fluttershy shared her secret with me, it forced me to look at myself. I was scared of that. I was glad for her to be able to say it, but I’ve gone and made her feel terrible about it, haven’t I?” “About herself? No. She ain’t feelin’ bad about who she is. She’s feelin’ bad about losin’ you because of it,” replied Applejack, “because she ain’t gonna change into somethin’ she ain’t and she don’t wanna lose ya if’n she chooses to be happy with who she found.” Rarity stared at Applejack in amazement. She hadn’t thought of it like that at all, and it made more sense than her original concept on Fluttershy’s feelings of the aftermath. “Look, I ain’t gonna force ya to say yer sorry or nothin’,” she continued “but I ain’t lettin’ you keep hurtin’ mah marefriend with yer foalishness.” Rarity blinked, staring at Applejack in yet another light, “M-marefriend?” “Eeyup,” she replied. “So… you and Fluttershy?” “Eeyup,” she replied Rarity couldn’t help but smile at this revelation, “Oh Applejack, I just know that you’ll treat Fluttershy right!” Applejack nodded at that. She knew she’d always take care of Fluttershy. She loved her, plain and simple. “Now, listen here… Yer okay if’n ya like a mare, ain’t no crime in that. The crime is lettin’ a good friendship go to hay onnacounta ya can’t face yerself.” Rarity took a deep breath, and nodded. “I understand, Applejack. I’ll apologize to her, and I hope she can forgive me.” • • • The return trip to the cottage was far nicer than the one from it. She felt better for having listened to her friend being so honest about herself, and she had even received a tiny blessing to be with Fluttershy. It was important though, because that blessing came from Fluttershy’s closest friend and that made her feel more deserving of Fluttershy’s love. As soon as she arrived, she endeavored to make her quietest entrance ever. Moving slowly through the door, and tip hooving into the cottage as she very quietly shut the door. It was a miracle of sorts that she moved through the cottage without waking a single one of Fluttershy’s animal friends while she ascended the stairs. It was pure skill that got her from the stairs to the bed without disturbing Fluttershy. She carefully climbed back into the bed, and wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy as she pulled the covers over them both. “G’night Sugarcube,” she whispered as she kissed Fluttershy’s forehead and squeezed her gently.