//------------------------------// // 5 ~ A Moonlit Rendezvous // Story: A Glasshouse Butterfly // by littlerobotbird //------------------------------// A well-bound cartload of accessories bouncing along behind her, Pinkie Pie hop-skipped her way up the path to Fluttershy’s. A grin on her face, the pink pony hummed along to her cargo’s unwitting percussion. The sun had begun to the crest the tippy-tip-tops of the distant mountains, the songs of the summer birds having already begun to quiet—even prior to the earth pony’s cacophonous entry into the scene. But as she slowed to a hop-skips, her song came to a close in a quiet nadir and the imagined drums and bass calmed. Hm… she remarked silently, mere hoofsteps from the cottage door. Something had set the fur across the nape of her neck to tingly. She waited a moment, but there was no creaky hindhoof or cricked tail or  to offer further elaboration. “Hello?” she called out into the trees at a soft rustling of the branches, eyes narrowing. Seconds later, a squirrel ran out across a bare branch, acorn clutched in its teeth as it lept into a neighboring spruce with a grumbling squeak. “Oh, it’s just you, Monsieur Squirrelly.” Pinkie laughed, not noticing the soft smack that came from the brush beneath the squirrel’s former tree. “Or was that Mr. Bushybooty?” Ah, but down to business at hoof. She grabbed the knot of twine twisted haphazardly about her bundle and pulled it free in one deft motion, revealing a treasure trove right out of every little colt and filly’s summertime dreamscape. Shall we begin with Señor Muchos Aguas? She picked up one of the more mid-sized rifles from her veritable arsenal of water-based, propulsive-force weaponry. The Froggy-Wog? A diminutive pistol, like one a yearling might get with their hay steak and fries Harmony meal. Or something with a bit more oomph! Ah, His Lordship Hydrogeddocalypse the Fifth… She grinned as she held up the flank-mountable water cannon, the water balloons jostling in its feeder ramp as she felt the satisfying heft of its plastic. Ai… mijodios… Sir Hydrogeddon clacked and sloshed back into its place in the cart, the pink pony’s eyes widening beyond their natural specifications. “Oh, Momma’s missed you, baby,” she said, giving the side of the the rotating barrel a loving caress before giving it a spin, the plastic gears clacking along ever so satisfyingly. She checked the straps of the saddle mount before noting, with a twinge of sadness that the reservoir was bone-dry. Oh, well… you’re for more advanced prankings anyways, she thought sadly before setting the fully-automated but tragically ammo-deficient gatler back into the cart. I guess we’ll start on the bottom rung and work our way up. In short order she had the thick arsenal bound back up save for a pair of small pistols and bandit masks after waffling for a moment on the matching pair of black Neighvadan dusters. This is going to be sooooo much fun! “Oh, Fluttershy!” she called out in her sing-song way as she hopped up to the cottage proper, rapping out a few youthful, endearing charms with a hoof. “You ready to get your prank on, ‘Shy?” “Hi, Pinkie, I’m glad you came,” came Fluttershy’s soft voice as the door swung gently inwards, the cottage dimly lit in the sun’s fading light. “Are you ready? Huh? Huh?” Pinkie inquired with a giggle snort of excitement. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” the pegasus said as she stepped into the entryway. “Wow… just wow, Fluttershy… You look great.” “Really, you like it?” Fluttershy had been adorned in a similar fabric to that which had formed the bulk of her gala dress, but instead of a palette soft greens and blues, the cloth faded from a vibrant green across her back to rich, deep purples at the outfit’s hemline hanging just hoof’s height over the cottage floor. Layered atop it was a dense, translucent lace with near imperceptible sequins weaved throughout it, placed just so to catch the light and lend it a shine not unlike that of a placid pond’s surface at sundown. Curved around her wings there were thin twists woven from of a stiffer blue-green fabric to fill out her silhouette. A similar twist formed a light collar about her neck, layered with numerous other fabrics twisted about it to give it a viney look. Her mane had been sorted into a half-dozen thickly woven braids with lengths of iridescent ribbon threaded through them them, wrapping and binding them together in a tight, asymmetric twist. The whole mass fell to the side of her head, leaving her face entirely unobscured where a subtle mix of blush, lip gloss and eyeshadow only accentuating the creeping blush crossing over her features. “That is one f-a-n-c-y fancy outfit, Fluttershy”—Pinkie paced back and forth, taking in the full scope of the pegasus’s ensemble as she projected the outfit’s impact on the potential fun factor—“and that’s awesome, buuuuut…” “But?” The sheen of deep pink on Fluttershy’s face took on a slightly paler hue. “Well, I don’t know if that’s the right thing for pranks. I mean I usually don’t wear anything at all—au naturale—but if you were going to, I think you’d need something a bit more rugged. Oh, I know, I have the perfect thing! It’s got night vision goggles and everything! Just give me a minute, two tops!” “Wait! Pinkie!” Pinkie aborted her dash, her spinning hindhooves freezing in place before she hit the ground with a solid clonk. “Pranks?” “Oh yeah, I had the bestest brainicane right after you left! Or maybe that should be brainado?”—she tapped a hoof as she considered it—“Nah, brainicane. Doh totally doesn’t go with brain. Anyways, I figured tonight’s the perfect night to start phase one of Operation Prankstershy. I brought the water guns and everything!” Pinkie gave a little hop, tossing a mask and one of her pistols towards Fluttershy. “Pinkie!” The water gun, its liquid ammunition thankfully sealed tight, missed its mark as Fluttershy dodged gracefully to the side, the mask fluttering down onto her back. “Pinkie, I was”—she took a deep breath, collecting herself—“I was planning on something a little… different. That is… if you don’t mind.” “Oh… well, I’m totally down for whatever you are.” Pinkie quickly collected her pistola and its accompanying mask, slipping them back into her mobile arsenal of supreme saturation with a flourish before shoving the whole cart into a nearby bit of brush... just in case. “So what’d you have in mind?” “A picnic.” “Oh, I love picnics! The sun, the sky, the trees, the lots of ponies! Who else is coming?” “Well, I was hoping just the two of us.” Pinkie mulled this over for a moment. Two didn’t seem nearly enough for a picnic. Certainly it wasn’t lots of ponies. Unless it was a critter picnic, but that would be more than two as well. Unless you weren’t counting the critters, but that would just be awful. Those poor critters. But Fluttershy would never, ever do anything like that. “You sure?” “I just thought it might be fun to have a picnic… just the two of us.” Pinkie looked to be dubious of such a proposition, but a sweet, subtle scent had been working its way back towards the cottage on the summer breeze all the while and had finally reached pink mare’s nose, kicking her salivary glands into high gear and shorting the more reasoned cranial lobes. “Oh, wow, is that it?” Pinkie asked, a bit of drool collecting at the corner of her mouth. Fluttershy simply nodded, an unnoticed frown pulling at her lips as she watched the pink mare flutter in the air, trying to wrangle herself a good long whiff. “That smells great!” “I hoped you’d like it.” She offered a hoof to Pinkie with a curtsy. “Yeah, let’s get this started!” she cheered excitedly, grabbing the offered hoof and yanking her out the cottage door and onto the path before pulling the half-stumbling, half-hopping Fluttershy along for the ride as they round the side of the cottage, Pinkie’s nostrils flaring as she tracked down the enticing scent of the picnic. “Omigosh! Fluttershy! That’s looks amazing!” “What? What is?” Fluttershy gasped as they skidded to a halt, the pegasus landing atop the pink mare for a moment. “A sky picnic!” Pinkie squealed excitedly as Fluttershy peered around her bounding mass of magenta mane at her paddock. Parked at the center was the town balloon, bits of gingham-patterned cloth tied about the struts in fanciful bows. “Oh,” was all Fluttershy could muster as she looked the balloon up and down before she unceremoniously hefted into the basket alongside Pinkie Pie. “This is a great idea! A picnic, but in the sky. Are we the first ponies to try this? Do you think we are? Somepony has to have tried this before, right?” “I… don’t know, Pinkie. I hope maybe we are.” “Oh, man, that’d be great. First ponies to have a picnic in the sky! All we need next is… Oh! A ginormohuge balloon, maybe a turntable, maybe some spotlights lights! Oh, oh! Or strobelights and glow sticks! Glow sticks everywhere! Then we can jam!” Pinkie rambled on excitedly as Fluttershy simply looked on, frown forgotten as she could but simply smile as the pink pony’s imagination ran off with her. “Or would that just be a zeppelin party?” “Maybe we can see how this one goes first. Then we can try a zeppelin later,” Fluttershy offered, not so subtly tilting up the lid of their picnic basket. “That sounds great!” Pinkie found her senses filled once more with the scent of fresh cooked delights, taking a great big whiff of it. “And smells great too...” “I’m glad you like it, but I’m sure we shouldn’t just be staying on the ground.” “Righto! After all, what’s a hot-air balloon stuck on the ground?” Pinkie declared, hurling the ballast from the corners of the basket one by one, sending it lurching up into the air. With a few blasts, the balloon began to rise gently into the air. Fluttershy peered over the edge, watching her cottage fall away as Pinkie glanced up at a rapidly approaching cloudbank. I thought tonight was supposed to be all cle… Pinkie’s thoughts trailed off, her hoof slipping from the valve as it slid itself closed as a sudden silence graced them. Wow… They had pierced the clouds only for a their ascent to be slowed first by the lack of fire and second by the safety rope binding the balloon to the cottage below. But Pinkie wasn’t considering their sudden lack of up, but rather staring out at the carefully sculpted clouds before them as she made her way next to Fluttershy at the basket’s side. To one side of the balloon there was a veritable cloudscape to behold, dips and valleys and waves of cloud all deliberately drawing the eye to a point at the far end of a cloudy tunnel. The sun had already set below the clouds they were staring out across, but the moon had just begun to rise, streaks of pink and orange below fading to soft purples and blues cast above them. The crest of Luna’s orb filled the far end of the tunnel, the sculpted edges of cloud framing a perfect interplay of sky and land, the moon casting its soft over the distant reaches of Everfree and the mountainous peaks beyond. Oh, wowies… Pinkie felt her thoughts slowing, her usually boundless energies fading as she took in the beauty laid out before them. She hardly even noticed Fluttershy hoof entwining her own or the way the pegasus rested her head on the earth pony’s shoulder. She simply leaned forward, mouth agape as she stared. Soon enough the moon had crept into the upper edge of the open canvas of clouds, its light scattering through a lattice of condensed moisture as a pale rainbow shimmered in front of them before it lifted out of view. “That was beautiful,” Pinkie murmured quietly, leaning heavily against the basketside as she tried to catch a few last fleeting glances of the moon’s path. “How’d you…” As the pink pony turned she found a veritable banquet laid out before her, candle light shining as the flame above slowly flickered out so that they could enjoy the night’s quiet. “I hope you’re hungry,” Fluttershy said with a blush as she sat down across from Pinkie. “Oh, I could have a bite or two… or three,” she amended with a snorting laugh before she caught sight of a rather delectable looking cake in the shape of a heart with a frosting flower atop it, its sugary leaves shimmering softly. ~o~0~o~ I wonder, I wonder… will he be tall… will he be dark and handsome… will he be mystery wrapped in enigma, wrapped in charm, wrapped in another, more mysterious enigma… “Rarity?” Perhaps he will look just like Duke Peckinchest, his mane rippling in the moonlight as he lifts her into his mighty zeppelin without even a strain of that flexing musculature. Oh, it’ll be just like the bicentennial issue of “Mares of Manehattan” where he proposes to Lady Imayou before the city skyline at dusk, her white fur and lavender mane glowing in the moonlight as he slips the ring over her ho— “C’mon, Rares, we’re sharin’ here!” “Well then scoot over so that I might have my share!” Rarity nearly shouted as her airborne fantasy was broken by a familiar, weathered duster dipping into view. “I am scooted over!” “Well, not nearly enough it seems. I can hardly even see the path from here, much less the cottage.” “Ain’t like I’ve got such a fine an’ dandy view here neither.” “Either.” “What?” “Either. I haven’t such a fine and dandy view either.” “Rarity, you’re serious? We’re sittin’ in a bush spyin’ and y’all concerned about grammar?” “Proper diction is always of concern.” “Is that a spider?” Even before Rarity’s squeal of terror at the hypothetical arachnid could enter her throat, Applejack’s hoof had clamped itself over her mouth, leaving the prim unicorn squirming uncomfortably in the brush. “Hush it! We’re supposed to be keepin’ it quiet,” she hissed. Rarity burbled something around the farm pony’s hoof before looking up at her, a devious glint in her eyes. “Hey!” Applejack withdrew her hoof, face wrinkled in confoundment as Rarity spat in as ladylike a manner as equinely possible to their opposite side. “You licked it? The hay, Rarity!” Rarity just stuck her tongue. “What’re we, foals again?” “You could do a more acceptable job of keeping yourself clean, Applejack.” “And y’all could do a mite better job of proper growin’ up,” Applejack muttered to herself, wiping the sullied hoof off with a nearby leaf. “Actin’ like a little filly just off’a weaning.” Rarity levitated the canteen from her pack, took a swig and spat into the brush, sending a rather unhappy, spattered squirrel scurrying up the trunk. “Oh, tell me yer kiddin’. Is that—” “Shush!” Applejack was quickly silenced by a well-pedicured hoof as its opposite pointed to an almost indistinguishable shudder coursing up the pink-coated pony at the core of their now shared discontent. “Hello?” the pony called as her pair of onlookers ducked deep into the brush, hoping to hide themselves from Pinkie’s seemingly preternatural hide-and-seek talents. A rustle above drew their attention for a moment, something flitting between the branches of the tree beside their hiding spot. “Oh, it’s just you, Mr. Squirrelly…. Or was that Mr. Bushybooty?” There came a familiar laugh and the pair shared a collective sigh of relief as the pink pony moved her way up the path towards the cottage door. “The heck is Pinkie doing here?” “You don’t think…?” “Maybe? It ain’t still early, is it?” “No. It’s quite the proper time. Nearly right on the dot in fact.” They fell silent for a moment. “Well, it isn’t like… huh...” “Yes… it does seem to be.” “You worried?” “A tad… a tad.” Applejack looked back at Rarity, tipping her hat back so that she could rub her achy brow. “I mean, it’s jus’… I don’t really remember anypony bein’, y’know, attached t’her.” “To either of them, really. It is curious though. Exciting even.” Rarity smiled before Applejack’s firm frown wiped it from her face. “Oh come now. It’s not as though they’d hurt one another. They absolutely adore each other.” “An’ that’s what’s worryin’.” “Oh come now. Don’t be such a wet blanket, Applejack.” Rarity reached out and adjusted the farm pony’s hat back into its proper position. “Que sera, sera, dear. Whatever will be, will be. And if it isn’t… well, I’m sure Pinkamena has at least enough appreciation of the situation to be gentle with Fluttershy, yes?” “Maybe,” Applejack replied as they watched the pair walk down the path together. “She does look right stunning, don’t she?” “Positively divine if I do say so myself.” “Of course you would, little miss humble,” she stated with a grin, earning a soft shove from the unicorn. As they watched the balloon take off into the air with a blast of the furnace, the pair stepped out from the brush, Rarity taking the time to pluck the various bits of detritus from her coat as Applejack just stared up as the balloon vanished into the clouds, naught but the tie-off rope left in view. “And there they go.” “Nervous?” “Of course.” “Me too.” “About what?” The pair nearly lept out of their horseshoes at the young voice breaking in through the silence. “Twilight?” “Spikey?” Twilight looked on in amusement as the pair collected themselves, taking a bite out of the hay fries leftover from their late dinner. Spike meanwhile stared at the pair with a more… accusatory look in his eyes as he transitioned a single stalk of hay from one end of his mouth to the other. “What are you two up to?” Spike asked in measured tones, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. “Uh… nothin’ much,” Applejack replied, pawing at the dirt. “Yes, nothing at all, dears.” Rarity simply smiled, sweat beading across her brow. “We uh… best be goin’. Evenin’ to ya, Twilight, Spike.” Applejack broke into a quick trot, Rarity following shortly behind her. “Yes, things to do, ponies to watch!” Rarity shouted over her shoulder as Twilight and Spike watched Applejack mutter something under her breath at her before they disappeared around a bend in the path. “So, should we go check on how Fluttershy’s doing or… we’re going to follow them, aren’t we?” Spike asked as Twilight craned her neck to peer as well as she could around the bend. “Spike!” She looked positively scandalized by the little dragon’s inquiry, hoof pressed dramatically to her forelock. “That would be a terrible infringement on their privacy. Even if they’re acting more suspicious than a filly with a hoof in the cookie jar. They’re our friends and we should trust in them that they have the best of intentions at heart. I’m shocked you’d even ask.” “So we are?” “Oh we definitely are.” ~o~0~o~ Food first. Dessert after, Pinkie had to remind herself of the pegasus’s words as her eyes kept lazily trailing from the, albeit delicious, spread of food to the tantalizing wonders of the desserts tucked in the corner of the balloon’s basket. Food first. Dessert after… very soon after. Right-right after. Fluttershy in the mean time, simply watched, giggling at the earth pony’s show of control—or lack thereof depending on one’s selection of sliding, tipping and tumbling scale for the occasion—as Pinkie’s right forehoof constantly trailing towards the dessert corner before receiving a sharp rebuke from its fellow. “Thvis ivs awl wreally gowd, Fwuttershry!” the pink pony complimented as Fluttershy was forced to maintain her smile in the face of a soft spray of vinaigrette, the subtle scent of apples filling the air. “Some decorum, Diane!” she could hear her mother’s voice speak up from the dark, not visited anywhere near often enough recesses of her mind that really wished she would write more often. “It has been a whole week since I’ve heard from my little, darling Pinkamena.” Self-consciously, Pinkie Pie straightened up and swallowed the overlarge lump of salad she’d been noisily chewing on. “Really, Fluttershy, this has all been so good! I can hardly hold back! I just want to eat it all!” Pinkie declared even as the tremble of her already swollen stomach begged a redress of grievances. “Well, I do hope that you’re still saving room for dessert,” Fluttershy said as she quietly packed away some of the eaten through dishes, leaving the cake in the corner unguarded for the moment. “A-Always,” Pinkie replied almost uncertainly as her left forehoof pinned the right to the balloon deck, winding around it tightly as it struggled towards the corner and promised bliss. “I always leave room for dessert… and I always leave dessert for the proper time.” And so Righty gave up its hunt for the prophesied land of cake and frosting, quelled only by the promise of a future bathed in rich sugary delight—along with the rather strong chokehold provided by its sister Lefty. “Fluttershy?” Pinkie had looked up to find the pegasus no longer packing things away or eating or staring at her oddly as she had been to some extent all evening. Instead, she found Fluttershy leaning against the side of the basket, mane blowing softly in the gentle, summer’s breeze, taking deep, concerted breaths of cool night air. As Pinkie looked on in silence, the moon caught the edges of the pegasus’s dress, gifting her a soft blue halo set against the blues reflected in the dress’s sequins and darkening greens of the dress proper. “It’s lovely tonight, isn’t it?” Fluttershy murmured quietly as Pinkie joined her. “Yeah. It really is.” “I don’t really think I’ve had a chance to appreciate how pretty the sky is at night here.” Pinkie laughed quietly. “And here I was all jealous of you and Dashie.” “Hm?” “Well, you two are pegasuses, duh.” Pinkie tapped a hoof against one of Fluttershy’s wings to demonstrate. “You guys get to fly and soar and zoom around the sky as much as you want to! I can’t even imagine how great that has to be!” “You think?” “Just thinking about Rainbow pulling off the Rainboom or the Wonderbolts with all their stunts and tricks!” Pinkie’s eyes bugged out of her skull as her hooves went through a pantomine of the Filly Flash, the Buckaneer Blaze, the Pilots Penultimate Panopoly and a half-dozen others she didn’t even remember names for. “Have you seen Dash’s face after she’s pulled one off?! It’s like she just visited the Canterlot Candy and Cake store with a buy-one-get-a-bajillion-free coupon or something! It’s crazy!” “Huh.” “Huh?” “Oh, nothing. It’s just… I don’t know. I’ve never really seen it as something so amazing.” “But it totally is! You’re amazing, Fluttershy.” Pinkie grabbed up the pegasus’s hooves, bringing them eye to eye. “You get to, anytime, anyday, just fly up, up and away and go see things I never could without, like, a lot of prep work! You have no idea how much hoofwork and elbow grease a pony-powered helicopter takes! It’s a hoofful, lemme tell ya!” Fluttershy chuckled. It was a soft, almost nonexistent sound as she grabbed her braid in a hoof, hiding the lower half of her face behind it while she ran a hoof over it thoughtfully. “I mean… I’m kinda jealous of you girls sometimes.” “Well, I’d let you borrow them sometime… if I could,” Fluttershy offered. “Huh, I wonder if Twilight knows any spells like that…” “She might.” Pinkie looked over at the pegasus, brow furrowing as the pink pony tried to parse the expression on her friend’s face behind the obfuscating braid. Something seemed… off with the pegasus tonight. “I don’t even use them all that much.” She gave them a cursory flap. “Certainly not the way Rainbow or the Wonderbolts do.” “I… guess. But that doesn’t matter so much, Fluttershy. Y’know?” The pegasus looked up, a thin film of liquid rimming her eyes. “I mean, you use them how you use them. They’re your wings, you use ‘em how you wanna, right?” “Maybe it’s just that,” she began, Pinkie wrapping a hoof around her back and drawing her closer, “most everything I love is on the ground. The plants, the trees, the animals”—Fluttershy’s head came to a rest on the earth pony’s shoulder—“the ponies. Everypony I love.” “Yeah… ground’s pretty great too,” Pinkie murmured back as the pair stared out over the now rumbling cloudscape beneath the moonlight. “But this is still just… amazing, Flutters.” “Pinkie?” “Yeah, Fluttershy?” “Can I ask you something?” she whispered, clutching Pinkie so tight that the earth pony couldn’t twist to look her friend in the eye. “Something kind of important?” “Sure. Shoot,” Pinkie replied uncertainly, working at the pegasus’s sudden death grip with a free hoof. The grip tightened a bit and Pinkie could feel a tremor run through the pegasus before, with a deep, trembling breath, she went suddenly lax. “Pinkie, do you… love me?” ~o~0~o~   Far below the balloon and its thick cloud cover, in the hoof-dug swampland behind Fluttershy’s cottage, a pair of flamingos stood in the shallows. The first stood still in the small clearing, ducking and bobbing her head as she tried to catch some glimpse of the balloon above through the perforated clouds, the second sidling ever closer, moving as smoothly as a gangly, flippered avian could whilst balanced on one leg. Distantly one could hear the sounds of Equestrian—bickering and arguing if past experience was anything to go by—and one could even still hear the panicked yells of fillies coming from the rabbit pen in the opposite direction where an impromptu round-up was going on. But there, in the small pseudoswamp nestled between the trees at the edge of Everfree, it was peaceful, almost idyllic with how beautiful the night had become. Wreaths of night fog curled across the warm surface of the water, lit only by the moon and the lazy, wandering paths of the lightning bugs. If ever there was a time more perfect for Sir Pinkington the Third, it had been a long time and a long ways away from his present circumstance. With a cooing squonk, the dapper old bird fluttered his wings, the male carefully showing off his well pinkened plumage as a show of his overall suitability. But the female was undeterred by the male’s display as she continued to peer into the clouds. Flicking his head back and forth as he slowly guided her into a march, her eyes remaining skyward until his beak met hers, shocking her attentions back to the ground. At a confused warble from her, he stretched his wings once more before entwining them for the briefest of moments, a loving coo rumbling through their long necks before he released her. Head cocked to the side until it would be considered absolutely topsy-turvied by any reputable purveyor of perpendicularity, she echoed her warble of confusion until the male simply sighed. With a quick stroke of his wings, Pinkington lept from the water, bringing his waders together in two sharp claps before splashing back down. From somewhere in the bog came a long drawn out note as a haphazardly buoyed table—really a nightstand jury-rigged with empty shampoo bottles bound by lengths of yarn to its legs—floated out of the nearby reeds, the tablecloth already lit by a lone candle. As Sir Pinkington smiled as widely as a hook-beaked avian could, the pair stepped to the table. With a wink, he nudged a bowl, brimming with delicious algae towards his date. The female’s feathers could but flush a rather unnatural shade of red as their necks entwined again. And, for a moment, there was no balloon hanging over them in the clouded skies, no towns or ponies yelling at one another in the background. There was just a pair of flamingos together in— “SQUAKONK!” The female shot up in the air, her flippered feet scattering the bowl and candle into the water as the table bobbed violently beneath her. In a burst of green flame, she launched herself desperately into the air only to crash back into the, thankfully shallow, swamp water, good wing buzzing fruitlessly. She got a mere few inches above the water with a second jump, holed hooves scraping against the surface as the Pinkington let out a panicked honk of concern for her. “Look over there!” “Oh my gosh!” “Get it, Scoots!” ~o~0~o~ “Pinkie, do you… love me?” “Of course I love you,” Pinkie replied in confusion. “I love all my pony friends”—she thought for a moment—“and all my not pony friends too! You’re all great!” “No, Pinkie”—Fluttershy’s hooves dropped from her moments before Pinkie felt herself being spun to face the yellow pegasus—“I mean actual love. Love-love.” “Love-love-love?” “Pinkie… what did you think this… this dress, the picnic, the stars and the moon”—the pegasus pointed her hooves all around—“what else could all this be for?” “Test run for a, uh, sky party?” Pinkie offered weakly, slumping against the outer edge of the basket, a gentle buzz ringing in her ears. Fluttershy simply giggled as she slid down on the opposite side of the basket. “Pinkie… maybe it’s kind of silly… but I think I really might, you know? I love your laugh, your smile, the way you are with everypony and every animal you meet and the way”—she choked a moment on her words—“the way you can’t help but leave all of them smiling and laughing when you do.” She took a deep breath as the inside of their little balloon seemed to darken. “Please. Just answer me honestly... Do you?” Pinkie rose to her hooves, biting her lip as she trotting anxiously in place, her face growing steadily more red. “I don’t know!” Pinkie finally shouted out, Fluttershy visibly deflating as the pink pony rushed to her side. “I don’t know, Fluttershy, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She tried picking the pegasus up, but she just sagged again and again. “I do love you just like I love all our friends. I just don’t think about you like that. I-I don’t even think about anypony that way... okay? Fluttershy?” “That’s okay,” Fluttershy muttered unconvincingly as the whirring in Pinkie’s ears grew steadily louder and louder, becoming more maddening by the moment. “You know what we need? The ground! Let’s all get our little hoofsies back on the ground where we can just think about all this,” Pinkie declared and quickly grabbed hold of the balloon’s release valve, delighting in the distant sound of hot air flowing out the top. At the very least it drowned out the buzzing. ~o~0~o~ “So, Rainbow left because you were being—in her words—creepers and that didn’t tip either of you off?” “Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity asked, batting her eyes innocently as she sat primly on “Rainbow Dash, the pegasus that has collected no less than twenty-five training yokes via quote-unquote ‘patent pending’ means from various Wonderbolt training camps all around Equestria from Las Pegasus to Manehattan, said you were being creepers.” “C’mon, Twi. This is completely different,” Applejack argued, glaring at Twilight as Spike sat munching leftover hay fries on her back. “How?” “Well, for starters, we at least know the ponies up there.” “Yeah, and how does that not make it worse?” “Well, you’re doing the same to us!” “She’s got you there, Twilight,” Spike offered between mouthfuls. “Not helping.” “Sorry.” “Thank you, Spikey dear.” “A-anytime... Rarit—Hey!” Spike grabbed for the bag of fries now held in Twilight’s telekinetic grip as she glared over her shoulder at him. “What? It’s the truth, Twilight.” “What we’re doing to prevent what they’re doing is completely on the level. Probable cause. That’s guard-training 101, Spike.” “Still creepy.” “Whatever,” Twilight groaned as the little dragon hopped off her back and against the log Rarity had perched on. “And what are you doing?” Spike slowly lowered the clawful of hayfries from his maw. “I just like to watch.” “Now that’s creepy.” “What? It’s entertaining,” Spike replied, indignant. “Do you have any idea how boring working in a library all day gets? You pretty much have to pony watch.” “It’s simply the way of things,” Rarity mused, giving the dragon’s spines a little tousle. “Thank you,” Spike said, crossing his arms. “Ponies are rather fascinating when they think no one is watching.” “I know, right?” “Okay, and now both y’all are creepin’ me out,” Applejack muttered, tipping her hat forward. “Says the pony stalking one of her best friends on a date,” Twilight said with a huff. “Well… more’n one actually,” Applejack said sheepishly. “Ladies?” Spike’s voice echoed. “Wait, what? Really?” Twilight looked up, eyes widening with interest. “Um, ladies? Girls? Mares?” Spike tugged at Twilight’s tail, eyes on the sky. “Wait, so if… And Rainbow went home, so…” Twilight thought for a moment, brow furrowed before she looked up, incredulous. “Really? Huh, didn’t call that one.” “Call that one?” “Twilight, have you been—” “Oh no… never… a little bit.” “Uh, Twilight?” Spike yanked a little harder even as Twilight pushed him back with a hindhoof. “Ugh, and you’re calling us creepy.” “What? You’re going to tell me you haven’t?” “No, I haven’t actually,” Applejack stated as a matter-of-fact. “AJ?” Spike stared up, eyes growing ever wider. “I’ve… dabbled,” Rarity admitted, running a nervous hoof through her lower mane. “I mean it’s just a little journal.” “Rarity?” Spike stepped back, eyes skyward as his claw felt for the prim pony behind him. “Really? You should try a board, it makes it far easier to plot out the various interconnections,” Twilight offered, a wide grin forming on her face. “A journal just doesn’t give you a proper visual scope… um, not that I would know from experience.” “Heh, I’ll bet.” Applejack snickered. “GIRLS!” “Yeah, Spike?” “What is it, darling?” “Um, was any of that in your date plan?” Spike pointed up. “I daresay… it was most certainly n—” Rarity was shoved off the tree stump she had been so comfortably enthroned upon just as a few scattered plates crashed down around them, a heavy platter embedding itself into the wood. She hadn’t even the time to thank Spike for his quick thinking—much less time to decry the state of her now dirtied coat—before she and said dragon were tossed onto their hooves and footclaws respectively with a bit of Twilight’s magic. “C’mon!” Applejack yelled. The quartet found themselves running flat out towards the listing hot air balloon as it plummeted away the ground, a black swarm of activity surrounding it. “Waitwaitwait!” Twilight suddenly yelled as the remainder of the quartet rain headlong into a magically projected wall. “Consarn it, Twilight!” “Just look!” The wind had picked up under the influence of the now dissipating swarm, sending the balloon crashing down... right at them. “Everypony down!” Twilight threw up as big a wall as she could manage as the balloon was shredded apart by the trees, basket crashing down into the dirt, casting a cloud of dust over everything. The basket skidded and rolled and tumbled until it slammed into the barrier with a loud crunch and a crackle of magic. It tipped, wobbled once and slammed back down onto the ground. Slowly, the magic wall cracked and broke apart, falling to ground in a shower of magenta fragments as they vanished back into the aether. “Everypony okay?” Twilight said as she puffed and wheezed, rubbing a hoof over her throbbing horn as she waited for the dust to settle. “We’re fine, dear, but…” Rarity answered as she, Applejack with a half-conscious Spike slung over her back materialized out of the settling dust. “What about Fluttershy and Pinkie?” Applejack muttered, looking wide-eyed at the shredded nylon remnants. “Present…” came a dazed and confused voice from somewhere above them. “Pinkie!” Quickly Twilight mustered the strength to coax a small vortex of air to blow away the dust, revealing a brown and pink spattered pony hanging by her tail from the tree above, face a smear of frostings. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Rarity asked as she glommed onto the sweating, exhausted Twilight. “Aren’t you going to get her down?” “A bit too… tired. Can’t risk… dropping her… find a ladder maybe?” “No worries, Twi,” Applejack interjected, hefting a length of rope from the crashed basket that she quickly knotted into a lasso. “You both get looking for Fluttershy.” “Oh my goodness! Fluttershy!” Pinkie shouted from above as the lasso hooked over the branch she was suspended from, knotting securely around her hind leg. “My only love! They have her!” “Your love?” “Who?! Pinkie, who has Fluttershy?” “A whole swarm of them right out of nowhere!” Pinkie yelled out wildly, thrashing about. “We have to go save her! C’mon!” “Prinkie! Kit hurkin’ aroond!” Applejack yelled as best she could around the rope in her mouth before the pink pony’s tail dislodged, dragging the farm pony up and off her hooves as Pinkie plummeted towards the ground. “PRINKIE!!” The pair crashed into each other midway up before falling, in a tangle, into the brush. “Pinkie! A whole swarm of what?!” Rarity demanded, hefting the pink pony from the bush. Before Pinkie could answer and before Twilight could even react, a thrashing bundle of yelps, yells and yipes crashed out of the brush, taking Applejack along with it. “J’accuse! Briseuse de ménage!” Pinkie screamed and flung herself into the bouncing mass of fur and feathers. When all was said and done, there were three exhausted crusaders donning their zap apple harvest best bunny costumes, one very irate farm pony lecturing them on the finer points of utilizing farm property for non-farm purposes, one possibly concussed dragon as well as one highly irritated pink earth pony at the throat of a pink- and black-feathered changeling while a flamingo and two unicorns yanked on her poofy magenta tail in an futile attempt to dislodge her.