//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Honest Advice and Loving Laughter 
// Story: Green 
// by Steel Resolve 
//------------------------------//

Fluttershy raced to Sweet Apple Acres, searching for Applejack. She just didn't know what to do! She wanted to run to Rarity and tackle her in an embrace. Getting that letter, knowing it was from Rarity, made her feel like she could take on all the dragons in the world. On the other hoof... Rarity hadn’t really said anything. What if it was just a mistake? Maybe she didn't want to say it to her? Maybe she was wrong? She was so confused. She hoped Applejack could offer some advice. She felt so very lost right now. She finally spotted her, and dove at her at a speed that would have had Rainbow Dash herself impressed.

Applejack reared back to deliver a precise kick to the trunk, watching the apples fell into her basket perfectly. She walked casually to the next tree, feeling that pleasant burn in her legs only a hard morning's work could bring. She looked around as a strange sound made its way to her ears. It sounded like a far-off squeal of joy. She shrugged, seeing nopony around to make the noise. Her progress was abruptly cut short by a surprise Flutterhug.

They both tumbled for a moment, their colors blurring into a pinwheel of pink and yellow and orange. Applejack had just enough time to be surprised, and just a little impressed, before they both landed heavily against a tree trunk. She shook her head a moment to clear it. She had taken the brunt of the impact and was just a little shaken. She looked down at the happy pegasus that had tackled her, worried whether she was okay. Seeing her friend none the worse for wear, she smiled. "Um, sugarcube, Ah'm glad to see you too! But maybe we can we start with the hello and howdoyado's before we start hugging?" Applejack chuckled.

"Oh Applejack! I've got such wonderful news!" Fluttershy beamed.

"Ah take it things went well with Rare?" Applejack smiled gently, happy for her friend.

"Oh no, she told me she was just jealous of you, and loved me as a good friend." Fluttershy was still beaming.

Applejack scratched her head in consternation. "Um, well, Ah'm glad yer happy an' all but Ah admit to being a might confused what's so good about being brushed off into the friend zone."

Fluttershy looked confused, then realized what had gone wrong with the conversation. She reached into her saddlebag and produced a letter. "Here, read this!"

Applejack took the letter from her. She read it over, her look of puzzlement slowly changing to worry, then anger. "What in the hay? 'Shy, this sounds like it’s from some kinda weirdo. Why in tarnation are ya so happy about this?"

Fluttershy looked around, ensuring nopony else was nearby. She leaned in and whispered: "It's from Rarity."

Applejack stared at her for a moment, not sure how to respond. If this were any other pony, she would be convinced it was a joke at her expense. She looked again at the letter. "Huh... Okay, well, Ah guess Ah'm a little relieved. So... Yer thinking Rare sent you this? Ah thought she told you she just wanted to be friends. Ah mean, you did tell her how you felt, right?"

Fluttershy kicked her back hoof. "Not exactly..."

Applejack facehoofed. "Sugarcube... You just keep making this whole love thing complicated. What did you tell her?"

Fluttershy hid behind her hair. She took a deep breath. "Well she said she loved me as a friend and I kinda told her I loved her as a friend too and I thought I was okay with that but then the next morning I was all unhappy and then I saw the letter and I went ‘yay’ and then I got confused about what to do and so I came here." She gasped.

Applejack sighed. "So, you put yerself in the friend zone."

Fluttershy nodded. "I didn't mean to! I just didn't want to confess how I felt when I was sure she didn't feel the same about me..."

Applejack nodded. "So now she's writing you love notes... Probably scared of the same thing you are, that you don't feel the same. Yer in a bad spot there, 'Shy."

She looked down at the note again. "Rare's got it bad too... Huh. Well, you got two choices, hun. First; you can confront her about it, but that might be a big ol' scene. She might deny it, might bust out crying over it. Thing is, I think she'd be kinda mortified if you called her bluff before she laid down her cards."

Applejack held up a hoof to her head, and in a perfect Manehatten accent said; "Oh, woe is me, my beloved has found me out! Would that I had the chance to properly confess! Now I feel mortally shamed! I shall have to consign myself to exile! This is the worst possible thing!" She mock swooned.

Fluttershy looked worried, Applejack nodded, seeing her point made. "Probably be a big ol' mess. Not the best way to start things off. Second, and mind, I don't usually cotton to falsehoods... You can let her play things out a bit till she gets up the nerve to tell you herself."

Fluttershy whispered, "Would that work?"

Applejack looked abashed. "Well, I can only speak for mahself, but that's what Ah did. Worked just fine."

Fluttershy perked up. "What do you mean?"

Applejack pawed at the ground nervously. "Ah mean... Okay, Ah'm gonna take you into mah confidence. Don't go telling nopony what Ah’m about to tell you, alright?"

Fluttershy nodded. "C-cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Applejack nodded, satisfied. "Me and Dash... We been together for months now."

Fluttershy gasped. She tackled Applejack in another Flutterhug. "Oh that's so nice for you two!"

Applejack blushed. "Yeah well, point is... Dash kinda did what Rare's doing. Kept leaving notes around, sleeping in my trees, generally being a pest... Always had rain when I needed it, and sun when I didn't." She smiled fondly. "Ah kinda had her figured out from the first note. Ah just waited for her to finally get the guts to come out and say it. She finally did one day, and it made the waiting worth it." She blushed harder, remembering the kiss that followed. "Point is, you got her pegged now. She thinks she's bluffing, but she showed you her hand by mistake. Play along, let her set the pace. Heck, write her back.”

Fluttershy giggled. "So, I just play along with her letters?"

Applejack smiled. "Yep, heck, do you one better. Say this was from a stranger, what would ya do?"

Fluttershy considered for a moment. "I would show it to Rarity and ask her advice."

Applejack nodded encouragingly. "So do that. Heck, ask her what she thinks this pony might be like. Tell her you wanna meet the pony that wrote it. Tell her you appreciate how much feeling went into it. Ask her what to do about it."

Fluttershy nodded. "O-okay..."

Applejack continued. "If she wrote it, she'll be kinda nervous being asked about it. On the other hoof, she'll probably expect you to come to her about it. If ya don't, she might wonder why. Might just decide ya don't care."

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh no! I don't want her to think that!"

Applejack gently patted her head. "Now don't get all upset. You were right, this is a good thing. She's kinda doing it all wrong, but she definitely cares about ya." She looked at a couple of passages from the letter. "Okay, she's pretty much head over hooves about ya, if she's telling the truth. Ah got a knack for picking up lies, and, well... this strikes me as honest to goodness swear to Celestia outright truth. Only thing false is her claiming to be somepony else."

Fluttershy nodded. "I think so too. Okay, so show her the letter and see how she reacts."

Applejack smiled and nodded. She carefully refolded the letter and returned it to Fluttershy. "Go enjoy your spa date, hun. Tell me how it went later. I don't mean to hurry ya none, but Ah got apples to buck. You probably got a few chores to finish yerself."

Fluttershy, finally at ease, realized she had completely forgotten to tend to her animals. "Oh my gosh! I need to feed all my poor friends! Thank you, Applejack!"

Applejack smiled and waved goodbye. She eyed the next tree, wondering if this was the one Rainbow would be napping in.





Rarity woke with a start. She removed her sleep mask and stared at Opalescence, who had seen fit to jump on her chest. The cat was even now making herself comfortable, with little regard for her owner's feelings on the matter. Rarity carefully lifted the feline with her magic, holding it aloft as she rose from her bed. "Good morning, Opal. Mommy has to get up now. Give me a moment and I'll set you down." She yawned.

Rarity languidly stretched each of her legs. 

Opal yowled in fury, promising retribution for the affront. 

"Such impatience, dear. Very well." She set the cat down gently in the middle of the bed. 

After balefully glaring at her, Opal promptly curled up and fell asleep.

She hummed to herself as she went about her morning grooming. Today was going to be a good day. Today was spa day. It would be a red letter day under normal circumstances, but today in particular she expected to relax. She just felt so relieved to have it off her chest, even if it wasn't the way it should have been. Committing the words to paper had been very cathartic for her. Now the business of the day could begin.

She went to her kitchen, but found she had forgotten to restock after poor Sweetie's cooking attempt. She did hope the dear had fun staying with her friends at Sweet Apple Acres last night. Speaking of, I must remember to escort her to Mother and Father's house this afternoon. They should have arrived home yesterday evening. She winced a bit at the thought. Visiting her parents was always a bit painful. She loved them dearly, but they were so very tacky!

She tapped a hoof to her chin. Very well then, breakfast at Sugarcube Corner. I should pick up something sweet for Fluttershy as well. Perhaps we can fill her out just a bit. It's truly not healthy to be so thin. 

She walked back to her room and put on her favorite sunhat. Before she left, she carefully attempted to pet Opal goodbye, for which she was rewarded with a vicious swipe in her direction. It came within inches of slicing across her nose. The implication was clear: leave me alone or I will cut you. "M-mommy loves you too, sweetie."

She hurried out the door before the cat woke herself enough to make good on the threat.





Sugarcube Corner was bustling with activity. She nearly bumped into the mailmare as she walked inside, the poor thing was carrying what appeared to be a week's supply of muffins. "See you tomorrow, Cup!" Derpy called from around her bags, which were stacked high enough to obstruct her view. Oh, I see, breakfast, of course it’s just for breakfast. She was mightily impressed at the volume Mrs. Hooves could consume. Even accounting for her two children, that was an impressive feat.

She gently spoke up. "Please excuse me, Mrs. Hooves. I know it may be hard to see me around your bags."

Derpy swiveled her head, her eyes focusing on what was ahead of her with concentration. "Oh, good morning, Rarity!"

Rarity smiled. "Would you, perhaps, like a bit of help distributing those amongst your saddle bags, dear?"

Derpy grinned sheepishly. "I suppose that would have been a better idea than walking around with my hooves full of bags, huh?"

Rarity chuckled, lifting the bags carefully. Goodness, six dozen muffins? Derpy opened the bags with her wings and Rarity deposited three bags to each side. "There we are, dear. Tell Dinky Sweetie Belle says hi."

Derpy smiled. "Will do, Rarity!" She left the store and took off, a little unsteadily.

Rarity walked up to the counter, smiling at Cup. She considered her choices, and finally decided on a few croissants for herself. Better make that six, Fluttershy may have been too busy with her friends to feed herself. She added two strawberry tarts to the order. As an afterthought, she added a slice of carrot cake as well. The little white rabbit's dislike for her was no mystery. She sometimes wondered if Angel liked anypony except Fluttershy. She sighed; she sometimes wondered if Opal liked anypony but Fluttershy as well. Of late, she had been trying to get on the rabbit's good side with little treats here and there. At the least, it seemed he tolerated her presence a bit more.

After giving her order, she leaned in close to Cup conspiratorially. "Is Pinkie available? Or shall I knock first?"

Cup gave her a surprised look. "You may want to knock, just to be safe..."

Rarity nodded, taking her bag in her magic. She began her ascent up the stairs.





Rarity approached the door, and was about to knock when voices drifted through it.

"Arrrr, raise the mizzen mast, yo ho! Laddies, I be calling first dibs. C'mere, ya wench!"

"Please, Captain Sparkle, I am but a poor maiden trying to make her way to her beloved! Do not shame me so!"

"Ah, lass, have no fear. I would ne'er harm thee. Come, I will teach thee a thing or two to make the fine lad smile!"

"Oh no!" This was followed by the sounds of cloth tearing, and giggles.

Blushing furiously, Rarity decided to give them a few more moments.





When the commotion inside had calmed down, she gently knocked. Hushed voices spoke to one another. She heard the rushed sounds of somepony hurriedly making themselves presentable. Pinkie's voice spoke up, just a little breathless. "Who is it?"

Rarity raised her voice just a bit. "It's Rarity, darling. Could I trouble you a moment?"

The door opened a bit, Pinkie peeked through. Her hair was a bit mussed, for Pinkie Pie anyway, and she was wearing a torn peasant costume. "Oh! Hi, Rarity!”

Rarity smiled at her friend graciously. "Are you certain you don't need a moment to freshen up? Your blouse appears to be a bit torn."

Pinkie smiled sheepishly. "I'll be fine, come in. Twilight has to leave to go open the library anyway."

The door was opened and Rarity stepped in. Pinkie was removing the shredded remnants of the blouse and skirt. Twilight was the deepest shade of red that purple could get. She hadn't felt this embarrassed since Celestia had caught her with a collection of anatomy books under her bed. Twilight kissed Pinkie goodbye and walked towards the door, hurrying out before the inevitable questions began. Rarity gently rose her voice to get her attention before she left. "Darling, you seem to have forgotten something."

Twilight looked around in alarm. "What?"

Rarity pointed a hoof to her eye. She gave Twilight a knowing look. "You may want to remove the eye-patch, dear."

Twilight blushed an even deeper red. "Oh, I managed to hurt my eye again. I was checking the sky for a star that comes out very near dawn. I got the sun in my lens..."

Rarity tittered. "Whatever you say, ‘Captain’ Sparkle."

Twilight stammered. Rarity laid a hoof on her shoulder. "Only teasing, dear. In all seriousness though, you seem to be getting a bit rough with your costumes. Do drop by the shop with them sometime and I will repair them. If you like, I can provide you with a few more as well."

Pinkie clasped her hooves together, her eyes twinkling, "That would be awesome! I was thinking a nice princess dress and a suit of armor—"

Twilight muttered something that may have been thanking her. She took the eye-patch off, handing it to Pinkie, who placed it inside her mane. She gave Pinkie one last kiss and trotted down the stairs.

Rarity laid her bag down on the floor. Turning to Pinkie, she smiled warmly. "So, things are going well, I take it?"

Pinkie’s smile took a small downturn, from an eleven to about a nine. "Better now. Talking with you really got me thinking about what I wanted. I decided just playing around all the time wasn't good enough, so I broke up with her."

Rarity looked flummoxed. "But you... and her.... Dear, at the risk of stating the obvious I have to say I think you're doing it wrong!" Please tell me I did not cause more heartache amongst my friends! 

Pinkie's smiled went back to an eleven. "Well, duh! That's why I broke up with her. You can't ask somepony out if you're already dating them. That would just be silly!"

Rarity just sat down heavily. "What?"

Pinkie went on, wrapped up in her own little world. "Sometimes you just have to stop doing it wrong and then start over. I mean, if I added a cup of salt instead of sugar to my cupcakes, I can't fix that with a cup full of sugar. I know, because I tried that once, and those cupcakes were awful. No, if you mess up bad, you have to toss it out and make a new batch."

Rarity nodded, beginning to get the sense of it now. "Well, I am very happy for you two. That was a surprisingly well-thought-out conclusion to come to." For Pinkie Pie anyway. Still, one cannot argue results... 

Pinkie grinned. "So how about you and 'Shy? How did it go?"

Rarity grimaced. "Not so well, I'm afraid. I did a little thinking of my own after my dreadful display during the party..."

Pinkie stopped her. "What was that about, anyway?"

Rarity grinned nervously. "Um... I sort of jumped to a bad conclusion after we talked. I decided since they weren't in a passionate embrace, Fluttershy must have been crying because she'd been rejected. I... did not react well to that thought."

Pinkie cursed inwardly.

Rarity hung her head. "Then I saw Applejack kissing Rainbow Dash. All I could think was how this wretched farmpony had turned down the love of poor sweet Fluttershy, and I just lost control of myself. You saw the result."

Pinkie bit her lip and looked away from her friend, her eyes watery and unfocused.





"And you were doing so well." She chided Twilight disapprovingly. 

Twilight spat out the dirt she had swallowed. "This was so stupid, I could have saved Fluttershy and Rarity days of heartache, just by telling them to talk to each other!" 

Pinkie shook her head. "It wasn't your place. Sometimes ponies need somepony to confide in. They need to know that their confidence won't be broken. Losing their trust is not worth it, even if it might hurt to watch something happen you could have stopped." 





She still believed that! At times, however, times like these, she wished she hadn't been asked to keep a confidence. A little information would have prevented this. "I'm sorry, Rarity."

Rarity raised her head in surprise, she had never intended Pinkie to feel the least responsibility. "Darling, you have nothing to be sorry for! I was the selfish, jealous brute. I overreacted to something I knew nothing about!"

Pinkie nodded, her eyes still teary. "If I had just told you... but I couldn't at the time. They asked me to keep it a secret, I swore! Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise."

Rarity looked at her morose friend. "You knew... You knew Applejack and Rainbow were together?"

Pinkie sniffed loudly.

Rarity seethed, that lack of information might have cost her... Cost me what exactly? It's true I would not have made an ass of myself, but the flaws in my personality lead me to overreact. I am just... bad at love. 

She reached a hoof over Pinkie's shoulders. "There there, none of that now. As you said, you had sworn to keep it secret. That very trustworthiness is why I sought you out to begin with. I cannot fault you for keeping other ponies’ confidences, even if it might have allowed me to avoid embarrassment. My actions are no reflection on you."

Pinkie nodded sadly, she couldn't do anything about it now. "So, you were thinking after the party..."

Rarity nodded. "Yes... I decided against telling her. When I explained what happened at the party, I told her I loved her as a friend. I just feel she needs somepony nicer than me. She's very precious to me. What if I hurt her someday? I could not live with myself if I made her cry. So I decided I would help her find somepony worthy of her instead." She laughed ruefully. "You know, she actually said she wished she could find somepony like me to be with. My heart fairly leapt at the thought."

Pinkie just looked at Rarity, utterly dumbfounded. How could anypony be so blind? "She told you she wants to be with somepony like you, and you didn't tell her how you felt?!"

Rarity backed away slightly, looking slightly wounded. "I couldn't have! Don't you see? She deserves better!"

Pinkie nodded impatiently, not in agreement with the sentiment but wanting to dig more out of her friend. Rarity was not telling her everything, her left haunch had a particular twitch that told her when somepony was holding back something important. "We’ll talk about what she deserves in a second, right now I want to know what else you aren't telling me."

Rarity looked a bit ashamed. "I couldn't quite bear to keep my feelings bottled up anymore, so I wrote her a love letter. I left it for her, on her door. I pinned it there with a rose. I-I made up a name on the spot. She might write back, so please, if you get any mail under the name Elusive..."

Pinkie considered, then brightened as a thought struck her. "Rarity, that's it! You just need to tell her it was you who wrote it! She already said she wants to be with somepony like you, right? Who is more like you than you?"

Rarity shook her head sadly. "I can't—"

Pinkie shoved a hoof in her mouth. "Listen, stop doing this to yourself. You are not a bad pony for overreacting. Nopony is perfect. 'Shy deserves somepony exactly like you."

Rarity just shook her head again.

Pinkie kept her hoof in place till she was done. "Who stood up for her against Applejack, the pony most likely to be able to break your face if you insulted her?"

Rarity, finally able to speak, said, "I did."

Pinkie prompted further. "Who cheered her on during her fashion show, when she felt so frustrated with fashion she tried to throw it all away?"

Rarity, a little louder, said, "I did."

Pinkie, with even more energy, said: "Who kept her from feeling bad about wanting to stop her fashion career?"

"I did!"

Pinkie nodded. "Who loves her more than you?"

Rarity was getting excited now. "Nopony, that's who!"

Pinkie stood up and cheered. She pulled pom poms out of nowhere and shook them in the air. "Now, who's gonna go tell Fluttershy how she feels?!"

Rarity shouted: "I am!"

Pinkie cheered louder. "I can't hear you!"

"I am!"

Pinkie grinned from ear to ear. "That's right! Now go kiss that mare!"

Rarity practically flew down the stairs. A few moments later she came back upstairs.

Pinkie looked exasperated. "What now?"

Rarity grinned nervously. "I... forgot my breakfast."

Pinkie shoved the bag into her hooves. "Go!"

Rarity bolted downstairs. She had a pink-maned beauty to confess to. Now if only I can manage to string two words together without freezing up...