//------------------------------//
// 05 : The End(?) 
// Story: Seasons: Falling Leaves 
// by Wodahseht 
//------------------------------//

Five weeks had passed and there were now far more leaves on the ground than on the trees when Sunset and Fluttershy met up for what had become a twice-weekly affair. Their meet-ups had gotten shorter as the weather grew progressively colder, and they'd come to the mutual conclusion that this would be their last visit to the pond until spring. The water had been too cold for either of them to stand for more than a few minutes the previous week, and now every breeze made them shiver despite sitting in the sunlight.

There was still a level of enjoyment and peace to be found in the surroundings, but this time there was a slight air of depression about the both of them. These sessions had come to mean something special for them. Now more than just an escape, but also a chance to bond.

Sunset greatly enjoyed getting to better know her usually silent friend, and Fluttershy reveled in the chance to talk without being overlooked or spoken over. The quiet of the setting meant that both could speak in the near whispers that Fluttershy was most comfortable with and still be clearly heard and understood.

Fluttershy could feel the evening getting cool enough that she knew this session was coming to an end and sighed. "I'm going to miss this. I always feel a little lonelier in the winter. Getting to spend time with you like this would have been nice."

Sunset smiled over at her in reassurance, "We can still meet up other places. And if you want privacy we can just meet at your place or mine. Nothing says we couldn't lose the clothes there too."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy's eyes went wide and she shook her head sharply, "I couldn't possible do this at my place. It's usually pretty quiet, but sometimes people just show up at random to ask for help with a pet."

"Oh... Well, that still leaves my place. It's not the biggest in the community, but I never get people poking around either."

"I guess that'd work...and it would be nice not to have to wait for spring..."

She trailed off into silence to enjoy the last moment here and let her mind drift. Unfortunately, time quickly came for them to dress up and head home. Once dressed, they both turned one last time to look over the pond and at the view of semi-bare trees and the more distant mountains. They might not be ending the get-togethers, but they were saying goodbye to this spot for a while...and neither was going to pretend that there wasn't some sadness in that fact.

Finally, they turned as one and started to head back, hand-in-hand: a silent reassurance to each other that they weren't moving into winter alone. And when they came to their split in the path they parted with a hug.

Fall was coming to an end.


*****


The two were completely unaware that they'd had an audience for their walk.

Rainbow Dash had slipped into the back orchards scouting out in advance a good napping tree for spring. She wanted one that would give her a good view of the farm, but that was far enough out she wouldn't be noticed while the leaves were still trying to fill in.

Some might think it weird to plan for a spring napping place this far in advance. And they might especially think it weird that that place was going to be a tree, but it wasn't just meant for napping after all. It was also for scouting (not spying mind you!).

Of course, it wasn't like she needed the edge of knowing Applejack's strengths and weaknesses for when they had their competitions. It was just so she knew how much to tone back her amazing skills so she didn't make Applejack feel bad when she lost, that's all!

All that aside, Rainbow Dash had found what she thought would be a good tree for the job. It was far enough out that she couldn't actually see the farmhouse, even from her position in the branches a good twenty or thirty feet up, but she did have a good view of a wide span of the working orchard which meant there'd be plenty of chance to see Applejack at work.

She stood up from the cradle in the branches that she'd been assessing the view from with the intention of climbing down, but she caught motion in the corner of her eye. When she shifted to look she saw two very familiar heads of hair. Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy were standing on the near side of a distant pond. A clump of evergreen bushes blocked most of her view of them, but she could clearly make out that they were topless!

Whoa! What're they up to?

She watched as they got dressed then turned to look out over the pond for a bit before starting her way hand-in-hand. She ducked back behind the trunk of the tree, suddenly very loath to have them know she'd seen them. Especially if they'd actually been up to what she thought they had been.

The nearly complete lack of leaves on the tree meant that pretty much her only protection from being spotted was the trunk of the tree (luckily a fairly thick one). Her adrenaline spiked as the two passed within touching distance of her tree, but they didn't look up and she carefully eased herself around to the other side of the tree once she thought they'd gone far enough they wouldn't hear her.

Once she'd ensured she had good footing, she peeked out and saw them hug and part ways shortly before the orchard began.

It was only after they were both out of sight that Rainbow Dash began to relax and settled herself as comfortably as possible in the tree to think.

Fluttershy and Sunset? When did that happen?

She had to find out more, but asking either of them was out of the question. For one, that just wasn't her style. And second, asking Fluttershy was likely to fluster her so bad she couldn't answer...and there was no telling if Sunset would answer. No, the best plan of attack was obviously to find out herself.

Looks like I've got some scouting to do, she thought with a grin.