An Adventure in Love

by IAreBrony

Entrustment and Interrogation

Zipping in and out of trees, Dash flew to her fellow pegasus's ground home. After hitting herself in the face a couple times, she accepted that she had made a foal out of herself. Oh ponyfeathers, I bet Applejack thinks I'm some kind of weird pervert. She just looked so amazing. . . Stupid wings! Why can't you just cooperate for once! She asked, looking back at her rapidly moving wings. When she faced forward again, a tree was quickly coming to intercept her flight and she had to throw herself out of the way at the last second.

Okay, maybe you're not so bad. She admitted, thanking her wings for helping her avoid disaster. Once again, she began to ponder her feelings for Applejack. She's my best friend, and I love her like a friend. But then again, I love Fluttershy like a friend, and I don't spend hours thinking about her. . . Speaking of which, she's probably a good pony to talk to about all this. I'll tell her all about it when I get to her house. Dash decided as Fluttershy's cottage came into view through the trees.

A house built from an old oak tree sat at the edge of the Everfree Forest; it certainly was a strange place for a pegasus to live. But then again, Fluttershy had never been much of a flier and she sure did love her furry little friends.

Landing at the start to the trail that led up to the cottage, Rainbow Dash began to second guess herself. What if she takes it worse than Applejack would? What if she thinks I'm some kind of freak? Dash began to panic. No. Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness. She's always been there for me, this will be no different. Dash decided, steeling her resolve to tell somepony.

Knocking on the front door confidently, Rainbow heard a startled squeak inside followed by some shuffling sounds. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Big Macintosh. "Oh, hay, Big Mac. What're you doin' here?" Dash asked, cocking her head to the side to express her confusion.

"Nothin'. Ah was never here, yah hear?" Big Mac asked, more rhetorically than actually asking.

"Yeah, of course. See ya, big guy," Rainbow said as Big Macintosh galloped off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. "Weird," she said, watching the stallion as he ran. She failed to notice as a yellow hoof reached for her shoulder. She cried out as she was thrown inside. She landed upside down against a table, her dizzy mind barely catching Fluttershy closing the door quickly.

Righting herself and shaking her thoughts loose, Rainbow turned to face Fluttershy who was now sitting across the table sipping herbal tea.

"What was that about, Fluttershy?" Dash inquired, unused to seeing her yellow friend so jumpy.

"Oh, umm, nothing. Nothing at all, Dash. . ." Fluttershy mumbled, seeing the disbelief on Dash's face.

"Fluttershy, you can be open with me. Celestia knows, I need some openness right about now," Dash pleaded.

"Okay, okay. You just can't tell Applejack, okay?" Fluttershy begged of her long-time friend.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Dash quoted, making all of Pinkie Pie's ridiculous gestured as well.

"Alright. . . Macintosh and I are. . . Well, umm, we. . . Are seeing each other," Fluttershy squeaked, barely audible.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy, I didn't catch that," Dash prodded, now on the edge of her seat.

"We're seeing each other. Like, a couple," Fluttershy whispered, blushing a deep red.

"Ohmygosh, that's great! I'm so happy for you guys! So how long?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend.

Upon seeing that Dash wasn't being judgmental, Fluttershy's color returned to normal. "About a month now," she admitted.

"Wow, you guys kept it a secret all this time? That's amazing. But why was he here?" Dash investigated, hoping to find more information on the topic, forgetting her own issue for the time.

"We decided it was better to keep it a secret to avoid bringing Applejack into it. The last thing either of us wants is for her to worry about her big brother and her friend being together. So we meet here every couple days, to eat dinner together, or go for walks in the forest, or just enjoy each other's company. . ." Fluttershy told her astounded companion, clearly becoming lost in the memories of the topic.

Grinning widely, Dash threw in a startling question. "So, you find out why they call him 'Big' Macintosh yet?" She jokingly elbowed her friend in the side.

Fluttershy grew such a deep crimson that Dash could swear all the blood in her body was in her face at that very moment. Rainbow collapsed on the floor with wild laughter, causing her pegasus friend to hide her face in her hooves.

When she regained her composure, Dash wiped tears from her eyes to find Fluttershy in this state. She immediately felt guilty, and wrapped her wing around her friend. "Hay, I was just joking, c'mon," Dash pleaded.

Out of nowhere, she received a quick elbow to the gut, pushing her from her seat. While holding her stomach, she looked up to see Fluttershy smiling and sticking her tongue out toward Dash. Rainbow picked herself up off the floor, knowing her friend had hit her out of love.

"Well, that's all the answer I needed," Dash said, poking at Fluttershy's buttons again. She busted out laughing again and Fluttershy tackled her to the ground. They began rolling back and forth in the kitchen, laughing their heads off. After a few minutes, they rolled apart and were breathing heavily.

Lying on the floor, looking at the wooden boards of the ceiling, Fluttershy quietly answered, "Yes," and then rose from the ground. Shocked beyond words, Dash stared at her, mouth hanging wide open.

"Really? Wow! You guys! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" She questioned, receiving no answer. With the small smile on Fluttershy's face, it was clear her friend would not speak another word of it.

"Now, Dash, I know you don't just drop in for visits, although I sometimes wish you did. What's on your mind?" The yellow pegasus inquired, bringing Dash back to her own reality.

"Oh, right, that. . . Well you see. . . Nah, forget it. I'll just go home," Rainbow said, starting to move for the door. However, a glare from her friend sat her right back down at the table where she began.

"I. . . Umm. . . We'll I don't know if this is news or anything, but I feel like I should tell you first that I'm. . . A fillyfooler. . ." she whispered. The second it left her mouth, she felt a silky pink mane occupying the space there the words had just been as well as a crushing grip around her abdomen.

"Oh, Dash, I'm so proud of you! It takes a lot of courage to tell somepony that, and I'm honored you told me!" Fluttershy told her friend, still wrapping her in an embrace.

"Oh, yeah. No problem," Dash said as Fluttershy allowed her to breathe again. "I had to tell somepony first." This also earned her a crushing hug.

"Oh my, you came to me first! I'm so glad you trust me so much!" Fluttershy said, hopping up and down with the cyan pegasus.

"Down, filly, down!" Dash told her, trying to extract herself from the hug. "That's not all I have to say," she admitted, and Fluttershy immediately let go.

"Oh my, please do go on. You can tell me anything, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said, looking Dash square in the eye.

"I think. . . I think I may have fallen for another mare, too."

"Well of course you did. That's what happens when you like mares. So who is it?" Fluttershy pried quietly.

"Well, you see. . . It's Applejack," Dash told her, quickly throwing her hooves up to narrowly block another crushing hug.

"Oh that's just wonderful! I'm so happy for you two!"

"Well, you see, she doesn't know I like her. . . Or even that I'm a. . . That I like mares," she said, unwilling to use the slur 'fillyfooler' again.

"Oh my, I think I understand. You're scared to tell her, aren't you?" Fluttershy asked, hoping she wasn't pushing the envelope.

All Dash could answer with was a slight sniffle and burying her head in her hooves. Walking over to her saddened friend, it was Fluttershy's turn to wrap a wing around her companion. "It's alright, Dash. We all get scared of what others think sometimes. . ." Fluttershy told her. When Rainbow saw her kind friend's warming smile, she wiped the small tears from her eyes and hugged Fluttershy in a truly heartfelt embrace.

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was exhausted. She had finished her whole section for the day in a matter of hours, only to find her brother's work completely uncompleted. Cursing him the whole way through, Applejack bucked every last one of Big Macintosh's apples as well. Just minutes after she had taken all the apples back to the barn and poured herself a tall glass of apple cider, he came running into the kitchen.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up. Where yah been, big bro?" Applejack asked, narrowing her accusing eyes at Big Macintosh.

"Well, yah see, Ah, umm. . . Ah was out for a walk around the orchard," her brother lied. He had not expected Applejack to be waiting for him, and the tone in her voice made him feel uneasy.

"Mhm. A walk. An' since when does a walk take all day? Ah mean, you must have been gone all day, 'cause none o' yer trees were bucked," the mare reasoned, taking a step toward Macintosh.

"Oh, well Ah was just out fer a walk just now. Ah was. . . Was. . ." Big Mac scrambled for another lie, but his panicking mind offered up none. "Oh, Ah shoulda known you'd figure it out sooner or later."

"Figure out what? What're yah tryin' to tell me here?" Applejack interrogated, more confused than before.

"Oh, umm, Ah. . ." He said, tempted to throw out another lie in order to keep the ruse going. Sighing, he realized he couldn't keep lying to his sister and just told her the truth. "Well, fer about two months now, Ah been skippin' on mah work every few days. Yah never seemed to notice, so Ah snuck out at night an' got it all done."

"Two whole months! Well, where in Equestria yah been off to fer all this time?" Applejack inquired, astonished.

"Well, Ah was walkin' 'round the orchard one day when Ah come across yer yellow friend, Miss Fluttershy. She was mighty stuck, got her head caught in a gopher hole. Gentlecolt Ah am, Ah pulled her out, an' she told me how grateful she was. Even with all that dirt she got on her face, she sure was beautiful," Macintosh said, remembering the time fondly. "She invited me back to that nice little cottage o' hers and treated me to dinner. Ah told her we should do it again sometime, 'cause Ah sure did like havin' her around."

"Mhm. That's great an' all, but what's this got to do with yah slackin' on yer work?" Applejack inquired, rather bluntly.

"Ah'm getting' to that," Big Mac snapped, probably the quickest Applejack had ever seen him respond. She figured it must be real important, so she shut up. "Ah started sneakin' off to go see her, just to go do whatever. After 'bout a month o' that, Ah asked her if she'd like to start goin' steady, old fashioned as Ah am. Why, she nearly squeezed the life outta me, she was so excited. So after that, we started seein' each other every couple days, and the occasional night. Ah guess Ah'm just tryin' to say that Ah'm sorry Ah'm 'datin'' yer friend without tellin' yah," he admitted, leaving Applejack speechless.

"Why, Mac, Ah don't know what to say. Ah'm disappointed yah took so darn long to tell me, but Ah'm so happy you two found each other," she told her brother, bringing him in close. "But don't yah dare hurt her, she's the sweetest, most innocent li'l pony yah ever did meet."

"Oh Ah understand, an' Ah don't ever want to hurt Shy. . . Although, Ah ain't so sure on that innocent part, little sis," Big Mac said, grinning. He barely dodged the cider tossed at him as he bolted out the door, laughing like mad.

Running over to the door, Applejack called out, "Why, you dirty good-fer-nothin', yah owe me big time fer this one!" The whole time, she was smiling; thankful her brother had found somepony to fall in love with. She was sure as sugar that he would fall for her, if he hadn't already. She was so excited, she forgot about her exhaustion and began thinking of whom she could tell. She decided she would tell her best friend and secret crush, Rainbow Dash, if for no other reason than to be close to her one more time. With that, her work caught up to her again and she began to wobble. Oh mah head. Ah'm just gonna go to bed. Don't want a repeat of this morning. Applejack then trotted up the stairs to her room and fell asleep the moment she hit the bed.

Comments

[Pidgeons]

"Dash inquired, unused to seeing her yellow friend so jumpy."

the first thing wrong with this is that it was in reference to Fluttershy. When in the hay has Fluttershy NOT been jumpy? Secondly, she didn't seem jumpy to me. She was just sitting there drinking tea. o.0

"causing her pegasus friend"
--Dash is a pegasus too. I never liked it when characters used labels to refer to their friends in their thoughts in the first place.....but you got a pegasus labeling her friend with 'pegasus'. It would be like me reffering to someone as my male friend, or my American friend, or my gamer-fanatic friend. All of things which I am so it would just be weird for me to use those labels to reference someone else. You could use another adjective, or no adjective at all, or simply say "fellow pegasus" rather than "pegasus friend".

I don't really see Fluttershy elbowing anyone, even out of love (and especially, actually. That style of playfulness is just a bit out of character for her) Same goes for the tackle, though it was really cute.

It's a nice touch that you're treating the "lesbian" thing with a bit more realism than most stories do. Most of the shipfics I read play it off as if nopony would ever bat an eye on it. As if all of Equestria is bisexual anyway, so a mare being attracted to another mare never raises eyebrows and never causes one to be concerned about coming out.

Oh my god. Big Mac is plowing Fluttershy's fields O.O
I'm glad I wasn't drinking soda when I read about that. lol

[Itsurmajesty12]