The Dishonest Truth

by Arbiter Balemead

Walks Are Nice

Fluttershy finished her shower as quickly as possible and flew downstairs to check on all the animals. She fed the birds, watered the plants, and prepared a dinner for Angel. All the other animals fed themselves dinner, so there was no need to take care of that. All that was left no was to wait. She sat patiently on the couch, wishing that Celestia would let the day go just a liiiittle bit faster today.

"Oh why does waiting have to be so-" KNOCK KNOCK. That was her! She flew to the door in a yellow blur, took a moment to compose herself, and opened the door.

"Howdy, Shy." Applejack said as she opened the door. She had a saddlebag on and, as Fluttershy began eying it, she saw fit to explain. "It's jus' a few things Ah brought along fer a picnic. Ya know 'cause it wouldn' be a proper d-... get together without dinner." That moment of hesitation... Fluttershy couldn't figure out what it was. She'd almost said something else, but Fluttershy had no clue what it was.

"I guess not. Uhm... do you want to eat now or...?" She asked.

"Nah. Ah think we should walk fer a bit first."

"O-okay."

An hour later they were trotting through Whitetail Wood. They were walking along the very path taken in the Running of The Leaves. Applejack kept glancing at Fluttershy and then around in an odd manner that kept confusing the shy pegasus. She had a secret of her own to tell but couldn't imagine doing so with all this curiosity.

"I-is something wrong, Applejack?"

"Huh? Ah uh... Ah was jus' thinkin', why?"

"Well, you seem a little...edgy." She said suspiciously.

"Edgy? Whadya mean?"

"You keep looking at me then looking around like you don't want to look at me."

"But I do wa-" But she cut herself off. Her cheeks flared red as she looked away.

"What?" Fluttershy half-laughed. "Wh-what were you going to say?"

"Nuthin'."

"Applejack?"

"Ya?"

"Your a bad liar, you know." She paused then added, "I'm sorry, was that too mean?"

"Ah know Ah am...listen Ah need to tell ya somethin'..."

"Uhm...C-can I go first, please? I-if that's okay?"

"Uh...sure thing, sugarcube."

"U-uhm...well, I uh... I *ahem*...Maybe you should go first." She said weakly.

"Oh... Uh, Ah uhm....Ah think yuuuur...." She stretched the word out as she suddenly changed her mind on what to say. A sudden deep, rolling, rumble could be heard from Fluttershy's stomach. "... about ready to eat." She said, silently thanking Celestia for a way out.

Fluttershy eyed her for a moment, then walked over to a nearby clearing and stood in the grass, Applejack only a step behind her. Applejack set out the blanket and laid out some dishes and foods. When she sat down Fluttershy sat down next to her, rather than across from her. Fluttershy scooted an inch closer, then looked at her nervously.

"I-it's a little cold out." It wasn't really, but Applejack wasn't about to point that out.

"So uhm... Ah was wonderin' what it was you were gonna say." Applejack asked as she served then each a daffodil sandwich.

"I'm still wondering what YOU were gonna say." Fluttershy replied playfully. Applejack let out a puff of laughter and bumped Fluttershy with her shoulder. Rather than cow down or shy away, Fluttershy bumped back. They both giggled a bit before locking eyes.

They continued staring into each others eyes for a moment before they both began to lean into each other. Their eyes slipped shut and their lips were only inches apart. Then they-

"HI GUYS!!!"

Pinkie barged through the bushes around the clearing and emerged between the two. They had pulled back, both of their faces flaming with a blush. Fluttershy started brushing her mane to cover her face while Applejack simply tilted her hat to had her eyes.

"Oh. Am I intruding? I think I took the wrong trail this afternoon." She said eying the bushes she'd just come through angrily. "Oh wait! I didn't use a trail today! That's why I got lost!"

"Pinkie, what're y'all doin' here?"

"Oh, I go for a walk through Whitetail once a week. It always reminds me of the story my granny used to tell me about Clavicus Pie. He was a mighty warrior who went to battle against the dreaded Legion of-"

"Pinkie, not that we don' wanna hear yer story, but now is not a good time. Would ya mind jus' keepin' on yer walk?"

"Okay!" She said before bouncing along on the trail.

"*sigh* So...Ah uh..."

"I think I know what you were going to say."

"Heh... uh yeah."

"Were we going to... uhm..."

"Ah think so. Do you still wan-" She was cut off by a pair of soft lips on her own. After a moment of surprise, her eyes slid shut as she sank into a shared bliss. Seconds passed as the two silently enjoyed this lovers' bliss. But, like all good things, this sadly had to end. After all, one needs to breath.

"Yes." Fluttershy whispered quietly.

Happiness can be infectious. Whether the infected no what the infecter is happy about or not, it can spread easily with a smile or a hug. If there are two happy ponies trotting through a park, the happiness is bound spread like wild fire.

Such is the effect the Elements of Kindness and Honesty had on their way to... truth be told neither knew where they were going. They were just happy to be in each others company. And so they trotted happily through Ponyville. It occurred to Fluttershy suddenly that it may be smart to tell the other girls about this.

The two made a stop at Sugar Cube Corner for some cupcakes and sat at a booth. They ate in a companionable silence for a moment, then Fluttershy spoke up.

"So uhm... If we're together now, should we tell the girls?"

"Well Ah'm sure that RD'll pick up on it. Ah kinda told her Ah had a crush on ya a few days ago."

"Really? I told her today... well her and Rarity."

"Rarity? Heh, Ah bet Rainbow went to her fer help with me."

"Okay... So do you think Twilight doesn't know?"

"Ah don' much care how many of 'em knew we LIKED each other, what matters now is that they know we're together. Ah'm thinkin' tomorrow at lunch er somethin'..."

"How will we invite them?" Unbeknownst to them a certain pink mare was in the kitchen. Her left ear twitched twice then she sneezed and she knew. In a blurry pink flash she was suddenly beside the two with a huge grin on her face.

"Who do you need to invite and to what?" She asked cheerily.

"Ah-uh... How did you know we-"

"My left ear twitched twice then I sneezed. That meant somepony needed help with invitations. It's a good thing I sneezed, actually, because if I hadn't that would've meant that somepony had a serious case of dia-"

"Pinkie. Can ya jus' invite the girls ta lunch tomorrow fer us?" Applejack interrupted.

"Sure thing." She said, standing on her hind legs and saluting. Then she ran up to her room to make the invitations.

"Phew! So... Now that that's taken care of, what next?" Applejack asked turning to face Fluttershy again. As she did so she was surprised with a quick peck on the lips from the pegasus.

"Ah hope that becomes a regular thing with ya, sugarcube." She said, grinning.

"Me too."

Comments

[Arbiter Balemead]

Hat-trick! I just typed this whole chapter in one day after finishing a 3000 word chapter on my other story. I don't feel like i rushed it either. It just came to me but oh well. I think one or two more chapters and this story is done. hope you've enjoyed the as much as I have. Which is a lot despite my previous comment about enjoying my other story more.

[fallen starr]

Aww. Loved it! It's just soo cute and I loved the added bit with Pinkie and her Pinkie Sense. And that is pretty impressive, 3000+words in a day. And it didn't feel rushed at all, really. Can't wait to see everyone's reactions.