What Does This Mean?

Friendship is magic, they said. That was their reason, every time Pinkamena Diane Pie asked as a filly what the point was in bonding with other ponies at school. She lives in a depressed rock farm, they reasoned. She doesn't understand laughter and happiness, and she never will.

Imagine their shock when "Pinkie Pie" bounded into the classroom on what was supposed to be an ordinary Monday, her mane poofed up in wild, tangled curls, flowing behind her like air, her color intensity turned up into brighter shades of pink, three lightly-colored balloons adorning her flank, talking endlessly about this "new discovery" she showed her family the other day (which was just a party), and, the most unusual sight of all, a wide, goofy, side-cocked grin.

Finally, after what felt like hours, but what must have only been a few minutes, the little filly finished her story of her complete 180 in appearance and attitude, finishing it off with a grand and profound "And that's how Equestria was made!"

That was the first time Applejack noticed this filly. And there was something about her, the way she carried herself, her energy, her carefree style, her "screw-you" persona, that drew Applejack in. She couldn't explain it, and found it too difficult to bother trying.

--SIX YEARS LATER--

Pinkie's gasp echoed off of the buildings in Ponyville (which shouldn't be possible, but anyway), and the young mare had left in a blur of bright pink, leaving the awkward, skinny young Pegasus newcomer utterly confused and mortified. And it certainly didn't help that the orange one was still there, standing at an even greater height than Fluttershy, her stocky build causing the winged mare to fall shorter still. But despite her intimidating build, her smile radiated warmth.

"Howdy doo, miss. I'm Applejack, and it's a pleasure to meet ya. Sorry about Pinkie Pie, she tends to get over-excited about the new ponies that come 'round Ponyville." Applejack reached out to shake Fluttershy's hoof, and the Pegasus reluctantly accepted the gesture, and instantly regretted it as the farmer gal began to shake at a ridiculously fast face, leaving Fluttershy numb and dizzy after it was over.

Despite the awkward beginnings, Applejack and Fluttershy soon found themselves drawn to each other, again in a strange, almost paranormal way. They had instantly clicked, they understood each other, they shared a common love and admiration for the great Nature. And Applejack kept mentioning Pinkie Pie, how she was her "best friend", how Fluttershy "had to meet her properly", and that the two would "get along better than two sheep in the same pasture". Fluttershy could only smile and nod meekly, and take her new friend's word for it.

--ONE MORE YEAR LATER--

It was now, in the midst of frosting cupcakes, that Pinkie's thoughts were brought here. She would always muse while on her job, the task of baking was so mundane that her body simply went through the commands on autopilot while her brain was somewhere else, usually pondering the meaning of life, what Nature has in store for her, whether Pinkie Sense actually is something she made up and she had been lying to herself and everypony this whole time, and whether or not she left the oven on. No, she specifically remembered turning the oven off, she had done so five seconds ago. But did she really turn the oven off or was her memory playing tricks on her? Did her body randomly quantum-jump into another universe where the oven was still on? What makes the oven "on" or "off"? Even before Pinkie realized her destiny, she asked such far-fetched questions, her favorite at the time being "Why do I have to make friends anyway?"

But thinking about who she was before she had seen the rainbow, and then the rainbow itself, and then showing her new, enlightened self off to the ponies at school and confusing absolutely everypony, reminded her of the time she had her first conversation with her very best friend, Applejack. It was on the train ride to Canterlot for that one field trip, where the only two seats available for her and Applejack were right next to each other, how quickly they had hit it off, and how they had quickly planned a sleepover intended for them to bond even further. The only other pony that could ever get nearly as close to Pinkie since then was Fluttershy, the pony that Applejack had introduced into their group fairly recently. She was quiet but thoughtful, usually doing her own thing but always ready to chill with her besties. She was super cool.

Suddenly, another thought invaded Pinkie's mind.

"So, Pinkie, is Applejack your marefriend?"

"What? No! We're best friends! We're not dating!"

"Then why are you always leaning on her shoulder?"

"I'm just an affectionate pony ---"

"You act hyper masculine when in public with her."

"I'm pretty sure you gave her bedroom eyes the other day, or is my mind playing tricks on you?"

"Is it true that you've had sex with her?"

Pinkie shook her head violently, trying to purge the memory from her conscious. So what if it looked like she was dating Applejack? She definitely wasn't. And yes, maybe they accidentally had sex that one time they were drunk, but they vowed to never discuss it. That didn't mean other ponies made the same vow, however. Pinkie sighed in frustration. Was it really possible to be that intimate with a pony and still be friends? Why did she have sexual feelings for so many ponies, even Fluttershy, who was asexual in every way? And yet despite this, she was not overly interested in romance? There was surely another explanation, and she was going to find it.

---

Golden Oaks Library was rumored to be owned by Princess Celestia herself. Nopony lived there or worked there, all the Ponyville residents simply came, hung out and checked out books as they pleased, yet still every day the library was somehow completely cleaned and organized, even though every single pony in Ponyville swore that they weren't doing it. One of the many odd things about Ponyville, it seemed. Yet it was the place with lots of answers, a Tree of Knowing, a source of comfort to the troubled mind. And this is where Fluttershy had received her vast treasure of information about the LGBT+ community. So it came as no surprise that she had a fairly good answer to Pinkie's burning question for her and Applejack:

"We are in a queerplatonic relationship."

This reply earned her two looks of confusion. Fluttershy smirked at her friends' adorable ignorance before elaborating.

"Basically it is a relationship that is not romantic, but exceeds what other ponies would consider friendship. It's in between friendship and romance. It's not a very well-known type of relationship, which is probably why everypony thinks you and Applejack are dating."

"So basically, we are dating, but just without the dating?" Applejack asked, eyebrows still quirked in novel interest. To this, Pinkie exploded with laughter; her joy radiated through the great library, causing the other ponies that were there to glance at her in either confusion, concern, or annoyance. But, really, Pinkie laughed at everything, that wasn't major news by now, was it?

After she had calmed down, Fluttershy continued. "It is sort of like that, yes. It is commonly shared by aromantic ponies. And you two have shown some signs of aromanticism."

"So that's why I like sex but not dating, huh?" Pinkie mused. "That explains everything. I feel so enlightened now."

They smiled at each other, knowing the connection between their souls had been strengthened threefold, and knowing even more that there must be other things out there that they could continue to share.

Author's Note:

I'm not dead! XD
Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. I should definitely explain myself. *gulps a large swig of water*
So I have been facing some writers' block and a lack of motivation to try to do anything about it. I've also been distracted by some crazy self-discovery thing. Seriously, I've learned more about myself in the past few months than I ever have for the entire rest of my life. I don't know why everything just clicked so fast, but while I do feel a lot more whole and fulfilled, I got so caught up in it all that I completely just never wrote anything. Again, I apologize.

But yeah, I wrote this story to not only get back into the mood of writing, but also to reflect on the experience I just had. So yeah, this is kind of based on my own personal experiences. Kinda cool huh?

Anyway, I hope this story didn't bore you to death. I tried, okay?