Romance and the Fate of Equestria

What I said a few chapters back about the word "donut"? Ditto for the word "theater". I spell it "theatre" now, because I spent some time with a theatre organization who all spelled it that way. But… I've been spelling it "theater" in the story this whole time, so what can I do? Nothin', I tell ya, nothin'.

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven

It was early morning at Sweet Apple Acres, the sky still kissed with faint streaks of pink. Cheerfully, and with perfect coordination, Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Fluttershy zipped around the kitchen and dining room, pancakes flying across the room to land perfectly on the table, where they were topped by baked apples, swiftly slathered in butter and syrup, and edged in brown sugar. Every few seconds, the three of them switched tasks.

Just as the final pancake hit the table, Apple Bloom wandered in, her hooves clacking audibly.

"Good morning, Apple Bloom!" Fluttershy said in a bright, bubbly voice. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mornin', Fluttershy. Yeah, I did, I slept pretty good."

"Well, breakfast is ready," said Fluttershy, dropping into a chair and gesturing to the dining table. "I was just about to call you, but Applejack said that even though it usually takes you just a little bit longer to come downstairs in the morning, you're still always on time! I see she was right. Does it take a long time to get all that makeup on in the morning?"

"Yeah, it's a bit of hard work," Apple Bloom admitted. "But it's a nice comfortable routine that helps me feel like… me." She peered up at Fluttershy through her heavy black eyelids and gave her a twisted smile.

They all sat down to eat, Fluttershy looking a bit disconcerted.

"Fluttershy, can I ask you somethin'?" Apple Bloom said after a few moments of no sound but silverware clinking.

"Of course."

"Do you live here now?"

"Um… no," Fluttershy said in surprise. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you're always here when I get up in the mornin'," said Apple Bloom. "You're not always here when I'm back from school, but you're always back again by dinnertime. And then at night…" She gestured with her head toward Big Mac. "You know."

"Well… um…" Fluttershy fidgeted nervously, fiddling with the apron she was wearing. "Look, you know that your brother and I are in a very serious relationship, and that we love being very close to each other… and I would love to be able to live here with him, but it's just not practical for us right now."

"Why not?" Apple Bloom prodded.

"Oh, I have a cottage full of animals to take care of, and he has a farm to work on. In the long run, we can't live in the same place when we have jobs to do that are so closely connected to where we live now. We have a responsibility to those places."

"Can't you just pick a place and then one of you just… commute?" Apple Bloom protested.

"Well, that is kind of what I'm doing," Fluttershy said absently. "Every morning, I go to my cottage, and I work as much as I can, and then once everything is closed down for the evening, I come… back… here…"

She trailed off, her jaw hanging open. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe I do live here," Fluttershy breathed.

Applejack chuckled.

"Macky, we're living together!" Fluttershy exclaimed gleefully. "Isn't that wonderful?"

"Eeyup."

He leaned toward her and they rubbed noses. In response, she unexpectedly jumped into his lap, and he exclaimed as he was forced to sit upright in his chair.

"Well, that's great that you two are doin' that," Apple Bloom said warmly. "I'm really happy for y'all."

"Oh," Fluttershy said uncomfortably. "Um… all right." Wounded, she pulled herself closer to Big Macintosh, her eyes on the ground.

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "What's the matter?"

"I think maybe she thinks you're bein' facetious, sugarcube," Applejack offered.

"Ohh!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "No, no, I get that a lot—it's the makeup. It's very heavy, it takes away a lot of the expressiveness in my eyes, makes it look like I'm bein' snarky even if I'm not. I was bein' totally sincere. I'm so happy to have you here as part of the family."

Stunned, Fluttershy put a hoof to her heart. "Oh, Apple Bloom…" she whispered emotionally, a lump rising in her throat.

"You know what?" Apple Bloom said decisively. "I think I've got time—I'm gonna clean this up a little bit. I've been puttin' off changin' my routine, but I gotta start wearin' less eyeshadow so I can open my eyes all the way again… I'll be back in a minute."

She scampered away. Fluttershy watched her leave, giggling in delight as she spotted the youngster's apple blossom cutie mark.

Applejack reached over and tapped Fluttershy's hoof where it was resting on the table. "Congrats on the big step, you two."

"Thanks, Applejack," said Fluttershy, blushing. She turned and looked deeply into Big Mac's eyes. "And here I thought I was just having a lot of all-nighters over here. But I don't think I've slept at my house once since… since coming back from up north."

He buried his face in her mane, sniffing it deeply.

"Oh, Macky," she said tenderly. "I love you way too much. You have no idea how crazy I am about you."

"Pretty sure I do," he whispered back.

They kissed. Applejack averted her eyes and shielded her view of them with her forearm, biting her lip to keep from giggling.