Applejack crept through the darkened house, careful not to wake any of the sleeping occupants. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of cold water; if he was going to feel miserable in the morning, he’d prefer it be from the bruises he was sporting, rather than the inevitable hangover.

He closed the refrigerator, the sudden loss of light blinding him to the darkness. He stumbled back out of the kitchen, bottle in hand; by the time he reached the stairs he’d regained his night vision. Approaching the the top of the stairs, he noticed light coming from Dusk’s room.

Applejack chuckled to himself. The bookworm was either studying late again, or he’d fallen asleep while studying late. Applejack strained his ears, listening for the tell-tale sound of pen on paper.

There!

Applejack kicked off his boots, dropping them in his room before heading down the hall towards Dusk Shine’s open door.

“Howdy, bud,” Applejack spoke softly as he stepped through the doorway. “Burnin’ th’ midnight oil again?”

“Oh, hey, Applejack,” Dusk Shine replied, marking his page with a sheet of paper and quietly closing his book. He yawned as he replied, “Yeah, this assignment is due in three weeks, and I’ve barely made a start on it.”

Applejack looked at the stack of papers, at least fifteen pages long already, and those were just the rough notes. The final product would be far longer once it was typed up. “Barely started, eh?” he chuckled. He opened the bottle of water, taking a large drink.

Now that Dusk Shine had been able to get a better look at Applejack, he noticed the cuts and bruises. “Applejack, what happened tonight?” he asked with concern.

“Huh?” Applejack screwed the lid back on the bottle. “What d’ya mean?” he asked, which was replied only with a deadpan look. “Oh, yeah…” Applejack realised he’d yet to have cleaned himself off after his scuffle with Blitz. “Uhhh, Blitz and Ah had a bit o’ a disagreement.”

Dusk’ eyes widened as he guessed what might have happened. He grabbed Applejack by the arm and dragged him out of the room towards the small balcony.

“What?”

“Butterscotch is sleeping in my bed right now, we don’t want him to hear about this. He's feeling bad enough as it is already.”

“Well, that didn’t take long,” Applejack muttered darkly, looking back at the mound underneath the covers of Dusk Shine’s bed as he was led away.

The cool evening air felt great on Applejack’s skin, helping to take his mind off of the confusing day. Dusk Shine, however, was not going to allow him any such reprieve.

“You and Blitz got into a fight?” Dusk paced back and forth. “Oh no, he must be really angry with Butterscotch. What if they don’t make up. What if they aren’t friends any more? What if they can’t stand being around each other and then we all feel uncomfortable and grow apart and—”

“Blitz ain’t mad, well… he ain’t mad enough. That’s th’ problem.”

“W-what?”

“Ah mean, Butterscotch jus’ throws himself on Blitz in the middle of everyone,” Applejack said, exasperated. “Ah mean, wouldn’t you be angry if someone went an’ done that to you?”

“Well, ummm, I don’t know how I’d react, but I don’t think I would have punched him.”

“If’n it was me, Ah’d do more than just take a swing at him.” Applejack replied, balling his fist.

“Y-You’d hurt Butterscotch?” Dusk Shine stepped away from his friend and house mate. “He’s our friend, and you’d hurt him?”

“Well… Ah don’t know. Maybe. Ah jus’ can’t stand that he lied t’ us!” Applejack frowned, unclenching his fist.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Dusk responded. “He never lied to us.”

“What do ya mean he didn’t lie t’ us?” Applejack asked, his frustration rising again. “Ah had no idea he was… you know… like that. He never told us!”

“Has he ever told you he was interested in girls?” Dusk Shine asked. Even though Dusk Shine had not realised before tonight, he could not think back to any point where Butterscotch had shown interest in girls. Or guys. Dusk Shine assumed Butterscotch was much like himself, too busy with his studies to worry about those kinds of things.

“Well, no, but he shouldn’t have ta! Bein’ interested in girls is normal.” Applejack responded, annoyance clear in his voice. “That’s just natural.”

“Well, actually, that is not necessarily true. Differing degrees of homosexual behaviour is exhibited and has been observed in many mammalian species, enough to not be considered a statistical anomaly.”

“Ah don’t… I mean, what?” Applejack asked. “How d’ya even know about that stuff?”

“I-I’ve never really thought much about it,” he admitted, sheepishly. “But after we spoke with Butterscotch, I did a little reading.”

Applejack chuckled. That’s just you, Dusk Shine, solve an unknown problem with readin’. Probably going to write a paper about it later.

Then you'll sit us all down and give us a lecture. Again.

“I am just saying it is incorrect to say that it is not natural, as it has been observed in nature.” Dusk continued his explanation. “And even if it wasn’t, it would still be an application of the naturalistic fallacy.” Dusk Shine paused, noticing his friends confusion. “It means: just because something is natural, or supposedly unnatural, does not imply it’s implicit correctness.

“I mean, look around us,” Dusk Shine waved an arm, looking out on the lights of Canterlot City. “Nearly everything in our lives can be considered unnatural, from living in homes we built, the vehicles we drive, the cultivated food we eat. It doesn’t mean that we are immoral just for eating an apple we’ve domesticated over millennia from its wild cousins.” He laughed, slapping his scowling friend on the back. “Else your family has a lot to answer for.”

“Ah know what yer tryin’ ta say,” Applejack grumbled. “But it jus’ not th’ way Grampy Smith raised me. It still doesn’t feel right.”

“So… what? You hate Butterscotch now?”

“Ah don’t know, okay?” Applejack balled his fist and brought it down on the balcony railing. “Ah— Ah jus’ don’t know.”

An awkward silence fell between the two of them.

Applejack let out a loud sigh. “Why’d he hafta go ‘n change?”

“I don’t think he has changed,” Dusk Shine said, looking up to the stars. “He’s still the same Butterscotch we’ve always known. The same Butterscotch who’s looked after Barb for me, and Silver Bell for Evasive. He’s the same guy you’ve worked with on your group assignments. He’s still the same person, nothing has changed about him… except our perceptions…”

Dusk Shine turned to head into the house, but stopped at the door. “… but only if we let them. Just, think about it, Applejack. Please don’t throw away your friendship without giving it a little thought first. We owe him that much, at the very least.”

“Yeah,” Applejack huffed, slumped over the railing. “Ah guess.”