"So how long do you think it's going to take for all that water to stop?"  Twilight asks as she and Fluttershy slowly walk back toward the library.  They've decided to give Dash some time to herself, but not without extending several offers of someone to talk to should she ever need it.  

"I don't really know, but it shouldn't take too long.  Maybe tomorrow afternoon would be a good time to start, assuming it doesn't all freeze in the mean time,"  Fluttershy says as she looks over to the beautiful purple unicorn walking next to her.

"Well I hope she'll be alright, I couldn't imagine losing my home like that...  It has to be absolutely horrid,"  Twilight steps a little bit closer to Fluttershy, who promptly extends her wing around the unicorn's withers.

"Yeah...  Losing your home is no fun at all,"  The pegasus struggles to remember her own experience with being thrown out of her home after her father left and they couldn't make the bill payments.

"Is there anything you wanna do today that might help us take our minds off of this whole mess?"  Twilight asks sweetly and turns to look Fluttershy in the eyes.

The pegasus smiles and shrugs as best she can while she walks, meeting her gaze and blushing just a little bit.  Certain thoughts flash through her mind of just what she might want to do, though she would never spontaneously ask those things of Twilight, at least not in public.  

"Uhhm, d-don't you have any studying that you have to catch up on?"  She finishes her sentence with a slightly uncomfortable grin, doing her best to dispel anymore dirty thoughts; silently berating 'Courage' for being the one to push those into her mind, even in her absence.  

"Actually I do, but I could really use an assistant,"  She flutters her eyelids as she finishes this sentence, grinning at the shy pegasus and continuing her slow trot toward the library, "If you don't mind that is.  Spike has been all but useless lately given his desire to sleep sixteen hours a day,"

"W-well... I suppose I could, but would you mind if we stopped by my home for a bit, I've gotta feed angel and the other critters, they've been alone for a while now and I'll bet they're getting worried about me,"  

"Alrighty, mind if I join you?"

Clingy huh?  'Courage' pokes her metaphorical head in the door and starts out her usual routine, how tedious.

Oh leave Twilight alone, she just wants to spend time with me...  

"I'd love that, Twilight, I could use the help with feeding some of the less picky animals, the bags get heavy after a while,"

I wish I could tell her to her face that it's not all that great,

Okay now that just hurt my feelings...

Alright, alright, I can take a hint... I'll leave ya alone now, Co-pilot,

"Not a problem, any particular rhyme or rhythm to it?"

"Well... I'll show you when we get there,"  Fluttershy says with a nervous grin, remembering her animals' complicated system of different blends and formulas.

A thin sheet of snow covers the natural scene as the couple walks, making the entire landscape seem like a painting that wasn't quite finished.  Twilight takes in the beauty of the mountains, paying special attention to Canterlot as it dangles off the edge of the rolling mountains.  Fluttershy casts repeated glances between Twilight and the slowly lowering sun, enjoying the soft glow it casts over everything through the filter of the now thin snow clouds.  Everything feels just perfect for the pair, if not a little too chilly.

The duo step up to Fluttershy's doorway and open it, getting quickly inside and out of the cold.  Angel spots them and immediately takes cover inside his small home, putting a comically cartoonish sign on his door that reads "Never Again".

Fluttershy walks gently into her kitchen and removes a small bundle of fresh carrots, bringing them out by the greens dangling in her teeth and knocking softly on Angel's door.  The entrance to the small hut in her living room opens up just enough for a beady rabbit eye to look out from the darkness and see the treat before him.  Without hesitation he snatches the morsels up and disappears into his home again, still refusing to lay eyes on the couple for fear of the memories haunting him even more.  

Twilight looks astonished over the various bags of foodstuffs for the animals, each one organized seemingly according to where in Fluttershy's home each animal lives.  Twilight can't figure the pattern out, but the yellow pegasus steps into the kitchen and explains each one's function, as well as to whom they're supposed to go.  

The unicorn shrugs and takes her direction to heart, using her magic to lift up a few bags and then trotting back into the living area; Fluttershy meanwhile takes care of the upstairs pets.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash sits quietly in the Apple family's guest room, continually looking over the damaged photo of her friends and her together.  She's calmed down by now, having come to terms with what happened and already planning out how to fix it, but still not without its injury.  

Eyes dry, Dash looks out the window at the mountains, each one with its coating of snow reminding her of a cloud almost.  She sighs and looks down, feeling completely drained and, for the first time in ages, not wanting to fly.  She sluggishly stands from the chair at the end of the room and walks toward the bed in the corner, figuring that she could probably fall asleep and just try to forget if at all possible.  

No sooner does her mane touch the pillow than does a triplet of knocks disturb her comfort; Applejack opens the door by a crack and asks if Dash is doing alright.

"Heya, AJ..." Rainbow says with a heavy sigh, rolling onto her back and looking over to the door, "Come on in, I just laid down for a second... I wasn't sleeping,"  

"I'm worried about ya sugar-cube... You've barely left this room, seems a little out of the ordinary for a rambunctious gal like you,"  

"Well just how would you be acting if this place collapsed huh?"  She snaps at the earth pony, not really mad at her but secretly trying to 'get back' at the rejection that she gave her.  Dash never really thinks about what she's doing, only going on impulse for a good ninety-five percent of her actions.

"Jeez, just forget I asked then..."  Applejack says and backs out of the room a little, prompting the pegasus to sigh and apologize.

"I'm sorry AJ, I didn't mean that... I'm just not exactly in the best mood right now,"  Dash really just wants her to come back into the room, but is too afraid to say it.  She's always enjoyed being in the humble pony's presence, whether it's in competition or relaxation.

The pale orange mare sits down on the edge of the bed and looks Dash in the eyes, "I won't even pretend like I understand what you must be going through, but your friends and I are all doing our best to help you out,"

"I know, AJ, and I'm sorry for snapping at you like that...  I'll try to behave a little better,"  Dash says and looks away, curling up on the bed and trying not to make eye contact with the earth pony, afraid of what she might ask or do.

Applejack, against all of her best instincts, lays down next to the pegasus, propping her head up with her elbow and pulling the pony into a hug, knowing in her heart that it couldn't possibly hurt.  Dash doesn't say anything, but certainly takes the opportunity.  She nuzzles her head into Applejack's shoulder and takes a deep breath, trying to hold back a torrent of tears.  She catches a whiff of apples off of the pony's mane, strong enough to overwhelm her other senses, but not so pungent that it made her sick.  Almost like a foal at her mother, she manages to find comfort in the other athlete of the bunch, but thinks to herself that it's all she can ever find with this one.  

The earth pony, however, thinks in a slightly different tone.  Applejack feels a lot more comfortable laying with Rainbow than she thought she would, but just chocks it up to the motherly position that she's in.  Secretly she enjoys the feeling of the pegasus pressed up against her, having tossed the idea around in her mind since she asked about it.  The pale orange pony is still set in her family's ways, but somehow feels almost willing to leave them behind.  She looks down at the sniveling pegasus, watching as all of her pride and ego melt away into tears, leaving only the scared, sad, lonely, but beautiful filly to be seen in confidence by the motherly Applejack.

"You know, Rainbow... Maybe now ain't really the time, but... I've been thinkin' long and hard about what you asked me the other day..."

Dash doesn't say anything, only taking a minute to really process what AJ just said.  She blinks a few times and then pulls her face away from the pony's shoulder, looking her in the eye with a puzzled look across her countenance.  

"I uhm, I guess I have to be honest with ya... I don't really know how I feel about it either way.  On one hoof my family's always been against that sorta thing, but on the other... well, I've never really known what it's like, nor have I ever had any real problems with folks' orientation.  I guess maybe I'd be willing to give it a try, just to see, y'know?"

Rainbow sniffles and grins, chuckling a little and looking the earth pony in the eyes, "You've got horrible timing you know that?"  

"Yeah, so I've been told...  But I figure now's as good a time as ever, eh Dashie?"

The pegasus hugs Applejack again, grinning wider now, "Can't argue with that... managed to cheer me up a little too,"  

"Well there's somethin', eheheh,"  The pair lay quiet for a while, snuggling happily and looking each other in the eyes, "So uh... I'm not exactly sure how it would work... two mares bein' together and all..."

Dash winks once and rolls so that Applejack is forced underneath her, kissing her softly until she relaxes, then breaking away and hovering her muzzle just inches above the earth pony's, "Well I'd be happy to give you a few pointers,"  Following this with a grin and another deep kiss.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight magically closes the door behind Fluttershy as they both step back into the chilly winter air.  Fluttershy quickly fluffs her wings to help them retain some body heat, to which Twilight voices her jealousy.

"Ugh, it's gotta be like 20 degrees out here!  You're lucky you've got those things to keep you warm, Fluttershy..."

Fluttershy just giggles and walks next to the mare, taking her usual routine of wrapping as much of her wing around her as she can, "And you're lucky you've got me to keep you warm,"  

"I can't argue with that.  I really am a lucky mare,"  Twilight says as she flashes the pegasus a smile.

"N'aww, thank you Twilight, I feel lucky too..."  Fluttershy tries to look away to hide her blushing cheeks, but has learned already that it won't do any good, "So uhm, what's this experiment you need my help with?"  

As they walk, Twilight explains the basics of the experiment to Fluttershy, as well as a few more advanced portions that fly right over her pretty little head.  It feels to the yellow pegasus like hours of listening quietly and nodding, but they eventually reach the doorstep to Twilight's library.  

Spike, who had finished cleaning up the kitchen and library area greets them as they step inside.  

"Heya Twi, Shy... Everything okay with Rainbow?"  He asks, having improved his mood a little on his own.

"I'm afraid not... Her home collapsed and we have to wait for all the water to drain out of the clouds before we can do anything about it.  Luckily for her she's got Applejack to take care of her until then,"  Twilight says, taking her scarf off and hanging it up in the usual spot.  Fluttershy stays silent and just follows Twilight around,  "But, since we can't help from here I figure I've got that experiment I need to do, but you can take the rest of the day off if you like, Spike, Fluttershy here will assist me downstairs,"  

The dragon is a little disappointed, but certainly happy to take the opportunity to relax,  "Next time you see Rainbow Dash, tell her I wish her well, but if that's all you need I'm gonna go upstairs and take a nap...  Kitchen's clean, dishes are all washed and put away, laundry is dry and everything's in order in the Library; I double checked,"  He puts his hands on his hips and tilts his head up, expecting some kind of congratulatory pat on the head.

"That's wonderful, Spike, thank you,"  The unicorn says as she moves toward the basement door.  Spike takes the half-hearted thanks for what it's worth and heads upstairs to sleep; he may be the number-one assistant but he sure is lazy.

Fluttershy and Twilight gradually walk down each step, clacking their hooves off of the hardwood and listening to the echos through the wonderful acoustics of the basement.  Twilight magically brings along a notebook and quill, as well as a few small specimens of multicolored crystal that she presumably picked up from the hooflocker at the side of the stairs.  

"Thanks for your help, Fluttershy.  This might actually be useful to help Rainbow rebuild her cloud home.  It's actually got to do with how these crystals affect water density in the air, wild coincidence huh?"

"Sure is,"  She responds quietly, looking around at all the machinery and specialized gizmos scattered around Twilight's basement.  Every inch of it looks like a quintessential mad scientist's laboratory.  

Twilight looks around in a drawer and pulls out a mangled piece of wood and metal, "Aww shoot, the stand got broken...  Well this isn't a particularly dangerous spell... Fluttershy would you mind holding onto the crystal for me?"

"Y-you're sure that's safe?"  Fluttershy asks, shrinking away after seeing the small scorches on the inside of the stand; Twilight follows her gaze and puts the piece away.  

"Oh yes of course, this spell doesn't generate much heat at all, those scorches were from when I had Spike heat something or other up... It's a multipurpose specimen platform,"  She smiles and floats a light blue crystal over to Fluttershy, who gingerly balances it between her hooves.

"Now if it starts to hurt just say so and I'll stop, but I don't think anything like that will happen, It just might start condensing a little water onto your coat.  Just be sure to speak up, and don't hesitate to let me know if anything feels wrong okay? I don't want anything at all to happen to you,"

Fluttershy grins sweetly and does as she's told, holding the crystal out away from her as far as she can and leaning her flank against the nearby table to balance.  Twilight leans forward and recites a few lines from a page in the notebook; her eyes close and her horn begins to sparkle with the usual tinge of magical energy.  The unicorn regulates her breathing and her whole body gains a faint aura, eventually extending it in a translucent beam into the crystal.  Fluttershy stands perfectly still, literally spellbound to the inside of the crystal as it twinkles with a beautiful purple light.  She's unable to break her gaze as the light intensifies, though she can see out of the corners of her eyes what seems to be a cloud forming around her hooves.  The air becomes chill from all of the moisture gathering around her, and fairly soon she can feel an extremely familiar feeling of Twilight's magical energy coursing through her body.  The pegasus's hooves create a circuit of sorts with the crystal at the center, running the soft tingle through her chest and making her heart flutter.

Twilight tries her best not to break her concentration with the spell, though she does observe the cloud forming around the mare.  She smiles and thinks to herself how beautiful Fluttershy looks surrounded by mist and holding a glowing purple and blue object.  This distraction of thought causes her to lose control of the spell as her horn gives a flux and then sputters to a stop; a surge of magical energy bursts out and impacts the crystal.  The fragile thing shatters between Fluttershy's hooves and her body absorbs nearly all of the energy, though strangely enough it doesn't hurt her.  She feels almost the same as when Twilight used her 'magic' on her in the bedroom, making her blush intensely as the mist dissipates into the room.  

Twilight rushes forward, breaking the already swirling cloud and running to Fluttershy's side.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!  Are you okay?  Are you hurt?"  Frantically she speaks, begging Fluttershy to respond.  Without a word, the pink-maned pegasus sits up and kisses Twilight as deep as she ever could; heart pounding rapidly and body in an already aroused state from the magic.  

As the kiss breaks, the pegasus stands up, folding her wings back down to her sides and readjusting her mane a little bit, "I'm... I'm sorry, Twilight.  I dunno what ca-came over me,"  She genuinely feels embarrassed, but doesn't quite want to tell Twilight about how the pulse through her body made her feel.

"No problem...  I'll take that to mean that you're okay... right?"  She asks sheepishly, expressing concern for the well-being of the canary mare.  

"Of course... yes, yes I'm alright.  It was nothing, just a little... tingle,"

"Well, I dunno what I was thinking, putting you in the line of fire like that... That was really unprofessional... heck, it was dumb of me, I'll just have to put this off until I get a new stand.  I'm sorry, Fluttershy... Are you sure you're alright? You're looking a little lightheaded,"

The pegasus does feel that way, but it's not due to any kind of injury.  In fact, she hasn't felt better all day.

"Uhm, Yeah I'm fine, Twilight... Just... Feeling a little... warm,"  

That's one way to put it I suppose,  Courage remarks on Fluttershy's choice of words.

I didn't see that coming at all...  I feel like...  She can hardly think straight, feeling in an almost perpetual state of euphoria.

You feel like you did in the bedroom... But it's lasting a lot longer than it should,  Courage seems to be affected by the feelings as well; being in a much better mood than usual.  

Yeah... I think I'm alright with that,  Fluttershy sits down on the floor, feeling a little moisture and hoping that it's from the condensation of the mist in the room.

"Just stay right there Fluttershy, I'll go get you a glass of water,"  Twilight says as she rushes upstairs; Fluttershy barely hears what Twilight says and only acknowledges in a faint 'uh-huh'.

Let's ask her to do that again,  Courage says and follows with a giggle.

M-maybe I will...