"Alright Apple Bloom, we need to talk,"  Applejack leads the little filly into a slightly more private section of the house with Rainbow Dash following close behind.  

"What for?  Did I do somethin' wrong?"  Apple Bloom asks indignantly, already prepared for some kind of accusation.

"No you didn't, but you almost did, so just listen up ya'hear? This is important,"  The elder pony sits down on the floor, patting the hardwood in front of her to signal Apple Bloom to join her.  The younger filly glances over to Rainbow Dash once as if analyzing the situation, then sits down as tense as can be.

"So what is it you wanna tell me?"  

"It's a secret, can I trust you to keep a secret for me?"

The young earth pony's eyes widen at the very concept of implied trustworthiness; naturally she yells out a torrent of 'yes's.

"Of course you can, big sis!  You can trust me with anything!  I swear!"  She nearly bounces off the floor in excitement.

"Well good, I'll just let you in on a little personal secret then, but you can't tell anypony, even our family, understand?"

"I understand, now what is it?"  She grins and tilts her head in close to Applejack's, listening intently for what she's about to say.

The orange earth pony whispers into her little sister's ear, still barely loud enough for Rainbow to hear, "Granny Smith and Big Macintosh wouldn't like this about me, but I do guess you could say Rainbow and I are 'marefriends', to a certain degree that is,"

The filly expresses a slight disappointment at the 'secret', and so wants more, "Huh? Why wouldn't they like that about you? I thought they loved you,"

"They do love me Apple Bloom, just...  They don't support the idea of two mares bein' together, that's all,"  Applejack sits back on her haunches and tries desperately to satisfy the filly's unquenchable thirst for classified information.

"But that don't make no sense, AJ... What's it matter whether you're goin' out with a colt or a mare?"

"To me it doesn't matter... and to you it sure as hay shouldn't matter... but to them it does matter; they think it's wrong,"  

"Wull I reckon you should go in and set 'em straight then.  Let them know that it don't matter,"

"No!"  Applejack shouts a little but tries to quiet down; Rainbow can only sit and watch as the scene unfolds.  "No, Apple Bloom, it's just them bein' set in their ways.  We can't change them anymore than they can change us.  They're family and I'll always love them for who they are... Hopefully they'll always love me for who I am..."  Applejack looks over her shoulder and catches gazes with Rainbow Dash.  The pegasus can feel the plea for forgiveness coming from the earth pony, but still has trouble deciding whether or not she's really taking the 'relationship' as seriously as Rainbow would like.  

"You sound really worried about that, sis..."  Apple Bloom catches her attention once more, tilting her head to the side and causing the bow to flop over in a silly way.

Applejack can only look back and smile, trying to force herself to lighten the mood a little bit, "Well that's because I am... I reckon I'll tell them when I'm ready, but I ain't ready yet.  That's why it's a secret, understand?"

"I do, AJ, I swear I won't tell anypony,"  

Dash flaps her wings a little, trying to subtly release some of the building energy she has.  Each time Applejack wishes to keep their relationship a secret from her family feels like a knife straight through the heart.  Dash has never really had any family to hide from, but still doesn't see things through Applejack's eyes.  She feels like the earth pony is willingly hiding from her family because she's too afraid of them to take a stand for what she feels is right.  It's a sad, weak gesture in Dash's eye; tarnishing the reputation of that golden pony.  Applejack easily managed to steal her heart, but now she's begun to sell it back to her for stones.  

Fluttershy tilts her head to the side, rubbing it lightly up against Twilight's neck as they snuggle happily on the couch.  Twilight has given up trying to find a new crystal stand after Fluttershy's little 'outburst' and has resolved to just buy a new one tomorrow.

The lavender unicorn levitates her copy of the DSM in front of her, slowly flipping the pages and scanning over them for any symptoms that might match Fluttershy's description of 'Courage'.  The pegasus genuinely doesn't mind Twilight's curiosity; she even welcomes it as something that could draw them closer together.  Twilight halts on the page for paranoid schizophrenia, but soon flips it; to her it seems more like something Pinkie would have anyway.  She skims through many psychological problems, stopping again on Split Personality/Dissociative Identity Disorder.  Fluttershy rests her chin on the unicorn's shoulder and reads along with her, only to be cut off in the middle of a paragraph by a quickly turned page.  

"Hmm... So you say she's a voice in your head that manifests as all of the 'bad' things you can think of?"  Twilight asks, laying the tome down and looking over to the mare on her shoulder.  

"Yeah, everything naughty that I've ever seen or heard she thinks about...  It's like she's some completely different pony, but only knows what I think... I don't know what she thinks unless she tells me though..."  Fluttershy explains to Twilight once more, feeling less and less comfortable each time she brings it up.  

"Very interesting...  It doesn't quite fit with any known 'disorders' but it's certainly not... well..."  Twilight hesitates to say it, but Fluttershy anticipates her choice of words.

"Normal?"  

"Well... yeah,"  Twilight cringes inside and prays she didn't offend the pegasus.

Fluttershy, much to Twilight's relief, laughs softly and hugs around her waist, staying just as clingy as ever around the lavender unicorn.  

"If I were normal I wouldn't be interested in you now would I?"  She says in a completely unusual turn of snarkiness.

"Ouch! That cut deep, Fluttershy..."  Twilight pretends to be wounded in the chest and flashes a coy look to the pegasus, fluttering her eyelids and grinning at her to finish it off.

The two ponies relax against the sofa, kissing each other softly and letting their eyelids close partway.  The whole world seems dim to them, with only the soft light of a low fireplace to cast dancing shadows into the library.  

"I really should get going home tonight..."  Fluttershy says gently, pulling her head away and looking directly at Twilight's shoulder, examining its contours to try and distract her from the more voluptuous parts of the unicorn.

"Aww, you can't stay tonight and keep me nice and warm?"  Twilight jokingly asks, teasing the shy pegasus and holding onto her tight.  She makes her point clear that she doesn't want Fluttershy to leave, but respects her decision either way.

"I'd love that, but I think maybe it would be nice to spend some time with Angel, he doesn't seem to be feeling very well,"

"Well I'll let you go whenever you want, I'm just really enjoying all the time we've gotten together.  Though it is getting dark, you might wanna get going soonish if you're gonna make it home with daylight to spare,"

"Mmn, just five more minutes,"  Fluttershy moves a little closer to Twilight and hugs her tight, keeping their bodies closely cuddled together in front of the fire.

Rainbow Dash slowly moves up the stairs toward her room in the Apple family home.  Glancing back and forth at the different, not to mention humble decor.  She truly feels at "home" in the traditional sense, though almost like an uninvited guest, especially considering how Applejack seems to feel about their relationship.  Every single time she denies it, every time she tries to explain that it's not what they think, Dash cringes.  

The rainbow-maned pegasus steps into the guest room and drops herself onto the bed.  The old thing creeks under the sudden impact, but soon accepts its new resident.  The pillows still smell of apples, and this comforts the winged mare, but only serves as a reminder of something to be desired but never quite there with her.

The pillow picks up some of the moisture from Dash's face; she tries her best to fight the waterworks but can't quite hold them back.  Everything that's been happening lately has gone against her.  Sure she got to spend a few measly hours with the mare of her desires, but it was so absentee.  Applejack was either allowing it out of pity, or if she did want it she wasn't willing to defy her family for it; to fight for it.  Rainbow wants somepony to stick with her through thick and thin.  She needs dedication, passion... loyalty.  

Downstairs, Applejack notices that Rainbow has left the conversation and begins to worry.  She softly pats Apple Bloom's head and tells her to run along, then steps upstairs and trots gently toward Rainbow's room.  The earth pony sees that the light is on and nudges the door open with her hoof, glancing inside once again to try and avoid disturbing her too much.  

"Rainbow?  Everything alright sugar-cube?"  She quietly asks, looking at the pegasus with her face buried in the pillows.  

Not now AJ... Just leave, please... Just leave before I do something I'll hate myself for,  Dash acknowledges her existence only in her mind, not moving or making a sound in the waking world.  Applejack lets her worry get the best of her and steps into the room, noticing a slight shift in the pegasus's wings as she moves inside.  

"Wanna talk?"  Applejack asks and sits down on the bed next to the pegasus, staying propped up and resting a hoof on her shoulder.  Dash just rolls over onto her side, not facing the pony and curling her legs up to her chest.  "W-was it somethin' I said?"

"Yes... AJ, yes it was..."  Dash mumbles angrily, still not facing the orange mare.  She half doesn't want to look at her, and half doesn't want her to see her bloodshot eyes.  "You don't really wanna stay with me..."

"Now hold on a minute... Where'd you get that idea?"  Applejack snaps back at the pegasus and removes her hoof from her shoulder.  

"You're so afraid of what your family might think you won't even tell them...  Some element of 'honesty' you are..."  Dash's comments grow more and more hostile as the image of Applejack in her mind's eye continues to tarnish, leaving a barely recognizable pony behind a rusty, destroyed facade.  

The orange pony knows it's true, but doesn't want to just sit there and take the accusation, "Wull... I told Apple Bloom didn't I?"  

"You told Apple Bloom because you were afraid she was gonna out us in front of everypony.  Face it AJ, you aren't comfortable with being in a relationship with another mare.  I very much appreciate the hospitality of letting me stay here, and I am very grateful for the few hours we spent together in this bed, I know those weren't easy things for you to do, but I'm afraid I just don't quite feel welcome here anymore.  The only pony in this house who doesn't seem to care that we're together is Apple Bloom and it's only a matter of time before she does out us in front of your family.  I think maybe until you stop trying to juggle a spotless relationship with me and with your family and decide what's really important to you, I should probably just go find someplace else to stay.  I don't want to cause anymore problems for you,"  With this the pegasus stands up and walks quickly over to the window; Applejack is left speechless and continues to stare at the spot where Dash was laying.  

The cyan mare casts one last tear-filled look back to the earth pony and opens the window, taking off as fast as she can toward the setting sun, not even saying goodbye.  Applejack, sighs and looks down at her hooves, not really having anywhere else to focus her attention.  She sits in silence for a few seconds, tears falling off of her face and landing on the same hooves she used not hours ago to hold the only pony to ever be romantically interested in her, having the solemnity only broken by the guttural throat-clearing of a certain large, red stallion.  

Fluttershy steps softly through the frigid air toward her home, deciding not to fly so she can witness the sunset behind the mountains without accidentally flying into anything again.  Fluttershy loves sunsets, especially in the winter time.  The pale orange rays cast between the peaks of the mountains paint both the sky and parts of the white canvassed ground a beautiful shade of gold; giving every square inch of the world around her a heavenly glow.  Happily she walks along, stepping up to her porch and gently kicking the door frame to get any snow off of her hooves.  She gingerly steps inside and hangs her scarf up, lighting a few candles on her way through the home.  Angel glances around for the purple unicorn/'problem instigator' and sees that the coast is clear.  He takes the opportunity to run up and greet Fluttershy the only way he knows how: by jumping up into her arms and accepting the familiar warm hug that she gladly provides him every single time.  

It doesn't take long for the pegasus to sit down and relax on her couch, sighing happily as her pet happily snuggles with her.  She even almost dozes off a little bit, feeling her body sink into the cushions and the world around her melt into a dull, dark glow that slowly encompasses her attention.  

Fluttershy is brought back into waking consciousness by the sound of flapping wings outside of her window.  The night is so quiet she can hear a pin drop, so the arrival of another pegasus is punctuated by soft hoofsteps and what sounds to Fluttershy like sobbing.  She gently sets the snoozing Angel Bunny aside and steps toward the door, glancing out the window to see none other than Rainbow Dash with tears in her eyes.  The pegasus opens the door before Rainbow even gets a chance to knock.

"H-hey Fluttershy... Could I uhm... Could I stay with you for a little while?"  She rubs her foreleg with her hoof, trying to hide her face but not doing a very good job.  

"Of course you can, Rainbow... Did something happen with Applejack?"  Fluttershy steps aside and welcomes the pony into her home, following her closely and letting her sit down on the couch.  Angel wakes up and glances over at the new visitor, deciding that she's not a threat and falling back to sleep.  

"I uhm... We... We just didn't really..."  She stumbles over her words but can't quite get them out.  One of the hardest things in Equestria for Rainbow Dash is admitting defeat.  

"Shhh,"  Fluttershy takes a comforting tone and rests her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, "You don't have to talk about it right now...  Just forget I asked and get some sleep.  You can take my bed if you like, I'll just sleep down here,"

Dash sniffles and looks Fluttershy in the eyes, trying to force a smile as she thanks her,  "Thank you, Fluttershy... I'm sorry you have to see me like this...  But uhm, you know you don't have to sleep down here if you don't want to... I know you're Twilight's gal and I'll keep my hooves to myself...  I just... I don't wanna be alone tonight,"

Fluttershy smiles and nods, not really having to say a word.  She stands up off of the floor and leads Rainbow up to her bedroom, clearing some of the pillows off the bed to make a little extra room for the two of them.  Dash lays down first, facing toward the outside of the bed and keeping her wings folded tight; it's very clear to Fluttershy that she's upset.  

Fluttershy lays down and rests her hoof on Dash's flank, pulling her to lay onto her back and catch eyes with the canary pegasus, "You're never alone, Rainbow, I'll always be your friend and I'll always be there for you, you know that,"  She finishes with a soft grin and a gentle hug.  

Rainbow can't help herself but smile, feeling more tears well up behind her eyes, "You're the best, 'Shy..."