Applejack and Rainbow Dash finally decide to get out of bed, though only to eat something substantial as there's almost no work to be done this morning.  The earth pony steps out of the bedroom first, holding the door open with her back hoof for Rainbow to follow.  The cyan mare looks around for any family and swats Applejack's rump with her wing as she passes, flashing her a wink before walking toward the stairs.  Applejack catches up with Rainbow and follows her downstairs, catching a glimpse of Big Macintosh hurrying Apple Bloom out the door to get to school.  

"Heya big brother."  She calls downstairs as soon as the door shuts, softly stepping down and giving the big stallion a hug.  

"Howdy, Sis.  Sleep well?"  The clydesdale tilts his head down and happily accepts the hug, sending a slight nod toward the cyan pegasus behind Applejack.

"Yessir I did, how about you?"

"Oh just the usual.  'Course I didn't have another pony to share the bed with and keep me nice'n'warm all night long."  

"Oh pfft, don't give me that... she ain't that warm."

"Hey, I'm standing right here!"  Rainbow indignantly responds to the comment, sloughing off the small chuckle that Big Macintosh sends her way.

"You wanna come into town with us big bro?  I figure we could go get somethin' to eat and maybe visit Twilight and Fluttershy for a bit."  Applejack steps back and joins Rainbow at her side, stretching out her shoulders a little bit as she's still a bit stiff from just waking up.

"Nah, I gotta stick around here for a bit and help Granny Smith, she's got some things that need movin' and goodness knows she can't do it by herself."

"Well alright, I'll be back sometime tonight."

"See ya then."  He may not say much, but both Rainbow and Applejack can see the quiet intelligence glimmering behind his big eyes.

Rainbow Dash just shrugs and goes along with Applejack, not really caring what they do so long as it's with her.  The cyan pegasus grabs Applejack's scarf and passes it on to her, content to go without anything in the winter air.

"You sure you don't wanna borrow somethin'?  Looks chilly out there."

"I'll be fine, I'm used to the cold."

"If ya insist.  We ain't comin' back just on account of you a'changin' yer mind halfway down the road now, just sayin'."

"It's fine, AJ.  Really."  The pegasus has to fight back a laugh at this semi-aggressive side to her marefriend.  She holds the door open and lets Applejack out first, following along and puffing up her wings to help keep some of her body heat trapped.  Rainbow notices that nopony is around and so goes about walking just a few feet behind AJ, staring conspicuously at her backside as she walks and admiring the muscular curves.  She quietly laughs in her mind, thinking about just how much she'd love to have some shy pony beside her to bump with her elbow and say: "Yeah.  I'm hittin' that."

Twilight and Fluttershy sit on a park bench during their walk back, taking a small break in the beautiful winter day.  The bone chilling wind has stopped and left only a very cold, but very still sense of calm around the entire town.  The snow pack from the past few days is riddled with small hoofprints and sled trails, leaving a rough and dotted surface for the two ponies to look at as they simply sit and take in their environment.  The pair sits in silence, though a very comfortable one, as they sit right up next to each other on the bench, unperturbed by the frigid air so long as they're side by side and keeping each other warm.  Fluttershy bides her time trying to make shapes out of the various puffy clouds floating overhead, while Twilight rests her head sideways on the pegasus's shoulder, silently daydreaming about the park in the summertime.  

"It sure is lovely out here today."  Fluttershy breaks the silence but not her gaze, tracking a cloud that looks suspiciously close to a bunny as it lazily floats through the sky.

"It certainly is...  And this view from right here is absolutely perfect."  Twilight speaks as she looks directly into Fluttershy's eyes, making the pegasus blush a little.  She resists the urge to shy away and leans in for a gentle kiss, receiving exactly the same enthusiasm back from the unicorn.  

"Twilight, I can't thank you enough for spending so much time with me, I'm sure you've got studying and such to do."  The pegasus says softly as she breaks away from the kiss, keeping her muzzle very close to Twilight's.

"Awh, well all of that can wait.  It's mostly just my own personal projects anyhow; the Princess hasn't requested anything specific in a long while."

"Well I'd hate to intrude on that either way."

"No intrusion at all, Fluttershy.  Honestly I don't think I've been this excited to leave the Library since I first came to Ponyville."

"Awwh, well I'm certainly happy to join you any time you like.  You really brighten my days."

Twilight just smiles and hugs around Fluttershy's waist, holding her close and kissing her cheek; the two of them couldn't be happier.  A few minutes pass in quiet bliss for the two ponies, only being interrupted by a light growling of Fluttershy's stomach.

"Uhm, Twilight?"  She asks the unicorn, who giggles a little bit having heard the sound.

"Yeah I know... we forgot to get breakfast."

Fluttershy laughs and stretches her wings out, wrapping one around Twilight's back as she stands up from the bench.  "I'll make us something when we get back to my place.  I'm pretty sure I have some veggies laying around that would be perfect."

Twilight responds with a gentle nod, walking with the pegasus toward her home.  She breathes in deep, taking as much of the clean, crisp winter air as she can and letting it out in a happy sigh.  She leans over and gives Fluttershy a small kiss on the cheek, staying close to her the whole walk back and cherishing every single second that they can be together.  

The walk to Fluttershy's home is almost automatic, having gone the route many times prior, and leaves the two to happily chat away about the random gossip around town, recent projects, and other such smalltalk.  Fluttershy generally keeps quiet as she still feels uncomfortable talking down about anypony, but doesn't hesitate too much to share a good chuckle at somepony else's expense.  Before they even know it, the pair is at the front door to Fluttershy's home.  The pegasus slowly and quietly opens it to avoid waking up any of her snoozing animal friends, should they be in earshot.  After a quick glance around the room, Fluttershy flicks on the light and steps inside, bringing the lavender unicorn in and offering her a seat on the couch.  Angel Bunny sticks his head into the living room and spots Twilight.  The unicorn, to his chagrin, spots him at almost the same time, and beckons him over.  Cautiously, the rabbit hops over and jumps into Twilight's lap, accepting the lavender mare's big hug and torrent of baby-talk about just how cute he is.

Fluttershy digs around her refrigerator, pulling a bag of fresh carrots and celery stalks from a small drawer and dropping it on the counter.  The pegasus briefly considers making some soup since the day is slowly progressing toward lunchtime, but resolves to simply rinse them off and bring them out raw.  She steps out of the kitchen and back into the living room, smiling as she sees Twilight holding Angel and scratching her hoof between his ears.

"N'aww, you two look so adorable."  She says through her teeth gripped around the handles of the bag.

"Now I know why you spoil him so much...  How'd you find him anyway?"  Twilight giggles softly at the pegasus and delicately strokes the bunny.  Most of his traumatic associations with Twilight have faded by now, giving him a cautious but still calm demeanor as he lays happily in her lap.

"He was actually really sick when I found him; he got away from his family when he was just a little tiny bunny.  I was taking a walk one day and it was in the middle of fall, only a couple of days before the first snow, and he was just on the side of the trail, shivering.  I couldn't just leave him there so I took him home with me, and even after he got better, since he didn't know where his family was, I just didn't feel right letting him go, so he's shared space with me ever since."

"Awwh!  Well you've done a great job nursing him back to health.  He seems very happy."

"Can you blame him?  I'd be super happy to sit in your lap and have my head scratched."  Fluttershy smiles and takes a seat next to Twilight, laying the bag down on the table just in front of them and revealing all of the food inside.  The carrots capture Angel's attention, so Twilight decides to feed him one.  Fluttershy takes a stalk of celery for herself and delicately munches it down, resting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder and smiling over to her; the scene, at least in her eyes, couldn't be more perfect.  Just to cap it off, however, the pegasus gingerly kisses Twilight's cheek, following it up with a smooch on the top of Angel's head.  She can't help but feel almost like a family.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack walk through the quiet town square and head toward Sugar Cube Corner.  As they approach the building, Applejack catches a glimpse of Rarity's tail turning the corner at the opposite end of the street, but she's too far gone to catch with a yell.  The couple shrugs and heads into the building, catching Pinkie Pie between her short, semi-frequent trips upstairs.  

"Hey you two!  What can I get ya?"  The pink pony asks as she bounds down the stairs, happy as always.

"You wouldn't happen to have any coffee would ya?"  Rainbow Dash asks with a yawn, stepping up to the counter and lazily gazing at all of the confections beneath the glass.

"Yeah, I reckon that's a good idea, actually."  Applejack yawns in return and scolds Rainbow under her breath for keeping her up all night.  

"Well it hasn't been very busy today so I haven't actually made any, but I'll go get a pot started, be about five minutes alright?"  Pinkie Pie fakes a yawn for their sake, gathering up all of the supplies for making coffee that she needs from under the cash register.  Surprisingly enough, the hyper pony doesn't actually like coffee: it tends to be a tad too bitter for her sweet-inclined palate.  As such, making it proves to be somewhat of a chore for her, but eventually she gets the order right and starts the process off.  "So what brings you two all the way out here?"

"Oh we're just taking a day to ourselves.  Walking around town, getting some breakfast right now."  Rainbow says as she decides on a large croissant sitting temptingly at the front of the display case.  She points it out to Pinkie, who happily delivers it to the hungry pegasus.

"Rainbow... it's lunch time."  Applejack interjects, but orders an identical one for herself.  Rainbow decides to pay this time, keeping the pastry in her mouth as she fishes out a couple of bits for the food and the coffee.  

"Breakfast is whenever the hay I decide to have the first meal of the day."  The cyan pegasus says with a mouthful of croissant.

"Nice that you're taking some time to yourselves, I could really use a day off."  The pink pony rings up the purchase and hands the pair their coffee, having left room for some cream and sugar and flashing them a wink.  "By the way, while I've got you here: Twilight and Fluttershy are having me throw a party today, here at Eight, and they want us all to be there."

"Alright, sounds like fun.  What's the occasion?"  Applejack asks since Rainbow's mouth is far too full to make any kind of coherent sentence.

"Well, they're... 'together' now so they wanted to celebrate and let everypony know.  Plus it's a party... who need a good reason to have a party?"

"Good point... I guess... But anyway that's great!  We're certainly happy for those two, they make an adorable couple don't they?"  Applejack finishes up a hefty sip of her coffee after saying this and gently pats Rainbow's leg under the table.  "I reckon it's 'cuz of them that Rainbow and I ended up together too."

"Hah!  I knew it!"  Pinkie jumps in place happily, clapping her front hooves together and grinning big.

"You okay?"  Rainbow asks as she finishes her coffee, tossing the empty cup into a trashcan halfway across the room and just barely making it in.

"Who me?  Oh yeah, I'm fine... say, would you two mind doing me a favor at the party when you see Rarity lookin' at ya?"  The pink pony follows this up with a somewhat mischievous grin, leaning over the counter as if to tell them a secret.

Applejack looks at Pinkie and knows she's up to no good.  "What favor?"

"Hah, I think I like where this is going..."  Rainbow Dash looks over at her marefriend and rests her hoof on her foreleg.

"If you're not too busy you're welcome to help me out upstairs, but just make sure Rarity is looking and then just kiss each other or something, be affectionate, rub it in her face that you two are together."

"You, Pinkie Pie, have yourself a deal."  Rainbow snickers under her breath and looks over to Applejack, who seems slightly less than amused at the idea.

"That seems kinda petty don'tcha think?"

"Uhm, AJ?"  Pinkie asks her, looking her in the eye with a very serious look. "We're talkin' about Rarity and you're worried about being too petty?"

"Alright you've made your point, I'll do it."

"Yay!  This is gonna be fun!"