Twilight sits at her window, staring outside with bloodshot eyes at the pale sky.  Dawn lazily approaches and paints the low-hanging clouds silver with the soft, downy light of the sun.  Twilight hasn't had a good hour of rest all night and she's feeling the effects.  She tilts her head down and away from the horizon to stare at her windowsill; perfectly clean as always.  The lavender unicorn sits back on her bed and sighs; she feels guilty for locking Spike out of the upstairs, but she really wanted to be alone last night.  She slowly climbs down the ladder from her sleeping area and sighs, looking in the mirror at her disheveled appearance without a care.  

Twilight opens the door to see Spike asleep in his bed right next to the doorway, the poor guy must have been worried  sick about her all night.

"Hey, Spike,"  Twilight says, letting her misery resound through her voice as she speaks.  

The dragon yawns and stretches, taking a minute to realize who just spoke to him, "Are you okay Twi?  You look like you had a really rough night,"

Twilight responds with a stretch; she feels stiff and run down from all the crying and lack of sleep, "Yeah... I feel like I did too.  Sorry for locking you out by the way.  I'm just have not been in the best of moods,"

The unicorn walks downstairs into the library, her head low and not looking at Spike as she passes him.  He promptly stands up and follows close behind,  "Do you want me to get you anything?"  

Twilight thinks about saying "You could get me my marefriend back," but isn't quite depressed enough for that kind of snarky talk.

"No, Spike, that's alright.  Just go ahead and take the day off, I've got some thinking to do,"  She responds with a weak, airy tone in her voice.

"Mnn, If you say so, but I'll be here if you need anything, I really am worried about you Twilight, you haven't been this freaked out in a long time,"  Spike says as he gathers up his bed and blanket, heading into the bedroom area and climbing the ladder.  

"I'll keep that in mind, but don't worry too much about me, It's nothing I can't deal with,"  She says with a little false confidence.  In reality she has no idea how to handle this situation and is running over different possibilities in her head; to no avail of course.

Twilight sits down at her desk, thinking very seriously about asking Celestia for help.  She magically unrolls a scroll and picks up a quill, dipping it in ink and hovering it just millimeters above the parchment.  The unicorn hesitates a little bit, thinking to herself about how crushed Fluttershy would be if she revealed the secret again, and to the Princess nonetheless.  A few blots of ink drip off of the quill onto the parchment and stains it; Twilight decides to put the materials away, resolving that she has to do this herself.

But what if Fluttershy doesn't want to speak to me?  She thinks, constantly running over every bad situation that she could possibly conjure up.  What if she never wants to see me again?  What if she's having second thoughts about the way she feels toward other mares?  What if she becomes even more reclusive now and never finds anybody?  It'd be all my fault!  Twilight finds herself chewing on the tip of her hoof, having reverted to a habit that she thought she kicked years ago.  

The lavender mare paces around, going from depressed to worried, and then to mortified.  Emotions swinging wildly, she looks around, trying to find some way to make up for her transgression.  Twilight walks back to her desk and takes out the quill again, finding her blotted parchment and figuring that she could write an apology to Fluttershy.  She writes a few lines out,

"Dear Fluttershy," No, no that won't do... She scratches out the two words vigorously.

"Dearest Fluttershy,"  No that won't work either... that's just creepy,  She thinks to herself over and over how imperfect her wording is, writing phrase after phrase and almost immediately scratching it out; unable to even get the beginning salutation down.  

"Dear Element of Kindness,"  Too impersonal, Scratch

"Dear Love,"   Definitely no.  Too personal, Scratch

"Dear Neighbor," No...  Scratch, scratch, scratch.

"Dear Friend,"  No,  Scratchy-scratchy-scratch.

"Dear... Dear...Dear..."  She actually writes the 3 'dear's in a row and then scratches them out.  Eventually she scratches right through the parchment and snaps the tip of her quill against the desk.

Frustrated, she uses her magic to fling the quill across the room.  She breaks down, thinking that she can't do anything right.  She never puts the thought into whether or not Fluttershy actually does want to see her, just taking what she saw and extrapolating on it.  To her horror, Twilight hears the one thing she never thought that she would hear; the one event whose statistics she never estimated or produced in her head: a gentle triplet of knocks at the door.

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

A rooster crows aloud on the farm of Sweet Apple Acres to greet the dawn, and a snoozing Rainbow Dash awakens from her moderately inappropriate dream of Applejack.  Stretching out on the roof of the Apple Family's new barn, Dash greets the day herself with an audible yawn.  She trots over to the edge of the gabled roof, sitting down with her hooves dangling over the edges to watch for the muted orange earth pony to emerge from her home.

A few minutes pass and Dash begins to feel a sinking sensation in her stomach.  She takes a few deep breaths and resolves to just do it.

Relax... It's AJ we're talkin' about here.  She's cool with almost anything, and it's not like she's gonna turn me down right?  Hey even if she does I'll make it a challenge or something, she won't turn that down.  I'll get her, I have to get her... I'm Rainbow Dash! I get everything I want.  Her thoughts ramble as she goes off into her own little world.  Every single time she tries to get her nerve up she just builds her ego instead of rehearsing anything.  She still doesn't know quite how she's going to go at this, but a pegasus as great as her doesn't need any plan or practice... right?

Applejack steps outside and takes a deep breath, not noticing the rainbow-maned pegasus on top of her barn.  Rainbow Dash spots her and trots around the roof of the barn excitedly, running in a circle to gain speed and then taking flight.  The pegasus snaps her wings open and feels that familiar rush of chill air through her feathers, quickly approaching the surprised pony.

"Awh, Rainbow what in the hay are you doin'?"  She yells out as the pegasus passes her, knocking her hat off with the wake left behind her flight trail.  

Rainbow laughs in her usual condescending manner and picks up the hat, "Heh, sorry there AJ, just thought I'd swoop in to let you know about the snowstorm coming along this morning.

"You let me know about that two nights ago,"  Applejack says with an annoyed tinge behind her voice.  

"Ah, that's right.  Slipped my mind I guess,"  She says with a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck and glancing away from their eye-contact.

"Uhm, somethin' wrong Rainbow?"  She asks, clearly noticing the pegasus lose her nerve.

"Who? Me? No nothin's wrong! I'm perfectly fine! I'm great!"  All that ego-stroking for nothing, the pegasus has been rendered helpless in the light of the object of her desire.

"You sure? You seem like you got somethin' on your mind,"  AJ can read the pegasus like a book and notices very clearly that she's flustered, "Somethin' you wanna tell me?"

Dash didn't expect this at all.  What little rehearsal she had performed in her head dissolves the instant Applejack catches wise to her intentions.  She caves however, and decides to follow through with her plan to just ask and see what happens,  "Well.  I, uhm... I... I haven't said this to anypony before but..."  She stumbles over her words, blushing a light shade of pink across her nose from the embarrassing strain on her resolve, "I kinda... have a... I have a thing for you, I guess is what I'm trying to say,"

"You got a what for me?  Like a present? or a surprise?"  Applejack is genuinely confused at the pegasus's statement.

"You know... I have a thing for you... a uhm... I have a crush on you.  I was wondering how you felt a-about me.  Maybe we could, go out or... something."  Dash gradually grows less confident in her statement as she watches Applejack's face drop from a confused look to one of worry.

"You uhm, really feel that way sugar-cube?"  She says, trying to mask her disappointment with a compliment.

"Yeah... Yeah I do.  You're a hard worker, you're confident, you're fast, honest, and loyal.  You're just... you're great,"  she trails off at the end, breaking eye contact again and just staring intently at Applejack's mouth, waiting for a response.  The earth pony sighs and looks over each of her shoulders, checking for any family and then walking forward to stand next to Dash.

"Rainbow, you and I need to have a chat, d'ya have the time?"  She says, looking Dash in the eyes.

"Uhm, yeah I've got a little while before the storm, what is it you needed to say?"

"Follow me.  We'll talk in the barn,"  Applejack slowly trots toward the new structure with Rainbow Dash close behind.  The cyan pegasus can't help but worry about the upcoming conversation; she feels that familiar sinking in her heart that she gets whenever she knows something is seriously wrong.

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

Twilight Sparkle sheepishly opens her door, peeking outside into the bright morning light, and more specifically to the familiar silhouette of a certain yellow pegasus.  

"Hey, Twilight..."  The soft-spoken mare says, not making eye contact quite yet and staying perfectly still.

"Hey... I uhm, I-I didn't think you would want to see me so soon,"  Twilight opens her door all the way and looks down in shame, feeling almost wounded during the awkward silence that follows.

"Uhm, may I come in?"  Fluttershy asks after a short time, quietly entering directly after Twilight's nod,  "I wanted to apologize to you.  I shouldn't have freaked out like that,"  

"No, no Fluttershy you're not the one who should be apologizing, I shouldn't have done that in public.  I just didn't want you to feel ostracized like that,"  Twilight responds, walking slowly back into the library proper with Fluttershy in tow.

"I understand that you were just trying to defend me.  I think maybe we should just talk a little more and get some things established, if that would be okay..."

Aw and you were doing so well up to now too, Co-pilot,  Courage, who probably has had her hoof in this entire journey thus far, chimes in and mocks Fluttershy's usual self-doubt.

This really isn't the time...  She snaps in her mind, catching only the tail end of what Twilight has been talking about.

" -- So you said you had something to establish?"  Twilight tilts her head to the side as the slightly absent Fluttershy snaps back into focus and sits with the unicorn.

"Y-yes...  I just think maybe we should keep it quiet for a little longer.  It's clear that not every pony in Ponyville is going to be accepting of us as a couple, I want to be happy and comfortable with you but I don't want to be ridiculed in public.  I already had an experience where I was publicly adored and... well... you saw how well that turned out,"  Fluttershy's voice trails off once more as she reminisces on that discomforting moment.

I still think you should have taken that contract with Photo Finish, you could have more money than you know what to do with by now,  Courage seems whimsically amused by her own actions; ignoring the emotion of the moment playing out before them and still mocking her 'Co-pilot'.

And just what would I do with that money anyway? I it's not like I need it, if anything Rarity would be more inclined,  

Pfft, you and I both know that you're much more attractive than Rarity is; I think Photo Finish would agree.  That's not to say she isn't kinda cute but I've seen how you look at yourself in the mirror,  

That's how you look at me in the mirror  Fluttershy closes her eyes and shakes her head a little at the strangeness of the moment

"I understand, Fluttershy, and I promise I'll try to be a little better about keeping it quiet.  I'm just so happy to have someone in my life that I can count on and actually... well, maybe it's a little soon to be saying this, but I feel like I can love you.  And I feel like i can be loved by you.  There's nothing more I could ask for,"

See? Twilight's begging you to be with her,

Just shut up! Please!

"Thank you, Twilight... I feel the same way, I just don't want other people to make fun of us..."

"I understand, I really do... Please forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you, you mean so much to me, and e-everyone makes mistakes,"

Someponies more than others...  Courage mocks and mocks, feeling stifled by the emotional cage and just wanting nothing more than to fly away.  Her best resolve is to make fun of Fluttershy's obvious inhibitions; taking a bad moment (for her anyway) and making it into an entertaining one.

"Why do you always have to try and ruin everything for me?!"  Fluttershy yells, not quite used to having two simultaneous conversations and accidentally crossing them into each other.

What'd I tell ya? Heheee,

"Fluttershy... What are you talking about?"  Twilight shies away from the mare, shivering a little from the loud outburst and afraid that she's done something wrong.

"No! No, no no Twilight that wasn't for you... That was... That was for me,"  She tries to explain without sounding crazy, but just can't seem to fit the words right in her mind.

Maybe I should leave you alone now.  Sure it's fun messing with you but I really don't wanna have to put up with some kind of emotional breakdown for the next few months.  If you turn out to be too far around the bend for little Twilight to handle just let me know so I can find a dark little place in your obnoxiously bright and happy mind to hide... Peace!  With that, the 'Voice of Courage' disappears from present consciousness...  Lately she's been getting worse and worse as far as making herself a separate entity goes.

"I don't quite understand... you... yell at yourself in your mind?"  Twilight breaks into Fluttershy's focus for the first time this conversation, making the yellow pegasus feel guilty for ignoring what she had come here to do.

"That's about the closest explanation I could give you...  Twilight I haven't... I haven't quite t-told you some things about myself.  Maybe it would be dangerous to hide them if we were going to get s-serious,"  the embarrassed mare tries to take a page from Courage's handbook without reverting to her level.  In her mind she would always be above that pestilent mass of spite, regardless of the fact that they're the same pony.  

"I see.  Well, whatever you want to tell me I'm perfectly willing to listen to, and don't be afraid; I'll keep it purely confidential,"  The unicorn replies with sincere worry in her voice, resting her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder as she steps close to her.

"Thank you, Twilight...  You really are a great friend... erm... a great marefriend"

"Even if I do screw up sometimes, heh," she follows with a tense giggle, but relaxes just enough to hug the mare.  Fluttershy happily returns the gesture.

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

Applejack stands by the barn door, holding it open for the cyan pegasus to step inside.  Rainbow Dash, still on edge, nervously enters the dark area, afraid of what's about to happen.

"Now listen here, Sugar-cube.  What you asked me out there.  You're telling me you're a... what's the word again?  Fillyfooler, is that it?"  Applejack didn't quite respond the way Dash had expected.  She can feel her heart fracture right down the middle with the pronunciation of that slightly degrading term.

"Well, yeah I guess... yeah that's what I'm saying.  I'm a fillyfooler, I'm happy, I'm proud of it, and I was wondering... well... hoping that you were too. I-I guess,"  She starts to break down a little bit, deflated ego bringing with it the rest of her resolve.

Applejack opens with a sigh and stands next to the mare, "I don't mean to be a disappointment, Rainbow...  But I'm afraid I hafta let you know that, well... My barn door only swings in one direction.  And It ain't the same one yours does.  Catch my drift?"

Dash lowers her head and closes her eyes gently, sighing as she hears AJ speak.  "Yeah, I hear you..."

"Dash, I love you, I love you very much.  But I love you the same way that I love my family.  As far as I'm concerned you are family, and you always will be.  I'm not saying I have anything against you, or that way of life.  I understand it's not a choice, because if it were maybe I'd be a little bit more willing to give it a shot with you, but I'm afraid all I can offer you is a friend to be with.  Not one to... be with,"  The pale-orange earth pony sits down next to Rainbow and brushes up against her.  She nudges her ribs in a friendly manner to try and cheer up the melancholy pegasus.

"Thank you AJ, I'm sorry I assumed..."  Dash feels a little ashamed of admitting her 'secret' so readily.  

"You're always welcome, oh and don't worry about me saying anything.  I may be the Element of Honesty but that don't mean I'm fixin' to go around spreadin' business that ain't my own,"

"No worries AJ, I'm pretty sure everypony already knows anyhow.  Either way it means a lot to me to be able to talk to you about it...  Maybe we could have another sit-down like this again soon... Except with some actual sitting down,"  

"Haha!  Now there's an idea, but ah think we both have someplace to be right now.  See you around soon n'kay?"

"Yeah, definitely,"  Dash smiles, feeling honestly happy that she managed to get that off her chest.  She's still a little sad that she couldn't get AJ all to herself, but at least she didn't crash and burn.

Applejack opens the barn door and lets Dash get a running start to fly off toward Cloudsdale.  She waves the pegasus down and takes cover behind a nearby pile of hay, holding her hat down with her hoof.  

"All clear partner!"  She yells, holding up her hoof from behind the hay-pile and beckoning her out the door.

"See you around AJ!  Nice gettin' to catch up with you!"  Dash yells as she trots to the back of the barn, running as quickly as she can and taking flight as soon as sunlight touches her wings.  She feels the slightest bit more invigorated by the skies as usual; taking deep breaths and enjoying the caress of the air across her whole, streamlined body.  

Applejack takes a deep breath and shivers from the cold.  She steps outside and shuts the barn door, laughing softly at Dash's trademarked rainbow-trail that she left behind her.  Smiling, the orange pony gets to her morning chores, briefly imagining a strange image of Rainbow Dash and her, snuggling on a couch in front of the fireplace and keeping each other warm.  

Not such a bad idea, She thinks, not putting it too far beyond her, but still too set in her ways to give it more than a consideration.  At least they'll be happy as friends.