They'd all changed since it'd happened, honestly, some more than others. Perhaps her change was simply the most noticeable.

For starters, she moved out of the cottage in Ponyville, to an inner-city park in Baltimare, a long way away. Nopony followed her initially, then Rarity found a nice alternative area to set up her business in the area, and Pinkie followed right behind her, looking for work in the area, perhaps trying to move to bigger things.

Or that was just her justification for it. One way or another, she was on her way to a new start, separate from what she knew.

The sky was clear on the train ride over, and Pinkie was quiet. She had nopony to talk to and too much to think about, so she simply stared out the window, wondering.

I'll always feel like I left them behind. It won't be too big of a thought, though. It'll just always be there. I'll come back and visit a lot, and when we go off for Element stuff, we could make it into something nice.

She felt her breath growing longer and her eyes growing heavy. With a sigh, she shut them tightly and opened them again. It was only three in the afternoon - not at all time to sleep. Plus, they'd be there soon.

The song ended, and she heard the whirr of the tape loop. It started on a beat of silence, and she was never sure if she's accidentally stopped the tape until the song began. As the melody rushed into her head, she felt the little sense of nostalgia, or sentiment, or something. The first time she'd heard it was at the diner, that afternoon.

Maybe it was a good thing that it didn't work for them. No, stop.

It was such a common thought, but every time it snuck into her mind, she forced it out with as much willpower as she could muster. Of course it wasn't good that it didn't work out. But that wasn't the first thought she'd had when she got the news, was it? No.

Plan A... she began, but then a flurry of thoughts filled her head, dispersing over her conscious like ink in water, forcing her sentient thoughts to the background. In a minute she was asleep.

Baltimare was a beautiful city, certainly. Splashes of architecture from everywhere were everywhere, the Grand Port having opened the land up to all types of cultures. Street musicians spotted the main road, their crowds forming polka dots in the traffic, all their chords similar and forming a kind of chaotic harmony.

Her apartment? No paragraph for that.

She arrived, with the help of three stallions - Stevie, Wave, and Able, who spoke rather quickly. As such, it took no time at all for them to take a liking to one another. They reached the apartment quite soon, and she showed them (and her boxes) inside.

"That down there is the ferry, takes you to the little islands around the port, or the peninsula a few miles that direction, if you want," Wave was saying, the words spilling out of his mouth like, well, waves. "If you'd like, I could show you around town tomorrow." He glanced to his left and right at the annoyed faces of his comrades. "Uh, we can do that, I mean."

"Sounds great, guys! I got everything from here," she said cheerfully, and they dropped the boxes they were carrying gently on the old carpet, as she put Gummy down gently. "Thanks so much!"

"It's no problem," Able said, in his deep and scratchy and concise voice. He nodded, showed a shallow smile, and turned on his hoof to leave.

Wave and Stevie looked at each other. "Well, looks like we're out, Miss Pie," Stevie said, smiling brightly. "Perhaps we could drop by tomorrow?"

"That'd be great!"

They left shortly after, and Pinkie looked around at the boxes and the wallpaper and carpet behind them. And it really occurred to her then that this was her new life, her new location, her new story.

She looked down at her hooves. There wasn't a way to justify it. Not really.

She looked out at the street. Far less ponies were on it, be the apartments nearby, although some had signs life, seemed empty and false. She looked down at Gummy, who was clawing a bit at the carpet.

You know why you came here, her brain screamed.

She set out some food and water for Gummy, and left. She knew why she was there, and she wouldn't rest until she did what she needed to.

They stood in a small half-circle around the two bodies.

The air had become heavy and warm, like blood. The darkness in the alley had begun to encroach on the light, suffocating it. Rarity looked away, tears in her eyes, and Dash covered her muzzle. Pinkie remembered she was biting her lip, but didn't remember much more about how she was physically.

Otherwise, it was crushing. She didn't want to move forwards into the... nest below. Twilight was saying something indistinctly, her voice breaking. Then, in a bright pink light, the bodies were gone, their white eyes no longer staring into nothing, their open mouths no longer whispering silent anguish.

She remembered crying, but only a bit. It was something she wouldn't get out of her head, but she didn't have to affected by it. That's what she told herself. "You don't have to be affected by it."

It worked, kind of. Until they went into the nest.

The next few minutes were a blur. He was there, raving. More bodies, more corpses. Diagrams, drawings, instruments, blood. Insane. Magic, screaming, a solid kick to the head. And the next day, they were awarded their bright silver medals.

"For deeds of valor in the eyes of justice. For risks taken above and beyond the necessary. For doing what so many others could not. We award the Elements of Harmony the Constellation of Metra, the highest honor."

Nopony was happy about it. Rarity's leg would mend eventually, and whatever AJ caught would be gone in a week or so, but none of them would ever really recover. And the Princess knew that, so they did their best to help. But there was nothing to help.

She never wanted to remember it. But she always would. So she kept it small. And she kept the medal in the case, on the wall, so it would eventually become mundane. Perhaps.

She'd greeted Fluttershy loudly and with much more hugs than she'd intended. It'd been months since they'd seen each other, after all.

"Shy!" she'd practically screamed. "How's it been going in the city?"

"Hey, Pink -" Fluttershy tried to respond, but her voice was smothered in a tight hug. "So I heard you moved in, too," she continued as soon as Pinkie'd pulled away.

"Yeah! Now we can hang out more!" She paused. Save yourself save yourself "Well, I'm looking for a better job out here, maybe find a way to run a business," she added quickly.

"That's really awesome, Pinkie," Fluttershy replied, smiling widely. It'd been so long since she'd seen that smile. Or the rest of her. She was wearing a light green sweater with a small symbol on the front (probably where she worked), and everything else about her was... normal. Just like she remembered her. "Do you want to come in?" she asked, dragging Pinkie out of her thoughts.

"Oh, sure!"

They sat down on the small couch. "Wow, this is really a nice place, Shy. Like, wow! Look at the colors and stuff," Pinkie said, looking up and around. Greens and yellows and light browns, earthy and warm. "It's really, really nice. Nothing like your old place."

"Thanks," Fluttershy giggled, and trotted into the kitchen. "Would you like anything?"

"The finest Chardonnay," Pinkie replied with the cheesiest accent she could.

She heard a giggle and sat back into the couch, her mind running full-speed again, along with her heart. Plan A. Just do it. Plan B. Leave. That was not a good plan and she had no more time to fix it.

Fluttershy walked back out. "All I have is tea."

"That's fine, thank you," Pinkie replied cheerfully. Just do it.

"Why are you really leaving?"

She could tell right away that Fluttershy had no real answer. Already, she was avoiding - looking down, a soft 'no reason'. The bay window in her cottage showed the sun slowly becoming lower in the sky. She shouldn't have come by at that time, but tomorrow would be too late, and Fluttershy would have been gone.

"Shy -"

Pinkie had never before then seen Fluttershy actually cry.

She leaned forwards to hug her, and wrapped her tightly in her forelegs. "Shy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -"

"It's - it's okay," Fluttershy said softly, and pulled away, rubbing viciously at her eyes and sniffing. "I just - I'm sorry. I don't want to be here anymore."

"I understand - I do."

Fluttershy was silent for a moment. "I don't know that," she replied finally. "I'll see you later, Pinkie."

"Fluttershy, I didn't -"

"It's not your fault. I just need to be alone."

Silence.

"... See you later, Shy."

The window behind them showed the sun slowly beginning to touch the buildings across from them.

They'd been talking for at least two hours. About everything, really - what there was to see in the city, what there would be to do tomorrow, maybe, what was happening in Ponyville before Pinkie left. But the entire time, something was sitting in the back of Pinkie's mind, giving off something like an itch. She needed to just do it.

"I think the city isn't altogether too bad. It's got a lot of things to do, and I have a book club, and I'm writing now, actually, because of the leniency in my new job," Fluttershy was saying, finishing her second cup of tea.

"That's... cool," Pinkie replied, more quietly than normal.

"... I miss Applejack," Fluttershy said, at the same volume, staring into her cup. At the other end of the couch, she almost appeared to curl up, like burning paper.

That wasn't supposed to happen. It didn't work out. Well, it was probably non-romantic, right? Right. "I miss all of them, and I just saw them Monday," Pinkie interjected with a giggle.

"... I don't know whether I would want to start something again. But I'd have to move back there. And..." She trailed off. "For the last few weeks, since I've moved, it's really hit me how much - how much I want a family."

Pinkie looked up, aware how long she was staring. Fluttershy wasn't looking, so maybe she would get away with it. "You - you would make an amazing mother," she blurted, and let it float in the air as she silently went back to her own teacup.

Fluttershy smiled again. Pinkie caught it out of the corner of her eye. "Thanks, Pinkie. That means a lot."

"I just..." she trailed off. "You don't have to go anywhere - I mean, to start - I mean -" Just do it. The itch had grown almost painful. "That - I, um -" she stammered, setting her teacup on the coffee table and sitting up.

She reached a hoof out towards Fluttershy, who looked up at her, confused. After a second or two, she placed her cup gently on the floor and took the hoof, and Pinkie pulled her slightly closer. In a smooth motion, she put her hoof on the couch behind them and leaned forwards, stopping despite herself as she got close.

The scene in her mind pulled out, showing her sitting uncomfortably close to Fluttershy in the middle of her living room on the middle of her couch, their faces barely centimeters away and closing in.

Oh Celestia just do it

With a gentle sigh, she felt lips against her own. Her heart took off, that first track playing over and over again at twice the speed and twice the volume in her head. She reached a hoof up and touched Fluttershy's cheek gently, her eyes closing even tighter, her entire body getting warmer and warmer.

But she didn't do it. She didn't lean forwards. It wasn't her. And it wasn't her who, in a second, pulled away, leaving her with a chill and discomfort like there was a sudden breeze in the apartment. She opened her eyes to see nothing but Fluttershy's, light green-blue, dancing like the candle flames that illuminated them. "... Did..." she murmured.

"I... I don't know whether I can go through all this again," Fluttershy almost-whispered. "I don't know. I don't know whether we can do this again."

"Shy - I - why don't we just continue and you can figure out whether I'm good for you later?" Pinkie replied quickly.

"But..." Fluttershy looked down, rubbing at her eyes. "You remind me of everything."

Pinkie froze, her hoof moving gently over Fluttershy's. "Not -"

"Not that, not that," Fluttershy mumbled, a hoof on her head. She pulled away a bit, looking up at her. "Something made me realize that - that I wanted to be part of something bigger. Probably... that."

Pinkie simply looked down.

"That's why I'm trying to get to the position I am. The company, Rainbow Solutions, we're saving endangered species, and we're fixing the world. I'll miss all the nature I lived around, I'll miss Dash and Twilight and AJ, but - but I'm part of something now. And you..." She let the sentence hang for a good three seconds. "You're not part of that."

It was harsh. It sounded it, at least, but Pinkie registered it as exactly what it was. "... I could be, though."

She could see the gears turning in Fluttershy's head. Her eyes darted back and forth in small staccato motions between Pinkie's eyes, and her mouth was slightly open in thought.

Just do it. "You know what I think about you," she began, a smile growing on her face as she held Fluttershy's hoof to her chest. This was cheesy. This was lame. And nothing had ever meant more. "You know I love you."

With a blink, there were tears in Fluttershy's eyes. "Why did you have to follow me out here?"

"I want to -" She stopped, and inhaled. "I... I'm no good with words," she added with a grin, and leaned forwards for another kiss.

There was nothing like it. Only the third time she'd ever kissed Fluttershy, and each time was different from every other pony she'd ever kissed. She never wanted to stop.

And perhaps neither did Fluttershy. She never resisted, and seemed rather to be leaning into it, her hoof firmly on Pinkie's chest and the other on her neck, moving gently down. So, without losing motion, she leaned her back against the arm of the couch and kissed her again, only for a short second.

"Why did you have to follow me out here?" she asked again with a shuddering breath.

"Do you want to meet me somewhere for lunch tomorrow?" Pinkie whispered, giggling again into her ear and kissing her once more.

Fluttershy said nothing, but simply reached her forelegs around Pinkie and nuzzled her neck, a bit forcefully. "Just -" she cut herself off. "I love you."

The night wore on.

"I have to go," Pinkie heard, the words tearing her out of her dream. "I have work soon."

"Wh -" she mumbled, and looked up, half-consciously wiping at her eyes. "Shy?"

"Yeah. You should get home, I don't have much time to talk." She already looked ready to go - mane combed, sweater on, keys jingling in her saddlebag.

"Oh - uh - s-sorry, I was -"

"No, it's okay, I woke up a few minutes ago, too. I'll meet you at your apartment at noon and we can go out for lunch. Okay?"

"O-okay?"

"Lock the door when you leave. See you later."

"Shy - I, um," she began, entirely unsure of what to say.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything," Fluttershy replied with a kind little smile, and leaned down to kiss her gently.

There's nothing like that. A kiss from somepony you've always loved. Nothing.

Pinkie was silent as she heard the door close, and put her head in her hooves when she was sure Fluttershy was gone. The world was hers now, now that there was a nice, solid chance that - just maybe - who she loved loved her in return.

Something had changed in Fluttershy. She'd become a different pony, with different goals and intentions. But there was nothing that Pinkie didn't love with her whole heart. What they had, what they'd proved, was precious, priceless, unmatchable. But she did regret one thing - she wasn't full. She already wanted her back.

She trotted home, set her little brass clock on the countertop, sat down with Gummy, and waited.

Author's Notes:

There is a really good chance that I'll write a second chapter, short to medium length, to close.