A/N: And so, after a hiatus of several weeks, I return with...this. Was it worth it? No. Could I have done a lot better? Yes. Could I have at least put in the effort necessary to make it a tiny bit longer? Probably. But I plan to revise the entire thing later on, so hopefully version two or whatever will be at least 20% cooler.

Fluttershy was very concerned.

Contrary to popular opinion, she was not normally a scaredy-pony. Well, maybe she was. But she wasn't a worrywart. Most of the time. Well, when she worried, she worried for a reason; that was the best way to put it. She never worried over 'nothing.' Mostly.

Applejack was steaming over some unknown insult, refusing to discuss it and bucking apples. Only she'd given up on the "apple" part and was just bucking, kicking the same tree over and over again to vent her anger. Fluttershy had never seen her normally sweet friend so worked up over anything before, except for maybe Rarity. The two of them tended to argue a lot, now that she thought about it. Fluttershy had considered asking her what was wrong, but decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to get between a workhorse and her...work.

Rainbow Dash had flown off into the sunset and hadn't been seen for three days. Nopony knew where she'd gone, only that she'd left a note saying "don't try to find me." Nopony had. Fluttershy had considered it, but had decided the idea was too frightening to think about. As much as she was worried about the blue pegasus, she trusted her to take care of herself. She wouldn't have asked for nopony to look for her if she hadn't been absolutely positive nothing would happen to her. At least, that's what Fluttershy chose to believe. It was easier than thinking about what might have actually happened.

Rarity had locked herself in her boutique. The stench of bleach and lemon cleaners wafted from the open windows, and when Fluttershy had tried to go meet her for their weekly trip to the spa, the doors had been locked. She had tried to knock, only to hear her friend screech something about disgusting filthy hooves touching her door. Fluttershy hadn't even considered trying to reason with her, because she knew how Rarity got when she was cleaning, and it just wasn't worth it. So she had gone to the spa alone. She didn't want to ask anyone to take the trouble of accompanying her.

Twilight seemed generally out of sorts. She was mumbling to herself more than usual, and seemed very stressed about something. Not only that, but she seemed to have lost track of Spike, not even noticing that he wasn't staying at the library for the time being. (Fluttershy had offered him sanctuary until Twilight got back to normal.) That was definitely not like her. Normally, Twilight was nothing if not responsible.

Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie.

All in all, it had been a very strange week for her and her friends. None of them seemed to be speaking to each other, and they all seemed very upset about something; it was as if they'd had a big fight, only none of them had thought to mention it to her. Fluttershy was a little hurt at the thought, but decided to believe they hadn't said anything because they didn't want to worry her.

If there was one thing guaranteed to push Fluttershy to action, it was knowing that her friends were hurting somehow. The truth was, she could be bold when she needed to be; she just needed a little push in the right direction. And knowing that her friends were in trouble was just the push she needed.

And so, on a bright sunny day in summer, she left her cottage alone, ignoring the trepidation she felt and instead embracing the courage rising within her at the thought of a chance to practice being assertive.

The door slammed behind her.

"EEK!"

-----

Twilight was in the library like she'd expected. It had taken quite a while to work up the courage to knock; after all, Twilight lived in such a big house, it was a little intimidating for a pony like Fluttershy, who was used to everything behind quiet and tidy. But it was important her for her to get over here fears; after all, Twilight had seemed the safest bet when Fluttershy had asked herself which pony she should approach first. Twilight Sparkle tended to be the most rational and reasonable of any of her other friends.

When Twilight answered the door, she looked anything but reasonable.

"Oh, my!" Fluttershy had gasped when she saw her. "Are you all right?"

She looked completely and utterly exhausted; but she offered the butter-yellow pegasus a strained smile. "Oh, Fluttershy!" She cried, feigning delight. "I was just about to go looking for you!"

"Oh, dear, oh, dear," Fluttershy clucked in her motherly way, gently pushing her inside. "You look so tired! You really need some rest."

"Wha-? I guess maybe I'm a little exhausted. I've had a frustrating day."

Fluttershy was quietly pushing her down on a chaise lounger, but Twilight didn't even pretend to put up a fight. She really was tired, after all.

"Tell me everything that happened," Fluttershy cooed when Twilight was settled in on the sofa, and the purple unicorn couldn't help but give a wry grin. Fluttershy was treating her like one of her injured animals, and she was just letting her. After the kind of day she'd had, getting fussed over was surprisingly agreeable.

"Well," she began, and at once she had all of Fluttershy's attention, eyes wide and sincere. "I've been doing some research on psychology, basically, for personal reasons, and I've wanted to try sharing what I've learned. So first I spoke to Applejack, and I tried to explain my theories, but she - "

"Um..." Fluttershy began, then caught herself. Flushing at the interruption, she glanced upright, then quickly glanced down, nervously pawing at the ground.

"Yes...?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy was so rarely assertive; it was probably a result of her social anxiety. As Ponyville's first practicing psychologist, it was up to her to encourage her to come out of her shell, even at the cost of basic manners.

"Um, well, it's just...uh...what sort of theories?"

There was something pressing about the way she asked the question that made Twilight frown, puzzled. She hadn't really expected Fluttershy of all ponies to be especially interested in her work. "Nothing special. I just did a little reading on autism. It's fascinating, really. You see..."

Fluttershy was looking straight at her with those penetrating eyes, somehow compelling Twilight to be silent. "Did you talk to her about what you read?"

"...yes...?"

"Oh. I see." And Fluttershy smiled in that cute way of hers, bobbing her head slightly to indicate that Twilight could continue. "I'm very, very sorry that I interrupted you. What else were you saying?"

"Uh..."

Fluttershy had covered her in a blanket, and the warmth of the library and softness of the chaise lounger were making Twilight incredibly sleepy. She had to stifle a yawn behind a hoof before she could continue. Her eyes were beginning to grow sore from the glasses, and her head ached from having such a tight knot in her mane all day. More than anything else, she wanted to just sleep, right here, right now.

"Uh..." Twilight yawned again. "Well, next I talked to Rainbow Dash, and I told her about histrionic personality disorder. But I think I gave her one of her panic attacks."

"Do you know where she is right now?" Fluttershy asked pleasantly. "I've been so worried about her. Poor dear."

"Not...really."

"I see. And did you talk to Rarity, too?"

"Uh-huh. I just got back from Carousel Boutique." Twilight gave a little giggle. "Things got kind of crazy. I don't think Rarity was really ready to listen to what I had to say."

"What did you have to say?" Fluttershy asked, again turning the full force of her enormous blue-green eyes on Twilight, compelling her to answer.

"I..." And for a moment, Twilight's mind was blank, and she honestly couldn't remember what she'd said. What had she told Rarity? Oh, right. "I told her that I thought she had narcissistic personality disorder, but then she started acting very...obsessive compulsively."

"Did you know that Rarity has been struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder for a very long time?" Fluttershy asked, again in that sweet, agreeable way. But there was an underlying menace to her words, one that took Twilight by surprise. Fluttershy had never seemed ominous in any way before now, but something about her question, despite the innocent nature of it, seemed like a veiled threat.

"No...?" Twilight ventured. She recoiled slightly, hitching the blanket up so that it covered her more fully.

"Oh, yes. It's been very hard for her. And I suppose Rainbow Dash was very upset when she left, wasn't she?"

"Maybe...?"

"I bet she was. It's very important to her that everypony thinks well of her. I don't know what she'd do if she thought anypony was looking down on her. Maybe she'd even run away?"

"I guess...?"

"And Applejack works so hard for her family, I bet she'd be really insulted if somepony dared to tell her that there was something wrong with her and the way she's been living. Right?"

"It's possible...?"

"I bet you were looking for me because you had something to tell me, didn't you?"

Fluttershy was pressing closer and closer, smile huge and eyes wide, but the threat was no longer implied; it was there and it was very, very real, in the way she was moving closer to Twilight despite the unicorn's considerably more vulnerable position.

There was a moment of silence, and it suddenly occurred to Twilight that every single other conversation she'd had with anypony else had also included a moment of awkward silence. Maybe there's a pattern here, she thought guiltily.

And then she snapped.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Fluttershy screamed, and Twilight cringed, eyes huge in shock. Fluttershy had always been the most delicate and innocent of her friends, and except for the incident with the dragon and at the Gala, she'd never heard her angry before. Never had she expected to have Fluttershy angry at her.

"HOW DARE YOU?! YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO INSULT MY FRIENDS?" Fluttershy spat, ears twitching, wings beating fast and hard in fury and face twisted in anger as she shouted. "YOU MAY BE THE SMARTEST UNICORN TO EVER COME OUT OF EQUESTRIA, BUT THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO BE A KNOW-IT-ALL! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME HERE FROM OUT OF NOWHERE AND JUDGE US? YOU THINK YOU HAVE THAT RIGHT? JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A FEW FANCY BOOKS FROM YOUR PRINCESS, DOESN'T MEAN YOU KNOW EVERYTHING!"

"Fluttershy?!"

"YOU DO NOT! GET! TO HURT! MY! FRIENDS!"

Her bellowing seemed to shake the very foundations of the house, and Twilight continued to back up until with a sudden tumble she tipped over the edge of the chaise, landing on the floor with a thud. Wincing, she rubbed her head with a hoof and looked up, only to find herself staring into the furious eyes of Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy, what's wrong with you?!" Twilight cried, quickly rising to her legs. They were weak from exhaustion and shook under her weight, and she began to scramble to back up; but Fluttershy continued to press forward until she had Twilight backed up against a wall, clumsily bumping into a bookshelf.

"YOU'D BETTER STOP THIS NONSENSE RIGHT NOW! IF YOU DON'T, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU DO! IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU'VE BEEN TALKING TO ANYPONY ELSE ABOUT THIS, I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU'D NEVER COME TO PONYVILLE!"

And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the rage stopped, and Fluttershy primly touched down on the ground, folding her wings daintily and clearing her through with a soft "ahem."

"There, there" she said soothingly, reaching over to caress Twilight's cheek with a gentle hoof and eyeing the frazzled terror on the unicorn's. "That wasn't too bad, was it? You're not the first pony I've had to lecture. Everypony needs a little guidance sometimes. All you have to do is apologize to everypony, and I'm sure they'll forgive you, and then everything will be nice again. Okay?"

"Okay," Twilight squeaked.

Fluttershy beamed a winning smile. "I need to go now; it's feeding time" she said lightly, turning to leave. "But thank you very much for having this talk with me. It's been lovely."

And she left, leaving Twilight standing alone among her shelves of books, watching her in shock.

"Okay." Twilight said aloud, sighing heavily. She magically removed the glasses and undid her hair, then telekinetically threw the frames as hard as she could out the open window. She didn't see where they landed, and didn't care, slumping resignedly to the floor. "I'm done. I can't do this anymore."