As I lay in bed, I found myself still basking in the afterglow of my special moment shared with Fluttershy. It was warm, sensual, and far more romantic than I would have ever imagined it could be. With a large smile on my face, I lost myself in constant daydreams of the yellow mare for several minutes at a time, occasionally twirling my hair or letting out a soft giggle or two at the pleasant thoughts that came and went. I was elated to say the least.

Many times, I had thought of sharing intimate moments with another pony, silently wondering what the experiences would be like. However, the real thing was far better than I could have ever imagined it to be, and I found myself only wanting more after the brief exchange I only just had.

Despite my desire to spend more time close to my special somepony, I knew that she was to go back home to Ponyville this evening. I would again have to wait some time before I would have an opportunity to spend time with her, but at the end of this wait was a lovely promise, a promise that I would be able to spend actual, quality time with her.

I can’t wait to go home.

Judging from Surefire’s news, things were looking really good for me. My innocence was well beyond proven at this point. All I had to do was wait for her to finish building her case, and then the charges against me would be seen as false and removed. I would then be cleared to spend the rest of my recovery period in Ponyville, in my new home.

I brought a hoof to my chin, wondering what it will be like to see my gallery in its finished state. According to the details given to me by Quick Fix, the construction would be completed before I was to return home at the rate things were going. This really excited me, my very own art gallery, all shiny and new would be there to greet me when I returned home.

So much room for so many paintings...

I would have a lot of work ahead of me before I could open the gallery though. I would need to just about fill the place with my paintings first, which I currently had none to my name. However, knowing I had a lot of painting ahead of me was just one more joy to look forward to when I get back from Manehattan.

I remained lost in my musing for several minutes longer before the ever familiar click of the door pulled me away from my thoughts. Looking to the entry, I watched as Fluttershy entered. Lagging behind and hesitantly following the yellow mare inside, was none other than the seemingly missing Rarity.

I felt a blurry haze of emotions as I stared at the fashionista; struggling to decide on what I should feel at that particular moment. After a brief mental sorting, my feelings settled on something I had never really felt before; something until now I never had the chance to experience.

Betrayal.

Part of me was indeed happy to see her, but I felt deeply betrayed by her lack of trust in me. She hadn’t believed me when I so desperately tried to convince her of the truth, and then proceeded to only avoid me thereafter. The look on her face as she approached me showed that she too sensed my uncertainty at her presence.

“Oh, um, hello, darling...” she greeted me, before hesitating for several seconds.

Fluttershy turned to Rarity, softly prompting her to continue. “Go on, Rarity. She will hear you out.” she gave the fashionista a reassuring warm smile.

Rarity bit her lower lip, shifting her posture with unease. “Look... Prism I... I just wanted to say that I am truly, truly sorry.”

Despite her apology being sincere, it only served to further tip the balance of my feelings. “Sorry for what exactly?” I snapped back somewhat angrily. “I think you have a few things to be sorry about.”

I hadn’t intended for my words to be so strong, nor sound so sharp; but as I spoke, I couldn’t help but feel a swelling pain in my chest starting to grow.

Rarity’s expression quickly sank at my response to her apology. “For everything, dear,” she replied, shifting about nervously. “The girls all spoke with me last night, urging me that speak with you about the truth before we all leave this evening.”

I felt a twinge of anger at the reason behind her admittance. “So you’ll believe me once the rest of the girls say so, but my word alone is not good enough for you?”

The fashionista’s ears fell back with a wince, my words seeming to cut through her like a hot knife. “It wasn’t that it was you, darling! Everything Snooty said, it was all just so...” Rarity hesitated briefly before continuing, “…convincing, Prism.”

I pounded the side of my bed with my left forehoof in frustration. “Why?! Why didn’t you believe me in the first place?” I asked with a quick sweep of my foreleg. “Why did you take his word over mine?” I looked to Fluttershy before pointing a hoof to the yellow mare. “Fluttershy even said the same thing as me, did she not?”

My special somepony gave a silent nod before crossing the room to seat herself in one of the green corner chairs.

Rarity quickly shook her head. “It was all over the papers, darling!” the fashionista cried out in return. “The rescue, the details about the foalnapping; everything! Everything Snooty said, it was. All. There!” she punctuated her statement with a frustrated stomp of her forehoof. “What was I supposed to believe, Prism?! That it was all a hoax? Just some lie?”

I let out a frustrated growl at her stubbornness to see the truth. “That is exactly what it was, Rarity! A lie; tailor made just for you!”

My unexpected statement had seemingly caught the fashionista completely off guard. “W-What?!” Rarity sputtered, taken aback. “W-who, what—how?!”

“This is has always been about you; from the very beginning!” I exclaimed, pointing my left foreleg directly at her. “Fluttershy and I were foalnapped with the sole intention of being rescued by Snooty; this whole foalnapping and ransom were all just a ploy by him, just so he could seduce you, Rarity!”

Rarity stared back in obvious shock, looking as if she were trying to speak, but unable to do so.

My expression sank as my mind retraced back to my role in the foalnapping. “That fact that I am even sitting in front of you, able to tell you this is a miracle in of itself...” I informed her silently as my ears fell back. “It was never intended that I survive this long, Rarity. My part in Snooty’s plan was to be a sacrifice; only Fluttershy was supposed to live to be saved, and nopony ever know the truth about what really happened to me...”

I glanced briefly to Fluttershy. Her ears fell back and she looked down to the floor as my eyes met hers. Looking back to the fashionista however, I found her to appear absolutely mortified by my words.

“He... he really tried to kill you?” she asked unbelievably, taking a shaky step back as if to catch her balance.

I nodded grimly. “Yes, but not before giving three of his stallions permission to rape me first,” I informed her, looking away pained; the feelings of my helplessness at the time resurfacing. “The only reason I am here in front of you, is because Snooty hadn’t anticipated the Rohoofnal he had me injected with to an adverse effect. Had it not, I would have been...” I trailed off, shaking the proceeding thoughts from my head.

Rarity covered a shrill gasp of utter horror before continuing with shaky breaths. “P-Prism, I-I... I don’t... is this... truly real, darling? Did this all... really happen to you?” she asked, a sense of dread weighed heavy on her tone before she looked to Fluttershy, as if to ask for confirmation.

The yellow mare’s expression sank into a sad frown. “Prism wouldn’t lie about this, Rarity. If she said this happened, then it must have really happened; I believe her without any doubts.”

I nodded. “Yes, Rarity. This is the real truth of the foalnapping. The truth that Snooty didn’t want you of all ponies to know, or to even believe if I were to tell you; like I tried before, and am now...”

* * * * * * * * * *

I took this opportunity to inform her of the full details of Snooty’s plan. What he did, the things he had said about himself to me so far, and how everything was supposed to play out; had everything gone according to his plan.

During my explanation, Rarity had fallen to her haunches, and tears swelled up in her eyes. The white pony sat in a disturbed silence at the conclusion of the truth she had been unaware of until now. A pained look of guilt and sadness adorned her face as she stared back at me, her bottom lip trembling.

Despite my anger with the fashionista, I couldn’t help feel a bit of pity for her. Knowing what Snooty was capable of, I couldn’t really blame her for being deceived; I only wished she had believed me first, and not him.

I took a slow breath, calming my nerves from my tale. “You see now, Rarity? You played right into his hooves; just as he planned you would.”

Rarity opened her mouth as if to speak, but hesitated briefly as her ears fell back, and she looked shamefully to the floor. “...I was such a foal for believing him,” she muttered, bringing her forehooves to her face. “All this time I had spent with what I thought to an exemplary gentlecolt, I was actually spending with a... monster.” The fashionista’s last word barely slipped out of her mouth, as if she herself could not believe the reality of it.

Several seconds of silence followed before she abruptly looked back up to be. “Prism, darling, I have been such a horrible friend to you recently. I know I truly do not deserve it, but could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me for what I have done?”

While I was upset with her yes, Rarity was after all still my friend. “I forgive you Rarity, however... it will take me some time for me to forget.”

The fashionista shrank down, looking to the floor in shame once again. “I suppose that much is fair...” she let out a small sigh before closing her eyes and straightening her posture, bringing a forehoof to her chest. “I shall do my very best to make this up to you; Celestia be my witness, I swear it!”

I shook my head dismissively. “You don’t have to do anything like that to make up for it, just promise to put more trust in me.”

“Nonsense, darling! I cannot forgive myself until I see this adequately repaired,” She declared with a stubborn shift of her posture as she stood to her hooves. “I must do something to amend this dreadful mistake I have made.”

Her stubbornly insistent antics stole a small laugh from me. “Alright, Rarity. I will leave it to you to do what you see fit; just... don’t go overboard, okay? I’m fine with just our friendship and your trust.”

Rarity gave a small nod in acknowledgement. “Very well,” she replied, turning to face the door. “Now, with that awful matter behind us, I shall see if Twilight has calmed down some.” she paused mid step for a moment before looking back to me curiously. “By the way, whatever happened to get the poor dear that flustered anyway, darling?”

Like two foals with their hooves caught in the cook jar, Fluttershy and I exchanged nervous, embarrassed glances; our faces both immediately flushing red at the immediate knowledge of the truth behind Twilight’s flustered state.  Rarity examined the two of us briefly before her eyes widened. “Oh... Oh my,” she quickly covered her muzzle with a forehoof. “You two didn’t...”

To my surprise, Fluttershy spoke up. “W-We’ll, um, talk this... later.” she looked to me. “That is, um... i-if you don’t mind, and that it’s okay with you, Prism...”

I felt a little hesitant with Rarity knowing the details of what had transpired between Fluttershy and I earlier. However, despite this, I had a few...questions in regards to the nature of the moment the two of us shared. I also figured that if there was any pony to speak to about romance and intimacy, it would likely be Rarity.

Hopefully this will serve as a step to repair our trust in one another, as well as give her a chance to feel better about what happened and let us be friends again.

I finally nodded at my special somepony’s request. “That’s fine, Fluttershy. I don’t mind.”

The fashionista closed her eyes with a nod as well. “We shall speak more on this matter later then, Fluttershy.” she turned and began for the door. “I shall retrieve our dear Twilight and return momentarily.”

Fluttershy and I watched Rarity leave in silence, however as soon as the door closed, my special somepony quickly turned to face me.

“Are you, um, sure that this is alright with you?” she asked again, seemingly to seek reassurance. “I mean, I understand what happened was sort of, uh... private.” she paused, looking away for a moment before quickly back to me. “So If you really don’t want me to speak to her about it, It’s fine, I’ll understand and—”

“It’s fine Fluttershy, relax,” I interjected, hoping to give her reassurance that I did in fact, not mind. “I understand now that you confide in your friends with a lot of things, and I don’t want to get in the way of that.” I looked down to my forehooves, fidgeting with my cast for a moment. “Besides, I, uh... would like to talk to her about everything as well once I am back, if that’s alright with you...”

Fluttershy quickly shook her head dismissively. “Oh no, I don’t mind. Not at all.”

I looked up to her with a small smile. “Then we agree that it’s fine if we both speak to her about it?”

My special somepony’s eyes glanced about the room momentarily before resting on my own, her cheeks flushing slightly as she nodded. “Y-yes.”

No sooner than we have made our agreement, the door to the room clicked open, Rarity entering in a slow trot. Lagging behind her hesitantly was Twilight Sparkle. The studious mare’s appearance still remained somewhat frazzled from before; stray locks of her mane curled in on itself as she looked back and forth between the two of us with a sheepish smile.

“Uh, sorry about before girls,” Twilight quickly apologized. “I sort of overreacted a little...” she admitted sheepishly, before looking about the floor for a moment and finding the file she had dropped early.

“Oh no, it’s fine, Twilight,” Fluttershy reassured, before fidgeting in unease. “We, um, just weren’t expecting any, uh, company for a while...”

Rarity glanced to Twilight with a smug, knowing smirk; who met the look with a roll of her eyes before levitating the folder from the ground.

I eyed the file, curious as to its contents. “What is that by the way, Twilight?” I asked, pointing to the object in question. “I’ve been curious since you left it here.”

Twilight brought the folder to her before clearing her throat. “These are my notes and data regarding my investigations so far,” she answered matter-of-factly. “The reason I came to visit was to update you on our friend, Snooty.”

This got everyponies' attention, particularly Rarity’s. “What did you learn about that fiendish timber wolf in sheep’s clothing?” she asked rather impatiently.

Twilight open the folder in her magic, flipping through the contents. “That his reputation is good, too good.” The studious mare glanced to Rarity, gesturing a forehoof to her. “When you had mentioned how he had held charity auctions, I looked into what other ‘good deeds’ he has done; the list was rather extensive. This got me to wonder: just how does he afford to host all of these on his budget?”

Pulling a paper from the file in her magic, Twilight levitated it to me and dropped it in my lap. I looked down to the page; it held several monetary figures listed in charts, alongside it was another set of figures with much smaller values. Upon further examination, it appeared this was a comparison of spending of some kind.

I looked up from the paper to Twilight. “Just what is this?” I asked curiously.

“It’s Snooty’s expenditures over the past few months,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. “As much as I hated to, I used my name and status to pull some strings, and gained access to his recent sales figures and private banking records.”

Rarity craned her neck in absolute shock at the studious mare’s actions. “Twilight! isn’t that illegal?!”

Twilight let out a sheepish laugh. “Well... yes and no. I did however, play by the rules to get access to them.”

The lavender mare levitated another paper from her folder to Rarity, who grabbed it in her cyan magic before bringing it to her face to read. She narrowed her eyes at it briefly as she read, before her eyes went wide.

“This is a warrant!” She exclaimed, looking up to Twilight in sheer surprise. “How in Equestria did you get this?”

I glanced between Twilight and Rarity confused. “What’s a warrant?”

To my surprise, Fluttershy answered for the two. “A warrant is a legal document giving it’s holder rights to investigate another pony’s or business’s private information, which otherwise would be illegal to do without their permission.”

The fashionista nodded in agreement at my special somepony’s explanation. “They’re very difficult to obtain, dear. A pony has to have a very good reason to be granted one.” she turned back to twilight, raising an eyebrow curiously. “How exactly did you get this?”

“I’ll get to that in just a moment; Rarity,” Twilight stated before walking over to me, and pointing a forehoof to the figures on the left. “Anyway, these here are from his bank records and sales figures. Take careful notice of how high some of the transactions and sales are; especially those from the past few weeks”

I nodded, scanning the list of numbers, and sure enough, some of the amounts were quite high ranging well into hundreds of bits per transaction. The data covering the past few weeks however were significantly higher than those of the previous months on the list.

I looked up to Twilight in surprise. “That’s... a lot of money, Twilight...”

She nodded, pointing her forehoof now to the chart on the right. “Now this here is what I averaged to how much somepony in his line of work would make; in a rather generous profitable span of sales I might add.”

The numbers from Snooty’s expenditures utterly dwarfed the amount he should be able to afford to spend in this time frame. While this was no surprise to me, as I knew well what sort of dealings he’s into; I saw where Twilight was going with this.

“You’re going to use this against him, aren’t you?” I asked, already expecting the answer.

She nodded. “While these figures alone don't particularly prove anything, they will however, serve to back up the claims of his illegal activities. Somepony in his line of work should not be able to spend so much money so frivolously. I’ll also point out that according to records, he has inherited no amount of wealth from any relatives; so the money he spends is his own, however he obtains it.”

Rarity brought a hoof to her chin in thought. “I hadn’t even considered that...” Rarity said, walking over to join twilight at my bedside. “During my time spent with Snooty, we had visited some of Manehattan’s finest eateries, vip sections no less; and then there were the gifts he gave me.” She furrowed her brow. “I cannot believe I didn’t see it, that I didn’t question it. I was an absolute foal, cluelessly blinded by his charms.” The fashionista turned away, uttering several curses under her breath.

Fluttershy timidly spoke up. “Couldn’t you, um, go to the police with what you have, Twilight? Wouldn’t it be enough?”

The librarian shook her head dismissively at my special somepony’s suggestion. “Going directly to the police will do us no good at this point. We know for a fact that Snooty has at least two, likely more ponies in the Manehattan police force under his influence and on his payroll,” she informed Fluttershy. “Our best bet is the independent case Surefire is currently building against the detectives on Prism’s case. Once the corruption of the detectives is exposed, I can then use that influence to form a paper trail back to Snooty himself.”

Rarity gave the studious mare a confused look. “I don’t understand, why not just go to Princess Celestia, darling? Surely she would listen and believe you; especially with what you say you’ve already collected.”

Twilight let out a hard sigh. “I’ve already have, twice,” she stated, looking to me. “The princess told me her hooves are tied, and that long ago she left the law to be handled by her subjects, and that she has faith in the justice system, and told me to collect more solid evidence and have faith in it as well.”

“Even so, surely she has the final say, right? I mean she is the ruler of Equestria,” I promptly pointed out.

Twilight shook her head. “The Princess only told me that it’s her sister is who handles the final say in judicial disputes, should they escalate to that high of a level that is.” Twilight clenched her jaw in obvious frustration. “However when I spoke with Princess Luna, she said that she could not make a special exception for myself, and that it would be unfair if she were to play favorites due to a pony’s social status or position of power.” Twilight stomped her forehoof with a frustrated yell. “Urgh! Why does she have to be so by the book!”

Fluttershy timidly raised a forehoof towards Twilight. “U-Um, maybe... maybe that is why Princess Celestia has Princess Luna handle those sorts of things? Because she is, uh, by the book...”

Twilight tensed, before softening her posture and letting out a long defeated sigh. “I know, Fluttershy...” she said before turning to her. “That is exactly what Princess Celestia said, in fact. That she would let her emotions get in the way, while Princess Luna would remain fair in all matters, regardless of how big or small.”

I tilted my head curiously. “If the princesses refused to help you, how did you get that warrant?” I asked, pointing to her folder once again.

“When the princesses wouldn’t help me, I wasn’t about to just give up there; so I went to my next best bet: my big brother, Prince Shining Armor,” she informed me with a quick wink. “With his new title came a lot of new responsibilities, as well as several new privileges. When I told him about what was going on, he assured me he was more than willing to help in any way possible, and that he was ready to face any repercussions that may come from it.”

A small smirk played across Rarity’s lips. “So that’s what you have been up to; making so many trips back and forth to Canterlot the past few days.”

Twilight let out a sheepish laugh. “Um, yeah, let’s just say I am really tired of trains right about now,” she said, looking off into nowhere for a moment. “I really wish Spike were here, he would have made this so much easier...”

There was a short moment of silence before, to my surprise, a knock sounded at the door.

Well, that’s a first.

“Come in,” I called out to the surprisingly polite visitor.

The door opened to reveal Surefire, along with an entourage of other familiar faces; Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash accompanied her. A warm smile quickly lit up my face seeing all my friends together in one place. The girls entering all greeted me before spreading out in the small room.

Once everypony was situated, Surefire turned to Fluttershy. “Well?” she asked, a seemingly expectant look on her face.

My special somepony made eye contact with the young mare, before immediately blushing profusely and covering her face with both forehooves. Her reaction triggered a large grin from the detective, who turned back to me.

“Did something good happen while we were gone?” she asked with an all-too-knowing, sinister smile on her face.

Rather than hiding in embarrassment, I found myself impulsively covering an incriminating goofy smile that crept up my lips; my left forehoof alone doing little to hide it. Surefire’s grin turned to wide smile before she covered a small laugh. The rest the girls with the exception of Twilight looked to her with confused expressions. The studious mare on the other hoof, hid a small tint of pink adorning her cheeks behind a foreleg.

I studied the detective’s smug expression for a moment, when suddenly, it clicked.

Surefire planned on us doing something... didn’t she? That’s why she took the girls away; she staged this!

I wasn’t sure rather to be really upset with her, or grateful. Either way, I made a mental note to ask my special somepony what it was that the young mare had whispered to her to get her so... flustered.

Rainbow dash stepped up to my bedside, pulling me from my thoughts. “Hey, we all just wanted to say our goodbyes before we left. Our train back to Ponyville will be here in just a few hours and we’ll need to go get ready to leave soon.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at the cyan mare. “You remembered what time the train was coming? Color me impressed.”

Rainbow shot her a flat look. “Hey, I’m not that irresponsible, Rarity,” she declared, her expression softening. “Besides, I really need to check on the rest of the weather team, I’m worried how they are doing without me.”

Applejack nodded. “And Ah’m worried about Big Macintosh. He was a’might worried when he found out you had been foalnapped, Prism,” she informed me, her expression shifting into clear concern. “Why, I imagine he has done every little thing there is to do on the farm by now to keep his mind busy from worrying about you.”

It was in that moment a cold chill shot down my spine as I realized a very important detail.

Applejack doesn’t know about mine and Fluttershy’s relationship yet...

I was not the only pony distraught by Applejack’s words. Rainbow Dash and Rarity exchanged uneasy glances, while Fluttershy sank down a little. Surefire also seemed quite surprised by this sudden mention of a stallion.

Pinkie pie on the other hoof examined the others curiously before looking to Applejack. “She doesn’t know?”

The farm mare raised an eyebrow at the party pony. “Know what?”

Pinkie’s expression shifted into a large smile. “Why, Prism and F—”

The pink mare was promptly silenced by Rainbow Dash and Rarity simultaneously grabbing her, and stuffing hooves over her mouth. The two looked to Applejack sheepishly, who narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the pair.

“Prism and what?” she asked, turning to eye me curiously.

I put on my best forced smile for the farm mare; though thankfully Rarity spoke up for me. “Oh it’s nothing, darling. Just some trivial matter, no need to concern yourself, Applejack, dear.”

Surefire nodded in agreement. “Just something personal I had mentioned about Prism’s past, don’t worry about it,” she explained, covering for me on the fly.

Applejack narrowed her eyes slightly, seemingly unconvinced by their made-up reassurances. “Y’all trying to hide something from me?”

The three mares quickly shook their heads dismissively.

Applejack simply frowned. “Well, if y'all say so...” she said, still reluctant about their behavior.

Despite being temporarily off the hook, I found that I didn’t feel any better about the matter. I didn’t have the first idea about how to explain myself to her.

Oh, by the way Applejack you remember that talk about there always being room in the Apple family for more? Well Fluttershy and I are now dating, so don’t worry about that; I also hope you don’t mind my leading your brother on like I did.”

I mentally groaned to myself. I couldn’t think of any easy way to put it. I had lead her brother on without even realizing it, until it was already too late. Fluttershy’s confession had hit me from out of left field. Prior to that moment, I had no idea she even liked me in that way.

Suddenly, I felt very guilty. I had been clumsily dropping obvious hints to Big Macintosh that I liked him for some time. Then with the knowledge that Fluttershy liked me for less than a day, I chose her love over his.

I didn’t regret my choice, but it didn’t make me feel any better knowing how much he had been worried about me since my no-show that night.

Oh, why couldn’t I at least been given the time to turn him down!

Snooty’s plans sure had a way with complicating things in my life. Then again it’s not like I could have asked his stallions to give me ten more minutes before foalnapping me. Time was just not on my side in that moment, and consequently it made matters with Big Macintosh even worse.

I have to tell him, and tell Applejack about Fluttershy and I.

However, it appeared that once again time was not to be on my side.

“Well, we best be on our way then, we have much packing to do before the train arrives,” Rarity declared, looking to the clock.

The others all nodded in agreement before turning to me. One by one they each gave me their well wishes about me getting better and seeing me again soon. Despite this, my mind was elsewhere, desperately trying to piece together a way to tell Applejack the truth before she left.

I was out of time.

Rarity ushered the girls for the door, reminding them how they needed to hurry. Fluttershy mentioned how she would catch up, and needed to speak with me, no doubt buying her some time with me before she left. Happy as this made me, it still didn’t settle my worries about the dilemma I found myself in.

Down to the wire now, Applejack made her way for the door, and I found myself impulsively calling out to her.

“Applejack, wait!”

The farm mare turned to me expectantly. “What is it, Sugarcube?” she asked, surprised by my sudden change of tone.

What do I say?!

“Um, I... you see...” I fidgeted with my cast as I desperately struggled to find the words. “Well, the truth is...”

Say something, anything!

I paused for several seconds as my mind screamed out to speak, but remained seemingly unable to form the right words. I just didn’t have enough time to think this through. As much as I didn’t want to, it looked like I would have to speak with her and Big Macintosh when I returned from Manehattan.

I let out a sigh of defeat as I looked down to my forehooves. “Never mind Applejack, it’s nothing...”

Now that is a lie if I ever told one...

Applejack seemed to sense my unease, as a look of clear concern quickly adorned the farm pony’s face. “You sure, Sugarcube? You look a mite distraught about something.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine.”

The farm mare looked even less convinced, and far more concerned at my reassurance. “Well, if you feel like talking about it later, you know where to find me.”

With a tip of her hat and a small farewell, Applejack followed the rest of the girls out; leaving Fluttershy, Twilight, Surefire and myself in the tense atmosphere of the room. Judging from her expression and body language, Fluttershy looked absolutely ashamed of herself.

Twilight watched the yellow mare for a moment before turning to me with a soft look of concern. “You know you should have told her about you two, right?” She said, stating the obvious I didn’t really want to hear. “You can’t keep going leading them on, Prism.”

My ears fell back as I sank down a little. “I know... but I just didn’t know what to say without it sounding simply awful.” I let out a small sigh of defeat. “I’m such a bad pony, Twilight. I lead her and her brother on, only to end up choosing the love of another instead.”

Twilight glanced between myself and Fluttershy before shaking her head. “You're not a bad pony, Prism.” she brought a hoof to her chin. “Besides, according to Rarity, that was before you knew about Fluttershy’s feelings, correct? You can’t blame yourself for that.”

Fluttershy let out a soft, pitiful whine from across the room. “I’m so sorry, this is all my fault...” she managed to squeak out, just above a whisper.

“This is not your fault, Fluttershy. I’m the one who clumsily dropped him hints; I got myself into this mess.” I refuted, shaking my head.

The yellow mare looked up to me through pained, guilt stricken eyes. “But I’m the one who got in the way of that...” she shamefully looked away, her ears falling back once again. “I’m such a greedy pony. Everything would have been fine if I just hadn’t done anything...”

My eyes widen at her surprising amounts regret. I cursed the fact I couldn’t walk over to her and give my special somepony a reassuring hug, like I oh so desired to do. However, I wasn’t about to be satisfied without doing something.

“Fluttershy, come here please,” I softly requested, beckoning the yellow mare over with a wave of my forehoof.

Fluttershy looked about the floor for a moment before nodding, and slowly getting up from her seat. The way she almost dragged herself to my bedside was pitiful, and painful to watch. I had to fix this; I couldn’t stand to see my special somepony so sad and full of regret. There was no way I was going to let her return back to Ponyville on this note.

As she reached my bedside, I motioned her closer, which she hesitantly complied. Once she was close enough, I immediately reached out grabbed her with my left foreleg, pulling her close against me. The sudden jarring movement elicited a small squeak from the yellow mare. I felt her body immediately heat up, no doubt in a deep blush that I could not see; I was far too busy nuzzling into her.

“Don’t say that,” I spoke softly into her mane. “I’m the one who chose you, Fluttershy. This was my choice.” I tightened my hug around her. “So please don’t ever say you regret pursuing me... I’m so grateful that you did.”

Fluttershy slowly wrapped her forelegs around me, returning my hug. “I’m so sorry, Prism. I won’t do it anymore, I promise.”

Her warm words of reassurance ignited a warm fuzzy sensation inside of my chest. I found myself unable to resist the urge to act on it, and planted a small kiss on her cheek. I could feel the hairs of her fur stand on end in response to my sudden touch.

I pulled away from my special somepony and beamed her a warm smile of reassurance. “I’ll take care of this once I am back in Ponyville, so don’t worry about it anymore, okay?”

She returned my smile with one of her own, and gave a small nod. “Okay.”

There was a short pause of silence before Surefire voice rang out in a soft coo. “D’aww! That was so sweet!”

I looked to find the detective sitting on her haunches, holding her face with both forehooves. She was absolutely gushing; a dreamy look adorning her features as she stared at the two of us intently. Fluttershy and I immediately blushed in embarrassment, glancing to, and quickly looking away from each other nervously.

Surefire let out a surprisingly dainty laugh. “I don’t know the story about this other stallion, but you two are just so cute together!”

Twilight turned to the detective, giving her a rather shocked look, no doubt at the sudden shift of her normally serious character she had gotten used to. Surefire took notice of her reaction and quickly straightened her posture, clearing her throat.

“Anyways, I really should be on my way. I have a lot to get done before my case is ready to be presented.”

Twilight looked to the room’s clock. “I need get back to work as well,” she said before turning to Fluttershy. “And you need to get ready as well, Fluttershy. I would hate for you to miss your train; I’m sure you are eager to get home after everything that has happened to you.”

The yellow mare’s expression sank a little at Twilights words, before turning to me with a sad look. “As much as I, um, would love to go home, I’m more worried about Prism being out here all alone...”

It was touching just how much my special somepony cared for me, but as much as I would miss her and the other girls, I wouldn’t truly be alone. “Don’t worry about me, Fluttershy. I’ll have Twilight, Derpy and Surefire to keep me company.”

Surefire nodded. “Yeah, don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her; I’ll have her back home to you in no time,” she reassured Fluttershy with a quick wink.

My special somepony blushed a little at the detectives words, but her smile of relief remained. “Thank you, Surefire.”

Twilight let out a small laugh as she began for the door. “Well I’m heading back to the hotel to see the rest of the girls off.” she looked back to Fluttershy with a soft smile. “Don’t be too long Fluttershy.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be, um, right behind you,” the yellow mare replied softly.

Us three remaining mares said our goodbyes to twilight a she left. After a moment of soft silence, Fluttershy turned to me with a sad frown.

“I really do need to go now too...” she leaned down to me, pulling me into a tight hug. “I’m going to miss you, Prism.”

I returned the hug the best I could. “Hey, don’t be sad. It’s not like we’ll never see each other again,” I replied, softly nuzzling the side of her face. “Besides, when I do get back, we will have all the time in the world to spend together.”

My special somepony pulled away from the embrace a bit, before shuffling in place for a moment. Bashfully shifting her eyes about the room, making eye contact with my own, before quickly looking away again as her face slowly heated into a soft blush.

“I-I, um... I love you,” she barely managed to force out, just above a whisper.

I opened my mouth to reply, but a quick kiss from the yellow mare cut my attempt short. Before I could even comment, she quickly darted to the door, giving me a bashful wave before disappearing out into the hallway. I found myself left simply smiling at her adorable antics.

See you soon, Fluttershy.

“I’m so jealous of you two,” Surefire commented, a clearly envious pout on her face. “I want somepony to love like that too.”

I turned to the detective with a small glare, accented with a playful smirk. “And YOU!” I pointed my left forehoof right at her. “You sneaky, sneaky little filly; just what did you say to her earlier?”

A wide grin crept up Surefire’s face as she took a step back. “Oh, well would you look at the time! I need to be on my way!” She spun in place and bolted for the door.

“Surefire! WAIT!”

Despite my call out to her, she quickly escaped into the hallway, a long series of foalish giggles erupted from outside, slowly fading off into the distance of the hallway. I rolled my eyes with a small smile.

A few short moments passed before Ruby entered through the open doorway, looking back in the same direction Surefire had disappeared to.

“What was that all about?” the doctor asked, looking to me with an eyebrow raised curiously.

I let out a soft laugh, grinning to myself.

“Oh just some silly little filly who pretends she’s a mare, that’s all.”