Fluttershy cantered down the beaten path towards Sweet Apple Acres. She had often come down the path many times before to buy food for her pets. She bought the food from Applejack directly to avoid the Equestrian sales tax. It's not that Fluttershy enjoyed breaking the law; it was just that for Fluttershy, bits were very tight. Between buying food, paying the mortgage on her house, and doing things with friends, there were very little bits for emergency's and large purchases. Fluttershy would always look for ways to save bits and earn bits, which was why she often watched other pony’s pets, for bits. It made her feel awful to charge ponies for animal care, but without the bits, she would lose all of her pets and be deemed unfit to care for animals, sick and healthy alike. She continued to canter down the road, the sun beating down on her, it was unusually hot that day, and she quickly thought about the safety of her animals, but she remembered that she had left water for them and the thought disappeared as quickly as it came. Fluttershy wasn't a very good at flying, which is why she usually preferred a canter, not to slow, but not too fast either. She was wearing a saddle to hold the food in, but she held the bag of bits in her teeth. They jingled almost rhythmically as she continued down the path, her hooves making a continuous clicking sound. Click, click, click. The sound was driving Fluttershy insane, she already had a headache after watching Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom, but Fluttershy persisted. Eventually her legs began to hurt, she thought about flying just for a little while to relieve the burning sensation in her muscles. She began to flap her wings, but they awkwardly clipped the saddle and she fell flat on her face, scattering the bits everywhere. She picked up herself and brushed off her face with her hoof. "Oh Fluttershy you really do need to pay more attention." she quietly squeaked to herself. As she brushed off her face, her hoof had a light stain of blood coming from her nose. It wasn't hard for Fluttershy to diagnose how she got the nosebleed. She picked up the bits with her teeth and continued down the path, occasionally wiping the blood from her nose. After a few minutes the bleeding stopped and Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. She was walking when she noticed the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres, but something was different. There was a certain feeling Fluttershy had that she couldn’t place her hoof on. She continued to the main building of the farm. It was early in the morning so she figured that Applejack would be making breakfast, she usually cooked and did everything Big Macintosh and Applebloom couldn't do, which was a lot. Her work schedule often left Applejack very tired, but Applejack always assured everpony that she was alright, which deeply bothered Fluttershy. She continued to canter down the road to the main building of Sweet Apple Acres.  As she neared the main building she heard an unusual noise of crying, coming from the house. Fluttershy feared the worst and galloped as fast as she could into the building she slammed the door open. The crying didn't sound like a young foal, but more like a full grown pony, but not old. The only pony in Sweet Apple Acres that fit that description was either Big Macintosh or Applejack, and Fluttershy knew it probably wasn’t Big Macintosh. She turned the corner and galloped up the stairs, afraid of what Applejack might think when she burst into the room. Fluttershy went up the stairs and quietly approached Applejacks room, the sound only increased as Fluttershy neared the door. She placed the bits on the ground and opened the door, not expecting what she would find. Across the room was Applejack slumped over a pillow on her bed, crying, it was an interesting sight to see, Applejack hardly ever cried unless out of hatred, but she sounded like she was deeply upset. Fluttershy trotted over to Applejacks bed silently, but Applejack stifled her tears and her weeping as Fluttershy approached. "What *sniff* do ya' *sniff* want?" Applejack said, being careful to not to sniff (which she was clearly failing at). "Oh, I was just here to buy some food, but it's quite alright, we can talk if you want, if that’s okay with you?" Fluttershy said, being careful not to squeak or raise her voice, but she talked just right that time. To Applejack, Fluttershy's words were spoken with gentleness and were almost therapeutic to her. Applejack motioned for Fluttershy to come over. Fluttershy approached Applejack and Applejack leaned her head on Fluttershy's shoulder and began to cry even more heavily. "There there, let it all out." Fluttershy said quietly, she certainly was curious what was upsetting Applejack so deeply, but she stifled her questions, now was not a good time she thought to herself. She continued to let Applejack cry on her coat, which was now wet with tears, Applejacks tears. The crying went on for at least a few minutes. Something must be bothering Applejack very deeply for her to be crying so hard. She usually put on a straight face and ignored her problems. Well at least I’m here to help Fluttershy thought to herself. Eventually Applejack lifted her head from Fluttershy's shoulder examining the wet spot from her tears. "Ah, ah I am *sniff* sorry." Applejack said to Fluttershy. "You don't have to apologize anything, it's quite alright, but you do need to get some rest." Fluttershy said as she noticed the bags underneath Applejack's eyes, trying not to sound rude of course.  Applejack slowly nodded and laid down in her bed. Fluttershy pulled the covers over Applejacks body. She turned around, picked up her bits, and put everything on the dinner table and pulled out the pots and pans to prepare something to leave Applejack to eat. As Fluttershy was busy preparing some apple stew Big Macintosh came into the room. "Girls and their problems." Big Macintosh said with his deep voice. "Why is she crying?" Fluttershy asked, hoping not to sound too rude. "I’m not sure. All I know is that this Stallion fellow stopped by last night and said he wanted to talk with Applejack. That’s all I know." Macintosh said, Fluttershy nodded her head continued to prepare the stew. As the apple stew neared its completion, the aroma awoke Applejack as she pulled herself out of her bed to investigate. The smell brought a smile to her face, smells just like the way mom used to make it, but put that thought back in her head to avoid any more tears. She continued down the hallway, the smell of apples was almost intoxicating, but Applejack never really noticed, but right now she did. It was most likely also amplified by the stew being prepared downstairs, but Applejack digressed. She usually never really accepted any kind of help because the people that helped her always treated her kindly, yet she could see the clear lack of emotion in their eyes, which deeply bothered Applejack. She slowly stepped down the stairs, and poked her head out, much like a mouse poking its head out of a hole. She saw Fluttershy preparing the stew and her mouth watered. She wiped off her face of tears and stifled any sniffling and walked over to Fluttershy. "Hey sugarcube, what are ya doin?" Applejack said, trying to act like nothing happened, even though her red eyes told a different story. "Oh, well I was just fixing up some soup if you don’t mind." Applejack responded with a weak nod and sat down on the table weakly. She hated looking weak, but she knew Fluttershy well enough to know that she was she was very caring in any situation. Fluttershy removed the pot from the stove and sat it down on the adjacent stove, which was hardly easy to do with your teeth as I’m sure you can imagine. Fluttershy sat down next to Applejack at the table and removed her saddle and bag full of bits. "Now do you want to talk? It's quite alright if you don’t want to." Fluttershy spoke with gentle and almost honeyed words. "Ah don't want to waste yer time and all." Applejack spoke with distain. She knew Fluttershy wouldn't laugh at her, but her mouth sometimes had a mouth of her own. "Oh, you wouldn’t be bothering me or anything." Fluttershy responded to Applejack. Applejack thought about the situation and assessed the points of action she could take. Applejack's thinking process was mechanical and cold, there was little room for emotion in Applejack's life, and she often hated it. She wanted to open herself and let her emotions flood out, but she desperately wanted to retain her composure. Fluttershy knew what Applejack was thinking, it was rather difficult for the element of honesty to lie. Fluttershy was often confused about why Applejack was the Element of Honesty and Rainbow Dash was the Element of Loyalty, but she put aside these thoughts to help her friend as soon as she saw her mouth open. "Well I had this stallion fellow and we would sometimes go out to dinner and all ya know, as friends right. But he told me that he doesn’t want to see me again and all, but I have no idea why. Well we were gonna go to this fancy restaurant and all, but know I don’t know what to do and all, ah think I’ll just sell the passes to get in the place and use the bits on something else." Applejack spoke quickly, as if on short breath, or trying to push something out. Applejack breathed out, as if she had just lifted a ton of rocks from her chest. She looked at Fluttershy, hoping for some response that sounded better than her plan. "Well you don’t have to sell the tickets, you guys were just going as friends right, well why don’t you go with someone else?" Applejack thought about this for a moment. An evening with anypony else didn't seem like a great idea. Rarity would just whine about her manners. Rainbow Dash would be boasting the whole time. Twilight Sparkle would just talk about magic. Pinkie Pie would just be too crazy for Applejack. And then Fluttershy, well she would be quiet and all. Applejack thought for a moment about Fluttershy going. She would be quiet and all, yeah I think I will take her. "Do ya wanna go eat dinner?" Applejack spoke with enthusiasm. Fluttershy had no emotional feeling for Applejack besides being friends and all. How could she, the two were so different. Fluttershy hoped Applejack didn't think this was a date. That would be terribly awkward Fluttershy thought. "Just as friends?" Fluttershy squeaked. Now why would she think otherwise Applejack thought? "Yeah, just as friends, come on it'll be fun and all!" Applejack spoke with even more enthusiasm. "Sure, I guess it could be fun." Fluttershy spoke. "Great meet me back her at around eight, alright?" Applejack said. "Sure." Fluttershy responded. She continued out the door, being sure to pick up her saddle and her bits. When she was about to walk out the door Applejack piped up from the table. "Now what were ya gonna do with those bits?" Applejack said. "I was just going to buy some food and apples, but it’s alright." Fluttershy squeaked. She had plenty of food but she always liked to overstock in case of if an emergency happened. Applejack nodded her head and picked up a basket of Apples from the counter and dumped them in Fluttershy's saddle. "Thanks." Fluttershy squeaked, her cheeks turning a bit red from that feeling she felt earlier, but she still couldn’t put her hoof on it, not yet at least