As Close As We Can Get (Lunashy)

Luna took a deep breath as she gazed at her surroundings. She was standing in a quiet meadow, the setting sun only barely visible on the horizon. The fragrant smell of wildflowers drifted through the sultry air. In the distance, she could hear the scurry of squirrels and countless other animals in the trees.

"Thank you so much for coming to help," came a quiet voice from behind her.

Luna turned around and gave an involuntary sigh as she stared at her companion. The royal sisters (well, Celestia more than Luna, but that was only in the last millenia) had oft been described as the most beautiful beings in the world, but Luna knew that neither she nor her sister could come anywhere close to the vision of loveliness that was her beloved.

The grace of her step, the gentle flutter of her wings, her beautiful, luxurious mane . . . Fluttershy was beyond compare.

"It's nothing," said Luna, smiling.

Fluttershy was bearing some baskets on her back, held steady by her wings. When she reached Luna, she shrugged them off and grinned shyly at her her helper.

"It's just . . . the Summer Sun Celebration's so close, and I can't gather up all these flowers in time . . ." she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Don't worry about it," Luna repeated, more firmly. "I'm happy to help." Anything to be with you, she nearly added, but stopped herself.

"So . . . um . . . should we start?" asked Fluttershy. Luna nodded, and the two bent down to work. It seemed to take no time at all. Whenever a basket grew full, Luna levitated another one over, and continued picking. The temptation to bite down on the flowers was strong (they were really tasty!) but Luna held off, for Fluttershy's sake.

They worked in broad circles, moving whenever one area was picked clean. Luna never strayed far from Fluttershy's side. Once or twice, when they got to close, their heads or shoulders would rub against one another's, sending shivers down Luna's side. Fluttershy turned a very vibrant red, but she seemed to enjoy the encounters just as much as Luna did.

At last, no less than thirty baskets stood full to the brim. The sun had set a while ago, and a full moon was rising, the stars sparkling behind it. The only noise was the gentle hoot of owls in the forest.

Fluttershy sat down, Luna at her side, and gazed up at the night sky. "It's . . . beautiful," she whispered.

"So are you," said Luna, before she could stop herself.

Fluttershy blushed and looked away. "You shouldn't say things like that."

"Why not?" asked Luna, scooting closer to her.

"Because they're not true," said Fluttershy, hanging her head.

"Yes they are!" insisted Luna. She reached out her hoof and tenderly brushed aside Fluttershy's mane, staring directly into her eyes. "When I say things like that, I mean them! You are the most beautiful, kind, and wonderful pony I have ever met."

They stayed that way for awhile, neither of them hardly daring to breathe. A poet could have written an epic on just Fluttershy's eyes alone; they were so beautiful, so perfect, just like the rest of her . . .

"Thank you for helping me," Fluttershy murmured.

"Anything for you," Luna replied earnestly.

Then, in a flash, their lips met. Lightning coursed through Luna's veins; she knew nothing but pure bliss and the soft, lovely pony before her. This, this one moment, made it all worth it.

The kiss seemed like it would never end, but it had to eventually. Fluttershy, cheeks pink, a little smile on her face, leaned on Luna's shoulder.

"I really like you, Rarity," she sighed into Luna's mane.

Luna's smile only flickered for an instant. Fluttershy didn't notice.

Shutting her eyes, Luna put her hoof around Fluttershy's shoulder. It was still worth it.

Fluttershy began to stir beside her, moving still closer. Luna waited, heart pounding, for what would come next, hoping, regretting . . .

The sky shook. Fluttershy sat bolt upright as the land around them jumped up and down. Luna sighed and stood up, slipping into the shadow of the tree as funny sniffling noises and the smell of carrots filled the air.

Luna shed her form within the forest, making sure that Fluttershy did not see as white fur turned purple and wings grew from the expanding pony.

With one last look at her beloved, Luna took flight and was swallowed by the darkness.

Fluttershy awoke to see Angel bouncing up and down on her.

"Angel Bunny, what have I told you about waking Mommy up?"

Angel, paying no attention, pointed to his food bowl.

Fluttershy, still blinking sleep from her eyes, stood up and headed for the kitchen. "And I was having such a nice dream . . ." she muttered to no one in particular.

Rising from her bed, Luna gazed out the window at the tiny town of Ponyville, far on the horizon. She couldn't keep doing that, she knew, but it was too wonderful to stop. One conversation, one meeting, that's all she'd ever seen of the pegasus in the waking world, but it was enough to ensnare her permanantly.

It wasn't fair to Fluttershy, to manipulate her so, but it was the only way Luna could ever manifest her feelings. No one way it could happen in reality. Especially because her beloved had a love of her own . . .

Luna wished, selfishly, that Fluttershy would never speak her mind to the white unicorn. What need would she have for dreams of Rarity, if she had the real thing? But then she berated herself. Better for Fluttershy to be happy.

Luna shook her head. Dawn was coming. She closed the curtains and trotted away.

Author's Notes:

See? I AM still alive! Here's a story to prove it!

The original plan was to have Twilight instead of Rarity, but it seemed that Rarity would fit better.

Both Sides (Rarijack)

The door to Fluttershy's cottage flew open with a bang.

"Cool it, L'il Sis!" said Big Macintosh. "Granny's asleep. You can't come bustin' in here like that!"

"I'm terribly sorry, Fluttershy," said Rarity, "but I'm in trouble."

"Oh no," said Fluttershy as she soothed her angry creatures back to sleep. "Is it bad?"

"Oh, it's real bad," said Applejack. "Don't worry," she went on, cutting off Big Mac's question, "I didn't get in any kind trouble with the law, or pick a fight, or anythin' like that."

"So then what's the problem?" asked Fluttershy.

Applejack opened her mouth, then paused. "Huh, I dunno where to start." She thought for a moment. "Okay. Well, it happened this morning."

Rarity sat down, sighed, and continued, "Applejack showed up at the boutique at about ten o'clock. Surprising, I know. But it seems she actually wanted to get a proper dress. I could barely believe it!"

"I didn't want to go," said Applejack, "but you know we've plannin' to visit the Oranges, and I didn't want to show up looking too ratty. Wanted to make a good impression, y'know."

Big Mac nodded, and waited for her to continue.

"So I tell Rarity that I want a dress, and I can tell she doesn't scarce think it's possible. But I just wait for her to get going, and soon enough she starts hunting around her store for a dress."

"I was thrilled, naturally. A pony like her wanting to wear some nice clothes! It was the oppourtunity of a lifetime! I hoped, perhaps, to make a true convert out of her, and teach her the value of high fashion!"

"I started taking a few measurements, so I could know what size to look for. I must say, Applejack has a . . . ahem, surprisingly good figure. I mean-"

She broke off. There was an uncomfortable silence as Fluttershy stared at her in confusion.

"So, anyway," said Applejack brusquely, ignoring her brother's questioning eye, "she finished with my measurements, and heads off to get a dress. It was boring for me, really. There wasn't nothin' to do but stand around while Rarity went all over the place lookin' for something nice. It musta taken her twenty minutes to find something."

"Oh, you must see it!" Rarity almost squealed, her eyes lighting up. "Words can't do it justice; it's a lovely thing, not too heavy or frilly. Pretty expensive silk, too, but I knew I could find sompeony who could wear it perfectly! Who'd have thought it would have been Applejack?"

"She wanted me to get it on right away so she could see how it fit. I wasn't too keen on it, but I could see she really wanted me to wear it. So I shrugged and let her pull it on."

"And if that dress has one flaw, it's that the fabric's too delicate to be pulled on with magic. I had to help Applejack fit it by hoof."

Rarity was visibly starting to fidget now.

"And the neckhole's rather tight . . ."

Applejack refused to look her bother in the eyes as she started to stammer, "W-well, she was pulling, and I was pushing, and I couldn't go too hard, 'cause she said I might tear it, and I thought I'd never get it over my head, but I did. A-and my head popped out, and she was right there, a-and, w-we sorta-"

"We kissed." Rarity nearly blurted the words.

Fluttershy's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry-"

"what!?" demanded Big Mac.

Applejack smiled wanly. "I told you it was bad."

"So Applejack kissed you?" asked Fluttershy in alarm.

"Well, not exactly," said Rarity.

"I can't rightly say who kissed who," said Applejack. "We were just lookin' at each other, and then it just sorta . . . happened."

"That's crazy," said Big Mac, to himself as much as Applejack. "You and her . . . that's just crazy. Why'd you do it?"

"I don't know!" said Rarity with alarm. "I just don't know! This morning I could honestly tell you that I had never thought about Applejack in any sort of romantic context before, but now I can't stop thinking about how strong and beautiful and kind she is . . ."

"-And how she's so elegant and graceful and smart," said Applejack, her head hanging low. "And I ain't got any idea why! What's happening to me?"

Big Mac nodded. "Well, maybe it was just something you did without thinkin'."

"Completely spontaneous," offered Fluttershy. "On the other hoof, maybe it means that you and her . . ." she broke off, too amazed by the concept to even consider it.

"What matters now is what you do about it," said Big Mac. "You can forget it, or . . . not."

"But I ain't even got to the worst part!" cried Applejack.

"Oh dear," said Fluttershy. "It gets worse?"

"Oh yes," said Rarity. "You see, we talked about it, and . . ."

"I'm meeting her for dinner!"

Author's Notes:

Here, have some spontaneous romance. I don't know if this even makes sense, it's just an idea I wanted to try out. I hope the style doesn't make it too confusing.

The Perfect Crime (TwiDash)

The party was going wonderfully, but that wasn't very surprising, as Pinkie Pie parties were innately perfect. The food was phenomenal, the punch sublime. The music was by a genuine DJ, some unicorn invited from out-of-town. Pinkie Pie must have invited half the town, because Sugarcube Corner was packed with ponies chattering happily. It was the perfect opportunity.

Tonight was the night that Twilight pulled off her plan.

The time was almost nigh. Soon Pinkie would be giving a toast (having already passed out the toast) and nopony would be paying any attention to her.

Her target lay just across the punch table, conversing/arguing with Applejack. Strangely, even annoyance made her face look beautiful. But Twilight dared not let her eye rest to long on the object of her affections too long, lest she be held in suspicion later on.

Instead, she prepared to execute her plan. It was simple: get in, do it, get out.

She glanced up; Pinkie Pie was clearing her throat. The time had come.

Twilight slunk to the back of the room as Pinkie Pie began, inevitably, with a joke: "Why did the crocodile cross the road?"

Tragically, the probably awful punchline was cut off as the windows slammed shut and the candles went out. Twilight sprang into action just as the first shouts of confusion rang out. She knew where she was going even in pitch darkness; she had planned this for too long to make any mistakes.

She slid under the table with uncharacteristic skill and sprang to her hooves mere inches from her target.

Twilight could not afford to hesitate; it was now or never. She leaned in and kissed Rainbow Dash.

It was only supposed to last a few seconds, so she could sneak away before the lights came back on, but Twilight found, to her simultaneous pleasure and dismay, that she could not stop. It was better than she could have imagined. And she had done a lot of imagining. In great detail.

Better/worse yet, Rainbow Dash was starting to reciprocate.

Something in the back of her mind registered something Rarity asking for a lighter, and Applejack opening the windows, but these thoughts was quickly shoved aside for more important thoughts like Rainbow, Dash, Rainbow Dash, and Oh Celestia yes.

There was a flicker across the room, and the light went from nonexistant to dim to bright enough to see.

Gasps from nearby were ignored, as was the fact that Applejack's eyes were sticking nearly four inches out of their sockets.

At last, the most epic makeout session had to come to an end. Twilight stood still, her face flush and her heart pounding.

Then Rainbow Dash opened her eyes.

They widened in surprise and Twilight made suddenly aware of the fact that she had just made of a very public (if nonverbal) declaration of love.

"I'll, uh, I'll just go now," she said quickly, and turned to leave. Several self-immolation spells sprang into mind, but she didn't want to burn anypony.

Then, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. A tiny shiver of hope ran through her as she turned around.

"I'll go too," said Rainbow Dash, smiling broadly, her cheeks the color of her marvelous, beautiful eyes. "We have a lot to talk about."

Twilight suddenly felt the need for fresh air, which was not hampered by a certain pink party pony striking up "For She's a Jolly Good Filly" on her tuba.

Twilight Sparkle had pulled it off.

Author's Notes:

*Sings terribly*: I got the perfect crime . . .

I'm Not Scared of Anything (Derxie)

It was surprisingly quiet in the house of Derpy Hooves. The gray pegasus was home alone (Dinky being at a sleepover), and she was not moving with any great urgency, which significantly reduced the number of inevitable mishaps.

What Derpy Hooves lacked in dexterity, she more than made up for in patience and diligence. Ever so carefully, she gathered the dishes and carried them into the kitchen to clean them out. Derpy enjoyed washing dishes, actually. There was something relaxing about plunging her hooves into a tub of warm water and scrubbing. Better yet, the soap made wonderful bubbles that were quite fun to play with. Some of the larger ones were almost as big as a bit; when she saw these, she would pause completely to watch, transfixed.

At last, the dishes were squeaky clean and ready to be dried. Twilight had been so kind as to enchant the dishes to be extra-hard to break. This had been a goddessend to Derpy, whose china bills were taking a considerable chunk out of her salary. Derpy didn't like drying dishes as much as she liked washing them, but she knew that a pony had to get the job done.

As she put the dishes back into the cabinet, there was a bright flash of lightning, followed by a deafening crack of thunder. Derpy let out a little shriek. All pegasi had a natural connection to the weather, even if they weren't explicitly weather ponies, but Derpy had never really liked thunderstorms.

Outside, rain was starting to come down. Derpy collected herself and finished putting up the dishes. Trotting back into the dining room, she picked up the tablecloth with her mouth and started to fold it up. The rain was pouring in earnest now, and more booms echoed through the night.

Some merchant ponies spoke of foreign lands where ponies made stupendous art from no more than folded pieces of paper. However, these had nothing on Derpy's creation, a strange, malformed mountain of cloth that somehow bore an uncanny resemblance to Princess Celestia. Satisfied with her work, she packed it into the closet.

Suddenly, there came a weak knock on the door. Who would be here at this hour? Derpy's only expected visitor for the night had already departed.

Still, Derpy was nothing if not friendly, and she would have welcomed a full-grown dragon into her home if he was out in the rain.

"Hello!" she exclaimed, throwing the door wide.

"H-h-h-h-hi!" came the stuttered reply.

Derpy's mouth fell open in shock, and both her eyes focused on the pony in front of her. "Are you okay?"

Trixie said nothing. Her mane was soaked, and she was shivering violently.

"Come inside!" cried Derpy. Trixie grinned weakly and trotted into the hallway.

Derpy then went straight to the next order of business. "I have some towels! I'll go get 'em."

Trixie nodded as Derpy turned around and, in an attempt to be quick, took flight. There were several distant bangs, and the walls shook from the impact of a collision. At last, Derpy returned, seemingly no worse for wear.

"Thank y-" Trixie began but was cut off by Derpy, who unceremoniously dumped the towles onto her and began vigorously drying her off. Trixie spluttered indignantly, but Derpy was unyielding. At last, the unicorn stood relatively dry, albeit with hair on end and a very bedraggled mane.

"Are you okay now?" asked Derpy. Trixie nodded. Derpy smiled, and continued, "It's really raining hard out there. I guess you couldn't make it home?"

"Well, I could have just cast a rain-warding spell," said Trixie, switching automatically into image-defense mode. Derpy gasped in awe. "You're so good with magic," she said in admiration. But then she frowned and asked, "But then why'd you come back here?"

"Well, I, uh . . ." said Trixie, her eyes darting back and forth. "I was just, um . . ."

"Was it the thunder?" said Derpy sagely. "Thunder's scary. I wouldn't want to be outside either."

Trixie looked insulted. "It wasn't the thunder! I'm not scared of thunder! I'm not scared of anythi-"

However, the weather continued to conspire against Trixie, for at that moment there was a flash of lightning not far away, followed by an earsplitting crack of thunder. She jumped six feet in the air and stayed there, clinging to the top of the open door.

She remained there, gripping desperately and silently praying that the storm would end soon so she could leave with what remained of her pride.

She heard the flutter of wings, and she felt gentle hooves scooping her up and carrying her away.

"I'm not afraid of anything," Trixie mumbled.

"Of course not," said Derpy, smiling at her.

Then she looked up and directed her full attention to making it through the approaching door frame. It took extreme amounts of concentration, but she miraculously managed to float through without anything more than a little bump to her left wing.

Then Trixie found herself abruptly deposited on an enormous and unbelievably fluffy bed. Derpy herself landed a few seconds later and wrapped Trixie in a strong embrace.

Trixie began to reciprocate before remembering her dignity. "You're too kind, but I don't need this," she said to Derpy, who wearing a bemused smile. "I was a little startled, perhaps, but it's nothing I can't handle. In fact, I think I'll just be-"

There was another crack of thunder, and Derpy suddenly found herself short of breath as Trixie clung to her with all her might.

"-Staying right here," said Derpy. Trixie opened her mouth, but Derpy gave her a knowing look and her protests were instantly stifled.

They stayed like that for a long time; exactly how long, neither of them knew, but that wasn't important. What was important was that when the sound of thunder came, Derpy was always right there, warm and soft and protecting.

Eventually, the rain slackened to a drizzle, and the storm died away. Trixie opened her mouth once again, hesitant to break the peaceful silence.

"I really enjoyed dinner," she said at last.

"Me too," said Derpy.

Trixie pushed on. "So, um, maybe do you think we could do it again some time, maybe when it's not raining so we could, I dunno, go on a picnic or go someplace nice or-"

She was silenced by a kiss.

"I'd love that," said Derpy.

Trixie smiled and nothing more was said before fatigue crept into the room and left both of them sleeping soundly, still cuddled together, dreaming of each other.

Author's Notes:

I guess you'd call Trixie/Derpy shipping 'Derxie'? I dunno. All that matters is that it's adorable.

Talk (FlutterPie)

For the fifth time in twenty minutes, Pinkie Pie lost her grip and tumbled to the ground, hitting the rocks with a painful-sounding THUMP. But just like the past four times, she stood up without looking any worse for wear.

"You should stop," said Fluttershy, nursing her wing. "You're going to really hurt yourself sooner or later."

"I can't just give up!" said Pinkie, without turning to look at the pegasus. "You know that! Besides, I think I can make it this time!"

She stared up at the cliff, trying to track a plausible route up over the side of the canyon. "If I can just get over that smooth patch . . ." she murmured to herself.

"It won't work!" said Fluttershy loudly, more loudly than she expected. "You keep trying, but you can't make it out!"

Pinkie wheeled on Fluttershy, who gasped at the manic glint in her eyes. "But I have to! I'm gonna climb out, and get back to Ponyville, and get help, and then we'll get you out of here so we can fix your wing, and then you'll be okay and we'll be safe and everything will be fine . . ." Her voice petered out, and she slumped to the ground next to Fluttershy. "It's hopeless, isn't it?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"It's not hopeless," said Fluttershy, her voice reeking of insincerity, "It'll be okay. They'll find us."

"No, they won't," said Pinkie. Her hair was visibly straightening.

"Pinkie!" cried Fluttershy, looking Pinkie straight in the eyes. "You can't do this! You've got to hang on!" She paused, then added, softly, "For me." her face flushed, and she looked away.

They sat there for a little while, not saying anything, Fluttershy rubbing her broken wing. The silence was the worst part; when it was quiet, all you had were your thoughts, and they just seemed to keep circling around the fact that they were trapped in a canyon in the middle of nowhere.

"Talk to me," whispered Fluttershy.

"About what?" asked Pinkie.

"Anything," mumured Fluttershy. "Just not about . . . this."

Pinkie thought for a moment. "Did I ever tell you how I got my cutie mark?"

Fluttershy shook her head.

That was all the invitation Pinkie needed. "Well, when I was a little-bitty twinkie-Pinkie, I lived on a rock farm with my family. I have two sisters, you know, Blinkie and Inky. Blinkie's really fussy, but she can be funny, too, when she wants to be. Inky's really quiet, kinda like you, but she likes rocks instead of animals. Of course, we grew up with rocks! So, anyway, we didn't have any parties on the rock farm . . ."

A strange transformation went over the pink party pony. As she recounted the happy memories, she brightened up and became so cheery and bouncy that you might have thought she was at a party, not trapped in a canyon with no way out.

She went on for a long, long time, with many distractions, anecdotes, and conversational cul-de-sacs. It seemed to take Pinkie an hour to describe every last detail of her very first party. Despite this, Fluttershy listened and gazed at her attentively the entire time.

Just when Fluttershy thought that Pinkie's story was finished, Pinkie took a deep breath and began anew. Fluttershy didn't mind; she just kept listening.

This time Pinkie's story was about her journey to Ponyville. She talked about going to Sugarcube Corner, trying her first cupcake, and realizing that they "tasted like parties", decided she wanted to be a baker, even though she had never baked before. Still, she somehow managed to get a job and lodging at Sugarcube Corner.

Next, Pinkie told how she had met all of her friends. Most of the stories seemed to run the same way: Pinkie met one of her future PFFs, but they didn't really become friends because they were too different. It was only when Twilight Sparkle came along that the gang really "got together", as it were.

However, Pinkie respected and even admired the way her friends were different from herself. She enjoyed Rarity's class and creativity; Applejack's hardworking, honest demeanor; Rainbow's speed and skill. SHe spoke for a long time about how glad she was that Twilight had come along and made them all friends.

This was to say nothing of all the times that Pinkie had stepped out of her greater narrative arc to recount an adventure, an incident, or even just an interesting conversation that she had had with a pony (she was able to recount most of the latter word-for-word). She was essentially summarizing years and years of experiences in one very, very long recounting. All in all, her story must have stretched on for hours, but never once did Fluttershy take her eyes off her friend.

At last, Pinkie could think of no more to say. She looked at Fluttershy and asked, "Did you like my story?"

Fluttershy nodded fervently.

Pinkie smiled, but the trouble already starting to begin again. Without nothing to reminisce about, the gravity of their situation sank in, and her pessimism returned. She slumped to the ground, and her expression darkened. She glanced back up at the canyon walls and above, where the sun was barely visible over the top. "Sun's setting; no one will be able to find us in the dark. That is," she added bitterly, "if they're even looking for us." Her hair was already starting to uncurl again.

Fluttershy knew she had to stop this process before it ran out of control. "Wait- don't you have any other stories to tell me?"

Pinkie shrugged. "Not really."

Fluttershy desperately hunted for something Pinkie hadn't mentioned. "What about- no, you talked about that, um, maybe- no, you did that too, um-"

Pinkie sighed. "Thanks, Shy, but it's not gonna work."

"Nonono," insisted Fluttershy, "what about-" She paused. "What about the first time you met me? You didn't talk about that."

Pinkie looked Fluttershy in the eye, and there was something different in her expression, although Fluttershy had no idea what it was.

"No," she said mildly. "You know what happened already, and besides, you don't want to hear my side of it."

"Yes I do!" said Fluttershy, but Pinkie had already looked away.

Fluttershy forced herself to her hooves and trotted over to Pinkie's side. "I want to hear whatever you have to say," she said quietly, her mouth right next to Pinkie's ear.

Pinkie looked up at Fluttershy, who finally figured what the emotion on Pinkie's face was: fear.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" said Pinkie.

"Of course," said Fluttershy. She had never seen Pinkie like this, but she had to know what scared her friend so much so that she could help her get over it.

"Well, I first saw you about a year before Twilight came." Pinkie spoke softly and hesitantly at first, but began to warm to her tale. "I heard there was a new pony in town, and I always have to meet every pony, you know, so I went to find you. I started in the town square, and I knew that I would be able to find the new pony right away. And I was right, but you didn't just stand out because you were new."

She slowed down again. "Because there was the most . . . beautiful pony I'd ever seen."

Fluttershy's mouth dropped. Surely she wasn't . . . ?

But Pinkie pressed on. "I had never seen a pony as pretty, or graceful, or elegant before in my entire life. And I went up to talk to her, and I could barely talk 'cause she was just so . . . amazing! So I just kinda babbled, like a foal. Jumping and screeching and dancing and spouting gibberish 'cause I didn't know what else to do."

A tear ran down her eye. "But I came on too strong, way too strong, and she was scared, and she ran away. I hardly ever saw her after that and I didn't try to talk to her because I scared her and I hated myself for scaring the most lovely pony I'd even seen . . ." She paused and took a deep breath. Fluttershy had said nothing this entire time.

"Then Twilight came, and made us all friends, and I got my second chance. But I didn't try to push, because I didn't want to risk driving her away again. Being friends with her was enough. I could see her every day, and I could make her happy."

Pinkie looked up to meet Fluttershy's eyes. "I love making you happy, Shy, 'cause as long as you're happy, I'm happy. I'm only sad when I think too hard about how I blew it and how I was never gonna be able to tell you that . . . I'm in love with you."

She dropped her eyes again. "And now we're gonna die and it's gonna be so awkward 'cause I admitted I'm in love with you and you probably think I'm weird and silly and scary. I told you didn't want to hear my side of the story, 'cause you don't want to talk to me anymore, so I'll just go over there and be quiet and try not to disturb you anymore." And with that she stood up and trotted to a corner, facing the wall.

Pinkie Pie collapsed to the ground. She wanted to cry, but she knew she had to be quiet, so she settled for a sniffle or two. That's how they'd find her, if they found her at all: hunched against the wall, dried tears on her nose.

She tried to find solace in thoughts of her friends, and that helped some: she thought of Dashie, and Twilight, and Applejack and Rarity and Spike and Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake and Cranky and everypony else she knew and loved. She smiled a bit at that, and tried not to think about the hunger gnawing at her stomach.

Then somepony laid down next to her, and a quiet voice whispered in her ear, "I wish you'd just told me, Pinkie. I never knew, and I never suspected, and if you're sad it's really my fault. I thought about it, Pinkie, and you know, if it has to end like this, I think I'd rather it be you than anypony else in the world. So please don't cry."

Pinkie found the courage to turn her head to Fluttershy. "Do you . . . do you mean it?"

But the answer was clear on Fluttershy's face: her eyes sad but honest, her mouth drawn into a heartbreaking little smile. With the courage that only despair brought, she nuzzled Pinkie affectionately.

Pinkie couldn't bring herself to beam, but she managed a smile of her own, and, blinking the tears away, she pulled Fluttershy close. Whatever the future brought, or didn't bring, they would face it together.

Pink is a fairly noticeable color; it stands out pretty well against stone, especially when it's very bright, as Pinkie's coat was. Rainbow Dash knew almost instantly that she had found her friends, even though she was a quarter-mile in the air.

She swooped in closer, and the scenario played itself out in her mind: the artifact must have brought them to the canyon, and, since it teleported them at ground level, had left them in midair in this canyon, leaving them falling too quickly to react and no doubt injuring Fluttershy to the extent that she couldn't fly. Twilight had said "don't touch", but when had that ever meant anything to Pinkie Pie?

Sure enough, there they were, huddled against the wall. They might have still ben asleep. Dash would let them know that help was on its way, then fly back to alert the rest of the impromptu pegasus brigade she'd had scouring Equestria for days.

It seemed a little strange, though: it looked perhaps too intimate for huddling. Could they be hugging, or, Celestia forbid, cuddling?

But that insane suggestion was quickly explained away: it probably got cold in the canyon at night, and they needed all the warmth they could get.

It wasn't serious.

Author's Notes:

I seem to have a penchant for the melodramatic.