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“How’s Tank doing?” Fluttershy asked, blowing on her tea. “Does he like his new home?”
Rainbow Dash laughed and kicked her feet onto the coffee table in front of her. “The best pet in the world is doing amazing, thank you for asking. It’s safe to say I think he likes his new home with me.”
Fluttershy smiled and took a sip from her mug. Every weekend, the two childhood friends spend the afternoon at Fluttershy’s cottage for a get together.
“Only one question: why does he always roll on his back?”
Musical laughter filled the air when the other girl responded, “I’m not sure. He did that when he was with me, too!”
Rainbow joined in. “Like, I love him and all, but I can’t keep flipping him over constantly!”
The two giggled when a knock on the door interrupted. Fluttershy’s pet rabbit glanced out the side window, then patted the floor a couple times.
“Oh!” The quiet girl exclaimed. “It’s the mail. One second, Dashie.”
While she opened her door, Rainbow picked up an apple from the fruit bowl. The scent caught her attention and a hesitant smile grew on her lips. The thoughts of another girl filled her head brought butterflies to her stomach and—
Fluttershy’s giggling brought her back to reality.
Rainbow placed the apple in her lap and raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“A letter.”
“…I meant, who’s it from, Flutters.”
She blushed and tucked the letter into her pocket. “It’s from Discord.”
The sporty girl groaned and fell back onto the couch. “Not him. You can do soooooo much better!”
“Now, now, Rainbow Dash. Be nice,” she responded as she sat back down. “I really like him.”
“I know… but why? He’s a total weirdo and frankly, a little crazy.”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “He’s nice to me. I know he pulled a prank on your soccer team that one time—“
“He filled all of our lockers with cotton candy!”
“—But he’s a nice person. It was all in good fun.”
“It took a week, a trip to the cleaners, and three hundred dollars to get the sugar out of my cleats.”
“…All in good fun.”
It was Rainbow Dash’s turn to roll her eyes. But then she thought better of it and said through a sigh: “If that’s who you want to date, you can do that.”
Fluttershy smiled. “Thank you, Dashie. Also since we’re on the subject, is there anyone you like?”
Rainbow choked on her breath. “What?”
Fluttershy squinted at her response and asked, “is there a person you like? Romantically?”
An image of a certain blonde popped into her mind but she ushered it away. “…What?”
“Hmmm…” the pink haired girl responded and sipped her tea. “Alright then.”
A rush of relief made Rainbow Dash smile. She felt safer off the topic and lifted her mug to her lips.
Fluttershy took note of the apple in her lap and said, “you know, if you want an Apple you could go to Sweet Apple Acres yourself.”
Hot tea spewed out of her mouth as she gasped. Her friend flinched at her response then rushed over, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Rainbow Dash! Oh my goodness; are you okay?!”
After a minute of coughing through the drink, the blue girl asked, “what did you say?”
“I asked if you were alright?”
“No, before that.”
Fluttershy frowned. “I said… that if you wanted an apple, like the one in your hand, you could go where I got them. Sweet Apple Acres? You always have one when you’re here.”
Heat rushed to her face when Rainbow Dash responded, trying to play it off. “Oh yeah… Yeah, cool, very cool. That makes sense.”
Fluttershy’s frown deepened. “Is there something you want to talk about, Dashie?”
Her eyes widened in fright. “What? Me? Nope! I’m totally, completely fine!”
The other girl frowned. Somehow her stare said more than her words could have.
Rainbow sighed and brought her knees to her chest.
I cannot believe I’m doing this… But I can trust Fluttershy.
“Okay, Fluttershy. I am going to be… honest right now, but everything I say CANNOT leave this room. Okay?”
She looked taken aback but nodded.
“You gotta promise me this, okay? Not a peep to anyone else! That means Discord, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, AJ. ESPECIALLY AJ. Got it?”
“Of course! I—I promise.”
Rainbow sighed again and closed her eyes as the words left her lips. “I think I have a crush on... No. I know I have a crush on Applejack.”
The silence felt suffocating.
That was until Fluttershy giggled.
“Why are you laughing?”
Her face went a little pink as she responded, “I'm sorry! I know that's not what you need, but… I just thought you were going to say something I didn’t know!”
Rainbow Dash let go of her knees. “What?! You knew? How??"
She laughed again. “I’ve been suspecting for a couple months now. I’m shocked you haven’t told me sooner.”
“Months? But—But I never—I didn’t even know!”
Fluttershy sat up and grabbed her tea again. “Well, you’ve been very obvious about it for a while.”