Note: This story is complete, but I'm currently editing it and only chapters done with editing will be posted. I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!
Twilight Sparkle walked leisurely through Ponyville. It was mid-afternoon, and it was a beautiful day. She had spent the morning reorganizing the castle's library and had planned to spend the afternoon reading some of the books that had caught her eye in the process, but it was just too good a day to spend indoors. That and Spike was 'experimenting' in the kitchen. Truth be told he was a good cook, certainly better than Twilight, but he had decided the best way to win Rarity's heart was to prove he could be as high class as anypony else, and that meant fine cuisine. Unfortunately his ambitions were higher than his abilities, and Twilight preferred to put some distance between her and the mess that would ensue. So instead she was wandering the town with no real destination in mind.
She strolled through town waving at everypony she passed. That was her favorite thing about life in Ponyville, always so many smiling faces. She had wandered into the market when she heard the one pony who smiled more than any other. "Morning Twilight!"
"Good morning, Pinkie." Twilight answered brightly. Noticing the saddle bags filled with paint, balloons, and all manner of other supplies she added, "Planning a party I take it?"
"Yupperony! Cherry Blossom is coming to town for Cheerilee's birthday, so I'm throwing a sister reunion birthday party! Twice the reason to celebrate means twice the party!" Until recently Cheerilee and her sister Cherry Blossom hadn't been talking. It had taken a sprained hoof and a championship wrestling match to get them to be friends again.
"I'm glad to hear things are still going well for them. Can I help with anything?"
"Oh Twilight, don't worry about it. I'm a party professional. It's in the bag!" Right on cue the saddle bag exploded with confetti, causing several passersby to jump in surprise. The pink pony just laughed. "Literally!"
Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes. She knew she'd never understand Pinkie, but all the same her friend certainly never failed to put a smile on her face. "Well, I'm not doing anything anyway, I'm sure there's something I could do to help?"
"Nope! Everything's all taken care of." Pinkie said. "Although if you're looking to kill some time Fluttershy told me she had a very busy day with her animals today. I'm sure she'd appreciate a hoof."
Thinking on it though, a visit with Fluttershy would be nice, and party planning really wasn't her strong suit anyway. "That sounds like a great idea, thank you Pinkie."
"Okie dokie lokie! Say hi for me!" As she hopped off she began singing a song, leaving her good mood on everypony in her wake. Twilight almost joined in herself but instead hummed tunelessly.
Along the way she stopped for lunch, grabbing two hayburgers to go. Knowing her friend, she would be so caught up taking care of her animals that she would forget to take care of herself. Twilight smiled. She could help Fluttershy with her animals then the two of them could have a small picnic. She hoped Fluttershy wouldn't mind her dropping in unannounced. Momentarily worried, Twilight just shook her head. Fluttershy's cottage was a frequent destination for her these days, and she never complained about the company. Once she was out of the busy market square she could hum along with the birds singing. It really was a perfect day, and nothing would bring her down.
When she arrived at the cottage she took a moment to fix her mane. While stopped she heard Rainbow Dash from inside, but couldn't make out the words. She looked at the burgers and felt guilty. She hadn't planned for anypony else being here. 'Oh well. Guess that's what I get for dropping by unannounced.' She supposed they could always go into town for lunch, or if Fluttershy didn't mind she could always just make herself a sandwich.
She approached the house but before she could knock she heard Rainbow more clearly. "Well, do you know if she likes mares?"
Twilight froze, her breath catching in her throat. She knew this wasn't a conversation she should be listening in on, but she couldn't help herself. 'Does who like mares?' Twilight wondered. Whatever Fluttershy said was too quiet for her to make out.
"Shy, if you don't tell her you'll never know what might happen." At this point Twilight abandoned all pretense of not listening and pressed her head right up to the door.
She heard Fluttershy squeak something. For once she wished the shy pegasus was a little less soft spoken. 'Just say a name! Who is it? Just say it's…'
"Do you really believe that?" Rainbow asked skeptically. "Come on Shy, whether she feels the same way or not Rarity is not going to hate you." Rarity. Fluttershy did have feelings for a mare and it was Rarity. Twilight stepped away from the door, staring at it without seeing for a minute. If they said anything else Twilight didn't hear. She forced herself to take a deep breath then calmly walked away. The trip home didn't seem so nice. The warm welcoming sun now felt hot and overly bright, the birds chirping felt off key and out of place, and the crowded market place felt, well, crowded. She arrived at her big castle, which felt empty despite her friends' best efforts.
"Hey Twilight." Spike said sheepishly as she stepped inside. "You, uh, might want to stay out of the kitchen for a while." When Twilight didn't say anything he added, "I'll clean it all up though, promise!"
"It's fine, Spike." Twilight barely looked at him, making her way towards her room.
"Is everything okay?" he asked as he walked up to her. He was a mess, covered in ingredients Twilight didn't care to guess.
"Of course." She put on her best unconvincing smile.
"Come on Twi, what's wrong? You know you can talk to me about anything."
Twilight looked at him properly, noticing how concerned he was. But she also knew he wouldn't understand even if she did explain. "I know Spike. And I'm fine, really. I just overheard something I shouldn't have, and feel a little guilty."
"Ah come on, you can't let something like that get you down. It was just an accident. I'm sure whoever you overheard will understand."
"You're right, Spike." Twilight smiled, genuinely. "I'm just gonna go relax with a book for now, and I'll sort everything out later." As she turned to go towards her room again the little dragon ran up and hugged her before heading back to the kitchen. She really did feel better, even if now she had what looked like peanut butter in her fur.
True to her word, after cleaning off, she did grab a book. A large brown journal with a yellow and red star on the front. Her duties as princess had kept her from visiting her human friends as often as she'd like to, but she did keep in regular contact with Sunset Shimmer. Initially Twilight had been a mentor to Sunset, helping her to learn the magic of friendship, but in truth she didn't need too much guidance, having already learned a lot from her friends at Canterlot High. Now the two had a close bond, as close as Twilight was with her Ponyville friends, and there were some things that were just easier to tell to Sunset.
'Dear Sunset,
Today while I was out I overheard Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash talking and, well… I shouldn't of been listening in of course but I heard that Fluttershy has feelings for somepony else. Before you ask I'm fine, and I really want to help her. This could be a chance for her to be happy, and with how shy she is I get the feeling that she'll need all the support she can get if she's ever going to tell the other pony how she feels. But at the same time I don't know if I should mention it, since I was never meant to hear about it in the first place. What do you think I should do?'
Twilight smiled, the irony of the Princess of Friendship asking the former terror of Canterlot High and would be conqueror for friendship advice wasn't lost on her. But she was proud of Sunset for how far she'd come, and knew she could count on her for a second opinion without risking spilling Fluttershy's secret to somepony who close to her. She wouldn't say it was Rarity specifically since they never did figure out exactly how similar the alternate world doubles were, and she didn't want to betray the human Fluttershy's secret. She set the book aside, idly wondering when she'd get a reply. She looked at the quill and knew there was another letter she ought to write. A letter she had only been putting off for a couple years now, and to some extent for her entire adult life. She sighed and grabbed some parchment. Dipping her quill in the ink she stared at the blank paper, writing nothing. 'I suppose I should start with a greeting.' She still wrote nothing. Minutes passed and the page remained pristine. Eventually she was saved from pretending to write the letter by a knock on the door.
"Twilight?" Spike called. Happy to have an excuse Twilight practically leaped to the door. She threw it open, even though she knew it probably meant helping with the kitchen. "Rainbow Dash is here, and she's pretty angry. Was she the one you overheard earlier?"
Oh buck. Had she been seen? Twilight collected her thoughts for a few moments longer than strictly necessary then took a deep breath. "Yes." She smiled sheepishly. "I didn't think anypony saw me. Well, I suppose I better talk to her. It's better than pretending I didn't hear in any case."
"Alright, Twi. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."
Twilight met Rainbow Dash in the entry hall. Like Spike said she did seem pretty upset. "Twilight, were you at Fluttershy's earlier?" Straight to the point.
If Rainbow had seen her why did she have to ask? Twilight briefly wondered if denying it was a possibility, but decided it would be better to own up to it. Rainbow apparently knew she was there, and she didn't want to get caught in a lie on top of everything else. "Yes, and I didn't mean to listen in, I'm sorry."
"How much did you hear?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight sighed. No point in denying what this was all about. "That Fluttershy has feelings for Rarity."
Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "And what's wrong with that?" She seemed a little too angry to Twilight. It had been an accident, and it wasn't like she was going to run off and tell Rarity all about it or anything.
"Rainbow, is everything okay?" Twilight asked. "You seem a little agitated."
Twilight had been wrong about Rainbow being angry before. She was restrained before. Now she was angry. "Answer the question! What's wrong with Fluttershy having a crush on another mare?" Rainbow practically yelled.
Twilight was taken aback. Why had this escalated so much? "What… I never said there was anything wrong with it! Why are you yelling at me?"
"Then why the buck did you leave!?" Rainbow's face was within a foot of Twilight's now. Fight or flight instinct kicking in, Twilight closed the gap a few more inches.
"Because I shouldn't have been there in the first place!"
Rainbow stared unflinching for a moment, eyes locked with Twilight's. "Do you have something against gay ponies?"
"What!?" Twilight stood slack jawed. If they hadn't been yelling she might have laughed. "Do I… what? No!"
Rainbow held Twilight's glare, but she stopped yelling. "So you don't care that Fluttershy likes mares?"
"Of course I don't! Why would you even think that?"
Rainbow took a step back and stared off to the side. "Well… when we realized you were there and that you just left all of a sudden like that…"
"I was embarrassed that I heard something I wasn't meant to, and I know Fluttershy wouldn't want me to find out like that. I just thought it'd be better to address it later."
"Oh." Rainbow was quiet for minute. She rubbed the back of her neck and frowned. "Sorry I yelled at you. I guess I over reacted. It' just… Fluttershy's terrified all our friends will hate her if they know, and I just don't want her to get hurt. So when we realized you left she kinda assumed the worst. I told her it's dumb, that she should just come out. Nopony that matters is gonna care. Buck anypony who doesn't realize how awesome she is, right?"
"Coming out can be the hardest thing for some ponies to do. Even if she has no reason to worry about her friends. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow though. She should know we all love her no matter what."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll head back over there now, she was pretty upset when I left. Oh, and Twilight?" Rainbow grinned. "If you're gonna flee the scene of the crime don't leave any evidence. Even delicious evidence."
Twilight facehoofed. "The burgers. I left the burgers."
Rainbow laughed. "Yeah, she knew it was you 'cause you've been bringing her lunch, and you're the only one who remembers she doesn't like mustard."
"Mayo."
"Whatever." With one last eye roll Rainbow flew off. Twilight thought about following after her, but it was getting pretty late and she had a feeling that they had a pretty long talk ahead of them.
"What's the big deal?" Spike asked.
"Spike, were you listening in?"
"Twilight I was three rooms away. With how loud she was I'm not surprised you overheard her. Everyone in Ponyville could of heard that racket." Twilight was glad she had only said Rarity's name before they were yelling. "I mean, so what if Fluttershy likes mares? Why would she be afraid of telling other ponies about it? I mean, aside from being Fluttershy and being afraid of everything."
Twilight smiled. She could barely contain her pride for her little brother. So she didn't. She grabbed him unaware and pulled him into a tight hug. To his credit he didn't squirm. Much. "Come on." she said, once she had let him go. "I'll help you finish cleaning the kitchen."