Fluttershy was still in bed. 'Why did I have to talk about all that yesterday anyway? If I just kept everything with Rarity to myself then none of this would be happening.' Fluttershy rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, despite not being tired. It was well into the morning, and she should be up taking care of her animal friends, but she was too daunted by the day ahead of her. Rainbow had told her about her talk with Twilight the night before, so she felt better knowing that Twilight probably didn't hate her. But Twilight was coming by today to talk to her about what she heard, which made her want to curl up into her bed and become one with it, something she was trying her very best to do.
There was a knock at the door. Fluttershy threw her head under a pillow. It had to be Twilight. Maybe she'd go away if she thought Fluttershy wasn't home? Another knock, probably not. The idea of getting up to answer the door was horrifying. Almost as horrifying as the idea of Twilight thinking Fluttershy hated her because she wouldn't answer the door. With a whimper she pulled her head out from the pillow only to see a pair of magenta eyes staring at her. She screamed.
Rainbow sighed. "Come on Shy, it's time to get up. You can't stay hidden away forever."
"I know. I shouldn't put myself through this. I need to be stronger." Fluttershy sighed.
"No. Well, yeah, but I meant I almost got eaten by a hungry bear."
Fluttershy giggled. Of course Harry wouldn't really hurt anypony, but Rainbow had a point. It was time to face the day! Or at least feed her animal friends. That part of the day should be manageable. So the two of them left to feed and check up on all the animals. Well, Fluttershy did. Rainbow was otherwise occupied with practicing some aerial stunts, but Fluttershy appreciated her presence nonetheless.
As always the animals did a lot to put her mind at rest, and at times she even forgot all about Twilight and the idea that somepony knew about her, but then she'd remember and want to just hide away again. She moved slowly, weighed down by her thoughts, and the sun was high in the sky by the time she finished. "I don't know about you, but I'm beat." Rainbow said, despite having taken the chance for a midday nap while she thought Fluttershy wouldn't notice.
"Would you like some tea? Or coffee?" Fluttershy offered.
"Coffee sounds good."
Napping aside, Rainbow wasn't normally up in the morning, and Fluttershy felt a little guilty for not thinking to offer it sooner, especially since she had been over late into the night making sure Fluttershy was okay. She got the water boiling and added the coffee grounds. She didn't actually drink coffee herself, but always kept it around for Rainbow.
While they were waiting for the coffee there was another knock on the door. Fluttershy panicked in the kitchen while Rainbow took the liberty of answering it.
"Hello Rainbow. How's Fluttershy?"
"Alright. She's in the kitchen." Fluttershy heard the door close and two sets of hoofsteps approaching. Lacking any reasonable place to hide she hid in her mane.
"Hello Fluttershy." Twilight said, ignoring the fact that Fluttershy was cowering in a chair at the kitchen table.
"Hello." Fluttershy squeaked. The purple alicorn wrapped a foreleg around her.
"Fluttershy, everything's okay." Fluttershy peeked through her shield to see Twilight smiling warmly. "And you certainly don't have any reason to worry about hiding anything from me, or any of your friends. We all love you no matter what."
"But… I'm a…" Fluttershy shook her head. She knew it was ridiculous, but she felt like if she never said it nopony could hold it against her.
"You like mares. It's really not a big deal, Fluttershy." Twilight said. When she said it it definitely sounded like it wasn't a big deal.
Fluttershy came out of her mane, but didn't return the hug. "Thank you Twilight. But it's okay if you don't, uhm, want to be so close to me anymore."
Twilight kept hold of Fluttershy. "That's just silly. This shouldn't change anything between us, and I'm not letting you go until you hug me back."
Fluttershy couldn't help but smile as she hugged her friend. "See, just like I told you." Rainbow said. "Our friends care about you, they wouldn't let something like that get in the way. And I'm sorry if I push you too hard sometimes. I just want you to be happy, Shy."
Fluttershy pulled Rainbow into the hug. "Thank you, both of you. I know I shouldn't worry so much, but the idea of telling other ponies…"
"I understand." Twilight said. "And we won't pressure you to tell anypony you don't want to. That's an important decision you need to make for yourself."
As they pulled away from each other Fluttershy looked between her friends, who were both smiling warmly. Fluttershy couldn't believe how lucky she was. She felt like she might cry. "Oh, thank you girls so much. You're the best friends anypony could ever ask for."
"Well this best friend needs coffee." Rainbow said. She rolled her eyes, but Fluttershy could tell she enjoyed the attention anyway. "I can't believe I woke up before noon…" She helped herself to a cup, leaving Fluttershy feeling inhospitable.
"Oh and, uhm… Spike kinda found out too." Twilight rubbed her shoulder bashfully. "Sorry."
"You told Spike?" Rainbow glared.
"Of course not! Somepony was screaming it from the other room though, so he kinda overheard."
"Rainbow! You said you two just talked. You yelled at her?"
Rainbow looked between the two ponies, then attempted to avoid the question by taking a big gulp of coffee, which was still scalding hot and left her eyes watering.
"It's fine. We both yelled a bit actually, and we really did talk afterwards." Twilight said. Fluttershy knew she was covering for Rainbow, at least a little bit, but things seemed okay between them now, so she decided to let it go. "Oh, and Spike's fine with it too! I'm sorry, I'm sure you would have wanted him to find out from you once you're ready. I suppose that goes for me too, I'm sorry I overheard yesterday."
"It's… it's okay. I think it was kind of better that way." Fluttershy said. She'd spent years hiding it from everypony, and thought she might spend her whole life hiding. Even if it was just Twilight and Spike part of her was glad she had at least a few more friends she wouldn't have to hide this from. "Uhm, does he know about… Rarity?" She squeaked the last word, but Twilight knew what she meant.
"No, he didn't hear about that."
"Oh, good. He'd probably be upset."
Twilight chuckled. "I'm sure he'd be fine. He'll have to come to terms with Rarity being with somepony else someday, I really don't think she's interested in dating a kid."
'I guess we both will. She'd never want to be with a mare either.' Fluttershy thought. She smiled and shook her head. "Still, I'd just hate for him to feel bad because of me. Especially since, uhm, nothing will ever happen between me and her anyway."
"Why do you say that?" Twilight asked.
"Well, it's just that I know she likes stallions, so..."
"Fluttershy, you do know some ponies like both, right?"
"Exactly!" Rainbow decided it was safe to jump back into the conversation. "That's exactly what I said! If you want to know for sure you've got to tell her." Twilight glared at her. "Right. Too pushy. Sorry." She continued to quietly sip her coffee while Twilight set the tea kettle.
"What if we did know though?" Twilight asked. "If we knew how Rarity felt about mares, do you think you would ask her out then?"
"I… oh, I don't know. Uhm, has she said something to you?" Fluttershy partially retreated in her mane again.
"No, but I could ask. Of course I wouldn't say you name or anything, I could just tell her that I know a mare who has a crush on her and ask if she might be interested."
Fluttershy desperately wanted to know. She'd been in love with Rarity for a long time and constantly wondered what would happen if she did confess. But even though Twilight's plan sounded like it would work she still wasn't sure. She was scared of Rarity somehow figuring out she was the one that was interested. "Uhm… I'll think about it."
The tea whistled and Twilight served them both a cup, while Rainbow stuck to coffee. Fluttershy made some quick snacks and the three moved into the living room where Rainbow launched into the story of her crazy week with the weather team. Fluttershy tried paying attention but she kept glancing at Twilight. Occasionally Twilight would glance at her and smile, then look away. 'What does she think of me now? She's probably just being nice. Even if Twilight is being honest and doesn't hate me, things probably won't ever be the same now.'
"So Cloud Kicker's stuck in the attic with this tornado and-"
"Is it weird being around me now? Oh! Sorry, that was rude. Uhm, please finish your story, Rainbow."
Rainbow looked slightly annoyed but didn't say anything. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"Well, do I make you, uhm… uncomfortable?"
Twilight looked confused. "Why would you?"
"Well… I, uhm, like mares." She winced as she said it. "And… and you're…" She hid in her mane.
"A mare?" Twilight smiled. "A lot of ponies like mares, I don't mind being around any of them. Why would I feel uncomfortable around you, but not around, say, Big Mac?"
"Oh, uhm… but he's a stallion."
Twilight shrugged. "Why is it okay to be friends with a stallion that likes mares, but not a mare who does? I could never feel uncomfortable around you, I promise."
Fluttershy could see her point. Logically it made sense, but she couldn't help but feel like there was a difference, even if she couldn't explain why.
"Besides, you don't seem to worry about Rainbow knowing." Twilight said.
"Oh, that's different. I've known Rainbow so long she's like my sister." Fluttershy said. "Besides, she was there when I was figuring everything out, and even helped me understand how I felt about other mares."
Twilight tried, and failed, to hold in a laugh, while Rainbow facehoofed. Fluttershy looked between the two until it dawned on her how what she said sounded and blushed from inside her mane.
"Not like that!" Rainbow said. "What she means is my awesome advice helped her accept her feelings." This time Twilight didn't even try not to laugh.
"It's true, actually." Fluttershy said.
Twilight grinned. "Really? Rainbow Dash, the after school special?"
"Whatever, it's not important. I was kinda a jerk back then anyway." Rainbow deflected.
"Oh Dash, you always meant well." Fluttershy said.
"Alright, so what actually happened?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow just grumbled in her chair. "She was the first pony I told. Well, the only pony really." Fluttershy said. "Back when we lived in Cloudsdale. I didn't really know what I felt at the time, but she told me it didn't matter either way, and to never apologize for who I am. That I shouldn't be ashamed of myself no matter what."
Twilight smiled. "That's so sweet, Rainbow."
"Shut it." Rainbow grumbled.
Twilight and Fluttershy giggled. "Aww, come on Rainbow, nopony thinks any less of you because you care about your friends." Twilight said.
"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow waved a hoof. "Anyway, so like I was say woah!"
Fluttershy interrupted Rainbow again, this time by pulling her into a hug. Rainbow sighed and hugged her back while Twilight smiled from the couch. "I don't know what I'd do without you girls. I can't believe I was so afraid of talking to you about this."
"So what do you say, think you'd maybe want to tell everypony else?" Rainbow asked. "Not, pushing, just asking."
"I don't know… that's, uhm…" She thought of what everypony might say.
'Fluttershy, she's a mare. That's just crazy!'
'That just ain't natural, I bet ya just need to find the right stallion.'
'I'm sorry darling, but I hardly think it's appropriate for a lady to feel that way.'
Fluttershy shook her head. "I… I'm not ready yet."
"It's okay, Fluttershy." Twilight said. "Whenever you are ready we'll be there to support you. And in the meantime, I hope you know you can always come to me about anything."
Fluttershy nodded. "Thank you Twilight. I'm just glad I have you two to support me."
They spent the rest of the day just talking. Fluttershy was worried a few more times throughout their visit, but everything was so normal it reassured her that everything was okay. By the time everypony left Fluttershy even began to feel like it might not be such a bad idea to tell everypony after all. But who to tell? She knew Rainbow would tell her she should just tell everypony. 'Maybe I should ask Twilight for advice?' She sighed and rejected that idea too. She didn't want to remind Twilight anymore than she had to that she was… that way. Even though they were two of her best friends, she also didn't want to tell Applejack or Pinkie Pie. She knew there was only one pony she wanted to tell, but she would also be the hardest.
Fluttershy decided to go to sleep early and moved to the bedroom. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be sleeping well and didn't want to be exhausted when she went to the spa with Rarity in the morning. If she did tell Rarity she'd have to stop these weekly spa trips. Even if she was as understanding as Rainbow and Twilight there was no way she'd want to keep going with somepony like her. No, she couldn't do that. She smiled as she tucked herself into bed. 'I already have such wonderful friends. Why risk losing them? Things really are better this way.'
