The next morning Fluttershy awoke early and asked the maid to make the breakfast a bit early. Once the food was prepared, eggs with a hollandaise sauce and a bit of tea and toast to balance it, she brought it upstairs to her husband's room. He was, as always, sleeping late. As the yellow mare entered she could hear him snoring lightly. She smiled, set the tray on the nearby bedstand, and went to open the window curtains. As she did so, and the light spilled in beautifully, he began to stir. In a quiet voice, the breakfast tray in her hooves, Fluttershy sang:

"Good morning."

He stirred once more and opened one eye, most lackadaisically. He sniffed the air slowly and mumbled something about food. She set the tray down gently upon the bed and greeted him once more. Trenderhoof sat up and stared down at the food. Fluttershy noted that his eyes were weary and it seemed as though he had not slept well. She, not wanting to assume anything at all, asked:

"Did you not sleep well darling?"

Trenderhoof responded that he had, indeed, not slept well. He ate the food slowly and said nothing about the act of the food being brought to him. Fluttershy, needing some sort of affirmation, no matter how petty, said:

"I brought you breakfast in bed because I thought you might enjoy it."

This time the brownish stallion did look over at her and nodded without thought. He was chewing, slowly, and when he swallowed found the time to respond:

"I do."

The mare sighed, seeing she was getting nowhere, and turned to leave. Her husband said nothing until she reached the doorway. Then he called out:

"You forgot to bring the tray back down."

This statement almost made the mare stop dead in her tracks. She did not respond and turn to him immediately as she, perhaps, should have. How could he ask something like that from her? Treating her like she was a maid instead of his wife? Without fuss, though, she took the tray back down and said nothing. Her tiny gesture had not worked in the slightest.

That day Fluttershy dressed herself with extra care. She even had one of the maids do her hair up in a complex top bun. Her dress, blue, had been specially selected as it was the dress she had worn when they first met. With renewed spirit the bride left her room and headed downstairs.

She called out for Trenderhoof. When he did not respond to her, she began checking each of the rooms until, finally, she heard him in his study. The door was closed but she opened with without knocking, about to greet her husband. Instead, she received a much different welcome.

"What are you doing?!" he yelled.

She backed away, eyes blinking rapidly. What had she done? Fluttershy bowed her head in shame; now she had made everything worse. Trend was now levitating some papers into a drawer, which he locked. She saw him, discreetly as he could, slip the key under some more papers on his desk. He walked over to her in a huff.

"What is it you want, exactly?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

Tears began to well in her teal eyes. She began to sniffle gently behind her pink bangs.

"I-I-I was coming...to say hello," she muttered, weeping.

Trenderhoof did not seem moved by her tears at first then, he relaxed. Sighing he took her in his hooves.

"There, there, I know you meant no harm. It's just my work is difficult and requires concentration. Please stay out of my study from now on."

Fluttershy nodded and embraced him as well. She was sorry she even bothered at all. However she did take some comfort in his hooves. At least she had that.

She spent some of the day in the parlor, as was custom, simply sipping tea. It dawned on her, well it had for a while now, that her life was a bit dull. It was simply a series of tea times and parties. Never had she been required to work, or become educated, or even required to feel or think for herself.

In the midst of her crisis, she heard a knock upon the door from the next room over. The maid was going to the door but Fluttershy waved her away. For some reason she felt compelled to answer the door herself. When she opened the door, she saw no one but on the stoop was a vase full of white lilies. There was a note and it was of a rough script. It read thusly:

"Fluttershy, the mare under the stars."

At first she was confused. After all, who would send her such a gift? And what was meant by "mare under the stars"? Only moments later, as she brought the lilies inside, did she realize who it was. Discord, it could only be him. Fluttershy, at first curious, now only felt anger. How dare he send flowers; how forward could one be towards a married mare? She tossed the lilies outside and heard the glass vase shatter. The note she tucked away in her dress unthinkingly.

A few days later Trenderhoof announced that he would be going on a business trip for a few days. Fluttershy attempted to inquiry him about the trip but he would not say anymore than that he would be gone for a few days or more. He packed and left within the hour.

The mare wandered around the house, quite bored. Eventually it occurred to her that she could call on someone to cure her loneliness. As a married mare living in her own home, she could now play host and invite others. But who to call on?

Fluttershy thought, for a moment, to invite Lady Twilight. However she was known for her reclusive tendencies and rarely socialized with others. A strange thought crossed her mind. What if she were to invite Countess Rarity? Though she had initially been upset, or jealous, of the mare, perhaps if she got to know her the Countess would reveal herself as a kind and wonderful mare. So, without fail, the pegasus sent out an invitation.

About an hour or so later, when the sun was just beginning to set, did Fluttershy receive her answer. Apparently the Countess was not at home and had left this morning. She was not due to be back for a while and had left no set time. Fluttershy, ever naïve, assumed nothing at first. However she was not without her doubts.

Following her doubts she crept into the forbidden study. The door creaked open for her, as if she were meant to enter. She found the key under the book, hastily hidden. She took it and opened the little drawer she had seen before. Inside were the crumpled papers. She took them and spread them out upon the desk. On them were poem drafts, dozens of them. They mentioned violet hair, like that of exotic flowers, blue eye like diamonds, and things her innocence could not begin to understand.

She swiped the notes off the desk and watched them flutter about her. Tears streamed down her face. There could be little doubt now. He was cheating on her with the Countess. He married her but loved the Countess Rarity. Her efforts may never be enough to change his mind.

Fluttershy flew out from the study and into the garden. There, amongst the cold grass, she began to weep once more. The setting sun was upon her and blazed intensely. She gave no notice of the sun, or the grass, or the figure that had entered the garden. So, naturally, she was shocked to hear the:

"Hello."