Paint took in a deep breath before opening his eyes and looking around. A small smile crept onto the blue stallion's face as he studied his surroundings. It looked like he was in a small paradise. He was sitting on a soft patch of grass. To his right he saw what appeared to be like the beginning of a forest, there were trees and flowers of all kinds, from palm trees to roses. The blue Pegasus then realized that he was actually in the middle of a forest clearing. After maybe a second, the sound of running water reached his ears. Looking then to his left; he saw a small waterhole and a waterfall falling right into it. The sound of the water falling, the calm twittering of the birds and the rustling of the leaves as the result of the weak wind… It was probably the most relaxing place a pony could wish to be, for this was just the way Paint has always imagined heaven to look like. In fact he remembered drawing paintings of this place before. If he was dead, it most surely didn't seem like a bad thing. This situation didn't seem like it could get any better.

That thought soon disappeared because he was able to hear the sound of somepony else's soft hoofsteps on the grass behind him. A moment later, he heard that sweet and familiar voice gently call his name. Another moment later, he felt a hoof rest on his shoulders. He looked at the shoulder in question and noticed that the hoof touching him was colored light blue like the sky in a sunny and cloudless day. An even bigger smile crossed his face as he fully turned around, noticing Rainbow Dash standing in front of him. They locked eyes and she asked him where he has been, telling him that she was waiting just for him. She then put her other hoof on Paint's other shoulder and sat down in front of him. They kept staring into each other's and then began to slowly lean in towards each other. As their muzzles neared, Paint brought his hoof over to Rainbow's cheek and used it to gently brush her mane over her ear. Their mouths kept coming closer and suddenly, just as they both closed their eyes and were about to kiss, Paint could hear what sounded like a hoof knocking on a door as well as another familiar voice calling his name.

When he opened his eyes again, he found out to his disappointment that he was in his room in the basement. He let out a long sigh, realizing that it was all a dream. Paint soon found out that his muzzle was actually pressed against own pillow as a result of that dream, which caused him to frown and throw the pillow aside. Again, there was the sound of knocking at his door. "Paint, up and at 'em." The blue stallion recognized the voice as Applejack's.

Sighing yet again in disappointment of his dream ending just at that particular moment, Paint stood up and stretched his legs and wings. "I'm up, I'm up." He went over to the thrown pillow and placed it back in its place.

Applejack then opened the door and walked inside, looking over at Paint who was tidying his mattress. "Breakfast's ready up stairs." She said, getting a smile from Paint in return.

"Alright, I'll be right there in a moment." Applejack then turned to leave the room. "Oh, and sorry I didn't wake up in time today. I guess it happens to everypony." Applejack gave him a short smile, silently told him that it was alright before leaving the room.

After he was done making up his bed and after letting out another longing sigh, Paint headed up stairs. The breakfast was spent in silence that time, since Applebloom had already had her chance to get to talk to Paint yesterday. After the meal was over, Paint headed outside with Applejack, Big Macintosh and Applebloom. Outside was a cart filled with apples, apple pies, and all other sorts of foods that contained apples. As for taking Applebloom to school, they were going to take the cart to Ponyville anyway, so they could drop her there on the way. After dropping the little filly at school, the two Apple siblings and Paint went to set up their stall. "Now, Ah've been thinkin' Paint," said Applejack after they finished preparing everything. "We usually need to close up the stall when we run out of things te sell, but you could take this saddlebag here," she threw him a saddlebag, "and go get some more apples or pies or whatever when we need 'em. With them wings o' yers ye'll do it much faster than either me or Macintosh." That way they'll be able to sell their products much faster.

"Alright, I can do that." Said Paint with a nod, knowing that with him there to help with they'll be able to save a lot of time and make more sales by the end of the day. It was a good thing that Rainbow introduced him to fast flying yesterday now that he was thinking about it.

And so, the day began. Paint was surprised at how often he had to fly over to the house in order to get more things to sell, not only because of the quite small size of his saddlebag, but also because of how high the demands were back at the stall. He figured ahead of time that the Apple Family sold a lot of their products, but he never anticipated they would sell that much in such a short amount of time. Paint hardly had any time to rest between the flights back and forth, except for one time when he found that there weren't too many ponies around once he came back, which meant that he would have time to sit down for a change. Just as he did, he noticed Rarity on the other side of the street, and she was heading their way. When she was nearly at their stall, Paint caught onto the expression on her face, and was able to tell that something was wrong. He was also able to tell that she was there to speak to Applejack, since the first thing that the purple-maned unicorn did was walk over to her.

"Applejack, I need to talk to you." Even Applejack seemed confused. No 'darling'? No comments about hair or make up?

"Um… We're a little busy here as ye can probably tell…" responded Applejack.

"Please AJ," this was the first time during their entire friendship in which Applejack heard Rarity call her 'AJ'. "I need to speak to you and the rest of the girls…"

"Is somethin' wrong sugar cube?" asked Applejack, looking at her friend worriedly.

"Can you come with me to the library?" Applejack looked at Big Macintosh and at Paint in confusion. Her big brother gave her a silent nod, letting her know that he and Paint will keep an eye on everything until she came back. Still confused, the orange earth pony went ahead and followed her friend towards Twilight's library, leaving Big Macintosh and Paint to handle the stall. Beside of the products being sold at a slower rate since Applejack was not there to help thus giving Paint more time to rest after flying back to the house and then back to the stall, nothing else was different. Time passed on and there was no sign of either Applejack or any of her friends. Just when Big Macintosh was starting to get worried, he was able to see Applejack coming back from the direction of the tree library. Rarity was not with her, and as Applejack came closer Big Macintosh's relieved expression was again replaced by a one of worry as he saw the look on his sister's face.

"We're gonna have te close up early today." said Applejack upon arriving next to Big Macintosh and Paint. The two stallions looked at each other in confusion as Applejack let out a heavy sigh before speaking once more. "Rarity's leavin' Ponyville."

Later in the afternoon

They waited and waited and waited. The long wait was killing each and every one of Rarity's friend. They all stared at the train tracks, as if in fear of the train that will eventually come and take their friend away from them for Celestia knew how long. With the mane 6 were also Spike, Paint, Big Macintosh, The Cutie Mark Crusaders as well as Rarity's and Sweetie Belle's already packed luggage."I can't believe that this is really happening Rarity…" began Pinkie Pie, who for the first time in a long while sounded sad. "You didn't even give me a chance to throw you a farewell party and everything…" she just couldn't believe that Rarity was going away, not to mention at such short notice. You might be remembering that Rarity was actually given an entire week to consider that job offer, but she figured that the longer she stayed, the harder the time she'll have once it became the time to leave. All of her friends had a hard time accepting this so suddenly.

"I'm sorry Pinkie," replied the purple-maned unicorn, "I already told you that the longer I stayed the harder it will be for me to leave… I've just been waiting so long for an opportunity like this…" Rainbow Dash could still remember that it was only two days ago when she saw Rarity get the letter. She feared that this would end up being Rarity's decision, but she never expected Rarity to make that decision so quickly.

"Don' mention it sugar cube." said Applejack, putting a leg around Rarity's shoulder. "We're all mighty happy for ye, don't ye go thinkin' otherwise. We're just a little surprised to hear this at such a short notice."

"I know Applejack, and I'm sincerely sorry to drop this on all of you all of a sudden… I'm just afraid that the longer I wait the bigger the chance that I'll let this opportunity pass untaken…" she was genuinely meaning every single word she was saying. If this was anyhow simpler, she would happily stay longer.

Paint was simply watching everything from aside with Big Macintosh. It was a little hard to grasp the fact that he had only met Rarity two days ago and she was leaving already. Of course, he was not as bothered by it as were Rarity's friends and The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Looking aside, he saw the three fillies sitting a few feet away from the mane 6, looking even more troubled. Despite having met them only yesterday, it was quite easy to figure out the reason. Sweetie Belle would have to go with Rarity, she couldn't stay in the Carousel Boutique on her own. While Paint could tell that she was happy for her sister, he could also tell that this whole thing was complicated for her as well. It looked like she really didn't want to go, and that she was barely holding her tears.

"Sweetie Belle," Rarity's tone was a one of worry as she walked over to her little sister, placing a hoof on her shoulder as an attempt to reassure her. "Is everything alright?"

"No Rarity, everything is not alright." Admitted Sweetie Belle, unable to pretend that everything was 'all good' any longer, "It's hard for me to suddenly get up and leave the village I've lived in my entire life."

"I'm sorry Sweetie, but that's just the way things are…" said Rarity, hoping that Sweetie Belle won't make this thing any harder for the two of them.

"It's not fair… What about my friends? What about school?"

"We'll sign you up for a school in Canterlot, and there are plenty of foals there too…" said Rarity, hoping that it will somehow calm her sister down.

"I don't want to move to a new school and I don't want to make different friends!" complained the little filly, "I want to stay in Cherilee's school with my actual friends!"

"You know I can't leave you in Ponyville on your own…" she heard her sister let out a shaky sigh, "I'm sorry Sweetie Belle."

"I don't have to be on my own!" argued her little sister, "What if I stayed with somepony else?"

"Sweetie I cannot possibly ask such a thing from anypony… You have to understand that ponies are busy… Suddenly having a foal or an extra foal in your house isn't always possible…"

"Um… Rarity," Fluttershy's usual soft and gentle tone came from behind the two, causing the purple maned unicorn and her sister to look in her direction. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but, uh… If you wouldn't mind, there's plenty of room in my house, and I have a lot of time on my hands…" since what she mostly did was take care of the animals around her house, she was there most of the time and would be able to keep an eye on Sweetie Belle as well.

Rarity cleared her throat at that, noticing her little sister's expression light up. "Fluttershy darling, I simply can't leave you to look after my little sister…" there was no doubt that Fluttershy was the right pony to wield the Element of Kindness, for this was probably the most kind offer she has ever received in her life.

"Oh Rarity, I can handle your cutie baby sister." Said Fluttershy, remembering the time she had the Cutie Mark Crusaders sleep over at her house. "I have plenty of room in my house." Rarity again seemed uncomfortable with this.

"Please Rarity!" begged Sweetie Belle, wrapping her tiny little legs around one of her big sister's leg. "I promise I'll behave!"

"Rarity, I can keep her safe…" said Fluttershy softly, "She'll be much happier here…"

After what seemed like an endless silence to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Applebloom, Rarity let out a sigh and said with half a smile. "Okay Sweetie Belle." At this, the three fillies broke into excited yelling. Despite how loud their shrieking was, the Mane 6, Paint, Big Macintosh and Spike couldn't help but smile.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!" shouted Sweetie Belle, hugging her sister's leg again and then moving on to Fluttershy's leg. She looked up at the shy mare with probably the most grateful expression. "Thank you so much!"

"Oh, it's nothing honey…" said Fluttershy softly.

"Sweetie Belle," Rarity said, "I want you to behave and write to me every day, understood?"

"Yes big sis, I promise!" exclaimed the tiny unicorn with delight.

Rarity then turned to Spike, who was looking at her with teary eyes. "I'm counting on you to make sure that I get her letters daily okay Spikey-Wikey?" she asked, giving the little baby dragon a hug and causing his cheeks to turn noticeably red.

Spike was about to say something when suddenly the sound of a train's horn filled the air. Everypony (and dragon) looked towards the train tracks to see that the train Rarity was supposed to take had just arrived. "Well, I guess this is it…" said Rarity with a sad smile, looking at her friends. She hugged each and every one of them as well as Paint, Big Macintosh, Applebloom and Scootaloo. Other than 'I'll miss you' or 'I hope I'll see you soon', she didn't know what else to say to them.

"You're going to write to me too right big sis?" asked Sweetie Belle with a smile.

"I will." said Rarity with a sigh, "Oh, and thanks again Fluttershy." She gave the yellow Pegasus another hug. After that, she took her briefcases and placed them on the train, aside from the one which contained Sweetie Belle's belongings. Nopony said anything else after that. Rarity entered her cabin and looked at her friends through the window, waving them a goodbye with her hoof. They waved goodbye as well, and then the train left.

Nopony said nothing for what seemed to be a long while. The first one to break the silence was Rainbow Dash. "Uh… I'll see you guys tomorrow…" with a sigh she spread her wings and flew away. Paint wanted to follow her, but decided not to, since it seemed like she wanted to be alone for the time being.

The others also decided that it was time to go home, since it was already late afternoon and the sun will soon be gone. Applejack was about to tell her sister that it was time to go, but Applebloom complained. "Can Ah come back later Applejack? Scootaloo and Ah wanna help Sweetie Belle get organized and everythin'…"

Applejack was about to protest, but Big Macintosh spoke up and said, "I'll go with her and make sure she comes back on time." That wasn't the only reason he will go with Applebloom though. He also wanted to make sure that Fluttershy was feeling alright, because she obviously was upset about this whole thing as well.

"Okay Applebloom, you can go." She trusted Big Macintosh to bring Applebloom back home before it became a too late of an hour.

And so everypony headed back home. Paint went back to Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack, Pinkie Pie headed back to Sugar Cube Corner and Twilight and Spike back to the library. Big Macintosh, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Fluttershy and Scootaloo made their way towards Fluttershy's cottage. The three fillies were obviously excited that Sweetie Belle was staying. Of course, Sweetie Belle knew that things will be a lot different without Rarity around, but she was pretty sure that she'll be happier in Ponyville rather than Canterlot, and she hoped that Rarity understood.

The five arrived at Fluttershy's cottage and the yellow Pegasus opened the door with a sigh. The three fillies immediately rushed inside, again yelling with excitement. "Sweetie Belle," said Fluttershy as she walked in alongside Big Macintosh who was carrying the briefcase which contained Sweetie Belle's belongings. "I want to show you the room you'll be staying in from now on okay? Then we'll just call it a night, it's been a long day for all of us." Fluttershy may have hidden it well until now, but she was obviously as confused and upset about the fact that Rarity will not be around anymore just the rest of her friends. The only reason Sweetie Belle was not as upset was because she knew that staying in Ponyville would be better for her compared to going to Canterlot, so she was able to somewhat ignore the negative thoughts about not having her big sister around from now. "Scootaloo and Applebloom can come here and play with you tomorrow, but just not today alright?" the three fillies looked disappointed, but they saw the expression on Fluttershy's face and noticed her tone so they didn't protest.

"Can they help me get my things organized?" asked Sweetie Belle, wanting to at least have her friends see her new room the same time they did.

"Okay Sweetie Belle, they can stay for a while." Fluttershy then lead Sweetie Belle and her friends to another room, which looked like a guest room but was smaller than the actual living room. There was a bed-like couch and a carpet as well as some pictures on the walls, mostly of Fluttershy's friends and animals. "There's not much in this room yet, so don't unpack anything now, we'll see about it tomorrow…" she looked at Big Macintosh and he nodded, placing Sweetie Belle's briefcase in the corner of the room, "You girls can stay here and talk for a while, I'll… I'll go get you some sheets, a pillow and a blanket."

The three fillies nodded and Fluttershy left the room. Big Macintosh stayed there for a while as the three Fillies 'explored' the room, looking mostly at the pictures on the wall rather than on anything else. A minute or two passed and Big Macintosh noticed that Fluttershy wasn't coming back. He walked back into the living room, where he found her sitting on the floor with her head resting on the couch and her eyes closed. The lack of sheets and pillows showed that she never went upstairs to get them. Sighing softly, Big Macintosh went ahead and sat down next to her. Being a stallion of a few words was sometimes a good thing, because right now he had no idea what to say in order to at least try to cheer her up.

As he sat down next to her, Fluttershy opened her eyes and let out a sigh, looking at her coltfriend as she did. "This just came out of nowhere…" she admitted, fully leaning herself against him. Things were going to be completely different in their lives from now on. All Big Macintosh did was protectively embrace her. He himself never really spent much time with Rarity, but with going away was going to affect Applejack and her friends, and him also as a result of that. Fluttershy seemed to calm down a little after a few moments of silence. Even though Big Macintosh didn't talk much, he always appeared to be so calm and understanding and it almost always helped calm her down as well. "I'm really glad that you're here with me…" she said after another long silence, pulling away from him a little and looking into his eyes. He smiled at her brightly and she managed to smile back. They slowly leaned closer towards each other, closed their eyes and kissed, feeling more than happy that they were going to have each other during such a hard time.

Just as their lips came in contact, the cottage's door opened. "What in tarnation?" the two's eyes shot wide opened and they looked aside, seeing Applejack standing at the door. What was she doing there all of a sudden, Big Macintosh had no idea.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Fluttershy, moving away from Big Macintosh. "Applejack! I…" this was definitely not the way in which either Big Macintosh or Fluttershy wanted Applejack to find out about this. They were already starting to consider telling everypony, but now there was no need to think about that any longer.

"Do ya'll mind explaining to me what's going on here?" asked Applejack, an angry frown on her face.

"If you'll just give me a moment to explain…" tried Fluttershy, her voice becoming weaker and shaky.

"How long have you two been smoochin' behind my back?" being the Element of Honesty had this one downside; Applejack couldn't stand it when somepony lied to her or hid from her something which she had the right to know, even if it wasn't something to make a big deal out of.

"I, we…" Fluttershy's voice was becoming slightly quieter with every word. Applejack's angry approach wasn't giving her an easier time at all. "A-about t-t-two weeks, w-we didn't know h-how to tell you and-"

"Two weeks! Mah brother and one of my closest friends have been together for two weeks and kept it a secret from me!"

"I w-wanted to t-tell you-"

"Ah just can't believe it!" Applejack's anger then broke out of control. She came closer to Fluttershy, raising her voice even more. "How could you two just go and do this behind mah back like that?"

"Applejack," came Big Macintosh's voice from next to her, she didn't seem to even hear him.

"What sort of a friend does somethin' like that huh?"

"Applejack-"

"Are there any other things ye should tell me about?" she seemed as if she was about to lose it. "Hell, Ah found mahself a friend alright! Well ye know what, some friend you are!"

"Applejack-"

"I think Discord himself was better at tellin' the truth! Ye're making me sick!"

"Applejack!"

"What?" shouted Applejack, finally looking at her brother. Fluttershy by this point completely lost control of her emotions and ran up the stairs crying. Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were looking at the entire thing through the door, having had their attention caught by Applejack's shouting. Applejack didn't seem to even care about just making Fluttershy cry. She was too angry in order to think about anything else at the moment. Before she could even start saying the same sorts of things to Big Macintosh he spoke. He seemed much angrier than she was, and for good reason too.

"Leave."

And then there was another sound of cracking stone.