What looked like a wet, miserable, slightly scorched deep blue pegasus scowled as he tread on the rarely used path that leads to the edge of the Everfree forest and the cottage that lay there. Twilight had abandoned the invisibility spell five minutes after leaving Rarity's when a local weatherpony had lost control of a stormcloud and had instead settled on an glamour that hid his horn and changed his features. Why does this town only have one competent weatherpony?

“...And the look on your face was utterly priceless.” Shadow fell to the ground laughing.

“I know, Shadow” Twilight growled “You have repeated the story thrice since it happened, fifteen minutes ago!”

“Awww, is wittle Twily embarwesed?”

Twilight responded with a snort.

“Come on Twilight, you have to admit that the whole thing was bucking hilarious”

“No, they weren't funny when they happened, nor are they funny now that you have repeated the story three times over” Twilight retorted angrily “Anyways you were supposed to be guarding the door making sure nopony got in, not peeking in on my visit with Rarity. You not only abandoned your duties, you invaded my privacy!”

“Oh, don't be that way Twilight. Umbra can handle one door, isn't that right, sis?”

“You're and idiot, Shadow” Umbra said dryly.

Shadow continued on undaunted by her sister's comment “And it was well worth the risk. It was absolutely bucking hilarious, to see you getting stiff while staring directly at Rarity's pussy.” Shadow paused to take a breath “Although if I were in your situation, I imagine that I would have done the same thing. Well ... I am not sure that I could have stopped myself from pouncing her and rutting her sensl...” Shadow's voice suddenly went silent as a magenta aura appeared around her muzzle.

Twilight finished tying off her silencing spell and let out a breath of relief “That's much better.”

“You think you have it bad; I had to live with her.”

“We all lived in the same house.”

“True, but Shining never let her foul mouth near your young, impressionable ears.”

Twilight responded with a snort. “How is it that you two manage to remain so unseen by the townfolk anyways. What with the SEP field reacting poorly with my changes and this town seemingly having a vendetta against invisibility I don't really want to rely on something as unreliable as a glamour.”

“Why, Sparkle, I thought you would never ask. We become one with the shadows.”

“It's the middle of the day. The sun's shining overhead.”

“The brightest lights cast the darkest shadows.”

“There aren't any shadows to hide in.”

“One is never without a shadow, Sparkle.”

“Are you implying you hide in your own shadow? Because that makes no sense.”

“It's something that a pure arcane aligned mage like you simply couldn't understand.”

“Ugh, you elemental aligned types are always so cryptic.”

“It may be cryptic to you, but to us it's plain language.”

“I will continue to doubt that assertion.”

Umbra shrugged, “Sure, sure, believe what you like.” She made a sideways glance at the disguised stallion, “Maybe you should drop the glamour before meeting the quiet one, who knows how she'd react to a strange stallion showing up at her front door.”

Fluttershy was busy making salad for her cute little Angel Bunny when she heard a knock on her door.

Fluttershy didn't know who would knock on her door at this time, Rainbow was out of town, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack busy at their places of work and Twilight rarely had the time to visit now that she was a princess. Maybe it was Iron Will returning to demand payment again, or a dragon coming to burn her to a crisp (it didn't even cross her mind that such a dragon would not be likely to knock) or maybe it was even – a possibility far more terrifying than even a fire breathing dragon – fans that had managed to discover the true identity behind her pen-name.

“Wh-wh-who's there?” Fluttershy asked

“Fluttershy, open up; it's Twilight”

Twilight's voice sounded different today; it was lower and had a slight tinge of urgency to it. Twilight could be sick. She could have a cold or the flu or bronchitis or pneumonia or pegapox or leprosy or throat cancer or ... or everything!

Fluttershy quickly opened the door and came face to face with the most stunning sight she had ever seen in her life. So stunning that she could do nothing but stare.

Twilight looked over the beautiful but immobile pegasus blocking his way. He was starting to unnerved by Fluttershy's stare (luckily it was just a stare and not The Stare). “Fluttershy are you alright?” He asked in a concerned voice

The timid mare's reaction was quick and threefold.

“Eeep”

*Pompf*

*Thump*

Twilight walked up to the mare splayed out in the doorway with her wings erect ignoring the other mare rolling around on the ground in silent hysteria several metres to the right. “Is she alright?”

“She just fainted. Probably from her biggest fantasy being fulfilled to the letter”

“What?” Twilight stooped down and placed the unconscious pegasus on his back (the thought of using magic to carry her strangely didn't pass the alicorn's mind) and carried her into the cottage

“Oh, just one of her friends showing up at her door as a rather attractive stallion”

“And you know this how?” Twilight gave Umbra a rather questioning look as he set Fluttershy down on a couch in her living room

“Because I have read several of her books”

“Fluttershy writes?”

“Yes, she uses the pen name Soft Quill, although you have probably never read anything of hers; they are about halfway between lighthearted romance and the stuff your mother writes”. Twilight visibly shuddered at the mention of her mother's not-literature

“And you never thought to tell me this?” Twilight raised an eyebrow

“I thought you knew. Anyways, I have been present for some your 'differences of opinion' with Lady Velvet on the 'definition of literature'. You Twilights go crazy when it has to do with books”

Twilight snorted “My mother is always crazy. She's completely bucking insane”

“And so is the pink menace, and the mint green lyrist, and her changeling friend, and the white wannabe noble, and for that matter most of the rest of Ponyville; including, on occasion, you.”

Twilight opened then closed his mouth, not a word escaping

*Yawn*

Twilight turned to see the bearer of Kindness stretching her hooves and rubbing her eyes making no move to try and hide her morning wing.

“Angel, I had the same dream again. It was Twilight; but this time and she ... um, he was ever hotter than I ever dreamed before” Fluttershy said in a volume that Twilight had rarely heard coming out of the shy pegasus's mouth (which barely approached the normal talking volume of most ponies).

Twilight's mind was reeling, unable to comprehend what Fluttershy had just said.

Shadow was – once again – silently rolling on the ground laughing uncontrollably

Umbra was nearly unaffected, only sporting a smirk

And a small white rabbit was jumping up and down waving his paws right in front of the now-conscious mare

“What is it Angel? It wasn't a dream?” Fluttershy's eyes widened “Was I imagining that I had a dream? Is this bad?”

Angel slapped a paw against his face and pointed in Twilight's general direction

“What is it?” Fluttershy turned her head and looked directly into Twilight's eyes. Her face exploded into a blush so fierce that it travelled halfway down her neck “Oh my”

Fluttershy's awkward stare awoke something in Twilight, a fear that he hadn't even know he had until now. What if all his encounters with his friends were this awkward? They had previously been a group of six mares brought together, despite their differences, by the things they had in common.

But now Twilight was a stallion, and – if Twilight's encounters with Rarity and Fluttershy held true for the others – there would an unspoken awkwardness that would be a very definite elephant in the room (An idiom that is occasionally considered racist, but very accurate at the same time, as elephants tend to be loud, obnoxious, disrespectful and often have no concept of common courtesy). How would the synergy survive if they couldn't even talk freely with each other?

Deep down that was his greatest fear. Even greater than to disappoint Celestia (especially as that he was currently rather pissed at the princess due to her rather unsympathetic letter). He was afraid of losing his friends.

And now it seemed inevitable. Not from a fight that roiled their angers, nor an evil force intent on driving them apart. They would simply drift apart, unable to communicate on the deepest levels due to the invisible wedge of uncomfortable awkwardness driven in by his transformation. And it seemed that there was nothing that Twilight could do about it (short of high treason). Not even Discord had made Twilight feel so impotent and out of control of his own fate, and never had he ever felt such such an overwhelming sense of despair. Twilight fell to the ground and started to weep uncontrollably.

Shadow and Umbra were shocked and didn't know what to do, but Fluttershy did. The small pegasus mare walked up to and embraced the much larger alicorn stallion. “What's wrong, Twilight”

“This wasn't supposed to happen” Twilight managed between sobs

“It's okay, Twilight. I know that whatever happened to you to cause this was quite traumatic for you. But you are going to be okay”

“No, I won't”

“You will feel better if you tell somepony” Fluttershy said in a kind manner

Twilight looked deep into Fluttershy's eyes and saw the sincerity and unconditional love of a true friend. So he told her everything, about how the spell caused the transformation, about her letter to Celestia and the anger that came with her reply, about her meetings with both Luna and Rarity, and about his own fears and insecurities that led to his recent breakdown. Fluttershy didn't say a word, she just let him talk, lending a listening ear.

Only once Twilight was finished did Fluttershy open her mouth “Isn't it so much better to have all that off your chest?”

Twilight noticed that he was feeling almost physically lighter, and no longer had the weight of dread on his mind “Yes, thank you Fluttershy. I feel much better now”

Fluttershy just smiled and nodded

“I need to go now. I still need to tell Pinkie and Applejack about what happened”

“Okay, good bye”

Fluttershy watched as Twilight left, with her guards silently in tow. She silently wept, for she had finally found the one, and he may never look at her in the same way that she looked at him.

Once Twilight had left she turned around ...

... and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the smiling pink pony standing there.

“Come quickly Fluttershy. For we have a party to prepare!”

Pinkie grabbed the pegasus's hoof and – within the blink of an eye – they were no longer in the cottage.

Once again, significant changes to the front half but minimal changes to the latter half of the chapter (like chapter 4).