"When do we strike?"

"Not anytime soon. Because of your reckless riot, security around Czar has been highly increased."

"We are sorry, sir..."

"Oh shut it." Broad began to walk out of hut.

"What about Epee, sir? Isn't he still alive?" Asked a different member of Quarrel. Broad sighed.

"Yes, that reminds me. I shall be visiting Equestria again soon. Once he is gone, a lot of weight will be off our shoulders." Broad exited the hut. He began to trek out of Marvalia in the wee hours of the morning. It was almost time for Celestia to raise her sun, and Luna to lower hers.

Broad was thinking about how to exterminate Epee. He'd been spying on him for a couple of days, and he knew where he lived, and where he worked, he just needed to know a good time to kill him off. He settled with camping out near the place he lived and assasinating him when he was alone. An evil grin broke across his face as his plan began to come together. He would kill off Epee and Terra, and assasinate Czar and take the throne for himself, and be rid of Quarrel, erasing their existance, along with any trace of his involvement with the rebel faction. People would see him as the only survivor of royalty, and except his rule. His laugh echoed through Everfree forest.

***

As you awoke, you recalled the night before. The night trek home would stick in your memory forever. You had finally taken some intiative, however small it was. Fluttershy had slowly walked closer to you, soon leaving little space between the two of you. With a small burst of courage, you grabbed her hand in yours. And the best thing? She didn't protest.

Dear Celestia, you were in love. You laid in your bed, staring at the ceiling, loving the palpation of your heart. After a few more minutes of relishing, you decided it was enough, and you needed to ge up and around. You made your way downstairs to see Fluttershy looking like she was heading somewhere.

"You headin' out somewhere, 'Shy?" You ask. She jumps slightly, and turns to face you. She was blushing and avoiding eye contact as usual.

"U-um, yes, I-I'm heading out to buy some more food for the animals...See you, um, in a while," She said as she went to leave. Just before leaving, she turns and wave. You return the wave, and walk into the living.

Now what do I do? You asked yourself. Finding an answer, you plop down back into the couch and began to relish in your love yet again.

Three loud heavy knocks pound on the door. It sounded to loud and rowdy to be Fluttershy, so you cautiously approach the door.

Crash! A large, buff man busted through the door. He looked like he had spent most of his time weight-lifting.

"Woah, what the hell is wrong with you?!" You screamed, jumping back. "Who the hell are you?"

"Don't try to weasel out of this, Epee, stop playing dumb!"

"What the hell? How do you know my name!?" You demanded, your voice containing fear and confusion.

The man chuckled. "I can't tell if you're playing dumb, or serious." With that, the man pulled out a long dagger, and slashed at you.

"Woah!!" You shouted as you dodged the attack.

"Still slippery, aren't we? Hahaha, this is gonna be fun!!" He cackled as he swiped a few more times. You dodged and ducked, and jumped into the kitchen. You were seriously confused, but since a bigass buff dude was trying to kill you, you had to defend yourself. He stabbed at you, and you sidestepped. A glint of reflection of light caught your eye; a deadly looking kitchen knife was partially unsheathed from a wooden rack of kitchen knives. You snatched it out, and took a defensive stance.

"Great, you're putting up a fight. This is gonna interesting!" The man slashed at you again. You blocked the strike with your knife, and returned the slice. He blocked, and stabbed. You batted the blade away with a quick swipe of you knife, and held the blade in a backhanded. You sliced left to right, and vice versa. He dodged both, and returned with a slice of his own. It grazed your shirt. You launched a punch that landed squarely in his jaw. He stepped back and grunted in pain. The man pulled a spin kick, attempting to trip you up. You somersaulted ove him, kicking him in the back once you made it over him, using him as a springboard. When you landed, you felt a hand on your shoulder. He recovered that quick!? He launched you into the wall. You grunted in pain as you smacked against it. You heard rapid footsteps, and, knowing that the man was charging, you rolled to your left. The man's dagger dug into the wall where your head was seconds before. You retaliated, stabbing at the man. He dodged yet again.

The two of you kept this up for quite awhile. Stabbing, slashing, dodging...

***

Fluttershy was making her way bag to her cottage. Dash had told her that a storm was scheduled to contrast with the recent dry days. She realized that it'd be best to head back to the cottage. That, and she wanted to spend some more time with Epee. After the whole hand-holding incident, she wanted to get a chance for something like that to happen again. She might be able to confess her feelings to him. The storm might even add a more romantic feeling to the day. Celestia knows that if she hears any thunder, she'll make some fearful noise and cling to the nearest thing. And by nearest thing, she meant Epee. She giggled at the thought of being in Epee's embrace...

Her joyful outlook was duly shattered by sounds of a struggle in her cottage.

***

You were tired from the half an hour of constant fighting. The man showed small signs of fatigue, but never let up. You had a cut across your cheek from a slice of his dagger.

"Tch, done already? My, I'm almost sad about having to kill you; It's been so boring fighting you."

"E-Epee!? Are you alright? What's going on!?" Fluttershy was standing in the doorway, eyes wide in fear.

"Fluttershy, get out of here, find help!!" You demanded.

"Aww, is that your new girlfriend? After I'm finished with you, I'll kill her too."

Rage. Unbareable rage bubbled inside of you as those words were spoken. No, your mind echoed, you will NOT touch her.

"I dare you. I fucking dare you. TOUCH HER AND I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU!!" You screamed at him. His smug face quickly turned to one of fear. His eyes widened when he saw you charge at him with amazing speed, and began slashing and cutting. The man block and parried your slashes, but you left him no room to do otherwise. You managed to cut him across chest. Your knife glistened with blood. You planted a kick to his gut, causing him to stmble back. You flung the knife at him. He slashed it away, but didn't have time to react to your next move. You grabbed an umbrella from a rack near you, one with a sharp metal tip, and charged. You swung, swiped, and bashed the man in rage. He dodged most of the him, but you still managed to connect some. The man stumbled, and you took the advantage to attack him while he was open. You kicked him in the chest with astounding strength, sending him flying out the door. Fluttershy had moved away from the doorway long before.

The man, obviously seeing that he was in over his head, fled the scene. You were standing there, panting. You dropped the umbrella, and walked out the door. You saw Fluttershy standing there in shock. You approached her, and put a hand on her shoudler. Her face became distorted as you suddenly lost conciousness.

***

"Broad, go easy on him!!" Terra shouted. Broad stood above you, holding a fencing saber. You lay on the ground, beaten and exausted.

"C'mon, you gonna go down that easily?" He teased. You stood up and took an offensive stance.

"Ready when you are, bub." With that, you charged and restarted the training session.

***

You shot straight up in bed. You were drenched in sweat, and you felt sore and exausted.

"Epee, you're ok!" A voice called out, frightening you. You turn to see Fluttershy sitting at your bed-side. Her cheeks were wet from what were most likely tears, and her eyes were tinted red. She tackled you in a hug and cried into your shoulder. You dazedly hugged her back. It took a few minutes for her to calm down.

"I-I thought I lost you...you just fainted after you..." She let the sentence dangle.

You'd had it. You had almost lost your life, and then your feelings would have been forever kept a secret. This had given you courage. You stood up to face Fluttershy, who looked confused. Instantly, her pupils shrunk in shock, as if she knew what was bout to come. In a span of a second and a half, you extended your arms and pulled her close. Not a hug of comfort or an embrace of fear, but an intimate, loving hug. Fluttershy said nothing, still probably in shock.

"Fluttershy," You said, softly and seriously, "I don't know how to explain what I'm trying to show, so I'm going to put bluntly." You inhaled. This is it. You would finally say what had been eating at you for so long.

"I lo-"

"Fluttershy! Epee! Are you alright!?" Voices called from downstairs. It seems Twilight was at the doorway downstairs.

"Epee, I had sent one of my pets to contact Twilight for help...I, I-m sorry..." She whispered. You let her go. Shit!! Again!? Does fate hate me this much!? It seemed some higher force refused to let you voice your feelings.

You had made your way downstairs with Fluttershy to meet Twilight.

"What happened?" She asked, looking at the mess. The door was cracked and hanging on one hinge, and a wall in the kitchen had a circular dent from your launching into it.

You took the time to explain what had happened. You said that a man claiming to know you attacked. He said that he was the one that'd attacked you in the forest as well. Why, you didn't know. You just knew that he was the cause of everything that'd happened. You had also informed her about your most recently recalled memory.

"I'm going to write a letter to Princess Celestia. I should've done so earlier, but it kept slipping my mind. We'll research these names, and we'll try to find this out. We'll see if we can help you at all." She reassured you. It helped a little bit, but it still left it's mark on you.

"Hold on, I'll clean this mess up," She added as she stood up. Her horn began to glow, and the damages repaired themselves. The door's crack dissapeared, and it straightened out, the hinge being reassembled. The dent in the wall popped out, making a small pock noise.

"Well, that looked easy," You said with a sigh. You grunted in pain as you tried to sit down in a chair.

"Are you hurt?" Fluttershy and Twilight asked in unison.

"No, I'm just sore from the whole thirty-straight-minutes-of-fighting thing..." You muttered. After awhile, Twilight began to head back. You found yourself alone with Fluttershy again, but you had no courage anymore. You were immensly demoralized from the recent turn of events.

***

You were sitting with Fluttershy on her bed, holding her, stroking her head slowly as she cried. She'd had a nightmare, one that had made her wake up crying in the middle of the night. her face was buried in your chest, the shirt over it damp with her tears.

Fluttershy's crying had ceased. "I'm sorry, I-I must've cried a lot today..." She whispered apoligetically.

"No, your fine..." Fluttershy was still laying her head on your chest. Even though the circumstances were strange, you enjoyed it. You wished that you could've only confessed to Fluttershy in time, so you could've finally been out with it.

"Um...is it okay if you tell me what you were going to say earlier today, if that's, um, alright with you..." She asked.

Aw hell. Of course she would ask that now.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, I'm sorry, but, it's not the right time to say it..." What the hell are you talking about? It's the perfect time! Just look at the two of you! She's falling asleep on you, literally. Do you realize how intimate you two look?

"Oh...ok...then..." She said before she fell asleep. She was sleeping with her head on your chest, hand clutching onto your shirt. You took a note on how adorable she looked. You knew it was best to let her sleep alone, but you couldn't help it. You held her tightly in her sleep, preparing to drift off as well.

"I love you, Fluttershy..."