Twilight was the first to wake up. She let out a relieved sigh that Sam was still asleep and hadn't seen her curled up against him, her head on his chest. She was just about to climb off the chair when Sam took a yawning breath and said with a grin, "You're finally up, I was wondering if I'd have to sit here forever!" Even through her light purple coat, Sam could see a blush on his friend's face.

She couldn't figure out why she felt so embarrassed about it, "I'm sorry, I guess I kinda dozed off last night..."

Sam waved it off, "Don't worry about it. I don't think I was too far behind you there. I considered trying to carry you to your room, but..." Flexing his arms, he winced in pain, "You can thank Applejack for preventing that, haha..."

----

After breakfast, Twilight realized that today was the day Fluttershy should be returning from visiting her family. "Hey, Sam, we should go visit a friend of mine today, she's been out of town for a few days."

Sam shook his head, "If I go I'll have to catch up with you at her place a little later. Today is when you said your friend, Rarity, could get my measurements to make my new clothes. Apparently shirts and pants shaped for humans are a little uncommon around here."

"That's alright, just follow the path in front of my library like you're going to Applejack's, but take a left instead. Whatever you do, GENTLY knock on her door. I'll make sure to get it for you so I can introduce you properly."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "You aiming for me to make a good impression on her? Afraid I'll embarrass you?"

Twilight shrugged off his teasing, but she couldn't help but blush a little again, "Oh no no no; if you haven't noticed by now, a lot of us are named after traits of our personalities or our skills. How our parents do it, I don't know, but Fluttershy is very... Well, shy. She's incredibly timid. First time I met her, I simply said, 'I'm Twilight, what's your name?', and she cowered down like I was a three-headed hydra and a manticore wrapped into one! My point is, I just wanna make sure we don't shock her too badly, heh..."

Sam nodded in agreement, "Maybe I'll try to go ahead and get Rarity to make me a plain shirt, this old band tshirt with the skull will probably not win me any points, eh?"

----

"Oh, Twilight, that sounds so incredible! I've never heard of a... " Fluttershy squinted her eyes to remember.

"Human?"

"Yes, and you say he talks like one of us?" Any new creature struck the yellow pegasus' interest easily. She was already dying for Twilight to tell her everything she knew about humans: what they ate, how they slept, common illnesses, what they liked to do... Twilight had to slow her down a little.

"Well, I can't answer many of those questions yet. Whatever that machine he was in is, it caused him to lose a lot of his memories. He's slowly getting them back, but for now I've just been making sure he's comfortable. The rest of the village is already accepting him a bit faster than I'd imagined. He's even started doing some work around Sweet Apple Acres, which I know Applejack is thrilled about." A slight smile started across Twilight's face, "It's been really interesting having Sam around and getting to know him a bit. He's a little sarcastic and hard to read sometimes, though, and the music he likes scares me. But hearing him talk about his past, especially when it's a good memory, it's better than any book I've read." She remembered the way Sam's eyes would light up as he spoke; there was that faint little blush again.

Fluttershy could sense Twilight's happiness, "Oh he does sound wonderful. It sounds like this research project is becoming a little more rewarding than you thought!"

Twilight's cheeks were ablaze now, "I... I'm not sure what you mean. Oh. Oh no, you think that I... And he... No, haha. He's a good story teller is all, and he's been a good friend so far. Besides, he's a human. I'm a pony. That sort of thing just wouldn't work out, would it now?"

"Um, I'm not sure what you thought I meant," Fluttershy's eyes diverting to the floor, "but it just seemed like you and he were becoming great friends, is all. But if that's what was on your mind... Maybe you should talk to him, I mean, if you want to, that is."

"Flutters, he's a friend. And my research subject." Twilight let out a slight, nervous laugh. Did she really have feelings for Sam? "Maybe I should talk to him," She thought to herself, maybe she could clear up whatever was occupying her mind. "All that aside, Fluttershy, he should be coming over to meet you any minute now, I promised I'd introduce him to my friends."

"Oh, um, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Stammered Fluttershy, already hiding behind her long, pink mane.

---

Just down the path, Sam was indeed on his way to the cottage. He couldn't seem to get the mental image of a sleeping Twilight out of his head. When he had woke that morning and saw her head on his chest, with her purple and pink mane wrapped around her face, the smile it brought out in him seemed to stretch for miles. As soon as he managed to get his mind off of that, he remembered the way she looked up at him as he would tell her about something from his past, her big, purple eyes rapt at attention. He had to admit, he was growing pretty fond of that pony. He chuckled to himself, "Heh, if she were human, I bet I'd have asked her on a date by now." Even though he meant it, saying that out loud suddenly struck him as odd. He quickly brushed aside the thought. He was the last human alive; that meant no more dating for him, he thought with a sigh.

Eventually he made it to the cottage. Sam began to silently count how many different types of animals Fluttershy kept around her house. He came across a small shelter, and bent down to see inside. He was greeted with a loud shriek, as a large family of rabbits streamed out of the shelter, frantically running away. He heard a slamming noise; the door swung open and a panicked yellow pegasus came rushing out of the cottage.

"Oh no! Ohmigosh!" Fluttershy turned and saw Sam, screaming even harder, "OHMIGOSH A MONSTER, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BUNNIES!" She continued flying around frantically, while Twilight tried to calm her down. Failing that, she barked at Sam, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

He shook his head, "Nothing! I just saw these rabbits and stopped to take a look and they freaked!"

Twilight managed to calm her friend down a little, "Fluttershy, this is Sam, he's not a monster, and we need to run NOW, your rabbits are running right for the Everfree forest!" Fluttershy went catatonic.

"UGH! This is NOT the time for that, Flutters..." Twilight looked at Sam, "Looks like this is on us, follow me! We have to get her animals back." The pair sprinted off for the forest's edge. Just as they were out of sight of the cottage, Fluttershy's more intelligent pet rabbit, Angel, had already managed to herd his fellow bunnies back into safety...