I threw Jas's phone back down on her shirt on the floor after going through a couple of the texts between her and 'Jason'. I'd interrogate her later. Right now I was too pissed off to look at her sleeping form on the double bed. She'd been in Alaska for two weeks, but, evidently, not just to visit her parents. I stalked out of the bedroom with my towel and spare clothes. Fluttershy looked up at me questioningly.

"I need that shower." I said quietly. I wasn't going to burden her with my problems. I slammed the bathroom door shut, not caring if I woke Jas up now. I turned the water on cold, de-robed and stepped in. Well, stepped in and sat down under the stream. I heard a gentle knock at the door.

"Is there something wrong?" Fluttershy asked quietly through the door, barely audible over the water hitting the top of my head.

I didn't answer for a second. "Relationship issues." I called back to her.

She didn't say anything else and after a few seconds I presumed she'd walked back into the living room. She'd been watching another re-run of Spongebob when I'd stormed through.

I stood up after a few more seconds. Washing away the problem wasn't possible yet, not until I'd confronted Jas about it. I washed quickly, not bothering to clean my hair. I think we were out of my shampoo anyway. Something else I had to buy.

I sighed, finished up and switched off the shower. At least I probably looked – and smelled – a little cleaner. I towelled myself and pulled on my clothes slowly. I wasn't in any rush to go back out, but I knew I had to nonetheless. I shook my head and a mist of water sprayed out, making my shirt collar damp. I shrugged. Oh well.

I unlocked the door and walked back into the flat. Just as I'd predicted Fluttershy was sitting on the sofa watching the TV. She looked at me curiously again.

"Um, your hair's dripping still." Fluttershy pointed at my bird's nest hair style.

"Yeah." I replied. I wasn't really in the mood for talking. I sat down on the armchair facing Fluttershy and slumped onto the armrest, thinking.

After a while – it could have been five minutes, it could have been fifty - I looked back at Fluttershy and noticed she wasn't really paying any attention to the TV. Just looking around the room without moving her head, her eyes occasionally locking on the window or something outside.

"Something wrong?" I asked her.

She turned to face me quickly, surprised, then calmed down. Looking away, she replied "No."

I knew what that meant. "What is it?" I queried, leaning forward.

She didn't say anything for a minute. "Well, it's just…" she trailed off and faced me again, with more confidence. "I'm a little homesick." she admitted.

That made me think, and it struck me then that what I was going through with Jas was nothing in comparison to Fluttershy. Here she was in a foreign world, in a new body that was just as foreign as the planet. And the technology. In the cartoon, they didn't have TV's or computers, or planes, or even cars and dirt bikes. This was about as alien a situation as possible. At least we spoke the same language.

And then, on top of all of that, she had learnt, rather brusquely, that she was from a cartoon world. It was only normal – expected, even - that she would feel homesick. She was taking the whole thing very well, if a little quietly.

Mits stalked in and prowled around Fluttershy's legs, making her giggle. At least with Mits here Fluttershy could have her love of animals to relate too.

"I'll help you get home." I said resolutely after a minute.

"Hmm?" she asked. Fluttershy was stroking Mits and must not have heard me.

"I'll help you get back home." I said again, looking her straight in the eye.

She smiled warmly back at me. "Thank you."

I turned at a rustle coming from the bedroom. Apparently Jas was awake.

The proverbial shit was about to hit the proverbial fan.

I stood up and walked slowly towards the bedroom.

Jas was standing by the end of the bed, looking at her phone. I stopped in the doorway, returning the look.

"So?" she asked.

"So?"

"You read my texts." she said.

I nodded. Straight to the point, at least. She probably wanted to get this argument over with as fast as possible.

"So you know about Jason?" she asked quietly.

"I do now." I said.

There was silence for a few seconds, and I heard Spongebob's distinctive laugh from the TV.

"You don't want to know anything about this?" Jas asked.

I thought for a few more seconds. "How long?"

"A few weeks, maybe a month." Jas said. "I met him online. Not a dating website or anything, he was asking about the spa. A week later, he broke up with his girlfriend, we got talking, and one thing led to another. And then I found out he lives in the same town as my parents."

"Was it me?" I asked, trying to contain my anger.

"No, it was… I don't know what it was. It's just not exciting anymore." she confessed.

"We've been dating for seven months Jas! Why would you just go off with him?" I asked, feeling heartbroken. What me and Jas had was – or had been - strong.

"I don't know Jamie. But what about that creep in the living room?" Jas pointed through the wall, and I was taken aback.

"What!" I exclaimed angrily. "She has a name." I reminded Jas.

"Shame you'll only call her Fluttershy then. Come on Jamie, you don't really think she's a fucking cartoon character do you!" Jas was speaking at a somewhat normal volume, bordering on shouting.

"Jas, calm down. And yes, I do. She's not lying. I know she's not. Even Steven agrees, and he's a doctor."

"He would flipping agree, he's one of your friends! If I'd known it was this easy to convince you, I would have said there was no-one called Jason and that I wasn't cheating on you with him!"

"Hey!" that was out of order.

"I'm sorry Jamie, but it won't work out." she said, turning around completely now. "I'm going to pack a few things and go."

I stared for a few seconds as she flung open the wardrobe and started grabbing clothes. So she meant it. I turned and walked away. It was all too much to handle. I slumped back into the armrest I had been sitting in as my eyes started to water.

Seven months. Me and Jas had been dating for seven months, and it had to end like this? I realized Fluttershy was staring at me.

"Yeah?" I sniffed.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She sounded genuinely concerned.

"It's nothing. You don't need to bother yourself with it." I waved her off.

She watched me for a second. "Sit over here." she gestured to the space on the sofa next to her.

I considered it for a few seconds, and then she waved me over again, insisting. I grudgingly stood up, walked over and sat next to her.

"Now, what's wrong?" Fluttershy asked again. She held my hand and I sighed.

"It's me and Jas. It just… well, it isn't going to work out. It's over." Fluttershy gasped softly, and I saw she was genuinely shocked.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"She met someone else." I said with a shrug. Fluttershy didn't say anything, so I looked up at her. She was frowning.

"I thought you were dating?" she said slowly.

"We were. Not anymore." I looked away again.

Fluttershy frowned harder, and I got a little worried. I thought back to her outburst the night I found her, when she proclaimed she truly had been a pony. There was a creak as the bedroom door opened and Jas walked out, holding the suitcase she had brought back from America and another, smaller, carry-all. Fluttershy was staring at her now, and I couldn't see her face. I pulled my hand back from her, not wanting Jas to see for some reason. Fluttershy stood up and walked in front of Jas, blocking her exit to the door.

"Move." Jas commanded simply.

Fluttershy stood her ground. "You cheated on him?" she asked quietly.

"It's none of your business." Jas replied acidly.

"Did you?" Fluttershy repeated, jutting her chest out like some sort of territorial animal.

"…yes." Jas confirmed, frowning at Fluttershy. Fluttershy returned it with a glare that could melt rock.

"How dare you." Fluttershy muttered.

"What?" Jas said, taken aback.

"How dare you!" Fluttershy spoke more boldly. "How could you do this? What has Jamie ever done to you?"

"I don't think it's any of your-" Jas tried to interrupt her, but Fluttershy was having none of it.

"I haven't even known him for very long, but already he's gone out of his way to make me welcome! He's let me stay here, he's fed me and helped me, and hasn't asked anything of me in return! He's clearly a nice person, and how do you repay him? You cheat on him and break his heart, with some stranger!" she stopped to take a breath, but wasn't done yet. "No-one deserves to have to suffer heart-break!" she was almost shouting now. "No-one deserves to be treated how you treated Jamie!"

Jas was dumbfounded. Hell, I was dumbfounded. I'd never imagined Fluttershy would be capable of something like that! Jas skirted around the glaring Fluttershy, straight for the door. She unlocked it quickly and turned around to face us, apparently trying to think of something to say back. After a couple of seconds, she gave up and settled with:

"You're both crazy!" she slammed the door shut.

There was a moment of silence as Fluttershy stood there, facing the door and breathing deeply from the rant she had just administered. She turned to me and her features physically relaxed.

"…um…" she whispered. She twiddled her thumbs nervously.

I jumped to my feet, swung myself over the sofa and hugged her.

"Fluttershy, that was absolutely amazing." I smiled. That was just about everything I'd wanted to say but didn't have the courage too. And from the shyest person/pony I knew. I hadn't been expecting that when I woke up.

I let her go and looked her in the face. She was blushing lightly, but smiling back at me. It took some will power not to lean forward and peck her on the cheek.

"So, what do you want to do now?" I asked her. Already the happy surprise of Fluttershy defending my battered feelings was wearing off, and I needed something to further distract myself.

"Whatever you want is fine." she replied. She leant forward and hugged me. "You must feel really upset." she said quietly in my ear.

I hugged back. "Yeah, a little. But your little display made me feel a little better too."

She giggled. "Sorry if I shouted."

"Honestly, I don't care if the whole of Lincoln heard." I let go of her and stepped back. I looked at her pink hair and caring face, complimented by the pale blue pyjamas. Jas's pyjamas.

I sighed and looked away from Fluttershy. Her argument with Jas had been enough to take the edge off the pain of Jas cheating on me, but it still hurt, and my heart felt half dead.

"I need to sit down." I turned away from her and walked around the sofa to sit down. Mits jumped up next to me and sat up, staring at me and meowed. Fluttershy sat down on the other side of me. Mits climbed onto my lap, did a 360, then settled, purring loudly. I rubbed her head and she pressed back against my hand as Fluttershy reached over and stroked her too.

I smiled a little. Maybe my problems weren't all that bad. Sure, I was running low on money, but who wasn't? And sure, I'd just… well, broken up with a girl I loved and thought loved me back. But here was Fluttershy, on an alien world, trying to make me feel better, and Mits, the best cat of all time. And I had a potential buyer for some art.

I smiled at the TV as Spongebob crashed his boat again and Fluttershy laughed. All in all, I guessed I wasn't that bad off.

A/N: Thanks to ChancellorPuddinghead for editing this chapter.