It would be unfair of me to say my life was nothing but misery.  I lived a normal lifestyle.  I had family and friends who cared for me, so I wasn’t lonely.  I went to an average school where nothing unusual ever happened, but hell I was pretty much guaranteed to get at least one laugh a day at school on account of my friends and their ridiculous ways.  When school ended, I would usually just go home and play video games or listen to music for the rest of the day, unless I had something like musical rehearsal after school.  If I wasn’t doing any of those things, I might have been watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  I was a closet brony, so no one knew about my love for the show.  I didn’t have a job to worry about, but I was looking for one.  But this brings me to why my life was as miserable as it was.

You could probably say that I had an epiphany.  I don’t know why I hadn’t realized it sooner in life, but it seemed like life was nothing but work.  You are born into the world and pretty much from that moment forward, you are working.  You work to mature yourself, you work in school, and you work at your job after graduation.  Work.  That’s it.  That’s all it has ever really been.  I don’t care if I’m being bias for saying that.  Coming to that realization had changed me drastically, driving my life into the “same shit, different day” scenario.  I wasn’t depressed, like I said, but my life just felt lacking, and there was really nothing I could do about it.  But that didn’t mean someone else couldn’t do anything about it.

It was a normal Friday, which was great.  Fridays are like a blessing in disguise.  Fridays mean that the weekend has finally arrived.  But this was the Friday that would change my life forever.  Walking home from school took me about ten to fifteen minutes, which I was fine with.  Sometimes if my backpack was light enough, I would even parkour my way home.  If you’re like me and are heavily influenced by the Assassin's Creed franchise, you want to learn, or already know, parkour.  I wasn’t always so physically well built, so I trained myself in both parkour and fighting, and of course got myself more fit to use these skills more effectively.  However, this brings about a bit of irony.  My favorite game series are Assassin's Creed, Halo, and Dead Space, in that order.  I’m not a violent person, but my love for violent games and the fact that I have the physical abilities that I do seems weird for a brony (maybe).  The real irony is that my favorite pony is Fluttershy.  She is so innocent and adorable.  I was like her opposite, but then again so is pretty much every other pony on the show.  But I digress. This Friday wasn’t a parkour day.  I just wanted to walk home.

When I finally reached my block and turned the corner, something big caught my eye.  When I say big, I mean that literally.  A dumpster had been placed outside one of the houses on my block.  The only reason I had been surprised was because it hadn’t been there this morning and that it really just stuck out like a sore thumb.  I walked passed, thinking nothing of it, but it wouldn’t leave my mind.  Stepping into my house, I placed my bag on the bench in the mudroom, took out my headphones (I had been listening to my iPod), and proceeded to the basement where my Xbox was waiting for me.  I tried to drown out the thought of that dumpster with some Dead Space 3.  But this didn’t help, so I shut off the console and proceeded to my laptop to listen to some music.  This proved to be much more effective.  

Fridays meant two other things as well.  Pizza and hanging out with my best friend at night.  These were two Friday practices that I always followed unless something came up that interfered with my normal plans.  When my mother finally arrived home, I knew it was pizza time.  She walked in and I thanked her for the pizza, as usual.

“I’ll be out all night, but if you guys want to come back here, that’s fine,” she said.

I nodded my head and took my two slices into the basement, where I had been listening to some Breaking Benjamin.  

After finishing my pizza, I put my plate in the dish washer, went to the bathroom, and left for my friend’s house.  But it just so happened I would once again have to pass that damn dumpster.  I was going to actually parkour my way to my friend’s house, but only when I got to the long stretch that I would have to walk to get there.  I walked down my block passing the dumpster.  I stopped for a second to scan it over.  Nothing seemed strange about it.  I just shook my head and continued walking.  But just as I started walking, I heard a very distinct whining.  I stopped and turned my head to see if there was someone walking a dog close by.  I couldn’t seem to find anyone.  I stared at the dumpster for a second, shrugged, and continued on.  Then I heard it again.  Now I was getting a little peeved.  What the hell was that noise, and where was it coming from?  My attention was drawn once again to the dumpster.  I decided to have a look inside.

As I looked in on the more open side of the dumpster, all I could see were old, broken pieces of furniture, some crappy knick-knacks, nothing out of the ordinary.  I was so confused.  But then I saw it.  It was colored cream yellow.  It seemed to have pink hair too.  I think I knew what it was, but I wouldn’t allow myself to fully realize it.  That quickly changed after I heard that whining once again.  That could only be the whining of my favorite pony.  Fluttershy.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Lying beneath broken down furniture in a dumpster was my favorite pony.  Something was a little off though.  She seemed younger than in the show, maybe about as old as she was in episode 23.  I couldn’t tell if she had her cutie mark, but that wasn’t important at the moment.  I didn’t know what to do.  Let me just say though that she was absolutely adorable.  I usually would give a little squeal when watching her in the show if she did something cute, but in reality, it was so heartwarming.  I couldn’t really make out if she was a cartoon or actually 3D.  But if I wanted to find out, I had to get her out of there.  I needed to start somewhere.

“Hey there.”

As soon as I said that, her head shot up and her eyes beamed open.  As quickly as her head went up, it went back down.  She was shaking, either from the cold or from seeing me.

“P-Please, don’t hurt me,” she said, sounding scared half to death.  I couldn’t help but get teary eyed after hearing her speak.  I was a little surprised as well to actually hear her speak so readily like that.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, trying to be as reassuring as possible.  She looked up at me, and we locked eyes.  We probably stayed that way for about 30 seconds.  I was the one to break the silence.

“Hey, maybe we should get you inside somewhere.  It’s getting late, and it’s supposed to get really cold tonight.  C’mon, let’s get you out of there.”

I held out my hand and she jerked backwards.  I could tell she was afraid.  You would have to be blind to not be able to.

“Please, I just want to help you.  I won’t hurt you, I promise.”  She was shaking a little less now, and she started moving forward.  She lifted her hoof, slowly inching it towards me.  When she finally placed her hoof in my hand, I could feel how cold she was.  I pulled her out from under the furnishings.  She appeared to be 3D as I kind of expected.  I was actually thinking she might look like the model of herself that people can use in Gmod or Source Filmmaker videos.  But that didn’t matter.  She was beautiful.  I cleaned out some of the dirt in her hair.  I think I actually saw her smile, but she hid it so well that I wasn’t completely sure.

As the wind blew on by and rustled her coat, she shivered.  I knew she must have been cold from being out there for so long.  Well, actually, I had no idea how long she was out there.  I would have to wait and ask her when we got home.  I removed my sweatshirt and wrapped her up, praying that no eyes were watching me.  She got comfortable and rested her chin on my arm.  I felt a warmth flow through my body that I don’t think I had ever felt before in my entire life.  I stood there for a moment to smile.  Soon after that, I began to walk back home, wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

As I entered my home with the little Fluttershy, I felt a wave of heat hit my body.  This was probably because of how cold I had been after removing my sweatshirt to cover Fluttershy.  I was relieved to know my mother wasn’t home.  This would be hard to explain to her.  I came to the conclusion to just not tell her at all and to keep this a secret, for now at least.

As I unwrapped Fluttershy and set her on the floor, she took in her new surroundings.  She seemed confused, but I couldn’t blame her.  She had no idea where she was.  I could see she had a look of concern on her face.  I told her to follow me into the basement.  The windows on the main floor of my house were a bit revealing, and I didn’t want her to be seen.  

I started for the basement door, but realized she wasn’t following.  I turned around to see her sitting on the floor, her head down, and her face in tears.  I stared for a moment, but I quickly came to my senses.  She was afraid.  Truly afraid.  She didn’t know where she was, she didn’t know who I was, hell I found her in a dumpster.  How had she gotten here, WHY was she here?  Nothing I could think of made sense.  I knelt down beside her, brushing her hair with my hand.  She looked up at me, her eyes soaked with tears.

“There, there, it’s alright.  You’re safe here.  I promised I wouldn’t hurt you, and I intend to keep that promise.  I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you.  You can trust me.”  My words definitely comforted her.  She stopped crying and leaned her head onto my chest.  I brushed her hair with my hand once again.

She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.  Her innocence was pure, and she was downright adorable.  She looked at me with her tear filled eyes.  

“Um, if it’s not too much trouble to ask, could you carry me?  I feel too weak to move,” she said.  I had no reason to doubt her.

“It’s no trouble at all.”  I almost said her name at the end of my statement, but I quickly stopped myself.  Why?  Well, if I had said her name, that would seem a little suspicious.  I knew who she was, but I couldn’t let her know that, it wouldn’t make sense to her.  

I brought her into the basement.  On the couch was a blanket I rarely used, mostly because I always wore my sweatshirt in the house.  I always had the hood up too, unless my mom asked me to take it off.  I set Fluttershy on the couch and wrapped her in the blanket.  She got comfortable on the couch, resting her head on one of the pillows.  I once again found myself staring at her.  I think she was getting a little embarrassed by this, so I stopped.  I figured now would be as good a time as any to start asking questions, at least ones that she could answer.

“So, what’s your name?” I asked, even though I of course knew her name.  Like I said before, I couldn’t just say her name like I had it memorized.  

“I-I’m Flutter…” she started, her voice dying down as she was finishing her name.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.  Just speak a bit louder, there’s no need to be afraid.  You can trust me.  My name’s Matthew, most people call me Matt.”

She stared at the floor for a second before speaking again.

“I’m Fluttershy,” she said.  I swear to you I felt like I could squeal at the top of my lungs at that moment.  My brony emotions were kicking in, but now was not the time.

I smiled.  “Nice to meet you Fluttershy.  I know that all of this may seem sudden to you, but like I said, you can trust me.”  This was one of the greatest moments in my life.  You may think that that sounds a little over dramatic, that this moment is a little too serious or maybe sad for it to be great at all, but trust me when I say this was a moment I would never forget.  She stared around the room, scanning the various objects that surrounded her.  She seemed interested in my Bionicles.  Yes, I have those, and I will never get rid of them.  While she didn’t notice, I took a moment to scan her over (not in a creepy way).  She seemed to be a little younger than me.  I had initially thought that she was as old as she was in episode 23, but I think she was about three years younger than me.  I was 17 at that time, so I figured she was about 14.  I had to ask her some questions.  Maybe she could shed some light on the situation.

“Do you know how you got here Fluttershy?”  She shook her head in response.  I sighed.  “Well, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”  She thought for a moment, I think.  Maybe she was contemplating whether or not to tell me.  

“I’m 14 years old, I think.  I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to remember much.  All I can remember for sure is my friend named Rainbow Dash.”  Rainbow Dash.  My number two pony.  Next to Fluttershy, Dash was my favorite pony.

I found it odd that Fluttershy could only remember Rainbow Dash’s name.  Seeing as though that she thought she was 14 years old, I stuck with that, seeing as though that that was how old I had believed she was.  I continued by asking if she remembered where she was from.  She couldn’t answer that either.  I of course knew.  Equestria, a world I could only dream to live in.  I tried thinking of some other questions.  When I found her, my mind was swimming with questions.  Now that I had the chance to ask her, I couldn’t think of any.  I was so frustrated.

I ran my fingers over my eyes, which meant I was getting tired.  It was only 9:30 at that point, so I had some time to kill.  I was caught off guard when Fluttershy actually asked me a question.

“What are you?” she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.  I looked at her for a moment with a confused look on my face.

I removed my hood and simply told her, “I’m a human male and I’m 17 years old.  I’m guessing you’re a… horse?”  I felt so dumb asking her questions when I knew the answers already.  

“Pony,” she corrected, “a Pegasus to be more precise.  Pegasus ponies have wings, but I’m a terrible flyer,” she responded.  I sort of figured she wasn’t a great flyer, but I was surprised to see that she knew it too.  

“Do all humans look like you?” she asked.  I chuckled a bit when she asked this.

“No not exactly the same.  We have similar features, like hands, feet, a face, and some other stuff.  People just look different from each other.  You would have to search for quite a long time to find someone who looked exactly like me.  Males have unique features that females don’t have, and vice versa.  Does that all make sense?”

She nodded.  “What kind of features?  What is it that you have that a female doesn’t?” she asked.  I wore what you might call a confused mixed with dumbfounded look on my face, letting out another chuckle shortly after.

“Um… well, there’s uh… how about I tell you another time?”  I felt a little uncomfortable discussing this with her.  She seemed to understand though, simply nodding her head in response.

By the time the clock struck 11:00, I had become so attached to Fluttershy, and I think the same could be said of her.  I told her as much about me as I could at the time, but she couldn’t remember much else other than what she had told me.  But I was fine with that.  As I started to yawn, she did the same.  I think yawning is something in my family that is just contagious.  My eyes began to dose off, but before they completely closed, Fluttershy nestled herself next to me, finding comfort from my body heat.  She looked up at me and smiled.  I smiled back.  I had already turned off the light in the room, and I didn’t really need to worry about my mom finding out about Fluttershy, she never really came down into the basement.  I hit the recline button on the side of the couch, which surprised Fluttershy a bit, but I quickly calmed her down.  Shortly after that, we dosed off and began to sleep. It was just the two of us. It was just Fluttershy and me.

I awoke on the basement couch, the light from the sun piercing through the curtains that covered the small windows.  In my head, I was asking myself if it was all a dream.  I looked down to find Fluttershy still with me.  She was wrapped in the blanket, lying under my arm with her head on my lap.  I smiled and took in a deep breath.  I think my exhale was a little loud, because shortly after she woke up.  She looked around, yawned, then looked to me and smiled.

“Good morning,” she said to me, brushing her eyes with her hooves.

“Good morning Fluttershy, sleep well?” I asked her.  She nodded.

“I had the most wonderful dream, and you were in it,” she said.  I was actually a little surprised by this.  We had only met last night, but for some reason I was in her dreams.  

“What was the dream about?” I asked her.  As she was about to speak, a confused look adorned her face.  I responded with a confused look on my face.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I can’t seem to remember.  I know you were there though.  I think I was flying perfectly, and then you appeared, but you had wings too.  We just flew together, I think.  I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.  I can barely ever remember my dreams, no matter how hard I try sometimes.”  She perked up after I said that.

I was so happy that it was Saturday.  I wouldn’t have to worry about anything for the whole day, unless of course my mom dropped some sort of work on my lap.  I started to get up from the couch, pushing the recliner inward.  Fluttershy got up and started following me, but I quickly stopped her.

“Hey, can you just wait down here for a bit?  I need to go see if my mother is home.  Hopefully she’ll be out and you can come upstairs.   If she’s here, I’ll come back down to tell you.”  She nodded, which told me she understood.

I proceeded upstairs.  I didn’t hear the TV in the kitchen, so that was a good sign.  I went into the kitchen anyway to get some food.  On the counter I saw a note left from my mom saying that she would be out for a while, probably until one.  It was 10:30 when I read the note, so I had a lot of time.  I yelled downstairs to Fluttershy.

“Hey Fluttershy, you can come up.  My mom’s gonna be out for a while so you’ll be fine.”

“Alright,” she responded.  Even though there was a rug floor in the basement, I could distinctly make out her hoof steps.  They were soft, but pretty damn audible.  She came up to the kitchen where I had been getting out some cereal for breakfast.  She looked at the box of food with a look of confusion.

“What’s that stuff?  Is it food?  If it’s not too much to ask, do you think I could have some?” she asked.  I let out a small chuckle.

“Fluttershy, you gotta stop worrying if something might be too much trouble to ask for.  You can have anything to eat that you want,” I said to her, hoping I said that as politely as I could.  I didn’t want to make it sound like her worrying about asking for stuff was annoying.  I walked over to her with the box of cereal (for those of you wondering, it was Cinnamon Toast Crunch) with a bowl.  I set the bowl down, but before I actually poured the cereal in, I noticed that the box had stated to not feed this stuff to animals.  Thank God I caught that notice.

“Um, well actually, this you can’t eat.  It’s not because I don’t want to give it to you, it’s just that the box says to not feed to animals.  I don’t want you getting sick,” I told her.  

“Oh, that’s ok.  But, um, do you have anything else to eat?”

I thought for a moment.  I figured if this stuff wasn’t good, waffles wouldn’t fair to well either.  Then I remembered we had pancakes as well.  I never saw a warning to not feed pancakes to animals on the packaging of the pancake mix or anything like that, so I figured they would be fine.

“We’ve got some pancakes in the freezer.  Hold on, I’ll get some for you.”  She perked up after I told her that.  I got out the pancakes and a plate to put them on.  I put four pancakes on the plate and put it in the microwave.  When they were done, I gave them to her.  She looked at them for a moment with a quizzical look.  I told her they would be fine.  I guess she had no reason to doubt me, so she took a bite out of one.  She smiled, which I took as a sign of approval.  In turn, I smiled.

When she was done with her pancakes, and I with my cereal, I decided to give her a tour of the house.  I showed her around the main floor, which included the kitchen, a TV room, dining room, and living room.  She liked all the nice furniture and the decorative furnishings that adorned the house.  I took her upstairs, telling her where my mother and sisters rooms were.  My sister was at college, so I didn’t have to worry about her.  I told Fluttershy to stay out of their rooms unless I was with her.

Then, we proceeded to my room.  You could practically call my room a monument to Assassin's Creed, because my room was stocked with at least one thing that represented each game.  I had a figure of each of the assassin’s from each game (yes that means three Ezio figures), posters for both Assassin's Creed 3 and Revelations, the Colonial America Flag with the Assassin’s Crest in the center of the thirteen stars, and to top it all off, a handmade tomahawk replica, just like the one Connor uses in AC3 (I could indeed kill someone with it if I chose to).  Hell, I even had two hidden blade replicas as well. The left one was able to be turned into a knife as well, just like Connor.  Hey, I told you Assassin's Creed was my favorite game franchise.  Along with that stuff, I had an Avengers poster (Marvel’s Avengers), a Master Chief figure, an Isaac Clarke figure from Dead Space 3, and a few of my favorite Bionicle sets.  I only wish I had a TV in my room, but my mom never allowed it.  Ok, now I feel like I’m going into too much detail about my room.  Back to Fluttershy.

She gazed upon all the objects and posters that adorned my room.  She seemed to actually like a lot of the things, especially the Colonial flag.  She told me how she loved the colors and the Assassin’s Crest in the center.  I honestly figured she would be a little bit taken back by all the things I had in my room, but she seemed to like most of it.  She at one point just flat out asked me what Assassin's Creed was.

“It’s a video game franchise, my favorite in fact.  Video games are like, well, how to put it?  Well, I’ll just tell you that video games are awesome, most of the time anyway.  Assassin's Creed is one of the best.  It’s a little violent though, or rather, REALLY violent.  I could show you sometime, if you’d want to see it.”  She nodded and smiled in response.  I smiled back.  Then, she actually fluttered up onto my bed and got comfortable on it.

“Hey, can we sleep here from now on?” she asked me.  I chuckled when she asked me that.

“Sure, whatever you want, we just can’t let my mom see you.”

“Why not?” she asked me.

“Well, she might not be able to understand how a 14 year old pony wound up in my world and is sleeping with me in my bed.  It’d be best if you stayed out of her sight.  If she winds up seeing you though, pretend to be a toy or something, just don’t move.  Play dead if you want, just don’t let her know you’re real and alive.”  She seemed to understand and nodded her head in response.

“Um, do you have someplace where I could maybe take a bath? I feel really dirty,” she told me.  I don’t know why I didn’t think about that earlier.  I found her in a dumpster, so of course she was dirty.  I told her I would give her a bath, or rather a shower.  My bathtub was really shitty at actually being used as a bathtub, so it was just always used as a shower.  I got her cleaned up and everything, no matter how long it took to clean out her hair.  As I was drying her off, she looked into my eyes for a moment, and soon after, she was hugging me.  I was a little surprised at first, but I of course returned the hug.  And that was the moment that we officially started our relationship.

The rest of Saturday passed by really quickly.  Sunday was more or less the same thing, except I had a bit of homework to do.  Fluttershy actually did a great job helping me complete it all.  It was a writing assignment, but my mind was just dead while I was writing it.  She provided me with so many great ideas.  Aside from that, she kept me focused and didn’t allow me to go back to my game, which I had left on the whole time.  I did have to put her to bed a little early though, I wanted to watch the Walking Dead, but there was no way I was going to let her watch it.  Way too graphic for her.

I kept my promise and let Fluttershy sleep with me in my bed both Saturday and Sunday night.  It actually wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be to keep her hidden.  My mom never checked my room anymore, so I was fine.  I awoke from my sleep at the sound of my alarm, which was really just my iPod.  I liked to wake up to the sound of some good music, not the trash that they play on the radio nowadays.  Fluttershy was startled by the sudden sound of music playing.  I told her not to worry and that it was just my alarm.

“Why did that thing go off?  And why is it so early?” she asked me.  My eyes were still shut while I tried to gather my thoughts and how I would explain to her that I was going to be out all day, or at least until three.  

“Oh crap, is it Monday?  I have school today.  Damn it, I have school all week.  How could I forget about school?” I asked myself.  “Look, Fluttershy, I hate to tell you this, but you’re gonna have to stay home alone today, and really for the rest of the week as well.”  I tried to put it as lightly as I could.  I sure as hell didn’t want to leave her home alone.  I had been caring for her for the past two days, and I had no idea if she was going to be able to care for herself while I was gone.

“Why do I have to stay here, can’t I come with you?” she responded.  I sighed, grabbing for the remote to my iHome to pause the music that was playing over our conversation.

“Well, I’m the only one who knows you’re here.  I’m not so sure that letting people see you will be a good idea.  The reason is the same as why I can’t let my mom see you, except there are a few more things that could be troublesome.”  I realized I was speaking pretty loudly, and my mom was awake.  I gestured to Fluttershy as she was about to speak to keep it quiet.

“How long will you be gone?” she asked me.  She sounded so worried for me.  There was obviously nothing for her to fear, but she didn’t know that.  

“I’ll be gone until about three o’clock in the afternoon.  Other days, maybe a little later than that.  Look, I need to get dressed and go to the bathroom, just wait here.  When I’m done I’ll take you downstairs and get you some food,” I told her with a bit of urgency in my tone.  It was actually almost seven, and I was usually downstairs already eating by that time.  She waited in my room while I went to the bathroom, and after I put my clothes on, we went downstairs, trying to not let my mom know of her presence.  

I got Fluttershy some pancakes, made myself a bowl of cereal, and we went down to the basement.  I had to eat a little bit quicker than normally, but I told her to take her time.  I was the one in a hurry, not her.

“So, um, what should I do while you’re gone?  Do you want me to stay down here all day?” she asked.  

“For the most part, yes, you will have to stay down here.  Had I remembered that I had school, I would have made you something for lunch last night.  My mom doesn’t come home from work anymore, so you’ll be fine with that.  But what for you to do?”  I thought to myself for a moment.  Then I remembered I had a laptop with about 500 songs on it, and of course the TV.

“You could watch some TV.  There are a lot of good shows on during the day, so I’m sure you could find something of interest.  If that starts to get boring, you can listen to some of my music.  I’ll leave my laptop on for you with iTunes up so you can just choose what you want to listen to.  Before I leave, I’ll bring down some more food and snacks for you.  How does that all sound?”

“That sounds fine.  But, are there any channels you want me to not watch, or songs I shouldn’t listen to?”  I thought for a moment, and then it hit me.  The Hub channel.  I couldn’t let her see the My Little Pony show, at least not yet.  I decided early on I would wait a while before showing her the show.  She was a little too young to understand that she was just a cartoon character, so I would wait.

“Yea, actually.  Stay away from the Hub channel, which is channel 259.  As for music, well, I really don’t care what you listen to, but if you hear a word that you think is a little, um… mean, then stop listening to the song.  I would recommend you listen to this band.”  I pointed to the band I was referring to .

“Dough… try?” she said.  I laughed at that.

“Daughtry,” I corrected, “all of their music is clean, meaning no bad language,” I told her.

She nodded her head and repeated back to me what I told her.  After we finished eating, I took her plate and my bowl upstairs.  Shortly after, I brought back down as many snacks as I could carry.  She was taken back a bit by what I had provided.  I didn’t have time to worry if this stuff wouldn’t be good for her or not.  I just told her not to worry about what and what not to eat.  She nodded.

I went upstairs to the bathroom to brush my teeth, went back down to pack my lunch and a water bottle in my bag, and finally went down into the basement to say goodbye to Fluttershy.

“Don’t worry, right after school ends, I’ll run straight back here.  It won’t be that bad.  If you get tired of being down here, you can go up to my room, but try to stay lower than the windows so no one outside can peek in and see you. Got it?” I asked.  She nodded.

“What if something bad happens, like if I get hurt?” she asked me.  I thought for a moment.  Then, I grabbed the house phone for the basement, dialed in my cell number, and left it as it was.

“If something bad happens, hit this button here on the phone.  It’ll call my phone.  It shouldn’t ring during the day, so you shouldn’t have to redial the number.  I’ve gotta go.  I’ll see you later, ok?”  As I was about to get up, she hugged me, which kept me on my knees.  I returned the hug.  When she let go, I smiled at her, ran my hand through her hair like the many other times before, and left for school.  All I was able to think about during my walk to school was Fluttershy, nothing else.  During school was no different.

All I could think about during school was Fluttershy.  How was she doing without me there, was she lonely, was she alright, had she actually hurt herself?  So many thoughts raced through my mind.  I couldn’t get her off my mind.  The day went by pretty fast though, and being a senior in high school, I had a huge advantage.  I had gotten lucky with my scheduling and managed to get both periods eight and nine off, which meant I could go home early.  I was so anxious for the bell signifying 7th periods end.  As soon as it rang, I jumped out of my seat, ran to my locker, got my things, and ran home.  I didn’t care who was looking at me, probably thinking, ‘Hey, why the hell is that kid running?’ or something like that.

I entered my house, quickly setting my things down, and yelled her name.

“Fluttershy?!  Fluttershy, are you downstairs?  It’s me Matt.”  I got no response.  I went to check downstairs, but the back room light was off.  I ran back up the stairs, but as soon as I turned to head upstairs, Fluttershy jumped up onto me and held me in a tight embrace.  I was caught off guard, but not enough to make me fall on my back.  I knelt down, allowing her to stand on her hind legs.  I could hear her crying, but I had no idea why.

“Thank goodness you’re home Matthew!  I was so afraid!” she exclaimed.

“Afraid of what?  What happened?” I asked her.

“S-something came on one of the channels.  I didn’t think it was s-so bad, up until the m-monsters appeared,” she told me.  I was wondering what she could have been watching.  

“Do you remember the channel it was on?” I asked her.  She wasn’t crying as much as she was when she first jumped on me, but she hadn’t fully stopped.

“I-I think it was channel 231,” she told me.  Channel 231, AMC.  I think I knew what she was watching.  Just to be sure, I asked her if she remembered the show’s name.

“I think it was the W-Walking Dead, or something l-like that,” she told me.  I knew it.  I knew she wouldn’t be able to handle that show.  I held her, brushing her hair with my hand as I did so very often, trying to comfort her.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy.  It was just a show, those monsters aren’t real,” I told her, trying to calm her down.  I did indeed tell her that the zombies, or walkers as they are referred to as on the show, weren’t real.  But, I did in fact, at the time, believe that someday the zombies would rise.  I would’ve been ready though.  Along with my Assassin's Creed gear, I’ve got two pistols and a bow with about 100 arrows (I have these to complete my assassin cosplay).  They were well hidden, so no one would be finding them anytime soon.

“I guess I have another channel to stay away from huh?” she said.  I chuckled a bit and told her that she was right about that.  She let go of me, took a step back, and I told her to just breathe.  After about a minute, she was fine.

“I got a bit lonely while you were gone.  How often is this going to happen?” she asked me.  I rubbed my eyes and sighed.

“Well, unless I have off from school, every Monday through Friday.  Some days I might have to stay later for rehearsals.  Sorry Fluttershy.”

She looked down and frowned.  I then noticed that she had a little bruise on her left from leg.

“Hey, what happened here?” I asked her.  She looked up, then back down to her leg.

“Oh, well um, when the monster showed up, it frightened me so much that I actually started flying a bit.  But I’m so bad at flying that I flew right into the wall and hurt my leg.  I’m sorry,” she said.

“Fluttershy, you have nothing to apologize for, you just hurt yourself, that’s all.  If anything, I should be apologizing for not being here.  But speaking of flying, how would you like it if I tried to help you learn to fly better?”

“Really, but you don’t have wings.  How would you teach me at all?  I mean, not to say that I don’t want to learn, but it’s just that I’m not so sure that you really could teach me,” she told me.  I started to think.  How would I teach her?  I had no knowledge of flight myself, so teaching her would be pretty difficult.

“Well, I guess we can just think about it for now.  Maybe when we come up with something we can start practicing.  Right now, I’m just hungry.  I need a snack,” I said.  She giggled after I said that, which made me laugh in turn.

“There are still some snacks that you gave me for the day downstairs.  We can have that,” she told me.  I nodded my head and brought her down into the basement, and we started snacking on what was left of the food.

The rest of the week followed the same procedure as Monday, except without the whole crying thing when I arrived home.  Fluttershy was perfectly fine with staying home by herself by that Thursday actually.  She got used to it pretty quick.  I don’t know why, but Fluttershy seemed a bit more, well, outgoing for lack of a better word, than she was in the show.  She seemed more confident in herself.  I don’t know why, but it didn’t matter.  She was of course still very shy and kept worrying about little things, but like I said, she had more confidence.  Maybe it was because I was just, well, who I was.  That may sound weird considering the description of myself I gave earlier, but Fluttershy had changed me, even though we had only known each other for about a week.  

The routine soon became natural.  I would go to school, she would stay home, and when I got home we would spend the rest of the day together.  The first night I stayed later for a rehearsal, she got a little worried.  But even then, she got used to that too.  Musical stuff ended in April, so she didn’t need to worry about that anymore.  The rest of my senior year of high school just rushed on by since I had found Fluttershy.  And before I knew it, summer had arrived.

Summer was finally here.  No more school, no more homework, no more bullshit.  Graduation was great.  I had actually turned 18 beforehand.  I had a spring birthday.  That was a great party.  I of course had a private party, just Fluttershy and me.  The same could be said of my graduation party.  I had a huge party with my family and friends, but I also had one for just the two of us.  I found that the parties that were just Fluttershy and I were much better.  Anyway, the summer went by pretty quickly.  I was a lifeguard during the summer, so that kept me busy and got me some good money.  I would need it for when I went off to college.  Fluttershy would of course be coming with me, but I’ll get to my college life later.

I had been taking care of Fluttershy for six months.  It was August then so I basically found her in February.  In that time, she managed to learn almost everything there was to learn about how humans lived, technology, a lot more about me, and a ton of other stuff.  We were a lot closer now.  I decided to openly confess my feelings for her and told her that I loved her.  She felt the exact same way.  That moment was just amazing.  To know she shared my feelings gained me so much happiness.  A lot of other things happened during this time span though.

To start, I realized that with my sister home from college, keeping Fluttershy hidden would be much more difficult.  So, I started looking around my area for a temporary place for her to stay, at least until I went to college, where I would probably have to find another place for her.  I managed to find a small, old warehouse, not too big, but not too small.  It wasn’t perfect when I found it, but with a few touch ups here and there, and the addition of a few furnishings, it became a good enough place for Fluttershy to live in for about two months.  I visited her every day, some nights I would even stay with her.

One day, I thought that she must get lonely out there by herself.  So, I figured since I knew that she could communicate with animals, I would bring her a little bunny to keep her company, or rather, a rabbit.  My best friend found this rabbit about a year before I found Fluttershy.  His family didn’t plan to keep it, but they wound up doing so anyway.  I told them I would take the rabbit as my pet.  They were fine with that.  Once I arrived with the rabbit at Fluttershy’s place, I introduced them to each other.

“Hey Fluttershy, I want you to meet a new friend.  This is Joey.”  I opened his cage and let him roam free in the warehouse.  Fluttershy proceeded to do the whole baby face stuff with him, like when you say to a puppy “Aw aren’t you cute,” or some crap like that.  I couldn’t help but laugh a little while Fluttershy was doing that.  I actually think she gave me The Stare for a moment.

“Don’t listen to him Joey, he’s just jealous because he isn’t as cute as you are,” she said to him, being all fuzzy wuzzy with him.

“Love you too,” I said sarcastically.  She giggled a bit.  But then, she suddenly had a confused look, like someone was talking to her.  She looked around the room.

“Um, Matthew, did you hear that?” she asked me.

“Hear what?”  I figured that Joey was speaking to her, but I had to act surprised.

“I heard a voice, but I don’t know where it came from.”  She stopped looking around and returned her gaze to Joey.  I think the light bulb finally went off.

“Oh my goodness, it’s Joey.  I can hear him talking to me.  That’s just so, well… amazing!” she said, her voice filled with excitement.  I was actually surprised she wasn’t a little bit more taken back by the fact that she could talk to animals.  Suddenly, a little glow appeared on her flank, and shortly after, three butterflies adorned each side of her flank.  I started tearing a bit, I knew what this meant.

“Um, Matthew, why are there three butterflies on my flank?” she asked me.  She didn’t really sound confused.  She didn’t even seem scared or surprised.  It’s almost like something inside her was telling her what it was, but because she couldn’t remember what a cutie mark was, she didn’t know… what it was?  I don’t know, you get what I mean though.

“Fluttershy, that’s your cutie mark,” I told her.  I didn’t really want to work around all the formalities.  I was just too excited and wanted to let her know what it was.  I explained to her what it meant, and when I was finished, she was so happy.  

“So you mean I can talk to all kinds of animals, not just rabbits?”

“That’s right Fluttershy.  You’ve got one very special talent.”

She must have been really happy, because she jumped into the air and actually started to fly around the room.  But she wasn’t messing up.  She was flying perfectly, no screw ups, just perfect flying.

“Hey, I’m flying!  Matthew, I’m actually flying!” she exclaimed, her voice almost cracking due to her overabundance of happiness.  We had practiced a few times, and she had gotten a lot better, but all we really did was just practice on her hovering and flying at a slow pace.  She was flying at a decent speed, even managing two flips.

“Do you feel like you could keep flying like that?” I asked.  She nodded, not even second guessing her choice.  This was one of her greatest moments.  In one moment, she had discovered her true talent and managed to full on fly (overused joke incoming) LIKE A BOSS!  Sorry I just had to say that!  

We decided to celebrate with a party.  No one was actually at my home, nor would they be for the rest of the weekend.  My mom was stingy about letting me stay home alone, but she finally loosened up enough to let me.  Fluttershy and I decided to make a cake.  We did alright, but I’m not the greatest chef/cook in the world.  She was actually alright, even though we had only cooked together about six times, all of those times ending in big messes.  That night brought me ten more photos for the photo album I had started since I found Fluttershy.  But that day just kept getting better.

Fluttershy stayed with me at my house that night.  We stayed up a little later than usual watching one of her favorite movies, Toy Story.  She loved that movie.  We actually got through half of Toy Story 2 in the same night.  When it was finally time for bed, I took my shower, waited for her to take hers, and finally we went to bed.  But before we fell asleep, she decided to do make this the best day ever with just three words and one action.

“Good night Matthew, I love you.”

“Good night Fluttershy, I love you too.”

Now, Fluttershy and I would tell each other that we loved one another quite often by that time.  But, when it came to kissing, we’d usually just kiss each other on the cheek.  We actually shared the thought that a pony kissing a human on the lips might be a bit weird.  But I think something inside just told her to put that thought in the past.  

She put her hoof on my shoulder, pulled me in a bit, and kissed me right on the lips.  Let me tell you, it didn’t feel weird at all.  It felt as natural as any human couple kissing on the lips.  How would I know?  Just because I was a bit miserable doesn’t mean I didn’t know how to get the girl.  We probably held that kiss for about a good minute.  It was amazing, just amazing, that’s all I can really say.  When we finally stopped, I looked into her eyes, and she into mine.  She put her head on my chest, I put my arm around her, and we fell asleep, just like that.

When summer finally ended, it was time for Fluttershy and me to head to college.  The ride didn’t take too long.  It wasn’t so bad because Fluttershy was with me the whole time.  I drove myself, but I saved enough of the foot space of the second seat up front for Fluttershy.  She stayed down there the whole ride, which kept her well hidden.  She kept me sane for the duration of my drive.  We hit traffic at one point, so having her there with me was a lifesaver.

And so, my freshman year of college began.  I was majoring in acting, and I was doing pretty well for the most part.  Fluttershy was a huge confidence booster for me for that year, and she would be throughout my college career in general.  My freshman year was a bit more eventful than the years following though.  Why?  Well, for my first year, I was forced to room with someone on campus.  My roommate was a cool guy though, we didn’t have any problems.  We became good friends actually, but I couldn’t leave Fluttershy hanging.  So once again, I had to find a place for her.  And, once again, I actually found an old warehouse.  It was smaller than the previous one, but that was fine.  We got it furnished and made it into a fine living space.  Joey even moved in with her.

This wasn’t the eventful part of my year though.  That came about halfway through the year.  It was an ordinary Friday night, and my roommate was going to be out for the weekend visiting his family, so I had nothing to worry about.  That’s what I thought at least, until I arrived at Fluttershy’s.  When I arrived, I found that the main door had been opened, and the couch I had gotten for Fluttershy had been thrown out into the dirt.  My heart stopped for a moment.  I rushed inside.

“FLUTTERSHY!?  WHERE ARE YOU!?  FLUTTERSHY!?” I screamed, trying to find her.  I got no response.  But then, I noticed something moving under a blanket in the corner.  I slowly moved towards it, hoping it was Fluttershy.  I removed the blanket to unveil Fluttershy, crying with her head down.

“Please don’t hurt me!” she said, startled by my presence.  Then she looked up and saw it was me.  “MATTHEW!”  She jumped up and hugged me.  I held her close to me, telling her that she was safe now.

“T-two men came in here and started r-ruining everything.  I don’t know if they were l-looking for something, but I just stopped moving just like you told me a year ago.”  It had been about a year at that point since I found Fluttershy (she was now 15), and that she still remembered what I told her about staying hidden didn’t surprise me.  She had actually almost gotten caught by my mom once, but she was smart enough to get out of her sight quick enough.  But anyway, back to what was going on.

“Did you see what they looked like?  Did they hurt you?” I asked.  Fluttershy took a step back and unfolded her wings, revealing that her left wing had been wrapped in bandages.  She told me she was violently tossed against the wall, and that her wing had been broken.  At first, I was shocked at the sight of it.  I held her close to me, finding myself once again brushing her hair with my hand.  Then, I became filled with rage.  I got up and started walking back to my car.

“Matthew, where are you going?” she asked me.  I think she could tell I was angry, asking with a deep amount of concern and fright in her voice.  

“I’m going back to my place to get my weapons.  I’m staying here tonight,” I told her.  A surprised look came upon her face.

“Couldn’t I just stay with you at your place tonight?  I mean, I know that it would be dangerous and I could be spotted, but, it’s just that this place doesn’t seem safe now.  I’m scared Matthew.”

“I know you’re scared, believe me I do, and I understand that you being seen wouldn’t be as bad as you getting hurt.  But now that I know these jackasses did in fact hurt you, I’m not letting that go.  I’m staying here tonight, and that’s final.”  I was furious right then.  She could tell, even backing up a bit.

“Are you going to… kill them?”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, until I confidently said yes.  Her head dropped and she sighed.

“Come on, I need to go get my things.  You can stay in your hiding spot in the car.”  I was in a hurry, and now Fluttershy was getting pretty scared, not even by what had happened, but by me.  She had never really seen me this way.  This was my violent side, the side of me that made me Fluttershy’s opposite, the side of me that brought about the irony of our love.

We drove back to my dorm, which was a short drive from the warehouse.  I went to my room to gather my weapons from the hiding spot I had made for them.  I grabbed my tomahawk and my left hidden blade, testing it to see that it still worked.  

“Perfect.  Those assholes are gonna regret what they did.  Too bad they won’t actually live to regret it though.”   The hate in my voice was scaring me now.  I had spoken aloud, but no one was around to hear me.  I left my room, keeping my weapons hidden, and headed back to my car.  We drove back to the warehouse, where we would wait.  I hid up on one of the horizontal beams that held up the roof.  It was almost six o’clock.  

‘Come on you fuckers.  Death awaits your arrival,’ I thought in my head.  I stared at the door intensely.  Fluttershy was watching me.  My peripheral vision caught her gazing at me, but I never looked back to her.  She was frightened.  She was truly afraid of me.  But honestly, if you saw me at that moment, you’d probably be scared too.

Time passed slowly while I waited.  Not once did my vision move from the door.  In my mind, I was planning tactics that I could use for different scenarios.  Would these guys have guns, would there be more this time, how big were they?  It didn’t matter.  They were going to die.  The bloodlust that was eating away at me just grew.  I couldn’t believe that I wanted the death of someone so badly.  This wasn’t even my violent side anymore.  This was a beast that had emerged from inside of me.  

After three hours, they finally arrived.  Two middle aged men, wearing bandanas and biker gang-like shirts.  Both of them were pretty strong looking, and armed well enough to rob a small bank.  One of them had what looked like a Beretta pistol, the other armed with an army knife and a decently sized rifle.  I was a little taken back by their weaponry, but it didn’t matter.

The goon with only the pistol moved further into the warehouse, leaving his partner closer to the door.  I would attack him first, giving him no chance to use that rifle.  No one beat me at hand to hand combat, and with that shitty little knife, he would be cake.

I dropped down from my perch, fully braced for the decently sized fall.  I landed on one knee, and after a second of recovery, I fully stood up.

“Who the hell is this guy?  I thought you said we weren’t bein followed,” one of them said.  I was too focused to care which of them had spoken.

“We weren’t followed, I told you.  This asshat dropped from the roof.  Who the fuck are you?” he questioned me.  I didn’t answer.  I was just breathing.  I was wearing my sweatshirt, unzipped and with my hood up.  I pushed back the right side of my sweatshirt, allowing me to draw my tomahawk.  I slapped out my hidden blade, turning it into a knife.  I assumed a combat ready stance.

“Oh, we ain’t got time for this shit.  Waste that fucker!” the one further away ordered.  The one closer to me gave out a cry and charged at me with his knife.  I smirked.  Too easy.  As he brought his knife down, I blocked with my knife, pulled him past me, and slashed down his back with my tomahawk.  I had cut him really deep, and blood gushed out of his back.  The other guy was caught off guard and pointed his pistol at me.  I quickly turned my head to see him.  He jumped and fired off two rounds.  

I dodged right for the first round and ducked down under the second round, advancing towards him with both movements.   He was pretty damn surprised.  This gave me a great opportunity, because he was clearly slow.  He was close enough that I could tumble in past him, and, with him being so off guard, he was unable to turn around fast enough to stop me from chopping him clean in the lower back.  He cried out in pain.  I pulled my weapon from his back, and blood poured out.  He fell on his back, still screaming in agony.  I had had enough, so to end his suffering, I plunged my bracer mounted hidden blade into his throat.

I removed my blade and went over to the other guy.  He was crying in pain.  He was lying on his stomach.  I turned him over to find he was coughing up blood.  I gave him a sick smile.

“Go to hell you piece of shit!” he yelled at me.  I chuckled a bit at his suffering.

“The sign said no trespassing, asshat.  Illiteracy is a problem I find is truly plaguing our country, wouldn’t you agree?” I said with a hint of evil in my voice.  He stared into my eyes, and I stared into his soul.  I gave him one more smile before I plunged my tomahawk into his skull.

“Justice,” I said aloud.  I stood up, removed my tomahawk from the man’s skull, and wiped off the blood on his shirt.  I stood over his body for a minute, and then it hit me.  I had just murdered two people, in a matter of about one minute no less.  In shock I dropped my tomahawk on the floor, stepped back from the body, and fell to my knees.  I was breathing heavily now.  

“What have I done?  Fluttershy, why did I do this?  Why?” I asked, getting no response.  I stood up and removed my hood.  Afterwards I looked at my hands, my blood covered hands.  I had no words.  

“Fluttershy,” I started, “what have I become?  You shouldn’t have had to see that.  What… what happened to me?”  I was scared.  The fear emanating from my voice brought me to tears.  I tried getting up, but my body wouldn’t let me.  “Fluttershy, I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.  I don’t deserve you, not after what I’ve just done.  This is something I need to live with now.  God damnit I just murdered two people.  Why the hell should I deserve love?  I’m a fucking monster.”  I was beside myself, truly.  I was breaking down.  Who wouldn’t after killing two people?  My head fell to the floor.

Fluttershy walked over to me, placing her hoof on my back.  That got my attention enough to look at her.  She was sitting on the ground, her head at my level.

“Matthew, I don’t care what you’ve done, or what you may ever do.  I love you, no matter what.  Just because you wanted to protect me doesn’t mean you don’t deserve love, especially my love.  I mean, yes, you did kill them, but it was out of love.”

“But it wasn’t Fluttershy, that’s just it!  I wanted revenge, revenge for them hurting you like this.  This was something personal, even when it shouldn’t have been.”  

“But even still Matthew, you’ve shown that you will do anything for the ones you care about, whether it be me, or maybe someone in your family.  You did this because you care about me.  I don’t think there is anyone else more deserving to love me than you, and I mean that.”  Her voice was so calm and soothing.  I stopped crying and lifted myself up.  I wiped off my hand of the blood before trying to wipe out my eyes.  I took a deep breath.

“You really think I deserve your love?” I asked her.

“Yes, I do, and nothing will change that, I promise you,” she responded, her voice free of any fear or worry.  I smiled at her, and she kissed my cheek.

“Come on.  Let’s go get you cleaned up.  You look awful,” she said, her voice flowing with concern for me.  As she started to get up, I pulled her into an embrace.  She returned the hug.

“I love you Fluttershy, and I’m sorry for how I’ve acted.”

“There, there, it’s ok now.  I love you too Matthew.”  We held our embrace for a minute before getting up to go get me cleaned off.  And truthfully, all the doubts that filled my mind had disappeared, destroyed by the loving words of Fluttershy.  She truly was the Element of Kindness.

Following that Friday night, things started to get back to normal.  I had nightmares for a few nights about it all, but with more of Fluttershy’s care, and a crap ton of visits to my school psychologist, I was back to my good old self.  I told the psychologist that I was dreaming about the killing, instead of actually doing it.  I was actually lucky enough to remain unfound by the police.  I could be pretty sneaky at times, but that they were unable to track my dna or some crap like that was a little surprising.  That night became my most well-kept secret.  No one would ever know.  

The rest of my college career went by like a breeze.  I had become a fantastic actor, not that I wasn’t good to begin with, but now I was amazing.  I think it was fair to say that at least.  Seeing as though I had a spring birthday, my junior year brought about my 21st birthday.  That was some fuckin party.  All I can say is that Vegas is beautiful, especially when you’re drunk of your ass.  My senior year of college blew on by rather quickly.  From my sophomore year and onward, I started to live in my own apartment with Fluttershy near the school campus.  We left that old warehouse in the past.  I never wanted to see or hear the mention of it again.  By the end of my senior year, Fluttershy had grown to about her normal size as she was in the show.  But hell, the last time I had watched the show was the season three finale.  I had no idea if any of the ponies had changed since then.

When my graduation finally rolled on by, I had a huge party with my family.  I of course had a private party for just Fluttershy and me again, but this time, the huge party with my family, and friends, was better.  It was probably because I got really drunk during the party.  I’m a funny drunk though, but not one that you have to worry about getting hurt too badly.  But, my party with Fluttershy was great too.  We tried baking a cake again.  We really needed to improve that skill.

Now that I had graduated college with a kick ass degree for acting, my future actually looked really good.  I had already managed to make a great amount of money to buy an apartment in New York City, which is where I had always wanted to live.  I lived on Long Island, but the city always called to me.  My place was on the outskirts of the city though.  I wanted to get a more open area so that Fluttershy could go outside more often.  She hadn’t stayed inside for all those years while I had her, but she was limited.

But, one day, about four months after graduation, something happened, something that I would never be able to forgive myself for.  This was worse than that Friday night at the warehouse, much worse.  

It was a normal Saturday morning.  I had just arrived home from an early audition for a small play on Broadway, and I could pretty much tell I was going to get the role.  I was so happy.  I couldn’t wait to get home to tell Fluttershy.  I entered my apartment, overwhelmed with joy.  I was going to shout out to Fluttershy to tell her the good news, but I heard the TV was on, so I decided to just go into the TV room and tell her.  But as I got closer to the room, I was starting to make out what she was watching.  When I fully realized it, my heart sank.  

“What is this place, filled with so many wonders?  Casting its spell, that I am now under!” I heard, in a musical tone.  I knew that song, and I knew the voice attached to it.  It was Fluttershy singing her song when she gets to the ground in episode 23.  I entered the room and saw Fluttershy sitting in front of the TV, covered in tears.  Her hair was a mess.  I didn’t know if she knew I was present, but I sniffled a bit because I was starting to cry.  She knew I was there now.

She turned her head to me.  The sadness in her eyes was just too much for me to take, and soon I started to full on cry.

“How long Matthew?” she asked.

“Fluttershy.”

“How long have you known?  HOW LONG?!”  She had never spoken to me like that, and I was caught off guard by her tone, but honestly, I deserved it.  I was ashamed of myself.  Truthfully, I had decided the previous night to tell her in the morning when I got home.  Why did she have to watch it before I could tell her?  WHY?

“Fluttershy, I… I’m sorry.  I was going to tell you, right now in fact.  I had planned everything out last night.  I would tell you about my audition, and I figured you would be in a good mood, enough so that I could tell you,” I tried to explain, but the look in her eyes told me she didn’t care.

“Why not tell me when you found me?  Did you think that telling me I’m just a cartoon character wasn’t important?  Why didn’t you tell me sooner Matthew?”  Her voice was a mixture of sadness and anger.

“You were too young to understand.  I wanted to wait for the right moment.  Fluttershy, I didn’t tell you for your own good.  Please, I didn’t mean for it to happen like this.”

She looked at me with distaste, and shortly after, she ran past me and headed into our room.  She locked me out, but I could hear her crying from inside.  I didn’t try to get her out.  I knew she needed to be alone.  I thought that because I had killed two men that I was a monster.  Fluttershy helped me to realize that what I did was out of love.  But what I had done, what I had been doing for about five years now, keeping a secret like this one away from her, truly made me a monster.  I fell down up against the door and started crying right where I was sitting.  I stayed there for one hour.  

Fluttershy didn’t talk to me for two days.  She wouldn’t leave our room, so I was forced to sleep in the living room.  We had a really nice couch, so it wasn’t a problem at all.  I left her food outside our room for when she got hungry, because she really never left our room for those two days.  Maybe to go to the bathroom or something simple, but if she did, she didn’t say a word to me.  On the second day, I told her I was going to be out for a while running some errands.  I wasn’t really.  I needed to do something I hadn’t done in a while: go for a parkour run.  Since my sophomore year of college, I hadn’t gone for a parkour run.  It was something I did when I was feeling down in the dumps.  By that time, I never got that feeling anymore.  This was the first time I felt like shit in a really long time.  

When I was done with my run, I headed back home.  I entered my apartment, finding Fluttershy in the kitchen.  She turned immediately when she heard me enter.  She rushed back into our room, leaving her food behind.

“Fluttershy, please just listen to me for one minute.  Fluttershy,” but she was gone.  I felt like a broken man.  I walked into the living room, feeling tears start to form in my eyes.  I fell to the floor, leaning up against the couch.

“Fluttershy,” I said in a low voice, “I’m so sorry.  I’m sorry that I hurt you this way.  I really don’t deserve you.  You proved me wrong three years ago, but now you really can’t.  I really am a monster.”  I was speaking aloud, not even in hopes of her hearing me, but just because I had to get it off my chest.  But even then, I still felt like shit, like a monster.  But soon after, I heard the bedroom door start to open.  Even though I could hear it, I didn’t acknowledge it.  I just kept my head on my knees and continued to cry.  I started to hear hoof steps.  Fluttershy entered the room slowly.  I couldn’t bear to face her.  When she was finally next to me, she sat down, and started to rub my head.  I lifted my head, turned to her for a moment, and looked back down.

“Matthew,” she started, “I love you.  You know that.  I told you that I would always love you no matter what.  That’s a promise I intend to keep.”  It felt like she was quoting me for a moment, just like I had told her I would never let anyone or anything hurt her, and how that was a promise I would keep.  I looked back to her.

“Fluttershy, I’ve done so many things wrong in my life.  I’ve tried so hard to make my life worth living, but something always happens that makes it turn into complete shit.  I thought I had finally made my life worth something, but whether it be what I did three years ago or what I did Saturday, I now realize I can never win this battle.  The battle to make life worth something.”  

“Matthew, you have made your life worth something.  Not just that, but you’ve made my life worth something too.  You took it upon yourself to care for me, to protect me, and to love me when no one else could.  You may have made some mistakes along the way, but that doesn’t mean your life isn’t worth anything, and it certainly doesn’t make you a monster.  You are the kindest, most loving person I have ever met.”

Her words, as soothing as ever, kicked the crap out of my doubts.  That’s not to say I didn’t still feel guilty of my mistake.  I wouldn’t be able to let this go for the rest of my life.  But something about the way she spoke told me she was speaking from her heart as well.

“And, Matthew,” she continued.

“Yeah?”

“I forgive you.  You’re a good person, and don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Tears were starting to fall from my eyes again.

“Thanks Fluttershy.”  She smiled at me, and we embraced each other.  She really did forgive me too, she wasn’t just saying it.  I would never let this go, like I said, but to know that she was able to forgive my huge screw up made it much easier of a thing to forget.  We stopped hugging, only to allow us to kiss each other.  It was then, and really, always would be, Fluttershy and me.

Six years ago, I was living a life that wasn’t anything special.  It was a life of work, and it was a life I felt at times I wanted to end.  But, there are just some things in life that come at you and you don’t expect them.  I never would have expected to find my favorite pony Fluttershy in a dumpster, but I am so grateful that I did.  I could have made the mistake of walking on by and not paying any mind to that whining that night.  My curiosity saved my life, one that I might have ended with a bullet to my head.  

By that point in time, I had been with Fluttershy for six years.  I certainly had changed a lot since I found her that Friday night, and so had she.  She really did forget about that Saturday morning.  She forgot how I kept what she was a secret.  She actually really liked the show now.  It became her new favorite television show in fact.  She loved the characters, the world, the adventures, pretty much everything about the show.  She knew that she was different from the Fluttershy in the show, which she was quite proud of in fact.  Life was really going well for me.  I scored the role in that play I auditioned for, and made about $5,000 each show.  Fluttershy and I lived together in peace, but if someone did come over to hang out, she would hide in our room, which she didn’t mind at all.  I stayed in contact with all my family, friends, and everyone else I knew.  Life was really great, something I never thought I could say before then.  But it’s true what they say, that all great things must come to an end.  At least, I thought it would be the end, but in fact, it was just the beginning of something new.  

Once again, it was just an ordinary day, a Saturday in fact.  It was one week after my 23rd birthday.  Fluttershy and I were just relaxing in our apartment.  I was deep into a rerun of Assassin's Creed 3, and Fluttershy was reading a book, stopping every so often to watch me play.  Suddenly, we heard a knock at the door.

“Matthew, are you expecting someone?” she asked me, with a look of surprise on her face.  She was as surprised as I was.  I hadn’t made any plans for anyone to visit that day.

“No, actually I’m not.  Maybe it’s one of my friends paying a visit, but just to be on the safe side, grab me my hidden blade quickly.”  I didn’t feel like taking a chance.  She brought me my blade from our room, helped me strap it on, and went back to hide.  She knew the drill like clockwork.  I approached my door.  I waited a moment to see if the person would knock again.  He, or she, did, but afterwards called inside from behind the door.

“Hello, may we come in?” the voice asked.  I knew this voice.  It was a regal voice, but where had I heard it before.  Then it hit me.  ‘What the hell?’ I thought to myself.  Finding Fluttershy was one thing, but this couldn’t be happening.

“Eh, just a moment,” I responded, and I proceeded to undo all the locks I had in place.  I opened the door, and standing before me, in all realness, was the royal Princess Celestia.  My mind had been kept intact ever since I had found Fluttershy, I think at least.  But now, my mind had officially been blown.  How, and why, was Princess Celestia at my door step?  Scratch the “why” part actually.  I knew why she was here, but I didn’t want to tell myself that.  After about ten seconds of me staring at her, Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the ponies appeared from behind the Princess.  Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and even Rainbow Dash, my number two pony.  They were all standing right there before me.  I stood there with my mouth agape.

“May we enter?” the Princess asked me.

“Uh, sure, I guess, come on in.”  I allowed them to enter, but I was questioning why I had done that in my head at the time.  The ponies past by me one by one, entering my home.  Rainbow Dash actually shot me a look for a second.  I jerked my head back in surprise and chuckled.

“If you’ve done anything to Fluttershy, oh man, we are gonna have some problems buddy!” she said to me.  I could tell how serious she was being.  I tried to play dumb and pretend I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Who the hell is Fluttershy?  Is that even a real name?  What the hell are you, and why are you in my home?”  I don’t think it worked, because Rainbow went right back on the offensive with me.

“Don’t try to play dumb buddy.  We know she’s here.  Now are you gonna tell us or…” she was suddenly cut off by quick chatter coming from one of the other ponies.  Which one?  Take a guess.

“Woooooow, so this is what an alien house looks like.  Oh, what’s all this stuff, and what’s with the giant black rectangle with the black screen in the center?  Man, these aliens sure do have some weird stuff.  Hey, is that some kind of axe over there on the wall?”  She was referring to my tomahawk.  I had mounted it, because I would never use it again.  But, getting back to Pinkie, she was rattling off words faster than the Halo assault rifle rattles off bullets.  

“Alien, I beg your pardon,” I responded to her.

Applejack stepped forward and shoved a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth.

“Eh, sorry bout ar friend here, but Pinkie sorta has a way with speakin that we just don’t get.  Sorry partner,” she apologized for Pinkie’s crazy antics.

“That’s quite alright.  It’s actually kind of amusing.  Now, I’m going to repeat my question that I asked the blue one here, why are you in my house?”  I tried to make it seem like I was low on patience and that I truly had no idea why they were there.  The Princess looked to me with a look that showed no amusement in my tone.  

“I think you know why we are here, sir.  We have come to retrieve Fluttershy from you.  She should be here, isn’t that correct?”  She really didn’t seem to be in a mood to be toyed with.  She was being serious, so I figured I might as well fess up.  I let out a deep sigh.

“She’s in our room.  If you wait here, I’ll go get her.”

“Our room, my my darling you’re really that cozy with our Fluttershy,” Rarity started, “Don’t make me laugh.  Oh too late.”  She started to giggle at the thought of Fluttershy being in a relationship with me.  I wanted so badly to drive my blade into her throat, I so badly did.  But then I remembered what had happened the last time that my blade had been driven into flesh, except, if I had done it just then, I would have just killed an innocent pony.  Rarity wasn’t at all my favorite, but she was still an innocent pony.  I couldn’t kill her.  What would Fluttershy think of me then?

“Cozy?  That doesn’t even fucking begin to describe it, Rarity.  I think it would be best for you to know that we are in fact in a relationship.  Yes, that’s right, I said relationship.  I love her, and she loves me.  Is that a problem, Miss Rarity?” I said, annoyed by her attitude.  She was taken back by both my words and the tone of which I spoke in.  

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, did this guy just say he’s in a relationship with Fluttershy?  No way!  Fluttershy wouldn’t go out with some guy like you,” Rainbow said.  I looked at her in anger.

“Tell that to her, Rainbow Dash,” I responded.

“Hey, how come the alien knows all of our names?  What’s my name Mr. Alien, huh, what is it?” Pinkie Pie asked me, starting to get in my face a bit.

“He knows our names my little ponies because he knows what we are, don’t you Matthew?” Celestia said to me.  Now I was surprised.  I knew their names because of what they were indeed, but how the hell did she know my name.

“Yes, I know what you are.  You’re all the characters of a cartoon show.  But how the hell do you know my name Celestia?”

“I have been watching you ever since Fluttershy had been sent here.  Something we will have to explain to you, but first, if you could please retrieve Fluttershy for us.  We have much to discuss.”  I nodded my head.

“Don’t let Pinkie touch my stuff,” I told them.  Pinkie’s face wore a surprised look, but then she realized I was right, and her face turned into an angry frown.

I went to our room to get Fluttershy.  I opened the door, looking for her.  She was hiding under the bed.  I went down onto my stomach to look at her.

“Is everything alright?  I was just hiding in here, but when I heard you arguing with whoever it is that you were talking to.  I got a little scared.”

“Everything’s fine Fluttershy, but I need you to come with me.  We’ve gotta talk.  They’re still waiting for us in the living room, so we shouldn’t keep them waiting.  Come on,” I told her, trying to hold back tears.  I knew I was gonna cry at some point during this whole thing, but right then wasn’t the time to start.

We walked back into the living room.  Fluttershy was a little taken back by the sight of the five other ponies and the one goddess sitting in our living room.

“FLUTTERSHY!” Pinkie shouted.  She jumped onto Fluttershy, who started to whimper and hide her face.

“Pinkie, get off of her,” I told her, but she didn’t stop.  “PINKIE, I SAID GET OFF OF HER!” then I pushed her off of Fluttershy.  She fell to the floor, while I was trying to comfort Fluttershy.

“F-Fluttershy, it’s me, Pinkie.  Don’t you remember me?”

“N-No, I don’t,” she said, still in fright after being pounced on by Pinkie.  But then she looked over to Rainbow Dash.  “W-Wait, is that Rainbow Dash?” she asked.  

“Yeah, it’s me Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash.  Glad to see you remember me.  Now, try to remember them as well,” Dash told Fluttershy.  I was confused by Rainbow’s words.  It’s like she knew that if Fluttershy saw her, she would remember everything about her life in Equestria.  I looked to Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, can you remember anything else now?” I asked, but I got no response.  Fluttershy was just staring at Rainbow Dash, not moving a muscle.  “Fluttershy?  Fluttershy!  What’s wrong with her?” I asked the ponies in general, but again, no response.  “WHAT’S HAPPENING TO HER?!”  Celestia was the one to respond.

“She is remembering,” she told me, plain and simple.  I looked back at Fluttershy to see she was moving again.  She shook her head around, as if trying to adjust after becoming dizzy from something.  She rubbed her eyes, then looked around the room with a look of joy on her face.

“GIRLS!” she exclaimed, and before I knew it, all six of the ponies were embracing each other.  They were embracing Fluttershy, my, no, our Fluttershy.  I finally realized after all those years why she could only remember Rainbow.  Rainbow was the… trigger, so to speak.  If Fluttershy saw her, she would remember everything, which was weird because she had seen Rainbow multiple times in the show.  It must’ve had to be the real Rainbow Dash for it to work.  I started to tear up a bit.  Fluttershy had finally been found by her loving friends.

“I remember now, I remember all of you.  I remember my life in Equestria, in Ponyville.  I remember our friendships.  Oh it’s so great to see you all,” she said in excitement.  I was kneeling on the floor, my heart feeling like it was being torn apart.  Did she still remember me now that her memory had been restored?

“Looks like you remembering Rainbow Dash was a good thing after all, huh Fluttershy?” I asked her, trying to get her attention.  She turned around and nodded to me.

“Oh Matthew, isn’t this great!  I can remember everything now.  I even remember how I was sent here,” she said.

“Really, care to share with us, or just me rather?  I’m sure everyone else knows what happened already.”

“Well, Twilight was practicing some new magic that could be used to transport ponies great distances.  I decided to let her test it with my animals.  I was really scared about that, but I let it be anyway.  But, somehow, her magic went out of control, and she blasted me by accident.  I guess something in the magic must have reverted me to age 14, because that’s how old I was when I arrived here.”

The other ponies looked on in confusion.  “Wait a minute.  Did she just say she was 14 years old when she got here?” Applejack asked.  I nodded my head in response.

“I found her in a dumpster on my way to my friend’s house one night.  She was 14 years old when I found her though, I didn’t know why, but I didn’t really care.  But, um, this brings me to my next question.  How long ago was she sent here?”  Celestia looked to Twilight.  Twilight had a concerned look on her face, but the Princess nodded to her.

“About six days ago.  Why do you ask?” she responded.  My mouth flew open.  I shook my head and rubbed my eyes in pure astonishment.  Six days ago she just told me, six days!  That meant one day there meant one YEAR here.

“Well Twilight, it’s been a lot longer than that here on Earth.  It’s actually been about… six years.”  The ponies didn’t seem shocked at all by this though, and the same could be said of even the Princess.  

“We are well aware of the time difference Matthew.  Like I stated earlier, I have been watching the two of you.  You two do indeed love each other very much.  Fluttershy, I have a question to ask you, if you wouldn’t mind?” Celestia said.

“Oh, well, of course not Princess.  What is it?”

“Would you do anything to keep Matthew safe, even if it would cost you your life?”  The question came as a complete shock to Fluttershy, me, and even the other ponies in the room.  That was a really personal question to ask, but something inside of me told me what her answer would be.

“Well, yes I would Princess.  I love Matthew with all of my heart,” she said.

The Princess took a moment to take in what Fluttershy said.  It seemed as though she was a little surprised by her answer.  I knew Fluttershy would stand by me, just like she always said she would.  We all sat in the room for a minute of just silence, except the breathing of the ponies.  Fluttershy broke the silence.

“So, um, what happens now?”  I was looking down at the ground, but my eyes beamed open, and I turned to the Princess.  She seemed rather collected of herself, and I knew what her answer would be.  

“Well, now we will take you home Fluttershy, back to Equestria,” she said, as calm and collective as she looked.  I could feel the tears coming on, but I didn’t want to hold it back.  I started crying like a fountain, which made the other ponies start to cry a bit.  They were going to take her away from me, Fluttershy, the one person that turned my life around.  After about a minute of shedding tears, anger shot through my body.  I was not letting this happen.  I got up and pulled my tomahawk off the plaque it was on and slid out my hidden blade.  I stood in front of Fluttershy, ready to do whatever it took to protect her.

“You are not taking her from me!  She is too important to me, and you’re not taking her just because you think she isn’t where she belongs!”  I was angry, but at the same time I was still shedding tears.  Rainbow Dash jumped in front of me, ready to fight.

“Out of the way buddy!  Fluttershy is coming home with us, and if you don’t like it, too bad!  She’s important to us too you know,” she said to me, trying to keep on the offensive, but I towered over her.  If this went down, I would win.

“Rainbow, you do not want to fight me.  Unless it’s unclear to you, I am more than willing to kill to protect her.  You should know that, right Celestia?  You’ve seen what I’ve done, and believe me I will do it again.”  I spoke the words, but in my head, I just knew I couldn’t, and so did Celestia.

“No, you won’t,” she said back to me.  “You couldn’t handle the fact that Fluttershy witnessed you kill two men in the past, so what makes you think that she will still think good of you for killing her friends?”  She was right, and her words hit me like a wall.  I eased up a bit and turned to look at Fluttershy.  She had started to cry.  I was letting the monster come back again, but this time I wouldn’t be killing scum, but I would be murdering innocent ponies who only wanted to see their friend returned safely home.  I slid my blade back onto the bracer.  In pure rage, I threw my tomahawk at the wall to my left, lodging it deep into the wall.  The ponies could see my anger.  I started to cry again, falling to my knees and slamming the floor with my fists.  I left my head on the floor and continued to cry.  Then, I felt a hoof on my back.  It was Fluttershy.  I looked up into her eyes, those beautiful eyes.  A smile shined through her tears.

“It’s ok Matthew.  This is what has to be done.  I will never forget you, and I will always love you, I promise.  Maybe… maybe someday we will meet again.  I…” she choked up from her crying.  I pulled her in close and we hugged for what felt like an eternity.  I could hear the ponies behind us crying as well.  Pinkie was the most noticeable.  

“I’m not really one for goodbyes Fluttershy, but I just want you to know that I love you too, and I always will.”  I let her go and we shared what we thought would be our last kiss.

She walked over to where Twilight was preparing herself to take them all back to Equestria.  Fluttershy turned to me one last time, but turned away, not able to face me.  I couldn’t blame her.  I let my head hang and closed my eyes, just waiting for them to leave.  But then I thought of something.

“Wait!” I shouted, not a moment too soon.  They all looked at me in shock.  “Take me with you,” I said.  The Princess looked at me with confused eyes.

“I beg your pardon.”

“Let me go with you.  Celestia, you know how important we are to each other.  Don’t split us up like this.”  She looked at me with a serious look.

“I do indeed know how strong the love you share is, but Matthew, you cannot live in our world.  It was not made to house your kind, much like this world isn’t made to house our kind.  I’m sorry but you cannot come with us.”

“This world can’t house your kind?  Celestia, that is bullshit, and you know it.  For six years, this world has housed Fluttershy, and you’ve seen the compassion we share.  You have no valid reason why I can’t live in Equestria, plain and simple.”  I was very stern with her, and I think she knew my words were true.

“Matthew, your presence in our world would cause trouble, you are too…” she started, but I cut her off.

“Too what, Celestia?  Different?  You rule over Equestria, so I think you are well aware that ponies aren’t the only species living there.  There are griffons, moose, zebras, dragons, hell there are spiritual entities in your world.  What’s wrong with me?  Is it because I don’t walk on all fours, I’m too big, I live differently, what is it Celestia?  You’re going to deny me the right to be with the one I love because I’m different?” I gestured for Fluttershy to come to me, and she did.  “Well I’m sorry Celestia, but that shit is not gonna work.”  Fluttershy looked at me with concern.

“Matthew, it’s ok, really.  I don’t mind going back with them,” she said, trying to calm me down.  “Matthew, you live a great life.  You can find some other girl to love.”

“Fluttershy, there is no one else for me, and the only reason I am living this great life of mine is because of you.  Had I not found you in that dumpster that night, I probably would have ended my life by now.  It was a task for me to find happiness in my day to day life.  Not only have I shaped you into who you are now, but you’ve done the same for me.  Fluttershy, I’ve made too many mistakes in my life and done a lot of things I’m not proud of, and I’m not about to make the biggest mistake of them all.”  I stood up in front of Fluttershy, showing that I wasn’t going to let them take her away.

“Celestia, the choice isn’t mine, it’s yours.  You either take both of us back to Equestria, or you can all leave now and just have wasted your time.”  I looked at the Princess, waiting for a response.  She had a big choice to make.

“You could, of course, try to take her by force.  But, in that case, you might as well kill me.  If you don’t I’ll probably do it myself.”  I didn’t say that to make her feel guilty, I just spoke the truth.

“Very well, Matthew.   I will allow you to come with us and live in Equestria,” she responded after about a minute.  Everyone in the room looked at her in shock, including me.

“Princess!” Twilight shouted, “How can you just allow this…” she was hushed by Celestia.

“This man has shown that he would rather die than lose Fluttershy.  I could not live with myself knowing I caused the death of another because I took away something so important to him.  He will come with us, and that is final.”  I was still crying, but I cracked a smile through my tears after she said that.

“Thank you Princess, thank you so…” she raised a hoof, silencing me.

“But let me make myself clear Matthew, should you harm any of my little ponies or cause them any trouble that threatens their lives, I will send you back, and you will never be allowed to return.  Am I understood?”  I could tell she was being serious.  But honestly, I couldn’t blame her.

“You have nothing to worry about Princess.  You have my word, and my everlasting gratitude.”  I bowed to her, accepting her as my new ruler.  I was fine with that.  Anything to be with Fluttershy, who had jumped up onto me to hug and kiss me.  We would be together forever now, in a world I had always dreamed of living in.

“If you wouldn’t mind though, Princess, I would like to take my personal belongings with me.  I have too much to just let go of.”

“Wouldn’t that include your family too?” Twilight asked me.  I hadn’t thought of that.  Her words held a great meaning.  But I knew this was right.

“I know what to do.  But this is too important to me.  They’ll know I’ve moved onto a better place.  Now, if you’ll let Fluttershy and I get out things together, we can be on our way in about half an hour.  Is that a problem?”  Celestia shook her head.

“Take as long as you need,” she told me.

Fluttershy and I gathered anything we couldn’t live without.  I decided that I could at least try to get my laptop and Xbox to work in Equestria, so I packed them, along with every video game I owned at the time.  I packed my iPod, every article of clothing I owned, my Bionicles (told you I wouldn’t let get rid of them), my weapons (no way I was leaving those behind), and pretty much anything else I had in my apartment.  Fluttershy took everything of hers as well, and in about 20 minutes, we were ready to go.  At least, I thought I was ready.  I realized I had forgotten something.

“Hold on, I need to write something down,” I told them.  I was writing a letter goodbye to my family.  My mom was going to be visiting the next day, and she had a key to the place just in case she needed something and I wasn’t home.  She would find the note.  But I needed to leave her something, not just a note.  I then remembered my necklace.  It was a locket from my father who had passed away when I was young.  Inside was a picture of him and me on one side, and a note saying, “I love you Matthew,” on the other.  I had to leave it.  I leaned in and gave it a kiss.

“Love you Dad, watch over Mom for me while I’m gone,” I spoke to the locket.  After double checking everything else, Twilight prepared herself to transport us all to Equestria.  I looked into Fluttershy’s eyes as we were leaving, and she looked back to me.  We smiled at each other, and a blast of light blinded me.

I awoke on a hill, my vision a little misty from the light.  I was lying on my back on the pure green grass.  I looked around, taking in my surroundings.  I got to my feet and turned around to see Fluttershy, her friends, and the Princess.  Behind them, I saw Ponyville.

“Welcome to your new home Matthew,” Fluttershy said to me, smiling all the while.  I smiled back to her.

“Thanks Fluttershy.”  I looked past them all to gaze upon Ponyville.  It was even better in person.  I took in a deep breath and smiled.

I have been living in Equestria for a year now.  As I write in this journal, I am currently sitting on the beach.  Fluttershy is sitting next to me, Twilight is reading a book, Rarity is trying to get a tan (which doesn’t make sense because her fur is always gonna be white), and Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack are playing in the water.  The sun is starting to go down.  We’ve been here for almost the whole day, and I had a lot of time to kill and an empty journal that I wanted to start writing in.  Fluttershy is getting tired, and so am I.  Don’t worry, my story isn’t done yet.  My story is far from over, because as long as I am here, my story will continue.  The story of Fluttershy and me.

Next Chapter: Act 2: The Power of Love Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 32 Minutes