Two days prior to the events of the last few chapters, the day before Brain and Chance ended up in Equestria, the ponies Brain referred to as ‘The Mane Six’ were gathered at Zecora’s house, helping her to gather ingredients for a potion she was working on.  They sat around after a long day of foraging for ingredients and talked about random topics that came to them.

Zecora was curious about the whole story of the monster that had attacked a month prior to this meeting.  Although she had been affected by it, she still didn’t quite understand exactly what happened.  The ponies excitedly told the story of the monster, and how Fluttershy’s bravery helped restore their senses.

They told her about how the monster’s love for a friend he knew long ago helped bring him back to his senses and ended the madness he had caused.  Everypony took their turns explaining their feelings on the whole endeavor.  Some were happy, others were confused.  Fluttershy, on the other hand, had different feelings for the situation.

Eventually the topic drew away from the monster and on to Twilight Sparkle’s brother, Shining Armor, and his wedding that had taken place two months ago.  Everypony happily relayed the disaster that had happened in Canterlot on the day of the wedding, being sure to stress just exactly how much love Princess Cadence and Armor had for one another.  Twilight laughed as the topic brought up the memory of a letter her brother had sent her.

Twilight giggled, “You know, I received a letter from Shining Armor a few days ago.  He told me all about how loving Princess Cadence was, and how wonderful of a wife she was.”

Fluttershy smiled, “Well it’s good that they’re happy together.”

The other ponies in the hut nodded in agreement.  Twilight continued, “He was also telling me about how he feels smothered at times.  She hardly ever leaves him alone, unless he’s at the guards’ watchtower.  He stressed the fact that she’s nothing but loving, but he still feels a bit smothered by her always being around.”

The other ponies looked at each other.  Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders, “Yeah, I can understand that.  It’s nice to get away from certain people at times.”

Applejack chuckled, “Yep, I get what he means.  Sometimes you just gotta get away.”

The mares nodded in agreement, laughing to themselves.  Fluttershy sighed, “I don’t know.  I think it’d be nice to have a gentle, kind stallion that would care for me.  Maybe he could even like animals!”  She smiled.

Rainbow Dash scoffed, “Ha!  You can forget about finding a stallion like that here in Ponyville.”

Rarity added, “None of the would-be mules in this town are worth any self-respecting mare’s company.”

Fluttershy muttered, “It would still be nice…”

Zecora laughed, standing over by a pot of boiling water.  As she placed the day’s ingredients into the pot, she said, “A stallion like that you will find in Ponyville, maybe not.  But such a wonderful dream should not be forgot!”

The ponies looked at her with confused looks.  She simply smiled at them, dropping the last ingredient into the pot.  With a wave of her hoof, steam poured from the pot.  “Ah, the first day’s mixing has been finished.  Farewell to you all, and to see you tomorrow is wished.”  She waved at the door to the hut.

The ponies knew it was best to leave when Zecora said so.  The last time they didn’t, they ended up with some strange after-effects of the aroma that soon filled the hut with each potion she made.  After the ponies had gone on their way down the road back to town, Zecora closed the door and pulled the blinds over the windows.

She pushed the pot of unidentifiable potion to the side of the room, placing an empty pot in its place.  She filled the pot with water, adding a few random ingredients here and there.  She pulled a book of potion recipes from the shelf behind her, and flipped wildly through the pages.  She stopped on one particular recipe.  It was an old recipe, its last known use dating back over five-thousand years.

“For a gentle, kind stallion that will care… Such a wish should not be left in the air.”  As she said this, she added a small lock of pink hair into the water.  The water inside the pot turned a neon-pink color, and images began appearing in the pot.  Zecora watched as random images of strange creatures flashed briefly before fading.  After a few minutes, the images stopped flashing.

The picture displayed was of a strange male creature sleeping, hunched over in a chair, his head lying on some sort of notebook.  He had a small rectangular object beside him and weird things shoved in his ears.  Zecora waited for the picture to change, but raised an eyebrow when it didn’t.  She heard what she assumed was the creature’s voice speaking softly.

“C’mon shooting star, I just need a little muse!  Give me something to work with here!” the voice called.

Zecora let a smile cover her face.  “For a muse he has wished and his heart, it does click.  From his world I will now fish, as per Fluttershy’s pick.”  She poured a small satchel of seeds into the pot, and it flashed bright green one time.  When the light faded, the creature was no longer sitting in the chair asleep.  Instead, all that remained was the small rectangular object and the things that were once in its ears.

“As of tomorrow’s rising moon, that stallion shall make her heart swoon.”  Zecora chuckled slyly as she placed a single red apple into the mixture.  She took a cup from her cupboard and dipped it into the pot.  She gulped down a whole cup of the strange potion.  She cringed at the bitter taste.  “A bitter taste is what I need…This spell will surely succeed.”

With that, Zecora covered the pot with a large iron lid and sat on her bed.  She laid back, a smile on her face.  She thought about what she had just done.  Sure, there could be repercussions in the creature’s world, but at least her friend would be happy.  Perhaps it wouldn’t be too hard for the creature to adjust to his new life.  She decided she would make a potion, just in case he couldn’t adjust on his own.  

She closed her eyes, deciding she would wake up extra early to get started on it.  She wanted to have it finished before her friends arrived to look for more ingredients to the other potion.

At the first signs of sunlight, Zecora jolted awake.  She lifted the lid from the pot of liquid, and then looked once more at her recipe book.  It didn’t take long for her to find the recipe for her next potion.  Building on from the potion she made the night before, all she needed was to add a few fruits and vegetables to the mix to bring about a balanced sweet-sour taste.  Once the taste was reached, the potion was ready.  All Zecora would need is for one of the two ponies to drink the potion.

At around noon, the potion was ready and cooled.  She filled six cups with the potion.  For five of her intended consumers, the potion would simply be a sweet treat to wake them up.  For Fluttershy, however, the potion would fill her heart with a yearning for a stallion.  It would be a stallion she knew, but she wouldn’t know who she liked…  Not until the night’s moon lifted into the sky.

The day played out just fine, on Zecora’s part.  Her friends arrived, and they happily drank the concoction.  Fluttershy immediately felt the effects, but she decided not to say anything.  She felt a strange feeling of love inside of her…but she didn’t know who it was for.  After a day of scavenging for ingredients and helping Zecora make her potion, the ponies decided to head back to town.

Zecora caught Fluttershy before she could leave.  “Dear Fluttershy, is it true what I’ve been told?  Is there a new stallion in town, one that is not too old?”

Fluttershy happily said, “Yeah, there sure is!  His name is Brain.  For a full-grown stallion, he sure does seem a bit…uncoordinated.”

Zecora smiled, “I’ve also heard that he is searching for his way home…  Maybe you should invite him into your own.”

Fluttershy blushed at the mention of it, “Why would I do that?”

“Because, silly pony, perhaps he is very lonely…”  Zecora turned her head to the side, avoiding Fluttershy’s gaze.

“I guess it would be polite.  Maybe if he feels welcome around here he won’t be so homesick?”  Fluttershy thought about it for a minute, and then nodded her head.  She turned to leave the hut and catch up to her friends.

Zecora’s eyes glistened in the sunlight.  She mumbled to herself, “Your hearts, minds, and souls simply clicked, so from his world he was picked…”  She headed back into the hut, proud of her handiwork.  As soon as the moon settled high in the sky, the potion would take a hold of both Brain and Fluttershy.

The only problem was, Brain’s ambition to get home might make him immune to the potion’s effects.  It wouldn’t be until he reached his destination that he would realize his feelings for Fluttershy.  Even so, he would definitely feel them.  The sooner he found his way home, the sooner he would return to her side.

……

It was nearly two in the morning when Fluttershy felt a strong tugging in her chest.  It was as if her heart was telling her to go somewhere.  She rolled out of her bed and headed downstairs to see if Brain was awake.  She had a horrible urge to talk to him.  

As the two talked to one another, a strange feeling grew inside of her.  For some reason she couldn’t understand, she felt a longing to be with him.  Before long, the feeling was too much for her.  Cutting Brain off in the middle of a sentence, she leaped up and planted kiss right on his lips.

The two lay together the rest of the night in one another’s warm embrace.

……

Zecora smiled as she the pot of potion bubbled eagerly beside her.  She knew that it had taken its hold on both of the intended targets.  The moment Brain found his answer he would begin feeling the urge to be with Fluttershy.  And the farther the two separated, the stronger Fluttershy’s feelings would become.

“You are either a love-building queen, or a heart-breaking demon, so it would seem.”  Zecora sighed to herself as a smile stretched across her face.  The potion would either ensure neither of its targets could be happy alone, or that they would be happy together forever.

……

The moon in the sky complimented the blue glow emanating from the temple in the distance.  Brain sighed as he pondered the empty feeling in his gut.