Fluttershy and Me: Remastered

by BioBoy619

First published 10th of March, 2013

Love is a strong thing. For Matthew, the love of one little pony is more than enough to keep him going in his life. This is his story.

Matthew was living an average life, just like any other teenage guy. Then came the day that he stumbled upon his favorite pony, Fluttershy. What starts as a simple friendship between two extremely different people blossoms into true love. Matthew's dull, normal life will be turned upside-down, and he'll discover just how powerful love can truly be. This is Matthew's story. The story of Fluttershy and him.

Welcome to the remastered Fluttershy and Me! If you loved the original, then you're in for a treat!

Inspired by My Little Dashie, the Sequel, the Threequel, and Fourth Times the Charm, by ROBCakeran53, ty500600, EpicBG, and PonyManne215 respectively.

If you enjoy this story, be sure to check out Fluttershy and Me: Tortured Love and Fluttershy and Me: Without You, the alternate reality stories of the original Fluttershy and Me, which you can find here.

I take no credit for the cover art.

Act 1: Chapter 1

My life was nothing short of the most boring life in existence. Okay, maybe that’s a bit much. I shouldn’t say the most boring life in existence, but it was pretty damn boring. It was depressing how boring it was. Bah, look at me, I’m already getting ahead of myself.

Let’s start over. Okay, so I guess it’d be very unfair of me to say my life was nothing but misery and boredom. I lived a basic lifestyle, like every other senior in high school… for the most part. I had a family that loved me and friends that adored me, so it’s not like I was lonely or anything. My girlfriend status was, sadly, single. No one to love, unfortunately, but that didn’t bother me much.

Usually, after my days at school, I would just go home and play video games or listen to music. Assassin’s Creed and rock and roll every day baby! In other cases, I would stay after school for drama or musical rehearsals. Those were often some of the liveliest times of my life. If none of that was happening, I’d be either be hanging out with my friends, or watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Yeah, I’m a brony. Deal with it.

So, you’re probably wondering why the fuck I thought my life was so craptacularly messed up in my eyes. Well, I guess you could say I suffered from an unwanted, but very enlightening epiphany. At some point in the middle of my junior year, I realized that life was, quite simply, nothing but work.

Allow me to explain. From the moment you are born into the world, you have to work. You may not realize it fully, but you are working. As a baby, you work to grow up. In elementary and high school, you work to get good grades and to mature yourself. In college, you work to prepare yourself for the harsh realities of the real world. And, in that cruel real world, you work just to sustain yourself in a seemingly hopeless attempt to make your life worth something.

Work! That’s all it is! And that’s bullshit! Once I came to this realization, I drove myself down a dangerous path. My life was driven into the “same shit, different day” scenario, and not at all in a good way. But, it wasn’t bad enough to drive myself into depression. I wasn’t cutting myself just for attention, or hoping to end my life because I had a different outlook on the world. I just wasn’t really happy anymore. The times I spent with my friends often cheered me up, as we always did crazy, ridiculous things.

And, if not my friends, or my drama and musical rehearsals at school, or the copious amount of hours spent on video games and music, my greatest source of happiness in my life was My Little Pony. Every single time I watched that show, I smiled and laughed and enjoyed myself. It was almost painful to watch that show, beautiful as it was. I began to dream of waking up in that world; seeing the bright colors around me, and seeing the bright, cheerful faces of the ponies.

Especially Fluttershy. She was my favorite. I loved her to pieces! She was just so adorable and innocent and cute! It drove me insane sometimes how badly I wanted to just cuddle with her. I had actually bought for myself a Fluttershy plushie. My mother and sister didn’t judge me. They were actually accepting of the fact I liked the show. At night, I would hold that Fluttershy so closely and tightly that it seemed like the head might pop off at any moment.

If only it could have been the real Fluttershy. That was my greatest wish. To be able to be with the real Fluttershy.

And, one Friday night, I got my wish.

It was a normal Friday. Fridays were like blessings in disguise. Fridays meant that the dreadful week was finally over, and that the glorious weekend had arrived! Two beautiful days of nothing but dicking around with my pals! Being a senior and having a license was awesome! So, as the final bell of the day rang, I made my way to my locker, told my pals I’d meet up with them over the weekend, and made my way to my car. I drove home, eager to throw my backpack onto the floor and just drop dead in my bed for a while. I’d listen to some music and maybe play some Assassin’s Creed.

I was close to home. I was only a few blocks away. But, as I turned the corner onto my block, something big caught my eye. And I mean that literally. A dumpster had been placed on my block next to one of the houses. Luckily, my street was wide enough for it, otherwise, a lot of people would’ve been quite pissed off. The only reason this thing caught my eye as much as it did was because it wasn’t there in the morning. But, really, it was nothing. I thought nothing of it as I pulled into my driveway and headed inside.

Friday also meant another thing. Typical teenage white boy behavior here, but Fridays meant pizza! Usually, when my mom got home from work at five, she’d have two or three slices for me. I always loved that. And on this night, I was actually going to head over to my best friend’s house. Thankfully for me, my best buddy lived relatively close to me. So, I could walk to his place.

However, this made me realize something, as I was deep into a replay of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. I’d have to walk past that goddamn dumpster. I didn’t know what it was, but that dumpster wouldn’t get out of my mind. I rubbed it off with some good ol’ Crown the Empire, followed by some classical Disturbed. My music was the one thing that could get my mind off of anything, the entire world if need be.

I soon heard my mother pull up in the driveway, and I could almost smell the pizza. I met her at the door and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. We exchanged a short conversation, and soon enough, I was devouring my pizza, while drinking a (not so) healthy glass of iced tea. The perfect combination. Some may argue soda (I prefer ginger ale), but I’d grown attached to the pizza/iced tea combo.

My mother told me she’d be out all night with some of her friends, and that I could have my buddy over if I wanted. We usually opted to stay at his place, but on occasion, we’d chill at my house. I nodded to my mom as I headed into the TV room and sat down with my food.

As I finished up, I took my dishes into the kitchen, put them in the dishwasher, and threw on my hoodie. It was chilly that day, just as February nights tended to be. My mom protested for me to put on a coat, but I said ‘nah.’ She rolled her eyes at me as I laughed and headed out the door, saying goodbye, of course.

I popped in my headphones and turned on some Nine Lashes as I made my way down the block. I listened to one of their softer songs, but my enjoyment was quickly interrupted as I passed by the dumpster. I stopped for a moment next to it, pausing my music and removing my headphones. My eyes began to scan over it. There was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just an ordinary dumpster. I shrugged and continued on my way.

And then I heard a soft whining.

I stopped in my tracks and looked around. I thought maybe someone was nearby walking a dog, but there was no one in sight. My gaze returned to the dumpster. I raised a curious eyebrow, but shook my head and continued on my way.

And then I heard it again.

Now I was getting peeved. Where was it coming from?! I had to know! My curiosity got the better of me, as I hastily stomped over to the dumpster. I peered inside and saw nothing but a few pieces of run down furniture and a bunch of dumb old knick-knacks. I started to think maybe there was a little squirrel in there or something. But then I realized how stupid that sounded. Squirrels don’t whine.

And that’s when I saw it.

It looked like a few strands of hair. They were pink. And then, I saw the color of cream-like yellow. It looked like fur all over this creature’s body. And that’s when… I saw it move. It was breathing, and shivering, from the looks of it.

I had no idea what the hell it was… no, that’s a lie. I knew exactly what this was. I just didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t believe it. But, I slowly began to accept the fact for what this thing was. But, a part of me still couldn’t believe it. There was absolutely no way on Earth that this could be here. No way that she could be here.

In that dumpster, buried beneath all the unwanted junk and trash of some random family on my block, was Fluttershy.

To say I was surprised to see her here would be an understatement. I hadn’t the slightest clue why she was here. But, weirdly enough, that thought didn’t cross my mind at the time. What I was thinking about was how furiously she was shivering. No doubt, she was cold from the brisk air of the night. I had to get her somewhere warm. But first, I had to get her out of there. So, I had to start somewhere.

“H-Hi there,” I softly spoke to her.

In the blink of an eye, her head shot up, and her eyes spread wide open. She looked at me in pure fear. Just as quickly as her head had gone up, it went back down, huddled beneath her forelegs. She was whimpering. I was trying to suppress my brony urges, but she was so damn cute and adorable!

I continued to press on.

“Hey, it’s alright. I just want to help you,” I said. She whined again, almost making me cry.

“P-P-Please don’t hurt me…” she whimpered. My heart was melting. No, it had already melted, even in the chilling cold of the night. I just knew it.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise,” I said, sounding as reassuring as humanly possible. “You’re cold, aren’t you?” I asked. I saw her head nod a bit. I was about to continue, when I heard a car down the road. It was my mother. She was already headed out. Perfect timing.

I looked back to Fluttershy.

“Why don’t we get you out of there? It’s only going to get colder tonight. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” I saw her look up, and I reached a hand in towards her. She jerked back a bit, no doubt still scared out of her mind.

But, shortly after, she began to inch forward towards me. She managed to get all the junk off of her, revealing her entire self to me (no, not like that you fucking creeps!). I didn’t really have any premonition of how she might look in real life, but let me just say that she was as beautiful as you can imagine! What was weird though was that she looked younger than she normally does in the show, perhaps about as old as she was in episode twenty-three of My Little Pony season one. She was even barren of her cutie mark.

But honestly, that wasn’t important at the moment. What mattered was me getting her inside and out of the cold. Luckily, my sister was away at college, so I would have the house to myself. It would be tough to hide Fluttershy and keep her secret, but I’d manage it.

My hand was still reaching out towards her. She seemed so nervous, but soon enough, she placed a hoof in my palm. She was so soft, it was like I was touching a cloud. I pulled her out of the dumpster and held her in my arms. She struggled a bit, so I put her on the ground. She shivered some more, so I quickly removed my hoodie and wrapped her up in it. Then, I picked her up and caressed her in my arms. Again, she struggled a bit, but she quickly relaxed and curled up in my embrace. You can’t even comprehend how hard I was trying not to scream out like a little girl in pure joy.

I then looked around to make sure no one had seen anything. I was in the clear, so I quickly headed back home, Fluttershy resting peacefully in my arms.

There were a lot of things on my mind in that moment. But, as she rested her chin on my arm, all of those things didn’t seem to matter. I looked down at her for a moment and felt a warmth spread through my body. It was something I hadn’t felt in a long time, and I began to wonder what I had just gotten myself into.

Author's Notes:

Welcome, everyone, to the beginning of the Remastered Fluttershy and Me! I'm going to try to keep these author's notes things to a minimum. Feel free to comment with your opinions on the story! Also, maybe help me out by pointing out some errors I may have made! I want this remastered story to be perfect!

Act 1: Chapter 2

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 hoodie to cover Fluttershy. It was relieving to know my mother wasn’t going to be home all night. This was going to be quite a task, hiding Fluttershy and all. I figured I could pass her off as my plushie… once I got rid of it, that is.

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, and she certainly didn’t know who I was. Hell, I found her in a fucking dumpster! How had she gotten here? Why was she here?! Nothing I could think of made sense. So, in an effort to comfort her, I knelt down beside her and brushed her mane 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’m not going to break that promise. I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you. You can trust me.” My words definitely worked in comforting her. She stopped crying and leaned her head onto my chest. I continued to brush her mane with my hand.

She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Her innocence was pure, she was downright adorable, and she was flat-out cute. 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 deny 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 hoodie in the house during the winter. I always had the hood on 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 found myself staring at her. I think she was getting a little embarrassed by this though, 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, anyway.

“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. Too creepy for her.

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

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Just speak a bit louder. You don’t have 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 wanted so badly to just squeal at the top of my lungs in that moment. My brony emotions were in high gear, but now was certainly not the time for that.

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 of my life. You may think that sounds a little over dramatic; that this moment is a little too serious or maybe even a little 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 twenty-three, but I started to think that she was a little younger than me, maybe by about three years. I was seventeen at that time, so I figured she was about fourteen. 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 fourteen 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. What actually surprised me a bit more was how spot on I was with guessing her age. Go me!

I continued by asking if she remembered where she was from. She couldn’t answer that either. I knew, of course. Equestria. A world I could only dream of living 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 nine thirty 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’m a human. I’m, uh, a male, and I’m seventeen 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.” I sort of figured she wasn’t a great flyer, but I was surprised to see that she knew it too. Hell, I was surprised to see she knew what she was. Although, then again, maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised by that. Stupid me.
“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 eleven, I had become so attached to Fluttershy, and I think the same could be said of her. I was more attached to her than I ever was just watching her on TV. 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 honestly, 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, since 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.

Act 1: Chapter 3

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, rubbing her eyes with her hooves.

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

“I had the most wonderful dream. You were in it, actually,” she said. This came as a bit of a shock to me. We had only met last night, but for some reason I was in her dreams. Weird, right?

“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, but I can’t seem to remember. I know you were there though. I think… I was flying. And then, you appeared on the ground. You smiling and waving to me. At least, I think that’s what it was. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I can barely ever remember my dreams, no matter how hard I try sometimes.” She perked up and smiled 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 and we’ll stay here for a while, okay?” 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 ten thirty 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 quite 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, don’t worry about asking if it’s okay for you to do something. 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 sound like she was annoying. I walked over to her with the box of cereal (for those of you wondering, it was Reese’s Puffs) with a bowl. I set the bowl down, but before I actually poured the cereal in, I thought about whether or not Fluttershy would be able to eat the cereal.

“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 I’m not sure if it’ll agree with your body. 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 remembered that I had waffles and pancakes in stock. I figured one of those must have been alright.

“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. She was especially intrigued by the pictures of myself with my family. She asked me some questions about the people I was with. I told her they were my family members, and that they all very special to me. She smiled at that, which I liked seeing.

I then took her upstairs, telling her where my mother and sisters rooms were. As I said before, 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 video game, comics, and music, because my room was stocked with so much shit from all three categories. I had a figure from every Assassin’s Creed game, a replica of Ezio’s hidden blade, and a replica of Connor’s tomahawk. I had a ton of posters from my favorite bands, Marvel, and Assassin’s Creed. Along with all that, I had 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’ve gone 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 America flag I had from Assassin’s Creed 3. 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 aback by all the things I had in my room. She at one point just flat out asked me what Assassin's Creed was.

“It’s a video game franchise. My favorite, actually. Video games are like, well, how to put it? They’re games that you can play… with… Wow, I never actually realized how seemingly difficult it is to describe what video games are. 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, um, would it be alright if we slept here from now on?” she asked me, smiling shyly. I chuckled.

“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 fourteen 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.” She seemed to understand and nodded her head in response.

I was actually quite lucky. My Fluttershy plushie was buried underneath my covers. I told myself that I had to put it in my closet or something at some point. Then, I just got to thinking that I could just get rid of it. I didn’t need it anymore. I had the real Fluttershy with me now.

“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, even though cleaning her mane was a bit of a pain. But then again, it was actually very enjoyable. Her mane was incredible to run my hand through. And her fur was so soft. It was as if I was running my hands over the surface of water. As I was cleaning her up, she kept smiling at me, and I was always smiling back at her.

And then, as I was drying her off, Fluttershy did something completely unexpected. She looked into my eyes for a moment, and soon after, she was hugging me. I was totally surprised at first, but I quickly returned the hug. And that was the moment that we officially started our relationship.

Act 1: Chapter 4

The rest of Saturday was… interesting, to say the least. I had to keep Fluttershy completely hidden from my mother. I practically had to stay in the basement the whole day, and when I’d bring down ludicrous amounts of food, I’d say to my mom that I had a hankering for food. Look out world, you’ve got a mastermind on your hands!

But aside from the nightmare that was keeping Fluttershy a secret, I managed to get through the day. It kind of sucked too. I had to turn down some calls from my friends to hang out, and when I had to eat dinner, I felt guilty for leaving Fluttershy alone for as long as I did (twenty minutes, but still!). Soon enough though, the day came to an end, and it was bed time!

Just like I promised, Fluttershy and I slept in my bed that night. Thank the good lawd (yes, I just wrote that) we did too. I had never really slept in my basement before, and after doing it once, I can wholly say I would never do it again. It made me ache and stuff. Fluttershy was fine, but she really liked my bed. As did I!

Getting to my room wasn’t difficult. My mother was already asleep by the time I went to bed. Again, thank the good lawd! I’m going to stop doing that now. Heh. Anyway, I took Fluttershy up to my room from the basement. I placed her on my bed and told her I would return shortly. I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth before returning to my room.

When I had reentered, dressed in some colorful Marvel pajama pants, I found Fluttershy flipping through one of my comic books. From the look of it, it was my Civil War comic (the Marvel heroes Civil War, duh). I smiled as I hung up my towel.

“Wutcha reading there?” I asked warmly, walking over to the bed. I guess she was so lost in the book, because as I sat down on my bed, she jumped a little and closed the book.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to snoop!” she squeaked. I laughed and took the book.

“Don’t be sorry. This is a great comic book. Want me to read it to you?” I asked. From behind her hair, I saw her smile, and she nodded. I put the book down on my night table for a moment as I tucked her in. Then, I joined her under the warmth and comfort of my sheets and blanket. Getting comfortable, I picked up the book and again and opened it. “Did you start from the beginning?” I asked.

“N-No. I sort of just… opened it. The characters just looked really nice. Some of them scared me though,” she told me. I nodded and began to imagine her seeing Venom for the short moments that he’s in the book.

“Well, why don’t we start from the beginning, huh?” She nodded as I turned to the first page. I started to read aloud what was happening on the pages. I tried as best as I could to do different voices for each of the characters. My female voice wasn’t that strong. And that’s saying something, considering I’m an actor. I could practically read it without looking, I had read the book so many times. Civil War was, and still is my favorite Marvel event story.

Fluttershy would continuously stop me and ask questions about who some of the characters were or what was going on. I could tell her most of what was happening and who most of the characters were. Some characters I barely knew, some I knew to an acceptable degree, and some I knew too much about. I was more than happy to explain what I could to her though. I loved talking about comics!

I’m a geek. Deal with it.

We got about halfway through the story before I found Fluttershy nuzzling my arm. I looked away from the book to see her half asleep, breathing gently as she looked at the book.

“Is it over?” she asked, looking up at me. I smiled.

“Well, no. We’ve got three more comics to go before the story ends. But you look tired. Do you want to go to sleep?” I asked. She shook her head.

“No. Could you please keep reading?” I nodded and continued on. Never had reading through this book been so enjoyable and fun before. I never really had a reason to read aloud before, but it wasn’t even that. I was reading a comic book to someone. Er, somepony, to be precise. And Fluttershy was enjoying every moment of the story. This was one read-through I was not going to forget anytime soon. And honestly, every time I read through Civil War, I would find a new reason to love it. Once again, I had found a reason to love this book.

As I closed the back cover of the book, completing the story, I looked down at Fluttershy with a tender smile. She looked up at me with a disappointed frown.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my smile fading slightly.

“Does it have to be over? I want to read more,” she said softly. It seemed like she might cry a bit. My smile spread farther along my face.

“Heh, don’t worry, I’ve got tons of books. We can read all you want,” I reassured her, running my hand through her mane. She cooed lightly and smiled at me. I looked at the clock, and it read only ten thirty. I looked back at Fluttershy, holding up the book. “Want to read more now?” I asked.

“Oh yes, please!” she beamed. It was actually endearing to see how passionately Fluttershy wanted to keep reading. I was so excited! I had found somepony who loved comics almost as much as me! And she had only read one book!

“Wait, before we continue, who was your favorite?!” I quickly asked her.

“Oh, um… I don’t know. Maybe Spider-Man. I really liked him! He seemed so sincere and talented,” she told me. My heart sored all the way to Venus as she said that! We shared a favorite hero!

And who says life ain’t good?!

“Okay, another question! Would you like to read another big event comic like this, or some books specifically involving Spider-Man?” The question almost seemed like too much for Fluttershy to handle. I chuckled as she pondered which to choose.

“Well, what do you want?” she asked. I laughed and got up from my bed, to her slight surprise. I ran over to my shelf and picked out a Spider-Man book. It was almost too difficult of a choice. I chose the Spider-Man book that got me started on Spidey. It was Brand New Day Volume One. Yes, the book is quite controversial, but, it’s a perfect starting point for those who haven’t read anything prior. That was my case.

I jumped back into bed, Fluttershy giggling at me as I eagerly opened the book. She could tell just how ecstatic I was to get reading. I wrapped an arm around her and started reading the book to her.

Pure bliss!

About an hour later, we were on Volume Three of Brand New Day. We were both getting tired, but we were determined to complete the trilogy of Spider-Man books before going to bed. But, by the time we started the book, Fluttershy had herself wrapped around me in a warm hug. I had my arm around her neck, holding her close. It took a bit for me to realize this. We had just gotten this way without even realizing it.

But, as I finally closed the back cover of the book, Fluttershy was fast asleep, smiling all the while. I gently got out of bed, put the book back on my shelf, turned off the light, and crept back in to cuddle with her. She was still asleep as I whispered to her.

“Goodnight, Fluttershy.” She nuzzled me as I wrapped an arm around her. I store up to my ceiling for a moment. Only one thought came to mind.

It was just the two of us. Together. It was just Fluttershy and me.

Act 1: Chapter 5

As you can tell, I was already off to a great start with Fluttershy. Sunday was more of the same; Fluttershy and I just hiding in the basement all day from my family and friends. Honestly, I could have cared a whole lot less about that. As I spent more time with Fluttershy, she started to open up more to me. She became less nervous around me, starting to ask for things without hesitation. Mostly she just asked for something to drink or eat, but I was happy to oblige.

I did a bit of research on what I could feed her. But, as I continued my research, I began to wonder if the biology of and Equestrian pony was the same as an Earth horse. I decided to play it safe, while at the same time taking some chances. And wouldn’t you know it, everything worked out fine!

Sunday night was just the same as Saturday night. Fluttershy and I were just sitting in my bed, reading comics quietly. We read one more Spider-Man book before I introduced Fluttershy to the Dark Knight himself, Batman. She didn’t like him as much.

I was thoroughly disappointed…

But, beggars can’t be choosers… as it were. We stuck to Spider-Man for the night. As Fluttershy fell asleep, I turned off the lights and fell asleep with her in my arms once again. However, all throughout the day, up until the moment I went off into dreamland, something had been nagging at my mind. I just couldn’t quite place it.

It hit me when my alarm went off the next morning.

From my phone, the song “Johnny’s Revenge,” by Crown the Empire was playing. The song begins with a demonic, carnival-like laughing. Fluttershy awoke with a fearful squeak. Through this, I woke up with the frightened mare with a jolt. I quickly calmed her down, rubbing her mane and holding her in my arms. I assured her that everything was fine. I looked to my phone and quickly turned off the hard rock music that was emanating from it. And then I remembered.

I fell back in bed, groaning in annoyance as I face-palmed myself. I looked at my clock, which read “6:45.” I then turned to Fluttershy, looking completely pissed off with the current situation. She was still shaking a bit as I regulated my face to a more relaxed look.

“W-What was that?!” she asked, lying down with me.

“It was my alarm. Sorry about that. Ugh!” I completely forgot that I had school today. I was so caught up in Fluttershy and that I had forgotten that I was a high school teenager. I hated being a high school teenager. It kinda blows.

“W-Why did it go off?” Fluttershy asked me, having finally calmed down. She had made her way under my arm, seeking comfort from me, which I was more than willing to provide.

“I have to go to school today…” I answered. I let out another agonizing moan. “Shit!” I bluntly stated. I could tell that my condition was frightening Fluttershy, so I regulated myself and calmed down. “I’m sorry about that alarm. And I’m really sorry that I’m going to have to leave you home alone today, Fluttershy.” It nearly killed me to utter those words.

“What? Why? Can’t I come with you?” I almost cried as she said that.

“Fluttershy, I’d love to take you with me to school, truly! But, considering you’re a pony, who talks and flies… sort of… I don’t think many people would be understanding as to why you were at my school. They might freak out, you know? I’m really sorry.” I sat up in bed and wiped my eyes. I stood up and stretched, soliciting a few cracks from my neck.

“Oh… okay,” Fluttershy muttered, her sadness quite apparent. I turned around and looked into her eyes. It seemed like she was about to cry, but I wasn’t going to let that happen. I wrapped her up in a warm hug, holding her close, yet not too tightly.

“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll only be gone for a few hours. I’ll be back at about three fifteen. That’s not so bad, right?” I said, trying to sound as reassuring as I could. She worked up a weak smile and nodded as we released our hug. I went to the bathroom, bringing some clothes with me so I could get dressed. I took my morning piss, got dressed, worked my hair as I normally did for the school week, and reentered my room.

I brought Fluttershy downstairs, seeing as though my mother had already left for work. We had what was now our usual breakfast, eating a little quicker this morning. After we ate, I quickly brushed my teeth and brought Fluttershy downstairs, bringing along some snacks for her.

My plan was for her to stay in the basement all day, basically. I set her up with her favorite TV channel, which was Nickelodeon. I told her how to change the channel if she wanted, warning her to steer clear of the Hub Network (for obvious reasons). I didn’t need to deal with that right now. That would come when the time was right, I figured. I had set her up with tons of snacks that she enjoyed, and I even showed her how to play some of my music on my computer.

“Dough-try?” she questioned, as I showed her some of the music on my laptop. I laughed as she said that.

“Daughtry,” I corrected her. “Their music is pretty good. You’ll enjoy them, I know it. They’re not like what you heard this morning. That was Crown the Empire. If you want, you can venture to listen to some of their stuff, but you may not like it as much as I do. Stick to Daughtry, Theory of a Deadman, Nine Lashes, and maybe even some Red and A Day to Remember. These are just recommendations.”

I figured I might as well introduce Fluttershy to some amazing music. I wasn’t going to taint her mind with the garbage that is mainstream music. To hell with that bullshit. I told her anything I figured was vital for her “survival” for the day. I knelt down in front of her and ran my hand through her mane as I often did. She smiled at me happily.

Just before I was able to leave though, she grabbed me in another hug, keeping me on my knees. I of course returned the hug, not wanting to let go. I fought to hold on to that hug, but unfortunately, I had to let go. I ran my hand through Fluttershy’s mane once more before I turned to walk upstairs and out the door. During the drive to school, my mind thought of nothing but Fluttershy.

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 seventh period's end. As soon as it rang, I jumped out of my seat, ran to my locker, got my things, and drove home.

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

“Hey Fluttershy! It’s me, Matt! I’m home! Where are you?” 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, for Verizon users. I think I knew what she was watching.

“Was it the Walking Dead?” I asked her. She nodded, her tears starting to dissipate. “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, at the time, I did actually believe that someday the zombies would rise. Hey, call me a crazy weirdo, I don’t care. A zombie apocalypse would be pretty cool.

“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 and took a step back as 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 jumped up and actually starting to fly a bit. But, I’m such a terrible flyer 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 got spooked and had a little accident, that’s all. If anything, I should be apologizing for not being here. But, hey, 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 those,” 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 quickly.

I don’t know why, but Fluttershy seemed a bit more, well, outgoing and open than she was in the show. She seemed more confident in herself. She was of course still very shy and kept worrying about little things, but like I said, she just had more confidence. I narrowed it down to me just being who I was. That may sound weird, depending on how you’ve been depicting me thus far, but Fluttershy had changed me, even though we had only known each other for about a week. And, I think I was changing her.

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 time I had to stay 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.

Act 1: Chapter 6

There’s a reason God created the season of summer. Want to know what that reason is? I would love to tell you, but that would be a very long and drawn out explanation, beginning with me telling you that God didn’t create summer, but rather, it was just a seasonal happening that occurred sometime during the earliest development of our planet. You don’t really want to hear that, do you? Instead, I’ll give you my viewpoint of what summer truly is.

Absolute freedom!

Summer had finally arrived! It was a true gift, summer. The ability to do whatever one could imagine (within the limits of reality and physics, I suppose). There was no more homework, no more school, no more shitty teachers, and just no more bullshit in general. I was free to be with my friends and family for three whole months before heading off to college. And the best part about that was that I was actually staying home!

Actually, I truly intended to stay away at school. But, once I found Fluttershy, that all changed. I wasn’t so sure about bringing her with me to college, for a few reasons. For one, where the hell would she stay? My mom wouldn’t pay for me to have a single room for myself. Plus, keeping Fluttershy hidden in general would just be an improbable feet.

So, considering I hadn’t actually made my final decision, I chose one of the schools by where I lived. It actually turned out the school of my choice had everything I was looking for! I would be working with one of the better acting programs of my country, which pleased me greatly! But the icing on the cake was that I wouldn’t have to leave Fluttershy behind!

Why am I babbling like a ninny about all this shit that you probably don’t care about? You want to hear about Fluttershy! Well, come summer, I had been with Fluttershy for about four and a half months now. Being with her was a total blast! I had gotten her so invested in comics that it was insane! I introduced her to a ton of musical groups, showed her tons of movies, and just got her up to speed with how things worked here on Earth. She assimilated pretty easily to everything, actually.

Two of the more memorable days we had before summer had arrived were my eighteenth birthday and my actual graduation. For both events, I celebrated with my friends and family. But afterwards, I would always celebrate with just Fluttershy. Those were some of the most romantic moments we shared. On my birthday, we shared some cake while listening to some Daughtry. They were Fluttershy’s favorite band (my favorite band is always up in the air). It was such a simple evening, but it was somehow so much more fun than the time I had spent with my friends and family.

I think my graduation was even more intense though. That was mostly spent with my family, as most of my friends were busy celebrating with their families. That night, Fluttershy and I just ate pizza, drank some soda and iced tea, and danced together in the basement. Some of my music actually allows for some dancing, believe it or not. At the time, that was the greatest moment we had shared together. It was just so perfect.

However, now that the summer had arrived, some days, I had to work. I actually worked as a lifeguard, and my schedule wasn’t too packed. But, as usual, I just felt shitty leaving Fluttershy alone at home. She got used to it easily, as she had with me going to school. And every night, once I returned home from work, we would greet each other with a huge hug. Those were always nice.

But, as time went by, two things become more and more apparent to me. First of all, Fluttershy still didn’t have her cutie mark. There wasn’t much I could do about that. For her to get it, she would have to talk to some animals, and I didn’t have an active supply of those in my home. Secondly, I began to notice more and more that Fluttershy would sometimes stare out the windows either in my room or in the basement. For the four months that I had been with her, she hadn’t once stepped hoof out of my house. And I, in good conscience, could not keep her here for the rest of her life…

That’s funny. At the time, I was so naïve about thinking I’d be with her for the rest of my life. I completely blocked out the thoughts of her being taken away from me. I didn’t think about the day that she would be taken back to Equestria. I just didn’t think it was going to happen.

With all such thoughts absent from my mind, one day in July, I decided I was going to finally change some things. Fluttershy and I woke up from out slumber. Thankfully, both my sister and mother had work today, so they were not home. And, just as luckily, I didn’t have work either! I was care free!

Today, I planned to take Fluttershy out to the field of my old elementary school. It was a vast open space, with birds flying all around. That was something else I meant to help Fluttershy with; flying. As for getting her to the field without people noticing her, that was a completely different task. Fluttershy was still small enough for me to be able to pack in one of my duffle bags. I hated the idea of it, but it worked.

As Fluttershy and I arrived at the school, I got out of my car and gently lifted the bag onto my shoulder. I walked over to one the corners of the fenced field. Luckily for us, there was no one else present during the day. Likewise, there was a perfect amount of shade to cover us from both peering eyes and the searing heat of the sun (thankfully, it wasn’t terribly hot on this day).

Letting Fluttershy out of the bag, she began to look around and admire all that her eyes could take in. She was enamored by all the colors, the smell of the fresh and crisp summer, and the chirping of the different birds hovering overhead. Her eyes were beaming with joy.

“Oh Matthew, it’s beautiful out here!” she said, elated to be out of the house at last.

“Isn’t it?” I remarked, sitting down under the shade. “Summer is one of the best times of the year. Provided one can get over the heat, which at times can be quite brutal. Other times, like today, the sun can be quite pleasant. I remember days when I was only about ten years old when I’d be on this field all the time, playing with my friends. We would imagine the craziest things to do.” Fluttershy sat down next to me and tucked herself under my arm.

“What kind of games did you play?” she asked curiously. I smiled.

“Well, most often, we would pretend we were all sorts of different heroes of villains. We would get so much inspiration from TV, it was almost laughable. We would ride our bikes everywhere too. Man…” I stopped myself, almost bringing myself to cry. Fluttershy must have noticed, for she started to hug me.

“It sounds like you had a fun childhood, Matthew.”

“I really did. I miss those days.” I looked up to the sky through my sunglasses and smiled contently. I watched as some of the birds hovered above us. Soon enough, a small flock of them had gathered over us. I had not the slightest clue as to what brought them to us, until I notice Fluttershy humming softly as she rested under my arm. She was humming a sweet little tune that I hadn’t heard her sing before. It was so beautiful, and it seemed as though the birds really enjoyed it too.

I nudged her to open her eyes and showed her the crowd she had attracted. She looked up in amazement and smiled gleefully. She stood up and continued humming her tune. The birds began to fly around her, some of them even copying her song. And then, Fluttershy started to actually sing. I felt my heart literally melting into a pile of mush in my chest. Her voice was absolutely, positively, without question, the most beautiful voice I had heard in all my life!

And, so it seemed, I wasn’t the only one to think so. As well as the birds, Fluttershy had even attracted some other animals. From out of the trees came about a dozen squirrels. And, soon enough, six or seven bunnies and rabbits made their way over to the singing pony above me. Hell, even a bunch of butterflies flew over to her!

As Fluttershy continued singing, I finally recognized that she was singing the same song as from the episode of MLP that she earned her cutie mark. She changed up a few words here and there to match her current situation rather than that of the episode, but it was still just as beautiful! And as she hit those last few notes, she landed on the ground in front of me, her new animal friends gathering around her in haste.

“Hehe, why hello little friends,” she greeted all of them. It seemed that some of the animals were starting to talk to her. “Why thank you!” she said. I assumed one of them complimented her singing. And then it hit me; like a goddamn steam train it hit me. She was talking to the animals!

And then, as Fluttershy kept talking to her new friends, her flanks began shining. My heart skipped about ten beats! Right before my eyes, Fluttershy earned her cutie mark! Some of the animals took notice of this too, and I started to cry. Fluttershy turned to me, looking concerned.

“Matthew? What’s wrong?” she asked. I gestured to her flanks, and she looked at the three pink butterflies that had formed there. “W-What’s this?”

“That’s your cutie mark, Fluttershy,” I said, beaming with ecstasy. I started to laugh and cry as I knelt next to her and her animal friends. I explained to Fluttershy that earning her cutie mark was a big deal, and once I had told her everything I could, she wrapped me in a warm hug. I got up and spun her around, smiling and laughing with her all the while.

I placed Fluttershy on the ground and started hopping around like a lunatic. Fluttershy began laughing at me, and I playfully shushed her. The joy within Fluttershy was palpable to a fault. She was beaming with as much pride as I was!

“Oh Matthew, I’m just so happy! I feel like I could soar through the skies for days!” As she said that, she leapt into the air and began to fly once again. And then, I felt as though I received a swift and painful smack to the face. Just moments ago, Fluttershy was hovering in the air! And now, she was completely flying!

“Fluttershy! Holy shit! You’re flying! You were flying a moment ago, and now look at you!” I said ecstatically. Fluttershy immediately took notice, and the smile on her face only grew wider.

“Gosh! I can’t believe it! I’m just so happy right now!” she exclaimed. The birds and butterflies hovered in the air with her, only adding to her gracefulness. I thought I, as a whole, was going to melt into a puddle of the feels (yes, I just said that).

A few moments later, I noticed a group of people from way across the field. This prompted me to beckon Fluttershy to the ground. I then told Fluttershy that we would probably have to go. She agreed, but before she got into my bag, she said goodbye to all her new friends, assuring them that we’d be back in the next few days. I knew for a fact we would be back soon.

I walked back to the car, Fluttershy with me in my bag, and we headed home. Once we arrived, it was about four in the afternoon. We still had about an hour or two left to kill before either my mother or sister returned home. But, quite frankly, neither Fluttershy nor I really acknowledged this. We were just so uplifted by the day’s events!

We celebrated in the basement with some Daughtry and some snacks. It didn’t take a genius to tell how elated we both were. At one point, when I had been tired out from dancing, Fluttershy jumped onto the couch next to me and wrapped me in a tight hug. I gladly returned the hug.

“Matthew, I think this has been the greatest day of my life!” she said, a great deal of cheer in her voice.

“You know Fluttershy… me too!” I ran my hand through her mane as I did very often, and I even kissed her on her cheek. She look at me, her cheeks turning a shade of light red. But, nevertheless, she smiled cheerily.

Soon enough, it was bedtime. By then, we were exhausted. As usual, Fluttershy and I retired to my bed. On this night, it seemed even more comfortable than before. We both cleaned up before snuggling together in bed and enjoying a quick comic book. After finishing it, I shut the light off and held her close, awaiting the moment I would be knocked out. But, before that happened, a miraculous thing happened.

Without warning, Fluttershy pulled me close and pressed her lips to mine. I opened my eyes in surprise, but I quickly shut them and melted in the kiss. The kiss probably lasted about fifteen seconds, but it felt like it lasted an eternity. And it was beautiful. I locked eyes with Fluttershy as we released the kiss.

“I love you, Matthew,” she said. My heart skipped another ten beats.

Fluttershy and I had gotten used to kissing each other on the cheek, and maybe playfully telling each other that we loved each other. But, nothing like this had ever happened before. We just shared our first real kiss, and right after, Fluttershy told me that she loved me. My mind went blank for a moment, I was so surprised. But, after finally finding myself, I replied.

“I love you too, Fluttershy.” We smiled into each other’s souls, and before we knew it, we were asleep. It was just the two of us, together for what seemed like forever.

It was just Fluttershy and me.

Act 1: Chapter 7

From then on, I took Fluttershy to that field whenever I could. We spent most of the summer there, in fact. We, or more specifically, she had made so many new friends. She loved being outside during the summer, being with her animal friends, being with me. We shared many more kisses after that night, and many more utterances of those three lovely words, “I love you.”

By this point, Fluttershy and I were taking things quite seriously. And, neither of us thought of what we were doing as weird. We were well aware of our differences, most obviously in species, but it didn’t bother us much. We weren’t concerned about the aesthetics. All we needed what was the love we felt for each other.

Boy was that corny.

Regardless of the corny nature of our relationship, things continued on mostly as they were. Beginning right at the start of that September, I began college. I described to Fluttershy how it would work; it was mostly the same as high school. However, with college, I would be able to come home in between my classes. It really depended on my schedule for the day. Some days I was able to get home earlier, and others, I was able to wake up later, but I had to stay at school later.

Fluttershy didn’t mind. I had begun leaving her comics to read while I was out. During the summer, my stock had increased exponentially, so I had a lot of material for her to enjoy. Sometimes, she would even read ahead of me. Mostly, she did this to tease me. I really didn’t mind though. She was cute when she teased me, often giggling her cute little laugh and giving me a somewhat-seductive wink.

One of the best times of my first year in college came during my Christmas/winter break. When the winter arrived, I informed Fluttershy that most of her animal friends wouldn’t be out as often as normal. This disappointed her, but, luckily for me, I told her this on the day she would first see snow (at least, in my world).

She loved it. She thought it was beautiful. She wasn’t that big of the desolate and empty trees of winter, and really, who is? But, she absolutely loved the snow; how it covered the ground and made the world seem like a different place. I told her that while it seemed gloomy as the snow fell, once the sun came out, everything would look so much more beautiful. The sun would cause the white snow to glisten while we might play in the snow.

Fortunately for us, we found a day to take a trip to the field while the elementary students weren’t in school. Fluttershy and I arrived at the field, but this time, rather than hide her in a bag, I let her walk with me. I always enjoyed the crunching of the snow beneath my feet, and she seemed to as well. I had managed to get two pairs of boots for her, so her hooves wouldn’t get cold, and I provided her with a comfortable vest and scarf to keep her body warm.

We walked over to our usual spot. I decided not to sit to keep my ass from getting soaked, but Fluttershy seemed to find some sort of comfort in the coolness that the snow provided as she sat down. While she admired the beauty of the snow on this sunny day, I started walking around, trying to see if I could walk across some of the frozen sheets without falling through. My rate of success was lacking.

I kept swearing under my breath as I continued to fail, which made Fluttershy giggle continuously at me. I turned back at her and childishly stuck my tongue out at her. She laughed and flew over to me, knocking me down into the snow.

“Oops,” she said playfully, laughing as she flew away from me.

“Oh, you’re dead!” I exclaimed, getting up and chasing after her. Ever since she started flying, Fluttershy had just been getting consistently better at it, to a point that I couldn’t keep up with her very well. And now, considering that I was running through high sheets of snow, I was even slower.

So, seeing as though I couldn’t catch her, I made myself a few snowballs. I made sure none of them were too hard or had any pieces of ice in them before beginning my assault. As I started pelting Fluttershy with snowballs, she squeaked in surprise at the first few, then she began laughing as I continued to miss (my aim wasn’t top notch). Finally, I managed to hit her, which caused her to lose her balance. I got under her and pulled her down to the ground.

We tumbled together in the snow as I started tickling her. She was laughing hysterically, begging me to end the torment. But I continued on, not letting up for a moment. Yet, somehow, she found the strength to lift her wings up and started tickling me with them. And soon enough, I was on my back, being tortured through my heavy coat by her wings.

“Is somebody ticklish?” she playfully asked me. I tried to answer, but she was so relentless that no words could escape my mouth. She giggled as she continued her unending spree of tickling. I began tapping the ground.

“I tap! I tap! P-Please stop!” I managed to speak. She finally stopped, hovering above me. I picked up some snow and threw it at her. “You stink.” She giggled.

“You started it.” I began to breathe heavily, trying to pick myself up. She landed behind me and helped me to sit up. She then wrapped her wings around me and hugged me.

“Thanks,” I said, as she rested her head on my shoulder. I pecked her on the cheek and rested my head against hers.

“Of course,” she replied. I turned to face her and I wrapped my arms around her, the two of us melting in the warm embrace. We just sat there, without a care in the world. The rest of what was happening around us didn’t seem to matter to us. All that we were focused on was each other. We found ourselves sharing a few kisses, but we seemed to spend more time locking eyes with each other.

Her eyes. Whenever I looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, I always seemed to find myself in a different dimension. It was sweeter than candy, more intense than the sun going supernova, and deeper than the furthest depths of the ocean. Looking into those cyan blue eyes of hers was an experience I hadn’t been able to feel for the longest time. What made it better was that Fluttershy and I often found ourselves staring into each other’s eyes quite often. Whereas in the past, I never felt these moments at all, I now got to experience the feeling of ecstasy almost every day.

I found myself lying back down, and Fluttershy came with me. She was lying on top of me, resting her head peacefully on my chest. I began to stroke her mane, looking up into the sky as the sun beamed down on us and the snow surrounding us. It was just so serene and enamoring. Fluttershy found herself ensconced in my arms, and I found myself teaming with joy having her there with me.

It felt like this moment could last forever. I wish it could have, but unfortunately, the moment was interrupted when I heard voices from afar. We did as we usually would when people would arrive on the field; we ran behind a line of trees across the field that no one could see behind. We waited for the children to pass, then we made our way back to my car.

Before getting in, Fluttershy shook off the remnants of the snow that was on her. I patted the snow off of myself as well, and then we got in the car and headed home. Fluttershy hadn’t had enough of the snow however, so when we got back, we just sat out in my backyard. There were bushes surrounding the yard, so no one would see us. We just sat there and continued to admire each other and our surroundings.

It was the moments like these that I had grown to cherish the most. They were so important; not just to me, but to Fluttershy as well. We spoke no words to each other. All did was just enjoy each other’s company. And that’s all we needed.

Act 1: Chapter 8

Time went by rather quickly my freshman year of college. My classes were all quite interesting, considering most of them were either theater classes. If not that, then the classes were just based around topics I was genuinely interested in. I made some new friends, I studied hard, and I performed in two musicals. But above all else, I got to share all of this with Fluttershy.

Before I knew it, Fluttershy and I had been together for an entire year. Luckily, the day fell upon a Saturday, so we were able to celebrate all day long. We decided to consider that day her birthday, seeing as though she couldn’t remember her actual birthday. That made the day even more enjoyable. The day was nice enough that we were actually able to head over to the field for a while and just relax together.

Fluttershy and I couldn’t have been closer! We were inseparable. Nothing could come between us. She loved me, and I loved her. I never thought I would ever be able to feel such a capacity for love in my life, but somehow, it actually happened. We had only been together for one year, and I felt as though I could lay my life on the line for her!

We would share kisses every day. Beyond that, we didn’t explore much else. Of course we both loved each other, but we equally thought it was weird for us to go any further than kissing. Fluttershy thought this more than me, actually. I mean, I’m not a fan of bestiality (anyone who is should probably get checked up on), but Fluttershy was seriously opposed. But hey, we didn’t care. We just needed each other.

Seriously, could this story get any cornier?

The answer: yes!

Fluttershy’s first birthday here on Earth was probably one of the corniest days we shared. But while it was most certainly corny, it was probably also one of the greatest days we shared together. Every moment of it was just magnificent!

The day began with the two of us waking up in each other’s arms (in her case, I guess that’s her front legs). I woke up first, waking her up by pecking her on the nose with a soft kiss. She giggled awake and pecked my nose right back. We were both shivering a bit in bed, which meant that it was going to be a cold day. It had actually snowed the day prior, which meant we were in for a peculiar day. Luckily, Fluttershy’s birthday fell on a Saturday, meaning we had the whole day to ourselves. What was even better was that my sister and mother were out for the day in the city.

After we shared our kisses, I sat up in bed. Fluttershy started rubbing my back, to my noticeable approval, as I sighed heavily and seemingly sank down. She kissed the back of my neck and then hugged me. I held her hooves in my hands as I looked back at her.

“Happy birthday, Fluttershy,” I said, smiling at her. She smiled back and kissed my cheek.

“Thank you, Matthew. I can hardly believe it’s been an entire year. I guess time just flies when you’re in love,” she said, giggling. I laughed as well and sighed once more.

“Ya know, it’s weird. You’ve been here a year, but you’re not one year old. You’re actually fifteen now. Isn’t that weird?” She giggled some more and nodded.

“I guess so. But it doesn’t matter. As long as I’m with you, I don’t care.” I kissed her cheek as she said that, causing my heart to jump a bit in happiness. I hopped up out of bed and cracked the various parts of my body that needed cracking. Fluttershy let out a cute yawn as she fluttered onto the floor. She walked into the bathroom with me. I pulled out a hairbrush and started to fix her mane. Fluttershy had a knack for falling victim to the troubles of waking up with a messy head of hair. I wasn’t that bad, seeing as though my hair was short, but Fluttershy would often wake up with a mess on her head.

It was fine though. I greatly enjoyed fixing her mane and making it look beautiful. Honestly though, Fluttershy was always beautiful to me. She stepped out, allowing me to “squeeze the lemon” as I did every morning when I woke up. After my business with the porcelain throne was concluded, I walked back into my room and put on my clothes. We then walked downstairs and had a quick breakfast before heading out into the snow.

We decided to play it the easy way on this day by staying at my house and just playing in the backyard. No one was going out on this day, so we were safe to enjoy our usual snow day antics in the backyard. We made a small snowman (which I was quick to decapitate, much to Fluttershy’s dismay), built some snow forts, had a snowball fight, and laid out in the snow while cuddling. Once we had had enough of the cold, we went back inside and enjoyed some hot cocoa, while watching one of our favorite movies, The Iron Giant.

I cried at the end, Fluttershy comforted me, and we had a grand old time.

Afterwards, Fluttershy and I headed into the basement to listen to some music and just relax for a while. We bundled up in a blanket, due to my basement being as cold as the arctic, and just listened to whatever my laptop played.

At some point though, Fluttershy sat up, looked into my eyes, and asked me a question I couldn’t have seen coming. And honestly, I was hoping she would never ask this question.

“Matthew,” she started, “are we going to be together forever?” I opened my eyes and looked into hers, the two of us just locking our gazes for a moment in complete silence. I was giving Fluttershy a deadpanned expression. I looked away from her and blankly stared into oblivion. I couldn’t think of what to say.

In my heart, I wanted to be with Fluttershy forever. It was all I would ever dream about; just the two of us, together, forever. But, in reality, I knew that couldn’t really happen. There were a few reasons that came to mind as to why not, but there was one that was most prominently imprinted on my mind. It was that, at some point, Fluttershy was going to have to go home. I didn’t know when or how, but I knew it was going to happen at some point.

But, in that instance, that point seemed to just dissipate completely from my mind. I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to say. And so, I said it.

“Of course we are, Fluttershy,” I answered her. “We’re going to spend eternity together. Nothing will be able to separate us. I won’t ever let that happen. We’re going to be together, forever.” With that said, Fluttershy wrapped her front legs around me. I then wrapped my arms around her, and we just sat there for a moment, with the music still playing in the background. Fortunately enough, Fluttershy’s favorite song was playing. It was “My Friend,” by Nine Lashes. It was such a sweet song, and it seemed to mean a lot to her.

And in a few more moments, we had starting kissing each other. After that was done, we just looked into each other’s eyes some more, losing ourselves in the serenity of the moment. You couldn’t find someone depraved enough to disrupt the moment we were sharing. And once we were finished, we headed back upstairs.

I ordered a pizza for us while Fluttershy made some iced tea. Once our food arrived, we were quick to devour three fourths of the pie, leaving two for another day (or for either my mom or sister to steal). Once that was done, I took out from the freezer an ice cream cake I had bought a few days earlier for Fluttershy. It was a classic vanilla ice cream cake with chocolate ice cream and chocolate chips in the middle, with some colorful designs on it. I had written myself, “Happy Birthday Fluttershy!” on the cake. She loved it, as I expected. And after that was done, we were stuffed.

We decided to go to bed early that night. After we both showered quickly, brushed our teeth, and I had gotten dressed, we got in bed for a quick comic reading. After that, we were off to sleep. But, tonight, something different happened. Something magical.

I could never forget this dream. It was just too vivid for me to forget.

I found myself flying in the clouds, with an elegant pair of wings on my back. They looked like eagle wings, actually (I had always admired eagles). I was alone, soaring gracefully in the sky. It was just so beautiful and wondrous that I couldn’t possibly want to let the dream go. But then, suddenly, looking to my right, I saw Fluttershy flying with me. She looked over to me and smiled. I smiled back to her.

I took her hoof in my hand as we flew through the sky together. Nothing was going to pull us apart. Not in this dream. Not ever. We were inseparable. That much was certain. Fluttershy and I then flew straight up into the air, spiraling into each other’s embrace. I held her close, and she wrapped her wings around me. We shared a long, passionate kiss, allowing ourselves to fall for a moment before soaring back into the air.

It was the most beautiful dream I had ever had. Rather, I should say that it was the most beautiful dream we had ever had.

We awoke the next morning, holding each other close. We opened our eyes simultaneously, looking into each other’s souls. Fluttershy nearly started to cry. Hell, I nearly started to cry. Somehow, we had dreamed together. We had both experienced the same dream. We had been linked together in our dreams. And, if I haven’t driven the nail home yet, we shared a dream! No force on Earth can explain this! As far as I know, this isn’t even possible on Earth! Yet, through some magical force, it happened.

And it was the most harmonious moment of our lives.

“I love you, Matthew,” Fluttershy said after a few minutes had gone by.

“I love you too, Fluttershy,” I replied, kissing her passionately. We then held each other in a warm embrace for what felt like forever. In just one year, Fluttershy and I had been through so much together.

I couldn’t possibly imagine how much more we would experience together.

Act 1: Chapter 9

When I say I couldn’t have imagined what Fluttershy and I would go through together, I mean that will all sincerity. I bet you’re wondering what we did go through together. The long answer would include numerous romantic instances leading to much kissing and cuddling, a few sad moments in which we cried and comforted each other, and many hysterical moments which ended in laughter and tickling (she’s so ticklish!).

The short answer: five years.

Fluttershy and me; we went through so much together. It seemed like time was just a blur and everything that was occurring around me was nothingness. All that mattered in my life was her, and all that mattered to her was me. We guided each other through our lives as if it was our God-given nature to do so. When I say there was nothing that could separate us, I mean that quite literally. There is no force on Heaven or Earth that could split us apart. Hell, I bet there isn’t a magical force in Equestria that could separate us.

Our love was stronger than anything. All the books and comics Fluttershy and I read together depicted numerous romances and romantic happenings, but nothing could compare to what we had. You know those fairy tale endings where the bride and groom ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after? Yeah, fuck that. Our love makes those shits look about as happy as Spider-Man when Gwen died (spoilers).

Being with Fluttershy made the rest of my college career roll on like a simple breeze on a cool spring day. Four years in college seemingly amounted to nothing with her around. At the end of it all, I graduated with a BFA in Musical Theater. And by the time I graduated, I had turned twenty-one. Man was that a crazy birthday. My family and I took a trip to Las Vegas. To put it simply; what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

But, of course, I couldn’t share a moment like my twenty-first without Fluttershy. We did our usual thing as we had done for all my birthdays; we enjoyed some nice food, danced to some music, and just enjoyed ourselves. The same went for my graduation from college.

In the six years that Fluttershy and I had been together, it had become insanely easy to keep her hidden from my mother and sister. We had developed a routine that ran like clockwork. Whereas, when I found Fluttershy, I was always jumpy and nervous around my family, now, I could play it about as cool as ice (that was lame). I even managed to maintain my reputation in society (because, you know, I still had friends and family aside from Fluttershy).

But nevertheless, Fluttershy always came first. Nothing could change that.

When I finally moved out of my home and got my own place to live in the big apple, keeping Fluttershy a secret wasn’t even a problem anymore. Sure, I’d have friends over sometimes for parties and whatnot, but she would just stay in our bedroom for the time being. Finding her was like finding a needle in a haystack, if you will.

You’re probably thinking that Fluttershy would be locked inside more often now that we were in the city. You’d be wrong. I picked a place in one of the more suburban areas of the city. Not far from my home was a big open space that had seemingly been untouched for quite some time. We would often spend time together there, just cuddling underneath the many trees that littered the landscape.

My money mostly came from my day job and what few shows I was performing in. I was still waiting for my big break, as most actors fresh out of college do. Most of the shows I performed in were either short lived or one night stands. My day job was actually bartending, which I had managed to pick up a knack for during my college days. I did so well that I made phenomenal tips most days.

And then, finally, my big break arrived! That’s a day I’ll never forget! Why? Well, it’s not the reason you’re probably thinking of. In fact, I don’t remember as a happy day at all. I remember it as one of the saddest days of my life.

It was a sunny Saturday morning. I had managed to snatch up and audition spot for a new original show that sought to steal the spotlight from the rest of Broadway (or Off-Broadway, I should say). I had to get up early and prepare myself for what would no doubt be one of the most important days of my career. Fluttershy joined me, of course. Once I was ready, we shared a kiss, and I was off to the audition.

However, something had been bothering me as of late. Really, it had been bothering since the day I had found Fluttershy in that dumpster on my block. Fluttershy obviously wasn’t of this world. She came from Equestria, obviously. Now, that wasn’t really the big thing that was bothering. I know she didn’t necessarily belong here, but did I care? Obviously not.

What had really been bothering me was that I hadn’t told her any of this yet. For six years, I had hidden from her the fact that she was from a fictional cartoon show. It had been hanging over me like a leering crow now more than ever. Why, I couldn’t tell you. It just seemed like my time with Fluttershy was coming to a head. Something was going to happen soon, and this whole thing about me keeping Fluttershy’s origin a secret was just hurting me.

So, my plan for the day was to rock my audition, go pick up a pizza and some soda for a celebration lunch, and then tell Fluttershy what I needed to tell her. Much easier said than done, let me tell you.

As I planned, my audition went swimmingly. I was certain that I would at least nail an ensemble part for the show, which was all I really wanted. I just wanted to be able to perform in a real show. So, after I finished up at the theater, I hitched a ride on the subway back home. Once I was closer to my place, I stopped and picked up a pizza and some Dr. Pepper. And then, I headed home.

My heart felt heavier and heavier with every step I took heading home. And once I arrived, it felt like my heart was in the pit of my stomach.

I walked up the steps to my apartment, pizza and soda in hand. I walked in with a huge smile on my face. Fluttershy rushed over to the door and flew in front of me, smiling right back at me.

“How’d it go?!” she eagerly asked me.

“About as awesome as you’d expect it to!” I answered. Fluttershy started kissing me on the cheek, making me laugh and lose my balance a bit as I tried to walk over to the table and set down the items in my hand. Fluttershy was giggling as I grabbed her out of the air and started tickling her. I then kissed her on the cheek and ran my hand through her mane as she always loved.

By this point, Fluttershy had grown to her normal size like in the show. She was so much easier to grab onto and cuddle with now, which we did quite often. Cuddling was probably our favorite thing to do, with kissing right next to it. As we ate our pizza and drank our soda, with me burping comically every now and then, I just kept looking into Fluttershy’s eyes. I don’t think she noticed, but as I stared, a tear ran down my cheek.

When we finished eating, we sat at the table for a while, just discussing my audition. I told her about how perfect my singing was, not messing up a single note. I told her how I spoke my comedic monologue like it was my own work of comedy. And I told her how my dancing skills were so enamoring, the judges would have asked for more if time allowed it. And once that was done, we went into the living room.

I sat down next to Fluttershy on the couch, nervously grabbing the remote. It shook in my hand for a moment. Fluttershy took notice and seem worried about me. She placed her hoof on my hand, looking at me with smile on her face, no doubt trying to cheer me up. I looked back, trying to work up a smile.

“Matthew, what’s wrong?” she asked me, both my hands now shaking. My breathing grew heavier by the moment, and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I looked at the TV, raising the remote up and turning it on. As some random channel came on, I looked back at Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy,” I started, “there’s something I need to tell you.” She wore a quizzical look on her face.

“What? Is something wrong? Did I do something bad?” she asked. She then gasped. “Did you’re audition not go as well as you said?!” I stifled a chuckle.

“I only wish it could have been that. No, it’s not really anything you could think of. It’s just… this is something I’ve been waiting to tell you for a while now.”

“What?” she asked. I responded by flipping to the Hub Network. Low and behold, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was on. The opening theme song had just started.

Fluttershy took immediate notice of what was on the screen. She stood up and walked forward. She fell to the floor when she first saw herself. I couldn’t see her face, but I didn’t need to see her to know she was crying. I could hear it just as easily. I had also started crying by this point. I couldn’t bear to look at her.

When the song finally ended, Fluttershy stood up and walked over to me. I refused to look at her, but she just kept staring at me.

“Matthew…” she said. “H-How long h-have you known about this?” Her voice cracked multiple times as she asked that. I sniffled once before looking up at her. I didn’t answer. “How long?!” she asked again, nearly screaming at me. I had never seen her like this. I didn’t even think she could act in such a way, least of all towards me. But then again, I deserved every bit of it.

“S-Since the day I found you…” I answered, covering my face with my hands. I cried like a little child, and Fluttershy did the same exact thing. I felt the love of my life slipping away from me. I had kept something so important away from her for so long. And now that I had revealed the truth, I had to suffer the consequences.

“Why? W-Why didn’t you tell me s-sooner?” she asked. “W-Why didn’t you tell me when you found me?” I shook my head, my lips quivering as I looked up and inhaled heavily. I exhaled and started shaking all over.

“I… I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me? Matthew, look at me,” she told me. I didn’t. “Look at me!” she screamed, stomping her hoof on the floor. I looked at her slowly. “Matthew, I’m more hurt now than I would have been if you had told me sooner.”

“I’m sorry! Please, I didn’t mean for it to be like this! I just… I don’t know. I wanted to protect you.”

“Protect me from what, Matthew?” she asked, her voice shaking, and her crying becoming much heavier. I dropped my head in shame.

“I don’t know,” I answered weakly. As I continued to cry, I looked up at her. She was still crying as she stood up and looked at me in what seemed like disgust. I couldn’t tell, truthfully. I wasn’t sure if at this point she hated me or not.

She then walked away from me, heading into our bedroom. I watched her walk, unable to stop her. She shut the door and locked it, leaving me by myself.

I felt horrible. No, horrible is too light a word. I felt disgusting. As I sat there on the couch, I felt like I couldn’t live with myself. It seemingly felt as though I was losing a part of myself with each passing moment. I felt like a monster. I kept something so important from her for so long. What’s worse, I actually thought she would take it well. I thought we would sit down and talk things over. I didn’t expect her to just walk away and lock herself in our room. I didn’t expect all the tears that were shed; at least, not as many. I… I don’t know what I was thinking.

And when I say she locked herself in our room, I mean it. Fluttershy stayed there for two whole days. I was left to sleep on the couch, alone. Every so often, I could hear her sobbing in the bedroom, which led me to curse myself for what I had done. All I could do was just lay on the couch for those two days and look up at the ceiling, thinking about how horrible of a person I was. If Fluttershy ever came out, it was just for the bathroom or to get something to eat or drink. We made no eye contact, no verbal contact; no contact at all whatsoever. I was hurting just as much as she was. No, actually, that’s a lie. She was hurting far more. I could tell just from her crying. But I was hurting. Badly. I’m not sure how much more I can nail the point home that I felt like dirt.

On the third day of our “separation,” I decided to go out for a walk.

“Hey, Fluttershy…” I said softly, knocking on the door to our bedroom. As I expected, I received no answer. “I’m just going out for a bit. Um… Yeah. I should be back in a while.” Still no answer. My head dropped as I walked away from the door and head out. I zipped up my jacket and put my earbuds in my ears, turning on the song “Erased,” by Volumes. I set it to repeat as I set out on my walk.

For a half hour, I just walked, listening to that song over and over again. All the while, I looked up into the sky, thinking about what I had done. I kept bashing myself for everything. It felt like everything Fluttershy and I had shared together was a lie all of a sudden. And then, I felt nothing. All the feelings of remorse, regret, and hatred towards myself seemed to just go away. I felt… blank. Barren. I felt like a part of me had been… erased.

Unknowingly, I had made my way to the new field that Fluttershy and I had often enjoyed going to together. At first, I could barely stand the sight of this place. But then, I calmed down, and I walked onto the field. I headed over to our favorite tree. The sky had started to become gloomy and dark, leading me to believe it would start to rain soon. And, low and behold, a few minutes after I sat down under the tree, water began to fall from the clouds above.

I was well protected from what was becoming a torrential downpour. In a matter of minutes, what was just a light rain turned to a powerful gust of heavy rain and harsh winds. The water from above was being slapped in my direction, so I positioned myself on the other side of the tree away from the rain. As I sat there, I looked up to the sky for a moment, with Erased still playing in my ears. I ripped the earbuds from my head and turned the music off, almost violently. Then, my head dropped.

“I’m sorry…” I muttered under my breath. “I’m just… so sorry, Fluttershy. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. I… I don’t deserve you. God, I hope you never have to deal with me again. After what I’ve put you through… why would you want to?” I said all of this aloud, knowing no one was around to listen. I started to cry. But, as I did so, I heard a rather distinct rustling noise among the leaves over my head.

I looked up, and to my surprise, I saw Fluttershy, spying on me through the thick foliage of the tree. She stared blankly at me, and I stared blankly right back at her. We stayed like that for a few minutes, before my head dropped back down and continued to cry. Her descent down was so silent, I was almost startled by her when she sat down next to me. I didn’t look at her. How could I?

However, I was practically forced to when she rested her head on my shoulder. I cautiously looked over to the sobbing mare beside me. She surprised me next with a tight hug. It seemed as though this embrace would be never-ending. Fluttershy held me tighter than a mother holding her child. It seemed she was crying even harder than the sky was.

“Matthew… I… I’m sorry,” she said through her tears.

“W-What? Fluttershy, you have nothing to be sorry for,” I replied, gently wrapping an arm around her. This seemed to make her only hold onto me more tightly.

“I just… I don’t want you to leave me! I don’t want to lose you!” she cried, burying her face into my chest. I didn’t know what to do. I just felt so desolate in that moment, even though I should have felt so uplifted that even after my immense blunder, she still wanted to be with me.

“But… Fluttershy-” I started, but I was cutoff as she pressed her lips against mine in the blink of an eye. Again, I didn’t know what to do. And then, it hit me. I caressed her body in my arms and gently placed one hand against her cheek. When we parted, I pulled her against me just as tightly as she had been holding me. It seemed as though we were never going to let go of each other. We just sat there, hugging, crying, without a care in the world.

What felt like an eternity passed for the two of us, until we finally let each other go. We locked eyes and continued to cry. I pulled Fluttershy in close and kissed her with every ounce of passion in my body. And, judging from the kiss, she was doing the same. When we broke the kiss, I was the first to speak.

“Fluttershy, I’m just so sorry. I should have told you sooner. What I did was… stupid. It was selfish. It was just…”

“Matthew, you don’t have to say anything else. It’s okay, really. I’m fine.”

“How? How could you be fine after what I told you? How could you be fine after finding out you’re not really supposed to be here? That you’re just a character from a cartoon show?” I questioned. It seemed her gaze was beaming into my soul now.

“Does it matter?” she retorted. And, surprisingly, I was speechless. I chuckled and shook my head.

“I… I guess not. But, still, are you sure you’re alright?”

“I think so. It’ll take a bit of time for me to get over everything. But, honestly, I don’t really care. All I care about is being here with you.” As she said that, she nuzzled herself against me, cueing me to quickly wrap her up in my arms. We started laughing together as we joined our lips together once more.

“I love you, Matthew,” she said, resting her head under my chin. I started running my hand through her mane, just as she always loved it.

“I love you too, Fluttershy.”

With those last words spoken, I began to explain everything there was to explain to Fluttershy about her origin. The rain didn’t appear to be letting up anytime soon, and no one was going to be around to spot us, so we had loads of time on our hands/hooves. As I explained everything, Fluttershy slowly became more and more intrigued with her origin. It was as if she had forgotten all about how I had kept it from her. All she seemed to care about now was me telling her more about her actual life in Equestria.

Then, she asked a peculiar question; it was a question that I didn’t really have an answer to.

“Matthew,” she started, “what made you tell me all of this now, though? Why not sooner?” Like I said, I really didn’t know what to say. And then, I felt a spark go off in my brain.

“I just… I feel like something is going to happen soon. And, whatever it is, I just wanted you to know where you came from. I don’t know what’s coming, but whatever it is, I couldn’t let it happen without you knowing this.” As I said that, she nodded and rested her head on my shoulder.

“Do you think I’m going to go home soon?” she asked. I felt my heart stop as she spoke those words. It almost stung as she said that. I could barely speak as I replied to her.

“I… I don’t know. I sort of hope not. But, at the same time…” I stopped. She looked up at me.

“What?” she asked. I sighed, looking to her with a weak smile.

“Let’s not think about that, alright?” She nodded and cuddled with me. “Let’s just focus on us. And how much I love you. How I’m not going to let anyone or anything take you away from me.” I held her as tightly as I could. She did the same.

“Just promise me something, Matthew,” she said. I looked down at her. “Promise me that you’ll always love me, no matter what.” I smiled the biggest smile I had ever smiled in my life (without looking like an ass, of course).

“I promise.”

And then, we shared another kiss. But, as we did, the sky began to light up, drawing our attention to the beauty of nature. We held each other closely as we ensconced ourselves peacefully against the tree, watching the incandescence of the sky.

Yet, as the beautiful and amorphous lightning spread across the sky, I couldn’t help but feel an ache in the pit of my stomach. It felt like all of this wasn’t the sky putting on a nice show for the love of my life and myself. This felt different.

All I could do was hope; hope that what I didn’t want to happen wasn’t actually going to happen.

I had to hope. For both Fluttershy, and me.

Act 1: Chapter 10

Fluttershy and I returned home as soon as the rain stopped. I walked, she flew. She managed to blend in with the clouds and get home safely without anyone noticing. I stepped in a few puddles here and there, which sucked immensely. But, nonetheless, we both arrived home safe and sound.

Well, maybe a little less than sound. I wasn’t so sure at the time. I sat down on the couch, feeling dour and ruined. Fluttershy smiled into my eyes and kissed me on the cheek. I took a quick glance at her and realized she was pretty dirty. I chuckled, and soon, she took notice as well. She told me it came from while she was in the tree. Surprisingly, I hadn’t noticed while we were outside. I guess we were having such a strong moment that neither of us cared to acknowledge it.

Fluttershy gave me another quick kiss on the cheek and went to clean herself up, leaving me to be alone with my thoughts. I twiddled with my thumbs for the longest time, thinking about everything we had talked about. For the most part, it seemed like Fluttershy was okay with the truth. She actually seemed a bit happy to have heard all of this. I told her about some of her more interesting adventures on the show, and she asked if we could watch some episodes some time. Who was I to deny her that?

But, all the while, as I looked over our big conversation in my head, I was continuously distracted by a painful thought. I remembered the way the lighting danced in the sky. It wasn’t natural. It didn’t sit right with me. There was a lump in the pit of my stomach that wouldn’t go away, and I think I knew why. All I could do was sit there and pray that my time with Fluttershy wasn’t coming to an end.

Unfortunately, a few moments later, there came a knock at the door.

Now, if you told me six years prior that I was going to find my favorite pony, Fluttershy, in a dumpster on my block, and I was going to spend the next six years of my life with her, I’d recommend you to check into an insane asylum. It sounds crazy, when you think about it. But, low and behold, it actually happened to me. I spent six years happily in love with someone I thought I’d never be able to meet. Fluttershy turned my life around, and I did the same for her as well.

Six years isn’t that long of a time span, when you think about it long and hard. Yet, it felt like so much more than that. It felt like I had spent half of an eternity with her, and that so much more was going to happen. The idea of spending an eternity with your soulmate is so hackneyed nowadays, but to be honest, I couldn’t give a shit. I was in love with Fluttershy, and she was in love with me. We were inseparable. We were going to be together forever.

Or so I thought. As I heard that knocking at the door, that lump in my gut exploded, and feelings of complete misery and despair fell over me. I felt I was about to cry; I knew exactly who was at the door. Fluttershy was still in the bathroom, so our visitors were going to have to wait to see her.

I slowly got to my feet. I made my way to the door, with every step as painful as the last. I composed myself and spoke through the door.

“Who is it?” I said, feeling quite stupid to be asking a question with such an obvious answer.

“May we come in?” a voice from the other side replied. Now, keep in mind, my brony emotions were still fully intact those six years. So, you can imagine that when I heard that elegant and regal voice from outside my door, I was back-flipping through the skies in my mind. Even at a moment like this, a part of me couldn’t wait to lay my eyes upon my visitors.

Slowly, I opened the door, only to bear witness to one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I thought she was pretty good-looking in the show, but in real life, she radiated pure beauty. Princess Celestia stood proudly on my doorstep, bowing her head to me as we made eye contact.

“Hello. Matthew, am I correct?” she said. I was surprised she knew my name, and thusly, I asked the appropriate question in the moment.

“H-How do you know my name?” She smiled at me.

“There is much to discuss. May we come in?”

“‘We’?” I questioned. Celestia revealed the rest of Fluttershy’s friends behind her. My heart exploded into itty bitty pieces, each of which was singing a joyous song of juvenile ecstasy. The Mane-fucking-Six! On my doorstep! Well, technically, Mane Five, cause Fluttershy was in my house, but who cares! They were all there!

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and even Spike were all there. Celestia asked once more if they may enter. With a heavy heart, I allowed them to enter, a choice I almost immediately regretted.

The ponies and baby dragon walked in one by one, each of them taking in their new surroundings accordingly. Celestia made herself comfortable on the rug in the center of the living room, while the rest of the ponies and Spike continued looking around. Pinkie was bouncing with uncontainable energy, as she usually does.

“Wow! We’re actually in the home of an alien! It’s so weird! Actually, if you look real close, it’s almost like our homes! I wonder if they’ve got food like we do! Do you have any food mister?! Huh, huh, huh?!” she spoke sporadically, Applejack having to hold her down and cover her mouth with a hoof.

“Pinkie, this ain’t no time fer snackin,” Applejack interjected, her stomach then growling lightly. She chuckled and scrunched her muzzle in that funny way she did in the Discord episodes. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“There’s some snacks in the refrigerator in the kitchen, if you want,” I told them. They smiled and walked/hopped into the kitchen. That left me with Celestia, Twilight, Dash, Rarity, and Spike. Rarity seemed very interested in the various memorabilia items I had strewn across the apartment. Spike was particularly interested in my comics.

“That is so cool! These guys even have comic books! Hey, uh, alien, wanna trade?!” the little dragon asked me. I chuckled lightly at his young optimism.

“Spike, please, aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?” Rarity questioned. “After all, we won’t be here long.” It felt as if she had just stabbed me with her words. It must have shown on my face, as Celestia seemed to take note.

“You seem distressed, Matthew,” she said, quite bluntly I might add.

“Well, you know, when six ponies and a baby dragon come walking into your apartment, you tend to get a little freaked out…” I replied.

“As ‘freaked out’ as when you found Fluttershy?” she asked. My heart skipped a beat. My breathing felt off as well. My head dropped. I gave up.

“What do you want?” I asked her.

“We want Fluttershy back!” Rainbow Dash intervened, flying towards me. “Give her back!” I knew Dash could be pushy, but this was something new.

“Rainbow Dash, stop it! You’re scaring him!” Twilight said to her, trying to get her to back off.

“I can assure you, I’m not afraid of Rainbow Dash here. I’m just… sad, I guess.” I let out a heavy sigh of agony. “I suppose there’s no reason to dodge what’s going on here. I’ll ask the obvious question with the obvious answer; are you here to take Fluttershy from me?” Celestia looked at Twilight, both of them looking slightly disheartened. The Princess looked back at me and nodded. I looked away and nodded to myself.

“If it’s any consolation to you, Matthew, just know that we do not do this light-heartedly,” Celestia said to me, trying to comfort me. I couldn’t blame them for what they were doing. I only wished that it didn’t have to be done.

I nodded and stood up, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I began walking to my bathroom, letting Pinkie and Applejack pass by as they trotted back into the living room after finishing in the kitchen. Just before I entered the bathroom, I took a quick glance back at the ponies awaiting my return with Fluttershy. My heart was pounding as I slowly opened the door.

Fluttershy was finishing up with cleaning her mane. It was still slightly wet, and I could see a few water droplets still in her coat. I shut the door behind me and walked in, kneeling down beside her and helping to dry her off. She looked back at me and smiled, giving me a short kiss on my cheek. I tried to work up a smile, but my optimistic attitude had seemingly been destroyed moments ago. I couldn’t even crack a grin. Fluttershy took immediate notice of this, her smiling dissipating, with a stare of worry taking its place.

“Matthew, is something wrong?” she asked. I could hardly stand to look at her.

“Well… I don’t know. Let’s just dry you off, okay?” I said, managing to fake a smile. Fluttershy didn’t seem fooled by my false expression, but she went along with it anyway. We dried her off and made her mane look as gorgeous as it normally is. Before I stood back up, I gave her a long passionate kiss. She returned it, but she seemed surprised by it at first. As we parted, I tried to stand up, but she pulled me back down in a tight embrace. I could hear her whimpering.

“M-Matthew…” she started, her embrace only getting tighter, and her tears flowing out faster and faster. I held her in my arms as tight as I possibly could. I didn’t want to let go, but reluctantly, I did just that. I looked into her tear-filled eyes with my own.

“Come on,” I started, “I’ve got some friends who want to meet you.” She couldn’t stop crying or sniffling, but she nodded and followed me to the door. I opened it, and we stepped out of the bathroom. I led Fluttershy to the living room, where her pony friends, Spike, and the Princess were waiting for us.

It’s hard for me to describe what Fluttershy looked like as she laid her eyes on her friends. She certainly wasn’t happy, as she had no memory of any of them, and therefore, she had no reason to be happy to see them. Yet, at the same time, she wasn’t surprised to see them all sitting quietly and patiently in our living room. It seemed as though Fluttershy was just in a state of shock, and she didn’t know how to feel in that moment. At least, she was like that, until Pinkie decided to have one of her moments of loud, exuberant joy.

“Fluttershy!” she cheered, jumping over to us, and nearly tackling Fluttershy to the ground. Before she could do so, I covered Fluttershy with my body. I looked at her, concerned. She had been frightened by the sudden outburst, so I hugged her and ran my hand through her mane to calm her down.

“Hey, it’s alright. No need to be afraid,” I said quietly, as she shivered in my arms. I looked back to Pinkie. She was confused, to say the least. “Sorry about that.”

“Uh, it’s okay. But, hey, Fluttershy! It’s me, Pinkie! Don’t you remember me?” she asked. I moved out of the way so Fluttershy could look around the living room to see all of our guests. She shook her head.

“N-No,” she answered, still shaking slightly. “I… I don’t think so,” she said afterwards, seemingly second guessing her first answer. She looked up at me, her face filled with worry. “Matthew, what’s going on?” I had never experienced the pain I had felt in that moment. The indescribable agony that weighed so heavily upon my heart couldn’t be ignored. I felt myself on the verge of breaking down.

“They… uh, they’re…” I started. I turned away. My lower lip was quivering frantically. My eyes were beginning to fill with water. My heart was crumbling to pieces. And then, I started to hear whispering. I turned back around and saw Twilight speaking softly to Rainbow Dash, seemingly nudging her forward, as if instructing her to do something. Dash walked up to Fluttershy, who could barely comprehend what was happening.

“Uh, hey Fluttershy. It’s me, Rainbow Dash. Do you remember me?” she asked. She had locked her eyes with Fluttershy’s, and the shy and frightened pony became motionless. Fluttershy just froze. She didn’t say or do anything. I looked at her, feeling sick to my stomach.

“Fluttershy?” I spoke. No reply. I knelt down beside her. “Fluttershy?!” Again, nothing. “What did you do to her?!” I nearly shouted at them all.

“Stay calm, Matthew. She is remembering,” Celestia spoke, as if to try to assuage my apparent sense of dread. It didn’t really work, as I became more confused by her answer.

“Remembering?” I questioned. But not a moment later, Fluttershy shook her head and looked around. Her eyes lit up with what must have been joy, and a warm, ardent smile spread across her face.

“Rainbow Dash!” she squealed, wrapping herself around her best friend in indubitable happiness. Rainbow Dash was quick to return the favor, holding Fluttershy in a tight hug. Fluttershy was crying, and as the two separated, she gazed around the room to see the rest of her friends were present. “Girls!” Had I blinked, I would have missed Fluttershy wisp over to her friends, joining with them in a giant group hug. I looked over to Celestia.

“What just happened?” I asked. Celestia looked back at me, smiling.

“She has regained her memories,” she answered. I took a seat on the couch and watched the reunion. I couldn’t help but smile, much as it hurt. I tear rolled down my cheek. As the emotional scene before me came to an end, the girls started to express how glad they were to see Fluttershy again. As all of this was going on, some old questions began reverberating in my mind.

“What made her lose them in the first place? Princess, why was she sent here to begin with?” I asked, almost stubbornly. Everyone looked at me as if I had committed a sin. I suppose my wording was a bit blunt, but I needed answers. These questions had been locked in my mind since the day I first found Fluttershy, and it was high-time I… no, we received some answers.

“I’m sorry?” the Princess replied. She was about as stunned as everyone else (should I be saying everypony? I think I’ll just start using that).

“I believe we are due for some answers, Princess,” I said, deciding to take a more straightforward tone now. I needed closure, especially since the ponies intended on taking Fluttershy from me.

“I see. Well, where would you like to start, Matthew?”

“The beginning, if you will.” Celestia nodded and looked at Twilight.

“It was the evening of my visit to Ponyville with the delegates of Saddle Arabia. As I had commissioned her, Twilight performed for everypony her new trick with some of Fluttershy’s animal friends. Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong. Twilight’s magic seemed to begin to fail her, and, fearing the safety of her friends, Fluttershy leapt into action to try to save them. Twilight’s magic reached a breaking point, somehow opening an interdimensional portal. Fluttershy was sucked into it and sent here. The portal closed before we could do anything.” Celestia’s explanation was a twisted version of the fifth episode in season three of My Little Pony. Although, everything seemed to add up. Except for a few loose threads.

“Okay, that explains why she’s here. But what about her being fourteen years old when I found her. And what about her being unable to remember anything? And why is she remembering everything because of Rainbow Dash?” I questioned.

“The first two questions I cannot wholly answer. I would assume that Twilight’s magic possessed a strange quality that digressed Fluttershy to an earlier age. It seems that while her age was reversed, she lost all of her memories as well. At least, the ones from after age fourteen,” Celestia explained to me. Honestly, it made about as much sense as I expected it to. “As for the factor of Rainbow Dash, I simply believe it was because, before Fluttershy was taken from us, Rainbow Dash flew in to try to save Fluttershy.”

“I nearly had her. I reached out my hoof to her, and she reached back. But… I was just too slow…” Rainbow Dash interjected. It seemed like she was on the verge of tears. It was evident that her failure to save Fluttershy weighed heavily upon her. But this brought about a new question.

“How long has Fluttershy been gone?” I asked. Celestia and the rest of her company looked around at each other. As Celestia looked back at me, a feeling of light-headedness fell over me.

“Six days,” she answered, much to my consternation.

I had to sit down, I was so surprised. I mean, in retrospect, it was probably a good thing that the ponies had only gone six days without her. But, truthfully, how else was I supposed to react at the time. That meant that a year on Earth equaled a day in Equestria. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. You couldn’t possibly imbibe me with the ability to comprehend it all, I was so shocked. Fluttershy walked back over and sat next to me. She began to try to comfort me.

“Matthew? Are you alright?” she asked. I chuckled, strangely enough. A tear ran down my cheek.

“I… I don’t know,” I said, beginning to run my hand through her mane, as I had done normally with great proclivity. I quickly found myself hugging her, not wanting to let go. She returned the hug just as quickly. As we parted, we looked back at the rest of the ponies and baby dragon.

“I know this must all come as a shock to you, but you have our sympathies. If there were an easier way to break all of this to you, believe me, we would have done it. Unfortunately, we were left with no alternatives,” Celestia said. I nodded.

“It’s fine, I guess. I just didn’t expect… well, all of it, I suppose. I mean, what would have given me any reason to believe that everything that’s happened to me would actually happen? It’s unreal is what it is. A fantasy that I always to keep me going when things got rough. I was holding on to a fairytale, really. And for a while, once Fluttershy was here, I thought I just might get that happy fairytale ending. But I would always remind myself that something like this was bound to happen. I just… I wish it wasn’t so soon.”

And in a flash, I broke down. Tears began to pour from my eyes like a fountain. Left unchecked, I probably could have soaked the entire area of the couch I was sitting on. It was just that the realization of what was happening to me, an imminent threat that I knew was coming since the first day I had met Fluttershy, had finally caught up to me. And it hit me. Hard. I didn’t want to believe it, truly I didn’t. But there was no dodging the facts. No dodging the reality. This was the way things had to be.

Fluttershy soon began to hug me once more, wrapping me up in her wings. She started to cry as well, and I quickly returned the embrace. It was obvious enough that she didn’t want to leave either. And could you blame her? After everything that she and I had been through, why would she want to leave? Why would she want to be taken away from me? Our situation wasn’t fair. And I think Celestia knew that. While the rest of Fluttershy’s friends began to weep lightly, the Princess just sat there, in a manner that mocked me. She made no sounds, made no movements. She just sat there.

I wanted to say something to her, but I couldn’t form any words. Fluttershy and I were still locked in a tight embrace, and I so desperately wanted to speak out against what was to come. But Celestia seemed quite complacent with what would surely be her choice. She was going to take Fluttershy away from me, and there was nothing I could do to stop that. If this was truly the Princess Celestia I had seen in various My Little Pony episodes, and read depicted in multiple fan fictions, then I knew damn well how obdurate this Alicorn was. Any words of protest would simply fall upon deaf ears.

“M-Matthew…” Fluttershy squeaked, her head still buried in my chest, “I don’t want to go…”

Now, she was crying harder than me. I hugged her more tightly. Any tighter and she would probably suffocate. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pinkie burst into a literal fountain of tears, and I saw Spike and Twilight sharing a caring embrace. Rainbow Dash was trying to fight back her emotions, while Applejack and Rarity cried quietly to themselves. Evidently, Fluttershy’s friends were on our side. Obviously, the girls and Spike wanted Fluttershy back, and I truly couldn’t deny them that. It was just the nature in which everything was happening; how fast everything was happening was just too painful for us. Finally, Fluttershy and I parted. I spoke directly to her.

“Fluttershy… I love you. So much,” I said.

“I love you too, Matthew,” she replied. I swallowed.

“You need to… to go with them.” Fluttershy looked up at me in shock.

“W-What?”

“You have to go with them, Fluttershy!” I exclaimed, almost a bit harshly. Judging from the look on her face, she could hardly believe the words generating from my mouth. Her expression wrenched at my heart. I could barely handle it.

“B-But… N-No. No, you can’t let them just take me!” she protested.

“They’re your friends. And Equestria is where you belong. Fluttershy, you’re limited to this apartment here on Earth. And if you want to go outside, we have to deal with making sure you’re hidden. And what if someone ever found you? Do you think I could deal with the consequences of that?”

“I don’t care about any of that, Matthew! I care about you! That’s all I need!”

“No it isn’t!” I shouted, rising to my feet. I seemingly demanded everypony’s attention, and rightfully so. “I love you! So fucking much! But you can’t be with me anymore!”

Silence. A complete minute of silence. Everypony stared at me. Fluttershy was practically glaring at me with daggers. Spike made a coughing noise, but nopony batted an eye towards him. I finally diverted my eyes from Fluttershy and sat back down. But as I did, she got up.

She walked over to Rainbow Dash. Before I could apologize, they were wrapped in a tight embrace. I couldn’t justifiably stop it. I looked away.

“Just go. Please,” I said. I shut my eyes and dropped my head, resting it my locked hands.

I heard hoofsteps moving towards me. I looked up, expecting Fluttershy. Oddly enough, Celestia was standing in front of me. I gave her a deadpanned expression. I was confused, to say the least. A part of me expected her to rub it all in my face. Yet, another part of me hoped she would at least try to comfort me. I got the latter, to my surprise. In fact, I got more than I expected.

“Matthew, it is okay. Though I cannot directly relate, I do understand your pain. However, I think, perhaps, you might look at the positives to your situation,” she said. No, that all doesn’t sound too great. Just wait.

“Heh, sure, the positives. Bite me, Celestia. You may as well be ripping my heart out and shoving it down my throat. Believe me, I don’t want to let her go. If I had a say in anything, I wouldn’t let you take her. But because I love her… because she’s so important to me, I’ll let her go,” I said. Celestia smiled, to my disgust.

“That’s all I needed to know. Fluttershy, a word please,” Celestia said. Fluttershy looked over in surprise. She walked over to Celestia, who took her into the kitchen. They spoke very quietly; no one in the living room could hear a thing. I stared blankly at the rest of the group. They all looked back with expressionless faces. They seemed as troubled as I was, given the circumstances.

A moment later, Celestia and Fluttershy walked back in. Fluttershy sat next to her friends once more. Celestia stayed standing.

“We’ll be off then,” she said. I could feel my heart being twisted and contorted into knots upon knots. It wasn’t fair. I started to cry once more. Twilight then stood up. I assumed she would be taking everypony home. However, Celestia stopped her. “Allow me, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight nodded and sat back down. “It is alright Matthew. This will all be over soon.” Celestia’s horn began to glow.

“Wait!” I quickly stopped her. “Don’t I at least get to say goodbye first?” I asked, my voice cracking slightly. Fluttershy looked at me with tear-filled eyes. Celestia chuckled.

“You won’t have to.” And in a moment, Twilight’s horn emitted a flash of light. The last thing I saw was a radiant smile on Fluttershy’s face.

I woke up with the sun beaming down on me. I squinted momentarily, trying to adjust my eyes to the change in lighting. I felt the ground around me, realizing that I was in a field of some sort. Finally being able to look around, I found I was on a hill, surrounded by nothing by soft, green grass. I sat up and looked out to horizon. I saw an orchard of beautiful apple trees. My heart nearly jumped as I stood up and turned around.

Standing in front of me were the girls, Spike, and Princess Celestia. Behind them, Ponyville. I was ecstatic, and at the same time, confused.

“There’s no way. No. I don’t believe this. Nope. Nope. Nah.” I was muttering like a blithering idiot. Everypony laughed at me and smiled.

“Welcome home, Matthew,” Fluttershy said, walking over to me. I looked down at her with the most ridiculous grin on my face. I picked her up, spun around five or six times, and kissed her like crazy all over.

“I don’t get it. I thought you guys were taking Fluttershy home,” I said, looking at the rest of the group. Celestia giggled and walked over.

“That was the plan, originally. However, I do not believe in destroying true love. I asked for a word with Fluttershy to determine how noble and true your love really was. Based on what she told me, I have no doubts that you belong here with her and the rest of my little ponies. I am confident that you be wholly welcome here in Equestria,” Celestia said. I was addled to the point of retardation. In that moment, I had no words to possibly describe how happy I was. “Of course, it will take some time for everypony to get used to having you here in Equestria. Considering that you are a foreign to this land, not everypony will be as accepting as we have been.”

“That’s not a problem at all! You’ll see, Princess! Equestria is gonna love me!” I was so excited to be there that nearly I forgot the repercussions of having left home. “W-Wait… What about my family? My friends? Everything back home?” I asked. Celestia nodded her head.

“Surely you understand how powerful my magic is. I altered your world so that you never existed there,” she answered. It was like something out of a comic book (seriously, it’s like when Doctor Strange alters reality to make everyone forget who Spider-Man really is). It was slightly baffling to hear, and a part of me couldn’t stand to believe it. Yet, at the same time, I accepted it. I mean, it was sort of horrible that my family would have no recollection of who I was. But at the same time, it put my mind to rest. I would be sad about it for a while, but I would get over it. Besides, I was going to get a new family, I just didn’t know it yet.

“Thank you, Princess. This is just too perfect. Heh, I just wish I could have brought my stuff with me. So much coolness lost. Brings a tear to my eye,” I joked. Celestia giggled.

“Not to worry, Matthew. You’ll find close to Fluttershy’s cottage a new home has already been constructed for you. Inside, you will find all of your belongings, hopefully laid out to your liking. Of course, you can change anything any way you like. This is your home now. It should feel as such.” I put Fluttershy down and hugged the Princess warmly.

“Thank you. So much.” She smiled and returned the love.

“You are very welcome, Matthew.”

We parted, and I looked back to Fluttershy. I knelt down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. We smiled at each other for a moment, neither one of us knowing what to say.

“So, uh… What now?” I asked. Fluttershy giggled.

“I don’t know. What now?” she copied. Rainbow Dash flew over in a blur.

“Last one to Matt’s place is a rotten egg!” she shouted, and she flew off. I stood up, laughing.

“Really?! So unoriginal! And you don’t even know where it is!” I shouted to her. Before I could say anything else though, Fluttershy had already flown off. I sighed a happy sigh. I looked back at Celestia, who motioned me to go. The rest of the girls and Spike had already done so as well. “See you soon, Princess. And, again, thank you,” I said. She smiled at me and giggled.

“Go on now. Wouldn’t want to be a rotten egg, would you?” she joked. I smiled and ran off to join the others.

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, helping me write. Twilight is reading one of her numerous books, Rarity is (I guess) trying to get a tan (which doesn’t really make sense because, ya know, fur), and Dash, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike are playing in the water. The sun is starting to go down. We’ve been here practically all day. While everypony else was having fun, I had an empty journal to start writing in. And let me tell you, writing all of this has been a blast.

Don’t worry, my story isn’t done yet. My story is far from over, in fact. Because as long as I am here, my story will continue. The story of Fluttershy and me.

Act 2: Chapter 11

Hello, faithful reader! As you read this, it’ll seem pretty immediate that the story continues on, like I had just finished Act 1 only yesterday!

Hahaha… Wrong!

But seriously, welcome back. As it happens, it’s been about…four or five years since I’ve actually written in this journal. You wouldn’t believe how hectic and fun-filled life in Equestria is. Actually, you probably could. If you’ve watched MLP, then you know exactly how great Equestria is. And let me tell you, having firsthand experience in the matter, I can without a doubt say that Equestria is the most fun place in the Universe/Multiverse (I believe in multiple Universes).

So yeah, I haven’t written in a while. Right now, it’s actually about nine o’clock at night. Fluttershy fell asleep sort of early, and I decided to get in bed with her. But, seeing as though I’m not tired, and I’ve been desperately wanting to get back to writing, I figured why not?!

So, where to start, I wonder? I guess I should start a couple weeks after I had arrived in Equestria. Seems as good as any other place… No, that’s a lie. If I start too late, the story will kinda suck. Yeah, actually, I know exactly where to start. I’m actually starting to get jitters! Seriously, you guys have no idea how drastically everything has changed here! So let’s begin!

So, I had been Equestria for about one month. Fluttershy and I had been alternated staying at each other’s homes. Some nights, we stayed at Fluttershy’s, and others we stayed at mine. It didn’t matter, honestly. We just needed each other. The days were filled with antics of one genre or another. Sometimes there’d be a friendship problem, which, aptly enough, would get wrapped up in about a half hour. Other times, there would be monster problems. Those were fun, actually, as I got to discover (and usually beat up) crazy creatures! And other times, the girls, Spike, and I would just have a ton of fun! Seriously, there is never a dull moment to be had in Equestria!

Of course, it took a while for all the ponies of Equestria to get used to seeing me. I was an alien to them from a world they had no knowledge of. I didn’t expect any different from them. But in time, everypony really lightened up to me. I made a ton of new friends, in fact. Almost everypony especially seemed to enjoy my taste in music, which was mostly rock and metal. I was thoroughly surprised, as the ponies of Equestria are quite gentle and peaceful, and the music I listen to is… not. But hey, who am I to complain about great tastes in music.

I think one of the biggest changes I had to make was how I ate. Obviously, meat isn’t viewed as a delicacy in Equestria, so it was goodbye hamburgers, steak, etc. basically forever. It wasn’t as tough as I thought it’d be, though. I started eating a lot healthier, what with there being an abundance of apples and other more natural foods to eat. I must have lost about twenty pounds during my first year in Equestria. I had never felt better.

Work wasn’t that much of a problem. I managed to work tons of odd jobs here and there to keep myself going. Applejack provided me with the most work, usually on the farm. I really enjoyed working with her. She was so reliable and helpful. Other times I’d help out Rarity with transporting her dresses and such. Having worked in theatre, I actually learned a thing or two about designing costumes and clothes, so I’d even help her out with some of that stuff too. I used to not really like Rarity that much, but getting to know her personally, I can say that she’s actually really kind and caring.

Other days, I’d help Twilight organize the library. You wouldn’t believe how nitpicky that pony can be. Honestly, the best part of working with Twilight was bothering her with Spike. That little dude has become my little brother at this point, something I had always wanted! Of course, our antics would always get to a semi-dangerous point, and then Twilight would blast us with magic, and then we’d have to stop. But the best part of it all was how reasonable Twilight was. Sometimes she’d even enjoy our antics.

Pinkie Pie is an atomic blast to work with! We’d usually just bake and sell delicious treats! I can say, without a doubt, Pinkie is the most fun pony in the entirety of Equestria! Seriously, she’s the most fun-loving pony I’ve ever met in my life! And I love that about her! And then, of course, there’s Rainbow Dash. We never did any work together. We just screwed around together (not like that). Most of the time, we’d go around pranking people or just racing. I never really one most of those races, but they were exhilarating nonetheless! And let me tell you, Dash is one of the most loyal friends I could ever ask for. Aside from Spike, she’s my closest friend here in Equestria.

One of the more magical things that had begun to happen was the sharing of my dreams with Fluttershy. We had already been able to do that for a while, but it didn’t happen very often. Every night we’d hope that we would be able to, but luck would often let us down. Now, in Equestria, it happened about once or twice every week.

Each time was as magical as the first.

However, the dreams led to some troubles. Emotional troubles. For me. Call it envy, if you will.

Most of the time, in our dreams, we’ll be flying together in the sky, just the two of us. Just like the first time we shared dreams. Now, however, rather than me just levitating in the air through unexplainable means, I actually have wings. Fucking wings! Sounds awesome, right!

Well, it would be, if it weren’t for the fact that in reality I didn’t have wings…

Anyway, my envy began to show. Fluttershy started to get worried, so I told her of my troubles. She was so understanding about it, whereas Rainbow Dash liked to poke fun at me. I would always bonk her on the head as retribution, and it was always so satisfying! But yeah, I had a serious case of wing envy.

For a couple of weeks, I spent hours tediously rummaging through Twilight’s library, trying to find any sort of spell that she could perform on me. All that she could really do though was give me those girly gossamer wings she gave Rarity way back when, so that was a bust. I even tried making a few contraptions, but none succeeded.

I nearly gave up, when I remembered a certain zebra friend of ours that would more than likely be able to solve my problem.

So, on a quiet Sunday morning, I told Fluttershy I was going to run a few errands. She would be out anyway, and I wanted to surprise her. I didn’t tell a soul. With my true intentions covered up properly, I set out through the Everfree Forest to Zecora’s hut. A few days prior, I had met with Zecora in Ponyville to discuss our meeting. Everything would be ready upon my arrival.

Let me tell you, the Everfree Forest flat out sucks. I mean, seriously, they made it seem bad in the show, but in actuality, it’s worse. Not by much, but trust me, it’s worse. If anything, it’s because of the smell. They never mentioned that in the show, unfortunately. Otherwise, everything else that that’s mentioned is there; muddy paths, scary plant life, foreboding nature in general, the works.

I made it to Zecora’s hut at last, eager to begin! As I entered, I looked around, eyeing many of the unusual decorative pieces littered across the walls. Most of it was really intriguing, while other stuff was rather strange. But, I had not come for tips on interior decorating, after all. I had come for wings!

“Zecora! How’s my favorite zebra?!” I cheerfully greeted her. She gave me a warm smile in return.

“Why hello, Matthew. Come for your interesting brew, have you?” she rhymed. I always loved that about her! Her traditional method of speaking was always very curious to me, and I find that it is her most salient quality.

“Indeed I have! Is everything ready?” I asked. She nodded and led me to her cauldron, which rested over a hot fire. Nothing but water was in it when I looked it. I watched for a moment before turning my gaze to see Zecora beginning to gather up the ingredients. I noticed that she had a bowl of what looked like eagle feathers, which gave me a peculiar idea. “Hey, Zecora, would it be possible to specifically give me eagle wings? I know that sounds funny, but I’ve always loved eagles. I wanted to get a pair of eagle wings tattooed on my back, but I never got around to it.” I wondered, after having asked, if it could be as simple as just adding a feather to the mix. Zecora looked at her bowl of feathers, and then back at me, with a smile on her face.

“Of course, my friend. You seek flight, so we must do it right. Grab a feather from the bowl, add it to the mix, and you shall reach your goal.” I picked up a feather and placed it on the table where she had placed the rest of the ingredients.

Shortly after, she began to mix everything together. Let me tell you, it smelt worse than any concoction man has ever come up with. I mean, this stuff smelt like ass; worse than ass, to put it bluntly. The color seemed to change slightly with every ingredient added. It went from red, to a dark yellow, to a bluish red, and finally, when Zecora added the feather, a light shade of brown. Taking another daring whiff nearly made me hurl up some chunks.

Zecora filled up a small bowl with the mixture and gave it to me. I looked down at it in discomfort and slight disdain. It almost didn’t seem worth it. I stared at Zecora with a disgruntled look. She gestured towards me, but not to drink though. I continued to stare, puzzled by her motions.

“It would be wise to remove your shirt, lest you wish the process to truly hurt,” she said, pointing at my shirt once more. I chuckled and removed it hastily. I then looked back at the mixture, and back at Zecora. She continued to gesture for me to drink it. With much acquiescence, I drank the ungodly mixture. It seemed to go down in chunks. It was straight up nasty!

When I finished, I dropped the bowl to the floor and nearly threw up once more. I shook my head and looked at Zecora. She was smiled at me and walked away.

“Hey, where are you going?” I received no answer, and suddenly, a powerful jolt of pain shot through my body. It was unbearable! I let out a ghastly cry in turmoil. I held my chest, writhing in pain as I fell to the floor. It felt as though my spine and my shoulders were doing the tango across the inside of my back. It wasn’t just painful, it was uncomfortable!

And before I could do anything else, I blacked out.

Act 2: Chapter 12

As I started to come to, I felt exhausted and nauseous. I awoke to find myself still in Zecora’s hut, lying on my stomach on her couch. A sharp, intense pain was coursing throughout my back, and it was unbearable. I groaned in distress and let out a few disgruntled noises as I tried to lift myself up. But that wasn’t happening, as the pain was far too much for me to handle. I then heard hoofsteps from behind me. I turned my head as best as I could to see Zecora.

“Hey Zecora…” Looking at her, I then noticed the changes that had unfolded. “Holy shit! I’ve got wings!” On my back was a pair of majestic wings! They were brown and full of feathers, as I expected them to be. They were in full span, as I had no idea how to lock them up. But I didn’t really want to at the moment. I wanted to just keep staring at them. They were so cool!

“The transformation was a complete success! And now, you are in quite a bit of pain, I would guess,” Zecora said. I nodded in agreement.

“You’re damn right I’m in quite a bit of pain. I’m in a whole lot of pain, as a matter of fact.” I leaned over onto my side and saw most of my torso was wrapped up in bloodied bandages. By the look of it, I had bled out a large amount of blood. A little too much, given how dizzy I felt. I held my head in slight agony and tried to shake it off, but to no avail. I tried to sit back, but doing so just added on to the pain.

“Ugh, how long is this pain going to last?” I asked her.

“I cannot say. Most certainly for the rest of the day,” she answered. I sighed. But I knew that the pain and suffering would all be worth it in the end! I was going to finally be able to truly fly with Fluttershy through the skies of Equestria!

“Well, I’ll certainly be needing some flying lessons. I’m sure Rainbow Dash would be obliged to help in that regard. Zecora, I cannot thank you enough!” I was elated beyond words! She nodded to me and gave me a warm smile. I tried to sit up once more, this time with more success. It hurt to sit, but it was worth it, as I was able to get a full view of my new wings. “You’re the best, Zecora!" I said cheerfully. With a bit of effort, I was back on my feet. I twisted my torso a bit and moved my shoulders around as best I could to get a feel for the changes in my body. A small question came to mind shortly after. “How long are these wings supposed to last, Zecora?” I asked. She smiled at me.

“Normally, the wings last only last a few months. But thanks to the eagle’s feather, you will undergo this process only once,” she told me.

“So, forever?!” She nodded, and a smile that rivals even the Joker’s spread across my face. I was as happy as happy could get! As I write these words, I’ve still got my wings, and they’re still fucking awesome!

After I had finished readjusting myself to accommodate my changes, Zecora handed me my shirt, which she had cut two holes in the back for my wings. They weren’t perfect, but it wasn’t that much of a problem. It wasn’t a shirt I really cared about, and Rarity could probably fix it up. In fact, she would wind up making holes in all of my clothes that needed them. As I stood there, I started to try to move them around, which hurt extensively.

“I would not try to move them yet, Matthew, as it will certainly only hurt you. Wait a little while longer, and you shall see, the movement will be even stronger!” Zecora explained. I nodded and took her advice, ceasing all movement in my wings. I just let them be as they were. I admired them for a while longer before getting ready to leave.

“Again, Zecora, thank you so much! You’re the best zebra ever!” I offered my hand up for a fist/hoofbump. She smiled and accepted the gesture. After that, I made my way back to Ponyville, on a much better path that Zecora had thankfully provided me with. As I stood on the outskirts of Ponyville, I began to wonder how I should reveal my new wings to Fluttershy. It had to be a surprise, for sure, but I wondered just how exactly I should do it. Luckily, Rainbow Dash was flying around overhead for me to catch her.

“Hey, Dash!” I shouted up to her. I got her attention, and she flew down to me. I caught her exasperated expression even before she landed with a slide. She then began hovering around me in quick spurts, examining me and my new wings.

“Ha! Matt, you got wings?! Awesome!” she screeched. We laughed in tandem as she admired my set of wings. I foolishly posed for her, much to her amusement. “How is that even possible?!”

“Our good friend Zecora is to thank, good Rainbow Dash!” I answered.

“Ya gotta love that zebra!” We smacked hands/hooves for a high-five/hoof in celebration. It truly was a wonderful moment to share with my best friend. “You haven’t told Fluttershy yet, right? Cause you totally need to surprise her with this!” I nodded in agreement.

“That’s exactly what I intend to do. I just need to figure out how to do so. Think you could help out in that regard?” I asked.

“Pfft, do you question my abilities to offer the best surprises ever?!” she boasted. I rolled my eyes.

“Honestly, I expect Pinkie Pie to help me with the true surprise, but if you want to help keep Fluttershy distracted for a while, that’d be great,” I said, chuckling as I had figuratively dragged Dash off of her throne of pride. She pouted in childish defeat and rolled her eyes at me.

“Ugh, fine! Have it your way! But you’re wasting some serious talent here! Where is she right about now?” she asked. I pondered for a moment. She was supposed to be out most of the day running some errands, but I had been out for a while, so I had no idea where she could be. I shrugged and told Dash as much as I knew.

“I figure she should be around the market or something. Maybe check her cottage too. I’m going to head to Sugarcube Corner. Do you know where the rest of the gang is?” I asked.

“Yeah, actually, they’re already all at Sugarcube Corner. I was on my way there to meet up with them when you stopped me. I’d be happy to grab Fluttershy and bring her over. How much time do you think you’ll need?”

“Probably about a twenty minutes at least. It shouldn’t take that long for me to explain everything to everypony there. Though, I’d rather avoid explaining everything until you and Fluttershy get there, so I can just explain it all once to everypony and be done in that regard. So, basically, just keep Fluttershy occupied, if she isn’t already, for a little while, and bring her over whenever you think is gouda!” I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me, quizzically.

“Gouda?” she questioned.

“It’s a type of cheese.”

“I know, but… Never mind. Let’s move!” And like that, she bolted off. I would have done the same, if it weren’t for the pain that still coursed through my body. Not to mention, my torso was still ensconced in bandages (new ones, of course (I changed them before I left Zecora’s)). So, I steadily made my way to Sugarcube Corner, taking in the glances and stares of the ponies that I passed by. They mostly seemed impressed by my new wings. Others seemed shocked or surprised by the change, as most of the ponies in Ponyville had gotten to know me pretty well by now. So, as you can imagine, having wings on my back was surely a nice surprise for my friends.

I made it to Sugarcube Corner in good time, thankfully avoiding Fluttershy as I made my way there. I entered to find the main room empty. I assumed everypony was in the back, hanging out. I heard laughter coming from my destination, and sure enough, the gang was all here. I peeked my head in the room and greeted my friends.

“Greetings, my lovely companions!” I said, putting on a goofy, wide-mouthed smile. The girls and Spike looked over with smiles on their faces.

“Oh yeah, Matt is in the house!” Spike cheered.

“New and improved, I might add,” I said, revealing myself to the gang. Their expressions were absolutely priceless, with all of their jaws practically hitting the floor. Spike’s entire self, not just his jaw, hit the floor, in fact.

“Wha…? How…? What?!” Twilight screeched, being the first to speak up. “That’s not possible! It’s just not! From what I know of your biology, Matt, you physically shouldn’t be able to grow wings! How’d you do it?!”

“In short, Zecora,” I answered, sweetly and simply. Simultaneously, they all nodded.

“Yep, that there sounds about right,” Applejack jumped in.

“Oh do tell us everything, darling! Details, details, details!” Rarity chimed up.

“Yeah! I bet it was the most exhilarating thing you’ve ever felt in your life!” Pinkie added, jumping up and down.

“Seriously, dude, those wings are sweet! Did Zecora give you some magic potion or something?” Spike asked.

“Settle, settle, ye silly little ponies!” I jocularly stated. “All shall be told, but we are obviously missing two of our merry little bunch.” The group looked around and realized I was talking about Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

“Oh yeah, where are those two anyhow?” Applejack asked.

“Fluttershy’s out doing errands today. I bumped into Rainbow Dash on my way out of the Everfree Forest. I told her to go find Fluttershy and distract her for a while. They’ll be here soon, I believe. I figure it’ll be easier to explain everything once to all of you, am I right?” They all nodded. “Shwaggy!” Everypony shared a laugh at the sound of my uncanny statement.

A couple minutes went by of the gang just admiring and gawking at my wings. It got a tad bit annoying, actually, but then again, it always felt great to be loved and admired! Haha! Anyway, after those minutes had passed, we heard a knocking on the back door.

“Hey guys, it’s us!” Rainbow Dash called from outside. We all froze for a moment, followed by the quick panic of getting me hidden, followed by silence. From my hiding spot, I gestured for somepony to say something.

“Uh… hey there, Rainbow. You got Fluttershy with ya?” Applejack asked.

“Yep! We’re coming in!” Dash replied. I heard the doors open, along with two sets of hoofsteps. I listened as Dash and Fluttershy walked in. I peeked out from my little hiding nook to see the two mares join their friends on the couches.

“Why Fluttershy, you look simply awful. Tiresome day of errands, I take it?” Rarity asked. Looking at Fluttershy, I could see that Rarity was absolutely right. Her mane was pretty disheveled, with tangles and knots all around. Her fur seemed slightly rustled around as well. And she seemed a little dirty too.

“Oh, it was nothing that stressful. It was just that some of my animal friends surprised me with some unexpected requests at the busiest of my day. But, everything was taken care of. Nothing to worry about,” she explained. As she finished, she wore a cute, enamored smile. It gave me so many feels!

“Darling, I mean no offense when I say this, but you look as ghastly as Twilight did when that stallion asked her out the other night,” Rarity announced. The gang collectively giggled and laughed as Twilight’s face lit up the brightest shade of red.

“Hey, it’s not funny!” Twilight protested, but her pleas fell upon deaf ears, as Rainbow Dash and Spike were cackling so maniacally that they were on the floor.

“Oh my gosh, that was hysterical! Her face when he asked her was priceless!” Spike cried out, holding his sides as he rolled around.

“And how she completely locked up and he just walked away! I was dying!” Rainbow added. And, unfortunately, the antics got so out of control that I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. I guess it must have been a pretty loud one, because silence fell over the room shortly after. Everypony but Fluttershy locked up. Fluttershy gazed heavily upon the point of origin.

“Girls… where’s Matthew?” she asked. They all looked at each other. I figured since our cover had been blown, I might as well make my entrance.

“Well, she got us. I’m over here, cutie,” I said from the hallway. I presented myself to Fluttershy. Just the sight of me seemed to assuage all of the stress she must have been feeling from the day. She was staring daggers at me, unable to avert her gaze. She stood up and slowly approached me.

“Matthew…” she said. I looked down to her and smiled a cheeky smile.

“Hey!” I replied. I could see her starting to tear up. And before I knew it, I was twirling her around in the air, holding her in a tight hug.

“Oh my gosh, Matthew! You have wings! I can’t believe it! They’re beautiful! Yay!” she squealed. It was adorable.

“Yep! And ow!” I put her down, rubbing my torso, as the pain from the transformation still lurked and crept within me. It sucked.

“Oh, are you alright? I’m sorry!”

“Heh, it’s fine. I just forgot that I’m not in the clear just yet.” I showed them all my bandages. They all looked worried, but I guaranteed that I was fine. And after that, I explained the entire experience to them. I told them of my visit to Zecora’s, the repulsive concoction she made me, the pain of the changes, and how amazing it felt to have wings of my own. And last but not least, I went into great detail of how anxious and excited I was to be able to finally fly with the love of my life.

“Seriously, we need to get training as soon as possible, because you and I have got some serious flying to do, Fluttershy,” I told her, wrapping my arm around her as we rested on the couch.

“Ha! You’re gonna have to wait a while there, pal, cause flyin ain’t as simple as it seems. But don’t you worry! With me as your coach, you’ll be up in the air in no time!” Rainbow proclaimed. I rolled my eyes and looked back to Fluttershy. She seemed ready to burst with tears.

“You alright?” I asked.

“I just can’t believe you did this for me. For us. I just can’t believe how lucky I am to have you, Matthew,” she said.

“Aaaaaww.” We all looked at Spike. “What, it was cute.” Then, we all laughed at Spike. Truly, it was a magnificent day! I looked back to Fluttershy and pressed my lips to her. Parting, we gazed into each other’s eyes.

“You know how much I love you?” I asked her.

“I think I’ve got a good idea, but tell me anyway!” she eagerly replied.

“Sheesh, can you believe these guys! I mean, come on! PDA much?!” Pinkie jeered. We all looked at her.

“You know what I just realized,” I began, “Pinkie has barely spoken today. Like, she’s been unusually quiet…” We all continued to gaze at her. She then lifted her hoof over her head and removed her, well, skin, to reveal Gummy.

“Huh?!” everypony in the room collectively said, confused beyond imagination. Suddenly, Pinkie cartwheeled into the room through the door.

“Hehehe! I can’t believe you guys fell for that! I mean, come on! It was unbelievably obvious that Gummy had secretly pulled me aside and slipped into a Pinkie Pie costume. Seriously, you guys are so gullible. Hehehe!” she stated. Of course, we were all shitting ourselves in confusion. I personally was ready to pull out my brain, plant some dynamite in it, and place it back in my head, only to await a quick demise.

“Wait, what just happened?!” Twilight asked in absolute protest. Pinkie kept giggling until she looked at me.

“Hey, Matt! Nice wings! When’d you get em?!” she asked cheerfully. I looked down to Fluttershy, rolled my eyes, and threw my head back in exhaustion. It had been quite an eventful day indeed.

Author's Notes:

Yeah, the ending came from me realizing that I had literally given Pinkie no lines in the chapter. So, I promptly said "Fuck it!" and made the ending. Cool, right?!

Act 2: Chapter 13

The next few days went by rather quickly. It was all a blur of training and planning. Planning for what, you ask? Why, my “Spreading Your Wings Party” of course! What, you thought Pinkie was going to let me get away with growing wings and not have a party? Don’t be absurd!

For the first two days, I just stayed in mostly. I still needed a while to recover from the pain of the transformation. In that time, though, I was able to practice folding my wings in, which made life exponentially easier (seriously, for the first day, I moved entirely with my wings in full spread). As well, I got adjusted to how my body felt overall now that it had to accommodate for two wings on my back. They added a good ten pounds to my overall weight, actually (you know, given the bone structure and all).

When the proper adjustments had been finalized, I began my training. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and I found a nice open space in town to practice at. Of course, the beginning stages of my flight capabilities were a complete and utter mess. At first, Dash would just have me hover in place. That I could accomplish easily enough. Hovering is as easy as jumping the air and flapping my wings as hard as possible. With time and practice, the task would be effortless.

Then, I was asked to hover over to a certain location, usually towards Dash or Fluttershy. On my first try, I wound up face-planting harshly onto the ground. It wasn’t pleasant in the slightest, as I’m sure you can imagine. Within a couple hours of training, I was able to perform a controlled hover. Ascending and descending were trivial as well, by that point. The following days, practice mostly consisted of increasing and decreasing my speed. And oh the joys of crashing and crashing, let me tell you!

At the end of four days of training, my face was covered in scars, I had sprained my right ankle, and if I had landed any differently on one occasion, I would have broken my arm. So, as you can imagine, flying is not as simple as birds and Pegasi make it out to be. What made it even stranger is that, when I had first met Fluttershy, we spent a while just practicing flying. I actually managed to teach her so much. Yet, now that I needed the practice, I could recollect none of my lessons. Twas a darn shame indeed.

However, the scars, bruises, and injuries were all well worth it, for by the end of the week, my camaraderie of friends and I were ready to celebrate in style! Twilight had spoken to Celestia about reserving the castle gardens in Canterlot for our small soirée. It was a modest little party, but Pinkie completely over-accentuated the ‘wing’ aspect of the party. Seriously, the cake (which was enormous) was in the shape of a pair of wings, the balloons were wings, everypony (even Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash) wore fake wings, and hell even the confetti was in the shape of wings! I was ambivalent at first sight of everything, but within minutes, I was all for it.

And we partied hard! There were shenanigans all around! As we started to eat the cake, I smacked Rainbow’s plate out of her hooves, to which she responded by picking up the fallen slice and slapping it in my face. While she (and Spike, obviously) were laughing, I in turn ate the cake on my face, savored it, and then promptly began a cake war.

“Fluttershy, the enemy has opened fire! Get down!” I shouted, flipping the table over on its side, with the cake falling behind it, giving us all the ammo. Fluttershy laughed and followed suit.

“Ah! The cake!” Pinkie shouted. Her cries were meaningless, as comical, cake-filled war had begun! We grabbed cake chunks and began chucking them at Rainbow and Spike. The rest of the gang took sides. Pinkie, on the other hand, decided to fight on her own. She attacked everypony, which was quite honestly the most unfair thing she could have done, as she dominated everypony.

By the end, everypony was on the floor laughing. I looked over at Fluttershy, who was completely covered in icing rather than cake chunks, and licked some of it off of her. This tickled her in the cutest ways, evidently by her giggling. As I made my way to her face, I gave her small kisses on her cheeks.

“See what you’ve done, silly,” she said to me.

“What, make this party twenty percent more fun?” I retorted, smiling giddily. And before I could react, Pinkie tackled me to the ground.

“You are gonna eat cake, and you are gonna like it, buster!” she cried out. I was dying of laughter as she tried to shove cake belligerently down my throat. Everypony else was laughing at my predicament, of course, as it seemed I was on my own to get out of this one. Eventually, I gave into the pressure and took my punishment; cake. Seriously, best cake ever!

By the end of the party, the gardens were bereft of cleanliness. Our jocular antics had left our party area a complete and utter mess. But nonetheless, we were all smiles and laughs because of them. Thanks to the magic of Twilight and Rarity, we, as well as the gardens, were all cleaned up in short time. We wrapped up the party with some dancing and small games. When the time came to wrap everything up, we were all quite torpid, void of all vim and vigor. But it we were not without joy and cheer, for we had one last special event planned.

As night had fallen upon Equestria, we gazed to the stars. The luminescent satellites had always interested me, and in Equestria, light pollution was nearly non-existent. You could see the stars perfectly. It was beautiful. We all laid out in the gardens, trying to spot different constellations. We all had to shush Twilight multiple times for consecutively pointing out different ones. Applejack had a knack for spotting them too, as it turned out. Spike fell asleep at one point, letting out echoing snores. We all shared a good laugh at his innocent nature.

I got lost in those stars, believe me. I was snapped out of my lunar trance when Fluttershy cuddled up with me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close, kissing her on her head a few times.

“This is just perfect,” she said.

“Ya got that right, Fluttershy,” Applejack agreed.

“Girls, I can most certainly say that this is one of the best parties I’ve ever had,” I said. We all turned our gazes to Pinkie as she coughed for attention.

“Thanks, Pinkie!” we all said collectively.

“Hehehe! You’re welcome!” she responded.

“Heh, we should have wars like that when winter comes around, girls!” Twilight added.

“It would be a lot cleaner, wouldn’t it?” I said. We all shared a laugh before returning our eyes to the night sky. I then fell into a pensive state. I was contemplating whether or not my flight capabilities were up for a little test. If I succeeded, the result would be a moment that would live on in my dreams for a life time. If I failed… well, I’d be hurt, to say the least.

I stood up and offered my hand to Fluttershy. She took it with her hoof and stood up with me.

“Wutcha doin?” Rainbow asked.

“I don’t know. What are we doing, Matthew?” Fluttershy asked me curiously. I smiled and began to hover.

“Follow me and find out,” I answered. I began to float up higher into the sky. Fluttershy looked back at her friends before following me up. As I continued to ascend, I looked higher into the sky and began to spin around, letting myself go and feeling freer than ever. I stopped myself at a reasonable height, allowing Fluttershy to catch up.

“We’re pretty high up, Matthew,” she said, the sound of worry in her voice, “are you sure we should be up here?”

“More sure than I’ve ever been.” I took her hoof in my hand and began to groggily move with her in tandem. We began to fly parallel to each other, gaining speed, which left me with a bit of concern, as I shook a couple of times trying to gain my balance. But luckily, I found it, and before we knew it, Fluttershy and I were flying through the night sky effortlessly. It was as magical as I imagined it would be, both in my dreams and the moments before actually taking action. The breeze in my face was comforting and serene, and the sense of flying was lost. It was as if I wasn’t even flying, really. It felt different than flying. It was living, but in totally different sense than what that actually means. The feelings I felt are hard to describe. But, when I looked over at Fluttershy, I knew she felt the same.

“Woohoo! Got Matt and Fluttershy!” Pinkie cheered for us from the ground. The rest of the girls, and the awoken Spike began to cheer for us as well. As they explained to us when we came down, our bodies were barely visible at all. Our shadows were more prominently visible, as they could be seen blocking out the stars. As Twilight described, it was as if the darkness of the night had come alive and was playing an intricate game in the sky.

As Fluttershy and I were flying together, I pulled her in closer. Soon enough, we locked lips. It was one of the most magical kisses we ever shared. We parted and gazed into each other’s eyes, caring not for where we were flying. In that moment, we had nothing to care about; nothing to fear.

“I love you, Matthew.”

“I love you too, Fluttershy.

Up in the dimly lit night sky, it was just Fluttershy and me.

Act 2: Chapter 14

Time began to fly by in tedium, which wasn’t as awful as it may sound. Tedium in Equestria was exciting. My days were filled with further flight training, invigorating adventures, work to help sustain myself, and whatever other spontaneous occurrences would come my way. As I’ve said, there was nary a dull moment to be had.

As time went by, however, I began to feel an emptiness. It took me a while, and when the realization hit, I was slightly loath to admit it, but I missed my family. Why would I be loath to admit missing them? Because, quite frankly, my family only added to my pain. They were all off either living their dreams or more successful lives than I, and I was left feeling a sense of incompetency towards my endeavors. Of course, that all changed when Fluttershy arrived, but before then, my life really sucked, as you’re probably aware of.

But, considering they are my family, I could never not love them. In fact, as that emptiness became more and more apparent to me, my love for them only grew. I sincerely missed them. Once I got over my negative emotions, I missed them with a torturous passion. I told Fluttershy about it, and she was always there to comfort me with her love and affection.

One day, Fluttershy went out to run her usual errands. She promised that, if her hunch was correct, she’d be coming home with a pleasant surprise. I could only imagine what items of intrigue and leisure she would return with. What did she return with? Well, we’ll get there. First, I should tell you of what happened during the time while she was gone.

You see, one of the possessions I had brought with me to Equestria was a family portrait. It was a picture of all of us, just together for a casual family gathering. The whole camaraderie was there; aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I looked upon the portrait for a moment, intimately remembering the occasion. My one cousin, who was of quite a capricious nature, wound up having a hilarious mood swing during the evening. This led to the unintentionally slapping of food across the table and making a gargantuan mess. The day was filled with much merriment, and it was a day I couldn’t forget easily.

I lifted the portrait off the wall that it rested on in the hall of my home and rested against the wall. I slid down and put my head back, gazing upon the portrait with a sense of elation. I chuckled to myself, remembering the numerous times my family would coalesce for festive gatherings. Christmas was always the best. Something about Christmas gave us all a sense of exhilaration, more so than any other holiday or spontaneous gathering. Perhaps it was just holiday jitters, or maybe it was something else entirely that I just couldn’t explain. But looking upon that portrait made me think really hard.

“I miss you all. So much,” I whispered to the picture, allowing my body to relax. Gently, I lost myself in a calming sleep. In that sleep, I began to reminisce old memories of my family.

The first memory came in the form of my elementary school graduation. It wasn’t nearly as eventful as my high school and college graduations, obviously, but it was a pleasant memory that I have somehow been able to hold onto all these years. It was a hot and uncomfortable day, and having to dress up in formal attire didn’t help in the slightest. Not all my family was there, just the immediate family. As my fellow graduates and I stood for observation in the school auditorium, I spotted my family and smiled at them. I remember so vividly how proud they were of my. Sure, it was just elementary school, but whenever children or siblings do something monumental, you’re proud of them for it. And my family was just the same on that day. We celebrated by going out to one of my favorite Italian restaurants.

And just as I was getting really into recollecting the memory, it faded and changed to a new one. Now, I was viewing the day of my first performance on stage. I was in the ninth grade, and my school was putting on a production of Into the Woods. Participating in this group was the catalyst for me to decide theatre was what I wanted to pursue as a career. The show was amazing, all thanks to the stellar cast and crew behind it. I watched as the cast walked out for bows. It was one of the happiest moments of my life; standing on stage, basking in a modicum of glory. And then I saw my family; most of them, in fact. They were all on their feet, cheering for me. As the cast walked off the stage, I waved specifically to them. Their faces were beaming with pride. It just goes to show you how loyal and important family is.

While I was gazing upon myself and my family, the memory began to fade again. My vision blurred with the changing memories. Now, I was viewing the day of my sixteenth birthday. There was an eventful day. I had my entire family over, as well as a couple friends. The party took place outside my house in the backyard. While all the adults and older members of my family conversed, my friends and I were causing an unending ruckus! Much to the dismay of my family, we were blasting punk rock and metal, and the gang and I were participating in small, contained mosh pits. My one pal actually wound up with a bloody nose. It was hysterical! But, in the end, we all gathered around the table for cake and ice cream, with everyone wishing me a happy birthday! I couldn’t wish for anything more than being happily surrounded by my family and friends.

My vision faded and cleared up once again to see a new memory, this time the day of my high school graduation. The day was as disgusting (in terms of heat) as my elementary school graduation, but thankfully this graduation was taking place in the air conditioned gym of a local college. I was all gussied up in my cap and gown, and I felt like I could take on the world. The ceremony went on as planned, and when it came time to accept our diplomas, my heart was soaring. My class went up one by one, and when my name was called, I could hear the cheers of my family from the large crowd. I laughed to myself as I walked down the line of district officials, shaking all of their hands appropriately. As I exited, I actually passed my family and offered them a juvenile cheer, much to our amusement. Aside from the crippling heat outside, it couldn’t have been a more perfect day.

Once more, my memories changed and contoured before me. I was in Las Vegas now, observing my family’s celebration of my twenty-first birthday. That was a frivolous time, indeed! Finally being the legal drinking age in the US, I intended to partake in the drinking of many spirits and the devouring of many libations. It was a true night of debauchery! Unfortunately, no sex was to be had (though that probably was a good thing, now that I think about it), but nonetheless, my family had a grand old time! They certainly weren’t proud of me on that night, but we were all having a fun! And that’s all that mattered to me.

My next memory was oddly not of my family. It was a memory of Fluttershy; my first memory of Fluttershy. I observed myself walking down the street of my home, passing the dumpster that would hold my future in it. I watched myself peeking inside of it to find the young Fluttershy, scared and out of place. I saw my younger self take her in his arms and carry her back home. It was heartwarming and quite moving, looking back on it. But as I watched the scene unfold before me, I wondered why I was seeing it, as all my previous memories were of me enjoying time with my family. Also, the memories of my high school graduation and my twenty-first birthday took place after I found Fluttershy. It seemed out of place.

And then I realized, Fluttershy was a part of family just as much as the rest of them, and seeing this memory reminded of that. Seeing it after all the other memories of my family made me realize how important she was to me. She had been with me through so much of my life. She was the one to help turn my life around, and I owed so much to her. I thought to myself that when I woke up, I was going to show her as much gratitude and love as humanly possible. Looking back at when I first met her, I never would have expected our lives to arrive at where we were then, or where we are now, for that matter. Putting it simply, it was beautiful to be shown all of this. It was calming and serene.

And then I began to wake up, or rather, I was awoken by a fearful Fluttershy. I heard the door to our home open, and a moment later, I heard her hurried hoofsteps moving towards me. She was by my side with her hooves on my shoulder.

“Matthew?! Are you okay?!” she asked anxiously. I shook my head and looked to her with a smile on my face. I wrapped her tightly in my arms and held her close, melting as she quickly returned the embrace.

“I love you so much, Fluttershy,” I stated. I heard her release a sigh of relief. She nuzzled her head into my chest, looking up at me with watery eyes.

“Are you alright, Matthew? Why are you on the floor?” she asked. I looked to my right and picked up the picture of my family. We both looked upon it, emotions tugging at my heart.

“I was just taking a small trip down memory lane,” I told her. She giggled as I kissed her on the head.

“And how was your trip?”

“Beautiful.” She smiled at me as she stood up and walked back over to where she had dropped her saddlebags.

“So, you’d say that you had a good day then?” She asked that with a hint of curiosity in her voice, looking over to me with a suspicious grin. I furrowed my brow and looked at her in confusion.

“What did you do?” I replied, knowing she was up to something.

“Me? I didn’t do anything,” she started, reaching into her saddlebags. “Twilight, on the other hoof, got us these!” She held up two golden tickets. What were they for? I think you already know that.

“Tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?!” I shouted, jumping to my feet in excitement. Fluttershy nodded vigorously. I began hopping around our home, with unusual squeals escaping my mouth. Fluttershy was giggling at my over-zealous display. “God, I love Equestria!” I exclaimed. Fluttershy burst out into full laughter as I surprisingly picked her up and spun her around. I planted a passionate kiss on her lips and held her close.

“Okay, okay, I understand you’re excited! But Matthew, please, I need to breathe!” she protested, still laughing at me. I put her down and continued to spin around like a maniac.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so excited! I can’t believe we’re actually going! Well, I can believe that you’re going, cause you’ve gone before, but me?! This is sick!” I finally calmed down and sat down on the couch, smiling contently with my shenanigans being complete. Fluttershy sat next to me and kissed me on the cheek.

“Only three months to wait, my love,” she said, resting her head on my shoulder. I sighed in bliss and wrapped her in my wings. I kissed her on the head as she nuzzled herself in my embrace. And for the rest of the day, we just relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. What could be better than that?

Act 2: Chapter 15

The weeks between then and the Gala passed by quite rapidly. This was mostly in part because our days were filled with planning for the event. Most of our time was spent with Rarity, because, knowing her, she wouldn’t let us get away with attending the Gala without the finest garb. I was an especial focus, as Rarity had to create a design that nopony in Equestria had ever created before. Though, in the end, while she was astounded by her work, all she had really made me was an average suit. But, to be fair, it was a first for Equestrian style, so Rarity was rightfully commended for her accomplishment.

As for the rest of the girls, they were outfitted with beautiful outfits of their own. Spike was even outfitted with a snazzy little suit of his own. And, while I’m not trying to be biased, Fluttershy was the prettiest. Her dress was much like the one from episode twenty-six of MLP season one. Except, there were slight nuances to it. The train of her dress wasn’t as long, and the butterfly adorning her chest was now connected to the train. Rarity incorporated more pink into the dress as well, making it much more colorful. The minutiae of Fluttershy’s dress were perfected to a tee, and the same could be said for all the girls’ dresses.

On the evening of the Gala, the magic was in the air from the moment we got together to get ready. When we were all ready and gussied up, we took some pre-Gala pictures, as if we were going to prom. A majority of those pictures were of us performing vivacious actions with crazy expressions upon our faces. A particular favorite is me trying to lick Fluttershy’s ear with Pinkie trying to stop me with cake! And to think, the night hadn’t even truly began quite yet, and we were already having a blast!

Twilight used a beneficial spell to help us acquire a means of transportation to the Gala. It was much like the spell used in episode twenty-six (at this point, don’t be surprised if I continue to reference that), except this time, the mice she transformed didn’t look… weird… We had a solid means of transportation, aight?!

The entire ride to Canterlot, our carriage was filled with tumultuous excitement. We were joking about, playing contained jokes on one another, and playing loud music. Arriving in Canterlot, the sun was gone from the sky, making way for the moon to gleam brightly in its place. When we reached the castle, we found it littered with lights, decorations, and ponies. Everypony was dressed up in the finest of gowns and suits, and from outside the castle, you could hear the booming music from inside. Pinkie hopped right out of the carriage and cheered excitedly.

“We’re here, we’re here, we’re here!!! I can’t believe this is happening! This is the most exciting thing, ever!” she cried out. The rest of us followed her out.

“Pinkie, we pretty much come here every year. What’s so different about this time?” AJ asked.

“Well, it’s Matt’s first Gala. That, and I mean, come on, it’s the Grand Galloping Gala!” Pinkie retorted cheerfully.

“She’s got a point, AJ. It is a pretty awesome night,” Rainbow Dash added.

“I think awesome might be an understatement, Dash,” I said. “I mean, I know we’ve all had your fair share of exciting moments and get-togethers, but I’ve certainly never had one like this. There really isn’t any other time or place like the Gala to be with friends.” Fluttershy started to giggle. “What?” I protested.

“Nothing. I just love it when you get all sappy like that. It’s cute,” she answered, giving me a peck on the cheek. I rolled my eyes with a smile, giving her a little bump.

“Alright, you two, knock it off. Save it fer later. I think it’s time we do what we came here to do,” AJ stated.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Spike asked.

“I think I know the answer,” Twilight interjected. We all looked to her in anticipation. “Enjoy a nice, relaxing evening with each other at the Gala.” We all deadpanned.

“Funny,” I said with a fake laugh.

“Aren’t I? Now come on, everypony! Let’s party!” she cheered. And it was into the Gala we went!

The castle was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. Fancy party ponies, gorgeous (if a bit copious) decorations, appropriate lighting, and loud pumping music to go along with all of it. I guess Celestia had improved the standards of the Gala since the first debacle the girls caused. Good thing, too. Otherwise, I probably would have skipped out on the night all together.

We made our way through the main entrance hall, making our way to the dance hall. We were greeted by the Princesses shortly after we entered.

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” Twilight was first to speak.

“Hello, Twilight. And hello to all of your friends as well,” Celestia greeted. We all exchanged short bows with the Princesses. “Ready for what the night may hold in store?”

“I sure hope so. We all know how out of control everything can get when we show up.”

“True. Especially considering we have a new arrival this year.” Celestia winked at me.

“Are you accusing me of being a problem?” I jokingly questioned. Celestia giggled with her sister.

“Perhaps I am. I guess you’ll never know. Please, enjoy yourselves!”

“Alright! Let’s party!” Pinkie cheered. In the blink of an eye, Pinkie was gone, surely now in the dance hall. We all laughed and followed suit.

As we entered the central ballroom, many of the ponies were already enjoying themselves. Thanks to the antics of the girls their first time around, the Gala was now much more lively than it usually was. The band was playing more up-beat music, ponies were actually dancing, and the food had a larger variety of choices (a few of Applejack’s treats were being served, surprisingly). I hung with the girls for a while until I decided to wander about myself. Most of the ponies of Equestria were aware of my presence in their world, but a grand majority of them had never seen me. So, as you can imagine, I got a lot of stares.

But, my night was far from uneventful. I met an assortment of ponies, all originating from different points all across Equestria. I managed to relate very well with the ponies of Manehattan (I wonder why). The Canterlot ponies seemed to have a hive mind of egotism, which disturbed me very much. Needless to say, the crowd of the Gala was indubitably lively and diverse. Soon enough, I found myself settling down for a pleasant meal with Fluttershy.

“I must say, I don’t know what this stuff is, but I’d be damned to say I’m not loving it!” I exclaimed, scarfing down more food. Fluttershy giggled at my enthusiastic eating as AJ approached us.

“Careful there, Matt. Ya don’t wanna cramp up when we hit the dance floor, now do ya?” she joked. I rolled my eyes and swallowed.

“AJ, please, the dance floor is certainly lively, but we’re not throwing down in a mosh pit or anything. C’mon,” I chortled. She rolled her eyes at me and sat down, letting out a heavy sigh. “Tired?” I asked.

“You bet. Pinkie Pie challenged me to a dance off. Ah was certain Ah’d win. Unfortunately, Ah lost… And now, Ah’m tired. And hungry…” She paused before she began to devour the food in front of her. I laughed with Fluttershy as she stood up and gestured for me to follow her outside.

As we stepped out into the moonlit night, I took in a deep breath of fresh air. A content smile spread across my face. Fluttershy giggled at me, which I responded to by bumping her with my hip.

“What? It smells like pompous in there,” I joked. Fluttershy raised a brow in confusion.

“Pompous?” she giggled.

“I mean that there is way too much properness and formality in there. It’s cramping my style.” I chuckled as we walked towards the gardens. I could tell that Fluttershy was growing even more cheerful as we made our approach. She loved the gardens. Though, I imagine after her first Gala, she’d be staying away from the critters wandering within.

As we entered the gardens, we found a small gazebo to sit down in. I sat back in my seat and fluttered my wings, finally being able to move them freely about. I worried that, as they are quite large, they would knock ponies and decorations over inside, so I had kept them folded in all night. It was extremely uncomfortable. But as my wings parted, Fluttershy managed to snuggle up to me, allowing me to bring them back to pull her in close.

“This night has been pretty mellow, I have to say,” I told her, scrunching up my face. She giggled and shrugged.

“I don’t know. I think it’s been a wonderful night. Certainly much better than the last Gala,” she said, giggling as she seemed to recall the hijinks of her and the girls’ first Gala. I laughed as well, thinking about the endless antics that each of the girls went through.

We soon found ourselves just staring up at the stars, leaning up against the railing of the gazebo. I continued to hold her close, ensconcing her in my wings. The stars in Equestria seemed to entrance me in various ways that the stars back home just couldn’t do. The constellations were easy to spot in Equestria, and they all seemed to tell unique stories and tales, rather than just show you different images and shapes. Honestly, if I hadn’t become an actor, I would have become an astronomer.

“You know, it’s nearly impossible to get a view like this back home,” I said, chuckling. Fluttershy looked at me with a concerned look. I looked back at her, my brow furrowing in addled confusion.

“Matthew, do you miss home? Your home, I mean,” she asked.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, only that you’ve been very… reminiscent lately. It seems that you’ve been thinking very much of your home back on Earth. You miss your family and friends, you miss the things you used to do…” She paused, her concern becoming ever more apparent as she turned away.

“Fluttershy, are you worried I’m going to leave you?” She jumped to reply.

“No! Not at all! I just… I just worry for you. I don’t want you to be sad. I can’t stand it when you’re sad. It almost hurts to see you disappointed or unsettled. I just want you to be happy.” She sniffled, her eyes beginning to get watery. I turned to her and put my hands on her shoulders, urging her to look at me.

“Hey, look at me.” She did after a moment of hesitation. I smiled into her eyes. “I’m as happy as could be. I’ve got you, the girls, Spike, and many others in Ponyville who care for and adore me. I’m living in the most beautiful and magical place in the universe. And there’s nowhere I’d rather be than right here, right now, with you. I love you Fluttershy, and don’t you dare think for a moment that I’d ever leave you. I’d sooner end my own life than leave you… Poor choice of words, but you get the point!” My smile spread wider across my face as a grin of her own began to coalesce. She was slightly hidden behind her hair, which I motioned to run my hand through, but before I could, she had locked her lips with mine. As we parted, she looked back up to the sky as a giggle escaped her mouth. She seemed to be filling up with bubbly joy, as she bounced in her seat. I laughed at the sudden change in her demeanor. “And what’s got you so jittery all of a sudden?” She pushed her hair out of her face, allowing me to properly look into her eyes again.

“Just look up,” she told me. I did, and what I saw could only be explained as a coincidence. A group of stars had come together to form a heart. It wasn’t perfect; in fact, it had an oblong shape, but it didn’t seem to matter to me.

“Did you get Luna to do that or something?” I asked Fluttershy. She giggled.

“Nope. It’s just one of the many constellations that graces Equestria’s skies every night of the Gala. I’ve always wanted to look up at those stars with my special somepony by my side. And now, I finally get to do that!”

“Wow…” I was speechless. The stars forming the heart were far more lucent than the others around them. They seemed to scintillate brighter than the rest. They seemed to magnify the love in my heart for Fluttershy. It felt like my heart was ready to burst with love. I turned back to Fluttershy and planted my lips against hers, gently caressing her in my arms. We melted in the kiss, and as we parted, the smiles on our faces couldn’t have been more synchronous.

“And when we get home, I have one more surprise for you,” she whispered to me. Curiosity flooded my mind as I grinned in suspicion.

“Oh yeah? What is it?!” I asked jocularly. She giggled, stood up, and pranced to head back inside.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” she teased, gesturing for me to come back inside with her. I did as she asked and walked back in with her.

We joined the rest of our friends at our table inside. Spike had cake smeared all over his face, with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie laughing hysterically at him. Rarity was frivolously adjusting herself, which came as a surprise to nopony. Applejack and Twilight were snacking on AJ’s sweets. As Fluttershy and I sat down, everypony’s attention turned to Princess Celestia and Luna. They stood on the stage to thank everypony for the most successful Gala in years. When they finished speaking, the crowd of party ponies began to disperse into the night.

The girls, Spike, and I headed back out to our carriage. The ride home was pleasant and lively, as the group couldn’t help but to fill up the carriage with conversation of the night. I simply gazed out the window of our ride and continued to gaze at the mesmerizing heart constellation. Fluttershy was resting her head on my shoulder. A content smile formed on my face as I imagined what surprise Fluttershy had in store for me.

As we arrived back home, our group dissipated. When Fluttershy and I arrived back at our humble abode, I got undressed, took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, and dropped like a boulder on our bed. Fluttershy laughed at my condition. I replied by throwing a pillow at her, which she quickly chucked back at me. I was too tired for a pillow fight, but I would have loved to have one with her otherwise. As I rested my head, waiting for the moment sleep would overtake me, Fluttershy planted a soft kiss upon my lips.

“Goodnight, Matthew. I love you,” she said. I smiled as I felt myself finally slipping into unconsciousness.

“Goodnight, Fluttershy. I love you too,” I copied, passing out.

The next morning, when I woke up, I looked to my right, hoping to see my lovely mare sleeping beside me. But she wasn’t there. Palpable confusion surfaced upon me, as I began to lift myself up from slumber.

“Good morning, Matthew,” I heard Fluttershy’s voice say. I rubbed out my eyes and smiled as I recognized the voice.

“Oh, there you are, you silly mare. Good morning,” I replied, clearing out my eyes. But when I looked at the doorway to our room, Fluttershy was not to be found. Instead, a gorgeous woman stood in her place.

And then I realized, gazing upon her silky pink hair; that gorgeous woman was Fluttershy.

Act 2: Chapter 16

I stared for an eternity, completely deadpanned and speechless. No words could describe the figure that stood before me. I could tell I wasn’t blinking, and my staring was apparent from Fluttershy sheepishly smiling, blushing furiously, and trying to hide her face behind her luscious pink hair. It still looked as silky smooth as it did when she was a pony.

Her face was practically the same. Her eyes remained their innocent cyan blue color. She no longer had a protruding muzzle, leaving her with a mostly flat face. Her cheeks looked impeccably smooth. As my eyes began to scan her body, the first thing I noticed were her yellow-feathered wings. And then, I realized that… she was naked.

So, before I go any further, I’d just like to make it clear that, by this point in looking over the new Fluttershy standing before me, I had already begun questioning myself mentally. Was I dreaming? Was this really Fluttershy? Had I died and gone to Equestrian heaven? Numerous questions contorted my mind.

Continuing on, I began scanning Fluttershy’s naked form. Just to show you how perverted I am, my eyes unfortunately darted straight to her chest. Whoever it was that started the idea of human Fluttershy having large boobs got it right on the nose. Her breasts were at least a double d. I found myself unable to look away for a couple moments (yeah, yeah, laugh it up).

Continuing on, Fluttershy’s form was curvy and slim. It was actually heart-stopping, she was so goddamn beautiful. Her arms were well proportioned to the rest of her body. I could imagine that her touch was serene and tranquil, to say the least. I then quickly glanced over her… feminine area… After having given the once over, I then locked my eyes with hers. Finally, I spoke. Or rather, I made noise.

“Uuuhh…” I droned stupidly. Fluttershy giggled, her shoulders raising shyly as she locked her hands behind her back.

“What do you think?” she asked, still trying to hide behind her hair. I shiver ran up my spine, as I was still trying to compute everything that was happening (which really wasn’t a lot, thinking about it now). I remained speechless for another moment. I was snapped out of it when she began to wobble, surely from having no understanding of how to stand on two feet. I rushed to her side and helped to steady her.

“Whoa there,” I chuckled. I smiled at her, and she smiled back at me. “Fluttershy… what… how’d you do this? You’re… you’re beautiful, you’re… How did you do this?!” I hurriedly asked her, the smile on my face uncontainable. She blushed even harder then, but continued to smile back at me.

“Well, I had been thinking about doing this for a while, actually. I told Twilight and the Princess about it, and they thought it would be a great idea. I… I thought it would bring us closer together.” When she said that, a squeak emitted from her lips and she turned away. I helped her over to the bed. We sat down and I put my arm around her, holding her close.

“How did you even get up and out of here if you can’t really walk?” I questioned, chuckling to myself.

“It wasn’t easy,” she giggled. “It’s sort of complicated. Not really, I suppose. When you fell asleep last night, I snuck out and headed over to Twilight’s. She and Princess Celestia were there waiting for me. They cast the spell to change me there. I guess the change took a lot out of me, because I woke up here a while after. I actually had to crawl to the room, my walking was that bad.” We shared a quick laugh before she continued. “Then, all that was left was to wait for you to wake up.”

I had no words.

“So, uh… is this permanent?” I asked. She nodded.

“Celestia told me that this was a one way trip, so to speak. I can’t go back to being a pony. At least, not for a long time. But I don’t want to go back.”

“W-Why? Fluttershy, what made you think to do this?” She shrugged and flashed a cute smile at me.

“I don’t know. I just always felt like there was something unspoken between us, about being so drastically different. I felt like there was a level of discomfort because of it. Being different, I mean. I’m not really sure,” she said.

“Fluttershy, I didn’t fall in love with you because of your body or because you were a pony. I fell in love with you. I thought you felt the same,” I told her.

“I do, Matthew, I promise you! I just… it’s hard to say. I don’t really know how to say it, truly. It’s just… I-I…” she tried to speak, but she only seemed to be able to mutter incomplete phrases. I smiled and pulled her in for a kiss, which indubitably took her by surprise. I could hear a calm moan emanate from her. As we parted, our eyes locked, and a smile crept upon her face slowly. “You’re not angry?”

“Angry? Why the hell would I be angry?” I questioned jocularly. “Believe me, Fluttershy, I know what you’re trying to say. And you’re right. There definitely was an unspoken discomfort between us, but I don’t think it ever matter. I certainly didn’t care that much. But I can say, without a doubt that I feel…” My phrase would remain incomplete, with nothing more than a breath escaping my mouth.

“You feel what?” she asked, her face getting closer to mine.

“I love you,” I said, kissing her again, this time far more passionately. We held that kiss for several seconds, and as we parted, her breathing was heavy, as was mine.

“I love you too,” she said quietly to me. We did nothing more than sit there and smile contently at each other. After about a minute of simply staring at each other, I broke the silence.

“I have to say, I think you’re a hundred times more beautiful like this,” I admitted. We both laughed in unison. “Please don’t take that as an insult,” I added. She continued to laugh.

“Why would I?” she inquired.

“I don’t know. I just don’t want you to think that I didn’t think you were beautiful before.” She rolled her eyes at me and kissed me once more. I let out a deeply content sigh as we continued to gaze into each other’s eyes. And then I remembered her nudity. “Oh yeah, uh, hey, just so you know… you’re naked.” She examined herself and then quickly covered herself up with the comforter of our bed.

“Um… I’m sorry…” she squeaked. I couldn’t help but laugh at her newfound embarrassment.

“It’s quite alright. You have a very… attractive body,” I said, trying to be cautious of the situation. “But, uh, we definitely need to get you clothed. Like, immediately.” We laughed together once more.

“Yeah, sounds like a good plan,” she agreed, nodding and laying down. “But first, I’m taking a nap.” I chuckled once more and rolled my eyes at her.

“You nap. I’m hungry. I’ll be having breakfast. Just give a holler when you care to join me.”

“You bet.”

As I ate my two warm waffles, I pondered at how different things were going to be now. Fluttershy took a huge risk with what she did. I mean, I guess it wasn’t so much a risk as it was a drastic change in her life. I kept telling myself that it was an unnecessary change, but deep down, I was unbearably happy about it. It was more than a simple change of appearance. It represented a big step forward in our relationship. Things were going to be different, no doubt for the better. And a part of me couldn’t help but feel that our lives were moving closer and closer towards something big.

Act 2: Chapter 17

So, life went on about as well as you might expect. The days following consisted of mostly teaching Fluttershy about being human. I taught her how to walk, how her biology works, how to properly use her hands; I even taught her how to fly again. She needed help with that, given that her human form is drastically different from her pony form, so Dash and I trained her to fly like I do. It wasn’t too difficult, though.

After about two weeks, Fluttershy was a full-fledged human. And she couldn’t have been more ecstatic about it. In fact, the night after we finished the last bit of her training, she approached me with a very… intimate request. I’m sure you can put two and two together. If you can’t… well, your loss.

Jump a year and a half later, and our relationship was at its peak. Life couldn’t have been better. Every day brought about something new. Even on days when nothing eventful or exciting would happen, the days were never boring or lagging. Life was moving so fast. I could tell that, at this rate, I would have to pop the question sooner or later. There was just one problem…

“I can’t fucking do it! I’m scared out of my mind, Dash! How do I do it?!” I screamed to Rainbow as we flew through Ponyville.

“Dude, calm down. You’re thinking about this way too much. Fluttershy loves you. More than anything. What makes you think she’d say no?” Dash questioned.

“I’m not worried that she’ll say no. Not to sound cocky, but I’m positive she’ll say yes. It’s just that I want to do this properly. I want it to be perfect.”

“I think that’s the wedding you’re talking about now, buddy.”

“They’re both vital! Ugh! I can’t do this, Dash!” I was met with a swift hoof the cheek.

“Pull yourself together, Matt. Ponies are starting to stare, and you’re embarrassing me,” she chided.

“I’m sorry. I guess I really am thinking about this too much. I just want the best for her. She means everything to me, and I don’t want to ruin this for her.”

“You won’t. I have faith that you won’t buck this up. Besides, even if you did, she’d still say yes.” We landed on the bridge overseeing the lake a moment later. I draped myself over the side of it like a ragdoll.

“Ugh, I know. It’s tough. I’ll pull through,” I moaned. I felt ready to just throw myself into the water.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash! Maaatt! Guess what I’ve got!” we heard a voice cheering from close by. We both looked to see Pinkie Pie hopping our way with a platter of cupcakes on her back. Spike was following her close behind.

“What is it?” Rainbow asked, as the two approached us.

“Sapphire gem cupcakes! The best cupcakes ever!” Spike answered excitedly. He took a cupcake from the platter and scarfed it down in one bite.

“Don’t you make those every-so often, Pinkie?” I asked.

“Yeah. Spike just likes to over-embellish every time I make them. But please, take a cupcake my friends!” So, we each did. In truth, I could understand why Spike embellished these cupcakes as much as he did. They were insanely tasty. They managed to even lift my spirits.

“Hey, maybe you two can help us with something,” Rainbow said. I perked up and looked at her.

“No,” I said blankly.

“Why not?!” she questioned.

“Because.” I had no reasoning.

“Oh shut up and let me tell them!”

“Tell us what?” Spike asked.

“Matt’s trying to figure out how to propose to Fluttershy, but he’s freaking out waaay too much about it. I’m trying as best I can, but romance has never really been my thing. Maybe you guys can help,” Rainbow told them. Pinkie let out what seemed like the biggest gasp of her life.

“Maaatt! You’re gonna marry Fluttershy! Yaaaaaaaay!” Pinkie cheered loudly. She almost shattered my eardrums. She quickly wrapped herself around my waist and hugged me as tightly as she could.

“I need to breathe, I need to breathe!” I cried out, as Spike pulled her off.

“Congratulations, Matt! When are you gonna pop the big question, you big stud?” Spike asked.

“That’s the problem, Spike. He doesn’t know. He’s being a pussy about it,” Rainbow told him.

“Hey!” I resented.

“You are!”

“Oh, Matt, you don’t need to worry about how you ask her,” Pinkie started. Well, I mean, maybe you should, but not much. I just think it would mean the world to Fluttershy if you just asked already. Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t asked her sooner.”

“Well, the whole turning human thing helped me realize that I had to get a move on. But now I’m over-analyzing everything and making a fuss over it. I just want it to be special for us, you know? I don’t just want to ask her at a dinner or something. I want it to be one of the best moments of our lives, only to be beaten out by the wedding itself,” I said.

“I’m sure we can figure something out,” Spike started. “I mean, why don’t we all just spend a fun day together, and at the end of it all, you can just pop the question? It’s nothing fancy, but you can be with all of your friends, and it’ll be really romantic.”

The two ponies and I looked at him in unison.

“You know, that actually sounds great,” I said. “How did we not think of that?” I questioned.

“I have no clue. But yeah, that sounds awesome!” Rainbow said.

“Yeah! And I between the three of us and the rest of the girls, I bet we could make something really special happen for the two of you at night” Pinkie added.

“Oh, yeah! Romantic music, the moonlit night, pretty flowers, and maybe even a nice Sonic Rainboom from Dash here,” Spike said.

“I think it’ll all come together quite nicely on its own,” I said. “But, if it’s all the same to you guys, I wouldn’t mind if the rest of you were with us when I pop the question. If it was just the two of us, that would be fantastic. But to be surrounded by our friends would be perfect.”

“You can count on us, Matt!” Pinkie assured.

“Yeah! No way we’re gonna miss out on this!” Rainbow said.

“So, now that we know when you’ll ask her, what’s next?” Spike asked.

“Well, I guess we just have to pick out a date in the near future. Once we’ve got that, we can figure out what we want to do. I’ll probably have a bit of extra work to do, seeing as though I need to find a ring for Fluttershy. Any solid jewelers in town, you guys might know about?” I asked.

“I’m sure Rarity can help you with that. I think she’s into romantic stuff like this more than any of us,” Rainbow said.

“Well, you’re not wrong. I’ll talk with her about finding a ring.”

“She is the generous one, isn’t she?” Spike mentioned.

“Truth. So…” I started, wiping my hands together, “now what?” Nopony said anything right away. We all just kind of stared at each other. “Anything?”

“Didn’t you just give us a game plan?” Rainbow asked. I shrugged.

“I mean for like the immediate future. Like, right this very minute, you know?” I questioned.

“Maybe we should just act like nothing’s going on. Make it seem like everything’s on the up and up,” Spike said.

“I mean, technically, everything is on the up and up, Spike. We’re not doing anything wrong,” I said.

“Yeah, but we’re being all sneaky about it,” he said, pretending he had a cape to cover himself with. We all laughed at that. “But seriously, do we want to tell the others? Aside from Fluttershy of course.”

“Well, Rarity will know, obviously. I see no reason to leave Twilight and AJ out of the loop. Everything’ll work out just fine. In fact, it’s going to be perfect. I know it.”

Act 2: Chapter 18

What wasn’t so perfect, however, was the dramatic process of planning out the day. Hell, picking a day was a bit tricky too. After we had filled everypony else in on what was going on, and I finally found a ring for Fluttershy, we planned out a day about a month later.

We planned to spend the day by the swimming hole, followed by a nice picnic. After that, it was dinner back at my place, followed by a moonlit bonfire. And, as everypony but Fluttershy knew, the night would end with me popping the question. Nothing to it, right? Wrong.

As that fateful Saturday arrived, I was beyond nervous. It’s incomprehensible how nervous I was. I needed everything to go right. And, I mean, the early stages would probably be fine. It would be like any other day that the gang just wanted to hang out. But towards the end of the day, that’s when things got edgy.

Honestly, I’m being a bit dramatic. I wasn’t really nervous about the day as a whole, I just felt like I was. I was pouring my emotions into it way too much. I was just so scared of proposing, but I’m not even sure why. Looking back on it, proposing was so easy, and quite exhilarating to boot. But, I think we’ll get to that later. For now, I’ll talk about the day itself.

While I was changing in the bedroom, Fluttershy was preparing herself in the bathroom. Knowing Fluttershy would be preoccupied for a bit, I took out the ring I had purchased for her and looked at it. It was a very simple silver ring, with a pink, jeweled butterfly on it. I had it engraved with the words “I love you” on the inside (because it wasn’t nearly cute enough). I was feeling anxious; I mean, there was always the obscene possibility that she could say no, or something would just go wrong. I was snapped out of my little trance when I heard the bathroom door open. I closed the ring box and shoved it into my pocket. I stood up and turned to Fluttershy.

“What do you think? Nice, right?” she asked, putting her hands at her sides and giving her short dress a small twirl. It was a white dress, with light green, floral looking accents. It fell just above her knees. The top part exposed a decent bit of her chest (it was very attractive, I must say). I was getting a little flustered just looking at her, honestly.

“I think it’s, uh… very flattering…” I said, feeling a bit of warmth in my cheeks. Fluttershy giggled.

“That’s all you have to say?” Fluttershy joked, giving me a cute wink.

“Well, to put it bluntly, I love to fuck you right now,” I said, stepping towards her. She laughed and blushed a bright shade of red. I pulled her in close. “Putting it sweetly, you look amazing.” We shared a brief kiss, which didn’t seem to help her blushing problem.

“Please, Matthew, you’re embarrassing me.”

“What’s to be embarrassed about? You look really cute.”

“Thanks. Want to get going?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Everyone was meeting up at Sugarcube Corner. When we arrived, the rest of the gang was there waiting for us. Rarity took particular notice at our arrival. She seemed to be admiring her own work. The cute dress Fluttershy was adorned in was made, of course, by our generous friend.

“Why, darling, you look simply stunning! I knew it was going to be beautiful, but I didn’t think it would be this beautiful. I must say, I think I’d do a fine job of working in your world, Matthew. Perhaps Earth could use my designing skills.”

“I don’t know if it’s my place to say. I’m no designer. But, we never doubted your abilities. I had a feeling she’d look this good when you told me what you were working on,” I said.

“Quite. You really have outdone yourself this time, Rarity. You really do look nice, Fluttershy,” Twilight said.

“I aim for nothing but the best. Especially for my friends,” Rarity said.

“Oh, please, everypony, Matthew already embarrassed me enough. Um, Rarity, I was just wondering if you could check the back of my dress. Something feels different from when I first tried it on here,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, of course darling. Come here, let me have a look.”

As Fluttershy went to go have herself tended to, Dash zipped over to me.

“You nervous?” she asked.

“You have no idea. I’m scared enough I might piss myself.”

“Please don’t.”

“Right… What if she says no?!” I retorted quietly.

“Are you crazy? She won’t say no. Trust me. Everything’ll go off without a hitch. Weren’t you the one who was totally confident about all this in the first place?”

“I was. It’s just that now it’s actually going to happen. It’s nerve-wracking as shit.”

“Don’t you worry about a thing, pal. You’ll ask her, she’ll say yes, and then I’ll give you a celebratory Sonic Rainboom. Then, we finish the night, you two go home and make sweet love, and then we plan for a wedding. It’s a fool-proof plan.”

“Um, I have several inquiries about your little plan there,” I interjected. Dash laughed as I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, are we almost ready to go?” I asked the group.

“Almost, sweetie. Just fixing up this slight error in your girlfriend’s dress,” Rarity answered.

“Sounds gouda,” I replied.

“Ugh! Stop saying that!” Rainbow jeered.

“Ha! Not happening. Anything that irritates you should never be given up.”

With everypony ready, we made our way to the swimming hole. We spent a good half of the day just messing around in the water. To nopony’s surprise, Pinkie and Dashie were the first ones in the water. While everypony else was getting their things set up, like chairs and umbrellas, Fluttershy was slipping off her dress, revealing her cute pink string bikini. I almost died.

Soon as my perverted staring was finished, we set up some things to play a tumultuous game of water polo. That went on for quite a while, actually. It got way too competitive. After our swimming and games were finished, we settled down for our picnic. A wide assortment of foods had been made for us, thanks to Pinkie Pie and Spike. Truly, the best baker and the best assistant ever. We chowed down like royalty, I reckon.

And as the day came to a close, we all headed back to my home for the bonfire. And it couldn’t have been a more perfect night. The day had yielded not a single cloud. Therefore, the skies were clear as could be that night. You could see billions of stars, not to mention the glory of the moon. It was beautiful. I always did love star-gazing. And given our nice bonfire, we were able to make s’mores. Very tasty. But then again, when aren’t they tasty.

And, of course, there was one final matter to attend to that night.

I decided to take Fluttershy on a walk. We eventually made our way to a hill. As we sat down, we noticed that it was the hill I arrived to Equestria on. Given the gorgeous view of the clear night sky, and us being alone where and as we were, the mood was starting to become quite romantic and serene. Fluttershy was too entrapped in the scenery and the feeling of being where she was to notice me staring at her. When she did notice, she giggled.

“What?” she questioned.

“I’m just thinking,” I answered.

“Oh? And what are you thinking about?”

“Just why I love you so much.”

“And why’s that?” she asked, leaning into me. I wrapped my arms and wings around her and held her close.

“You’re not afraid,” I answered. She laughed at the irony of my statement.

“Matthew, I love you too, but we both know I scare all too easily,” she protested.

“I don’t mean like afraid of physical things and traumatic stimuli. I mean, like, you’re not afraid to dare. To do what you want. Sometimes, life presents you with uncanny situations, and you always try, at the very least. And that’s important. If we don’t try, life sucks. Taking risks is what makes life fun.”

“I guess you’re right. I do dare quite a bit. I mean, look at where we are, you and me. If it weren’t for my willingness to let you into my life, I would still be just as timid and shy as I was the day we met. I wouldn’t have grown as much as I have in the time I’ve known you. If I didn’t dare, I never would have met my friends. I wouldn’t be living the life I have now.”

“You’re absolutely right, Fluttershy. You’re just… not afraid. And I love that. So much. And I think we just complement each other all too well. My crazy is matched by your calm. My energy is kept in check by your steadiness. But the love; the love comes full circle. It’s always there,” I stated.

“It never fades or goes away. Never,” she added.

“Yeah.” At this point, I was shaking a little bit. I felt the moment of truth was upon me, and I couldn’t have been more nervous. The sight of our friends helped calm my nerves. Just as they promised, they were going to be right beside us when the time came.

“Howdy, you two,” AJ greeted.

“You don’t mind if we join you, do you?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that. In fact, I think it would be nice,” Fluttershy said. I winked at them while Fluttershy wasn’t looking. They all smiled at us. We all sat in an oval shape facing out towards Canterlot.

We all exchanged words of how the night had been for us. The prevailing topic was how tired we were all becoming. Spike seemed worse than the rest of us, so we poked fun at him a bit. It was all in good humor, of course. We were all feeling the same way, ironically. Our cheery, loud sound was quelled by a short moment of silence. We all just looked out into the distance. The moment was perfect.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” I said, breaking the silence. The wheels were now in motion, as everypony’s eyes turned to us. Fluttershy looked at me. “Remember how I mentioned you weren’t afraid? How you’re always willing to try?” She nodded.

“I do,” she answered.

“Well, there’s something I want you to try with me,” I said.

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“Tying the knot.” My adrenaline was pumping faster than ever before. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock, and her hand went to her mouth. A gasp of glee escaped.

“Oh, my gosh…”

I pulled out a small box from my back pocket and got down on one knee. I opened it to reveal the ring inside.

“Fluttershy, will you marry me?”

She knelt down in front of me and pulled me in for the most passionate kiss we had ever shared. In the background, we heard tears being shed from our friends. Fluttershy and I were hesitant to break our bond. We stared into each other’s eyes, the rest of world all a blur to us in that moment.

“You know, you still haven’t answered,” I said jocularly. Fluttershy was in a fountain of jubilant tears.

“Yes, Matthew! A thousand times, yes! I will marry you!”

“Yaaahoooooo!” we heard Rainbow Dash cry out. She flew off in the blink of an eye, leaving a benevolent Sonic Rainboom in her wake.

“Show off!” I cried out. Our friends began cheering in the background, and shortly after, Fluttershy and I were wrapped in a tight group hug. We were all laughing and crying and it was just a really fucking beautiful moment. “Okay, need to breathe!” I cried out. The hug parted with laughter. I took the ring and placed it on Fluttershy’s left ring finger. It was (as you may have guessed) perfect.

“Matthew,” Fluttershy started.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“I love you. So much.”

“I love you too, Fluttershy.”

We shared another kiss, one lasting much longer than the previous one. And in that moment, nothing else mattered. The world faded away. It was just me and her.

It was just Fluttershy and me.

Act 2: Chapter 19

And so began the long, exhausting process of planning the wedding. I had lived through a couple of these planning processes with my family on Earth, and they always seemed very bothersome and time-consuming. I say that it seemed that way, because I never really got involved with it all. Now, I know better. It’s actually so much worse than it appeared to be.

Planning a wedding fucking sucks. So much time and effort for one day in a year (granted, one unforgettable, priceless day). The payoff is certainly worth it, but make no mistake, wedding planning is about as lovely as a bag of used condoms. And it’s not even that the items to prepare are difficult; rather, it’s the quantity of items to prepare. There’s a lot.

You’ve got the dress for the bride, the groom’s suit, flowers, space for the event, and so and so forth. A copious amount of stuff for a not-so-copious day. When it all comes together, and when you melt a wedding down to the core, it’s a nice ceremony, and a fun party afterwards. At least, that’s what I think most people think about when they discuss weddings. If you do otherwise, that’s fine.

Anyway, planning wasn’t so fun. But in truth, the whole thing wasn’t too terrible. In total, it took eight months. The wedding would be on the ninth month. And in that time, I was closer with Fluttershy than ever before. We shared our dreams much more often than usual, which was always a hoot. We generally spent more time together, and who were we to complain about that. We could never get enough of each other. As well, the rest of the gang was together more often than usual. The wedding seemed to be bringing us all closer together.

I think the funniest part of it all was Spike trying to plan the bachelor party. He had grown up quite a bit since I had arrived in Equestria, so he was more knowledgeable than the show ever made him out to be. But, he was still young; a teenager, I suppose. He still had time to grow. So, his insight on how exactly plan the bachelor party was… variable, to say the least. In truth, I probably did more planning for the party than I should have, because Spike was in need of serious help. Very humorous though, I must say. He wanted to include a bounce castle.

The girls were all preoccupied with Fluttershy. Dash was in charge of the bachelorette party, Rarity was in charge of the dress (and my suit, actually), Pinkie and AJ were on food duty, and Twilight was working with Princess Celestia to find a suitable venue. They all spent a decent amount of time together each day, which often led Fluttershy to come home with amusing stories from the days’ events. Always enjoyable to hear how Dash continued to insist on including a strip dancer pole at the bachelorette party. That surprisingly never got old.

And amidst the debacle of wedding planning, we set aside our weekends to do nothing but enjoy each other’s company. The weekdays gave us enough time to plan and figure things out. The weekends were specifically reserved for relaxation and fun. It helped us remain sane in times of true insanity. We didn’t have to be doing fun, exciting things, too. Most days, we just went to the library, Sugarcube Corner, the beach, or my home. And all we would do was hang out, chat, play silly games, etc. Simple things that didn’t require much effort. And it relieved us of all of the stress that would accumulate during the week. Spending time with friends is some of the best medicine I could prescribe to you. No joke.

That, and maybe sex. There was a good deal of that between Fluttershy and me. Extremely relieving, I must say. You guys should try it.

Anyway, allow me to digress. I could go on about boring wedding planning for a while, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it. You want to hear about the wedding itself, I’m sure. Boy, was that a stressful day.

Did I say weddings are easy? That the day of the wedding itself is simple? I must have said something like that. In any case, it isn’t. Wedding day is very stressful and tormenting. You’re so focused on wanting everything to go just right; you want everything to be so, so perfect. It feels like the whole thing could come toppling down at any moment.

Rather than having the wedding at the Canterlot Castle, as Princess Celestia and Luna had invited us to do, Fluttershy and I decided that we’d like the wedding to be atop the hill that I arrived to Equestria on. It meant a lot to us. It was sort of a stepping off point for our new lives together, rather than a new beginning, or just a beginning in general.

Anyway, everything was set up simply and beautifully. There was a nice little alter, seats for everypony, and everything else you’d expect from an outdoor wedding spot. While everypony else was ready and dealing with the pre-wedding jargon, I was dealing with the basics of getting ready.

Spike was helping me as best he could. I was just getting into my suit. Were it not for the air conditioning in my room at home, I’d be sweating bullets. Though make no mistake, I was sweating. Just not bullets. My concern and worry must have been very apparent. Hell, looking at myself in the mirror, I could tell. It was painfully obvious. Spike picked up on it immediately. He gave me a firm pat on the back.

“You look tense,” he joked.

“Really? You don’t say?” I retorted.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about, dude. Everything’ll be perfect. All you gotta do is get ready. Wouldn’t want Fluttershy to beat you to the altar. That would be weird.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. It seems I am taking a bit long to simply put on a suit. Oh, boy.” I sat down, wearing nothing but my dress pants, which weren’t even buttoned and zipped up. There was a knock at the door. “Yeah?”

“It’s Twilight. May I come in?” I hopped up and fixed my zipper situation.

“Yeah, door’s open,” I replied. Twilight entered, wearing her bridesmaid dress. She raised an eyebrow at me upon entering.

“Matthew, come on, you should be way more along than this,” she jeered.

“He’s nervous. I’m trying to help him, but he’s spooked,” Spike answered.

“I have every right to be,” I stated. Twilight walked over and gave me a soft smile.

“Matt, do you love Fluttershy?” I nodded. “Then you’ve got nothing to worry about. Just get ready, get to the altar, and get married. Nothing to it!”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not getting married.”

“True, but my friends are getting married. And I’ve been with them every step of the way. I think I’ve got a decent understanding of the proceedings.” I moped a bit, leading to her placing a hoof on my knee. She was still smiling. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Matt. Just get out there and get married to the woman you love.” I nodded with a smile. Twilight headed for the door, smiling once more before exiting.

“Let’s get you ready, pal!” Spike said.

“Agreed.”

I felt motivated after Twilight’s short visit. I got ready as quick as I could, touching up every aspect of myself. But before I was able to make it out, I had another visitor. A knock came at the door, followed by said door bursting open. It was Rainbow Dash. She flew in and wrapped me in a tight hug.

“Good to see you too, Dash. Um, I’m heading out right now. Please let go. I enjoy breathing,” I said, trying to breathe through her tight grasp. She let go a moment later. There were tears in her eyes, I noticed. “Dash, you good?”

“Y-Yeah. I’m just happy, you know. My two best friends are getting married. It’s emotional,” she said, her voice cracking a bit.

“Aw, look at that. Dashie’s getting emotional,” Spike joked.

“Shut up!” she barked. I laughed.

“It’s alright, Dash,” I comforted her, kneeling in front of her. “You’re really that happy, and not afraid to show it, huh?”

“Well, yeah, why wouldn’t I be? I know I can be emotionally shallow sometimes, but when it comes to my friends, especially at a time like this, I think it’s appropriate to let go, you know. Feels good, actually.”

“I’m sure it does. Being emotional isn’t a bad thing. I think you don’t understand that sometimes. It’s okay to be sad and show it. Especially with friends.”

“You said it. Now, you ready to get married?!”

“Hell yeah, I am!” I said, with all the confidence I could muster. “You ready to fulfill your role as best mare?”

“You know it!” she replied.

“Then let’s go, gang!”

And it was off we went to the ceremony. By the time we arrived, all of the guests were there, and the rest of our friends were standing up by the altar. Dash and Spike took their places, and I took mine. Now, all we had to do was wait for the beautiful bride to be. My nerves were acting up again. I felt a nudge from Dash. I turned to her, and she was giving me the most reassuring smile you could get from a friend. It was exactly what I needed.

And not a moment too soon. A minute later, serene music started playing, and Fluttershy was walking down the aisle. If Equestria had the internet, and you could look up beauty on Equestrian Google, you’d see pictures of Fluttershy walking down that very aisle. It knocked the wind right out of me how beautiful she was. Her dress was simple, yet perfect. It was natural, literally. Think of her Gala dress from season one, only with more accents, a bit of a longer train, and defining her body much more perfectly.

Ah, screw the details. She was jaw-droppingly beautiful. You get the idea.

I locked eyes with her when she was halfway up the aisle. We couldn’t help but smile at each other. The moment really was perfect. It wasn’t going anywhere. Nothing could ruin it.

As she stood before me, and I stood before her, nothing else in the world, or even the whole universe mattered. There was just me and her. Fluttershy and me. Just the way we loved it.

Celestia was presiding over the ceremony. Luna and the rest of our friends were beside us the whole way through. And just about everypony in Ponyville was there to view. There was a cool, soft breeze blowing over the hill. The world was resting peacefully around us. It was the textbook definition of a perfect moment.

Celestia began with her lovey dovey, corny speech, as most weddings include. Followed by that, Fluttershy and I exchanged our vows. We exchanged our rings. And then, we got to utter the fateful words.

“Fluttershy, do you take Matthew to be your husband?” Celestia asked. Fluttershy looked at me with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

“I do,” she said. My heart jumped over the moon.

“And Matthew, do you take Fluttershy to be your wife?” Celestia asked. I was so close to breaking down from sheer passion and joy. With every fiber of my being, I spoke…

“I do.” I noticed Fluttershy did a short jump. I think her heart had jumped over the moon with mine.

“Then it gives me the greatest pleasure to pronounce you, husband and wife! You may kiss the bride.”

We smiled at each other, took each other’s hands, and joined for our kiss. If I’ve ever mentioned the best kiss or the most passionate kiss we had ever shared in the past, you can throw all of those away. This, without a doubt, was the best, most passionate kiss we could, would, and will ever share. The world around us fell away. I wrapped her in my wings and swung her around and held her as we kissed.

As we parted, I lifted her back up, and the world came back to us. We heard the loud cheering from our friends and everypony else in the crowd. We saw the joyful tears from everypony in attendance. We saw flower petals being thrown through the air. It was a wedding if there ever was one.

We made our way down the aisle, smiling all the way. At the end, I brought her in for one more kiss. Together, we took off for a short fly through the sky. For a moment, we disappeared behind a few soft, white clouds. Behind those clouds, I held Fluttershy close. She rested her head in my chest, and we wrapped each other in our wings. We just wanted to share the moment. Together.

“Matthew,” she spoke softly.

“Yes, Fluttershy?” I replied. We gazed deeply into each other’s eyes.

“I love you. I always have, and I always will.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth. I love you too.”

We shared another kiss, but it was short. All we wanted to do in that moment was feel each other’s embrace. And that’s what we did. It felt like that moment could have lasted for an eternity. It was pure bliss. We never wanted it to end. Unfortunately, there was a large crowd of ponies waiting for us back down on the ground.

“Shall we return to our adoring public?” I said jocularly. Fluttershy giggled.

“Let’s.”

And so we did. As we landed, Dash flew past us, handing Fluttershy a bouquet of flowers. And just as fast, she was soaring through the sky, delivering a gorgeous Sonic Rainboom.

“Seriously, you’re a goddamn show off, Dash!” I shouted. Fluttershy laughed and kissed me again.

“You’ll get over it,” she joked.

“Yeah. You gonna throw that or what?” I asked.

“Oh, right. Everypony ready?!” A couple of mares gathered behind us, preparing for the toss. Fluttershy released the flowers, and to nopony’s surprise, Rarity threw herself into the crowd of mares.

“Mine!” she shouted. I was laughing uncontrollably at that.

“So, now what?” Fluttershy asked. I smiled at her.

“Now, we party.”

Act 2: Chapter 20

And party we did. Twas a glorious time, indeed. There was dancing, moshing (we played lots of metal and rock and stuff), drinking, laughing, and all manner of cantankerous frivolity. That’s me putting it in short terms. Long terms…

…

…

…

You know… In truth, as I lay here in bed, writing down my memories and adventures, I’m sort of tired of remembering. There’s so much to remember, and it’s all just so fucking amazing. I’m baffled that I’ve been able to put it all into words the way I have. And I’m not a writer or something, I’m an actor. Words and writing and stuff aren’t really my strong suit, you know?

Though, then again, I guess this hasn’t been too bad.

Regardless, what I’m trying to say is, I think I’m done remembering.

I’m sharing with you all of these memories of mine, all of these special times I’ve had here in Equestria. I’ve shared quite a bit, I think. But, I’m done sharing memories. I’d like to take this last moment, before I thankfully pass out and fall asleep (because God knows how fucking tired I am), I’d like to share with you my feelings. About Fluttershy.

Is that okay? I think it would be.

You see, I don’t feel I’ve properly taken the time to explain why it is I love her so much. Why it is I gave up my entire life on Earth to be with her in Equestria. I mean, you may think it’s pretty apparent, but I, frankly, do not. I’ve sort of just been explaining things in the moment, but not so much as a whole. And feelings work in both ways; in acute, specific moments, as well as the grand, overall experience of life.

Now, Fluttershy, you see, she’s special. Like, really special. I’m sure you’ve got a basic understanding of why I think that of her. My life was completely changed because of her. I found her in some freak coincidence one Friday night. That night changed everything.

My love goes deeper, though. More than just because she changed my life. That’s a big part of it, though. I owe a lot to Fluttershy. But, when you boil everything down to the core, Fluttershy is just… good. I mean, like, her heart. It’s good. It’s pure. No, Fluttershy is not perfect. Nobody is. She’s got her flaws; she frightens easily, she’s shy, she has trouble vocalizing things sometimes. But who cares? I was sort of the same way before she came into my life. We both changed each other for the better.

But it’s like I said; she’s good. She loves everypony she meets and gets to know. There’s little to no hate in her heart. She’s kind. She’s gentle. And when she isn’t afraid to speak her mind, she really goes for it and lets you know what she’s feeling or what she thinks. And when she lets you know something, you know it’s true. She never lies. She’s honest and trustworthy. And, like I said to her the night I proposed to her, she’s not afraid.

That’s not to mention how she looks. I know it seems shallow to exemplify someone for how they look, but when you love someone, it’s not so bad, I think. Besides, aren’t you supposed to love how your special someone looks? And Fluttershy… she’s fucking beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone like her. She was beautiful as a pony, and she’s even more so as a human. I love her either way. It doesn’t matter to me.

The bond we share is unbreakable. Nothing will ever keep us apart. It’s not physically or magically possible. It’s not possible on any level, I’m telling you. I swear, even in death, we’ll be together. I mean, we dream together. How’s that for a bond, huh? You ever hear of a plain old human couple being able to do that? Heck, we shared dreams before we even got to Equestria.

And, besides everything I can tell you in a straightforward manner, there’s just something about Fluttershy…

You know that feeling when you love someone, when you really, deep down, know you love someone, and there’s just something about it you can’t explain? Like, when your partner asks you, “Hey, why do you love me,” and you say a ton of stuff that sounds legit, and you mean it, but you otherwise can’t really explain why you love him or her, but if you say that you’ll sound false and seem like a liar, so you just say other stuff anyway…?

Did any of that make sense?

What I mean to say is, you can’t explain, in all honesty, why you love someone. There’s some reason beyond your understanding as to why you love who you do; why you want to be with that person for the rest of your life. Well, that’s how I feel about Fluttershy. There’s some existential force that has bound the two of us together. And I’m glad it has, because there’s no one I’d rather be with for the rest of my life. If it was, literally, just Fluttershy and me for all eternity, I’d be quite okay with that.

Honestly, I feel I’m not doing a very good job with this. This feels lackluster to me. Would it be okay if I told you to just believe me? Because I’m finding it hard to explain this otherwise.

I just love her. So much. I think I loved her the moment I found her in that dumpster way back when. I still love her to this very moment, and I’ll love her until the day I die. It’s just that simple, really.

So, um… I think I’m done for now. In fact, I think I’ll probably be keeping this little journal of mine hidden away for a long, long time. Not sure I’ll ever really write in it again. Like I said, I’m tired of remembering. I didn’t say that just because I wanted to share my feelings about Fluttershy with you. I also want to stop looking to the past so often, and start looking to the future. I’ve been in Equestria for a few years now, and I’ve got so many more ahead of me. Just thinking of all the possibilities makes my head hurt.

My wife is sleeping at my side, like I mentioned before. I’d like very much to cuddle up with her now, maybe share our dreams for the night. As I write these last words, it’s just past midnight. Wow, didn’t think I’d been writing that long.

I can’t tell you what my future will hold, and my thoughts about that will remain with me. What you think may happen is up to you. Use your imagination.

…

I find as I’m writing my last sentiments, Fluttershy is stirring awake. I’m surprised she didn’t wake up earlier. Oh well. I’ll be going now. You know where I’ll be. And you know who I’ll be with; the love of my life, and the greatest friends anyone could ever ask for. And in the end…

Well, I think by now, you know the drill.

“Hey,” Fluttershy said, having been awoken by her husband. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, you know,” Matthew started, “writing down memories. Though I’ve kinda grown tired of it.”

“Why do you say that?” Fluttershy asked, leaning on Matthew’s shoulder.

“I want to live in the now, you know? That, and the future. I can’t wait to see what’s coming next for us.” He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her multiple times on the head. Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle.

“Well, you know what I think,” she said, looking into his eyes.

“What?”

“Whatever life may hold in store for us, I’m just glad I’ll be facing it all with you.”

Matthew and Fluttershy stared deeply into each other’s eyes for a moment before sharing a long, passionate kiss. As they parted, Matthew wore a quirky smile.

“I love you, Fluttershy,” he said.

“I love you too, Matthew. Forever and always,” she said.

“Forever and always,” Matt repeated.

Matthew and Fluttershy cuddled up to each other in bed, wrapping each other in their wings before gently falling asleep. And as they went on to share their dreams for the night, a single thought comforted Matthew more than any other.

That it was, is, and always will be…

Author's Notes:

And so, I bring you the end to Fluttershy and Me. I couldn't be more proud with this rewrite. I thank everyone who stuck with it until the very end and put up with my inconsistent timing. It's bittersweet for me, having this story be complete. But, at the same time, I'm elated that it's finished. And, again, I'm thrilled with how it all turned out. Thanks again for reading.