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.”