//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - Meeting Some New Ponies 
// Story: FlutterYou 
// by Capulus 
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As you and Fluttershy walk into Ponyville, you can smell something else from Sugarcube Corner. It smells like... Apple Pie? Pinkie is having an Apple day today, I guess. The sun is well and truly up now. It is about 9:00. Although it is early, the sun’s rays give you a warm feeling. You can hear more sounds now, as more ponies have woken up and gone to work/school. Shops have opened, and there are ponies happily walking through the streets. You look up and see a few Pegasi rocket past, building up a small whirlwind behind them. You look at Fluttershy questioningly, and she says;
“Oh, there is a storm set for later today. They are getting the air currents just right.” Fluttershy is speaking quietly now, and you realise that she was definitely more open back at her house, where she was more comfortable. 

A few ponies give you a varying range of looks. It's common knowledge by now that you were seriously injured flying through the everfree at high speeds. A few ponies look displeased, one or two had pity showing clearly on their faces, and quite a few even look angry. You just make sure you and Fluttershy give them a wide berth. You both eventually reach the place Fluttershy wants to visit first, Twilight Sparkle’s library. You are not used to libraries, having never really had the time for reading in your busy life. Fluttershy knocks quietly and stands back from the door. You have to hold back a laugh at Fluttershy’s knock. It is the kind of knock a pony uses when they want to announce their arrival, without actually having anypony hear it.
“Um, I think we can just go in, ‘Shy. It is a public library, right?”
“Yes, but it’s polite to knock... Sorry... Let’s just go in...” You smile and open the door for her, and she nods gratefully as she walks in past you. You put your good hoof down, holding back a sigh as you take the weight off of your bad hoof, as the pain in your leg had increased slightly when you put your weight on it. You limp into Twilight’s library, hearing the door swing shut behind you. You continue into the large tree, marveling at the fact that it's still intact, being a hollowed out tree and all. You can smell the odd smell you get when heaps of books are put together in one place. The overwhelming smell of paper, and ink. It's brightly lit inside, as there are windows all around the upper floors. 
Then you see Twilight approach, a large smile on her face.
“Hi, you two! Glad to see you both. How are you?” Fluttershy just mumbles that she’s fine, and you nod in acknowledgement, and to indicate you're also fine.
“And how are you, Twilight?” You ask, when you realise Fluttershy seems a little more subdued than normal. Twilight gives you a mischievous smile, and answers;
“Just fine, just fine. Is your leg feeling okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” You lie. It's still burning quite a bit from your impromptu excersise. “Healing up just fine.” You smile encouragingly. “I just hope my face gets better soon. The world is definitely a darker place without it at it’s best.” You laugh, and Twilight joins in, with Fluttershy obviously trying to laugh without being heard, making it all the more noticeable. As you calm down, you could of sworn that Twilight glances at Fluttershy, that mischievous smile showing again. But then it passes, and you shake your head, trying to regain your footing.
“So, what have you got planned for today, Twilight?”
“Oh, nothing much. I was just going to do some studying. I’m ahead on my homework, so I’ve decided to start studying for next week’s homework!” This confuses you greatly, for a number of reasons.
“Wait, why do you have homework? And, how do you know what next week’s homework will be about? And why are you excited to be doing it?” You ask, incredulously.
“Oh, I set it myself! I have to keep my mind sharp, after all. And I love doing homework. It keeps me on the edges of my hooves.” She smiles, and Fluttershy looks at Twilight, with an odd look on her face. But then she says, while rubbing her leg with her hoof nervously;
“Umm, Twilight? Could I please talk to you in the kitchen? You know... If it’s alright...” Twilight smiles again, and glances at you. What is that about? You wonder.
“Of course ‘Shy, let’s go. We’ll be back in a minute. Just... Read a book, or something.” She says to you.

Twilight takes Fluttershy by the shoulder and leads her away, out of the room. Read a book, yeah right. You sneak up to the door Twilight and Fluttershy have just gone through, praying that the slight creaking of your crutches don’t give you away. You put your ear against the door and have to strain to hear, as the door is very thick. You can only hear a few words at a time. Mostly Twilight, as Fluttershy’s voice is very quiet, and barely penetrates.
“I’ve been reading...”
“You should tell...”
“It’s hard...”
“Just... It...”
“But what if... Doesn’t... Said...never...been in...”
“...Will...The way... Looks...” You pull away from the door, so you don’t go through the classic of hearing them walking towards the door too late and getting caught listening. You limp to the other side of the room, and grab a book randomly off of the shelf. You read the blurb and frown at what the book is about. Romance? I didn’t realise Twilight would have these at her library. Wait... You walk around the edge of the library, and see that all of the books --Or at least, the ones within your reach-- are romantic in one way or another. Since when was Twilight romantic? Even I know she isn’t, and I barely know her. She doesn’t really seem the type... It’s just hard for you to imagine ‘Twilight’ and ‘Romantic’ in the same sentence. But, then again, you don’t know all about her yet, it could just be a guilty pleasure. You skim through one, reading little snatches of it. It seems like a tedious thing, what the characters are going through. One of them loves the other, but doesn’t realise it. The other is in love with the one who loves them and doesn’t know it, and they know it, but they don’t know how the other feels. It just seems needlessly complicated. I would know if I was in love with a mare. Not like this bloody fool. He just doesn’t see how obvious it is that he loves the other one. The way he acts when he’s around her. You chuckle and close the book, putting it back on the shelf. 

Then the door on the other side of the room opens, and Fluttershy walks out, looking nervous. You inadvertedly shoot up, wincing as your leg twinges again. Twilight whispers something in her ear, and ‘Shy walks over to you putting her hoof on your shoulder and walking with you out of the library.
“See you later, Twi’!” You say over your shoulder, as the door swings shut behind you both. 

You and Fluttershy walk happily for a little while, until you come to Carousel Boutique, where the mare Rarity lives and works. You walk in, the little bell above the door ringing your arrival.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique. What can I do for you tod-- Oh, hello Fluttershy. What do you need?”
“Um, hi, Rarity. I’m not bothering you, am I?”
“Of course not, darling! Anything for my best friend. Oh, and who is this... Um... Gentle...colt?”
“Remember, you met me in the hospital? Don’t worry, I doubt my face will stay like this.” You smile, and Rarity nods in recognition.
“Oh, of course. So sorry. Well, hello there.” She smiles weakly.
“Umm, Rarity? Could I please speak to you in the back room?” Fluttershy looks at you and bites her lip. “Sorry, but this is important.”
“Girl stuff?”
“Kind of.” Fluttershy takes Rarity gently by the shoulder and takes her into the back room. You wait until the door has properly closed and then go over to it. ‘Shy wouldn’t approve, but I’m curious. You think. This door is thick too, and you can just hear a conversation going on, only hearing a few words again.
“You...tell...soon...”
“But...doesn’t...same...”
“Just...it...”
“Not...sure...it...”
“You...be assertive...”
“...don’t...can... You...better...Twilight...almost... me away...” 

You pull away from the door and walk awkwardly away. You sit down on the other side of the room, and wait, taking in the boutique. You can smell lots of fabric, and you can hear the sounds of dresses and other assorted fashion items settling. You look around again, and see a white cat walking up to you. It stops in front of you, and you swear it has an evil smile on it's fluffy face. It looks at the crutches resting up against the seat --which you took off to get a break from them-- and then swipes it's paw, knocking them away, further than you would have expected from such a small cat. You curse not anticipating this, and decide just to wait for Fluttershy to help. No, I have to do this myself, you think, not realising the foolishness of this thought. You slowly get onto the floor, wincing at even the slightest weight on your bad leg. You limp towards the crutches, gasping with the pain in your leg. But it’s too late to go back and sit down. Then you feel a sharp pain in you good foreleg, and lift it to get it away. Unfortunately this causes you to put your weight on your bad leg, and you can’t help but scream as you fall over, and you can practically feel the bone threatening to break. You lie on the ground, trying to catch your breath. Then you hear a quiet scraping, and you see the Celestia-damned cat pushing the crutches towards you. You hear the back door open, and somepony rushes over to you, and you see a familiar yellow hoof put in front of you, and you gratefully take it. You look around as Fluttershy helps you up. You look at your good leg when you are up, and see a large scratch going along the length. What the hay is with all of the vindictive animals around here? You ask yourself. But then you see Rarity stroking the cat, which is smiling evilly at you. You never knew a cat could look evil, but this one managed it quite well.
“Oh, did you try to help him get his crutches, Opal? You’re a good kitty, aren’t you?” Rarity coos to the sadistic little ball of fur. It looks as if it's about to scratch Rarity, but then seems to decide against it. Fluttershy stands up your crutches, and you slip them back on.
“Yeah, very good kitty.” You say, through clenched teeth. 

Fluttershy says goodbye to Rarity, and you just nod stiffly, and you both leave. The pain in your leg still causing you to wince as you move. You both walk through Ponyville again, when Fluttershy suggests you go to Sugarcube Corner for lunch. You happily agree and both go to the large cupcake shaped building, your mouth watering in anticipation. Fluttershy seems oddly quiet, even for her, and you wonder why. Ah, I'll find out in good time.

A/N
--Yes, I know I said I would try not to have too many of these, but I lied. And this isn’t too long anyway. Sorry about the gap between updates, but my internet isn’t really very accessible at the moment. Sorry to everypony who has been waiting so long. --If you actually have been waiting. I understand if you haven’t-- I also just wanted to say why this only has the two mares so far. I just knew that something is going to happen at Sugarcube Corner --being where Pinkie Pie lives and works, hint hint-- And I don’t think the Rainbow Dash one will be very long, I might not even put it in explicitly. Maybe just a mention of seeing her at Sugarcube Corner. That will probably be barely one chapter as I am really quite bad at writing those types of scenes. I have something special planned for when ‘you’ go to Sweet Apple Acres. I am finally going to advance the story a bit, and from one of the unlikeliest of places. :D Well, keep reading! --that is, when I put the next chapter up-- Let me know how it is so far! Enjoy!--