Fluttershy awoke with a quiet yawn. She stretched out, making a little squeak as she did so. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking the sleep away from her eyes. She lifted her head up and was surprised to have seen she had fallen asleep on the couch. Angel still lay asleep next to Fluttershy, curled up halfway beneath the blanket. She smiled softly before wondering where the blanket had come from.
Careful not to wake Angel, Fluttershy stepped off the couch and left Angel to wrap himself in the blanket. She made her way to the window and opened it and welcomed the sweet morning air, as was her usual morning custom. She closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle breeze that made its way through the opening. As she opened her eyes, she saw War sitting by a tree a short distance away. He held his hoof out for a small bird to perch upon. However, about a dozen other birds were perched all over the rest of his body. She giggled softly and walked outside to join him.
War watched her as she left the cottage and gave her a quiet nod when she sat beside him.
“Good morning War. Did you sleep well?”
He didn’t want to lie to her, but he gave her a nod anyways. It was best she didn’t know about why he could not sleep, lest she be afraid of him like all the others. The shy yellow pony beside him was the first to actually have interest in him, outside of the other Horsemen. The last thing he wanted was for her to see him as a monster.
The two sat in silence for a little under an hour. Neither minded the silence; they were just simply enjoying the company of one another. From the inside of the cottage, Fluttershy’s grandfather clock began announcing the new hour. The pair heard the bass of its chime. With some reluctance, Fluttershy rose to her hooves and turned to War. “Um, I have a few errands to run around town… Would you like to come with me? I mean, unless you’d rather stay here with the birds, because that’s—“
War rose up as well, causing all the birds that were resting upon him to fly away, and Fluttershy could tell from the look in his eyes that he did not mind coming along. She smiled softly and made a stop in the house to put on a saddle bag before leading the way to the marketplace.
As usual, ponies began steering clear of War, paving a pathway through the crowd as Fluttershy moved from stand to stand, picking up various ingredients. War, realizing the stares he was getting, often stayed back when she went to retrieve the items on her list.
“Alright,” she said, returning to him, “I just need some apples now and we’ll be all set. I’m pretty sure Applejack has a stand around here somewhere—“
“Well well well, what do we have here?”
The two turned to the source of the voice. Dante came next to the pair, a sly smile on his face. “So, what brings you two out on a fine day like—“ he stopped and took note of how close Fluttershy and War stood together. His grin grew even more. “Oooooh, I see what’s goin’ on here.” Dante cooed, giving War a soft punch on the shoulder, “You sly dog, you!”
Fluttershy cocked her head slightly, unsure of what he meant. Rolling his eyes playfully, Dante sat down, “Anyways, do you mind if I have a few words with War here? I promise I’ll let you two be on your merry way once we’re done.”
Fluttershy looked to War, who gave her a nod. Smiling and returning the nod, Fluttershy began walking off on her own towards the Apple family’s stand. Dante smiled as he watched the Pegasus pony make her way towards her friend. Once he was sure she was distracted, his smile disappeared. “Last night, Twilight and a few of the other girls got me corned, said a few things that kinda pushed me over the edge and, well… I told them about us, and where we’re from.”
War simply looked down at him, a look of indifference in his eyes.
“Yeah yeah, I know… I shouldn’t have let their words get to me so easy.” He said, almost as if he were reading War’s thoughts. “I guess I’m still just a little touchy about certain subjects…”
Dante’s eyes turned to where Fluttershy had gone. She was still talking to Applejack, and seemed to be panicking about something. Applejack, however, was chuckling.
“So, what’s up with you two?”
War’s eyes held to the two ponies in the distance a while longer before slowly rolling back to Dante. “She is… different…”
Dante’s smile began to return softly as he heard War speak, but then faded back into a frown. “You know we can’t stay here…”
Dante noticed a small twitch around War’s eyes, showing that he knew that was the truth, but he didn’t like it. “I like this place too,” Dante continued, “but this isn’t our home, War. We don’t belong here.”
Dante looked over and saw Fluttershy returning. He bit his lip softly before sighing. “We’ll talk about this later. Maybe we can figure all this out once we’ve found Horrus and Vice.”
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“Well howdy there Fluttershy, how ya doin’ today?”
“Hello Applejack. I’m just fine, thank you. If it’s not too much trouble, could you get me what’s on this list?”
Applejack took the small note that was held out to her with a smile. “Alrighty, looks like ah can set ya up with what’s on here.” Fluttershy waited patiently with a small smile on her face as she waited for her friend.
“So, I see you and War seem to be gettin’ close.” AJ said, a sly smile appearing across her face.
Fluttershy’s cheeks almost instantly flushed a deep red, “Oh no no no no, it’s not like that at all, we’re just friends, and—“
“Ah’m just playin’ with ya sugarcube.” She said, chuckling at the yellow Pegasus, “But, uh, make sure to stop by the library sometime tonight. We got somethin’ to tell you and the rest of the girls about our guests.”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, curious as to what she meant. However, she simply shrugged it off, assuming that all would be made clear later that night. She returned and gave the two stallions a smile, “Alright, we’re all done here. We can drop all this off back at the cottage. After that, I think Pinkie Pie said she needed us for something later today.”
War nodded. Fluttershy didn’t seem to notice, but Dante could easily see the way War’s eyes flickered ever-so slightly when she returned. He still wasn’t sure if he should be happy or not for his friend. “Well, I’ll leave you two to your business. You know where to find me.” Dante trotted off, gradually disappearing from sight as other ponies went about their business.
War and Fluttershy made their way back to her cottage. Halfway back, War had used his magic to lift the saddle off of her and burden himself with it in her stead. Despite her protests, she was happy to have the weight off her shoulders – literally speaking. After ducking down to enter the door, War dropped the saddle down on a nearby table.
Fluttershy laid on the couch, “Ahh, isn’t it nice to come home after a long walk and just relax?”
As usual, War responded with a quiet nod. A moment of silence passed before Fluttershy spoke up again, “So, we have some time before Pinkie needs us. I was wondering, maybe, if you didn’t mind… you could tell me a little about yourself?”
War looked down at the ground and thought. What was there to say? How much had Dante already told them?
Wondering if the subject was too broad, Fluttershy attempted to narrow his thoughts, “Well, do you have any family?”
Family? He considered the other Horsemen to be brothers, but more as brothers in arms than actual family. Vice had always looked up to him as an older brother, but that was because he had no one else. Finally, War shook his head gently.
“I… have always been alone…”
At that moment, a sharp pain came into War’s head. He knew what it was, and refused to show any sign of being troubled. Desolate grew more and more restless with each passing day. He knew that one day, his power over him would break and Desolate would be free for a time. War hoped that he would be far away from Fluttershy when that day came.
“But what about Dante? You two seem pretty close, almost like you’ve been friends all your life.”
“He…” War’s voice faded away. Dante had been there a lot. Although Vice was often with him the most, Dante was always trying to help him with Desolate. He once spent several years trying to find a way to split apart their souls, but such a thing was impossible.
Fluttershy looked into War’s eyes as he thought. They seemed very distant and deep in thought. And, to her dismay, there was sadness. It was small and distant, but there nonetheless. She climbed off the couch and came up to him, “Well, you don’t have to be alone anymore… I’ll be with you. That is, if that’s okay with you…” She turned her head and hid behind her mane, afraid to show her face after saying such a thing, especially to a stallion.
Feeling something large wrap around her, she squeaked softly as she found herself pressed up against War’s chest. She looked up to see his grey eyes looked back down at her. The sadness was gone, replaced by something that she just couldn’t place a name for. “Thank you…” he whispered, almost inaudible enough for her to miss. With a smile, she returned the embrace.