As you rouse from your slumber, you slowly open your eyes and begin to look around, still in a daze. As you try to shift in bed trying to get comfortable, you notice Fluttershy cuddled up next to you. You can’t help but sigh as you lay back down so you don’t disturb her. As you lay there with her, you can’t help but notice how cute she is when she’s asleep. You just lay there watching her stir occasionally as she dreams; this just makes her even cuter. After an hour of laying there, she begins to wake,
“Morning Fluttershy,” you say, looking down to her.
“G-good morning Colt, how was your night?” She said blushing slightly,
“Pretty good since you have a huge bed.”
“Oh, right. How long have you been awake?”
“About an hour, I didn’t want to wake you,” with this she turns bright red.
“W-well we should get up now. Want some breakfast?” She says as she crawls out of bed.
“Sure, could I have an egg sandwich?”
“Of course,” she says heading out of the bedroom.
As she leaves, you force yourself out of bed and stand up to make the bed before heading to the bathroom. As you leave the bedroom, you remember to duck under the low doorway and you find your way to the bathroom just down the hall. You shut the door behind you and lock it -- you didn’t want to have anything embarrassing happen between you and Fluttershy.
You answer nature’s call once again and get ready to take a shower. You take off your pants and look down at your foot, still wrapped in the bandage from last night. You sit down on the toilet, untie the knot and start taking off the bandage. Just like the injuries before this one, it had fully healed overnight. You shrug it off and just step into the shower and you turn the knobs randomly hoping the water turns on.
After a minute of messing with the knobs, you hear water rushing through the pipes, but to your displeasure it’s ice cold. You rapidly spin one knob, hoping it controls the temperature, and you sigh in relief as the water begins to warm up. You turn around and let the water run down your back as you relax. You had always loved taking long, hot showers; they were your way of relaxing. Sometimes you would spend up to an hour letting the water wash away the troubles of the world around you. But a knock at the door brought you back to reality,
“Colt, breakfast is ready.”
“Ok, be out in a bit.”
You look around for soap but all you see is a bottle of all natural shampoo, which, now that you think about it, makes sense since they have fur all over. You shrug and begin scrubbing yourself with the shampoo. It smelled of fresh flowers, not bad. You rinse off, throw on your clothes and open the door, but as soon as it opens you are overcome by the smell of Fluttershy’s home cooking,
“Mmmmm eggs.”
You head downstairs to the kitchen and join Fluttershy at the table,
“Smells good Fluttershy,” you say as you sit down next to her.
“Oh i-it’s nothing really,” she says looking down at her plate of toast.
“No, I really appreciate it, thank you,” you say giving her a gentle smile.
At this she just turns red and you both continue eating in silence. When you finish your breakfast you wait for her to finish. You then take the plates and silverware to the sink and start washing them,
“You don’t need to do that Colt, you’re my guest,” she says as she walks up to you at the sink.
“You let me stay the night and made me breakfast, it’s the least I can do. Also, how did you like the new chicken coop?”
“It’s wonderful! You didn’t have to make a new one though,” she says as she shuffles her hooves.
“You’re right, but I thought you would like it,” you say as you give her a little hug.
“Thanks for having me over, but I want to start work so I can stop taking advantage you generous ponies.”
“Oh you aren’t being a burden or anything, I mean you just made a new home for Elizabeak and the others.”
You think to yourself, ‘She named her chicken Elizabeak? That is adorable!’
“Anyways Fluttershy, thanks for the hospitality, but I have to go to Sugarcube Corner for work.”
“Okay,” she says sadly.
“Don’t worry Shy, I will visit again. Who knows, I might actually not hurt myself.” You say trying not to laugh.
After washing the dishes and putting the leftovers in the refrigerator, you head out the door and begin your early morning walk back to Ponyville. On your walk you begin to slow down to take in the serenity of the forest that surrounds you. You watch the animals run about in the trees and see the occasional bird perching on a branch. You eventually wander off the path knowing you don’t have to begin deliveries for a few hours and decide to relax in a nearby clearing.
You walk to the center and lay down on the ground and just watch the clouds, you take a deep breath and sigh, life is good. As you lay in the clearing you feel something is not right, that you aren’t alone. You sit up and begin to look around; in the quiet forest, you can hear something nearby.
“Whoever you are, come out, I don’t bite!”
You hear the rustling of leaves behind you and you see a blue mare walk out of the bushes,
“Who are you? I haven’t seen you around before, and this is a dangerous place to be.”
“T-trixie is fine, she can handle herself. After all, Trixie has been living here for quite some time.” You gasp,
“Why are you living here? Don’t you have any place to go to?” You say in concern.
“T-trixie has no place to call home, not since her wagon was destroyed,” her eyes begin to water. You move towards her and pull her in for a hug and stroke her mane,
“It’s okay Trixie, I’ll find you a place,” you say smiling down to the now crying mare.
“W-why would a creature like you *Sob* help me? Everypony hates me, that’s why Trixie is out here,” she says as she looks down.
“Because in my world, I too was an outcast, I know what you are going through. I just don’t want you to end up like me,” you say as your voice trails off.
“What do you mean ‘your world?’” she asks as she wipes the tears from her eyes.
“I am not from here, nor do I have any idea how I got here, all I know is I don’t want you to go through what I did.” As you say this you hold her close,
“I’ll take you home and I will figure something out, Trixie, okay?”
“O-okay,” she says, still holding you tightly.
“Alright then, lets go,” you say as you pick her up and head back towards the road to town.
“What is your name?”
“Oh sorry, my name is Colt, nice meeting you Trixie. By the way why weren’t you scared of me? Most ponies who see me for the first time are a bit shocked.”
“Trixie has seen many dangerous creatures since living in the forest, you didn’t look like one of them.” She said looking up at you.
“Fair enough,” you say as you pass a sign that says, ‘Now entering Ponyville.’ She immediately turns pale.
“What’s wrong, Trixie?” you ask, hoping she isn’t sick or something.
“It’s just that Trixie has performed here before and was run out of town.” As she finishes her statement, tears begin to well up again.
“Why? What happened?” She simply sighs and tells you about her life as a showpony.
She would always provoke audience members to “participate” in her shows. But what had gotten her kicked out of town was her incessant boasting that caused two colts to lure a dangerous creature to town so she could defeat it. But when she failed to do so and almost got the town destroyed in the process, Twilight Sparkle had come and saved the day, ruining her. After those events, word got around that she was nothing but a braggart. Soon no town would let her perform and without them, she had no job. She began a downward spiral into depression and loneliness and ended up after weeks of wandering in the EverFree forest, living off the local plants. All you do is sit there, mouth agape at the tale you just heard. How could a little unicorn like her cause all that? She notices your reaction and begins to look down,
“You hate Trixie as well, don’t you?” she begins to cry openly again,
“No, I don’t hate you, I could never hate you.” Now it was her turn to be surprised,
“You never intended anypony to get hurt, you were simply trying to earn a living. Even though it wasn’t in the best of ways, I don’t blame you for it. If you were as mean as you said the other ponies think you are, then that must of been a different mare.This Trixie seems sorry for what she did.”
All she could do at this point is stare at you, she must have thought no one would ever take her side in this, poor girl. You just stand there and hug her for a moment before heading into town, but just as you are about to enter the outer part of Ponyville, she hugs you back and whispers,
“Thank you.”