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// Chapter 1 - Day 1 
// Story: Speak From the Heart 
// by Halp 
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The last thing you remember doing was paying for your food at the local farmer's market. As you were handing over your cash, the entire world started going blurry. A horrible lurching feeling welled up in your stomach, and you sank to your knees. Your entire field of vision turned a bright magenta, only to fade to darkness, studded by tiny, blue lights.

The feeling in your stomach subsided, and as you stood up you noticed the lights were small crystals embedded in the walls of what looked like a cave. The crystals barely gave off enough light for you to see, and you struggled to find your wallet on the ground. As you stuffed it into your pocket, a brighter light emerged from around a corner of the cave, the same magenta color as you’d seen earlier. The glimmer of hope you felt rise up in your chest was brief, as you noticed the light was coming from… a unicorn? It had wings like a pegasus, but you were too dumbfounded to think of a better word than “pony.” A much taller white unicorn--also with wings--strode up to the purple one’s side. They had surprisingly expressive faces, ones you had a faint feeling you had seen before. Their looks of shock were cartoonish, to say the least. You clutched your wallet tightly, uncertain of how to proceed, but your lizard-brain kicked into gear before you could make any judgement.

You ran. You ran as fast as possible in the opposite direction through the winding cave. You weren't necessarily afraid of the ponies, but you were terrified of the situation. You had no idea where you were, why there were unicorn-pegasi-looking ponies in it, and what they would do to you, given the chance. The thought of being trapped, or worse, along with the burning sensation now spreading through your legs and lungs, made you wish you had taken up some self-defense classes, or at least spent more time at the gym. You could feel the damp air around you growing warmer, and the slope of the cave floor was growing steeper- you were heading up towards the surface. One more turn, and you felt stairs beneath your feet, leading to an opening. As you sprinted for it, you swear you could faintly hear a "stop" echoing behind you inside the cave. You pushed the thought aside and leapt out of the entrance.

As you came flying out of the cave, you felt sunlight envelop your body, and for a brief moment you were stunned. Time stood still as you saw an immense forest before you, backed by large hills and a peach-colored sunset. The moment was ruined, however, the instant you looked down. You were easily ten, maybe fifteen feet in the air, hurtling at an unbelievable speed, above the slope of a grassy, treeless hill. You felt grateful that it wasn't a steep hill,  and fought your body’s urge to flail like a maniac as you hit  the ground and slid along the grass, with less force than you expected. Just shy of the treeline, you made out the figure of some yellow creature that looked vaguely similar to the ponies you had seen before. Judging by the exaggerated flinching, you could tell it saw you coming. With the distance between you was closing rapidly, you just raised your arms in front of your face and braced for impact.  After what felt like an eternity of anticipation, you had noticed the wind rushing past your ears had come to a halt. As you opened your eyes you could see that purple glow again, this time around your arms and your entire body. You had stopped just inches from the yellow pony--definitely a pegasus, you noted-- whose teal eyes were firmly locked onto you. Up close, it seemed less frightened and more fascinated, like it was trying to look into your soul. Lowering your arms, you both just stared at one another for a few seconds, before you heard yelling again coming from behind you. The urge to run came to mind again, but your aching legs said otherwise. You turned to see the purple and white ponies were running down the hill towards the two of you. In the light you saw that the white one was adorned with a fair amount of gold jewelry and sported a multicolored mane and tail that flowed and waved endlessly, as if it were alive. You weren't the brightest person in existence, but you knew enough to guess that this pony was probably in charge. The saddle bag that hung over the purple pony's back bounced as they came to a halt before you, breathing heavily.

"Thank goodness, we caught up to it. Are you okay, Fluttershy? You’re not hurt, are you?" The purple pony spoke in short, tired spurts, clearly not a fan of rigorous exercise.

"Not at all, I’m fine. What kind of animal is this? I saw it coming towards me, but it just... stopped." You heard the gentle voice of the yellow pony behind you, and felt oddly calm. Frankly, you were surprised you could understand them at all, what with the fact that not only could these ponies speak, but they seemed to speak fluent English.

"It is a 'human,' Fluttershy, and you would be ill-advised to be near it." The regal voice that left the white pony's mouth caught you off-guard. She was also about your height, compared to the two shorter ponies, and intimidated you a bit, giant horn and commanding aura notwithstanding. Still, you found the courage to try and defend yourself, and opened your mouth to speak. What came out sounded like an absolute garbled mess, and all three of the ponies stepped back a couple inches. Confused, you tried to speak again. I'm not dangerous, you thought, trying to say each syllable slowly. The garbled speech came out again, slower this time. You realized you had no control of your vocal cords or mouth whatsoever. You tried making a couple different huffing sounds, which came out as intended, but any attempt at speaking, even what little Spanish and French you knew, was incomprehensible, even to you. You folded your arms in defeat, uncertain of what to do, and the yellow pony--Fluttershy, you remembered--stepped forward to your side, facing the white one, Celestia.

"I don't think it's dangerous. Just now, it sounded like it had something to say." She looked up towards you from the corner of her eye with a smile.

"I know your talent is being able to understand animals, Fluttershy, but I've seen these in my time before. The last time they were here, they caused nothing but trouble, thanks to Discord."

“Wait, Princess Celestia, why haven’t I heard of humans before? There’s no record of them in any place I’ve studied before,” Twilight remarked, cocking her head to one side. Celestia hesitated for a moment, now looking straight at you.

“I confiscated what few records existed, and forbade those who knew of them to speak or otherwise communicate about humans ever again.” You could feel your heartbeat quicken as Celestia spoke, convinced that she definitely didn’t trust you, despite what little defense Fluttershy had made on your behalf.

"Twilight, I want you to document everything that has happened so far, and keep a close eye on this human."

"Of course!" The purple pony beamed. Her horn started to glow again, and several pieces of paper and a quill floated out of her bag. You could see her focus while it began scribbling onto the page, and pointed at the paper to catch her attention. She stared at you with confusion, and you pointed at the paper again. If you couldn't speak, after all, maybe you could try writing. Twilight cast a glance towards Princess Celestia, who, after a moment of thought, nodded once. The glowing sheet and quill floated slowly into your hands, which you could see all three observing carefully. You had never written with a quill before, and there was no hard surface to write on, but you figured you would at least try to put something down that would set them at ease. You froze and stared at the page. No words could come to mind. Not visually. Your entire memory of writing seemed to have up and vanished. You couldn't visualize any character from any language you had ever seen, and you struggled to still the shaking quill in your hand.

"It looks like it wants to write," Fluttershy chimed in quietly. "But it's too scared to try, I think."

"I've never seen a human write, let alone try to, Fluttershy. While I admire your consideration, Twilight, it's best if we leave it be." Celestia's horn glowed a soft yellow and you felt a tug on the paper and quill in your hands. You grasped tightly, as if your life depended on putting words to the page. In desperation you tried to scribble something, anything, onto the page, just before losing  your grip as it was suddenly yanked from you.

"What's this? 'Ah-non?' 'Anon?'" Celestia remarked with a squint. It seemed that you managed to put down something ponies could recognize, at least.

“Is that… your name? Anon?” Twilight asked. You almost argued in a knee-jerk reaction, but held the words in your throat, knowing they would be a mess coming out. Defeated, you nodded silently.

“Anon. I like that name.” Fluttershy added, still smiling. What was it about her that she could be so calm about this situation? You had nearly bowled her over in your blind panic, some creature that looked completely alien to her, and yet she stood up for you without knowing even your name.

Overall, you felt unbelievably confused. Here you were, in some random place you'd never seen or heard of, with strange, talking ponies, unable to communicate, with no idea how you got here or how to go home. A surge of pain washed over your head, and you clutched your temples. What was home? You could remember what Earth was, that you spoke English, and that you were human. But as you tried to recall your birthday, family, friends, childhood memories, ANYTHING that gave you some sense of what home was, you felt an invisible vice grip tightened on your head.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with it?" Fluttershy turned towards you, visibly concerned. "It looks like it's in pain!"

"Could this be an effect of Discord’s idol?" Twilight looked towards Celestia again, acquiring another quill to start writing down more notes.

"I don't know for certain. This 'Anon' is different than the last humans that were transported here, and even then, we never considered what it might have caused them. If I had to wager a guess, it could be suffering from amnesia of some sort."  You did your best to clear your head in the hopes that the aches would subside. Amnesia sounded about right, but you’d never expected it to be so painful. Through squinted eyes you could see a little wooden idol, shaped like a human, float out of Twilight's bag with a yellow glow. "This artifact of Discord's has always eluded me, and I've yet to figure out how it works. Simply approaching the artifact did this," she said, eyeing you again, this time with a bit more sympathy. "So it would be best to find a safe place for both it and the human until my sister and I can figure out what to do."

"What a time for Discord to be on vacation; we could certainly use his help. Poor human," Fluttershy cooed, stepping rather close to you. "I can take it to my cottage and see if I can help it recover." Twilight broke her focus and stepped between you and the pink-haired pegasus, whose wings ruffled slightly.

"What? You can't do that! We don't have any idea what it is or what it could do. It might look like some animal, but Celestia warned us that it can be dangerous," Twilight argued, tilting her head towards the idol. “And, while Discord can be helpful at times, I don’t know if bringing him here would be a good idea.”

"But the human tried to write, at least, so it’s different than what Celestia remembers, right? Now’s our chance to see if they’ve really changed since Celestia saw them last." She looked up towards the princess' pained expression. Celestia closed her eyes in thought, and deep down you hoped that she would agree. Fluttershy was the only being you'd seen so far that seemed to be on your side.

"Humans have no place being in Equestria, let alone among ponies. They’re very unpredictable, like the animals of this forest."

"But my home isn’t far from here, I could take care of it myself, and it would be much safer than being left in a forest on its own. Nopony but Twilight and our friends comes by, so it wouldn’t be seen." Fluttershy protested in earnest.

"We wouldn’t leave it in a forest on its own, it would stay under my sister and I’s watch, in Canterlot,” Celestia assured, but paused for a moment. “Still, you make a fair argument. It has been, as I said, a considerable amount of time since humans last came to Equestria. What do you think, Twilight?"

"Personally, I’d trust Fluttershy with any animal," Twilight trailed off, looking you up and down nervously. “Even if I didn’t know what that animal was.” Fluttershy nodded, satisfied, her smile returning with determination.

In that moment, you felt more helpless than you ever had in your entire life. You were being treated like some wild animal that these ponies had just stumbled upon, and your care had been placed upon the only one who seemed even remotely friendly towards you. You imagined that, if they had wanted, either Twilight or Princess Celestia could have ended you right then and there, what with that floating magic they possessed. There was no doubt in your mind that they probably knew other kinds of magic, and that you would need to be very careful around them. At the same time, just being in Fluttershy’s presence gave you hope that you might make it out of this mess in one piece.

The three of them exchanged more words in your stupefied silence, and gestured for you to follow them as they turned to walk towards the forest. The muscles in your legs seemed better, and you considered your options. Running seemed like a vain effort, given that you could just be grabbed and stopped like a runaway puppy by their magic, and you had no idea what the forest would hold even if you could get away. You mumbled some gibberish in response, which they took as agreement. Twilight and Celestia trotted onward, while Fluttershy remained at your side. She gently poked your hand with her snout and put her head under your palm.  You felt compelled to keep it there as she started to follow the other ponies and kept up with her calm pace, ensuring your hand stayed atop her mane as the two of you entered the forest.

Quiet, calm minutes passed, and all you could really focus on was Fluttershy gently leading you. Every few moments she would glance back up at you, checking to see if you were alright. You did your best not to stare or make eye contact, and the couple times you both did, you’d look immediately back to the path ahead. Twilight and Celestia appeared less on-edge than before, and were engaged in light conversation. You couldn’t make out most of it, and wished you could at least do the same with Fluttershy. She must have noticed your downcast expression, as she pressed her head back against your hand and started walking a couple inches closer to you.

“You must be awfully scared, Anon. But you don’t need to worry, I’ll make sure you’ll be okay.” Her reassuring words barely reached your ears, and you lightly firmed your grip on her crown. Fluttershy’s pink locks were even finer than human hair, and clearly well-kept. You stomached the urge to move closer to her or run your fingers through her mane, partially out of fear that you might scare her. While Fluttershy exuded compassion and interest in your well-being, you could tell that she was wary and easily startled with the way she was carefully watching the area around you. You smiled weakly, acknowledging the solace that this wasn’t familiar territory for her, either. Garbled sound came from your mouth once again as you mumbled to yourself, garnering Fluttershy’s attention.

“At least you can understand me-- I mean, us--like other animals here, though. That will help out a lot.” she replied. You nodded and gently ruffled her hair a bit, causing her ear to twitch in response. The tiniest giggle you’d ever heard in your life escaped her throat; you swore to yourself that, before you left this place, wherever it was, that you would try and hear it again. Never had you imagined that you would warm up so quickly to a sentient, technicolor, talking pegasus, let alone touch one, but deep down you were enjoying the opportunity.

After what felt like an hour, you and the ponies reached the edge of the forest, which opened up to plains with a small town not too far away. Celestia motioned for everyone to pause, and turned to face you. While your legs weren’t as sore as before, taking a break from walking seemed like a good idea. You plopped down onto the nearest soft-looking patch of grass and met her gaze.

“The town you see ahead of you is called Ponyville, “ she said, pointing towards it with her gold-capped hoof. “It is a fitting name, as no human has ever been there. I will leave you under Fluttershy’s authority under the condition that it stays that way. Do you understand me?”

You nodded and gave her a tired thumbs-up, ignoring her patronizing tone.  Celestia nodded in kind and turned her head to Fluttershy.

“I will see what information about humans I can provide for you when I return to Canterlot. For the time being, however, you will have to work with him yourself. Humans may act savage at times, but they are intelligent, at least.” Her comment struck you pretty hard, but you kept your expression as calm as you could.

“Savage? Why, he doesn’t seem like he would hurt anypony. How could he be savage?” Fluttershy asked innocently. Her faith in you was overwhelming, to say the least. You shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly, earning another glare from Celestia.

“Just...please be careful. I trust your judgement, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Don’t worry. Everything will be under control.” Fluttershy spoke with confidence, and you felt more grateful than before to have her as a caretaker. You weren’t certain how long you would be here, but if you were supposed to be living alone with Fluttershy, surely it wouldn’t be that bad. At least, so long as you ignored the head-splitting amnesia-driven pain, the pony-in-charge who had it in for you, and completely unfamiliar… everything, it might not be that bad.

“Come on, Anon. It’s almost night-time, and you don’t want to be out here late.” Fluttershy’s voice snapped you out of your thought, and you noticed that Twilight and Celestia had taken flight in separate directions. You stood up and assumed your position at Fluttershy’s side, hand on her head, and followed her home. It only took a couple minutes for you both to arrive, and the second you stepped inside, you felt more welcome than you could ever remember. Given the events of the day, seeing the warm, inviting interior of Fluttershy’s cottage was definitely a change of pace.

“I’ll, uh, I have to go do something upstairs for a moment, i-if you don’t mind. Just make yourself comfortable.” Fluttershy mused as she gestured broadly to the room and hurried up the staircase. The long green couch nearby seemed like the best option, and you sat down on it with a satisfying plop. Fluttershy’s hushed voice could be heard coming from upstairs- it sounded like she was arguing with someone. Odd, given that her voice was the only one you could hear, occasionally interrupted by complete silence. A few moments later, she came trotting downstairs.

“Sorry about that, Anon. I had to apologize to Angel for coming home late.” Fluttershy seated herself on the opposite side of the couch and folded her hooves in front of her.

“Angel’s my pet bunny. He’s really nice, but he can also be really demanding, and he needs his beauty rest.” You stifled a giggle at the thought of a small rabbit with hair curlers and a facial mask. It seemed that animals here were a lot more like humans than just ponies, and you imagined it was plausible.

“Did you laugh just now?” You nodded in response, still covering your face. “What’s so funny?” she asked innocently. You tried to reply without thinking, and your giggly, unintelligible speech caught in your throat with a choking sound. Fluttershy gasped and bent her head down.

“Oh, I’m so, so sorry! I forgot you couldn’t speak, how careless of me.” You barely knew Fluttershy, but you already couldn’t stand seeing her distressed. You faked a smile and waved her off, shaking your head.

“I just… I’ve not met anypony who couldn’t speak before. At least, not somepony new,” she murmured. “M-maybe I should try yes and no questions? Would that work?” That sounded like a good idea. Maybe not a good way to avoid one-sided conversation, but it was better than sitting around in silence. With a nod, you slid off your shoes and turned on the couch to face her, crossing your legs under you. You made certain to keep smiling. Looking the part would help to cheer her up, or so you hoped.

“Alright, well, um…” she mumbled, suddenly quieter under the pressure of your undivided attention. Seconds passed. Your initial reaction seemed to have the opposite effect you had intended, and you struggled to think of something to break the silence. She had been so friendly and talkative before, in the forest- what changed? Maybe now that she was trying to talk with you more like a person rather than a scared, strange animal, she was feeling self-conscious? You had never been great at talking to women, or people, for that matter, let alone introverted ones. You cursed yourself for not knowing sign language for a second, but thought better of it; ponies probably didn’t have sign language, what with being quadrupedal and not having any kind of digits.

Suddenly, you had an idea. A stupid idea. One that could make the situation better, or possibly worse: charades.

If you couldn’t speak or write, the least you could do right now is act. You stood up off of the couch and walked a few paces forward, turning to face Fluttershy. She eyed you silently. You pointed towards your eyes, then to your chest. Watch me.

“You… want me to look at you?” Fluttershy mumbled. You nodded. You had her attention, now what? What did other people do to talk to women? Compliments? You pointed towards her, then your hair. She blinked, and then looked down at her mane and back. You made a gentle cupping motion with your hands, like you were squeezing a ball of clay. Your hair is soft. You stopped moving to watch her and the clockwork ticking behind her eyes.

“My mane… is… a ball?” You shook your head, and stepped over to pat the couch gently.

“... Soft?” My mane is soft?” You nodded with a grin. Her eyes widened for a moment and she smiled sheepishly.

“Well, thank you. I work very hard to take care of it.” You felt a bit strange, breaking the ice like this, but it was a first step.

“Could I, maybe, feel your mane?” The question surprised you, and your look of confusion visibly bothered her. “I understand, you know, if you don’t want-” Fluttershy mumbled, letting out an ‘eep’ when you immediately bent over in front of her. Calm, gentle movements would probably be better in the future, you thought. No need to seem so earnest. For whatever reason, though, all you really wanted right now was to enjoy the moment. Fluttershy tentatively put out her hoof and placed it on the crown of your head. It was astonishingly warmer than you expected, and you could feel a gentle tug on your hair as her hoof brushed through it.

“Wow, yours is almost as soft as mine, Anon. It’s a bit thicker, but it feels nice.” she cooed. You couldn’t help feeling a bit bashful. No one had really complimented you on your average-looking appearance or features, especially not in a situation like yours. You felt your face flush a bit as you stood back up and thought of what else you had to say. At least Fluttershy looked calmer than before.

“Do all humans have hair as short as yours?” Not quite, you thought, shaking your head.

“Hm, so there’s long hair like mine, too, where you’re from? That’s nice to know.” Fluttershy’s expression had become more thoughtful, and you felt a bit proud of yourself.

“Do you have any friends? Are they nice?” Fluttershy asked quietly. Immediately, the headache from before came rocketing back into your senses, albeit less intense than before. You stopped and tried to think about something else and did your best to hide the look of pain on your face. You honestly didn’t know if you had friends anymore. You hoped so, at least, but no memory of them came to mind.

“Oh. Well, I could be your friend,” she suggested gently. “I’d like to think I’m nice.” As the pain subsided, you swear you could feel a pinching feeling in your chest, one you didn’t recognize. You pointed at yourself, then made a heart shape over your chest with your fingers, and placed out your hand for a moment. I’d love for us to be friends.

“You’d… love… oh, that's wonderful! I’m happy to hear it!” Fluttershy sat up, clearly more excited than before. “I’ve never been friends with a human before.”

You rubbed the back of your head with a cheesy smile. The moment was cut short by a gurgling sound, one you realized was coming from you.

“Oh, are you hungry?” she asked. You could tell a light clicked on in her head. “What do humans even eat?”

Another headache came on as you tried to remember what foods you liked. You knew humans were omnivores, but right then you would have settled for just about anything, if it would make the pain go away. You shrugged, making the closest sound to ‘I dunno’ you could.

“I can take you to my kitchen and we could find something for you, maybe.” You nodded. “Alright, follow me, please.”

You followed Fluttershy as she trotted into the next room, careful to watch your head while going through the doorway. Around another corner, she opened a wooden closet that revealed a number of containers and packages, as well as some fruits and vegetables that looked familiar to you. As expected, Fluttershy was distinctly herbivorous, and while you were fine with not having meat of any kind, you weren’t sure if any of this was even good for humans. As you glanced around the shelves, you saw a large, crusty loaf of bread almost the size of your head. You pointed towards it, made a breaking motion and cupped your left hand, then pointed towards that hand. What’s in this?

“You want to know what’s inside the bread? Um…” Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin. “I’m pretty sure it’s wheat, milk, butter, and eggs. Do… you know what those are?” You nodded, and then pointed at the bread, then to yourself, raising an eyebrow.

“You’d like the bread? Sure, you can have it. I probably wasn’t going to have it anytime soon anyway.” You made the only sign-language symbol you really knew, “thank-you,” and took the loaf. She watched you press your fingers to your chin and wave down, and seemed to understand the gesture. “You’re… welcome?” Another nod, and she smiled happily.

“There are plates in the cabinet by the doorway, Anon,” she called out from the pantry as you walked back towards the living room. “If you can’t find them, just wait for me.”

You stooped to reach the small cabinet handle, and reached inside for one of the plates. The more you learned about Fluttershy and her home, the more surprised you were that it was so much like being back on Earth. You sat down cross-legged once more on the couch, balancing the plate in one hand as you made yourself comfortable. Fluttershy came trotting in a few seconds later, carrying a small bowl in her mouth full of… flower heads?

“These are chamomile blossoms, they’re one of my favorites, “ she said, the bowl muffling her words. She seated herself on the couch gently-- a bit closer to you, this time-- and set the bowl on the table nearby. “I would normally have a regular meal at this time of night, but I think this is a fine occasion.” You hummed in reply, and eyed your meal. You took the bread in both hands and tore a small chunk off. The aroma coming from the bread was heavenly, as if it had just come from the bakery oven. You heard Fluttershy giggle a bit as you savored bite after bite, and tried not to inhale the whole thing at once.

“I’m glad you like it. My friend Pinkie Pie is a wonderful baker, whether it’s bread or sweets, or anything, really.” You stopped for a moment. ‘Pinkie Pie’? You hadn’t thought about it before, but the names of ponies here seemed childlike in nature, but you figured it only fit the innocent, friendly aura they exuded. At least, you hoped that was the general case. As you watched Fluttershy delicately bite into one of the flower heads, you really started to consider just how lucky you were. Fluttershy had defended you from her friends, had taken you in, and here she was now, giving you her own food and trying to make conversation. She was probably the most considerate… being… you had ever met. Certainly, no human had made you feel this welcome, as far as you knew.

“You know, I’m pretty surprised you know so much about things here. Where you’re from must be very similar to Equestria,” Fluttershy mused between bites. You weren’t listening, however; you instead found yourself glancing over her body, and fixated on a pattern on her rear end. You didn’t recall noticing it before, but then again, being significantly taller than her body at standing height would cause that. You took another bite of bread and squinted a bit; the pattern on the side of her flank looked vaguely like three small pink butterflies.

“Are you looking at my cutie mark?” Fluttershy’s voice startled you, and you became conscious of the fact that you had been silently staring at her for the better part of a minute. You met her gaze, and she didn’t seem bothered by it, at least. “Do you know what a cutie mark is?” she inquired. You shook your head. You knew that cutie marks were a kind of blemish humans had, but this definitely wasn’t the case.

“Almost everypony in Equestria has one. Cutie marks are what defines a pony’s job, in a way,” Fluttershy explained. “Well, more like shows what they love to do. When a filly or colt discovers what they’re meant to do in life, it appears on their flank, like mine.” You nodded in understanding, slightly envious. You wished humans had something even remotely like that. Although, now that you had thought of it, you didn’t even remember what you liked to do back home.

“My cutie mark came from being able to talk to and comfort animals, “ she continued, pausing to eat another chamomile. “I don’t know what that would mean for you, Anon, but it’s nice to talk with you, anyway.” You weren’t really sure if that was the reason why or how you felt so drawn to her, but it made a little sense. You reached down to the plate for more bread, only to rub your fingers along bare ceramic and crumbs. You looked down to see a completely empty plate and heard Fluttershy giggle again, quieter this time.

“Are you still hungry? You could try some of mine, i-if you’d like.” You looked over to see her holding out a chamomile blossom in her hoof, and you swore she was blushing a bit. The whole image plus the gesture had you feeling oddly flustered as well, and you felt blood rush to your face. You hesitantly raised your hand to take the flower from her, letting your fingertips linger on her hoof for a bit as you grasped it. She let out an ‘eep’ and jerked her hoof back for a second, now blushing harder.

Thoroughly confused, you turned your attention to the flower head, examining it closely. You didn’t remember ever eating flowers before, and you were having second thoughts about eating them now, but you pushed those thoughts aside as you raised it to your mouth. You felt compelled to eat it, if only to set her at ease. It tasted somewhat sweet and almost grassy, but the texture wasn’t strange, at least. You finished chewing and looked back towards Fluttershy, who had her eyes locked onto her bowl as she ate quietly. You motioned for her attention and signed ‘thank-you’ again before a long, unexpected yawn welled up inside you.

“O-oh, are you tired?” she asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. “It is a bit late, maybe going to bed would be a good idea. Oh, but I don’t have a spare bed for you, and my bed isn’t big enough… for the two of us…” The blush on her face deepened as she trailed off. She looked like she was almost hiding in her own mane as you bent forward to put your plate on the table. You patted the couch a few times and leaned back on the arm; you didn’t see why the couch wasn’t a suitable alternative.

“The couch? If that’s alright with you, then I guess it’ll do for now.” Fluttershy sighed in relief. You stretched your legs out along the couch after she got up, your ankles just barely resting on the opposite arm. “Do you need anything? A blanket, or pillow?” You shook your head gently. It was plenty warm in the room, thanks to the fireplace that had been lit since you had arrived. Come to think of it, you didn’t recall seeing Fluttershy light it herself.

“In that case, then… goodnight, Anon,” she yawned. “Sleep well.” You gave her a small wave in return, and closed your eyes. The sound of her hooves going up the stairs and the ticking of the clock were the last thing you heard as you drifted thoughtlessly to sleep.