//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirty-Two: The Promise // Story: A Rather Large Adventure // by BradyBunch //------------------------------// Sunset was coming quietly over Ponyville. The skies were the most active out of anything else in Equestria, raging their orange flame in blankets of vivid light as the sun dipped slowly down below the hills near the Everfree Forest. Near the Everfree was a cottage that looked like it was lifted out of a fairy tale, and at the front door of the cottage was a stallion, shivering with anticipation. Noble Blade, devoid of any weapons, shields, or armor,  was paused outside Fluttershy’s door with his hoof raised. He summoned the strength to knock. Three loud raps on the door. The door opened with a creak, and the most beautiful face in the world poked itself out. Fluttershy instantly smiled at the sight of him. “H-hi, Noble." “Shall we go inside? I’m looking forward to this.” “Oh, no!” Fluttershy said quickly. “The inside is too crowded to really dance effectively. I was thinking, um, maybe we’d have a bit more space in the backyard?” Noble smiled. She had thought of everything after all. “Great idea. Let’s go, then.” Fluttershy came out, shut the door, and led Noble Blade around her house to the backyard. After a few minutes of walking, they both noticed subconsciously that they were both sneaking glances at each other. Rather than feel embarrassed about that, however, it was as if they felt a twinge of happiness, a starburst of life in their hearts that made them feel warmer than they were before. Noble Blade noticed once more the way Fluttershy’s curls at the end of her long, rich mane fell so low they almost graced the ground. He observed how her teal green eyes stood out from her pink mane and her yellow body like gemstones, and he noticed that those same eyes were flickering back to look at him from time to time. He noticed that her hips were gently sashaying back and forth as they walked; a subtle motion that Noble noticed but decided not to point out. Fluttershy admired the way Noble’s rich, thick mane stuck up at random spots, and she wanted so badly to reach out and smooth it all over, just to have an excuse to touch him and feel his skin. She noticed his body was muscular, but in a way that you needed to get close in order to notice. He was quiet, but she noticed he had a nervous, small smile on his face as his eyes flickered to spots on her body, his magical dark blue eyes shining in the setting sun. High in the sky, above Fluttershy’s house, two pegasi peeked over the edge of a thin cloud to observe the path the two ponies made as they went behind her home. “Oh.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “This is what you meant earlier today when you said you’d take me to something entertaining?” “Ho yeah,” Firestorm answered her. “I told you you were going to like this.” He grinned as he looked over next to his crush, fighting down the lump in his throat. “But whadda ya say? You want to, ah, help the romantic mood along?” “Let’s do it!” Rainbow agreed. The two ponies came at last to an empty meadow behind Fluttershy’s home. The fiery orange sun was gently gracing the top of the trees lining the Everfree, torching the western sky a bright orange color. Shadows stretched far, and a navy blue color was rising in the east the further the sun set. A few birds flitted around them as they stood, and the chorus of the night bugs rose among them as they came to the field's center. “Okay, so, um…” Fluttershy rubbed her front leg up and down. “I suppose we should start with the, um, position. The idea is for us to stand on our hind legs and support each other.” Noble accordingly rose on his hind legs as Fluttershy did so herself, and they put their hooves on each other’s shoulders. They were now the same height; both of them were now at eye level. “Now, um...we put our hooves out to the side.” Fluttershy stuck out her right hoof just as Noble stuck out his right as well. The result was that the both of them had their hooves sticking out at opposite ends. “Oh!” Noble realized, then used his left hoof to hold Fluttershy’s right. “Oh, I get it. My left, your right. Sorry.” “No, it-it’s fine,” Fluttershy giggled. “So what do I do with this one?” Noble asked, wiggling his right hoof. “You…” Fluttershy started, then swallowed. “You...p-put it on my w-waist…” Noble slowly slid his hoof down her body, making her shiver in pleasure, and it came to rest just above her Cutie Mark. “Okay... now what we do is we just move in one direction a step.” Fluttershy took a step to the right, and Noble followed, a little late. “Now the other direction,” Fluttershy continued, and she took a step to the left. Noble followed again, but not as late as before. “Is this really that easy?” Noble asked quizzically. “Um... yeah. I guess so,” Fluttershy said as she stared into his eyes. “Huh.” He took another step, allowing Fluttershy to lead again. “I would have thought it would be more complicated than this.” “It’s really not that hard,” Fluttershy commented. “You just needed to take the time to learn it.” A trilling noise caught their attention, and Noble saw that the birds in the meadow were rising up and letting loose a high, musical note. Then, of one accord, they burst out into song, but it was a melody Noble recognized. It was a high, rising, beautiful sound that floated near his ears and made his mind jog with beautiful memories. It was an exultant yet melodious song. “Fluttershy?” Noble asked, nodding his head at the vocalizing birds. “Was that your job?” Fluttershy nodded, smiling deeply. “D-do you like it?” “It’s beautiful,” he breathed, keeping his voice quiet so that the song of the birds could be heard better. They moved their bodies slowly to the hypnotizingly beautiful music the birds were singing. The sky’s color seemed to mix like a swirl of color out of the corner of Noble’s eye, like the clouds themselves seemed to dance along with them. The result was that the atmosphere was even more surreal, even more trance-like, even more dreamy and... romantic. High in the sky, Rainbow Dash and Firestorm were flying at high speed through the sky, gathering clouds and spreading them like dough and throwing them around into thin strips and putting them in strategic spots in the sky so that the color of the sun would disperse better through the sky. That high up, the orange light was almost blinding to their eyes, but they averted their gaze, avoiding looking up. “You think this is gonna make a difference?” Rainbow asked as she bucked a final cloud into its place. “Trust me, Rainbow. This is gonna be amazing.” “Does Noble know you’re here?” “Um…” Firestorm gave a sheepish grin. “No. But,” he said, flapping up next to her, who was resting on her belly. “Does Fluttershy know you’re here?” Rainbow Dash giggled and tousled his mane. “Hush, Stormy!” Rainbow Dash silently cheered for herself when she did that, and she cheered again when she saw him squirm, but cheerfully. She noticed that he was smiling, and she loved it. “...So...” Rainbow Dash continued, in what she hoped was a casual tone. “What do we do now?” “We watch and we learn,” Firestorm said, floofing up his fiery mane again with a hoof. “Learn what?” Rainbow curiously asked. “We...um…” Firestorm looked uncertain. Then he rested his chin in his hooves. “We watch how they, um...interact?” Rainbow shrugged. “Sure,” she chirped, then she lay next to him, making sure to have their shoulders touching side by side. Firestorm saw this with a distracted glance, then smiled even wider and wrapped a hoof around her. The two of them, feeling warmer than they remembered, then set their eyes downward to observe their best and closest friends wrap themselves deep in romance. For an indeterminable amount of time that neither of them measured, Noble Blade and Fluttershy just danced to the melody of the songbirds. The sun was still setting in the west, but apparently, Celestia was taking her time tonight. The sun was agonizingly slow to set as the two lovers danced together in the field’s grass, bathed in the faint light of the twilight. Fluttershy almost felt like this was a surreal experience. He was touching her, he was dancing with her, he was making her heart beat at a frenzied clip. He was strong as he held her, but he held her gently enough that it didn’t hurt. At first, he was hesitant in leading the dance, but as time went on and he developed a rhythm, Noble was able to have a bit more confidence in leading her. Fluttershy obediently followed him wherever he went, allowing herself to fall fully into his trust. She never let her gaze deter from his eyes. Never before had his soft eyes seemed so enticing and loving. Noble Blade felt as though he was in a trance, a dream-like state. At first, he took slow steps to avoid swinging her around too fast, causing a mistake and disappointing her. But as time went on and the movement became more familiar to him, he noticed that he was moving smoother, stepping more easily from side to side, sweeping Fluttershy along effortlessly. Her body was just so light and toned...her mane swayed every time they moved, the pink waterfall always swishing, always changing, draping over her shoulders in long jagged lines, falling in front of her face in a single strand. Noble wanted so badly to brush that strand aside, to gently caress her face as he did so. He felt the shape of her waist under his hoof, observed the curve it had. Her eyes had never left his own, and they were full of joy. Those teal green eyes had never before seemed so beautiful and magical. Finally, when the song was fading and the songbirds were ending, Fluttershy and Noble Blade stopped. They were too tired to continue dancing on. And the beautiful color in each other’s eyes was too distracting. They just stood there on their hind legs, admiring the love each other showed in their complexion. Behind Noble Blade, the setting sun contrasted against his pale blue. And behind Fluttershy, the oncoming twilight contrasted against her golden yellow body. Fluttershy waited with bated breath, quivering under Noble’s grip. She felt his hoof slide up her body, curl up and around her shoulder, up the side of her cheek, and brush the strand of hair out of her face, coming to rest with his hoof behind her head. She in turn wrapped her hoof around the back of his own head, bringing them in closer. They were so close now. Their bodies were pressed together. Their faces were so close they could feel the breath on each other’s mouths. “Fluttershy,” he breathed. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” Fluttershy turned warm in anticipation. “B-but I d-didn’t even do my mane today.” “I did not say you look beautiful. Fluttershy... you are beautiful. There is nothing about you that is rotten or soiled. You are a divine gift to the weary world. And I…” He found the next words hard to say all of a sudden. “You what?” Fluttershy innocently asked, bringing her right hoof, holding Noble’s left, in between them. This allowed both of them to feel each other’s bodies with their hooves instead, and this did not help Noble’s nerves. Noble’s mind was tripping all over himself. This was possibly the most important moment he had ever experienced before, and words seemed to elude his best efforts to track down. It had been only through tremendous effort that he had managed to say anything at all. But looking into the perfect pair of eyes in front of him, words blurted out. “I crave you, Fluttershy. I…” He gulped. “I love you.” And that was it. Nothing could be turned back now. She gave a small squeak of joy and buried her face into his shoulder. “Oh, Noble,” she gasped haltingly, wetting his shoulder. “You... you have no... idea how long I wanted to hear you say that!” And that did it. For Noble Blade, it was as though his soul had been cleansed and made strong and pure. Overwhelming joy consumed him, set his heart on fire, and that fire ran in the blood in his veins, made every cell in his body come alive with elation. Fluttershy loved him. Noble looked at Fluttershy’s lips, open slightly. Can I do it? Fluttershy looked at Noble’s lips. Will he do it? Their heads leaned in closer. And closer. Both of them had felt more daring than they had ever felt before. And finally, finally, their lips met. It was a magical rush of passion that made each other’s world stop. The kiss wasn’t fast, or violent; it was a steady, soft kiss that almost made both of them black out. Noble Blade felt everything around himself disappear--the chirping of the cicadas in his ears, the soft wind blowing their manes around them, the warmth of the sunset at his back. None of those senses mattered anymore. All that mattered was touch, and taste, and smell. Fluttershy’s entire being was lit with euphoria. She probably would have melted onto his body if he hadn’t been holding her so passionately. Her daydream was coming true, except that the daydream could not possibly be as good as the real thing. Her crush loved her. She, Fluttershy, was Noble Blade’s, the special somepony of the best stallion she could imagine. High in the skies, unseen by either lovestruck pony, Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue. “Oh, gross! Ew! Yikk!” She started to brush off imaginary dust on her tongue, hoping to gain Firestorm’s agreement. But Firestorm was not paying attention to her. Instead, he was looking downward at his best friend He was smiling warmly. “Well, congrats,” he muttered to nothing in particular. “Now I got something to work on myself.” Rainbow Dash heard this and stopped her tongue brushing. She now observed his lips moving by themselves. “I knew it, of course. I’m gonna lay this down on you mercilessly later on,” Firestorm murmured. “But for now, I’m just gonna let you have this moment. Have something special, friend.” Rainbow Dash smiled and wrapped her wing around him as they both lay on their stomachs, peeking their heads out over the cloud. “Way to go, Flutters,” Rainbow murmured. “Good job gettin’ that love you deserve.” Silence reigned up there for a moment as the both of them reflected on both of their best friends finding love with each other. “You know something, Rainbow?” Firestorm asked, out of nowhere. Rainbow craned her head to look at her crush, who was smiling at her warmly. Then he turned his head forward to regard the setting sun, and Rainbow followed his gaze. Both of their wings draped over each other like comforting embraces. “I’m glad you’re with me.” Eternity was so short. After so short a time, they pulled away, their vision swimming and their faces raging with flaming blushes. None of them could say much of anything except-- “Wow,” Noble whispered. “Y-yeah,” Fluttershy agreed. She gave a wavering smile of joy, then kissed him again. It was so sudden that Noble lost his balance and tipped over, and suddenly he was lying on his back in the cool grass with Fluttershy on top of him, kissing him with a ferocity of passion that he hadn’t expected out of her. Noble did not fight it. He did not like fighting, especially when it came to resisting kisses from beauty itself. So instead of fighting against the kiss, he instead kissed back the pale yellow pegasus with all the force he could muster. Fluttershy kissed him back with equal joy. It was as though a missing piece of each other’s soul had been filled. They felt whole, they felt right, they both made each other into perfect, flawless beings. Noble Blade and Fluttershy. The sword and the butterfly. Like Noble’s Cutie Mark, they were now inseparably fused to each other. Their love was now a beautiful thing that would never, ever die.