//------------------------------// // Chapter VI: Two Hearts Aflutter // Story: A Kind And Loving Heart // by SapphireWings999 //------------------------------// Several days later, it was finally Friday. I’d both been looking forward to this day as well as being nervous about it ever since I’d proposed it to Fluttershy. I knew that this would be my big chance to finally come out with how I truly felt about her. The biggest question, though, was at what time during our date should I confess my love towards her? Doing it too early could either come across as too rushed or too desperate, which was not the impression I wanted to give off. However, if I waited too long to tell her, the proper opportunity could slip by me too quickly. I tried not to worry too much about it as I prepared for our date. I’d just stepped out of a nice hot shower when I began running a brush through my new wave styled hair while standing in front of a very sizable mirror to make sure it looked perfect. After my hair was properly groomed, I ran a stick of Axe Dark Temptation deodorant under my pits several times; it had always been my favorite deodorant as it had a rich chocolatey smell to it that I was sure Flutters would definitely enjoy just as much as I did. I then sprayed myself with my favorite Nightmare Before Christmas themed cologne, Bone Daddy; both the deodorant and the cologne I’d been fortunate enough to pack with me before returning here to Equestria. After getting dressed into some comfortable dress clothes I’d also packed, the shirt in particular being my favorite black dress shirt with a blue flame design, I made sure that I had a small pouch of my own bits to cover any expenses that came up during our date. I’d already set up our date at the local Hay Burger restaurant followed by a visit to the nearby ice cream shop just a couple days prior. Granted I’d never eaten hay burgers before, but I’d already enjoyed black bean burgers well enough back home so I figured hay burgers weren’t too far of a stretch from that. With everything all set and a pouch of bits in my pocket, I exited my abode and made the very short flight over towards Fluttershy’s cottage. Arriving at my destination in a matter of seconds, I came in for a landing outside the front door where I tapped out my familiar knock to alert Flutters of my arrival. Tap. Tap. Taptap Tap. It took nearly a minute before the door opened, but I didn’t hold that against Fluttershy. In my past experience with dating Savannah, I knew damn straight that it was always best to give the girl the time she needed in order to get ready, no matter how much time that happened to be. As I was greeted by Flutters at the door, I knew that all of that time she’d needed to prepare for our date had all been worth it. Standing in the doorway, Fluttershy’s buttery coat had such a remarkable sheen to it that I’d never before thought possible, her mane and tail were soo richly glossy that I was sure anyone could easily view their own reflection within them, and, as I stood before her, I could smell the rich, enticing, aromatic blend of lemon and mint emanating from her being. “Oh. Hi, David,” she finally spoke up. “Hey, Flutters,” I answered back. “Ya look ‘specially beautiful today. Ah-Ah mean, y-ya always look beautiful. Ah was jus’ meanin’-” “Thanks,” she softly giggled at my little hiccup of tripping over my tongue. “You look pretty sharp yourself.” It was then when a quizzical look crossed her face as she began sniffing the air near me before speaking up. “What’s that smell? Is that… chocolate?” “Oh yeah. That’s ma special Dark Temptation deodorant. It gives off tha scent o’ chocolate.” “Nice. I like it.” “Thanks. Ah was sure ya would.” “So what do you have planned for us?” “Ah was thinkin’ that we could have lunch together at tha Hay Burger ‘n then go ta tha ice cream shop afterwards. Aside from that, Ah wasn’t really sure what else we could do.” “Oh, I think I might have a few ideas myself on what we could do, but that can always wait until later. For now, I think what you’ve proposed sounds lovely.” “Glad you approve. So, shall we get goin’?” “Yes. Let’s.” And so, the two of us took to the sky, making our way over to the first location for our date. It was during this flight that I decided not to worry too much about when I’d come out to Flutters with my true feelings towards her. In that moment, I was much more happy to see where things would go. All that stuff I’d been worrying about could wait. What truly mattered in that moment was getting to spend some quality time with the mare I loved. I was positive now that I’d know when the right time would be for me to confess how I felt about her. * * * * * * * * “...’N so, ma brother went ta make himself a sandwich, but there was no bread left, so he told our mom, ‘We’re all out of white bread.’ ta which Ah then replied, ‘Did ya look in tha mirror?’” I finished telling Fluttershy of a funny moment from back home as we sat at a table waiting for our orders to come. “Oh, David!” she giggled heartily. “You are soo bad. I’d forgotten that you have such a feisty side to yourself.” “It’s O.K. Ah’d even fergotten ‘bout ma feisty side these past several years back home. Now that Ah’m back here in Equestria, a lot o’ stuff has been comin’ back ta me as of late.” “That’s definitely good to hear. I’m sure that even more will come back to you as time goes on. Speaking of which, how’re your magic lessons with Starlight coming along.” “Pretty well. A lot of it has mostly been recappin’ stuff Ah already knew before, but we’ve also been movin’ onta new material gradually.” It was then when the server came over with our orders. This server just so happened to be a dragon. “Here you 2 go,” he stated as he set our plates down in front of us. “Enjoy.” “Thanks,” me and Flutters replied in unison. With our food now before us, I closed my eyes to pray silently before eating, thanking God not only for the food, but also the opportunity that he’d given me to return to Equestria to mend the bonds I’d once had with my pony friends. I also thanked him for the time I got to spend with Fluttershy and that he would bless that time as well as giving me the strength to confess my love to her when the time was right. After I’d finished my silent prayer, I noticed that Fluttershy also had her eyes closed before eating. Was she praying too? I decided to wait for her to finish before posing the question to her. Less than half a minute later, Flutters finally opened her eyes whereupon I spoke up to her. “Ah didn’ know that ya still prayed too.” “Oh of course. I’ve prayed frequently over the past 20 years ever since the last time we visited you and Savannah.” “Huh. Ah wasn’t aware o' that.” It was then when I picked up my hay burger to try it out for the first time. Back home, whenever I had homemade cheeseburgers, I would always have them with mayonnaise and barbeque sauce. This had been the case ever since I’d had a cheeseburger with those condiments at Six Flags once and enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, not every pony around here ate meat and, even then, not too frequently so barbeque sauce was somewhat of a rarity. In that case, I’d had to settle for ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise on my hay burger. Taking a bite out of said burger, it was actually pretty good. A little bit chewy and not quite on the same level of a black bean burger, but definitely better than most veggie burgers I’d previously had back home. The sharp, melted cheddar cheese on it was a pleasant compliment to the burger. “So,” I spoke up after swallowing a mouthful of burger, “there was one question that Ah’d been meanin’ ta ask ya.” “What question would that be?” Flutters posed before taking a bite from her own burger. “When Ah went ta see Rarity a couple weeks back fer ma Gala outfit, she mentioned that tha image she’d sewn onto both thighs of ma pant legs had come to ya in a dream ya’d had of me. Was this dream one that ya’d had recently?” “Oh no,”-she shook her head.-“I’d had that dream for quite a while before you came back to Ponyville.” “How long had ya been havin’ that dream fer if ya don’ mind me askin’?” “About 6 years before your return.” 6 years?!? I thought to myself. Aside from that being an exceedingly long time to be having the same dream over and over, there was something more to it, something that I couldn’t for the life of me put my finger on, but was by no means any less important. Maybe it would come to me later on? For now, I returned back to the present moment with my beloved Fluttershy. “Just out of curiosity, why had you been asking about that image in particular?” she questioned back to me. “Well,” I began, “because that image that ya saw in yer dreams happens ta be ma Cutie Mark.” It was then when Flutters’ eyes widened in disbelief. “Wait. You have a Cutie Mark?!?” I simply nodded in response, having swallowed my last mouthful of burger. “How is it that I’d remember something like that when I can’t even remember you ever being an Alicorn Prince to begin with?” “Ah honestly wish Ah knew why. It seems like everytime part o’ tha past comes back inta tha light, it jus’ raises even more questions.” “That can be quite frustrating,” Fluttershy agreed, polishing off the rest of her own burger before wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Anyhoo, you ‘bout ready fer us ta head over ta tha ice cream shop?” “I am if you are.” And so, after leaving a small handful of bits at our table to cover lunch and the tip, the 2 of us exited the restaurant and made our way to the nearby ice cream shop. It didn’t take us too long to get there as we entered the establishment and walked up to the front counter. Looking up at the menu above us, I was surprised by the vast variety of different ice cream flavors they had there. Finally, I spotted an old favorite of mine on the list. That being Mint Chocolate Chip. It was then when the server, a Changeling, approached us from behind the counter. “Have you 2 decided on what you’d like to have today?” she asked us. “Yes,” Flutters began. “I’d like a Vanilla Oat Swirl please.” “‘N Ah’ll have tha Mint Chocolate Chip please,” I spoke up. “Will that be it?” our server questioned. “Yes. That’ll be all, thanks,” Flutters stated, before suddenly remembering something. “Oh and, when you’re serving David’s ice cream, could you please make sure to use a clean ice cream scooper? He has a deadly, serious nut and peanut allergy and we wouldn’t want for there to be any cross contamination from that.” “Sure thing,” she smiled as she went to get our orders. In that moment, I’d completely forgotten about the fact that I had a nut allergy and hadn’t thought of asking the server to make sure the scooper was cleaned beforehand. Still, I was grateful to have somepony like Fluttershy who would have my back in situations like this, just like when she had my back several days ago against Praiser Pan’s venomous comments towards my artistic tribute to both Savannah and herself. “Thanks fer mentionin’ that, Flutters.” “Oh it’s no problem really. Just looking out for my closest friend.” I smiled softly back at her as our server came over with our ice cream cones. Taking both cones in one hand, I handed the server several bits with the other, thanking her for the ice cream in the process. “Come again soon,” she spoke up pleasantly as we left. Leaving the building, I held my cone in my hand while using the magic in my free hand to hold Fluttershy’s cone as we walked along enjoying our ice cream. I especially enjoyed the chocolate chunks that were speckled throughout mine. In the past, I’d had Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream that couldn’t even be called Chocolate Chip as it had what was more akin to chocolate shavings which were not nearly as enjoyable and were technically false advertising on their part. “How’s yer ice cream, Flutters?” “Oh it’s lovely, thanks for asking. How’s yours?” “Cold ‘n minty fresh. Jus’ how Ah like it.” “That’s good to hear. Is Mint Chocolate Chip your favorite ice cream flavor?” she asked before taking another lick of her ice cream. “One of ‘em. Ah honestly like a wide variety of ice cream flavors. Vanilla, Mint Chocolate Chip, Black Raspberry, Cookies ‘n Cream, Lemon Cake, Rainbow Sherbert, Ah’ve even had Key Lime ice cream one point in tha past. Ah’m pretty sure it was durin’ a vacation ta Old Orchard Beach long ago.” “Oh my. That is quite a lot of different flavors.” “There was also one time when Ah had Bacon flavored ice cream with a Bacon Caramel drizzle over tha top. Sounds strange, but it was actually pretty interestin’ ta try out.” “Well, if you like Vanilla, then you might like Vanilla Oat Swirl. Would you like to try mine?” “Are ya sure ‘bout that, Flutters? Ah wouldn’ wanna mooch off o' ya.” “It’s perfectly fine,” she insisted. And so I took a small lick of Fluttershy’s ice cream. Interestingly enough, it tasted just like regular Vanilla ice cream, but, with the added texture of the oats, it almost seemed like there’d been a granola bar mixed into the ice cream itself. “How do you like it?” “Honestly, it’s actually pretty good,” I replied before holding my own ice cream out to her. “Here. Ah’ll let ya have some o’ mine.” “Oh. O.K.” She too took a small taste of mine before speaking back up. “Thanks for that, David.” “Anytime, Flutters. Anyhoo, Ah’ve already told ya some o’ ma favorite flavors of ice cream so what’re some o' yers?” “Well, for the most part, I like a lot of different fruit flavored ice creams.” She then had a thought cross her mind before speaking back up. “As long as that fruit isn’t tomato,”-she made a face.-“Tomato flavored ice cream doesn’t sound all that appetizing.” I let out a soft chuckle at her comment before speaking. “That actually reminds me of somethin’ ma therapist once said ‘bout tha difference between knowledge ‘n wisdom. He said, ‘Knowledge is knowin’ that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowin’ that ya don’ put a tomato in a fruit salad’.” Fluttershy giggled at my statement before replying to me. “Sounds like some pretty solid words to live by.” “That they do,” I stated before polishing off the rest of my ice cream, cone and all. “So ya said earlier that ya had some additional plans fer our date. Do ya feel like sharin’ what those plans are?” Flutters took another lick of her ice cream I was holding with my magic before answering. “Well, I was thinking that we could hang out at Sweet Feather Sanctuary for a bit where I could introduce you to more of the animals staying there and then I could take you to the Everfree Forest. There’s something there that I really want to show you.” “Sounds like a pretty enjoyable time ta me.” “Great,” she replied, finishing off her own ice cream in the process. And with that, we took to the sky and made our way to Sweet Feather Sanctuary. All the while, I looked forward to all that the rest of our date had in store, no matter what happened next. * * * * * * * * Before long, the 2 of us were back at her animal sanctuary whereupon the animals seemed to be particularly happy to see us, probably more happy to see her than me. Soon after arriving there, we were greeted by a rather large warren of bunnies, all of them white. This brought up a question in my mind that I needed to know the answer from Fluttershy. “Are all o’ these bunnies here Angel’s descendants?” “Yes,” she replied sadly. “Angel Bunny passed away long before you came back here.” “Ah’m really sorry ‘bout that, Flutters,” I offered my condolences. “Ah know how he was a major support fer ya.” “It’s O.K. It’s just part of the natural order of life.” It wasn’t long after she mentioned that that I felt a sharp pang deep down inside my very soul. All I could think was how much time had passed since my friends had last visited and vice versa as well as how much further on in years all of them had gotten in that time. As far as Flutters was concerned, that realization pained me the most. Soo much time had been wasted being angry at them for what had happened to Savannah and they’d all suffered as a result of my closing myself off from them. Now I had a second chance with them (especially Fluttershy), but, as they were much older now, I had significantly less time than I would’ve wanted. Time is a very perplexing concept when you really think about it. All of us are given time to use in whatever way we want to, but, along with never knowing how much of it each of us has, none of us has any way of procuring more time. Whatever time we’ve been given, we can never get back once its already been wasted. This hit particularly hard for me when thinking of the years I’d wasted away from my friends. If there was ever a way for me to get back that time and use it more wisely, trust me, I would’ve taken that opportunity. I’d’ve spent more time with my beautiful Flutters letting her know how much I loved her before 20 whole years had passed by in Equestrian time and I wouldn’t have the overwhelming sense of guilt I felt now that I had no way of getting that precious time with her back or even because she’d surpassed me in years during said period, cutting the time we had together even shorter. Sadly, I now had to lie in my bed the way that I’d made it. But what if there was a way for me to get more time back? What if I could prolong the time that I had with my beloved Fluttershy? Was there possibly some magic that existed deep down within me that would allow for that? “Would you like to give them a treat?” Fluttershy questioned, drawing me out of my ponderings. “Oh uhh sure,” I answered back. And so I followed Fluttershy over to an alcove near the waterfall where a door stood out amongst the normally rocky exterior. She then produced a ring of keys with which she proceeded to use one to unlock the door whereupon the 2 of us entered inside the chamber. Looking upon my surroundings, I was quick to notice a large number of shelves stocked heavily with whatever Fluttershy needed to run her sanctuary properly. From food items to medical supplies, it looked like she was ready for just about anything that would come up. Of course, the 2 of us weren’t the only ones in that room; Angel’s descendants had followed us inside, no doubt because they knew that treats were coming. There might be many different species of animals throughout the world, but treats seem to be a universal language that any of them could easily understand. “Let me see here,” Flutters spoke up as she went through the shelves of supplies. “We’ve got sunflower seeds for the rodents, millet for the birds, got some vegan cookies here, but where are those carrots?” Looking through the shelves myself to help her out, I finally found a stash of carrots where she hadn’t looked yet. “Found ‘em, Fluttershy,” I stated, holding up a small bouquet of the vegetables. “Oh good,” she replied. At the sight of the carrots, all of the bunnies got excited and began hopping up at me trying to snatch one for themselves. “Now now now,” I began, “don’t crowd. There’s more than enough fer each of ya.” But none of them seemed to pay much attention to my statement as they continued hopping up to snatch them and even shoved each other out of the way. It was in that moment when I stared at them with wide, angry eyes locked onto all of them. At the sight of my stare, they all cut out their formerly wild behavior as fearful looks crossed their faces. When I felt like they were finally behaving themselves, I ceased my staring and set a carrot down for each of them. “There’s some good bunnies,” I stated, pleasantly. Flutters, who had been watching the whole scene play out in front of her, was amazed by my skill in handling the situation. “Oh my,” she remarked. “I never knew that you could use ‘The Stare’ also.” “Oh yeah,” I replied. “Ah’ve been able ta do it fer quite a while now, even before Ah started watchin’ yer guys’ show. It would work on some of our pets ‘n Ah was even able ta use it when ma youngest brothers were misbehavin’. Unfortunately, ma Stare isn’t anywhere near as effective as yers is. Some of our pets were too brainless ‘n ditzy fer it ta work on ‘em properly ‘n ma little brothers eventually grew too old fer ma Stare ta ‘ffect ‘em either.” “That must’ve been hard for you. Still, it seems like your Stare works well enough for you here.” “Ah ‘ppreciate that, Flutters.” It was then when we were joined in the chamber by another animal. In this case, it was the fox that I’d remembered seeing from the last time I’d been to the sanctuary in order to rest myself after Rainbow’s intense workout. This fox, I recognized, walked with a bit of a limp as its front left paw was bandaged up. “Oh. Hello, Faye,” Fluttershy greeted. “How’s your paw doing?” The fox held her paw out for Fluttershy to remove the bandages from in order to get a better look. With the bandage removed, I was finally able to see that she had a sizable burn mark on said paw. “What happened ta her?” I couldn’t help but question. “She had an accidental run in with a territorial Phoenix that didn’t end well for her.” It was in that moment when I remembered a magic spell I’d been reacquainted with during my lessons with Starlight that I was sure would help out in this situation. “Hey, Faye, is it O.K. if Ah see yer paw fer a second?” Faye looked a little hesitant and nervous at the thought of me handling her paw. This was understandable as she hardly even knew who I was. Fortunately, Fluttershy was able to help ease her anxiety. “There’s no need to worry, Faye. David here is very gentle and trustworthy. I promise he won’t do anything to hurt you.” With Flutters’ expression of encouragement, Faye gently held her paw out to me which I covered between both of my hands while recalling the spell that would help out. Closing my eyes to concentrate, I visualized the result that I wanted to happen: that result being the healing of Faye’s burn. Focusing and reaching out with my magic, I could sense the warmth flowing from my hands into Faye’s paw. Within less than a minute, I pulled my hands away to reveal that the burn had been healed completely with soft fur growing back in its place. Faye then carefully set her paw down to test it and make sure that it was completely healed. Sure enough, she didn’t limp on it anymore. “Feel better?” I posed the question to Faye. She nodded back at me eagerly and I even could’ve sworn that she smiled too. “That’s good ta hear ‘n since ya’ve been soo brave while Ah was doin’ this, how ‘bout a cookie?” Reaching for the jar, I plucked one vegan cookie from it before handing it over to Faye who gratefully accepted it. As she was eating her cookie, I held out one hand to gently scratch behind her soft, fluffy ears, much to her added enjoyment. It wasn’t long before Fluttershy spoke back up. “Wow, David. You really do have quite the magic touch when it comes to animals.” “It all comes with experience, honestly,” I plainly stated. “Surely you’d know a thing or 2 ‘bout that considerin’ yer skill with animals.” “This is true,” she remarked. “Umm do you feel up for going to the Everfree Forest for me to show you what I wanted too?” “Sure thing, Flutters,” I answered, stopping scratching Faye’s ears much to her disappointment. And so, with Faye and the bunnies evacuated from the storage chamber before locking it up, me and Fluttershy made our way towards the Everfree Forest, all the while I couldn’t help but wonder what it was that she wanted to show me. I guessed I would find out soon enough. * * * * * * * * Before long, the 2 of us had made our way into the Everfree Forest, the thick canopy of trees overhead blocking out a significant chunk of daylight. Neither one of us really seemed to pay much attention to that fact as we walked along, enjoying each other’s company. “So what exactly is it that ya wanna show me, Flutters?” “I’ll show you when we get there,” she remarked playfully. Not wanting to argue with her any further, I continued following her as we made our way ever deeper into Everfree. I couldn’t quite tell in what direction we were going as everything around me began to blur together and all look the same. Finally, though, we reached a river that I instantly recognized from my first time there when I’d been looking for AJ, Rare, and the CMC. It was also the same place where I’d encountered that manticore drinking from the stream and narrowly avoided being his dinner. That flashback of my near brush with death caused me to hyperventilate a good deal out of anxiety, which was quickly noticed by Fluttershy. “David? Are you alright?” When I couldn’t get the right words out properly, she reached over and placed her hoof on my hand to try to calm me down. Thankfully, it helped and I was finally able to voice my anxiety. “Sorry, Flutters. Ah was jus’ havin’ a flashback ta tha firs’ time Ah was here when Ah nearly got attacked by a manticore.” “Oh my. David, I never knew that had happened to you. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have asked you to come here with me.” “No no no. It’s O.K. Ah really do want ta spend time with ya ‘n see what it was that ya wanted ta show me. It’s really not that big of a deal.” “Oh. O.K. If you’re really alright with it, I guess we can continue on.” And so we crossed over the stream and made our way further into the forest with very little else spoken between us. After a good deal of walking along, I finally began to realize where exactly we were and where we were heading. “Isn’t this tha way ta Celestia ‘n Luna’s old palace?” “Mhmm.” I couldn’t help but wonder why we’d be going to The Castle Of The Two Sisters when I’d already been there before. I began pondering in my head the reasoning behind this, trying to think back to what I’d seen from their show when I’d last watched it. Suddenly, it hit me. Not only was the old palace located there, but directly underneath it was the Tree Of Harmony. Could that have been what Fluttershy was bringing me there to see? Before long, the 2 of us came close to a gorge that I instantly recognized as the same place where the Tree Of Harmony was located. Flying on ahead of Flutters, I immediately went down into the gorge. “David, what’re you doing?” she questioned, following close behind me. In my eagerness to see the Tree Of Harmony, I didn’t think to answer Fluttershy at that moment as I raced down into the gorge. When I got down there, though, I was greeted not by the Tree, but a large, crystalline pillar that went up into the cave roof. Undoubtedly, I was quite confused by the sight before me. “Where’s tha Tree O’ Harmony?” I posed the question. “What’re you talking about?” Flutters asked back. “Ah thought you were bringin’ me here ta see tha Tree O’ Harmony.” “Oh no,”-she shook her head, sadly-“The Tree Of Harmony was destroyed by King Sombra a long time ago.” This piece of news really caught me off guard. Last I had remembered was that King Sombra had been killed off all the way back in the Season 3 Premiere. How could he have been brought back to life after dying soo long in the past. “Wait. Ah thought he was killed off shortly after tha Crystal Empire came back. How could he possibly be brought back ta life like that?” “Well, he wasn’t killed off exactly,” Flutters replied. “He was banished to the Aether, at least that’s how Rarity worded it… but then…,” her voice began to trail off as she continued, “Discord brought him back… along with some… other villains.” “What!?!” I blurted out, incredulously shocked by that revelation. “Why in the 9 circles of Hell would he bring villains back like that!?!” “It’s a long and complicated story that I’ll have to tell you about later, but shortly after he was brought back, Sombra destroyed the Tree Of Harmony along with the Elements.” It was during Fluttershy’s description of these events that had happened soo long ago that I felt an added pang of guilt deep inside me, but this wasn’t like the pang that I felt at the fact that soo much time had passed since having last seen my friends. This pang was on account of me not being there to help defend Equestria from these evils that had arisen in my absence. As a son of Equestria, it was part of my responsibility to be there whenever evil threatened to destroy the land. Not only had my absence from here out of anger been hurtful towards my friends, but it had also been me shirking off my duties as a citizen. No. Not just a citizen. A prince who was supposed to put the needs of my fellow ponies before my own selfish pettiness. What was that supposed to say about me as a person? At the same time, though, I was also deeply disturbed by the fact that Discord had brought King Sombra back along with additional villains from Equestria’s past. Who these other villains were and why he’d united them, I wasn’t entirely sure about, though I did have my suspicions about the former. One villain in particular disturbed me the most considering Discord’s own past with them, if this villain was indeed among the party that he’d brought back which, in that case as I thought about it, would’ve been incredibly fucking stupid on Discord’s part. And on top of that, had he even been thinking about the countless pony lives he'd put in jeopardy by bringing these villains together? Had he even been thinking!?! Drawing my attention away from those thoughts and returning to the now, I posed a new question to Fluttershy that had popped up in my head after her revelation that the Tree Of Harmony and the Elements along with it had been destroyed. “So,” I began, “if ya weren’t gonna show me tha Tree O’ Harmony, what were ya gonna show me?” “I was going to show you what was made from the Tree Of Harmony, directly above where we are now.” “Ya mean there’s more than jus’ this crystal pillar here.” “Uh huh. Follow me.” And so I followed close behind Flutters as we made our way back up the gorge before flying over to where the Castle Of The Two Sisters was located. However, when we arrived there, something caught my eye that I wasn’t expecting. Sprouting up from within the castle ruins was a massive crystalline treehouse unlike anything I’d ever seen in my life. Standing well above the castle ruins themselves, the tree had shimmering, pink crystal leaves on its many branches as well as several strands of diamond-shaped crystals hanging from them. Along with that were a couple of balconies I quickly noticed, exquisitely decorated windows, and a massive domed roof standing high above the 2 of us. Needless to say, the sight of this treehouse was quite a lot for me to take in all at once. “Wow,” was all I could utter at the sight of this magnificent structure. “It is quite impressive isn’t it?” Flutters replied. I could only nod back as words failed me in that moment. Fortunately, she was able to fill the empty silence between us. “Shortly after the Tree Of Harmony was destroyed by King Sombra, those 6 students who you met at the Gala came together to try and craft something from the ruins in remembrance of the Tree itself. From their combined efforts sprouted this: the Treehouse Of Harmony. It was created to be a safe haven for them as well as future generations whenever trouble might arise. Any creature could seek out safety within these walls should the need come up.” “That’s good ta know,” I finally spoke up. “It certainly looks welcoming enough.” “That it does,” Fluttershy agreed. Looking up at the sky, I noticed that night would be falling soon. I’d been having such an enjoyable date with her that I’d lost track of the time. “We should prob’ly be headin’ back.” “O.K.,” Flutters answered back. “Hopefully, we’ll still have time for one more thing before this date is over.” “‘N what might that be?” “You’ll just have to wait and see when we get there,” she smiled back playfully. And with that, the 2 of us began making our way back to Ponyville. It was during this time that I’d remembered that I still had my confession that I wanted to tell Fluttershy. I’d gotten soo wrapped up in the fun time that we were having that I’d lost track of that. I began thinking again about when the right time would be for me to come out to her with my true feelings. Should I tell her now as we were making our way back or should I wait until whatever it was that she had planned in store for the end of our date? “David?” “Oh uh- y-yes Flutters?” “Is there something on your mind?” It was incredible how she had such a strong knack for reading others simply through silent observation. My guess was that this had come about from years of not really interacting much with other ponies before her friends came along and just watching the expressions and body language of them from a distance. In a strange way, she kinda reminded me of Cassandra Cain from DC Comics, who would go on to take up the mantle of Batgirl after Barbara Gordon. While definitely among the lesser known females to become Batgirl, I remembered reading earlier on about how Cassandra had been trained by her crime boss assassin father to read other people's body language, predict their movements so that she could counter an attack with ease. The downside of her harsh training was that she was never allowed to speak and therefore was unable to read nor could she carry on a simple conversation with others, something soo simple that anyone like you or me might've taken for granted. As time went on, though, she was eventually able to expand her vocabulary in order to talk with those she interacted with, even if her thoughts and sentences were somewhat stilted. Fluttershy, when I really thought about it, definitely seemed to have that same uncanny ability for reading other ponies and even struggled earlier on in the show I'd once watched to communicate with them, just like I'd remembered reading about Cassandra dealing with similar struggles. However, Flutters' reasoning for struggling to express herself hadn't come from years of abuse under harsh parental figures; she'd just picked up the same meek personality that her parents had. Anyhoo, I quickly realized that my mind had wandered a little too much as I finally spoke up to answer. “Yes. There actually is.” “Anything you feel like sharing with me?” Before I could answer, a loud, thundering roar sounded off in the distance, but was clearly getting closer. My hairs began to stand on end as I fearfully thought about what could possibly be making that noise. Sure enough, a manticore came charging through the underbrush before standing within our presence. Though overcome with fear, I stepped out in front of Fluttershy, my trembling body shielding her from this threat that now stood before us. “Stay back, Fluttershy,” I shouted as I raised my hands up towards the manticore. “I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire.” It was then when balls of crackling electricity began to form in both of my shaky hands as I prepared to defend us by any means necessary. “WAIT!!!” Fluttershy screamed as she jumped between me and the manticore. “Don’t harm him.” “Flutters, I don’t want him hurting any of us, especially not you.” “He won’t. Trust me on this. He’s just as scared as you are.” After hearing her statement, I slowly but surely lowered both hands as the lightning balls within them dissipated. After my hands were lowered, Fluttershy came over and took my hand in her hoof before leading me over to the manticore. “Wh-wha-what’re you doin, Flutters?!?” I stuttered. “It’s O.K. Just stay calm,” she reassured. When we were finally standing in front of the manticore, Fluttershy gently placed my hand on his forehead. Sure enough, my hand that had originally been trembling uncontrollably began to settle down as the manticore closed his eyes out of enjoyment regarding my touch. “Is that better?” Fluttershy posed the question. “Yeah. Actually it is.” It was in that moment when the manticore began gently licking my hand with his rough, scratchy tongue. I couldn’t help but giggle as I thought back to my family’s cat, Pepper, who would react similarly towards me. Fluttershy giggled too at this creature’s display of affection towards me before speaking up. “Oh look. You’ve made a friend.” “It appears so,” I replied. After the manticore was done licking my hand, it turned and ran off deeper into the forest, leaving the 2 of us alone to ourselves. It was then when we were both reminded of how much darker it was getting as the day was coming to an end. “Oh,” Fluttershy spoke up, “we’d better hurry if we want to make it in time for the moonrise.” Not wanting to waste anymore time standing around, we quickly made our way through the Everfree Forest on swift wings, me following behind Fluttershy. Before long, we’d made it out of the forest as Fluttershy went flying quickly to the top of a nearby hill. Trailing behind her, I made my way up there with her just as the full moon was beginning to rise in the night sky. Standing behind Flutters, I couldn’t help but notice the dark silhouette of her that the moon produced. Something about that particular shape seemed familiar to me, but what? Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, I was struck with a realization: The shape that I saw of her was the exact same shape that I’d seen in my dreams back on Earth for the past year and a half. All this time, I’d been dreaming about Flutters. Now that I thought about it, she’d told me that she’d been having the same dream of me every night for the past 6 years before my return to Equestria. Doing the math in my head, it had been 5 years in Earth time since I’d last been in contact with my friends, but 20 years in Equestrian time, 4 times longer by my calculations. Considering that I’d had the same dream of Fluttershy for a year and a half back on Earth, multiplying that by 4 would’ve come up to approximately 6 years here. That meant that Flutters and I had been dreaming about each other for about the same time without even knowing it. Taking a seat on the hill next to my beautiful Fluttershy, I thought long and hard about what I’d finally wanted to tell her. I wasn’t sure if the words would even come out right, but I knew that it would be far more important that I tell her how I truly felt about her before I wasted anymore time. Turning to face her, I finally spoke up. “Flutters,” I began, “there’s somethin’ important Ah need ta tell ya.” “Yes, David? What is it?” she questioned, looking over at me. I struggled for a little while to come up with the right words to say to her. “Ah know it’s been a really long time… since tha las’ time that we saw each other… before Ah came back here ‘n Ah know… that Ah’ve wasted a lot o’ time spent in isolation from all o’ ya…, but… Ah realize that that was foolish on ma part. Now that Ah’m back here, Ah don’ wanna miss any more time apart from you guys. Most importantly… Ah don’ wanna miss any more time apart… from you. “These past few weeks have led me ta realize how much Ah care ‘bout you… ‘n even love you. After years o’ livin’ without friendship or even love, Ah realize Ah don’t wanna live without it any longer. Ah don’ wanna live without you any longer because o’ that love Ah have for you, Fluttershy. Ah’m not sure if ya feel tha same way ‘bout me, but-” I was suddenly interrupted as Fluttershy quickly leaned in for a deep, passionate kiss on the lips, my pupils dilating, my wings shooting up in what I’d heard described as a “wing boner”, and a certain other “member” bulging within my pants in that moment. After the shock of the surprise kiss wore off, my eyes closed in relaxation and I placed my hand on the back of Fluttershy’s neck, fully pulling her into the kiss as the two of us ran our tongues against the others, exploring each others mouths thoroughly while enjoying this beautiful moment, her lips as soft and delicate as butterfly wings against mine. Finally pulling apart, a playful look came across Fluttershy’s face. “Was that a bunny in your pocket or were you just happy to see me?” she smiled mischievously. I was caught a little bit off guard by this frisky side to Fluttershy that I’d never seen before. It wasn’t long until I spoke back up. “Ah take it that ya feel similarly ‘bout me?” “Honestly,” she began, “you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear what you just said. After Savannah’s murder, it pained me deeply to see how hurt you were as well as having lost a friend in her, but it pained me even deeper when you denied our friendship before we came back here. It was like I’d lost 2 friends in one night. I feared that that was going to be the last time that I ever saw you again. “Over all of the years since then, I spent whatever time I could praying to God, the princesses, anypony who would listen that I’d get to see you again. Over 20 years later, I began to lose hope that you’d ever come back. By the time you did, I feared that you wouldn’t share the feelings I had for you and that you’d look for somepony younger. Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, or even Pumpkin Cake. Not an old mare like me.” That last name Flutters mentioned really surprised me at first. It took me several seconds before I remembered that 20 years had passed here in Equestria and that Pumpkin Cake was technically a grown mare now. Even with that realization in mind, though, something about the thought of pursuing a relationship with her like Fluttershy had speculated just now felt wrong to me. Very wrong. “Aww come on, Flutters,” I replied after that thought had passed. “Yer not that old.” “David, I’m 38 years old right now which puts me as being about 8 years older than you currently are,” she firmly stated. “So what?!? That doesn’t change tha way that Ah feel bout ya. Ah felt a connection between us shortly after Ah came back here, but Ah was ‘fraid that ya might not feel tha same way.” “If I’m being completely honest,” Flutters began, “I first fell in love with you on that first day you came to Equestria to protect us from that hag, but when I found out that you had Savannah, I was willing to put my feelings for you aside. Then, when she was murdered, I was devastated. It hurt me seeing the way that it hurt you and losing the friendship we had was even worse. I never thought we’d get the chance to be friends again after that.” “Well Ah’m here now ‘n Ah wanna spend as much time as Ah can makin’ up fer what’s been wasted. Ah ‘specially wanna make sure that you know how much Ah love you, Flutters. You’ve been one o’ ma closest friends this whole time ‘n Ah don’ want anymore time ta go ta waste. As far as Ah’m concerned, yer ma future.” With a smile on her face, she leaned in to kiss me again as I pulled her close, simultaneously running one hand through her mane, my fingers lacing their way through its silkyness, and massaging the bases of her wings with the other much to her moaning pleasure. We thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company til I escorted her back to her cottage before heading back to my own abode, calling it a night in the process. With my confession towards her finally off my chest, I looked forward to all that this new chapter of my life had in store.