The ritual was so familiar to me, I could do it with my eyes closed. I reached into my pocket feeling around for the carabiner that I used as a keychain. Finding it, I hooked my index finger around it and flipped it into the air. I caught it by the one key that I needed, the one to the deadbolt. I unlocked the oak door and stepped inside.
Fluttershy followed me into the foyer, and I gave her a quick tour of the house. From the entryway the living room was to the left and the kitchen to the right. Tucked in next to the kitchen was the dining room, and through its sliding doors the back yard. Behind the living room the hallway led to the office, a bathroom, the master bed, and at the end of the hall a guest room.
The guest room was a simple room that had been used to store objects I either no longer had any use for, or things I was too lazy to look for. I moved boxes and various odds and ends around, doing my best to make a living space for this pony. As I cleaned the room I was glad that this room was going to serve a much nicer purpose.
"This will be your room," I explained, "Of course, the rest of the house is at your disposal, and I'll leave my door open in case you need me."
"Why are you doing all this?"
"I... Uh... I'd like to think of it as returning happiness."
She looked at me curiously.
"Hey," I said turning to the kitchen, "I'm hungry, are you hungry?"
I made a beeline to the kitchen. I was mildly relieved to have avoided answering her question directly, yet I also felt dirty for having to do so. I dug through the fridge, remembering as much as I could about ponies' diets. I pulled out various vegetables lettuce, carrots and celery, and took them to the sink.
I'm not normally a patient man, especially I'm hungry. I much prefer microwave meals to taking the time to prepare something. Yet, for some reason, it was easy to set aside my impatience this time. I was in the middle of peeling the carrots when I realized Fluttershy was watching me from the foyer.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, … um, I don't want to be any trouble... " she whispered.
I stopped and looked straight into her cyan eyes and said, "Fluttershy, you would never be any trouble to anyone, now what do you need?"
"Oh, no... I don't need anything, but you look like you need someone to talk to."
Ever the element of kindness, I thought. I was about ready to tell her she was wrong, I wanted to say that I was fine. In reality, I had too much going on, my head was filled with more worries than I could keep track of. Even though she was right, I needed someone to talk to, I didn't want to talk about my problems with her. So, I decided it would be best to let her lead the conversation, hoping she would drop it.
"Like what?"
She hesitated, looking at me. No, at something on me. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was Fluttershy wanted from me, until I looked down. With a clatter my shades fell to the ground. I picked them up and examined them, looking for damage.
Then I looked back at her. My father told me that I can be really dense sometimes. I finally realized how right he was.
"My shades?" I asked, "You want to know why, even on a cold, dim evening like this that I would pull them over my eyes?"
"Y-yes."
I went back to preparing the vegetables.
"I've had bad experiences with bullies. They would pick on me all the time in school, Dad said it was because I reacted so well. I suppose he was right... Because on my first day of highschool, he shoved a pair of shades in my hand, and said 'Don't let them see you cry'. I didn't know what else to do so I wore those shades all day."
"What happened?"
"The bullies still picked on me, heck they picked on me for wearing sunglasses indoors, they teased and jeered, but eventually they gave up. It still hurt, but because they couldn't see it, it was no longer any fun. Over the years I just got used to always having a pair of shades within reach. I tell people that I only show my eyes to friends, but really, it's just a cover for a cover, I still don't want any to see me cry."
"Oh..."
I looked at her, and her ears were folded back. I caught myself wondering how long they had been like that. When you tell a pony a sad story, I thought. I put the last finishing touches on the salads I had made and set them on the table.
"Dinner is served," I said in the cheesiest way I could, complete with a big goofy smile.
Fluttershy giggled, her ears instantly perking up. I moved the chair aside as she walked up to the table. Luckily for her the table was low enough for her to reach it without a chair. I hadn't thought of chairs for ponies before, but I was pretty sure that a normal-sized human chair wouldn't have fit a three-foot pony.
"What's that?" she asked, noticing the dressing I was washing my salad down with.
"It... It's a type of seasoning... I guess," I said, trying to make it sound bland, "changes the flavor of the salad."
It didn't work. I didn't expect Fluttershy to be so bold about trying some new food. Yet her eyes sparkled at the mere suggestion that this new flavor was more appetizing than a simple garden salad.
"I'm not sure how healthy it would be for ponies," I said.
She dropped her eyes and lowered her head so that her mane was covering a part her face. My heart went out to her. Smart pony, I thought, she must have learned from Rarity. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. I couldn't bear to see her appear so defeated, so I gave in.
"I guess a little bit couldn't hurt."
She was delighted. Her eyes grew as I poured a little dressing onto a lettuce leaf. She immediately put some carrots and celery in it, and tried it out. I can't begin to describe the look of ecstasy on her face. I imagine that ponies tasted things just like humans, and after years of eating oats and apples something like ranch dressing would taste amazing to anyone.
I shook my head when she asked for more, "I'm sorry, Fluttershy... I don't feel comfortable giving you more. Like I said: I don't know how healthy it would be for you. This much isn't really all that healthy for me."
Once again she pouted, tugging at my heartstrings. It had worked once before, but this time I stood firm. Or at least I did my best.
I managed to stammer out, "I-if ... if you feel ... I mean... can we... j-just wait and see... please?"
"... Okay" she sighed.
There had been an argument on the internet about ponies' diets. No one could cite solid evidence on whether or not ponies were vegetarian or not. Because of this, I wasn't about to risk Fluttershy to getting sick. I took the bottle of dressing and put it away, thinking it would be best to take the temptation away.
"What about you?" I said sitting back down at the table, "How did you get here?"
"I-I don't know..."
"Well, what do you remember?"
"Well... I was taking care of my animal friends when a brown pony came running up to my cottage. He was yelling something about Angel crying. Next thing I knew I was looking at that strange building. Oh ! What about Angel? What if he's in serious trouble? I cant imagine what kind of trouble would make him cry... And what about the other animals?"
"I"m sure Twilight would think of something."
"Y-yeah, maybe... " She said.
I saw her relax, confident that her friends would have everything resolved. As her mind eased I saw another thought surface in her eyes.
"You know Twilight Sparkle?"
"C'mon ... I believe I promised you an explanation"
The salads now completely forgotten, she followed me out of the kitchen. I led her up the hall to my office. There I swept days worth of soda and beer cans off of my desk into the wastebasket. I smiled with embarrassment, and with a smile she shook her head. My computer sprang to life as I pressed its power button.
"What is that thing?"
"Oh! Right," I said, "It's been such a part of my life I don't think about it anymore... This is called a 'computer'. It's purpose is to store and process large amounts of information. You can think of it as a machine that has Twilight and her library in it, except it's about as creative as a stone."
By now everything was running, and waiting for me. I cringed a little as I brought up my iTunes account. I did not like the idea of having the program on my computer, but then it's the most cost-effective way of getting what little TV I watch. If Fluttershy noticed my reaction, she didn't say anything.
"This machine can store books, pictures, music, and," I took a breath letting a hint of pride sneak into my voice, "video!"
"Video?"
"It's like a moving picture... Um... Instead of standing still the characters move, and make sound. It's a different way of telling, of showing a story. Instead of describing the events in the story as they happen, your audience can see it for themselves."
I found the file I had been looking for. I opened it and leaned back, allowing Fluttershy an unobstructed view of the screen. The episode I choose, "Dragonshy" started playing.
Fluttershy's house faded into view with it's musical cue, and beside me the yellow pony's eyes grew wide. She watched herself jump down into the brook flowing in front of her house and walk to the den her ferret friends were living in. As I watched her I could see the first couple of jump-cuts threaten to pull her out of her viewing. She stuck with it until the first line. When her own voice came out of the speakers she lost it.
"H-how is this p-p-possible?"
I paused the episode.
"I would like to believe that everything that anyone has ever imagined exists somewhere in this crazy, mixed up universe. That doesn't make any of it any less real... just out of reach... normally."
She just stared at me. I knew she thought I was crazy, even though the evidence was sitting right in front of her. Angel bunny with a disapproving look on his face was looking right back at the poor, confused pony.
"I know you, because here, there's a televis-... there is a series of stories, in this format, about you and your friends. People here watch series of stories like this for entertainment."
My heart sank as I saw the horror creep into her eyes. Before I could react I heard the door at the end of the hall slam shut. I closed the episode, and gave the computer the command to shut down. I grimaced when I heard the tune 'Goodnight Until Tomorrow' play as my shutdown noise. How could such a normally sweet tune sound so sour?