//------------------------------// // Chapter 25: Spreading The Word/Animal Antics // Story: The Recluse // by Live Light //------------------------------// Light was eating sandwiches for breakfast with Fluttershy, sitting next to her on a couch. He got the feeling some of the animals were dissatisfied with him now. He wasn't too sure why, though. He didn't think about it. He looked to Fluttershy, as he finished his sandwich. "So, Fluttershy... think it's about time we tell the others of our relationship?" He asked. "I think that's a good idea. It's about time we told them." She replied. He nodded. "Should we tell them all at once or individually?" "Individually. I don't think we need to gather them all up for the sake of good news... maybe when something big happens." "Sounds good." Fluttershy nodded, and finished eating her sandwich. The two stood up from the couch, and walked out of the door. The animals watched them go. -----Point of View: The Animals----- Angel Bunny, Fuzzy Ferret, Cutie Mouse, Hyper Hamster, Miss Rabbit and Tim, who, incidentally, is a cat, all sat down like a governmental group discussing things, with Cutie sitting next to Angel on a couch, Fuzzy and Hyper on the table, Miss Rabbit on a chair, and Tim, on another chair. "Alright, fellow woodlands..." Angel began, "It's time we disc-" "Wait, what if somepony hears us?" Fuzzy interrupted. He always was the frequently paranoid one. "Nopony will hear us. Nopony seems to understand what we're saying except for Fluttershy, who is, in fact, out right now. Can I please try to announce what we're doing without you interrupting me?" "Fine, fine... nopony believed me when I saw humans falling from the sky." "That was a mental patient, Fuzzy," Tim said, "I hear even Lyra was afraid of him." "SHUSH!" Angel yelled. Everyone speaking went silent. "Good... anyway. It is time we discuss what we're going to do with the stallion who's moved in." He managed to say, uninterrupted. "Now, everybody knows that he was a lonely guy who's house got demolished somehow by the Crusaders. We also know that he and Fluttershy 'like' like each other now... and... we heard things upstairs last night..." "Some really, really weird things!" Hyper exclaimed. "One moment, Fluttershy was screaming like there was a scary movie and her breathing was constricted, the next, she sounds happily exhausted! What gives?" "Ugh..." Angel said, facepalming. Hyper still didn't understand the concept of the Birds and the Bees yet... I swear, he's just like Pinkie Pie... "Well... 'whatever' the reason is... we're discussing whether we try to put a stop to it or not." Angel continued. "I'm not too sure about this guy..." began Tim. "In the time we've had him, he's had two excitements from looking at Fluttershy, the second one in the shower, which we have you to thank for, Angel." "Hey, you know I get cranky without my carrots!" Angel argued. "Anyway..." Tim continued, "He's even hurt her once, and they're somehow together again." "To be fair, it wasn't by his doing," Miss Rabbit began, "A certain pink pony was just so frustrated in this sort of thing, and she wasn't even aware of it. Oblivious to romance, as it were." "And you learned this how?" Fuzzy asked, suspecting aliens. "Gummy told us the whole story," Miss Rabbit answered. "He is seriously smarter than he looks." "Doubt it." Angel said, recalling the day Gummy nearly swallowed him. "And also," Tim continued, "I thought he was sick, dying. Why does he look a lot better?" Angel shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe he got better?" "Well, uhm..." Cutie began, "I think it's nice... the two clearly care for each other, why should we interfere?" "I agree, a very good point." Miss Rabbit said. Angel looked around after Miss Rabbit said that, "...Yeah. I agree also. Good point, Cutie." "Thank you, Angel." She said with a smile. "I'm still not sure about this," Tim said. "Me neither," Fuzzy added, "There's something off about that guy... and there's something off about everypony." "...Yes. Of course," Angel said, sarcastically. "That means we have to ignore your judgement because you basically said he's as trustworthy as anypony. So he's as trustworthy as Applejack, perhaps, as she falls into the category of 'anypony.' Hyper, what's your thought?" Everyone watched Hyper with anticipation. "..." "..." "..." "..." "..." "Sorry, could you repeat the question, please?" Hyper asked innocently. "Agh." Angel double-facepalmed. "Do you, or don't you approve of Light and Fluttershy as a couple?" "Well, of course they're a couple. There's two of them!" He's even MORE oblivious that Pinkie Pie... "So yes!" Hyper added. "I'll take that as an actual answer." Angel added. "Well, 4 votes for, and 2 against. Which means, we have to let it keep going." "What if they keep in with their humina-humina-meow-mow things and make it a nightly routine?" Fuzzy asked. "Whhhuuuuuuuuh?" Hyper 'asked.' "That just shows they love each other. Although I could do without the noise." Miss Rabbit said. "Me too..." Cutie said. "Me three." Angel agreed. "Me four." Tim agreed. "Me five." Fuzzy said. "Them donkeys are sinister." Hyper agreed. "DONKEYS!? WHERE!?" Fuzzy looked around frantically. "Well... I guess for now, we let them be." Tim said. "Yeah. We'll see how it goes, and if it escalates too much... somehow... we'll do something about it. We may be smaller than them, but there's much smaller than us." Angel said confidently, getting a nod from all the other woodlands. "Okay, who's up for a game of charades?" Miss Rabbit asked. -----Point of View: Live Light----- Live Light and Fluttershy first decided to stop off at Rarity's, as she's one of Fluttershy's closer friends. Fluttershy knocked on the door. In a matter of seconds, Rarity opened the door. "Good morning, Fluttershy... and hello, Light. What brings you two here?" "O-oh, well, we have something to share with you... may we come in?" Fluttershy asked. "Of course, darling." Rarity let them in, and the three sat down in Rarity's living room. "So... what's the news?" She asked. Before Fluttershy could open her mouth, "Wait... don't tell me... Light is feeling better?" "U-um... well, there's that too, but that's not why we came here." Fluttershy responded. "Really? Well, what could be more interesting than th-" She said, before noticing Fluttershy was holding Light's hoof. She widened her eyes as the realization hit her. "Oh, congratulations!" She exclaimed. The couple smiled. "Thank you," They said in unison. "Anyway, Light, how did you recover?" "I don't know, really," He said. "I just remember us sharing a kiss, and the pain was gone." "Hmm, maybe you should speak to Twilight about this," Rarity suggested. "I'm sure she can think up a logical explanation." Oh, logic. Always there to help me. "Alright then. Spread the word to the rest of the gang?" "When I can find the time, I shall." Rarity said, with a nod. "Thank you," Fluttershy said. "We'll be going now." "Alright, Fluttershy. You two take care now. Au revoir!" She said. "See ya." Light said, and the two walked off. -----POV: The Animals----- It was now Angel's turn at Charades. The other 5 animals were all sitting on the couch, while Angel was on the table. He lifted two fingers. "Two words." Miss Rabbit said. Angel extended one arm, and kept it stationary. He made the other arm make a winding motion. "It's a film." Tim said. Angel nodded. He started dancing. "Step-Up?" Fuzzy asked. Angel shook his head. "It's about dancing, though?" Miss Rabbit asked. Angel nodded. "Alvin And The Chipmunks?" Tim asked. No. "Río?" Miss Rabbit asked. No, but it was made by very good birds, and the human portrayals were okay for not being done by humans. "...Blades of Glory?" Was all Tim could think of after that. I don't look like I'm skating, DO I!? "STAR WARS!" Hyper yelled. Angel lost it, and went ballistic. "WHAT ABOUT MY CLUE MADE YOU THINK ABOUT STAR WARS!?" He yelled. "...I thought you were dancing, and you were using glowsticks..." "THERE ARE NO GLOWSTICKS IN STAR WARS! ONLY LIGHTSABERS! AND WEIRD ALIENS!" "Why are you yelling at me, I was only guessing for comedic purposes!" "WE'RE NOT HERE TO LAUGH, IT'S A GAME OF CHARADES!" "Happy Feet?" Cutie guessed. "FINALLY! SOMEONE GOT IT!" Angel yelled with triumph. "CORRECT!" "...Okay... could you please stop yelling?" Cutie asked, a bit fearful. "It wasn't that obvious... you could have pointed at your feet, and looked happy." Tim suggested. "Then it'd have been too obvious, Tim." Angel pointed out. "...True..." -----POV: Live Light----- Fluttershy and Light walked over to Twilight's library and knocked on the door. The door was answered by a purple lizard. "Hey, Fluttershy," The lizard said, then looking to Light. "Uhh, who's this guy?" "This is Live Light, Spike," Fluttershy explained. "Can we see Twilight today?" "Oh! She was talking about almost being done with something, and wanted to tell Light about it, I'll just go get her. Come in." Spike said, letting the two through. Light closed the door behind him. "Twilight! Light's here!" "Really? In a minute, Spike!" There were sounds of paper being scattered, then of magic hums, more paper sounds, probably with Twilight putting them back somewhere, then Twilight came into view, running down the stairs. "Hi, Fluttershy, and, Light, what are you doing out of bed?" "Well, that's a very interesting story... I feel a lot better now. I don't know why, however, that's why we came over to see you." He said. "Oh, really? Well, I just finished my calculations on it, and I think I may have discovered the cure." "Really? What is it?" "According to my research, an extreme amount of love." Oh. So last night had more advantages than I thought? "Well... interesting..." Light said. "Yes. Very interesting." Fluttershy agreed. Twilight looked confused for a moment, before it dawned upon her... "Oh... you two are..." "Yes, we are." Fluttershy said, smiling to Light. "And I couldn't be happier." "Me neither, Flutters." Light replied, smiling back at her. "Well... you've pretty much saved his life, Fluttershy." Twilight commented. ...Yes... she did... "I-i did?" Fluttershy said, "I-i did, didn't I, an-" She began before being kissed by Light, happily returning it, and pulling him close. "Ugh, get a room, you two!" They heard Spike say. The couple pulled back in embarrassment. Twilight giggled. "In any case, I'm happy for you, Fluttershy. I see no problems for this relationship whatsoever." "Th-thank you, Twilight." Fluttershy said, before hugging her. "Could you spread the word to the rest of the girls?" Fluttershy asked, after pulling away. "I'm sure I could do something like that, sure." She replied. "Great. Anyway, we'll head home now. Bye, Twilight." "See you, Fluttershy, Bye, Light." She replied. "See ya." Light said, before the couple departed. ----- "...How are we meant to figure what this means?" Angel asked the 4 animals next to him. Fuzzy shrugged, Cutie looked unsure, Tim scratched his head, and Miss Rabbit facepalmed. Hyper Hamster was practically acting out a number of scenes that looked like they could be from a silent movie. "Ace Ventura?" Tim asked. A no from Hyper. "Fancypants and Donut Joe?" Fuzzy asked, referencing an attempt to bring back the silent film era that failed because Donut Joe was not an adequate actor. A no from Hyper. "The Lawnmower Stallion?" Miss Rabbit asked. A no from Hyper. "Psycho?" Cutie asked. A no from Hyper. "A strange form of acting that should only be demonstrated to a willing audience?" A no from Hyper. "Well, what is it, then, we give up." Angel said, "Titanic." Hyper said, simply. "..." "..." "..." "..." "...Well, it does explain why he was lying down on the table in a 'draw me' pose." Miss Rabbit admitted. The door opened. "SCATTER!" Angel yelled. The animals jumped off the couch, while Angel went to the couch, so everything looked normal. Fluttershy walked through the door, with Light. "Would you like some lunch, Light?" She asked him. "Not right now, I'm not too hungry." He replied. "Me neither. I'll just go see how the animals are doing. How about you... get to work on your novel?" Oh, wow, I forgot about that... "Oh, the novel. Thanks for reminding me, Flutters." "Not a problem," She said with a smile. "Good luck with it." "Thanks!" Light replied. She smiled back, and walked over to Angel, while Light walked over to his bag to get his writing equipment. "Hello, Angel. Would you like some carrots?" Flutters asked. Still cares for me. Good thing Light isn't dragging her off me. Angel nodded innocently. Fluttershy smiled, and walked over to the kitchen to make food that involves carrots. ____________________________________________________________________________ AUTHOR'S NOTES Not only did I get the chapter finished in a way I'm fully content with, but I introduced some characters. I wonder if I should add that to my list of upcoming stories... The Furred 6? Team Hugs? Fluttershy's Angels? Angel's Angels? Team Woodland? I'm not sure.