//------------------------------// // A World Full of Surprises // Story: Catching Butterflies // by SlightlyOnline //------------------------------// The crackle of wooden wheels turning against worn yet solid pavement resonated through the clean evening air, the creak of the carriage proving to be no distraction for the two mares nestled inside of it. A pegasus and a unicorn relaxed themselves upon the rather comfortable and luxurious padded seats within it, the former leaning her head against the shoulder of the latter, enjoying the soft comfort of her warm fur. Each was dressed and adorned in flowing, beautiful elegance, the yellow mare wearing a dress of the same color with the diamond signature of Rarity gracing the flank. Similarly, the purple-maned pony was ornamented in a white gown, a triplet of pink and yellow butterflies relaxing upon both of her hips. The couple wordlessly sat in their bubble of contentment, each looking forward to their destination. Fluttershy’s styled and flowing mane splayed out against the shoulder of her partner, seeming to wrap the pair in their own cocoon of togetherness as her wing outstretched and encompassed the white form of the unicorn as well, her own gaze cast forward while she occasionally stared back down to whisper sweet-everything’s to the pegasus of her dreams. Words meant nothing, but the action of saying them was the world. The two ponies’ excitement began to rise as the brilliant silhouette of Canterlot began to come into view, drawing the attention of the yellow mare away from her world, if only momentarily; comfort in the view began to wash over the couple. Rarity’s view was suddenly nothing but that of yellow fur, gravity resuming its grip on her as she realized that she and her partner had been tossed into the side of the carriage due to a bump, herself landing muzzle-down in Fluttershy’s lap. She quickly flipped her body over to look into the crimson face of a startled and embarrassed pegasus, one who was just as surprised as she was at the sudden contact; the tables were turned now, putting the timid mare in a sudden looming position of reversed power; power that she didn’t want. Seeing this, Rarity immediately sat herself back upright, finding difficulty as her she found her mane caught in between Fluttershy’s shocked and seized-up forelegs, her own face deepening as she realized how uncomfortable she must have made Fluttershy, as judging by her own embarrassment, it can only be ten-fold for the shy little mare she loved to call her marefriend. The entangled couple deeply stared into each other’s eyes in a moment of settling dust before a smile overtook the pegasus’ face, that smile turning into a snicker, and that snicker turning into an all-out laugh, Rarity joining in as the two laughed at their comfortable awkwardness with each other, each knowing that there was nothing to be truly embarrassed about. Both of their heavy laughing sessions were quickly silenced as Fluttershy made a split second decision to half fall, half throw her lips upon the unicorn, her happy victim surprised by the pony’s sudden aggression, not that she had a problem with it by any means. Thoughts flashed across the white mare’s mind as she let herself sink into the kiss; happy thoughts of the beautiful mare that was putty in her hooves and vise-versa, of their beautiful symbiotic relationship, each giving back more than they take from one another; but most of all, she thought about how much Fluttershy has grown in the past few weeks. Her diamond eyes witnessed the transformation of a timid mare who was afraid of her own shadow into this pony who was upstanding, brave and most of all comfortable. This mutual comfort they found in each other’s hooves was an achievement to be envied; there no longer was an overbearing unicorn who liked to spend time with a quiet pegasus. That relationship was no more; this was something bigger, something greater, something that made their lives worth living. “We’re approaching Canterlot in five minutes!” The harsh and loud voice of their driver startled Fluttershy to the point where she completely fell off of her partner, an “Eep!” escaping her mouth as she remembered where she was. ‘Okay,’ Rarity thought as she helped her back up. ‘Maybe not that comfortable.’ The rest of the slightly less bumpy trip to Canterlot went with a higher degree of awkwardness, instead with Rarity arching her neck and resting it on Fluttershy as the latter continued to mentally torment herself, questioning if their carriage drive saw any of the display she put on with Rarity, her face intensely becoming red again while the unicorn pretended not to notice. The pegasus might have continued to fall into her own despair if the cart hadn’t come to a stop outside of the New Equestrian Concert Hall, the two ponies exiting their enclosure. “Excuse me Miss and Miss Rarity,” their driver said taking on a much nicer sounding tone. Rarity assumed that there was only so much finesse a stallion could put into their voice while pulling a carriage. “Would you like me to walk you to the door?” “Yes, of cour-“ “No thank you!” Fluttershy interrupted Rarity. “I- I mean it’s a nice offer and everything but I think we can take it from here, thanks…” Her voice became progressively smaller the more she talked, her mind still reminding herself of her embarrassment. “Yes, I do believe we can walk ourselves from here, thank you for the kind offer.” Rarity held herself upright as she turned and chuckled to herself, leading Fluttershy away from their cart as it rode away, finding her loss of confidence to be painfully adorable. The couple quickly found themselves inside the large foyer of the hall; it had a very new and vibrant feel and shape to it, yet it kept the look of the woods and materials found in traditional halls, ones that Rarity was familiar with. After taking in the beauty of the room and fixing and righting their ruffled gowns for a spell, they approached what was interpreted to be the front desk, although only possibly so. The pair trotted towards the imposing figure standing behind it. “Hello, kind sir, we were invited to attend the event tonight.” “Invitations?” the large stallion more commanded than requested. Fluttershy eagerly began to search her dress’ various compartments for the brilliantly clasped envelope that contained them. Not finding them on the first go around, her eagerness quickly turned to panic as her hooves quickly searched for every possible place the invitations could be. “Um, Rarity? They’re gone. I can’t find them, they must have fallen off in the carriage when I…” she thought about the embarrassing event, “fell.” The pegasus tried to hide behind her mane, only to be brought back into the open by her partner. “Not to worry, my dear. I shall take care of this,” she stated approaching the stallion who seemed to be more of a bouncer than anything. “Excuse me, sir, but it appears we have misplaced out invitations. Now, if you could be so kind as to check the list, we should be under Rarity.” Her lips just tingled with charm. “Like I haven’t heard that one fifty times today. No invitation, no entry.” The unicorn’s patience quickly faded, her face turning into an expression of irritation. “Now you will have to trust me, we were invited, we just misplaced our summons.” “Yeah? I suppose you got a note from Celestia too, right?” “You know what? I think that you need to take a note and sti-“ “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Alright fillies, what’s going on?” a familiar voice cut Rarity off before she had the chance to act unlike a lady. The stallion snorted. “These two mares claim to have lost their invitation.” Stepping forward, the fantastic blue mane of a suit-clad Vinyl Scratch revealed itself. “Brick, chill. They were invited by Octavia, and if you will excuse me, I will personally show our important guests to their seating.” Defeated, the stallion slumped back as Vinyl took charge of a parade towards a large pair of double doors. “New guy, takes his job way too seriously.” Vinyl smiled at the couple. “So how have you two been?” The unicorn quickly spoke up. “Recently, irritated, but if you mean all-encompassingly, we have been doing quite well.” “Glad to hear it, and I’m even gladder you two could make it. These events are usually duller than digging for diamonds; I’m just glad ‘Tavi didn’t make me wear a dress this time,” the DJ stated happily, looking down at her rather nice suit. “It fits you,” Fluttershy pointed out, hoping to add something to the conversation. Vinyl smiled and asserted, “Well of course it fits me, I had it custom measured and all that stuff,” only to receive a blank stare from each of the ponies in front of her. “C’mon guys, it’s okay to laugh.” Rarity let loose an amused, if not primitive grunt, immediately mentally reprimanding herself for doing so. Hoping nopony recognized it, she quickly attempted to push the conversation forward. “Well, shall we enter?” The unicorn with the two eighth-notes on her flanks ruby eyes lit up, her range of expressions becoming visible as she lacked her signature glasses this night. “Alright you two mares, are you ready to party!?” She exclaimed as she pushed open the large doors. Any sarcastic comment Rarity, or even Fluttershy, for that matter, was going to make was quickly silenced as each pony’s eyes widened, being greeted by the girth of the beautiful concert hall in which they would soon be enjoying the sweet sounds of a cello in. Fluttershy gasped as she looked around like schoolfilly who had been given twenty bits and released in a candy store; never had she seen such an elegantly built, yet so progressive and new building before. Her partner trotted along, awestruck as well at the beauty of the architecture. “Yo, R; Flyshy; up here,” the voice of Vinyl called out from a slightly elevated position nearest the stage that was identified by the letters VIP. The couple almost galloped in mutual excitement to the section where they would presumably be enjoying the show from, the attitude of Vinyl making them nearly completely disregard any thoughts of acting more like a lady, as being an exited foal was far too much fun. The two mares walked up the stairs side by side, their soft hooves clinking against the feaux-wood steps as they approached the DJ who was sitting upon a pretty little chair made from material that seemed to swallow Vinyl as she slouched back in it. Rarity first took note of the two, almost plaque-like labels that sat themselves on either side of the section, one graced with the name “Octavia”, the other “Sergio”, the latter of which surprising Rarity. “Sergio is preforming tonight?” Vinyl smirked. “If he shows up this time. Yeah, this hall loves to throw different musicians together and see what they do; basically the give them a week to practice together and make up a show. I honestly feel sorry that they had to put up with each other.” “Nah, Octavia’s cool.” Looks of surprise shifted all around the room as everypony searched for the source of the male voice, only to find it coming from the tan stallion sitting in his own VIP section. “What?” The musical unicorn exhaled heavily. “Shouldn’t you be, you know, getting ready?” “Ready for what? Oh yeah, the show? As long as the SM doesn’t catch me out here I’ll be fine, it’s cool.” He slowly brought his hoof towards his eyes to look at the watch clasped around his forelimb. “Besides, I have… Negative five minutes, see ya later.” He quickly half-fell down the stairs without another word, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared. ‘An oddball indeed,’ Rarity thought to herself. “Well, that was… um, nice,” came the quiet voice of a quiet pegasus. “Quite. I do wonder, however, why his section is empty, except for him of course.” “He probably forgot,” Vinyl answered. “’Huh? I have a show today? I wanted to sleep!’” she continued putting on her best male voice, drawing a giggle from Fluttershy and a laugh from Rarity. “And trust me, I’m speaking from experience. I mean, this one time he-“ The possible story she was about to tell was interrupted by the flashing of the house lights, signaling that the show was about to begin. Fluttershy looked around the room to see the large crowd of people that had gathered to see the performance, completely surprised when she was met by a full house, the house itself being more massive than the pegasus had previously thought it to be. A sudden nervousness overcame her, nervousness not for herself or Rarity, but for Octavia; although she didn’t know the mare well, it was a daunting task to play in front of all these ponies that were watching her every move, and she felt fear for what could happen should she make a mistake. Her momentary fears were dispelled as she seated herself next to one of the two white unicorns and nuzzled up against her warm fur, enjoying its freshness and comforting feeling. “Hey ‘Shy, get off of me.” The pegasus’ ears immediately shot up hearing the voice of the DJ instead of her own mare as she almost jumped out of her seat. She turned to find both Rarity and Vinyl leaking out compressed laughter, each of them trying to stifle a tidal wave of giggles at the silly timid mare’s plight, the former knowing that she shouldn’t do so but laughing all the same. “Vinyl! I’m sorry, I- I didn’t mean to; I thought you were Rarity and- and…” The electric maned mare couldn’t hold herself back as a torrent of her loud chuckles flew out, the situation becoming far too rich for her. One row behind them, she rolled on the floor, unable to stop as she pounded her hoof on the ground at the hilarity. Rarity, on the other hoof, slowly began to regain her composure and managed to turn back to Fluttershy and speak in between small laughs. “Oh Fluttershy, Vinyl is seated behind us. That was me you were leaning against.” “Wha-? So Vinyl just… Talked…” The pegasus turned and plopped back down in her seat in an almost pouty embarrassment, her words finding no place in the conversation. She let the chair’s fabric engulf her, trying to tune out the sound of Vinyl’s now fading laughter. Rarity took this opportunity to wrap a comforting hoof around her marefriend, drawing her back in close hoping to wave away her embarrassment and make amends. Fluttershy made sure to look up and check who it was before deeply leaning in and yet again snuggling up to the pony’s elegant white coat, fully taking in the beautiful fragrance emitting from it. On cue as the mares’ comfort settled in, the theater darkened, all idle chatter in the crowd coming to an immediate halt as all eyes focused on the stage, a single pillar of light cascading down upon it revealing a familiar tan stallion huddled over a finely crafted acoustic guitar. The polished instrument was a work of art in its own right, it’s sleek and shiny outside not even bothering to hide its battle scars from many years on the road, those years being displayed proudly upon the body. Not even taking time to address the crowd, Sergio began to play; not just play, but feel. His hooves slowly trotted across the fretboard as arpeggiated minors and majors, fifths and sevenths and thirds rang out into the large room, the notes not bouncing off the walls, but flowing around and through them. Seamlessly the piper lulled all of his listeners into a trance-like appreciation of the notes he was weaving, those notes wordlessly speaking to them. Constantly changing key and time signature, the tan stallion’s hooves danced behind the frets as he slowly began to pick up the pace of his playing, taking the crowed on an almost surreal journey of harmonics and harmonies. He himself seemed unaware of his onlookers, focusing all of his attention to the wooden instrument in his hooves. Forcing his heart into it, he let the notes flow out into the air, the strings twanging against the metal frets, all the pain, fears and hopes a single pony could experience being put on display for all the world to see. Without warning, the loud, cringing sound of metal harshly slapping itself against wood echoed through the auditorium. Gasps were had all around by the large amount of onlookers in the amphitheater as they witnessed a high E string torn in two by the sheer force and frequency of the crescendoing notes that were gracefully stomped into it. A moment of what would be complete silence was rejected as Sergio continued to play, unshaken by the broken string, ignoring it and compensating for the loss of immediate higher pitch by shifting his hoofing on the guitar. The pace and volume of the song continued to pick up unrestrained, the masterful guitarist continuing to build up the minors and majors until each scale could yield no more. In a moment of pure tension, the song escalated into a controlled falling collapse, emotional final notes being slammed into the strings and the strings responding be vibrating out the sweet sound of a beautiful conclusion. High sixty-fourth notes speedily slung themselves from the guitar, heavily bringing the emotional piece to a close as Sergio dropped his hooves from the guitar. Applause and cheering overlapped any ‘Thank you’s he might or might not have said, the deafening sound of hooves stomping against the floor being all that could be heard, but it was all a performer would want to hear. He looked upon the crowd with smiling eyes and gazed upon the beaming faces, many of them showing traces of tears. With a big smile, he slung the guitar over his back and exited the stage, leaving the emotional crowd to their business. “What a wonderful performance,” Fluttershy spoke up to Rarity through her tears. “I’ve seen better.” The DJ saw another opportunity to butt in, only to receive a glare from Rarity. “What? I have.” After the white pony made her snarky remark, the almost fervid applause began to wither, but not disapprovingly so, as the lights yet again began to dim, signaling that it was not yet time for intermission, but for another act. All but a few stragglers halted their stomping hooves, each and every one of them beginning to drown in their own anticipation of what was to come, the well-respected pony that the grand majority of the audience arrived to see in the first place: Octavia. Out of blackness emerged trained light; within the spectrum a pony and her instrument was revealed, her grey coat from her head to her hooves seeming to gleam in the light, the light itself looking to be a perfect mold to her body. The wooden cello was leaned against her form in its practiced position, Octavia herself taking her upright stance, one that would be most uncomfortable for any pony not practiced in its art. Taking a gulp of the clean air around her, she grasped the bow in the cleft of her hoof and brought it to the strings of her piece of classical art. Sound became the very essence of emotion at the first note sliced out from the strings, the bow gracefully speaking to the metal ever so softly, yet so powerfully. Slowly more notes began to join the strong introduction, methodically stringing together. The magical disconnection of musician from reality began to take place in front of everypony’s eyes, Octavia removing her very soul and placing it upon and through her strings for all of Equestria to gaze upon. Minor notes hung and bounced through the air, responding to every little movement and jerk of the professional driving the instrument. Still recovering from the earlier phenomenal performance, some ponies were already breaking down in tears at the pure, unrepressed emotion that was set free in that concert hall. Perfection was an unattainable feat, but the performer on stage cantered on the line of it. Multiple changes of key, time signature and pace had passed before Octavia’s hooves waltzed up the neck of her cello, the notes reaching a climactic height before travelling back on a spiral in a grand and beautiful finale, the crowd finding their own cue to resume their applause, applause that some of the audience found hard to contain even before the heavy climax. The pony on stage gazed out upon the roaring assortment of ponies, ponies that were cheering, not just for anypony, but for her. She allowed her eyes to join those of many of her onlookers as almost comforting saltiness streamed down her face, that face transforming into the largest of smiles a single pony could muster. To put her soul out into the world and for it to be loved by others was, as she felt, her true purpose; she felt a true fulfillment of her calling with each performance, and this one was only half over. Laying down the wondrous instrument, she made her way to a nearby microphone, finding difficulty to do anything but breath her words. “E- everypony. I-…” She took a step back, smiling to herself and shaking her head. Subconsciously, Octavia decided that now was not the time to pour her heart out with words; she instead decided to take a different, unscripted route. “Everypony, it’s time for intermission. So please, buy all of our booze.” Nervous murmurs and looks shifted around the theater before they were overlapped by the roar of laughter; back on the stage, Octavia blushed and smiled, slightly embarrassed. She’d never ended a performance like that, but it obviously was well received; she considered adding a bit of humor to every performance, but facehoofed exiting the stage as she realized that Vinyl was really rubbing off on her. The thought of the white mare turned her nervous smile into one of loving happiness. Back in the VIP section, the pegasus and unicorn couple once again found themselves in a pile of tissues together. Rarity happily levitated the small handkerchiefs to her and Fluttershy’s faces, feeling her own comfort under the warm and secure wing of her partner. Vinyl, for once, decided to let them be, at least for the moment. “That was too beautiful. All of it,” the winged mare fed her partner who was only able to nod in agreement as they leaned into each other with even force. “It was just so amazing. The sounds. I…” Fluttershy found her words failing, but soon thought nothing of it as her lips were almost immediately met by a quick peck of Rarity’s muzzle. The two spent long moments looking into each other’s eyes before an almost welcome interruption pierced their secure bubble. “Yeah, you mares heard ‘Tavi. Let’s go buy the booze.” Rarity looked up and then to her partner. “Well, I do suppose we are no use here; we might as well stretch our hooves a bit and get ready. If that first act was as beautiful as it was, they must have some extremely powerful performing coming up.” “Okay…” was all the yellow mare replied, really not wanting to agree or disagree, only wanting to remain right by Rarity’s side. The trio walked down a long hallway down to what was perceived to be a snack bar of sorts. In their monotonous walk, the couple looked behind them to find Vinyl’s blue tail disappearing down a hall, one that was labeled “Do not enter”. “Where is she going?” questioned the pegasus, not necessarily searching for an answer. “I would assume some place where Octavia is situated. Best not to bother them, I’m sure she knows what she is doing.” Rarity received a nod in return. “Now let’s go get something to eat while we wait for the next part, shall we?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The duo waited in their lofty position in Octavia’s section; the suited mare that they shared the space with had not yet returned, and clues indicated that the show could begin at any moment. Minutes ticked by before they saw the mare in question slowly trotting up the stairs, a somewhat distracted look upon her face. “Well Vinyl, I’m quite glad that you could join us.” “Wha-? Oh yeah, I’m here now, let’s get this show rolling.” She clopped her hooves together in a “chop-chop”, “on the double” sort of manner. The pony with the purple mane took note of the DJ’s new, rougher appearance. “Scratch, whatever happened to your mane? It’s a mess! Well, more so than usual.” “Uh, nothing,” she coughed. “Nothing at all.” A smile creeped across her face. “Fair enough,” Rarity stated as she attempted to turn forward again, before something caught her eye which made her turn back to the white mare. “Where did you get the new bowtie?” Vinyl looked around, and then down at herself. “Oh… Uh, yeah, I was always wearing this one.” “No, the one you came in with was multiple shades of electric blue, and that one’s pink with-“ “Whoops, shows starting; can’t talk, shh,” the unicorn rudely, but not unjustly interrupted. All Fluttershy could do was smile and shortly giggle to herself; Rarity’s intrusiveness was a harsh opposite of Vinyl, their comical banter made her feel right at home as if the DJ was Applejack. She gave her unicorn a quick and loving nuzzle. Despite the undesirable controversy, the shy mare quite enjoyed moments like these in which she felt that she could be a comfort to Rarity, whether the unicorn knew it or not. A smile appeared as she took a whiff of the mare’s beautiful and fragrant white coat. Her trance was soon broken as more light appeared on the stage. Completely disregarding the ponies within the light, there was something different about it, something calmer, as if the formality of the event was suddenly deemed unnecessary. It was when the ponies in the VIP section took note of who was actually on the stage, or more so what they were doing, that the reason for the sudden casual lighting became apparent. Most noticeable was Sergio, who seemed to have traded in his acoustic guitar for a more rugged electric, him instead choosing to stand in a delicate position on his hind hooves with the instrument slung around his shoulder. His face bore an expression that loudly stated “come get some”, his cocky smile being well deserved as the ponies in the crowd questioned how he was going to play it; hooves are not the optimal appendages for guitars, especially not standing upright. After thoroughly examining the guitarist, Rarity’s attention was drawn to Octavia, who was standing in her usual position with her cello. Immediately she didn’t find anything off or odd, but upon more staring, staring that could be considered ogling, she noticed the bowtie clasped around her neck. Being the designer of the dress, she was absolutely positive that she didn’t choose a bowtie of multiple shades of electric blue to compliment the ensemble. Gazing upon it, she turned back to Vinyl, and then back to the stage with a smile; they sure were silly ponies. Seemingly without any sort of indication, the performers began their duty, Sergio starting with a chord progression with Octavia slowly coming in and complimenting it with the graceful notes of her cello. The pair created the intro to what seemed like it would be another sad tune, until something unexpected happened: Sergio stomped. The action itself was insignificant, but what he stomped on was. He had turned on the distortion for his guitar, transitioning into crushingly beautiful power chords; it was now him complimenting Octavia’s progression. Aside from the music flowing forth from their instruments, another sound could be heard; Vinyl had stood up and gave a loudest of cheering screams, exited for the change of pace from the dullness which she so despised. The rest of the crowd look at her in shock as she drew attention to herself before some ponies joined in on her cheer, encouraging the musicians on stage to continue their epic journey of notes and heavy harmonies. It was a surprising, yet beautiful mix of an orchestral metal of sorts; one that nopony had expected a proper mare such as Octavia to participate in, but judging by the elated expression on her face, she was quite enjoying herself. Her bow danced across the strings, stretching the minor key as she had never before done while at the same time keeping the pace of the almost improvised song. Vinyl, being one that has listened to this genre for quite some time, turned to Rarity. “I never expected them to play, let alone write, something like this. This is incredible!” Before the fashion pony could say anything, be it of dislike or approval, Fluttershy spoke up. “I like it! I mean… it sounds good, it’s something different.” The unicorn turned to her marefriend, surprised that she would enjoy this brutish art by any means, and managed to take a look into her eyes before giving her a peck on the cheek. Over the music, she spoke into her ear. “That’s why I love you, you’re always full of surprises.” She wrapped her hooves around her. Being another conditioned reaction, Fluttershy’s face reddened before she returned the peck with a full on kiss. “I love you too, Rarity.” A flurry of notes strung together as the two stared into each other’s eyes for an undefined amount of time, all outside distractions coming to a standstill as they sat in each other’s hooves within their own sphere of feelings. It wasn’t until the music came to an intense crescendo with underlying prettiness that reality had snapped back, them realizing that the two performers were approaching the grand finale of their set, if that was what it was to be called. The ponies in the crowd didn’t even wait for the final notes to be played as they erupted in cheer, the sounds of their numerous voices still not enough to overlay the sounds of the instruments. In its simplest sense, the energy of the crowd was intoxicating, drawing even Rarity into the loud cheering and applause for the heavy performance, some ponies shedding the strangest of tears. “And that’s why they call it the New Equestrian Concert Hall!” the nearby DJ yelled over the roar of the crowd, herself caught in the excitement. This was most definitely more of her scene at this point, and the couple could now understand at least one of the reasons, besides her pink bowtie, of course, that she would attend these types of events. It took a year’s worth of “thank you’s” and a multitude of bows, but the crowd eventually quieted down, especially after seeing the ponies on stage leaving it. Vinyl turned around to guide the two lovely mares out of the section. “How was that?” “Magical.” The musical unicorn didn’t notice if it was one, two or zero ponies saying it; she was too excited from the riveting show to notice. She quickly led the ponies back into the hall where some of the ponies remained socializing and reminiscing about the show the just watch, much in a “remember when…” fashion. Rarity decided to gaze upon a clock as she had lost all meaning of time in the past few hours, becoming too lost in bliss and beauty from all senses. “Fluttershy, dear, are you about ready to leave? We should most definitely make our way home before all the taxis have departed.” Much too exhausted to agree or disagree, the pegasus just gave a tired nod, almost falling upon her partner, making her giggle. “Well, I believe we should say our goodbyes to our gracious hosts. They have been better to us than I ever could have imagined. I don’t know how I will ever repay Octavia and Vinyl.” She said those words, but in the back of her mind she knew that she would find a way. She would force herself to find a way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It seemed like hours that they sat together, Fluttershy looking up at Rarity from her lap. Sitting in their rented carriage, one that they had found their missing invitations in, they became unaware if it was moving or stationary, they were only aware of each other and the warmth they shared: warmth of both heat and heart. Breaking through this illusion the unicorn looked out of the window of the taxi and gazed upon Carousel Boutique, in front of it, the path to Fluttershy’s cottage: the path that had caused her pain and joy alike, both of those resulting in the beauty that she now thrived in. She was back where she began, had come full circle, but it was different this time. This time, she was not alone; this time, she had somepony to share her hopes with. Her fears with. Her dreams with. Her tears with and, above all; her love with. She now had obtained that elusive entity that she didn’t even know she so desired: love. Love.