//------------------------------//
// A Different Type Thank You 
// Story: From Sky to Earth 
// by RaijingtheClockworkPony 
//------------------------------//

	This day has been perfect. Fluttershy couldn't believe how much she was enjoying her day. She looked around at the buildings that flanked the streets of Ponyville and smiled. They weren't any different than the day before, and truth be told nothing really was. Sure most of the ponies weren't doing the exact thing they had done yesterday but today everything seemed wonderful and so cheerful. The sky was bright and full of singing birds, the sun was warm but not unpleasantly so and if it was there was a gentle breeze to cool everypony off. Fluttershy was on her way to visit Rarity for their weekly spa treatment.

Her mind was focused on the evening she had spent with Soarin'. Just thinking about it made her blush. I kissed a stallion I only just met. She let her mane fall in front of her face worried that a passing pony might see her. She had been told in the past to be more assertive but she never knew when to do it but when she kissed him it felt right.

She rounded a street corner and spotted the Sugarcube Corner. I guess I could grab a quick bite before I see Rarity. She walked into the store and was greeted warmly by the eccentric pink earth pony she had bonded with over the years. 

"Hiya Flutters! Whatcha doing here? OOO I know, you want to by a batch of muffins. No wait, wait! You want some ice cream. No you want—"

A purple aura of energy surrounded her lips and forced them shut. Pinkie seemingly didn't notice and happily kept talking as if nothing had changed. Fluttershy followed the aura to the purple unicorn and cyan pegasus sitting at a small table nearby. Fluttershy shared a gentle smile with them then looked at Pinkie who was still chatting away despite not being understood by any pony in the room.

"I think I would like to sit with Dash and Twilight and have a quick snack. Would you like to join me?"

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. "MUHHD MUH!"

They pair sat down at the table. Twilight undid the magic keeping Pinkie silent. Pinkie in turn produced a tray of cupcakes from nowhere. They each grabbed one and started to chew. Dash finished her first and reached for another but not before shooting Fluttershy a knowing grin.

"So 'Shy how did it go?"

The timid pegasus froze mid bite. The question grabbed the attention of the pink and purple ponies that were with them. Twilight looked at Fluttershy with interest.

"Oh, what happened yesterday?"

Fluttershy blushed and fumbled with her muffin. "I went on a date."

Twilight leaned forward. "Um... Could you repeat that louder please?"

She looked down at the table."I went on a date with..."

Pinkie bounced next to her. "A teensy weensy bit louder pleasey weasy!"

Fluttershy glanced at Dash who nodded to her with a reassuring smile. She took a deep breath and looked up at her two friends. She spoke with a small note of pride in her voice.

"I went on a date with Soarin'."

She braced herself for the reaction of her friends. Twilight's jaw dropped and she was speechless, mostly. "A..date? You?" 

Fluttershy nearly missed the unicorn’s reaction due to the bright pink explosion of motion next to her. Pinkie was bouncing around her pegasus friend and was somehow holding onto her at the same time. 

"OH MY GOSH! That's so amazing! When did you meet him? Where did you go? OOO I should throw a 'Congratulations Fluttershy and Soarin' on becoming a couple party', I never get to throw parties like that."

Twilight recovered from her shock and freed Fluttershy from the bouncing pink pony. "I’m so happy for you. I didn't know you and Soarin'... wait Soarin', as in THE Soarin'?"

Fluttershy nodded and tried to hide behind her mane. "Yes, you’re not mad at me are you?"

Twilight shook her head. "No! How could I be mad at you, but you never told me, or any of us for that matter, that you knew a Wonderbolt and that you were going to date him."

Fluttershy blushed. "I didn't either. Dash was the one who set us up on the date. We both had no idea who we were going to meet."

The unicorn turned on Dash. "You set this up?"

Dash sat up as a look of pride came across her face. "Yes I did." She turned to the yellow pegasus. "So how did it go?"

Fluttershy quickly told them of the date and how it had ended. "Then he walked up to me and gave me another kiss. He was so nice and kind. We have another date set for this Saturday."

Fluttershy couldn't stop herself from smiling. Everything about telling her friends this made it seem all the better and fantastic, not that it needed it in her opinion. Pinkie Pie was beside herself in excitement. 

"Okay now I really need to throw you two a super duper party. I should invite everypony to it an—"

"No!"

Fluttershy hadn't meant to say it so loudly but she needed to stop pinkie from chattering forever. She blushed as the nearby table looked over at her then return to their food. 

"I mean I want to keep this quiet for a little bit. I don't want to announce this unless he's ready to as well. I mean I trust you girls completely but I don't want to rush this. Please keep this a secret for a little bit longer."

She looked pleadingly into each of their eyes. They each in turn gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. Pinkie began her oath and the other two joined in.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Fluttershy opened her forelegs so that they could do a quick group hug. The embraced ended quickly however when she noticed the time. 

"Oh no! I have to go, Rarity is waiting on me. I'll see you all later."

She gave them an apologetic smile then ran out of the store. She made her way through the streets dodging the street vendors and pedestrians as she made her way to spa. She spotted Rarity standing outside the doors and quickly joined the designer.

"Fluttershy, darling where have you been? Oh, and now you're out of breath. Come on into the spa we can get you all relaxed and looking fabulous."

The spa went as normal. First a relaxing massage, followed by a visit to the sauna, and a dip in the mud bath. Rarity spent most of that time talking about the 'juicy gossip' she had heard. Fluttershy stayed quiet as she normally did but she found herself drifting off to think about Soarin'. I hope that I will be able to be ready for this Saturday. I wonder what he has planned. I hope he doesn't do something fancy. I don't think I have something to we— 

"Fluttershy? Is something the matter?"

She looked up from the bath she was in and suddenly realized that she had laid her head onto her legs. She sat up quickly. 

"No. I'm fine."

Rarity moved closer so she was at the edge of her bath. "Darling you can tell me. I've always been helpful and I promise to help you in any way I can."

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment. As much as she trusted Rarity she knew that she had a tendency to become overly dramatic on the topic of love. Fluttershy remembered the time that Rarity had heard the rumors that Lyra and Bon-Bon had broken up. In truth Bon-Bon had simply gone to Trottingham for a candy making convention but that fact didn't stop Rarity from going nuts and claiming that they were a perfect couple and that they were made for each other.

Fluttershy mentally scolded herself. She's my friend. I can trust her. She has never let me down before. 

"I went on a date yesterday and I have another planned this Saturday."

She braced herself. Rarity's jaw dropped for a moment then she let out an excited squeal. "DARLING! You went out on a date! OH MY!" 

Her excited squeal made the spa workers come in looking for the source of the disturbance. Aloe quickly moved to the side of Rarity's mud bath. 

"What's the matter? Is there something wrong?"

Rarity pulled herself out of the mud. "Nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing wrong. In fact this is the single greatest thing I have heard all day. Girls get the jacuzzi ready please." The pair looked at each other then back to Rarity. They shrugged and headed off to do as she said. "Now Fluttershy you must tell me about this stallion that has swept you off your hooves... it was a stallion correct?"

Fluttershy lifted herself out of the mud and nodded. She started to tell Rarity but stopped when the spa ponies returned. Rarity noticed but didn't say anything until they were alone in the warm relaxing waters of the jacuzzi. 

"Now Fluttershy before you continue I have one little question. Why didn't you tell me about this stallion before now?"

Fluttershy blushed. "Because I didn't know him until yesterday."

Rarity's jaw dropped again. Her eye twitched several times as she stuttered. She found her voice once again and shook her head. 

"Fluttershy I expected better of you. You shouldn't just go a pick up random stallions! You’re lucky he didn't try anything funny and anot—"

Fluttershy hide behind her mane for the most part but when she mentioned that Soarin’ might have tried something she yelled at the unicorn, cutting her off mid word. "It's not like that! Dash set us up on a date. He would never do anything like that!"

She covered her mouth in shock. She hadn't meant to snap like that. "Rarity I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to yell at you."

Rarity opened her mouth wordlessly for a few moments. She recovered then gave Fluttershy a gentle smile. "You really like this stallion don't you?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Soarin' was so nice to me; I don't think I've ever met a nicer stallion."

Fluttershy spent the next hour trying to wake Rarity up from the almost amusing fainting spell she had. Maybe she should have given Rarity a small warning first.
                                                                                                                                                                                        

Fluttershy walked along the road out of town and let out a sigh. Despite telling her friends about her time with Soarin' and all of them, except Applejack whom she hadn't seen, had given her advice and well wishes for the next date, she suddenly felt worried. She was now thinking about the date itself. What if I over dress, what if I under dress? Oh, what if he expects me to wear perfume. What if I do and he hates the scent I choose? Oh... I can't do it, I should just... She trailed when she spotted a very familiar pair of ponies standing on the road ahead. One was an orange earth pony that she had known for years. The other a blue pegasus she had only known for a day. The pair was talking animatedly about something she couldn't hear but Soarin' spotted her and gave her a wave.

Fluttershy froze on the road not sure what to make of the sight. On one hoof she should go over there and say hello but on the other hoof she could jump into a nearby bush and pretend that she isn't there. The former won out as she really wanted to talk to Soarin' again.

"Fluttershy! I was about to come ask you something but I got flagged down by your friend here." He paused and looked at the cowpony. "Applejack right?"

The cowpony tipped her hat. "Yes indeed. Ah'm surprised you were flying overhead but it was nice of you to land and give me a hoof with this here cart."

Applejack gave the mentioned cart a gentle kick to punctuate her point. Fluttershy gave them a smile but had to voice her concern.

"Um, Soarin' why are you here? Well I mean it's not that it's nice to see you because it is but I thought we were going on a date Saturday."

Soarin' was about to answer but he didn't get the chance. Applejack tilted her hat back and cleared her throat. "Beg yer pardon but what did you mean by date? You two been seein' each other or somethin'?"

Both of the shy pegasi nodded. Applejack let out an impressed whistle. "Well Ah'll be. You sure know how to pick em Fluttershy. Will this one be your first?"

Soarin' was too busy blushing at the implied complement to answer so Fluttershy did it for them. "No. This will be the second date."

The show pony stopped blushing and looked at Fluttershy. "Um... actually I wanted to talk to you about that." He looked at Applejack. "Alone if that's okay with you."

The farmer nodded. "Ah got to get back to the farm but you two love birds don't do anythin' crazy or stupid now, ya hear?"

Her answer came in plenty of blushing and nodding. She chuckled to herself, hitched herself up to the wagon, and set off down the road. The two ponies on the road watched her go then glanced at each other. Soarin' nearly started but was cut off by Shade landing on his back. He glanced at the mighty eagle and grimaced at the meal it was holding in its beak.  Shade had a small mouse in its beak for a second then swallowed it.

Fluttershy however walked over and gave a loving stroke to the bird. "You got my gift." Her gentle voice turned to one of panicked concern. "You're not returning him are you?"

The Wonderbolt shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I had a few questions about taking care of him but those can be answered later. Besides I bought a book on the subject so I should be fine. What I wanted to talk to you about was my thank you."

He was met by a confused and slightly terrified voice. "A thank you?"

He nodded. Darn it, she's cute no matter what she does. "I wanted to show you something. For most pegasi this kind of thing gets ignored or they get desensitized to it."

She was expecting him to continue but when he stopped to give Shade a gentle stroke she made a soft hum. Unfortunately it was too soft and he missed it. 

"But?"

He looked over. "Huh... oh right, sorry. But I figured that since you live on the ground you might not have seen it in a long time. So will you let me show you something amazing?"

She shuffled on her hoofs for a moment. Should I? He never said what it was he wanted to show me. Rarity mentioned about him trying something funny. What if this is what she means? The thought terrified her. Suddenly every horrible thing that could happen to a mare went through her mind. She looked at him and felt all of her fears get banished instantly. His smile was warm, comforting, and most importantly, genuine.

"Yes. Where is this amazing thing you want to show me?"

He pointed up. "It's a small flight up but well worth it."

The smile she had been wearing faded. Soarin' noticed instantly. "Is something wrong?"

Fluttershy muttered something that he couldn't hear. Soarin' moved closer and gentle nuzzled her. "Hey come on, whatever it is I can help you."

She nuzzled him back and moved close to him. She spoke in a voice so soft he almost missed it despite the fact she was almost saying it into his ear. 

"I can't fly very well. I've always been scared of heights."

She tensed up after confessing her fear to him. Now he thinks I'm a freak or something. What kind of pegasus is scared of heights? Now he won't like me anymore. She started to pull away but felt his legs wrap around her. 

"Then I'll just have to get you a cloud to sit on. If I have to I'll carry you myself."

She looked up at him. "You would do that for me?" 

He nodded which caused her to blush deeply and hide behind her mane. Soarin' moved her mane behind her ear so he could look into those cyan orbs that he loved. 

"I only want you to be happy. If you don't want to fly up there then we can stay here."

She shook her head. "No you want to show me this, so I'll fly with you. I want to see this with you."

They stood there wrapped in each other’s forelegs holding one another for a while then pulled apart. Soarin' looked at the bird still perched on his body. 

"Hey Shade could you please go to her cottage for a while?"

The raptor looked at him, let out a cry, and launched itself into the air. Soarin' turned back to the yellow pegasus and gave her the recruitment smile. Fluttershy felt her heart beat faster just from the sight of his smile. 

"Shall we get going?"

She gave a shaky nod. Soarin' spread his wings and gave them a mighty flap and launched into the air. He got few yards into the air when he noticed that Fluttershy was still on the ground. She was standing there flexing her wings, looking at them with a look he couldn't read. He glided down to her and remained airborne next to her. 

"You okay?"

She jumped slightly then looked up at him. "How high are we flying?"

He rubbed his chin for a moment. "Well... I don't know the distance in numbers but it’s pretty high up. Higher than any building in Cloudsdale."

Her wings snapped back to her sides as a look of terror came over her face. "I-I don't think I c-can fly that high."

He landed next to her. "Sure you can. All you have to do is keep flapping your wings and you'll be up in the clouds in no time."

She shuffled and lowered her gaze. "I think maybe we should do this another day."

He landed next to her and lowered his head so he could look at her. He spoke in a gentle voice. "I'll be right by you the entire time. Trust me."

She took a breath and gave him a shaky smile. "Okay."

They opened their wings together and lifted themselves into the air. Fluttershy rose slowly through the air, her wings faltering almost every other flap. Soarin' watched her fly like this for almost half a minute before he reached out and took hold of her hoof. She looked at him with a slightly panicked look. She fought desperately to keep her wings flapping under his gaze. I'm making a fool of myself in front of him. Oh no, oh no, oh no... 

He spoke in an almost teacher like tone. "Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out..."

He kept saying that phrase over and over again until she started breathing in time with him. "Good. Now when you breathe in flap your wings and when you breathe out flap your wings."

She started doing as he said and felt herself balance out in the air and she held steadied in the air. She felt a wave of sudden confidence wash over her. She had never felt more comfortable in the air. 

"Good. You're doing great. Do you think we could try going up higher?"

She looked down and noticed that she was only a few yards off the ground. She gave him an embarrassed smile then nodded. They both started a slow ascent up into the wide, clear sky above. For a few short minutes they rose in silence as the wind rushed pasted their ears. 

Fluttershy spent the entire time with her eyes on Soarin', watching him as he worked his wings. She could tell just from the way he moved that he wasn't using a fraction of his strength. That he was holding back so that he could fly with her. The thought made her feel like she was the only mare in the world. Unfortunately this also caused her to look down. She was high up. Very high up. She froze for a moment midair and started to hyperventilate. Her wings were starting to beat haphazardly. 

Then she felt the pull of the earth below. She was losing height and it was starting to increase in speed. She flapped her wings as hard as she could but in her panicked state she couldn't find a rhythm to keep her in the air. Faster she fell. She looked around frantically but couldn't find Soarin'. This was like something from her worst nightmares and with an almost painful pang of fear her wings snapped to her body. 
                                                                                                                                                                                          

Soarin' heard her increased breathing and noticed her sudden stop. A moment later she was starting to lose altitude. Crap! Think! We're to high up for her to sit down... wait that's it! He put on a burst of speed and headed to the closest white puffy mass he could spot. He swooped into it and grabbed as much as he could. He swung around and saw that she was starting to fall, her wings snapping to her sides. MOVE MOVE MOVE! He pulled into a sharp dive tucking his wings close to his body to reduce as much drag as he could. He passed Fluttershy and moved underneath her and grabbed her. 

He had to yell over the wind as he unfurled his wings to slow them both. "I GOT YOU! HOLD ON TO ME!"

She opened her eyes and wrapped her legs around him as tightly as she could. He positioned himself so that she was on top of him and began to flap his wings to counter the gravity that held them. They slowed to a stop and hovered on top of the cloud Soarin' had managed to place beneath himself in time. Fluttershy was shaking and sobbing against him.

"I'm so sorry. I left you for a second to get the cloud and then you started falling. I'm so sorry, please don't hate me."

She heard the begging tone that threatened to break into sobs. She looked up and saw that he was terrified, tear on the verge of forming. He was blaming himself for this. She buried her face into his chest and tried her best to regain control of herself. They sat like this for a while as they both caught their breaths. Fluttershy looked up at her savior. 

"Thank you."

He looked back down at her. "You have no reason to thank me. I shouldn't have made you fly up here. I should have got you a cloud when we were on the ground." A pained expression crossed his face. "This was my fault."

She shook her head. "No it wasn't. I panicked and stopped thinking. I should have remained calm."

He sighed. "You're safe so that's all that matters."

She placed her head back on his chest. She felt his heart thundering in his chest and for some reason that helped her relax but at the same time made a pang of guilt run through her. He was terrified that he would lose me. He cares about me. She looked at his face and noticed that he was looking up at the sky with a worried look.

"Did we miss whatever you wanted to show me?"

He looked down at her. "No. We still have plenty of time. Not quite the right height for it but I could fix that pretty quickly. I figured we could talk a little before it happened."

She shifted her weight onto the cloud as he started to sit up. He gave her cautious look. "Are you certain you want to stay up here? We could go back down and do this another time when you’re more comfortable in the air."

She reached out and held his hoof in her own. "No. You came all the way out here to show me this. It must be special to you if you went to all this trouble."

He placed his own hoof on top of hers. "Okay. Just stay on the cloud and I'll push us up. If you get scared or anything like that let me know."

He jumped off the cloud and slowly started the ascent back up into the air. Fluttershy held onto the cloud like it was her only lifeline and waited for herself to get used to the sudden motion. After a few moments she did and looked out over the landscape beneath her. It was breath taking in many ways, some of which she wasn't comfortable with but the ones she was made her keep her eyes open. I wonder if this is how Dash feels when she flies really high. Finally after what seemed like an hour to her the fluffy mass stopped and Soarin' rejoined her on the cloud. 

He looked up at the sky once more. "We've got roughly an hour before it happens. You wanna talk about anything?"

She moved closer to him and away from the edge of the cloud. He noticed that her shaking had returned but not nearly as bad as before. He wrapped her in his wing to comfort her. 

She laid her head on his muscled shoulder. "Tell me about yourself and your family."

He looked off to the south and sighed. "Well I come from a pretty big family. I have six siblings, three of them unicorns and the other three earth ponies, and my parents. My father is an earth pony and my mother is a unicorn."

She sat up to look at him. "You’re the only pegasus in your family?"

He shrugged. "Well... technically yes. My great grandfather on my mother’s side was a pegasus but to my knowledge I'm the only living member that's a pegasus."

She placed her head back down on his shoulder. "What does your family do for income?"

He shuffled closer to her and partially laid down on the cloud. This caused her to lie down slightly beside and slightly on top of him.

"Well my father, older brother, younger sister, and younger brother all work on the family strawberry farm. Every earth pony in the family and my mother work on the farm. The farm has been in the family for four generations now."

She readjusted herself and laid her head on his chest just beneath his chin. "That must have been wonderful to grow up on."

He chuckled and placed his leg around her shoulder. "It got hectic sometimes but I have some fond memories of that farm." He paused and let out a content sigh. "My older sister is a music professor up in Canterlot. She's trained all of the members of Celestia's personal ensemble."

Fluttershy hummed as she relaxed in his embrace. "Really? She must be really good."

He nodded. "She's amazing. Little known fact though, she also trained that really famous DJ. Vinyl Scratch I think her name was. Classically trained musician became a DJ. My sister still complains about it to this day but I have a feeling she's happy for her."

Fluttershy shifted herself so she could look at him. She gave him a smile that made his heart melt. "I'll need to remember to tell Pinkie that. She loves Vinyl's work. You covered four so far. What about your other siblings?"

He gazed up at the sky. "The oldest of my younger brothers owns a small goldmine. Chances are you've used bits made from gold his company dug up. He's been looking at buying another mine to build up his company recently."

Fluttershy nuzzled his neck. "Your family really knows how to pick a job. A professor in Celestia's school, a gold miner, and a farming family. So what about your last sibling?"

He nuzzled her back. "The youngest of the family earned her cutie mark roughly a month ago. She's got the same talent as my mother."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

His eyes glazed over as his thoughts turned to the past. "They have this gift for magical light shows. Every year on Equestria Day we would hold a huge bonfire party and invite the entire town. When it got dark she would put on a light show that would make firework shows wish they were as amazing."

Fluttershy let out a sigh. "They sound like a wonderful family. I'd like to meet them. That is if you want me to. I wouldn't want to impose on them or anything."

He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Nonsense. I think they would love to meet you but that will be for another time. For right now let’s just enjoy this moment."

Fluttershy remained silent for a moment as she blushed at the kiss he had given her. Soarin' didn't make anything of it as he looked up at the sky, which was quickly starting to darken. 

"It's almost time. We've got roughly ten minutes give or take. So what about your family?"

He felt Fluttershy remove her weight from his chest. He looked back at her and saw that she had moved away from him to the far side of the small cloud. His mind started to panic. Did I say something wrong? He got up and moved over to her. In the quickly fading light he noticed that see was shaking slightly.

"Hey what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

She shook her head and hid her face from him. "No."

He placed his hoof on her shoulder. "Something’s wrong. Please tell me. I might be able to help."

For a moment he thought that she was going to pull away from his touch or even leave the cloud. Instead she surprised him by turning around quickly and hugging him tightly, burying her face into his chest. Her slightly muffled voice reached his ears.

"I-I don't have a f-family."

He felt a sudden chill run up his spine at the same time her felt his chest grow wet from her tears. He held her close and wrapped her in his wings.

He didn't want to ask but he knew he had to. "Did something happen to them? Are they... dead?"

She hugged him even tighter. Her voice was choked with sobs. "N-No. They d-disowned m-me."

He felt a sudden wave of fury at that statement. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could anypony disown their child, let alone one this kind and loving? His anger was pushed aside by his need to comfort her. He held her closer. After a minute she found her voice.

"M-My father always yelled at me. Told me that I needed to be better, that I needed to live the way he lived. When I got my cutie mark I thought he would have been happy for me but instead he told me I was a waste of space. When I grew older I told them I was going to move to Ponyville." She paused and sniffed. With barely held tears she finished. "They told me to never bother coming back. My mother said that she should have given birth to a colt, that I was worthless and a failure."

She returned to crying into his chest. Soarin' held her as tightly as he could. He waited for her sobs to die down before he lifted her head so he could look her in the eyes.

"You are not a failure. You have a beautiful home, a wonderful job, friends that love you for who you are, and you have me. You are the single kindest, most beautiful mare I have ever had the honor and privilege to know. You should be proud of the way you live."

He had barely finished when she kissed him passionately. This kiss was short but intense and they pulled their lips apart after but a brief moment. She wiped a tear from her eye. 

"You really mean that?"

He raised his right hoof into the air. "Wonderbolts honor."

They shared another kiss that lasted much longer than the first. Their tongues danced an intricate but simple way, a way that all those that fall in love know how to. Breathless they pulled apart. Soarin’ glanced in the direction of the almost setting sun. "Oh, right. Here's what I wanted to show you."

He pointed to the setting sun. The pair of them watched as the sun slowly started to sink into the horizon. The sky slowly turned from the lighter blue to yellow, then from yellow to orange, and finally the very edge of Celestia's orb fell beneath the edge of the earth. 

With a note of pride in his voice Soarin' turned around. "And now for the finale."

Fluttershy turned around as well and saw the tip of Luna's moon rise from the darkened earth, as it did stars began to appear forming their intricate patterns. They stars shone brighter than she had ever seen them and there were more than she remembered. She pointed this out to Soarin' who in turn let out an amused chuckle.

"It's because we are so high up. The light from the towns isn't interfering with the stars light, so we are able to see them better and get to see more of them. I figured that since you lived on the ground you wouldn't get to see this as often."

Soarin' could just barely make out wonder filled expression on his dates face. He spoke softly. "Perfection."

She nodded. "I've never seen a more beautiful night sky."

He leaned closer to her and spoke in the most gentle voice he had ever spoken in. "I wasn't talking about the sky."

She looked over at him. Even in the night he could tell that she was blushing. She pressed her lips to his and pushed him over so he was on his back. They kissed with a passion that neither of them had ever felt before. Time stopped as they embraced one another. They pulled apart breathless and panting. 

"Fluttershy?"

She lay down next to him and placed her head on his chest. She laid one leg across his chest.  "Yes Soarin'?"

He felt her move closer to him. He brought his leg around her shoulder as he had done before and held the hoof that was laid across his chest with his free leg. 

"I think I love you."

She nuzzled his chest and gave a content hum. "I love you too."

The pair drifted off to sleep under the perfect night with only each other in their minds.
                                                                                                                                                                                          

Evergreen was having a good day. He had found a jackpot of a story in his own home, and from his own son. He sat behind his desk in his Canterlot office and looked out of the large window that over looked the city. His long work day was slowly winding down but he wasn't quiet done yet. He was waiting on one of his best writers to turn in their work. He rose from behind the desk and stretched his legs as he looked at the picture of his wife and son. The light brown mare with a deep orange mane was smiling with the cheerful pegasus that was holding a camera in hoof.

There came a knock at the door and a smooth tenor voice came from the open doorway. "Hey boss. I got the article all ready to go."

The light grey stallion walked into the room and placed a folder down on the desk. Evergreen picked it up and opened it. He pulled out the article and gave it a quick read through. He placed it down and noticed that there was another smaller group of papers in the folder. 

He pick them up and started looking them over. "What's this? Is this about the mare he was with?"

The grey stallion nodded, which caused his snow white mane to shimmer in the fading light. "Yes sir. I recognized her from the photo. Fluttershy. She used to be one of Photo's girls."

The green editor looked up. "Used to be?"

The journalist nodded. "She was a model for a good month or so before she quit. I talked to Photo Finish and she said, and I quote: "She had ze magiks!" He punctuated the sentence with a small hoof gesture of one talking about art or a fine wine. "She said that she was sad to see her go but Fluttershy apparently wanted to focus on her personal life rather than her professional."

The editor placed the papers back into the folder. "Good job Quick Silver. I should be able to get this into the morning edition."

Quick Silver gave him a bored look. "Just another day sir. Oh, before I forget. I looked up her home address. She lives in Ponyville."

Evergreen looked up from the folder. "I didn't hear a question there."

The stallion headed for the door. "Of course you didn't. I was merely stating an interesting fact. Have a good day sir."

With nothing else to say the grey stallion left the room. Evergreen shrugged and picked up the folder. He had better things to do than listen to his writer state useless knowledge, like making the story he was holding sell plenty of copies of the National Equestrian.