I can't move, I thought to myself. I didn't know how to respond to this. It happened too quick. I tried to rewind in my head how this happened. He misheard me?
It was no use trying to search for an answer in my jumbled-up mind. I couldn't come up with anything. I just stood there, by my door with a slightly shocked expression. Oh, Milky...
"What's the hold up?" Shouted a voice from behind him. Milky stepped aside, not taking his eyes off of me. I glanced where he stood before. Rainbow dash glided in, followed by the little, orange, filly, Scootaloo in her recognizable scooter. She carried a woven basket in her mouth, covered with a plaid patterned, cloth.
"Oh, hello, Rainbow dash. Hello, Scootaloo." I greeted them. "Please, come in." By the time I finished saying this, they were already on their way to my backyard door. Behind it, I could see Pinkie playing with Pokey, Rarity making small talk with some handsome stallion, Applejack showed up with a mare I've never seen before, and Twilight, who was sitting peacefully on a log observing the whole scene with Spike.
"Fluttershy?" Milky's voice brought my attention back to the living room of my home.
"Yes?" I answered lightly, looking back at him. He took a step towards me, and extended his neck.
"This is for you." He smiled, bringing the rose closer to me.
"Thank you." I hesitated. I stretched my own neck, and opened my mouth to receive the flower. The stem was long, so I grabbed the part furthest away from his mouth. I hated picking roses with my mouth, I always get scratched with one of its thorn's.
Luckily, there were none on this one. He let go of it after a second I grabbed onto the end. I heard a muffled voice come from outside my front door. No, wait.. There were two voices. One was higher toned than the other one. Their voices became more distinct when they came closer.
Then Big Mac came into my view as soon as I stepped back from Milky, holding his rose in my mouth. Our eyes met for a second. He looked surprised, but he remained quiet. I looked over to his right to his date and I felt my heart drop out of my chest.
The pink mare, Ms. Cheerilee, stood happily next to him. "Hello, Fluttershy! It's been a while." She said through a warming smile. My mouth couldn't function right. I tried to say something but all I saw were my parents, my childhood, my foster home, the teasing, and all the thorns in my life. Immediate sadness washed over me, but I didn't let it show. Not in front of Big Mac. I can't let him see me like this. I swallowed back all the memories and greeted her.
"It has, hasn't it? A really long time." I hope they understood me. I realized I still had the rose in my mouth. I walked over to my kitchen counter and placed it down by my sink. "Um, come in. Everypony's outside. We're ready to start the fire." I nodded at the opened door on the far side of the room.
"Great!" She said, walking out with her warming smile. Big Mac followed her, glancing back at me and giving a polite smile.
"Should we go too, 'Shy?" Milky asked me. I nodded, starting to walk. He slowly trotted closely by me, starting up some small talk. "So how've you been?" He asked with a smile.
"A little busy," I replied stepping through the framed door. The outside weather finally hit me. It was still a bit chilly, but not as much as last year. Last spring bonfire was almost cancelled because of the cold. "with all the critters waking up, my plate's full trying to keep up with them. In the end, it's all worth it, seeing their furry faces again."
Milky chuckled. "That's nice to hear. I'm glad they're awake. I know how lonely you get down here in the winter." He nudged me, "I wanted to come visit you but I didn't have the time, you know? I've been busy lately trying to get a job at our old school. The one we used to go to together, remember?" I looked back at him with a smile.
"Yes, I remember. We had fun, didn't we?"
"Indeed," He replied. We reached the six logs, which most were already occupied by the guests, chatting away loudly. Milky sat down in his seat next to mine.
"Would you excuse me for just a moment?" I asked him, staying standing up. He nodded with a smile. I faced the whole group of mares and stallions. Everypony was here, scattered around the small, dark, scene. "Uh, hello!" I attempted to yell out. My yellow wings opened and hovered me above where I stood before, to attract some attention on myself. It seemed like no one heard me but Milky. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Welcome! Please, have a seat." I rubbed my hooves together when I realized that nopony heard me. What else did you expect, Shy? Nopony ever listens. "Er.. We can.. get started if.." I trailed off, as I slowly sit back down to my seat. "Or not," I muttered, sadly admitting defeat. They weren't going to hear me over the noise.
"Hey!" A deep voice yelled from the side of the crowd. All the other ones quickly silenced to a mumble. I looked over their heads, along with everypony else, to find that Big Mac was the one to outburst. The green apples he calls eyes, stared back at me. "Go 'head, Fluttershy." He added, nodding towards me. He sat down on the log waiting for what I had to say next. Ms. Cheerilee sat down as well, looking over at me.
"T-Thank you, Big Mac." I said standing back up. He smiled slightly at me. "Thank you all for showing up," I directed towards the crowd. "Um, we're going to go ahead and start with the bonfire already." I glanced over at Twilight writing down notes. This year's bonfire needs to be amazing, since this is her first. It needs to be something memorable.
"Twilight? Can you please start the fire for me?" I asked her. She looked up from her scroll, confused for a second.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, handing Spike her note and quill. "It would be my pleasure." She smiled as she came closer to the mountain of sticks placed in the center in front of the guests. She told me earlier when she arrived to my cottage, about a fire spell she practiced a while before. I don't really remember what it was called, but it's name was ancient.
Twilight stepped back and took a breath. Her horn glowed purple and a few seconds later, a fire blazed from the wood. It's heat and light radiated around us. Soon after, everypony lightly gasped in awe at the towering fire. It sounded like they were enjoying it so far.
"Thank you very much, Twilight." I said looking back over to her.
"You're welcome." She replied satisfied with herself. She sat back down, to watch with the others what was coming next.
"Shall we move on?" I asked the group. Everypony nodded along with: "Mhmm!" and "Yeah!". I was so glad to hear the enthusiasm in their voices. So far so good..., I thought, smiling to myself.
"Uh, Rainbow?" I softly called to her. She was laying on the log on her back, taking up all the space and forcing Scootaloo to sit on the grass before her. It didn't look like she mind that Rainbow was hogging the log. Her smile said everything. I could tell she enjoyed just being there in her company. It reminded me of how Milky was when he was a little colt.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tap, Tap, Tap. I nervously looked out my cracked window of my foster home. It was the end of the first day of a new grade at school. It was terrifying. I had to meet so many new ponies, not to mention talk to them! I was so horrible with socializing as a filly. I couldn't even say my name without hiding my face behind my hooves.
I moved the curtains from the window, to reveal one of my peers from that day. He was squinting his golden eyes to try to look through my window. It took him a few moments to see me through his black, curly, mane, shielding his eyes. When he did, he flashed a big smile at me. A few of his foal teeth were missing.
"You're Muttershy, right?", his muffled voice rang. I gently opened my window a little, to hear him better. Giving him a confused look, I cocked my head to the side. "You're Muttershy.. right?" He repeated.
"Uh... I-It's Flutters-shy." I mumbled, looking down at my hooves.
"Huh?"
"F-Fluttershy.." I tried to squeeze out. Instead of saying my name, a small squeak managed to slip out.
"Ah.. I'll just call you 'Shy." He said with a small grin after a few moments of silence. He probably gave up in what I was trying to say. The colt then added, "I'm Milky Way! Nice meeting you!" He came closer to my window, peering into my room. I stepped back a few feet, startled. Why was he there? What did he want? I tried to say something close to "Please, go.", but my lips were sewn shut. His on the other hand, were wide open.
"Your rooms so neat! Do you clean it by yourself or does your mom do it? My room's always dirty. I like it that way though! It's easier to see what's where. My mom doesn't think so," He rambled on. "Ooh!" He barged into my room after he spotted my small, silver, box, laying on my bed. "What's this?" He asked me, poking the lid. It softly "dinged". "What's in it?" He picked it up with his hooves, and started to shake it around. Little noises came from inside the box.
"No! Stop!" I squealed, trotting over and snatching the box from him. "You'll break it!" His carelessness set me free from my speechless-spell. I knelt down and gently slid the decorative, silver, box, under my bed.
"What is it?" He quietly repeated, peeking into the hiding place. I didn't answer him right away. I was too busy praying that whatever inside of it, was okay.
"Well..?" He pushed on, as I stood back up.
"I-It was my parents." I said barely above a whisper.
"What's in it?"
"I don't know." I admitted.
"What do you mean you don't know? Haven't you opened it?" He asked me confused.
"No. Not yet." This silver box was found in the weather place where my parents worked. The police had given it to me the day after I found out my parents were missing. I never opened it because I didn't feel like it was my time to. It was a crazy gut feeling that would have probably sounded insane if I tried to explain it to him.
I heard heavy hoof steps come down the stairs from outside my room. I recognized it as Tate's.
"Milky, you have to go." I whispered to him.
"What? Why?" he loudly said.
"Shh!" I covered his mouth. Tate's steps stops for a second, as if he was listening for something. "You can't be here. I'm sorry. You have to go." I sighed. I tried to push him over to my window, but he wouldn't budge. He was strong for such a little colt.
"Fluttershy?" Tate's voice rumbled from the hallway. "Who are you talking to?" His tone of voice wasn't very pleasing. He sounded very angry and tired. Knowing what would come next, I stared at Milky with wide eyes.
"Go," I mouthed.
He stubbornly shook his head, and whispered, "I'm not leaving yet. I still wanted to ask you something."
"Fluttershy... Answer me!" Tate practically yelled. He had a really bad temper. His hoof steps stomped louder as he made his way to my room.
"Please," I begged him. He looked into my eyes and I could tell in his, that he was convinced.
"Okay. I'll tell you tomorrow in class." He opened his white wings and looked back at me. "Bye 'Shy." He whispered, flying through the window. I immediately pulled the drapes back over as if nothing happened. I remember thinking how weird it was that, first of all, he knew where I lived, and second of all, he had to come over to say something he could've said during school.
Tate came into my room soon after I thought this. Long story short, I was accused of trying to run from home after he found my window unlocked and open. My punishment? A small "lesson" was taught.
The next morning I arrived to school with the "lesson" still imprinted on my left cheek. Milky was the first to greet me at my desk in the far corner of the classroom. Our teacher was just arriving, so everypony was just hanging around the classroom until the bell rang.
"'Morning 'Shy!" He smiled at me. "What happened yesterday? Who was that?" Milky immediately began to question me. I wasn't even seated yet!
"Milky, what did you need to ask me?" I softly asked, completely ignoring him. I was a little rude, but I was so confused. Why did he have to come to my home to tell me? He couldn't have waited?
"Is there something wrong with your wings?" He frankly asked.
"W-What?" He moved over to my side and began to touch my wings. He gently tried to open them.
"You never fly, why? Your mom never taught you? Or are you one of those ponies that can't use them?" I clenched my wings close to my body, and tensed up a little. "I see you at recess sitting by yourself when Rainbow Dash isn't with you. You're always just on the cloud, while everypony else if playing in the air. Why?"
"I'm.. I'm scared to fly." I admitted, looking at my hooves in shame. After mom and dad went missing, I gave up on flying. Even though I was making good progress, I didn't have anypony there anymore to catch me if I fell.
"Really? I thought it was because of something else. It's not that hard, really! I can even teach you. That's how easy it is. It's just like walking." He shined a toothy smile. "Wait..." Milky's smile erased and formed into a frown instead. “What happened to you?" He craned his neck around to see the side of my marked face. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, I'm fine." I moved my head away so he doesn't see the mark Tate had left. That day, I checked in the mirror before I went to school. I didn't think it looked that noticeable. It was just a small red streak, nothing big.
"You sure? What happened?" I didn't want him to worry about me. Why did he care? He just met me.
Before I could answer anything, the school bell rang and the teacher stood from her desk. For this grade, we had a different teacher than Ms. Cheerilee. I couldn't remember her name, but I do remember that she was very old and sweet, not to mention patient.
"Come to your seats little fillies! It's time for class!" She shouted. Everypony scattered around quickly, dodging each other to get to their desks. Except Milky.
"Whoever did this, Fluttershy," He started. "I'll protect you from them." I was surprised he knew my name. It was not long ago that he called me 'Muttershy'.
"But--"
"No buts! It's a promise!" Milky grinned at me before he hurried on to his desk in front of the classroom and sat down.
After that day, we were inseparable. Every time I looked past my shoulder, he was close by, which I didn't mind at all. Even though Rainbow Dash is a good friend of mine, she didn't understand me as well as he did at the time. We've become great friends ever since.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Who start's?" Rainbow asked the competitors. The first hour of the bonfire, we played games. It was hide-and-seek (which most of the ponies complained were for little fillies), then a three-legged race, and finally an interesting game of truth-or-dare-hat-edition (which was all Rainbow's idea). I held her responsible over the game part of the bonfire. It seemed like everypony was enjoying them.
"I'll spin first!" Pinkie volunteered. She reached out to the glass bottle that laid on top of a rock on the grass, and spun it heavily. "We-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e!!" She gleefully shouted watching it go around and around. After a moment, it landed on Rarity.
"Moi?" The white mare anxiously asked.
"Yes! You gotta pick a paper from the hat!" Pinkie grinned at her.
"Oh, alright." Rarity reached into the black top hat that Pinkie Pie had passed to her, filled with pre-written dares and truths that everypony wrote earlier. After a moment of rustling, she pulled out a small, folded, piece of paper. "Do 'Chubby Bunny'." She read out loud.
"Ooh!" The guests moaned.
"I will do no such thing!" she whined.
"You have to! It's the dare. The penalty of skippin' out on us, is a walk through the Everfree Forest!" Rainbow chimed in. Various gasps came from the mention of the forest.
"Here you go, Rare!" Pinkie squealed, handing over one of the marshmallow bags by the fire. She grabbed the bag hesitantly with a worried look plastered on her face.
"I can't pick another?" No pony answered her so she opened the bag slowly. Rarity looked to her side where her stallion friend was and sighed under her breath. She grabbed the first white, squishy, square, and squeezed it. "Here it goes.." Everypony watched intently, especially Rainbow. As Rarity ate the first one, the crowd started to count.
"Chubby bunny," she said clearly.
"One," They all chanted. She squeezed in another one.
"Chubby bunny," Rarity repeated.
"Two," She grabbed a third and pushed it in.
"Chubby bunny," her voice started to muffle a little more.
"Three," they continued in unison. It wasn't long until Rarity reached twelve.
"Come on, you can do it!" Rainbow shouted.
"Mm mmm mm!" No one could understand Rarity with all the gooey marshmallows in her mouth. The most recent one, slightly stood out. She shook her head as Rainbow flew closer with another marshmallow. "Mmm mm!" Rarity started to kick her hooves to move her back from her.
"I wouldn' push it if I were ya'. She don't look like she candle handle another one." said Applejack.
"Please. If she can have thousands of clothes pins in her mouth, I think she can take--" Rainbow was interrupted mid-sentence by Rarity's sudden escape. She quickly ran over to the trash bag I had left out earlier, and started to spit out everything from her mouth.
"I guess not." muttered Rainbow after Rarity walked back over to the group.
"Ugh, I do not want to eat another one of those disgusting candy things ever again in my life!" She muttered. We all lightly laughed.
"Okay, Rarity, it's your turn to spin." Twilight said.
"Can somepony do it for me, please? I need to go freshen up. I will be right back." replied Rarity trotting over to my cottage.
"Ooh! I call it!" Rainbow shouted, nose diving to the bottle. She spun it with all her strength. It went around for almost a minute until it finally slowed down and landed on poor, little, Scootaloo. "Alright, squirt, looks like its all you now."
Scootaloo jumped from her spot on the grass and towards the top hat by Pinkie.
"What's the dumbest thing you've ever done?" She read. Scootaloo looked into the sky trying to remember something.
"I think it was when I went over to help Pinkie make a cake, and I put a lot of baking soda thinking it'll make the cake bigger. The cake ended up exploding." She confessed.
"Hee hee! I remember that!" giggled pinkie and the rest of the crowd.
The game was going great, and everypony was having a great time.. until it was my turn.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What's it say, Fluttershy?" asked Applejack after I didn't read my dare out loud.
"I-I-It says to..." I tried to read it, but I was too embarrassed to. Pokey, to my right, leaned over and read it for me.
"Kiss whoever the bottle lands on." He loudly announced.
"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-h!" The guests gasped.
"You're gonna have to spin!" Spike said.
"Either that, or the Everfree!" added Rainbow.
"B-B-But, can't I bend the rules.. just a little?" I asked, hoping for a way out of this. I wondered who put that in the hat as a dare. It could have been Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash, to keep things interesting, but then again, it could have been anypony really.
"I guess so. You are hosting the party after all, darling." Rarity said.
"A peck on the cheek will do!" Pinkie added. I finally reached over, and spun the glass bottle, accepting my dare. It was less pressure now that my task was modified a bit, but it still wasn't a walk in the park. Watching it go around and around, I braced myself for who it'll land on.
Please don't land on Big Mac.. I silently prayed. This is just too embarrassing. Why did I have to get this dare? The bottle slowed down. It's mouth pointed on Pokey for a second, but was moved slightly to my left by the wind that just happened to pass by.
"Looks like Milky's the lucky stallion!" Applejack laughed. I started to cough out of surprise. The bright side was that it didn't land on Big Mac after all. Speaking of Big Mac.. where is he? He wasn't in his seat by Ms. Cheerilee (who looked a little bored of the game to be honest). She only had two turns and didn't really get dares.
I turned to look at Milky, sheepishly smiling at me. It's just a little kiss. It doesn't mean anything, 'Shy! I tried to persuade myself. Just do it.
I could feel everypony's eyes staring down at us, waiting.
"We're waiting..!" teased Spike with a mischievous smile. Milky tilted his head a little to his left, exposing his white cheek. I felt my face begin to heat up a little as I moved closer to him. I guessed the reason that everypony was so eager for this to happen was because of the fact that I'm the only pony left of the six to not have dated or kissed anypony. The first was Rainbow Dash, second was Applejack, third was Pinkie Pie, fourth was Rarity, and last was Twilight.
My lips were inches away from Milky's cheek, when a collaboration of the clinking of plates, glasses, and a thud, scared us all into looking to the side of my home. Everypony laughed at the sight of Big Mac laying on the table that looked to have been thrown on the ground.
"Oops," he said, trying to get up from the spilled punch and cupcakes. He had frosting smeared across his face, some of Applejack's fritters in his mane, and punch dripping off the sides of him.
"Oh, are you okay?" I asked him, quickly flying over to the scene.
"Eeyup," Big Mac replied with a grin.
"I'll get you something to clean yourself up with." I dashed into the house, leaving behind me the group chatting to themselves.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"--And the young mare was never found. Rumour has it that she still roams around these very woods, looking for her next victim.." Pokey said with an evil smile. "The end."
The captive audience didn't move after his final words. I was a little spooked. I could tell the others were too, by the way they looked over at each other.
"Doesn't he tell the best stories?" Yelled Pinkie, jumping out of her seat and startling everypony.
"It wasn't as scary as Dash's." He replied looking over at Rainbow, who held onto Scootaloo, with wide, bulging, eyes.
"Oh, Rarity dear," exclaimed Rarity's date, standing up. "it is getting late. I must leave." He looked over to us saying, "Thank you very much for tonight. Please excuse me." He made his way from us, and towards my cottage to leave.
"Please, wait. I will walk you out." Rarity trotted over to him. "Good-bye!" She shouted to us halfway across the yard.
"I think we've gotta go too, Applejack. Granny Smith's gonna have a cow if we show up too late." Applejack's cousin told her.
"Thanks for remindin' me, Red!" Applejack called after her. She introduced us earlier to Red Gala, one of Applejack's cousins that came to visit. "I'll see ya'll later!" She hollered.
"Bye! Thank you for coming!" I yelled back. Rainbow stretched her hooves on her log.
"When are we gonna hit the hay, 'Shy?" She asked mid-yawn. "It's about to be one in the morning." She looked down at Scootaloo, who was fast asleep on the grass by her hooves.
"Oh, my! It's getting late. I'll go get the blankets." I quickly counted the ponies left: Rainbow, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Scootaloo, Pokey, Ms. Cheerilee, Big Mac, and Milky. Oh, and one dragon. I went inside to fetch eleven blankets and pillows, sitting in my hallway closet.
When I came back, I handed each guest a blanket. "You can choose wherever you'd like to sleep." I announced as they laid it down. Rainbow couldn't decide where to put hers. She'd lay it down, pick it back up, walk ten feet away, and repeat. Each time she did, Scootaloo-- who had woken up-- followed her with her own blanket.
When everypony was finally settled down, Twilight took out the fire for me.
"Goodnight, everypony!" Rarity yelled from the top window of her inflatable, purple, tent. She snapped on her purple sleeping mask, and turned back in her tent.
"Goodnight!" We all called back. Everypony slept close to each other in fear of Pokey's and Dash's scary tale coming true.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For half an hour, there were whispers and little voices snickering at each other. It was only after Milky talked about all the constellations in the sky, when everypony finally fall asleep. Well.. everypony except me. I stayed up, laying on my back to watch the stars shine some more.
"I wonder if you've made it Mom and Dad." I said under my breath. "Do you miss me? Because I miss you both very much." The two biggest stars, twinkled and spun around a little, spreading around their pearly-white glow. I know it's useless to talk to balls of gas, but it's comforting to think that my parents are safe somewhere up there and not close to death in the middle of nowhere. "I love you, don't ever forget that."
"'Shy?" I gasped, quickly sitting up. Was that...? I glanced to a shadowy figure close by to my left.
"Hello?" I whispered to it.
"Sorry. Did I wake ya'?" The low voice asked. I could tell this was Big Mac by his southern accent.
"Oh, no. Not at all." He came over to my side, carefully stepping around sleeping Spike and Scootaloo.
"May I?" He asked as soon as he got to my blanket.
"Sure," I whispered to him. He sat down close next to me. A little too close for comfort, if you ask me. "You couldn't sleep?"
"Nope," He replied, looking up at the starry sky.
"I couldn't either." I looked at him. There was just enough moonlight to show most of his face, and all of his emerald-colored eyes.
"Fluttershy?" He looked back down at me, so suddenly.
"Oh," I quickly stared back down at my hooves. "Uh, yes?"
"Are you and Milky Way... together?"
"By together, do you mean dating?" I peeked back up at him. He was still staring down at me.
"Eeyup."
"No, w-we're just really good friends." I said smiling at him. "Why would you think we're 'together'?"
"I dunno. I just thought so with him givin ya' the rose and googly eyes all night."
"Oh, really? I didn't notice." I lied a little. He was a bit out of character tonight, handing over that rose. Milky can be very friendly but this was a new level.
"Ya know, if ya pulled your mane back more ya'd be able to notice more. You've got beautiful eyes." I sensed my cheeks heat up soon after his remark. Beautiful eyes? He thinks I have beautiful eyes? There isn't anything so 'beautiful' about them. They're just a regular, old, pair, of cyan eyes. That's so kind of him to think that, though.
"T-Thank you," I said barely above a whisper. How else would I respond to such a surprising compliment?
Other than the sound of crickets chirping and toads croaking into the night sky, we sat in silence, staring into each others eyes and grasping the moment we had with just the two of us. My stomach was filled instantly with swarms of butterflies, like it always does whenever I'm around him.
"Big Mac," I whispered. "I'd, uh, like to go to bed, if you don't mind." I managed to pull away from his intense stare. For some reason, I was too afraid to look any longer.
"Of course," He softly said, standing up from his spot on my green blanket. "'Night, Fluttershy."
"Goodnight, Big Mac." I replied. He smiled at me once more, before heading back silently to his own place.
I lay myself down on my side and closed my eyes. Even though he was gone, I could still hear his deep, easing, southern, voice, ringing gently in my ear.
Sweet dreams, my apple-green eyed stallion.