A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

14 - Freedom!!

Martin stood outside the hospital, staring at the town, realizing he had no idea where the café was. He wandered around town, hoping to run into somepony he recognized. Finally, he spotted Twilight heading towards the library and he sprinted to her. "Hey Twilight!"
She paused and turned around, smiling when she saw Martin. "Hey Martin; where did you run off too? And congratulations!!"
He blushed. "Um… thanks. Anyways, AJ and I were going to meet at a café… but I don’t know which one she was talking about. Do you maybe know where it is?" He asked the purple unicorn.
She paused. "I think there's a western themed one not that far from the library…"
He nodded. "Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for it." He said waving goodbye before he continued to hunt for it. He finally saw a sign hanging in front, whistling and country music coming from inside. He slowly opened the door and looked inside.
It was as if the café was taken straight from the American West in the 1800s, the walls decorated as if it was a saloon. Everypony wore western style outfits and the barmares were walking around, serving ponies with southern accents. Most of the café was taken up a dance floor, which was full of ponies.
He walked inside and walked up to a mare standing at a podium, looking through some sort of book. "Excuse me…"
"Well howdy stranger, ya look like sometin' from the Everfree Forest." She paused, her accent thick. "Name's Sundancer, what can Ah help ya wit?"
"Um… is it possible to reserve a table for two for Saturday?" He asked curiously.
She skimmed through the book she was reading. "Ah think we can squeeze you two in. What time?"
"Around six."
She grabbed a pencil with her mouth. "We got a spot open… Name?"
"Thrift."
"Thrift?" She looked at him.
"That's me name, Martin Thrift."
"Alright…" She wrote his name. "Then do ya know Saturday is karaoke night?"
"No… but I do now…"
"Do you wanna join?"
"Um… maybe some other day." He said, looking around awkwardly.
"Aww… ok." She said, scribbling something. "Then Ah guess we'll see ya Saturday."
He nodded. "Thank you very much." He said, turning around and leaving the café. He stood at the entrance, wondering what to do. He glanced at his muddy clothes. Better go change, don’t wanna be walking around like this and have Rarity see me… He shuddered, thinking of her reaction as he quickly made his way back to the library.
He opened the door and took off his boots, leaving them on the doorstep out of the way and walked inside to see a tower of clothes on the coffee table. He saw a note attached to them and grabbed it.

Rarity brought these here, says she'll let you know when you can return the favor.
Twilight

"Huh… that’s really nice of her." He said as he grabbed the pile and made his way to the guest room. He quickly changed, staring at his arm when it protested movement. Afterwards, he stared out the window and saw Michael sneaking along in the snow, Fluttershy nowhere to be found. He stared at his friend for a moment before sighing. "Let's hope I still know some parkour…" He muttered before opening the window, taking a deep breath, and jumping out. He flew momentarily before tucking his shoulder in and rolling on the ground. He got and brushed the snow off of himself. "Phew… what a relief. That could have ended in tears." He muttered as he stealthily made his way to his friend.
Mike was completely oblivious to his friend following but he heard footsteps in the snow, his ear twitching at the noise. "Oi, you there!" Martin yelled.
Mike froze and slowly turning his head towards the noise. There was a momentary silence before he tried to run away.
Martin sighed and quickly caught up to his friend as he struggled to properly work his four legs. "Where do you think you're going, aye?"
"Uh… nowhere?" Mike said as he continued running.
"Don’t make me tackle you!"
Mike sighed and turned around, staring at the snow. "What?"
Martin stopped and stood in front of him. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked again.
"I was going back to where we landed in the Everfree and see if I could find something… I just have a feeling we're missing something and its right in front of us…" He said. "I wish I could see though…" He muttered to himself.
Martin raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms on his chest. "That sounds awfully dangerous… and you want to go alone?"
"Well I couldn’t ask anyone to go with me…"
"How about me, aye? I won't let ya go alone; I'll go with you if you have to go."
"But you have a date in a few days; I can't let you get hurt."
"Neither can I let you kill yourself. I'm going with you no matter what."
Mike sighed. "It's not like you're going to let me go alone anyway, are you?"
"You're a fast learner but we'll have to do some other things first." Martin said, heading back towards the library. "Come on mate…"
Mike sighed and staggered along, limping.
Once they were inside, Martin grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote a note for Twilight. He then grabbed his crossbow and strapped it to his back. "Let's get crackin'…"
Mike looked at the note. "What did you write?"
Just letting her know we're out having some fun so she doesn’t worry. He replied.
"Ah…" Mike paused. "I probably should've told Flutters…"
"Flutters?" Martin asked, a smile on his face.
Mike coughed. “Fluttershy…"
He nodded. "Uh huh..." He opened the door and led the way. Mike stood there, hoofing at the ground. Martin turned around. "What are you waiting for?" Mike sighed again and followed him slowly, smacking into the door jam. Martin sighed. "Maybe we shouldn’t go… you're as blind as a mole…"
"No… we gotta go…"
"Fine… just stay close in that case." Martin said, leading Mike out of the library and towards the forest, both silent.
The forest was unnaturally dark for being in the middle of the day, the sun's rays barely breaching the leafy canopy. The tree tops sailed high above either of their heads, branches and vines eloping the trees together. The deeper they went in, the taller and wilder the vegetation became.
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Martin said as he cocked his crossbow.
"Me too…" Mike agreed, squinting to see in the little light. "Are we almost there?"
The path veered up and they continued to walk, the noises of the natural animals surrounded them. A loud roar was rather close by and both turned towards the noise.
"What was that?" Mike asked.
Martin squinted in the direction of the noise. "I don’t know… but I have a feeling Slenderman's about to pop out from behind that tree."
Mike chuckled. "Even if he does, I won't be able to see him…"
The roar echoed again through the woods as several flocks of birds and other creatures around them suddenly bolted from the underbrush. Martin looked for the source of the roar, aiming with his crossbow.
"That was a manticore, wasn’t it?" Mike asked, his fur standing up on its end.
"I… I don’t know." Martin replied. They paused for a moment. "Let's keep going…" He said.
Mike nodded and they continued to go deeper into the forest, trying to find where they landed. The eerie quiet was all around them, not an animal for miles. A stick not too far from them snapped and Martin gripped the crossbow tightly and leaned down.
"I'm going to turn around when I tell you to, you run ok?" He whispered.
"Yeah… which direction, I can't see…" Mike whispered back.
"Straight ahead… if ya keep going, you'll be at the spot we arrived."
"Ok… just let me know when."
Martin got to his full height and took several deep breaths, before rapidly turning around and aiming at the creature following them; his eyes grew wide as it was a Manticore taller than him. "RUN!" He yelled.
Mike sprinted, groaning in pain as he made it to the spot. Martin glanced around, his crossbow held at the ready. He realized they were surrounded by a pack of manticores. They kept their distance, growling and snarling at him as Mike frantically searched the snow.
Martin aimed and pulled the trigger, the bolt spearing a manticore through the knee, blood shooting everywhere. The beast howled in pain as it scratched at the bolt. Martin yelled and charged it, reaching into his pocket and taking out his knife. He flicked it a few times as he jumped on the injured manticore, stabbing it in the face a few times. The beast growled before it sunk to the ground and didn’t move. Martin's new shirt was covered in mud and blood.
The others wasted no time and charged him, their claws out and aiming at his chest. He scrambled to put a bolt in the crossbow as one got really close. Suddenly a blue blur came barreling through, knocking the manticore to the ground. The beast yelled in anger and swiped at the pegasus and he awkwardly dodged it.
"Time to go back!" Mike yelled.
Another snuck up on the pegasus and Martin grabbed the knife and threw it at the approaching manticore, impaling it in the side. He quickly ran up to it and kicked it, grabbing his knife as the creature fell to the ground. He smashed the creature's skull with the butt of the crossbow, the crunch echoing loudly.
Mike stumbled into the weary human and pushed him along. "Come on! We can kill them later!" He yelled. Another tried to swipe at him and he dodged it, losing most of his tail. "I didn’t like it anyway!" It charged again and shredded his fur.
Martin bent down and let Mike climb on his back as he began to sprint through the woods, the remaining three manticores in hot pursuit.
Mike looked around. "Damn it; I wish I could see! They didn’t get you, did they?" He asked. Martin shook his head and Mike sighed. "Good… AJ would've killed me…" He paused. "How many did you get?"
He panted heavily. "Two… could've killed more." He said, trying to keep himself running.
Mike squirmed out of his grip and fell on his hooves, running next to him. "I can't let you always get me out of tough spots."
The roars behind them slowly faded as they reached the edge of the forest. Martin turned his head and they slowed down as he breathed deeply. "Did… did ya find anything?" He asked, out of breath.
Mike shook his head. "No… there was nothing around; I thought it'd be easy to spot in the snow, but nothing stood out…"
Martin sighed and put his knife back in his pocket before strapping the crossbow on his back. "We… we should get back to the library."
"Yeah…" Mike scratched the back of his neck. "They're going to kill me, aren't they?"
Martin nodded. "Yep…" He looked at his clothes. "I'll have to change again…" He said with a faint smile.
Mike laughed. "We go through clothes like paper plates…"
Martin smiled. "We shouldn’t waste anymore time..." They began the journey back to Ponyville.

=

The townsponies stared at them in shock, Martin's clothes torn, covered in blood and mud while Mike's fur was matted with the same and was missing most of his tail. They stood outside the library.
"I'll go through the window…" Martin said, climbing up the tree and hopping through the window. Mike stared at the tree before looking back at the forest. Martin quickly threw a shirt over his blood soaked one and climbed down the tree. "Can't leave you alone." He muttered, standing next to the frozen pegasus.
Mike sighed. "I've learned my lesson; I'm never going back into that forest if I don’t have to…"
Martin nodded. "Better get this over with." He opened the main door walked through first.
"Where have you two been? It only said 'Mike and I are out having some fun'?!" Twilight yelled.
Martin held up his hands in defense. “I know and I'm so-”
“IS THAT BLOOD?!” Twilight asked, looking at his hands.
He stared at his hands blankly. “…Um…”
"It was my fault." Mike said, quickly trotting in front of Martin. Everyone looked at him and he sighed, looking at the floor. "I wanted to see if I could find out if we left anything and since the last time was such a success." He motioned at his bandaged side. "I asked Martin to come with me. He was hesitant and thought it was a bad idea but I forced him into coming. We ran into the manticores again but none of them scratched us." He added quickly.
Martin bent down and patted his shoulder. "Nah… that ain't true, I came with you to make sure you were safe. I don’t blame you… no one should. Everyone makes mistakes and next time I see those manticores, I'll make sure to kill more than two…"
Mike blinked and looked back at him as the mares stared at them. “Is that true?” Twilight asked and he sighed, nodding.
“In that case, there's no need to hide it anymore.” Martin said, unbuttoning his shirt and revealed the blood soaked one underneath. Everypony gasped and Rarity glared at him, horrified and furious.
"What did you do to that perfectly good shirt?" She asked. AJ looked him over, making sure he was ok as Fluttershy hesitantly walked over and made sure Mike wasn't cut again.
"Well that’s what happens when you kill two manticores." Martin said in his defense.
"It'll take weeks to get all that blood out of it." Rarity said, distastefully.
He sighed. "I'm sorry Rarity…"
She forced a smile. "Well… I guess I'll make exception since you weren't hurt…"
His arms shot up in the air. "WOHO-ouch, ouch, ouch…" He said, lowering them instantly and favoring his right arm.
Twilight sighed, her horn glowing as she walked over. "Since you two keep getting yourselves hurt, I started reading some medical books… let's see if this works." She said, tapping his arm and the pain vanished, along with his bones as his arm flopped around like jelly.
He looked at his arm in horror. "What the fuck!?! OH COME ON!!"
Twilight started to panic. "Don’t worry, I can fix this!" She yelled, tapping his arm again.
He yelled in pain. "You're not making anything better you know!?" He groaned. "This is just like Harry Potter… just worse!" He yelled.
Mike started to laugh at that while everypony looked at him in concern. Twilight repeatedly poked his arm and having interesting side effects. They ranged from turning into a block of ice, silly putty, and a yo-yo. Finally, she tapped his arm one more time and his bones were back with no pain attached.
He fell over, exhausted. "No offense Twilight, you should leave the healing to others…" He checked his arm, moving it around. "Wait a second… I don’t feel any pain. You... you healed my arm Twilight." He pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!"
She giggled as he hugged her. "It just takes a little trial and error!" She said with a huge smile.
He set her gently back on the ground. "This is just grand!" He yelled in delight. He looked at her fur and blushed slightly. "Um… you have some blood on your fur… sorry about that." He said sheepishly.
She looked at herself and sighed, walking towards the bathroom. "I'll be right back." She said, shutting the door. She quickly turned on the shower and started scrubbing her fur.
Martin walked towards the guest room. "I'll go put on some clean clothes… again." He said.
"Good idea." AJ said, watching him disappear as Twilight walked out of the bathroom, her fur washed.
After a few minutes, Martin came back in another set of clothes; a red checkered-button shirt, blue jeans and a pseudo-leather vest. "Now all I need is a hat and I'm a cowboy." He chuckled.
Rarity slowly turned her head towards him, imagining all the hat designs she could 'test' on him.
"Umm… I'm going to take Michael back to the hospital…" Fluttershy whispered as she held Mike's hoof.
"Sure, go ahead." Martin said, slightly unnerved with the look he was getting from Rarity.
Mike sighed. "But I'm fine; I don’t need to go back to the stupid hospital…" He muttered.
Fluttershy turned and looked at him, her aqua eyes full of concern. "No… you need to go back, you're still not healed. We can ask Nurse Redheart if you can leave but before that you'll have to rest."
He looked at her, staring back into her eyes before he sighed. "Ok… lead the way." He said, getting close to her as they walked out of the library.
Everypony watched them leave before Rarity was back to looking at him. "A cowboy hat you say?" She asked.
"Maybe some boots as well… I'm really no expert." He said, feeling uncomfortable.
Rarity’s eyes lit up. "Really? Well then, we must head to the Boutique right this instant so I can whip up this 'cowboy hat and boots'." She said, quickly trotting to the door and waiting for him to follow. He gulped and hesitantly followed the white unicorn.
The trip was quiet and she quickly got him on the little stage in the center of the room, tape measure and fabrics floating near his head. “Umm… what do you have planned?” He asked, following a multitude of instructions she gave him.
“Oh a little bit of this, a little bit of that.” She muttered, tape measure wrapped around his head.

=

He staggered out an hour later, a cowboy hat in the same vein as AJ's resting on his head and a pair of pseudo leather boots. He looked at himself. "Wow… I look good." He muttered, heading back to the library.
He saw a bunch of ponies, gathering supplies and it looked like Dash was in charge. She was also wearing a blue vest that faintly stood out on her coat. He took a slight detour and walked towards them. "What is going on here?" He asked the hovering pegasus.
She turned her head and looked at him. "We're getting for the Winter Wrap Up tomorrow." She raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do tomorrow?"
He glanced at himself again. "What do you mean?"
"Well we have to sweep the clouds away, get rid of the snow, reawaken the animals around town, replant the seeds, and unfreeze the lake."
He stood there and thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure... um… what do you think suits me?"
She thought for a moment, hovering around him. "I'd say help clean up the snow."
He shrugged. "I guess I could do that…."
She grinned. "Or help AJ replant the seeds?"
He blushed. "I-I'll decide on the way…" He said, quickly walking away from her.
She watched the human for a moment, before chuckling and helped the ponies organize for tomorrow.
He wandered through town, watching the townsponies get ready for the annual Winter Wrap Up. He saw an orange earth pony with a green vest on and he made his way towards her, avoiding the chaotic ponies.
"Well howdy there Martin." She said, able to see him over the ponies.
"Hey AJ." He stood in front of her.
"You ready for the Winter Wrap Up tomorra?"
He stared at her blankly. "That's the thingy were everypony 'cleans up' winter?"
"Eeyup, we're gettin' the whole town. Hay, Fluttershy is supposed ta ask Michael about it and see if he wants ta help."
He nodded. "You still need a helping hand?"
"Course we do, we could always use one." She smiled. "So do ya know what jobs there are?"
"More or less…"
"Oh… so, what'd ya pick?"
"I'd actually like to help you… if you think I wouldn’t be in the way."
She smiled. "Course ya can. Ah'll take any help Ah can get. It'll be fun." She paused. "But we'll have ta have Rarity make ya a vest, there's not one that'll fit cha." She said, holding up another vest.
He eyed the small green vest. "Aye… well ok, when do we start?" He asked as he pushed his hat up.
"We'll start bright and early tomorra. We gotta git the townsponies ready."
"And when will we be done?"
"Usually 'round sun down and afterwards, we have a party ta celebrate at Sugarcube Corner."
Martin paused. "I have to go to work tomorrow morning at seven…"
"Actually, Forge is helpin' too."
"Oh, well ok then…" He said, surprised.
"Ah was surprised too; said something 'bout having a bunch of free time since ya helped him with that gun."
He smiled. "That’s good."
"Yeah, first time he's helped since his son was a colt." She chuckled.
"I'm glad the old guy's getting out and about."
She smiled at him. "Me too…"

=

Mike lay on the hospital bed as Fluttershy sat next to it, holding his hoof. "Don’t worry… I'm sure you can leave soon." She said, smiling.
He nodded. "Me too… I'm going stir crazy here… I've always hated hospitals…" He said, emphasized by his shaking hoof.
She leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek. "I'll make sure it’s a little more bearable…" She said, her cheeks highlighted with pink.
Thank god for having a dark coat. "You do…" He smiled at her, his cheeks a bit red.
She smiled as she leaned closer, her face bright red. He closed the rest of the distance and their lips connected as the world melted away. They closed their eyes, both their faces bright red.
The door suddenly opened and Redheart walked in. "I have good new- oh my, I'm terribly sorry." She said, hiding a smile and backing away.
They broke the kiss and looked at her embarrassed. Fluttershy instinctively hid behind her mane. "No… i-it's alright, what were you going to say?" Mike asked, his voice stuttering.
"Your wounds have healed quite nicely and after one final check, you can leave."
"Yes!" He yelled and blushing as both mares looked at him. "I mean… that’s great…"
Redheart shook her head. "The doctor will be in a little under a half hour. I'll leave the two of you alone…" She said, shutting the door behind her.
"Well… that was awkward…" Mike chuckled as he looked at Fluttershy. She was silent as she pulled him into a hug. He patted her on the back. "I'll be happy to be out of here, and one of these days, I'll get a pair of glasses so I'm not a burden for you Fluttershy."
She smiled at him. "You're not a burden, I'm happy to help you…" She whispered.
"Are you sure? I mean… aren't you upset that you have to drag me around everywhere?"
She shook her head. "No… I'm always happy when I can help… especially if it's you…"
He didn’t say anything, a lump in his throat. He lightly kissed her and pulled her into a hug. "You're the best Fluttershy…"
She blushed and hugged back before they separated again. "So what do you want to do while we wait for the doctor?"
She thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, I was… um… going to ask if you wanted to help the town with Winter Wrap Up?"
He tilted his head. "Winter Wrap Up? What's that?"
"Well… every year after winter we clean up the snow, wake the animals, and plant the seeds needed for spring. Everypony in town helps and… um… I was wondering whether you would want to help wake the animals with me…" She explained.
He faintly smiled. "Sure, as long as I don’t have to help with the cute demonic bunnies." She giggled. "So do we just go out and wake them up or do we have to wait for our turn or something? What do we do after we finish?"
"We go wake them peacefully, make sure you don’t scare them. Everypony works at the same time but we all work in groups for different areas. And once we're done, we celebrate at the Sugarcube Corner."
"Oh… how do we wake them up?"
"You just go and talk to them." She said with a smile.
"Sounds like it's gonna be fun… when is it?"
"Tomorrow morning at sunrise…"
"Oh… ok then, I'll make sure to free my schedule. "He said with a smile.
She gave him a brief hug. "This means a lot to me…" She whispered.
"R-really?" He asked, blushing. She nodded and nuzzled his cheek. "If I can ask… why? I mean it does sound like fun." He whispered.
"Because you chose to spend time with me…" She blushed.
He blushed heavily enough that she could see it through his dark fur. "Oh… well… I'm glad you want to spend time with me." He hesitantly nuzzled her cheek.
There was a gentle knock on the door.
"Come in!" He said.
The door opened and revealed the doctor that has served both of the humans, with a clipboard floating at his side. "Good evening, I'm here to do your final checkup for, hopefully, a while."
Mike smiled. "Thanks doc."
The doctor nodded and walked up to the pegasi. "Could you please sit up?"
Mike nodded as Fluttershy backed away and he got up, throwing the sheets and slowly getting to my hooves.
"Good." The doctor walked around Mike, examining the different wounds, sometimes he'd push against the body, gauging the pain. After what seemed like eternity but was only twenty minutes, the doctor scribbled something on the clipboard before he smiled at the pegasi. "Well, I'm glad to say that your back to one hundred percent and you can leave anytime. Just take it easy, nothing that puts a lot of stress on your body." He faintly smiled as he glanced at Fluttershy. "Nothing…"
"I don’t get wha-" their faces turned bright pink. "I-I-I won't…" He looked at the scars the manticore left. "They won't go away will they?"
The doctor shook his head. "Not completely but they'll be barely visible."
Mike smiled. "That’s ok; they don’t bother me if they stayed the way they are."
The doctor nodded. "I wish you a nice day and a wonderful Winter Wrap Up tomorrow." He turned around and left.
"You too Doc and thanks." Mike said as the doctor left and he looked at Fluttershy. "So…" She looked at him, blushing. "…What would you like to do?" He muttered.
"Um… I have to help organize waking the animals for the Winter Wrap Up in town…" She whispered.
"Oh…" He looked down. "Then I should let you get to it?"
"You can come with me if you want…"
"Really? I won't be a burden, you having to worry about a blind pony ruining things?"
She shook her head. "I'll be your eyes…" She said, giving him a brief kiss on the cheek before grabbing his hoof.
He faintly smiled. “I don’t know what to say Fluttershy… you're too good to me…”
“You deserve it all…” She said, leading them out of the hospital.
He took a deep breath outside as they made their way into Ponyville. “It feels good to breath with no pain.” He said, smiling before looking at the town.
She led them around town as she walked up to ponies with a light brown vest and whispered what to do but never let go of his hoof. He blushed as ponies looked at him weirdly, some confused, others smiling at them.
"Aww, ain't that a sight to behold aye?!" Martin yelled as he stood next to AJ.
Both of the pegasi blushed as they turned to look at the human. "H-hey…" Mike whispered.
Martin walked towards them. "It's good to see you out of the hospital."
Mike smiled. "Same here… glad to finally be outta there."
"So… are you ready for the Winter Wrap Up?"
"Uh… I guess…" Mike paused and looked at the human. "How about you; I take it your helping AJ?"
Martin nodded. "Yep. So what are you two up to?" He noticed that Fluttershy was still holding Mike's hoof.
Mike coughed and tightened his grip on her hoof. "We're helping with the Winter Wrap Up preparations for waking the animals."
Fluttershy blushed. "Umm… yes… well no, I just finished to be honest…" She whispered.
Mike looked at her. "Really?" He gulped. "Then… what do you like to do?"
"Um… I-I was going to head back to my cottage and check on a few things…" She blushed again.
"Would you mind some company?" Mike asked.
She smiled at him and began leading him towards the cottage. "See ya later." Mike said.
"See ya later I guess." Martin said, waving.
Mike waved a hoof goodbye before following her to the cottage.
“Ah swear, those two are somethin'.” AJ commented, watching them leave.
“Definitely.” Martin added with a smile.
She got up and started to head for the farm. “It's getting' late and we have a busy day tomorra so Ah'm gonna turn in early.”
He looked at her. “Umm… ok, see ya tomorrow.”
She waved goodbye and continued heading towards the farm, her silhouette outlined by the sun.
He sighed. “Better get going myself.” He muttered, heading towards the library.
By the time he got there, the moon was peeking out of the horizon, the sun losing its power. Twilight was reading a book on the couch as Spike was cooking something for dinner.
"Hello everyone…" Martin said, taking off his boots.
"Evening Martin." Twilight said over her book while Spike waved from the kitchen, focused on dinner. He walked past Twilight and plopped on the couch, taking his hat off and putting it on the table. She looked at it. "So how was your day? And I see Rarity made you that cowboy hat of yours…"
He nodded. "Interesting… Mike's out of the hospital by the way."
She smiled. "Really? Where is he?"
"At Fluttershy's cottage, I'm not sure what they're doing there though and I'm not sure if they'd want us to know…"
She blushed. "I-I don’t think they would… they’ve known each other for less than a week!"
"You never know…" He chuckled.
She shook her head. "Yeah… do you think he's coming back here?"
"Probably not." He said, shaking his head.
She smiled. "That’s ok, as long as he's happy." She paused. "So did you hear about the Winter Wrap Up tomorrow?"
"Course, I'm helping AJ…"
She looked at you. "Does this have to do with the big date on Saturday?"
He blushed. "Umm… ma-maybe…"
She giggled. "That’s what I thought…"
"Umm… I think I'll go to bed… it's going to be a long day…" He said, getting up from the couch.
She smiled. “Goodnight Martin.”
He nodded. “G'night…” He went up the stairs and into the guest room, shutting the door behind him. He sighed and laid down on the sleeping bag, falling asleep rather fast.

=

The moon was fighting for dominance in the sky as Mike and Fluttershy sat by the Everfree Forest, watching the stars twinkling in the coming night. They were close together for warmth with the last day of winter winding down. They had fed her animals, who were surprisingly accepting of the new pegasus.
He yawned. "Today has been an interesting day…" He said, resting his head on her shoulder.
Her head rested on top of his. "I hope in a good way…" She said quietly.
He glanced up at her. "Of course… why wouldn’t it be?" He gently wrapped his hooves around her, pulling her into a hug. "I know I've said this a lot but I really mean it… thank you Fluttershy… thank you so much." He whispered.
She lifted her head and stared into his eyes, blushing every second as she slowly connected her lips to his. The kiss lasted several seconds and neither wanted it to end. Finally, Mike pulled away, both of their faces red. "So… it's getting late… maybe I should head back to the library and let you rest…"
She grabbed his hoof. "No… I-I mean… if you don’t mind, I'd like you to stay…" she said, her voice shaky.
"Are you sure? I don’t mind leaving…" He asked, hesitant.
"No… I want you to stay…" She said, her face bright red.
He blushed. "Oh… ok… if you're sure…" She nodded and pulled him into a hug, resting her head on his shoulder and nuzzling his cheek. "I'll sleep on the couch…" He said, burying his face into her mane.