//------------------------------// // Chapter 05 // Story: Memory Pending // by Kiroberos //------------------------------// The day was reasonably sunny outside. Birds danced about in the air, flowers in full bloom, and all the trees were proudly displaying their colors. I watched the clouds gently drift overhead as I walked down the street. Not being in any particular hurry worked well for me in this sense. I was able to keep my legs and hooves going the all the right directions and I blended in better with passing ponies. Regardless of my blending of course, I still heard hushed whispers as I passed. Usually they involved either my flank or talk of cutie marks directly. Sighing, I tried not to pay them any heed as I considered names. I had to call myself something after all. Regardless, there were only two ponies I had yet to introduce myself to out of Twilight's five friends. Blushing, I considered Fluttershy and thought better of it. In my current state of comfort with my nakedness, there was liable to be an accident which would embarrass both of us. That left only one choice. Finally arriving, I stood in front of a small door to the Carousel Boutique. Rarity apparently owned this establishment and from what I heard, held herself highly respectably. Less chance of accidents, I'd assume. Bracing myself, I knocked lightly on her door. As I waited, I contemplated how to greet a pony like her. She was one of the Elements of Harmony after all, and held herself in more of a regal light. I'd have to try and remember my manners and politeness. Didn't want to screw up this first impression after all my prior mistakes! The door opened and I bowed politely in an instant. "Good afternoon, Miss. I was told I could meet you here," I greeted as properly as I could muster. I was more than a little nervous. There was a light giggling instead and I raised my head curiously. A light gray filly with a purple and pink mane greeted me instead. Oh! "Oh, Sweetie Belle?" I re-greeted, recalling her from before. "You remember me! Yay! I'm Rarity's little sister. Are you looking for her?" She asked, giving me a warm smile. I nodded and smiled back. "Yeah, I'm trying to get to know ponies so I figured I'd start with those Twilight was already friends with. It's well, easier for me?" I tried to explain. You mean safer, right? Friends of a nice pony are more likely to be nice and less likely to think I'm a nut. I chastised myself for the white lie. Sweetie Belle nodded immediately. "It makes sense. I'm sorry for my friends chasing you the other day, by the way," she offered, turning and leading me back into the house. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't exactly in the best mindset anyway. I wouldn't have run otherwise," I explained. I wasn't going to hold it against a few young children, regardless. Sweetie Belle stopped suddenly and I almost smashed into her. A few seconds later she turned around, eyes getting watery. "Can you please help my friends and I find our cutie marks? If there's a chance we can simply not get them, I'd..." She started to rapidly spill out. I put a hoof to her muzzle and nodded. "I'll help you as best I can. And don't worry. I think I'm something of an exception," I assured her. Her expression shifted to a smile and she nodded to me before wiping her eyes with a hoof. She was worried about it, obviously. This mark must have been a really big deal! A door further down the hall cracked open, suddenly. "My, my, good with foals and kind. Very nice indeed," a soft, lightly accented voice spoke. A pure white mare exited the room into the hallway and smiled at me. Her mane was a beautiful purple color, both long and stylized professionally. My eyes widened and I bowed politely. Again. "Miss Rarity I presume. An honor," I spoke quickly, if a little shakily. Giggling ensued from the filly to my left now, as she pretend bowed as well. "Oh my, and he has manners!" She exclaimed, a tone of amusement and fake shock dancing in her voice. "What brings you to my lovely Carousel Boutique?" She asked eloquently. "I'm going to be staying at Twilight's for a while and wanted to get to know some ponies in town," I started to explain. "So he decided to start with friends of Twilight!" Sweetie Belle added with a small bounce. Rarity slowly circled around me a couple of times, seemingly sizing me up. I blushed and tried to remain as still as possible, regardless of feeling awkward as hell. "A good idea of course. Friendship is very important. Hmm. No Cutie Mark indeed," she muttered, mostly to herself. Sweetie Belle nodded rapidly. "Yeah, I was telling the truth, Sis! But the Cutie Mark Crusaders are gonna help him get his," she reminded, batting her eyes up at me. I nodded weakly. "Yeah, it's true. No cutie mark, no name, and very, very little memories of anything past three days ago," I agreed, watching her finally come to a stop in front of me again. "That's very unfortunate. Hmm. Has Twilight any thoughts as to what happened or if you can get your memories back?" Rarity asked, not really looking at me, but looking around the hallway instead. Curious as I was to what she was looking for, I had to prioritize lest I offend her. "Well, she wants to investigate where I woke up at and she's been using her magic to help me try to remember things, but not much luck yet," I explained, getting a bit distraught as she suddenly pranced into the room she had just exited. "Oooh, measuring?" Sweetie Belle asked, sprinting after her sister in an instant. Flustered, I had no idea if I should follow after her or wait in this hallway. It was awfully dark here, which I thought was weird as she should be open this time of day. Wait, did I enter through the right door? Slapping my forehead with a hoof, I suddenly realized that in all likelihood, I had entered through a side door. That would be why I had to knock rather than seeing shop windows or something. Feeling rather stupid, I slunk towards the open door and peeked in. Sure enough, it was a large Boutique filled to the brim with beautiful looking dresses! My eyes widened as I stuck my head in and peeked around. The store largely catered to females it would seem, but that made sense. She probably wouldn't get nearly as much business keeping a half to half ratio. "Do come in, Silly! And let me welcome you to my Carousel Boutique. Please, have a seat and some of my delicious tea," Rarity requested suddenly, in an assured voice. My eyes locked onto her in a plush looking lounge chair, relaxing pleasantly. Another similar chair was across from it with some sort of elegant coffee table between. I idly wondered if they had coffee here. The way she was sitting just oozed elegance and her triple diamond cutie mark was proudly displayed on her flank as she lounged. A clipboard drifted up in front of her by itself as she motioned with her horn. Sweetie Belle sat at the foot of the other chair, looking towards me expectantly with a tape measure floating next to her. Wait, they were taking measurements? Why? I suddenly started to panic, worried that they thought I was going to purchase something! "Uh wait, why are you taking measurements?" I asked, hesitantly walking towards the empty lounge chair. Rarity gave a pleasant smile before responding with, "In case you need any orders in the future of course. Plus, stallions of your size are rare around these parts and with you as a model; I might be able to appeal to more of the city-type with my suits." "Of my size?" I asked, breathing a slight sigh of relief now that I realized she wasn't expecting to acquire some of my non-existent currency. Future note to self, look up the name of the currency here. Pity it wasn't in any of the books Twilight had let me borrow. Rarity gave a suddenly blank look. She recovered rapidly however and shook her hoof repeatedly. "Oh, think nothing of it at all, Silly. You just have a more slender build. Anyway, do sit down on the chair. Sweetie Belle will take your measurements while I record them. And I simply must hear your story from the beginning! Feel free to share while we work," she rapidly excused. I raised an eyebrow and glanced down at my body as I lay down in the chair. My stomach was almost non-existent and I could count several of my ribs still. My mind wasn't adjusting to this vegetarian diet very well and I doubt I had much to eat before I came to this world. Was she referring to my gaunt, deathly appearance or something? A little irked, I looked back up at her as she was starting to look flustered. "No, no. You have a very um, healthy looking shape. Most of the stallions around here are all big and burly so it's uh, nice to have a change of pace?" she tried explaining, giving a weak 'reassuring' smile after. Sighing, I lay my head down on the chair cushion and just let the little filly work out measurements. "It's fine. I think I get it, anyway," I muttered, feeling a bit disheartened at my appearance now. Ug, I really needed to do something about these hormones. Why were they suddenly so much stronger than before? My old body was well past puberty after all. I think. Rarity looked a little flustered still but I decided to change the topic by launching into the story she requested. Hopefully I could still recover her impression of me. * * * * * It took over an hour, much to my surprise. For the most part, that was because of the measurements distracting me and Sweetie Belle's almost insatiable curiosity about the various situations. Rarity surprised me by only commenting or asking questions when I paused, or when it truly fit. It wasn't too bad, though. Rarity's tea really was quite good, even if it took me a bit of practice to sip with the teacup. She politely showed me how best to hold it and manipulate it with my mouth to drink. Well, drink without accidentally inhaling it or spilling it all over the place. Sadly, that took me a couple of tries. The measuring was done long before my story was concluded but both mare and filly listened intently to the very end. The attention and focus made me feel kind of awkward, but not in a bad way. Rarity must have noticed my blush towards the end and raised an eyebrow. "My, you must have either a bit of a flush or are terribly uncomfortable about something," she concluded, still wearing her pleasant smile. Chuckling, I shook my head. "Well, no. I'm just not used to this kind of attention. I don't remember what my life was like before but I have a feeling I was never really the focus of attention," I explained. "Aww, but your story was interesting. I wanted to pay attention," Sweetie Belle reassured, smiling happily. Rarity nodded, adding, "Indeed. You needn't be humble, although it is a praiseworthy attribute. You must stand out, however! Hmm. I think you'd look amazing in a lightly tapered dress coat. Something simple with a solid coloring. Maybe some gemstone buttons to offset, even!" My eyes widened. Gemstones?! I swallowed painfully. "As much as your assurance is appreciated, I don't think I'll have enough currency anytime in the near future to purchase something as well, amazing as these clothes. The quality looks far, far out of my budget," I muttered, gesturing around myself at all of the colorful clothing and dresses adorning the stands and walls. Rarity's eyes widened momentarily but she recovered very quickly and almost seemed to puff up. "My! You certainly know how to give a mare compliments. You almost look like you didn't realize you're doing it," she praised, looking amused. I blinked in confusion, unsure of what she was talking about. Compliment? My empty pockets and lack of employment was depressing, not something really to be celebrated and this level of expertise was way out of budget. Rarity stared blankly at me for a few more seconds, suddenly matching my confused expression. Then a light blush drifted onto her cheeks. "Oh, or you didn't realize that was a compliment," she corrected gently. Uh oh. Did I screw up again? "Uh, I'm sorry, Miss Rarity. If I offended, I didn't mean to," I rapidly apologized, bowing my head gently. "No, no! There's no reason to apologize. That just means that you were being truthful instead of striving to compliment. That's much, much better!" she reassured, smiling again then. Sweetie Belle giggled and sat up on the floor next to my lounge chair. "Oh, and our currency is called bits," she added. My mind momentarily lagged out until I remembered that I had said currency a little while back. "Oh, thank you Sweetie Belle," I replied, smiling as I glanced down at her. "Oh yes, thank you, dear sister. I'd momentarily forgotten that he likely didn't know that," Rarity added, also smiling at her. She looked proud as punch and puffed up on the floor. For a moment, I noticed she looked a lot like Rarity when she did that. I nodded weakly, wishing I could read more books on the subjects I was missing. It was weird, being a fully grown adult but having next to no information about the world around me. "I just wish I knew all of the basics. It gets frustrating not knowing what everypony else takes as general knowledge," I muttered, looking around her shop still. All of the gemstones adorning the outfits were amazing and I wondered how she could afford the overhead of all of this. She must be quite well off indeed. Rarity nodded politely. "Well I will happily fill you in on anything you so desire. You know you can always make new memories rather than lamenting the lost ones. Besides, I'm sure Sweetie Belle will agree but your presence is very much welcome here, worry not," she spoke, causing me to shift my attention back to her and smile. "I can see how you got the Element of Generosity, Miss Rarity. Thank you," I thanked softly, feeling less awkward. She certainly had a way of defusing uncomfortable thoughts. "Just Rarity, please. You're a friend now so formalities aren't needed. You mentioned you were staying with Twilight, right? Does she have a cot or anything for you to rest in?" she asked, closing her eyes softly and making a quiet humming noise after. Sweetie Belle looked at her questioningly, before asking, "Wait, doesn't she have a big bed?" My blush peaked and I immediately wanted to bury my head in the cushions. Rarity just giggled however, and shook her head. "I'm sure Twilight would like her comfort zone intact so a cot or hammock would be highly recommended," she explained democratically, smiling down at her little sister. "Yeah, I couldn't agree more," I muttered, closing my eyes and trying to fight back the blush, before answering her prior question, "And no, she doesn't have one. I think she was going to ask somepony before Pinkie Pie distracted her." Rarity sighed and shook her head. "Yes, I heard the outburst earlier before she oh so rudely stole my assistant, Spike. But it is no problem, I'm sure. Applejack will be at the party as well, no doubt. I'm sure she'll have no issue securing a cot for you," Rarity added, sounding a little irked with Pinkie. I swallowed and shook my head. "I'm not so sure she'll be there. I kind of made a bad impression with her, remember?" I reminded weakly. "Oh hardly. Applejack might be stubborn sometime but she's an honest, hard working pony who trusts her friends," Rarity argued, frowning at the implication. "She seems to be nervous that I did something to her sister," I informed, unsure of what to believe exactly. This was the second pony who thought I was worried for nothing and I didn't think it was a good idea to jump to more conclusions. Sweetie Belle looked shocked, however. "Hey, you didn't do anything to Apple Bloom! I was there and well, we just ended up chasing you into a rock. Applejack didn't believe her?" she asked incredulously, also sounding a little embarrassed. "Sometimes a pony's worry for their loved ones overwrites common sense, Dear. It's alright. She'll come around soon enough," Rarity assured Sweetie Belle, smiling down at her. Sighing, I shook my head. "Honestly, it was my fault. If I hadn't been so scatter brained and freaked her out at the clinic, she probably would be alright," I explained, feeling a tad on the stupid side again for screwing up the first impression. Second impressions seemed a lot harder to make. "You had a concussion and amnesia, Silly. It's not your fault that you didn't make as much sense as you had wanted at the time and I'm sure she understands that," Rarity disagreed, nodding softly to herself. "That's when somepony hits their head too hard, right?" Sweetie Belle suddenly asked, looking up at Rarity questioningly. A silent coo went through my mind and I caught a chuckle before it got out. Little foals were so adorable. Well, most of the time. I wondered if I had had any siblings. Something told me I didn't have a mate, so children were a tad out of the question. It bugged me that I couldn't remember. Sure, it would be more painful now but it felt like I was doing everyone I had known a disservice by not honoring their memory. "Yes, that's right. But it wasn't the rock, Sweetie Belle. He had amnesia before that, remember?" she reminded. I saw a brush of purple light go through Sweetie Belle's mane and the young filly cooed. A telekinetic brushing? Very interesting. Sweetie Belle nodded softly, after opening her eyes again to a half-lidded state. "Yeah. I'm glad it wasn't us that caused it but still…" she added, looking backwards and up at me. I smiled down at her and shook my head. "Not your fault at all, Sweetie Belle. And you and your sister have been a big help to me so far," I assured, alongside Rarity. Sweetie Belle grinned and nodded, looking backwards and upside down at me. Rarity snickered and then smiled up at me instead. "Very good with kids. You'd make a good foalsitter, if you needed some bits on the side," Rarity pointed out, gesturing with her forehoof. I laughed. "Yeah, if I'm ever going to be able to afford some proper clothes, I might have to," I joked, causing Sweetie Belle to snicker again. Rarity just smirked. "Don't worry about it. I've prepared dresses for my friends so if I have some free time, I might like to try my hand at designing a suit or similar for you. Or at least a saddle bag, no?" she suggested, tilting her head at me. My eyes widened a little and I was surprised. How had she known that I liked the saddle bag earlier? Chances are she didn't and it was just speculation. "Oh, well I'd hate to be a burden or anything. You're probably very busy with clothing orders after all. I definitely wouldn't mind a saddle bag," I admitted, blushing lightly. For some reason Rarity blushed again, lightly this time, after I mentioned clothing orders. I didn't fully understand this mare but she was a lot more relaxed than most of the ponies I'd met so far. Rainbow Dash seemed really high strung, like dynamite with legs. Pinkie Pie was like a spastic ferret on sugar. Rarity however just seemed relaxed and confident. It was kind of refreshing. I made a mental note to visit her when she wasn't busy. "Oh, it would be nothing to make you a saddle bag. Complimenting your colors would be easy enough too. We must be stylish after all! I'll see what I can surprise you with, later," she agreed, smiling now and looking as if she looked forward to it. Well, she was a designer so she probably enjoyed her work. I nodded quietly, still blushing at the generosity. "Thank you, Rarity. Although I've been here a while, and was also going to go see Fluttershy before I'm supposed to be back at the Library," I explained, feeling a bit bad that I had to go so soon. Rarity smiled contently however and nodded. "I truly understand. To be honest, I do have a bit more work to do before I'm clear for the party tonight but I'll definitely be there, worry not," she assured properly, puffing again. I chuckled and nodded towards her, starting to find her puffed pose a little cute. "Alright. I look forward to seeing you two tonight, then," I agreed, looking down at Sweetie Belle as well. Sweetie Belle perked up instantly and nodded. Rarity smirked down at her, before sighing. "Fine, as this is a special occasion, you can stay up past your bed time. But I want no complaints when we get home, okay?" she offered, laying down a harsh ultimatum. Sweetie Belle threw a perfect salute however. "Yes, Sis! Thank you!" she gushed, smiling happily. Rarity patted her gently on the head and nodded to me as I got up off the couch. "Thank you, you two. I'll see you later, then!" I thanked, feeling a lot better than when I came. Rarity nodded in a courtly fashion towards me as I headed out the door. The front one, this time… * * * * * Finding Fluttershy's house was reasonably easy for me. I'd technically already been close to it once and the memory was very fresh in my mind. But even if I hadn't, the sheer volume of animals in the proximity would have given me quite a scientific estimate to go with. Walking quietly along the path, I stopped to sniff at several of the flowers along the path. The smells wafting along the breeze were pleasant to say the least, and I felt more relaxed. I couldn't tell if it was because of the smells directly or if the visit with Rarity had been more therapeutic than I had thought. There was a light tickling sensation and I sneezed suddenly, knocking myself off my yet untrained feet and landing on my rear. I rubbed my nose with my right forehoof and sighed. Walking was still a little bit of a, well, challenge. I didn't trip often but I still wasn't exactly the most stable thing to grace the landscape. Standing up again, I used my tail to dust my rear off and continued down the path. It was difficult to ignore the small squirrel in the tree that almost sounded like it was laughing at me. Were all of the animals largely sentient here? There didn't seem to be much in the way of natural predators at all and I wondered at the state of their ecosystem. Still, I wasn't exactly trained in those matters so I had to let the thought go. I was still surprised that a majority of the animals paid little to no heed to my presence. Maybe they were used to ponies being gentle and not doing anything to them? Or yet again, it might be some sort of proximity to her that does it. I noticed a huge amount of birds near her house, seemingly content with chirping amidst themselves. Walking up to the door, I noticed them stop and watch me quietly as if unsure of my being here. Trying to not get nervous again, I quietly knocked on Fluttershy's door. Moments passed uneventfully. I yawned, suddenly a little sapped of energy after all of my walking and looked up towards the sky tentatively. She was a pegasus, right? Maybe she was out and about flying and whatnot. Did she have weather duties too, like Rainbow Dash? My eyes locked onto a rogue cloud suddenly and I frowned. What was that? I lowered my eyelids and looked closer, shadowing out the sun with my left forehoof. A small tuft of rainbow coloring was extending off the side of the cloud. My eyes weren't tricking me after all. Well, that seemed highly unnatural for a cloud. Unless they were issuing some sort of tagging system that I didn't know about, chances were that was a mane or tail of a pony. And, having not seen any other rainbow colored ponies around, I guessed wildly that it was Rainbow Dash up there. I vaguely recalled that pegasi could walk on and interact with clouds. If it wasn't a conscious thing, could one sleep on a cloud? I pondered quietly, sitting on the front walk while looking up. Having wings would be really awesome. Pity that it would increase my likelihood of death by fatal velocity by a few thousand percent. On the first attempt at flight. Flattening my ears back, I sighed weakly. Fitting in wasn't something I was so good at, it would seem. Even in a new world with a new body, I was adjusting very slowly. While reading, I'd hoped my new knowledge would let me just slide into place but it wasn't as easy as I thought. I felt tired after just an afternoon of talking to ponies. How was I expecting to ever have enough energy to work a full time job on a farm? I suddenly felt extremely weary just thinking about it. There was, abruptly, a sharp intake of breath from somewhere to my left. Huh? Turning and looking over my left shoulder, I noticed a very lovely creature looking towards me. Her yellow coat shone brightly in the sunlight and her pink mane and tail accented her shape very nicely. I suddenly caught a blush as Fluttershy blinked once, and remained frozen there. There was an incredible sensation of déjà vu, as we locked eyes and stared at each other. It went on for I have no idea how long. Minutes, or maybe hours. No, hours were a bit extreme. I think I would have noticed the sudden hunger I'd undoubtedly get and the light shift from the sun. Eventually, her eyes softened a little and she thawed, stepping out of her prior frozen appearance, mid-stride. Slowly, I rotated in my sitting position to face her, still eye-locked. She didn't even seem to blink as she continued watching me carefully. Her pose was more relaxed now however and she gently, yet fluidly sat down on her haunches, tilting her head somewhat. I had no clue suddenly what to say at all, my tongue feeling like it swelled to impossible sizes and gummed up my mouth. She looked about as nervous as I did and we sat there for even longer, simply staring at each other. Her sky blue eyes were so soft and gentle looking, and I caught myself starting to get a heat in my cheeks as I couldn't look away. The gentle slope of her mane, the tender tucking of her feathered wings against her sides, and even the way her tail curled around her flank as she sat there. It was all so graceful, radiating a gentleness that I hadn't seen before. My eyes widened a little as her cheeks started to turn a little pink as well. Her eyes immediately widened alongside mine and I saw a bit of concern in her expression, as if she was suddenly worried she had offended me because of my slightly surprised shift. I smiled at her, trying to re-assure her. Her eyes softened again, and she smiled timidly back at me. Wham! Something collided with the back of my skull and I went from smiling to shock in an instant briefly, before smashing my face into the dirt of her walkway. Fluttershy let out a startled yelping noise and I felt scurrying to my right, suddenly. "Oh no! Oh… oh no! A-Are you ok-okay?" I suddenly heard, in a very tender voice to my right. Ow. Instead of responding, I just lay there contemplating just going to sleep and never waking up. Massive head trauma was apparently my number one chance of dying, still. My left eye opened painfully to get a brief glimpse of the dirt and a really detailed pebble, before looking up and out from the ground a little. An apple landed in my field of vision, with a newly formed bruise on one side and rolled away from me. Damn you, apples! "Huzzah-what, now?" came from somewhere above, in a sleepy sounding, Rainbow Dash voice. "Uh, um, Dash? You dropped an apple and uh, hit somepony. Could you maybe come down here and at least get your apple, if it's not too much trouble?" I heard Fluttershy ask quietly. Wow, if Rainbow Dash heard that at all it would be an absolute miracle. There was a flapping noise however, and I felt a brief burst of air behind me. I slowly tried to get my forehooves under me again, currently spread eagle and in a very prone position feeling a little flattened. "Oh what the hay?! Why is it that whenever I drop something lately, you try to catch it with your face?" Rainbow Dash asked behind me, dripping with sarcasm. "Oh my! This um, isn't the first time?" Fluttershy asked rapidly, sounding worried. I glared back at Rainbow Dash, who had her forelegs folded over her chest and was wearing a similar expression. She felt grumpy to me and I looked over at Fluttershy, who was staring at her now instead. Rainbow hadn't told her? I sighed but decided not to say anything, partially out of respect and partially out of desire to not get blown up. Defeated by myself this time, I looked away. Rainbow glared at me for a few more seconds before rolling her eyes and slapping a hoof to her face. "Okay, let me try that again," she requested, thinking for a moment, before continuing with, "Sorry for hitting you with an apple." Shaking my head, I suddenly wished I hadn't as it gave a sharp throb. I must have winced as Fluttershy made a quiet 'Eep' noise. Suddenly, I was yanked sideways faster than I could react and unceremoniously deposited onto a soft couch. Rainbow snickered as she hovered inside Fluttershy's house as well and watched as Fluttershy rapidly gathered up a few medical supplies. "It's alright, Rainbow," I muttered, once my head stopped spinning. She landed gently next to the couch, still watching Fluttershy zipping around gathering medical stuff. I didn't actually feel all that bad except for my headache. "You should totally stop trying to catch things with your head, though," she reminded, winking at me. I gave her an irked glare and she simply grinned. Fluttershy zipped over suddenly, and gently wrapped a towel around my forehead, with an ice pack in it. She fussed with the edges, hovering in front of me, before darting away again. "She likes helping injured things if you couldn't tell," Rainbow Dash added, returning to watching her. "I'd noticed. She seems very shy though," I muttered, watching her as well with light blush. Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Normally she's a lot worse than this. But you aren't exactly the most intimidating pony, so I guess it's easier for her?" she offered. "Hey!" I protested, crossing my forelegs irritably. She just snickered at me as Fluttershy came back with a bit of what appeared to be salve. She carefully slid up the cold pack and bandage and applied some to the new bruise I imagined I had on the side of my head. "Now just h-hold still, please. You'll be feeling better in no time," she assured quietly, smiling at me. I looked up at her and smiled back and she suddenly seemed taken aback, remembering that she was treating a pony instead of a woodland creature. She blushed and did a small, fluttering hop away from me, landing on the armrest of the couch. Rainbow Dash started laughing. "Oh come on, Fluttershy! You were fine before. Besides, doesn't he look familiar?" she asked, looking back at me. Fluttershy tilted her head and looked at me for a few more seconds. Her eyes locked with mine again and I tried smiling at her. Her eyes suddenly got considerably wider! "Oh, you're the pony with the gentle eyes that was under my tree," she muttered, earning a nod from Rainbow Dash. "Wait, didn't Rainbow blow you up?" she then asked, looking back to her friend. Rainbow looked momentarily stunned and then averted her eyes towards the ground in front of me. "Ah uh, yeah, I had forgotten about that part. But he's fine, as you can see!" she distracted. Fluttershy looked skeptical but turned her attention back to me. Now I was blushing lightly and lay down on the cushion, tucking my legs under me as gently as I could. For some reason, I was seriously nerved out, as if I was walking on egg shells over a pit of lava. I didn't want to disturb anything in the house so I just stayed as still as I could. Maybe I was just afraid of offending or scaring her? After a few seconds, Fluttershy smiled and plopped down on her rug. "See? He's a nice stallion, Fluttershy. You don't have to worry about him," Rainbow Dash declared, grinning and flopping her left foreleg over my back. It felt warm, so I just let it rest there. "As long as there are no apples or other falling objects near me, I'm reasonably safe," I muttered, holding the side of my head with my right hoof. Fluttershy made a little giggling noise, barely audible but still there, before timidly asking, "Um, do you think you could tell us how you came here? I mean, i-if you have time, of course." Smiling, I chuckled and shook my head. "I can if it won't bore you two lovely mares to tears," I added, averting my eyes and giving a weak sigh. Were they all this curious, or just polite? Rainbow Dash gave my side a shove and stuck her tongue out at me. "Nah. I'm sure we have time to kill before the party, regardless," she pointed out. Wait, Pinkie had managed to get invitations out already?! I was suddenly even further scared of the pink mare. Swallowing my reservations, I nodded and broke into my second recount of the tale, today.