The next day I had to go back to my job as the head gardener because I had a group of flowers in my green house that were all ready to be transplanted into the beds in the Ponyville town square. However, the events from the previous night weighed heavily upon my mind. I had finally told Fluttershy how I really felt about her, and she had, to my utter joy, echoed those same feelings back to me. I felt relieved that I didn’t have to carry around in secret my emotions and feelings about her. Now that they were in the open, it gave me a sense of having a great burden lifted off of my shoulders.
I grabbed what plants I needed and loaded them into my wagon and began to head to Ponyville to begin my day. As I worked, I kept looking for Fluttershy to appear in the cracks of the crowds. But as the day wore on, and the crowds started to thin out, I realized I had seen no sign of Fluttershy. I thought to myself that this was a bit odd since I saw her, for as long as I could remember, every day in Ponyville. But I quickly brushed these thoughts aside as I cleaned myself up and began to head home. I’m sure she’s fine. Probably just had some things to take care of at her cottage. Maybe one of her animal friends got sick and needed to be cared for. As I sunk into my bed for the night, I smiled as I brought back to my mind the feel of her soft lips against mine as we passionately kissed atop the hill underneath the moon and stars. As sleep began to take its hold on me, my smile grew even bigger as I slipped into my dreams.
……
As I tended more of the flowerbeds in the square the next day, I still saw no sign of Fluttershy. A small thought of worry entered into my head as I looked for her, but I quickly brushed it aside. She’s probably just tending to her animals again today. Maybe one of them was sick. But then the next day rolled around and once again I saw no sign of her. I began to worry more as two more days passed with no sign of Fluttershy. After a week of not seeing her, I thought that I should go check on her. I’m sure everything is fine. She probably just got busy and hasn’t had the time to come into town. I quickly packed a few things into my saddle bags and headed off to her cottage.
After getting lost and asking a random pony in town how to get to her cottage, I found myself standing in front of her door. Even after kissing her while on our picnic, I still felt nervous about trying to talk to her. She seemed to be fine after we parted ways that night, but the nagging feeling in the back of my head that something was not right would not leave. I slowly lifted a hoof and knocked on the door several times. After a moment of complete silence, I knocked once again. Again, nothing but silence reached my ears. I pressed an ear to the door, hoping to hear some small sign of life inside. The worry began to grow stronger as the sound of silence continued. Puzzled, I trotted off the porch and around to the back. As I rounded the corner, I saw that the back door was slightly ajar. I took off my saddlebags and slowly trotted up to the door.
“Fluttershy?” I quietly whispered. “It’s me…White Cloud.” When no one responded, I gently nudged the door open with my hoof. “Fluttershy? Are you here?” I began to slowly trot into the cottage, trying to see anything in the darkness. As I trotted farther in, I slammed my leg into a table. Grimacing in pain, I tried to be as quiet as I could as slow moans escaped from my mouth. “Good job White Cloud.” I said through clenched teeth. “If she didn’t know you were here, she does now.” Softly rubbing my foreleg, I peered around the cottage as my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness. As I looked around, there seemed to be no sign that anypony had been in here recently. I finally located a lantern and matches and was able to bring some light to the situation. It appeared that the house had been vacant from some time. Everything seemed to be perfect, a little too perfect. As I trotted around, nothing seemed to have been disturbed. A thin layer of dust seemed to cover everything. My mind began racing as scenario after scenario ran through my head. Maybe she went on a vacation. Maybe she went to go visit a friend. But where did all of her animals go? Oh no…did I scare her away? Did I push things too far or too quick? Oh White Cloud…what have you done? The nervousness hit me harder than ever before and I nearly collapsed as I thought about what I had done. You will never see her again. You pushed her too hard and it scared her away. You should have taken things slower, you should have built up to kissing her. You rushed things, and now she is gone for good. I sank to the floor and buried my head into my legs as I began to cry. Why White Cloud? Why did you have to kiss her? It was too soon. As I lay there crying, I felt a tiny paw on my shoulder.
“Go away.” The paw pushed a little harder. “I said go away!” Quickly lifting my head and snarling at whatever had been touching me, I saw a small white object go shooting behind the couch. I laid there sniffling as I suddenly realized who it was. “Angel? Angel Bunny, is that you?” A small white head timidly poked its head around the corner of the couch. My heart lept for joy as I finally saw a familiar face. “Oh Angel! I’m so happy to see you!” But he didn’t come closer. I realized I had probably frightened him to death. I put a hoof out and softly called to him. “I’m sorry Angel, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just looking for Fluttershy. You wouldn’t happen to know where she is, would you?” As I said the name Fluttershy, I saw his long ears perk up. He quickly dashed out from behind the couch and grabbed onto my hoof, pulling as hard as his little bunny arms would allow. When I didn’t immediately get up, he dashed over to the door, pounding his foot and pointing out into the Everfree Forest. A shudder ran through my body as I finally understood where he wanted me to go. I slowly got up and trotted over to the door. “She’s in t-there?” Angel continued to pound his foot and point towards the forest. As I continued to stand there, Angel frowned and dashed behind me and tried to push me out the door. “Ok, ok…I get the message. She’s in the forest.” A shiver ran down my back as I slowly began to trot towards the edge of the forest.
A large lump began to form in my throat as all the stories I had heard as a foal began to invade my mind. Stories about Manticores and Cockatrices, as well as other hideous creatures that took ponies that were foolish enough to venture into the forest. Those stories never ended happily. As I reached the first few trees, I swallowed the lump that had formed. You can do this White Cloud. Those stories were just told to scare young foals. None of them are true. I quickly shifted my eyes back and forth searching for any sign of danger, but all that I saw were trees and bushes. Ok, let’s do this. With little confidence, I stepped into the world of nightmares.
……
At first it didn’t seem so bad. The day was warm and the sky was clear. For a while, the sun leaked through the tree tops illuminating everything I could see. But as I went deeper, the foliage began to grow thicker and the trees bigger until their tops shut out the sun. However before the sun was completely cut off, I was able to find a worn path through the forest. I didn’t know where it led, but I figured it was as good a place to start looking for Fluttershy. Angel said she was in here, and I wasn’t going to stop searching for her. The worry had never left my mind, and in fact it had multiplied to sky high levels since Angel had told me she was in here. I hoped the stories weren’t true, but as the sun went away, I began to hear noises. I had no idea if they were real, or just my mind playing tricks on me. But every crack and rustle brought to my mind the horrors that had been told to me as a foal. I was shaking so hard as I slowly crept along the path. I dared not call out Fluttershy’s name for fear that some horrible monster would leap out and take me for its dinner. So I continued down the path, sweeping my head back and forth, looking for any sign of Fluttershy’s passing.
As the hours drug on, I began to feel very tired, but a great sadness was beginning to make its way into my head. Just give up White Cloud. It’s hopeless to try and find her in here. You have no idea where you are and you are going to end up getting lost in here forever. She is gone, and there is nothing you can do about it. You moved too fast and scared her away. And then another voice entered into my head. Listen, I know you are scared. But you can’t just leave her out here all alone. She could be hurt, or worse. You love her, and there is nothing that can stop you from getting to your love. I paused as the last words echoed in my mind. I couldn’t leave her out here. She was the one pony of me, and there was nothing that was going to stop me from pursuing her. I quickly picked up the pace as I began down the path once more.
With my renewed confidence, the forest didn’t seem as oppressive as it had before. After a few minutes, I could see up ahead what appeared to be the mouth of a cave. I slowed down a little and cautiously trotted up to it. Even though I was more confident, I wasn’t stupid. I may feel better, but there could still be things out here that would love to take advantage of a lone pony. I stopped and listened for any sound coming from the cave. After a moment of nothing but silence, I slowly began to make my way inside.
It was warmer inside than it had been outside, and the cave was larger than it appeared. I could hear my hooves echoing along the walls as I continued to delve deeper and deeper into the cave. It was only a few minutes, or what I think was a few minutes, when I saw a faint light bouncing off of the walls. I slowed down once again and quietly crept up towards the source of the light. As I rounded a corner, I came upon a small fire in the middle of a large room. There appeared to be no other exits except for the corridor I was standing in. There was a small opening in the top of the room that released the smoke that the fire produced so that the room would be comfortable to stay in. As I crept closer, I saw a form lying next to the fire, shivering. Suddenly, the figure let out a small moan and slowly rolled towards me. I recognized the figure right away, and my heart soared. It was Fluttershy! I had found her! I saw that she was sleeping, so my presence remained unnoticed. She was still shivering though, even though she was next to the fire. Another moan escaped from her mouth as she rolled onto her back. She appeared to be dreaming, but I could tell from the way she moved it was not a pleasant dream. I quietly crept up to her and gently laid a hoof on her shoulder.
“Fluttershy, it’s me.” I softly said. She stirred a little, but her eyes didn’t open. “Fluttershy, it’s me. White Cloud.” Her eyes began to slowly open, and then a quiet scream erupted from her as she bolted over to the other side of the room. She was quickly looking everywhere, panting and frightened out of her mind. I backed off quickly to give her as much space as she needed. She finally seemed to notice me as hear breathing began to slow a little.
“O-Oh, it’s y-you.” She said quietly. I smiled at here.
“I got worried when I didn’t see you for a week. I thought maybe something had happened to you.” She seemed to get more control and she began to very slowly make her way back over to the fire.
“I…I know. I’m sorry.” I also made my way over to the fire and laid down across from her.
“What happened? You seemed fine after our picnic when I left you at your cottage.” Fluttershy looked into the fire. She seemed unable to look at me.
“I don’t know White Cloud. I-It’s hard to explain.” I didn’t want to push her too hard, but I needed to know what happened.
“Was it me? Did I come on too strong?”
“Oh no, it wasn’t you. I just…” She slowly trailed off as she continued to stare deeply into the fire.
“What? What is wrong?” I began to see tears roll down her cheeks as she began to softly cry.
“It’s…it’s me. I don’t know what to do. After kissing you, I felt so scared. When you left me, all of these feelings and emotions began to overwhelm me. It got so bad I had to just run away. That’s what I do Cloud, I run. When something happens I don’t like, I run. I didn’t care where I went; I just needed to get away. I fled into the forest, not really caring where I went. Usually, the forest frightens me, but that night there were far worse things than monsters. As I trotted around for a long time, I found the cave where I had found Harry the Bear. I remembered that day, and it brought a smile to my face. I also remembered that at the back of the cave was this room. So I slowly gathered some wood and built a fire. After a little bit, I heard a rustling in the cave. I hid behind a rock, scared out of my mind, when I saw Angel had found me. I cried as I quickly scooped him up and held him in a tight hug. I was so happy to see someone who was my friend. Since then, Angel has been bringing me food and I have stayed here alone, until you showed up. When I saw you, it began to bring up all of the feelings and emotions I had. I’m sorry Cloud. I…I just don’t…” She began to weep harder as I quickly made my way over to her and put my hoof around her shoulder.
“It’s going to be ok Fluttershy. I understand what you are trying to say. I pushed things too fast and it scared you. I’m sorry I frightened you.” She began to slowly stop crying, but the tears kept coming down. She lifted her head and looked at me.
“No White Cloud. You don’t need to be sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left like I did. I have been trying to be more assertive, trying to get my fears under control. But that night brought a whole other fear to the surface; one I had never thought I would see.” She looked straight into my eyes, and they seemed to pierce me to my soul. “I never thought I could love anypony. Or that anypony could ever love me. Who would want me? I’m sacred of everything, I am shy, timid, and not adventurous. I prefer to be around animals, and I am not a very good speaker. I am really nopony special. But then you came along, and showed me what I truly am. No matter my problems, you still love me. I could see that during our picnic; the way you looked at me, the way I brought a smile to your face. Nopony has ever looked at me like you do.” She paused for a moment and smiled. “You really love me, don’t you?” I grinned at her as I ran a hoof along her cheek.
“Yes Fluttershy, I love you. I will never stop loving you. No matter how scared, or shy, or timid you I, I will always love you. You are a special pony, and never tell yourself otherwise. I see a lot of myself in you. I think that’s what attracted me to you. You and I, we are more alike than you could ever imagine. I mean, it took everything I had to even talk to you. I tried several times, but each time I just froze. Until you showed me how kind and gentle you are. After you returned my bag to me at the café, I knew without a doubt that you were the one pony for me. And at the picnic, I needed to tell you how I really felt about you. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I couldn’t keep it bottled up any longer. I will always and forever love you.” I then bent down and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed a little at this and her smile grew even bigger.
“Thank you Cloud, you don’t know how much that means to me.” I got up and held my hoof out to her.
“You’re welcome Fluttershy. Now come on, I think we should get you back home.” I helped her up as we then headed out of the cave. As we headed down the path, I felt much better since having that talk with Fluttershy. I felt like we both still had a lot of learning to do about each other, but this had been a good first step.