//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: But, She's a Pony! // by Uke-Joe //------------------------------// Chapter 9 Uke-Joe You open the door for Fluttershy and step inside the small diner. You find your eyes following her as she walks in, along her mane, folded golden wings, back, and her round- Shaking your head, you quickly step in the restaurant as well, careful not to scare off your friend with your strange actions. You smile as you slide into the other side of a booth that she has chosen, and glance down at a menu. You make some pleasant small talk about her classes. Before too long a waiter comes to take your orders. You ponder over the menu a moment before deciding. "I'll have the ham and cheese omelet please," you say as you hand her the menu. She nods and turns to Fluttershy, who seemed to be distracted by the salt shaker. You gently prod her with your foot. "Oh! Um, I'll have the chocolate chip pancakes, please." "Sure thing. I'll be right back with your drinks." The waiter collects Fluttershy's menu and hurries off. You gaze across the table at Fluttershy, remembering how pretty she is, her gorgeous mane and dazzling eyes. Unsure what exactly to say, you keep looking at her until she notices your stare, which is quite a while, as she's seemingly avoiding eye contact, and only looks up when she notices the silence. She giggles and looks down again when she notices you smiling at her, and occasionally glances over at you, smiling to yourself at her cute giggle. You break this after a minute by asking a question. "So, what are first dates on Equestria normally like? If you don't mind sharing." Fluttershy looked alarmed for a moment, eyes widening, uncertain what to say. She is temporarily unsure what to say exactly, mumbling few words, before pausing, processing a thought in her head, and trying again. "They're... nice. Two ponies typically just get together and have... fun". You smile, fortunate that there wasn't some conflicting cultural difference between first dates, at least. "What about on Earth?" says Fluttershy. "More or less the same, I suppose." You stop speaking as the waiter delivers your food, and lose track of the topic you were speaking of, instead turning your focus to your food, as you hadn't eaten much that day. Fluttershy was too cute when she was eating pancakes, trying to spread butter on them was a challenge with hooves. You made a mental note to make pancakes for her sometime. Before too long, you're paying for the meal and leaving, heading out the door once again and to your apartment. The strong winds make talking a little bit awkward until you're in the apartment building. You start up the stairs when Fluttershy poses a question. "Not to complain or anything, Drew, but I was wondering if were were going to, uh, BE having fun, on our date." And just like that, you froze mid step. Fluttershy had expected more, obviously! Not just a simple breakfast, what was the point of that? You had gotten meals together many times before. You quickly realized you had to make this date special, how could you have been so dumb? You should be doing something more exciting, but instead here you were, with a date that hadn't had fun with you. Your brain scrambles for something to say until you realize that Fluttershy, who was walking up the stairs a little bit before you, hadn't realized you had stopped. You ran to catch up with her "Oh, that was just the beginning!" You claim, "Just, uh, fueling up for the rest of the fun we're going to be having all of today. I don't have plans at all, so we can do fun things all day!" Fluttershy's eyes widen. "All day?" she asks, softly. "Sure! If that's okay with you." You walk down the hallway to your apartment door and open it for Fluttershy, following behind her. The house is the same way you left it, except Twilight apparently left to go somewhere. Fluttershy picks up a note from the kitchen counter. I know I was going to ask you guys some things about how your date went, but I have some errands to run. I should be back around 8 or so. ~Twilight Well, that's good. Having it be just the two of you would be more like a date. You smiled at Fluttershy. "So I guess we're alone for a few hours." You winked, but instantly regretted it, fearing you might be more flirty than she'd be comfortable with. You sit down on the couch, then leaning over to look under the couch, hopefully find a deck of cards or something, anything fun for the two of you to do. You feel Fluttershy jump on the couch next to you, and her warm body up against your shoulder. You laugh and look to see what she's doing. In a moment of boldness, she suddenly kisses you. You vision becomes consumed by pink mane and yellow coat, before you close your eyes and press your lips against hers. She pulls back, half hiding her face behind her mane, looking down for a moment, then looking back at you, trying to determine how you felt about that. To say you were delighted by her sudden boldness was an understatement. She stared at you with her big blue eyes, trying to determine your thoughts. You smile at her, turning your body towards her on the couch, and reach out your hand along the side of her face, running your fingers through her hair. She appears more excited than timid, smiling back at you, so you pull her towards you slightly, your lips meeting again, her soft face pressed against yours. Her hooves lean you back against the armrest of the couch. You wrap your other hand around her back, and feel something unexpected in return. You pause a moment, trying to determine what is happening. Still unsure what is going on, you look down to where Fluttershy's wing is trying, and failing, to unbutton your pants. You and Fluttershy both pause, looking rather confused. This was completely unexpected from Fluttershy, but to her, you stopping is what confused her. In your combined confusion, the only thing both of you have to say is- "...What?" *Canterlot, Equestria, a little while ago* Twilight Sparkle entered Princess Celestia's office, the large, tough looking guard-pony swinging the doors open in front of her. Most ponies would have been intimidated, but Twilight smiled as she trotted towards the Princess's desk. "Twilight Sparkle," the princess beamed at her student as Twilight crossed the few steps in between the door and her mentor. After a short embrace, the Princess retreated behind her desk where there were several papers in front of her, magically lifting one to read. "I didn't mean to cause you any trouble, but I had to speak to you immediately," spoke Celestia, recalling that she had magically teleported Twilight to the castle in order to speak to her as soon as possible, and save hours of time traveling on Twilight's part as well. "Oh it was no problem, I'm just curious as to why." The Princess sighed and put the paper down. "Sit down, Twilight." The Princess motioned to a seat nearby. "I'm aware I've only recently sent you to study and find out how ponies interact with humans, but I'm afraid I might have to cut your research short." Twilight gasped, and took a moment to ponder this. Before she could ask why, the Princess was speaking again. "Since we've established contact between here and earth, crime has risen in Equestria, as have murder rates, suicides, and misuse of magic. After very stable levels for hundreds of years, the complexities of human lives here, human technology, human businesses, haven't meshed as well as we thought they would. Hate crimes against ponies on earth are a large problem as well." The Princess sighed and took a deep breath before continuing, "This being said, I've decided to propose legislation to the Equestrian-Earth Council to attempt to end interaction, including traveling of ponies and people in between the two worlds, at least until we can figure out a solution to this problem." Twilight was shocked. "But there's so much to learn from humans. They have great history, business, and technology we've never been able to produce-" "-or ever needed" interrupted the Princess. "In short, neither race in reliant on each other, and because of this, I've decided it is in Equestria's best interests to close our borders." Twilight gaped at the Princess, unsure of what to say. Realizing that her mouth was open, she closed it, only to open it again to speak. "But what about all the ponies currently living on Earth? Or all the people living here in Equestria?" The Princess got up from her desk, "There's no perfect solution, but it has to be done. They'll have time to decide where to live, but where they choose to live will be their home for decades, maybe even centuries." Twilight walked over to the papers she had glanced at on Celestia's desk. Statistics clearly showed that for whatever reason, humans didn't mesh with life in Equestria. She turned to the Princess. "So why not just kick every human out of Equestria, why leave ponies on earth?" "Because ultimately, they can make decisions for themselves, and have a right to choose to live which place they prefer, and be with those that they prefer, or love." Twilight pondered over all this for a moment, staring at the paper in front of her. "How long until you think the portals will be shut down?" Twilight asked. "A couple months, potentially at the end of this year." "So that's about two months for ponies and people to decide where they want to be?" Celestia shook her head. "Not quite. I don't imagine that the news will be released until about a month prior. There's a lot that needs to be worked out first. Please, Twilight, it's important that no one finds out until then." "Very well. I'll be returning to Equestria as soon as the announcement is made, I suppose." Celestia smiled. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything, and that your friends on Earth understand your absence. It was very important that I talked to you today." Twilight smiled back, "Of course. They were absent when you teleported me, but I left a note for them." She smiled, remembering the advice she gave to Fluttershy on the back on the note, knowing she would be the first to enter, as Drew would hold the door open for her. Hopefully it helped Fluttershy, and Twilight would have to spend a little extra time away from the apartment, perhaps gathering some reading material or visiting places here in Canterlot. "You have very understanding friends. Still, I won't keep you from them any long, Twilight. I still expect a bit of research on Human-Pony interactions, due whenever you return." Before Twilight had a chance to speak, the Princess rose to cast a teleportation spell, returning her to where she had initially been teleported from. *** You ran your hand through Fluttershy's soft mane again, happy to be holding her. Despite the confusion of first dates in Equestria, the both of you had decided that since you were on Earth, and this was a unique circumstance, you could develop a slower, more paced method of dating. That hadn't stopped the two of you from spending the majority of the afternoon kissing on your couch. You looked at the gorgeous pony you were with and smiled, happy that she was here with you, and kissed her once more, softly. You hear someone fumbling with the doorknob and sit up straight, innocently flipping on the T.V. You extend one arm around Fluttershy. Twilight enters the room. "Hey guys. Sorry about returning a little bit earlier than expected." She sees the two of you settled together on the couch, and smiles a bit. "I'll just go to my room, I've got some things to finish up for Celestia anyways." You pick up the remote as Twilight exits the room, turning off the T.V. and returning your attention to the gorgeous mare in your arms. You smile and consider kissing her, but are happy to gaze into her eyes and play with her mane as she folds her wing across your chest, smiling. If you had told yourself a few months ago you'd be cuddling a pony right now, you wouldn't have believed it. Still, with her sitting next to you, the warmth of her body on your side and her wing covering your chest, you couldn't quite explain it, but everything just felt... good.