//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Eternal Bonds // by Slictz //------------------------------// Chapter 7 Fluttershy made her way down the gravel path leading to the town’s commerce plaza. She lifted her head high as the rays of the afternoon sun ran through her coat, lighting it ablaze in a golden hue. Her steps had a whimsical bounce to them as she hummed a small song in her heart. She arrived at the market place soon after she left. Having the perfect dinner in mind, she quickly made her way towards the town’s produce merchants. “Fluttershy!” She jumped at the sound of her name. Turning around, she tilted her head at the orange pony waving at her from a distance. Fluttershy looked at the sign above the pony, and gasped in realization as she made out the “Sweet Apple Acres” insignia. Her face lit brighter as she waved back at the pony before taking flight over to the station. “Howdy ther’,” the pony’s rustic accent spoke. Fluttershy instantly brought the mare into a tight hug over the counter. “Hey Applejack, I should have known you’d be out here too.” Fluttershy reared back and stood on all four of her hooves. Applejack let out a short chuckle as she shook herself off. “Heh, yeah. Today’s great for us farmers in town; summer’s comin’ in mighty nice, and all our crops just came back from harvest.” Applejack brought back a heavy bushel of apples and planted it on the counter to prove her point with a confident smirk. “What you doin’ out here anyway? Ain’t you got Twi’ waiting on ya?” the farmer mare teased. Fluttershy laughed uneasily, with an even more bothered smile at the memory of Twilight’s “episode” earlier. “You have no idea…” Fluttershy began, “I’m just here to pick up a few things for dinner tonight. We’re staying at her place for the night this time.” Applejack nodded with a sly wink. “Speakin’ of supper, ya’ll enjoy that last little batch I whipped up for ya?” Fluttershy blushed, and sighed dreamily. “It was perfect! I can’t thank you enough for that. The whole night was just…magical!” Fluttershy was soon snapped out of her rapturous trance at the sound of Applejack’s hooves knocking on the counter. “No problem Fluttershy, but ya’ll better get along now before the sun beats you home.” Fluttershy followed Applejack’s pointed hoof at the sky, noticing Celestia’s gift slowly descending. “Y-Yeah, you’re right.” With a flap of her wings, Fluttershy jumped up, and made her way into the plaza, waving the orange pony behind her goodbye. She continued her intended path towards the vegetable section of the plaza. Her smile grew a bit wider as she marveled at the gleaming orange carrots hanging from the sign of one of the many shops. She zeroed in on the shop, and halted before its counter. The welcoming smile of the pony behind it greeted the Pegasus, as her orange mane blended perfectly with the setting sun. “Fluttershy! My favorite customer,” the shopkeeper welcomed, raising a hoof to show off her products. “What can I do ya for?” "Hey Carrot,” Fluttershy returned with a giggle. “I’m looking for your freshest batch of carrots for a nice soup tonight." "I’ve got just the thing you’re lookin’ for," the mare spoke, while searching through her stock under the counter. She continued their conversation, “Soup eh? Got a hungry stallion waitin’ at home for ya?” Fluttershy’s face lit with a heavy blush, as she turned her head to the side. “Heh, well…” she stammered. “kinda. She’s…more of a mare than a stallion, but yes." Fluttershy flinched back as the storekeeper’s head banged against the underside of the counter. She rose up with the carrots and a slightly dazed expression. “My, a mare you say?” She shook her head to clear it, as she laid the produce on the counter. “Can’t say I’ve heard that one often. But,” she rested her head in her hoof, as she looked back at Fluttershy with a somewhat downcast expression, “love’s blind like that I guess. She must be a good one for you makin’ supper for her like that. Heh, maybe it’ll stumble across me someday, huh?” She raised her head, and brushed off her slight worry with a smile. Fluttershy dropped the usual payment on the counter, and took the carrots in her saddlebag. She looked back at the clerk, and placed a hoof on hers as Fluttershy gave the mare an assuring nod before leaving. Fluttershy turned around, and made her way towards the plaza’s flower stand. A light tap on her shoulder made her jump, as she quickly snapped her head behind her. She was greeted with a rather large brown Earth stallion smiling at her happily. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear you earlier. You have a mare waiting for you at home?” he asked with the warmest of tones. Fluttershy felt her heart begin to calm, as the sense of danger fled from her. “Oh…that. Yes, I do,” Fluttershy began, returning the stallion’s smile. “She such an amazing pony. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” He simply nodded in return. “That’s great... that’s nice.” Fluttershy began feeling a bit more open, and continued her dreamy descriptions. “Yeah, and later on tonight, I’m making her-” Her eyes shot open as she was knocked a few feet back, the air quickly leaving her chest. She slid to a stop as the audible gasp of the bystander ponies rang in unison through the plaza. Fluttershy’s eyes began to shake with fear, as she shakily stood on her hooves. “W-What was t-that for? Did I..do something w-wrong?” she stammered. "The stark stallion glared back at her with fire in his eyes. His head lowered as he closed the distance between them. “Wrong? You want to talk about wrong!?” he lashed out, voice dripping in spite. “You like a mare, and you want to ask what you did ‘wrong?’” Fluttershy flinched back, and hid her face behind her flowing mane. Suddenly, her stride was broken by a large brown stallion blocking her path. Fluttershy folded her ears back, as she took a step back. "Um... Excuse me, may I pass please?" Fluttershy spoke behind her lush pink mane, her voice dripping apprehension. "Pass? What makes you think I’ll move for a fillyfooler like you?" the stark stallion replied in a stern, spiteful tone. While he spoke, more ponies from the market gathered around Fluttershy in a circle. Fluttershy peeked out from her mane, and witnessed the ponies that had gathered around her. Every single one had a look of disapproval, like they hated something about her. "What do you mean by my kind?" Fluttershy spoke shyly to the stallion, wondering why they were all looking at her in that way, judging her silently from the side. "Your kind... mare lovers...” the stallion spoke up, spitting at the ground as he uttered the last word. He looked at Fluttershy with a look of pure anger. "What's wrong with that? What have I done?" Fluttershy asked, looking straight at the stallion, feeling a bit stronger defending herself. "You love a mare, that's what you've done!" He thrashed at Fluttershy. “It’s not natural" he exclaimed, looking around the crowd that had gathered. The crowd cheered his speech, and inched closer towards the scared canary yellow Pegasus. Fluttershy turned towards the crowd and spoke. "What's wrong with our love? Why can't I be with the pony I love?” Fluttershy spoke loudly towards the angry crowd of ponies, who seemed to ignore her completely. That was all Fluttershy managed to say, before she was kicked to the ground. She landed with a loud thump, her face stung as her nose hit the ground. Fluttershy quickly lifted her head up, and looked around for any means to escape the crowd, but there was none in sight. She noticed the now blood stained dirt under her face, so she brought a hoof up to her nose. It stung sharply as she touched it. It felt broken. The ponies around her closed in on the now bleeding mare. “We don't want your kind in this town" the group recited while stepping closer and closer to Fluttershy. Fluttershy panicked as her mind went blank. She was trapped, and she didn't know what the ponies would do to her. She curled up into a tight ball, trying to shield her ears from the insults the group threw at her, but to no avail. The insults stung, and hit her most sensitive spots. She found herself crying while the group continued their verbal assault. All she could do was to try and ignore the insults, but the group was getting closer and closer. The hope to be left alone was quickly shrinking away. Then, out of nowhere, the stallion who started it all was suddenly launched head-first into Junebug’s stand, smashing it to bits. The group around her yelped in surprise. Suddenly, the stallion found himself pinned under a set of orange hooves that belonged to a furious mare, with a look that could kill on her face. "What do you think yer doing!?!" the orange mare screamed into his face, her anger clearly showing. The group moved in to help the stallion, but they were blocked by a just as furious cyan Pegasus. The group started backing away as the cyan Pegasus moved closer and closer to them, glaring at the group. The orange mare kept screaming at the stallion under her hooves, forcing his reasons for harassing Fluttershy out of his shocked form. Once she finished her interrogation of him, the orange mare turned around and walked up besides Fluttershy. Looking at the crowd, she spoke up. "I've never been so disappointed in mah whole life! Ponies harassing other ponies over whom they love?" she yelled at the crowd. She wasn't angry... she was furious! "Explain your actions! What gives you the right to harass Fluttershy like this? Hm!?" Fluttershy looked up at the mention of her name, and her heart fluttered by the sheer joy she felt. There in front of her, AJ and Rainbow Dash stood, defending her choice to all those other ponies. "I'd recommend that y’all leave this instant, before me and Rainbow here do something we'll regret later." AJ stared at the crowd, but they didn't budge from their places, so she tried again. "Ok, I'll count to three and if ye'r not gone by then, Rainbow here will see to you one at a time" she yelled at the crowd. Surely enough, they began to spread, mumbling further insults as they went. Applejack then focused her attention on Fluttershy, who was still lying on the ground. She bent down to her. "Are you ok, sugarcube?" she asked, while lifting Fluttershy slowly to her hooves again. "I... I don't know." Fluttershy replied between sobs. She was not feeling alright at all. All she wanted was to be with Twilight right now; she needed the comforting touch of her mare friend. "Applejack, could you walk me to the Library? I don't feel safe walking alone right now" Fluttershy pleaded to the orange mare. "Sure I will, hun. Rainbow, would you mind helping me out here? "Sure thing, Applejack” Rainbow Dash replied, before she walked up beside Fluttershy and Applejack. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy walked together towards the library. Applejack and Rainbow kept an eye out for anypony from the group wanting to try again, but the walk went without any problems; the group left them alone. They soon arrived at the library. Applejack asked RD to stay outside and keep an eye out for trouble. Rainbow Dash agreed reluctantly, and stepped out on the path, looking for any signs of the group. Applejack and Fluttershy opened the door and stepped inside. They looked around the room, and found Twilight sorting books by the back wall. Applejack coughed slightly to alert Twilight of their arrival. Twilight turned around, and was struck at the sight. There Applejack stood, with concern in her eyes, looking at Twilight while hinting towards Fluttershy. Twilight shifted her gaze from Applejack over to Fluttershy. The scene before her made her whole world fall apart. "Fluttershy... are you okay?" Twilight asked, as she dashed across the library floor, bringing Fluttershy tightly into her embrace. Fluttershy broke down on the spot. Her feelings were shattered, and any confidence was gone. She'd been defeated by the crowd; they had won, and any happy thoughts were washed away... only sadness remained. “Fluttershy, what happened to you?” Twilight asked, while hugging the canary Pegasus tightly, comforting Fluttershy to the best of her abilities. “I… I” was all Fluttershy managed to speak. Her mind was a mess; she couldn’t think straight. “Twilight, come with me, and I’ll tell you” Applejack spoke, as she hinted towards the kitchen. Twilight obliged, and followed in close pursuit. Once inside the rustic kitchen, Applejack began to speak again. “Okay hun, now don’t ya freak out now. Fluttershy was attacked while shopping for carrots just now. The attack started with a brown stallion that blocked her path as she tried to walk.” Applejack said with a stern, but concerned voice. “What!? Why would anyone do this to her? What did she do wrong?” Twilight blurted out, her mind racing for any explanation for why somepony would do this. However, the thoughts only came to dead-ends. “It gets worse hun... now bear with me here. After the stallion blocked her path, more pony folk gathered around her, insulting her personal choices, judging her for her relationship with you. She tried her best to stay strong. She talked to them, defended her choice. She fought for yer love, but this did not sit right with the group or the stallion, so he kicked her to the ground, insulting her further.” Applejack continued her retelling to Twilight. Every single word hit Twilight harshly. She was now at the brink of crying. Her mind was split. One part was overjoyed by what Fluttershy had done, but the other focused on the damages done by the stallion and the crowd. “I was at the market today, selling my apples as usual, and Rainbow Dash was there to help me. She owes me a small sum of cash after she pulled a Buccaneer Blaze over mah orchard last week. Anyway, we were just about to start packing up the stand for the day when we saw Fluttershy talking to the brown stallion. She seemed intimidated by him, so we kept an eye out, waiting to see what he might do. We then turned around for a short while to stack some barrels up on mah cart, and when we turned back around, Fluttershy was gone. All we could see was a large group centered on something in the middle of the marketplace.” Applejack continued, but soon noticed that Twilight had started crying. She moved Twilight over to one of the kitchen chairs, and sat her down on it. She hugged Twilight, trying her best to comfort her. “Now if ya want me to stop, I’ll stop” Applejack said, as she gently stroked Twilight’s back and mane. “No, I need to know the rest... please continue.” Twilight answered, as she wiped her nose with a hoof, trying her best to stop crying. “Okay then. So, we saw the group, and wondered where Fluttershy was, but our thoughts were cut short by Fluttershy speaking up to the group. We couldn’t hear exactly what she said, but we managed to hear her say love and wrong. We then heard a loud thump, as if something just hit the ground. Our first thought was Fluttershy, so we dashed over to the group. When I saw Fluttershy bleeding on the ground like that, I lost it. My feelings took over, and I bucked the stallion as hard as I could, straight into Junebug’s flower stand. I then jumped him, and forced an answer out of his shocked body while Rainbow Dash took care of the group that had gathered.” Applejack’s description of the events went on, while making sure Twilight was all right. “We got the crowd to leave, and then we got Fluttershy on her hooves again. Looking her over, I quickly noticed her broken nose. We asked her if she was all right, but all she managed to say was that she was unsure. She then asked us if we could take her here. We obliged, and the rest you know.”Twilight just sat there dumbfounded, her mind going a mile a minute, but it came to the same conclusion as before. Why would anyone do this to her? Was it wrong of her to love Twilight? She’d have to think about the answers later. Right now, Fluttershy needed her. Fluttershy depended on her. Twilight got up from her chair, and stepped out of the kitchen into the library. There on the couch, by the far wall, Fluttershy lay clearly shaken up, crying. Twilight winced at the sight. She hated seeing Fluttershy cry, and each sob was like a knife in her heart. Twilight knew she had to do something, so she trotted over to the couch and lied down besides Fluttershy. She started gently nuzzling her pink mane and neck, trying to get Fluttershy to look up from her hooves. The affectionate nuzzling seemed to help, as Fluttershy slowly stopped sobbing and finally looked up from her hooves. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her mane was a mess, but the worst thing was the broken nose. Fluttershy still bled from the wound, and as such her hooves and large portions of her face was blood red. Twilight ignored this, and levitating some tissues over to her, slowly began cleaning her up. Twilight worked as gently as she could, trying her best to avoid the nose as it was quite sensitive. “There we are. Does that feel better?” Twilight caringly spoke to Fluttershy, after she finished cleaning her up. “Y… Yes, it feels a little bit better.” Fluttershy replied, before she hugged Twilight tight and started crying again. “There, there Fluttershy... don’t worry. I’m here to help you. It’ll all be all right, I promise.” Twilight cooed to the canary mare, while she ran a hoof down Fluttershy’s back, stroking her fur and mane gently. “Now then, Fluttershy, how about we go make us some dinner?” Twilight asked, as she moved her head backwards to look Fluttershy’s face over. The sight was painful to see. Fluttershy’s eyes were red from crying. Her fur was damp, and her nose still bled slowly, but she looked better than when she first entered the library. They sat there, looking at each other for a while, until Fluttershy surprised Twilight by bending forward and kissing Twilight on the lips. Twilight didn’t know how to respond. Her body went limp once Fluttershy’s lips touched her. As before, Twilight’s mind was a haze of hormones and emotions. The feeling was unlike anything she’d felt before. The kiss could have lasted forever, but it was cut short by Rainbow Dash walking through the front door of the Library. Rainbow Dash froze up when she saw Twilight and Fluttershy kissing. She could not believe the sight before her; Fluttershy was in love with Twilight? How could it be? Whatever the reason, Rainbow knew she couldn’t be there anymore. She still felt pain every time she thought about the relationship she had with Fluttershy, and the breakup at the end. In a flash, she dashed out the door and made her way towards home, tears streaming down her face as she flew. ‘Why Am I crying? I thought I’d gotten over it! Why does it still hurt!?’ Rainbow Dash thought while she flew home, tears rolling down her cyan cheeks, ruffling her fur as she flew faster and faster towards the cloud house that she called home. “AJ, what was that about?” Twilight asked after Rainbows sudden departure. “Ah honestly don’t know, but it must’a been something special for her to take off like that.” Applejack replied bluntly. She was just as stunned as Twilight. “I just hope she’s okay. I hope I didn’t do something wrong though.” Twilight skeptically replied, wondering if she’d done something to make Rainbow Dash leave like she did. “Fluttershy, do you know anything about this?” Twilight asked curiously, as she turned around and looked at the now shivering canary mare on the couch. The canary mare shivered slightly. She’d hoped this discussion wouldn’t come up this early. The memories were still with her, and she just didn’t like the thought of talking about it. After the break-up, her and RD had chosen to keep it silent and just stay good friends. They saw no need for the others to know of their relationship. “Okay, Twilight, I’ll tell you why she left like that... but you have to sit tight and listen to the whole story and not cut in on me while I speak. This is a delicate matter for both me and Rainbow.” Fluttershy said, nudging for Twilight to sit down beside her on the couch. Editor's notes: Allright then, this is a chapter that sure took quite some time to finish. This is mostly due to School on my end and the bit about me changing pre-readers. I now have 3 pre-readers on my team so future updates should come at a quicker pace. That is all for now folks! Await my blog posts and future chapters for more stuff to read. ~Slictz/Johan and the rest of the crew behind Eternal Bonds.~