//------------------------------// // Part 6 // Story: Setting Her Heart Aflutter // by Hivemind //------------------------------// *knock knock knock* “Yes?” “May I umm...may I come in?” “Oh, umm...of course!” The door to the bedroom slowly creaked open and Fluttershy entered. She had a small wrapped basket of goodies on her back. Both Angel and Remi walked alongside her. It was a mystery to you as to how the two managed to get along so quickly in little under a day. She placed the basket on the nightstand. Then she walked over to you and gently nuzzled your neck. Blushing fiercely, you nuzzle her back. “Pinkie came over this morning and dropped off this get well basket. Most of the animals that you used to take care of came by as well, including that beaver family. “ Fluttershy summarized the current day’s events. When you hear about your animals coming to Fluttershy’s home, you start to worry. You had taken care of many, many, animals and their families, much more than you could count. “Oh...should I help? With the animals I mean. There must be an awful lot of them out there...” you ask her. “Oh goodness no! You’re much too injured for any sort of work. If you tried to help me, your wound would just reopen and you would...be in even more pain. I have it all under control, don’t worry.” “Ok...” you calmly agreed, “...but can I at least go and see them?” “Oh...a-are you sure? Are in any pain?” Fluttershy asks with a tone of worry. “Not really. Nearly all of the pain I had felt before is gone now, and I think I’ve gotten the feel in my legs back to.” you wiggle your forward and back legs and shake your body around to demonstrate, “I’ll be fine.” Fluttershy pondered for a moment about your condition before replying. “Ok, but at least let me help you up.” “Ok.” You lean upward and straighten your back. Fluttershy grabs both of your front legs and slowly pulls you off the bed. You then straighten your back legs and gently place your back hooves on the floor, followed by your front hooves. You wiggle your body more to get rid of any excess numbness. Remi leapt off the bed and onto your back, where he then curls around your neck like a miniature python. Angel does the same, leaping off of the bed and onto Fluttershy’s back. Fluttershy leans over and lightly nuzzles your neck. You return the nuzzle with that of your own. “Ready?” she asks while she flutters her eyes up at you. “Ready.” you reply back. The two of you walk out of the room and down the stairs into the living room, where a plethora of animals were waiting to greet you. Birds, mice, guinea pigs, squirrels, and many other small animals all withdrew themselves from their tiny homes and strolled over to you and Fluttershy. They looked on with wonder at the sight of a new animal in the house, Remi, who had slithered off of your neck and dropped onto the ground to introduce himself. A few hummingbirds flocked over your head and landed on your head, chirping their own hellos. Fluttershy giggled. You lightly shook the birds off of your scalp and walked to the door with her, with every animal in the house trailing behind you. You walk ahead of Fluttershy and open the front door in a “Ladies First” form of manners. She blushes and accepts your kindly approach. You smile when you felt her soft mane brush past your own. You allow the other animals to walk ahead in front of you, then you walk out and close the door behind you. Fluttershy’s garden was packed out with every kind of animal you could imagine. You recognized most of them, including the ones that you took care of before. The badger and squirrel families immediately caught eye of you, where they soon ran up to you and tightly hugged your front legs. You hugged back and playfully tussle the hair on one of the beaver’s head. Fluttershy smiled at the caring display. “Are you sure you can handle all of these animals Fluttershy? It wouldn’t bother me at all to lend you a helping hoof.” you pro-offer the smiling pegasus. “It’s alright,” she gently nuzzles your neck before continuing, “I have Angel to help me out. I’ve dealt with this type of situation before.” You turn to face Remi, who was standing up on your back and waving to his old friends from your home. ‘Hey Remi,” you call to him. He turns to meet your gaze. “Wanna help Angel take care of the animals?” Remi beamed at the offer. He brought an arm up to his forehead and saluted you. He then hopped off of your back and slithered towards Angel, who was also introducing himself to the newcomers. “Do you want to head into town? I’m sure that my friends would be thrilled to see that you’re alright...” She moved closer to you and leaned on your body. “Besides, you simply must get some fresh air after being cooped in the house for a while...” You smile warmly and nuzzle her forehead. She sighs with satisfaction and nuzzles you back. “That sounds wonderful Fluttershy.” you replied. Fluttershy broke away from the nuzzle and trotted over to Angel and Remi, where they were still busily shaking paws with other animals and introducing themselves. She lowered her head in between them. She lightly prodded the two of them with her nose, causing them to turn around and smile when they saw her face. “Angel, do you mind taking care of the animals while I head into town?” Angel nodded in acknowledgment. Remi moved next to Angel and nodded as well. “Alright you two, I’ll be back soon.” Fluttershy called out while she trotted back to your side. You set off on the road for the town, with nature’s most beautiful creation leaning on your shoulder. ~~~~~ “Looklooklook! There they are!” Pinkie Pie pointed to Fluttershy and the pony beside her. “Really? Let me see.” Pinkie handed the binoculars to Twilight. She carefully scrutinized Fluttershy from a distance, checking for any important signs and details of her alleged “bad romance” theory. After finding nothing, she was about to give up, until she caught eye of the other pony’s bandaged torso. “Hold on a second, there! Look there!” Twilight passed the binoculars back to Pinkie, where she took them and put her wide, focused eyes to the eyepiece. “Whoa, that doesn’t look to good...” Pinkie commented. “Look like the start of a ‘bad romance’ Pinkie? The wound underneath those bandages must have come from somewhere...” Twilight suspiciously replied while rubbing her chin with one of her hooves. “Are you crazy Twilight? Fluttershy would never hurt anypony! How could you even say that?” Pinkie scowled at Twilight’s horrendously backwards notion. “It’s just a thought Pinkie, and besides, I never said that Fluttershy caused it!” Twilight snapped back. It took a moment or two, but Pinkie’s mistake finally clicked in her head. “Oh, whoops. My bad!” Pinkie and Twilight continued to watch the two ponies through the cover of the bushes. The couple stopped at Rose’s flower stand for a minute, then continued on through the town. “Well, now what? They seem pretty happy together, and I don’t find anything suspicious about that.” said Pinkie as she lowered the binoculars and looked to Twilight for an answer. “That’s just it! It might seem like a good relationship, but you never really know. Let’s observe them for just a little while longer, then we can come up with a conclusion.” “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie put the lens of the telescope to her eyes. “Hey, why is everything so small now?” Twilight unamusingly took the binoculars from Pinkie and flipped them over, then gave them back to her. “Oh, oopsie! Hehe...” ~~~~~ Fluttershy slowly took in another whiff of the sweet smelling flower, breathing in, then exhaling with a sigh of content. “Thank you for the rose...” She took another whiff, then exhaled with content once more. She closed her eyes and leaned on your shoulder. You return the feel of affection with a gentle nuzzle to the side of her head. “You’re welcome. Anything for you Fluttershy...” you say while continuing the nuzzle. She gave you a light peck on the muzzle, causing both of you to blush fiercely. *growl* Both of you jolt upward at the sound of a low growl. You look all around, expecting to find a dog or something nearby, but to no avail. The growl comes up again, but this time, it was closer to you. Fluttershy starts to giggle. You turn to find that she had one hoof covering her mouth to suppress her laughter while her other hoof covered her belly. “Sorry, I guess I’m just a little hungry.” she says in between giggles. You could only stop and giggle along with her. “Do you want to get something to eat? I know this great cafe in town that we could go to...well, only if you want to...” Fluttershy only responded by giving you another light peck on the muzzle. You stick close to Fluttershy and start off towards the cafe, only to stop when you notice that a pile of bushes nearby began to shake and rustle. You turn your head to look, only to find that the bushes have stopped rustling. And was that a...pair of eyes staring back at you? “Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked you with a hint of concern. “No, I’m fine.” You warmly kiss Fluttershy on the nose. “Come on, you must be getting pretty hungry...” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Equestrian Deadpool, I took your advice about not working so hard... It failed miserably...