“Hello,” Fluttershy greeted the pony behind the stand. “Can I ask you for a few mandarins, please?”
“Of course,” the merchant replied with a smile. She grabbed a hooffull of the small fruits and placed them into a paper bag, which she then gave Fluttershy. “That will be two bits.”
The yellow pegasus gave the seller her payment and took the bag. As she placed it in her saddlebags, she checked if she was missing anything from her shopping list.
“Leaves of lettuce, apples, raspberries, pineapple…” she began to count while trotting away from the stand, her head in her saddlebag.
As walking somewhere without looking wasn’t very safe - especially in a such croweded place as a town’s marketplace - it was a good that a voice of somepony interrupted her.
“Good morning Fluttershy!” a pony standing right next to her called out.
Even if it had nearly given her a heart attack.
“Ah!” Fluttershy screamed with fright as she jumped into the air and clung herself by the street light under which she had been a second ago, her heart pounding in her chest.
Almost at once, Fluttershy felt a familiar presence growing alarmed. Still not having gotten used to the odd sensation, it took her some time to respond to Eon’s worries.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, dear,” came from the pony below her, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Finally placing the voice, Fluttershy looked down at Rarity, and gave her a sheepish smile. She let go of the street light and landed beside her, and at the same time she began to calm herself and try to convey to Eon that she wasn’t in any danger.
Contrary to what she had thought when Princess Celestia had first mentioned, being linked to another by their souls didn’t mean they could just talk to each other in their heads. In fact, Fluttershy hadn’t thought at all that Eon’s connection with her would cause such things. But soon after Eon had woken up - and after he explained his reason for leaving which led to them making up - the Princess then had told them what would happen next.
“The bond that had formed between you will grow stronger,” she had said then, “and in time, the effects of it will probably start affecting you as well, Fluttershy.”
“Wait!” Twilight had interrupted her mentor, alarmed. “Does this mean that… if they would get separated again, Fluttershy would, too…”
“No, I don’t think so,” Celestia had replied, smiling reassuringly. “In fact, I think that when the bond between the two of will grow deeper, it will no longer be necessary for the two of you to stay close to each other… or at least, the period of time before Eon Guard will start feeling the effects of being away from you should increase in length. However,” she had added, “there will be some additional consequences of having this bond.”
Those other consequences had began to manifest recently. Just like the Princess had said, over the course of the three weeks since then, their bond grew stronger and deeper, and now they could feel each other’s thoughts. At first, it was really confusing for Fluttershy, and Eon became really worried how she will feel with this change in her life he had unwillingly caused her. He tried to hide it… which kind of became hard with this development.
After a while, though, much to Eon’s as well as everypony else’s relief, Fluttershy, with her love’s support, managed to handle this connection between their minds and souls. She no longer felt as if she was split into two, half of her being with Eon and other with her. Nor she felt as if Eon was invading her mind. It took some time when their thoughts began exchanging, but now everything was alright. Her mind was hers, and Eon’s was Eon’s. They could still sense sudden changes in the other’s mind, but other than that, all their bond was doing to them was making them feel as if the other was near.
Which was something that neither Fluttershy nor Eon would ever mind.
Returning with her thoughts to the present moment, and having assured Eon that she was in no danger, Fluttershy turned to her friend. “It’s okay, Rarity,” she told the white unicorn, smiling with mild embarrassment. “I am still a bit jumpy after all that business with those nasty changelings.”
The fashionista’s face twisted into into an unpleasant scowl at the memories Fluttershy’s comment must have brought up, “Ugh, yes, those creatures had left a lot of unpleasant memories this time, hadn’t they?”
“I’ll say,” Fluttershy agreed. “The Changeling Queen would have won if it weren’t for Eon.”
“Yes, and all of Ponyville was grateful for his heroism. This reminds me; how come he’s not here with you?” Rarity inquired, glancing at her curiously. “I know that, as of late, you no longer need to be inseparable, but it’s still rather odd to see you without him.”
“Oh, I just came do some shopping,” Fluttershy replied, nodding at her saddlebags. “I want to make a special dinner for Eon and me, you see. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”
“Mhm…” her friend mused, looking at her in a strange way. “A ‘special dinner’, you say? Any special occasion?”
“Oh, um…” the yellow pony began to shudder; when she had mentioned that she was making a special dinner, she hadn’t expected Rarity to ask why. “W-well, you see…” Fluttershy said, her entire face starting to blush fiercely as her voice grew quieter. “I… I was… I was kinda hoping…”
She had to look away from Rarity when she said that. She was so embarrassed that she didn’t think she would be able to look her friend into eye. In fact, a part of her wanted to just drop the issue and/or run away, but… at the same time, she knew that this would be brought up by her friends sooner or later, so she might as well say it now and get over it.
Plus, it would help if she could possibly get some advice from Rarity…
In a voice barely louder than a whisper, Fluttershy confessed, “I was kinda hoping tonight Eon and I would… um…”
“Oh!” Rarity, who, thankfully for Fluttershy, had realized what her friend was talking about, exclaimed and moved a step away (as she had to get closer to hear her). “You mean you two hadn’t yet…”
“No!” Fluttershy squeaked, a little too loud for her liking. In a quieter tone, she added. “No, we hadn’t.”
“Forgive me, Fluttershy, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. There’s no shame in taking things slow. I was just surprised; what with you sharing a bond between your souls and all.”
“Well…” Fluttershy trailed off, searching for the right way to explain how come she and Eon hadn’t yet become more intimate. “You know me, I can be a little bit… shy. And Eon wasn’t trying to press me in any way.”
Rarity chuckled warmly. “My, what a gentlecolt. Do you think we can expect more of his kind to come to Equestria?”
“One can only hope, huh?”
Both mares jumped, startled by the voice from above. They turned their head to see that above them was none other than Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity exclaimed, sounding offended. “Were you eavesdropping on us?”
“Maybe,” Rainbow shrugged nonchalantly, though the smirk on her face betrayed her. “So…” she said as she landed next to Fluttershy, “mind if I ask you-”
A certain memory from the days when she had first met Eon resurfaced in Fluttershy’s mind. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…” This mantra filled her mind, and she was really grateful for the fact that Eon had stopped paying her a closer attention after that jump-fright she got earlier.
“Rainbow!” Rarity hissed, stopping the cyan pegasus. Glaring daggers at her, she continued, “If you dare ask her about-”
“Nah, not that,” Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. Smirking, she turned to Fluttershy. “I just wanted to know if they’re going to do this with him being a pony or-”
The rest of what she was going to say was cut off by Rarity pulling her by her ear with magic, which was, guessing by the expression on Rainbow Dash’s face, rather painful.
The familiar shape grew bigger as Fluttershy trotted towards her cottage. Up in the air, in his real form, Eon was flying in circles with her little bird friends.
He wasn’t doing it just because Fluttershy had asked him to take care of them and her other critters while she was gone. She knew he enjoyed flying almost as much as Rainbow. However, unlike her, he was quite fond of just the sensation of being in the air, flying together with small birds.
Eon turned his head towards her as she approached, and uttered a cheerful growl. Fluttershy smiled as he hurried to her, changing his shape in the flight. He landed right beside he as a pony and nuzzled her affectionately.
“Yes, it’s good to be back,” Fluttershy replied as she returned the caress.
She had noticed that her bird friends were now flying around the two of them, chirping happily. As Fluttershy pictured that scene in her head, she grew even more certain that she was making the right decision. It wasn’t just that they were now bonded; they made each other happy, and… complete.
“Do you mind looking after everypony for a few more hours?” she asked Eon as she pulled back (a bit unhappily). “I’m not going anywhere;” she added quickly;. “I just have a little something to do.”
Eon, despite being confused, quickly nodded and pressed his lips to hers. Fluttershy’s wings fluttered from happiness as he did that, as they did almost every time now; what she had planned for the night was probably going to make them so sore tomorrow…
She allowed herself to linger in the kiss for a few more heartbeats before she pulled a bit back, kissed Eon on the nose, and headed towards her cottage. She had a few dishes to prepare for their dinner… a candlelight dinner, as Rarity had suggested.
The thought of Rarity brought back certain part of the conversation that they had. A very embarrassing part of conversation, especially during the moments Rainbow Dash had added her own advices.
As red once again crept on her cheeks, so did stiffness to her wings.
Latios opened one eye lazily to look at the sleeping female beside him. The sweet, yellow-and-pink female that was his mate. That this very night had become his mate in all the meaning of that word. The female that didn’t care that they were of other species. The mare that had made him more happy than he ever was, even during the time he spent with his sister.
The mare that had became a part of him.
Closing his eye once again, feeling still tired after their passionate night, Latios nuzzled Fluttershy briefly before he fell asleep again.
Both lovers curled a bit tighter through their sleep, as if wanting to become even closer, despite already being complete.
THE END