//------------------------------// // The Talk // Story: The Mixer Chronicles // by Mixer //------------------------------// Book Eight: The Talk I was standing on the small bridge near Fluttershy’s cottage. It was early afternoon so the sun was shining brightly in the sky, illuminating every inch of property. For a moment I stood there on the middle of the bridge, taking in the scene. The flowers were all blooming, a few of the birdhouses looked occupied, their tenants singing songs. Here and there a critter would be frolicking in the yard. It looked utterly peaceful, except for a small white face in the window who was scowling at me. Now, I generally didn’t dislike animals, even if I wasn’t very good with them, but Angel was a different story. That little ball of fluff and hate was by far my worst enemy. He and I had a mutual dislike for each other, and Fluttershy didn’t ever seem to notice. I frowned back and started walking up the path to Fluttershy’s door. As I neared the door I saw the curtain close. I knocked on the door and waited. I need not wait long as Fluttershy herself came to the door. “Mixer! What are you doing here?” she asked, sounding glad to see me. “Hey, Fluttershy. Can I come in? I wanted to talk about something.” “Of course. Come in,” she said, ushering me inside with a wing. “Can I get you anything?” I walked in and sat down on the couch. There was a bowl of oranges and I picked one up before replying, “No, I’m fine.” She walked over and sat on the opposite end of the couch. “What did you want to talk about.” I turned the orange over in my hoof while I worked up the nerve to say what I was thinking. “I... want to talk about us.” Even from the corner of my eye I could see her blush. “I-Is this about the night of the wedding...?” she said meekly. I nodded and looked at her so our eyes met. “I... I want things to be... I mean... I would like to try being in a relationship...” My tongue was tripping all over itself, each word practically forced out. I could see that her blush had deepened a shade, but she said nothing and she was still looking at me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Would you be my marefriend?” I blurted. So much for concise speech. Fluttershy looked away, abashed. It seemed like an eternity before she answered. “...yes...” It was almost whispered at first. “Y-yes,” she said, this time more loudly. She looked back to me and I felt my cheeks burning and my heart rate increase. I had not expected her to say yes. “O-okay,” I stammered, and scooted a little close. For all my education and knowledge, this was a completely new experience for me, and as you might expect, had no idea what to do. She scooted closer to me too and we ended up almost next to each other. I carefully reached my hoof over and took her hoof delicately in mine. When I first touched her, she felt tense and she looked like her blush had gotten even deeper, but she soon relaxed and the glowing red of her cheeks lessened. We sat like that for a couple minutes, getting accustomed to the whole feeling. After that, it was me who broke the silence. “That wasn’t the only thing I wanted to talk to you about.” “Hmm?” was her reply as she looked up to me. “Celestia offered me to join the royal guard after some training...” Fluttershy straightened and looked shocked. “What?” “She said that I acted heroically when the changelings invaded. She said that I could join the guard if I wanted to further protect my new home.” “Wow! That’s... wonderful, right?” She seemed unsure if it was a good thing. I wasn’t sure myself. “I suppose. But for the time being I am to assist Shining Armor’s temporary replacement while he is on honeymoon with Cadence. I will be gone for about a month.” From the look on her face, it seemed like this was sad news. “So you’re leaving?” I gave her hoof a squeeze, to comfort myself as much as her. “I’m due to report for duty in two days. After the month is done, I will probably go through some training before officially joining the guard.” “So you are leaving...” Fluttershy said, looking crestfallen. I felt bad, and gave her a hug. “Don’t worry, it’s only a month. I’ll write. And I’m sure that I will have some time before my training starts to come back and see you. Plus, there’s tomorrow.” She hugged me back, leaning her head on my shoulder but not saying anything. As we shared the hug, I could see Angel giving me the death glare. I gave him a look back that said, Not now rabbit. Finally Fluttershy said something, “You’re right. It will only be a month... how hard could it be to wait?” Her voice was steady, but I could see moisture at the corners of her eyes. I put a hoof around her and rubbed her shoulder with my hoof. “I’ll be back before you know it.” That seemed to work, and she leaned into me. With Fluttershy leaning against me and my arm around her, I felt strange. It was as if I could keep anything at bay, even time. It felt like it as we sat for what seemed like hours. I would have to test at some point if love caused temporal distortions. Soon enough, however, Fluttershy shifted and I withdrew my arm. “Do you have anything else to do today?” she asked. I got up a stretched a little. “Well, I’m sure Pinkie will want to see me. You know how she is. I might stop by and say hello to Twilight too.” Fluttershy got up as well and stretched her wings before folding them back in place. “I could come with you. I-if you want...” I gave a little smile. “Sure.” She smiled back, a slight rosy hue on her cheeks. “Okay. Let me just go get a snack for Angel Bunny,” she said going into the kitchen. As I watched her go, I felt something hit the side of my face with considerable force. I looked down and saw a carrot. Off to the side Angel was tapping his foot and frowning at me. I frowned and picked him up with magic, bringing him over to my waiting hoof. I held him up by my face. “Listen rabbit, I’ll call truce if you will.” He frowned at me some more and then rolled his eyes, sticking out a paw. We shook just before Fluttershy came back with a bowl of salad. She walked over to us, Angel sitting on the floor by me, and me patting his head. “Here you go Angel Bunny,” she said, setting down the salad bowl in front of him. “Ready?” I asked, stepping towards the door. She sidled up next to me. “Mhm.” I opened the door for us. “Mares first.” “Why thank you,” she said, stepping outside. I quickly joined her and closed the door behind me. We walked side by side through Ponyville to Sugarcube Corner. I think we drew a couple pairs of eyes, though most ponies didn’t notice that we walked a little closer than just friends. In no time at all we arrived at our destination. Again, I held the door for Fluttershy as we went inside. Mrs. Cake was working the counter. “Hello there. Welcome to Sugarcube Corner,” she said. “Hello, Mrs. Cake,” Fluttershy said. “Hello deary. Are you looking for Pinkie Pie?” “Actually, yes. I think she would want to see me,” I said. “You look familiar... have we met?” she asked me. “Once or twice. I don’t think we have been properly introduced. My name is Mixer.” I went over to the counter and extended my hoof. “Nice to meet you. Wait one moment and I’ll go get Pinkie.” She stepped out from behind the counter and went to a set of stairs in the back of the room that led up to where the Cakes lived. A minute or so later she came trotting back down the stairs, Pinkie trotting patiently behind her. I say patiently because I could see that she was in more of a hurry to descend the steps than Mrs. Cake was. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs she was on top of me, giving me a hug. “Mixer!” she cried happily. Fluttershy giggled as I was tackle hugged. “Hey, Pinkie,” I said, humoring her hug. “What are you doing back in town?” she asked, still pinning me to the ground. “Well, I am changing jobs and wanted to say hi to all my friends before I left.” “Changing jobs?” she asked. “Uh, Pinkie, could you get off of me?” I asked. It was getting awkward being pinned underneath her, especially with Fluttershy right there (Even if she didn’t seem to mind). Pinkie giggled and let me up. “So whatcha gonna do now?” I dusted myself off. “Well, Celestia has asked me to assist the pony who is filling in for Shining Armor while he is on honeymoon.” “He’s going to be a royal guard,” Fluttershy added. “A royal guard? Wowee! This calls for a party!” she cheered, producing the dreaded party cannon. “That’s okay Pinkie, I don’t think this calls for celebration yet,” I said. I was too close to the cannon for comfort. If she fired it now, I could be pulling streamers out of my mane for days. “Awww...” She looked disappointed and put away the cannon. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. “Maybe once it’s official, you can throw a big party,” I suggested. “Okie dokie loki!” That seemed to cheer her up. While we had been talking, Fluttershy had managed to creep over to my side. “So, what are you two doing now?” Pinkie asked. “I think we’ll go and say hi to Twilight while there’s still some daylight left,” I said. “Okay! I’ve got to get back to the little Cakes,” Pinkie said happily and trotted off. She had been oblivious to Fluttershy and me being a thing, but out of the corner of my eye I had seen a knowing look on Mrs. Cake’s face. IT seemed like our relationship wasn’t going to be a secret, but then again, I hadn’t expected it to. I just didn’t feel like telegraphing it more than I had to. Fluttershy and I left Sugarcube Corner and started heading to the library. The tree looked more or less how I had remembered it. We went to the door and knocked. It may technically be a public building, but since Twilight lived there, most ponies knocked anyways. As we waited for somepony to answer, I felt Fluttershy brush against my side. I was a little startled by it, but the contact felt nice. After a moment, it was Spike that came to the door. “Hey Fluttershy, her er...What was your name again?” I stifled a chuckle, “Mixer.” Spike rubbed his head, embarrassed. “Hey, Mixer. Long time no see.” “Is Twilight home?” I asked. “Yeah, she’s really into this new book.” “Daring Doo?” Spike nodded. “She’s reading it up in her room.” “Can we come in?” Fluttershy asked. “Sure,” Spike said, and let us in. We went inside and sat on the couch together while Spike went to fetch Twilight. “Have you read any of the Daring Doo books?” I asked Fluttershy. She shook her head, “No. Have you?” “I started one. It was alright.” It didn’t take long for Spike to return with Twilight. “Hey, Twilight,” I said, waving a hoof from the couch. “Mixer, Fluttershy, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked, reaching the bottom of the stairs and walking over to an armchair across from the couch. “Oh, we’re just dropping by to say hello,” I said. “How have you been, Mixer?” Twilight asked. “Good. So, you told Celestia that I was 'heroic'?” Twilight looked a little embarrassed. “She told you, huh...?” “Twilight, you didn’t need to say anything.” “But this isn’t bad, right?” Fluttershy asked. “What? What isn’t bad?” Twilight asked. “While your brother is on honeymoon with Cadence, I am going to be his temporary replacement’s assistant. And after that I’m going to be a guard.” “Oh...” Twilight said. She seemed as surprised as I was when Celestia had first told me. “He’s going to be gone for a month,” Fluttershy said. “And that’s just for the assistant position. I’ll probably go through some training before I’m officially made a guard.” “I see,” Twilight said. “How’s the new Daring Doo book?” I asked. “It’s amazing!” “That good huh?” “It’s the best book so far. I didn’t know you read Daring Doo.” I shrugged, “I never really got into it. Spike said you were reading a new book and I figured it was Daring Doo.” “Ah... by the way, are you two...?” Fluttershy and I both turned a little red. “M-maybe...” Fluttershy said. Twilight smiled, “Well good for you.” This made me blush more at least, I couldn’t see if Fluttershy was blushing more or not. “It’s pretty new,” I said. “Well, good luck to you two.” “T-thanks,” we said together. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?” she asked after giving us a moment to regain our composure. “Well, while I’m gone I plan on asking Octavia and Vinyl Scratch to watch my house for me. Could you check in once a week to make sure everything is okay?” “Sure. I’ll inform you if there are any problems.” “Thanks, Twilight.” She waved a hoof, “It’s no trouble.” “Well, I think that’s it. Have a good evening, Twilight,” I said standing up. “You too. Good luck in Canterlot, Mixer,” Twilight said, walking with us to the door. Fluttershy said her own goodbye and we started walking. “Would you like me to walk you home?” I asked. She smiled and rubbed her head under my chin. “Yes please.” I smiled back and we turned towards Fluttershy’s cottage. We walked slower than normal, and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t quite evening, but the sun was hanging lower in the sky. After a few minutes, we were at Fluttershy’s door and we had to say goodbye. I gave her a hug. “Goodnight, Fluttershy.” She gave me a hug in return, using her wings as well. “Goodnight, Mixer. Will you stop by tomorrow too?” “Of course.” She smiled and we disengaged our hug before she went inside. I sighed, somewhat happily and somewhat sadly, before turning and walking back to my own house. The walk wasn’t too far, but it felt lonely after being with Fluttershy. I reached my door and went inside, heading to the kitchen and checking what there was to eat in the house. I was not fortunate enough to find enough for a meal, but there was a half stale loaf of bread and some cheese left over in the fridge that was still good. I got two pieces of bread and stuck them in the toaster while I sliced some cheese for my snack. After I was done with my little snack, I went upstairs, lighting my way with my horn. I hadn’t bothered to turn on any of the lights and it was just easier. I went into the bedroom and collapsed onto the sheets. I had not realized how exhausted I was until I was climbing the stairs. At that point, all I wanted to do was fall asleep. Tomorrow would be my last chance to see Fluttershy for a while. It wasn’t long before I had gotten my wish, and was fast asleep.