Chapter 47
The next morning found Fluttershy and I still in the same bed and being very lazy about leaving it. I held her warm, furry body close to me while she kept her face buried into my neck. Occasionally, I would hear a moan come from her. It was such a shame that it could not last for hours more.
A knock came from the suite’s door. “Chris? Are you in there?” I heard Bunny’s voice coming from the other side of the door.
“Yes,” I groaned.
“Are you decent?” I could almost hear the smirk on her face.
“Says the mare who’s naked whenever she’s off duty.”
The door slowly started to open and a cautious head poked through the gap with her eyes closed. “So are you saying it’s safe to enter?” If she smirked any harder, she might hurt herself.
“Reasonably safe. Right, Fluttershy?” I was answered with her pulling the blankets up to hide her face. I could hear her whimpering and tried to comfort her by rubbing her back. “Actually, could you give us about five minutes, Bunny?”
“Tell you what, I’ll just start in your room. That should give you at least fifteen minutes.” I watched as she withdrew her head and shut the door. I spotted the smirk on her muzzle before it slipped out of view.
Once the door clicked shut, I lifted the blankets and looked in at Fluttershy. Slowly, she turned her huge, beautiful, cyan eyes up at me. “Good morning, Flutters. Would like to hop in the shower first? Although, we could always… you know… get in together.” Fluttershy whimpered a little and buried her face in my chest. I threw the blankets back and sat up. Gently, I shifted her aside and stood up from the bed. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked toward the water closet. I looked over my shoulder at her and her flushed cheeks, “Coming?”
I had barely crossed the threshold before I heard her jump off the mattress and trot after me. (Just to be satisfy your curiosity, nothing happened. We did get in the shower together, but the only thing that took place was me washing and brushing her mane and tail, which all pegasi and, especially, earth ponies know, that can prove to be difficult at times.)
*****
“Good morning, Honey, and good morning to you as well, Fluttershy.”
“Good morning, Mother, Aunt Luna, Cadance… there’s way too many of you to name one at a time, so good morning everyone.”
“Good morning, Princess. Um, and everyone else.”
“Ah, Miss Fluttershy, that was one amazing race you flew yesterday,” King Gurfon greeted.
“Oh, um, thank you, your highness,” she said as she climbed into the chair I had pulled out for her.
“Indeed,” Luna added. “That was an impressive effort you put forth, and I am happy the results reflected your hard work.”
“Thank you very much, Princess.” Fluttershy was appreciative, but I could tell she was getting more and more unnerved.
“Over here, Fluttershy,” Twilight called out to her, “we saved you a seat.” An impressive feat when you consider that all the other diners were royalty or their representatives. While Twilight may be a princess, Fluttershy was not, and therefore, not as important as them in their eyes.
“Oh, um…” she looked up into my eyes but didn’t need to even ask.
“Don’t worry, Flutters, there’s a seat right next to that one that I can sit in. I’m sure that one morning not sitting next to my mother won’t kill me.” She smiled and we sat down next to each other and began to enjoy our meal.
The general topic of discussion was about the Games, today being the last day before the closing. The biggest story was the cheater. Apparently, some unicorn in Manehattan had attempted to use a spell to make the hammer being thrown by the earth pony competitor fly further than it otherwise would have, requiring that entire team to be disqualified and ejected from the stadium. Thus, there would be an inhibitor station set up at each entrance to the stadium. That way, there could be no more cheating.
Thanks to my new enhanced hearing, I could also hear the duke and duchess of Maretonia discussing something amongst themselves. I could only understand a few words they were saying, but their tones and body language told me all I needed to know. All of it was adding up to something going bad in their homeland. I could only hope that everything worked out well for them.
After breakfast, we made our way to our seats. Fluttershy was right by my side when little Cotton Tail came charging at my full speed and cannoned into my legs. I scooped her up and tickled her tummy, her giggles filled the tunnel. I then placed her on top of my head.
I chose to ignore Celestia leaning down and whispering into Fluttershy’s ear. “Imagine how good a father he’ll make when you have foals.” The hushed comment caused Fluttershy to blush immensely before she smiled at the very idea of it. She always liked foals and, secretly, had always wanted to have some of her own. It wasn’t until recently that she started to think foals were a real possibility, because it was only recently that she found a stallion that didn’t make her nervous in some way.
“I, um, I should go and meet up with the others before we go in,” Fluttershy said as she started to break away from our group.
“But, we’re almost there,” I pointed out.
“I know, I just don’t want the girls to worry about me.”
“Well, alright. I’ll see you all soon then.” I waved to her as she trotted away to meet her friends outside the stadium.
“Don’t worry, Chris, you won’t be apart for long,” Cadance told me.
“Your highnesses, I apologize, but I must ask you to step this way,” a security guard instructed.
“Ah yes, the disabling spell,” Celestia said as she approached the gate that was filled with what looked like a shimmering blue puddle the defied gravity. Once she stepped through, her horn was coated with the spell and even I could feel her magic being sealed away. Luna and Blueblood soon followed suite. “We must set a good example for our subjects. Chris, sweetie, what’s wrong?”
I was standing before the gate, staring at it. “Will it… will it block magic?”
“Yes, Nephew, that is the intention,” Luna pointed out.
“All magic?”
“What’s the matter, Chris, scared of a little spell?” Blueblood teased.
“I, uh, I’m concerned is all. I mean, what happens if I can’t get any more?” I stated, ignoring Blueblood’s goading.
“That is actually a very good point,” Celestia admitted. “But we must do something, we can’t make exceptions for anyone.”
“Princess, if I may,” Gurfon spoke up, “allow me to hold Chris’s ring during the Games. That will stop him from being able to cast spells without interrupting the flow of magic.”
“Perfect,” I said as I slid my ring off and handed it to the king, “thanks, Uncle Gurfon.”
“My pleasure. Now, let us find our seats.”
*****
The final day was eventful, to say the least. Every team put on one heck of a show and not one had any reason not to be proud, except for the one Manehattan team that tried to cheat. It may have been one of the most entertaining Equestria Games in many years. Of course, I had nothing to compare them to.
The thing that made me happiest of all was all the fun my friends were having. Rainbow and Fluttershy had rejoined the others in their seats just below the Royal Box and I would occasionally lean over the side to talk with them or to scratch Fluttershy behind her ears, or Pinkie when she would insist. Too bad Twilight and Spike weren’t there, he had holed up in his room out of embarrassment and she was trying to get him to join the rest of us.
The final event was the Ice Archery competition. This was the last chance any of the other teams had to beat out Ponyville in the overall medal count. Everyone was on the edge of their seats awaiting the outcome and the skills of the archers made it impossible to tell who would come out on top.
Suddenly, one of the archers tripped on his own quiver, causing his arrow to be loosed straight up into the air and into a cloud. The freezing enchantment on the arrow caused the entire cloud to turn into a giant ball of ice almost instantly. Once frozen, the ice ball started plummeting toward the stadium, threatening everyone there.
I watched as Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and nearly every other pegasus and griffon took flight and headed straight for the killer sky-iceberg. I followed closely behind Fluttershy and was right by her side while we all tried our best to keep it from crushing the audience.
I heard Shining order the disabling spell canceled. Unfortunately, I also heard that it wasn’t possible. The objective quickly went from saving everyone here, to simply reducing the damage as much as possible, maybe the casualties would only number in the dozens. That is, if we were lucky.
“Dash, Fluttershy! Move!” Spike’s voice came over the roaring, screaming crowd.
We all looked down in time to see the little dragon jumping from one pegasus to the next, making his way up to the sky-berg. We all dropped and got clear as fast as our wings allowed. The massive fireball he breathed forth was truly the definition of awesome. In mere seconds and totally by himself, Spike had managed to save thousands of lives and left no damage to the stadium or field in the process, other than a puddle. He was a true hero. Even more so because he didn’t even realize he was. To him, it was something that needed to be done that he could do.
Spike’s reward for his great deed, since he already had a huge statue of himself, was to be the one to light the fireworks at the closing ceremony the following day. All of us who are lucky enough to call that little guy our friend could not have been more proud. The icing on the cake was that Ponyville won the medal count and, therefore, the trophy and plaque for the until the next Games.
That night, after dinner, found Fluttershy and I in the same bed again, and the door locked. We were simply enjoying our time together and didn’t wish to be disturbed. Once again, I was rubbing down her flight muscles and relishing in the softness of her fur and her feathers while I preened her wings, when something amazing happened.
“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
Fluttershy was allowing her leg to slowly resume its relaxed position. “No, I was just caught by surprise. What did you do anyway?”
“Nothing. I was simply giving you a massage with my magic and… I don’t know what.”
“I… I felt… you. It was like I could feel you… in my heart.”
“I know what you mean.” Slowly, cautiously, I reached out to her flank again. I placed my hand on her cutie mark, expecting the same result as before, but nothing happened. “Huh, it didn’t do it that time.”
“Maybe because you weren’t using your magic,” she pointed out while watching me with great interest.
“Good point. Let me try again.”
I channeled my magic into my palm and gently placed it on top of the three little butterflies on her flank. I could hear her cooing but my world was suddenly filled with warmth and the smell of buttercups. The best way to really describe it may be that it was as if somepony took love and caring and hope, and turned those abstract things and turned them into a security blanket that was wrapped tightly around me, making even the darkest shadows seem bright.
I lifted my hand away. “Wow~… that was… wow~.”
“What did you feel?” she asked me with a blush on her cheeks.
“It was incredible. It was so warm and welcoming. I wish I could feel like that forever.” I looked deep into her eyes, “What about you?”
“I felt safe. It was like there was nothing in the world that could ever hurt me. It was kinda like how I feel whenever you hold me, only stronger.”
“Amazing.” I crawled over and took her head in my hands. Gently, at first, I kissed her. I ran my fingers through her mane and looked deeply into her big, beautiful, cyan eyes before I leaned in and whispered into her ear, “I love you.”
She didn’t squeak, or flinch, or even twitch her wings. Instead, she whispered back, “I love you too.”
That night, we became one.
*****
“Really?” Cadance asked after I told her about the night before, minus one detail. Breakfast time was the appropriate time to talk about such things, especially with family. Though I think she could tell, being the Princess of Love and all. That, and the fact that Fluttershy couldn’t make eye contact with anyone at the table, but me.
“Yeah, it was amazing. It was like we could see into each other’s hearts,” I told her while I rubbed Fluttershy’s ear causing her to lean into my hand.
Cadance then looked to Celestia and Luna. The three smiled knowingly. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“You do? Does it happen that often?”
“Oh no, it’s very rare for such a link to occur. In fact, the only other time I’ve heard of such a thing,” Cadance turned to Shining Armor and took his hoof in hers, “was when it happened to us.”
“That was the day I knew I had to make you my wife,” Shining added before he kissed his bride.
“And the day I knew I would have you as my husband.”
An adorable squeak came from next to me. I turned to my own love and whispered to her, “We’re not there just yet, but maybe someday.”
I was too busy admiring her beauty to even notice to smile on my mother’s face as she looked to her sister. She knew that it wouldn’t be long before she became a grandmother. Luna felt Celestia might be getting ahead of herself, but she didn’t want to be the one to dash her sister’s hopes for the future.
“While this turn of events is indeed wonderful, I regret that we have other duties to which we must attend,” Celestia pointed out.
“Indeed,” Gurfon agreed, “though I am very happy for you, Chris, Fluttershy. I only wish for you relationship to continue to blossom into what we all know it can be. And even though I am fully aware that you are neither a griffon nor my blood, you both have my blessing.”
“Thank you, Uncle. That means a great deal to me,” I then stood from my seat and, with a certain pegasus in my arms, joined the rest in our journey to the stadium for the closing ceremonies.
And that was the day I knew I finally found the love I had been searching for my whole life.