"Hmmghh" came throat clearing a voice. "Oh shit." I thought as I quickly rolled off of her. "I'm not gonna ask.." said Twilight. Blushing bright red Fluttershy said, "I.. I.. gotta go." rushing out of the structure. "Wait!" I yelled, but she was already gone. Feeling like this was all my fault, I got off of the cot and started to follow her, in hopes of trying to explain the mixed emotions, but was blocked by Apple Jack. " Ya' already caused us enough trouble Jon. Why don' cha' just leave Fluttershy alone. She already has her hands tied up with takin care of ya', let alone being on the run. Besides, you ain't no pony last time I checked." She was right. I wasn't a pony. I was far from one. I was so messed up from all of this, that I was loosing touch with reality. It was all getting to me. "Well, at least let me apologize.." I started to say when my statement was cut short.
Fluttershy's screams could be heard in the distance. "There coming, their coming." "Quick Twilight, drop the protection spell. We gotta move." yelled Rarity. The surrounding walls started to sink into the ground. The ceiling folded into a very compact fold and was placed into a saddle bag. "Can you run?" Twilight asked me. "Yes, but not fast." I said, heading towards a stream. "I'll distract them." said Rainbow Dash. She then flew off into the opposite direction. We crossed the stream and headed towards the mountains. "If we make it past those mountains, well be out of reach and it will take them longer to find us, buying us more time to rethink where to hide at." Rainbow Dash flew by over head. "A few of them went that way, but the majority are still marching this way." she said as she landed a few feet ahead of us. Looking down, I couldn't help but harbor the feeling that I had unwillingly gotten them into this mess.
We reached the base of the mountain ridge. The cliffs were jagged and steep but somehow, we managed to navigate them. There were almost a couple of mishaps, like Pinkie Pie slipping on a stone, and Rainbow Dash flying too far ahead. The biggest endeavor, however, was the awkwardness Fluttershy and I felt as we walked. Trying to break the silence, I started to speak to Fluttershy. "Hey, how you holdin up?" I asked. She looked down and away and I took that as a note to be quiet. It was starting to get quite dark. We stopped to wait out the night in a cave.
Sitting in random spots against the cave walls, there was a deafening silence. No one spoke besides the occasional "Okay, your turn to watch." I looked around. The cave had extravagant formations hanging from the ceiling. The ground, was pretty amazing too, being made of a type of crystallized stone. The weirdest feature of the cave was that it went on for miles. As far as one could look. Curious, I stood up and started to venture in further. No one was paying attention to my movements. It was starting to get quite dark, the farther away I went. I walked for close to five minutes before I couldn't see two feet in front of me. Knowing I've seen enough, I started to head back. Everything looked different as I traversed my way in the opposite direction. "I know i'm going the right way.." I thought to myself as I came to a fork. Not knowing which way to go, I started feeling depressed. I was lost. Meanwhile, the girls had noticed my disappearance.
"Ok everypony, lets spread out and find him." said Twilight as she gave out commands. Everypony nodded and started to enter the cave, everypony but Fluttershy. "Aren't you comin' sugar cube?" said Apple Jack. "No, I think i'll stay here." said Fluttershy in a depressed tone. Confused, Apple Jack slowly backed away into the depths of the cave. Fluttershy looked on, trying to collect her thoughts from earlier. She couldn't understand what she was feeling. It was new and foreign to her. She felt it before while watching the sunset, but now it was stronger. "I can't get him out of my mind." she thought to herself. Sighing, she looked around. Not wanting to be alone, but scared to follow her friends, she snatched up every ounce of courage and ventured into the cave.
"Hmm.." I thought to my self. "I'll go this way." Deciding which way to go through the darkness, I started down the path that I thought was right. I had walked for around the same amount of time and started to see a light. "I'm getting close." I thought to myself. The light got brighter the closer I got. Reaching the end, I entered an amazing scene. There were jewels everywhere. It was mind boggling. I took a step forward but didn't feel the ground underneath me. I fell a short distance to the ground but it was enough to make a good thump. "Owww." I thought to myself as I stood to my feet. I turned to look where I fell from. The ledge wasn't that high up. "I could reach it if i grab it with both-" I stopped my thoughts, remembering I only had one arm. Feeling frustrated again, I started to walk into the ocean of jewels.
"Girls? Girls?" said Fluttershy as she traversed the cave. Everything looked scary to her. The rock formations, the sound of water dripping; it all gave her the creeps. On top of that, it was dark. Believing she had went too far, she turned around and started to walk the other way. "Maybe they found him already and they took another way back." she thought. Looking ahead of her, there was a fork. Her mouth dropped. She didn't know which way to go. "CRASH!" went the sound of a rock falling. It spooked an already spooked Fluttershy and she barreled down the first path she could see. Noticing a light she slowed her movements and started to follow it.
"This is hopeless.." I thought as I took a seat on a pile of gems. Looking for anything I could stand on, I noticed something shiny in the distance. Inching closer to it, it was higher up than I first expected. I jumped for it, getting closer with every hop until I got too close and knocked over the pile of jewels. Falling backwards from the small avalanche, I regained mu balance and started to did through the pile to reclaim my prize. It was beautiful. I looked to be an orb, only it was shiny, made out of gold. It had encrusted jewels around what appeared to be its center seam. I marveled at it. I had never seen anything like it.
"Hello?" went Fluttershy's voice. I turned to see her standing on the ledge I cane from. "Over here!" I yelled as I waded closer to her. Smiling, I said, "Well guess you found-" I was cut off by a quick hug. "Why'd you run off like that with out telling anypony? I was so worried. We all are." she said with concern. "I was curious" I replied. "And everypony is mad at me so I thought removing myself from situation would help." Fluttershy looked at me then looked down. "I'm sorry for running out on you again." she said blushing. Not knowing how to respond, I pulled her close. "I forgive you Fluttershy..." She smiled and are eyes met.
She looked at me, I looked at her. The same feelings that had arisen earlier were starting to surface. I once again gazed into her blue eyes, this time with confidence. As I began to lean down, she put a hoof over my mouth and and giggled. She proceeded to kiss me on the cheek. "Lets take this a little slower, if thats ok with you." she said nervously. I nodded. For that moment in time, I felt it again. Love. Even though we were different. It was there. We both knew it.