Forest For The Trees

by Kartac

Chapter 6: Together

Chapter 6: Night Together

Fluttershy stood just a few steps away from her door staring up at her clock, she nervously smoothed down the front of her strapless, layered, yellow cocktail dress. She had spent so much of the last four hours getting ready because every time she knew what she was going to wear and how she was going to do her makeup she would spot a mirror and it just wasn't good enough. She ran her hand through her hair, tracing it from the root all the way down over her chest. The big hand went over the eleven, five minutes left.

She placed her pink butterfly clasp in her hair and picked up her small purse, slinging it over her shoulder. She made sure that everything she needed was in it, and looked in at a small wallet, a change purse and a chapstick. She silently cursed herself as she realised that all of her makeup was left upstairs, as were her emergency tissues, in case tonight continued to pray on her nerves as much as watching the minute hand of her clock was.

Three minutes left and she was now upstairs desperately stuffing her purse with makeup and tissues and breathing very heavily. She was so nervous, he lived in the woods, what could he possibly know about a formal function. This was one of the biggest couple nights in Ponyville every year, were they officially a couple and what do couples do once they leave the celebration? She quickly looked up into the mirror and let out a scared squeak at her own reflection, she looked really good but she wasn't sure the peach skin she was looking at was even her own. She also quickly glanced over the fact that she was certain she would be horribly underdressed for the occasion.

Fifteen seconds left and she was back in front of her door getting her meager heels on, her face never leaving her clock as the second hand ticked closer and closer to the twelve and the exactness of the six o'clock. She struggled to maintain her balance, almost falling twice as she now scrambled to make sure everything was perfect. She noticed that the second hand ticked passed the twelve on her clock and panic gripped her heart.

Every second that ticked by made her more and more concerned as each tick passed with a louder and louder sound. It was so wrong to trust a man she barely knew, how could she have been so foolish as to think he'd actually show up. She'd asked the wrong questions, delved too deep, made Falchion so uncomfortable he never wanted to see her again. It's was six-o-one now and he still wasn't here.

She watched each additional second tick by, feeling like an anchor dragging her heart six feet under.

"You blew it Fluttershy. You scared the knight away, congrats, you're officially a dragon." She muttered to herself, still staring at the clock.

Her head snapped down to her door when she heard a soft, three tap knock on her door. She walked over to the door, pulled the handle, and slowly peered out the crack. She immediately realised her mistake when her heart lept into her throat and her knees went soft in oft unworn heels. She stumbled slightly and had to hold herself against the frame to avoid falling. She opened the door a little further and made a now intentional second mistake.

It was Falchion alright, but not in any way she'd seen him before. There was no cloak, no sword, no practice padding or iced hands. He was in a clean cut tuxedo, three buttons with a pale yellow tie. The suit looked almost mint and if she were a less decent person, she would have said that he looked... sexy, in it. Plus her eye was drawn to his tie, which matched her dress perfectly. Predictable or not, the touch caught her right in the heart and her lips immediately made a sensual pout in response to him. She was being super cautious to remember her faculties as she fell hard for the gentleman in front of her.

Then he spoke and she lost whatever fight she was having to maintain a grasp on reality.

"I'm a few minutes late, I hope you didn't... uh... worry." He said softly, knowing deep down she probably had.

"Uh... D-don't worry ab-uh-about it..." She stammered out, her eyes not coming off of his slender frame.

"You look stunning Fluttershy, nothing to be nervous about." He gave her a reassuring wink as he spoke and noticed her face flushing at the comment.

He pulled her hand off the door frame and held it gently in his. He pulled her slowly and whatever bits of her mind that were still there, still mulling over how amazing it was to think of Falchion the way he was right now, remembered to put her left foot in front of her right and climb down just a couple of steps, lurching across the walkway to the street where a simple carriage was waiting for her. He helped her climb up into it and seat herself while he took the seat directly across from her.

She gave him a disappointed look as the carriage began pulling away from her home, she had secretly hoped that he would take the seat next to her amongst fleeting thoughts that he would cease looking and acting like a gentleman. As much as she was trying to enjoy his company, and thinking about how wonderful it was seeing him in public, with her, and other people. Something about the way he was dressed, with his very short hair and the suit, and just the way he was carrying himself reminded her of all the fantasies about boys she'd had when she was younger. It reminded her that under all of that he was still that disciplined man from the forest and made her wish he was still a little wild.

She looked him right in the eye and was startled when she saw a fire there she had never seen before. His eyes quickly panned away from her gaze and she could easily tell he was looking her over. She gently patted the seat next to her and sighed happily when Falchion took the seat next to her and let her take his arm. The carriage finally beginning to pick up speed towards the center of town.

"I don't..." Fluttershy paused, whispering up to him as she held onto his arm, testing her words carefully. "I don't understand, the suit and..." She stopped again when he looked down at down at her and did nothing to help her passiveness. "... Everything." She finally finished, flushing the brightest red against her peachy skin.

Falchion tilted her head up to face him, his thumb gently moving across her cheek. The simple act of comfort would've normally startled Fluttershy and made her nervous but when he did it, all her fear went away and she could just enjoy being in a carriage, on the arm of a handsome man, on a night that didn't much matter to her in years past.

"I told you my father had sent me to finishing school. Just because I hated being there didn't mean I didn't pay attention. They taught me how to court a woman, and how a gentleman should act and dress. Of course, the one thing they don't teach you is how to react to having a stunning date hanging off your arm on your first real appearance in public in a couple of years." Falchion's tone began strong and confident and as he went on he slowly turned into a quiet mouse right in front of her.

His compliments rang true with her, though, and she wouldn't hesitate to admit she somewhat enjoyed the reversal of nerves a little bit.

"Kiss me." She ordered softly.

Falchion froze in stunned silence.

"You said you didn't know how to react. Kiss me." She ordered him again, still soft in her voice. The effect of her being far greater than she'd anticipated.

She suddenly found herself devouring his rough lips as he more than enthusiastically accepted her invitation. She wasn't exactly sure how he did it, but he tasted like pine and all she wanted to do was explore the forest. She shifted slightly and continued to taste him as he gently parted her lips and let their tongues touch for a tantalizingly long moment. As the kiss broke, she let out a little squeak and quickly ran her hand through her hair trying to distract herself from the building emotions.

Fluttershy was scared, and not because of what had just happened. She was scared because she wanted more of him. She wanted his kiss and his touch and she couldn't stand it. She nibbled on her bottom lip and slowly leaned back up to him, catching him in another kiss. There was something about the callousness of his lips, roughened by the weather that made her slowly back up until her back was against the carriage wall. She felt weak near him, and she didn't care.

She let out an empassioned sigh amidst all the kissing as his hand had found it's way to the back of her leg, slowly grazing up her skin under her dress. Tenderly rubbing her in a way she was very unfamiliar with. The kiss broke as the carriage came to a stop. Her eyes were glazed and she was barely able to remember where they were going until the door opened and Falchion stepped out as if nothing had happened.

"I believe, it's time to celebrate." He spoke back to her, dropping her back into the real world.

She noticed him offering her his hand after their brief interlude inside the carriage. She took his hand and stepped outside slowly before leaning up and kissing him on the cheek before whispering to him.

"I didn't ask for a gentleman. But I'm glad you are one..."

It had been about an hour since they had arrived at the Winter Moon Celebration and Fluttershy had ultimately hidden amongst the crowd doing her best to avoid both her friends, and the dance floor. She hadn't really been very successful since it only took a few minutes for Pinkie Pie to hunt them down and invite Falchion to dance. He accepted graciously, like the gentleman he was turning out to be, but something about seeing him dancing around with her friend brought a twinge of jealousy to the surface.

Aside from the dance with Pinkie Pie however, Falchion had spent the entire time with Fluttershy, getting her anything she would ask for and making her as comfortable as possible. Now though, she was watching him move across the dance floor with Vinyl Scratch in his arms as the DJ had insisted on spending time with the man who had stolen Shy's heart. Fluttershy took a brief sip of punch as she watched him twirl Scratch very delicately. She made a mental note of dancing as another thing he must've been taught at finishing school.

As the song ended she noticed him leading Vinyl back across the dance floor to herself while at the same time spotting Dash coming towards her from roughly the same direction. Fluttershy quickly waved her hand in front of her throat to try to signal and Vinyl thankfully noticed dragging Falchion away through the crowd. Fluttershy quickly put on a smile before Dash ended up uncomfortably close to her, embracing her in an unnecessarily tight hug.

"Shy! You came this time!" Dash said boistrously, yelling far louder than needed to be heard over the music.

Fluttershy hid herself partially with her punch glass taking a sip. Dash knew better than anyone that Fluttershy hadn't come last year, given that Dash had attempted to forcably remove her from her residence.

"Yeah, I got... uh... double-teamed by Scratch and Pinkie this year." Fluttershy struggled to come up with a good excuse.

Dash just smirked back and released the hug.

"Yeah, everyone seems to be here with someone else except..." Dash gave a sideways glance into the crowd which Fluttershy followed to Twilight.

"... anyway, I'm going to go grab a table and see if I can rope in a few people." Dash said with a wink before disappearing into the crowd.

Fluttershy let out a deep breath, luckily for her Dash hadn't seen Falchion. Fluttershy could only imagine how she would react if she found out exactly who he was. She hadn't thought about him for more than a second before Falchion took up the space that Dash had occupied a minute ago. He gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead bringing a smile back to her face. She seperated from him for a moment and wondered why he was alone before seeing Pinkie and Vinyl chatting it up with Twilight who looked very awkward between the DJ and the partier.

She refocused on Falchion when he spoke to her.

"One dance. All I'm asking for. I'm a little tired of being your friends' date." Falchion told her, it wasn't a request but it wasn't exactly an order either.

Fluttershy shook her head furiously, suddenly embarassed as she realised that she had been panicking all day about what today would be like but had instead hidden in the corner and not even given Falchion the time of day since the carriage. She wrapped her arms back around him.

"I'm sorry Falchion. Let's go dance." She whispered to him.

Falchion lifted her chin and planted a pine sweet kiss to her giving that wonderful sensation of not knowing where reality is. She vaguely remembered being led by the hand into the crowd of people dancing merrily, then one of her hands was in his and her other hand was on his shoulder with his hand at her waist.

Then the room was spinning to the beat of this slow jazz tune, and Fluttershy loved it. She leaned in and got as tight to Falchion as she possibly could, not realising that the crowd had parted a little bit around them and some people were watching. She could smell the trees on his suit and it reminded her of how he tasting. She licked her lips while still enjoying the room slowly tilting around her. The song ended and Falchion took a step away from her before Fluttershy pulled him back. She wasn't done dancing and he would be lucky if she was ever done.

About an hour later, Falchion and Fluttershy were standing on the front step of Fluttershy's home. She was clung to him very tightly, somewhere between a hug and a claim, thanking him for what had been one of the best nights in her entire life. She wished it wouldn't have ended but after a few dances Rainbow Dash had spotted her in the crowd and had attempted to confront her. Fluttershy smiled remembering Falchion's reaction as she desperately dragged him out of the hall and hopped in a waiting carriage.

"Close call huh?" Falchion whispered to her.

"Yeah..." She looked up and noticed a skeptical look on his face. She cowered a little bit and then decided that an explanation was needed. "I want to introduce you to my friends. I think I know when the right time is too." She said to him.

He smiled at her, letting her know that she had nothing to worry about.

"Are you going to tell me why you're so afraid to introduce me?" He asked, his low, youthful voice making that weak feeling come back to Shy.

She broke her grasp on him and walked over and opened the door to her home.

"That depends..." She whispered to him quietly. "Are you going to come in?"

Falchion accepted her invitation without hesitation and as a reward Fluttershy explained to him what had happened to Rarity and Big Mac. How a crazed maniac had kidnapped her, and tortured her and how no doubt some people would be cautious of a mysterious man like Falchion. She also explained all the issues that Twilight had faced being used by that maniac as a tool to avoid suspicions, and the problems that Rainbow Dash was having accepting Twilight back into the group. She told Falchion absolutely everything about her friends and even told him about her own, many, fears. By the time she was finished explaining it all the hands on the clock now read well into the morning and she welcomed Falchion to stay on her couch.

It had taken them thirty minutes or so to get ready for bed, which truthfully for Falchion just involved removing his shirt and jacket. Seeing him alone on the couch as she prepared to go upstairs made Shy think of the painful loneliness of her own bed.

So they decided to share the couch.

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Author's Note: Okay guys, I'm not looking for anything vindictive, but please be as critical as you like when reviewing. It can't do anything but help.

The Winter Moon celebration was given from the perspective of Leigh-Anne G's story "Desperado" as we are about to crossover our stories at one middle point before heading to our eventual conclusions. The events referenced at the end there are from Leigh's other story "The Way You Love Me" and if you haven't read that yet, you're probably quite confused. Sorry about that, but this story was written in conjunction with her.