Chapter 9 - Day 7
“D’awww, look at you two. You’ve become like two peas in a pod, and in such a short time, too.” Fluttershy’s soothing voice sailed down from the staircase, gently lifting you from your slumber. You were immediately aware of a light, warm weight on your stomach. You barely opened your eyes to see Angel sleeping peacefully, curled up with his face burrowed into a bunched-up section of your shirt. Having to return to your usual spot on the couch downstairs had been pretty disappointing, but seeing Angel continue warming up to you was a pleasant surprise.
“You’re more than welcome to go back to sleep, Anon,” Fluttershy whispered as she approached the chair behind you. “It’s still early. I just woke up, and wanted to watch the sunrise.” You nodded slowly, and closed your eyes. Sleep was tempting, but you instead willed yourself to stay awake, thinking about your plans for the day.
Twilight had mentioned when she took you home that she intended on visiting Rarity, who had been busy studying your “edited” diagrams of human fashion since she returned to Ponyville. Hearing much was exciting- the wait to hear back from Twilight and Fluttershy’s friend was less so. Still, a new change of clothes would be fantastic, if not just spare undergarments, would be well worth your patience, provided you didn’t have any drastic wardrobe malfunctions between now and then. You imagined what Fluttershy’s reaction to that kind of situation might be, and stifled the laugh that rose up in your chest. It was even more amusing to think about when you considered ponies didn’t seem to wear clothes often. You recalled seeing a few mares wearing various garments and accessories when you visited Pinkie Pie, but they didn’t appear inclined nor opposed to however much one another were wearing. That a renowned seamstress would live in a town nearly devoid of a fashion scene, full of ponies without much obvious concern for clothing, definitely struck you as odd.
Eventually, your curiosity got the better of you, and you looked around for your whiteboard, on the table next to the staircase where you had left it the previous night. You carefully scooped up Angel from your stomach and got up to lay him down into his own bed. He whimpered when the cool living room air surrounded him, but let out a sigh of content once you tucked him in.
“I never thought I’d see the day when Angel would let somepony other than me tuck him in,” Fluttershy commented. You turned to see her relaxing in her chair, watching you with an almost motherly smile. “It’s wonderful to see that he’s so comfortable with you now. He won’t even let most ponies touch him, especially when he’s only just met them.” You shrugged sheepishly- you couldn’t remember if you had been good with animals before you came to Equestria, but if a tiny, sassy bunny would befriend you before anyone else, there was probably something about you that he preferred over ponies that weren’t Fluttershy.
Once you retrieved your whiteboard, you sat back down on the couch and started drawing. You wanted to know more about Rarity, and showed Fluttershy your doodle of a needle, some thread, and a nondescript silhouette of a unicorn, along with a few question marks. Fluttershy studied your drawings for several seconds, unsure of how to respond. You quickly drew her silhouette next to the unicorn’s, with tiny hearts above both of them.
“Oh, oh, are you wanting to talk about Rarity?” she asked eagerly. You nodded, and saw Fluttershy gently pump her hoof to herself with a hushed yes!.
“Okay, let’s see. I showed you where she lives a couple days ago, and I told you what she does for a living, what else is there to say? I know that’s she’s lived in Ponyville most of her life, although she’s always talking about how lovely Canterlot is. I’ve never really asked, but I think the reason she stays here is that she wants to stay with her friends that live here, too.” Such a simple, heartwarming reason put a smile on your face.
“Ah! Not only is she my friend, she represents the Element of Generosity. She holds herself to a pretty high standard, but she always puts the needs of others first, even if it means getting dirty. That’s probably the one thing she dislikes the most,” Fluttershy explained, giggling softly at the end of her thought. “I don’t like seeing her distressed, but her reaction to getting dirty can be a teensy tiny bit funny. Sometimes. Don’t judge her on that, though, she’s still a very professional pony that I think you’d get along with well.”
As beams of morning sunlight stretched across the living room floor, you thought about how interesting meeting Rarity would be. You didn’t feel like asking any more questions, as hearing responses from the mare herself sounded like a better idea than getting them second-hand. Instead, you spent the rest of the early morning practicing your drawing while accompanied by Fluttershy, who moved over to the couch to watch. A breakfast of fruit and nuts soon followed, and you eventually grew bored of drawing. You remembered the birdhouses you worked on with Fluttershy, and expressed your interest in making more, only to be politely dissuaded by her.
“I’m sorry, Anon, but I think we may have actually made too many birdhouses before. I finished taking the rest to ponies in town yesterday, and I still have a few extras, even after putting ones nopony wanted up in public areas,” she murmured. “Besides, I was planning to tend to the garden today, anyway. You’re more than welcome to join me, if you’d like.” You nearly jumped at the opportunity to do something productive when Rainbow Dash’s words from before sprang forth in your mind.
‘You don’t do anything else for fun?’
You had quickly gotten over her teasing before, but those words struck home- you didn’t really do much other than work around the cottage and draw. You hesitated to respond to Fluttershy, and just as you were going to oblige, she put a hoof of your thigh, stopping you.
“You know, you don’t have to come out and work with me, if you don’t want to. I certainly appreciate the help, but you’re not obligated to do every little chore around the cottage.” Her words, while genuine, didn’t help solve your problem. Still, you couldn’t bear to argue with her when she was trying to be kind to you. You left her to her work and plopped down onto the couch once more with a sigh. A few short tugs on the cuff of your jeans startled you, and you looked down to see Angel staring up at you with his arms outstretched. You lowered your palm down to the floor and lifted him up to your eye level. He made a throwing motion with both hands and pointed towards his basket bed. On the floor beside it sat a red rubber ball, no wider than your thumb. You figured anything was better than just sitting around doing nothing, and scooted down onto the floor to play with him. What you weren’t prepared for, as you watched him scamper over and snatch up the ball in his paws, was just how competitive Angel could be. He lifted the ball over his head and hurled it towards the ground, sending it flying towards your face. You managed to duck out of the way in time and let it careen into several objects in the room. It was unbelievably bouncy, and you were certain even Fluttershy could hear its rapid collisions--ponk ponk ponk ponk--outside. In one swoop, you deftly snatched it out of the air, and looked nervously towards Angel to take your turn. You gave the rubber ball a light, underhanded toss, sending it pattering across the floor to its unamused receiver. Angel smiled devilishly, and wound up his arm for another go, this time aimed directly at you. Minutes later, a few knocks on the front door interrupted your impromptu dodgeball match. You counted your blessings as you rose to answer it.
“Hey Anon, how are- a-are you okay, Anon? What are those welts on your face from?
Carousel Boutique looked much flashier up close than it did when you saw it for the first time; ‘posh’ couldn’t even begin to describe it. Twilight stepped to the side of the front door and used her magic to open it for you, ushering you inside. You were dumbfounded by the elegant and vividly purple interior, full of dress displays, mirrors, and even a small stage. On that stage was what looked like a completely white mannequin donning ordinary clothing. What really set the mannequin apart from the rest in the room, though, was the fact that it was distinctly human in shape. You felt strangely drawn to it, not sure how or why it looked so realistic.
“Hello? Is that you, Twilight?” you heard a voice call from beyond a door across the room. The sound of hoofsteps echoed through the boutique, and out emerged a porcelain-white unicorn sporting a luxurious, indigo-colored mane. “And you’ve brought Ponyville’s newest wonder, perfect.”
“‘Where did you hear that from, Rarity?” Twilight snorted. A newspaper cloaked in light-blue magic hovered up to the two of you as Rarity trotted over to greet you.
“Local media, of course! The paparazzi are absolutely ablaze with curiosity as to who and what our guest is,” Rarity replied, lowering the newspaper and facing you. “And where are my manners? My name is Rarity, Twilight’s friend and owner of this establishment. You must be the dear Mr. Anon Twilight has told me so much about.” You felt the compulsory urge to bow and offer your hand to the mare, in which she placed her hoof with a light chuckle.
“Now who taught you how to properly greet a mare?” she complimented, bowing her head in kind.
“It wasn’t me, I can say that much. Was it Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. You released Rarity’s hoof and shrugged, ignoring the headache building in your temples. It had been more instinct than anything else, you didn’t remember ever being taught.
“I suppose it’s a mystery to everyone here, then. In either case, I’d like to take a few measurements, if you’re comfortable with it, Mr. Anon.” You nodded in approval, and followed her up to the stage where the mannequin stood. Multiple objects floated into the air around you- measuring tape, a clipboard, a pencil, and a small leather-bound book.
“Nopony else has seen that book, right?” Twilight asked, a hint of worry rising in her voice. You assumed it was one of the copies Twilight mentioned of your edits to Celestia’s original notes on humans.
“Certainly not. I usually keep it upstairs when I’m working on orders, but I do take it out on occasion to study when I have the time. Anon--may I call you Anon?--hold your chin up for me, darling.” Rarity watched carefully as the tape wrapped around your neck just above your choker, and scribbled onto the clipboard. “Next, please hold your arms out to your side.” You did as you were instructed, observing the mare as she paced around you to study your body and measure your arms.
“Your drawings weren’t far from their mark, it seems. Are you an artist, perhaps?” she inquired, floating the tape around the barrel of your chest while scanning one of the book’s pages. She paused at your silence for a moment, before suddenly putting a hoof on her forehead in realization. “How rude of me, I forgot that you’re not able to speak! My sincerest apologies.” You shook your head and hummed reassuringly as the measuring tape wrapped around your waist.
“I don’t know about him being an artist, but he is pretty talented at drawing,” Twilight interjected. “Most of the time, he carries around a whiteboard and marker Fluttershy gave him, and he gets by pretty well without being able to talk.”
“You don’t say? I should like to see your talent for myself sometime. Maybe you could spend some time drawing me, if you’d like,” Rarity hinted with a playful wink. You cursed your rice paper-thin composure as you felt blood rush to your face. The mare chuckled again, and returned to her measurements. “I’m only joking, I assure you. If you would spread your legs, please.” You knew what she meant, but that didn’t stop your body from stiffening immediately as in a knee-jerk reaction. Rarity made eye contact with you as the measuring tape snaked up your leg, still smiling.
“Don’t worry, darling, I’m only measuring your inseam. This will be but a moment, and then you’ll be finished, alright?” You maintained eye contact with Rarity for several quiet seconds, neither of you flinching the entire time. You nodded slowly, and widened your stance, allowing the tape to reach the edge of your crotch for mere seconds before it floated away. “See? Not so bad, now was it?”
“So tell me, what are ponies saying about Anon, all hype notwithstanding?” Twilight asked, skimming over the newspaper.
“Well, most of what I’ve heard in my short time home seems to be somewhat neutral. A few ponies are worried, but given that he was seen with Fluttershy, nopony seems terribly concerned about him. A certain… eccentric mare, in fact, seems quite enamored with him.” Instantly, you knew from Rarity’s comment exactly who she was referring to.
“Do you mean Lyra? Fluttershy mentioned that before.”
“The one and only. But you should know, Anon, she’s not the only one interested in you,” Rarity replied, a curious tone overtaking her voice. She glanced up at you with her azure eyes and smiled at you coyly. “Twilight has told me that you exhibit pretty extreme strength compared to most stallions, but you are still capable of a gentle touch. A mare such as myself could certainly use someone like that around here, as most of my work is done alone-”
“Rarity!” gasped Twilight, who noticed your face steadily tilting towards the floor. Rarity laughed heartily and waved her hoof at you and Twilight.
“I’m talking about sewing, darling, sewing! Perhaps double entendre is best suited after one’s first meeting, hm? I’m sorry if I offended you.” After yesterday’s events, you were steadily starting to wonder if this was the norm in Ponyville. It probably wasn’t the best assumption to make, having lived there for only a week, but you hoped it wasn’t true.
“Anyway, what I’m offering is a potential apprenticeship opportunity here at Carousel Boutique, should you be interested in taking up an occupation in the future. I imagine your- what were they called again? Fingers? I imagine your fingers would be well suited to working with cloth, but you would require training first, and time is not a luxury I have much of at the moment. At the very least, I could teach you how to assemble your own wardrobe, seeing as you are more familiar with human clothing as I am. You would be more than welcome to work at your own pace whilst I attend to the backlog of orders I received in my absence. After I see your work, we could decide where you want to move on from there. What do you think?”
Frankly, Rarity’s offer shocked you more than anything else. Sure, it was a lovely gesture, but to offer a chance like that to a completely alien creature that she had only just met? You rested your elbow in your other hand and held your face in disbelief. You needed clarification, to make sure that she understood the situation. You gestured the number one to both ponies, pointing to it, then to your wrist, as if pointing at a watch, to yourself, and finally to Rarity. You’ve only known me for a day.
“Once? Yes, I’ve only met you once, what of it?” Rarity asked. “I trust in Twilight’s word, don’t you?” You shook your head, and gestured with both hands to your entire body, then Twilight’s. You waved your arm broadly to the room, and ended by pointing to yourself. You were distinctly different than every other living creature here, and yet she would trust you with this?
“If you’re referring to how you’re not a pony, I’m not worried about that, either. I trust that you don’t mean me or anypony else harm, you said so yourself in Twilight’s notes.” She levitated the book into your hands, open to the section regarding normal human attitudes and behavior. You couldn’t vouch for every human when you were editing the book with Fluttershy, but you still believed that humans were peaceful at heart. “As for the apprenticeship, I don’t mind taking some time to teach you how to fend for yourself. Don’t think of it as a favor, everypony really should know how to maintain their own clothing, whether or not they choose to wear it.”
At that moment, Fluttershy’s words from that morning came to mind. Rarity was the ‘Element of Generosity,’ she had said. The whole Element business still didn’t make much sense to you, but it was clear why Rarity had gotten her title. You let your arms hang to your sides and looked at her in amazement. If you could have spoken then, you would have likely given a thorough speech to express your unbelievable gratitude to her, and how lucky you were to have met. You kept that in mind and gave her a deep, solemn bow, even moving one arm across your body with the other in the air behind you.
“Am I to assume that’s a ‘yes,’ then?” Rarity asked, raising a hoof to her bemused face. You quickly nodded, still bowing. “Right. In that case, we should schedule a time to get started! How does this Saturday sound? I’ll be busy most of this week, but weekends are perfect for me to catch up on old side projects and clean up the place.” You nearly agreed with her plan, until you suddenly remembered your prior engagement with Apple Bloom and stood up quickly. In one fluid motion, you slipped your whiteboard and marker out of your pockets and started scribbling her cutie mark, as well as a makeshift shed and a hammer with nails. Upon showing her your drawing, Rarity’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Why, that’s Apple Bloom’s cutie mark! And is that supposed to be the clubhouse she shares with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?” she said, perplexed. You nodded, and pointed to the hammer and nails. “You plan to work on it with them, then? That’s very sweet of you, Anon. In that case, how about Sunday?” You took a moment to think, and agreed with a grunt, confident that you didn’t have any plans for that day. Before Rarity could speak, however, Twilight cleared her throat, garnering the attention of the two of you.
“Actually, Rarity, I was hoping to take some time to speak with Anon privately on Sunday, with Celestia,” she argued. “Sorry to butt in at the last moment, but it’s pretty important.”
“Oh, no problem at all, darling. I’ll see what I can do about fitting Anon into my schedule later on, then, and we’ll take it from there. How does that sound?”
“I think that will work just fine. Is that okay with you, Anon?” Twilight answered. Tired of nodding your head so frequently, you simply gave Twilight a thumbs-up in approval.
“So it’s all settled, then! Now, about those measurements...”
Cool evening air washed over you as you and Twilight stepped out of Carousel Boutique and waved farewell to Rarity. She had spent a surprising amount of time telling stories about her recent trip to Manehattan, while simultaneously starting on your first set of clothes, which consisted of a simple collared shirt and a pair of slacks. She was practically overjoyed when you showed keen interest in watching her work on an unfinished order, and practically begged for you stay a bit longer afterward while she made her first attempts at creating human clothing. Twilight, confident that she was not needed back home nor by the princesses, opted to stay with you and follow along as well. While Rarity had politely asked to see your shirt--without you in it--as reference, she had been considerate enough to let you keep your jeans on. Something about helping you ‘retain your dignity,’ which lead into her first tale about a designer whose newest clothing line severely lacked that quality. You were pleased to find that hearing her talk for hours on end hadn’t gotten on your nerves in the slightest. Not that you minded a lot of talking, but you were grateful that she was nothing like Pinkie Pie and actually took moments to breathe between sentences.
Twilight insisted on personally escorting you home, and set a calm pace as you carried your old clothes in a neat, folded stack. The cotton dress shirt Rarity had ‘thrown together at the last minute’ fit astonishingly well, and while your new slacks had required some tweaking to fit around the waist area, they were much more comfortable to walk around in than your thick jeans. You were considerably happier at having new clothes than you had anticipated, and felt like running around in excitement. That is, if you weren’t at risk of scaring any of the scattered bystanders that were still out.
“You’re positively beaming, Anon. I’ll bet it’s nice to finally have something new to wear,” Twilight remarked, chuckling. “I’m glad to see you enjoyed meeting Rarity today.” You hummed in agreement. Both of you continued quietly to Fluttershy’s cottage, and after Twilight briefly reminded you of your upcoming meeting with Celestia, you went your separate ways once you reached the bridge that crossed the nearby creek. You had hoped that she would have explained the meeting a bit more, but she avoided the topic at the boutique when Rarity had brought it back up. You pushed the thought aside as you entered the cottage, devoid of any sound aside from the ticking of the clock above the kitchen doorway. You tossed your clothes gently onto the couch, and tiptoed upstairs to see if Fluttershy was home. No luck there. You checked the kitchen and the garden out back as well, but there seemed to be no sign of her anywhere. On your way back in, you noticed that the fireplace had fresh, unlit logs inside, likely in anticipation of a late arrival. It wouldn’t have been the first time she had been out late, likely tending to some animal’s needs. You weren’t hungry enough to want dinner right away, and decided to wash your clothes after a good bath. You rolled off your socks and started unbuttoning your shirt as you backed into the bathroom.
“Waugh!” Fluttershy squealed, startled by your entrance. You could hear the sound of splashing water as she sat up in the bathtub. You instantly jumped out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind you. The brief image you caught of her sitting in the tub, her slick mane framing her surprised expression, was burned in the forefront of your mind.
“Anon? Y-you can come in, if you’d like,” you heard her weakly call through the door. “Although, you’ll have to wait to use the bath… since I’m in it, and all.” You hesitated to reopen the door until you remembered one crucial fact: ponies were almost ALWAYS nude. As far as she was concerned, you had nothing to worry about. You laughed meekly to yourself as you turned the doorknob, slowly cracking open the door and peeking inside to make sure she was prepared. Fluttershy laid herself back into the tub and sighed, with only her face peering out from the water’s surface.
“I’m sorry for startling you just now, I didn’t hear you come in at all. I've just been in here, relaxing,” she explained. “I didn’t expect you to be out so late, did you have a good time at Rarity’s shop?” You pulled up a footstool and grunted your affirmation as you sat down.
“That’s good. I really like your new clothes, by the way. She does such great work. I remember one of the best dresses she ever made for me to wear to the Grand Galloping Gala. Have I ever told you about that?” You shook your head, and listened intently to her as you washed your t-shirt.
“... and not a single one of the animals wanted to play, or talk, or even be near me! It was really frustrating.” You absentmindedly nodded your head as you brazenly took off your slacks and dipped them into your washing bucket. You had barely started scrubbing when you noticed the growing silence in the room. You turned your head towards Fluttershy in mild confusion, who made brief eye contact with you before quickly diverting her gaze towards the ceiling.
“A-and I eventually ended up losing my temper, which only made the situation worse.” You returned to your washing, and waited for Fluttershy to continue. Yet again, silence. You paused and glanced over at the mare again. Immediately, she hummed tunelessly to herself and closed her eyes. A blush spread across your face as you imitated washing your clothes while keeping your eye on her, waiting for her to look at you again. Slowly but surely, one of her eyes peeked out over the edge of the tub at you, and you thrust an accusatory finger in her direction.
“I-I’m sorry, Anon, I didn’t mean to bother you by staring,” Fluttershy mused, sinking deeper into the tub. "I-I didn't actually think it would bother you, but I'll stop, now." She sounded almost heartbroken, and you lowered your hand to your lap.
In her defense, she probably didn’t mean anything by it. You did your best not to think about it often, but the main reason you had assumed ponies didn’t wear clothing and were comfortable being nude was the fact that they didn’t really have anything to hide. Only on rare occasions did you catch yourself staring at ponies’ bodies, something you felt equally ashamed and confused about. By the way they acted, Fluttershy, her friends, most of the ponies you’d seen so far acted like everyday adults. No matter how hard you tried, though, you couldn’t shake off the wholesome, almost child-like auras many of them gave off, especially Fluttershy. Sure, there wasn’t necessarily anything inappropriate to look at--her posterior, like all ponies, was completely smooth, like they were out of a cartoon--but you still felt wrong all the same. This confused you even more when you considered the fact that bathrooms were as common in Ponyville as you imagined they were on Earth.
“Anon...?” Fluttershy’s question pulled you out of your thought, and you looked back to see her still facing the ceiling. She opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated for several seconds before taking a deep breath and looking you dead in your eyes with an equally scared and strangely invigorated expression.
“Anon, you don’t have to answer this, and I know you can’t speak and all, but it’s been bothering me for a while now, and Ireallydon’twanttoupsetyoubutatthesametime-” Fluttershy rambled. Her voice grew ever higher, and several seconds passed before you eventually waved your hands in circles to snap her out of it, gesturing for her to move on. She sighed, and lifted herself to her hooves in the tub, her mane and tail hanging from her body like sleek, pink curtains.
“Alright, tell me… what do you think about ponies? Specifically, about how they look?” Your jaw dropped a bit as you registered her question. How likely was it was that she had been on the same train of thought as you were just moments ago? The only reaction you could muster was a slow, uncertain shrug.
“Ah, that was a pretty vague question. Let me try this: you don’t dislike how ponies look, do you? Even if they’re not wearing clothing?” You shook your head. Was it strange? Certainly. Had you gotten used to it? Almost. But it was something that really bothered you, especially if you thought hard about it. Life was generally less uncomfortable if you didn’t.
“Okay, so then… do you, maybe, like how ponies look?” Somehow, the way she spoke, you felt like her second question was even more loaded than the first. “A-and I don’t mean just me, I mean anypony, like Twilight, or Rainbow Dash, or…” she mumbled, trailing off. She looked like she was blushing as hard as you were, although you thought that could have been caused by the bath. If you were being honest, ponies weren’t exactly unattractive; you had, of course, been face-to-face with one multiple times in the last week, once literally, without much thought against the matter. But you realized that she didn’t know that. Your experience with her two days prior, and those with Rainbow Dash- all of those didn’t exist in her mind. She really had no idea how you felt about ponies, but then again, neither did you. All you felt right now was confusion and frustration, with little means of expressing it. Her desperate eyes watched you without mercy, waiting for your answer, before she realized that it wouldn’t come. She realized that she had verbally backed you into a corner.
“Oh, that’s… right. You can’t really answer more than yes or no questions. Seems like I got carried away,” she mumbled, trying to play off her embarrassment with a smile. “But, who am I kidding? I mean, you’d clearly be interested in humans, right? You haven’t even been here that long, and it wouldn't make sense, anyway.” She tried talking away her self-consciousness, but between hiding her face with her soaked mane and eventually reducing her voice to a hush, you weren't able to understand what she was saying. Your only effort to console her was to get up and bring her a towel as she lifted herself over the edge of the tub and onto the bathmat. Your heart shattered as you watched her accept it with a forced smile, and you left the pieces behind as you walked out of the bathroom to give her some privacy.
Not being able to speak had many inconveniences, but being unable to properly convey your thoughts and emotions easily was the hardest part to deal with. Frustrated, you sat down on the couch and grumbled unintelligible gibberish to the open air of the living room. Your lack of control over your own body to even complain only served to irritate you more as you raised your voice. Your temples began to ache, and before you realized it, you were back to standing, shouting in anger to nothing and nobody in particular. Not towards Fluttershy, or yourself, or Twilight and Celestia. Not even Discord, whose idol brought you to Equestria and put you in this mess in the first place. No, the bottled-up ire that came spilling out of your mouth was directed towards your situation, towards fate. It wasn’t anyone’s intention for you to be in Equestria, let alone unable to speak or write. You weren’t completely helpless, thanks to Fluttershy’s kindness and consideration, but your inability to return her gestures--or anyone's--in kind was a lot to bear. You threw that weight against the walls of the cottage as you screamed each incoherent syllable, the words threatening to tear it down around you.
Gradually, your outburst subsided, and you sat back down with a significantly raw throat and hurt dignity. Losing your temper had only reiterated The uncomfortable silence that followed was cut short by the quiet creaking sound of the bathroom door, opened by a very distraught Fluttershy with her mane wrapped up in a towel. You waved her over and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she walked out. She took timid steps towards you stopping to sit in the center of the living room carpet.
“Are you… angry with me, Anon?” she whispered, purposefully avoiding eye contact with you. You grunted and shook your head, certain of that much. You felt sorry about scaring her and potentially hurting her feelings, scooted over on the couch to offer her a seat as a gesture of apology. She remained on the carpet, unmoving.
“I know it must be a-awfully frustrating, hearing tough questions like that when you can’t answer them, especially those kinds of questions,” she stuttered solemnly, like she was committing herself to making a difficult decision. “But you don’t h-have to worry about it happening again, I promise. I won’t bother you, or myself with them. I'm sorry.” It was obvious that she was trying to maintain a neutral expression, but the corners of her mouth quivered and her body trembled as she looked you dead in your eyes. Seeing her distressed made every fiber of your being want to apologize, to properly console her and tell her everything that was okay. The only appropriate response you were able to muster was to keep shaking your head, meeting her gaze as you felt your restraint slipping once more. In the minutes leading up to that apology, you thought you had let out all your pent-up worry, doubt, and stress that had crossed your mind. It wasn't until that moment that you felt the dam finally burst.
“Anon, you’re crying… why are you crying?”
You ignored her question, simply letting your tears streak down your face as you continued to shake your head. You didn’t sob, and your breathing was relatively still, and yet you cried anyway. Fluttershy rushed forward between your knees and looked up to you, eyes darting back and forth across her face. The only response you could possibly think of was to hold the side of her face as you wiped your own with the back of your hand. Her eyes widened at first, but closed slightly as she leaned into your touch. She rubbed her cheek against your palm for a moment, before looking back up at you with traces of a bittersweet smile forming on her face.
“Anon, I’m so sorry for pushing you this far-” You elicited a startled eep from Fluttershy as you cut off by gingerly bringing your forehead down against hers. You couldn’t speak your mind properly and didn’t have much control over your emotions, but by whatever deities existed in Equestria, you didn’t want to hear her apologize again. You stared her down in silence, holding her head still with both of your hands. She opened her mouth to continue, but you pressed a finger to her lips- speaking wasn’t necessary. At least, the apologies didn’t need to be coming from her. Instead, you figured the best way you could remedy the situation was in the same manner she had when you first came to her cottage. You carefully unwrapped the towel surrounding her still-damp mane, and tenderly pulled the tips of your fingers through it.
"Hold... hold on a second. I'll be right back," Fluttershy interjected in a shaky voice. You wiped your face as she trotted back to the bathroom and carried out a small, pink-handled brush. She climbed onto the couch while you inspected the brush, and caught you off-guard by forcing her snout beneath your hands in your lap. You lifted your hands in time for her to push her way lay onto your lap, looking straight ahead with a determined yet nervous expression.
You held the brush against the crown of her head and started dragging it back through her mane, paying close attention to avoid snags as you carried the brush all the way through it. You could feel the resistance against the brush lessen with each stroke as the hair dried, and found difficulty in finding a good resting place for your free hand. Fluttershy noticed the errant movements of your hand over her, and guided it back to her face, tilting her head slightly so that you could comfortably fit your palm against it. Your breathing steadied in rhythm with the soothing pattern of brushing her mane and rubbing her cheek with your thumb in long slow strokes, and you could feel the tension in your body and hers diminishing with each motion. The only sounds in the room were the ticking of the clock and the faint swish of the brush as the two of you sat together on the couch, and you felt that you were both the closest to--and the farthest from--understanding one another as you had ever been.
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good update
Much Drama many Wow
8533649
Such emotion.
Don't worry, things will be slice-of-life-y soon enough. Anon just needs some actual thinking time.
yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!
And we hit emotional breaking point! Now time for the fallout.
8534837
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Fluttershy: "It's like I'm wearing nothing at all"
B) im in it for the plot *wink wink*
Seriously don'T tell me they are all like that, it is a bit like when they always had to "ddaaaaaawwww", when they saw some human twins, they did that when they entered a bulding and when they came out again as if they had never seen them before and here everyone and their mother has a reasing personality.
I mean I can see that with Rarity in a way, there it looks even like a nice joke, it is unusual for Twilight and it looks a bit to typical for Rainbow (chlice?)
However I'm not sure if it's that or the fact that we got a main char that is more or less reacting so poorly to the jokes again.
Not sure if you can really
missunderstand that, but yes I don't want to have all of them with that kind of mindset.
I like what I have seen so far, but I guess I get mostly annoyed about the fact that everywhere they can tease the main char so effectiv and he is to often to embrassed by those actions. Not sure if this is the type of story where I'm supposed to image myself being him, but I kind of got used to it and maybe because of that I got used to dislike it that the main char is acting so poorly in those situations.
the feels are back with a vengeance
8563751
Stupid sexy Flutters.
I'm a big fan of this taking it's time.
Dont you mean her?
Good story so far
Brushies are good for calming.
Harem route get?
So far I could easily picture him with any/several of the Mane 6.
This has been a pretty great read so far, and I'm enjoying the language conflict going on. I was worried about how overly aggressive Twilight was at first, but that has been settled nicely by now which is a pleasant surprise. I'm eagerly looking forward to continuing on from here.
Oh boy! Anon and Rarity, let’s see how this goes.
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Best chapter so far!