Chapter III: Love Lost
In the few days that had passed since I’d returned to Equestria, I’d gotten reinstated back into my old job of working as a masseur at the Ponyville Day Spa as well as reacquainting myself with how things worked around here. I’d also had a good amount of time to think over how I’d go about proposing to Fluttershy. The idea that I’d come up with was that I would take her on a date around Ponyville wherein we’d be able to drink in the sights of all the winter decorations of the town amongst other things, ultimately culminating with my proposal to her on that same hill where we’d confessed our love to each other the last time I was here.
At this current time, I was busy with getting myself some breakfast from Sugarcube Corner. Making my way into the building, it wasn’t too long before I was greeted by Pinkie Pie at the front counter.
“Welcome, Davey. It’s great having you back here again.”
“Great ta be back, Pinkie.”
Since my return to Equestria, I hadn’t really gotten much interaction with Pinkie as she was particularly busy this time of year. With it being the holiday season, she was up to her eyeballs in orders for various and sundry baked goods that many other creatures were ordering for their own holiday celebrations. Fortunately, she still had the help of the Cake twins when it came to handling all those orders. That and I’d managed to come by Sugarcube Corner early enough in the day to grab breakfast before the mob showed up.
“What can I interest you in today?” she began. “I’ll let you know that one of our brand new holiday specials is Cinnamon Swirl Muffins.”
“Sounds good ta me. Ah’ll gladly take one o’ those ‘n a mug o’ hot cider please.”
No sooner had the words escaped my lips when Pumpkin Cake came in from the back with a tray of freshly-baked, steaming muffins she carried with her magic. The sweet smell of cinnamon filled my nose with its enticing aroma.
“Wow. What great timing,” Pinkie remarked. “It looks like we just got a fresh batch right out of the oven. Pumpkin, would you mind getting one of those muffins for Davey here while I get him a cider?”
“Not at all, Auntie Pinkie,” she answered with a smile, using her magic to remove one muffin from the tray and place it in a brown paper bag.
Before long, Pinkie was back with a mug full of the sweet, yet tangy beverage, a small cloud of steam emanating from the mug itself. Passing off my bits to Pinkie, I then gratefully accepted both the mug and the bag from her and Pumpkin Cake.
“Thanks fer yer help, ladies.”
“No problem, Davey,” Pinkie piped up.
“Come again soon,” Pumpkin stated.
And with breakfast obtained, I exited the establishment, making my way over to the spa while eating my muffin and cautiously sipping on the still piping hot liquid, trying not to burn my taste buds in the process. The pairing of both the muffin and the cider perfectly complemented each other quite nicely. It was on my way towards the spa that I wound up running into Fluttershy.
“Hey, Flutters,” I greeted after washing down a swallow of cider. “How you doin’?”
“Oh hi, David,” she replied. “I’m doing pretty good. How about you?”
“Pretty good. Jus’ grabbed a quick breakfast from Sugarcube Corner before ma shift starts at tha spa.”
During this time, the thought occurred to me that I should check with Fluttershy about whether or not the date I had planned for us would work out well enough for her, but I was also running short on time before my shift would start. In that case, I came up with a different proposition.
“Hey. Would ya mind if Ah came by yer place after ma shift is up? Ah have somethin’ importan’ ta tell ya, but ma shift starts in tha nex’ few minutes.”
“Not at all,” she smiled. “I’d love to have you at my place after work.”
“O.K. See ya later, ma li’l cutie beauty.”
She blushed heavily at my playful nickname for her before speaking back up.
“Yup. See you later, David.”
And with that, the 2 of us parted ways as I made a beeline over to work, polishing off the rest of my muffin and cider in the process. Even as my shift began and I went about massaging customer after customer, nothing else lingered as heavily on my mind as the upcoming date I planned on proposing to my beautiful Flutters; a proposal that would hopefully lead to the ultimate proposal of her becoming my wife. All I knew in that moment was that my shift couldn’t be over fast enough.
* * * * * * * *
After seemingly countless hours of work, my shift was finally up for the day as I quickly punched out and made my way over to Fluttershy’s cottage faster than you could shake a stick at. Arriving in a matter of seconds, I knocked my ever familiar greeting on her front door.
Tap. Tap. Taptap Tap.
It wasn’t that much longer before the door opened to reveal Flutters on the other side.
“Hey, David,” she greeted. “Did you just get off of work?”
“Ya know it, babe,” I answered with a smile.
“Would you like to come in?”
“Sure.”
She then moved aside to grant me entrance into her home before closing the door behind me.
“So what was it that you wanted to talk with me about?”
“Well, Ah was hopin’ Ah’d be able ta tell ya while given’ ya one o’ ma massages ya seem ta enjoy soo much.”
“I’d like that a lot,” she smiled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve last had a massage from you. I’ve honestly missed them.”
“Well you jus’ get yerself all comfortable on tha couch ‘n Ah’ll work ma magic.”
And so I followed Fluttershy over to her couch, sitting down on one end while she assumed the position. After several seconds of popping my knuckles and flexing my fingers to prepare for the massage, I finally placed my hands along her back, right at the base of her wings where I started the circular movements as she melted into my touch.
“Mmmm. That feels lovely, David,” she moaned out of pleasure.
“Glad ya ‘pprove.”
“Did you want to talk about that thing you previously mentioned now?”
“Sure,” I stated while running my hands along her spine down to the base of her tail. “It’s recently come ta ma ‘ttention that we haven’t gone out on a proper date in quite a while.”
“That’s true. At least, not since you were last here,” she concurred before moaning again as my hands made their way down her body before my massaging reached her flanks.
“Precisely. So Ah was hopin’ that ya might be interested in goin’ on a date with me in a couple o’ days from now.”
“That sounds incredible to me, David.”
“That’s good,” I answered back as I began massaging the base of her neck and the back of her head, her silky mane slipping through my fingers in the process.
“What exactly did you have in mind for our date?”
“Ah want that ta be a surprise fer ya.”
“Oh. O.K.”
I continued massaging her for several more minutes before I finally had to let my hands rest. She then turned towards me with a smile plastered across her face.
“Thanks for the massage, David. I’d almost forgotten how talented you are at them.”
“Yer welcome, Flutters. Anythin’ fer ma girlfriend.”
Looking out her window, I saw that night was falling pretty quickly. This made sense as it was winter, meaning that the days would be getting shorter and shorter, but, as much as I didn’t want to, I knew that I had to leave Fluttershy for the time being and head back to my place for the night.
“Welp, Ah should prob’ly get goin’. Gotta make sure Ah’ve got everythin’ all set up fer our date.”
“O.K. I guess I’ll see you later then?”
“Definitely.”
“I love you soo much, David.”
“Ah love you more.”
“I love you most.”
And with a quick kiss on the lips, I left Fluttershy’s cottage, making my way back to my place where I’d officially call it a night. Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice from above me as I was heading back.
“Hey, twin.”
Looking up, I saw Rainbow Dash hovering in place.
“Hey, Rainbow. Whachu up too?”
“Not much. Just doing a quick fly over before heading back to Sweet Apple Acres. How about you?”
“Well, Ah jus’ came from Fluttershy’s place where Ah asked her out on a date in a couple o’ days.”
A sudden realization came to me as I was talking.
“Actually, would it be possible fer me ta ask a favor of ya?”
“Sure. What did you have in mind?”
* * * * * * * *
Just a couple short days later, it was finally the day of my date with Flutters. I had just stepped out of a nice hot shower before putting on some proper dress clothes for the occasion. These included one of my favorite dress shirts that featured a blue flame design and a pair of black skinny jeans. I then ran my favorite Axe Dark Temptation deodorant along my pits before spraying myself with some of my Nightmare Before Christmas “Bone Daddy” cologne and brushing my teeth.
With all those proper grooming measures taken care of, I put on my favorite leather jacket while also making sure that I had both my ring for Fluttershy as well as a decent amount of bits for our date. After confirming that I had all that I needed, I was finally able to leave my home and make my way over to Fluttershy’s. It had hardly been a minute before I reached her place and knocked out my ever familiar greeting on her front door.
Tap. Tap. Taptap Tap.
Even as I stood outside waiting for her to answer, I knew it was best for me to give her all the time she needed in order to get ready for our date. Fortunately, it wasn’t snowing at that time. Not yet at least. After nearly a minute and a half, the front door finally opened to reveal Fluttershy standing in the entrance.
Decked out in a purple winter coat, a long scarf wrapped around her neck, and a pair of earmuffs, she looked purely angelic as I gazed upon her before finally speaking up.
“Hey beautiful.”
“Hey handsome,” she replied with a soft smile. “You just about ready for our date?”
“Ah am if you are.”
“O.K. Let’s go then.”
And so, after Fluttershy had closed the door of her cottage, the 2 of us made our way over towards Ponyville. It was about late evening by the time we were going on our date, but that was perfectly fine with us. As long as we were together, nothing else really mattered. Casually, I struck up a conversation with Flutters as we walked along.
“So how have things been goin’ at yer animal sanctuary?”
“Oh they’ve been going O.K. Not a whole lot to really do this time of year with all the birds having flown south for winter and most of the other animals hibernating.”
“Sounds pretty low maintenance ta me.”
“For the most part, yes. So are you looking forward to spending your first Hearth’s Warming Eve here in Equestria?”
“Oh yeah. Definitely,” I swiftly replied. “In fact, Ah’ve already got ma gift fer ya picked out ‘n purchased.”
“That sounds great. I’ve actually purchased my gift to you just a couple days ago and it should be here by the time Hearth’s Warming Eve comes around.”
“Good ta hear,” I smiled back at her.
It was by that time that we’d reached Ponyville whereupon I was quick to point out all of the winter decorations that adorned the houses and businesses around us.
“Hey, Flutters, check out all tha decorations they’ve got out.”
“I know. They’re soo beautiful. All the wreaths, tinsel, bows, lights, and ornaments. I just love whenever this season comes around.”
“Tell me ‘bout it. Makes me think o’ how durin’ winter, when me ‘n ma siblings were younger, ma parents would take us out fer a drive at night so we could see all tha lights people had out decoratin’ their houses.”
“Sounds like it must’ve been a great time for you guys.”
“It certainly was. Hey. Do ya feel up fer goin’ ta Sugarcube Corner? Ah was thinkin’ we could get somethin’ warm ta drink from there.”
“That sounds lovely, David.”
And so, the two of us made our way over to the gourmand of sweets where we were swiftly greeted by Pinkie at the front counter upon entering.
“Hey you 2 lovebirds.”
“Hey, Pinkie,” I followed up.
“What can I get you guys this evening.”
“We’d like ta get 2 mugs o’ Mint Hot Chocolate.”
“Coming right up.”
As Pinkie was getting us our beverages, Fluttershy caught my attention.
“David, look above the doorway!”
Looking up towards where we had come in, I could immediately make out a sprig of mistletoe hanging directly above it. Flutters soon spoke back up.
“You know what that means,” she teased.
“Ah sure do.”
With that, the 2 of us leaned into each other, locking lips for several seconds before Pinkie finally came back with our mugs.
“Here you go. 2 mugs of Mint Hot Chocolate.”
“Thanks, Pinkie,” me and Fluttershy answered as I handed some bits off to her and gladly accepted both of our mugs.
“No problem. Come again soon.”
And with our beverages purchased, the 2 of us left Sugarcube Corner while enjoying the sweet, minty, hot drinks, me holding my mug with one hand and using the magic from my other free hand to hold Fluttershy’s mug for her.
“How’re ya enjoyin’ yer drink, Flutters?”
“It’s beautiful, thanks for asking. Really helps warm me up inside.”
“Good ta hear.”
Upon leaving Sugarcube Corner, we had noticed that it was now nighttime as the full moon took its place in the night sky amongst the clouds. It wasn’t long afterwards that a gentle dusting of snow began to fall upon us, precisely as I'd planned with Rainbow just the other night. This gave me an idea.
“Hey, Flutters, wanna see somethin’ cool?”
“Sure. What did you have in mind?”
Taking hold of both mugs in one hand, I turned my now free hand towards the sky. From my fingertips, lightning flashed forth and flew into the clouds where it created a dazzling display around the gently falling snow, brilliantly lighting up the night sky even if just for a moment.
“David, that’s beautiful!” Fluttershy marvelled.
“Glad ya like it.”
After my little display, I returned to holding Flutterhy’s mug with my magic as we continued to walk along.
“Winter is honestly one o’ ma favorite seasons o’ tha year,” I stated. “That ‘n Summer.”
“For me, every season has their own special qualities that give me a reason to like all of them,” Flutters followed up after a sip of her drink.
“That’s fair. Hey. Do ya feel up fer checkin’ out one more place before tha night’s up?”
“Definitely.”
And with that, I led Fluttershy along in the direction of the hill where we’d confessed our love to each other the last time I was there; the same hill on which I hoped to propose to her, whereupon she’d finally become my wife in the future. What I couldn’t have possibly known at the time was the dark force that would completely shatter the plans I had… and worse.
* * * * * * * *
After a few minutes of walking along under the gentle snowfall, the 2 of us finally reached the hill in question. Making our way over to it, Fluttershy was quick to speak up.
“Wait a minute. I know this hill. This is the hill where you and I confessed our love to each other the last time you visited Equestria, isn’t it?”
“That it certainly is, ma love,” I replied as we made our way up the hill together.
Finally coming to the hill’s peak, we finished off the last of our drinks before Fluttershy posed another question to me.
“Not that I don’t mind reminiscing about our past together, but why exactly did you decide to bring me to this place specifically? Was there a particular reason why you chose here?”
I knew immediately that now would be the best time for me to pop the question to her. Taking a deep breath and looking her right in the eye, I finally gave her my answer.
“Yes. There is a reason why Ah brought ya here. You ‘n Ah have been through quite a lot together ever since Ah first arrived in Equestria. In ma world, it’s been ‘round 8 years total while it’s been over 20 here in Equestria, but it’s neither here nor there that matters.”
I then took one of her hooves in my hand while continuing.
“Ya’ve always been there fer me regardless o’ tha situation. Even when Ah turned all o’ y’all away from me ‘n denied our friendship, ya never stopped believin’ in me, regardless o’ tha time we spent apart from each other. Ya’ve displayed much greater ‘n unfailin’ friendship towards me than Ah possibly ever deserved. Ah realize now that there’s no other mare that Ah wanna share those experiences with, even sharin’ tha rest o’ ma life with.”
Flutters’ eyes began watering as I spoke while a smile started to cross her face.
“David…, a-are you doing… what I think you’re doing?” she asked.
“Ah think Ah am,” I answered back. “Ah was thinkin’ of givin’ this ta ya fer Hearth’s Warmin’ Eve, but Ah believe now is just as good a time as any.”
I then dropped down to one knee while reaching into my pocket to pull out the small velvet box with my ring to her inside it. However, before I had even pulled the box from my pocket, we were interrupted by a mad rush of wind swirling around us. Sheltering Fluttershy with my body from the cold, violent wind that had arisen, we both soon noticed a blackish, yellow portal opening up before us. Out of the portal stepped the last thing I would’ve expected: another human.
Standing in our presence, this other human was about the same height as I was if not an inch or 2 shorter, was decked out in a dark, brown cloak, and gazed upon the 2 of us with his equally dark, green eyes from under his hood. Something about this individual seemed familiar to me, particularly the eyes, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was (must’ve been because of the cloak). Finally, I broke the silence that had arisen amongst us.
“Who tha hell are you ‘n what’re ya doin’ here?”
Unshaken by my rather harsh greeting, the mysterious stranger finally spoke up.
“My name is Claude. As for why I’m here, it’s actually quite simple,” he stated plainly in an equally familiar sounding voice before switching to a slightly more sinister tone. “I’ve come to ruin your life just as you ruined mine.”
“What’re ya talkin’ ‘bout? Ah don’ even know you.”
“Really? Have you honestly forgotten me that quickly?”
With a wave of his hand, something happened that I was completely not expecting: he began to change his form into that of a pony. But this was no ordinary pony he took the shape of. As I watched the transformation take place, Claude turned into none other than Star Swirl The Bearded. Aghast at what had just taken place, I struggled to find the right words to speak.
“Wait… i-it was y-y-you? Y-... you were tha one… tha one Ah-Ah came ‘cross… in limbo?”
“Yes. You thought that you and Crystal were the first humans ever to come to this land, but I’m the true original. I mysteriously found my way here well over a millenia ago, but I had no knowledge of how I’d gotten here at the time. It wasn’t until a good while later that I realized it was through Discord’s chaotic magic that I’d arrived in Equestria. Not only that, but I soon discovered that I too had special powers I’d never had before. One of my greatest powers I had was my ability to turn lies into reality. Taking on the form of Star Swirl The Bearded after he and the Pillars trapped the Pony Of Shadows in limbo, I altered the memories of those I came across like the Princesses and even used my powers to create another Alicorn Princess: your ancestor Destiny.”
At this sudden revelation, a look of shock crossed my face before Claude continued.
“I’d merely created her just to prove to myself that I could, but something unexpected happened after I’d created Destiny: I fell in love with her. I’d never known love before, but, upon falling for her, I planted fake memories in her mind as well as in Celestia and Luna’s minds that she’d always been their sister and they welcomed her as their own blood. With these memories altered, she ended up falling for me right back. However, trouble soon struck afterwards.
“I already told you about how I was trying to learn a new spell that would allow me to travel between here and Earth as well as how Destiny wound up back in your world millenia earlier, but there was more to it than that. When Destiny was accidentally sent to Earth, Crystal arrived here in her place. She knew all about my being a human and tried to convince me to move on from my grief over losing Destiny, but I was too caught up in my feelings for her to care, even after it had been revealed to me through a magical mirror belonging to Crystal that Destiny had started her own family on Earth without me. I was determined to find a way to get back with her again and pushed myself even harder with the spell I was working on.
“Unfortunately, it was during one of my attempts at the spell when I wound up in limbo for over a full millenium, where my powers were ineffective. Over those thousands of years, all I could do was languish in regret that I’d never listened to Crystal or tried to move on with her after losing Destiny. Then you came along and I saw a chance to finally be released from my imprisonment and start anew with Crystal. Sure enough, I was released right alongside with you, albeit in a completely different location.”
He then reverted back to his original human form before continuing to speak.
“But of course you just had to go and fuck everything up by stripping Crystal of her powers and sending her away to Tartarus.”
“Look, there was no way that I could've known who you were at the time,” I began. “I'm sorry.”
“You're sorry?!? Like you think that's automatically supposed to make it O.K.!?! You took away the future that I could’ve had with her. My powers, after 1,000 years of not using them, were nowhere near the level they were before I wound up in limbo and so I bided my time waiting for the proper moment to exact my revenge against you. Finally, after your wife was murdered, your daughter kidnapped, and you denied your friendship with these ponies, I altered their memories so that they’d forget about you ever being an Alicorn Prince.
“But then you came back to your old friends in Equestria and also started a relationship with your little girlfriend here.”
“O.K. Hello!” Fluttershy snapped after being silent since Claude had started talking. “His ‘little girlfriend’ has a name.”
“Quiet you!” Claude snapped right back.
“Hey Hey HEY!!! Don’t you dare talk to Fluttershy like that!” I followed up, harshly.
Claude then let out a sinister laugh before proceeding.
“When I’m done with you, you won’t even remember her anymore.”
We then saw dark magic begin to form in his hands, the palms glowing with an unusual eye shape on them before he unleashed a powerful blast directly at me, giving me no time to react. However, with almost superhuman (or superpony) speed, Flutters leapt in front of me taking the full impact of the blast right to her chest, crying out in pain before collapsing at my feet.
“NO!!!” I cried out as I knelt down and cradled Fluttershy’s body in my arms.
Reaching towards her neck, I was able to make out a pulse before feeling her start to stir. Her eyes then fluttered open, but upon seeing me, a look of fear came to her face as her pupils dilated.
“Ahhh!” she screamed, jumping out of my arms and backing away. “Wh-who are you? Where are m-m-my friends? Where-where’s Princess Twilight?”
“Whataya mean ‘Who am I’? I’m your friend, David.”
“I-I don’t know of any D-D-D-David. I-I-I don’t even kn-know what kind of c-c-creature you are,” she panicked.
I then looked at Claude with rage in my eyes.
“What’ve you done to her!?!” I demanded.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he answered back. “No matter. By the time a full week is up, you won’t be around anymore for her to care.”
And with that, Claude merely snapped his fingers and vanished from our presence, leaving me with a scared and confused Fluttershy. At that time, I had no idea what had just happened to her, but I knew that it was urgent that I find out as quickly as possible. Princess Twilight immediately came to mind as the most likely candidate to help me out with my dilemma, but how would I get Fluttershy to come along with me when she seemed to have no recollection that I’d even existed nor any real desire to join me anywhere?
Thinking it over, the idea then came to me that I could just teleport us directly to Canterlot Palace without even having to worry about dragging Fluttershy along.
“Ah hope that ya can forgive me fer this,” I stated while grabbing her hoof.
“Forgive you for wha-”
But her voice was cut off as I teleported the both of us to Princess Twilight where I hoped that I’d find answers for what had happened to Fluttershy’s memories of me. However, nothing could’ve prepared me for what I was about to find out when I got there.
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Can't wait for the next chapter
10434823
Thanks. I really appreciate that as well as your support.
uh oh will David save his marriage or will fluttershy never remember him and find someone else and will they ever have kids in the last 2 chapters, lets find out in thee next chapter KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MAN LOVING THIS STORY BUT SAD IT'S ABOUT TO END.
10434931
Oh no. I wasn't saying that there's only 2 chapters left in the story. I'm saying that I only have a couple chapters left to write, but I have several chapters already typed up waiting to be published. Don't worry. There's plenty more to come. I appreciate your investment in my story and hope that it won't be in vain.
i have a question SapphireWings is their really gonna be a sex scene and self harm/suicide in the story i been meaning to ask
10437542
Sex: Possibly. There's definitely stuff in the realm of romance and suggestive situations in the story so it's very likely, but nothing too explicit.
Suicide/Self Harm: Only in the realm of a certain character considering it at one point. There's no actual follow through with what they were planning, but I didn't want to not put the tag there and then risk someone getting upset about it later on.
Hope that helps.
10437563
yeah that helps thanks keep/stay safe
10438207
You're welcome and likewise.
one more and last question will fluttershy and david have foals or not just curious
10439732
I'd rather not talk about that right now as it gets a bit heavy into spoiler territory and I'm not quite ready to show my hand on the matter just yet. There can definitely be arguments made as to whether or not we should have children, whether or not we're able to have children, etc. But I will say this, there's definitely going to be an answer to that question before this story is finished so just keep an ear out in the meantime.