And I’m fine with that...
I was looking down from the tree just a short glide from my cottage, the cool night air relaxing to my tired wings. I stretched them out a bit to loosen them up a little and sighed in delight. Luna’s moon shone bright and full on the land, showing silvery glimmers on the river that flowed through Ponyville and by my house as it sank in the sky. I could faintly pick out the early season apples on the air, and I felt a stirring of hunger rise inside.
I forced the hunger down, the effort easier this time than it had ever been. The early months of this curse had been so desperate that I had actually had AJ come out on the nights of the full moon and lock me in the storeroom and had Harry keep watch until the sun had risen. And even then, they hadn’t always worked. Sometimes Applejack would arrive late and the change would already have started and my Stare would sway her enough to let me stay free. I always hated the remains of the apples I would find myself surrounded by in the morning or waking up suddenly when my tail would slip free and drop me unceremoniously from the tree I had nested in.
And then Sunset had returned. I’m not sure what prompted me to start reaching out to her, but when Dash had told me about finding her out in the rain, I couldn’t help but go out to help. I knew she had been feeling a little down concerning her return to Equestria and I had heard some things being said around town, but I didn’t think at the time she would have been so sad to be crying herself to sleep in a tiny copse of trees instead of the room Twilight gave her.
She didn’t know, but after stringing the tarp and covering her with a blanket - that we still use on our bed - I stayed with her, a wing stretched out to help keep her warm. I had left in the morning to make my rounds and she had still been asleep. I’m not sure why I never told her.
But in the year and change she’d been back, we’d grown close, really close. And she never shied away when beholding me in my transformed state. She always told me that I was her Fluttershy or sing me this song that would help me keep my wits about me. On the few bad nights, she would keep me in place with her magic, trying to draw me out of the more feral mind. I couldn’t begin to express how much that made me feel loved, of how much it had helped.
And then she’d proposed to me. I could feel the pendant around my neck, and I raised a hoof to touch the citrine stone. Ever since that night, even my most profound transformations left me in control. I no long considered it a curse, not really. It was just a quirk of my life, one that I had come to control by the love of one special mare. A lot of my misgivings and insecurities had faded, making me a little more bold, probably a side effect of the bat portion of my mind.
I closed my eyes and breathed in the cool air again, feeling a slight tingle start to spread through my body. Dawn was approaching, and I could feel the changes begin to reverse themselves.
When I felt the air starting to ruffle feathers, I opened my eyes and hopped out of the tree, gliding back to my house. I entered just in time to see Sunset coming downstairs, her mane mussed up.
“Morning, Sunny,” I cooed, moving over and nuzzling against her. “How’d you sleep?”
“Not too bad,” she said sleepily. “But I found myself strangely alone this morning.”
I smiled and slid my wing along her shoulders. “It was such a beautiful night, I couldn’t help it.”
She booped my nose and headed into the kitchen, horn beginning to shimmer with her teal magic. “Well, then,” she said. “Would you like me to fix breakfast or feed the animals?”
“Breakfast, please,” I said, following her to begin gathering my supplies. “You fed the animals yesterday.”
“Because you were sleeping like a log,” she teased. “A warm, fluffy, snoring log.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I. Do not. Snore.”
“You do when you’re transformed, sweetie.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but just shut it again as I glared at her. “Not funny,” I said, stalking over to her, a scowl on my face. She backed up slowly against the countertop, a smirk on her face.
“I thought so,” she said, tossing her messy mane back and tilting her head slightly upward. I knew she was angling for a kiss, but I thought she needed to earn it today. I leaned in and closed my mouth around her ear, the still sharpened fangs in my mouth pinching hard.
“Ow!” she squawked. “What was that for?”
“Being a little cocky,” I said, then leaning in again. As I drew away from the kiss, I grinned. “But I love you for it.”
She shook her head, that one lock of her fiery mane that always seemed to drift into her face slipping down again. “Well, I guess I should start breakfast,” she whispered as she leaned her head against mine, her horn sliding into the pink tresses of my forelock.
“Yeah, maybe you should,” I agreed. “After all, we have to tell Twilight to stop trying today, and you know how hard that will be.”
Sunny sighed and pecked me on the nose. “Yeah,” she whispered as a skillet floated down in her magic. “Didn’t you say she’d been trying for near to a year before I came back?”
“And as much as I appreciate it,” I called as I flew out to hang seed balls by the bird houses just out my windows. “She doesn’t need to keep this up. It’s not really a curse, despite what she calls it.”
I landed back inside and took up a basket with some food for the otters, turning to smile at my fiancé. “And thanks to you, I’ve managed to start blending both sides of me.”
She glanced back and smiled at me. “Well,” she replied. “I can’t take all the credit. You’re pretty special, ‘Shy.”
Before I could reply to the sweet line, my door was rocked by a series of knocks. On the other side, I found a very frazzled Twilight. Her mane stuck out in multiple directions with a quill stuck through what might have been a bun at some point in time. Dark bags ringed her eyes and she had that manic look she got sometimes.
“Fluttershy,” she spoke quickly. “I think I’ve got it this time!”
I blinked at the madpony infront of me. “Got what?”
“A cure!” she exclaimed, her horn starting to glow. “We can finally get rid of your curse!”
I reached out with my wing and batted her horn slightly, disrupting her magic. I knew it would break her focus from a few… interesting nights with Sunset. Unicorn horns are like that spot between my wings; sensitive but not painfully so.
Twilight shivered like cold water had been dumped on her. “What…”
“No,” I said firmly, meeting her eyes with mine.
“But we’ve been trying for so long, ‘Shy,” she breathed, confusion in her eyes.
“No,” Sunset said as she came out with three plates. “You’ve been trying. You never asked if she still wanted you to keep trying.”
“Which I do appreciate,” I said quickly. “I know you were doing it because you’re my friend, but you don’t have to worry. It’s under control now, and I actually like some of the effects.”
Twilight’s jaw just worked up and down, no words coming out. Sunset slid a plate of pancakes in front of her and sat down, a plate coming to rest before her and myself as well. “And while we’re on the subject,” she began. “When was the last time you saw Luna?”
“I saw her the day before yesterday at the party,” she said, glancing down at the plate before her.
“Twilight,” I said firmly. “That was five days ago. I know you’re both busy with princess duties, but you could at least see her in your sleep.”
The Alicorn at least had the dignity to look a little chagrined. “I’ll… find some time tonight.”
I faintly saw Sunny’s eyebrow quirk upwards at the same time as mine did.
She shrank down a little and rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ll go up to Canterlot tonight,” she said. “I promise.”
I nodded and, unable to hold back anymore, dug into my breakfast. “Oh,” I said as I remembered something. “Serene said she’d be stopping by later to interview for the weather team. Do you know who’s in charge now, so I can help her get there on time?”
Twilight chewed for a moment before swallowing. “I think Flitter is in charge now while Cloudkicker is on vacation,” she mused. “I’ll double check and get back to you later, ok?”
I nodded.
“‘Shy?” the princess whispered.
“Yes, Twilight?”
“Are you really ok with it? Not reversing your condition, that is.”
I glanced at Sunny, who nodded as she chewed on a bite of breakfast. I smiled.
“I’m sure, Twilight,” I said, putting a hoof over one of Sunsets. “After all, I’m still Fluttershy.”
“My Fluttershy,” whispered Sunset. “No matter what.”