> The Life and Times of a Tea Pony
>  by FlutterChai
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Introduction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Is this thing on?”

A sharp static noise before the image of a close-up of a yellow pony, looking into the lens with her bright teal eyes.

“Yes? Good! Angel, could you hold the camera, sweetie?” she said, smiling before flying over to the couch on the other side of the room. The shot shakes a bit before focusing on the pegasus, pulling back her long, pink mane out of her face. Clearing her throat, the pony began to speak again.

“Hello everypony! My name is Fluttershy! I used to live in Cloudsdale but now I live in Ponyville!”

Fluttershy paused for a second, looking down at the paper on the small table in front of the couch.

“Umm, I have a few interests.” she began smiling to the camera. “One would definitely have to be my love for tea! I just love all kinds and varieties but my favorite has to be chai tea. It’s kind of why I sometimes call myself FlutterChai instead of Fluttershy.” She giggled for a second before sipping from the tea cup in front of her.

“Another would be my love for animals! I have many critter friends from little tiny mice to big friendly bears that live in the woods near my cottage. Although, one of my favorites has to be Angel here! Angel Bunny, wave for the camera!”

The camera shakes for a minute before a white bunny appears through the lens, waving before straightening back out to the yellow pegasus. She giggled at the bunny’s reaction for a second before clearing her throat again.

“Also, living in Ponyville, I have many pony friends as well. There’s Twilight Sparkle who is a fantastic unicorn that knows a lot of magic! She’s usually always at the library though, studying for her next spell. She has the most adorable baby dragon named Spike! I sometimes invite him over just to hear what he’s been up to and he’s more of a pony friend than a critter friend!”

She giggled before continuing, “And then there’s Applejack, she’s a real hard working Earth pony. Actually, I hardly ever see her outside of the farm. I guess being a farm pony is a really hard job. I do often see her little sister Apple Bloom and her friends! Applejack often asks me to take care of the three of them, which can be hoof-full of them getting into trouble! But things often work out in the end.”

“Next would have to be Rainbow Dash, who is a really good pegasus friend of mine! She’s one of the leading weather ponies in all of Equestria! She was also the one that convinced me to live in Ponyville after flight school, which meant leaving Cloudsdale. I don’t regret the decision but I really haven’t been back since-”

The shot cuts off into static for a minute before returning to Fluttershy sipping tea again. “Also, I can’t forget Pinkie Pie! She’s a fun-loving Earth pony that loves to play games and she always invites me and Rainbow Dash over to Sugarcube Corner when she can. Since her job is as relaxed as mine, I spend most of my days with her over there as well. Dash can’t always make it since her job is more tiring. Or she’s sleeping around somewhere.”

She giggled at the comment, “And last but not least has to be my best friend, Rarity! She’s a unicorn that runs the dress shop named Carousel Boutique but she always finds a way to have some lunch with me during the week or a short spa trip on the weekends. She’s actually the reason on why I’m making this video actually. Something about putting myself out there for more ponies to see.”

The yellow pegasus sits back, covering half of her face with her mane. “I’m not sure if I really want that though. At least the only ones that will see this video are you, me and her, right?”

She sighed and pulled her mane back again. “Anyways, we all try to get together twice a month for a nice tea party, hosted by me of course, but Dash is sometimes too cool to attend. I can see what she’s talking about but I think it’s kind of silly of her. Wait, what was the next thing I had to talk about on here?”

Fluttershy paused, looking at the paper on the table. Her face turned red at reading what was next on the list of questions. “Oh dear, I don’t think I want to tell anything about that to anypony. Especially somepony that I don’t even know. Let’s just end this here saying that I want to make some more pony friends and I’ll be happy to meet any new ponies!”

She grinned towards the camera at the last point before the shot cut to dark.
> Chapter 2: Snowed Over
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As I walked through the front door of my apartment, my thoughts grew heavy from seeing the dark and motionless room before me, without a peep of any critter or any pony. I tossed the set of keys into the bowl that was right beside the door and then flew over to the desk beside the window, looking out to the vast Los Pegasus skyline outside. The shining lights from each one of the buildings that sat on top of the clouds, with the signature Applewood sign that sat on top of the tallest mountain. It all seemed so different from Ponyville. So different from what I’ve been used to after this week that I’ve spent here away from my friends. Sighing, I clicked on the light at the desk and picked up the pencil to start writing a short letter.

“To my very special somepony,” I said aloud, writing the words down on the paper. “I hope that you’re doing good and everything is alright with taking care of the animals. Hopefully Spike has not been slacking off too much for the amount of gems that I paid him, heehee! Anyways, I probably haven’t told you the whole story since everything started so quickly. Let me start from the beginning...”

---

Waking up, I was expecting to find the clucking from the chicken coop outside of my window or the sweet melody of the songbirds as they chirped for their breakfast. Or even the impatient thumping of Angel Bunny on my bed, also hungry for his morning meal. Yet, as my eyes opened to the bright morning in my bedroom, the fire from last night burned out to ashes, there were no audible noises that I recognized. My heart stopped for a minute, thinking that something was wrong with the critters, sitting up in bed only to look at the calendar.

“January 2nd.” I thought to myself, sighing in relief that the silence was only because every animal was hibernating for the winter. Taking in more of the silence, a faint sound was heard from outside. It sounded like... laughter?

I rushed to the front door, only to meet the white blanket of snow, one patch happened to fall on top of me from the doorway, instantly turning me into a snowpony in front of the cottage. The laughing moved over to the front fence, which came from the filly trio of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. As cold as I was, I didn’t seem bothered to move from the snowy statue.

“Hey look! Fluttershy made a snowpony in front of her cottage!” the red-maned filly shouted, going in through the door in the fence.

“Oh wow! It looks so much like her!” the orange filly commented, tilting her head in front of me.

“I tried making a snowpony of my sister once! She said it looked like a pile of slush.” the white filly added, moving to the back of my snowy figure.

“Well, you did pour a giant cup of purple ice on it’s head.” Scootaloo replied, quickly getting on top of me. “Whoa, this is really packed in!” I giggled from the snowy statue, hoping one of the fillies would hear me.

“What was that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“What was what?” the orange pegasus asked, moving to my head. I tried to stay as still as possible under the snow.

“That noise. Didn’t y’all hear it?”

“I didn’t hear anything.” Sweetie Belle said, smiling. I giggled again.

“That! That giggle!” Apple Bloom announced, pointing a hoof at my face. “It’s coming from the snowpony!”

“ROAR!” I yelled as loud as I could, shaking off the snow on my head. Scootaloo tumbled off in front of me, landing in between the two fillies, laughing. I giggled again, using my hoof to get the last of the ice out of my mane.

“Fluttershy!” Apple Bloom said aloud with the three fillies giving me a hug. “What were you doing under all that snow?”

“Yeah, were you there all night?” Scootaloo asked, kicking off some snow from her hoof.

“No girls.” I replied, giggling at the question. “I came out to see what the noise was all about outside of my cottage and I got buried from the snow. Why are you all out and about? Don’t you have school?”

“Nope!” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “We’re still on vacation!”

“Which means we have more time to get our cutie marks!” Scootaloo added, jumping around.

“Do you think you could help us, Fluttershy?” Apple Bloom asked with pleading puppy dog eyes.

“Hmm, how about tomorrow?” I suggested with a smile.

“Yeah!” the girls said all at once.

“Do you have any ideas?” I asked, using my wings to lightly push the fillies out of the front yard so I could lock the gate.

“How about... milkshakes?” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Milkshakes?” I repeated, thinking about who would want a frozen treat in the winter.

“Yeah! Everypony loves milkshakes! Come on girls, lets get the ingredients for tomorrow!” Apple Bloom announced as the trio sped off.

“Cutie Mark Milkshake Ponies YAY!” Scootaloo yelled as they ran off into the distance. I couldn’t help but smile and giggle at their enthusiasm. And maybe save a few bits for a milkshake tomorrow, in case no pony comes by for them.





After a relaxing stroll through the snow covered Ponyville, I found myself standing in front of Carousel Boutique, which happened to be celebrating an expansive winter outfit sale for all the ponies.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique!” Rarity greeted, trotting happily over to the entrance. ‘Oh Fluttershy, heavens aren’t you cold without a scarf or something?”

“Umm, it’s not that cold.” I said, brushing a bit of ice out of my yellow coat. This however didn’t stop the fashionista unicorn from using her magic to bring over one of her stunning pieces from the shop.

“Please, darling, scarves are season.” she continued, carefully wrapping the soft, wool scarf around my neck. “Green is your color, after all.”

“Thank you, Rarity.” I said quietly, using a hoof to feel the texture of the scarf, finding it to be incredibly soft.

“Anytime, darling.” she said, in her usual posh accent. “So what can I do for you, Fluttershy?”

“Oh, umm, nothing really.” I said softly, covering my face with my mane. The white unicorn’s eyes darted over at the comment. She pulled away her designer glasses, using a hoof to pull my chin up.

“Is something the matter, dear?” Rarity asked with genuine concern in her eyes.

“The animals.” I squeaked out. She smiled at the response.

“You really must have some something else in your life, darling.” the unicorn began, using her magic to replace her glasses as she went to work on her dress. “For instance, how about a hobby?”

I thought for a second, remembering a warm summer when I took all sorts of pictures in the fields around Ponyville. I even managed to get the perfect picture of a morning’s sunrise, with the help of Angel Bunny waking me up in time, of course. Although, my ears drooped at the fact that most of my pictures were of my critter friends, who are all still sleeping right now.

“Did you hear me, Fluttershy?” Rarity repeated, using her magic to thread a needle with the most exclusive spool of golden thread.

“Huh? Oh, no real hobbies other than... making tea.” I said, looking over at the dress in progress.

“I have to tell you, darling, you’re not putting yourself out there enough!” she said with a sharp, yet friendly tone in mind.

“Putting out?” I asked, confused at what she meant by that. I go outside, when it’s not too cold. Otherwise, I like staying by the fire by my bedside.

“When was the last time you saw a pony outside of Ponyville?” Rarity asked, focusing her attention back on me.

“Umm, a few nights back.” I replied, trying to remember the exact time.

“Oh yes, this mysterious stallion of yours. What’s his name again?”

I kept quiet, still not sure if I should tell her anything about him. He’s absolutely wonderful but at the same time, I don’t think anypony here would really approve of him. I heard that he knows about Twilight too, so it’s not like he’s invisible. Rarity sighs at the silence, breaking my concentration.

“One day, you are going to tell me about this ‘somepony’ of yours. Until then, I am going to think that he’s just somepony you made up.”

“He’s real!” I yelled in my soft voice, only manage to catch Rarity’s attention. “I mean... Twilight knows him too.”

“Oh?” she said, her eyes widening. “Well, now I’m convinced you’ve fallen for a character in one of those books of hers.”

“Umm...” I stuttered, not sure what else to say.

“Anyways, Dashing Dare aside, do you remember that video that you made for me a few years back?” Rarity asked, going back to the elegant dress.

“You mean the one that I did describing myself?”

“That’s the one.” she said, using her magic to bring a bundle of feathers over to the dress. “It hasn’t gotten a single hit on it, darling.”

“Hit?” I asked, confused at what Rarity was talking about.

“No pony has wanted to watch it.”

“Why would anypony want to watch it?”

“Because...” Rarity began, taking a long sigh. “I put it up on the EeyupLovestruck website.”

“You... did... what?!” I asked wildly, beyond embarrassed at what pony might have watched that video.

“You need to get out of that cottage of yours! See the rest of Equestria! Fall madly in love with the pony of your life!” she replied, falling back on the mannequin pony in the dress.

“But-”

“Invisible someponies do not count, Fluttershy.”

“But-”

“Yes, darling?” Rarity asked, batting her eyelashes as she smiled. Between being completely embarrassed about what she had done and being outraged at her tricking me like that to make a video for the Internet, all I could do is what I usually do.

I sighed and said, “It’s nothing.”

“Look,” she began, wrapping one of her hooves around my scarf-covered neck. “I know what I did was little out of hoof. But at the same time, no pony has watched it.”

“Why would that make me feel better?” I said quietly, noting the fact that no pony wanted to see me.

“Well, it’s not too late!” Rarity declared triumphantly. “You need something to make yourself desirable!”

Before I knew it, she had already used her magic to bring over her diamond-encrusted laptop computer, surfing up to my profile page on the website.

“The picture is adorable, if I do say so myself.” she commented on one of the many photos that I took for Photo Finish last spring. “Let’s see. Good with animals, that translates well for foals. Sweet and shy, uh-huh, uh-huh. AH-HA!”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled with an idea as she pointed a hoof to one of the boxes on the web page. I looked over as read the contents.

“Occupation: None.”

“That is what you need to change, darling!” she said, using her magic to close the laptop. “You need to get some sort of job. To get your mind off of those animals of yours. And, it will help you look like something more than a sweet pony that drinks tea all day in her cottage.”

“But... that is all that I do, mostly. During the winter months at least.”

“Well, maybe you should look for a different place to make tea or something. One where you can meet ponies. In the meantime, I’ll be sprucing up your profile page for the new year!”

“Umm, maybe I should-” I began, moving next to Rarity to see what changes she might do.

“No no, no need to bother yourself with these details, dear. I’ll take care of it.” she insisted, pushing me out of the front door with her magic. “Take care, Fluttershy!”

---

“And that’s where this dream sort of came from.” I continued, writing back in my Los Pegasus apartment. “Sure Rarity went behind my back to make me one of those silly online profiles. I went on the computer at the library to look at her changes and... they sort of stretches the truth but at least she got the job right when I told her a few days afterwards. It managed to get a few visits, I guess, but I don’t actually have access the page myself so Rarity is the one to tell me if anypony is interested.”

Looking at the clock, I noticed it was well past the time when everypony was supposed to be asleep. “It’s not like I’m waiting for anypony to want to meet me anyways. I’ve met a few nice ponies after that one morning. And besides, I have you. You’re the most special somepony I could ever ask for and I miss you every day. I hope that when I come back, you do really want to move in with me. <3

Forever yours,

FlutterChai.”

Sighing happily at the thought of wrapping my hooves around him, I quickly folded the letter and sealed it up in an envelope, addressing to my very special somepony. Barely able to keep my eyes open, I flew up into my bed and softly drifted off to sleep.
> Chapter 3: Lost In Her Dream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“What do you think?”

My heart began to race as I saw the one pony in my life that could truly make me more happy than anypony else. It was hard to see exactly what he looked like in the dark, but I knew deep down that it was him. I tried to tell him how handsome he looked as he walked closer to me as I laid down on the couch in my cottage’s living room.

“You... you look...” I stuttered out, though something in my voice sounded different. Was it one of his spells that he put on me? Or was I different mare entirely? I could feel my wings open up almost as if a reflex as he inched closer to the sofa. He chuckled at the reaction, making my cheeks feel hot as they reddened from the embarrassment.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed you know,” he said in his sultry yet comforting tone. I felt his hoof touch mine as my heart began to pound even faster. “Maybe this was a bad idea.” He pulls away, looking off into the darkness from the dim light of the candles on the mantle of the fireplace.

“N-no!” I shouted out, feeling the same way he did. I moved to reach out and wrap my forehooves around him before he could say another thing. “Don’t go.”

I listened closer to my voice. It was most definitely different, not only in volume but the way it sounded. Even when I stuttered it wasn’t that loud or excitable, but rather an obvious shy and reserved tone, even when I was with my special somepony. My thoughts drifted as the scene continued.

“Maybe you’d like to try?” the unicorn asked, having a certain glimmer in his eye. I felt my throat gulp at the idea of his magic being used on me but this wasn’t the first time that he has suggested it.

“I-I-I don’t know. It sounds way too weird for me. I really like you like this though.” So why was I acting like this was the first time? My voice became clearer as I thought more on where I had heard it before.

“Are you sure? I’ve done it with her plenty of times in the past.” Her? Who’s her? I thought he was my one and only special somepony? What’s going on here?

“Oh, I think this will work out just fine.” I said, using my wings to fly over to the unicorn half shrouded in the darkness. I moved my hoof to his muzzle, lifting his chin up only to see that the golden-yellow coat was replaced with a strangely familiar cyan color. That’s where I had heard the voice before! It was...

Before I could take control of the scene in question, my lips that I had just discovered were not my own had kissed him, locking the two ponies in a passionate embrace. As I closed my eyes to continue the scene, beyond my control, I screamed as I was pushed back into reality.

---

Waking up in a new darkness of my Los Pegasus apartment, I could feel the sweat coming down from my forehead. All I could think about was that mare and him. And how it wasn’t me. My hoof instinctively went for the telephone on the nightstand of the bed, except as I picked up the receiver, I remembered that there wasn’t a phone in my cottage. I sighed and hung up the phone before lying back in bed, looking up to the ceiling. It had felt so real and yet, the warmth of being near him was taken away so quickly.

I looked out of the window to see the Applewood sign still lit up in the night on the mountain. Unable to get back to sleep, I got up from the covers and walked over to the desk, turning on the light. There were a few opened envelopes on the table, each with their respective letter that had arrived earlier in the week. Sitting down at the desk, I pulled the closest one and began to read it under the light.

“To my dear friend Fluttershy,

I do hope that Los Pegasus is treating you well, darling. I have but the utmost support in your business and you can always count on Carousel Boutique to help out an entrepreneur pony with her business, especially with uniforms and the like!

Your animals are doing fine according to Spike, although all of them are still sleeping for winter. Spring is right around the corner so I’ll be sure to tell Spikey-Wikey to check more regularly for you and make sure that they’re all fed and taken care of. Opalescence has been quite of an issue around the shop lately though. She keeps sniffing Spike’s scales and then scratching him with her claws and scowling and I haven’t the slightest clue why! Oh well, I’m sure it’s probably some new cologne that he has own from Canterlot or something.

Also, I asked Spike to look into that ‘special somepony’ of yours in your cottage but he says that there’s not a single picture or anything of him in there at all. It’s nice to have your fantasy, darling, but you must actually try to find somepony before all the good ones are taken! You don’t want to have to settle one of Applejack’s many relatives, do you?

Anyways, best wishes with your café, darling. Everypony is cheering you on back here in Ponyville and you must invite us all down for the grand opening!

Your fabulous friend, always,

Lady Rarity”

Reading the well-crafted and perfume-scented letter out loud made me feel a bit better, knowing that Rarity really wants me to succeed at this. With such elegant stationary and the way she uses her quill to write out her script, it makes every letter she sends look like a fancy invitation to a Canterlot party. Holding the lavender scented letter close to my chest, I put it back down on the table and picked up the second letter, written on bright pink paper with what looked to be a very dark blue crayon in a much more messy script.

“HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

Fluttershy! You didn’t tell me that you had left to Los Pegasus! I had to find out from Rarity when I ambushed her on her way to the spa when I noticed that you weren’t with her! Oh my gosh! Are you trying to become a Wonderbolt just like Dashie? Please don’t forget about us! I miss having you around to play party games when everypony else is busy! Dashie is still working as her pega-pony self so things have been really boring here in Sugarcube Corner! Do you know how hard it is to teach a foal how to hold a controller for a racing game? All they want to do is suck on the buttons! Eww! Unicorn slobber! I miss you! Please come back soon so we can have fun! Or I can go over there! Where is Los Pegasus?! Do I need a tomato to get there? Can I go by train? Are the trains running still? Can Twilight fly me there? Oh wait, Twilight doesn’t have wings! Oh my gosh, I’m running out of room on the paper! Talk to later, Fluttershy!

(Pinkie Pie)”

I had to smile at Pinkie’s letter, especially since she spent so much time writing on it, all she could do to sign it was draw a pony with a poofy mane in the bottom right corner. Even if she didn’t make a whole lot of sense at times, I still knew that she cared about me and I did enjoy having the time off to play some games with her. Not to say that anypony else that didn’t send me a letter didn’t. I’m sure Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are busy with something else is all.

My thoughts drifted back to the dream and all that time mending my heart seemed to break away again. I tried to think back to a good morning with him, waking up to him making pancakes in the cottage with the sweet smell of syrup in the air. A comforting thought only to be popped away as the familiar blue mare started being served the delicious pancakes instead of me.

The impulse to grab the quill on the table and start writing out every bad thing that I could think of him came quickly as my hoof already went through the motion. But right before the ink touched the paper, I stopped myself. I was getting worked up over a dream. Something that I don’t even know was real or not. But my heart ached all the same as a chilling wind blew through the lonely apartment, with nopony but myself around. Seeing the quill in my hoof, I figured I would at least write something.

“To my special somepony,

I haven’t received your letter yet but then again I don’t know if you even got it in the mail or not. I sent it to the cottage, but I don’t know if you have even gone lately. I have gotten letters from Rarity and Pinkie Pie but nopony else. Things haven’t exactly been going well over here. Everypony has been asking so much of me that I really haven’t had any time to myself. I miss my friends. I miss my critter friends. But most importantly, I miss you so much and I want to go home soon...

Yours always and forever,

FlutterChai”

I wanted to write more but getting that out on paper was enough to settle my thoughts enough for the time of reality to catch up to me. After a quick yawn, I sealed up the letter written on some stationary that I found and made sure that the mailmare could see it in the morning. Crawling back under the covers, I still felt cold and alone compared to my nights back in the cottage but at least I knew my friends are supporting me through all of this. As I drifted back to sleep, my thoughts went back to the days in Ponyville where this dream began.
> Chapter 4: The Makings of a Tea Pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was a sunny afternoon, even with the snow packed on the ground. Rarity and I had just left the Spa down the road from Carousel Boutique when after picking some water out of my ears from one of many bath soaks available, she put her hoof in front of me, pointing to something of in the distance.

“Darling, do you see that?” Rarity asked, pointing over at a window on a building with a blue roof and a giant blueberry on the very top. The sign didn’t say anything but was instead a picture of a plain Earth Pony holding up a sign that had a picture of a few Bits on it. “It looks like that place is hiring!”

“Hiring what?” I asked, not really matched to the excitement of my unicorn friend. Rarity roller her eyes and pulled me over closer as she explained, continuing to point at the building with the blue roof.

“They need ponies to work there!” she continued to explain as a light-green unicorn pony walked out, holding a small paper cup in her magical aura as she sipped the drink through the straw. “Have you given any thought to where you wanted to work after I told you to start looking?”

“Well, I looked into the veterinarian but she said that she had everything taken care of and didn’t need to have anypony’s help.” I replied, kicking my hoof in the dirt despite getting them freshly cut and cleaned. “And the hospital is fully staffed too, along with the flower shop, and the Apples’ apple stand, and Sugarcube Corner...”

Having heard enough, Rarity decided to take the situation into her hooves and push me towards the front door of the building. “I have to go finish an order but I want you, Fluttershy, to go in there and ask if you can work here. It would do wonders for your profile, darling.”

Before I had a chance to protest, Rarity was on her way back to the Carousel Boutique. “But what would I do here?” I asked aloud, only for her to be too far away from me to hear me at the time. Taking a deep breath, I turned back to the front of the store with the blue roof, looking at the sign. It was a unicorn pony serving a milkshake on top of a black vinyl record with her hoof. A milkshake parlor? Or a music store that had a unique theme to it? Closing my eyes as I took another deep breath, I walked into the shop as the little bell that stood on the top of the door rang gently to signal my entrance.

“Hello there!” a white unicorn greeted me from behind the large counter, wearing a blue visor over her eyes along with a match apron around her. A messy blue mane with dark highlights flowed over the picture on the hat, which I couldn’t see. My first instinct was to fly away as fast as possible and forget this whole thing, but I remembered what Rarity had told me. You need to get a job, darling. 

I slowly walked up to the counter and looked up at the menu which had a humongous selection of foods and drinks. Daffodil sandwiches, fresh garden salads, small carrot cakes, refreshing milkshakes, freshly brewed coffee, the list went on and on. But what really caught my eye was something on the last part of the menu.

“What can I get for you?” the pony behind the counter asked cheerfully, using her magic to clean out the inside of a milkshake glass.

“Umm,” I stuttered, trying to remember why I came into this café in the first place. Still, my stomach growled at the fact that I hadn’t had lunch today. “How about your vanilla chai latte?”

The mare smiled at my order, “We don’t usually see most ponies order that. Most go straight to the coffee or something similar.”

“Oh, well, I don’t like coffee all that much.” I said, unsure if I was actually contributing to the conversation. “I much rather prefer tea, to be honest.”

“Rock on, filly.” she said, nodding as she used her magic to check something off of the small styrofoam cup. “Can I get your name for the order?”

“Uhh, Fluttershy,” I said softly, trailing off at the end of my name. The mare looked over at me as I said my name and my ears drooped at her stare.

“I’m sorry if I didn’t hear you right, these ears have handled some pretty hard bass tracks.  Did you say your name was Flutter-chai?” she asked, only having written the first half of my name on the cup. I squeaked out a yes, just wanting this conversation to end because I’ve obviously made a complete fool of myself.

“Now I get your order.” she continued, starting to make the delicious tea latte I asked for. “No wonder you like tea so much if you’re a tea pony.”

“What?” I asked, slightly frazzled that she was still even speaking to me. “A tea pony? I thought I was a pegasus.” She laughed as I opened my wings to make sure that they were still on my back, but it was more of her laughing at my joke than laughing at me.

“Nah, I meant you’re a pony that really likes tea.” she explained, using her magic to stir the drink behind the counter. “‘Course, you don’t have a tea cutie mark or anything but I’m sure with a name like Flutterchai, you have a great sense of tea making beats in your soul.”

Aside from her metaphor that I didn’t quite get, I understood what she meant as the drink was finally done. The mare slid the cup across the pickup side of the counter. “Here you go, one vanilla chai latte, Flutterchai.”

Using my wings to lightly hover over the counter, I took a sip of the hot latte at the counter. The texture was definitely there with the distinct blends of spices signature to any chai tea, but the vanilla and milk seemed to overpower the base tea, even more so with the added brown sugar to make it almost as sweet as one of those silly coffee drinks that everypony drinks over in Canterlot.

“What do you think of the drink, Chai?” the pony asked from behind the counter, still washing the milkshake glasses. I swallowed my sip, feeling the warm goodness slip down my throat, warming me up from the cold outside. It was a good effort but at the same time, I felt that I had to say something.

“It’s not a... proper... chai latte.” I said, surprisingly confident if I do say so myself. “The tea is spot on, obviously done by a proper blend of spices in the mixing from the kettle, but the addition of the vanilla extract and milk wash out any distinct flavor of the tea, leaving you with a warm cup of brown sugar water.”

The mare looked blankly at me after my explanation, which only after I said did I begin to analyze exactly how bad I had managed to insult her performance in making the drink and subsequently the café that she worked out, which is the same café that I was supposed to try to get a job at. I looked around and noticed that everypony was too busy with their own conversations as they enjoyed the food from the shop and nopony was waiting in line at the counter.

“Well, I didn’t know I was catering to a Canterlot critic.” she said, laughing the criticism off. “I told you that not many ponies ask for that drink around Ponyville, didn’t I?”

I immediately set the drink down and bowed in front of the counter. “Oh, please forgive me for saying all of those nasty things about your latte! I’m so sorry!”

“No worries, filly.” she said, taking a very laid-back approach to everything. “Maybe if I got another pony to help around back here, I could improve on how I make the drinks and everything.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Really, I am!” I continued, not hearing a word that the mare said. “Ooh, I knew I shouldn't have said those things. Now you’ll never hire me in your café!”

“Whoa whoa whoa! Hold it!” she shouted, putting an end to my constant apologizing. “Did I just hear that you wanna work here?”

“Umm, yeah, that is if you don’t mind working with someone that insulted the way that you made your drink.” I answered, looking up at her.

“Like I said, it’s not a big deal, Chai. I mean, if you want to accept a job from a pony that royally scratched your favorite vinyl, so to speak.” the mare offered, shrugging the whole incident off. I wasn't sure what she had said exactly, but I kicked up my wings as my spirits were lifted.

“Really? You mean it?” I asked happily, hovering over the counter and the unicorn mare behind the counter.

“Sure thing. Take that ‘Help Wanted’ sign with you on the way out and I’ll see you here tomorrow morning.” She said, holding out a hoof to shake to seal the deal. I returned in kind, still smiling at how this day had turned out.

“Thank you so much! I won’t let you down!” I said with the utmost confidence as I grabbed the sign in the window and flew out the door, feeling a brisk winter chill under my wings as I headed towards my cottage. This was only the beginning of realizing something that was missing in my life. A goal to look forward to and to work hard at so that I don’t simply lie around and watch the day go by. Even while I was flying through the clouds as everypony looked on, I didn't have a care in the world. Because I knew that I was going to make a small step towards my goal. From now on, I was Flutterchai, the tea pony, and I was going to share my talent with all of Equestria, starting one teacup at a time. Heehee!
> Chapter 5: Under Re-Construction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Hello! Is anypony home?”

I heard a loud tapping at the window of the apartment, stirring me from a peaceful night of sleep. Pushing away the pillow that I was hugging throughout my sleep, I yawned and got up to see what was making the noise outside. Through a groggy stare, I saw a grey pegasus pony with a messy blonde mane at the window, wearing the traditional mailmare’s cap. As soon as I opened the window, the mare dug into her bag for whatever she was delivering.

“I brought you a letter!” she announced happily, holding out the envelope as the rest of the mail accidently spilled down the side of the building onto the ponies and street below. “Uh oh.”

The mare quickly swooped down, hoping to catch the rest of her deliveries as I looked at the plain postmarked envelope from Ponyville. Could it be a letter from my special somepony? My heart raced at the idea, quickly opening the envelope to read what was inside.

“Dear Fluttershy,

It has come to our attention that your cottage has been used for excessive partying and loud music in the late hours of the night. These accounts include reckless behavior, loud animal noises and indecent mating practices on the public roads of Ponyville late at night. When we tried to contact the residence, nopony was home. We are forwarding this message from a Pinkamena Diane Pie who was present at the residence the morning after with a lampshade over her head and bits of candy in her mane. Please do note that the conditions of your residence in Ponyville do not allow rambunctious behavior outside of the limits listed into your housing contract. Thank you for your future cooperation.

Sincerely,

Charming Waltz

Canterlot Ambassador for Pony Reactions and Practices.

P.S. All of your tea has been confiscated for analysis.”

I read the letter out loud, not quite understanding what it had meant other than it wasn’t from anypony I knew, but rather some stuck-up unicorn from Canterlot explaining something that I knew nothing about. Sighing, I shoved the letter into a cabinet of the of the desk and rested my head on the cold, wooden surface. Looking outside to the sunny day in Los Pegasus, the pegasi were flying around in the uptown clouds busy with their day while the other ponies walked on the paved streets below my apartment window. Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door.

I sat back up, turning around to look at the door just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Not a moment later, the knocks returned to confirm that there was actually somepony at the door. My mind moved to the thought of who could possibly be at the door since I didn’t know anypony in this city. The knocks continued, becoming louder and harder as I walked over to it.

After unlocking the several locks on the door installed by the landlord, I swung the door open to find the one and only cyan pegasus striking a pose with her flowing rainbow mane.

“Rainbow Dash?!” I asked aloud, shocked to see the pegasus standing outside the door.

“Hey there, Fluttershy!” she replied before walking into the room. Unable to control myself, I had to give a hug to the first pony I’ve seen in weeks that wasn’t yelling for me to make a decision or telling me to get out of the way during construction or something. Rainbow Dash sort of hugged back, having that look on her face that I might have popped her personal space bubble.

“Yeah, well, somepony told me that you were down in the dumps up here so I figured I’d fly by and help cheer you up.” she said, walking around the still mostly barren apartment. “This place could use a bit of color, that’s for sure!”

“Oh, Rainbow, you didn’t have to do that.” I said softly, closing the door behind me. Rainbow Dash turned around with a short smile on her face.

“Hey, I never leave a friend hanging. And LP is totally not that far from Ponyville. With Spring here and everything, the weather is fine on it’s own with the rest of the team so they don’t need my talents to take care of it.” she said, flying over before I got a chance to breath to wrap her wing around me.

“Really? Thanks Rainbow Dash!” I smiled at my close friend, really glad that she was here since things were starting to get a little hectic with the shop so close to opening and there was still so much to do.

“No problem!” she said, flopping on the messy bed, looking up to the ceiling. “So, what do you want to do, Fluttershy?”

“Umm, I don’t know. I haven’t really been anywhere else except for the work site and this apartment to be honest.” I answered, hiding behind my mane in response. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes before jumping up on the bed.

“You really need to go out more, Fluttershy!” she ordered, holding her hoof out to point at the open window. “You know how you don’t like to cage your birds because they feel trapped and stuff?”

“Oh yes! The redjays really don’t like being cooped up in some cage when I can let them fly around my cottage!” I said happily, thinking of the chirping little birds back at home. “As long as they don’t get lost in the Everfree Forest of course.”

“Well then!” Rainbow Dash announced, picking me up as I looked out to the Los Pegasus skyline with the Applewood sign in the background on the mountain range. “You need to be one of those redjays! You need to not be caged but fly free and without borders!”

“But, the redjays-” I began, finding a hole in what Rainbow Dash was saying.

“Don’t question this Fluttershy! Tonight, you will be a fearless bird! Ready to explore and have an adventure!” she persisted, holding my face in her hooves as she stared me down with the commands. Her cerise eyes seemed to be almost hypnotic with what she was saying and deep down, I felt a small little redjay come out of her nest, ready to see the world.

“Okay Rainbow Dash, let’s do it!”





The first stop on my new-found sense of adventure was obviously to check on the work site for the café. Rainbow Dash sighed along the way, but she was at least happy to see me out of the apartment and on the busy Los Pegasus streets. The café was being built only a few blocks from a famous pony film theater, known for having many celebrity ponies come through and enjoy the hoity-toity shops while stopping to give an autograph. Even with my short-lived background of being a fashion model would have a young mare at my hooves, wanting me to sign a copy of their fashion magazine. Rainbow Dash held a bit of jealousy as she tried to get somepony to ask her for an autograph, only for her to be relatively unknown outside of Ponyville.

“Yeah, well, these fancy-pants west coast ponies wouldn’t know true talent if it whipped her tail on their flanks!” she complained loudly as I giggled at her being ignored by another passing stallion.

“Heehee! Don’t worry too much about them, Rainbow Dash.” I said, trying to keep from giggling anymore. Soon we found ourselves in front of the construction site of the café as the worker ponies stopped what they were doing to oggle the rainbow-maned mare.

“Yowza! I have never seen such smokin’ hot mare with those colors!” one of the workers said, lifting his construction hat to get a better look.

“Sure you have, Harry!” a deep voiced white stallion added on the same level, hammering away at one of the beams. “Remember that mare that Tom brought to your birthday one year?”

“That don’t count, Dick!” Harry shot back, holding out his hooves towards Rainbow’s general direction. “Her mane had two colors and it looked like a two-bit color job that my mother could do!”

“Don’t you talk about Roxanne like that, you lunk-head!” Tom shouted, throwing a screwdriver at the brown pegasus, only for Harry to catch it in the nick of time.

“Say, are you two still together?” Dick asked, using his magic to pull a drill out of his tool kit.

The silver pony glare at the white unicorn, “Shut it, Dick.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at attention, following me into the job site as I tried to find the lead construction pony. “This isn’t any better. I wanted to be treated like a hero! Not googly-eyed by a bunch of brainless stallions.”

I held my laughter, thinking back to the colts that Rainbow Dash would beat in races back in Flight School who were surprisingly similar to the working ponies. After a bit of weaving through the construction, I found the pony in charge of the work site.

“Oh Mis-” I began, flying over to the creme-colored pony as soon as I heard a snap from overhead. Looking up, a pile of bricks began to fall from the snapped rope, ready to crush me like a bug. Rainbow Dash looked over and noticed the danger, quickly flying over to pull me out as the ton of bricks crashed into the ground beside me.

“Nice going, ya klutzy pony!” Tom shouted at the brown pegasus, responsible for putting too many bricks on the platform. Harry shot back something obscene, causing the two of them to get in a fight on the rafters above.

“Whoa there, wouldn’t want our next Los Pegasus star to get crushed now, would we?” the lead pony said, putting a yellow construction cap on my head like I was a filly. “Thank you miss for saving Chai here.”

“Heh, no sweat!” Rainbow Dash replied, looking over to the two ponies. “Wait a second, what did you call Fluttershy?”

“Umm, Rainbow, can I talk to you for a moment?” I said, pulling the pegasus aside as the lead pony told the workers to take a break.

“What’s this Chai business? You ditch your name or something?” she asked in rapid-fire succession. I took a deep breath, looking for the right words to explain this.

“No, it’s just... Remember what you were saying about the redjay and wanting to her spread her wings and everything?” Rainbow Dash nodded, looking back to the group of ponies in the construction caps.

“Well, when I’m Flutterchai, I feel more like that bird than when I’m boring ol’ Fluttershy.” I explained, knowing how crazy this must sound to one of my best friends.

“Oh, so like... calling yourself Daring Do whenever you’re flying through the Everfree Forest in a race with your pet?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to think of an acceptable example.

“Yeah, something like that.” I giggled, walking her and I back to the group.

“Yo Chai! I didn’t know you had such a gorgeous mare for a friend!” Harry said, fanning his wings in a display for the cyan pegasus. Rainbow rolled her eyes at the performance, whipping her tail behind her in boredom.

“Maybe if you spent more time paying attention to how many bricks you put on something instead of fantasizing about every mare that walks by.” Tom said sharply, being on the receiving end of the pegasus’ tongue sticking out of his mouth.

“Don’t you talk to me about numbers and such! There’s a reason I dropped out of Flight School!” he shot back, ready to get into another fight. Dick held out his hooves between the two ponies, keeping them apart from each other.

“The ponies we work with, right Chai? Oh, where are my manners. Cindy Starling, of Cindy’s Construction Company.” the lead pony said, taking off her construction cap to show off her long flowing red mane, much to the whistles of the crew.

“Rainbow Dash,” she introduced herself, “Totally awesome pegasus.”

“I’ll hoofbump to that!” Harry continued, holding out his hoof in front of him only for nopony to take him up on the offer.

“So, how are things going, Cindy?” I asked as the rest of the ponies focused their attention on Rainbow Dash.

“Back to work, boys!” Cindy ordered over my head, much to the frustration of the worker ponies. “If we keep up this schedule, it should only be a week or two more before the shop is ready for business. I apologize if my associates have been a little rough on you during my absence.”

“Oh no, they weren’t that bad.” I tried to block out the images of being pushed and yelled at when the site was first being set up. Even the group of worker ponies were being moody to me as the owner of the shop being built.

“It’s just, we’re absolutely thrilled that you would choose to build this café in downtown Los Pegasus. With your connections to the famous entrepreneur Vinyl Scratch, we are very confident that this shop will be a success. You will be looking over the staff here when the shop is finished, right?”

“Well,” I began, stuttering on my words that I would be moving back to Ponyville soon after the shop was done and ready. “I will be sure to have the shop in great hooves after it’s built.”

“Excellent!” Cindy exclaimed, putting her construction cap back on her head. “Don’t be afraid to come by! I promise that you won’t almost get crushed again.”

“Will do, Miss Starling!” I said, walking on out as Rainbow Dash sighed heavily at the front of the shop, ready to get as far away from here as possible. It seems the worker ponies were more or less pretending to work while still watching the rainbow-maned mare from their perch on the construction site.

“I thought I told you boys to get moving! Come on, we only have three days to have this place ready for staff and furnishing!” Cindy shouted, catching the attention of the worker ponies as they actually started to work on building the shop.

“Finally!” Rainbow Dash said aloud, starting a brisk walk on the street away from the construction site. “I thought we would never get out of there.”

“I thought you wanted attention, Rainbow Dash?” I giggled, having a skip in my step at the thought of the shop being open in only a few days. I couldn’t wait to train the ponies on the staff to make the tea and other drinks just right for everypony.

“Yeah, but not that kind of attention.” She commented, looking out to the street as a group of mares chased down a famous stallion relentlessly. I couldn’t help but to giggle again at the comment. “Alright, well, we’ve seen your shop, now it’s my turn to take you someplace!”

I felt my heart hit the bottom of my stomach at the thought of being under Rainbow Dash’s mercy when it came to going out for a night on the town. As the sun slowly set behind the Applewood sign in the background, Rainbow Dash took my hoof and led me on the way to the nightlife of the pegasi in the clouds above the streets.
> Chapter 6: A Stallion of the Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Once the sun had finally set, the clubs and halls in the uptown part of Los Pegasus came to life, with everypony flying around in their best outfits. Being lead by the hoof by Rainbow Dash to the first club of the night wasn’t exactly the best way to be seen though. Still, I tried to hold on to that confidence that maybe a bit of adventure would be good for me. Or at least I couldn’t disappoint Rainbow Dash in her attempts to try to help me.

Before I could even read the name listed on the front of the building, she had dragged me past the bouncer pony at the front door and into the dark and loud interior of the club. The music reminded me of what Vinyl would play late at night on Fridays at her café, but it was also so loud that I couldn’t tell what the song was saying, if it had any words in the first place. In fact, I could barely hear myself thinking in the room with the occasional flashing colorful lights of the dance floor next to the center stage of the DJ pony, wearing a pair of oversized headphones.

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted, trying to get her voice over the music. “You okay there, Fluttershy?”

I nodded in response, certain that I could never raise my voice loud enough to get over the deep bass beats coming from the dance floor. She looked at me with a hard stare as I smiled weakly, still trying to even think with all the music and flashing lights around me. As I watched the ponies on the floor, dancing their hearts out to the music, I suddenly felt pulled away by my hoof, courtesy of Rainbow Dash dragging me away to some other place again.

We found a booth that was away from the dance floor, so the music wasn’t too loud and the lights weren’t blinding and giving off a bunch of different colors. The room was still dark, with a small light in the center of the table, just bright enough to give a shadow to Rainbow’s face.

“Look,” she began, brushing her rainbow-mane out of her face. “I’m sorry if that was a little too much for you. I know how much you like your safe and quiet places.”

“Oh no, that’s alright.” I said, surprised that I could hear my voice over the dull roar of the music from the dance floor. “At least I can hear myself think over here.”

Rainbow laughed at the comment, holding her hoof up to signal a pegasus in a sharp-dressed suit, holding an empty tray in his hoof. I looked at the pony and felt a deep hole fall in my stomach, noticing his red bow-tie around his neck.

“Good evening, ladies.” He greeted with a smile, “What is it that I can get for you tonight?”

Rainbow had ordered some long-and-complicated drink that had a lot of things that I had never heard before, but the waiter seemed to have known what she was talking about as he periodically nodded during the drink order. She then turned to me, asking what I wanted to drink. As much as I could go for some nice sweet raspberry tea right now, I figured a place like this wouldn’t have anything that’s warm and not served with a little umbrella in a tall glass. I simply shrugged as she ordered me a Rose Bird, with the addition to ‘hold the feathers.’ The waiter nodded as he flew off to the kitchen to fulfill the bird, leaving me to slump down on the table of the booth.

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, resting a hoof on mine. “What’s wrong?”

I sighed and turned away from her, looking out to the happy ponies on the dance floor. “It’s something stupid. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing is stupid if it’s bringing down one of my best friends. Come on, you can tell me anything Fluttershy.” she continued, leaning in closer. Defeated, I sat back up and looked at her as I debated whether or not it was worth it to tell her what was on my mind.

“Have you ever had a special somepony, Rainbow Dash?”

She looked at me with a blank expression, blinking slowly. I quickly turned away from looking at her, knowing now that was a stupid question to ask. Breaking out of the initial reaction from the question, she turned me back around.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. Why do you ask, Fluttershy?”

“It’s just,” I began, taking a long sigh as I tried to form my thoughts together. “When you love somepony, you have to know that they trust you and they wouldn’t do anything to harm you, right?”

“Yeah. Totally. ‘Course, I’ve never been one to fall for that lovey-dovey stuff. But if I did, I’d be as loyal to that somepony as I would to all my friends.” she replied, trying to regain her cool pony attitude towards the subject. I giggled a bit at what she said about being loyal, since there’s really no other pony as loyal as Rainbow Dash.

“Then, why do I feel like he doesn’t care about me and with how long I’ve been gone, who’s to say he hasn’t moved on to somepony else?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow shouted, her eyes wide at the realization behind my words. “You have a special somepony?”

I nodded in response, unable to say anything else. She smiled and then lightly punched me in the shoulder, causing me to squeak out an ‘eep’ at the sudden action.

“Good for you, Fluttershy!” she added as I tried to rub my shoulder without her knowing. “You haven’t had somepony since Flight School, right?”

“I had somepony in Flight School?” I repeated, the memories of those days mostly filled with me hiding in my room and not talking to anypony other than Rainbow Dash. She thought back to what she had said before shrugging it off.

“Maybe I was thinking of somepony else.” she answered as the waiter flew back with our drinks. He put down a tall glass in front of her with about seven different layers of colors inside of it that looked like the rainbow in her mane, which she promptly started drinking from the skinny blue straw in the glass. On my side of the table, he put down a slightly smaller glass with a light-pink color drink inside with a yellow umbrella sticking out of it.

“Enjoy your drinks, ladies.” he said sweetly before flying off to another table. I couldn’t help to think about that red bow-tie around his neck with his black and white suit, getting another hole in my chest. Taking a break from her drink, Rainbow looked up to notice my discomfort.

“Well, go on Fluttershy. Try it!” she suggested, waving her hoof at me. “It’s a bit sweet for my taste, but I think you would like it.”

I looked into the small glass, feeling the popping bubbles rising to the surface as they tickled my face. Taking out the little umbrella, I took a small sip of the drink to get a good taste of the flavors. It was very sweet with a very citrusy blend of tropical fruits, mixed with the fizz of the bubbly drink. All in all, I took another sip as Rainbow kicked back in her seat, sipping on her drink as well.

“So tell me about this special somepony of yours, Fluttershy.” she asked casually, enjoying the blend of flavors in her own glass as they mixed together with her swishing her straw around. I froze, setting down what was left of my drink before I accidently spilled it.

“Well,” I stuttered, unsure of how to begin.

“Does Rarity know him? Or maybe Twilight?”

“Twilight does,” I said softly, taking another sip of the sweet drink.

“She does, does she?” she repeated, holding a hoof to her chin as she thought. “So if it’s somepony that you and Twilight know... Wait, don’t tell me you’re dating one of those fru-fru princes you met in the Canterlot gardens.”

“Oh no, he’s not a pony like that!” I answered, thinking back to what I had just said.

“That’s a relief. I’ll tell ya, Fluttershy, the pony that is best for you is probably right here!”

Rainbow held out her hoof in front of booth, showing off all of the pegasi that were laughing and talking and dancing in the club. I thought back to my special somepony for a second, still remembering that red bow-tie of the waiter and slipped down in my seat.

“What are you doing now?” she asked, pulling me back up in my seat. “Come on, a pegasus pony like yourself has to have a free spirit by her side, not some stuck-up unicorn!”

“Yes, but-”

“What? Is he a unicorn?” Rainbow persisted, looking right at me as she kept asking her questions.

“Well-”

“How could you fall in love with a unicorn? I thought you loved flying and nature and stuff?”

“I do like-”

“I mean, a unicorn is only going to take you to those silly parties and want to sit at home and read and have tea and-” she continued, not really paying attention to what I was saying.

“I like-”

“Face it, Fluttershy, if he can’t join you in a place like this, then he’s not worth the trouble!”

Rainbow Dash’s word rang in my ears as I finished off the rest of the drink. I kept myself from slumping in my seat if only to make it that she didn’t pull me back up like last time. With a long sigh, I looked out to the dance floor with the pegasi having fun and laughing. I let my thoughts drift back to my special somepony, but every time I thought of him, I felt that same hole in my chest again, wishing that he was here.

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow began, holding her hoof on my shoulder. “I shouldn’t have said all that. I’m really happy for you that you found somepony.”

I didn’t want to reply. I just kept thinking back to him. It’s been so long that my dreams have all but forgotten him. Only the mirage of that feeling that I had when he held me remained. I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to be without him anymore.

Rainbow took the hint and kept to herself, feeling bad that this night had turned out worse than she thought. As she sipped on her drink, she surprisingly was invited to dance by a handsome red stallion, leaving me alone in the booth. I closed my eyes as I laid my head on the table, seeing nothing but the shadow of my own special somepony slowly start to fade away.

“Hey,”

I wish I could hear him, just one last time before he’s gone forever.

“Hello?”

What am I doing here? Rainbow Dash can have plenty of fun without me.

“Oh, okay then.”

I opened my eyes to see a pony walking away from the table, hanging his head down. “Huh? Hey! Wait!”

The brown stallion turned around, looking back at me with a smile. His eyes were soft, almost familiar, as his dark green mane covered his forehead. As he walked back to the table, I quickly brushed my mane back and picked up the empty glass that I accidently knocked over on the table.

“Hey, you’re Blaze’s daughter, right?” the stallion asked. I thought back to my father, who I just recently got back in touch with. He was a famous retired member of the Wonderbolts, long before Rainbow Dash’s time, so I would imagine that some ponies would remember him for his heroic stunts.

I nodded, not really willing to say anything else to him as I looked into his deep, dark-green eyes. He smiled at the answer, even if it was just a small nod.

“Yeah, my Dad always told me that his best friend had a daughter that looked just like you. Are you a great flyer like your Dad?”

Out of all of the pegasi in Ponyville, I was probably the weakest flyer in the bunch. As much as I loved to fly around my cottage and to every place, it was always something that I could never really be good at. At best, I was below average in Flight School, which lead to me going with Rainbow Dash when she got the weatherpony job. I shook my head, waiting for the stallion to walk off or do something else and leave me all alone.

“Oh, well, that’s alright. I’m nowhere near as good as a flyer as my Dad either.” he added, taking a seat next to me in the booth. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard the story. What is your name again?”

Surprised that he was still around, much less sitting next to me, my heart began to race, no longer feeling like the dark pit that it was before. “I’m...”

I paused, trying to think as the music in the background filled my thoughts. One word came to mind, as the rose-colored bird in my heart slowly took flight.

“I’m Flutterchai.” I answered, feeling fairly confident in the response.

“Nice to finally meet you, Flutterchai.” he said, holding out his hoof. “I’m... Charming Stallion.”

I couldn’t help to feel my cheeks redden from his name, seeing as it fit his appearance very well. “Nice to meet you as well, Charming.”

“Please, call me Stal.” he corrected, blushing for some reason. “So, what brings you to Los Pegasus? I thought you lived in Cloudsdale with your family?”

“Oh no!” I replied, feeling more comfortable with the brown stallion sitting next to me. “I haven’t lived in Cloudsdale in years! I’ve been in Ponyville since I finished Flight School.”

“Ponyville?” he repeated, trying to think of the town. “I don’t think I’ve ever been there.”

“It’s a really nice place with lots of friendly ponies. I have a small, little cottage there with lots of critter friends.” I explained, remembering all of the playful animals who are now awake during these early Spring days.

“You take care of animals? I see you take after your mother in that aspect.”

“You knew my Mom?” I asked, slightly surprised at exactly how much Stal knew about my family.

“She was a caring foalsitter back in the day. My Dad would always invite her over when he and Blaze went off to train for some big routine. I think I even remembering seeing you as a foal one day. Of course, you didn’t have the long, flowing mane you do now.”

I hid my smile behind my pink mane, trying my hardest not to blush at his story. “I can’t say I remember you though Stal. Everything before Ponyville is a bit of a haze.”

“Yeah from what I remember, when you were a filly you got sent off to Flight School while I got enlisted in the Wonderbolts Academy, courtesy of my father. That didn’t work out too well, so I said goodbye to home and set up shop here in Los Pegasus, living my real dream.” he explained, kicking back in his seat as he rested his hooves behind his silky, brown mane.

“What’s that?” I asked, curious to what this pony was doing here in the first place.

“I’m an instructor at a popular arts school up here, teaching mares how to dance, act and all that jazz.” Stal answered, pointing to his spotlight cutie mark on his flank.

“Wow... and that’s your talent?”

“Yep, much to the dismay of my father, but whatever.” he continued, sitting back up in his seat. “You said you live in Ponyville, but why are you here in Los Pegasus?”

“You could say I’m doing the same thing.” I began, playing with the little yellow umbrella on the table. “I’m about to start up a tea café in downtown.”

“Really? I’m sure a lot of my students would appreciate something like that. Another place to earn and spend some Bits is always nice.”

I smiled at the comment. “It’s good to hear there’s a market out here then.”

Stal looked over at me with that soft look in his eyes before noticing the time on the clock above me. “Agh, I’m really sorry to cut this short but I can’t be out all night. I have to teach a class early in the morning.”

“Oh, it’s fine!” I said as the pony pulled one of his feathers out of his wings before dipping the tip in the dark wax of the candle in the center of the table, writing something out on a napkin.

“Call me if you get chance, alright Chai?” Stal said before flying off out of the room. Rainbow noticed the flying brown pony as she came back, with the red stallion nowhere to be found.

“Who was that?” she asked, poking her nose into the napkin left on the table, with the long brown feather next to it. I picked up the napkin and read the number, left with the name Charming Stallion underneath.

“Just... an old friend.” I replied, putting the two things away. She sighed, sitting back down in the booth.

“Well I hope your night is going better than mine is.” Rainbow said, snapping her hoof to get the waiter’s attention for another drink. I giggled at the thought of the strangely charming brown stallion from my past, somewhat relieved that I had someone to call on the phone in my apartment now.
> Chapter 7: Birds of a Feather
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was only a few days after meeting Charming that the shop was finished being built and ready for staffing and furnishing. Walking down to the downtown location, I looked up at the sign that was hung on top of the light-yellow colored building where the old vacant lot used to be when I first came to Los Pegasus. It read “Chai’s Tea House” in a lovely, rose script with a picture of myself on the edge of the sign. My heart fluttered at the sign, with this dream of mine finally becoming a reality.  Finally, I was going to be somepony that made a difference to this town and maybe to all of Equestria.

“Chai! There you are!” Cindy shouted, opening the front door of the shop. I waved to the red-maned mare in the business suit, no longer bogged down with the yellow-safety-hat before following her into the brand new tea café. Everything was sparkling, being freshly built and ready to be used once we opened. The worker ponies were still adding on a few additional pieces, but I slowly made my way around to the back of the counter, admiring all of the fancy tools and everything to make the drinks and snacks.

“I’d figured you want a say in the menu, so we haven’t put that up quite yet.” she commented, pointing to the blank white board that would hang above the counter. “But, what do you think so far?”

“It’s all so wonderful!” I said happily, not being able to contain the smile on my face. “Thank you so much for this opportunity, Cindy!”

“The pleasure is all mine, Chai. I’m sure you will be very successful here in Los Pegasus.” she nodded, “You said you had plans to hire staff to help around the shop?”

“Oh yes! I want to teach them the exact way to make all the lattes and drinks and sandwiches and everything. Has anypony came by yet?” I asked, looking at my reflection in the new, shiny granite counter.

“Not yet. We’ve put out a few wanted ads in the local LP papers and there’s a sign in the window. I’m sure you’ll come across somepony looking for work soon enough.”

I nodded, looking back up at the shop with the sparkling tables, along with the nature-themed wallpaper surrounding the room. With the illusion of vines and branches climbing up the walls, I felt like I was back in my cottage in Ponyville. For once here in Los Pegasus, I felt like I was home.

“Anyways, the boys will take care of the finishing touches. It’s up to you when you want to open the shop for business, so no rush. Just be sure to invite everypony you want to the grand opening.”

“I will! Thank you again, Cindy.”

The mare smiled as she made her way out of the door. Aside from the occasional drilling and hammering off in the corner where the worker ponies were still installing things, I could almost imagine the woodpeckers and and hummingbirds flying around. Sitting in front of the empty menu with a paintbrush, I got to work on creating the menu, making sure to add all of the great recipes of tea and snacks I had from my cottage and that I had learned from Vinyl’s café.





Later on in the day, I heard the front door open as a grayish-blue pegasus trotted in while I was finishing up the menu. She had a flowing, straight light-blue mane with a stylish pink bow on top. Something about her seemed somewhat familiar but I couldn’t put my hoof on it.

“Hello?” she asked in front of the counter, looking around the room. Putting down the paint brush on the table, I eagerly flew to where she was standing, smiling.

“Hi there! How can I help you?” I greeted happily to the pegasus.

“Hello, umm, yeah. I heard about this place in the paper and I figured it could help me during the downtime of my other job.” she said, playing with her mane in her hoof.

“Well, I don’t see why it wouldn’t. What is your other job, if you don’t mind me asking?” I asked, offering the mare a seat at one of the new tables.

“Well, I am well-known interior designer here in Los Pegasus, but more in terms of cloud real estate. Although, I have to say that whatever pony you hired down here did a great job. The nature theme seems like a breath of fresh air compared to the hustle and bustle of downtown.” she answered, looking at all of the fancy decorations throughout the café

“Really? I hope every other pony thinks that as well, heehee!” I said, looking back at the pegasus.

“I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Oh! I’m Flutterchai, but you can just call me Chai for short.” I introduced. “Could I interest you in a cup of tea?”

“My name’s Flitter, which probably would have been better to say at the beginning. And I would love some, thank you.”

“See, you already passed the first test!” I said happily, flying over to behind the counter as I opened the cabinets to see the many tea varieties that were stocked in there. Naturally, I picked up the vanilla chai blend, readying the old-style kettle on the fancy, electric stove-top. Looking over, I noticed Flitter fixing her bow as she sat patiently at the table. “So, what made you want to come here for a job?”

“I guess it’s because it seemed a cool place to work, outside of the few design jobs I have. Although, it would help if I spent more time here in Los Pegasus than visiting Ponyville every now and then.”

“That’s why you look familiar!” I shouted from behind the counter, hearing the tea kettle whistle to signal the boiling water. Carefully dipping the bag of tea in the hot water, I replaced the top of the kettle and turned my attention back to Flitter. “I live in Ponyville!”

“Wait a second, what did you say your name was again?” she asked, looking hard at my face.

“Flutterchai.” I answered confidently, smiling back at the mare. Her expression faded at some sudden realization. Her mouth moved as she tried to speak, but no words managed to come out. I turned back to the kettle, which was ready to be served in the little, fancy tea cups that were stocked behind the counter for those who decided to have their drink in the shop rather than going out to their job. Pouring two cups, I flew carefully back to the table where Flitter was covering her half of her face with her light-blue mane.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I understand if you wouldn’t want to hire me.” she said somberly as I placed the cup of vanilla chai in front of her.

“What? Why wouldn’t I want to hire you?” I asked, confused at what she was saying.

“I was horrible to you during the time where we bringing the water to Cloudsdale, remember? Why would you want to hire somepony that laughed at you?” she brushed her mane back, looking into the light-brown drink in her cup. I tried to remember what she was talking about, but it only came to me as bits and pieces. I sighed, taking a sip of the tea that I had made.

“That’s in the past, Flitter. Besides, I remember the other pegasus you were hanging out with was laughing harder than you were.”

“You mean Cloudchaser? My twin sister?” she asked, playing around with the tea cup in front of her.

“You two are sisters?” I asked, starting to remember that they looked kind of similar. She nodded, taking her hooves off the table.

“Yeah, she’s busy in Cloudsdale, trying to get the head position on the weather team. I was never a very strong flyer, so I decided to stay here in LP and make a living on my own.”

I put my tea cup back down and moved my hoof closer to her, brushing my long pink mane out of my face as I smiled. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine here then.”

She smiled back, starting to smell the delicious aroma coming from the cup in front of her.

“Well, go on.” I said before sipping from my own cup. “Try it.”

Flitter carefully picked up the tea cup, blowing on it to cool it down before taking a long sip. She paused for a second before that impossible-to-resist smile slowly grew on her face.

“This is amazing!” she said, drinking more of tea. “You made this?”

I nodded and finished off my cup. “Yep and I’ll be sure to teach you the right way to make all of the great drinks we’ll serve here.”

“You mean it? I got the job?” Flitter asked, setting the tea cup back down. I smiled back as she got up from her seat and gave me a quick hug.

“Thank you so much for this, Chai.” she whispered into my ear, using my new name instead of what she knew me as before. Suddenly, the door opened as a familiar stallion trotted in.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, I’m just looking for a place to eat.” the brown stallion said coyly as Flitter and I broke away from our hug.

“Charming, we’re not open yet.” I giggled, flying up to him.

“Didn’t I tell you to call me Stal, Chai?” he corrected, surprising me in another hug. My cheeks reddened at the sudden display of affection.

“Sorry, I forgot.”  I said softly, trying to hide my face in my mane. In the corner of my eye, I saw Flitter finish her cup of tea and get up from the table.

“Thank you, again. I’ll see you tomorrow morning for training, Chai?” she asked, opening the front door as she about to leave.

“Yes. We have a lot of work to do before we open.” I answered to the new employee. She nodded back before flying off to the uptown part of Los Pegasus. Stal finally let me go from his hug and sniffed the air in the room.

“Either, you started bathing in tea or you made a sweet drink for you two to share.” he commented, sniffing a little closer to my mane. I playfully pushed his muzzle away, giggling.

“There’s some tea in the kettle if you must know.” I replied, flying back over to behind the counter.

“Ah, a sneak peek of what Chai’s Tea House has to offer.” Stal said, resting his hoof on the shiny, counter as he brushed back his dark-green mane. I carefully poured another two cups and set them in front of him.

“To following your dreams,” he toasted, holding the cup in the air. I lightly clinked my cup with his and sipped the drink. Stal did the same, with a shocked expression to the flavor that he had tasted in the drink.

“Wow! This is really good! So much better than the stuff that you can get from that coffee place!” he commented, taking another sip of the drink. I giggled at the compliment, not really sure how else to respond. “So is that pegasus that was just here your only employee or are you still looking for some more ponies?”

“I could always use some more help around here.” I said behind my tea cup as I took a sip.

“Nice, I’ll be sure to tell some of my students of the openings. The school bleeds those kids dry of Bits at the end of the day, I don’t know how some of them do it.” Stal added as he finished off the drink.

“You know, I’ve been thinking.” I began, setting my half-full cup down. “I don’t really remember a whole lot from my past, but it seems really clear to you. Why is that?”

“Well you have to remember that I’m a couple of  years older than you, Chai. That and I wasn’t exactly always around you, but more of how you were sort of around me when you were just a filly.”

“That makes sense, I guess.” I said, taking another sip of the tea.

“Say, do you want to go out sometime? I mean, later in the day when you’re not building your army of tea-making ponies.” he asked with his glimmering, dark-green eyes looking right at me. I couldn’t help to giggle at the joke, trying to think of a reasonable answer. Unfortunately, none came at the end of the laughter. “Is something wrong?”

“No!” I shouted, almost knocking over what was left of my cup of tea. “I mean, no. Nothing’s wrong. What did you have mind?”

“Well, seeing as I am a dance instructor and you look like a mare that’s light on her hooves, how about a nice, calm dance hall? Not like the place I first found you at.” Stal explained, reaching over to keep the tea cup from shaking back and forth on the plate.

“I’d like that.” I blurted out without thinking. Stal smiled at the response, backing away from the counter back on his four hooves.

“Alright, call me when you get a chance to and we’ll set something up.” he said, starting to walk towards the door. “Oh, and by the way, it’ll be a pretty fancy place so dress up in something nice.”

“I will.” I said shakily as the stallion walked out the front door to the shop, heading out to the streets of Los Pegasus. Finishing what was left of the tea in my cup, my heart raced at the idea of dancing with the charming stallion. I searched my thoughts for any reason as to why I shouldn’t have agreed to the outing, but he was just an old friend from the past. I didn’t see anything wrong with it, so why should anypony else?
> Chapter 8: You Make Me Wanna Dance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	After a long day of more baking and making drinks in the café, I returned back to my apartment with a sigh of relief, still trying to brush out all splashes of steamed milk and patches of flour from my mane during Flitter and I’s differences in our preparation of the many recipes that we have on the menu. Looking out at the sunset beyond the mountains outside my window, my eyes couldn’t help to drift to the napkin that I got from the pegasus club that one night with Rainbow Dash. She had already returned back to Ponyville a few days back, making sure to to tell everypony that I’m doing better and that I would invite them to the grand opening if they weren’t too busy. Still, that wasn’t why the napkin was important.

It was that stallion, Charming. He seemed so friendly and, well, true to his name, charming. I kept trying to think back to my early days of a filly but all I could think about was my mother and the few times that I would fly on her back in the clouds above Cloudsdale. It’s possible that Stal’s dad was good friends with my dad, seeing as he was a famous Wonderbolt known throughout all of Equestria until he retired.  At the same time, his face with those soft, dark-green eyes were not so much familiar but maybe just comforting being this far from home.

Without another thought, I quickly picked up the napkin and punched in the numbers on the phone beside my bed. 2-9-2-5-8-7-4-4-6-4.

Holding the receiver to my ear, I patiently waited for the dial tone with my back hooves tapping on the floor from being so nervous. There aren’t too many phones hooked up around Ponyville and I have never called anypony before, much less a handsome stallion.

“Hello?”

“Hi!” I said excitedly, “Umm, is there a Charming Stallion there?”

“I told you to just call me Stal, Chai.” he replied, chuckling at the formal question.

“Well, I didn’t know if you shared wherever you live with somepony or not.” I quickly explained, saying the first thing that came to mind.

“Haha! No, it’s just me up here. What’s up?”

“I was wondering...” I began, starting to twirl my mane in around my hoof like I was a cheerpony back in Flight School. “If you still wanted to go dancing tonight?”

“Tonight? Sure thing. How does 7 o’clock sound?”

“Great! I mean, yeah, seven sounds good. Pick me up in front of the Pegasi Apartments down Flower Street, okay?”

“No problem, Chai. See you then!”

After he hung up on the phone, I couldn’t help to hold the receiver against my chest, my heart filled with the excitement of going out with an old friend from the past. The more I thought about him, the more he seemed less of a memory but more of finding a whole new pony that I have never thought existed. Unfortunately, my thoughts were cut short at the sudden realization of the one thing that Stal had said back at the café.

“It’ll be a pretty fancy place, so wear something nice.”

I bolted into the closet before starting throwing out the few outfits I packed, courtesy of Rarity, trying to find something that would be perfect for the outing tonight.





Out in the calm night of the Los Pegasus’ streets with only a few carriages running about, I stood in front of the apartment building in a small jacket over the dress I had decided to pick to wear for the night. The air wasn’t that cold with the ponies shifting the weather to the more Spring-like temperatures. Still, it was just chilly enough for the wait for the brown pegasus sweeping down from the sky to seem to last forever. I looked down at the front of my hoof expecting to see a watch with the time only to remember that I didn’t ever wear a watch. Sighing at my own stupidity, the gentle ring of the clock tower from the center of Los Pegasus began, signalling that the clock had struck seven. And just like that, I felt a slight breeze of a passing pegasus, stopping in front of where I was standing.

“Chai?”

I opened my eyes to the handsome stallion, with his dark-green mane combed back away from his eyes and wearing a sharp tuxedo and bow-tie. The image seemed almost familiar but as I stepped back from the wall, all I could see was Stal’s face smiling back at me in every corner of my mind.

“You look... really nice, Charming.” I stuttered out, trying my hardest not to blush. He laughed with a hoof to his mouth.

“You’re never going to get used to calling me by Stal, are you Flutterchai?” he said joking, offering me a hoof by his side. I smiled in response, taking his hoof as we walked down the street towards downtown Los Pegasus.

“We’re not going to the clouds, tonight?” I asked softly.

“No, I figured you want something more down to Earth.” he began, wrapping a wing around my back. My face reddened almost immediately at being so close to him, trying my best to flip my mane to hide from the blushing. “You don’t mind dancing with some unicorns, do you?”

Rainbow Dash’s blunt voice popped up in my head for a minute before disappearing just as quick. “Not at all.”

I smiled back, leaning up against his shoulder as we walked down the brightly lit sidewalks towards the busy, downtown scene.





“Good evening,” the stallion at the door greeted as we made our way into the dance hall. It was as Stal had described to be, which was a much calmer place than the pegasus club that Rainbow Dash had taken me to before. The dance floor was still lively as all sort of ponies danced to the music being performed by the classical band on the stage. Occasionally, the music would switch up to some big band swing with the fast melody, but it was still a very classy place. The scene around it seemed almost magical, like it came out of a storybook.

“May I take your coat, miss?” a kind pony asked as I walked past his counter.

“Oh, of course!” I said, pulling off the jacket and placing it on top of the counter. Without the dark coat on, Stal was able to see that dress that I had picked for the night. It was an old favorite of mine that Rarity had made for me when I was beginning to model for her designs. A sleek and simple, flowing green dress with a few shiny emeralds to accent the swirls of the design. She would often say it was her most Spring-inspired design for how much it fit towards me. I often wore it with my favorite green ribbon in my mane, which made me feel that I was really my own pony other than something everypony wanted me to be.

“Here you are, miss.” the pony returned, holding a ticket that I put in the small, matching green purse around my shoulder. I quickly thanked him to find the brown stallion I came in with standing in shock, with his jaw slightly open.

“Heehee! Does this look nice, Stal?” I asked playfully, swishing the ends of the dress back and forth as I stood on my back hooves.

“You look absolutely gorgeous, Chai.” he said, starting to regain his composure. I giggled and tried not to blush at the compliment, following him to a booth at the side of the dance floor. Sliding into the seat, Stal took the opposite side with his eyes completely focused on me. I could only wonder what he was thinking, giggling at his dazed expression.

“What would you like to drink?” a unicorn asked, wearing a standard waiter uniform with a notepad and pencil in his silver aura.

“I’ll have a Rose Bird, hold the feathers,” I said, remember the delicious drink that Rainbow had ordered me before at the other club. The unicorn nodded, writing it down on the notepad.

“And for you, sir?” he asked, turning his attention to the brown stallion. Stal shook his head back and forth before acknowledging the waiter’s question.

“Let’s go with a nosedive, with some rough skies.” Stal ordered, as the unicorn wrote what he said down. He thanked us and then went back towards the bar to fulfill the drink orders. I aimlessly played with a small napkin that was on the table, watching the ponies on the dance floor as they moved gracefully back and forth in the rhythm of the music.

“Why did you ask if there was somepony at my house?” Stal asked, looking up at me. I turned away from the dance floor, looking back at him.

“Well, I figured with the time that you’ve been here and as a teacher and everything that a stallion like you might have a special somepony.” I answered honestly. Stal raised his eyebrow at the reply, a tense expression on his face.

“Do you have someone like that?” he asked. I bit my lip at the question, thinking for a second or two. But the only thing that would come to mind was that one thing that Rarity told me before I had left.

“Imaginary someponies don’t count, Fluttershy.”

Was he imaginary? How much of everything that’s happened is real? My head began to hurt as I tried to delve deeper into my past. Even the events that only happened a little while ago seem foggy, with the faint image of a pony wearing a similar tuxedo to the one that Stal was wearing right now.

“Chai?” Stal asked, trying to break me from my own thoughts. I snapped out of my head and sighed as I said my answer.

“No. I don’t have anypony. Not here anyways.”

The handsome stallion smiled, resting a hoof on the table. “I’m surprised that you said a stallion like me would already have somepony.”

“Oh well, you are charming, aren’t you?” I replied, trying not to blush. Stal chuckled at the comment.

“That’s only my name, Chai. Just like yours.” he stated with a smile as the waiter pony came back with the drinks, setting the fizzy-pink glass with the yellow umbrella in front of me and a dark-brown glass with several cubes of ice in front of Stal.

“To following your dreams?” I said, holding the glass up for a toast.

“To great friends and new opportunities,” Stal added, clinking his glass against mine before taking a sip of the drink. I took the umbrella out of the glass and sipped the drink, tasting the tropical burst of the fizzy drink.
> Chapter 9: Forgive My Mistake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“I know you’re not drinking tea over there.” Stal commented, taking another sip from his own glass. “How is it?”

“Really good!” I said, sipping through the yellow straw. He smiled and looked off towards the dance floor only for a magenta-colored mare to stop in mid-swing and run over to the table that we were sitting at.

“Mr. Stallion!” she said, panting from the quick jog from the dance floor. “I had no idea that you came here?”

“Please, Feather, we’re not in class. Call me Stal.” he corrected, shooting a look at me with a smirk. The mare giggled, flipping back her golden-yellow mane.

“Okay, Mister- I mean, Stal.” she said, looking over to me. “Oooh, who are you? I’ve never seen you around the school.”

“I’m Flutterchai.” I introduced, holding my hoof out. “And you are?”

She shook my hoof and then quickly wiped her forehead, brushing her mane out of her. “Feather Dancer, one of Stal’s many students.”

“Oh, do you know Mister Stallion here very well?” I asked, giving a smirk to the brown stallion who was trying not to blush. She giggled at the question, taking a seat next to her teacher.

“Pretty well, I would have to say,” Feather answered, leaning back in the seat. “I’ve been in a few of Stal’s classes and he’s a really good teacher. Definitely a master on the dance floor.”

“Oh stop, Dancer, you’re much too kind.” he added, trying to hide the blush from his face. She giggled at the reaction, looking back at me.

“Are you a dancer?” she asked, giving me a sly look. I sipped on my drink, thinking of how I should respond to that. Fortunately, Stal jumped on the opportunity to change the subject away from his own spotlight.

“Chai here is the lovely entrepreneur that I was talking about before class that is hiring new ponies to work at her café.” The young mare’s eyes widened at the news, staring right at me.

“Oh my gosh! You’re the one that owns that new café downtown that everypony is talking about?” she said excitedly over the table.

“Everypony?” I repeated, starting to get that anxious feeling of hundreds of ponies watching me all at once.

“Yeah, they say that it’s run by this former model that came from a midwest town that changed her name.”

“Looks like you’ve become quite a name here in Los Pegasus, eh Chai?” Stal added, finishing off his glass. I tried my hardest not to get too embarrassed or anxious at the news.

“So, you’re still looking for some ponies to work there, right?” she asked, trying to contain herself in her seat. I nodded with a smile as she made a sharp, high-pitched happy noise, much to the discomfort of the stallion sitting next to her. “Do you think I could help? I mean, I could use the extra Bits and you said yourself that you’re looking for ponies.”

“Sure! Stop on by tomorrow morning. We can find something for you to do.” I replied, smiling as the mare jumped out of her seat to hug me.

“Thank you! I promise that you won’t be disappointed! I better run!” she shouted, running out of the dance hall. Stal laughed as I giggled with him, watching the pony leave the room.

“I take it that most of your students are like that?” I asked, finishing the rest of my drink as well. He chuckled, playing with the ice in his glass.

“More than you might think. That’s more or less the company I have around the school. Mares of having a dream of making it big on the stage or winning a nationwide contest.” he answered. “See why I don’t have a special somepony like that?”

“Yeah, I can tell,” I giggled, still caught on the enthusiasm of the young mare that lingered around the booth. “She reminds me of a close friend of mine that seems to never sit down.”

“Feather always has the rhythm in her.” Stal began, thinking back to the mare’s dances in his class. “She’s probably my top student, destined to win tons of contests. It’s in her name after all.”

“And what do you say about what’s in a name?” I said slyly, moving closer to him as his face started to redden.

“Well, I don’t find myself... that... charming.” he stuttered, trying not look directly at me. I giggled and rested my hoof on his, getting his attention.

“What about my name?” I asked, looking right into his soft, dark-green eyes. The stallion blushed heavily at the question, coughing as he tried to piece together the words.

“Well, that depends. Are we talking Flutterchai or-” he began before I cut him off, flying out of the booth still holding on to his hoof.

“Enough questions, let’s dance!” I shouted happily, flapping my wings behind my sparkling green dress. The stallion sighed, brushing off the sleeves of his tux as we made our way onto the floor as a familiar song played in the background. It was slow but it built-up to something big towards the end as the beat grew bigger and bigger. The ponies had cleared the center of the floor for us as we stood up in the middle, using our wings to keep our balance.

With his hoof in mine, we twirled around the floor on the beats of the music being played by the band on the stage. I kept looking at his face, starting to remember something from the past. It wasn’t Stal, but my special somepony. Looking down at our hooves, we weren’t standing like this before but the actions felt the same. The unicorn from my dreams wasn’t all that imaginary, I’m sure of it!

As my eyes returned to reality, the dark-green mane stallion was smiling back at me as we moved gracefully in the center of the floor during the waltz being played by the band. I knew he wasn’t that unicorn, but something in me, maybe all the things that Rarity and Rainbow Dash have told me, had finally clicked. I didn’t need an imaginary pony that nopony would ever believe me. I needed someone real. And Stal was the first real pegasus to see the real Flutterchai.

The song ended with it’s final melody, leaving me pressed closed against him in his hooves. I rested my head against his chest, not wanting to let go of this dream. Not wanting to go back to being Fluttershy of Ponyville. I wanted to stay here with him. He knew me better than anypony else, maybe even better than I knew myself with my horrible memory of my past. Why would I want to go back to something without this pony in my life?

“I know for one thing,” he whispered in my ear. “You’re definitely not shy.”

I giggled, pulling away from his chest to look up at him. My heart raced as I gazed deeply in his eyes just giving a small smile. I felt his hoof move from my back to my mane as he gently brushed it back over my ear, leaning in. I closed my eyes, meeting his lips halfway as I wrapped my hooves around him on the dance floor, where everypony could see.

---

The rest of the night felt like a blur, as if I was floating above the clouds with my new special somepony. Something I could never do with the stallion from my dreams without a tricky spell to give him butterfly wings or something. Once I settle down, I found myself wrapped in the sheets of a soft, comfortable bed with two hooves wrapped around me. Trying not to move too suddenly, I noticed the familiar dark-green mane of the stallion and smiled as the moon shined outside the window of his floating house in the sky. I finally felt at ease after all the time I have spent here in Los Pegasus, with a clear mind to do as Rarity and Rainbow Dash have told me time after time: enjoy myself and have fun.

Snuggling back into the covers, a bright light shined on my face away from the window. I opened my eyes to see a flash of blue, slowly coming into focus as a computer screen resting on the desk next to the bed. As the screen continued to glow with no intention of turning off by itself, I carefully got out of Stal’s grip and stepped out of bed, yawning as I approached the screen.

Wiggling the mouse, the blue screen turned into a series of brightly colored boxes with really tiny writing. I tried to find a button to turn off the computer but something caught my eye. A white box with vibrant, pink text.

Fabulous_Fluer_de_Lis: Hello?

I blinked, trying to make sense as my eyes tried to focus on the bright screen in front of me. It was some sort of chat box.

Fabulous_Fluer_de_Lis: I was thinking about taking a vacation to Los Pegasus, perhaps we have a private dance together? ;)

What? Who was this? I thought about writing just that to the pink-haired unicorn in the small chat box but the typing would probably wake up Stal. Ignoring the strange message, I closed the window to find a picture of myself underneath the box.

FlutterChai - Female Pegasus - Current Location: Los Pegasus, Equestria.

It was the personal ad page that Rarity had made for me on EeyupLovestruck. With all of the personal touches that she had added without even asking me, even though it was my page. The mystery grew even more as I scrolled up to the home bar of the webpage.

Welcome back, Dashing_Pegasus_29.

Dashing? Why not Charming, if that’s his name. The soft snores from the stallion in question made me freeze for a second before continuing the internet pursuit. I noticed a notification on the envelope, clicking on it. A new webpage came with a series of conversations, from a lot of different mares, including the pink unicorn trying to get his attention this late at night. One thread of conversations in particular was especially concerning.

“To: FlutterChai

Subject: Hey...

I read your profile and you seem like a really kind mare. Especially the part with the tea, that’s really kind of cute. I heard you were in Los Pegasus? Maybe we could get a drink sometime?”

Scrolling down, there was a response from the account. Written by Rarity, no less, since I didn’t even have the password to my own profile on this site.

“To: Dashing_Pegasus_29

Subject: Re: Hey...

Oh! Thank you for the wonderful compliment. ^_^

I would love to have a drink with you. I’ll be at the High Flyers’ Pegasus Club this Friday with a friend of mine. You shouldn’t be able to miss her, since she has a rainbow mane and all. *giggle*

See you then, handsome!

***FlutterChai***”

I rolled my eyes at the response. Rarity had no idea how to write like me, putting in weird symbols and everything. Sighing, I scrolled down for the final message in the thread.

“To: FlutterChai

Subject: Re: Re: Hey...

Awesome. I’ll be sure to keep a lookout for you this Friday then.”

So, it was all set up? Everything that Rainbow Dash said that night. Her taking me to that club to meet Charming, or whatever this pony’s name was? It was all a trick?

I held my chest as I looked back to the sound-asleep stallion, having no idea who he really was. But I knew how I could figure it out. With one click of the mouse, I opened Stal’s profile page with his own unflattering picture on the front of it.

Dashing_Pegasus_29 - Male Pegasus - Occupation: Dance Instructor

About Me: I am a simple pegasus trying to making a living out here in Los Pegasus. My love has always been for dance and teaching young mares at the local dance academy. I hope to one day settle down with a kind pegasus in the clouds someplace off the coast of Equestria where could live happily together.

My heart couldn’t stop aching at the thought of this trick. He seemed like a really nice guy, but he didn’t know me. He didn’t know my family. I don’t even know if he lived in Cloudsdale at one point. Everything he said was a trick. A trick to make me fall in love with him.

As my eyes teared up, I picked up my purse and flew out of the room without a sound leaving my favorite dress behind. I wanted to keep flying. I wanted to fly back to Ponyville. Even if Rarity and Rainbow Dash were behind this too, they couldn’t have known that he would manipulate my feelings like this. I just kept thinking, about the way that he made me feel and it hurt the more I thought of how much that was a lie.

In the end, I couldn’t leave the city because of one stallion. I still had my café with Flitter and soon to be Feather on the team. The best I could do was fly back to my apartment and cry into my pillow until sunrise, trying my best to forget the stallion that stole my heart away.
> Chapter 10: The Grand Opening (Finale)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next few days were tough, even at working on trying to get the café up and running. Feather had shown up at the shop in the morning, to find me sobbing on the shoulder of Flitter in the middle of the shop. She didn’t say much, considering that the stallion who played with my heart was her dance teacher but she was there to lend a comforting hoof anyway. The two of them had the idea to take me on tour of the sights of the town to get my mind off him and everything. The café could wait a few more days.

We took a trip to the coast, which the closest thing to a beach was the giant lake next to Ponyville Park. Flitter had a fun time surfing while me and Feather stayed on the coast looking at starfish and crabs and other cute little sea creatures. The temperature made it seem more like it was Summer than Spring but the refreshing breeze of the sea kept us cool.

Then there was Applewood, the real home of all the stars. Everywhere you walked, there was somepony that you knew from the latest movie or maybe a well-know TV show. I surprised when some ponies considered me to be a celebrity for my work in modeling magazines, even thought that was a long time ago. Flitter, using her bright business-savvy skills made sure to advertise the future opening of our café downtown while Feather insisted that we see one of the Manehatten-original plays while we stay down here for the day or two.

Once we got back, filled with laughter and joy from what I considered a vacation in a vacation, we got back to work. Flitter soon began learning her way around the counter, being able to make two strawberry milkshakes and a sandwich in less than fifteen minutes. Feather’s speciality was on the floor of the cafe itself. With the music system that the worker ponies installed, the shop kept a constant soothing rhythm natural to it’s theme that surrounded it. As for me, well, I finally wrote down all of the teas that we would be serving after a day or two of deliveries. Some were even from my own cottage since somepony was there to be able to deliver them now. We were on the eve of opening day, a week behind the schedule that I had told everypony in advance, but the shop was finally ready.

---

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” Cindy announced from the podium that the worker ponies had put in place for the grand opening of the tea café. “Welcome to the grand opening of Los Pegasus’ soon-to-be-famous attraction: Chai’s Tea House!”

The audience stomped their hooves as they screamed and shouted in applause as the three of us sat in our chairs next to the podium. I looked out into the audience to see Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Spike in the front row, cheering me on with everypony else. As the applause died down, Cindy continued her speech.

“When I received the call from the one and only DJ Pon-3 saying that she had a hot, new taste for Los Pegasus, I thought she was going to make a new Blue Note here in LP. But meeting Flutterchai for the first time, I saw a mare of ambition. One that knew that this could potentially fall, but I am going to keep flying either way. This pegasus has to be, for starters, the best tea maker in Los Pegasus. But not only that, I think that her tastes should be experienced throughout all of Equestria. And I am proud to say that the first Chai’s Tea House is here in downtown Los Pegasus for everypony to enjoy!”

Another round of stomps and applause came from the crowd as Cindy stepped down for the cream colored unicorn to come up to the podium, wearing her signature tinted-purple shades that matched her light-blue wicked manecut.

“Yo yo, DJ Pon-3 here!” she announced, grabbing the microphone her hoof. The audience exploded in cheers at the celebrity. “Nah, but for reals, this isn’t about me. I know you all are pretty scratched about me not building a Blue Note here in LP, but I had Chai here working with me over at Ponyville and she is an amazing mare. Even if making her first sandwich took three hours, that stallion left the shop with the best sandwich he could get in Ponyville, I’m sure of it. She’s grown a long way from just looking for a winter job and I’m sure even if it’s in the middle of summer, you’ll stop by for some of Chai’s chilled teas and milkshakes to cool down with.”

The crowd applauded at the speech as Vinyl sat back down opposite of Cindy, letting Flitter to take the stage. The grayish-blue pegasus flew up to the podium, lowering the microphone back down from where Vinyl had kept it.

“Well, I know some ponies out there are clients of my interior design work and no, I did not do the job for this location. That was left to Cindy and her associates.” she began, much to the laughter from the crowd. “In case you didn’t recognize me, hello, I’m Flitter and I have the title as co-chef for Chai’s Tea House. This wonderful pegasus has taught me everything that she has learned from her master, Pon-3 of course, and I will be sure to serve up some nice snacks to go with your drinks. More on Chai, we might have had a strained history in the past but I like to think that past has brought us closer together. I’m honored to be considered the wingpony to her shop and we also grown to be great friends over these past few days. With my last seconds up here, I wish the shop the best of luck for myself and Chai and I hope all you ponies visit regularly.”

Another batch of cheers from the audience at the pegasus’ speech. Rainbow Dash made clear to roll her eyes at what my  newfound friend had said, but I’m sure she knows that she’ll always be my closest pegasus friend. With Flitter flying back to her seat, Feather got up and stood at the podium, brushing her mane out of her face.

“Hi everypony! My name is Feather Dancer and I am the main waitress for Chai’s Tea House. Here at Chai’s little shop, we want you to feel like you’re at home, resting in your favorite chair with a nice cup of tea at your hoof. Now, we can’t bring your favorite recliner to the shop but we can bring the tea to you, which is what my job is all about. Also, don’t be surprised if I start dancing around you and feel free to jump in if you feel like it!”

She giggled, much to the applause of of the crowd. From her description, I could almost imagine the scene of my cottage, with a warm fire at my hooves and a cup of chai tea to sip on.

“But what can I say about Flutterchai?” she continued, pointing to where I was sitting. “She’s a fantastic mare with a heart of gold and she deserves to be successful at following her dream. Her drinks are amazing and I honestly cannot get enough of her strawberry and cream frappuccinos! I’m sure this new café will be a huge success and I am thankfully for the opportunity to be here when it first starts up.”

With that last bit of cheers and stomps, I took a deep breath as I walked up to the podium, looking out at the crowd of ponies. Tapping the microphone, the crowd simmered down for my final speech, before the shop officially opened.

“Hello?” I asked into the microphone, hearing my voice out of the speakers behind me. “My friends should know this about me, but I am definitely not the pony to stand up here and make a speech. In fact, having all of watch me right now is a bit terrifying in it’s own right.”

With the scattered flashbulbs of reporter ponies and enthusiastic critics, I took a deep breath before continuing. “At least, I wasn’t that pony. As many of you know, my name is actually Fluttershy and my home is in Ponyville, with my friends. While working at DJ Pon-3’s Blue Note Café, if only for the winter months, I felt like my life had a goal to it. I had always thought of myself as nothing more than a kind pony with a few friends that lived in a small town. But with a little help of my friends, I realized that I was something more. I was, as I told myself, a tea pony.

My new name became Flutterchai here in Los Pegasus, but everypony recognized me as Fluttershy, the model or Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle’s friend. I wanted to make it that Flutterchai was known for something on her own. That even if I failed and that nopony loved my tea as much as my friends did, I still went out and tried my best to reach that goal. I wasn’t going to be the shy pony that my name calls me for, but rather a pegasus that knew what she wanted and went after it.

Even if times were really hard here starting out, by no fault of the kind ponies of Los Pegasus, I stuck to it. I even had a good friend that turned out to be a shining light in this dark forest that I had to try and get through. But that was a magic trick. To make me fall deeper in the brambles of the forest. And I soon realized one of Twilight’s first lessons when she came to Ponyville, as a new and strange town. That friendship, true friendship, is the one thing that anypony really needs. Which is why I’m ever-so-thankful that I met Flitter and Feather to bring me to the light at the end of the forest.”

I paused, the reporter ponies still taking scattered photos of me from the podium. Looking down, I saw a tear coming from Twilight’s eye when I mentioned the lesson I had learned from her.

“I can’t tell you anything other than I love making tea and I will always make it for anypony that asks.” I began, taking another break from the sentence for a quick breath. “Which is why I will be leaving the shop in the capable hooves of Flitter and Feather for the most part.”

The crowd exploded with shocked gasps as the reporters quickly wrote down the story, more and more pictures being taken. “My place is with my close friends back in Ponyville. I have done what I can for this shop by training my friends to be wonderful servers and chefs. I will stop by on occasion and you might be lucky enough to see me pull up an apron to make your vanilla chai latte.

But as it stands right now, I am the most homesick pony in all of Equestria. I have been waiting for weeks on end to go back to my cottage at the corner of Ponyville, to see all of my animal friends. I see that my best friends are in the crowd today cheering me on and I know that they knew I couldn’t leave them for Los Pegasus. To be honest, I couldn’t leave them for all of Equestria.”

With that last statement, a pair of white bunny ears popped up from Rainbow Dash’s mane. I leaned closer as Angel popped out from the pony, running onto the stage up to the podium.

“Angel Bunny?!” I asked outside the mic as my bunny pet crawled up from my tail to the top of my head, hugging my mane. The crowd of ponies cooed at the affection shown by the cute, little animal as I giggled.

”I guess Angel Bunny here missed me as well. Heehee!” I said into the mic as the white rabbit slid down the front of my mane. “Yes, I’ll be sure to bring home some carrot cake for you and your friends.”

With more aww’s from the audience, I knew it was just about time to wrap things up as Flitter and Feather had their hooves on the giant pair of scissors in front of the shop. “And without further delay, I present to you my crowning achievement: Chai’s Tea House!”

The ponies cut the ribbon as series of cannons shot a blast of balloons into the air, one from the one and only Pinkie Pie as well. With a final set of cheers, the crows started making their way in, eager to order a drink or snack from the new café.

---

Dear Princess Celestia,

“I got two orders of hay chips and and a daisy sandwich here!” Feather shouted, dancing her way around me and my friends to deliver the next order. I smiled as I continued writing the letter with the quill that Twilight had lent me.

I know that you’re a busy princess so that you probably couldn’t make it to hear my speech, so here’s a summary of the lessons I learned from my vacation here in Los Pegasus.

The grayish-blue pegasus quickly placed five cups, each with a different pony’s name on the side with a different drink inside as Feather slid on through to pick up up with her hoof. Going back to the register, she took the next customer’s order as she used her wings to start another warm drink.

I learned that even a shy pegasus like me can follow her dream and have it be a big success, if only for her friends.

Looking up, I saw Applejack taking a long gulp of the spice apple latte only for the whipped cream to leave a mustache on her muzzle as Twilight tried her hardest not to laugh.

I learned that even if a place seems dark and scary and strange at first, it might surprise you with some new friends that you thought you would never expect or maybe just have the inspiration to keep at your goal.

In the corner of my eyes, Pinkie Pie was drinking a takeaway coffee cup marked with quadruple everything in it. As the pink pony began to shake, I blinked once and she was gone.

I also learned that you should try to listen to your friends’ advice, even if they might push you a little hard in a direction that you might not necessarily want to go.

As Rarity gracefully sipped her cup of tea at the table, Rainbow leaned back only to get caught by Feather’s hoof, spun around in an impromptu dance number leaving her dazed in the middle of the shop as everypony giggled.

Most importantly, I learned that the right dreams can become reality. And if I’m destined to meet a handsome white stallion with a scarlet mane, then I will wait forever for that dream to become my future.





“Welcome to Chai’s Tea House, what can I get for you today?” Flitter asked at the cash register. The stallion held his hoof to his chin as he read the list of teas on the menu, his eyes wide at the massive selection of what there was to drink.

Blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, ginseng, sleepy time, green tea, green tea with lemon, green tea with lemon and honey, (griffon specialty) liver disaster, ginger with honey, ginger without honey, vanilla almond, vanilla chai, white truffle, blueberry chamomile, vanilla walnut, constant comet, & earl grey.

“I’ll have a Vanilla Chai Latte to-go” he ordered, using a scarlet aura to pull a few bits from his wallet.

“That seems to be the most popular flavor of the day.” Flitter said, writing the recipe down on the takeaway cup. “Can I get a name?”

“Just... Tux.” he stated, brushing his hoof on his pristine, white coat.

“Alright, it’ll only be a few minutes.” she announced, pulling yet another order on the counter for Feather to grab. The stallion moved out of the way of the waitress, looking out at the center table where a yellow pegasus with a long, flowing pink mane sat writing a letter.





I am thankful for my friends for letting me take this opportunity and I do hope that everypony likes my tea. Heehee!

Your faithful subject (and tea pony),

Flutterchai (or... Fluttershy)

As I rolled up the letter to give to Spike, a pony cleared their throat behind me.

“Princess Celestia?” I asked, looking behind me at the regal pony as the rest of us bowed in our of our princess.

“I am not as busy as you might think, Fluttershy. But I will take your letter for the archives on the study of friendship.” she stated, using her golden magical aura to take the rolled up scroll from out of my hooves.

“It truly is an honor, Princess Celestia.” I said, bowing in front of her. “And I have to ask what you think of my drinks and snacks.”

“Well, I haven’t gotten a chance to order anything-” she began before Feather came up to her with a piece of vanilla cake and a cup of chai tea on a tray. “Oh! Thank you.”

Using her magic, she moved a fork to take a princess-like bite of the cake, tasting the perfect blend of sweet and sugary ingredients in the cake. Satisfied with the bite, she sipped from the teacup, washing down the piece of cake.

“Mmm, absolutely exquisite. Perhaps you could share your blend with the Royal kitchen in Canterlot?”

“You... you really think so?!” I asked with the biggest smile on my face. She smiled back and nodded as business resumed in the shop. Finished with the letter, I picked up the takeaway cup that was in front of me and took a sip of the drink. The bitter taste of what was inside came as a shock as my face scrunched up at the unpleasant flavor on my tongue. Even though it wasn’t the politest thing to do in front of royalty, I couldn’t help to spit out the drink on poor Spike, who was sitting the closest to me.

“Yuck!” I shouted, sticking my tongue out at the taste of straight coffee in my mouth. As soon as Rainbow Dash sat back down, taking a sip from the straw of the drink in front of her. Her face became pale as she swallowed the drink, looking at the label on the front of the cup.

“Chai’s Latte :)”

“EWW! Where did my coffee go?!” Rainbow yelled, holding up the cup. I looked over at her and started laughing with everypony else, even Princess Celestia, as business returned to normal.


The End