At the End of the Tunnel

A few weeks went by without anything of note going on in Ponyville. Things were pretty much business as usual around Time Turner shop, where I continued work on Golden Harvest's clock, and around the library, where I believe Twilight was finally running out of questions to ask me.

The next exciting thing to happen around town began one afternoon with a knock on the door of the very library I lived in. Since Twilight and Spike were busy with official research in the basement, I answered the door myself. On the other side stood everypony's favorite apple farmer, Applejack. She tipped her hat to me in greeting before speaking.

"Howdy, Guy. Good to see ya today."

"Good to see you too, AJ," I replied, "would you like to come inside."

"Thank ya very much for yer invitation," the farmpony accepted. We both walked into the main foyer, Applejack looking around the entire time, "Where are Spike and Twi?"

"In the basement doing some sort of experiment. You know how Twilight gets."

"That Ah do. Well Ah wouldn't want to be a bother to 'em."

"What did you come over for," I asked.

"Oh, I'm inviting all my good friends here to the Apple Family Harvest Gathering that's going on down at the farm tonight."

"Do I count as one of your good friends," I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Of course ya do, sugarcube. You're more than welcome to attend."

"Sweet. Count me in for sure."

"Will ya pass the message along to Spike and Twi fer me? I still have all the others to invite."

"No problem, AJ. I'll tell them about it."

"Thanks a lot, sugarcube. See ya tonight."

Applejack quickly turned around and let the way she entered. I, meanwhile, made my way to the doorway to the basement. On the other side of the door I could hear all manner of mechanical devices and the tell-tale bubbling of chemicals. I covered my nose with my shirt, just in case, and entered. What I saw was Twilight levitating some sort of large chemistry beaker with her magic, swirling the blue solution inside around, while Spike busily wrote something down on a piece of parchment paper. As neither of them were wearing any kind of protective gear, I thought it safe to uncover my nose and mouth and speak.

"Hey Twilight," I called, peeking around from the doorway, "you busy."

"Yes," the alicorn answered, "is there something important going on?"

"Oh not much, Applejack was just here to invite us all to her family's yearly harvest celebration."

"That's nice," Twilight replied, not taking her eyes off of the beaker, "Unfortunately, neither of us are going to be able to attend. Are you?"

"Yep. Wouldn't miss a big Apple Family gathering."

"That's nice," the princess repeated, "have a good time."

"Will do. Might even be able to bring back some cider."

**********************************************

The time soon came for me to travel to Sweet Apple Acres to be a part of the harvest festival. For the occasion, I wore the same plain, red shirt that I had been wearing on my first day in Ponyville. For some reason, I didn't associate the shirt with my suicide attempt, but instead with my first contact with the race of sentient creatures which had made my life worth living.

Twilight and Spike were still in the basement and hadn't come out the rest of the day, so I just yelled good-bye to them before leaving. I knew that they would probably still be down there working when I got home, so I didn't worry about being missed in the slightest.

As I walked to the farm, I thought about what ponies I would see there. I figured Pinkie Pie was a shoo-in to be part of this party just like any other. Rainbow Dash would probably be game if she didn't have anything more important to do. Rarity may be friends with AJ, but would probably think a large gathering of ponies like her would be a little too dirty and uncouth for her tastes. As for Fluttershy, there was no way that she would come, what with her well-known social anxiety. I also happened to know that Golden Harvest was distantly related to Applejack, and that may mean an invite for Ditzy and Dinky, which may mean an invite for Time Turner.

The grounds of Sweet Apple Acres were completely covered by ponies of all kind of shapes and sizes. And most of them in nice fall colors, like red, orange, green, yellow, and brown. Applejack was the first pony I recognized who noticed me. She quickly made her way over.

"Howdy, Guy," she greeted for the second time that day, "Glad to see ya could make it. What about Twilight and Spike?"

"Busy with some experiment. You know how Twilight gets."

"That Ah do, sugarcube. Can I get ya anything?" The farmpony motioned to a long table chock-full of edible delicacies, probably brought by all the various members of the family. There were apple pies, apple crisp, apple strudel, apple tarts, toast with apple jam or apple butter, a large fruit salad made primarily of apples, and whole apples of all types, red delicious, granny smith, fiji, braeburn, and others that I didn't know the names of. At the end of the table sat two kegs, one of which had a large red 'X' on it.

"I know," I said with a smile, "can a guy get a cup of hard cider at this party."

"Ya sure can," AJ smiled knowingly, "Keg with the 'X'." I presume the marking was to make sure none of the fillies who were around accidentally intoxicated themselves.

I made my way over to the proper keg, which was currently being tapped by a tan earth pony with a brown vest and a large brown cowboy hat. When he was finished filling he mug, he almost turned right into me.

"Well howdy, pardner," he greeted, looking up at me, "you must be that human 'Guy' Applejack was telling me about."

"That I would be," I answered. By this point I was used to ponies being surprised by my presence.

"Well shoot. It's good to meet ya," we shoot hand and hoof, "the name's Braeburn." The name of a member of the family being some sort of apple shouldn't have made me laugh, but I did a little bit in spite of myself.

The stallion stepped aside so that I could partake in some alcoholic cider, but before I did so, I heard a familiar refrain.

"Ah told you girls he'd be here."

I turned toward the sound and was swiftly tackled by the three fillies who made up the Cutie Mark Crusders. My body flailed out into a 'T' shape, with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom standing over my right and left arms, respectively, and Sweetie Belle, fortunately the lightest of the three, standing on my chest.

"What have I told you three about that," I said between coughs as I regained my wind.

"Sorry, Guy," Sweetie apologized, "but we had to introduce you to our other Crusader."

"There's another one," I said in shock, "I thought it was just you three."

"Is this the human," a new voice with a distinct New York accent said from somewhere above my head. I arched my neck and looked back to see a brown filly with a short, red manecut standing there.

"Sure is," Apple Bloom said excitedly, "Guy, this is mah cousin Babs Seed from Manehattan."

"Good to meet ya," Babs greeted.

"Likewise. I would hoof-shake, but I'm a little held down at the moment." All four fillies laughed at my comment. The three original Crusaders allowed me to get up before the made to speed off. "Hold on," I called, which made them stop, "are Rainbow Dash or Rarity here?"

"Rainbow would have," Scootaloo answered, "but she had weather duties."

"You think Rarity would really attend a party like this?" Sweetie said sarcastically.

"Just thought I'd ask," I said sheepishly, "have fun you four."

The Crusaders sped off as they had originally intended, allowing me finally to get a cup of hard cider for myself. I scanned the crowd of ponies, looking for more familiar faces. My gaze finally fell on one particular yellow mare, who stuck out from all the others by her long, pink mane. She looked particularly anxious, and, while I was surprised to see her there at all, I wasn't surprised to see her sitting all by herself. Quickly, I made my way over to Fluttershy. Upon seeing me, she perked up a bit, and I took a seat on the grass beside her.

"How ya doin', Fluttershy?"

"Could be doing better," the shy pegasus admitted.

"I'm a little surprised. You were the last pony I expected to be attending this gathering. I know how much you hate crowds."

"Oh, well, I wasn't going to come at first. When Applejack came and told me about it, I was quick to shoot down the idea. But then she said that you would be here and for some reason it just eased all my tension."

"That's interesting," I said in what I was sure was a stupid inflection.

"Just like now," she mused, "I was being all kinds of anxious and fidgety until I saw you coming over, then it all stopped."

Now it was my turn to muse, at least internally. This all made perfect sense to me. I had problems with anxiety from time to time, but when I was around people I was comfortable with, it would all go away. That my first clue that Kir-- the she-devil was bad news.

"Wait, did Applejack visit you last?" I asked.

"I would suppose so."

"Isn't Pinkie Pie here?"

"No, she had to foalsit for the Cakes."

"She really has to do that too often."

"Well it's not as if she has to pay room-and-board."

I had to admit that Fluttershy had a point.

"Well," I said, finishing off my cup of cider, "how about I get you a drink? Regular cider OK?"

"More than OK."

I got up and made my way over to the cider barrels, making sure to remember which one was alcoholic and which one wasn't. Swiftly, I made my way back to Fluttershy's side.

As the other ponies danced and sang and ate, Fluttershy and I just talked, mostly about what I had been doing, but some concerning new things with her animals. All this pleasurable conversation was interrupted by a sudden pause in the music.

"It's now time for the annual Harvest Gathering Line Dance," Granny Smith announced from the make-shift stage which had been set up for the event, "Now everypony get up and dance your flanks off!"

Quickly everypony at the party got into two lines, stallions on one side, mares on the other. Applejack and Big Mac motioned for us to join the lines. I had to half-pull the quivering pegasus, but soon we were across each other and ready for the line dance.

Now, I don't mean to brag, but I am one hell of a line dancer. Even with me being two feet short of everypony else, I was able to quickly pick up the steps to the dance. Every sixteen beats, the pair of ponies closest to the stage would come together and do a little freestyle dance down the rest of the line, the last step of the dance resulting in everypony moving up to get closer to the stage, then the dance would repeat.

Before long, Fluttershy and I were the pair closest to the stage. This caused me to get a sly little grin on my face, a grin which caused Fluttershy to panic a bit as she danced. I could tell that her natural reaction would be to fly away as soon as she was able. To alleviate these fears, during the last four counts before the freestyle, I moved closer to Fluttershy and took her forehooves in my hands.

"This is how humans dance," I said aloud.

Down the long line of dancing ponies we went. I continued to hold her foorehooves and continuously danced around her, spinning her a bit, but not too much. When we reached the end of the line, we both easily fell back into the dance. I smiled widely at my dance partner, who gave me a sweet smile in return. Soon after our second time down the middle, the music ended to much whooping and hoof-stamping.

"Whoo," I yelled, "that was awesome."

"Calm down, Guy," Fluttershy mock-scolded, "you sound like Rainbow Dash." She gave me a little shove at my leg with a forehoof which caused me to stumble a bit. "Oh Celestia, are you OK!?"

"I'm fine, Fluttershy, believe me."

"Goddesses Guy," Big Mac said, coming up on the scene, "how many glasses of cider have you had?"

"Only five."

"Only five," Applejack echoed, standing beside her brother, "Guy, that cider is 100 proof!"

"That stuff is half alcohol," I chuckled, "coulda fooled me."

"Well it's nice to know you can hold your alcohol," AJ reprimanded, "but I think it's time you went home."

"And I'll take him," Fluttershy quickly interjected.

"Sounds like a plan, goodnight you two."

"Goodnight, AJ," I said.

**********************************************

Fluttershy and I left the grounds of Sweet Apple Acres. The full moon was out and Luna's handiwork was shining down as far as the eye could see.

"Come on, Guy," Fluttershy repeated from earlier, "I'm going to walk you home."

"Oh no," I said facetiously, "I'm gonna walk you home."

"But you're the one who's inebriated."

"I'm not that drunk," I protested, "besides, like I'm gonna let you walk all the way home by yourself. Now come on."

Fluttershy, for some reason, did not continue to argue. We swiftly changed our path to make our way to her cottage instead of the library. Before we knew it, the familiar abode came into view.

"Well this is me," Fluttershy said with a little giggle, "would you like to come in for a minute?"

"Why not?"

The pegasus led me inside her house. It being so late at night, all of her various animals were sound asleep, even Angel Bunny. Fluttershy was quick to direct me to the green couch which sat in her living room.

"Sit here," she commanded, "would you like a glass of water?"

"That's a good idea," I admitted, "thank you."

It didn't take Fluttershy half a minute to fetch me a glass of water, which I quickly downed in a few gulps, letting out a relaxed "Ahh" after I had finished it all. By this point, Fluttershy had joined me on the couch.

"So," I said after putting the glass down on the little table which sat to the side of the couch, "did you enjoy the party?"

"Oh yes, it was wonderful."

"What was your favorite part?"

"I don't know," she said sheepishly, "probably that line dance."

"Ah, saving the best part of the night for last."

"I wouldn't say that exactly."

"Hmm?"

Then, the unexpected happened. Fluttershy fluttered forward on the couch and kissed me right square on the lips. I don't know how to describe it exactly, other than to say that it was the best thing I had tasted that night, and I had tried every bit of apple-flavored pastry that I could at the party. She broke the kiss after a few seconds and leaned back, doing everything in her power not to look me in the eyes.

"Oh, darn it," she mumbled.

"What's wrong," I asked.

"I-I just thought that, oh forget it, I'm sorry."

I reached my right hand over and pulled her chin so that I could see her eyes, which were brimming with tears, though none of them were falling.

"What do you have to be sorry about," I said, "that was wonderful."

Then, I did the unexpected, I pulled Fluttershy forward a little and leaned in to give her a kiss of my own. Though my eyes were closed, I could tell she was happy since I heard her give a little squee at first contact, followed by a gentle moan as she sunk herself into the kiss. I decided to hold the kiss as long as she would let me, and so I did, breaking only when we needed to come up for air.

"Oh Guy," she spoke first, "I'm so happy. I'm always happiest when I'm with you."

"You make me so happy, Fluttershy," I responded, my hand still on her chin, "And I'm happy that I make you happy."

"Guy?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

I smiled, "I love you too, Fluttershy."

This led her to initiating another kiss, one with such force that I fell back on the couch a bit. This, in turn, led her to getting on top of me a little bit.

"Hey," I said when our latest kiss ended, "would you want me to stay here all night?"

"Would you," the shy pegasus squeed at the thought.

"Of course."

"Then why don't we go upstairs.

Another sly smile crossed my face as I got up off the couch, easily picking Fluttershy up in the process and holding her close with both of my arms. I proceeded to carry her up the stairs to her small bedroom, in which sat a single, small, bed. I decided the best course of action was to just land my head on the pillows and let her decide what to do next.

"Mhmmm," she cooed, nuzzling her muzzle into my neck, "you feel so good, Guy."

"And you feel even better, Fluttershy."

"Flatterer," my pegasus lover said as she shifted her body to my right side whilst keeping her head on my chest.

"What would you like to do," I said, not exactly sure what her new, cuddly, position entailed.

"Sleep next to you all night," came the response.

"Can do," I said, giving her a tight hug, "Anything I can do to make you sleep easier?"

"Can-can you, um, caress my cutie mark?"

While I thought this was an unusual request, my right hand wasted little time getting to work, resting itself right over the three pink butterflies that made up my lover's cutie mark.

"Is that OK?"

"That's more than OK," she responded, snuggling in to me closer, "Is there anything I can do to make you sleep easier?"

"Give me permission to run my fingers through your mane," I said, fully relaxed, "Also, a good-night kiss would not be frowned upon."

"Done," she gave me a nice-length kiss, "and done. Goodnight, Guy."

I brought my free hand up and began to run my fingers through my lover's mane. All I heard until I fell asleep minutes later was our shared breathing, and an occasional coo from the sleeping pegasus in the bed.

"Goodnight, Fluttershy."