Chapter 4

As the two of them walked up the hill and away from Ponyville in silence, Fluttershy listened as the booming music grew softer and softer and the earth became surer.  Aside from the chatter of the crickets, all was silent at first until Bass spoke up.  He cleared his throat to make it seem less awkward for them and said, “Follow me, there's something I want to show you.”

    “What is it?” Fluttershy asked innocently.

    Bass chuckled and replied, “You'll see,” and began to stray off the dirt path.  Fluttershy cocked an eyebrow, unsure and timid at first, but eventually followed him off the path and down onto the grassy knoll.  As she followed him she could hear the sound of the trickling creek water getting progressively louder.

    “Where are we going sir?” she asked once more.

     “Look,” Bass said as he pulled her a little closer and pulled the shrubs apart.  Fluttershy gasped at the beauty of it.  She couldn't believe she had never noticed it before, and it was so close to the bridge too!  In front of her was perhaps the most beautiful part of the entire creek.  The crisp, beautiful, blue water flowed at the perfect speed over the rocks, and the roses, daffodils, and other wildflowers grew in peace.  The twinkling fireflies made the whole scene look like something right out of one of her favorite romance novels.

    Fluttershy gasped quietly, “It...it's beautiful,” she said with a whisper.  She stood still for a moment and continued to watch the fireflies flutter around.  Deep down inside of her, Fluttershy made a mental note to visit this place while alone.  It was secluded and beautiful, a place she knew she could feel at peace at, unlike the salon or even her own home; she could never image a place like this as being too loud or too scary.  “I love it,” she commented so quietly that it was unlikely that Bass had even heard her.

    “It is, isn’t it?” he replied and observed the scene himself.  All was quiet for a moment after that as the two of them merely observed the beauty around them.  Sure that he wasn’t watching her, Fluttershy stole and glance at him and tried to figure him out.  He was a partier, that was for sure, but he seemed to have a soft side.  “How many fireflies do you think there are?” he asked after a while.  Fluttershy quickly looked back towards the scene and the fireflies before she could be discovered looking at him.

    As they fluttered around she tried to count them, but she just couldn’t, there were too many.  “There has to be hundreds,” she replied and smiled gently at him.

    “I counted three hundred once,” he replied and led them a little further into the area, just enough so that they didn’t have to hold the bushes anymore.  Aside from the crickets’ chirp, all became silent once more.

     The silence gave Bass the perfect opportunity to pull his next romantic move of the night.  Gently, silently, and as casually as possible, Bass outstretched his left graceful wing and wrapped it slowly around Fluttershy’s petite body.  She hadn’t been paying attention, so she gasped and jumped at first, but when she noticed that his wing was wrapped around her and she was pinned closely against him, she blushed deeply.  She had seen this romantic move many times before, but had never experience it.  In her opinion, it was the sweetest thing a male or female pegasus could do for his or her mate.

    She looked away from him and glanced down at the ground as silence enveloped them once more.  “Basswub?” she asked after a minute or two, “are we…” she looked away, too nervous to look into his eyes, “dating?” she asked and blushed.

    Bass looked down at her and smiled.  He kissed her gently on the head.  That should have answered the question, but Bass knew her type, innocent, inexperienced, so he knew it never hurt to confirm something like that with her.  “What do you think?” he asked in a light tone.

     Fluttershy snuggled her head up to him for a few moments.  When she stopped she looked up at him and replied, “But we only just met,” she pointed out with a guilty feeling in her gut, “If you don’t mind me saying, well… I don’t know you all that well, and you don’t know me.”  She finished and then quietly gulped at the realization she had probably just ended her first ever relationship.  Little did she know though, Basswub was full of determination.

    “I know,” he replied calmly, “I don’t know you all that well either.”

    Fluttershy thought a moment, though she didn’t really need to, and snuggled her head back up to him.  They stood in silence and observed the romantic sight before them as a new couple.

    As all good things must though, the two of them tired of looking at the beauty before them and decided to get back on the path towards Fluttershy’s house.  It was getting very late, into the early morning hours, and they were both very exhausted after the excitement of the day.  As they proceeded on at a walk Fluttershy attempted once more to tell him he didn’t have to walk her home.  “You really don’t have to do this,” she said to him, “you can go home and get some rest.”

     “And let a mare like you walk alone, my mare?  Heh,” he snorted, “no thanks.”  He smiled at her and quickly rubbed up against her affectionately.  Fluttershy blushed in reply.  She tried to make herself stop, but she just couldn’t stop blushing around him.  She knew she probably didn’t look good if she blushed around her own stallionfriend.  “I think it’s pretty cute, you know,” he pointed out to her.  It seemed he could read her like a book.  Needless to say, from that point on, Fluttershy no longer thought twice about blushing around him.

    Awkwardly enough, the couple didn’t talk much as they walked on into the night.  It was unexpected; a shocker to both of them how love could strike so quickly.  If Princess Celestia taught Fluttershy one thing, it was that there was a time for everything, so she should not think it strange that something sudden should happen.  Both of them pondered their thoughts in silence and took the occasional glance at either the night sky or the pony beside them.

    Eventually though, they spotted Fluttershy’s cottage over the distance.  “Is that your place?” Bass asked and looked over at her.

    “Yes sir,” she replied and nodded her head with a smile.

    “Impressive,” Bass complimented the garden, bridge, and front yard as they got ever closer to the house.

    “Thank you,” Fluttershy replied, “you’ll have to show me your house sometime.”

    They approached the door, stopped, and turned towards each other.  “Will do,” Bass replied and nodded his head.

    Fluttershy turned to unlock the door and then asked, “Would you like to come in?”

    Bass thought for a moment but declined, “No thanks cupcake, I’ve really got to be going.  I’m worn out and there’s a lot to be done tomorrow, especially since I just moved here.”  He yawned and stretched his wings.  After that, all Fluttershy could do was look down at the ground and hoof the grass and all Bass could do was look up, look down, and glance around as he tried to think of something to say while he also waited for something to be said.  Unbeknownst to him, Fluttershy was doing the exact same thing.  Unable to think of anything, all Bass could say was, “So… I guess I’ll see you soon?”

    Fluttershy smiled brightly at him and quietly replied, “You can count on it.”

    “Well, I guess I’ll be going.  I uh… I love you,” he said and began to walk away.

    “Oh, wait,” Fluttershy stopped him.  He turned to ask what she needed, but before he could even get a semi-turn in, he felt her lips against his.  Now that was something very unexpected!

     Little did he know, but Fluttershy had absolutely no idea what she was doing and had little faith in herself.  With each second that passed, a million instances of “I should stop, it's been too long,” and “It's only been a second or two, I don't need to stop yet,” all raced through her head at once.  She even doubted herself for a minute.  Maybe she was rushing into this a little to fast, for Celestia's sake, she had just met the stallion not but a few hours ago and she was already kissing him like they were engaged to be married!  She knew it was strange, maybe even wrong, but she just couldn't stop herself.  She kept their lips locked together for a few more seconds and then pulled away.  “I love you too,” she said in her quietest and driest voice ever, though she was somewhat pleased and rather comforted by the fact that she had just prompted the first blush out of him of the night.

     “That was... pretty good.  That was awesome in fact,” Bass stared at her as he savored the last bit of her sweet breath and the taste of her lips.

    Fluttershy blushed, looked down at the ground, and resumed her hoofing.  She giggled very quietly and replied, “Thank you.  I just wanted to say thank you for making sure I had a good time.  I was so nervous at first, but now, well... er... you probably get what I'm trying to say.”  She smiled weakly at him.

    Bass chuckled and kissed her on the head, “I sure do cupcake.  I don't wanna leave an amazing mare like you after something like that, but I'm super tired.  I hope it won't hurt anything if I left you alone for a few hours,” he winked at her.

    Fluttershy smiled at him and replied, “No sir, of course not.  See you soon.”

    “Alright cupcake,” he smiled back at her and began to walk off down the road.  She waved him off and walked inside when he disappeared over the bridge and around the bend.

     Once she was inside, she proceeded upstairs and went into her bedroom.  She closed the door and laid down on the bed to relax and reflect on the last few hours which just seemed to magical to her.  For a moment, she really thought she was dreaming.  Could it be true that one of her deepest, most desired dreams had just come true not but a little more than an hour ago?  It seemed like Bass was the perfect stallion, the stallion of her dreams in fact.  The more she thought about him, the more she wanted to remember about him.  She pulled open the drawer to her nightstand and pulled her diary and pencil so that she could write down her feelings about the wonderful night.

     Once she finished writing, she read the passage back to herself.  It read:

“Dear diary, I don't think I could've been any more wrong about tonight!  Oh but I just don't know where to begin first!  Step one would probably be a good start ~blush~.  When I first got there, I was having serious doubts and I almost turned back, but before I could, my friends Lyra and Bon-Bon showed up.  They persuaded me to go in and just told me to be myself.  I did, and the results showed!  I met a stallion!!! <3 His name is Basswub, but he likes it better when I just call him Bass.  Long story short, he's my stallionfriend!  He's so sweet and kind, he shown and told me many wonderful things, and I love him!  The only thing is, we met at the party and I'm afraid I'm jumping into it all a little fast.  I don't want to jump to conclusions though... I think I'll ask Rarity for advice tomorrow.  She has a lot more dating experience than I do and she's probably best fit to assess the situation, oh... well, that is if she isn’t too busy.  And speaking of which, I can barely wait to tell the girls!  I just know they'll be so excited for me!  :)

Love,

Fluttershy

    A yawn escaped her mouth once she finished reading, so she closed the book cover gently and placed it back inside of the drawer.  After that, she blew out the candle on the same nightstand and cuddled up under the sheets.  She didn't know it, but she couldn't sleep because of the excitement flowing through her.  She tossed and she turned, but she just couldn't seem to keep her eyes closed for more than a few seconds; all she could think about was him, and every time she closed her eyes she saw him, her new stallionfriend.  Eventually though, well into the morning hours, just before the sun's rise, Fluttershy was finally hit with the sensation of sleep as her excitement died off, which forced her into a deep, peaceful sleep, in which she secretly hoped she would dream of her first, new love.