Fluttershy on Earth?

    Fluttershy seemed eager to see the little town I lived in. She was leading the way throughout the walk home. The only words that were exchanged included.

    "Um, a-are we there y-yet? I would always answer with a simple no. To my surprise, she didn't have trouble continuing on, halfway through the walk. She stood strong all the way through. Her swift strides were always even. As we neared the first street lamp, Fluttershy actually stopped hiding behind her mane. She would take a bath when we got back to the condo. She really needed one. Her mane was tangled and filled with dirt, and her coat had a few mud stains in it.

    "T-this is pretty," Fluttershy murmured, snapping me out of my thinking state. I never realized it before, but when you look back from the trail, and down onto the town at this time of night, it was breathtaking. The path started atop a hill, which served as a good vantage point for us. She was able to see over half of the lights that shone up from all the houses. Most everyone was asleep in them now though. I doubt that anyone would see her this late at night. I would have to think of a way to hide her in public soon, but now it was stealth mode. We walked through the residential part of town to get to the condo, but then we realized that practically a third of the people still had their lights on. In some house windows I could see people nonchalantly watching tv in their family room. One of them looked out the window... He then spat his wine out. I guess not everybody would believe it if they saw a filthy yellow and pink pony.

    At last, we arrived at my house. Another close call on the way, involved a late night jogger and a stoplight. They should have been watching where they were going. Not staring at someone else's once technicolor pegasus.

    "Well, here we are," I started to rummage around in my pockets for my keys. Oh no, I left them inside. What do I tell Fluttershy?

    "Um...Fluttershy, I need to go around back and open the other door, ok? Stay here, and...uh...just stay." I ran around to the back of the house. If anybody else saw me, they'd think that I was trying to rob the house. Luckily, I was lazy enough to leave the back sliding door unlocked. I threw the door open, and ran inside. Closing the door behind me, I jolted around to the front door, and unlocked it from the inside.

    "Fluttershy, come on in," I said as I opened the door. No answer. "Fluttershy?"

Still no noises came through the bleakness of the night. "Fluttershy, that's not funny," I stepped outside. "Hey, come on out already, I'm not laughing," just then, I heard a whinny from around the corner of the house. Glancing around at the other houses to make sure I hadn't disturbed anyone in my fit, I quietly stepped around to the side of the house I heard the whinny from.

    "EEEEEEHH!" Fluttershy squealed and started to gallop around to the back of the house, then she realized who had just startled her.

    "S-s-sorry."

    "It's okay, but why were you over here? I told you to wait out front."

    "I-I-I-I was, b-but then, I-I saw a b-big orange m-monster. I-it had t-two g-glowing eyes, a-and it was going r-really f-fast! I g-got scared and r-ran over h-here and hid!"

    "Um, Fluttershy? I think the monster you were seeing was a...er...car."

    "A what?"

    "A car. People drive around in them everywhere, so they don't have to walk as far."

    "C-can we g-go back inside n-now?"

    "Of course," I say as I lead her back into the safe haven that is my condo. "Um, Fluttershy I think you need to take a bath."

    "Okay," she replied I showed her to the bathroom. She seemed to know what to do, so I left her alone to bathe. Meanwhile, I was going to make her some sort of food. I didn't know how long she had been out in the forest, so it was the least I could do. Lets see, if I were a pony, what would I eat? I picked up a cereal box. I had had some of the cereal just this morning. Raisins and oats. I knew it tasted terrible, but what else was I supposed to give her? After all, she wouldn't eat meat. Raisins and oats it shall be. I poured out the cereal into a larger bowl than something I would normally use. I wished I had apples for her, but I couldn't stand the taste of them. What else would I do with an apple, if not eat it? I'd probably go out to the store tomorrow to get her some fresh ones. Such journeys would wait.

    "Fluttershy?" I heard the water across the hallway, being shutoff. Apparently she'd had her fill. "Come in the kitchen when you're done in there." A muffled answer, hardly perceivable as a yes, came from the bathroom. For some reason, my mind drifted towards the questionable fact that I would be able to hide her from my neighbors. Why was I thinking about this now? It wasn't how my mindset worked. It was supposed to happen first, then I would worry about it. "Fluttershy is a link to sanity, that's been granted to me by the gods of unknown reason, probably because the gods were bored with what they were seeing." I nearly missed myself mumbling. I hate it when I did that.

    "U-um h-hello?"

    "EEUUH!" I let out a startled sound, that would now haunt me.

    "I-I was w-wondering what y-y-you wanted me in h-here f-for?"

    "Ah well, I uh made you some... Cereal? It's over there on the table." Fluttershy waddled over to where I pointed, and peered into the large bowl of oats.

    "Do you think that you'd like that at all? I was going to swing by the store later to grab some apples for you.

    "R-really?"

    "Yeah that's all for you."

    "T-thanks, er I-I guess"

    "If you don't want it, you don't have to eat it."

    "No no no, I can't be so rude!" And with that, she started eating cereal in the politest way possible, if you ask me. I could envision her, holding her pinkie out as she ate. What a nice house guest. After I was done marveling at her exquisiteness, I got ready for bed. I threw a simple t-shirt on, and shorts. That would be tonight's attire. Fluttershy still needed a place to sleep. I remembered the small guest bedroom, just down the hallway. It had a bed, a window, a writing desk, and a tv. I bet she cold survive in there. I walked back out into the kitchen.

    "Fluttershy, I have a guest bedroom if you want to sleep there."

    "I-I don't d-deserve th-that, do I?"

    "Fluttershy, after what you've been through tonight, it's the least I could do. You've more than earned it."

    "Really!" What came next surprised me for sure. Fluttershy sprung up from the uncomfortable seat she was sitting in, and nearly tackled me in a hug. I could only accept it. I guess the element of kindness would grow on me. After what felt like five minutes, the embrace was relieved. I just had a near death experience. I don't know if it was the fact that she was squeezing so hard, or the fact that my heart almost exploded from the hug. It was so overwhelming.

    "Fluttershy...thanks...it's been forever since I have felt something like that...I needed it"

    "S-sorry" she was red faced, and trying to hide behind her now reflectively clean mane.

    "Don't be embarrassed. We should probably go to bed anyways...right?"

    "Y-yes please." I showed her around the guest bedroom. There wasn't much to see, but she seemed interested anyways. She might have just been trying to make up for what she did earlier. I did like the hug, but I've been feeling so empty since my mother died. I didn't know what to think. She hopped up into the bed, while I tucked her up. It felt natural, tucking her up like this. I felt like reading her a story or something. For once, I could actually feel something besides anger and sadness towards the world. Fluttershy was so good at loosening someone up. After she went to sleep, I went back to my own bed. All I could do is lay there I couldn't stop thinking about Fluttershy. What would happen next? What if somebody found her out? What would happen if I left her alone to go to the store? Too many questions and not enough answers.

    "H-hey Toby?" I didn't know how long I had been laying there. It felt like years, but it was probably only an hour or two.

    "I-I-I-I..." Her voice trailed off.

    "You what?"

    "I-I miss um..." Part of me already knew what was coming, but the other half wanted it not to be. She was homesick.

    "Do you miss your friends?"

    "Um...yes. I didn't want to bug you about it, b-but I-I-I..." She was almost in tears as she was trying to tell me what had happened.

    "Look, Fluttershy it's okay. I'll be here for you. I bet your friends are missing you just as much, but all we can do for now is wait. They'll try to find a way to contact you. Until then, stand strong...ok?"

    "Um o-ok" I knew I was horrible at speeches, but that was just terrible. It were enough for her though, so I started to feel a little bit better about myself.

    "Lets go back to bed." I tried to reassure her. We left my room, and once again I tucked her up again, and headed back to my room. Was I turning into a father?