We Need to Talk

Strength. There are many ways to measure it, both physically and mentally. But there is no strict definition for it. It could mean potency, or durability, or even tenacity.

I'd always been considered a strong mare, but never by myself. I'd never thought of myself as strong, though I could turn a bear into a tree if I had to. I'd been trained by the alicorn princess of the sun herself. But the judgement was always wrong in my mind. I was not strong. Far from it, actually. I was crippled. Without my beloved checklists, or calendars or planners, I was as far from sane as a pony could get without bloodshed. I was unstable, as a pony with a broken leg would be. My mind was broken, and my planners and lists were my crutches and splints. But splints weren't helping me heal. I needed medicine.

As I walked through the streets of Ponyville, I kept thinking about strength and what it meant. Over the past year, I'd shown magical strength, but a severe lack of it emotionally and mentally. But today, I wanted to disprove myself. And that was what I was doing.

Each step discouraged me and made me tremble with a nervous energy. Each one was a more grave death threat than the last. They made me want to give up and go back home, but something stronger promised its power if I ignored the fear. Something bright and warm.

I was certain of what it was. In most of my pleasure-reading novels, it had been described as bright and warm like fire. It was said that it could reignite from charcoals of its remains thought long dead. It had been told that it was the single most powerful magic known, but could not be explained by even Starswirl the Bearded. That power was love.

I had fallen in love with somepony. One of my best friends, to be more specific. She was the most beautiful, sweetest, and strongest mare I knew. She was endearingly timid and impossibly modest, and her voice made me melt every time I heard it.

I finally finally passed the town limit, now free of most of the attention of Ponyville. Around me was open space with the Everfree looming closer. I smiled nervously, knowing I was approaching Her home. I inhaled deeply to calm my heart.

She stood up to a dragon for me, even stared a cockatrice soulless for me. Though she never accepted it, she was incredibly strong. And though Rarity had once confided in me that even she was jealous of Her mane, She was bashful and modest.

I approached her cottage, seeing her animal friends scampering about, pausing for a moment when they noticed me, but promptly returning to their various activities.

I knocked on the door. My heart threatened to stop entirely. It was but a few seconds now...

Fluttershy, the mare of my dreams, opened the door.

"We need to talk."

Author's Note

This came out of nowhere. Seriously. I was minding my own business, and then my fingers started dancing.

<3 DarqFox