Five months later…

The door to Fluttershy’s cottage opened slowly, the orange coated mare walking in. The owner of the building was fast asleep on the couch where she had been left last night, lying on her side. Applejack trotted over and placed the basket of apples down next to the floor, then started to run her hoof through Fluttershy’s mane, the mare’s eyes fluttering open from the contact. “Applejack, I thought I said…”

“That ya don’t need any help. Well, yer ain’t been out much since ‘e left, an’ we’re gonna do our best to get yer back to t’ mare that we know. We’re all still ‘opin’ for some sign of him, but we can’t promise anythin’.”

“APPLEJACK!” The mare in question turned back to the door, frowning at the urgency that Twilight Sparkle’s voice was wrought with. The alicorn was soon inside the cottage and gasping for breath, before trotting over and smiling down at Fluttershy. “They’ve found him!”

The pegasus mare groaned as she sat up, her eyes filled with both hope and anger. “Is he okay?”

“He’s… alive, but… he’s in jail.” The two mares helped Fluttershy down and she began walking towards the door. “Shy… he’s in Baltimare.”

“Then… I’m going to Baltimare. You’re all welcome to join me.” She stopped in shock when she saw her other three friends waiting as well, bags already packed. Applejack came alongside her, letting herself be used as support for the long, slow walk to the train station…

“...unner, get up! Come on dude, the boss won’t like it if you’re not out of here soon!” You gave a groan as you sat up, trying to ignore the pounding in your head. Cracking open your eye, you discover that you decided to sleep in some random alley, more than likely near the bar you were in. “Come on, boss has called us in.”

“Buck off, I’m a freelancer.” Your speech is still slightly slurred, a testament to how much you drank last night. You tried to roll back over, but the pony nearby stopped you with a hoof. You stood up and groaned, the noise from the busy market place pounding in your head. You stumbled forward whilst moaning, squinting to block the daylight that invaded your vision. “Why does he always have these meetings in the morning?”

“It’s three in the afternoon.” You just grunted in response, following one of three ponies who had helped you when you first came to Baltimare. You became desperate after the first two weeks of being in the city, but nopony helped you. It was that night you saw the pony now walking along next to you, seeing him sneaking from a building with a rather expensive necklace in his mouth. You followed him and found a group of ponies about your age, all sat around a fire near Baltimare’s docks.

Your nose picked up the delicious smell of food, and the group spun around when your stomach let out a loud rumble, attracting the attention of a stallion in the shadows. He looked you over and ushered you nearer the fire, where he wrapped a blanket over your back and passed you a bowl of soup. It took a few days, but you were back to your usual self. The only problem was you now had to repay the debt you owed to them.

It turned out you had a knack for it, being able to fly into a pony’s home through an upper window, silently making your way to the front door, where you’d let the others in. That was your job, you never took anything, but were still fed and paid your share. You’d then return to the docks with your goods, which were normally selective orders.

The scent of the sea hit your nose, and you just groaned as you started down the steps that led underneath the warehouses, a stallion’s voice just trailing off, but you couldn’t catch what he said. You and your friend walked around a few barrels, seeing other young ponies heading out in different directions. “About time you got here! Sky, Cage, I’ve got a good one for you. Some rich pegasi have just bought a fair sized house on the east side. They’re moving in tomorrow, but their things are here now. Scout the place out and let me know what you find.”

The two of you give him a nod, spreading your wings and heading across the river. There was only one estate of interest there, so it wasn’t hard to find the building with a moving carriage outside it. You settled onto a cloud, watching for your opportunity to get inside.

Night was falling when the last work pony left, the carriage moving away. You nodded over to Cage and dropped from the sky, immediately taking the highest floor. You found an open window and slipped in, silently landing as you saw two ponies asleep on a bed in the room. You were in now, and had a job to do, so you slipped out of the bedroom door and into the hallway, where you flew down to the front door, opening it and glaring at the other pony. “He said tomorrow. They’re here now!”

“Well, let’s be extra careful then.” You gave him a nod and stood to the side, then locked the door, just in case they came down and noticed it open. The pair of you split the house into two separate halves, taking a side each and looking through the rooms. You snagged an apple from the kitchen, then found yourself in a large private library, and sat in the large plush chair, looking at the desk as you swiveled from side to side.

The drawers were not locked, and a quick glance showed that the top one was full of legal documents for the building. They would be useless, as a copy was kept at city hall. You moved to the next one, giving a low chuckle as you read the pony’s name, now revealed to be quite a famous writer of books on pony history. And you were sat in his private collection. You checked the other drawer and found a draft edition of his next book, and swiped it, knowing it would be valuable. There was a sudden crash from another room, and then a thud from upstairs.

You quickly ran to the other room to find Cage just getting out from under a smashed statue of Princess Celestia, and shook your head at him. You were about to head back out into the hall but a flash stopped you, a unicorn stallion standing at the front door. “Hmm, it’s still locked.” He turned your way, and you pointed to the window, ushering Cage towards it.

You managed to get it open and let him out first, but stopped when you noticed a picture on a table. You slowly trotted over and pulled it close, tears starting to form in the corner of your eyes. There was the unicorn stallion stood next to an earth pony mare, with a pegasus filly stood in front of them. You’d recognise that trio of butterflies anywhere. “Fl-f-fluttershy?”

“Who’s in there? Show yourself!” You panicked and ran for the window, attempting to jump out of it, but it was slammed shut in an amber glow, and you impacted the glass… hard. You fell to the floor in a daze, your vision swimming as the stallion stalked towards you, his horn glowing. His gaze then dropped to your hoof, where the photo remained. He turned away and opened the top drawer, rifling through it.

He slowly trotted back over with another picture in his magic, holding it next to your face. He then dropped it to the floor and turned his back to you. Your vision then exploded with stars as his hooves connected with your muzzle, and you slumped to the floor. You managed to catch a glimpse of the picture, which was revealed to be the one taken by Fleetfoot of you kissing Fluttershy. Another hit to your head knocked you out cold.

You awoke with a gasp as water was thrown over you, the pounding in your head not alcohol induced for the first time in… you couldn’t remember, but it still hurt like hay. You sat up with a groan, holding a hoof to your head. Your vision slowly came back, and you could just make out the unicorn stallion on the other side of the room, glaring at you. You went to move closer, but the jingling of chain made you turn around, finding your rear hooves shackled to the wall. The stallion just gave a grunt and walked away, and that’s when you noticed the bars… and the Baltimare Guard watching over you.

You could hear a muffled conversation from beyond the cell, and then came the sound of hooves on the stone floor, different to the angry stomps when he left. Your eyes went wide as Princess Sparkle appeared, looking you over once and shaking her head, letting her horn glow a soft purple. You averted your gaze, then gasped in shock as your shackles popped open, followed by the cell door. “Follow me, Sky Runner.”

You did as told, having no right to refuse, and you were led into a small room, with two chairs in it. The mare pointed one out to you and you took it, still refusing to look. Another pony joined her, and you felt your head turned to look at the newcomer. It was forced away again as Applejack punched you on the muzzle, then turned away. “Buckin’ idiot.” With that she swept out of the room, and third pony entered, your ears twitching.

There were no hoofsteps, leaving just two mares from the group, both of whom had wings. You closed your eyes as she got close, waiting for a beating either way. Instead, a set of hooves wrapped around your neck, pulling you close. You immediately recognised Fluttershy’s scent, and slowly returned the embrace, still not looking.

You felt your hoof being taken from around her back and placed on her stomach, frowning at feeling nothing. You then let out a gasp and your eyes shot open, looking down to where you had felt the kick, seeing the mare’s swollen stomach. You could feel the tears pooling, and pulled away from her, feeling nothing but shame.

You heard wood scraping on the concrete floor, before a hoof slid over your shoulder, and you were pulled against her side, her other hoof starting to run through you mane. “It’s okay, Sky. I’m not angry, I just want you to come home.” Hearing those words broke the floodgates, and you sank your muzzle in to her shoulder, sobbing loudly. “Shh, it’s going to be okay.”

“You’re very lucky. If it wasn’t for my Shy, you’d be straight off to prison.” You fearfully glanced at the stallion now stood in the doorway, scowling in your direction. Your muzzle was turned away from him as the mare next to you gave him one in return, and he slowly disappeared. You finally managed to find your voice, which cracked as you spoke, dropping your head to face the floor.

“Fluttershy, I’m so sorry! I… I didn’t mean anything I said! I was just so angry… but that’s no excuse. And then I did this… I’m guessing this is goodbye, right?” Your head snapped back up as the mare started to giggle and she held your muzzle still, leaning forward to kiss you softly.

“No, silly. You’re coming home. Twilight got them to agree to a deal. You tell them where the others are, and you’re free to go.” You were then in the middle of a moral dilemma. The ponies they wanted you to rat on were your only friends in the city… but they hadn’t even tried to find you. Still, one thing had to be clarified.

“How… long have I been in here?”

“Three days.” If they really cared, they would have come looking for you. You looked Fluttershy in the eyes, realising how much you missed those shimmering cyan pools. You gave her a nod, and she wrapped her forelegs around your neck with a squeal of joy, then went to get up. You were instantly by her side as you noticed her struggling. She gave a happy hum when she felt you pressed against her side, and you slowly stretch out a wing, draping it over her back.

You trotted out of the room together and headed to the front desk, where the guard commander was watching you with a raised eyebrow. You swallowed nervously under his intense scrutiny, but a nuzzle from the side gave you all the courage you needed, and you stood proud as you began to speak. “Look under warehouse fifty seven at about six o’clock tonight. That’s when most of them will be there.”

“Hmm… fifty seven, huh? We’ve been having reports of problems from there. We’ll check it out.” Before you could leave, a flash went off around your foreleg, and you brought it up to find a band around it. The guard wasn’t a unicorn, and you turned around to find both Twilight and the stallion glaring at you, the alicorn stepping forward.

“That is going to make sure you don’t run away from Fluttershy again, and is linked to the one on her hoof.” You glanced down to see a matching one around your mare as well. “If you get any more than five miles from her without her express permission, you’ll fall unconscious. Do you understand?” You didn’t, but with a mare that was both the living embodiment of magic and an alicorn, you weren't going to chance it, so just nodded your head. “Good. Now, I believe you have a lunch to attend.”

“Come on, Fluttershy, your mother is waiting. You too, colt.” You lowered your head as the stallion trotted towards the exit, and you followed the mare as she caught up to him. You followed through the streets of Baltimare, when you realised you were being followed yourself. You looked up to see Cage peeking over the edge of a cloud, nodding in the direction of the docks.

You shook your head in reply, pointing a hoof at the mare in front of you, then back towards the guard station, where a steady stream of armoured ponies was pouring from. You met Cage’s gaze again and he nodded, taking wing in the opposite direction. You caught Fluttershy waving at you and scrambled to catch up. Your walk took you back to the estate on the east side of the city, and back to the house where you were caught.

This time you entered through the front door, even though the stallion slammed it shut with his magic right after. Fluttershy nuzzled your cheek and pushed you into a lounge, and then onto a couch. She climbed up next to you and pressed against your side with a happy sigh, and you tentatively slipped a hoof around her shoulders.

You went to take it away when another mare entered the room, but Fluttershy held it there with one of her own, gently stroking yours. The earth pony smiled softly at you, then set the tea tray on her back onto a small coffee table. “Sky Runner, correct?” You just gave the mare a meek nod, not sure what you should say. “My name is Posey, and this is Parchment Dust. As you may be able to tell, we’re Fluttershy’s parents.”

“Well, I can tell where she gets her good looks from.” You slapped your free hoof over you traitorous muzzle, eyes wide with horror at the first thing you said to her. The two mares started giggling, whilst her father just stood in the doorway, growling lighlty.

“Listen here, colt. I don’t like the way you’ve treated my daughter. But I can see she really cares for you, and her happiness is what matters most to me. The only reason you’re still alive is because she is carrying your child, and it will need a father. But if you step out of line once more…”

Fluttershy nuzzled your cheek, and you shot her an appreciative smile before facing the stallion once more, doing you best to draw strength from your mare. “I assure you, sir, never again. What I did that day was stupid and immature… and I have regretted it since. I promise you, I will do what I can to make your daughter happy until I am no longer able.”

“Hmm, you spoke well. Now comes the hard part, building trust between us. You did break into my house, after all. But for now, the easy part; lunch.” The stallion finally gave a chuckle as your stomach let out a large rumble, and he turned towards the hallway. Fluttershy turned your muzzle to face her, pressing into a passionate kiss.

“So then you two, when is the wedding?” You looked to the other couch, the mare daintily sipping on a cup of tea as she smiled over at you. “Do you really think I would let my daughter have a child first? No, you must get married as soon as possible.” Her father had returned then, four plates of food in his magic, and he was scowling at you once more.

“I hope you’re going to ask for permission to marry my daughter, colt.”

“Oh Parchy, leave him alone! Can’t you see how happy she is, now that she has him back? If all you’re going to do is be hostile, then you can go do it in your study, whilst I sit here with our beautiful daughter and this charming young colt.” You and Fluttershy looked at each other, and then averted your gazes as your cheeks burned in embarrassment. A knock on the door caused the stallion to put the plates down.

You watched as he left the room and heard the door open, but couldn’t quite catch his conversation. Your eyes went wide as two Royal Guards walked in, fixing their gazes upon you. There were followed by a third pony, who trotted over to you and smiled down with the regal motherly look you had seen her use a few times. “Well, my little pony, you certainly are hard to track down.”

Author's Note

Yes, things are moving along slowly. Now, should he reconcile with his parents or not?