Chapters 1 - Arrival in town
The sun was rising on Ponyville.
Trappy Tickles was going out of the train station. The morning sun was reflecting on his black and purple mane and tail ; and was heating softly his grey robe. It was a very long time he didn’t came back in Ponyville. He used to live in Las Pegasus with his family. He sometimes had the occasion to go to Ponyville for vacations, but this time, it wasn't for resting or enjoying the warm weather of the spring.
Trappy wanted to change of air. Finding a job was difficult in a big city like Las Pegasus. And the air of the city was getting too heavy for him. He remembered his stepsister was living in Ponyville, this little country town he used to go on his childhood vacations. So he decided to try his luck here, after his stepsister accepted to lodge him at her house.
The grey pegasus stretched his wings a bit and got out of the train station, holding his luggage on his back. He scanned the surroundings with his blue eyes. Nothing much really changed from his memories. As he trots, he remembers slowly each street he used to roam around, when he was a young colt. A smile started to grow on his muzzle.
"Hey newcomer, you’re smiling!!" he hears as a pink bouncy pony hops near him cutely.
Trappy stays a bit confused "Hmm… Hello?" he says.
"Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! Are you a new resident in town? I’m pretty sure you was because when i seen you with your stuff i thought *GASP* but after i smiled and i thought "Yay! A new friend for Pinkie!" so here I am and, where are you from? You have family here? And what’s your name?" says the named Pinkie Pie, very quickly.
"I’m Trappy Tickles. I’m moving here, in the hope of finding a job and a new life. I used to live in Las Pegasus and-" He stops as Pinkie starts to stare at him with a confused face. Knowing what was going on, he adds "Oh, and yes, i’m not a mare, i’m a stallion."
Pinkie smile and nods energetically. Trappy has a very effeminate body. Thin body, round and small muzzle, he is often confused as a mare, the only clue about his real gender getting hidden between his hind legs, behind the tail… He was subject to teasing by the other colts, when he was younger. But he learned to live with it and assumes pretty well this girly part of him. Actually, metrosexual ponies were getting more and more en vogue today and he was kinda lucky by that.
"Ooooh!" says Pinkie, suddenly "I must DEFINITELY make a party to welcome you!! Meet me at the Sugar Cube Corner tonight, i’ll do all the rest! See ya tonight!" And she hops away quickly, all happy.
Trappy smiles softly "She’s cute and fun. " he thoughts.
Suddenly, he sees a shadow running quickly in front of him and suddenly, BAM ! Something big hits him and makes him fall with his luggage.
As he recovers a bit, he says “Hey, can’t you watch where you’re flyi-”
He stops as he notices who fell on him. The thing that hit him was a grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane. Her googly yellow eyes were trying to stare at him and the mare smiled wide.
"Big brother!" she exclaims, hugging him tight
"Sissy Derpy! I was wondering where you were, you’re in late." says Trappy, giving a cute nuzzle to his stepsister.
"Sorry big bro… Now i’m here! Lemme take you home! Want me to hold your luggage?"
Trappy chuckles "it’s ok, sissy. It’s not that heavy."
He remembers how clumsy Derpy is. When he was on vacations, he used to defend and protect his stepsister who was bullied sometimes for her clumsyness and her googly-eyes.
The two pegasi entered Derpy’s house and Trappy got some rest in his new room. Derpy did her best to make a comfy room for him. some things weren’t right, like some drawers turned upside down. Trappy smiles softly. He always found cute his sister’s clumsiness. The trip tried him so much, he dozed off in a nap…
"Big bro?" His sister’s voice wakes him up slowly, after a few hours "Pinkie Pie told me she prepared a party for you… We should go, it’s getting late!"
Trappy opened his eyes widely "Pinkie! I almost forgot!"
The party was in the fashion of Pinkie’s party : Big, with almost everypony of the town, cakes, cupcakes, games, music… For sure, Pinkie knows how to party. Trappy was staying shyly near Derpy. He was naturally shy and all of these new people were scaring him a bit. Actually, he didn't really said anything during the party, except when Pinkie and Derpy were talking to him. And Pinkie was speaking a lot!
"Oh! You will see, you will love Ponyville! Like, Twilight has the best library ever! She even has coloring books and all! And you will loooooove the cakes, Applejack's family made apple pies, apple cakes, apple fritters, apple apples, apple- oh! and I totally knew you were new, i know everypony in this town, we're all friends, and soon you'll be my best friend too! Even if i have a lot of best friends too and-"
Trappy was a bit lost in Pinkie's monologue, but he was smiling. The joyful mare was bringing some sunshine in his heart and, even if he barely spoke with anybody else that night, he was feeling more confident.
After all, he just arrived. And even if he was shy for now, the party was showing that everything will certainly be fine, in this new town.
2 - Meeting two mares
The next morning, Trappy was roaming around the town, in a quest for a job.
As he does, he notices a beautiful unicorn pulling a heavy cart filled with gems. Even with her magic, she was visibly having issues to pull the cart. So he approached her, fighting his shyness.
"C-care for some help, miss?" he asks.
The mare turned her head to face him. She was a beautiful white unicorn with big blue eyes and a wonderful indigo mane which was curled in fashion. Her beauty made him miss a heartbeat and he blushes red. She smiled "Oh, that would be helpful, darling, thank you! You would be a gentlecolt." Trappy smiles, and after he gets the harness set, he starts to pull the cart. "Oof! " He thoughts as it’s heavier than he thoughts.
"You’re that newcomer, Trappy Tickles, right?" Asked the mare.
"Why, yes, it's me..." mumbles shyly Trappy. "Sorry, i'm... pretty shy usually... W-what's your name?"
"I'm Rarity. Nice to meet you!"
Trappy opens his eyes widely "Rarity? THE Rarity, the famous clothing designer??"
Rarity blushed softly "Y-yes, that's me, darling... I'm honored you know my work."
Trappy smiles "It's hard to not know you. Everypony speaks of your work in Las Pegasus. Your work is amazing!... And you're beautiful too!..."
Trappy bites his lips at his last words... It was coming straight from the heart and he got scared he went too fast. But Rarity smiles and blushes a bit more.
"W-well, thank you, hun... You're... you're very pretty too!" says Rarity, looking away, a bit embarrassed. After a while, she turned to him again and asks "So, what a pegasus like you does here in Ponyville?"
"I'm looking for a job...and a new life too... I was...tired of the big city i guess... Do you know where i can find a job?" asks Trappy.
Rarity thinks a moment and nods "Well, with Spike, I always have the help I need, but I can call you if you need help!... I also heard Fluttershy might need some too."
"How that?"
"Fluttershy takes care of the animals of Ponyville. The mating season is ending and the future mothers are in gestation. They have alot of needs and i know the poor dear uses to do this alone. I know it's a lot of work, even if she doesn't tell us the details. So I think you should try to see her, if you love animals."
Trappy nods "Sounds good to me."
As Rarity was telling Trappy the way to reach Fluttershy's cottage, the couple arrived at the Carousel Boutique. "There we are, darling! Thank you so much!" and Rarity gave to Trappy two golden bits as he takes off the harness.
"Wow.. I don't know if I can accept, it wasn't that-"
"Shush, darling." Interrupts Rarity. "You need the money and it's the least I can do."
Trappy nods and smiles, thanking Rarity, then he gets on his way to Fluttershy's cottage, turning around sometimes to admire Rarity's body. "Sweet Celestia, she's so pretty... " He thoughts.
Fluttershy's cottage was surrounded by birds and bunnies ; and seemed peaceful as Trappy entered the garden. He knocks on the door and waits... But no response after a while. "I guess she is outside taking care of the animals. " He thoughts.
Behind him, he hears a soft flapping sound and four light hooves hitting the ground, followed by a sweet voice saying "Hem.. Excuse me.. May I help you?" Trappy turned around to see who just talked.
Trappy felt like a thundershock hitting him. A paralyzing feeling he never felt before. Therefore, it wasn't a bad feeling. In the contrary. Trappy was facing a beautiful pegasus mare with a long beautiful pink mane which was covering a bit her eyes. Their color was confusing him, he wasn't sure about if they were blue or green. Trappy's heart bounced hard on his chest and his face blushed red as he was, in the same time, unable to turn away his look from the mare in front of him, his wings deployed awkwardly.
The mare was looking at him too, her muzzle pointing down and scratching the ground a bit with her hoof of embarrassment. The two shy ponies stayed silent for a long moment, as they both feel embarrassed to death, but unable to stop looking at the other at the same time. Finally, Trappy is the first one to regain speech.
"A-are you F-F-Fluttershy?" he asks.
Fluttershy eeps a bit, surprised by the silence broken by the voice, but she nods "Y-yes... Were you..l-looking for me?"
Trappy nods "T-that's a.. a beautiful name.." he says as he blushes. He gasps as he realizes what he just said and he adds "uh-I mean, I... I'm Trappy Tickles... I heard you might need help with animals and... Since i'm.. looking for a job, well..."
Fluttershy smiles softly and loses a bit of her embarrassment at these words. "Why of course!.. That would be very helpful in this time of the year. You like animals?"
Trappy nods "I do, a lot! Thought, i don't have a lot of experience in animal caring..." he lowers his head sadly as he realizes it, now. He indeed loves all the animals, but he never got the occasion of really taking care of one. He never had a pet, before.
Fluttershy nods and smiles softly, still digging shyly with her hoof "Well... I-I would be glad to teach you if you want to help me... If it's okay with you, of course..."
Trappy smiles and nods "It would be a pleasure!"
Fluttershy and Trappy spent the day together for Trappy's learning. Fluttershy was so sweet and so kind, his heart was bouncing hard all day long. She was entering his heart more and more, every second. He got surprised on how fast he learned about the animals thanks to her. He was remembering every word, every instructions the yellow mare was giving to him. It wasn't that easy for him, when he was at school. Or Fluttershy is a great teacher, or something else motivates him more than usual. Trappy was unable to know...
When they finished, it was late in the afternoon. Fluttershy gave Trappy his first pay and smiles.
“You learned so fast and you helped me so much… If you want to work with me again, I.. would love it, you will be always welcome.” says calmly Fluttershy, with her soft voice.
Trappy smiles “W-well, if you want me to… come back...everyday...to help you, i… would be honored!” He shyly digs the ground with his hoof, blushing a bit.
Fluttershy blushes and nods “it would be a pleasure!”
“Okay, i’ll come back tomorrow then.”
“Have a nice day, Trappy!” Fluttershy says as she waves and gets inside her home.
Trappy waves back and stays still, for a moment, watching the cottage before he goes back to his sister’s house, his head full of thoughts. He couldn’t take off Fluttershy from his mind. Her beautiful body, her eyes, her sweet voice… He already fell in love in the past, but not that way. Not that strong. What he experienced was a real love at first sight.
That night, as he was dining with Derpy, his head was still in the clouds. Derpy was a bit confused by her brother’s short replies. But the smile on his face was telling him that he was feeling okay. “I hope you will love your new job, big brother!”
3 - Running Wild
Trappy got outside of the house and stretched his hooves and his wings. Then he trotted to the hills between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. He wanted to exercise a bit, before going to Fluttershy’s house for his job.
As he comes out of the town, he observed the surroundings. The prairie was peacefully waking up, under the morning sun Princess Celestia was raising. Trappy made a step, then another, then more steps faster, and he started to run for real all around the prairie, between the trees. His speed was incredible. He was running visibly faster than any earth pony. So fast, a black and purple trail appeared behind him.
After a while, he stopped near a tree, panting softly and sitting there, to recover his strength. “I love this place. There’s clearly more space for running, here. ” he thoughts. He sighs of relief and he suddenly hears rustling leaves, above his head. He gets back and looks at the tree. He sees the head of a cyan colored head of a mare that was looking at him.
“Oh, it’s you, that new girl who moved here recently!” she says.
Trappy blushes and says “Well, actually, I’m a stallion… but yes, it's me.”
Surprised, the mare got down from the tree and approached him. She was a pegasus with pretty purple eyes and a beautiful rainbow colored mane. She stared at him from everywhere, turning around him “You look pretty girly for a male… I like it!” she says. Trappy chuckles, embarrassed a bit.
Then she adds “I’m Rainbow Dash. The fastest flyer of Equestria for sure!”
“Trappy Tickles.” Trappy replies, brohoofing the mare.
“I was sleeping in the tree but your running woke me up. And I couldn’t help but watching you do. You’re incredibly fast on your hooves, bro!”
“Why...thanks.” Trappy says, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed.
“I would love to make a race with you! I’m sure you’re pretty fast with your wings too!” Rainbow replies as she already gets near Trappy, ready to start the race.
Trappy gets a bit scared. He was about to decline, but it was too late. The rainbow pegasus was determined to do this race. “Ready? GO!” She shouts, and she flies away, really fast, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Trappy deployed his wings and started to fly behind her.
It wasn’t going good for him. Although his running was incredibly fast, his flying skills were awful. Fluttershy was flying faster than him. He just reached a hundred of meters when Rainbow Dash joined him, finishing the race.
“Hey, don’t joke me, bro, I was serious about the race!” Rainbow giggles.
“I…” Trappy sighs “I might run fast… but I don’t know how to correctly fly...”
Rainbow laughed hard, rolling on her back and Trappy looked down, sadly. Rainbow notices his frown and loses instantly her laugh. “Oh… It’s… I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was that hurting.” Rainbow nuzzled Trappy and he smiles a bit again.
“I can fly straight in line fast, but I can’t turn or stop myself easily. Since i’m a colt, I never could get myself flying correctly. I’m always scared to crash somewhere if I do, since I always crashed when I tried… So instead, I learned to run. And as you could see, I run faster than I fly…”
“Well.. You would like me to teach you a bit about flying?” Rainbow asks.
“That would be nice!” Trappy smiles, nodding. “I’m not very fond of flying but if I-”
He suddenly notices the sun up in the sky “Oh my! I’m gonna be late! I must go! Thank you, Rainbow, I’ll see you later for that!” leaving Rainbow with a fast black and purple trail going in Ponyville.
“You can call me Dashie!” She shouted with a smile.
Trappy wasn’t late for his appointment, thanks to his speed. Fluttershy and him started the morning duties and everything went fine. After a few hours, lunchtime arrived.
“It’s time to eat.” Fluttershy says.
“F-Fluttershy, I… I’d love to.. Invite you to a restaurant today.”
Fluttershy looked at him confused and blushed “I.. I would be happy… But I’m the one paying for it, then,... if it’s okay with you...”
Trappy shakes his head “Nah, I’m the one inviting you.”
“M-May I insist? You arrived recently in town. You should keep the money you earned for a bit longer… And it would be my pleasure to thank you this way…”
They glanced at each other a moment and they giggled softly together. Trappy nods “Alright then, but next time, I’ll pay it.”
The Sugar Cube Corner was almost full, that day. Fluttershy and Trappy were eating muffins together in front of each other.
“They’re very tasty… No wonder why sissy loves them so much!” Trappy says. “I’ll have to get some for her, for tonight.”
Fluttershy smiles “Should be wonderful to have a sister.”
“Actually we’re only brother and sister in law. I only could see her for vacations… But now I live with her, while I wait for a vacant house in Ponyville. But I missed her, yes… D’you have any family?”
Fluttershy was about to reply when a “I’m here Spikey Wikey!” is heard behind Trappy’s back. He turned aside and he noticed Rarity at a table, joined by a purple and green baby dragon.
“Wow, a baby dragon!... I always thought dragons were legends. I never seen a real dragon before…” says Trappy.
Fluttershy smiles “Spike is an adorable dragon. He’s the assistant of Twilight Sparkle in the library… And it’s been a moment that him and Rarity are dating.”
“Dating?” says Trappy, surprised. They both looked at the couple. Spike and Rarity were speaking, unable to leave each other’s glance. From where they are, Trappy was unable to get what they were saying, but they looked happy. there was some aura between them. Something sweet.
“In my opinion, they’re more than just friends. They look like they’re in love for each other… But, none of them dared make the first step, apparently… But, look how happy they appear, when they’re together.” says Fluttershy.
“I envy them… Must be…” He turned away to face Fluttershy, blushing red as he feels her eyes on him “Must be…wonderful…to be in love…” Fluttershy blushed too, but was unable to stop glancing at Trappy either. They both looked at each other, for a long moment, without a word, their hearts beating in rhythm…
Fluttershy was first to react as she seen the clock, from the corner of her eye. “Oh my! We should go!... We’re late for the cleaning of the bunnies hutches!” she panicked.
Trappy started to panic a bit too, but then, he got an idea. As they get out, he says. “Flutters, get on my back. I’ll take us to the hutches.”
“W-What?” she replies, surprised. “But how-”
“Trust me! You’ll see!” says Trappy.
Fluttershy nods and climbs on Trappy’s back. “Clench your legs around me, close your eyes and don’t let go!” Fluttershy obeys. As he feels she’s ready, Trappy started to run through Ponyville. He wasn’t as fast as usual, but enough to leave a black and purple trail behind him. Fluttershy screamed of fear at the speed. But, three seconds later, she suddenly noticed Trappy stopped running. They were arrived.
Fluttershy gets down from Trappy’s back, shaking like a scared lamb, but amazed to be back so fast.
“Oh...my… You… How did you do that?” she stutters.
“Oh.. Just some… training…” Trappy replies, panting a bit.
As they go back to the duties, Trappy tells Fluttershy about his running skills, and also his inability to fly fast in counterpart.
“W-Well, I don’t mind, Trappy… You know,.. I’m not a good flyer either…”
They looked at each other again a long moment, realizing their common…
Trappy was going back home in the evening. He was walking slow, remembering the sweet day he got with Fluttershy. His walk leaded him to the park. There was nobody really around, except for three fillies playing together on the grass… He also noticed something, sitting on a bench. It wasn’t a pony. It was Spike. And he was looking sad.
Listening to his heart, Trappy approached him and sits at his sides. Fighting his shyness, Trappy started “You don’t look really happy, lil’ fella.”
Spike sighs and says “It’s just…girls… I don’t understand them. I wonder what she thinks of me.”
Trappy nods and sighs too, absentmindedly watching the three fillies playing and yelling something about cutie marks. “I know that too well… I wish I know what’s in the mind of the girl I dream of.”
Spike turned to Trappy “Then, you know?... You know how it feels, right?”
Trappy nods. “Though… For how much long you date each other?”
“I’d say…around 4 months…”
Trappy nodded and watched Spike “Dude, I think you should tell her what you feel.”
“But what if she rejects me?”
“She won’t.” Trappy smiled “To be honest, I seen you both at the Sugar Cube Corner today. The way you looked at each other… Believe me, I don’t think she sees you just as a friend. You should take her to another-… no, wait, even better.” He stands up and faces Spike. “You’re going to get a big bouquet de fleurs, run to the Carousel Boutique and tell her your feelings, tonight!”
Spike doesn’t say anything, confused. Trappy’s look was determined. He was certain of what was going on. It couldn’t fail in his opinion.
“You know what? Climb on my back. I’ll take you there.”
Spike was amazed on how this pegasus can run so fast while not using his wings. In less than 20 minutes, he had a beautiful bouquet and was in front of the Carousel Boutique. Trappy even had time to stop by the Sugar Cube Corner to get the muffins for his sister.
“It’s here that I leave you. Just tell her what you have in the heart and all will be fine, I’m sure. Good luck!” says Trappy as he runs back to Derpy’s home, without even hearing Spike thanking him behind him.
During the dinner, Trappy told Derpy about his day. Trappy was feeling accomplished today. He was hoping that everything would turn well, for Spike… And was hoping to feel something similar with Fluttershy, soon…