To Fluttershy, all that remained of the world was the soft ground that she sat on and the gnarled old tree that she huddled under. Though the bright sun gently warmed the world outside, all of that meant nothing under the cool shade created by the cherry blossoms.
To her, everything not under that tree might as well have been another world. Unfortunately, the one that she found herself in contained nothing but sorrow.
Sniffing gently, she dabbed away her sparkling tears with what was originally a crisp white hoofkerchief, though had since been reduced to a soggy mess.
How could she be so stupid?
It seemed that the question continually swirled around in her mind, taunting her with the revelation that shattered her whole world.
Dimly, she became aware of something moving across the carpet of pink blossoms that the tree that sheltered her from the world had discarded.
Though the steps were muffled, they were undoubtedly moving closer towards her, that very fact sending a stab of panic through the distraught mare.
Even in the best of times she was not very skilled at interacting with other ponies, but she shuddered to think of the outcome of having to do so in the state she was in.
Until about a month ago, she could rely on the fact that she was so familiar with everypony at her school that her shyness barely reared its ugly head.
That all changed when her father, a dedicated salaryman, had received a promotion and a new position in a different prefecture. Before she could comprehend what was happening she had found herself in a new school, wearing an unfamiliar uniform and surrounded by complete strangers.
However, things hadn’t been all bad. The turbulent period had been somewhat eased by the friendship of another mare named Applejack. As class representative of the homeroom Fluttershy had been assigned to, it had been delegated to Applejack show her around the school.
Since then, the two mares had been inseparable and Fluttershy thanked the gods every day that they had smiled down on her so benevolently.
Although good memories, they were buried in the past. In the present they all just made the betrayal that Fluttershy had witnessed hurt even more.
Holding her breath, the yellow mare waited in tense silence. Eventually, the steps grew so close that Fluttershy could hear the owner’s gentle breathing, a stark contrast to her total lack thereof.
Therefore, it was with a sense of horror when she heard the mysterious individual scuffle around in the leaves briefly, before going silent.
Seconds passed as nothing happened, the world seeming to stand still.
The satisfied sigh that emanated from the other side of the tree at least helped to way lay her fear that it was somepony looking for her. He—since the sigh was undoubtedly from a male—must have just come out to the solitary tree to rest.
Just figuring that out sent another bolt of memory through Fluttershy and though she tried to hold it back, a sob escaped her lips.
“Is somepony else here?” a voice suddenly asked in surprise.
Before Fluttershy could even react, there was more movement from the other side of the tree. A cold shiver ran down her spine as the realisation was quickly made, he was going to come round and see her.
“W-wait,” she pleaded desperately, pressing herself as hard as she could into the tree’s trunk in the vain hope that it could somehow hide her. “Please don’t move.”
The rusting immediately ceased, though as the stallion spoke again his voice was obviously curious, and perhaps even a touch concerned. “Why not? Is everything okay?”
It was a nice voice, Fluttershy idly thought to herself. Deep, though not too deep, while still maintaining a soft-spoken quality that was soothing to listen to. One thing about it that she did not like however was the accent that poisoned it, being identical to that of the friend that had betrayed her.
“I’m just a mess, I don’t want anyone to see me like this,” Fluttershy eventually admitted after a long pause, wringing her hoofkerchief in anxiety.
“That’s not the only reason though, is it?” the voice replied in its noticeable twang. “You sound like you've been crying.”
The startling accuracy of the voice made Fluttershy stiffen, making her wings ache as they tried to flare out behind her, only to be compressed by the cherry tree.
In that moment all that Fluttershy wanted to do was run away. Run away and try to find somewhere else where she could be alone. However, that was clearly not an option, what with the invader having only been temporarily halted by her desperate request, a courtesy that would no doubt be rescinded if she tried to depart.
The same applied to if she remained silent, she reasoned. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place and the only way out was to keep talking.
“No, it’s not,” she quietly admitted. “I saw a friend betray me not too long ago.”
The pause that followed made Fluttershy tense up again, worried that she had been too quiet for the voice to hear.
Evidently that was not the case as the voice concluded its musing and replied. “That’s a mighty serious accusation that you’re putting down. What did they do?”
“Umm... I’d rather not talk about that, if that’s okay with you I mean” Fluttershy replied quickly.
“What’s the harm in it?” the voice asked, seeming to take a gentle tone, though it still did not hide the curiosity that shone through. “Sometimes it helps to talk these things out with somepony. Besides, if you’re nervous about word getting out then when we’re finished we can go our separate ways and I’ll never know who you are.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Fluttershy responded weakly, running the tip her hoof in a circle on the ground, the repeated motions leaving an outline of brown amongst the otherwise pink expanse.
“Don’t even think about it,” the voice encouraged. “Just start from the beginning and pretend that you’re talking to yourself. I’ll give you my two bits after you’re done.”
The offer did sound tempting and there didn’t even seem to be any downside to it. Perhaps it could even help ease her heartache, though that was doubtful since it ran so deep.
“Well... okay,” Fluttershy conceded.
Though the voice seemed to stick to its promise to not speak any further until she had finished, the illusion was ruined somewhat since there was several large shuffling noises as its owner presumably got into a more comfortable position.
Trying to ignore the rest of the world around her, Fluttershy began to tell her story.
*****
Fluttershy stared out the window and sighed dreamily, her head gently resting on her hoof.
He was just so perfect and no matter where she was or what she was doing he seemed to never be far from her thoughts. The way his green eyes sparkled as he smiled, or how his orange mane was always windblown just enough as to be stylish, though not enough to make him appear vain.
She even found her mind wandering to how his well defined muscles shifted so fluidly under his bright red coat or how his flank...
She broke off that thought as quickly as it came to her mind, her face blushing so red that it almost matched that of the stallion that lingered in her thoughts.
However, those thoughts, basal as they may have been, still made her long for that sweet day when he would hold her in his strong forelegs and take away all her insecurities and fears.
She couldn’t deny it; she was in love with Macintosh.
With her mortification temporarily disrupting her out of her daydream, she glanced up quickly at the clock up on the wall of the classroom.
The fact that it read half-past four made her frown.
Applejack was running late, a fact that made Fluttershy worry. She knew how much her friend prized punctuality.
While the hour that she had spent waiting for her friend seemed to fly by as she daydreamed, now that she had returned to cold reality the seconds seemed to tick by agonisingly as she stared up at the clock.
Though she tried to return to her fantasies, it proved to be no use, as every minute that she waited seemed to make the anxiousness that bubbled in her stomach grow ever worse.
After a few minutes spent in agony, Fluttershy could stand it no more.
Before leaving, she scrawled a quick note on the board just in case Applejack appeared while she was searching for her.
Two flights of stairs and a short walk later Fluttershy was nearing the most obvious destination, the Student Council offices.
However, as she rounded the final corner, she saw something that made her heart shatter into a million pieces.
There stood Applejack, her best friend, with her forelegs thrown around Macintosh’s neck, nuzzling him in a very affectionate manner while simultaneously wrapping him in a fierce hug. They stood out the front of the student council, both of them with clearly happy smiles on their faces.
“Thanks for helping me out back in there,” Applejack gratefully said.
Choking back a sob, Fluttershy turned and fled, the tears streaming from her eyes reducing the world to a vague blur.
The world flew past her as she ran, not caring where she was going or the noise that she was making.
Eventually, her lungs were no longer capable of sustaining both her sobbing and running, forcing her to slow to a brisk trot.
Somehow she had gotten outside and she feared that somepony would see her. Therefore, it was a great relief when she spotted a cherry blossom nestled at the corner of the wall that surrounded the school grounds.
*****
For a long time, the voice was silent. The only sound permeating around the tree being the faint rustling of the tree in the wind, the occasional sniffle from Fluttershy, and her companion’s gentle breathing.
As the silence stretched even longer Fluttershy began to worry that the stranger had somehow managed to figure out her identity or that of somepony else in her story. She had been especially careful to remain as vague as possible in that regard. Even the event that had revealed the depth of her friend’s treachery had been fairly sparse in description.
“Mr Voice, are you still there?” she timidly ventured.
“Yes, I’m still here,” the stranger replied, though he sounded slightly hesitant. “Listen, I need to ask you a thing or two, it might seem a bit harsh, but do you promise you’ll answer me?”
“Okay,” Fluttershy answered almost automatically, giving a brief nod, before cringing a second later at the stupidity of the gesture.
“This stallion that you talked about, you said that you loved him. I’m curious, why do you love him?”
“Well, he’s just wonderful,” Fluttershy said, her voice taking on a strange, wistful note that was undercut by a bitter note of dejectedness and loss. “The way his smile seems to make me not feel so scared. The way he carries himself with quiet dignity.”
“And have you ever spoken to him?” the voice interrupted.
“Y—yes, of course I have,” Fluttershy admitted defensively, though the catch in her voice made even herself doubt her conviction.
She was stretching the truth in that regard. While she had talked to him, he hadn’t really ever talked to her. Only the occasional ‘eeyep’ or ‘nope’ was ever offered to her in the hooful of times she had worked up the courage to approach him and ask some inane question. However, his stoic demeanour had only added a layer of mystery to him, making her think that he had suffered some heartache that he kept locked up deep inside that only the love of a good mare could ever heal.
“I thought as much,” the voice replied. He paused for a second, taking a deep breath, as if steeling himself for what was to come next. “Are you sure that you really love him?”
“What!?” she exclaimed, outrage burning bright enough for her shyness to be temporarily forgotten. “How can you say such a thing?”
Before she could even think she was on her hooves, ready to go round face down the ingrate that would dare to make such an insensitive suggestion, consequences be damned.
“Well it just sounds to me like you’re misinterpreting your feelings. Don’t get me wrong, it’s clear that you like him, but it seems like you just have a crush on him. Have you ever felt like this before?”
The simple question made her anger leave her as quickly as it had come.
“No,” she mumbled, staring dejectedly at the ground.
“Well that’s just it then,” the voice said, his soft delivery blunting the otherwise hard words. “You’re just a young mare who’s experiencing her first crush.
Was that really just it? All the agony, all of the pain, it was just over a paltry crush.
However, as she thought about it more and more, things slowly began to make sense. There wasn’t a single character trait that Fluttershy could name about the stallion, or at least nothing beyond the superficial level. Even then, looking back at her daydreams they never seemed to focus much on him, just always about how he would fit into her life and make all the bad things in it go away.
Did she really even like the stallion or just the idea of having a dashing knight charging in and taking away all her insecurities?
“Oh, Celestia.” She breathed in a ragged breath, her face burning in shame and tears beginning to cloud her vision anew. “How could I be so silly.”
“There’s no shame in it.” The stranger let out a dry chuckle. “Why I remember there was this mare that I once fancied. Why I followed her around like a love sick puppy until I woke up to reality.”
“R—really?”
“Eeyup! Everypony has to do it at least once, it’s just part of growing up.”
Fluttershy froze. That exclamation, she’d recognise it anywhere.
Timidly, she crept around the base of the tree, almost fearful of whom she would find there, even though there was not a doubt in her mind. As her mysterious companion came into view she drew in a sharp breath.
It was him, exactly as he had been when she had seen him last. He was lying up again the tree, his forelegs resting behind his head as he gazed up at the cherry blossom canopy.
He must have heard her, for the moment after she had laid eyes on him he turned to look at her.
His eyebrows moved up in surprise at seeing her, though he shot her an encouraging smile. “Hello miss, it’s good to see your face. You’ll have to forgive me, but I can’t remember your name.”
“It’s Fluttershy.”
Realisation dawned in his eyes. “Of course, how silly of me. We’ve talked before in the hall.”
Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
“You know,” the stallion began, moving into a sitting position. “I was thinking, since it’s clear that you don’t really mind me recognising you anymore, if you’d still like to talk things about things we can go and get a drink or something. I know a really good tea house nearby.”
He ran his eyes over her form, noticing her red, tear stained eyes and mattered fur.
“Of course, it doesn’t need to be straight away,” he quickly added.
“Umm.” She bashfully hid under her mane. “Wouldn’t your fillyfriend mind?”
“Fillyfriend?” Macintosh replied, pointing his hoof at himself confusedly. “I don’t have a fillyfriend.”
“B—but I saw you earlier today with Applejack?”
The red stallion regarded her quizzically with one eye, before promptly bursting into laughter. “Oh. You... you thought that we? Celestia no. She’s my sister,” he managed to splutter out. “She was just being a bit over affectionate after I backed her up during student council after one of our fellows got a bit aggressive.”
Eventually his mirthful rocking slowly decreased until it ceased completely. Whipping away a tear, Macintosh returned to giving the yellow mare an expectant gaze. Oddly enough, Fluttershy was thankful for his laughter, it had given her some time for the colour to leave her face and to get a grip on her thoughts.
Though Fluttershy fully expected for her heart to soar at the revelation, it did not. While even a couple of hours ago she would have accepted his offer without even pausing to think about it, now she wasn’t so sure.
“That’s sweet of you for offering Macintosh,” she replied, “but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline for now.”
The confused expression on the stallion’s face made her giggle softly.
“My mind's a mess right now and I need to go home and have a long hard think about things,” she offered.
Macintosh gave her a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof. “I understand, I wouldn’t want to see anymore of somepony if they had said those things to me.”
Darting forward, Fluttershy gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, making the stallion rear back in surprise. “Don’t be like that Macintosh. What you did was probably one of the kindest things anypony has ever done for me.”
Not even giving him a chance to respond, Fluttershy unfolded her wings and took to the air, rising higher and higher until she reached the clouds. She felt lighter than she had in a long, long time.
Macintosh could only watch, astounded, as she departed. Cherry blossoms that were dislodged by the displaced air beginning to fall gently to the ground around him.
“Damn it,” he swore under his breath. “I think I’m in love.”
