Blood Red As Apples

Fluttershy fidgeted and groaned slightly as a sharp ray of sunlight spread across her closed eyelids. Really? She had to get out of bed right now? But she had just been having the most wonderful dream. Sighing she rolled over, determined to catch at least a few more minutes on the end of the most delightful of fantasies. As her arm moved to hug into one of the many thick pillows that decorated her bed her hand met with something much harder than she was used to finding there.

Furrowing her brow, Fluttershy ran her hand along the unfamiliar object in her bed. Whatever it was it was tough and as her fingers graced slightly over it the surface it was slightly bumpy. Still unsure, she cautiously cracked an eyelid to see what it was that was sharing a bed with her. Her vision was greeted with a large red stallion lying on his back next to her, his chest rising and falling as he let out gentle snores.

Suddenly memories from the previous night came flooding back to Fluttershy, and she let out a small gasp, rolling onto her back, eyes wide with surprise. Everything from the night before came rushing back to her in an instant. Every touch, and every thought from last night ran through her mind in a short loop. Oh god the things that they had done in this bed. The things that they had said. Fluttershy chewed nervously on her bottom lip and looked back at Mac. He fidgeted slightly, and grumbled something that she couldn’t quite make out before falling back into a deep sleep, a small smile alighting on his lips. He seemed happy to her.

Rolling back over to face him she cautiously stretched an arm across his chest and nuzzled her face into his shoulder, determined to soak in as much of this morning as she could before he woke up. Besides, it wasn’t like she’d ever woken up with the stallion of her dreams lying in bed next to her before. And damn it, if it never happened again she wanted to experience every second of it that she could.

Pressing her still naked body tightly against Big Macintosh, Fluttershy took all of the time in the world to enjoy being next to him; using the long minutes just to deeply breathe in his scent and running her thin fingers across his thick pectoral muscles. Time dissolved quickly around her as she stared at her sleeping lover with half lidded eyes. Occasionally Mac would grumble, and shift a little bit and Fluttershy’s muscles would freeze. She would wish that their time together would last longer, if just for a second. And every time, Mac would settle back down, granting her wish.

Fluttershy had never felt as content with her life as she did that morning. There was no real way to describe the intense amount of satisfaction she was experiencing. Her bed had never been as warm and comforting, and her mind had never felt so at peace. She concluded that this had to be the height of luxury.

That was until her stomach impolitely growled up at her.

Giving a groan of annoyance she pressed her face harder against Mac’s side. Tightly closing her eyes and doing her best to ignore the persistent gnawing feeling in her belly. But, try as she might, the feeling didn’t go away and, giving a final sigh of defeat, she rolled over and pushed the covers off of her body.

She was glad that the sunlight had warmed up the room as she flung her legs over the edge of bed and stretched her naked body, her breasts heaving slightly as she breathed in the fresh morning air. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes with a wrist and yawning as her feet touched the ground. Standing up and moving towards her dresser she stopped by her sleeping lover to run a gentle hand down his cheek and lean in for a quick kiss on his brow.

Stepping noiselessly over to her dresser she pulled open the top drawer and rummaged around for a pair of panties to slip into. Pulling out a cute little pink pair she pulled them on, threading her thick tail through the hole in the back. Looking up in the mirror she ran a hand through her hair. Her normally well-kept pink locks were frazzled and messy. Letting her hair fall back over her face and picking up a comb from between a couple of candles she began to pass it through the nests of pink knots.

It wasn’t long before Fluttershy realized the futility of her efforts and tossed the brush aside with an exasperated sigh. Instead, she grabbed at a hairband and wrapped her hair into a tight ponytail. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. There, problem solved.

Padding over to her closet she bent over and picked up a t-shirt from the ground, slipping it on and pushing her wings through the back. She liked this shirt. It was simple and gray, with a bold red rose printed on the front. Sure it was a little big on her but she liked that too. It made her feel… wild and carefree. When she pushed her wings through her shirt she caught another glimpse of herself in the mirror and frowned slightly.

Her wings were just a mess. Her feathers were all askew and a few of them looked just about ready to fall out. Oh darn it all, she was going to have some serious preening set out for her today. But that would come later, Right now she was hungry, and when he woke up she was certain that Mac would be too.

Cracking open the door she slipped quietly into the hallway and, casting one last look at the stallion sleeping so comfortably in her bed, shut the door noiselessly behind her. Walking down the hallway her eyes ran over the pictures until she noticed one flipped face down on her wall.

Driven by curiosity her fingers gripped the edge and turned the frame over.

Immediately she regretted the action as her friend Applejack smiled at her from the photograph. Biting her lip she cautiously placed the photo back down. Face against the wall. But it was too late. Thoughts started rushing through her head. What if Applejack found out about this? She’d hardly ever spoken to Mac before and what would her friend say when he was suddenly being found in her bed!

These thoughts raced through her mind while she turned on the stove and collected her ingredients. Eggs, milk, butter, bacon, pancake mix, frying pan, measuring cup, spatula. Everything came together in a nice batter that sizzled pleasantly when it hit the pan, filling the air in the kitchen with a wonderful aroma. Why couldn’t life be as simple as flipping over a pancake? When one was done you just stack it on the pile with a few more.

“Hey, beautiful. What’s cookin'?” A pair of thick arms wrapped around her stomach, startling her so much that the pancake she had currently poised on her spatula flew up with a jerk of her wrist and fell back onto the counter with a wet ‘flap’.

Turning around, Fluttershy looked up into Mac’s grinning face. “Well. good mornin’ ta you too.” He said, rubbing a hand across Fluttershy’s lower back.

“G-good morning. I’m sorry, you just…caught me off guard.” Fluttershy responded, standing on her toes and wrapping her arms around his neck, planting a timid kiss on his cheek.

“Well it’s the darndest thing. Ah wake up alone in an unfamiliar bed, confused as all-get-out, when suddenly I smell the most heavenly thing Ah ever smelt. And when Ah come downstairs to investigate what do I find but the sexiest mare in all of Equestria standin’ around in her panties cookin’ what looks like the best set of pancakes I’m ever gonna get ta taste.” Mac’s lips hovered closer to hers with every word he spoke. “Ah just couldn’t help mahself.”

“You’re a shameless flatterer, aren’t you?” Fluttershy retorted, a coy smile of her own etched on her lips. “So why don’t you help me set up the table and you can enjoy breakfast with a view.” She flicked her tail excitedly as she pushing him gently back and turned to her stove. “There should be orange juice and syrup in the fridge.”

Fluttershy’s heart was racing intensely in her chest, and her cheeks were blazing crimson. She’d never flirted with anyone like that before. The rush that came from being desired by Ponyville’s most eligible stallion was almost too much for her to handle as she continued to cook their breakfast.

Once everything was made and Mac had finished laying out the dining-ware Fluttershy laid out the food. Big Mac thanked her and dove straight into the food as soon as it hit his plate. Fluttershy smiled and sat down across from him, her fork pecking lightly at her plate.

Looking up from the glass of juice he was swigging down Mac saw the nervous look on her face as she picked lightly at her food. Setting down his cup he reached over and lightly gripped her hand. When she looked up at him he cleared his throat. “So, exactly how much of what happened last night do you remember?”

Fluttershy froze for a second before looking back up into his eyes. “I…I remember taking care of the animals and getting prepared for bed when somebody crawled in through the window and jumped on me.” She quietly fidgeted with her fork for a minute before continuing in a shaky voice. “It was too dark to make out anything specific about him but he had these nasty…sharp….t-teeth.” She sniffled and rubbed her eyes, and Mac ran his thumb over the back of her hand comfortingly. “He held me down to the bed and c-covered my mouth. He said that he’d have his way with me and then f-feed on me. I was so scared,” A small trickle of a tear ran its way down her cheek. She sniffled and wiped it away then looked up at Mac and smiled. “But then you came to my rescue. Bursting through the door with knife in hand and jumped straight at him. All I could do was sit there, useless and terrified, while you fought him off. And once you did, you made sure that I was alright. And then I told you…and then we…we…” Her voice trailed off.

“So ya remember a lot?”

“Yeah.” Fluttershy began to pick at her breakfast again, eating more than just playing with it now. “But I’d like to think that I remember the good things more than the bad. Besides,” she looked up at him with a saucy smile and let a small bite of a pancake slide from the end of her fork into her mouth, “after all I did need someone to…comfort me…after what happened.”

Big Macintosh chuckled slightly “Well sometimes a pretty mare just needs a strong country boy to keep her safe at night.”

The rest of their meal followed that pattern. Small flirtations and giggles between bites of food. Fluttershy was actually quite proud of herself. She was getting better at this already. The rest of that breakfast went back and forth like that until everything had been eaten. Once the last bite had been swallowed both Fluttershy and Mac moved to clear off the table. Macintosh striding over to the sink to put away their dishes while Fluttershy cleaned away everything else.

As she grabbed the handle of the orange juice jug a strong hand placed itself on her stomach and pulled her back. Fluttershy let out a surprised noise and jumped a little. “Gotcha again.” Macintosh chuckled. She didn’t even have to look back to tell he was smirking.

Turning around quickly she wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a coy smile upwards. “Should I start watching my back in my own kitchen now?”

His face crept closer to her, “Only when I’m in here.” Their lips connected and the air in the room suddenly grew heavy with excitement. Their mouths began a hot and furious grinding against one another. Their tongues unanimously moved into each-others mouths, pushing and fighting against one another. Every inch that Mac gained on her she won back with fevered passion, letting the two slippery masses move against one another, unfettered by thought or reason.

Fluttershy could feel herself being lifted slightly and she obliged his actions, leaning back until she felt the edge of the table pressing against her rump. She felt him lift her up and fully deposit her so that she sat on her dining room table. Scooting back further her tail twitched from excitement and her wings unfurled themselves. Unbidden one of Fluttershy’s legs stretched outward, and she leaned back, dragging Macintosh down on top of her. She separated her lips from his for just a moment, his sweet, syrup-scented, breath brushing gently over her cheek and she gave a tortured little groan. “Mmmm, but I look like such a mess right now…”

Mac’s lips distracted her from further words with softly peppered kisses along her neck as a hand stealthily slipped its way under her shirt and slowly snaked its way up her stomach to her breasts, gently cupping and massaging one. “You know that ain’t even close ta bein’ on my mind right now,” he mumbled, letting his fingers work their magic on the mare beneath him.

Fluttershy felt herself get lost under the spell his fingers wove on her body. His right hand pushing and squeezing her breast; his index finger and thumb gently pinching and teasing her nipple. His left hand had felt its way up her side until it had found its way behind her head to pull her in for another heated kiss. She felt his hips grinding desperately against her, pressing between her legs in a way that told her exactly what was on his mind in that moment. And as much as she shared that primal, animalistic need with him in that moment those thoughts terrified her.

Her palm came up and pressed daintily against his cheek. Though there was no force behind the movement his head moved back with her wishes, his tongue pressing longingly against hers for as long as it could before detaching. He looked down at her with the same confused expression a puppy might make when you just took away its toy.

She took a moment catch her breath, rubbing a thumb along his rough cheek; his unshaven stubble scratching gently against her skin. “What would your sister say if she saw us like this?” she whispered up to him, a look of genuine concern in her eye.

Immediately the heated tension seemed to drain from the room as the thought suddenly crossed Mac’s mind. Sighing with disappointment he pulled his hand from under her shirt and stood back up.

Fluttershy sat up and looked apologetically up at him through her hair. “I’m sorry. I was just…”

“No, it’s fine. You just reminded me that my sisters are probably worried sick about me right now.” He gave a low chuckle and scratched the back of his head, “Probably shoulda told someone I was going out for the night.” He reached out and gently grabbed her hand, his large fingers engulfing her smaller ones. “Listen, Ah’m really glad I got ta meet ya last night. And it’s about more than just tha sex. Ah…Ah feel like I could give ya a whole list of reasons I wanna stay with ya here forever, and I wish more than anythin’ right now that I didn’t have to leave, but I know I’m probably gonna get an earful when I get back anyways so it’s best if I don’t prolong it.”

Fluttershy nodded, “I understand. But…are you going to, um, come back?”

“Only if ya want me to.” The farm stallion responded, squeezing Fluttershy’s hand lightly. “Only if ya want me to. But,” he paused for a moment to look into her eyes, “I want you to be sure about this. I mean if there’s gonna be something between us, whatever you want it to be, love, or sex, or companionship, I want you to be sure that you want it. I don’t wanna just be an intrusion in your life because of one night. If’n ya need ta think about it I need ya ta understand that I can wait for ya, If it’s just an hour, a week, a decade, or forever; at the end of that forever I’ll be there waiting for ya.”

Fluttershy smiled meekly up at him and ran a hand against his cheek, “I really appreciate that. I think that maybe I do need some time to think about this. Everything that’s happened has come at a rush. I know I feel something here between us but I don’t know what yet. Is there some way I can, um, get in touch with you, maybe, when I’ve thought about it.”

“Yeah.” Mac let go of her hand and looked around him. “You got somethin’ I can write my number down on?”

“Mhmm.” Fluttershy nodded and let herself down from her seated position on the table and moved to rummage through a drawer in her kitchen counter before pulling out a note pad and a pen.

Mac nodded and took the pen and pad from her. Scribbling down some numbers on the pad he ripped the sheet off and handed it to Fluttershy. “That’s my private number. You can call or text me at any time and I’ll come for ya as quick as I can.” He moved from the kitchen into the living room and Fluttershy followed, scanning the number scrawled across the yellow paper.

Picking up his utility belt of hunters’ tools Big Macintosh flung it over his shoulder and looked over at Fluttershy. “I’m gonna let this be your choice, Fluttershy. I don’t wanna pressure ya, or make ya feel guilty. I just want you to let me know if you ever want something between us.” Pulling open the front door to her home, he leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Fluttershy’s crimson cheek. “Whenever you’re ready you can just let me know.” Throwing one last smile back at Fluttershy he exited her home and closed the door behind him.

Fluttershy stared longingly at the door for a moment, tightly clutching the yellow parchment to her chest. Her instincts told her to fling open the door and call out to him. Demand that he come back and be hers. Demand that he hold her tightly and never let go. Demand that he come back to bed and rut her until she couldn’t see in a straight line anymore. But doubt stayed her hand from pulling the door open and demanding these things.

Instead she moved quietly over to her couch and sat down heavily, pulled a pillow over her face and let out a long and frustrated groan. Letting the plush cushion fall back onto her sofa Fluttershy spent a long time just chewing on her bottom lip and staring at the ceiling. Everything in her comfortable little cottage was uncomfortably silent. The familiar little sounds of tweeting birds and scampering paws weren’t littered through the air and it made the yellow caregiver uneasy. She’d never found herself feeling this way before. To both want and be wanted, but still be too frightened to act on anything she desired.

Determined to do something other than sit around a twiddle her thumbs moping about her situation, Fluttershy stood up and moved towards her stairs. Maybe she couldn’t sort out the mess that her emotions were in, but she could at least fix herself up to not be such a mess anymore.

Stripping off her clothes she turned on the faucet and sat on the edge of her bath, letting the water rush over her outstretched fingers until it became comfortably hot. Turning on her shower she stepped into the tub and pulled the curtain closed.

The sudden shock of hot water spraying across her naked body caused Fluttershy to jump slightly before settling as her muscles relaxed. Leaning forward into the stream she ran her fingers through her hair as the cascades of pink locks got soaked. Once it was sufficiently wet enough Fluttershy pushed the hair from her forehead and let the hot stream splash against her face, losing herself in her thoughts.

Big Macintosh did seem to genuinely care about her. The warmth that seemed to fill his eyes when he looked at her wasn’t something that anypony could fake. The smiles that he gave her were full of sincerity, and melted her heart every time she looked at him. Nothing about his actions seemed to say that he was faking what he was feeling, or that he was lying about anything that he’d said.

Sighing, she grabbed a washcloth and poured some body wash onto it. A deep smell of mint filled the steamy air and Fluttershy breathed it in deeply. It was a special blend that she bought from Ponyville’s local spa that was designed to relieve muscle tension. It worked splendidly as she massaged the soap into her shoulders and the tenseness dissolved away. Smiling to herself, Fluttershy let her wings lift slightly from her body and she rubbed the soapy cloth against the muscles that allowed her to use her feathery appendages.

The bathroom was quickly becoming filled with wisps of white steam as Fluttershy took her precious time cleaning herself up. As the washcloth left its bubbly trail along her legs Fluttershy relished in the relaxed state of being that her body. As her physical tension washed itself down the drain so did her mental turmoil. It was simple. He was happy and smitten with her, and she was just as smitten with him. She could go back downstairs and text him to come back to her without any hesitation.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an unconscious moan that escaped her lips as her hand ran over her nipples. Blinking, she slowly moved her hand up to grab her right breast. Gently squeezing and massaging the soft orb she closed her eyes and imaged herself back in her kitchen.

Once again she was laying against the table, her wings spread wide and pushing anxiously against the tablecloth. Big Macintosh practically laying on top of her again, his right hand pushing against her breast underneath her shirt, nimbly pinching and teasing at her nipple. Their mouths locked in a heated battle for control of each-others tongues. This time though, she didn’t separate their mouths to say the words that would drive him out of her home. This time she sank into it.

With the heated water still cascading over her body, Fluttershy’s mind danced over the possibilities of what making love in the middle of her kitchen would have been like. Ever so slowly the hand not occupied with reliving Macintosh groping at her released the washcloth from its grip and snaked its way across her stomach; moving towards her most private regions at a snail’s crawl. She was finding it increasingly more difficult to stand as her knees attempted to buckle.

In her mind Macintosh’s hips were grinding against her as his mouth moved from their fierce lip lock to pecking their way upwards where they settled to a nibble at the base of her twitching yellow ear. His hot breath was brushing against her ear in excited pants and the grinding happening in the lower half of their bodies was increasing in intense desperation every second.

In reality Fluttershy had officially fallen to her knees. Her left hand inches away from satisfying her carnal desires, while her right hand squeezed eagerly at her tit, the nipple stiff from the continuous ministrations. Fluttershy continued to gasp and moan as water splashed against her face and ran off of her chin onto her heaving bosom. Her eyes were still tightly closed, but even if she’d opened them she wouldn’t have even been able to see past her muzzle as her bathroom filled completely with steam.

Every instinct burning through her body told her to give in and begin her own satisfaction, but she forced herself to hold back. Not yet. She didn’t want to start yet. She needed him to say it first. To confirm to her that everything that he felt for her was genuine.

In her mind’s eye he’d lifted her shirt to her chin, fully exposing her breasts to be pressed between them. Her undergarments had fallen around her ankles and the bulge in his pants was pressing against her naked slit, grinding tantalizingly against it. Her need becoming increasingly vocal as, both in her mind and sitting on her knees in the bathtub, her moans grew to theatrical levels of pitch and volume.

She just needed for him to say it.

His mouth pressed closely to her ear and she heard him draw in a shallow breath.

“What if you’re only interested in keeping him around for the sex?”

Fluttershy didn’t hold back as she screamed in aggravation. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she tried desperately to reclaim her fantasy. But no matter how many times she put herself onto that table. No matter how many times he moved to whisper into her ear it always came out with the same words.

“What if you’re only interested in keeping him around for the sex?”

“No. No. No. No.” Fluttershy kept mumbling to herself as her arousal dipped lower and lower each time she reimagined it. That wasn’t what he was supposed to say.

Sighing she decided to give up. She only felt silly now. Standing up on quivering legs, Fluttershy tried her best to forget her lost desire by opting instead to wash her hair. But the strawberry scented lotion did nothing to ease her upset mind, so she decided she’d been in the shower long enough anyways.

Turning the valve off, Fluttershy pulled the curtain open and stepped onto the bathmat, quickly grabbing a towel to wrap around her naked form. Feeling her way over to the door she stepped out of the bathroom, letting out all of the mist that still thickened the air.

Stepping over to her dresser, Fluttershy sat down on her stool, picked up a hairbrush, and began the long task of combing out her hair. As the bristles brush through her hair, leaving long tracks of straight hair behind them, her mind kept wandering back to that same sentence.

“What if you’re only interested in keeping him around for the sex?”

Well what if she was? She had always thought about him in that sort of way. In her fantasies, whenever he wasn’t showering her with love and devotion, or snuggling her close against his chest, he was rutting her like it was the last thing he’d ever get to do. And after last night she’d gotten to experience the latter quite a bit. So what if the only reason she wanted him around was to satisfy her urges. She didn’t want Macintosh to just be a glorified sex toy to her. But…

Fluttershy sighed and turned her eyes downward.

“You really are one of the most insecure people that exist, aren’t you?”

The sudden voice startled Fluttershy and she jumped, her comb falling from her hand. Looking up she found herself staring back into her mirror. But this time it wasn’t her own face that met her.

While it might have shared the features of her face, it simply wasn’t her. The sneer spread across the face wasn’t her. The membraned wings that kept slightly stretching from the back weren’t hers. And those eyes, glowing red and full of malice, certainly didn’t belong to her. But recently that face had become all too familiar to Fluttershy, and in the end it did belong to her.

“You’ve been quiet. I thought you were sleeping.” Fluttershy said curtly, bending over to pick up her fallen brush.

“You know better than that. You know that I’m always here. Watching and waiting.” As Fluttershy resumed pulling her comb through her hair the Fluttershy in the mirror copied her. But her eyes remained fixed in a mocking glare, a snakelike tongue coming out to lick her lips.

“I know. But maybe…after last night…”

“Oh, you thought that maybe I’d gotten tired after playing with our new toy last night.”

“He is not a toy!” Fluttershy shouted, slamming a hand down on her dresser. Regaining her normal composure she looked down, her face flush from her outburst. “You broke our rules. You can feed all you want, but nopony is supposed to get hurt.”

The laughter that came from her reflection sent a shiver up Fluttershy’s spine. “You and I both know that what I did to that stallion was the opposite of harming him. Besides I didn’t hear you complaining when we were riding that bucking bronco."

Fluttershy turned her gaze sideways, the blush deepening on cheeks, “I…I wasn’t paying attention.”

Another bone chilling laugh. “You can’t lie to me, sweet Fluttershy. I know you were watching the whole time. You couldn’t help but watch. And you couldn’t help but feel every naughty second of his tongue lapping at you like a thirsty dog. And you know what? You loved it just as much as I did.”

Fluttershy didn’t respond but the words stung with truth. She remembered every second of mind numbing pleasure that had rocked her body to its core the night before. But she also remembered the looks that he had given her. The looks of panic and contempt that were etched onto his face every time she’d bothered to look at him. “It still wasn’t right to do.”

“You know you didn’t give a damn in the heat of the moment. And now what you have is the only stallion to ever occupy your fantasies, and he’s nothing but putty in your hands.” The smirk in the mirror widened, “I think I’d call that a win-win situation.”

“He’s not just putty.” Fluttershy said, her voice a mere whisper as she felt her heart break a little, and small tears formed in the corner of her eyes. “He doesn’t want me because of you.”

“Don’t lie to yourself. He would have thrown his hand onto a knife for you if you’d only asked.” The red eyes flashed excitedly at the thought. “Every single one of his thoughts, every single one of his actions are driven by the desire to please us. Every word we say will be a command to him, and if he doesn’t obey immediately it will be like an unscratched itch in the back of his mind until he has satisfied us.” Her reflection’s eyes narrowed into accusing slits, “You wouldn’t have the courage to do what I did. You had him crawling all over you a half-hour ago, ready to do anything, and you still were too scared to fuck him.”

Fluttershy pursed her lips and looked up at the reflection. She didn’t want it to be like this. She didn’t want Macintosh’s actions guided by this dark personality looking back at her. She wanted, no, needed Macintosh to love her willingly. “But he’ll never be thinking about pleasing you.”

Those malicious eyes rolled and the expression changed from smugness to one of exasperation. “I don’t care if he’s thinking about you, or what he ate for breakfast. What I want from a stallion is a hard and cheap fuck, and a nice snack afterwards. And since we conveniently share this lovely body everything he does for you, I get to experience. So you can complain about why he feels the way he does, but in the long run we both get what we want out of him.”

Fluttershy gave her mirror a defiant glare. “And what if I just denied that from both of us?”

Standing up and moving away from her dresser before her reflection could respond Fluttershy walked quickly back to her restroom and looked for the paper with Macintosh’s number written on it. She would tear it up. Destroy it so that she could never hurt him again. Shred it and flush it down the toilet, and maybe the only communication they would ever have again would be an awkward smile if she visited the farm.

Looking down there it lay between her feet. Staring up at her from a small puddle created by the condensation from her elongated shower. Picking up the soaked paper she held it in both hands and prepared to rip the damned thing right in half.

But she couldn’t. Fluttershy couldn’t summon the will power to shred the yellow note. It should be so easy. She just had to get rid of it. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t force her muscles to do it.

“Come on. Do it. Destroy the only thing connecting you to the stallion that you love.”Her reflection watched her with a smug grin on its face; seeming to enjoy watching Fluttershy’s internal struggle.

“Damn it.” She whispered to herself, clutching the sheet of paper to her chest, cursing her own cowardice. Fluttershy didn’t want him to be a slave to her, but she didn’t want to let him go. She’d dreamed about this kind of opportunity for too long to let it slip away between her fingers.

Gently unfolding the slip she looked at the numbers scribbled in blue ink. Her mouth formed into a soundless “No” as a bolt of lightning shot through her stomach. The ink was stained and ran together making every single number on the paper unintelligible. It was utterly pointless to try and read it.

Fluttershy strained her memory; desperately trying to recall the numbers. There was an eight in there somewhere…or was it a six? She clutched her head in desperation and thought as hard as she could. But no matter how much straining she did she couldn’t force the numbers to come back to her.

Sighing she gave one more sad look at the soaked parchment and the useless blue smudges smeared across its surface before throwing it in the trash can. More tears began to stain her cheeks.

A thumping at the bathroom door distracted Fluttershy from her dejected state, and she wiped a hand across her eyes, turning to see what was making such a racket.

Her pet rabbit Angel stood in the doorway, his arms crossed across his chest and an irate look spread across his face. The way his foot was tapping meant only one thing. He was hungry. And when Angel was hungry he became an annoying little bastard.

Putting on her best fake smile Fluttershy bent over and picked the irritated bunny up. “Aw, Angel, I’m sorry I forget to put some food out for you. Why don’t you let momma get dressed and then I’ll get you something to eat, Okay?” Angel gave her one more cross look before jumping from her arms and out of the room.

Looking over her shoulder at the bathroom mirror she saw those glowing red eyes locked on her once again in a knowing smirk. Giving a small shudder she turned out the light and closed the door behind her.

………