A Victory in Defeat

It was a warm couch he was sleeping on. After they had shown him around the town that was just outside of Canterlot, the place he was brought into, he realized that Twilight also had a horn, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had wings, he decided it would be nice to stay with Fluttershy during his first night. She was amazingly hospitable, and the animals were fun to watch. Just outside her cottage, was her animal pen, that was home to multiple different creatures. Just use your imagination. If it's a real animal, chances are it was there.

She offered him her bed, but he refused and chose to sleep on the couch. He honestly preferred to sleep on the floor, as it felt more natural to him, and woke him up earlier, and better. He chose to sleep on the couch, because he didn't want her to feel bad about him sleeping on the floor. And he really only slept on the floor outside, so really, he preferred sleeping on the ground.

As he woke up, he realized there was an amazing scent coming from somewhere nearby. As he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of Fluttershy putting a tray of food in the counter in front of the couch. Immediately he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I hope you like salad. I don't really have anything else to eat around here, other than animal food."

"Fine with me," Although he absolutely despised most types, if not all types of salad.

Picking out the parts he thought would be least likely to make him puke, he slowly ate a portion of the food while, after an exploratory inquiry into her animals, Fluttershy told him all about them. Listening attentively, he learned almost everything there is to know about raising a few species of animals, and even learned the most effective cure for a cold, and upset stomach.

After he stopped eating for a few minutes during her teaching, she noticed and took his tray to her kitchen.

"Many thanks."

When she returned, he asked if she could continue to teach him about her favorite things. Specifically put, he asked 'you have any other amazing things you can tell me about your animals?'

"Oh, no, I think twilight would want to talk to you more about where your from. She did tell you she wanted to speak to you as soon as she could, didn't she?"

"Aye, that she did."

Fluttershy knocked on Twilight's door. Amazingly, someone had the creativity and skill to turn a giant tree into a house.

Twilight opened the door, and let them into the strangely dark tree for the sun being up in the middle of the sky.

As if the devil himself brought the screams of the damned to Kanin's ears, everything lit up and it seemed as if the entire town was there, screaming 'surprise' in his face.

And Pinks was less than half an inch away from him, screaming louder than all the others.

His mind unconsciously registered the fact that there were books on every inch of the walls in this room, which was as large as the tree would permit, but his focus was on the act of surprise.

As he lowered the one arm he raised to protect himself, he looked around and saw food everywhere. Cake, and cupcakes mostly. He did notice a punch bowl by some of the cake.

He could almost feel Fluttershy cowering behind him, and felt a spear of pride in his chest, thinking that, even if just for the moment, he was the immovable object protecting her from whatever she feared.

Twilight was giggling, and as Pinks handed him a cupcake and telling him she baked them herself, Twilight let him know "isn't this great? She did the same thing for me when I first came to Ponyville."

"Aye. Perfect party planner indeed, yeah?

She giggled as she answered, "Yeah."

As they entered Fluttershy's cottage, he commented on how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. He smiled as she blushed, a fire seeming to burst from her face, making her look even better.

He always thought that the act of making love was the best way to show you enjoy the company of someone. Giving pleasure to a lover, or even a friend, but also felt that it wasn't his place to decide the time. And those thoughts were exactly what went through his mind as they entered the building.