Just A Dream

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

Why am I falling..? The clouds… They’re so beautiful… The ground… Why is it coming so quickly?

These were the first thoughts of a stranger from another world. Upon his eye, he could see the green, dense landscape of a forest, almost like a fresh mold, green grass of a hillside, a house as well. Wait, a house? He shouted almost instantly as he threw his arms in front of his body, trying to cushion himself as he plummeted through, pain shooting through his very being and his brain scrambling to try and ease it off. He could only wallow in pain as he opened his eyes, blurs greeting his senses as he heard the scream of a frightened girl, almost a lady, but he ignored it, trying to perceive his surroundings as accurately as he could, groans and moans escaping him as he began to lay still, distortion of his sight easing away as he stood up slowly.

“W-W-Who are you?!” a high-pitched voice yelled, almost like she had just been robbed. The boy winces softly at the pain in his arms, trying to ignore it as he stumbles.

“Would you please stop screaming..?” He asked this softly, and he began turning around to see what was a small, yellow coated, pink haired pony in front of him, something he never encountered before. Behind her was a bunny, and it looked almost terrified of him, petrified even. “Listen, I have three questions: One, where’s the door? Two, why are you talking? and three, where the heck am I?”

“In my house through the hole you created you… You…” it seemed the pony couldn’t think of anything to verbally attack him with. She then gave an annoyed grunt, pointing her hoof to the door, having the narrowest look at the boy in front of her. “Why are you even here?” she asked, petting her bunny, “Trying to join the flight academy?”

“What? No, I’m not old enough for the air force! I’ll just be on my-” Whump. He hit the floor like a sack of bricks, groaning softly as he squeezed his hands into fists. “But I feel older than Methuselah,” he whispered as he closed his eyes, losing consciousness quickly as he began to look flushed. The mare approached the downed boy slowly, poking him with her hoof.

“I’ve never seen someone like this before. No wings, or horn, and not even a pony,” she mused, looking like she had seen a ghost, her bunny hiding behind a threshold to another room. She backed away and looked towards the door, her thoughts focused somewhere else. “Angel, stay right here. Make sure he is okay,” she ordered as she ran to her front door, opening it in a great hurry as she ran down the path, shouting “Fluttershy will be back soon sweetie,” as she went off into the distance. Angel just sat there trembling, scared of the unknown being in front of him. He had no clue what the being would do while Fluttershy was away…

Meanwhile at Twilight’s Library

The sound of constant knocking drew Twilight Sparkle to the door almost immediately, and she opened up as quickly as possible, surprised at who she’d see knocking on her door. “Fluttershy, what are you doing here?” she asked, curious, but Fluttershy looked at her with begging eyes.

“Please let me in, I need to talk to you, it’s important!”

Twilight nodded, unsure of what was wrong, but allowed her friend inside. “You should know that-” she was interrupted by the slam of the door as Fluttershy began to speak too fast for even Twilight to understand.

“Whoa, slow down Fluttershy, what is it now?”

“There’s a thing in my house and it crashed through my roof and has hands and things! It has hair on top of its head and I haven’t seen anything like that before!” she mused, quite high pitched and a tad loud. Twilight tilted her head, curious of this new creature she was describing. Spike popped out of the adjoining room with Pinkie Pie.

“Did I just hear something cool about a new pony in Ponyville?” she squealed, trying not to jump but failing more than ever as she repelled off the ground repeatedly, looking like she set a new record.

“Honestly, I thought you ponies had already found all the species in Equestria,” Spike added, leaning against the edge of the doorway, munching on an apple he had gotten from Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight shook her head, her mane swaying softly. “It might not be local to Equestria, Spike.”

Fluttershy twitched her eye a bit, just somewhat impatient. “Somebody just get over there! It seems like its hurt!” Twilight looked at the two behind her, nodding to Pinkie as she looked back to Fluttershy.

“Let’s go ponies,’’ stated Twilight, the response of Fluttershy being her running through the door at the fastest she could go. Twilight looked at Pinkie and shrugged, but that didn’t hinder them from following Fluttershy as fast as they could. Amidst the running, soft gray clouds began to gather overhead, soft rain pattering on the three as they ran.

Upon reaching the residence of Fluttershy, all of them stopped in their tracks to see the human boy walking, or at least trying to. He was limping, his arms grasping themselves as he didn’t seem to look up. It seemed almost as if he was just trying to get away, not worried about the rain at all.

“Hey! You!” Twilight shouted, her voice clear as a bell from about fifty feet away. The boy seemingly threw his head up, fearful almost, and turned around, running in a struggling stance. Pinkie and Twilight ran as fast as they could, but Fluttershy took off like a catapult had flung her. Her Mind was focused on her bunny, scared that he might do something to her little bundle of love. However, not even ten feet away from the door, the human stopped, resting his hands on his knees as he seemed to be exhausted. Fluttershy began to slow down as she stopped right behind him, panting softly with an abhorring looking in her eye. Twilight and Pinkie came up to him, stepping around him carefully, looking at him in his eyes.

“I didn’t mean to break her house,” he rasped, panting softly as he stood up, trying not to fall as he looked back at the yellow mare, sighing softly. Now that they had actually bothered to look at him, they could see his features; slightly aged face, brown eyes, pale skin, and short-cut brown hair, and a height that was frankly, larger than Pinkie and Twilight had expected. He had on a pair of jeans,. He was panting, shuddering softly as he began to squat. “I honestly don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t know anything in this place or who you guys are.”

“Ponies,” Pinkie mused, rolling her eyes softly with a little smile, “we like to be called ponies!”

“Fine then, I don’t know who you ponies are. That better for you?” Pinkie nodded with a small giggle.

"Well where are you from?” Twilight asked, placing her left hoof on his right arm, sending him reeling back with a clearly-visible wince.

“A place called Jericho, in Virginia, The United States of America. You ponies ever hear of that?” he said bluntly, looking up as he extended his hand to the sky, rain pattering all over himself as he sighed softly at the feeling.

“Not really. Fluttershy, can we take him inside your place?”

“Not until he answers me one question,” she said, “is Angel okay?”

“Is that your bunny rabbit in there?” the boy said, rubbing his head softly. “If that’s the case, yeah, he is. Fell asleep behind the threshold to a bedroom.

“Did you go in that room?” Fluttershy inquired, looking like she had just been relieved of a large pain.

“It isn’t my room. I don’t think I’d wanna look in a place that isn’t mine. I’ll never know what I’ll find,” he said as he looked at the three. “So let me get this straight, the yellow pony here is called… Fluttershy?” He sounded just a bit confused when he thought of it. “If that’s hers, then what are the name of you two ponies?” he said, standing up slowly with his sigh fixed on Pinkie and Twilight.

“I’m Pinkie Pie! That’s Twilight Sparkle! And you are?” Pinkie said, jumping like crazy, smiling just a bit more than wide. He furrowed a brow, unsure of why she was doing so.

“Willie,” said the boy, sounding proud but soft in his voice as he said it. He rubbed his arms slowly, his face wincing in pain.

“Are you hurt?” Twilight asked, her eyes fixed on this new being's body. Willie nodded, his eyes tracing away to Fluttershy’s house.

“I did bash through the roof, but only because I had nowhere else to go. Sorry Fluttershy.”

“It’s alright,” she said calmly, walking slowly to her door as she opened it, calmly walking inside. “Come on everypony, the rain is starting to get heavy.” In almost unanimous agreement, they all nodded their head to the mare and began to tread inside. Will had to duck under the door as he stepped inside, looking at Fluttershy.

“Thanks,” was the word that came out of Willie’s mouth. He looked at the hole in the roof, sighing softly at what he had done. “Guess you guys have some questions you want answered, huh?”

“Ponies,” Fluttershy mused, beating Pinkie Pie to the punch, “we are ponies.”

“I guess you ponies want some answers then?”

“Yes we do,” Twilight answered, seeing the hole from a clear angle. This was something she had never seen before. A small part of her heart was almost telling her it was a monster, but she believed in her more logical take, a foreign thing that could talk. She turned back to see that Pinkie was already bugging Willie about being friends. She was just going on and on and on, but he just seemed to stare at the hole in the ceiling. He seems so patient, thought Twilight, surprised that he wasn’t flying off at the handle at her. Twilight had some hope that this person was good hearted. She could almost judge he had somewhat of a good heart. But she couldn’t judge now. She had questions to ask.

Chapter 2

As Willie sat on Fluttershy’s couch, he couldn’t help but try to hear what the ponies in front of him were talking about. He could hear soft whispers from each of them, sometimes able to decipher small bits like, such as “what should we ask him,” and “that question isn’t relevant.” He was implicitly curious about these entities, these ponies, their existence, this world, many questions flowed through his head like a river as he heard the three converse, their quietness, to him at least, we acting as a field to keep him from hearing the conversation.

“Will I be in a retirement home before you three are finished?”

“Just a few seconds Willie, Okay?” Twilight requested this patiently. He smirked a bit at himself as he leaned back, his stomach growling softly. After about half a minute, the three turned around, and Pinkie stepped forward before they could.

“Listen, I know you probably don’t know what a Pinkie Promise is, so I’ll explain. If you make a Pinkie Promise, you vow to keep it no matter what. Okay?” Pinkie smiled softly as she looked him in the eye.

“I don’t know what you ponies here do or what your standards are of trust, but frankly, I don’t make promises that can jeopardize my personal information for one, and second, if I cannot make a promise I can’t keep, I will not agree to it. Understood?” Willie said this with direct pupil contact to Pinkie, staring in pure determination to make sure she understood. Twilight and Fluttershy nodded. Pinkie furrowed her brow for a second and then stuck out her hoof.

“I can accept those terms. But when you take a Pinkie Promise, you have to never, ever, ever back out. We need you to answer our questions honestly, okay?” Willie simply shook his head.

“I will answer the questions, yes, as long as my answer does not have to be related to revealing any personal information about myself. I won’t shake your hand because, simple fact, where I am from, it meant ‘deal.’” Pinkie lowered her hoof and seemed a bit sad for a moment. Twilight stood beside her, looking directly at the boy.

“Now I have some questions,” Twilight mused, but Fluttershy began to stutter softly as she raised her hoof.

“Before this goes any further, I just wanna say I’m sorry for getting mad at you. You just surprised me,” stated Fluttershy, her soft voice creating a few seconds of silence.

“Fluttershy, it’s alright, I mean I did break your house,” Willie mused, crossing his legs as he leaned back and stretched, yawning softly as he went back to a sitting position just a few seconds later. “Now Twilight, you were saying?”

“I’m going to ask these questions one by one, okay? First, what species are you?” Willie snickered softly as he sighed.

“I’m a human; hair on certain parts of the body, bipedal, and with opposable thumbs, part of a race that doomed itself when it wanted more and more. Next?”

“Uh… Okay?” Twilight was just a tad confused by his last statement but decided to move on. “Next question is; full name, age, and occupation?”

“Full name is Willie P. Keyser Age is sixteen. The rest is classified.” Willie had begun to sit up straight, both legs in front of him and uncrossed as he looked her in the eye. “Next?”

“Any bad habits?” Twilight seemed to get just a tad irritated as she let loose a soft sigh.

“Short Temper, eat a lot, talkative, and almost an insomniac, the rest is classified.”

Twilight began to shake her head as Pinkie Pie looked at the boy with curiosity. “What doe classified mean, Twilight?”

“Need to know only, or meant for certain people. Basically restricted,” answered Twilight, looking at the boy with a hint of aggravation. “Have you used any weapons, ever?”

“Small cutting weapons, made for self-defense. Only one large cutting weapon, a two headed axe, also for self-defense, but in my own room it was rare to see it held by me. It basically became a show-model. I never have had to use the weapons I owned in a fight, because I believed fist-to-fist was the only indication of fair.”

“Oh… Dear…” Twilight said, backing up a bit.

“Relax, unless you pose a threat to my life, you could use my weapons. If I had them anyways,” Willie responded calmly, leaning back on the couch as he looked outside. The rain was beginning to soften up, but there were still dark clouds. “Any more questions?” After this question, he turned back to the three, seeing Pinkie raise her hoof in the air like a child wanting her questions answered by a teacher. “Yeah, Pinkie?”

“Do you like to party? And have fun?” Pinkie was almost ready to spring to the ceiling and off the floor, almost like a slinky that could extend and defy gravity. However, Willie’s only response was a shake of his head.

“Parties are nothing. Just a gathering of people I don’t know in a place I hate, with a lot of noise. I’d rather be at my desk, writing poetry in the dead of night. And fun? Please define that. Everyone has a different definition of it. I have a definition of fun, and frankly, that will remain classified on a need to know basis.” Willie turned around, looking out the window one more time. The rain was already gone. “Wait, did I just lose my mind or is the rain already gone?”

Twilight almost looked surprised as she stared out the window. “Oh, that’s the work of a Pegasus, Rainbow Dash. She probably slept in late today and couldn’t stop the rain quick enough.” Pinkie Pie wasn’t happy as usual. She seemed a bit sad.

“That’s kinda bad though, being alone.” Pinkie softly proclaimed, looking at the boy with a small frown. “Wouldn’t you like friends?” Pinkie was ever so soft-toned when she asked this. The boy stood up, about two feet taller than the ponies directly to his front.

“Listen. I’d be your party killer because I’ll leave every time. Twilight over here I already know is aggravated with me because I like keeping some information confidential, and Fluttershy… Well, I broke her house,” he said gesturing to the ceiling above them as he hinted at it like a compulsive man.

Twilight stepped forward ever so slowly a Pinkie and Fluttershy followed, staying around him. “Friends come to forgive friends, even if they have horrible perks, and they stay together through the worst.”

“So now I’m your friend? Wow, gee, listen, I don’t know what friends are, or even if I am meant to have them, but the moment you give me a good reason to believe I need friends, you come right to me. In the meantime, I’m gonna go exploring. Who knows, maybe I’ll find friends. Wait, no, they don’t exist,” Willie spoke like he had never experienced friendship, and opened the door, walking out into the puddles as he saw a blue blur followed by a rainbow trailing it. He shrugged, looking back at the house as he waved, walking oh so calmly down Fluttershy’s path, staying quiet as he progressed with a smile.

Meanwhile at the house, all three of the ponies were looking at each other in disbelief. They looked sad at what the boy had said as Twilight sighed. The three didn’t know what to say, not even to each other.

“Why would he say something like that?” Fluttershy asked, seeming hurt from what was said, Pinkie was almost sad looking as she began to walk to the door, ignoring Fluttershy as Twilight stepped infront of her.

“What do you think you’re doing Pinkie?” Twilight asked in frustration. She gave Pinkie a soft look, but a concerned one as well.

“I’m going to convince him about friendship, one way or another. I hate seeing people alone like that.” Pinkie gave a look of reverence, almost begging Twilight to let her by.

“But Pinkie,” Twilight said, sighing softly as she looked her straight in the eyes. “You know you won’t be able to do it alone.” Twilight seemed like she was actually considering this move on someone with that attitude.

“Shouldn’t we wait a while before we try to convince Willie? I mean… If he hasn’t experienced friendship, us shoving it in his face may force him away further… And nopony should be forced into something they don’t want to be into, they have to be coaxed into it,” Fluttershy stated, her soft voice drawing the eyes of the two to her as she looked at them both. “Remember you Twilight? When you first got here you really didn’t want any friends. You relied all on your studies. Until we had some convincing to do, and then you ended up here. If we don’t give him time, it would be like you going back to Canterlot. And sadly enough, it seems like he is just like you when you came here, only worse: like he had no friends at all, almost like he relies all on himself.”

“Fluttershy’s right, Pinkie… Maybe we should give Willie some room. Some time to breathe. After all, he just literally fell through a roof… We’ll find him in a few hours, okay everypony?” Twilight smiled softly until she looked at Pinkie, who seemed somewhat depressed over the decision.

“But what if he is gone in a few hours? What if he never learns what friendship is?” Pinkie said, a single tear falling. It seemed like she

had a genuine heartbreak thinking about what Fluttershy had just said. What if it was true, Pinkie thought to herself.

Twilight nodded with a soft smile, putting her hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Until then, we can have faith and practice. Maybe with the right words, we can lure Willie in and teach him what it is all about. I mean, I’d love to hear some of the poetry he must have thought of. I mean, he does seem nice. Let’s just rehearse until we have to find him. What say we head to my library?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly as she began to walk forward, stopping right infront of Twilight. “I’m with you.” Pinkie simply nodded, smiling just a bit as she looked to Twilight. As Twilight turned to leave out the door, Pinkie and Fluttershy followed, keeping a steady pace as they began their trek back to the library, already talking of what to use to convince Willie about friendship, and maybe try and win him over as a friend.

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

As the three ponies conversed, the sun began to set. They were already two hours in, their plans already made for what to say. Spike had listened in and was informed on what happened. The dragon was puzzled by what he had heard about the human, but he just let the three talk and was doing his duty of organizing the books Twilight Sparkle had misplaced. Fluttershy seemed confident enough that this would work, Twilight had the sureness of herself like she always had. Pinkie seemed to have cheered up as the conversation went by. But in a flash after the three spoke their last word, there was a knock at the door.

“Twilight, I need to know if you know where Fluttershy is! There’s a big hole in her house!” The slight pitch in her voice and the sound of her excitement suggested none other than Rainbow dash. Twilight opened the door as she pointed away from the door. “And there’s some weird thing walking around Ponyville digging in trashcans!”

“Is it walking on two legs and have hair on its head?” Twilight inquired, ever so patiently looking down the street.

“Yes! Wait, how did you know that?” Rainbow Dash asked, cocking a brow up as she poked Twilight with her hoof. “What are you hiding?”

Twilight pushed Rainbow Dash out of the way, looking back at the three. “Pinkie, Fluttershy, come on. Rainbow Dash, don’t say anything at all.”

“Dash shrugged, looking at Twilight as Pinkie and Fluttershy came out, following Twilight.

“Wait, can’t I come see him?” Spike asked this almost eagerly, his eyes begging as he ran to Twilight, squeezing by Pinkie and Fluttershy.

He looked directly into Twilight’s eyes, practically begging without talking. Twilight sighed and nodded, but put her hoof on Spike’s shoulder.

“You can come only if you promise to run and not turn back if something bad happens.”

“Deal,” Spike answered, Twilight’s response being a nod and a turn towards Ponyville’s ‘action alley,’ and a slow, brisk walk. They couldn’t help but wonder what Willie was doing, and they hadn’t the slightest clue. Soon they had come upon the Town hall, looking down a few streets until they saw a familiar shape. They then decided continued down to Sugar Cube Corner, seeing the boy walk down the road towards it.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted, catching the boy’s attention from about fifty feet away. The Willie had turned around, full body, his legs slightly bent as he crooked his arms a bit, seeing the four ponies, and a dragon. He shook his head, sending a shout towards them as he turned around, running past Sugar Cube Corner, and taking a right turn as Twilight began to speed up. Within seconds, they were passing the popular sweet-goods shop as they saw him running. He was no more than seventy feet away from them. Twilight turned back to Rainbow Dash, and her horn started to glow the soft pink it usually did.

“Rainbow Dash, I need you to stay beside him, try your best to keep up with him,” Twilight ordered, looking towards the boy. “When I see you stay beside him long enough, I might be able to catch him.” Rainbow Dash simply nodded in agreement as she spread her wings, and began her chase. After about ten seconds, she was already beside him, waving.

“Hey,” she said, her hoof going side to side as she smirked, Willie trying to pick up speed but Rainbow Dash easily matching it, not losing him a centimeter. Twilight new it was the right time. With her horn glowing a bright pink, she vanished in a flash of light, only to reappear twenty feet in front of the two, standing on her back legs and waving her hooves.

“Stop! Wait!” She shouted, drawing Willies attention away from the pride-filled mare to see Twilight on the ground. He couldn’t stop, he’d hit her if he tried. He brought his foot up mid run, and tensed his muscles as best he could. With one reflex, he shoved his foot to the ground, sending him flying over Twilight as he feared he would still hit her. He did not. His feet came inches to her body, but made no contact. Twilight watched him soar over her for just a few seconds, amazed as she recognized the look in his face, seeing the fear in his eyes. But when Willie hit the ground, the stop wasn’t so sudden. He hit it hard, throwing his arms in front of himself once again, trying to protect himself, but this time sending him rolling at his sides, almost like a barrel, and he slid about ten feet, just to come to a stop.

“Willie!” Twilight shouted, running to him and standing right beside him. Spike, Pinkie, and Fluttershy followed not far behind as Rainbow Dash hovered above him.

“I seriously thought you guys were gonna just beat the crap for talking smack about friendship. If you’re still gonna do it, I’m in,” he took a breath, sighing softly, “no position to object at all.”

“Why would I hurt you? I was trying to talk to you. Then you ran off like you had just had someone throw a rock at you.” Twilight seemed a tad agitated, but more or less confused. “I actually came here to try and talk to you.”

“About?” Willie said as his face contorted slightly, his arms seeming fairly beaten. He laid onto his back, his shirt torn and his left shoulder bleeding slightly, his right arm scraped like a fresh cheese against a grater, and his cheek a soft purple.

“Remember how you said that if I had reasons good enough to believe in friendship to bring them to you?” Twilight looked at the battered child in empathy, Fluttershy was scared to go near him, fearing something might go wrong if she stood too close. Pinkie was shaking softly as Willie sat up slowly, groaning as he attempted to reach at least ninety degrees. He did successfully, and managed to hold it as he stared at the ponies in front of him. Spike the dragon stayed a ways behind, watching the group from afar. He didn’t dare come near the new being in front of him.

“Sorry about your injuries man,” Rainbow Dash said, softly putting a hoof on the boy’s shoulder. Willie slowly pushed her hoof off of him, wincing softly as he did. His eyes narrowed to Twilight Sparkle as he stood up slowly, looking down at her.

“I’m curious. If you give me a convincing enough case, I’ll consider your offer of friendship…” Willie knelt slowly, staring at all three of them. Twilight raised her hoof slowly, but seeing as how Willie reacted to Rainbow Dash, she lowered it softly.

“I don’t think you’ll understand… But it is my job to try. Pinkie and Fluttershy are here to help prove to you that it is real, and it does work.” Pinkie and Fluttershy both stood beside Twilight, nodding as they took a stance.

“I’m willing to wait to rest until you three are finished,” Willie said softly, eying the three in front of him. He crossed his arms, awaiting the three to speak.

“Well,” Twilight started, “let me put it out like this, without friends, I wouldn’t be here, talking to you. I’d be back at some old castle, studying my life away instead of having fun every day with the friends I made.”

“She is right, and without a lot of my friends here,” Pinkie began, “I would never have been as happy as I am now, Just a sad old mare back at home, doing Celestia knows what,”

“I want to speak now,” Fluttershy stated, stepping closer to the young boy as she flapped her wings, hovering to his eye level. “You seem like you never had friendship and I know it seems great, but you can’t help yourself all the time. You’ll eventually fail. You’ll be unable to stand up anymore. You’ll one day realize you’re wrong about that. It could one day get you killed. Or even worse, drive you down into a depression you cannot climb out of. You were possibly bullied, but I can’t judge. Just think of us, the ones who want to help you, as your family. Is there anything you would not do for your family?” Fluttershy began to descend as Willie closed his eyes, his hands gripping to fists as he opened his eyes for once more, a single tear whisking out as it fell down his cheek every so quickly and to the ground. He looked at the three, shaking his head as he knelt to them. Holding out his hand, his voice began to crack as he stared at the three.

“I accept what had been offered. But don’t break my trust. Some bridges are hard to rebuild.” Willie looked at them all in a sort of joyousness, admiring what they did to reach him. They did wish to become his friends, and he accepted them, after what he had said. Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy put their hooves on his hand. Rainbow Dash stared at the four from behind Willie. She simply walked to them and put her hoof on his hand with the three, smiling at the new friend of the group.

“Any friend of theirs is a friend of mine. Rainbow Dash, fastest Pegasus around. Willie, right?” Rainbow Dash smiled at the human with pleasure, eyes wider than a platter. Willie nodded as he stood up slowly, looking in the distance as Spike approached slowly, holding out his hand as he looked at the new being with shyness.

“I-I’m Spike, Twilight’s loyal assistant. Nice to meet you Willie,” mused Spike. Willie slowly slipped his hand from the hooves of the four ponies as he took Spike’s, and shook softly.

“Glad to meet you Spike,” Willie said as he let go, standing up to see the five new friends standing around him. His true friends, ones he could count on. “Listen uh… Before it starts to get dark, is there anyplace I could get a bite to eat..?” Willie said, his stomach offering a solid growl as evidence.

“Sugarcube Corner?” Pinkie was hoping to treat her new friend to a nice snack, but Willie shook his head at hearing that.

“It’s all candy. Frankly, I like living without sugar higher than a plant can make in a lifetime.”

“I might have some leftover apple I got from Applejack’s farm, you can have those,” Fluttershy said, and Willie’s response being a nod to the mare.

“I’d prefer fruit any day. But I just hope there isn’t any problem with me sleeping near the fountain here.” Willie seemed serious as he looked down the street, seeing the fountain as it kept running.

“Willie, I’d like to ask, and frankly I never thought I’d have anypony in this group in this decision, but is there anyplace you’d like to sleep?” Twilight asked this question seriously, looking at all the ponies around her. Rainbow Dash shook her head immediately.

“He probably can’t fly so how would he sleep in Cloudsdale?” Twilight acknowledged this immediately as she looked at Willie. He pointed to the fountain, shrugging as he looked at the five.

“I like the fountain though.”

“Willie,” Twilight begged, pleading as best as she could, “who would you rather spend a night with?”

“But the fountain has running water.”

“Willie, Celestia help me we are not letting you stay out in the cold. Not alone and at night. You’ll freeze!” Twilight got a little impatient, but calmed down. Fluttershy walked past the four, standing beside Willie as she looked at all four of them.

“I’ll take him to my cottage. He can rest there.” Fluttershy stated this in a serious tone, but softly as it was her personality.

Willie put his hand to his face, sighing as he shook his head slowly. “I don’t seem to have much of a choice, so I think I’ll go with her.” He seemed a mite worried as Fluttershy looked up at him.

“Come on, let’s get you to sleep.” Fluttershy began walking, taking an easy pace as Willie shrugged, walking forward with a soft limp.

“Have a good night guys!” Twilight shouted this as the group dispersed. Rainbow Dash took off as soon as it was done and over with, flying back to Cloudsdale, Twilight and Spike taking a shortcut to the library, and Pinkie Pie walking directly towards the Sugar Cube Corner, leaving just Fluttershy and Willie walking down the street. Willie already knew this was awkward. He had barely even talked to opposite genders, nonetheless, especially not a mare. But he shook the thought away, deciding to try and not make it so awkward for his new friends, especially the one who was within range to hear even his breathing.

‘This is gonna be a long night,’ thought Willie…