Forest For The Trees

Chapters

Chapter 1: Taggers
Chapter 2: Hero
Chapter 3: Meetings
Chapter 4: Name
Chapter 5: Set-Up
Chapter 6: Together

Chapter 1: Taggers

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or any of the characters therein, they are the property of other people
and companies that are incredibly awesome and should continue making it... FOREVER!

Author's Note: This story is being written in conjuction with 'Leigh-Anne G' as part of her Human Equestria sequence of stories. If you have not read them, they are not required reading but they may help fill out some details that may seem odd on the surface. Her first story was "The Way You Love Me" and fleshed everything out. She's working on her second story now, "Desperado". I'm not sure if either of them are here or just on fanfiction.net but you can locate them I'm sure.

Chapter 1: Taggers

Fluttershy was alone in Animal Shelter putting the last bandages on a hurt cat. The poor kitty had accidentally fractured her leg when a heavy box landed on her and Fluttershy couldn't help but change her bandages that night even if she didn't need to, because in her heart she wondered how she'd feel if the creature she had to bandage up had been her friend Rarity's cat Opal. She smoothed down the loose end of the bandage on the cat's leg very gently, making sure not to utter a peep, which unnoticed to her gave the place a very grave feel. Most of the animals were asleep and the only noises around her were the occasional barks, purrs, chatters and chirps of the animals that couldn't (or wouldn't) surrender to Luna's night. On this particular night, Fluttershy was joining them, Luna had raised the moon ages ago and even though Doctor Whooves had left at about that time, Fluttershy offered to stay behind and clean, which turned into her helping very poor creature in the place that needed her help. Luckily she was on her last little friend.

"There you go Ella, all done. Let's get you back in your..." Fluttershy's whispering voice trailed off.

She couldn't say cage, she hated the word. It made her feel as if the animals that she took care of every day were prisoners, but that wasn't true. They were her friends, all of them, and she treated them all with love and care, even though the Doctor had warned her about getting emotionally attached to them. She couldn't help it, even now as she was getting ready to put her last friend back and turn out the lights she worried about how they must feel here, alone in the dark. As she put Ella in her holding thing, (she couldn't bring herself to think cage, she just couldn't,) she lingered momentarily on the thought of staying there that night with them so they wouldn't be lonely. She knew she musn't though, Twilight had told her she wasn't allowed to. She wasn't even supposed to stay after hours anymore, on the orders of all of her friends.

She flicked off the lights in the holding room and walked to the front door of the clinic resting her hand on the knob. Her friends just didn't understand where she was coming from, they all felt bad for the animals in her care but none of them felt how she felt. She couldn't understand why anyone would abandon or hurt animals the way that she has seen. Just resting on that thought for even the shortest second made the tears well up in her eyes, she quickly took her sleeve and used it to wipe them, the thin yellow fabric pressing softly against her skin to make the droplets go away before they fall. She allowed her hair to fall as it liked, thankfully covering one of the eyes now covered in gently smudged makeup, though she didn't wear much, mostly because it always got ruined.

She turned the knob slowly and opened the door with a feeling of sadness. She knew that she would see all of the little critters tomorrow but she hated leaving them regardless. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her, the gentle chime of the doorway bell and the thud of the door closing felt more to her like a vault door locking and sealing itself... and then she was outside, all alone, breathing in the cool fall air. A couple deep breaths later and she felt much better about having to leave, she had to get home and feed her pet bunny Angel and after a pleasant reminder from her grumbling stomach, she needed to feed and take care of herself too. She had just taken her first few steps, down the stairs in front of the entrance and did as she did each night, pausing for one second to stare at the Everfree Forest which bordered the edge of the property. This time though, he thoughts were punctuated by younger voices coming from around the side of the building.

"Oh for Luna's sake, you couldn't remember to double check which cans you'd grabbed? You are the worst tagger I've ever seen man." Spoke one of the voices out of sight.

Fluttershy heard mutterings of a couple of other voices but couldn't make out what they were saying as she moved closer and closer to the sounds. She gingerly leaned around the corner and saw a couple of youths in ski masks holding paint cans towards the building, she watched as one of them slowly and methodically sprayed in the direction of the wall, she listened for more voices but the night was silent except for the gentle hiss of spray. It took her a second to realise that they were all holding flashlights, which explained the strange and scary way they all looked in the shadows. She ducked back behind the corner unsure of what to do, she had to call the police but where could she go to do it?

She walked slowly back around to the front of the clinic, and back up the few stairs to it's front door. She reached into the pocket of the moderately loose jeans she had been wearing but she didn't find what she was looking for, no keys. She began to panic a little and her hand dove into each different pocket desperately hoping she'd find what she was looking for, but there were no keys... and worse, she had no pocket phone. She was far too scared for her own good, her breathing quickened, and she let out a little squeak. What if they had weapons?

She took a few steps down onto the walkway from the street to the clinic still breathing very heavily, but no hoodlum popped out and threatened her. She ultimately decided that all she could do was run home, it was just a few blocks away and call the police from there. Hopefully those people were just thugs and didn't have any intention of breaking in or possibly hurting the animals. Fluttershy didn't know why they would even consider breaking in but just as she got to the gate at the end of the walkway and set her hand on the gate she had a terrible thought. Oh, what if they're arsonists? What if by the time the police get here, the building has burned down and all the animals are...

Her eyes welled up again, and this time she had no intention of stopping the tears. She wasn't crying because she was sad, now she was angry and she wasn't letting those terrible people do anything to hurt the animals or their home. She walked back over to the corner of the building and stepped out into their easy eyeshot.

"Hey You! Get away from here..." Her voice started out loud (for her) but partway her voice suddenly quieted down to her usual hushed tone.

Now they were all staring at her, and none of them were leaving, or showed any intention of following her order. She hoped she'd at least startled them but all she could see was black ski mask and not a sign anywhere of anything. She immediately retreated from the gaze of the three criminals and took a half step back.

"... please?" She pleaded in her quiet voice, a quiver of fear apparent in it.

"Oh boys, the young lady said please. We should listen to her... after we're done our business." The shortest of the crooks spoke with a firm tone between a mischievous smile.

Immediately after this, the other two criminals starting walking towards Fluttershy. She knew that the right thing to do was to turn and just run away but her legs wouldn't move and it was less than a minute before her cheek was scraping against the brick of the building as one of them held her there. She didn't struggle at all as they forced her up against the building and she was thankful that the one that was holding her wasn't being very rough with her. His whispered threats from behind her were more than enough to keep her quiet, even if he wasn't really threatening her with anything.

Her lip trembled as she stood there, right cheek pressed against the wall, she hoped that her assailants wouldn't notice the silent tears
now softly pouring down her face. She could see the fence at the edge of the property out by the road under the dim light of streetlamps.
If she had only gone home and ignored them then she would be safe and the police would be dealing with this, and she wouldn't have to worry
that maybe these guys just weren't going to let her go. After what happened with Rarity and Mac, then Granny Smith's passing, was she going
to be the next one?

The hissing of cans stopped behind her and the one who was apparently in charge threw the paint aside.

"There we go gentlemen, all done. Another payday for us." He spoke confidantly while turning to his teammates.

"So what are we going to do about her?" Fluttershy heard the one whose arm was pressed against her back speak, with a female voice.

There was an incredibly awkward pause where Fluttershy was the only one making any audible noise, short, sharp, audible breaths. The leader stood there and thought, he couldn't rightly just let her go, not without teaching her a lesson first. Right as he opened his mouth to give the order, there was a rustle in the taller grass away from where Fluttershy was facing, towards the part of the building that faced the Everfree Forest.

"The sensible thing to do is leave." came a mysterious voice that Fluttershy had never heard before.

The woman behind her let her go so Fluttershy took the opportunity to turn her head and look at the figure, she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing. With only the light of the flashlights and the dim streetlights in the distance it painted a very gaunt figure. She saw a long, thin robe covering the figure from head to toe and with it's hood up it looked like all she was looking it was a flowing white garment. She couldn't get a good look at his face under the hood and unfortunately, her captors were too stunned to shine the light where his face would be or give him a good once over. She needed help, oh why had she come back like an idiot.

Fluttershy's breaths quickened further as everyone stood there in an uncomfortable silence. This time, when her breathing pace changed, her vision blurred and she felt really woozy. She felt her face scrape uncomfortably against brick before she mercifully gave way to darkness.

Chapter 2: Hero

Chapter 2: Hero

"Applejack dear, please stop pacing. You're putting me on edge." Rarity spoke, sitting in a very uncomfortable waiting room chair.

She and Applejack had been called down to the hospital by Rainbow Dash after hearing that Fluttershy had been found unconscious in front of the hospital just a few hours ago adding another night to the recent list of nights in which she wasn't getting a decent night's sleep. They were waiting for the rest of their friends to arrive and discussing another set of events that would lead to the 6 friends enjoying the company of gray speckled walls and the scent of sanitizer. The tanned farmgirl just stared at her, noticing that Applejack was trying to meet her gaze caused her to just tuck her head and attempt to hide. Applejack sat down next to her and put an arm around her, Rarity and her could both remember their last few trips into this very building. Rarity probably more vividly then most. Rainbow Dash marched back into the waiting room in confident strides and flashed the two of them a warm smile.

"There are a few scratches on her cheek that the police are concerned about, but there don't appear to be any signs of a struggle. Something happened, and she fainted. She should be fine." Rainbow explained to the two of them, neither of whom looked up at her but rather just stayed bundled together in the chairs.

Rainbow Dash looked out of the window at the world outside slowly being covered in a dim orange and pink glow as Luna and Celestia teasingly and tenderly dropped the moon and raised the sun. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but were it any day other than the days the friends had all spent in the friendly neighbourhood hospital, it was probably her favorite time of day. She pulled her hood down and tousled her multicoloured hair before moving away from the window and sitting with her friends. She looked over at AJ over the back of the curled up Rarity and saw her shake her head as if something was still bothering her.

"Look guys, this is different. Fluttershy just got hurt a little, there's nothing to worry about. This isn't like... those times." Rainbow said confidently, more for Rarity's benefit than Applejack's.

Last time Applejack was here it was because Granny Smith had passed. Last time Rarity was here... Rainbow shuddered, just thinking about the terrible things her friend had gone through ran shivers up her spine. The three of them all heard rapid footsteps coming down the hall from the hospital entrance towards them and all looked up as their two friends streaked into the waiting room. The six of them all met eyes with each other and words weren't really necessary. Things were still not good between Twilight and Rainbow, but the fact that the expressions on AJ and Rarity were not faces of dread told the new arrivals all they needed to know.

It was no sooner then the ladies all grouped up together on the chairs, Rainbow a few chairs to the right of the group, that familiar face came out of the infirm with a notepad and a police badge. Deep down the girls let out a collective sigh of relief, glad to see that the same detective who had helped them before was the one here gave them all a feeling of comfort. Remembering what the last case he'd been involved in gave them all a feeling of dread. He walked towards them as Rarity began to stand up to shake his hand before realising that AJ had been holding her down.

AJ whispered in her ear, "Aw no, sugarcube. You don't need ta be involved in no more police business."

Detective Gold shield stopped a few steps in front of the group and took a long look at his notepad, scribbling down something quickly before speaking. While he hadn't spoken much to the young woman in particular that he was looking for, her name and appearance more then gave her away. He took another step forward and looked at the woman on the far right, near the window.

"Miss Dash?" He called her attention to him calmly.

"Yes sir?" Rainbow spoke back nervously.

"She's stirring now, but before the doctors allow you all in. I'd like to speak to you momentarily, since you were listed as Miss Shy's emergency contact, if that's alright?" Gold Shield's tone was calm and collected.

A doctor came out and called for friends and family of Fluttershy and Rainbow took a second to wave the girls on, telling them to go in and start seeing her.

"I'll help you out any way that I can." She replied.

"I asked all the basic questions during my..." Gold Shield's voice dropped partway through his sentence and Rainbow noticed his eyes were looking over her shoulder at Rarity, who was waiting her turn. "... last investigation." He proceeded to take a folded picture out of his coat pocket handed it to Rainbow.

Rainbow unfolded the picture gingerly and saw a picture of a person in a full body robe sort of thing, lying Fluttershy gently down on a bench near the front door of the hospital. Rainbow looked up at Gold Shield and shot him a look of concern, he didn't have to ask his question. Rainbow knew where he was going.

"I have no clue who that is." She told him.

"Unfortunately, neither do we. That is the best shot we have of him. Picked up on the security camera out front. I just thought I'd ask before questioning Miss Shy directly, which I think I'll do now, if you'll excuse me." And with that, she watched Gold Shield walk back through the double doors towards the patient rooms leaving Dash with Rarity and the just returned Applejack and Twilight.

Twilight was the first to speak in this instance. "I'm glad that Fluttershy is okay, but I think she shouldn't be so quick to call that guy a hero." She was running her caramel hands up and down her sweatered arms, giving the air of someone who was either nervous, or frozen.

"What guy are you referring to dear?" Rarity inquired, her eyes opening up in surprise at the thought of any man with Fluttershy. Surprisingly, it was Rainbow that spoke up.

"Gold Shield just showed me a picture, you can't see his face. It was a dude in some sort of white robe. He was the one that brought Shy here." She explained.

Rarity on the other hand showed incredible interest, "So Fluttershy has a secret admirer..."

"Now, Ah wouldn't call him that. We know nothin' about this guy, except that he had the smarts to not leave her out there to freeze. In fact, harvest season is over and winter is comin'. Why in Equestria was Shy wearin' just that thin shirt?" Applejack jumped into the conversation, trying to shift Rarity's thoughts away from the last 'secret admirer' that was around them.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but roll her eyes at Applejack, even if she knew in her heart that AJ had a good reason to do what she was doing. She opened her mouth to unleash a snarky comment but was interrupted by the doors opening and Pinkie Pie coming out with a less than happy look on her face, something, which for her was a sure sign of trouble. She walked over to the group with half a skip in her step and then looked at Rainbow and Rarity.

"She wants to see you guys and she's been telling the cops that she doesn't know who the mysterious guy is but she won't tell them anything about what she saw other than she was held up by the three thugs that apparently vandalized the clinic and it doesn't matter how much it'll help but she keeps insisting that the guy that brought her here saved her but supposedly she passed out before anything happned and I guess they have suspicions about the culprits but I guess Shy didn't see their faces and..."

"We get it Pink, you can stop now." Rainbow said very abruptly putting an end to Pinkie's rant which was almost getting repetitive at that point. "Let's go Rare."

Rainbow and Rarity began walking to the swinging double doors that led to the section of the hospital in which most of the overnight observation rooms were. Rarity paused for a second in front of the doors and gave a pleading look at Rainbow Dash. Dash opened one of the doors and before tromping through held a hand out and invited Rarity to take it. Rarity took Rainbow Dash's hand in her own and let her Rainbow haired friend lead her down the hall to a room, much smaller than the last one that she visited, but continually covered in those hideous gray speckled walls.

There, against the far wall was a small bed, and on it, curled up in the smallest ball she could form and covered in a white sheet, was the dainty and thin, cotton candy haired form of Fluttershy. She was breathing quickly and letting out the occasional soft cry as tears poured down her face. The average person would say that Fluttershy had been crying for hours, her friends knew that the more likely scenario was that the waterworks had started in the last half an hour or so, probably about the time she woke up. Not that her crying in her sleep was impossible.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash sat down in chairs next to the bed that she was in and Fluttershy looked up at them with tears still in her eyes. Her head hurt, and her face was scratched up and all the doctors were saying was things like 'minor scratches' and 'mild concussion' and even her friends seemed to just be asking about the mysterious figure who protected her. She didn't want to cry, she wanted to be strong but everyone was scaring her. Rarity had opened her mouth to speak but Fluttershy just started shaking her head furiously.

"I don't know who he is, but he is a good person, I could feel it." Fluttershy spoke in the hoarsest whisper, nearly inaudible, pausing every few words to let out a sob.

"What was that Fluttershy, dear?" Rarity asked, trying to get her to speak up.

Fluttershy let out a few more sobs, a couple more tears lining down her cheeks.

"He's good..." She spoke, still softly but with a little more conviction, still letting out a couple sobs. "... I could tell."

Rarity turned to look at Rainbow Dash who was still staring at Fluttershy. Rainbow opened her mouth to speak and anybody could tell the look on her face indicated her words might be less than kind. Rarity held a hand up to stop her then turned back to Fluttershy herself.

"Of course dear, of course." Rarity confirmed this for Fluttershy, placing a hand gently on her side, though not entirely convinced herself.

Chapter 3: Meetings

Chapter 3: Meetings

It had only been a day or two since Fluttershy had been released from the hospital. Doctor Whooves told her she wasn't required to come back to work if she didn't feel up to it. She told him that it wasn't fair for her to leave him to take care of all of the animals by himself. The reason that the shelter was so good was the teamwork between them. Of course when she came back to work, she didn't expect to be spending a particularily chilly early winter day outside, the wind whipping her hair around and freezing her ears, holding a paintbrush and paint can in her cold hands. She looked up at the wall and frowned at the graffiti that had been sprayed there, not just because of the vandalism but because of what it said.

'FREE THE ANIMALS'

When she first saw it, she had been incredibly taken aback. She had to immediately go to the Doctor and ask him if what they were doing was in any way harming the animals. She knew the answer was no, but she needed someone to reinforce her beliefs after everything that had happened with her and the vandals. It was still a little unnerving being in front of it, preparing to paint over it to return the building to a pristine sky blue without any invading words. She rolled the sleeves of her sweater up slowly, folding it over itself cautiously to make sure it wouldn't wind up getting any paint on it. She dipped the brush into the can of paint and slowly began making simple brushstrokes on the wall, watching the 'S' disappear under it.

Fluttershy had hoped that after she'd been released that her friends wouldn't worry too much about her and that life would return to normal. Unfortunately for her she wasn't nearly that lucky. Rainbow Dash had already insisted on jogging half way across town to walk her to work each morning at least for a little while, and now the Doctor walked her home when he left even though it was only a block or two. She knew why they were doing this, it was to make sure she didn't wind up at work alone without Celestia's sun up. Fluttershy wanted to insist that she was fine and that they didn't need to, but whenever she tried to voice this, her voice wouldn't come. She wouldn't admit it to anyone else, but it was somewhere between shy... and pathetic.

She put the paintbrush down, balancing it on the paintcan. The work was going by pretty well, she'd already gotten rid of the 'S' and a piece of the 'L' but the wind was making what should be a simple job incredibly uncomfortable. She cupped her hands in front of her mouth and blew into them to try to warm them, then took her warmed hands and cupped them over her ears. She thought of the hooded sweater she'd foolishly decided not to wear, instead choosing her current green knitted one. She contemplated for a second walking back into the clinic and trying to find the earmuffs she'd lost at work a year ago.

Instead she just went back to work, dipping the paintbrush in and continuing to paint simple strokes on the wall. The sooner she finished the less time she had to spend out in the cold. She managed to finish covering up another letter before a voice rang out from around front of the building.

"Fluttershy! Could you come in and help me with something please?" spoke a gentleman from the front of the building.

"Coming!" She replied, about as strong as her meek little voice could muster.

About half an hour later, Fluttershy marched back outside with a smile on her face. Not only did she get to help Doctor Whooves remove the bandages on a couple of pets that were now being happily returned to their owners but she found her earmuffs and Doctor Whooves lent her his gloves. She walked out front and took a couple deep breaths of cold air, maybe today wouldn't be such a bad day after all. She walked gingerly through the grass and turned the corner to continue painting when she saw someone standing there painting away at the wall. For anyone else, the event that followed would be known as a high pitched scream, for the meek and already fairly high pitched Fluttershy it was probably best described as her mouth getting stuck open.

The figure standing there was wearing a full length white robe with hood, he didn't seem to acknowledge her presence at first but after a minute or so he paused and signalled her to come forward with a black gloved hand. Fluttershy looked around nervously, her mind was telling her to run back inside and get Doctor Whooves but she felt something holding her in place, and then as one foot stepped in front of the other, drawing her towards him. It took her a second to realise what had struck her so suddenly and stopped her from running before the words softly leaked themselves from her mouth.

"It was you..." She let out, her voice soft and scared.

The figure put the paintbrush down, nodding slowly. Fluttershy took another step closer to him. He took a sidestep to his right, moving away from her.

"Oh, please don't go." Fluttershy pleaded, her voice momentarily found itself as she reached towards him.

The figure stopped shifting away from her. It was the way her voice quivered before finding strength that stopped him. He turned to face her and she saw that he had slightly slanted brown eyes, and short brown hair, and despite the fabric covering his face she could see his forehead had a yellowish-tan twinge to it. She took another step towards him, he did not move, even as the gap between them shrunk to just a few steps.

"I..." Fluttershy stopped, she didn't know what to say, or anything. Who was she even speaking to? "... I wanted to thank you, for the other night."

A low, flat voice responded. "No need." It said before turning back to face the wall.

Fluttershy took a moment to look back up and the wall and noticed that the only lettering left on it was the word 'FREE'.

"I don't understand why someone would do something like this." Fluttershy asked out loud to no one in particular.

"Some people don't believe we should interfere with natural processes." The voice responded, Fluttershy heard a conviction in the voice that indicated the figure believed this.

Fluttershy sighed, Doctor Whooves informed her when she'd returned to work yesterday that this wasn't the first time the shelter had been vandalized like this but he said that nothing ultimately came from it, and that it was years ago. Fluttershy thought about that for a second then thought about what the man said.

"We don't interfere," Fluttershy said with a smile. "we're a part of the process."

The figure made a noticable hmmm in response. Fluttershy's smile widened a little bit. She took another half step towards him and noticed that he was a little taller than she was, but not a lot. She was a little shorter than her friends, so all things considered she imagined he must be a little short for a man as well.

"Will you tell me your name?" Fluttershy asked, she wasn't nearly as nervous as she had been just a minute or two ago and it echoed in her voice.

The figure shifted uncomfortably before answering. "If I agreed, would I have the pleasure of hearing yours first?"

Fluttershy was taken aback, her cold and rosy cheeks starting to flush as she thought about it. She had been so focused on finding out about him that she didn't even think about herself. Her face warmed as she blushed, everything else aside, a young man was asking to know her name and she wasn't much used to that. Her voice quieted back down and her nerves started to take over again.

"Fl- uh, I mean, I'm Fl-" Her voice once again went down to it's special quietness, less than a whisper. "Fluttershy."

No quicker had she said it that another voice rang out in the wind, calling for her.

"Fluttershy! Ah'm here to return that cage ya lent ta Spurs, Doctor Whooves said you were out here." Came AJ's good ol' country voice as she rounded the corner of the building.

Fluttershy immediately turned to face her and cowered as AJ's eyes come down on her.

"I- I can explain Applejack..." She whimpered out the words.

"Uh... explain what Sugarcube?" AJ asked her confused.

Fluttershy whipped back around and stared out into empty field. She turned back to AJ in stunned silence.

"Awlright Sugarcube, yer under way too much stress. Git yer stuff, I'm takin' you home."

Scootaloo was just lounging on her couch in a long sleeved tee and baggy jeans, twirling the chain she had attached to them. Her beanie cap crashed loosely over her head. Apple Bloom was looking skeptically over a trashy tabloidnewspaper that Scootaloo had claimed to have seen her mother reading earlier in the day. She looked up and her young skating friend and put the paper back down.

"I dun' get it." Apple Bloom admitted.

Scootaloo sat up and took back the paper before dropping it on the table in between them, the headline read:

'MYSTERIOUS SWORDSMAN OF PONYVILLE: Are we all protected?'

"You're always saying you want us to do something cool. Think about it, solving a mystery? That'd be sweet!" Scootaloo spoke with vivid excitement, a mix of childhood innocence and actual excitement.

Apple Bloom noticed a familiar figure in one of the pictures.

"Uh, is that Fluttershy?" She asked.

"Yep." came Scootaloo's reply.

"Alright Scoot, I'll talk to Sweetie Belle and I'll try to convince sis to let us help Fluttershy out at the shelter." Apple Bloom caved to her extreme friend's requests nervously, she didn't really want to pry into Shy's business...

Scootaloo lept to her feet and through a fist pump into the air.

"Awesome! Let's figure out who this guy is!" She exclaimed.

Author's Note: I don't think it's been mentioned yet but I haven't written anything in quite some time, despite being surprising good at short fiction in my youth. I know I'm probably really rough around the edges so if anyone has any comments or wisdom to impart, I will certainly take it.

As another aside, I certainly won't force anyone to go and find Leigh's stories on other sites but odds are if you spy a character name in passing that isn't familiar it's probably from her stuff.

Chapter 4: Name

Chapter 4: A Name

Rainbow Dash let out a really long yawn before turning to Fluttershy walking alongside her. She brushed a couple of her frizzy loose hairs out of her face, spitting out one that got stuck in her mouth during the yawn.

"Explain it to me again." She said giving a loose wave towards the sky. "Why it is I'm walking you to work, on the only day this week I have completely off, when I could be sleeping in?"

Fluttershy gave a brief smile while enjoying the mildly chilly but sunny Saturday morning she'd forced on Rainbow. Instead of giving an actual answer she just put on a mischievous smile and pointed ahead of them. Rainbow looked at the three young girls walking ahead and lowered her head, pulling the hood of her sweater up over her head.

"Because I don't want to babysit... riiiiiight." Rainbow dragged out her last word as she spoke her through another yawn. Fluttershy let out a small giggle at Rainbow's frustration, she had a special connection with her friend but for the life of her couldn't understand how a woman who loves the sunrise could hate the morning so much.

Just enough distance ahead to make a conversation difficult to hear the three young girls were discussing exactly what the goal of their particular engagement was. Walking between the others was the girl with messy purple-ish brown hair wearing just a layered t-shirt and tight jeans despite the fact that days were getting colder. Her two friends were staring at her with obvious skepticism.

"Did it really say they're payin' for pictures?" Applebloom questioned. Scootaloo flashed her a reassuring smile and showed her the digital camera in her pocket, one she swiped from her parents.

"Saw it in that paper this mornin' A.B. I'm telling you, we sell a couple pictures and we'll be able to buy whatever we want for our clubhouse." Scootaloo spoke with a decisive confidence, deep down she knew that Applebloom was the closest thing the three of them had to a leader but the farmgirl would never hear it from her.

The third girl piped up with her melodious voice, muffled by the heavy and sparkly scarf she had been forced to wear. Her originally skeptical face had been replaced by one of confusion.

"Waith, I thaw we were pwayin' 'tective?" She spoke with difficulty through her scarf. Noticing that both of her friends were now looking at her like she were speaking some foreign language she gave in and took off the scarf hanging it over her shoulders.

"I thought we were playing detective?" She spoke the second time in her beautiful sing-song voice. Applebloom opened her mouth to agree, realising that originally Scootaloo had said they were solving a mystery. The skater punk spoke first however holding up a finger for a rushed shush.

"Well whatever, it doesn't matter. We just need to get pictures of that swordsman guy that helped Fluttershy. Now shhh, or they'll hear."

Applebloom immediately began to reject but as quick as the first sounds came out of her mouth it was quickly covered by Scootaloo's hand.

"I said shush."

It had been a few hours now since Rainbow Dash had ditched her and the crusaders at the animal shelter with Fluttershy and Scootaloo was soooooooo bored. She watched from an uncomfortable waiting room chair that she'd dragged into the back while her friends helped Fluttershy redress the bandages of several hurt animals. It wasn't that she didn't want to help Shy, but honestly, you don't need four people to do what they were doing.

Scootaloo had thought a few times about saying something, or complaining but she'd seen Fluttershy's discipline before and it made her hair stand on end. More than her frizzy hair usually did anyway. She fiddled with the camera in her pocket disappointed, she'd gone through all the trouble to sneak it out of the house and in an hour Rainbow would be coming to pick them up and she'd have nothing to show for it.

She let out an exasperated sigh and walked out into the waiting room to stare out the window to look for Dash. She didn't really want to be a bother to her on her day off either but at least Scootaloo could rope Dash into telling her a sports story from high school or ask her about the team's routine for the Winter Moon Celebration and enjoy listening to how awesome she had been, or was, or is. Fluttershy wasn't nearly as cool because when animals were around she was way too focused to have fun.

Scootaloo noticed him immediately when she looked out the window, he was sitting on the fence wearing a red t-shirt and some kind of vest. The detail she couldn't miss if she tried was a long object slung over his back. It took her one second to notice it, then another second to realise what he was.

"Jackpot..." She whispered to herself before pulling out her camera and taking a few quick pictures.

She raised her voice up a little bit. "Uh... Fluttershy, there's this dude and he's just chilling outside."

She heard some quick shuffles and was quickly found herself flanked by her partners in crime as they stood on their knees to best stare out the window. Scootaloo quickly turned and joined them instead of continuing to look over her shoulder. About twenty seconds later or so Scootaloo felt a gentle hand on that shoulder as Fluttershy leaned over her to get a look out the window. Scootaloo could've sworn that above her head Fluttershy had given a surprised squeak and was even more stunned when she tossed on her sweater and bolted out the door.

Scootaloo immediately pulled out her camera and began steadying it.

He had been sitting on the fence outside the animal shelter for the better part of thirty minutes, what was originally going to be a brief walk through the outskirts of town had turned into a not so peaceful meditation session at his current location. He'd closed his eyes and was attempting to become one with his surroundings but whenever he closed himself from the world he heard her voice in his head.

In fact now he could have sworn he could hear soft, rapid, footsteps coming towards him, had he fallen asleep? He couldn't possibly be dreaming about a woman he knew barely anything about...

"Um... hi." Came a soft voice from behind him, his eyes fluttered open and he realised suddenly that he hadn't closed himself off from the world at all and that he had in fact heard footsteps because he knew she was now right behind him. He spent a second collecting himself and calming his voice so he could respond to her properly.

"Hello Miss Shy, glad to hear you well." He spoke in his usual low and flat tone, although he could tell he was softening to her quite quickly as his youthful undertones were definitely there.

He continued to stare ahead while sitting right in front of her, something that Fluttershy would admit made her quite happy. He couldn't see how red her cheeks went when he called her 'Miss Shy' and it gave her a chance to look him over now that he wasn't wearing his cloak. His slender build barely hidden from her except under a thin tee and a padded vest. She made a mental not to ask him about the vest if there was time before he disappeared again.

Something she was afraid would happen right after the next words were rudely and unceremoniously blurted out of her mouth. "So why are you sitting on my fence?"

She immediately buried her face in her hands worried he would just up and walk away. Instead after several painful seconds of waiting she felt a rough hand with a gentle touch pull one of her hands down and she found herself staring at him eye-to-eye, the brown of his eyes spotted with little bits of green that reminded her of the forest.

He felt a jolt surge through him as she stared him in the eyes, his mind shouted at him to tell her the truth, to tell her that deep down he wanted to know more about the young woman he'd saved than just her name but that went against any sage advice he'd ever been taught. So he came up with a lie, luckily a good one.

"I owe you a name." He said, his own joyful, low, voice cracking through his usual flat facade.

Fluttershy pulled her hand away from his quickly, using her now free hands to cover up her vividly red blush, made even redder by the crisp air around them. She didn't know why but in her mind it reminded her of stories her father told her as a child of the knight that saved the fair maiden from a bloodthirsty dragon.

I mean sure, she was hardly a maiden, and a couple of teenage vandalists probably aren't a suitable replacement for a dragon but he was going to tell her his name, and at that moment she didn't want anything else. Of course for her thinking of those silly fantasies reminded her of what token the fair maiden usually granted a knight like him and her blush intensified.

"My name is Falchion. Like the blade." He told her calmly, and if she didn't know any better she'd have sworn he cracked a smile while doing so.

Fluttershy desperately scrambled for another topic of conversation, she tried to say several things but her hoarse whispers were just not strong enough to really form a sentence. She tried to distract herself from him, which was getting incredibly hard with his eyes bearing down on her.

"So, li-like the sword you have?" She said quietly pointing to the sheath he was wearing.

Falchion smiled and shook his head before wheeling ninety degrees so he was facing away from her.

"No Miss Shy, this is certainly not a Falchion. This..." His voice regained it's flat and serious tone before he unsheathed the sword in one quick pull holding it out in front him. His smile widened as he heard the sounds of the sword coming out and enjoyed watching the moderately long, curved blade shimmer in the sun.

"... is a kitana."

Fluttershy looked back at him very confused. It seemed odd to her that he would be named after a sword, and would carry a sword. Then have it not be the sword he was named after.

Then he spoke with an odd sense of finality. "It was my mother's."

Fluttershy found her voice once more as concern spurned her to speak. "Is she... gone?"

He turned back to her, holding his sword aside, and found her staring up at him, something which was doing nothing to make him feel any better even if it was making him tingle uncomfortably.

"I suppose the better way to put it is that, I'm gone." That low, calm finality hung uncomfortably in the air. "She taught me to be good to people and help whomever I can, be noble. Now I live in the woods and avoid everyone." He let out a mildly sarcastic chuckle.

Fluttershy let out a distant sigh while the first small, cold pellets fell on her. She looked up at the sky now letting loose with ice. It gave her an idea.

"Falchion?" She spoke in a questioning voice, if she didn't already have it one might say she was trying to get his attention. She noticed that at the sound of her voice he seemed to tense up.

She smiled at him cheerfully making sure to keep his attention by catching his eyes. Much like he had earlier, she grabbed hold of his wrist and leaned up to whisper to him.

"You wouldn't dare leave a woman with children alone in this weather, would you sir?" She whispered to him with more than a hint of flirtatious intent. The word sir slipping out from her fantasy.

It was the stoic Falchion's turn to flush.

"No Miss Shy, please gather your things, I will accompany you home."

Inside, Scootaloo was still shamelessly snapping away through the window.

"Man, with all these great pictures we'll totally be able to fix up the clubhouse AND solve a mystery." She spoke quietly while her mischievous grin spread from ear to ear.

"Uh Scoot, not in wantin' to ruin yer fun'n'all but I'm puttin' mah foot down. Ya ain't sellin' the pictures." Applebloom spoke with friendly country twang but in a trick she was rapidly stealing from her big brother, there was a calm sense of maturity and finality coming out of the young girl.

Scootaloo turned to face her so quickly it would've given less extreme people whiplash. "Why is that Applebloom?" Scootaloo said, her eyes going wide as she put on the innocent face that she used to make her parents constantly replace her trick destroyed scooters and skateboards.

Applebloom just looked at her friend and sighed as the still oblivious Sweetie Belle was still watching Fluttershy and the swordsman from the window. She knew better than to underestimate Scootaloo, people often accused her friend of being reckless but Applebloom knew that was just a cover so she could get away with things.

"Alright... but no pictures that have Fluttershy in them, we clear?"

"... Crystal." Scootaloo replied with fingers crossed behind her back.

Author's Note: I've been trying to get across that part of Fluttershy's infatuation is hero worship and that Falchion's infatuation is more based in knowing so little about Fluttershy. Truthfully I have no idea how I'm doing so if anyone wants to throw me a compliment or some advice, I'll definitely take it.

A/N(2): A person commented on this chapter mentioning that he felt that Falchion's infatuation seemed more based on his own self-absorbtion and lonliness than his desire to know more about Fluttershy. While I certainly didn't intend it to come off that way when I wrote this chapter I think I like it that way a little more than what I was going for. So, not what I intended, secretly awesome that it turned out that way. Thank You!

Chapter 5: Set-Up

Chapter 5: The Set-Up

Falchion sat down in front of the large tree next to his small shack in the wooded clearing. He leaned back, allowing his head to settle against the padding that he often practiced his unarmed strikes on. He looked down at his hand, which was now wrapped in a bandage and ice after he missed his pad and struck the tree harder than he would've liked. Another training session down the drain because he couldn't focus or keep his thoughts on anything other than the day a few weeks ago he spent in the company of Fluttershy. What had begun as a simple desire to ensure she was okay was quickly becoming a problem for someone like him, he was a loner now, he didn't have time for feelings.

He closed his eyes and delved deeply into his thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, this would be the day that he finally figured out exactly what it was about that day that caught him off so much. If he could just figure it out maybe images of her final act that day wouldn't flash into his mind, or bring warmth to his cheeks. All he had to do was add up the moments and he'd find an answer, he hoped.

He had stayed there, sitting on the flat top of the fence while Fluttershy... He immediately hit himself in the head, trying to shake the name free, she was Miss Shy, that was how he kept her at arm's length. Miss Shy had gone inside and after a few minutes that retrospectively took far longer in his head than he'd like to admit he remembered she came out wearing a thick pale yellow sweater clearly designed for the colder weather. A funny juxtaposition to the tee and padded vest he'd worn that day, he thought back amused at his cold resistance.

He remembered she was trailed by three young girls who were babbling excitedly about all the treats they had been promised in exchange for not talking to their older sisters about him. He assumed that it was Flutter- Miss Shy's work and appreciated her understanding of his desire for secrecy. He paused for a second on the thought and wondered if maybe it was also to her benefit that their, whatever it was, remained a secret. What he had expected would be a leisurely walk into town was anything but, if they weren't aggressively changing direction to either keep up with the children or to avoid someone Miss Fluttershy had seen, he was being needlessly harassed by a young girl in fashionable clothes about his kitana or his own clothing.

His reflection had quickly turned into quiet meditation as his mind skipped ahead to him standing outside of a brightly coloured confectionary, as he had felt uncomfortable even bringing his sheathed blade into the shop. He remembered looking around and seeing a rack of magazines in front of the doors to the newsshop next door. He'd walked over to see if anything might be worth his time and got a shock. There was a shoddy second rate paper there advertising new information about the 'Mysterious Swordsman of Ponyville' with subtitles like 'out of control' and claiming to have pictures of a woman who'd been maimed by this man. He looked inside and smirked at the woman who'd clearly inflicted the jagged cuts to herself, what people would do to get attention.

He walked into the store and left some money on the counter, ignoring the awkward stares of the store owner who's eyes hadn't come off his sheath since he walked into the store. He remembered muttering something to the shop owner but as he tried to remember what it was his memory skipped ahead to him meeting a friend of Fluttershy's. A pink haired young woman who was also dressed in garish shades of the same colour she and Fluttershy were thankful to have on their heads. He remembered not trusting her much until Fluttershy had insisted she was trustworthy, then something about the way she'd promised and her incredibly awkward diction made her impossible to dislike.

He skipped ahead again in his own memories, he honestly wasn't sure if it was a matter of terrible memory or if instead he had achieved a moment of blissful meditation. If he had indeed found his center it would've been the first time since that day. He was now walking alongside Miss Shy... He was now walking alongside Fluttershy as the skies cleared and she led him back across town towards her home, the brief ice shower had actually brought a chill to him, something that was rare, even underdressed in cold weather.

He'd showed her the paper he had purchased while they were walking to her home. He remembered her reaction perfectly.

"You would never do this." She spoke with a quiet tone with more than a pinch of disgust.

"Quite right I wouldn't." He replied, his hand instinctively gripping her shoulder to put her at ease.

Then he realised he'd found that moment he had been waiting for, the one that kept distracting him. In reality it was more than one, it had started immediately after that very brief amount of speech between the two of them. Fluttershy's passiveness and his complete disassociation with people had made the time alone between the two of them quiet until...

"Have you ever had t-to... uh... if you want to tell me... with the s-sword?" Fluttershy's voice cracked repeatedly as she desperately tried to squeak out of most awkward question she'd ever had the displeasure of asking.

When Falchion turned to her and stopped, she cowered, but stopped as well. His mind told him to run, go back to the shadows where no one could judge him or assume the worst. Then his mouth didn't listen.

"Never. My grandfather told me once that weapons like swords had the most powerful wielders because having to feel what you were harming beneath your hands gave it gravitas. So while I'm proficient, I've never harmed a soul with it other than myself."

Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he was looking across the clearing at the woods. He'd had a huge moment of clarity. After that admission she'd held his hand, and dragged him across the town to her home. Then she stopped him on her doorstep and just before she ducked into her home, she'd thanked him once again for all the help he'd given her, then ordered him to stop calling her miss. He remembered at that moment his heart was pumping beyond the aid of internal discipline. Then... then...

He touched his hand to his lips.

"Fluttershy..." He whispered into the frigid winter wind, taking a moment to pull the hood of his cloak up over his head.

In anger he quickly sprung to his feet and swung a wild kick at the tree, and for the second time that day he completely missed the padding he had wrapped around it. His leg smashed into the tree with a loud knock and he immediately recoiled back from the tree, falling down and clutching his leg.

"Fuck!" He shouted out the first curse that had sprung to mind once the pain knocked him down.

Falchion was then stunned back to attention by a low female voice parting the trees, followed into his clearing by a dark skinned woman wearing a thick cloak of her own.

"It is not wise to judge what you do not see, but what rings out cursed sounds like love to me." Came the rhyming deep voice of Zecora.

Falchion slowly got to his feet, gingerly placing pressure on his right leg until he was sure it would hold weight. He began busily unwrapping his hand and instead wrapping his leg, he did his best to ignore the second person now there but instead of leaving, Zecora welcomed herself, lowering her hood and sitting on a stump that was remaining near his shack and fire pit. Falchion gave her an irritated deadpan stare when he realised she wasn't going to leave.

"I honestly thought I had been rid of you." He told her, no disguise in his voice, his low, youthful tone ringing out with honesty.

"So long as we share this shadowed wood, we will be friends as well we should. Though from your family you did run, I will treat you as my son. When you did not come for weekly tea, I thought it wise that I proceed." Zecora continued to rattle off her rhyming lines, enjoying Falchion's face go from irritation to amusement. While she proceeded to set her kettle above his crackling fire.

"Okay Zecora. I get it. Just because I left home doesn't mean I don't have one." Falchion spoke with the tone of an irritated teenager.

The next few minutes passed in silence while Zecora fiddled with her various tea paraphinalia. Were he being honest he didn't really like tea, but it was at least something he could enjoy with the closest thing he had to a friend. He noticed the kettle boiling over while Zecora seemed more than happy just blissfully ignoring it. Had he not spent so much time with her he'd think she wasn't paying attention.

"Okay, Zecora, the kettle is boiling and you aren't getting it. What's the game this time?" Falchion once again returned to his deadpan stare.

Zecora just smiled, "It seems that my ploy you've spied, let's just say it's a nice surprise." She spoke before standing and walking away from the fire and into the woods leaving Falchion dumbstruck.

"Leave it to you Zecora, come for tea. Don't stay and drink it." Falchion begrudgingly poured himself a cup, enjoying the warmth coming from the tea through the glass.

Falchion lifted the glass up to take a sip from it and heard a snap from the forest. He slowly lowered the mug down before he heard another snap, louder this time and certainly closer. He put the mug down slowly and walked into his shack to retrieve his sword before listening to see if he would hear any more snaps. Given a second, he certainly did hear another on its way to him.

He quickly slid amongst the trees waiting and holding to see if there would be any sign of an intruder. He noticed that for winter, even amongst the evergreens, the brush seemed awkwardly thick, almost unnaturally so. He leaned against a tree and felt the scuffles of feet through the forest floor coming towards him, then a snap, then a voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry... Why do I keep breaking branches off the trees? I take two steps off the path to help an injured squirrel and I wind up lost..." Came a meek voice from between the trees.

With one swift move Falchion slid the kitana out of it's holster with a satisfying grinding sound and swung around the tree holding it in the path of the person marching through the woods. He stopped the blade just mere centimetres from where it was set to strike and was shocked by this stunned squeak coming from the frozen intruder. Immediately followed by a soft crying that made him desperately drop his kitana.

As his kitana clattered to the ground he took a step back in silence as a few tears began to stream down her terrified face. On one hand he was thinking that he should pull her close and beg her to forgive him for nearly gashing her, the logical side of his brain screamed run at him as if running was the only possible solution to this. He quickly turned and found that he was suddenly trying to run through thick brush with concrete for legs. As if being dragged against his will he found himself once again face-to-face with her.

He reached a hand out to touch her and felt depressed when she recoiled in tears. "Fluttershy..."

Falchion found himself in an comfortable reversal when Fluttershy, wiping the tears and covering her face with the sleeves of her heavy sweater, was slowly backing away from him. What struck him the most was not the look of fear he saw, it was the betrayal that he could feel behind it. He had told her he had never hurt anyone with his kitana just a few weeks ago and then just now nearly took her apart with it. Even he would admit he'd never come that close to harming anyone before.

She turned to run and he said the only thing he could. "Please, don't go."

The effect was instantaneous, Fluttershy's posture immediately changed to one of extreme discomfort. She slowly wheeled to see him and in a show of extreme bravery slowly pulled her arms down letting him see her tear stained face. He bent down and slowly picked up his kitana before gingerly lifting it in front of her.

"No blood. There never will be, I swear." He spoke softly, a whisper amongst the trees carried by the wind as far as it needed to be. Why he needed to promise her he still wasn't quite sure.

Falchion quickly sheathed his sword, watching Fluttershy tremble until it was away. Then he slowly reached towards her until his hand was under her chin. She didn't move, or retreat, in fact touching her actually seemed to calm her, her breathing was still fast but it was a much more reasonable pace. There was no risk of another unconscious adventure the way she was now.

He leaned in towards her, at that moment he wanted nothing more than to be close to her and comfort her even though he knew only what she had told him about herself on that day a few weeks ago. Then another scattered thought. She had said we hadn't she? When they first truly spoke, and for a brief second he'd risked enjoying her company. "We're part of the process." she'd said to him, he wanted that we. For a moment at least the two of them together could be that we.

She let him grab her lips with his, the rough, dry skin of a man braving nature's elements clashing with the unnatural softness of one who took care of herself as much as she did others. What should've been a brief moment became parting lips, deep apology and for the two of them, just once, their preferred silence was all that was needed to communicate. Their tongues tied for just a tantalizing brief moment and as they parted the smile she wore made one grow on him as well.

Falchion didn't want her go so soon and then he realised what Zecora had known but hadn't told him.

"Tea?" He asked, offering her an arm to lead her back to his camp.

She flushed and her quiet voice came back for a second. "I-I'd l-love to."

Minutes later, Fluttershy sat on this lone stump near where a fire was crackling delicately and she was just, watching. She found herself unable to do much but stare as a now decloaked Falchion was striking at padding he had attached to a nearby tree, she watched as he moved with a kind of fragile and disciplined grace which seemed strangely off for a wildman living in a shack in the middle of a notoriously dangerous woodland area. Something about the nearby fire, the warm tea in her hand and the repeated thuds of him striking the tree put her at peace.

When he paused and took a moment to walk over and join her near the fire, she took a look up at him and thought of how exactly to start prying into his life. He went from a knight in shining armor in her mind to a callous set of lips she desperately wanted to never be seperated from. She couldn't change the fact that right now, she knew next to nothing about him, and she couldn't keep getting close to him without knowing something.

"Falchion..." She asked for his attention cautiously. He didn't respond but just nodded his attention so she continued.

"... I was going to ask you something, about your past, if that's okay with you?" She spoke calmly, doing her best to not betray exactly how nervous she was.

His expression remained unchanged and Fluttershy began to pout and hide herself amongst her hood and hands. He didn't know much about her, other than the little she'd talked about her family that day a few weeks before. She hoped he wouldn't be offended that she asked, all she really wanted to do was understand him. The more thoughts momentarily blinked through her train of thought the closer and closer she came to tears. That was before he sat down on the ground near the fire and looked up at her.

"I'm very protective of my past, it's the only thing I truly own." He spoke slowly, precisely picking the words out of his mind. She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued, cutting her off.

"I'll give you three questions, and if you ask a question I'm not willing to answer..." He let the challenge hang in the air and noticed Fluttershy nodding along.

"... Then those posters, in town, for the Winter Moon Celebration. I'll take you." He offered it out as a shot in the dark, if she was willing to kiss him and join him for tea, why wouldn't she let him take her.

Fluttershy immediately flushed to his proposal. She honestly had nothing to lose because even if she didn't win the bet, she had a chance right now to learn things about him she'd almost never have a chance to learn otherwise. The best part of all was that she didn't need to be as nervous or shy this time, he gave her the carte blanche, and while not the competitive type. She truly wanted to win.

"Um... okay... I accept." Fluttershy smiled at Falchion immediately after accepting, putting him uncomfortably on edge. She took a sip of tea then began to speak.

"I'm sure this is a little obvious, b-but where did you learn to fight?" Fluttershy tiptoed gently with the first question, even if he was giving her an open book she still believed there was some kind of limit to how rude she could be.

Falchion looked up at her with a smirk. It was pretty clear she'd have to ask him about that at some point, why not now? He lay back on the ground and stared up at the sky.

"Well, my grandfather and my mother taught me for a long time. I've been learning ever since I was five. My father was a business type, but my grandfather was from Nippony, as was my mother. Apparently my grandfather had taught children martial arts and swordsmanship ever since he was my age. I was just born into the family traditions I guess. When my father came back to San Franciscolt for business, Mother and I came with him, I was just seven then. As I grew older I wanted to know more and more about it and my mother would share stories of Grandfather's trails on way to becoming a sword master. Apart from my grandfather, Mother taught me as dilligently as she could in the meantime, she had become a school teacher as well, it was nice to see her find her true calling. In fact, she gave me the sword that I now use, it was given to her by my Great Grandfather.

Then when I was twelve, my grandfather passed away and Mother never made it home to see him before he left us. After that she didn't teach me anymore, she told me to just focus on my studies and to try to be like Father. She never knew how often I would sneak away and practice in secret just imagining my grandfather teaching me like he used to, I think deep down she knew how badly I wanted to be like him." Falchion looked up at Fluttershy and noticed tears already forming in her eyes, he nervously added one last line.

"It took a long time, but I've made peace with those memories."

Fluttershy had taken to staring into her cup now, almost like she was now trying to avoid the challenge she'd gotten herself into. At the same time, the opposite was true, there was more she wanted and needed to know about him, especially now.

"Um... S-San Francisco-colt is all the w-way across the country, h-how did you get h-here?" Unlike her first question which had been asked cautiously, her second one was a shuddered, stuttering mess and she continued to stare into her cup, secretly wishing it might swallow her whole.

Falchion let out a long and exasperated sigh.

"...Um, if you want to tell me..." Fluttershy added hastily after Falchion's sigh. If he'd heard her, he didn't give any sign of it.

"That one is a little easier to answer, depending on your definition of easier. My father decided when I was older that regardless of Mother's support of my swordsmanship and Martial Arts, I needed to have the skills necessary to take over his business. He decided that the way to solve this problem was to send me to finishing school when I was sixteen. When he told me that I'd have to give up swordsmanship to join the business when I was finished I refused to go, so he registered me in the dormitories...

... In a school in Manehattan.

When I arrived there, I told the dean outright I had no intention of staying and he encouraged me to stick it out and see where it brought me. After a couple of semesters I ultimately decided it wasn't for me, but when my father heard I intended to come home he told me that the first step I took inside his home without my diploma would be my last in his family. He insulted me like no man ever had before, so I just took mother's sword and ran.

I used the money I'd saved and stopped whenever I could and then I found Everfree and remembered stories of my grandfather who'd lived in the woods for years to attain discipline. I started living out here, and I never went back. Even though I now understand that Father was just worried I was ruining my future, and deep down I've forgiven him, I've never told him that." Falchion explained, the memories put him somewhere between tears and anger but either way he brushed the emotions aside.

Fluttershy gave him a concerned look, and then smiled. She wasn't entirely sure she believed him when he tried to play the sad stories off positively but she at least felt closer to him now than she did before. She noticed a frown on his face and clambered down from the tree stump so she could be next to him.

"I don't think..." She paused for a second, wrapping her arm around his. "... I want to play anymore."

Falchion looked down at her hoping to get some kind of gauge from her but he couldn't figure out what she was after and the only thing he could do was ask, and she didn't have to answer him. Falchion just held her hand for what seemed like eternity.

"Just one more, make it a simple one. What's the worst that could happen?" Falchion tried to egg her on as best as possible.

"No Falchion, I don't want you to have to think about any more bad. Besides, I have to go soon and get the stuff from Zecora for Doctor Whooves. Last thing I need is to lose my job." Fluttershy leaned up against Falchion as she spoke, not particularily wanting to leave.

"You'd never lose it, you're too good with animals to lose it. Okay, come on Fluttershy..." Falchion stood up offering her a hand back to her feet which she gratiously took.

"Ask me one more question, the third of the game and I will take you, hand-in-hand to Zecora's myself."
Falchion said with a smirk.

"You know Zecora?" Fluttershy asked meekly, but with a clever smile on her face.

"Okay that doesn't count, but yes, I do." Falchion looked down at her. So she was clever too, maybe she really was worth weeks of dreaming about.

"Okay fine..." Her voice quieted down and sounded out with a spot of a defeat. "... if you don't hold it against your father, why haven't you gone back?" She asked him now leaning against him and walking towards the deeper brush with him.

Falchion raised her chin and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"6 o'clock then." He whispered to her, before leading her off amongst the trees.

The next morning Rainbow Dash sat in a booth at Sugarcube Corner enjoying a donut and a nice cup of coffee Ms. Cake had made for her while looking at her favorite paper. Sure, the Ponyville News was cool and all but they didn't get the juicy stuff like these guys. Across from her in the booth sat Pinkie Pie who was eying a box of donut holes with hungry intent. Just as she was reaching out to grab one, Rainbow slid everything out of the way and slammed the paper down on the table causing Pinkie to momentarily recoil before curiously leaning over the paper and reading it with interest.

"That's rediculous! They have pictures of Fluttershy and that- That psychopath!" Rainbow looked across the table at Pinkie who was now no longer looking at the paper but happily munching away.

Dash reached across the table and grabbed Pinkie's head in her hands steadying it so she was looking her right in the eye. Even though Pinkie was still happily chewing.

"Ahunno Dass, 'e did bwing her to the..." Pinkie took a second to swallow. "... Hospital, remember?"

"Pfft, yeah right. He's probably the one to attack her, did you see the pictures from a couple weeks ago? He's a menace and she shouldn't be getting close to him." Dash said matter of factly.

"Okie-dokie Dashie, if you say so. How exactly are you going to stop him though, you don't even know what he looks like." Pinkie Pie said pointedly.

"Yeah, well. I'll figure it out. You'll tell me if you learn anything, right Pinkie?" Dash asked.

Pinkie Pie didn't much like lying, but this time there was a friendship on the line.

"Sure will Dashie!" She said exuberantly shoving another couple donut holes into her mouth and reaching across the table so she could take a long swig of Dash's coffee with she promptly made a disgusted face at.

"Thanks Pink, I'm gonna go ask around before I have to go to the school." Dash said before sprinting out the door.

Author's Note: Yay, Falchion can stop being a quiet, unknown irritation. Writing a mysterious character truthfully isn't my strong suit so I'm glad that people can finally learn a little bit about him. So yeah, I made Japan into Nippony (based of the literal Japan to English pronounciation) and of course San Francisco got the lt on the end. I actually hate ponified city names, no lie!

Sorry to the people following on FiMFiction, I wasn't sure I'd have enough to catch up to here before now so I published the story with just a couple chapters. Thanks to the few people tracking me.

Comments of course, still appreciated. Thankful to the few people that dropped me a line after the last chapter. Like I said before, I'm a bit rusty, but I'm hoping to use this story to improve. Again, please drop any tips you have. :)

Chapter 6: Together

Chapter 6: Night Together

Fluttershy stood just a few steps away from her door staring up at her clock, she nervously smoothed down the front of her strapless, layered, yellow cocktail dress. She had spent so much of the last four hours getting ready because every time she knew what she was going to wear and how she was going to do her makeup she would spot a mirror and it just wasn't good enough. She ran her hand through her hair, tracing it from the root all the way down over her chest. The big hand went over the eleven, five minutes left.

She placed her pink butterfly clasp in her hair and picked up her small purse, slinging it over her shoulder. She made sure that everything she needed was in it, and looked in at a small wallet, a change purse and a chapstick. She silently cursed herself as she realised that all of her makeup was left upstairs, as were her emergency tissues, in case tonight continued to pray on her nerves as much as watching the minute hand of her clock was.

Three minutes left and she was now upstairs desperately stuffing her purse with makeup and tissues and breathing very heavily. She was so nervous, he lived in the woods, what could he possibly know about a formal function. This was one of the biggest couple nights in Ponyville every year, were they officially a couple and what do couples do once they leave the celebration? She quickly looked up into the mirror and let out a scared squeak at her own reflection, she looked really good but she wasn't sure the peach skin she was looking at was even her own. She also quickly glanced over the fact that she was certain she would be horribly underdressed for the occasion.

Fifteen seconds left and she was back in front of her door getting her meager heels on, her face never leaving her clock as the second hand ticked closer and closer to the twelve and the exactness of the six o'clock. She struggled to maintain her balance, almost falling twice as she now scrambled to make sure everything was perfect. She noticed that the second hand ticked passed the twelve on her clock and panic gripped her heart.

Every second that ticked by made her more and more concerned as each tick passed with a louder and louder sound. It was so wrong to trust a man she barely knew, how could she have been so foolish as to think he'd actually show up. She'd asked the wrong questions, delved too deep, made Falchion so uncomfortable he never wanted to see her again. It's was six-o-one now and he still wasn't here.

She watched each additional second tick by, feeling like an anchor dragging her heart six feet under.

"You blew it Fluttershy. You scared the knight away, congrats, you're officially a dragon." She muttered to herself, still staring at the clock.

Her head snapped down to her door when she heard a soft, three tap knock on her door. She walked over to the door, pulled the handle, and slowly peered out the crack. She immediately realised her mistake when her heart lept into her throat and her knees went soft in oft unworn heels. She stumbled slightly and had to hold herself against the frame to avoid falling. She opened the door a little further and made a now intentional second mistake.

It was Falchion alright, but not in any way she'd seen him before. There was no cloak, no sword, no practice padding or iced hands. He was in a clean cut tuxedo, three buttons with a pale yellow tie. The suit looked almost mint and if she were a less decent person, she would have said that he looked... sexy, in it. Plus her eye was drawn to his tie, which matched her dress perfectly. Predictable or not, the touch caught her right in the heart and her lips immediately made a sensual pout in response to him. She was being super cautious to remember her faculties as she fell hard for the gentleman in front of her.

Then he spoke and she lost whatever fight she was having to maintain a grasp on reality.

"I'm a few minutes late, I hope you didn't... uh... worry." He said softly, knowing deep down she probably had.

"Uh... D-don't worry ab-uh-about it..." She stammered out, her eyes not coming off of his slender frame.

"You look stunning Fluttershy, nothing to be nervous about." He gave her a reassuring wink as he spoke and noticed her face flushing at the comment.

He pulled her hand off the door frame and held it gently in his. He pulled her slowly and whatever bits of her mind that were still there, still mulling over how amazing it was to think of Falchion the way he was right now, remembered to put her left foot in front of her right and climb down just a couple of steps, lurching across the walkway to the street where a simple carriage was waiting for her. He helped her climb up into it and seat herself while he took the seat directly across from her.

She gave him a disappointed look as the carriage began pulling away from her home, she had secretly hoped that he would take the seat next to her amongst fleeting thoughts that he would cease looking and acting like a gentleman. As much as she was trying to enjoy his company, and thinking about how wonderful it was seeing him in public, with her, and other people. Something about the way he was dressed, with his very short hair and the suit, and just the way he was carrying himself reminded her of all the fantasies about boys she'd had when she was younger. It reminded her that under all of that he was still that disciplined man from the forest and made her wish he was still a little wild.

She looked him right in the eye and was startled when she saw a fire there she had never seen before. His eyes quickly panned away from her gaze and she could easily tell he was looking her over. She gently patted the seat next to her and sighed happily when Falchion took the seat next to her and let her take his arm. The carriage finally beginning to pick up speed towards the center of town.

"I don't..." Fluttershy paused, whispering up to him as she held onto his arm, testing her words carefully. "I don't understand, the suit and..." She stopped again when he looked down at down at her and did nothing to help her passiveness. "... Everything." She finally finished, flushing the brightest red against her peachy skin.

Falchion tilted her head up to face him, his thumb gently moving across her cheek. The simple act of comfort would've normally startled Fluttershy and made her nervous but when he did it, all her fear went away and she could just enjoy being in a carriage, on the arm of a handsome man, on a night that didn't much matter to her in years past.

"I told you my father had sent me to finishing school. Just because I hated being there didn't mean I didn't pay attention. They taught me how to court a woman, and how a gentleman should act and dress. Of course, the one thing they don't teach you is how to react to having a stunning date hanging off your arm on your first real appearance in public in a couple of years." Falchion's tone began strong and confident and as he went on he slowly turned into a quiet mouse right in front of her.

His compliments rang true with her, though, and she wouldn't hesitate to admit she somewhat enjoyed the reversal of nerves a little bit.

"Kiss me." She ordered softly.

Falchion froze in stunned silence.

"You said you didn't know how to react. Kiss me." She ordered him again, still soft in her voice. The effect of her being far greater than she'd anticipated.

She suddenly found herself devouring his rough lips as he more than enthusiastically accepted her invitation. She wasn't exactly sure how he did it, but he tasted like pine and all she wanted to do was explore the forest. She shifted slightly and continued to taste him as he gently parted her lips and let their tongues touch for a tantalizingly long moment. As the kiss broke, she let out a little squeak and quickly ran her hand through her hair trying to distract herself from the building emotions.

Fluttershy was scared, and not because of what had just happened. She was scared because she wanted more of him. She wanted his kiss and his touch and she couldn't stand it. She nibbled on her bottom lip and slowly leaned back up to him, catching him in another kiss. There was something about the callousness of his lips, roughened by the weather that made her slowly back up until her back was against the carriage wall. She felt weak near him, and she didn't care.

She let out an empassioned sigh amidst all the kissing as his hand had found it's way to the back of her leg, slowly grazing up her skin under her dress. Tenderly rubbing her in a way she was very unfamiliar with. The kiss broke as the carriage came to a stop. Her eyes were glazed and she was barely able to remember where they were going until the door opened and Falchion stepped out as if nothing had happened.

"I believe, it's time to celebrate." He spoke back to her, dropping her back into the real world.

She noticed him offering her his hand after their brief interlude inside the carriage. She took his hand and stepped outside slowly before leaning up and kissing him on the cheek before whispering to him.

"I didn't ask for a gentleman. But I'm glad you are one..."

It had been about an hour since they had arrived at the Winter Moon Celebration and Fluttershy had ultimately hidden amongst the crowd doing her best to avoid both her friends, and the dance floor. She hadn't really been very successful since it only took a few minutes for Pinkie Pie to hunt them down and invite Falchion to dance. He accepted graciously, like the gentleman he was turning out to be, but something about seeing him dancing around with her friend brought a twinge of jealousy to the surface.

Aside from the dance with Pinkie Pie however, Falchion had spent the entire time with Fluttershy, getting her anything she would ask for and making her as comfortable as possible. Now though, she was watching him move across the dance floor with Vinyl Scratch in his arms as the DJ had insisted on spending time with the man who had stolen Shy's heart. Fluttershy took a brief sip of punch as she watched him twirl Scratch very delicately. She made a mental note of dancing as another thing he must've been taught at finishing school.

As the song ended she noticed him leading Vinyl back across the dance floor to herself while at the same time spotting Dash coming towards her from roughly the same direction. Fluttershy quickly waved her hand in front of her throat to try to signal and Vinyl thankfully noticed dragging Falchion away through the crowd. Fluttershy quickly put on a smile before Dash ended up uncomfortably close to her, embracing her in an unnecessarily tight hug.

"Shy! You came this time!" Dash said boistrously, yelling far louder than needed to be heard over the music.

Fluttershy hid herself partially with her punch glass taking a sip. Dash knew better than anyone that Fluttershy hadn't come last year, given that Dash had attempted to forcably remove her from her residence.

"Yeah, I got... uh... double-teamed by Scratch and Pinkie this year." Fluttershy struggled to come up with a good excuse.

Dash just smirked back and released the hug.

"Yeah, everyone seems to be here with someone else except..." Dash gave a sideways glance into the crowd which Fluttershy followed to Twilight.

"... anyway, I'm going to go grab a table and see if I can rope in a few people." Dash said with a wink before disappearing into the crowd.

Fluttershy let out a deep breath, luckily for her Dash hadn't seen Falchion. Fluttershy could only imagine how she would react if she found out exactly who he was. She hadn't thought about him for more than a second before Falchion took up the space that Dash had occupied a minute ago. He gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead bringing a smile back to her face. She seperated from him for a moment and wondered why he was alone before seeing Pinkie and Vinyl chatting it up with Twilight who looked very awkward between the DJ and the partier.

She refocused on Falchion when he spoke to her.

"One dance. All I'm asking for. I'm a little tired of being your friends' date." Falchion told her, it wasn't a request but it wasn't exactly an order either.

Fluttershy shook her head furiously, suddenly embarassed as she realised that she had been panicking all day about what today would be like but had instead hidden in the corner and not even given Falchion the time of day since the carriage. She wrapped her arms back around him.

"I'm sorry Falchion. Let's go dance." She whispered to him.

Falchion lifted her chin and planted a pine sweet kiss to her giving that wonderful sensation of not knowing where reality is. She vaguely remembered being led by the hand into the crowd of people dancing merrily, then one of her hands was in his and her other hand was on his shoulder with his hand at her waist.

Then the room was spinning to the beat of this slow jazz tune, and Fluttershy loved it. She leaned in and got as tight to Falchion as she possibly could, not realising that the crowd had parted a little bit around them and some people were watching. She could smell the trees on his suit and it reminded her of how he tasting. She licked her lips while still enjoying the room slowly tilting around her. The song ended and Falchion took a step away from her before Fluttershy pulled him back. She wasn't done dancing and he would be lucky if she was ever done.

About an hour later, Falchion and Fluttershy were standing on the front step of Fluttershy's home. She was clung to him very tightly, somewhere between a hug and a claim, thanking him for what had been one of the best nights in her entire life. She wished it wouldn't have ended but after a few dances Rainbow Dash had spotted her in the crowd and had attempted to confront her. Fluttershy smiled remembering Falchion's reaction as she desperately dragged him out of the hall and hopped in a waiting carriage.

"Close call huh?" Falchion whispered to her.

"Yeah..." She looked up and noticed a skeptical look on his face. She cowered a little bit and then decided that an explanation was needed. "I want to introduce you to my friends. I think I know when the right time is too." She said to him.

He smiled at her, letting her know that she had nothing to worry about.

"Are you going to tell me why you're so afraid to introduce me?" He asked, his low, youthful voice making that weak feeling come back to Shy.

She broke her grasp on him and walked over and opened the door to her home.

"That depends..." She whispered to him quietly. "Are you going to come in?"

Falchion accepted her invitation without hesitation and as a reward Fluttershy explained to him what had happened to Rarity and Big Mac. How a crazed maniac had kidnapped her, and tortured her and how no doubt some people would be cautious of a mysterious man like Falchion. She also explained all the issues that Twilight had faced being used by that maniac as a tool to avoid suspicions, and the problems that Rainbow Dash was having accepting Twilight back into the group. She told Falchion absolutely everything about her friends and even told him about her own, many, fears. By the time she was finished explaining it all the hands on the clock now read well into the morning and she welcomed Falchion to stay on her couch.

It had taken them thirty minutes or so to get ready for bed, which truthfully for Falchion just involved removing his shirt and jacket. Seeing him alone on the couch as she prepared to go upstairs made Shy think of the painful loneliness of her own bed.

So they decided to share the couch.

Author's Note: Okay guys, I'm not looking for anything vindictive, but please be as critical as you like when reviewing. It can't do anything but help.

The Winter Moon celebration was given from the perspective of Leigh-Anne G's story "Desperado" as we are about to crossover our stories at one middle point before heading to our eventual conclusions. The events referenced at the end there are from Leigh's other story "The Way You Love Me" and if you haven't read that yet, you're probably quite confused. Sorry about that, but this story was written in conjunction with her.