Sandalwood and Fluttershy sat in a clearing in the woods. They had gone on a hike and picnic. The two had now been dating most of the summer; a summer that was almost over. In another week school would start again so they decided to make most of the time they had left. Fluttershy had the day off and it was a beautiful, sunny day; so they decided to go on a hike.

They packed a lunch, Sandal brought his recorder and Fluttershy her tambourine. Sandal drove them to the park where the parked and began their hike. Through the trails they went, sometimes in the bright sun, sometimes shrouded under a canopy of leaves. They talked, held hands, and sang the whole trip. Eventually they got to the spot they wanted to go; a small clearing by a stream with a medium sized rock right in the center.

They unfurled the blanket they brought, un packed the food (all vegetarian) and drinks, and sat down. They ate in silence; just enjoying each other's company. Then they picked up their instruments. Sandal sat down on the rock, Fluttershy stood up, and both started playing. While they were playing, Fluttershy "ponied up". Her ears disappeared from the sides of her head and reappeared at the top. A long strand of hair grew out of the back of her head and stopped at about her knees. But most of all, two large wings grew out of her back; which she flapped to hover above the ground. Sandal wasn't surprised. He had seen her do this before; once at the Fall Formal, and the second at the Battle of the Bands. Truth be told; he thought it made her look even more attractive, like an angel.

Once they stopped playing, Fluttershy floated back to the ground and transformed back to normal. She looked over at Sandalwood and smiled. "Today is perfect!" she said in breathless delight.

Sandal just looked at her, the sun beaming down on her honey skin and strawberry blonde hair. Even now, in full human form, she seemed to glow. He smiled and shook his head. "No, you're perfect," he said.

She walked over and straddled him. They began to kiss passionately. After a while, it was Sandal that broke away. "We keep this up, I can't be held responsible for my actions," he said with a laugh.

"You says I want you to be?" she asked seductively and went to kiss him again.

Sandal stopped her. "And to the unsuspecting person or family that would happen to walk by?"

Fluttershy frowned, turned herself around, and leaned back so her head was resting on his left shoulder. "Party pooper," she teased.

Sandal put his arms around her and said, "Trust me, I'll be paying for this later."

"So what do you want to do now? Take a dip in the stream?"

"No. That would still be dangerous territory. Considering we didn't bring any swimwear. Time and place my lady. Time and place."

Fluttershy looked up at the sky. "Everything is so new. I feel like any and everything is possible. And I finally feel like I haven't done everything before."

"No more deja-vu?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No and it's wonderful. It's a bit, um, unsettling to feel like you've done and said everything before. Almost like you're being forced to reenact an old script."

Sandal kissed her on the side of her neck. "Well, here's to the new."

Fluttershy turned to look at him. "So how did you learn to play like that?"

"My father's Peruvian and my mother's Argentinian. They taught me native folk songs when I was younger."

"You know, we've talked about politics, religion, philosophy, but you've never told me about you family. Why?" Fluttershy hoped she didn't sound like she was accusing him of anything; she was just curious.

"I love my parents. They started with nothing and worked their way up to be very successful business owners. Dad owns his own tile making business and mom owns a dance studio. But, I don't like talking about being Latino. Everyone tries to box you in based on that. More so other Latinos. When I was younger, I was called coconut all the time. For me, being a hippie is who I am. I don't see the need to shave my head and speak with a Spanish accent. I don't want to act like some third rate Latin stereotype and be all, ' Hey bandito, what's shaken holmes?' I just want to be me. I'm Grateful Dead, not Gipsy Kings."

"That's so sad," Fluttershy said, genuinely sad.

"It is what it is. People like to stereotype other people, put them in a box so they don't have to get to know the person. And in minority or groups, they tend to take those stereotypes on as a cultural badge of honor and try to force others in that community to live by those standards. Not all poor whites like country music and guns, not all gays love wine and techno music. If we could just stop seeing ourselves and others as stereotypes and see ourselves as unique people, it'd be a better world."

"That's good Sandal, but you said yourself; you're a hippie. Your hair, clothes, they way you talk, all say, 'I'm a hippie'. Aren't you still reducing yourself to a stereotype?"

Sandal paused and thought about what Fluttershy had said. "I guess your right. Maybe it's unavoidable. But it's a stereotype I chosen for myself and not one I feel forced into."

"Except for the group you want to join. You are forced to live by their standards."

"Touché," Sandal replied. "As I said, maybe it's unavoidable."

The two fell silent for a while. It was Fluttershy who finally broke the silence. "So, you ready to get in the stream now and mess around?"

"Sure," Sandal said; he was no longer in the mood to say no.

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Sandal and Fluttershy lay napping on the blanket they had brought. Fluttershy started to have a strange feeling. She felt like she was being pulled out of her body. She opened her eyes to see herself lying next to Sandal, his arm around her in the spoon position. She was in fact, floating above her body. She turned around and could see she was being pulled up through the sky. The blue of the Earth's atmosphere gave way to the blackness of space. She wizzed by stars and galaxies at a rate that would have made the speed of light seem geologically slow in comparison. Then the blackness of space became a perfect blackness.

Where am I? She thought to herself. Then two bright balls of light, one orangish, yellow, the other purple, appeared before her.

"You are in the Nexus," the lights spoke with one voice. "You are here because it is time to receive your mark."

"My mark?" Fluttershy asked full of fear and apprehension.

"You are the Mystic. The one who died and who was reborn. The one who can read the minds of animals. The one who can remember the time that was not was. When you gave yourself in love, you showed yourself worthy of ascension. So it is time to receive your mark," the light's spoke.

From each ball of light shot out a small beam of light that came together. From where the two beams met, a smaller ball of light appeared. That ball then took the shape of a butterfly. The butterfly flew over and landed on Fluttershy's face and became one with it.

Fluttershy gasped in pain and snapped awake. She looked around and saw she was still in the park. Sandal sat up beside her and looked at her with concern.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

Fluttershy touched the side of her face. "Yes. Just a weird dream. We should be getting back now."

"You don't regret what . . . " Sandal started to ask but was cut off by a kiss from Fluttershy.

"Never. I'll never regret anything I do with you. I love you."

"I love you too."

The two packed up and started to walk back. On the way back she found she could look at an animal and somehow know what it was thinking. Whatever had happened to her was real and it was important. She was now The Mystic.

Author's Note

Ok, a strange place to end a story, but it will be picked up later in my long fiction. Think of all my short stories as the "prequels" to that story. I'm both setting up my mythology as well as teasing what is to come. I'll either go back to Sunset and Twilight next or go to Rainbow Dash ( or as it will be revealed, The Warrior).