Here for You

The inside of the house was amazing. It was obvious that Fluttershy loved nature; one would even say she was "obsessed" with it. Potted plants were everywhere; littering the house with an array of colors that could give Rainbow Dash's' mane a run for it's money. And with all this I discovered the source of that sweet lavender and mint. Though I think the mint I smelt on Fluttershy might have been just toothpaste, the lavender was most definitely the flowers that resided in this abode; and yes there were also mint leaves (so maybe it was partly toothpaste). Birds flew in through the open windows along with a sweet breeze that was concentrated perfectly by the small openings to the outside world.

I was so focused on the decor and birds that I almost didn't notice the light "squeak" of pain that came from from right in front of my right fore hoof. I raised it up to see a small white bunny looking over his shoulder at me, he looked anything but happy to see me. Where his cotton ball tail was supposed to be was replaced by a flat wooly pancake... that I was the cause of ("Great Shades, you zoned out, again.").

I lowered my head to the bunny with a face that I pray was worthy of forgiveness. Whenever I screwed something up I would unconsciously have this face that gave me more of the appearance of a blue eyed puppy with emo bangs covering one eye. It wasn't a crutch but it had gotten me out of some situations I did not want to be in. But the closer my muzzle came to this rabbit, the more and more pissed he looked. Like I could see the fires of Tartarus in this animals eyes he was so mad.

"Um, hey little guy. I'm sorry are you okay? I didn't mean to step on your-," I was met with a good slap across the face; no claws, just pads. For a little guy, this rodent could put a fox down for the count with that B-slap ("B" in this case meaning "Bunny"). I shot up with surprise. Yes there was pain in my face, but the fact that it was this little bunny that caused it made me chuckle. The little guy's expression went from anger to confusion. Apparently he thought he had shown me who was top rabbit in here, but when you've been slapped by your pet cat when he wanted down; you've got a stallion who can take a light beating from tiny paws.

"Angel Bunny, we do not slap guests. That is impolite." Fluttershy trotted up beside me, giving quite the nasty glare at her pet. "Now what do you say?" The rabbits face went back to that of annoyance. He looked back to me stuck out his tongue, then hopped up the stairs and out of sight.

"I apologize about that," said the yellow pegasus. "he can be quite the hassle at times." She looked off the side again, she had an expression that obviously screamed "did i forget something". Strange enough with my rep of having difficulty reading emotions; somehow this time I was right. Her ears perked up as she remembered what she needed to do.

"Oh my where are my manners, shall I put on a pot of tea for us?"

"Oh no thanks, I'm fine." But the dryness I suddenly noticed in my throat said otherwise. "Eh... Actually can I get a cold glass of sweet tea please?" I swore my tan fur turned pink, or maybe that was the paw mark on my cheek. Either way I gave a light nervous chuckle, and oh was it raspy; a drink could really do me some good.

Fluttershy apparently noticed because she gave out a light giggle with a hoof over her mouth. Oh dear Luna in the moon why did she have to do that. The butterflies on her flank must have had relatives, and where were they, you may ask? Short answer... my stomach.

Growing up in southern Equestria, ice-cold sweet tea was something I always enjoyed on a hot summer day. But what Fluttershy brewed up was better than anything the folks back home could ever make even after perfecting it their whole lives. Good chance I would have to ask for a pitcher to take home for the fridge.

"I hope its good, I'm used to making hot tea with less sugar, so it may not be that tasty." Fluttershy's hooves rubbed against each other nervously as she sat on the opposite end of the couch we were on. Why did I even sit down there? There were plenty of chairs to sit on in the living room and we both had to choose of all things, the couch. There was most certainly a cloud of nervousness between us. But what Fluttershy said quickly changed my train of thought, how humble could this mare be?

"Are you kidding!? This is delicious, my parents could never make sweet tea this good! I-" I said a few more words of pointless praise towards a beverage when I realized once again I was ranting. Fluttershy looked surprised, but then gave me that same shy face that just drove me nuts when I saw her at her door. "Ah crap, I'm sorry. I'm normally not quite this talkative. It's just I can be more talkative when I get comfortable around somepony, and not that I'm getting comfortable around you. It's just that your not that crazy mob of mares like the other night, it's not that I don't like mares, it was just overwhelming at the time. And it's not that I want to go around with a bunch of mares surrounding me It's cool, but I'm not like that cause it would make me look like a total feed bag and WHY AM I STILL TALKING?! I SOUND LIKE A CRAZY PONY. I-"

Both my hooves were on my temples giving a stress relieving massage to no avail, so the hoof that suddenly "booped" my nose was not my own. Whatever, it was enough to get me to shut up. The smell of lavender again, it was so relaxing.

When the hoof left my face I looked over to see Fluttershy giggling. Here I was looking like a lunatic and she was giggling. I was expecting her to be scared bitless. She took a sip of her tea to stop her chuckling and finally spoke.

"You? A crazy pony?" she almost broke out laughing this time. "Almost all my friends are crazy in some way. And that's what I like about them. I will say I am surprised, you may seem timid like me at times. But all you need to do is get in your comfort zone and you're as talkative as Pinkie Pie." I didn't know wether to take that as a joke or a compliment, but she continued talking.

"But like you said, you saw yourself in me right? Well I'm starting to sense the same thing," she took another sip of her drink. "When Twilight Sparkle first moved to Ponyville, I couldn't even clearly say my name to her for she was so straight forward. The sudden confrontation made me nervous so I shrunk into a metaphorical ball hoping she'd soon leave me be."

"Yeah I guess Twilight does seem like the pony that will give it to you straight." I chuckled. I looked back at Fluttershy and blushed yet again. "Oh sorry, please continue."

"It's okay. Well it wasn't until I saw her pet, er I mean, assistant baby dragon Spike that I snapped out of my timid stupor. As you can see I love all sorts of animals. And even though I'm simply terrified of adult dragons, baby dragons I just simply adore." She hugged herself tight and smiled with the word "adore". "I followed Twilight all day conversing with her and Spike asking many questions about dragons. All because I was around something that I liked and felt comfortable talking about."

If I wasn't taking a swig of my drink my jaw would have dropped. I never knew that another pony could be faced with such challenges that I could relate to. She was so kind and nurturing, like a mare that seemed motherly but luckily didn't remind you of your mother. I liked her quiet nature. I enjoyed the privacy in my studio when I wrote music, and she liked being in her cottage taking care of her plants and animals. Though I could be more hyperactive, that aside we had some stuff in common. It was kinda cool. But what she said next broke my chain of thoughts and made me choke on my drink.

"So why do you feel comfortable around me?" she asked. "You seem to be quite talkative at the moment so you must be." Oh crap! Shades you just entered the trap stallions have been lured into for generations! Luckily I already had an answer to break that curse.

"Like I said it's like talking to myself with you. There is nopony that one can talk with easier than his or her own self. Talking with you, it's as if my inner thoughts have manifested into the form of a beautiful mar- SHIT!!!" My hoof covered my mouth, my inner thoughts broke loose and apparently so did my dictionary of profanity. I flipped out. " I am so, so sorry. I shouldn't have used such language in front of you. It was just reflexes, I've been around Vinyl for too long and she has quite the vocabulary. Maybe I should just... go. It's getting late. Thanks for the tea."

I was right, the sun had set a while ago and the stars outside were shining brightly. I got up and began to head to the door before I made an even bigger ass of myself, no offense to all the donkeys reading this story.

"Why are you leaving? You didn't do anything to offend me." I froze and my heart picked up back to its previous break neck speed. I looked back with my now extremely flushed face. My long, rusty brown bangs were hanging over my left eye, but I was too shocked to push it aside. Fluttershy trotted over too me from the couch.

"I'm no stranger to swearing, I hear it all the time from Rainbow Dash when she fails to perform a trick at flying practice. And also, don't think I'll find you weird for giving me a compliment. It's very sweet. Cute even." That's it, I'm dead. Celestia take me to the great beyond now.

"Tell you what, I'm going to the market tomorrow after my spa visit with Rarity. I'll ask her to hold off from there so we can talk some more, and maybe we can work on that nervous rambling you do." she giggled once again. "But then again it'd be a shame to see that part of you disappear, it's quite entertaining." I paused, looked at the floor and chuckled at myself, then looked back to Fluttershy.

"You know what, maybe it's about time I did get to know this town better. I think we can learn a lot from each other. Alright it's a da-," I caught myself fortunately. "-deal." Fluttershy blushed and smiled. I think she knew what I was going to say but she let it slide.

"Pick me up at the spa around 12:30?" she asked.

"No problem." I smiled. "See ya tomorrow Flutters." I paused at the realization I had just given her a nickname.

"Flutters? You give everypony a nickname?" she asked with a smirk.

"Only good friends." I said with a cheesey tone that was borderline flirtatious. "And I feel like I've made a new one today. And who knows, perhaps I'll gain another one tomorrow." Fluttershy blushed with a sweet smile.

"Goodnight Shades." she said as she came over and held the door open for me. If this was an old black and white film I would have grabbed my coat and fedora and looked her in the eyes. But the blue eyes I looked into would have been wasted on colorless film.

"Goodnight." I said as I walked out the door and began the journey back to the apartment above my studio.

Fluttershy slowly closed the door and sighed. She looked down to see Angel Bunny giving her a smirk.

"What?" she asked.