Ch. 2: Tattered

Sunshine

A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction

By Gen

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fanbased work of prose. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro, and the reinvention of Lauren Faust. No copyright infringement is intended, please support the official release

"Ow, ow, ow! Please, not so tight!"

"S-sorry! I'm so sorry! Just let me tie on this last piece of gauze..."

"It's fine... This just sort of hurts..."

The tightening sensation around my chest at the moment was more than uncomfortable for me, but it was nearly impossible for me to sit still in my boxers. I actually had to grip my feet to prevent any additional movement. The butter-yellow life-form I had only just been introduced to was sitting on her haunches directly behind me while doing her best to tie bandages on as gently as she possibly could. All efforts seemed to be in vain though, as even the gentlest of tugs had been able to cause me distress.

Well, I suppose that you can't say that I wasn't grateful to this strange little creature. She brought me into her home, kept me warm, and she was even now nursing to my wounds. It was like she was a guardian angel of some kind. Heck, I haven't even told you all about how well those antibiotics and ointments worked. In short, they worked like a charm. Sure, they stung like hell, but the moment that was over I could actually move without any pain! Now I did still feel a little sore, but that was a small price to pay to be able to actually move once more. I will admit, I was rather insistent on applying the medicine on my legs, but my new friend was very insistent that she would be the one to do so I didn't even want to let her bandage them, but she managed to convince me to let her. I'm still kind of embarrassed just mentioning it, so I'm not sure why I did just now.

My entire torso had been covered with the bandages. From my neck down, the strips of gauze covered my neck, chest, stomach, arms, legs, and back. That sweet four-legged blessing had even managed to wrap the stuff around my fingers. One thing about all the gauze that I liked at the moment was a long strip that was wrapped around my forehead like a headband. Even though it looked cool, the cut on the back of my head that it covered was more than proof that I wasn't as far away from that Manticore as I may have once thought. That scratch wasn't my only reminder though. After a look to a close-by table, I could see just where what remained of my clothes had been put for the time being.

Lying on top a near-by table, folded up as neat as it possibly could have been had been my shirt and pants. My pants seemed to have survived everything that I had gone through with just a few scrapes or stains. My shirt however seemed to have been less than lucky as it was now covered with red gashes that were already turning purple from blending into the blue fabric. It was really something that made me question just how many times I had gotten hurt out there.

"I want to thank you for this, by the way."

I had been still looking over at my shredded clothes on the table by the time that I had said that. My eyes a little cold, but only due to me partially spacing out at the time. There was a lot on my mind, and being bandaged up by a talking four-legged organism was the least of my worries. That same 'organism' did take note of what I had said as she managed to tie on my last bandage completely, but was puzzled by my words of thanks. She let out a confused little hum before responding. "Um... You're thanking me? For what?" I guess she just didn't understand how much she had helped me out. As amusing this may have been, I tried to keep my head calm and level.

"Well, you did kind of save me. I'm really grateful, so I just wanted to say so."

Embarrassed from the praise bestowed upon her, the butter-yellow being could not help but accidentally press down a little harder on my back as she attempted to straighten out any wrinkled bandages.

Tripping over word after word, I could hear her fumbling around with the last knot while stumbling in her own attempts to accept the words of thanks. "O-oh, well it's nice to be thanked. I'm sure that any of your' friends would have done the same." I made sure not to let how hollow I felt from that comment show. In all truth, I was kind of a loner. I never really liked being around other people. They never liked me so I was always left by my lonesome and it ended in me rarely ever leaving my own apartment. I wasn't going to tell her this though. It may just make her regret that she had even spoken up.

Instead, I only smiled at her. I was used to bottling up my emotions, anyways. What was the problem with adding a little bit more emotion to the bottle? It was better to just carry on the situation. There was only one thing that I couldn't really let go of from what she had said.

"Not to be rude, but I have to say that you're wrong there Ma'am."

From what I could tell, I had already gotten the attention of this four-legged being relatively well by how she froze up when straightening out the last of the wrinkles on the band aids. She didn't really respond right away, so I went ahead and continued with what I was saying. "Where I'm from, people have a tenancy of avoiding anything that could mean trouble for them. Drug wars, drive by shootings, and robberies being the least of our worries." For a moment, I exhaled a long sigh to wonder if I wanted to go back home at all. "That being said, when seeing someone as injured as I was just appearing out of nowhere... To say the least, some people have learned to... Well..." With a twist of my wrist and the spinning gears in my mind, I stared blankly up at the ceiling for a second. There had to be an easy way to word this.

"-They sort of leave you there to bleed."

There was a gasp from behind me as the four-legged being now walked out from behind me and to my side. She kept her eyes on mine with a moralized sense of concern. "Oh my, it sounds so rough where you live. I certainly hope that you aren't as mean as those people." She paused before recoiling at her own poor wording. "I'm sorry, you look like a very nice person... It's just... I mean, you did look a little scary, but..." Saying this, the small horse paused before blinking almost in realization to what she had just said. Then jumping from her own shock, the poor thing was more embarrassed than ever. "O-oh no, I didn't mean to say that. I'm sure that anyone would look scary in your' condition; I mean... Oh no... That came out all wrong..." Well, this one was quite a worry-wart, wasn't she? Still, it was nice to know that someone was worrying.

Patting her head was more than enough to at least brighten her spirits up a little. Sure, the poor thing looked a little down, but that wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed. "Hey, hey, don't start that now. There's no point in worrying about something like that." Pointing to my now grinning mouth, I made sure this was the first thing that she saw when looking back up. Without a doubt, the first thing that she had seen was a beaming grin as I had pointed at it with a bandaged hand.

"Just smile. Don't you know that it's good for your' health?"

I was unsure if she just wasn't expecting it or what, but without a doubt the poor girl was smiling. Taking my hand off her head now, I just looked forward. "Don't worry. I get what you're saying. I actually get it all the time back where I'm from." Living in a town like I did, it wasn't really fun. It anything, living in the city was actually quite dangerous; not to mention the rise in crime now-a-days... Still, someone needed to stay positive. "Everyone is always really on edge and jumpy. You could get tasered pretty easily if you're not careful." Between you and me, I had even gotten tasered at one point just for asking for directions. Definitely missed my bus that day... Fun. Looking at the butter-yellow creature once more, I gently smiled her way.

"So it means a lot that you would take me in and help me like that. I'm very grateful."

Just by how she was fidgeting with her hooves, It was evident that I had made my new friend feel a little flustered from how I had been praising her. She acted like no-one had ever done so before. It wasn't like she could hide it; even her voice told me how she felt. "I-it isn't a problem. Really it isn't. It's just my job to take care of the wild animals, so it doesn't matter how odd they-" Stumbling over her own wording once more, the small horse just seemed tormented by her speech. The way she just lied down on her stomach and hid her face in her fore-legs was adorable. Even her ears folded back. Adorable!

"Oh, I messed up again! I didn't mean anything by that, I promise! I didn't mean to call you an animal, I just haven't ever seen some-pony that looks like you do."

There is was again. That word. It was really something to make you think. "Hm, Some-pony, huh?" I scratched my chin before leaning back while using my arms to prop me up. "So that's what you are; a pony?" She had already been looking up at me at about this time with those large eyes, but made sure not to look too far up from her lying position.

I laughed when finally coming to the conclusion. I was talking to a pony. A PONY for crying out loud! Little by little, I began to think that I had somehow descended into madness but that would have been too easy. The pain that I felt over the time spent here was much too real. It seemed that I was living the real thing here. No dreams. No illusions. This was somehow reality. "I like it." Those words were a little shocking for me, even. Still, I had said it.

"I'll admit, a talking pony is a little odd, but that's just how I like it. Plenty of surprises."

At about this time, the pony beside me had already picked up her head slightly at my words. Apparently, something that I said had caught her attention. The grin on my face had already returned as the pony stared at me blankly. Only after a second of seeing this, my smile faded into a smirk of my own embarrassment. "Where are my manners? How could a gentleman go this long without a proper introduction?" As I said this, there was no hesitation before I warmly held out a hand to the pony.

"The name's Jacob. What's yours?"

Just the utter look of clueless-ness that I was given at this time was enough to tell me that this pony didn't quite understand what I was doing. She simply looked at my hand, and then back to me. I swear, it was hard not to notice how beautiful this little ponies' eyes were. A peaceful shade of teal.

Motioning my hand a little closer towards her, I watched as the pony sat on her haunches and just continued staring at me. I guess she just didn't understand, but I was going to fix that. "Don't worry, it's just a hand-shake. It's how I greet the new people I meet." She only stayed silent as she then let her eyes run down to my hand once more. I'll admit, I was a little unsure if this pony was going to trust me enough, but the moment I began to pull my hand back I could feel a hoof upon my palm.

"M-my name is... Um... It's... My name is Fluttershy."

Not really knowing what to think of this, I was now the one left at a loss. How this little pony had put her trust in me so quickly was phenomenal. I definitely wasn't going to over-look something like that. Raising Fluttershys' hoof upward slightly, I then slowly brought it down to complete the hand-shake. "Fluttershy... What a beautiful name. It suits you well." I could see that just from saying this that I had ruffled a few feathers with her... Literally! I can't believe that I had missed this! This little pony had wings! I'll tell you this much, that was enough to catch me off guard. I even found myself muttering to myself when seeing Fluttershy having to straighten them after my compliment. "Feathers..." I didn't make a scene about this. No, that would be rude. Instead, I just looked right back at Fluttershy to see her hiding a smile from me.

"Thank you... It was my grandmothers name. I always loved her photography, so I'm glad you think so..."

The moment that I had let go, the two of us did smile at each other for a moment longer, but the subject changed just as quick. As I laid back on the comforter once more, I had done my best to relax. If anything, I was going to need a little bit of rest after what I had been through. I doubted that Fluttershy would let me leave so soon anyways in my current state.

"Um, excuse me, Jacob... Would it be alright if I asked you a question?"

Putting both hands behind my head, I looked at the pony. For what she has done for me, it's literally the least I can do to just answer some questions. "Yeah, sure." Fluttershy seemed a little uncomfortable at the moment, but she did finally manage to speak.

"Well, I was just wondering how you got here. I've lived next to the Everfree Forest for years, and I haven't ever seen something like you before."

Everfree Forest, so that's what that place was called? That aside this was an excellent question. Still that didn't mean that I had the answer. If anything, I was just as much in the dark about it as she was. Heck, the only answer that I was left with was blankly staring up at the ceiling. "You know, I'm not really sure, myself. I just woke-up there. The last I remember before waking up was falling asleep in my apartment." Strange it may be, there really wasn't anything that I could go off of to tell how I had gotten here. It was literally a point-A to point-B situation. "After waking up, I got chased by a manticore, and was almost eaten by flowers." Like I needed a reminder about what had happened today. "-Then I wound up here after getting out of that forest." Closing my eyes for a second, I could still picture that slobbering carnivore trying to eat me. It was unsettling.

Fluttershy seemed to understand where I stood on all of this so far. I was just some guy that woke up in the wrong place and had some of the worst luck that you could probably find anywhere... Or maybe I had the best luck? Anyways, you get what I'm saying here.

Appearing to be a little saddened by hearing this, Fluttershy seemed to have had a sudden moment of clarity. "So that's why you were in such horrible condition." I nodded in response. Left in a state of a sort of withdrawn disbelief, the little pony held a hoof to her mouth as if lost in her own thoughts. "To have survived a manticore attack is one thing, but you must be very lucky to have seen through the disguise of the Snapdragons of the forest..." Oh, that's really what those monstrosities were called? Cute.

"They're known to disguise themselves as regular flowers, and pick the meat clean off the bones off those unfortunate enough to stumble into them. Sometimes, they can even eat the bone if they hadn't fed for a while..."

Wait, what!? Those things were that dangerous!? I... I don't even know what I'm supposed to think about this. If anything, I suppose that I was... What am I even supposed to suppose in a situation like this!? Sure, I saw what they did to the manticore, but all that I saw was them biting the thing. Looking back on that, maybe I should have expected as much.

"Um, excuse me? Are you alright? You look a little pale."

Sweat ran down my face like raindrops while trying to stay calm about all of this. I wasn't just going to panic. I could feel my throat drying up, but I did my best to speak. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. No offence, it's just that-" Now, how was a proper way of wording this?Adjusting myself to get a good look at Fluttershy, I raised a brow before lifting a hand to try and make a point. "-How can you say something like that and be so calm about it?" Well, at least some color was coming back to my face right about now.

Beside me, Fluttershy didn't seem the least bit off put by anything that she had just mentioned. She actually looked like this was nothing new for her. Even while shuffling her fore-hooves together, I could tell that she wasn't normally one to boast of her skills. "Well, I just find nature fascinating, so I try to keep myself educated about stuff like this. Not to mention that just talking about something is a lot different from experiencing it." You had to admit, she had a point. "Truthfully, I've never seen Snapdragons during a feeding... If I did... It would make me a little..." I could already see Fluttershy swaying the top half of her body from side-to-side as if she was going to hurl. Her face turning a little green in her movements, it wasn't long before she just fell onto my lap.

"-Woozy."

Sitting up completely once more now, all I did was look at the pony with slight concern. I suppose that picturing something like what I had would be a bit of a trip for this frail-looking pony. There was no point in letting her keep herself in this state though. Patting the top of her head, I tried to ease whatever discomfort may have risen from this conversation. "Hey now, let's not get into that if it just makes you feel uncomfortable. Why don't we just change the subject?" Not a bad idea on my part. Not to mention that this also seemed to have gotten Fluttershys' mind off of the Snapdragons.

The pony had slowly risen her head from my lap before speaking; the green in her cheeks already leaving. It really was for the best that we would move the subject along. "Um... Alright... What would you like to talk about?" Sitting up by herself once more, Fluttershy blew a couple stray hairs from her face before acting like she had before. Her question took a bit of contemplating to answer. Well, I did have one thing we could talk about.

"How about just the common introduction? Who we are, where we come from, what we do, that kind of stuff. We already know each others names, so why not get a little more acquainted with one another?"

If anything, my recommendation only seemed to make Fluttershy a little nervous. I suppose that sharing personal information with a stranger would sort of seem a little strange to me as well, so I couldn't blame her. It seemed that I was going to have to take the lead here. Beginning by pressing a hand against my bandaged chest, I smiled to assure Fluttershy that I meant no harm by this. "Look, how about I start? I'll tell you about myself, and you can decide whether you want to talk about this. How does that sound?" She didn't seem against it, but didn't seem for it either. I think that Fluttershy was just waiting for me to speak. Clearing my throat, I made sure to keep my voice calm and clear.

"Well, you already know that my first name is Jacob, but my full name is Jacob Matthew Froster. As a college student, I also work part-time as a chef. I'm nineteen, and was born on May fifth. I was born in a small town, but began jumping around America for a year after my folks divorced... It was when I was young, so I don't remember too much of it."

"Um... Uh-merry-kah?"

Fluttershy had been sitting with her fore legs gently planted onto the floor at what I had just said. Her ears folded back as if in deep thought for a split moment, but looked at the floor. Only looking back at me after a moment, I could see that she was filled with befuddlement. "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of a place with such a name." I paused the moment when hearing this. Fluttershy hasn't heard of America? An entire country? A nervous chuckle escaped my lips as I rubbed the back of my neck. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck beginning to stand on end, but I chose to appear calm. "No, no. America. It's a country, silly." My optimistic tone wasn't very soothing for me right now. Surely this was a joke. Trying to assure Fluttershy, I rambled on.

"You know... The United States? Eagles? Hamburgers?"

Once again, I was only given a look of Fluttershys' complete ignorance of what I was talking about. I knew she was thinking, but nothing came to mind for her. "I'm sorry, but... What is a 'hamburger'?" Wait, what?! Was this for real?! Turning my head away from Fluttershy for a split moment, I exhibited just how shocked I really had been from just that.

"Oh my God, I'm really not in America anymore..."

Well, that settled it; I was probably as far away from home as I could possibly be! Maybe I could just click my heels together three times just for hopes sake, hm? Well, I needed to stay calm about this. I came here, so I could get home just as easily, right? I just needed to take a couple of slow and easy breaths.

Exhaling heavily, I finally turned back to Fluttershy already looking a little depressed. Placing a hand on one side of my face, I slowly drug it downward until hit hit against my lap. My vision then slowly drifted to the pony beside me. I did my best to sound normal, I even forced a smile. "Um... Are you sure? Positively sure?" When Fluttershy shyly nodded in response, I could almost feel my mind slipping from me.

What was I to make of any of this? I had just somehow wound up in some sort of strange place that I don't know anything about for no good reason? How troubling this was. Still, I couldn't just let Fluttershy see me in such distress. It would make me seem ungrateful for everything that she had done for me. Still I needed a little more information. So calming down first, I began to speak once more. A cheerful demeanor about me right now, I made sure to force on just enough to not look weird. "Now, I'm very sorry, Fluttershy. I just need to ask you a question." Getting her attention quite well, I could see that Fluttershy was at least comfortable with me at the moment. Now, how could I word this without being creepy?

"May I ask where we are... Country-Wise?"

Fluttershy seemed more than able to answer. With a quick nod, she smiled happily at me. "Of course-" As I eagerly awaited her answer, I could feel butterflies in my stomach.

"I'm glad to say that we're in the country of Equestria. I'm not really sure just what place you spoke of, so I'm very sorry that you're lost."

I was afraid of that kind of answer. Not the apology, that part was actually quite nice. Just being stranded in a place that you've never even heard of; that's what rattled me at the time. This just made it even worse since I knew that I wasn't dreaming. Even worse, I had never even heard of a place called 'Equestria'. Never in all of my education had I ever even seen it on a map. It scared me to think that I wasn't even in a place with geography even similar to my own. I was in deep trouble... Deep. Realizing this, I leaned forward to run a hand through my hair.

"This is bad. Very bad."

Fluttershy tried to comfort me by placing a hoof on my shoulder. She was looking at me with a sort of concern that you would have to trust. Not like I had any say in the matter, but still-. "Jacob, is something the matter?" That was just it. I was in a strange place, talking to a strange person, in a strange home, while in a strange country. How was I going to get home? It was hard just looking back at the pony to speak up. I had too much on my mind.

"I... Don't know..."

Things had just seemed to go from bad to worse. First being stranded in an unknown place, talking to the strangest of creatures, and now this. Being stranded in a whole other country. Was something like this even possible? A part of me wanted to believe that I had just slipped into some sort of coma, but if that were possible this entire world would have shattered at the exact moment I thought that. Wouldn't it have? No, this was much too real to be just some sort of comatose hallucination. Just like the experiences from earlier, this was all too real no matter just how unrealistic this all seemed. I was going to have to accept this at one point or another, but there was still that screaming thought in the back of my head that tried to convince me that none of this was real. That I was still asleep, and this was just a lucid nightmare descending from its' own horror.

"Are you sure that this 'Twilight Sparkle' can help me?"

Fluttershy told me that there was some other being in a town not far from where we were that may be able to help me. She told me of a scientist in the towns' library. A certain 'Golden Oaks Library'. This other being was supposedly a unicorn, but previously something else that I wasn't quite sure what to make of. Something called an Alicorn. It was kind of like a flip-flop kind of thing, I guess. First she was a unicorn, then an alicorn, and then a unicorn again. I didn't ask what kind of metamorphosis happened there, but I was told that something big happened a couple years ago. This was quite literally the best that I could get from the yellow pony. Fluttershy also told me about how she was quite intelligent, and if there was anyone to help me in this strange place that it would be her. If I wanted to find out how to get home, Twilight Sparkle was my best bet to getting there.

Knowing that there were other talking ponies in this world came as both a surprise and an obvious truth for me. I mean, it was even in the name of this country. Equestria was literally one letter away from being 'equestrian'; a term for horseback riding. Was this purposeful, or just some odd coincidence? No matter, there had to be some sort of dominant race to this country, and judging by how Fluttershy doesn't even know what I am it's easy to say that it's not humans. I swear, the only comfort that I got from any of this was relating all of these pony names to ice-cream flavors.

"Quite sure. If there's any pony that can help you, it's Twilight. I was actually planning to take you by there when you felt well enough to travel. I visited her when going into town for medicine, hoping that she would have an answer to what you were. Instead, Twilight was insistent that I brought you to her after a brief description about how you looked."

So someone was already expecting me, huh? Sliding my shirt back on, I could already feel the cuts and stains of the cloth against my hands as I pulled the bottom of it over my waist. My pants didn't give the bandages on my legs any trouble. I always did wear baggy clothes, so they made no difference. Looking down at my clothing, I could already spot purple splotches across the front of my shirt. I had to put them out of mind so I could buckle my belt around my waist.

"Are you sure that you want to wear those? They're covered in... Blood."

All the while I had been getting myself dressed, Fluttershy had been with me by the table my clothes had been lying on only moments ago. While I had been making myself at least somewhat decent, I could see that she was packing a lunch. Plenty of fruits, vegetables, and a couple of sweet things to eat. I guess it was expected for ponies to not have any meat foods. I may not have been the brightest crayon in the box, but I knew that ponies were strictly herbivorous. It may have just made a pony that took care of animals a little uneasy to be around an omnivorous being such as myself. This being said, it may be best to keep my teeth hidden for a while. This meant no grinning. I could smile, but not grin. The last thing that I needed was to screw up my way back home.

Straightening up my ragged shirt the best that I could, I gave Fluttershy a thumbs up. Looking back on it, that may not have been my best choice in action since ponies don't have fingers but... She seemed to get the gist of what I was doing. "Don't worry. It's better than going around naked." Flinching slightly from a small question popping up in my head, I lowered my hand. It was very clear by the look on my face that the question was at least a little bothersome. "Hey Fluttershy, you said that your' friend was a unicorn, right?" She nodded with a hum to tell me that I was right while putting everything in a paper sack. Adjusting my glasses on the bridge of my nose, I couldn't help but arch a brow at the pony. "Then what does that make you? Do you just distinguish other ponies as simply ponies, or is it something different?" Fluttershy closed the paper bag shut before handing it to me when lifting it up in her mouth. Taking it, I waited patiently for my response as Fluttershy thought of a way to explain this. I could already tell that this was going to be lengthy.

"Actually, there are three main species of ponies. Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. It's actually very easy to understand if you can get the mental image in your' head. It's something that most ponies learn during their times as fillies or colts. Usually they even learn this before attending school. The easiest way to know this is that Unicorns have horns, Pegasi have wings, but Earth Ponies have neither. Since I have wings, I'm a Pegasus. This is just the quickest way to explain, but Twilight can fill you in on all of this much easier if you ask politely."

Okay then, there were three different species of ponies? This was easy enough to compress into my head, at least. I did suppose that this meant that I had to refer to Fluttershy as a pegasus now, instead of a pony so this had to make it at least a third easier. Still, I wasn't always the brightest person so it may be good to always keep this in mind when talking to this friend of Fluttershys' when I get there. Still, with there being a world inhabited by sentient pony creatures, I felt as if I was trapped within an eight year old girls' coloring book.

Warming up my leg muscles, I could still feel that familiar aching in my joints. It will just have to be ignored for now. There were more important matters. I had to get to the unicorns' tree-house... Geeze, that sounds weird.

"Well, if that's just about it, I should really get going. If you can just give me directions to this library, I'll be out of your' hair."

In a calm manner, Fluttershy walked around the side of the table. Her hooves silently clopping against the hard-wood floor to create just the perfect sound to break the current quiet. "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to leave by yourself. It's just much too dangerous for some-pony that isn't familiar with this land." Well, you had to give her that much. Given my current day, I wouldn't doubt anything else going wrong. Still, this accurate point didn't keep Fluttershy from following up with her timidity. "Not that I don't think you can, you look like you are very good with directions. I just think that it would be quicker if I could help you make it there." Not really much of a problem. If anything, it would be a lot better for me. It would save me plenty of time knowing that Fluttershy would be taking me there.

"Fine with me. It'll be good having someone reliable with me."

While turning on a dime, I pocketed my hands before making my way toward the door. Fluttershy was quick to follow after. Of course, the door being about my height, it was certain that I would have to duck down if I didn't want to scrape the top of my head on the door frame. I'll admit, the idea of having to duck my head down under a door was a tad bit unusual, but it was mandatory if I didn't want a bump on the top of my noggin.

The door of which had been just a simple double-door. If I hadn't noticed before, I can guarantee that I would have just pushed open the top half rather than both completely. It was a clever little thing to have. Although not as good as a peep-hole.

"Well, let's not sit around like a bunch of dust-bunnies; let's get going."

Pressing the door open, I made sure to lean my head downward while looking at Fluttershy. The pegasus of which had been watching me with what I could only suppose to be interest. "Oh my, you walk so well for some-pony that only uses their back legs." Wow, she really didn't know what I was, did she? Still, no point in ruining this for the girl.

The moment that I stepped outside, I was more than pleased to feel the warm rays of light touching my skin. The sight of my clothes in the full light of the sun however was less than pleasing. The purple stains on my blue shirt were much more clear now, and I could see that there were even a couple hard to see spots on my jeans. No way that I was wearing these again. It was too bad, really.

Poking a finger through a hole on my shirt, I grouchily frowned at the pieces of tattered cloth. "Man, this is embarrassing. I couldn't have been stranded with two sets of clothes?" As Fluttershy stepped out in the open with me she did seem to share some of the same thoughts as I had, but the look on her face at least told me that they were more polite than mine were. After adverting her gaze for a moment, Fluttershy did bring herself to look at me once more. For the reason that she did, I suspected it to be out of pity.

"It's not that bad. It's not good, but it's not bad either..."

Even with Fluttershys' positive reinforcement, I couldn't help but mope a little over this. I breathed out my nose just to express my displeasure as the sight of these rags that I had now been wearing. "This was my favorite shirt." I placed a hand on my forehead in my own disgust with what I had now been wearing. With a moan, I slid the hand down my face before returning it to my side. "I look like some sort of punk-hipster..." Nonetheless, this wasn't important right now; no matter how embarrassing it was to look like this.

Using her wings to lift herself, Fluttershy carried herself off the ground a few feet before flying in front of me to obtain my attention. It was easy to say that she had gotten it. Staying eye-level with me, she tried to give helpful suggestions.

"Well, maybe you could just take them off? You could certainly walk around without feeling embarrassed then, I'm sure."

Take my own clothes off? Just the thought of doing so had caused my face to brighten up. I know that she meant well, but all she really did was embarrass me even more. Still, she was only trying to help. While reaching up to scratch the side of my face with an index finger, I could already feel how warm my face had gotten. I made sure not to break the smile I had, even if it was wavering every now and then. "T-That's not an option, I'm afraid..." Fluttershy had found this peculiar for some odd reason. Of course, she tried to ask me why, but I cut Fluttershy off with a lifted hand in between our faces before she could even make it past the first letter.

"Just... Trust me. Don't ask."