The Studies of Equestria: The Pony, the Brother and the Everfree Forest

by Typewrittensoul

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy
Length: 8937

Kevin Costern makes his way back to Equestria to learn what happened to his brother.

In a follow up to the best-selling fiction novel, "Prances with Ponies: Stumbling into Paradise," Kevin Costern brings us a new story that weaves biology and sociology with the powerful narratives of personal tragedy, betrayal, and intrigue, by using imagination and detail in a way that grabs readers' attentions from the first page. Inspirational and heartwarming, this latest addition to his travels through "Equestria", the magical land populated by ponies, is akin to classic tales, while being as much a commentary on our own lives and society as it is about coping with the loss of his brother, Liam, ten years ago.

A journey of self-discovery, uncovering the mystery of a brother's disappearance, and a fascinating look at the attributes and qualities that we humans think make us a "unique" life form, be sure to pick up Kevin Costern's "Kindness" available in all bookstores, today!

*Edit (7/22/2014): Currently being rewritten. If you have been waiting for an update, please read this*.

Published 2012-06-14 06:04:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-22 12:04:01 UTC

Prologue

At a quaint, moss-covered cottage situated between the hilly fields that led to Ponyville and the edge of the Everfree Forest, a peculiar creature opened the front door and walked inside. The floorboards under his shoes creaked softly, but from the way he carefully stepped, the creature was obviously familiar with where he needed to place his feet so that the loudest noises were prevented from alerting anyone to his presence.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" His deep voice asked out loud. Though no one was in sight from his spot in the living room, decorated by a couch, lamp, side table and various additions constructed for the use of small animals along the walls, the sound of running water carried down from the far hall.

"Just a minute!" A voice called back. Not expecting any visitors, Fluttershy had been busy giving her flying squirrel friend a bath in the kitchen sink after it had fallen into the mud from the previous night's rain. It would be a problem if Squirrelly wasn't washed off right away since he had a date coming soon.

After turning off the faucet and grabbing a small dish rag for Squirrelly to use to dry himself, the yellow pegasus made her way to the hallway, wiping herself with her own towel and came upon a surprising sight. "I'll be right...oh...h-hello..."

A hue-men.

From the deep voice, she had expected to see a mail pony or even another of the many stallions that passed by the cottage every so often hoping to initiate a courtship, or even ask her about one of her friends. Although the same could be said about the mail pony since sometimes a "secret admirer" would send her a present like a knick knack for the animals she took care of. More often than not however it would be mail sent to her cottage by accident.

The hue-man did not seem at all confused by the sight of a winged pony. In much the same way, she didn't seem to look any more surprised at coming across such an alien creature.

Even though she was taken off guard by the creature being able to speak to her, Fluttershy knew she couldn't have been mistaken to what she heard. With a gulp, Fluttershy asked, "Can I help you?"

The hue-men gave a sheepish smile and rubbed his hand against the back of his head. "Uh, sorry, it's been a while, so I might be a little rusty...could you say that again?"

Fluttershy blinked. "Oh..." Her eyes narrowed at the tall creature and even tilted her head as the hue-men's fairly hairy face became more and more familiar. "...oh my!" She gasped. The pony stumbled back for a moment as her eyes grew wide and wings unfurled slightly when the hue-men smiled in response to her reaction. "I'm the one who's sorry, I didn't realize...it's just that..."

"This?" He asked knowing full well what she was referencing and brought the flat of his hand to stroke a patch of his beard that grew on his face. "Maybe I should have shaved, huh?"

"No, no, you shouldn't!" Fluttershy said quickly. "I like it. It makes you look...distinguished!"

It was the hue-men's turn to blink as he repeated the unfamiliar word. "Deese...ting...wished...?"

"Oh, um...I mean to say that you look very handsome." She rephrased what she wanted to say without any sort of shame.

He blinked again, then gave a small smile. "...well, if that's the case..." Using the same raised hand he lightly scratched at his chin with one of his fingers.

Fluttershy smiled warmly at the sight of her friend. It seemed like only yesterday that he had to flail his arms about and exaggerate his facial expressions in order to communicate. At least four years since she welcomed him into her home after finding him cold and hungry and alone in the forest.

Speaking of which...

"Oh, darn. This was all so sudden, I almost forgot to..." Fluttershy stuttered out, catching his attention once more. She lowered her head slightly and glanced toward the hue-men from behind a pink bang of her mane. "I'm sorry, I know this might sound strange, but...could you close your eyes for a moment? A-and don't peek! A-and also, if you could take just a step backwards, that is, if you don't mind?"

"Hmmm? Ok, sure..." He agreed without protest.

As soon as he closed his eyes, Fluttershy quickly wiped at the tears threatening to fall down her cheeks with her hooves. She sniffled slightly. Some of the water from Squirrelly's bath must have simply splashed on her, leaving her to feel a slight chill.

"Is everything alright?" He asked with an arched brow while his eyes remained closed. "Maybe I should...?"

"NO! I mean..." Fluttershy nearly jumped at him in panic but barely restrained herself. She tensed her back muscles to keep her wings against her sides and took long, deep breaths to calm herself. "...I just need a moment...please, don't peek..."

"Ok, I promise I won't." He replied assuredly. "Take as much time as you need..."

She couldn't help but smile and blush. "...thanks." Wiping her wet eyes once more, Fluttershy took the opportunity to look over how radically different Kevin had become since she last saw him. Since he so suddenly disappeared that night, years ago. The hair atop his head was better groomed and of course, his face had gotten much hairier and rougher, although it was covered in short hairs in a sort of design meant to frame his more squarer jaw and pronounced cheek bones. At the very least he didn't seem to have starved for food over the years.

Fluttershy took one more final, calming breath, sure that she was able to control her tears now. "...alright...I think I can do it, now...you can open your eyes..."

"What can you do n-" His question was cut off as he was distracted.

Fluttershy nervously chewed on her lower lip and felt her heartbeat start to race. At long last, she could put into practice what she'd been rehearsing to herself for all these years. Opening her mouth, Fluttershy said in a series of un-ponylike growls and grunts while wearing a wide smile, "[Welcome back!]" Feeling the tears gathering on her eyelashes, the pony could almost laugh at the fact that she was doing exactly what she didn't want Kevin to see. Nonetheless, she took a step forward with wings spread open, barely able to contain her excitement at the prospect of hugging her dear friend after so long.

"[Kevin, are you there?]" Grunts and growls were heard from outside as another tall creature walked into the cottage. Kevin's attention had been directed toward the door as the other hue-men looked about in amazement at the living room. Placing one hand on Kevin's shoulder, the hue-men brought its other hand to cover its mouth while saying with a gasp. "[Oh my gosh! A real, talking pony...with wings, too!]" Its voice was much softer and higher pitched than Kevin's, as was its hair longer—down to its shoulders—and a much lighter color, close to being a similar yellow to Fluttershy's coat, but with a paler golden tint.

Fluttershy had since found her hooves glued to the floor and she "eeped" in sheer surprise. The shock caused her to shut her wings closed tightly against her sides at the stranger's intrusion.

Kevin smiled and beckoned the other hue-men to walk further inside before closing the cottage door. "Fluttershy, I'd like you to meet [Fiona]. My girlfriend."

"[It's finally great to meet you, uh...] Flittashoo?" She let out a small laugh and broke into a nervous smile. "[I'm sorry...I probably totally butchered that, but Kevin's told me so much about you! Uh...]" When there was no response, the two hue-mens exchanged glances as the pink-maned pegasus stood silently while the seconds ticked by.

"Fluttershy?" Kevin asked in concern and took a step forward, wondering what was wrong with the pony. He leaned closer and cocked his head at the pegasus pony's bizarre behavior.

While still smiling, wide-eyed, Fluttershy was frozen from embarrassment. Her whole body remained stiffened like a bowling pin as she toppled over to the floor just after letting out a soft bleat, rocking back and forth on her side.

The Other Man

Introduction

Everything happens for a reason.

You read in textbooks and learn how wars were won, how gravity was discovered and why it's a dumb idea to stick a fork into an electric outlet. Over the centuries, doctors and scientists and philosophers have slowly but surely taken on the "whys", "hows" and "whens" so that today we understand that germs and viruses make us sick and abstract ideas like morality and religion are based off of more eartly realities and evolutionary history in their emergence than the notion that they are conspiratorial manipulations of a supernatural nature.

But there are lots of things in life that you can't find the answer to in a textbook or are not easily explainable by doing an experiment or research.

I could spend the rest of this introduction telling you, the reader, how I've already written [strike]a[/strike] about an amazing experience a few years ago. If you've read it, I'd like to say thanks. If you bought it, my bank account thanks you. That extends to whether you liked it or not, and the many [strike]various[/strike] reasons how or why your impression came about. If you haven't read it, again, I'm not going to waste your time recalling every plot point or nuancenor am I expecting you to go and read it as a prerequisite to understand what you're reading now. I'm just glad you've decided to read this, no matter what your experience or background or expectations are.

Knowing the past is important, but it's not the end-all-be-all. Yes, it's important to know where we came from, to understand our "roots" and make sure that we can avoid making past mistakes. However, for good or bad, I've learned, there are some things that will repeat themselves.

Sometimes it's because there are some things worth repeating. Other times it's a reflection of our nature.

... (?)

Let's start then, about the time I returned to the place called "Equestria".

"Kevin, you spelled 'earthly' wrong."

"Did I?"

"Mmhmm." The yellow pegasus hummed and nodded. "You wrote it as 'eartly'."

"Huh...that's interesting." Kevin finally commented after a moment of silence. Once more the sound of feather quills scratching against paper filled the room until a set of soft knocks echoed from the front door. Stretching out his arms, only a single set of footsteps clacked on the wooden floorboards as Kevin made his way to the front of the cottage, arriving at the door amidst the second round of knocks.

Kevin brought out his widest smile as he opened the door and looked toward the pony guest. "Hey Twilight, good to see..." He stopped mid-sentence when he realized that not only did he not recognize the orange-colored earth pony staring back up at him but as his head reached Kevin's chin, it dawned on him that it was in fact a stallion standing there.

The pony took a step back as his ears pressed downward in caution at the strange sight that came upon him.

"Uh...can I...help you...?" Kevin spoke as slowly and clearly as he could as though the awkward tension that filled the air had condensed into mothballs and threatened to shove themselves into his mouth.

The earth-pony stallion stared when he realized the creature before him said something he could understand but after a moment seemed to recollect his senses before replying. "Yes..." Taking a step forward to where he had been standing a moment ago, he ever so subtly craned to the left and right of the bipedal creature standing at the door in an effort to look inside.

"So...how can I help you?" Kevin drew out his words in a heavily stressed way, leaning in much the same manner as the pony was doing like a mirror reflection to block his line of sight. The stallion quickly grew irritated and turned his attention back to him.

The pony quietly regarded Kevin for another moment before finally addressing him directly. "I'm here to see Miss Fluttershy. She's expecting me."

"Yeah...no..." Kevin shook his head and exhaled his words while grasping tighter on the doorknob as if the doors in Equestria had locks in the first place he could use whenever he decided to slam the door in this pony's face.

The stallion huffed. It was then Kevin noticed the small gift-wrapped box on the earth pony's back and he scratched his recently clean-shaven face as his curiosity was piqued. Noticing his attention, the orange pony leaned his head to block Kevin's view of the box. "I know she's home. I'd like to speak with her...sir..." He said with a sterner tone, being careful with the words he used.

"And that concerns me, how?" Kevin replied in much the same stern tone, however did not choose to be as careful with his words.

"...I'll be back."

"Looking forward to it." Kevin flashed a toothy smile in an effort to display his top set of canines. "I'll be right here." He said before closing the door.

"Who was at the door that made you take so long?" Fluttershy asked distractedly, raising a single ear at the sound of Kevin's return into the room. Her eyes continued to move from left to right as she read over the manuscript page several times before picking up a feathered quill to make the appropriate editing marks.

"Hmmm...uh, just, um..." Kevin had not even arrived back at the table when a set of knocks from the front door reached his ears again. "Got it." He quickly said and left the room.

Cracking his knuckles, Kevin eagerly swung the door open and made sure to show off as much of his canines in his smile as possible. "Back for round two, you smug little-"

"Oh my gosh, Kevin!" The unicorn nearly shouted in exclamation. "Is that you!?" Twilight Sparkle's voice grew even more in both volume and excitement until both dropped so quickly that they crashed through the proverbial floor. "What happened to your face?" She asked, lowering drooping her ears and staring with serious concern on her face.

Kevin frowned at seeing Twilight's eyes narrow in confusion and he instinctively brought his hand up to his face, touching his fingers against the bits of ripped toilet paper pasted against his cheek and neck. "I, uh...never shaved until today—hey, why don't you come in?" He quickly said to change the subject and took a step back to allow the pony into the cottage.

"Thank you." Twilight smiled and proceeded inside. As she passed the doorway Kevin quickly stepped to block the space and while darting his glance left and right, closed the door. The purple pony decided to walk ahead, hearing the door close behind her and a second set of footsteps creak against the floorboards along with her own.

"Fluttershy? You in here?" Twilight called out as her hooves clacked against the floor on her way to the dining room where the yellow pegasus was seated, still focused on the papers strewn about on the table.

Twilight blinked and glanced toward Kevin as he walked in a minute or so later than she thought he would, setting a saucer and cup on the table end opposite of where Fluttershy sat, and poured some tea from a kettle. "Oh, thank you, that's enough." Twilight said, lightly tapping her hoof twice against the tabletop. Ceasing his pour, Kevin bowed with a flourish, fully invested in his role as the butler and succeeded in getting a giggle from his guest. Waiting a moment for him to return from the kitchen she asked, "What is it that Fluttershy's looking over?"

Kevin followed the curious pony's line of sight toward the pegasus looking quite focused on her task. "Just a couple of chapters of a manuscript for a book I'm writing."

"A book?" Twilight's interest only grew from such an answer and she nearly hopped to her hooves from her seated position before reigning in her excitement. "Oh, is it from the research findings you made the last time you were here?" She asked with ears perked upwards.

"Well, actually, no. Because I had already published them into a book a few years back. Wasn't a huge success, but I got enough to put me through school. This is a new book I'm writing.

Her eyes remained wide, though for a moment Twilight was uncertain what emotion to express until deciding to go with a smile. "Congratulations, then."

"Thanks." Kevin smiled back. He sat cross legged next to her and in the meantime she took a moment to sip at the tea. Her nose wrinkled at the sensation against her tongue.

'Still too hot.' She thought, setting the cup back onto its saucer using her magic.

Their attention returned once more to Fluttershy, still hard at work poring over the various sheets of paper and making marks with her quill.

"If you want I'd be more than ready to help. I've never been involved in publishing a book, before."

"I don't mind at all if you would help me with the research side." Twilight felt elated from the quick response but a cloud of suspicion hung over her head, as it felt like Kevin's answer was perhaps a bit too quick to have been a spur of the moment decision.

She wanted to broach the subject as gently as possible, looking at her fellow academic with as little a confrontational tone as possible. Perhaps taking a bit out of Rarity's book would suffice. "Oh." She began noncommittally, glancing from the corner of eye at him while pretending to look ahead to "watch" Fluttershy work. Counting down from three she went ahead with the attack. "Well, I have nothing against helping you research, Kevin, but...could I help you at all with translation work?"

His reply was lightning fast while retaining a certain spontaneity. "About that...you'd have to talk to my editor." Kevin gave a nervous smirk and made a gesturing nod of his head toward the yellow pegasus.

Twilight felt her lips turn into a small pout but as she was about to try again, a voice screamed out from a window behind them.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Only Twilight and Kevin had the sense to look at the sudden exclamation while Fluttershy remained focused on her work.

Kevin gave a wide smile at the sight of the pegasus floating outside the now-opened window. "Hey there, Rainb-" He began to say but was tackled to the floor by the blue bullet. It was by sheer luck that Twilight managed to create a barrier between Kevin and the table, causing him to ricochet against the floating wall of magic onto the floor with the pegasus wrangling him against the wooden boards.

Pinned to the floor by the energetic Rainbow Dash, Kevin wheezed from the several impacts his body was forced through before being confronted with a headbutt from the pegasus.

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing!?" Twilight screamed out in dismay and was about to pull her friend off Kevin when he raised his hand to stop her. "Kevin?"

"It's...it's alright..." Kevin groaned as he was stomped on a few more times by the pony about less than half his size. "I deserve this..."

"Yeah you better know it!" Rainbow Dash growled out with teeth gritted.

"What?" Twilight scrunched her face in confusion and vehemently shook her head at the absurd sight before her. "Can somepony please explain why you're letting Rainbow beat you up like this?" The unicorn urgently looked toward Fluttershy for some support before stepping in despite the others' protest, catching the yellow pony's eyes looking at them before returning to the papers in front of her when she realized Twilight had caught her watching. "Fine!" Twilight huffed and had her horn glow once more to lift Dash off of Kevin.

"You have some nerve just waltzing back here after that scare you gave me all those years ago! Not even apologizing or trying to send some notice that you're alright? Not. Cool. I promised Fluttershy I'd keep an eye on you!"

"I wasn't even sure if I was able to come back until a few days ago." Kevin choked out as he propped himself by his elbows while still lying on the ground, quietly suffering under Dash's weight on top of his gut. While she did not seem immediately persuaded, Kevin still considered it an improvement that he wasn't being stomped on now, so continued. "I'm sorry that I left the way I did, Dash. I just hope that as my Coach you'd understand that there's a big set of reasons why I couldn't just go and visit you when I came back."

Twilight glanced toward Fluttershy, thinking she heard a small squeak from the pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was caught off guard by Kevin's wide-eyed pleading and looked away with an restrained embarrassment when she realized she was pummeling someone while saying she was supposed to keep them safe. Stepping off of him now, Rainbow continued to avert her gaze from him and scratched her chin with her hoof. "So...good seeing you, I guess...how's things?"

"Good." Kevin gulped. "Got whooped by some crazy chick. Story of my life." He chuckled at Dash's annoyed huff and winced from a sudden strike from her hoof against his arm, causing him to topple to the floor face-first. Letting out a snort, Kevin laughed and soon guffawed at the situation, drawing in Dash's squeaky laugh as well, while helping him back to his feet.

After all was said and done, Twilight sat down on her haunches, still confused, but relieved that she wouldn't be an accessory to Equestria's first homicide. She the chided herself for letting her mind jump to such an extreme conclusion and walked back to the table to take a drink of tea to calm herself down.

While haven cooled significantly, Twilight enjoyed the taste of the warm drink nonetheless when Kevin spoke out. "I'm going to check out the spot in the forest, if either of you girls want to come along."

"No thanks..." Fluttershy said distractedly.

"Since you're going to stay, do you mind taking care of [Fiona]?" Fluttershy's scratching stopped for a moment when she responded "yeah" to his question, then returned to making marks on the papers once more.

"Well if that's the case, I'm just going to stay here, too." Twilight quickly volunteered, wanting to know more about this [Fiona].

Sending Twilight a nod, Kevin held the door open for Dash before stepping out himself. "Alright. See you girls in a bit."

Closing the door behind him, Kevin walked along the trail and onto the main dirt road with Rainbow now casually flying at his side. While the Everfree forest was accessible from Fluttershy's backyard, the two of them made their way around to the opposite side of the forest where Kevin had both arrived and left Equestria at least twice now.

The two of them continued on for a good two minutes before Dash felt the need to break the silence. "I thought some monster grabbed you!" She exclaimed while flying in front of him, managing to flutter backwards without looking.

"What? Where'd you get that idea? I remember that I was pretty out of it at the time, but what you saw was a [helicopter]..."

"A what?" Dash was confused by the term, not even feeling the need to try to pronounce whatever it was he had just mentioned. "So it's a monster from where you come from, then?"

"It's not a monster." Kevin replied. "It's a...flying thing that hue-mens use."

"A flying thing? Oh! Like Pinkie Pie's thinga-majig that has rotors that she pedals on!"

"I guess?" He shrugged, not familiar with whatever it was Dash was talking about. "Except it doesn't use pedals to fly...well, actually it does, but it's a lot more complex than that."

"Don't worry, I got it." She stressed while exaggerating her head nods. Returning to the ground, Dash started trotting alongside Kevin, letting her wings flap once or twice before tucking themselves closed on her back. "How've things been with you?"

"Pretty good. Got my degree, wrote a book. Though it's considered a 'fiction' title." He shrugged.

"Like Daring Do?"

"Less adventurous, more journal-like. No one wanted to publish what I wrote as something that actually happened, so I had to tell them it was some fantasy story that changed perspectives between 'me' and the ponies I met."

"Uh huh, uh huh..." Dash said in half attention before moving to the crux of what she had been meaning to get to since they left the cottage. "So...how's your leg? I noticed the limp."

Kevin shook his head and looked at the pony with admiration. It had taken a lot of rehabilitation, but he thought he had managed to rid himself of any sign that he was injured (and then aggravated his injury because of a certain coach's Spartan-like training). Wanting to tease her a bit, Kevin decided to play it coy rather than answer her right away.

"What's with all the questions, Dash? Are you my therapist now?"

"Maybe I am. I mean, I've already seen you bawl your eyes out!"

"Wow, low blow, there...I meant physical therapist." Feigning injury, Kevin clutched at his chest and gave a pitiful-looking pout.

"Jeez, just toughen up, already." She countered, feeling no remorse for her snarky remark which earned an eye-roll from him.

"Yeah..." Kevin scoffed. "[...whatever, Liam...]"

Dash blinked and suddenly stopped. "Kevin...what did you just say?"

Continuing on, Kevin walked by the blue pegasus pony and rolled his eyes once more. "I said 'whatever, Dash'. Come on, now. You alright?"

She frowned in silence for a moment but decided not to let the comment pass. Unfurling her wings once more, Dash took to the air and flew in front of Kevin, prodding him in the chest with her hoof to stop him in his tracks. "You just called me [Liam]. I might not be as good in understanding hue-men as Fluttershy or Twilight, but there's no way I would ever forget your brother's name."

"Pft." Kevin narrowed his eyes and smirked. "No way." Shaking his head he tried to walk around her but was confronted by her still, feeling her poke him harder than time, enough to cause him to flinch.

"Yeah way, Kevin." Dash said in a sterner tone and deeper frown.

To this, Kevin froze and pondered aloud, his concern and anxiety openly expressed on his face. "...did I really?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"If it was a matter of you winning something, may-OW!" He stumbled back and winced when she punched him full force against his chest, shocking him with the thought that he'd be suffering a major bruise now.

Dash meanwhile was neither concerned or amused and crossed her forehooves over her chest while flying in place. "Well I guess it takes a liar to know a liar, huh?"

"So you admit that you do lie?" He said with a smirk while rubbing his sore rib.

"What? I?" The blue pegasus pouted when it dawned what Kevin was referencing. She raised her forehoof up again, making Kevin quickly lift his hands in surrender, which appeased her somewhat and saved him from further pain. "Whatever..." she breathed out in resignation whereas Kevin sighed in relief. "You feeling up for a race?"

"Huh?" He stood dumbfounded by the blue pony's sudden change in attitude as she flashed a wicked grin his way.

"Last one there has to carry the loser back to the cottage!" With a snicker the pegasus shot up into the air in a rainbow trailed-blur and arced toward the edge of the Everfree Forest.

"Agh! You suck, Dash!" Shouting out in dismay, Kevin stumbled into an awkward semblance of a run before finding the proper form once he adjusted to the dirt road's traction.

Author's Note: The next chap will be up soon to complete this update.

Pilgrim's Progress

Chapter 1

What is "friendship"? A "relationship"?

Without using any examples, how would you define either of those terms?

It's hard to imagine either of those two basic human connections without the word "share" popping up. Sharing interests; likes and dislikes; offering something for another thing of more or less equal value; doing a favor or giving something while eventually expecting something of the same kind sometime in the future.

Movies, television shows, books and songs all delve into the theme of friendship on quite a regular basis. But friendships aren't limited to us humans. Go onto the internet and one can find a multitude of videos featuring animal friendships as well. Nature documentaries will show the relationships struck between insects and plants; sharks and smaller fish; humans and animals.

Of course it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that humans and nature have had a relationship for pretty much our entire existence. The Nile, the Amazon, the Tigris and Euphrates, the Danube, the Ganges, the Yellow River and the Mississippi River are all important topographical features that human civilization has developed along whether for agriculture, transportation or commerce. In many older civilizations rivers play a huge role in mythology and religion. Take for example the word "Mesopotamia", Greek for "between two rivers." As early as elementary school we've learned (or at least should have learned) that it is a large tract of land within what is known as the Fertile Crescent, nicknamed the "Cradle of Civilization"...

--

As soon as Kevin and Rainbow Dash stepped out the door, the tension in Fluttershy's body immediately evaporated, causing her to flop face-first onto the table with a thud.

Hearing the loud slam and the shake of tea cups that followed, Twilight rushed into the room from the kitchen with eyes wide and ears pointed stiffly upward. "Fluttershy, are you alright?" She called out in grave concern as she hurried to her friend's side.

"Huh? Oh...it's just you, Twilight..." The yellow pegasus turned her head over while still on the table to observe the confused and anxious unicorn. "...I thought you left together...with Kevin and Rainbow..." Fluttershy heaved her words out in two exhales of breath.

"No, I volunteered to stay behind to help you out." Twilight responded carefully as she observed the haggard-looking pegasus. She shook her head and pouted sadly at the sight, going so far as to brush a stray pink forelock out of the other pony's face. "Oh, but looking at you now, I should've realized that you were exhausted! I'd seen that look in my mirror on more than one occasion whenever I do all-night study sessions...why are you working so hard on this, Fluttershy?" Twilight's eyes drifted over the papers strewn over the table, their order messed up slightly and spread out from where Fluttershy's head was now resting.

Fluttershy pondered on the question for a moment before no longer being able to restrain her true emotions—in front of her friend she could shed away her pretend-collected persona she tried to put on in front of Kevin. In order to seem reliable. "I...did an awful thing, Twilight..." Fluttershy bemoaned and looked like she was on the verge of tears, "I'm such an awful host and an awful friend...just awful in every sense of the word 'awful'..."

Twilight gulped and she became even more concerned by the pegasus' comment and sounded more offended than she meant to be in her reply. "No, Fluttershy! You could never be any of those things!" The purple pony rounded the table corner and sat next to her lethargic-looking friend, placing a supportive hoof on Fluttershy's drooping shoulder. "What happened?"

"I, um...poisoned Kevin's girlfriend..."

Twilight froze in place, too surprised by that sequence of words for the comment to fully register at first, then after a moment she finally asked, "Girlfriend?" then blinked. Her brain managed to process that new bit of information first, then moved on to the next relevant piece of data. "Is that who [Fiona] is?" Then she became silent when the most important part finally dawned on her, and the unicorn felt as though a cold splash of water had just hit her face, shocking her system and causing her to do a double take. "Wait...why would you purposefully-?"

Fluttershy immediately sensed the alarm in her friend's voice, jumping to her hooves and stood up with her front legs atop the table. "NO! Not on purpose! I could never do something like that!" She yelped in panicked defense of herself, but when she realized her overreaction, Fluttershy sharply reigned herself in and sat back onto the floor next to Twilight with her voice a more managed, whispered tone. "But...I can't deny I didn't feel a bit happy seeing her with a silly face at first ...but then I realized that it was really dangerous for her..." Fluttershy admitted as her ears lowered until finally her head was once more on the table, face down and mumbling her voice from Twilight. "...aren't I just awful for even thinking something like that in the first place?"

Twilight calmed down somewhat when her greatest concern was answered, however too many questions remained floating in her head to alleviate all of her anxiety. There were still too many variables and sets of information missing for her to make any sort of suggestion. If anything, she knew at least not to jump to any conclusions and immediately decided to give one of her Pony Friends Forever the benefit of the doubt. "Maybe if you recounted what the events were, we could settle once and for all whether you're really to blame or not."

"Well...ok." Fluttershy's voice mumbled against the table and she nodded at the idea, appreciating Twilight's rationality in this situation. Before going over the series of events she sat up to take a sip of her now-chilled tea then began to speak. "It all started just a few hours ago. I was washing my friend, Squirrelly, when Kevin just showed up and then..."

"Fluttershy? Fluttershy!" Kevin lightly patted the yellow pegasus' cheek with his open palm. Resting her head on his lap, he looked on in concern at his friend while Fiona watched curiously over his shoulder.

"[Is...is she...?]"

"[I think she's just overstimulated by our sudden unannounced visit.]" He replied, glancing over his shoulder at Fiona before looking back toward the still-frozen Fluttershy.

"[And, um...this is normal?]"

"[Er...kinda sorta...]" Kevin admitted to his chagrin and attempted to pull Fluttershy out of her shocked stupor with a few more light taps against her cheek.

"Huh? What?" Fluttershy quickly blinked and gasped. Her eyes quickly darted about to reflect her confusion before focusing on Kevin hovering just over her. She "eeped" and shrunk slightly under his gaze.

"Oh, thank goodness." Kevin sighed in relief.

Noticing how close their faces were to one another, Fluttershy shrunk even more. She made an effort to roll out of his arms, and realizing what she was doing, Kevin let her down to the floor so she could stand up on her own accord. "What happened?" The yellow pony asked meekly while brushing back a pink lock of her mane out of her face.

"I dunno. You just sort of...froze there for a second. Are you alright?"

"Alright? O-of course everything's alright! You're here! One of my dearest..." Fluttershy paused as she felt the other hue-men's eyes watching her and she unconsciously took a step back when she noticed the stranger's presence. "...friends...came back to visit and brought someone new...hi, I'm, um...Fluttershy."

About to chastise her for not responding, Kevin scratched his scalp when he realized that he would have to play the role of translator for the two of them. "[She's saying hi to you, Fiona.]"

"[Really?]" The blonde said taken a bit off guard then turned to greet the pony in return. "[Nice to meet you...um...]" She laughed in embarrassment and brushed back a lock of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Fluttershy." Kevin said in a patient tone.

"Fla....[I'm sorry, I'm such a ditz...what was it again, honey?]"

"[You're not a ditz. You got the first part down, now press your tongue against your pallet.] Fluh-ter-shai."

Fiona rolled her eyes and pouted in thought. "Fuh...lut...tershee?".."

"Fluttershy." Kevin said slowly once more.

"Fluttershy." She repeated in both speed and tone as Kevin had instructed her.

"See? You did it."

Fluttershy nodded, smiling awkwardly as she silently watched the exchange, taking for granted that she could understand what was being said between them all the while. Then of course, she averted her eyes in embarrassment when the girl nuzzled Kevin affectionately while saying her thanks for helping her out.

"Um..." Fluttershy gulped with a raised hoof shielding her eyes and hopefully blocking her faint blush while turning her head slightly askew. From where she stood she saw the dining table and an idea popped into her head. "Oh, you two must be thirsty. Why don't you two head to the table while I get us some tea?"

--

A few moments after Kevin brought in several suitcases into the living room, the three of them were sitting around the table with cups and saucers and spoons placed in front of them as the tea steeped in its kettle.

After a few taps of her hooves, Fluttershy gradually felt the need to fill in the silence as their tea was brewing just nearby at the center of the table. "So, um...how long have you two been...together?" She mostly asked Kevin as she began to pour each of them tea but made eye contact with Fiona to be polite as she started to fill her cup first.

Kevin began to answer as soon as Fluttershy had moved past his cup and began filling up her own. "I guess it's been...[what, about a year now? Wow.]"

Fiona narrowed her eyes at him from hearing Kevin's surprised tone. "[What do you mean, 'wow'?]" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Her reaction earned a small chuckle and smile from Kevin as he explained in a playfully disarming manner, "[I mean that time sure did pass by. To me it's sort of hard to remember life before you.]"

"[Oh.]" Fiona said and looked downward to hide her blush. She caught a strand of hair that got loose in her finger and pushed it back behind her ear.

After placing the kettle back to its spot at the center of the table, Fluttershy took this pause in the conversation to sip some of her tea. Her face scrunched up from how bland it tasted. It seemed that she didn't let the leaves steep long enough. Swallowing down what was essentially boiled water, the pegasus hurried to fill in the silence. "Where did you two meet?"

"[Where did we meet?]" Kevin asked out loud to himself and scrunched his face in thought, unaware that he was holding a cup of colored boiled water.

"[In our dreams.]" Fiona said with a knowing smile. Kevin chuckled. Fluttershy smiled awkwardly. Fiona spat out in surprise as soon as the boiled water touched her tongue mid-sip and she set her cup back down onto its saucer. She smacked her lips in dismay and gulped down the taste that had gotten into her mouth, looking warily toward a concerned Kevin but remained quiet while the host was still present.

Biting her lower lip in worry, Fluttershy glanced toward the kitchen from her spot at the table and was reminded of an excuse to give them some space from seeing the oven. "S-scones! I have, um...scones, in the oven right now. I'll go check on them." With a simpered smile, Fluttershy hurried out of earshot.

"Really? Let me help you!" Kevin leaned forward to stand up when he was held down by Fiona's hand on his shoulder.

"[Kevin, where are you going?]" She asked him rhetorically and only succeeded to keep him in a squatting position as he eyed her with confusion.

"To help...uh, [I mean, to help her get the scones.]" Kevin replied as though it were a matter of fact.

Fiona sighed and tilted her head with eyebrows raised. Adding a warm smile, she had a guess as to why the pony had excused herself. "[Honey, she's trying to be a good host for us. Let her go, I think you're being a bother.]"

"[What? No way.]" Kevin laughed softly in disbelief. "[It'd be rude of me not to help her out.]"

Seeing the unamused gaze Fiona was sending him while she stood in front of the open oven, Fluttershy cleared her throat and put on a polite smile that was a dash chipper than normal. "That's okay, Kevin, [Fiona]'s right." She called back, "I do want to be a good host. Please don't mind, just sit down and relax."

"Sure, Flutter..." Kevin began to say but then his smile melted away as a befuddled appeared, much to Fiona's own confusion as to what they were saying. "...hold up," he began with eyebrows furrowed, then with a single brow raised in surprise, "you understood what we've been saying?"

Just about to grab the baking pan with the help of a rag to protect her mouth when she would hold it between her teeth, Fluttershy replied guiltily from the kitchen, "Um...yes..." With a heavy sigh, she quickly took hold of the pan and placed it onto the stove top to begin placing the scones onto a prepared serving tray. "I'm sorry that I've been eavesdropping and didn't tell you! I thought you noticed that I knew when I first greeted you but, um...you didn't notice it...""

"You did?" Disbelief laced his voice as she timidly returned to the table to place the serving tray next to the kettle. She stood opposite him in a tense pause as Kevin's face remained neutral for a moment, then suddenly brightened with a great big smile. "No way, Fluttershy! That's great! Amazing, even!"

"It is?"

"[What's going on?]"

"Well, of course it is!" Kevin said with happy chuckle. "Though I shouldn't have expected less from a pony that really understands me."

"Um...thanks..."

Noticing the look on her face, Fiona glanced back toward Kevin and aimed her determined gaze at him a second time. "[Kevin, what just happened?]"

"Something amazing! You wouldn't believe it!" Kevin replied and shaking his head with an excited look on his face.

Fiona smirked, recognizing immediately that familiar look on his face as something related to his book must have just happened. The smile was contagious as always and she could never resist in following suit in seeing the gleam in his eye. "[Oh wow, this is really good!]" Fiona watched with expectation as he reached out and took a bite of one of the freshly backed scones. "[Fiona, you should try this. I don't think there's even butter but it's really savory and soft inside!]"

"[Really?]" Fiona said with a few blinks. Looking at Fluttershy, then the cup of boiled water then finally the tray of scones from which Kevin was obviously enjoying one, Fiona took a deep inhale and and recognized the fine baked scent of the bread and reached out for one herself. Taking a bite, she was greeted immediately with a sweet and tart flavor.

"Mmm, Fluttershy. Don't tell Fiona this but you really do understand me! I mean I didn't smell it and I don't think I ever told you last time I was here, but as soon as I tasted it I immediately noticed my favorite taste of blueberr-" Suddenly his eyes bulged and he spat out pieces of bread, then jumped to his feet. "OH NO!" He shouted as he leaped over to Fiona next to him.

At first Fluttershy let out a snort from the silly fish-like contortions Fiona's face made, but quickly could only watch frozen in horror as Fiona grabbed at her throat with her hands, crumbs falling out of her mouth as her whole body convulsed in shock. Luckily Kevin reached her in time and took her into his arms just as she fell over, carrying Fiona away from the table into a clear portion of the living room to lay her flat on her back.

Fluttershy couldn't even blink as her mind blanked at the still form of Fiona on the floor as Kevin deftly jumped to his feet. "Fluttershy! Keep [Fiona] on her back and make sure she doesn't choke on her tongue!" He shouted out.

"W-WHAT!?" The pony could only stammer out while dizzily following Kevin's instructions, leaning down toward Fiona while trembling but her concern did not stop Kevin from rushing toward the suitcases nearby and hurriedly opening up zippers and shuffling through the inside of the bags.

"She's [anaphylactic]! Deathly allergic to blueberries!"

Hyperventilating from hearing the "D" word, Fluttershy noticed how Fiona's eyes began to swell so much that her eyes were closed shut. In fact, her whole head had grown a bit larger before the pony's eyes and she didn't seem to be breathing as a result of her enlarged throat.

"KEVIN! I-I DON'T THINK SHE'S BREATHING! WHAT DO I DO?!"

"[Damn! Damn! Damn!]" Kevin bounded back toward them with heavy footfalls slamming against the wooden floor and a tube-like object in his hand. Without hesitation he lifted Fiona's shirt, bit off the cap of the tube to reveal a sharp needle-point on the end and without warning jabbed the object into Fiona's side. After a moment he removed the object and shuffled closer toward her head, bringing a hand to Fiona's mouth and opened it up with his fingers to inspect the inside as well as let air in. Dropping the object to the floor, he searched through his pants pocket and took out another alien item, also tube-like but flat on one end. He bit off the cap of this as well and pressed his index finger over the revealed knob to shoot several blasts of a misty spray into her manually opened mouth, mostly aiming toward the back of Fiona's throat.

The both of them were silent, and Fluttershy could only hear the thundering beats of her heart against her chest while she trembled at the suddenness of the whole ordeal. In a few short moments the swelling had gone down considerably but not completely. While Fiona's face still looked mostly inflated, her throat had returned to a normal looking size and her chest was slowly lifting up and down from weak, soft breaths.

In a calm voice she heard him ask, "Do you mind if she uses your bed?"

Her response was less restrained in its confusion and slight panic while she shook her head like she was trying to whip her mane back and forth. "Uh...no, no, I don't mind! Please do!"

He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Fluttershy's guilt skyrocketed when he looked at her with that warm smile and soft gleam in his eyes. "Thanks." She cringed inwardly while giving him a strained smile of her own as he lifted Fiona in his arms and carried her upstairs.

When Fluttershy's story ended, Twilight sat quietly in thought, glancing toward the stairs where a second hue-men was surely sleeping in her friend's bed right now. But her attention returned to the pegasus sitting nearby.

"Well...while I can't really say anything about feeling happy about the situation, from what you've just told me, there's no other way to see it as anything but an accident."

"What if I secretly wanted to do it? Without me knowing? Like, my self-consciousness is actually mean and it made me-"

"Fluttershy, that's not how higher brain functions work."

"Oh. That's not?"

"No." Twilight sighed. "In any case, if you didn't know, how could you be responsible for getting her sick?"

"But I'm the host! I gave it to them to eat and...oh, I should've asked her...or at least done more to help! I've treated allergies before, but...it was so sudden...but I shouldn't have stayed still like th-"

"Fluttershy, stop being so harsh on yourself." Twilight interrupted the pegasus with a raised voice. Seeing her friend pause in anticipation for further scolding, the unicorn sighed and she placed a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder once more. "While it's unfortunate that there is a victim in this circumstance it doesn't mean that there has to be someone at fault.

"Mistakes and accidents can and do happen! What's important is that we learn and take note from these types of situations and develop a ready-made contingency plan to..." catching herself mid-ramble, Twilight shook her head and cleared her throat to focus. "Uh, the point is, there isn't any mean part of you because you're the kindest, gentlest, most empathetic pony I know. And that includes the books I've read as well. Fiction and non-fiction."

"I wouldn't want to assume, Twilight, since I know that you love to read, but...is that a lot?"

"Heh, yeah." The unicorn smiled cheekily with some pride. "But even if for some unthinkable reason that weren't true, otherwise you wouldn't be the official Royal Animal Caretaker! Those palace animals used to be pretty infamous around Canterlot until you started to help taking care of them," Twilight laughed and shook her head but then was struck with the memory of their first Grand Galloping Gala. "Uh...I guess you of all ponies would already know that."

The pegasus nodded as she did the same as her friend, but remembered that dealing with the animals at the royal palace was only possible after arrived then disappeared from Equestria. It was a surprise to herself and her friends, not only at Princess Celestia's sudden invitation to Canterlot after she sent her last letter about her experiences with Kevin (especially since prior to that the Princess had done no such thing when Fluttershy sent her weekly report), as well as the relative ease for the pink haired pony to approach and pet the animals in the royal garden when just a few years ago they used to run away before she could get even close enough. "I'm still technically the assistant until the ceremony, though..." Fluttershy corrected and did her best to hold back the bit of boastfulness bubbling up inside her now that was sure to come at odds with her usual inclination to be modest instead.

Twilight saw the effect this topic was having on boosting Fluttershy's confidence and decided to egg her friend along. "Which is in a week! Speaking of which, why don't you invite Kevin to come along on your next trip? We told him our stories about that Grand Galloping Gala before, and I'm sure he'd be really impressed about how you've improved getting along with animals, especially the ones in the royal garden. Plus I'm sure that [Fiona] would be honored to meet a princess or two."

"Oh, I don't know..." Fluttershy's shoulders drooped against Twilight's expectations, lowering father and farther down until her head was resting on the table once more. "I'd have to tell him, first..."

Twilight slumped her shoulders and arched a brow upon hearing this and asked flatly "...you didn't tell him, yet?"

Fluttershy silently rolled her head along the table, which Twilight figured was supposed to be a her friend shaking her head. "Didn't really have a chance to, with...you know..."

"Oh. Well, listen. You have lots of options to impress [Fiona] once she gets better and I'm sure that Kevin understands that it was all an accident." Fluttershy raised her head from its wilted state and nodded softly in response. "Didn't Princess Celestia ask to see him if he ever returned in response to your letter about what happened?"

"Yes." Fluttershy smiled despite her sour mood, appreciating Twilight's attempts to cheer her up. The bubble of pride inside her resumed a bit when she thought over being invited for an audience with the Princess without it being related to Twilight. Of course there was anxiety and a sprinkle of fear in meeting the Princess in a formal setting, but the ever thoughtful princess insisted on coming to Ponyville instead. And there was no doubt that even if Kevin was angry in any way, it was a given that he'd forgive her. However trepidation increased as the thought of following Twilight's idea to invite Kevin and his girlfriend to the palace as it came to the fore of her mind. It was one thing to introduce the visitors to royalty in a familiar and informal setting, it was another to bring a pair of hue-mens to Canterlot. "But what if something goes wrong?"

To this Twilight leaned close to Fluttershy and nuzzled her friend reassuringly. "Oh, Fluttershy, nothing's going to go wrong. That kind of thing only happens in fictional stories to add tension and drama! Nothing will happen that we can't laugh about it later."

While still unsure Fluttershy nodded, wanting to hope for the best. She wasn't particular fond of the tension and drama that a lot of stories seemed to push onto an unsuspecting reading, but was thankful to have a friend like Twilight trying to cheer her up. "Thanks," she said with a resurgent smile on her face and returned to doing what she could now with Kevin's book.

"Anytime, Fluttershy," Twilight replied. With that, the scratching of quills resumed.