Luna walked back to her friends to share the news; Pine Needle’s parents were in the throne room with Celestia, and they were eagerly awaiting to meet them. All eyes turned to Pine Needle. His eyes were wide in panic, but after a few deep breaths, he calmed down. “Well then,” he said, his voice thick with anxiety, “Let’s get this over with.” Seeing his friends nod and smile in agreement, he started to walk towards the double doors that led to the throne room.
“WAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIITTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!”
The group came to a sudden stop at the cry coming from behind them. Turning around, they were surprised to see Fluttershy galloping towards them, with Acorn the squirrel on top of her head, pointing at Pine Needle. Completely stunned by the demure pegasus’s arrival, the band of friends waited until Fluttershy caught up to them. When she had reached them, Fluttershy came up to Pine Needle with an upset look on her face. “I can’t believe you!” she angrily said to Pine Needle.
“Why? What is wrong?” he asked, completely caught off guard by her demeanor.
“How could you go off to Canterlot for the day and not even tell Acorn about it, let alone see if he wanted to come along!” she scolded the earth pony stallion.
“I tried!” Pine Needle protested. “But Acorn does not understand mine words as he does yours, and I simply do not know of an easy way to pantomime me traveling to Canterlot to spend the day with Luna to a squirrel!”
Fluttershy appeared slightly mollified by Pine Needle’s words, but Acorn certainly wasn’t. He continued to chatter and scold at Pine Needle. Fluttershy tried calming the squirrel down, but was only partially successful. “It seems Acorn wants me to stay you for the rest of the day, to make sure that you don’t try to forget about him again. I’m sorry,” she told Pine Needle.
Pine Needle grimaced. “Well, you are welcome to stay with us, but I warn you, the next few minutes are likely to be very tense. On the other side of those doors, Princess Celestia is meeting with my parents, who I left without warning several years ago. I do not expect the meeting to be joyous.”
“P-princess Celestia?” Fluttershy said, her shyness starting to take over. “Oh my. Well, I said I would help Acorn, so I’ll come along. Just, don’t expect me to speak up, okay?” Her posture became turned in, and she started to hunch over to make herself look smaller.
Feather Down watched all of this with a discerning eye. “Hold on, I have an idea,” she said, and then proceeded to shove Fluttershy behind Pine Needle. Unsure of why Feather Down was doing this, Fluttershy shrunk even more, and stood as close to Pine Needle as she could, trying to hide behind him. “Perfect!” Feather Down said. “Fluttershy, just stay next to Pine Needle, okay?” Getting a indecipherable squeak in return, Feather Down chose to accept it as an affirmative. “Now we can use my plan from before!” she declared triumphantly.
Pine Needle frowned, but seeing how things were, and knowing that any further delays would look very weird to his parents, he shrugged. Pine Bough cleared her throat to get everypony’s attention. “Princess Luna, do you mind if I go hide in your room? I do not desire to be grounded for the rest of mine life, which may very well happen if mine parents were to see me here.”
“Of course!” Luna replied.
“Thank you very much!” the younger Pine sibling said, and with that Pine Bough galloped off.
Pine Needle looked over the group again, and with a nod led the way. The guards opened the doors for them, and the group entered the throne room. There was a gasp of surprise from Pine Needle’s parents, and then a brief joyful moment as they rushed forward to hug their wayward son.
“What a surprise!” Douglas Fir exclaimed. “While I am still hurt and upset that you ran away back then, I am also very glad to see you now, not only looking well, but also apparently friends with a princess of Equestria? Amazing!”
“Indeed!” chimed in Pine Wreath. “And to see you not only in the company of such esteemed ponies, but also with what looks to be a mare friend? Hello, miss, I’m Pine Needle’s mother. Do you mind if I ask your name?” A very soft, indecipherable squeak was the only answer she received. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?” Another squeak was made, this one even softer than the first.
“Her name is Fluttershy,” Pine Needle said, feeling the need to protect the bashful pegasus from his inquisitive parents. “As you can see, she’s very shy around ponies she hasn't met before.”
“Ah, your aunt Foxtail Pine is just the same way,” Douglas Fir said with a hearty chuckle. “Well then, let me move on to the reason why we are here; we have found a pony that we think you should marry. And trust me, she’ll be much better for you than that shrinking violet of a pony behind you. I mean, first of all, she’s an earth pony. Why are you even with a pegasus, son?”
“I say!” Luna chimed in. “That’s awfully rude of you!”
Pine Wreath shrugged. “But it’s the truth. Pine Needle needs to marry a nice, strong earth pony mare to carry on the family tradition of earth pony magic, not some sort of scaredy cat pegasus!”
Pine Needle could hear a gasp of anger coming from behind him. “That is enough!” Pine Needle cried out. “Fluttershy has been one of the nicest ponies to me during my time in Ponyville! She helped me find a pet in Acorn, and has always been willing to drop whatever she was doing to lend a hoof if it was needed! I will not let you talk about her like that, do you hear me?”
Off to one side, Celestia stood next to Luna. “Wow,” Celestia said, using her magic to summon a carton of popcorn to float in the air before her. “I was hoping for some sort of wacky hijinks when I made you bring your friends in here, but this is even better than I was hoping for! Thanks!”
Luna put a hoof to her forehead and sighed. She turned to Dewdrop and Haystack who were standing just behind her and watching their friend closely. “Help me out guys, what can we do?”
Dewdrop shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I’m hoping that there will come a point where I’m needed, and then I’ll act, but until then? Just wait I guess.”
“How about you, Haystack?” she said, turning to face the pegasus.
“Honestly, I’d rather not say since I’m limited to just one line a chapter in this story arc, and I don’t want to waste that chance to speak on something... like... DANG IT!!”
Luna blinked and shared a shrug with Dewdrop. “Say, where did Feather Down go?” the princess of the night asked.
“Oh, she’s over here,” Celestia replied, pointing to the other side of her. “More popcorn, Feather Down?”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to pass.” Feather Down replied. “I’m trying to figure out something very important right now.”
“Oh, and what’s that?” asked Luna.
“What to call those two as a couple.” Feather Down sighed. “PineShy sounds too much like a wood polisher, and FlutterNeedle is just weird. Hmm.”
“How about NeedleShy?” Celestia offered.
“Nah, that sounds like somepony who’s afraid to get their shots from the doctor.”
Shaking her head in disbelief, Luna turned back to watch the Pines and Fluttershy.
Pine Needle’s parents were continuing to badger their son, who was doing his best to deflect their constant criticism of the bashful pegasus. Fluttershy for her part was starting to crack under all of the attention and her contrasting views on the situation. On one hoof, she had no idea why these strange ponies, apparently Pine Needle’s parents, thought that she and Pine Needle were an item, and she wanted to speak up and tell them they weren’t. One the other hoof though, she didn’t like the way that Pine Needle’s parents were treating her or Pine Needle, and it felt really nice to have Pine Needle stand up for her. She really wanted to run, but she knew that if she did, it would just make the situation that much worse, and so she stood her ground, hunched over and pressed up against Pine Needle’s flank.
Pine Needle was growing angrier and angrier at his parents. They were ignoring everything he said, and simply repeated their thoughts on the situation over and over, that he should do exactly as they said without any complaining. Also, their words were no longer just disdainful, they were also becoming downright insulting.
“Look here son,” Pine Wreath said in a very condescending tone, “you just have to accept the facts. This Butterfool-”
“Fluttershy!” Pine Needle angrily corrected.
“Whatever. Look, she’s obviously too stupid for you; she won’t even say anything in her defense. I’m starting to think that you’re just a complete foal who thinks he can’t do any better than somepony who needs somepony else to stand up and talk for them. Are you that kind of a loser, son?”
Looking back on it, Fluttershy would say that was what set her off. She could readily accept being put down and made fun of; she was used to it. But to hear somepony be so utterly mocked because they were standing up for her, and by their parents no less? That was simply wrong, and she had to put an end to it. Now.
“How dare you,” she whispered, slowly starting to straighten up. Seeing her words go unheeded, and seeing Pine Needle of the verge of tears due to the verbal abuse from his parents, fueled her spirit to do something.
“HOW DARE YOU?!” She cried out, getting everypony’s attention. “No parent should ever treat their children in such a manner!” She could feel the power build up inside of her, and she looked Pine Needle’s parents in the eyes. “Apologize now!”
Pine Needle’s parents were hit dead on by Fluttershy’s stare. They backed up several paces and fell quiet, shivering in fear at Fluttershy’s anger. After a moment of silence, Douglas Fir said, “Is, is that how it is then? Are you going turn your back on your family for a pegasus?” he asked, making one last desperate attempt to make his case.
Fluttershy felt herself lose control. How dare they treat such a kind pony like Pine Needle in such a manner? How could they have so little regard for what their own son wanted? And how dare they use her as a means to strike at him! “What do you mean, I’m not good enough for him?” she cried out, her anger at them making it so she didn’t fully understand what she was saying until the words were out of her mouth. “I’ll show you!” She turned and faced Pine Needle, who was staring at her slack jawed, having a hard time comprehending how the angry pony of justice next to him was also the shyest mare in all of Ponyville. Grabbing Pine Needle’s face between her hooves, she pulled him close and gave him a big kiss, to the shock and surprise of everyone in the room.
Seeing the kiss go on for several moments, Pine Needle’s parents took the opportunity to make a hasty escape before the crazy pegasus’s attention returned to them. Dewdrop was using her magic to take notes in a notepad that was floating before her, and Celestia cheered them on.
When the two ponies finally broke for air, Pine Needle found himself barely capable of coherent thought. Using his last few brain cells that weren’t completely fried by the kiss, he asked Fluttershy, “Is this okay with you?”
Similarly caught up in the moment, Fluttershy gave him a coy smile. “You’re going to love me,” she said alluringly as she pulled him in for another kiss.
Meanwhile, unnoticed by everyone else, Acorn watched from the seat of Celestia’s throne, pleased with himself. His plan had worked perfectly. Getting the only two ponies who had treated him kindly together would mean that, if things kept on going as they were, he would be able to spend the winter inside Fluttershy’s house, which was a much more animal hospitable locale than Pine Needle’s house was. Chuckling to himself, he watched as Luna herded everyone else out of the throne room as Fluttershy and Pine Needle continued to passionately kiss, becoming more and more oblivious to their surroundings. Life was looking good for him indeed.
***
Hey y’all. Pre-Reader HeatWave here. I apologize deeply for this. This entire thing was the result of a flippant, off-hand comment I threw in while pre-reading his last chapter. Little did I realize what I was inspiring within him.
In the end though... he threw this at me, and I found it freakin’ hilarious! We just had to post it somewhere! After much debate we decided to separate it from the original story (I wanted him to post it as the next chapter and not clue y’all in until the end, just to see your reactions, but he was afraid of losing readers so we took a more cautious route.)
The next chapter is already mostly ready, so you’ll have it in a day or two! Hope you enjoyed the silliness of our minds! Laurence.... you crazy, man.
...and honestly? I don’t write romance, but for some reason this is exactly how I could imagine Fluttershy falling into a relationship. In fact... as shy as she is, it’s the only way that makes sense to me.
***
Laurence here. I REGRET NOTHING!
I think it took me less than an hour to write this. My muse saw Heatwave's comment, and she picked it up and ran with it to its (il)logical conclusion. Seriously though, thank you very much, Heatwave! I had more fun writing this silly little piece than I have had writing anything else for a long time, and it really rejuvenated me, I think. If any of you are harboring any ill thoughts towards my pre-reader, be consoled by the fact that he's already paying for this by having to work on the next chapter of 'Phases' way sooner than he expected to.
As always, we thank you for your time, and we hope you got at least a laugh or two out of this.
