The only sound louder than your hooves thumping against the packed dirt road is that of the booming thunder overheard.
“I knew taking a walk in the forest today was a bad idea,” you mutter, berating yourself for not checking to see if a thunderstorm was scheduled for today, rain soaking your coat.
“Did I take a left or a right on my way in here…?” you ponder to yourself. When you realize that you have no idea, your pulse quickens and your brisk trot evolves into a frantic gallop as you panic further. Sickening waves of nausea rise and fall in your stomach as you realize you are hopelessly lost.
A flash of the lightning casts menacing shadows upon the trees, fueling your anxious gallop out of the Everfree Forest. Down twisty roads, between claustrophobic presses of trees, you pump your legs.
Your heart pumps furiously and your lungs alternate between inhaling and exhaling, desperately trying to sustain your mad gallop to safety.
The efforts of your body, however, are in vain, as you finally collapse from exhaustion into the unforgiving soil. You struggle back to a standing position, thinking, “Can’t quit…now. Just nee-”
A flash of light. An ear-splitting crack. Everything is black.
…
“Oh goodness!”
You feel yourself being dragged along the ground, a tender hoof caressing your head, and then the fuzzy dark embraces you once more.
…
“Are you okay?” you hear a soft voice say.
Your eyes snap open, and your body cracks to a sitting position. You shout in agony, realizing too late how much punishment your body has taken, collapsing back into the pillows. “Pillows?” you think.
You slowly bring a hoof to the source of the pain, your head, and feel bandages matted with dried blood. Confused, you open your eyes again and scan around you: pillows, a bed, sheets…and a canary-yellow shape floating over you, causing you to cry out in shock.
“Oh I’m so sorry!” the startled shape says, taking a few timid steps backward.
Your sight coming into focus, you realize the shape is actually a female pegasus with a light pink, candy-floss mane hovering over you. You can’t take your gaze away from her. She is so lovely, so beautiful, just like an…“Angel,” you hear a voice say.
Upon hearing this, the mare blushes and backs away even farther from you.
Ignoring the dull wave of pain, you prop yourself into a half sitting position. “Oh, did I… say that out loud?” you ask, instantly regretting saying something so idiotic, warm blood rising to your sore cheeks.
The yellow pegasus only squeaks and nods, blushing even harder.
Ripping your eye away from the lovely sight in front of you, you notice the rest of your surroundings: a quaint, peaceful home. Birds fluttered around the ceiling, and you could see a myriad of other small animals roaming the quiet abode. Being a pony who never liked to beat around the bush, you blurt out, “Just where am I?”
“This is my, um, home,” she replies in a barely audible voice.
You notice streaks of mud plastered upon the floor all the way from the doorway to the bed. Putting two and two together, you ask, “Did you bring me here?”
Still extremely shy, which you found adorable somehow, she answers, quietly at first, and then with more courage, “I was, um, out looking for my poor bunny lost out in the storm, when I saw you laying there by a broken tree branch. A bolt of lightning must have snapped it off, and I just couldn’t leave you out there, and you were too hurt to carry to the Ponyville Hospital so I brought…you…home…” She hides her head behind her mane, embarrassed.
You are awestruck by the sheer kindness that this mare would show to a complete stranger. You feel your cheeks pulling in a goofy, painful, but sincere smile. “Could I get your name, angel?” you say with as confident a grin as you could muster while in severe pain.
She says something, but it’s barely louder than a squeak.
You turn your head in an attempt to hear her properly. “I didn’t quite catch that,” you say.
She opens her mouth, but again, nothing.
You lean closer. “Huh?”
“Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy. “Such a lovely name,” you think to yourself, nestling your head into the wonderfully soft pillows. You say barely above a whisper, “Thank you…Fluttershy,” before falling into a peaceful slumber.
***
It is a few days after your trauma, and you want to get out of bed and trot about. You gingerly swing your hooves over the side of your bed and slowly put your weight on them, wincing as blood floods your limbs for the first time in days. You lean on Fluttershy for support, and take one step, then another. A smile starts to spread on both of your faces. Suddenly, your legs give out, still too weak to handle the strain, taking Fluttershy down with you.
You land on top of Fluttershy, your snouts almost touching, blood racing to both your cheeks. Breathless, you stumble for words, but you cannot help but notice how close your lips are to hers.
You reluctantly bring yourself off of Fluttershy, and attempt to choke out an apology, but your tongue is absolutely numb. Fluttershy also brings herself up to her hooves when you hear a distinct “pomf” sound and snap your eyes upward in surprise. Fluttershy, her wings flared out, looks as though she might faint from embarrassment and gallops out of the room.
Needless to say, conversation was awkward for the rest of the day.
The night after the “wingie” incident, you are lying in your makeshift hospital bed, Fluttershy softly snoring on the floor next to you, in case you needed anything. You are unable to stop thinking about her and are convinced that your time under Fluttershy’s care has been the best of your life.
When Fluttershy would graciously extends kindness to you, you could always see how sincerely kind she was in those deep, soulful cyan eyes. Sometimes you would think you saw deeper feelings there…but then you would shake your head, and remind yourself that she was only your temporary nurse.
Confused and exhausted, you turn over and drift off to sleep.
***
The day you have been dreading has finally come. Fluttershy unwraps the bandages from your head to find that your injury is completely healed, which means one thing: it is time for you to leave her care.
You stand in the doorway, heart aching. You open your mouth, but all you can manage is, “Fluttershy, I-” before she cuts you off with a shake of her head.
“Just go, you don’t need me anymore,” she says quietly, a faraway look in her eyes.
You take a step closer to her, extending a forelimb towards her, but she takes a step back and hides behind her mane. Your brain is stubbornly refusing to come up with anything to say. You stand like that for a few wrenching heartbeats. After an eternal moment, you slowly back away, turn around, and trot out the door, closing it behind you.
You spend the entire trot back to your humble house in Ponyville with your head down and cursing yourself. “Why can’t I just tell her how I feel?” you think to yourself. “It’s not like she feels the same way about me anyways…but I can’t just leave it like that. I need to see her again!”
The rest of your day is spent in agony as you contemplate how you have ruined whatever you had with the most caring pony in all of Equestria. All you can do is lie on the floor of your bedroom, unable to eat or move.
After an eternity of misery, night falls and you try to get some sleep. But all you can think about is how Fluttershy would sleep on the floor next to your bed every night, her soft breaths a lullaby to your ears.
You suddenly bolt upright, your bed frame squealing in protest. Your mind is buzzing with an idea of how to see Fluttershy once more. It was stupid, it was brilliant, maybe even brilliantly stupid, and a grin started to work its way upon your face.
This idea now a comfort to your weary heart, you eventually drift off to a fitful sleep.
***
The next sunrise finds you on a tree limb, the brisk air sending shivers down your sides. Your belly is scratched from shimmying up the rough tree trunk, but you ignore it and focus on the task at hoof.
This particular tree happened to be located right next to Fluttershy’s garden, which you knew she tended to every morning by the glorious light of the morning sun. You had to wake up much earlier than normal to get there without being seen, so you are close to dozing off.
Your ears prick up, however, at the faint sound of Fluttershy humming a slow tune to herself as she enters her garden, eyes drooping more than usual. You edge back a little farther on the limb, so as to prevent her from seeing you.
You longingly watch her tend to her plants with grace and loving care. Eventually, she makes her way to a group of tomatoes close to where you are hidden. Perfect.
You steel yourself and take a deep breath as you prepare to put your plan into action.
You throw yourself out of the tree right in front of Fluttershy.
Your head smashes into the ground with more pain than you expected. “Maybe it was a stupid idea after all,” you think to yourself through a haze of pain.
Fluttershy leaps backwards in pure shock and cries out with a loud squeak.
Regardless, you call out, “Ouch my head! Somepony help me, I feel so dizzy!” with typically poor acting.
With even worse acting, you crane your head up to Fluttershy and say with a weak grin, “Oh Fluttershy! I didn’t expect to see you here, but I sure am glad you are. Looks like I’ll need somepony to take care of me again.”
Fluttershy, however, was not fooled, as her animals had pulled this trick before in a vain attempt to gain her attention. Fluttershy takes a few hesitant steps forward, leaning her head down to you, her breath tickling your ear. “Don’t do this,” she says quietly.
You stand up quickly in surprise. So much for pretending to be hurt. “Do what?” you say.
Fluttershy brushes her mane out of the way and says quietly, barely able to meet your eyes, “If you wanted to see me again, you didn’t have to pretend to be hurt like this…”
You somehow manage to be shocked that she was able to deduce your brilliant plan so easily. “But, but-” you stutter.
“You could have just talked to me, you know,” Fluttershy says with surprising confidence.
You facehoof at your idiocy, instantly regretting it due to the wave of pain it brought, feeling like an utter fool.
Fluttershy brings her snout close to your ear once again and whispers breathlessly, “How about we just go on a trot and talk about this instead?”
Still flustered, you nod furiously.
***
The still chilly morning air is almost as icy as the conversation between you and Fluttershy as you both trot. One of you would attempt to start a conversation, only for it to fade into a painful silence.
As you both reach the top of a grassy hill, you decide that you cannot bear the silence any longer. “Fluttershy,” you say with an attempt at confidence, only for it to deflate, “look, I…” Your words fade, as you are unsure of what to say. She turns her eyes mournfully towards you, and your confidences bolsters once more. “The time I’ve spent with you…it was honestly the best of my life, and I really like you,” you say once more. It sounded corny, but you truly meant it. “And I’m sorry,” you continue, “for how stupid I was this morning scaring you like that. I just didn’t know what to do an-”
Fluttershy cuts you off with a tender hoof pressed to your snout and smiles. “Don’t be sorry. Um, yes it was…silly,” she is still smiling, that has to be a good sign, “but…I thought it was, um, cute... that you would do that for me I mean,” she finishes quickly, blood blooming in her cheeks. She swallows and continues, “And I should have said something too, but I didn’t know what. It’s just that you’re so funny and cute, I couldn’t tell you how I felt either, and…” she hesitates. “Ireallylikeyoutoo,” she squeaks out and immediately turns around and hides behind her mane.
You do not know what to say over the intense rush of relief roaring through your mind, but you decide that the time for words has passed. You take a step closer to Fluttershy.
Then another.
And another.
Your soft breath forming waves in her shiny pink mane, you extend a forehoof and gently push it out of her face. Fluttershy’s eyes are shining in anticipation, as you reach out further and cradle her head, pressing into the soft side of your neck in a caring embrace. She eventually wraps her forelimbs around your withers and presses them into your fur with a gentle pressure.
You hold her like that for ages, in complete contentment, basking in the wonderful feeling of her embrace.
Finally you both break it, and you hold her head in between your forehooves and slowly bring her snout towards yours.
Your lips meet hers, sending shivers down your spine, and you can feel her kissing back, leaning into it when you-
Fluttershy loses her balance and tips forward, taking you with her as you both roll down the itchy, grassy hill in a tangled mess of limbs. Dazed, you both land at the bottom in a knoll, with you on top of Fluttershy.
With a breathless giggle, you both resume your kiss, now rolling in joy upon the grass as you do so. Your whole body melts as you feel Fluttershy slowly poke her tongue into your mouth and you meet it with your own, like two lost lovers reuniting. Fluttershy and you moan in pleasure as you both take turns exploring each other’s mouths.
Finally, you both break the seemingly endless kiss and lie there, watching the wispy clouds lazily roll past.
Both of you wished that the moment would never end, and you each knew that it would never have to.
