The Librarian

You open your eyes, and the first thing you see is your ceiling. Drywall. White drywall. For one expecting to see the wooden roof of the library, you are very disappointed. You sit up in your bed, feeling mildly confused. A warm, fuzzy feeling persists in your stomach, but you can't seem to figure out why. Then it hits you. The Dream. At this realization, the disappointment grows, until you're feeling somewhat depressed.

“I should've known.” You groan to yourself. Now standing on the floor, you shake your head, trying to wear away the groggy effects of sleep. Stumbling over to the bathroom, you mumble to yourself along the way. “Falling for me? Ha! Twilight would fall for anypony but me.” Looking at yourself in the mirror doesn't help boost your confidence.

You are the average Joe of ponies, not cursed, nor blessed, with good looks. Your mane is a two color combination, one part being a fire-brick red, with the other part being a lighter shade of so. Matching your mane, your tail is the same. Your horn is the same color as your body: shaded a Tuscan red, with the lower part of your hooves patterned by cream colored fur. Lastly, you glance at your cutie mark. It's nothing special, being – what else – a book, inscripted with magical writing.

You levitate your comb over, and being brushing your mane slowly. Then you brush your teeth, using magic once more. Once that's all taken care of, you walk out of the bathroom and into your kitchen, intent on making breakfast, which consists of a quickly thrown-together salad. You sit down and begin to eat, thinking over what you aim to accomplish for the day.

Hmm. What to do? You wonder, while biting into a piece of lettuce. I could go visit Twilight, but I did yesterday and I don't want to impose. Much less come off as needy. You suddenly stand up and look through a nearby window, realizing that you don't know what the weather is going to be like throughout the day. It looks sunny, I hope it'll stay that way. Sitting back down, you begin to mull over the dream. Again.

What am I going to do about it? I have to do something. After thinking about it for a while, you come to the conclusion that you have no idea what to do next. Concerning your feelings with Twilight, at least.

Oddly enough, that thought drives you to an idea. Since I don't know what to do, maybe... maybe somepony else could advise me? But, that's risky... who could I trust to keep my secret safe? You don't have very many friends, despite having a big 'welcome to Ponyville' party thrown for you. I don't know anypony very well, come to think of it. I can't just go out and tell whoever, so maybe I'll start with... Twilight's... relations? Would her friends be eager to blab? You've heard of the famous elements of harmony before, but haven't spent the time to get to know them. I could pick one of them, but whoever I pick would just be a blind guess, based on what I've heard so far.

You try to recall the elements' personalities and figure out what exactly their elements are. Let's see... I remember magic, obviously. Rainbow Dash is loyalty... and Pinkie Pie is laughter, but I can't remember what the others are. Whilst trying to remember their traits, you happen to recall receiving a pamphlet of Ponyville, which, if your memory is correct, also showcased the elements and their specialties. You soon find it placed in between a book you've been reading. It appears you've been using it as a bookmark. You chuckle lightly to yourself, then take pamphlet out and turn it over, looking for the descriptions. Ah! Okay, here we go. Magic, loyalty, laughter... generosity, kindness, and honesty. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack.

Thinking of the traits that would be helpful to you, you decide who is a candidate and who isn't. I can't use magic. I don't really need laughter or honesty. Honesty would probably have to reveal my secret if they were asked directly. That is, if anypony suspected it in the first place. You think about whether you've hid your feelings well, and decide you have been doing a good-enough job. I'm not really near Twilight around anypony else anyway. You think back to choosing. That's 3 down out of 6. Loyalty? That might be useful. Although, I haven't heard such great things about Rainbow's personality, either. That just leaves generosity and kindness. I don't think generosity would benefit me, but kindness doesn't seem to be all too great. I have heard Futtershy isn't too social, so maybe she'd be less likely to say anything. But, that also means that she won't be so pleased to talk with me, wouldn't it? Is kindness... what I want? I guess it's the best I can get. I just hope she gives good advice...

Having decided on kindness, you finish your breakfast, and then get ready to pay her a visit. You remember that her cottage is near the Everfree forest, somewhat. Deciding to take a map of Ponyville with you, you think about lunch, but then resolve to buy something at Sugarcube Corner, afterwards. If this is successful, anyway... Looking outside again, you see that it's early dawn. This shouldn't take past midday, but I hope Fluttershy is awake and in the mood to cooperate.

You set off, feeling mildly doubtful. So, you think, looking at your map, I'm near Sugarcube Corner right now. All I have to do is to cross over to the town exit, and then continue along the path until I get to Fluttershy's house. Seems easy enough.

You begin to take the path that, according to the map, leads to Fluttershy's house. Along the way, you see a bunch of dark-leaved trees, along with a bunch of scattered leaves on the ground. You look at your map again. Further down on it, you see a forest labeled 'Everfree'. You have heard of the Everfree, but have never actually gone into it. After enjoying the scenery and conforming your position with your map a couple of times, you come to a stop, ending up at your desired destination: Fluttershy's house. So this map is reliable, you think.

Walking up to her door, you begin to knock. You hear a soft “Eeep” in the background, followed by the slow sound of hooves clicking against wood. Finally, the door creaks open, and you are 'greeted' by a cream colored Pegasus with a pink mane, which she seems to be trying to hide behind. She just sits there in her door frame – which is partially closed, trying to avoid your gaze. You decide to initiate conversation, since you're obviously not going to get a first word from this Pegasus.

“Uh, you're Fluttershy... aren't you?” You begin, while she glances down at the ground and around at the trees, looking anywhere but at you.

“Um...y-yes...” She reluctantly replies, glancing at you for a second, but then quickly averting her gaze back to the ground.

This is going to be harder than I thought, You think to yourself.

“So, I need...uh... advice. And I think you're the mare that could give me... some.”

“M-me? Why... me?” Fluttershy mutters, finally half-glancing at you with a puzzled look on her face.

“Well...it's kind of hard to explain. But... I'll say you have... traits, that I think will help.”

“Help with...what?” She asks, opening her door a little more, now seemingly curious. At least, as curious as a person like her could be. To a stranger.

“To my... problem. Like I said. If you want to, I guess.” You tell her, while sporting a furrowed brow.

“Okay... I s-suppose it would be... alright?” She murmured, while having a puzzled look on her face as well. “Come inside,” She notions, while walking back into her house. “I mean... if you want to.” She adds, peeking back at you. Fluttershy continues walking, and you follow, slowly trodding into her house.

As your hooves hit the wooden floor of her house, you take a look around, never having seen it before. All around you see brown-colored walls, followed by a vine-like pattern leading into what you assume to be the bathroom, as you see the corner of a bathtub. The room closest to the door – which you are standing in – is fairly populated with furniture of all sorts. To the right is a fireplace, while across from that sits a doorway to her supposed kitchen, along with a staircase leading up to the second floor. Fluttershy's wall is carved out in some spots, leaving space to hold objects. Those spaces are currently being taken up by, mostly, books.

You look back towards Fluttershy, who sat down on a lime green sofa. You do the same, sitting next to her. She scoots away a little, although you ignore it.

“So, um...” She starts. You widen your eyes slightly, surprised that she was the first to speak, but wait for her to continue. “W-what did you want to talk... to me, about?”

A/N: I used this: [Map of Ponyville] as a general reference to where everything is. I also used this: [Fluttershy's House]. I'm not as familiar with Ponyville as I want to (or should) be.

I was going to continue this chapter further but I didn't, so I'll try and get another chapter out soon to compensate, hopefully. Thanks for reading.