Meanwhile, Lonesome Knight had dropped off the pet supplies that he’d bought for me at my cottage.

He didn’t stay at my cottage, because he wasn’t a good animal caretaker like me, but he did remember to nail a notice to the front door of the cottage.

The notice said, MEET ME AT THE GOLDEN OAK LIBRARY.

After nailing the notice, he set off for the Golden Oak Library and waited there—patiently—for Twilight Sparkle and me.

“SURPRI-I-I-I-ISE!” squealed the pink Earth pony mare who’d led the mock construction project as all of us trotted into Sugarcube Corner.

Her loud squealing gave me quite a shock!

“Yes, sir-ee, Pinkie Pie,” agreed Applejack, “that was one humdinger of a surprise!”

Twilight Sparkle, using her horn, lifted all the baked goods out of the wagon and lowered them onto the shelves of the bakery.

“Ooooooooh—thank you, everypony, for all the sugary pastries you brought in!” cried Pinkie Pie.

“Y’all are most welcome!” answered Applejack.

“Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie; Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy,” said Applejack, bringing Pinkie Pie and me face to face.

“Erm—hello,” I told Pinkie Pie, very softly.

“Hi, Fluttershy!” she whispered into my ear. “I’m tickled pink finally to meet you!”

“Guess what time it is, everypony!” she shouted. “It’s PARTY TIME!”

Before the party began, Twilight Sparkle told me, “Fluttershy, you need to leave.”

“But why?” I asked her.

“It’s a secret,” she answered. “We’ll let you know when you may come back,” she told me.

“Oh—OK, then,” I answered. “Good-bye,” I told her, and left Sugarcube Corner to head back home.

Author's Note

I apologize for Lonesome Knight’s long appearance gap; the protagonist of this story is Fluttershy, not her husband. Nevertheless, Lonesome is an important character, so I cannot omit him from the story.