Fluttertype

Click.

Fluttershy locked the door. She leaned against it and sighed, as if bracing shut the entrance to a forbidden tomb.

Starlight gazed at her. She blinked quizzically, noticing at the very last second how... dry her mouth was. Just then, Fluttershy moved towards her...

...and past her. The whiff of flowery perfume followed, and soon Fluttershy flipped on the first of many lights.

Starlight hadn't even realized how dark it was in there until that darkness receded, giving way to soft pastels and fluttershy motifs and plush furniture, one rosy lamp at a time. It was insultingly girly inside Fluttershy's room. One might even call it infantile—as if Fluttershy never had a teenage phase to evolve into a college aesthetic. She just made one big grand leap from elementary school to young adult, and—somehow—that made sense from what little Starlight Glimmer knew of the human version of her. The furniture had a porcelain and ivory gloss to it, antiquated and beyond comfy. The bed contained far more stuffed animals than Starlight could count, and if she took more than two breaths within the span of ten seconds, she could swear she caught the unmistakable scent of lavender, vanilla, baby powder, and—

“Do you draw?” Fluttershy asked.

Starlight snapped out of her fragrant coma and locked eyes with the towering femme standing across the room from her. “Do I what?”

“Draw. As in...” Fluttershy charaded pencil-sketching. “...illustrating? Making pictures?”

“I... … … like flying kites and meticulously establishing miniature dogmatic autocracies.” Starlight Glimmer gulped. “But m-mostly flying kites.”

Fluttershy looked like she wanted to smile at that, but some unseen pressure was drowning her, manifesting in a set of hands that wrung each set of fingers, harder and sweatier. With a dry cough, she gestured towards a set of closet doors beset all over with colorful animal stickers. “Me? I like to draw... uhm... a lot.” She brushed a long strand of pink hair away, only for it to fall back in place. “Sunset likes to stream video games. Applejack likes to perform at rodeos. Me? In my spare time I am always... always... drawing.”

“Okay.”

“Would... uhm... would you like to see some of the... the st-stuff that I draw?” Fluttershy fidgeted. She brushed an even longer stand of pink hair away... only for it to fall back in place again.

Starlight gazed at her, wondering every single passing second just what this all had to do with the reason she was summoned there into Fluttershy's holiest of holy domains.

“Okay...”

Fluttershy took a deep breath... then an even deeper breath. She approached the closet like a priest might approach a sacred sepulcher. Opening the doors wide, she revealed a hidden pink dresser. From one of its many drawers, she pulled out a closed box. From the closed box, she lifted a stack of large manila envelopes. And—positioning herself side-saddle on the bed—she produced one of many sheets of paper from the envelope.

“This is some of the latest pieces that I've been drawing,” Fluttershy said, meekly, quiet as a mouse. She nevertheless grasped the sheets of illustrated paper in her delicate fingers with grace and respect, like one might render priceless antiques. “Some of my early portfolios are... not so good. I'm not saying that just to be humble. I've... simply gotten a lot better over time.”

“I can believe that.” Starlight moved to sit on the bed beside her—but found herself struggling a bit. The mattress was elevated, evidently crafted for someone of Fluttershy's greater stature. When she finally sat up beside her friend, Starlight found that her dangling feet didn't touch the ground. But that's not where her attention rested at the moment. Instead—with sincere interest—she found herself gazing at the black-and-white charcoal pieces being displayed before her.

In truth, Starlight had expected to see pages full of animals—or at least those meeting the definition of “animals” in accordance to the standards of the sapient denizens on that side of the mirror.

But—

Instead, she found herself gazing at sketch after sketch of human figures. Each were dressed quite fabulously—and classily—in intricate fabrics, flowing frocks, lacy gowns, and delicate pinafores. The dresswork displayed a keen understanding of cloth that would make Rarity—both Rarities—intensely jealous, and yet Starlight could easily tell that these weren't illustrations meant to capture the designs of the dresses themselves, but rather to accentuate the beauty of the subjects sporting them. And while Starlight was still quite alien to the aesthetics of Homo sapiens, even she could tell that each person drawn by Fluttershy's evidently well-crafted fingers were the very paragon of resplendence.

“It took a long while to find my own style,” Fluttershy could be heard saying, although it came through like a bell in the fog, for Starlight was already so easily absorbed in the visual array set before the both of them. “It all started with... uhm... me emulating the animes I used to watch. Mostly Sailor Moon and Ranma 1/2... and then a bit of Evangelion beyond that... but... who doesn't move on from Eva?” She took a long, shuddering breath, moving to the next few pages as she moved on from that pedantic ramblage. “Anyways... as you can see, I found my stride, and for the past few years—starting in my senior year of high school and beyond—I started drawing every day. Just because I could. It's kind of like what Stephen King does. Only with graphite pencils instead of typewriters. And I'm drawing, not writing. So... eh... I-I guess it's... uhm... n-not like Stephen King at all.”

“I think I get it~” Starlight mused, smiling as she admired picture after gorgeous picture. “Practice makes perfect~”

“Mmmmm-these are far from perfect—”

“Fluttershy, these are amazing,” the guest said with an emphatic grin. “I may be a horse girl, but you've obviously captured the human form amazingly well!” She gestured. “And these outfits! Did you invent them?”

“Oh... some, I guess...” Fluttershy shrugged casually, thumbing her way towards another collection of pics to show her friend. Before them, exquisitely princessy figures sat at tea in monochromatic shading. “A lot of them are taken from references... or magazines... or fashion styles that I find off of Google searches.” She flipped to an image of two figures in bell-shaped dresses holding hands and walking through a park, side by side, while carrying baskets full of flowers. “Or... as you can guess... the occasional Victorian wood engraving.”

“I don't know what that means but it's still very very pretty.” Starlight Glimmer remarked. “You're super good at black and white shading.”

“Oh... uhm...” A tinge of rosiness kissed Fluttershy's cheeks. “I-I do color pics too...”

“Really? Show me~”

Fluttershy closed one manila folder, set it aside on the bed, then opened another. Starlight's eyes reflected a pastel explosion of spectral goodness.

“Wowwwwwwwie...” Starlight grinned from ear to ear. “Fruity!”

Fluttershy giggled lightly, losing some edge to her nervousness. “I know, right?” She thumbed to a group pic. “I'm particularly fond of this one I did last spring...”

Starlight found herself gazing at a quartet of petite figures loitering beside a mall fountain, sipping from soft drinks, doing makeup, laughing. They wore pleated skirts and short-shorts and bright pastel blouses with floral designs. “It's like a candy buffet for the eyes!”

“Hmmm...” Fluttershy squirmed a bit where she sat. “That's a nice way of putting it.”

“I don't know any other way of putting it~” Starlight smiled. “They all look wonderful.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy gnawed on her bottom lip. “You're just saying that to be nice.”

“Nuh uh.” Starlight shook her head. “I mean it. This is all some really fantastic artwork.” She waved a hand. “Have you ever thought of sharing it on... on...” Her eyes narrowed. “... … ...that crazy invisible sky orgy where humans share cats and conspiracy theories...”

“The Internet?” Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh n-no! I wouldn't! I couldn't!!”

“Why not?” Starlight cocked her head aside. “Aren't you having a good time sharing these with me?”

“You... … ...” Fluttershy fidgeted. “This is different.”

Starlight stared thoughtfully at the tall woman. She gave the pictures a look, then glanced at the locked door across the room. “What...?” She looked up at her friend again. “...does this have to do with what I asked the group earlier?”

“Well...” Fluttershy pushed a pink lock of hair up over her air. It stayed in place this time. “A very long time ago, Rarity gave me advice on drawing for a hobby.”

“Yeah? And?”

“She told me very simply: 'Just create what you like.'”

“Rarity said that?”

A beat.

“Okay...” Fluttershy stifled a snicker. “She added a 'dahhhhliiiing' at the end.”

“Snrkk...” Starlight covered her mouth with a hand. “Of course she did.”

“And so...” Fluttershy took a deep breath, gazing at half-a-dozen drawings between them all at once. “...I took her advice to heart.”

“I can see that.” Starlight took a warm breath and smiled solidly at Fluttershy. “Well, I'm glad that you showed this to me, Fluttershy. I think it's perfectly fine to learn that your type is ornately-dressed and graceful women.”

“They... uhm...” Fluttershy's fingers tightened on the edges of her drawings. “...they're not women.”

Silence.

Starlight's blink was almost a thunderclap.

“They're not?” the Equestrian mewled.

Fluttershy slowly—slowly shook her head.

“But...?” Starlight cut off the words before she could stupidly spout any more. She tilted her head down to gaze at the pictures again.

Once more, she gazed at the lithe, youthful figures. She looked at their immaculate skin and cosmetically painted faces. She looked at their holding-hands and lipsticked smiles and glittery fingernails. There were skirts and poofy shoulders and petticoats a'plenty. But...

Starlight Glimmer squinted harder. As a pony girl from a pretty prancing pony land, she was still admittedly getting used to the visual cues that demarcated the physical categories of one set of humans from another. Being a magical scientist at heart, Starlight momentarily focused on the anatomical nature of things. It was then that she observed a distinct lack of mammary glands on the upper half of the bipedal figures. What's more, most of the subjects' manes... no hair was noticeably short. Then to cap it all off—in pictures where the individuals were wearing shorts, bloomers, and briefs—there was a great deal more substance situated in that ever-so-sacred nexus between the legs...

“They're males?” Starlight squeaked to the heavens.

“They're boys—er... men.” Fluttershy jerked, holding a stack of envelopes up to her face, obscuring her blushing expression. “... … ...young men. Legal age—of course—but... b-but some of them might be willing to pr-pretend that they're even younger.” A gulp, and she hid her reddening face even more. “W-with a female partner who's... uhm... t-taller than them. Consensually, of course.”

Starlight stared at her friend. Gently, she reached her hand up and pulled the folders down so that Fluttershy's flushed expression had nothing to hide behind any longer. Once they were seeing eye-to-eye again, she calmly asked: “Is that taller female partner you?”

“Mmmm...” Fluttershy gulped, and the next breath came out in an adorable little squeak. “~Yes~”

Starlight observed how the towering, buxom specimen of gorgeous femininity next to her was trembling with fear, and she did everything she could not to snicker in amusement. “Why is it that this suddenly makes the most logical sense ever?”

Fluttershy blinked, her eyes widening slightly. “It d-does?”

“You like caring for little animals, right? Why should little partners be any different?”

“That's... it's...” Fluttershy grimaced visibly. “They're not even remotely the same.”

It was Starlight's turn to wince. “S-sorry! I... I didn't mean to cross the streams, there.”

“That's okay.” Fluttershy exhaled, calming noticeably. “You can't be blamed. Some of my friends used to draw the same conclusions...”

Starlight glanced at the door once again. In her mind's eye, she remembered Rainbow Dash and Rarity sharing a knowing glance the moment she had thrown her loaded question across the restaurant table to Fluttershy. “Do any of them know...?” Her words trailed off.

It was enough for Fluttershy to catch and pitch back. “Yes.” She nodded. “They've known for a long time. But—beyond my closest friends...” She then squeaked. “It's a complete secret.”

Starlight squeezed Fluttershy's wrist gently. “Well, it's safe with me too. I promise.” She cocked her head aside. “Although, I don't really get why it has to be.”

“Mmmmm... several reasons.” Fluttershy took a deep breath. “I... I don't know if Sunset or Twilight have ever told you, but... in high school—as well as in college—I had the hardest time... uhm... how should I put this...?”

“Were the guys all over you?” Starlight droned.

“Eeeep!” Fluttershy winced visibly. “Well, th-they certainly wanted to b-be!”

“Sounds gross. But also weirdly flattering.”

“Huh?”

“Just saying, Fluttershy...” Starlight chuckled, gesturing. “You're hot as Hell. I'm a horse woman and even I can say that.”

“Mmmmmmmmmmm...” Fluttershy exhaled long and hard in a breath that could only be described as “defeated.” She looked pathetically towards the floor. “Yeahhhhhh...”

Starlight let loose a giggle. She cleared her throat, then waved a hand. “S-sorry.”

“It's okay. I've... uhm... dealt with it all my life.”

“And in all that time... did you never actually try dating anyone amongst the unquestionable tsunami of potential suitors?” Starlight smirked. “I'm sure I can't possibly be exaggerating here.”

“No. I just... no.” Fluttershy hugged a stack of photos to her plentiful chest. There was a noticeable frown of consternation to her face. “I never found anyone appealing enough. Not the type of men that Rarity is into... or even the women Sunset's been with. And—to be honest—they... uhm... th-they just intimidate me and turn me off.” She gulped, gazing anxiously aside at her Equestrian friend. “Especially the very alpha-male types. Which... f-for some reason... … … is all I ever seem to contend with.”

Starlight nodded. “Sounds really really sucky.”

“It's... gotten less intense over the past few years or so.” Fluttershy murmured, brushing back a few strands of hair as she gazed a thousand miles through the floor. “On this side of the mirror—or around here, at least—men typically don't pursue women over six feet tall. And... to be honest... I'm quite fine with that...”

“Instead...” Starlight's eyes fell to the pictures on display before them. “...you're looking for men under six feet?”

“Mmmm... more like under five feet,” Fluttershy smiled. “And gentle... with soft skin...” She smiled even more. “With even softer hair... smelling of flowers... and girlish giggling voices and—” Her smile locked in place. Sweating slightly, she aimed her nervous eyes down to her friend. “It m-must seem awfully... awfully strange.”

Starlight shrugged. “In Equestria, the nature of 'gender' isn't exclusively locked to one's biological sex.”

“Oh—it's the same here too. Or... at least... it's supposed to be...” Fluttershy bit her lip slightly. “It's... It's...”

“Complicated?”

“Delicate. And unfortunately the source of unnecessary drama.” Fluttershy gulped. “So... t-to find a certain coded way of living to be 'attractive'—even fetishizing it—can be interpreted as diminishing the identify of some people...”

“Are you willfully trying to hurt people, Fluttershy?”

“What—? No! But...” Fluttershy kneaded the edge of the bed. “...I-I suppose it's very difficult to encourage most schools of erotica w-without offending anyone. Even still, that doesn't mean I'm very proud of it at times. The last thing I ever w-want to be is unkind.” Another gulp. “But... but...” She gazed at her own pictures and a melodic sigh escaped her lips... lips that were helplessly smiling. “Submissive girly bois are just soooooooooo cuuuuuuuute...” Her kneading fingers relaxed. “And I j-just can't stop dreaming... fantasizing about femboys... every d-day... no matter what I do or how I fear others might think of me for it...”

Starlight nodded thoughtfully. She bravely reached in, took another envelope, and opened it to reveal more and more effeminate figures posing together, some even cuddling close and kissing. “Maybe...” She flipped through the pics, taking opportunities to glance at Fluttershy. “...it would help if you explained it to me? Like—what this 'type' means to you?”

Fluttershy thought long and hard. Eventually, in a relatively neutral tone of voice, she poured her words out to the pastel walls of that room.

“One of my first... happiest... and most cherishable memories from childhood was receiving a doll from my Auntie. It was a gift for my... fourth birthday? Third? Whatever the case, the doll was just... so very precious to me. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but the doll wasn't a girl doll. It was a boy—dressed in overalls and a straw hat. But that made no difference to me. I loved Candy Care to death—that's the name I gave him. Candy Care and I cuddled together at night. We had tea parties. We went to the park together. We were inseparable... until we weren't...

“My folks—they mean well. They always have. That being said, they're... a very feeble pair. Even more so than me, if that can be believed. Only now as an adult can I say that in hindsight. Their weak social skills and unassertiveness is one reason why I think they've tolerated my younger brother's selfish antics for long. But... uhm... I-I won't go into that here. Anyways—they didn't think so kindly of Candy Care. More specifically—they didn't think that I should have been given a boy doll by my Auntie. My guess is that Mom and Dad didn't want me being so accustomed and open to the idea of hanging out with boys at such a young age. They meant well—even if it was all motivated out of fear.

“Long story short: one morning I woke up and Candy Care was gone. In his place was a pretty pink princess doll—with a tiara and a fairy wand and everything. 'See? Now you have a little friend to play girl games with!' they had said. But that didn't register with me. How could it? I was devastated! They had taken my dearest Candy Core away from me! My adorable little boy who clung to his Momma for so long—and he was replaced with this pastel petticoated stranger. I felt like crying for days... weeks...

“Until... I realized differently. I'm not sure how it started. Maybe it came to me in a dream. But it was the first moment of self-determination I remember having: Candy Core hadn't been replaced. He had simply played dressup. The doll may have looked like a little princess girl—but it was still him. He was still my precious little boy. Just because he wore a dress and a tiara didn't make him any different—it just made him cuter. I was so proud of him... for finding a way to sneak past my parents and be adorable too.

“Soon... I was proud of us... and myself. I would get more dolls over time. And you know what? They were boys too. Candy Core simply made new friends, and we all joined hands together, having tea and watching birds and playing games and just... just being so comfy and cute and happy. I was everyone's Mommy and they all looked up to me and I kept them all safe and warm. And soon my secret was their secret and it made us all so very special and close... to know that everything was right—the way it should have been—full of trust and acceptance and care.

“As I grew older, and the world got scarier and rougher, me and my princess bois remained a... safe place for me. It remained that way in my mind—a sacred sanctuary—even when I felt that I had outgrown dolls. It extended to the world around me—and how I felt about members of the opposite sex. And as Zephyr Breeze grew up to be so toxic and disorderly, it only made me admire softer, kinder, and meeker men all the more.

“In recent years, as I discovered certain... cultures... such as crossdressing forums and femboy models on the Internet—I found that there were still dolls to be had. Or so I imagined... and fantasized. Just—the idea of men who go the extra distance and struggle to code themselves like the opposite sex—while still acknowledging their assigned gender identity... … … it doesn't have to be sexualized, necessarily. I... j-just admire the... art of it? For some people, willfully crossing a boundary while still identifying it produces such a thrill... or so I imagine. I've only ever observed from afar. And to get closer to that—to enmesh myself—I've... well... I've indulged creatively in the medium you see before you...”

Starlight observed Fluttershy gesturing at the pictures. She had a deadpan expression on her face, bordering on melancholic.

“It's just my way of capturing and containing it,” the tall woman said.

“Containing what?” Starlight asked.

“What else can it be called?” Fluttershy's features hung. “It's an obsession.”

Starlight shrugged. “Maybe because it just hasn't become a reality yet.”

Fluttershy frowned a bit, ultimately shaking her head. “It's best that it never does.”

Starlight blanched at that. “But why, though?”

“I can't imagine why anyone would want to—”

“Be paired up with such a caring, thoughtful woman?”

“Mmmmm...” Fluttershy brushed her bangs back. “...more like a helpless pervert.”

“Pffft. Please, Flutters...” Starlight smirked wryly. “We all have a little deviant in all of us. But you're not wanting to prey on and hurt anyone, are you?”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“Just what is it you do want?” Starlight asked.

“I want...” Fluttershy wrung her hands, shifted, sweated, then: “I want...” Her tense features softened slightly. “...I want a living doll whom I can cuddle and play with...” And softer and softer, one sigh after another. “...whom I can trust to be gentle and kind... and to react happily to gentle-kindness...” The rosiness finally returned to her cheeks. “Small enough that I can carry... but deep and mature enough that I can share all my concerns and fears.” She clutched two hands to her sternum and closed her eyes with a dream smile of contentment. “A pretty princess boi who—with just a word or a kiss—would happily come to Momma.” A sideways squeak, and she blushed visibly while twirling a bashful lock of hair. “In more ways than one.”

“Heehee... I think I get it.” Starlight cocked her head aside with an admiring smile. “And—to be honest, Fluttershy—I think your 'type' makes a whole ton of sense.”

“Hmmm?” Fluttershy blinked innocently. “How so?”

“It totally figures that you'd be a top.”

The woman's turquoise eyes shrank to that. “A t-t-top?”

“Granted—with just the right kind of bottom.” Starlight gestured. “I don't think you're exactly feeble, Fluttershy. You're just... cautious. It's a scary world out there for all of us—or worlds... h-heh. Finding the right kind of situation—or company—to be in order to feel in control is expected of us. Even you.” Starlight lifted a few pages of drawings and flipped through the adorable figures illustrated thereupon. “Meeting someone like this—someone eager, willing, and suited to be like one of your dollish 'friends' of yours—would let you maintain that control. That pride. That comfort.”

“It c-can't be all about me,” Fluttershy said. A sad breath. “That's why I'm still single.”

“No, that's why you're still waiting.” Starlight gave her a firm look. “But waiting doesn't have to be forever. It's just the interim period before true perfection becomes reality—or something close to it.” She pointed at the drawings. “Out there is a beautiful young man who is absolutely dying to find his 'Momma' someday... someone who is tall enough, strong enough, and creative enough to indulge in his deepest dreams. And I'm absolutely certain he will want to do the same for her.”

Fluttershy's feet curled against the carpet. Her next breath had a harmonic lilt to it. “You really th-think so, Starlight...?”

“For you, Fluttershy...?” Starlight placed the drawings down, closed the envelope, and placed it neatly in the taller woman's hands. “...the world would be wasting matter and energy if it didn't match you up with the perfect boi of your type someday. Or bois.”

Fluttershy visibly shivered.

“Heeheehee...” Starlight winked. “Did I strike a chord there?”

“I...” Fluttershy gulped, rubbing her upper head and resisting the urge to hyperventilate. “...I n-never really pictured it being so real... and p-possible before...”

“Haven't your friends ever tried to hook you up?” Starlight waved. “Surely Rarity would have an eye for—”

“I always refused their efforts,” Fluttershy stammered, gazing aside with a glint of shame. “And... my friends are very kind.” A sideways sigh. “They respect my boundaries.”

Starlight shrugged. “Maybe it's time to re-draw them.” A wink. “And you are good at drawing.”

“... … ...” Fluttershy brushed at her bangs. “I am, aren't I?”

“Heehee. I'd say!” Starlight smiled a friendly smile. “Do you feel better having talked about it?”

“I do...” Fluttershy looked at the Equestrian guest directly. “It's... b-been a long while since I told someone new about my... interests.”

“Does a fresh perspective help?”

“I think part of me wanted you to judge me harshly.”

“That's not what friendship is about, Fluttershy,” Starlight said. “But—if I perceived something that I felt was unhealthy, I definitely would have told you.”

“So you... d-don't see any of it as bad?”

“The only bad thing is resolving yourself to be imprisoned in fantasy when you desire something real.” Starlight stood up. “The other Fluttershy back in Equestria has learned to approach things in life with baby-steps. I'm certain you'd benefit no less. So... how about it? Are you ready to look beyond pen and paper?”

“I...” Fluttershy squirmed visibly. “I-I'm not certain.”

Starlight shrugged. “An honest answer.”

“Truth is... I-I tried being... uhm... 'motherly' and in control of an intimate relationship before—”

“With Rainbow Dash, right?”

Fluttershy's eyes darted to Starlight's face. There was a half-moment of contemplation. “She told you, didn't she?”

“Yeah...” Starlight rubbed the back of her head. “But she was a tad bit inebriated at the time.”

“Mmmm... well... it's true. And I adore Rainbow Dash. Truly, I do... but—”

“She's simply not your 'type,'” Starlight declared. “She has never been and will never be a 'Candy Care.'”

Fluttershy slowly shook her head.

“So—why stop there?” Starlight dramatically shrugged. “Why take a moment of fated incompatibility and declare your dreams unrealized? Rainbow Dash hasn't stooped to shortchanging herself! So why should you?”

Slowly, a warm smile spread its way across Fluttershy's features. She nodded, then nodded some more. “Yes. Yes... why should I accept things as impossible?” A shuddering breath, and she stood up too, gazing down at Starlight with a starry expression. “The world's not so small that kind currents can't roll my way~”

“Heck yeah!” Starlight pumped a fist. “That's the spirit—!” She then gasped, eyes wide.

Fluttershy was leaning over to hug her, a somewhat difficult feat given the difference in height—and bosom—between the two ladies. But Fluttershy managed—with remarkable control and grace—and all Starlight could do was weather the gentle gesture.

“I'm so very glad you've come to visit us again, Starlight~” Fluttershy cooed. At last, she drew back, resting a hand on Starlight's shoulder while clutching her folders to her self like a doll. “You're even more inspiring than Princess Twilight praises in her letters to Sunset.”

“Well... uh...” Starlight smiled sheepishly. “I'm glad that I'm surpassing even her accolades.” Clearing her throat, she gestured out the door. “Maybe I should go and have a rinse before Rarity hogs all the hot water.”

“Not a bad plan.” Fluttershy moved back to the pink dresser in her closet to put the drawings away.

“In case I don't see you again, have a great night's sleep...” Starlight waved as she unlocked the door and made her exit. “I look forward to our time spent together tomorrow—”

“Starlight?”

“Hmmm?” The guest turned to look at her.

Fluttershy stood across the room, gazing back with an innocent smile. “I just realized... nobody bothered to ask you.”

“Ask me what?”

“What's your type?” Fluttershy stated. “You do have a type, don't you?”

Starlight Glimmer gazed at Fluttershy. At her luscious pink locks that looked softer than silk. At her splendid towering figure. At her supple arms that were as gentle as cloudbanks. At her ample bust that—just seconds prior—had pooled her into a motherly embrace. A heavenly hug scented with calming lavender and vanilla that could invite a soul like Starlight's to drift off forever.

“I... guess I don't have a 'type,'” Starlight eventually said. She gripped the cold doorknob tighter as she stood up straight. “Or—at least—I just haven't met them yet.” She smiled. Tried to.

Fluttershy nodded. “Well, I hope you find the right one sooner than later.” She giggled softly and closed her eyes with a side-cocked, rosy-cheeked grin. “You deserve no less.”

“Mmm. Don't I know it.”

And Starlight left the colors and floral scents behind. She was halfway to her sofa—and her strange bags full of horse-world things—when she lingered to a limp stop. Rainbow Dash's snores wafted towards her from a distance. Situated there in the heart of that two-story townhouse, Starlight realized just how small she felt, like she was surrounded by mountains, growing tall and taller, but never quite so far away that she couldn't see them.

“Heh. Lame indeed.”

The young woman grabbed some pajamas and a towel. She made her way to the nearest bathroom where—for better or for worse—the shower water was cold as ice. Starlight remained there ten minutes longer than she needed to. And by the time the shivers had stopped completely, she understood.