The Unknown Stranger

by FailWhale

Rating: everyone
Tags: Dark, Applejack, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Fluttershy
Length: 6486

Fluttershy finds a colt in the Everfree Forest. Accidents start to happen to her friends.

While looking for special flowers in the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy stumbles across a mysterious colt. She nurses him back to health, and he seems quite friendly, but when her friends start getting injured in 'accidents', only Applejack suspects the new colt. Will she be able to tell Fluttershy about her suspicions before the unthinkable happens? FluttershyXApplejack, very strong, but untrue, hints of FluttershyXOC.

Published 2012-01-04 06:09:36 UTC
Last updated 2012-02-28 04:41:53 UTC

Finding the Stallion

It was midday, and the sun was shining down on Equestria. Its rays shone through the window, waking up a yellow pegasus pony with a pink mane. Fluttershy slowly sat up in her bed, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Those same eyes soon widened as she realized what time it was.

"Oh no!" she yelled. "We're having the gift giving today! I overslept! Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness..." she continued as she galloped downstairs.

Fluttershy was talking about the monthly gift giving that she and her friends decided to do. They would each bring gifts for the others and give them to each other. Simple. Fluttershy grabbed a satchel and burst out of the cottage, stopping in front of the Everfree Forest.

"Oh, why do they have to be in the Everfree Forest?" she asked herself.

"They" referred to the flowers that she saw two days before when Elizabeak escaped. She caught a glimpse of them while she was running through the forest as quickly as her legs could carry her. She decided that those flowers would be perfect to give to her friends for the gift giving. The only problem? They were in the Everfree Forest. So, Fluttershy decided to wake up as early as possible on the day of the event to try and steel herself and build up her courage so that she could go into the Everfree Forest without being too frightened.

Unfortunately, she overslept.

She took a deep breath and quickly flew into the forest. Luckily, Elizabeak's tracks hadn't completely faded, and she followed them as they led right to the flowers. Fluttershy continued to traverse the forest, shuddering all the while. She finally arrived at the flowers. They were just as perfect as she remembered them.

"Okay, I'll gather up these flowers, then I can go prepa-"

She stopped abruptly as she heard rapid, faint breathing.

"Eek!" she yelped as she leapt into a nearby bush. Her eyes slowly peeked out of said bush, scanning the visible area to see if she could pinpoint the sound. The breathing suddenly grew louder from her left, and she was frozen in fear.

-Come on, Fluttershy, pull yourself together! Your friends tell you that you have to be strong! Just go see who or what the breathing is coming from, gather the flowers, and run away as fast as you can!

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and she stepped out of the bush. She followed the sound of the breathing, and continued through the forest. Soon, she entered a clearing in the forest. She looked downward and saw the source of the breathing: an unconscious pony.

"Oh my goodness!" she gasped as she galloped over to him. He had a very large bruise on his side and a deep gash along his shoulder. He looked like he lost a lot of blood. Fluttershy stood next to him, unsure of what to do.

-What should I do?! I don't know if I should take him back to my cottage!

-You found him, didn't you?

-Well, yes, b-but...

-Then, you can't just leave him here! Help him, and try to find out who he is!

Fluttershy was at war with herself for another thirty seconds, not noticing the young stallion opening his eyes.

"P-please...he-help...m-me..." he gasped.

"Eek!" yelped Fluttershy, not expecting him to wake up, let alone speak. He looked at her for a couple more seconds, then blacked out.

"Um...okay. Don't worry, you're going to be alright..." said Fluttershy, knowing that he couldn't hear her. She flew as fast as she could over to the bush she was hiding in. She hadn't realized that she had dropped her satchel in her fright. She quickly picked all the flowers as carefully as she could, and rushed back to the unconscious pony. She lifted him up onto her back as best she could, and she flew off to her cottage. As she did, she wondered who this strange pony could be, and why he was in the Everfree Forest...

Yeah, so this is my first fanfic. Tell me what you think of it. Oh, Fluttershy might seem slightly OOC in this chapter, but that's because I noticed that she seems somewhat more outspoken when she's by herself. I'll hopefully have the next chapter up soon.

Shade

When Fluttershy reached her cottage, she immediately galloped inside to grab everything she needed to help the pony. She cleaned his wounds, wrapped them up in bandages, and she flew him up to her room and set him down on her bed. She hoped that he was comfortable, and walked downstairs to fill up a glass of water. She put a straw in the glass, and stood there, staring at the glass.

"Oh, what was I thinking? I've never taken care of another pony before...I don't think this was such a good idea, but I couldn't just leave him there..." She sighed. "We'll just have to see how everything turns out..."

She took the glass of water up to her room, and she noticed that the young stallion was stirring. Fluttershy walked as quietly as she could over to her bedside table, and set the glass down. As she walked away, she heard a groan. Fluttershy turned to look at the pony, and he slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the room, and laid his eyes on Fluttershy.

"Wh-wha...wh-where am I..." he asked feebly.

"U-um...y-you're...I-I..." Fluttershy found that she couldn't form a sentence.

-Come on, Fluttershy, you can do this! Just breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...

At this point, the stallion noticed the water on the table and downed the whole thing in 3 seconds. Fluttershy gulped as she tried to speak again.

"I-I'm...F-flutter..." The young stallion smiled.

"I think...that I should be the one...with an inability to speak...seeing as I'm...dazed and injured..." he said jokingly. Fluttershy giggled.

-He seems really nice...Okay, you can do this!

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and started.

"M-my name is Fluttershy...I found you passed out in the Everfree Forest, and you asked me to help you...so...I picked you up, and took you to my cottage..." she said quietly(as usual).

"Huh..." said the pony, appearing to be thinking. "You...didn't leave me there?"

"I...I couldn't...You asked me to help you...What kind of pony would I be if I didn't?" replied Fluttershy.

"Hm...You seem like a good natured pony..." said the young stallion.

"Th-thank you..." said Fluttershy quietly. She pawed the ground nervously. "Um...do you n-need anything?" she asked. She had never taken care of another pony before. She was at a loss of what to do.

"Could I have some more water?" he asked. His voice sounded somewhat dry, even after drinking the entire glass of water(it was a somewhat large glass).

"Of course!" said Fluttershy rather loudly out of nervousness. "I-I mean, of course..." She took the glass, ran downstairs, filled the glass, and ran back upstairs in the time span of 15 seconds.

"I'm detecting a hint of awkwardness in this situation," said the pony jokingly as Fluttershy set the water down on the table. "I-I'm sorry..." replied Fluttershy. "Don't be, it's fine, I would also feel somewhat awkward if I'm meeting a stranger who just woke up and is leeching off of me."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all!" said Fluttershy. "Um...can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Shoot."

"What's your name? I mean, if you don't mind my asking..."

"My name is Shade. Shade Night." He looked down at the covers of the bed for a couple of seconds. "Thank you for helping me, but I think that I've already been too much trouble for you, so -GAH!" He tried to get out of the bed and yelled in pain. Fluttershy ran over.

"Oh, no you don't!" she said, pushing him back down as gently as possible. "You're badly injured, and you're staying in that bed. Until you get better, of course..." she said.

"I suppose you're right," sighed Shade. He laid back down, and as he started showing more of his personality, Fluttershy began to notice more things about him. He was a dark blue color with a black mane. His eyes were a light blue, and he had some degree of handsomeness to him.

"So, what exactly is wrong with me, Fluttershy?" asked Shade. "Well, you have a very large bruise on your side, and you also had a really deep gash in your shoulder. It mostly stopped bleeding by the time that I found you, but you seem to be in a large amount of pain."

"Eh, I've had a lot worse," replied Shade.

"Really?"

"No, actually." Fluttershy giggled again. She walked over to a closet and pulled out a quilt.

"Oh, um, take this. The weather forecast said that it would be cold today, and my blanket is thin..." Fluttershy placed the quilt over Shade.

"Is this some kind of gift giving? Because, I don't really have anything on me right now..." said Shade, smiling.

"Oh, It's fine, don't wo-" Fluttershy stopped and her eyes widened as she realized what Shade said.

"Oh my goodness, the gift giving! I completely forgot!" said Fluttershy as she picked up her satchel and ran to the top of the stairs. "I'm so sorry, I have to go! I'm meeting my friends today, and I don't want to be late, but...I don't want to leave you alone either..." said Fluttershy.

"It's fine, don't worry about me, go meet with your friends," replied Shade, smiling. "It's not like I can go anywhere, anyway," he added.

"Thank you so much! Be sure to get plenty of rest!" called out Fluttershy as she ran through her front door, and took flight.

"Hm...I think she's the one I've been looking for..." said Shade as he laid his head down on the pillow. "I think I'm going to like it here..."

Fluttershy raced through the sky as quickly as she could, to the spot where her friends decided to gather.

-Oh no! I can't believe that I'm late! I hope I haven't been keeping my friends waiting for too long...

As Fluttershy flew in the air, her thoughts wandered towards a certain orange earth pony who she especially hoped would not be disappointed with her. Her thoughts continued to travel until they rested on Shade.

-He seems like such a nice pony...

She flew for a couple more seconds, then she heard the shout of a pony.

"Hey, everypony! Fluttershy made it! She's here!" called out the voice of Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy touched down next to Rainbow Dash, and heard a voice from behind her.

"Ah'm happy ta see ya, sugarcube," said Applejack, walking over to Fluttershy with a smile on her face.

"I-I'm glad to see you too, Applejack..." said Fluttershy, returning the smile. She soon greeted all of her friends and continued to talk with them. They had chosen to meet in a nice meadow. Twilight called their attention.

"Excuse me, everypony!" she called out as she held what appeared to be notes. "I'm glad to see that all the participants have arrived, and now we can officially start the gift giving!" She seemed to be speaking very quickly.

"Gosh, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash. "What are you being all formal for? And, why exactly are you speaking so fast?"

"Well, I want us to finish the actual giving as quickly as possible, because I planned for us to go to Sugarcube Corner after this," answered Twilight.

"Oh goodness, I hope I didn't keep everyone waiting for too long..." said Fluttershy quietly as her face fell.

"Don't worry about it, dear," said Rarity. "We wouldn't have started without you!" she reassured. Then, they started the gift giving.

Twilight brought them all hoof-made journals that all had their respective cutie marks carefully printed on the covers. It looked like it took quite a while to make. As Fluttershy looked at the gift, she thought about her flowers, and how they weren't all too special compared to the journals.

Rarity had brought them each a hat adorned with precious gems. The jewels were different colors corresponding to the receiver. Fluttershy looked at the hats in amazement. They also seemed to have taken time to make. She started to question her decision to bring the flowers and not make something herself.

Pinkie Pie brought them all cookbooks, which looked ordinary when looking at the covers. However, when they all looked inside, they saw that there were at least 100 recipes for different treats, and they were all hoof-written. "I made sure to put in the treats that you girls REALLY love!" said Pinkie. Fluttershy started to feel guilty. All her friends brought these special, hoof-made gifts. And she brought flowers.

Rainbow Dash brought each of them a cloud. The clouds were special, because they had a special ability to form rainbows between each other. Rainbow Dash didn't really tell them how exactly they could do this, or under what circumstances they would even NEED to form a rainbow in between themselves, but as the saying goes, it's the thought that counts. Fluttershy wondered what the hay she was thinking, bringing the flowers.

Applejack was next. She brought them all a special apple sapling. She had asked Twilight to cast a spell on the sapling, so that it would grow depending on who was caring for it. If the caretaker of the sapling cared for it frequently, it would need constant attention. On the other side of the spectrum, if the caretaker was very busy, the sapling would be left to it's own devices, and grow from there. At this point, Fluttershy was embarassed.

"Alright, Fluttershy, time for your gifts!" said Twilight happily. Fluttershy was very nervous.

"Is something wrong, Fluttershy?" asked Pinkie.

"Um...I...I..." Fluttershy drifted off.

"It's alright, sugarcube, ya can tell us what's goin' on," said Applejack. Fluttershy took a deep breath.

"I-it's just that...all of these gifts are amazing...a-and...I don't think mine are good enough..." said Fluttershy in a quiet and depressed tone.

"Fluttershy, we'll love whatever you give us!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

"Even if they're..." Pinkie Pie shuddered before continuing, "...baked bads..."

"Fluttershy." Fluttershy looked up at Applejack. "Come on, sugarcube. Ya can't just second guess yerself. Ya hafta be confident. Like RD said, we'll love whatever ya give us," said Applejack with a smile. Fluttershy reached into her satchel and pulled out the flowers.

"Um...okay...here..." she said as she gave them all their respective flowers.

"Wow!" said Pinkie.

"These flowers are absolutely GORGEOUS!" shouted Rarity. The other three ponies had similar shouts.

"You really think they're that nice?" asked Fluttershy. The other ponies nodded in agreement. Fluttershy looked at the flowers. It seemed that the Everfree Forest dulled the flowers' beauty, and being in the sunlight brought it out. The petals looked like velvet, with the color of their coat. The center of the flowers had the mane color. They seemed to shine in the sunlight as if they were jewels, and they had a somewhat surreal quality about them. In fact, they seemed...

"...Magical," said Twilight. The other ponies agreed, and Fluttershy felt overjoyed.

"Hey, Fluttershy, where did you get these super special amazing flowers?" asked Pinkie.

"Oh, I found them in the Everfree Forest!" she said. The other ponies gasped.

"You found them where?!" asked Rainbow Dash incredulously.

"What were you doing in there, Fluttershy?" asked Twilight curiously.

"Well, Elizabeak ran away a couple of days ago, and while I was following her tracks, I noticed the flowers. I decided to pick them and bring them to the gift giving," said Fluttershy. "I really think I should've told Shade more about why I had to-" Fluttershy started, but then Pinkie interrupted.

"Shade? Who's Shade? Is he a new animal friend of your's, Fluttershy? You know that animals can't talk! I mean, sometimes Gummy fools me into thinking he's talking because his mouth is opening and closing like if he's talking, but when I go over close to him, I see that he's eating my cupcakes! Don't you hate it when an alligator eats your cupcakes? I hate it SO MUU-"

"ANYWAY," interrupted Twilight, "Like Pinkie was saying before she got sidetracked, who's Shade, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you girls. Well, when I found the flowers, I heard some strange breathing coming from deeper in the forest. I decided to follow it, so I walked towards the sound, and I stepped into a clearing. I found an unconscious pony there," she explained. Her friends all gasped. "Then what did you do?" asked Rainbow Dash earnestly.

"I didn't know if I should leave him there or help him, because I'd never been in this situation before!" said Fluttershy. "Then, he woke up for a couple of seconds. After that, there was no question about it; I had to help. So, I picked him up and I flew him over to my cottage. He woke up, we talked for a little while, and he introduced himself as Shade Night. He's a really sweet pony, you all should meet him!" said Fluttershy happily.

"Hm...are ya sure ya can trust 'im, sugarcube?" asked Applejack.

"Oh, of course!" replied Fluttershy. "I would've introduced you all to him today, but he was badly hurt and couldn't leave the bed. I'll be sure to bring him next time!" she said.

"Alright, if you say so," said Twilight.

"I should get back to my cottage," said Fluttershy nervously. "I need to see if Shade feels better."

They all said goodbye to Fluttershy as she took flight and left the meadow.

-That went well, didn't it? I never thought that they would like my gift so much! I hope that I can introduce them to Shade soon...

As Fluttershy left, Pinkie Pie asked, "So what was that about going to Sugarcube Corner, Twilight?" The ponies all started walking back to Ponyville, all except Applejack, who stood there, staring at the sky. She seemed to be lost in thought.

"Hey, Applejack, are you coming?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, o' course I'm comin'. Ah'll catch up with y'all in a minute," replied Applejack.

"Alright then," said Rainbow, turning to the other ponies.

-Hm...Ah don't know if Ah should trust this Shade character...Well, Fluttershy trusts 'im, and Ah trust her, so that's good enough fer me...

Applejack sighed.

-Fluttershy...when am Ah goin' ta tell you how Ah feel about ya...Heh...Ah'm always tellin' you ta be brave and confident...when AH'M the one bein' a scaredy-pony...

Applejack shook her head.

-The time'll come. Right now, I better catch up ta those ponies!

"Hey, y'all! Wait up fer me!" called out Applejack as she ran towards the group of ponies.

Yeah, there's the second chapter. Fluttershy being OOC, me butchering AJ's accent, slow updates. This is coming along great. Speaking of slow updates, sorry about that. Finals Week is drawing nearer, and teachers LOVE to pile on the homework. So, next chapter should be up sooner than this one if all goes well. Hope you're enjoying this.

Getting Acquainted

Fluttershy flew back to her cottage at a quick pace, though not as quick as her trip to the meadow. She wanted to know how Shade was doing. As soon as she touched down, she ran into the house and galloped upstairs. When she entered her room, she looked at her bed, and she saw Shade sleeping peacefully and she relaxed.

-Okay, he's alright. Still, I think I should leave him asleep. That bruise doesn't look too good, and I don't want him to be in unnecessary pain...

Fluttershy walked downstairs. As she did, the pony that appeared to be resting in her room sat up quietly, and he smiled.

"Yes...I've been thinking about it...She's the one. The one who'll finally make me happy. But...I need to have her for myself. Her friends might prove to be a problem...I think I should meet them soon, see what I'm getting into, as it were." He slowly lay back down on the bed. Meanwhile, downstairs, Fluttershy was taking all of the gifts she had received out of her satchel and placing them around the room. She was carefully looking over all of the gifts while she took them out of her bag and admiring. She stopped once she pulled the sapling out of her bag. She started thinking.

-Applejack... Fluttershy smiled, then that smile turned into a confused frown. I wonder why you weren't sure if I could trust Shade...Well, you'll change your mind after you meet him, I'm sure of it. He's such a nice pony.

Fluttershy found an empty flowerpot in her cottage, and she filled it with soil and put the sapling in it. She carefully placed it next to a window so that it would get some sunshine, and she watered it. The sapling looked somewhat wilted beforehand, but now, it looked very healthy.

"I wonder if that has to do with the magic that Applejack was talking about..." Fluttershy glanced upstairs at that moment, because she heard Shade moving around. "I should make him some soup to eat. He might be awfully hungry..." she said to herself as she began preparing the soup. When she finished, she carefully brought it up to her room. Shade was beginning to wake up.

"Oh, good, you're awake," said Fluttershy as she gave the bowl to Shade. "Here, eat this."

"Oh, just for me?" asked Shade. "You shouldn't have." Fluttershy let out a small giggle.

-Why did I laugh? It wasn't that funny, was it? Fluttershy mentally shook her head. There was silence in the room for a couple of minutes, save the barely audible sounds of Shade's eating. When he was finished, he wiped his mouth. Fluttershy stood there awkwardly, and Shade spoke up.

"So, you want to show me around your humble abode?" he asked.

"Um, I don't know if that's such a good idea...I mean, you're still badly hurt..." said Fluttershy.

"Oh, come on, Fluttershy! I can barely even feel it!" said Shade, as he beat his chest with his hoof. His grin turned into a grimace as he grabbed his chest in pain afterwards. Fluttershy smiled at his antics, then frowned.

"Well..." she said hesitantly.

"Come on, Fluttershy, it's not like I have anything better to do. Besides, I want to see what your place looks like."

Fluttershy sighed in defeat. "If you insist..." she said, helping Shade out of the bed. To be honest, he was healing rather quickly. The bruise was considerably smaller than it was the last time she saw it, and it didn't seem to cause him too much discomfort. She made sure he could get down the stairs, and she showed him around her cottage. The main thing that surprised him was the sheer amount of animals that there seemed to be around.

"You really love animals, don't you?" asked Shade, smiling.

"Oh, yes, of course!" replied Fluttershy, returning the smile. "Would you like to know why?" she asked.

"I would like that very much," he replied. Fluttershy helped him sit down on the couch in her living room, and she began telling him the story of how she got her cutie mark. She soon finished her tale, and she asked Shade, "What about you? Where are you from?" Shade's smile vanished completely, and his face took a depressed look.

"I...I don't remember..." he said. "I tried to, earlier today, but it seems that I can't remember anything that happened before you found me," he continued.

"Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch on a sore subject...please forgive me..." said Fluttershy, her face mirroring the look on Shade's face.

"It's okay, don't worry about it, there's no way you could've known" he replied. A small smile appeared on Fluttershy's face, and then they heard a knock on the door.

"I wonder who that could be..." said Fluttershy. "I'm not expecting anypony today..." She slowly got up and walked to the door. When she opened it, she was greeted with the sight of her five best friends.

"Wh-what are you all doing here?" asked Fluttershy in confusion. She was the pony that usually did the visiting, and whenever she was the one who was being visited, it was usually by no more than one pony.

"We came to see that darling friend of yours, Shade!" replied Rarity.

"Yeah! He seemed like such an awesome pony that we just had to come by and meet him!" added Rainbow Dash.

"It was actually Applejack's idea! It seemed like a nice gesture," continued Twilight.

"Really?" asked Fluttershy incredulously.

"Hehe...Eeyup," replied Applejack sheepishly. Fluttershy grinned.

"So...can we meet your super-special-awesome-nice-friend-Shade?!" yelled Pinkie excitedly.

"Oh! Of course, s-sorry," replied Fluttershy quickly. They all went inside and introduced themselves to Shade. They stayed for a while, answering all of Shade's questions about their lives. He seemed very keen on knowing how well they all got along with Fluttershy, strangely enough. Soon after, everypony left, seeing as they all had things to do.

"They all seemed like real nice ponies," said Shade, while Fluttershy was cleaning the small mess around her cottage. Shade offered to help her, but Fluttershy wouldn't have it.

"Well, they are my very best friends. I should hope that they're nice ponies," said Fluttershy, her voice muffled by the duster in her mouth.

"That pony with the hat...What was it, JackleApp?" asked Shade.

"Applejack," corrected Fluttershy.

"Oh, right, Applejack. Sorry," apologized Shade.

"It's okay, you just met her," replied Fluttershy.

"Applejack. I don't think she liked me very much."

Fluttershy turned to Shade with a confused look on her face. "What makes you say that?" she asked.

"She kept on giving me these looks. I don't want to say they were dirty, but they weren't too good. It was like she was judging me, or like she expected me to do something horrible," he said.

"Hmm, that's odd," said Fluttershy, putting down the duster. "I certainly hope she didn't mean anything bad by it. She was probably just looking at you. I mean, you are a very handsome po-" Fluttershy stopped dead, her face slowly turning dark red.

"What was that?" asked Shade with a grin on his face.

"N-nothing..." replied Fluttershy quietly, picking up the duster.

As the other ponies left the cottage, they continued walking in a group for a bit.

"That Shade seemed like a really nice pony, didn't he?" asked Twilight.

"Yes, of course! I must admit I'm somewhat jealous of Fluttershy," replied Rarity.

"What makes you say that?" queried Rainbow Dash.

"Well, Shade is absolutely gorgeous!" answered Rarity.

"What do you think, Applejack?" asked Pinkie earnestly.

"Hmm, Ah dunno, girls... He seemed mighty odd ta me," responded Applejack.

"Oh, come on, Applejack, he's a really cool character! What was 'odd' about him?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well, it's just that... Ah dunno, he was just doin' some funny things while we were talkin'. Like, he kept flinchin' every time one of us mentioned the word 'friends'. Doesn't that seem mighty odd ta you?"

"Oh, you were probably just imagining those things, AJ!" replied Pinkie. "Like Dashie said, Shade's a really cool character!"

After a couple more minutes of walking, they all split up to do their individual activities. As Applejack walked on the path, she began thinking.

-Mm, Ah guess they're right. Ah bet Ah'm jus' imaginin' things. Applejack sighed. Gosh, Ah sure hope that they're right. For yer sake, Fluttershy.

After Fluttershy silently finished cleaning, she helped Shade back upstairs and into her bed. They had a small conversation, and then Fluttershy left the room. As she did, Shade's smile became a frown. He turned over on his side.

"Applejack, huh?" he said to himself. She could be some trouble. The others? Not a problem. They were easily swayed by my charming self. But, that Applejack...no. She's gonna take some work."

Fluttershy walked down the stairs, and she lied down on the green sofa. She started thinking out loud. "Why doesn't Applejack trust Shade? I mean, he's a nice pony, isn't he? I suppose the circumstances are strange, but...Am I not seeing something? Ugh, this is frustrating..." she said. Shade heard Fluttershy talking, and he quietly moved over as close as he could to the stairwell and began listening. Fluttershy let her head slump onto the sofa.

"I'm probably just overreacting. She's just trying to make sure he's a good pony, that's what she's doing. It's not that she doesn't trust him. I'm sure she's just trying to make sure he's not a bad pony.That's just like Applejack: always looking out for me..." Fluttershy then noticed just how tired she actually was.

-Oh, Applejack... Fluttershy drifted off to much needed sleep. Once she did, the pony at the top of the stairwell began to talk to himself again.

"Could she have feelings for Applejack?" Shade asked himself. "No. She can't. This would ruin my plans. Of course, I haven't begun work on the plans yet, but still. This could be a bigger problem than I thought. Either way, this can't happen. She can't take Fluttershy away from me. If the only way I can have her to myself is by making sure that no other pony would miss her, then I'll make it happen."

He climbed back into the bed.

"It'll be harder than I expected. But it'll be doable." Shade then fell asleep.

Yeah, this is the very belated third chapter. I suck at character development, if you haven't noticed yet. I might make a oneshot about Shade's past to try and explain his...problems...in this story. So, yeah, Shade is kinda evil. Huge plot twist, you totally weren't expecting it. Yeah, you probably were, this isn't the most convoluted writing in existence. Also, half of this chapter was dialogue, sorry about that. So yeah, I'm going to try and update every week, mostly because I have nothing to do. So, hoping that the next chapter comes out soon. And hoping that I can shorten these author's notes. Thanks for reading.

Apple Bucking

A couple of days later, Shade's bruise was completely healed. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his gash, which still needed some time to heal. However, this didn't stop him from convincing Fluttershy to take him around the town multiple times. Soon enough, he was going around Ponyville on his own, and he was helping everyone that he could. In fact, his helpfulness rivaled that of Applejack's, and maybe the only reason he WASN'T more helpful was because of his injury. In any case, Shade was helping Twilight move some books around and helping to trim the library tree. While he was working, he was searching for any signs of weakness in the tree. He noticed a branch right above the entrance to the library that had many hoof marks on it.

"Hey, Twi, what's with this branch?" he asked.

"Oh, whenever Rainbow Dash comes here, she usually takes off from that branch. It's getting really weak, and I think it's going to collapse soon. I just hope I'm not under it when it does!" said Twilight.

"Imagine that," said Shade, with a smile on his face. He continued to help Twilight for the rest of the day, and he returned to Fluttershy's cottage afterwards. Throughout the week, he continued to help other ponies, continuing to make observations.

"Pinkie, you just leave the cupcakes here when they're baking?"

"Of course! It's not like anything bad'll happen to them, right?"

"No, of course not..."

"Rarity, this table is really old. It seems like it'll collapse at any moment!"

"Yes, yes, I've been meaning to replace it, but I just don't have the time!"

"And, you do your work by candlelight?"

"Only late at night. Opalescence simply cannot sleep when the lights are on."

"Huh...interesting..."

He also gained the trust of everypony in Ponyville. That is, all except for one orange earth pony.

It had been one month after Shade was found by Fluttershy. He was completely nursed back to health, and he had even found a job to buy his own house in Ponyville. It was in this house that he was currently pacing.

"Hm..." he said to himself. "It seems that everypony considers me their friend and has their complete trust in me...well, everypony except Applejack. I need to find a way to befriend her...then I can start the next part of my plan...but how...?" It was at this moment that he saw Applejack walking past the window. She appeared to be very worn out.

"Hm...this could be my chance..."

As Applejack walked by Shade's house, she began thinking about him.

-Well, it's been a whole month, so Ah'm used ta Shade bein' around here, but....Ah don't know why Ah still don't trust 'im... Applejack sighed and continued on her way to Sweet Apple Acres. She took her apple cart to the nearest tree and placed the buckets around said tree. "Well, it's time ta get buckin'," she said to herself tiredly. She reared up her hind legs and slammed them against the tree. Less than half of the apples fell into the buckets.

"Ah guess Ah've been workin' too hard these past couple o' days..." she said to herself. She bucked the tree again, more resiliently. The rest of the apples poured seamlessly into the buckets. "That's better," she smiled to herself.

"I'll say," said a voice from behind her. Applejack jumped four feet straight up in the air, and when she landed, she realized who was speaking and relaxed. "Oh, hey Shade," she said. Shade had a worried look on his face.

"Hi...um, are you okay, Applejack? You seem to be really tired," he said.

"Oh, yeah, o' course Ah'm fine, Ah've just been workin' nonstop for the past couple of days, that's all..." said Applejack as she completely missed the next tree, faceplanting into the ground.

"That doesn't sound very healthy," replied Shade.

"It helps keep ma mind off o' things, okay?" said Applejack, her voice muffled by the dirt. She picked herself back up.

"In any case, you look like you need some help," said Shade casually.

"Help? Help? Ah don't need any help," replied Applejack sternly. Shade raised an eyebrow.

"I seem to recall Twilight telling me that the last time you refused your friends' help, you collapsed out of sheer exhaustion," remarked Shade dryly. Applejack smiled at the memory and sighed.

"Alright then, Ah guess ya can help. Ah don't know if ya have what it takes, though. Apple buckin' is serious work," she said.

"Oh, if Twilight and everpony else could do it, I'm sure that I can," said Shade, waving a hoof at the suggestion. "What do I need to do?" he asked.

"Ya just lift your hind legs and kick a tree," said Applejack. "Now that Ah think about it, it's a lot harder than it sounds..." she said.

"Oh, come on, how hard could it be?" asked Shade.

As it turns out, apple bucking was much harder than it seemed. Applejack was still trying to teach Shade how to apple buck later that day. He was not very good at it. His best count was a single apple that took several tries to get down. The tree apparently did not like this and dropped the apple straight onto Shade's eye.

"Um, Shade? Maybe ya should just watch me," said Applejack, stifling her laughter.

"Sure thing, AJ," said Shade, rubbing his eye. Applejack walked over to another tree, and making sure that he was watching, bucked it. Shade walked over to the tree next to hers, and attempted to buck it. It worked better than the previous tries. About half of the apples rained down onto Shade.

"Hey, I think I've got it!" he said in genuine happiness.

"Good for you, Shade!" replied Applejack. As she wandered over to another tree, she started thinking.

-Ya know, Shade is actually a really nice pony! It seems dumb of me not ta trust 'im. She wasn't paying attention, and didn't realize how hard she bucked her next tree. There was a large crack at the site of the kick.

"Um, Applejack? You kinda...cracked your tree..." said Shade, pointing to the tree.

"What? Oh! Whoops," said Applejack, chuckling nervously as she inspected the damage.

"Is that how strong you can buck? That's amazing!" said Shade in wonder, also looking at the crack.

"Pfft!" sputtered Applejack, falling onto the ground in laughter, leaving Shade bewildered. "That's not the hardest Ah can buck! Ah can buck a lot harder than that! Ah've just never had a reason to," said Applejack, wiping her eyes.

"Well, I really would like to see your hardest buck, Applejack," said Shade.

"Oh, I'll show it to ya later. Right now, we've got some work ta do."

This process continued throughout the entire day. They soon harvested twice the daily quota of apples, allowing Applejack to get some much needed rest.

"Aw, thanks, Shade!" said Applejack, beaming. "Now Ah can rest tomorrow instead of work!" She was clearly overjoyed.

"It's no trouble at all, really. I'm just glad that I could help a little," replied Shade. "You know, I never did see that buck you promised to show me.

"Well, Ah did say later. Ah never said when exactly "later" was goin' ta be, did I?" responded Applejack with a smile on her face.

"No, I suppose you didn't. Well, I'll see you later, AJ!" said Shade as he turned around to walk back to his house. Applejack waved as he left.

-Ah guess Ah seriously misjudged that Shade. He's a really nice pony! Ah just never got ta know him better. Ah guess Ah should go and apologize ta Fluttershy for thinkin' he was suspicious. Ah guess Ah can do that tomorrow. Right now, Ah really need some sleep... Applejack went inside and Shade smiled.

"This is working out perfectly! I've earned Applejack's trust. Now, all of them trust me. They don't seem to be forgetting about Fluttershy, which they need to in order for my plan to work. That's the only way to ensure that she'll be mine forever. It seems that it's time to seriously think about how to enact my plan." Shade smiled. "Soon, my Fluttershy...soon...just you and me...we'll be together..."

Yeah, this is the very belated fourth chapter of this story. Almost to the halfway point, which is where things'll hopefully get a little more interesting. Fun fact: Shade wasn't acting when he couldn't apple buck. He really couldn't. Also, keep in mind what Applejack said about the bucking. Now, I promise you all that I will try to update this story as much as possible, to the best of my ability. Hope you enjoyed it, I hope I'll be back with some more soon.