Eye of the Beholder

Chapter 6: Open mouth, insert foot

“Really, all your friends helped?”

“Yeah, sounds silly doesn’t it…?”

“Not at all, they sound like great friends” Silver and Fluttershy had talked for about half an hour now. Thanks to Rarity taking home the roses that Fluttershy saw as a trophy of shame and finding the note left for her, she was able to find the courage she needed to give it another chance. And now she found herself drinking coffee with the same colt she found out wanted to ask her out as well.

“They’re the best friends a pony can ask for, I felt really bad when I ended up giving up in the end” Fluttershy looked down at her drink, her reflection looking back at her.

“To tell you the truth, I almost backed out myself when I placed that note in the roses, I was afraid it would seem creepy” said Silver before taking another sip of his drink. Fluttershy didn’t want to bring up how close she was to missing out on reading that note, mentally she gave thanks to Rarity again.

“I-I’m glad you didn’t” Fluttershy smiled and blushed as she said this, she still felt nervous while talking to Silver, but there was a level of comfort she could feel when around him.

“So am I” Silver had put his cup back down on the table, however he didn’t notice that he left something behind. Fluttershy looked at Silver face to see he had a mustache made of the cream on his coffee, she couldn’t help but grin. Soon enough Fluttershy found herself giggling over how funny it looked.

“What?” asked Silver a little confused about what was causing her to laugh.

“Um, you’re lip” said Fluttershy pointing to her own at the same time. Silver quickly placed his hand over his lip and felt the moisture of the cream over his lip. Silver quickly grabbed a napkin and whipped his lip clean of it.

“Well now I’m the one who’s embarrassed” Silver couldn’t help but laugh at his own misfortune. Soon even Fluttershy joined in the moment and share a laugh with him as well; she couldn’t believe just much fun she was having. She couldn’t believe how close she came to missing out on this today.

While Fluttershy was enjoying her coffee date with Silver, a certain cyan colored Pegasus was having a hard time keeping steady over what happened. Rainbow wanted to give Fluttershy space, but she needed to make sure she was okay or else she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Rainbow landed right in front of Fluttershy’s home and knocked on the door hoping that she would answer.

After waiting for about a minute, she assumed that she probably didn’t hear her knocking, or was avoiding talking to anypony else. Not to give up, Rainbow flew around the house till she was in front of the window to Fluttershy’s room. She moved in closer to the window pressing her face against the glass as she tried to look around inside. It was dark but she was able to see the inside just enough to know what’s around.

“Where is she?” she asked herself unable to spot Fluttershy anywhere, she wondered where it was she could be hiding. Rainbow continued to check each window of the house trying to see if she could spot Fluttershy but each check came up with the same results. The only other place she could think Fluttershy was hiding in was her bathroom, and if that was the case then she didn’t know how she would be able to get to her. “Come on Fluttershy, don’t give up!” she yelled once again at the front door hoping that she would listen to reason.

Soon enough, Rainbow heard a click at the door and she couldn’t help but smile knowing that Fluttershy had heard her. However it wasn’t Fluttershy who opened the door, but her rabbit Angel who was hanging from the doorknob. “Oh it’s you” said Rainbow sounding less than enthusiastic to see Fluttershy hadn’t opened the door herself.

“Nice you see you too…” was probably what Angel was thinking based on the way he rolled his eyes at the cyan Pegasus who had woken him up from his nap.

“Hey, where’s your owner?” Angel had hopped down on the floor so Rainbow had to bend her knees so she would be a little closer to him. Angel quickly pointed forward and Rainbow thought he was pointing at her for a moment. However when she turned around to see the path taken to get to and from Fluttershy’s home, it hit her. “She’s in town?” she asked turning to look back, however she was then surprised by the sound of a slam which caused her to jump. Looking back she saw that the door had been shut by Angel no doubt.

“I guess I’ll take that as a yes” said the annoyed Pegasus as she flew off towards town wondering what Fluttershy could be doing. As Rainbow flew off towards town, Angel was watching her to make sure she was gone.

“Good reddens” was probably what he was thinking as he yawned and went back to continue his nap that had been interrupted.

Rainbow was flying over town trying to see if she could spot Fluttershy but it was proving difficult. The town may not have been crowded at the moment, but being unable to spot her probably meant she was indoors somewhere. If Fluttershy was inside somewhere then she would need to walk and look inside each store or shop she passed by. She figured the best place to start was sugar cube corner which she was closest to at the moment.

Once she reached the store she looked through the glass to see that Fluttershy wasn’t in there either, same for Pinkie Pie, who was probably in her room at the moment. Rainbow continued to look around the town wondering if she should ask the others if they had seen her, she figured she could ask Rarity or Twilight first. Rainbow continued to walk until she found herself standing right in front of the flower shop where this had all started. Rainbow bowed her head as she thought back to the look on Fluttershy’s face when she couldn’t pull it off in the end.

“I should have given you more time to prepare, I’m sorry Fluttershy” she couldn’t help but beat herself up and blame herself for the mission failing. She knew how Fluttershy gets sometimes and should have come up with a better idea to help her thought this. She saw that Fluttershy was acting strange but was so sure that the plan would work that she didn’t give it a second thought when she should have. Now Fluttershy was Celestia knows where and probably crying her eyes out over all this. Or rather that’s what she thought until she heard a laugh that seemed a little familiar to her.

“Fluttershy?” she asked herself trying to make sure she had heard it correctly as she turned towards the direction of the laugh. Once Rainbow had turned and looked around to see where it was the laugh came from, her eyes suddenly shot wide open from what she saw. Across the way, at the café was Fluttershy who had a smile on her face. This was not what Rainbow thought she would look like when she found her, but she was glad it wasn’t. She wondered what exactly it was that she was doing at a café until she saw who was sitting with her.

“Silver!?” she said in shock as she quickly moved from out of the open to prevent them from spotting her as she watched them. “How did this happen?” she couldn’t believe that Fluttershy was actually on a date, not that she wasn’t happy to see it, but she wondered how it happened. Not too long ago Fluttershy had given up and looked like she was going to break down and cry, and now she’s smiling and laughing. She wanted nothing less than to run up to Fluttershy and give her a congratulatory hug, but she fought back the urge not wanting to ruin the moment.

Rainbow watched for a few more minutes before she took off heading home, she could feel that she was going to have a good night’s sleep tonight. Come tomorrow she was going to Fluttershy’s home again in order to find out the details about what happened. For now she was going to let Fluttershy enjoy her date, something she had deserved for a long time now.

“Oh, I forgot to thank you” said Fluttershy now remembering what it was she was originally supposed to say to Silver back in the flower shop.

“Thank me, for what?”

“For when you save my rabbit” Silver thought back for a moment to remember what happened that day.

“Oh that, no need to thank me, I’m just glad he didn’t get hurt” said Silver rubbing the back of his head. There was a look on his face as if he was trying to hold something back; Fluttershy tilted her head wondering what was wrong. “And there is another reason that I’m glad” he said finally.

“Oh, what is it?”

“Well, I got to meet you” Fluttershy’s face turned bright read when Silver said this, but the smile on her face still wouldn’t fade.

“I-I’m g-glad too” she said finally as she tried to keep her heart from popping out of her chest. She couldn’t believe how well the date was going, she was having the time of her life and wanted it to go on forever. But as a wise pony once said, all good things must come to an end, and Fluttershy came to realize this when she saw the lighting outside. “Oh no, I have to go” said Fluttershy as she got up from her seat.

“Huh, was it something I said?” said Silver getting up as well as he wondered if he had done something wrong.

“N-no, I was having a great time, but I need to feed the animals”

“Really, are you a vet?”

“Sort of, I take care of the animals of the forest that can’t take care of themselves. I also help other ponies with their pets if they get sick” she explained.

“Well, can I walk you home then?” Fluttershy stopped for a moment, this day was giving her one surprise after another.

“Y-you don’t” Fluttershy paused and stared at the smile on Silver face, she didn’t want the warm feeling she got when she saw it to stop just yet. “O-okay, if you want to” Silver paid for their drinks and soon she and her were walking out of the café.

Fluttershy couldn’t believe how the first time she walked this path today all she wanted was for it to be a quick as possible only to want it to last as long as it could this very moment. Silver and Fluttershy were making their way towards her house so she could take care of the animals there. The sun was close to setting and there was a gentle breeze in the air as they walked, it seemed like it was going to be the perfect end for a day that started so badly.

“So um, you’re from Canterlot, right?” she asked trying to start another conversation as they walked.

“Yeah, my friend and I grew up there, but eventually we decided it wasn’t the place for us. The town was too noisy and other ponies were either strict or snobs for lack of a better term. When we heard of Ponyville and all the crazy events that seem to happen here, we thought that it would be a fun place to live. And so far I have to say that I don’t regret the decision to move down here” said Silver as he turned to face Fluttershy. Fluttershy was not a stranger to knowing what it was like to grow up somewhere only to find a home somewhere else. Though this is the first time she ever heard of somepony willing moving to a place because the dangerous events that had unfolded there.

“Oh, I see, well I’m originally from Cloudsdale, but I moved where when I saw how nice it was on the ground” said Fluttershy. Fluttershy could swear she heard Silver say something under her voice, but before she could say something they had arrived in front of her house.

“So this is where you live?” he asked as he turned his head seemingly looking around the area, it was hard to tell due to him wearing sunglasses. “Nice place you have here” he said finally.

“Thank you, well I have to take care of the animals now, but I hope we can do this again” said Fluttershy with a hopeful look on her face.

“I’d like that” responded Silver, the two of them bid each other farewell and Silver made his way back to town and Fluttershy closed the door behind her. Fluttershy watched Silver leave from her window, soon she jumped with joy over the day she had. Her moment of celebration was cut short when she saw Angel glaring at her with his arms crossed while tapping his foot.

“Oh, hello Angel, did you need something?” there was an infectious smile on her face, infectious to everypony but Angel who still looked displeased. Angel opened his mouth and pointed towards it so Fluttershy could take a hint. “Oh that’s right, I’ll get your dinner right away” said Fluttershy as she made her way towards the kitchen. Overall it was one of the best days Fluttershy has had in a long time, as she fed the animals humming a happy tune; she hoped that she could have another day like it soon.

The sun rose on a brand new day, some ponies saw it as just another summers day, while a few woke up feeling overjoyed. One of whom was a cyan Pegasus who woke up with a restless feeling over her, the afternoon before Rainbow saw a jaw dropping sight. Fluttershy, the Pegasus who had seemed to fail in her attempt to ask a colt out was actually on a date with him. Unsure as to how long the date would go on, Rainbow had head home after watching for a couple of minutes to let her friend enjoy it. But now it was a brand new day and she couldn’t wait to head to her friend’s home to discuss with her friend over what had happened.

“Man I can’t wait to find out the details” said Rainbow as she got out of the bathroom after a morning shower. Not wanting to wait any longer than she had to, Rainbow got dressed quickly and grabbed a granola bar before heading out the door. After making sure to lock it behind her (though not really needed but just as a precaution) Rainbow jumped off the edge of the cloud base of her property and made her way towards Fluttershy’s home.

Speaking of a certain cannery colored Pegasus; Fluttershy was already awake and handing out breakfast to the animals of the forest. Her mood was light, probably lighter than the very air she breathed. Fluttershy had another dream last night, and this dream was everything the nightmare she had wasn’t. Fluttershy and Silver were sitting on a park bench as other ponies walk by, some of which looked like couples. Fluttershy’s eyes were closed but a smile was still on her face as she leaned her head on Silver chest. Silvers left arm was wrapped around her shoulder and his left hand holding on to Fluttershy’s right hand.

The dream was mostly silent, except for the occasional laugh that the two of them would share. Eventually Fluttershy looked up at the white-haired colt who was still wearing his sunglasses. In a couple seconds however he moved his hand to grab on to the shades he had been wearing and gently removed them. His eyes were crimson red, they looked fierce but at the same time gentle, Fluttershy blushed at the sight. It was a simple moment, but Fluttershy couldn’t imagine of a better time than this. Soon both ponies began to move closer to each other, closing their eyes softly as they drew closer. Their lips parted slightly when they were only inches away from one another, nothing could have broken this perfect moment, or so she thought.

Sadly enough for Fluttershy that was the very moment she had woken up, embarrassing to herself however, she found herself kissing a pillow. Still she blushed lightly Fluttershy couldn’t and didn’t want to stop thinking of what happened, or rather what had almost happened in her dream. She also wondered if she and Silver would ever be able to get to the point where they could do something like that. Furthermore she wondered what the relationship between them could be called now, they had only gone out for coffee so was it too early to say that they are dating?

Fluttershy thought over this for a while, she would really like to think that they were, but she didn’t know for sure. However Silver did say he would like to do that again sometime, so her hopes were up. Fluttershy continued to think this over for a bit, she was probably getting ahead of herself but she didn’t care.

“Ahem!” Fluttershy’s thoughts came to a halt as she turned her head to see Rainbow staring at her with her arms crossed and a smile on her face.

“Oh, hello Rainbow, what brings you-“Fluttershy was cut off but her cyan friend tackling her in a friendly embrace.

“You did it Fluttershy!” she had wanted to say this to her for hours now, though it probably would have meant more had she done it after the date, but she didn’t care.

“D-did what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, I saw you on a date with Silver yesterday!”

“Y-you were spying on us?” said Fluttershy as her face turned red from the thought of Rainbow spying on her date.

“What? No!” said Rainbow as she let go of Fluttershy so she could explain. “I came here yesterday to try to talk to you but Angel pointed me to town so I started looking for you. I walked around for a while trying to see where it was you had gone, eventually I spotted you at the café with him” she finished.

“Oh, I probably should have left a note, I’m sorry”

“You have nothing to apologize for, I’m just glad your day turned around” she said placing a friendly hand on her shoulder. “So tell me, how exactly did it happen?” Dash moved in closer which caused Fluttershy to wince lightly but recovered quickly.

“Well…”

While Fluttershy explained to Rainbow how a bad day turned into one of the best she has ever had, Silver was enjoying his time off from work. The colt was sitting on his sofa tuning a guitar he was holding on to. It was an older western model with a worn down looking wood design with a black outline, however it looked like it was well taken care off. Silver would adjust the string tension a little before testing the tune; it was proving difficult for a bit. However he was getting closer with each attempt on testing the tension.

“It’s open Azure” he said suddenly before strumming the guitar one last time giving off the sound he wanted to hear. A few seconds later the door opened revealing Azure holding two bags and an annoyed look on his face.

“I hate it when you do that” he said placing the two bags down on the counter and turning to lock the door behind him.

“What? It’s your turn to buy breakfast so of course you’d at the door” he said as-a-matter-of-factly to which Azure rolled his eyes.

“Oh just take your bucking breakfast” he said which got a short laugh from Silver as he got up and grabbed his bag. From inside his bag he pulled out a cup of coffee and cherry Danish which he quickly took a bite of.

“I tell ya, the deserts here taste a lot better than in Canterlot” she said before taking a sip of his drink. “As does the coffee, you can just taste the freshness” she added right after.

“Considering most produce get shipped from here, it makes sense that they would taste fresher over here” replied Azure.

“You have a point” said Silver as he sat down on his sofa again and continued to eat his breakfast.

“Speaking of coffee, I’ve been hearing other ponies talk about seeing a sunglasses wearing colt on a date with somepony named Fluttershy?” Silver paused for a moment over how quickly word gets around in this town.

“Yeah actually, she’s the mare I told you about” he said turning his head towards Azure.

“Oh her, I didn’t know you liked her”

“Turns out she liked me too” said Silver as he took another sip of his drink.

“How’d you figure that out?”

“Because I’m not as blind as you when it comes to mares, dude” he said with a laugh. Azure rolled his eyes once again before finishing his breakfast and throwing out his trash.

“Well I’m going to the dojo, my Gi and white belt came in yesterday”

“Hah, white belt…” laughed Silver at what Azure said, his friend didn’t give a response this time and walked out closing the door behind him. Silver grabbed for his guitar again and started to play it as he thought to himself. “Speaking of dating, I wonder if she would be free for another one anytime soon” he asked himself.

Rainbow and Fluttershy were sitting on the floor as the latter explained how her day turned around for the better. Rainbow had a big grin on her face by the time Fluttershy had finished her story.

“So he put a note for you in the bouquet huh, a little corny, but effective” she said finally. “Do you still have the note?” she asked wondering if she could see it.

“Yes, after I got home I put it between the pages of a book so I wouldn’t lose it”

“Can I see it?”

“Sure” agreed Fluttershy as she and Rainbow got up from the ground and made their way into her house. Once inside, Fluttershy walked up to her book shelf and pulled out one of the books from the collection. Fluttershy opened the book to about the middle page and pulled out the note she had placed there. Fluttershy handed the paper over to Rainbow who opened it and read what Silver wrote on it, Fluttershy hadn’t specified what it said in her story.

“Well I give him an A for effort, but his hand writing could use some work” she said handing the note back to Fluttershy.

“Well you’re hand writing is no better…” joked Fluttershy which caught Rainbow by surprise. “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t-“Fluttershy was cut off by Rainbow laughing at what Fluttershy had said.

“You got me good there Shy” she said as she wrapped her arm around her friend. “And come on, jokes between friends is nothing you should apologize for” she assured her.

“O-okay”

“So tell me, have you two made any plans yet?” she asked her.

“Plans?”

“You know, like for another date” Fluttershy thought for a moment on how she should answer.

“Well like I said, he did say he wanted to do something like that again, but we never planned to do anything else” she responded. She may have been unsure, but Rainbow could feel that everything would work out fine for Fluttershy is she let things move naturally.

“Well I’m going to get out of your hair now, going to head over to the dojo for some body training” she said walking over to the door. “Got to look the part if I want to join the wonderbolts” she said flexing her arm, she gave Fluttershy a wave goodbye before flying off towards town. Left alone again, Fluttershy placed the note back in the book and closed it; she could now see the title.

“Coping with animal disabilities” was the title of the book she had randomly chosen to hold the note. Fluttershy blinked before opening the book and removing the note yet again, she then began to search for a book with a less depressing title to house it.

Rainbow had to make a quick stop at home so she could pick up her bag that carried her Gi and black belt. She had joined the dojo a few years ago to keep the rest of her body in shape, and it had proven effective. Although she had only been a member for a few years, she spent most of them as a blank belt. So far she has the record of being able to acquire the rank of black belt in the shortest amount of time.

Once Rainbow landed in front of the dojo she could hear the sounds of pad striking and sparing, a sound she had come to enjoy hearing. She quickly made her way to the locker room where she changed into her Gi.

“Hey there Rainbow” Dash turned around to see Cloud Chaser standing behind her wearing the same white Gi and a brown belt.

“Hey Cloud, what’s new?”

“We got a new member today”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, some Unicorn from Canterlot; kind of cute if you ask me” Rainbow paused for a moment. “It couldn’t be, could it?” she asked herself “Exactly what color hair does this Unicorn have?” she asked.

“Green, why, you know him?”

“Sort of, well I’m going to start my warm up” she said closing her locker door and walking out of the room. The dojo did not have many members, not because of a lack of ponies interested in learning martial arts, but rather from not being able to last longer than a week. Because of this it would often prove difficult to find a partner. Looking around Rainbow could see that everypony had already partnered up and where sparing, everypony but one that is.

Away from the sparing ponies was a single Unicorn that was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and each palm placed against one another. The cyan fur and green hair proved it; it was Azure, one of the colts she and Twilight had spied on a few days ago. She suddenly remembered what he looked like when he wasn’t wearing a shirt; however she dispelled the image with a shake of the head.

“Well it looks like I found my sparring partner” she said to herself with a smirk as she walked up to Azure. After walking around him she saw that he had his eyes closed, clearly he was in deep meditation, how deep has not yet been determined. “Hey there” she said in a friendly tone with a wave of her hand, however her friendly smile turned to an annoyed look when he didn’t answer. Bending her knees till she was at almost eye level she began to wave her hand in front of his face trying to get his attention to no avail.

“Hey, wake up!” she said in a sharp tone but he still didn’t react to her distractions. The way she saw it, he was either so far into meditation that he couldn’t hear her or he was just ignoring her till she went away, she was leaning on the latter. Rainbow leaned in closer till their faces were only a few inches way from one another, for a moment she contemplated physically waking him from his meditation.

“Can I help you?” Azure’s eyes opened suddenly as he spoke which caught Rainbow off guard causing her to fall back.

“Oh, so it speaks” she said getting up from the ground “Come on, you’re my sparring partner for today” she said as she began to walk.

“I’m going to pass if that’s okay with you” Rainbow stopped in her tracks and turned to see he hadn’t moved.

“What, afraid I’ll kick your butt?” she asked with a smirk as she placed her hands on her sides. “I may be a black belt, but I’ll go easy on you” she said with a small smug smile.

“Funny, you think the color of your belt means something”

“It means I’m better than you” she said, at this point the other members began to eavesdrop on the conversation going on.

“It means you’ve been a member longer than me, besides, sparing with you goes against my code”

“Meaning!?” she said sounding a bit more annoyed than she was at first.

“I don’t hit mares” he said plainly, this was followed by several “oooo’s” by the colts that were listening in. Rainbow quickly turned around glaring daggers at the others who quickly went back to what they were doing pretending they didn’t know what was going on.

“Okay that’s it” she said walking up to him and grabbing the back of his Gi. “We’re sparring whether you like it or not!” she added sharply. Azure had tried to get back to his meditation but due to the constant distractions couldn’t and let out a sigh.

“You’re not going to leave me alone if I say no, aren’t you?”

“Take a guess” she said letting him got and taking a few steps back.

“Alright fine” he said getting up from the ground and stretched his legs slightly “But I’m not going attack back” he said taking up a ready pose which caused Rainbow to narrow her eyes in annoyance again. The two stood in front of each other without making a move, the others making sure glances to see what was going on.

Rainbow made the first move attacking Azure with several punches which he was able to deflect. However as the attacks continued it was showing that he was having some level of difficulty staying on the defensive.

“She’s better than I thought” Azure thought to himself taking a step back as Rainbow advanced forward. As the two continued the others began to watch the spar, Rainbow was one of their better members so seeing somepony last this long against her was a rare sight.

“What’s wrong, you were talking big just a little- whoa!” while she was talking, Azure was able to find an opening in her attacks. During one of her punches, she had left herself wide open and Azure was able to grab on to her arm, right after he was able to force her to a knee with her arm behind her in a wrist lock.

“You were saying?” Azure wasn’t applying too much pressure but it was enough to keep her from moving. As Rainbow tried to figure out how to escape the lock she was in she couldn’t help by smirk.

“Not bad, for a white belt”

“I may be a white belt here, but I was a black belt in Canterlot”

“I see” Rainbow stalled long enough to find what she was looking for and was able to sweep Azure’s legs fee with her leg. Not wanting to fall Azure let go of Rainbow so he could catch himself and get back up quickly. “Then I guess I won’t have to hold back anymore” she added taking up another fighting pose.

“Is a day of silent meditation too much to ask for?” Azure asked himself as he readied himself for whatever it was Rainbow had planned.

On days when he was off work, Silver would always like to pass the time with one of several interests. Silver chose today to play his guitar and probably learn to play another song, but he had trouble focusing on it. Currently all he could think about was the cup of coffee he had yesterday. He really did enjoy the short time he had with Fluttershy; he hadn’t spent any time with any of the locals till then.

“I wonder what she’s doing now…” he asked himself slouching back on his sofa with the look of boredom on his face. “Is it too early to see her again” he asked again not quite sure on what the steps to dating a mare were. As far as he knew, that coffee date was the first time either of them had gone out on a date so none of them would have any experience with it. Not wanting to sit home all day with nothing to do, Silver decided to get some exercise.

Putting on his hoody and placing his key in his pocket, Silver walked up to his door, only he didn’t unlock it. Silver made sure the bolt lock on his door was secure before turning around again towards the balcony window. Silver opened the window with his magic and bolted foreword jumping through the opening.

The window was on the second floor of the building, and recently Silver began to use it in a fun way. Some of the ponies saw him jump out of the window and one of them screamed as he drew closer to the door. Soon as Silvers feet touched the ground he quickly reduced the momentum with a foreword roll and getting back up unharmed. Silvers horn glowed as he closed the window to his place once again. The white haired Unicorn then began to walk away while other ponies watched him leave with confusion on their faces on what had just happened.

“I should probably stop doing that…” he said to himself wondering how long till somepony sent in a complaint about him. He soon decided to think it over later, so he picked up his pace and began to run outside of town.

Fluttershy was sitting home with nothing to do to pass the time, it was far too early to feed the animals again and Angel was asleep. It seems that all she had to do to pass the time was listen to the ticks of her clock with each passing second. This however only seemed to help her through a couple minutes before she grew bored once again.

“Maybe I should read something” she said getting up from her couch and walking up to her book shelf. She looked through the books she had in her collection, but she soon realized that she had already read every book she owned. It seems she had gone through one too many boring days using reading as a way to pass time. “Maybe I should go to the library and check out something new to read” Fluttershy asked herself wondering what kind of book she could check out. She eventually decided to think it over as she made her way out her door and began to make his way towards town. There was a nice breeze in the air as she walked the path to town; the day seemed to match her mood this morning. As she walked she turned over to see some flowers growing on the side of the path, and that’s when it hit her.

“Oh, I need to pick up the roses from Rarity” so much had happened recently that it completely slipped her mind. Rarity’s boutique was closer than the library but she figured it was better that she retrieve it on her way back. During her walk Fluttershy found herself passing the café again which further upped her mood as she thought back to her date again. She had such a great time that afternoon she wondered how long till she would have another day like it.

Not wanting to get caught up standing in front of the café, Fluttershy continued her way to the library. Soon enough she was in the front door and gate it three good knocks and waited for somepony to answer. Eventually the door opened revealing spike who was wearing his pink apron again, however he quickly removed and chucked it when he noticed who was at the door.

“Oh, hey there Fluttershy, what brings you here?” he asked nervously hoping she didn’t see him wearing the apron.

“Hello Spike, I wanted to check out some books”

“Come right in” he said opening the door wider so Fluttershy could come inside. “You sure look chipper considering what happened yesterday” he said looking at the smile on her face.

“I’ll say” Twilight had walked in to the room with several open books levitating around her as she walked. “Did something happen after you left?” she asked, Fluttershy rubbed her hands a bit before answering.

“Well, you see, Rarity came to my house not long after and she showed me a note that was left in the roses that I bought. When I read it I saw that it was a note left for me, it said he wanted to get to know me” Fluttershy’s face turned red slightly as she continued. “I went back to the flower shop after that and asked him about the note and he said it was from him. The next thing I knew it, I was on a date with him at the café” Twilight had a smile on her face once Fluttershy finished.

“Oh that’s so wonderful!” he said giving her a hug “So now what, are you officially dating?” she asked backing up a bit.

“Well, I’m not sure, but he did say he would like to do something again after he walked me home”

“He walked you home without being asked? That’s so nice!” she continued not hiding her glee. “So what exactly brings you here anyway, shouldn’t you be with him?” Twilight didn’t know much about how dating worked so she just made a guess.

“I’m not sure really, I’m just going one with my usual routine till something happens I suppose. I was at home and got bored and decided to look for something to read, but I’m out of books I haven’t read at home”

“Say no more, go ahead and look around” responded Twilight motioning to her vast collection of books on the shelves. Fluttershy looked around for a while and eventually settled on three different books, two adventure books, and one romance novel.

“I think these will last me for a while”

“Great, just bring them back when you’re done with them” said Twilight taking note of each book Fluttershy was holding. “So are you heading home now?” she asked.

“Yes, but first I need to stop by the boutique so I can pick up the roses from Rarity” she said walking towards the door.

“Oh, I’ll come by some time to cast an everlasting spell on them, I’m sure you’ll want to keep them as long as possible” Fluttershy nodded in agreement and exited the library bidding her friends farewell. As she made her way to the boutique, Fluttershy wondered which book she would read first. She had read her fair share of romance novels which was the reason she took two adventure books, so she should probably read one of them first. While contemplating which one to read first, Fluttershy blindly took the next corner.

“Look out!” she heard in front of her, she quickly looked forward to see something heading towards her quickly. Dropping the books, Fluttershy placed her hands over her head and ducked slightly waiting for impact. A few seconds passed and she heard a thump from behind her, turning around she saw a colt on his back.

“Silver!?” she said walking up to the colt covered in dirt wondering how he got in the floor in the first place.

“Oh, hey Fluttershy, what brings you here” said Silver sitting up from the ground as she rubbed dirt off his face. Fluttershy noticed that Silver wasn’t wearing his sunglasses and looked around finding them a few feet from him. Fluttershy grabbed the sun glasses and cleaned the lenses with a cloth she had in her pocket.

“Um, here are your sunglasses” still not opening his eyes, Silver reached out and gently took his shades and put them back on.

“Thanks”

“Um, how did you end up on the floor?” Silver got up from the ground and patted some dirt off of his cloths.

“Well I running when you took that corner; didn’t have a lot of time to react so I had to jump over you. I was off balance in the air so I wasn’t able to make a clean landing, so I ended up rolling on the ground” he said with a small laugh.

“Oh, I’m sorry”

“No need to apologize, it’s happened to me before, sometimes I would accidently run into somepony” Silver took a few steps forward before kneeling and picking up the books that Fluttershy had dropped. “If anything it should be me that needs to apologize for scaring you like that” he said turning to Fluttershy.

“It’s okay; I wouldn’t say it scared me, just surprised is all”

“Still, how about I carry your books for you?”

“Oh my” Fluttershy thought to herself, she had seen colts carry books for their marefriends back in flyschool; but she never thought a colt would ever offer to do the same for her. “Um, Okay, I just need to make a quick stop on the way home, if that’s okay” she said finally.

“Lead the way” Silver said with a smile, not long after; Fluttershy continued to walk with him next to her. As she continued to walk, Fluttershy realized she forgot why she was going to visit Rarity in the first place.

“Oh no, if we go to the boutique he’ll find out I didn’t take the roses home” Fluttershy began to panic slightly; she didn’t want him to know she had thrown them aside. “I could ask him to wait outside, but he’d still see me walking out with them, plus that would be rude” she didn’t quite know.

“Are you okay, you seem tense” said Silver breaking the silence.

“I-I’m fine, thank you for asking” Fluttershy tried her best to hide it, but Silver wasn’t buying it.

“Come on, what’s wrong” Silver stopped placing his hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder softly. Fluttershy blushed lightly from being touched by him, she also didn’t quite know if she should tell him what she did. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings by telling him she threw away the roses, but it seems he would catch her if she lied.

“Um, you promise you won’t get mad?”

“I promise” Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before she finally spoke.

“Well you see, after I backed out, I sort of threw away the roses” Silver frowned lightly but remained silent. “It’s not because I didn’t like them, but I was so down on myself that the roses just reminded me how I chickened out. Later Rarity, one of my friends, came by and showed me the note that was in the roses. It turned out that she took them with her before she went home” there was a short silence after Fluttershy finished, which she took as a bad sign.

“Well I guess I owe her my thanks” Silver said with a sigh of relief.

“You mean you’re not mad?”

“Why would I get mad? It’s not like you knew the note was in it. If you hadn’t been told about the note then it would have been my fault for not just coming out and saying it” he answered. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief from seeing that Silver didn’t seem bothered by what she did. “See, you were worried over nothing” Fluttershy nodded in agreement, with that behind her she continued to Rarity’s boutique with Silver following next to her. The bell on Rarity’s door rang, opened by Silver’s magic “Thank you” said Fluttershy as she walked inside. Not soon after they were both inside had Rarity walked up to the front counter.

“Hello Fluttershy and-“Rarity’s attention turned towards the colt standing next to Fluttershy. “And who may I ask is your friend?” she added with a smile toward Fluttershy.

“This is Silver”

“Oh so this is Silver, I must say dear, you have good taste” Silver grinned slightly as he rubbed the back of his head while Fluttershy’s face turned red again.

“R-Rarity!” she said feeling embarrassed.

“Come now, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about” at this point it was hard to tell if Rarity was just teasing her a little. “Now then, I assume you’re here to pick up the…order?” she had to pause for a moment to remember Silver didn’t know about what happened to the roses. “It’s not finished just yet, but I can have it delivered to you later if you-“

“It’s okay, I already told him what happened” said Fluttershy cutting Rarity off.

“Thanks for that by the way” added Silver right after.

“I see, well they are in the kitchen, go ahead and fetch them while I keep Silver company” Fluttershy hesitated slightly, not quite sure she wanted to leave Rarity alone with Silver, but she didn’t see what harm could come of it and made her way to the back. There was an awkward silence between the two.

“So, Fluttershy told me about how you and some other friends of hers helped her out” said Silver breaking the silence.

“Yes, you’ll find we will do just about anything for our friends, which is what I’m doing when I ask you this” Silver raised a brow wondering what it was that Rarity was going to ask him. “What are your intensions with Fluttershy?” Rarity didn’t know much about Silver, but if he was going to be involved with Fluttershy, she needed to make sure it was genuine.

“Look, I know where this is going so I’ll tell you this; I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. I don’t know if you can say we’re dating or in a relationship yet, but I’d like to someday” Rarity took in each word, checking facial expressions, and even though he was wearing his sunglasses she could tell what he was saying was the truth.

“Very good, I apologize if it seems I was misjudging you”

“That’s okay, you’re just watching out for your friend” the conversation stopped once Fluttershy was seen walking into ear shot of them.

“Thanks again for taking care of the roses Rarity; I’ll be sure to give back the vase when I can”

“No worries, I have another one just like it”

“Okay, thank you” Fluttershy walked up to the door which Silver opened with his magic again.

“You sure know how to pick them Fluttershy” said Rarity after the door closed and the two visitors left. As the two left there was a calm silence between them, Fluttershy couldn’t help but stare at her trophy.

“Um, Fluttershy” now Silver seemed sound nervous as he spoke, Fluttershy turned her head toward him.

“Yeah?”

“Are you doing anything this Sunday” Fluttershy’s stomach did a flip at the question.

“Um, no, why?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner” Fluttershy stopped moving as her heart raced at a mile a second. She didn’t think that she would end up being asked on another date so soon after their first one. “Y-you don’t have to if you don’t want to” Fluttershy began to think that Silver was taking her silence the wrong way.

“N-no, I-I would love to” Fluttershy’s face turned red again as she smiled and looked down slightly,

“Really? That’s great!” said Silver excitedly the two soon began to walk once again. “So I don’t really know a lot about the restaurants in town, so how about you pick which one we eat at?” he asked.

“Oh um, well I know one place that makes the best soups in town”

“Sounds like a date”

The spar between Rainbow Dash and Azure had gone on for a long time, the rest of the dojo had stopped what they were doing in order to enjoy the show. So far Azure hadn’t thrown a single punch but seemed to use grapples at his form of defense. Needless to say it was looking like a battle of the sexes as the watching colts and mares silently cheered for their own team. Even though they had a crowed, neither sparer noticed them as they were too focused on what they were doing.

“Never met a mare this tough before” said Azure as he continued to avoid each of her punches; silently he took back his comment about her black belt. Even Rainbow had to admit that Azure was proving better than most of the other colts. Rainbow was having a hard time landing a hit so she needed to try something else, grabbing on to the collar of his Gi, Rainbow was going to attempt to flip him. Rainbow placed her foot on Azure’s stomach and attempted to shift his weight, however Azure seemed to prepare for it at soon as she tried. Azure planted his feet firmly on the ground and adjusted his angel making it impossible for Rainbow to move him.

Seeing his chance to end it, Azure grabbed Rainbow by her collar and did almost exactly what she was going to do to him. The next thing she knew it, Rainbow found herself in the air and on her back soon after. Rainbow didn’t want to give up just yet and was planning a way to turn this around, however that came to a halt when she saw a fist heading straight for her. Rainbow closed her eyes waiting for the hit to come, but when it didn’t she opened one eye to see the fist only inches away from her head.

“I think I’ve made my point, don’t you?” said Azure still not moving his fist.

“Okay, you win” said Rainbow with a small sigh of relief that she didn’t end up being punched in the face. Still silent the colts in the room all nodded taking that as a win for all colt kind in Ponyville while the mares looked disappointed. Azure backed up a little and his fist opened up to a helping hand helping Rainbow get off the ground. “I have to say, not bad for a Unicorn from Canterlot” said Rainbow as she playfully hit Azure on the shoulder.

“You’re not so bad yourself, you know, for a mare” the room fell silent again as collectively every other colts jaw dropped from Azure said. Even the mare stood in shock from what they had just heard. Rainbows face went from shock to pure anger and as a reaction she ended up hitting Azure where it hurt. The sudden hit caught Azure by surprise and he fell to the ground holding his pride. Every other colt that saw it looked away covering their own pride as if feeling what he was.

“Even I felt that…” said Cloud Chaser as she grit her teeth imagining how much main Azure is probably in at the moment. Rainbow stomped away still looking angry from the sexist comment Azure had said. Needless to say every colt quickly stepped out of her path so to not be another victim. Once they were sure they were safe, a few colts went to check on Azure dragging him out of the sparing area, one of them was carrying an ice pack.

“W…was it something I said?”

After walking Fluttershy home again and setting a time for their date, Silver was walking home with a smile on his face. Although he knew what he was going to do on Sunday, he wondered what he was going to do tomorrow. Silvers thoughts however came to a stop when he noticed somepony sitting at the entrance to the apartment complex he lives in.

“Azure, why are you sitting outside?” Azure sitting was hunched over and didn’t feel liked looking up at the moment.

“I; forgot my key to the front door” he said with signs of pain on his voice.

“What happened to you?”

“I’ll tell you inside, just help me up” Silver arched a brow wondering what had happened to Azure but decided to help him in before asking anything further. Wrapping Azure’s arm around him Silver helped him inside, he seemed to be having a hard time standing. Soon enough Silver was able to get Azure into his apartment, lucky for him he at least remembered to bring that key. Silver walked Azure to his living room and sat him down, Azure grunted in relief then slowly tilted till he was on his side.

“Alright so what happened?”

“Well, I was sparing with a mare with rainbow colored hair”

“I thought you didn’t hit mares”

“I don’t but she was persistent, just let me finish” Azure seemed to not but in the best of moods so Silver let him continue. “Anyway, I was able to beat her without hitting her, afterword’s I helped her up and she said “Not bad for a Unicorn from Canterlot”” he continued.

“And you said?” Silver had a vague idea on what happened but wanted to hear it from Azure.

“All I said was, not bad, for a mare” there was another silence before Silver facepalmed.

“How many times do I have to tell you, there are things you do and do not say to a mare”

“Well how am I supposed to know?”

“How about you make a list, I think that classifies as something not to say” said Silver somewhat sarcastically. “So then what, did she kick you in the stomach?” he asked wondering if that’s why Azure was sitting hunched over.

“Lower…” Silver displayed a facial expression of discomfort over knowing what Azure meant, though he wish he hadn’t asked. “So did you apologize?” he asked after brushing off the pity pain.

“Why should I? She’s the one that hit me”

“Because you said something sexist, I would think even you could pick up on something like that”

“I was giving her a compliment, you know how rare it is to meet a mare who can match colts in terms of fighting ability” argued Azure.

“That’s not entirely true, but I see you’re point, however you don’t go around saying something like that. Not everypony will be able to see what you see from your point of view and can end up taking it the wrong way” explained Silver. Azure still wasn’t quite sure what he did wrong but he did know that if he didn’t try to fix the bad blood between him and the cyan Pegasus, then he would have a bad time in the dojo.

“Okay, so what do I say to her?”

“I’m just giving you the bread crumb here; it’s up to you to know where to place them”

“I hate it when you talk in metaphors”

“What I mean is, that’s something you need to figure out” the pain subsided enough for Azure to sit up again.

“Well I’ll think it over, on another note, you looked like you were in a good mood when you were walking home” he said changing the topic.

“Oh that, I have another date on Sunday”

“With Fluttershy?”

“Yup, we’re going out for dinner”

“I see, well I’m going to sit here for a while to think over what I’m going to do tomorrow” Azure planned to go to the dojo on Fridays through Sundays and wasn’t sure if the Pegasus he spared with was also going to be there, so he needed to figure out what he was going to say.

“Alright I’ll leave you to your thoughts” said Silver as he made his way out the door so he could get back to his own place. Azure thought to himself on how he would apologize to the mare the next time he saw her, he just hopped that she would accept one.

“Well she doesn’t seem stuck up like most mare back in Canterlot so she might forgive me if I admit I was wrong. I doubt somepony that cute could hold a grudge” Azure paused for a moment to think until he realized what he had just said.

“Wait, what?”