Butterflies

Author’s Note: Sorry this took so long! As I said with my Scratched Out update, school has been getting in the way! Well, here it is! The newest update for Butterflies! Hope you all enjoy!

Marcus tossed and turned in the guest bed, his mind blank as he slept. There were no images. There was no dream. There was no imagination. He could hear some soft rustling as he teetered on the edge of sleep and the waking world. He turned over in his half conscious stupor a few more times before sitting up and seeing if he could recognise the sounds he was hearing. There were sounds of crickets, owls, the light trickling of water, the rustling of leaves as a gentle breeze blew through the treetops.... Then there was the sounds of fabric being moved around.

He pulled himself out of bed and started to follow the sound of fabric. He followed it into the living room, then up the stairs, then to Fluttershy’s door. He stood there for several minutes, wondering what she could be doing.... She might be having some “alone time” but she might also be having a nightmare or hurting or something.... He took a deep breath and hesitantly pushed the door open a crack.

“Fluttershy...? You okay...?”

He waited, there was no reply, so he pushed the door open some more. There in the bed was Fluttershy, her face contorted into one of fear and pain. He walked forward a few steps and watched her for a little. She was tossing and turning, her wings flapping wildly, her front legs flailing. Marcus was rooted to the spot, he wanted to go help her, but he didn’t want her to think less of him for sneaking into her room....

He decided he would wake her up and ask if she wanted to talk about it. Before he could move, however, Fluttershy let out a shriek. Without a second thought, he ran over to the bed and shook her gently.

“Fluttershy?! Fluttershy, wake up! It’s just a dream!”

She struggled in his grip a little but quickly opened her eyes, it took her a few seconds to adjust to the low light and recognise it was Marcus holding her by the shoulders. She looked up at him, tears flowing down her cheeks. She threw her hooves around him and cried into his chest. He was taken aback for a little but then pulled the butter yellow pegasus close to his chest, rocking her gently and stroking her mane. He pulled himself up onto her bed and held her in his lap. She was trembling and holding onto him tightly. They sat there for what could have been hours. Fluttershy stopped sobbing a while after she woke up but continued to tremble, Marcus continued to stroke her mane and try to comfort her.

She started to squirm and wiggle in his grip, trying to look up at him.

“Um... M-marcus...?”

“Yeah..?”

“I... um... h-have to go to the bathroom....”

“Oh! S-sorry!” He quickly let go of her, gently placing her on the floor where she trotted out of the room. He sat on her bed, waiting for her to come back. Her bed was really soft.... It felt like it was stuffed with feathers, but it bounced a little, indicating the presence of springs.

Fluttershy walked back into the room only a few seconds after a flush from the bathroom. She crawled back onto the bed and laid down in Marcus’s lap again. He stroked her back and mane, looking down at her and smiling.

“Hey, Fluttershy...?”

“Mmm...?”

“Would you like to talk about your nightmare...?”

“N-not now... C-can we just.... c-c-cuddle...?” The blush was clearly visible on her face, even though the only light was from Luna’s moon, but even that was filtered by her drapes. Even Marcus blushed at the proposition. He nodded slightly and laid back on her bed. Fluttershy crawled up beside him and pressed her body against his, pressing her face against his chest. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her, pulling her a bit closer. Fluttershy smiled a little and looked up at him.

“Th-thank you, Marcus....”

He blushed and smiled back at her. “Anything for you, Fluttershy.....” He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek. Her blush intensified as she hid her face in his chest.

“Um... c-can you stay.... with me.... just for tonight...? I-if you wouldn’t mind, of course.....”

“Of course...” He went back to stroking her mane, and started humming softly. He made it up as he went, it was a happy little tune, fast paced and a bit high pitched. She let out a deep sigh and turned her face to look at him again. He was staring up at the ceiling, his eyes closed, still humming.

“M-marcus...?” He could feel Fluttershy crawl onto his chest, he felt her cross her front hooves across his chest and he could feel her mane tickling his neck.

“Hmmm..?” He opened one eye and tilted his head up to look at her. He looked into her blue eyes. She looked back and took a deep breath. Before he knew it, Fluttershy had her lips pressed up against his, her eyes closed and his shot open. He was shocked that the mare of his dreams was kissing him. Her lips were soft... His instincts took over and he wrapped his arms around her neck, one hand rubbing her head and the other rubbing her back. She crawled further up his chest and laid her front hooves on either side of his neck. After several minutes, Fluttershy pulled away from Marcus, a severe blush across her face at the realization of what she had just done. Marcus was panting softly, not because of the excitement, but because he forgot how to breathe during the kiss. She continued to look at him and then pressed her lips against his even harder than before. She pushed his head back so that he was laying flat on her bed and she was on top of him. She opened her mouth a bit, a silent invitation. Marcus took her up on her offer and their tongues met somewhere in the middle. He couldn’t believe it, he was having a passionate moment with Fluttershy. Their tongues danced together, trying to pin the other against teeth or a cheek. They tasted and explored each others’ mouths, as if they could learn everything about the other just by kissing them. Fluttershy pulled away again, panting softly and blushing harder than before. She kept her tongue hanging out and noticed a thin trail of saliva still connecting the two tongues. It snapped and she giggled at it. Marcus smiled at her. Her laugh was so cute. He sat up and she slipped into his lap.

He sat there and looked at her. He was smiling, but it slowly faded into a slight frown. His thoughts needed to be voiced. He wanted nothing more than this moment to last forever. But it couldn't.

“Fluttershy.... I’m sorry, but at this rate, I can’t stay here... I... I don’t want us ending up doing something that we’ll both regret tomorrow.... We just met... and I don’t want to ruin the relationship we have now... I’m sorry... But...” He smiled, “Maybe one day we can be more than friends, alright?”

Her ears drooped and her expression became more sullen as he spoke. Her eyes started to water a bit towards the end. “B-but... M-marcus...”

“No, I’m sorry, believe me, I want to more than anything.... But we might screw something up if we don’t control ourselves....” He gently placed her on the bed beside him and stood. He turned towards the door and went to leave.

“W-wait..!”

Marcus turned around and looked at the sad looking pegasus on the bed. Her mane was ruffled a bit, making her look even cuter. “C-can you at least stay here...? I-I’ll be good... p-promise...”

He sighed and walked back to the bed and sat on it beside her. She smiled and crawled under the comforter and waited for him. He crawled into bed with her and pulled the covers over them. Fluttershy scooted closer to him and pressed their bodies together again. He wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her head again. Fluttershy sighed and snuggled even more into his chest.

~~~~~~~~~~

The sun leaked in through the window, disturbing Marcus from his sleep. He grimaced as his dreams were replaced by the waking world. Then he looked down to see an adorable yellow pegasus snuggled up against him. He smiled and stroked her mane a little before wiggling out of her grasp. He stood and stretched, yawning. He walked over to the bathroom that was just outside her bedroom door. He stared at himself in the mirror. He was a mess. His hair still had feathers and hay in it and his clothes were still torn. He sighed. “Guess I’ll have to find a way to get to Rarity...”

He could hear Fluttershy rolling around in bed and decided to be there when she woke up. He walked out of the bathroom and sat down on what he assumed would be his side of the bed. He reached over and started stroking her mane again. Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked over at him. She smiled and nuzzled into his hand. She stood and stumbled towards him then leaned in to kiss him but ended up yawning in his face.

“O-oh... S-sorry...”

Marcus was smiling at the unbelievable cuteness. He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her cheek. “Fluttershy... to keep from going further than we did last night.... I regret to say that we probably shouldn’t be kissing like that anymore...”

“But....” She sighed and hung her head. “Alright....”

“I hate it, too... On a totally unrelated subject, I really want a shower, but I don’t have any other clothes.... You wouldn’t happen to know anypony who could make some for me?” He smiled nervously.

“Um... Yes, but she’s probably very busy... and maybe not even awake yet... But, I guess we can pay her a visit...”

Marcus smiled at her. “We have to at some point... Might as well see her first thing, right?”

“I guess...” Fluttershy stood and started walking down the stairs.

Marcus followed her down the stairs but stopped just before stepping off the last one. “Um... Fluttershy? How will we be able to get to her place without going through town...?”

Fluttershy looked over her shoulder and smiled at the young man. “We go around, of course.”

~~~~~~~~~~

After roughly a half hour of walking down barely used roads and diving into bushes, climbing trees, and jumping in the single lake they passed by, they eventually reached Rarity’s Boutique. The pegasus and the human approached the front door.

“Um.. could you stay out here...? I need to warn Rarity first, so she won’t freak out.... Alright..?”

“Sure.”

Fluttershy walked into the boutique, the little bell over the door making Rarity aware of her presence. After she walked in, Marcus leaned against the wall, looking at the scenery.

“Fluttershy! Oh it’s so good to see you again, darling. What brings you this way, hmm?”

“Oh, um... I have a friend who... umm.. needs some new clothes... and I was wondering... if you could make some for him...?”

“But of course! Now where is this friend of yours? I need measurements, you know.”

“I-i know.... But, um... promise you won’t freak out...? He’s really... unusual....”

“Please, Fluttershy, what do you take me for? Any friend of yours is a friend of mine!”

“Alright... J-just one second.... You can come in now, Marcus...”

“Marcus? What kind of name for a pony is that?”

“Well, um... He’s not a pony...”

At this point, Marcus walked into the Boutique and Rarity’s pupils shrank.

“F-fluttershy, dear, c-can I speak with you privately...? J-just for a few minutes...?”

“Um... sure.”

The two mares quickly trotted upstairs to Rarity’s workroom. Rarity quickly locked the door and spun around to face Fluttershy.

“Wh-what is that?!”

“Um... He said he was a ‘Human.’”

“What in Equestria is a human?!”

“He said he wasn’t from Equestria....”

“Well then, where is he from?!”

“He told me a place called ‘Earth.’”

Rarity started trotting in place, having a mini-freakout. Fluttershy just watched her friend from behind her mane until she calmed down.

“Alright, calm down Rarity, you’ve seen stranger things.... Okay, no you haven’t! Fluttershy! How did you make friends with him?!”

Fluttershy shrank back a bit.

“Rarity.... He’s not bad.... In fact, he’s... really nice.... He helped me out last night....”

“He stayed with you?! Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy suddenly flushed. “He helped me Rarity! He... I was having a nightmare... and he was there for me.... I sat in his lap and... he stroked my mane... he spoke softly... he even hummed a little.... He made sure I was happy...”

Rarity had stopped moving and just stared at her friend. She started to feel bad for assuming something about a creature she had never met.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy.... Alright, now that that’s over... what say you we meet him, hmm?”

“Um... I’ve already met him, Rarity.” Fluttershy smiled meekly and Rarity laughed. Rarity then opened the door and ushered Fluttershy back downstairs. She followed close behind and started circling Marcus, inspecting him. He just stood there, watching the pristine white unicorn look him up and down.

“Hm... I’m curious... why must you wear so much clothing, dear?”

“Er... Well.... uhhhhh.....”

There was an awkward silence as Marcus tried to figure out the best way to explain.

“Humans are.... oh geez, what’s the right word to use....? Modest? About our appearance... Most aren’t comfortable with the way their bodies look and use clothing to hide it.... Those that ARE proud of their bodies tend to flaunt it, but that’s a story for another day....”

“Oh my, humans certainly do sound.... interesting...”

“Not really, but that might just be my 17 years of living with some people telling me they’re nothing special.”

“Hmm... I would still like to learn more about your kind. Perhaps this weekend?”

“Um... sure, I guess.”

“Splendid.” Her horn started to glow and a measuring tape levitated in front of him. “Now hold still, darling so I can get your measurements.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Marcus walked out of Rarity’s Boutique smiling and waving. The white mare stood in the doorway and waved them off, a yellow measuring tape draped around her neck and some tiny glasses perched on her nose.

“I’ll see you in three days, Marcus! It was nice meeting you!”

Marcus simply smiled back at her and waved until he lost sight of her. He turned and looked down to Fluttershy. She was looking straight ahead and her mane hid her face from him. He reached down and gently began to rub her ears. She yelped and jumped away from him, a dark blush crossing her face. Marcus pulled his hand away and stuffed it in his pocket. He looked up at the slowly darkening sky and his mind raced.

“It’s... quite lovely this time of day... Don’t you think..?”

“Yeah... Back on Earth we called this the magic hour. Dunno if you do that here or not.”

“Some ponies do.”

The pair continued back to Fluttershy’s cottage in silence. Marcus opened the door for her once she had it unlocked and she smiled softly at him before walking inside.

“They say chivalry is dead. I’m trying to revive it.”

Fluttershy smiled again at his words and spun around to look at him before letting out a deep breath.

“M-marcus... I.. I would really like it if.... Y-you could... sleep with me... in my bed again, tonight... I-if you want...”

He kneeled down in front of her and rubbed her cheek. She nuzzled into it and closed her eyes.

“I would like nothing more.... But I’m afraid I can’t...”

“But... why not...?”

“Because the only reason I stayed with you last night was because I was doing what I felt right. I felt like you needed someone there for you, to comfort you and hold you and make sure you would be okay. I did what I thought was right. And look at what almost happened.” Fluttershy blushed and looked away, ashamed. “Now, I don’t blame you for what happened. I really want our relationship to be more than friendship, but that will have to wait. I’m sorry Fluttershy.”

She just sat there and looked at him. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she turned and walked up the stairs to her bedroom. Marcus sat there, wanting desperately to run up and hug the depressed pony, but didn’t want something to happen they would both regret.

He walked to the guest bedroom after he heard Fluttershy close her bedroom door.

Neither one of them would sleep well tonight.