The forest outside of Ponyville was of brilliant colors that day. The variety of shades on the trees seemed infinite, the wildlife was pouncing about everywhere, and the streams gently trickled through their course. Lightbolt saw it as a great place to relax after such a long, eventful day. He wandered through the forest and watched the wildlife intently. He wanted to fly, but decided to refrain as he didn't want to disturb the little birds. But as he walked along the trail, he saw something in the distance. He couldn't quite discern what it was at first, but as he drew closer it became clear; it was a quiant cottage surrounded by trees. He was instantly intrigued. He kept his distance though, as he didn't want to disturb anyone who might inhabit it. But as he neared closer, he saw a familiar face.

He quickly found cover behind a bush to avoid alerting her. He didn't even know why he cared so much about staying hidden. Oh, I just did it to keep from scaring her, he convinced himself, remembering how shy she was from their encounter in the square. He watched her from behind the bush intently as she walked around her yard, taking care of what appeared to be many animals. She seemed so gentle, kind, beautiful...

Jesus Hooves Christ, I've got to get these thoughts out of my head, he scolded himself.  I've only seen her once, for Celestia’s sake. Ugh, I'm such a creepy stalker.

He then decided to leave the area. But as he was walking away, something heavy-an apple perhaps-fell from a tree and hit him in the face.

"Ouch!" He yelled.

The mare squeaked in fear when she heard the sound, and then darted her eyes toward the source. Seeing Lightbolt, she freaked out even more and scrambled to find cover behind a bush.

Nice job, dumbass! He thought to himself. He sort of awkwardly stood in place for 10 seconds or so, looking at the ground, unsure what to do. Well he did know, actually; he should of gotten the hell out of there. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Then, he looked up to see her head sticking up shyly from her hiding spot, much to his surprise. He slowly walked over.

"I-I-I'm sorry," she stuttered quietly. An awkward silence ensued. For some reason, Lightbolt felt really nervous too, more than he had been for a long while.

"Uh… Why?" Lightbolt responded, looking into her lovely cyan eyes.

Fluttershy let out a small, uneasy smile. "It’s just... I, um, shouldn't of ran like that, earlier. But, you see, I'm very... nervous around new ponies sometimes.... Pleas-" Her voice faded off.

"Don't worry about it, I understand," Lightbolt said. He stood there silently for a few seconds before continuing. "Well… I suppose I should be leaving now, sorry to startle you." He instantly wish he could take it back, but what Fluttershy said next made him change his mind.

"Oh... No, p-please stay. If you want."

"Oh... Sure,” he said, very surprised by her response.

Another moment of silence began. Fluttershy nervously rubbed her front hooves together and emerged completely from her hiding spot.

Lightbolt looked around him, trying to find a conversation starter. "Wow, that's quite a lot of animals you have here."

“Oh, thank you!” Fluttershy said enthusiastically, perking up. “See, I run a bit of a nursery at my house where I heal hurt animals.”

Lightbolt was thrown off and surprised by her instant shift in voice, which was in stark contrast of her earlier tone, but he tried not to show it. “Wow, that’s really nice,” he responded. “I’ve always had an interest in wild animals.”

"Oh, that's great to hear. I can show you around, if you like."

As they walked around and she introduced him to all of her animals, Fluttershy asked Lightbolt a question that she had been wondering.

“So, um… Where are you staying here in ponyville? If you are okay with telling me, of course."

Lightbolt came to the sudden realization that he didn't actually have any place. He had gotten to Ponyville in such a hurry, and the busy day kept him from looking for property. "Oh, right... I have a place for tonight," he lied.

Fluttershy wasn't convinced. “Are you sure? Y-you can be honest with me, really," she responded tentatively.

"Well..... No. Not really. I mean, I can get a hotel room, or sleep in the forest. I'll be okay."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that… Would you, um, care to... Sleep a-at my place? I mean, just until you get your hooves on the ground." She smiled timidly.

Lightbolt's mind was a race of thoughts, and his heart was beating faster than ever before. Oh my... Is she on the same page as me? Just being polite? What to say...

He finally responded. "Oh, um, that's okay. Thanks for the offer though." Smooth.

“Really, I insist. I would hate to see you sleeping out in the cold. Stay at my place. I mean... If you want to, of course…"

Lightbolt looked around for a second. "Oh, well, okay."

"Great, please come inside. Oh! And I can't believe I forgot, how rude of me. My name's Fluttershy."

But then, Lightbolt heard something in the distance and stood still. It was thumping-no, clopping, and it grew louder with each passing second. He gazed out into the dark forest to see a familiar candy pink mare speeding towards them.

Coming to an abrupt stop right in front of the two, Pinkie Pie panted there for a good minute while Lighbolt and Fluttershy stared at each other flustered. Finally, she caught her breath. "There you are, I've been looking all over for you! Didn't expect to find you here... But anyways, come on, you're going to be late for the PAR-TAY!!!"

"Party?" Lightbolt replied.

"Yea, of course! What else would I mean? Every new pony has got to have a party!"

"Oh, okay then!" He said. Pinkie Pie bolted off in glee.

"Hey, wait up!" He called out. "Come on Fluttershy, we gotta catch up to her." He jumped up in the air, ready to fly off.

"Oh, um, I'm not sure... I'm not exactly... I mean, I broke my wing. Yes, so I um, so I can't fly right now. Heh, what a shame.” She looked down with an embarrassed look on her face.

Lightbolt could see right through her white lie, but he decided to go along with it. "Oh, well we can walk then."

"That would be great, thank you." She let out a sigh of relief.

As they walked to town together, Lightbolt contemplated why he felt so attracted yet nervous towards the mare. It's almost like she has a missing part of me, the part that was taken from me at such a young age... Ugh, there I go again getting all dramatic. It's just a phase, I'm sure. Now I just need to go and enjoy the party.

"Hey, um, Fluttershy, where is this party? Do you know?

"I think it is in the library," she responded. They went over to the building, which was cleverly built inside a large tree, and cracked the door open.

---

"SUPRISE!" The word echoed through the room as the lights flicked on and Lightbolt looked around to see nearly everypony in ponyville gathered around to celebrate.

"Oh, it's great that you made it!" Cheered Pinkie Pie ecstatically. The other mares came up to him and Fluttershy.

"Hah, we were wondering when you two would get here," remarked Rainbow Dash, giving Lightbolt a strange look. Twilight glared at Rainbow Dash, shaking her head slightly.

"Well, please help yourself to refreshments and have a great time!" Said Pinkie Pie, prancing off to go play Pin The Tail on the Pony.

"Awh, well aren't you two just so cute together," said Rainbow Dash, causing both Lightbolt and Fluttershy to blush.

"Oh... Well, we're just acquaintances," responded Lightbolt awkwardly after a long silence.

"Well I suppose we should leave you two "acquaintances" alone to talk, then," said Dash, giggling.

Pinkie Pie found out and said something, didn’t she. I guess she’s more clever than I first thought, Lightbolt contemplated.

After the others were gone, they both stood there for a while longer until Lightbolt spoke. "Hey, um, I'm going to get some fruit punch, do you want some?"

"Oh, that's alright, thanks for the offer though."

"Okay, I guess I'll be right back soon. I mean, unless you want to come," Lightbolt spit out.

"Oh that's okay, but I'll be right here."

"Alright, so, I'll be back in a minute." Lightbolt awkwardly walked off. Once again, real smooth, he thought, sulking. As he walked through the large crowd to the concessions, he passed by Rainbow Dash and heard her whisper to him loudly.

"Hey, Lightbolt, come over here. I wanna talk to you about something." Lightbolt walked over to her.

Rainbow Dash looked at him aggressively."I just need to ask, what are you thinking?"

Lightbolt stared at Rainbow Dash, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. I see the way you look at Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash responded, seemingly aggravated.

"Sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about."

Rainbow Dash laughed, losing her angry tone. "Just messing with you. You're a pretty bad liar, I have to say. But really, why do you like her?"

"You know, I don't really want to talk about it," said Lightbolt.

"Oh, you like her even more than I thought!"

Lightbolt blushed. "Well, I suppose I need to be going now," he announced, and then continued on his way to the concession table.

"Wait, Lightbolt," Rainbow Dash said before he was out of earshot. He turned around. "Sorry about being so pushy. Really.”

Lightbolt smiled and gave her a forgiving look. "Oh, it’s no problem. See you around," he said, and then made his way back to Fluttershy.

As Lightbolt neared where Fluttershy was standing, he noticed she was not alone; Twilight Sparkle was there talking to her, both of them completely unaware he was near. He attempted to blend into the crowd, getting close enough to hear their conversation.

"So Fluttershy, what do you think about the new pony?"

"Oh, um... Actually Twilight, there’s something I want to talk to you about, It’s about him… Please just don’t tell anyone..."

"I won’t, you have my word."

Fluttershy hesitated. "Um, well, okay. I think I may have a… Crush."