Fluttershy by Anti-Pony (2011/1/26)

	The night was cool, and Fluttershy was more or less finished for the day. Twilight and Spike were more or less no longer relying on her... Dash and AJ were nowhere near due. Sure there were other ponies around she was helping with, but nothing major. It was mostly back to the meadow, and though she pretended she was glad to be back, she was bored and feeling rather unneeded. One week without her babying everything here and they'd been fine, she felt silly about ever doing it, and her relationship with angel had gone from a mother-bunny who didn't like being coddled apparently, to one of quiet, unassuming friendship. Honestly he'd barely even bothered answering her, not that he could talk, at least she didn't think so. But he wasn't doing little gestures or throwing carrot stubs at her or anything either.

	She began the process of settling in for the night, shutting her door, and nervously looking around her house. Nobody would be lying in wait, but she was still nervous. She'd gotten better with her confidence, but being in a dark house was still a bit... and having the lights on made her feel more nervous. Then people could see she was home. It was all very silly, and she felt silly, she couldn't even close the curtains... she didn't want to imagine not being able to see if something was hiding behind them. Maybe things were just getting to her, but it didn't really matter. It worked and that was the important thing.

	There was a small light outside, and she caught glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye. She hid under the window, and very carefully slid up a little and looked out, shaking a bit. Who would be out at this time of night, on the edge of town. It looked like a unicorn, which was a relief. She didn't know what else might be glowing and moving around and at this time of night she wasn't curious enough to want to know either, but she had to find out who it was so she unlocked the door and peered around the edge.

	"H... hey! Who's there?" She stammered, shaking and looking at the light as it bobbed around... if it weren't for the unicorn silhouetted in the dark she would have felt terrified. Oh sure there were always fireflies around, but she knew what they looked like.

	"Oh hey... uh..." the shadow came forward and slowly revealed itself as Snails. There was a long, awkward pause.

	"Fluttershy... my name is Fluttershy..." She frowned... "What are you doing out here, it's really late..." mumbling to herself "And you're scaring me doing that".

	Snails grinned, his expression about as dopey as she had come to expect, "Oh yeah, Fluttershy." She looked behind him to see if Snips was around... they seemed to have started going separate ways since they got older. She vaguely remembered someone saying Snips was engaged to someone. She wasn't sure she believed it.

	She looked at him, and then looked at her feet. The silence was making her more nervous, and she was getting a little mad at him. Finally he finished the thought, "I'm looking for bugs."

	He smiled what seemed to her like a fairly proud smile. His horn glowed softly, illuminating their faces. "What... for?" she asked, sighing a little.

	"I'm not sure." He said, looking off to one side, "Oh! Right, I'm... ah..." she sighed again. "I study bugs? Yeah!" He looked quite pleased with himself.

	"You mean at the town museum? Like..." and now it was her turn to think... sighing again, "Whatever it is they call that... they have you collecting bugs?"

	He nodded, smiling. A small group of fireflies was slowly gathering around the light from his horn. She stared at them, and back at him. Then she gestured up.

	"Oh hey! Fireflies!" he began turning around like he was looking for something. Fluttershy sighed deeply.

	"You don't have anything to catch them with do you?" She pouted, and went to get a jar and the closest thing she could find to a net, and helped him gather them. Otherwise he'd never leave.

	"Thanks Fl... uuuh..."

	"Fluttershy" she sighed.

	Then he gave her a kiss on the cheek, rather suddenly, grinning the same sort of silly grin he always did. She stared at him blankly, trying to see if there was some sign in his expression she was missing. There wasn't. "You're sweet. Thanks!" and then he was off. Just like that.

	She sighed deeply, watched him run off, then went back inside. It was dark, and cool, and she flopped in the corner. AJ would crack up when she told her about that tomorrow. She had other things on her mind though. She briefly wondered how it would work if she just seduced some random pony so she could have a baby of her own.

	"That's just not fair on them though, is it Angel?" looking up, he was sitting on her head still. He shrugged. She groaned. "I was just thinking..." explaining what she'd forgotten she'd just thought and not said.

	He nodded. "I mean it's not something you should rush into..." she murmured, sighing again. "I don't know... just watching... when they first hold them and..." this time Angel sighed, giving her a look.

	"I know, it'll happen when it's supposed to." She decided to stay where she was for a while. Angel didn't seem to be tired anyway and she didn't feel like fighting him.

	Eventually she dragged herself to bed. She dreamed about her own foal... but even in dreams she couldn't picture who she'd be with. Big Mac had been replaced in her dreams by some unseeable pony she didn't know. But at least she got to work with foals. It was kind of like they were all her family.





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	Fluttershy was sitting in the meadow, smiling. Her animal friends were gathered around, and she was almost due with her first foal. She felt so happy she couldn't stop blushing.

	Then she woke up. She groaned loudly, letting an annoyed sniffle escape, and dragged her entirely not pregnant self out of bed.

	"This is ridiculous... I can't keep obsessing like this..." Staring into the mirror at herself... brushing her mane. "why are you doing this to yourself..." sighing quietly... she trotted downstairs and continued to mutter and groan purely at her own inability to leave the idea alone.

	Angel was outside, presumably... he wasn't where he usually slept in the kitchen anyway.

	"Good morning Fluttershy." She jumped, and was immediately reminded that one of the low hanging things in her house was over her head.

	"Oww..."

	"Oh, I'm sorry... you ok Fluttershy?" Twilight smiled, helping her sit down. "That didn't look good..."

	Fluttershy sighed. "I'm ok." She looked around. Twilight was alone, no foal today. There was a moment of awkward silence, and she blushed, "Oh, I... how're you doing Twilight?"

	"Good, thanks to you and Spike." Twilight smiled, a big, cheerful smile... Fluttershy had been so glad to see her recover from the depression... she'd seen a few ponies fare worse, and she really thought it was more Spike that helped, but she didn't say anything. "I just wanted to say thank you again, see how you were doing..."

	"I'm fine, thanks." Fluttershy went to get Twilight some tea... hoping she didn't call her out on it... her voice had wavered quite a bit... she was sure she'd notice. But Twilight seemed to be reasonably distracted... and when she thought about it, Fluttershy really didn't think she'd seen Twilight notice a lot of little social elements at times... so she felt a little reassured.

	"Hey Fluttershy!!" Fluttershy froze, and sighed. "It's Aunty Pinkie!" Pinkie was not waiting to be invited in either, she bounced in followed by her little army of foals... at least they didn't go through everything anymore... the first time she'd babysat they had been in everything... it took a long time to get the winged ones not to fly inside the house.

	"More like Mamma Pinkie..." Twilight smirked, and answered the couple of kids who always came and called her Aunty Twilight and started chatting away.

	Fluttershy did not need this. She sighed and got more cups out... she was rapidly feeling more miserable, as much as seeing the foals usually cheered her up... but she wasn't holding them anymore, or feeding them, or being motherly... and this was getting too much to bare. All she did was feed animals and wait for the next time she'd get to pretend she had a foal of her own to care for. It shouldn't be consuming her she thought, but it wouldn't stop.

	"Papa Pinkie" a voice said from outside. "She doesn't get to be called Mamma, she didn't go through hours of labour." The voice groaned loudly.

	"The side door is wider" Fluttershy sighed more than said. She didn't need this now... it was bad enough... Dash groaned even louder. Then she came around the side door. "You shouldn't even be out of bed Dash. Between you and Twilight..."

	Fluttershy shut up and looked at her feet, Dash was giving her a glare. Even though she knew she was right, but repeating herself wouldn't help.

	At least Celestia had given them something to keep Dash from ending up this way again. It would keep her from complaining for a while.

	Fluttershy would have smirked a little, but she wasn't feeling it today. She stared at Dash's belly, and looked away when Dash noticed. Dash groaned, looking at her middle.

	"They won't quit moving... I think I'm gunna be sick." She grumbled. Pinkie went over and cuddled up to her, grinning. Dash glared at her a little, and Pinkie kissed her suddenly. Dash blushed, and smiled. She was briefly thrown off when she realised Pinkie's lollypop had moved to her mouth during, laughing and staring back into her eyes.

	Fluttershy sighed... watching Dash smile and blush like a school filly with her first crush was cute, but not helpful. Even if it was Dash, the least likely of her friends she'd have expected to do that...

	What was worse she really was kind of mad at Dash... not just jealous, she honestly was mad she wasn't appreciating it... she knew better... she'd been over there when the poor Pegasus had been throwing up all morning... ex athlete or not, Dash's body was not enjoying carrying twins again... but some part of her still felt mad. It didn't help that Dash and her had always been such opposites... Fluttershy barely ever flew higher than a few feet off the ground... Dash barely ever landed, well, she barely used to.

	One of the foals tugged at her leg gently and smiled up at her. She smiled down, she knew them all as though they were hers... she remembered cradling every one of them... and as the young foal showed her a picture of herself babysitting them in the meadow, calling her Aunty Fluttershy... she smiled down, but she was crying.

	"Fluttershy? What's wrong?!" Twilight had noticed first... then Pinkie was looking... and Fluttershy ran out the side door, as carefully and fast as she could with the foals everywhere.

	Twilight followed her, leaving Pinkie and Dash and their foals, assuring them she'd help Fluttershy. Dash just looked at Pinkie and Pinkie shrugged.

	Dash sighed softly... Fluttershy and her hadn't often got along well... she felt bad about it. But she had 8 foals running around and they were demanding attention. It took Pinkie to keep them under control too... she could only ever get them to behave in groups of four or less, but Pinkie had a weird power over them.

	Pinkie smiled at her and smooshed their noses together. Dash sighed happily.

	Twilight caught up with Fluttershy in a quiet part of the meadow that was basically empty... she didn't even know Fluttershy had a spot like this, and she was lying on the ground, upside down, crying.

	"Fluttershy..." She started... "We're here for you, you can..."

	Fluttershy sniffled and interrupted her. "I want to have a baby." She blushed darkly, looking miserable. "I'm obsessed with it... I can't stop dreaming about it..."

	Twilight sighed... she could tell this was worse than it sounded... "You'll get there sweetie," she kind of wished Applejack was around... she was better at this... "You can't rush into..."

	"I know!" Twilight blinked, Fluttershy was... more blunt than normal. Interrupting... it wasn't like her. "I keep telling myself all that... but I can't stop... I dream I'm pregnant and... and..." she sobbed. "Then I wake up... every morning... they don't need me in the meadow anymore either..."

	Twilight was at a loss for words... which was normal enough... social stuff was never her forte... "But you like working with the foals right? And..."

	Fluttershy nodded, and Twilight went quiet, anticipating her response. "I love them, all of them... and seeing all the happy couples... and the way you look when you hold them the first time... and..."

	She took a deep breath, and looked Twilight in the eyes, "Out of all of us, didn't you think it'd be me first? Can you even imagine me being the one who dies without ever having a child?" There were tears streaming down her cheeks.

	"You're not... sick... are you?" Twilight looked a bit puzzled... and immediately apologised for asking. "Sorry... I know, you mean a lot later on..."

	Fluttershy sighed deeply. "C... can you go back and tell the children it's ok? I don't want to worry them..." She put on a bit of a smile.

	"Okay, but later we need to figure this out Fluttershy, ok?" Fluttershy nodded, sniffling.

	Twilight sighed, and nuzzled her cheek. Then she headed back.





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	Fluttershy lay in the little meadow for some time. She was glad nobody came back to check on her... she didn't want to have conversations about that again. She felt stupid, and just a little bit useless... sure she was important, but it was when they didn't need her anymore... and then they weren't her foals to care for... and she knew that was how it was meant to be, but it hurt.

	She wasn't even sure how to take it all... did she just need to get over her situation? Or was this something that was just so core to what she wanted for her life... she couldn't think of anything she wanted more... she had time, she was young... well, older than some of her friends, but young...

	"Come on, no way" a voice said... a male voice, a little... distinct. Fluttershy didn't recognise it... but she recognised the girl's voice that responded.

	"Seriously. And I said yeah, I'm liking this idea and" and they paused, Snips and Scootaloo both having come through a hole in the fence. Fluttershy blushed profusely... she was still upside down and her face was soaked with tears.

	Snips was always the smarter of him and Snails, nobody had been that surprised he'd gotten himself in order eventually. He still had a very distinct voice... kind of annoying even. Fluttershy was somewhat shocked to see Scootaloo next to him... it was odd really, she practically seemed to be Dash 2, only Dash was a bit more of a braggart back then... She hadn't seen either of them in a while, she almost didn't recognise them, sniffling and wiping her nose.

	"Oh, hey Fluttershy! You ah... come here too huh?" Snips smiled, and Scootaloo bumped him in the ribs to shut him up.

	"Fluttershy, what happened?" She came over and Fluttershy blushed more, hiding her face under her mane. "You alright?"

	"I'm ok" She insisted. Snips was rubbing his side but he just gave Scootaloo a smile, and then sat down and stayed quiet. "I... umm... you two are...?"

	"Engaged" Snips blurted out. "I'm the luckiest unicorn in the world" He joked, feigning a female voice and posing. Scootaloo laughed and threw something at him... Fluttershy didn't really pay attention to what.

	"Look, we'll let you be ok? See you later Fluttershy, feel better soon k?" And with that Scootaloo shoved Snips back through the hedge and followed, giving Fluttershy one last reassuring smile.

	Fluttershy just felt a bit shocked for a few minutes and then looked around her. "Eew..." She sighed... "This was supposed to be my spot..."





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	She had all of five minutes to herself before Snails pushed his way through the hole in the hedge. Fluttershy groaned... she really did not want to have another vapid conversation with the slow minded stallion...

	"Hey Fluttershy, is Snips here?" He looked around... she was shocked he remembered her name this time. She was less shocked that he was looking around an open, empty clearing for that big friend of his... who would be hard to miss. Especially with Scootaloo hanging off him...

	"No, he left." She sighed... "I might leave too... it's crowded here." She immediately regretted the comment... she prided herself on being kind... "Sorry... I mean... it's just been a hard day."

	"I'm supposed to be finding a beetle." He smiled at her with his trademark grin. His speech slow and drawn out as usual... "He said he saw it here." And he began digging at the ground with a hoof...

	"What does it look like?" She sighed, helping again... anything to get him to go away... he described it, in the goofy fashion she had expected, and she spotted it in plain view. "Here it is" Nudging it over with her nose.

	He smiled. It seemed he had remembered to bring the jar this time. "Thanks Fluttershy, you're the best, eh?" And he kissed her on the cheek again. She stared at him again... he paused a moment, grinning, and then headed off. She still didn't know what to make of that.

	She sighed and sat down, her mane hanging over one eye... she hadn't done that for a while, but she didn't feel very secure today.

	Fluttershy tilted her head a little and saw something gleam. She moved her mane out of the way and groaned.

	He had forgotten the beetle.

	"Great" She sighed, picked up the jar and headed for the museum and got as far as the gate then turned back, realising her face was still a mess... a quick clean up first, and she took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror, "You can do this..." she mumbled to herself as confidently as she could, "It's fine... you're ok."

	The museum was small, for the most part. It was sort of part of the school, but it was a different building... a lot of new buildings had cropped up over the years. She casually walked through to the lecture halls... the guide pony had told her that Snails was in a lecture. She couldn't picture that, but she went anyway.

	She finally got to the hall she wanted, sighing, and checking the doors. She walked past an office with gold lettering on the glass and briefly paused. But it didn't make much sense. She checked the next door and there he was. Up the front of the class. Standing in front, by the place the speaker should be. With jars of insects... she could roughly hear him slowly talking, and ponies giggling.





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	Fluttershy felt something in her throat, choking a little, and backing up... she looked at the door with the gold lettering again. She sat down, and stared at it. Staring until her eyes hurt.

	It didn't make any sense at all.

	It said... no, she couldn't even consider it, she needed to talk to him first.

	Fluttershy paused at the door... she wasn't sure she should butt in... but she still had the beetle in the jar... so she took a deep breath and knocked on the door, opening it a little.

	"Hey Fluttershy!" Snails was grinning at her, "Come see the bugs!" He stared into the jars, smiling. She gulped and walked over slowly, staring at the crowd of students... they were watching and giggling. She put the jar on the counter.

	"Y... you forgot this." She muttered... blushing... she felt ridiculously embarrassed... and confused... Snails was wearing a jacket... he appeared to be using a microscope, gesturing for her to look through it.

	She played along, and stared at some horrible looking bug... her hair standing on end just a little.

	"Aren't they great?" He grinned, "See all the little parts?" She blushed, and nodded... "You wanna listen in?" He smiled, and tilted his head a little... she stared into his eyes, unsure what was going on. It felt like an elaborate and mean prank. She sat down and listened, nodding to let him know after she realised he was still waiting for that. It felt particularly awkward, and the students kept giggling.

	She sat there for a good half hour... Snails slowly talking about how the insects worked... he wasn't using big words often, and had notes, but he seemed to be pulling more out than she had imagined he was capable of. He seemed fascinated by all the little details... he talked about the insects the way she'd talked about her animals... and she couldn't picture them as cute, but he seemed to think they were...

	When it was over, the students filed out... Fluttershy remembered some lectures on animal care back in the day... nobody had been disappointed to leave. But the students here found Snails too amusing she guessed... listening to him slowly say big words and make little, sort of out of place comments about how he liked this and that... most of them even said goodbye to him.

	She felt a little sick... this was a bad day turning into an insane one. She wondered if she was having a nightmare.

	Snails came over and grinned at her, "They're awesome, eh?" Gesturing to the bugs... she wasn't sure what to say, so she nodded and sat quietly. "You wanna go out?"

	She choked, "What?" He was still grinning at her.

	"Go out, you know, lunch." She looked confused... was he asking her on a date or...? "'Cause you brought me my bug" he added, smiling. He stopped when she continued to quietly stare. "It's just lunch, eh?" But she was still in shock. "Thanks Fluttershy" and he kissed her cheek again "Really, you're the best eh?" and then he left.

	She wandered out in a slight Daze... Professor Snails? What was the world coming to...





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	Fluttershy went straight home after that. She felt confused and sad and she didn't know whether she was happy to be a bit distracted from things by all this confusingness, or whether to be even more upset. She half wondered if she should be worried about Snails. She wasn't even sure what to make of him at all... it sounded like a friendly lunch, but she... what was going on lately...

	She squeaked when she got home, Twilight was sitting at the table and so was AJ. "Oh... right..." she blushed and took a seat.

	"Sugar Cube, you ok? Twilight told me what you said." AJ got up and came around the table, wrapping a hoof around Fluttershy reassuringly.

	"I... it's been a long day." She sighed... she'd gone back to retreating behind her mane.

	Twilight joined AJ on the other side of Fluttershy. "It's ok Fluttershy, we're here for you." She smiled reassuringly as well. Fluttershy couldn't help noticing she seemed to have picked up AJ's exact reassuring smile over the years. They had always been close.

	Fluttershy sighed deeply. "It really has been a long day... I keep running into Snails..."

	Twilight giggled a little, and AJ outright laughed. "Who saw that coming... I mean, he got a job as a Professor... that stallion is obsessed with bugs."

	"I didn't know he was a teacher" Fluttershy mumbled. "He showed up last night looking for bugs. I didn't think he was that..."

	"Smart, Sugar Cube?" AJ chuckled "I dunno if he is, but the students seem to like him."

	"More importantly... what are we going to do about your problem" Twilight smiled, steering the conversation back on track. After all, even though she was preoccupied, Fluttershy was bound to start getting depressed again eventually...

	"I don't know..." Fluttershy sighed deeply.

	"I'm guessing we gotta just socialise her a bit more and hope for the best" AJ smiled "If you're gunna meet some pony anyways"

	Twilight nodded, "There's bound to be some pony in town you'd like. We'll start going out and find you someone."

	Fluttershy nodded, looking at her feet. She felt like a little foal who couldn't get anything right... and all this confusion was making her feel so angry... but they were right, if she wanted to do this, she'd have to go out and find someone to do it with...





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	Fluttershy had the dream again that night. She woke up and wished she hadn't. Then immediately regretted thinking that and spend a few minutes reminding herself that things would get better soon, staring into the mirror. That was all she needed, to do something that horrible to her friends... and their kids... their kids all loved her.

	Twilight and AJ were there when she got downstairs... she gulped. There was no possible way this would be fun... They headed out... Fluttershy was nervous, ridiculously nervous... but she wanted this a lot more than she wanted to back out... and she really wanted to back out.

	They stopped at Pinkie and Dash's... Fluttershy wasn't really paying attention until they arrived... "Why... why are we at..."

	"Pinkie's? She knows everyone, she'll know who's got something in common with you Sugar Cube" AJ smiled reassuringly. "You can wait here if you want..."

	She waited outside... she did want to see the foals, but she was worried she'd get upset again. That just wouldn't do... she couldn't...

	Pinkie came out and joined the group. Fluttershy didn't mind Pinkie coming with them... but she wondered who was watching her kids. They wouldn't all listen to Dash at once... and Dash was meant to be staying in bed... but nobody mentioned it so she assumed they'd found another babysitter to help. She didn't like that either.

	She walked at the back of the little group as they chatted and discussed her... every so often they, and it was usually Pinkie, would ask her something to check she had it right. She usually did, Fluttershy found herself blushing... she hadn't quite realised Pinkie knew her so well... but she did seem to know everyone.

	When they arrived at the centre of town, Pinkie took her to one side, smiling, apparently rather pleased at the whole idea, and quietly sat her down to talk in private. Fluttershy sighed deeply, and Pinky lifted her chin up and grinned, "Chin up, we're gunna find you a stallion. Or a mare." Pinkie winked at her, and she blushed darker. "I got just the few in mind..."

	Fluttershy smiled, it seemed the right thing to do. "I'll try... to stay positive." Pinkie patted her on the back

	"That's the spirit! You can do it." She was grinning more than Fluttershy felt comfortable with, but... but she had to try and get herself together. "So, do you wanna start with stallions or mares?"

	Tracing a hoof on the ground, Fluttershy looked down, then up at Pinkie. "I... how do you even know..." and then stopped, because Pinkie was winking at her again and she decided she didn't want to know, or it didn't matter... or both. "J... just someone who's gentle and... l... likes animals... I guess."

	And then it was off... Pinkie would take someone aside, and introduce them, then gave them some time once the conversation got going... and it got easier every time... but she still felt nervous. By the end of the day Pinkie had a list... she had taken notes on everything and made Fluttershy tell her about her impressions. AJ and Twilight had followed but mostly stayed out of the way when Pinkie was arranging introductions. Fluttershy felt particularly glad Pinkie hadn't arranged some big party and thrown her in the middle... but Pinkie kept it feeling fairly safe... and she didn't butt in... as the day came to a close, Fluttershy sighed in relief... it had not been that bad... and she actually kind of liked most of them... she wasn't sure if one stood out... but still.

	"Not a bad day, right Sugar Cube?" AJ smiled... the four of them sitting at a restaurant, Fluttershy smiled back. She was feeling better... not as good as she could be, but she felt like they were getting somewhere... like things were getting back on track.

	"You did so great today!" Pinkie was so enthusiastic... she made her blush... "You sleep on it and we'll see which ones you wanna see some more of tomorrow!" Pinkie kept winking at her all day...

	Twilight smiled at her too. "You'll find someone before you know it Fluttershy. We'll all be here for you."

	Fluttershy smiled and sighed. "Thank you."

	They said their goodnights, but Pinkie insisted on seeing Fluttershy home. She didn't know what Pinkie was up to, but she wasn't surprised when she stopped her outside her front door and smiled, and began a speech.

	"Fluttershy, don't settle too early alright?" Pinkie smiled, "This is super duper important... we gotta do it right." Fluttershy nodded, and smiled a little. She was surprised when Pinkie took her hoof and held it. "I mean it, you gotta pick the one you'll be happy with forever, ok? You think about what Fluttershy wants." She petted her hoof a little and Fluttershy just sort of stared back, and then realised Pinky was waiting for her to nod.

	"Y... yeah. I will... Thank you."

	"And Fluttershy..." Pinkie smiled over her shoulder, two bounces down the path already, paused, apparently saying something important.

	"Y... yes?"

	"Thanks for letting me find you your super special pony partner!" She bounced off... Fluttershy sighed, and smiled a little... She wondered if Pinkie had been wanting to do this for a while...





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	She slept a bit better that night. She even felt good when she had the dream again.





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	Fluttershy woke up feeling better than she had for a couple of days at least. Nobody was there when she went downstairs... once she properly woke up she realised it was kind of early still. She decided to get an early start feeding the animals. They were getting up earlier now she was leaving them to their own devices.

	She got herself ready and went outside, and groaned... he was back again.

	Snails waved at her. "You can't keep showing up here..." she gave him a glare, "This is getting weird... it's not right Snails, just turning up like this all the time at all hours!" She had her hooves on her hips now. Snails just looked a little confused.

	"What do you think I'm here to do, eh?" He tilted his head... for once he wasn't grinning, he seemed genuinely confused... even a little mad. For a few moments they just glared at each other. "Why don't you ever want me around?" Fluttershy couldn't get her head around what he was thinking... why he was asking... she didn't know what to say... and he continued, slowly speaking, "Am I doing something..." he looked away, thinking. "I mean, I thought you..."

	"I don't like you" She blurted out, then blushed... no, that sounded mean, she needed to clarify it, "I m... mean... I don't... have a crush on you or anything..."

	They stared back at each other for a while. "Who said you did?" He tilted his head, looking genuinely confused. "There's just so many bugs in the meadow."

	He was staring blankly now. She sighed deeply. "I... I'm sorry. Just... you keep... showing up." She felt like the whole day yesterday had lost some of its positive effect... "I don't know what to make of anything anymore..." mumbling her thoughts out loud.

	"And I thought we were friends Fluttershy. You were bein' so nice..." Snails frowned, "So when can I look for bugs in the meadow, eh? I got lectures to do"

	Fluttershy felt shattered... she drooped her wings and head, staring at the ground...

	Snails seemed to be continuing the line of thought anyway... it was taking a minute but he was getting somewhere. "You think I like you... but you never said... and then... like I'm being creepy, eh?" He was talking slowly as usual...

	And then he looked directly at her, stood up a little taller than normal and looked a bit shattered himself. "Fluttershy... when you helped me, were you gettin' rid of me?"

	"I was upset..." She glared back at him... she was mad at everything lately... and this... slow stallion... he just wouldn't go away. "And..."

	She squeaked. He was right up in her face now, and her heart jumped into her throat... she didn't know if she should be terrified or not. And he was just looking at her face, super close, staring right at her.

	Then he backed up, and frowned. "I need to pay more attention to things I guess, eh." And he sighed.

	Fluttershy blinked. She was frozen on the spot. She had no idea what was going on.

	"I'm sorry." And he sort of bowed down, like he had the day Twilight had told him and Snips off all those years back, "I know I talk slow, and I don't always notice things... I'll try harder in future, eh."

	And then he left. Fluttershy was speechless.





* * *





* * *



	When Pinkie arrived, Twilight and AJ weren't with her this time. Which was fair enough, they both had a lot on their plates... so did Pinkie, but she seemed determined to fix up Fluttershy with someone.

	Fluttershy managed to get her to sit down and have something to eat instead of dragging her out right away.

	"I need to talk about something..." She muttered, and Pinkie leant in and smiled, looking as overly enthusiastic as ever. "Snails showed up again this morning." She stared at the ground.

	"Oooh! Where is he, is he still around?" Pinkie bounced in place, grinning.

	"No, he left... I think I... I kind of was rude... then... I don't know what happened..." Fluttershy sighed, letting her mane fall over one eye. "He... said something about noticing things and apologised."

	Pinkie giggled. "Well it wouldn't hurt, he's aaalways preoccupied with something. Silly stallion. Everyone thinks he's slow." Pinkie grinned. She knew all too well how weird people seemed to think she was... though it was kinda true.

	Fluttershy blushed. Pinkie patted her on the back.

	The rest of the day was fairly uneventful... Fluttershy was preoccupied and had some good conversations, but they were mostly short. She felt more social than she ever had. Pinkie kept asking her if she was ok, and being cheerful. She continued winking at her all day too... Fluttershy took to rolling her eyes at her in return. By the end of the day they were both giggling... mostly Pinkie, but still.

	Pinkie bounced off, notes in saddlebags... and Fluttershy took a deep breath and went to apologise to Snails...

	The lecture halls were mostly empty at this time of day. Fluttershy went where she remembered seeing his office, and knocked on the door... sighing... she felt nervous all over again...

	"Hey Fluttershy" She squeaked... he was behind her "Sorry" he smiled. He definitely didn't seem to have the usual staring into space grin.

	"Hi Snails." She gulped. She really didn't know how to explain herself... "I... I wanted to apologise..."

	The next half hour or so had gone slowly. Fluttershy had explained what she'd assumed, and how she was upset... and Snails seemed to be paying a lot more attention than usual. He even nodded every so often. She explained more than she meant to... by the time she realised she'd explained everything down to the dream... all she could do was blush and drop her head to the desk, sighing. It felt good to say it out loud... but this just wasn't the place...

	Snails petted her back. "That sounds hard, eh." He smiled reassuringly... she was almost getting a little tired of reassuring smiles, but she smiled back.

	"Don't tell anyone, please?" She blushed, and continued to look at her feet. Snails nodded.

	As she was leaving, he spoke up again, "We're still friends, right Fluttershy?"

	"Yes" She nodded.

	It had been a really odd week... and it only really dawned on her how much that one argument had changed things for Snails when she got home. The whole time he hadn't once got that silly spaced out grin on his face.





* * *





* * *



	The next few weeks were mostly uneventful. Pinkie continued try and get Fluttershy the right pony. She even gave in and went on some dates. None had quite worked out, but Fluttershy was feeling more confident than ever.

	The day came when Fluttershy's next midwife and carer duties were approaching... and it was nearly time for her to pack her things and move in with the expectant couple... this was a big one, not as bad as when Twilight had gone through hers, but enough to warrant Fluttershy staying over. Suddenly all her friends were back over all the time... not that they hadn't visited, and she visited them, but now she would wake up to her friends downstairs... it was nice. She didn't feel too upset anymore, but they all wanted to be there for her and it meant the world to her.

	The whole lot were there too... all the kids as well. Dash was in a much better mood too these days. She had a shiny new necklace that Celestia had given her, and it was working like a charm. Well, it was a charm of sorts anyway. Pinkie continued to tease her, suggesting she'd eventually want more foals, and Dash would stick her tongue out at her. Pinkie always kissed it immediately. She had mastered making Dash blush a long time ago.

	Twilight only came over with Spike now. She was getting tired more often as time passed. Fluttershy smiled watching Spike cuddle her up.

	Big Mac never came over, but she'd visited them at the farm sometimes. He was always busy though. Applejack visited frequently, and so did Applebloom. Once or twice Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had shown up with her. She even saw Snips once or twice.

	Snails however only showed up either very early in the meadow, or very late. Once he realised she was feeding animals earlier in the day, he would show up in the mornings always, trot over and chat, then start gathering bugs. Fluttershy watched him run around, he was getting better at it now that he was paying attention to things.

	She had started to get quite used to him being around. From time to time they swapped smiles and continued with what they were doing. On a whim she went to watch a few more of his lectures. He'd stopped pausing so much in them, saying what he liked... he was more focused. The students still giggled whenever he spent ages pronouncing a big word reeeally slow though.

	One day in particular Snails had asked her if she wanted to go get lunch and she'd gone along... neither of them said it was a date, or even really wondered. It just seemed right.

	The morning came when she had to head out to the new family, and Fluttershy brought her cases out early, and went to find Snails in the meadow. She wanted to be sure he knew where she was.

	He waved as soon as he saw her, and ushered her over. He was looking at one of the ugliest bugs she'd ever seen, smooshed against the ground, staring at the little details. Without thinking she crouched down next to him and looked at it. "Eww..."

	"It's awesome" he smiled, looking over at her, "See all those little joints? It's amazing, eh?" She smiled, trying to picture it the way he was seeing it. He always talked about them like they were as fascinating and cute as all her little animals...

	"I don't get it" She blushed, both ponies giggling softly. "Snails... can we talk?"

	He nodded and stood up, and then sat down. She sat down in front of him, and took a deep breath.

	"I have to go stay with the new family in town for a while, so I won't be around, ok?" She smiled, "I mean, we can still have lunch or something... but I'll be staying there." She blushed softly. He nodded and continued smiling.

	"That sounds nice. Lunch I mean, eh?" Snails looked away, grinning a little, "I was wondering... when you get back from being busy..."

	He was blushing... she blushed a little more too. "I'd like that... we could give it a try"

	She leaned against him and smiled, and they stared into each other's eyes.





* * *



	Fluttershy was sitting in the meadow, smiling. Her animal friends were gathered around, and she was almost due with her first foal. She felt so happy she couldn't stop blushing.

	Snails nuzzled her cheek, smiling. This time it wasn't just a dream.



https://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/01/story-anti-pony-story-series.html