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> She'd always been nervous. Rainbow Dash wasn't exaggerating when she accused her of being afraid of her own shadow; but this was the first time she couldn't identify exactly what she was afraid of.

> She'd spent time Shining Armor dozens of times, but after seeing his bravery the last time she was in the Crystal Empire, it now felt like every time she saw him the butterflies of her cutie mark migrated from her flank to her belly.

 

> She'd spoken to Rarity about this feeling before, though declined to divulge who incited it. "Fluttershy, darling", she said, "You have a CRUSH on somepony! OH TELL ME WHO!" was the response… but that couldn't be the case. He was MARRIED! To a PRINCESS no less! A plain old pegasus like her would never have had a chance with a stallion like Shining Armor even if he were single and in a much more mundane line of work…

 

>But no matter how much she told herself he was out of her league and unavailable besides, she wasn't in control of it.

>She found herself staying, just watching him drill recruits through the streets of the Empire every day.

>She hoped he would notice her... but the more he didn't, the more she noticed him.

 

>Twilight's summit with the other princesses was coming to a close. Tomorrow they would be heading back to Ponyville.

>Who knew when they would be back next? If there's one thing Fluttershy had learned from Rainbow Dash, it was to never miss an opportunity... even if it meant getting hurt.

 

>The butterflies in her stomach started fluttering wildly as she gathered the courage for what she was about to do....

 

>As he dismissed the recruits, she put on the bravest face she could.

>This was it. For the first time in her life she was going to throw caution to the wind and follow her heart... or some other part of herself.

 

>As Shining Armor removed his helmet the first thing he saw was Twiley's friend marching toward him. He'd seen her a lot, though she very rarely spoke. Even more unusual, she was by herself.

 

>"Hey! Fluttershy! How's it going? I thought you would've been in the castle with the others!"

 

>"Oh, um... hey... hi.. i mean... hello Shining Armor. I was just watching you training the recruits and.. um... it looked like a lot of work and I just wanted to say hi and..."

 

>He cut her off

 

>"Oh heck yeah. It might look easy just walking around barking orders, but I've actually got to do everything they do and more!"

 

>She saw her chance

 

>"Oh wow... that must be exhausting! You want to... um... maybe... get a bite to eat? That is... if you're not busy... or going to see Cadence...."

 

> "Pthpppppbt!... are you kidding me? I haven't seen Cadence in 3 days... and before that it's just nothing but royal duties 8 days a week!

 

>Fluttershy averted her gaze, shamefully kicking at the dirt. Shining Armor had vented a little too much, a little too quickly...

 

>"Oh wow... guess I kinda lost my head for a second there... FOOD! Hey yeah! Let's get something to eat. I know the best place to get a Crystal Berry Pie in the entire Empire! It's pretty far though... Come on, let's hoof it before they close!"

 

> What Shining Armor had neglected to tell Fluttershy was that this place was at the very Southern entrance of the Crystal Empire... and he had been driling the recruits in front of the Castle at the North end....

 

>Shining Armor's endurance was unreal. Fluttershy felt like she was going to keel over and pass out, and he hadn't lost an ounce of speed.

 

>"Shining Armor", she panted, "Isn't there anywhere closer? I don't train like you do and I can't run across an entire city in an hour..."

 

>Shining Armor frowned.

 

>"I kinda had my heart set on a berry pie. If your legs are tired, can't you fly?"

 

>"Well, I.... you see... I'm a very weak flyer..."

 

>A bold-faced lie. While true she was no Rainbow Dash, she was more than capable of flying across the city and keeping up with Shining Armor. The truth was her nervousness around him had practically paralyzed her wings... she wasn't about to tell HIM that, though...

 

>Shining Armor sat in contemplation for a moment...

 

>"Well that leaves just one solution..."

 

>With that statement he grabbed the pale-golden pony around her waist and slung her over his back in one smooth motion.

 

>She was completely paralyzed. She didn't know if she was going to burst with excitement, run away in terror or... she wasn't sure what else...

 

>The butterflies were gone from her belly as Shining Armor trotted through the city streets as if she weighed no more than her pet, Angel. In their place was a sensation not unlike burning... a fire. And it was growing.

 

>Before she knew it they were halfway across the city. She was lost in thought. What was she doing? What was she THINKING? This was a married stallion... and Cadence was a good...

 

>"Whoa! Hey!", Shining Armor exclaimed.

 

>Looking down she realized she had been so lost in thought she didn't even notice herself wrap her forelegs around his neck... but that wasn't as strange as the fact that she'd apparently been nuzzling his mane as well.

 

>"Fluttershy what the...."

 

>"Ohmigosh I'm so sorry! I have no idea what came over me! I... just.. oh... you see... WAAAAAHHHH!!!"

 

>With that last bit of eloquence, she turned tail and ran as fast and as far as she could...

 

>It turned out that wasn't actually very far at all. Shining Armor had managed to grab the tip of her tail between his teeth and decided he'd get a bit of a laugh out of seeing how long she'd run in place before she noticed.

 

>"Huh?" she exclaimed after running herself out of breath going absolutely nowhere. "Why are you stopping me?"

 

>"Because I still want a cherry pie, and you asked me if I wanted to get something to eat."

 

>Shining Armor thought for a minute. "On second thought... I could do without the food. Why don't we head back to the castle?"

 

>"The castle?", she asked, confusedly. "What's at the castle?"

 

>"Nothing in particular. That's just a good place to eat pie."

 

>"But you said you didn't want..." her face turned a bright orange... "FRESH!" she managed to blurt out through bouts of hysterical laughter.

 

>As she was still laughing, he scooped her back up and began carrying her back to the castle.

 

>"Listen, Fluttershy... I don't... really know what this is. I DO know that Cadence and I are in a really weird place right now. I just want to make it clear that I have no idea where this is heading, and I hope you're not getting your hopes up."

 

>She didn't want to hear that... but deep down she knew he was right. She nodded in agreement and clung to him tighter.

 

>"So", he said, "What's say we just live in the now... and see where that path heads?"

 

>She assented by practically choking him with a hug.