Chapter IV

I'm here! Goldenponyboy here with your next chapter. And, since I have very little to say right now, THE FIC IS THE THING!

I only own my OC(s).

Paul's week flew past with his little noticing. His second and third tests were beyond simplicity. His track meet ended with the boys in second and the girls finishing third. And Fluttershy was successfully hidden from his father.

To be honest, his father didn't care. Anything that concerned Paul at home was pointless to him. The only times he ever "cared" was when his public image was at risk. He only "cared" when Paul did something like get first or second in discus or got straight A's on his report card.

As he got in his car to go to work that Saturday, his father was actually thinking intently about his son. But not at all anything good. More like how he was going to punish him after he got home. He never needed a reason. Paul usually provided it.

But enough about Paul's father. Let's look back at Paul. He was at home, lounging in the basement with Fluttershy. Her condition had been slowly improving over the past few days, as well as her ability to cope as a human, but they were still nowhere near close to figuring out how she got there.

"If only Twilight were here," she said, holding her chin in her hand. "She'd know what to do."

Paul was currently pacing in front of her. "I've read several stories about this kind of thing happening, but there's usually another pony-human here that cast the spell or something." It was then that he stopped dead. "Actually, there is one story, but I could never make it to the end."

"Could you try again?"

"It's too sad. I just...can't."

She sighed. "Oh, okay, if you can't, it's okay. I really don't mind. Maybe I could learn to live here."

Paul stood bolt upright. "No."

"No?"

"No. It's not okay. If we can't send you back, I'll never forgive myself."

"It's not your fault, Paul. If anyone, it's mine. I wanted to help Twilight."

"Be that as it may, you don't deserve being trapped here. And I will do anything to get you back home."

They sat in silence for a while. A silence that was broken by Paul's mother coming down to bring him and Fluttershy lunch of PB&J sandwiches. When Fluttershy first woke up, Paul knew that she would be hungry and ran upstairs to make her one of these same sandwiches, since she was a pony and, by extension, vegetarian. Plus, he didn't want his mom trying to feed her any meat unwittingly. She fell in love with it instantly and Paul suggested that she just ate that for a while before introducing her to another food.

Sitting next to the girl, Paul's mother began to talk to her. "How are you feeling, honey?"

"I'm doing better, ma'am. Thank you."

"Do you feel that you can trust me?"

"Of course! I'm mean, you've been so kind to me ever since I came here."

"Then, can you tell me your name?"

It was here that she stopped talking and looked over at Paul. He sighed, putting his hand over his mouth to think for a second. After this, he nodded. That's when Fluttershy looked at her and said, "My name is Fluttershy."

Paul's mom cocked an eyebrow at her. "You don't need to lie to me."

"She's not." Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out the pendant that he took off Fluttershy's neck the first day. "This was around her neck. And that is legit ruby. And if that's not enough, listen closely to her voice."

His mom took all of this into consideration for a second before nodding her head and smiling. "I thought so."

"We're not- wait. You believe us?"

"There's no reason to believe that you would lie, Paul. And, I've heard enough about her from you and the girls that I could see the resemblance. Besides, why else would you want to keep her all to yourself?"

"Mom!"

The three laughed at this for a while before his mom got up and walked back upstairs, murmuring to herself about Fluttershy.

After she had completely gone upstairs, Paul, still giggling, turned to see Fluttershy's face. It was no longer one of joy, but of sorrow. "You took that from me?"

He instantly stopped and dipped his head. "Yes, but I-"

"You what?"

"I wanted to keep who you were a secret from everyone for a while."

"That pendant might be my only way home."

"I didn't think about-"

He was silenced by the deadliest combination known to man or pony-kind. First, she gave him The Stare, paralyzing him with fear. "You knew! You didn't want to send me back!" Then, her eyes welled up with tears as she broke down crying, breaking his heart. "You wanted to keep me here against my will."

In a dash, Paul was at her side, holding her tightly. "Don't cry. Please don't cry. It's true, I don't want to send you back, but it's what has to be done."

Carefully, he took the pendant and put it back around her neck. It was then that she began glowing. "What's happening to me?" she questioned in horror.

Paul couldn't answer. He could only instinctively grab her and hold on tightly, causing him to glow as well. He didn't know what would happen, but he would never let her go through it herself as long as he could help it.

Chapter Complete. Okay, not the best chapter, but I'm just getting back into the swing of things. I'm doing good by comparison. Anyway, R&R AND ADIOS!