Note: And we are back in action! Sorry for posting this so late, but I pretty much just wrote this up in thirty minutes. I did a quick proof-read run-though, but I might have missed some stuff. Enjoy!

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Sunset and Fluttershy's house

Time: Ten days after the Paradox took over Equestria

Fluttershy smiled at Starlight Amber as she coaxed her foal. "Come on. You can do it. Just one hoof in front of the other…"

Starlight, eyes bright and wondering, slowly wobbled to all fours and took a couple of quick steps. Fluttershy brightened. Starlight had become an effective trotter over the last couple of days. Soon she would be able to move around with ease.

At this time, Sunset entered the room. His eyes immediately brightened when he saw his wife and his foal. Sitting down next to Fluttershy, he said, "How is she doing?"

Fluttershy smiled, "She beginning to trot. It is wonderful."

"Of that I have no doubt," chuckled Sunset as he watching the little filly in front of him slowly take a couple of more steps before almost falling over. Sunset got up and helped Starlight cover the rest of the distance to her mother.

"I am going to go out soon," said Sunset after a pause, "I have some ponies that I need to meet. Will you be fine on your own? Angel has not been in a cooperative mood lately."

"Oh, I will be fine," murmured Fluttershy gazing lovingly at him, "You go do whatever you need to do."

Sunset kissed her on the forehead and then got up. Patting Starlight lightly on the head as he trotted by, Sunset left the room, and then exited the house. Fluttershy got up and peeped through the window curtains as she watched him trot away into town. Soon Sunset rounded a corner and disappeared. The moment he did so, Fluttershy turned around and seized the house phone. Dialing in some numbers, Fluttershy waited for the ringing noise to sound off. In a moment, it did so, and another pony on the other side answered.

"Twilight?" said Fluttershy, "Would you mind watching Starlight for a bit for me? I have something I need to do."

"Of course Fluttershy! Come on over!" exclaimed Twilight. Not questioning any further, Twilight then disconnected. Fluttershy gently picked up Starlight and placed her in the stroller. She then exited the house with her filly in tow, and made her way to Twilight's library.

As she pulled up at the doorstep, Fluttershy knocked at the door and said, "Twilight? It's me, Fluttershy."

The door was flung open by Flaming Star. Grinning ear-to-ear, Flaming Star said, "Hey Fluttershy! Twilight is upstairs. Why don't you come in? Spike and I were just starting a game of Risk. It turns out you can win that game in ten moves."

Fluttershy gave Flaming Star a small smile as Spike's grumbling echoed from the interior of the building.

"I appreciate the offer, Flaming Star, but I am just here to talk to Twilight. She said she would watch Starlight for me for a bit while I attend to some other matters."

Flaming Star winked at Fluttershy and then turned around.

"Twilight!" he called, "Did you hear? Fluttershy is here with Starlight!"

In a moment, Twilight joined Flaming Star at the door. Using magic, Twilight levitated Starlight out of the stroller and into the house by her side.

"We will take good care of her," said Twilight reassuringly, seeing Fluttershy's worried face, "Never you fear."

Fluttershy gave them a tiny sheepish smile in thanks, and then turned around. Timidly, she trotted away.

"Fluttershy looked quite preoccupied," mused Flaming Star as he watched the female Pegasus leave the scene, "I wonder what could be bothering her so?"

"I don't know," replied Twilight slowly. After a pause, she perked up and said, "Well, we have a foal to take care of now! Let's go!"

Eyes still narrowed, Flaming Star nodded slightly. He then turned around and closed the door via magic.

"Well," said Flaming Star after a moment, "I suppose we should call off the Risk game for a moment, Spike."

"Oh no, you don't need to do that," said Twilight, "I will watch Starlight. We can play together as you continue the game!"

Flaming Star smiled gratefully at her before trotting off to sit down at the table where Spike was, setting up the Risk board. Twilight quickly followed him and sat down nearby. She lightly deposited Starlight beside her. Eyes wide with wonder, Starlight began to explore this strange new environment with her new-found abilities of locomotion.

Twilight smiled as she watched the little foal wander about, bumping into things.

"Okay, so last game I beat you in less than twelve moves," said Flaming Star briskly as he helped Spike set up the board, "Let's see if we can't keep that record."

"Big talk," snorted Spike, "Need I remind you what my Three Musketeer Earth Ponies did to your vast armies that one game?"

Flaming Star rolled his eyes. That specific memory had become something of a trump card for Spike in all their arguments and teasing banter. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Flaming Star, "But I am fairly sure you expended all of your luck on that one game. I would say you are in quite a pickle now."

"We will see," said Spike in a dramatic voice, "Okay. Are we going position our troop reserves based off random card draw or choice this time?"

"Hmmmmm… good point," mused Flaming Star, "If we do the random card draw…"

"Flaming Star," interjected Twilight, as she stared lovingly at Starlight wandering around, "Could I ask you a question?"

Flaming Star blinked. He then turned his head to look at Twilight, "Sure," he said, "Anything."

Twilight smiled as she levitated Starlight over to where she sat, to ensure that the foal did not wander too far away. "Have you… have you ever thought about having a foal?"

There was a long pause. Both Flaming Star and Twilight began to blush a deep shade of red.

"I think I'm going to make some food," said Spike suddenly. He got up and left in a hurry. The silence ensued, and then Flaming Star said, "What… what do you mean?"

"Well… Since we're getting married… I was just wondering…"

"Nope. Nopenopenopenopenope…"

"Why not?"

"Just because. I don't think it would be… I mean I just can't… I mean, um, er, uh…"

"Why not?" exclaimed Twilight, "I think it would be the right choice! It would be so wonderful!"

Flaming Star glanced at her with a look of pure panic on his face. Suddenly he shimmered and vanished. He had cloaked himself in an invisibility field.

Twilight stared at the spot Flaming Star had been at a moment ago with a disgruntled look on her face. She wanted to know his answer, and he was not going to be able to escape it. Giving a small mental push, she activated a spell, and her horn released a blast of magic. The magic shimmered through the air in a sparkling shockwave, and cascaded against the invisibility bubble that Flaming Star was hiding in. The bubble distorted and then popped, exposing Flaming Star.

"Why aren't you answering?" she asked.

Flaming Star shimmered once more, and then transformed into a houseplant. The Firstborn had literally transformed into a houseplant in order to avoid answering Twilight's sensitive question. Twilight trotted up to the Flaming Star/houseplant and exclaimed, "You can't do that!"

There was no reply. The houseplant just sat there…

"Stallions," grumbled Twilight. She levitated Starlight and deposited her on her back. She then pointedly turned tail and trotted upstairs. The moment she left, Spike exited the kitchen and walked up to the houseplant. Tapping the plant lightly with a claw, Spike said, "She's gone. That was a close one. However, that was not at all smooth. You need to think of a better way of avoiding questions. Take me for example… I am an expert at that. Would you like some pointers?

The houseplant shimmered and transformed back into Flaming Star.

"I really need to see Sunset about this," sighed Flaming Star dejectedly, massaging his temples with his hooves. "I am sure Sunset and Fluttershy never had to go through this situation. They always have it so good. Huh… Where is Fluttershy going anyway?"

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Ponyville

Time: Ten days after the Paradox took over Equestria

Fluttershy trotted through town, eyes scouring every centimeter of the buildings around her. She was looking for Ravencroft Solace. Even since that time he had walked her home, she had worried about him. The ghosts of his past life that reverberated from his eyes just seemed so… wrong. Whatever that human being had experienced, it must have been worse that pure hell. However, where this would have terrified the average Ponyville inhabitant, this actually made Fluttershy all the more curious. Her harmony element was kindness, and so it was in her nature to care for those who had been hurt, mentally and physically. There was no denying that Ravencroft had been hurt mentally, and she was quite keen on helping him out.

However, the first step towards that goal was finding the person, which was proving to be less than fruitful as she continued to scour Ponyville. In a couple more minutes, she had made it to the outskirts of the town, and there was still no sign of the Dimensional Traveler. After a moment of looking about, Fluttershy called out, timidly, "Ravencroft Solace? Are you there?"

Though she had not yelled or even raised her voice while saying that phrase, her voice echoed about nonetheless, causing Fluttershy to wince a bit.

Suddenly, a voice by her ear said, "You called my name. Why?"

Fluttershy gave a little "eep!" of terror and leapt almost a meter in the air. She whirled around and found Ravencroft standing behind her, looking at her with a mix of belligerence and curiosity.

"Why did you call my name?" asked Reavencroft. His eyes began to dart around, as if he was expecting a trap.

For a moment, all words left Fluttershy as her heart began to beat faster and faster. However, after that moment passed, she took a deep breath and said, timidly, "I was looking for you…"

"That much is apparent, fair one," replied Ravencroft sharply, still looking about, almost fervently, "What was the reason for you search for me?"

"I… I… I… I wanted to ask you if you wanted to have a picnic," stuttered Fluttershy in a small voice.

Ravencroft stopped looking about and stared at Fluttershy. If this had been a trap, Ravencroft would have just fallen for it in the most spectacular style. He had been caught completely off-guard by that statement.

"You… what?" asked Ravencroft in a disbelieving voice.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have a picnic," said Fluttershy in a firmer voice, "Sunset will be coming about later, so perhaps we could all get together and talk…"

Ravencroft looked at her for another minute or so in absolute silence. Then he said, "No."

He turned around with a sweeping gesture and began to make his way back into Ponyville. Fluttershy felt compelled to chase after him to ask for the reason why he rejected her innocent invitation, but fear got the better of her. Sighing sadly, she shook her head. She felt like she had failed to make this dark figure understand that he was not alone. She had been able to show Sunset Shadow that four years ago… why couldn't he see that as well?

However, as much as Fluttershy felt like a failure, it was not necessarily true. Ravencroft had been stunned by her invitation. As he walked away, his mind was churning with confusing thoughts. Did Fluttershy actually feel bad for him? No one had even been sympathetic towards him before. All that had been tossed his way had been hate, disgust, and fear. But this was different… Perhaps Fluttershy and Sunset were different…

Fluttershy, after staring at her hooves, peeked through her flowing pink mane to see if Ravencroft had actually left. He had. Sighing deeply once more, Fluttershy began to trot dejectedly back into Ponyville. As she did, she ran into none other than Sunset.

"Dear? What seems to be the problem?" asked Sunset. The moment he saw her face, his face fell as well.

"Well… I went to ask Ravencroft if he wanted to have a picnic…"

"You… did… what?"

"I… I… I asked Ravencroft if he wanted to have a picnic."

"That's ridiculous! He's a cold-hearted killer! He's a monster! That was extremely dangerous. Why didn't you ask me before you did it?

"Because of that," said Fluttershy. Her eyes began to well up with tears, and she looked down at her hoofs once more.

Sighing, Sunset pressed close to her side and spread a wing over her back. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. It's just… Haven't you seen what reflects back in his eyes? That being is not well. Something is wrong with him… VERY wrong with him."

Fluttershy got her emotions under control and she nodded a little. "I know," she said in a small voice, "It's just that I feel so bad for him. No one is inherently evil; they have to be taught that. Something must have happened in his life that has turned him into this creature, and I want to help mend what damage has been done."

Sunset smiled, and nuzzled her cheek. "You are absolutely incredible," he marveled, "You are the reason why the Paradox will never prevail. As long as there is unending kindness, good will always win."

Suddenly a voice murmured behind them. "Flutterhy…?"

Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and leapt behind Sunset for protection. Sunset quickly whirled around to face the speaker. It was Ravencroft Solace.

He was looking at them strangely. Almost as if… he was in pain. Not physical pain, of course, but deep, scarring, mental pain. "Fluttershy… Sunset… I would like to take up your offer for a picnic, if you don't mind," he whispered.

Sunset eyed Ravencroft in distrust, but then nodded to Fluttershy, giving her the floor.

Fluttershy gave him a wonderful, day-brightening smile and said, "Oh, we would LOVE that."

Ravencroft stared the female Pegasus in absolute shock. The face of total bewilderment caused Sunset to begin to chuckle. "I can tell you," said Sunset quietly, "That was my exact same face when she first gave me a place to stay at her house when I first came to Ponyville. Fluttershy is the kindest being in existence."

Ravencroft just continued to stare dully at the two. After a pause, Sunset beckoned to him and said, "Come. Follow us. By the way, Fluttershy… if you're not watching Starlight, then who is?"

"I left her in the care of Twilight. She said she would be more than happy to accommodate her for a bit," murmured Fluttershy. She pressed her side in Sunset's as she continued to smile happily at Ravencroft… who looked like his brain had just exploded.

"Right. Okay," said Sunset decisively. He then turned around and began to trot away. As he did so, he called back, "Come on! We will pick up Starlight and go have a picnic!"

Fluttershy, Sunset, and Ravencroft then began to move through Ponyville once more, towards Twilight's house. In a couple minutes, they were at the Library's doorstep. Reaching up, Sunset rapped on the door with a hoof. As he did that, Ravencroft stood off to the side, so no one answering the door would see him.

"Twilight? You there?" called Sunset after no one answered the door for a minute. The door then swung open, and a very grumpy Twilight answered. Her mane was rather disheveled, and she was levitating Starlight upside-down without knowing it. Fluttershy cringed a bit, but Sunset began to grin.

"Is there a problem?" asked Sunset slowly, a smile still plastered on his face.

"A problem? Nooooo, there's no problem," snorted Twilight, looking distracted, "What made you think there was a problem?"

"Oh… two things. One: your mane is messed up, and that only happens when there is a problem. Two: you are holding my only child upside-down… something you would never do under normal circumstances. I would appreciate it if you would put my foal down gently, and tell me exactly what the problem is… considering the fact that there technically is one."

Twilight sighed and shook her head, as if to clear it. She blushed a bit in shame as she passed Starlight over to the waiting hooves of Fluttershy. "Yes…" she said apologetically, "I suppose there is a problem."

There was a pause…

"Yes…?" asked Sunset expectantly.

Twilight glanced about, to see if anypony was listening. Ravencroft, seeing her eyes move in his direction, quickly cloaked himself with invisibility. Seeing nothing, Twilight sighed and said, "Well… I asked Flaming Star if he ever thought about having a foal. He then started panicking, and flipped out completely! He literally turned himself into a houseplant to avoid talking to me. Right now, per Spike's brainstorming, he is a couch. He's been trying to avoid me all day!"

"Oh my…" said Fluttershy quietly.

"Well… That's certainly… interesting," said Sunset, now trying really hard to not burst out laughing.

"If you have anything helpful to say, I would REALLY appreciate it," sighed Twilight, using magic to right her messed up mane.

"I will have to think about it," said Sunset slowly.

"What? You never had this problem?" asked Twilight, looking at him incredulously.

Sunset smiled sweetly at Fluttershy. "Nope. However, I will tell you that Flaming Star is a little – shall we say – terrified of girls in general. You will have to give him time for him to figure things out for himself."

Twilight sighed once again, deep and long. Finally, she said, "Yes. You are right. Sorry about that."

Sunset winked. "Oh, no problem. See you around Twilight!"

Twilight nodded and closed the door. The moment it did so, Sunset bust out laughing. Even Fluttershy was shaking with silent mirth. The two sat there shaking with laughter on the Library's doorstep.

"Oh my… Did I ever tell you how lucky I am to be married to you?" sighed Sunset, glancing gratefully at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder. "Over and over and over again."

After a pause, Sunset said, "Okay, Ravencroft… We will start moving again."

Ravencroft uncloaked. There were tears in his eyes. Fluttershy looked at him curiously, but Ravencroft simply shook his head. "Are you two finally ready?" he asked emotionlessly.

Sunset nodded. "Yes. Let's go."

Note: Just as a quick question... Is Doxia still everyone's favorite character? I am just wondering, because last time I checked, a small group of you still actually like Regal Crescent. I STILL receive complaints about his death once and a while. Anyway, don't forget to leave me a review! Thanks!