**A Step Out**

[WritingWithLove]

"Of course!" Rarity said, taking the bits and placing them on a nearby counter. Autha smiled and said, "Would you please direct me to the dressing room? I'm afraid-"
Swish!
Woosh!
Snap!
Swish!
She was in and out faster than she had realized!

"If you're ever in need of something to wear," said Rarity as Bonfire and Autha move towards the door, "you know where to visit! Ta-ta!"
Clack!

The door shut, and Autha turned to Bonfire and said, "Thank you very much for the glasses. I, um, how do you phrase it... I owe you one."  

[The Jolly Victini]

Bonfire shook his head. "You don't need to do anything for me. I just wanted to help you out. I don't need to be repaid in any way." Bonfire looked to Autha. "You... really did look great, by the way." Bonfire said, trying very hard, but failing to hide his blush as it shone through his red coat.  

[WritingWithLove]

Autha thought for a moment, trying to recall what the compliment was for. "O-oh, when I was in the dress?" she asked hesitantly. She noticed that Bonfire was blushing, and this caused her to blush in turn.
Stay serene, she thought, and do not say anything daft!
"Well, thank you very much! I was hoping I looked all right, for as long as I was in it!" she said with a nervous laugh. "I-I cannot think of an occasion in which I would wear it, though... but I mean, trying it on is free, right? And if you thought I looked good in it-" She stopped herself and sighed. "Terribly sorry. I really must stop rambling... Where shall we go next?"  

[The Jolly Victini]

"Why don't we go see Fluttershy? Wait, you're not allergic to any animals, are you?" Bonfire didn't usually ask this sort of question to anypony. But he felt compelled to make sure Autha was as safe as possible. "I-I mean, she has a lot of animals at her house and I just didn't want you to swell up or get hives or anything." Bonfire nervously laughed, but mentally scolded himself. "Are you stupid?! Why would you say something like that?"  

[WritingWithLove]

Autha chuckled. "No, I do not think I'm allergic to anything... but I'm sure you'd take wonderful care of me, should something go arwy." She bit her lip and blushed. Why did you say that? she thought, Why can you not just stay calm like you usually are?
Part of her wanted to go back to the library and hide, but a part of her never wanted the day to end.  

[The Jolly Victini]

"That's good." Bonfire said. They began the trek outside of the town proper and on the path leading to Fluttershy's cottage. Soon enough, they had arrived. The multiple animals, running around the house and doing what they do best. Bonfire knocked gently on the door and soon enough, the door was opened and Fluttershy beamed when she saw Bonfire. "Oh! Hello Bonfire! What brings you here?" She asked, her voice as gentle as ever. She noticed the newcomer and shrunk back slightly, but it was barely noticeable. "Oh, um... and who's this? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."  

[WritingWithLove]

"My name is Autha. It is very nice to meet you." Autha replied, feeling cautious. "I-I'm Fluttershy. It's nice to meet you too." Fluttershy replied quietly. Autha instantly liked Fluttershy; she felt as though she could somewhat relate to her shy nature.
"Would you like to come in?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, you don't have to, if you don't want to..."
"I certainly do not wish to impose."
"Oh, no, it's fine, really."
Fluttershy led he two inside her house, and Autha looked around and smiled. "I adore your home!" she said to Fluttershy. Fluttershy blushed slightly and replied, "Oh, well, thank you." A small rabbit scampered between Autha's legs, and she giggled as it looked up and her and glared kindly. She liked it here.  

[The Jolly Victini]

Angel hopped over to Bonfire and thumped his foot on his hoof. "Hey there, bud." He replied. He enjoyed the little friendly rivalry of speed the two had. Fluttershy flew into the kitchen and soon returned with a tea kettle. She poured the tea into three tea cups that were on a small table with a small plate of cookies next to them. "So, Autha... Are you and Bonfire... um... you know...?"

Bonfire, who had already begun to drink his tea, put a hoof over his mouth as he almost spit out his tea in surprise. This was starting to become uncanny. Everypony they had talked to today had, at some point, mentioned or thought of the two as a couple. Was it really that easy to see Bonfire and Autha... together?  

[WritingWithLove]

"If only."
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Thankfully she muttered it, so it seemed as though she was the only one who had heard herself say it... but she could have been mistaken.
She straightened up and replied clearly, "Oh, no. He is simply showing me about the area for the day." Fluttershy blushed and said, "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you or anything! I just saw you two together and assumed that, well, uh, I'm sorry!" Autha smiled and chuckled as she took a sip of tea. "That is quite all right. It is certainly nothing to become upset about." She observed the little rabbit as it stared up at Bonfire, and she smiled. Everypony likes him, she thought, and little creatures do, too. Surely he has someone else who adores him. I should just keep my mind straight before my heart runs away with it.  

[The Jolly Victini]

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get your cutie mark? I've never seen one such as your before." Fluttershy asked as she took a small bite of a cookie.  

[WritingWithLove]

Autha sighed and thought for a moment before responding. "Well," she said with a hint of regret, "I... I do not know for sure. I would hate to burden you with a long tale, so, simply, I woke up on the edge of town one day, and it was there. It has been there since before I can remember... which is not saying much, considering my limited memory, but... I am sorry that I am unable to provide you with any further information."
"Oh," said Fluttershy, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know-"
"It is quite all right, dear."
Autha took a sip of tea and said weakly, "This is delicious! You simply must give me the recipie, though I am sure that I will not make it as well as you." Fluttershy smiled and said, "Thank you very much! It's a special blend." Autha nodded and took another sip, doing her best to keep her imagination at bay. You can think of your problems on a later occasion, she thought. It crossed her mind that she might look too sad, so she smiled and said, "Bonfire, do you recall when you got yours?"  

[The Jolly Victini]

"Do I." Bonfire replied. "This cutie mark has more meaning to me than you could ever imagine. I got my cutie mark a week after my 12th birthday. It started out as a normal day in Canterlot and I was on my way to school when I heard somepony shouting, "Fire! Fire!"" Bonfire raised his hoofs to "re-enact" the scared pony. "I didn't know what to do, I was only a little colt, but... I felt I had to try and help somehow. I ran to the source of the fire and immediately recognized the house..." Bonfire set his cup of tea down on the table and continued. "The house belonged to my closest friend, Starsong. I felt my heart sink. I didn't know what to do, so... I dropped my saddlebags and ran in. I bucked the door down and ran through the house to find my friend. I heard her screaming from upstairs, so I carefully went up the stairs and ran to her room. Her parents had already left for work, so she or something else must have started the fire, but I didn't care. I had to get my friend out. I bucked down the door to her room and saw her trapped behind a wall of fire. Her mane was smudged and blackened because of the fire. She looked at me like I was crazy, I didn't know why, so I continued to run for her. I braced myself and ran through the wall of fire expecting to be hit with a blast of heat, but it never came. I wondered about it for a minute before I heard a crack and a crash. I looked to Starsong and saw that a beam had fallen on her and she was knocked out. My magic wasn't very strong, but I managed to pull her out of the beam and get her outside. A crowd had gathered, and some of my other friends cheered and rushed over to me." Bonfire wiped a tear that came to his eye. "Ah... sorry, this part is... um... hard." Bonfire exhaled and continued. "When I went to the hospital to see her after school, she didn't look too good. I asked the doctors what was wrong but... they only told me, "I'm sorry..." At first I wasn't sure what they meant, so I rushed to her side and she looked weakly over to me. Apparently, the beam had broken one of her ribs, which pierced one of her lungs. She wasn't going to make it through the night. I'll never forget the words she spoke to me before her parents rushed in to see her...

**
"Bonfire..." The pink pegasus filly spoke, "Don't be so sad. You saved me from that fire. You're a hero."

"But... you're gonna die...!" the colt Bonfire said. "I don't want you to go!" he sobbed.

"I have to, Bonfire... If Celestia takes all ponies away when it's their time, it's her choice when she takes me away."

"But it's not fair! Starsong... I love you...!"

Starsong nodded. "I know. And I love you too. But I'm not destined to be with you."

Bonfire looked down and spoke nothing more.

"Bonfire... your my closest friend ever. You got me from that fire in such a way that I'd never seen. Being sad isn't your thing. You've always been so happy and care-free. Don't beat yourself up about this. There's nothing you can do now." When Starsong realized Bonfire still wasn't moving, she spoke up once more. "Bonfire," she whispered, "c'mere." Bonfire looked up and hesitantly moved his head closer to his friend. "Closer." she whispered even more quietly. Before Bonfire could ask what she was doing, Starsong placed a kiss on Bonfire's muzzle. The look of shock captured Bonfire's face. "Don't stop smiling. Be happy. You'll find somepony else who loves you, I promise. Please? For me?" she whispered into his ear. Bonfire looked to her, smiled and nodded. He backed off when Starsong's parents walked in and she smiled to him and winked.

Bonfire weakly spoke before he turned around, "Goodbye... Starsong." he spoke with a sad smile.

"And, Bonfire," she quietly called out before her parents could bombard her with questions, "I love your cutie mark."

**

"...And sure enough, there it was." Bonfire looked down to his cutie mark. "Standing proud 'til this very day!" he said, wiping off the tears that had escaped his eyes. "Apparently, my special talent was the ability to control fire. That's why the fire never touched me. Once I finally left home, I came to Ponyville and became the town firepony. I hope what Starsong said was true... that I'll find my special somepony someday."

((Excuse my laziness, but this entire written cutie mark story was copied and pasted over from the Cutie Mark Chronicles continued rp.))  

[WritingWithLove]

((That's okay! It was a very exciting read! wink ))

The room grew very silent.
Autha didn't know what to say.
Back and forth, she fought with herself.

Tell him that you are sorry!
"Sorry" will not heal those kinds of wounds, Autha!
I can certainly try!
"Certainly!" You always say that, but do you ever mean it?
I should tell him that he was so brave!
Yes, like everyone else has? Why not say something no one has said?
Everything has been said before.
Let us pretend that is not the case, hm?
Fine! I shall tell him that... no...
Oh! Do that!
No!
Yes! Do it, Autha! For once in your life, be outgoing!

Autha took a deep breath and did her best to maintain eye-contact with Bonfire. "I am... terribly sorry that had to happen. I do not know why, but I feel as though I can relate to that. I know that you'll find somepony someday, because you are too astounding to not have someone just as wonderful."

For the first time in a long time, she hadn't stuttered.  

[The Jolly Victini]

Bonfire was silent. He wasn't the smartest of ponies, but he wasn't ignorant by any means. And he knew, just then, 100% positive, that Autha... liked him. The fact that she was so confident in what she had just said, saying it without any stutter or hesitation, maintaining eye contact the entire time... it all led to that conclusion. In a split second decision, Bonfire had to speak up as to not make Autha feel awkward. He had made his decision and now was not the time to hold back. For the first time since he was twelve, Bonfire had found love. "Then..." he began, "... could it be you?" he asked, his muzzle a little bit more red than his coat.

Fluttershy gasped, putting both of her hooves to her mouth. This was almost magical. Two ponies confessing their love, in her own house! "Oh... my. This is... wonderful!" she thought to herself.  

[WritingWithLove]

They say that, when one finds love, one can hear the angelic chorus.
Autha heard no chorus, but her ears were ringing like never before. That's how she knew that she was flustered; her ears rang.
It took every ounce of strength not to faint at that moment, and her voice was completely gone. Her heart pounded like the bass at DJ Pon-3's club, and her cheeks flamed.
Before she could respond, there was a loud knock at the door.