Fluttershy

Quinn

"No! No!" I yelled, throwing my folded arms down. "Nathan! No you're not!" Nathan moved to grab my hands, but I stepped back and swatted his hands away. Hard.

"Quinn, please," Nathan started.

"No, Nathan! You're not Zoe's father! You can't be!" I screamed.

"Why not?" Nathan asked.

"Because....." I tried to say. "Because......because you just can't!"

"Quinn, just listen to me."

"No! Nathan! You listen to me. This is a poisonous dream! If you tell this to Zoe she could be shattered, not scarred, Nathan. Shattered."

"That's why I'm not going to tell her. At least, not yet." Nathan said.

"How do you know this for sure?" I asked.

"Quinn, I realized why I couldn't let either of you die that night. Zoe's my daughter." Nathan said.

"Nathan! You're 19! How can you have a 17-year-old daughter!?" I screamed at him. I walked away from him, going out to the balcony.

"I told you! The years of fairies and the years of humans sync together, and I am Zoe's father." Nathan explained again. "That's why I'm so protective of you."

"I get it." I said, leaning against the balcony railing, not looking at Nathan as I spoke. "You love me because I look like someone else."

"Quinn-" Nathan argued, but I cut him off.

"No, it's fine! I'll just be living in a shadow of someone you love."

"Now stop it!" Nathan said, turning my shoulders to him. I tore away from him, but he shifted his grip, his hand coming around my neck and pulling me in. I found my lips kissing his, my arms wanting to wrap around his neck as well. Nathan's thumbs rubbed my cheeks as we kissed, his hands gently wrapped around the back of my neck. My eyes closed, savoring the sensation of Nathan's lips against mine, tough but gentle. I felt my heart stop for a beat, and I felt our bodies connect like nothing I have ever felt before.

But then I remembered what he said.

I tore myself away from his body, looking at him in complete shock. I couldn't love him. I wouldn't. Not after he said that he loved me for who I look like.

"Leave me." I said, wiping my lips like he had put a bad taste in my mouth.

"Quinn," Nathan protested, but I looked away from him and pointed to the door. He started to walk away as I leaned on the railing again. Before he left the room, I heard his voice once more. "I don't love you because you look like Zoe. I love you because I love you."

I heard a small click of the door closing, and fell to my knees, my hands still holding the top of the railing as for assurance that they were still there. With one hand, I held my gut, complete shock in my veins. I couldn't breath, I felt like I was going to throw up.

I could never love again.

-------------------

I found myself putting the castle to sleep with my powers and jumping off the balcony a second later. Now that I knew how to maneuver over the river underneath my window, I didn't have second thoughts after jumping. I knew exactly where I was going, and I knew exactly how to get there.

When my wings caught up with my actions, I flew to the castle kitchen on the lower floor, watching as the castle chefs slept on the floor and on counters. I stepped over a man's sleeping body trying to get to the pantry of food, worried that if I tried to fly, it would cause the blue dust surrounding the unconscious bodies to drift away and wake them up.