My Little Pony: The Portal

Chapter 26: First Date

"So, where would you like to go?" Evan asked, turning to Fluttershy with him in the passenger seat.

"Um, I don't know..." Fluttershy said bashfully.

"Oh yeah, sorry, stupid question. Um, um, you in the mood for some ice cream?" He offered. She nodded.

"Sure. That sounds nice." She answered with a smile.

"Ice cream it is then." He said with a nod, pulling out of his parking spot and pulling away from Alex's apartment where he had picked her up.

"So, how are you doing today, Evan?" She asked him. Evan shrugged.

"Can't complain. I'm great actually. I slept in and everything, and now here we are." He said with a smile. Fluttershy smiled back.

"Mhmm. I'm excited."

"Me too, for real."

"Maybe a little nervous too." Fluttershy admitted softly, her voice dropping a bit.

"Heheh, glad it isn't just me," Evan let out a breathy chuckle. "But we'll get some ice cream, we'll chat, and it'll be a great time." Evan said, his voice getting higher in pitch towards the end of his sentence. Flutteshy giggled.

"Okay."

"So, you have three siblings?" Fluttershy asked. Evan hummed and nodded, sitting across from Fluttershy and handing her ice cream to her.

"Yep. It's a busy family." He said with a chuckle.

"Sounds like it," Fluttershy said with a giggle. "But you had company."

"Yes, I did, all the time...all the time," Evan chuckled. "They're all older now, doing their own thing really, finding their own way." Evan said with a nod.

"And what about you?" Fluttershy asked.

"What about me?"

"Well, what's your path?"

"Heheh, that's a deep question. I don't know really. I work with computers, which is what I wanted, I spend time with friends every once in awhile. Things are good right now. I'm not really thinking that far into the future right now." Evan admitted.

"I understand. I can't say that I am right now either. I think I'm doing well, I'm in a good place, just working on some things." Fluttershy said with a nod.

"What kind of things?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, well, you see, I used to be really shy...more so than I am now. I had a hard time even talking to ponies and standing up for myself. Rainbow Dash had to look out for me for a long time, but now I'm trying to get better at standing up for myself." Fluttershy explained.

"Ah yeah, I get that. If you don't stand up for yourself, people are always gonna try to walk all over you." Evan agreed with the sentiment.

"Mhmm. With the help of Rainbow Dash and my other best friends, I've gotten a lot better at it. I just try not to get carried away. That's happened a few times..." Fluttershy pressed her lips together. Evan chuckled a bit.

"Heheh, well, that's okay too, it takes time. I used to have that kind of problem too." Evan said.

"Really? You don't seem like you'd have problems with shyness now." Fluttershy said.

"I used to. I used to get really nervous when it came to expressing myself, worried about how other people would judge me."

"That is the same problem that I had!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"Mhmm. It got better over time because, well, it had to. My cousins helped me out with that just helping learn how to do stuff that gave me more confidence." Evan explained.