Fluttershy gently took a sip of her tea. "Thank you for coming over today, Exie," she said to her friend sitting across from her.
"Well, to be honest Fluttershy, when you invited me over because you wanted me to 'try something new', tea wasn't really the first thing that came to mind," Exie replied, setting her mug back on the table.
Exie had only been hoping for a date with Fluttershy since she'd first met her. She was gorgeous, friendly and gorgeous, the three things that Exie looked for in another pony. Although the yellow Pegasus clearly had her own little clique of friends(who were also gorgeous), Exie was interested in spending some personal time with the attractive yellow winged mare and she finally had the chance.
"Really? What did you think I meant?" Fluttershy asked.
Luscious, soft, hot, buttery, yellow, "Muffins," Exie answered quickly, avoiding what she was really thinking about. "I thought you were inviting me over to try your... muffins".
"Oh, I don't think I have any muffins. I just picked up this new tea recipe. I guess I could've stopped by the bakery and-" a loud crash came from the room adjacent to the kitchen. Something loud hit the floor and shattered. Fluttershy jolted in response sending the hot contents of her mug into the air and all over Exie.
"Ge-yaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" Exie yelped in pain as the scalding hot tea splashed her in the face.
"Oh my goodness," Fluttershy said. Exie's screaming caused Fluttershy to jolt a second time. She dropped her empty mug in response. "I'm so sorry, let me get you something to dry off with."
"Ueeehhh... it's okay, no... it's okay," Exie said, recovering. "Just a little tea, I've got it." She pulled up her napkin and did her best to dry herself. Her mane was soaked and steam rose from her face.
"I think I have a towel in the drawer." Fluttershy hovered out of the kitchen and into her living room.
Ear twitching, lip trembling, still burnt and damp, Exie couldn't take her eyes off of Fluttershy's... features as she got up and went to look for a towel for her. Alone in a house full of animals at the edge of the freaking Everfree Forest, looking like it's been decorated by somepony that thinks it's Spring all year long, Exie was now hot in more ways than one and could do nothing about it.
She watched the yellow Pegasus rifle through a cabinet. Gotdamn tease. EVERY part of her looked like it was... she just wanted to plunge her face into... and take her hooves and... wrapped around so gently... and then the feather duster would... and it made sense because after all, she WAS a Pegasus and could bend like that so... then Angelbunny would... Liam Neeson... Exie frowned, ending her fantasy train of thought. She felt like pouring her own tea in her lap.
Fluttershy fluttered back with a cloth. "I'm so sorry about that Exie," she said, hoofing it to Exie.
"It's all right, Fluttershy. I know you get... excited easily. It's something we have in common. Sort of."
"Really? You get frightened easily, too?" Fluttershy asked, sitting back down.
Exie bit her lip. "Well, umm..." fuck. "Yes," she lied. Exie had in fact enjoyed being "frightened" a lot. There were plenty of mares in Ponyville and she never found herself short of company when she desired it. However, it seemed they all had something going on, something about them that made it hard to get close to them. Though she'd normally been able to get around that, there were some notable exceptions like the one sitting across from her now. She finally had this local girl alone, in her own house and it still didn't seem like she'd be able to get intimate with her. It was enough to drive the sex-starved mare mad.
And Fluttershy was special. She was adorably timid, frickin gorgeous and her personality was sweet. A quick examination of her assets was enough to make Exie get over her general quirks and taste in décor. She vowed: she would get this mare into bed somehow!
Fluttershy lowered her head a bit. "What are some things you're afraid of?"
Now she had to cover her fib. "Zombies... pirates... ninjas..." she listed things from movies she'd seen recently.
"Those things scare me, too. But nothing really scares me more than," her voice got softer, "my shadow."
Exie raised an eyebrow. "You're actually afraid of your own shadow?" The yellow pony nodded.
"I've been afraid of my shadow for a long time."
"What... scares you about it?"
Fluttershy glanced behind her and then leaned in. "It's always there. And... it talks to me, tells me things."
Now, Exie was getting a little scared. This sounded like a deeper problem than just being timidly afraid. "What does it tell you?" she asked, reluctantly.
"It tells me things... it says strange things." Her voice started to tremble a little.
"Your shadow tells you strange things?" This was getting too creepy.
"It tells me things about my friends... and it's always listening."
"O...kay..." She couldn't believe how weird this was.
Fluttershy's voice became a whisper. "It tells me to burn things. Burn them to the ground."
Exie got up; she'd had enough. "I think I'm gonna get going now, Fluttershy. I'll, uh, I'll... see you later." Hot girl living with a bunch of animals was weird; hot girl who might be a potential arsonist/sociopath was insane and NOT something Exie wanted to sleep with right now. It just wasn't worth it.
Fluttershy got up herself. "Oh, please, I didn't mean to frighten you. You don't have to leave early."
Exie continued moving to the door in an uncomfortable haste. "Yeah, uh, it was nice seeing you Fluttershy. Thanks for the t-n-a... I mean, tea." She winced at her miswording.
"Oh... okay," Fluttershy stopped following her in the living room. "Good-bye..." Exie left without another word. The sound of the door closing behind her was followed by silence.
The living room was empty except for the yellow pegasus. She stood amongst the quiet for a few moments, just thinking. Her animals were all outside; even Angelbunny was elsewhere, leaving her completely alone.
It was late in the afternoon. The sun creeping in through the windows cast long shadows across the floor. Fluttershy turned back into the kitchen to clean up the mess. She threw away the broken pieces of her glass and swept up the tea that had splattered everywhere. She hoped Exie hadn't been burned by the accident. Rinsing out the mug Exie had used, she returned it to its place in her cupboard when she heard something coming from her living room, a scraping noise.
Fluttershy turned around quickly, remembering something had hit the floor and startled her in the first place. She looked down at the floor and felt her heart rate increase. All the other shadows cast by the furniture were pointing towards the kitchen. Fluttershy's own shadow, however, was pointing in the opposite direction. The long, dark lines made by her legs stretched out of the kitchen and around the corner into the living room. They moved rhythmically back and fourth as she watched them.
Fear gripped her throat. She swallowed hard and moved her hooves forward. Slowly, carefully, she peered beyond the wall into the living room.
Fluttershy's shadow was cast on the cupboard just beyond the kitchen. Although it stretched from the four of her hooves across the floor, the shadow in no way resembled the pony it was attached to. The figure moved back and fourth on the surface of the wall, floor and cupboard. A broom and dustpan levitated in the air in front of it, as if held by the shadow itself. Carefully, the two objects descended to brush up the pieces of a shattered plate off of the floor.
"Oh, hey Fluttershy," a male voice said.
Fluttershy didn't respond. Her hooves shook and her teeth chattered in fear.
"Did Exie like your new tea?" The shadow wavered as it spoke. The broom and dust pan continued sweeping up
Just go away, Fluttershy thought to herself. Just please go away.
"It's getting close to winter. We might want to start using your fireplace more often. I keep telling you that you don't use it often enough. Why have it if you're just going to use your stove?" the voice asked in a casual tone.
It wanted her to burn things again! Why wouldn't it just leave her alone?
"You're not real," Fluttershy told the shadow, reciting what her friends had told her to tell herself in the past. "You can't talk to me because you're just a shadow."
"Why can't I talk to you? Is this about the plate? Look- I'm cleaning it up, see?" The dust pan full of shards hovered over to her to display its contents. Fluttershy turned away. Her shadow changed position. The figure she cast moved across the surface of the floor like a silhouette into the kitchen along with the broom and dustpan. Her kitchen wastebasket opened and the dustpan dumped the broken pieces of plate into it.
The shadow continued moving through her kitchen. The door to her fridge opened on its own. Fluttershy turned to watch the shadow cast itself in front of the open refrigerator, as if it was examining the contents inside.
"You remember to buy skim milk? I think I put it on the list but I might've forgot," the voice asked. A Tupperware container levitated off of the fridge shelf. "You think this spaghetti is still good?" Fluttershy ignored the question. The lid popped off of the container. The shadow made a strong sniffing noise.
"Still smells all right... hey, seriously Fluttershy, we need like a microwave or something. It uses way too much electricity to use the stove every time we need to reheat something."
Why was this creature obsessed with burning things?! What kind of demon just haunted her house all day, talked a lot and ate her food? Fluttershy just stood and watched it, petrified in fear.
The stove turned on by itself, followed by the kitchen sink. A metal pan levitated down from the covered and filled with a small amount of water before the faucet turned off. The Tupperware container than emptied itself into the pan and floated over to the sink. Finally, the pan set itself upon the top of the stove as it began to heat. The pasta began to reheat.
Suddenly, a high-pitched ringing echoed through Fluttershy's kitchen. The shadow shifted.
"Yo. Hey Craig. Yeah, not much, just heating up some food," the shadow said. Fluttershy noticed it occasionally would talk to itself like this. "Oh really? I must've just missed you! Dude, you gonna come back over? Okay, yeah, see you soon." A loud beep was heard and the shadow wavered again.
"Hey, Fluttershy, that was Craig. He says he was just here and he's coming back over now."
What was this shadowy creature talking about? Who was coming over? Why had it chosen to haunt Fluttershy? Why her?!
"You're... you're not real!" she yelled at the shadow. "You can't be real! This isn't possible! It can't be happening!" Fluttershy shut her eyes and backed away.
"Fluttershy," the shadow said. "We've been over this. It's me, Duncan, remember?"
This prompted Fluttershy to open her eyes. "Shadows don't have names! Shadows don't talk! You can't be real!"
She watched as the shadow continued to approach her, the shape of some other-worldly bipedal creature with its hands on its hips. "Hahaha," it chuckled. "Not real? Now, we both know that's not true." It came closer to her; a dark figure walking in across the floor, bending as its silhouette body touched each surface but still clearly advancing. "Everypony has a shadow."
Fluttershy bolted out of her kitchen. She didn't know where she was going or what she was doing. How could she escape her own shadow? She wasn't safe in her own house! She had to get out of there!
She ran for the door as fast as her hooves could carry her. But before she could even touch the door handle, a knock came from the outside. She slowed down, almost coming to a complete stop, before crashing into the door. She hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the door and opened it.
"Uh, hi," Exie said.
"Exie! You came back!" Fluttershy said in a mixture of surprise and relief. She took a moment to catch her breath.
"Yeah," Exie put a hoof behind her head. "I'm sorry I kinda ran off on you like that."
"It's okay... really," Fluttershy said, panting. She was just happy to see a friendly face. Being alone right now was not something she wanted.
"I know you've got issues but, you know, we all do. And I wanted to let you know I understand that and it was sort of rude of me to just take off like that."
Fluttershy nodded. "No, really Exie, it's okay. But can I ask you something?"
Exie looked puzzled. "Um, sure, what?"
"Would you mind a bit if I stayed at your place for a couple da-"
"Hey Fluttershy, who's at the door?" the shadow called from behind her. Fluttershy turned her head to look over her shoulder. A lump smacked her throat again.
Exie leaned to look behind Fluttershy. Who was she talking to? She squinted her eyes to try to make out something in her living room.
"Who is that?" Exie asked.
"It's... my shadow."
A dark, black figure waved in her direction. Exie felt the sudden urge to turn around and run again but something kept her gaze transfixed on the silhouette in front of her.
"You... weren't kidding were you?" Exie asked. Without turning around, the yellow Pegasus shook her head back and fourth, shaking in place. Exie herself started to tremble a little. "Who is he waving at?"
"Hey Craig!" the shadow yelled, still waving.
Slowly, Exie turned around. But there was nothing behind her. Nothing except her shadow.
"Sup Duncan!" the second shadow said back. Exie was paralyzed in fear. It just couldn't be; shadows were talking! The black figure, that of a bipedal creature of some sort, approached the doorway. Exie and Fluttershy backed inside and into a corner of the house as the silhouette strode past them.
"Not much, Craig, what's goin' on?" the second shadow, "Craig" apparently, walked right up to the first and the two interacted. Exie couldn't tell what the two phantoms were doing but they appeared to be embracing each other. She looked down at her hooves. While the first shadow appeared to be Fluttershy's, the second didn't appear to be attached to Exie. What did this mean?
The two phantoms broke apart amidst back patting. "Yo, I was just here. Where were you?" Craig asked.
The first one, Duncan, gestured over his shoulder. "Had to use the john. I'm just fixing myself something to eat; you want anything?"
"You got any beer?"
"Dude..." Duncan paused. "It's ten a.m."
"And?" Craig inquired.
"And you are not drinking all my beer before noon again. I literally just went to the store like yesterday."
"Man..." Craig sighed. "Fine. You got anything else to drink?"
"Fluttershy just brewed some new tea," Duncan offered.
Craig was quiet for a second. "I like tea." The two then, having completed some sort of apparent ritual, entered Fluttershy's kitchen together.
The two mares watched as the specters stepped out of the living room. They were both petrified in fear and dared not make a sound. Exie realized just then that Fluttershy was holding onto her as they cowered in the corner. Despite the fact her heart was still racing in near terror, Exie couldn't help but grab Fluttershy back. Gently, she let her hooves fall around the yellow Pegasus gripping her shoulders. Her eyes closed as her forelegs slid around Fluttershy and locked around the shaking mare.
Oh gawd, the feeling was incredible. She was so soft; her mane smelled like strawberry-banana, her coat was like a blanket and her wings felt as soft as duck's down. Why was it just now when their lives were in danger that she could finally get this close to her?
"Mmmm," Exie purred. "Just take me."
"What?"
Exie's eyes shot open. "Take... take me out of here. Let's get out while we can!" she whispered.
Fluttershy looked up at Exie with enormous doe-eyes. "What if they notice we're gone? What about Angelbunny and my other animals? I can't just leave them here."
Exie grabbed Fluttershy's head again. "Fluttershy, listen for a moment" This was the hardest thing she'd ever had to tell another mare. Not counting that one time she had to tell her friend Split Ends that rash was more than just what they thought it was.
Fluttershy loved the various creatures she cared for. It was strange. Her cottage was regularly home to bears, tigers, lions, sea lions, tiger sharks, care bears, honey badgers, metroids, G3 ponies, G3.5 ponies, jackalopes, Pokémon, Chewbacca and the Cobra Commander(who for the sake of this story is just a cobra named Commander).
"We'll just have to leave really quietly before they realize," Exie thought. Where could they go? "How long has your shadow been like this? What other stuff does it do?"
"I don't know..." Fluttershy admitted. "I've always found it too frightening to look at it for very long. Usually, I hide somewhere dark where it can't find me. Or, I turn off all the lights and it goes away."
"You turn off the lights and it goes away?" Exie asked to be clear. Fluttershy nodded. Was it really that easy? "Worth a shot I guess. You stay here; I'll take care of it." She took a few steps towards the kitchen.
"Wait, no. What if it gets you?" Fluttershy placed a hoof on her shoulder to stop her. "I'll go take care of it," she said, pushing past Exie. That honestly was surprising. Fluttershy hovered off, legs only slightly off the ground as to not make noise, towards the kitchen. She was being brave for her friend.
Exie found it touching that a mare that got scared so easily was facing her fears so she wouldn't be in danger. She actually felt her heart flutter. Exie still had her eyes fixed solely on one aspect of Fluttershy as the Pegasus flutter-snuck towards the wall. Stuck in a haunted house at the edge of the woods, she still had only one thing on her mind. She would have to reward herself for her patience and self-control later. If they both survived.
Fluttershy stuck her head around the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. The two specters sat at the same table she and Exie had sat at only moments ago. A fork hovered over a plate of the pasta she'd had for dinner a few nights ago. It dipped into the dish, twisted and rose carrying sauce-covered noodles. The fork than floated to the top of the shadow and the end disappeared. When it emerged, the fork was empty.
They were eating her food. Drinking her tea. But she couldn't worry about that now. She flew into the kitchen.
"Hey Fluttershy," Duncan greeted her. "This is some pretty good tea." The two voices were distinct, allowing her to tell them apart. For all the good that would do her. Duncan was still attached to her hooves but she ignored him as she fluttered over to the kitchen window.
She pulled the curtains closed making the room immediately darker. Nothing changed. Fluttershy watched for a reaction but the two shadows still sat their in the now dimly-lit kitchen. Shadows shouldn't even have been able to be cast and yet still, the dark wraiths carried on. Eating her food. Drinking her tea. Sweat began to trickle down her forehead.
Duncan cleared his throat and sat up. Two thick, shady branches materialized from the top of the shadow. They spread far out as if to reach out and grasp Fluttershy. Without warning, the ends rushed towards each other and collided in an explosion of noise that echoed throughout the room. Fluttershy jolted but before she could flee, they repeated the action.
A light hanging from the ceiling turned on, illuminating the kitchen. Duncan sat back down.
"Nice, you installed a clapper?" Craig asked.
"They call them cloppers over here. Got it off Amazon brand new for like eight bits."
Craig snickered. "It's actually called a clopper? Are you serious?"
The fork lowered. "Bro, not in front of Fluttershy."
"Right right... I forgot how sensitive your roomie is."
Duncan shook his head. "She's not sensitive. She's actually pretty kickass when you get to know her."
Fluttershy backed away at the sound of her name. What on Equestria were they talking about? What did they want with her?!
"Yo Fluttershy?" Duncan said. Fluttershy froze. "Tell him about that time you schooled a dragon."
The yellow Pegasus squeaked and dashed out of the kitchen, terrified. She nearly ran into Exie who was still standing with her back in the corner by the door.
"Did it work?" Exie asked.
"N-n-n-n," Fluttershy stuttered between pants, looking around.
"No?"
"No..."
"No," Exie turned her head away, cursing, thinking. How could they possibly get rid of two shadows? This wasn't something she should even be THINKING about. But that gave her an idea... she stared outside the window. This whole situation didn't make sense. So, the only way to solve a problem that didn't make sense was with a legitimate solution that didn't make sense. And that made sense. At least, she thought it did.
She turned back to Fluttershy. "I have an idea. You're going to have to follow my lead, stick close, and do exactly what I say. Okay?"
The yellow Pegasus nodded, though her eyes were filled with uncertainty.
"Okay," Exie said, looking over Fluttershy's shoulder to make sure the shadows were still in the kitchen. "I don't know if this is gonna work but I can't think of anything else. Where is your closet?"
"It's just over by the stairs."
"All right, lead me to it quietly."
Fluttershy nodded. At least she paid attention well. The two crept through the living room, eyes still focused on the kitchen entrance as they snuck in case the two phantoms came back. The floorboards creaked underneath their adorable hooves as they kept themselves low.
Exie followed Fluttershy and slowly her eyes drifted to the back of the yellow mare in front of her. A pink tail attached to a plush, yellow, bouncing cushion teased her as she walked. Her jaw clenched and her eyelid and left ear twitched involuntarily. Six months. Six months since Exie had enjoyed the pleasurable company of another pony and she was beginning to feel desperate. Now, she was staring her weakness in the face: hot plot. Exie couldn't help but imagine grabbing Fluttershy from behind and thoroughly testing the stability of every piece of furniture in her cottage.
They approached a door at the side of her stairs. "What do we need from my closet?"
Maid outfit, nurse uniform, saddle, shoehorn, two feet of hose, six double-A batteries, you, me and the next four hours uninterrupted. Maybe also some nice music. "Um... "Sexy maid Fluttershy. Train of thought derailed by plot. The image of Fluttershy wearing a small, sexy black skirt was stuck in Exie's vision. It felt like the picture would literally burn its way out of her corneas. She forgot what she was doing.
Fluttershy turned back to her. "Are you okay? Are you scared?" she asked in a timid whisper.
Mouth watering, sweat pouring off her coat, knees shaking and loins burning, Exie could do little more than nod emphatically with her mouth agape.
"I'm sorry... I'm scared, too," Fluttershy replied, putting a hoof on her shoulder. The slightest fluttering of her wings blew a faint breeze over Exie. Her eyes started watering; the sexual tension was too much to take. She felt like she wanted to bathe every part of her body, especially her face, in every surface of the yellow Pegasus in front of her. If she didn't find relief, she was either going to melt, explode or faint. Probably in that order.
"We're going to get through this. Together," Fluttershy declared softly. She was an angel. And Exie wanted to eat her.
Fluttershy hugged her again in that moment. Instantly, Exie's body was awash in ecstasy and she felt like screaming. Now, she no longer was worried about the shadows but more concerned with getting to a bathroom.
"We'll take it one step at a time," Fluttershy released Exie and turned to place a hoof on the door hoofdle. Turning it, she opened the closet slowly to avoid making noise.
"~Fluttershy opened up the closet door, jus' when they thought they couldn't take any more~" Inside the dark closet was a man in glasses sitting at a piano. He stared off into the darkness as he merrily played.
"~How are they ever gonna break this hex? And it's been six months since Exie last had... Oh, hi Fluttershy," the man noticed the two mares.
"What were you about to say?" Exie asked.
"Hi Randy," Fluttershy said back. "This is my friend Exie."
"~Exie the OC starin' back at Randy~" the man sang again.
"Exie, this is Randy Newman. He's a musician."
Randy smiled and waved at Exie. "~Pretty little pony with her mane of red and all she wants to do is get Fluttershy inta bed~" And there went the lady lumber. Like the built-up pressure in a bottle ready to burst off the cork, Exie could feel the pressure being let off slowly instead. Her own excitement fizzed until it dissolved into nothing. Randy's music had mercilessly murdered the mare's mood.
Exie managed an awkward smile and waved back. "Thank you, Randy. That was... nauseating." She leaned over to Fluttershy. "What is Randy Newman doing in your closet?" she whispered.
"Pixar got Daniel Ingram to do the music for their new movies so Randy's out of work at the moment. I invited him to come live with me."
"That... actually makes sense."
"Mhm," Fluttershy shut her eyes pleasantly and agreed. "So, what did you need out of my closet?'
"Oh!" Exie had forgotten. No, the author hadn't. "Have you ever seen Ghostbusters?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "Ghosts scare me... so does busting."
Exie thought. "Have you ever played Luigi's Mansion?"
She shook her head again. "Games featuring secondary characters in primary roles scare me... so does the Gamecube title screen. And Nintendo's marketing strategy."
"They have a marketing strategy?"
"No, they don't," Fluttershy looked away. "That's what scares me."
Exie nodded. "It scares a lot of us. But, do you have a vacuum cleaner or something in your closet?"
"No..." Fluttershy admitted, her sorrowful tone conveying her shame that she was afraid. "Things that suck scare me."
"So no Michael Bay movies..." Exie thought aloud.
"Hey Fluttershy!" Duncan's voice called from behind them. The two mares turned to see the two shadows watching them. "Listen, me and Craig were thinking about inviting a few guys over and-"
"Meep!" Fluttershy squeaked. Quickly, she shoved Exie behind her and closed the closet door shut.
The yellow Pegasus grabbed Exie again and shivered. In the pitch-black darkness of the closet, Exie felt Fluttershy's warm body against hers. Just like that, she was turned on again. The smell of Fluttershy's mane intoxicated her; she couldn't help but wrap her forelegs around the shaking Pegasus. She buried her muzzle into Fluttershy's mane felt her heart beat against her side. She stroked Fluttershy's long hair until she began to calm down. Exie purred in pure Exie-tasy.
A second appendage touched Exie's shoulder from the back. It felt like a cold, dry hand. Exie almost jumped out of her skin before she remembered they weren't alone in the closet.
"Randy, um, please could you?"
Fluttershy moved away from Exie, breaking their embrace for a moment. "That's not Randy Newman; it's Gary Busey."
Another hand clapsed her other shoulder. "Hi. I'm Gary Busey."
"Nya-aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Exie screamed.
