Chapters 0-0-0-0-0
A blush can be described as many things.
It is an openly worn symbol, an effective expression; for those who bear it, it is a mark of shame, humiliation, and sometimes embarrassment. A blush is a strong reminder of fears and worries, and is often forcefully avoided at all costs. To Fluttershy, a blush was all of these things and more.
“I just don’t know, Twilight,” Fluttershy stuttered as the unicorn magically lifted a few more books from the wooden shelf, poring over a couple more as she did so. “Sometimes, it-it just gets so hard.”
“That’s what she said!” Spike jeered gleefully from atop the stairs, sliding down them at the same speed that the heat in Fluttershy’s cheeks went up.
“Hilarious , Spike,” Twilight rolled her eyes, pretending to ignore the evident blush on Fluttershy’s face as her friend tried to hide behind her curtain of pink mane. Spike apparently couldn't tell the difference between a compliment and a dry, sarcastic remark. Or, in all likelihood, he could, but simply didn't care. “Really; the seventh time is the funniest, to be sure.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, Fluttershy,” Spike patted her kindly on the back. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“I agree with Spike on this one,” Twilight nodded kindly to the embarrassed pegasus. She turned slightly and narrowed her eyes, saying “Although it would be nice if he would stop poking his nose in where it didn’t belong.”
“That’s –”
“I swear to Celestia , Spike,” Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose between her hooves, “One more time.”
The miniscule violet dragon huffed grumpily, stomping off out the door. “Hmph. She’s just sore. Ooh -!”
“Still not funny, Spike!”
The door slammed behind him as he traipsed away, leaving the two in blissful silence. Twilight sighed heavily, replacing her copy of Equine Anatomy and thinking heavily.
“I-I’m sorry to have, um, bothered you with something so silly, Twilight,” Fluttershy began inching backwards toward the door to make her own swift exit.
“Oh, don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Twilight smiled kindly. “It's no trouble, no trouble at all. Just about every mare experiences similar matters when going into heat. You might actually be surprised with just how many of them flock to the library to solve that particular problem,” she nodded, levitating the rest of her books and placing them neatly on the shelves.
“Um, well, thank you very much for-for trying to help, Twilight,” Fluttershy hung her head. “But I really should be going. I’m sure that I’ll think of something or other to take my mind off of-of things.”
The butter colored pegasus flushed brightly once more, color flying to her cheeks.
“That’s not quite what I meant,” she defended herself quickly, only for Twilight to titter good naturedly.
“I understand, Fluttershy. I know,” Twilight smiled again and shook her head. “Although, there is always plentiful distracting literature here at the library in case you want to give reading a go.”
Fluttershy slowly removed her hoof from the door handle, seriously considering locking herself into her cottage with a few hundred books and not coming out until her problem went away. She didn’t think she could manage to look poor Mister Cake in the eye again for a week after the thoughts popping into her head plagued her every time he walked past.
Even remembering it caused a whole slew of particularly intimate images to arise, and the blush flowered into Fluttershy’s cheeks once more. She shook her head furiously, forcing her attention on the library floor.
He was a married stallion , for Celestia’s sake!
“I’ll pass,” Fluttershy spluttered. “I think I’m just going to go.”
Twilight exhaled through her nostrils disappointedly, the prospect of convincing Fluttershy to read as much as Twilight did swiftly fading. As the pegasus was scrambling backwards out the door, Twilight took a shot in the dark.
“Say, Fluttershy…”
0-0-0-0-0
The poor pegasus grunted and wheezed, dropping the heavy typewriter of Twilight’s onto her desk. The trek back to her cottage had been nearly unbearable, the heavy instrument pushing downward onto her spine so hard that she thought her back would break. Her limbs were shaking uncontrollably as she dropped the typewriter, and she let out a gasp of relief as she allowed her sweaty body to collapse onto her sofa as she finally caught her breath.
The sweat was only because of the manual work involved. And the temperature.
Certainly not because of the muscular pair of earth pony stallions that had seen her struggling and politely offered to help, their musk singing through Fluttershy’s nose like an arrow through the air. She felt a little tingly just thinking about the pair of them. Light sheen of sweat collecting on their brows from a hard day’s work, muscles coiling beneath her as she ran her hooves over his chest, her wings rising with every –
Fluttershy sat bolt upright, giving herself a thorough shake.
“Come on , Fluttershy,” she scolded herself aloud, regardless of the fact that she was the only one that could hear her. “Get a grip on yourself! They’re half your age!”
She angrily stuffed reams of paper into the typewriter, taking a few deep breaths as she forced herself to remain calm. Her heartbeat felt so loud that she could hear it in her ears, and the burning sensation between her thighs wasn’t helping matters at all. Fluttershy convinced herself that the constant, driving need to satisfy her insatiable craving was only a byproduct of living alone, and that she was blowing matters out of proportion. Just being silly, like many lonely ponies tended to do from time to time.
But Fluttershy was lonely, and in more ways than one.
It just didn’t do for a mare her age to spend so much time alone, and there were certain things that she simply could not accomplish on her own. Oh, she had tried, all right; late at night, her wings stiff as boards beneath her as she lay flat on her back. Her hooves trembling almost violently as she slowly slid one between her legs, the dampness on her hoof making the heavy blush grow into a burning glow.
Fluttershy shook her head once again, vaguely remarking that if she continued doing that her brain was going to fall out. What was she doing, just standing around her cottage, thinking about… things?
Fluttershy let out another deep breath, seating herself before the aged and slightly dusty typewriter that Twilight had carefully removed from her attic.
She let out a quiet groan, her head dropping against the desk.
Things. Thinking about things .
She couldn’t even think about calling them anything else without getting embarrassed.
But she had made a commitment to listen to Twilight’s advice, and write out her troubles; after all, if she didn’t, she might as well have carried the bulky chunk of metal the whole way for nothing at all.
“Focus, Fluttershy,” she said out loud to herself again, forcing her attention on the typewriter as she aligned the carriage and carefully inspected the fresh ink ribbons that Twilight had so graciously lent her. “Just let words wash away your problems. Sounds easy enough.”
Of course, it wasn’t easy at all, and the itch spiking through her did nothing but distract her from her task at hoof. Fluttershy shook her head lightly for the umpteenth time, pulling in close to the desk and leaning over the typewriter. She just had to dive right in. Just… start typing.
Start typing what ?
That was a very good question.
Fluttershy didn’t even know where to begin, and she had been in such a rush to get away from Twilight and force quite a few blush-inducing mental images from her mind that she hadn’t taken the time to learn. Of course, she had used a typewriter before; she wasn’t a simpleton. But where to even begin when she just had so many… ‘problems’?
Especially considering the ones about her friends. When Twilight began waving the rather explicit anatomy book around, several diagrams showing much more ‘information’ than Fluttershy expected, she thought her poor cheeks were going to catch on fire. But she wouldn’t – couldn’t – think of one of her friends in a manner like that.
Fluttershy might never be able to look at her the same again.
Right.
Right.
So, Twilight was causing Fluttershy quite a few… ‘problems’. Perhaps there was a fine place to start.
Right.
Write.
The rain pattered down to the ground heavily, the sound of falling water thankfully muffling Twilight Sparkle’s moans of desire. The unicorn who had so proudly proclaimed her steadfastness a mere day before ground against the stallion with an unprecedented sigh of satisfaction, pleasure rippling through her as she tipped over the edge once again. Twilight made to scream from the sudden spike of ecstasy, but Big Mac merely stuffed this hole as well. His hoof quickly stifled her shriek of pleasure so as not to alert the others to their deeds as she bucked hard against him, his thighs rising more fervently as she did so. Oh, if only she could be like the rain, releasing her joy as loudly as she wished, for all the world to see…
Fluttershy pored feverishly over her typewriter, losing track of time when minutes ticked by into hours as the burning sensation in her cheeks began slowly turning her face pinker. For once, however, Fluttershy reveled in her blush; for once, it was not a mark of shame, or humiliation, or embarrassment. Despite her aloneness, she was quite embarrassed; however, this flush that made her feel as if she’d caught a delightful cold that made her temperature rise with every click of the typewriter was different at last.
And it didn’t matter just how embarrassed her body might have been telling her it was; the physiological reaction was nothing against the onslaught of her rampant imagination.
She typed long into the night, her imagination boldly leading her places that no stallion had taken her before.
0-0-0-0-0
“You mean, you actually like it?” Fluttershy gaped, sitting across from the businessmare in shock.
“Like it? Are you kidding me?” Polychrome Print cackled, tossing her long green mane from her face as the earth pony dropped the stack of papers onto her opulent desk. “Honey, this is some of the best I’ve seen in a long time.”
Fluttershy clasped her hooves together, blushing at the compliment.
“I-I, um, that is to say, well, um, t-thank you, Miss Print,” Fluttershy finally managed to convince her tongue to follow orders.
“Heh,” Polychrome shook her head, dashing a few ashes from her cigar into the silver tray. “Guess you’re a better authoress than you would be a motivational speaker, eh , stutter-box?”
“O-oh, I-I’m so sorry, I’m s-”
“Ah, don’t worry ‘bout it,” Polychrome beamed at her, obviously enjoying teasing the stressed pegasus. “You’re fine, kid, you’re great . I loved it, and I'm pretty sure that our readers will, too. You did have a particular knack for bein’ pretty vague on some of the descriptions, but I guess that’s just the writer’s talent for leaving things to the imagination.”
“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy nodded quickly, desperate to impress her potential publisher. “I think about things all the time.”
The stark silence in the room was dispelled by Fluttershy’s immediate attempt to sound slightly less like a blockhead. Or worse, a pervert .
Although with as much as she’d just read, Polychrome certainly knew about that by this point .
At that point, as Fluttershy tugged at the tips of her mane, she honestly thought that she was going to die from the sheer awkwardness. To her immense relief, Polychrome spoke again.
“So, when can we expect a sequel ?”
Just like that. Relief – gone .
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0-0-0-0-0
“I want you to scream my name, Twilight.”
Rainbow Dash slid her tongue sensually over Twilight Sparkle’s horn, eliciting a moan of pleasure from the blushing unicorn. Twilight chewed her bottom lip, the desire burning inside her as Dash finally released her tender tip, panting for breath. She tentatively ran a hoof over the shy unicorn’s chest, slowly caressing her until she began to tip backwards onto the bed. Twilight let out a tiny gasp as Rainbow’s smooth but firm hoof slithered deliberately between her thighs, the fiery passion rippling through her as she arched her back –
“Oh, shoot !” Fluttershy swore in disappointment as her last ink ribbon ran dry, clicking and clacking uselessly against the sheet of paper. She sighed heavily, dispersing the paper from her typewriter, and stood to stretch her aching back. The singing heat in her cheeks still burned with a sting as the morning sun rose, and she slowly rubbed her cheeks to hopefully make it fade.
Fluttershy ran a hoof through her slightly disheveled mane, poking about for any ribbons of ink that she might have possibly missed; however, her searches resulted in waking Angel and finding a solitary dust bunny. She sighed again, her thoughts heavy as the last remnants of excitement began to dwindle.
She honestly would hate to disappoint Polychrome such a short time after she had promised her a sequel; especially since Miss Print had gone through all the trouble of helping Fluttershy get her first (albeit rather short) novel published. The royalties collected for Half Past Twilight had already begun coming in; even though it wasn’t much, the bits helped. It made her a little more confident, being a published novelist.
Fluttershy picked fretfully about for a while longer, hoping that she had accidentally missed a ribbon. Unfortunately, her search was still fruitless. Her thoughts heavy with imagery that made her blush all over again, Fluttershy distractedly slipped out the door and trundled toward Ponyville.
0-0-0-0-0
Fluttershy was determined to beat the heat, as it were.
Her face might have begun growing red again, but she kept up her even trot; the key was to become distracted, and then stay that way until the constant need vanished. That, or until she unconsciously began sidling against her chair as she typed, her heated imagination running wild as she slowly but surely inched closer and closer to release at long l-
Fluttershy almost bumped into the library door, gasping and panting.
Perhaps she’d grown a little too distracted.
She shook her head, thankful for the cool breeze blowing past. She needed to get her head out of the clouds, had to focus; or at least, focus long enough to go back to being distracted.
This was so difficult.
But she still had her confidence.
Fluttershy took a long, deep breath before knocking on the library door. Either way, she would soon have her precious ink ribbons again and she could continue with her sequel – maybe even fight back the urges properly this time.
A rustling was heard within, and a flustered, out of breath Twilight finally yanked open the library door, much to Fluttershy’s surprise.
“Oh, um…” Fluttershy rubbed her foreleg uncertainly, spotting Rainbow Dash hovering with a cackle behind the clearly agitated unicorn. “I-I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt –”
“No, no, it’s fine, Fluttershy,” Twilight huffed, tugging the door open a little wider. “I’m just in a bit of a hurry right now.”
“Pfffft- ha ! Yeah, that’s one way to put it!” Rainbow Dash snorted, landing lithely. Dash was slightly confused by Fluttershy’s sudden bright blush as she landed, but chalked it up to the warm weather.
“Oh, my,” Fluttershy stuttered. “Is something the matter?”
Twilight ground her teeth in frustration as Rainbow Dash juggled a book between her wings, one that Fluttershy found uncomfortably familiar. Her every last dredge of confidence swiftly vanished.
“Yes, you could say that,” Twilight seethed quietly.
“So, anyways,” Rainbow Dash butted in. “I decided that I was going to be an egghead today, right? So, anyway, the guys I usually go to for purchases had this new thing in, and I just had to get in and show Twilight, because, I didn’t figure she had a copy here –” she rambled excitedly, and Fluttershy was equally embarrassed to see a flush rising in Twilight’s cheeks as well.
“I-I see,” Fluttershy hid behind her long pink mane in anticipation, her heart pounding in her throat as she suddenly felt much, much hotter. And not in a good way.
“According to this ‘Butterflush’,” Twilight said through her teeth, magically snatching the book from a surprised Dash. “Written as a work of fiction or not, I have apparently been leading quite the double life.”
“I-is t-that so?”
“It’s unbelievable !” Twilight stomped a hoof against the ground in frustration, the frowning Rainbow Dash snagging the book back from her. “I mean, the quality was fine, but the premise alone; the sheer absurdity of somepony – me , of all ponies – leading a secret double life? That alone is so ludicrous !”
The crimson blossom in Fluttershy’s face skyrocketed again, and it suddenly occurred to her just how stupid she had been. What was she even thinking? And then, after all was said and done, she had the audacity to come to Twilight for more ink ribbons!
As if that wouldn’t be a dead giveaway.
“Um,” Fluttershy began nervously, slowly inching backwards toward the door. “Well, w-what do you – I mean, what-what now ?”
Twilight opened her mouth to let out something angrily, but instead held her breath for a moment, eventually letting out a breath of air and blowing the mane from her eyes.
“Nothing much I can do, really,” Twilight shook her head. “I suppose it really is harmless , overall – and surprisingly well written. Hopefully everypony will just let this blow over, and everything will be back to normal in no time at all. By the way, I assume you’re here for a book, Fluttershy?”
The pegasus froze, desperate not to show a single emotion.
“O-oh, um, no,” she spluttered quickly. After all, what was she supposed to say in a moment like this? “Actually, I was just-just on my way, um, to pick up some, uh… things,” Fluttershy lied pitifully, cracking open the front door.
“Oh. Well, it was nice seeing you, Fluttershy,” Twilight nodded distractedly, resuming her pacing in the middle of the library.
“See ya, Flutters!” Rainbow Dash waved as Fluttershy snapped the door closed, not realizing that she had been holding her breath.
She let out a small sigh of relief, taking off at a swift trot.
0-0-0-0-0
Fluttershy sat dejectedly before her typewriter, staring forlornly at it in the candlelight.
Her eyes meandered uselessly over the freshly prepared typewriter, and it glinted back at her eagerly, her unfinished work sitting before her. It had taken her so long to hunt down and purchase what she needed, and it was still just so futile.
She was just so stupid.
What had she been thinking?
Of course it was a bad idea trying to get Half Past Twilight published, even as such a short story. Fluttershy rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hooves tiredly, and they felt itchy. She was such a fool.
Besides, it was no wonder that she hadn’t exactly been raking in the bits. Her demographic probably consisted of, what, a few ponies? There was simply no way –
A thought suddenly struck Fluttershy, just as she had been prepared to abandon her typewriter.
Twilight thought that it was well written.
Hadn’t she said that it was harmless?
And, on second thought, what precisely did Rainbow Dash mean about the ones she usually…?
Fluttershy felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she laughed, clutching her stomach as she did so.
It would appear that she had just accidentally discovered one member of her demographic.
… In an erotic tale about Big Macintosh and Twilight .
Fluttershy suddenly flushed again, the heated blush rising in her cheeks as she turned once more toward her sequel. However, the pink tinge seemed to compliment her warm smile rather well as the tick of the worn typewriter slowly filled the air once again.
– deliberately between her thighs, the fiery passion rippling through her as she arched her back and released a passionate cry. Rainbow Dash slid her tongue sensually betwixt her lips, a throbbing need pulsing in her heart as strongly as it was her wings…
0-0-0-0-0
Author's Note
The plot thickens.
0-0-0-0-0
“…y. Fluttershy. Yo, Flutters. You alright?” Rainbow Dash leaned over her worriedly, shaking her wearily. Fluttershy jerked back to consciousness, rubbing her aching head and cracking her back in the process.
“W-what?” she blinked lightheadedly. “What, what happened ?”
“You, uh… you fainted,” the pegasus said with a hint of relief, still straddling her. “Kind of scared me there for a second. If I hadn’t caught you in time, ya probably would have hit your head pretty hard.” Dash snickered.
“You – oh, my goodness!” Fluttershy blushed deeply, desperately wishing to shimmy out from beneath her but locked in place by Dash’s hooves on either side of her. “You-you saved me?”
“Ah, it’s nothin’,” Dash helped her to her feet, and Fluttershy hid the heat blossoming mysteriously in her cheeks behind her curtain of pink mane. “I just didn’t think you’d be that surprised.”
“Surprised?” she breathed, shaking her head swiftly. Fluttershy still felt a little woozy.
“Uh, yeah?” the pegasus snorted, ruffling her wings. “About Butterflush?”
“Oh – oh! My-I mean, him,” Fluttershy nodded quickly.
“Well, yeah,” Dash half frowned as if it were the most obvious thing in the world before extending a hoof to help her up. “You sure you’re feeling okay, Flutters?”
“Fine!” Fluttershy stated far too loudly. “I-I just, um… I have to go now!”
“Oh. Uh, what for?”
“A thing!” she nearly shrieked, her face burning. “I have to go find a-a thing!”
“Why, still in heat?”
Fluttershy really did try to answer, but couldn’t seem to form words with her tongue fighting her every step of the way. Instead, she bolted at top speed with her wings tucked tightly to her sides, all the way back to her cottage before locking herself firmly inside.
0-0-0-0-0
“I want to quit writing.”
Polychrome Print simply blinked at her behind her desk, sheets held loosely in her hooves as she stared at the flustered pegasus.
“… ‘Kay.”
“I’m so sorry, Miss Print,” Fluttershy sobbed, burying her face in her hooves as the ability to even look at the mare waned. “I can’t do it anymore, I just can’t!”
The older mare gave a quiet sigh through her nostrils, rifling through the sheets and straightening them before placing them silently on her desk.
“Look, kid. Nopony’s expecting you to crank out books left and right,” she put out her cigar with a puff in her glass ashtray. “Heck, take a break or something, it ain’t like it’s all that serious.”
“But-but…!” Fluttershy strained to speak. “It’s not that, I-I mean, I just can’t! I think my friend is falling in love with me!”
“… ‘Kay.”
Polychrome really did seem to want to be sympathetic, but in truth, the elder mare was more thoroughly baffled than anything else.
“I just can’t write anymore,” Fluttershy blew her nose with the tissue passed to her. “Not if it could upset my relationship with my friends.”
“So… your friend, the… one that’s supposedly falling in love with you or something, wants you to, uh, stop writing?”
“Hmm?” Fluttershy looked up, wiping her eyes. “Oh, good gracious, no. She’s expecting the next in the series any day now.”
“She?”
Fluttershy turned a vibrant shade of pink, and hid abashedly behind her curtain of pink mane.
“Aw, I didn’t mean it like that,” Polychrome chortled good naturedly, and passed her another tissue. The poor thing looked like she was ready to start crying again at the drop of a hat. “Besides, I don’t got all the details, and I ain’t about to go prying. Best advice I can give ya is to talk things out with your marefriend, don’t let nothing get muddled.”
Fluttershy resisted the surprisingly powerful urge to point out the double negative in her words, but instead shook her head fiercely.
“Thanks, Miss Print,” she sniffled miserably. “I really do hope that I haven’t inconvenienced anypony because of the delay.”
“Delay, shmelay. Baybay, you need vay-cay.”
“… Er, sorry, what?”
0-0-0-0-0
Fluttershy sat in a mixture of dim candlelight and mingling shadow, stewing bitterly in nearly scalding water and her own turmoil.
As the steaming, bubbling bathwater rose over her lips and touched her muzzle, Fluttershy let out a long sigh. She didn’t think that attempting to relax would prove quite so stressful. Why did it have to be so difficult?
Her thoughts turned once again as the hot water sank soothingly into her, caressing her as she fell limply against the side of the tub in dismay, careful not to move too quickly. Perhaps she should have changed the names of her story characters after all. It would have made things so much easier. But no, she just had to use her friends’ likenesses. And all because she wanted something dirty.
Fluttershy certainly felt dirty, even though it was her third bath of the night. The heat was long gone, but the itch remained; one that was only assuaged by losing herself in a story. A small twitch of anger arose, directed solely at herself.
Stupid, stupid Fluttershy.
Stupid Butterflush.
What Rainbow Dash must have been going through only made her feel even worse, especially after her most recent publications. She blushed even at the thought of her friend discovering Bucking Apples, and even more so at the memory of Ramming Rainbow. Now, that one had been one of her guilty pleasures.
Fluttershy consciously shifted her hooves away from her nether regions, knowing full well what kind of mood she had been in writing that one. And Rainbow Dash was probably still waiting expectantly for the latest one, forming all sorts of unwanted thoughts about ‘Butterflush’. Poor Rainbow Dash would probably be even more embarrassed that she was at the next one.
What was she going to do?
Fluttershy let out another miserable, bubbly sigh under the water and closed her eyes, drifting away. If she relaxed just enough, she could almost picture that she was flying on a very hot day. Powerful rays shining down over her back as she sailed with open wings overhead, updrafts of heat billowing her higher and higher as she stretched to her full extent. Freedom ringing in her ears as she sailed above the ground, birds chirruping in her ears-
Fluttershy shook herself awake, the cold water making her shiver even more violently.
She hadn’t realized at what point she had fallen asleep with her head on the side of the tub, and instantly regretted sitting up sharply. Her neck and back twinged painfully as the icy water sloshed around before being slowly drained, the morning sunlight filtering in brightly through the bathroom window.
And just like that, it clicked.
“Need to write,” Fluttershy mumbled to no one in particular, dragging herself wetly out of the tub like a sopping zombie. Her mind, however, was fully intact and her determination was bolstered like never before. “Write. Need write, need – coming through, Angel, mommy needs her typewriter!”
0-0-0-0-0
What does it mean to be a mare?
One’s thoughts, or feelings, or misconceptions of the world are all meaningless before the stunning realization that we are all the same. Every colt and filly, every mare and stallion, each with beautiful minds that the body can only compare weakly to. We are all subject to wonderment and fear, to embarrassment and courage.
To be alive is to be a slave.
Chained as we all are, bound beneath layer upon layer of our secrets and dreams, seeing only our thoughts instead of others around us. This is what it means to be equine, to be subject to the whims of nature.
The entire library was dead silent as Fluttershy breathlessly finished reading aloud her manuscript, looking around at her stunned friends in terror.
“… I called it,” Pinkie Pie held up a hoof eventually, grin growing wide.
“You’re Butterflush,” Rainbow Dash only continued to gape at her. “You. You are. You’re Butterflush.”
“I really am sorry about deceiving everypony…” Fluttershy hanged her head miserably, shifting in her seat as they stared at the pegasus hiding behind her papers. “I’m so sorry. I just…”
“Well,” Twilight cleared her throat with some level of discomfort, but smiled nonetheless. “Fluttershy, I’m glad that you felt that you could trust us enough to let us know. Although that does bring up some rather personal matters that I would like to discuss with you privately,” she said with a hint of agitation.
“Oh, wow. Oh, wow,” Applejack ran a hoof through her messy mane, unsure of whether to laugh aloud or shudder. “Oh, geez. Fluttershy – Flutters, you? Really?”
“Well, I can’t say that I’m entirely unsurprised,” Rarity inspected the bookshelf nonchalantly. “A lady’s urges cannot be forever restrained.”
“It’s true,” she bowed her head quietly. “But I was so embarrassed that I just couldn’t bring myself to tell anypony.”
“You can’t stop now!” Rainbow Dash grappled her shoulders, making her squeak with fear and absolute terror. “You can’t just quit , Fluttershy!”
“But-but why not?” she cringed at her friend’s stare, desperate to hide again as the heat began growing more brightly in her cheeks.
“Fluttershy,” Dash said seriously. “You can’t just give me a manuscript for Fifty Shades of Rainbow and then tell me you aren’t actually going to write it! That’s – that’s just sick!”
“But-but-but…!” Fluttershy gasped as Rainbow Dash dragged her to her hooves and toward the door. “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Ra-Rainbow Dash, I don’t know the first thing about that level of intimacy!”
“Malarkey!” Dash kicked open the door with a smirk, nudging out a quietly giggling Fluttershy. “I’ve read the rest of your intimate stuff, ‘Butters’, you can totally do it!”
“But-but-”
“But what?” Dash paused, throwing a hoof over her shoulder as they trotted at a slow and uneven pace.
“I-I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy winced. “But I just don’t think that I know enough for that kind of story…”
“Don’t worry,” she grinned. “I’d be more than happy to teach you. Firsthoof .”
And as her blush deepened once again, Fluttershy found that she really didn’t mind the company.
0-0-0-0-0
Brace Yourselves, Fangirls Are Coming
0-0-0-0-0
Tick tick ticka tick, tick tick ticka tick.
Oh, how Fluttershy had grown to love the sound of that typewriter.
The familiar clack and click of the keyboard as she carried on almost in metronome, her hooves playing the keyboard like a musical instrument as she crafted her masterpiece. It was a comforting thing, one that Fluttershy had taken to appreciating even after her problem with the heat was solved; and it was because of this typewriter that Fluttershy cursed her name that day, because perhaps if nopony had heard it, she might have gone unnoticed.
Although she doubted it.
It was only a matter of time, of course.
Fluttershy lowered Twilight to her back, cupping her spine with one hoof. She was much stronger than she looked, and the unicorn couldn’t help but gasp a little as Fluttershy’s lips excitedly met her own. Twilight boldly kissed her back, her own tongue extending and searching pleadingly into Fluttershy’s –
“Hullo?” the banging on her cottage door rattled throughout Fluttershy’s home, the racket filling the morning air. “He~ll~o? I know somepony’s in there, I can hear you!”
Fluttershy promptly responded by nearly jumping out of her skin, bruising her shin on her writing desk. She hissed sharply, rubbing the aching tendons and hobbling toward the door with a hint of despair creeping into her chest. She knew who it was, of course.
She always recognized the sound of that voice.
“Hiya, Miss Fluttershy!” Scootaloo grinned breathily as Fluttershy tiredly pried open the front door. “How are you today?”
“I’m –”
“Great!” Scootaloo pranced back and forth excitedly. “Is it finished? Is it, is it? Huh, huh, huh?”
Fluttershy chewed her lip awkwardly, and ruffled her wings.
Ever since the filly had discovered Multicolored Madness , in which a fictional Rainbow Dash embarked on a perilous and romantic journey with Discord, Scootaloo had been the number one fan of ‘Butterflush’. Poor Fluttershy didn’t even know how the pegasus had even managed to figure it out, considering that nopony else had; and Scootaloo wasn’t divulging information. It only made Fluttershy even more uncomfortable knowing that Scootaloo had somehow managed to find what was quite possibly her most… explicit story involving her friend first.
Instead, Scootaloo threatened to accidentally let it slip who ‘Butterflush’ really was if she didn’t write more books about ‘the most awesome flier in Equestria’.
In short, it was a drain on her psyche that Fluttershy could easily do without.
“No, Scootaloo,” Fluttershy shook her head a little guiltily, knowing that she hadn’t even touched Ramming Rainbows in over a week. “It’s still not finished.”
“Still?” the pegasus gave her a downcast look, the disappointment evident in her voice. “Aww. How much longer do you think it’ll take?”
“I’m going as fast as I can,” Fluttershy said sheepishly, slowly trying to close the door. “But it really is hard work… and I simply can’t do any writing at all with somepony over my shoulder, I’m afraid.”
“You’re right!” Scootaloo beamed, nodding immediately. “You should take a break!”
Fluttershy actually paused, not expecting the suggestion.
“I… suppose I could use a little break right about now,” Fluttershy admitted, stretching her wings and giving them a couple of aching pops.
“Awesome!” Scootaloo grinned. “So, can I come in?”
“What?”
“For your break,” the filly said excitedly. “You don’t have to do any writing, not even a little! Also, I would just love to talk to you about the next book…”
Fluttershy struggled to hold back a heavy groan.
“There’s just no getting r- I mean, dissuading you, is there?” she asked with a frown.
“Nope!” Scootaloo slipped past her with a cheer, speeding into her cottage. “Whee, break time! This is going to be great !”
Fluttershy sincerely regretted ever writing anything in the first place.
She supposed that she should be grateful; after all, Scootaloo had so kindly purchased all of her books.
At least twice.
That didn’t make the filly any less obnoxious, though. It seemed like she was on her doorstep every single day, eagerly pounding a hole in her door. If only Fluttershy could have mustered the courage to simply turn her away, she might have been able to write in peace.
She even tried to, once.
At which point, Scootaloo promptly reminded her that she happened to let things slip ‘accidentally’ pretty often, and she was less likely to blurt secrets if she was inside Fluttershy’s cottage during the summer.
And thus, Fluttershy obtained somepony to bounce ideas off of, no matter how reluctantly.
“So, then,” Scootaloo slurped noisily at her cup of ginger tea, obviously much more excited than the pegasus sitting across from her was. “Then, Rainbow Dash meets Daring Do, right?”
“Daring Do is a fictional character that belongs to A.K. Yearling,” Fluttershy explained quietly.
“Fine, fine,” the filly rolled her eyes. “So, Rainbow Dash is by herself in the Ponyzonian rainforests, right? All of a sudden-” Scootaloo clapped her hooves together loudly “- BAM ! The whole place is on fire!”
“I really don’t see what that has to do with… um, anything, really,” Fluttershy admitted. “At all.”
“That’s the genius of it!” Scootaloo carried on eagerly. “Then, Rainbow Dash humps the fire into submission!”
Fluttershy was silent for a long beat, staring at the expectant Scootaloo.
She sighed inwardly, and shook her head.
“Knowing you, I probably should have seen that one coming,” Fluttershy resisted the urge to sag her shoulders. “That’s awfully, um… unfeasible.”
“I don’t know what that word means,” Scootaloo said flippantly. “But it would make for a great story!”
“I can’t –”
“Wait to write it?” Scootaloo perked up.
“I’m actually right in the-the middle of something… else , at the moment…” Fluttershy started slowly.
“Oh. Okay,” the filly hanged her head in disappointment, immediately looking up again.
“Ooh!” she grinned. “What if Rainbow Dash –”
“Surprise, surprise!”
Fluttershy leapt at the table, shrieking as she simultaneously dropped her tea and slammed her other poor shin.
Rainbow Dash, peering in shamefacedly through the window, gave a guilty little grin.
“Uh… sorry, Flutters,” Dash snickered. “You okay there?”
“Fine,” Fluttershy whimpered, rubbing her sore spot.
“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo spluttered, both thrilled and surprised.
“The one and only,” she smirked, flapping her wings a little more strongly and leaning against the windowsill in midair. “I kind of figured that somepony somewhere was talking about me.”
“Really?” Scootaloo balked, mystified.
“Nah, not really,” Dash chortled. “I was just coming to see if Flutters was going to actually come outside for once and chill with me at the lake. Hang on,” Rainbow Dash did a slow double take. “Squirt, it’s summer. What are you doing, stuffed up inside?”
She opened her mouth to reply in earnest, only to be cut off by Fluttershy.
“Oh, well,” Fluttershy blurted. “We were just talking about you, actually…”
“Well, I already knew that ,” Dash rolled her eyes, grinning a little more widely. “You comin’, or what?”
Torn, Fluttershy resisted the urge to rub her eyes from sheer irritation.
“S-sure, Rainbow Dash. Just, um… just give me a minute.”
0-0-0-0-0
Rainbow Dash floated haphazardly on the cloud, letting one hoof hang off lazily as they drifted above Ponyville Lake. The crystal water shone brightly with the sun’s reflection beneath them, rippling calmly in the warm breeze.
Fluttershy silently watched a couple of clouds being pushed into position not too far away, the weekend’s rainstorm being prepared. She lost herself in thought as she watched pegasi work, staring after them as they moved puffy white chunk after puffy white chunk.
“Alright,” Rainbow Dash murmured eventually, scratching the back of her head. “I guess I’ve put it off long enough.”
“Hmm?” Fluttershy hummed, turning toward the reclining pegasus next to her. To be honest, she had been a little distracted. “Put what off?”
“I thought about talkin' to AJ about it, but she's kinda busy. I’ve got to know…” Rainbow Dash steepled her hooves together pensively, furrowing her brows. “… Do you really think I’d be the kind of mare to spread ‘em for Discord ?”
Fluttershy’s heart jumped into her chest, and she suddenly found herself coated in a cold sweat as she tried to keep from falling off of the cloud. Hoping that the burning in her face was only her imagination, she tried to speak to defend herself. How in the world had Rainbow Dash found out…?
Unless Scootaloo had broken her promise, and she had been continuously blackmailing Fluttershy just to get away with it. Both humiliated and a little angry, Fluttershy strained to form sentences properly at all.
In what might have been an enormous stroke of luck, Fluttershy only managed to sputter incoherently.
“I know !” Rainbow Dash sat up, crossing her hooves across her chest. “I mean, can you imagine? Pffft. Me and Discord. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Finally finding her voice, Fluttershy croakily cleared her throat and asked “O-oh, you-you mean, um… those books…?”
“By this Butterflush bastard!” Rainbow Dash mimed choking the air in front of her, and Fluttershy cringed. “There is no way I can spread like that, it’s totally unrealistic! Show him," she mumbled angrily, grinding one hoof violently into the other. "Show him who can spread what way."
Fluttershy was nearly visibly shaking, so great was her relief. For a split second, she had seriously considered throwing herself through the air just to escape Rainbow Dash finding out about her extracurricular activities. Of course, the feeling of relief was swiftly replaced by an odd, pained sensation as Dash explained her rage.
“Um… I-I thought that you, uh… liked B-Butterflush’s books,” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together with a strange queasy feeling rising in her stomach.
“Well, yeah,” Dash grumbled, using her hooves to emphasize her frustration. “I mean, I used to. I thought that they were really, really good. And then he writes that crap, and now it’s all ruined for me! I don’t even like Discord! Discord !”
Fluttershy paused a full beat, thinking.
“So, you… you asked me to come out to… to talk about Discord?” she asked curiously, desperate to change the subject.
“Well… kind of,” Dash finally sighed heavily, ruffling her wings. “It’s just that I’ve been doing some reading, and doing a whole lot of thinking lately.”
“Oh, do go on,” Fluttershy said with complete interest, thankful that ‘Butterflush’ would soon be forgotten.
“I think I might have the hots for Butterflush.”
Then Fluttershy fell off the cloud.
0-0-0-0-0
