Huggable So Soft Fluttershyby GlintChaptersSo Soft KittensSo Soft CloudsSo Soft BunnySo Soft EarthSo Soft My Little PoniesSo Soft KittensFluttershy frowned and sighed as she looked out her window. Big billowy clouds filled up the sky, darkening her home, and further darkening her mood. Her house and yard, normally bustling with animals that could cheer her up, was eerily silent. The deep overcast had spooked the chickens, causing them to hide in their coop. The songbirds were listless. Even Angel was refusing to listen to her – he was still angry with her over something she had done last night, although she didn’t remember what it was. “Maybe I did something to deserve this,” she said to herself. “Do I dare find somepony to …” After a few minutes of staring out the window, wallowing in self-pity, she was startled by two things. First was the sound of some creature stirring in her kitchen. Second was the sight of Rarity strolling by. She was wearing a wide-brimmed purple hat, decked with white flowers and a gleaming golden band. Her festive hat matched the golden strands decorating her tail and mane, but clashed with the expression on her face. Her mouth turned downwards in an exaggerated frown, and her quivering eyes darted to and fro, searching in vain for anypony else to appreciate her. Fluttershy’s eyes lit up for a moment, and she zipped out the door. “Oh, hello Rarity,” she said softly. “Fluttershy, dear, so good to see somepony around. This depressing weather is keeping everypony indoors, so nopony can appreciate my new hat. AND I don’t have the sunshine I need to emphasize my new hairstyle,” she said twitching her tail, which just barely gleamed. “That is a nice hat,” said Fluttershy, “Can you –“ “Oh, do you like it?” she said, strutting a little. “It’s a simple little off-the-shelf number, but the band and the flowers are my own personal touches.” “Um, Rarity, could you please –“ “Of course, when I got up this morning, there was plenty of sun,” she continued, “but by the time I got out of the salon, these dreadful clouds were everywhere.” “Yes, that is a nice style,” Fluttershy said. “I need a little –“ “Isn’t it? And I was about to buy some shoes to match,” she moaned, “but now I don’t even know if it’s worthwhile –“ “Rarity could you do me a little favor?” Fluttershy finally said. “Please? It won’t take long.” Rarity abruptly broke off her complaining. She looked Fluttershy in the eye for a second. Her expression on her face quickly changed from sadness to concern. “Of course I’ll help you,” said Rarity without a hint of hesitation. “Now, Fluttershy, you know you can talk to me about anything,” said Rarity, sitting down on Fluttershy’s sofa. “I know,” said Fluttershy as she zipped into the kitchen. “No matter what’s troubling you, I’m here to help,” continued Rarity as she levitated her hat onto a coat rack. She stared at the doorway to the kitchen, listening to a few clinks and thumps coming out of it. “You need any help in there?” “No, just wait out there. I’ll get everything ready myself,” replied Fluttershy. “Oh, excuse me,” she added as a rather loud clatter came from the kitchen. Soon she emerged into the living room carrying a large cardboard box. Inside the box were five tiny black and white kittens. They were resting on a white blanket, some of them mewing, and some of them just yawning. She set the box on the couch, and sat down on the floor beside it. “Aww,” said Rarity as the concern and sadness melted away from her face. She loomed over the kittens, her eyes unable to stay fixed on any one of them. One of them batted a paw in the air as Rarity’s horn cast a shadow over her. “Awwwwwww,” cooed Rarity. “They just opened their eyes a week ago,” said Fluttershy. “Mama’s feeling very sick, so she can’t feed them.” Fluttershy produced a warm bottle of milk and two medicine droppers. She filled them with milk and offered one to Rarity. Fluttershy picked up a kitten with one foreleg. “Hold a kitten like this,” she said, “and put the dropper right in front of his mouth. When he notices it, he’ll take the tip in his mouth, and that’s when you slowly squeeze the milk out.” Fluttershy demonstrated. The fluffy kitten she was holding was mostly black with patches of white on its cheeks, neck, and paws. He quickly found the tip of the dropper and opened and closed his mouth around it, licking it over and over. Rarity’s eyes widened and her lip quivered as she watched Fluttershy squeeze milk into his mouth. Then, she carefully picked up a kitten with a white belly and black back and ears. The kitten quickly found the tip of the offered medicine dropper. “Oh!” she squealed with delight, as she squeezed milk into the kitten’s mouth. Rarity and Fluttershy smiled as they squeezed milk into the mouths of the hungry kittens. The room’s silence was only broken by an occasional mew, “oh”s and “ah”s from Rarity, and a quiet squeal from Fluttershy as she picked up each kitten. When the kittens were all fed, they were very sleepy. They were making unsteady purring sounds as they settled in to the folds of their blanket, their paws trying to grab at its edges. “There you go,” said Fluttershy as she set the last kitten in the box. She lay down on the floor and smiled at Rarity. “Thank you ever so much for your help, Rarity. I could have done it myself, but sometimes it’s good to have company.” Rarity’s lip quivered. She seemed close to tears. “Oh, Fluttershy! Why it’s not a burden at all,” she beamed. “I’m always glad to help out a good friend like you.” She climbed off the sofa and onto the floor. “In fact, I’m absolutely flattered that you would trust me, little old Rarity, to help you with such a delicate task.” “I know I can count on your delicate touch,” said Fluttershy with a smile. “Oh, Fluttershy, thank you so much!” she cried. Rarity lay down beside her. She put one foreleg down beside Fluttershy and wrapped the other around her. Rarity squeezed firmly as she rested her face on Fluttershy’s neck. Fluttershy smiled and sighed gently as she nuzzled Rarity’s leg. Rarity squeezed her eyes shut, blinking away a tear or two, as she hugged Fluttershy a little tighter. Fluttershy smiled as she felt deep emotional warmth flow through Rarity to her. She regarded Rarity’s contented expression through vision that was a little hazy; she was on the verge of napping. But she remained awake. With half-open eyes, she silently reveled in her physical and emotional closeness to her friend, and in the joy in caring that the two of them had just shared. As they lay together, the clouds drifted away, leaving a bright, warm ray of sunlight to sparkle the highlights in Rarity’s mane. The feel of the sun and of Rarity’s body warmed Fluttershy to her core. Rarity and Fluttershy lay together cuddling in the sunbeam for the rest of the morning. So Soft CloudsFluttershy watched with a smile as Rarity pranced down the path away from her house. The golden band in her hat glittered in the sunshine, as did the golden highlights in her mane and tail. Her smile slowly faded as Rarity pranced out of sight. She let out a deep sigh as she cast her eyes up toward the sky. The sky over Ponyville was mostly clear, but a large cluster of dark clouds lurked at the edge of town to the west. Fluttershy squinted to look at the clouds. A smile slowly spread across her face as she noticed a streak of blue popping in and out of the cloud bank. She delicately took off into the air. She lifted herself up above the mass of clouds and perched on a small cloud overlooking them. Standing on the edge of the clouds was Rainbow Dash. She had a distant look in her eyes as she gently kneaded the top of a cloud with her hooves, and then smoothed it out. “Ugh. Finally,” she said, kicking off from the cloud to launch herself into the air. She was starting to build up some speed and altitude when she noticed Fluttershy waving at her. Rainbow Dash zipped over to her and landed on her cloud. “Hey, Fluttershy,” she said with a sigh. “Oh, hello Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy replied. “You been working hard all morning on the weather?” “Working hard? Yeah, I wish. Hard work is interesting. This stuff is boring,” she said dismissively. “Oh, I’m sorry. What’s so boring?” “Appleloosa needs a lot of rain, so Cloudsdale made them a bunch of clouds, and set up a stiff breeze to get them there. But they don’t want to drench the desert or the prairie before it arrives,” she said. “That means I had to pick through the entire cloud bank, find the ones that are about to start raining, and smooth them out. Staring at clouds all morning! It’s so tedious!” she cried with an exaggerated grimace. “Oh, that’s too bad,” Fluttershy said. “Yeah, but I’m done now. So I can get an hour or so of good flying in before I have lunch,” she said, crouching down, pawing at the cloud, and spreading her wings. “Oh. I was going to do some flying, too,” said Fluttershy. “You? Fluttershy? Joyflying? What gives?” asked Rainbow Dash with a chuckle. “Actually, I was hoping you could help me out. I’m friends with a flock of ducks, and I was going to join them for this fall’s migration south. But I never really learned to fly in formation. I barely got passing grades in flight camp; I don’t know any of the fancy stuff,” she said with a pleading look in her eyes. Rainbow Dash grinned at Fluttershy. “Aw, formation flying’s easy. C’mon, I’ll show you. You lead.” “But –” protested Fluttershy. “That just means you take off, and I’ll follow you. Just fly like normal, and don’t make any sudden turns or altitude changes. Take it nice and easy,” said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy swallowed hard and took off. She splayed her legs out and flapped fiercely, desperately. Rainbow Dash launched from the cloud and followed her. “Hey Fluttershy,” she called. “I don’t know why you’re trying to race me here, but it won’t do you any good.” Fluttershy glanced back. Rainbow Dash was flying behind her and to her left, easily using slow, broad wing strokes to keep up with Fluttershy’s frantic flapping. She blushed and slowed her pace. Rainbow Dash slowed down to match her, staying in formation. “You can tell that I have it easier flying than you do. And that’s not just because I have awesomely powerful wings,” she said. “As your wings produce lift, your wingtips make a little updraft. If there were a duck flying behind me, or another pegasus, she’d be riding my updraft, too.” “I see,” shouted Fluttershy through clenched teeth. “No you don’t,” she replied. “Air currents are something you gotta feel, not see. Keep flying like that and I’ll show you.” Rainbow Dash put on a burst of speed and pulled ahead of Fluttershy. From a new vantage point, ahead of her and to her left, she looked back. “Now feel the air currents coming from me. You need to feel for little spirals spinning upward, coming off of my wingtips,” she said. Fluttershy relaxed and spread her wings open into a gliding stance. She unsteadily gained a little altitude. “Oh, this wing’s getting a little more lift than that one,” she said. “You’ll get used to it. It’s just like riding any other updraft,” Rainbow Dash reassured. For a couple minutes Rainbow Dash flew forward, with Fluttershy flying a few feet behind and to her right. “This really is easy,” Fluttershy said gleefully. “Great!” said Rainbow Dash. “I’m going to gain a little altitude and try a few slow turns. You follow me. We’ll take it nice and steady, like a little flock of ducks.” Fluttershy signaled her with a hooves up. For the next hour, a blue and a yellow speck flew high above Ponyville. They stayed in perfect formation, moving gracefully across a nearly-clear sky. Nopony on the ground paid them any mind. For all the open space surrounding them and the tiny houses dotting the ground below them, the pair flew alone. At last, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed on a large puffy cloud. “That was great. I needed a good fly,” said Rainbow Dash. “Let’s take a little break here.” She smoothed out two little patches of the cloud. They were slightly rounded inward. Rainbow Dash lay down in one and pointed a hoof at the other. “C’mon, have a rest.” Fluttershy smiled and plopped herself down in the same patch as Rainbow Dash. “Oh, thank you,” she said, wriggling up next to her, and resting her head on her shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and sighed contentedly. “Hey, Fluttershy, that’s not what I meant,” she protested. “I made you your own …” She took a look at Fluttershy beside her, and stopped. She gently nuzzled Rainbow’s neck. A calm smile spread across Fluttershy’s face. “Aww,” Rainbow Dash said as the same smile spread across her face. She spread out a wing and tucked Fluttershy underneath it. Rainbow pulled her a little closer, and locked one of her forelegs with Fluttershy’s. She nuzzled her mane a little, and let out a relaxed sigh. High in the sky above Ponyville, the two friends lounged on a cloud. They were seen by nopony on the ground, and by no other creature in the air. All alone, under a blue sunny sky, Rainbow Dash shared her warmth, her wing, and her heartbeat. And Fluttershy was warmed, was relaxed, and was loved. So Soft BunnyFluttershy landed in her front yard humming a cheerful little tune to herself. She opened the front door, and poked her head into the kitchen. “Be patient, Angel,” she called out, “I’ll get your lunch ready in a minute.” She looked around and gasped. Angel was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t underfoot, holding up his bowl, nor was he staring up at the fridge, nor trying to paw his way into the pantry. “Oh, he’s gone,” said Fluttershy as her smile faded. “He must be really mad at me.” Fluttershy listlessly opened up the fridge and the kitchen cabinet, assembling the ingredients and tools needed to make herself a strawberry and spinach salad. She sighed deeply as she added a double hoof-full of fresh spinach to her bowl. Her mouth turned downwards into a frown as she sliced some strawberries using her paring knife. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she chopped up some onion using her chef’s knife. She wiped her face with a “whew,” tossed the salad, and added a dash of dressing. Fluttershy set her salad bowl down on the kitchen table, and looked left and right. Nopony shared the room with her, and the curtains were closed. She buried her face in the bowl, noisily chowing down on the salad. She took in huge mouthfuls and chewed and swallowed without even raising her head out of the bowl. At last, she delicately licked the last slice of strawberry off the side. As Fluttershy daintily wiped her mouth with her napkin, she let out a very small belch. She blushed. “Oh, I hope Angel found something good to eat out in the wild. He’s normally such a picky eater here at home,” she said. “I wonder what I did wrong.” She sighed and looked around the room. Her eyes stopped on the calendar’s picture of a field of orange and white poppies. “No, wait, that’s last month,” she said, stretching a hoof out toward the calendar. “I should have turned the page yesterday; it’s the second already.” She gasped as she lifted up the page. The first day of the new month was circled, and had a drawing of a bunny’s face. “Oh, no! Yesterday was Angel’s birthday, and I completely forgot!” said Fluttershy, hanging her head into her salad bowl in shame. “What will I do? I need to get him a present. Maybe buy him a carrot cake?” fretted Fluttershy. She gulped and said, “I could throw him a party and invite the squirrels and chipmunks to join us.” Fluttershy went about her lunchtime animal feeding, worrying to herself. “Hmm, do I need to buy them all party hats?” she asked as she watched the squirrels and chipmunks dig in to their pile of green pellets. “Individual cupcakes? One big cake? Am I supposed to cut the first piece or let Angel do it himself?” she wondered as she tossed out seed for the chickens. “Oh, I don’t even know where to begin,” she wailed as she filled up her bird feeders. “Maybe a party isn’t a good idea after all. I need some help.” Her eyes brightened. “Of course! Pinkie Pie! If I ask her for help, she’ll be tickled pink. Or, pinker than usual,” she said with a smirk. “Helping me with a party would make Pinkie Pie happy,” she said, beaming. “And making somepony happy is just what I need right now.” Fluttershy radiant smile soon faded. When she arrived at Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie wasn’t at work. Along the way, she thought she caught a glimpse of Angel sticking his tongue out at her before jumping away into the bushes. Fluttershy walked the open air market from one end to the other, carefully avoiding large crowds of ponies. There was no sign of Pinkie Pie there, either. She sat on a bench at the far end, and sighed. “Heya, Fluttershy. What’s up?” said a familiar voice. Sitting right there on the bench beside her was Pinkie Pie, a concerned look in her eyes. Fluttershy leapt up off of the bench. Pinkie Pie leapt off of the bench next to her. “Oh, hi Pinkie Pie,” she said, shaking. “I was just looking for you. I need your help.” “What’s the problem, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked, looking more concerned. “Angel’s birthday was yesterday, and I missed it,” she said. “I’m thinking about maybe throwing him a party to make up for it.” A smile slowly spread across Pinkie Pie’s face. “A party? You want me to help you throw a party? Oh, Fluttershy, you have no idea how happy …” Her voice trailed off as she stared off into the distance, lost in thought. “Of course Fluttershy knows how happy this makes me,” she said. “Oh Fluttershy, that is so sweet!” Pinkie Pie took a step toward her, raised up her forehooves, and pulled Fluttershy in for a hug. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise. She raised her own hooves to Pinkie’s shoulders, and said, “Umm … Pinkie?” “Nope! Not done hugging you yet!” said a very chipper Pinkie. Fluttershy wrapped a shaking pair of limbs around Pinkie Pie. She blushed as she regarded the ponies walking to and from the market. Sensing Fluttershy’s unease, Pinkie Pie whispered, “Don’t worry about them. Nopony minds. Just close your eyes.” Fluttershy looked around. Pinkie was right. Ponies were watching the market stalls, talking to their companions, and walking right past the two of them. Nopony paid any mind to the commonplace sight of Pinkie Pie hugging a friend. She closed her eyes and held Pinkie a little closer. The warmth of Pinkie’s body comforted Fluttershy, and she slowly stopped trembling. The two stood at the edge of the market, their cheeks gently touching, their forelimbs tightly wrapped around each other. Fluttershy’s worries about the crowds, about disapproving glances from strangers, about disappointing her Angel, melted away. In spite of the dozens of ponies passing by, Pinkie Pie’s long, close embrace drew Fluttershy into a world shared by the two of them alone. So Soft EarthApplejack looked up from her well-worn Equestrian Farmers’ Almanac to the sound of a soft but insistent tapping at her front door. “Hold your horses, I’m a-coming,” she called out. She rose from her sofa and opened the front door. Standing there was Fluttershy, looking more worried than usual. “C’mon in, Fluttershy,” she said. Fluttershy walked into the living room listlessly, sat down on the couch, and stared blankly at the wall. Applejack smiled warmly at her. “Anything I can do to help you, sugarcube?” she said. “I forgot Angel’s birthday,” she said, sighing. “I want to make it up to him by giving him a nice carrot cake. I asked Pinkie Pie, but Sugar Cube Corner has a big special order to fill, so she’s too busy to help. But she said that your family makes great carrot cakes.” “Naw, I can’t do that,” said Applejack. “What do I look like, my cousin Carrotjack?” Fluttershy’s eyes started to tremble as a big grin spread across Applejack’s face. “I’m just joshin’ you,” Applejack said. “Carrotjack’s a terrible baker. But I have a great carrot cake recipe.” “Oh, good,” said Fluttershy with relief. “So can you make –“ “But seriously, the answer’s no,” interrupted Applejack. A stern look came over her face. “I can tell by the look on your face you’re feeling mighty guilty about this. And if you want this cake to be an apology that really means something, you need to be the pony that makes it.” Fluttershy’s once-again astonished expression slowly faded into a gentle smile. “You can use my ingredients to make my recipe in my kitchen,” she continued. “But it needs to be made by your hooves so it’ll be full of your love.” “Right,” said Fluttershy resolutely. “I’ll do it.” “Great! Let’s start by picking the carrots,” said Applejack. The two walked through the kitchen and out the side door to a large garden. Each row was marked with a small picture of a carrot, turnip, potato, or other root vegetable. Most of the rows were empty. Applejack and Fluttershy trod through the soft, turned up earth to a row of carrots. “I planted this row of carrots about four months ago. I was gonna start harvesting tomorrow, but they should be good today,” Applejack said. She pawed some dirt away from a carrot, and reached down and firmly grasped it with her teeth. With a couple gentle tugs, she pulled it out of the ground. She then set the carrot down in a basket. “Get a good grip, but pull nice and soft. Five medium-sized ones should do the trick,” she said. Fluttershy brushed away some dirt, gently put her teeth around a carrot, and gently pulled up. This did nothing but leave shallow tooth marks on the vegetable. Applejack said, “You gotta hold on a little –“ Applejack stopped as Fluttershy dramatically dug at the ground around the carrot. She tightly gripped it with her teeth and with a couple of tugs, pulled it out of the ground. The carrot was broken, the two halves barely connected to each other. Fluttershy’s triumphant smile quickly turned into a frown. “Don’t worry, we’re just gonna grate it up anyway. You’re doing good. Four more!” said Applejack with a smile. Fluttershy diligently pulled up four more carrots without breaking any more. She added them to Applejack’s basket. “Okay,” said Applejack, picking up the basket and putting it on her back, “let’s get inside. I’ll get the kitchen in order …” Applejack noticed that Fluttershy wasn’t looking at her, or at her kitchen. She was instead staring at some clumpy dirt that coated her nose. She shook her head and snorted, trying to get it off. Applejack chuckled gently, and produced a mostly-clean cloth, which she used to wipe Fluttershy’s nose. “C’mon sugarcube. Let’s get to the kitchen,” she said. She dashed in the side door. By the time Fluttershy arrived, she had cleared off one little corner of the countertop in her cluttered kitchen. Applejack held up a peeler and the carrot she had picked herself. A grater was sitting on the counter beside her. Behind that was a corkboard with a hoof-scrawled recipe pinned to it. “Now, first, you gotta wash it, then scrape it with this scraper thing,” she said. “Umm … I’ve grated carrots before,” said Fluttershy softly. “Great!” exclaimed Applejack. “You get started on that, I’ll get the kitchen in order.” She took a big bite out of her unpeeled, still slightly dirty carrot and whirled around the kitchen. As Fluttershy grated her carrots, Applejack cleaned up, organized the needed utensils and bowls, and fetched ingredients from the pantry and fridge. Applejack talked her through her special family recipe. Along the way, Applejack gave advice, set out tools and containers, and offered words of encouragement, but never lifted a hoof to help in the actual making of the cake. Every step from the greasing of the cake pan, to the beating of the eggs, to the arduous task of mixing everything into the batter was done by Fluttershy alone. By the time Fluttershy put the cake in the oven, her forelimbs were aching, but she was smiling. As the cake baked, she whipped up a couple cups of her own special frosting recipe, and set it in the fridge. “That’s a mighty fine looking cake there, sugarcube,” said Applejack, peeking into the oven. “All that’s left is about forty minutes of waiting, then you can frost it.” “Actually, there’s one thing left to do,” Fluttershy said. “Angel will want more carrot with his carrot cake. I’m going to pick another carrot, and garnish the cake with carrot slices. If you don’t mind,” she added hastily. “That’s a fine idea. Let’s get y’all another carrot,” Applejack replied. They went back out to the vegetable garden, and walked through the churned-up dirt of the already-picked rows. Fluttershy firmly grasped a carrot in her mouth, and gave a few tugs. But it wouldn’t budge. Dejected, she flopped down onto the cool, soft earth. She idly pushed dirt away from the carrot. “Oh, Applejack,” she said, “You think Angel can ever forgive me for forgetting his birthday?” Applejack smiled at her, and said, “Of course he will, darlin’. The question is, can you forgive yourself?” “Well … I …” started Fluttershy. Applejack sat down on the ground beside her and wrapped a forelimb around her shoulder. “Sure you can, Fluttershy,” she whispered. Applejack lay down right beside her, and put her other forelimb around her neck. She held Fluttershy close to her, cheek touching cheek, flank touching flank. The warmth of Applejack’s body at her side contrasted with the coolness of the earth under her belly, but both were soft, and oddly enough, equally comforting. Fluttershy wriggled into the ground a little as she nuzzled Applejack’s cheek. She felt the love flow into her, both from Applejack’s body and from Applejack’s land. As the sun sank toward the horizon, Fluttershy rested in Applejack’s embrace. Applejack whispered soft reassuring words about forgiveness, kindness, friendship, and love. When they heard the oven timer ring, they both slowly rose as one. Fluttershy grabbed and pulled out the carrot with one fluid motion, and they walked, side-by-side, still touching, back to Applejack’s home. So Soft My Little PoniesFluttershy walked through the streets of Ponyville with a covered cake carrier effortlessly balanced on her back. Her head darted to and fro, following every moving thing. Sometimes she would spot a little streak of white, and rush after it, dashing around corners, leaping fences, and poking her head into bushes. She kept at it until the sun was almost completely set. She sighed heavily and turned to go home, when she heard movement in the bushes. Something small and white scurried out of the bushes and into the open door of the library. Fluttershy approached the library deep in thought. She arrived with a smile on her face. She raised a hoof and gently knocked on the open door. Inside, Twilight Sparkle was sitting at a downstairs desk, scrutinizing a bookcase across the room from her. Without even looking up, she said, “Door’s open. Come on in Fluttershy.” Fluttershy walked in the door and set the cake carrier on a table. She removed the lid from it, revealing a carrot cake, lavishly covered with creamy white frosting, the top edge ringed with slices of carrot. She gave Twilight a smile and a wink. “Oh, good evening Twilight,” she said in a sing-song voice. “I made this carrot cake for somebunny special. Isn’t it lovely?” “Um … yeah. That’s … a nice carrot cake you’ve got there Fluttershy,” Twilight replied hesitantly. “I was going to give it to a very special friend of mine for his birthday,” she continued. “His birthday was actually yesterday, and I forgot it. And I’m very very sorry about that,” she said with an exaggerated frown. “Umm …” said Twilight, her eyes searching the room. “But if he doesn’t want to have this scrumptious carrot cake that I made especially for him, I guess we’ll have to eat it ourselves,” Fluttershy said with a resigned sigh. “Sure. Sure thing Fluttershy. I’ll get some plates and a knife,” said Twilight. As she went across the room to fetch them, a tiny pair of eyes peeked out from a dark recess between two books at the bottom of a bookcase. A flash of white sped out of the hiding spot and secreted itself behind an unlit oil lamp on the table. A pair of eyes was barely visible behind the lamp glass. Fluttershy pretended to focus her vision on Twilight, but peeked at the lamp out of the corner of her eye. Twilight floated a small stack of dessert plates and some silverware onto the table. “Okay, Fluttershy, I’m ready to cut myself a big piece of this yummy looking cake,” she said, a little too excitedly. As she licked her lips with an exaggerated motion and levitated a knife toward the cake, the face of Angel poked out from behind the lamp. He opened his mouth with a loud gasp. “Oh, there you are Angel-bunny,” said Fluttershy in a sing-song voice, as she snatched up the knife with a wing. “You got here just in time. We were about to eat up all of your birthday cake. Don’t worry, I’ll cut you a nice big slice.” Angel took a couple hesitant steps towards the cake, wiggling his little nose. Fluttershy gracefully swept her knife through the cake, cutting out a quarter of it. She lifted the big piece onto a plate, and pushed the plate toward Angel with her nose. “There you go, sweetie. Happy Birthday!” she said. Angel stepped up to the slice of cake. He sat on his haunches and peeked up at the top of the cake, which reached the level of his neck. He made a noise that sounded like “hmph,” and hopped onto the cake tray. Sitting in the empty space left by the removed slice, he opened his mouth wide and took a bite out of the cake. Fluttershy heaved a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s a crisis averted,” said Twilight with a smile. “Let’s celebrate!” She levitated the knife and cut the quarter-cake into two pieces, and floated one of the pieces onto another plate. Fluttershy daintily ate her piece with a fork as Angel continued to attack the main cake. “This cake’s really good,” said Twilight. “Tastes kinda like Applejack’s carrot cake, but the frosting’s a bit sweeter and creamier. Also, she garnishes her carrot cake with apple slices,” she added with a slight grimace. “I made it all by myself, especially for Angel’s birthday. The hardest part was tracking down Angel to give it to him,” Fluttershy said. Twilight swallowed a mouthful of cake, and said, “I’ll never understand by anybunny’d want to run away from this cake. Mmm.” Twilight magically lit the oil lamp, and looked at Fluttershy in the light. Leaves and twigs poked out of her mane. “Wow,” said Twilight, floating some leaves out of her mane, “you chased him through a lot of bushes. You must have had a really rough time of it today.” “Yes I did,” replied Fluttershy. “But I always find that my friends can help me get through rough times.” Twilight Sparkle set her cake down and smiled at Fluttershy. “The fact that you let your friends help you through hard times shows that you’ve let us into your heart. With all the kindness you’ve shown Angel … me … everypony you know, we can’t help but want to show you the same kindness in return. When we help to make you happy, it makes us happy.” “Aww,” said Fluttershy with a sweet smile on her face. “And you understand it, too,” continued Twilight. “You know that you can make all of us happy –“ Fluttershy suddenly threw her forelimbs around Twilight Sparkle. Twilight hugged back. “Oh, thank you, Twilight,” whispered Fluttershy, “That’s so sweet of you.” In the light of a single oil lamp and the fading rays of the sunset, Fluttershy was tightly embraced by Twilight Sparkle, a friend who loved her, and understood her. Fluttershy rested her head on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight gently kissed her on the cheek, then magically smoothed out Fluttershy’s mane as she pressed her cheek against hers. Twilight enveloped Fluttershy. The last rays of the setting sun kissed Fluttershy’s mane. The lamp light caused a pile of Twilight’s books to cast a long dark shadow over Fluttershy’s back. The shadow complemented the dark purple of Twilight’s mane, which now nearly covered Fluttershy’s face. Fluttershy could feel Twilight’s heart beat as they held each other close. And a glow emerged from Twilight’s horn, lingering awhile as it swept through Fluttershy’s mane, depositing a few twigs on the ground. Suddenly, light filled the room. Another lamp, this one near the front door, was burning bright. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack stood just inside the door. Twilight and Fluttershy separated. Twilight looked up at her friends and blushed. Fluttershy looked up at her friends, and did not. “Say, Fluttershy,” said Applejack, “looks like you really needed all our help today. You doin’ better?” “Yes, much better,” replied Fluttershy. “You know, I was very happy to help you out this morning,” said Rarity. “So was I,” added Rainbow Dash. “Of course you were, silly,” said Pinkie Pie. “That’s the whole point.” Fluttershy beamed. “Thank you for everything you did for me. I’m glad I could make you all happy. Making each of you happy was the highlight of my day. You are all my very best friends and I love you all very much.” “Aww,” said all of Fluttershy’s friends in unison. They all approached Fluttershy with their forelimbs outstretched, and gently embraced her. Friendly faces softly brushed against her cheeks, her chest, her shoulders, and her mane. Fluttershy was surrounded by warm bodies, warm smiles, and warm hearts. And they all belonged to good friends who loved her very much in return.
So Soft KittensFluttershy frowned and sighed as she looked out her window. Big billowy clouds filled up the sky, darkening her home, and further darkening her mood. Her house and yard, normally bustling with animals that could cheer her up, was eerily silent. The deep overcast had spooked the chickens, causing them to hide in their coop. The songbirds were listless. Even Angel was refusing to listen to her – he was still angry with her over something she had done last night, although she didn’t remember what it was. “Maybe I did something to deserve this,” she said to herself. “Do I dare find somepony to …” After a few minutes of staring out the window, wallowing in self-pity, she was startled by two things. First was the sound of some creature stirring in her kitchen. Second was the sight of Rarity strolling by. She was wearing a wide-brimmed purple hat, decked with white flowers and a gleaming golden band. Her festive hat matched the golden strands decorating her tail and mane, but clashed with the expression on her face. Her mouth turned downwards in an exaggerated frown, and her quivering eyes darted to and fro, searching in vain for anypony else to appreciate her. Fluttershy’s eyes lit up for a moment, and she zipped out the door. “Oh, hello Rarity,” she said softly. “Fluttershy, dear, so good to see somepony around. This depressing weather is keeping everypony indoors, so nopony can appreciate my new hat. AND I don’t have the sunshine I need to emphasize my new hairstyle,” she said twitching her tail, which just barely gleamed. “That is a nice hat,” said Fluttershy, “Can you –“ “Oh, do you like it?” she said, strutting a little. “It’s a simple little off-the-shelf number, but the band and the flowers are my own personal touches.” “Um, Rarity, could you please –“ “Of course, when I got up this morning, there was plenty of sun,” she continued, “but by the time I got out of the salon, these dreadful clouds were everywhere.” “Yes, that is a nice style,” Fluttershy said. “I need a little –“ “Isn’t it? And I was about to buy some shoes to match,” she moaned, “but now I don’t even know if it’s worthwhile –“ “Rarity could you do me a little favor?” Fluttershy finally said. “Please? It won’t take long.” Rarity abruptly broke off her complaining. She looked Fluttershy in the eye for a second. Her expression on her face quickly changed from sadness to concern. “Of course I’ll help you,” said Rarity without a hint of hesitation. “Now, Fluttershy, you know you can talk to me about anything,” said Rarity, sitting down on Fluttershy’s sofa. “I know,” said Fluttershy as she zipped into the kitchen. “No matter what’s troubling you, I’m here to help,” continued Rarity as she levitated her hat onto a coat rack. She stared at the doorway to the kitchen, listening to a few clinks and thumps coming out of it. “You need any help in there?” “No, just wait out there. I’ll get everything ready myself,” replied Fluttershy. “Oh, excuse me,” she added as a rather loud clatter came from the kitchen. Soon she emerged into the living room carrying a large cardboard box. Inside the box were five tiny black and white kittens. They were resting on a white blanket, some of them mewing, and some of them just yawning. She set the box on the couch, and sat down on the floor beside it. “Aww,” said Rarity as the concern and sadness melted away from her face. She loomed over the kittens, her eyes unable to stay fixed on any one of them. One of them batted a paw in the air as Rarity’s horn cast a shadow over her. “Awwwwwww,” cooed Rarity. “They just opened their eyes a week ago,” said Fluttershy. “Mama’s feeling very sick, so she can’t feed them.” Fluttershy produced a warm bottle of milk and two medicine droppers. She filled them with milk and offered one to Rarity. Fluttershy picked up a kitten with one foreleg. “Hold a kitten like this,” she said, “and put the dropper right in front of his mouth. When he notices it, he’ll take the tip in his mouth, and that’s when you slowly squeeze the milk out.” Fluttershy demonstrated. The fluffy kitten she was holding was mostly black with patches of white on its cheeks, neck, and paws. He quickly found the tip of the dropper and opened and closed his mouth around it, licking it over and over. Rarity’s eyes widened and her lip quivered as she watched Fluttershy squeeze milk into his mouth. Then, she carefully picked up a kitten with a white belly and black back and ears. The kitten quickly found the tip of the offered medicine dropper. “Oh!” she squealed with delight, as she squeezed milk into the kitten’s mouth. Rarity and Fluttershy smiled as they squeezed milk into the mouths of the hungry kittens. The room’s silence was only broken by an occasional mew, “oh”s and “ah”s from Rarity, and a quiet squeal from Fluttershy as she picked up each kitten. When the kittens were all fed, they were very sleepy. They were making unsteady purring sounds as they settled in to the folds of their blanket, their paws trying to grab at its edges. “There you go,” said Fluttershy as she set the last kitten in the box. She lay down on the floor and smiled at Rarity. “Thank you ever so much for your help, Rarity. I could have done it myself, but sometimes it’s good to have company.” Rarity’s lip quivered. She seemed close to tears. “Oh, Fluttershy! Why it’s not a burden at all,” she beamed. “I’m always glad to help out a good friend like you.” She climbed off the sofa and onto the floor. “In fact, I’m absolutely flattered that you would trust me, little old Rarity, to help you with such a delicate task.” “I know I can count on your delicate touch,” said Fluttershy with a smile. “Oh, Fluttershy, thank you so much!” she cried. Rarity lay down beside her. She put one foreleg down beside Fluttershy and wrapped the other around her. Rarity squeezed firmly as she rested her face on Fluttershy’s neck. Fluttershy smiled and sighed gently as she nuzzled Rarity’s leg. Rarity squeezed her eyes shut, blinking away a tear or two, as she hugged Fluttershy a little tighter. Fluttershy smiled as she felt deep emotional warmth flow through Rarity to her. She regarded Rarity’s contented expression through vision that was a little hazy; she was on the verge of napping. But she remained awake. With half-open eyes, she silently reveled in her physical and emotional closeness to her friend, and in the joy in caring that the two of them had just shared. As they lay together, the clouds drifted away, leaving a bright, warm ray of sunlight to sparkle the highlights in Rarity’s mane. The feel of the sun and of Rarity’s body warmed Fluttershy to her core. Rarity and Fluttershy lay together cuddling in the sunbeam for the rest of the morning.
So Soft CloudsFluttershy watched with a smile as Rarity pranced down the path away from her house. The golden band in her hat glittered in the sunshine, as did the golden highlights in her mane and tail. Her smile slowly faded as Rarity pranced out of sight. She let out a deep sigh as she cast her eyes up toward the sky. The sky over Ponyville was mostly clear, but a large cluster of dark clouds lurked at the edge of town to the west. Fluttershy squinted to look at the clouds. A smile slowly spread across her face as she noticed a streak of blue popping in and out of the cloud bank. She delicately took off into the air. She lifted herself up above the mass of clouds and perched on a small cloud overlooking them. Standing on the edge of the clouds was Rainbow Dash. She had a distant look in her eyes as she gently kneaded the top of a cloud with her hooves, and then smoothed it out. “Ugh. Finally,” she said, kicking off from the cloud to launch herself into the air. She was starting to build up some speed and altitude when she noticed Fluttershy waving at her. Rainbow Dash zipped over to her and landed on her cloud. “Hey, Fluttershy,” she said with a sigh. “Oh, hello Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy replied. “You been working hard all morning on the weather?” “Working hard? Yeah, I wish. Hard work is interesting. This stuff is boring,” she said dismissively. “Oh, I’m sorry. What’s so boring?” “Appleloosa needs a lot of rain, so Cloudsdale made them a bunch of clouds, and set up a stiff breeze to get them there. But they don’t want to drench the desert or the prairie before it arrives,” she said. “That means I had to pick through the entire cloud bank, find the ones that are about to start raining, and smooth them out. Staring at clouds all morning! It’s so tedious!” she cried with an exaggerated grimace. “Oh, that’s too bad,” Fluttershy said. “Yeah, but I’m done now. So I can get an hour or so of good flying in before I have lunch,” she said, crouching down, pawing at the cloud, and spreading her wings. “Oh. I was going to do some flying, too,” said Fluttershy. “You? Fluttershy? Joyflying? What gives?” asked Rainbow Dash with a chuckle. “Actually, I was hoping you could help me out. I’m friends with a flock of ducks, and I was going to join them for this fall’s migration south. But I never really learned to fly in formation. I barely got passing grades in flight camp; I don’t know any of the fancy stuff,” she said with a pleading look in her eyes. Rainbow Dash grinned at Fluttershy. “Aw, formation flying’s easy. C’mon, I’ll show you. You lead.” “But –” protested Fluttershy. “That just means you take off, and I’ll follow you. Just fly like normal, and don’t make any sudden turns or altitude changes. Take it nice and easy,” said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy swallowed hard and took off. She splayed her legs out and flapped fiercely, desperately. Rainbow Dash launched from the cloud and followed her. “Hey Fluttershy,” she called. “I don’t know why you’re trying to race me here, but it won’t do you any good.” Fluttershy glanced back. Rainbow Dash was flying behind her and to her left, easily using slow, broad wing strokes to keep up with Fluttershy’s frantic flapping. She blushed and slowed her pace. Rainbow Dash slowed down to match her, staying in formation. “You can tell that I have it easier flying than you do. And that’s not just because I have awesomely powerful wings,” she said. “As your wings produce lift, your wingtips make a little updraft. If there were a duck flying behind me, or another pegasus, she’d be riding my updraft, too.” “I see,” shouted Fluttershy through clenched teeth. “No you don’t,” she replied. “Air currents are something you gotta feel, not see. Keep flying like that and I’ll show you.” Rainbow Dash put on a burst of speed and pulled ahead of Fluttershy. From a new vantage point, ahead of her and to her left, she looked back. “Now feel the air currents coming from me. You need to feel for little spirals spinning upward, coming off of my wingtips,” she said. Fluttershy relaxed and spread her wings open into a gliding stance. She unsteadily gained a little altitude. “Oh, this wing’s getting a little more lift than that one,” she said. “You’ll get used to it. It’s just like riding any other updraft,” Rainbow Dash reassured. For a couple minutes Rainbow Dash flew forward, with Fluttershy flying a few feet behind and to her right. “This really is easy,” Fluttershy said gleefully. “Great!” said Rainbow Dash. “I’m going to gain a little altitude and try a few slow turns. You follow me. We’ll take it nice and steady, like a little flock of ducks.” Fluttershy signaled her with a hooves up. For the next hour, a blue and a yellow speck flew high above Ponyville. They stayed in perfect formation, moving gracefully across a nearly-clear sky. Nopony on the ground paid them any mind. For all the open space surrounding them and the tiny houses dotting the ground below them, the pair flew alone. At last, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed on a large puffy cloud. “That was great. I needed a good fly,” said Rainbow Dash. “Let’s take a little break here.” She smoothed out two little patches of the cloud. They were slightly rounded inward. Rainbow Dash lay down in one and pointed a hoof at the other. “C’mon, have a rest.” Fluttershy smiled and plopped herself down in the same patch as Rainbow Dash. “Oh, thank you,” she said, wriggling up next to her, and resting her head on her shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and sighed contentedly. “Hey, Fluttershy, that’s not what I meant,” she protested. “I made you your own …” She took a look at Fluttershy beside her, and stopped. She gently nuzzled Rainbow’s neck. A calm smile spread across Fluttershy’s face. “Aww,” Rainbow Dash said as the same smile spread across her face. She spread out a wing and tucked Fluttershy underneath it. Rainbow pulled her a little closer, and locked one of her forelegs with Fluttershy’s. She nuzzled her mane a little, and let out a relaxed sigh. High in the sky above Ponyville, the two friends lounged on a cloud. They were seen by nopony on the ground, and by no other creature in the air. All alone, under a blue sunny sky, Rainbow Dash shared her warmth, her wing, and her heartbeat. And Fluttershy was warmed, was relaxed, and was loved.
So Soft BunnyFluttershy landed in her front yard humming a cheerful little tune to herself. She opened the front door, and poked her head into the kitchen. “Be patient, Angel,” she called out, “I’ll get your lunch ready in a minute.” She looked around and gasped. Angel was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t underfoot, holding up his bowl, nor was he staring up at the fridge, nor trying to paw his way into the pantry. “Oh, he’s gone,” said Fluttershy as her smile faded. “He must be really mad at me.” Fluttershy listlessly opened up the fridge and the kitchen cabinet, assembling the ingredients and tools needed to make herself a strawberry and spinach salad. She sighed deeply as she added a double hoof-full of fresh spinach to her bowl. Her mouth turned downwards into a frown as she sliced some strawberries using her paring knife. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she chopped up some onion using her chef’s knife. She wiped her face with a “whew,” tossed the salad, and added a dash of dressing. Fluttershy set her salad bowl down on the kitchen table, and looked left and right. Nopony shared the room with her, and the curtains were closed. She buried her face in the bowl, noisily chowing down on the salad. She took in huge mouthfuls and chewed and swallowed without even raising her head out of the bowl. At last, she delicately licked the last slice of strawberry off the side. As Fluttershy daintily wiped her mouth with her napkin, she let out a very small belch. She blushed. “Oh, I hope Angel found something good to eat out in the wild. He’s normally such a picky eater here at home,” she said. “I wonder what I did wrong.” She sighed and looked around the room. Her eyes stopped on the calendar’s picture of a field of orange and white poppies. “No, wait, that’s last month,” she said, stretching a hoof out toward the calendar. “I should have turned the page yesterday; it’s the second already.” She gasped as she lifted up the page. The first day of the new month was circled, and had a drawing of a bunny’s face. “Oh, no! Yesterday was Angel’s birthday, and I completely forgot!” said Fluttershy, hanging her head into her salad bowl in shame. “What will I do? I need to get him a present. Maybe buy him a carrot cake?” fretted Fluttershy. She gulped and said, “I could throw him a party and invite the squirrels and chipmunks to join us.” Fluttershy went about her lunchtime animal feeding, worrying to herself. “Hmm, do I need to buy them all party hats?” she asked as she watched the squirrels and chipmunks dig in to their pile of green pellets. “Individual cupcakes? One big cake? Am I supposed to cut the first piece or let Angel do it himself?” she wondered as she tossed out seed for the chickens. “Oh, I don’t even know where to begin,” she wailed as she filled up her bird feeders. “Maybe a party isn’t a good idea after all. I need some help.” Her eyes brightened. “Of course! Pinkie Pie! If I ask her for help, she’ll be tickled pink. Or, pinker than usual,” she said with a smirk. “Helping me with a party would make Pinkie Pie happy,” she said, beaming. “And making somepony happy is just what I need right now.” Fluttershy radiant smile soon faded. When she arrived at Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie wasn’t at work. Along the way, she thought she caught a glimpse of Angel sticking his tongue out at her before jumping away into the bushes. Fluttershy walked the open air market from one end to the other, carefully avoiding large crowds of ponies. There was no sign of Pinkie Pie there, either. She sat on a bench at the far end, and sighed. “Heya, Fluttershy. What’s up?” said a familiar voice. Sitting right there on the bench beside her was Pinkie Pie, a concerned look in her eyes. Fluttershy leapt up off of the bench. Pinkie Pie leapt off of the bench next to her. “Oh, hi Pinkie Pie,” she said, shaking. “I was just looking for you. I need your help.” “What’s the problem, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked, looking more concerned. “Angel’s birthday was yesterday, and I missed it,” she said. “I’m thinking about maybe throwing him a party to make up for it.” A smile slowly spread across Pinkie Pie’s face. “A party? You want me to help you throw a party? Oh, Fluttershy, you have no idea how happy …” Her voice trailed off as she stared off into the distance, lost in thought. “Of course Fluttershy knows how happy this makes me,” she said. “Oh Fluttershy, that is so sweet!” Pinkie Pie took a step toward her, raised up her forehooves, and pulled Fluttershy in for a hug. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise. She raised her own hooves to Pinkie’s shoulders, and said, “Umm … Pinkie?” “Nope! Not done hugging you yet!” said a very chipper Pinkie. Fluttershy wrapped a shaking pair of limbs around Pinkie Pie. She blushed as she regarded the ponies walking to and from the market. Sensing Fluttershy’s unease, Pinkie Pie whispered, “Don’t worry about them. Nopony minds. Just close your eyes.” Fluttershy looked around. Pinkie was right. Ponies were watching the market stalls, talking to their companions, and walking right past the two of them. Nopony paid any mind to the commonplace sight of Pinkie Pie hugging a friend. She closed her eyes and held Pinkie a little closer. The warmth of Pinkie’s body comforted Fluttershy, and she slowly stopped trembling. The two stood at the edge of the market, their cheeks gently touching, their forelimbs tightly wrapped around each other. Fluttershy’s worries about the crowds, about disapproving glances from strangers, about disappointing her Angel, melted away. In spite of the dozens of ponies passing by, Pinkie Pie’s long, close embrace drew Fluttershy into a world shared by the two of them alone.
So Soft EarthApplejack looked up from her well-worn Equestrian Farmers’ Almanac to the sound of a soft but insistent tapping at her front door. “Hold your horses, I’m a-coming,” she called out. She rose from her sofa and opened the front door. Standing there was Fluttershy, looking more worried than usual. “C’mon in, Fluttershy,” she said. Fluttershy walked into the living room listlessly, sat down on the couch, and stared blankly at the wall. Applejack smiled warmly at her. “Anything I can do to help you, sugarcube?” she said. “I forgot Angel’s birthday,” she said, sighing. “I want to make it up to him by giving him a nice carrot cake. I asked Pinkie Pie, but Sugar Cube Corner has a big special order to fill, so she’s too busy to help. But she said that your family makes great carrot cakes.” “Naw, I can’t do that,” said Applejack. “What do I look like, my cousin Carrotjack?” Fluttershy’s eyes started to tremble as a big grin spread across Applejack’s face. “I’m just joshin’ you,” Applejack said. “Carrotjack’s a terrible baker. But I have a great carrot cake recipe.” “Oh, good,” said Fluttershy with relief. “So can you make –“ “But seriously, the answer’s no,” interrupted Applejack. A stern look came over her face. “I can tell by the look on your face you’re feeling mighty guilty about this. And if you want this cake to be an apology that really means something, you need to be the pony that makes it.” Fluttershy’s once-again astonished expression slowly faded into a gentle smile. “You can use my ingredients to make my recipe in my kitchen,” she continued. “But it needs to be made by your hooves so it’ll be full of your love.” “Right,” said Fluttershy resolutely. “I’ll do it.” “Great! Let’s start by picking the carrots,” said Applejack. The two walked through the kitchen and out the side door to a large garden. Each row was marked with a small picture of a carrot, turnip, potato, or other root vegetable. Most of the rows were empty. Applejack and Fluttershy trod through the soft, turned up earth to a row of carrots. “I planted this row of carrots about four months ago. I was gonna start harvesting tomorrow, but they should be good today,” Applejack said. She pawed some dirt away from a carrot, and reached down and firmly grasped it with her teeth. With a couple gentle tugs, she pulled it out of the ground. She then set the carrot down in a basket. “Get a good grip, but pull nice and soft. Five medium-sized ones should do the trick,” she said. Fluttershy brushed away some dirt, gently put her teeth around a carrot, and gently pulled up. This did nothing but leave shallow tooth marks on the vegetable. Applejack said, “You gotta hold on a little –“ Applejack stopped as Fluttershy dramatically dug at the ground around the carrot. She tightly gripped it with her teeth and with a couple of tugs, pulled it out of the ground. The carrot was broken, the two halves barely connected to each other. Fluttershy’s triumphant smile quickly turned into a frown. “Don’t worry, we’re just gonna grate it up anyway. You’re doing good. Four more!” said Applejack with a smile. Fluttershy diligently pulled up four more carrots without breaking any more. She added them to Applejack’s basket. “Okay,” said Applejack, picking up the basket and putting it on her back, “let’s get inside. I’ll get the kitchen in order …” Applejack noticed that Fluttershy wasn’t looking at her, or at her kitchen. She was instead staring at some clumpy dirt that coated her nose. She shook her head and snorted, trying to get it off. Applejack chuckled gently, and produced a mostly-clean cloth, which she used to wipe Fluttershy’s nose. “C’mon sugarcube. Let’s get to the kitchen,” she said. She dashed in the side door. By the time Fluttershy arrived, she had cleared off one little corner of the countertop in her cluttered kitchen. Applejack held up a peeler and the carrot she had picked herself. A grater was sitting on the counter beside her. Behind that was a corkboard with a hoof-scrawled recipe pinned to it. “Now, first, you gotta wash it, then scrape it with this scraper thing,” she said. “Umm … I’ve grated carrots before,” said Fluttershy softly. “Great!” exclaimed Applejack. “You get started on that, I’ll get the kitchen in order.” She took a big bite out of her unpeeled, still slightly dirty carrot and whirled around the kitchen. As Fluttershy grated her carrots, Applejack cleaned up, organized the needed utensils and bowls, and fetched ingredients from the pantry and fridge. Applejack talked her through her special family recipe. Along the way, Applejack gave advice, set out tools and containers, and offered words of encouragement, but never lifted a hoof to help in the actual making of the cake. Every step from the greasing of the cake pan, to the beating of the eggs, to the arduous task of mixing everything into the batter was done by Fluttershy alone. By the time Fluttershy put the cake in the oven, her forelimbs were aching, but she was smiling. As the cake baked, she whipped up a couple cups of her own special frosting recipe, and set it in the fridge. “That’s a mighty fine looking cake there, sugarcube,” said Applejack, peeking into the oven. “All that’s left is about forty minutes of waiting, then you can frost it.” “Actually, there’s one thing left to do,” Fluttershy said. “Angel will want more carrot with his carrot cake. I’m going to pick another carrot, and garnish the cake with carrot slices. If you don’t mind,” she added hastily. “That’s a fine idea. Let’s get y’all another carrot,” Applejack replied. They went back out to the vegetable garden, and walked through the churned-up dirt of the already-picked rows. Fluttershy firmly grasped a carrot in her mouth, and gave a few tugs. But it wouldn’t budge. Dejected, she flopped down onto the cool, soft earth. She idly pushed dirt away from the carrot. “Oh, Applejack,” she said, “You think Angel can ever forgive me for forgetting his birthday?” Applejack smiled at her, and said, “Of course he will, darlin’. The question is, can you forgive yourself?” “Well … I …” started Fluttershy. Applejack sat down on the ground beside her and wrapped a forelimb around her shoulder. “Sure you can, Fluttershy,” she whispered. Applejack lay down right beside her, and put her other forelimb around her neck. She held Fluttershy close to her, cheek touching cheek, flank touching flank. The warmth of Applejack’s body at her side contrasted with the coolness of the earth under her belly, but both were soft, and oddly enough, equally comforting. Fluttershy wriggled into the ground a little as she nuzzled Applejack’s cheek. She felt the love flow into her, both from Applejack’s body and from Applejack’s land. As the sun sank toward the horizon, Fluttershy rested in Applejack’s embrace. Applejack whispered soft reassuring words about forgiveness, kindness, friendship, and love. When they heard the oven timer ring, they both slowly rose as one. Fluttershy grabbed and pulled out the carrot with one fluid motion, and they walked, side-by-side, still touching, back to Applejack’s home.
So Soft My Little PoniesFluttershy walked through the streets of Ponyville with a covered cake carrier effortlessly balanced on her back. Her head darted to and fro, following every moving thing. Sometimes she would spot a little streak of white, and rush after it, dashing around corners, leaping fences, and poking her head into bushes. She kept at it until the sun was almost completely set. She sighed heavily and turned to go home, when she heard movement in the bushes. Something small and white scurried out of the bushes and into the open door of the library. Fluttershy approached the library deep in thought. She arrived with a smile on her face. She raised a hoof and gently knocked on the open door. Inside, Twilight Sparkle was sitting at a downstairs desk, scrutinizing a bookcase across the room from her. Without even looking up, she said, “Door’s open. Come on in Fluttershy.” Fluttershy walked in the door and set the cake carrier on a table. She removed the lid from it, revealing a carrot cake, lavishly covered with creamy white frosting, the top edge ringed with slices of carrot. She gave Twilight a smile and a wink. “Oh, good evening Twilight,” she said in a sing-song voice. “I made this carrot cake for somebunny special. Isn’t it lovely?” “Um … yeah. That’s … a nice carrot cake you’ve got there Fluttershy,” Twilight replied hesitantly. “I was going to give it to a very special friend of mine for his birthday,” she continued. “His birthday was actually yesterday, and I forgot it. And I’m very very sorry about that,” she said with an exaggerated frown. “Umm …” said Twilight, her eyes searching the room. “But if he doesn’t want to have this scrumptious carrot cake that I made especially for him, I guess we’ll have to eat it ourselves,” Fluttershy said with a resigned sigh. “Sure. Sure thing Fluttershy. I’ll get some plates and a knife,” said Twilight. As she went across the room to fetch them, a tiny pair of eyes peeked out from a dark recess between two books at the bottom of a bookcase. A flash of white sped out of the hiding spot and secreted itself behind an unlit oil lamp on the table. A pair of eyes was barely visible behind the lamp glass. Fluttershy pretended to focus her vision on Twilight, but peeked at the lamp out of the corner of her eye. Twilight floated a small stack of dessert plates and some silverware onto the table. “Okay, Fluttershy, I’m ready to cut myself a big piece of this yummy looking cake,” she said, a little too excitedly. As she licked her lips with an exaggerated motion and levitated a knife toward the cake, the face of Angel poked out from behind the lamp. He opened his mouth with a loud gasp. “Oh, there you are Angel-bunny,” said Fluttershy in a sing-song voice, as she snatched up the knife with a wing. “You got here just in time. We were about to eat up all of your birthday cake. Don’t worry, I’ll cut you a nice big slice.” Angel took a couple hesitant steps towards the cake, wiggling his little nose. Fluttershy gracefully swept her knife through the cake, cutting out a quarter of it. She lifted the big piece onto a plate, and pushed the plate toward Angel with her nose. “There you go, sweetie. Happy Birthday!” she said. Angel stepped up to the slice of cake. He sat on his haunches and peeked up at the top of the cake, which reached the level of his neck. He made a noise that sounded like “hmph,” and hopped onto the cake tray. Sitting in the empty space left by the removed slice, he opened his mouth wide and took a bite out of the cake. Fluttershy heaved a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s a crisis averted,” said Twilight with a smile. “Let’s celebrate!” She levitated the knife and cut the quarter-cake into two pieces, and floated one of the pieces onto another plate. Fluttershy daintily ate her piece with a fork as Angel continued to attack the main cake. “This cake’s really good,” said Twilight. “Tastes kinda like Applejack’s carrot cake, but the frosting’s a bit sweeter and creamier. Also, she garnishes her carrot cake with apple slices,” she added with a slight grimace. “I made it all by myself, especially for Angel’s birthday. The hardest part was tracking down Angel to give it to him,” Fluttershy said. Twilight swallowed a mouthful of cake, and said, “I’ll never understand by anybunny’d want to run away from this cake. Mmm.” Twilight magically lit the oil lamp, and looked at Fluttershy in the light. Leaves and twigs poked out of her mane. “Wow,” said Twilight, floating some leaves out of her mane, “you chased him through a lot of bushes. You must have had a really rough time of it today.” “Yes I did,” replied Fluttershy. “But I always find that my friends can help me get through rough times.” Twilight Sparkle set her cake down and smiled at Fluttershy. “The fact that you let your friends help you through hard times shows that you’ve let us into your heart. With all the kindness you’ve shown Angel … me … everypony you know, we can’t help but want to show you the same kindness in return. When we help to make you happy, it makes us happy.” “Aww,” said Fluttershy with a sweet smile on her face. “And you understand it, too,” continued Twilight. “You know that you can make all of us happy –“ Fluttershy suddenly threw her forelimbs around Twilight Sparkle. Twilight hugged back. “Oh, thank you, Twilight,” whispered Fluttershy, “That’s so sweet of you.” In the light of a single oil lamp and the fading rays of the sunset, Fluttershy was tightly embraced by Twilight Sparkle, a friend who loved her, and understood her. Fluttershy rested her head on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight gently kissed her on the cheek, then magically smoothed out Fluttershy’s mane as she pressed her cheek against hers. Twilight enveloped Fluttershy. The last rays of the setting sun kissed Fluttershy’s mane. The lamp light caused a pile of Twilight’s books to cast a long dark shadow over Fluttershy’s back. The shadow complemented the dark purple of Twilight’s mane, which now nearly covered Fluttershy’s face. Fluttershy could feel Twilight’s heart beat as they held each other close. And a glow emerged from Twilight’s horn, lingering awhile as it swept through Fluttershy’s mane, depositing a few twigs on the ground. Suddenly, light filled the room. Another lamp, this one near the front door, was burning bright. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack stood just inside the door. Twilight and Fluttershy separated. Twilight looked up at her friends and blushed. Fluttershy looked up at her friends, and did not. “Say, Fluttershy,” said Applejack, “looks like you really needed all our help today. You doin’ better?” “Yes, much better,” replied Fluttershy. “You know, I was very happy to help you out this morning,” said Rarity. “So was I,” added Rainbow Dash. “Of course you were, silly,” said Pinkie Pie. “That’s the whole point.” Fluttershy beamed. “Thank you for everything you did for me. I’m glad I could make you all happy. Making each of you happy was the highlight of my day. You are all my very best friends and I love you all very much.” “Aww,” said all of Fluttershy’s friends in unison. They all approached Fluttershy with their forelimbs outstretched, and gently embraced her. Friendly faces softly brushed against her cheeks, her chest, her shoulders, and her mane. Fluttershy was surrounded by warm bodies, warm smiles, and warm hearts. And they all belonged to good friends who loved her very much in return.
