Fluttershy awoke to the graceful sound of songbirds chirping to her on her windowsill. The sunlight poured into her cottage as she rested under a green cotton blanket, the bright blue shutters reflecting the sun's rays into her face. The drowsy mare's eyes opened slowly, blinking once before shielding them with her hoof. She looked over her hoof with squinted eyes and quickly rose it again soon as the light touched them. She rolled over onto her stomach, and finally stood. Her wings lifted her up and gently lowered her to the floor.
After shutting her windows, Fluttershy glanced over to an orange cat-bed in the corner, where her pet bunny, Angel, slept. Empty. The mare looked around the room, hoping to spot her precious pet, no luck. "Angel?" she called out softly, although Angel couldn't respond. Fluttershy continued to the stairs, walking down the first few and looking over the banister and into her living room. "Angel," she called again. Still nothing. The yellow mare was worried, normally Angel would have at least shown up by now, but there was no sign of the little white bunny. She decided to walk all the way downstairs.
She picked up a pleasant aroma coming from the kitchen. "Mmm," she hummed. Fluttershy poked her head into the doorway, and sure enough, Angel was there waiting there for her. Not only that, but he had a plate of pancakes coated in maple syrup and topped with a slab of butter sitting on her large oak table. The rabbit stood on the counter smiling with a spatula in his paw and an apron that was covered in syrup. Above his head was a banner that stretched across the cabinets and read Happy Birthday.
Fluttershy was touched. "Oh, Angel," she smiled. "You remembered." She trotted up to the bunny and rubbed her nose against his cheek. Angel didn't fight it. For once he wasn't expecting anything in return. Fluttershy took a seat in her chair and rubbed her hooves together. She bent down and took a bite of the pancake stack before her. Angel took care of anything she wanted as she ate. She wanted a glass of milk, he fetched her one. Napkins, got it. Angel tried his hardest to make sure Fluttershy enjoyed this day.
When she finished eating, Fluttershy looked out the window and jumped, holding her head and hovering in the air. "Oh goodness!" she panicked. The sun showed that it was roughly 11:00, at least by her calculations. "It's that time already? Oh, I must have slept in!" The mare looked around frantically for her brown saddle bag. She flew upstairs to check and saw it propped up on her bed post. She picked it up, slung it over her back, and ran back downstairs. "I forgot I have to go to the market before the stock runs out," Fluttershy explained. "I still need asparagus, tomatoes, oh just so much," she looked back into the kitchen. "Be good, Angel. I'll be back soon."
Fluttershy bolted out the door and started sprinting down the dirt path, her mane waving behind her. After a few minutes of sprinting, she finally reached the marketplace and slowed herself down. She walked passed the multicolored stands, looking from left to right until she came to a cyan tent with sea-green beams supporting the overhang. Inside was was a yellow-green stand that bestowed bundles of asparagus all held together by bright yellow bands. Fluttershy walked up to the stand and handed a few bits over to the brown coated stallion in a conductor's cap behind the table. She popped off the pink butterfly seal on her right saddlebag and dropped a bundle of asparagus inside and walked out from under the overhang.
Suddenly Fluttershy noticed a shadow zoom over her, and she quickly looked to the sky. The first thing she saw was a rainbow trail that led up to a light blue mare speeding across the sky. Seemed that Rainbow Dash was at it again. She began twirling in every direction, showing off loops and barrel rolls. As she finished a loop, Dash came to a slow halt, and as soon as she stopped moving shot herself right back up. She soared straight up in the air until the market place was barely visible. The rainbow-maned mare smiled in confidence at the specks of dust that were the collection of tents in the market. Without looking away, Dash drew her front hooves to her sides, and after a short pause, flew at incredible speed back at the ground. Her cheeks were quivering from the wind in her face and her mane waved furiously as she descended. Suddenly a white mach cone was forming around her extended hooves, gradually closing in on her whole body. Eventually Rainbow Dash broke free, leaving a pure trail of colors behind her as well as a massive rainbow ring in the sky behind her. The speeding mare stretched her legs to the ground, leaving her hooves to drag through the grass and stop only a few feet before Fluttershy.
-Who sat back on her hind legs with one hoof held out in front of her while the other guarded her face alongside her wing. Her whole body was shaking and her eyes were shut tight. Rainbow Dash just smiled and said casually, "Hey, Fluttershy."
The yellow mare's eyes sprung open and she looked to her friend, barely getting over the shock. "Oh, um," she stuttered. "Hi, Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy stood up, "I certainly wasn't expecting you."
"Yeah, I was just practicing a little and I managed to catch a glimpse of ya," Dash explained. "What are you up to?"
"Oh, um I was just grocery shopping," she replied, walking through the marketplace again. "Nothing exiting." She looked to the clear sky above, "It's such a beautiful day, isn't it? The sun is shining, the birds are singing. Oh it's just wonderful!"
Dash lifted herself off the ground and hovered alongside her. "I wouldn't get too attached to it," she said. "The weather team's got a massive thunderstorm planned for this afternoon. In just a few hours it should be a total downpour." She looked to the sky and gestured to a blue pegasus mare escorting a dark cloud to the sky above Ponyville, "See? Won't be long now."
"Oh, I'd better hurry then," Fluttershy panicked. "After this I still have to stop by Zecora's and see if she has any special herbs I can use."
"Isn't Zecora on a trip to Saddle Arabia right now? She said something about 'finding some new specimens.'"
"Oh that's right. Well at least I'll be home sooner, then."
Dash nodded, "Yeah, well I'll catch you around, Fluttershy. I gotta go help the weather team with the storm. Stay inside, ok?' She didn't give Fluttershy the time to answer. Instead Rainbow Dash bolted off to gather up some clouds, leaving the pink-maned mare to her lonesome. She watched Dash leave then turned back to the marketplace, and she managed to see a particular mare out of the corner of her eye. She was striped in black and white with golden rings around her neck and front leg. Her cutie mark was covered up by a tan saddlebag with both ends overflowing with miscellaneous objects.
At first Fluttershy wasn't sure whether or not she was hallucinating, but the realization that Zecora was indeed back from her trip sank in. She wanted to ask the zebra so many questions. She wanted to know about her trip, what it's like in Saddle Arabia, and, of course if she had the herbs. So Fluttershy abandoned her shopping and started running towards her. Zecora turned a corner at a red tent and set course for the Everfree forest. Fluttershy ran a little faster, and as she did she got a better view of the contents of Zecora's saddlebag. The object that stuck out most was a gold teapot in her left bag. It shook a bit and the mare shifted her head to get a better look. It shook a bit more, like it was coming loose from the pile. Eventually it did, and the teapot fell out of Zecora's bag completely, the grass suppressing the sound of the impact on the ground, leaving the zebra completely oblivious to the fact that she'd lost it. Fluttershy ran towards the dropped pot, as she still had a fair distance between her and Zecora.
She arrived at the golden teapot and knelt down to pick it up. She held it up in her front hooves, looking for any damages it could have gotten from the fall. Sure enough, it was fine. The gold was still 100% pristine, not a scratch. Fluttershy looked back at Zecora, but she was nowhere to be found. She must have made it to the Everfree. The pegasus stored the teapot in her saddle bag and started running as fast as she could. Zecora couldn't be that far right? When she reached the edge of the forest, Fluttershy still couldn't see the zebra, the brush was too thick to see through.
"Um, Zecora?" she called weakly. Hesitantly, the yellow pegasus entered the dark forest, taking the clearest route in hopes of bumping into Zecora. She traveled through the darkness for a few minutes. No luck, and she was to terrified to bring herself any further. She quickly turned around, about to make a break for the exit, but she didn't go past that point. "No, I have to get this back to her," Fluttershy told herself. She urged on, taking a few steps further in. But then she noticed something in the brush. A few pairs of yellow eyes staring at her. Fluttershy froze in fear, barely breathing at all. The trees began to rustle. All the trees were rustling. The noise grew louder, closer, and Fluttershy took a slow step back. To her left, Fluttershy saw a log poke itself out of a bush before her. Only, this log had teeth, and claws, and stood on four legs.
She'd seen enough. Fluttershy bolted out of the Everfree faster than she had ever run before. Behind her she heard the growling of the Timberwolf pack chasing her down. They were getting closer, but Fluttershy kept running. She could see the light of day just a short distance away. She could hear the Timberwolves panting, they were right on her tail. The pegasus closed her eyes and put all her strength into her sprint. The sunlight shown on her eyes as she urged on. Within seconds the darkness disappeared. She opened her eyes and saw that she'd made it. Fluttershy looked back and saw the Timberwolves growl and walk back into the depths of the Everfree forest. She let out a massive sigh, looking to the sky in relief. The mare took the teapot out of her bag and looked at it once more.
"I guess I could come back later and give it to her," she told herself. Suddenly she heard a howl from behind her, and she jumped in terror. "Um, yeah. Later." Fluttershy stuffed the golden teapot back into her saddlebag and ran back home.