Chapter 5: The Search for Fluttershy

Chapter 5
The Search for Fluttershy

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike were on their way to Fluttershy’s cottage. It had been three days since they’d heard from her, and they were overcome with worry. The first day, they reasoned that Fluttershy was spending a day with her animals, since some days she could spend up to 24 hours with them. The second day, they reasoned that she must have gone on a trip, and she’d forgotten to tell them. But in the middle of the night, Twilight woke up with a start and realized that it wasn't like Fluttershy to leave without telling anypony. So, on the morning of the 3rd day, Twilight got the whole gang together to check up on Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash was by far the most worried of them all, though she promised herself not to show it. Ever since she saw Fluttershy bolt out of Sugar Cube Corner three days ago, she could not help but come to the conclusion that it was somehow her fault. She’d originally figured that the next day, Fluttershy would've just told her what had been troubling her, but unfortunately, she never showed up. She waited when the next day came, but nopony had seen her. Ever since then, Rainbow Dash had been on pins and needles because she thought Fluttershy was mad at her, but she didn't know why. It wasn't like Fluttershy to hold grudges, it wasn't like Fluttershy to disappear without a trace, and it wasn't like Fluttershy to straight up leave Ponyville because she was mad. But still, the possibilities seemed frighteningly real to Rainbow Dash.

So for the entire morning, Rainbow Dash had her hoofs crossed that she and her friends would find Fluttershy live and well. When they finally arrived at the door step of Fluttershy’s cottage, Twilight knocked on the door.

“Fluttershy!” she yelled. “Can you please come down? We haven’t seen you in a while, and we just want to make sure you’re alright.”

Unfortunately, however, Twilight was met with no reply. Not even the faint sound of a pony walking on the floor or going down the stairs could be heard.

Rainbow Dash flew upwards to Fluttershy’s bedroom window. Everything was neat and tidy inside, but Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen.

“Doesn’t look like she’s in her bedroom,” Rainbow Dash announced to the group.

“Maybe she’s out feeding the chickens,” suggested Applejack.

“But wouldn’t she have heard us and responded in some kind of way?” asked Spike.

“Well she might want to finish feeding the animals first,” offered Rarity.

“Okay,” said Twilight taking up the role of the group’s leader. “Here’s what we’ll do: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and I will search around outside, and Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike can search the inside. If any of us fisnd Fluttershy, we’ll let each other know by yelling ‘We've found her’. Got it?”

“WE’VE FOUND HER!” yelled Pinkie Pie as loud as she could, causing the nearby trees to rustle. “How was that?”

“Pitch perfect my darling, pitch perfect,” Rarity complimented.

“Alright ponies,” said Twilight, “spread out.”

And so they did; Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike walked inside the cottage, while Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack stayed outside and proceeded to look around. After a couple of minutes, Applejack made a shocking discovery.

“Twilight, you might wanna come see this!”

Twilight rushed over to Applejack, who was near chicken coop.

“Just take a look at this,” Applejack said pointing to the coop’s pen. Twilight didn't see anything strange; just a bunch of roosters and only one hen.

“So?” asked Twilight, wondering what the problem could be.

“Well it just ain’t practical to have a bunch of roosters together with only one hen," Applejack commented. “Granny always told me that it’s best to have more hens then roosters so that they won’t kill each other over the same hen.”

“Maybe Fluttershy is just a bad farmer?” Twilight proposed.

“She might not be a farmer,” replied Applejack, “but she’s definitely an expert on animals. At least enough to know that having more roosters than hens in your coop is just asking for trouble.”

“Huh,” Twilight said in response, shrugging. She and Applejack then quietly resumed their search for Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash flew right in between Applejack and Twilight, and darted towards the chicken coop. She remembered inviting the “Cutie Mark Crusaders” to Fluttershy’s cottage many times in the past to hang out and goof off. One of the games they would always play was hide-and-seek, and one of the best hiding spots would be the chicken coop. Chuckling to herself, Rainbow Dash lazily peeked into the big wooden box, expecting to find hay, wood, and a few eggs scattered about. Of course, that’s exactly what she saw, along with a big, strange lump near the far center of the coop.

Rainbow Dash couldn't make out its exact shape, but it looked like a silhouette of a pony cowering in fear.

“Hello?” Rainbow Dash whispered curiously. The silhouette looked up and turned its head towards her. It stared at her with its big sea blue eyes that eerily resembled those of her friend Fluttershy. The pony took a deep breath, and then took another. By the sound of the pony’s heavy breathing, Rainbow Dash was able to conclude that it was a stallion that she was looking at.

Suddenly, her mind sparked into action. A stallion in Fluttershy’s chicken coop could only mean that he knew about what happened to Fluttershy. Or worse, he could have been part of a plot to pony-nap her poor friend.

With a sudden jolt of adrenaline, Rainbow Dash bolted into the coop, grabbed the stallion by the neck, and slugged him outside. It all happened so fast that to Applejack and Twilight, who were firsthand witnesses of their friend’s bold action, it looked like Rainbow Dash had pulled out a spinning, screaming, yellow-and-pink ball out of the coop.

Still holding on to the stallion’s neck, Rainbow Dash pushed forward, and the stallion hit the back of a nearby tree. Rainbow Dash breathed in heavily, locking eyes with the trembling figure beneath her. A tear rolled down his face, but he didn’t make a sound.

“Who are you, and what have you done to Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash demanded.

Applejack and Twilight rushed over to Rainbow Dash to see just what she had discovered.

“Rainbow Dash, please,” the stallion finally whimpered,” I… am…”

He then gave out a small mumble that none of the ponies could understand.

“Who are you!?” Rainbow Dash demanded a second time. With a deep breath, the stallion finally said, with words that rang through each of the pony’s ears:

“I am Fluttershy!”