It was a night like any other. In a small cottage covered in moss and other various plant life and fungi, there lived a pegasus. She was young and beautiful. Ponies of high social status said as much, but beauty meant very little to the pegasus. No, her life, her dreams didn't require her to be beautiful. That didn't mean she didn't like feeling or looking beautiful, she just didn't like that it attracted attention to her.
The pegasus was a pale yellow, somewhere between butter yellow and white chocolate. Her mane and tail were a pretty pale pink like roses. Her eyes were a lovely sky blue and the cutie mark that every young pony received was a trinity of blue butterflies with the same shade of pink on their wings. Hers was a natural beauty that not even the highest of pedigrees could match. Everypony knew this, but the pegasus wished this wasn't so. She would have been content to let her beauty be masked by the length of her mane, which often hid her face from all but the animals that lived under and around her roof.
Her name was Fluttershy, and she was known for three things. On of which being her beauty. The second thing she was known for was being Equestria's shyest pony. Her fear of even the most mundane things had earned her that title. The third and (in her opinion) most important thing she was known for, was her expertise with various animals, from little bunnies to colossal bears. Fluttershy had a way with animals; a language which sounded like english to the rest of Equestria, but somehow, the animals could also understand. How that worked was one of life's greatest mysteries, along with her friend Pinkie Pie's 'Pinkie Sense'.
There was another thing that Fluttershy was known for, but only those who knew her best knew about it. It was simply known as 'the stare'. A powerful glare that could strike fear into even the bravest of dragons. Fluttershy was not a big fan of this ability, and so rarely used it. There had only ever been four occurrences in which the stare was used. Unbelievably one of which was used to scare off a cockatrice.
Though Fluttershy had never used this ability against her own animals, they knew better than to push her too far. Though her favourite little bunny would often test the margin.
While this night was like any other, it was as said bunny was hopping the line that Fluttershy began to think about her life in general. She was always the last one who wanted to go on an adventure, the last one to try, despite the fact that she wanted to save Equestria just as badly as her friends did. She and her friends were heroes, renowned throughout Equestria and beyond as the ponies who faced Nightmare Moon, saved Princess Luna, Faced and reformed Discord (though that was more her doing than the girls'), and freed an entire kingdom from the tyranny of their crystal obsessed king. Not to mention dealing the final blow on the demon, Tirek.
Fluttershy knew that many more adventures lay ahead, some which would include old enemies, and friends alike. She'd heard about Pinkie and Rainbow reuniting with Gilda, the Gryphon. Fluttershy knew that it was just the beginning, and she also knew that she would never willingly go into danger, no matter how many times she'd done so before. This knowledge upset her. Fluttershy wanted nothing more than to help ponies, not just animals, though they were her passion. She wanted to be brave like her friends.
She'd tried it once before, and wound up being a worse bully than Gilda. She'd learned from Iron Will that standing up for oneself could lead one to become power mad over the elation that comes from finally getting your own way. And while it had turned her into a monster, Iron Will wasn't wrong. Fluttershy had to learn to stand up for herself, but her insecurities made her either do nothing, or go overboard. She needed to find a middle ground.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her bunny, Angel. He'd thrown the cook book at her head. It took Fluttershy a second to remember that he'd been tapping on a carrot based salad that was far too complex for her to create, with her meagre cooking skills.
"Angel, you know better than to throw things at ponies, especially hard things with corners that could poke somepony's eye out." she said with a slight frown on her face. That was as close to a scolding as the bunny was going to get from her. Angel just crossed his front paws and turned his head away from her in a show of disrespect. Fluttershy ignored this and searched for the book. Angel had thrown it harder than she'd thought, as it had wound up across the lounge room in front of the standing mirror.
Other animals of various nature watched the spectacle with pity in their eyes. They too wished Fluttershy would stand up for herself, especially against Angel bunny who was the Gilda of the house. They may not have understood much beyond Fluttershy's words, but they knew a bully when they saw one, and they knew Gilda had been a bully, just as bad as Angel.
Fluttershy looked down at the book. '101 Vegetarian and Vegan recipes'. A Birthday present from Rainbow Dash. A good friend, if a little cocky. Though Fluttershy figured that she herself could do with a little cockiness. Ideally, she wanted to be something between Rainbow Dash, who was confident, athletic, and had few worries beyond helping and protecting those she loved. And Rarity, a beautiful mare who immersed herself in her work, but always made time for her friends. She was smart, charismatic, knew the ins and outs of social politics and was always prepared for the worst.
Of course they had their flaws, but who didn't? Rainbow was quick to boast and act, which got her into more trouble that most ponies knew. And Rarity was somewhat vain and a little Obsessive Compulsive. Fluttershy could have done with some of these things. There was plenty she could boast about, but not to the point where she sounded as though she was placing herself on a god-like pedestal. And she could do with a little vanity. Maybe not as much as Rarity, but enough so that she might appreciate herself a little more.
As Fluttershy picked up the book, she stopped to look at herself in the mirror. There she was, plain old Fluttershy, with long flowing locks and big blue eyes. Tired blue eyes, by the looks of those bags underneath. Fluttershy began to wonder if such a pony as the one she was describing for herself existed somewhere deep inside of her. A pony who wasn't scared of her own shadow, but brave enough face anything so long as she wasn't alone, witty enough to escape any kind of insult whether it was meant as a harmless jest or not.
Was there an ideal Fluttershy within her? One that's different from the way she is now, but not somepony else entirely? As Fluttershy stared into her own reflected eyes, she began to form an idea. One so foolish that it could have inconceivable ramifications. After all, this was the technique that scared a cockatrice, as well as a full grown dragon. The Stare was not to be used lightly. Especially since Fluttershy didn't even know its limits. She knew that even though she could win a staring contest with a cockatrise, it wouldnt stop her from being turned to stone by the creature's own stare, but that was the only limit she knew of. Would it be right for her to use the stare so blatantly without having all the facts? Would it be safe?
Safe. A word that Fluttershy was so tired of using as an excuse. She didn't want to face a dragon, because it wasn't safe, she didn't want to go into the Everfree forest because it wasn't safe. She wanted to stay home and take care of her animals because it was safe.
"Enough's enough!" she declared, frowning at her reflection. She looked herself in the eyes and spoke aloud. "If there's a part of me that's brave, confident and bold. Wake up and join me. I want to be my ideal self. Not some scaredy pony who runs from her own shadow. I want to be brave like Rainbow Dash and feel beautiful like Rarity. I want to have fun like Pinkie Pie as well as a strong work Ethic like Applejack. I want to think things through like Twilight, but not as obsessively. But most of all, I want to remain who I am at heart. The Element of Kindness with an affinity for animals and a love of veterinary medicine." There was a moment when her eyes felt heavy, and she almost wanted to look away from herself, to back out at the last second, but she kept with it.
She stared at herself for a good long minute before realising that nothing had changed. She was still herself, still the same old Fluttershy. With a heavy sigh, she turned from the mirror and finished feeding her animals, making sure to wear a kind smile for them. It wasn't their fault that her idea hadn't worked. It wasn't anypony's fault, really. It wasn't a foolish idea, it was just foolish to think that one could become their ideal self so easily.
She fed Angel last, the bunny unhappy with the dish's presentation. Fluttershy didn't really care. She wished she was skilled enough at cooking to meet Angel's standards, but if she could cook like that, she honestly wouldn't waste those skills on him. She knew better than to spoil her animals.
She wished them all a good night and climbed the stairs to her room. She shut the door behind her and went to the en suite to brush her teeth and do her business before bed. Mediocre tasks, to be sure, but she took comfort in the fact that it was something that she had in common with the brave and the bold. They all brushed their teeth and used the toilet.
Finished, she turned off all the lights except her bedside lamp, and crawled in under the covers. With another sigh, she reached for the lamp and switched it off before wriggling around to get herself comfortable. And with eyes heavier than they'd been all day, she fell asleep.
The following morning, Fluttershy awoke feeling a strange sense of elation. It was the most bizarre thing. She felt ready to tackle the day, prepared for anything that came her way. Certainly different from her usual fear induced mornings where she cautiously tread out of her room and quietly descended the stairs so she wouldn't wake her animals.
Fluttershy wore a confused look as she got off of her bed and went to the en suite. She flicked the light on and ran the sink full of lukewarm water. She placed a face washer into the water and let it soak before removing it and wringing it out. She then placed the warm garment on her face and let the dampness wet the fur on her face. She then removed the cloth and switched it out for a dry hoof towel. Before applying it, she dunked her face in the bowl and then applied the towel, drying herself off. It felt great, and it woke her up entirely. She rubbed her face horizontally and vertically; every which way. When she was done, and sufficiently dry, she used her hoof to pat down any loose hairs.
It was a she did this that she noticed her eyes. They were the same shape, the same colour, but there was a newfound brightness in them. As if to confirm that, her left eye actually sparkled for a second. It was in that sparkle that Fluttershy understood what had happened. It hadn't happened immediately like she'd expected, but it had happened. She was her ideal self. Her personality fixed so she could be the best that she could be.
"Oh, hay yes!"
Author's Note
I couldn't help it. As I was looking for new mane styles for the girls in Chapter 1 of Goku Lives, I found the picture of Fluttershy with that mane and I fell in love.
I couldn't decide whether or not to make it a fic about Fluttershy's mother, but then I thought that it would be best just to make a sexy Fluttershy instead.
Anyway, Fillies and Gentlecolts; I present to you a new story that's going to be updated sometime soon:
Inner Strength!
Princess Twilight Sparkle: Equestria's idol. She was a mare who had transcended the limits of a Unicorn and had been transformed into an Alicorn, earning the title of Princess of Equestria. Other than the addition of a beautiful pair of wings, Twilight was slightly taller than before.
Many looked up to her, some even calling her friend. She was also known by some beyond Equestria's borders; Gilda the Gryphon being one of them. Her lavender coat and dark purple mane and tail, with the pink highlights were as iconic to her as the style in which she kept them. A straight bold cut along the fringe and evened out nicely along the ends of her mane and tail. Not the most stylish princess, but certainly down to earth.
Princess Twilight was overseeing the grand opening of her new library. She'd taken a page from Canterlot Castle's book and had created a public library within her own palace. This required a Royal guard, of course, but she was happy to expand the job market for ponies. She preferred veterans to be among the higher ranked while having new recruits fresh out of the academy. It would make for an entertaining time, if her brother's early days as a royal guard were to be believed.
As everything seemed to be going smoothly, she felt prepared for anything, much like her guards. Neither she, nor her guards were prepared for a blur of pink and yellow to come shooting through the nearest entrance and slam into the princess. Twilight took a second to catch her breath before scolding her 'attacker'.
"Pinkie Pie, I told you not to do...." Twilight blinked for a few seconds before registering the grinning face of her friend, Fluttershy lying on top of her. "F-Fluttershy? What in the name of Celestia...?" Fluttershy jumped off of Twilight and bounced up and down in front of her like Pinkie was apt to do.
"Sorry, Twilight. I'm just so excited! I performed my own little experiment, and it worked. Now, I'm not scared of anything. Well, okay, that's not entirely true. I'm still scared of things, but nothing so ordinary as my own shadow or new ponies. I managed to cure myself of my phobias!" she said with as much glee as Rainbow Dash would give had she found out the Wonderbolts were coming to give her a private performance.
Twilight took a moment to register what she had said before trying to speak, only to stall. "I-...You-...Just-... What the huh?!" she asked. Fluttershy felt she had to explain it to Twilight, but she had a better idea in mind.
"I'll tell you all about it after you summon the girls. Come on!" she said, leading the way, using her wings to glide out of the library, leaving surprised staff and guests. Twilight just put herself on autopilot, following Fluttershy to the throne room as she tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Four mares made their way to the throne room. One was an Earth Pony mare named Applejack. Strong and beautiful, coated in a sunset orange with a mane and tail as gold as straw. She wore a light brown stetson hat on her head; a piece that had become iconic of the young farmer. Her cutie mark was a trilogy of small red apples.
Another Earth Pony, Pinkie Pie had a coat the same shade of pink as Fluttershy's mane, but an even hotter pink mane and tail that was so messed up with curls and split ends, that it would have taken years for anypony to brush it all out. Her cutie mark contained three small balloons. Each a pale shade of blue, yellow and red.
The one Unicorn to in the group was Rarity. A marble white mare with a royal blue mane and tail that held a shade of purple in them. Her cutie was three cut diamonds.
Finally, there was Rainbow Dash; easily the most noticeable pony in the group, with her chromatic mane and tail holding all the colours of the rainbow, canvassed by a coat of pale sky blue. Her Cutie Mark was a thunder cloud with a rainbow coloured lightning bolt shooting out from underneath.
These four mares were a part of Twilight's court of friendship. Along with Fluttershy, they were also known as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony; Equestria's most powerful defense against those who would seek to do harm, not just to ponies, but their friends and allies as well.
"Twilight, darling! It's so nice of you to call us all here. Is there something we can help you with?" Rarity asked, taking her seat among one of the seven thrones in the room, each with their respective owners' cutie marks engraved upon the backs.
"Yeah, I mean not that it's not great to see you and all, but weren't you busy with the new library and everything?" Rainbow Dash added.
Twilight cleared her throat and motioned for everypony to sit down. Fluttershy had already been waiting patiently, seemingly no different than usual to the girls. Even pinkie Pie, who had a sixth sense about new things seemed none the wiser. The once shy pegasus hid a smug smile behind her mane.
"Actually, I was. Which reminds me," Twilight activated the magic in her horn. A bright flash like that of a camera appeared and disappeared just as quickly. A book hovered in front of her, covered in a pinkish swirling aura. "Your signed copy of the latest Daring Do novel, unaltered edition." she finished, floating it over to the chromatic Pegasus who suppressed her excitement to a mere exclamation of 'yes!'.
"Soooo... What did you call us here for, Twilight?" asked Pinkie Pie, sounding confused, but still excited.
Twilight smiled and looked to Fluttershy who nodded for her to proceed. "Actually, I brought you all here on Fluttershy's behalf. She has something she'd like to announce." Twilight said, handing the floor over to Fluttershy. Before the pegasus could utter a word, Pinkie Pie raised her hoof as if she were in a school and started begging.
"Ooh! Let me guess, let me guess! Lemmeguesslemmeguesslemmeguesslemmeguesslemmeguess!" she pleaded. Fluttershy smiled warmly at Pinkie Pie and nodded, motioning for her to take a guess. Pinkie squee'd in delight before clearing her throat like Twilight had done earlier. "Angel found a special somebunny!" she guessed, to which Fluttershy smiled and shook her head. "You found a special somepony who loves animals as much as you do?!" Pinkie guessed again.
"No such pony exists, Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy replied with pride in her statement.
"Okay... lemme think... You've learned how to care for Timber Wolves?" Fluttershy shook her head. "You have a long lost sister!" another shake of the head. "Brother?" no. "Cousin?" no. "Ooh, then it has to be: you're in love with Discord!" Pinkie declared.
Again Fluttershy shook her head. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't entertained the idea. But I think he should master friendship before we even consider taking that step." Fluttershy commented. This earned blank stares from everypony, Pinkie Pie included.
"Wow." Rainbow said, breaking the silence.
"Oh! You called us here to discuss giving Discord a throne in this room?" Pinkie said. Fluttershy entertained that idea. Discord had been learning quite a bit. And every mistake he'd made only served to teach him further. And it wasn't like the girls' records were clean when it came to learning about friendship themselves.
"I'll give you one more guess. Otherwise we'll be here all day." Fluttershy said. Pinkie was beginning to panic. She was rarely wrong about why ponies did anything. Fluttershy just leaned back in her seat, crossing one hind leg over the other as she sat like Lyra.
Sweat began to visibly manifest on Pinkie's face as she struggled for another reason as to why Fluttershy would summon everypony. Before she could even think about it, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "You're pregnant?" she asked, weakly.
Fluttershy just blinked at her, neither smiling nor grimacing. She took a deep breath and let it out. "Yeah-no! Anypony else wanna take a crack at guessing before I actually reveal why you're here?" she offered.
Rarity was on it like a fly on dung. "You're not pregnant, but you are in heat, and you need our help staying away from all the stallions... and Discord." she teased.
Another sigh escaped Fluttershy's lips. "No. Applejack?"
Applejack took a moment to consider the facts. "Ya ain't pregnant, ya ain't in heat, ya don't have no special somepony, but ya do seem to be glowin' like you're pregnant. My guess is: first ever one night stand and loss of virginity." she said, taking a shot in the dark.
Fluttershy scoffed. "Are all of you starved for sex or something? Nopony in Ponyville meets your standards so you're hoping to live vicariously through me?" she was beginning to grow irritated by their narrow-mindedness. Her only hope left was Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow, you're my oldest friend, surely you can tell why I might have called you all here?" she asked. Rainbow visibly gulped as Fluttershy brought her attention to her. After watching her friends get chewed out by Fluttershy, the pegasus had taken it a step further and had put the value of their friendship on the line.
"W-well... uh. You certainly seem to be more... strong willed than usual. Did you go to another one of Iron Will's motivational seminars or something?" she asked. Fluttershy's disapproving frown turned into a content smile.
"What do you think, Twilight. Is she close enough to the truth?" the pegasus asked. Rainbow's eyes shot over to Twilight who now held her proverbial life in her hooves. Twilight smiled and nodded.
"I think so." she replied. Rainbow let out a breath of air she didn't know she'd been holding. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Fluttershy by being wrong. Especially since Rainbow was her oldest friend.
"The truth of the matter is, I've improved myself. I'm braver, louder and completely phobia free. I'm no more easily scared than any of you girls." she said. She took a few minutes to explain how she used her 'stare' ability to force this change in her.
"So basically, I've taken some of your traits, dimmed them down and added them to my own personality using the stare. I recognise my natural beauty, I can party like Pinkie Pie, think like Twilight, fly like... a regular pegasus," she smiled at Rainbow who nodded her head with an expression that simply said 'Damn straight!'. "And I have a similar work ethic to Applejack. But above all else, I'm still myself at heart. The kind mare who loves animals like nopony else. I might even have a better appreciation for some of Discord's more extreme jokes." she said.
The girls all took a few moments to let what their friend was saying sink in. No more, fraidy-filly, no more hiding behind the closest companion. No more treading water around her, no more having to be sensitive around particular subjects. And in Rainbow and Pinkie's case, no more having to hold back on the pranks.
"This is gonna be sweet!" Rainbow declared, breaking the tension that had formed. Fluttershy grinned at her friend, sitting forward on her throne.
"Which brings me to a few requests I'd like to make of you girls," she said, looking at Rainbow Dash first. "Rainbow, think you could give me a bit of training? I'd like to get some muscle into these wings of mine." she said, giving them a demonstrational flap.
Rainbow just pumped her hoof with a shit-eating grin on her face. "AW YEAH!" she replied, taking to the air to do some loops before landing back in her throne.
"Rarity, I'm thinking of getting a new look. Something similar to what Twilight had done when she tasked us with redecorating the castle." Fluttershy said, turning to her fashionista friend.
"Darling, I can design a dress to suit anypony's preferences and style manes and tails around those, but if you're going for a completely new style, I may need Aloe and Lotus' help. Should I book a spa appointment?" she asked. Fluttershy smiled and nodded, turning to Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie, would you like to throw a one-of-a-kind 'congrats on changing your personality with the stare' party?" she asked, earning a deep gasp and a wide grin from the party pony.
"And Twilight; I don't want to be just beautiful and athletic, I also want to have some i.q points backing me up. Care to take on a history student?"
"I'll see what I can do. Would you like me to write you up a schedule for all this?" Twilight asked, teleporting a quill and notepad out of thin air.
"Knock yourself out." she replied. There wasn't really anything much that Applejack could assist her with, but Fluttershy thought that perhaps the farmer could assist Rainbow in the exercise part of the routine.
"Ah'll do my best, Sugarcube!" she declared. With their tasks set, Twilight disbanded the group, though they all wanted to leave with Fluttershy to get to know the new her. Fluttershy just took the attention with a kind smile. Though she'd begun to wonder what Discord might think of the changes she was going to go through.
