Fluttershy and the Spiderbro
It was a beautiful afternoon in the small town of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had been working extra hard to ensure there wasn't a single cloud to be seen. Celestia had turned up the heat, too. Summer was in full-swing! The flowers had grown tall, their colourful petals shone brightly under the daylight, and the summer birds' sang wonderfully pleasant songs, all-in-all creating an extremely tranquil atmosphere throughout the town.
Fluttershy had been working hard tending her chickens, feeding Angel Bunny, and shopping in the town's marketplace. She'd worked up quite the sweat from all her running around under the scorching heat of Celestia's Sun, so the adorable yellow pegasus decided it would be good to take a break and have a quick shower.
She was carrying with her a bag of vegetables she'd bought from the market for Angel's evening meal as she trotted lightly through the front door of her cottage. Her haul included carrots, lettuce, basil, and some Appleloosian Organ Pipe Cactus. In the kitchen, the bag dropped down from her waist with a thud. The pretty little mare stretched out her back having carried that heavy bag all the way from the centre of town and clopped up the stairs to her lavatory for the anticipated shower.
Fluttershy's shower included a low and rather shallow creamy porcelain tub. The edges were just the right height for her to step over without too much effort, and shallow enough that she could comfortably lay down with her head above the water if she decided she'd prefer a bath. In this instance, however, the shy pony was opting for a quick rinse down in the shower. The shower itself was a long pipe that ran from underneath the tub, up the wall and over her head. It had two large handles for her to manipulate the flow and temperature of the water, and just above said handles was a little tray for her soap. The whole look was made complete by the pink shower curtain which depicted yellow butterflies.
Fluttershy climbed in carefully, pressing her hooves down firmly over the adhesive ducks which lined the tub to be sure she wouldn't slip. She grabbed the shower curtain with her teeth and flung it around behind her, encasing her inside her own little world. The cute pegasus pony felt comfortable and content inside her bubble. Grabbing at one of the handles, Fluttershy turned the shower on. Cold water instantly sprayed all over her, dampening her yellow coat and pretty pink mane. Fluttershy gasped, leaping for the temperature control. With quickened breath from the sudden coldness, the mare shifted the temperature to one that was more to her liking. Stepping back, she allowed the water to warm up. A hot steam began to rise and Fluttershy stepped back under the stream of water.
The water flowed through her beautiful mane, streamed along her wonderful yellow coat and bounced off from the feathers of her wings. She was just about to grab her soap when she noticed something unusual. On the underside of the soap dish lay a spider. It was tiny. It was a beige colour, and its abdomen was decorated with a few small, black stripes down either side. Fluttershy gasped once more as she was taken by surprise - though this time in a nice way. It was a very rare breed known as the 'Spiderbro'.
The Spiderbro wasn't native to this part of Equestria, as it preferred the warmer climates of the Appleloosian Desert (the beige colour acting as its camouflage). Fluttershy beamed at this extremely rare sight, forgetting for a moment that her body was being drenched in running water. "Oh, my" she whispered. "Good afternoon. Wow. You're a beautiful little Spiderbro, aren't you? What are you doing all the way out here? You must have travelled all the way from Appleloosa on the Organ Pipes!"
Fluttershy reached out a hoof, but quickly rescinded. "Oh, no, I mustn't. The Spiderbro is a fragile creature; I might hurt it if I try to pick it up." the pony was flustered "Oh, but we simply must get you back to Appleloosa. You won't survive long up here. Even the heat we've been having today isn't warm enough for you."
Fluttershy racked her brain as the spider went about its business, dangling from the soap dish by its own silky thread. The beautiful little pegasus was entranced for a moment, watching the Spiderbro figuring its way around. It climbed up and down from the soap dish several times before making its way up the piping. Fluttershy suddenly remembered she was taking a shower, and that the Spiderbro was now making its way up to the shower head.
"Oh no!" she fretted, "Don't go up there, Mr Spiderbro, please!"
Unfortunately for Fluttershy, the spider couldn't comprehend her warnings and continued up the pipes and along toward the shower head. "No! Please, no!" Fluttershy desperately cried. The Spiderbro dangled precariously off the top edge of the piping. The pegasus was in such a panic, it took her a moment to realise she could turn the shower off, but it was all too late. Before she had the time to react to her thoughts, the Spiderbro had been caught by a slight breeze, wafting it gently into the powerful stream of water. Fluttershy squealed as she witnessed the poor little Spiderbro as he fell into the tub, washed away by the flow of the water down the plug hole.
"No!" she bellowed, leaping down into a crouch, sobbing uncontrollably, staring at the plug hole which had just washed away an innocent little creature. As she lay there, the devastated pony's tears were washed away by the droplets of water pouring onto her head from above. "I'm sorry." she choked "I'm so, so sorry"
