Best Friends From the Start

"A half dozen blueberry muffins for Derpy!" Pinkie Pie called back in her usual loud, cheerful tone as she stood on a stool behind the counter of Sugarcube Corner.

"A half dozen of blueberry muffins coming up!" Mrs. Cake replied back from in the kitchen. A few moments later, the sweets shop owner trotted out balancing a white box on her head carefully, and once she reached the counter she set it gently down in front of the gray pegasus filly before her.

"Yummy! I love blueberry muffins!" Derpy squealed. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out twelve bits before balancing the box on her head and fluttering her tiny wings, carrying her into the air. "Thanks, Pinkie Pie!"

"Don't thank me, thank Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" she giggled. "They're the ones who made all these delicious treats!"

"But if it weren't for you, there wouldn't even be any delicious treats to sell," Mrs. Cake smiled as she nuzzled her adoptive daughter's muzzle affectionately, causing her to giggle.

"Bye! I'll see you later, Pinkie Pie!" Derpy bid farewell before flying out of the shop.

"Is there anypony else?" Mr. Cake called from inside the kitchen.

"Nope, that's everypony!" Pinkie Pie reported. She bounced off the stool and grinned up at her adoptive mom. "So what do we do now that there isn't anypony here?"

"Well, Dad and I have to clean up the shop; it's been a busy morning," Mrs. Cake answered. "Meanwhile, why don't you go make some new friends?"

"Ooo, okay!" Bouncing with joy, the little pink filly galloped out of the shop.

Pinkie Pie grinned as she looked around the town, waving to everypony she passed and complimenting them one way or another.

"Hiya, Mr. Waddle! I see you're wearing my favorite tie!"

"Enjoying those muffins, Derpy? I'm so happy!"

"Rose, your flowers are looking even more beautiful this year!"

The pink filly found her hooves now trotting towards a beautifully green and sunny hillside with a few trees scattering here and there. She quickly noticed a trio of bunnies, many birds, a pair of squirrels, and other small critters quickly making their way up and over the hill. Curious, Pinkie Pie followed them to see where they were headed.

Once she climbed to the top of the hill, she looked down to find the animals all crowding around something. She squinted her eyes and leaned in a bit, but all she could see in the flurry of fur was what looked like a pink tail.

Pinkie Pie leaned in closer to try and identify the bearer of the tail, but she ended up leaning too far. She quickly lost her balance and tumbled down the hill with a few surprised squeaks. She landed with a thud at the bottom, and the commotion had startled all the animals into hiding again. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

However, she pushed that feeling away almost immediately once she saw what all the animals were crowding over - or who rather. There, laying in the center of the grassy fields, looking back at her with large, gentle turquoise eyes, was a butter-yellow pegasus filly with long, silky pink fur with the same color as Pinkie's coat. She also had a cutie mark: three pink butterflies.

"Hiya!" Pinkie immediately greeted, bouncing up and towards the pegasus. "My name's Pinkie Pie! I'm new to Ponyville and I'm taking a break from helping the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner to meet new friends! And now I've found one: you!"

The filly immediately yelped and got to her hooves to scramble away, startled by the pink filly's energy and loudness. Pinkie furrowed her brows in confusion before trotting after her.

"Hey, where are you going? You don't need to be afraid, I just wanna be your friend!"

Pinkie ended up cornering the pegasus against a tree, and she turned her head away to hide her face behind her mane, whimpering quietly. Pinkie immediately realized the cause of the slightly older filly's strange behavior - she must be really shy.

"Oh, I get it, you're kinda shy, aren't you?" the pink filly asked. When the pegasus nodded slowly, she smiled again. "Well, you don't need to be shy around me! I just wanna be your friend! How about you tell me your name?"

"Um... Um..." the pegasus whispered timidly, her ears lowering. She then muttered something very quietly.

"Sorry, what was that?" Pinkie asked.

"Um... I'm... Flttrsh..."

"C'mon, you can do better than that. I wanna be your friend, but I gotta know your name first." When Pinkie only received more whimpers, she frowned. Obviously it was gonna take a lot to even squeeze a name out of this filly, let alone becoming her friend.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Pinkie suddenly gasped, startling the pegasus. She zipped off and returned with a toy alligator, then held it up to her. "This is my best friend! His name is Gummy! I wanna get a real baby alligator when I grow up and name him Gummy, too!"

Pinkie then placed the toy on the ground and nuzzled it towards the filly slowly, imitating a few squeaks, pretending that the toy was alive. "Hi, there! I'm a cute little animal and I wanna be your friend!"

The pegasus slowly turned her head to look down at the toy, and after a while she began to bend down to it, almost as if she were really convinced it were a real alligator.

"I wanna play with you and all your other animal friends!" Pinkie squeaked in a high-pitched, slightly husky voice. "Can you tell me your name so we can be friends and play forever and ever?"

The pegasus blinked, then she smiled, and finally she said in a clear voice, "Of course you can, little one. My name is Fluttershy."

"Fluttershy?" Pinkie grinned, her normal voice returning. "That's such a pretty name!"

Fluttershy squeaked and turned away a bit again, looking at Pinkie nervously, who bent down again to nuzzle her toy towards her.

"You can have him if you really want to, Fluttershy," the pink filly smiled, "so that you can remember me as one of your best friends! I really wanna be your friend, and so does Gummy!"

The pegasus blinked a few more times before looking down at the toy, then back up at the pink filly before her. And finally, she smiled.

"Thank you, Pinkie Pie..."

"Eee, you said my name! Does that mean we're friends now?"

"Well... If that's okay with you..."

"Of course it's okay with me!" Pinkie squealed, giving a little skip of delight. "Now we can play together! Hey, do you wanna have a tea party? We can invite your animal friends and Gummy, too!"

Fluttershy hesitated a bit, then nodded. "I'd really like that. You're so kind, Pinkie Pie."

"Who, me?" Pinkie blinked in surprise. "Well, I'm not nearly as kind as you are, Fluttershy!"

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"Well, you were so very gentle with all of those animals. They were all over you! You really seem to have a gift for being kind, especially to animals. I know that you can use that same gift of kindness towards other ponies, too!"

"Oh, I dunno..." the pegasus gulped. "All the foals from Flight Camp in Cloudsdale would tease on me a lot because I can't gallop hard or fly fast..."

"Do I look like I'd tease you?" Pinkie asked. "You're still a filly after all. Of course you can't be perfect; nopony is. But I know that once you grow up, you'll be one of the fastest fliers in Equestria!"

"Oh, I'd never be nearly as fast as Rainbow Dash. She's a pegasus, too. She stood up for me against a few bullies. She's really loyal."

"Ooo, sounds like another pony I'd love to meet!" the pink filly grinned. "Can you tell me more about her during our tea party?"

"If you want me to," Fluttershy smiled. She stood up and gave Pinkie a quick nuzzle. "Thanks for being my friend, Pinkie Pie. Now I don't feel nearly as lonely as before. Well, I didn't anyway thanks to the animals, but you make me feel even happier."

"Hey, it's what I do," Pinkie giggled. "Now c'mon, let's go have that tea party! I'm starving for tea biscuits!"

Fluttershy giggled, and the two friends trotted away to the center of the field to play together for the first time.