Fluttershy awoke to the sound of birds twittering beyond her bedroom window. A small smile wiped across her face at the pleasant wakeup call, and the buttery Pegasus slowly rolled over on her side and slid herself off the edge of her bed, softly planting her hooves on the floor. After stretching out her back and popping each of her waking joints, Fluttershy slowly trudged over to the window. She chuckled to herself as she listened to the lyrical chirrups that only she could translate.
“Goodness,” she cooed sweetly, “you certainly are chatty today, mister birdie.” She giggled to herself happily as she gently gripped the curtains in the crooks of her hooves, swinging them wide to greet her avian companion. But, instead of finding her feathery morning call perched upon her windowsill as she had expected, she found herself face to face with the mutilated corpse of Thunderlane. He was pinned to the window frame with his torso ripped open in a gory display of guts and internal entrails that dangled from his abdominal cavity like grizzly streamers. His face stared blankly, not particularly focused on anything, but definitely frozen in the same expression of horror and pain unimaginable from whatever it was that gutted him like a salmon. His jaw hang limp in a soundless scream, and his glassy, greyscale eyes seemed to look like through Fluttershy with a vacant stare. That was the worst part of it, for Fluttershy. His eyes were hollow. Empty. Devoid of all that love and life she knew and came to adore when she had been brave enough to let him into her heart.
With an ear-splitting scream, Fluttershy pulled the curtains closed again and fell to the floor with a dull thud, her eyes wild and wide as dinner plates, as she shuddered and whimpered to herself. Hearing the sound of the ghastly shriek, Angel Bunny threw open the door to his owner’s room, his eyes widening at the sight of the buttery pegasus curled in a heap, muttering to herself.
That, in and of itself, was never a surprising sight to the rabbit. No. He had learned to come to terms with, if not fully accept that this was, what Fluttershy’s easily frightened nature entailed. The bit that really, truly frightened the normally brazen bunny was the things Fluttershy was saying.
“I’m sorry”
“Please forgive me”
“I never wanted it to end this way”
“Please, don’t be angry”
“......Thunderlane”
Angel looked up to the window to find the robin that had been singing earlier to awaken Fluttershy looking rather frazzled by the sudden, and downright terrifying, reaction from his caretaker. the bird was shaking like a leaf, his usually well-preened breast now ruffled and messy as his feathers stood on end. The two animals’ eyes met and they shared the same concerned thought as they had for the past few days, now.
What happened in that damnedable place?
It had been about five days after the terrible happenings at Freddy Fazgriffon’s Pizzeria, the family diner that Princess Twilight had torn down after the animatronic characters had been overrun by the corrupting dark magic of King Sombra, the powerful, tyrannical unicorn who once held the Crystal Empire in an iron vicegrip over a thousand years ago. Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders; Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Dinky Hooves, along with many other ponies patronising the establishment at the time, were among the victims of Sombra’s nightmarish tirade.
In the days following the incident, every form of media across Equestria was positively buzzing with commotion about the true happenings in the pizza restaurant; What was Sombra’s goal in taking over a bunch of dirty old robots? Why would he target a family diner aimed at providing entertainment and glee to adults and foals alike? And how was the first victim of Sombra’s attack, Red June (known henceforth as the “Bite of Ponyville” survivor), able to survive having a large chunk of her brain ripped out of her skull?
Angel slowly, and cautiously, crawled towards his caretaker, taking great care himself not alarm Fluttershy further. He dropped his ears back as he slowly glided into her field of view, a soft look of concern gracing his features as he gazed at Fluttershy’s terror stricken expression.
The buttery pegasus’ gaze darted spastically around the room, judging and criticising every little detail for any sign of potential hostile intent. Her eye began to focus, however, as a familiar face came into view.
“Oh! A-Angel Bunny!” Fluttershy squeaked, scrambling to sit upright. “I, um….. I-I think I should, um… s-s-stay at home and, uh…. d-do some more housework, today.” Angel huffed and rolled his eyes. For the past few days, Fluttershy had been excusing herself from going outside and meeting her friends by claiming she had “housework” to do. She would take the cutlery and crockery out of the cupboards, not even use them, and wash them up to within an inch of their lives. She would sweep the floors until the broom snapped in half from the ferocious strokes she’d use with it. But, today, she wouldn’t have that excuse. The white rabbit lifted a calendar and pointed to the date encircled with a big red line. It was today’s date. And on the page, there stood bold red letters that read “DERPY + DINKY”.
Fluttershy’s eyes widened, her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks as she stared at the damning writing. “Oh!” She shrieked. “Oh no! D-D-Derpy and Dinky! I’d completely forgotten about their visit! Oh. Oh, Angel, what do I do? Does my mane look OK? How about my tail? Oh! Are my feathers ruffled? Oh dear, oh dear, I don’t even know what snacks to prepare! What if Dinky has an allergy that I don’t know about? Ohh, maybe I should just call the whole thing off-” A short, sharp visit from the smack fairy put an end to Fluttershy’s ramblings. The buttery pegasus shook her head to dispel the daze as she nursed her stinging cheek and looked down at Angel, who was giving her the most unimpressed scowl he could muster, tapping his foot impatiently at her. She looked down in shame, her curtain like mane dropping over one eye as she turned away from him. “Oh. I’m sorry, Angel. I-I’m just so jumpy, lately. E-Ever since that awful week locked in that terrifying restaurant, i-it just feels like somepony’s out to get me. I see these terrible monsters and visions, and….” Fluttershy couldn’t bring herself to say his name. All she could do was sob. The sound of pure anguish and despair was enough to melt even Angel’s stone cold heart, and he couldn’t help but nuzzle his owner softly, offering what little solace he could provide. Fluttershy smiled weakly and returned his affections. “But you’re right, Angel Bunny. I can’t let them stop me. I have to pony up, hold my head high and carry on. For Equestria. For my friends. For……” Her head drooped a little as she tried to muster the strength to say; “for…….. Dinky.”
Fluttershy slowly hauled herself out of her bedroom and down into the kitchen to make some snacks. She trawled through her cupboards and pantries for whatever bits of salad she could find. She managed to gather up enough carrots, celery, lettuce, bread, cheese, tomatoes and fruit to make some salad, pizza and fruit salad for her meeting with Derpy and Dinky. She couldn’t decide whether to be nervous, excited or downright terrified at the prospect. As she finished laying out the food, there came a knock at the door. Swallowing thickly, Fluttershy slowly crept forward to the door, inching it open ever so slightly to peek out through the narrow gap.
“U-Um…. h-h-hello?” She whispered, timidly. So sooner had she spoken, Fluttershy found herself glomped and pinned down to the floor by a little grey ball of fur and excitement.
“Fluttershy!” Dinky squealed with delight as she nuzzled the mare’s breast. Fluttershy blushed as she hear a sweet giggle come from behind Dinky, looking over the filly’s shoulder to find Derpy Hooves standing there.
“Good morning, Fluttershy.” She greeted, warmly.
