Reclusiveness... Begone!

Reclusiveness… Begone!

Twilight and I were completely silent for a while as we walked through more areas of Ponyville. I had no idea what to say to the unicorn after our little mishap at the Carousel Boutique. I was trying to think of a way to either ease or avert the situation of the idea of every citizen in this town coming under the impression that I and Twilight were boyfriend and girlfriend… or should I say “colt-friend and filly-friend…?” I also wondered if she was thinking the same, but when I looked at her, she seemed to be… blushing as her head hung low and she looked down at the ground. I hoped to goodness that that blush was out of embarrassment for what happened with Rarity… Nonetheless, we had practically wandered blindly into what looked like a shopping center, as there were concessions stands left and right with ponies everywhere picking up groceries. I even saw Applejack at one of the stands with a big red stallion and tons of baskets of apples. I would have stopped by to say hello, but she and who I guess was her big brother looked extremely busy as the line in front of her stand was huge! As Twilight and I continued to walk through, I decided to break the awkward silence.

“Hey, wassup? You ain’t said nothin’ for a while now. The thing about Rarity still on ya mind?” I asked with concern.

“Yeah… But that’s only half the reason.” She answered.

“What’s the other half?”

“Well… it’s…” she went silent once again as she averted her eyes from mine. Now I was really curious, given this new demeanor of hers.

“It’s… what?” I prodded her.

“It’s just that… y’know what? Just forget I mentioned it.”

“I am not takin’ that as an acceptable answer, Twilight. Talk to m— OW!” I was cut off by something hitting me, forcing me to stumble back a little as I saw fruits and other miscellaneous groceries fly into the air and rain all over the place. I shook my head and looked at what suddenly attacked me. It was a yellow Pegasus with a long pink mane and tail.

“Hey, you alright?” I asked.

“Fluttershy? Are you okay?” Twilight asked after me. We both moved to help the Pegasus up, but when she got up; she quietly squealed and swiftly snatched away from me and hid behind Twilight.

“I’m sooo, so, so, so sorry. Please, don’t be angry at me, sir.” She pleaded fearfully.

“Angry? Why would I be angry?” I asked. She refused to budge and didn’t respond.

“Fluttershy, it’s okay. He’s with me. He’s a new friend of mine,” Twilight told the Pegasus. Heeding the unicorn’s words, Fluttershy slowly rose to her hooves and took a few steps towards me while looking at the ground. For a full grown mare, she sure was timid…

“Um, hi… I’m Flu’rsh…” She mumbled, still looking at the ground and rubbing one of her fore-hooves on the other.

“Hey now,” I said in a gentle, quiet tone as if I were speaking to a baby. I walked up to her and placed a hoof on her back. She flinched, of course. “It’s okay. You don’t hafta be afraid o’ me. I won’t hurt you…”

“Oh no, I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m afraid of you…” Fluttershy began to speak more audibly as she finally got the courage to look at me with her large turquoise eyes, her voice still very soft and quiet. “Well… maybe a little… But it’s more that I… I just have trouble meeting new ponies… And seeing as this isn’t the best way to meet a new pony…”

“Ah, you’re fine. Y’know, you remind me o’ myself a little…”

“How so?” Twilight asked with piqued curiosity.

“Well, when I was younger, I had the same problem with being too afraid of what others would think o’ me. I didn’t feel like anybody would like me for me, so I cut myself off from others and interacted as little as I possibly could. That an’ I showed a general disinterest in social interaction. It forced me into a reclusive shell. I was a huge introvert, but when I finally realized that I’m just as hu… I mean equal as everybody around me, I began to get comfortable with talkin’ to others. It took a lot of help from forced social interaction in places like school an’ at basically any place where there’s a large group of… ponies, but eventually, I grew an’ was able to get to know an’ become comfortable enough with myself to be able to present myself to others.”

“Wow… You and I aren’t so different in that department…” Twilight replied. “I just never knew how strong the connection was between self-image and social interaction… My reason for being that way when I was younger was a slightly different one, but I get it now…”

“Really? Looks like we still haven’t gotten very far in knowin’ each other, huh?”

“Indeed…”

“Yes, I see what you mean, too,” Fluttershy began. “A little while ago, I took an assertiveness class that I thought was teaching me to become more comfortable with myself, as well as how to not let others walk all over me. I learned my lesson, but only after I realized that the class only taught me how to turn my insecurity into aggression.  I went from being bullied to becoming a bully. I almost lost two of my best friends because of my behavior, too. It was just awful…”

“Ahh, wow…” I said, thinking about how a pony that seemed so sweet and innocent could ever possibly be aggressive. “I can’t really see you bein’ a bully. You seem too cute, sweet, an’ innocent to do such a thing…”

“Oh my… th-thank you,” She said, regaining a little bit of her timidity as she blushed. “Ooh! Then there was this time where I was supposed to help all the other Pegasi, including my friend Rainbow Dash, whip up a tornado big enough to carry all the water from a lake up to Cloudsdale…” I saw that she’d warmed up to me very quickly. All it took was a single point for us both to relate on for her to cast her shell away. I was also surprised she knew Rainbow Dash, but then I figured that if they were both friends with Twilight Sparkle, why wouldn’t they be friends with each other?

“I’m listenin’, but let’s get your stuff all cleaned up while you tell me, shall we?”

“Oh, yes. Good idea,” she answered as we began cleaning her groceries up. “So my problem there was that I was didn’t want to help because I was too afraid of what other ponies would think of me if I tried. I let my filly-hood memories of being teased for being a weak flier get the best of me. Time and time again, I tried to conquer my fear of failure and humiliation, but I soon realized that I had to do it not for Rainbow Dash, the other Pegasi, or even because all of us were required to do it; I had to do it for myself. I had to do it to prove to myself that I was able to make an impact and stand against the odds.”

“Wow, Fluttershy… I saw that you were having trouble with your self-confidence, but I didn’t realize how much that day made you grow…” Twilight said as we finished restocking the yellow Pegasus’s saddlebags.

“Yea, I see your experiences are teachin’ you to be more comfortable with who you are as a pony,” I said. “Those were two very big examples. It seems to me that you learned how to assert yourself without bein’ mean about it, and to have faith in yourself and your abilities.  The only thing left for you to conquer is meetin’ new faces an’ interactin’ with ‘em."

“Thank you both so much!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she pulled Twilight and me into a group hug. “I’m so happy to have this discussion with you, Twilight and…”

“Ponder Memoir,” I finished. “But please, call me ‘Ty.’ Would you like us to walk home with you?”

“That would be nice. But I’m actually headed to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie said something about a party…”

“Pinkie Pie…? Oh, she’s the one who saw me an’ ran away for no reason! Looks like now’s the time to catch her and ask her why…”

“I’m sure she was just in a rush,” Fluttershy dismissed. “But please, let’s head there now.”

“Hmm, aight,” I responded as we trotted our way towards Pinkie Pie’s place of residence. “Hey, Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“You ain’t share a story with Fluttershy and me about how you came outta your shell. Care to enlighten us?”

“Hmm… okay. It’s a long one, but I’ll try to nutshell it so I can finish before we arrive. That sound good?” Fluttershy and I simply nodded. “Well… As a filly growing up in Canterlot, I was always into my studies. I wanted to learn everything about magic and the many possibilities surrounding it; so much so that one day, during an entrance exam for a very exclusive unicorn magic school, I wound up showing a great deal of my raw, uncontrolled ability. It was that day that I not only got accepted into said school, I also earned my Cutie Mark and was enlisted by Princess Celestia herself as her direct student. From then until a little after I moved here to Ponyville, my main focus was making the Princess proud as I learned more and more about magic every day. I unfortunately let that focus consume me to the point where I would avoid social interaction at every chance; for fear that it would only hinder my studies. I had almost no friends… The only ponies I’d ever talked to other than Celestia were my older brother Shining Armor, and my foal-sitter-turned-sister-in-law, Princess Cadence. Even they couldn’t keep consistent amounts of communication with me, though. Once I was old enough to stop needing a foal-sitter, I lost all contact with Cadence. As for Shining Armor, he had become captain of Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard. As a result, his duties tied up his time more and more until I rarely saw him at all. At that point, the only “friend” I had was Spike, whom I was allowed to keep as a pet of sorts after I had hatched him from an egg during that entrance exam. Even then, I had no clue on what friendship was or how important it was to me, and I treated him like little more than an employee. That doesn’t go to say I didn’t love the little guy… I just didn’t know how to show it. But yeah, eventually, Celestia sent me to Ponyville to learn about the magic known as friendship. I’ll admit that at first, I thought she was just setting me up so I could get out more, but boy was I wrong… it took a whole lot of crazy things to happen, which I’ll fill you in on another time, Ty, for me to finally realize how friendship strengthened me and all of my friends and played a huge factor in forming us into the mares we are now. In fact, on that very day, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and I had become the representations of the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful magical objects in this entire world. I think that’s good enough for now. I hope that wasn’t too much for you guys to take in…”

“…incredible…” I could only mumble, my eyes and mouth agape. This unicorn had a lot to say. I was shocked to find out that she allowed herself to become so… lonely, and all because of an obsession with learning. I gained a new feeling for Twilight after hearing that. I wasn’t sure if it was pity, empathy, respect, or something else… Another thing was that FINALLY, I learned about that thing about Elements. But what I learned only made me want to explode with questions about what they were and how Twilight and all of her friends managed to get their hooves on them.

“Wow, Twilight. That’s amazing,” Fluttershy began. “I had no idea you had so much trouble meeting ponies, too. When we first met, I assumed you had a lot of friends and that you were just trying to talk to me, so I shut myself off from you. Instead, I spent that whole time talking to Spike and not giving you the time of day. I’m so sorry…” the Pegasus frowned as she contemplated her newfound guilt.

“Aww, it’s okay, Fluttershy! We’re friends now, and that’s all that matters,” Twilight said to comfort the Pegasus.

“Thank you, Twilight…” Fluttershy smiled warmly at the unicorn, which she returned. I couldn’t help but smile myself.

“Man, the both o’ y’all are so adorable when you smile…” I said, prompting the two mares to giggle as they turned their gaze to me. Their cuteness could have given me a heart attack.

“Looks like we’re here,” Twilight announced when she looked forward. The building itself was quite a wonder. It looked almost exactly like one of those crazily decorative gingerbread cookie houses bakers back in my world made; except that this one was enormous! I almost wanted to take a bite out of it right then and there.

“Hey, quick question before we go in, Fluttershy,” I said.

“Yes, Mr. Ty?”

“Just 'Ty' is fine. But your Cutie Mark… I see that i’ss three butterflies. I guess that means you’re good with animals?”

“Yes. I take care of many different animals back at my home. It also represents the fact that I’m a calm, gentle mare who is nice to everypony, which is why I’m the Element of Kindness.”

“I see… That makes sense,” I simply said as we reached the door to the building. Judging by the strong delicious pastry smell emulating from it, I could tell that this house wasn’t just for show; it was an actual bakery. However, I noticed that all the lights were out and that it seemed completely black inside. I wondered if we came at a bad time or if the place was closed. I got my answer the second I set hoof on the doorstep. The lights inside flicked on, the door flew open, and before I was able to process what was happening, a pair of pink legs suddenly wrapped themselves around my neck and yanked me inside…