The Type of Pony Everypony Should Avoid

Fluttershy trotted slowly through the marketplace of Ponyville, her mind filled with thoughts of her animals and relaxation. Today was her weekly meetup with Rarity at the spa, and Fluttershy just couldn't wait to relax a little and chat with her close friend about what was going on for both of them. The shy pony could just squeal in delight, but she kept trotting along with her thoughts filling her head. I really wonder how Rarity is doing lately, maybe she has some huge new idea for her fashion line, Fluttershy mused. Maybe Rarity even wanted Fluttershy to be a model for her, again! The simple thought of the catastrophic result of what had happened last time Fluttershy had modeled caused the shy pony to giggle aloud. Then, out of nowhere, the light yellow equine found herself to be falling! She hit the ground with a thump and felt a bunch of things falling on top of and around her. She let out a soft gasp in panic and looked up to see a toffee-colored stallion looking down at her. The shy mare figured she must have walked right into him because she was too caught up in her own thoughts. Oh Flutters, she scolded herself mentally, look what you did! There were groceries scattered around every which way, some of which had fallen on her. The mare looked up to get a better examination of the stallion she had knocked into. He had a white, somewhat wavy mane and a spiky tail. His cutie mark was one of those drama masks with the happy and sad faces on it, and his eyes. . . Fluttershy found herself staring into them. His eyes were a deep, mesmerizing blue. They were like the color of a glacial pond. Fluttershy quickly shook her head and looked away, her face flushing a deep red. The stallion chuckled and offered his hoof to her so she could stand up. Fluttershy nervously took it, scared that she had already insulted this stallion somehow. The shy, yellow equine was especially uneasy with stallions.

"Hello," the male pony spoke once Fluttershy had stood up, "My name is MacBard. And you are?" he asked friendly. MacBard's voice was deep, yet it had a soothing undertone to it.

"My name's um. . . my name is fluttershy," she said timidly.

"Beg your pardon, dear? I didn't quite catch it," MacBard replied kindly.

"I'm Fluttershy," she repeated, speaking louder so MacBard wouldn't get angry at her. Fluttershy would hate to have anypony angry with her. "Are you a new pony here? I've never seen you around Ponyville before. . ."

"Fluttershy, what a lovely name!" the toffee colored stallion replied heartily.

Fluttershy blushed, feeling an odd sense of relaxed happiness laced with reproachfulness. What was there to be reproachful about with this pony? He seemed like a perfectly fine young stallion! The mare smiled warmly at the colt that stood before her, his eyes gleaming happily, as if the two ponies were old friends. Fluttershy looked at him closely, something about him seemed so familiar. . . And then it hit her. MacBard looked like the perfect match for Rarity! He was so nice and friendly, but he had such a distinguished poise to his actions. Every word he spoke sounded so vital and important. Fluttershy just couldn't wait to tell Rarity about this new pony!

MacBard started to pick up the groceries that he had dropped in the event of colliding with the pink-maned, yellow colored mare named Fluttershy. When the female pony saw this, she had immediately blushed and started helping him pick up his staples. Once they were all picked up, Fluttershy realized that she was going to be late to the spa!

"I um. . . I'd love to um stay and get to know you, but um. . . I have to go meet a friend," the yellow mare stuttered, feeling bad about leaving so abruptly.

"Oh, 'tis no worry, fair filly. I hope to see you around Ponyville, again! But alas, for now, I hope that you shall fare well!" MacBard bade in his gentlemanly manner.

"You too," Fluttershy whispered and quickly galloped off towards the Lotus Spa.

-

Fluttershy arrived at the spa 10 minutes later than the usual arranged time, but she was relieved to find Rarity still sitting in the waiting area, backlegs crossed and reading the new edition of the Ponyville Express. Fluttershy trotted over to Rarity and sat down in the free seat to her friend's left.

"Oh Rarity, I'm so sorry that I'm late! But I have a really good reason why and I think you'll really enjoy heari--" Fluttershy gushed out.

"Darling, darling. It is quite all right that you are tardy for our get-together. Can't you see how absolutely crowded the spa is right now, anyway? Besides, I'm usually the late one, so it's perfectly fine," Rarity replied simply.

Fluttershy blushed and wanted to continue, but she decided that she could wait until the two mares were relaxed and talking about what was going on, anyway. The yellow filly picked up a gardening magazine and let her mind drift into the world of reading.

"Next! Mees Rarity and Mees Fluttershy, wat can I get yoo today?" one of the spa ponies, Lotus, inquired, holding a clipboard with Fluttershy's and Rarity's names on it.

Fluttershy exchanged a glance with Rarity, implying that she didn't want to choose what to get. Rarity gave Fluttershy a smile of understanding and answered Lotus's inquiry with, "We would like the usual, please."

Lotus nodded and hurried off behind the curtain that separated the spa from the waiting room. After a few minutes of preparation, Lotus re-emerged with Aloe, another spa pony, by her side and they motioned for the two mares to come with them. Fluttershy hopped up and gingerly set her magazine back onto the table covered with reading materials. Rarity just left her newspaper on the empty set next to her and trotted into the spa room.

After getting massages, face masks, and now unwinding in the mud bath, Fluttershy was finally tranquil enough to recount the recent events of her life to Rarity.

"I worked on my garden this morning, which is doing particularly well lately, and then I fed the animals. You'll be happy to know that Angel is finally getting along with the bunny who broke her back leg. Speaking of Mocha, she's healing very nicely," Fluttershy started off, the words easily flowing off of her serene tongue.

Rarity smiled. "How lovely, darling! Are you going to release Mocha, soon? I have really taken a liking to that little brown bunny."

"Yes, I have to release her. I enjoy her company, too, but I'm sure she has a family to get back to. So, you'll never guess what happened on the way here, by the way!"

"Oh, do tell! Don't withold this juicy gossip from me, dear Fluttershy!"

"It's not really gossip, but I ran into a new pony in town. Well, literally ran into him, that is. He's a drama pony and his cutie mark is-"

Rarity cut Fluttershy off. "A new stallion?! Why didn't you tell me earlier!"

"Yeah, his cutie mark's two drama masks and he's very friendly. I think you would take a great liking to him."

"My, sounds splendid! If you see him again, please, do tell him to drop by the Carousel Boutique!" Rarity said with a smile, "So, is anything else going on, other than this encounter?"

Fluttershy had to think for a second. She had been reminiscing her encounter with MacBard so much that she had forgotten what else to talk about. Then, she remembered. Fluttershy wanted a sun hat from Rarity so she could have some protection while the pink-haired mare worked in her garden. It was going to be a hot, sunny summer and she didn't want to have the sun in her eyes while she worked. Fluttershy had started the garden so she could provide fresh greens for the animals every now and then, and it was turning out to be a great idea!

"I would like a sun hat, Rarity. You can custom make it and do whatever you want with it, but I would really like one so I can work in my garden. Besides, if I tried to take hold of it, the whole thing would be a disaster. Your designing skills are so beautiful, I wouldn't want to impose. Not like last time."

Rarity beamed at the praise and giggled at the mention of the Grand Galloping Gala dress disaster. It had been absolutely horrid to endure when her friends had wanted to take control of Rarity's dressmaking for the Gala. Although, now, looking back on the incident, it had been quite funny. "I'd love to make you a hat," Rarity declared enthusiastically.

"Oh thank you, Rarity. Now, you should talk about some stuff before I start to ramble again," Fluttershy articulated with a modest blush.

Rarity laughed grandly, knowing that she could never hear enough of Fluttershy's sweet voice to call it rambling, and then talked of fashion and life and everything else that she could think of. Fluttershy listened intently, although she felt distracted by something. Something. . . impending. She tried to think of what it could be, but the only thought that filled her mind was a paralyzing shade of blue. And it felt too familiar to the yellow equine with the 3 butterflies on her flank.

To be continued