I sat huddled under the stage, enjoying the quiet that had descended on the plaza. Nopony here knew I was there, and that was alright with me. I just needed a little bit of time to recharge, get my jitters out.
Most ponies thought that I had come completely out of my shell in the last couple years, but honestly, it was still tough. The most forceful I had been was telling the designers my friends had suggested for the animal preserve that they were fired. And that took a lot out of me.
Crowds did too. I’m getting better every day, but after the attack and the trip through Equestria and beyond, and Twilight’s breakdown, well…
I just needed a few minutes to myself. This was part of the reason I had my cottage where I did, despite it being so close to the Everfree Forest. It allowed solitude and a place to rest. I don’t know why socializing with ponies was so tiring to me sometimes. I get along great with my friends and all the critters I tend to, but the rest…I don’t know.
“You're under here too, huh?” a accented voice spoke up, making me squeak in alarm and almost crack my head against a beam, wings shooting out in surprise.
A throaty giggle followed from the dark. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” A form came forward, two-toned mane becoming evident along with some closely furled wings.
“S-S-Songbird Serenade?” I breathed. “What are you doing here?”
“Same as you, I suppose,” she said, settling down across from me. “I’m trying to get just a little bit of a break from myself.” She reached up and flipped her mane out of her face, revealing a pair of aqua eyes, a few bits of fatigue showing in them. “The show business gets to be a bit much sometimes. Even though my entourage tries to keep up with me, it’s easy to slip away from Earth ponies when you have these.” She fluttered her wings a little before pulling them back in.
I stared in shock. “But surely you could have stayed in your hotel suite.”
She waved a hoof. “And be swarmed by reporters and photographers every second? Nah, not for a little while at least.”
“But Ms. Serenade…”
“Songbird, please,” the pop star said. “You and your friends helped rescue me along with the rest of Equestria. I think that gives you the right to use my first name, don’t you?”
“Oh my,” I whispered. “Thank you.”
She looked at me for a second, head cocked expectantly. My brain caught up with me immediately.
“Oh, my goodness, I’m sorry!” I said quickly. “I’m Fluttershy.”
“Pleasure, Fluttershy,” she said, a smile breaking across her face. “Now, I know why I am down here, but what brings you here?”
“Oh, I don’t want to bother you with that,” I said. “You’d probably think it’s silly, anyway.”
“I don’t ask if I don’t want to hear,” Songbird said, settling into a slightly more comfortable position. “Come, come, do tell!”
I swirled a hoof against the stonework of the plaza, indecision tiptoeing meekly through my mind.
“I’m…” I stopped, blushing. “I’m really shy, and I don’t do well with crowds. Sometimes I just need to get away to recover for a little while. I’m sure that’s a silly reason to someone like you who performs for huge crowds of ponies every day.”
“I wouldn’t say every day, Fluttershy,” she replied softly. “In fact, there are usually a few days between shows, between travel and setup, soundcheck, and so on. And there is an awful lot of hurry up and wait in my life.” She smiled and reached out with a wingtip to tilt my head to face her.
“I’ll let you in on a secret though,” she whispered, her accent growing a little thicker. “I wasn’t always comfortable on stage. Once upon a time, I would freeze up like a winter lake, completely petrified.”
“Really?” I said in surprise. “But you don’t anymore?”
“Oh, no,” Songbird giggled. “I’m still nervous when I go out, but once the music starts and the lights hit, I’m in the zone and I don't really notice the crowd. Plus, with all the lighting my shows have at times, it’s hard to see the crowd anyway.”
“It must be nice,” I said. “My friend Rarity wants me to join her a capella group, but even with as much as I like music and singing, I can’t deal with the crowd.” I looked at her. “Do you have any tips for that?”
She shook her head. “I’m not anypony special, you know,” she replied. “I took it one day and one show at a time. I didn’t start off famous, and there are times I wish I wasn’t.”
“Really? But the way you posed for the photographers when you arrived…”
“I have an image to maintain, carefully crafted by my manager,” the singer said with a sigh. “I really wish I could get him to relent and go casual like my friend Coloratura did a few years back. It would be a nice change of pace.”
“It isn't a pony named Svengallop, is it?”
“No,” she said quickly. “I detest that little troll of a pony. Never did like him. No, my manager is my brother, and as much as a pain as he can be, he really has helped my career. It was his idea to keep my forelocks long so I can hide my face if I need to.”
“Long manes are good for that,” I giggled. “I used to hide behind mine for the longest time.”
“But not anymore?”
“Well,” I hedged. “Not as much. But I still don’t like a lot of attention on me. I’m nopony special.”
She tilted her head. “The greatest of ponies were nopony special once,” she said, standing. “But I need to get back before my escort mobilizes the army to find me.”
I stood as well. “It was nice meeting you, Songbird.”
“It was nice meeting you as well, Fluttershy,” she responded, then smiled. “Can you do me a favor before tonight’s show?”
“Maybe?” I said. “What is it?”
“Could you introduce me to Princess Twilight?” she said, her cheeks blushing as she shook her mane back down over her eyes.
“She’s kinda cute.”
I smiled.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Author's Note
BlackWater has done a lot for me...artwork, collaboration on Comparing Notes, and being a great friend in general.
Part of my anniversary writings.
Not related to any continuity, of course.
