The Sunset Fantasy

Chapter 3: Close Call

The night passed without incident. Fluttershy had taken her place back in the patch of dirt under the dark looming trees and behind the bushes, and had watched her cottage for the entire night. When Celestia raised the sun, Fluttershy went through her transformation without much trouble; having her scales retract and her body shrink no longer hurt her. With a sigh and a smile, she left her nighttime hiding place and trotted over to her home.

She opened the door to see the early birds and the early critters stretching themselves out and moving about. Few of them made any noise at all, and when Fluttershy entered the cozy cottage, they nuzzled her without the normal chattering that usually accompanied it. She sighed, both with relief and with sadness.

“I guess I’ll have to get used to a quiet morning,” Fluttershy mused out loud, “while Trixie’s still here.” She rubbed her eyes; two whole nights without sleep had put bags under them. “I know Trixie needs a place to stay, and she did grant me my wish, but I wonder if it’s even worth it anymore.” A familiar stomping at her hoof brought another smile to her face, and she didn’t hesitate to bring Angel into a tight nuzzling. “Of course, as long as you guys are safe, it doesn’t matter right now.”

Angel hopped over to her table, and Fluttershy could see a book and a piece of paper on it. She trotted over to inspect them; the book was the “Ghosts, Goblins and Ghoulish Figures” she had borrowed for Trixie, and the piece of paper had a note:

Trixie needs you to return this book; it did not hold what I was looking for. That’ll be all for today. Make sure Trixie is able to have a good day’s sleep.

Fluttershy read the note with a smile. “I can do this! This won’t be too difficult.” Angel hopped onto her back and nuzzled her nape; she turned her head and nuzzled him back. The animals were beginning to chatter.

“Alright, everypony,” Fluttershy singsonged in a raspy tone, watching as the rest of the creatures awoke and ran to her. “Who’s hungry?”

A chorus of tweets and chitters answered her; Fluttershy shushed them, stifling a fit of giggling in the process. She ambled to the storage room, grabbed an assortment of grass, nuts and berries, and let it fall in the middle of the room. She then set herself to distribute a special treat apart from the regular breakfast to every little critter surrounding her, smiling the entire time.

Once everypony received their meal, she made to lie down on her couch; Angel, however, with a concerned express

ion, held the book up to her face.

“Oh, Angel.” Fluttershy tossed the book aside and lay down on the couch. “Can’t I spend some time with my animal friends?” Before he could answer, Fluttershy brought him into her embrace. Angel sighed, and brought himself under her chin, nuzzling her neck.

Soon other animals joined in, squeezing into her forelegs, laying themselves against her sides, or flying on top of her. Fluttershy let out a giggle as she nuzzled each creature, and then rested her head on the couch, content with every nuzzling on her body.

They stayed that way for an hour, with barely a peep heard from any of them. A gang of small, calm, content breathing ran across Fluttershy’s coat; although she wasn’t sleeping, her breathing slowed and her eyes closed, a smile resting on her face. The sunlight warmed her fur. She couldn’t help but sigh again every five minutes.

And then Fluttershy rose, the critters leaping off the couch, and she slowly set to straightening everything up; Trixie left an empty box and a few mugs of finished cider strewn around the room, and then there was the typical mess left by the animals. Fluttershy cleaned everything with a smile on her face.

After cleaning everything, she took a look around, lay down on her couch (joined by Angel, of course), and fell asleep.

It was 3:30 when she awoke, and the first thing she did was jerk up and looked at her hooves; they were still hooves, bringing a sense of relief. With a glance at the clock, her eyes widened.

“Oh my,” she gasped, looking around before Angel shoved the book in her face. “I need to return this!” She jumped up and, with book in mouth, flew out the door. She didn’t say she’d be back soon; Angel shook his head.

Even though it was approaching sundown, Fluttershy didn’t rush. She had had a good nap, and she felt so rejuvenated that she didn’t feel panic. She actually slowed down, letting her hooves hit the ground before trotting through Ponyville.

The scene was much calmer than it was yesterday: everypony was either going about their regular business or closing down their booths. It’s a little early to be closing, Fluttershy thought to herself. Maybe today was just a busy day. Or maybe . . . Fluttershy’s trotting slowed to a walk.

Before she knew it, she was looking at the door to Twilight’s library-house. Fluttershy looked to the sky, and saw that her trip had only been five minutes. “Oh, well that’s . . . nice.” With another smile forming, she pushed the door to the library open . . .

Hitting another pony in the process.

“Ow!” He cried, rubbing a hoof to his now-red face. “Hey, watch it!”

“Oh, sorry,” Fluttershy said as she went into the library. She looked down to see Snips rubbing his face. Snails was behind him, carrying a book in his saddlebag. “I, um, didn’t see you.

Snips looked up, and immediately smiled. “Why, hello, miss Fluttershy. How are you today?”

Fluttershy shied away a bit. “I’m-I’m fine, Snips. Are you okay? Do you need—“

“Nope,” Snails interjected, nudging Snips. “We need to get going, Snips.”

Snips, still rubbing his face, nodded. “We don’t have time to be slowed down, even by pain!” He exclaimed this with a raised hoof, which quickly returned to his swollen face. “See you later, Fluttershy!”

“Um, okay,” Fluttershy waved to them and turned her attention to the pony that had been watching them. “Hello, Twilight!”

“Hello, Fluttershy,” Twilight greeted. “What brings you here?” Her lips curled into a smirk. “Here to explore the world of Equestrian prisons?” They both chuckled.

“Um, not today, Twilight,” she joked. “I’m actually here to return this.” She handed the book over to her friend.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You mean you’re already done with it?”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy replied sheepishly. “It wasn’t to my liking.”

Twilight only nodded, and set it on one of the nearby reading tables. “I kinda figured it wouldn’t take long for you to return it, but then again I didn’t expect you of all ponies to want to read this. Why’d you pick it out, anyway?”

Fluttershy began to sweat. “Er, I, uh, um, just wanted to see . . .” she trailed off.

Twilight stared at her for a moment. “. . . Okay. Anyway, how’s your day been?”

Fluttershy beamed. “Oh, it’s been wonderful! I got to be with my animals, and I got to pet them and love them and lay next to them . . .” She sighed.

“Wow,” Twilight said. “Sounds like you had a pretty good day.”

“And how was yours, Twilight?”

Twilight chuckled. “Spike’s been being kept under surveillance, and it’s been a bit hard to study and work while my number-one assistant isn’t here, you know? But other than that, I’m having a good day, too.”

Fluttershy pawed the ground. “Speaking of Spike, has there been any news of the monster today?”

“Not that I’ve heard of,” Twilight said matter-of-factly. “Everything was fine last night, nothing out of the ordinary happened. If it is Spike, then he behaved himself pretty well last night wike a good wittle dwagon.” They both laughed again.

Just then, two other ponies zoomed past them, crashing into one of the library shelves and sending most of the books on that shelf onto the floor.

“Woohoo,” one of them cried. “I win!”

“No way,” a blue-coated pegasus replied, hopping out of the mess. “I beat you by a whole second!”

“What!” A pink-coated earth pony stood, sending books flying everywhere. “There’s no way you beat me!”

“Ahem!” Rarity and Applejack entered the library. “You know, without little Spikey-Wikey to help Twilight, she simply can’t have this sort of mess to clean up.”

Rainbow and Pinkie looked at the pile of books, then to each other, and then to Rarity. “But—“

“No buts,” Rarity chided. “Now clean this mess up!”

“Fine,” Rainbow Dash grumbled; Pinkie Pie nodded enthusiastically.

“And make sure they’re put in alphabetical order,” Twilight piped up with a chuckle.

“Yeah, yeah.” Rainbow Dash spread the books out and began to sort them.

And then, to Fluttershy’s relief, everypony began to talk. They talked about how their day was, their plans for tomorrow, what they’ve heard of about the monster (the only new information was gossip), and much more. It was so casual, Fluttershy didn’t worry about how long it would last, and took a seat and listened. Once Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie finished reordering the books, they joined the conversation as well.

They continued to talk for well over three hours. They laughed and occasionally sang, over what Fluttershy didn’t really know. She just relaxed in their company and listened to them talk their hearts out. Twilight would occasionally direct her gaze to her and smile at her, and Fluttershy would smile back. At that moment, nothing could go wrong.

When she tuned back in, it was Applejack who was talking. “We’ve sure been talkin’ fer a while now.”

Pinkie Pie nodded. “Yeah, can you imagine if we talked throughout the whole night? That would be super-duper-fun!”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy muttered. “The whole night . . .” She looked out the window at the sky.
Fluttershy froze. Now the sun was behind Canterlot. It would be, at most, fifteen minutes. She jumped up. “Um, I’m sorry, but I really need to go now.”

“What?” Pinkie Pie yelled. “But it’s not even late, and we planned to talk the whole night!”

Fluttershy walked toward the door. “I know, but I need to get back home to, er, feed my animals! It’s their dinnertime.”

“No it’s not,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ve been to your house when you feed your animals, Fluttershy, and you usually feed them later than this.”

Fluttershy opened the door. “Yes, well . . .”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight, said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“I, um, I really can’t say.”

“Now, Fluttershy,” Rarity began sternly. “You shouldn’t hide anything from us. We’re your friends. You can tell us if anything’s wrong.”

A group of expecting eyes fell on her. “It’s . . . um . . .”

“What’s goin’ on, sugarcube?”

“Sorry, guys, I have to go!” Before any of them could protest, Fluttershy sped out of the library.

She flew as fast as she could, and soon she was flying above the town. Her pounding heart and quickened breath helped her ignore how unusually high up she was. No tears came to her eyes, though, which surprised her.

Fluttershy landed just past the creek that ran in front of her cottage just as Celestia began to bring the sun behind Canterlot. She was sweaty and panting, but she was smiling. It would only be a few more minutes of being a pony that day, but it was a few minutes she could spend with her animal friends. It’s not so bad after all.

Once her panting subsided, she pushed her door in and was greeted by a chorus of chirping and chattering . . .

And a very angry Trixie.

Fluttershy froze as the now-magenta mare stomped over to her and brought her gaze right in front of her.

“Where have you been?” She seethed through steam-emanating snorts. “Do you know how loud your animals were while you were gone?”

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh, I’m so sorry, T-“

“You’re sorry?” Trixie pressed her forehead against Fluttershy’s and pushed her against the wall next to the door. “Trixie had to deal with a house of obnoxiously-rancorous beasts while you were out dillydallying Celestia-knows-where and you’re sorry?”

Fluttershy’s hind legs were dragging, and her body was shrinking to the floor. “Um . . . I was at Twilight’s.”

“And what were you doing there?” Trixie leaned back, allowing Fluttershy to rise a bit.

“We were talking—“

“We?”

“Yes,” she whispered in reply. “Me and Twilight—“ Trixie scowled. “—And my other friends were talking about the book you had me return, and how our day was going, and the monster—“ Fluttershy put a hoof over her mouth, but it was too late.

“Monster?” Trixie shrieked. “You mean what you are? Don’t you forget that this is what you wanted, to be an animal, and I’m the one who granted you that wish! And you have the gall to say that The Great, Powerful and Benevolent Trixie made you into a monster?”

“No!” Fluttershy squeaked. “I don’t mean that at all!”

Trixie’s lips curled upward for a millisecond. “And I bet you told Twilight that Trixie was behind this! And you’re planning to ruin Trixie’s plans to be accepted in Ponyville because you’re not satisfied!”

“No!” The frightened mare shouted.

Then Trixie’s voice grew quiet. “Trixie thought you would be kinder to her.” She turned from her.

Fluttershy slowly approached her, choking back tears. “Please, Trixie, forgive me! I didn’t mean to make you upset, honest! I was just—“

“Silence!” Trixie yelled, and Fluttershy felt Trixie’s hind legs connecting with her chest. Fluttershy fell to the floor, gasping for air.

When Fluttershy regained her breath, she looked at the scene before her: every animal in her care was attacking Trixie. Trixie tried swatting them away with her hooves, but for every animal she knocked away, another two latched on with their teeth. Trixie was screaming and fumbling around on the floor, and they swarmed and ravaged her coat. Soon blood began to flow from her.

“Somepony help me!” She screamed.

“Stop!”

Everything stopped. The animals gazed at their owner, who was bringing herself to stand, gasping for air.

“This . . . is not . . . Trixie’s . . . fault.” She panted, legs quivering below her. Angel rushed to her side in case she fell. “It’s . . . mine.” A cacophony of noise ensued from them, but a laboriously-raised hoof quieted them. “I’ve . . . been ungrateful . . . for what she . . . has done. She . . . granted me my wish . . . and is taking . . . care of you . . . while I’m gone . . .” Fluttershy regained her breath. “Don’t hurt her anymore.”

A tear fell, and the animals slowly backed away. Trixie slowly rose, bleeding only from two small holes in her skin, and badly scratched. Trixie’s shocked expression was soon replaced with a glare.

“You can stop this, Trixie,” Fluttershy wept. “You can take away what you’ve done, and I won’t be mad. I’ve hurt you a lot, and I can only say I’m sorry. You won’t have to deal with me or my animals anymore.” She hung her head. “And I can repay you for your pain. Just please forgive me.”

A moment of silence ensued. Fluttershy waited for an answer, but after a minute she looked up. Trixie wasn’t angry, or smiling, or even bewildered.

It actually looked like she was deliberating.

Fluttershy’s stomach was turning. “Um . . . Trixie?”

Then Trixie looked at Fluttershy; her expression could only be described as enraged. “Get out.”

Fluttershy backed toward the door. “Uh-“

“GET OUT!” Fluttershy raced out of the cottage, tears now streaming from her face, not covering her wailing. She looked at the sky, and saw that it would only be seconds before the sun disappeared. She passed her watching spot and ran straight into the Everfree Forest.

She glanced back to see Angel hopping quickly after her. “Stay out, Angel. The Everfree Forest is a place for monsters like me!” She continued to run, and as she continued to look back, she saw her cutie mark disappearing. She didn’t stop running as her form changed, and she didn’t stop crying as they turned from wails to screeches.

Not familiar with her monster’s movement, she fell face-first into the ground. She didn’t know where she was, but she didn’t care. She curled into herself and cried.