Alektorophobia

It was a beautiful sunny day in Equestria, And inside canterlot Celestia was getting ready to tackle the day ahead of her. instead of her regular daily schedule, she was having Twilight over for afternoon tea. she decided that her tea time with Twilight would be a good opportunity to get what she needed to say off her chest. Twilight arrived exactly on time as usual.

twilight noticed Celestia waiting for her at the table she had set up on the terrace in canterlot. the table was a simple circular white table with pictures of irises painted on it. on the underside of the table were white drapes with a floral pattern. the overall look of the table had a simple elegance to it. beside the table were two long gold chairs with enough back support for any pony. "Good afternoon Celestia, I hope I'm not late," Twilight said as she approached the empty chair across From Celestia and sat down in it.

"you never are," Celestia said with a warm smile. she then used her magic to grab an elegant-looking white teapot and started to pour tea into two white teacups with gold lining on the inside of the rim.

"mmm, it smells delicious.!" Twilight said taking in a whiff of the intoxicating aroma.

"thank you it's green tea".

"Oh, that's one of Fluttershy,s favorite,s. good choice!."

"Thank you," Celestia said with a smile. a few seconds later, Celestia,s smile turned into a more serious expression.
"twilight, do you know why I asked you to afternoon tea with me?" Celestia said as she looked at Twilight. Twilight responded with a nod.

"yes, of course, I've gotten used to your tea drinking schedule and what days you like to drink alone as well as the days you like to have tea with somepony else. I have the schedule right here if you want to see it.?" Twilight then used her magic to make the schedule appear close to Celestia's face. Celestia giggled. only Twilight would have a detailed list of Celestia,s tea schedule. While still giggling, Celestia put her hoof on top of the schedule to push it down so she could see Twilight.

"no, that's not why."

"I don't understand," Twilight said with a tilt of her head and a confused expression on her face until her eyes started to grow big. "It's an emergency, isn't it! Is somepony sick and you need a cure I am sure I could whip something up real quick just let me look through the various books on remedies that I have!." Twilight made book after book appear in front of her and frantically flipped through them. Celestia then put her hoof on top of the book twilight was currently reading and looked at Twilight straight in the eyes and Said, as if a mare were trying to comfort their little filly in the middle of a thunderstorm.

"it's ok twilight. It's not an emergency. well, at least not on the scale your thinking."
Twilight then took a few moments to recompose herself.

"oh, sorry for getting all worked up".

"It's quite alright," Celestia said with a warm smile at twilight. "I understand that your situation can be quite stressful. it's not everyday Equestria gets another princess. I am sure your responsibility over the years has been quite taxing on your mind its understandable to be stressed I know I had my moments."

"Thank you, Celestia. it has been quite stressful. I'm glad I can talk with somepony who has a lot of experience in the subject. "So what is it you wanted to see me for then.?"

"Well, with all the royal duties I have it makes it hard to spend time with the citizens of Equestria, I want to be more present in the lives of my subjects."

"oh, so you're looking for a way to get to know other ponies More."

"That is correct," Celestia said with a nod. Twilight then raised a hoof to her chin and stroked it as if she were deep in thought.

"Hmm, let me think." suddenly, an idea struck Twilight's mind. "I've got it!. You could help Fluttershy take care of her animals! I bet she would love the help." Celestia responded with an overjoyed look on her face.

"that's a wonderful idea twilight.!"
Twilight then threw a curved hoof in the air.

"It was nothing. anyway, thank you for the tea it was delicious but I should be getting back to the school of friendship I've got a lot of papers to grade". Celestia nods.

"I understand. thank you for joining me and coming up with a solution for my problem"

"it's my pleasure honestly." twilight says with a look of respect towards Celestia. Celestia smiles then both Celestia and twilight say their goodbyes. Celestia then takes a carriage to Fluttershy,s cottage. after she arrives,s, she knocks,s on the door and waits,s for Fluttershy to answer it. Fluttershy answered the door and was thrown completely off guard. she was expecting whoever had knocked on the door to be one of her friends, so seeing that it was Celestia standing outside her door came as a huge surprise to her. it came as an even bigger surprise to her when Celestia asked her if she wanted any help taking care of her animals. Celestia explained to Fluttershy that she had wanted to be more active in the lives of her subjects. and that Twilight had suggested that this was a good way to start. Fluttershy started to regain her composure. she smiled and decided that she loved the idea of having somepony else help her with the care of her little friends. especially since she knew it was somepony she could trust. that, and Fluttershy always liked to help her friends if she could help with something she was comfortable doing. and she was more than comfortable with this. so Celestia set a date on when she could help Fluttershy. Celestia made a public announcement on the matter so that the royal delegation could be prepared in advance to take over Celestia,s duties for the day.

"The day is finally here!". Celestia says as she opens up her eyes and springs out of bed letting out a cheerful laugh of excitement. "oh I can't wait to see all the animals Fluttershy has!". Celestia then starts to name different types of animals, getting increasingly more excited as she names off each one. "Squirrels! possums! raccoons! flamingos! turtles! and of course bunnies.! Oh, how I just love bunnies and their fluffy little tails.! Well, I better be going this is going to be so much fun!" Celestia says as she leaves her palace and flies over to Fluttershy's cottage. A short while after, she arrives at Fluttershy's cottage and knocks on her door. Fluttershy opens her cottage door to see Celestia standing there with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh, good morning Celestia. ready to help me take care of the animals?".

"You bet I am!" Says Celestia with a smile.

"Alright, well, let me show you around". Fluttershy says as she motions with her hoof for Celestia to step inside her cottage. Celestia nods and then follows Fluttershy. Immediately as Celestia steps in, her eyes are filled to the brim with fluffy and feathery wonders. Monkeys are swinging From the ceiling, birds are flying all over the place, and bunnies are eating carrots. One of the animals that Celestia focused on first was a gigantic bear. to most ponies, this would be a terrifying site but for Celestia having witnessed one of discord,s pranking spree,s. a bear was nothing. she still had tiny pieces of cheese come out of her main every once in a while. Also, she knew that animals were Fluttershys specialty, so if Fluttershy had a bear in her house, it was most likely tame. coming to this conclusion in her mind, Celestia smile,s pleasantly and wave,s at the bear. the bear return,s the pleasant gesture with a smile and wave of his own.

"Wow, when you said you take care of animals you weren't kidding where you, "Celestia says as she smiles and lightly nudges her hoof against Fluttershy.

"Oh well, what can I say taking care of these lovely creatures is what I do, and honestly I wouldn't trade it for all of Equestria. Spending time with them is a great way to relieve stress and relax." Fluttershy then looks down to see Angel bunny repeatedly tapping his foot on the ground with an annoyed expression on his face. "Well, most of the time anyway." Celestia couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hoof and giggle a little bit. Angel, seeing Celestia giggle, glares at her sharply. this only causes Celestia to giggle even more. Out of all the things she found threatening, a cute little bunny certainly wasn't one of them. Fluttershy then rolls her eyes at angel, grabs a bowl of carrots and, places them in front of him. at which point angel, jumps in the air with a smile on his face. he then starts to chow down on the carrots. "angel can be a handful but, he is such a great companion and can be a real sweetheart once you get to know him" Fluttershy says as she watches angel eat his carrots.

"I don't dought it," says Celestia with a warm smile at angel. angel sticks his tongue out at Celestia and then hops away as Celestia lets out another giggle. "Well, are we ready to get to work?"

"not yet I still have to show you the rest of my animals outside," Fluttershy says as she motions for Celestia to follow her out the door. Celestia then does so and then follows,s Fluttershy to where her animals are. Celestia,s eyes Begin to be filled with even more animals and creatures. There were butterflies everywhere, bees pollinating even, snakes slithering on the ground. Celestia looks in amazement as she sees all the happy critters before her.

"the love you have for your animals is truly something special Fluttershy, I can see why you represent the element of kindness, it cannot be easy taking care of all these animals by yourself," Celestia says with a warm smile towards Fluttershy.

"Thank you it's not much trouble I enjoy doing it, it feels good to know that if any animals or creatures out there need my help I am here for them." Fluttershy says with a smile back at Celestia. "now before we start I have one more little friend to show you." Fluttershy then walks up to a chicken coop and motions for Celestia to come closer. Celestia then turns around and notices the chicken coop that she hadn't noticed before. the thought of what creature lies in the structure terrified Celestia. Nevertheless, she slowly walks up to the coop trying not to let Fluttershy see the fear in her face as she approaches it.

( "Ok Celestia there's no reason to be afraid, just because Fluttershy has a coop for one of those terrifying creatures doesn't mean that it is what you think it is. maybe a duck lives in there instead yeah a duck that could be a possibility") Celestia then decided to go with that reasoning hoping that she was right.

"Come on out Louise," Fluttershy shy says as Celestia begins to tremble, fear obvious on her face. Fluttershy remains unaware of Celestia,s fear due to her focus on the chicken coop. a creature with white feathers and an orange beak and, almost eagle-like talons come,s out of the coop. At this point Celestia,s fear had been realized. it was a chicken. Celestia jump,s into the air hanging upside down from a tree shaking. Louise walks out with her head tilted looking at Celestia. Fluttershy looks away from the chicken coop and sees that Celestia is not standing beside her. "Celestia where did you go?" flutter shy calls out to Celestia. after a few moments of silence she hears a faint voice in the air and notice,s that the voice is filled with fear. she then looks up and sees a shaking Celestia up in her tree. Fluttershy concerned for the well-being of her friend, says as if she stepped on a puppy's paw. "oh my goodness are you ok"?. Celestia replies by shaking her head, still trembling. Fluttershy then notices that Celestia is looking at her chicken and gasp as she asks,s. "are you afraid of Louise?" Celestia replies by nodding fearfully. Fluttershy tells Louise to go back into her coop and gives her some chicken feed then calls out for Celestia. "it's ok you can come down now, Louise is back in her coop. after hearing Fluttershy say this Celestia slowly comes down from the tree, her body still trembling. when she gets down from the tree she breaths in and then breaths out until she eventually regains her composure. Fluttershy then looks at Celestia. "I am so sorry I didn't mean to scare you". Celestia shakes her head.

"It's ok there's no way you could have known I was afraid of chickens. besides you didn't scare me it did." Celestia says as she gives a sheepish grin. Normally Fluttershy would have been upset to hear somepony call one of her animals an it, but seeing how scared Celestia was she decided to let it slide.

"I guess you're right. so you're afraid of chickens?." Fluttershy says looking at Celestia. Celestia,s head lower,s to the ground.

"yes it's pretty silly, isn't it."? Fluttershy replies with a shake of her head.

"Not at all! If anypony knows what it's like to be scared of what other ponies would find silly it's me." Fluttershy says trying to comfort Celestia. this makes a faint smile appear across Celestia's face. out of all the reactions,s she could have expected that was certainly not one of them. she knew she was talking with the pony who represents the element of kindness, still, though she expected at least a little chuckle. the way Fluttershy reacted made her feel more comfortable, her words made Celestia respect Fluttershy even more than she already did.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. most people would laugh if they heard about my fear."

"that's terrible."! Fluttershy says loud enough for Celestia to hear her words clearly. "just because your fear is out of the ordinary doesn't mean that it isn't scary to you. after all no fear is funny in the eyes of the pony who is afraid."

"I guess your right". Fluttershy smiles.

"Now, how about we go into my cottage, I will make us both a nice cup of tea, and if you're feeling up to it you could tell me why you're afraid of chickens. I've learned that having somepony who won't judge you and is willing to listen to your fear might make you feel better. so what do you say?" Fluttershy says looking at Celestia hoping she will say yes. Celestia thinks for a moment she had never really told anypony about her fear of chickens, the only pony that knew about it was her sister Luna. perhaps Fluttershy was right. maybe all she needed was somepony to talk to about it. maybe just maybe, it could be something she's Been needing to do without having realized it.

"I… yes I think I can do that."

"Wonderfull.!" Fluttershy says as she and Celestia walk into her cottage and Fluttershy tells Celestia to sit down. the seats looked particularly comfortable in Fluttershy's cottage. the whole cottage had a very warm and welcoming feeling to it if you weren't overwhelmed by the sight of animals. Celestia then walks over to a chair in front of her as she speaks under her breath hoping Fluttershy won't hear her.

"Breath Celestia just breathe it's going to be ok."