Chapter_1

Awkward Break In

It was dark, outside the stars were glittering in the peaceful night sky. Fluttershy was soundly sleeping in her bed, her head on a pillow. It looked like an ordinary night, but nopony could have prepared her for what was about to happen.

Without any warning a loud “clank” noise filled her bedroom. The yellow mare, being a light sleeper, awoke on the spot. Fluttershy couldn’t stop shaking so she quickly put her head in the safety of the bedspread, but that didn’t work very well since she needed to prepare for a possible attack from all sides. Slowly raising the bedspread she looked around the bedroom. Nothing implied imminent danger – all the chairs, the bookcase, the night table were standing in their places and the doors to her bedroom were closed.

“Swooosh” the wind blew hard, regretting her rash decision Fluttershy put her head under the bedspread once again. Having convinced herself that no harm would come her way, she waited quietly and thought about what had just happened.

There was no crime in Equestria, it just wasn’t possible. Also the nights were usually very quiet. Although parties did happen occasionally, Fluttershy was living in the outer part of Ponyville and other houses were rather far. Her pets always valued sleep highly so there were no disturbances. There was no explanation to what had just happened.

Remembering a sleepover she once had, Fluttershy thought about ghosts and dark figures, who are very dangerous, unforgiving and cruel. She imagined a dark cloud creeping over her, waiting for the right moment to strike. It also seemed that a ghost was quietly watching from the other side of the window. Shivers went down her spine.

Fluttershy is known as a very shy pony, but when the need is great or her friends are in danger she can stand up even to a dragon. Basically, the yellow mare is no pushover.

Realizing that her lovely pets could be in danger, Fluttershy jumped up in the bed and shouted “Show yourself, ghost!” To her surprise the bedroom was still empty and nopony except herself was there. “Hmm…It could have come from the kitchen.”

There was no time to stall, she was near the kitchen door in two seconds flat. The yellow mare went into the room. The window was open, spoons, forks and a few kettles were on the floor, but apart from that it looked like nothing else had been touched or taken. Relieved Fluttershy closed the window, put everything in order and hastily went back to bed.

Yet the unwelcome thought didn’t leave her. “Why was the window open?” “Who could have done this?” “What was the reason?” Fluttershy knew that somepony had been there, because of the mess, but she couldn't think of anything as she was turning from one side to the other in her bed. However, the danger was over and the yellow mare fell asleep.

Another sunny day came to Ponyville. Fluttershy was still scared of what had happened last night. Of course she didn’t abandon her duties – she took care of all the animals. Grain was fed to the chickens, Hummingway and the other birds. Wheat and vegetables were also distributed to the rest. Everything was going according to the schedule, she even observed that she would have enough time to go to the market to buy some food. After all it was an important and serious task.

Unfortunately trouble was brewing outside. Angel – her little, cute, fluffy bunny rabbit - was sitting near his small home. In front of him was a bowl of salad, which he refused to eat. "Angel, you must eat your vegetables," Fluttershy wondered why he was acting like this, "What is it this time? Is the ingredient ratio wrong? Have I added too many onions? Is it not fresh enough?"

Unable to find out the truth she took a piece of salad and tried to imitate a flying Wonderbolt. "Swoosh, swoosh....yay....here comes the salad!" The little bunny slowly lowered his eyelids and examined the authenticity of the made up Wonderbolt. After a while his face showed only one thing "Pony, I am disappointed." He tapped his leg a few times against the hard wood and backed away.

Usually Fluttershy would have spend more time trying to please the rabbit, but it was important to get all the groceries. "Angel, please eat your vegetables," she put the bowl in his home again and left.

It is hard to go shopping, especially if you let everypony stand in front of you in the line. Luckily the market of Ponyville isn't very big, therefore Fluttershy didn't have to spend ages to buy all that was needed. Everything went smoothly - she got grain, apples, flour and many other groceries, but she had to wait a lot to get some jam.

Soon Twilight Sparkle approached the line.

"Hi, Fluttershy!" she said in a cheerful tone.

"Hello, Twilight, please go in front of me."

"Fluttershy! This has to end! I won't go in front of you - it's rude," Twilight lectured.

"Ummm.... I don't have to hurry.....It's embarrassing.....It could trouble ponies who are in a hurry to get....ummm.... " her voice could barely be heard.

"No, no. I insist that you stay in front of me."

"....It's not like...I am...afraid...or anything...."

"What are you saying? Has something happened?" Twilight was surprised.

"......umm...no...yes....maybe...a little?" Fluttershy was quite shocked.

"You must tell me what is troubling you," Twilight led her away from the line.

"Nothing...It's just that...." The yellow mare plucked up her courage and continued hastily "Last night something was in my house! I thought those were ghosts and went to check, but I didn't find anything!"

"No way. There is just no way that is possible. I will stay over for the night, if that's okay with you?"

"Yes...Sure...."

"Don't worry it will be just like a sleepover party," Twilight reassured her.

At home Fluttershy put down all the bags and sorted the groceries. She looked at the kitchen - everything was in place like usual, all the dishes were neatly sitting in the shelves, the food was stocked in the fridge and many cabinets, which formed the lower part of the kitchen section, spoons, forks, knives were put above the cabinets in small compartments. It didn't look haunted at all - just an ordinary kitchen. Fluttershy was occasionally embarrassed by the amount of food she stocked up, but it was necessary since she had so many pets. Also the yellow mare wanted the best for the ones she cared for, that's why she needed the kitchen to prepare balanced and healthy food.

"Ding-dong," the bell rang at her door.

She opened it and greeted Twilight who had arrived to stay through the night. The purple pony decided that it was best to search the house to find valuable evidence, but Fluttershy didn't join her, because of the need to prepare an extra place to sleep so she went to the wardrobe.

"Ding-dong," surprisingly the bell rang one more time.

"Twilight is that you?" wondered Fluttershy, because it was possible that the purple mare had decided to exit through a window to search the yard.

"No, did you invite anypony?"

Fluttershy froze in place, believing that it could be a ghost seeking revenge.

"Who is there?" the yellow mare asked silently.

Only an unexplainable high-pitched noise could be heard through the door.

Twilight approached "Open it, I am right behind you."

"...O-okay.." not wanting to get too close she extended her hoof, reaching for the knob. Fluttershy jumped right back, bracing for impact as the door opened.

"You big meanie! How could you!? How could you!? I don't believe it! You betrayed me!" A birthday box literally emerged from a sea of streamers.

Fluttershy hid behind Twilight who also wasn't sure what exactly was that.

After a moment of silence Pinkie Pie, dressed in her extreme party gear, entered the room.

"I am soooooo disappointed with you!" she continued.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, blinking to check whether her eyes were seeing right.

"Don't try to fool me! I heard there was a sleepover party so I rushed home to check the mail and guess what? I didn't have an invitation! Unbelievable!"

"We are trying to find out what happened in my home last night," Fluttershy finally said.

"An investigation! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Pinkie was already in her favorite thinking hat.

"Umm...It would be very nice if you helped us. "

"Of course!"

Pinkie suddenly disappeared again and started pushing her party cannon through the door. "I can't leave it outside."

"....But how did you.....?" Twilight was puzzled.

"Well what do you think? Should I just put it in my pocket or something? That's impossible, you silly!" Pinkie pointed out the obvious.

"But..."

"Advanced logistics!"

After all the commotion everything was quiet. Fluttershy explained the situation to Pinkie and everypony settled down in the living room on mattresses. The evening passed quickly as there was a lot to talk about and they all fell asleep.

Night came with a beautiful moon and thousands of shiny stars. There was no wind. It was very quiet except for the rare calls of owls.

"Stop right there!" Pinkie rushed to the kitchen.

Opening their eyes, both Twilight and Fluttershy were not surprised that they had been woken by the party pony rather than the actual culprit. They followed her closely and carefully.

They caught a small figure nibbling at a carrot. Turning on the light they saw Angel who didn't seem embarrassed at all. He just looked at everypony with a "come at me" attitude.

Fluttershy was happy and relieved that it wasn't a ghost, still she wanted to teach him a lesson "Angel, you haven't been eating properly, you must eat all your vegetables and you just can't be this stubborn!"

They started staring at each other, not saying a word. Since they both were hard-boiled, when it came to stepping up. They would have continued for a long time if not for Twilight Sparkle.

"Don't worry you two, I am sure you will work this out tomorrow. It's clear that it was Angel who woke you up last night. He entered through the window, because he wanted to eat. Also you probably didn't notice the missing food, because you always have so much of it."

Fluttershy blushed and looked away.

"Let's just go to bed."

Everypony agreed.

The End

Or is it?

Pinkie Pie gasped "Fluttershy! Twilight! You must see this!"