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!"
Chapter_2
Chapter_2
Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie and Angel were in the kitchen late at night.
"Previously on Pinkamena Diane Pie's adventures," the pink mare, having everypony's attention, acted out an engrossing, but seemingly unrelated story.
"Betrayal!" she put her hooves up and paused for dramatic effect. Twilight and Fluttershy imagined thunder striking in the black background.
"The secret!" Pinkie's eyes were wide open, full with excitement.
"The truth!" a big smile showed all her teeth.
"What did you want us to see?" Twilight had to interrupt.
Pinkie firmly pointed towards the window.
"umm.......?"
"The window!"
"Yes, I see it. What is wrong with it?"
"Nothing!" Pinkie seemed very happy.
"I don't see where are you going with this," Twilight was exhausted.
"Fluttershy said it was open on the first night and there also was a big, big mess! Now it's closed and everything is squeaky clean! Angel is not the culprit!"
"Angel, were you inside the whole time?" the yellow mare who had been standing silently finally spoke up.
The rabbit nodded, letting them know how frustrated he was.
"Alright....false alarm then...he he," Twilight wasn't very comfortable with everything that had happened.
".....let's just go to sleep.....that is if you don't mind," Fluttershy took the initiative.
It was Saturday, but it looked like a typical Monday morning. Nopony had managed to get enough sleep. Five times they had woken up to check their surroundings only to slip back under the bedspreads, unsure whether they were being watched.
Fluttershy was the first up. It would logically seem that she was the most energetic of the three, but on the contrary the yellow mare just couldn't bare staying in bed a moment longer. Proceeding with the daily routine she thought "We will never find the one responsible."
Angel was up early. His caretaker didn't notice that the rabbit was hopping towards the house from an unusual direction - it looked like he had been in the Everfree forest, doing who knows what. Angel was usually more interested in things that were going on in the house, not the ones outside.
Twilight wasn't in the best shape either. She stood up, rubbed her eyes and made her sleeping place, but unlike the others the scholar was determined to get to the bottom of this. Twilight quietly manoeuvred around Pinkie Pie who was still sleeping nearby and approached the kitchen. Her way was blocked by the party cannon, which had been used as a barricade, regardless she managed to squeeze through.
The room in question was well maintained - nothing was out of place. The floor was even glittering with the morning sun. Any investigation seemed pointless. All the cabinets contained dishes, food and nothing else. Not having many ideas she lowered herself and peeked under the furniture. Nothing - not even any dust - "How can Fluttershy manage this?" Knowing her friend she decided that the yellow mare probably thinks that somepony could just walk in her kitchen and suddenly start looking under the furniture.
"Hold on...." she got an idea. As Twilight approached nothing suspicious was visible through the window glass. She opened it. A loud creak made her jump. Next she looked at the ground beneath. Grass was growing on every little piece of land - the inexperienced in tracking wouldn't be able to find any hoof prints, but Twilight was resourceful - she noted that it looked like a lot more than just four hooves had stepped there recently.
"Hmm..." something came to her mind, but she couldn't grasp it quite yet.
Twilight soon said goodbye and left with a promise that she will continue the investigation at the library.
Two hours passed and only then Pinkie woke up. At that moment Fluttershy was sitting in a chair, just looking around not doing anything in particular.
"Good morning!" Pinkie was cheerful as ever "Nice party we had! Well I have to go now!"
"Evening," Fluttershy mumbled sleepily.
The pink mare pushed her party cannon and was soon gone.
The wind was gently blowing at her. Fluttershy opened her eyes, but quickly closed them, because the sun was shining directly at her.
"Huh? The sun?" as hard as she tried to understand the situation, the yellow mare couldn't remember her bedroom having such a great view - the sun high up, trees in the distance and a nearby river.
Just to be on the safe side she opened one of her eyes and gasped. She wasn't in her home! In fact Fluttershy was sitting on a chair in the open vastness of a meadow.
Stiffly holding her position she clenched her teeth, trying not to lose her grip on the practical furniture. Yet her efforts were in vain as a small butterfly landed on her shoulder. Losing her balance she fell and rolled several times getting her mane dirty. Luckily she didn't hurt herself as there was a lot of grass.
Her relatively peaceful second lying on the ground was interrupted by a pillow, which after two back flips safely landed on her head. Fluttershy desperately hugged it, not wanting to let go.
"What happened? Why am I not at my home?" she wanted to cry.
After a while she plucked up her courage, stood up and put Mr. Pillow on the chair so it doesn't get hurt. Surveying her surroundings she realized that home wasn't far - only a five minute trot. Fluttershy shaked off the grass, picked up the chair and flew home.
Twilight had a confident smile as she returned with her findings.
"Ding-dong".
There was no answer.
"Ding-dong".
A tiny squeak reached her ears.
"Is everything all right?"
Still nothing.
When she was about to ring the bell again, Angel opened the sturdy door. His poker face showed no expression as he drew her attention towards Fluttershy, who was sitting on a chair, hugging a pillow.
"I figured it out - you don't have to worry. Remember the picnic we had this week?"
The question didn't make much sense in this context. Fluttershy only hugged the pillow even tighter trying to find solace.
"You know......That time when Rainbow Dash tried to show us her new move flying backwards while juggling?"
The yellow mare gave her a nervous glance.
"You see it all comes down to velocity!"
Fluttershy's frown was one of the saddest things she had ever seen.
"At first when I examined the outside of your house I thought that many ponies had been near your window, but then I noticed that the grass was slightly bent....well....sort of in a straight line towards your kitchen."
That caught her attention as she raised her head.
"Honestly, I thought that a balloon had crash-landed," Twilight giggled, "and then I decided to ask somepony who has been practicing her new trick.........you can come in now Rainbow Dash."
Another familiar pony flew in the room.
"Hey....Fluttershy?....I am so so so sorrrrry!.....It was me.....so.....ummm...No hard feelings, right?" Rainbow avoided looking directly at her.
"But....but....that doesn't explain.....why......" Fluttershy struggled as she was trying to find the correct words, "I woke up.....and I was in a meadow."
Angel grinned, but his joy of victory was short lived as he was being cornered by three mares.
"What did you do Angel?" Twilight insisted.
"Yeah.....that's not cool," Rainbow added.
"It's a crime. A crime I tell you........ a crime against fashion!"
Everypony looked at Rarity who had just entered through the open door. Also a red carpet had unexpectedly appeared in front of her.
Glances jumped from Rarity to the carpet and back as she approached.
"I must confess! I saw everything, my dear, absolutely everything!" She stopped and waited for their reaction.
"What did you see?" Twilight was rather blunt.
"Such horror, such horror, my dear!" Rarity was still feeling that particular lack of drama.
She glanced at them happily, but nopony said a word.
Rarity then put a red embroidered pillow with flowers on it in Fluttershy's hooves and dramatically threw away the plain white one while holding one hoof near her forehead.
"You just can't keep that awful-looking thing if you are returning to modelling, my dear."
"Wow, I didn't know Fluttershy, that's like......really great," Rainbow Dash commented.
"Oh yes! That's just sooo fabulous! I saw Angel leading that grand parade of yours. Fluttershy there on a chair in that amazing thinking pose - one hoof on the chair, the other on her chin. Fascinating! And all those chickens that carried her! Bravo! Bravo!"
Everypony burst into uncontrollable laughter.
The End
(120% this time)
