“Oh dear— my Element! I dropped it!” I thought, because I had, indeed, dropped the necklace which contained the Element of Kindness, as it had become too large for me to wear around my neck.
“Oh no —— Fluttershy’s gone!” shrieked Pinkie Pie in a panic.
“Who’s that, then?” inquired Twilight Sparkle, pointing a hoof at a tortoise (me).
Rainbow Dash sat down to pick up the tortoise with her wings, calling out to Twilight, “Here she is! Look what’s happened to her!”
As soon as the blue Pegasus touched me, I quickly hid inside my shell. It terrified me when another pony touched me, even if they didn’t mean any harm.
Rarity picked up the necklace with the Element of Kindness and chimed in, “Would any of you mind if I held onto to this for safekeeping?”
“Who better than you to guard a precious necklace?” Applejack answered.
Rainbow Dash carried their shy friend-turned-tortoise carefully in her wings while the others followed her back to Ponyville.
“I’m begging you, Fluttershy —— won’t you, please, come out of your shell?” Twilight pleaded. She was beginning to cry because she missed me so much.
“I don’t want to —— I’m too afraid!” I thought, although she could not speak.
Spike volunteered to help me not be as scared as I was currently.
“It’s ok, Fluttershy.” Spike stated, calmly. “We— I will always love you. No matter what form you’re in,” he reassured me, gently caressing my shell with his hands.
I briefly poked my head out of my shell and smiled at Spike.
“That’s the spirit, Fluttershy.” Spike whispered. He was very proud of me.
Rarity and Spike took me to visit Doctor Fauna, Ponyville’s best veterinarian.
“If anypony can help you feel better,” Spike said to me, “It’s Dr. Fauna.”
After Doctor Fauna finished examining my body, she turned to Rarity and Spike.
“She’s… a tortoise,” Doctor Fauna stated.
“Er—yeah,” Spike answered, dryly, “Can you tell us something we don’t already know, please?”
Meanwhile, back at the Golden Oak Library, Twilight Sparkle was desperately looking for a spell book with a spell that could change me back into my old Pegasus form.
“No. No. No, no, no, no, no-no-no-no-no!” she yelled, rummaging through every spell book she owned, and continuing to fail to find the spell she was desperately looking for.
“Awww —— cheer up, Twilight,” chimed in Pinkie Pie, chipper as ever. “It’s not as though Fluttershy will remain a tortoise forever, you know?”
“But that’s what I’m worried will happen, Pinkie,” countered Twilight.
“Well, given that I’m the fastest pony in all of Equestria, I could give the shy, shell-clad slowpoke quite a ride!” Rainbow Dash jeered.
“Hey—— you mind that muzzle of yer’s, Rainbow!” Applejack retorted.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t cure you, Fluttershy,” lamented Spike.
“Thank you for trying, Spike,” I thought, although I couldn’t speak. “I forgive you. Every one of you.”
“You know, Darling?” Rarity chimes in. “Your shell is simply divine!”
“Oh, thank you, Rarity!” I thought, now feeling just a little braver.
Spike, myself, and our friends had all gathered at the Golden Oak Library, where Twilight Sparkle broke the bad news to them all.
As Spike held me closely in his arms, I poked my head out of my shell to greet three of my pony friends — Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Applejack.
“Hi, girls,” I thought, smiling shyly at the three of them.
“Hello, Fluttershy,” they answered together, sweetly.
At that exact moment, there was a knock on the door, which startled poor little me, making me retreat inside my shell once again.
Rainbow Dash dashed to the door and opened it; walking in with my pet bunny: Angel.
Angel was very happy to have found me, but once he saw that I had changed from a Pegasus into a tortoise, his face fell and his ears drooped.
I was very happy that Angel had found me. I was so happy that I poked my head out of my shell, once again, to let him cuddle me.
Before dinner that night, Twilight Sparkle and my four other pony friends decided to find out whether or not the Elements of Harmony would be able to change me back into my Pegasus form. Spike put the necklace containing the Element of Kindness on top of my shell, and the five ponies donned their respective other Elements of Harmony.
Everypony fired a beam from her Element into mine. But, alas, the effort was in vain.
.
After dinner (Applejack and Twilight had made special suppers for me and Angel), all of them decided to head to bed (Twilight and Rarity had made a special bed for me and Angel).
It made me very sad that everything my friends had done in an attempt to help me had failed. It made me so sad that I had a hard time getting to sleep. I needed Angel to cuddle with me through the entirety of the night.
“Oh, dear! I don’t like this place! Not at all! Where am I?” I spluttered, both out of fear and out of confusion.
“Fluttershy? Is that you?”
The voice was too soft to frighten me, but just loud enough that I could hear it.
“Yes, I’m Fluttershy,” I answered. I was curious whom her visitor was.
“But… who are you?” I asked.
“I’m Princess Luna,” the soft voice replied.
“Will you help me, please, Fluttershy?” Princess Luna asked.
“But — I don’t know how!” I answered, very much frightened!
“Don’t worry, my dear; it’ll be easy,” countered the Princess of the Night.
Princess Luna carefully explained how I was to help her. She told me to inhale as deeply as she could. So I obeyed.
Next, Luna told me to hold that breath for as long as she could. Which I did, as well.
Then, finally, Luna told me to exhale as slowly as she could. Once again, I obeyed.
We repeated this process as many times as I could handle, until — finally…
BOOOOOM!!!
My fright burst like a balloon!
There I was—wide awake—standing up right in front of Princess Luna, who had just rescued me with those breathing exercises.
I was back in my old Pegasus body, and beside myself with pride!
“Congratulations, Fluttershy. You succeeded,” the princess stated.
The very next morning, after the princess had lowered the moon, her elder sister — Princess Celestia — had raised the sun, which woke me up in the Golden Oaks Library, where I’d fallen asleep.
“I am very proud of you, Fluttershy,” Celestia told me. “Because you have banished the last vestige of Nightmare Moon.”
I beamed with pride and blushes intensely.
“I did it — I really did it!” I cried.
The princesses and Spike were very proud of me. And all of my pony friends were equally as proud of me, as well.
