To Soothe the Neurotic Beast

The plan came to her at once, almost fully formed.

Finding out Twilight's schedule was a simple matter of asking the alicorn in question. The scroll she had pulled out had been intimidatingly-long, but luck had been with Fluttershy—there was a free slot at just the perfect time several days away. Twilight agreed to meet with Fluttershy then, and Fluttershy went back home, satisfied that everything was in place.

Plenty of time to work through her nerves.

Or, as it turned out, stew endlessly in them.

It hadn't helped that just contemplating the particulars of her plan had been enough to leave Fluttershy heated. She had spent more than one evening getting reacquainted with a toy she kept in an intentionally-unremarkable box beneath her bed.

Now, she ran the brush through her tail one last time before setting it aside, and giving the tail a critical look in the mirror.

She turned to Angel Bunny, who was watching from his perch atop her nightstand. "What do you think?"

Angel Bunny cocked his head first to one side, then the other. He tapped one paw against his mouth in thought for a moment, then perked up. He dove off the bed, pulled open a drawer on Fluttershy's wardrobe and rooted around inside for a moment. He pulled something green out of it, then raced back atop the bed, and held it up for Fluttershy's approval.

It was a pale green bow, meant to be tied at the base of a pony's tail. Fluttershy's face burned red, and she gulped. "Are you sure? Isn't that a little, um," her voice rose into squeak, "racy?"

Angel Bunny looked down his considerable nose at her, raised an eyebrow, and thumped a foot impatiently.

Fluttershy quailed, staring at the bow. Then, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and recited to herself,

"When dearest friend is in a slew of trouble
a helping hoof you offer on the double."

She opened her eyes, took the bow from Angel Bunny, and tied it around the base of her tail. A little shiver ran through her, as she imagined Twilight looking at it and following the curve of her body. Approaching and running a hoof along her side...

She gulped, and adjusted the rest of her outfit. She ensured that it wasn't bunching up anywhere, and that nothing was torn or ill-fitting. After a final once-over in the mirror, she nodded, satisfied.

She glanced at the clock. Just in time to meet Twilight.

Fluttershy waited on the path at the edge of Ponyville that led to the Whitetail Woods. As scheduled, the weather was warm, and a gentle breeze stirred occasionally. This was not a coincidence—part of planning this excursion had involved checking the weather schedule, then double-checking with Rainbow Dash to ensure that there were no surprises planned.

After an interminable wait, Twilight finally (and probably precisely on time) came trotting up the path. Fluttershy gave a tiny, relieved sigh, glad to finally have a distraction from her thoughts, despite the distraction being the source of those anxious thoughts.

As Twilight drew within speaking distance, Fluttershy smiled, waved, and watched.

At Fluttershy's wave, Twilight smiled and waved back, and then as she drew close enough to make out details, her gait hitched, and her smile flickered. Her expression took on a blank, shocked quality, before the smile returned, now somewhat strained.

"Fluttershy! You're looking uh..." Twilight trailed off for a moment, her eyes wandering across the pegasus, "...very nice today."

While this had been part of the plan, Fluttershy had not been prepared for the way that Twilight's reaction would make her feel. Her stomach gave a little flutter, and she felt a tiny ember of pride kindle deep within herself.

Twilight thought she looked nice.

She looked back at herself, turned in a little circle and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, this? It's pretty much what I usually wear when I go checking for late sleepers this time of year. I usually end up having to get down into the dirt, and this helps keep the worst of everything out of my coat and my mane and tail."

While this statement was technically true, the words pretty much were doing so much work that they could easily support a family of six, with enough in the budget left over for an exotic annual vacation.

Fluttershy was wearing a set of black, full-length socks on each leg that Rarity had given her as a gift years ago. They were just a touch too tight these days, and produced tiny muffin tops at the top of each, particularly on her rear legs, where they stopped at her upper thighs. She had tied her mane back into a queue that doubled back upon itself to form a simple loop. That would keep her mane out of her face, and Rarity had once told her that it made her look like "the innocent girl next door, but on the hunt, darling".

Reasoning that if it worked once, it would work again, she had done the same with her tail—tied up and doubled back so it formed a loop. It felt a bit strange when she moved it, as though it had been shortened, and a weight had been tied to the end. She'd found herself swishing it back and forth absentmindedly, familiarizing herself with the odd sensation.

At the end of her legs, she was wearing a set full set of thin, but sturdy, white sandals that laced up in a complex series of straps that had taken her half an hour to put on.

Finally, was Angel Bunny's addition of the pale green bow at the base of her tail.

"The black socks help hide the dirt," which was true, "and the sandals are disposable," which was not. Or, it wouldn't have been, except for the fact that she had never worn them in all the years she had owned them, and she indeed planned to dispose of them after this little stunt.

She turned slightly and flicked her tail thoughtfully. "The bow is just for fun, though." She turned back to Twilight and gave a small smile edged with a hint of sheepishness.

Twilight's expression had acquired that glazed look that Fluttershy had noted recently. That was already evidence in favor of her suspicion. However, her nerves were jangling, and she wasn't sure if she could keep up this degree of obvious flirtatiousness for much longer. It was time to dial things back.

"Come on. There's a family of the cutest little hedgehogs you've ever seen just a little way down the path, and I like to check on them first," she said, turning and beginning to trot away.

After a moment, she heard Twilight's hoofsteps following her, and breathed a small sigh of relief. Now she could just do the job as usual, and fall back on old habits. While inviting Twilight along had been part of her test, she really did need to check on the inhabitants of the woods. She tried not to think too hard about Twilight following directly behind her, or what sort of view she had.

"Thank you again for coming with me, Twilight," she said over her shoulder. "It's mostly just a courtesy to these last few animals, but there's usually a few of them that need a little extra wake-up call. It's nice to have some company for this."

Twilight drew level with Fluttershy until they were trotting side-by-side. "Uh, I'm happy to join! The way Ponyville's rural ecosystem functions is fascinating, and I've, um," she paused, blushing, "always been a little embarrassed at how badly I messed up during my first Winter Wrap-Up here. It'll be nice to get a chance to help in a slightly lower-pressure environment."

Fluttershy giggled, remembering the unfortunate chain of accidents that had begun with Twilight's mortal panic at being confronted with a face full of sleepy snakes, and ended with a bath in a tub of tomato juice, covered in bee stings. Fluttershy still felt a little bad about that—if she'd known the poor unicorn was so afraid of snakes, she would have started her on something a little cuddlier, like the chipmunks.

"Well, no snakes this time, I promise. The only things along this route are that den of hedgehogs I mentioned, three chipmunk burrows, and a squirrel couple near the end."

As they continued along the path, Fluttershy found herself relaxing as she explained each of the animals' dens they came across, and the role of each in the greater ecosystem of the woods. Twilight, unsurprisingly, was an avid listener, and an ardent student. It hadn't taken long for the strain of uncertainty to fade away, and she began asking questions. Which fruiting trees depended on precise timing? What happened if the hedgehogs woke up earlier than usual? How resilient was the undergrowth to a missed rainstorm or two?

"I'm surprised," Twilight admitted, after a thoughtful silence.

"At what?" Fluttershy replied.

Twilight tossed her head slightly, gesturing with her horn at everything around them. "When ponies talk about the way the Everfree is so wild and frightening and untamed, and the way everything else is carefully controlled by ponies, I always assumed that meant... well, everything! But," she said, looking around the sun-dappled greenery punctuated by the gentle buzzing of the insects and the scurrying of small animals, "well, it seems that all of this could go right on working all by itself without our assistance."

Fluttershy giggled. "You're not the only pony to think that it all takes lots of management. Most ponies do. It doesn't help that a lot of what we teach, and the way we behave all sort of reinforce it. While we control the weather, and the growing, and help shepherd the little critters from place to place, the truth is that nature doesn't really need any of that. It helps! But if every pony vanished from the world tomorrow, everything would keep right on working, more or less. There are plenty of places in the world without ponies to control things, and we haven't always even been here in Equestria."

"Well... with one exception," Twilight said.

"Oh?"

"I think they'd be in trouble if every pony vanished—somepony's got to control the sun and moon!"

Fluttershy blushed. Of course Twilight would be the first to remember her mentor. "Oh! You're right. I suppose I kind of take Celestia—and Luna, now—for granted."

After that, they lapsed into a comfortable silence, the crunching of the dirt the only sounds besides the natural chorus. It occurred to Fluttershy that she didn't really spend much time with Twilight by herself. And wasn't that a shame? She was an excellent conversationalist, and had the uncommon skill of actually listening when Fluttershy spoke. Not many ponies did that. Not truly.

Fluttershy felt safe around Twilight. Not just because she had been a unicorn with once-in-a-generation levels of magical power, along with the knowledge to use it. Nor even because she was now an alicorn, a princess, and a peer of two ponies who controlled the very heavens.

Instead, it was because Fluttershy trusted Twilight not to hurt her. In Fluttershy's experience, the list of ponies who could claim that was quite short. It wasn't that other ponies set out to do so! No, they just tended to be rather careless in their speech, or their actions. Or, they would simply not notice her in the first place, which was its own kind of pain.

And, if Fluttershy were being honest with herself, it didn't hurt that Twilight was an attractive mare. When she had first come to Ponyville, she had been a small, slightly underweight little thing. But it was more than just simple looks—it was her bearing, her poise under pressure. When she had stood fast before Nightmare Moon and refused to give up. When she had faced down Discord, wreathed in righteous certainty, and the strength of her bonds. Even when she had simply delivered news from the Princess about the sleeping dragon outside of Ponyville. Twilight was a natural leader, and that confidence was all the more attractive for the way that she seemed completely blind to it.

It didn't hurt that her alicorn transformation had gifted her with a huge set of absolutely gorgeous wings that any pegasus could appreciate. Not to mention the extra muscle definition that went with the earth pony influence in the transformation.

Fluttershy shook her head. They had arrived at the third chipmunk burrow, and she had to focus. When she'd checked in on the first two dens, she'd found them bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and awake. It wasn't until the third and final chipmunk den that she had to focus again, and remembered her other purpose for being out here with Twilight.

A brief glance at the den showed no activity, or signs of recent use. A frission of unease ran through her as she suddenly remembered all the extra frippery she was wearing. A wave of self-consciousness swept through her, and she could feel every unaccustomed inch of the socks on her legs, the pressure of the sandals' straps, and the bow tied around her tail's dock.

Her tail gave an involuntary flick, and the extra weight from the looped style she'd left it in sent it swinging wide, right as a cool breeze swept through the trees. She flinched at the sudden coolness on her more sensitive parts, combined with the rustling of the windswept forest.

"F-Fluttershy?" Twilight said, "Are you okay?"

She gritted her teeth and fluttered her wings slightly. "I'm, um, fine," she said. "That breeze just surprised me. I need to check in on this den," she said, moving off the path and into the underbrush. "It doesn't look like there's been any activity yet, so I need to see if any of the little critters are home."

She took to the air, and hovered over the worst of the underbrush, then landed a few paces away from the chipmunk burrow. She carefully picked her way through the twigs and brush until she was in front of the burrow entrance.

This particular burrow was dug into the lee of a short, earthen wall that was topped by an old oak tree, and reinforced by its roots. A small hillock surrounded the burrow's entrance like a tiny, mossy rampart. Fluttershy pushed forward and draped herself across the hillock, then crawled forward until she was close enough to stick her head into the den's entrance. She winced as something sharp dug into her chest, and she wriggled until she was able to dislodge whatever pebble or twig had gotten stuck there. The soft dirt, still damp from recent rains, shifted underneath her, and she slid forward another several inches with a quiet yelp.

Once she was certain that she was stable, she wiggled in place slightly. Her position was awkward—her rear was higher than her head, as it was draped over the hillock behind her. She turned her head slightly so that she wouldn't be shouting into the burrow. "Um, Twilight?" she called, "Could you come here, please? It looks like the rains have washed this out a little more than it was last spring. I might need some help getting out."

"Oh, of course! Are you okay?" Twilight's voice carried a hint of worry.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I just slipped a little bit. That happens sometimes out here."

She waited until she heard Twilight's hoofsteps behind her, then returned her attention to the burrow. She peered up at the earthen wall above the burrow, and found the thickest of the roots snaking through it. She reached up, and gently knocked twice with a forehoof.

Then, she waited, and listened. Sometimes it took several minutes for the little critters to wake up, so she wriggled into as comfortable a position as she could manage with her rear in the air, and tried to focus on the burrow. She idly swished her tail as she waited, and absentmindedly began maintaining a pendulum motion with the extra weight at the end of it.

Finally, after a minute or two of waiting, she heard the lethargic shuffling of tiny feet deep within the burrow.

Not long after, the scurrying sound turned into a scurrying chipmunk, blinking even against the dim light that was filtering past Fluttershy. "Oh, hello there, little one! Are you and the rest of your family okay? You've been sleeping for quite a while now."

With sleepy chirps, and tiny squeaks punctuated by itty-bitty yawns, the chipmunk reassured her that the whole burrow was doing fine, but thanked her for the wake-up call. They'd foraged well last fall, and may have slept a little too deeply in their last nap before springtime.

Fluttershy giggled and wished them well. Now that they were awake, they would be fine in a day or two, and the chipmunk had assured her that they had plenty of food to tide them over until they were all feeling more awake.

Fluttershy wriggled backward until her head was clear of the roots and dirt, then straightened up. Bending forward in that position had left a crick in her back, so she stretched and arched her back inward and spread her wings. She held the pose for a moment, then relaxed, and shook herself out before folding against her back.

She looked up, and was momentarily blinded by a ray of sunshine. It had moved to just the right point in the sky to pierce a thin gap in the leaves above, and shone straight onto her face. She blinked it away, and turned around to face Twilight. "Good news, the chipmunk says—oh!"

Twilight was almost directly behind her, her forehooves perched atop the little hillock, and she was facing directly toward Fluttershy, but her eyes were shut, and her face was flushed. She wore a curious expression—her mouth was slightly open, her face slack, carefree.

A moment later, Twilight gave a shaky exhale and Fluttershy felt something soft land on her flanks, just past her tail.

Twilight opened her eyes, and Fluttershy's breath caught. Twilight's eyes were hooded, and filled with something pure and primal that Fluttershy had never seen in Twilight before.

Fluttershy squeaked, and stared at Twilight, wide-eyed. "Um! Twilight? Are you okay?"

Twilight's eyes slammed fully open and for a fleeting instant, Fluttershy saw an expression of deepest shame and self-loathing flicker across it, before it was replaced with depthless panic. "Um! Fluttershy!" she said breathlessly, "I just remembered! I have an appointment at home andIgottagosorrybye!"

A pop-sizzle of teleportation, and she was gone.

Fluttershy blinked the after-image of the bright flash out of her eyes for a moment. Then, she stood there for a moment, and gave herself a moment to process.

First, she mentally rewound what the past several minutes must have looked like from Twilight's perspective.

Fluttershy wearing somewhat provocative clothing that she had intentionally chosen to highlight what she'd been told were her best features.

Fluttershy climbing into a position that pushed her rear into the air, and wiggling it invitingly.

Her face reddened as she recalled the way she'd swished her tail back and forth, and she imagined the way it must have continuously hidden and revealed some rather salacious parts of her body. Then it reddened further as she remembered the way she'd called Twilight closer.

Then... the way she'd wiggled toward Twilight, straightened up, and given a huge, full-body stretch...

She didn't want to continue, but her imagination plowed forward, relentlessly forcing her to relive the moment.

The way she'd stood up, and accidentally allowed the sunlight to perfectly frame her face and filter through her mane.

The way Twilight's expression had been visibly...

She swallowed.

...visibly aroused when Fluttershy turned around.

She turned to face her tail, and reached up with one forehoof. Just before Twilight had teleported away, she'd felt something land on her. Something warm. And this time, Fluttershy hadn't noticed any extra light targeting anything but Twilight. The only thing that had vanished this time had been her friend.

She gently pressed the forehoof against her backside, and pulled it back. It came away sticky.

She brought it to her nose and inhaled. Then, without any conscious thought at all, gave it a lick. An instant later, she realized what she'd done, what she'd smelled.

What she'd tasted.

In truth, she had so little of it on her hoof, that any scent or taste was minimal. But it was the knowledge of what it was, what she'd done. A wave of blazing heat washed through her, starting at her face, and ending at her hooftips. She swayed in place, and sat down abruptly.

Twilight Sparkle had just orgasmed on her.

And she had just tasted it.