The Surprise

Ah, peace and quiet. Just the way Fluttershy liked it. She could hear the birds chirping, the wind rustling the leaves on the trees, and the soothing flow of water that come from the fountain outside. Fluttershy had taken advantage of this perfect day to do a little cleaning up around the place. It had been a while since she last cleaned, and Angel had been slacking off of his work.

No problem, she could do it herself. If anything, Fluttershy thought she worked Angel a little too much. Maybe he deserved a nice little break.

She decided to start by dusting the furniture. Before her feather duster could even touch the coffee table, a loud knock came from the front door. Fluttershy gave a small sigh. Hopefully this wouldn’t take long; she had a lot of cleaning to do!

The door opened with a soft creek, and Fluttershy was surprised to see the pony that had shown up at her door. “Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie,” she said.

“Hi!” Pinkie greeted in her usual cheery voice. “Do you mind if I come in for a second? I have something I need to ask you about!”

“Oh- well- I’m kind of busy at the moment but I guess-”

“GREAT!” Pinkie bounced through the entrance and plopped onto the couch. Fluttershy closed the door slowly, then made her way over to one of the few chairs that she had in her living room.

“So, what is it that you wanted to ask me?” she asked.

“I just wanted to know what you’re doing for Silver!” Pinkie replied, almost bouncing in her seat.

“P-pardon?”

“Ya know, that thing you had planned to thank Silver for saving you and stuff?”

Fluttershy had no clue what she was talking about. “Who told you about this...?” she questioned her, hoping that it was all just a joke.

But Pinkie Pie just tilted her head in confusion. “Everypony knows, of course! It’s all over Ponyville!”

All over Ponyville? Fluttershy’s stomach did a backflip. Everybody knew about this “event?” Should she do something for Silver?

“I just really wanted to help you out! It could be like a party, or maybe just a small gathering, or maybe- OOH!- a romantic dinner for two!”

Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide. Is that what everypony thought? Then again, the thought of Silver made her heart race. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing.... “Does Silver know about everything?” she asked, her voice starting to fade.

“Duh! Of course not! It’s supposed to be a surprise, silly!” Pinkie looked as if she was ready to start bouncing off the walls at any second.

“Oh yeah, right...” Fluttershy had so many questions, but no time to ask them all. As long as Pinkie had her mind on the party, she knew she wasn’t going to cooperate. Thinking quickly, she told Pinkie, “Actually, I haven’t given it much thought. I’ll think about it for a while and come back to you when I come up with something!”

“Okie dokie lokie, that sounds great!” Pinkie said, hopping off of the couch. Fluttershy sighed again, but this time out of relief. Fluttershy opened the door for Pinkie, who bounced outside in her normal manner. “See ya later, alligator!” she called over her shoulder as she left.

Fluttershy simply smiled and said, “Bye!” she closed the door and lied down on the couch. She closed her eyes and thought about what she had just found out. Should she plan something for Silver, or would that be overdoing it? After all, she knew Silver wouldn’t expect a reward or anything for what he did. She groaned and buried her face in one of the cushions.

What was a pony to do?