Fluttercraft

Chapter Two

A Package at the Door

By TheYewTree

"Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!"

The sound of Fluttershy's alarm clock woke up the yellow pegasus in a flash. Fluttershy yawned a quick yawn, tapped her hoof on the alarm switch, and the bedroom became silent as it once had before. She looked bleakly at the hands on the alarm clock to see what time it was.

"8:30 am. Perfect timing." The yellow pegasus said to herself. "Time to make some breakfast, and after that, I'll mail the letter to... *yawn*... Twilight."

Fluttershy propped herself off the bed mattress and trotted across the floor to the bathroom. She did the same routine she had always done, and quietly went downstairs to the kitchen to start cooking. As she passed by the living room, Fluttershy noticed that many critters were still fast asleep in their cubbies and other spots. However, she noticed that one cubby was empty, the one that belonged to Tank.

Immediately after noticing, Fluttershy became worried. She quickly trotted to Tank's cubby and searched around it. Tank wasn't found. Next, she galloped into the kitchen and spotted an all too-familiar green shell sitting motionless on a wooden chair. Fluttershy's concern was instantly relieved.

When Fluttershy neared closer to the green shell, Tank popped his head out, giving Fluttershy a little scare. After a moment, Fluttershy managed to giggle a bit, but after, she stared at the tortoise and asked him,

"Why did you leave your cubby hole, Tank?" Fluttershy asked. "You know feeding time doesn't start until later in the morning."

Tank turned his head towards the tabletop, and Fluttershy did the same. She saw a big box of chocolate chip cookies, and immediately put two and two together.

"Oh... you just wanted some cookies. Well, next time Tank, you should ask for somepony or somepony elses' help. I was worried sick when I didn't see you in your cubby hole. Just promise me that you won't do it again, ok?" Fluttershy told the tortoise in an kind, yet imperative tone.

Tank frowned for a moment, and Fluttershy knew that he was sorry. She then grabbed the box of cookies over and placed a cookie right under Tank's nose.

"Here you go, Tank. It's fine, it was just a misunderstanding, that's all." Fluttershy told him with a warm smile, and opened the door to the nearby pantry and placed the box inside. Fluttershy also grabbed the ingredients for her breakfast. While Fluttershy was making a warm breakfast, Tank was happily munching away on the chocolate chip cookie.

When breakfast was done, the dishes were clean, and feeding time was over, Fluttershy flew upstairs into her bedroom to retrieve her letter she wrote last night. Fluttershy then trotted outside in the crisp morning air and deposited the sealed scroll into the mailbox for delivery. She then went back inside and snuck behind a nearby windowsill to see if the mailpony would come by.

After a few minutes, the mailpony came by and put the sealed scroll inside her saddlebag and trotted off in the direction of Ponyville. Fluttershy knew that soon enough, her life and her daily routine would have more excitement, and the yellow pegasus was very eager to see what Twilight would send her.

After many hours, it was soon dinnertime. Although Fluttershy still wanted to wait for the package, she knew that if she didn't make dinner, all of her animals would go hungry, and so she did. Afterwards, it was time for all her animals to go to sleep and as always, Fluttershy tucked all of them in for the night. Even after that, Fluttershy still continued to wait for the package, sitting on top of her bed. She waited for minutes, and finally, over an hour. Nothing came-- no doorbell or a knock on the door.

"If it doesn't come today, then I'll probably get it by tomorrow," she told herself. "I'm sure Twilight must be getting me something really special."

Fluttershy then looked at her alarm clock. The time on the hands read 10:30 pm, and she quickly got herself prepared for sleep.

The next morning, the daily routine came again, as Fluttershy continued to wait for the package after breakfast. She crept up to the windowsill like yesterday and checked to see if there was any mail for her. She saw the mailbox overflowing with white letters. No packages, no cardboard box, or anything out of the ordinary. Still, the yellow pegasi opened the door to pick up all the mail. Suddenly, the door came to an abrupt stop, and Fluttershy peeked around to see what was blocking the door. This time, she saw a big rectangular package, the size of her, sitting outside on the front steps.

Fluttershy went closer to the package to get a closer look. Attached to the top face, she found a noticeable purple pentagonal tag with words stamped on it. Fluttershy read the tag out loud:

"To Fluttershy, from your friend, Twilight Sparkle. Hope you enjoy what I've brought you!"

Fluttershy also found a small little message on the back of the tag that read:

"P.S. I highly recommend reading the instruction manual first before assembly."

After reading the message, Fluttershy knew that it would be a long time before she would play with Twilight's gift. Although, she did like the fact that it "required installation", as she hadn't assembled anything in a long time. She brought the big package inside the cottage, where all of her animals stared at the package, mesmerized by its grand size.

"Oh, this?" Fluttershy told them. "It's just a gift Twilight gave to me. I'm sure it'll be lots of fun."

Suddenly, an idea popped up in Fluttershy's mind.

"Hey, do you all want to help me get whatever's inside the package assembled?"

As soon as Fluttershy finished her sentence, all the animals and critters came to her and nodded. Fluttershy warmly smiled at all of them, and the first stage of assembly began shortly afterwards.