//------------------------------// // The Dangers of Dieting // Story: Bye-Bye Fluttershy // by Gene_Roddenberry //------------------------------// It was two weeks since Fluttershy's outburst in the Carousel Boutique, and nopony had seen her since. Rarity had grown worried, but accommodated her dresses for her, as the fashion show drew near. Rarity heard a slight rustle behind her as the door ever-so-slowly creaked open. A very pale and sickly looking pony stood in the doorway, bones protruding from her skeleton under her skin, her eyes lifeless with thick black bags circling them, her pink hair listless and thinning, hanging limply in strands on her head. "H...hello...Rarity..." her voice was weak, barely above a whisper being carried on the wind. "Oh, my! Fluttershy, you look positively awful. Come dear, you simply must sit down before you faint!" Rarity scooted a chair towards her. "Rarity...I...I'm fine." Fluttershy gently swayed off-balance. Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder to stabilize her. "Fluttershy, I never should have said what I did. I crossed a line. You just need to go home and rest. I'll find someone else to be in the fashion show." "Wh...What?" "I'm very sorry, but you're far too ill." "Okay...For you." Fluttershy left the Carousel Boutique. As she walked back to her cottage, she whispered under her breath, "I'll be there." ----------The Day of The Show---------- Rarity checked to make sure everything was in place, the curtains leading to the sparkle-dusted catwalk were closed, chairs set up near it slowly being filled by many important ponies including none other than Hoity Toity and Photo Finish. Behind the curtain several mares and stallions were dressing themselves in the fashion that Rarity had so painstakingly created. Rarity saw the spotlights begin to shine on the stage, signaling the show was going to start. Everything had began well, one model after the other would walk up, strike a pose, then turn back. It was perfect until SHE came out. Fluttershy dizzily staggered out, nearly falling off the edge of the catwalk. "Oh, my! I do believe that poor girl is going to faint!" Hoity Toity proclaimed. "Oh, no!" Rarity nervously checked her clipboard and glanced back up at the frightening display. "What is she doing here? She's not supposed to be here!" she cried, less out of concern for her ruined opportunity and more out of concern for her starving friend. Everypony who had attended shared a collective gasp before complete, stunned silence as Fluttershy collapsed. "Fluttershy!" Rarity shouted as she, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight rushed to Fluttershy's aid. Her friends looked on in worry as two stallions loaded Fluttershy into a cart and took her to Ponyville Hospital. The group of five watched them travel into the distance in a cloud of dust. "I hope she'll be okay..." Twilight murmured.