If I had a choice, if I could live my life entirely to my satisfaction, I might want to rewrite my entire teenage experience all over. To start again, from scratch, from chapter 1…… to be……. reborn. But, if I did, if I could, I probably would never have discovered my true strength, I would never have had my special moment, and I would still be just another pony to the four mares that changed my life.
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I dragged my hooves down the pale aquamarine tiles of the school’s main hallway, in absolutely no hurry to get to my next class. My saddlebags were heavy since they were packed to their limit with notebooks and Celestia knows what else. They thumped against my side with every step I took. I loved Equestrian History, but ever since Trixie had transferred into the same class I took, I always stalled or found some excuse to miss it.
Trixie was a beautiful and talented unicorn pony, but she was the most popular, most wicked mare to walk the school hallways. She found ways to tease just about everypony that didn’t fit her criteria, and I was her main victim. If I were anything like Trixie, I would think someone like me would be easy to bully; timid ponies just have so many weak spots.
My excuse for today was that my right foreleg had been sprained when my wings failed me while I was flying to school. I couldn’t miss today’s class entirely because I had a project on the rulers of Equestria to present. I sighed quietly to myself.
“I knew I would have to do a report like this eventually,” I thought. “but why now? Why do I have to embarrass myself in front of Trixie?”
I saw a group of ponies ahead and had to start limping like I was actually hurt. I smiled discreetly as an idea popped into my head.
“Or maybe, Trixie’s big, fat, arrogant plot will take so long to present her ‘MAAAARVELOUS’ project, the period would end before I even got called on!”
I had never insulted anybody aloud, that would be too “Un-Fluttershy” of me, but I was used to calling ponies names in my thoughts, especially Trixie.
That particular fantasy of mine seemed more and more possible the longer I thought about it. Suddenly, those heavy saddlebags of mine felt as light as a butterfly, and I almost started galloping to class.
“Your leg, Fluttershy, your leg,” I reminded myself that I was supposed to be injured.
I was just a couple bunny hops away from the classroom door, though, and the ponies that were in the hallway had already trotted off to their 4th periods. I found no need to keep up my limping act for such a short distance, so I trotted over to the door and pushed it open just as the last bell rang.
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“Alright, everypony, as I hope you all know, your Past Rulers of Equestria projects are all due today. Please take your seats and prepare them for presentation”
The instructor’s deep voice quickly silenced the chatty group of stallions and mares surrounding Trixie’s desk. They all pounced at the seats adjacent to hers, and a hoofful of unlucky ponies that didn’t get their desired spots hung their heads and sat down elsewhere.
I leaned down in my seat and opened my saddlebags to take out my report. As I straightened the stack of paper in my front hooves, I looked around and saw that nopony else had done the same yet. I quickly realized that I made a big mistake.
“Ah, Fluttershy, you seem ready to share your project. Would you care to go first?”
I took every ounce of willpower in my body to keep myself from tearing up the paper in front of me and take off galloping, going for miles and miles, never to be seen again in Ponyville High. Instead, I started doing what I do best. I shrunk back in my chair and started stammering.
“Um- actually, sir I'm- well, it’s just- I didn’t have time to-maybe someone else could-“
I gave up and looked down at my desk. The rest of the class burst into hysterical laughter. When they were too tired to laugh any longer, I heard whispers coming from the area where Trixie was sitting. I managed to pick out “Fluttershy” and “after class” from their hushed conversation.
“Well, I suppose that if you need more time to prepare, we could let somepony else go first. Any volunteers?”
The instructor’s gaze bounced from pony to pony, but no one raised a hoof. I expected that Trixie’s boastful nature would save me now. I could almost hear her announcing that she was ready; I could picture her waving her stack of papers in the air while wearing a smug look on her face. I clenched my jaw so hard that my teeth might have cracked, waiting and hoping that Trixie would shoot her azure hoof into the air and break the silence with her piercing voice.
For a split second, I thought time had stopped, that I was alone in the large room, that I was the only pony in the world. Then her voice rang through my ears as loud and as clear as a bell. I turned around to look at the unicorn with the silver mane.
“Come on Fluttershy, you can do it!”
She was cheering me on. Trixie was cheering me on! Her hooves were clapping together while she shouted. She had such a genuine smile on her face; it almost convinced me that she had come around and was on my side now, but then I realized the cunning behind her plan. Trixie alone could get the entire school to applaud for her, no matter what she was doing. If the whole class started cheering my name, I would have no choice but to go up to the front of the room and make a complete fool of myself.
I was right. After five seconds, all of my classmates were chanting my name and I was pretty sure Princess Celestia herself could hear them all the way over in Canterlot. When I got a glimpse of Trixie, she was as quiet as I was and had her foreleg supporting her chin. The look on her face appeared bored, but satisfied.
By now my face was hot and I was sure my cheeks were rose-red. Everypony was still cheering. I turned towards the instructor; he just smiled at me. After a single wave of his hoof, a hush fell over room and order was restored in the large classroom. I swallowed and gathered up my papers. I felt like the Wonderbolts were doing aerial loops inside of me. I stood up, report in my mouth, and started walking slowly to the designated spot in front of the chalkboard. My head started pounding, and my belly Wonderbolts were still going at it. I saw something splash onto the floor: I was crying. When my teacher spoke, his clear voice now sounded distant and muffled.
“Fluttershy, i-if you’re not feeling up to it, you don’t have to present today.” His voice trembled slightly.
Dizzy, I turned to him; at least, to where I thought he was. My breathing was now shaky as if there were a sudden lack of oxygen.
“I'm FINE!” I yelled without thinking.
I turned towards the class and tried to make out any faces. Everything was a colorful blur, and it seemed to spin. I began to mumble the beginning of my project.
“I ch-“ I paused to let out a groan I had been containing for the past thirty seconds.
“I chose to do my report on King-“
My knees buckled and I collapsed onto the tiled floor. I instantly felt what was coming and tried to hold it back, but it came out accompanied by a choking sound. A gasp filled the room. The taste of my breakfast mixed with acid made me cringe. I let my stomach empty for a while before trying to stand up. I somehow managed to get to my hooves, only to slip in my own vomit and land in the middle of the giant puddle. By now, I was sobbing uncontrollably and sending spasms throughout my entire body.
I felt a slight tingling around me, and something lifted me into the air. It was the instructor pony using his unicorn magic to levitate me out of my own miserable mush and set me down in a chair. My vision cleared up, and I could now see that the rest of the ponies had cleared out. Trixie and her friends were probably laughing their tails off outside. Bad thoughts crept into my head; I imagined being called names like Flutterbarf, Pukey-hooves, and worse.
Two more ponies entered the room. I saw that they were the school nurse and the janitor with his mop. The nurse and my teacher talked quietly for a while, and then she trotted over to me.
“Fluttershy, I'm just here to check for a fever, honey.” She told me calmly. This was definitely not her first in-class barf case.
Before she did anything else, the nurse pony wiped dried, crusty vomit from my hooves and face with a damp towel without showing even the slightest sign of disgust. She then took a small oral thermometer and slid it between my partly open lips. I closed my mouth around it and held it there for a while, before a gentle hoof pulled it out. The nurse shook the thermometer to get the reading and stopped to look at the row of dashes and numbers printed on the glass tube before turning back to me.
“You have a pretty high fever, darling, but it’s probably not anything serious. You should go home for today, and get some rest. I’ll make sure your other teachers know you were excused early.”
“Oh, um thanks,” I whispered.
The pony smiled and brushed some of my mane out of my face.
“No trouble at all. Just be easy on your stomach for a while, okay?”
I nodded and stood up from the chair I had been put in. I turned to look at the place where I fell over, and saw that the mess was gone. Instead of smelling like the fiery pits of hell, the room now had the light smell of lemons and cleaning chemicals floating around it. The nurse had left me to talk to the instructor, so I lifted my saddlebags onto my back and walked out of the classroom.
As soon as I set hoof in the hallway, I took to the air in attempt to avoid Trixie and her entourage. It must have worked, because I made it off campus without anypony even glancing in my direction. While flying back to my cottage, I thought the day through.
“At least I didn’t have to present my report. But that probably would have been much less embarrassing than what actually happened.”
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When I was finally home, I sighed and let my heavy bags drop to the ground. I stopped to greet all of my animal friends. Humming birds and meadowlarks were circling above me or nesting in the birdhouses that hung from the ceiling. Squirrels played a game of tag on the rafters; all of the little critters were getting along perfectly.
Suddenly, a small fluffly mass of fur jumped in front of me and just barely touched my nose. I gasped and jumped back in surprise. Once I recovered from the initial shock the little thing gave me, I saw that it was only my bunny, Angel. I reached out and caught him in mid-hop. He seemed to notice I was home early.
"Whoa, there! Settle down!" I told him with a giggle.
Angel looked up at me and tried to wrap his paws around my hoof. I set him down on the wooden floorboards and trotted over to the kitchen. After I drank a cup of dandilion tea, I climbed the flight of stairs up to my room to rest.
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It was now noon, and the sun was at its brightest as it streamed through my upstairs window and shone on my shaggy rug. I was in the cushioned window seat, eyes closed, wrapped in a sweet, dreamless sleep.