//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Flutter My Heart Ashore 
// by RainbowDangerDash97 
//------------------------------//


Pinkie Pie woke up, blinking a few times, and rubbing her eyes in surprise. Where was she? Of course! What a silly she was! She was in Fluttershy's home!

"Morning, Fluttershy!" she cried out, as she leapt down the stairs, crashing into a table.

"Oh my, careful, Pinkie. My mummy won't like it if --" Fluttershy muttered, steadying the table.

Pinkie Pie suddenly felt a wave of unexplanable curiosity overcome her. "Your mummy?" she asked. "Where is she, Fluttershy?" 

"Oh my..um..." Flutteshy whispered, head low. "She's passed out."

Pinkie Pie gasped. "Passed out? You mean like DEAD?!" 

"I don't want to talk about it," Fluttershy whispered, as she steadied the table, and the statue on it once more.

"But --" Pinkie cried out.

Fluttershy sighed. "I'm sorry, Pinkie, but..um..I don't want to talk."

"Why not?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Um...oh my...I - I - I --" Fluttershy whimpered. 

"But I'm your friend!" Pinkie replied. "Tell me everything! Maybe I can help you!"

"Oh, okay then," Fluttershy said. "If you really want to."

"I was only a little filly,"

"But you ARE a little filly!" Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Oh, but I was a few years younger than I am now," Fluttershy carried on, not at all minding the sudden interruption. "I was an only filly. I never knew my daddy. But my mummy told me he was in a beautiful place named Heaven. Some pegasi still believed in that place, but that time, it was only to make me feel better."

"Were you shy back then?" Pinkie Pie asked, curiously.

"Oh, no. Far from it," Fluttershy answered. "And then..um...one day - a huge monster showed up at my home in the clouds! I..." She gave a horrified squeak.

"Why? What's wrong?" Pinkie Pie asked, in concern.

"Oh, it's nothing, Pinkie," Fluttershy replied. "It was so scary! We were trapped in our home. The monster blocked up the door, and we had nowhere to go! It had the head of an eagle, and the body of a lion! My mummy fought the monster, but it was no use! I watched in horror as the monster flung my mother away against a hard rock, in its beak.

I flew to her at once. The monster was happy - it had our home, and everything we posessed. 

"Mummy! Are you alright?" I asked.

My mother smiled and said, "Fluttershy dear, t-take this. I'll - I'll be waiting with your dad in - in heaven."

She gave me..um...a little statue, as well as a pink butterfly plushie, and then she..um...she passed away."

Pinkie Pie was already dabbing her eyes with hankerchiefs. "Awww...that's so sad!!!" she cried out, tears streaming everywhere.

Suddenly, she stopped, and asked, "What happened? Is that all?"

"Oh my..um...no," Fluttershy muttered.

She added, "I didn't do much from then on. I didn't bother trying to beat the records like every other pegasus did. And after my mother's death..I..um...became very shy. One day, some bullies came and saw me. They laughed at my poor results, and they saw me with my plushie!"

Pinkie Pie gasped. "Oh no! What happened?"

"They laughed at me, and when I told them what it was - they stepped on it - and ripped it to shreds! I cried and cried, and they laughed more. I didn't feel like a pegasus anymore. I felt..um..like a loser. I let my hair grow long, and I didn't make any friends."

Pinkie Pie was taken in by all the words. "You mean - I was luckier than you are?" she asked.

"Oh no, nopony should ever jump to conclusions," Fluttershy replied.

"How did you ever survive?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Well...um...some kind ponies took me in, after I fell from the clouds," Fluttershy said. "They gave me a home, and my animal friends moved in with me. I'm only a filly, so they're taking care of me."

"Are you like...still --" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Oh my, no, I was the happiest filly in the world! I had new parents, and a new home! I had new friends!" Fluttershy shrieked, her eyes shining with happiness. "My new mummy and daddy are out to town, so I...um...don't think you can meet them."

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "Hey, do you think maybe I can take a tour around Ponyville? It will be so exciting!"

"Of course, Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy smiled. 

"Hooray! Let's go! Ooh, I'm SO excited! I bet all of these ponies are amazing!" Pinkie Pie squealed. She grabbed Fluttershy by the hoof, and rushed outside.