It’s hard to be me.
I’m a leader, but a friend first. I’m always willing to help a friend in need. One is always more demanding than the other.
My name is Fluttershy Créme. I’m a student at Beacon Academy and leader of Team Frappe. My friends are the other members. To them, I must be a bother. I’m not exactly the best fighter in Remnant. Any of my friends would make a better leader than me.
“You can be better!” yelled Pinkie. “You just gotta follow my strict training regiment. First, party excessively. Second-”
“No, Pinkie,” interrupted Rarity. “She needn’t get stronger physically. What she needs is to build her confidence. She’s down in the dumps, I must say. I do hope you break out of your slump soon, Fluttershy.”
“Can we just stop talking about this and get something to eat already?” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “I’m freaking hungry.” I kept quiet. I didn’t want to pick any side.
“For once, I think I may agree with you Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity. “I’m quite famished.”
“Yeah, I could eat an ox!” said Pinkie. “Let’s go.”
“Um, I’ll catch up with you girls later,” I whispered timidly. Everybody stopped and looked at me, which I disliked. “I-I just have to use the little girl’s room. I’ll be back soon.” I turned and left my friends company, heading for the bathroom that was further down the hallway. As soon as I’d gotten in, I’d moved straight to the mirrors.
I looked at my face. Blue, sparkling eyes, long flowing light pink hair. Then I had two antennae. Sometimes, I felt like taking a big pair of scissors and snipping them off. I mocked the action with my hands before sighing in sadness. There is no way I’d do something like that.
“Is somebody there?” I said, my ears picking up a sudden shuffling. Something about me was telling me that I was in danger. As if on cue, soft music started to play. “W-who’s there, really? T-this isn’t funny…”
“I’m having fun, Fluttershy,” said a voice. It was too familiar to me. “Can’t we both have fun? You’re so cute Fluttershy. No one but me understands you, anyway. Can’t we both have fun?”
“No…” I shuddered, my entire body recoiling from the voice. “Y-you’re gone. You d-died…” Then it happened. So fast, I could barely see it. His face plastered my vision, my entire body recoiled and shook dangerously. I screamed because I didn’t know what else to do. What else could I do?
I feel over on my knees and puked, letting all my worry and fear come crashing onto the bathroom floor. At that time, I couldn’t have felt better.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” said a voice. “What happened? Are you sick?”
“I…” I said, looking at the vomit. “No, I’m f-fine. Really.”
“Do you want me to get the nurse?” I had never heard this girl’s voice before. It sounded… wrong somehow. “I’ll go get the nurse. She’ll know what to do!” I glanced up to see a figure leaving the scene, her teal-ish long hair flowing behind her. Despite having thrown up on the floor, my suspicion of the girl was bringing something equally as bad.
I stood uneasily and leaned heavily on the sink. Turning on the faucet, I washed the residue from my mouth and clothes before stumbling to the exit. Whoever the girl was, she was right. I did feel sick. His face would make anyone sick…
“I… have to get back to the girls…” I said. “I’ll feel better once I see them. Won’t I?”
The memories forced their way back into my mind. All those wounds from years past re-opened. The torture I felt at his hands, his mercy. I told myself I’d never fall to that ever again. I’d never be weaker than him ever again.
“Fluttershy?” asked a voice, cutting through my delusions. “I came because the rest of us got worried. You don’t look so good.” I met Rainbow Dash’s eyes.
“Oh, no, I’m fine…” I lied. “Maybe if I just lay down, I’d feel better. N-not that anything is wrong with me.”
“Fluttershy, you’re paler than Rarity when her dresses are ripped,” she said. “What’s got you so spooked?”
“I remembered, Rainbow Dash…” I said. “One little reminder, and look what it does.” She was silent, her face resembling pity. “I… I can’t be called a leader, or a huntress. I’m too weak to even-”
“Keep talking like that, and I’m gonna have to shake you back into reality,” said Rainbow Dash harshly. It surprised me, but I knew that she was the only one who would act like this. “Look, we’re all terrified of something, but you don’t see it holding me back."
"But-"
"Buts are for sitting," she interrupted. "Getting your mind off of it is the quickest way to get over it." She helped me stand straight, putting my arm behind her neck.
"Thank you, Rainbow Dash," I said. "I don't know how to repay you for how kind you are to me."
"I don't need to be repaid," she said. "As long as you're my leader, I'll be fine."
We slowly made our way to our room. The one Rainbow Dash and I were sharing. It's standard size with two beds, a window, and two desks. We limped towards my bed before she put me down.
"There," she said. "Lay down until you feel better. I'll see you then."
"Thank you again, Rainbow," I whispered. "I promise to be strong... for you and me."
"Thanks, Shy.” She closed the door behind herself leaving a stagnant silence. I knew that if I was left alone, I'd have nightmares. Nevertheless, I closed my eyes and faced them.
I couldn't be strong without them.
All those years ago… I was a cursed child. A child born from a Faunus and human. I was a taboo. My mother and father loved me with all her heart, regardless of what her own family and friends said about her.
Before me, they had a son. He was already 5 when I was born. Once he heard of what horrible things my other family members said about me, he started to pick up the act. He hurt me, both physically and mentally. Pulling on my antennae, calling me all different types of names.
But then something changed in him. He started to touch me… I didn’t like it at all, but he wouldn’t stop! Every time I was alone in my room, I feared that he would come in and do something bad to me.
My dad soon caught on. One day, when he was pressing me to… do bad things, my dad came in and stopped him. They both yelled at each other before they started fighting. That’s when my dad lost his eye and… my brother his life.
There was a loud crash in my room, taking me by surprise. I opened my eyes with just enough time to see something important.
A small cluster of teal hair.
I jumped out of bed, throwing aside all the covers and ran to my door. When I reached the door, the person was nowhere to be seen. I’d start to piece things together.
“Hey, Shy!” said a voice, loud and distinct. “Shy! Shy! Over here!” I turned to my friend Pinkie jumping up and down. I smiled and walked towards her.
“Hello Pinkie Pie,” I said. “What is it?”
“You just have to see my new moves!” she yelled. “It’s just amazing and you have to see it and-”
“Okay,” I said. “What is it?”
“Okay, for it to work, you need to look very closely,” she said pointing at the window to her left. She slightly touched the glass, injecting her own aura into it. It began to warp to her will, slowly becoming a small ball of glass. She clutched the ball and covered it with her hands. “Okay, here comes the best part.” She closed her eyes and took a heavy breath. She slowly unraveled her hands, the ball becoming a small moving bird.
“Oh, wow!” I said excitedly. Pinkie had never done something like this with her semblance. “C-can I touch him?”
“Sure you can!” She pushed the bird up into the air where it landed on my own. “Dash said you were feeling down, so I thought that I’d come cheer you up.” I smiled at the bird and it seemed to smile back.
“Thank you,” I said. “Nobody’s ever given me a glass bird before.”
“Of course not, silly,” she said. “Are you feeling better now?”
“Very,” I said. “But… I’m not ready to go back yet. There is someone I need to find.”
“Someone?” she asked. “Well, I know everyone here. Just tell me what they look like!”
“I only know that they have long teal hair. Sorry, I can’t give you more.”
“Uh-huh… uh-huh…” she said as if she wasn’t listening. “Ah!”
“What! Do you know them?”
“No!” she yelled. “That’s the problem! There is a friend out there and I don’t know about it!?” She ran down the hallway at a speed I didn’t know was possible. Her antics always made me chuckle.
“Oh right,” I said to myself. “I have to find that girl. Um… if I was her, where would I be?” I thought for a while longer before realizing I had no idea. I sighed and looked at the bird in my hands. “At least you’re still here.”
I made my way to the outside campus where nobody was to be seen. It was a Saturday, after all. My team was busy finishing off a mission, so we had no time to make any weekend plans. They probably all left to go into the city now that we were done.
I still had a reason to be here. Thanks to the Headmistress’ kindness, I was able to keep all my animals on campus as long as they didn’t disturb the other students. I walked around the school until I was alone in the back of the school. In the vast open space, there was a cliff. One leading directly into the Emerald Forest. Just before that, there was a small area where I kept all of my animals. I am known for being an expert at training them, so I knew that none of them would behave badly.
The small glass bird twitched and moved about in my hand, just like a real one. I put it to my face and smiled at it.
“You’re going to have a nice home here,” I said. “I promise.”
“You can’t promise anything,” it said back, startling me. “How can you when you’re so weak?”
“I am not weak!” I said back to it. “A-And I know you’re messing with me. Stop i-it.”
“Messing around? Who?” it asked. “I’m just stating facts. You’re weak, Fluttershy. No amount of training can make you strong.”
“I… I can be strong too!” I yelled confidently. The sound of glass shattering reached my ears and my hand started to hurt. I looked down at my hand and found it cut and bloody. “N-no…”
“Well, looks like you broke through it,” said a voice. The same voice that was in the bathroom. “I’ve gotta hand it to you. For a weak girl, you’ve got your moments.” I turned to see who was talking and met with her eyes.
Her hair was the same color: teal. Her eyes were piercing teal as well. When looking into her eyes, I sensed something akin to intense hate. The same as my brother.
“You… you made me crush him…” Something rare was happening. I’d never felt so … hotheaded in my life. Even though I know it was wrong, I wanted no more than to hurt this girl. “Why would you do that?”
“I didn’t do anything, Fluttershy,” she said. with an evil smirk. “You did it all yourself. Why I’d say your entire situation is your own fault.”
“Stop… playing around,” I said. “What are you trying to accomplish by constantly tormenting me?”
“Frankly, I want to break you, Fluttershy,” she said seriously. “Your team has the potential of becoming something very dangerous in the future. You jeopardize our chances of winning in the Vytal Festival tournament.”
“The Vytal Festival?” I asked. “You made me kill my friend so that you could win in a tournament?”
“Truly, the reasoning does not matter,” she said. Reaching behind her back, she drew one shortsword before another. “The thing that does matter is your state of mind. Teammates in comas can’t fight with their teammates.” I dropped my bloody hand to my side, using my other hand to pull my weapon off of my belt. I grabbed the handle of my tonfa named Nior and brought it across my face.
“I don’t want to fight you,” I said meeting eyes with her. “We don’t need to do this…”
The girl licked her lips and bounded forwards. She was above me, her swords coming down on me. I put the tonfa up to defend myself, the swords bouncing off with a loud clank. Without missing a beat, she landed and transferred into a sweep kick. I jumped back to gain some distance, but she wouldn’t let me get too far.
“You’re a fast one, I’ll give you that,” she said. She sheathed one of her swords and pulled a revolver from behind her large brown boots. “I’ve heard you’re great at dodging bullets. Let’s see how that works for ya!”
I barely had the time to dodge this bullet, much to the girls amusement. I had to use my tonfa for the second one. Seeing a chance to escape, I put all my power into my back foot and dashed forward. Almost instantly, I was behind her.
“What in the-” I flipped the long side outwards before jabbing it into her back. I flipped it back, and clicked the small button on top of the vertical handle, activating the electrical pulse. As she turned around to counter, I jabbed the short end into her jaw, making her stumble backward. To finish the fight, I flipped the long part out and down onto her head, bringing her crashing to the floor. She dropped her pistol and sword to the ground.
“I’m sorry... “ I said. “I-I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was just…”
“To think, I got beat by you of all people,” she said weakly. “My… maybe we’re not cut out for this tournament.”
“N-No! I’m sure all you need to do is train harder. I’m sure you’ll be stronger than me one day,” I said. “I-I’ll go get help! The nurse should still be-”
“I despise you, Fluttershy,” she said with a chuckle. “Your caring demeanor makes me sick. You should be talking down to me, but you have nothing but kind words to say.”
“I-”
“Just go,” she said painfully rolling over. “Get out of my sight.” I slowly backed away. Her eyes were still looking directly into mine. Her own hatred radiating more. I turned away and took off.
“I…” I said, near tears. “I just wanted to help.”
That day, I showed great power, but at what cost? I never wanted to hurt that girl, but she attacked me, forcing me to defend myself and take action. What if all power was like this? Was it worth becoming powerful if all it would do was bring despair to others?
Then I remembered. Rainbow wanted me to be strong for her. All of them did. I had to be strong for them.
It may be hard to be me, but I’d gladly face the hardships for my friends.