Timid Pegasus Ponies are So Freakin' Metal!

With the help of some of her bird friends Fluttershy applied powder to her face. Today she was going with Rainbow Dash to a concert. While Fluttershy had played music for various ceremonies and special occasions with her bird choir, she had never actually been to a concert before. From her own perspective as a musician she assumed it was going to be a fairly formal occasion. The least formal occasion she had ever performed at herself was at one of Pinkie's Parties, and usually she performed for larger ceremonies.

Another bird was now wrapping a ribbon around her mane. Tonight they were going to see Steel Filly, which Rainbow Dash said was one of her favorite bands. Fluttershy had never actually heard of them before, but she figured they couldn't be that bad if Rainbow Dash liked them. Then again, Rainbow Dash also liked dragons, the only animals that scared Fluttershy, athletics, which Fluttershy found to be one of the most pointless things around, and a bunch of other things that she didn't particularly care for. As she thought about it she realized it really was odd that they are such close friends. Some ponies even said they are a couple, but Fluttershy did not view their relationship in that light. She figured it must only be because Rainbow Dash not only didn't make fun of her for one reason or another as a filly, but also defended, approached, and made her feel welcome for once in her life. Rainbow Dash was Fluttershy's first, and closest, friend.

At last Fluttershy was done preparing herself. Her hair was pulled back in a cute ponytail, her face was lightly covered with makeup including silver eye shadow and mascara, and she was wearing a simple cerulean dress that she had made. She thought she looked rather pretty. Soon enough Rainbow Dash was going to come and pick her up. After she thanked her animal friends and they flew off, she started to pace around her room, hardly able to contain her excitement. After she noticed that her behavior was making a few animals who happened to stick around nervous, she stopped and sat herself down. While she had always been poor at "reading" other ponies, somehow she understood animals perfectly. Their emotions were a lot simpler, more logical, more direct, as were their intentions. It actually puzzled her how other ponies could understand each other, but not understand animals.

Finally she heard a knocking at her door. Rainbow Dash was here. Fluttershy stood up with a start, and headed towards the door which she promptly opened. Rainbow Dash was standing outside, wearing black eyeliner, a spiked collar, and a spiked bracelet. Her hair was even spikier than it usually was.

"Hey Fluttershy, you ready? This concert is going to be sweet! I -"

Rainbow Dash stopped and gave Fluttershy a funny look. She didn't know what it meant, but she figured that this meant that Rainbow was upset with for some reason.

"You did know that we are going to a rock concert, not some piano recital or something boring like that."

Yes, Rainbow Dash must be upset with her. Fluttershy started to turn away and began to hold back tears.

"I'm sorry, so sorry..."

"Hey, Flutters, don't worry, you look beautiful. It's just not what I was expecting. Now come one, we are going to be late!"

***

After flying for awhile the couple arrived at the concert. Rainbow Dash had their tickets, and after waiting in line for awhile they finally managed to enter the concert hall. Fluttershy noticed that most of the other ponies were stallions, and they were dressed more or less like Rainbow Dash. This was starting to make Fluttershy feel awkward, but she didn't want to disappoint Rainbow Dash again. At the entrance a few colts checked their tickets, and Rainbow Dash told one of them to give Fluttershy a pair of earplugs. Fluttershy didn't understand why some pony would wear earplugs while trying to listen to music, so instead of putting them in she just held them in her wings for now. The pair of them then entered the actual concert hall.

Fluttershy found herself pulled into a mass of stallions, many of which didn't smell particularly good and some were staring at her. She was getting nervous, but Rainbow Dash was by her side holding her hoof, so she felt safe. At the opposite end of the room was a stage, which was currently empty except for a drum set, a couple stacks of black boxes at the edges, some speakers, and a few mikes. The crowd conversed for a while, then motion was seen on the stage, and slowly the crowd quieted down. Five stallions entered. Two had electric guitars with them, and one had what appeared to Fluttershy to be a giant electric guitar. One of the last two remaining ones took a seat at the drum set, and the last one stood up and spoke into one of the microphones. As he spoke many ponies started cheering by shouting.

"Good evening everypony. It's been a while since our last performance in this area, so I want to make this a night to remember. I'd like to start with one of our Greatest Hits, Through Tartarus!"

Once Steel Filly started playing Fluttershy was hit by an violent wave of sound propelled by an aggressive beat. The music was so loud that Fluttershy felt actual pain, and she felt that coming to this concert was just about the stupidest idea ever. Just before she lost it she remembered the ear plugs and popped them into her ears as far as she could. With the plugs in the music was still perfectly audible, but the volume had diminished significantly. She could actually hear it better now, and after she got used to the beat she didn't find it so bad.

Soon enough the music changed course and the vocals and most of the other instruments stopped, leading into a guitar solo. Fluttershy found this softer, more melodic bit to be just beautiful. However, all things had to come to an end, and soon the music went back to the aggressive beat. Around her other ponies were bobbing their heads and dancing in other ways, but Fluttershy took no notice in them, she was so absorbed in the music that she forgot they were there and she stopped being nervous. After listening to a few songs Fluttershy found that she was actually starting to enjoy this music. By the time the concert was over Fluttershy became disappointed by the fact it couldn't be longer.

***

The day after the concert Fluttershy brought her spare bits with her to the record store to see if she could buy anything by Steel Filly. The music from yesterday's concert played in her head as searched through the store, and she softly hummed out a riff. The walls of the shop were filled to the brim with rows and rows of CDs, and there were numerous sets of shelves that were equally full. Hanging from the ceiling where a few signs indicating music genres, and underneath were rows of CDs on shelves. After looking the store for a while she realized she had no idea where it was sorted, so she headed over to the counter where the shop owner was. He was conversing with another pony at the moment. Fluttershy didn't really know how to start a conversation properly, so she just stared at him for a while and started mumbling out her request when he didn't address her.

"Um, excuse me, I was, uhm, wondering if you could show me where Steel Filly is..."

The manager didn't hear her, so Fluttershy continued mumbling. Finally he finished the conversation he was having, and noticed Fluttershy.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"Uh, I would like for you to show me where Steel Filly is, that is if you don't mind. I can't seem to find them on my own."

"Steel Filly is in the Heavy Metal section over there, starting on the third shelf from the bottom on that wall."

He gestured with his hooves towards the aforementioned section and shelf.

"Within each genre the records are organized in alphabetical order first by the artist, and then by the name of the single or album. The ordering goes from left to right, top to bottom. If you still can't find what you are looking for call for me I'd I'll come right over."

"Thank you, sir."

With the new information in mind Fluttershy resumed her humming and headed over to the Heavy Metal section. Sure enough she found Steel Filly and picked up an album, one of the ones that said "Through Tartarus" on the spine. The cover art depicted a creature which appeared to be a cross between a pony, a changeling, and a dragon, and it scared Fluttershy a little bit, but she could live with it as she liked the music on the the CD. It was within her budget, so she promptly bought it and headed out the store with an album in her mouth and a skip to her step.

***

Fluttershy was now enjoying her weekly spa treatment with Rarity. Their conversations weren't much different than they usually where, and Fluttershy found Rarity's voice soothing, until she happened to bring up a subject that struck a chord in Fluttershy as she spilled out the latest gossip.

"I just love how the mud feels after a fabulous face rub. It just sinks right in, clears the pores. Oh, it's so refreshing!"

While Rarity expressed her delight in the colored paste as it was applied by spa attendant Fluttershy was listening from a hot tub.

"By the way, you got to hear this. I saw Rainbow Dash dressed up in what I found to be the greatest crime to fashion of the century the other night. She was covered in spikes and her hair was all ratted up. She told me was heading off to a metal concert. Metal! What type of self respecting mare listens to metal? It's just a disgrace!"

Fluttershy began to feel sick as she heard this. She had gone to that concert with Rainbow Dash, and she had just bought a metal album yesterday. That must mean that Rarity disapproved of her tastes. At least she wore clothes that Rarity would approve of to the concert. Maybe she could fake her way out of this dilemma.

"Oh, yeah, what a disgrace..."

"Fluttershy, are you alright?"

Somehow Rarity had discovered her distress. As she couldn't afford to let Rarity on to her secret she needed to make something up. Fluttershy began to grow worried as she wasn't sure what to say, but then she had an idea.

"Oh, its just that I think that I'm feeling queasy, erm, from the spa treatment. I, uh, haven't tried this particular treatment before, and, uhm, I think I've been sitting in the warm water too long and now its making me sick. If you don't mind I'll be, um, leaving now."

Fluttershy suddenly emerged from the water and ran out the spa, leaving Rarity and the spa attendants bewildered.

"Fluttershy! Wait for me! I know you are hiding something. If I offended you I am sorry! Please come back!"

However the yellow pegasus was already far out of earshot.

***

Angel glared at Fluttershy, flashing a clock a her. The hour hand was pointed to the left and up, and outside it could clearly be seen that it was in the dead of the night. Fluttershy sighed, but she wasn't going to stop now.

"I know it's late now,but if I listen to it earlier Rarity or some other pony might discover that I listen to Steel Filly, and I can't let them know, if they find out they are all going to laugh at me."

Fluttershy slid a pair of headphones over her head. She wasn't even going to try playing it out loud, she didn't think Angel would approve if he heard it, and Fluttershy didn't have the heart to stand up to Angel. Once the music started playing she got herself settled in front of a dress she was working on as a present for Rarity's birthday. The music helped her focus in a meditation like way, and soon enough she drifted off from the rest of the world and into the night.

***

Fluttershy woke to the sound of heavy thumping. As she opened her eyes she saw a white thing holding a circle. Once her eyes came into focus and her brain started to process the information she saw that Angel was holding up a clock, but she wasn't sure what it meant. After Angel thumped for another twenty seconds she finally remembered what was happening. Today she was going to help Applejack with counting her livestock, but if it wasn't for Angel she would have slept right past it.

She quickly headed to the mirror to quickly tidy herself up. She noticed that their was a faint dark patch underneath each of her eyes. She didn't mean to stay up that late, but she did more work on the dress than she was planning as she decided to stay up until the entire album finished. Fluttershy quickly brushed her hair, tried to mask the dark marks under her eyes, and headed out the door.

After flying for a short while she made it to Sweet Apple Acres. The flight seemed to be a little bit harder than usual and she nearly crashed into a tree at one point because she wasn't paying close enough attention. Once she got their she could see that the Apple family had already started counting.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm late, so sorry..."

"Don't worry yourself, Sugarcube, you came just in time. Now, I want ya to go over with Applebloom and y'all be counting counting lambs. Applebloom is counting all of them in the south pasture, so I want ya to count the ones in the north pasture and then report back to me. Got it?"

It took Fluttershy a moment to realize that Applejack was waiting for her to respond.

"Oh, um, yeah, I got it."

"Flutters, are you alright? You look rather tired here. Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"Oh, no, um, I'm fine."

"Are you sure about that, Sugarcube? Once I got all caught up in ma work, and I refused to let anyone help me. It was only after Twilight made me come to realize that I was hurting other ponies because I was so tired that I swallowed up ma pride and let Twilight help me. If ya need help with anything just let me know."

Fluttershy nodded her head and headed off to go count sheep.

***

Fluttershy now had over half a dozen different metal albums, as well as countless singles, and not just from Steel Filly. She had started listening to other bands that she found in the metal section, and had started moving onto heavier stuff. One of the singles even depicted a gory display that made her feel sick if she looked at it for more than a second, but the store owner had played it for her when she was looking for something new and she liked it. She even bought a book on the history of Heavy Metal. However, it still wasn't enough. Fluttershy then realized she wanted more than to just listen to metal. She wanted to make metal.

This was going to be problem. She had already had far too many close encounters were her friends nearly discovered her latest obsession, such as that one time Pinkie came over and started searching through all of her stuff and she had to make up an excuse to get Pinkie out of her house, so she was going to have to be even more careful now.

The first thing she needed was an electric guitar. Fluttershy knew guitars are quite expensive, and finances were always a problem for her. She was unemployed, but she could claim a bit of extra money due to her condition. However, it wasn't enough for everything, especially with her caring for the animals and all, so Fluttershy did a variety of odd jobs from time to time.

For one reason or another she couldn't have any steady jobs. Employment meant having to work with other ponies, and she did not do well with that, they might judge her or worse. The same problem applied for trying to be a vet, and while her knowledge of sewing was immense, she wasn't nearly good enough to make a living out of it, and her passion for it wasn't nearly as strong as it was when she was filly, before she ever came to the surface. Maybe she could make some money by selling some albums of her own, if not metal than she could just record herself singing with her bird choir. It would be better than having to perform live where all the other ponies would be staring at her.

She also had to rely on the generosity of her friends, especially Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy hated feeling like such a parasite. Except for Twilight, who was sponsored by Celestia, all of her friends had jobs in one way or another. Even Pinkie Pie, who Fluttershy figured should be even less employable than herself, which made her feel even worse even if Pinkie did have a special relationship with the Cakes. Rainbow Dash was the Chief of Weather, Rarity was a nationally renown fashionista, Applejack ran a farm with her family, Derpy Hooves delivered mail, and Pinkie Pie baked cupcakes. Poor Fluttershy just played with animals all day.

As she thought about her condition she nearly started to cry, but she stopped her self. Even if she was weak and helpless, her friends still loved her. They didn't just help her because they found her pitiful, they did it because they loved her, and she helped them in return. Their relationship was mutual. Anyway, she couldn't get this as a gift from one of her friends then her cover would be blown. Especially not from Rarity.

Fluttershy then remembered something. Rainbow Dash was the one who had gotten her into metal in the first place, so maybe she could help her. She certainly wouldn't mind if she told her the secret. Fluttershy then flew off to her oldest and best friend's house in the sky, the loyal and dependable Rainbow Dash.

***

Fluttershy carefully set herself down on the cloud, enjoying the familiar puffiness that cushioned her hooves, and looked ahead of her. In front of her on another cloud was Rainbow Dash, sunning herself. As it turned out she wasn't at her home and was just resting on a random cloud. Underneath them was a street in Ponyville.

"Hey, Rainbow, if you're not busy, and you don't mind, could you help me?"

The multicolored mare flipped open one her eyes, took a glance towards the voice, and found the gaze the other pegasus. Fluttershy was tempted to avert her eyes, but she remained steadfast.

"Well, I guess I'm not doing anything right now, so tell me what it is and I'll see if I can help you."

Fluttershy flapped her wings to raise her up, hovered over to Rainbow Dash, and whispered into her ear.

"Um, can we talk about it somewhere else? I, uh, don't want any pony to overhear us, I need to tell you a secret."

Rainbow Dash turned to face Fluttershy and responded with her typical volume.

"Ok, but you better not be telling me that once again you forgot the stove was on, burnt Angel's food, and now..."

Fluttershy's face promptly turned pink. Rainbow Dash's voice cracked as she apologized.

"Oops, I'm sorry..."

"And no, it's something else this time..."

***

The pair was now settled inside of the rainbow adorned fortress. Rainbow and Fluttershy were sitting at a table, drinking an herbal tea.

"So, what exactly was it that you wanted to tell me?"

Fluttershy took a small sip. She was afraid the if she drank the hot beverage any faster she might burn her tongue or lips. After she lowered the cup she responded.

"Do you remember when went to see Steel Filly together?"

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, just swigged down her cup before speaking.

"Yeah, I remember that outing. So what?"

"Will you promise not to tell anyone this?"

"All right."

Even though they were already alone Fluttershy still dropped her voice to a level that was somehow lower than normal. Rainbow Dash had to strain her ears to understand her.

"Well, the next day I bought an album by Steel Filly. I've come to realize that I love metal, and since then I've been listening to more and more metal."

"So, you bought a Steel Filly album, and now you are listening to more metal?"

Fluttershy nodded her head, ending with her face facing the azure floor.

"Ok, that's awesome, but why is this such a big secret?"

"When I went to the spa with Rarity the next day, um well she, she said that she, er, saw you wearing those, uh, spikes as you were coming to pick me up for the concert, that she found mares listening to metal to be a 'disgrace', and no 'self respecting mare' listens to metal. "

As Fluttershy blushed Rainbow Dash flipped, spilling what little remained of her drink as she stood up.

"Why, that frilly fashion horse! That's so uncool of her, not having the courage to say that to my face, I'll-"

"Oh, please don't speak about our friend like that, she-"

"Yeah, she can think what she wants. Don't mind her. So what do you need help with?"

Fluttershy had been cowering back while Rainbow Dash raged. Rainbow Dash sat back down, and now Fluttershy straightened up.

"Well, I've been wanting to actually make some metal music instead of just listening to it, but I don't have an electric guitar, so I'm wondering if you could help me with that."

A big grin came to Rainbow's face. and she stood up with a start.

"It so happens that I have an electric guitar, come on, I'll show it to you!"

Rainbow Dash squealed as she ran off to another room. Fluttershy followed her and found her sitting on her haunches, holding an irregularly shaped, black electric guitar, which was supported by a strap that went across her back.

"If you want I can also show you my bass. I don't have a drum kit as Pinkie is the drummer when we jam together. Now the first thing you need to do is plug the guitar into the amplifier so that you can actually hear it. You then use the amplifier to power a speaker or a pair of head phones, depending on if you are practicing alone or playing with someone."

Fluttershy watched as Rainbow Dash unplugged a pair of headphones and hooked a speaker up to a box connected to the guitar which was apparently the amplifier. Fluttershy then remembered that there was a lot of those boxes back when Steel Filly was performing. Rainbow stood back up, and positioned her hooves over the guitar.

"Place your left hoof up here, and place your right hoof down there. Now watch closely to what I'm doing."

Rainbow Dash slanted her hoof and placed it on two strings so that the string further from her was pressed down two frets below the other. With her right hoof she struck those two strings, playing the fifth.

"Now if you keep that position, but slide it around to different places on the guitar you can play a melody."

She then let loose a string of power chords. To Fluttershy's enjoyment they formed the main riff of "Through Tartarus".

"Here, now you try."

Rainbow Dash took off the strap and placed it on Fluttershy, where it fit snugly between her wings.

"Ok, I'll try."

Fluttershy tried imitating what Rainbow Dash did at first, but first she didn't press on the fret board hard enough, then she missed the correct strings with her strumming hoof, and once she finally strummed correctly her hoof was at the wrong angle and she played a tritone. She was getting frustrated now.

"You made this look so easy. Why is it so much harder?"

"Hey, I've had a lot of practice. As I've learned from Wonderbolts, practice makes perfect. You are doing pretty good for a beginner. Now let me give help you a bit."

She walked up behind Fluttershy and repositioned her hooves from behind.

"Now, push down with you left hoof and strum."

Fluttershy did as Rainbow Dash said and to her astonishment she played a perfect fifth. The fillies were going to rock into the night.

***

Rainbow Dash showed Fluttershy how to use distortion and other effects to create a heavier sound, and then they played for awhile, Fluttershy on the guitar and Rainbow Dash on the bass. She then let Fluttershy borrow her guitar so she could practice at her home. Fluttershy played late at night through her headphones, not only so no one would discover her, but also so she wouldn't disturb her animal friends. She wasn't so good at playing chords, so she played melodies instead, and after awhile she became ok at lead guitar, whipping out simple guitar solos, though she couldn't play rhythmic guitar at all. As long as no else could hear her, she didn't mind. She would get better with practice and besides, all was fine as long as her secret was safe.

***

Fluttershy was hurrying to tidy up her house, scrubbing the walls with a brush while a pair of birds were dusting with a cloth. Meanwhile Angel was boiling a pot of tea. Twilight Sparkle was given the privilege of giving a seminar on organizational habits to the school children, and now she decided she was going to offer all of her friends a chance to have her help organize their belongings. At first Fluttershy was about to deny her invitation, but then Twilight brought up how she hadn't been to Fluttershy's house in a while, and she realized it was true.

Ever since she received that guitar, she hadn't let anyone into her little cottage out of fear that they might see it and learn her secret. As she thought about it, she realized something. By being so paranoid she was hurting her friends, or at the very least she wasn't being kind to them, like the Element of Kindness should. Fluttershy decided she was going to have to let Twilight come over, though now she needed to find a way to let Twilight organize something, but still not find the albums.

As Fluttershy had no idea how she could hide the albums if Twilight Sparkle was looking through everything, Fluttershy had arranged for Twilight to only organize a specific thing. Fluttershy had a small bookcase on the bottom floor, as well as some books on a note table on the upper floor. Fluttershy figured she could just have Twilight sort through the bookshelf downstairs, knowing how she loved books and lived in a library and all, then she could just keep Twilight on the bottom level and hide everything on the top level. Everything on the bookcase was all mixed together. The nonfiction were mainly on animals, there were several on the history of fashion, and a few ones on other topics. The fiction books on the shelf were mainly fantasy.

Fluttershy loved fantasy, all the fantastic worlds with all their fantastic creatures. That was one thing Fluttershy liked about metal besides the music itself. While the cover art for many of the metal records freaked Fluttershy out, she loved their frequent fantasy themes. Fluttershy had never heard music with so much fantasy prior to listening to metal. While there was some metal that had lyrics about things Fluttershy wouldn't dare speak about, and Rarity would certainly disapprove of, Fluttershy avoided that stuff and focused on the metal whose lyrics she could enjoy. As far as she could tell, even that album with the gory cover art was more meaningful to her than it appeared.

Fluttershy had hidden the albums in the chest at the foot of her bed, along with the amplifier, which didn't really fit, leaving the lid slightly ajar. Even if Twilight did go up into her room she would still be safe as long as she didn't look in the chest. At first she wasn't sure what to do with the guitar, so she had the birds drape a sheet over it, but that made it look even more suspicious, so in the end she just decided to leave it uncovered in her room and make up some sort of excuse in case she did come up and see it.

A knocking could now be heard on her door. Fluttershy quickly had the birds put away their rag and her brush and she went over to open the door. Twilight Sparkle was standing in the door way with a small smile on her face.

"Hello Fluttershy. It's been awhile since I've been here. It looks nice. Now, can you show me where these books are so we can get to work?"

"Oh, just come right over here."

Fluttershy led Twilight over to the bookshelf.

"Do you want any tea? I have a big pot if you want any."

"I would enjoy a cup, thank you very much."

Angel came with the teapot and two tea cups and poured two cups of tea. Twilight magically grabbed her cup without even looking at it, her eyes focused on the bookshelf. Fluttershy carefully lifted up hers and took a sip from it.

"Now, lets start. Now, I think the best way to go about doing this is to first sort the books by their category, and then by their author. How does that sound?"

"That sounds just fine."

"Excellent. Now, first lets sort it between non-fiction and fiction. I also want some basic categories of nonfiction so we can get through this faster."

Twilight then began to take the books of the shelves one at a time, reading their name and where she thought it belonged to Fluttershy first so she could make sure it went into the right category. Fluttershy would speak up if Twilight labeled the book wrong. After the category was established Twilight tossed the book into the appropriate pile. The work went smoothly, and soon they had several stacks.

"An Introduction to Calculus of the Single Variable. Math. The Heart of Brine Bridle. Fantasy. The History of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal."

That was it. Fluttershy folded up, placing her head in her fore-hooves. She almost forgot she even had that book, and she thought it was back up in her room as she had been reading it recently. She figured Angel must have put it away, and now she was doomed. However, Twilight was just as nonchalant about it as she was on the Calculus book, and continued as always, with her back to Fluttershy.

"Nonfiction Miscellaneous. The Dietary Habits of Lapins. Animal Care."

It took Fluttershy a moment to realize that her having a book on Rock was no more suspicious than her having a book on Calculus, and Twilight must of figured it must have just been a book she happened to have, not one she actually wanted. Fluttershy sighed with relief.

Soon enough they finished the task and then the two mares chatted for a bit, drinking tea as they did.

"By the way, where is your restroom? I really feel the need to go now."

The bathroom was on the upper level. The guitar was on the upper level. Fluttershy looked at her friend, who was giving her some sort of look, and she knew that as the Element of Kindness she could not deny her friend relief.

"It's upstairs, follow me."

Fluttershy nervously waited as Twilight did her business. The whole time she stared at the sleek black guitar in her room. At last Twilight came out and followed her gaze.

"That's a nice guitar. It looks like a War Bridle. Where did you get it?"

Fluttershy was cornered. She needed to think fast. Well, telling the truth wouldn't hurt.

"Oh, I'm borrowing it from Rainbow Dash so I can practice playing it."

"Interesting. Why did you decide to take up the guitar?"

Fluttershy was about to freak out now. Now she was cornered. She told herself to think, think, and as she looked at the guitar with Angel standing close to it and she remembered that at least the amplifier was still hidden. Then she had an idea.

"Well, first I learned that electric guitars are actually quieter than acoustic guitars on their own as they lack a resonance chamber and rely on electric amplification. I decided to start playing so I could play lullabies for Angel on it, ones that would be soft enough not to hurt his tender rabbit ears."

Fluttershy smiled awkwardly as Angel gave her a stern glare. He did not approve her lying, but she was going to have to overrule him for once.

"That's quite resourceful of you. I don't think I would have thought up such a thing on my own."

Twilight then frowned as she noticed something.

"Oh dear. That chest isn't closing. It looks like you put to much in it, or didn't arrange whatever is in correctly. Here, let me help you organize it."

To Fluttershy's horror Twilight's horn and the lid of the chest glowed magenta. She ran over to the chest as fast as she could and slammed her hooves down on it, startling Twilight.

"I'm sorry, but you can't look through that now.....You can't organize anything else now, because...I...need you out of my house as....a mole with a broken nose is supposed to see me now, and he is scared of ponies, so I'm sorry, but I need you to leave."

"Oh, alright, if you say so..."

Fluttershy rushed Twilight out of the door and closed it behind her before sighing with relief. That was a close one. Too close. She would have to be even more cautious now.

***

Pinkie Pie had invited Fluttershy over to Sugar Cube Corner. She said that the rest the group was going to be there, and they were going to be discussing something very important, so it was vital that she be there. Fluttershy entered Sugarcube at the proper time. Sure enough, all of her friends were there. Rarity and Applejack were standing next to each other by the stair case and carrying out a conversation. On the opposite side of room Pinkie Pie was eying a platter of cupcakes and licking her lips, placing her hooves up on the table in front of them. Towards the center of the room Rainbow Dash was lying down with her head on one hoof, looking either at Pinkie or the cupcakes. At the back of the room Twilight was talking with Mrs. Cake.

"Um, hello..?"

As Fluttershy spoke Rainbow Dash perked up and turned towards her, and the side conversations came to a conclusion. Pinkie Pie was still glaring at the cupcakes. Twilight moved closer to the center of the room, and took the opportunity to speak.

"Welcome! Now that Fluttershy is here we can begin. You probably want to know why we all came here. Now Fluttershy, your birthday is this Thursday, is it not?"

It was, but she had nearly forgotten about it. She nodded her head.

"That's what Pinkie Pie told me. Now, Fluttershy, we know how you dislike being surprised, so that's why we all came her today, so we can tell this to you. Now Pinkie and I got together to organize this, so now we need to know, is if, on your birthday, can we use your house-"

Pinkie Pie interrupted Twilight's pandering, only now turning away from the cupcakes, but still leaving her hooves by them.

"So we can throw you a party!"

Twilight was slightly irritated by this.

"Thank you Pinkie, though I was going to get there eventually..."

Fluttershy was shocked. She was overjoyed that her friends wanted to this for her, and she wanted that party, but there was a problem. She couldn't let her friends come to her house.

"Well, actually, umm, ehh..."

Rainbow Dash spoke now.

"Well what? If we can't, just say so!"

"Er, you can't come to my house, because, because..."

Everyone was waiting for her, and Pinkie let out a low sigh. As she tried to think of another excuse, she then began to think if all of this was really worth it. She couldn't keep this up forever. All the sleepless nights, all the precautions, all the, well, rudeness. She now knew that her behavior wasn't just hurting herself, she was hurting her friends. Even she could see the look of disappointment on Pinkie Pie's face. In her mind she could see Angel's glare of disapproval. She decided it was going to be better for all of them if she just dropped it now and took whatever was to come of it.

"...because I like Heavy Metal!"

Fluttershy took several rapid breathes. She had done it. After she got her breathing back under control she looked around the room, bracing herself for whatever ridicule or punishment she was going to receive. It took a moment, at first she thought they all looked mad, but then she realized that they weren't angry with her, if anything they were....confused?

"Sugarcube, I'm not the smarted pony around, but I'm smart enough to know that doesn't make any sense. You liking something is no reason to have to isolate yerself from all of us. It's not that big of a deal."

"But, but...well...I was trying to keep it a secret, but I guess its not a secret anymore. I thought you would all be mad at me."

Rarity now took the time to make amends, stepping up and approaching Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy, I've actually known about your secret for awhile, I just never felt the need to bring it up. You know, other ponies have seen you making your purchases, and gossip spreads to me quickly. However, as much as I disapprove of your taste in music, I'm not going to try to change you. You have every right to like what you want, even if it is very unfashionable. It's really not important. What's important is our friendship."

"So you're not mad at me?"

"Of course not, and I...I'd like to apologize for what I said that day.

Fluttershy smiled and blushed.

"I accept your apology."

"Oh, and Rainbow Dash, I'd like to apologize to you as well."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Fine, apology accepted."

Pinkie Pie now took the time to abandon the cupcakes and joined the rest of the group.

"So wait, that means the party isn't cancelled after all?"

"Oh, yeah, you can come to my house and throw me my party, that is if you still don't mind."

Pinkie bounced around at the news and headed back towards the cupcakes.

"YIPPEE! NOW WHO WANTS A CUPCAKE!"

***

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned I shouldn't become too concerned about what other ponies think about me if it's putting our friendships at risk. I learned that some secrets simply aren't important, what is really important is that we stay friends. It doesn't matter if I like Heavy Metal and Rarity doesn't, all the matter is that we remain friends and don't let such minor things get in the way. I shouldn't make such a big deal out of such little things, and I shouldn't turn them into big things by worrying about them so much. When I was being so paranoid, I wasn't just hurting myself, I was also hurting my friends. Instead of trying to hide my other interests, I should just remember why I have friends in the first place and why we need each other. While we may have small disagreements, in the end we can agree that we both need each other.

Fluttershy

***

After the party Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie went over to Pinkie Pie's house to rock. The trio was now all wearing spiked wristbands, and Pinkie Pie decided to paint her face black and white. They had been jamming for a while now, Fluttershy on the lead guitar and vocals, Rainbow on the bass playing the harmony, and Pinkie on the drums.

"Ok, I want to try playing something heavier now, lets just make something as stupid and extreme as we can. Fluttershy, can you scream?"

Fluttershy looked back at Rainbow Dash.

"I think so."

"Good".

As Pinkie pounded out a blast beat and Rainbow turned out some complex riffs Fluttershy shrieked out nonsense. At last they all broke down, falling into a pile and laughing hysterically.

All that mattered was that they were having a good time.

THE END

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