Fluttershy Saves The World in 7 Days

by Miller Minus

Day 2

Angel Bunny thumped the bedroom door open with a two-footed kick, and stormed inside. The noise beckoned Fluttershy to follow, and follow she did. He jumped onto her bed, which she had made first thing in the morning. With paws outstretched, Angel twirled around the room in one circle, gesturing to the displaced items, scattered clothes, and leftover dishes piled upon every surface of the room. He pinched his nose with his paw, cringed dramatically, and wiggled his tail.

The room didn’t actually stink, but Fluttershy got the message anyways.

“I know… It’s a mess.”

Angel raised his paws in front of him, closed his eyes, and clapped twice. He left the room and shut the door behind him, pressing his ear back up against it.

Fluttershy breathed in and out, carefully, before saying, “Time to get to work.”

***

What Fluttershy needed was a benevolent warden—a role that Angel took to rather well. He spent most, but not all, of the day reading, napping, and making green tea for his busy worker on occasion. He watched her carefully whenever she exited her bedroom, ensuring she wasn’t doing anything other than putting dishes away, grabbing cleaning supplies, or using the little filly’s room.

He was ten minutes deep into an essay on the nature of panic attacks when the first knock at the front door sounded. Fluttershy came out of her room to answer it, but Angel stood in her way and pointed behind her, ordering her to march. Reluctantly, she did.

Angel would end up playing the role of door-bunny all day long. Five times, somepony would knock, looking for Fluttershy and bearing a gift, and each time Angel would perform the same routine.

Open the door.

Stare daggers.

Accept the gift.

Slam the door.

The only part that changed was how many times he would shake his head ‘no’ for a request to enter, or nod his head ‘yes’ for every time they asked if the poor girl was okay. But hidden behind that nod were the words, Yes, she’s fine. No thanks to you.

Angel knew the names of Fluttershy’s friends. But the best part of not being able to speak or write was that he could come up with as many nicknames for anypony as he pleased, without worrying that he might accidentally slip up and say them out loud.

Bumpkinhead was the first at the door.

“Ah, uh… Wanted ta, ah, er, check up on Flootershy, make shuuurrre she’s o-kay ‘n all, I reckon…”

Angel realized he wasn’t actually listening to a word Bumpkinhead was saying, so he stopped pretending. He waited for her to bring out her gift, and place it on the floor inside.

A basket of apples.

After slamming the door, Angel pinched the space between his eyes. Had she not seen the way Fluttershy ate apples? With her eyes squinting shut, her bites slow and methodical? She must have—Fluttershy only ate those blasted red stones when Bumpkinhead was around. He wondered if Bumpkinhead knew what the term ‘ignorance is bliss’ meant, or if she was happier not knowing.

Deathwish was next, only she soared around the cottage about five hundred million times before finally landing at an entirely unnecessary speed, knocking Angel off of his feet. He opened the door to find her, wings outstretched, with an unwrapped book under her leg.

“It’s my favourite book!” Deathwish explained. “It’s helped me a lot, and, uh…”

Angel frowned. That wasn’t a difficult sentence to finish. The title of the book started with Daring Do and the, but Angel didn't finish reading it, making a sound that was halfway between a growl and a sigh.

“Anyways, I’ve already read it twice, so, like, it’s no big deal or anything.”

Angel found this very thoughtful, in a sarcastic way.

“But I still want it back!” Deathwish added. “You know, when she’s done. I don’t like having a hole in my collection.”

With an un-earnest smile, Angel waved to Deathwish, gradually turning his paw from a goodbye wave to a buzz off wave. And he was moments from closing the door when he saw a cloud of cotton candy bouncing up over the horizon, far away. Angel threw his head back and sighed.

Bumper Cars.

Before he could say anything, she was already inside, asking way too many questions and almost knocking on Fluttershy’s bedroom door before Angel finally got to her and pushed her outside.

“You’re strong!” commented Bumper Cars.

Apparently having gotten the message, she revealed her gift to him. It was the worst of the lot. An invitiation to a party—a promise, that when Fluttershy felt better, she would throw the Bumpiest, Carsiest party in all of Ponyville. A capital idea, Angel thought. If only a party hadn’t caused the attack in the first place.

Bad Priorities was last, and her gift was Angel’s favourite, because it didn’t exist. Like Bumper’s, it was only a promise; Bad Priorities would make her a splendid dress of her own design. In fact, she could wear it to the upcoming party! When Angel realized he didn’t have to take anything from her, he slammed the door.

Bookface, Celestia bless her, at least had the decency of not showing up in person. Ever since she sprouted those unseemly wings, Angel could never look at her the same way again, finding it odd how long it took an adult pony to find out where they fit on her body. Outsretched? Folded in? Drooping? Sticking out like the hands of a clock at some asymmetrical hour? Angel wished Bookface would just pick a lane.

But, Celestia curse her, while she didn’t show up herself, she sent Angel’s mortal enemy in her stead.

When he opened the door to see that emotionless face, those glowing yellow eyes, that hairpin beak, he grabbed hold of his tail and launched backwards, glaring. At all their pet play dates, this infernal owl would spend all of his time nipping at Angel’s tail and hoo-ing with cheer, as if reminding him of the laws of nature was worth a chuckle every now and again. If we were both in the wild, he seemed to jest, what fun we would have!

But the bird didn’t come to play. He simply bowed and took off back into the sky, leaving behind a package which quite obviously held a book, as well as a rolled-up letter. Angel went to scoop the items off the welcome mat, but something caught his eye. This letter wasn’t addressed to Fluttershy at all. It was addressed to none other than Angel Bunny.

He tore it open cautiously.

Dear Angel,

A few weeks ago, I saw you reading one of Fluttershy’s cookbooks and helping her out with a recipe. I’m not sure if the fact that you can read is a secret, but if it is, I’m sorry for finding out. I promise I won’t tell anypony.

I wanted to come explain what happened two nights ago, but I figured Fluttershy might want to be alone. And then I realized that you were probably wondering what was going on. I won’t go into details, but I’ll say that we had a conversation that got out of hoof. We started talking about life, the future, and, well, relationships. AJ and Dash started to nudge her, and Pinkie and Rarity started making guesses about her. She left pretty flustered, but then I guess you were there for that part. I really hope she’s okay.

With this letter, you should find a book. It’s for her.

Angel unwrapped the package and studied it. Daring Do and the Rest of Her Life. The adventurous protagonist of the series wasn’t on the cover of this one—it was designed instead to look like an envelope, addressed to her, from somepony named Thousand Heart.

Angel turned back to the letter.

It’s a side story to the Daring Do series. It’s quite atypical, actually; it turns into a romance about halfway through. But don’t tell her I said that. It’s a spoiler.

Again, I’m sorry about everything, and I hope you won’t hold it against us. We should have never pressed her like we did.

Oh, and sorry for sending Owlowiscious

Angel rolled his eyes and pulled out a pencil.

Oh, and sorry for sending Owlowiscious. I thought of using Spike but I know when he sends something it can be, well, startling. You should find this courier more professional.

Yours,

Twilight Sparkle

***

That night, under flickering candlelight, Fluttershy began reading Twilight’s book on her newly tidied desk. A one-sided smile bloomed on her face.

Before she’d started, she and Angel noticed a thin wooden bookmark halfway through the pages, deep enough in that they figured it wasn’t meant to be part of the gift. Fluttershy placed it aside, murmuring to herself that Twilight must have been reading the book, and that she would return the bookmark later. From his bed, Angel watched the bookmark, covered in moons and suns and stars, hanging over the desk. The significance of Bookface giving away a book she hadn’t yet finished puzzled him to sleep.

Comments

[Lulamoon-Crystal]

This story is so sweet

Loved the nicknames that Angel gave to Flutter’s friends

[Mystic Sunrise]

Angel's proper names for the Mane 6 are perfect 🤣.

[overdue]

I'm not sure how to feel about this but I am sure that it's well written