Fluttershy tries rather unsuccessfully to divide her time between helping her girlfriends with their hobbies and jobs and building a relationship with her newfound companion.
Fluttershy's nerves become more and more frayed as she's overrun with appointments. She's never been so busy! Because of her slightly antisocial nature, she doesn't know how to manage her time and energy. Her days begin to wear her down and it begins to take a toll on her.
Fluttershy squeaked as the soccer ball flew straight towards her face. She didn’t utter a word of pain, busy wondering why her vision was filled with stars and grass instead of the aforementioned soccer ball and sky.
Shaking her head, she rose from her new location of the goal net. Or at least, she tried to. Rainbow Dash laughed as her upside-down friend struggled with the monumental challenge of untangling herself from the net, trotting over and helping poor Fluttershy get her hooves on land again.
“Are you alright, Fluttershy?” Dash managed to splutter, trying to hold back her laughter. A thick stream of red stained the yellow mare’s muzzle.
“I-I’m fine, Rainbow Dash…” The softspoken pegasus replied, carefully attempting to wipe away the blood. “It doesn’t hurt too much…”
“Gee whiz, I thought I kicked harder than that,” said the sky blue athlete, her entire wiry body drooping.
“I-I mean, it h-hurts a lot! M-maybe you should k-keep practicing tomorrow...” Fluttershy stammered, alarmed.
Rainbow Dash frowned but stood a little straighter. “Alright, Fluttershy. You rest up. I’m gonna need lots of practice if I’m gonna play Spitfire in a one-on-one soccer match!”
Fluttershy sighed softly as Rainbow Dash took off to find another victim to be goalie, balancing her soccer ball on her head. She turned to head home, wiping away more blood from her face.
I’m not sure how good an idea that was. Maybe I should ask her to find a different pony to help her practice? But maybe she’ll think I don’t want her to win! I could cheer for her, but that might distract her…
She sighed, her head and wings drooping with exhaustion and pain from being battered for three hours a day by Dash’s kicks, which could really be better described as smashes.
Nudging open the door to her cottage, she plopped down on the couch and curled up. Angel hopped over with some tissues and an ice pack wrapped in a rag.
“Oh, thank you, Angel. You’re so sweet,” she murmured, cleaning away the blood with the tissues and then laying on her back with the ice pack pressed to her face. A bird flitted over with some bandages. Fluttershy sat up slowly and wrapped her nose with the animal’s assistance.
There was a gentle knock at the door.
“Come in,” Fluttershy called, as loudly as she could. Nobody ever seemed to hear her even though she yelled. It irritated Fluttershy. She limped over to the door and pulled it open.
“Hey, Fluttershy, how ar- ...wow, Rainbow Dash really did a number on you,” said Twilight Sparkle, physically cringing at the sight of the yellow-and-purple mare’s bruised and beaten form.
She nodded sheepishly, blushing. “It’s nothing. The important thing is that I tried my best to help my friend. I can endure a little pain.”
“A little?” Twilight asked. “You look like you’ve just fallen off three flights of stairs, with a dictionary avalanche on your heels. Not fun.”
Fluttershy backed up. “Well, come on in. Would you like some tea?”
“No, thanks. Do you mind if I help you nurse your wounds?” Twilight stepped inside, glancing at the worried-looking creatures hiding behind furniture.
“Um… Sure…”
Twilight nodded and her initiative kicked in. She beckoned over the more bold of the woodland animals and whispered in their ears. When she rose, they scattered, and Twilight guided Fluttershy back to the couch.
“Don’t strain yourself. You need lots of rest.”
“But I have to train with Rainbow Dash tomor-”
“Nope. Lots of rest.”
“But Rain-”
“Lots. Of. Rest.” Twilight glared at her beaten friend stubbornly.
Fluttershy hung her head, renewing the gush of blood from her nose. “Okay…”
The lavender unicorn nodded in satisfaction, her bangs bobbing. The animals returned with herbs, more bandages, a mortar and pestle, and a somewhat-sloppily made but very sprinkled bowl of vanilla ice cream. Twilight mashed the herbs together and gently smeared them on her cuts and bruises, wrapping them firmly in bandages. She carefully stuck some up Fluttershy’s tender nose too, and swathed it in a bundle of white. Twilight handed her the bowl of ice cream and smiled as she gingerly ate.
A few minutes later, there was a bundled-up lump of sleeping pegasus on the couch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day...
Fluttershy delicately stepped down from the couch and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She noticed that Twilight had cleaned up, drawn the curtains since it had only been 4 p.m., and tucked her in. Smiling slightly dopily, she poked the curtains open and nearly fainted.
She leaped over to her clock and checked the time.
7 p.m.?!?!?! Twilight said to get lots of rest, but this is ridiculous!
She paused. Stretching out a bandaged wing, she was shocked to realize that the pain had gone. Shedding her bandages and racing to the only mirror in her house, which was in the bathroom, she examined herself, wide awake and grinning. She reminded herself a bit of Pinkie Pie.
Fluttershy quickly fed her hungry forest friends and galloped to Twilight’s treehouse, bursting in without a thought.
“Twilight!” She shrieked, barely above a whisper. “That stuff is amazi-”
She stopped, not seeing her purple librarian caretaker.
“She’s not here.” Spike rolled his eyes. “Did she use that rare herbal mixture she got from Zacora again?”
Fluttershy blushed fiercely and nodded.
“I’ll tell her you said thanks.”
“O-okay. Thanks, Spike. How did she know I was hurt?”
“Rainbow Dash came by looking kind of worried and told her.”
“Oh… Okay, thanks again!”
She wandered out, walking straight into a broad-shouldered, off-white stallion. Her pupils shrank to the size of mustard seeds and her face exploded in a hot-pink blast. Her body was on fire with embarrassment, and she only managed to utter “Eep.”
Steely gray-blue eyes turned to meet her gaze and she fainted dead away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later...
Fluttershy revived inside a cozy, orange-yellow cottage, slightly littered with papers, pencils, and a gigantic brass instrument.
“Wh-where am I…?” She whispered, still trying to blink away the haze of sleep-induced disorientation.
“My house,” said an unfamiliar, somewhat deep male voice. She turned to see the strange pegasus. His expression was uncertain, and he shifted his weight uneasily. A pair of glasses rimmed his slightly greenish-gray-blue eyes.
“My name’s Kenan, and you are?”
“Eep.”
“That’s an interesting name. Nice to meet you, Eep,” he replied swiftly, with a faint smile.
She blushed fiercely, suddenly finding the edge dark blue blanket she was lying beneath extremely interesting.
“N-no… M-my n-name’s, F- f-fluttershy… N-nice to meet y-you, t-too, K-kenan...” He leaned forward to catch the end of her sentence, as she began to slip under the blanket again.
“Ah, that’s a pretty name.” He smiled anxiously, his eyes holding hers despite the nervousness of both pegasi.
“H-how l-long have I b-been out?”
“Only about twenty minutes. I made you some food.” He offered her a sandwich, which Fluttershy nearly dropped.
“Do you usually faint so easily?”
“U-um… Depends…”
He smiled sympathetically. Hoping to strike a conversation, he asked, “Do you like jazz?”
Fluttershy looked confused. “What’s t-that?”
“A type of music. Here, I’ll play some for you.” He stepped carefully over the papers to a CD player, and pushed down the play button. It registered in Fluttershy’s mind that the papers were sheet music, and that his cutie mark was of a series of notes.
A slightly slow but jam-able tune began to play, and Fluttershy hid under the blanket at first, to his dismay, but as the song went on, she, with Kenan’s help, got up and sat by the speakers, lowering it slightly to suit her usual levels of sound. Which was next to inaudible.
Nevertheless, he smiled again encouragingly and held out a hoof.
Fluttershy stared at the proffered hoof in horror. He couldn’t help but smile.
“I, u-um, don’t know h-how to d-dance…”
“Neither do I.”
“O-oh.”
“Rain check, then?”
She nodded, and her stomach growled.
“You should probably eat your sandwich.”
“Y-yeah.”
He picked it up off the dresser where she left the plate and set it before her again. She gingerly took up a half-piece in her hooves and nibbled.
“It’s good.”
“Oh, good! I thought it was just me who liked ham and barbecue sauce.”
She examined the sticky reddish-brown substance that stained her hoof before licking it off.
“I l-like it too.” The sandwich was gone a few minutes later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not long after...
“Oh, Angel, he’s so sweet!” Fluttershy flopped onto the couch with her small white friend and squeezed him gently in a hug.
“He’s strange, certainly, but, goodness, he’s dreamy. I think his eyes change color, I can never tell what they are. He showed me music called ‘spaz’ and it was very fun, and he gave me a yummy sandwich, and he was messy in a clean way, and gentle, and sweet, and- and- ohhh…”
She melted, her body going limp as she thought of his uncertain smile, his strawberry-blonde mane and off-white color, the black glasses that so perfectly framed his soft eyes.
“I think I’m in love…”
Angel watched with concern as his companion became a puddle of mush surrounded by floating red hearts. He thumped his foot, wanting food. He figured Fluttershy hadn’t realized that she’d slept for two days, three hours, and twenty-three minutes, and they, in her absence, had been subjected to Twilight’s pathetic attempts at feeding him and his other woodland friends.
As she continued to talk to herself and cast her starry gaze upon the ceiling, Angel hopped to another room.
He returned with three others, each armed with an old-fashioned cloth slingshot, dust bunnies, and red, orange, and yellow paint smudging their cheeks. Letting out a silent bunny war cry from his long-dead ancestors, Angel spun his slingshot as fast as his short arms and big head would allow.
He heard his friends abandon their weapons and run off quickly as the world tilted to the side. His brow furrowed. Fluttershy was still draped across the couch in a pose reminiscent of Rarity. Why was she-...
Oh.
The slingshot had decided it wanted to fly solo - literally - and had begun pulling away from the ground. Whether or not there was a hungry, angry bunny attached to it was not its problem.
Angel thought his dilemma was simple enough: hold on and be taken somewhere unknown, possibly without a properly-made salad anywhere in sight, or let go and fall three - no, four now, four feet to the ground and eventually get Fluttershy off her rump and into the kitchen where she belonged.
His small body thumped onto the floor.
The lovestruck pegasus didn’t even jump.
Angel glared at her and stomped to the kitchen.
The sound of several things shattering on the ground echoed around the cottage. Various shapes, sizes, and colors of little furry animal heads popped into the living room.
Fluttershy was still on Cloud 9.
Angel waited in the kitchen for a moment, waiting for her voice to drift into one of his big white ears. His nose twitched. He, too, peeked at the pony fantasizing on the couch. And grinned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Applejack knocked on the door and waited a few moments before nosing in.
“Fluttahshy? Fluttahshy, hunny, ah ya alri- ...Deah Celestia.”
The cottage was in turmoil. There were birds wrapped up in the curtains, all the ferrets were snuggled on the bear’s bed, and the owner of said bed was somewhere on top of the roof, judging by his angry roar. The bunnies - noticeably Angel - were nowhere to be found. Fluttershy had fallen asleep on the couch, little hearts still dancing around her ears.
The alarmed earth pony galloped outside and scanned the roof.
The butterflies and bunnies were teaming up against the angry bear! She watched in distress as the multicolored insects easily dodged the bear’s clumsy swings and then gathered around its eyes, obscuring its sight. The small horde of “sweet” baby rabbits were weaving through its legs, bumping and scratching it, throwing off the infuriated creature’s balance.
Suspicious, her emerald eyes swept over the blurs of fluff. None were Angel’s stark white.
She trotted inside, looking for the tiny troublemaker.
Quietly, she poked her head into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was a bloated white puffball with a face filled with regret and covered in carrot cake.
Applejack scowled and glared him down.
“Ah yah responsible foh alla this?” she demanded, her nose not two inches from the sick creature’s muzzle.
He nodded miserably, and looked at the empty plate.
Applejack’s eyes bulged. She’d made that same cake for Twilight to take to the passed-out pegasi just yesterday! This glutton had eaten what seemed to be the entire thing. Minus a slice.
“Well, shoot. That’ll teach you not to be a piggie, little feller.”
She noticed Fluttershy sleeping on the couch and made a face. Turning around, she reared up and kicked the gently spinning hearts into the wall. They peeled themselves off and floated back over to the pegasus.
“Huh. I guess Fluttahshy’s in love. Weird.”
She thought about Pinkie Pie and her recent infatuation with oysters and shook the thought out of her head.
She nudged Fluttershy. Then shook her. Then tickled her. She wouldn’t wake up, no matter what Applejack did. She seemed to be too busy dreaming about her crush, giggling and blushing every so often like a schoolgirl.
The despairing mare did the one thing she knew would work: she got Twilight.
Running full-tilt into town, she charged through the library door.
Twilight cantered over and looked at the firewood on the floor.
“Ah, it’s alright, Applejack. I’ll have Spike repair - or... replace - it later. What has you in such a rush?”
“Well, you see, Twi, I went to go take some o’ them apple fritters that Sweetie Belle made - which, by the way, ah pretty darn good - to Fluttahshy, ‘cuz I know she loves herself some apple fritters, and I found the poor gal passed out on the couch with hearts or som’n flyin’ ‘round her head. Her house is in chaos, Twi! Angel’s sick from too much cake, the bear’s bein’ terrorized by them other bunnies as well’s them butterflies, an-”
“I get it. Sounds like we should hurry before they bring the house down!” Twilight jumped over her shattered door, calling over her shoulder to her baby dragon, “Spi-i-ike! You have your work cut out for you!”
Applejack heard a groan from the loft as she galloped after the unicorn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight stepped tentatively into Fluttershy’s dead-silent, wrecked cottage. Applejack shifted uneasily and stuck by her friend’s side for comfort.
“It was as wild in here as it was that one time in Apploosa when them bisons were attackin’ the town! I swear it, Twi!” whispered the earth pony loudly.
They looked around everywhere, but there wasn’t hide nor hair to be found of a single creature. Applejack halted as she passed a window and looked outside.
“Uh-oh. Twi.”
Twilight trotted over and took a peek.
Outside, Fluttershy was glaring down the terrified animals. Her mouth was moving, but from inside, the girls couldn’t hear a single murmur. A red shack loomed ominously over the pegasi, her teal eyes intense. She looked like she was about to kill someone.
Twilight and Applejack galloped outside, their hoofbeats drawing Fluttershy’s attention and allowing the animals to run away. The yellow mare smiled as they approached.
“H-hello, my friends. Did you need something?”
They stared at her in shock. Twilight was the first to speak.
“N-no, Applejack and I were just coming to check on you and, um, I wanted to ask if you wanted to come help me organize the library?”
“Oh. But the animals ruined my cottage, I… I have to get it fixed.” She seemed terrified at the prospect of having to use a hammer, much less a power drill.
Applejack looked amused. “Ah got it, Fluttahshy, dontcha worry one feather on your wings about it.”
“R-really?”
“Really.”
“Oh, thank you, Applejack.”
Twilight interrupted before much else could be said. “Shall we go?”
Fluttershy nodded and walked alongside Twilight, leaving Applejack to her work.
The unicorn put on her most innocent, totally-not-nosey expression, and said, “So, what’s this about you having a crush on someone?”
Her face matched her mane, and the shy mare stammered, “I-it’s r-really n-n-nothing, I m-met him on the w-way h-home from g-going to say th-thank you to you for that t-treatment you g-gave me, a-and-”
“Calm down.”
Fluttershy came to her senses and realized she was about 10 feet off the ground. She dropped down, her cheeks beginning to look a lot like Pinkie’s mane now.
“S-sorry.”
“What’s his name?”
“K-Kenan. I think he thinks my name is Eep. H-he asked me to d-dance with him.”
Twilight giggled. “I take it you didn’t?”
“N-no, he said I could have a rain check.”
“He seems like a nice guy. You should let us meet him.”
“A stallion? Fluttershy has met a stallion?” inquired an educated, refined voice. Rarity trotted up to the two, and the pegasi nearly fainted in embarrassment.