//------------------------------// // Fluttershy // Story: Little Glimpses // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Six months have come and gone since Rainbow Dash was publically revealed to Canterlot. Six months since she truly began to bond and connect with Princess Celestia. Six months since she began to spend time with Twilight Sparkle quite regularly, leading to an unlikely but strong friendship. In this time, Rainbow has grown quite accustomed to her new life, finding herself once more feeling truly happy. With the last days of summer at hoof, a train pulls into the Canterlot station. Aboard this train is an old, dear friend of the new Princess, come from the city of Cloudsdale.     Fluttershy looked up at the tall and immaculately constructed buildings of Canterlot with wide, nervous eyes. Numerous ponies shuffled by in a sizable crowd in an effort to get off of the train platform and go about their business. So many ponies, a few casting her glances for any number of reasons, was more than enough to make her want to bury her head in the street and vanish entirely. “Hey, easy there, Fluttershy,” Her dad whispered gently, pulling her slightly closer to him. “You’re okay. We got you.” Fluttershy whimpered her appreciation almost silently. Her parents gently urged her on once they were off of the platform, guiding her carefully through the streets on their way to the hotel they had reserved a room in. Fluttershy’s mind wasn’t thinking about most of that, however. What she saw ahead caused her heart to race at a million miles per hour. Such detailed and artfully crafted structures. A keen and creative eye clearly was a part of the creation of every single building in this city. Rainbow Dash has been living here…? Fluttershy asked herself, unbelieving that the rambunctious and energetic filly she remembered could be comfortable here in such a city.     What she isn’t comfortable, then? What if she doesn’t like it here? What if she wants to go back to Cloudsdale? Could we live next door to each other again? Could everything go back to normal?     Fluttershy sighed weakly and hid behind her long pink mane as much as possible while her parents guided her along the streets. Even though the hotel was the cheapest place in Canterlot they could have rented, it still took them six months just to save up enough bits for this trip and it was still going to cost them a front and back leg.     Fluttershy was so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice that she was drifting slightly away from her parents. She only became aware of this when she stumbling into the well-groomed forelegs of a tall gray stallion with a curled black mane and a hoofbar moustache.     “Oof!”     Fluttershy squeaked loudly in alarm and immediately backed up a step after bumping into him. She glanced up and immediately shrunk down at the furious scowl the stallion in front of her was showing. “Watch where you’re going, little missy!” he snapped in a thickly accented voice before adjusting the tie of his suit and then strutting around Fluttershy with a loud ‘humph’ of contempt.     “Oh my goodness… I’m so sorry…” Fluttershy whimpered pathetically, shrinking down as much as possible, her body trembling with anxiety. Instantly her parents came to her aid, helping her to her hooves and leading her along.     “Are you alright, dear?” Mrs Shy asked worriedly.     “Um… Yes, I think so.” Fluttershy whispered, taking come degree of comfort in her parent’s presence.     “We’re almost there. I can already see the place.’ Mr Shy said reassuringly with a small smile.     Eventually, the family of pegasi reached their destination, a three story hotel. Compared to other places in the city, this building was pretty mundane. If nothing else, that put Fluttershy a bit more at ease. All the same, she still did her best to remain hidden behind or under her parents, just wanting everything to be situated so they could get to the castle. They had come here for a very specific reason, after all.     I don’t want to be in the open anymore than I need to… I just want to get in and spend time with her...     Soon enough, everything was paid for and they were given instructions and a key to their room. Mr and Mrs Shy looked rather impressed in their own timid and subdued ways. Even being the cheapest and lowest rated hotel in Canterlot, the place still managed to maintain an air of pride and sophistication that even the biggest and finest manors of Cloudsdale would be hard pressed to consistently match. Some fine art hung from the walls and the buildings architecture was sturdy and artful at the same time, despite some very clear aging and lack of recent maintenance.     Finally, they reached their room. Two beds dominated the center, one for Fluttershy and one for her parents. Between them was a night stand equipped with an alarm clock, a tourist pamphlet, some advertisement flyers and an ornate lamp. “It’s very nice, isn’t it dear?” Mr Shy asked his wife with a small smile.     “Yes, it is. What do you think, Fluttershy?”     “It’s... lovely.” was Fluttershy’s almost inaudible response. Her parents frowned slightly at her reclusiveness. She was always shy and reserved, but not usually around her parents.     “The city bothering you, sweety?” Mrs Shy asked with a look of concern, trotting over to her daughter and sitting down next to her.     “It’s just… all… it’s just so much to look at. So many ponies, too… and I don’t recognize any of them and… they all seem so much more, um, important than I am…” Fluttershy mumbled almost incoherently, shrinking down even more.     “It’s okay. We won’t deal with them any more than we have to,” Mr Shy said with a small smile. “So… when is court supposed to start up in the castle?”     “Another hour, I think,” Mrs Shy answered with a mild wince. “From what I’ve heard, though, it could take quite a while to actually get in to see the Princess. The lines can get pretty long if you haven’t arranged for a time slot in advance...”     “We’ll take however long we have to,” Mr Shy said firmly before looking down to Fluttershy. “We’ve saved our bits for the last six months and came all the way over here, after all. Let’s go the rest of the way, eh?”     “Thank you…” Fluttershy whispered before hugging her dad tightly. He hummed comfortingly and returned the hug gently, rocking back and forth slightly.     “It’s been awhile since you’ve seen her. Behave yourself, alright?”     “I will…”     “Twilight, no magic! We’ve been over this!” Rainbow barked in very mild frustration while trotting over to Twilight. The filly in question currently stood, recoiled and braced for what she had been expecting to be an imminent impact from a high-velocity dodge ball.Her horn was lit up in magic and clutched the ball in question in a lavender glow mere inches from her face. Twilight cracked open an eye and huffed at Rainbow.     “Well, maybe if you didn’t throw it quite so fast I wouldn’t have to use magic to protect my face.” She shot back with a frown, letting the ball drop from the air. Rainbow was swift to catch it and roll her eyes.     “It’s called dodge ball for a reason, Twilight. You’re supposed to, you know, dodge?” Rainbow teased with a small smirk.     “Yes, and we’ve also talked about the fact that I am not as into these sports as you are, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight bluntly stated before sighing slightly. “Frankly, I don’t like this one at all. A bit too… brutish.”     Rainbow slapped a hoof into her face. “Twilight, do you even realize how much aerial finesse this game requires when played in mid-air?”     “We’re not in the air, though,” Twilight pointed out while waving a hoof at their surroundings in the west castle courtyard. “We might mess up the plants or the hedges or something!”     Rainbow pouted and pushed her wings against the restraining wrappings around her barrel. “Yeah, well, it was your idea to cut out our different advantages. Speaking of, you keep forgetting to not use magic.”     “It’s a reflex!” Twilight defended in frustration. Rainbow lifted her forehooves defensively.     “Hey, I get it. Chill. Tell you what…” Rainbow shifted to look at Spike, who sat in a small folding chair not far away to watch the show. “Hey, Spike! Come here!”     The purple baby dragon stood and ran (albeit wobbly) up to Rainbow. “Yes, Rainbow?” He asked in a delightfully cute voice. Twilight couldn’t help but smile proudly at just how far the little guy had come. He was starting to really figure out how she liked to have things organized, to the point she would return from her lessons with the Princess to see him dutifully cleaning up her room and getting everything sorted nice and neat.     Rainbow gestured to her binds. “Take these off, would ya?”     Spike nodded and reached out.     “Wait, hold on!” Twilight cut in, stepping up and gently easing Spike back. She shot Rainbow a look. “Didn’t we just go over the damage to the garden this could cause?”     Rainbow put on a smirk. “Have we gone over the fact that, frankly, that doesn’t bother me?”     “It should!”     “Why?”     “You’re Princess Celestia’s daughter! I thought you figured that part out!”     Rainbow tapped her chin in thought. “That’s true…” Twilight wore a victorious smile. “...By paperwork only.” Twilight lost her smile to a resigned frown. “Look, here’s the idea,” Rainbow began while Spike got back to pulling the restraints off of her wings. “I can fly and you can use magic. Just don’t grab me or anything other than the dodge balls and we should be good.” Twilight puffed up her cheeks in mild aggravation but then nodded along. “Okay, fine. Spike, could you keep score please?” “Sure.” Spike said happily, the restraints sliding off of Rainbow and crumpling up in the grass. He then began waddling back to his chair before retrieving a notebook and pencil from Twilight’s deposited saddlebags. Rainbow gave her wings a few flexes just to make sure they were working right and then shot up into the air. “Alright, Twilight. You got yours?” “Yeah. Do you?” Rainbow smirked before shooting down to the ground and coming back up with a dodge ball in each forehoof. “You bet!” “Okay. Spike, give us a countdown!” Twilight called while levitating up two dodge balls to float next to her, ready to shoot at Rainbow and knock her from the sky at a moment's notice. “Sure! Ahem… Three!” Rainbow licked her lips and focused her eyes, a competitive grin slowly forming on her face. “Two!” Twilight’s face scrunched with concentration, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth. A few beads of sweat formed on her face. “One!” “Rainbow Dash?!” a soft voice squeaked from directly behind Twilight. In surprise, she turned to look behind herself. Her turn put her out of the way of Rainbow’s first throw, which bounced off of the grass where Twilight had been a moment ago. It rebounded and collided with the face of a thin and timid looking yellow pegasus filly, who yelped in pain and surprise before flailing back and curling up into a ball. “Huh?” was all that Twilight could utter at the little filly before she got a hold of herself. “Oh, shoot! Are you okay? I am so sorry about that, I should have caught the ball. You aren’t hurt, are you?” The filly shook slightly under the barrage of questions and merely whimpered. Twilight took a step back and looked up to Rainbow Dash for help. Rainbow was drifting back to the ground, her dodge balls forgotten, mouth agape and eyes wide. “Do you know this filly, Rainbow?” “Uh… y-yeah.” Rainbow mumbled, slowly trotting up to the cowering pegasus. She slowly lay down before her and reached out. “...Fluttershy?” “Rainbow…?” the filly, now identified as Fluttershy, responded, peeking out from her mane with wide and frightened eyes. “I’m sorry… is this a bad time?” “Wha… Oh, Fluttershy…” Rainbow instantly reached out and pulled Fluttershy into a warm embrace. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise, but then swiftly returned the hug. “Don’t you ever change, you hear me?” “Uh… okay?” Rainbow pulled back and smiled at her old friend with teary eyes. “Do you have any idea how good it is to see you again?” Fluttershy shifted uneasily then shook her head. “Good, ‘cause words would fail to describe it,” Rainbow said softly before standing up and helping Fluttershy to her hooves. “Hey, Twilight. Allow me to introduce you to my oldest friend. Her name is Fluttershy.” Twilight put on a friendly smile. “Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to meet you.” Fluttershy whimpered.