//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: The Mysterious Intruder 
// by TwishyOTP 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 2

Fluttershy was restless in her bed. So tired yet she could not sleep. Haunted by the pony dressed in black that she had caught in her home. 

“Who?...What?...Why?” She thought. “You need to calm down Fluttershy. Twilight said she would get to the bottom of this and she will. Everything will be back to normal in no time,” she thought as she finally began to relax and slowly drifted off to sleep. 

The next day the shy pegasus was awoken to the sound of Twilight pacing and mumbling to herself.  

“Think Twilight. Do you know of any unicorns that have malicious intent?” Twilight asked herself.

“Um Twilight?” Fluttershy said startling the alicorn.  

“Oh good morning Fluttershy! I hope you slept well last night.”

“As well as I could Twilight”

“Good to hear shy.Now about the investigation I believe I have narrowed our suspect down to only 3000 possibilities!” Twilight said enthusiastically.  

“3000? That’s so many ponies,” Fluttershy said confused.  

“ I know it may sound like that Fluttershy but that’s actually a very small amount considering how many suspects I started with.”

“How many did you start with?”

“You don’t wanna know.”

The two ponies chuckled. Rainbow Dash entered the room.  

“So Twilight did we catch them yet?” She asked.

“Oh Rainbow we’re very close,” Fluttershy said enthusiastically. “Twilight has the list narrowed down to just 3000 suspects.”

Fluttershy and Twilight burst into laughter as they saw the confused look appear on Rainbow’s face.  

“Well I hope the process speeds up a little,” Rainbow said, frustrated.

“You can’t rush these things Dash, Investigations like these take time. Besides we don’t have any leads other than the pony is a unicorn,” Twilight responded.

“Fair point,” Said Rainbow Dash. 

“Well in any case we need to gather more evidence and the only way to do that is by investigating Fluttershy’s cottage,” Said Twilight.  

“Alright well you two go on ahead I promised Scootaloo I would hang out with her today,” Rainbow Dash said as she headed towards the door.

“See you later Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy and Twilight said in unison before giggling as Rainbow left.  

“Well we had better get going,” Twilight said. 

Fluttershy nodded as the two headed out the door and towards the cottage. They soon arrived and Fluttershy was taken aback when she saw the state of her kitchen. She hadn’t been able to notice the mess last night as it was too dark to see clearly. The kitchen was in quite a state indeed. There were broken dishes on the floor, Drawers left opened, and a very upset looking Angel in the middle of it all.  

“Wow,” Twilight said. “They sure made a mess of things huh?”  

“U-huh,” Fluttershy responded.  

“It’s still odd though. What could they have been looking for? And in your kitchen no less?”

“I wish I knew Twilight.”

Twilight paused for a moment as she noticed the worried look on Fluttershy’s face.  

“Fluttershy I know this must be frightening for you and all but I promise you that things will be okay. I promise I won’t stop until I find out who did this.”

Twilight was slightly startled as the Pegasus enveloped her in a very warm embrace.  

“Oh thank you so much Twilight. You really are the best friend a pony could ask for.”  

“No need to thank me shy. I’m just doing what’s right.”  

Fluttershy smiled warmly at her friend.  

“Twilight sure is an amazing pony,” she thought. “And a beautiful one too.” Fluttershy paused. “Did I really just think that? I guess it’s not that strange right? She is my friend after all an there’s no denying that she’s beautiful... and smart, and courageous... and funny... and caring, and an incredible frie... wait a minute. Do I have a crush on Twilight???” 

Fluttershy had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t realized how much time had passed. 

“Um Fluttershy? Are you going to let me go now?” Twilight said in a slightly confused tone.  

Fluttershy had just realized that she had been hugging Twilight this whole time.  

“Oh a y-yes, s-sorry Twilight,” she said as she blushed heavily.

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle a little.  

“Fluttershy sure is cute sometimes.”