Prince of Errors

by David Silver


24 - Shy Parties

Pinkie pronked along down the road. "You have no idea how much of a relief this is!"

Fluttershy perked an ear at her animated friend as she walked far more sedately. "I'm glad to hear that, but, um, what is?"

Pinkie paused mid-air a moment in defiance of casual physics. "You're helping the prince, remember?"

"Oh, no, but... thank you for reminding me."

Pinkie started going over the details again, finishing with, "I'll really be happy when we beat this curse, and knowing the girls don't think I'm, you know, totally crazy."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Is that why Discord's upset? He hasn't wanted to talk to me the last few days. I hope he gets better soon..."

"You mentioned it was an 'order' thing, and Discord's, like, anti-order, so he probably didn't like it." She lifted her shoulders. "But he'll get better. He always does, and he has you for a friend, so how can he not?!"

Fluttershy smiled with a little blush at the compliment. "I'll do my best. But let's focus on one friend at a time. I'm supposed to talk to your prince. I wonder if he's nice..."

"I heard you met him already."

Fluttershy did not remember that. She followed Pinkie until the pink pronker perched on a wall.

Pinkie thrust a hoof forward. "There he is! Go say hello."

"You're not coming with me?" Fluttershy tilted her head up at Pinkie.

"Nope." Pinkie pointed firmly. "Go on. Twilight told me it's supposed to just be you and him. I'll wait here, in sight. So you're not completely alone, promise."

"Right." Fluttershy followed the thrust hoof into the crowd, working her way until it broke apart, making room for a grey pony that was just... sitting there. But there was nothing interesting about the grey pony. Where was that prince? She looked left and right, frowning softly.

"Hey, um..."

Fluttershy's ears perked. The grey pony had spoken to her. "Oh, hello. Do you know where a 'Prince' is?"

The grey pony sat up and pointed at himself. "That's me. You forgot." He didn't seem shocked at that. "You may want to check your notes again."

"Oh, right." She dug out her notes, scanning quickly from one page to the next.

"This must be annoying," noted the prince, watching her read. "I'm curious, why are you all so ready to help?"

"It's the right thing to do," replied Fluttershy. "Besides, you're a friend of Pinkie Pie, which makes you a friend of us too, and we like it when our friends are happy." She closed the book and nodded firmly, looking confident. "Alright!"

"All caught up." He patted a spot beside himself on the blanket he was perched on.

"Yes." She sat down on the indicated place. "So... it's rough, isn't it?"

"Which part? Being forgot? I mean, I think it's rougher for the people that want to remember me... I make do."

Fluttershy twitched up an ear. "Oh, well, a little, but..." She brought up two hooves to tap together. "Ponies sure can be confusing, can't they? They're so... loud, and complicated, and sometimes you just... want to hide."

"Your animals weren't those things." He smiled gently, thinking back on that brief experience. "Each of them had a clear need, and when you gave it, they got happy. The end."

"Sometimes, I bet you wish everyone could be like that... but they can't... And it's... um... hard."

"Yeah..." He inclined his head a little at Fluttershy. "You ever feel that way?"

"All the time," she gusted out with an awkward smile. "All... the time. But I'm getting better! Really..."

"Good on you." He reached for her shoulder, patting it gently. "You're very brave. I know some people complain that you aren't 'learning your lessons', but I think they're full of it. You're so brave, coming out of your shell like that. You're making such obvious progress, little by little... I mean, shoot... You manage to have the other five as friends and not go into a panic attack when one of them acts weird, and they all act weird."

Fluttershy sat up, surprised at the sudden gushing words coming from the prince. Her cheeks began to warm at the compliments. "Oh, um, thank you... That's very kind of you to say, but I think it's partially because of them that I've come so far... If it's a, um, shell, like you said, they were reaching into it with kind hooves and pulling me out."

"And sometimes you get scared, and you run back inside, and that's not.... not learning a lesson, that's just being human."

"Pony."

"Right, being pony, same thing." He smirked a little, ears fixed on Fluttershy intently. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry," she retorted. "I mean... I'm here to talk about you, not me. I, uh, appreciate your words, but..." She reached out a hoof. "If I... may?"

He blinked softly at her extended hoof, not quite grasping what was being offered. "May what?"

"May I reach into your shell?" She smiled a little. "It's scary... but it's worth it."

His cheeks darkened, not to a red color, but darker hues of grey. "Oh! Um... You make me look like an extrovert. You're pretty good at talking with people."

"Because of practice." She reached further, touching his side. "Because of friends. You already have some, but you keep hiding. Don't you... want to see what's outside that shell?"

"I didn't decide this!" he half-squeaked. "It's weird curse... thing."

"Maybe." She tilted her head a little. "But I imagine you like it, just a little... I mean... if I say something you don't like, you can just... be quiet, and I'll wander away... You can hide in that shell, and nopony can get past it."

Like how he should have been quiet right that moment! He could just shut up, and the awkward conversation would end, just like that... "People are confusing."

"They are," she gently agreed. "They want so many different things, and they're loud and they expect so much without even knowing what they want... It's scary and hard but... It's worth it..."


"Whatcha starin' at?" asked Applejack, looking up at Pinkie.

Pinkie held up a hoof. "Shhh, they're talking!"

"Oh, uh, that's good, ah guess?" She quirked a brow up. "Who's talkin'?"

"The pony you probably forgot already and Fluttershy. I think it's working! She's getting through to him." She practically vibrated with excitement. "Ooo!"

"Huh, well..." She considered her pink friend a moment. "Are you matchmaking? That hasn't ended well fer you in the past."

"The only way to get better at something is to keep on trying." Pinkie nodded with confidence, her eyes not leaving the exchange between the prince and Fluttershy.

"Can't argue that none, if nopony's gettin' hurt by it. Good luck, Pinkie."

"Thanks!"


"Why do you like Angel?" he asked, changing topics abruptly as he turned towards her.

"Huh?"

"Angel, the bunny. Why do you put up with him? He's not nice like the other animals."

"Oh, but he is." Her expression eased into a little smile. "He may not seem it, but he loves me dearly. He's... practice in some ways, of someone a little more complicated. He really does care about me."

"Does he?" The prince raised a brow. "He doesn't show it."

"He does! With actions." She nodded once with confidence. "When I need something, he's there. A supporting presence, a reminder, whatever he can do, he just does it. Sure, he's loud, and fusses, but he never... doesn't do what needs to be done. He is a friend."

"Huh..." He frowned at her a little, looking pensive. "If I was that annoying...?"

"Well, I barely know you... You're not that annoying so far." She smiled a little. "Not that I see Angel as 'annoying', just challenging, and... I have that worked out."

"Right... You have a life, a full life. Even when you're not dealing with ponies, you have dozens on dozens of animal friends." He waved a hoof wide. "You may hide from other people, but you're not alone."

Fluttershy was quiet a moment. "Were... you alone?"

"I..." He was ready to defend himself. He had friends! Online friends? They... "I..."

"It's alright." She reached gently petted his side with the hoof she never took back. "It's alright."

"I was alone," he admitted, half to himself, a little shiver running through his body. "Oh god."

"You really are a human."

He blinked the tears away. "Huh?"

"Only humans refer to god, whatever that is." She lifted her shoulders softly. "It's not a bad thing, just a thing. It just tells me you're one. So... what's it like?"

"Being a human?" He quirked an ear up at her, the other off to the side.

"No, you can't tell me that. You were born a human, like I was born a pony. What's it like being a pony?"

He blinked rapidly at that. "I didn't think of it that way... Being a pony is nice in some ways, less so in other ways, uh..." He reached out a hoof. "I miss hands a lot. How do you pick things up with your hooves? Pinkie's really good at it!"

Fluttershy slid in a little closer, reaching for a fork that was set on the carpet. "Were you having a picnic?" She tapped her hoof against the fork and pulled it back, the fork attached to the frog of her hoof. "Like this?"

"Exactly like that..." He reached for the fork, clopping his hoof against hers. He could feel the fork pressed to her hoof and it felt like it didn't want to move as he jiggled his hoof about trying to dislodge it. "Can you feel that?"

"Of course." She smiled softly. "It takes effort to hold something like this though. I'm going to let it go." It went limp between their hooves, falling from where it had been held up. "Pinkie is very good at it. It's like she isn't even really trying. I'm always amazed a little."

He drew his hoof away just barely and the fork fell to the blanket. "Can... um... I'm already taking up your time."

"Go ahead," she gently encouraged with a smile. "I'm here for you."

"Would you show me how to do that?" He pointed down at the fork. "My horn only works when I'm pretending to be a unicorn."

"I would be delighted." She put her hoof to the fork but did not lift it. Instead she nudged it towards him. "Press the frog of your hoof directly against it."

He did as she instructed. "Alright?"

"Now imagine a muscle, just behind your frog. It has to pull back a little." She reached with a wing and tickled the bottom of his hoof. He started to giggle at the ticklish sensation, but she didn't stop. "Can you feel it fluttering? That's the one you need to move."

"O-oh! Oh, um..." When the tickling stopped, he tried to move things around with thought instead of as a reaction. "Mmm, unnn..."

"Relax," she gently encouraged. "Relax... Just that one muscle..."

"Just that..." He pulled his hoof up. The fork fell to the blanket limply.

"You did it." Fluttershy clopped her hooves gently.

He blinked at the limp fork. "I didn't pick it up.

"Yes you did, or it wouldn't have fallen." She nudged the fork back to its starting point. "You picked it up just a little bit and it fell. Keep practicing and you'll get better, promise."

He inclined an ear at her, but moved the hoof to try again despite his uncertainty. "Like... this." He lifted his hoof and the fork fell again. "This is going to take time..."

"Like most good things." She nodded softly. "Like making friends. It takes time and it can be scary... but it's worth the trouble."

He made another limp attempt to pick up the fork, making little progress that could be seen, but he was trying. "Say... Fluttershy?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I... help with the animals?"

"Of course you can." She smiled gently. "Any assistance would be appreciated. There are a lot of them and only one of me. You should see the poor veterinarian. She's often overworked."

"You're going to forget that, aren't you?"

Fluttershy was quiet a moment, tapping a hoof to her chin, watching him work with the fork. "Do you want me to forget that? I mean, even with your curse you could just walk over and help my animals and I suppose I'd never know. Would you want that?"

That would be a lot easier, he realized. He'd never have to actually talk with her, just be with the animals. It would be so easier and less stressful.

He pulled the fork up and managed to curl his hoof around so the fork was resting on his hoof, successfully picked up. "Hey look!"

Fluttershy softly clopped her forehooves. "Very good! Um... but... do you want that?"

He rolled his ears back. "I'm going to say something stupid eventually and you'll stop wanting to be around me."

"I'll probably say something silly first." She shrugged lightly. "I won't run away if you promise not to either."

Was it that simple? The fork fell from his hoof to the blanket. "I'll... think about it."

"That's all that I ask. I, um... know what it's like, having people who are more outside their shells pulling a little too... fast... If you want to visit and help the animals, you're welcome to do so. Say hello... if you feel like it, or don't, and that's alright too." She perked her ears. "Oh!"

"Oh?"

"Yes, you talked to me first today. That was very brave of you. What made you do that?" She had such a kind smile on her face. "Now that I think of it, that took real effort, and I appreciate that."

What had made him do that. "You looked like you were searching for someone... I see a lot of ponies. I... thought maybe I could help?"

"And you did." She giggled softly into a hoof. "You knew exactly where the pony I was looking for was. Thank you."

His heart was racing, he realized. When had that started? He rose to his hooves. "I... should go. It was nice talking to you."

"And to you." She stood up as well. "Don't forget your things."

"Oh, yeah." He started gathering up his picnic supplies together, wrapping the blanket around it all to carry it. "See ya."

She let him go, watching him depart into the crowd.

"How'd it go!" asked Pinkie, standing next to Fluttershy.

"Eep! Oh, hello Pinkie. How did what go?"

Pinkie sagged. "Oh... You didn't take any notes, did you?"

She shook her head. "Notes about what? Oh... I was supposed to find that prince... No... I..." She frowned softly, her mind fogged. "We did speak..."

Pinkie's expression lit up brightly. "You remember?!"

"No." She sat on her haunches. "Just that we spoke... It was... a good talk, I think... That's all I remember."

Pinkie began clopping her hooves excitedly. "Woo! That's a step in the right direction and I'll take it." She hugged Fluttershy tightly suddenly. "Twilight was right, you are the secret!"

"I feel like a secret," she muttered, wondering what the conversation had actually covered. "I should probably get back to the cottage. It's almost meal time."

"Oh, alright." Pinkie released her and bounced back. "Thanks again, and one more thanks from the prince, since I bet he said that but you don't remember."

"That sounds right." She smiled gently as she turned for her house. "If I can help, you know where to find me, Pinkie."


"She remembered it?" Twilight raised a brow.

"Only a little, but a little is a lot more than nothing!" Pinkie threw her hooves wide. "I don't know what they said, but she's the closest to putting a dent in this thing. I mean I don't even count, since it just doesn't work on me. Why doesn't it work on me anyway? I'm not complaining or anything but--"

Twilight popped a hoof in Pinkie's snout, quieting the pony. "We don't know, but I am curious about that as well. My theory is that this is a problem rooted in socialization. He doesn't want to be reached, and this... curse... if you want to call it that, obliges him. You--" She pulled her hoof back to point at Pinkie instead of clogging her mouth. "--have a habit of shoving yourself in past pony's desires for solitude, and it seems to persist even in this case."

Pinkie's grin went wider. "Is this a literal friendship problem?! Why didn't the map tell us about it?"

"The map never did tell us about every single friendship problem ever, besides..." She rolled a hoof in the air. "You were in the right place and did the right thing without its prompting, so maybe it just let things happen the way they would, since that got things done without any intervention."

"Huh... I missed out on a map quest because I'm too good at making friends?" She stuck out her tongue a little. "That's almost disappointing, really."

"Think of it this way; you are on a map quest, minus the cutie mark signals." Twilight patted Pinkie's shoulder. "It was very brave and good of you to stick with this when everypony else was doubting you. Now, I think, Fluttershy has to finish this, or at least get him to the next step in the journey."

"But... how? She still can't see him, and she barely remembers they talked. How will--"

Twilight set a hoof gently on Pinkie's chest. "You've told me this before and now I return it; have some faith. I can't explain what this is, but I believe in Fluttershy. She'll do this, and save that pony."

"I do believe in Fluttershy," she agreed with a headbob. "But I'll also keep an eye out to see if I can lend a hoof."