//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: News, Good and Bad // Story: Fluttershy: Galactic Zoologist // by Boogaloo10 //------------------------------// A quiet knock came from the door of the hut. Fluttershy and Ahsoka, who had been sleeping soundly, slowly stirred. Rubbing her eyes, the Padawan grumbled, "Come in." One of the lower-ranking clone troopers entered. He saluted awkwardly at Ahsoka, who waved her hand, telling him to stop. "What is it?" Fluttershy asked before letting out a huge yawn. Even after sleeping as good as she did last night, she was still tired. Yesterday had been very exciting. "There's an incoming transmission from Coruscant." The trooper said. "It concerns you, Miss Fluttershy." "If it concerns Fluttershy, it concerns me too." Ahsoka said stubbornly, climbing out of bed. Fluttershy did the same, stretching her wings as she landed on the floor. The girls followed the clone trooper to one of the huts on the edge of the camp. Upon entering, they saw that the clones had outfitted it to function as a base. There were weapons leaning against various places of the walls, and in the center of the hut was a holotable. It was beeping, signaling that there was an incoming message. Ahsoka and Fluttershy found places next to each other by the holotable. The commanding trooper pressed a few buttons on the side of the table, and a hologram of Master Windu appeared. "Miss Fluttershy. Padawan Tano," the Master greeted. "I wanted to update you on the situation with the pirates." Fluttershy nodded. Good! i'll finally know what's going on! "Currently, Generals Kenobi and Skywalker are on the planet Florrum. They've missed their last two check-ins, so we can only assume they have been captured." "This is the second time that's happened," Ahsoka whispered to Fluttershy, who stifled a giggle. "We're waiting for the pirates to send us a ransom." Master Windu continued, either ignoring Ahsoka's remark or not even knowing she made one. "The pirates are sly scum; reinforcements would be too risky to send. Depending on how everything goes, your stay on Naboo may be longer than expected." Fluttershy sighed. She wasn't sad about staying on Naboo; she honestly loved it here. She was sad about having to keep feeling unsafe, like she could be ambushed at any minute. "Thank you, Master Windu." Fluttershy said. She turned away from the holotable, Ahsoka following her out of the hut. She could hear the murmurs of the clones and the Master continuing the conversation as she returned to her and Ahsoka's hut. Fluttershy jumped into her bed and curled up into a ball. Ahsoka sat next to her. "What's wrong?" Fluttershy looked up at her friend, pondering the question. "I... I guess I just want to stop feeling scared all the time," the pony said. "I want to feel safe." Ahsoka looked like she wanted to say something, but she stayed silent. She simply scooted closer to her friend and laid down next to her. Ahsoka put one of her hands on one of Fluttershy's forehooves. Fluttershy laid her head on Ahsoka's hand. The two girls fell asleep... "C'mon, Fluttershy, you can do it!" Fluttershy looked behind her. A blue Pegasus with a frizzy rainbow mane grinned at her. She felt nervous. "I--I don't know if I can do this." "Of course you can do it! You're a great flier, you just have to believe in yourself!" the blue pony urged. Fluttershy looked at the cloud under her feet. Her hooves were quivering. She shut her eyes tight, and concentrated on moving her wings... An obnoxiously loud "WAAA-HOOOO!" came from behind Fluttershy. She turned around to look at the blue pony, and noticed she was further away. Lower. Fluttershy looked down. The cloud below her was no longer touching her hooves. She panicked, falling back down on the cloud. "Aw, why'd you stop?" the blue pony teased, although she sounded a little sad. "I... I was scared." Fluttershy said, blushing and turning away from the pony. "It's cool. You'll do it again, I know it." The blue pony came over and patted Fluttershy's back. "Now, you wanna get a snack?" "Sure, Rainbow," Fluttershy smiled, clumsily getting up before following her friend... Fluttershy woke up with a start. Ahsoka had shook her awake, and a clone trooper stood in the doorway of the hut. "There's been an update on the Generals' status," the trooper said. "They had only been experiencing a minor setback, and were never captured. They got the pirates to remove the bounty, and even got some extremely valuable information." Fluttershy looked confused. What could be so valuable? "They got the coordinates of your home planet." "I would expect you to be happier about being able to go home," Ahsoka said once the trooper left. Fluttershy looked at her friend. This time, she saw Ahsoka's face in a new light. Fluttershy could see the face of the blue pony from her dream looking back at her, wearing the same expression Ahsoka was. "You remind me of someone I knew back in Equestria," Fluttershy said, not noticing Ahsoka's confusion. "Her name... was... Rainbow. Rainbow Dash. She was rebellious, but loyal to those she cared about. She always tried to do the right thing, but she could get out of hand sometimes." "Are you sure you're not just describing me and using a different name?" Ahsoka joked. Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm so glad I met you, Ahsoka. I don't want to leave you. I don't want to leave Naboo. I want to stay here with you, going on new adventures every day, exploring every corner of the planet. I don't want to leave all of this." Being unable to stop herself, Fluttershy began to cry, and threw herself at Ahsoka, hugging her. A hand lightly brushed over Fluttershy's mane. "I don't want you to leave either." For the rest of the night, the girls hugged and cried. Neither wanted the other to go. Neither wanted this to end...