//------------------------------// // chapter 32. DDP // Story: Becoming Fluttershy // by Hope //------------------------------// After a few more silly questions, we fell mostly silent. I have decided that not talking is harmful to my health, since my thoughts immediately turned to the darkest of possible subjects; Family. As a human, my family was distant. My father worked, my brothers dug into their own interests, and my mother stood guard over us all, enforcing her ideals with an iron fist. As a pony, my parents were simply absent. To this day, without a back story from the show, I can only assume that I was left as an orphan, since my earliest memories are from cloudsdale orphanage. Our past wasn't a subject brought up often, and as the most timid of the bunch I never asked. I suppose my lead hoof really shows when I am deep in thought, because I appear to have gotten us to Kansas City far ahead the rest of the group. Oops, I suppose I should be glad we didn't get pulled over, but I would have welcomed being pulled over if it had interrupted my chain of thoughts. We made our way into the parking structure of the hotel we had picked out, they had assured us over the phone that they would not mind ponies in their rooms, and would in fact give us enough of a discount to make the whole group’s stay feasible. Yay for sleeping on a bed for once. As Reid unpacked his things, I lay on one of the beds, staring at my backpack. I should get out my laptop, I should check to see if Gilda made it out of the forest in one piece, I should get on and thank all the people who offered help, I should email my dad to let him know I am okay. I should, but I don’t. I can’t tell if Reid realized how lost I was or if he took it as boredom when I laid my head down on a pillow and sighed, but after a moment of contemplation, and a few looks out the window to see if there was a pool or something, he suggested we go to the mall across the street. I normally refuse to ever go to a mall unless I have money to buy something, but this is something Reid wants to do, and though I am inclined to curl up under the covers even though it is only afternoon, I want to make my friend happy, so I agree quickly. We make our way down and across the busy street, getting quite a few stares and one woman’s idle comment of “Why is pinkie wearing pants?” before finally making our way into the mall proper. The place was busy, and for a moment I had to fight the urge to run and hide under a nearby bench. “We can do this, ‘Shy, it'll be fine,” I whisper to myself as a shopper almost kicks me by accident. I heard Reid saying something, but I was in the middle of trying to keep my breathing regulated, and not flying out of there fast enough to cause a flutterboom. Those don’t exist by the way, I have never gone that fast in my life, and I don’t plan on it. “Lookit! Looklooklook!” He says, a hoof on my withers and a grin on his face. I really don’t want to look, its probably a my little pony store, or a news crew, or a MLP store with a news crew in it. Breathe, breathe. “Okay seriously. I’m a gamer... or immersed in gaming culture anyway. So most of my cultural identity has been stripped away. But there is something here I can still do as a pony. Can you please accept my enthusiasm?” He says. This is important to my friend, I can’t just ignore it. I turn to look with a small, awkward smile on my face. “Okay, okay, what's up?” “DDR!” He said with the biggest grin. “I didn’t really like it before but now it’s THERE! And I have four legs! And it’s one of those duet set type things! And... well, there are two ladies up there already, want next round?” I was a bit more interested in a computer store, since my laptop had a dead CD drive, but admittedly I had played DDR before, and with four legs it might be a different experience. “Wings allowed?” I ask with a smirk. “I wanna say ‘Hay no’ but I have a better idea.” He makes his way up to the two women and I can almost see a top hat appear as Pinkie’s voice takes a formal and very canterlot tone. “Do excuse my interruption, but do either of you have live-stream capable devices?” He asked, and I let the panic attack hit me. Luckily someone else was having a bigger one at that moment. One of the women, who I will forever think of as ‘Fluffy’ had begun to freak out as soon as she saw Reid. “OMG its Pinkie Pie!” She practically screeched. The rest of her words were a jumbled mess of rambling and mumbling as she did her best to swoon and hyperventilate at the same time. The other lady rolled her eyes. “Ignore her, she’d do that even if you weren’t her favorite pony. Yeah, I’ve got it on my phone.” She said, pulling fluffy aside. “Oh goody! Shy get up here, I am just about to be brilliant. And evil. But mostly brilliant.” Reid said, hopping onto his pad. I sort of stared at mine like it was a live cobra that wanted to eat me. “...Please? I’m not forcing you to do anything but... well... I... don’t want to dance alone.” He pouted, making my heart really ache at the thought of a sad faced pinkie DDRing alone. I giggled and got up onto the pad. “Your supposed to say ‘may I have this dance’ but that will do.” Reid grinned. “Right. Livestream on?” “I do this all the time for the library. Livestream on.” The more sane lady said. Pinkie seemed to take over with a vengeance as the camera was turned on, completely leaving behind any nervousness or apprehension, while I was shaking in my hooves. “Hey there everybrony! Fluttershy and I have decided to hold a little Q&A for all of you peeps that are watching our progress. But just watching ponies answering questions would be boring soooooooo... We’ll be dancing while we’re doing it! Say hi, deary.” She said before turning to me. I smiled best I could and waved, still hiding behind my mane a bit. “Hi!” “Our lovely assistant, who you can’t see because she’s holding the camera, will be reading off your questions. Our other lovely assistant, who is currently hyperventilating, will be putting quarters in the machine. So! Without further ado...” The machine started up and I bounced twice to switch my difficulty to normal instead of easy, and to select the VS mode. I scroll through the songs until I spot one I recognize and start the song just before the first question comes in. Stamp on the ground. “Question from twentypercentusa, What’s it like being a pony?” The lady asked. I get the feeling that Pinkie is less than equipped to answer the question. “It’s like being a pony.” She says with a smirk. “Oh come on now, I’ll take this one.” I manage to spin around to face the camera while still hitting the arrows. “It’s weird! like suddenly having six arms or something, but the pony whose body you get helps you out if you let them.” I said before turning back to the screen. “Oh you just had to mention that bit, now they’re all going to panic...” Pinkie pointed out. “Featherlover: What do you both think of Gilda?” “She has a bit of an issue showing her feelings as she feels it would lead to people taking advantage of her. But aside from her urgent need to prove herself superior and remain in control of the situation, I think she’s mostly a nice gal. Issues. But cool.” Pinkie rambled. Seeing as how I don’t know if Gilda is still alive, and I feel terrible about not checking, I don’t answer. Instead I simply focus on the game with a mask of guilt on my face. “Anon- How do you feel about getting shot?” Of course this question had to come up. It hurt, it was scary. I don’t want to think about what could have happened, even though I have worked with guns long enough to know that the bullet would have torn through my lightweight body like a fish through water. “Well, the photoshoots are always stressful, right Shy?” Pinkie says, bringing a bit of my smile back. “Yeah, to be honest, I’m just happy noone got hurt.” I say softly. “And the internet already knows how I reacted. I’m pretty sure the image is memetic by now.” Pinkie said with a sigh. “Fluttershy are you and Rainbow a couple?” We both laugh, since we had both likely thought the same thing at some point. “Not in Equestria, not here. Sorry to disappoint.” I say as I draw ahead of her in the game. “And to dissaude everypony, Rainbow and I are not a couple either. Nor are Fluttershy and I a couple. Nor is Pinkie romantically interested in anypony. NOR IS THE MOON MADE OF CHEESE!” I wonder if Pinkie is powered by absurd statements, as the cheese moon bit seemed to drive her back to a level score with me. “What’s going to happen in New York?” “Hmmm. Either we’re going to take care of Discord, or we’re going to take care of--wait, did, was the whole Discord thing public knowledge? Frick. Okay, so if you see anything that has a goat’s head and looks like a snakey... amalgam of animals, smile and walk away calmly.” Pinkie says, seeming worried that people watching a pony livestream won't know who Discord is. “Or they could google Discord.” I point out with another giggle. “Yeeeeeeeees they could...” “Okay, that’s just a shock question... ah! Does Pinkie sense work?” “Technically. However we are still working on translating the manual to Earth. So... yes.” “Oddly enough, earth seems to have a lot less stuff randomly fall out of the sky.” I say with a grin. “But hey, Shy here can talk to animals! We really have to get you to talk to a cat or an octopus or something.” Pinkie says eagerly. “Oh no no no wait. Fluttershy, can you speak whale?” She asks. I roll my eyes. “I talk to one horse and you assume I can talk to all animals. Although if we stop by an aquarium I could try it out.” I admit. “Octopus AND whale! Two for one! Alley cats too, those have to have some fun thoughts.” She says. “Not dolphins though, they’re psychotic.” I really don’t get that, but whatever. “Here is one from Antibrony, says ‘are the ponies trying to take over the world?’” “Most of the ponies are scared, and want to keep Discord from taking over this world, so... no? I don’t think so.” I say with a bit of a shrug. “Definitely no. Waaaaaay too much paperwork. I mean I guess I could take over a small city if it would validate your views.” She said generously. “Which city though...?” “Lets take all of nevada, take about as much effort as a normal city.” I say, taking a shot at my home state. “But Nevada looks like a car door! Can’t we take a cool-shaped area?” I ignore that bit as I focus on the song. “MLPhead: I turned into my OC pony, and I can hear her voice in my head. What's happening?” “Well first off, I set the majority of my OCs 20 years into the future.” Not to helpful to someone who is already a pony though. “My guess would be... and this is from a theory that Pinkie made, so take it as you will, but I am going to guess your OC wasn’t made by you. It’s a real pony from Equestria who happens to match what you wrote. Don’t tell your pony they aren’t real, because they are real.” I say, hoping that will keep them from hurting their pony. “And certainly don’t mention what you write about them. Actually do... no... Shy, what’s the proper thing here?” I feel a bit of unusually strong pride that Pinkie would turn to me for advice, and for a moment I have to fight not to lose track of the beat. “The truth is, they will find out eventually anyway. Tell them the truth, that they are real and you happened to have written things that matched up with them by cosmic chance.” I advise. “Above all, DO NOT PANIC. Take things calmly and rationally and rationally calmly. Some of you may have turned into non-ponies--we have confirmed Changelings out there--but make sure they do not do anything detrimental to the general public.” Pinkie adds. We stop, and I am panting, wings drooping as the song finishes. We both get an A. “Yay!” “And you may want to take advantage of your OC’s skills. I mean I was a horrible dancer before... no actually I was pretty good, just horrible in public. Next question please!” Pinkie scrolls through and picks a song at random. Cartoon Heroes “Ooooh I don’t know this song.... “ I say as I nervously hop around on the pad. “Neither do I.” She says with a smile as she rotates on the pad. “How can a pair of earth ponies have a pegasus and unicorn child?” “Ooo! Can I field this one? I mean I know you know better but I wanna see if my guess works.” Pinkie says excitedly. I wonder if Reid is drawing on Pinkie’s knowledge at this point, though I am pretty sure I took more biology classes than her. “I’ll correct you if you're wrong.” I say simply, as I focus on learning the patterns to this song. “Okay so: Everypony starts out in the womb as a winged unicorn, right? But after a bit of time, their personal magic activates. You know, the same thing that will eventually give them their cutie mark?” She starts. “So if the personal magic says they’re not going to be a pegasus, the wings fold back in to become extra ribs, and if they’re not going to be a unicorn, the horn sort of dissolves into the bloodstream.” Again with the ribs, I chuckle inwardly. “Of course at this point the fetus’s “Personality’ is determined mostly by environment and genetics, which is why there’s a trend for earth pony families or unicorn families, but the more mixed your heritage the more likely you are to be of a different tribe. I think the choice kinda has something to do with the ennegram system, but I’m not sure.” “More of a biology answer than a practical one, but pretty much, Earth ponies are so strong because none of their energy went into growing wings or a horn. The Cakes had mixed kids because their families had been just Earth ponies for so long, there was a buildup of magic, rumors will fly though.” I say with a shrug, the poor Cakes. “Oh that makes sense, I guess.... but my theory also explains Cadance.” Pinkie points out. “Here’s a question from... anon. ‘Can I give you a hug?’” “Me? oh, sure I guess, after I beat pinkie.” I grin. Priorities, people. “Oh come on, don’t leave the audience hanging!” Pinkie says, hugging me and throwing me onto her pad, which is at a lower score due to her focus being more towards the questions. I suppose I deserve it for not telling her I had played DDR for months before getting bored of it. “Eep! Not fair!” I proclaim as I try to catch back up to her. “I’m laughter, I’m never fair!” She cackled. “How are you playing DDR with four legs, and Does it help?” Pinkie then proceeds to prove just how little I know about pony biology, by rolling onto her back and still hitting the buttons. “Don’t ask me how that right there is possible, but the hard part is not pressing all four buttons at the same time, I can hover so really I have an unfair advantage. Keeping all four legs straight is really tricky.” I say, sticking my tongue out the side of my mouth as I focus. “xEricFisherX asks: What's it like being an element of harmony?” “Well, the obvious answer would be that I am forced to be kind. But it is more than that. I literally can’t think of being unkind, there’s a mental block there. For example, I have been trying not to use my wings because I feel like I could hurt Pinkie’s feelings.” I explain before using my wings to hover just above the pad, tapping each button as it comes up with almost comical ease. “As for me...” Pinkie starts before getting back right side up. “Well, Kindness is pretty easily defined. All the elements are... except Laughter. Laughter can be used for the dark purposes more easily than any of the others, I mean, just look at the Joker! And every day, every hour, every minute, I have to watch myself constantly to make sure my sense of humor doesn’t go down that path, knowing that I am one misunderstanding away from turning into.... Pinkamena. I will admit when I heard the news about, um, Fluttershy’s assault, I did consider making cupcakes....” This I did not know, and makes me worry a bit for Pinkie. “It’s actually stressful when I focus on it.” “So I don’t focus on it.” She says with the pinkie-est grin ever. “Not sure about this question, but it might as well be asked, does Pinkamena actually have a basement reserved for cutting people up?” “Not in this world.” Pinkie says, drawing a combination glare and worried frown from me. “Come on now, theres no way pinkie would resort to that. she’d probably tie someone up in streamers and torture them with bad music.” I say with a bit of sarcasm. “Back when I was human I used to eat turkey marrow!” She says with a very Reid grin. “What was it like turning into a Pony?” “Er what? I woke up pink and in PJs. That’s... pretty much it.” Pinkie says. “Now getting out of bed... I have a loft bed. Luckily I had prior experience falling from tall beds.” “I stayed on bed till I figured out how to walk mostly, my secret is I haven't walked down stairs yet, I just hover.” I say with an apologetic smile. “Not sure if scared, or just lazy.” Pinkie says with a suspicious glance at me. The song finishes and I sit on the pad, seeing that I got a “B” which makes me pout a bit. Pinkie also got a B thanks to her clever use of cheating. Admittedly, cheating can be clever. “New song, milady?” Pinkie asks. “Hard one.” I say with a daredevil grin as I pick the hardest song I know I can pass. Max 300, and I am only on normal mode. “And here’s an anonymous comment. ‘I really like your mane.’” Max 300 “Well thank you!” I say quickly as the flood of notes starts to rain down the screen. I have to say, hovering makes it so much easier. “I dunno about my mane. I mean it’s a complete mess, AND it doesn’t grow out like human hair. How does Twilight DO that thing with her bangs?” Pinkie says as she watches me, timing her hoofsteps to mine as best she can. “Do wingboners really exist? Oh, sorry...” The lady says as she realizes what she asked. “I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been in a situation where it has been called for.” I say, or at least I wouldn’t admit it if I had. “They do exist. I have seen them. That is all.” Pinkie says, likely leading the internet to make all sorts of jokes about Pinkie examining wingboners. “How do you plan on stopping Discord?” “Secret plans, not allowed to talk about them.” I say, as an excuse not to admit that there are no plans, we have no idea what we are doing, and we are probably all going to be turned into bunnies. That wouldn’t be so bad I suppose. “But you can help! Simply make a donation to... whatever charity is helping us get to New York, and... Is there a charity like that?” Pinkie asks. “I don’t think there is one. If anyone sends paypal donations to erica2734@gmail.com it will help us get to new york.” I comment, hoping maybe some financial aid can come in. “How are you? That... that’s a question.” I drop to the pad for a slower bit of the song, and only give the question a moment of thought. “I’m okay I guess. Pinkie?” “Wondering if ‘okay I guess’ is supposed to be a reassuring deflection.” Pinkie says pointedly. I could say that her own answer just now was a deflection, but I don’t want to argue. “I’m kindness, remember? Not honesty, and I don’t want to worry all the nice people who have been helping us.” I say with a sad smile. “Just don’t go Nightmare Whisper. Okay? We all worry about you anyway. Least you could do is give us some way to help you.” Pinkie says touchingly, smiling back as I take advantage of the moment to hit a few notes she missed. “Don’t let me win, I’ll feel like I cheated.” I say as I start hitting buttons rapidly, the ending of the song coming up. Yay for distractions. “You think the PINKINATOR would throw a GAME?!” Pinkie says in mock offense. “How does Pinkie knows Vinyl...and how does Rarity knows Vinyl? Scratchfan9989.” “Well, I know her through the PARTY NETWORK OF EQUESTRIA! And Rarity knows her... um... I dunno... Maybe they’re related?” Pinkie says as her legs start to blur together. “Rarity met Vinyl during a gem convention, Vinyl was making a new type of sound system using mana gems, Rarity helped enchant them.” I explain as I continue to dance, my wings and legs starting to ache a little. “I thought Mana was an energy snack.” Pinkie says. “Can Pinkie outfly Futtershy on her flying machine?” “Never tried. What do you think?” Pinkie asked calmly, showing no exhaustion at all. The song ends and I collapse on the pad. “Yup, i’m sure she could. I have no endurance at all, as you can see.” I say with a smile. “Don’t be a silly filly, you just have Bernoulli Syndrome. If you get going fast enough you can outrace Dashie!” She said as she helped me up. “The problem, of course, is building up enough speed in the first place.” She finished. “Hehe, if you say so Pinkie. Well, I’m done for the night.” I say as I wave to the camera. “It’s.. not even four.” Pinkie says in disbelief. Hey, I can decide my own bedtime, thank you very much. “Yup! I’m tired though, and hungry. Maybe we can find a buffet!” I say with a squee. “I saw a Soup Or Salad around here. Well, goodbye adoring internet fans! This is Pinkie Pie signing off on our inaugural random livestream Q&A. Join us next time, where we may be bungee jumping, playing chess, or perhaps just sipping our drinks.” Pinkie says, and I am about to agree until I think over that list of possible activities. “Wait, bungee jumping... wha....” I start, before the camera is turned off.