//------------------------------// // Don't Be Afraid // Story: Shylight // by TDarkchylde //------------------------------// Shylight A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfic Written by T. Darkchylde Chapter One: Don't Be Afraid The day began like any other for Fluttershy. She rose from her bed and cheerfully greeted the new day. After grabbing a light breakfast, she fed her animals and checked on the sick ones in her care. When she was satisfied all was well, she curled up on her day bed with a little bit of light reading. Her gentle heart quivered as her eyes darted across the pages. Despite the romance novel being possibly the lightest and least suggestive in Twilight Sparkle's library, it was still enough to make her feel slightly uncomfortable in a good way. After reading the steamy novel for what seemed like hours, her stomach growled at her. She decided it was a good time to fix a small lunch. As she finished eating, she could hear a knock on the door. "Hello? Fluttershy?" a familiar voice called from outside. Fluttershy meekly went to the front door and peeked through the curtains. "Oh, hello Twilight," she said as she opened her door. "What brings you out here at this time of day?" "I, ah... I kind of need a favor," Twilight Sparkle said. "Zecora loaned me one of her spellbooks, but I need ingredients from the Everfree Forest for one of the spells." "Oh, Twilight," Fluttershy meekly inquired, "Is this another one of your magical experiments?" "Kind of," Twilight sheepishly admitted. "It's actually for a good cause, though." "You said that when you helped Rainbow Dash out by copying Pinkie Pie's energetic personality onto her own," Fluttershy scolded as she opened the door wider so Twilight could enter. "It took me days to get all the snow out of the chicken coop." "Yeah, but..." Twilight began to protest as she went inside. "...And the time you tried giving Rarity a self-styling mane," Fluttershy continued. "Okay, that wasn't my brightest idea, but..." Twilight continued. "...And the time the Crusaders came running here in the middle of the night because you accidentally made Spike full-grown while you were dreaming..." Fluttershy went on. "Geez!" Twilight said. "Okay, okay, I get it. This time's different, though. It's actually a fairly benign spell, a vaccine for Poison Joke. Remember what it did to you?" "Yes..." Fluttershy meekly admitted as she recalled the unpleasant experience. It took her weeks to convince the stallion who owned the jazz club to go away. "I guess it won't be too bad..." "It'll be fine," Twilight reassured her friend. "I just need to grab one plant. That's all." She showed Fluttershy the information she had on the plant. Fluttershy looked tentatively at the notes. "Oh, okay, this one isn't too hard to find. It actually grows pretty close to the entrance," she said as she smiled. "But you must be careful, there's a poisonous plant that grows in the same area that looks almost exactly the same as this one." "That's why I need your help," Twilight said. "I'm great with books and magic, but I admit I'm not much of a botanist." "Okay," Fluttershy said. "Let me go give the animals their lunch real quick, then I'll come along." She opened a closet and pulled out a small bag of feed. "Things have started going so much more smoothly since they started selling pre-made animal feed at Sweet Apple Acres." "I told Applejack that was a great idea months ago, but she didn't want to believe me," Twilight said as she grabbed the bag of feed with her magic. "Let me give you a hoof with that." "Thanks, Twilight," Fluttershy said as she walked toward the back. =+*+*+*+= Back at Twilight's Library, Spike was conspiring with Pinkie Pie. "This is going to be great!" Spike said happily as he started to hang a banner from the ceiling. "Yep! It'll be the best party ever!" Pinkie Pie said as she grabbed the other side. "The anniversary of the day Twilight hatched you... it's not right not to have a party!" "You know, Pinkie, you always say that, but then you keep outdoing yourself!" Spike exclaimed as he finished and slid down the ladder. "You good to finish up here while I go grab the others?" Pinkie nodded to the young dragon as she started working on the other decorations. "Yep, I'm good here," she said. "Just make sure Twilight doesn't come back for about twenty minutes or so. We don't want to ruin her surprise!" "Sure don't," Spike said as he left. This was going to be perfect... =+*+*+*+= It took only a few minutes for Fluttershy to find the plant Twilight was looking for, though it was a little deeper in the Everfree than she remembered. Luckily, it was still fairly close to the edge of the forest. "Over here," she softly called. Twilight went over to Fluttershy's side. "Yes," she said as she inspected the plant, "That's the one. It's just like the notes said." "How much of it do you need?" Fluttershy asked as she bent down to grab some of the plant. "Just a couple of flowers should do," Twilight said, smiling. "A little goes a long way with this spell." Fluttershy bit at the stalks carefully with her teeth, then lifted them gently and put them in Twilight's saddlebag. "Is that it?" she asked. "Yep," Twilight said. "We can get out of... Fluttershy, did one of your chickens escape again?" Something with the head of a chicken was poking its head over the bushes. Fluttershy looked over at the creature. "That... that's not a chicken, Twilight," she said as she began to panic. She could feel a familiar feeling. Twilight noticed the same feeling. She had fallen victim to it once before. She looked back as her hind legs were beginning to turn to stone. "Oh no... Fluttershy, get close to me!" she cried. Fluttershy didn't have to be told twice as she huddled next to Twilight. "Next stop, home!" Twilight shouted as she unleashed her teleportation spell... =+*+*+*+= Spike had managed to get Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash to come to the library. Along with Pinkie Pie, they were hiding. All of the lights were out and the curtains were drawn. "Think she's gonna show up anytime soon?" Applejack whispered. "Yeah," Spike replied. "She said she had some big spell to work on, so she would be home as soon as she came back from Fluttershy's." "Maybe she'll have Fluttershy with her!" Pinkie quietly exclaimed. "I hope not," Rarity whispered. "Remember when you tried throwing her a surprise party last year?" "Oh, yeah, I forgot," Pinkie said. "She almost jumped right out of her skin..." "Which is why we should never prank Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash whispered. Suddenly, a familiar magic appeared in the center of the room as a teleportation spell resolved. Pinkie Pie flipped on the lights. Everypony sprang up and yelled "Surprise!" The small beige alicorn standing in the center of the room shrieked...