Fluttershy was busy dragging a large crate inside the house. She suddenly stopped when she felt a tap on her hind leg and looked down.
Angel Bunny had a scroll in his mouth and wanted to give it to her.
"Oh, why, thank you Angel Bunny," Fluttershy said as she took the scroll away from him and began to read it.
Angel Bunny began thumping his right foot on the ground and had his paws on his front hips.
Fluttershy stopped reading and looked down. Her little pet bunny looked rather angry and impatient. "Oh, that's right sweetie, Mama is going to get you your carrot soup as soon as she's finished reading this letter."
Angel Bunny perked up and smiled. He then headed on his way into the kitchen.
Fluttershy went back to reading the letter. "It looks like this letter is sent from the Princess," she said as her eyes darted from left to right as she read the message. A smile crept up on her face as she realized just what the orders from Princess Celestia were. She put the letter down and said, "It looks like I have a major opportunity tomorrow."
Fluttershy, along with her five best friends, were each given a message about a special order from Princess Celestia. The six ponies had met up together and were walking over to the woods. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were pulling a wagon with a bunch of empty trash bags inside.
Princess Celestia had ordered the girls to clean up the woods because careless ponies were throwing trash into the woods and the garbage was piling up.
Fluttershy was wearing her saddle bag and her friends couldn't figure out why she was wearing it. They seemed to notice that if they ever caught glimpses of her outside of her cottage, she was always wearing it. She kept telling her friends that she had a new hobby and that she just didn't have time to hang out with them all until today.
Rarity stopped walking and look down at the ground. "Oh look! A bit! Somepony must have dropped it."
Fluttershy raced over and swatted Rarity's hoof away from the coin and said, "Give it to me! It's mine!"
All of Fluttershy's friends had stopped at the sudden outburst from their meek little friend. They were all staring at her.
Rarity put her hoof to her mouth and gasped that Fluttershy would do such a thing. She tried to speak, but words did not come out of her mouth. She knew Fluttershy had been acting very strange lately and that wherever she went, she had to bring her saddle bag with her just in case she found something lying around.
Fluttershy looked shyly away and said, "I mean, I would like to pick up this coin, if that's alright with you."
Rarity cautiously stepped back from Fluttershy and let her pick up the coin .
Fluttershy picked up the coin and put it inside her saddle bag.
Applejack gave an awkward smile at Fluttershy and said, "Hey Fluttershy, I reckon it ain't time to start pickin' things up yet. Ya might not wanna be over zealous with our mission here. C'mon, let's get movin'." Applejack and Rainbow Dash began to pull the wagon again.
Fluttershy let out a nervous little giggle and said, "Doesn't hurt to warm up a bit and get some practice in before we start, right girls?"
Nopony said anything. They just kept walking their way over to their destination.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash pulled the wagon over to the spot. When they got to the spot, Fluttershy ran over to where the two tom-boy ponies were standing. Her eyes opened wide and a drop of sweat trickled down her forehead. "I-I-I-I must have it.....all." Fluttershy muttered to herself.
"What was that my dear?" Rarity asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," Fluttershy said. "I was just um, mentally preparing myself for this task. That's all."
Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie, all walked by her and joined Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
Fluttershy grabbed an empty garbage bag and began to panic, she had to collect the most litter for herself. She began racing through the woods and stuffing as much junk inside of her bag as fast as she possibly could.
Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow at how fast Fluttershy was moving and said, "Hey Flutters! You do know that this is a good deed we are doing, but we're also supposed to relax and enjoy this experience, right?"
Fluttershy paused for a moment and thought to herself. "I guess that's right, but I'm sure the Princess would like her woods cleaned up as soon as possible," the yellow mare said.
Rainbow Dash smiled and said, "So does this mean you want to have a race? I bet I can collect more litter than you can! Ready? One, two, three, GO!"
Before Fluttershy could even object to her friend's request, Rainbow flew away from her and began to collect as much litter as fast as she could."
Fluttershy, being the slower and weaker pony, began to panic. She looked over and saw that Rarity was taking a small break and spraying herself with perfume. Rarity wanted to make sure that she didn't smell like trash while she was working. Fluttershy noticed that Rarity had left her trash bag in the woods and she currently had her back turned toward her friends at the wagon. Fluttershy raced over to Rarity's bag and began to pour all of the garbage into her own bag. She looked around frantically making sure that none of her friends would catch her in the act. Fluttershy felt a hoof tap on her shoulder and she let out an "Eeeep!"
"Pardon me Fluttershy, but what exactly are ya doin?" Applejack asked.
Fluttershy dropped Rarity's bag and said, "Um, I just thought this would make the clean up go faster, that's all."
Applejack scratched her head with her hoof and said, "I don't think I understand yer logic, but then again I often fail to understand Twilight's logic 'cause she always has these fancy scientific and mathematical ideas that I can't figure out. I guess I must be blind and don't git many things." Applejack trotted away and continued to pick up the litter.
Fluttershy went back to emptying Rarity's bag of trash into her own. Much of the trash the she was trying to put into her bag was missing the bag and falling onto the ground.
"Um, excuse me dear, but what exactly are you doing?" Rarity asked.
Fluttershy jumped a bit and turned around.
Rarity was back and looking at her with a rather concerned look on her face.
Fluttershy began to panic again and tried to think of a fraudulent excuse. "I-I-I-I'm just so inspired by you, because you represent the element of generosity and I wanted to do a generous deed for you by lightening your load so that it wouldn't be such a burden for you to carry."
"Why that is the most generous and lovely thing, sweetie! Thank you for doing that!" Rarity picked up her bag that was almost empty and trotted away.
Fluttershy began to pack as much trash, that was now scattered all over the ground, that she missed when pouring Rarity's bag into her own bag. When Fluttershy stuffed the last bit of trash into her bag, she heaved it onto her shoulder. The weight of the bag was so heavy for such a weak and gentle little Pegasus pony. Fluttershy's legs were shaking and her belly was almost touching the ground. She began to head back to the wagon. About half way there, the bag ripped and all of the litter inside fell back out onto the ground. Tears filled Fluttershy's eyes and she began to cry. She heard Rainbow Dash call out her name from a distance.
"Hey Flutters, what happened to your bag? How many bags were you able to collect? I got about twenty in the cart now!"
Fluttershy walked over to Rainbow Dash and said, "I um, I just couldn't beat you I guess. I tried my best."
Rainbow's ego was starting to become massively inflated and said, "Aw, don't take it too hard. You should get used to losing to me, just like everypony else!"
"Oh, that's um nice," Fluttershy said keeping her head down.
Rainbow Dash got out two more empty trash bags and handed one to Fluttershy. "Come on, we are almost done and I think we can clean up this entire area today.
The girls continued to clean up the rest of the litter and were done within a few hours.
Five of the mares stood at the wagon and were loading up the last few bags into it.
Twilight tapped her hoof impatiently on the ground when she saw that Fluttershy was still in the woods looking over every square inch of the area and was even picking up rocks and logs to make sure that there wasn't any trash to be collected. "Come on Fluttershy, we've got all of the trash and we need to get home, I am starving!"
Fluttershy grabbed her bag and pulled at it with all of her might. She made it up to the wagon and Applejack took the bag from her and tossed it on top of the pile.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked to the front of the wagon and began to fasten the straps to their bodies, getting ready to pull the massive mound.
Fluttershy came bounding over and said, "Oh wait! Please stop! I would like to take this wagon, and um, I'd like to take it to the garbage dump by myself, if that's ok with you."
Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and then back to each other. They both started laughing.
'Um, what's so funny? I-I want to do this," Fluttershy said.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack stepped out of the way. "I can't imagine you being strong enough to pull this cart by yourself, but give it a shot," Rainbow Dash said.
Fluttershy walked over and strapped herself to the wagon. "It can't be that bad, all it needs is a little tug to get it going and..." Fluttershy pulled forward with all of her might. "Hnnnnnng!' she cried out as she grinded her teeth together and her eyes were as wide as saucers. Fluttershy's back got seriously strained and she collapsed to the ground.
Rarity used her magic and unstrapped Fluttershy from the wagon, and Twilight Sparkle used her magic and summoned an ice pack, when she realized that the yellow mare was holding her lower back and moaning in pain. Twilight trotted over and placed the pack of ice on Fluttershys back. "It looks like you'd better let the two tom-boy ponies take care of the work load," Twilight suggested.
Applejack walked over to Fluttershy and got low before her on the ground. "C'mon Fluttershy, hop up onto my back and I'll carry ya there."
"Um, are you sure it wouldn't be too much weight for you to handle?' Fluttershy asked.
"Too much weight? Fluttershy! Ya ain't nothin' but a light weight and carryin' ya on my back is like carryin' a feather! I could carry this wagon all by myself if I wanted too. I reckon ya don't know my strength. Now git up on my back missy," Applejack instructed.
Fluttershy very slowly got to her hooves and let out an "Ouch!" in pain. She wrapped her front legs around Applejack's neck and burrowed her face inside her mane. It was partly from embarrassment and partly because she didn't want other's to see her facial expressions were giving away just how much pain she was in.
Applejack stood up and Twilight helped strap Applejack and Rainbow Dash to the wagon. The two ponies began to pull and Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle walked by their sides.
When they got to the garbage dump, Fluttershy got off of Applejacks back.
"All of that work today has sure worked up my appetite. Let's go try that new buffet that opened up in town!" Applejack said.
All of the other girls murmured in approval and walked on over to join Applejack. They stopped and looked back at Fluttershy who was nervously looking away from them all.
"What's the matter, Fluttershy? Aren't you hungry? Pinkie Pie asked.
"Oh, she probably must still have that terrible back ache. Come on Fluttershy, I'll carry ya to the buffet," Applejack said.
Fluttershy shook her head no and said, "Um, I'm not very hungry and I need to go home and take care of my new pet that I got not too long ago. You all just go now. Have fun! Don't get a belly ache!" Fluttershy quickly waved goodbye at them and said a silent prayer hoping that they'd just go on their merry way without her.
Fluttershy's friends looked at each other and then back at Fluttershy.
"If you insist my dear, but please do spend some time with me at the spa for some pampering. It will be my treat if you decide to stop by," Rarity said.
"Oh, um, that's very generous of you, we'll have to wait and see though. Please leave and have a wonderful time. See you all later," the yellow Pegasus pony said as she waved her hoof goodbye to them once more.
Fluttershy's friends began to walk away. Fluttershy wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Phew!" Fluttershy heard the wagon wheels moving and she turned around quickly. That sharp turn sent a shooting pain through her lower back and she let out a holler in pain. Fluttershy hobbled over to the stallion that was carting the wagon off. "Wait! Please wait!" Fluttershy said.
The stallion turned around. He was a brown earth pony with a picture of a garbage can as his cutie mark. "Excuse me, but I'm quite busy here, what do you want?" he asked.
"I um, could you actually bring this wagon to my cottage? It's not terribly far from here," Fluttershy nervously asked.
"What's in it for me?"
"Ten bits?" Fluttershy asked.
The stallion grunted and shook his head no.
"Twenty bits?" Fluttershy asked again.
"Negative," The stallion said.
Fluttershy pounded her two front hooves several times on the ground in frustration and said, "Ok, fine! Fifty bits!"
The stallions eyes lit up. "Deal!" he said.
Fluttershy hobbled over and put her two front legs on the stallions back. She tried to climb up onto his back when suddenly, the stallion bucked her off of him.
Fluttershy hit the ground and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Um, why would you do that? I hurt my back and I need to be carried."
The stallion cringed and said, "That will cost you another fifty bits if you want me to carry you. You smell like trash and I don't want to get my coat dirty. I don't like to be touched either. You can hop in the wagon if you need a ride."
"Oh, um, I understand....I guess." Fluttershy walked to the back and looked at the pile of trash bags that seemed to stack up to the sky. She got inside the wagon and squeezed herself in between the bags of garbage. The stench of the rotting garbage made Fluttershy puff her cheeks out and put her hoof to her mouth as if she were about to hurl at any moment.
The stallion pulled away and Fluttershy did her best to keep her food down that she was digesting inside of her stomach.
When they arrived, Fluttershy got out of the wagon and went inside her house. She came back out with a bag of bits and gave it to the stallion.
The stallion looked inside, he didn't have the time to count it all out, but he estimated that it was about fifty bits. He turned the wagon around and waved goodbye to Fluttershy. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you," he said.
Fluttershy began to panic. "Oh no! I need you to help me unload the wagon please."
The stallion laughed and said, I'd normally ask for another fifty bits, but I'll cut you a break and only charge twenty."
Fluttershy bit her lower lip. She was running out of money, but she agreed and got the stallion another bag of bits.
When the stallion finished unloading the wagon, he took his money and strapped himself to the wagon. He then walked back to the garbage dump without saying another word to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy watched in disbelief and muttered the words, "Um, thanks." She quickly shook her head and began hoarding the bags of trash inside her house.
Fluttershy was starting to become a recluse more than ever now. The only time she really came out of her house was to simply collect trash when ponies put out their stuff on junk night. All of her animal friends had left her house, and even Angel Bunny couldn't stand the clutter anymore.