//------------------------------//
// Fluttershy Plays With A Box 
// Story: Games Ponies Play 
// by lunabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Life was full of surprises for a filly barely out of foalhood.
A large box sat in the middle of Fluttershy's front yard. The young filly had been staring at it for a good ten minutes already, trying to figure out where it came from. It hadn'tbeen there yesterday, and certainly hadn't been there this morning. It was an extremely curious thing. Most likely left there by the mailpony or a neighbor.
.	"Mama?" Fluttershy called. She and her mother lived in Cloudsdale, in a small house barely big enough for the both of them. It wasn't much, but it suited them both just fine.
"Mama's making dinner, honey, it'll be ready in a moment! Are you alright?" The older pegasus called. Well, she wouldn't be much of a help at this particular moment. If dinner wasn't ready right this second, Fluttershy would have to find something else to occupy her time.
"Uh huh!" Fluttershy called, and poked the box with her hoof. She tried to peek inside, but it was much bigger than her and she couldn't see what was in there. Fluttershy propped herself up on her back hooves, barely able to peek over the ledge of the box.
Empty. And full of potential.
Fluttershy pressed a little harder, and the empty box began to lean under her weight. Caught off guard, Fluttershy gasped and tried to run. But the box tumbled over her, completely turned upside down, and cast her into darkness with a yelp.
With the hatch in the spaceship closed, Fluttershy sat in the pilots chair and punched the power button. The entire machine roared to life, thrusters vibrating and engines idling. She pulled back on a large throttle in the dashboard, and the ship lunged, rocketing forward at a hundred miles an hour and knocking over all clouds in its path. Nothing could stand in its way, and clouds burst the moment they touched the vessel.
Fluttershy pulled even further back on the throttle, and the entire ship lifted off the ground. She squealed with delight as the clouds below fell away even further than the grass, and left Equestria entirely. Her view was filled with stars, and the filly clapped her front hooves. Mama would never find her now! She soared through the stars, a filly on the run. She gave no particular notice as to where she was going, a filly on the run from all the awful perils of parenting and bedtimes.
Clang!
A small asteroid bounced off the rocket. Then another. And another. Fluttershy yelped, finding herself diving deeper into an asteroid field. Rocks pinged off the metal like a heavy swarm of Parasprites, a particularly large one cracking the window. Another one got into the engines. They were everywhere! Smoke billowed from the ship, and Fluttershy desperately turned the ship back towards Equestria. Spiraling downwards, the filly braced herself for impact.
Thump!
Fluttershy tumbled out of her box, having rocked it back and forth a little too violently. She shook her head, unhurt, and clapped her hooves. That was awesome! This time she began to create a little hill made out of clouds, and pushed the box to the top of the hill. Clambering inside it, she rocked forward a little bit, and the box slid down the hill.
"Whee!" The filly exclaimed, tumbling about inside the box. The box slid to the ground, and hit the bottom with a loud splash.
Propping herself up against the side of the small sailboat, Fluttershy peeked out to see endless stretches of water in every direction. Kinda boring. She picked up a spyglass from the deck, and used it to scan the horizon. Water, water, water, water, ooooh, a ship! But it was so far away, she'd never be able to flag it down.
Putting down the spyglass, Fluttershy suddenly found the other ship was about to run her down, and closing in fast! She squealed and threw herself against the steering mechanism, the bigger ship causing a large wave to wash over her little sailboat. Fluttershy squealed, pitched against the side of the boat, and tumbling overboard. There was a silenced yelp, and the little filly flailed in the waves.
"FLUTTERSHY!
The young filly looked up, caught in the middle of an enormous mud puddle. The box lay nearby on its side, forgotten as Fluttershy looked into the disapproving eyes of her mother. Busted!
"I came out here to call you for dinner, but it looks like you're due for a bath first. Come on, missy, inside. Tub time."
The filly's eyes widened, a bath being the worst possible thing she could think of.
"No!" Fluttershy squealed, and raced into the house, covered in mud, with her mother close behind. But her mother was faster, and quickly scooped up the child in her front legs. Fluttershy was paraded into the bathroom and placed in lukewarm water that was quickly filling the tub. Her mother poured a generous amount of bubble mix into the tub.
"Hold still now," she said gently, rubbing shampoo into the filly's mane. She'd never understand how such a small pony could get covered in so much mud. "As soon as we're done here we'll get some food into you, you must be quite hungry," she cooed. Unlike being outside, Fluttershy's mother was more uncomfortable leaving her alone in the tub, and so only sat nearby after she had finished scrubbing the filly's mane.
Watching the towering bubbles that filled the tub, Fluttershy's gaze lifted upward as a large thrashing tentacle rose up out of the bubbles. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. Challenge accepted! She lunged forward to wrestle with it, while her mother looked on and only wondered why her child was having so much fun with a plastic octopus.
"That girl ain't right," her mother sighed, just shaking her head in wonder.