//------------------------------//
// Not Again! 
// Story: (SiC) Part 2 - Flutter Clutter 
// by Brian Jacko 
//------------------------------//

	"So like I was sayin', Fluttershy has a new cottage, and she won't be havin' no more problems with horadin' things," Applejack said to her four other friends that were coming along to see the new cottage. 

When they got there, Applejack's friends stared at it and were amazed at how beautiful it looks. 

"Oh my goodness, Applejack! What a marvelous job you did! It looks perfect!" Rarity said. 

"Aw shucks, Rarity! I had a helpin' hoof and my entire family all helped out with this. I didn't do all this on my own. Let's go on in and I'll show ya around the place."

Applejack walked up to the door and knocked a few times with her front hoof. "Fluttershy? Ya home in there?" 

Applejack and her friends could here some things being knocked over and they could hear Fluttershy mumbling some words of disapproval. 

"Coming! Just a second!" Fluttershy called out to the door as she was pushing things around. Fluttershy slowly opened the door and stuck her head out. "Hi girls, what brings you all here today?"

"I just wanted to show our friends yer new cottage!" Applejack said proudly.

"Oh, well, you see it's a little bit messy right now, and maybe we could go out and get something to eat or something?" Fluttershy nervously asked.

"Nonsense, Fluttershy!" Applejack said. "I wanna come inside and show the others around." 

"If you say so," Fluttershy said. "It's just a tad bit messy right now." Fluttershy pushed the door open and what appeared to be like an ocean wave of junk pushed Fluttershy out of the doorway and the junk covered all of her friends.

Applejack popped her head out of the pile and said, "Now gosh darn it, Fluttershy! Ya had made a special promise to me that ya weren't gonna do anythin' like this again! Why did ya have to go breakin' yer word to me? Ya know I can't stand hearin' a pony lie, because I represent the element of honesty!"

All the other girls popped their heads out of the pile of junk.

"Oh my goodness! I just came back from the spa and took a shower! My coat is now ruined and of all of the worst things that could happen, this is THE....WORST....POSSIBLE....THING!" Rarity put her hoof to her forehead and fell over in a dramatic manner.

Pinkie Pie swam by Rarity and was giggling madly. She was doing the back stroke in the pile of junk that was covering them all. No pony seemed to be able to figure out how she was staying a float or swimming through it, but this was Pinkie Pie, and she could do many strange things. 

Rainbow Dash began to laugh and said, "Hey Fluttershy, maybe we can call you Cluttershy, or even better, Flutter Clutter!" Rainbow Dash began to chant, "Flutter Clutter, Flutter Clutter, sticks her hoof in peanut butter!"	

Fluttershy picked her hoof up and realized that there happened to be an open jar of peanut butter stuck on her hoof. She frantically shook it a few times and the jar flew off. She turned back to Rainbow Dash and said, "Rainbow Dash, T-t-t-that's not nice of you to say that and it makes me want to cry." 

Twilight Sparkle scratched the tip of her chin with her hoof and said, "Fluttershy, I know Applejack was telling us that you had a hoarding problem, but this is just ridiculous. Isn't it bad enough that you lost your cottage in the first place? Does your brand new cottage have to risk getting burned down too? What has gotten into you? Your animal friends don't even hang around your cottage anymore. Why are you behaving like this?"

Fluttershy put her head down and sighed. "I guess I can tell you how this all started," she said. Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth and whistled. She put her hoof out and waited. Within a few moments, a new critter friend that none of Fluttershy's friends had seen before, came out and leapt onto her hoof. He was also clutching something against his chest. "This is my new animal critter friend and I have been studying him. I got so inspired by him and wanted to make him happy." 	

Twilight Sparkle squinted her eyes and stared at the little creature for a moment. "Is that a pack rat?" she asked.

"Yes. This is my newest friend, Pachy. He demands that we collect as much as we can because it pleases him."

"What about Angel Bunny?" Rarity asked. "He was your most favorite pet! What about all of the other animal critter friends you used to have around? Don't you miss them?"

Fluttershy looked down at her pet and patted him on the head with her hoof. "I do miss Angel Bunny and the rest of my critter friends, but this new critter fascinates me, and he demands that we collect things or else he's very unhappy. I know it's not fair to the other animals, but he threatens to leave me, and I just can't let him go because I have never seen a creature like this before."

"Fluttershy! This is crazy!" Twilight said. "This creature is ruining your life and all the other animals are suffering because they are not getting the proper care and love that you used to give them. I hate to tell you this, but I think you need to let him go! He's never going to be satisfied and he will always want more and more! We have to get rid of this junk too! It's a health and fire hazard!"

Fluttershy looked down at the innocent looking creature and said, "Um, Mister Pachy, would it be ok if we gave some of our collections away?"

The pack rat motioned for her to put her ear closer to him.

Fluttershy leaned closer and he began to whisper in her ear.

Fluttershy's friends watched and waited for her to tell them all what the pack rat was telling her.

Fluttershy straightened up and said, "He says it's either we keep the junk or he's out of here."

"Then you have to let him go, Fluttershy! All of the animals are suffering because he demands that you follow through with his will. Say goodbye to him. You have to do it," Twilight said.

Tears flooded Fluttershy's eyes as she looked down at her new critter friend.  "I-I-I'm so sorry, but I have to let you go. My friends are right and I just don't think we can be together anymore." 

The pack rat hopped off of Fluttershy's hoof and put on a small top hat. He grabbed a small sack of junk and headed his way back into the Everfree forest. 

Fluttershy waved her hoof bye-bye at him as she watched him disappear from her sight. When she couldn't see him any longer, she covered her eyes in her front legs and began to sob.

Twilight Sparkle used her magic and teleported them all out of the junk and onto the side of the pile. Twilight came over and put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Come on Fluttershy, you need to get over this and pick yourself up. He's gone now and we have to clean up this mess."

Fluttershy picked her head up and said, "That's the thing, Twilight. I don't want to get rid of my possessions. I worked so hard to collect all of this, and I don't want to change my ways." 

Each one of her friends came forward. They all had some very important advice to give to their suffering friend. 

"For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in their possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world, " Rarity said. 

Applejack nudged the side of Rarity and said, "So does that mean ya learned yer lesson when ya tried to hoard that cheap rock that you thought was a bona fide diamond? What did ya call that rock again? Wasn't its name Tom or somethin'?" 

Rarity's eyes opened wide with horror that Applejack would bring that up again. She grinded her teeth in anger and said, "I thought we agreed to never speak about that again."

Applejack laughed and said, "I didn't agree to anythin'! I'm just bein' honest and askin' ya a question."

"And I'm being generous by not bucking you in the face for your honesty!" Rarity said. 

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in excitement and said, "Oh! Oh! Oh! I know one too! For what will it profit a pony if he or she gains the whole world and forfeits their soul, or what shall a pony give in return for their soul?" 

"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge ponies into ruin and destruction," Rainbow Dash said. 

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also," Twilight Sparkle said.

Applejack stepped forward and said, "I got one fer ya too, Fluttershy! Each one must give as he or she has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Ya'll know what that means, right Fluttershy? I'm sure ninety percent of yer stuff is gonna git taken to the garbage dump, but we may be able to salvage somethin' here and there and we can give some of this stuff away."	

"That's a wonderful idea, Applejack!" Twilight said. "We can set up a table and call it an altar for Fluttershy to sacrifice her belongings. Other ponies can come by and take it away for free!"

Fluttershy sighed and said, "I guess I forgot about doing the right thing. There's one verse that comes to mind. Each one must give as he has decided in his or her heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

"That's right, Fluttershy!" Twilight Sparkle said. "Let's start cleaning up this mess and putting aside items that other ponies in Ponyville could use."

"Say, ya'll can make a pile of stuff on Fluttershy's altar and I'll head back to Sweet Apple Acres to bring back a wagon. We can then load up all the useful things into the wagon, and I could go 'round town and give the stuff away to ponies who are in greater need. I'll be right back!" Applejack left to get the wagon and the rest of the girls began to clean up. They would have to clean up the clutter that was outside first, before they could even enter the cottage. 

They had made two piles. One for stuff that would be carted away to the garbage dump, and another pile for items that they felt could be of good use for other ponies. 

Fluttershy was shaking and biting her hooves at the things that were being thrown away. Nearly every item that was being thrown into the garbage pile was criticized by Fluttershy because in her mind, all of these things were valuable. Fluttershy learned to calm down after a few hours of working with her friends. She had to let it go. It was for the greater good. 

Applejack came back with the wagon, and she began packing lots of items into it. The girls continued to work all through out the day. They would spend an entire week working with Fluttershy and also took all of their own personal free time to come back to help Fluttershy out. 

Fluttershy and her friends were all standing inside the sparkling clean living room of Fluttershy's cottage. 

Applejack took off her hat and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "Phew! Seven whole days to git this work done! I hope ya learned yer lesson, Fluttershy. Don't ya ever let that pesky little pack rat creep his way back into yer heart again. Promise me that you'll never be tempted to search for him."

"Oh, I promise I will never take him back home, and I am so grateful that you all helped me out like this," Fluttershy said.

Twilight Sparkle smiled and brought out a scroll and a quill. "How about a letter to the Princess?" she asked. 

Fluttershy sighed and looked out the window nearby as if the rays of sun would give her inspiration to speak. "Dear Princess Celestia," she said. "Today I learned that sometimes you have to let go of things even if you truly love them. I made a special animal critter friend, but he was destroying my life and the lives of my other critter friends because he felt the need to hoard things. I realized that I can't control his compulsive nature, and I can't change the way he is because he is hard wired to be that way. I had to let him go and I'm sorry for not tending to many of the other woodland creatures. I know I have caused a lot of pain and heartache, but I think I've learned my lesson now. Yours truly, Fluttershy." 

Twilight Sparkle jotted everything down and then used her magic and sent the letter off to the Princess.

All the girls gasped. 

"Twilight Sparkle? You can send letters to the Princess?" Rarity asked.

"Of course I can you silly fillies!" Twilight said. "I just always have Spike do it when he's around because I want him to feel useful. The magical dragon fire breath is pretty cool too. Although I can't even begin to tell you how many pages and books he's burned by mistake." 

Pinkie Pie blinked several times and then grinned with a crazed smile. "Hey! I think I remember my favorite verse of all time! My heart rejoices in the Lord." 

Applejack rolled her eyes and said, "There Pinkie Pie goes again, usin' scripture just to make an excuse to throw another party."

Pinkie Pie circled the room several times at blinding speeds. When she stopped, the entire room was covered in party decorations and every pony had a party hat on their head. 

Rarity looked rather worried and said, "Pinkie Pie, how did you do that, and where did all these party supplies come from?"

Twilight sighed and said, "Let's not try to figure her out, Rarity. I'm sure you all remember what happened last time I tried to conduct scientific experiments on her to try to understand how she does these things. This pony can do things that we may never understand until we get to Heaven. Only God knows how this all works, and I plan on asking Him how Pinkie Pie is able to do all of these crazy things when I get to Heaven."

Pinkie Pie began to giggle madly and threw a party in Fluttershy's cottage. 

They were all tired, but Pinkie Pie never lost any energy when it came to throwing a party, so they stayed awhile and had some fun.

After the party, they all discussed finding a place where they can relax and have fun since they spent an entire week working so hard. 

Rarity was thinking for a moment as her friends continued to discuss where they would like to go. "Ah-hah!" she said. "Let's all take a trip to the beach! There is nothing more relaxing and satisfying than putting your hooves in the sand and listening to the ocean!"

All the other girls agreed, except for Rainbow Dash. She hovered in the air and put her two front hooves on the sides of her hips. "Rarity just wants to go to the beach so she can hit on all of the stallions and gawk at their bodies."

Rarity gasped and said, "A true lady would never do such a thing!" Rarity paused for a moment and said, "But I'm sure it doesn't hurt to glance for just a little bit." 

Rainbow Dash laughed and said, "And just how long is a glance in your book, Rarity?"

Rarity put her two front hooves together nervously and said, "About three point forty two seconds is sufficient and lady-like when it comes to looking at a stallion. One must not get too greedy or seem desperate."

Rainbow Dash face hoofed and said, "Fine! I'll go. Although I'd rather spend my time at some kind of sporting event or something."

Rarity smiled and said, "You might find an interesting stallion for yourself to look at, Rainbow."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, ok. Keep dreaming. I have not a care in the world when it comes  to finding a somepony special. Why don't we all just go tomorrow to the beach since it will be the weekend. Is anypony doing anything important tomorrow?"

All the girls nodded their heads no.

"Good. I guess we can hitch a ride in a taxi tomorrow. The beach is far away, and we can't get there on hoof," the cyan pony said.

The rest of the girls murmured in approval and then headed off to their homes.

Fluttershy found many of her animal friends came back to her cottage that day. She was especially thrilled to see that Angel Bunny had come back into her cottage too.