//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Where it all begins // Story: A Fluttershy Horror Story: This time it's ridiculous // by chaotic serenity //------------------------------// Fluttershy has just woken up and was going through her morning routine. Brush teeth? Check. Brush mane? Check. Brush Angel? Check. Get slapped by Angel because she didn't fluff his tail? Check once again. "Oh. I'm sorry Angel," Fluttershy said in her quiet voice. "I didn't mean to forget your tail. I just have a lot on my mind. Angel simply tapped his foot on the ground and glared at her until she fluffed his tail. Then he smiled and ran off to do whatever it is he does during the day. I sure hope a bird comes and nabs you, you little pest. Fluttershy thought. Then she gasped, "Goodness! I don't know where that came from! Such a horrible thought!" Fluttershy shuddered, and at the same time, her stomach growled. "Oh that must be it!" she said to herself, "I must be cranky because I haven't had breakfast yet." With that consoling thought putting her mind at ease, Fluttershy finished her morning checklist and went off to her favorite restaurant, unaware of the horror that was about to be unleashed. On the way to the restaurant, Fluttershy was stopped by no less than everypony she met, each wanting her to help with some menial task. Carrot Top needed help with some weeds, The Mayor locked herself out of town hall again and needed Fluttershy to get the spare key from the top windowsill, (though why she kept it there completely bewildered everypony, and most just chalked it up to "weird politician stuff"), even Bon-Bon needed her help to talk Lyra out of going on her most recent "Human Expedition." With each pony that stopped her, Fluttershy's patience grew thinner and thinner. "I just want to go to The Sandwich Parlor and get some breakfast!" she thought to herself. "Is that too much to ask?!" Well, apparently the universe was listening to her thoughts and decided that, yes, it was too much to ask. At that moment, Derpy appeared out of nowhere and crashed into a nearby tree, presumably for the fifth time that day. Fortunately for her, Fluttershy could never leave a poor defenseless pony stuck in a tree. Even if that pony has crashed into said tree so many times she was probably on a first name basis with it. Fluttershy flew up to Derpy, or rather, Derpy's backside, and sighed. "Let me guess." she said, just loud enough for Derpy to hear, "You just don't know what went wrong." Derpy giggled a bit and responded, "Whoops. My bad." Fluttershy rolled her eyes and began to pull on Derpy's haunches to get her out. Unfortunately for her, Derpy and lodged herself a bit farther in the tree than normal. Unfortunately for Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash just happened to be passing by and saw Fluttershy pulling on Derpy's butt. She decided to comment on said activity with a snarky remark. "Wow, Fluttershy," Rainbow said, floating down to their level and snickering. "I didn't know you swung that way." Rainbow Dash was not particularly good at snarky remarks. Fluttershy, her face out of Rainbows line of sight, gritted her teeth for a second, partially out of agitation, and partially because Derpy's rump was legendarily heavy. "Oh. Hi, ngh, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy responded, trying to talk and pull at the same time. "Derpy just, hng, crashed into this tree again. Ngh. I'm trying, hgg, to help her out." Rainbow simply laughed a bit and said, "Yeah yeah, what else is new? Derpy crashes into that tree all the time." Speaking of Derpy, Fluttershy finally managed to pull her out of the tree, and they both tumbled to the ground. While they were dazed, Rainbow floated down a bit more to spare some parting words. "Well, you two have fun. I'm off to go practice some moves at the edge of town. You can come watch once you've finished up with your new marefriend Flutters." Laughing some more, Rainbow flew off, leaving Fluttershy both with an increasingly unpleasant migraine, and unable to breath because Derpy had landed on her chest. "Uh, Derpy," Fluttershy squeaked, "Could you please, get off of me?" When Derpy looked up and turned to stare at her, she quickly added, "um, if you don't mind that is." Derpy smiled and quickly flew up. "Thanks for helping me, Shutterfly!" Fluttershy, used to ponies not getting her name right, simply nodded her head and got up. As she was brushing herself off, Derpy turned to the tree and said, "Bye Alfred! See you again tomorrow!" Then she flew away, leaving Fluttershy standing there with her mouth agape and her eye twitching for a few moments before she remembered what she had been trying to do all morning, and left. "I swear to Celestia, she thought to herself, "If one more pony asks me for help, I'll...I'll...I don't know what I'll do! Thankfully, the universe seemed to want to give her a break, and soon she saw The Sandwich Parlor, up ahead. Breaking into a smile, Fluttershy picked up her pace and started trotting. "Oh thank goodness," she said to herself, "It's too late for breakfast but I can still get a decent lunch!" Fluttershy entered the restaurant and was seated at the table. Feeling like the day was starting to look better, she ordered her favorite lunch item, a daisy sandwich. Nothing, to her, was as good as a properly made daisy sandwich, and this restaurant could make one. This was when the universe decided that Fluttershy had had enough of a break. Fluttershy waited. And waited. And waited. She was there for a good 20 minutes before the waiter finally came back with her food. "So sorry about that, madame," the waiter said. "Our chef has decided to go on strike again, so we had to quickly find someone else to make your food." Fluttershy smiled as the plate was placed down. "Oh it's alright, sir." she said, "I'm just glad my food got-" Fluttershy paused. There was something wrong here. Something terribly wrong. This wasn't a daisy sandwich on the plate in front of her. These were daffodils. Fluttershy hated daffodils. Fluttershy looked up at the waiter and began to speak, but didn't get very far before the waiter, sensing a complaint coming, cut her off with a, "Oh dear me, it appears I have other patrons waiting! Please excuse me!" and speeding away to another table. Fluttershy, her migraine now incredibly painful, simply looked down at her plate in defeat. This was the fifth time she'd gotten the wrong thing at this restaurant. Oh well, she thought to herself, I suppose I'd better eat it. Bad tasting food is better than no food. With that, she took a bite.The taste. Sweet Celestia the taste. If she hadn't just seen what she had eaten, Fluttershy could have sworn she had just put dirt in her mouth. It was as if several cows had just trodden on them. It was terrible. Fluttershy felt a lump in her throat, and wasn't sure if it was because of the awful food, or the murderous feelings she was harboring. Finally, she swallowed, and just like that, Fluttershy was gone. No longer did she have the painful headache, nor the lump in her throat. This day pushed her to her limits. She snapped. THAT'S IT!!! she screamed internally. I have HAD IT with everything and everypony! I'm going to show them all that nopony, and I mean NOPONY messes with Fluttershy! Fluttershy got up and ran out of the restaurant, and started galloping towards her house. And I know just where to start! she thought, grinning wildly. "Get ready Angel! Mommas coming home!"