Chapter 2.3, Strange Obsession, Fluttershy's Story
Trixie circled around Fluttershy, causing the meek pegasus to shiver on the ground, but Trixie didn't relent her piercing gaze.
"So-"
Fluttershy let out a yelp. It changed to a nervous chuckle as she turned away causing her long, pink main to cover half her face.
"So," Trixie said again in the same intensity, "first question: Do you know anything about this Stars pony?"
Fluttershy fell to the ground and broke down crying. "I admit it, I took the package from Princess Celestia. I am Stars!" Her tears flowed down in a stream from each eye.
Trixie took a few steps back. That wasn't the response she had expected. With a bright, toothy smile, she patted the trembling pegasus on the head. "Okay, okay, stop crying. Tell The Great and Compassionate Trixie your story. I won't judge until you tell me why you stole the package. I'm sure you had a good reason."
The pegasus sniffed a few times and wiped away the tears on her wings. "Okay, I'll tell you what happened. Yesterday..."
Fluttershy's morning had been rather normal. She spent it helping out her woodland friends. Baskets, woven out of soft branches, sat on the table with straw lining the inside. Piles of food, blankets and other things needed to comfort during the winter were prepared to the side. They were going to be turned into care packages for the squirrels, rabbits, birds and other friends. Angel was sleeping peacefully in his bed.
A gentle humming filled up the wooden cabin with comforting warmth. Fluttershy flew around, dropping things into the baskets.
("Fluttershy," Trixie interrupted.
"Yes?"
"Does anything relating to the package from Celestia actually happen during your morning?"
Fluttershy scratched her nose and then looked away. Her eyes were angled down in embarrassment. "Um, not really."
It was through huge effort that the unicorn restrained from rolling her eyes. In a sweet voice, she said, "Let's just give a quick summary of these events. If anything important or out of the ordinary does pop up, mention it."
"Okay." The pegasus nodded meekly.)
So nothing else happened that morning that was out of the normal. With the woodland creatures well cared for, Fluttershy left for the library. It was a day to be spent with friends. Why, just on the road up ahead was one of them.
"Hello, Applejack."
Applejack turned around. "Oh, howdy there, Fluttershy. I didn't notice you."
Fluttershy noticed that where was a bit of a dent in the mud and some random shallow holes everywhere. "Is everything alright?"
"Yup. You going to Twilight's, Fluttershy?"
"I am."
"Come on." Applejack motioned down the road. "Let's walk together."
Side by side, they mostly talked about their plans for the new year. For Applejack, it mostly involved the farm and what could be done to improve. After fixing one thing, the next breakage would certainly be right around the corner. Fluttershy spoke about the next Winter Wrap-up and how wonderful it would be to see her animal friends again. They talked about how great the weather was currently. It might be chilly, but not overly so, a rather pleasant day for a party. That night, both of them wanted to spend time outside to get the feel of the night sky of the new year. Of course, they planned to invite the others and wouldn't go too far away from the warm comfort of the library.
"Hey, Fluttershy, would you mind coming with me to the furniture store?" Applejack asked. "I'm going to order a surprise for Granny Smith. A brand new rocker."
"Oh, that sounds lovely."
But who knew there were so many styles of rockers now? The two of them browsed through an entire section of them at the furniture store. There were rockers that had drink holders, rockers with stabilizers and even rockers that could massage at the same time.
"I like this one." Fluttershy pointed to a simple, wooden chair with a floral carving.
Applejack nodded once. Her eyes were still wide from the amount of choice available. "Yeah, I think that's best."
(Trixie tapped a hoof against the ground. "Does this really have something to do with the events of the day?"
"Maybe? I don't know what could be important or not."
The unicorn let out a sigh. "Fine, continue.")
By the time they got to Twilight's home, Rainbow Dash was already there. From Twilight and Rainbow's expressions, brows furrowed and frowning, it looked as if they were arguing. But that certainly couldn't be the case. It was a fine day, and there would be a party later.
"What's going on here, Twi, RD?" Applejack asked.
"Hello, Applejack. Hello, Fluttershy," Twilight said.
"Um, we were talking, that is Applejack and I," Fluttershy said, "about going out tonight. We think it would be nice to go out and enjoy the night."
"I think that's a great idea," Spike said.
"You do?" Twilight asked.
The small dragon nodded. His claws were clasped together. "Yeah, you girls can go out, and I'll stay in here and clean up all the cakes, I mean mess of the party."
Fluttershy giggled. "You should come, too. We probably won't be outside for long. It would be much too cold."
Rainbow Dash interrupted with a, "Yeah, yeah, forget about that. Check it out!" She jabbed a hoof towards the package. "This came for me from Princess Celestia."
Fluttershy carefully walked over to the table watched over by the sculpture of a horse's head. "Ooh. What is it?"
"I don't know, Twilight won't let me open it," Rainbow Dash said. "Did either of you get a present from Celestia?"
Both Applejack and Fluttershy shook their heads.
"Wow, this must be a gift for my awesomeness."
"So you're saying that this thing here is a gift from Princess Celestia?" Applejack asked.
"Yes!"
Fluttershy clapped her hooves and had a soft smile. "That's great. I'm happy for you, Rainbow Dash."
"At least somepony is," Rainbow Dash said.
"All I'm saying," Twilight grunted in exasperation, "is that I want to make sure it's alright. Don't worry, you'll get it back."
Rarity soon arrived and was dragged into the current topic of the present as well.
Fluttershy had just been standing in the back, listening in on their conversation. She wanted to get a word in but wasn't sure exactly what would be appropriate to stop all the arguing. The sparkling rainbow present was enticing however. Just what was in there that mysterious gift from Celestia and why couldn't it be opened until the new year? Maybe it was more symbolic, and they could open it any time. Fluttershy edged closer to get a better look.
It was then that Pinkie Pie burst in and livened up the mood greatly. She went on about decorating everything and needing space to do it. Fluttershy left with Rarity to give Pinkie what she needed to make a great party.
Even away from the library, Fluttershy just couldn't get the present from Celestia out from her mind. She hadn't said much about it, but the thoughts were nibbling away at her concentration. Even while walking away, she kept on looking back to the library.
"Darling, what's wrong?" Rarity asked.
"Um." Fluttershy ground her hoof into the dirt. "I'll see you around, Rarity. I have some things to take care of."
Rarity looked on curiously. "Oh, well, alright. I'll see you at the party, then, I suppose."
"Sorry."
"There's nothing to apologize for."
Fluttershy pretended to turn away. Once Rarity was gone, she went back to Twilights. Peering in through the window, she saw that the happy pink pony was bouncing all over the place, putting up streamers and the like. Twilight and Spike were nowhere to be seen. Then, Pinkie left the room to do something else.
This was Fluttershy's chance. She flapped her wings to hover just a bit off the ground so there wouldn't be any sounds of hoofsteps. Sweat rolled down her face as her eyes shot from side to side, looking for signs of her friends. She flew ever closer to the center table where the sparkling present was waiting. It almost seemed to glow with magic and beauty.
Fluttershy only wanted to look inside. She was all ready to unwrap the present, but she heard someone coming back into the main room. Her eyes widened with panic, and her wings snapped tight against her body. In a panic, she just snatched up the gift with her mouth and then bolted out the door. She could barely even see with her long, pink mane acting like a curtain in front of her face.
She didn't stop until tumbling over into a pile of snow. A cough spat the package out onto the snow.
(Trixie rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "So you're telling me that you stole the present sometime in the afternoon? You, the wimpy one?"
Fluttershy nodded once. She stared at Trixie with a fierce determination, or about as much fierceness as her soft eyes could muster. "I am a dangerous pony with a risky side."
"I never would have guessed," Trixie said in completely sincerity. "You always seemed nice. And also, I thought the present didn't go missing until later. How did the note get there?"
"Um, well, you see." Fluttershy turned away, letting her pink mane hide her face from view. It took a few moments before she finally spoke again.)
Fluttershy shook her head, sending flecks of snow everywhere. Her attention immediately went towards finding the present, which was stuck in the snow. She let out a loud gasp. It had gotten dirty and soaked! There was no way she could return it as is. But there wasn't a choice; she would just have to own up to it. Hopefully whatever was inside was water resistant.
When she reached the library again, Pinkie Pie was just coming out. The pink pony bounced away merrily. With a spark of hope, the pegasus sidled up to the doorway. The main room was completely empty! It also looked rather festive with balloons in the ceiling and a colorful streamers hanging between the shelves. Even the horse-head sculpture was wearing a party hat. There was a bunch of decorations lying around, some of which looked really close to the material used to wrap the present. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to return a ruined present.
Her plan was to replace the wrapping, but she couldn't undo it for some reason. No matter how hard she pulled and tugged, the dirty bow wouldn't come loose. Another plan was to make an empty gift first, then go home and clean up the real one. Yeah, that would work.
From the shelves, Fluttershy took down two books that, when combined, was about the size of the present. She took some paper and ribbons from Pinkie's supplies. The end result was something that looked sort of similar to the original gift; as long as no one noticed it didn't shine as brightly. She quickly scribbled down a note saying, "I am sorry," though her rush made it tough to read, somehow transforming it into, "I AM stars."
("What?" Fluttershy asked. "It's tough to write with just my mouth.")
With the real present hidden underneath her wing, Fluttershy took off for home.
("So the present is at your home, then?" Trixie said.
Fluttershy lowered to the ground, further avoiding the sharp eyes. "Um, not anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I lost it?"
"You what?" Trixie sputtered.
"Um, it was like this...")
After a gentle scrubbing, Fluttershy had set the present to dry in her home. She fluttered around, tending to some chores just to keep her mind off the gift. It was just simple stuff, busywork. She dusted the same shelf at least four times. But when she was about to check on the drying process, her face widened in horror. Two raccoons had taken the present and were in the process of exiting out a hole in the wall.
"Wait!" Fluttershy cried.
She flew towards the raccoons, arm outstretched, but they didn't hear her. A loud bang followed by several quieter clatters of random things falling off shelves followed when she crashed against the wall. With her arm was stuck inside the hole, it took the strength of her hind legs to get free.
Often, she would bring back gifts for her woodland friends, and they must have thought Princess Celestia's present was one of them. She bit down on her lips and flew through the windows after the raccoons. Her eyes frantically searched through the snow, but there were too many different tracks, and the raccoons had disappeared into the woods.
Fluttershy searched until the sun began to set but found nothing. Her head was drooping and her limbs hung limp when she fluttered back to her cottage. There was nothing she could do other than go to the party.
There, the fake present she had put there was still sitting innocently on the table.
"Hey, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash called out.
Fluttershy let out a yelp while jumping into the air.
"Whoa, calm down there."
She slowly hovered back down with pink blushing on her cheeks. "Sorry."
"What are you doing by yourself in the corner? Come have fun with us." Rainbow Dash pointed towards the center of the room, where the others were enjoying a bowl of ruby punch and dancing to music.
"Y-yeah," Fluttershy said.
The party went mostly well until it came close to midnight. Everyone was eagerly counting down the end of the year on their unofficial clock. At zero, a great bang shook the walls of the library. It felt like the entire library was quivering. Horrible noises ripped through, and all of the lights suddenly went out. A suffocating darkness spread throughout the library.
(Fluttershy clammed up about the rest of the party. After being pressed, she mumbled something about a fight because the present wasn't the real one.
Trixie placed a hoof on the pony she was interviewing and said, "Alright, I think I got it now."
"Oh, thank goodness." Fluttershy smiled in relief a finally finishing her story. She wiped away the sweat forming on her brows.
After giving instructions to wait and not talk to anyone, Trixie walked off. It was time for the next pony's story. There was something about that story that felt off, but there were still other tales to hear.)