//------------------------------// // Fluttershy // Story: A Hopping Problem // by billymorph //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash was late. Not properly late. The kind of late where ponies started organising search parties and posting fliers; no it was a more modest form of tardiness somewhere beyond fashionably late and approaching overslept late with alarming speed. Of course, Twilight was going to be there and she had no appreciation for the subtleties of arrival time, a minute after the stated time was enough to make her frown, so it was unlikely to matter that much. Rainbow Dash had been working hard to give the poor pony a better appreciation of the art of being late but it was slow going. As she wasn’t super late, Rainbow Rash didn’t bother flying at breakneck speed to Fluttershy’s cottage, just faster than any other pony. Alighting in the garden she paused a moment by the pond to make sure her mane was just the right level of windswept, skipped around an irate group of bunnies camped out in front of the house and knocked on the door. “Argh!” There was a loud thud from inside the cottage. “Twilight?” Rainbow Dash called, lifting into the air. “You okay in there?” She hovered over to the window and was just peering in when Twilight appeared on the other side of the glass, the alicorn’s face locked into a manic grin. “Hi Rainbow,” she said she said in a rush, somehow managing to smile even wider. “Everything is a-okay in here. Nope nothing to see here at all. Everything is just, great.” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “Right... So can I come in?” “In, why would you want to come in? There’s nothing to see in here,” Twilight babbled. “Just boring old Fluttershy’s cottage.” She let loose a nervous giggle. “But we were all meeting here today,” Rainbow pointed out, crossing her arms. “Our weekly get together, remember?” Twilight glanced behind her, Rainbow Dash tried to peer over her shoulder but saw nothing but an empty sofa. “Oh, well that got cancelled,” Twilight persisted, shifting her head so as to block the window again. “Rarity, um... Had a big order to fill!” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “Well nopony told me.” “Sorry, but there’s nothing happening here today, so you’ll just have to go home.” Twilight yanked the curtains shut. “Okay, that was weird,” Rainbow Dash said to herself. She glanced down at the bunnies who were hopping up and down frantically. “Hmm, okay maybe not that weird but still.” Shrugging she called out. “Twilight?” as she hovered over to the other window. “What’s going on in there?” Twilight beat her to it, the curtains closing magically before her nose. “Twilight this isn’t funny.” Again she flitted to another window and found the curtains closed. “Alright, you asked for this.” She snorted, pawed the air and then set off like a bolt through the air, trailing her trademark rainbow she gained altitude. A tight loop around the cottage later she spotted her target, a small window left open at the top of the house. “Too, easy,” the pegasus said, grinning to herself and folded her wings, going into a stooped dive. Twilight appeared at the window, waved and slammed it shut. “No, no, no, no!” Dash exclaimed, backpedaling with all four hooves, spreading her wings wide to try and slow herself down but all for no avail. With a crash she hit the window and stuck to it, spaild out against the glass. “Ow...” She peeled herself off the glass, dropped a few feet before catching herself and hovering in place. Regarding the closed window with annoyance she huffed, made sure her mane was still perfect and descended back to the front door. “That was not cool Twilight,” she called through the door. “I just want to come in.” “I don’t know why, nothing exciting or ‘radical’ in here,” Twilight shot back, with another little nervous laugh. Rainbow Dash slumped. “First, no one says radical anymore. Second I need to talk to Fluttershy.” She heard Twilight glup. “...Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Yes, a yellow pegasus, lives somewhere around here. Have you seen her?” “Umm... ah. Well I- Oh!” Dash looked down at the rabbits and sighed. “I get the feeling she just came up with a terrible idea.” The bunnies nodded in unison. Rainbow Dash cocked her head at them. “You guys are weird, you know that?” Before they could answer the door was flung open and Fluttershy dropped onto the front step. “Oh!” she said brightly, then froze, hung her head and flicked her hair so it covered more of her face. “Oh,” she repeated in a softer voice. “Hi Dashie, Twilight said you wanted to talk to me.” “I’m surprised you didn’t hear me trying to get in,” Dash snapped. “What are you and Twilight doing in there?” “Nothing of any importance,” Fluttershy replied in a rush, glancing around. “Right,” Rainbow Dash drawled. “Well I was going to ask you a question about Tank. See he’s been turning down my health shake smoothies, which are awesome by the way, and I’m getting a little worried he might be coming down with something. He seems as lively as ever but I thought I’d ask for the expert opinion.” “Hmm,” Fluttershy said, rubbing her chin with her hoof. “Well, what’s in the smoothies?” “Oh the usual thing any growing pegasus needs. Oats, cherries, soy milk, coconut husks (for fiber of course), tomatoes, raw eggs, Wonderbolts brand energy drink-” “Wait, raw eggs?” Fluttershy interrupted. “Turtles are vegetarian.” “Tank is a tortoise,” Rainbow Dash corrected, testilly. “Besides I’m a vegetarian and it doesn’t bother me.” Fluttershy facehooved. “You okay Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dashed asked, cocking her head. “You seem rather ‘off’ today.” “Off? No, no, everything’s fine,” Fluttershy insisted, bobbing her head up and down, trying to smile. Rainbow Dash nodded slowly back. “Riiight. Well what do you suggest I do with Tank?” “I don’t know, feed him better tasting smoothies,” Futtershy snapped, then smiled nervously. “Now I think I hear Angel calling, if you’ll excuse me.” She darted backwards and slammed the door shut in Rainbow Dash’s face. Rainbow Dash was still trying to process Fluttershy slamming a door when she heard a deep sigh of relief from inside the cottage. She glanced down at the bunnies who’d moved onto gesturing wildly, shrugged and called out. “Hey, is Pinkie Pie still in there?” “No!” Fluttershy called out. “No one here but me and Twilight.” “Oh, guess she already went back to Sugarcube Corner. I was going to pick up a cake from her today.” There was no reply. Rainbow Dash shook her head, lifted off and did a quick circle of the cottage but saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Weird,” she said softly to herself, before heading back into town.