Fluttershy was in the closet. This wasn’t entirely new to her-thanks to her terrible, terrible habit of being frightened at almost everything, she had hidden in her closet a lot. Unfortunately, this time she was stuck.
“Could somepony please help me? If it’s not too much trouble?” asked Fluttershy, as loud as she dared. She didn’t want to wake the bats that were sleeping in the closet. And it wasn’t like Fluttershy didn’t like being in the closet with the bats, but she had wanted to do things today.
Just then, there was a knock at the front door of Fluttershy’s cottage, and she could hear Rarity calling out. Fluttershy thanked her lucky stars that the closet was right next to the front door, and called out.
“Come in!” Above her, the bats rustled and shifted in their sleep, and Fluttershy whispered her apologies to them.
“Fluttershy, where are you?” asked Rarity.
“I’m, um, in the closet,” said Fluttershy. There was a shimmering sound, and the door opened. From her position, Fluttershy couldn’t see Rarity, but she could imagine what the unicorn’s face looked like.
“Dear Fluttershy, why are you in the closet?”
“Please, not so loud, Rarity!” insisted Fluttershy, “you might wake the bats, and they’ve had such a hard night.”
“Very well,” whispered Rarity, “Do you have any green thread? I need some to finish a dress for somepony, and the store is closed.”
“Oh, um, it should be right by my left wing.”
The shimmering sound of magic being used filled the air, and out of the corner of her eye, Fluttershy saw her spool of green thread float out and around her.
“Thank you, dear,” said Rarity, “I promise that I’ll return it once I’m done.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” said Fluttershy, “but if you could just...” She was cut off by the closet door shutting, keeping Fluttershy in the closet. With the bats. Fluttershy sighed, and tried to wriggle into a more comfortable position. A while later, there was another knock at the door, and once more, Fluttershy called out.
“Sorry,” she then whispered to the single bat above her that had opened one of its eyes to glare at her.
A few moments later, the closet door was thrown open by Pinkie Pie.
“Fluttershy! Where’s your flour? I need to get the Cake Twins under control, stat!”
“It’s in the third drawer on your left as you go into the kitchen, Pinkie. But before you go, could you...” But Pinkie had already shut the closet door, and Fluttershy could hear her rummaging through the kitchen, eventually crying out ‘Eureka!’ once she’d found the flour, and then Fluttershy heard what sounded like Pinkie Pie leaving her cottage without bothering to open the front door.
Fortunately, Fluttershy was friends with beavers, but she couldn’t help but let a sigh escape her lips. That would be the eighth door this month.
As Fluttershy tried to wriggle herself free again, there was another knock at the door. Once more, Fluttershy called out, and then frantically apologised to the bats above her as they shushed her.
The closet door opened.
“Fluttershy, I need something for Owlowiscious. He’s not eating, not even the mice I leave out for him.”
“Oh, um, it sounds like he might be sad,” said Fluttershy, “have you tried letting him fly around the forest some nights? He’s probably just missing hunting. Owls can be funny sometimes. If you helped me I could...”
Once again, Fluttershy was too late with her request, and Twilight was gone, and the close was shut again. A second later it opened, and Twilight spoke again.
“Also, there’s a Pinkie Pie-shaped hole in your door, Fluttershy,” said Twilight, and then the closet was shut again.
Fluttershy let out the softest scream she could.
****Time****
“Oh I know you like your exoskeleton, Mr. Scorpion, but if you don’t shed you’re never going to get any bigger,” whispered Fluttershy, many hours later. The scorpion made scorpion noises.
“But just think of how all the lady scorpions will admire your nice, shiny new exoskeleton,” said Fluttershy, “I know you want to have a family one day, and they’ll see you and think ‘oh, he’s a nice, big, strong scorpion.’”
The scorpion made more scorpion noises.
“I know, Mr. Scorpion. It can be hard to let go sometimes, but you have to do it, or you’ll be in a lot of pain when you get too big for your old exoskeleton,” said Fluttershy, “but don’t worry, I’ll help you while your new one hardens.”
The scorpion made further scorpion noises, and then the scorpion nuzzled up against Fluttershy’s cheek in thanks, before scuttling off.
The closet door swung open, almost without warning. Whatever the pony visiting her was about to say was cut off by the entire group of bats exiting the closet without any regard to who or what was in their way.
“Good bats,” Fluttershy smiled, as screams and the chirping of bats faded into the distance.
That was when the closet door swung shut.
Fluttershy swore.