(Legacy Prompt #7: The prompt: Tell the scariest story Fluttershy knows.)
(I am tremendously out of practice with writing. This is shorter than I like and probably not the best, but I wanted to at least try to get back into the swing of things.)
Fluttershy smiled as she watched her friend Twilight Sparkle read the book of monster stories. She knew the stories were supposed to be scary, but sitting together in a sunlit room in Twilight's new castle made it hard to really be scared of monsters and dragons and things like that. Fluttershy wasn't even reading the stories, she was just there to spend a little time with Twilight.
But watching the princess read scary stories did make her think about them.
She had read books like that before. She thought it would help her get over her fears of everyday things, though that really hadn't worked. The stories were all alike in a way. They started off a little happy, a little ominous, and then built tension. At the end, there was always some monster, or dragon, or ghost pony to terrorize the characters and make you want to sleep with all your lamps on and an annoyed little bunny cuddled against you.
But being here and thinking about it made Fluttershy realize that if she had to pick the scariest kind of story, it wouldn't be scary because of the end.
Fluttershy looked at Twilight, as the princess read happily, the warm sunlight almost glowing on her mane, and her elegant alicorn wings rustling a little in anticipation of the story to come.
Fluttershy's scariest story didn't seem so bad. It started off happy, like most of them. With Fluttershy, and her friends, all celebrating something new. They would all be happy about it, and Pinkie threw the best parties when it was something that was really worth partying over. Fluttershy smiled a bit as she pictured the balloons and congratulations and streamers everywhere. If there was anything ominous at the start, she didn't know what it was, other than just that little bit of worry when something you really, really cared about was changing.
Twilight's wings flared as she started getting to the part where the tone changed, and she blushed a little, giggling nervously to Fluttershy as she refolded them behind her.
Her own story didn't get too dark even then. Fluttershy's scary story was full of happy moments, tender moments. Two ponies talking together, alone in her cottage, or in a bright, sunlit castle. Two ponies taking walks along the edge of the forest, where it was safe, but all their animal friends could come by and see them. There were little scenes where their friends would all still laugh and play together, and they'd still go on adventures. The adventure parts were often scary, but they always, always ended well, just like in real life.
Fluttershy's story was also full of tender, emotional moments. Two ponies nuzzling happily in the privacy of their homes. It told of them cuddling by the fire on a Heart's Warming Eve night, having a first kiss under the stars on a crystal castle parapet, or traveling to Canterlot to see plays and visit the castle archives. There were quiet nights spent together in a warm, soft bed. Fluttershy tried to keep her blush down.
Princess Twilight bit her lower lip nervously, her eyes flitting back and forth as she read the story, getting closer and closer to the ending, her body tense as though she expected a monster to jump right out of the book itself.
This story didn't end that way, though. It ended as it had started, happily. The same two ponies, standing in front of all their friends and family. Now that Fluttershy thought about it again, probably in front of hundreds of ponies. Maybe there were a few scary parts. But the two ponies were there for a happy reason. Two ponies becoming one, in a special way that Fluttershy only hoped that she could experience someday. A way that ended the story, but was really only the start of the two ponies making a new story, together, with all their friends and their new, joined family behind them.
Twilight made a startled noise, clapping the book shut in a panic, before blushing in embarrassment as she remembered that she was in a sunny, safe room with one of her friends. Twilight scooted over next to Fluttershy, and leaned lightly against her. Fluttershy hugged her friend comfortingly, trying to stop her own heart from beating as fast as the startled princess' was.
Most scary stories were scary because of the ending. Because of the monster that was standing right behind you, or the ghost that would visit you that night.
But as Fluttershy held Twilight close, and opened her mouth, only to close it again without saying anything...
Fluttershy knew that the scariest and saddest stories were the ones that would never really get the chance to begin.