//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Choices in the Present Create Your Future // Story: Fluttershy and the Ring of Fate // by AJ Dashner //------------------------------// I carefully open the door and tried my best to close it ever so quietly. Then I took my new found surroundings. To my right there was a set of drawers. In it was full of household clutter and some spare keys scattered throughout the drawers. There was also a wooden coat rack with a small blue coat on it. “I’ve seen a coat similar to this.”, I said outloud. Then I remembered. It was during the wintertime. Cloudsdale was preparing for making winter so that the year could rest. That day, everypony had to lend a hoof. Everypony didn’t have a jacket. They could stand the cold. Everypony except Fluttershy that is. Who was snuggled up in that blue, puffy, jacket. She was sneezing and had a red nose from the cold. The city’s bullies taunted her for being weak that day. “Hey Cluttershy!”, they yelled. “You can already barely fly! Bet you can’t even get off the ground with that jacket on! What’s wrong Cluttershy? Why are you sniffling? Are you about to cry?” I remember standing there. Just standing there and watching. Not making a move to help or provoke. In the end though, Fluttershy did run away crying. Crying and mumbling about that the statements were true. I snapped out of my memories and turned away from the coat rack. I looked at the layout in front of me. Before me was a long hallway. I trotted down to the end hallway. There were two paths. Straight ahead just lead me to an unknown room, and to my right there was a set of doors. I decided to turn right and quietly walked down the empty hallways until I came to the first door. Trying to get better at my surroundings and to find where Fluttershy was, I carefully went inside. Inside was there house’s bathroom. There was a sink with a mirror above it in front of me. I walked towards it and I saw my reflection. Dark grey coat, yellow eyes, and white hair with light blue streaks in it. It was fashioned in a sort of mohawk style. I had just got my cutiemark. It was a storm cloud with a single yellow lightning bolt coming from it. I turned away from my tired looking reflection to see that there was to my right a toilet, a green bathroom room stool, and a small bathtub. Not finding anything useful, I walked back the way I came and returned into the hallway. I walked a bit further down when I saw another door. This time, it was to my right. Once again, I carefully went inside. Inside there was a normal room. There were drawers and shelves to my left, filled with school books. On it sat a small flower plant and one oddly color book. I walked closer to the book, but decided to read it later. I turned and saw that to my right, there was a tall mirror with a TV and another set a shelves, but two of the four spaces had a refrigerator and a freezer shoved inside. Across from the TV there was a black table with a single black chair. On top of the table sat a box of tissues and a single book that was closed. Across from myself, was a small bed, and in it was a single sleeping form, cooing ever so softly. I walked closer to the sleeping form to see who it was. It turned out to be Fluttershy, resting in a deep slumber. “How did you die Fluttershy?”, I wondered while looking at her gentle expression. “Why and how?” After looking around, I start to look for anything guidance that could help me. I exit the room of the sleeping filly and then go down the hallway again. I go to the last set of drawers. There were larger sliding drawers. I quietly open then and enter the room. Inside was a large bedroom room. There was a work desk. At the desk was a grown stallion. They stallion was muscularly built with an orange coat and a red mane and tail. I couldn’t get a good look at his cutiemark and he was sound asleep with his eyes closed. I looked at him carefully and then pictured fluttershy in my mind. I could see some similarities, so I assumed it was her dad. To the right there was an old bed with diamond patterned bedsheets. In the corner there was also a coat rack with a suit hanging from it. “Probably for his work.”, I thought. “ Whatever Fluttershy’s dad does.” There was a shelf by the coat rack. On it were books and various other objects. I then looked around and saw a nightstand with a lamp on it. Inside the nightstand was a large amount of sleeping pills. “I could possibly use these…”, I thought. I began to reach my hoof towards them when I suddenly stopped. “No! A good flier always gets a good view of his or her surroundings.” I pulled back my hoof and quietly closed the drawer and went towards the work desk. There were some book on there. I grabbed one after the other and read out their titles. There was a book called “The Cash Stallion:Building Communication Skills”, “How to Speak While Looking Somepony in the Eyes”, and “Business Etiquette You’ll Be Shunned Without”. After reading the books, none brought forth any interest. So, I just put them back where they belonged. I then began to even look in the trash bin. In there was a crumpled paper with a bad word my mom said never to use written all across it. Since I finished exploring all the rooms in the hallway, I returned to the turning point and went straight instead. Inside was a kitchen area. There was a stove, sink combination with a pot on it. There was also a fridge, another set of drawers in the corner, and a shelving closet with plates and cups in it. There was also a TV and a wooden table with two chair sitting across each other. I head towards the stove and look inside the pot. In it were some hay fries. “I wonder if Fluttershy made it. It smells pretty good.” I closed the lid and looked at the stove options. “I could turn on the gas if I needed to”, I mumbled. “Best not right now though.” I looked at the sink. It was a pretty good sink. Like all sinks here, they all connect to the weather factory straight to the Rain Room. This was so we got the purest most delicious water there ever was. When I looked closer though, there was a drawer under the sink. I opened it and in it was a knife.” “I could use this too.”, I thought. “But also only as a last measure or if I had this fool proof plan.” I closed the drawer and opened the refrigerator next. In it were some containers stuffed with side dishes of old dinners. There were some apple slices, grass from below, all sorts of things. I closed the fridge and started to go the the drawers when something stopped me. There was a picture hanging from the wall. In the picture was a family of three. One pony was Fluttershy’s dad, He was smiling happily and holding the hoof of somepony who looked startlingly like Fluttershy. Finally, in the center of the photo looking a little nervous, was Fluttershy. Looking a little younger, but acting not unlike her personality today. Everypony in the photo was smiling. “Oh, Fluttershy…”, I whispered. “What happened? Why did you die?” I tried to open the drawers, but then after a good struggle realized that they were fake. “Oh nice going Thunderlane. Really smart what you did there.” I headed over to the kitchen when I stumbled over something. It was a small red dragon. The dragon snorted and sat up. “What do you want?”, it grumbled. “Oh.”, I said, a bit startled. “Sorry to wake you. Are you a messenger dragon?” “Depends who you want to message I can only message another pony’s dragon and the only one I know is to a somepony named...What was it called? Oh that’s right. Her name is Rainbow Dash.” “Rainbow Dash?”, I thought. “Maybe she could help me with this. Her future self did in fact send me back to these past hours.” I pondered for a minute then stopped. “Thanks I said to the dragon. Can I use you to message her later?” “Sure. Sure. Just wake me up when you need to. Hey...What did you say your name was again? And how do you know Fluttershy and her father?” “Oh. Ummm...We’re f-friends. Yeah. Friends at school. She ummm, invited me to a sleepover, but I came a bit late.” That was the best idea I could think of. “Eh. Works for me.”, said the dragon. He then closed his eyes and began to puff out smoke from snoring. I decided to exit the kitchen and went back into Fluttershy’s room. I glanced at the book sitting on the black table again. “Wonder what it is”, I thought. “I’ll just take a peek.” I saw the title and it turned out to be Fluttershy’s diary. “Maybe this can give me answers”, I thought. I read on. April 2 “Such a sad atmosphere. It’s choking me. I can hardly breathe. I can’t smile at all. Even if I try to make myself to, there’s no heart in it. What’s keeping me going? What would happen if I lost that something? By the time I find out. It might be too late. “Huh...I hear it. I hear it again and again. Please don’t do those terrible things. My heart aches so much. You’re a monster.”” “Dad’s having trouble at work again. Every day it’s the same for me. Same time, same place, same area. I want to help dad. I want to help dad. I want to help dad so much. What in Celestia’s name can I do? It’s so terrible. Not being able to do anything. It’s hurts so much. If only I could change just one thing… I don’t care what would happen to me. I probably wouldn’t be mad about it. I doubt I’d even resist...Like I always do.” “What is my heart made of? I wish I wasn’t human, but rather as something without a heart. I don’t care whether it would’ve been animal or robot.” April 3 “Once again dad…………….” “I made hay fries today. I think it came out tasty. There’s nothing to do in the house, so I just keep improving my ability to do housework. I don’t even have any interests. I used to have some, but now I don’t want to do anything. Not even visit my new animal friends.” “Leave me alone. I don’t matter anymore. If dad told me to die I would. That’s all I can do. There are no options. There’s no other way.” “My body feels heavy. Was it always this heavy? I can’t even lift up my wings anymore.” “...I’m going to sleep. I feel sad and depressed.” April 4 “I talked to Thunderlane. That’s right. I’ve never really spoken to him much. Just like most of my classmates except Rainbow Dash...But he’s the colt who sits next to me. In class he always has this gloomy look on his face. Just like me….But mine can only be brightened by Rainbow’s attempts and that’s only for a short period of time….I can’t say much for him, but it sure doesn’t seem like he’s having fun with life...at least during class. I didn’t tell him anything. It’s not like I’m feeling concerned or anything like that. Did I want to talk to him about something? Not quite. I’m not worried about anything. There’s nothing to talk about. I’m...not worried at all….Haha.” Nothing had been written after this. “What do I do now?”, I thought. “What to do? What to do? I’ve explored Fluttershy’s house and the only things that may help are some sleeping pills, that colored notebook, the kitchen knife, the message dragon, and maybe the gas. No there’s one other thing I could do. I can just back out. Just leave and do nothing. Pretend nothing happened. I already know what’s going to come.” I walked back to the entrance of the house, sat, and began to think. “I got it.”, I said at last. I decided what I was going to do.