//------------------------------//
// Chapter: Four. 
// Story: Lights. Camera. Romance. 
// by OtakuBrony47 
//------------------------------//

  “Huh? What? Where? W-Where am I?”

Fluttershy awoke to find herself alone in a field of grass. It was all empty, nothing but endless grass and grass pods. Fluttershy slowly began walking forward. She looked around her surrounding trying to find anyone who can tell her where she was. She was confused. Where was she, and how did she get there?

Suddenly, a voice behind her called out, “Fluttershy!” The pink haired girl slowly turned around as the feeling of nervousness crept up inside her. She was glad she found someone, but who was she and how did she know her name. “Fluttershy!” she called out. A distant figure in the fields by the horizon. Fluttershy slowly began to approach the woman and she too made her way towards her. As the figure became clearer, Fluttershy immediately recognized her. It was Sunset Shimmer.

“Oh NO” though Fluttershy. “Why is she here? What does she want with me?” Fluttershy nervously hoped for the worst, but just then, Sunset ran up to Fluttershy and gave her a big hug.

“Oh Fluttershy!” she exclaimed, “I’m so glad I found you, my true love!”

“True Love?” Did Fluttershy hear that correctly? “I thought you wanted nothing to do with me” she replied. Sunset giggled and kissed Fluttershy on the forehead.

“Oh Fluttershy,” she continued, “Why would I say that. You know I love, and I would never hurt you, sweetheart.”

“Really?” she asked.

Sunset slowly placed her finger upon Fluttershy’s lip and shushed her softly. She stared deeply into her eyes with a smile. “Shh, don’t talk” she said, “Just savor the moment.” Fluttershy blushed. Using her fingers, Sunset combed Fluttershy’s hair out of the way. She slowly leaned in for a kiss. Fluttershy felt her heart beating as Sunset’s lips slowly…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! WHAT! WHERE! HUH!?”

Sunset awoke to find herself on the floor of her bedroom. She had rolled off her bed again, after having another Fluttershy induced nightmare. “What the hell is going on!” she cried. “Why do I keep dreaming about this?!” She angrily got up from the floor and began to pace the room. Ever since the commercial shoot, she couldn’t stop thinking about that Fluttershy girl.

“How can it be!” she ranted. “I have absolutely no feelings for her! She’s a GIRL! I’M A GIRL! I CAN’T HAVE FEELING FOR HER!!!” She groaned as she buried her face into her pillow. This has been going for 3 days already. Sunset knew this was a problem. She still had deeply suppressed feelings for her crush, even after painfully discovering he was a she. But one way or another, she was determined to get over them. Whatever it took.





It was 9:42. Fluttershy was late for school. In fact, she wasn’t getting ready for school at all. In all her years, Fluttershy has never missed a day of school in her entire life. She had a very strict schedule: Wake-up, Bath, Dress, Breakfast, School, Club, go Home to watch Lunar Luna; Sleep. Wake-up, Bath, Dress, Breakfast, School, Club, go Home to watch Lunar Luna; Sleep! That has been her entire schedule since middle school. But todays was different. She was still feeling regret and shame over the commercial. She had missed 3 days of school. For the first time ever. Her perfect attendance record, soiled.

“Fluttershy!” shouted Twilight from outside, knocking hard on her door. “Fluttershy, get up! You’re late, and I refuse to let you miss any more days of school!!” she exclaimed. She loudly began to bang on the door. She just kept on knocking and banging, hoping she’d snap out of it and move on. “Fluttershy, can you hear me in there!?” she asked.

“Don’t bother” said Rainbow as she walked down the hallway, “She’s never coming out of her room.”

“Well it was YOUR FAULT in the first place!!” shouted Twilight.

Twilight continued to loudly bang on Fluttershy’s door. “This is not a joke Fluttershy! Come one!” There was no response. Twilight rolled her eyes. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a door pick. “Fluttershy,” she said, “I’m going to count to 3. And when I finish, I’m unlocking your door and coming in okay.”

Still no response. All was quiet. Twilight shook her head. “Very well Fluttershy.” She gripped the door knob and carefully with her other hand, inserted the pick into the door knob’s hole. “Okay Fluttershy, 1…” No answer. “2…” All was still quiet. Twilight shook her head. “3!”

She pressed inward on the pick. “Click”. The door was open. Twilight violently opened the door widely and walked inside. There was Fluttershy. Sitting on her bead upright, wrapped in her bed sheets, staring at a daze. “Well isn’t THIS a beautiful sight!” Twilight sarcastically stated. Fluttershy didn’t say a word. She didn’t even move. “Fluttershy, you are not missing another day of school, young lady!” Twilight scolded.

Fluttershy remained silent. She continued to stare into a daze, noting making any eye contact with anything but her Lunar Luna poster. Twilight slapped her forehead. “Okay Fluttershy, you are being melodramatic!” Twilight slowly approached Fluttershy and tried to make eye contact with her, but she turned her face away, every time Twilight tried to look at her.

“Fluttershy!” grunted Twilight. She crossed her arms and stood there in front of her. Tapping her foot vigorously. Fluttershy eventually sighed and slowly turned her head to make eye contact with Twilight. “There, was that so hard” she asked. Fluttershy didn’t respond.

Twilight shook her head. She slowly leaned in closer towards her and slowly sniffed her head. It was less than pleasant. “Fluttershy, when was the last time you washed your hair?” asked Twilight. Fluttershy still didn’t respond. She slowly lowered her head and stared at the floor. “Take a shower at least!!” she demanded.

Fluttershy still didn’t say a word. She didn’t move. Twilight was wonder if she was even breathing at all. “THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!” Twilight boomed out in frustration. She grabbed Fluttershy by the ears and dragged her out of her room and into the bathroom. “Come on, Fluttershy!” demanded Twilight. Fluttershy didn’t answer. She just stood there by the sink. Twilight was furious. This was not like Fluttershy at all. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" she scolded, "ARE YOU DEAF!?"

Fluttershy still did not answer. Twilight was becoming frustrated, but she knew anger wasn't the way to get through to Fluttershy. She slowly took a deep breathe in and slowly exhaled. She slowly sat next to Fluttershy and placed her hand on her head, gently stroking it. "Hey," she said softly, "are you going to tell me what's bugging you?" she asked. Fluttershy still not saying a word shook her head slowly. "Very well," said Twilight, "You can stay home again. But tomorrow is no exception. Okay?"

Fluttershy slowly nodded. Twilight smiled. "Good," she delighted, "Glad we found and understanding. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go wash your hair filth out of my hand. Twilight got up and headed out Fluttershy room. Fluttershy herself, still hiding under her covers, finally spoke.

"Why did this have to happen to me?" she whispered to herself.





Meanwhile, Sunset was getting ready for a film shoot. She was guest staring on a TV crime drama called, Canterlot P.I. Sunset was playing the role of the tough girl, loose cannon detective named "Cora Fire Flame" (don't judge, my 9 years old sister helped me come up with that).

Sunset was ready on set ready to act. After those 3 days earlier, she really needed a distraction. Hopefully, playing Cora Fire Flame would provide her that distraction. Sunset and her manager arrived on set of Canterlot P.I. Everyone immediately stopped and stared in awe, as Sunset walked down. "Sunset is on set!!" shouted one of the producers, "repeat, Sunset is on set!!"

The director approached Sunset and smiled. He was really ecstatic. "Ah, Ms. Shimmer, I am so glad you made it!" he exclaimed, shaking her hand vigorously.

"Oh, happy to be her Mr. Director" she replied awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm sorry" said the Director. "I'm just a HUGE fan of your work."

A man and a small boy approached Sunset. They were both just as excited as the director was. "Ms. Sunset" the man began, "I'm Blue Moon, and this is my son Crescent" he announced. "We are your Co-Stars for this scene. My son is a big fan, and we're so exited to work with you" he continued.

Sunset smiled. "Oh no, the pleasure is all mine, really."

"I'm Crescent," said the little, "I'm so excited to meet you."

Crescent smiled. Sunset looked at the little boy and gasped. That smile. That expression reminded her of..."NO!" she thought to herself. She wasn't going to let You Know Who, ruin this for her. "Nice to meet you Crescent. I'm glad to be working with you." replied Sunset.

"PLACES PEOPLE!!" shouted the director, "WE SHOOT IN 5!" Everyone took their places. The producer walked up to Sunset and explained to her the script.

"Okay Sunset," instructed the producer, "Now in this scene, you'll be tailing a suspect who you think may be the murderer. You follow him home where you discover his little boy. They have a moment together which gets to you, that you conclude he can't be the killer, and you walk away."

"Simple enough" though Sunset.

"Camera rolling in T-minus 16 seconds!" announced the director.

"Good luck kid" said the Producer.

"You can do it!" cheered Sunset's manager.

"We're rolling!"

"T-minus 10 seconds."

Sunset took her position. She slowly took a deep breathe in, and exhaled. "I can do this" she said to herself. She clenched her hands into fists, tightly. "Don't worry about THAT. Don't THINK about THAT" she continued. "You are an actress. Now go ACT!" The Producer began the countdown:

"5 seconds!" he started. "4-3-2-1, we're ready!"

"SCENE: 1, TAKE: 1!"

The director gave the cue. "ACTION!"

The scene began with Blue Moon, playing the suspect, as he walks down the street on a dark night. He thinks he hears foot steps behind him but shrugs it off. From behind a trash can emerges, Sunset, playing Detective Cora F. Flame. "So far so good" whispered the director. Blue Moon, walks up the steps to a house and knocks on the door. Sunset hides behind a parked car and waits. The door slowly opens. There was Crescent.

"PAPA!" exclaimed Crescent, err or in this case, The little boy. "You're Home!"

Crescent runs over to his father. Blue Moon reaches out his hands and catches the running boy in his arms. Giving him a big kiss on his forehead and spinning around. The two giggled.

"Did you take care of the hose while I was gone?" asked the boy's father.

"Uhuhu" he replied, "I made my bed, dusted the tables and swept the floors, just like you told me too."

"Good boy" he said, "Remember, with mother still sick, it's your job to help her do the house work."

Blue Moon slowly placed Crescent down on the floor. The little boy smiled back at his dad. Sunset's eyes were wide open. Crescent really did reminded her a lot about Fluttershy( well, back when they were little). Down to her short hair, her thin physique, to the smile. "Excellent" the director whispered, "Look at that face! Such emotion! She's a natural."

Blue Moon and Crescent went inside. Sunset slowly got up from the behind the car and froze. Looking down on the floor, she could help but remember her. "This is not good" she thought. "I'm remembering her again." She slowly turned around and began to walk. As she was walking, she wasn't looking where she was going. Thinking about Fluttershy had distracted her. Without any warning at all, Sunset ran right into a light post.

[BANG!]

Everyone on set gasped. "C-CUT! CUT!!!" the director shouted. Everyone ran over towards Sunset's location, crew and actors alike. Her manager, Coco, helped Sunset up from the floor.

"Are you okay, ma'am" she asked.

"I'm fine!" she shouted.

"Ms. Shimmer" said Blue Moon, "Are you alright."

"What happened Ms. Shimmer!? You had it in the bag!" the director complained.

"S-Sorry" said Sunset, "I was just a little...into my role there."

"Do you need a doctor?" he asked.

"N-No! I'm fine" assured Sunset, "Can I just...try that scene again."

"Of course!" exclaimed the director, "LET'S TAKE IT FROM THE TOP!"

Everyone got back into position. "SCENE: 1, TAKE: 2!".

"ACTION!"

Blue Moon, playing the suspect, once again walks down the street on a dark night. He thinks he hears foot steps behind him but shrugs it off. From behind a trash can emerges, Sunset, playing Detective Cora F. Flame. Sunset begins following when out of no where she trips and falls down on her face. Every one gasped. "CUT!! CUUUUUUUTT!!!!" shouted the Director.

"What the hell is WRONG with me!?" thought Sunset to herself. "I never mess up! NEVER!"

"SCENE: 1, TAKE: 3!"

"ACTION!!!"

Once more. The scene began with Blue Moon, playing the suspect, walking down the street. It's dark, and late at night. He thinks he hears foot steps behind him but shrugs it off. From behind a trash can emerges, Sunset, playing Detective Cora F. Flame. Sunset begins walking. This time, once again, not knowing where she was going, Sunset, ends up hitting her head on the same light post.

"CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTT!!!!!!!"

"This is going to be a LONG shoot" thought Sunset.

After 3 hours of tripping, running head first into light posts, sneezing during an important moment, having her phone go off during shooting, and being humiliated, soiling her reputation as an actor, the director decided to just, used what thy had recorded first and change the script to add that Cora hits her head on a light post. It was now high noon. Sunset was laying in the back seat of her car devastated.

"Why~" she groaned.

"Look on the Brightside, Ms. Shimmer" said Coco, "At least that was the last thing on your schedule, so now you have all afternoon to relax."

"She's right Miss!" said Saul the chauffer. "Anywhere you want to go?" he asked.

Sunset pondered for a moment. She wanted to go somewhere where she can clear her head of all this nonsense. Somewhere where she can relax. A place where all anyone can go to seek comfort and distress from their ever day lives. A place where you go specifically to be pampered and be treated like royalty.

"Take me to Dairy Queen, Saul!" moaned Sunset.

"Yes, Ma'am!" he replied.





Back at the Fancy Pants' residents, Fluttershy was still in her room. The family was out doing their everyday activities, while Rainbow Dash stayed home and "babysat" her little sister, who was still up stairs in her room. It was already 2:17pm. Rainbow Dash was watching cartoons, when all of a sudden, it occurred to her that she should check on Fluttershy. After all, she hadn't seen her for almost 7 hours. Rainbow walked the stairs to the second floor hallway.

She knocked on the door. "Hey, Fluttershy? You in there?" she asked.

No a single answer was given. Rainbow Dash waited for awhile, hoping Fluttershy would respond, but she didn't. She nocked on the door again. But again, Fluttershy didn't say a word. Rainbow became worried. She placed her hand on the door knob and turned it. "Oh, good," she sighed, "her door is unlocked". She slowly opened the door and walked in to find her sister still in an upright sitting position starting at a daze straight at the wall. And to top it all off, her room smelled horrible. Why did it smell so awful? Well, A: She hadn't showered for 3 days. B: Her window was closed, and her celling fan was off. It was inevitable.

"OH MAN!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, "What died in here Fluttershy!?"

"My dignity" she replied.

"Your hilarious!" replied Rainbow Dash with sarcasm.

"Please leave me alone Dashy" said Fluttershy, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Then don't, but at least take a shower!" demanded Rainbow, "YOU REEK!"

"A shower isn't going to make my misery go away." she moaned.

"No, but it will make my nose less miserable!" shouted Rainbow Dash, pinching her nose tight.

"What's the point?" said Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. Her sister never EVER skipped a single day of bath time, but now she was refusing to take a bath. She wasn't going to let this continue. She knew exactly what she had to do. She grabbed Fluttershy by her arm and dragged her out of her bedroom. "Hey! What are you doing!?" she shouted. Rainbow didn't answer. Fluttershy tried to struggle, and run away, but her sister's grip was too strong. Rainbow Dash dragged Fluttershy all the way out of her room and into the bathroom and pushed her inside. "Hey, what gives!" shouted Fluttershy, "That really hurts!"

"Don't talk!" shouted Rainbow Dash, "Wash!"

"What?" said Fluttershy with a confused expression on her face.

Rainbow Dash slapped her forehead. "Look at yourself, Fluttershy!" she shouted, waving her arms up and down. "You smell bad! Take off your clothes and TAKE! A BATH!!" she demanded. Fluttershy frowned. She crossed her arms and lifted her head up high.

"No!" she shouted.

"EXCUSE ME!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not taking a bath!" she replied.

Rainbow Dash was not amused. "Fluttershy, we can do this the easy way or the hard way!" she exclaimed. "Or the medium way" she continued. "Or the semi-medium easy hard way" she added. "Or the sort of Hard with a touch of awkward easy difficult challenging way" she thought.

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy. She did not answer. She still had her arms crossed and her head lifted, turning away from her. Rainbow Dash frowned. She leaned in closer to Fluttershy, trying to look at her face to face, but she kept turning her head away from her. "Fluttershy!" shouted Rainbow. Fluttershy did not respond.

"So that's how you want it to go down?" muttered Rainbow Dash.

Still looking away from her, Fluttershy nodded slowly. Without warning, Rainbow Dash suddenly grabbed hold of the bed sheet Fluttershy was still wrapped around in and pulled, unwrapping her and causing her to spin around and fall to the floor in the process. Rainbow laughed. "I warned you" she smirked. Fluttershy growled, she did not appreciate being spun around and knocked down on the floor. She slowly picked herself up and got on her knees. Angrily looking at Rainbow Dash, she gave a sad pout.

"So," she said, parading around her smug look, "are you going to be a big girl and take a bath or am I going to have to bathe you like a baby?" she asked.

Fluttershy didn't say a word for a while. Rainbow slowly waited for her response. Her cocky smile slowly turned into frown. "Well?" she asked. Fluttershy then slowly nodded. She got up from, dusting off her knees, and walked over the bath tub. She drew the curtain back and turned on the faucet. "Good girl, Fluttershy. Now pick up your arms and let mommy help you take off her shirt" she began teasing.

"Yeah, yeah, don't push it!" said an aggravated Fluttershy.

"You knew I was going to say something like that" she replied.

Fluttershy stripped off her clothes, and slowly dipped one foot into the running bath water. She slowly turned to Rainbow Dash with discomfort. "Do I really have to do this?" she asked. Rainbow nodded slowly. Fluttershy groaned. She slowly placed her other foot inside and slowly sat sown. "There! Happy now!?" she asked.

Rainbow Dash stood there laughing. As she bend over and picked up the clothing from the floor, she turned back to Fluttershy and smiled. "Very much so" she said.





The clock showed 3:19 pm. All was still quiet at the Fancy Pants estate. Fluttershy had finished her bath and was drying herself off. She sat on the bed of sister bedroom, drying off her hair with towel while her sister rummaged through her dressers finding something for her to wear.

"Why can't I do this in my room?" asked Fluttershy.

"Why do you think?" Rainbow Dash replied.

"Oh come on, it doesn't smell that bad" she answered.

"Okay, put this on" she instructed, handing her a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

"Thank you" said Fluttershy.

"No problem" said Rainbow Dash, "by the way, I found this in the pocket of your other pants" she added. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small rounded object, light blue and appeared to made of glass. Fluttershy was surprised. That was the marble that Sunset gave her back at the convention hall where they shot the commercial.

"Hey, it's the marble Sunset gave me!" she exclaimed.

"Huh, weird," thought Rainbow Dash, "I didn't know it had a crack on it."

Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash with a shocked face. "WHAT!" she shouted. She ran over towards her and examined the marble in her hand. She was right. Right there, plain as the nose on her face was a crack. Not a big crack, but a crack. A fracture on something she was trusted with. "Oh no!" she exclaimed, "There IS a crack on it! What am I going to do!"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Relax little sister," she assured, "Sunset probably forgot about it by now. Besides, it's just a small crack" she added. Just then, Rainbow Dash dropped the marble in her hand. It bounced on the floor and ricocheted off the walls, right before landed right next to Fluttershy's foot. Fluttershy slowly picked up the marble and stared at with a shocked face.

"Oh, okay. Now it's bad" said Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy was horrified. The small crack had turned into 2. 2 big fractures. "AAAAAHH" she screamed, "Rainbow, what am I going to do!" she panicked. "Sunset trusted me with her marble, and now its cracked! THIS IS HORRIBLE!!" Rainbow Dash grabbed her sister by the shoulders and shook her back and forth.

"Calm down Fluttershy!" she shouted. "It's just a crack. Besides, its not like Sunset is ever going to ask for it back one day."

Oh Rainbow Dash. Murphey's Law. You should've said that.