Once upon a time, there was a pony. Not a brave knight-pony or anything like that, just a regular, not-special pony.

One day, while the pony was hoping she could have a nice, safe time with her animal friends, or maybe even just stay in bed so that nothing could happen to her, some ponies came along and took her with them. She was very startled by this and asked them what was going on. She wanted to go and hide when they told her:

Public speaking.

Not only that, but the crowd she had to speak in front of wasn't just any regular crowd. It was a crowd... of D-Dragons! A-and she had to speak! In front of them!

S-so now that I've told you that story, I'm sure you're all scared enough to put me down now, right? Girls?

“Sorry, sugarcube. We're still goin'.”

“Indeed, darling. It's a most wonderful honor to have been chosen as a guest speaker at the Equestria-Draconia summit. I am certain you will do just fine!”

The prompt: Tell the scariest story Fluttershy knows.

*

This is a thirty minute writing prompt, meaning you have thirty minutes to finish your story from the time you start writing. You may take as much time as you wish to think, plan, or outline before you begin, but once the first word is on the page, the timer begins. When you are finished, post your story to this thread, and, in the tradition of the TMP mods of yore, I will read and give it a comment when I can.

Traditionally, TMP prompts would have a six to eight-hour window in which to submit, but for these legacy prompts, there will be no limit after the prompt is up. Go ahead and post something a year from now, if you like. Just bear in mind that I'm less likely to notice and respond with feedback to anything submitted more than a day after the prompt. Good luck, and have a happy Nightmare Night!

3750271 Here's mine:

Legacy Prompt 7: The Scariest Thing Ever

One fine day, Fluttershy got up, and felt that yes, today was the day that she was going to not be a nervous ball of fright. With her newfound confidence, she sang and danced her way through her morning chores, and even got Angel Bunny to behave for a while.

Then, as she put on her saddlebags to go to the market, she realised that she would have to talk to other ponies, and that thought brought a whimper to Fluttershy’s lips. She was so scared of that thought that she decided that she would stay home. She still had enough food, after all.

And so, Fluttershy never did manage to leave her house that day.

3750271
Legacy Prompt 7: Old Friends

“And when they opened the coffin, there, sitting between Wellwisher’s mummified hooves was a single, perfect rose.”

As she finished her story, Rarity leaned back with a bit of pride. Spike was frozen in place, a clawful of popcorn (long since cooled) locked halfway to his mouth. Pinkie, for once, was completely silent, Applejack refused to meet her eyes, Twilight was shivering slightly, and poor Fluttershy had pulled herself backwards until only her eyes and the tip of her nose were visible underneath her blanket. Judging by how violently the edges of the blanket were jerking around, it might not be there for long.

Rainbow Dash, of course, was airborne and loudly complaining. “Bo~oring! I thought we were supposed to be telling scary stories here!”

Rarity looked back. “I happen to believe in the understated approach, Rainbow. Your sordid little tale, for example, was far too overstretched to be scary. True scares lie in the elements of surprise and mystery, not in bucketloads of blood and gore.”

Before round umpteen of the argument could begin, Applejack shoved a hoof between the other two. “Girls, how about you two just agree ta disagree an’ we get on to the next story? Sound reasonable?”

“I guess so,” Rainbow muttered, glaring down.

“Quite,” replied Rarity. “So, who is next?”

Twilight looked down to the sheet of paper she’d been scribbling on. “Um, according to this, it’s Fluttershy.”

As one, all eyes turned on the shuddering blanket. “Oh, n,no,” came the voice from beneath it, “I d,don’t know any sc,scary stories.” Then, almost as an afterthought, “and I don’t want to.”

Twilight leaned over, peering beneath the blanket. “Fluttershy, how about this. Instead of trying to tell us a scary story, why don’t you just tell us a story?”

“Nuh-uh!” Rainbow parked herself almost directly above Twilight, glaring down as she did so. “This is a Nightmare Night get-together, Twi! If she tells a story, I want one that’s good for that!”

“Um, I could maybe talk about what I did last Nightmare Night, if that’s okay with everybody? It’s not really scary, but it is about Nightmare Night, so…” The blanket trailed off, nervously.

“That’ll be fine, sugarcube,” Applejack said, glaring at Rainbow as she did so. “Jest go ahead and start talkin’.”

Fluttershy finally poked her head out from underneath the blanket. “Well, I’d just gotten a letter from a couple of old friends…”

“I hope they arrive soon, Angel - it’s almost dark out, and I don’t want to have to go too far in the darkness. Especially tonight.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that tonight, lass.” As Fluttershy ‘eeped’ and tried to hide behind herself, the door opened, revealing a white pegasus stallion with a shining white mane, strong, tall, and looking to be about the same age as Fluttershy’s own father. “Sorry to bother you, dear, but you left the door open. I hope I didn’t disturb you too badly.”

“Oh, Mr. Elpis. It’s just you.” Fluttershy sighed heavily as she stepped toward the stallion. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m so on edge tonight.”

Elpis smiled, a warm expression that seemed to light the room around him. “I understand, dear. I take it you got our message?”

“Yes, sir. I’d like to thank you and Miss Rose for inviting me to help you; I really wasn’t looking forward to being home tonight.”

“I understand, dear. I’m afraid it’s just going to be the two of us for a bit; Rosie’s already at the hospital.” A frown briefly passed over Elpis’s face as he spoke. “She had an… appointment she needed to keep. It… wasn’t exactly something that could wait.”

“I understand,” Fluttershy said. “But she will still be meeting us afterwards, right?”

“She will,” Elpis said, holding the door open for Fluttershy to leave. “But I’m afraid, dear one, that you don’t understand. And I hope you never have to.”

“About time you got here, El.” The green-hided unicorn mare greeted Elpis and Fluttershy as they stepped through the door. As always, Fluttershy’s eyes went to the wide white scar on the side of Miss Rose’s head, just under her golden mane, and Fluttershy had to pull them away. “And Fluttershy, look at you! You’ve gotten so big since I first saw you!”

Fluttershy dimpled. “Oh, um, thank you, Miss Rose.” She looked up again. “Where were we going to visit?”

Elpis turned back to them, a pair of hospital saddlebags laden down with candy across his barrel. “Foals’ ward, Fluttershy. Second floor.” As Fluttershy headed down the hallway, Elpis caught Rosie’s eye. “Difficult meeting?”

She smiled, a single tear glistening as she met his gaze. “Only the way they all are,” she said. “He was ready to see me, though.”

“Thank the Maker for that.” He extended his wing, wrapping it around her. “Now, my lovely lady, shall we?”

“And we spent the rest of the night handing out candy and playing games with the colts and fillies. I had a lot of fun, even if it was sad to see how badly off some of them were.” Fluttershy smiled in memory, then turned back to the group. “So I’m afraid it wasn’t really that scary.”

“No, it wasn’t scary. It was absolutely sweet, and I’m glad you got the chance to speak of it.” The others nodded as Rarity spoke. All except for Spike, who had a strange expression on his face. Without saying anything, he got up and headed upstairs.

Time Limit

Fluttershy’s gaze followed him. “Oh, I hope I didn’t hurt his feelings.”

Twilight frowned. “I’ll go find out. You guys keep the party going, okay?”

“Spike, what has gotten into you?!” Twilight hissed. “Do you realize how rude you just were to Fluttershy? Go right back down there and apologize!”

Spike turned back to Twilight, a book in his hands. “I’ll try, Twi, but I had to…” He shook his, head, then handed the book across to Twilight. “I borrowed this from Mr. Waddle, Twi. Check this page, and the one three over.”

Puzzled, Twilight looked at the pages in question. Each one bore the reproduction of a drawn portrait, rather old-fashioned, and both matching surprisingly well with the descriptions Fluttershy had given of her friends. “That’s… unusual, I’ll admit, but what…?”

Spike shook his head again. “I ended up talking to Nurse Redheart a few days after last Nightmare Night, Twi. She was talking about how glad she was Fluttershy had shown up, since there wasn’t anyone else there to visit with the patients. Wasn’t anyone else, Twi!”

Twilight stared, then turned back to the book. And to the two images that Spike had shown her.

The proud white stallion entitled Spirit of Hope.

And the green mare with the white scar, labeled Chloros, gentle Death.

3750271
(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's Story

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.

3751838 Short and sweet. Ah, Fluttershy, I feel for you, that routine of waking up so full of spirit and resolve to buck up and be a better person - er, pony - only to have all of that evaporate when it comes time to actually do it.

3752287 Nicely done. This felt like one of those old ghost stories, the ones about kind old hitchhikers that you find out later had died decades ago, and things like that. I like the main cast chatter in the set-up as they're sharing ghost stories, too.

3752561 You took my Nightmare Night prompt and turned it into Twishy!

...unrequited Twishy.

I like it. Maybe you feel you're rusty, but this is a creative take on the prompt, and an excellent job of crushing all my hopes on the very last line. Hopefully we'll see you getting back in the swing of things in more of these in the future, yes?