What is a Fluttershy

by Digi

Chapter 2

Fluttershy was actually smiling as she trotted through the town. Her spirits had lifted after her talk with Rarity, but Fluttershy knew that she had only just begun in her journey. The shy pegasus hoped that her next stop would provide some better insight to her situation. As she walked through Ponyville's streets, she couldn’t help but notice the increase in attention because of the changes to her appearence. Rarity always was quite good at making even small adjustments seem bigger and more impressive than they might otherwise be. Normally, such an increase in admiration would have sent the yellow pony running for the nearest shelter in a nervous panic. However, this time it felt different. Fluttershy could not put her hoof on the exact reason why, but her confidence was at an all time high. She stole a few glances at her onlookers, and was pleasantly surprised to find several mares heads turning along with Ponyville's admittedly slim number of colts.

In all honesty, while Fluttershy was not as nervous from all of the attention, she still had very little idea with what to do with such a development. She had never been one to want to be the center of attention before. While she had shared the limelight with her friends after playing her part in the defeat of Nightmare Moon, she had been far more comfortable after the celebration had ended and she could retreat to the solitude that was her tree home. The events with Photo Finish was proof enough that the shy pegasus did not handle crowds well, even remembering the events was enough to cause her to shiver. Another thought soon began to creep into her mind, one that had always sort of been there but pushed aside for other concerns. If Fluttershy came to accept the fact that she liked mares, the chances of somepony else besides her friends learning of her interests where quite high. With Ponyville being so small such big news as a new relationship, especially between mares, would not stay secret very long.

Fluttershy's thoughts soon turned to Lyra and Bon Bon. The two were widely accepted by most of the town to be an item, as one was never seen without the other. Neither of the two mares ever said anything to anypony about whether they were or not, nor had anypony ever truly asked. The information merely became common knowledge at some point. However, even though this particular fact about their lives had been revealed without their explicit consent, the two never seemed to be bothered by it. In fact all of Ponyville seemed to be mostly accepting of the relationship and very little changed as a result. However, Lyra and Bon Bon were relatively minor in the whole of Ponyville, where as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash where nothing short of celebrities due to all of the adventures that seemed to revolve around their group. The shy pegasus would not be surprised if their current notoriety caused a much larger backlash through the community, once such a relationship became well known.

On top of all that, Fluttershy could still not shake the stigma of the words associated with same gender relationships. While such words were barely uttered in Ponyville, the small town had not been the pegasus' first home. Like most other pegasi she had been born and raised in Cloudsdale, a bustling metropolis in Equestira, and the pegasi capital. Because of its size, having a wide variety of pony personalities was quite inevitable, which is where Fluttershy first learned of those words and the hate some ponies applied to it. Those words meanings held even more weight for the pegasus since her memories of her cloud home were never incredibly pleasant. She had never been the best of fliers, which for a pegasus was already near offensive, add to that her affinity for the ground and the animals that lived their only served to make her even more of an outcast in comparison to the rest of Cloudsdale’s population. Fluttershy knew that if those specific words were applied to her because of her attraction to Dash, it would only serve to draw back up those painful memories of an unpleasant youth.

So lost in thought about her past and possibilities of her future, that Fluttershy nearly ran right into her destination. Ponyville's Library was a fairly impressive structure, one of the few buildings to be constructed as part of a tree rather than from it. While it was somewhat small, its selection of books had always been quite good, and the selection only improved by a certain purple unicorn taking up residence within. Fluttershy knocked on the door, which would not have been necessary if it had been a normal public library, however it also doubled as a home for one Twilight Sparkle. She was an even larger celebrity than the rest of their group, what with her being Princess Celestia’s personal apprentice, this fact alone was enough to keep most ponies from simply barging in to ask if they can borrow a book. Fluttershy did not have to wait long as the familiar face of her newest friend pulled open the door “Geez Spike, try to be a bit more careful next time,” said the unicorn looking at something going on in the back of the Library “Oh hi, Fluttershy. Did you do something with yourself?” she said when she turned toward the pegasus, looking her friend over a bit.

“Um..yes. Well, Rarity thought it would be nice to help me with my look.”

“She did a good job. So what brings you by?”

“I was hoping I could do some studying here. If that is alright with you.”

“Of course,” said Twilight ushering the pegasus inside. Fluttershy could not help but notice the rather haphazard placement of a large number of books, and an overturned shelf. Spike was busy trying to move some of the books out of the way so he could prop the fallen shelf back into an upright position.

“Pardon the mess, Spike accidentally knocked over one of the shelves and after I had a bit of a study binge last night.”

“Well if somepony hadn't loaded me down with books to put back I might have been able to see where I was going.”

“Yeah, yeah I heard you the first time. So um, what where you wanting to look up?”

“Oh, history, within the past hundred years or so? If its not too much trouble.”

“Those books are kinda all over floor right now,” said Spike looking over the mess “sorry Fluttershy.”

“Oh, well, in that case. I suppose I can come back later. I mean, if you have too much work to do, that is.”

Twilight glanced back to the mess before turning back to Fluttershy “Well I have read most of those books so, maybe I can help you.”

“Oh, I wouldn't want to be rude. I mean you have such a mess to clean up and I would not want Spike to work on it by himself.”

“I'm sure it won't take too long to help you out Fluttershy. Spike can even take a break while we talk, he's been going at it for awhile. Besides, I have nothing else planned today, so I have as long as I need to fix everything up.”

“Works for me,” said Spike heading toward the kitchen “anyone want anything?”

Fluttershy was about to object again to Twilight's aid but she stopped as a fact about the purple unicorn surfaced that the pegasus had not considered. Twilight had been Princess Celestia's apprentice for quite some time before she ever came to Ponyville, which meant that she to had grown up in a major city. That told the pegasus that Twilight had most likely heard of such desires as hers, and considering the unicorn was always one for reading and studying surely she had some information on the topic. If nothing else Fluttershy hoped that the unicorn had gained at least some of the ancient Princess’ wisdom, and possibly heard the Princess’ opinion on the subject. “Okay Twilight, it would be...nice, if you helped me.”

“I am glad to do it. Hey Spike,” shouted Twilight “how about fixing some tea?”

“Sure thing Twi.” came the baby dragons reply from somewhere in the kitchen.

“So, what where you needing to read about?”

Fluttershy fidgeted slightly as she attempted to figure out a way to ask the purple unicorn without giving too much away. “Well, I have been having a certain...problem. I spoke to Rarity about it, and while it helped I still have so many questions. I was thinking, I don't keep up very well with Equestria wide news so, if I did some research I could learn a bit more.”

“Well, I can't exactly help you unless you tell me what it is.”

“I-I know, but promise me you won't tell anyone.”

Twilight gulped, remembering the last time she had agreed to keep a secret, things had not gone well for anyone. “Oh!” said Fluttershy noticing the unicorn's apprehension “I do plan on telling all of our friends about this eventually, but for now I want to keep it a little private. If that's not too much trouble.”

Twilight sighed, relieved that she could eventually speak about this to her other close friends. At least Rarity already knows she thinks “All right Fluttershy, I promise that I won't tell anyone till you do. So what's this problem?”

The shy pegasus fidgeted again, still a bit apprehensive about telling another pony something so personal. Fluttershy knew it did her no good to keep it hidden, and she really did plan on telling all of her friends, it still did not make this any easier. “I...I think I'm a...a fillyfooler.”

Fluttershy expected another bout of silence like it had been with Rarity, but the purple unicorn was only lost in thought for a few seconds before she responded. “I can't say that I really know all that much about that. I mean, Canterlot was a large city and I had heard that there were ponies like that, but since I was never all that interested in friendships or relationships, I never put much thought into it. If it helps, I see no real reason why a pony can't have a deeper connection with another pony of their same gender as well as they could with a pony of the opposite gender. If its not too much to ask, what exactly caused you to start thinking you were?”

At first Fluttershy was a bit disappointed, since she was unable to glean any kind of new information. However, the fact that yet another of her friends seemed to have no real problems with her developing feelings helped in getting the shy pegasus to open up once again. “No...its alright for you to ask. It...came to me when I saw Dash perform the Rainboom in Cloudsdale. I've sort of fallen in love with her, with that day being the start. At least that is what I think started it, but I can’t help but feel that I have been feeling like this for her much longer than that day. Its just been sort of...hidden.”

“I can say that I would not have expected you to fall for Rainbow Dash of all ponies, but you two could complement each other very well. Have you tried talking to Dash about any of this?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, I don't feel nearly confident enough to talk to her. Not yet anyway. Thanks for talking with me Twilight, it really does mean a lot that my friends are so supportive, even though I have heard that not all ponies are as...nice to ponies with feelings as different as mine.”

“I am happy that I could do something at least. If it helps you any more, I may not be to against the idea of falling for a mare myself. I mean I would not mind being in love with a stallion either, either way it would be a great learning experience.”

Fluttershy could not help but chuckle a bit as Twilight compared falling in love to a learning experience. “Thank you. It's nice to know that I might not be alone, when it comes to falling for another mare, and even if you don't it was still...nice of you to say,” said the shy pegasus giving the purple unicorn a final hug before heading back out into the town. Her spirits were still high but her head was still confused.

“I've got the tea,” said Spike carrying a tray with two cups. He looked around a little confused at not seeing Fluttershy “You two sure talked fast.”