The Manehattan Crusaders

by Soprano Beat

Fluttershy's Talk

Sky strained to see over the princess' head. Twilight had carried him almost the entire way to the cottage, which Sky saw they were now approaching. She had tried to get him to walk, but, as soon as he stood up, his legs wobbled beneath him and he collapsed. Twilight had picked him up and carried him the rest of the way to the cottage.

As they got closer to the cottage, Sky started to get nervous and curled up into a ball on Twilight's back. She told him not to worry, as there was nothing at the little house that would hurt him. When they got to the door, Twilight slid Sky off her back and carefully set him on the ground before knocking. There was no answer, so Twilight flew up over the cottage and saw Fluttershy in the backyard grooming her pet bunny, Angel. She flew back down to where Sky and Apple Bloom were waiting for her.

"Follow me," Twilight said when she was on the ground. "We're going around."

"But won't the owner of the house be mad if we go in their backyard?" Sky asked quietly.

"Trust me, she won't be," Twilight answered. "The owner's a great friend of mine, and I know she won't mind."

She led the little ponies around the small cottage to the backyard. When they got there, Sky looked up to see a light yellow mare with a long, light pink mane and tail. He almost immediately ran over to Apple Bloom and hid behind her.

"Hey, don't worry," she told him in a gentle tone. "Twilight brought ya here for a reason. Besides, ya already have somthin' in common."

"What?" Sky asked, peeking around his friend to look at her.

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to answer him, but was cut off by Twilight calling out to her friend. Fluttershy looked up from her grooming to see Twilight waving. She smiled and started to walk over to her friend, but was interrupted by Angel's thumping on the table with his hind leg. Fluttershy promised him she'd be right back before trotting over to Twilight and Apple Bloom. She didn't notice Sky, though, as he was still hiding behind Apple Bloom.

"Hi, Twilight, Apple Bloom. What brings you here?" Fluttershy said as she came up to them.

"Hello, Fluttershy. We need your help with something, if you don't mind," the princess replied.

"What is it?"

At this, Sky poked his head around Apple Bloom, but, when he saw Fluttershy, he quickly whipped back around to hide behind his friend again.

"And who is this little colt?" Fluttershy asked, noticing Sky for the first time.

"That's Sky Dusk. He came here with Apple Bloom's cousin, Babs Seed, but he's really shy around new ponies and has a hard time making friends," Twilight said. "That's why we're here. I thought that if there was was anypony who could help, it was you."

Apple Bloom moved away from Sky to keep him from hiding behind her. When he realized this, Sky quickly jumped behind a nearby tree. Apple Bloom gave a small roll of her eyes, and, smiling calmly, walked over to the tree and pulled Sky out from behind it and over to where Twilight and Fluttershy were standing. A struggling Sky tried to get away, but Apple Bloom kept a firm grip on his tail and was able to keep a hold of him. When Apple Bloom finally got him over to the mares, Sky gave Twilight a desperate look to ask her if he could go. She sighed, giving a small and barely noticeable shake of her head.

"Hello there, Sky Dusk. I'm Fluttershy," the light yellow mare said to in a calm, comforting tone, bending down to the colt's level. "Twilight told me you were shy, and I think I can help." She gave him a warm, gentle smile. Sky looked up at her, and smiled back at her nervously.

Fluttershy, seeing how shy she could be, easily saw how nervous he was meeting her for the first time. She straitened up a little before kneeling down on the ground next to him. She gently used her hoof to tilt his head up so he could see her.

"Do you want to go inside?" Fluttershy asked him.

Sky thought for a moment before saying a quiet, "Okay."

Fluttershy smiled and stood up. She offered a hoof to Sky to help him up, and he he took it. She helped him up, and started to lead the ponies into the cottage saying, "Follow me."

She turned around about halfway to the back door to see if they were coming. Twilight was right behind her, but Apple Bloom was half dragging, half carrying Sky behind them and were a few feet behind. Fluttershy flew to them and scooped Sky up in her wing before setting him gently on her back. She flew back over to Twilight, careful to make sure that Sky wouldn't fall off her. As she was going by the table where she had been grooming Angel, the little, white bunny hopped onto Fluttershy's head. the yellow mare landed next to Twilight, and, after Apple Bloom caught up, she started towards the house again.

When they got inside the cottage, Fluttershy led her friends towards the seating area. "Make yourselves comfortable," she said as she sat Sky on the couch and went to her kitchen to make something for them to eat while they talked.

Apple Bloom once again sat next to her friend on the couch, while Twilight took a seat in a nearby chair. Twilight noticed that Sky was starting to hide behind Apple Bloom again. "Don't worry," she told him. "Fluttershy's one of the nicest ponies in Ponyville. If not also one of the shyest."

Sky crawled out from behind his friend just as Fluttershy came in carrying a tray with a plate full of cookies and some tea. She poured the tea into two teacups for herself and Twilight and gave Apple Bloom and Sky both a small cup of juice each. Then she handed everypony a small plate with a couple cookies each and gave Twilight her cup.

"Thanks, Fluttershy," Twilight said as she was given her cup.

"Yeah, thanks!" Apple Bloom said through a mouthful of cookie.

Sky picked up a cookie and took a small bite. It was still warm from the oven and almost melted in his mouth. "Thank you, Miss Fluttershy," he said after finishing up the cookie.

"No need to call me 'miss'. And you're all very welcome," Fluttershy replied with a smile. She set her plate and cup on a small table and climbed onto the chair next to it. "So, Sky," Fluttershy said. "What is it that you needed my help with again?"

Sky looked down at his hooves. "I, um..." he stammered quietly. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to tell her about his shyness, seeing as he knew nothing about her and didn't know how she'd respond.

Fluttershy saw how nervous he was. She looked around for moment before spotting Angel. She walked over to him and whispered something to him. At first, he just shook his little head and turned away from her, but she whispered something else to him and quietly promised him a carrot if he did what she asked. Angel sighed and nodded at the mare. Fluttershy smiled and gave him a little nudge before going back int the kitchen. Once she left, he hopped over to where the ponies were sitting and jumped up on Sky's lap. Although he was surprised at first, Angel snuggled up to him and Sky began to pet his furry little head.

When Fluttershy came back from the kitchen holding a small carrot, Angel's ears perked up and he looked over at the treat. She walked over to Sky. "Here," she said, handing him the carrot. "Give him this. I know he'll like it."

Taking it into his hoof, Sky held the carrot near the little bunny, who immediately grabbed the treat and gobbled it up. Smiling, Sky let out a small laugh. He looked up to see Fluttershy smiling back at him. She gave the rabbit a quick, but gentle, pet and went to her seat next to Sky and Apple Bloom's couch.

"Now, what can I do to help?" the mare asked.

Sky's face fell immediately, his ears folding back. He crouched down, trying to make himself as small as he possibly could, and crawled up next to Apple Bloom. Looking at her friend, the little filly shook her head. Apple Bloom turned to the princess next to her, giving a small nod towards her horn. She nodded understandingly towards the filly, and Twilight's horn began to glow as she moved Sky out of his stiff position and away from Apple Bloom.

Fluttershy thought for a moment as she noticed the commotion, trying to find the right thing to say to calm the little colt. "Sky?" she asked. "Would you like it better if we went somewhere else to talk?"

"Um... m-maybe... I don't know..." He stammered so quietly it was barely a whisper.

"Hello? Sky, ya gonna answer?" Apple Bloom asked. She hadn't heard what her friend had said.

"I did..."

"It's okay, Apple Bloom," Fluttershy assured her. "I heard him just fine."

Sky looked up at the yellow mare, showing her a grateful smile. Apple Bloom gave them a confused look before shrugging and turning to Fluttershy.

"Well, I think goin' somewhere familiar might be good," she commented. " I'll go get the other crusaders."

"NO!" Sky yelped. His face quickly grew red as he said, "I mean, I think I should just go."

Carefully stepping down off the couch, Sky headed towards the door.

"Wait! Sky? Sky, wait up!" Apple Bloom called after her friend, but he never looked back. "Sky, I'm sorry if I did somethin' wrong! I was just tryin' to help!"

Apple Bloom hopped off the couch and started trotting after him, causing Sky to whip his head around.

"No! Please, just leave me alone!" he yelled as he took off galloping.

The yellow filly started to canter after him, but found herself being lifted off the ground. She looked back at where Twilight was shaking her head. Fluttershy flew lightly over to Apple Bloom, telling her to stay at the cottage.

"Let me try talking to him," she said. The mare glided through the air towards Sky, who was closing in on the edge of Everfree Forest.

The little colt slowed as he neared the forest's edge. He looked back at where Fluttershy was flying towards him. She was still a long way behind him and wouldn't be able to catch up anytime soon at the speed she was going at. Though hesitant, Sky stepped into the forest before breaking back into a gallop, increasing his lead on the yellow pegasus.

Author's Note:

Up til this point the entire story so far was one big chapter. I saw it was getting pretty long, so I split it up into chapters as best I could. Also, as I'm looking over this chapter, I realize that it kinda looks like I'm shipping my OC, Sky, and Fluttershy. Please note that I am NOT trying to ship any characters here. I don't know how to explain what I was doing, but I do know that it wasn't shipping. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter anyway!

Comments

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I like it alright so far! Apple Bloom is supportive and gentle to Sky, and even though she gets a little pushy about his social anxiety, she never turns herself into a "bloomin' ass", so to speak. . A lot of people see Apple Bloom as "oh, a child character!" and end up making her extremely hyper and oblivious. She was handled nicely here.

Time to ship Skybloom

[Soprano Beat]

5766630 And I'm [technically] not even in high school yet!

I understand it being rushed in the beginning. I started writing the story back in August and I was extremely bad at figuring out how to start a story then. I've improved since, but not a whole lot. I'm glad you like my writing style and my characterization of Apple Bloom. Sky is fairly easy to write, for me at least, since he's basically an exaggerated version of my personality before my parents started with the whole divorce thing.

No shipping please! The story wasn't meant to ship!

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5766683 Sorry about the joke. My mind just goes there. . .

[Soprano Beat]

5766691 It's fine. I ship mostly Teen Titans characters. (Robin with Raven, Beast Boy with Terra, and Kid Flash with Jinx mainly.)

[Super57]

It's all right.

Mistakes happen ;)

[Soprano Beat]

6172783 That's just a typo. I haven't edited this story in a while.