Hop To It
Thanks to Moonstruck Badger on deviant art for the preview pic!
Hop To It
Warning! Spoilers for Getting Back On Your Hooves/Trixie’s Getting Back On Her Hooves!
“Fluttershy, I am very glad that you want to spend some time with me, but shouldn’t we be going to the spa, not Sugar Cube Corner?” Rarity asked as the shy Pegasus lead her to Sugar Cube Corner.
“Um…Well…I thought Angel needed a little fresh air after staying in my cabin while it aired out from cleaning off Winona, and he can’t go to the spa with us,” Fluttershy replied, giving a nervous smile and looking to the white rabbit that was riding on her back. She didn’t want to ruin the surprise. She’d wanted to have Pinkie get Rarity, but the pink party pony was busy making sure everything was perfect.
“Ok…I suppose that’s also why you wanted me to bring Opal?” asked the white unicorn, peeking back at her Persian, who seemed unusually calm and happy. Rarity had the distinct feeling the cat knew more about this than she did. Though she’d rather have Opal riding peacefully on her back than hanging off her with her claws.
“Yes…That’s part of it…” Fluttershy headed into the restaurant and waited for her friend. She just hoped this would all go well and the others were ready.
Rarity blinked as she entered the now dark establishment. “Um…what happened to the lights?”
“Surprise!” The lights kicked on to reveal the room decked out for a party, accompanied by a rain of confetti and streamers from Pinkie‘s Party Cannon. A banner reading Happy Cuteceañera hung on the back wall, behind the entire group, including pets, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Trixie, and Stage Hoof.
Rarity blinked in surprise, looking around in all directions. “What…what is all this?” she asked, wide-eyed.
“Fluttershy told us how you gave up your Cuteceañera to adopt Opal…” Twilight explained, Owlowiscious sitting on her back, the owl half asleep due to the time of day.
“And told us that you’d never had one…” Rainbow Dash continued, Tank flying around her with his flying contraption.
“And bein’ she’s…well, Fluttershy, she thought yah deserved one…” Applejack said with a warm smile, a slightly pink Winona sitting at her hooves and wagging her tail.
“So she came to me and told me to set up a PARTY!” announced Pinkie Pie, bouncing around with Gummy’s jaws clamped firmly onto her mane.
“And of course, none of us would miss that for the world…” Trixie finished…then noticed she seemed to have broken a pattern.
Fluttershy looked down nervously, swinging a front hoof from side to side. “I hope you aren’t mad I told them, Rarity…Its just…you gave your Cuteceañera for such a selfless reason and we’re friends…I just wanted to let you finally have one even if it’s been so long since you earned your Cutie Mark…I’m sorry if you wanted that to be a secret.”
A white hoof lightly landed on the mare’s shoulder. Fluttershy looked up to see Rarity with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. “Thank you.”
“You’re not mad I told them about it?” the timid Pegasus asked, peaking out from behind her mane.
“Mad? Darling, this is one of the kindest things that anypony has ever done for me,” the white unicorn said, hugging Fluttershy, the yellow Pegasus returning it a few seconds later. The rest of the group quickly joined in while the pets merely snuggled closely to the mares.
“This is SO much better than the spa,” Rarity said as the hug broke up.
Sweetie Belle gave a smile. “Happy Cuteceañera, Rarity.”
Rarity gave her little sister an extra hug. “Thank you, Sweetie Belle, and thank you all so much.”
“You‘re welcome! Now lets get this party started! We’ve got games, music, and your favorite foods!” said Pinkie, bouncing about.
“And some less fancy stuff for the rest of us,” Applejack quipped, good-naturedly, getting a chuckle from Rarity.
“And of course a magic show by Trixie Lulamoon Midsummer, just for you!” announced Trixie in her typical over the top fashion, teleporting into view just to make a show of it. She had gotten a lot better at teleporting, and quite a bit of other stage magic Twilight had been teaching.
“And her assistant, Stage Hoof, of course,” said Stage Hoof, the white and black pony no longer wearing a business suit and his curtain Cutie Mark now plainly visible. He’d even picked up a little of Trixie’s over the top personality.
“I thought you were into theatre now,” Rainbow Dash replied, rubbing her head.
“Trixie may enjoy theatre, but stage magic is her forte,” the blue showmare replied, giving a good-natured smirk to her friends.
Rarity smiled. “I am sure it will be fabulous, darling,” she said as Trixie took a step back to let Rarity be the center of attention. Rarity remembered back to when Trixie’s magic show had consisted of ‘brag, then humiliate anyone who calls her out for bragging, then brag about doing it.’ Now Trixie was one of her best friends and had vastly expanded her knowledge of stage magic thanks to Twilight’s and Zecora’s tutoring. Rarity did wonder what kind of show she’d put on now.
Rarity then looked back to Opal…and blinked as she noticed something. “It all does sound wonderful, and I am truly grateful to you all, but I do have one question…” She looked at the pets surrounding them. “Why are all our pets here? I mean I understand Opal, since she’s relevant, and we do all love them of course, but it seems rather odd to bring them to a Cuteceañera.”
“Don’t quite know,” said Applejack, rubbing her head. “But Fluttershy insisted we bring ‘em, and we didn’t see any reason why not,” she admitted, giving Winona a belly rub.
Fluttershy blushed timidly as all eyes fell on her. “Well…I know this might sound kind of strange…but this never would’ve happened without them…” she explained, looking at the pets. “I realized that, even though I take care of them all the time, I only knew where three of you got them...And when I found out about them…I also found out more about three of my best friends,” she continued, looking at Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie, and their beloved pets. And each gave their animal a smile. “If I hadn’t gotten curious about where Applejack got Winona…then I wouldn’t have asked Rarity where she got Opal, and if I hadn’t heard Pinkie’s story and how much one party meant to her…I might not have had the courage to even do this….”
The timid Pegasus looked to the other pets, including Peewee, Spike‘s baby Phoenix. “And even though I know where the others came from, they each tell so much about you all too.” The Pegasus saw Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all give their pets a smile. She turned and gave one to Angel as well, the bunny begrudgingly smiling back. “So I felt it only made sense that they celebrate with us.”
Twilight smiled, letting Owlowiscious snuggle close to her head. “You’re right, Fluttershy. Getting Owlowiscious helped me and Spike get closer together in the end, and I guess it does make sense I’d have an owl…”
“And protecting Peewee helped me see that who I am isn’t something to be ashamed of,” Spike said, the little Phoenix sitting on his shoulder.
“And…well, Tank did remind me why loyalty is so important to me…” said Rainbow, watching the turtle fly around her…and stopped him as the clumsy animal almost hit her in the head, giving him a hug when she thought no one was looking.
Fluttershy chuckled, having noticed Tank also brought out Rainbow’s tender side. She looked at all her friends, smiling as she saw them all with the animals that had revealed so much about who they were.
“And what about you, darling?”
Fluttershy blinked as she looked to Rarity. “What?”
“Ah think what she means, sugarcube,” said Applejack, smiling. “Is how did yah get Angel?”
“Yeah!” announced Pinkie, bouncing over. “You know how we got our pets! How did you get Angel?” she asked in her bubbly voice.
Fluttershy looked back at Angel in surprise, the rabbit surprised too. In all of this, she’d only thought of how curious she’d been about how her friends got their animals. She hadn’t thought if there was something hidden about her in Angel’s story. “Oh…”
“Is something wrong, Fluttershy?” asked Rainbow Dash, looking to her friend with concern.
“Oh, it’s nothing…” Fluttershy thought about how she’d met her closest animal friend. Angel could be a bit mean at times, but she knew he cared about her and she loved him. She wished he’d obey her more, but at least he’d always help her when she was down.
“It’s just…as much as I love Angel…I don’t think the story is exciting like yours are,” Fluttershy said timidly. Angel herself looked a little annoyed.
“Fluttershy,” said Trixie, giving a smile. “Don’t sell yourself short; any story that means something is a story worth telling!…In my humble opinion,” she said, in a tone that was anything but humble, though still supportive.
“Yeah, she’s right, Fluttershy,” Applejack said, trotting over. “Ah think sendin’ letters to Princess Celestia for this long shoulda taught us that.”
Fluttershy looked back to Angel as her friends continued to support her. “What do you think, Angel?”
Angel gave a nod. Fluttershy could tell he didn’t like her downgrading the importance of how she got him, she was just…well, shy.
“Okay…” the timid Pegasus said, thinking back. “I guess I can…if that‘s ok with everypony, I mean it is Rarity‘s party-”
“Don’t worry, darling,” said the white unicorn, giving a warm smile. She knew Fluttershy was timid, but the mare had a habit of downplaying herself when she shouldn’t. Rarity wanted to help her come out of her shell a little. “I would very much like to hear the story.”
“Alright…”
“Yay! Flashback!” yelled Pinkie as she once more produced a row of theater seats out of nowhere and slid them under the group.
Trixie blinked as the pony passed out popcorn. “Why do you even have a spare set of theatre seats just laying around?”
Twilight looked under one of the seats, finding a gold tag. “Property of Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Great and Really Great President of Equestria?! Pinkie, are these the same seats he created to watch you five torture me after he brainwashed you?!”
“Well we turned him to stone, so I thought if he‘s not going to be using them, why not keep them around?” Pinkie replied, not finding anything weird with that. “Plus you can adjust the number of seats!”
Twilight sighed. “Yeah…I guess…I just hope you sterilized them first…”
“Yep!”
“…And get rid of the tag, even if they were still his, president is an elected position; his proper title would be a king, emperor, or overlord…”
“O-okay…” said Fluttershy, not sure how much she liked being near anything related to that big dumb meanie of a draconequus. Thankfully he was sealed away in stone and would probably stay that way for a long time. She hoped.
“Me and Rainbow Dash went to Flight School together and I lived in Cloudsdale, but my mother was actually an Earth Pony…”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fluttershy, fresh out of flight school, trotted down a path towards a cottage in the woods surrounded by a beautiful garden. She posed and sniffed one of the beautiful flowers.
“My parents divorced when I entered flight school. They still kept in touch and were friends, they just…grew apart, but…it was hard. Especially since I hadn’t seen my mom since they split up…”
“Yah alright, Sugarcube?”
“Y-yes…sorry…my mother’s name is Posey, she loves flowers. She’s as good with them as I am with animals. I think that’s why she moved away when they broke up; the mountain near Cloudsdale we’d lived at wasn’t good for growing flowers…or for animals, which is why dad sent me to live with her after I got my Cutie Mark.”
An Earth Pony who looked a good deal like Fluttershy as an adult, only with five poesies as her Cutie Mark, lacking wings, and wearing a green bow around her tail, emerged from the cottage and saw Fluttershy awaiting her. The Earth Pony smiled brightly and ran up, nuzzling the filly, who gleefully nuzzled her back.
“My mother taught me a lot about flowers and animals, and I saw them in the forest all of the time.”
Posey watered her flowers diligently, watching Fluttershy giving an acorn to a little squirrel not too far away, other animals flocking around her. The mother smiled at how happy the attention of the animals made her daughter.
“But we didn’t have any of our own…”
At night, Fluttershy looked back a little sadly as she and her mother went back into their cottage, seeing the animals leave for their own homes.
“My mother was more interested in plants than pets, so she’d never gotten one. And with all the animals in the forest, I didn’t think to ask for one at the time…Even if it was kind of sad to see them all leave when night came…”
Fluttershy, now a teenager, walked with her mother through a market place, helpfully putting whatever Posey needed in the cart the older mare drew.
“But one day, when I was a teenager, me and my mother went to the market. I saw something that caught my eye.”
Fluttershy turned and saw a cart selling pets. Most of the cages were empty, their inhabitants sold…except for a cage holding a little white rabbit. He was small and looked lonely and miserable. She went over to him. “Hello there little bunny, are you all alone?” she asked.
The bunny nodded, looking well cared for, but not at all happy. Fluttershy gave a sympathetic look to the little rabbit.
“He just looked so lonely, all the other rabbits had been sold. Apparently he was the runt of the litter and…oh, I’m sorry Angel, I forgot…”
“Just continue on, darling.”
“Oh…yes…sorry…”
“Mom?” the timid Pegasus asked her mother. “Could I…maybe…if you don’t mind…”
“What is it, Fluttershy?” her mother asked kindly.
“This little bunny…he looks so lonely…could I maybe…buy him?” she asked as she gave her mother puppy dog eyes.
Posey looked at the bunny and frowned. “Oh, poor little thing…” she said, then turned to the vendor to ask the price.
“Don’t worry, little bunny,” said Fluttershy, smiling. “My mom is really nice, I’m sure there won’t be a problem.”
“But there was…”
“Um, sweetie…I’m afraid there’s a problem,” said her mother, with shyness that rivaled her daughter‘s.
Fluttershy frowned. “What?”
Posey looked a sad. “I’m afraid we can’t afford the poor thing right now…the price is too high…sorry”
Fluttershy’s eyes teared up. “But…but…”
“My mom and I had a little argument…”
The two looked at each awkwardly and shyly tried to explain their point to the other, but were both too timid to get a word out in fear of hurting the other.
“…But finally, I thought of something…
“…Mom…could I…maybe…if it’s not too much trouble…tryandearnthemoneymyself?” Fluttershy asked, awaiting the answer as she hid behind her mane.
“…I just couldn’t stand to see an animal miserable if I could do something about it…I wanted to help that bunny and didn’t mind earning it for myself…”
Posey gave a tender smile. “That’s a wonderful idea, Fluttershy, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
Fluttershy smiled widely. “Yay!”
“So I started getting money however I could find to make it…”
Fluttershy sat at a lemonade stand at the edge of the path near her house, struggling not to lose her nerve as ponies passing by bought it.
---
The timid Pegasus helped bathe animals in the neighborhood around the forest where she and her mother lived. She finished with a dog, petting its head lightly…then saw the rather long line still waiting.
---
She flew lowly with a mailbag weighing her down…causing her to crash into a mail box and get stuck.
“It was REALLY hard work…”
Fluttershy put some more bits in a jar marked ‘For Bunny’, smiling at her progress.
“But I really did want to help the bunny…Though, I’ll admit, I wouldn’t have been upset at the time if I had been beaten to him, and told the vendor as much, so long as it was to somepony who’d care for him. But every day, I went to check and he was still there…”
Fluttershy smiled to the little rabbit as he waited in his cage and put a paw to her hoof through the bars.
“Until finally…I had enough…”
Fluttershy put the jar of bits on the counter for the vendor. He counted them and got the little bunny out of the cage. Fluttershy gave the bunny a hug as he was gently hoofed to her, which he returned.
Posey smiled, standing behind her daughter. “What do you want to name him?…I mean if you really want to right now…”
Fluttershy smiled to the bunny. “I think I’ll call him…Angel…I mean if he doesn’t mind,” she replied timidly. The bunny nodded and returned her hug.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“And that’s it…” said Fluttershy, looking down shyly. “…I don’t regret it…and I love Angel…but it’s not as exciting as your stories, all I did was buy him…”
Angel jumped on her head and shook his head with a sigh.
“What do you mean?” the perplexed Pegasus asked her bunny.
“Uh, Ah don’t speak animal, that’s yer thing,” said Applejack, trotting over, Winona by her side. “But Ah think he’s sayin’ is; it was special. And he’s right.”
“That IS a special story, Fluttershy,” Rarity added, joining her friend, Opal still on her back. “True, it’s not special for the same reason as mine.”
“Or mine!” Pinkie jumped in, literally. Gummy was jostled, but stayed clamped onto her tail.
“Or any of ours,” said Twilight, smiling to her friend, Spike Rainbow Dash and Applejack nodding with her.
Trixie chuckled, joining the group with a quick teleport, though she felt a pang of…something realizing she didn’t have a story of her own. “Fluttershy, you continue to amaze Trixie with how little pride you have (not that that‘s entirely a bad thing). You worked hard earning money to buy a rabbit simply because it was miserable. Trixie doesn’t know about you, but she considers that quite the special story!”
Stage Hoof nodded, coming up beside her. “And considering how many stories Trixie knows how to tell, that is saying something,” he stated, giving a smile to Trixie.
“You…you really think so?” Fluttershy asked, looking up at Angel, who nodded and hugged her. Even if he could be mean at times, he still cared for the one who gave him a home. And she still cared for him.
“Ah don’t think Angel thinks, Ah think he knows. Ain’t that right?” Applejack asked, the little bunny giving a small smile.
Fluttershy smiled up at Angel as he stood on her head. “…Thanks…sorry I said it wasn’t important…”
Angel simply patted her lightly on the head and jumped back onto her back. Fluttershy wasn’t entirely sure what to make of her own story. It was never easy for the Pegasus to see her own actions as being great or noteworthy, it just wasn’t who she was.
“You know, for all the praise you showered on my act of generosity to Opal-” Rarity interrupted the Pegasus’ thoughts. “-you seem not to realize how kindhearted your own act was, Fluttershy. How many other ponies would put all that work into giving a lonely bunny a good home? Let alone ones who are as shy and timid as you are? You’re the only one I can think of,” the mare said, putting a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.
Twilight nodded. “That’s right. You did say how we got our pets said a lot about us, I think the same is true with you too.”
Fluttershy blinked, thinking about it. It was true, she’d done all that just to give Angel a good home. It wasn’t until she had him that she’d thought how he’d make her happy by giving her an animal companion when she had to come in at night. Even now that she had so many animals living with her, he was still the one she was closest to. She supposed that did say a bit about her, didn’t it?
“And besides,” said Applejack, giving the mare a warm smile. “Who said a pet NEEDS some big fancy story about ‘em tah be special? Winona may be important tah meh for a lot of reasons, but she’s still my dog and that’s reason enough for meh to care about her, ain‘t it girl?” the farm pony said, scratching the little dog’s head, the collie‘s tail wagging. “The story just makes her a little more special than she already was without it.”
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah! I feel the same about Gummy! Even if I hadn’t gotten him when I did, I’d still love him!” she said, hugging her baby alligator, who simply blinked with little reaction.
Rarity gave a nod of agreement. “And, while I do admit the story says something about my character and made me a better mare, even if I’d just gotten Opal like any other pet, I’d still love her like I already do,” she said, giving a smile to the feline, who rubbed against her purring.
“I guess you’re right,” the shy Pegasus admitted, giving a nuzzle Angel, then looking to the other pets and their owners with a smile. They were all special, they all said a lot about the one who owned them. Just like each of the group was special. Pony friends, animal friends…she loved them all, and they loved her. “Thanks…but it’s Rarity’s party, we should start celebrating it, shouldn’t we?”
Everyone nodded, as did the animals.
“Alright then lets PARTY!” yelled Pinkie, the group gathering around and beginning to celebrate Rarity’s Cutie Mark with their true friends and with their perfect companions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Dear Princess Celestia;
Today I learned an important lesson about friendship. So far, all our friendship lessons have been devoted to our pony friends, but they’re not the only ones we have. Our pets are our friends too…Today, I learned that the story of how you meet a friend, whether they’re a pony or an animal, is always important, and can tell as much about you as it does about them.
Fluttershy…”
Princess Celestia gave a smile as she finished reading the letter in her bed room. “She’s right, we mustn’t forget any of our friends, isn’t that right Philomena?” she asked as Philomena landed on her back and gave her a nuzzle.
The End
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
1,052 users online
1,998,063 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
D'AWW...
A excellent short story that explained very well the values of having a pet. Though you may want to correct the massively italicized part between Flashback and Celestia's letter, I'm not sure if that's supposed to be italicized.
D'aww
I was having a pretty rough day today, and this cheered me up
I loved this story! It's just very heart warming and sweet. And now I can't help but smile and pet my cat as she purrs. Really thought that this was a very well done story. Occasionally your words seemed a little jumbled or a word was missing but over all a very well done story and has deserved my thumbs up and a favor.
Thanks for the great story. People forget sometimes just how important having a pet can be to some people. I'll always love animals more than people, it's just who I am, so reading this story put me into a great mood.
Thanks.
I really can't say much more than that this story is pure d'awww concentrate
Loved it from the start till the end, really heartwarming piece
The two (looked at) each (other) awkwardly and shyly tried to explain their point to the other, but were both too timid to get a word out in fear of hurting the other.
Note: I did find this funny because only Fluttershy would consider NOT knowing what to say is an argument.
The timid Pegasus helped (bathe) animals in the neighborhood around the forest where she and her mother lived. She finished with a dog, petting its head lightly…then saw the rather long line still waiting.
Note: I sent these corrections to Kendell. Sorry for not letting you know.
This was amazing.
That was a good ending, though it does make me want to hear Celestia and Philomena's story.
BONUS CHAPTER!!! It could be on how Celestia got Philomena. :3
Great story. And considering how much I loved Getting Back On Your Hooves, it's nice to see a bit of a continuation. This was really touching at times. Of course, my eyes weren't wet at all. Nope, that was just... dust. Dust had gotten in my eyes.
It was nice to see Trixie. (I love Trixie. She's great when she's nice.) Also nice to see Stage Hoof at a happier time in his life. And I finally figured out what happened to Checkmate.
Wait... pale blue pony... white mane... went crazy... would they perhaps have temporarily removed Checkmate's horn to protect her and others from her magic in her state? (I doubt that they would do anything permanent, considering how nice the ponies usually are.) Because I'm seeing an interesting twist on Screw Loose's background story here.
Now, if only the Great and Powerful Trixie would get a pet.
Hmmmm...
So, Zephry is Fluttershy's half brother in this universe.
Anyway, I just love Fluttershy's story, so cute and sweet.
Well, that was a sweet ending. The one thing that had me LMAO.