Fluttershy sat in a booth in the corner of Hayburger. It was a slow hour of the day, perfect for having a private conversation, which was why she had invited her guest who sat across from her.
Double Truck was a wide, portly stallion with broad jowls and a wide head with a shaggy mane. One of his ears was badly mangled. He sat amid a pile of balled-up fast food wrappers; a hayburger lay open in front of him as he added extra ketchup and pepper to it. "So, what's this big idea you have for the Ponyville Gazette?" he asked.
"Well," Fluttershy said, "I recently had a terrible experience with some 'experts' who contracted to do a job for me, but ended up not remotely following any of my plans and doing whatever they wanted. They made a huge mess of it and I ended up having to hire somepony else to finish the job the way I wanted it done."
"Ah, yeah, I heard about that," Double Truck said. "The pet sanctuary. Funny, Hard Hat's usually a more reliable worker than that."
"Right, well," Fluttershy said, "it's not the first time I've had trouble with ponies I've hired. There's the gardener who overwaters everything, for example. And there are merchant ponies who aren't very nice to customers either, like a cherry seller who tried to scam me this one time, a long time ago."
"The cherry seller, yeah, I know him," Double Truck said sourly. "He's gone out of business now since Cherry Jubilee started exporting and has a sales partner here in Ponyville, but I used to see him changing his prices based on what he thought he could con out of ponies."
"I noticed," Fluttershy said. "Anyway...the experience I had with Hard Hat and those other two ponies that screwed everything up got me thinking, and...I'd like to maybe suggest a new feature for the Ponyville Gazette. Something that would maybe help ponies make informed decisions about ponies they might hire or buy things from? To let ponies know who's reliable and trustworthy and who's...not so much."
Double Truck rubbed his chin with a greasy hoof. "Hmm," he said. "I kinda like the idea, but my boss would never go for it. It'd paint a great big libel target on our backs, and nopony wants that." He frowned. "Now if you wanted to do it as a free circular, like those shopper savers they have at Barnyard Bargains? You could do that, but it'd have to be completely nonprofit. That'd deal with any pesky libel charges, especially if everything you print is true."
"Like true accounts of experiences real customers have had?"
"Exactly!"
"That's pretty much what I was going for anyway." Fluttershy's brow furrowed. "So I'd have to do the work myself, or...or get some ponies I trust to help, and it'd have to be paid for out of my own saddlebags?"
"Or as a group project," Double Truck said.
"Well, I'm certain some of my friends would be on board."
"And there are a few printing presses around town you can use for that kind of thing," Double Truck said. "I can give you some advice on how to get started, but that's as much involvement as I can have."
"You've already been a big help just listening to me," Fluttershy said with a smile. "Thank you, I really appreciate it."
"Happy to help," Double Truck said. "I look forward to seeing where you go with this."
It ended up taking six weeks to iron out all the particulars and arrange financial support, but with the help of her friends, Fluttershy succeeded in publishing Equestria's first customer review circular for goods and services. The idea caught on, spreading from Ponyville to Canterlot to Manehattan and beyond. Although no two towns' versions of the circular were written and operated by the same group of ponies, they all operated under the same name, creating a brand that was trusted from one end of Equestria to the other...
And it all started because one little pegasus got mad at some idiots who wouldn't listen to her.
Funny, the title made me think it was going to have something to do with Angel.
Headcanon Accepted that Cherry Jubilee put that other cherry seller out of business by selling her cherries at fair prices.
Hm, sounds like it could be useful.
Huh, I think this is the first time I've seen the Butterfly Effect do something good. Neat.
All the history and elements you draw from the entire series and how you make them interconnect is very nice to read. Well done!
Whoa. An assertive Fluttershy can sure do wonders.
Yes, they'll never work in PET CARE SANCTUARY BUILDING again. Notice how the 'dream board' Shy showed them was a mess, while the one she showed her friends was actually readable?
Angie's List, unfortunately, can backfire in real life. Just ask my parents about their recent experiences in getting a new roof.
8146516 Angel's List!
They say beware the nice ones, but that's only true if you aren't nice yourself.
it's ALWAYS the quiet ones...
8146619 You just posted seven comments on the same chapter. Which isn't even a new chapter with an active discussion. You have been here long enough to know better than that.
I get the joke . Still nice chapter, and I know I'd buy something that was FlutterButter approved.
8146948 Yeah, this one had to happen. Should've happened yesterday; I made the joke to Zef while we were watching the episode about Fluttershy creating Angie's List after this.
8146987
I'm about to watch Forever Filly. Have you seen that one yet? BTdubs, I loved the Flurry Heart chapter the best. TBH all of this season you've made rather funny postscripts ^_^. 15/10.
8146999 I'm holding off until the Discovery Family airings for Forever FIlly and Parental Glideance. I'm irritated at Treehouse for jumping the gun on those and dreading what it means for the rest of season 7.
Also, thanks.
8147008
OOOHHHH!!! I am so looking forward to Parental Glidance! And yeah that'll be a worth while wait (and that company does tend to jump the gun lately. I wonder how they're getting the episodes when they are?)
8147197 Disney copyright and this site's rules about song lyrics.
8147379 I can't make any promises.
And that's why the Flimflam Brothers started investing heavily in coat and mane dyes.
But... it wasn't a cherry. It was a cherry tomato.
8148902 No, it was a cherry. You're confusing the cherry salespony with the tomato salespony. Watch the episode again.
That's a really charming one.
8147309 Well he IS Mary Poppins ya'll!
Fluttershy is kinda at fault here too for being really vague about what she wanted. the fandom and show borth ignored how much of this mess is flutters' own fault and it's really annoying