Becoming Fluttershy

by Hope

chapter 44. Sins of our Fathers

We troupe of three make our way into the costume room and are greeted by the sight of our costumes carefully laid out on handers and ponnequins in all their resplendent glory.

“....and she goes for the gossamer gown. Oh whatever.” Linda carefully wraps the flowing and gold hemmed dress in her blue glow and picks it up to admire the work. I was never a Lord of The Rings buff, but Arwin’s dress is an impressive piece of craftsmanship. “Hey, where's Reid?” She asks curiously, noting all of Reid’s clothes hung on a hanger in the corner.

“Probably getting changed in private. I don't blame him.” I reply softly as I examine my own outfit. Jackie is quite skilled in order to take the phrase “Gothic fairy” and turn it into something like this. The soft green and black outfit is adorned with lace and gentle curves across its form. I can feel myself flush a little in embarrassment, all this work for me and it looks so elegant, I have to wonder if I can live up to the beauty it portrays. Nevertheless it is by far the nicest costume I have ever worn.

“Painted, you mean. Remember what Jackie--” Linda is interrupted by a sudden shout of surprise from the bathroom.

Linda smiles and calls out towards the closed door. “Jackie! Don't feel him up, that's lesbianism and arguably bestiality!”

“You have a problem with those?” Jackie retorts.

“No on the gay, maybe on the animal!” Linda replies, looking over to Julien with an amused expression as she finishes slipping on the white gown. “Does it count if we can think?”

Julien grimaces, sensing a trap of some sort. “I am not touching that issue, not even for fun. I really don't want to think about it.”

For now I leave my dress on its stand and help strap on Julien’s armor, the cardboard and foam board material surprising me with how lightweight yet realistic it looks.

“Well, somebody has to. Whole new world and all that.” Linda says as she settles an elven tiara onto her head.

“It's been touched on in loads of fics, a few of mine included. Multispecies is generally considered fine if both parties are consenting.” Reid says from the bathroom. “Heck, I've even heard of YEEEEP!” She is cut off by another sudden shout.

“I know it tickles, just hold still!” Jackie pleads.

“Trying!” Reid continues. “Anyway, like I was saying, I even heard about a woman who married a dolphin... somewhere. Dunno where, but, you know... dolphins.”

I decide to chime in my own opinion, more out of curiosity than anything else. “I suppose but it just seems... Like someone could have a relationship based on physical state more than a deep connection that way.”

“Well, as long as they are consenting, I don't see anything wrong with it. But I don't think Reid is consenting to anything in there.” Julien says, smirking.

“Excuse me, this is fully consenting. I have worn makeup before.”

“Really?” Jackie asks, incredulously.

“Yeah, back in high school. Theater. I wasn't EEEE! I wasn't on the stage, but I was handing out tickets. My job was to say "Pleasant dreams" in this really creepy, monotone voice, and the makeup plus the red robe and hat made EEEHEEEHEE THAT TICKLES!” Reid shouts.

“I know, I know, just hold STILL!” Jackie tell her as I get my outfit off its stand and examine it carefully.

I can almost hear Reid squirming. “I am trying, really! Anyway, so there I was with a white mimeface, red robes, red hat, staring at everyone passing by and wishing them Pleasant Dreams ominously.... and of course the play was Actor's Nightmare.”

I giggle at the idea of Pinkie trying to be scary, my legs slipping into the leg holes of the outfit, and laying the layers of cloth over my back and flank, pleased to note that the skirt still allows me to fly and trot easily. I think over my own story for a moment, mixing it with this outfit and imagining myself as a fairy lost in the everfree, becoming one with the wild and scary and ruling them as their princess. That is, of course, a very funny thought and it kicks up my giggles a bit.

“Wow, Erishy, that certainly looks fetching on you!!” I hear Linda say.

“Why thank you! I really like it, Jackie did such a great job, and I can't wait to see how she does my feathers..” I ponder how that is going to work.

“And the lace, I always thought lace was scratchy but she found some that is soft, imagine that!” I add happily.

“Yeah, Jackie's always been great with finding...” Linda pauses for a moment and I hear Julien make a noise like a strangled puppy. “...Soft things.” Then I can hear them walking out as I finish putting on my costume, braiding strands of lace into my mane.

“Now just hold out your ankle, and I'll paint this final symbol....” Jackie instructs.

“Okay. Sorry for being so twitchy, it's... just that I'm pretty sensitive. Sensitive skin.” Reid says as I sit in my wonderful costume and listen to them, wondering if she would be more comfortable with me leaving before she comes out or not.

“And..... done. You can't put on the helmet and bands yet, the hair dye still needs to dry, but I can give you your contacts and teeth now.” Jackie says.

Reid can be heard admiring the handiwork. “Wow, where did you get these things? They're huge!”

“Made them myself, last night. Open your eyes.... now your mouth... and done! As soon as your body paint dries you can put those things on, stay in here until I tell you to!” The bathroom door opens and Jackie steps out with a handful of supplies. “So, before I dye your feathers... are there any safety tips?” She asks, looking me over.

“As long as it is water soluble, just don't pull them out hehe.” I chuckle nervously.

“Alright, Could you stretch out your wings, please?” Jackie asks.

“ARGH! Sorry, my brain seems to be really perverse today. I am still blaming it on Dissy.” Reid declares from inside the bathroom still.

I laugh a bit at Reid’s situation before splaying my wings out as far as I can. Jackie then takes one of my wings in hand and starts to dye alternating feathers with a nice black water based dye. It is a sort of soothing feeling, like being preened.

Reid gets bored and calls out to us “....What's happening out there? When can I come out?”

“Wait a bit!” Jackie insists as she moves from my primaries to my secondaries.

“I'm getting my feathers dyed. So how are you doing Reid?” I ask.

“I am covered. In. Paint.” Reid says with an air of surprise. “It is both disturbing and strangely relaxing.”

“I can imagine, sort of... Well not really, but I understand!” I say.

Ian trots into the costume room to check on our progress. “Soo, Have ya'll got mah brother painted up?”

“Yes, dear. I'm just working on miss Erishy here while he dries out.” Jackie says as she starts on the tertiaries.

“...’dear?’ Oh fer the love of--” Ian starts, before a muffled scream startles us, my wing barely staying out as I fight the urge to clamp them shut.

“What was that?” I ask, worried.

Jackie holds my wing still and looks towards the hallway. “That sounds like... Oh, dear. Linda's probably just having a breakdown.”

“Should we go see what's happenen'?” Ian asks.

“No.... she probably just needed a little release. She should be okay soon.” Jackie says.

“Am I dry yet?” Reid whines from the bathroom as Jackie dyes the last feather on my right wing and switches to the left.

“Hold on.” She tells the impatient pink pony. As my feathers are individually laid on foil and brushed gently with dye I start daydreaming about my house back in equestria. Quite a difference from an apartment. My gardens and my animals... Before I can notice that I am humming a tune, Ian speaks up.

“Where's ya learn that tune anyway? Ah mean, it's not like somebody came from Earth and started singing that thang in Equestria.”

“According to one legend I heard, it was the lullaby Celestia and Luna heard every night when they were young. That's... That's a Pinkie I.” Pinkie says.

“I have no idea,” I admit. “But I think Pinkie is right.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Jackie says as she starts brushing out my mane to dye it as well, the gentle curl not giving her much trouble.

After a bit, Ian nervously talks to the bathroom door. “So, ah... Reid, are ya, ya know, still.... Reid?”

“Yes. And, um, no. Gollum Smeagol thing. We can switch out whenever we want, and talk to each other in our heads.” Raid says, just as much awkward tension in her voice.

“Is there something keeping you two from merging?” I ask curiously

“Merging is not the only form of synthesis. It's just one way. There are many paths.” Reid says sagely.

“Ya'll have no idea, do ya.” Her brother accuses.

“I have too many ideas, more like.” She says with a small sigh.

As Jackie finishes with my mane, I think she is done until her hand takes hold of my tail, making me blush and giggle as she starts running a brush through it.

“Wait, what's going on out there?” Reid asks.

Ian looks down at the floor, blushing a little as well. “Ah am not seein' this.”

“What?” Jackie asks as she starts separating strands of tail hair to dye.

“Nothing, she's just playing with my tail is all.” I say with a mischievous smile.

“WHAT?!” Reid shouts from the bathroom, surely fighting the urge to run out and see what is going on.

“I'm dying her tail. Like I dyed yours.” Jackie says simply.

“Oh.... WHAT?!?!” Reid shouts again.

“Yah did that tah mah brother?!” Ian asks, probably fighting between being amused or disgusted.

“He did ask for it.” Jackie points out, amused. “And I wasn't anything but professional. There, all done. You should be dry now, Reid.” She says as she releases my tail and stands.

“Hey, why are you all acting this is a big deal? I think that Jackie was quite professional about it.” I say, admiring her work and checking over the lay of my feathers.

“Well it just looks suggestive, I guess, I mean when she was...” Reid steps out of the bathroom and we lock eyes, staring at each other as she tries to finish her sentence. “Doing... me.... It... kinda tickled....”

As I stare at the previously pink pony in surprise at how different she looks, I hear Ian make some snippy comment before being grabbed by Jackie and carried off, leaving us quite alone. Pinkie looks nothing like the innocent and candy-centric pony who I had watched leave the cafeteria. The contacts and teeth lend a certain predatory savageness to her now pale features, now orange hair swept back and a brilliant splash of color against her black dyed body.

I realize that I am blushing quite a bit more now, and that we have been staring silently for a while. “Um... Hey... You like the outfit?” I ask timidly.

“Um... yes. Uh....” She looks down at herself. “Aheh... do you like the... uh... runes?” She asks, drawing my eyes to the angled blue lines that only serve to accentuate her bare legs.

“Yeah! Very stylish. Um... Very... Are you sure you are okay with not wearing anything? I mean... You seemed so worried before..” I point out, trying not to stare.

“I am completely naked with dry goop on my skin and alone in a room with a a mare I may or may not have romantic feelings for who is wearing what is quite frankly a very alluring outfit while still coming to terms with the fact that I am a mare myself and on top of all that Discord has seen it fit to make me think of sex constantly. Not become aroused by it, just think of it. So no, I am not comfortable, but really I took this path and I'll stick to it.” She says in a rambling pinkie-style rant that only makes me wonder which of them is talking at the moment.

It also makes me dwell for a while on “Very alluring outfit” while she dons her faux-stone helmet and rings that go over her tail and mane.

“....believe it or not, wearing this makes me feel a lot better.” She says with a breath of relief.

“I.... Um.... I.... Well.... Thank you?” I say, trying to look anywhere but the very close pony.

“You're welcome. And thank you for only noticing the compliment in that.” She says with a smile before heading for the door. Halfway there she suddenly facehooves and turns around.

“FLUTTERSHY! Of course, FLUTTERSHY, why didn't I see it before? I am such an idiot.” She exclaims.

“You're doing that Pinkie thing again, where you get excited without explaining it to others.” I say with a chuckle.

“What happens in Las Pegasus STAYS in Las Pegasus. And Fluttershy is a Las Pegasus name, good and soft, not like the Cloudsdale pegasi. Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, I heard Spitfire named her kid Lightning dust.... ACTION names, lots of oomph. The ancient pegasi were militaristic, but not idiots, they divided everything up! Soldiers, craftsmen, bakers, all with names describing their actions! Hurricane names his daughter Pansy so she can stay at home gardening, overprotective from the moment she's born HA! Fast forward to the farming settlement on the west coast, lots of soft names related to gardening even after it's no longer a garden town, and guess what? Fluttershy! That....” Her eyes soften, pity filling her face. “That's.... probably why you were left at the orphanage. Because you... weren't born from.... real love.”

By the end of her rant, I have sat down heavily, my face a mask of shock. My entire life I have felt I must have done something wrong, it somehow had to be my fault, I must have been a bad filly, or I must have been an expense at a time that my parents couldn’t afford to care for a child. It had to have somehow been my fault, and that guilt had lived with me, a serpent wrapped around my heart, telling me that in my core I was somehow bad.

I feel her forelegs wrap around me and pull me close. “I shouldn't have mentioned it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...” She whispers.

I feel like I need to forgive her, to say it will be okay, but for once I don’t feel like lying. I don’t want to say that I am okay when I’m not. Because I never really was, was I? I cling to her, like a life raft as I start to cry. Wracking sobs that shake my whole body. For some reason the only thought in my head is that I don’t want to get my tears in her hair, because that would be rude.

“I.... I'm such an idiot.” She whispers, stroking my mane comfortingly. “Um.... bright side, bright side... M-Maybe you're, um, Rainbow Dash's half sister? That could be a good thing, right? O--o-or maybe your father was visiting from Neighpon, a-a-and you're the long lost princess of, I don't know, Neighpon's number one, um, rabbit... place.... They have rabbits, right? I should just shut up.” Her voice is filled with regret and defeat, and I just want her to smile again. I don’t want to be her raincloud.

I force myself to talk through my tears, struggling against the choking sensation. “B... Bright side.... I don't have to be alone anymore. It wasn't my f.... f.... fault...” I sob.

“Hey.” Reid holds me away from her just a bit, making me cringe even though it isn’t a hostile action. “You are never alone. Got that? I don't care about where you came from or where you're going, I care about where you are right here, right now. And right now, I swear to you with the power invested in me as Pinkimena Diane Pie: You are never alone.” She promises, and that really does help. I feel that crushing feeling lifting a little and my tears slowly dry up as I pull her back into a hug.

“Thank you. Both of you.” I whisper hoarsely.

“....you know what we need? We need to show off our costumes to the world!” She declares, pulling away and giving me a huge pinkie smile that warms my heart. Hopping to the door, she holds it open for me with a small bow.

I bow in return and quietly leave the room, scrubbing the tears out of my eyes at the last moment before looking round to see if anyone is in the hall.

As Reid trots up behind me we spot Jackie and Ian chatting down the hall. “Hey! Jackie! Before we head outside, Erishy and I want to give the world a little preview of our AMAZING outfits. Can you help us with that?” Reid asks, as we make our way towards them.

“Of course! I wouldn't be Photo Finish without...” She pulls a very nice camera from her bag, “A Photo Camera. Smile for facebook, ladies!”

I feel Reid’s foreleg wrap around my withers, and I realize that the question I had been so worried about just hours before was worth asking, if not in words, in action. I turn and kiss Reid on the cheek just as the camera clicks.

I can hear Jackie giggling as Reid stands still as a statue.

“...Ya know what, yer both adults, even if he don't act like one.” Ian mumbles.

I can’t help but start laughing as I taste the bodypaint on my tongue, sticking it out and trying to scrape the taste off with my hoof.

“...aaaaaaum. Ahem.” Reid finally speaks, blinking and shaking her head.

“Well, I'll just post this to--” Jackie is interrupted by Reid in a small scale panic.

“NO! No, um, shippers! Shipping wars are legendary. Don't tease the shippers.” Reid gasps breathlessly, with a grin that seems more confused than anything else. “Let's... take another photo.”

“...Ya haven't been kissed before, have ya.” Ian asks.

“No. No I have not. This is a reaction to my first kiss, and therefore cannot be analyzed for definitive emotional content.”

I have to keep laughing as I realize that I had been his first kiss, which means that any kisses afterwards will seem amazing compared to mine. Finally I strike up a normal pose for the camera. “You are so funny.” I chuckle.

“I'll just take that as a compliment.” Reid says with her own smile as the shutter clicks.

Comments

[Corona Blaze]

*Knightmare walks out into the lobby, carrying his guitar, he begins playing a gentle, low beat.*

"Remember this, Erishy... You are NOT Alone."

[Firebirdbtops]

I just realized how big pony contacts must be. Their eyes are half the size of their heads!

[Red Bomber]

There's a lot of things that can happen when putting on clothes and stuff. I just never realized how fun it would be until you did it.

2315700
Especially with the way their pupils can change sizes on the fly. ^^;

[TundraStanza]

~I kissed a girl and I liked it.
(The taste of her cherry chapstick)
I kissed a girl just to try it.
(I hope my boyfriend don't mind it)~
...
Not sure why I was just thinking about that.
Here's a slightly more appropriate song to think about:
"I swear to you with the power invested in me as Pinkimena Diane Pie: You are never alone.”
Edit: Er wait... Let me try that again.
"I swear to you with the power invested in me as Pinkimena Diane Pie: You are never alone."

[Azure Beat]

2316151 Something I've always wanted to see is an anatomically probable drawing of a pony.

[Red Bomber]

2319084
Um... ponies putting on costumes and having shenangans at the same time?

[Buckshot2825]

I'm really excited for this story it has turned out magnificently!!
I look forward to future updates!
It's really cool how your basing the story around ericashy yet giving different perspectives on everyone else. That ain't a easy thing to do so kudos to you.
I'm extremely interested on your take of pinkie ried hiped up on sugar will be!
For now, toodalo!
Your Faithful Comedian
-Buck

[Azure Beat]

2319240 Not sure what that was supposed to be about. Oh well.

[Red Bomber]

2339258
You replied to me saying this:

Something I've always wanted to see is an anatomically probable drawing of a pony.

So I had no idea what you were talking about.

[LuftRaptor]

2339677he means a biology that makes sense like skeleton muscles etc.

[Pinklestia]

Ah yes, shippers! Shipping wars are indeed legendary!

[BronyCrystal]

and another will done chapter oww pinkie - Reid im jelly now lol

as awasy Have A Derpy Day

[Funky Pony]

Shipping wars are legendary. Don't tease the shippers.

I'll take your word for it. Actually, I wasn't aware that there were shipping wars.