Thank You, Miss Fluttershy

by TheDorkside99

Chapter 2

“Okay, shall we get started?” asked Twilight.

Fluttershy nervously nodded at Twilight.

Outside, the rain had stopped leaving behind a glorious chill that wrapped itself around the night sky. Inside, a storm of tension grew inside a shy yellow pegasus as she couldn’t help but stare at the relaxed ex-con taking up the entire sofa just two meters in front of her.

“Very well. Why don’t we start with some introductions? Fluttershy, you start.”

Fluttershy swallowed loudly and faced 7410. His gruff beard matched his narrowed stare and his massive body was easily three times the size of the humble animal lover. With one step of a mighty hoof the beast of a pony could crush the face of the beautiful pegasus like a sand castle. Fluttershy finally regained her composure and smiled weakly.

“Um, my name is Fluttershy.”

7410 did not react to Fluttershy’s inaudible whispers.

“I don’t think he heard you, Fluttershy,” said Twilight.

Fluttershy lowered her head causing her soft pink mane to hide the top corners of her face. “Um, I said my name is Fluttershy.”

7410 still did not respond and his gaze glazed over the struggling pegasus with disinterest.

“I don’t think he quite caught that, Fluttershy,” mumbled Twilight.

Fluttershy lowered her gaze altogether to the floor and, only able to mutter high pitched squeaks, she curled up into a ball on the loveseat.

Twilight sighed. “Okay, let’s forget about the introductions and get right to business. Now Fluttershy, did you look over the ten chapters of the curriculum I sent you last week?”

“Yes, Twilight,” answered Fluttershy. She reached under the decorative coffee table and pulled out the heavy five inch binder bursting at the zipper line with pages of information.

“Good,” said Twilight. She pulled out an equally heavy binder from her rolling briefcase and slammed it on the table. “Because here’s the next ten chapters.”

Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide as planets as Twilight kept piling on the papers from her bottomless briefcase.

“And before I forget, these are the forms you need to fill out every day detailing the lessons gone over with transcriptions of the activities. Here are some additional forms you need to read regarding the legal implications and parameters concerning the activities. Here are three short booklets on developmental psychology and victims of extended social isolation. And finally, a list of community resources.”

The stack of important information tipped the ceiling from Fluttershy’s poor little table. The yellow pony’s jaw dropped to the floor as she witnessed the tower lean ever so slightly both ways. The inmate looked up at the papers and shrugged, then he raised his shoulders, tilted his head, and let out a rumbling sneeze. The sneeze caused every single paper and booklet to avalanche on top of Fluttershy burying her underneath a white hill of pertinent documents.

“Gesundheit,” said Twilight. “Now Fluttershy, my hope is that you will have all of this information read by tonight.”

“Tonight?” said Fluttershy, her head popping out from the pile of papers.

“Well, yes. We do start the lessons first thing tomorrow after all.”

“Tomorrow?”

“And you will need to be fully studied for the twenty weeks of this intervention plan.”

“Twenty weeks!?” Fluttershy immediately jumped up from her seat and began to hyperventilate.

“Yesiree! So, it looks like you got some night cramming to do for tomorrow,” chuckled Twilight. She stood to her hooves and made her way to the door with her rolling briefcase. “I’ll leave you to that. Come on, 7410.”

The loaded inmate wedged himself out of Fluttershy’s tiny sofa and followed Twilight out the door. His overwhelming strength slammed Fluttershy’s door so hard it snapped the frightened pegasus out of her respiratory attack back into coherence.

“Wha-Wha-What? Are they gone?”

Fluttershy looked around her once neat living room and frowned. There were papers with big words littered all over the floor. Her beautifully fixed sofa was now a half pipe and several decorations and pictures that hung on the wall lay all over the floor, some shattered.

A few moments later, Angel walked in from the backyard chewing on a carrot stick. Not looking where he was going, he nearly stepped on a piece of shard glass from a portrait of him and Fluttershy.

“Angel, look out!”

The blunt bunny stopped in midstep and looked down at his feet. He picked up the piece of glass that nearly sliced his foot and examined it carefully. He suddenly noticed the catastrophic mess that ransacked the once neat living room and a piece of carrot fell out of his mouth.

“Oh Angel. I know it looks bad, but I think the meeting went very well.”

Angel gave the pegasus a look that said Were you expecting a meeting with the circus or something?

Fluttershy grinned nervously. “W-Well, I guess my, uh, mentee was a little bit bigger than I would’ve hoped. But Twilight thinks I would make a great mentor for him and really believes in me, and that’s what matters…right?”

Angel picked up the picture that flew out of the broken glass portrait and narrowed his beady black eyes in a way that said Did he really have to destroy the one good picture of me?

Before Fluttershy could respond, there was a knock on the door.

“Well, who could that be? I was only expecting Twilight and the little, I mean, extremely hauntingly huge colt.”

Fluttershy slowly opened the door and gasped at the sight of Twilight and 7410.

“Oh Fluttershy,” began Twilight. “I am so sorry about all of this. I really should apologize…”

Fluttershy smiled. “Oh, it’s alright. I’m sure you two didn’t mean to turn my living room upside down the way you did.”

“Huh?” said Twilight.

“But that is okay, I forgive you. And rest assured that I will do everything in my power to do what I need to do to get Mr. 7410 into society.”

Twilight grinned. “Well, that’s great, ‘cause he’s spending the night!”

“What!?” Fluttershy screamed before she fainted.

---

“Well, luckily all of 7410’s stuff is in this one briefcase so that makes settling in a cinch. Well, there’s also all of his weight training gear and bottles of protein power shakes that took up half of your kitchen, but it’s really not much!”

Twilight set the suitcase next to the sofa where Fluttershy was laid after she fainted. Sitting up, Fluttershy sat trembling, wide eyes following every move the inmate made into her kitchen as he set down one hundred pound weight after one hundred pound weight.

“And don’t you worry about your safety, Fluttershy. Two guards have been appointed to guard the door to your room around the clock as you sleep. So there will always be at least two strong deadly stallions just outside your door.”

Fluttershy gripped one of her sofa pillows tightly around her chest as the rapid respirations started to come back. As 7410 placed the last weight on the kitchen floor, Angel popped out from behind one of them and attempted to balance on it. The much larger pony lowered his head to Angel’s level and glared fiercely at the acrobatic bunny. Angel simply returned the gesture with a confident gaze that said I’m the boss around here, jailbait!

“Hey 7410, can you come here for a sec?” yelled Twilight from the living room.

The inmate turned to make his way into the living, pushing Angel off balance in the process. The bunny simply watched the stallion trot away and pointed two little fingers to his eyes.

“Okay. So, you are going to be sleeping here on the sofa for the next few days while I contact some construction ponies to fix the numerous leaks in the roof of your temporary housing. There are two guards on watch at all times, so be aware of that. I will be here at seven in the morning to start the program. Does that sound like a plan?”

The inmate stole a quick glance at Fluttershy and shrugged his shoulders at Twilight.

“Great! And don’t worry about Fluttershy. I’ll talk to her.”

The inmate nodded and walked back into the kitchen. Twilight turned her attention to Fluttershy who was breathing into a brown paper bag while still clutching the sofa pillow.

“Oh, Fluttershy. You know that old trick doesn’t work.”

The unicorn ripped the bag out of Fluttershy’s hooves, but she was still going through the motions.

“Fluttershy, get a hold of yourself!”

Twilight shook the mesmerized pony violently until she came around to her senses. Fluttershy shook her head and pleaded Twilight with her large blue eyes.

“Oh Twilight, are you sure he, I mean, Mr. 7410 has to stay here.”

“I’m really sorry about the inconvenience, Fluttershy. But until they fix the leaks on his roof, he has nowhere else to go.”

“Couldn’t he stay at a hotel or something. I mean, if that’s okay with him of course. He may be much more comfortable there.”

“Trying to convince a place of tourism to allow an ex-con to stay isn’t an easy thing to do.”

Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Well, what about you’re place. Not that I’m trying to make you feel responsible or anything.”

Twilight laughed. “And how do you think I’d feel about letting my subject into the same place I do all my important research? That could compromise the whole experiment!”

“Oh.” Fluttershy frowned and stared at her knees as she curled into a tight ball.

“Fluttershy, are you alright? Is there something bothering you?”

“Well, it’s just that…I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“Do you not feel safe?” asked Twilight. “I could appoint more guards for you.”

“No it’s not that.” Fluttershy sighed. “Twilight, I honestly thought Mr. 7410 would be a little more, well, little. I didn’t know I would be dealing with somepony with, like, ten life sentences.”

“Actually, you mean twelve,” Twilight corrected.

Fluttershy sighed again. “See? I just think…no. I know that I’m not the right pony for this. It’s too much. I’m afraid I might fail you. Fail Mr. 7410. Fail Ponyville.”

A pause of silence seized the room in a tense grip as Fluttershy began to weep softly. Twilight Sparkle neared to her friend and placed a hoof on her head.

“Fluttershy, I didn’t know you’d be having such a difficult time with this. I just thought out of all my closest friends, you would the perfect pony for this job.”

Fluttershy looked up. “How?”

Twilight thought. “Well, Applejack may be friendly, but also impatient. Rainbow Dash is too busy trying to impress the Wonderbolts to care. Rarity is an obvious no, and Pinkie Pie would be too preoccupied with throwing parties every day for him and failing her responsibilities to the great task at hoof.”

Fluttershy peeped as the words “great task” came out of Twilight’s lips.

Twilight knelt to Fluttershy’s level and placed both hooves on her friends face. “Don’t you see Fluttershy, I trust you the most with this challenging task because I believe you are the best one for the job. You’re smart, kind, patient, and responsible. Nopony is better for the job than you.”

Fluttershy wiped her eyes. “You really think so, Twilight?”

“I know so”

Twilight stood to her hooves and smiled. “Besides, you also taught a dragon and a cockatrice a thing or two. Not everypony can do that!”

A smile broke out of Fluttershy’s quivering lips as she straightened up on the couch. “Okay then Twilight. You can count on me.”

“Great! Then I’ll see you tomorrow at seven, bright and early!”

Twilight grabbed her briefcase and walked out the door. As the door shut, fear once again seized the humble pony’s heart. She took several deep breaths and placed a hoof over her fluttering heart.

“It’s okay. I can do this.”

It was one in the morning and the full moon’s brilliance broke through the living room window and showered the floor with its gentle light. On the sofa, a restless ex-con tossed and turned as he searched for a comfortable spot on a couch obviously designed for a pony half his size. With his hooves propped above and beyond the arm rest, the stallion finally sat up and rubbed his eyes. After clearing his vision, he was taken aback to see a shy pegasus in front of him holding a mug with vapor rising from the top.

“Oh, um, I hope I’m not interrupting, but I couldn’t help but notice you were having some trouble sleeping. Actually, I was having trouble too, since I have so much to read and such.”

The inmate stared blankly at Fluttershy then looked at the mug she held in her hoof.

“S-So I took the liberty of making you a nice hot tea. I-I’ll just set it here on the table for you if you want it. Well, goodnight.”

Fluttershy placed the mug on a corner of the table and walked gently up the stairs to her room. As soon as the door shut, the inmate peeked over the table into the mug. The orange-reddish liquid soothed his nostrils with a sweet and tangy aroma. He grabbed the mug and brought it up to his lips and took a small sip. Immediately the large stallion reacted to the familiar taste as the words of his mother came into mind.

M-Mmm, I love me some hot orange tea. You know why, boy? Cuz it helps ya sleep. Know how? Well, when you give it a little taste, you realize how good it is. Then when you give it a good sippin’, you start thinkin’ to yourself about oranges and how good they are with a little salt on the top. A few more sips later then you start askin’ yaself, “What in the world rhymes with orange?” Let’s see…orange…corange…sorange…borange…gorange…zorange…

The large stallion fell asleep in a sitting position with the empty mug of orange tea slipping through his hooves. Eventually, his body snuggled into a more orthodox sleeping position on the tiny couch and snores filled the room. The moon continued to glow through, painting the sofa, the chairs, and walls with Luna’s relaxing night.

Comments

[gapaot]

Poor Flutter, large pony with 12 life sentences not a very comforting sight, and he sleeps in her house, lol. Good story, but will inmate 7410 actually talk again? I sure hope so! Also, will it be shipping with FS?

[Maralagidyne]

Oh dear.

7410 is going to get another life sentence after Fluttershy dies of fright.

[Alexander]

Poor Fluttershy