> Short Mane Fluttershy > by Sidral Mundet > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Fluttershy with a Short Mane > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy with a Short Mane “Where is Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash was sitting with her friends in the main hall of the giant, new castle, bored stiff. “She’ll be here, Dash,” Twilight Sparkle answered, “Besides, it’s only been ten minutes.” She looked out one of the windows, where the wind and rain were doing a number to it and the rest of the castle. “And with that storm outside, I would have been late too if I lived as far as Fluttershy does from here. “Really?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Well, no,” Twilight said sheepishly. “Patience is a virtue, Rainbow,” Rarity replied. “After all, what could you possibly be doing right now with that going on?” She pointed to the storm raging outside. “You do know it’s sunny above the clouds, right? And besides, flying through a thunderstorm is some of the best training I can get.” “Really? How’d ya reckon?” Applejack asked. “With all the wind and rain holding you back and the lightning and thunder distracting you, you’ve got to be on your top game to fly in one of those bad boys.” “Well the storm is scheduled until 9:00,” Twilight said. “And Fluttershy did ask us all to be here for a reason. I’m sure whatever she wants with us won’t take that long. After we’re done, you can go flying to your heart’s content.” “Yeah I’d just wish she’d get here,” Rainbow replied. “What do ya think she called us for anyways?” “OOO, maybe it's to tell us she’s really a vampire!” Pinkie Pie interjected. “Or maybe that she’s really behind the Kenneighdy assassination. Or maybe that-“ “Ah think that’s enough, Sugarcube,” Applejack said, lowering her hoof from her pink friend’s mouth. At that moment, the door to the castle opened. Fluttershy, wearing a dull gray rain cap and trench coat, entered. “Oh, my, is it bad out there.” Fluttershy shook herself and her clothes in an attempt to dry them. “Sorry I’m late.” “It’s alright, Sugarcube,” Applejack replied. “Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Twilight said. “Please, you can just set your coat over there,” She pointed to chair where the others had placed their rain gear. “Come and tell us what you wanted to talk about.” She gestured towards the table the other five were sitting around. Fluttershy gulped. “Well, here goes.” She said as she removed her coat and hat. Instead of her naturally long, flowing mane, a short one took its place. Still the same shade of pink, her mane now only reached the back of her neck where it ended flatly. The same had been done to her tail, only being able to cover her flank. Her friend stood wide eyed at Fluttershy’s haircut. “Well, what do you think?” Fluttershy asked nervously. Rainbow was the first to react. A wide smile appeared on her face, and she clutched her chest as she fell to the floor. “He, He, He” was all that came from her. “Rainbow!” Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle yelled in unison. “So you don’t like it?” Fluttershy said, blushing and tears forming in her eyes. She tried to hide behind her mane, but given its new length, proved to be difficult. “Nonsense, Darling,” Rarity said, moving over to comfort the yellow pegasus. “I think it looks fabulous.” “Really?” Fluttershy asked. “Of course,” Rarity said. “Not many ponies can pull off a short mane like you have. I certainly know I couldn’t. Your tail is a little boxy for my taste, but you pull it off wonderfully.” “And you’re still super cute,” Pinkie Pie said. “How do you do it? I mean first you’re a bat, then you’re the Hulk, and now you’ve got a great new haircut and you’re still as cute as ever. Tell me how you do it!” Pinkie said, violently shaking Fluttershy before Applejack stopped her. “The real question here is do ya’ll like it?” “I think so,” Fluttershy replied. “Then that’s all that matters.” Applejack said. “Ya can ignore this one,” She pointed to Rainbow Dash, who was still on the floor, wiggling about. “Well, I’d still like to know what you think about my new manecut, Applejack, if you don’t mind.” Applejack rubbed the back of her head. “Ah like it, it’s just Ah’m so used to ya with long hair. It’s gonna take some time to get used to it, but I think ya look fine, though Ah ain’t no fashion pony.” “I like it too,” Twilight said. “What made you decide to get it cut anyways?” “Well, to be honest, I didn't,” Fluttershy said. “At least not recently.” “What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “Well, you remember when the Cutie Mark Crusaders were reporters?” Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Twilight all nodded in agreement. “Well, their report about me using hair extensions wasn’t wrong, though I don’t use them to the lengths that they reported, but I do use them. At least I do until my mane grows out to the length you normally see.” “Whatever do you do that for dear?” Rarity asked. “We all get manecuts from time to time. There’s no need to cut your mane off completely, unless you’re afraid barbers. Are you afraid of barbers?” “No,” Fluttershy replied. “What I usually do is once my mane is long enough, I go and donate most of it to charity. Then I wear some synthetic extensions until it grows back.” “That’s really kind of you, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We would have been more than supportive.” “Well, the last time I got it cut was right after the Nightmare Moon incident, and I just meet all of you, so I wanted to let my mane grow out a bit before telling you.” “Why this is one of the bravest, most generous acts I have seen,” Rarity said. “I don’t think I could even do what you’ve done, Fluttershy. Celestia help whoever touches my mane.” “Weren’t you the one who cut off her tail to help some sea snake?” Applejack asked. “Shut up, I’m trying to make her feel better.” Rarity whispered through her teeth into Applejack’s ear. “In fact, I think we should hold a party for your courage. What do you say, Pinkie?” “Actually I think we should tone down the parties for now,” Pinkie Pie said to a shocked audience. “See, the third rule of parting is everything in moderation. And with all the parties being held around here, they’re starting to lose their meaning and become mundane, which is something a party should never ever be. And on top of all that, some folks were complaining about us having a party or some kind celebration every other episode.” “Episode?” Fluttershy asked. “WEEK! Every other week.” Pinkie said, looking around nervously. At this point Rainbow Dash had regained enough composure to lift herself onto the table. Sweating heavily, she turned to look at Fluttershy. Once more she fell over. “Okay Dash, it wasn’t funny the first time.” Twilight said. “At least try to be supportive of Fluttershy. You are the Element of Loyalty after all.” “He, he… help,” Rainbow Dash barely managed to say. Twilight went over to the downed pegasus “Rainbow, are you alright?” she further inspected Rainbow Dash. “Girls, come quickly! I thing Rainbow is having a heart attack!” “Well your friend here did suffer a heart attack, just not a normal one,” the doctor pony said. “What do you mean, doc?” Applejack asked. “Rainbow Dash suffered from a severe venerandum cor impetum cultro.” “In Equestrian please,” Applejack retorted. “Actually make sense in context,” She muttered to herself. “Basically your friend had a cuteness induced cardiac arrest. See, what happens is that when the brain is bombarded with a certain amount of cuteness, the cerebral cortex goes haywire and stops telling the heart to act normally, which caused the attack. It also forces the pony undergoing the attack to smile like they’re crazy.” “So you’re telling me it is possible to die from something being too cute?” Twilight asked. The doctor nodded. “Then why weren’t the rest of us affected?” “It’s a beauty in the eye of the beholder sort of case. Rainbow Dash saw something that she interpreted as cute ,which led to her condition. This could happened with any image, so long as the pony afflicted thought it was cute. I even heard about a case caused by a spider.” “Will she be alright, doctor?” Rarity asked. “She had quite a rough case,” the doctor replied “She had to watch that one scene from ‘The Thing’ ten times before her vitals stabilized. But she’s in fine condition now, resting. She’ll make a full recovery. I’ll take you to her if you want.” The doctor gestured towards the ward, and the group followed him to Rainbow’s room.