> Unexpected Developments
>  by Hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> What a day.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I am most certainly not going to let you prance in here, upset my dear friend Fluttershy, and then demand a discount! It's simply preposterous! You will pay and leave or simply leave, and I'll not have you doing business here again!"

Fluttershy set her tea down and hid her head under the table, hooves over her ears to try and drown out the angry noises from the shop side of Rarity's home. It had just been their weekly tea day, until a particular customer had shown up and recognized her. If only she hadn't poked her head out to ask where Rarity had moved the honey. 

"Like I give a buck! Your worksmareship looks sloppy anyway, and, whatever you are calling that pony, I hope you drug test her if she works here. Or maybe that's why your stitches are so crooked!"

Fluttershy groaned quietly, pulling a pillow over to further block out the argument. It didn't help much. 

"How dare you. Fluttershy is a model friend and an excellent seamstress, rivaling my own ability! I think you must be a coward, to so viciously slander her!"

Fluttershy winced. It had become an argument, she couldn’t do it, it was too much. She made her way to the back door, but it took too long to unlock the unicorn style handle, and Rarity trotted back into the kitchen. 

"Simply abominable. No manners, no respect! Fluttershy, dear, he's gone. There's no need to leave."

Fluttershy stopped with her hoof on the unlocked handle, as she seriously considered leaving anyway. But she didn’t think that she could have stood to see the disappointed expression on Rarity’s face, so she slinked back to the table and sat again. Though she kept staring at the floor, she could still see Rarity settling herself in before pouring a fresh cup of camomile and lemongrass tea.

"Do let that frightful stallion slip from your mind, dear. I can't imagine who he thought you were, with such wild accusations."

Fluttershy’s ears drooped a little more while she sipped her own lukewarm tea.

"He knows who I am, Rarity."

Rarity raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak. She knew Fluttershy was working on it, another sentence in the distance, incoming. 

"I guess.... I don't talk about my past much."

Nodding, Rarity levitated a tray of sugar cookies over and set them on the table between them. 

"I wouldn't pry, not with you, darling. I must seem like a gossip and I'd hate to make my friends uncomfortable."

Fluttershy chuckled; really Rarity’s gossipy nature was much less troublesome than most because she was so self aware and considerate. But Fluttershy’s past wasn’t all that secret--she would have told anypony who had asked.

"I was in flight camp, in Cloudsdale."

"Oh yes, and you fell. I think I've heard that bit before," Rarity pointed out. 

"Oh yes, but I didn't stay down here after that."

She tilted her head with a bit of confusion. 

"Really? But I met you at my fifteenth birthday party..."

Fluttershy managed a bit of a smile as she did the math in her head. 

"Yes, but I was sixteen, and I fell when I was eight. I didn't spend all that time in the woods, Rarity."

Her blush was mild but it was obvious that was exactly what she thought had happened. "Oh, of course not. So what did you do?"

Settling in a bit and taking a cookie, Fluttershy looked out the window at the beautiful town of Ponyville around her.

"Well, search and rescue found me pretty quickly. The next morning I think. I didn't really want to leave the meadow but I was getting hungry and I missed Rainbow Dash, so they took me back."

She smiled again while remembering seeing Rainbow's cutie mark for the first time, and then showing Rainbow hers. Even though she didn’t find out why for years, the feeling of connection with her five friends had been powerful. 

"So.... I finished flight camp, last in my class, and moved on to general education. But my mind was set on my wonderful animal friends; I just had to spend more time with them."

Fluttershy could feel herself running out of breath from talking so much, and she stopped to drink some tea and refill her cup, which Rarity helped with. She was always so patient with Fluttershy, and occupied herself with eating a couple more cookies.

"I do hope the teachers were understanding."

She nodded mid sip, before setting her cup down and grinning.

"Oh they were. I was able to move directly to a veterinary apprenticeship program here in Ponyville. It was really nice, close to my parents too."

Shy saw another embarrassed blush tint Rarity's cheeks as she ducked her head to hide it in her cup.

"You thought I was an orphan, didn't you?"

Rarity made an exaggerated shrug with a forced smile.

"Well, darling, I've never met them! Or heard about them, so I may have assumed..."

A little laugh escaped her, but it seemed to break the tension enough for Rarity to ask what she was really curious about.

"But regardless dear, that stallion was from Manehattan, how did you end up there?"

Shy set her tea down and focused, wanting to remember the exact order of events.

"So... My dad moved first, I think. Then the vet program? They didn't have enough work here for a class."

"Applejack does care for her own animals, and you've about handled all the rest."

Smiling sheepishly, Shy nodded. She had been part of the reason for the vet program’s move, since she was outpacing the rate at which they received new patients.

"Yes, but I wasn't licensed yet."

"Oh, you're actually a licensed veterinarian? I had no idea!"

The words seemed to have slipped from her mouth before she thought about them, and Fluttershy covered her mouth and gave a soft laugh.

"Rarity, did you think I was just some homeless filly who Ponyville gave a house and a lead position in the Winter Wrap Up? There are qualifications for that position, you know."

She crossed her forelegs in mock indignation, but her self effacing smile made it more amusing than prissy.

"Well, there weren't qualifications for bird nest making, judging by how I ended up."

They shared a laugh, but Shy could feel a tension in her back as she tried to decide what to tell her about what happened in Manehatten. Rarity noticed her hesitation after the laugh, and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Darling... You don't have to talk about Manehattan if you don't want to. I understand your reluctance."

Fluttershy laid her cheek on Rarity’s hoof and smiled.

"But someone should know. It all started with following the vet program there, and some of my new friends."

*****************************************************************

"Drink, drink, drink, drink, yeah!"

Five ponies cheered as Fluttershy downed the last of a cider bottle and hiccuped. Fumbling the smooth glass, she dropped the bottle to smash on the ground.

"Oopsie..."

"Yeah! Party!" 

A few other ponies purposefully smashed their bottles on the ground as a haggard Fluttershy in her early teens slinked out of the room to hide in the bathroom, her head swimming.

"Woah, you don't look so good," someone said as they opened the bathroom door and spotted her.

Not wanting to get the others in trouble, Fluttershy just shrugged and stayed quiet, though her whole body felt achy and her stomach hurt a lot.

"No, seriously, man. You need help. Like, I should totally get the professor."

Shy reached out at the last moment and grabbed the pony's tail, shaking her head.

"Please don't. They'll be angry...."

The pony stopped and looked back, before sighing and helping her stand.

"Fine. Fine, but you're gonna need someone to hold your mane."

Fluttershy squinted, confused.

"Why would I need--"

Shy was cut off by her sudden need to get rid of what her stomach was complaining about, and her new friend was there to point her at the toilet and hold her mane.

****************************************************************************

"Hold on now, Fluttershy, dear, you were pressured into drinking that young? How did those ruffians not get arrested?!"

Shy winced and sipped her tea before shrugging.

"I didn't exactly want to get them in trouble. I had a part in it too."

"So you weren't really coerced, but just... encouraged into it?"

She nodded along, before taking another sip of her tea.

"Oh yes, just a bit of encouragement. I wanted friends, you know? But it didn't take long for it to get out of hoof."

Rarity blinked a few times, obviously confused.

"Wait, what?"

********************************************************************

"So I was thinking we could sell brownies, to raise money for the animals, right?"

The other ponies nodded along as they smoked their cigarettes, but Fluttershy just sipped a bit of cider and let them mull over her suggestion.

"Oh yeah, for sure, and we could sell special brownies too!"

Floretta nodded, her eyes bloodshot, probably from nights of studying. 

"I've got plenty of, um, special herbs. We could totally do that."

Fluttershy smiled as they made plans for cooking the brownies, so many ponies coming together to help animals. She just wondered why they kept looking at her whenever they talked about their "special herbs."

"Fluttershy, you'd be willing to store all the ingredients at your place, right? It'll just be a few saddlebags."

Nodding quickly, she scooted forward to rejoin the conversation.

"Oh yes, I'd be happy to!"

"Just don't let your dad see them."

That didn't make sense to her at the time, and Fluttershy just shrugged a little.

"Okay."

"We wouldn't want somepony to find out our secret ingredient, would we?"

"Oh no, of course not."

****************************************************************************

"You sold drugs?!" Rarity said in shock as Fluttershy hide behind her cup.

"Well, I didn't know what they were at the time... I just wanted to help, you know?"

It took a few moments of practiced breathing as Rarity put her forehoof to her head in astonishment. Fluttershy just stayed quiet.

"Well... At least it was innocent. You just sold some illicit brownies, nothing more."

Fluttershy smiled nervously and shrugged helplessly, as Rarity gaped.

"Fluttershy, no...."

"Okay! I'm here for you and I shall be understanding, but I need fortifications!"

She sat there, once again pondering if explaining her past was a good idea, while Rarity got her supposedly secret bottle of white rum hidden over her refrigerator. It didn't take her long to have a pair of daiquiris ready. One of them was placed in front of Fluttershy, but she ‎didn't touch it, having a pretty good idea what was going to happen. 

"Okay, dear, you may continue. Let us see how deep this rabbit hole goes."

Fluttershy took a deep breath before tapping her hooves together nervously.

"Actually, rabbit burrows don't go very deep at all. Some breeds don't even burrow!"

Rarity sipped her drink and waited, until Fluttershy sighed.

"Okay, so...."

*****************************

For a few months, she just sold the special brownies and gathered the bits, some of it going to the ingredients supplier and the rest to the veterinary program. This lasted until High Kite showed up.

"Can I buy your extra weed?"

Fluttershy stopped halfway through wrapping up a tray full of brownies. 

"I'm.... a veterinary student, the biology center is down the street."

"Nah, nah, pot."

In complete confusion, Shy tried to give him a cooking pot, at which point he stared at her in shock. 

"Geez, you don't know what you're selling, do you?"

Her cheeks were burning red as she shrugged and shoved the rest of the dishes in the sink.

"Listen, Butterscotch."

‎That was her code name. 

"This green stuff in the brownies is a drug called marijuana. It's like, the best. But ‎don't tell cops you have any because they are complete jerks about it."

Fluttershy took a moment to reflect on this new reality, and the potential ramifications of it, before she pushed the bag of green plant matter across the counter into the waiting hooves of the informative customer.

"That's like, two dozen brownies worth, five bits a brownie, um, a hundred bits? I know it's a lot but..."

"Thanks, have a great day, Butterscotch!"

Shy looked at the bag full of bits and smiled, before picking up the bowl and licking it clean.

**************************

"He told you what it was, and you didn't care?"

She had her head propped up on her foreleg, watching Rarity sip the daiquiri that she had originally put in front of her.

"I didn't know it was illegal, and I liked the taste!"

Groaning Rarity put her cheek against the table and looked up at her with an expression of complete bewilderment. 

"You liked... the taste. Okay, before we go any further, what drugs have you done, because I'm just getting blindsided at every turn."

"Nah, it'll ruin the suspense!" Pinkie countered from next to her. 

Rarity shrugged before doing a double take. 

"Pinkie, when did you get here?"

"When I saw you having a confused drinking party without your friend Pinkie Pie!"

Rarity and Fluttershy shared a look before shrugging and accepting the addition to the party.

"So Fluttershy, dear, do go on."

‎*********************

"And then, I actually, I tried to give him the cooking pot!"

Fluttershy laughed along with her friends, the relaxing nature of the brownies making it so much easier to talk, to be loud and energetic with them. 

"You're a riot, Butterscotch! Listen, now that we know you're not going to freak out, we've got some other ideas of how to increase our income. You want in?"

She balked a little, hiding behind her mane to give herself more time to think about it. 

"You mean, the income of the veterinary program, right?"

They nodded quickly in agreement, setting her at ease as they offered her a glass of cheap wine, which she sipped.

"Okay. I'll help, for the animals."

Floretta cheered as she slid a saddlebag over to Shy, full of little white candies.

"These are happy pills," she said eagerly. "For ponies that have trouble feeling happy."

Fluttershy looked them over with a bit of apprehension, before sliding the bag over with her things.

"Okay... but if they're pills, we should probably make sure they have a prescription," she said firmly. The others looked between themselves before nodding. 

"Oh yeah, we will make sure."

****************************

"Just to be clear, darling, you began selling ecstasy?" Rarity asked with a dazed look of acceptance. 

Pinkie just giggled. 

"A prescription for happiness, why didn't I think of that?!"

There was a knock on the door which opened to reveal Rainbow Dash. She peeked in and gave Fluttershy a wave. She returned the gesture with a smile.

"Hey! Shy, I need your help, just to hold something--is that ‎rum?"

In a blink of an eye, Rainbow had a shot glass and was slamming it back as Rarity snatched back the bottle to make another drink. 

"So, what's the occasion for drinking?" Rainbow asked as she hovered in a relaxed position nearby. 

Rarity huffed "Apparently we are hearing the epic tale of Fluttershy the drug dealer."

Rainbow stopped and worked her jaw for a bit while staring at Fluttershy. She did her best innocent smile.

"That... You're serious? I've got to hear this."

"Well... I wouldn't say I was a drug dealer, necessarily, though that is what they said in court..."

Shy sighed and shrugged, looking around at her friends before emptying her cup of the last dregs of cold tea.

"Alright, so you went to court. So you didn’t get away with it?" Rarity asked.

Shy almost had to laugh as she looked up at Rarity and smiled. "Oh, I took a plea deal."

*************************************************

‎"Yer so... yellow."

Floretta gasped suddenly as she pointed at Fluttershy with an accusing hoof.

"That's why we called you Butterscotch!"

Shy looked nervously to the police officer who was literally standing next to her with a microphone. He just shrugged and pointed to a list of questions she was supposed to ask her heavily intoxicated friend. 

"Hey, Flora?"

"Yeah, Golden Showers?"

Fluttershy waited until Floretta had finished laughing uproariously, then resumed the questioning.

"‎Have you ever sold or grown mar.... mara...."

Shy looked to the officer for help, and he said it for her. 

"Marijuana."

"Yeah, have you ever sold or grown that stuff?"

Floretta started glaring at the police officer. 

"Hey, hey you, are you a cop?"

The officer slowly took a beanie from his bag and put it on top of his police cap, before he spoke.

"Nope. 420 Yolo swag for Jesus, dudette."

Somehow, and Fluttershy never figured out how, this put Floretta at ease.

"Yeah, yeah I grow that stuff all the time, and then you sell it, Flutter Batch! Did you forget to sell it? Because it's not very hard."

Fluttershy just moved onto the next question. 

"What other drugs have you sold?"

"Well, let's see. Pot, E, angel dust, rocks, and sometimes I lace Pixie Stix with caffeine and sell them to kids so they get addicted. The first one is always free!"

"So devious," the police officer muttered under his breath.

*******************************************

"Oh, so thaaaat’s what was in them," Pinkie said in sudden realization. 

Applejack had shown up at some point, talking about how everypony had parties without her, treating her like she was part of the background or something.

"‎Hold on for jus’ one darned minute. Yer tellin’ me that you used to be friends with Floretta, the drug queen of Manehattan?!"

Fluttershy looked to AJ and smiled a bit. 

"Oh, she wasn't that important. But they sort of took her to task for it all, and she turned on her growers and chemists, and went into witness protection."

"They let her off after all that? Well, at least she got a new life, I suppose. Turned over a new leaf and all that," Rarity said, while Pinkie giggled at the leaf joke.

But Rainbow was already looking at her with quite a bit of well founded suspicion. 

"Hey Shy... By chance, did she get given the name of Tree Hugger?"

Shy tapped her hooves together nervously. 

"Um.... maybe?"

"By Celestia's cancer-causing sunshine! You're still friends with her!" AJ cried out, while Shy hid behind her teacup.

"And you called her a botany expert! Is she still dealing pot?" Rainbow asked in disbelief. 

"It's not illegal anymore!" Fluttershy blurted before covering her mouth with her hooves. 

"I'm gonna get Twilight," AJ declared as she got up and headed for the door, but Rainbow was suddenly in front of her.

"Woah, woah. Relax, Jackie. Let's get this all out in the open, and then we can go to Twi, okay?"

AJ huffed and crossed her forelegs before she stomped back to her seat.

"Alright, so. Let's get this all cleared up. Go on, Shy."

Fluttershy took a really deep breath before sighing and shrinking in her chair. 

"So.... first off, pot is an herbal supplement now."

Rarity went wide eyed as she looked over to her shelf of creams and beauty supplies, some of which Fluttershy had supplied.

"No...."

Shy nodded, reluctantly.

‎"That same herbal supplement you gave me for my crippling anxiety attacks?" Pinkie asked with a persistent and untroubled smile. Shy nodded while everypony else looked at Pinkie in surprise. 

Pinkie just shrugged. "Let's just say that I used to have tea parties with madame la fleur a lot more often."

AJ shrugged and looked back towards Shy with a small frown. "Ah haven't had any of that stuff, have I?"

She shook her head quickly, and AJ relaxed a bit. 

"Big Mac? Y'all had better not tell me Bloom has--"

"Oh no, definitely not," Shy said quickly. "It's fairly potent, I wouldn't give it to a filly!"

AJ nodded in agreement and sat back, her mind put at ease.

"Good, and Granny would never...."

She trailed off as Shy’s smile got more and more forced.

"No.... Shy, what'd you tell her it was?!"

"I didn't!" Shy objected, shrinking in her chair. 

"She came to me asking for marijuana, and I gave it to her! She even knew the street price, it's medicinal!"

AJ groaned and laid her head on the table. 

"Ah need a moment, y'all."

"So, what, did you give Rainbow Dash pot to help her with her nonexistent insomnia, dear?"

Rarity seemed to just be waiting for the next shoe to drop, but Fluttershy shook her head.

"I never sold or gave any to her."

Dashie snorted, before it became a deep belly laugh. "Because I grow my own! I'm a pegasus, hydroponics was the easiest thing in the world to figure out. Did the massive cloud house for just me and Tank not make anypony curious?!"

One by one they shook their heads and Rainbow threw up her hooves in exasperation. 

"Now that it's legal I'm not making nearly as much. I'm going to have to rent out my top floor."

The door suddenly burst open, slamming against the wall to reveal Twilight, panting quickly from the exertion of running or teleporting all the way to Carousel Boutique.

"Girls! I'm so glad I found you, I desperately need your help! There's a national hay fry shortage, and Princess Celestia has tasked me with gathering the remaining supply for a strategic Canterlot reserve!"

The gathered ponies looked between themselves, before Rainbow shrugged. 

"Yeah, I'm down. Twenty bits says Celestia just has the munchies."

"Fifty," Fluttershy said with a grin.

"Oh, what, you supply Canterlot? No way. I've been trying to get into that market for years!" Rainbow said, impressed.

Meanwhile, Twilight looked to Pinkie, confused. 

"What are they talking about?"

Pinkie Pie just giggled and hopped over to pat Twilight on the back.

"Have you heard of the term 'moral grey area," Twilight?"