Starting Small

(Pony Permutation Project: Episode 4)

Fimfiction Link


"Are you there, Fluttershy?"

A purple unicorn knocked on her fellow pony's door late in the evening. "It's me, Twilight Sparkle. Can I talk to you?"

No answer. That was strange--the house appeared to be occupied. She could see a light coming from the rear window. Twilight Sparkle decided to knock again.

"Fluttershy? Are you home? Rarity just told me you passed by her going toward your house! I was hoping to ask you something..."

A bright light finally came on at the front of the house. Twilight Sparkle walked forward, expecting to be let in. Well, that hadn't been so hard-

"Um... nopony is home," a faint, breathy voice finally said from inside the house.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "Fluttershy. Your lights are on. You turned them on yourself just now. Then you just opened your mouth to tell me you weren't there."

Silence again.

"...I did this wrong, didn't I?" asked the faint voice.

"Fluttershy, please! I just want to talk. But it's urgent, so if I have to go unicorn on your door, I will."

Finally, a yellow pony head raised slowly upward from the other side of the door's window. A tiny squeak accompanied it once the two of them were at eye level, and the head popped down again.

"Is anypony with you?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Nope. I'm completely alone."

The door opened slowly. "Okay, you can come in."

"Thanks a lot."

Twilight Sparkle walked inside. Fluttershy's home was full of soft, happy, and sometimes even frilly things. Brilliant flowers and drapery could be seen all around, and carpeting lined the floor which felt, to Twilight Sparkle's hooves, soft as a cloud.

Such tranquility to be found--and this was merely the public living quarters! Twilight Sparkle was almost scared to think of what this house's bedroom was like.

"So... what brings you here?" asked Fluttershy. "You're usually in your own house by now too, aren't you?"

The unicorn nodded. "That sort of ties into why I'm here. You see, Rainbow Dash and I had a long talk earlier, and as much as I've tried, I just can't get it out of my head. Something about it just... got to me. And then it got me thinking of you."

"Of me?" Fluttershy echoed. Most ponies didn't really... think of her. Not that she had much of a problem with this. She was all for making friends, but... slowly. Yes. Very slowly. Being overwhelmed was never a good thing in her book.

"Yes. From what I hear, you're a pretty shy pony, right?"

Fluttershy simply stared at her.

"...right. Silly question. Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but I was never very good around other ponies either--especially before I came here."

Fluttershy nodded. She indeed remembered hearing something along those lines.

"But my problems came from me never really wanting to make friends. You... you come across as different to me."

"'Different'?"

Fluttershy shivered a bit, and backed away. "Different" was a word she heard directed towards her far too often for her tastes. Eventually, she'd learned what it meant, and decided that she didn't like it.

Twilight realized what she'd said almost instantly. "No, no! Different in a good way! A very good way!"

Fluttershy stopped again, now curious.

"If you don't mind my saying so," Twilight continued, "you're definitely a very friendly pony, and it always looks to me like you'd even love to make a whole bunch of friends! But something... something you're not even sure of... always stops you short. Am I getting warm?"

Fluttershy finally relaxed a bit. "...maybe."

"Whew! Thank goodness--that was the only theory I had to work with. Anyway, after thinking about it, I got an idea. Would you like to hear it?"

"I will listen," Fluttershy said, "but that's all I can promise." She considered it fair--after all, many 'ideas' to this end had been tried long before Twilight Sparkle came to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie's, for some reason, had always proven the most painful.

"Fair enough," Twilight agreed. "How about you and I work together on this?"

"'Together'?"

Twilight nodded eagerly. "Uh huh! Let's start small. If we can learn to be less shy around each other, then maybe we can learn to be less shy as a whole. How about it?"

"Hmmmm..." Fluttershy took pause to think before finally replying with, "...this sounds like work. Social work."

"Probably. But at least it's less work, right? Think about it. Learn to be comfortable around me, or try to withstand an entire village of ponies at once. I've seen you when you try the latter option..." Twilight Sparkle sighed. "...and I'm not much better either."

Fluttershy sighed as well. "You have a point. How would we go about this, then?"

"Well... oh! We could share our daily activities! How's that for a start?"

"So," Fluttershy said, piecing things together, "you could join me in my daily caring of the animals?"

"Yes! Exactly! I'll learn to help you out in whatever you do with the local animal life! Um... what do you do?"

And finally, happiness washed over Fluttershy's face, replacing the constant nervousness she'd communicated up to that very point. Her gaze shifted starward, and her voice went from zero to dreamy in no time at all:

"The animals around Ponyville... I make sure their days are as happy as can be. I hop with the bunnies, I fly with the birds, I feed everyone I can, I help solve their problems, I teach singing, I teach dancing... oh, it's absolutely wonderful."

"I-it certainly sounds so," said Twilight, fully aware of the sudden elation in Fluttershy's voice. "And you sound like you really enjoy your work, which is just as wonderful."

"Oh, I do. Rarity once told me that ponies should love their jobs... and nothing makes me happier than what I just described to you."

"Well, then, how about this," said Twilight. "I help you in your animal care... and you can join me in studying my magic."

"Your magic?" Oh, right, Fluttershy realized. Unicorn! Magic would definitely be in the cards, then.

"Yep! Magic definitely has its uses and advantages--even in your field of work. Like this, for example..."

At those words, Twilight Sparkle gestured for Fluttershy to step outside. After some hesitation, the latter finally walked through the doorway, joining her visitor in the meadow a short distance from her house.

"Watch this," the violet unicorn said, barely visible in the night. Soon, however, her horn glowed with a guiding, magical light, and pointed to the sky. Seconds later, it glowed even brighter, and a large circle of flowers instantly sprouted up around them.

As fireflies gathered around both them and the newfound plant life, a rich multicolored light show could be seen in their entire field of view.

Fluttershy gasped in wonderment. The night had just become... bright, and beautiful. She had no idea the night could be either of these things! She now almost regretted heading inside whenever the sun went down.

Was this the power of making new friends? Would each new one she made banish her fears left and right, and teach her new things in the process?

Oh, Twilight... I think I'm beginning to understand.

She made a decision just then to do everything in her power, small as it was, to find out.

"I... I like this," Fluttershy finally said. "A lot."

Twilight Sparkle stood and beamed with pride. She wasn't sure if her spell would even work, but it looked like things were running smoothly. "I'm glad you do, Fluttershy. I--huh?"

The unicorn was stopped short just then as she felt, then saw, Fluttershy tiptoeing next to her, just before warmly brushing her pegasus wings against Twilight Sparkle's side.

They were soft, too.

She could practically hear her blush right now--but fortunately, Fluttershy's meek voice still cut through it.

"As for you, Twilight... I think I like you a lot too."

A now much happier Twilight Sparkle simply closed her eyes, and brushed back as best she could.

Maybe this plan had a chance after all.