Fluttershy was just a little filly when she accidentally committed the Worst Possible Thing—she'd been racing downstairs away from what she thought was a ghost (which, coincidentally, turned out to be nothing but a shadow and the creek of an old home), when she had accidentally turned one corner too sharply, been running too quickly to stop herself, couldn't skid to a halt just quickly enough and bam. Her father's prized vase was broken.
"No, no, no no no…." Fluttershy muttered in horror, staring at the broken pieces in disbelief. That was the vase her father had gotten from a princess in Saddle Arabia, easily the most valuable object in the house. It was broken. And it was her fault.
"Fluttershy? What's all that racket?" the gruff voice of a stallion echoed from upstairs, an ominous crack of light from her father's room glowing down the stairwell.
Fluttershy didn't answer—she couldn't, she was so paralyzed in fear. Her daddy got mad at her for everything, whether it be missing a spot on the dishes, or under-cooking dinner, or forgetting the clean the floors. When he got mad, there was pain—always pain. Now that she had broken his prize vase, a piece of art she'd been told to never touch, she could only imagine…
"Fluttershy? What the hell are you doing?" the voice called again, angrier than before.
Thump. Thump.
The sound of a stallion's hooves going down the stairs.
Fluttershy didn't think—she just burst out the door and ran, ran, away as fast as she possibly could. The whole way, she could hear the distant echo of her father's voice—"FLUTTERSHY! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!"
Fluttershy just ran faster, as fast as her hooves could take her. She ran for what felt like hours until finally, her body couldn't take anymore and she collapsed.
Fluttershy awoke to the tickling sensation of whiskers on her face. When she opened her eyes, a single wild bunny sat in front of her, sniffing the fallen pony. At once, the memories of last night came rushing back to her—she'd ran away from home, and unless she wanted to die there was no heading back.
Sitting up, she looked around—all around her, there was nothing but the rabbit, forest and snow—no signs of life in sight. "I guess it's just you and me, bunny," Fluttershy said, softly smiling as she nuzzled the rabbit. Surprisingly, the usually shy rabbit returned her affection. "Come on, let's go find somewhere safer."
The two walked for hours and miles, the forest getting darker as they walked, with no signs of civilization in sight. Fluttershy grew hungrier, her hoofsteps heavier, her body colder. Finally, the two stopped for the night.
"Thank you for walking with me, bunny," Fluttershy said as she settled down again for the night, "this forest is so scary at night… I don't know what I'd do without you."
The bunny cuddled up to Fluttershy, the small heat of his body bringing only slight relief to the freezing pony. Heavy lidded, Fluttershy finally succumbed to sleep, letting all the worries of the world behind her.
The second day of walking also brought no relief—nothing but trees, snow, hunger and exhaustion. The hunger was the worst, Fluttershy thought. Her thoughts were starting to become muddled from starvation, and it was becoming harder than ever to walk. The two had to even stop earlier in the day, Fluttershy was so overcome with exhaustion. The rabbit didn't seem to care, and snuggled up right beside her, just like the night before, and went to sleep.
But Fluttershy couldn't sleep. Her thoughts were muddled, but she had far too many for that. She was on the verge of death, and she knew it. "If I don't get something to eat soon, I'll die," Fluttershy realized, eyes flooding with tears.
What could she do? What could she possibly do in this situation?
In the middle of the night, while Fluttershy's head was still swimming, the rabbit stopped snoring and rose. Fluttershy feigned sleep, though she wasn't sure why. What was the rabbit up to? Before she could even complete the thought, he hopped away.
"Am I really so cold that the rabbit is abandoning me?" Fluttershy thought, panicked. She was doomed, if even the rabbit who kept her company was abandoning her.
Still, the rabbit came back, all right. It came back carrying with it a bunch of berries and leaves, slightly frosty but still edible nonetheless.
Fluttershy's heart rose. "Oh my, is he going to wake me up and offer me some of his food? It's not much, but I might be able to survive off of half of that…"
Her heart sank again when the rabbit started eating the food, faster than a living thing should even be able to eat. The food was gone within seconds. Having disposed of it all, the rabbit snuggled back up to Fluttershy and went back to sleep.
Fluttershy was furious. How dare he eat and live his companion to die? Even a dumb rabbit should know that a pony can't go for more than two freezing days without food.
Overcome with fury, Fluttershy stood, but the rabbit stayed sleeping. This was it—if she didn't get any food, she would die. It was either eat at any cost, or starve to death—and quite frankly, after a betrayal like that Fluttershy was liking the former.
Before she could think about what she was doing, Fluttershy raised a hoof and, in righteous anger, stomped down on the bunny's head, his tiny skull shattering and blood instantly staining the pure snow. "You won't be running away anymore, bunny," Fluttershy cooed. She ate the meat raw. Perhaps her favourite part was the berries—they hadn't been digested part, and were still almost perfectly intact. The gluttonous little bastard didn't even chew his food. Nothing had tasted sweeter.
As Fluttershy continued her trek through the forest, every couple of days some cute little animal would join her as she walked along. That night, they would be eaten, and their skins would be used to warm the ruthless pony through the cold nights.
It was almost disappointing when Fluttershy finally emerged from the forest one day to a small village full of ponies—she would almost miss her old lifestyle. There was an upside, though—she finally got her cutie mark. It was a dagger, stained in blood. Despite her odd mark, nobody seemed to pay it any mind, and continued to treat her like the sweet filly she had been once upon a time.
The only home available in the whole village was a tiny shed on the outskirts of town. It was old, down-trodden, didn't have any sort of heating or air conditioning, and was outside the area that the Pegasus ponies cleared, so it was always cloudy and drizzling. However, Fluttershy quite liked it—nobody ever tried to bother her, so she could decorate however she wanted.
Fluttershy quickly befriended the local animals. Not needing food as desperately as she did when she was in the forest, she quickly decided to turn the animals into tasteful wall decorations.
One day, when Fluttershy was seducing a particularly lovely young rabbit with soft fur and a cute face, she felt a sort of twinge. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was odd, like somebody was invading her privacy. Shoving the rabbit off her back, Fluttershy quickly ran back to her shed. Sure enough, there were two ponies wandering around in it, gaping in awe at the ornaments Fluttershy had placed around the room.
Furious, Fluttershy grabbed the chain saw she usually reserved for killing larger animals, like bears… or ponies. Who the hell did these ponies think they were, coming into her shed? And after she'd warned them so many times.
"Hey, hey, hey…" Fluttershy called out ominously. The two ponies froze, then slowly turned around. Relishing in their terrified stares, Fluttershy revved up the chain saw.
"I thought I told ya'll to stay OUT OF MY SHED?"