Fluttershy

Fluttershy is a pegasus pony and one of the main characters of the series. She's normally very shy and quiet, and frequently seen tending to her animals. She wields the element of kindness.

Personality
Fluttershy seems to have a great love for all animals except full-grown dragons. She is more open around animals than she is around other ponies. Her ability to handle animals seems to be unique to Fluttershy who, unlike other pegasus ponies, is not involved with the weather manipulation of Ponyville. She is an extremely quiet individual, soft-spoken and almost never raises her voice; her idea of a shout of annoyance is a soft, high-pitched squeak. She is also extremely non-violent: when she's mad enough to kick something, she gives it the lightest of taps. It is shown that Fluttershy has an outright disdain for being the center of attention. She is very non-confrontational, frequently apologizing for voicing her opinion or making requests.

In Dragonshy, she is revealed to have been terrified of full grown dragons and was almost unable to function out of fear. When she saw her friends being harmed by the dragon, though, she was able to overcome her fear and scold the dragon, which was a hundred times her size, much like that of a mother being very cross with her child. The power of this scolding frightened the dragon so much that it burst into tears. Her determination in the face of danger is also shown in The Elements of Harmony, in which she faces down a manticore and realizes what is causing it pain, and Stare Master, in which she stares down and admonishes a cockatrice into doing as she says even as it slowly turns her to stone.

While normally the quietest and calmest in her circle of friends, she is prone to extremely loud outbursts of emotion on very rare occasions, in which she does lose control. For example, in Sonic Rainboom, her cheering is barely louder than her normal speaking tone, but when Rainbow Dash successfully preforms her Sonic Rainboom, her cheering is louder than everyone else's. In Stare Master, she was forced to raise her voice twice to gain the Cutie Mark Crusaders' attention. Additionally, in The Best Night Ever when her patience is pushed by Canterlot's garden animals, her frustration steadily builds into rage bordering on psychosis. This can be considered extremely "out of character" for her and only happens in situations of excessive excitement or emotional stress.

Skills
Most pegasus ponies are involved in manipulating the weather, but Fluttershy is more focused on caring for animals. She is capable of giving "the stare", a fierce and paralyzing gaze capable of taming animals. She uses the stare on her chickens when they run wild, and on the cockatrice even as it's in the process of turning her into stone. This, along with an extremely severe talking-to, are generally enough to cow the most fearsome monsters into behaving, especially when used together. Often, though, she finds that just being kind can be enough. If forced to berate or stare down a monster, once it is no longer a threat she immediately reverts to her kind, gentle self, often trying to calm the monster down if she has upset it.

She appears to have some skill as a veterinarian, possessing a thermometer, a stethoscope, and medicine during A Bird in the Hoof, where she cares for a sick bird. Her level of skill is hard to judge, however, as her patient, Philomena, was a type of animal she had never seen before, and her attempts to treat her had seemed to make things worse.

On the other hand, at the beginning of the episode, there is a mouse in a wheelchair meeting its family with a professionally applied-looking plaster cast that appears to have been made by Fluttershy. Later on, she introduces Philomena to another one of her patients, Hummingway, who also seems to be in excellent health. For the sake of fairness towards Fluttershy's abilities, nothing Fluttershy could have done would have cured Philomena or made things any worse. Philomena, being a phoenix, was nearing the end of her life cycle, about to "die" and be reborn. She was never actually sick to begin with.

In Suited For Success, she is revealed to have a "freaky knowledge of sewing" that surpasses Rarity's, if Fluttershy's complaints about improper stitching in her dress is any indication. She is apparently skilled enough to finish a dress from Rarity's design with the help of her friends. She can also recognize machine stitching, stitching styles, uneven pleats, and traditional clothing styles.

Fluttershy appears to be an adequate flyer under normal circumstances, but seems to lose her flying ability in moments of fear; in Dragonshy, she is rendered paralyzed in midair upon hearing the dragon's roar at the bottom of the mountain, and is later shown to be incapable of crossing a chasm using her wings even as the paralysis has faded. She only regains her flying ability right after she starts growing angry at the dragon as it threatens her friends - the moment she conquers her fear. In Feeling Pinkie Keen, she does not fly in order to escape the hydra, though she is seen flapping her wings while running and jumping, presumably to improve her speed and jumping distance.

History
Like Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy hails from Cloudsdale. As a filly, she was not a very good flier, and was bullied by some of the other ponies (who nicknamed her Klutzershy). Dash stood up for her, and challenged the bullies to a race in which the participants unintentionally knocked Fluttershy down to the ground, a place she had never been before. She was saved from a rough landing by a large group of butterflies. Upon seeing all the different animals which lived on the ground for the first time, Fluttershy was so overjoyed, she started singing. A few moments later, Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom scared all the animals away; however, Fluttershy was able to calm them down, and learned that she had a talent for communicating with animals. It was at that point she gained her cutie mark, and a lifelong love of animals.

Sometime later, Fluttershy moved out of Cloudsdale into a more permanent dwelling at the edge of the Everfree Forest on the outskirts of Ponyville to live with her animal friends.

Years later, when an older Fluttershy first met Twilight Sparkle, she was too scared to do more than mumble quietly, but opened up when she met Spike. She was in charge of providing music during the Summer Sun Celebration. She took part in the search for the Elements of Harmony in the second episode. When the group encountered an angry manticore, Fluttershy was able to tame it by kindly talking to it and removing a thorn from its paw which was responsible for its rampage, earning her the element of kindness.

Fluttershy's pet bunny Angel was introduced in the third episode. Angel seems to boss Fluttershy around on occasion, and tries to get her out of her shell.

During the episode Griffon the Brush Off, it is revealed that Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie Pie.

During the episode Dragonshy, Fluttershy's fear of fully grown dragons serves as one of the plot points, but she puts aside her fears to stand up and protect her friends.

While escaping from the hydra during the episode Feeling Pinkie Keen, Fluttershy repeats the jumping line Pinkie Pie taught her during Dragonshy. She also had the courage to be the first to jump to safety, although the hydra was arguably the greater threat.

In the episode Bridle Gossip, after going through the poison joke flowers with the other ponies while they were looking for Apple Bloom, Fluttershy's voice became deep and masculine, although she seemed unaffected otherwise.

Throughout the episode Green Isn't Your Color, it is shown that Fluttershy has an outright disdain for lots of attention. Despite this disdain, she is willing to put up with it just to make Rarity "happy".

Relationships
Twilight Sparkle – When Twilight first met Fluttershy, the pegasus could barely mutter out a squeak, although their friendship grew quickly from this. Twilight is one of the many friends that encourages Fluttershy to become more assertive when needed. Twilight is also extremely confident in her natural empathy with animals, even more so than she herself is.

Rainbow Dash – Fluttershy couldn’t be more different from Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash is the most impatient with Fluttershy's insecurities and timidity, but is quick to defend her longtime friend; she also acknowledges that Fluttershy is a great support in spite of her overly-quiet nature. Rainbow and Fluttershy went to flying camp when they were much younger, and appear to have known each other the longest. Also, Fluttershy is by far the most enthusiastic when Rainbow Dash achieves a longtime goal of hers.

Pinkie Pie – Due to her sensitivity, Fluttershy is exempt from falling victim to Pinkie Pie's pranks. Pinkie, despite being younger, can be a little condescending to Fluttershy, something that greatly annoys Fluttershy, leading to her first show of annoyance in the series. However, the two are very close, and like all the other ponies, Fluttershy loves Pinkie's frequent party bashes. The two are similar in that they are always looking out for the well-being of all the ponies, and are by far the least ill-tempered of the main ponies.

Rarity – Rarity considers Fluttershy her best friend, and the closeness seems to be reciprocated. They share a common interest in fashion and meet regularly at a spa to catch up, as shown in Green Isn't Your Color. Rarity expresses admiration of Fluttershy's grace and poise in the episode, and implores Fluttershy to model her clothing, though she is aware that Fluttershy doesn't enjoy putting herself in front of people and only asks her when Photo Finish comes to photograph her work. This results in Rarity losing the spotlight to Fluttershy, a situation they both dislike. Fluttershy also extends her tender love for animals to Rarity's cat Opalescence when the latter is unable to tend to her properly in Stare Master. Rarity and Fluttershy come to a small disagreement over the stitches in Fluttershy's dress in Suited for Success.

Applejack – Applejack has the most amount of patience with Fluttershy, pulling her all the way up the cliff in Dragonshy and defending her from the remarks of others, even though they are shown together in few episodes.

Animals – Fluttershy is very good with animals and is often seen corralling and tending to the creatures that live near her treehouse. She keeps a rabbit named Angel as a pet, who can be a catalyst for Fluttershy to act when she's distracted or too passive. When animals get out of line she reflexively uses "The Stare" to help them behave. However, in The Best Night Ever, when her patience is pushed by Canterlot's garden animals, who avoid her, her frustration steadily builds into rage, in stark contrast to her normally calm demeanor.

Appearances
Fluttershy appears in all episodes so far except episodes eight and eighteen.

Gallery



 * Fluttershy image gallery

Mylittlepony.com
"A graceful, fawn-like filly, Fluttershy's gentle, serene ways make her unusually attractive to all types of forest animals, whose care and well-being are her highest priority. She'd like nothing more than to spend every waking moment caring for her animal friends in her secluded meadow cottage, and that's because Fluttershy is, well... shy.

''Sweet, soft-spoken and often fearful, her pony friends treasure her kindness, but have to work hard to help her come out of her shell. To their surprise, however, she emits an intimidating strength when she witnesses someone else being treated unfairly.''

Fluttershy has a lot of fears to overcome, but certainly one day her strength of character and enormous heart will make her a force to be reckoned with!"

Hubworld
"Graceful Fluttershy has a special way with forest animals. Her favorite thing is to care for them in her quiet meadow cottage. That's because Fluttershy is, well ... shy. She's sweet, soft-spoken, and kind of a scaredy-pony. Her friends love her for her kindness, and they work hard to bring her out of her shell."

Official Video
"A friend to the forest, Fluttershy is the gentle, soft-spoken member of the group. Sweet and caring, she makes plenty of space in her tucked-away cottage for helping anyone in need of her love and care, especially her little animal friends. But don't be fooled: although she is timid, she is a determined pony with admirable strength. She always defends those who are treated unfairly. With an enormous heart, and the ability to fly, this pegasus pony is a gentle soul who always rises to the occasion and is always there when her friends need her."

Trivia

 * Fluttershy's caring nature and similar appearance is based on Posey, an earth pony in the 1980's show except for her cutie mark which is represented by butterflies, reminiscent of the Generation 2 pony Sky Skimmer. While Posey is known for mainly taking care of flora, and Sky Skimmer is known for playing with butterflies, Fluttershy more or less shares aspects of both of these ponies, specializing in both flora and fauna.
 * The etymology of Fluttershy's name is a combination of flutter, the flapping motion made by wings - which is the case for a Pegasus pony such as Fluttershy - and shy, the timid nature of this character. The name can also be simply based on the word butterfly, one of the many creatures that Fluttershy has a fondness for and the one that her cutie mark is based on.
 * Fluttershy's name also comes from an earth pony in the Generation 3 line of the same name, who liked to take photographs of her friends and so was named as a play on "shutterfly", a slang term for a photography enthusiast.
 * Moreover, Fluttershy may or may not have been nominally inspired by the pegasus character Flutterby, created for a book by Stephen Cosgrove and Robin James in 1976.
 * In the episode Bridle Gossip after going through the poison joke flowers with the other ponies while they were looking for Apple Bloom, Fluttershy's voice became deep and masculine. Her deep voice is performed by Blu Mankuma who also voiced Tigatron in the late 1990's Transformers show Beast Wars.
 * In episodes 3 and 22, Fluttershy can be heard and seen singing the theme to the show.
 * In Episode 21, Over a Barrel, Fluttershy reveals that she would like to be a tree. This is only mentioned once, and the meaning of this is left to the viewers' imagination.
 * Interestingly, the voice actresses of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy have both voiced Marvel Comic's character, X-23.
 * Fluttershy is said to be the oldest pony out of the 6, due to the appearance of her as a filly. In Griffon the Brush Off, she explains that she is "a year older" than Pinkie Pie.
 * As revealed in Dragonshy, she is even afraid of her own shadow.
 * It should also be noted that although Fluttershy's one of the most timid ponies, she can be one of the fiercest ponies in the right circumstances.
 * See also this article's Fan Labor page.