Fluttershy

Fluttershy is a Pegasus pony and one of the main characters of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She's normally very timid and quiet, and frequently seen tending to her animals. She represents the element of kindness.

Development
Fluttershy's caring nature and appearance is similar to Posey, an Earth pony in the 1980s My Little Pony toy lines and show. Her initial design, published online by Lauren Faust, refers to her as "Posey" as well. Her cutie mark, three pink and cyan butterflies, is similar to that of the G2 pony Sky Skimmer. Fluttershy's name is shared by a previous generation Earth pony, who is a photography enthusiast.

Shyness and timidness
When Fluttershy is first introduced in the series, she barely manages to tell Twilight Sparkle her name out of shyness, going so far as to be reduced to whimpering in fear. However, she becomes very conversational when she notices Spike the baby dragon, and implores him to tell her "everything" (which he does), all the way to Twilight's residence.

She is terrified of full grown dragons and repeatedly freezes in place when she and her friends go on an expedition to confront a dragon in Dragonshy.Twilight Sparkle encourages her and tells her that her understanding of animals will come in handy in the expedition, and Applejack pushes her forward through some of the journey, also literally pulling her up the mountain, and defends her from disparaging remarks. Pinkie is able to help Fluttershy gain enough confidence to attempt to jump across a chasm in Dragonshy, and in Feeling Pinkie Keen, Fluttershy repeats the jumping line Pinkie Pie taught her. Near the end of the episode, when Fluttershy sees her friends being harmed by the dragon, she is able to overcome her fear and cause the dragon to back down by scolding him. In Stare Master, she is able to drive away a wild cockatrice in a similar manner.

Fluttershy practices cheering with Rainbow Dash in Sonic Rainboom, but her loudest cheer is frustratingly quiet for Dash. When Rainbow Dash successfully performs her sonic rainboom, Fluttershy cheers loudly, and hops up and down in excitement, while the others only stand with mouths agape, shocked. In Stare Master, she is forced to raise her voice twice to gain the Cutie Mark Crusaders' attention.

She is reduced to tears by Gilda in Griffon the Brush Off when the griffon shouts at her for bumping into her. Afterwards, when Pinkie Pie tells her "[not to worry about] mean old Gilda" Fluttershy gets slightly annoyed at the patronizing comment and replies that she is "a year older" than Pinkie. Pinkie Pie exempts Fluttershy from her pranks for fear of hurting her feelings, and she's outraged when she sees Gilda yelling at Fluttershy.

Just like Pinkie Pie's refusal to prank Fluttershy, her timidness means that her least favorite celebration is the Nightmare Night festival, where being frightened and pranked is the whole point. In Luna Eclipsed, Fluttershy sequesters herself at home in her cottage, and refuses to answer the door to anyone but her best friends.

Kindness and sensitivity
When the ponies venture into the Everfree Forest, she is quick to identify that the manticore needs help, but since she is hesitant about raising her voice, it takes her a while to stop the other ponies from attacking the creature. She reveals afterwards that while she did not know exactly what was troubling the manticore, "sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness", earning her the element of kindness and revealing her confidence in her ability with animals.

"Sometimes, we all just need to be shown a little kindness..."

- Fluttershy on her values

When her patience is pushed by the creatures of Canterlot's garden in The Best Night Ever, who don't want to play and be friends with Fluttershy, her frustration steadily builds into a very uncharacteristic fit of extreme rage.

"I'll catch you yet, my pretties. Oh yes, as soon as one of you little birds or monkeys or bears touches this net, you'll be mine! MINE! HahahaHAHAHA!"

- Fluttershy

In The Return of Harmony Part 1, she is the only pony who doesn't fall for Discord's manipulation, prompting him to forcefully hypnotize her with a simple touch and corrupt her into being cruel. In this state she is extremely vicious, irritating, and much less timid, doing everything she can to inflict grief and annoyance upon her friends. When Twilight Sparkle sets out to set the others straight using a "memory spell", Twilight and Applejack are forced to capture her, hogtying her up and AJ standing on her tail to prevent her from flying away. Fluttershy initially believes her corrupted state to be a "horrible dream".

Skills
Many Pegasus ponies are involved in manipulating the weather, but Fluttershy, being a relatively poor flier, focuses on caring for animals.

Animal care
In A Bird in the Hoof, she cares for a "sick" bird, Philomeena, with the aid of a thermometer, a stethoscope, and medicine, implying she is competent in treating animals; at the beginning of the episode, there is a mouse in a wheelchair meeting its family with a plaster cast that appears to have been made by Fluttershy. Later on, she introduces Philomeena to another one of her patients, Hummingway, who has recuperated under her care. Nevertheless, her skill may not extend to animals she is unfamiliar with, as her attempts to treat Philomeena only seem to make things worse (albeit nothing Fluttershy could have done would have cured Philomeena, as the phoenix is not unwell, but reaching the end of one of her life cycles). In Lesson Zero, she appears to aggressively attack a bear, going as far as to seemingly snap its neck, but is actually giving it a rather intense massage.

The Stare
While generally soft-spoken and timid, she is capable of giving "The Stare", a fierce and paralyzing gaze capable of taming and intimidating animals. It is first brought up when Rarity asks if Fluttershy used it on Opal, which Fluttershy says she did not.

In Stare Master, she uses the stare on her chickens. When one of the chickens, Elizabeak, escapes into the Everfree Forest, the Cutie Mark Crusaders go looking for it, and later Fluttershy goes looking for the Crusaders. She finds Twilight Sparkle petrified, and later comes across the cockatrice who petrified both Twilight and the missing chicken. Fluttershy uses the stare on the cockatrice even as it's in the middle of turning her to stone. She admonishes the creature, uses "The Stare" on it, and tells it to turn the chicken and Twilight Sparkle back to normal. This cows the cockatrice into submission, and later both the chicken and Twilight Sparkle are found safe and sound. After staring down a dragon in Dragonshy, once it is no longer a threat, she reverts to her kind, gentle self, and tries to calm down the dragon.

Flying
Fluttershy is an adequate flier 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 snore 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.

Fluttershy is only barely able to carry Twilight Sparkle a short distance in Friendship is Magic, part 2, even with Rainbow Dash's help.

Nevertheless, during The Mysterious Mare Do Well, she is able to fly past Rainbow Dash in the opposite direction with little effort, dizzying her; in addition, she can outfly an (albeit weighed down) Rainbow Dash while carrying two ponies and a hot air balloon after being reminded by Twilight that if she doesn't catch her, Discord wins in The Return of Harmony, part 2.

Sewing
She has a knowledge of sewing rivaling Rarity's, which Applejack describes as "freaky" in Suited For Success. She and her friends use her knowledge to finish a dress designed by Rarity in this episode, and she recognizes machine stitching, stitching styles, uneven pleats, and specific clothing styles, such as French haute couture.

History
The episode The Cutie Mark Chronicles offers a glimpse into Fluttershy's past. 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". She was taller and more gangly than the other foals, with slightly larger wings. Rainbow Dash, however, 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 falling onto 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.

Fluttershy lives in a cottage at the edge of the Everfree Forest and on the outskirts of Ponyville. It appears in several episodes, including Dragonshy, Swarm of the Century, and Stare Master, where it is one of the primary sets of the episode. The cottage's roof is covered in grass and is filled with runways, holes and perches for animals. In May the Best Pet Win!, Fluttershy is delighted to hear that Rainbow Dash desires a pet and takes her to her cottage's backyard, where she presents her friend with a great variety of animals to choose from.

Fluttershy's pet bunny Angel is introduced in the third episode. Angel pushes Fluttershy around on occasion; in A Bird in the Hoof, he locks her out of the cottage, and in The Ticket Master he persuades her to pursue the extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala.

Much is learned about the friendship between Fluttershy and Rarity during Green Isn't Your Color. The two meet regularly every week at Ponyville's day spa to catch up. Rarity expresses admiration of Fluttershy's grace and poise in the episode, and implores Fluttershy to model her clothing, but as she is aware that Fluttershy doesn't enjoy putting herself in front of people, Rarity only asks her when Photo Finish comes to photograph her work. Throughout the episode, Fluttershy has a hard time coping with the large amounts of attention. Despite this, she is willing to put up with it because she believes it makes Rarity happy. Likewise, Fluttershy is not exempt from Rarity's envy of her fame; however, Twilight eventually gets the two to solve their problems.

Hasbro.com description
''A graceful, fawn-like filly, Fluttershy's gentle, serene ways makes her unusually attractive to all types of forest animals, whose care and high 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 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 description
''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.''

Hubworld 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.''

My Little Pony magazine description
''She's rather shy and loves to sing with animal friends. Fluttershy is generous and sweet, sometimes a little too trusting and always eager to help.''
 * Graceful
 * Musical
 * Gentle

Appearances

 * See also character appearances

Fluttershy appears in all episodes of season one except episodes eight, twelve, and eighteen, and she does not have a speaking role in episode six or thirteen. She has appeared in all season two episodes except for episodes five and six so far.

Quotes
"Um, excuse me, sir. I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny tiny bit off."

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"A baby dragon! Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before. He's so cute."

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"Um, excuse me, Twilight, I would just like to ask, I mean, if it would be alright, if you haven't given it to someone else--"

- The Ticket Master

"Oh no, I'm doing this because you're my very best friend. Right Angel? Oh, yes, we are just doing this for the ticket."

- The Ticket Master

"How dare you? How dare you! Listen here, mister. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully. You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire. But you do not-- I repeat-- You do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?"

- Dragonshy

"You're…going…to love me!"

- The Best Night Ever

"That...big...dumb...meanie!!!"

- The Return of Harmony, part 2, referring to Discord

Gallery

 * Fluttershy image gallery

Trivia

 * She is one of the handful of ponies who have a unique eye design.
 * Her voice actress, Andrea Libman, has also voiced previous generation ponies Zippee and Sweetie Belle.
 * Fluttershy can be heard and seen humming the theme to the show in episodes 3 and 22.
 * On the back of her toy, Fluttershy is seen wingless.
 * Fluttershy's personality is very similar those of Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls, and Eduardo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, which were both shows that Lauren Faust had previously worked on. Like Fluttershy, both of the aforementioned characters are known for being kind yet extremely cowardly, though they are also prone to anger and courage whenever their friends are in danger.
 * There is a distinctive squeak when she grins.