Fluttershy

Fluttershy is a pegasus pony and one of the main characters of the series. 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 that of the G2 pony Sky Skimmer. Fluttershy's name is shared by a previous generation earth pony, who is a photography enthusiast ("Fluttershy" is a pun on "shutterfly", a slang term for a photography enthusiast).

Personality
When she is first introduced in the series, she barely manages to tell Twilight Sparkle to "b-back that ass up" out of shyness. However, she becomes very conversational when she notices Spike the baby nigger, and implores him into telling his life story (which he promptly does), all the way to Twilight's residence.

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 before stopping the other ponies from attacking the manticore. She reveals afterwards she did not know exactly what was troubling the manticore, but said that "sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness", earning her the element of kindness and revealing she has confidence in her ability with animals.

She is terrified of full grown dragons and frequently freezes in place when she and her friends go on an expedition to confront a dragon in Dragonshy, but when she sees her friends being harmed by the dragon, she is able to overcome her fear and cause the dragon to back down by scolding it; later, she was able to drive away a vicious cockatrice in a similar manner during Stare Master.

In Sonic Rainboom, her practice cheering is barely louder than her normal speaking tone, but when Rainbow Dash successfully performs her sonic rainboom, she cheers loudly and hops up and down in excitement, while the others only had their mouths agape, shocked. In Stare Master, she is forced to raise her voice twice to gain the Cutie Mark Crusaders' attention. 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 with Fluttershy, her frustration steadily builds into a very uncharacteristic fit of obsessive 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, forcing him to ultimately hypnotize her with a simple touch and corrupt her into being cruel. In this state she is extremely vicious and irritating, doing everything she can to inflict grief and annoyance upon her friends. Ultimately Twilight and Applejack were forced to capture her, hogtying her up and AJ standing on her tail to prevent her from flying away in order to undo the corruption; she initially believed her corrupted state to be a "horrible dream". Later on while struggling to catch up with the corrupted Rainbow Dash, the thought of Discord winning was enough to motivate her to close the distance between them.

Skills
Most pegasus ponies (Rainbow Dash being one) are involved in manipulating the weather, but Fluttershy, being a relatively poor flier, is more focused on caring for animals. While generally soft-spoken and timid, she is capable of giving "the stare", a fierce and paralyzing gaze capable of taming and intimidating animals. In Stare Master, she uses the stare on her chickens when they've run wild, and on a cockatrice even while its stare is turning her to stone. Along with an extremely severe talking-to, this is generally enough to cow even the most fearsome monsters into behaving. 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.

She cares for a "sick" bird, Philomena, with the aid of a thermometer, a stethoscope, and medicine in A Bird in the Hoof, 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 Philomena to another one of her patients, Hummingway, who has recouperated under her care. Her skill may not extend to animals she is unfamiliar with, as her attempts to treat Philomena only seem to make things worse. However, nothing Fluttershy could have done would have cured Philomena, as the phoenix was reaching the end of one of her life cycles - not actually sick. "Sometimes, we all just need to be shown a little kindness..."

- Fluttershy on her values

She has knowledge of sewing that may even surpass Rarity's that Applejack describes as "freaky". She and her friends use her knowledge to finish a dress designed by Rarity in Suited for Success. She can also recognize machine stitching, stitching styles, uneven pleats, and traditional clothing styles, such as French haute couture.

Fluttershy appears to be 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 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.

In Friendship is Magic, part 2, Fluttershy is only barely able to carry Twilight Sparkle a short distance, even with Rainbow Dash's help. Conversely, she is able to outfly Rainbow Dash in The Return of Harmony Part 2, even while dragging a hot air balloon behind her, but only once Twilight appeals to her dislike of Discord; additionally, in that scene, Rainbow Dash is weighed down by carrying Pinkie Pie and Rarity. However, Fluttershy was also carrying Twilight Sparkle and Applejack.

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 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 is 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.

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.

After going through the poison joke flowers in Bridle Gossip, Fluttershy's voice becomes deep and masculine. Her deep voice is performed by Blu Mankuma. This is quickly fixed by Zecora, however.

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.''

Relationships
Twilight Sparkle – When Twilight Sparkle first meets Fluttershy in the first episode, the pegasus could barely mutter out a squeak, although their friendship quickly grew. Twilight Sparkle is one of the many friends that encourages Fluttershy to become more assertive when needed. In Dragonshy, Twilight Sparkle is also extremely confident about Fluttershy's natural empathy with animals, even more so than Fluttershy herself.

Rainbow Dash – Although Rainbow Dash is the most impatient with Fluttershy's insecurities and timidity, she is quick to defend her longtime friend when trouble arises; she also acknowledges that Fluttershy is a great supporter in spite of her overly-quiet nature. Also, Fluttershy is by far the most enthusiastic when Rainbow Dash achieves a longtime goal of hers.

Pinkie Pie – Fluttershy is exempt from falling victim to Pinkie Pie's pranks. Pinkie Pie can occasionally be a little condescending to Fluttershy, which leads to Fluttershy's first show of annoyance in the series in Griffon the Brush Off when Fluttershy says she is "a year older" than Pinkie Pie. The two are very close, however. Pinkie is able to help Fluttershy gain enough confidence to attempt to jump across a chasm in Dragonshy, and in the episode Feeling Pinkie Keen, Fluttershy repeats the jumping line Pinkie Pie taught her. Both 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 – A lot about their friendship is revealed in the episode Green Isn't Your Color. They 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. Fluttershy is not exempt from Rarity's jealousy. In Suited for Success, Fluttershy knows more about sewing than Rarity when she points out all of the initial flaws that Rarity made in Fluttershy's first dress, making her a potentially invaluable asset in Rarity's clothing business.

Fluttershy also extends her tender love for animals to Rarity's cat Opalescence 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, towing and pushing 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's special talent is working with animals, and is often seen corralling and tending to the creatures that live near her cottage. 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 temper is lost to Canterlot's garden animals, who avoid her, her frustration steadily builds into rage, in stark contrast to her normally calm demeanor.

Appearances

 * See also character appearances

Fluttershy appears in all episodes so far except episodes eight, twelve, and eighteen, and she does not have a speaking role in episode six.

Gallery



 * Fluttershy image gallery

Trivia



 * Fluttershy can be heard and seen singing the theme to the show in episodes 3 and 22.

Fluttershy