WMG / My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Fluttershy

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Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike

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Fluttershy is too polite to intrude on the inherent privacy of the owner/pet relationship.

Fluttershy doesn't talk to the pets belonging to the other Mane characters out of respect for their privacy. For instance, she could have found out something was up with Rarity and that Opal wasn't sick in "Sweet And Elite". There are probably many other examples, but that's the one that makes me crazy.

Fluttershy is a reincarnation/descendant of Commander Hurricane.

Because that would be awesome.

Fluttershy is a descendant of or part Flutter pony.

Her name reflects this (maybe her parents know and are proud of their heritage). Her cutie mark also reflects this, and considering how cutie marks and names are such an integral part of a pony I don't think this is much of a stretch. Other supporting facts include the butterflies' attraction to her and general affinity for animals/nature. Perhaps she is 'bad' at flying because her genes make her wings more delicate like those of flutter ponies and unsuited for the rigorous or just different Pegasi school of flying. Her build as a young pony could also be due to this or being slightly older than the rest of the main characters.

• Supported in the Cutie Mark Chronicles; Fluttershy turned into a much better flier after seeing how butterflies did it.
• Well... it'd explain why she looks a bit like Rosedust, and why she had such long legs as a filly. However, she looked more rawboned than dainty back then, so...difficult to say.

Okay then. Scootaloo and Fluttershy are related

Because seriously, that'd be adorable.

• Impossible. FS would recognise her sister/cousin/whatever, but in The Stare Master it's as if they've never met.
  • They could be unaware that they're related.
  • (Looks up G3 Scootaloo's cutie mark) Hmmmm, that might be something.
• All related ponies have similar color schemes... just different tones. Fluttershy is yellow/light pink, Scootaloo is orange/dark pink.
  • Partially jossed due to Pinkie Pie looking nothing like her family (aside from sharing an earlier hairstyle with her sister, but that may be their mother's style of combing their hair and Pinkie kept it that way until her cutie mark gave her the current perm.)
  • Scootaloo and Fluttershy are both Pegasi who seem more comfortable on land and struggle with flying. It may just be a coincidence but it does make you wonder...
  • Maybe they're both part earth pony? Pegasi tend to be blue-toned, while earth ponies tend to be red and yellow-toned. Fluttershy and Scootaloo's colors are more like earth ponies.

Fluttershy has serious psychological issues but refuses to take her meds.

I have serious doubts that Fluttershy is not on a very serious cocktail of psych meds. The numerous times she has seriously flipped out and turned from being sweet, gentle Fluttershy to one of the scariest and most dangerous pony you could ever meet is my proof of this claim.

• I don't think so; I think Fluttershy is just a pony who keeps her frustrations in, and then sometimes it explodes. A fairly common thing.
  • Twice.
    • Can we just call this one confirmed?
    • Confirmed
    • No excuses!
• This is more a case of Fundamental attribution error. The times Fluttershy has flipped out have either been due to imminent mortal danger to her friends, or being placed in an extremely stressful situation. Everyone's behaviour changes in those situations, especially since because of her shyness Fluttershy's personality tends to be muted. (She's actually got a really cunning sense of humour, but it only comes out in situations where she feels really comfortable for example)
  • While I don't think she is on any sort of medication, I do believe she has psychological issues; namely, abandonment issues. Think about it: besides her many animal friends, the other 5 ponies of the main cast are probably the only friends she has. So of course she'd be very protective of them (as seen in "Dragonshy") or protective of their siblings (as seen in "Stare Master"). At Ponyville, when not with her friends, Fluttershy is with her animal friends, so everything's fine. But at the Gala, away in Canterlot, she can't seem to befriend any of the animals there, despite trying many times, and so starts to go a little crazy, fearing that she'll be all alone, again. These issues most likely stem from the fact that she is a rather poor flier, and since pegasi are very proud of that ability, she was looked down upon, possibly even by her own parents! Upon finding out about the wonders of the forest and the grounds under the sky and Cloudsdale, she says that she "never wanted to go back to Cloudsdale ever again". (Cutie Mark Chronicles)
    • This actually does make a lot of sense, and would explain her shyness. Also, that shyness would likely be why she didn't just go find her friends. It was a HUGE Gala, with a lot of people. Fluttershy is...well too shy to go into a place like that without being with her friends. So it was probably just stress that ultimatelly got the best of her.
  • Whatever happened to good old-fashioned Anxiety disorder?
• She also seems to have some repressed anger issues, as a couple of times she looks visibly annoyed at other characters (for example: look at when she informs Pinkie she's a year older than her; Fluttershy looks pissed) but is unable to vocalise it effectively. This may have contributed to her loosing it in Canterlot, since the source of the anger didn't wander away without realising it, leading to the pressure point being inadvertently reached.
  • Food for thought on this: She did seem to enjoy "beating up" that bear. Even if it was only for a massage.
  • This part at least borders on necessarily true. From what we've seen, Fluttershy has either been picked on, condescended to, or flat-out ignored pretty much all her life. Other than when she becomes a fashion model, does anypony other than her five friends and animals even acknowledge her existence? She almost seems to be an outcast, living on the edge of the Everfree Forest alone except for her pets. It's difficult to tell whether her Shrinking Violet personality is the cause of her exclusion or the result of it, but either way, all those negative emotions from such encounters aren't just going to disappear, they're going to accummulate until they find a form of release.
    • Yes, they do acknowledge her existence: remember, long before Twilight arrived in Ponyville, somepony had asked Fluttershy to provide the music for the Summer Sun Celebration, and had persuaded her, despite her anxiety at appearing in public, to do it. Also, somepony in "Applebuck Season" had hired or directed Fluttershy to take a census of the new rabbits; it seems likely that she works as a naturalist for the Ponyville government. Self-evidently, somepony in authority is aware of her and is aware of her abilities.
• While it's true that asociality is a common symptom of psychological problems, one can be painfully shy without any underlying psychological conditions.

Fluttershy actually is the world champion at "Shh."

• How is this a guess? She says that she is in "Stare Master", and there is no reason to suppose that she was lying. It's certainly not difficult to believe.
  • I think the OP is suggesting that "Shh" is an actual competitive sport in Equestria, as opposed to the implication that she was just trying to get the Crusaders to shut up for thirty seconds in a row; while it would, happily, get them to shut their pieholes, it was also a legitimate challenge since Fluttershy's not wholly certain how one goes about entertaining young children.
    • Well, of course it's an actual competitive sport in Equestria. How else could Fluttershy be the world champion?
    • By being the only one who plays it.
    • There must be gender divisions, because there is no way she'd beat Big Macintosh.

Fluttershy's Stare is magical in nature.

When Twilight got stoned in Stare Master, her posture implied it happened instantly or near-instantly. This was not the case with Fluttershy. Thus, her Stare gives her some sort of resistance to that sort of thing.

• Or cockatrice petrification attacks the target's spirit. Twi was caught by surprise, while Fluttershy was prepared and was thus able to exert her will against the cockatrice and drag it into a psychic duel.
• There's still that "harvesting apples via the Stare" in "Applebuck Season". Causing the tree to turn old "enough" to make it drop its fruit?
  • I think there was a creature up in the boughs of the tree that was shaking them down. We haven't seen her Stare into anything but a creature's eyes yet, and the Stare hadn't even been established in the third episode of the season.

Fluttershy wanted to be a dressmaker when she was younger.

Based on one fact alone, Fluttershy's FREAKY knowledge of sewing. Fluttershy lived all of her blank flank life up in Cloudsdale and only got her cutie mark when she came to visit Rainbow Dash (and Ponyville by extension) and saw all the cute woodland creatures.

Fluttershy was held back a year at flight school.

Because she was terrible at flying she ended up unable to progress, resulting in her having to join a class with younger fillies. She's actually a year (or more, we only know she's a year older than Pinkie) older than the rest of her friends.

• It was summer flight camp, so she may have just been alone, instead of with the kids her age. It's highly likely.
  • Classes could be divided up based on skill rather than age. True, this troper was held back several years consecutively at swimming classes.

Fluttershy's... episode during "The Best Night Ever" is Twilight Sparkle's fault.

Poor poor Fluttershy... It may not be obvious at first, but it seems she is easily influenced by the opinions of others whom she trusts. However, Fluttershy experiences "delays" between the time she is told to do something and actually acting upon what she's told. A good example occurs in "Dragonshy". Pinkie Pie sings an encouraging song to help the terrified pegasus jump over a (tiny) chasm, but it doesn't quite work. Fast forward to "Feeling Pinkie Keen". This time, Fluttershy faces several tiny platforms that are way more dangerous to cross than the chasm mentioned earlier. Although scared, Fluttershy remembers Pinkie's song... and look at that! This time, she is motivated enough to quickly jump across those platforms! It didn't happen right away, but given enough time Fluttershy will take her friends' statements to heart.

Now for the fun part. Let's apply what we learned here to Fluttershy's actions during the Grand Galloping Gala. First, go back a few episodes to A Bird in the Hoof. Fluttershy is trying very hard to gently nurse Princess Celestia's sickly pet bird, Philomena, back to health. However, Philomena proves to be highly uncooperative with Fluttershy. The bird refuses to take its medicine, have some soup, or get some sleep. Fluttershy is quick to move on to other medical techniques whenever her patient makes it very clear that she won't accept whatever technique the pegasus offers. Enter Twilight Sparkle. Upon realizing what's going on, she strongly insists that Fluttershy should stop being a pushover and FORCE the bird to take whatever steps necessary to make its recovery! To demonstrate, Twilight forces Philomena to take the medicine Fluttershy gave up on, trap it in a cage in an attempt to keep it still and more. Twilight's methods are way more aggressive than those of gentle Fluttershy and she can't wrap her head around them... yet.

Okay, let's bring it all together! Fluttershy is at the Grand Galloping Gala! She's finally going to meet and befriend the unique animals living in Canterlot's Royal Garden! But wait... for one reason or another, the animals are doing everything they can to avoid Fluttershy! How is this happening?! She tries to be as gentle and caring as always, but it just doesn't work this time! That's when something interesting happens... Fluttershy sets up a trap to catch an animal so that she can befriend it face to face. This is NOT normal for Fluttershy... but then she says something very interesting:

"I just have to be more bold, like Twilight says."

Once again she takes her trusted friend's advice, which she initially was hesitant about, and runs with it. In this case, when something doesn't work, she becomes more and more aggressive. Her traps get more elaborate. She raises her voice. She's trying to be less and less of a pushover in order to get something done, just like Twilight Sparkle previously insisted! Combine this advice, which is clearly NOT helping Fluttershy here, along with the emotional stress of being unable to befriend a single creature in the garden no matter how desperate she gets and how hard she tries... And you've got yourself a terrifying disaster.

Overly long entry short: Fluttershy is easily influenced by her friends, but it takes a while for their advice/opinions/suggestions/demands to settle in her mind. But when they do, she feels a need to grab hold of the influence when the time comes to do so and hold on tightly to it. This can be a VERY good thing when you consider the results of Pinkie Pie's "Hop, Skip, and a Jump!" encouragement. Twilight's powerful suggestion of "Be assertive!" on the other hand utterly ruins her. Who knows? If Twilight never gave such a statement that conflicted with Fluttershy's character earlier, Fluttershy may have just kept trying to gently coax the animals around her to come out, rather than shouting at them to do so at the top of her lungs in frustration. Maybe she'd just become immensely sad and frustrated... but not loud and dangerous.

Nice job breaking the gentlest, kindest, most innocent pony in the world, Twilight. In the season finale no less.

'Flutterrage' was a Changeling.

It certainly puts her "You're going to LOVE ME!" in a whole new light.

• A possible theory: the gardener was a Changeling. He imitated birds singing to lure Fluttershy away from the others, then knocked her out and began impersonating her. Its plan was to stir the animals up into a frenzy and have them rush the gala as a distraction, while it either attempted to assasinate Celestia (which, granted, would probably have failed miserably) or to just infiltrate a group of ponies close to her. Unfortunately, "You're going to LOVE me" was a fatal Freudian Slip and instantly clued Celestia in on their true nature. She told Twilight and the others to 'run' beause she didn't want them to see what she was about to do. Meanwhile the real Fluttershy had been cocooned somewhere (the Changelings needed her alive, her love for all creatures would be an incredibly potent power source) but some of her animal freinds found her and broke her out. She then made her way to the donut bar because that's where she knew everypony else would be.

Fluttershy has a palsy that mostly affects her wings.

While she certainly doesn't appear to have Cerebral Palsy, she does come off as fairly clumsy, and is still somewhat of a poor flyer despite her age. She also seems to not be as physically active as the others are.

• I attribute that more of Fluttershy being a "Duck Pony", while she was born a pegasus pony, due her shyness, she almost never left her home (and therefore, almost never exercised her wings, making her quite clumsy in that regard, in contrast with competitive Rainbow Dash, who was far more extroverted and athletic, she already knew how to fly when she entered on the junior flyers academy), and after she discovered the ground she rapidly became more comfortable with it, causing her to depend even less on her wings and more on simply walking (note that apparently she can fly as fast as Twilight can run, and we know Twilight is a pony of the weak nerdy type).
• Not looking good for this one considering her burst of speed in The Return of Harmony, Pt 2.
• She's bigger-framed than most pegasi. She's had to bust her little rump to even become competent at flight, much less actually good.
• Most likely jossed by Hurricane Fluttershy: Her trouble seemed to be mostly performance anxiety combined with bullying. I think she only reached 5 wing speed rather than the ~10 the others had, but that may be just from a lack of practice. The other times where she seemed to nearly match Rainbow Dash's speed were in times of necessity. She's probably an average flyer overall, just prone to performance anxiety.

Fluttershy was very sickly when she was young.

Because she was so sick, she couldn't go outside very often, so she recieved little socialization from other fillies early in her life. Even when she was healthy enough to start going out, she was still left weak from being sick and bedridden. This explains why she was initially a weak flier when she was young. It's also worth noting that in her story in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", she is thinner and smaller than any of the other fillies we see. (her legs look particularly thin) Having very little socialization with other fillies, she was scared and nervous, causing her to be so shy. Going to the ground and seeing the creatures gave her motivation to go out more, allowing her to grow stronger and healthier as we see her now.

• Highly likely, but I doubt that they'll go into it on a kids show.
• To me, if anything, she looked taller and leggier rather than necessarily more delicate.

Fluttershy is a partial reincarnation of Medusa.

And that explains her "Stare" as well as help explain her defeat of the Cockatrice. Medusa was a lovely turn-you-to-stone-as-soon-as-you-look-at-her Gorgon, and at least one Pegasus origin story has the winged horse springing from the newly decapitated Medusa's blood. So if Equestria's Pegasi were formed in a similar manner, then Fluttershy "inheriting" her power of stare and resistance to petrification from their Gorgon ancestor would be plausible....

Fluttershy's special ability isn't being good with animals, but being able to walk on swarms of butterflies.

That's why, when she fell from Cloudsdale, the butterflies caught her. They weren't dark matter, she just can walk on them just like clouds.

Fluttershy isn't the oldest

Sure, in Griffon the brush off she said she was one year older than Pinkie, but that still doesn't prove she's the oldest.

Fluttershy has gone Meme In-Universe.

A (albeit briefly) famous model at a high society event had an epic breakdown, you don't think it'll spread like Parasprites?

• Wouldn't they all be pretty well-known in-universe by this point? Aren't they the heroes who saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon and the sleeping dragon? Isn't Twilight Sparkle the prized pupil of the Princess? Might not the story of the Ursa Minor have spread beyond Ponyville by this point also? And isn't Rainbow Dash the winner of a major flying competition and the only pony in living memory to have ever performed a sonic rainboom, an event visible and audible for hundreds of miles?
• Let me rephrase: Flutterrage is a meme in-universe
  • Possible, but why? Fluttershy's episode at the Gala was noteworthy to us because it was so incongruous with what we know of her normal personality, but most of Equestria would have no idea what she's usually like. They would probably say: "Famous fashion model/close associate of powerful courtier turns out to be a primadonna with a nasty temper. So what else is new?"
    • Still to them it probably go viral, like celebrity slip ups in the real world. I think it'll be a season 2 episode with her having to live it down.
    • Well, the fact that she was a national hero, along with the other mane six appears to be very unknown outside of ponyville, that seams unlikely. You would think "the Elements of Harmony ruin the Great Gallaping Gala," be more newsworthy than "former fashion model ruins party." New WMG, Equestria has very strict state censorship.

Fluttershy wasn't just protecting her friends in "Dragonshy"; she was also protecting the dragon.

Twilight Sparkle is perhaps the most powerful wizard in Equestria; only the two princesses are clearly more powerful. Largely because of the nature of the show; we have never seen Twilight uncase the full power of her magic with deadly intent, but if it had come to a fight with that dragon, Twilight probably would have killed it, although there would have been a very real chance that some of the other ponies might not have survived. Now, we know that Fluttershy is a Friend To All Living Things; she's not going to stand by and let one of her closest friends kill a another living creature, especially not a sapient, sentient one like a dragon, any more than she would stand by and let that dragon kill her friends. As for why Fluttershy never said anything about this to the dragon is that, one, dragons are very proud, and saying anything that might have sounded like a threat might have backfired, and, two, she knew that there was a chance she might fail, and if it did come to a fight, she didn't want the dragon to know just how powerful Twilight was, so as not to forewarn him.

• Doesn't seem very likely considering Twilight was just able to pacify a baby monster about the same size and power as the dragon in the previous episode. Princess Celestia, on the other hand, could take out the dragon no problem, but being the good ruler she is, she probably sent the Mane Six as envoys to try and work out a peaceful solution before resorting to force.

There is some kind of dark entity in the form of Fluttershy's shadow.

The reason she's scared of it may not be just a simple exaggeration of her fear, given how she can stand up to things more fearsome than regular shadows...

• Alternatively, her shadow also has The Stare. But since you can't see its eyes, you never know when it's glaring at you. Fluttershy is scared of her shadow not because it can harm her, but because she thinks it hates her.
• So Fluttershy's been reading Carl Jung? (There'd be a some sort of pony play on Jung's name here but I suck at those.)
  • Corral Jung?

Fluttershy is part unicorn.

A relatively simple, maybe even obvious, Fluttershy guess. The reason she is such a weak flyer is because she is only part pegasus. She has inherited some magic from a unicorn ancestor, but lacks a horn to channel it. Her magic instead requires the use of her voice and eye contact. Her magic is geared toward manipulation of emotions, which she uses to calm and comfort animals, or in extreme cases, fill them with fear or shame via The Stare. Due to how shy she is, she doesn't use it on ponies, as she can't bring herself to make eye contact or even speak loud enough to be heard. We've never seen her parents, so she could be half and half. Word of God on mixing types was basically, "Sure, Why not?", and a genetics chart was posted on one of these pages showing how it could work.

Similarly, Fluttershy is part Earth Pony.

• This makes more sense then her being part-unicorn. Unfortunately, she didn't get the enhanced strength and durability perk, Fortunately, to compensate, her nature ability, and animal communication especially, has been enhanced to superpony levels, hence The Stare.
  • Based on filly!Fluttershy's design, she probably is supposed to be fairly tall and large-framed as pegasi go. Not really being built for flight—and being(at least until more recently) neither enough of a jock or an overachiever to overcompensate, or assertive enough to find someone to coach her—could explain why she was such a klutz at it in her youth. And it could also explain her habit of sort of curling in on herself and hiding behind her forelock: She's not just being a Shrinking Violet, she's also consciously attempting to take up less space.
• I actually think this makes sense, as Fluttershy actually had a fear of flying at one point and overall doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as Rainbow Dash (who is clearly Pegasus to the core) and the fact that her "special talent" that earned her her cutie mark involves a bond with animals, and that kind of connection with nature is usually only found in Earth ponies. I also heard that Fluttershy was originally planned to be an Earth pony.
  • She was- she's based of Posey from Gen 1. Like how Pinkie Pie was originally a Pegasus named Surprise.

Fluttershy was supposed to be an Earth pony originally.

Continuation of the WMG above.

So the Mane 6 is supposed to have 2 unicorns, 2 earth ponies, and 2 pegasi. Pinkie was apparently also supposed to be a white pegasus named Surprise, until copyright issues (?) arose, and when she was turned into Pinkie Pie the ex rock farmer Earth pony, one of the other ponies had to become a pegasus. Twilight and Rarity are quite unfitting for that (given that Twilight needs to be able to do magic as the Element of Magic and Rarity's work with all its details would be pretty hard for someone without opposable thumbs or magic), and Applejack is as "earthy" as you can get.

At first sight, Fluttershy seems like she'd make a pretty good Earth pony: lives on the ground near a forest, is in tune with animals (her companions are shown to be ground-inhabiting ones, mainly), and can't fly very well. She's also quite different from the stereotypical pegasus, who are shown to be much more competitive and... outgoing (eg: RD, Scootaloo, Commander Hurricane). These are all remnants of when she was designed to be an Earth pony.

• This is correct. Fluttershy was an earth pony in the concept art, when all the Mane 6 were supposed to be straight readaptations of Gen 1 ponies (in Fluttershy's case, the earth pony Posey), before copyright issues got in the way.

Fluttershy knows Judo.

Because even on a willing participant, how else would she over the shoulder throw a bear? Also this might lead credence to the "Fluttershy is half earth pony" theory.

• As an extension on this, Rainbow Dash indeed knows karate. Her black belt seen in "Call of the Cutie" apparently wasn't just a one-off sight gag if her destruction of Applejack's barn is anything to go by.
  • Going even further, Rainbow and Fluttershy were sparring partners in flight school.

Fluttershy's Shadow Archetype will be an expy of Elmyra Duff.

Whether a pony or another creature, Fluttershy's Shadow Archetype will share her love of animals, but smother them instead of let them be.

Fluttershy has some form of Asperger's Syndrome.

In Twilight's section, there's a WMG about her having Aspergers, but to me Fluttershy would be the likely candidate for it. I myself have Aspergers, and I find that I am most like Fluttershy out of the mane cast. While Twilight seemingly has No Social Skills, that's probably because she never thought she needed them in the first place, and spent more time studying than anything. Fluttershy, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have any real reason to have social problems, at least not in canon. She seems to fit the Aspergers traits that I'm familiar with: shyness ^note  admittedly she's shyer than most, but that's probably just for characterization, troubles with social skills, nervousness, and (though this may just be me) knowing a lot about something others don't expect you to know much, if anything, about. Not to mention the whole Beware the Nice Ones thing is something I'm pretty familiar with.

• I've noticed this as well. That part in the pilot when she goes from quiet and awkward to constantly talking upon seeing Spike is something I've frequently experienced.
• Well, Fluttershy took some asparagus, and since Aspergers and asparagus have the same root (I'm not making this up, they both come from the latin word for spear) Fluttershy must obviously be an aspie.

• To be serious, she does present a pretty good case, but there are several times where she shows a little bit too much sensitivity to other ponies/Spike's feelings, though this can be explained by saying that she learned these skills the hard way, and abuse she suffered related to her having Aspergers could have made her become such a doormat and taught her to be hypersensitive to the feelings of others in certain situations. Even though she shows some socially empathetic depth at times there is enough other times where it is clear that she really has no idea what other ponies are feeling and she is just trying extra hard to not offend anypony.
• Being an Aspie myself, I can see many traits of AS in her, mainly her empathy and compassion for animals.
• This troper is an Aspie too and he has those same traits as mentioned in the theory also he has trouble understanding other like how in Sonic Rainboom Fluttershy failed to notice she was actually increasing RD's anxiety.
• In the later seasons, she appears to be too manipulative to be an aspie. However, Season 6 adds information to this which brings the possibility back. In Dungeons and Discord, it's clear he manipulative tendencies are learned, not a part of her nature, which the reverse psychology scene. More importantly, Flutter Brutter shows that her brother is extremely manipulative. Maybe she learned manipulation and many other social skills from her younger brother?

Fluttershy's kindness is actually a veil she wears to hide her true nature.

In semi-relation to previous WMG's, Fluttershy is a bitter, cold individual, that sealed up her rage inside at a young age, due to either bullying or an tough childhood. Since she already showed easily attained annoyance when telling Pinkie their age difference, who's to say that she's not truly unhappy at her core?

• Jossed. She's obviously the element of kindness, your point is invalid.
• Debatable, the concept of her having severe Aspergers or Autism as presented above, might lead to a lack of empathy on her part. But even Discord could tell her sense of right is unbreakable without magical interference.
  • Jossed by science. People who suffer from Asperger's tend to be more empathetic than most, but they often don't exhibit he nonverbal cues thereof, leading to the illusion that they're sociopathic.
    • This actually varies from person to person. While Asperger's can make some people more empathetic than most neurotypical people, it can cause other people with Asperger's to have difficulties with cognitive empathy (i.e. recognizing someone's emotional state).
• A bitch? Maybe. A Monster? I doubt it.
• So being a little annoyed at someone treating you in a condescending manner is grounds for being labeled as a bitch? Demonization much?
  • Sir, retarded theories are part of my job.
• Semi Confirmed by "Putting your Hoof Down"

Fluttershy's stare is painful for the subject, possibly even to the point of being a form of torture.

• So she's like Jane?

Consider how Rarity and Fluttershy talk about it at the beginning of "Stare Master":

Rarity: Did you use...(scary music plays in background)...the stare on her?
Fluttershy: Oh no! I wouldn't! I couldn't! I don't really have any control over when that happens! I-it just happens!

The way they're talking about it, and the way Rarity trembles at even mentioning it, it's as if she were asking 'You didn't beat her, did you?'; clearly, the stare is painful for its victims.

• I like to think that The Stare is the equivalent of twisting somebody's arm behind their back. Not too painful, but you're not likely to go anywhere easily. The cockatrice resisted initially, similar to someone who would kick and scream at the person holding them, but the cockatrice eventually gave up. Her will was too great.
  • Word of God is that The Stare is a weaponized form of the attitudes behind the Mama Bear trope, and it's true that it really only comes out A) when someone is resisting something she knows is good for them, e.g. bedtime for the chickens, or B) when someone she cares about is in danger, e.g. when the dragon was dragoning it up in everyone's grill. So basically what happened to the cockatrice was that it was hit with the utter certainty that it had about ten seconds to stop trying to stone this sweet, adorable, pacifistic pegasus, or else this sweet, adorable, pacifistic pegasus was going to tear it a structurally superfluous new one, and it would have nothing to complain about because it attacked the children.

Fluttershy experienced abuse or trauma as a child.

Pre-Cutie Mark, she was a more open, talkative pony, but she had an overbearing parent or teacher, and/or was bullied as a foal into becoming withdrawn, apologetic, and mostly submissive, unless she's provoked, in which case she'll lash out. Iand several of her friends had to go through the same thing as a child, and I/we see a lot of ourselves in her behavior.

• Well, The Cutie Mark Chronicles confirms that she was bullied for being a bad flyer, and in Party of One Spike "confesses" to Pinkie Pie that Fluttershy is afraid of heights. Considering she's a pegasus, that's prime bully material right there, not to mention her lanky legs and bangs made her look different to the others. No wonder she suffers from low self-confidence.
• Why on earth is being timid equated to being abused? Not everything is the result of a tragic past...
• Hurricane Fluttershy confirms that the bullying she received was emotionally traumatic and still affects her to this day.
• it could also be something innocuous, like having extremely loud parents. Normally, that's not traumatic, but in fluttershy's case it could have been what scared her.

At some point during season two Fluttershy will be a tree in a play.

And she will be perfectly content with the role.

• Does masquerading as a tree to hide from Dashie count?

Fluttershy planned to have Rainbow Dash and Tank together from the very beginning.

She was very insistent on having the tortoise as one of the options. As one of her oldest known friends, Fluttershy knows how Rainbow Dash behaves and that underneath that bravado lies a sensitive side that will do anything for a friend once a bond is made. Likewise, she is able to understand the feelings of animals and she probably knew that the tortoise wanted a friend as well. Fluttershy simply put two and two together and figured that Rainbow Dash and the tortoise would eventually become a very good fit.

Fluttershy is a faster flier than Rainbow Dash.

In "Return of Harmony, Part 2", in the epic chase scene, Fluttershy matches and bests Rainbow Dash's speed. Now, granted, Rainbow Dash was weighed down by two ponies (Rarity and Pinkie), but Fluttershy herself was dragging the balloon that carried two other ponies (Twilight and AJ). Fluttershy was pulling more weight than Rainbow Dash. Add to the fact that air resistance on that balloon would be an added force that Fluttershy needed to overcome, and that means that if the two raced unburdened, Fluttershy should easily win. Of course, the key factor here was Fluttershy's motivation: if she didn't stop Rainbow, Ponyville will be Discord'ed forever, and so just like facing the dragon or the cockatrice, it was a life or death situation, and her rage led to her to her flying speed. Put Fluttershy in a race without any of those motivations, and no way will she show off her skill - the last thing she wants is to be noticed by anypony in general ("Green Isn't Your Color"). Now, we all know that filly Fluttershy was a poor flier by her self-admittance, but there is a difference between flight acrobatics (what the Wonderbolts have and what Rainbow Dash aspires to be), and straight-up speed. Furthermore, Fluttershy may herself be unaware that she can fly that fast; she's never tested herself, and her mind likely wasn't on that factor when she was trying to catch up to Rainbow Dash.

• Nah. It took the Power of Friendship for Fluttershy to catch up to Discorded Dash, who was motivated mainly by apathy and disloyalty. If Rainbow had had the Power of Friendship on her side too, Fluttershy would be eating her Rainboom trail.
  • But in "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" she flew past Rainbow effortlessly.
    • Sure. Going in the opposite direction. Rainbow's own speed would only have been helping her there.
  • It wasn't Friendship (at least, in the sense that Fluttershy was doing this to help RBD directly): she only got to her top speed when Twilight reminded her that if she lost RBD, Ponyville would remain Discorded forever, hence yet another situation where the safety of her friends drives her to unusual actions. Furthermore, even if we're talking a Discorded RBD, she was fleeing to initially save "Cloudsdale" and then subsequently for her own life; there's no reason she'd not be breaking her top speed to do so.
    • Ah, but doing things you normally can't do for the safety of your friends is what Power of Friendship is all about!
    • Well, again, consider that for several minutes, while loaded as described above, Fluttershy at least matched speed. When she started to drag (putting RBD out of AJ's lasso reach), that's when Twilight spurred her Power of Friendship into gear, which I accept boosted her speed. But before then — that's where the gotcha is that suggests Fluttershy can normally fly faster than RBD, but certainly can't sustain that speed.
• It's somewhat confirmed in "Secret of My Excess" that Fluttershy can go as fast as Rainbow Dash, and that they both are aware of that fact.
  • Although in that case they were trying to arrive at the same time. Still, at least it proves Fluttershy isn't a weak flyer anymore.
    • Interestingly, their poses and expressions show that Fluttershy is uncomfortable and impressed with the speed, while Rainbow is more at her element. It's also weird that they go fast enough for Rainbow Dash to leave a rainbow trail, but Fluttershy doesn't leave one.
• A possible case of Unreliable Narrator and Rule of Funny, but in the opening of "Cutie Mark Chronicles" when Scootaloo is hinting at going to see RBD about her cutie mark story, she has trouble getting the other two to see this. Scoots puts up "the coolest pony", and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle offer up their respective sisters; then Scoots talks about the bravest pony, prompting both to suggest Pinkie Pie (which is essentially true). Then Scoots suggests the fastest pony from Cloudsdale, and both AB and SB put out "Fluttershy". They may know something that Scootaloo would purposely be oblivious to (given that RBD's her hero), and a "fact" that has never been discussed because there's no need to discuss it that otherwise all the other ponies happen to know about.
• Further supported at the beginning of "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", when Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are flying to Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy is seen flying just as fast as Rainbow in the scene with the bunny. Before that, she's seen flying with no visible effort, while talking to Rainbow.
  • It should be noted in "The Elements of Harmony Part 2", Dash wasn't trying. She spent most of the balloon-chase scene trolling the others by zooming around on a cloud, and though she is struggling to get away from them when Applejack manages to get the rope on her, if she had actually put in the effort to escape, she could have.

Fluttershy is a Physical Goddess on par with Celestia

She's capable of matching all her friends at their specialties: the Stare can subdue monsters Twilight cannot; she can fly as fast as Rainbow Dash; she knows at least as much about sewing as Rarity; she can take all the apples off a tree faster than Applejack (and with less effort), and she can be just as wild as Pinkie Pie. The only reason Ponyville isn't serving at her hoof is that she's simply too sweet and shy and would never be comfortable with such worship.

Fluttershy came from a wealthy (possibly noble) family in Cloudsdale

There are a few partially unexplained things about Fluttershy that could be answered through this possibility:

• Appearance: Despite doing a lot of work with animals and nature, Fluttershy is always shown to be clean and groomed with her mane just as neat and routinely styled as the rest of the cast. Considering she is considered supermodel material in "Green Isn't Your Color" it's evident that she more than knows how to keep up her appearance. Someone of a high-class background would often be expected to keep up appearances and it's possible Fluttershy keeps herself looking good out of old habit her parents instilled in her.
  • Would also explain her knowledge of "French couture" (or however it's spelled)
• Personality: Element of Kindness aside, Fluttershy has shown a tendency to be rather condescending when pushed, evidenced by her irritation at Pinkie Pie's comment in "Griffon the Brush Off"- resulting in her infamous "I'm a year older than you" line, as well as her uncharacteristic outburst/sewing rant (Complete with the snooty nose-up motion and "Hmph") in "Suited for Success" could mean that as a foal she was brought up to feel somehow superior to other ponies. These could perhaps be a result of this upbringing. As far as her usual demure persona goes, this could be normal for a more traditional patriarchal family that often comes with stereotypical upper-crust elites. Fluttershy, as a growing filly, was expected to be soft-spoken and subservient. On top of an already shy and submissive temperament, this shaped Fluttershy's outward personality early in life and later became her usual as she had no parental figure to learn otherwise from in Ponyville, which she had to adapt to on her own. Since no one told her otherwise about her soft-spoken demeanor, it never changed and grew to define her.
• Known Past: Fluttershy was shown to be bullied in her youth as evidenced by "Cutie Mark Chronicles." While her weak flying could have been a result, one can ask WHY she was a weak flyer growing up. Someone in high-class society wouldn't NEED to fly all over the place and thus had no need to develop the same kind of muscle that most pegasi were expected to have at her age. (On a side note, the animals brushing her off at the Grand Galloping Gala may have brought back memories of the bullying, helping spur along her breakdown.) Fluttershy also somehow knows a lot about sewing despite it having nothing to do with her cutie mark or special talent. Where did she learn this? If she was of Cloudsdale upper-class then she could have gained this knowledge due to spending time having to listen to custom tailors if her parents insisted on her looking nice for major events in the city or even in general.
• Means of living: Just what does Fluttershy do for a living? It's shown she takes care of the animals around Ponyville, yes, but even IF it pays at all the wages given to what amounts to a city park manager or groundskeeper can't possibly afford her weekly trip to the spa with Rarity unless Rarity pays for the both of them. While we know Fluttershy didn't return to Cloudsdale after receiving her cutie mark, there is no reason she wouldn't at least visit her family from time to time. However, there is the possibility of said parents no longer being around at this point, thus there being nothing for her to return to in the first place. Either way, with a high-class background, she either has an inheritance or some sort of allowance.
  • Fluttershy is a veterinarian; this has been pretty well established by the series.
• Almost certainly Jossed: in "Flutter Brutter", Fluttershy's parents appear to be a perfectly regular couple of newly-retired middle-class ponies.

Fluttershy is left hooved.

At the end of the play in Hearth's Warming Eve, the actors take a bow to the audience. All of the other five of the Mane Six raise their right front hooves to make the gesture, but she lifts her left.

• In Crystal Empire, she wears her lance on her left, while Rainbow wears hers on her left. Food for thought.
  • Maybe most pegasi are left-hooved by nature?
• Not sure if confirmed, but her Equestrian Girls counterpart appears to be left-handed (she's holding her spoon with her left as she's eating in the trailer).
• In "Putting Your Hoof Down", she's seen holding a piece of lettuce in her left hoof, and opening her saddlebag with her left wing. In "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies", the hoof she checks (to see if she'd accidentally stepped on Seabreeze) is her left.

Fluttershy is NOT secretly evil/dominant/violent/psychotic.

She is exactly who she appears to be—though she is occasionally put into situations where she cannot act herself. This is supported by her name, something proven to be integral to pony's identity and personality, and her element of kindness. Fans constant corruption of her is a result of their own various issues.

Evil Fluttershy will return at some point.

And she will pull a Sakura Haruno and kick the Big Bad, that attempted to possess her, out of her head.

Fluttershy is related to the vet from "Secret of My Excess".

It's popular fan theory that Fluttershy has earth pony ancestry. The unnamed veterinarian from "Secret of My Excess" just happens to be an earth pony with a yellow coat. Coincidence, or a talent for working with animals running in the family? The two are related in some way, and given what "Baby Cakes" has shown us about pony crossbreeds, it could be any relationship at all, although the nameless vet is obviously older. Is she Fluttershy's aunt? A big sister? Or could she possibly be... Flutter Mom?!

At the time of The Cutie Pox, Fluttershy was in Cloudsdale.

Likely for a family reunion or a funeral.

Fluttershy at some point had a traumatic run in with a dragon.

We've seen her in contact with basically Equestria's devil (Nightmare Moon) and Super Devil (Discord) without locking up. We've seen her react with the entirely appropriate amount of fear from a Hydra which lets face it is pretty much a dragon just with multiple heads. Sure it can't fly but Fluttershy so often forgets that she can fly that I'm not buying a dragon is more threatening because it can fly. I suppose we can argue about breathing fire vs four heads and which is more frightening but it seems unlikely that she'd treat a hydra as a "regular" threat and a dragon as so terrifying that the mere sound of it paralyzed her.

Fluttershy is a Caustic Critic.

She's painfully aware of the flaws in everything and everypony else, and constantly keeps herself from pointing them out due to actually being kind enough not to mention it. She worries enough about saying her thoughts by accident that she overcompensates and avoids giving any opinion at all, hence her general shyness. She occasionally lets people hear her critical side, either politely or... otherwise. Putting Your Hoof Down displays what happens when she gives up on being polite.

Fluttershy's actions in "Putting Your Hoof Down" were a delayed reaction to Discord's attempt to break her

Think about it, how did Discord try to break her? By telling her everyone thinks she's weak and helpless. What happens in this episode? She realizes the other towns ponies take advantage of her and even her own friends think she's an Extreme Doormat. She originally accepted it, but now she sees even her friends think its a bad thing. Maybe it wasn't a conscious choice, but some part of her realized that Discord was right and her kindness made her "weak", causing her to turn into Fluttercruel again. This makes her Jerkass Realization more awesome because she overcame what was essentially a Discording on her own!

Fluttershy genderbended into a guy in "Bridle Gossip"

Fluttershy genderbended into a guy, which was why she, "Didn't want to talk about it," when everyone asked what was different about her. Spike even highlighted it. The way she said dhe "Didn't want to talk about it" would also mean that she also had a her female "parts" replaced with male "parts." The reactions the other five have on their faces is exactly the kind you would also find when you learned that the girl before you is now a guy.

• Jossed: Female pronouns are still used when referring to her. Likewise, her body structure didn't change to make her resemble a stallion; therefore, she was still female with a really deep, male voice.

Fluttershy is a Master of Disguise!

Somehow, she knows a lot about making clothes (Suited for Success) and has been known to be disguised as a tree (Huricae Fluttershy). Probably related to being bullied as a filly. She wanted to hide but still wanted to be part/near a herd so she developed skill at disguises.

Fluttershy lives at the edge of the "spooky" Everfree Forest because of her animals.

Her house is located right next to No Pony's Land despite being extremely timid and shy. This is likely more for her animals than her, as she can use her Stare to fend off Everfree creatures while allowing her animals to enjoy the benefits of "wilderness". It's unlikely that all her animals would be welcome in Ponyville and feeding them all would be easier if they could feed in the forest.

Fluttershy isn't an up to eleven version of conventionally attractive.

She's supermodel attractive. In Real Life, supermodels are often so tall and thin that they are considered unattractive or even disturbingly unhealthy-looking by some to most average people. The busty, tall image of Human!Fluttershy isn't correct; She's more likely of slightly-lankier-than-average proportions, but scaled up a bit. She's almost like the alicorns in that way, and the alicorns are quite obviously not conventional enough to be conventionally attractive (more "goddess attractive" than "actual person" attractive).

Fluttershy was raised by a, or is part, dragon.

With the former, she was orphaned, and found as an infant by a dragoness with a strong mother instinct, but had to abandon her for her own good, and put the fear of dragons into her so that she wouldn't seek her out. With the latter, she is in fact the child of a dragon mother and a pegasus father, with a similar outcome: to keep Fluttershy from being ostracized by her own kind, her mother put the absolute fear of dragonkind into Fluttershy's psyche, so that she wouldn't seek her out once she reached adulthood. With a season 3 storyline revolving around Fluttershy turning into a dragon herself, the latter could be entirely possible.

• Season 3 has come and gone, and that storyline never happened.

Fluttershy was trying to stop Discord before she was corrupted.

Fluttershy saw through Discord's plan, so she tried to stop him by pretending to be flattered by Discord calling her weak and helpless.

Fluttershy was fighting her Discording on a subconscious level.

That's why Flutterbitch never started attacking other ponies.

• Jossed, she shoves Discorded!Pinkie Pie into a bush, slaps Twilight with her tail and instigates the Big Ballof Violence in Twilight's library.

Fluttershy is an excellent swimmer.

It seems rather unfair that all of her friends seem to be quite skilled at various things: Rainbow and Applejack are very athletic, Pinkie and Rarity can also be pretty strong when pushed enough and Twilight has incredible magic skill). All Fluttershy seems to get is her ability to communicate with animals. So to balance it out, perhaps Fluttershy is actually the best swimmer of the Mane Cast. She must have plenty of aquatic animal friends.

Fluttershy is NOT afraid of spiders

Or snakes, or bears, or sharks, or hyenas, or Manticores, or any other "scary" creature. However, all of her friends are. There will be a point where Fluttershy introduces some foundling "scary creatures" to the others and they freak out, but Fluttershy won't understand why.

• She already acted surprised by how freaked out Twilight was when the creatures Fluttershy asked her to wake up from hibernation in Winter Wrap Up turned out to be snakes.
• Maybe not afraid of them, but she is easily startled and spiders do have a way of dropping on ponies at unexpected times...
• Not being scared of spiders was confirmed in "Maud Pie" and "Scare Master", and Harry the bear is seen hanging out with her on a semi-regular basis.

At some point Fluttershy will inadvertently adopt a changeling

Kindness is extremely close to love on the emotional scale, so it seems natural that love-hungry changelings would be attracted to her. The Changeling won't hurt her, he just sits there and feeds on the Love Fluttershy has for her animals.

• Or she already did and it's Angel Bunny. He is a real jerk, and has some traits that aren't like a real bunny. For example, real bunny don't have long enough fur on their tails to be put in curlers. The kindness he has shown (in Just for Sidekicks, for example) is only possible because he is being reformed by Fluttershy.

Fluttershy's somewhat OOC moment in Magic Duel was the result of being afraid of Trixie.

It would seem odd that Fluttershy would seem so outright against going to find Twilight, but my theory is that she was deathly terrified that Trixie would find out and hurt her in some way, and her fear was getting the best of her.

• Confirmed by M.A. Larson via Twitter.

Fluttershy uses her shyness to get away with things.

Think about it: In "Dragonshy", she causes avalanches, Applejack is forced to carry her up the mountain herself and she generally holds the group back at every turn and only steps up to the dragon when it almost kills the others. She's just as suspicious and xenophobic towards Zecora as the others in "Bridle Gossip", causes the Parasprite problem in "Swarm of the Century" to get ten times worse by keeping one, even though she knows how destructive they are. She attacks Rarity's dress in "Suited for Success" with trivial criticisms, gives Rainbow Dash a panic attack in "The Sonic Rainboom", ditches Pinkie Pie and Rarity in the desert in "The Last Round up" along with Rainbow Dash and Twilight (but only Dash gets called out on this). Rarity's reaction after her vicious "The Reason You Suck" Speech to her and Pinkie in "Putting Your Hoof Down" is to blame Iron Will, not Fluttershy. She tramples Rainbow Dash in "Dragon Quest" and in "Magic Duel" she has to be dragged outside the barrier by her pets to get help. Yes, she is the holder of the Element of Kindness, BUT it has already been shown that just because you hold an element doesn't mean you act it all the time- Pinkie Pie is Laughter but has shown to be capable of being incredibly depressed and crazy, Rarity is Generosity but she can be selfish at times, Applejack is Honesty but is capable of lying, etc.. In fact, half the time the Mane Six's episodes focus of them trying to overcome their personality flaws. Fluttershy might be kind, but she obviously does have a mean streak, it's just rare for her to get called out on it.

Fluttershy will become a Princess.

Aside from having the most stereotypical Disney Princess traits, she managed to reform Discord with her kindness, making her the most deserving of the station of Princess.

• She will start wearing hats to conceal her horn, not wanting the attention her new status would bring

Fluttershy's parents were killed off by a Shadowy monster(which may also be what killed the parents of Applejack, Big Mac and Applebloom).

It probably killed her too without her(or other ponies) noticing she's actually dead(due to her not knowing what death is at the time) rendering her as a visible and solid Ghost that's afraid of shadows due to her and her parents' horrible and traumitizing deaths.

• Jossed: Fluttershy's parents are alive.

Fluttershy is Kyubey.

Or rather, one where a Magical Girl (probably Madoka since it seems like something she would do - heck, she made a wish to save a cat in early Homura timelines) wished that Kyubey had emotions in order to empathize with emotional beings and be a more traditional helpful Weasel Mascot for future girls that are contracted. The Powers That Be decided to implement that as becoming Fluttershy, perhaps because this sudden onset of emotion and empathy was unprecedented and wanted supervision in the form of a relative Sugar Bowl like Equestria (in agreement with Princess Celestia, maybe?) - worst case scenario for the Incubator race is that Kyubeyshy is no longer useful as an contracting agent and simply cuts ties and make it Celestia's problem. Once Kyubey was reborn as Fluttershy, she finds that Good Feels Good and indulges in it, but doesn't become a Genki Girl like Pinkie Pie because she's hit with a massive amount of remorse and guilt over the leonine actions employed in regards to contracting previous Puella Magi that she can now empathize with as well.

- Her shy nature reflects that she was not originally a pony and so wasn't really sure how to conduct herself properly in pony society at first. She gets better with time, but still doesn't want to screw it up because Good Feels Good. Similarly, her scaredly-pony (at least on the surface) character is from a sudden loss of relavent knowledge of her new world combined with fear.
- Her taking care of animals acts as a sort of practice for taking good care of Puella Magi, as well as seeing what altruism is like. It also serves as an outlet for her to practice communicating and empathizing with other beings with ponies not readily available at first. Additionally, given that she's liable to outlive the girls she bonds with in the Madokaverse, she's going to be dealing with a lot of loss - Fluttershy would have to learn how to grieve without letting it affect her ability to perform her duties.
- Her general selflessness to the point of Extreme Doormat might be a holdover from being an Incubator with little sense of self-preservation in the service of a greater cause. The inner struggle with Flutterbitch might be trying to grapple with taking a heightened sense of self too far in the other direction.
- Her fairly traumatic foalhood is an example of what kind of life Kyubey's usual leads go through. Something to use empathy for once she returns to contracting duty. An episode like "Hurricane Fluttershy" would also serve as good examples of the despair and hope that for the longest time Kyubey would just treat as resources.
- Her apologizing all the time is partly a quiet admittance both of her outsider status ("I'm sorry for barging into your group") and a reminder of her guilt ("I'm sorry for all the ways I've hurt you." - "you" in this case meaning more than just the pony she is addressing).
- Rainbow Dash became her first real friend because she represents pretty much everything Kyubey was not: brash, loud, acting on instinct rather than rationality, seeking immediate gratification, and loyalty to an individual like her (similarities to Sayaka would be in the back of her mind).
- Her freaky knowledge of sewing stems from exposure to all the intricate outfits that Puella Magi wear. By extension, being friends with Rarity allows for new insight on how and why Puella Magi end up dressed as they are when they do contract.
- Her living near the Everfree and away from most other ponies serves to both maintain secrecy and as a contingency containment plan should the original Eldritch Abomination that is Kyubey resurface; Fluttershy may live in fear of losing herself to an Incubator's nature (whether or not it's still there). Angel Bunny may be in on this as additional security - he is tough and direct because he understands the high stakes involved. It also allows Fluttershy the time and privacy to organize her thoughts and feelings.
- Her not-so-beautiful moments (i.e., "The Best Night Ever", Flutterbitch, "Putting Your Hoof Down") is sorting through the potential pitfalls that being emotional brings, or possibly her original nature attempting to sabotage the whole experiment.
- Something like reforming Discord may be equivalent to a mid-term exam by Celestia to see how well Fluttershy has incorporated the EQ lessons learned: can she still perform the Incubator's job while having emotions and empathy?

• Sending Discord to Fluttershy may be also a play by Celestia to train Fluttershy in her future role (specialized advanced lessons?). The move would serve to accomplish goals beyond removing a very dangerous threat to Equestria:
  • An Incubator's job, at its core, is combating entropy, i.e., controlling chaos. What is Discord if not the embodiment of it?
  • It's quite apparent that being a straight-up ingenue is not going to cut it, especially in an Incubator's line of work - if The Kyubeyshy Experiment is to work, Fluttershy would have to become a Guile Heroine almost by default, both to get contracted girls to actually fight (especially if Fluttershy's conscious means she can't hide the truth about the nature of Witches and Soul Gems without obfuscation) as well as very likely fighting against any machinations of regular Incubators. The Incubator Race would very likely test Kyubeyshy by comparing her to a regular Incubator - even if the latter would appear to have an advantage by way of not having empathy as an automatic mental block, who is to say the latter would not attempt any and every method of having Kyubeyshy judged defective, since their whole modus operandi is "anything to push back the heat-death of the universe"?
  • A friendship with Discord would mean Fluttershy might even be able to pick up a couple of tricks of her own to use. For this to work as intended Fluttershy would have to very much remain benevolent (which is why that part of her came first, i.e., her foalhood), perhaps more along the lines of the "Prankster Fluttershy" fanart by HowXu. If Celestia knows about Japanese Mythology (somehow I think the prospect of being able to Retcon the origin of the name "Kyubey" from a shortening of "Incubator" to "Kyubii no Kitsune" would be too delicious for her to pass up) and/or concedes that changes to the system beyond what is necessary should be avoided (note that even with Madoka's ascension to Goddesshood the new system is still quite bleak and Magical Girl survival rates aren't much better than before), this is likely the least amount of change to the universe that can be done while still utilizing an empathic and sympathetic Incubator.
    
    

This all comes to an apex with a crossover into the Madokaverse, involving a dramatic reveal of her true nature to the rest of the Mane Six (perhaps she has to contract one of them out of very dire circumstances?), coming to terms with her guilt, and a looming rapprochement with Homura.

(A/N: Yes, I'm totally making this WMG based on the fact that they share the same seiyu. Please feel free to critique and improve.)

• I want to see that crossover. Like, really badly.
  • OP - No promises.

Fluttershy's name doesn't mean what you think

That Fluttershy's major character trait is in her name always bothered me. So here's my fan wank. Fluttershy's mother was a competitive racer who was always coming in second place, "one flutter shy" of winning. She wanted to live vicariously through her daughter who she assumed would be just as good as flier as her but could do what she couldn't, hence the name that ended up being appropriate but for completely different reasons.

"New Fluttershy" was absolutely horrible to Snowflake.

So horrible, in fact, that he gets a panic attack whenever a butterfly appears.

The finale of the "Stop The Bats" song is seen through Fluttervision.

Why did the Mane Six aggressively circle their friend, even though they know how meek and sensitive she is? Because they actually didn't. Basically, what we see is just Fluttershy's perception of what happened from her own point of view. When Fluttershy is stressed, she tends to perceive things as much worse than they are, of which another example can be seen here◊.

Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps are having/had a relationship.

Just look at how they interact. They look more close then ponies who just met, or met each other a few times. And look at when she accidently hurts him. He looks so hurt. Either he's as sensitive as Fluttershy, or he was just so upset that his girlfriend/ex-girlfriend who he thought he was still friends with just hurt him that he thought it was on purpose.]].

• Or perhaps their closeness was meant to imply they may become a couple, or just friends (making Biceps a recurring minor character for Fluttershy). Not strictly necessary, and their interaction is nice either way, but there's perhaps potential.

Fluttershy is a zoologist.

There is a lot of speculation about Fluttershy's career, with a lot of people assuming she's a vet. However, Twilight takes Spike to a vet and it's not Fluttershy. However she was sent on a special mission by Celestia to study the Breezies and mentions having seen the butterfly migration in Dragonshy. My theory is that she is a zoologist or animal behavior expert with a royal appointment and does the animal rescue gig purely out of the goodness of her heart on the side.

Fluttershy suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Hurricane Fluttershy shows her experiencing flashbacks, which she was trying to overcome because they were interfering with her life. Avoiding others is also a common symptom, and besides a select few ponies and her animal friends, she seems extremely uncomfortable around other people. There's also how amazingly jumpy she is. Angry outbursts and abandonment issues can also be symptoms - The Best Night Ever, anyone? Also, Return of Harmony part 1, where she panics when separated from her friends in the maze - the latter is more common in young people, and guessing based on Equestria Girls, she seems to be roughly equivalent to a human teenager.

While it's known for happening in war veterans, anything that causes an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness or helplessness can cause it, including bullying. She seems to be getting somewhat better over the course of the show.

Fluttershy had Abusive Parents.

It's very likely, considering she is shy and that she is mocked at. It is likely that the reason why she was so shy was because her father kept beating her up. Fluttershy was so beaten her wings were essentialy weak and she was so intimidated. So why has this not come up before?

• Likely because it's not the case. Her parents appeared in "Flutter Brutter", and Fluttershy seems to have a very healthy relationship with both of them. If anything they're not strict enough, letting their deadbeat son walk all over them and take advantage of their generosity without so much as a word of protest. And since when does one need to have had an abusive childhood to be shy or not athletic?

Fluttershy knew that something was wrong with the Manticore. She just didn't know what.

It's been noted somewhere on this very site (I can't remember where) that based on her quote, she could have killed all of the Mane cast just walking up to the Manticore and asking what was wrong, but since she takes care of animals and can understand them in a way, it's possible she sensed something was wrong with it, but it wasn't until she had asked that she knew exactly what.

Fluttershy was just born shy.

You don't have to be bullied or have abusive parents or Asperger's to be shy. A common assumption is that the bullying in her childhood caused her shyness, but it probably just made it worse. She was bullied for being a poor flier, but we have seen on multiple occasions that she can fly as well as any average pegasus without tiring when something presses her enough. Therefore, she must have already lacked the confidence to fly competently before she went to flight camp. Besides, "shy" is in her name, and pony parents commonly name their babies after personality traits they display. It's not likely that her parents waited until she came back from flight camp and found that she was suddenly not talkative to finally name her.

Fluttershy will get at least one episode with Pinkie Pie in Season 9.

Their only main role together whatsoever was Buckball Season (from Season 6), but it also started two other ponies – specifically, Rainbow Dash and Applejack. But why not just the two of them this time?

Fluttershy's been hanging around Discord so much that she's able to use chaos magic, if only just.

Biggest reason for this is the entirety of Fake It 'Til You Make it: Supposedly, she's moving around Rarity For You at incredible speeds just to keep up her three different shop-pony personas. She also manages to walk out of the shop three separate times, in all of said personas, and catch Rarity off-guard 'every single time' - a feat that's usually reserved for ponies like Pinkie Pie or Discord himself. In addition, Discord regularly makes use of talking to duplicates (which she ends up utilizing for herself in Discordant Harmony). Since she's Fluttershy, though, this ability only makes itself known when she's under extreme stress, as she'd rather not cause problems if she can help it.

Fluttershy went crazy at the Grand Galloping Gala because she was close to Discord's statue.

She was in the Canterlot gardens for long enough that she was affected by the aura of chaos magic the statue was giving off. Note that she was the only one of the Mane Six to go irrationally crazy; Twilight didn't cause any trouble, Applejack was just trying to sell her treats, Pinkie Pie was being Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash was trying to get the Wonderbolts' attention, and Rarity only snapped after Prince Blueblood used her as a pony shield against the flying cake.

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