//-------------------------------------------------------// Fading Shy -by ThunderCracker- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Running Out Of Time //-------------------------------------------------------// Running Out Of Time   Anthony was suddenly awoken by someone coming through the door. He rolled over to see who it was, only to see that it was Spike with a letter in his hand, Spike hands it to Anthony who grabs it from him. "Oh no." Anthony said as he threw the covers of him and picked up his shirt. "Spike, go get the rest of the girls and bring them here. He looks at Angel who is looking at him worriedly. Anthony picks Angel up and then sets him near Fluttershy. Anthony pulls the covers over Fluttershy. "I'll be back." He said running out the door and through town to the Everfree Forest to find Zecora. He ran and fast as he could, pushing through crowds and jumping over food stands.   He finally makes it to Zecora's hut and bursts through the door. "I'm here!" He exclaimed. Zecora walks up to him. "Quickly the final ingredient!" She tells him while walking back over to the pot and stirring. "What is it?" He asked quickly. "First we need the tear of her lover so that she can fully recover." She says. Anthony was already crying so it was no problem. She got the tear from him and mixed with all the other ingredients in the pot until and cloud of smoke appeared from the pot. She then poured the potion into a bottle and hands it to Anthony. "Thank you Zecora!" He yells while running out the door. He then runs back through town and back to Fluttershy's cottage, he felt like he was about to puke, for he was running out of time. He finally reaches Fluttershy's cottage and walks to the front door and reaches for the doorknob. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Death Of Kindness //-------------------------------------------------------// The Death Of Kindness   Anthony bursts through the door only to be greeted by the Mane 5 sobbing. He runs over to Fluttershy's bed only to see that she was still alive, but not for long. He then pulls out the potion and gives it to Fluttershy, helping her drink every last drop of it. "Are you feeling any better?" He asked her panicking. She shakes her head lightly. He then grabs her hoof and held it tightly. "No... please Fluttershy don't don't die. PLEASE Flutters I need you!" Fluttershy looks at him and smiles lightly. "Oh Anthony, I've never built up enough courage to say this to you until now." He scoots closer to her. "What, what is it?" He asks through his tears. She looks at him with her bright, blue, dying eyes. "I love you." Anthony's mouth dropped, then he began to sob. "I... I love you to Flut-Fluttershy." He said smiling at her. "Fluttershy." He repeated himself. She smiles back and leans forward and kisses him on the lips. He continues to cry over her body smiling at her and shes smiling back at him. Her smile started to fade as she took her last breath, and then died happily.   Anthony just knelt there, starring at Fluttershy's dead body, he stopped crying, becoming full of rage and anger. He slowly stands up and walks towards the door. "fuck fuck fuck Fuck Fuck FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!" He screamed in bloody anger, rage and tears beginning to fill his eyes. " IF ONLY I COULD HAVE GOTTEN HERE SOONER!!! SHE WOULD HAVE SURVIVED!!!! BUT I WASN'T FAST ENOUGH!!!!!" He began to blame himself. Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder. "You shouldn't blame yourself you tried. It's not your fault." She tells him in full blown honesty. "HOW?!?!? HOW IS THIS NOT MY FAULT?!?!? GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON HOW ITS NOT MY FAULT!!!!!" He screamed at her. "Because she loved you." She tells him. Anthony looks at Applejack then begins to cry again. He grabs her hoof and pulls her into a tight hug. "I promised her that she would be okay." He said crying on her shoulder. "We all break promises sometimes sugar." She tells him trying to get his hopes up. He hugged her tighter, and then smiled. He let go of her and walked over to Fluttershy's body and picked it up and carried it out the door.   He then placed her under the tree and then sat by her and continued to sob. He then puts his head on her chest and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry Fluttershy. I just couldn't keep my promise. I love you, I love you so much." He said through his tears and hugged her tighter and tighter. He then looks at her face. "I love YOU Fluttershy." He said crying over her body. He sat there under the tree and hugged her body and rocked back and forth sobbing and didn't move. //-------------------------------------------------------// Days Go By //-------------------------------------------------------// Days Go By   It's been three weeks since the death of Fluttershy. Anthony still hasn't gotten over her being gone, those three words just repeating in his head, over and over again. "I love you..." Anthony couldn't seem to get it out of his head. He hadn't slept for days, just thinking about her. He decided to try drinking it out of his head. He went down the pub and ordered a beer, the waiter served him and he took a swig out of his beer, just sitting there at the bar. Alone. He tried not to blame himself for what happened that day. He finishes his beer and orders a few more, and then chugs those down, finally getting himself drunk. He ordered another beer and looked to his right. Fluttershy was sitting there three seats down, Anthony blinked a few times and still saw her. Finally he rubbed his eyes, and then she was gone. Drinking was not helping him in anyway at all, so he just walked back home and decided to sleep it off.   As he slept he dreamed of that day again, but it felt so real sitting there by Fluttershy's bedside, reliving that saddening, heart warming moment. "No... please Fluttershy don't die! PLEASE, I need you!" She looked at him and smiled but then she began to disappear.   He reached out for her hoof but was  pulled back by something. He closed his eyes shut and then opened them again, he was just standing there, in the black void that was all around him.   "Anthony?" Fluttershy calls out. Anthony instantly starts to follow where the sound came from. "Anthony is that you?" She began to cry. "Anthony I'm so cold." Anthony started to search frantically for her until he finally found her, he reached out for her only to be stopped by what he saw.    She turned around an looked at him, her eyes were gone and there was blood flowing from the sockets. Anthony stood there petrified with horror, she pushed him down and began to crawl on top of him.   "Where were you Anthony? I though you said you'd always be there for me." His muscles were to weak to push her off he just stares in horror. "WHERE WERE YOU?!?"   He woke up from from his dream and fell out his bed. He took his pillow and threw it at the wall. "Dammit!" He sat there covered in sweat. He felt like he was going insane, his sanity was slowly being drained from him. Ever since it happened he started hearing her and seeing her, only to figure out that it was him hallucinating. He wanted to end his pain badly, but he knew that she was still watching , so commiting suicide would only upset her and he didn't want to do that.   He walked over to the tree where he buried he had buried her and knelt down next to her grave. "I'm sorry Fluttershy, I truly am." He said. "Please, do not blame yourself for what you did not do." He looked around trying to find her. "I'm not alive, but I am in your heart. Our love cannot be broken. Remember that."   He started to choke up. "Bu... But why? Why are you so happy?" He asked. "Because I can still see you." He looked to his right to see Fluttershy standing next to the tree. He ran over to hug her but went straight through her. "I am only a spirit, we can't make contact with each other. But please do not be sad, be happy, knowing that I am still there. I love you." She said smiling at him. He stopped crying and smiled back.   "Okay, I promise. This time I WILL keep that promise. I Love you too Fluttershy." Her smile widened and she disappeared. From that day on Anthony was happy again, knowing that Fluttershy was still there for him, and still loved him. //-------------------------------------------------------// Sickness //-------------------------------------------------------// Sickness   It was a cold blizzard in Equestria and everyone decided to stay in their homes until it was over, it was almost as bad as Hearthwarming Eve. Anthony sat at his window watching the snow fall, he sighs, worried about Fluttershy. He walks into his room and lays down on his bed and pulls the covers over him, and falls into a deep sleep. The blizzard lasted two whole days, and everybody was recovering from it quickly, the Pegasuses were clearing the skies, the Earth Ponies were clearing the snow off the ground, and the Unicorns were disposing of dead branches, Anthony saw no sign of Fluttershy. Usually she would wake up in the morning and meet him at the park so they could walk around town, and talk and have some fun but she didn't show up. Anthony then became worried and decided to go check on her.   He walks over to her house and knocks on the door. No answer. He knocks on the door again, this time a bit louder. "Fluttershy, you awake?" He calls through the door. Still no answer. He then decides to slowly open the door, and peak inside, he sees all of the animals around her bed. Oh no. He thought. He pushed the door wide open and ran towards her bed. She was lying there coughing, he began to tear up. He's seen Fluttershy sick before, but he's never seen her this bad. Angel was sitting next to her comforting her, he then looks at Anthony worriedly. Anthony looks at Angel and then back at Fluttershy, she slowly opens her eyes and looks at Anthony. "Oh... Hi Anthony." She said trying to smile. "Shh Flutters, how are you feeling?" He asked concerned. "I'm... I'm not feeling so well. I feel like... like I'm-" Anthony covered her mouth before she could say the last word. "No! Don't say that, don't think like that Flutters." He began to call her Flutters after a few weeks of them knowing each other, he still remembers how cute she looked when she blushed the first time he called her that. "Anthony," She said putting a hoof on his cheek, "we all know it's true. We just have to accept that fact. We've all have to die someday." She said to him calmly. "No! I can't... I can't loose you! I don't want to loose you! PLEASE Flutters, don't die on me." Anthony began to cry.   He couldn't accept the fact that Fluttershy was going to die, she was the only one that truly knew him. She knew his emotions, she understood him. "Could you close the door?" She asked. He turned around to see the door wide open, he hadn't noticed that he had left the door open when he ran towards her. He closed the door and the walked back over to Fluttershy and lied down on the bed next to her. He pulled her closer to him and pulled the covers over them and then wrapped his arms around her, keeping her as warm as possible. She put her head on his shoulder and held him tighter. "I'm not gonna let you die Flutters. I will do whatever it takes to keep you alive. You can count on that." He tells her reassuring her. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Cure //-------------------------------------------------------// The Cure   Anthony went to Twilight's house to ask her if she could do anything, he knocks on the door and waits. The door opens revealing Spike answering it. "Twilight! It's for you!" calls up to her. Twilight walks downstairs and towards the door. "Hey Anthony, what are you doing here?" She asks. "Fluttershy is sick, and I need to know if you could do something about it." She looks at him keeping a straight face. "I'm sure it's just a simple cold." She tells him. He looks her with a frustrated face. "She's dying." He says to her. Her eyes widen, and then starts to walk out the door. "Spike I'll be back in a few!" She calls from the door, and then closes the door with her magic and heads towards Fluttershy's cottage, Anthony following close by.   Anthony opens the door to her cottage, Fluttershy was still laying in the same spot Anthony left her in. All the animals were still standing by her bedside. Twilight then used her magic and checked to see if she's alright. "This is like no other sickness I've ever seen." She says lowering Anthony's hopes. "But I could make her a cure." Anthony sighs in relief and leans towards Fluttershy. "You hear that? You're gonna be alright." He says once again reassuring her. He and Twilight walk out the door then Anthony stops her just outside the door. "Hey Twilight how long will it take you to make the cure." He asks. She begins to think. "Well I'd say about, hmm, three days." Anthony becomes frustrated. "Three days? She doesn't have three days. Could you make it a rush?"  She looks at him raising an eyebrow then sighs and starts to think again. "If i could rush it with Spike's help, I could do it in, about a day and half an hour. He sighs in relief and they hugs Twilight. "Thanks Twilight." She returns the hug "No problem. Now go comfort Fluttershy while I make the cure." Anthony walks back into Fluttershy's cottage and lays down with her again on the bed. He pulls her close and begins to stroke her soft pink hair. "You're gonna be okay Flutters, I promise." He says beginning to cry. She slowly wrapped her hooves around him and hugged him and rested her head on his chest. "Could you take off your shirt please?" He blushes then looks down at her, but then proceeds to take his shirt off. She places her head back on his chest. Her pink hair felt so soft against his skin. He then felt her tears sliding onto his bare chest. He then held her tighter against him and pulled the covers over them both and closes his eyes and fell asleep with her next to him.