Last of the Dragonlords: Retirement of a Dragonlord

by Fluttershy20

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Other, Fluttershy, Slice of Life, Main 6
Length: 18242

A collection of short stories on Fluttershy and her attempts to pick up her life after she became a Dragonlord.

The Dragonlords of Terra are a mighty order of warrior ponies formed from the sacrifice of Vidarr to defeat Heimdallr and other monsters that threatened the safety of the planet and everyone living on it. With the life span of a thousand years, they were strong, powerful, fast, and were capable of fighting and beating anything that they came across.

Yet, despite their grandeur, they still needed a break from time to time. So, every hundred years or so, a Dragonlord would leave their brothers and sisters and settle down for a normal life somewhere, so he or she could live a life like they could have before they became Dragonlords. These periods were known among the Order as Retirements.

And Fluttershy Firewing, the last of the Dragonlords, is no exception to this.

Fluttershy intends to enjoy the retirement period while she can, for she knows that her days of enjoying such a life are numbered…

A collection of short stories set in the two years between, ‘Last of the Dragonlords’ and, ‘Last of the Dragonlords: A Good Mare Goes To War’. Only basic knowledge of the first story is needed to read these.

Rated teen for safety.

Published 2013-11-20 20:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-09 19:53:40 UTC

Keeping Fighting Fit

It was another beautiful, late spring day in Ponyville. The grass shimmered with morning dew, the birds sang joyously as they fed their young, the ponies of Ponyville pranced and trotted about their business, and the day was so warm and great that it would brighten everypony’s mood.

Everypony except Applejack’s.

The earth pony stormed down the road towards Fluttershy’s cottage, her eyes narrow, ears pinned back with anger, her shoulders slouched and her temper burned hotter than a hearth’s fire. “Darn beavers. Thinkin’ they can walk into my farm and build their darn dam wherever they darn well like and flood my darn orchards,” she grumbled.

She lifted her head up and smiled a little when Fluttershy’s serene home came into view. ‘I just hope she’s in,’ Applejack thought. ‘Well if she isn’t here then she would be where Twi told us to meet her.’

Twilight had sent letters to them all in the early morning saying Princess Celestia was coming to Ponyville, along with a special visitor, and they were all requested to be outside the town to greet her. The matter at Sweet Apple Acres, however, had to be dealt with first, and the only pony that could remove the beavers was the animal caretaker of the town and the local warrior monk.

Applejack trotted over the small bridge, and was quickly greeted by Angel, who looked a heck of a lot older than when the earth pony last saw him. “Howdy there, lill’ fella. Is Fluttershy home, or is she out?”

Angel simply gestured with a wave of his paw that she was out back. Applejack tipped her hat to him. “Much obliged,” she said in thanks, before trotting around to the other side of the house.

She soon made it in view of the garden, and what she saw nearly made her hat fly off. “What in tarnation?” she whinnied, her eyes widening at the sight.

Fluttershy stood on her hind legs, with her back to Applejack, a large pole in both hooves, and five statues made of straw and made to look like different creatures – pony, reman, dragon, griffon, minotaur – surrounded her, with their arms positioned to look like they were about to strike.

Fluttershy broke from her sudden stance and slammed one end of the pole into one that looked like a pony, impaling it through the chest and out the back. She tore it out, spun around on the spot, and swung it hard over her head, knocking the pony’s head off cleanly with the momentum of her spin. She stepped away from the broken statue and turned to stand in front of the one that looked like a griffon. She leapt into the air, spun over it with her wings spread out for balance, then landed behind it and pivoted, swinging her pole widely and knocking her opponent’s legs off. The griffon fell to the ground and collapsed in a pile of straw.

She jumped and spun through the air as she moved onto her next target: the reman. She landed within a foot of the straw statue, and with a cry of rage slammed one end of the pole up where the crotch would be. Applejack squished her hind legs together and winced as she watched the reman statue topple backwards. ‘That had to hurt,’ she thought.

Fluttershy spun away from the remains and went towards the dragon statue. She took to the air as she held the pole tightly in both hooves, her eyes set in concentration as she tried to imagine the dragon coming for her with an open mouth.

She pushed herself forward with a single stroke of her wings, giving her enough push to thrust the pole right through the open jaw of the dragon and out the other side. ‘I think I might have come to the wrong house,’ Applejack thought as Fluttershy landed with a thud back on the ground behind the statue and picked up her pole, her ears pricked up high as she heard the dragon statue fall over on its side.

With that one done, there was only one left: the minotaur. Fluttershy reared up and spun on her hind legs to face the statue of this ‘monster’, her eyes narrowing as she considered how to destroy it. “Som Jern Vilje en gang fortalte meg: hvis noen prøver å stoppe deg, vis dem at du ikke kan stoppes (As Iron Will once told me: if somepony tries to block, show them that you rock)!” she roared in Dragonian.

Fluttershy threw the pole into the air, and then jumped up and caught it with her mouth. Then with a gritted and hoarse whinny, Fluttershy charged the statue head on, her wings spread wide as she prepared herself for the right moment. She suddenly slowed, and then leapt into the air. Applejack’s jaw dropped as she watched Fluttershy soar over the minotaur statue, and gracefully land on her hind hooves behind it. She spat the pole out of her mouth and caught it with her hooves, then spun around and swung it to hit one side of the stomach, and then the other, and finally ramming it into the back of the neck in one quick, hard thrust.

She threw her pole to the ground and walked slowly around the minotaur statue and back to the centre, just as it broke apart where she had hit it and turned into a pile of straw. She stopped when she was surrounded by the remains of her ‘opponents’, and closed her eyes while breathing heavily. Applejack could see the sweat running down her face, back and rump as it glittered in the low sunlight, while her tied back pink mane blew in the low wind’s direction.

“Ahem,” Applejack coughed quietly, for she knew Fluttershy would be able to hear her from where she was standing.

Fluttershy yelped in fright at the sound of Applejack’s voice, and quickly dived into a nearby bush for cover in the hope no pony actually saw her. Applejack could only slam a hoof into her face and sigh. ‘Fillies and gentlecolts, I give you the last of the mighty Dragonlords,’ she thought. “Fluttershy, it’s me, Applejack!”

Fluttershy’s head popped out of the bush, her eyes showing her surprise and utter embarrassment at being seen like she was. “Oh, uh, h-hi, Applejack,” she squeaked. “Um, how much of that did you see?”

“Enough,” Applejack simply replied, a small smirk on her face.

Fluttershy stepped out of the bush, her face bright pink with embarrassment while using a free hoof to release her mane from her red hair band. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry if that looked weird. I was just so full of energy that I had to find a way to get rid of it all, and this sort of practice was the right thing for me.” She lowered her tone as though she was ashamed of the next part, while her mane, now freed, cascaded across her face. “And, um, I was feeling a little grouchy.”

Applejack chuckled. “It’s perfectly all right, sugarcube. That wasn’t embarrassing what ya just did there; that was darn right impressive. There are far worse things I could have caught ya doin’ than that.” Applejack finished with a small smile, then looked at the casualties of war. “Did ya make all of those yourself?”

“Oh, yes, with a little bit of help from Rarity, of course. She said that if I practiced fighting a bit more, then I might be able to get less stressed and get fitter at the same time.”

“Uh huh, and the pole?” She pointed to the large stick that Fluttershy had thrown in the dirt.

“One of Zecora’s. She said she had a spare, and allowed me to keep this one.”

“But ya already have weapons of your own, sugar. Why did ya borrow one of Zecora’s?”

“I didn’t want to get my other weapons out, not until I have real need of them, as I was told.”

Applejack could easily see from Fluttershy’s mildly frightened eyes that the prediction Vidarr had told her still troubled Fluttershy deeply. The Dragonlord had told them about it over Applejack’s place during a sleepover when the rest of the Apple Family were away, and each of them had told Fluttershy that they would be by her side when the time came.

Applejack smiled comfortingly, and put a soothing hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t ya worry any, sugarcube. That’s a problem for another day, but know we’ll be by your side when it does happen,” she said, topping it off with an assuring smile.

Fluttershy smiled back. “So, um, what brings you here?” she asked. Her smile dissipated as her eyes went wide. “I’m not late for Princess Celestia, am I?”

Applejack shook her head, bringing back Fluttershy’s smile. “Oh, heavens no,” she chuckled. “I came to ya to ask for your help in somethin’.”

Fluttershy’s small smile faded completely, this time for good. “It’s about the beavers again, isn’t it?”

Applejack nodded. “How did ya know that?”

Fluttershy pointed to her friend’s shoulders. “Your shoulders are slouching,” she stated. “And I know that when Mister Beaverton Beaverteeth invades your orchard and builds a dam, your shoulders tend to slouch.” Applejack nodded once more, feeling pleasantly surprised that her friend could remember that. Fluttershy smiled kindly. “Come on, let’s go and convince them to move someplace else.” With that, Fluttershy brushed past the earth pony, and trotted cheerfully past her cottage and over the bridge towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack shook herself out of her daze, and broke into a canter after her. “Those darn beavers have been annoyin’ us all spring. Big Mac said to me once that you are to blame for them keep coming back.”

Fluttershy’s ears fell flat when she looked at Applejack, visibly hurt. “Why would he say that?”

“I don’t know, I guess he was still upset that ya never turned up at that date Rarity had set up for ya both.”

“But it’s not my fault I don’t find your brother attractive,” Fluttershy said defensively. She meekly added, “No offence.”

Applejack laughed aloud, and gently patted the pegasus on the shoulder. “None taken, sugarcube. I must admit I would have been mighty freaked out if ya did start goin’ out with my brother. I mean, I already see ya as a sister already, so to actually gain ya as a sister-in-law would be great, but at the same time strange.” She shook her head at herself. “I know that doesn’t sound right–”

“Oh no, it’s okay,” Fluttershy assured her, giggling. “I think I understand. And I thank you for understanding why I don’t want to go out with your brother.”

“It’s fine, sugarcube, at least now Cheerilee and Big Mac are seein’ each other more, so maybe one day they might get hitched.” The two ponies continued talking about the beaver problem and about their day so far as they trotted towards Sweet Apple Acres, unknowing that today would be one of the weirdest days of their lives.

Author's Note

Here is the first short story of hopefully many more to come about Fluttershy's day-to-day life in the two years between the two main stories. There will be many stories, some of which were mentioned in AGMGTW.

These stories are mostly to make practice in terms of writing shorter stories and an attempt to keep the characters in character. This story in particular was originally going to be in chapter nine of AGMGTW, but was taken out due to the fact it isn't important to the actual story. So it was moved to here and became the first short story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first of a few I have planned out. Updates will come as they come. But AGMGTW and AEOL is priority at this time.

Staying Eternally Sober

The early morning rays of sunlight bounced and danced around Fluttershy’s bedroom, before finally settling on the only part of the pegasus that remained outside the bed’s sheets: her head. One side of Fluttershy’s face scrunched up as she felt the soothing rays caress her face like the hoof of a lover would, and instantly threw the sheets over her head to push them away. ‘Not yet, I’m still sleeping,’ she grumbled in thought.

It was late summer in Equestria, and it was the only time of the year Fluttershy could have time for a decent lay in. Her animal friends that usually stayed with her through the spring and summer seasons had gone to build their own homes and nests for the approaching winter, giving her fewer chores to tend to and more time to herself and her friends. She smiled at the thought, just as she felt her body drift back into slumber and pleasant dreams. ‘Peace and quiet.’

Sadly, however, that peace was arranged to not last for much longer.

Fluttershy’s eyes shot open when she felt a foot thump rapidly through the sheets against her skull, and sighed annoyingly. ‘Alas, poor peace. I knew it well, Angel,’ she thought, as she recognised the foot of the bunny responsible for the mild headache now embedded in her skull. “All right, Angel, I’m awake,” she mumbled, shooing him gently off the bed with a flick of her hoof.

Thankfully, the thumping stopped, allowing the pegasus to throw the sheets off her and sit upright. She rubbed one of her tired eyes with a hoof, and narrowed the other one at the little white rabbit looking up at her. “Really, Angel, was it necessary to wake me up at this hour?” she asked, before moving her hoof to brush down her tail, which had a few pieces of hair sticking out of it.

Angel nodded in response, looking extraordinarily pleased with himself. He then pointed to his mouth and belly with a paw, which Fluttershy took to mean that he was hungry. She tittered as she shook her head. “Now, now, don’t you remember you are on a diet?” she reminded him. “You’ve been a bit chubby lately and you need to watch your weight. You are getting old now, and constantly eating at your age will damage your health.”

The little bunny squeaked and squealed in protest. “Look, I know it sounds harsh, but I only–” Angel’s little squeaks turned into shrieks as his tantrum grew. Fluttershy quickly covered her ears with her hooves to mute the terrible noise, but it was doing very little good – her ears were just far too sensitive now to handle the noise.

“Oh, fine!” she yelled finally. At once, Angel stopped screeching, and looked at Fluttershy with a sweet little smile. “I’ll make you something small in the minute. I just need to sort my mane and my wings out and I will be down. Okay?” The last sentence came out harsher than she would have liked, but right now, she didn’t care. ‘He can be cute and a darling sometimes, but other times, I just want to–’ She stopped herself short before she could finish her thought.

Satisfied, Angel Bunny dashed out of the bedroom and back to his hutch. Fluttershy watched him hop through the door and out of sight, and then leapt out of bed and towards the mirror in the furthest corner of her bedroom, using her wings to glide herself there. When she landed, she looked into the shining glass, and sighed sadly as she stared at herself.

After a moment to gaze at her reflection, she brought a hoof up and let it trail the scar that ran from under her right eye and to the tip of her muzzle. Though she did not care if it ruined her looks, she still hated it, for the scar was a constant reminder of what she had become, and the things she had seen and done to receive it.

The same went with the pink line along her back. However, every time she looked at that one, unwanted visions of what happened between Heimdallr and her wormed their way into her mind. Even images of things that never occurred, like her friends being slaughtered one by one like griffons would slaughter sheep. She started to hear the sound of their cries, the clash of steel and the roars of Heimdallr as they fought. Then, she could feel the searing pain from having her back ripped open and her eyes nearly gouged out.

“No!” she screamed, spinning her head away from the mirror when she found herself unable to look at it anymore. She did not want to remember all of that. She wanted to put it behind her and enjoy the life she had been ‘blessed’ with thanks to her Dragonlord blood. Yet, she could not, for she knew it would not last forever. The time would come where Fluttershy the shy pegasus would have to die again, and Fluttershy Firewing, the Dragonlord, would have to take her place.

It was a day she was dreading every minute of her life.

Before she could think about it more, her ears twitched to the sound of Angel’s cute but impatient little squeals. Fluttershy sighed as she turned her head to face the door, and smiled wryly as she heard him getting louder. “I’m coming!” she called as she turned to the door.

She had one last glance at the mirror, before breaking into a trot and heading downstairs. She reminded herself to thank Angel with a bigger portion than she had planned; she needed a good distraction from the past, and he gave her one.

A few hours later, around mid-afternoon, Fluttershy sunk into her soft couch with a nice, steaming cup of tea in her hooves. Around her, the many animals she called friends either scurried about the place to play, ate whatever food was left out for them, or just having banter with some of the other residents that lived with her.

Fluttershy smiled as she brought her cup to her lips and sipped daintily, humming pleasurably as the tea went down her throat. She sighed as she pulled the cup away and then set it down on the little table in front of the couch, just within hoof’s reach. “I love days like this one,” she said to herself as she shifted about to get comfortable. She lowered her head and let it rest on the hoof-rest. “Just the sound of birds chirping cheerfully to one another and the little critters having their snacks.” She sighed, inhaling the steam from her cup of tea through her nostrils. “A day where nothing can go wrong whatsoever.”

Sighing contently, she closed her eyes and prepared to have a light nap. Just as she was about to drift off, her forehead creased up as she heard the familiar sound of a very familiar pegasus screaming out of control. “Yes. Nothing can go wrong whatsoever,” she sighed again, in the hope it would make the noise fade away.

Instead, as though the fates were listening and laughing at her, the cries of alarm grew louder. Mumbling in annoyance, Fluttershy jumped off the sofa, picked up a few of her cushions and set them down at a certain spot just a few feet from the window beside her door. When she was certain they were in the right place, she walked over to the window, pulled it open, and stood back as Rainbow Dash flew through the window and landed roughly on the pillows with an, “ooph!” leaving her lips.

Fluttershy smiled amiably as she closed the window behind her. “Good afternoon, Rainbow Dash,” she said, trying to hold back her giggles through her hoof. “It is nice of you to ‘drop in’ to see me.” She could not hold it in anymore, and began to laugh.

Rainbow grunted as she picked herself off the floor. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, dragon girl,” she said as she dusted herself off. She turned her head to stare incredulously at the snickering pegasus. “Seriously, though, I don’t know how you do it sometimes.”

“Do what?”

“That!” Rainbow exclaimed, pointing rapidly to the cushions and the window. “That’s like, the sixth time this month you’ve done that.”

“Well I couldn’t just let you crash into the window and hurt yourself,” Fluttershy said as she picked up a cushion. “So what happened this time?” she asked as she began to put the cushions back where she found them. “If you want to tell me, of course.”

Rainbow looked at the ground in shame. “I was practicing a new trick to impress the Wonderbolts the next time I’m at the Academy, but a gust of wind hit me and I hurtled out of control.” She snorted in frustration. “And I was so close to getting it as well!”

Fluttershy finished putting the last cushion back on the other chair, and then walked over and draped a comforting wing over Rainbow. “Oh, don’t worry about that, Rainbow Dash. At least you know what to do and how to do it, so you can get up and try again when there isn’t as much wind.”

Rainbow smiled wryly, and then glanced up at Fluttershy. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy patted her back with her wing. “Just trying to be a good friend,” she replied as she set her wing back to her side. “So, um, was there another reason you were practicing so near my cottage? You usually practice in the meadows way out of town.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened in remembrance. “Oh yeah!” she exclaimed, her wings snapping to attention. “I nearly forgot about why I was coming here in the first place. I’ve come to get you.”

Fluttershy tilted her head. “Come to get me?” she repeated.

Rainbow nodded, her wings fluttering excitedly. “Yeah. Well, I knew you don’t like walking on your own, especially since you got those…” Rainbow cleared her throat. “Anyway, so I thought I would come here and walk with you.”

Although Fluttershy felt incredibly touched, she was still terribly confused. “Walk with me where?”

Rainbow dipped her head and wings and stared at her flatly. “You cannot have forgotten Applejack and Pinkie’s cider party tonight, surely?”

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash oddly for a long time while her mind processed the information like a printing press. When it finally finished and displayed the massive headline, ‘Applejack and Pinkie Pie are hosting a cider party at Sweet Apple Acres this evening!’ she gasped in shock. “The party! Oh my goodness, the party’s today?” Rainbow nodded, eliciting a whimper of fear from the other pegasus.

Fluttershy began pacing up and down, worry etched across her face. “Oh, this isn’t good, this is not good at all! I mean, am I meant to bring anything? Do I look all right? Oh, what am I saying? Of course I don’t look all right!” She fell to the floor and curled into a little ball before Rainbow. “Thanks for coming by, Rainbow, but could you tell them I’m not feeling too well?”

Rainbow Dash stared at the shaking pegasus perplexedly, and then facehoofed. “Oh, come on, Fluttershy!” she shouted, making the Dragonlord squeak in fright. “Why are you having such issues about yourself now? Look, you are the most badass-looking pony I’ve ever laid eyes on, and the girls and nearly everypony in town agrees with that. Everyone and everything thinks you’re fine, yet you are the only one who does not seem to see that. Tell me, Fluttershy, why is that?” Fluttershy sniffed quietly, prompting Rainbow to go forward and gently stroke her lined back. “Come on, Fluttershy, you know you can tell me. And if you don’t want anypony else to know I promise I won’t say a word.”

Fluttershy whimpered as she hid her head behind her mane. “Oh, Rainbow, I wish I could agree with you all that I look fine, and I wish I could just let them go and not care. But every time I look into a mirror, or somepony mentions my scars, my mind goes back to when… to when I got them.” She clenched her eyes shut as she saw the visions come again. “I see the flames and the swords flashing, I can hear the roars of Heimdallr and the pained cries of you all as you fell one by one and I was unable to do anything about it. And I can feel the pain… so much pain.”

Fluttershy peeped an eye open to find Rainbow now lying beside her, and hugging her with both her forehooves and her wing, while trying desperately hard not to cry and failing at it. “Oh, Rainbow, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry. I don’t want you to…”

“No,” Rainbow sobbed, pressing a hoof against Fluttershy’s lips to silence her. “I just want to… I just want to be like this for a bit. In silence. Please?”

Fluttershy said nothing, but instead nodded and rested her head against her friend’s. The two stayed silent for a long time, not noticing the clock turned to the sixteenth hour, while Fluttershy’s animal friends looked to the pair with worried eyes.

Finally, Rainbow pulled her head away, and gingerly wiped her eyes of any excess tears. “I won’t tell if you won’t tell. Agreed?” she said. She held out a hoof for Fluttershy to take.

Fluttershy giggled. “I won’t, I promise,” she replied as she reached out and took it.

Gently, Rainbow Dash pulled her up to her hooves, and briefly looked her over. “Look, I’m not good with this kind of thing; this is more Twilight’s or even Rarity’s specialty, but you look fine, Fluttershy. Ponies are going to stare at you and wonder where you got them, and yeah, they are going to make you think back to that night underground. But think about what you did to gain them, what you achieved. You saved the whole of Terra and everything on it from a fiery end. That is something I know you can be proud of, can’t you?”

After a moment of thought, Fluttershy smiled at her friend. Yes, the scars were there to know what she had become and the pain she had gone through to protect Terra and her friends. But they were also there to show that not only had she saved the world and nearly died in the attempt, but to show that she had saved her friends from death, too. That was something she knew she could be proud of.

Fluttershy’s smile grew wider, which was all she needed to say. “Are you ready to get going, Rainbow Dash?” she asked, glancing over at the clock. “We don’t want to be late for the party.”

Rainbow nodded as she spread her wings and hovered off the ground. “Sure! Let’s go and get some cider!” she declared as she flew over Fluttershy’s head and pushed the door open. “After you.”

Fluttershy smiled as she trotted outside. Before she was fully out the house, she turned to Rainbow with an inquisitive look. “Do you have… you know?” she asked uncertainly.

Rainbow smiled bravely. “All the time,” she said. Before Fluttershy could respond, she raced over the Dragonlord’s head and raced onto the road.

‘At least I’m not alone in suffering nightmares. It seems we all do,’ she thought glumly, as she stepped outside and gingerly closed the door behind her.

The walk to Sweet Apple Acres was not a long one, thankfully; Fluttershy did not know how far she would be able to go if it were far away. It took only fifteen minutes at the most for the pair to make their way from Fluttershy’s home to the home of the Apple family.

When they made it to the yard outside of the main barn, they could see that almost half of Ponyville had showed up to the party, with most of them sitting around the long tables and benches that were spread out around the house, or standing in open spaces and mingling with the crowds. But everypony there was chatting and drinking the best cider Equestria had to offer. ‘I thought Pinkie invited only us,’ Fluttershy recalled, remembering the invitation she received in her mailbox.

“Hey, I thought Pinkie said this was gonna be a night with just the six of us?” Rainbow said. Fluttershy looked up at her and shrugged.

“No I didn’t, silly billy!” Pinkie said, coming from out of nowhere and hopping around them merrily. “I said that I’m inviting all my friends for a big, massive, huge, gigantic cider party that will last till the sun comes back up, and since everypony in Ponyville is my friend then they are all invited as well!” She stopped hopping and brought the pegasi into a bear hug. “And now my best friends and my friends can socialise with each other!”

“Um… that’s nice, Pinkie, but I want to mostly… breathe…” Fluttershy wheezed as she felt her rib cage get crushed again. She could see with the corner of her eye that Rainbow was almost unconscious.

“Oh, sorry, Dragonshy. Oh! And Dashie,” Pinkie said, letting them go and stepping back to give them some air. “I was just so super happy that my two favourite pegasusususus have come to the super special awesome cider party Applejack and me put on! Yippee!”

Fluttershy smiled as she watched Pinkie Pie bounce around joyously, while Rainbow looked perplexed. “She only saw each of us this morning,” she whispered.

“It is Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, don’t forget that,” Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow shrugged as if that would be acceptable as an answer. “Say, Pinkie, where’s the second host of the party?”

“Oh, she’s in the barn helping her family get the cider ready and make sure there’s enough for everypony,” Pinkie replied, pointing to the barn while still able to hop on the spot.

Rainbow dipped her head in thanks. “Cheers, Pinks,” she called. Some more ponies turning up quickly distracted Pinkie, so she waved the two ponies goodbye and hopped over to welcome them. With the earth pony gone, Rainbow turned to the Dragonlord beside her. “Do you wanna come?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, no, I don’t want to get in the way if Applejack’s busy. I’ll walk around and see if I can find some of our friends.”

Rainbow looked unsure, but she nodded nonetheless. “Okay, just don’t get drunk,” she teased, tapping the pegasus on the chest. “See ya later!” With that, she sped away from Fluttershy and disappeared into the barn with a rainbow streak running behind her.

Fluttershy watched her go with narrow eyes. ‘She had to remind me of that one time,’ she thought, recalling back to the school prom where she drank so much punch she almost forgot what had happened that night. ‘Which is a shame, because Rainbow spinning me around and kissing me when she thought I was a colt was something I would like to have forgotten.’

She was too busy remembering that night, that she did not notice until too late that she was walking and heading straight for another pony. She hit the pony in the backside and tumbled backwards, landing on her rump. She shook her head to clear her senses, and brought her head up to see the light blue pegasus mare she had hit staring back at her emotionlessly. “Oh my, I am so sorry about that. I should really be more car–” she stopped when she felt her muzzle being pressed back by the mare she had hit, who stared at her with delighted eyes. ‘Oh no,’ she thought.

“You’re Fluttershy! Fluttershy Firewing!” the mare squealed, bringing about the attention of everypony in the area.

Fluttershy didn’t know how to respond to that, so she went with a trembling, “Ye-yes, I am.”

The mare backed away and squeaked and hopped in happiness, forcing the pegasus to shrink into herself. “Oh my gosh, you are so awesome!” She turned to everypony around her, who also stared at Fluttershy with a look meant for celebrities. “It’s Fluttershy! The one who saved Ponyville a few months ago and saved that filly from the fire!”

At once, a group of about twenty ponies crowded around her, prompting the pegasus to curl up into a ball and hope they would go away, and began asking the shy Dragonlord some of the most ridiculous questions she had ever heard.

“Can I have an autograph?”

“Could I have a photo with you?”

“I want to help you with your animal friends!”

“Wait until my friends hear about this!”

“Could you say ‘yay’ for me, please?”

“Can I stroke your mane?”

“Would you mind if I stroked your tail?”

“I wanna have your babies!”

Fluttershy peeped an eye open in shock at the last question, which she swore came from another mare. Before she could hear anymore or have the time to answer any of their questions, her world went quiet and black with a faint glow of magenta around the edges. She could feel herself shooting across the air, but found out she was not able to move; it was as though she had been dropped into a sack.

‘Am I dead?’ she thought, just as colour came back to her world. She found herself standing on the other side of the barn, where even more tables had been set up – and filled with ponies from across town – and in front of Rarity, whose eyes widened in surprise at her sudden appearance.

Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but Fluttershy didn’t wait for her to finish before pulling her into a hug. “Oh, thank you for saving me, Rarity!” she cried, tightening her hold.

“Uh… I think you should be thanking Twilight… for that…” Rarity wheezed, struggling to get out of the Dragonlord’s death grip.

Fluttershy dropped the unicorn in an instant, and turned her head around to find Twilight Sparkle walking back to her with a relieved smile on her face. “Oh, thank you, Twilight!” she shouted as she pulled the unicorn into a hug once the mare was close enough. “I thought those ponies were going to never stop asking me such stupid questions.”

Twilight pulled out of the hug to stare at her with an amiable smile. “Well I couldn’t just stand by and let that happen. Not to you. If it were Rainbow then that’s a different matter.” She gently rubbed Fluttershy’s sides. “Are you all right?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “Oh, yes, much better now after seeing you two,” she said, as she broke out of Twilight’s hold and hugged Rarity, though this time more gently than before.

“It is so good to see you again, darling,” Rarity said as she broke out of the hug. “It’s been far too long since we last spoke.”

“I know, but I’m glad I’m here now, and we can have a nice evening together,” Fluttershy said. She sat down on one of the benches, and watched as Twilight and Rarity sat opposite her. “If I’m honest, I actually considered not going a few minutes ago.”

Rarity and Twilight shared knowing looks. “It’s about the scars again, isn’t it?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy did not need to say anything; the glum look on her face was enough to give them an answer. “Oh, Fluttershy, sweetheart, you should not worry about what other ponies think about you or your scars,” Rarity said comfortingly, smiling warmly. “To be honest, it took a while for me to see you with them, mostly because I was so used to you without them; it would be how I feel if I see Twilight one day with a pair of wings. But I got used to them after a while. In fact, and take this from a friendly way, please, but I am still terribly envious of your beauty.”

Fluttershy squeaked bashfully and covered her face with her forehooves to hide her blazing blushes. Twilight and Rarity giggled at Fluttershy’s futile attempts to hide from them. “Um… thank you, Rarity,” she said almost inaudibly.

Rarity smiled serenely. “I am just telling the truth, darling. Nothing more.” She tilted her body so she was leaning on her left side. “So what have you been up to for a few weeks? I don’t think I’ve seen you since Pinkie’s party after you left the hospital after saving that filly.”

“Oh, not too much,” Fluttershy replied, feeling pleased they were going into a more casual conversation. “Just helping out my animal friends and keeping a low profile. Nothing special. How about you two? Been up to much?”

Rarity hummed as she thought back to what she had done. “Well I was given a commission by one of the delegates from Saddle Arabia to design a long dress for her to wear that is coloured blood red and gold; quite a fitting set of colours, if I say so myself. Other than that, just dealing with a sister and her friends and making more dresses.” She suddenly tilted her head at Fluttershy. “Why on earth would you want to keep a low profile, anyway?”

“Because she’s Fluttershy, Rarity,” Twilight chipped in, smiling wryly at the pegasus. “You know how uncomfortable she gets around attention, and that’s never going to change.”

Rarity went silent as though she was remembering whom it was she was speaking to. Fluttershy smiled gratefully at Twilight, and then asked the unicorn, “How about you, Twilight? Been up to much?”

Twilight nodded, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Let’s see, Spike and I went on a two-day trip to Whitetail Woods to study the photosynthesis cycle of an Equestrian Red Star flower, one of the rarest flowers in Equestria, sadly; it was by a miracle we both found it. Then after that we went back home, did a few notes and reports on certain subjects for Princess Celestia to see, and for a hobby delved into looking into whether a pegasus going at the speed of sound can run rings around a dragon flying at its top speed.”

“Oh don’t tell Rainbow Dash any of that, please,” Fluttershy pleaded. “She will only try it out.”

“Try out what?” Rainbow asked as she flew over to them with a tankard of cider in her hoof, grinning from ear to ear.

Twilight and Fluttershy turned to face her and replied together, “Nothing, Rainbow Dash.” They noticed what they had just done, and giggled collectively.

“Darn, I must have missed somethin’ funny happen to make Twilight laugh,” Applejack teased amiably as she approached the group, with Pinkie Pie hopping gleefully beside her. Balancing on Applejack’s back was a large tray with five tankards of cider for the group to have.

“Hey, I laugh at a lot of things,” Twilight said defensively, though she was smiling as she saw through it. “Like most of Pinkie’s jokes, some of Rarity’s, and some other things I find funny.”

“I don’t make that many jokes,” Rarity whispered to Fluttershy, who merely shrugged in response.

“Like what, the theory of the banach-tarski paradox?” Rainbow asked Twilight with a cheeky grin.

Five heads swivelled in place to stare at Rainbow Dash. “How on Terra could you possibly know that exists?” Twilight demanded.

“I do take notice of some of your ‘lectures’, you know,” Rainbow replied with hoof quotes as she set herself down on the bench beside Fluttershy. “You do enough of them to make me wish I paid more attention at school, and you have repeated that one enough times to get the name stuck in my head.”

Before Twilight could retort or concede the point, Pinkie leapt the final few feet between her and her friends and landed on the table with her hooves in the air. “Hooray! The Mane Six are together again!”

Five heads slowly turned to face Pinkie weirdly. “The what?” Applejack asked.

“The Mane Six!” Pinkie explained, as she set herself down on the other side of Rarity. “I thought that since we have known each other quite a while and won’t be breaking up any time soon, that we could have a super special awesome group name. So there’s six of us, and we all have manes, so the Mane Six!”

The five ponies looked to each other adversely. “Um, darling, why it is such a adorable little name for us, I’m afraid it just doesn’t work,” Rarity said objectively. Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Applejack nodded in agreement.

“Oh? How come?” Pinkie asked, the earth pony’s ears drooping.

“Well, what about Spike?” Twilight queried. “He’s as much our friend as anypony else is.”

“Oh, yeah,” Pinkie conceded quickly, giggling when she added, “Silly me, I forgot about him. Doesn’t help that he isn’t here.”

“Where is little Spiky-wikey anyway?” Rarity asked, looking around her for the little dragon before turning to Twilight. “I would have thought he’d be here.”

“He would have been, had he not suddenly fallen asleep cleaning the shelves on the lower floor,” Twilight replied, her ears flopping in shame. “I did say to him not to work so hard if he wanted to be here tonight, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Twilight,” Fluttershy comforted her. “You couldn’t have done anymore for him even if you wanted to.”

Twilight smiled warmly at her, which the Dragonlord returned. “And uh,” Twilight continued, regarding Pinkie’s group name, “if we gain more friends, how can we add them to our group if our name states we should be limited to just six ponies?”

“She’s got ya there, Pinkie,” Rainbow said.

Pinkie didn’t look too displeased with her group name idea being shot down, and giggled at her silliness. “Ah, you’re all right, it was a silly name. But hey, I’m just glad we’re all here today; we haven’t been together since Fluttershy came out of hospital after saving that filly.”

“And I know we should make a toast to that, and to our friendship,” Applejack said, as she passed around the tankards of cider for everypony. Fluttershy took hold of hers with a grateful smile, and held it over her face to hide from what she knew what was about to come.

Fluttershy peeped over the rim, and watched as Applejack looked over the group to see if she had given out a tankard for them all, then took hers and turned to the Dragonlord with a bright smile, and raised it. “To Fluttershy, for being one of the bravest mares I have ever met and saving that little filly’s life,” she praised the pegasus, who began to blush.

“To Fluttershy!” the others cried out, raising their tankards into the air and banging them together.

Fluttershy lowered her tankard, and stared at her friends with a fierce pink blush and a radiant smile. “Thank you, girls,” she said quietly, causing her friends to giggle. She shook her head, throwing her mane out of her face, and raised her own. “And to you all, my friends – my family.”

The five mares before her smiled at Fluttershy’s words. “To our family!” they cheered, and with that they banged their tankards together, spraying small puddles of cider all over the bench top.

The six ponies failed to notice, but simply laughed and drunk down their shares of cider as though they needed to quench their thirsts. Fluttershy had always loved the taste of cider, and the liquid going down her throat was no exception. It was tantalising, and fresh, begging her to have more. Yet, there was something missing about it that she could not put a hoof on.

“Gosh, Applejack, that was lovely,” she complimented as she set down her empty tankard. She licked her lips clean of cider. “But, um, I don’t want to sound horrible or anything, but um, have you taken something out of it? Or done something to it to make it taste different?”

Applejack took her cider away from her lips slowly, staring at Fluttershy strangely yet amiably. “There’s nothin’ changed about the way it’s made, sugarcube,” she answered. “It’s just the same as ever; same apples, same way it’s made, same everything.”

Fluttershy nodded, though she still felt confused about it. ‘I’ll think about it later in the night.’ She looked to where the sun was setting, and saw it was only just beginning to disappear. ‘And it’s going to be a long one.’

Fluttershy breathed a relaxing sigh as she looked around. The party had been going on for quite a while now, and the last source of natural light was barely a thin orange line on the horizon. Above her, the stars began to appear and the first hoots of owls began to be heard.

Despite the coming darkness, it was evident the party wasn’t going to die soon. Ponies she knew from across town trotted around the barn, socialising with everypony young and old. Fluttershy smiled as she watched Twilight, usually a very socially awkward unicorn, begin to talk to Lyra and another avid book reader, which the pegasus didn’t know by name. ‘Probably the two pints of cider helps,’ she thought, grinning as she watched the unicorn hop giddily in excitement while chatting to a surprisingly attentive Lyra Heartstrings.

Fluttershy looked around for the others, but couldn’t see them. After half an hour of catching up together, Applejack had left first, saying she needed to help her family. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash left together, saying they needed some catching up to do with some ponies. Finally, Rarity got up, saying she should mingle with the pony folk, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy together for a bit. Eventually, after a long talk and much persuasion from the Dragonlord, Twilight went off to socialise with others.

Fluttershy giggled as she recalled the sulky look on Twilight’s face as she trotted off. ‘That girl needs to get out some more and see others. It’s not right for her to just stick with us,’ she thought. It felt weird, though, to think that when she could barely follow her own advice.

She got up from the bench and began to walk blindly around the barn, brushing past ponies quietly and not drawing attention to herself. She wanted to make more friends; she was very open to making new friends. But for several reasons, whenever she was close to making a new one, she became too scared and backed out. ‘What if they don’t find me interesting enough?’ she wondered feverishly. ‘What if I annoy them with my endless talking about animals?’

She knew her friends loved her for who she was, and it helped that the quest for the Elements of Harmony brought them together, but she could easily imagine a world where they didn’t talk to her or be friends with her. Given their distinctive personalities and tastes, they would most likely avoid her because of her shyness and her talkative nature with and about animals. Nature was the only subject she felt brave enough to talk about to others.

She sighed sadly. “How can I make new friends on my own?” she quietly said to herself. True, she had made friends in Horsca a few months back, but Thowra only helped her after the dragon attack on Andulusia and had died before the end of her journey, and Freya became friends with her again for helping her out and since then she hadn’t heard a word from her. For once, she wanted to make friends with somepony for normal reasons, who liked her for herself and not through either circumstance or what she had done in the past.

“Hey, Fluttershy!”

The pegasus stopped at the calling of her name, and turned around to find Applejack and Rainbow Dash standing in front of a large bench with two giant barrels of cider behind it. “Hey, come over here!” Rainbow called again, beckoning her over with a hoof.

Seeing no other reason why she shouldn’t, Fluttershy trotted over to them. “Hi, girls,” she greeted kindly as she approached them. “Having a good night?”

“Oh, a blast, thanks!” Applejack replied.

“And I think tonight is gonna get even better,” Rainbow added, grinning wickedly. Fluttershy knew that look; it was the look Rainbow Dash always had when she was in a challenging mood. “Fluttershy, remember that night where we first met and you had a bit too much punch afterward?”

Fluttershy took a step back and hung her head low, throwing her mane over her eyes to hide her colouring cheeks. “Ye-y-yes, I do remember that, but it was what you did that made me do it,” she stammered.

“Yeah, I know, but let’s not focus on the past,” Rainbow said. Fluttershy stared bemusedly at Rainbow for a second before looking over to Applejack, whose face expressed her desire to learn more about that night. “So, uh, anyway, you proved that night that you could take a few drinks and still go through like you were sober. Let’s see if you can still manage that.”

Fluttershy looked back at Rainbow Dash nervously. “Wh-what are you saying?”

“I’m challenging you to a drinking game!” Rainbow announced, loud enough for many ponies around them to listen in and stop what they were doing to watch. “Are you game?”

Fluttershy cowered as she felt ponies staring at her, and could hear some calls of approval. “Oh… um, I don’t know…” she stammered, slowly backing away. “I haven’t drunk so much since then, and, um, I don’t want to hurt anypony if I get violent when I’m drunk…”

“Oh, go on, darling!” Rarity whooped from somewhere in the crowd, jumping in joy, and obviously a bit tipsy. “Show that mare who’s the boss!”

The crowd followed her calls and voiced their opinions, too. Fluttershy looked amongst the wild crowd to see Pinkie and Twilight standing there, too, watching her expectantly, their eyes goading her to do it and win. She then turned to Applejack, who simply smiled at her with a look that said, “You can win, sugarcube. I know you can.”

Fluttershy really wanted to say no and leave it, but to see her friends so supportive of her, took her back to when she went on her life-changing adventure. They had supported her throughout the journey, even chasing after her after she had drugged them to sleep and left them in Detrots, and stood by her side when there seemed little hope in their survival. Their support, their faith in her, drove her forward to complete any task she was given and, here and now, she felt like she could not let them down.

‘Bring it.’

She regally spread her wings out and proudly threw her head upright. “I accept the challenge!” she announced. She flattened her ears and grimaced when the crowd roared their approval.

Applejack jumped onto the table and raised her hooves into the air for silence. “QUIET!” she bellowed. At once, the crowd fell silent. “Right, now that we can all hear ourselves, I can lay down the rules.” She jumped off the table to the other side, and beckoned the two ponies over to the bench. “Right, you two, the rules are quite simple, really: no pauses,” she said as she began to fill up two tankards of cider for the pair to start with. “No spills.”

“And no regurgitations,” Rainbow added, laughing. The crowd behind them laughed too, and cheered in agreement.

Fluttershy watched confusedly as Applejack set the first tankards of cider before the pair. “Okay. So, um, how do we know who has won?” she asked.

Rainbow picked her tankard up, and grinned. “Last mare standing wins!” she shouted, prompting the crowd behind to holler in agreement.

Fluttershy chewed on her bottom lip as she waited patiently, staring thoughtfully at the tankard. “I see. Really should have been obvious, shouldn’t it? So, um, when do we start?”

The sound of something slamming against the bench made Fluttershy jump in fright, and turned to see Rainbow sigh happily and her empty tankard in hoof and on the table, licking what cider was left on her chin. “One down!” she declared, before accepting another one from the farm pony. Half of the crowd that supported Rainbow cried out in praise.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she realised that they had started already. “Oh!” She quickly picked up her tankard and drank its content in one go, much to Applejack’s obvious surprise. She slammed it down and said, “Another! If that’s okay with you, of course…” Behind her, the crowd supporting the Dragonlord shouted exhilaratingly.

Applejack stared for a long time, before chuckling and hoofing her another one. This time, Fluttershy drank more calmly, while glancing over to see Rainbow starting on her third. ‘Goodness, I need to catch up,’ she thought, and began to chug faster.

“Remember, sugarcube, ya don’t win by who drank the most; ya win by being the one able to walk afterwards,” Applejack reminded her. “Just take your time.” Fluttershy smiled through her tankard, and continued to drink.

“Ha, ha!” Rainbow yelled, as she set her third down and lapped her lips together. “Third one down, and I could still fly in a straight line to Canterlot and back!” She greedily snatched the forth one from Applejack. “This is gonna be a piece of cake.”

Fluttershy eyed her for a moment, before narrowing them in determination. ‘She thinks this is going to be easy. She’s going to have one heck of a surprise,’ she thought. She finished her second, and moved onto her third, ignoring the cheers of support for both Rainbow and herself. ‘At least nopony is talking about my scars,’ she realised, smiling at the consideration of the ponies around her.

Ten minutes later, Fluttershy sighed and wiped her mouth clean after finishing her fifteenth pint of cider. Surprisingly, she still felt fine; she didn’t feel the need to pass out or vomit it back up unlike Rainbow Dash beside her, who swayed about in her seat. “Goodness, these get lovelier every time you have one,” she remarked, staring at the empty tankard.

She looked up at Applejack, who looked back at her in awe. “Why, thank ya kindly for thinking so, sugarcube. I’ll be sure to let the family know,” she said, her tone indicating her disbelief the pegasus was still acting so sober. She took Fluttershy’s empty tankard and began to fill it up with more cider.

She turned her head and opened her mouth to say more, when Rainbow Dash finished her seventeenth tankard of cider, and then got up and farted loudly. “Oh gosh, Rainbow, that’s disgusting!” Fluttershy exclaimed in disgust, inching rapidly away from her.

Applejack did a double take and threw a look of disgust in Rainbow’s direction, making the other pegasus laugh boomingly as she swayed from side to side. “Ah, I think this pegasus would like to go swimming… with little hairy stallions,” she chuckled, as she took another tankard of cider from Applejack.

The earth pony rolled her eyes and shook her head as she watched Rainbow chug it down, then turned to Fluttershy who had moved as far away as she could go. “It’s all right, sugarcube,” she called. “It doesn’t smell here.”

Encouraged by Applejack’s consolation, Fluttershy crept back and took the waiting tankard in the farm pony’s hoof. “Sorry. I just remember back in flight camp when I had to share a bunk bed with her; I had to go outside sometimes for fresh air, she could smell that bad.” She shook her head to clear her memories, and then began to drink her sixteenth.

Applejack watched Fluttershy drink with a curious look. “You ain’t swaying about like fart girl there,” she observed, dipping her head towards Rainbow, who belched after finishing her latest. “Nor do your eyes show any signs that you’re drunk. So how the hay can ya be chugging this stuff down like you’re just drinking juice?”

Fluttershy finished her tankard, and shrugged as she hoofed it back to the earth pony. “I don’t know. I guess I am more tolerant to alcohol than anypony thought,” she replied. She took another, and chugged it down as well.

“I doubt it, hun,” Applejack protested. She reared up and leaned against the barrel, tapping her hoof on its side. “This stuff is the strongest cider we make ‘ere. Not even the local drunk can take twenty of these down and walk away.” Fluttershy stared incredulously at Applejack for a second, and then continued to drink as if she had not spoken. The question still lingered in her mind, nonetheless.

A few minutes later, Fluttershy had her twentieth in her hoof, and was staring at it with wide, questioning eyes. ‘How can I still be thinking straight?’ she thought. While Rainbow Dash was a second away from passing out, she felt ready to go for a long stroll, and the pair had now drunk nineteen each, with Rainbow in the middle of gulping down her twentieth. ‘How is this possible?’

She rapidly shook her head. ‘Don’t think about it for the moment. Just beat Rainbow Dash,’ she thought. She pulled it to her lips, and let the sweet tasting apple cider fall down her throat.

When she had finished, she took a deep breath of air, and looked at her hoof in horror. “I feel something; a slight tingle in my hoof,” she informed. Applejack’s eyebrows disappeared under her hat as she watched. “Oh my. I think it’s starting to affect me.”

Rainbow threw down her empty tankard and cheered into the air. “Ha! Now what did I say?” she asked, pointing a swaying hoof at Applejack. “She can’t hold her liquor…” Just as she finished speaking, her eyes fell towards her nose, and she fell comically off the bench and onto the ground.

Fluttershy stared at the unconscious Rainbow for a moment, before turning to Applejack with a calm look. “Game over,” she said.

Fluttershy belched quietly as she helped sweep up the mess. She quickly covered her mouth with a hoof and blushed in embarrassment. “Excuse me,” she whispered, before noticing she was alone and on the far southern side of the farm.

Despite Pinkie’s invitation stating that the party would last until the sun rises, the town of Ponyville did not have the strength to last till then. The moon was at its highest in the sky when the majority of the town’s citizens began to waddle their way back home, singing and laughing together and basically having fun. Some decided to stay and help themselves to what was left of the cider, before making a run for it. This went on until Fluttershy and her best friends were all that was left. And unsurprisingly, they were quickly ‘hired’ by Applejack to help clean up the mess.

Fluttershy finished sweeping what broken glass, food thrown to the ground and other unmentionables together, and then flung them into a sack and hurled it into the closest bin. ‘Ten out of ten!’ she cheered herself as she watched it dive into the large metal bin without the sack even touching the sides. “Look at that, Rainbow, I…!” She trailed off when she remembered the down and out for the count pegasus. “Oh, I better go and check up on her.” Seeing that she didn’t have anything else to do, she set her broom down and fluttered over the main barn and back to the main yard.

She quickly found Rainbow Dash on her side, snoring loudly as she slept on top of a table, with Rarity sitting beside her and looking at her with concern. “Poor dear,” the unicorn said as Fluttershy landed and approached, though the Dragonlord heard no sign of sincerity in her words. “She really took it too far this time. Now she is going to have the greatest hangover ever recorded.”

If she was honest, Fluttershy didn’t envy Rainbow for that; the next morning would be a painful one for her, that’s for sure. “I know. The poor thing. I have to admit, I am impressed she managed to take twenty pints of cider in one sitting.”

“Yes, even I must admit that is quite a feat to pull. But then again, you have managed to pull off a greater feat in being able to think straight, let alone walk straight after having twenty pints.” Fluttershy blushed bashfully and looked away. Rarity chuckled, then looked down at Rainbow with a sigh. “But now we must ask ourselves a grave question: how the hay are we going to move this snoring buffoon back to her home?”

“We won’t; I’ll have her stay at mine for the night, and keep her there until she gets better,” Fluttershy replied, smiling softly at the sleeping pegasus.

Rarity looked up at her in shock, which quickly turned to respect. “Darling, are you sure you will be able to handle her tomorrow?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. Rainbow won’t be able to get to her own home like she is now, and there’s no way I’m leaving her here for the night.” She looked down at the sleeping pegasus, and began to delicately caress her friend’s cheek. “I know a few cures for hangovers so I could be there to help her when she wakes up.”

‘And I need to thank her, for everything. For being there for me, for giving me the courage to come here this evening, and for showing me what I needed to know.’

Rarity tilted her head. “How can you possibly know cures for hangovers?”

Fluttershy looked up and smiled. “You would be surprised by how many animals come by to my place with hangovers,” she said.

“Uh, girls? Mind if ya give me a hoof here?” Fluttershy and Rarity looked around at Applejack’s alarmed voice. Their eyes widened and Rarity gasped loudly as Applejack stood in the front of the main barn, unable to move to them as she was using her forehooves to push back a very drunk Twilight Sparkle from leaning forward and kissing her.

“Oh, did I ever tell you how much I love you girls?” Twilight said as she tried to inch her face closer to Applejack’s cheeks to kiss her. The earth pony, despite her strength, was struggling to keep the little unicorn at bay. “I was so ssstuuuupid when I lived in Canterlot. I thought being alone would be fantastic! But I was sooooo very wrong, cause I now can’t see my life without any of you.” She pushed herself towards Applejack again, making smooching noises with her lips. “Oh I want to show my love for you all. I want to hug you all, kiss you all, and never part from any of you ever again. We will be together forever.”

“Forever!” Pinkie exclaimed as she hopped right behind them, not bothering to help in the slightest.

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head as she watched. She moved away from Rarity and trotted up to Twilight and Applejack. “Twilight…?”

The unicorn stopped and grinned delightfully – and maniacally – at the sight of the Dragonlord. “Fluttershy! My darling angel!” Fluttershy had only time to gulp in dread as Twilight broke out of her hold of Applejack and tackled Fluttershy in a hug, squeezing the air out of the pegasus. “If it weren’t for you I would be dead and dinner for a large and nasty ’ragon so many moons ago.” She pulled away, loosening her hold on Fluttershy, and smiled lovingly. “And I want to say thank you in the traditional way of the old unicorn tribe.”

Twilight leaned forward and lightly kissed Fluttershy’s right cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. Fluttershy’s whole body froze, and she blushed fiercely in embarrassment as her mind went into overdrive. Twilight pulled away and kissed the Dragonlord’s left cheek. “Thank you.”

She pulled back again, and said softly, “Thank you,” for the final time, before rushing forward and pressing her lips against Fluttershy’s before the pegasus could stop her.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in horror and twitched as she realised what should not happening was actually happening. Twilight, one of the best friends she had ever known, was kissing her; kissing her on the lips; kissing her while terribly drunk. ‘Keep your lips closed, keep your lips closed, do not allow her to go the full French kiss!’ Fluttershy told herself sternly. ‘I do not want to play tonsil tennis!’ She could feel Twilight’s lips attempt to pry hers open to allow her tongue to roll in, and found them to be winning. ‘I need help.’

Fluttershy looked to Applejack, who watched with a slackened jaw and red cheeks, and she gestured with flailing hooves to help get Twilight off her. Applejack broke out of her shock and marched up to the pair with an idea in her head. Before the earth pony could enact it, however, Twilight pulled back and tumbled to the ground, her eyes closed and her lips still formed into an O.

Fluttershy released a deep breath of air as soon as Twilight passed out, and quickly wiped her mouth clean with both of her hooves, spluttering and nearly gagging out of shock. “Wow! Kinky!” Pinkie shouted, a bag of popcorn in her hooves as she had watched from atop of a fence. Fluttershy stopped wiping her lips and, along with Applejack, turned about to face the earth pony with a light glare. “What? Don’t look at me as if none of you have ever dreamed of making out with your friends.”

Fluttershy and Applejack looked away from Pinkie with thoughtful expressions. They shook their heads when they realised what they were thinking about, and looked down at the sleeping unicorn. “Shucks. I really don’t want to be her or Rainbow Dash in the morning,” Applejack remarked, shaking her head pitifully.

Fluttershy chuckled as she stared at Twilight’s frozen form. “Whatever happens, do not ever mention to her about what she just did,” Fluttershy said, glancing up at Applejack. “I don’t think she could look me in the face ever again if she remembered.”

Applejack chuckled, and nodded in agreement. “I won’t tell a soul. Now how are we gonna get her and Rainbow Dash home?” she asked. Something caught her eye behind Fluttershy, and she craned her neck up to see. When she saw it, her forehead creased. “And Rarity, too, from the looks of things?”

Fluttershy shot her head around, and her mouth parted when she saw Rarity on the side, a hoof across her forehead; the Dragonlord knew it was her usual position after fainting dramatically. “I’ll take Rainbow and Twilight home with me,” Fluttershy said quickly, much to Applejack’s apparent surprise. “I know a few cures, and I could be there for them when they wake up; I owe them that much.”

Applejack slowly nodded in agreement. “Fair enough, sugarcube, but what about Rarity? I won’t mind setting her up for the night here if it makes it easier.”

“No problemo, Applejack,” Pinkie chipped in as she hopped to the other earth pony’s side. “I’ll take Rarity home, and then drop a letter explaining Twilight’s whereabouts to Spike.”

“Ya sure about that, Pinkie? Won’t put ya out of your way?”

“Nah ah,” Pinkie said with a shake of her head. “I might have to go around anyway and make sure everypony gets home safely; there are bound to be others that have collapsed around the streets and awaiting rescue.”

Applejack and Fluttershy smiled. “You are such a good friend, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said.

“Yep,” Applejack agreed. “Would ya like me to get ya a cart for ya to take ‘er in?”

“There’s no need, thank you, I’ve already got her on my back. See?”

Fluttershy did a double take when she saw Rarity lying comfortably on Pinkie’s back. ‘But how? Pinkie hasn’t even mov… you know what, forget it, it’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.’ “Okay, just be careful taking her,” Fluttershy said. She stepped over Twilight’s body and hugged the earth pony around the neck. “And thank you for inviting me. I had a lovely evening.”

“I’m glad you did, too, Dragonshy,” Pinkie said gently, her tone more serious and loving than normal. She pulled away and looked the pegasus in the eyes. “And if you ever need to talk to somepony, you know where I am.”

Fluttershy smiled serenely. “Thank you, Pinkie, but don’t worry about me; I’m fine.”

Pinkie smiled sadly. “You say that, but your eyes tell me you’re not.” Before Fluttershy could ask why, Pinkie quickly hugged Applejack, said her goodbyes, and hopped merrily away from the farm and back towards Ponyville.

Fluttershy watched her and Rarity go with puzzled, yet worried eyes. “She’s right, ya know,” Applejack said, prompting the pegasus to face her. “Even if ya say you’re fine, we all know you ain’t. Nopony could ever be fine after what we’ve been through. If ya ever need to talk, we’re all there for ya.”

Fluttershy smiled daintily at her. “I know, and thank you for reminding me,” she said kindly. She sighed and turned away, rubbing her hooves together in preparation for what she had to do next. “Now, do you have a cart I can borrow for a day or so?”

A few minutes later, Fluttershy was harnessed to a cart and waited as Applejack dumped the last of the two sleeping ponies on board. “There’s ya cargo! All safe and sound!” she called after she had thrown Rainbow Dash on board. “You’re good to go!”

Fluttershy looked back with a grateful grin. “Thanks, Applejack, thank you for everything. It was a wonderful evening,” she said.

“Anytime, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Just take care going home!”

“And you,” Fluttershy said. She laughed when she remembered, so did Applejack. “Oh, silly me, you are home.” She giggled again as she shook her head at herself, and then looked back at Applejack. “Speak to you later!”

With that, the pegasus broke into a trot and left Sweet Apple Acres with her passengers in tow. She looked back one last time at Applejack, who watched her go with a cheery wave and smile, before looking at the road ahead again.

Other than the snores coming from both of the mares in her cart, and a few owls hooting and their wings flapping against the sky, the trip home was the way Fluttershy liked it – peaceful and quiet. Luna’s moon was at its highest in the sky and shining brightly, illuminating the world with its silvery light. There was a light breeze, too, making the walk home a pleasant experience rather than it being too cold.

Despite everything around her, Fluttershy had her mind focused on one thing in particular. ‘Why was I able to drink so much without becoming like Twilight and Dashie?’ She hummed to herself as she thought about it. ‘Could it have something to do with me being a Dragonlord?’

It would make sense if that were the case. Dragonlords were warriors who needed to be ready for battle twenty-four seven, so she could imagine that they would have some or a major immunity to alcohol. But since she was the blood kin of a dragon, does that mean dragons were immune to the affects of alcohol? ‘I’ll have to ask Twilight about it all when she wakes up tomorrow,’ she decided. Her face fell again when she thought of something else. ‘If I am immune to the effects of alcohol, then wouldn’t that mean I cheated?’

She continued to think about it until she found herself just beside the bridge leading to her little home, and moved the cart out of the way so that other ponies could get through the road freely. She detached herself from the cart, walked around it, and looked at the two ponies in the back with a small smile. “Okay, how am I going to do this?” she asked herself, tapping her chin in thought.

A low growl from behind her made her turn sharply in alarm, her wings spread out and feeling ready to defend her friends from any would-be attackers. “Hello?” Fluttershy called out, feeling afraid all of a sudden, though not for herself but for her defenceless friends.

The creature behind the growl appeared from behind the bushes, and Fluttershy sighed in relief at the sight of the familiar bear. “Harry, you know you shouldn’t growl at ponies like that,” she chastised him kindly. The bear growled meekly, stating his apologies. “Oh, that’s all right. You just gave me a fright, that’s all.” Her eyes widened as she was hit with a sudden idea. “Um, Harry, I hope this isn’t a bad time, but would you mind lending me a paw to get these two inside, please?”

The bear didn’t respond immediately, but instead picked Rainbow and Twilight up, set them across his back, and then began to walk across the bridge and towards the cottage. Fluttershy smiled as she followed Harry, watching cautiously to make sure her friends would not fall; luckily, however, Harry kept himself slow and steady in his strides.

Fluttershy flew over him when they made it to the front door, and quickly opened it for the bear to enter. “Go straight in,” she beckoned. Harry complied, and quickly went through. Fluttershy followed swiftly behind, shutting the door behind her.

“Here, let me,” she said as she took to the air. She wrapped her hooves around Twilight, picked her up and gently set her down on her couch, a head on a cushion and another cushion in her forehooves as though it were a teddy bear. She then found a blanket she kept behind the couch and covered Twilight with it. She smiled cutely when she drew her head back. ‘Sleep well, Twilight, my dear,’ she thought.

With the unicorn taken care of, she needed to set Rainbow somewhere. But where? Her face lit up when she suddenly remembered. “That’ll be perfect,” she said to herself. She picked Rainbow up, and took her up the stairs, flew past her bedroom and into a small, square-shaped room full of various animal food. She set the pegasus down, then fished out her sleeping bag and tucked her in.

The Dragonlord smiled as she stared, and then turned away. “Goodnight, Rainbow Dash,” she whispered, before silently shutting the door behind her. She went downstairs, and quickly noticed Harry had let himself out before she got a chance to say, “thank you.” ‘I’ll repay him in the morning,’ she decided. She locked the door, and as she turned away to head back upstairs, she quickly looked to Twilight and smiled at her before tiptoeing her way back upstairs. “Goodnight, Twilight,” she whispered.

She made it into her room without a sound, and then leapt into bed, throwing the covers over herself and resting her head against the fluffy pillow. She purred a little before feeling herself drift off, and she was soon away in her dreams.

The smell of something that most likely tasted delightful flowing through her nostrils slowly brought Fluttershy awake, and forced her to open her eyes. ‘Mmm, smells like… boiled salad,’ she thought, smiling widely. ‘My favourite breakfast dish.’ “Oh, Angel, you didn’t have to do that,” she said as she turned around to accept it from the rabbit. When she turned and saw the meal in a bowl waiting for her, she was very surprised to see who was holding it. “Twilight?”

The unicorn had her head down, and though she could not see her eyes thanks to the forelock of her mane covering them, she could plainly see the tears of shame running down her cheeks.

It did not take the Dragonlord long to figure out why. ‘Oh no, she remembers kissing me,’ Fluttershy realised, her eyes widening in horror. Fluttershy rose up and leaned on one knee, reaching a sympathetic hoof to her. “Twilight, I’m–”

“I’m so sorry,” Twilight sobbed. The unicorn looked up, and Fluttershy’s heart broke in two at the shame in her puffy, red and tired eyes. “I didn’t… I wasn’t thinking…” She lowered her gaze once more, sighing sadly. “Can we still be friends?”

Fluttershy felt her very soul crack at the words coming out of Twilight’s mouth, and her heart and head told her to spring into action. She leapt out of bed and wrapped her hooves around the unicorn, who began to cry more fiercely than before. “Shh, shh, shh, shh, it’s all right, sweetheart. It’s all right,” Fluttershy cooed softly, caressing Twilight’s back as she spilled out her sorrow; the Dragonlord could feel some tears in her own eyes, yet refused to release them. “I’m not mad, honestly. We all do silly things when we are drunk, things we regret for ages. And yet sometimes, we do things that embarrass us but brings us closer together.” She pulled away, and stared into Twilight’s eyes with a loving smile across her face. “Did I ever tell you how I met Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight sniffed back her tears and slowly shook her head. “No, I-I don’t think you did. How did you two meet?”

Fluttershy chuckled in remembrance, and though Rainbow had sworn her to secrecy about it, she knew it wouldn’t hurt to change a few things here and there. “It was at the school prom many years ago. Being the shy little filly I was, I thought taking some alcohol at the start of the night would help me break out of my shell, as it were. Of course, being me, I overdid it and became giggly drunk. So when I thought Rainbow Dash was my date for the night, I kinda went up to her and… kissed her.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise and her jaw dropped. “You kissed Rainbow Dash?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Tongue and all,” she added. She grimaced at the last part. “That sort of sobered me up because afterwards I spent a few hours in the bathroom, crying because of my own foolishness. Rainbow Dash later came and snapped me out of it, and then we just started talking. We spent the rest of the night together because it appeared our dates had set us up and never showed, and we came away from the prom as great friends.”

Twilight looked at her in wonder. “Wow,” she said incredulously. “That’s incredible. How comes you have never said anything about it? You or Rainbow for that matter?”

Fluttershy shyly rubbed her foreleg, staring bashfully at the ground. “Um, well, Rainbow doesn’t like talking about it, so she swore me to secrecy. I haven’t mentioned it at all to anypony; except you now, of course.” She looked up. “Please don’t tell Rainbow or anyone that I told you this.”

Twilight nodded, giggling at the image now probably given to her. “I won’t, promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye– ow!” Twilight cried out as she hit her forehead instead of her eye, causing her to wobble in place.

Fluttershy quickly caught her as she fell back. “Goodness! Are you feeling all right?” she asked.

Unsurprisingly, Twilight shook her head. “I feel as though I have been bashed on the head by a train full of really big elephants,” she replied, rubbing her forehead as though it would help. The light groan she released said that it didn’t.

Fluttershy’s eyes slowly circled the edges of her sockets as she thought about it. ‘Oh dear, looks like Twilight has a greater hangover than I thought,’ she realised. “First hangover ever?” Again, unsurprisingly, Twilight nodded. Fluttershy smiled kindly. “Aw, don’t feel so bad, Twilight. We have all been there and done it.”

She quickly took Twilight’s hoof in her own, and began to lead her downstairs. “Come on, I know the perfect cure for your hangover.”

Before they made it to the door, Twilight stopped and her cheeks suddenly bulged. She clamped a hoof around her mouth, then let go of Fluttershy’s hoof and raced into the bathroom. Fluttershy grimaced at the sounds that followed, and slowly trotted in to help and comfort her. ‘She needs that cure more than I thought.’

An hour later, Twilight moaned delightfully as she took another sip from Fluttershy’s specially made tea. Fluttershy noticed how much colour had come back into her face, and her eyes looked livelier than they did when she first saw them. It was a welcome change.

“Oh my gosh, that feels so much better now!” she exclaimed as she sunk into the couch the pegasus had offered her. “It’s like… well, I don’t know exactly, I’m in too terrible a state to think properly, but it certainly is something. Thank you so much, Fluttershy.”

“I’m glad it worked, and you are most welcome,” Fluttershy said happily as she jumped onto the chair opposite. “A few of the animals that come by here tend to be in the state of a hangover sometimes, though I’m not sure why. But anyway, I got these tea leaves that, if combined with the perfect amount of garlic herbs, can create a nice cure for hangovers,” she explained upon noticing Twilight’s confused look.

“Wow. At least I know now where to go for a cure the next time I get drunk. If ever,” Twilight said, before taking another sip. She then had a look around at the cottage confusedly, as though she were remembering where she was. “How did I get here anyway?”

“Oh, I took you home after you passed out,” Fluttershy explained, shuffling her hooves in place as the feeling of the kiss on her lips came back to her, so she licked her lips as if that would get rid of it. “You and Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight nearly spat her tea out in shock. “Rainbow Dash is here, too?” she asked nearly yelling. Fluttershy nodded. “Where is she? She surely can’t have gone by now.”

“Oh, she’s upstairs in my store cupboard; I couldn’t put her anywhere else so I brought out a sleeping bag and set her in there,” Fluttershy answered. She glanced up at the ceiling, right where Rainbow Dash was sleeping, with a look of concern. “I hope she’s all right.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Twilight assured her as she set her empty cup back on the table. “She’s a strong pony. If she can take hitting a tree with only stars circling her head, then she can certainly take twenty pints of cider through her liver.” She shifted about on her stomach, keeping her gaze on the Dragonlord. “Which brings me onto the subject of you.”

Fluttershy knew what Twilight was going on about before she even began speaking. “I know. That’s why I was hoping you could help me figure out why I was fine yesterday despite drinking the same amount as Rainbow Dash,” she said. “Can you help me?”

Twilight’s lips parted to reveal a toothy grin. “Of course I can. I can do a medical scan on your liver and see if there are any anomalies in there,” she said explanatory. She lowered her head slightly and flushed while trying to come up with what she needed to say. “That would mean I have to place my horn on your belly, though. Would you be all right with that?”

Fluttershy smiled, though she felt a shudder at the thought. “Sure. Whatever makes it easier for you,” she said. She lowered her head shyly as another question popped into her head. “Will it hurt?”

Twilight grinned disarmingly and shook a hoof. “Of course it won’t. I would never use a spell if it could hurt my friends,” she answered. She hopped off the couch, and then sat down and gestured with a pointing hoof for Fluttershy to take the couch. “The doctor will see you now,” Twilight informed in her best impression of a professional doctor.

Fluttershy giggled as she got off her chair, which was so contagious that Twilight began giggling as well. “Thank you for seeing me this early, Doctor Sparkle,” Fluttershy guffawed as she jumped up on the couch and rolled onto her back.

With the Dragonlord comfortable, Twilight got up and looked along Fluttershy’s slender stomach. “Now then, let’s see what’s going on in there,” she said. She dutifully lowered her head so that her horn was touching Fluttershy’s belly, and let her horn begin to glow.

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably a little in her place as she stared at the ceiling, feeling the magic of her friend flow around her belly to find her liver and any anomalies within. It sadly did not tickle like she hoped it would, but felt more like a light stomach ache, the one a pony would have when they were hungry and his or her stomach protested the lack of food in it.

After a while, the magic flowing through her body faded away, and Twilight slowly brought her head up to stare at the Dragonlord with wide eyes. “I know I shouldn’t be surprised about this, since this is you and all, but I still am,” she said. She chuckled. “You never cease to amaze me, you know?”

Curious, and blushing a little from Twilight’s statement, Fluttershy sat upright. “What do you mean? What did you find?”

Twilight jumped up and sat opposite her, looking at the sofa while trying to think of what she was going to say. “Well, to put it simply, you have some kind of really strong acid in your liver that aids your liver’s metabolism in destroying the alcoholic substances in any drink as it comes through. Therefore, any alcoholic substances within such a drink cannot enter your bloodstream, and thus keeping you sober. In short, you are immune to alcohol.”

Fluttershy stared at Twilight for a long time, her mind buzzing as it tried to realise what the unicorn had just told her. Yet for all the surprise that was undoubtedly written across her face, she ultimately knew what had happened to her, but she didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about it.

“Somehow, I knew that I was,” Fluttershy worded out her thoughts. “But I am surprised to know what it was that was keeping me from ending up like Rainbow and you. No offence.”

Twilight waved a hoof in reply. “None taken,” she chuckled. Her smile faded a little when she saw the confusion in Fluttershy’s eyes. “Are you all right?”

Fluttershy shrugged as she shook her head. “I’m not sure. I don’t know whether I should feel sad or happy by this.”

“To be honest, if I were you I would feel over the moon,” Twilight said comfortingly. “It would mean you wouldn’t have a hangover to look forward to in the morning ever again. You can stay up until the sun rises and watch other ponies collapse after having fewer than you. I can think of a few more; the benefits of this are endless.”

“Yes, I know all of that. But then again, wouldn’t that mean I cheated yesterday?” Fluttershy asked. “How can me being immune to alcohol be fair on Rainbow Dash?” She slouched once more. “I should tell Applejack about what happened, and have her make it known that I am a cheater and a liar.”

At that, Twilight’s face fell. “Hey, now, you are not a cheater, or a liar. You do have a point there, though,” she conceded. She started to tap her chin in thought, then after a moment, shrugged it off. “I’m sure Applejack wouldn’t see it as cheating, as you were just as confused as we all were. And she would most likely make your win stand if it meant teaching Rainbow Dash a lesson.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest such a thought, when her home was invaded by the sound of the most agonising groan the pair had ever heard. “Speak of the devil, and she shall be heard,” Twilight muttered, glancing up at the ceiling with a wry eyebrow.

Fluttershy grimaced as the groans just got louder and sounding more agonising. “Goodness. She sounds worse than I thought she would be.” She paused and her grimace grew larger as a barrage of words Fluttershy despised flew out of Rainbow’s mouth. “Rainbow Dash!” she gasped in anger. “Such horrible language!” She looked back at Twilight, who stared blankly at the ceiling. “I have the right mind to wash her mouth out with soap.”

Twilight broke out of her shock and chuckled. “I’ll hold her down and you get the soap bar?” she asked. The two mares giggled, with Fluttershy vividly imagining herself running a bar of soap along Rainbow’s tongue. “Well, I best get out of your hooves if she’s up,” the unicorn said a bit later after the pair calmed down.

Fluttershy’s ears flattened as she watched the unicorn get off the couch and move to the door. “Are you sure? You could stay a bit longer and rest, I mean you must still have a horrible headache and–”

“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight interrupted, looking back at her with a kind and assuring look. “The headache is manageable at best and I’m able to stand upright on my own. As much as I like to stay, though, I best get back to the library and let Spike know I’m all right. Then after that I’ll have to go and see Applejack about last night… and deeply apologise for it.”

After a moment, Fluttershy nodded reluctantly, then jumped off the couch and followed her to the door. “Don’t you worry about Applejack,” she said comfortingly upon noticing the worry in her eyes. “She knew you were drunk and not thinking straight. She will understand.”

“But what if she won’t?” Twilight asked rapidly, warning Fluttershy of the rant that was about to come. “What if she yells at me for trying to kiss her and then bars me from going to any more cider festivals? Then what if she tells her family and they don’t allow me to go to any of their festivals, and then they tell their friends about me and they ban me from their festivals, and then they tell Princess Celestia and she bars me from the Canterlot Beer, Ale and Cider Festival that my whole family goes to every single year!”

Fluttershy blinked blankly, her mind processing slowly what Twilight had just said. “I… highly doubt that,” she replied. She opened the door with one hoof and set the other on the unicorn’s shoulder. “She will forgive you because there is nothing to forgive or even be sorry for. You’ll see.”

After a moment, Twilight smiled at her words. “Sometimes I wonder who is the pony studying friendship here,” she remarked.

Fluttershy’s smile fell a little. “I don’t understand.”

“To think, you could barely say your own name when you met me, and preferred your animal friends for company and yourself. Now look at you. Saviour of Terra and a great friend to all. You have come further than most of us,” Twilight continued, her words bringing colour to Fluttershy’s cheeks.

Twilight took a deep breath and stepped outside into the cool air of the morning. “Wow, with your tea and such a lovely morning, I’ll be better in no time.” Fluttershy silently followed her, feeling moved by Twilight’s words.

Twilight walked a bit further until she reached the end of the bridge, then stopped and turned to face the pegasus, who followed. “You know, this morning when you said I was forgiven, I seriously thought you were going to say ‘I love you’ to me.” Twilight’s smile fell when she realised how horrible she sounded. “Not that I wouldn’t have minded! I would have been flattered. Heck, I might have even considered a chanc…” After an awkward silence between them, she sighed and bowed her head. “I’m digging my own grave here, aren’t I?”

Fluttershy shook her head, giggling quietly. “No, of course not,” she replied. She set a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “I know what you meant from the start. I would have been flattered to have you come out to me. But, um, I don’t think I am ready for a relationship just yet; I don’t even know if I ever want to be in a relationship now, with my life-span now lengthened to a thousand years and, well… these.” She gestured with her head to the scar on her back and the one under her eye.

Twilight smiled comfortingly. “Well if somepony doesn’t want to be with you because of those, then they are missing out to be in a relationship with the kindest and most loving pony in Equestria.”

Fluttershy smiled gratefully, the colour in her cheeks rising. “Do you think somepony out there will love me for who I am?”

Twilight nodded. “My mum always said there’s a pony out there for all of us. We just have to look hard enough to find him or her.” The unicorn sighed as she turned her head to the right and caught a glimpse of the sun. “Spike should be up by now; he’ll be wondering where I am.” She looked back at Fluttershy, and then leaned forward and nuzzled the side of her face. “Thank you, for everything,” she said.

Fluttershy smiled, and swiftly returned the sweet gesture. “Now what kind of a friend would I be to leave you like that?” she queried.

After a long nuzzle, the two friends pulled away, and with a smile, Twilight turned around and trotted over the bridge. “Good luck with Rainbow, and tell her I said good morning!” she called as she began to trot down the road.

“Thanks! And tell Spike I said hi!” Fluttershy replied, waving until Twilight was out of sight. The Dragonlord sighed and turned around to see to the pegasus in her storage room.

When she got to the door, however, she stopped and her eyes widened when she remembered what the unicorn had said. “Good morning, indeed,” she mumbled to herself, tittering as she shook her head. “Oh, Twilight, you are quite funny sometimes.” Without further ado, she rushed back into the house and got another pot of tea ready.

Once it was done, she raced up the stairs with the tray in her mouth, and swiftly pushed the door open. She found Rainbow Dash lying on the floor, a hoof clutching her forehead as she groaned painfully, her body writhing and her tail swishing erratically. “Rainbow Dash, hold still for a second!” Fluttershy shouted as she set a hoof on Rainbow’s stomach and pressed her down, keeping her in place.

“Oh, my head!” Rainbow cried. “Why does it hurt, why does everything hurt?”

“Shh, now. Everything’s going to be okay,” Fluttershy said softly, rubbing Rainbow’s belly with a soft yet firm hoof. At the feeling, Rainbow Dash’s body seemed to calm itself, though the Dragonlord knew the technique would not last long.

The Dragonlord rapidly poured out her tea in a cup, and then lifted Rainbow’s head upright and rested it against her left foreleg. “Now drink this. It will help, I promise,” she said. She pressed the tip of the cup against Rainbow’s lips and arched it forward. Some of the tea went down the pegasus’s chin and onto her chest, but most went into her mouth. Rainbow gulped loudly until she finished the last of the tea, then sighed as she relaxed once more.

Fluttershy smiled as Rainbow’s breathing became less ragged and rapid, and her body relaxed. After a few minutes, Rainbow’s eyes fluttered open and closed for a moment as she got her breath back, and then focused her gaze on the pegasus holding her. “Fluttershy?” she whispered, her eyes widening in surprise. “What am I doing–?”

Fluttershy pressed her hoof against Rainbow’s lips, smiling warmly. “Shh, it’s okay, Rainbow,” she said gently. “Just sleep and get some rest. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

Rainbow gave her a subtle nod, and then closed her eyes and relaxed. With the pegasus fine for the moment, Fluttershy set her head down, and silently flew out of the room and headed back downstairs.

A few minutes later, Fluttershy sprawled out across her smaller chair, with her legs dangling over the hoof rests, and sighed as she waited for Rainbow. As she waited, she couldn’t help but reflect on the night before, and how well it all went. Other than Twilight becoming the second friend in her life to kiss her on the lips – which was really strange, thinking about it – the night went by without any incidents. Nopony mentioned her scars, which she feared they would, and anypony that did speak to her was pleasant and without remark to her injuries or her and her friends’ disappearance and unexpected return a few years back.

‘Have they all got used to them that quickly, or is it because they know how uncomfortable I get about them?’ she wondered. She smiled at their thoughtfulness, though. And despite knowing it would take a long time for her to get as used to them as Ponyville seemed to have done, she knew it was a good start.

She broke out of her little reflection on the past when she heard hooves against the hard wood of her stairs. She looked up and smiled serenely as Rainbow Dash appeared, walking groggily down the stairs and staring at the floor. “Hey, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said gently as the pegasus made it to the floor. “How are you feeling?”

It seemed quite a silly question, when she thought about it. Rainbow looked a mess. Her mane and tail were sticking up in various directions, her feathers were mangled, her eyes were red with black bags hanging from her eyelids, and she wore the largest, most depressing-looking frown a pony could ever wear.

It made Fluttershy feel depressed just by looking at it. “Would you like the couch?” she asked, gesturing with a hoof point at the couch. “I left it for you. I… I thought you might like it better.”

Rainbow stared silently at Fluttershy for a second, before silently walking around the Dragonlord’s chair and jumping up onto the sofa. She spun around so that she was facing the pegasus next to her, and then fell onto her stomach with a thump, her eyes never leaving Fluttershy’s.

Silence greeted the room. Fluttershy looked at the ground before the couch, then at the ceiling, and finally at the entrance to the kitchen. ‘This is getting awkward,’ she thought, tapping her hoof against the soft and very comfy chair. ‘What to say, what to say?’ she wondered. She looked back at Rainbow Dash again, who hadn’t moved a muscle since coming back down, and quietly coughed into her throat. “So, um, Rainbow, how are you–?”

“Level with me, Fluttershy. Why the heck was I sleeping in your storage room?” Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy flinched back at the question. It wasn’t asked harshly or coldly, as though Rainbow was upset with her, but it was so blunt it took her by surprise. “I- I didn’t have anywhere else to put you. Twilight took the sofa so I couldn’t just dump you on there–”

“Wait a second, Twilight was here, too?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Ye-yes. She said to me to tell you that she wishes you a good morning.” She could feel a smile crawling across her face at the thought of it.

It didn’t take a minute for Rainbow Dash to figure it out. “Oh ha, ha hardy ha,” she said, rolling her eyes but wincing as the headache made itself known again. “I’ll have to get back at her for that. Anyway, what was she doing here?”

“She drunk a bit more than she should have done and passed out after singing a song she hates,” Fluttershy lied, thinking it would be for the best if Rainbow Dash didn’t know what really happened. “I took her and you home because I thought you both wouldn’t have made it home by yourselves, and… I knew a few cures to treat your hangovers.”

Rainbow’s questioning face softened a little. “Okay, fair enough. I can forgive ya for dumping me in your pantry.” She hauled herself onto her knees. “So what happened last night? All I remember is me challenging you to a drinking game, but after that I can’t remember much.”

“Well, we both drank about twenty pints of cider each and you fell over and passed out after the twentieth. You stayed asleep for the rest of the night,” Fluttershy answered, surprising herself by speaking so quickly.

Rainbow’s jaw was resting on the hoof rest. “Really? You won that drinking game?” Fluttershy nodded shamefully, which Rainbow obviously noticed. “What’s wrong?”

Fluttershy’s vision grew misty as she prepared herself with what she had to say. “I… I cheated, Rainbow,” she admitted. When she saw Rainbow continue to stare at her oddly, she slowly explained. “I was fine throughout the whole night, not even swayed about or vomited; I can remember everything perfectly. When Twilight was awake and had recovered from her hangover, I learned from her that because I am a Dragonlord I am now immune to the effects of alcohol, since there is a strong acid in my body that disintegrates all alcoholic substances, or at least that’s what she said.” She lowered her head even more so that it was hanging from her shoulders. “I am so sorry I cheated. I didn’t mean to. Oh, please forgive me.”

For a long moment, nothing happened. Rainbow stayed silent, forcing Fluttershy’s mind to come up with some nasty ways that the pegasus could answer her, from yelling at her for blowing away the chances of her winning, to simply getting up and walking out of the door, slamming it shut behind her. Fluttershy wanted to look up and see her reaction, but she was too afraid. ‘Oh, please say something, Rainbow,’ she pleaded in thought, whimpering a little.

“I knew,” Rainbow said flatly, as if it should have been obvious.

Fluttershy brought her head up in an instant, her mouth agape and her eyes bulging. “What?”

“I knew you were immune to alcohol. Come on, it should have been obvious to everypony,” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy could not believe what she was hearing; she quickly ran a hoof through both her ears to be sure she hadn’t heard wrongly. “Ho-how did you know?” she stammered.

“Remember the day we got back from Horsca?” Fluttershy nodded, smiling as she remembered limping back home, to the warm welcome of her animal friends. “Well, you know that once we got back we all had a dinner together at that fancy restaurant Rarity picked out and paid for?”

Again, Fluttershy nodded. “I could never forget that night.”

“Neither can I,” Rainbow said, smiling. “Well anyway, I remember you drinking about four full glasses of wine, and after that I walked you back home. You didn’t sway about and there was certainly no sign of you being drunk in your eyes. I kept thinking about it for a long time after that, and I finally figured that you might be immune to the stuff.” She finished with a smug grin.

Fluttershy stared at her with surprise. ‘Wow. Never expected Rainbow Dash to figure something out before Twilight,’ she thought. “How come you never said anything earlier?” she enquired.

Rainbow shrugged. “Guess I didn’t want to sound like an egghead. And I was worried I would be wrong, then ponies might think I’m dumb,” she replied.

Fluttershy shook her head. “You are not dumb, Rainbow Dash; anypony that says you’re dumb are dumb themselves,” she said sternly. Her eyes widened as another thought came to her. “So you knew I was immune to alcohol, and yet you still challenged me to a drinking game?”

Rainbow wilted back as Fluttershy raised her voice. “Well, yeah, uh, but I–”

Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Why did you do that?” she yelled, snapping through Rainbow’s meagre defence. “You could have hurt yourself! You could have really made yourself ill; you did make yourself really ill!”

Rainbow smiled thinly, not daring to look at Fluttershy in her anger. “Totally worth it, though,” she said.

“What?” Fluttershy shrieked. “What’s worth damaging your own health?”

At last, Rainbow looked up with wide, friendly eyes. “Showing the truth on what everypony really thinks about you. For you to finally see what you have been missing for so long,” she answered.

In an instant, her anger faded away. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock, her mouth opening widely as her mind reeled from the revelation. She turned her head away from Rainbow and looked outside. “So you planned this? All of it? To make me see that nopony else cares about how I look, and they like me for who I am and what I have done?”

Though she didn’t see, Rainbow nodded. “Well, yeah, but I had a little bit of help, namely from Applejack and Pinkie Pie,” she responded. “We were all getting worried about you. You weren’t coming out as often as you used to, and you avoided Pinkie’s parties more often than not; and let me tell you, I never want to see Pinkie pouting again – it broke my heart. We wanted you know that nopony cared about your scars, and we– Whoa!” she cried as Fluttershy leapt off her chair and tackled Rainbow Dash in a hug, pushing the sofa and herself to the ground.

“Thank you, Dashie,” Fluttershy sniffled, trying hard to hold back tears of delight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you…” she repeated.

Rainbow smiled and wrapped her forelegs around her friend. “Hey now. What kind of awesome pony would I be if I left you here moping for ages?” she asked. “Not a very cool pony, that’s what.”

Fluttershy grinned, and then lifted her head off Rainbow’s chest. “You’re always a cool pony, Rainbow Dash. No matter what you’re doing. You even make crying look cool.”

Rainbow chuckled as Fluttershy fluttered off her, and hauled herself off the downed couch. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she said as she raised the sofa back onto its legs. “So uh, what else happened last night?” she asked as she set herself back down.

Fluttershy smiled warmly as the memories passed through her mind once more. She jumped up and turned towards the kitchen. “I’ll get us a cup of tea, and then I’ll tell you all about it.”

Later that night, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity and Spike sat around Fluttershy’s living room, laughing about the previous evening as they helped themselves to some of Applejack’s remaining cider.

“Gosh, I wish I was awake when Twilight tried to hit on both of you,” Rainbow said, chuckling as the image stayed glued in her head. “I don’t know whether to encourage Twi or stop her.”

Fluttershy blushed, while Rarity threw an apologetic look in Twilight’s and her direction. ‘Trust Rarity to let her know what really happened,’ she thought annoyingly, recalling the grimace she could feel across her face as Rarity blurted out Twilight’s ‘affections’ for Fluttershy. The Dragonlord threw a sympathetic look at the unicorn opposite her, who was blushing fiercely in embarrassment and covering her head with one of Fluttershy’s cushions, trying desperately to think of a spell that would get her to sink through the floor.

“I would have hoped you’d help to stop her,” Applejack said. “Not like Pinkie over there.”

“Hey, I’m not gonna stop ponies from having fun,” Pinkie retorted. “What kind of a party pony would I be if I did that?”

Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow raised an eyebrow perplexedly at the earth pony. “Well, darling, at least you can say that you had some practice,” Rarity said, turning to Twilight beside her with a comforting look.

“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy agreed, trying to soothe her. “I mean, whoever you’re going to go out with is going to be a really lucky pony. You are a great kisser!”

Six heads turned slowly towards Fluttershy, whose eyes widened in shock as she realised what she had said, and began to shrink into the floorboards, blushing profusely. “Um… that sounded fine in my head, but probably when spoken aloud then it kind of…” The Dragonlord’s voice trailed off as she couldn’t think of a defence. “Uh…”

The awkward silence remained for a long time, before five ponies and one dragon burst into laughter. Fluttershy blushed fiercely, but smiled warmly at her friends.

She smiled at her family.

Author's Note

The idea of Fluttershy (and Dragonlords in general) being immune to alcohol was inspired by the book 'The Last Dragonlord', where the main character, Linden Rathan, and his friend have a few drinks but Rathan can't get drunk anymore. And bascially the whole scene was written as a reference to the extended cut of the The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, where Legolas and Gimli have a drinking contest and, unsurprisingly, the elf wins. It was a scene that had been stuck in my head and just needed to be released and written, so here it is.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this little story.