“Fluttershy how could you? How could you just leave me here alone?”
The rainbow pegasus tightly gripped the cloud she was on, burying her face in its wispy surface. She kept her cool for as long as possible until she just couldn’t anymore. A stream of salty tears finally erupted from her eyes and she buried her face deeper and deeper into the cloud as choking gasps overtook her. It had been two weeks since the accident and the agonizing pain still flooded through her like the moment it had happened.
“This is all your fault! None of this would have happened if it weren’t for you!” Rainbow Dash spat at the image of the honey colored pegasus in her mind, “I wouldn’t know this pain!”
She broke down in a fit of tears again as she huddled into the cloud that was slowly drifting her back to her home. All those times with Fluttershy, all those wonderful moments together, they would never have another one. The two pegasi used to sit out on a tiny cloud together and watch the sunset every night. It didn’t matter what the other was doing, every night they would find each other in the darkening sky and huddle together as the day grew colder in expectation of the night. They would watch for hours as the world went down before gazing into each other’s eyes in the bleak light between night and day, watching as their reality continued to unfold around them. Never
again. The world seemed like an emptier place all of a sudden, a darker place.
Dash was lost in grief when her head gently nudged against something. She looked up with bloodshot eyes and tearstained cheeks at her home nestled in the clouds. With an exasperated groan she dragged herself inside, her rainbow tail drooping behind her. Managing to make it a few steps inside, she finally collapsed onto the floor with a heavy sigh that threatened to morph into a sob at any moment.
“It’s okay Dash,” a comforting voice came from the door. She turned her attention to see all of her friends there, each with a sympathetic smile. All of her friends but one.
“Hey what are you guys doing here?” Dash tried to control the quivering in her voice as she ran her hoof under her cheeks to brush away the fresh tears that had begun trickling down her face.
“We’re here to make sure you’re okay. It’s been two weeks and you still seem distant.” Applejack explained as all of them cantered in to sit by their friend’s side.
“Thanks guys but I don’t need your help.” she tried to sound strong.
“It doesn’t sound like you don’t need our help.” Pinkie said blatantly.
Dash glared at the ignorance of the pink earth pony for a few moments who in return only tilted her head curiously.
“Seriously, thank you guys but I’m doing just fine.”
“You know it wasn’t your fault, it was just an accident.” Twilight explained. “There is nothing you could’ve done.”
“I know that! I don’t blame myself! Just leave me alone!” the pegasus snapped.
“Don’t be so coy darling. We all hurt sometimes. We’re all here to help you through this.” Rarity tried to reason with her.
“You don’t understand! You weren’t there! You didn’t see it happen! You didn’t watch the flicker of life fade from her eyes as she went limp! None of you know what it’s like!”
The room was silent for several moments as everypony took in the pegasus’s words.
“You’re right,” Twilight finally spoke, “we don’t know what it’s like, but we’re all here to make sure you don’t have to deal with it alone.”
“Thank you again everypony but I just want to be alone right now.” she looked to each of her friends before motioning to the door.
“I understand sugarcube. Let us know if you need anything.” said Applejack as she and the rest of their friends headed back out the door where Pinkie’s balloon idled by the edge of the clouds. The rainbow pegasus watched as her friends all climbed into the balloon one by one and sailed down through the air back to their homes. Back to their normal lives as if nothing had happened.
The funeral was tomorrow. That’s all she had to do was make it one more day and maybe then she would be strong enough to move on. She let out a long drawn out sigh before burying her face in her hooves again.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
The funeral came faster than expected. Everypony from both Ponyville and Cloudsdale was lined up waiting for the procession to start, most with sullen faces aimed towards the ground. Dash stood at the front of the crowd with her friends as they waited patiently for the wooden coffin to pass. She couldn’t help but flinch as the wooden
casket adorned with three pink butterflies passed by her.
“Fluttershy was an inspiration to us all,” Applejack began as she stood next to the coffin, “and I believe that we should all be thankful for knowing her. I don’t think a single one of us ever went without knowing her kindness or generosity in some way. She was indeed the element of kindness, it was her kindness that touched each one of us here today and made the world a brighter place. Thank ya’ll for coming out.” The tan earth pony nodded at Twilight
before shuffling back to the crowd. The purple unicorn stepped up to the crowd with a small note sheet prepared.
“Let us not look to this day as dark and depressing. Today is a day of celebration, a celebration of life and knowing
such a sweet pegasus. Today is a day to be thankful for being moved by the element of kindness. Let’s use this time to reflect on all the great memories that we’ve shared.”
The crowd was silent for several moments. Most had their heads down while they remembered the pink maned pegasus. A soft chuckle could be heard from a few as they recalled the fond memories while the sound of heavy tears striking the floor came from others. A young foal suddenly cried out, bawling as its mother quickly tried to shush it. The room grew more disheartened as everypony once again realized the gravity of losing the yellow mare.
“Thank you.” finished Twilight stepping back down into the crowd. Pinkie immediately stepped up next, keeping her eyes focused on the ground in front of her instead of the crowd.
“I remember the times we would all get together and have pet play times in the park,” she gave a forced smile as she looked to each of her friends who nodded in turn before directing her attention to the downcast rabbit before the coffin. “Fluttershy used to bring a different pet every time. We all used to laugh and keep asking her how many pets she had.” A few forced laughs came from the crowd. “She always brought Angel though. Angel was always with
her.”
The rabbit at the coffin looked up at the pink mare with watery eyes before stretching his paw out delicately and running it across the hard wood of the casket. A single tear ran down Pinkie’s face as she watched Angel.
“And…” Pinkie tried to begin again. She bit down as her lips began to quiver and she quickly rushed down before her sobs could be heard by the crowd.
“Fluttershy was a good friend,” Rarity stepped up to draw the crowd’s attention, “she was always there for us no matter how terrifying it was for her. Sure there were some instances where we had to persuade her more than usual.” The fashionista pony smiled to her friends. “But in the end, she was always there for us. She was one I can truly be proud to call my friend and I will always remember her. Rainbow Dash, would you like to say a few words?”
Dash trembled as she stepped forward. Would she be able to say anything without bursting into tears? She had to be strong, if not for herself then for her friends’ sake. Fluttershy deserved the best speech she could give.
“Uh… Hi. I’m um Rainbow Dash and I knew Fluttershy really well. We uh… Well we went to flight school together and we uh… we are both pegasi, well we were… I mean I still am but… aaghh.” Dash groaned as she felt the embarrassment seeping in from the crowd. She looked to each of her friends for help but they knew as well as she did that she needed to do this on her own.
“You know what?” she finally said. “All you need to know is that Fluttershy was a great pegasus. She was the nicest pony you could ever meet and one of the best friends you could ever have. She was always there for everypony no matter what and I just hope that wherever she is now, that she’s getting all the love and care that she deserves. Someday we’ll meet again. I miss you buddy.” With that the rainbow pegasus gave a nod to the coffin before standing back with her friends.
Tears streamed from the white rabbit as he watched the casket slowly being lowered into the ground. He sniffed and held out his paw to touch the casket one last time but it fell too fast and he watched as the only friend he had ever known was buried under six feet of dirt.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Come on Dash! You have to come out sometime!” Twilight stood before the rainbow pegasus’s cloud house, periodically knocking on the fluffy white door. “Get out here! Let’s go do something! You’ve been crammed inside for
weeks!”
“Leave me alone.” came a groan from inside.
“I’m just trying to help. Now come on, I’ll take you out to lunch or something.”
“No.”
Twilight sighed to herself, she was sick of coming by every day. If Dash really wanted to be alone then so be it. With a flutter of the gossamer wings she had conjured for herself, the purple unicorn made her way back to her library, alighting down just inside.
“Hmm.” Twilight mused to herself while looking around the room. “I bet I can get some of those old musty books from the backs of the shelves with these wings.” A quick flitter of her wings and the unicorn was quickly overhead looking down on the room.
“What’s this?” she asked pulling up a book from the top of a shelf that had been coated with several layers of dust. She had never seen this book before, it looked old. Older than anything else she had. Skimming through it quickly she discovered that half of it wasn’t legible from what looked to be water damage.
“How to bring back the dead. A simple spell to say your last farewells to a loved one before they make the journey into the afterlife.” Read Twilight from a random page. “Maybe this will give Dash the closure she needs.”
“This spell is meant for ponies who have passed away recently,” she read on. “It may bring them back for a week and no more. Be warned that if a pony stays alive for more than a week then they may miss their journey to the afterlife and will stay in Equestria forever.” The rest of the page was tattered and wrinkled to the point where she couldn’t read anymore.
“Well that seems pretty simple,” she said to herself throwing the book into her saddlebag and making the journey once again to Rainbow Dash’s house.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“So you’re saying this will bring Fluttershy back, but only for a week?” asked Dash skeptically after much convincing from Twilight to let her in.
“That’s what it says,” replied Twilight.
“Well let’s do this then!”
“Hold on. Are you sure you want to do this? One week and that’s it, you get no more. She’s gone after that.”
Dash was silent for a few moments while she considered the situation.
“Yes. Yes I’m sure.” She finally said.
“Alright then, we can do it tonight. All we need to do is dig her up and chant these words.”
The day dragged on for what seemed like eternity to Dash. There were several times she considered marching straight up to Princess Celestia or Luna and telling them to bring the night sooner. Finally the moon rose in the sky and she rushed to Fluttershy’s grave where she saw Twilight was already waiting for her.
“I knew you’d be here early,” said Twilight motioning to the pair of shovels she had brought. They quickly got to work digging up the casket, finally unearthing the heavy frame in the low light of the moon. Twilight began chanting the words as soon as the coffin was above ground. Instantly, an eerie wind picked up around the two mares as Dash eagerly waited for something to happen in the coffin. The whole ritual only lasted a few seconds before the wind suddenly died down and Twilight nodded at the pegasus to open the coffin. Dash hesitated before prying the lid open and looking down onto the still unmoving body of their friend.
“It didn’t wor-“ her words were cut short as the pegasus in the coffin leapt up gasping for air, startling the two mares.
“FLUTTERSHY!” Dash squealed as she pranced over to her friend and wrapped her in a tight embrace.
“Wha? What’s going on? Twilight? Dash? Where am I? Why am I in this coffin?” the yellow pegasus stammered.
“You were in a terrible accident. You were crushed by a tree while trying to save a family of squirrels. But it’s okay, everything is okay now!” Dash hugged her friend tighter.
“Oh,” Fluttershy replied, a worried look suddenly coming over her. “Are the squirrels okay?”
Twilight and Dash both smiled at each other before laughing and embracing their friend again.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“So what was it like being dead?” Dash asked the next day. The question had been bugging her ever since they had brought their friend back but she didn’t quite know the best way to phrase it.
“Well it was really cold and lonely, but every day it seemed like it was getting warmer. It was also really dark, you couldn’t see anything except a pinpoint light in the distance. Except it wasn’t really in the distance, it was one of those things where it didn’t matter how far you travelled; the light would still look the same. I don’t know, it was strange.”
“I bet,” nodded Rainbow Dash. “So what do you want to do today?”
“Well I would like to go see Angel and make sure the rest of the animals are doing okay without me.” Fluttershy looked down and scratched the floor of Dash’s home as she spoke.
“Oh of course! Yeah I’m sure they’ve been missing you. Go ahead and go see them.”
“Thanks. I hope you didn’t want to do anything with me so soon.”
“Oh no! Of course not, you go ahead and go see all your animal friends and then we can hang out later.” Dash sighed as she watched her friend flash a smile and walk out the door.
To Dash’s dismay, Fluttershy was gone the rest of the day, arriving late in the night.
“Where have you been?” the rainbow pegasus’s voice a mix between frustration and concern.
“Oh, I’m sorry, the animals were all so happy to see me and they didn’t want me to leave. I hope we can still do something tomorrow.”
Dash smiled realizing how much she had missed the awkward apologies of her friend.
“Of course we can.”
The next day came with an explosion at Dash’s front door as Twilight and all their friends filed in.
“Is it true? Is Fluttershy really alive?” Rarity looked about the room curiously.
“Yes she is, and here she is now!” boasted Twilight pointing a hoof at the pink haired mare who sleepily stepped into the room.
“Oh dear, we missed you so much!” exclaimed Rarity galloping over to her.
“Yeah I’ve gotten that a lot,” replied Fluttershy dryly.
“Darling? Are you okay? You seem a bit… off.”
“Yeah! Your hair is darker! Are you using some kind of new conditioner! Or are you sick? That would be awful if you
were sick on the one week you get left to live! I hope you’re not sick!” Pinkie bounced across the room blurting out
whatever came to mind.
“I’m fine.”
“Oh okay! I was just making sure because you do seem a little different and I don’t know what it is. Do you know what it is? Maybe Twilight knows what it is. She is the one who brought you back after all.”
“Will someone shut her up?” Fluttershy spat.
“Fluttershy! That’s not like you.” Applejack stepped forward hesitantly.
“I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” the yellow pegasus looked around the room with a quizzical expression.
“It’s okay dear, I’m sure you’ve just been under a lot of stress since you got back.”
“Anyway, we were hoping we could spend the day with you!” Twilight chimed in.
“Yeah sure, as long as it’s okay with Dash.” Fluttershy glanced at her friend in the corner who had remained silent the entire time.
“Me? Uh oh yeah, that’s fine. We’ll hang out tomorrow.” Dash forced a smile for her friends. The five mares squealed and rushed out the door together, leaving the rainbow pegasus alone in her home once again. “I guess I didn’t really want to go anyway.” Dash sighed as she dropped her head and trudged back to her room to sleep the rest of the day.
Fluttershy once again arrived late that night. Dash didn’t even bother to ask why she was so late again. It was safe to assume it was for the same reasons as last time.
“You and me! This is our day together! We’re going to go out and do all kinds of fun stuff! I have the whole day planned out, but first let’s grab some food. I’m starving!” Dash pranced about the room after eagerly waiting all morning for her friend to wake up.
“Sorry Dash, Rarity invited me to have cupcakes with her over in Canterlot. You can join us if you like.”
“But this was supposed to be our day together. It was just supposed to be me and you.”
“Another time.” Fluttershy replied simply before strolling out the door and soaring away into the distance.
“Oh. Okay.” Dash trudged back to her bedroom, her rainbow tail dragging along the ground behind her.
Fluttershy returned earlier than usual that night. Dash saw her friend’s silhouette shifting across the room slowly as if she were hurt.
“Are you okay?” asked Dash.
“Of course I’m okay!” Fluttershy snapped.
“I was just asking…”
The shadowed figure gave a grunt before replying. “I’m going to go stay at home for a little while.”
“But…” Dash tried to reach out to her friend but the honey colored pegasus was already gone. “That was strange,” she said to herself before returning to bed.
Dash awoke the next morning to find tiny white flakes sprinkled about the room. “What are these things?” she asked poking one of the flakes around with her hoof. Upon further investigation she realized they were skin flakes. “What’s happening to her?”
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Several days passed and Dash was beginning to worry. Fluttershy should’ve been back by now. After all, they hadn’t spent their day together yet and it was getting close to being a week since they brought her back. Growing anxious as the notion of time started to press in on her, the rainbow pegasus quickly flew down to Fluttershy’s. The day was just ending and night was rapidly taking the vast sky, yet the yellow pegasus’s windows were still dark.
“Fluttershy? Are you here?” Dash called out to the empty room as she pushed the door open with her hoof. The door creaked loudly as it rattled on the hinges and every step she took brought a shrill screech from the floorboards. At least nothing could sneak up on her. The rainbow pegasus studied the room for any signs of her friend. The tables and chairs had all been thrown to the ground and every picture seemed to be broken on the floor or tilted across the wall. She reached for the light switch but it remained dark as the faint click resonated about the empty room.
“Fluttershy?” she called out again, her words echoing off every corner of the house. “OW! What the –“ blood trickled down her hoof as she examined the shard of glass that had lodged itself in her flesh. Gripping it in her teeth, she managed to shimmy the clear shard out just as something rattled behind her.
“Fluttershy? Angel?” The room was silent. Squinting, the rainbow pegasus quickly scanned the room again. It was getting darker every second and her eyes were having trouble adjusting to the low light. “I know somepony is there. Show yourself!” A rustling came from the hallway just beyond the room. Dash stepped carefully across the room to where the rustle came from, every squeak of the floorboards giving away her position. The hallway was even darker than the room and Dash gave her eyes a moment to adjust before stepping through the doorway. The corridor was completely empty except for a dark shape huddled on the opposite end.
“Hey,” Dash spoke in a calm soothing voice as she approached the huddled mass, “how are you doing? I haven’t seen you in a while. How about we leave this dreary old place and come back to my house?” Dash finally noticed that the shape she was talking to was a blanket draped over something trembling. “No need to be scared…” Dash quickly snatched the blanket and pulled it back, a bloodcurdling shriek consuming the room. A tiny dark shape darted towards the corner and trembled as it realized it was trapped. “Angel? What are you doing?” Dash asked the terrified rabbit who continued to shake and retreat further into the corner.
“It’s okay. It’s just m –“ her words were cut off as she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Dash watched as Angel’s eyes grew wider and he pressed himself harder into the corner. Horrific images flooded the pegasus’s mind as she saw the terror in the rabbit’s eyes.
“GET BACK!” Dash screamed at the top of her lungs while lashing out behind her with her hooves. There was nothing there. The hallway and the room beyond were still empty. She turned back to check on Angel but the little rabbit was gone. “What the –“ the rainbow pegasus blinked several times to make sure she was still awake. Stepping back out into the room, she scanned it one last time before deciding her friend wasn’t there. As she approached
the door she heard a raspy voice coming from behind her.
“Hello? Fluttershy? Are you there?” Dash called out again.
“Leave me be.”
“Fluttershy? Is that you?”
“Give me peace. Let me go.”
“This isn’t funny. Angel? Whoever is doing this needs to stop.”
“The grave. Let me go. Leave me be.”
“Fluttershy? I can help you. Just tell me where you are.” No matter how she turned the voice always seemed to come from behind her. “Seriously Fluttershy, I need to know that you’re okay.”
“Leave. Me. Be.”
Dash finally turned to see the figure of the pegasus standing at the doorway of the corridor where Angel had been.
“There you are. What are you doi –“
“Let me GOOOO,” the figure gave a ghostly wail, darkness emanating from her mouth as her jaw unhinged to an impossible length and she lunged for the rainbow pegasus.
“Fluttershy don’t! Please!” Dash screamed as she ducked under the specter, covering her head with her hooves. She watched as her friend’s full features came into focus. Dead skin and rotting flesh hung off the pegasus’s body. Her eyes looked as if they had rotted out of her skull and only black grime and pus remained. The only thing Dash could think about was getting out of there and staying alive when the figure suddenly vanished above her. It was as if the moment the ghostly pegasus had passed over her she had disappeared. Dash was out the door without a second thought, rushing to Twilight’s library. There was no way she was spending tonight alone.
“Dash, what happened to your hoof?” Twilight asked the panting pegasus who had burst through her door moments ago and was now barricading it with everything she could find.
“It’s Fluttershy! There’s something wrong! We have to get help! We have to do something!”
“Calm down Dash, tell me what happened. Slowly.”
“I was at Fluttershy’s and she’s turned into some kind of monster! She tried to kill me! We have to do something
Twilight!” Dash continued to blurt out everything that happened.
“Okay okay, I’ll get it under control. Just calm down, everything will be all right.” Twilight levitated the musty book over to her and began reading.
“We just have to tell her she can rest now,” spoke Twilight after several moments.
“That’s it? That seems easy enough.”
“Well yeah, except it says here that at this point she may not make it back to the afterlife.”
“What do you mean? I thought we had a week?”
“Well we had a week maximum until she wouldn’t be able to go back. For some ponies it takes longer than others.”
“You mean we could be stuck with her forever?!”
“Let’s just hope we’re not too late.”
“But what’ll happen if we are stuck with her fore –“
As if in answer to her question, the front door gave a massive groan before shattering inwards and throwing splintered wood across the room.
“Dash! Tell her she can rest! You’re the only one holding her here!” Twilight yelled over the wind that was howling through the room.
“But… I haven’t gotten to spend any time with her! I haven’t gotten to say goodbye yet!” Dash yelled back over the wind.
“Does it matter?! She’s not the same! Just let her go so we can all live on!”
“It matters to me!” Tears started to run down her cheeks and get caught up in the wind as she searched the room for the yellow pegasus. “Fluttershy! Don’t do this! Don’t do this to us! Don’t do this to me!”
The pink maned pegasus suddenly appeared before her. Lightning cracked outside and the wind continued to scream and howl about the room. The yellow pegasus’s hair remained unnaturally motionless, unaffected by anything going on around her.
“Why are you doing this?! I thought we were your friends!”
“Let me go.”
“I… I can’t! Please! Fluttershy! I want to be with you!” More and more tears rolled down her cheeks as she cried out to her friend.
“Let me go.”
“I can’t Fluttershy! I can’t! I just can’t! Don’t do this to me! Don’t leave me again!”
“Let me go.”
”No! Fluttershy listen! We can work this out! Everything can go back to normal!”
“Leave me be.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this! We can still be together! Just you and me!”
“Let me go.”
“Please no! Fluttershy!”
“Leave me be.”
“Why can’t we just be toge-“
“Let me go.”
“Fine! Is that the way you want it?! Just leave me here alone! GO! Go back to the peace of your grave then!”
The howling of the wind suddenly stopped and a blinding light took the room. Both Dash and Twilight blinked as they looked around after the light had vanished. The door was still intact and the books were still on the shelves. It was as if nothing had happened. The rainbow pegasus broke down in the center of the room, burying her face in her hooves as sob after sob rattled her body. Twilight walked over, resting a caring hoof on her friend’s shoulder as they both realized their friend was gone for good this time.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
The rainbow pegasus sat alone on the cloud as she watched the auburn sun set in the distance. A cool breeze blew her multicolored bangs back above her eyes as she took in a long, deep breath before letting it stagger out a few moments later. It was always so peaceful watching the sun go down. She could forget all her troubles and watch the full spectrum of light pass through the sky as everything reverted back to its natural darkness. She watched as the horizon became a luminescent yellow before shifting into a vivid tinge of pink, a single tear rolling down her cheek and burying itself in the cloud beneath her as she let out a heavy sigh. With a loud sniff, she quickly regained her composure before looking back out to the sunset. The sky was now a deep red and she could just barely make out something shimmering on the cloud next to her. It was almost indistinguishable in the light of the sunset, but the outline of her friend was there with her. “I miss you,” Dash whispered reaching out her hoof, but the shimmer was already gone.
