My Timid Mind, Her Supporting Advice.
'I only have two problems with Twilight's new kingdom, really. One would be the immense glare of light it would reflect to the town. I squint each time I catch a glimpse of the castle, even from as far away as my own home. Ponies and critters might get dazed and confused by the crystal walls. Oh my, speaking of which, I sure hope Spike won't be munching away at the new building anytime soon, don't want the little guy to become that again...' The timid pegasus shrank and trembled at just the mere thought of her dragon friend once again growing into something that she fears above everything else.
The day oddly went by faster than Fluttershy expected. After everything they went through, though, it seemed like it was only still the hazy afternoon. The newly formed crystallized behemoth of a tower startled everyone when it first rose up from the library's remnants. Even now that the commotion has been settled, many were still intimidated by the sole size of the thing, especially her. Although now, she found herself staring at the castle, gazing from top to bottom, from it's entrance. The pegasus shook her head, turned the opposite direction and trotted, putting an idle smile on her face to flash for anyone who passed by her. 'It is getting a little bit late though, I should probably head back to tend to my friends. They were so lucky that that monster didn't lay a single hoof on them.' Fluttershy stopped in her tracks, as she formed a sorrowful expression, trying to dodge the thoughts of what Tirek could have horribly done to her animal friends. 'Those poor things, I should have left them something to eat before any of this happened, they must be hungry.' She hung her head and shook the gruesome images off as she continued trotting to her home. The animal caretaker suddenly popped her eyes wide, snapping a quickly formed grin on her face . 'Oh, of course! Discord! He should have already fed the-' Her train of thought came to a halt as she remembered the events of the day's morning, causing her to wallow in grief again.
'Right... Discord...'
She personally thought that she could have looked better for their picture together. 'Although I wouldn't complain as much as Rarity did about how she didn't look good enough in the photo.' Fluttershy thought to herself. She did however prefer to freshen up even a little before they snapped it, with all the morning's ruckus and all. 'Oh well...' She shrugged lightly and shook her head. They had taken another photo to store, another memento secured on paper, another memory that they will treasure forever. But then, Fluttershy still had a growing concern while everyone around her talked and laughed. '"To help the princess" Huh? ...an adviser... a title... for me.' She let out a silent squeak as tensed up while darting her eyes side to side. She had her own chair, presumably of royalty. 'I was a part of royalty.' Her eyes widened at the realization, deeply thinking over the worrying tasks that she was given. Figuring that she needed some time for herself, she slipped out from her friends' celebration unnoticed, being the pony who was Fluttershy, and leaving them for a minute with Pinkie's usual parties. She absentmindedly trotted for a while around the newly formed halls, when she bumped into someone, causing her to fumble and politely apologize, only to feel even more discomfort at the pony, or rather, creature, she bumped with.
"Oh... Hello Discord."
The God of Chaos gave a small wave and an awkward smile, a routine which Fluttershy knew well from him. She looked down as she grimaced at the memory of her morning imprisonment at the hands of the Draconequus, sighing silently. She then snapped her face back up to the creature, his mouth about to pour another wave of apologies. The mare anticipated it and placed a hoof in the air between them, prompting him to be quiet. The pegasus formed a sincere smile to him, wordlessly leaned on him, and wrapped her arms around his slim figure. Discord returned the gesture with a sincere grin that so far, only Fluttershy has been able to see.
"I'll make the cucumber sandwiches again, then..."
The pegasus simply giggled at him, gave a slight nod, and beamed back. "I'd love that."
Both of them have already recovered from their uncomfortable rift, sure enough, but she knew that the events earlier were very awkward subjects to bring up when both of them meet up once again. 'Well, that's another addition to the list of things to avoid talking about...' The mare rolled her eyes at the thought, knowing enough that she needed to keep the list open, for she anticipated that this wouldn't be the last of her friend's antics. However, she blamed herself for not being able to pull through to the Draconequus this time as well. The mare sincerely had put her trust in him wholeheartedly, thinking that their friendship would not let him sway back to evil again. Evidently, she was wrong. Although she didn't appreciate what her friend did, Fluttershy partly thanked Discord for making her realize the long road ahead needed to be traveled for their friendship to strengthen, and in turn, making them better friends.
After a few further blocks from the castle, she sank back into her previous train of thought. 'Secondly though... being part of royalty to serve the princess, huh? I certainly didn't expect that to happen anytime soon, not to imagine today.' She reached the central rotunda of the Ponyville park, deciding to sit on one of the benches and take a short break to reflect. 'Well, it's not like defeating bad guys are anything odd anymore. I should have known this would somehow eventually happen from the moment I joined Twilight to defeat Nightmare Moon...' Fluttershy let out a heavy huff, rubbing her temples with one of her hooves.
The mare scanned the park in it's hazy, orange hued surroundings, the cold settling in sooner than she thought. To her amazement, Celestia's dipping of the heavenly body can be perfectly seen from where she was sitting. She looked carefully once again and found the animals around her settling down to their homes, each creature singing their own respective lull to their brood. The yellow mare, being a critter pony that she was, always found joy and comfort to the creatures' calls, from the simple tweet of her bird friends to the jovial roar of Mr. Bear. She closed her eyes as she took in the music of the creatures around her preparing for Luna's night and smiled at the comforting sounds that slowly died down.
"Ya left yer slice of the cake, sugarcube."
Fluttershy slowly lifted her eyes open and looked around, confused. She was almost certain that she heard-
"Over here, 'Shy."
Fluttershy blinked and traced a waving hoof to it's respective cause. She mentally facehoofed for not noticing the farmer. 'Although her coat does blend in with the sunset.' She gave Applejack a smile that was both warm and apologetic.
"Mind if ah sit next to ya?" As quickly as her friend inquired, the timid mare gave a quick nod. Applejack complied, sitting down next to her while taking out a slice of cake from the saddlebag the farmer was wearing. "Pinkie wanted ya to have it. She didn't give it to ya in person 'cause she stayed back to help clean up, so she asked me to give it to ya." Applejack offered the plate with a slice of cake on top to Fluttershy.
"Oh, sorry for that." She replied by giving a small, awkward smile, but took the slice nonetheless. "Thank you, Applejack." The pegasus took small bites from it and giggled. 'Pinkie, your sweets are as good as always. How do you do it?'
"Ya don't need to be sorry fer anythin'. I should be the one apologizin' fer disturbin' yer peacefulness 'ere." The earth pony chuckled lightly, looking around. "It really does look amazin'."
Fluttershy gave a nod, still smiling as she looked at her friend, then turned to view the last few rays of sunlight as the sun disappeared over the horizon, leaving their surroundings to slowly morph into the familiar blue coolness of the night. It seemed that her friend waited for her to finish, as nature's sound took over the two while she ate. She then noticed Applejack's slight discomfort throughout. Knowing the farmer, she had something on her mind to share.
"Is there something wrong, Applejack?"
The mare beside her gave out a shaky laugh and shook her head. "Ah think we both know what's wrong, sugarcube." She found Applejack's face looking at hers with a sad smile, then was slowly turned back from her.
"Ya didn't join the party with the others."
Fluttershy mentally got stung at what her friend said, placing a frown on her mouth. 'It was really shameful to just slip out of Pinkie's party like that. She worked hard for that. I should have stayed.' She felt guilt sinking in as her eyesight blurred. "I-I'm sorry, Applejack. I just had a lot on my mind. Then, I bumped into D-Discord and we talked about what happened for a while. T-Then-" Her words were cut off by an orange hoof placed gently on her mouth, then it proceeded to wipe her flowing tears.
"Ah wasn't talkin' 'bout that, Fluttershy." The farmer looked at her with a smirk. "Ah kinda excused myself out from them to do some thinkin' myself too, ya know." She assured the pegasus. Applejack then looked up to the stars that were slowly forming on the blanket of the dark sky. "What ah meant was, yer not the only one havin' trouble adjustin'." She looked back down to the ground, biting the bottom of her lip. "Ah can see the same in you, sugarcube."
Fluttershy had kept silent as she looked at Applejack with an unreadable expression. 'Does she really know what I'm thinking about?' Although she knew that the apple farmer had the ability to spot these kinds of problems. Lost in thought, she simply kept her stare at her friend, silence reigning the air between the two.
Applejack, on the other hand, took this as a gesture to continue on. "This day went by in a blink. Everyone barely had time ta' even think 'bout what happened before it was over. Although what's done is done, don't cha' agree?" She nodded to her own words, looked straight to the now empty horizon and continued. "Twi' can sure work around a pinch though, huh? That gal's always gettin' us into these situations." She chuckled lightly which hinted, as Fluttershy thought anyways, a certain bitterness to it. "But ya know what?" She paused for a while to look at the pegasus. "I don't regret anythin'." She shook her head lightly. "I'm glad that I got to know ya'll more." She flashed her humble smile towards her friend.
"I'm glad that I could call ya'll mah friends."
Fluttershy smiled at that. It was true. They knew each other even before Twilight came by, but they were merely just ponies who were trying to be friendly to each other. But now, they were the representatives of friendship itself. Looking back, she acknowledged that she didn't really regret making them her friends. It was really fun hanging around them too, either going to dangerous adventures or having simple everyday conversations. To her, it felt good to have friends like them, in the addition to the animals that were already in her care.
Applejack had more to say and thus went on. "This might surprise ya, but even ah think that buckin' apples all day could get tirin'." Applejack let out a hearty laugh. "Although fightin' dragons didn't ever cross mah mind as somethin' ah would do 'till ya'll came along." She flashed a grin at the thought. "Ah also never would've even dreamed of attendin' events in Canterlot like the Grand Galloping Gala, nor to attend a royal wedding. Imagine me in one of them fancy things. Oh wait" Applejack gave out another chuckle, which Fluttershy laughed along to. "Ah wouldn't have thought that we would be savin' Equestria every now and then, too." She shivered at a chilling thought that struck her. "Well, they weren't really pleasant encounters, were they?" She gave a frown to the pegasus, but then formed a sly smirk and nudged her with her hoof. "Although, gotta give ya credit, 'Shy. Ah didn't think that ol' Discord needed ta' use force on ya."
Fluttershy grimaced at the farmer for a moment, to which Applejack acknowledged, quickly backed off, and wore an apologetic look. She listed that as one of the things to avoid talking about, although she knew it wouldn't have stayed unmentioned for too long. She instead just sighed and wore a sincere smile. "Don't worry, he uses his claws for comfortable hugs now." Giggling a little at the end of the sentence.
The farmer's laughter could have well awoken the already sleeping critters around them. "Well, that's pretty true." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Although I ain't warmin' to the idea of huggin' him anytime soon." Applejack smirked as she picked up where she left off. "Anyways, as ah was sayin'..." She raised her eyebrow, thinking. "Heck, ah didn't even know what a Changeling was until we kicked the buck outta' them!" The farmer mimicked her fighting stances she used during the invasion with a smirk, to which the shy pony shrank in response. Applejack smiled sheepishly and retreated to recline on the seat.
"Ah also learned a lot from ya'll, and ah realize that ah haven't really thanked ya'll proper." She held a small grin as she idly looked down again. "And after all the things that we've been through together as friends... here we all are." Applejack took off her stetson and placed it beside her as she looked directly at her friend, beaming.
Fluttershy locked her gaze on the apple bucker. 'It's true. I learned so many things about myself and my friends, alone or altogether. Before all this, I was just the animal caretaker who was too shy to even make a peep towards other ponies. But now, with the help of my friends, I could stand in front of others and do one of the things I loved to do: Sing.' She admitted to herself that it has been quite the journey for herself ever since she met her friends, and for that she couldn't thank them enough. Fluttershy flashed a gentle grin, finally realizing Applejack's clear cut message towards her, allowing her friend to continue nonetheless.
"Now, ah gotta ask: What's so different about everythin' we've been through from what we're facin' now?"
The pegasus had, in fact, many things that she considered different about the situation, but she knew that it would not even matter anymore. She already knew that she didn't need to try and wiggle out of this, because now she was fully aware that this new position of hers wasn't anything new at all. She had similarly been nervous about being other things she thought she wasn't cut out for either: The bearer of the Element of Kindness, A fashion model, A pseudo superhero, A quintet singer, and more. She smiled at how silly she was for even worrying about such things. Fluttershy proved to herself that she can face all the problems she was presented with head on.
And it was all thanks to her friends.
She turned her body towards her friend and leaned in for a hug, which did not meet any resistance from the other mare. She sighed in content as she pressed in the grip.
"Nothing's different after all, Applejack. Thank you."
Applejack returned the gesture, chuckling. "Thank ya too, Fluttershy. Without the things that you and the others did fer me, ah wouldn't have the right to call ya'll my very best friends." The farmer suddenly choking her words.
'Wow, this might have been the first time I've seen Applejack tear up like this, let alone...cry.' She shook her head and giggled as she let her own tears flow out, still hugging her friend. "Thanks for comforting me this morning, Applejack." She buried herself deeper in their embrace.
"N-Now, none of that, ya hear? Yer welcome fer that, s-sugarcube, but what's happened, happened." Applejack cleared her throat as she poorly masked her sobbing and pulled out of the pegasus' hooves. "Besides, we best be headin' back. It's gettin' awfully late and ah wouldn't w-want ta hold ya up from yer critter friends." She nodded firmly to the yellow mare as she placed her hat back to it's rightful position, equipped her saddlebags, and got up.
"Applejack, I thought we needed to be honest to ourselves?" Fluttershy smiled jokingly as she got up from the bench too while looking at her friend with teary eyes.
"Well, 'Shy, ah think a little k-kindness would help bring the truth out." Applejack let out a shaky chuckle as she wiped her tears. She looked back towards her friend and sported a smile.
Fluttershy nodded and smiled back. After the exchange, both of them expressed their farewells with one last heartwarming hug and then headed off their own way.
'Ah guess...'
'I guess...'
'... friendship really is magic, after all.'
Author's Note
It has been quite the journey, guys. The goal of this piece is to reflect what all of us, both the characters and the community, achieved throughout the run time of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I want to thank this awesome community for having the perseverance to stand up through the mainstream social norms and establishing a culture that is generally following through it's main theme: Love and Tolerance.
I would appreciate it if everyone who reads this avoids the shipping for a while because, no, I did not intend this to be more than two friends appreciating each other's company and understanding their similar situations.
And now, back to your regular comedy:
