'Fluttershy can hardly fly!'
Fluttershy was flying high in Cloudsdale, looking for Rainbow Dash when she felt a push on her back. She felt the dirt road as she hit the hard ground. "Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!" A cruel voice from above in the clouds called out. Ever since she had been in flight school they mocked her and even now they bullied her into submission. Laughter echoed through the crowd of ponies walking along the road. Fluttershy heard the voices ringing in her ears. Terrified, she lifted her aching head to see what was going on. She was met by the cold glares of unsympathetic ponies, all of which were laughing. "What ever is the matter, Fluttershy?" The grey pegasus, Cloudkicker taunted, "Did your wimpy wings fail again!"
Fluttershy began to cry. She turned to see a violet mare galloping up to her. "FLUTTERSHY!" Twilight Sparkle called out to her, "I saw you fall are you alright?" As Fluttershy cowered on the ground she sobbed quietly. She tried to utter a few words but her tears choked her so her reply was muffled; "S-So-Someb-body pushed me out of the s-sky." Twilight Sparkle looked up at Cloudsdale and saw the black pegasus; Thunderlane sniggering at Fluttershy.
Twilight turned back to her wounded friend. "Oh my goodness," she gasped as she inspected her friends various injuries, "Do you feel hurt?" At first she thought that all the wounds were just bruises but as she looked closer she saw scars, grazes and even blood. "K-Kind of, Why?" Fluttershy stuttered anxiously. Twilight could only stare as she saw the huge, bleeding, cuts on Fluttershy's wings. "We need to get you to Ponyville Hospital to see Nurse Redheart."
Twilight Sparkle sighed whilst gently tugging on the gold, mare's hooves to help her up from off the ground. "Oh what's the matter, wimp?" Thunderlane yelled down at Fluttershy, "Can't get up without mummies help?" Fluttershy hid her bruised head behind her matted, pink fringe. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Fluttershy wailed as she dashed back to her house. Yellow feathers covered in crimson lined the ground where she had crash-landed. "FLUTTERSHY WAIT!" Twilight cried as she sped down the road, following the trail of feathers.
*****
"I c-can't live here any more!" Fluttershy sobbed to a nearby bunny as she began to pack her bags.
"Quack!" One of the ducks in the group of animals squawked.
"I know Miss Webberfoot," Fluttershy sniffed as she filled the last of her bags, "I'll miss you all too." The crowd of animals grew bigger and bigger as yet more of Fluttershy's creature friends came to say their farewells. The humming birds that had been washing the blood off her wings with a warm towel stopped as she closed the final bag. The blood was gone but her wings still felt vulnerable and ached every time she tried to move them. She knew it would be days before she would be able to fly again. She rubbed the bandages that covered her wounds and began to pull them off. Even though it stung the injuries were mostly healed.
The red squirrel by her hooves chattered. "My friends?" Fluttershy paused and sighed as she pulled off the final bandage. "They will find someone much better to replace me." Fluttershy grabbed the bags and put on her cloak. "Before I came to Ponyville I found a cottage in the countryside for sale." She wrote a quick letter for Twilight, removed her element of harmony from a chest in her room and left them both on her bed. "I phoned the landlord earlier and hopefully I can move in." The animals moved to the side as their friend walked past and out of the cottage.
"FLUTTERSHY!" Twilight shouted as she dashed into the cottage. She saw the weeping animals and gasped. The element of harmony and the letter attracted Twilight's attention. She pushed he way through the crowd of distraught animals towards the bed. She picked up the letter with her sweaty hooves and began to read.
'Dear Twilight, please excuse my writing. I can't stop my hooves from shaking. I wish I could take you and all the others with me to my new house but I think you wont miss me. I understand that you might be worried about the elements of harmony being separated but I am sure you can find a new friend to replace me and wield the element of kindness. I know that it's quite a sudden move but I need to get away from the bullies. I can't take the pain any more so I have decided to move far away in the countryside. I won't tell you where because you might try to take me back to Ponyville. All I can say is that I'm still in Equestria and I'll be fine. The wounds are mostly healed but my wings are still weak so you wont find me in the sky. I wish I could say goodbye to all of you, friends but it would be too hard... And she left off there.
"Fluttershy," Twilight gasped as she dropped the letter and began to cry, "We will never be able to replace you." She dragged herself out of the abandoned cottage, tears stinging her eyes. As she walked into her house she could do nothing but weep. "FLUTTERSHY!" She screamed into the air...
*****
Two hours ago, Fluttershy had begun to head home from her visit to the market. It was midnight, and the cold breeze started to blow harder as the night raged on. She had been walking for hours. The wounds had fully healed now and she was able to fly but she was so tired she could barely hover. Not only was it a long walk to her house from the market, but living in the country side meant she barely had any visitors, except for her landlord.
When she finally got home, Fluttershy walked into her cottage and sighed, she dropped her shopping on her kitchen table, to exhausted to pack the food in the cupboards. Then she began to walk tiredly to her bedroom and she groaned as she lowered herself onto the bed.
Fluttershy missed her friends at her old home in Ponyville. The last few months had been nothing but work, moving has been harder than she had thought. Having decorated the house all on her own had given her a throbbing back ache. The springs in the cheap new mattress stuck out, hurting her gentle, vulnerable wings, but under her head was a comfortable pillow. Fluttershy felt her entire body relax as she pulled the covers up to her chin. . The headaches she once hated had become regular, she had gotten used to the pain, but the migraine she had ringed throughout her head was too much and she moaned quietly at the stabbing pain. Soon her turquoise eyes fluttered closed as she rested on the soft, feathery pillow and fell into a deep sleep.
*****
"Huh?" Fluttershy mumbled as she lifted herself off the ground. "Where am I?" As she came to conciousness she found herself floating in a weird, endless sea of sand, it was a desert. Suddenly, she saw she a pink and yellow pegasus dash past her but the heat distorted the air so it was too difficult to see who it was. "What's going on and who is that?" Fluttershy thought as the strange pegasus walked closer.
Unexpectedly, a white flash seemed to emanate from the stranger and Fluttershy found herself in the snowy mountains. It was dark and the moonlight reflected off the snow. The pegasus she had seen a few seconds ago, hovered in front of the glowing moon. Fluttershy noticed her silhouette seemed familiar. An explosion of different colours flashed in the background as the pegasus crash on the ground opposite her. Smoke and debris from the landing blew in Fluttershy's face as she gazed forward in confusion.
Out of the billowing smoke Fluttershy saw a pair of mellow, gold wings appear. She stared in shock as she found herself gazing into a pair of turquoise irises. She was at a loss of words; Fluttershy was face to face with herself! The other Fluttershy beckoned to her as she turned around and began to walk away.
Another bright, white flash exploded in front of her and both Fluttershys were transported to an ominous, mysterious wood. She tried to fly up and run away but she felt so scared. Her feet stuck to the ground like concrete and her wings stuck to her sides, paralysed, and refused to budge. The cold eyes of the other Fluttershy stared at her as she smirked, adjusting the glowing charm around her neck. "T-Th-The E-Element of Kindness!" The real Fluttershy gasped. The fake Fluttershy reached out to her double and touched her on the forehead gently.
An explosion of bright, pink light sent them to the Everfree Forest and quickly the real Fluttershy began to run. The double-ganger launched off into the eerie night sky and beyond into the dark clouds. Fluttershy stopped and looked up into the clouds to see yet another flash. This time, there was a burst of blue, it was so intense that she had to turn away before it could blind her.
"What's the matter sugar cube." a mysterious voice echoed down from the sky. Applejack jumped out of the stormy, grey clouds with a cruel, sly grin on her face.
"Yes, whatever is the matter darling." Rarity cooed pretentiously as she strutted out of the clouds.
"FLUTTERSHY! FLUTTERSHY! FLUTTERSHY CAN HARDLY FLY!" Rainbow dash sneered as she drifted down from in the storm clouds. A mocking laugh echoed out of the burst of light as Pinkie Pie bounced out of the sky. The glow of light grew stronger as the alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, flew down from the clouds. The wicked Fluttershy soared out of the sky. She pointed at the real Fluttershy.
"Get her." she ordered.
Twilight's eyes glowed white as the burning light grew bigger and brighter. The real Fluttershy sped through the forest puffing and panting, her pink hair billowing in the wind. She dashed, through the tress with branches full of green and red leaves, faster than she had ever travelled before.
"GO!" Her double screamed at the others. A flash of rainbows and the six were zooming after her in comets of many colours. Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter, Magic and Kindness; all forgotten, corrupted and turned into the monsters that followed her. Leaving her with nothing but cruelty and evil. When the real Fluttershy looked back she saw the the comet hot on her trail.
"Please leave me alone PLEASE!" she wailed in desperation and fright. She felt like a helpless filly, A weak and defenceless child being hunted. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to leave you behind in Ponyville." she wept as the tears flew from her eyes in the gusts of wind. "I'M SORRY IF I HURT YOU!" she screamed as tears stung her eyes, "JUST PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!!"
The comet was right behind her and as she felt it engulf her in it's burning light she saw the evil, glowing turquoise eyes of her double.
"You left us!" Rainbow bellowed from inside the comet, "You will PAY for breaking our hearts!" Twilight seemed to slow as Fluttershy screamed her apologies and begged for forgiveness. The other five cheered in wicked happiness.
"B-B-But she had to..." Twilight murmured, "She had a reason to leav-"
"She hurt us all Twilight," Applejack interrupted, "She deserves no empathy from all of y'all!" Twilight Sparkle frowned.
Suddenly, Twilight pulled up and the comets fell away. In another flash Fluttershy found herself in Ponyville. The wicked, Fluttershy was gone. Her friends Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle were in front of her and they were smiling. Not in malice like those others that had she had faced, but in sweet kindness, like her real friends.
"I'm sorry," Twilight murmured as her eyes sparkled as bright as her element, "We're all sorry." The others nodded. Fluttershy said nothing and hugged her friends.
"Thank you for understanding me," she said in her normal reticence, as she stared into the warm eyes of her real freinds.
"Thank you for coming back." Twilight replied, with a beaming grin on her face and loving tears of happiness in her eyes.
*****
Fluttershy sprang out of her bed. Tears filling her eyes.
"All alone," she then paused to take a deep breath, " Slowly, I am becoming like that cruel Fluttershy." She muttered quietly to herself. "I have to get out of here." She put on her cloak, wrote a letter for the landlord and left it on the bed."I have to get back to my friends!"
