So Being What We Sow When We Sew

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

This work of fan fiction contains characters, ideas, situations, and places found in the Hasbro Studios series "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". No infringement of copyright is implied by this work of satire and parody, and this work is meant as a celebration of those involved in the creation, development, and production of the series.

Original Date of Release: March 20th, 2011

"So Being What We Sow When We Sew"

Written by The Descendant

Chapter 1

The rain whipped into them, bit hard, and the seabirds were forced lower.

As they crossed the lands beyond Equestria's borders the seabirds fought hard to make westerly, to cross the mountains…to once again complete the migration that they and their ancestors had made for generations uncounted.

As they crested the mountains, moving into Equestria, their instincts told them something was wrong.

Equestria, though they could not know the name, was supposed to be a place of safety, of certainty…a place where the randomness of weather and predators was not a factor. It is where they could find some rest, here where the ponies controlled the fate of land and sky at once.

Yet, as they came over the mountains and across the Everfree Forest the animal minds of the seabirds knew that something was desperately, horribly wrong.

Before them stood one of the mountains, a towering monolith, and it was wrapped in smoke.

The seabirds instinctually lifted, trying to cross over it, but it was there as well, and it was noxious.

Diving, wheeling they tried to get beneath it, but it was there as well…a deep and horrible smoke, laced with magic.

Dragon smoke…smoke from an ill dragon, one breathing hard, swirled about them. The birds could feel the magic and soot enter their mouths and lungs as they sped about trying to find safety.

Had the late rainstorm not found them, had they not spent so much energy fighting it, and then having to cross the mountains, then perhaps they could have escaped.

But for the tired birds, their wings straining, their mouths wide open, fighting for each breath, it was too much…

…and then, some horrible power, some magic of purpose unknown hidden in the smoke, found them, and their feathers began to rip from their wings.

And, with that, hundreds of birds plummeted in uncontrolled spirals, in tumbling loops, towards the ground.

It should have been a happier day for Fluttershy. As she came up the hill out of Ponyville towards her cottage she had been singing to herself, ruminating on her newfound confidence. She had bested the dragon, and as a few notes passed her lips she saw the other pegasus ponies clearing the sky of the last of the black cloud that it had set about itself. She'd not say so out loud, but in her mind she was happy…happy she had been able to go beyond herself, to find the strength to support her friends, to save her home.

As she looked up these thoughts made her blush, and as she watched the sky became clear.

Something though emerged from the black, and a few of the pegasi reacted to it. Fluttershy strained her eyes to see what was reflecting the light, falling in heaps through the air.

At once the first bird hit the ground down the path, bounced with a sickening crack, and laid still.

Fluttershy, her face a mask of horror and surprise, looked upon the broken bird, and saw that death had found its way into Equestria.

She could not take time to ponder it, for now other seabirds were crashing around her. They fell onto the grass, through the trees, into the ponds…

At once Fluttershy was off running, then flying in a winding course, trying to avoid the unfortunate creatures. "Oh no! Oh dear…oh no!" she called as they came down around her, crashing to the unyielding earth.

She raced up to her little cottage, found there the wooden cart, and sped back to where the calamity was unfolding.

By the time Fluttershy had returned the worst had passed. No more stricken fowl were falling through the air. Yet, a worse scene awaited her in the meadow, and before the pond.

The still bodies of hundreds of the seabirds, denuded of feathers, covered the meadow. Fluttershy was sickened by it, but her eyes turned to the few who were still moving, the horribly forlorn figures that hopped and bobbled around the grassy reaches.

"Oh, I…I'm coming! Stay still!" she cried, trying to calm the featherless birds which could still draw breath. Yet at once something was different, and Fluttershy immediately sensed it. These were not the semi-sentient birds of Equestria, those with whom she could speak. No, these were truly wild birds, and they fled from her on broken legs, flapped with impotent wings, clacked and snapped at her with their beaks.

"No, no...please…I'm trying, trying to help!" she said, tears forming in her eyes. As she picked them out of the pond, scanned the meadow, and raced up the path her tears began flowing freely, and as some died in her hooves she began to bawl.

Thirty-four…this was the number that she brought back to her cottage alive. Five had died in the cart on the way back, and she would soon bury these in the long trench in the meadow. As soon as she had done all she could for the living she would return and bury the others, though by that time all sorts of scavengers had taken their claim of the dead, scooting out of the Everfree and carrying on nature's true cycle.

"An…Angel!" she called, returning up the path, over the small bridge, "Please, please get some hand towels and some splints…oh, please and some bandages as well."

Angel, usually so defiant, looked to his mistress, and knew that she was trying to accomplish something of importance. He looked to the overflowing cart, and then in his wordless ways began to see to her request.

That night, the night when she should be celebrating her newfound strength, was instead spent seeing to the needs of the rescued avians.

It was a thankless task, as the wild birds could not contemplate what was happening to them and around them. The birds that lived around Fluttershy's cottage looked upon their wild kin with disbelief and disgust, and the small animals feared the hideous appearance of the featherless seabirds, and the sharp bills they possessed…the ones they threatened their pony friend with whenever she approached.

For Fluttershy, it was a long night.

She saw to their wounds, at least those she could decipher. As she tried to splint wings the birds fought her, and they tore at the bandages.

She tried to feed them, but something of the fish in her pond disagreed with some, and these rejected it and grew weaker. The birds shivered without their feathers, both from fear and cold, but when she placed them nearer the fire they squawked in alarm.

Yet she had not enough hand towels, and so she took from her own bed her good blanket and reduced it into squares. This she wrapped around the complaining birds, each under a basket or colander to keep them from flapping about, trying to escape in their ignorance from the only place where they were safe.

Finally, long past when Luna had raised the moon, the birds began to lower their heads, tuck them beneath their featherless wings…and sleep.

Sitting on her sofa, watching her charges inside their confines in the light of the fireplace, Fluttershy sighed. Angel, knowing her moods, climbed up beside her and fell asleep, lending her some respite.

At this gesture Fluttershy took some comfort, and she too fell into a dreamless and unsteady sleep.

The next morning, almost exactly as Celestia was lifting the sun, Fluttershy awoke. The scene that greeted her was not pretty.

In their cages many of the seabirds had been tearing their blankets apart, especially those she'd made from her own blanket. They, freed from the swaddling, now fought against the bandages she'd placed on them. They were tearing them from their own damaged and broken wings, spreading the gauze and splints around their containers.

All were a mess, the birds befouling their roosts. To her horror seven had died in the night…mostly those who refused to be fed the night before, and two who had appeared the most week when they arrived.

"Oh, Angel…what are…what can…" she said surveying the mess.

But as the rabbit looked up to her he saw on her face the realization that there was nothing to do apart from what had already been done.

Dividing up the last of her fish from the night before she tried to feed them. Most took it, but to her despair some of the weakest still refused the meal, and one was too weak to take it.

She wrapped them in the blankets once more, and looked to all of her other charges. As she went out to her chickens many of the smaller creatures and birds came to her, as though they sensed her sadness at being unable to help her newfound dependants.

'Thank you…thank you so much!" she said as a chipmunk offered her a bloom of a chrysanthemum. She slipped it behind her ear, hummed a bit, and went about her morning ritual.

Her tasks complete, she returned inside to breakfast to find the weakest seabird dead, and three having shred the blankets once more, and she did not hum again during that long morning.

As the day ground on she was down in Ponyville, flitting past the denizens in her usual demure style. She had bought fish, knowing that her own creek could not long supply the birds. "I…I…wonder how long, they'll have to stay," she said aloud to no one, her expression falling.

The contents of her saddlebag, the dozens of fish fillets and the ice, shifted and she spun a bit in the air. As she did so something caught her eye in the window of a familiar shop.

There, in the window of Rarity's dress shop, was a little display. One of Rarity's magnificent pieces stood in the window, but Fluttershy looked past it to a small table on which the mannequin leaned. There lay a blanket, one so like the one she had surrendered so quickly. She thought of her favorite old blanket, and remembered how softly it had fallen across her on chilly mornings. Her head dropped a bit in memory, but as she looked to it again, and noted that there was something about the edges of it…something she'd not thought to look at before…

Rarity looked up from her measurements as the bell on the front door rang. Her hope that it was perhaps a paying customer did not come to fruition, but it was mitigated by the appearance of her friend. "Hello Fluttershy, dear!" she called from beyond the table where she sketched out the tiny improvements to one of her few orders.

"Oh…hello, Rarity…I, I hope I'm not…intruding," said Fluttershy, looking to the floor. Soon enough the familiar figure of Opalescence was near her, rubbing across her forelegs, and Fluttershy smiled for the first time since that morning.

"What can I help you with, darling?" asked Rarity, placing aside her glasses, crossing over to where the Pegasus pony stood.

"Well," said Fluttershy, "I…I don't want to intrude…but here in the window…I noticed the blanket…"

"That old thing?" spoke Rarity, wrinkling her nose. With an ignition of her magic the blanket unwrapped from the stand, hardly disturbing the display, folded, and landed before Fluttershy. "It's yours if you'd like it," said the unicorn.

Fluttershy looked up in shock, back down in embarrassment, and back up with a faint smile, "Is…is that okay? Re…really? I…I lost my best one…thank you! But, but what I really…really wanted to know was about…this, ummm…"

Rarity looked to where Fluttershy was nuzzling the blanket, the space along its edges. "The stitch, dear?"

"Oh, yes…the stitch…how do you…how is it…"

At once Fluttershy felt her saddlebags lifted from her, and felt herself being lowered into a chair. A flash of magic illuminated the interior of the shop, making Opal dart in surprise, and a length of fabric levitated towards her. A small sewing kit emerged from one of the shelves and floated on the magic towards where she sat.

"It's just a basic blanket stitch, darling!" said Rarity in her practiced tones. "It's one of three common ones…here, dear…just follow along with the magic. It's a rhythm, a harmony. Imagine that you're singing to it."

As Rarity stood nearby magic enveloped Fluttershy, and the Pegasus felt it leading her, the string floating through the needle, the magic guiding her hoof to mouth along the practice piece. Fluttershy looked on in amazement and wonder as she completed the line, as she stitched the tight little turns.

"Marvelous!" exalted Rarity as she looked on the final product.

"Do…you, really…really think so?" asked Fluttershy.

"Why, yes!" smiled Rarity.

Fluttershy stood, looked to the floor, then back to Rarity. "I…I can't thank you enough for the lesson…and the blanket…"

"And the practice kit," added Rarity with a smirk.

Fluttershy watched the blanket roll around the kit, then watched it wrap itself around her saddlebags, Rarity's magic tying it in a big bow of ribbon.

Fluttershy felt herself welling up. She didn't know what to say. Instead she crossed over to her saddlebag and lifted from it one of the fillets of fish. Wrapping it in a nearby newspaper she placed some ice in the tight package, and then she turned back to a bemused looking Rarity. Closing her eyes she motioned to Rarity, and soon felt her take it. "You…you didn't need to…well, thank you dear," said the unicorn in a small tone.

With that Fluttershy, smiling, gathered up her saddlebags and pranced out the door. As soon as she was clear she galloped, then flew into the air, winging her way home.

Rarity stood there, watching long after one of her few remaining practice kits in stock and one of the first things she'd ever sewn with her own hooves, the old blanket, disappeared out the door.

She looked down to the filleted fish in her hooves, the ice melting through the newspaper that she'd not had, and now would never have, the chance to read. It was all together a net loss…

So, why did it feel so good?

"Opal!" she called with a small smile, heading for the kitchen with the fish in hoof, "Dinner!"

At her cottage Fluttershy was relieved to see than none of the other seabirds had died in her absence. Yet, those who had not eaten were in miserable shape. There was no other choice this time, she would have to force-feed them, one at a time if necessary.

Mincing some of the fish and placing the rest in her icebox she pulled a wax-paper confectioners tube from the drawer.

In a long and laborious process she used it to force the fish into the mouths of the most stubborn of the birds. She held their beaks shut, massaged the fish down their throats, and kept their beaks shut until they were beyond regurgitating. She knew how to deal with animals, it was her purpose, and her joy. Even if it was not pleasant, she knew it was necessary.

She found the other birds more willing to eat freely after watching a few of their compatriots being so handled. Soon she had cleaned their messy confines, washed the tattered blankets, and completed her schedule for her other animal and bird friends.

As she bathed that night she imagined what she would do next, practiced the motions she had been taught as the soap covered her and the warm water washed over her.

The sun had set as she came back downstairs. As the fire roared she took the tattered blankets from the drying rack, trimmed them, and began to sew them with the blanket stitch, re-enforcing them.

It was hard at first, and she stabbed herself with the needle more than once. Soon though she remembered the harmony, and as she went Angel looked up from his basket as she began to hum. Hopping to her he sat beside her as she began to sing in tune with her motions. Soon the Equestrian birds in the house emerged from their roosts and nesting boxes, and joined her in making happy sounds.

As Luna's domain settled across the land music wafted from the small cottage on the edge of the Everfree Forest.

As she completed each blanket she wrapped one of the shivering seabirds in it, and though they fought back, they soon accepted it, and each began to settle down into sleep.

She too felt sleep call, and as she took one last look over them one of the seabirds, a small ones, looked to her with a tilt of its head. She responded in the fashion of the ocean birds she knew, lowering, spreading her wings, and for the first time she heard the seabird chirp at her in acceptance.

With that happy thought in mind she blew out the lanterns and wrapped herself in Rarity's blanket. It smelled like the shop; crisp, clean, and filled with the scents of linen and lace.

As Angel lay beside her on the sofa and the fire crackled Fluttershy slipped off to sleep, and that night she dreamed that she was cresting the mountains and was off to the sea beyond…

Chapter 2

"So Being What We Sow When We Sew"

Written by The Descendant

Chapter 2

Two birds died that night, and when she found them in the morning she looked for reasons why.

One was obvious…blood had splattered across the floor. Internal hemorrhages, probably incurred when it first fell to the earth. She could only hope she had made its last days happy and comfortable. The other was a mystery…apart from a broken wing that she had already split and bandaged there was nothing obviously wrong. The wound was not infected…yet, in the veins, there seemed to be blackness…

She buried them in the long trench with their kin, then set about her day. As Celestia's magic worked the sun across the morning sky she carried out her usual routine.

For the first time in years she didn't enjoy it, and in her heart Fluttershy felt doubt.

Tending the seabirds became part of her usual practice as the days sped by. Soon autumn had come and gone and with winter scheduled to begin she completed an aviary.

Here proper cages could be found, and a wood stove fed a hot-water heater that kept the small spare room a comfortable temperature.

So it was that as bare trees awaited the coming of winter she took from the featherless birds their now threadbare and disgusting blankets. She was glad to be done with them, as the constant washing was becoming a chore…Angel had long since become unwilling to help.

Seeing them all settled in and able to walk about in their new roosts Fluttershy smiled and returned, with Rarity's blanket, to her own bed. How she had wanted to sleep there! To be in her own bed or the first time in weeks…

The next morning four were dead, the first to die since that second day more than a month before.

"I…I don't…what…" began a horrified Fluttershy, running back and forth between were the still birds laid in their cages. She looked to the others…and saw them shivering. It had not been enough, the woodstove and water-heater. Her charges had frozen, here in the spare room roosts.

Within minutes a crying Fluttershy was before her living room fireplace, twenty baskets filled with the surviving birds, covered in blankets, soaking up the heat of the fire.

"I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry! I thought…that…that…" she said, sitting among the birds, rocking back and forth with Angel wrapped in her forelegs, his fur collecting her tears. The resigned rabbit, his face a twist of unhappy acceptance of his position, noted that one wing of a dead bird had slipped from the pillowcase in the distance where the occupants awaited burial. Had his mistress noted that the wing of this one bird contained a river of black?

The next morning, something was different. As Fluttershy awoke the world was still…outside snow was falling, her pegasi kin unleashing winter from where the flakes had been prepared over the course of the year.

"Well!" she said, stretching, "Angel bunny, we shall have to get your sweater out of the closet!"

A chirp was her reply.

She looked down to where Angel rested on his nearby basket to see a look of abject horror on his face, and a small seabird resting next to him. Somehow it had escaped the basket, and the blanket restraint, and after how many hours had come to the rabbit, probably seeking warmth. It saw her looking in its direction in surprise. It stood, flapped its wings uselessly, and then hopped across the hearth of the fireplace to where she had moved.

"He…Hello!" said Fluttershy, looking down to the naked bird. It chirped at her once more, and she recognized it as the vocal bird that had spoken with her the second night. Reaching out her hooves she waited and, to no ones surprise more than her own, the seabird jumped up to her awaiting embrace.

"Well…well, aren't you a…a…brave one!" She said, looking down to where it rested in her forelegs. In her mind Fluttershy leapt around, crying joyously, screaming happily. But, in her usual fashion, she was quiet, calm. She looked up to see Angel coming down the stairs, his sweater in his mouth, looking to her accusingly.

"I wonder…I wonder…just how brave?" she said, as a thought went through her mind.

She had raced through her daily schedule, even impeded as it was by the fresh snow. Gingerly, cautiously, she had measured the small bird. Taking a scrap of a quilt, one whose origin and purpose was now long forgotten, she began to sew.

As Angel and the small seabird watched on from the table she went about construction of the piece, remembering the stitches she had learned the season before, humming happily once again.

Yet, when it came time to place the newly sown garment on the little bird, her humming came to a resolute and complete stop.

"Oh my," she said, dejectedly, looking on the confused and uncomfortable form of the seabird. Its wings stood out unevenly, and the stitches made the hems of the little uniform stand at angles, giving the entire assembly the look of a seabird sandwich.

As Fluttershy looked on the buttons, almost by magic, simply dropped off. With a deep sigh she gingerly removed the overcoat from the little seabird and returned it to a basket. Gathering up the sad construct, her practice sewing kit, and her measurements she stepped out into the blinding white off the midday snow. With a few lunges she flew off into the clear sky, the cold of the day flowing around her wings, biting at her lungs as she drew deep breaths.

Before long she touched down in Ponyville, once more outside the familiar shop.

Rarity heard the soft familiar hoof-falls. She did not even need to look up from the sewing machine to know who had entered her shop.

"Hello, Fluttershy, my dear! How are you today?" she spoke as she concentrated on a corner.

"Oh…I'm a…little…I have a prob…I was wondering…if…" came the uncertain words, then a pause. "I'm…I'm not…interrupting, am I?"

Rarity looked down, saw that the embroidery had set just as she had imagined it.

She looked up to see Fluttershy standing in the noonday light that streamed in through her windows, shrinking at Rarity's gaze.

"Of course not, darling!" she said, standing and stretching. She had already burnt half the day on this piece, and some part of her begged for some company outside that of the distant Opal.

"Well, I…I had tried to…make….a…thing," said Fluttershy, retreating a little as Rarity, her glasses sliding down her nose, pondered the little coat.

"Oh dear," said Rarity, catching it up in her magic, turning it over, and over, "What…what was wrong with this…thing, as you called it?"

Fluttershy slowly described the defects of the coat, how it had been too tight, how it had fallen apart, how it had the appearance of a sandwich…

Rarity looked to Fluttershy, saw how with each passing sentence the Pegasus had become a little more depressed. With a smile Rarity collected Fluttershy and her belongings and brought her deeper into her store.

"Well, it was an…interesting…first attempt, my dear," said Rarity. With a simple spin of her magic the unicorn undid all of the blanket stitches, and Fluttershy watched her work return to its basic form of the quilt.

"Darling," continued Rarity, "The blanket stitch won't work for all things. Oh, you've brought the practice kit! Delightful! We shall have ourselves a little bit of a quilting bee, shan't we?"

Fluttershy felt Opalescence jump into her lap, and only then realized she'd been seated in front of the long worktable and sewing machine.

With that Rarity's magic surrounded Fluttershy once more, and she felt her hooves embrace the edges of the quilted surface again. "This," began Rarity, "is called a top stitch! We shall use it when we wish to make a hem from now on, shall we?"

"Oh…oh, yes!" said Fluttershy, watching as her own hooves began to make the tiny little stitches. From her hoof to her mouth and back she let the magic guide her in finding the harmony of it. A smile grew across her face each time she completed one, making it harder to collect the needle. Soon the song in her head began to guide her…and she realized that the magic had left, that she'd been doing it on her own.

"Excellent! Marvelous!" called Rarity, breaking Fluttershy's concentration. "Is it? I mean…is it really?" said Fluttershy, looking down to see Opal's smiling face looking up at her.

Rarity took the measurements and the remaining bits of quilted fabric and headed to the other side of the table. "Of course my dear!" said the unicorn, placing a small tray in front of Fluttershy. The pegasus looked down to see tidy compartments filled with buttons, some matte, some metallic, and some that seemed to shine with magic.

"Select five, my pet," said Rarity, a devilish look crossing her face. "Really…oh, okay," said Fluttershy, looking to the tray.

As she made her selection Rarity crossed back behind her, a strip of fabric in her hooves. Laying it before Fluttershy the unicorn then stood behind her. "Now, no magic this time…we shall learn to sew buttons."

Fluttershy watched as Rarity demonstrated, a new concern growing on her face. When it was her turn, she stared at the needle, the thread, the cloth, and the buttons.

"What's wrong, dear?" asked Rarity, her certainty falling away.

"It…it seems a lot harder…I don't…think…" began Fluttershy. At once though she felt Rarity's hooves surrounding her, saw them gather up the bits by hoof, no magic, and deposit them in hers.

"Well, of course it's hard, darling! Nothing worth the trouble of doing is easy!" said the unicorn, taking Fluttershy's hooves in her own.

The needle slid from behind, up through the button, and with small certain loops Rarity helped the pegasus complete the button.

Moving her hooves to the back of the chair, Rarity looked on as Fluttershy began the next button. A worried looked sped across her face as Fluttershy drew to a halt, the needle waiting behind the fabric.

"What…what if I get poked…when it comes through?" said Fluttershy, her voice returning to the usual tremble, remembering the difficulty she'd had with the buttons before.

"Well," spoke Rarity with a sigh, "You'll say 'ouch'…and then carry on."

Fluttershy looked to the button. Closing her eyes she gave a push…and the needle went straight into the hoof holding the button to the cloth.

Fluttershy yelped, pulling back from the fabric. The button sailed to the floor, the alert Opal racing after it.

Fluttershy looked to her hoof. One tiny dot of blood welled up. As she put it in her mouth she turned to look at Rarity, half expecting to see disappointment.

Instead, there was an understanding smile. "…and then carry on," repeated the unicorn.

Fluttershy looked down to see Opal had returned, the button in her mouth. Taking it she placed it back on the fabric and then, with a resolute look, she pushed the needle forward again. "…and then carry on," she said to herself as she waited. The point of the needle emerged through one of the holes of the button, and she smiled.

The two ponies sat and chatted as Fluttershy practiced and Rarity set about reconstructing the coat. As they did so Celestia's magic worked the sun across Equestria, and the shafts of light coming through the shop windows fell down quickly.

As Fluttershy sewed the buttons onto the coat Rarity looked up and noticed how quickly the winter sun had set, how in homage to the nature around her domain Celestia had made the daylight shorter, had given it over to Luna earlier.

"I…I…can't thank you enough…", said Fluttershy packing away the tidy little coat.

"If you'll be making more, darling, I'd suggest using some quilted tack prêt-à-porter…it should take forever to make a new quilt just for these…"

"I'm…I'm sorry…what?" said Fluttershy, flustered, moving to the door, tripping a bit over Opal as the cat rubbed against her legs, "What…what is…?"

"Oh, dear," said Rarity with a laugh, "It means 'off the rack', or pre-made."

"Oh…I…I see, that…that would be a lot quicker, and I have many to make…" began the Pegasus pony, looking the little coat over and over.

"What, may I ask, is it f…" began Rarity, opening the door. Her question was interrupted as Fluttershy rested her head against hers, moving it from her crest to her withers and back. Rarity returned the hug, and with that Fluttershy took off into the darkened sky of a winter afternoon, racing the last beams of light to her little cottage.

Rarity returned to her workbench and, with a long stretch, returned the ceremonial robe to the forefront of her attention. She had once again spent precious time on the small concern of her friend, and now a long night awaited her, this important order taking her deep into the next morning to complete to the level of professionalism she expected of herself.

"You know Opal," said Rarity, speaking to the cat that sat at the far end of the table, regarding her casually, "I don't mind helping…but should like at least to have known what I had just made!"

With a laugh Rarity's magic spread across the table, her sewing machine, the robe, and the light of it spilled out into the dark streets of Ponyville.

In her little cottage at the edge of the deep and darkened woods Fluttershy slid the little coat over the small seabird. The fit was essentially perfect, the diamond shaped extensions Rarity had added beneath the sleeves allowed the little bird to move its denuded wings naturally. It chirped happily, bouncing about her living room from basket to basket on its webbed feet, its associates looking on.

She would have to make the little coats for all the birds. They would begin to get sores and their muscles would atrophy if they could not move about. As she looked to the other birds she was also very happy that cleaning up after them would become easier, as the coats would not collect detritus as the blankets had.

She looked to the seabirds. Of the twenty survivors some still seemed weak and she was worried about them, but more than half seemed stronger. About half still regarded her as a threat, squawking and clacking at her whenever she approached, and she sighed at this.

Of the half that remained, five were essentially indifferent…and five, including the littlest bird that hopped freely, and the biggest, both his wings broken…liked her.

She smiled to herself, knew what she was doing. She was equestropomorphizing, giving these wild birds the characteristics of ponies. They could not love, like…feel. They were wild birds, driven by instinct alone. These were merely the ones who saw her has a provider of food and safety…

…but it still felt good. It felt so good…good to be useful, capable.

Grabbing up the little seabird she flew to the door, Angel racing her, and up into the night sky. There in the cold and beneath the stars of a cloudless sky she wheeled and dipped, let the little creature feel once more at home in the world which had been robbed from it…she let it feel the wind.

As it beat its wings she smiled, felt the fabric of the coat next to her body, and believed she was indeed able…able to carry on.

Chapter 3

"So Being What We Sow When We Sew"

Written by The Descendant

Chapter 3

In all fairness, it was a hard winter for Fluttershy.

In most winters, with all of her little charges either asleep beneath the earth or having flown south her largest responsibility at this time was usually looking after the injured or dependant animals that remained in her care, re-supplying for the next season, and filling out her paperwork for the Royal Wildlife Service.

But, with the birds present, it suddenly became more of a challenge. It became better once all of the coats had been made. Some had fought her, some had been more willing…but none of the coats had been easy to make.

Adjusting the steam heat of the aviary allowed the birds, finally, to be free of the baskets and blankets. Able to walk about the cages the seabirds soon began to rebound. Their morale improved, they became more vocal, they began eating more, and most importantly they began to heal faster.

Mortality dropped. Over that winter one bird alone died. This though was a shock, as it happened almost suddenly, without warning. That morning the bird had been chirping and eating. By the time the dark descended it was stone dead.

"Oh, Angel…I…I don't know…what…" she said, laying the prostrate form out on a towel before the fireplace. In its wings and skin dark channels could be seen, and Fluttershy was at once hurt, confused, and scared.

Together the three of them had gone out into the dark to the root cellar. Angel, using the talents given to his kind, cleared the snow from before the door and pulled it open. As the little seabird sat on Angel's head, the rabbit wrinkling his nose in acceptance of its presence, Fluttershy hid the body, wrapped in a blanket, in a cold corner. There it waited until the spring would thaw the ground.

It was at times like these that Fluttershy looked forward to visiting with Rarity. As the winter ground on Rarity also found herself happy at the presence of the pegasus. They would talk about many things, but mostly sewing, Fluttershy taking an increasing interest as her talents grew.

Terms began to float around, and slowly she learned them. Middy collar, facing, selvedge, toile, piping, gusset, backstitching, darning, and even all of the secrets of embroidery…these and more were laid out before her as she watched Rarity filling her few winter orders.

"...and you should know, darling," Rarity would say, launching into a new tale of how she learned this or that, how she had come to be the consummate professional that she was.

And Fluttershy, in all things earnest and compassionate, listened.

It was therapy for both of them. It let Fluttershy put aside the toil of the birds and allowed Rarity to be around somepony instead of locked here in her shop with only Opal. At times though they spoke not at all, and as the few shafts of light fell through the windows they simply enjoyed being there in the little shop together…just themselves, the cat, and the buttons and scraps and the sounds of scissors and a sewing machine as the winter wind scrambled up the walls.

It was on one miserable wet, muddy day in the late winter, as she made her way to Rarity's, that Fluttershy saw the perytons.

They were a race from beyond Equestria's northwestern borders, one of the hundreds of other races that were making themselves known to the ponies as time went on. These though were not a horde, not like the ones whom had drawn most of the stallions off to The Wars. These instead were a civilized people, one with whom Equestria enjoyed a steady, if distant, peace.

She had met them before, at least a few, and in most circumstances the winged reindeer were magnificent to behold, decorated in the manner of their race, bright garments, drapes, and bells.

But as these stood in a group beneath the canopy of the hotel one berated his fellows in an argumentative tone. As Fluttershy peaked from around the corner a huge stag looked down to where his robes lay in the mud, torn, his retainers scrambling to pick up his belongings from where they had fallen from the cart.

"Jumalani! Luuletko minun tavata heidän prinsessoja että? Minne löydän puku ajoissa, et idiootit?" he raged in their tongue.

Something moved inside Fluttershy. She knew what was going on, could see clearly what the huge peryton was upset about, could see from his grace and bearing that he was a high official, perhaps royalty.

Fluttershy's instincts were to simply fly away. Her old malady, the one that she had been named for, filled her. But as she thought of Rarity's empty shop, her course of action became clear.

"Ex…exc…excu…cuusse me, sir. I…" she began, approaching him. As his majestic head turned to face her she let out a little yelp, and shied away. At once his expression mellowed, and he turned to an officious looking younger peryton next to him and spoke. "Lars, mitä tämä sievä toivoa?""

"Miss," began the smaller peryton, "Is there something which you wish to be speaking of?"

"Oh, I…yes, it's…well, I…saw…his…robe is ruined, and…I know," she closed her eyes, concentrated on Rarity, and knew to carry on, "I have a good friend…one who is…excellent with clothes and uniforms and suits. May…maybe she could…help…"

The smaller peryton bowed to the larger, and spoke. The larger one nodded, and the smaller one bowed to Fluttershy.

"Miss, yes, you will lead us on to such a place?"

"Of...of course…ye…yes!" she stammered, partly from the painful shyness that filled her, but also from joy…the joy of being able to help Rarity.

With that Fluttershy, the smaller peryton at her side and the larger behind with two guards, stepped off and took to the air. The group flew the short distance to Rarity's, the bells in the antlers of the winged reindeer tinkling through the sleeting drizzle.

The peryton stood in Rarity's shop, the moisture of the day evaporating off of him as visible waves of vapor. As Rarity offered tea and cakes Fluttershy returned with a book about the peryton peoples from Twilight's library.

With an ignition of her magic Rarity swept along through the book, the measurements, and the design. Fluttershy looked on in demure amusement as the perytons watched Rarity go about her work, the bewildered expressions of a people whom knew little of magic painted on their faces.

Rarity, being Rarity, soon was talking with the vast stag as the smaller one translated. It seemed that they were here in Ponyville hoping to have an audience with the Sister Sovereigns, and were awaiting their herald. Trade, and perhaps more, drew them into this unusual land where nature was still and colorful ponies ruled in a something not unlike a dream. As Fluttershy listened from the nearby couch, comforting Opal, she heard the sounds of laughter from the large male, and knew that this was as good as a sale.

Within two hours the large peryton stood before Rarity's mirrors, looking over his new suit. It was magnificent, a blend of themes found in the book, yet somehow contemporary, yet overwhelming complimentary of his own frame and stance. He bobbed his head happily, and the bells rang.

At once he turned for the door and made to leave, and Rarity felt her heart sink…how does one demand payment from a visiting noble?

Before he reached the door though he lowered his head and spoke to the smaller one.

"His Righteousness must ask the opinions of the does, yes? Girls, the does. He will return shortly, is promised."

With that Fluttershy and Rarity were left staring at the door. Long moments passed, and the sun began to fade. "Oh, Rarity…I'm…I'm so sorry! I…" began Fluttershy when it seemed hope was lost. Rarity lifted her head, forcing a smile. Before she could answer the door to the shop flew open.

There before them stood the huge peryton, two does drapping themselves on him in a fashion that made Fluttershy, Rarity, and Opal blush. The vast peryton, his face covered in kisses, nodded approvingly. "Is good…is quite good…" he said in broken Equestrian.

With that he nodded to his guards, and three small sacks of gold pieces fell to the floor. Before Rarity could even begin to thank him the entire peryton assembly had vacated her shop and was winging its way into the cold sky.

Rarity stared at the sacks. They heaved with gold, at least five times what she would have asked for the suit. She stared at them, up to Fluttershy, then back to the sacks. Turning once more to Fluttershy, her mouth hanging open, Rarity looked at her blushing friend aghast.

"Oh, Rarity…I'm so happy for you! I'm…" began Fluttershy, but before she could continue Rarity had already scooped her up in a tight hug. Together they went spinning across the shop floor, laughing in the fading light.

That was the night, as she cleaned up her shop, that Rarity knew that she would have to find some excuse, any excuse, to make a dress for Fluttershy.

The winter had to be ending. It simply had to. Winter Wrap-Up had been scheduled. The larder was low. The sun placed higher in the sky by Celestia each day.

It had to be ending. Fluttershy needed it to end.

As she had gone to wash one of the birds she noted something unusual, an unfamiliar texture. "Oh!" she had exclaimed, "What…what could…" she said to herself, rubbing the wing of the bird, the big one that had broken both wings.

At once it occurred to her, and she let out a whoop that shocked even Angel.

"Angel! Angel come see!" she said, flying around the inside of her cottage, gathering up the bunny before he even had the time to protest.

She plopped him down next to the basin where she had been washing the bird. Pulling aside the bandages she ran her hooves over the surface. "Look…look, Angel! They're coming back! The…the feathers are…coming back!"

Angel could see quite clearly where the tips of feathers could be seen extending outward from beneath the skin of the bird. Caring little however, he hopped away. He listened as she went on happily, complimenting the big bird on his pending recovery.

He listened as she collected the smaller bird, pulled aside its quilted coat, and let out another whoop of joy as it too showed signs of the return of its feathers.

He listened as she spoke to him, but mostly to herself: "And soon we'll have to do away with the coats…can't have the coats ruffling the feathers, can we? Oh, no…my little friends! But…but if you can't wear coats, then we can't have snow…or cold."

It was suddenly silent, and Angel looked back to see the worried expression on her face. Had they come this far just to have them freeze to death, just as their feathers were returning?

Angel was jolted from this contemplation by a single plaintive cackle. He turned his head just as one of the birds, somehow free of its cage, splattered itself across the floor in front of him. The rabbit reeled in horror as great thick black veins pulsated across its body.

Angel's movement caught Fluttershy's attention, and as she too looked to the disfigured bird it spewed forth ribbons of green and blue that wafted through the air before evaporating.

"Oh, no…no!" screamed Fluttershy racing to it, grasping it up and taking flight straight out the door. Finally, finally she understood what had killed the other birds…and she hated herself for not seeing it sooner.

She raced, darted across the blue sky, the tiny heaving form of the bird in her forelegs. She streaked into Ponyville, blasted down the streets in a manner that was more reminiscent of Rainbow Dash's style.

She barreled through the door of the library, crying, "Twilight! Help!" as she did so. "Help!" she called again, darting about, looking for someplace to rest the bird as Twilight and Spike sped down the stairs.

"Oh shoot!" said Spike, looking upon the wobbling form of the bird as Fluttershy placed it on the table.

"It's magic! Is it? It…is magic! Right?" said Fluttershy, her eyes going back and forth between the bird and Twilight, the unicorn instantly igniting her horn, using it to contemplate the bird.

With a flash of insight Twilight pelted off to the kitchen. "It is, definitely. It's magica vasto…waste magic. The remains of spells and incantations." She called as she searched out a small box. Flinging the contents into a silver tea strainer with her magic she brought out a teapot.

"It must have gotten a huge dose of it, somehow. It's usually harmless. It can't hurt you unless you ingest it in massive quantities…" she said, fighting to help the water boil in the kettle, adding degrees to the flames with her magic.

"Like from dragon smoke…" said Fluttershy from the distant main room, her voice becoming quieter, stiller.

"Right," added Twilight Sparkle, dabbing the tea strainer through the water, adding it to the teapot. "And then it can't hurt you unless it encounters other parts of its origin spell…like putting an arrow in the…bow…oh…oh, no…"

As Twilight had returned to the living room she found Spike wrapped around Fluttershy's foreleg, his eyes watering, Fluttershy's eyes a portrait of loss, and the small form of the bird. Its eyes were wide to the ceiling and the sky beyond…to the blue skies to which it would now never return.

Fluttershy shrank to the floor, her knees giving out beneath her. Spike embraced her around her neck, and Twilight too came around, slipped down, and let Fluttershy rest her head on her flank.

She'd had months to figure it out. She should have realized it right away. But she hadn't…and four little graves were the result.

After long moments Fluttershy stood, Twilight and Spike falling away as she did. Fluttershy looked to the bird, where it lay before her on the table. The magic had faded, and only a trace of the blackness remained. It looked…ready…like it was ready to fly off, a lack of feathers a mere complication.

"We'll take care of…of the remains, okay?" said Twilight, looking to Fluttershy.

"Do you have any more of the tea?" asked Fluttershy, her voice cracking only slightly.

"Yes…yes, of course. Here, take the whole box. I'll get more from Zecora. Careful, it's a purgative. Is...is it for you, Fluttershy? Are…are you okay?"

Silence reigned; appropriate enough for a library, but at this moment there was nothing less that Twilight and Spike wanted. They wanted to know she was okay.

Fluttershy felt a small hand rub her leg. She looked down to Spike, saw him looking up to her, his own eyes watering…beginning to cry because he knew her to be sad…broken, hurting.

"Are, are you okay?" said the baby dragon, blinking away the tears.

Fluttershy forced a smile, looked to the dragon and the unicorn, and spoke.

"Sometimes, Spike, Twilight, we…we just have…have to say 'Ouch'…and then carry on."

Within minutes she was at the Carousel Boutique, sobbing. Rarity held her, once again lending her comfort, not asking why, just…being there.

That day had been one of tremendous ups and downs. It had began with the joy of seeing the promise of the feathers, dropped into the deep sadness of the death of the bird, and ended with the hilarity of eighteen birds puking up magic spells.

That night Fluttershy slept in her own bed. Rarity's blanket, now as familiar and welcome as any she had ever owned, was draped across her. Winter had to end. It simply had to…she didn't have the strength to do this any more.

Winter of course, ended. It ended exactly when scheduled to end, with the annual Winter Wrap-Up. This time it was happily guided to completion, after some difficulty, by Twilight.

As her animal and bird friends returned the pegasus rejoiced in them, and as Celestia's magic lifted the sun higher each day she felt it filling her, giving her strength.

It looked to be a happy time, this new spring. As she stared at the ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala where it levitated above the heart-box upon her vanity she imagined that she could already hear the buzzards buzzing.

Her animal friends were of course happy to see her, and she greeted them all as they came up to the cottage, or as they came to the stream. "Hello!" she would say, or "How are you? Is your family well?"

As she checked on the birds, each now looking a bit bedraggled as their new feathers arrived, she smiled and soon was off to Ponyville.

Within a few hours she would be standing…shrinking, before Rarity, and the happiness of these times would come to a sudden and resolute end.

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!" brayed Rarity, backing Fluttershy into the pillar. The pegasus clamped her wings down around her, fear rising up through her.

It should have gone so much better. The dress had been nice, it had been quite nice. It was…well, nice. How else to put it? Perhaps, just perhaps…there were a few things she would have differently. That, maybe, she thought, could have been a bit different…that she herself, would have…no, could have done! With her newfound knowledge, taught to her over the winter, now mercifully passed, by the very unicorn that was now before her. Why was she terrifying her so…

…this one who was supposed to be her friend?

Rarity steamed, fumed. Why was Fluttershy being so…obstinate? Had it not been Fluttershy in whom she had confided all winter long? Had it not been Fluttershy whom had delivered her from her loneliness, and perhaps from destitution? Was she not happy with this gift? Had not Rarity poured herself into its construction, as she had the others? Had she not thrown her hooves wide when she entered, glad to see her? Why was she being this way…

…this one who was supposed to be her friend?

Inside Fluttershy something stirred, and she felt all that she had bottled up within her, the long struggles in the cold and dark and the losses at tending the birds…they bubbled forth in a cascade.

"All right, if you really want to know," she began, taking a long breath, the painful shyness fading. She found the words, the words Rarity herself had taught her…and gave them all back.

"The arm's a size tight, the middy collar doesn't go with the shawl lapel, the hems are clearly machine-stitched, the pleats are uneven," she said, straightening herself before Rarity, looking over the dress with a critical eye, "the fabric looks like toile, you used a backstitch here when it clearly called for a topstitch , or maybe a traditional blanket stitch, and the over-design is reminiscent of prêt-à-porter and not true French haute couture…"

With a toss of her head Fluttershy looked to Rarity, saw the expression painted on the face of the unicorn.

"But…uh," she said, feeling something dragging her down into the old uncertainty, "you know…whatever you want to do is fine…"

Rarity however was beyond help. What had just happened? Had her friend just disassembled the dress, just as easily as she had deconstructed the…thing…she had brought her months before?

Fluttershy looked up to Rarity, her head bowed in her demure expression. Rarity looked on, her mouth open in shock. As the spring day wore on outside something between the two faded and dripped away just as certainly as if it were the snows of the dead winter dripping away to the lakes and streams.

Chapter 4

"So Being What We Sow When We Sew"

Written by The Descendant

Chapter 4

It had been a horror show. As Fluttershy had spun around on the turntable she realized what had happened, and she saw what she had done to Rarity. As the crowd at the fashion show laughed and jeered she had watched the unhappy form of the unicorn make her way down the runway, and she knew her friend was crushed…that she was watching the dreams of her friend die.

The next few days had been miserable. As Fluttershy watched on Rarity slipped farther and farther into despondency. Soon she had locked herself inside her rooms inside her shop, her own little private sanctum, and there had given herself over to doubt and depression.

As she went about her routines at her cottage Fluttershy found herself thinking of Rarity, not knowing what to do. She would suddenly stop, Angel watching her, and stare at nothing as a gnawing guilt tore through her guts.

The seabirds consumed much of her time, and as spring began Fluttershy found herself straining to fulfill their needs as well as those of her friends that had now returned from far away lands and awakened from their winter burrows.

As the nights became warmer she risked letting the birds outside, into an enclosure she had made near her stream. It was a large coop, one where the birds could sit and squawk and beat their quickly re-feathering wings in the spring breezes.

One bird did not join them in their new home. The smallest one, its pinfeathers giving it an odd appearance as they emerged, followed Fluttershy along as she went about her tasks, often roosting beside Angel, or even perching atop the head of the rabbit.

The presence of the little seabird was a small, if welcome, comfort. As those days after the fashion show wore on she grew more and more concerned…and the feelings of guilt tore at her more and more. As she sat before her fireplace or on the new shoots of grass, Angel and the seabird in her lap or perhaps laying and perched around her, she wished she knew what to do.

It was with immense relief that Twilight called upon her. "She's not getting better…if anything, she's worse. We have to do something, anything," stated Twilight, "We just can't leave her in misery."

So it was that as they stood outside her door, listening to Rarity lament her misfortune through the timbers, that Fluttershy looked on as Twilight implored her to come out…

"You're not a laughingstock, Rarity," implored Twilight.

"She kinda is…" began Rainbow Dash, her brutal honesty adding a disproportionate weight of anxiety. Properly shushed by Twilight the other pegasus pony made her way back to where Fluttershy stood among the group. In her presence Fluttershy felt pained, as though Rainbow's constant certainty and strength fed upon her own weakness.

"Now what do we do?" asked Twilight, not even looking up from the door as Rarity's latest tirade ended.

"Panic?" Fluttershy answered, the word arriving on her tongue by instinct.

"That's your answer for everything!" lamented Rainbow Dash, looking to Fluttershy. Fluttershy's expression fell, and as Applejack begged the group to act her eyes stayed on Dash. The judgement of her fellow pegasi was harsh, but not unwarranted, and Fluttershy felt ashamed.

Pinkie Pie mentioned cats, and Fluttershy thought of Opal. What would be her fate? Has she been fed during Rarity's descent into depression? Everything was going wrong…it had gone wrong…and Fluttershy felt her own guilt rise up again.

Twilight was looking at another door, humming as she peered through a keyhole. Fluttershy knew that Twilight was thinking…pondering, and tilted her head to watch.

The door of the workspace came open with a bit of magic, and though she felt self-conscious about entering one of the sanctums of Rarity's world without her permission or presence she trusted that Twilight was working towards Rarity's betterment, and so she followed along after the group.

Before them stood Rarity's dress, her magnificent dress, the one which would have made her dreams come to pass. Instead, it stood here on the form, untouched, incomplete, gathering dust…

"We need to show her that she was right, that she had the ability, that she does…that we were wrong," said Twilight, her head dropping in unison with the group at their mutual guilt.

"Does, does anyone know anything about sewing?" said Twilight, levitating the plans towards herself, looking over the various components and patterns planned by the other unicorn, the one whose bawling could still be heard through the thick wall.

There was a moment of pause, and Fluttershy swallowed hard. "I…I…I know a…a bit."

Twilight passed the plans along to Fluttershy, the whole group watching her as her face became red. "This…is…this is called the over design, and this symbol here tells us…that, that it is a…chain stitch, and here's an overcast stitch…" she said, gaining confidence as she spoke.

'Where'd ya' learn all this terminology, Shy?" asked Applejack, squeezing next to the Pegasus and looking over the design, fixing Fluttershy with a smile.

"I…I had a good teacher…a very good teacher," said Fluttershy, blushing once more and finding a familiar knothole in the floor to stare at, "I've had to sew…a bit…over the winter…"

At once Fluttershy felt herself filled with magic, the warm fulfilling sensation of beneficial and benevolent magic at work, and her world was tinged with purple. She looked up to see Twilight looking to her, needles and thread gathering around them, "Show me."

As Fluttershy worked Twilight looked on, the dutiful student in her catching on, copying the skills with her magic, putting them into practice. Fluttershy remembered the words Rarity had spoken, tried to copy them, "Think, think of it…like it's a song, a harmony…copy the harmony…yes! Like that…very, very good Twilight!"

"What can I do? What can I do?" asked Rainbow Dash, prancing among the group.

Applejack raced from cabinet to cabinet and to the sewing baskets, Fluttershy guiding her through Rarity's possessions with flicks of her eyes as she held pins and needles in her lips, nodding when the correct object had been retrieved.

"Seriously! What should I do?" pleaded Rainbow Dash, pacing up and down the room, her hooves impatiently clicking on the wooden floor.

As Twilight and Fluttershy worked the dress Pinkie Pie, her amazing energy evident, held various elements in place. As the gemstones were set and the beadwork and embroidery came into play she balanced them for the sewing ponies, sometimes theatrically balancing on a single hoof.

"I wanna help, I wanna help, I wanna help!" demanded Rainbow Dash, her eyes closed in impatience, her forelegs beating the floor in time with her loud implores.

At that moment, Fluttershy felt the familiar form of Opalescence brush against her, and she looked down to the big white Persian cat. Twilight saw the cat too, and Fluttershy saw a plan quickly form in the eyes of the unicorn, and soon Twilight was whispering in her ear.

As the rest of the group carried the completed dress down the stairs Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Opal stood before the open window, looking at the tree outside.

"You'll do it…won't, won't you Opal, to help Rarity?"

Fluttershy looked down to the cat as it placed its paws on the windowsill, and looked down to the ground far below. Opal looked back to Fluttershy with a fearful look in her eyes.

Fluttershy shot her a quick stare, and the issue was decided. The cat meowed in compliance, and as Fluttershy nuzzled her she began to purr. With that Rainbow Dash gathered up the cat, extended her wings, and jumped out the window to the tree beyond.

With a deep breath, Fluttershy followed, leaping into the daylight.

Moments passed, and soon the situation revealed itself. Rarity came to the aid of her beloved cat, Rainbow Dash made the grand reveal, and soon the whole assemblage stood before the dress. Rarity, her eyes wide, stuttered a question…attempted to understand how her dress, forgotten as it had been, could possibly have assembled itself.

"We all finished your dress for you!" stated Pinkie, smiling.

"Thanks to Fluttershy's freaky knowledge o' sewin'," added Applejack.

Freaky. What a word. There was nothing freaky about it, Fluttershy thought to herself, just the patience of a friend, and the hope that her own abilities were enough to repay what had been lost, to give her friend and teacher back her dream.

"Do you like it?" asked Fluttershy, recovering from a blush, her voice a song of hope.

"Like it?" asked Rarity. As she walked forward she looked the dress over, her slippers and nightgown warming in the sun. As she did she felt her shock wearing off, and a different emotion replaced it.

"Like it?" she stated in a harsher tone, letting them guess her feelings. There was no doubt in her mind though about how she felt about it…the stitches, the pleats, and the embroidery. They were the product of a friend whom had learned earnestly and honestly, a student of her own design…and it had come across marvelously.

"Uh oh, she doesn't like it…" guessed Fluttershy, her heart sinking, her eyes watering…how, how…what had gone wrong?

"No…I don't like it," said the unicorn, her head held dismissively, as the group let out an exasperated sigh. Yet, at once she recovered, "I love it!"

In the momentary jubilation that followed Fluttershy caught Rarity's eye, and a week of pain and confusion between them fell away, evaporating like the forgotten snows.

The rest of the story is known, how in a few frantic minutes the judgmental Hoity Toity had returned, and as they ponies had exhibited the dresses Rarity had meant for them to wear, the ones that she had designed for them, he became enamored with Rarity's designs.

Fluttershy looked on as Rarity returned to the magnificent figure of poise and grace, of inner beauty reflected in outward understanding of design and purpose.

"If…if you need…any, any help…making the other…" she had begun once Toity had departed. But before she had a chance to finish she was caught up in Rarity's embrace, the others joining them.

As they put the dresses away Fluttershy felt Dash's eyes on her, and she grew self-conscious. When Dash spoke it wasn't the usual cynicism, but instead something different…

"Hey, Fluttershy," said Dash, staring around the room, "Good…good job today, with the sewing, and the cat…"

"Thank…thank you!" said Fluttershy, fighting her ever-present blushing, not used to compliments from the other pegasus in their small group.

"Yeah, sure…hey, I've got something coming up…something I could use your help with, a competition. Would you…mind?" said Dash, this time it being her turn to become uneasy, to stare at the floor.

"I'd love to," said Fluttershy, smiling. "Really?" answered Dash, bolting to attention, "Great! We'll start practice in a couple of weeks or so. Thanks!"

Fluttershy looked on as Dash pranced out the door, a smile on her face, then felt the wind as the powerful pony took to the air.

As she winged her way home Fluttershy bobbed on the breezes, let herself be carried along rather than flying…more soaring than gliding, like the raptors of the wild Everfree or her seabirds. She could not stop smiling, she smiled so much that it eventually felt a strain, and Angel looked on in wonder as his mistress landed with a giggle and trotted up to the cottage.

The next day, it was the turn of the seabirds to bring about more smiles. She spent the morning looking over the biggest of the seabirds, the large one she had decided was a male, examining his feathers. She picked up the smallest, also male, and inspected him too. These two birds, the most responsive to her, seemed to be…ready.

As a small assemblage of her animal friends looked on Angel dug out the posts around the coop. At once Fluttershy dropped the far wall, the one that looked out over the meadow to the pond beyond.

There was a great rush of wings, and just shy of half the birds erupted from the coop, some stumbling as they felt freedom for the first time in months.

They took to the air, formed a cloud in the sky that swooped back and forth and called to their kin.

Of the nine other birds, six went slower, looking around them, up to Fluttershy, then took to the air.

The biggest bird and another chirped at her, tilted their heads. She tilted hers back, smiling, and soon they too were off, the two together. As they did the flock, her flock, turned to the north and were soon retreating from view over the forest and hills, to the mountains beyond.

Fluttershy, though smiling, felt the tears running down her face. She had lost half of them, and the number she had saved were not even a twentieth of the number that had fallen from the sky. These few had survived to leave her that day.

Yet, she had dealt with the struggle, and taken the pain, fear, and loss…and had carried on. Something inside her felt pride, and she blushed to no one, feeling the same as she did after the dragon had been dealt with…and as Angel slid up beside her she sighed happily.

That is when she heard the chirp, and turned to see the little bird, the one that had been most accustomed to her, drop to the ground in a roosting position, its head wobbly and unsure.

"Oh no," she breathed, and her expression dropped. She knew what was coming.

That night the bird grew weaker, and soon she was trying to feed it just as she had when it first came to her. Yet, it slid farther away as the night passed. She found no black ribbons beneath the new feathers, and as she became quiet Angel joined her as she cradled the bird in the beautifully embroidered blanket, the sequins shimmering in the firelight.

As she sang a lullaby the three of them, the pony, the bunny, and the bird slipped off to sleep as Luna's power dragged the planet beneath the moon once more.

As Celestia took the helm of their world the pony and the rabbit awoke, and the small form of the little bird lay still and cold in her lap.

Fluttershy was no stranger to death, and she perhaps more than any of her friends saw it on more regular a basis. This was her domain, the gatekeeper, guardian of life and death for her bird and animal dependants. She could not know what killed the little bird, be it sickness or ennui, but as she sewed it within the blanket the sentimental part of her rose up, and soon she and Angel were walking a sad little path through the sunlit day to where a hill rose near her cottage.

Here, atop the hill with a view of the forest, stream, and pond beyond was a little cemetery. Plain, unobtrusive, and small, it was however well kept, and simple stones marked with little names kept their secrets. Here is where animals that Fluttershy had most loved were laid out…beyond the reach of scavengers from the Everfree.

Angel dug out a spot, shaking out his paws to remove the dirt as he leapt from the grave. He laid himself out in the sun nearby, next to the grave of his predecessor. Looking to the stone he thought about how this was where he would someday rest, and he smirked as Fluttershy lowered the blanket into the earth.

He watched as she slowly and certainly filled it in. He watched as she placed the stone, etched with carefully chosen words, upon the freshly moved earth.

With a stretch he jumped up, a chill running across his back as he crossed his own eventual grave, and wrapped himself around her leg. As Angel looked to the words she read them, and he could almost feel the tiny weight of the bird…as though it rested upon his head once more.

"A bird of the sea. Beloved," she said, with a pause. The two stood there for a long moment, then turned to leave.

"It's…it's good to have ones…ones we love…friends, I think," said Fluttershy as Angel hopped down the path beside her, "It…it makes…the 'ouch'…less 'ouchy'."

That year wore one, into the summer, and to her great joy Fluttershy found Rarity more and more her friend, and soon each week they set aside time to simply be with each other. Most often this involved the spa, and Fluttershy was happy that her friend confided in her in that place. But, also, time was spent in other ways, ways Fluttershy better liked, in the woods or in the hills…and Fluttershy shared what she could of her world with the unicorn.

Just as Rarity had for her…

It was on a clear autumn day, when they sat together beside her pond admiring the golden leaves, laying on the blanket Rarity had given up, that Fluttershy handed Rarity something. Something that was embroidered and cleverly stitched…

"It's lovely," began the unicorn, "Not entirely sure…what it is though. Oh! It's the…thing!"

Fluttershy began to explain that it was a little coat, namely one that had saved the life of the small bird, if for a time, and that by extension had saved all of her birds. Rarity, she concluded, had taught her this, and as such was just as responsible as she for the preservation of the birds.

"And if you'd like it, I'd like to give it to you."

Rarity was amazed. She tried to think of something to say, about how proud she was of Fluttershy…how pleased it was to be part of saving a life. But at that moment all she could do was stare with a smile and feel the tears start.

And, in that moment, something disturbed the surface of the pond.

Fluttershy looked up, and there was a seabird…a tern, like the ones she had saved.

Soon there was another, and another, and soon a whole flock descended upon the pond. As the two looked on in amazement a few made their way up the beach, through the grass and to where they lay.

One stood before Fluttershy, tilted its head, and chirped. She replied, and knew it to be the biggest one…the one that been the last to leave her months before.

So the cycle continued, the migrations went on, and each time the flock grew larger.

North in spring, south in fall, an ancient cycle preserved. Though death would eventually claim the birds she knew their instinct to live, to find this sheltered place beyond the mountains, this place of safety with the winged pony and her kind…that would continue on through generations of birds uncounted.

Though Rarity and Fluttershy would have their difficulties, as all friends do, they too would continue on. They would always find their way here to the pond, upon the old blanket, among the lives that they touched and the scion of such.

As their lives went on, no matter how they changed, they would be there in the times of pain and fear, doubt and anger, happiness and joy, love and loss, for one another…to be there to help the other say "Ouch", if need be, and then carry on.

So it continued, the cycle of life, preserved in one sharp instant by the bond between a demure pegasus and a compulsive unicorn. And so life itself, being what they sowed when they had sewed, had found a way.

Such are the types of things that are possible when friendship is magic, and while Procer Celestia Invictus and Procer Luna Revenio continue to guide their charges across the Equestrian sky.

End.