Moving On

Chapters

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Intermission
Part Four
Epilogue

Part One

Moving On Part 1

Intro- This is an alternate ending to “Fluttershy’s Sink” by Ragnarokia. It is recommended that you read that first to understand this story’s relationships and history. This is a continuation of a [GRIMDARK] clopfic story (First paragraph directly taken from “Fluttershy’s Sink”), this story falls under what I believe to be [LIGHT-GRIMDARK][SHIPPING]. Links and more located in the description below the story.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all affiliated characters are (c) Hasbro and Lauren Faust

An hour passed and Fluttershy slowly rose to her feet, she wiped the tears on her mane and then sat back down on her still sore flank. "Maybe, I can maybe try it." Fluttershy said to herself. She climbed back to her feet and walked out the cottage, it was time she tried to put the event behind her.

As Fluttershy approached the large oak Twilight gave her a reassuring smile. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.” Twilight said waving Fluttershy to come over. “I wanted to talk to you about something important.”

Fluttershy obviously became nervous as she approached and sat near Twilight. “Umm... what is it Twilight?...” the timid pegasus asked quietly. “I’m worried about you.” Twilight said softly. “I’ve heard some rumors that Rainbow has been abusing you. I’ve put it off as dirty lies but...” Twilight’s throat became raspy as she began to choke on her words. The studious unicorn cleared her throat and continued, “Ever since you were sent to the hospital...I’m worried by the fact that you won’t say how you were hurt, and with the rumors I’ve heard I have to know if...” Twilight couldn’t finish the sentence as her voice closed her throat up much tighter this time.

Fluttershy was staring at the ground before Twilight with her characteristically sad eyes and an otherwise blank face. “Just tell me. Are the rumors true?”

Fluttershy looked down towards her own hooves and began to shake slightly, Twilight moved closer but the timid pony took a step back.

“I.. I don’t know if I should talk about this...” Fluttershy’s voice betrayed how uncomfortable she felt. “Please Flutter, what Rainbow has told others is bad enough on its own, but if she is the reason you were sent to the hospital... I have to know Flutter.” Twilight’s voice was shaking slightly but her face held a sincere look, “You are obviously hurt, more than just physically, and your friends are worried about you...” The unicorn stared at Fluttershy and noticed her beginning to shake much heavier now as she lowered herself to the ground. “Please, talk to me. I want to hear your side of the story and see if we can fix this. I want you to be happy, I need to know if Rainbow is the cause of this.” Fluttershy hid her face in her pink mane and began to tear up.

Twilight heard a small sound come from her shaking friend. “What was that?”

“Sh--s” The sound came again from the now fully shivering Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry I can’t-”

“She is responsible alright!” Fluttershy said as loudly as she could manage.

Fresh tears rolled down the pegasus’s face as she looked to Twilight and then back to the ground near her hooves.

Twilight, finally having received the information she wanted, couldn’t think of anything to say. The lavender mare leaned towards Fluttershy and placed a hoof on her chin gently raising her up to eye level. Fluttershy looked into Twilight's violet eyes and couldn’t hold back her tears.

A tear rolled down the lavender unicorn’s cheek as she pulled her into an embrace, letting her continue crying into her shoulder.

Twilight’s mind began to slowly work again as she tried to calm her friend. “What she did was wrong, you deserve somepony better...” She knew that she wanted to be that somepony, but had yet to work up the nerve to ask. The pegasus's relationship with Rainbow had served to prevent her from trying as she believed them to both be happy, and she would never interfere with her friend’s happiness. Now that she knew that the rumors she and her friends had been hearing were true, and not just jealous ponies gossiping, a part of her felt glad that she had a chance.

Twilight began stroking the mare’s pink mane as she poured her eyes out into Twilight’s shoulder. “I... I.. “ Fluttershy took a deep breath and started again “Th-thank you Twilight... I think I’d like to try talking...”

After what felt like an hour Twilight released Fluttershy from the embrace in favor of holding her at foreleg length, “I’ll help you get through this Flutter, I promise.” Fluttershy smiled and wiped at her tears with her hooves. “Now I’d really feel better if you would come stay with me for the night, I don’t feel like you’re being safe by staying at your house all alone, would you please do this favor for me?” Fluttershy had finished wiping her wet cheeks and looked at Twilight’s genuine smile, “Y-yes, I think I’d like that.”

~~~~

LATER THAT EVENING

~~~~

Twilight’s horn glowed as she opened the door to the library and bowed her head in a mocking manner and said, “I hope you enjoy your stay at the ‘hôtel de livres’.” Twilight lightly chuckled at the ridiculous name she said as a doorpony would say at a fancy hotel. She had spent the bulk of their walk trying to cheer Fluttershy up and these jokes were succeeding for the time being. Fluttershy giggled and entered the library and said in her best Rarity impersonation “Why, umm, thank you daah-ling, I believe this will do quite nicely for the time being.” she couldn’t help but giggle again as she finished.

The library seemed a bit messier than usual, books lay here and there, many open to various pages with a quill laying next to them, a pile of scrolls could be seen next to a desk in the corner and a soft snoring could be heard from upstairs.

“We better be quiet,” whispered Twilight, “sounds like Spike’s sleeping. Here, I’ll set the guest bed up just follow me.” Twilight began to tiphoof up the stairs, her horn glowed again as she opened up the closet door and pulled out an extra blanket and pillow and placed them on the guest bed.

“There.” Twilight said warmly. “Thank you, Twilight, but why are you going through this much trouble to help me?” said the yellow mare, ‘It isn’t like I’m worth the effort’ she thought, putting a damper on the light hearted mood she had fallen into with her walk with Twilight. The unicorn moved over to the mare and stared into her sad, cyan colored eyes and smiled “I offered to help because I care about you Flutter, I want you to be happy and Rainbow is not the pony to do that for you.” Twilight pulled the shy pegasus into a hug. As Fluttershy returned the hug fresh tears began to run down her cheeks.

~~~~

“You really think your friends care? Are you KIDDING me?!” Fluttershy began to tremble. She had forgotten to prepare a snack for Rainbow Dash to celebrate her day off and was being yelled at for both her idiocy for forgetting and the sheer nerve she had for saying she wanted to seek out some of their friends to calm herself down.

“If you go out bothering any of our ‘friends’,” Rainbow’s voice was full of contempt and sarcasm as she said the word, “I will show you what real pain is! Not to mention they WILL leave you since NOPONY wants to bother wasting time with such a CRYFILLY like YOU! I’m your only REAL friend! I’ve stuck by you since flight school, and yet you would rather throw all that away and seek out the advice of ponies who don’t even know or care about you.”

Fluttershy remembered crying before the fastest young flier in Equestria smacked her hard across the face causing her nose to bleed. “And STOP crying!” It was the first time Rainbow had ever hit her, and Fluttershy found herself wondering why she had failed Rainbow so much as to require a beating. She just couldn’t see that Rainbow was at fault for this, Dash had been such a nice pony when they were young, and she was right, she had watched out for her during flight school and protected her from bullies when they were young. She was Fluttershy’s oldest friend, and if she was yelling and felt the need to hit her then Fluttershy must have earned it.

~~~~

Fluttershy shook her head to clear the memories away and to reassure herself of what she had been telling herself the last few weeks, Rainbow *was* lying, and her friends *did* care about her....at least she hoped they did.

Twilight pulled the blankets down the length of the bed with her magic and motioned for Fluttershy to get into it, as Fluttershy complied and climbed into bed Twilight moved over to the side of the bed and pulled the blanket to cover Fluttershy by hoof. “You sleep tight, we’ll talk more in the morning and, truly, thank you for coming over, I feel much better knowing you’re safe here.” Twilight said as she tucked in the blanket. Fluttershy took what she was saying to heart as best she could, and told herself, yet again, that Rainbow was wrong. Twilight *did* care. Fluttershy stirred as she confirmed this in her mind, accidentally pushing the hoof Twilight was balancing on as she finished pulling the blanket up to Fluttershy’s neck. Twilight and Fluttershy found themselves face to face, nearly touching noses. Both mares found their faces turning crimson and their eyes locked into the other’s gaze.

“Twilight...” Fluttershy said quieter than her usual moments of extreme shyness, only being heard because of the distance between them.

“Yes Flutter..?” Twilight whispered.

“I...” the yellow pegasus’s mind raced but found nothing to say. She simply froze with a blush on her face, focused intently on the eyes of the pony opposite her.

Twilight found herself similarly stumped, she had studied every subject she could think of, love came up more than a few times in her studies but most of her insight came from the ‘cheesy’ romances she borrowed from Rarity. As she lay there, hooves across the mare of her dreams, and muzzle to muzzle with her, she found nothing coming to her mentally. ‘Kiss her’ Twilight’s mind said quietly, this was all that came to her, so she acted on it without giving it any more deciphering. She leaned in closer and kissed the lips of the timid pony. Fluttershy’s eyes widened with shock for a moment before she closed her eyes and accepted the advance (quivering lips aside) and returned the kiss in full.

Thanks to Twilight’s inquisitive nature taking over, causing thoughts and questions to start spawning off in her head, and Fluttershy’s surprise, the kiss remained ‘simple’ and was short lived.

Twilight pulled back a bit stunned by her own actions. ”I... I.. I don’t know what came over me.” Twilight said, her voice raising slightly as she finished the sentence. “I have to go check on something, good night!” The lavender pony rushed towards the stairs and began her way down them, her mind racing and berating herself, ‘This isn’t the way to do it! I’m practically taking advantage of her situation... but’ she shook her head to clear it. ‘What if I ruined my chances? What if she begins to fear I’ll be like Rainbow?’ Twilight frowned at her thoughts as she reached the bottom of the stairs. ‘I suppose I’ll write my request to Celestia.’ Twilight thought, in truth she just needed something, anything to distract her mind for a minute or two.

Twilight needed Princess Celestia to know what she had discovered about Fluttershy, she needed Rainbow Dash brought into custody so they could have her tried for her crimes, and she needed advice on how to guarantee Dash paid for what she had done to Fluttershy. Perhaps most of all Twilight wanted advice for her feelings for Fluttershy, she desperately wanted somepony to simply tell her it was the right or wrong time to come clean to the pegasus, though she expected the Princess to say something about her finding out on her own as she often did with such personal matters.

~~~~

Fluttershy sat silently, frozen in the position she fell in during those glorious seconds filled by the kiss. Tears slowly grew in the corners of her vision as she looked towards the stairway, ‘Did I do something wrong?... Was Rainbow right after all?’Fluttershy shivered at the thought and wiped her tears away. ‘No, no, no. Twilight must care about me. But why would she leave like that? Was that kiss a mistake? Does... does she care or not...’ Fluttershy’s head started to hurt from the constant barrage of questions she was posing to herself.

~~~~

“You do know I’m protecting you by being with you right?” Rainbow seemed sincere. “I know I might be a bit harsh at times but only because you deserve it. Don’t look at me that way, I hate to say it but it’s true Fluttershy.” Rainbow gave Fluttershy a cheesy smile. “If I were to stop being with you then everypony around here would be fighting to get with you, and let me tell you none of them are nice ponies. Even our ‘friends’, “ there was that same twinge of disgust in her voice as always when using that word, “ would hop all over you, they see you as nothing but an object to be used and thrown away.” the cyan pegasus made it a point to wave her hoof in a mocking way to show her ‘friends’ throwing her out after they got what they wanted. “I’m only here to protect you babe.”

~~~~

‘Maybe I should leave... if Dash is right then I don’t need somepony like Twilight who just want...’ Fluttershy cut herself off and turned towards the window to focus on the first part of her thought more than where it was heading. ‘If she does care then she’ll search for me, if she doesn’t then at least I’ve shown I care enough to leave when such a misunderstanding comes up...’

“I hope she cares...” Fluttershy whispered, and with that she edged out of the bed, lay the pillow under the blanket and quietly hovered over to the window, unlocking it and flying out closing it behind her.

~~~~

Signed Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight sighed, she had never had to write with such an intent against a previous friend. She picked up the scroll and yawned, time had really gotten away from her. The unicorn climbed up the stairs, laid the scroll next to Spike’s bed as she normally did when she wrote something late into the night that she wanted sent in the morning. She glanced over to the newly made guest bed and felt thankful that Fluttershy was asleep. She was worried that she might have ruined her chances with Fluttershy, but knew she would find herself unable to explain herself if she had confronted her right then, she still wasn’t certain the pegasus would take Twilight’s love well after just being convinced to go against her lover. Even if she was going against Rainbow by talking with Twilight, she was still ‘with’ Rainbow, so could Twilight even hope to gain the mare’s love in return? Twilight climbed into her bed and tried to slow her mind, tried to focus on nothing in particular and yet all she could see her in head were images of the yellow pegasus she adored and the relationship she wished to have with her.

Sleep finally came.

Part Two

Moving On Part 2

Twilight let out a moan of dread as Celestia’s sun peeked through her window to her tired eyes. “Can’t the sun wait five more minutes...” The young mare yawned and rolled out of bed. She turned and quickly made her bed with her magic before glancing to her guest bed and remembering last night. “Wake-y, wake-y!” Twilight attempted a playful voice as she approached the bed, ‘I hope she slept well, I would really like to explain-...’ her thoughts were halted with the realization that the bed was empty.

“I’m already up, Twilight.” a slightly confused Spike said. “Oh and I sent that letter for you, still no response though, anything particularly important in that scroll?” Spike asked half interested.

“Oh. Thanks Spike, but I don’t think it’s something for baby dragon’s ears, at least just yet. Did you see Fluttershy?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you seen Fluttershy? She stayed the night here... and who unlocked the window?” Twilight approached the window noticing the latch was off.

“I don’t know, I’ve been up a while and I haven’t seen her. Maybe she woke up early and had business to take care of? She does watch after a lot of animals after all.” Spike said, beginning to take care of his daily chores since his boss had awoken.

“Maybe. I’m going out to look for her, if a scroll comes just set it aside for me, I’ll be back as soon as I find her.” the lavender pony began towards the door. “Oh, write a letter to Princess Celestia saying Fluttershy has gone missing, it could be nothing but I’d prefer she knew.”

The purple and green dragon raised an eyebrow at his, now leaving, caretaker “Uh.. alright Twilight. Whatever you say.” he said a bit confused as to why Fluttershy’s whereabouts were apparently important to the sun goddess.

‘OhnoOhnoOhno, please be safe Fluttershy. I hope she just went out to tend to the animals, I hope I’m not the reason she left...’

*Burp* “Alright then, on to the chores,” the dragon said as a scroll burst into flames in front of him, “see ya later Twilight.” Spike began picking up a pile of books and climbing the ladder to their respective spots.

‘Where would she go without telling me. Who am I kidding after last night she probably thinks the worst of me, if I was in her place I’d think my friend was trying to take advantage of me, and she probably thinks that about me now.’ Twilight felt more and more angry with herself for how she acted, ‘But it was a wonderful ki-...’. The unicorn shook her head as a blush came to her face. ‘I needed to focus on the present if I’m to help Fluttershy’ Twilight thought as she galloped towards Fluttershy’s cottage.

~~~~

It had been a long flight for Fluttershy, she never was very strong at it in the first place and the cottage seemed much farther in the night. Soon after entering her house and sitting on the sofa the timid pony’s mind began to betray her. As Fluttershy sat she began staring at the door and constantly thinking of new and more creative ways that Rainbow Dash would enter and beat her for what she had done last night. ‘Rainbow knows that I went with Twilight. She has to know, she always knows when I’ve made a mistake and betrayed her.’

The longer she sat the more she dreaded that she had kissed Twilight, and the more she feared what would be coming through that door.

At.

Any.

Moment.

“OUCH!” Fluttershy fell off the sofa and began looking around terrified and uncertain which direction she should start running. Soon she located the little white bunny who had always belittled her, yet pushed her in the right direction whenever she would listen to his silent reasoning. He was holding a carrot top with another one lying next to him, no doubt what he had thrown to get her attention, and he had a worried look on his face.

“O-oh. Hello Angel.” Fluttershy said trying to calm herself having found what had struck her.

The white bunny ran over to the pegasus and pointed at Fluttershy then to the door.

“I should leave? But where should I go?”

The bunny scratched his chin for a moment before wiping his arm in various lines across his body.

“I’m sorry I don’t-”

The bunny pretended to stir a cauldron of some kind.

“I’m not one-hundred percent-”

Angel facepawed and pointed towards the EverFree forest through the window and hopped up to a shelf with pictures. He tossed a few down to the ground before finally finding one of a Zebra. He held up the picture.

“Oh, Zecora’s? That’s a great idea Angel, thank you.”

Angel hopped down and gave the yellow pony a hug before ushering her out the door.

As Fluttershy found herself back outside she realized the entirety of what she had accepted doing. While she did like Zecora, and she had visited a few times since they officially met, she had only gone on her own once thus far, and there was a reason for that, the forest was far too scary to go alone. The yellow pegasus looked to the path that lead to Zecora’s hut and gulped. “I suppose it is safer there than at home...”

~~~~

Princess Celestia lay on her throne of pillows in the main hall as she normally did for a break after raising the sun. ‘Another day another rise.’ she thought with a rather cheery smile as she glanced behind her through the window.

‘POOF’ A scroll popped into existence before Celestia’s muzzle.

“Oh, a letter from Twilight this early?” Celestia took a grasp of the letter with her magic before it could begin to fall and unfurled it before her eyes.

A full minute passed as Princess Celestia read and re-read the letter to make certain she had understood it correctly. *Sigh* “Why must this always happen to the best of ponies...” The white alicorn thought for a moment to consider if she was talking about Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash.

“Guards.” The princess said in a moderate but authority bearing tone. Two armoured pegasus walked in. “I need multiple search parties sent out now to apprehend a ‘Rainbow Dash’. She is to be taken into custody here and I am to be alerted when she arrives.”

The pegasus guards bowed and walked back out of the royal hall. “Oh Twilight.”

Princess Celestia pulled out a fresh scroll and began writing her reply as another scroll ‘poofed’ into existence. “Another?”

As the goddess read the much shorter scroll she felt her heart sink as worry hit her, “Oh...Please be safe.” The alicorn had begun to think of the elements as a family of hers, and having such a horrible thing happen was taking its toll. She rolled up the scroll with her magic and wiped a tear away as she finished her reply, ‘The poor pegasus, she must be hurt and confused by all this, its no wonder she disappeared.’ Celestia frowned.

“I hope you are able to keep Fluttershy safe until we find Rainbow Dash...” the goddess whispered as she returned to her throne. She had many meetings to tend to today and she needed to clear her mind if she was to be of any use to anypony.

~~~~

“Hello? Helloooo, Anypony home?” Twilight had arrived at Fluttershy’s house, the door was locked which seemed strange to Twilight.

“I’m coming in if anyone is home!” Twilight said as her horn glowed and the door unlocked and opened before her. The house looked dark and was quiet. Twilight entered the door and instantly found her face hurting as a carrot was thrown at her. “Whaa!-” Twilight’s horn glowed and the nick knacks around the house began to float before she was able to see her attacker. A beaten bloody bunny with white gauze wrapped around his right arm and another carrot in his left, all tied together by his equally shocked face.

“Angel Bunny, why are you attacking me! And where is Fluttershy? For that matter, what happened to you?” Twilight went from rage to an empathetic tone.

The bunny stared at Twilight and lost his shocked face for a glare as he raised the carrot higher. “Wait! What happened here and why are you attacking me,” Twilight’s horn glowed as she raised the bunny into the air before her “I won’t let you down until you agree to answer my questions, Fluttershy could be in danger right now!” The white bunny stared at Twilight with angry eyes for a moment before nodding slowly. As he was lowered to the ground he winced in pain as his injured feet came in contact with the floor again.

“What happened in here anyway? “ Twilight looked around at the disaster of a living room, pictures thrown around the room, a small amount of sickening dark red could be seen staining the ground and furniture here and there. This all along with ripped curtains and knocked over bird cages left Twilight’s heart pounding in her chest. “Oh no... Please say Fluttershy is safe!” the unicorn yelled.

The bunny looked around the house as if for the first time in ages and then back to Twilight, he looked sad but nodded to the lavender pony’s last question. “Thank Celestia, what happened to you?” Angel bunny began to mimic kicking at the door and shouting at a toy mouse sitting in the room. After he yelled for a while he smacked the mouse and ran over to it pointing to a picture of Fluttershy laying on the ground nearby while shouting. “Did Rainbow do this to you?” The bunny nodded furiously and then stopped suddenly with another wince as he rubbed his neck. “She came here for Fluttershy then? You didn’t tell her where Flutter was did you?”

The bunny shook his head and pointed to a picture of Fluttershy, then to the door. The bunny began to flap his arms like wings and pointed to a cloud outside. The bunny then turned back to the mouse hitting it again and pointing to himself. Twilight sat staring for a second before the pieces clicked, “You told Rainbow she went to Cloudsdale? Is that it?” The bunny nodded again before staring a bit suspiciously at Twilight. “Oh. I need to know where Fluttershy went, I’m trying to protect her from Rainbow...”

Angel Bunny hopped over to Twilight and stared at her with his beady black eyes. He seemed to be deep in thought as the scowl on his face changed to a much more neutral composure and he pawed at his chin. “Please tell me, I’m afraid she could be in true danger out there. Even if she finds a safe place to go, if she stays anywhere too long Rainbow could still find her...” Twilight’s mind reeled through possibilities that would likely ensue from an angry Rainbow Dash finding Fluttershy after being sidetracked to Cloudsdale, she shivered.

The bunny closed his eyes and waved Twilight away with his good arm and began to clumsily hop away. “No! You have to tell me anything you know about Fluttershy! I care too much to have her in danger on her own, “ tears swelled in Twilight’s eyes as she hovered the white bunny over to her and stared at him face to face.

Angel stared into her eyes and sighed. The bunny looked down defeated for a moment before looking into Twilight’s eyes again and pointing to the EverFree forest and repeating his gesture of a cauldron being stirred. “Zecora?” The bunny nodded as he was placed back on the floor. “Thank you, “ Twilight said as she wiped away a tear and made for the door, “I promise to do my best to keep her safe,” ‘Oh, right...’ “Hey Angel?” Twilight turned back to look at the battered bunny, “Would you mind heading into town and staying at the library? It’s the large tree in the middle of town. I’m worried Rainbow might return before tomorrow and she might...” Twilight frowned as she thought of what could become of the bunny Fluttershy adored so much.

Angel stared at Twilight for a moment, then glanced to his injured feet. Surprisingly he looked back up with a determined face and nodded.“Thank you, Angel. I know Fluttershy would want you safe.” Twilight picked out a misshaped shred of paper from a pile of broken pictures and rummaged through the mess until she found a pencil.

Spike,

Help Angel as best you can, and send

Princess

Celestia a message saying to look through Cloudsdale for Rainbow.

Signed,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight handed the ‘letter’ to Angel and they went their separate ways.

~~~~

EARLIER THAT DAY

~~~~

Fluttershy walked through the EverFree forest, head low to the ground and eyes closed. Every few seconds she would ‘peek’ out of her mane to make certain she was still on a path of some kind but she always found her eyes meet with an unnatural shadow or a movement in her peripheral. Each horrifying vision lead her to sink lower to the ground, eyes sealed shut until she could work up the nerve to ‘peek’ again.

‘CRACK’

“EEEP!” Fluttershy jumped back and began shaking in a ball at the stick she had just stepped on. ‘Oh... silly me.’ Fluttershy tried to calm herself down but even knowing it was just a twig didn’t help the timid pony stop shaking. ‘I have to keep going, Zecora can protect me. I have to get to her.’ With that the pegasus raised to her feet and swiftly fell right back on her haunches with her forelegs covering her face as an owl hooted.

‘This might have been a bad idea.’

After five minutes of covering her face the yellow mare moved her forelegs and looked around. The forest was dark, as always, but it looked like she was alone. Nothing could be seen except trees, darkness, and the stick she had stepped on still sitting in front of her. ‘OK. I can do this. I HAVE to do this.’ Fluttershy raised herself to her hooves with a sigh as she looked at the stick yet again. ‘I’m such a scaredypony...’ The pegasus began down the path again, careful to not step on the same stick twice.

The yellow mare found herself repeating her previous mistakes. She had her head a mere inch off the ground and her eyes hadn’t opened in nearly a minute. Fluttershy began talking to herself, “I need to be a brave pony, I need to be a brave pony, I need to be a bra-AAAAAAH!” The pegasus’s mind was overcame by fear as she walked into a bush and screamed for whatever held her in place to let go.

The pony broke free from the dark bush and began to sprint screaming into the darkness, eyes clenched shut harder than she had ever closed them before.

“AAAAH! NO! GO AWAY! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!” Fluttershy screamed louder each time. Soon she found herself colliding into something yet again, but this time it wouldn’t let go of her.

“Let go, let go, let go!” Fluttershy yelled as she struggled, but whatever it was it was holding her steady. The pegasus opened an eye about to scream another protest when she found herself staring at a rather confused Zecora holding her in her hooves.

“Oh.... umm.. Zecora, I-I w...was looking for y-you...” Fluttershy began to blush as she realized she had been yelling at Zecora to let her go, the adrenaline making talking steady impossible.

“Hello Fluttershy; nice of you to come by.

But might I ask just one thing, what business could possibly- you -bring?” Zecora said with a slight frown of worry on her face.

“I-I...” Fluttershy took a deep breath trying to ease her shaking body and still terrified mind.

“Here my friend please come inside, once we are safe and warm you can confide” Zecora motioned to her hut. ‘Have I been this close the entire time?’ Fluttershy thought as she nodded and followed the zebra to her home.

Once inside Fluttershy’s heart began to return to a normal rhythm. She took a seat on a chair Zecora motioned her towards and tried her hardest to slow her breathing from its current state of shock.

“Here you are, have some tea. Now tell me what you need of me.” Zecora handed the scared pegasus a cup and gave a reassuring smile as if to say ‘I’m eager to help’. Fluttershy sipped her tea with a shaking hoof and placed it down on the table.

“I need a place to hide for a little while, somepony might be looking for me and I don’t want them to-...” Fluttershy stopped mid sentence and silently wished Zecora would believe that was the end of her thought. If Zecora knew she showed no sign of it, to her it didn’t matter if the reason wasn’t explained as this pony of all ponies wouldn’t come out into the EverFree forest for anything less than a ‘life and death’ situation, at least not alone.

“Say no more timid one, consider this matter done.

If you need a place to stay, then in this place you may.” Zecora tried to cheer up the pegasus with a smile and gave her a short hug before continuing.

“Now please tell me, when was the last sleep for thee?” the zebra said seeing the bags under Fluttershy’s eyes.

In truth Fluttershy had forgotten her exhaustion once she had reached her cottage as her mind began to fill with fear and adrenaline to ignore her tired body and push through the forest. As her heart rate fell to a normal beat and her mind was able to exit its ‘Fight or Flight’ response she felt wave after wave of sleep depravity hit her. She hadn’t slept since the night before last, and it was now nearing noon, not that you could tell this deep into the EverFree forest.

“It has been a while..” Fluttershy said with a soft yawn.

“If you would follow please, I’ll take you to a bed that should appease.”

“Thank you, Zecora.” The pegasus said with another quiet yawn.

Part Three

Moving On Part 3

Twilight panted heavily as she stopped at a fork in the path. She struggled to steady her breathing as she sat back on her haunches, ‘Did I really run all this way?’ the unicorn thought slightly pleased with her apparent athletic ability she had gained due to her determination.

*phew*

Twilight stared at the road for a time trying to recall which way it was, her mind was distracted and the directions seemed muddied in her pool of thoughts. ‘Now I think it was-’ The sound of something slithering behind Twilight froze her thoughts. Twilight knew this sound.... But from where? A low, angry cluck was heard. She knew what this was. She knew what it was and what it could do to her.

“COCKATRICE!” the mare yelled as she closed her eyes and ran, paying no heed to which path she chose, if any at all. Twilight ran as fast as she could, the adrenaline from her fear of becoming a statue for all eternity rushing away the feeling of exhaustion from her previously tired muscles. She listened intently for some sign that the monster was losing or gaining ground, or to see if she could hear it at all. All she heard was the sound of hooves pounding on a dirt path, with an occasional crack of dried flora stepped on along with the sound of her own heart pounding in her chest.

After Twilight felt she had created enough distance between herself and the sickening sound of the Cockatrice’s slither she slowed to a trot and opened her eyes, a bit stunned she had not collided with any trees. She found that she had apparently chosen a path and stayed roughly towards its center as she ran, the mare chuckled a bit embarrassed at herself as she realized she attempted no evasionary tactics as she ran. She ran hard and she ran in a straight line, only escaping due to her pursuer's mode of transport being much slower than that of a pony.

The unicorn looked skyward and saw the darkness of the EverFree forest’s mysterious abyss, empty of stars. ‘I escaped, but where am I now?’. As she stared into the darkness she found her answer, a light smoke could be seen rising higher and higher into the void from down the path, ‘Zecora’s!’ Twilight thought letting a relieved sigh escape her.

~~~~

Princess Celestia let an exhausted sigh out as she sat on her throne while what felt to have been the hundredth group of petition wielding ponies left her hall. ‘I love to help as best I can, but why must every single issue get drawn out into the most complex pattern possible before they bring it to me and demand change.’ she rubbed her tired eyes as she leaned back into the plush throne and sighed again. ‘Another party will be here in only minutes, no doubt.’ she grimly thought, her head beginning to pound at the idea. The goddess moved her hoof to her forehead as she tried her hardest to simply ‘focus’ the headache away.

Suddenly a ‘poof’ was heard and Celestia opened her eyes to another letter. “Twilight?” she unconsciously said as she opened the floating scroll.

Dear Princess Celestia,

It’s Spike, Twilight sent a note saying to tell you to search through Cloudsdale for Rainbow.

Your favorite dragon,

Spike

“Cloudsdale?” the goddess said. ‘Maybe Rainbow thinks Fluttershy is there.... I pray she isn’t.’, she thought, a frown adorning the immortal’s face.

“Guards?” the alicorn called as a small group of armoured pegasus entered. “I want two full search teams sent to Cloudsdale, now. I have reliable information that Rainbow Dash is there.” The small squad bowed and marched out of the hall. ‘I hope Twilight’s right.’

~~~~

Twilight approached the wooden door to Zecora’s hut and took a deep breath to make certain she was calm after her surprise along the way. The short walk to the hut had calmed her slightly, but with each ounce of adrenaline that left her bloodstream, the more her body began to ache and scream for her to just sit and relax her legs. Even with these ‘new’ aches she decided that being calm was more vital in the situation, she couldn’t hope to talk properly while shaking from her shock, and what if Fluttershy saw her shaking and stuttering with fear? With a final breath she knocked, “Zecora! Are you home?” The door opened to show the striped zebra looking a bit surprised to have a visitor.

“Why hello Twilight my friend, how wonderful it is to see you again!” her voice was as cheery as usual and she smiled as she talked.

“But if I may, what brings you this way?” Zecora’s cheery disposition turned slightly to one of curiosity and confusion.

“Hello Zecora, I’m sorry to spring up on you but have you seen Fluttershy? She’s gone missing and I’ve been searching for her all day.” Twilight said with a small frown realizing she wasn’t completely certain how long that meant.

“I do not believe I saw her today, but why would I give such info away?” Zecora replied, her face began to grow serious as she eyed Twilight suspiciously. Twilight returned the look and continued, “Please Zecora, she really needs my help and- and I need to tell her something important...” Twilight blushed slightly but it went unnoticed against her lavender coat.

“You come with help and a message under claim, but how do I know this isn’t a game?

How could I know this is reliable, when the opposite seems equally viable?” Zecora raised an eyebrow and continued her stare.

Twilight was tiring of this game, and the striped one’s way with rhymes was beginning to sound like nails on a chalkboard to the still exhausted unicorn.

“Have you seen her or not!” Twilight nearly yelled, instantly regretting raising her voice. “I don’t mean to shout, I just need to know Fluttershy is safe...”

~~~~

Fluttershy stirred from her sleep and rubbed her still tired eyes with a hoof while trying to stretch her wings. She found this feat impossibly hard to do as she clearly hadn’t slept long enough and they were still sore from her night’s trek. The pegasus began looking around the room wondering where she was as she relaxed her wings with a wince of pain. It was cold and damp. And dark. Fluttershy felt herself begin to shiver as her eye’s adjusted. She was laying in a bed near a stairway, and the smell of herbs and spices was undeniable. She focused to see pots lining the wall nearby and recalled where she was-

~~~~

“The room might be a bit dank, luckily my cellar is built like a tank!

The doorway is hidden fairly well, and breaking in- hard as hell!” Zecora chuckled at her last rhyme as the latch under her rug was unlocked and they shuffled down the stairs.

“If you wish to go, the latch opens freely to those below.” Zecora smiled to the tired pegasus and motioned to the bed. Fluttershy smiled back to her friend and gratefully climbed in. She fell asleep before she could thank her hostess again.

~~~~

Fluttershy began to wonder what had awoken her when she began hearing muffled voices she couldn’t make out coming from upstairs.

~~~~

“You’re words are not fooling me Zecora, I know you know something about Fluttershy. Tell me.”

“I’m sorry my friend, but a promise I can not bend.

She is safe I will say, but her location I won’t give away.” Zecora frowned.

Twilight looked down at the ground as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I... I...” She wiped at her cheek and raised her head with a small smile, “Do you promise she’s safe?” she said quietly.

~~~~

Fluttershy gasped, ‘That sounds like Twilight, did she come to find me?’

~~~~

“That much I know, I’m more than certain so.” Zecora replied, glad to see Twilight’s response.

“Alright then,” The unicorn said defeated. “I still believe I know what’s best for her.” she said before quieting down “but if you say she’s safe, I’ll trust you.”

~~~~

Fluttershy laid back into her bed confused, the one thing she could clearly make out was the sentence “I know what’s best for her.” and she didn’t know what to make of it. ‘Does she mean that she wants to help me? O-or does she mean it as Rainbow does...’ Fluttershy frowned as her memories began to overtake her thoughts.

~~~~

“Why are you reading that smut Rarity gave you?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I like it, Rainbow, the romance is cute, and it passes the time.” Fluttershy said calmly as she turned the page in her new love story. The cyan pegasus frowned, “You think stories about some stallion coming in and lying his ass off to get into a mare’s bed is ‘cute’?” Fluttershy frowned now.

“I mean do you really think ponies act like that without a reason? Whether it’s for your possessions, your time, your well-being, or your body the only time somepony acts like ‘that’ is when they want something from you, and taking it would be ‘impolite’.” Rainbow continued as she took Fluttershy’s book into her hooves “A real friend is someone who doesn’t care about what you have to offer and simply looks out for you, like I do for you.” Rainbow leaned in and kissed Fluttershy, recklessly pushing her tongue into the yellow mare’s mouth.

As the kiss ended Rainbow finished her thought as she walked to the waste-bin, “Trust me babe, I know what’s best for you, and this isn’t it.” The book landed in the bin with a soft *thud* as the hardcover came in contact with the side of the plastic waste-bin. “Stuff like that will just get you walked all over and taken advantage of by the first pony to offer you help.” Rainbow smirked as her mind reeled with laughter at the joke she had unintentionally made at Fluttershy’s expense.

~~~~

Fluttershy looked back towards the stairway, hearing no more from upstairs. Her eyelids began to grow heavy as she felt her exhaustion overcoming her curiosity. She fell asleep making a mental note to ask Zecora what the conversation was about when she woke up.

~~~~

Twilight sighed as she looked to the sky of the early night. ‘I’m glad she’s safe but I really needed to talk to her, couldn’t Zecora have just trusted me enough to take me to her!’ she thought as she felt a wave of anger towards her zebra friend. ‘She has her reasons I suppose...’ with this thought the anger dissipated as her gaze fell back to the ground. Twilight raised her head once more to see where she was and found she was nearing the library. She began to put on a brave face so Spike didn’t suspect anything was the matter. As the unicorn approached the library she couldn’t help but smile as she saw Spike glaring at an injured, but in no way defenseless, bunny.

“Hey Spike, having trouble?” Twilight said giggling as she entered and assessed the baby dragon’s predicament. He was stuck sitting on the middle rungs of the ladder as Angel Bunny stood at the bottom waving a fork he held with his good arm.

“Oh, hey Twilight. Anyway you can calm this guy down? Ever since he gave me the letter he’s been glaring at me and throwing books at me whenever I turn around.” Spike said sticking his tongue out at the bunny, causing Angel to throw the fork at the dragon. “OUCH! Stop it!”

Twilight leaned down to the bunny and whispered in his ear, “Fluttershy is safe,” Angel gave a relieved smile, “Now would you mind cooperating a bit? I’ll get you some dinner if you’ll stop torturing Spike.” The bunny scratched his chin and nodded hobbling over to Spike’s bed and laying down. “Hey...” Spike moaned. “Oh relax Spike, it’s just for one night.”

“Oh, Twilight, a scroll came for you.” Spike said raising the scroll to the unicorn who picked it up with her magic and unfurled it.

~~~~

My Faithful Student,

I am so sorry to hear that Fluttershy has been abused by anypony, let alone a fellow element. I believe I can help you bring Rainbow Dash to justice if you are able to find Fluttershy and bring her to me.

I will send my guards out to search for, and apprehend Rainbow Dash, but to keep her we will need to have Fluttershy. In any case where the victim is still alive I am able to, under Equestrian Law, shortcut the process as long as the first-hoof victim can present themselves to me. I will use my magic to prevent them from fabricating information and they will be free to express their concerns and tell their story. At which point I am allowed to act as a jury of one. If Fluttershy can not be found or is found, and I’m truly sorry to say this, dead then we are forced to follow a conventional jury and judge. Sadly Fluttershy is the only pony to have real proof of what has occurred and only through her word. Such methods don’t work against the defendant themselves as the magic forces them to speak the truth, not speak. While incriminating, they often sit silent and let others talk for them, which leads to wasted time and, more often then not, the pony getting off for free.

We would be lucky to tie anything to Rainbow Dash in such a case, murder would be suspected but likely impossible to prove.

If what you say is true, and Fluttershy has been abused by Rainbow Dash, then I can listen to her story and have Rainbow Dash imprisoned for what she has done.

As for your feelings, follow your heart Twilight, it will lead you the right way. I just hope you get the chance, given the circumstances.

Your Saddened Mentor,

Princess Celestia

~~~~

A tear fell from Twilight’s cheek onto the scroll as she leaned over it. Celestia had said to follow her heart, as she had half expected, if the letter had held any other topic then such a prediction would warrant a giggle from Twilight for having known her mentor so well. Tonight she felt no such small joy, with Celestia’s mention of death and how easily it seemed Rainbow could escape any conviction it was taking all she had for Twilight not to break out in heavy sobs in front of her assistant and animal guest. Twilight worried that Rainbow Dash might still find Fluttershy. ‘She could easily overpower Fluttershy and...and...’ Another tear rolled down her cheek as Twilight closed her eyes to the thought. ‘She could easily hide the evidence and get away from the punishment.’ ‘She could eas-’

“Twilight are you ok?” Spike interrupted her train of thought.

“Hmm... o-oh.. yeah I’m fine.” Twilight wiped her eyes quickly, “would you make us all some salad? Angel Bunny included of course.” she nodded to the bunny raising his head from Spike’s bed. She said it more as a command than as a question so Spike nodded and walked to the kitchen staring at Twilight along the way. He said nothing more than “Ok, Twilight...” much to the relief of the emotionally shaken mare.

~~~~

Fluttershy woke up to a gentle shake and a soft rhyming voice.

“Wake up young one, the day is almost done.

You shouldn’t sleep too long, besides you toss like some thing’s wrong...”

Fluttershy had indeed been having nightmares. She shook her body away from her hostess as the memories of the horrid dream filled her mind.

~~~~

Rainbow Dash walked past Fluttershy as the door was opened for her. She had a lighthearted smile on her face and was humming to herself as she approached the couch and sat down, folding her legs under her.

“Why you seem to be in a good mood Rainbow.” the yellow pegasus said a bit surprised, it had been a while since she had seen her marefriend completely at ease. “Well of course!” Rainbow said with a song in her voice as she reached her muzzle into her saddle bag.

‘Did she have that saddle bag when she entered?’

“You see, I was thinking about what you did last night,” Fluttershy’s eyes fell to the floor expecting some sort of punishment or yelling to occur. “and I figured I’d fix it myself so we could stay together. I’m happy because it’s all taken care of now!” She nearly yelled, still holding a song of excitement in her voice as she pulled her muzzle out of her bag with something in her mouth. She sat staring at the yellow pegasus who had yet to raise her head to see what was brought out.

Before Fluttershy could think any further on what her punishment was she smelled something dark, it was a smell that reminded her of death. Was it blood? It was stronger than that. It smelled almost earthy. It reminded her of decomposition, rotting, and death. As she raised her eyes from the rug they had fallen on during thought she began to think she could definitely smell blood along with it, but what was-

Rainbow Dash sat on the now stained couch with a huge smile on her face. In her teeth she held a bloody, hairy mass of varying shades of purple and red. As the timid pony’s mind collected what she was seeing she began to shake in terror as her eyes widened. The severed head of her dear friend was being held up by a mouthful of hair. Her throat had a rather sloppy tear to it as if she had been decapitated not by a blade but by sheer force as it was pulled from her body. Blood was still draining from her wounds and soaking into the couch. Her horn seemed to have been broken from her skull and it held on by a flap of skin that sickeningly sagged towards the deceased pony’s snout. As the horn hang near Twilight’s mouth, Fluttershy could see the sickening hole left from the horn’s forced removal. The sight made Fluttershy throw up on her rug.

Her heart ached and felt as if it were being clenched by rusted metal teeth.

~~~~

‘How could a dream come up with such images and smells...’ Fluttershy thought as she sniffed back tears.

Her mind began drift away from her hurtful dream as she recalled what she had heard earlier that day.

Fluttershy shivered and looked back to Zecora, “Thank you again for letting me stay Zecora. I wasn’t sure where I could turn...” Zecora smiled. “Zecora, what did Twilight want? I heard her say....” Fluttershy’s tone grew sad as she cut herself off.

“I didn’t think you were awake, Twilight came for you- to take.

She meant no harm and simply said, that you being unsafe she would dread.

She clearly wished to assist, and I sensed nothing amidst.”, the rhyming zebra said with an understanding smile on her face as she put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“She wanted to help me?” Fluttershy asked partially stunned, her nightmares and thoughts before sleep still twisting together in her mind. She knew Zecora was a good judge of character and she felt her heart relax in her chest for a moment before it began to beat quickly for another reason ‘She cares! She cares!’ she thought happily, a smile growing on her face as the tears in her eyes began to flow anew.

“Zecora, would you please lead me back to town... I’m worried I might get lost again..” Fluttershy got quieter as the sentence finished but her companion understood her fears of the forest and simply nodded to her request.

“Thank you, I need to go talk with Twilight.” Fluttershy said with a determined look in her eyes, and a new hope in her heart.

Intermission

Moving On- Intermission

“I’m not in the mood, Dashie.” giggled an intoxicated Spitfire. “Well I am babe!” Rainbow Dash said, laughing as she pounced on the golden mare. As the two landed on the rather plain bed Spitfire began to playfully push the rainbow maned pegasus off of her, but Rainbow held strong.

Rainbow Dash and Spitfire were laying in a hotel located just outside of Fillydelphia. They had spent much of the previous day partying to celebrate the end of another successful Wonderbolts tour, and now things were winding down as Spitfire invited Rainbow into her room for the night. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, Spitfire only invited her in to talk before they hit the hay and wasn’t looking for any ‘strenuous activity’.

“I mean it Rainbow!” she said rather sternly, removing the smile from Rainbow’s face. “Yer drunk Rainbow,” Spitfire pushed the pegasus off of her, “just get out, this party is over!” Spitfire was beginning to get angry. Rainbow’s frown began to change into a wicked grin as she forced herself back onto her obviously unwilling partner.

“I thought you knew the deal babe! I take what I want, WHENEVER I WANT!” the light blue pegasus was beginning to yell as she stared down her mate with a fire in her eyes.

“Rainbow?” a familiar voice said from behind the two intertwined pegasus. “I believe Spitfire said she would like you to leave.”

Rainbow turned around to see a scowling Soarin’. “Oh calm down big guy, you want to join in or something?”

“No, Rainbow. I want you to go. Spitfire said she isn’t in the mood, and we do have a busy day tomorrow. This party is over.” Rainbow stared angrily at the pale blue stallion, motionless over her mate, who was growing angrier with every passing second. “I. SAID. GET. OFF!” Spitfire bucked as hard as she could from the awkward position, sending Rainbow flying upwards.

“Nice try!” Rainbow said, her cocky nature returning a bit from her anger as she caught herself and hovered above the bed. “I know when I’m not wanted you slut, besides I have a cute little bitch for just such a situation! That’s right, I lied. You really think I’d stay with only you? You aren’t worth the time and you barely get me to finish, let alone please me you WORTHLESS WHORE!” Rainbow began to hover towards the door passing a much more angry Soarin’, “So much for a party, this wasn’t even close to worth the trip. Hope you crash in your next performance, and that goes for both of you,” she turned to the dark blue maned stallion, “I’m out of here.” With that she flew out the door and away from the hotel, party-goers still dancing outside the establishment as the party followed the Wonderbolts back to their temporary residence.

~~~~

A tear fell from the pegasus’s eye as she finally found herself unable to see city.

‘How dare she. I thought she knew the deal, I’m the one in charge and yet she cowered behind him like I was nothing.’ Another tear fell as her eyes regained their fire of rage, ‘How DARE he! I took Spitfire fair and square, and he just steps in and tells me she’s in charge?! I did the work. I saved her life. She belongs to ME! And it stays that way until I say she’s not worth it anymore.’ Her tears ceased as her last thought repeated itself in her mind.

‘They act like their lives aren’t worth it or something. They know the deal, I saved them, they are mine to do with as I PLEASE.’ her scowl deepened as she glanced around at the thin clouds around her. ‘Where was I going again?’ The pegasus glanced towards the ground in thought as she began to calm down from her previous ordeal. ‘Oh yeah. Fluttershy.’ A small grin came to her face as she doubled her pace towards the cottage of her oldest friend, and first possession.

~~~~

The young pegasus began her decent as the cottage came into view. ‘It must be getting close to sunrise,’ Rainbow absentmindedly thought as she glanced to the sky trying to perceive what time it was. ‘Flutter will understand. Or not, she won’t fight it much at least.’ she half laughed to herself as she gently pushed the door open, she did so enjoy surprising the timid pegasus.

Rainbow stopped as she passed the couch. Something felt... ‘wrong’. The house was quiet. Not the usual quiet of the peaceful cottage at night, it was much more so. On a normal night the pony who inhabited the dwelling would be ‘snoring’, if such a term could describe her soft sounds, quietly upstairs, her window open for a breeze which would usually give the house a feeling akin to the cottage ‘breathing’ in and out. The whole place seemed.

Still.

Empty.

Abandoned.

Abandoned...

~~~~

Years Ago

~~~~

Rainbow Dash sat crying on her doorstep as she listened to her parent’s talking just inside the modest cloud house.

“Hurry up honey! I want to at least start heading out before sundown!” a masculine voice said from the cloud house, a growing impatience in his voice. “It’s a long flight and I don’t want to have to spend the bulk of it in the beating sun! We leave now and we might arrive before morning.” A much softer voice could be heard in reply, “No worries, dear. I just wanted to make certain the movers had gotten everything. I’m ready now.”

The two fully grown pegasus opened up the door and nearly tripped over their daughter.

“Whoa! Oh, it’s you. Did you decide to come along? You finally get over your fear of flying?” a sickening twist was heard in the stallion’s voice as if he was holding back laughter at a joke he had made.

“I... I..”

“Can’t. We know,” the stallion continued as he turned back to his wife, talking with disgust in his voice, “I still don’t know why it couldn’t have been born to an earth pony somewhere? She’s such a waste of a beautiful pair of wings.”

With that the two pegasus began to hover out the door and towards the edge of the massive cloud that made up Cloudsdale.

“If you could just get over your fear of flying you might be ‘worth’ taking along,” Rainbow watched with blurry, tear filled eyes as her father smirked towards her as he spoke. “but no, you remain a waste of space.” His smirk grew to a full smile as he noticed the tears begin to run down the filly’s cheeks, “You act as if you’re surprised we’re leaving you? Ponies are things you ignorant little foal, and you’ve wasted my time long enough, why should I continue to ‘own’ you when I can simply leave? You’re too weak and scared to even follow!” he laughed as he finished his verbalized thought, bringing a sad chuckle from his wife. The two pegasus flew over the edge of the city together, leaving a crying filly in their wake.

“Their right...” the shaking filly said through sobs. “I’m just too weak... I need to be stronger. I need to..to..” The cyan pony wiped at her eyes and glanced back up to where her parents had flown off the edge. They were long gone and she couldn’t make them out in any direction. “fly...” she finished as she opened her wings and attempted to lift herself. After a few beats of her wings she found she had left the ground and terror quickly hit her. Wings locking up she fell awkwardly back down, landing harshly on her side. As she struggled back to her hooves she thought of how lucky she was she hadn’t made it any higher.

As the fear left her shaking body she let out a sigh for her millionth failed attempt to leave the ground and ‘go’ anywhere, it had gotten harder as of late. Now not only inability, but fear plagued her attempts to leave the ground beneath her hooves. ‘And I fail again, right when I ‘need’ to go somewhere.’ she sadly mused. The rainbow maned filly began to wander the city before she fell asleep in an alley, her exhaustion from attempted flight, and fighting off tears taking hold of her as she fell into a deep slumber.

~~~~

Present Day

~~~~

Rainbow’s eye twitched as she stared into the empty room. ‘How DARE she, how DARE SHE!’ The pegasus stormed up the stairs to find the room empty and quickly flew back down the stairs with a fire in her rose colored eyes.

“THAT BITCH!” she yelled as she kicked a shelf down, hot tears running down her face. “I protect her, I get her through flight camp and protected her from this Celestia forsaken town, AND SHE ABANDONS ME!?” the couch found itself laying on its back from a swift kick from the pegasus’s athletic legs.

The mare stopped her destructive wave as she heard a scurrying behind the overturned couch. She walked over to find Angel rubbing his head as he looked back and forth disoriented, having been woken up and hit with a couch without warning.

“YOU! Where did Fluttershy go?” Her voice was steady but dark as she approached the bunny who simply glared back at her.

~~~~

Years Ago

~~~~

The first few days had been hard for the now homeless filly. She was having trouble finding sustenance and instead spent her days pushing her wings further than they had ever gone before. She figured if she couldn’t eat, she could fly. ‘Take’ that skill from whatever ‘held’ it from her. Make it her’s. Sadly, her ‘training’ only resulted in her leaving the ground for a few seconds longer than before, always landing with a sick sweat across her body and a pounding heart. On the third day her hunger was becoming inconsolable. She was able to drink wherever, and whenever she pleased thanks to the cloud material of her home town, a simple squeeze and water (of varying quality depending on where in the city she chose to drink) would come to her. It was keeping her hydrated, but it did nothing for the growling beast in her stomach.

As the hungry pegasus sat on her haunches on the corner of a street she began to think more upon what her parents had said about her. ‘I’m not worth it....I’m too weak....I need to be stronger...’ her mind continued to dig deeper into the topic of her self worth until her stomach attempted to drown her out of her mind with another tremor of sound. The hungry filly sighed and pushed herself deeper into her thoughts.

~~~~

She thought of what her father had been for their family.

While he had hit Rainbow’s mother, the mare never showed anything but a deep love for their head of the house. Rainbow remembered how with each strike her mother would claim more and more love for her father, begging for forgiveness for her failures and promising to do more to make up for each mistake. Dash hated him for it. At first. Over the years she found her mother’s constant explanations for his actions begin to make sense, she was always saying things like, ‘He loves us very much, he saved me once and does it again everyday he brings us food and provides us with this shelter.’ or ‘ He is the head of the house, he’s only trying to protect us. We must respect him for his efforts and try our hardest to pay him back.’ Rainbow listened to her sad voice intently, these talks only came when her father was away and she loved the sound of her mother’s soft voice, even if it did shake as she spoke. Over the years the ideal stuck, as much as the rainbow filly disliked her father’s methods, she admitted he had the right. He provided for the family, he could do as he pleased.

Her mind took a swing back to more recent times.

“Are you ever going to fly? Our household needs money and you know you can’t hope to get a job around here unless you fly.” a strong voice said.

“I..I want to fly Dad... I just..”

“Can’t. I know, I know.” he sighed, “We can’t wait forever for you though, Rainbow. Here.”

Rainbow watched as her father put his head under her and picked her up, gently tossing her onto his back. “Hold on,” he said as he spread his wings and took flight, straight up through the sky until Rainbow swore the ponies below were just ants. “and...now!” the stallion said as he dropped himself down with a flap of his wings, startling the filly into letting go of his mane. “Fly!”

“NOOOOO, DAD!” the terrified foal screamed as she began to fall towards the cloud that made up her hometown. Every second its features becoming more prominent, and exponentially larger. Now she could make out the buildings, she recognized the area. She glanced back to her wings and pushed them with all her strength to open but they were frozen in place. Looking back down she noticed she could make out the pegasus’ features, she thought momentarily that she recognized one from her neighborhood. Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes shut in preparation for impact while willing her body to move with all her might.

Suddenly she stopped.

Thoughts of death filled her mind as she began to shake in her new-found stationary position. “I-I’m dead....” she whimpered.

“No. But I’m not sure why not.” an angry stallion said from below her. The filly opened her eyes to see her father below her, having caught her apparently at the last second. “D-d-dad, I th-thought I was done f-for,” Rainbow said, tears streaming her face as her body relaxed from its tense state. They were both quiet for the remainder of their flight home.

As they landed the stallion dropped his daughter lightly onto the cloud and turned her to look him in the eye as he spoke. “You didn’t even try. I gave you the best chance I could and you didn’t even try.” his voice was full of contempt for his daughter. “You know what, I’m done. I’ve tried everything I can but you have proven time and time again that you are just a waste of my efforts. You won’t learn to fly, you know you can’t work around town without being able to fly and this town is too expensive for our family. We’re moving at the end of the week, and unless you can learn how to fly on your own by then you aren’t coming. We don’t need dead weight on the trip and I’m not looking to take something that I have no use for with me to this family’s new home.” Rainbow froze in place again. She watched as her father finished his speech, he spent another while talking of his disappointment. Explaining how the family worked, how she was proving herself to be a wasted effort unlike her mother, as he put it - “Despite her many, many flaws she at least TRIES to be of use to me.”

Rainbow Dash sat outside her house, facing where her father had stood. She remembered reaching up to wipe her face as it had become irritated and finding herself matted in dried tears. She spent the rest of that week unable to even attempt to fly, each flap of her wings propelling her mind back up to her fall.

~~~~

Rainbow looked down to the mass of clouds she sat on and sniffed back a tear. ‘I’m going to have to try. I don’t have him around anymore to provide for me, so I have to get better at flying, I have to provide for myself....but how?’ She glanced to a nearby food cart loaded with grapes and heard her stomach break through her thoughts once again.

‘But I’m so hungry...’ she whined to herself. ‘I have to survive... but I don’t have any bits... and I can’t fly well enough for a job to get any.’ It felt as if a storm cloud was hanging over her as she sat there staring at the plump grapes. Suddenly an idea came to her out of desperation.

The filly stood on her hooves and began to walk slowly along the buildings, approaching the cart that lay a few feet from the building itself. It was facing towards the middle of the ‘road’ which meant following her path would lead her close to the back side of the stand. As she found herself next to it she reached towards the succulent fruit, being careful to stay behind the owner as he handed a customer their requested vines, and snatched a vine of grapes. She slowly turned around and took a step away before she heard the owner speak up, “Excuse me miss but-” Rainbow froze. Her mind raced as she watched a shadow form around her and only one thing made sense in the jumble of words filling her head. ‘Fly.’

The young pony’s wings extended as her body gained control again. They began to beat faster than she thought possible as the adrenaline in her system took hold of her. She flew as quickly as she could straight through the alleyways and across the road opposite them. She continued flying until she found herself on the other side of the city, out of breath and slightly sticky as she had squeeze the grapes into her fur.

She sat on her haunches yet again and began to focus on her breathing, slowly returning it to a normal rate. As the filly looked down she realized that the grapes were still in her possession which caused a smile to spread across her muzzle as she lightened her grasp on them and began to shove each grape recklessly into her mouth. After a few minutes passed she felt full and had resorted to licking at her hooves as she wiped the juice from her face and chest.

“Ahh...” she moaned peacefully. ‘I did it. I survived, and all I had to do was take what I wanted and.....’ her mind froze in realization for a moment before she hopped into the air and screamed “FLY!”. The filly quickly composed herself as she glanced around at the bewildered faces around her, a blush of embarrassment spreading at their stares. As the corner returned to its normal din of conversation, and eyes fell off of her, Rainbow returned once more to her victorious thoughts. ‘I’ll prove that old stallion wrong yet! I am worth it, he should have taken me with them when he had the chance!’ A cocky smirk took over the young filly’s face as she returned to her hooves and began to walk, no place in particular in mind.

~~~~

Three Weeks Later

~~~~

Rainbow Dash was doing well for herself. She ate at least twice each day, occasionally finding an open pie vendor to rob blind which would net her a meal large enough for multiple days. Her flying was getting much better, the initial leap in ability after her first attempt to steal had been retained as she began tying each flap of her wings with the adrenaline of being chased, and the adrenaline from her stained memory of the fall. It was working. Heads often turned to try and catch what the rainbow blur had been that just passed them, before they glanced to their belongings and realized what had just occurred.

Rainbow was now flying faster than she had before, grasping in her hooves a relatively heavy bag of bits she swiped from a customer as he brought it out to buy a new saddlebag. As she made a sharp turn around the corner she came in contact with something she didn’t expect, a young yellow pegasus who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She couldn’t stop.

As the two fillies pulled themselves back to their hooves from their painful encounter they locked eyes, one pair full of terror, the other of rage. “Watch where you’re going!” yelled an angry and slightly disoriented Rainbow Dash.

“I..I..I’m sorry. I didn’t mean t-to..” The timid filly’s voice struck a chord of sorrow in the cyan pegasus’s heart.

“Oh, uh, it’s no big deal. I mean. I was kinda rushing and I didn’t really pay much attention to where ‘I’ was-” Rainbow’s eyes went wide as she began looking around frantically for the bag she was holding seconds earlier.

“Oh, you, umm, did you drop this?” the shy filly said raising the bag of bits that she had landed on.

“Uh.. yeah, I... Thank you” Rainbow said, grasping the bag in her teeth. The cyan pegasus leaned around the corner to glance towards the still angry stallion she had just swiped her latest prize from. He was shouting at the owner and had apparently decided that she was too quick to chase. Relieved, she sat down to count out her newest bounty.

“I’m Rainbow Dash by the way, what’s your name?” the cyan pegasus said as she counted her newly acquired bits.

“Oh.. umm.. I’m Fl...” she murmured.

“What was that?” Rainbow said half listening.

“Flutter--” she squeaked again.

“Could ya say that one more time?” the pegasus said satisfied with her counting and raising herself nearer the yellow filly.

“I’m Fluttershy...” she said just barely above a whisper.

“Well nice to meet you Fluttershy! Sorry to meet and run but I really should be heading off.” Rainbow said as she tucked the bits into her wings and began down the road.

As she took her first steps she heard a mumbled voice from behind her say “Oh... I guess that’s fine, isn’t like anypony wants to hang out with me anyway...” Dash turned around to see the timid pegasus hiding her face behind her mane as she looked to the ground with her big sad eyes.

“Oh... I suppose I could stay a while if you’d like to, uh, hang out?” Fluttershy’s face lit up at the offer as she gave a small smile to Dash.

Rainbow began to grow interested in this filly, she hadn’t made any friends seeing how the other foals made fun of her from being tied to the ‘ground’, unwilling or unable to float through the air as the other pegasus did.

Seeing somepony ‘new’ meant a chance. Even without a family, she could still have friends... right?

“Oh.. I’d love to!”

Suddenly becoming much quieter she continued, “Well... I mean, if you want to?”

“Well I offered didn’t I?” Rainbow said in a cocky tone as she hovered back over to Fluttershy and sat next to her. “Anything in particular you want to do?”

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin in thought as she spoke, “Well... I’m not a very strong flyer, so I can’t really race, or whatever it is you were doing.” Rainbow blushed slightly as she realized the new secret she had to hold. “Uh.. yea, well no big deal! I’m tired of ‘racing’ anyway, hehe.” she nervously laughed as she finished.

“You want to just go for a walk then?”

Rainbow stood back on her hooves and nodded to her companion, “Sure thing, lead the way!”

“Oh, you mean, you want to go with me? Like... as a friend?” she practically mouthed the last words.

“Uh, sure! I mean, unless you’d rather walk alone?”

Fluttershy’s mood lightened at the idea as another smile spread across her muzzle, “Oh no, not at all! I haven’t any friends seeing how I don’t fly much and I’m...” a blush escaped onto the yellow filly’s face as she trailed off.

“No problem at all! I used to be a bad flyer too. I bet you can be a great flyer with some of my help,” Rainbow smirked as she continued, “but for now I’d love to walk with my new ‘friend’!” Saying the word felt like it lifted a heavy weight from her shoulders, she had accomplished yet another thing she had never before. The two began down the road, both happy to have new friends in each other.

~~~~

Present Day

~~~~

Rainbow Dash stood over a beaten bunny. He sat on his knees and coughed blood onto the floor before her.

“I said where is she!” the mare yelled as she slammed her hoof into the small creature’s side again, flinging him to the wall and leaving a sickening smear of blood as he slid down.

“Where is that ungrateful bitch! That whore?”

‘How dare she claim to be my friend, how could she’ Rainbow’s thoughts were starting to overtake her voice as she talked less and less as she beat the animal. While in a full rage against her lover, she couldn’t help but feel sorrow for being abandoned again, and by her first friend of all ponies.

“Where...where is she,” the pegasus managed as a tear fell down her cheek. Angel struggled to his paws and glared at her with knowing eyes. His thoughts likely filled with bunny for ‘This pony is crazy, deranged, and dangerous.’

Angel continued his glare at the now fully crying pony as an idea struck him. He tried to raise his paw to get the mare’s attention when an immense pain hit him and he fell to his knees in agony. As he collected himself he tried again with his other paw and slapped the mare across the muzzle.

Rainbow’s tears stopped instantly as rage came back to her, “What the hay do you think you’re doing!?” she yelled as the bunny simply stared at her and raised his paw to stop her. “Oh, so you’ll finally ‘talk’?” Dash said with a smirk as she wiped her eyes off and began to stare at the bunny expectantly.

~~~~

Rainbow Dash flew through the air once again. Her buzz was starting to leave her from the party last night, now her head was starting to simply hurt from overuse as thoughts and memories intertwined in her mind.

‘So she’s in Cloudsdale is she? Hiding out with her parents most likely.’ The mare’s cocky smile overtook her face as she felt the rush of victory having found what information she was looking for. It quickly faded as her thoughts continued to pool, ‘Why did she leave me? I thought we were friends? I thought we were more than friends?’

Rainbow’s eyes glazed over as she continued her uneventful flight towards her previous home. Her thoughts demanded more attention than the clear sky she flew through, and she accepted this fact as she dove into her mind, determined to figure out what had happened to her and her dearest friend.

Part Four

Moving On- Part Four

Fluttershy trudged along the streets of Ponyville heading towards the library. While her rest at Zecora’s had calmed her and allowed her to put her exhaustion at ease, she was still sore from her time in the hospital and the rest had the unwanted effect of allowing the pegasus to feel the strain her body was under.

It had been a little while since she left Zecora’s hut, according to the Zebra it had been late in the day when she was awoken, but by the time they reached the edge of the forest the sun had set. While Fluttershy had started the trek at a near gallop due to her determination to see the one pony she hoped truly cared for her, she slowly found her body aching more and more causing her pace quickly fall to just above a trot. This was fine, she knew she could make it to the library easily, but it was taking a lot longer than she wished it would.

Fluttershy glanced up to Luna’s moon, thankful that it was a bright half moon tonight that assisted the few lights around her as she walked down the street.

“I’m coming Twilight.” she whispered to herself as she approached the library.

~~~~

“I hope she’s ok...”

“Twilight, will ya just go to bed already? It’s bad enough I can’t use my own bed but I can’t sleep with you wandering around talking to yourse-” Spike passed out mid-sentence onto the pillow Twilight had laid out for him earlier.

Spike had been complaining about Twilight’s talking for hours now, ever since he finished his dinner and found himself kicked out of his bed, yet again by Angel, Spike had fallen in and out of slumber on the makeshift bed, each time blaming Twilight’s volume.

“Sorry Spike.” Twilight whispered to the already sleeping baby dragon.

The unicorn walked over to her desk and began absentmindedly rereading Celestia’s letter as she pulled over various books with her magic. She needed something to distract her. Sleep wouldn’t come for her tonight.

~~~~

‘Finally’ Fluttershy thought with a sigh, she had reached the library. Luna’s moon seemed lower than it had been earlier, telling Fluttershy that is had to be sometimes after midnight by now.

‘I hope she doesn’t mind me waking her up,’ she thought, her mind returning to it’s normal shy nature now that her time to think alone was waning.

‘What if.. what if she does mind? What if she’s really mad about me leaving or-or she was lying at Zecora’s and has Rainbow in there right now!’

Fluttershy stood within sight of the library as her mind betrayed her with more and more depressing and terrifying thoughts of how Twilight Sparkle was playing a prank on Fluttershy with Rainbow, or might have given up over the course of the night and forgotten about her.

As she sat her mind began to push forward, ‘If she is waiting for me, and does care, does that not mean she’ll do the same things Rainbow does? No... Twilight wouldn’t do that... would she?’

Fluttershy bowed her head as a tear escaped her, running its course until it landed on the ground below her.

‘No. She cares about me and wouldn’t do that.’ her mind tried to argue but she silenced it as she rose to her hooves. ‘She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t forget me, she wouldn’t beat me, she wouldn’t... ‘take’ me....’

The mare began her walk to the door.

‘I... I have to try. She... she did come for me.’

Fluttershy reached towards the door and froze, her mind going blank as her heart fluttered.

Fluttershy shook her head, unintentionally pushing her mane over her eye as she tried to gain control over the sensation. “Umm...” she squeaked to herself. She recognized the feeling, it was the same way she felt when she met Rainbow in Cloudsdale. The feeling had never fully gone away when they were together, but now it was muddied and bound by the feeling of fear. It felt somehow different now, she didn’t fear the mare she felt for. ‘Do I... I mean she cares for me... doesn’t she? Is that why I...’

‘Maybe....maybe I do ‘like’ her...’ the pegasus thought, her mind returning to the night she left Twilight’s house, to their kiss. ‘and... maybe..maybe she ‘likes’ me...’

...

*Knock*

~~~~

*Knock*

Twilight furrowed her brow as she placed her book back on the desk. ‘Always when I get to the good part, who in Equestria would come to the Library at this time of night!’

The studious unicorn walked over to the door and opened it as she closed her eyes and tried to say in her kindest, yet sternest voice “Sorry but we’re closed-” she opened her eyes to confront who was interrupting her at this hour. “Flutter-...Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy had jumped a bit as the door opened, tossing her mane away from her face as her eyes locked with the unicorn’s.

Twilight froze as she stared into the cyan colored orbs of the mare she spent the day searching for. The mare she worried about more than anypony else, who she truly cared for and wanted the best for.

Twilight felt her heart begin to beat rapidly as her mind rushed through images of the pony before her, she heard Celestia’s words echo through her head ‘follow your heart’ but she couldn’t move. Twilight remained frozen as she lost herself in the eyes of the mare she knew she had feelings for.

“Umm.... Twilight?”

As Fluttershy’s voice broke the silence, and snapped Twilight out of her trance as tears ran down her face. She lunged forward and pulled the pegasus into an embrace.

“Oh Fluttershy! I was so worried, I thought you might have been hurt, or lost in the EverFree or-”

Fluttershy’s face now mirrored Twilight’s as tears ran freely, “I know Twi... I-I know you came for me...You came through the EverFree for me...” Fluttershy couldn’t help but replay some of her previous questions in her head, “Twilight? Why did you come for me...”

Twilight moved out of the hug and held Fluttershy by her shoulders. “I told you I care about you Fluttershy.... I would do anything for you. When I said I cared... I wasn’t ‘completely’ honest,” Fluttershy felt her chest tighten with pain as Twilight continued,

“I...I”

Fluttershy turned her gaze downward as more tears rolled down her cheek and she tried to turn away.

Twilight reached out and grabbed Fluttershy’s chin turning her back to face her, “I love you, Fluttershy.”

It was Fluttershy’s turn to be stunned, she felt her voice leave her but she pushed herself to talk as hard as she could, “R-really?”. The question came as a whisper as she practically mouthed the word.

Twilight pulled the timid pegasus into a kiss to answer. As the two lovers ended their kiss they found themselves blushing heavily. Twilight continued, “You’re kind, and giving. You risk it all when it comes to your friends, and-” Twilight was cut off as Fluttershy pushed her muzzle into Twilight’s neck and nuzzled her as she spoke, “I-I think I love you too” she squeaked.

Both mares found themselves blushing much deeper now that their words had been heard and accepted.

Twilight looked down to the pegasus buried in her neck, she felt herself smile as she mused over how perfect this moment was, how beautiful the mare before her looked, how cute she found the smell of the obviously exhausted pegasus (even being through the EverFree forest left her smelling of flowers to go on top of the light smell of perspiration), and how relieved she felt that Fluttershy was safe.

Twilight moved to nuzzle into Fluttershy’s mane when the pegasus pushed herself up to look into her eyes. As they stared Twilight moved in for another kiss. As their lips connected she lost herself in the moment. Twilight was suddenly knocked back to reality as Fluttershy’s hunger for the kiss became apparent.

The usually timid mare’s tongue pushed its way into the now stunned unicorn’s mouth as it began to explore each corner. Twilight collected her thoughts and allowed herself to join in the intoxicating dance after a few licks to her own tongue. Each second felt an eternity for the love struck ponies, both letting out light, pleased moans as they explored each other’s mouths. Both mares parted ways panting heavily. As Twilight caught her breath she swore she heard a near silent apology, to which she pulled the timid pony into a loving embrace to show it wasn’t needed.

Fluttershy felt truly happy being here with Twilight. She had found true love and every second of its joy left her feeling like nothing bad had ever, and wouldn’t ever, happen to her. She had overcome Rainbow Dash’s love and found the real thing.

‘Twilight does care! She loves me!’ she thought happily as she tightened her hold on the mare she loved.

~~~~

Princess Luna let out a sigh as she leaned back on her plush pillow placed on her balcony as she stared up at her moon. It had been a long night. It had worn on her nerves while she simultaneously hoped and dreaded that the guards would come in any minute with a certain Element in custody.

Luna’s focus on the moon was cut short by the sound of shouting from the halls. The princess rose from her balcony and lightly flew through her room to the door, opening it with her magic to see if her guess on the source was correct.

“Let go of me already! Do you know who I am? I’m the one who saved all of you from eternal night? RING A FUCKING BELL?! What the hay!” The rainbow maned pegasus was being dragged through the hall towards the night goddess’s personal quarters, as per her request, and was making quite the scene as she struggled to break free from the guards grasp, despite being clad in shackles and having her wings bound to her body by a thick metal belt.

“Rainbow Dash. I expected better from you.” Luna said with a small frown. “Guards, this is indeed the correct pony, please take her to the holding cells for now.” Luna kept her voice as steady as she could while relaying the orders, and kept a brave face up while the still cursing pony was dragged back down the hall. As the sound of the struggling mare ebbed away to nothing the goddess turned back to her room and lay on her bed as her mind began to take focus on how the Element had grown to be such a pony.

Bringing out a scroll and quill she wrote,

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Rainbow Dash has been found and is now being held until you and Fluttershy can come to the castle for a trial with my sister. I hope you are able to find Fluttershy in good health, and please reply as soon as you do.

~Princess Luna

Luna sent the scroll and leaned back into her bed in a mock attempt to get sleep, knowing at this late hour it would be hopeless. ‘Must be a sad story to this rage filled pony....’ she sighed as she pushed back thoughts of Nightmare Moon, and how wrong a pony could become.

~~~~

Twilight groaned as Celestia’s sun broke through her window and smacked her across the face. ‘Why not five more min-’ Eyes jolting open Twilight looked across her room to the still sleeping Fluttershy and let her breathing return to normal, *pwew* ‘That wasn’t a dream then, Fluttershy really is safe.’ the unicorn thought as a smile came to her muzzle and she moved out of her bed.

As the lavender mare walked down the stairs towards the kitchen she heard the sounds of breakfast being made,

“Hey Spike, what’s for breakfast?” she called out.

Spike jumped slightly, having not heard any hoofsteps through his cooking, but quickly returned to his task as he spoke, “Oh, good morning Twilight! I’m just making some pancakes. Don’t worry I’m making extra since I saw Fluttershy showed up last night.” he said as he poured the first pancake into the waiting pan. “I almost forgot! A scroll came for you last night,” Spike said gesturing towards the kitchen table, “so anyway-”

Twilight zoned Spike out as she focused intently on the scroll and brought it to her eyes and unfurled it. As she read her expression went from joy to worry and found itself caught between them when she finished the short message. ‘Rainbow’s finally caught... but now Fluttershy has to go through her history again to make sure she stays away...’

*Snap* *Snap*

“Twilight are you ok? You really need to stop zoning out when reading, I’ve asked you five times now, how many pancakes did you want?”

“Oh. Sorry Spike, I’ll just have two, make two for Fluttershy as well.”

“Alright then.” Spike replied, tossing the first finished pancake onto a plate.

As Spike finished making the stack of pancakes he separated them onto different plates and put them on the table asking Twilight, “Are you going to wake up Fluttershy or should I?”

“Oh, I’ll go get her.” Twilight said as she rose from the chair and went back upstairs.

“Wakey wakey, it’s time for breakfast Flutter.” the unicorn said softly as she softly shook the sleeping pegasus.

“Mmm, what? Oh, oh. Sorry, I’m getting up.” Fluttershy said as she rolled out of bed and looked meekly at the floor. “I should have been up earlier, I could have helped make breakfast.”

“No, no, no Fluttershy. You don’t need to do that, you’ve been through a lot and Spike made you and I breakfast as a gift, you don’t need to worry about it.”

“Oh, Ok.” Fluttershy said lighting up a bit. She wasn’t exactly used to being given anything just yet, but Twilight’s assurances helped ease her into the situation.

The two made their way back downstairs to find their plates sitting on the table while a full Spike rinsed his empty plate off in the sink.

“Spike, do you chew your food at all?” Twilight said playfully. The baby dragon laughed lightly at the comment and made his way to the main library to start his chores.

“Oh, Thank you Spike, for breakfast I mean...” Fluttershy quietly said as he passed.

“No problem Fluttershy, it’s no big deal.”

Twilight took her seat and looked over at the pegasus with a reassuring smile as she gestured towards the seat next to her and its plate of pancakes.

Fluttershy slowly walked to the chair and eased her way into the seat, seemingly terrified it would break as a prank.

“You seem uneasy Flutter, is everything Ok?” Twilight asked.

“Oh... e-everything’s fine. It’s just that, I’m not used to things going like this. Somepony providing a home for me, trying to help me, giving me food. It all seems so... surreal.”

Twilight sighed quietly as she moved herself closer to Fluttershy. “You need to learn that love and friendship are a two way road, it’s something I had to learn when I first came to Ponyville. You don’t go through a relationship only giving, or only receiving. You gave Rainbow so much and accepted it when she returned nothing, I won’t let you be used that way again, especially not by me. I love you, Fluttershy.” she punctuated this point by hugging the pony to calm her further, “and I promise to show you real love. I might not have experience in this sort of thing, but we can learn how to live with the one you love, together.”

Fluttershy tried to talk but felt the lump in her throat harden as tears threatened to run down her cheeks. But she wasn’t sad. Fluttershy felt true joy fill her as she returned the hug, tears finally breaking through as she smiled the truest smile she’d had in years.

~~~~

“I’ll have to thank Spike again for the pancakes!” Fluttershy said as she placed her dishes in the sink and turned back to Twilight.

“They certainly were good.” Twilight chuckled as she levitated her dishes to the sink as well. As the unicorn turned back to the mare she loved she saw a scroll lying behind her on the table. Just where she left it.

“Oh...”

“What is it Twilight?” the pegasus asked tilting her head.

“I almost forgot that I had news.” Twilight took a deep breath as she used her magic to float the scroll over to Fluttershy, “Rainbow has been found and Princess Celestia requires your presence for a ‘magic trial’ in which you will be able to tell your story and-” she thought for a moment on how to most lightly lay this news onto the mare she loved- “help justify keeping Rainbow away...”

Fluttershy’s mouth turned to a small frown as she read through the short letter and absorbed Twilight’s words. Tears formed in her eyes but she refused to let them fall as she spoke, “It’s..it-it’s for the best right?”

Twilight walked over to Fluttershy and lay her hoof on her shoulder, “Of course, Flutter. She needs to be kept in a place where she can’t hurt herself or others.”

Fluttershy looked into Twilight’s eyes and nodded slowly as the tears finally left thin wet lines down the sides of her face. “ I know, Twi. It’s just... hard. I-I don’t know if I can do this...”

Finding herself pulled into an embrace, Fluttershy listened intently to the quiet words spoken to her. “Fluttershy, you’re so much braver than you think you are. I know you can do this, for yourself and Rainbow.” the hug tightened as she continued. “I believe in you, and I promise to be by your side the entire time.”

Fluttershy returned the embrace as hard as she could in reply.

~~~~

As the chariot began it’s descent towards Canterlot Twilight nudged Fluttershy awake.

“Wake up, Flutter. We’re almost there.” Twilight said this as comforting as she could but couldn’t help but have her own nervousness seep into each word.

Fluttershy reluctantly stirred from her nap and glanced out the window to the early afternoon skyline.

“So this is really happening?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for coming with me, I don’t think I could go through with this without you...” Fluttershy sighed.

The carriage shook as its wheels made contact with the ground and the pegasus ponies flying it slowed in front of the castle.

“Come on, Flutter. We need to do this, I know you have it in you.” Twilight laid her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she moved towards the door. The two ponies made their way into the castle, side by side.

~~~~

Entering the main hall Fluttershy began to shake as she saw the Princess sitting before them with Rainbow Dash in shackles next to her.

“I’m scared, Twilight.” she whispered.

“It’s Ok, Flutter. I’ll be here the entire time, right by your side.” Twilight said as reassuringly as she could.

“Fluttershy, I’m so glad to see you’re safe. I’m sorry to meet on such terms but I think it would be best if we work our way through this sooner, rather than later.” the goddess seemed distressed and talked in a less cheery voice than she would usually use when confronting her subjects, let alone Twilight and her friends, who had become family to her.

Fluttershy looked to Twilight, who nodded to her, before turning back and nodding to the princess.

Celestia took a breath as she prepared to explain the procedure, “Rainbow Dash, you’ve been taken into custody on the belief that you’ve caused another pony pain that the land of Equestria cannot stand by and let happen. The pony in question has been brought to this hall to tell her story. Through my magic she will not be able to falsify any part of her speech, and your fate will lie with me after I’ve heard it.” Rainbow Dash glared to the princess before turning her attention back to Fluttershy, staring daggers into her.

“Alright then. After this spark you may begin, Fluttershy.” Celestia gave a sad smile as her horn glowed and sparked a beam to Fluttershy before quickly dissipating.

“You better not say a fucking thing you bitch...” Rainbow growled just loud enough to be heard across the hall.

“SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!”

Everypony jumped back, even Celestia at this loud voice.

Fluttershy stopped trembling for a moment and noticed that she was glaring at Rainbow. As she calmed herself she noticed her teeth were clenched and that Twilight was staring at her. “Oh my.” she said as she realized she was the one who shouted.

Rainbow’s jaw had dropped at the initial outburst but she quickly composed herself and returned to glaring at Fluttershy, in silence now.

“Please tell us what Rainbow Dash has done Fluttershy.” Celestia insisted as she regained her own composure.

“I-I..” Fluttershy glanced back to Twilight who gave her a sad smile to reassure her.

Taking a breath Fluttershy began, “Rainbow Dash abused me for years. She would beat me if I forgot to make her a lunch, or if I refused to please her, or if I mentioned our friends in her presence...” the words came easier than she expected, and she found she wasn’t scared, she was beginning to feel angry. Anger towards the mare she had loved, the mare she now glared at as she gave the testimony that would decide her fate.

“She...she is the reason I was in the hospital a few weeks ago. She beat me. She broke my jaw, left my face a bloody mess that was only able to heal thanks to unicorn magic, and left me for dead...b-but before she left me she...she raped me.” a tear ran down Fluttershy’s face but she didn’t notice through her rage. She was now physically shaking with anger as she stood.

“YOU BITCH! How DARE you backstab the only pony who loved you?!”

Fluttershy’s shaking intensified as she stepped towards Rainbow and began shouting, “No Rainbow, How DARE YOU! You took advantage of my love and gave me nothing for it but pain and regret. I accepted you into my life, offered you my home, gave you what I could, and you just turned around and took more while beating me when I couldn’t find more to give! You are a MONSTER! And sompony else loves me, and not the ‘love’ you gave me. True love, where we both care for each other and want the best for each other. Twilight fought for my safety and is the reason I gained the strength to come here in the first place! Without her I’d still be stuck with a monster who abused me whenever she felt the need or boredom.”

Fluttershy quietly panted after her rant but refused to break her glare from Rainbow. The bound pegasus returned the anger filled gaze in full despite seeming a bit taken back by the talk.

Celestia cleared her throat to gain the attention of the three ponies near her. “Fluttershy, thank you for your words. I believe I have enough information to condemn Rainbow Dash to the prisons below this castle.” she choked slightly as she finished, it was only barely audible but she was certain the ponies present heard her. “You two are free to take your leave.”

Twilight placed her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, gaining a small smile from the timid pegasus as they turned and made their exit.

~~~~

Rainbow Dash fell limp in her shackles after Fluttershy exited, she felt drained by her outburst. ‘How could she act like that? Is it true?... Is it...’

She felt a hot tear run down her cheek as she glanced to the heavenly pony to her right as the guards came to collect her.

“Celestia...”

Princess Celestia felt herself near tears as well, but maintained a stern voice as she spoke. “Yes, Rainbow Dash.”

“She’s right isn’t she... I’m... I’m a monster.”

Silence overtook the great hall as Celestia waved the guards to stop and stared down Rainbow.

“No, you are but a pony who made decisions a monster would.” Dash found this cold statement bittersweet as it cut into her.

“Do...do you think I could change?”

“Maybe. But it would be a hard task for anypony.”

“I want to try...”

~~~~

Twilight opened the door to the chariot as Fluttershy eased her way in, head held low. As the pegasus took her seat Twilight followed suit next to her.

Placing her forehoof around the pegasus, Twilight pulled her into an embrace as the pony began to softly weep.

“You did the right thing, Flutter. I know you did. You’re safe, and I’m here to help you get through this.”

“I..I..I know, Twi. I-It’s just th-that I loved Rainbow. I really did.” Twilight was silent as she stroked her mane and let her pour her sorrow out into the unicorn’s shoulder.

“Th-thank you, Twilight,” Fluttershy raised herself to face her marefriend, “I love you.”

Twilight leaned in and kissed the mare she knew she would fight to protect no matter the threat. As their lips parted she whispered softly “I love you, too.” as she pulled Fluttershy into another embrace.

“We’ll be home in no time, and I promise things will be better now that we have each other.”

Fluttershy barely heard her lover’s last words as she fell asleep holding the kindest pony she knew.

Epilogue

Moving On- Epilogue

Twilight and Fluttershy made their way down the empty hallway. Their destination was getting close, if the guard’s directions were anything to go by at least. As they made their way around the corner they found themselves facing the cell.

Rainbow Dash was sitting before them in a tidy white cell. She had a metal belt secured around her midsection that tied off her wings. Near her stomach a red badge hung from the belt that said “Prisoner 293, Mental Rehabilitation Division”

“Hey girls.” she said weakly as she let a sad smile come to her face. Her face seemed torn with exhaustion and her eyes seemed pleading, sorrow filled but with placed hope in something.

“Hello Rainbow Dash, why did you ask us to come here?” Twilight said sternly as Fluttershy and herself took a seat near the cell door.

“I don’t expect either of you to forgive me, but I need to get this off my chest as best I can.” Rainbow took a deep breath, “I’m sorry, to both of you. Fluttershy, I-I thought I was right. It was all I knew. Whenever I saw somepony doing things differently I’d always scoff at them as they weren’t getting what they could from the relationship. Now I know I was the one with less... I never really felt love, I just thought I did...” Rainbow paused to try and clear her throat. ”What I put you through-” despite the sad smile Rainbow was forcing onto her muzzle, the tears began to roll down her cheeks as she spoke, “was..was horrible. Nopony should have experienced it, and I’m torn apart to know I did it to you, my first friend.”

As Rainbow finished she placed her head in her hooves and softly sobbed for a time before she could raise her head to meet their gaze again. “I don’t deserve it.” Rainbow gave a mock chuckle to try and lighten the mood. Trying her hardest to act as if she was her old cocky self just explaining a new trick. ” But do you think after I get out of here I might... I might get to know you all again? Maybe... maybe try and be friends sometime down the road...

Twilight’s stern look softened just a shade as Rainbow spoke, as she finished the unicorn sighed. “Thank you for apologizing. I won’t lie to you. Maybe, Rainbow.” Twilight turned to walk away but was momentarily stopped by Fluttershy who whispered in her ear. After the quiet words Twilight nodded and made the turn to the hallway they’d just exited.

“Rainbow.” her eyes were stern but held a glint of hope, or at least Rainbow wanted it to be hope. “Thank you so much. I can’t accept the apology, but I want you to know it means a lot. As for us getting a chance to know each other as ponies when you get out of here, we’ll see.” Fluttershy said the final words as kindly as she could, her element shining in her heart as she felt that she meant it, even if all it was was hope.”I’m- I’m sorry I called you a monster.” Fluttershy felt her throat close a bit as she said it, the word only brought her horrible images of Rainbow and mythical terrors. She didn’t want to remember that part of Rainbow, despite all that had happened. Rainbow gave a sad smile at this to which Fluttershy returned.

As she rose to leave and made her way to the corner Rainbow spoke up, “I’m happy for you two.”

While Rainbow didn’t see it, Fluttershy’s smile grew as she made her exit.