A Pony in Need
Pain and Remorse
A Sister in Need
Written by TheCrimsonDM
Fluttershy lay on her green cushioned couch inside her living room. The cold night air crept through her window causing her to shiver a little, she didn’t notice though for she was troubled. Tomorrow was a special day for her, one that had been missed last year. She could only hope that things were not going to be like last year, this time it had to go off without a hitch.
Fluttershy had been keeping a secret from everypony, one that she had been terrified of her friends learning. She has a sister, one who meant the whole world to her. But her little sister was not the most popular pony as of right now. Last year Fluttershy had no worries about her friends meeting her sister, but after a few… events had come to pass. Fluttershy didn’t want them to meet her now.
If it had not been for her friendship with Discord, Fluttershy may not have actually been brave enough to even consider telling her friends. Looking down at her shaking hooves she knew that tomorrow was going to be a hard day for her. She wasn’t ready to tell anypony about her sister, but after missing her sister’s birthday last year… she simply couldn’t handle missing another one.
Fluttershy felt guilty for not taking proper care of her younger sister, especially when she needed it the most. Fluttershy had grown up always taking care of her, and Fluttershy’s failure to do so lately has been detrimental to her self esteem. Now Fluttershy decided that she was going to make good on her role as the elder sister and do everything in her power to take care of her younger sibling.
The world could be such a cruel place sometimes, Fluttershy only wished that there was a way to make it hurt less. Tomorrow she would be leaving via train to pick up her sister, and bring her home. Fluttershy refused to abandon her again. Closing her eyes Fluttershy drifted off to a nightmare filled sleep on the couch, rest wouldn’t find her so easily anytime soon.
***
The next day Fluttershy went to the train station while keeping a low profile. It wasn’t hard for her, she had learned how to be unnoticed in public a very long time ago. Her ability to go unseen was a skill that she was secretly quite proud of. The train made its way to Manehattan where Fluttershy’s sister would be waiting for her. It took just over a few hours on the magical train to get to her destination.
She walked off the train and looked around for any signs of her sister. She was surrounded by a massive crowd of ponies. After a few moments of being bumped around by the crowds, Fluttershy had enough of it. She jumped into the air and flew above the others while keeping a sharp eye out. Normally she would never fly around in public but right now she had a mission that took precedence over her own shy nature.
After a few more minutes of being unable to find the pony she wanted to see most of all, she thought it might be time to ask for help. Landing down next to the tracks she looked around for anypony who might be able to help. She spotted a homeless pony lying inside of a box, the pony had a dirty blue coat and messy silver mane. Fluttershy looked away, fear creeping across her spine at the sight. It took a moment before she realized who the homeless pony was.
Walking over cautiously she approached the box. Much to her dismay the pony inside the box was exactly who she was looking for. A stained purple blanket full of rips and holes lay on top of the pony. Fluttershy also noted a particular foul smell coming from the both the box and the pony inside.
Fluttershy’s heart sunk at the sight of the blue unicorn lying inside. After seeing the dead look in the pony’s eyes, Fluttershy’s heart began to tear her very soul to pieces. Fluttershy spoke softly to the pony, “Hey, Lula.”
The pony lying in the box stirred a little before looking up, the hollow expression worn on the pony’s face destroyed every glimmer of hope that Fluttershy had left. The unicorn’s purple eyes looked dead, and a small scar was visible just over her left eye. The destroyed unicorn that lay before Fluttershy certainly was her little sister, this poor broken pony was the once proud and elegant Trixie Lulamoon.
Trixie stared blankly at Fluttershy in complete silence for a few moments before she finally mumbled the words, “What do you want?”
Fluttershy caught a glimpse inside Trixie’s mouth, and was taken aback when she noticed a few of her teeth were missing. Fluttershy had abandoned Trixie, and this is what happened to her. Fluttershy fought against the guilt rising up inside with all her might, the shame she felt for allowing this to happen was like a tsunami and Fluttershy knew that she couldn’t hold up against its wrath for long. Fluttershy quietly asked, “Do you want to come home with me, Lula?”
Trixie looked down at the ground again and said flatly, “I don’t care what happens to me.”
The tears spilled out and began to run down Fluttershy’s face. Trixie had been so broken, Fluttershy had to do something… anything. Wrapping a foreleg around Trixie she helped the blue unicorn up off the ground. “I’m going to take care you from now on. I know that I’ve neglected you, but I’m finally here for you, sis.”
Trixie looked over at her and said in a quiet voice she asked, “Why bother? I’m… nothing. Look at what’s become of the once powerful Trixie…”
Fluttershy ignored the comment as she helped Trixie limp back to the train. Although Trixie didn’t look hurt, there was a nasty looking scar on her leg. One of her cutie marks also had two scars slashing right across it almost as though somepony had decided to carve an ‘x’ into the unicorn’s flesh. Fluttershy didn’t know how this happened to her sister, but if she ever found out who did it to her… that pony was going to suffer.
Right now all she could do was force herself to stay strong as she helped her sister onto the train. Fluttershy had gotten a private car just for the two of them. Even if the tickets were a little pricey it was worth it to save her sister. In his attempt to repent for hurting Fluttershy’s feelings, Discord had told Fluttershy that she would find Trixie here, at this train station, and on this day. She didn’t know how Discord knew, but she was thankful for his help and his secrecy on the matter.
While on the train anypony who saw Trixie looked away in either disgust or fear, sometimes it was both. Thankfully Fluttershy had kept the tattered blanket over Trixie, it at least hid some of her scars. Inside the private car Fluttershy had procured a bucket of water and a sponge. She was going to try and make Trixie look as good as possible before getting home to Ponyville. She let out a sigh and said, “It’s going to be okay, Lula. I’ll take the best care of you, I promise… I Pinkie Pie promise.”
Trixie didn’t reply, she only looked out the window while Fluttershy did her best to clean her. When Fluttershy got to Trixie’s right rear leg, she discovered a gash, one that was still fresh. Fluttershy felt horrible inside, she knew that if she had only chased after Trixie after the alicorn amulet was taken off… she could have saved her sister from all of this. But Fluttershy had been too scared of how her friends would view her if they found out she was related to Trixie. Fluttershy had been so selfish, so weak, and so despicable. As Fluttershy began crying silently the train moved forward. This was going to be a long trip.
***
On the trip back Fluttershy continued washing Trixie, and began to reminisce about her past. Fluttershy and Trixie were not related by blood in fact their first time meeting was at the orphanage. Trixie had come from Ponyville, her dad was gone and her mom had been placed into a mental institution. Trixie didn’t have any immediate family, and was too old for adoption, so she was sent to the Manehattan Orphanage.
Fluttershy’s parents died from a tragic incident in Cloudsdale, and that was before she had fallen off of Cloudsdale. She had gotten lost in the Everfree Forest for nearly a year before somepony finally found her and brought her to the very same orphanage.
The two of them got the same room, and quickly became very close. Fluttershy was so angry inside back then. She took her anger out on anything that got to close, anything that was except for the tiny and terrified filly who barely spoke to anypony. Trixie was scared of everything that moved, so Fluttershy felt the need to adopt the roll of protector.
After a few nights in the Orphanage one of the stallions working there went into the filly’s room after curfew with dark intent. He had gone over to Trixie’s bed first thinking that the small and quiet filly wouldn’t be able to fight back, but what he didn’t count on was Fluttershy’s wrath. It wasn’t hard to win the fight against the abusive adult, after all Fluttershy had spent a year fending for herself in the Everfree Forest, this was simple compared to fighting off timberwolves. After knocking the stallion out cold Fluttershy knew that the orphanage was not the place for her, but she couldn’t leave Trixie behind either. So Fluttershy grabbed the tiny blue unicorn and ran away.
The two of them spent a number of years living in the city streets, moving from place to place. Fighting for survival, these two ponies became exceedingly close. Fluttershy was the muscle, beating up anypony foolish enough to mess with them, and Trixie became the brains. Eventually Trixie’s talent for magic tricks earned them a good way to get money. This sustained them for a while, but it also got them attention from the outside world.
One day while counting the bits they had earned a giant white pony approached them, the two of them had never seen a Princess before and were stunned by the sight of Princess Celestia. She offered Trixie the chance to go to her school for gifted unicorns, a place where she would be given a real home, friends, food, and a place to be safe at.
Trixie had declined the offer right after hearing it claiming that she couldn’t go anywhere without her big sister. Fluttershy however knew that this was the only chance for Trixie to get out of the muck though. The streets were no place for two young fillies to live, and Fluttershy only wanted the best for her younger sister. Fluttershy forced Trixie to accept the offer, and was surprised when Celestia offered something to her as well.
Celestia offered a chance for her to go to live in Ponyville, inside a small cottage that would be all her own. The idea of getting to reconnect with her animal friends from the forest was a treat to her, and it also gave her a home to live in as well. The two of them would be separated, but they would be given a chance to live and do something greater with their lives. This was something that never before seemed like a possibility for Fluttershy. Needless to say the two of them accepted.
They still met up a few times a year and Celestia even became almost like a motherly figure to the two of them. Fluttershy wasn’t the good at talking to ponies so she stayed hidden most of the time, and without her younger sister around a lot of Fluttershy’s anger went into hibernation. It didn’t take long before she became timid, scared, and very lonely.
Things would have been much harder should Rainbow Dash have not moved into Ponyville the second she turned eighteen. The two of them swiftly became friends again. Rainbow Dash became her one and only friend, and even became like a sister to her soon enough. But Fluttershy never trusted Rainbow Dash with meeting Trixie. Maybe it was a selfish thing with Fluttershy wanting to be Trixie’s only friend, or maybe she was scared that if Trixie became friends with other ponies she would stop loving her. No matter the reason Fluttershy still kept Trixie a secret even from Rainbow Dash.
Finally after meeting Twilight Sparkle and gaining five whole friends, Fluttershy heard that Trixie had graduated with flying colors from Celestia’s school. Trixie was living out a dream of being a traveling magician, the one thing Trixie always wanted to do was make children laugh, especially the ones who didn’t have parents. Fluttershy admired her for this and her own talent to talk to animals felt small in comparison.
On Trixie’s eighteenth birthday she came to Ponyville, she wanted her home town to love her, and to be proud of her. Trixie wanted it so badly that when she arrived she made a rump of herself and ended up leaving town on horrible terms, and missing out on her birthday party with Fluttershy… for the first time in the young unicorn’s life. Fluttershy was hurt by this, but she was even more hurt by her friends reactions to Trixie. She couldn’t risk losing her only friends, so she kept her relation to the blue unicorn a secret. And in doing so she sealed Trixie’s fate. Trixie’s downfall was all Fluttershy’s fault, or at least that’s how she felt. And now it was up to her to fix everything… even if she had to do it all alone.
***
The train finally arrived back at Ponyville after an agonizing time spent shifting from memory after memory. Trixie was now cleaned up at very least, and Fluttershy had even managed to procure a brush and taken care of her mane and tail. Trixie was still scared and refused to let go of the old tattered blanket, it disturbed Fluttershy that Trixie had such an attachment to the blanket. There were blood stains on parts of it, and the yellow star pattern had faded to the point of being almost unrecognizable.
Fluttershy took another hard look at the blanket that Trixie had wrapped herself in, and finally realized that it wasn’t a blanket, it was the remainder of Trixie’s old cape. It was probably the only thing that Trixie still owned… Fluttershy cringed and tried not to break down at the thought. She couldn’t let herself think on this right now, she still had a job to do.
Fluttershy carefully guided Trixie back to her little cottage at the edge of Ponyville. She used the outlying roads to avoid coming across anypony, especially any of her friends. She didn’t even care about her friends finding out she was Trixie’s sister, she just wanted to keep Trixie safe from any more harassment or harm.
After getting inside her cottage Fluttershy spent her time introducing Trixie to Angle Bunny, and then trying her best to help her sister. She found that now that Trixie was here she didn’t exactly know what to do… she felt lost and powerless. Trixie was still a broken mess even though she had just been cleaned up and relocated, fixing Trixie was going to take a lot more than a hug and some good feelings, it would take a miracle. With Trixie sleeping on the couch Fluttershy continued to keep herself busy, if she stopped moving she would break down, so she did the only thing she could think of for her sister. She made a birthday cake.
Later that night after Trixie had awoken in a fit of screaming and crying, Fluttershy had managed to finish the cake. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, and the words, “Happy birthday sis,” were written on the top. The cake was sitting on the table in the kitchen when Fluttershy heard somepony knocking at her door.
Walking over to the door carefully and quietly she noticed Trixie simply lying on the couch silently. Fluttershy opened her door only a crack and saw her five best friends standing outside of it. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all stood outside looking happy, but worried.
Fluttershy fought back a squeak and then said softly, “Oh… um hello…”
The ponies all looked at each other and then back to her. Finally after being bumped in the side by Applejack, Rainbow Dash said, “Hi… Fluttershy… um I figured you might be lonely so we… thought we would get together and take you out to dinner… I mean if you want.”
Rainbow Dash looked very nervous, and a little scared. Fluttershy was curious so she asked. “Why do you think I would be lonely?”
Rainbow Dash looked nervous and after a glare from Rarity she admitted. “Fine I’ll tell you. I know that something has been bothering you lately, you have been depressed and weird. So I wanted to make sure that we made you happy and… have you been crying?”
The question threw Fluttershy off her emotional track. She looked back at Trixie who stared blankly at the green wooden floor. Fluttershy focused her attention back at her friends with tears in her eyes. She shook her head and explained, “I messed up, I messed up so badly and I can’t fix it. I need your help to fix her, please I’m begging you.” With the last word she let out a desperate wail of pain that lead straight into sobbing.
Rainbow Dash walked up and opened the door a little, she then embraced Fluttershy. For a moment everypony was quiet, then Pinkie Pie asked in a quiet voice, “Is that Trixie on your couch… and what’s wrong with her?”
Fluttershy pushed Rainbow Dash away, as much as she wanted to she couldn’t break down just yet. Looking at the others Fluttershy finally admitted, “She’s my sister… and she was hurt… because I abandoned her.”
Everypony walked inside and up to Trixie who barely acknowledged them with a quick glance. Nopony smiled while looking at Trixie, it was obvious how badly she had been hurt. The only one to speak was Twilight as she said somberly, “This… is all my fault isn’t it? I’m the Princess of Friendship and I let the pony who needed a friend the most get into this condition. I’m so sorry, Trixie.”
After a few moments of silence Trixie to everyponies surprise began speaking. Even if her voice was quiet everypony listened with great attention to the broken pony’s words. “You didn’t do this to me. Neither did Fluttershy. I did this to myself, if only I would have stayed and enjoyed the simple life I had. It was the best time of my life.” She paused and looked directly at Twilight with tears running down her face before she continued. “I had the perfect life on the farm, with Maud at my side I would’ve been happy forever. But I came here to Ponyville seeking vengeance and I hurt her sister. When she found out about what I had done…” she glanced back at her leg the one with the limp and whimpered.
Pinkie Pie covered her mouth, she looked completely shocked. Trixie looked then at Fluttershy and said, “I lost my job, my reputation is destroyed, I have no home, and I can’t even walk straight. My leg didn’t heal right after it was… broken.”
Fluttershy reached out and brushed Trixie’s hair back. “I’m sorry. I… You… You can stay here for as long as you want… you can live with me forever. Please don’t leave me alone.”
Trixie looked away and said, “I… am Trixie… I-I don’t n-n-need your p-p-p-“ she couldn’t finish the sentence as tears streamed down her cheeks and then she broke. “I… need your help. I’m so broken. The things that they did to me in the city, I can’t, why? Why did this happen to me. Can’t I just die? Can’t my pain just end?”
Fluttershy gave Trixie a hug and together the two of them sobbed and cried and wailed as all their pain poured out. The others did their best to make them feel better, and by the time the two had stopped crying everypony had promised to do everything in their power to help Trixie recover.
Rarity had sworn to repair all the damage done to Trixie’s cape, and even fashion a new hat for her. Applejack swore to make sure Trixie was well fed and healthy. Pinkie Pie promised to be Trixie’s newest best friend, and to listen to everything she had to say, and to cuddle her every day, and to feed her lots of cake, and well she went on like that for awhile. Rainbow Dash vowed to protect her from any harm, rain or snow, and pretty much anything that even looked at her funny. Twilight swore that she would do her best restore Trixie’s reputation. Finally Fluttershy made the Pinkie Pie promise to never abandon Trixie ever again.
Trixie looked a lot better after all of that, and this raised hope inside Fluttershy that she could make Trixie better. Although Fluttershy knew better then to think that Trixie would ever be one hundred percent again, at the very least she might be able get Trixie back to something that resembled normal. Trixie had simply suffered too much, and there was no way she would ever be completely healed from her wounds, emotional or otherwise. All this was on top of the fact that with Trixie’s leg having healed incorrectly she would most likely have trouble walking for the rest of her life. But at the very least Fluttershy could offer the damaged unicorn a quiet peaceful place to live, and to Trixie that was more than enough.
The seven of them stayed around for a couple of hours and they all ate cake together while drinking cider. Fluttershy’s friends even promised to get late birthday presents for Trixie the following day. After awhile everypony went home, leaving Fluttershy and Trixie alone.
That night Fluttershy held Trixie tightly as they slept. Trixie still suffered from nightmares, ones that would plague her for a long time. In the morning Fluttershy vowed to start doing her best to help Trixie recover. Despite the damage done, and despite the pain they both felt, they knew they would be okay if only they stayed together for Fluttershy and Trixie were sisters just as they always had been, and always would be.
The End
