“Um…Miss Firefly, are you there?”

The interior remained silent as Fluttershy continued to knock passively on the door. The curtains were drawn shut, with the plants outside withering due to the lack of water, as if the house had been deserted for years.

“Did I get the directions wrong…I swear it was here…” Fluttershy murmured. Rainbow Dash always used to bring her here after flying practice to eat some snacks before returning home.

She knocked on the door a few times more, hearing only the echo of the sound respond in annoyance.

“Oh well, guess I should go back to Twi…”

Her hopeful words were dashed as the door slowly creaked open. Closing the curtains once more, Firefly opened the door completely and stared at Fluttershy, her eyes strangely baggy.

“Oh! Fluttershy, it’s been quite a while since I saw you last time. Take a seat, and I’ll go make some tea and biscuits.”

Her cheerfulness was alarming. It sounded artificial, just like the tone of speech that the ponies in Starlight’s village spoke before getting back their cutie marks.

“Um, is…”

“Nope! Nothing wrong here!” She immediately replied.

Fearing for another unexpected outburst, it was only safe to remain in her seat as the sounds of feverish behavior echoed in the dusty hallway. After 20 minutes, a loud bell was chimed as Firefly strolled back into the living room with a plate of iced cookies and a simmering teapot. Settling it down, she quickly poured the tea, causing it to spill as she started to ramble.

“So, it’s been quite a while, huh Fluttershy?” She asked excitedly.

“Er…you already asked that.” Fluttershy whimpered at the current awkwardness of the situation.

“Oh I did? Silly me, I am quite the silly pony sometimes.” She giggled.

“Yeah…the reason I came here is because I want to ask about Rainbow…”

“Oh, dashie? She’s fine! Aren’t you her friend or something??”

Bracing herself for the inevitable, Fluttershy continued.

“No…Rainbow Blaze. Have you…”

“Never heard of him!” Firefly snapped.

“But isn’t he your…”

“Nope, nope! No one that stupid deserves to be my husband! Nope, never, impossible!” She cried. Her tone had completely changed from
artificial joy to panic.

“Miss Firefly…”

“Don’t Miss Firefly me! That’s what he does! When he screws up, sorry miss firefly! When he forgets to bring the gifts, sorry miss firefly!! I’m sick of him! I don’t want to see him any longer! I don’t even want to love him any longer!” She screamed, swiping the table angrily with her hoofs, causing the tableware and teapot to fly towards the wall before being caught by the raging pegasus.

“……………………” Fluttershy watched, speechless.

“Oh! And now I’m angry again! I hate being angry, because I have to clean up all the mess around this house including my own! That bloody stupid idiot! Why did I even marry him!!!”

It was a strange sight. While insulting Rainbow Blaze with words that made Fluttershy cower in fear, she was at the same time placing the teapots back in place, fixing everything that was almost destroyed.

“Are…are you ok?” Fluttershy whispered.
“…………………Do I look ok?” Her voice had completely dropped to a low, sad growl. It was if she had aged 20 years since 5 seconds ago.

“No…I mean yes! You do…”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy. I’m sorry for losing my temper on you. Ugh…it’s just that it has been so long since I got the chance to talk to someone besides Blaze in this damned household.”

The two sat down again, this time with Firefly’s expression completely given in, drooped with regret and sadness.

“Do you mind if I ask anything about…um…Blaze?” Fluttershy questioned.

“Go ahead.” Firefly mumbled.

“Well, when me and my friends met him in Ponyville, he said something about Scootaloo.”

She watched cautiously as Firefly took a deep breath, her hand shaking as she picked the teacup up.

“Co…Continue.”

“He said that Scootaloo was adopted?”

“Yes…yes…I remember that.”

“By any chance, is that true?”

“………………I don’t know.”

There was a faint stirring sound as Firefly stirred the remnants of what was in the teacup.

“Did…did you not know that your own daughter was…well…”

“I did…well, just now. After kicking my husband out, I contacted the hospital and requested for them to check up on my files.”

“And what exactly did you find?” Fluttershy questioned, her own fear motivating her to keep delving for more information.

“My…my real daughter was an miscarriage. When I was in the hospital, I fainted during the operation. When I came to, I was already at home, with Scootaloo placed neatly in my arms.”

“I’m…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. To be honest, I knew that my husband only did that for the greater good, as he personally knew that immediately knowing of my child’s death would devastate me. Still, for him to admit it to me now, when our relationship was during its most fragile moments…”

“I’m sure that everything will work out…” Fluttershy weakly added, trying to go back to an optimistic tone.

“The thing is…I don’t even know what am I doing anymore. Ever since I fell in love with him, its like I was instantly trapped within his grasp and control just like the other mares. Trying to hide it, failing massively, and eventually becoming another one of his toys…ready to use at anytime in any situation if he was in the mood.”

“Don’t say that…”

“It was true. But then…he changed drastically. Suddenly he was much more understanding and cautious of his surroundings, and suddenly I wasn’t his pet but his treasure. I foolishly fell for him even more, thinking that he had matured…so we married.”

“You…you didn’t face any opposition?”

“There was none. The girls who kept sticking with Blaze were just as much of a player as he was. That’s the reality of the teenage life. No one gives much of a damn if you destroy the school, if you create a giant party so loud that half of the residents can’t sleep. Everyone acts like a fool on the outside, but inside many can be cunning and deceive even the smartest of others. I understood that, but love caused me to ignore these problems and only look at him with a positive light. Only now do I actually feel foolish of ever loving him in the first place…how pathetic am I?

“Don’t.”

“Don’t?”

Fluttershy was strangely trembling. She slowly placed her own teacup back on the table, her expression unknown, hiding her face as each syllable spoken was filled with anger.

“Flutter…Fluttershy?” Firefly asked, both concerned and afraid.

“DON’T EVER CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE PATHETIC!”

Firefly stared at her in shock. Fluttershy had placed both of her hooves on the mother’s shoulders, her face streaming with tears.

“Never…never consider yourself to pathetic. If you’re pathetic, then what in the hay am I? You managed to have the intelligence and skill to maintain a job at cloudsdale. You managed to become the boss of the cloud factory and lead over 200 ponies to control and maintain Equestria’s weather. Compared to me…I just take care of animals and critters in Ponyville! I wasn’t able to find a job in my own hometown, because I couldn’t have the confidence to even fly! Looking at all your achievements and successes, you can consider me as dirt!”

“I, I would never…”

“That’s exactly my point! No one is perfect, everyone has his or her flaws, but we will always find a way to fix it, no matter how bad it gets! Even your husband obviously has his problems, but did you even consider his own feelings and emotions when he decided to tell you the truth about Scootaloo?”

“…………”

“Me and my friends are trying to find the solution to this problem. Trust me, we’ll find the person responsible for this crisis and fix it! Miss Firefly, please don’t give up hope!”

“I…I…” It was a bit hard not to be overwhelmed by Fluttershy’s sudden burst of determination.

“I’ll be right back. Thanks for the information you told me, and the tea as well. Just remember that no matter what happens, you’ll have friends to help you.” Fluttershy concluded.

Firefly watched awkwardly as the pony whisked into the sky at full speed, highly contrasting her initial slow hovering when she first arrived at the house.

She looked over to the right, and stared at the knotted rope lying on the wooden stool.

“Yeah…friends…”

Author's Note

Terribly sorry for the incredibly long hiatus. I'll keep it simple. It's due to a combination of both bad luck and my studies. To anyone who did not know, I had been suffering from an ulcer since July 2015, and in the middle of October severe stomach cramps forced me to go to the doctor, who revealed that the bacteria had formed a hole in my stomach and caused internal bleeding. Therefore, I was hospitalised for over 3 weeks for treatment. The following two months of January and February were the mocks of my final exams, and I could not find any time to focus on anything MLP-Related. I really am sorry for taking so long, especially towards Twilightisthebest, who just now I found to have tried to contact me the first few months. I'm not sure if I can continue writing the same speed I did during the summer, but I'll do the best I can.

chankl2