I looked up at her from the sight in front of us, her big magenta eyes avoiding our faces, since they were filled with tears. She tries not to cry in front of us, but this time it was too hard not to. There was a terrible sight in front of us, one that all of us wanted to go away. None of us wanted to look. This could’ve been avoided, if only we had taken Fluttershy’s act into consideration. We had all just thought that it was simply Fluttershy being Fluttershy—afraid of her own shadow. But that wasn’t the case, and we didn’t realize that until it was too late. In front of us, Fluttershy lay unconscious in a pool of her own blood. She had a terrible gash in her side, as well as a cut running from her snout to her ear. We all stood back, afraid of the image that was currently being drilled into our heads. The first one of us to do anything was Rainbow.
“What are we standing here for, we gotta help her!” she exclaimed, voice close to cracking and obviously trying not to cry. It took us a while to break out of the trance we were in to actually do anything. Rainbow dashed over to Fluttershy, letting out a grunt as she attempted to hoist her onto her own back. “Can somepony help me?!” she shouted a bit, looked at the four of us. Applejack went forward next, helping Fluttershy onto Rainbow’s back. None of us could really tell whether or not she was alive, but we all thought the worst. Pinkie was still standing there, bewildered and unsure of what to do. I spoke up.
“Alright… Everypony, let’s try and calm down a bit. I’m sure that we ca—” I was cut off by Rainbow shouting at me.
“CALM DOWN?! Twi, you expect me to calm down?! I can’t calm down . Fluttershy’s life is on the line here, and we have to do something about it. We can’t just sit here and let her die! We have to get her to the Ponyville Hospital. NOW.” She screamed, tears beginning to slowly drip down her cheeks.
“Rainbow, ah gotta agree with Twahlight here. We should probably calm ahselves ‘fore we go.” Applejack spoke up. Rainbow glared at her, eyes flaming with hatred—probably aimed at me. “Fine. But I still think we should get her to a hospital. Like, now.” Rainbow Dash snapped back. “Alrighty then, let’s go.” AJ spoke calmly. She was so level-headed in all of this chaos. Rainbow and AJ headed forward out of Fluttershy’s cottage with Fluttershy balanced on their backs. I followed after them as did Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Rarity had her hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder as Pinkie sobbed openly, not sure of what to do.
It was a long, silent walk to the hospital, the only sounds being Pinkie’s sobbing, grunts from both AJ and Dash in effort to move Fluttershy a bit on their backs, and the faint sound of small crickets chirping. Nopony talked at all, either because of shock, fright, or sadness. The only thing that was said was “I think she’s alive… just barely, though…” from Rainbow dash, which wasn’t even directed towards anypony, but to mainly herself. When as last we finally arrived, Rainbow attempted to go faster than any of us until she realized doing so would most likely result in Fluttershy falling off of her back, as well as AJ’s.
“I honestly believe that Rainbow is taking this the hardest, darling” Rarity spoke in a whisper directly into my ear. I nodded, and thought about it more. That would make sense, seeing that she had known Fluttershy the longest. I was snapped out of my train of thought when Rarity nudged me and told me to go forward into the hospital. When everypony was inside, Rainbow Dash and Applejack went up to the front desk and told them the emergency. They were instantly whisked away into the emergency room, with Rarity, Pinkie and I following suit. Still, none of us could or would believe what had happened to Fluttershy. I tried to play back the events in my head.
The five of us met up in the library to discuss Fluttershy’s strange behavior for the past week or so. None of us could explain it— we were trying to pass it off as usual Fluttershy behavior, but usually if it was just Fluttershy behavior, she wouldn’t be afraid to talk to us—especially not Rainbow Dash, seeing as those two have known each other forever. Not to mention that she was pent up in her cottage most of the hours of the day, most days of the week. She only left mostly to get food or care for her animals.
None of us liked to see her like this, but we didn’t know how to cease it either. The first one of us to suggest we go to her house was Pinkie Pie. She had suggested that we go to her cottage and throw her a party to make her feel better. The rest of us chuckled; I’m guessing it was because it was such a typical Pinkie Pie idea. Either way, we had all decided that that was probably the best thing we could do.
With this idea in our minds, we all gathered some things and headed down to Fluttershy’s cottage at the brink of the Everfree Forest. The last thing we wanted was to find her as she was.
When we arrived there was absolute silence in in the area, except for the occasional cluck of chickens or the meow of a cat. Not long after we arrived, Angel, Fluttershy’s pet bunny, came out of the door, a frightened look on his face. He tugged on Dash’s tail and pointed at the door. It was dark inside, and it smelt strange. The five of us approached the door and pushed it open enough for us to walk in. We flicked on the light and each and every one of us gasped simultaneously. In front of us was Fluttershy, lying in the center of the floor, blood matting her usually beautiful yellow coat together in bright red patches with a huge gash along her side and a cut from her snout to her ear. That’s what led us to this.
When I snapped back to reality, I was sitting on a chair outside of Fluttershy’s hospital room. Rainbow was flying in circles around the room; Rarity and Pinkie were asleep with their heads on each other’s shoulder; Applejack was playing nervously with her hat, and here I was, just ‘waking’ up. Rainbow landed and looked at me with those big sad magenta eyes that could weaken even the toughest of ponies. “I’m sorry, Twi,” she murmured. “I was just… really worried about Fluttershy earlier… I…I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.” She said quietly. I stood up and went over to her, now that she was on the ground. I looked at her directly in the eyes and wrapped my hooves around her in a tight embrace. She began to sob quietly into my shoulder. “It’s okay, Rainbow… I’m not mad… I understand.” I whispered to her. I felt her nod her head and she pulled away. “Thanks, Twilight. Again, I’m really sorry” she muttered, voice cracking.
We went over to the chairs and sat next to AJ. She looked over at me and I looked back at her. After a moment of silence, I asked the question that was swimming around my head for a while now. “H…How is she, AJ? Do you know?” I murmured. Rainbow looked over at me and then to AJ. “Well… Ah… Ah’m not exactly sure, Twi. They said she’s somewhat stable, but they don’t know when she’ll wake up. Ah reckon Ah’ll stay here for a while to be there when she does wake up though. Ah sure do hope she’s okay though. They said that they treated her wounds, but she lost a lot of blood, as Ah’m sure you could tell by that... pool of it back at her house.” She said shakily. I heard Rainbow swallow hard, and then she looked down. “I just wish we could’ve been there sooner… Maybe we could’ve prevented this mess… whatever, er, whoever it was that did this to her… Oooh I’m not gonna be held responsible for what I do when and if we find out...” she muttered. I nodded, agreeing 100 percent. With Celestia as my witness, I vow to find out whoever did this to her and have them pay for what they did.
The next few days we spent at the hospital were subtle and boring. Pinkie had gone back to Sugarcube Corner and gathered a few games and things for us to do, but the only thing any of us could really do was to wait for the minute that Fluttershy would wake up. We took the hours they would let us in to see her as an advantage to be there when she finally awoke.
After about a week of waiting for Fluttershy to wake up, we were pretty much all asleep in the waiting room. All except for Rainbow Dash. Ever since that night, she has been spending every minute she could with Fluttershy, talking to her, sleeping beside her, and even eating her meals in her hospital room. Nopony could talk her out of it—not even Applejack, who was the most convincing one of all of us. We all thought that she was still convinced that this whole thing was her fault. I guess it makes sense, seeing that she represents the spirit of loyalty and all.
We were all sleeping peacefully—or at least trying to sleep when an excited Rainbow burst through the light wooden door into the plain white waiting room, waving her hooves around. She ran over to each and every one of us, shaking us awake.
“Guys! Guys, come one you gotta get up! I was in there with Fluttershy, and she moved a little! I think…” I single tear rolled down her happy face, “I think she’s finally waking up!” she shouted, voice cracking. The first one to stand up was Pinkie Pie.
“Ohmygosh! We gotta go see Flutters! Ooh, ooh I know! Let’s throw her a ‘You-Finally-Woke-Up’ Party~!!” she cheered. Rarity let out a giggle, as if she were thinking that that was such a typical Pinkie Pie move. But Rainbow just stood there, tapping her hoof, waiting for the rest of us to get up.
“Whoah now, sugarcube, let’s calm down and get somewhat quieter, Ah’m sure that Fluttershy would ‘ppreciate waking up to that.” Applejack said in a hushed tone. Rainbow let out a ‘humph’ and stopped tapping her hoof, then turned to me.
“Well? Are we gonna go see her or what?” she said, trying to be as quiet as she possibly could be. I stood up and nodded.
“The sooner we get in there the better,” I began. “I don’t know about anypony else, but I want to be there when Fluttershy wakes up, and plus I have some questions to ask her…” I continued. The reply I got from my friends was a nod, and then a murmur from Rainbow. “I sure do hope we’re there when she wakes up.”
We all walked through the door pretty much together, except or Rainbow who darted in there first and returned to her seat beside Fluttershy. “See Fluttershy, I brought our friends, just like I promised…” she cooed to her. This act earned a smile from all of us. This just proved how much Rainbow really does care about us. We all moved closer to Fluttershy and stood around her bedside, watching her closely. Rainbow was right. She did move a few times, but they were subtle. I looked around one last time at the others before I drifted off to sleep, head on Fluttershy’s arm.
I guess we all fell asleep, because when I finally woke up and looked around, everypony was laying down either on the floor, or on their knees with their heads on Shy’s bed. Then I turned to Shy. Her face was tightening and she was making whimpering noises. I looked around at everypony and called out their names. The first one who was awake was Dash, followed by AJ, then Pinkie, and last was Rarity, who let out a whine.
“Twiii-liiiighttt…. You interrupted up my beauty sleeep!” she whined, stomping her hooves on the ground, acting like a little filly that had just gotten grounded. I rolled my eyes and pointed at Fluttershy with my hoof. Her face was still tight and she looked like she was upset or in pain… or both. We all gathered around her, Dash stroking her baby pink poufy mane.
“It’ll be alright, Shy... Calm down… We’re here; your friends are here…” she cooed, as if Fluttershy was her baby sister or something. Fluttershy grunted and her eyelashes fluttered a little bit. Rainbow looked up at all of us, her magenta eyes beginning to fill with tears.
“I...I think she’s…she’s…” Rainbow began, her voice then drifting off, leaving the sentence unfinished. So I finished for her.
“Waking up?” I murmured, a smile creeping onto my face. AJ stood at the foot of her bed, hat in her hooves, playing with the brim nervously, Pinkie stood behind me, bouncing around, and Rarity just stood there across from me, watching Fluttershy carefully.
“Oooh this is gonna be so fun!” whisper-screamed Pinkie, “We’re so gonna throw an awesome party for her and it’s gonna be so awesome!” she continued. I shushed her and looked back at Fluttershy. Her eyes finally fluttered open and she looked around with a yawn. Rainbow Dash stared at her for a few seconds before she flung forward and wrapped her fore-hooves around Shy’s neck. Tears fell down her cheeks as she hugged her. Fluttershy’s eyes opened a little bit, and Dash spoke.
“OH THANK CELESTIA! I’m so glad you’re awake, Flutter—” she was paused by the small shriek of Fluttershy, who looked at Rainbow with extreme fear. It took her a minute before she actually realized it was Rainbow, then she saw Rarity, AJ, Pinkie, and me.
“O…Oh. It’s just you Dashie.. And AJ… oh and Rarity and Pinkie and Twi.. H…how long have you guys been here?” she said in her usual calm, soft voice. Rainbow looked nervously at the four of us and I nodded.
“Well… Y…you see, Fluttershy, about a week ago, the five of us,” she pointed to herself, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and me, “We realized that you were… uhm… acting pretty strange and so we went to your cottage to see what was wrong. When we got there, Angel came out and wanted us to go inside, so we did and uhm… well…” Rainbow’s voice cracked and she looked at me, her eyes pleading for me to continue for her.
“Well, you see Fluttershy, when we got inside, we saw you in the center of the floor… You were unconscious and you had a large gash in your side and a cut on your head. We realized we had to get you to the hospital. They weren’t sure when you’d wake up, but we stayed here waiting for you. We were all worried, but especially Rainbow. She stayed at your bed side pretty much the whole time” I said, and looked at Rainbow. She turned her head and blushed, and I continued. “And now that you are awake; we have to ask you some things.” I said cautiously. Fluttershy looked at all of us before speaking up.
“S….so I’ve been asleep for about a week? And you guys have been here t…the whole time?" whispered the injured pony. "And Rainbow… You stayed with me?”
The rest of us nodded. Fluttershy began to sob emotionally, tears streaming down her face. “Oh my gosh thank you so much everypony… I… I’m so happy to have you as my friends and…and… Ohhh”
Fluttershy suddenly stopped speaking, her face contorting in pain. She moved a hoof to her wounded side and slowly laid back on the bed. “Ouch...” she whispered quietly.
Rainbow looked at her with worry. “Are you ok, Fluttershy?” she asked, clearly worried for Fluttershy’s well-being.
“Y…yeah I think so, it’s just... it hurts to cry.” She said softly, looking down. This time it was Pinkie who spoke up.
“It’s alright, Flutters! You’ll be better in no time! And I’m gonna throw you a super duper awesome party! It’s gonna be so fun!” she said, jumping up and down. Fluttershy’s eyes grew at the sudden increase of volume, but then she calmed once she remembered that that was just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. She giggled a little bit, and then looked at me.
“Oh, and Twilight, you said you wanted to ask me a question?” she said in a hushed tone, like usual. I looked at Fluttershy, then to all of our friends. I took a deep breath in and looked at Fluttershy carefully.
“Well… you see, Fluttershy, this whole time I’ve been wondering… Who did this to you? Why did they do this to you? It’s barbaric... insane...inpony!! It’s not right! You are one of the sweetest, kindest ponies in Ponyville—hay, maybe even Equestria, so who would do this to you? And even so, how did they know where you lived?” I said, trying not to scream. I had just poured my mind out to Fluttershy – I felt badly, seeing as she was probably going through enough already, having just woken up after a week of sleeping, not aware of her surroundings. But I think the thing that shocked me most was the next thing that Fluttershy said.
“I can’t… I can’t tell you.” She whispered.
“What… Why?” I murmured
“I just… I can’t tell anypony. I won’t tell anypony!” she said, hushed.
“But Fluttershy…Can you not remember or something?” I asked her
“No… it’s not that it’s just that…” she said quietly.
“It’s just that what? What happened, Fluttershy?! You can tell us anything! We’re your friends!” Rainbow said her voice full of worry.
“I can’t tell you because….” Fluttershy murmured
“Because…?” The rest of us cried out
“Well I can’t tell you because if I do then… then…” she let out a cry.
“They’ll find me again! And this time they'll make sure they really do kill me!!” she cried out, fat tears falling down her cheeks.
