For the third day in a row, Fluttershy was laying on her couch like an unkempt creature that had lost its will to live. It had been two weeks since she broke up with Twilight, and three days since the...incident. Let's just say, she would never forget the vile words that came out of Shining Armor's mouth. Things about her that simply weren't true.
What could she have done differently? Maybe it was the excessive sobbing, she was always known to cry a little more than she should. Maybe she should've walked away when Shining Armor told her to leave.
Fluttershy didn't understand why Twilight and her brother hated her so much. She couldn't even understand why Twilight was so upset! They simply weren't compatible for each other, but they could still be friends, right?
Maybe it was the reason Fluttershy broke up with Twilight. After all, Twilight could give Fluttershy everything from the castle she lived in to immortality. But despite all that, there was still one thing that she wouldn't give to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy closed her eyes. Perhaps it was so stupid to value this one thing over the others, but she was tired of her love for Twilight being restrained. Her parents told her to never change herself for anypony! So why did Twilight expect her to, why did her best friend expect her to?!
Angel leaped in between Fluttershy's hooves and licked her cheek, the most affection he's displayed in months. Fluttershy felt her negative emotions melt away into the beautiful love she had for her rabbit. Out of all the things she lost from the breakup, she was so grateful that she still had him.
It had been a week since Shining Armor had lashed out at Fluttershy, and she had finally allowed herself to step outside of her cottage. With Pinkie Pie of course, who knows how safe she'd be when she'd pissed off the new Queen of Equestria and her brother.
In the time that she had to herself, the kindness had not disappeared, but rather forged itself a new meaning. Fluttershy would no longer be kind and gentle with the Sparkle family, but instead she would channel that kindness towards herself. And better yet, she wanted to show her ex all the new ways she'd be happy without her.
"Ooh, maybe you should try a new mane color!" Pinkie squealed. "Ooh! Ooh! You should shag up a new lover! That'll piss off Twilight!"
"Isn't she your friend too?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah, but you're the victim of this breakup! She gets to sit all nice and pretty in her luxuuuuurious castle, and you've been banned from going in there!" Pinkie rambled. "Wasn't that your safe place when things were overwhelming? Why the hell does she get to deprive you of that?"
"Cause it's where she lives?" Fluttershy whispered. "But I don't know if I could go to the barn, or Rarity's boutique, or even Rainbow Dash's house in the sky! What if I see Twilight there?"
"After what Shining Armor said, Applejack isn't allowing either of them near her barn. Same with me and Rarity! I don't know about Dashie though." Pinkie explained. "I just hope that we can provide you with enough safe spaces to make up for the one Twilight took away from you."
"Thank you Pinkie." Fluttershy smiled. "Say, where are we going?"
"I know that you haven't seen the rest of our friends since the breakup." Pinkie said. "So I thought we'd meet them at this cool new coffee shop that opened up. How does that sound?"
"That sounds just lovely."
But that would mean that she'd have to tell them why she dumped Twilight? She had only told Pinkie Pie. Or, dear Celestia, what if they already knew? What if Twilight had misconstrued the story, making Fluttershy sound like the villain? What if she was? What if she was all the things that Shining Armor said she was?
"You vile, toxic whore, all Twilight did was love you, and you broke up with her cause-"
"Fluttershy!"
"W-What?"
"You stopped moving and started staring at the ground." Pinkie frowned. "I told you, nothing he said was true in the slightest. Please believe me."
Fluttershy couldn't move until Pinkie leaned against her. And for the first time in years, Pinkie was crying.
"Fluttershy, I can't watch you do this to yourself. I didn't want to say this, but fuck Shining Armor." Pinkie growled.
"What?!"
"Fuck him to Tarturus, and fuck Twilight too!" Pinkie stomped her hoof. "You shouldn't have to change yourself to make a relationship work!"
"Darling, darling! Is everything alright?"
Fluttershy saw Rarity stand between her and Pinkie.
"I..." What was there to say?
"Don't worry, dear. Pinkie's just upset about this like the rest of us." Rarity reassured her, leaning in to add. "Although, she could more dramatic than me sometimes."
That was an understatement. When Pinkie found out about what Shining Armor had said, she had made sure he would become the most hated pony in Ponyville.
"Just breathe in and out, Pinkie Pie." Rarity patted her shoulder. "There, there. Let's head along now, the others are waiting."
Rarity opened the cafe door for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, the latter staying at Fluttershy's side. There, at some couches in the corner of the cafe, was Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash flew towards Fluttershy and crashed into her, nuzzling the crook of her neck.
Applejack stood up more slowly and hugged Fluttershy after Rainbow Dash moved away.
"It's okay sugarcube, Twilight already told us what happened."
"D-Did she tell you why I broke up with her?"
"Um, word spread around." Applejack admitted. "But I don't know if Twilight or her brother were the one to spread what might be false information..."
"What has Ponyville been saying?" Fluttershy asked.
"They've been saying that Twilight wouldn't fuck you, so you dumped her." Applejack said. "But Pinkie's been trying to tell everypony that it's a lie."
Fluttershy wanted to curl up into a corner and disappear, it was even worse than she expected.
"Now, now, we know that the story's not fully accurate, so you can tell us what really happened. If you want, of course." Applejack sat back down on the couch.
Fluttershy sat in the middle of Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and one of the employees took their orders before heading behind the counter. Fluttershy had ordered unicorn tea, damn her. Twilight used to make that for her all the time, she couldn't let go of what could've been.
"The relationship started out wonderful." Fluttershy spoke. "We were passionate, kind, and took care of each other. When the sisters retired, I was there with her every hoofstep of the way."
"We made love for the first time, it was truly magical." Fluttershy smiled. "But in the morning, I couldn't get this anxiety out of me. I knew that Twilight acted different than my past lovers, and I couldn't figure out why."
"She came into the kitchen looking nervous, and she told me that she was asexual." Fluttershy confessed. "Even though I knew that I didn't want to date somepony that was ace, I tried to make the relationship work. After all, I could have everything a filly dreamed of and more! I just had to sacrifice this one thing."
"And so, days passed, and my anxiety attacks were getting worse. I would be doing anything at all, and suddenly I had this thought to break up with Twilight." Fluttershy frowned. "Then I would be frozen in fear, or sobbing. The kissing and cuddling wasn't a full relationship to me, it was only part of it. It was g-getting so bad that I woke up with this uneasiness every day-"
Pinkie wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy and rested her muzzle on Fluttershy's mane, holding her tight.
"Ah wouldn't wish that anxiety on my worst enemy." Applejack sighed. "I'm so sorry that Twilight forced this decision on ya, and wouldn't be understanding of the results."
"That's why Shining Armor called you a..." Rainbow Dash threw a hoof over her mouth.
"That's very rude of him, you weren't angry about Twilight being ace, were you?" Rarity asked.
"I...I was upset that she was questioning who she was during the relationship. I didn’t know she was questioning this until several months in." Fluttershy hid her face in Pinkie's chest. "But I quickly tried to brush it off, I had to see if we could get past it. I had to see if the relationship could stand without any sexual intimacy..."
"Here's your drinks." The brown mare in a maid outfit spoke, placing drinks and baked goods on the table.
Fluttershy was staring at the blue and purple mixture of the tea, when she noticed the apple tart sitting next to it.
"Oh, I didn't order this-"
"Don't worry, it's on the house." the mare smiled. "I hope you're feeling better."
"Oh, thank you."
Fluttershy wasn't familiar with who the server was, but her stare lingered as the mare turned around and showed her chocolate-brown tail and cocoa-colored flanks. As soon as she was out of sight, Fluttershy looked back at her tea.
"Oh dear, why was I so upset?" Fluttershy lamented. "Isn't that the same thing as angry?"
"No, angry is downright insulting the girl and your relationship. Sounds like you were just confused, sugarcube." Applejack shrugged. "If anything, sounds like Twilight was the one choosing to throw everything away."
"But she can't control her lack of desire!" Fluttershy defended her ex.
"I never said she could, maybe throwing the relationship away was a good thing." Applejack suggested. "One of y'all would've been miserable either way."
"But what about your friendship with her, darling?" Rarity asked.
"They gotta sort this out, we're the rulers of Equestria for buck's sake!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "How can this bitch ban one of her fellow rulers from the castle?!"
"I don't think I'll be ruler anymore." Fluttershy sighed.
"But you're, like, the Element of Kindness! We need you there!" Dash persisted.
"I don't think we'll be rulers much longer."
"What?!" Dash gasped at Applejack's statement.
"C'mon now, she's had Shining Armor and his family hanging around the castle ever since the breakup. Sunburst and his redeemed coltfriend Sombra rule the Crystal Empire now." Applejack explained. "Flurry Heart's a grown mare now too! Who do you think Twilight is going to keep. Us? Or her immortal lot of family members?"
"Oh goodness." Fluttershy hid her face in Pinkie's shoulder. "This is too much for Equestria to handle."
"What about you?" Pinkie asked. "How do you feel?"
"Nervous? Scared? I should've l-left them alone." Fluttershy whimpered.
"And what would that change? Twilight still brought her biased family into this, and you still would've been banned from the castle!" Applejack groaned. "Twilight can't just turn Equestria upside-down cause she's having a stupid pity party! We should knock her door down!"
"That would only make things worse." Fluttershy pulled away from Pinkie, gently lifting the tea to her mouth. "This is getting a little intense for me."
"Oh, shit. Sorry sugarcube." Applejack apologized. "This is already bad enough for ya without me flappin' my mouth."
"Have you been trying anything new since the breakup?" Rarity asked.
"Um, not really. I mean, Angel cuddled me." Fluttershy blushed. "I suppose that's new. Pinkie's been full of ideas."
"Hopefully healthy ideas." Rarity side-eyed her pink friend. "Nothing involving the bars around Ponyville?"
"Not that I can remember." Fluttershy shrugged. "Although she did mention 'shagging up a new lover.' It was weird."
"Time must heal your wounds first, darling." Rarity insisted. "Banging new ponies now will only put your feelings in a bunch."
"Twilight's a bitch, but most ace ponies aren't like that." Pinkie grinned. "My sister Maud and her coltfriend Mud Briar are ace ponies, and they're some of the sweetest ponies I know!"
"And they work well together because they have the same values." Applejack smirked. "Dontcha worry, Flutters. With the five of us together, everything will be alright."
"Weren't you just freaking out about the fate of Equestria, like, several minutes ago?" Dash snickered.
"Well, yeah. Everything will be alright, but it doesn't mean things are easy right now." Applejack admitted. "We'll get through it together, right Fluttershy?"
"Right." Fluttershy smiled. "Rarity, did you want to help me find new hobbies?"
"Absolutely yes!" Rarity squealed. "Oh this'll be so much fun! We can get you to try new dresses, new talents, new places-"
"Maybe we should avoid the modelling stuff, cause of last time." Fluttershy reminded Rarity.
"Right, of course." Rarity smiled.
The five ponies finished their drinks, chatting of new things like blind dates that the four other mares went on. Fluttershy felt a tiny bit relieved that the others hadn't figured out their love lives yet, and weren't worried about it.
Fluttershy even leaned in and whispered to Pinkie about the mare that gave her the free apple tart. Coco Flanks, her name was according to Pinkie.
As the five Elements of Harmony were getting up to leave, Fluttershy set some bits on the counter for this Coco Flanks. Coco saw the bits and winked at Fluttershy.
Fluttershy beamed, despite the gnawing fear of Twilight's daunting power hanging over her head. Can she survive pissing off the Queen of Equestria?
Author's Note
Thanks for reading! This one-shot is a passion project of mine that I started on a few months ago, and the story itself is very personal to me. So I hope you enjoyed the story and took away something important from it. I have more stories planned for this series as well in different POVs, including Twilight's 
If Fluttershy were to start dating one of the characters in the coffee shop scene, who should it be? Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Coco Flanks, or somepony else? 
