The first thing Fluttershy saw when she woke up was the clock on her bedside cabinet, flashing the date and time.
MONDAY, 07:30 AM.
Fluttershy smiled.
The first thing Fluttershy did was go over to her wall, and with the pen held carefully between her teeth, cross off the day of the week. Start of a new month, new week, new day, new page. Fluttershy smiled.
The first thing Fluttershy eats is a daffodil sandwich, Princess Twilight Sparkle's favourite. Her friend Twilight. All her friends, all of them, they were there. They were safe. Fluttershy smiled.
The last thing Fluttershy did that night was set her alarm clock so it flashed 07:30. That way she could wake up nice and early to feed her animals and see her friends. Fluttershy smiled.
And closed her eyes.
* * *
The first thing Fluttershy saw when she woke up was the clock on her bedside cabinet, flashing the date and time.
TUESDAY, 07:30 AM.
Fluttershy smiled.
The first thing Fluttershy did was go over to her wall, and with the pen held carefully between her teeth, cross off the day of the week. Start of a new day. Fluttershy smiled.
The first thing Fluttershy eats is a daffodil sandwich, Princess Twilight Sparkle's favourite. Her friend Twilight. All her friends, all of them, they were there. They were safe. Fluttershy smiled.
The last thing Fluttershy did that night was set her alarm clock so it flashed 07:30. That way she could wake up nice and early to feed her animals and see her friends. Fluttershy smiled.
And closed her eyes.
* * *
The first thing Fluttershy saw when she woke up was the clock on her bedside cabinet, flashing the date and time.
WEDNESDAY, 07:30 AM.
Fluttershy smiled.
The first thing Fluttershy did was go over to her wall, and with the pen held carefully between her teeth, cross off the day of the week. Start of a new day. Fluttershy smiled.
The first thing Fluttershy eats is a daffodil sandwich, Princess Twilight Sparkle's favourite. Her friend Twilight. All her friends, all of them, they were there. They were safe. Fluttershy smiled.
The last thing Fluttershy did that night was set her alarm clock so it flashed 07:30. That way she could wake up nice and early to feed her animals and see her friends. Fluttershy smiled.
And closed her eyes.
* * *
Slowly, she picked up the paper that was lying on the floor. She didn't want to believe it.
It couldn't be...
Her eyes ran over the page, read the headline. A rush of horror and sadness, too alike to distinguish which was which, tore through her, making her emit an awful sound, like a wounded animal. The world crumpled before her, the colours melting away until everything faded and greyed and-
* * *
The first thing Fluttershy sees everyday when she wakes up is the clock on her bedside cabinet, flashing the date and time.
FRIDAY, 07:30 AM.
Fluttershy smiles.
The first thing Fluttershy does everyday is go over to her wall, and with the pen held carefully between her teeth, cross off the day of the week. Start of a new day, a perfect day. Today was going to be perfect. Fluttershy smiles.
The first thing Fluttershy eats everyday is a daffodil sandwich, Princess Twilight Sparkle's favourite. Her friend Twilight. All her friends, all of them, they were there. They were safe. Fluttershy smiles.
The last thing Fluttershy does every night is set her alarm clock so it flashes 07:30. That way she can wake up nice and early to feed her animals and see her friends. Fluttershy smiles.
And closes her eyes.
* * *
The first thing Fluttershy sees everyday when she wakes up is the clock on her bedside cabinet, flashing the date and time.
SATURDAY, 07:30 AM.
Fluttershy smiles.
The first thing Fluttershy does everyday is go over to her wall, and with the pen held carefully between her teeth, cross off the day of the week. Start of a new day, a perfect day. Today was going to be perfect. Fluttershy smiles.
The first thing Fluttershy eats everyday is a daffodil sandwich, Princess Twilight Sparkle's favourite. Her friend Twilight. All her friends, all of them, they were there. They were safe. Fluttershy smiles.
The last thing Fluttershy does every night is set her alarm clock so it flashes 07:30. That way she can wake up nice and early to feed her animals and see her friends. Fluttershy smiles.
And closes her eyes.
* * *
The first thing Fluttershy sees everyday when she wakes up is the clock on her bedside cabinet, flashing the date and time.
SUNDAY, 07:30 AM.
Fluttershy smiles.
The first thing Fluttershy does everyday is go over to her wall, and with the pen held carefully between her teeth, cross off the day of the week. Start of a new day, a perfect day. Today was going to be perfect. Fluttershy smiles.
The first thing Fluttershy eats everyday is a daffodil sandwich, Princess Twilight Sparkle's favourite. Her friend Twilight. All her friends, all of them, they were there. They were safe. Fluttershy smiles.
The last thing Fluttershy does every night is set her alarm clock so it flashes 07:30. That way she can wake up nice and early to feed her animals and see her friends. Fluttershy smiles.
And closes her eyes.
* * *
The first thing Fluttershy sees everyday when she wakes up is the clock on her bedside cabinet, flashing the date and time.
MONDAY, 07:30 AM.
Fluttershy smiles.
The first thing Fluttershy does everyday is go over to her wall, and with the pen held carefully between her teeth, cross off the day of the week. Start of a new day, a perfect day. Today was going to be perfect. Fluttershy smile-
RAP RAP RAP
There came the harsh, grazing sound that pulled her cruelly back to reality.
A knock on the door.
Fluttershy frowned. This was something that could disrupt her routine, the carefully planned morning routine she carried through everyday, to ensure her little bubble was how she wanted it to be. This pony could be about to muscle in, change it all, bring bad news, bad memories, bad days-
Fluttershy caught herself before her mind wandered too far. This wasn't a bad thing, no, no, quite the opposite. It was a friend, coming to see her, to make her laugh, to make her day a little bit more perfect. It wasn't anything bad. There was nothing to fear. Smile resurrected, she reached to open the door.
Standing on her doorstep was a lavender alicorn, with violet mane, long glinting horn, and a pair of strong pegasus wings riding on her shoulders. She was tall, graceful and beautiful. The only thing that ruined her otherwise perfect appearance was her eyes, which peeked over the top of large bags.
"Twilight! How lovely to see you!" Fluttershy crooned. "Do come in. I've got some lovely chamomile tea just waiting to be used."
Twilight Sparkle seemed a little taken aback by all this, but she stepped through the doorway willingly enough, and sat herself down on one of Fluttershy's cushioned seats.
"Thanks, Fluttershy, but I won't be staying long. How are you?" Fluttershy frowned slightly. She turned around, a teabag swinging in her hoof.
"I'm good, thanks. Why wouldn't I be?" Twilight shot her a nervous glance, then looked at the floor. Fluttershy corrected herself, and smiled amiably.
"How are you, Princess? It's so lovely for you to come and visit. I don't usually get that many visitors!" Fluttershy smiled widely, dropping her teabags into the steaming mixture. She picked the drinks up and headed to Twilight, seated herself down, and handed her a drink. Twilight sipped it and looked at her.
"I'm... okay, mostly. Busy." She sighed and rubbed her hoof over her face. "Haven't slept in days. It's just been so hard, since, you know-"
"Lovely weather outside, isn't it!" Fluttershy interrupted abruptly. Twilight looked out the window.
"Yes... yes, I suppose... Fluttershy, are you alright? I mean... I don't know, I just... I thought you might be more upset-"
"About what?" Fluttershy asked quickly, ignoring the pit of dread that was beginning to form in her stomach. Her smile felt stretched to the breaking point.
"Well, you know, about-"
"I'm going to plant some flowers in the garden tomorrow. I'll have to go into Ponyville today to buy some. What do you think, Twilight?"
Twilight was watching her warily, circling her steaming drink in her hooves. She had a small smile on her face, but it was softened by sadness, and a pressing realisation. Slowly, she set her mug on the table and took Fluttershy's hooves in hers.
"I think that it's okay, Fluttershy. It's okay to be sad about it."
"I don't have a clue on what you're talking about, Princess. There isn't a thing to be sad about." Twilights eyes were glinting with something. She gestured to a paper, beginning to yellow, lying abandoned on the floor. It was a stark difference to the rest of the room, which was clean and tidy, nary a paper or leaflet out of place.
"What about that?"
Oh, no-
Fluttershy managed to shrug casually. "It's a paper, Twilight. There's several here. I know for a fact you still haven't cleared out your ones from last year. I saw a bookshelf filled with them last time I came over. I'd bet you still have all the Gabby Gums columns," Her voice tailed away at the end, no matter how hard she tried to keep it cold and firm. Twilight picked it up and it zoomed towards her before Fluttershy could stop it. She leapt forward, trying to grab it with her outstretched hooves. Missing, she had nothing to break her fall and smashed straight into her cupboard. Several vases perched on top overbalanced, fell and smashed next to her. She felt like her mask was in pieces with them.
"Would you like to read this, Fluttershy, or should I?" Twilight said, narrowing her eyes. Fluttershy stared at it through the blurs in her eyes.
"Please, Twilight..." She croaked.
Twilight looked at the paper, scanning the headlines. Her mouth was set and her face grim. Her eyes glistened with something as she slowly turned to face the bruised mare on the floor.
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I'm so, so sorry for doing this. But this has to be done." Fluttershy covered her ears with her hooves, but she could still hear Twilight's steady, sorrowful voice through it all.
"I know that she'd hate to see you like this. This is my fault, I should've realised that it would affect you the most out of all of us. I'm going to try to help you. But... it's not going to be easy."
"I can't hear you... I can't hear you!" Fluttershy muttered.
"I'm afraid you can, Fluttershy. So listen." Twilight shook the paper and read.
"Freak explosion at Cloudsdale. An attempt to make the annual snowflakes this year, an experiment went wrong and an explosion sounded when..."
Fluttershy's howls began to drown out her voice, but the damage had already been done, and already words were beginning to form in her mind.
Nothing anyone could do...
20 ponies killed...
several casualties...
Element of Loyalty among...
Attempts to resuscitate...
Unsuccessful.
Twilight looked at her broken friend, on the floor howling. She knew that she'd probably gone too far, but what could she have done? Fluttershy would have to accept it if she wanted to move on. She bit her lip as her rainbow-manes friend swam into view, the Element of Loyalty, who had done nothing wrong. They'd all been playing the game and Death had just dealt its worst hand.
She sat down next to Fluttershy, and stroked her back gently. She murmured soothing words, over and over, and Fluttershy continued to cry. The same words that were always uttered, every time.
"It's fine, it's going to be okay."
But deep down, she didn't know whether it was going to be.