Pinkie Pie stared in shock as she watched Fluttershy run away, tears falling down the yellow pony’s cheeks. She knew that Fluttershy was always sensitive, but Pinkie also knew that no one should ever speak to Fluttershy or even treat Fluttershy like Gilda just did: absolute garbage.

The yellow Pegasus flew away, unable to stop the uncontrollable flow of her tears. After watching her friend fly away, Pinkie glared at Gilda, wanting to strangle her for bullying Fluttershy and making her cry, but she remembered Twilight’s words from earlier. Pinkie couldn’t misjudge Gilda; after all, she was an old friend of Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie was Rainbow Dash’s friend as well…

No. Pinkie had every right to misjudge Gilda. After all, Gilda was the one that hurt Fluttershy’s feelings.

Pinkie stomped her hoof down on the ground as she watched Gilda fly away. Enough was enough; Pinkie was tired of Gilda, even though she had just met that griffon not too long ago. But Gilda was just so, so… mean! And Pinkie had a strong suspicion that all griffons were mean and nasty… but why?

Shaking her head at the negative thought, Pinkie began to search for her best friend. She looked high and low, but she could not find Fluttershy anywhere.

“Poor Fluttershy,” Pinkie thought to herself. “She must be devastated.”

The pink mare let out a sigh and sat down on the ground, wondering where in Equestria Fluttershy could be. Suddenly, she remembered Fluttershy’s cottage; it was a nice, quiet place. Maybe that’s where Fluttershy was…

“I know where she is!” Pinkie said to herself as she quickly stood up, bouncing through the streets of Ponyville. She had a new mission: find her best friend and comfort her. Yes, that sounded easy enough. Pinkie had helped put smiles on everypony’s faces, and now she was going to help put a smile on Fluttershy’s face… after giving her lots of comfort, of course. Comfort came first, and smiles came after.

As Pinkie bounced her way to Fluttershy’s house, she couldn’t help but think about her friend. Fluttershy was probably crying her eyes out and didn’t want to be disturbed at the moment, but Pinkie felt bad for her and felt the need to go after her.

No one, not even Gilda, should’ve treated Fluttershy like that.

No one.

Fluttershy was hurt.

Not physically hurt, but she was emotionally scarred… possibly for life.

The yellow Pegasus hadn’t moved from the sofa ever since she returned to her cottage. She was far too busy crying and whimpering into the couch cushions. One of her animal friends was curled up next to her; it was Angel, her pet bunny. Angel frowned as he listened to his owner cry her eyes out, wondering why she would be so upset.

“D-Don’t bother asking, Angel,” Fluttershy whimpered, looking over at the concerned bunny. “N-Nopony would ever believe me, so w-why would you care?”

Angel blinked and snuggled his white fur against her soft, yellow coat. Fluttershy smiled sadly; he did care. She wrapped a foreleg around him, pulling him closer so he could snuggle with her.

“Oh, Angel… y-you do care, d-don’t you?” she asked, wiping her tears away.

The bunny nodded and continued to snuggle close to Fluttershy. The Pegasus sighed and buried her face into the couch cushions, allowing herself to cry her eyes out again.

Suddenly, there was a knock at her front door. Fluttershy looked up, her face stained with tears.

“G-Go away!” she shouted, thinking it was Gilda. “I-I told you I was sorry, but you just h-had to roar in m-my face!”

“Fluttershy! It’s me, Pinkie Pie!”

Fluttershy blinked before letting out a sigh of relief. Yes, it was only her best friend. Nothing to worry about.

“Oh… I am so s-sorry, Pinkie Pie,” she said. “I-I thought you were that m-mean griffon.”

“Nope! I would never treat you like that!” Pinkie said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “Can I come in?”

“O-Of course,” Fluttershy replied. “The door’s unlocked. I-I could really use a… a hug right now.”

Pinkie opened the door and hopped inside her friend’s cottage, closing the door behind her. She frowned when she saw Fluttershy laying on the couch. The yellow mare had her face buried in the couch cushions, muffling her cries of anguish. As Pinkie stared at the sight of her best friend crying, she couldn’t help but feel terrible for the shy Pegasus.

“Oh, Fluttershy…” she said, walking over to the couch. “I can’t believe Gilda treated you like that. No one should ever treat you like that!”

Fluttershy looked up and whimpered when she saw Pinkie standing beside her. “B-But she did…” she stammered. “S-She roared in m-my face a-after calling me a… a… a big doofus!”

“I know,” Pinkie said. “I saw the whole thing!”

“You… you did?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah! All you did was help lead the ducks, and you didn’t mean to bump into Gilda.” Pinkie sat down on the couch. “I have every right to be angry at her, you know,” she said. “She hurt your feelings!”

“I- I know…” Fluttershy sobbed. “A-And I didn’t mean to b-bump into her, but I d-did!”

Pinkie sniffled and pulled Fluttershy into a big, tender hug, holding her close. At this moment, the Pegasus completely lost it. She sobbed uncontrollably into Pinkie’s chest, feeling the desperate need to let all of it out.

“It’s okay,” Pinkie said, feeling tears well up in her eyes as she continued to hold Fluttershy close. “Just let it all out.”

“Oh, P-Pinkie Pie… I’m so glad you came a-after me,” Fluttershy whimpered. “I-I didn’t think t-that anyone w-would’ve followed me, n-not after…”

“Shh…” Pinkie soothed, stroking Fluttershy’s pink mane. “It’s okay. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere. Always trust your old pal, Pinkie Pie… it’ll be alright.”

Fluttershy sniffled and wiped her tears away, looking up at Pinkie Pie. Her eyes widened when she noticed that both Pinkie’s mane and tail had deflated, meaning that Pinkie was just as sad as she was.

“Pinkie,” she said, gasping softly. “Y-Your mane and tail… it’s… it’s straight.”

“Yeah, I know,” Pinkie said. “But I don’t care about my mane and tail right now. That can wait. What’s important is you. I don’t like to see you or any of our friends this upset. You know that, don’t you?”

“Y-Yes,” Fluttershy said. “I know, Pinkie…”

“Good.” Pinkie allowed her tears to fall down her cheeks as she continue to hug Fluttershy. “I-I’m crying too, y-you know…” she whimpered.

“R-Really?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uh-huh,” Pinkie replied. “I-I’m crying because you’re crying.”

Fluttershy sighed before taking a slow, deep breath. “Pinkie…” she began. “There’s something y-you should know.”

“Fluttershy… you can tell me anything,” Pinkie said. “I’m listening.”

“Okay, well… w-what was that griffon’s name? Gilda?”

“Yeah. What about her?”

“I-I, uh… me and Rainbow Dash both met her back w-when we were fillies, so when I bumped i-into her today, she w-was exactly the same…”

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked.

“Y-You know… all m-mean and a… a b-bully,” Fluttershy replied, feeling herself begin to cry again. “Rainbow Dash n-never noticed Gilda bullying m-me, a-and I felt… l-left out. I-I didn’t think Rainbow wanted to b-be my friend a-anymore, but s-she still is… t-today.”

“That’s terrible,” Pinkie said. “I had no idea…”

“I-I’m sorry I d-didn’t tell you, or a-anypony,” Fluttershy babbled. “I-I was afraid t-that you and e-everypony would t-turn your backs on m-me!”

“Fluttershy, you know we’d never betray you.” Pinkie sniffled. “And I’m sorry that happened to you when you were little…” she said. “You must’ve been… traumatized.”

“T-Thanks, Pinkie…” Fluttershy whimpered. “And I-I was. I didn’t k-know what else to d-do…”

Pinkie nodded and continued to hold Fluttershy close, allowing her friend to cry it all out.

Some time later, Fluttershy finally stopped crying and glanced up at Pinkie, noticing the tears falling down her friend’s cheeks. She reached a hoof up to wipe them away, making the pink mare smile. Soon, both her mane and tail went back to its normal curly and puffy style. Fluttershy smiled and wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie, feeling so much better now.

It turned out the pink mare was right… comfort did indeed come first, and smiles did come after.

“Looks like you’re feeling better!” Pinkie said, grinning at the yellow Pegasus.

“I am,” Fluttershy said, smiling. “So, uh… what now? We can’t just let Gilda bully everypony in town, you know.”

“Oh, don’t you worry,” Pinkie said, smiling wickedly as an idea came to her. “Your old pal Pinkie Pie just got an idea!”

Fluttershy gulped. Oh, boy… what did Pinkie Pie do now?

The End

Author's Note

Did I just write another sad story? Huh… must be into the sad genre for some reason.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story!

Until next time!

CookieKait01