The Story of Skydancerby Prawject ExpressChaptersThe LetterA Star in the Night SkyThe Visitor in the NightThe LetterRainclouds covered the town of Ponyville as its residents hid in their homes. As the wind pushed the rain all throughout the streets of the town, there was a yellow pegasus pony with a long flowing pink mane looking out of the window of a small cottage. She watched the trees sway back and forth to the rhythm of the storm. “Oh, I hope my animal friends are ok out in the storm,” the yellow pegasus said to herself. “Don’t worry Fluttershy. They have to be used to it by now.” Fluttershy turned around to see a light blue pegasus with a rainbow stripped mane standing behind her. “We’ve scheduled multiple downpours this week to make up for the drought we had last month. Your animal friends will be fine.” “I guess so Rainbow Dash. It’s just that……..um……..what if there is a baby squirrel in one of those trees that-" Rainbow Dash put a reassuring hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and said, “There is nothing to worry about. Trust me.” Fluttershy slowly turned her head and gave a little nod to Rainbow. “Thanks again for letting me stay for the night.” Rainbow said. “Oh it’s nothing really. I wouldn’t want you to stay in your cloud home all night. Who knows how much of it will be left after the storm?” “It shouldn’t be messed up too bad. I got Twilight to weatherproof it before the rain hit.” “Ok then…it’s getting kind of late. I think I should get dinner started…..” “While you do that I’ll go get my things. Are you sure you want me to sleep in your bed tonight? I don’t mind sleeping in the living room.” “No I don’t mind at all. It’s my pleasure. It will be nice to sleep down here with Angel for once,” She reached over and patted her pet bunny on the head. “Well if you say so. I’m going to bring my stuff upstairs. See ya in a little bit.” “Ok Rainbow Dash. See you soon.” Fluttershy watched as Rainbow Dash picked up her saddlebag and walked upstairs. She then trotted over to the kitchen, got out a large cooking pot, and started to pour water into it. ‘Knock Knock’ Flutershy stopped the water and looked at the door from across the living room. ‘Who could be at the door at this time?’ She thought to herself. 'It must be a broken tree branch or something hitting the door.’ She then turned on the faucet again and continued to pour water into the pot. ‘Knock Knock Knock’ Fluttershy was confused. She turned off the water, walked over to the door and opened it. She was then surprised to see a pair of kooky looking eyes staring right at her. “Derpy? What are you doing outside in a storm like-" “I have a letter for you!”Derpy suddenly replied. “Oh…um….well….thanks Derpy” “Yup! Well, see you later Fluttershy!” “Wait Derpy! Are you sure you should fly home in a storm like this? Would you like to stay here?” “Nope. Gotta go. Muffins!” Before Fluttershy could say anything more, Derpy was out of sight. She looked down at the scroll she possessed as she closed the door behind her. It was laced with a ruby red ribbon written with the words “To Fluttershy of Ponyville”. Curious to see what it was, she walked over to her couch and opened the letter. A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash walked into the living room. “Hey Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash said with a grin on her face, “Where do you keep your-“ Rainbow stopped in mid-sentence when she glanced at Fluttershy. There was a strange, blank expression on her face. “Fluttershy? Is there something wrong?” Rainbow said with concern. “I………..um…….I…..” “You can tell me Fluttershy.” “My…….father…..um….died.” Rainbow suddenly felt uneasy. Fluttershy never talked about her family, especially to her friends. She noticed that her best friend was emotionally distraught, but she didn’t know how to react. After a hesitation, she hung her head low and quietly said, “I’m sorry.” A few minutes passed and the two of them just stayed there unable to speak a word. Eventually, Rainbow slowly walked over to the couch and took a seat next to her. She then wrapped her arms around her and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry,” She said again. It took another minute for Fluttershy to speak again. “The funeral is going to be held at Sweet Passings Funeral Home in Cloudsdale. My mom wants me to go.” “When is it?” Rainbow asked. “Why should I care?!” Fluttershy snapped as she threw the scroll on the ground. Rainbow suddenly released her hug as Fluttershy’s eyes started to get wet. Rainbow looked at Fluttershy. Her eyes were filled with fear as Fluttershy shot up into the air. “I don’t give a manticore’s backside about my bucked up father!!” Fluttershy screamed. She then flew over to her bedroom and zoomed inside slamming the door behind her. Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It took a few minutes for her to gain the courage to walk over to the bedroom and open the door. When she slowly opened it, she saw her on her bed with her head buried into her pillow. She was…….crying. Rainbow could also see Angel sitting next to Fluttershy brushing her long pink mane in an effort to comfort her. Her mane brightened up as the moonshine seeped through the window of the dimly lit room. “Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked softly. The only reply she got was the muffled sounds of the sobs coming from the pillow Fluttershy’s head was buried in. ‘What should I do?’ Rainbow thought to herself. She knew that a good friend always helped in times of need. Rainbow walked over to the side of the bed and placed her hoof on her shoulder. “It’s alright Fluttershy. This is just the way life works. Everything will be fine.” The sobs eventually started to slow down as Fluttershy slowly raised her head from her pillow. She then got her back legs off the bed and onto the floor. Sitting on her bedside, she looked at her rainbow colored friend. Rainbow looked back at Fluttershy’s face with concern. Her eyes were bright red and her cheeks were damp and stained with tears. Rainbow then took a seat next to her friend and put her hoof around her shoulder like she did before. “I’m…..sorry..Rainbow..for….yelling.” Fluttershy whispered. “It’s ok Fluttershy. I understand.” “But that’s the problem. You don’t understand.” Rainbow was surprised at this answer. She waited to hear more. “You know, my real name isn’t Fluttershy.” Rainbow couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could her best friend, who she’s known since she was a filly, not be Fluttershy? This just didn’t make any sense to her. After a few moments of silence, Fluttershy continued. “My real name is Skydancer. Skydancer Moonlight. That was the name my parents gave me when I was born. There are a lot of things that you and the others don’t know about me. My…..childhood wasn’t as nice as other ponies Rainbow. Ever since I was born, my sister and I have been living under the shadow of my older brother Stormchacer Moonlight.” “You have a brother and a sister?” Rainbow shouted astonished. “How come you never told anyone?!” “I’m………sorry,” Fluttershy replied and pulled back. Rainbow felt bad about her sudden outburst. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound angry at you. So your brother’s name is Stormchacer. What’s your sister’s name?” Rainbow asked. “Her name is…… Starlight. She is actually my twin sister. She has the same coat color as me but has a black mane and tail.” “My brother was the fastest pegasus of his age and the winner of the Best Young Flier Competition years ago. My mom was proud like any parent should be but my dad was different. He was so proud of my brother that he spent all of his time praising him. Because of my brother’s success, Starlight and I were kind of invisible to him. I remember all the times at dinner when my brother would talk about an award he won and my dad always telling him that he brings honor to the Moonlight family. Nothing really bad happened until this one day, Stormchacer tried to perform a Stratus Streak.” “A Stratus Streak?!” Rainbow interrupted, “But that’s impossible to pull off without some kind of magic assistance!” “Storm thought that he could be the first one to do it without using any magic. He practiced for hours each day convinced that he was going to make history. Eventually, he thought he was ready. I remember when he brought the family outside in the backyard to witness what he called, “Amazing Awesomeness”. We all watched as he launched into the air. He kept increasing altitude until he was a small speck in the sky. It wasn’t too long till we heard a faint crack in the air. Immediately following the crack, we saw the speck rapidly grow in size. He was falling. My dad panicked. He quickly gathered a bunch of clouds together to brace Stormchacer’s fall.” “Did it work?” Rainbow asked. “It did,” Fluttershy stated. “He fell on the cushion of clouds.” “So he was safe right?” “Actually, there was one major problem. His left wing was gone. I can just remember the amount of blood coming from his side. It was horrifying to watch. When he got to the hospital, the doctor stated that he would never fly again. This was devastating to both him and my dad.” Fluttershy paused as the terrible memories of what occurred crowded her mind. “Was everything ok afterwards?” Rainbow asked nervous of what was going to come next. “My brother was so devastated by his injury that he….put an end to his own misery. I can’t tell you the pain that my dad was feeling the day he died. The rest of us were sad, but it seemed like my dad will never be happy ever again. That’s when he started drinking." Fluttershy’s eyes started to water up again as Rainbow held her even closer. “It’s going to be ok.” Rainbow told her. A few moments passed and Fluttershy continued her story. “After a while, Dad would take his anger out on me since I was the weaker one. He would yell at me saying how I will never be as good as Stormchacer. He told me that I was a weak, pathetic, disgrace of a child and would sometimes throw his beer bottle at my face. Mom would sometimes cry for him to stop, but it wouldn’t help anything. Pretty soon he would call me Fluttershy because of my poor flying and social skills. The real problem was that………I agreed with him.” “What?” Rainbow interrupted. “Its true. Compared to my brother, or my sister, I was a weak, pathetic Fluttershy. Because of this, I kind of made that my name. Pretty soon everyone called me Fluttershy. I remember a day in flight school where all the kids mocked me for my inability to do a simple flying task. They would shout ‘Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!’ It seemed like everywhere I went, I would hear ponies saying this humiliating chant. I remember going home upset only to find my dad angry at my progress in school. It seemed like the only person in my family who respected me was Starlight. Unlike my dad, she would try her best to comfort me when I was humiliated or scared. There was one day where my father got the news that I failed one of my flying exams at school and kicked me in the face because of it. That night, in our bedroom, Starlight and I made an agreement that we were going to stick together during this tough time. We were never going to leave each other no matter what happened.” Fluttershy took in a deep sigh and continued. “Then came the day I went to Summer Flight Camp. My parents could only afford one of us to go to camp and my dad chose me. He thought I needed the flying classes the most, which I did. Before I left home to go to camp, Starlight reminded me of our agreement to stick together no matter what. I wish I could tell you that that happened." Fluttershy turned her head and looked at her friend straight in the eye. “You remember the day we both got our cutie marks right” She asked. Rainbow nodded and added, “I was defending your honor in a race and you accidentally fell off the edge of Cloudsdale.” “Yes but…….” “But what Fluttershy?” “My fall wasn’t…….an accident.” “Wait, do you mean-“ “Yes Rainbow. I was so ashamed of myself that I tried to commit suicide off the cloud.” Rainbow was stunned to hear this, but after some thought, it didn’t come as a huge surprise. She might have done the same if she was in her position. “Fortunately, a group of butterflies broke my fall. At that moment, I realized all of the animals down on the surface cared about me. I never experienced so much kindness in my life. Because of this I then thought that maybe life is worth living after all. That was the moment I got my cutie mark. I remember hiding from the Cloudsdale police as they came down to find me. There was no way I was going back to that miserable life up in the sky. Eventually, with the help from my new animal friends, I built my house outside of Ponyville and stayed there ever since.” “That was when I left flight school to look for you.” Rainbow added, “I was so worried about your fall that I looked everywhere. Then I luckily found you when I got a job for the weather patrol here in Ponyville.” “But…” Fluttershy faltered. “What is it?” Rainbow asked. “I failed. I broke my promise to my sister. I left her to deal with my family on her own. She’s probably furious with me. This is why I haven’t contacted her or told anyone else about this. I want to erase this terrible memory from my head. And now my mom sent me this letter asking me to come to my father’s funeral. I....just…..don’t think I can do it.” “She probably forgives you because of all the circumstances,” Rainbow stated. “I don’t think she would. She shouldn’t. I failed her! I’m just a lousy, pathetic, joke of a pony, just like my dad said.” “Flutter-I mean-Skydancer, you are an amazing pony. You’re my best friend in the world. I know you can be shy sometimes but deep down, you have the ability to stand up to a dragon. I’ve seen it. I think the thing you need to do is to go back to Cloudsdale and face your family again.” “I……………..can’t” “Come on Skydancer! Pony up! You’re not going to solve your troubles by just sitting here.” “Ok Dash, I’ll think about it.” Fluttershy shyly replied. “I’m kind of tired. You mind if we got some shut-eye?” “Oh not at all. I’m feeling a little tired too.” Fluttershy paused and looked around. “Oh, right. You were going to sleep here. I’m sorry.” “You know Fluttershy, I’ll just go ahead and sleep downstairs.” “Are you sure? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” Dash looked at Fluttershy’s pillow. Seeing that it was dripping with Fluttershy’s tears, Rainbow said, “Yeah, I’m sure.” At that moment, Rainbow walked over to the door. Fluttershy smiled at Rainbow Dash. “Thank you Dash.” She added. “Thanks for what?” Rainbow asked. “For being the one of the only ponies that was kind to me when every other pony wasn’t. Thank you for being the greatest friend I have ever had.” “No problem Sky. I am the Element of Loyalty after all.” Fluttershy gave a little chuckle and slowly drifted off to sleep. A Star in the Night SkyRainbow Dash began to get worried. It’s been a several days since their conversation and Fluttershy hasn’t been seen out of her house. She hasn’t been locked up in her house for this long since she got those confidence lessons from Iron Will. Rainbow tried her best to think of a way to convince Fluttershy to attend the funeral but she’s got nothing. She then thought the best way to help her friend would be to get help from her other friends. Without wasting a moment, she flew over to the Library and knocked on the door. “Its open!” called a voice from inside the tree. Rainbow opened the door and found her purple unicorn friend Twilight Sparkle rearranging some books on the shelves. Twilight turned to see her friend come in and close the door. “What do I keep telling you Rainbow? This is a LIBRARY. You don’t have to keep knocking.” Twilight stated with an annoyed expression. “Oh, heh, sorry.” Rainbow replied, “Well, I really need your help with something.” “Sorry Rainbow, but I am kind of busy right now. Spike is in Canterlot with the Princess so I have to finish re-shelving the Conjugation Spell reference books without him. Then, I have to go over to the school and bring over some Ponyville history books for the kids, then-“ “It’s about Fluttershy.” Rainbow interrupted. “I was wondering if I could get the others to meet here tonight. It’s very urgent.” “Hmm. let me check my schedule……….ok I’ll squeeze this in between my quantum magic research time and sleep.” Twilight said. Rainbow rolled her eyes and went out to spread the word to her other friends. . . . That night, Rainbow stood outside the library and waited for her friends to show up. Eventually, she saw an orange and a white mare walking towards the library. The orange one had a brown cowboy hat that sat on top a yellow mane. The other had a purple mane that hung over her white unicorn horn. “Hey Applejack! Hey Rarity! Thanks for coming.” Rainbow announced. “No problem Rainbow!” Applejack replied,”T’wasn’t like Ah was gonna say no to a Fluttershy problem!” “Poor Fluttershy!” Rarity said, “What in the name of Opal has gotten into her?” The three of them walked inside the library and closed the door. They all looked at Rainbow Dash as she began to speak. “So here’s the situation…wait, where’s Pinkie Pie?” Suddenly the door burst open and confetti filled the air of the library. A bubblegum pink mare with a curly pink mane cartwheeled through the door. “SURPRISE!! CONNNGRAAAATULATIONS FLUTTERSHY!!!” The pink mare shouted at the top of her lungs. Before she could start her celebration with a song, she looked around and asked, “Where’s Fluttershy? How can she miss her own party?!!” “Pinkie Pie, this isn’t a party FOR Fluttershy, this is a meeting ABOUT Fluttershy.” Rainbow emphasized. “AWWWWW! Can we still have a party FOR her anyway? I got decorations and streamers and-OH!- the Cakes have baked a special-“ “PINKIE!” Rainbow screamed. “Well, if this isn’t a party then what IS it Dashie?” Rainbow took in a deep breath and started her announcement. “Something is terribly wrong with Fluttershy in case you haven’t noticed.” “Yeah, Ah haven’t seen the feller for days! What in tarnation is wrong with her?” Applejack asked. Rainbow then explained the story Fluttershy told her a few days ago. She made sure to mention the promise Fluttershy gave to her sister. “That is HORRIBLE!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Yes Pinkie,” Twilight added, “I never knew Fluttershy had such abusive relationship with her family.” “No I mean, Dashie had a sleepover at Fluttershy’s house and she didn’t invite ME?!!!!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and continued the discussion. “So what I am asking you all to do, is to help me convince Fluttershy that she needs to go to the funeral and face her family. That’s the only way she can put her past behind her.” Rainbow stated. “I agree,” Twilight added, “If she doesn’t do this, then who knows how long her past will haunt her.” “Oh, you mean like a ghost? Who knew that Fluttershy’s family problem would be so spooky!” Pinkie stated. “Pinkie! This is serious!” Dash stated. “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie replied. “Maybe we should all just talk to her.” Rarity said, “Do something nice for her to convince her that she has our support.” “Okay,” Dash replied, “But what should we do?” The four of them looked at Applejack and noticed that she had been completely silent during the whole story. “Applejack? Is something wrong?” Rarity asked. Applejack said nothing. “Applejack, are you alright?” Twilight asked. Suddenly, Applejack flinched and quickly looked at them all, “Uh…Ahm fine.” “Are you sure? It looks like you’re sweating,” Pinkie stated. “When Ah say ahm fine, Ah mean it!” Applejack snapped, “Oh, would you look at the time. Ah gotta get back home. Ah….think Granny Smith needs me.” “But..you just got here,” Rarity said, “ Applejack, what’s wrong?” No answer was given as the four mares saw Applejack run outside. The front door slammed behind them. The ponies turned to Rainbow. “Don’t look at me. I have no idea what just happened,” Dash replied. “Well, it’s obvious that she knows something!” Pinkie stated, ”She sure was acting reeeeeeeally kooky.” Twilight walked over to the front door and opened it. “I’m going to go find her,” She told the others as she left, “When I find out just what’s going on, I’ll let you all know. In the meantime think of a plan to help Fluttershy.” The other ponies nodded in agreement. “Hopefully she’ll come back with answers. I can’t think of anything!” Rarity stated. . . . “The only place she’ll be is back at home,” Twilight said to herself as she approached the apple tress at Sweet Apple Acres. Once she ran past the trees, she caught sight of a big red barn on the hill. She ran up to the barn and knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal a tired yellow filly with a bow on top her red mane. “Hello Apple Bloom,” Twilight said, “I really need to see Applejack for something. Is she here?” “Yeah. Uhhh….Ah think. She must be in her room. You can go check if you want.” “Thanks,” Twilight said as she walked past the door and up the stairs. She walked across the hall to see that the door to Applejack’s room was opened slightly. Twilight slowly walked over and knocked. “Applejack? Are you in there?” Twilight waited for a response but nothing came. Eventually she creaked open the door to see that Applejack wasn’t there. Instead she saw an empty envelope sitting on her bed. Twilight walked over to it and was surprised by what she saw. An idea immediately popped in her head. She exited the barn and ran back to the library to tell the others. . . . The next day, Fluttershy was in her house preparing dinner. “No Angel, for the last time, I can’t keep feeding you fruits all the time. Now please eat your carrot salad.” Fluttershy pleaded. Angel looks down at the bowl of assorted carrots and lettuce leaves. Fluttershy made sure to put the cherry on top so Angel would actually eat it. Instead he kicked the bowl. Lettuce and carrots spread all over the floor. “I’m sorry Angel but that’s all the food you’re getting.” Angel furiously hopped upstairs. Fluttershy sighed as she walked over to clean up the mess on the floor. When she finished, she went back into the kitchen to check on her dinner. ‘Knock Knock’ “Who could that be?” She asked herself. She halted her preparation, gently floated to the door and opened it. She couldn’t believe what she saw. “Sky…………..Is that you?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened to the point where it hurt. She was stunned. Nothing came from her mouth except a small squeak. There, standing before her, was a pegasus pony with the same yellow coat as hers. She had a short brisk black mane that looks an awful lot like Rainbow Dash’s. Fluttershy couldn’t tell completely, but she seemed to have a gash right above her cutie mark. “Sky!!!! Its me, Starlight!!!” At that very moment Starlight jumped forward and gave Fluttershy a hug so tight, that her sister could feel her hooves start to tingle. When Starlight released the embrace, Fluttershy backed away and hid her face behind her mane. Her eyes started to get wet. “What’s wrong Sky? Aren’t you happy to see me again? It’s been so long.” Starlight asked with concern. “……………………………………..I’m sorry Star.” Fluttershy quietly said as tears started to drip down her cheek. “Sorry? For what Sky?” “I……..I failed you Star,” Fluttershy squeaked, “ I broke our promise. I abandoned you. I’m sorry.” She hung her head to the ground as tears dripped to the floor. She then felt a hoof place itself on her shoulder. “Don’t be. It was so long ago. If we were still going by what we said when we were kids, then I should be the one whose sorry.” Starlight told her. Fluttershy slowly looked up to see her sister’s concerned face. “I broke the promise even before you did. The day after you left for Flight Camp, I socked Dad in the face and ran away. He got into one of his drunken rages and I couldn’t take anymore ridicule. Mom didn’t help at all, so I just ran. I jumped on a pile of cargo that was leaving the city and ended up in Manehattan. I read in the newspaper about your fall at Camp and I was afraid that I would never see you again. It took me years to find out that you survived the fall and were living a successful life in Ponyville. You have no idea how happy I was when I found out you were alive.” Starlight explained. “How….How did you know I was still alive?” Fluttershy asked the tears drying on her face. “Oh come on Sky! You’re famous all throughout Equestria! You’re the Element of Kindness! Everyone has heard about you and your friends saving Equestria from foes such as Nightmare Moon and Discord. Not to mention you being the famous fashion model promoting outfits for Photo Finish. I have no idea why you kept the silly name that Dad used to call you, but to me, you will always be my Sky.” Starlight slowly drooped her head. “I’m sorry for not keeping in touch for all these years. I….had the same concern you had. I was afraid you were mad at me for leaving you. But now, I am so happy that I get to see my Sky again!” Starlight lifted her head off the ground to see her sister with a huge smile on her face. Without warning Fluttershy leaped over to Starlight and gave her a tighter hug than she got from her sister. “I missed you Star. More than you can even imagine.” Fluttershy said. “I missed you too sis. More than YOU can even imagine.” Starlight said. They both laughed. “I don’t get it,” said Fluttershy, “What made you come to Ponyville to see me?” “I got a letter from your friend, Rainbow Dash, saying that you needed my help with something. She said it was urgent so that’s why I’m here.” “But how did she even send the letter to you? I don’t even know where you live.” “Beats me. She probably looked it up somewhere.” “Well whatever,” Fluttershy said, “I’m just so glad I get to see you again and that you’re not mad at me.” “How can I EVER be mad at you Sky?” Starlight asked with a laugh. “Sheesh Sky, you have a nice place,” Starlight said as she walked past Fluttershy into the living room. “This is a whole lot nicer than my tiny apartment in Spells Kitchen.” “My animal friends helped me build it when I first moved to Ponyville.” “Animal friends?” “Yes, my special talent is connecting with animals. I actually run a pet hospital here. Whenever someone’s pet is sick or lonely, Dr. Fluttershy is the answer.” Fluttershy laughed as she said, “That’s kind of my slogan.” Starlight laughed as well. “Wow Sky. You haven’t changed a bit! You are the same old Sky that I remembered, only happier.” “I wish I could say the same thing as you. I didn’t even recognize you at first. Your mane is way shorter than I remember and how did you get that scar on you flank?” Fluttershy asked. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later,” Starlight stated, "Are you cooking something? It smells amazing.” “Oh, it’s nothing. Before you came, I was cooking some hay and tomato soup. Would you like some?” “Sure! If you don’t mind.” Fluttershy then flew back to the kitchen and opened the boiling pot on the stove. Mist seeped into the air filling the room with the sweet scent of hay mixed with the tang of the tomato. Starlight just got herself situated on Fluttershy’s couch as the scent of the soup reached her nostrils. At that moment, Fluttershy floated out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of soup in each hoof. She gave one bowl to Starlight as she took a seat next to her on the couch. After they both finished their bowls they spent hours chatting and catching up with each other’s lives. “So you work at a bar?” Fluttershy asked. “Yep. The family that adopted me when I ran away owned a bar near my apartment so I helped in the family business.” “So do you like your new family?” “Yeah totally. My new parents taught me all the tricks about bartending. I can pretty much mix anything up and make it taste good.” “Sounds like you had a really nice life Star.” Starlight looked at the ground silent. Her smile started to fade as she quietly said, ”Yeah…………nice” “Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked concerned. Suddenly Starlight quickly looked up with a smile on her face and studdered, “Nope! Not at all.” Fluttershy was confused. “So Sky, what is this all about?” Starlight asked. Fluttershy was puzzled. “What’s what all about?” She asked. “Rainbow Dash told me you needed to see me about something.” Fluttershy then suddenly knew the exact reason why Rainbow brought Starlight here. She took a deep breath. “Did you get a letter from Mom?” “No I haven’t. What’s this about Sky?” After a pause, Fluttershy picked up the letter and held it out to Starlight. She noticed that Starlight hesitated as she held the letter in her hoof for her to grab. “Are you ok Star? You seem nervous.” Fluttershy asked. Starlight waved a hoof and said, “Nervous? Why would I be nervous in front of my sister?” Starlight finally took the letter from her sister and started reading. Dear Skydancer, I know it’s been a while since we talked, but I am writing to you because of a terrible tragedy. Your father, Lunarshine has passed away. The Funeral is going to be held at Sweet Passings Funeral Home in a week from today. I know you might have second thoughts about this, but please come and morn your father. I understand he has been kind of difficult to you and your sister during your childhood, but deep down, he loved you just as much as I still do. Please attend. If not for him, do it for me. As of today, I have had two deaths in the family. But I feel like I have two more. Love, Mom Starlight finished reading but continued to stare down at the letter. “……………I don’t know if I can go,” Fluttershy said. “Why should we?” Starlight asked, “I-I don’t care about anything that happened to Dad. After the way he abused us, there’s no way I’m going to morn his death. I’ve tried my best to block out the horribleness of the past and I have lived a better life than I have before. There’s no point in going back.” “……….well…….if you say so Star” “Sky, you remember all the times dad used to scold you for not passing your flying lessons? Do you really think that someone like that deserves our forgiveness?” “I guess not,” “I really, REALLY don’t think we should go. You understand right?” “I guess so…” They both sat in silence for a moment. Maybe Starlight was right. Maybe she shouldn’t go to the funeral after all she’s been through. She then saw Starlight make a small sigh. What was that about? Why is she so nervous? Fluttershy decided changed the subject. “I’m glad you came Star. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you.” “Same here Sky.” “So, how long are you going to say?” “I was planning on heading back sometime tomorrow.” “Do you need a place to stay? You are always welcome to stay with me,” Fluttershy said and smiled. “I actually booked a room at the Inn next to the bakery. But thanks anyway.” Fluttershy felt disappointed but she smiled at the fact that her sister seemed happy. “Well, it’s getting kind of late. I should probably head back to the Inn.” Starlight said as she got up from the couch, “How do you get there from here? This place is kind of new to me.” “Why don’t I walk there with you?” Fluttershy asked, “It can get kind of confusing to find your way around Ponyville at night. “Sounds good to me,” Starlight stated. So the two of them passed through the living room and out the front door of the cottage. They walked up the path and over the bridge in the direction of Ponyville. As they were walking, Fluttershy looked up into the night sky and saw the stars twinkling. Those twinkling lights seemed so far away before but tonight, she felt like one of them was walking with her. They walked past Town Square and ended up at Sugar Cube Corner. “Well here we are. The Inn is that building over there,” Fluttershy stated as she pointed her hoof at the building to the right of Sugar Cube Corner. “Thanks for taking me here Sky. You want to get breakfast in the morning?” “Oh yes! How ‘bout I come by here at 10 and we can have breakfast?” “Sounds like a plan” Starlight said. She then gave her long lost sister a hug and waved as she walked into the Inn. Fluttershy then turned around and started heading back to the cottage. She couldn’t really put her hoof on it, but something seemed strange about this whole situation. Why was Starlight so nervous when she gave her the letter? Why did she dramatically refuse to go to the funeral and why didn’t she tell me about how she got that scar on her flank? It almost seemed like she was hiding something……. Out in the distance, she saw a blue figure flying towards her. It was Rainbow Dash. The Visitor in the Night“Hey Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called. “Oh…hello Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy replied. “So how did your day go with Starlight?” Fluttershy didn’t respond. “Look, I’m sorry I had to stick my muzzle in your family’s business, but I was really worried about you. I actually got the others to help with this. “ Fluttershy hid behind her mane and whimpered. “I know your past may be………uncomfortable…..we all just really want you to feel better about your problems. So I asked Starlight to come to Ponyville while Pinkie and Rarity got her a sweet deal at the Inn for her to stay in." Fluttershy looked at Rainbow through her mane. “How did you even get Starlight to come here?” she said, “I don’t even know where she lives.” Rainbow hesitated and then said, “I…. I’ll tell you about it later.” “You guys really want me to go. Don’t you?” “You can’t keep your past behind you. Even though you aren’t the same pony as before, you still need to confront your mom and get your problems over with” “Well I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but I’m still not going! You don’t even know the abuse that MONSTER gave to me and Star during our childhoods! There is no way I am going to MOURN the death of the monster from my childhood!” With that, Fluttershy took off into the night. Rainbow Dash’s heart sank. “What have I done,” She said to herself. . . . Fluttershy ran into her cottage and slammed the door behind her. Her eyes filled with tears, she ran into her bedroom and leaped onto her bed. She closed her eyes as tears ran down her checks and slowly wet her pillow. “……….Skydancer. Don’t cry. Everything is going to be ok.” ‘That voice,’ she thought, ‘It sounds so familiar.’ Fluttershy slowly lifted her head from her pillow and opened her eyes. The wetness from her eyes had caused her sight to be blurred. She tried to look around but all she could see was a blurred figure next to her bed. She then blinked a few times to reveal a figure of a pony next to her bed. Her heart started to beat furiously. “Don’t be afraid Sky” She then noticed that this small pony was actually a pegasus, but with only one wing. Wait, one wing? Could it be? “……………Storm? It c-cant be. St-Storm?” Fluttershy stuttered. “Hey Sky. I’m sorry…….I…haven’t been around.” “You..you’re alive?” “Um….no actually.” “Oh…so so you’re a ghost?” Fluttershy asked. Stormchacer looked at Fluttershy and slowly gave a nod. Fluttershy didn’t feel fear though. She actually felt sort of calm. It was like she’s being visited by her best friend. Stormchacer spoke again. “I came here to say…..” Stormchacer looked at the ground and gave a sigh. “I’m…..I’m sorry Sky. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. For what I started.” Fluttershy looked at him. She could notice tears coming from his eyes. Without hesitation, she lifted herself off the bed and gave her long deceased brother a hug. Despite being a bodiless spirit, he was tangible enough for her to wrap her arms around. Stormchacer cried in his sister’s arms for a few minutes before Fluttershy said, “It’s ok Storm. I forgive you.” “But, your suffering. It was because of me. Because of the stupid, stupid thing I did to myself. It was all my fault.” “It wasn’t your fault Storm. You didn’t know. Don’t blame yourself.” Tears started to fade away as they released their hug. “I…I also think you should reconsider not going to Dad’s funeral.” “But……” “I know he has been hard on you Sky, but remember how bad the situation got when I left this family. Imagine how much pain the three of us caused to Mom.” Fluttershy just looked at Stormchacer’s translucent face. “I know Dad was hard on you back then, but even though it doesn’t seem like it, Mom cares about you so very much. In fact, I think you were her favorite child.” “But she doesn’t love me. She just stood aside while Dad abused me.” “Do you remember, before my death, when she would make you your favorite soup every night before you went to bed?” “………..yes” “And remember when you lost your favorite stuffed animal and Mom spent weeks searching the house for it?” Fluttershy nodded. “Remember how she would sing a lullaby every time you had a nightmare to make you feel better?” Yes, she remembers. That sweet tune has been in her memory for all these years. “She loved you Sky. Just imagine how she felt when she lost you. Please go. Do it for her.” Fluttershy looked up at her brother and gave him another hug. “Alright………I’ll do it.” Suddenly Fluttershy’s eyes shot open. She could feel the sunlight shining into her room from the window. ‘Was all that a dream?’ Fluttershy thought to herself. She got up out of her bed and looked at herself in the mirror. Her appearance was a mess. There were tear stains on her cheeks and her mane looked like spaghetti rolled up on a fork. But despite her appearance, for the first time in a while, she actually felt relaxed. She herself didn’t know why, but she felt good. She went over to her bathroom to freshen up. “Poor Mom…” she thought to herself. After taking a shower, she looked at the time and prepared herself to meet her sister for breakfast. . . . A few hours later, Rainbow Dash was on her way over to Fluttershy’s cottage to apologize for the previous night. When she walked closer to Sweet Apple Acres, she saw a yellow figure in between the trees of the farm. “That’s strange, is that…..Fluttershy? Why is she at Sweet Apple Acres?” Keeping her distance, she walked closer towards the figure and realized that the pony’s mane was black instead of pink. It must be Starlight! What’s she doing here? Rainbow followed Starlight as she walked through the trees and up the hill. She eventually led Rainbow to a small house built on a tree outside of the farm. Starlight walked up the ramp and knocked on the door. When the door opened Rainbow saw Applejack standing in the doorway. Starlight gave her a hug and walked inside shutting the door behind her. Rainbow quickly, but quietly, flew over to the door and pressed her ear against the wood. She could hear faint sounds of the two ponies talking. “So, were you followed?” Applejack asked. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to talk,” Starlight replied, “You sure your sister is gone? I mean, this is her clubhouse, isn’t it?” “Apple Bloom is out with Big Mac shopping for baskets. She’s not gonna come home for a while.” “Ok that’s good.” “How did breakfast with Fluttershy go?” Starlight sounded suddenly frantic. “For some reason, she’s decided that she needs to go to the funeral! She says that she feels bad for Mom and that she needs to make everything right. I-I tried to convince her not to, but she wouldn’t listen!” “How can this happen?!” Applejack responded, “Didn’t you tell me last night that she was convinced not to go?!” “She wasn’t going to go! But she then told me she had a dream last night about Stormchacer and now it’s impossible to convince her not to.” “No! Ah can’t let this happen! Not to Fluttershy! There must be a way to convince her not to go without getting her involved.” “I’m sorry Applejack but I tried everything. I’m starting to get the feeling that she knows something’s up.” “You are right! Something IS up!” a voice called from behind the two. Applejack and Starlight looked over to see an angry Rainbow Dash standing in front of the door. “RAINBOW DASH!!” Did y’all follow us or something?!” Applejack yelled. “So you are the one who sent me the letter….” Starlight said. “How do you know where I live by the way? Sky never gave you my address.” “My friend Twilight found your address on an envelope in Applejack’s room when she went out to look for her,” Rainbow replied. Applejack’s face cringed. “Why on EARTH were y’all muddling with mah STUFF?!!!! Rainbow flew over to Applejack and glared at her face to face. “Why on EARTH did you ditch us when we were trying to help Fluttershy, and why on EARTH did you lie to us all and never let us know what was up with this bucked up situation?! Some Element of Honesty you turned out to be!!” Applejack looked at those red, fiery eyes for a moment. She pulled back a little and put her hat over her face. “………………………Ahm……………sorry Rainbow.” Applejack said. Starlight and Rainbow faintly heard the sound of sobs coming from the hat. After a few seconds, Starlight walked over to Applejack and put a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s ok Applejack,” she said, “I think it’s best if you tell her what happened. She’ll understand.” A few moments passed and Applejack eventually placed her hat back on her head. Her eyes were still a little damp. She looked at Rainbow who still seemed to have an angry look to her face. “You remember me telling you how I got mah cutie mark?” Rainbow nodded. “Ah left Ponyville as a filly so that Ah could live the sophisticated life with my Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehattan. During my time there, pretty much all the ponies Ah met were just acquaintances. All except for one. Starlight was the only real friend Ah met during my time there. She told me that she ran away from home because of her abusive father. She also told me that her sister fell off a cloud and that she would probably never see her again. It wasn’t until our conversation in the library a couple of days ago when Ah found out that Star is actually Fluttershy’s sister. Anyway, shortly after Ah became friends with Starlight, Ah asked if my Aunt and Uncle were willing to adopt her. They didn’t, but they knew a couple that was willing to take her in.” Starlight smiled at Applejack as she remembered the first time she met her foster family. “Shortly after Starlight got settled with her new family, Ah saw your Sonic Rainboom out in the distance and decided to go home. Ah haven’t been back in Manehattan since, but Ah made sure to keep in touch with Starlight through letters. Over the years, she told me about her family and I told her about mine. Eventually I found out that her foster parents owned a bar and that she started working there. Ah remember sending her a family recipe for hard cider that she named after me. For a while, it seemed like life was going really well for the both of us. But that was soon gonna change.” Applejack took a deep breath before continuing. “About a couple weeks ago, I got a letter from Starlight telling me that her dad found her when he randomly walked into the bar one day. When he-“ “Let me take it from here AJ,” Starlight said. Applejack nodded. “When Dad saw me, he gave me a hug and told me that he has been out searching for me for weeks. He apologized for getting angry causing me to leave. I had to tell him the truth, that I will never be able to forgive him for his actions. I mean, he used to beat us and humiliate us to the degree that was unforgiveable, even after all these years. With that said, he tried to convince me to give him another chance, but I still said no. Eventually he gave up and walked out of the bar. I thought that was it, but for the next few days, he kept coming back. Every time was the same. He would walk in, ask for my forgiveness, and then order one of our Applejacks to drink. This is all he ever drank. I guess that was pretty good stuff." Applejack blushed. “One day, two stallions walked into the bar and asked me if I knew a Lunarshine Moonlight. So I said yeah and pointed to my dad sitting at one of the tables across the room. The two of them walked up him and dragged him out the door. Immediately, I ran out the door to see what was going on. I caught up with them and asked them what was going on. One of them came up behind me, grabbed me by the flank and threw me to the ground. I lay there and watched my Dad get dragged away screaming for help. I tried to get back up but I noticed that I got this painful gash on my flank. Before I knew it, they were gone. So I limped back inside and went back to bartending. A few ponies asked what happened, but I didn’t feel like answering them. I just wanted to forget all about Dad and just continued my work. The next day I got an anonymous letter saying that my dad has this huge debt on the family and is being held hostage until it could get paid. The amount was four million bits.” “FOUR MILLION?!” Dash exclaimed. “Yes,” Starlight said, “There was no way I could pay them the money. My family, my bar and my life will be completely ruined if I try to pay off his debt. I……um….also thought that he didn’t deserve my help due to what he did to me and Sky when we were kids. So I ignored the letter for a few days until another one got sent to me. This one said that they killed my dad and are now going to kill the rest of my family if the debt doesn’t get paid. I knew Skydancer was safe due to the fact that she changed her identity to Fluttershy. The problem was Mom. That was when I sent Applejack a letter to try to help me repay these ponies.” Starlight sighed. “That was also around the time I got the letter from you Rainbow Dash. You told me that Fluttershy needed help and I could only assume the worst for her. So I came to Ponyville to see if everything was okay only to find out that Mom sent Fluttershy a letter asking her to go to Dad’s funeral. The letter said that it was going to be held at Sweet Passings Funeral in Cloudsdale. The problem is that, that place doesn’t exist anymore. I remember it closing shortly before I left the family. The funeral isn’t real! It’s a TRAP!!" Rainbow Dash couldn’t even breath she was so in shock. It took her a little while to process everything Starlight told her. “Ahm sorry for not telling you guys earlier,” Applejack said, “Ah didn’t want anypony else to know ‘bout this except me and Starlight. Fer Fluttershy’s safety.” “B-ut But, if Fluttershy is in danger, WHY IN CELESTIA’S NAME DIDN’T YOU TELL FLUTTERSHY THE TRUTH?!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I was afraid she would do something drastic. Plus it’s hard to admit to my sister that I inexplicitly killed our father.” “Well what are we waiting for?! We have to tell Fluttershy! She could get killed!” Rainbow said. “Ahm afraid Rainbow’s right Star. Wouldn’t you want your sister to be safe? Ah promise she’s not going to overreact.” Starlight hesitated for a moment. “Ok let’s go find her before it’s too late,” she said. . . . Rainbow Dash flew over to Fluttershy’s cottage. Applejack and Starlight galloped close behind her. When they reached the cottage, Rainbow flew up to the door and gave it a knock. After a moment of waiting, the door finally opened. Unfortunately, instead of Fluttershy appearing in the doorway, Twilight Sparkle was there instead. “Twilight! Is Fluttershy home? I need to talk to her right away!” Rainbow asked. "Fluttershy isn’t here. She-“ Twilight lost her train of thought as she saw Applejack and some mare she didn’t know heading towards the door. “Applejack!!” Twilight called, “Where have you been?! We’ve been looking everywhere for-“ “Not now Twi!” Applejack interrupted as she walked past her and into the house. Starlight and Rainbow Dash walked in after her. “Who’s this?” Twilight asked as she saw Starlight follow her two friends into the house. Rainbow turned to face Twilight. “This is Starlight. You know, Fluttershy’s sister.” She said. “It’s nice to meet you Ms.-“ Starlight said as she shook the purple pony’s hoof. “Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, “I have no clue what’s going on, but Flutt-“ “FLUTTERSHY!! IT’S APPLEJACK!” Applejack called from in the house, “WE NEED TO TALK TO YA! IT’S AN EMERGENCY!” “I’m sorry Applejack, but Fluttershy’s not here. She’s left to go to her father’s funeral.” Twilight explained. The three of them looked at Twilight. “The funeral is TODAY?!” they all asked in unison. “Apparently. I’m here because she’s asked me to take care of her animals while she was gone. She left about a half an hour ago. What’s the emergency? Why are you all freaked out?” “This can’t be happening! No No No!” Starlight said. “Sky never mentioned that the funeral was today!! What are we going to do?!” “WOULD SOMEPONY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON?!!!” Twilight screamed. Applejack faced Starlight. “Alright here’s what we’re gonna do. Ah'll stay here and get Twilight up to speed. You and Dash find Fluttershy. She can’t be far from here.” The two pegasai nodded and flew out the door. Applejack then walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Twi, there’s something that you need to know…”
The LetterRainclouds covered the town of Ponyville as its residents hid in their homes. As the wind pushed the rain all throughout the streets of the town, there was a yellow pegasus pony with a long flowing pink mane looking out of the window of a small cottage. She watched the trees sway back and forth to the rhythm of the storm. “Oh, I hope my animal friends are ok out in the storm,” the yellow pegasus said to herself. “Don’t worry Fluttershy. They have to be used to it by now.” Fluttershy turned around to see a light blue pegasus with a rainbow stripped mane standing behind her. “We’ve scheduled multiple downpours this week to make up for the drought we had last month. Your animal friends will be fine.” “I guess so Rainbow Dash. It’s just that……..um……..what if there is a baby squirrel in one of those trees that-" Rainbow Dash put a reassuring hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and said, “There is nothing to worry about. Trust me.” Fluttershy slowly turned her head and gave a little nod to Rainbow. “Thanks again for letting me stay for the night.” Rainbow said. “Oh it’s nothing really. I wouldn’t want you to stay in your cloud home all night. Who knows how much of it will be left after the storm?” “It shouldn’t be messed up too bad. I got Twilight to weatherproof it before the rain hit.” “Ok then…it’s getting kind of late. I think I should get dinner started…..” “While you do that I’ll go get my things. Are you sure you want me to sleep in your bed tonight? I don’t mind sleeping in the living room.” “No I don’t mind at all. It’s my pleasure. It will be nice to sleep down here with Angel for once,” She reached over and patted her pet bunny on the head. “Well if you say so. I’m going to bring my stuff upstairs. See ya in a little bit.” “Ok Rainbow Dash. See you soon.” Fluttershy watched as Rainbow Dash picked up her saddlebag and walked upstairs. She then trotted over to the kitchen, got out a large cooking pot, and started to pour water into it. ‘Knock Knock’ Flutershy stopped the water and looked at the door from across the living room. ‘Who could be at the door at this time?’ She thought to herself. 'It must be a broken tree branch or something hitting the door.’ She then turned on the faucet again and continued to pour water into the pot. ‘Knock Knock Knock’ Fluttershy was confused. She turned off the water, walked over to the door and opened it. She was then surprised to see a pair of kooky looking eyes staring right at her. “Derpy? What are you doing outside in a storm like-" “I have a letter for you!”Derpy suddenly replied. “Oh…um….well….thanks Derpy” “Yup! Well, see you later Fluttershy!” “Wait Derpy! Are you sure you should fly home in a storm like this? Would you like to stay here?” “Nope. Gotta go. Muffins!” Before Fluttershy could say anything more, Derpy was out of sight. She looked down at the scroll she possessed as she closed the door behind her. It was laced with a ruby red ribbon written with the words “To Fluttershy of Ponyville”. Curious to see what it was, she walked over to her couch and opened the letter. A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash walked into the living room. “Hey Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash said with a grin on her face, “Where do you keep your-“ Rainbow stopped in mid-sentence when she glanced at Fluttershy. There was a strange, blank expression on her face. “Fluttershy? Is there something wrong?” Rainbow said with concern. “I………..um…….I…..” “You can tell me Fluttershy.” “My…….father…..um….died.” Rainbow suddenly felt uneasy. Fluttershy never talked about her family, especially to her friends. She noticed that her best friend was emotionally distraught, but she didn’t know how to react. After a hesitation, she hung her head low and quietly said, “I’m sorry.” A few minutes passed and the two of them just stayed there unable to speak a word. Eventually, Rainbow slowly walked over to the couch and took a seat next to her. She then wrapped her arms around her and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry,” She said again. It took another minute for Fluttershy to speak again. “The funeral is going to be held at Sweet Passings Funeral Home in Cloudsdale. My mom wants me to go.” “When is it?” Rainbow asked. “Why should I care?!” Fluttershy snapped as she threw the scroll on the ground. Rainbow suddenly released her hug as Fluttershy’s eyes started to get wet. Rainbow looked at Fluttershy. Her eyes were filled with fear as Fluttershy shot up into the air. “I don’t give a manticore’s backside about my bucked up father!!” Fluttershy screamed. She then flew over to her bedroom and zoomed inside slamming the door behind her. Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It took a few minutes for her to gain the courage to walk over to the bedroom and open the door. When she slowly opened it, she saw her on her bed with her head buried into her pillow. She was…….crying. Rainbow could also see Angel sitting next to Fluttershy brushing her long pink mane in an effort to comfort her. Her mane brightened up as the moonshine seeped through the window of the dimly lit room. “Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked softly. The only reply she got was the muffled sounds of the sobs coming from the pillow Fluttershy’s head was buried in. ‘What should I do?’ Rainbow thought to herself. She knew that a good friend always helped in times of need. Rainbow walked over to the side of the bed and placed her hoof on her shoulder. “It’s alright Fluttershy. This is just the way life works. Everything will be fine.” The sobs eventually started to slow down as Fluttershy slowly raised her head from her pillow. She then got her back legs off the bed and onto the floor. Sitting on her bedside, she looked at her rainbow colored friend. Rainbow looked back at Fluttershy’s face with concern. Her eyes were bright red and her cheeks were damp and stained with tears. Rainbow then took a seat next to her friend and put her hoof around her shoulder like she did before. “I’m…..sorry..Rainbow..for….yelling.” Fluttershy whispered. “It’s ok Fluttershy. I understand.” “But that’s the problem. You don’t understand.” Rainbow was surprised at this answer. She waited to hear more. “You know, my real name isn’t Fluttershy.” Rainbow couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could her best friend, who she’s known since she was a filly, not be Fluttershy? This just didn’t make any sense to her. After a few moments of silence, Fluttershy continued. “My real name is Skydancer. Skydancer Moonlight. That was the name my parents gave me when I was born. There are a lot of things that you and the others don’t know about me. My…..childhood wasn’t as nice as other ponies Rainbow. Ever since I was born, my sister and I have been living under the shadow of my older brother Stormchacer Moonlight.” “You have a brother and a sister?” Rainbow shouted astonished. “How come you never told anyone?!” “I’m………sorry,” Fluttershy replied and pulled back. Rainbow felt bad about her sudden outburst. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound angry at you. So your brother’s name is Stormchacer. What’s your sister’s name?” Rainbow asked. “Her name is…… Starlight. She is actually my twin sister. She has the same coat color as me but has a black mane and tail.” “My brother was the fastest pegasus of his age and the winner of the Best Young Flier Competition years ago. My mom was proud like any parent should be but my dad was different. He was so proud of my brother that he spent all of his time praising him. Because of my brother’s success, Starlight and I were kind of invisible to him. I remember all the times at dinner when my brother would talk about an award he won and my dad always telling him that he brings honor to the Moonlight family. Nothing really bad happened until this one day, Stormchacer tried to perform a Stratus Streak.” “A Stratus Streak?!” Rainbow interrupted, “But that’s impossible to pull off without some kind of magic assistance!” “Storm thought that he could be the first one to do it without using any magic. He practiced for hours each day convinced that he was going to make history. Eventually, he thought he was ready. I remember when he brought the family outside in the backyard to witness what he called, “Amazing Awesomeness”. We all watched as he launched into the air. He kept increasing altitude until he was a small speck in the sky. It wasn’t too long till we heard a faint crack in the air. Immediately following the crack, we saw the speck rapidly grow in size. He was falling. My dad panicked. He quickly gathered a bunch of clouds together to brace Stormchacer’s fall.” “Did it work?” Rainbow asked. “It did,” Fluttershy stated. “He fell on the cushion of clouds.” “So he was safe right?” “Actually, there was one major problem. His left wing was gone. I can just remember the amount of blood coming from his side. It was horrifying to watch. When he got to the hospital, the doctor stated that he would never fly again. This was devastating to both him and my dad.” Fluttershy paused as the terrible memories of what occurred crowded her mind. “Was everything ok afterwards?” Rainbow asked nervous of what was going to come next. “My brother was so devastated by his injury that he….put an end to his own misery. I can’t tell you the pain that my dad was feeling the day he died. The rest of us were sad, but it seemed like my dad will never be happy ever again. That’s when he started drinking." Fluttershy’s eyes started to water up again as Rainbow held her even closer. “It’s going to be ok.” Rainbow told her. A few moments passed and Fluttershy continued her story. “After a while, Dad would take his anger out on me since I was the weaker one. He would yell at me saying how I will never be as good as Stormchacer. He told me that I was a weak, pathetic, disgrace of a child and would sometimes throw his beer bottle at my face. Mom would sometimes cry for him to stop, but it wouldn’t help anything. Pretty soon he would call me Fluttershy because of my poor flying and social skills. The real problem was that………I agreed with him.” “What?” Rainbow interrupted. “Its true. Compared to my brother, or my sister, I was a weak, pathetic Fluttershy. Because of this, I kind of made that my name. Pretty soon everyone called me Fluttershy. I remember a day in flight school where all the kids mocked me for my inability to do a simple flying task. They would shout ‘Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!’ It seemed like everywhere I went, I would hear ponies saying this humiliating chant. I remember going home upset only to find my dad angry at my progress in school. It seemed like the only person in my family who respected me was Starlight. Unlike my dad, she would try her best to comfort me when I was humiliated or scared. There was one day where my father got the news that I failed one of my flying exams at school and kicked me in the face because of it. That night, in our bedroom, Starlight and I made an agreement that we were going to stick together during this tough time. We were never going to leave each other no matter what happened.” Fluttershy took in a deep sigh and continued. “Then came the day I went to Summer Flight Camp. My parents could only afford one of us to go to camp and my dad chose me. He thought I needed the flying classes the most, which I did. Before I left home to go to camp, Starlight reminded me of our agreement to stick together no matter what. I wish I could tell you that that happened." Fluttershy turned her head and looked at her friend straight in the eye. “You remember the day we both got our cutie marks right” She asked. Rainbow nodded and added, “I was defending your honor in a race and you accidentally fell off the edge of Cloudsdale.” “Yes but…….” “But what Fluttershy?” “My fall wasn’t…….an accident.” “Wait, do you mean-“ “Yes Rainbow. I was so ashamed of myself that I tried to commit suicide off the cloud.” Rainbow was stunned to hear this, but after some thought, it didn’t come as a huge surprise. She might have done the same if she was in her position. “Fortunately, a group of butterflies broke my fall. At that moment, I realized all of the animals down on the surface cared about me. I never experienced so much kindness in my life. Because of this I then thought that maybe life is worth living after all. That was the moment I got my cutie mark. I remember hiding from the Cloudsdale police as they came down to find me. There was no way I was going back to that miserable life up in the sky. Eventually, with the help from my new animal friends, I built my house outside of Ponyville and stayed there ever since.” “That was when I left flight school to look for you.” Rainbow added, “I was so worried about your fall that I looked everywhere. Then I luckily found you when I got a job for the weather patrol here in Ponyville.” “But…” Fluttershy faltered. “What is it?” Rainbow asked. “I failed. I broke my promise to my sister. I left her to deal with my family on her own. She’s probably furious with me. This is why I haven’t contacted her or told anyone else about this. I want to erase this terrible memory from my head. And now my mom sent me this letter asking me to come to my father’s funeral. I....just…..don’t think I can do it.” “She probably forgives you because of all the circumstances,” Rainbow stated. “I don’t think she would. She shouldn’t. I failed her! I’m just a lousy, pathetic, joke of a pony, just like my dad said.” “Flutter-I mean-Skydancer, you are an amazing pony. You’re my best friend in the world. I know you can be shy sometimes but deep down, you have the ability to stand up to a dragon. I’ve seen it. I think the thing you need to do is to go back to Cloudsdale and face your family again.” “I……………..can’t” “Come on Skydancer! Pony up! You’re not going to solve your troubles by just sitting here.” “Ok Dash, I’ll think about it.” Fluttershy shyly replied. “I’m kind of tired. You mind if we got some shut-eye?” “Oh not at all. I’m feeling a little tired too.” Fluttershy paused and looked around. “Oh, right. You were going to sleep here. I’m sorry.” “You know Fluttershy, I’ll just go ahead and sleep downstairs.” “Are you sure? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” Dash looked at Fluttershy’s pillow. Seeing that it was dripping with Fluttershy’s tears, Rainbow said, “Yeah, I’m sure.” At that moment, Rainbow walked over to the door. Fluttershy smiled at Rainbow Dash. “Thank you Dash.” She added. “Thanks for what?” Rainbow asked. “For being the one of the only ponies that was kind to me when every other pony wasn’t. Thank you for being the greatest friend I have ever had.” “No problem Sky. I am the Element of Loyalty after all.” Fluttershy gave a little chuckle and slowly drifted off to sleep.
A Star in the Night SkyRainbow Dash began to get worried. It’s been a several days since their conversation and Fluttershy hasn’t been seen out of her house. She hasn’t been locked up in her house for this long since she got those confidence lessons from Iron Will. Rainbow tried her best to think of a way to convince Fluttershy to attend the funeral but she’s got nothing. She then thought the best way to help her friend would be to get help from her other friends. Without wasting a moment, she flew over to the Library and knocked on the door. “Its open!” called a voice from inside the tree. Rainbow opened the door and found her purple unicorn friend Twilight Sparkle rearranging some books on the shelves. Twilight turned to see her friend come in and close the door. “What do I keep telling you Rainbow? This is a LIBRARY. You don’t have to keep knocking.” Twilight stated with an annoyed expression. “Oh, heh, sorry.” Rainbow replied, “Well, I really need your help with something.” “Sorry Rainbow, but I am kind of busy right now. Spike is in Canterlot with the Princess so I have to finish re-shelving the Conjugation Spell reference books without him. Then, I have to go over to the school and bring over some Ponyville history books for the kids, then-“ “It’s about Fluttershy.” Rainbow interrupted. “I was wondering if I could get the others to meet here tonight. It’s very urgent.” “Hmm. let me check my schedule……….ok I’ll squeeze this in between my quantum magic research time and sleep.” Twilight said. Rainbow rolled her eyes and went out to spread the word to her other friends. . . . That night, Rainbow stood outside the library and waited for her friends to show up. Eventually, she saw an orange and a white mare walking towards the library. The orange one had a brown cowboy hat that sat on top a yellow mane. The other had a purple mane that hung over her white unicorn horn. “Hey Applejack! Hey Rarity! Thanks for coming.” Rainbow announced. “No problem Rainbow!” Applejack replied,”T’wasn’t like Ah was gonna say no to a Fluttershy problem!” “Poor Fluttershy!” Rarity said, “What in the name of Opal has gotten into her?” The three of them walked inside the library and closed the door. They all looked at Rainbow Dash as she began to speak. “So here’s the situation…wait, where’s Pinkie Pie?” Suddenly the door burst open and confetti filled the air of the library. A bubblegum pink mare with a curly pink mane cartwheeled through the door. “SURPRISE!! CONNNGRAAAATULATIONS FLUTTERSHY!!!” The pink mare shouted at the top of her lungs. Before she could start her celebration with a song, she looked around and asked, “Where’s Fluttershy? How can she miss her own party?!!” “Pinkie Pie, this isn’t a party FOR Fluttershy, this is a meeting ABOUT Fluttershy.” Rainbow emphasized. “AWWWWW! Can we still have a party FOR her anyway? I got decorations and streamers and-OH!- the Cakes have baked a special-“ “PINKIE!” Rainbow screamed. “Well, if this isn’t a party then what IS it Dashie?” Rainbow took in a deep breath and started her announcement. “Something is terribly wrong with Fluttershy in case you haven’t noticed.” “Yeah, Ah haven’t seen the feller for days! What in tarnation is wrong with her?” Applejack asked. Rainbow then explained the story Fluttershy told her a few days ago. She made sure to mention the promise Fluttershy gave to her sister. “That is HORRIBLE!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Yes Pinkie,” Twilight added, “I never knew Fluttershy had such abusive relationship with her family.” “No I mean, Dashie had a sleepover at Fluttershy’s house and she didn’t invite ME?!!!!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and continued the discussion. “So what I am asking you all to do, is to help me convince Fluttershy that she needs to go to the funeral and face her family. That’s the only way she can put her past behind her.” Rainbow stated. “I agree,” Twilight added, “If she doesn’t do this, then who knows how long her past will haunt her.” “Oh, you mean like a ghost? Who knew that Fluttershy’s family problem would be so spooky!” Pinkie stated. “Pinkie! This is serious!” Dash stated. “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie replied. “Maybe we should all just talk to her.” Rarity said, “Do something nice for her to convince her that she has our support.” “Okay,” Dash replied, “But what should we do?” The four of them looked at Applejack and noticed that she had been completely silent during the whole story. “Applejack? Is something wrong?” Rarity asked. Applejack said nothing. “Applejack, are you alright?” Twilight asked. Suddenly, Applejack flinched and quickly looked at them all, “Uh…Ahm fine.” “Are you sure? It looks like you’re sweating,” Pinkie stated. “When Ah say ahm fine, Ah mean it!” Applejack snapped, “Oh, would you look at the time. Ah gotta get back home. Ah….think Granny Smith needs me.” “But..you just got here,” Rarity said, “ Applejack, what’s wrong?” No answer was given as the four mares saw Applejack run outside. The front door slammed behind them. The ponies turned to Rainbow. “Don’t look at me. I have no idea what just happened,” Dash replied. “Well, it’s obvious that she knows something!” Pinkie stated, ”She sure was acting reeeeeeeally kooky.” Twilight walked over to the front door and opened it. “I’m going to go find her,” She told the others as she left, “When I find out just what’s going on, I’ll let you all know. In the meantime think of a plan to help Fluttershy.” The other ponies nodded in agreement. “Hopefully she’ll come back with answers. I can’t think of anything!” Rarity stated. . . . “The only place she’ll be is back at home,” Twilight said to herself as she approached the apple tress at Sweet Apple Acres. Once she ran past the trees, she caught sight of a big red barn on the hill. She ran up to the barn and knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal a tired yellow filly with a bow on top her red mane. “Hello Apple Bloom,” Twilight said, “I really need to see Applejack for something. Is she here?” “Yeah. Uhhh….Ah think. She must be in her room. You can go check if you want.” “Thanks,” Twilight said as she walked past the door and up the stairs. She walked across the hall to see that the door to Applejack’s room was opened slightly. Twilight slowly walked over and knocked. “Applejack? Are you in there?” Twilight waited for a response but nothing came. Eventually she creaked open the door to see that Applejack wasn’t there. Instead she saw an empty envelope sitting on her bed. Twilight walked over to it and was surprised by what she saw. An idea immediately popped in her head. She exited the barn and ran back to the library to tell the others. . . . The next day, Fluttershy was in her house preparing dinner. “No Angel, for the last time, I can’t keep feeding you fruits all the time. Now please eat your carrot salad.” Fluttershy pleaded. Angel looks down at the bowl of assorted carrots and lettuce leaves. Fluttershy made sure to put the cherry on top so Angel would actually eat it. Instead he kicked the bowl. Lettuce and carrots spread all over the floor. “I’m sorry Angel but that’s all the food you’re getting.” Angel furiously hopped upstairs. Fluttershy sighed as she walked over to clean up the mess on the floor. When she finished, she went back into the kitchen to check on her dinner. ‘Knock Knock’ “Who could that be?” She asked herself. She halted her preparation, gently floated to the door and opened it. She couldn’t believe what she saw. “Sky…………..Is that you?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened to the point where it hurt. She was stunned. Nothing came from her mouth except a small squeak. There, standing before her, was a pegasus pony with the same yellow coat as hers. She had a short brisk black mane that looks an awful lot like Rainbow Dash’s. Fluttershy couldn’t tell completely, but she seemed to have a gash right above her cutie mark. “Sky!!!! Its me, Starlight!!!” At that very moment Starlight jumped forward and gave Fluttershy a hug so tight, that her sister could feel her hooves start to tingle. When Starlight released the embrace, Fluttershy backed away and hid her face behind her mane. Her eyes started to get wet. “What’s wrong Sky? Aren’t you happy to see me again? It’s been so long.” Starlight asked with concern. “……………………………………..I’m sorry Star.” Fluttershy quietly said as tears started to drip down her cheek. “Sorry? For what Sky?” “I……..I failed you Star,” Fluttershy squeaked, “ I broke our promise. I abandoned you. I’m sorry.” She hung her head to the ground as tears dripped to the floor. She then felt a hoof place itself on her shoulder. “Don’t be. It was so long ago. If we were still going by what we said when we were kids, then I should be the one whose sorry.” Starlight told her. Fluttershy slowly looked up to see her sister’s concerned face. “I broke the promise even before you did. The day after you left for Flight Camp, I socked Dad in the face and ran away. He got into one of his drunken rages and I couldn’t take anymore ridicule. Mom didn’t help at all, so I just ran. I jumped on a pile of cargo that was leaving the city and ended up in Manehattan. I read in the newspaper about your fall at Camp and I was afraid that I would never see you again. It took me years to find out that you survived the fall and were living a successful life in Ponyville. You have no idea how happy I was when I found out you were alive.” Starlight explained. “How….How did you know I was still alive?” Fluttershy asked the tears drying on her face. “Oh come on Sky! You’re famous all throughout Equestria! You’re the Element of Kindness! Everyone has heard about you and your friends saving Equestria from foes such as Nightmare Moon and Discord. Not to mention you being the famous fashion model promoting outfits for Photo Finish. I have no idea why you kept the silly name that Dad used to call you, but to me, you will always be my Sky.” Starlight slowly drooped her head. “I’m sorry for not keeping in touch for all these years. I….had the same concern you had. I was afraid you were mad at me for leaving you. But now, I am so happy that I get to see my Sky again!” Starlight lifted her head off the ground to see her sister with a huge smile on her face. Without warning Fluttershy leaped over to Starlight and gave her a tighter hug than she got from her sister. “I missed you Star. More than you can even imagine.” Fluttershy said. “I missed you too sis. More than YOU can even imagine.” Starlight said. They both laughed. “I don’t get it,” said Fluttershy, “What made you come to Ponyville to see me?” “I got a letter from your friend, Rainbow Dash, saying that you needed my help with something. She said it was urgent so that’s why I’m here.” “But how did she even send the letter to you? I don’t even know where you live.” “Beats me. She probably looked it up somewhere.” “Well whatever,” Fluttershy said, “I’m just so glad I get to see you again and that you’re not mad at me.” “How can I EVER be mad at you Sky?” Starlight asked with a laugh. “Sheesh Sky, you have a nice place,” Starlight said as she walked past Fluttershy into the living room. “This is a whole lot nicer than my tiny apartment in Spells Kitchen.” “My animal friends helped me build it when I first moved to Ponyville.” “Animal friends?” “Yes, my special talent is connecting with animals. I actually run a pet hospital here. Whenever someone’s pet is sick or lonely, Dr. Fluttershy is the answer.” Fluttershy laughed as she said, “That’s kind of my slogan.” Starlight laughed as well. “Wow Sky. You haven’t changed a bit! You are the same old Sky that I remembered, only happier.” “I wish I could say the same thing as you. I didn’t even recognize you at first. Your mane is way shorter than I remember and how did you get that scar on you flank?” Fluttershy asked. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later,” Starlight stated, "Are you cooking something? It smells amazing.” “Oh, it’s nothing. Before you came, I was cooking some hay and tomato soup. Would you like some?” “Sure! If you don’t mind.” Fluttershy then flew back to the kitchen and opened the boiling pot on the stove. Mist seeped into the air filling the room with the sweet scent of hay mixed with the tang of the tomato. Starlight just got herself situated on Fluttershy’s couch as the scent of the soup reached her nostrils. At that moment, Fluttershy floated out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of soup in each hoof. She gave one bowl to Starlight as she took a seat next to her on the couch. After they both finished their bowls they spent hours chatting and catching up with each other’s lives. “So you work at a bar?” Fluttershy asked. “Yep. The family that adopted me when I ran away owned a bar near my apartment so I helped in the family business.” “So do you like your new family?” “Yeah totally. My new parents taught me all the tricks about bartending. I can pretty much mix anything up and make it taste good.” “Sounds like you had a really nice life Star.” Starlight looked at the ground silent. Her smile started to fade as she quietly said, ”Yeah…………nice” “Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked concerned. Suddenly Starlight quickly looked up with a smile on her face and studdered, “Nope! Not at all.” Fluttershy was confused. “So Sky, what is this all about?” Starlight asked. Fluttershy was puzzled. “What’s what all about?” She asked. “Rainbow Dash told me you needed to see me about something.” Fluttershy then suddenly knew the exact reason why Rainbow brought Starlight here. She took a deep breath. “Did you get a letter from Mom?” “No I haven’t. What’s this about Sky?” After a pause, Fluttershy picked up the letter and held it out to Starlight. She noticed that Starlight hesitated as she held the letter in her hoof for her to grab. “Are you ok Star? You seem nervous.” Fluttershy asked. Starlight waved a hoof and said, “Nervous? Why would I be nervous in front of my sister?” Starlight finally took the letter from her sister and started reading. Dear Skydancer, I know it’s been a while since we talked, but I am writing to you because of a terrible tragedy. Your father, Lunarshine has passed away. The Funeral is going to be held at Sweet Passings Funeral Home in a week from today. I know you might have second thoughts about this, but please come and morn your father. I understand he has been kind of difficult to you and your sister during your childhood, but deep down, he loved you just as much as I still do. Please attend. If not for him, do it for me. As of today, I have had two deaths in the family. But I feel like I have two more. Love, Mom Starlight finished reading but continued to stare down at the letter. “……………I don’t know if I can go,” Fluttershy said. “Why should we?” Starlight asked, “I-I don’t care about anything that happened to Dad. After the way he abused us, there’s no way I’m going to morn his death. I’ve tried my best to block out the horribleness of the past and I have lived a better life than I have before. There’s no point in going back.” “……….well…….if you say so Star” “Sky, you remember all the times dad used to scold you for not passing your flying lessons? Do you really think that someone like that deserves our forgiveness?” “I guess not,” “I really, REALLY don’t think we should go. You understand right?” “I guess so…” They both sat in silence for a moment. Maybe Starlight was right. Maybe she shouldn’t go to the funeral after all she’s been through. She then saw Starlight make a small sigh. What was that about? Why is she so nervous? Fluttershy decided changed the subject. “I’m glad you came Star. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you.” “Same here Sky.” “So, how long are you going to say?” “I was planning on heading back sometime tomorrow.” “Do you need a place to stay? You are always welcome to stay with me,” Fluttershy said and smiled. “I actually booked a room at the Inn next to the bakery. But thanks anyway.” Fluttershy felt disappointed but she smiled at the fact that her sister seemed happy. “Well, it’s getting kind of late. I should probably head back to the Inn.” Starlight said as she got up from the couch, “How do you get there from here? This place is kind of new to me.” “Why don’t I walk there with you?” Fluttershy asked, “It can get kind of confusing to find your way around Ponyville at night. “Sounds good to me,” Starlight stated. So the two of them passed through the living room and out the front door of the cottage. They walked up the path and over the bridge in the direction of Ponyville. As they were walking, Fluttershy looked up into the night sky and saw the stars twinkling. Those twinkling lights seemed so far away before but tonight, she felt like one of them was walking with her. They walked past Town Square and ended up at Sugar Cube Corner. “Well here we are. The Inn is that building over there,” Fluttershy stated as she pointed her hoof at the building to the right of Sugar Cube Corner. “Thanks for taking me here Sky. You want to get breakfast in the morning?” “Oh yes! How ‘bout I come by here at 10 and we can have breakfast?” “Sounds like a plan” Starlight said. She then gave her long lost sister a hug and waved as she walked into the Inn. Fluttershy then turned around and started heading back to the cottage. She couldn’t really put her hoof on it, but something seemed strange about this whole situation. Why was Starlight so nervous when she gave her the letter? Why did she dramatically refuse to go to the funeral and why didn’t she tell me about how she got that scar on her flank? It almost seemed like she was hiding something……. Out in the distance, she saw a blue figure flying towards her. It was Rainbow Dash.
The Visitor in the Night“Hey Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called. “Oh…hello Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy replied. “So how did your day go with Starlight?” Fluttershy didn’t respond. “Look, I’m sorry I had to stick my muzzle in your family’s business, but I was really worried about you. I actually got the others to help with this. “ Fluttershy hid behind her mane and whimpered. “I know your past may be………uncomfortable…..we all just really want you to feel better about your problems. So I asked Starlight to come to Ponyville while Pinkie and Rarity got her a sweet deal at the Inn for her to stay in." Fluttershy looked at Rainbow through her mane. “How did you even get Starlight to come here?” she said, “I don’t even know where she lives.” Rainbow hesitated and then said, “I…. I’ll tell you about it later.” “You guys really want me to go. Don’t you?” “You can’t keep your past behind you. Even though you aren’t the same pony as before, you still need to confront your mom and get your problems over with” “Well I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, but I’m still not going! You don’t even know the abuse that MONSTER gave to me and Star during our childhoods! There is no way I am going to MOURN the death of the monster from my childhood!” With that, Fluttershy took off into the night. Rainbow Dash’s heart sank. “What have I done,” She said to herself. . . . Fluttershy ran into her cottage and slammed the door behind her. Her eyes filled with tears, she ran into her bedroom and leaped onto her bed. She closed her eyes as tears ran down her checks and slowly wet her pillow. “……….Skydancer. Don’t cry. Everything is going to be ok.” ‘That voice,’ she thought, ‘It sounds so familiar.’ Fluttershy slowly lifted her head from her pillow and opened her eyes. The wetness from her eyes had caused her sight to be blurred. She tried to look around but all she could see was a blurred figure next to her bed. She then blinked a few times to reveal a figure of a pony next to her bed. Her heart started to beat furiously. “Don’t be afraid Sky” She then noticed that this small pony was actually a pegasus, but with only one wing. Wait, one wing? Could it be? “……………Storm? It c-cant be. St-Storm?” Fluttershy stuttered. “Hey Sky. I’m sorry…….I…haven’t been around.” “You..you’re alive?” “Um….no actually.” “Oh…so so you’re a ghost?” Fluttershy asked. Stormchacer looked at Fluttershy and slowly gave a nod. Fluttershy didn’t feel fear though. She actually felt sort of calm. It was like she’s being visited by her best friend. Stormchacer spoke again. “I came here to say…..” Stormchacer looked at the ground and gave a sigh. “I’m…..I’m sorry Sky. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. For what I started.” Fluttershy looked at him. She could notice tears coming from his eyes. Without hesitation, she lifted herself off the bed and gave her long deceased brother a hug. Despite being a bodiless spirit, he was tangible enough for her to wrap her arms around. Stormchacer cried in his sister’s arms for a few minutes before Fluttershy said, “It’s ok Storm. I forgive you.” “But, your suffering. It was because of me. Because of the stupid, stupid thing I did to myself. It was all my fault.” “It wasn’t your fault Storm. You didn’t know. Don’t blame yourself.” Tears started to fade away as they released their hug. “I…I also think you should reconsider not going to Dad’s funeral.” “But……” “I know he has been hard on you Sky, but remember how bad the situation got when I left this family. Imagine how much pain the three of us caused to Mom.” Fluttershy just looked at Stormchacer’s translucent face. “I know Dad was hard on you back then, but even though it doesn’t seem like it, Mom cares about you so very much. In fact, I think you were her favorite child.” “But she doesn’t love me. She just stood aside while Dad abused me.” “Do you remember, before my death, when she would make you your favorite soup every night before you went to bed?” “………..yes” “And remember when you lost your favorite stuffed animal and Mom spent weeks searching the house for it?” Fluttershy nodded. “Remember how she would sing a lullaby every time you had a nightmare to make you feel better?” Yes, she remembers. That sweet tune has been in her memory for all these years. “She loved you Sky. Just imagine how she felt when she lost you. Please go. Do it for her.” Fluttershy looked up at her brother and gave him another hug. “Alright………I’ll do it.” Suddenly Fluttershy’s eyes shot open. She could feel the sunlight shining into her room from the window. ‘Was all that a dream?’ Fluttershy thought to herself. She got up out of her bed and looked at herself in the mirror. Her appearance was a mess. There were tear stains on her cheeks and her mane looked like spaghetti rolled up on a fork. But despite her appearance, for the first time in a while, she actually felt relaxed. She herself didn’t know why, but she felt good. She went over to her bathroom to freshen up. “Poor Mom…” she thought to herself. After taking a shower, she looked at the time and prepared herself to meet her sister for breakfast. . . . A few hours later, Rainbow Dash was on her way over to Fluttershy’s cottage to apologize for the previous night. When she walked closer to Sweet Apple Acres, she saw a yellow figure in between the trees of the farm. “That’s strange, is that…..Fluttershy? Why is she at Sweet Apple Acres?” Keeping her distance, she walked closer towards the figure and realized that the pony’s mane was black instead of pink. It must be Starlight! What’s she doing here? Rainbow followed Starlight as she walked through the trees and up the hill. She eventually led Rainbow to a small house built on a tree outside of the farm. Starlight walked up the ramp and knocked on the door. When the door opened Rainbow saw Applejack standing in the doorway. Starlight gave her a hug and walked inside shutting the door behind her. Rainbow quickly, but quietly, flew over to the door and pressed her ear against the wood. She could hear faint sounds of the two ponies talking. “So, were you followed?” Applejack asked. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to talk,” Starlight replied, “You sure your sister is gone? I mean, this is her clubhouse, isn’t it?” “Apple Bloom is out with Big Mac shopping for baskets. She’s not gonna come home for a while.” “Ok that’s good.” “How did breakfast with Fluttershy go?” Starlight sounded suddenly frantic. “For some reason, she’s decided that she needs to go to the funeral! She says that she feels bad for Mom and that she needs to make everything right. I-I tried to convince her not to, but she wouldn’t listen!” “How can this happen?!” Applejack responded, “Didn’t you tell me last night that she was convinced not to go?!” “She wasn’t going to go! But she then told me she had a dream last night about Stormchacer and now it’s impossible to convince her not to.” “No! Ah can’t let this happen! Not to Fluttershy! There must be a way to convince her not to go without getting her involved.” “I’m sorry Applejack but I tried everything. I’m starting to get the feeling that she knows something’s up.” “You are right! Something IS up!” a voice called from behind the two. Applejack and Starlight looked over to see an angry Rainbow Dash standing in front of the door. “RAINBOW DASH!!” Did y’all follow us or something?!” Applejack yelled. “So you are the one who sent me the letter….” Starlight said. “How do you know where I live by the way? Sky never gave you my address.” “My friend Twilight found your address on an envelope in Applejack’s room when she went out to look for her,” Rainbow replied. Applejack’s face cringed. “Why on EARTH were y’all muddling with mah STUFF?!!!! Rainbow flew over to Applejack and glared at her face to face. “Why on EARTH did you ditch us when we were trying to help Fluttershy, and why on EARTH did you lie to us all and never let us know what was up with this bucked up situation?! Some Element of Honesty you turned out to be!!” Applejack looked at those red, fiery eyes for a moment. She pulled back a little and put her hat over her face. “………………………Ahm……………sorry Rainbow.” Applejack said. Starlight and Rainbow faintly heard the sound of sobs coming from the hat. After a few seconds, Starlight walked over to Applejack and put a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s ok Applejack,” she said, “I think it’s best if you tell her what happened. She’ll understand.” A few moments passed and Applejack eventually placed her hat back on her head. Her eyes were still a little damp. She looked at Rainbow who still seemed to have an angry look to her face. “You remember me telling you how I got mah cutie mark?” Rainbow nodded. “Ah left Ponyville as a filly so that Ah could live the sophisticated life with my Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehattan. During my time there, pretty much all the ponies Ah met were just acquaintances. All except for one. Starlight was the only real friend Ah met during my time there. She told me that she ran away from home because of her abusive father. She also told me that her sister fell off a cloud and that she would probably never see her again. It wasn’t until our conversation in the library a couple of days ago when Ah found out that Star is actually Fluttershy’s sister. Anyway, shortly after Ah became friends with Starlight, Ah asked if my Aunt and Uncle were willing to adopt her. They didn’t, but they knew a couple that was willing to take her in.” Starlight smiled at Applejack as she remembered the first time she met her foster family. “Shortly after Starlight got settled with her new family, Ah saw your Sonic Rainboom out in the distance and decided to go home. Ah haven’t been back in Manehattan since, but Ah made sure to keep in touch with Starlight through letters. Over the years, she told me about her family and I told her about mine. Eventually I found out that her foster parents owned a bar and that she started working there. Ah remember sending her a family recipe for hard cider that she named after me. For a while, it seemed like life was going really well for the both of us. But that was soon gonna change.” Applejack took a deep breath before continuing. “About a couple weeks ago, I got a letter from Starlight telling me that her dad found her when he randomly walked into the bar one day. When he-“ “Let me take it from here AJ,” Starlight said. Applejack nodded. “When Dad saw me, he gave me a hug and told me that he has been out searching for me for weeks. He apologized for getting angry causing me to leave. I had to tell him the truth, that I will never be able to forgive him for his actions. I mean, he used to beat us and humiliate us to the degree that was unforgiveable, even after all these years. With that said, he tried to convince me to give him another chance, but I still said no. Eventually he gave up and walked out of the bar. I thought that was it, but for the next few days, he kept coming back. Every time was the same. He would walk in, ask for my forgiveness, and then order one of our Applejacks to drink. This is all he ever drank. I guess that was pretty good stuff." Applejack blushed. “One day, two stallions walked into the bar and asked me if I knew a Lunarshine Moonlight. So I said yeah and pointed to my dad sitting at one of the tables across the room. The two of them walked up him and dragged him out the door. Immediately, I ran out the door to see what was going on. I caught up with them and asked them what was going on. One of them came up behind me, grabbed me by the flank and threw me to the ground. I lay there and watched my Dad get dragged away screaming for help. I tried to get back up but I noticed that I got this painful gash on my flank. Before I knew it, they were gone. So I limped back inside and went back to bartending. A few ponies asked what happened, but I didn’t feel like answering them. I just wanted to forget all about Dad and just continued my work. The next day I got an anonymous letter saying that my dad has this huge debt on the family and is being held hostage until it could get paid. The amount was four million bits.” “FOUR MILLION?!” Dash exclaimed. “Yes,” Starlight said, “There was no way I could pay them the money. My family, my bar and my life will be completely ruined if I try to pay off his debt. I……um….also thought that he didn’t deserve my help due to what he did to me and Sky when we were kids. So I ignored the letter for a few days until another one got sent to me. This one said that they killed my dad and are now going to kill the rest of my family if the debt doesn’t get paid. I knew Skydancer was safe due to the fact that she changed her identity to Fluttershy. The problem was Mom. That was when I sent Applejack a letter to try to help me repay these ponies.” Starlight sighed. “That was also around the time I got the letter from you Rainbow Dash. You told me that Fluttershy needed help and I could only assume the worst for her. So I came to Ponyville to see if everything was okay only to find out that Mom sent Fluttershy a letter asking her to go to Dad’s funeral. The letter said that it was going to be held at Sweet Passings Funeral in Cloudsdale. The problem is that, that place doesn’t exist anymore. I remember it closing shortly before I left the family. The funeral isn’t real! It’s a TRAP!!" Rainbow Dash couldn’t even breath she was so in shock. It took her a little while to process everything Starlight told her. “Ahm sorry for not telling you guys earlier,” Applejack said, “Ah didn’t want anypony else to know ‘bout this except me and Starlight. Fer Fluttershy’s safety.” “B-ut But, if Fluttershy is in danger, WHY IN CELESTIA’S NAME DIDN’T YOU TELL FLUTTERSHY THE TRUTH?!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I was afraid she would do something drastic. Plus it’s hard to admit to my sister that I inexplicitly killed our father.” “Well what are we waiting for?! We have to tell Fluttershy! She could get killed!” Rainbow said. “Ahm afraid Rainbow’s right Star. Wouldn’t you want your sister to be safe? Ah promise she’s not going to overreact.” Starlight hesitated for a moment. “Ok let’s go find her before it’s too late,” she said. . . . Rainbow Dash flew over to Fluttershy’s cottage. Applejack and Starlight galloped close behind her. When they reached the cottage, Rainbow flew up to the door and gave it a knock. After a moment of waiting, the door finally opened. Unfortunately, instead of Fluttershy appearing in the doorway, Twilight Sparkle was there instead. “Twilight! Is Fluttershy home? I need to talk to her right away!” Rainbow asked. "Fluttershy isn’t here. She-“ Twilight lost her train of thought as she saw Applejack and some mare she didn’t know heading towards the door. “Applejack!!” Twilight called, “Where have you been?! We’ve been looking everywhere for-“ “Not now Twi!” Applejack interrupted as she walked past her and into the house. Starlight and Rainbow Dash walked in after her. “Who’s this?” Twilight asked as she saw Starlight follow her two friends into the house. Rainbow turned to face Twilight. “This is Starlight. You know, Fluttershy’s sister.” She said. “It’s nice to meet you Ms.-“ Starlight said as she shook the purple pony’s hoof. “Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, “I have no clue what’s going on, but Flutt-“ “FLUTTERSHY!! IT’S APPLEJACK!” Applejack called from in the house, “WE NEED TO TALK TO YA! IT’S AN EMERGENCY!” “I’m sorry Applejack, but Fluttershy’s not here. She’s left to go to her father’s funeral.” Twilight explained. The three of them looked at Twilight. “The funeral is TODAY?!” they all asked in unison. “Apparently. I’m here because she’s asked me to take care of her animals while she was gone. She left about a half an hour ago. What’s the emergency? Why are you all freaked out?” “This can’t be happening! No No No!” Starlight said. “Sky never mentioned that the funeral was today!! What are we going to do?!” “WOULD SOMEPONY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON?!!!” Twilight screamed. Applejack faced Starlight. “Alright here’s what we’re gonna do. Ah'll stay here and get Twilight up to speed. You and Dash find Fluttershy. She can’t be far from here.” The two pegasai nodded and flew out the door. Applejack then walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Twi, there’s something that you need to know…”
