The entire room was thrown into sharp contrast by the dim light coming through the windows. Outside, thick dreary clouds had hidden the setting Sun and a slow melancholy rain could be heard on the glass panes. Inside, everything was immersed in shadows that only emphasized the condition of the room. The bed had not been made for days, and the covers lay strewn across the floor. Many drawers had been pulled completely out and their contents spilled everywhere. The mirror was cracked across the middle and looked ready to shatter. The mantelpiece, once adorned with numerous colourful mementos and decorations, now lay bare as its contents had been swept off and now sat shattered on the ground. Clearly nothing had been tended to for some time.
On the wall opposite the windows the weak light revealed a disordered collection of splotches. Words and phrases had been written, with no apparent organization, by a hoof dipped in black ink. Repeated a number of times were such comments as pathetic, useless, and pushover. Across the wall, overlapping with other words in places, was the phrase a burden to all. Most prominent was a very large and blotchy word written on the bottom of the wall. In capitalized letters, it read doormat.
***
"Tell me one more time what happened."
"I've already told you the whole story twenty times, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes in frustration and looked irritably at Twilight.
"I know, but I need to hear it again. Maybe I've missed something," replied Twilight sternly.
The two were travelling a path on the outskirts of Ponyville in shadow of a rainy dusk. Twilight was walking on the damp dirt while Rainbow Dash flapped along lazily. The pegasus now hung her head with exasperation and closed her eyes as though she was struggling to hold back anger.
"Like I said, I saw her in the marketplace and figured she was back from her trip, so I went to say hi," she said slowly, keeping her irritation under control.
"And then what happened?" Twilight looked at her attentively.
"Well, I said hi, and she sort of replied really uncomfortably. Before I could say anything else she said she 'had to get going' really quietly and then went off. The whole thing was just really weird."
"But isn't that just the normal Fluttershy? She's never been one for extended conversation," Twilight said as she raised her eyebrows sceptically.
"I know she's really shy, but I'm telling you, this was completely different. She never runs off like that from her friends. I just know something's wrong." Rainbow Dash raised her head and looked forward with concern. They were going to Fluttershy's cottage, and it was now visible not very far away.
Twilight made a doubtful noise and turned her eyes to the path ahead. This was not unnoticed by the pegasus. Suddenly Rainbow Dash swooped down in front of Twilight, her eyes narrowed with anger.
"Listen, I've known Fluttershy since we were both fillies, so I know better than any of you what she's like! She may be quiet, and she may be shy, but she has never talked and looked the way she did today! She was avoiding me, and it was like she didn't even want me to hear her voice. Her mane didn't look as neat as it always does, and her eyes were red. She looked like she was going to cry right there, for no reason! Something's bothering her, and she's not telling!"
Twilight looked at the blue pony with surprise. Evidently the unicorn had not expected such an outburst. Also, Rainbow Dash's physical description was new. The effect of this on Twilight was almost instantaneous. Her eyes softened with understanding, and she too grew concerned. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash turned and continued along the path, and Twilight quickly followed. She now looked inquisitively at the pegasus.
"Alright, I get it. Fluttershy's hiding something, and she needs somepony to help. But if you understand her so well, why bring me along? Why not just go alone?"
Rainbow Dash looked sideways at the unicorn, and for a moment Twilight thought the pegasus smiled.
"Being an enormous egghead has its ups," Rainbow Dash began. "Sure, I understand her, but what am I supposed to say to her? I'll probably just mess everything up more. You always know what to say, though. If anypony can get through to her and find out what's going on, it'll be you."
Twilight was again surprised. She had rarely received such a complement from Rainbow Dash, and was sure that the words had not come easily. Now the unicorn looked once more ahead, and as she saw Fluttershy's cottage under the dark rainy clouds, an ominous sense of dread built up in her stomach. She furrowed her eyebrows with worry.
"Let's just hope it's not too serious."
***
It was more than a week since Fluttershy had stopped maintaining her bedroom. Over the days it had become increasingly chaotic and disorganized, and now looked as though it was robbed. Fluttershy herself had kept to the house and abandoned all personal care. That morning she woke up and lifted herself exhaustedly from the floor where she had fallen asleep the previous night. As she looked in the cracked mirror she saw a yellow pony with a ragged unkempt pink mane and a tearstained face. Her fur coat was dirty and her eyes sunken by days of poor sleep. She would have been an alarming sight to anypony, which was why Fluttershy made sure to keep to herself under the pretence that she was on a trip studying foreign animals.
That day Fluttershy had needed to go to the marketplace urgently. To avoid attracting any attention, she spent several hours in the morning grooming herself until she thought she looked relatively normal. When she finally left her cottage in the afternoon, her mane was smoothed out, her face refreshed, and her coat washed clean. As she was arriving at the marketplace, though, Rainbow Dash had come to greet her. Fluttershy had tried to speak as quietly as possible lest her voice tremble and betray her, and she quickly fled to make her purchase and return to her cottage. She was sure, however, that Rainbow Dash's eyes had followed her with confusion and concern. This only hastened her plans for the day.
Now Fluttershy was standing on a wooden stool in the corner of her bedroom opposite the door leading downstairs. The room was only dimly lit by the blocked Sun outside, but the yellow pegasus felt no need to light any candles. She was facing away from the door, toward a small piece of wall. On her left were a few windows keeping the slow rain outside. On her right was the large wall covered in her own words. She had spent many hours in front of that wall, revealing all of her thoughts with a simple bucket of ink. Perhaps it would soon prove useful as her final message to the world.
Hanging from the ceiling directly in front of Fluttershy was a long noose tied from the rope she had purchased in the afternoon. Presently she thoughtfully ran her hoof around the circle of the noose, which hung a little below her head, an expression of tired apprehension on her face. Her eyelids felt heavy and her eyes were dark, but she shed no tears. Having resolved to act that day, she no longer cried but rather repeated her plan in her mind, looking straight at the rope.
Whenever she was afraid or startled, Fluttershy's wings would snap to her sides and generally send her falling like a rock. Thus she often felt like a burden to her friends, and the epitome of a weak and pathetic pony who was afraid of her own shadow. Now, though, she would use this weakness purposefully. When I put my head through the noose and kick the stool away, she thought, I'll be falling and I'll feel the rope around my neck. That should scare me and stun my wings so that I can't fly back up. She raised her eyes slowly with the next sad thought: Finally I'll do something useful for everypony.
***
Twilight and Rainbow Dash reached Fluttershy's cottage after only a couple more minutes of silent travel. They first noticed that the area was strangely devoid of animals, and that there was not a single light on inside, despite the darkness of the evening. The many birdhouses were empty, and no rabbits ran around the cottage. Through the windows into the house everything looked very dark, and it was difficult to make out anything inside. The two ponies exchanged worried looks before Twilight went to the door and knocked.
"Fluttershy? Are you there? It's me, Twilight. Rainbow Dash and I just wanted to check on you," she said in as unassuming a voice as she could muster. But there was no reply. After a few moments Twilight tried again.
"You've obviously come back from that trip, and we thought you'd like to tell us all about it. I know how much you love talking about your animals, and I'm always interested in learning about them," she said. Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded at her encouragingly. Still there was no answer from the dark cottage.
"Maybe she's gone out?" Twilight suggested, turning to Rainbow Dash.
"After an exhausting week-long trip?" The pegasus shook her head and continued, "the first thing Fluttershy would do after coming back is rest a whole day somewhere familiar and comfortable."
"Then, what should we do?"
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment, and replied, "I'll go around the back and check through her windows. Maybe she's just sleeping really deep and can't hear your knocks."
Without waiting for an answer, the pegasus flew up and went behind the cottage. Twilight waited by the door, her eyes now widened with even more concern.
When Rainbow Dash reached the windows into Fluttershy's bedroom, she peered in, her hooves shielding her eyes from the little ambient light oustide. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was a few moments more before she could understand what she was seeing.
Fluttershy was standing on a stool in the far corner of the bedroom, her right hoof raised to a rope noose hanging in front of her. Her eyes were closed as though with concentration. Though Rainbow Dash could not hear the yellow pony through the window and over the rain, it looked as though she was singing quietly.
For some time Rainbow Dash was unable to speak, her mouth agape and her eyes wide with horror. Then as Fluttershy pulled the noose toward her and began putting her head through, all the while still singing, the blue pegasus was brought out of her petrified state and began banging the window with her hoofs. They were locked and would not open, nor would the glass easily break.
"FLUTTERSHY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WAIT! STOP!" she screamed as loudly as she could, despite the tearing feeling in her throat. Tears began brimming in her eyes. Fluttershy seemed not to hear, whether out of concentration or because of the rain, which seemed to have intensified in the past minute.
"NO! NO! PLEASE STOP!" Fluttershy's head was now fully through the noose. She pulled the slip knot tightly around her neck. She squeezed her eyes, focusing intensely on what would come next. She was still singing.
"NO! OH PLEASE NO!" Fluttershy mouthed a single note which seemed to end her song, and kicked back the stool with her hooves.
The instant Fluttershy felt the wood below her give way to air, her wings snapped tightly to her sides. Her body began to fall, consuming the small slack in the noose. In hardly a moment the rope would pull taught. Rainbow Dash looked on, transfixed by the sight.
Suddenly a purple glow surrounded the yellow pegasus' body, and she stopped falling just as the loop of the noose was about to constrict her neck. In the opened door at the opposite end of the room, Twilight stood with her legs apart and her horn alight. Her eye were wide with horrific shock but her mouth was pressed shut in grim concentration.
Quickly but carefully Twilight untied the noose with her magic. She then set the pegasus down against the wall to the right, as comfortably as possible. Fluttershy was still breathing, but seemed to have fainted. The unicorn next noticed the writing on the wall behind Fluttershy. Surveying the words with narrowed eyes, Twilight immediately understood. She bit her lip, and tears began to flow down her face. She ran to Fluttershy and embraced her from the side, sobbing uncontrollably with shame and despair.
"I'm so, so s-sorry! I-I didn't know! I... we're all so sorry!" she cried, her head on Fluttershy's shoulder.
There was a loud shattering noise. The Rainbow Dash had broken through the window and was flying very fast, ignoring the shards of glass that cut at her face and body. Without stopping she flew to Fluttershy's right side and also hugged her. The blue pegasus too had read the wall, and was now crying from both relief and sorrow.
"No, no... n-never again... I promise... I'm sorry!" she wailed with shut eyes as regret filled her.
The two ponies held tightly to Fluttershy, too overcome by emotion to do anything else. After a minute Fluttershy stirred, unnoticed by the other ponies, and slowly opened her eyes. For a few moments she merely looked ahead blankly, confused and disoriented. She noticed the broken window letting in the heavy rain and the pieces of glass lying on the ground, and these merely perplexed her further. Then she looked to her right, and saw the loose rope hanging from the ceiling, no longer in the shape of a noose. Ideas began forming in her head of what had happened.
Fluttershy suddenly became conscious of Twilight and Rainbow Dash's presence. She moved her eyes further right, and saw Rainbow Dash holding her and mumbling "no, never" as though the blue pegasus did not ever intend to let go. She was crying, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her face and body were covered in cuts and scratches, and Fluttershy realized that the rainbow pony must have burst through the window despite the sharp glass. For her.
She looked left, and saw Twilight sobbing. The unicorn's hooves were spread across Fluttershy protectively, like she would never let any harm come to the pegasus. She was muttering apologies ceaselessly, as though she had an endless pool of regret and shame. Fluttershy understood that the door was open because Twilight had rushed into the cottage, and that it must have been she who untied the noose. And now Twilight was crying. For her.
Fluttershy looked again ahead, at nothing in particular, and pondered this. A few seconds later, a small spark came into her eyes, and she closed them tiredly. A single tear ran down her face, and the faintest of smiles played across her lips.
